Author's Note:

Hello all. Sorry for the gap in uploads. This was a tougher chapter to write and...it got long. Should be pretty intense, though. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 22: An Experiential Expedition

"Sawyer!"

Bonnie wasn't sure if it was simply the sight of an old friend, or the relief of finding someone to help her and Roxanne out of their predicament, but she felt like the happiest person in the world in that moment. She ran forward immediately, hugging Sawyer as soon as she reached him. He seemed a little surprised by her enthusiasm, but smiled widely as she stepped back.

"I didn't know you missed me that much," Sawyer said, looking amused as he glanced back at his companion, a tall man in a black suit, with icy blue hair. Bonnie knew exactly who he was, of course.

"Bonnie, it's very nice to see you," said Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoenn, grinning as he tucked a magnifying glass away in his pocket. "When Aron came in here to warn us about the Team Archaic members his friends had captured, he seemed a little worried. That's when we realized some innocent trainers must've been caught up in the mess. Our little setup was a little flawed I suppose. Seems that Onix got involved, huh?"

Bonnie frowned, looking up as Roxanne came forward to join her. "You mean...you set a trap for Team Archaic?" she asked, suddenly realizing why the entrance had been left open. "You had the Aron ready to capture them?"

"We planned all of it out with Officer Jenny," Sawyer said, opening up his notebook and showing Bonnie some sketches of the cave, with arrows pointing out different places to draw in Team Archaic and where different groups of Aron could be placed. It seemed quite thorough. "We knew they'd be after the fossils, and we knew they'd find a way to get in through different entry points. We have a few other tricks planned for them as well, but we'll see if those are necessary."

"Oh my, you certainly had things worked out quite well," Roxanne murmured, looking over Sawyer's notes. "I had no idea Granite Cave was this complex with its various passageways."

"Sawyer's really smart with this kind of thing," Bonnie said, grinning as she noticed her friend looking embarrassed by the praise. "He knows how to plan everything out." She then looked to Sawyer, gesturing to Roxanne. "This is Roxanne by the way. The Gym Leader from Rustboro City. She decided to travel with me and my friend Clyde." She paused as Roxanne and Sawyer briefly shook hands. "Sawyer was Ash's rival in Kalos," she explained to the Rusboro Gym Leader. "They faced off in the semifinals at the Kalos League. And Steven...well, you know who he is."

"It's very nice to meet you, Sawyer," Roxanne said, nodding to him. "I'm sure you must be quite the trainer to have made it to the semifinals in the Kalos League. And to be Steven's assistant...that is certainly impressive."

"Sawyer's got a good head on his shoulders that's for sure," Steven said with a grin. "He's a great help for this kind of thing." He nodded to the wall behind them. "Actually, Roxanne, from what I hear, you're quite a knowledgeable one yourself. Ever heard of Primal Evolution?"

"Oh yes," Roxanne said, stepping forward and glancing at the wall. "From what I hear, it was part of what led to the events a couple of years ago with Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza."

"Indeed it did," Steven said. "Obviously it's quite similar to Mega Evolution, but I'm very interested in its connection to fossils. As you know, we've found quite a few around here, and with this monument to Primal Evolution here, I wonder if..."

Steven trailed off as he led Roxanne further along the wall, pointing out various things that seemed to be inscribed on it, while explaining what they'd found with the fossils during the excavation. Apparently Sawyer felt it was fine to leave them to it, though, so Bonnie stayed behind with him. She knew Roxanne would share any important details with her later if she needed them.

"So, you're here for your second gym badge?" Sawyer asked, leading Bonnie over to some rocks by where Metagross was waiting and sitting down. Dedenne hopped off of Bonnie's shoulder and went over to join the Iron Leg Pokemon. "Got the Rustboro badge already?"

Bonnie nodded, pulling out her badge case and showing it to him. Sawyer smiled, looking impressed. "I lost the first time," Bonnie explained as she put the case away, "but in our rematch, Dedenne and my Beautifly came through. Roxanne then thought she could be a better teacher for her students if she could get some experience on a journey, so she came with me and Clyde."

"You must've really impressed her," Sawyer said, nodding thoughtfully as he watched Dedenne scurrying over to Aron, who appeared to be heading out to check the passageways again. "So who is this Clyde? You got separated from him when you were attacked?"

Bonnie nodded. "He and I met when I was on my way to Oldale Town. He's not competing in gyms, but he decided to come along. He's with Shauna, the assistant at the Dewford Gym. Rotom should be with them, too."

"Well, from what Steven understood of what Aron said, it sounds as though Onix focused on chasing you two." Sawyer rubbed his neck, looking embarrassed once again. "It was probably a bad idea to get those Aron to team up to attack Team Archaic with that Onix around. It certainly seems to be too protective. It attacked a few members of the excavation crew, too. We're not actually excavating most of the fossils in the cave, but we need to get the known ones out before Team Archaic can get them, so we set up this whole thing to trap them and distract them. We're hoping to protect the more sensitive areas of the cave where the Pokemon live and where the rest of the fossils are. I think that's why Onix is so aggressive."

"Do you mean this excavation is...fake?" Bonnie asked, feeling as though it was a lot of trouble to go through.

"Well, once some of the fossils on the outskirts of the cave were discovered, it was just a matter of time before Team Archaic came," Sawyer said, looking tiredly ahead as though finally fully realizing himself that it was a lot of work just to fool Team Archaic with whatever this scheme was. "Steven already knew of the presence of some of the fossils deeper in the cave and of this area that seems to be devoted to Primal Evolution inscriptions. He wanted to protect the sensitive areas, so he tried to make it seem as though the only fossils were where he was excavating and that he was trying to keep those hidden by only having a few people work there. His Aron was able to get help from the wild ones in here, and the Onix already seemed pretty protective. We tried to get a wild Aggron to help, too, but it seems a bit...lazy."

"Roxanne was guessing that there would be more Team Archaic members in other parts of the cave," Bonnie said, looking over to where the gym leader was talking with Steven. "Do you think they know about your plan?"

Sawyer shrugged. "Steven guessed they would be able to see that there would be more than just the excavation site to look into. That's how we developed the whole thing with the Aron. That Onix is a bit aggressive, and we didn't exactly want it rampaging like it did with you, but...it does seem to be keeping them from doing anything drastic. I have to assume they'll be trying something else, though. That's why we have Aron scouting. My Aegislash is out there, too."

"Hopefully they can help find Clyde, Shauna and Rotom," Bonnie said, sighing as she looked at the ground sadly. "I should've been able to do something so we didn't get separated."

"It's not your fault," Sawyer said, patting Bonnie on the shoulder. "That Onix is pretty scary. I've seen it in action. We'll find your friends, though. Don't worry too much."

As if to make its trainer's point, Sawyer's Aegislash appeared at the entrance to the cavern a moment later, coming to a stop in front of where Metagross and Dedenne were, hovering and staring curiously at the newcomers. It didn't seem too surprised, though, turning to Sawyer fairly quickly. At least, Bonnie didn't think it was too surprised. It was hard to tell with it being a floating sword and shield.

"Did you see something, Aegislash?" Sawyer asked, standing up and approaching his Pokemon. Bonnie got up as well, seeing Roxanne and Steven heading over as they noticed what was going on.

"Slash! Aegiiii!" the Royal Sword Pokemon responded, its sword-like body moving up and down in some sort of nod. "Aegi aegislash!"

"Meta! Metagross!" Metagross then said, almost as though it was translating for Steven, who nodded thoughtfully, his eyes going to Bonnie right away.

"It seems some wanderers have been spotted," he said, looking troubled as Aegislash said a bit more, before Metagross continued.. "Onix wasn't too far away, however. Aegislash informed Aron, but we should head out in case they get in trouble."

"Don't we need to protect this part of the cave?" Bonnie asked. She was glad Steven was willing to help, but she didn't want Team Archaic damaging anything.

"Meta! Metagross!" Metagross said, moving back to hover in front of the inscriptions, as though on guard.

Steven grinned at his partner Pokemon. "Metagross will keep things safe here. Don't worry."

Bonnie didn't argue. She was pretty sure Metagross was pretty much like a small army on his own, and Steven certainly didn't seem concerned about leaving the role of protecting this area to his powerful partner Pokemon. "So where do we go?" she asked, looking to Sawyer and Aegislash.

Sawyer grinned, appearing impressed by Bonnie's determination. He glanced to his Royal Sword Pokemon. "Lead the way, Aegislash!"

And with that, they were off to find Bonnie's missing friends.

Clyde liked to think of himself as brave. Unfortunately, he never seemed to actually act that way when the time came to be brave. It was a problem he'd had long before meeting Bonnie. And now, with her as his companion, he'd allowed himself far too many excuses to leave the bravery to her. He'd had a few moments of course, but the reality was still that Bonnie had been there every time, and without her, he wouldn't have ever been close to having the nerve to fight Team Archaic or save the various Pokemon in danger they'd encountered.

"Clyde! Get your head out of the clouds and run!"

Clyde shook his head as he stared ahead, seeing Shauna and Rotom quite a distance from him, running with everything they had. Well, Shauna was running and Rotom was floating fast, but regardless, they were far ahead of him. He took a nervous look behind him, and he could see why they were so far ahead. There was a very nasty group of Geodude chasing them.

"Dude! Dude! Geodude!"

"Ahhh! Why can't you be like Roxanne's Geodude?!" Clyde yelped as he picked his speed up, Treecko turning back and firing off a Bullet Seed to slow their pursuers. "We didn't mean to step on you! It was an accident, I swear!"

"Duuuude!"

"Dude yourself!"

"Clyde! Just run and keep your eyes forward!" Shauna yelled back, pausing as she turned with her Meditite. "Meditite, hit the ceiling with Focus Punch!"

Clyde wasn't sure what would've happened if he and Treecko had run just a bit slower, but fortunately, they ran just fast enough that when they reached Shauna, Meditite was leaping into the air. The Meditate Pokemon's fist glowed with stored up energy, and he slammed it hard into the ceiling of the passageway they were running along. Clyde heard a loud crack, and he skidded to a stop as he turned to see the damage Meditite had done.

It didn't seem to be a total cave-in, but plenty of damage had been done. Rocks collapsed all around the rushing group of Geodude, blocking them as they tried to get through, and knocking a few of them backwards. Meditite had to hit one back, while Treecko forced two more to retreat with Bullet Seed, but the job seemed to have been done as the final rock fell into place in the path behind them.

"They'll be able to clear that," Shauna murmured, looking over the fallen rocks. "We should keep going."

Clyde nodded, and the two of them quickly took off once more, Rotom floating between them, complaining that he could barely keep up. Fortunately, they didn't need to run quite as fast as they had when the Aron had chased them earlier, or even just now with the Geodude chasing them. They still kept up a fairly good pace, though. They wanted to be as far away from any pursuers as possible. Each had a few bruises from being knocked down a few times by the Aron and Geodude.

When they finally turned a corner and entered into a wide open cavern at the end of another passageway after what must've been about fifteen more minutes of running, Clyde managed to get Shauna to stop so they could rest. She was in better shape than him, but even she was glad to finally stop. The two of them essentially collapsed on a couple of rocks nearby. Treecko and Meditite seemed just as exhausted. Rotom, however, floated around to investigate the cavern, despite his earlier complaints. Clyde supposed the PokeDex didn't get tired in the same way.

"I hope I never see an Onix, an Aron or a Geodude ever again," Shauna muttered a couple of minutes later, the two of them finally catching their breath. "These ones are super...mean."

"I've always kind of liked Aron," Clyde murmured, sitting up and staring around the cavern absentmindedly. His eyelids felt heavy. All this running had really tired him out. "They've always seemed like good Pokemon for archaeologists."

Shauna sat up as well after hearing that, looking at him in confusion. "Archaeologists?"

"Yeah," Clyde said distractedly, watching as Rotom snapped a few pictures of the cave walls, approaching a large, jagged boulder. "My parents have always been into fossils, and my mom used to take me to museums all the time. Apparently archaeologists use Aron a lot for digging up fossils and going through caves like this."

"Hmm." Shauna looked thoughtful as she scanned their surroundings. "I wonder if those Aron could've been part of the excavation crew. Maybe they were just keeping us away from Steven."

"Maybe," Clyde said, shrugging. "I think that Onix just wanted to attack us, though."

"It certainly seemed like a nasty one," Shauna agreed with a shiver.

Clyde rubbed his arms uneasily, remembering how close they'd come to being trapped by that Onix. It had gone after Bonnie and Roxanne, but before that, it had nearly gotten Clyde and Shauna. "I hope they're okay," he whispered, thinking of his friends." He watched as Rotom floated in front of a boulder, snapping a picture. He seemed cautious for some reason.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Shauna said, smiling reassuringly. "Bonnie's too stubborn to get hurt, and Roxanne knows rock types better than anyone."

Clyde nodded, supposing that was true. He was about to answer, but just then, he noticed Rotom slowly backing away from the boulder, almost as though he was scared. "Rotom?" he asked. "What are you doing?"

"Zzt!" Rotom said in a quiet voice, which really wasn't that quiet. "I don't believe this is a regular boulder!"

Clyde frowned, standing and slowly moving forward as the PokeDex floated over to hide behind him. Treecko, sensing something was wrong, quickly hopped over to see what was happening. A moment later, Shauna joined them. As they approached the "boulder", Clyde could see that Rotom was right. In fact, Clyde was pretty sure he saw it moving. His eyes widened as he realized something.

"Rotom," he whispered, looking back at the nervous PokeDex, "did you analyze the picture you took of this thing?"

"Zzt!" Rotom's screen flashed, showing the picture he'd taken. A moment later, a loading screen popped up, before flashing a picture of what looked like a menacing two-legged Pokemon with a stony-grey body that seemed plated like armour, its head appearing like a steely horned helmet. "Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokemon. Aggron is very protective of its environment. It will sometimes claim an entire mountain as its territory. It is known to mercilessly attack those who harm its environment."

Clyde stared blankly at Rotom, the PokeDex not seeming to realize what it had just said. A moment later, though, both of them turned to what they now knew was Aggron. Shauna was already starting to back away. Unfortunately, it looked like it was too late. What they had first assumed to be a boulder, was now moving, turning over so that a face was now visible. Then, two blue eyes opened to stare at them.

"Um...Aggron..." Clyde said, now freezing up in fear. He was sure his heart was stopped, or perhaps it was beating too fast to notice. Either way, he was terrified.

"Clyde," Shauna whispered, voice shaking, "I think we might need to run again."

"Zzt! I think that might be a good-"

"Agg...ron."

Clyde jumped at the sudden noise from the Pokemon, but suddenly, he realized he didn't have much reason to be afraid. The noise Aggron had made...was simply a yawn. It was just tired. Clyde almost laughed at how strange it was as the menacing looking Pokemon gave them one last disinterested look, before rolling over and continuing to sleep.

"Um...what just happened?" Shauna asked, looking to Clyde and Rotom in confusion. "Is it sick?"

"Zzt! I believe this is just a lazy Aggron!" Rotom said, sounding almost excited as he floated over to the Iron Armor Pokemon to snap a picture. Clyde wasn't so sure that was wise, even if Aggron was lazy, but apparently it wasn't enough to wake it. "I must add this to my data!"

"I guess this Aggron doesn't have anything to do with those Aron," Clyde murmured, looking curiously at the Pokemon that had frozen him in fear moments before. "It's a bit of a shame, actually. It could come in handy having a Pokemon like Aggron helping out against Team Archaic."

"That Onix should be more than capable," Shauna said, laughing nervously.

"Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on our side either." Clyde sighed, looking down at his Treecko, who looked relieved that he wasn't being asked to fight Aggron now that it was sleeping again. "I wonder if the other Pokemon steer clear of this area because of this Aggron. Or maybe it just goes to the quieter areas and manages to avoid them. We might be safe here for the time being."

Shauna shrugged, turning around now that it seemed their threat of danger was gone for the moment. "If you're wrong about that, we can't exactly expect this guy to help us. It's probably still best we look for Bonnie and Roxanne."

"I guess so," Clyde said, nodding as he looked around the cavern. There were two passageways, including the one they'd entered through. If they took the other one, they would be heading away from where they'd been attacked, but he had no idea what else they might run into. "Where do you think we should go?"

Shauna seemed just as clueless, staring between the two passageways and tapping her foot absentmindedly. "Maybe we should..." She paused, turning towards the passageway opposite the one they'd entered from. "Did you hear that?"

Clyde looked at her in confusion, but a moment later, his eyes widened, and he took a nervous step backwards. "Yeah...should we be run-"

"Ar! Ar ar ar!"

Both Clyde and Shauna jumped about three feet in the air as an Aron came running into the cavern, skidding to a halt as it entered. It looked excited, staring towards the sleeping Aggron, before turning to Clyde and Shauna, actually looking surprised to see them. It almost looked as uneasy as them, appearing hesitant as it eyed the rest of the area. Clyde wondered if it was looking for any traps.

"Arrr! Ar!" it then barked out. It sounded angry, but Clyde didn't get the impression it was actually very aggressive. It just seemed to want an answer. Perhaps it was simply wondering why they were there.

"I don't think this Aron is from the earlier group," Clyde said. "I don't think he'll hurt us."

"If you say so..." Shauna whispered,, still appearing hesitant as Clyde took a few steps forward towards the Aron, before kneeling in front of it. "Be careful."

Clyde, for some reason, felt he didn't need to worry too much. Treecko didn't seem too worried either, joining Clyde as he knelt down in front of the Aron. It narrowed its eyes, looking between Clyde and the sleeping Aggron, but it didn't move. It was as uneasy as Clyde had been moments before, so he made sure to appear as non-threatening as possible. As tough as he wanted to be otherwise, he felt he was doing a good job of that.

"Hey Aron," he said, smiling as he looked at the Iron Armor Pokemon, "we're pretty friendly. I promise. We came to this cave because we saw some bad guys entering it. We got chased by some Pokemon who must've been scared we were part of their group, and we ended up here. We found that Aggron sleeping. Is he your friend?"

"Ar aron!" Aron said, nodding in answer. He didn't seem surprised by Clyde's comments, so he must've known about the other Aron, even if he wasn't part of their group. "Ar?" he barked out questioningly, jumping up on his back legs and holding up is front ones. Clyde didn't quite understand, but Treecko clarified by signalling the number two and gesturing outside.

"Our friends? You're asking about our friends?" Clyde looked back to Shauna, noticing she had come closer, leaning forward excitedly. Clyde turned back to Aron, smiling as it nodded. "Bonnie and Roxanne are their names. I'm Clyde, and this is Shauna," he quickly said, properly introducing himself. "Do you know where we can find them?"

"Ar..." Aron looked nervous, bowing his head a moment. "Ar ar ar!" he then barked again, looking a little more anxious. He jumped back on his back legs again, looking like he was trying to act intimidating.

Clyde was pretty sure he understood this time. "You're worried about that Onix?"

Surprisingly, Aron seemed hesitant about his answer, though. He nodded, but it was almost as though he was simply agreeing. He then tried to clarify, heading over to the wall of the cave and tapping at it with his front legs, as though using a hammer. "Ar!" he said, going back on all fours and turning to Clyde.

"You've seen Team Archaic?" Aron nodded, and Clyde stood up, looking nervously to Shauna, who had her fists clenched. She was ready to fight. More ready than he was. "Do they have a lot of people with them?'

Aron looked like he was thinking about it for a moment, but then he nodded. "Ar! Ar ar!" He looked to Aggron, who was actually watching them tiredly. It didn't seem angry, but clearly it wasn't interested in their presence. "Ar!"

"I see..." Clyde murmured, nodding to himself. "You wanted Aggron to help you."

"Ar!" Aron barked, seeming frustrated. It certainly didn't appear as though Aggron would be helping.

"Well..." Clyde took a deep breath, gathering as much courage as he could. "I guess we can try to help you."

"Ar?"

"But first...you need to give me a minute. I'm still nervous about that Onix."

Butch sighed, feeling frustrated as he cleared away a bit of rubble from where he'd been working, finding no sign of any fossils. He and Cassidy had been working almost nonstop since being sent to this area of the cave, and neither had seen any sign of fossils. It almost seemed as though they were simply just doing work to keep themselves busy, with some of the Pokemon around them being tasked with pushing rocks in place to fill in the holes they'd dug while excavating and essentially undoing the work they'd been doing.

"Have you seen any sign of Steven while we've been here?" Cassidy asked as they finished up pushing some rocks out of their way to start digging in a new area. "I was under the impression we were being sent to his main excavation site."

Butch shook his head, understanding her frustration. "Seems like not much is here. Maybe Team Archaic doesn't need to be here after all."

"I find that quite hard to believe," Smeargle murmured, making his way over to them alongside Raticate. "It seems quite clear to me that there is a bit of...misdirection going on with this excavation. Perhaps there were some fossils found here at some point, but the Champion is very clearly hiding the prime location. Perhaps it's not even in regards to Team Archaic's interests, but rather to keep some poor fool from being crushed by that raging Onix we've been hearing about. Either way, this is obviously a waste of our efforts."

Cassidy looked conflicted as she listened to the Painter Pokemon, but she nodded and quietly murmured her agreement a moment later. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. We need to find out where the real stash is. I'm sure Zinnia's got crew members looking throughout the cave. We'll just be part of the group that's investigating."

Butch wasn't so sure about that part of the plan. "Should we really be interfering with Zinnia's orders? She wanted us on this excavation crew."

"Where's your fighting spirit, Butch?!" Cassidy snapped. "You've gone soft lately."

"I'm not soft!" he hissed back, narrowing his eyes. "I'm just not an idiot. You're the one that's always complaining about Viktor. We screw up Zinnia's plans, and guess who we continue reporting to."

That seemed to get through to Cassidy, and she frowned, folding her arms in frustration. "I still think it's ridiculous to stay here and do pretty much nothing."

"Well, unless something happens to get us out of here, it looks like we're stuck for awhile," Butch muttered, turning around and picking up a pickaxe so that he could begin work again. "I think I'd even settle for that Onix coming here right now. At least that would-"

Crack!

"Dude!"

Butch's eyes widened as he looked at the cave wall in front of him, seeing his pickaxe buried in the rock, a large crack forming around it. Just through the crack, however, an angry eye stared back. A moment later, a fist burst out of the wall, grabbing ahold of Butch's pickaxe, and throwing it to the ground. As he stared at the tool in shock, the Pokemon that had grabbed it burst out of the wall, looking enraged at its hiding place being disturbed.

"You moron!" a worker nearby yelled to Butch. "Didn't you get told to watch where you were digging? There are tons of Geodude around here!"

"Look out! There's more of them! They're furious!"

Butch could see that whoever had yelled that time was right. He looked around, panicked, as more Geodude emerged from he wall, the gaps and cracks around where he'd begun his digging seeming to explode with the rock types. Smeargle and Raticate were already being attacked, each darting away while Cassidy looked furiously at Butch.

"Now look at what you've done!" she yelled. "You think Zinnia will like this?!"

"Well now we have a chance to get out of here!" Butch shouted back, ducking as a Geodude aimed a punch at his head, narrowly missing. "You wanted to find Steven? Well here's our chance to go and find Steven!"

Cassidy actually smirked at that, nodding despite being forced to leap back as another Geodude rushed at her. Butch didn't know if she was pleased with the excuse they now had, or at the sight she now saw in the rest of the excavation area as more and more Geodude flooded into the passageways. It seemed like they weren't the only members of the crew being attacked now.

"If we're going, then let's bloody well go!" Smeargle yelled out, ducking behind Raticate as a Geodude turned its sights on him. Fortunately for the Painter Pokemon, Raticate managed to send the rock type flying back with a Skull Bash.

"Right!" Cassidy yelled, taking a quick look around, eyes locking on a passageway to their right. "That way!"

Butch nodded, ignoring the voice in his head that reminded him that this passageway was off limits after a worker had heard sounds of what was assumed to be Onix coming from this direction. He supposed it didn't matter at this point. If they saw Onix, perhaps it would keep the Geodude away at the very least. He didn't want to think of what that would mean, though.

Fortunately, Smeargle and Raticate were able to quickly follow Butch and Cassidy through the passageway. Unfortunately, however, a good deal of Geodude followed as well. It seemed as though a few of Steven's crew tried to join, but they were sent fleeing the other way as more Geodude flooded the area. Even though Butch knew he and Cassidy were there to steal from those people, he was a little disappointed they wouldn't be able to help his group at this point. They would have to fare against the Geodude alone unless they came across their fellow Team Archaic members.

"How many do you think are chasing us?!" Cassidy called out to Butch as they turned a corner. It was an attempt to lose a few Geodude, and it didn't seem to work.

Butch didn't bother looking back, just remembering the crowd of the rock types pushing into the passageway after them. "Too many to fight, that's for sure."

Cassidy just snorted. She seemed to be hiding her worry, but Butch knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be freaking out. She may have liked the idea of getting out of their dead end predicament with Steven's excavation crew, but getting chased by a group of enraged Geodude wasn't exactly a pleasant alternative.

"We might have something that can help us," Smeargle called out a moment later, just as they rounded another corner. He and Raticate had managed to catch up to them.

"What's that?" Butch asked, forcing himself to take a cautious look back. They had a decent lead on the Geodude, but they were quickly coming around that last corner.

"I can hear something up ahead!" the Painter Pokemon yelled. "It sounds like people."

Butch frowned, not hearing anything. Cassidy seemed to have noticed something however, eyes widening as she looked ahead. Butch followed her gaze, seeing a light up ahead where the passageway seemed to open up to another wider area of the cave. There were shadows by the entrance, and for a brief moment, Butch did think he could hear faint traces of voices, just as the Geodude behind him quieted down a moment, briefly pausing as they noticed the light up ahead.

Then, a moment later, Zinnia emerged at the end of the passageway.

"Ah," she said, sounding pleased. "I see that false excavation site has proven a failure. No matter." She laughed. "Come...we have visitors."

"How do you know your way around this cave? Have you guys been here long?" Bonnie asked Sawyer, looking around at the cave walls as she and the others followed along behind Aegislash. Roxanne and Steven were a little ways behind, talking about fossils, while Bonnie and Sawyer stayed ahead to keep an eye on what was in front.

"Steven's spent a lot of time here over the years," Sawyer said, grinning as he noticed Bonnie's confused looks at the very similar looking cave walls all round. "I've joined him a few times to investigate those inscriptions and a few others like them, and my notes have helped me get a good idea of where to go. We can still get lost, though, It's a pretty big place. Luckily the Pokemon have a better sense of where to go."

"Your Aegislash certainly seems comfortable," Bonnie said, nodding as she watched the steel and ghost type pausing up ahead, waiting for them. "Do you think it'll be able to warn us if that Onix is around?"

Sawyer shrugged. "That Onix has managed to surprise quite a few. All the warning anyone seems to get is the ground shaking before it shoots out and attacks. I guess it's a pretty effective guardian for the cave that way. According to Steven there used to be an Aggron that patrolled the cave as well, but it lost interest and just hides and sleeps."

"Probably a good thing for us," Bonnie muttered, glancing back as Roxanne and Steven picked up their pace to match hers and Sawyer's. "We wouldn't have been able to escape two scary Pokemon like that."

"I don't know..." Roxanne murmured, looking thoughtfully around as they walked. "I have a feeling that Onix is just misunderstood. It's just protecting its home after all. I don't think it would've hurt us without finding out what we were doing there."

Bonnie wasn't so sure, remembering the enraged looking rock type as it roared at them. She didn't argue, though, simply shrugging as they continued walking. It wasn't too long before they approached a split in the passageway, where Aron was waiting for them, looking anxious to be moving. It quickly rushed over to Steven as Aegislash waited by the diverging passageways.

"Ar! Ar ar ar!" Aron barked as Steven knelt down to listen to it. Bonnie found it incredible how well he seemed to understand his Pokemon. She'd seen Ash do the same sometimes, and she herself could sometimes understand Dedenne, but Steven seemed like he heard Aron as though it was speaking his language.

"Hmm," the Champion said, looking concerned as he looked up at the two passageways. "It seems as though something is going on. Lots of wild Pokemon are becoming agitated, so Team Archaic must've increased their efforts. The good news is that your friends seem to have been spotted, and they were okay."

"Where are they?" Bonnie asked quickly, looking between Steven and Aron excitedly.

Steven smiled, seeming to understand her urgency. "Close, I think. Aron just didn't want us rushing in. Lots of wild Pokemon around, and even though many know me, Team Archaic has them angered. We need to be careful."

"Is Team Archaic close as well?" Roxanne asked, looking ahead with narrowed eyes.

"I believe so," Steven murmured. "Someone higher up in their organization seems to be involved with this mission. They seem a little better organized than I expected they would be. Our diversion with the excavation seems to only have delayed them and lost them a few of their lower level members to our Aron team."

"We'll be able to beat them, though, won't we?" Bonnie said, clenching her fists in determination.

Steven chuckled at that, grinning at Sawyer, who looked equally amused. "Yes, we'll be able to beat them. We just won't underestimate them."

With that, Steven gave a small nod to Aron, and the Iron Armor Pokemon joined Aegislash at the head of the group. The two steel types paused a moment, appearing to listen for signs of any trouble in the passageways, before heading down the one on the right. Bonnie and the others quickly followed, keeping quiet as they moved.

Bonnie felt more and more agitated and anxious as they followed Aegislash and Aron. Part of it was that the passageway they were going down was a bit darker, so every noise made her a bit jumpy, but mostly it was knowing the danger her friends were in. The angered wild Pokemon were scary enough. She'd already had experience with that. She was more worried about Team Archaic, though. If they had members from higher up, they were definitely more dangerous than if it was just members like Butch and Cassidy. Even those two could cause a lot of damage.

As they walked on, her nerves did calm down somewhat, though, which was fortunate, as a rumbling in the ground could be felt after a few minutes. Bonnie wasn't sure if it was Onix, the Aron, other wild Pokemon or even Team Archaic. What she was sure of, however, was that it wasn't good. She could sense the tension in the others, and Steven in particular being concerned did make it clear something was wrong. He still remained calm, though, which helped the rest of them.

Eventually, a brighter section of the cave appeared up ahead, and even though Bonnie didn't hear anything new, Aegislash and Aron stopped ahead of their group. Steven moved ahead to join the two Pokemon, looking as though he was waiting for something. He paused as he reached them, holding up a finger to signal for Bonnie and the others to remain quiet a moment. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, kneeling down and placing his hand on the ground.

"They're up ahead," he whispered, looking back, eyes going to Sawyer. "This section is fairly close to where that Aggron had set up its den, wasn't it?"

Sawyer nodded, tapping his notebook which apparently held the evidence for the answer to that question. "Why is that important? Do you think they've captured it?"

"No...just wishful thinking I suppose." Steven stood up, wiping the dust from the ground off of his hand. "Pokemon have been moving around here. I think there was a chase, but I fear Team Archaic might've shown a little more force than expected. There are signs of them having fled in the opposite direction."

"How can you tell?" Bonnie asked, stepping forward and looking at the ground Steven had studied momentarily.

"Just experience in caves," Steven said with a laugh. "Aron has helped me learn over the years, too."

"Ar!"

"Do you think that Onix was part of the group that was scared off?" Roxanne asked, stepping forward as well, appearing concerned.

Steven shook his head. "Put your hand on the ground and stay quiet."

Roxanne frowned, clearly not sure what Steven was telling her to do that for, but she did so nonetheless, kneeling down and placing her palm on the ground. A moment later, her eyes widened. "I see..."

Bonnie quickly knelt down as well, placing her own palm down on the ground to see what this was about. Dedenne hopped off her shoulder, apparently wanting to check as well. A moment later, Bonnie felt it. There was a very soft rumbling, similar to the larger rumbling she felt earlier. Something was moving underground. Moving in a way to stay hidden, she realized.

"I think Onix is on our side for this one," Steven whispered, looking towards Roxanne. "Do you think you can get your rock types to help make sure to convince it just in case?"

Roxanne nodded, standing up a moment later and opening two pokeballs. Nosepass and Geodude emerged a moment later. She quickly whispered to them, telling them to keep an eye out for Onix and try to keep it from harming them. They seemed a little uneasy with the task, but nodded.

"All right," Steven said, once it appeared everyone was ready, "I'm pretty sure they're close. They may even be expecting us, or at least me. I'll deal with whoever is in charge. I don't expect it will be too large a group given that Onix and the other wild Pokemon rounded up many of the stragglers and they'll have wanted to be careful about being efficient and unnoticed until this point."

Bonnie felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness as Steven prepared them. He was putting a lot of faith in her. Of the four of them, she was the least experienced. Did he really think she could handle what could be a very dangerous attack by Team Archaic? She wasn't so sure herself. She'd barely dealt with Butch and Cassidy up to this point.

"Nene!" Dedenne whispered in her ear suddenly, after scurrying back up to her shoulder. "Denene!"

Bonnie couldn't help but grin at her partner Pokemon, nodding in understanding. "We can do this. You're right, Dedenne!"

Steven smiled as he looked at the two of them. "That's the spirit!" He then exchanged a nod with both Sawyer and Roxanne, before turning towards the end of the passageway. "Let's go."

As they slowly made their way further down the passageway, towards the brighter area at the end of it, Bonnie tried to listen for sounds. Unfortunately, now her ears were ringing with the anticipation of battle. She also tried to feel for the movement of Onix, or whatever Pokemon was underground, under her feet. Without pausing to focus on it, though, she couldn't tell if she was imagining certain rumbles or not.

Eventually, she did manage to steady her breathing and her ears stopped ringing, just as they were nearing the end of the passageway. That was when she heard the first sounds. They were voices, and it sounded as though there was a heated conversation occurring. That seemed to throw Steven off a bit, and he held his hand up, signalling for their group to wait. A moment later, he slowly moved forward, Aron shuffling along with him.

Bonnie and the others waited a moment, noticing Steven rushing forward to hide behind a rock in the open area out front of the passageway. It seemed they were a little farther up than whoever was talking, and a small path in front of Steven led down towards them. That made it easier for him to hide, and a moment later, he motioned for everyone to move forward and join him.

Bonnie nearly jumped out immediately upon seeing what was happening.

Down below, she quickly recognized Butch and Cassidy. They were standing behind a woman with black hair and white cape, a Whismur at her side. She seemed to be in charge, with Butch and Cassidy looking to her as she commanded the room. Three other Team Arcahaic members were there as well, although Bonnie didn't get the impression they were particularly important, with the three of them actually seeming to look to Butch and Cassidy as though they were the superior ones. It was actually somewhat amusing to see that.

What had Bonnie ready to attack right away, however, were the people a few feet in front of the woman. Clyde and Shauna appeared to be backed into a corner. Meditite and Treecko were in front of them in a defensive posture. It seemed a wild Aron had joined them as well, as it was with the two other Pokemon in a protective position. Rotom appeared to be hiding behind Clyde, periodically floating a little out to the side to see what was happening.

"So," the woman in charge then said, bringing Bonnie's focus back to her, "you expect me to believe you haven't seen Steven or his secret excavation site? According to these two," she said, gesturing to Butch and Cassidy, "you're companions of that girl with the Dedenne. If she isn't with you, she must be with Steven. I suspect you were sent to find something, but were unfortunately stopped by my colleagues here." At that, she gestured to the other three Team Archaic members.

"I already told you," Clyde said, sounding pretty frustrated, "we got separated earlier by an Onix attacking us. I have no idea where Bonnie is. We were looking for her when we ran into you guys."

The woman sighed, looking uninterested. Clearly she felt Clyde was lying. Bonnie could actually understand why. They had come to see Steven after all. "Let's say you're telling the truth," the woman continued. "Did you find anything...different anywhere in this cave?"

Clyde shifted uncomfortably and Bonnie winced as he looked at Shauna, who was doing a much better job of keeping a straight face. "We didn't see anything," he murmured, looking down at the Aron in front of him, who looked nowhere near as sure of itself as Steven's.

"Zinnia...would you like us to check it out for you?" Cassidy then asked, looking excited at the prospect of impressing the woman in charge.

Zinnia, Bonnie thought, looking to Dedenne. So that's her name. We'll need to be careful of her in the future.

"We'll deal with that later," Zinnia murmured, turning around and smiling. "We have some more guests."

Fortunately, Steven wasn't as dumbstruck by Zinnia's observant nature as Bonnie, Sawyer and Roxanne. He emerged from behind their hiding place in a flash, throwing out a pokeball and ordering an attack immediately. Bonnie was vaguely aware of Zinnia doing the same, but she was too stunned to take it all in, her gaze staying on Steven.

"Skarmory, Aerial Ace!" he shouted, the light from the pokeball dimming as the steel and flying type Pokemon burst down towards the Team Archaic member.

"GooooDRA!"

Bonnie jumped as she heard the sound that she had come to be excited hearing during her time travelling with Ash. She finally focused on the battle, standing to get a better look, and saw Steven's Skarmory rushing towards what appeared to be Zinnia's chosen Pokemon, which was a Goodra that appeared not to be nearly as friendly as Ash's.

The two Pokemon clashed with resounding force, shaking the cave walls ferociously with the shock wave that blasted outwards. Fortunately, it appeared as though Steven's Skarmory did have the edge. Goodra managed to hold off the steel type a moment, but after another push, it was sent falling backwards, forcing a frowning Zinnia to step back a few paces.

"Come on!" Sawyer called out to Bonnie, taking the chance to rush out, his Aegislash in front of him. "Let's help your friends."

Bonnie nodded, quickly following Sawyer, while Roxanne joined behind her. Steven stayed up top, taking advantage of the vantage point from up high to command his Skarmory, but Sawyer managed to find a narrow path to the side that led down, managing to keep them out of harm's way with the battle now raging. As they descended, however, Butch and Cassidy quickly noticed them, rushing to meet them. Bonnie cursed them silently, looking anxiously over to where Clyde had been, but only noticed Shauna and her Meditite, the two of them fighting the three unknown Team Archaic members Bonnie had seen earlier. Rotom was hiding behind a rock behind her.

Butch and Cassidy were quick to bring Bonnie's attention back to them, though, their Sableye and Mightyena emerging in front of them. Their Smeargle and Raticate stayed just behind, looking as though they were ready to cut off an attempted escape. Bonnie didn't care about that, though. She had no intention of running.

"Sableye, use Shadow Claw!" Cassidy ordered as she took in her opponents. Roxanne seemed to be covering Bonnie and Sawyer from pieces of rubble raining down from Skarmory and Goodra's battle, her Nosepass and Geodude quickly moving up to deflect a falling rock, so Bonnie readied herself to fight side by side with Sawyer.

"Mightyena, use Iron Tail!" Butch followed up, sneering at Bonnie and Sawyer as they moved to respond. Bonnie had no need to. Not yet at least.

"Aegislash, block with King's Shield!" Sawyer ordered quickly, smirking as his steel and ghost type drifted forward.

Bonnie's eyes widened as Aegislash placed itself in front of the oncoming attacks, but she smiled instantly as she remembered Sawyer's battle with Ash back in the Kalos League. King's Shield had been one of the trickiest things for Ash to get around. Butch and Cassidy were about to see why.

Sableye and Mightyena lunged forward with their attacks, but just as they were about to reach Aegislash, a barrier shot up between them. Sableye's purple, shadowy claw, and Mightyena's glowing tail struck the barrier with full force, shaking the ground beneath them with the effort. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't all. Butch and Cassidy seemed to realize it quickly, eyes widening as the glow around each of their Pokemon's attacks seemed to dim as their power was slightly drained.

"Not only does King's Shield stop your attack, but it also weakens your attack power," Sawyer explained, smiling as Bonnie cheered in delight.

"Well done, Sawyer!" Roxanne called out to him, once again ordering Geodude and Nosepass to protect them from a falling piece of rubble from a Dragon Pulse deflecting off a Steel Wing from Steven's battle. "That's an excellent strategy. I-"

"OOOAAAWWW!"

Bonnie nearly leaped out of her skin as the wall behind her exploded. If it wasn't for Dedenne, she might've been hit by even more rubble coming their way, but the Antenna Pokemon reacted swiftly, sending out a massive Thunder Shock that deflected the pieces of stone rushing towards them. Meanwhile, the very nasty and angry looking Onix from earlier reared its massive head as it surveyed the area, eyes darting to each of them as it tried to pick a target.

Bonnie didn't think it was safe to assume it would be on their side now, with its angry gaze passing over her again. She looked to Roxanne, remembering that she had hoped to persuade it. But when she looked, Roxanne wasn't there. Her eyes widened, turning in a circle as she looked for the gym leader, calling out to Sawyer to see if he knew where she'd gone.

"There!" he suddenly shouted, pointing to where a pile of rocks had fallen. Geodude and Nosepass were there, each looking shaken as they shook off whatever had hit them. They were positioned in front of something, though, guarding it. Bonnie's eyes widened as she realized what it was.

"Roxanne!" Bonnie rushed towards her friend, ignoring Onix's roars behind her. It seemed Roxanne was moving, but she was clearly dazed, a rock likely having hit her head. Bonnie reached her in an instant, hearing Dedenne using Thunder Shock once more, this time to deflect a Dazzling Gleam attack from Sableye.

"I'm okay," Roxanne murmured, rubbing her head where she'd been hit. "Don't worry, Bonnie." She squinted, looking up at Onix. Bonnie followed her gaze, seeing Onix looking around with rage, seeing the cave receiving more and more damage as the various battles continued. It wasn't only Steven and Zinnia's battle, but Shauna's as well, and Sawyer was now busy fighting off Butch and Cassidy again, with Dedenne's help. "Look Bonnie..." Roxanne whispered as they looked at Onix's distressed eyes, "it just wants...it just wants to protect its home. It's not our enemy. It's here for much the same reason we are. I know I can convince it to help us."

"Maybe," Bonnie said, noticing Onix looking as though it was glaring more towards Team Archaic than her and her friends. She couldn't blame it right now for thinking they were partly to blame, though. They weren't exactly being delicate. "Just be careful," she said, deciding she'd trust Roxanne, who seemed relatively okay now as she stood up.

"I will," the gym leader said, nodding to her Pokemon as they moved back up the path they'd descended down, calling out to Onix to draw it away from Sawyer slightly. Bonnie, meanwhile, turned back to Sawyer's battle, pulling out Beautifly's pokeball. They needed to end this as soon as possible.

"Beautifly, let's rumble!" she yelled, the Butterfly Pokemon emerging with a flash in front of her. It was perfect timing, too, as just then, Sawyer was commanding Aegislash to use Sacred Sword, while Dedenne was dodging a Shadow Claw from Sableye. "Aerial Ace, now!"

"Flyyy!" Beautifly shot forward with the fastest Aerial Ace Bonnie had ever seen from her. It appeared her struggles flying in the ocean air had paid off, because Sableye had no chance to react. The ghost and dark type was struck with full force, crying out in surprise as the Butterfly Pokemon crashed into it, sending it crashing to the ground just behind Mightyena, who was falling to Aegislash's Sacred Sword in the same moment.

"Wow Bonnie!' Sawyer cheered, looking at Beautifly in amazement. "What an awesome Beautifly!"

"It's not that great!" Cassidy sneered, looking furiously at Butch and her Sableye. "Go, use Shadow Claw!"

"Mightyena, Iron Tail!" Butch followed.

Sawyer just laughed, smirking in Bonnie's direction. "Again? Aegislash, use King's Shield!"

"Aegislash!" the Royal Sword Pokemon called out in response, its sword slamming into its sheath behind its shield. Immediately a massive barrier shot up between them and the attacking Pokemon once more, and just as before, Butch and Cassidy's Pokemon struck it and fell back, sagging as their attack power was drained.

"Hmm...you know I find that move kind of interesting." Bonnie's eyes quickly darted to Smeargle, who was smirking as he stepped forward, his tail glowing as he looked at Aegislash. He quickly raised it up, sketching an image of the steel and ghost type in the air in front of him. "I think I might steal it..."

"What?!" Sawyer exclaimed, looking on in shock as Smeargle glowed, the image already fading as he gained his new power. "That Smeargle is like Team Rocket's Meowth..." he said, looking back at Bonnie.

She nodded. "And apparently he's a bit smarter. Can you get around King's Shield?"

Sawyer smiled. "Ash showed us you can get around anything. We can do this."

Bonnie liked that answer, briefly looking back towards Roxanne, who surprisingly hadn't been attacked by Onix. The large rock type actually appeared hesitant to attack, looking anxiously towards the separate fights going on. It seemed conflicted about who was its enemy, and how to protect its home. Roxanne, although appearing nervous to go to close, was saying something to it. Bonnie just hoped it was listening. She trusted Roxanne, though, and turned to deal with what she could handle.

"Dedenne, Thunder Shock! Beautifly, String Shot!"

"Aegislash, Sacred Sword!"

The battle was just getting started.

Clyde wasn't being a coward by running from the battle as soon as he saw Bonnie arriving with the Champion of Hoenn of all people. Well, maybe a bit. But he had a good reason. He felt he did anyway. Besides, Aron had called for him right away. Clearly the Iron Armor Pokemon had needed his help. And Clyde quickly guessed what he'd wanted. They were going to need to be quick about it, though.

"That Aggron better be a little more willing to move," Clyde called out to Aron as they darted through the passageway towards the cavern they'd left the large steel and rock type in. "My friends really need help back there."

"Ar!"

"I hope that was a confident 'Ar!'" Clyde muttered.

He knew this was risky. Clyde had seen the disinterested look in that Aggron's eyes. When he and Shauna had woken it up, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable expectation that it would be mad at them. Instead it had merely glanced at them and gone back to sleep. Then Aron had wanted its help, and it had again seemed disinterested. Clyde and Aron were going to need to show it how desperate they were and hope it had some fighting skills that could help get rid of Team Archaic if it did choose to help.

If it doesn't help us, Clyde thought nervously, that means I left my friends in danger for nothing.

"Ar!" Aron barked ahead of him, and Clyde realized he'd fallen behind a bit. He shook his head, speeding up to catch up to the desperate Pokemon. Treecko kept pace with him, looking up at him in concern.

"If we can get Aggron to help," Clyde murmured to his partner Pokemon, "it could help get Team Archaic out of here. We have to get them out of here. I'm not letting them do this."

Treecko looked a little surprised, and Clyde looked away uncomfortably. He hadn't realized how strongly he felt about it all until just now. He wanted to help, though. Bonnie had the leadership instinct, and Roxanne had the experience, but he needed to be strong as well. He understood loneliness. Maybe Aggron was feeling it. He understood sitting by while others fought. Maybe Aggron would feel as conflicted as Clyde had always felt doing that.

They reached the cavern, and Aron darted inside, not waiting for Clyde. He rushed after it, knowing they needed to hurry. It was now or never. They had no time to gather their courage to face the Pokemon and find the words to convince it. They just needed to get the job done. Clyde's eyes locked on to the Iron Armor Pokemon as soon as he entered, and he quickly headed over as Aron stopped in front of it, barking to wake it up.

Aggron shifted, turning over as it noticed Aron. Clyde could tell by its clear gaze that it had not actually been sleeping. It seemed to be trying to pretend that it had, though, offering a couple slow blinks. It yawned. "Aggron?" it muttered questioningly.

"Ar!" Aron answered, nodding to Clyde.

It was a bit alarming as Aggron turned its gaze to him, but Clyde took a deep breath, ready to try his best to convince the large steel and rock type. "Aggron," he said, "we need you. There are a bunch of bad guys here, trying to harm your home. I saw them chase away a bunch of Geodude and Aron. They're going to do more. They're battling my friends right now. I don't know if we have the power to win. Do you think you can help us?"

Aggron yawned again, blinking slowly. Then, he turned away.

"Aggron please!" Clyde then yelled, stepping forward. Aron barked a warning, but Clyde was desperate now. "I don't know why you keep away from the other Pokemon. I don't know why you're a loner. But guess what? You don't need to be. I know what it's like to be one. I also know what it's like to find friends who care about you. But it goes the other way. You need to care for others too. Your home is in danger. Your friends are in danger. Help them."

"Ar! Ar ar ar!" Aron barked out in agreement, nodding to Clyde in appreciation of those words.

They watched Aggron another moment. He didn't move, and they only saw the rise and fall of his back as he breathed slowly. It seemed he was simply trying to go back to sleep. Clyde couldn't believe it. He clenched his fists and stepped forward once more.

"Aggron!" he yelled again. It didn't move. "Aggron!" Still nothing. Clyde looked helplessly to Aron, who, despite seeming to have known this Aggron was fairly lazy, looked surprised that there wasn't even a sign of guilt over its unwillingness to help. "Come on," Clyde muttered to Aron and Treecko. "Let's go help as much as we can. Hopefully that Onix can do something. Hopefully it can be a real guardian for this place."

They turned away, heading towards the exit to make their way back to the battle. Clyde gave one last look to Aggron. It had turned around to watch them go. Was there a hint of anger in its eyes? Clyde didn't know. It didn't move to follow, though, so Clyde ignored it. They had to get back to their friends. Clyde needed to fight as he'd told Aggron to.

Things had gotten messy.

Zinnia and Steven were now battling with a Salamence and what appeared to be an Armaldo. Skarmory had taken Goodra out of commission eventually, but Steven had been quick to recall it once Zinnia had brought out her Salamence. He was still looking like the stronger battler, but Zinnia was alarmingly capable, and kept up with him very well. She seemed satisfied to delay as much as possible and do as much damage as she could before her and her allies could find a way to get whatever they wanted.

Butch and Cassidy were proving to be much more capable with Smeargle now defending them with his new move. Fortunately, Sawyer knew about King's Shield better than anyone, and he and Bonnie had managed to time their attacks well to get through a few times. It was just taking a long time, and their Pokemon were tiring. Especially Bonnie's.

Roxanne was still preventing Onix from attacking them, which was obviously good. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to want to attack Team Archaic, either. Bonnie almost wished it would go wild again, just to get rid of them, but she was beginning to understand what Roxanne had seen in the powerful rock type. It really was just protecting its home. It was like a guardian to this place. It had only wanted to scare them away before, and not battle and risk harming the cave too much.

"We need to get these guys grouped together," Sawyer said to Bonnie, seemingly reading her thoughts as he looked to her. "Onix may be willing to attack if he can get one good shot."

She nodded, but she wasn't exactly sure how they would do it. "Any ideas?"

"We need Beautifly to lead the charge," he said. "If she can slow their movements with String Shot, we can start driving them back."

"Sounds like a plan," Bonnie murmured, nodding to Beautifly, who had overheard. "Let's do this, Beautifly! String Shot full power!"

As Beautifly got to work, defended from a Shadow Claw by Dedenne using Thunder Shock on Sableye, Bonnie took another glance at the other battles going on. Steven was wearing down Zinnia's Salamence, but again, she was taking her toll on his Armaldo just as she'd done against Skarmory. Bonnie wished Metagross had come with them after all. She was glad, however, to see Shauna taking command of her battle. Her Meditite had knocked out a Houndour and a Poochyena. Only a Skorupi remained.

"Mightyena, Iron Tail now!" Butch then yelled, bringing Bonnie's attention back to her own battle.

Sawyer quickly reacted, noticing Dedenne was busy driving Sableye back as Beautifly hit it with a String Shot in the legs and then the arms. "Aegislash, Sacred Sword!"

"Aegi!" Aegislash cried out, darting forward immediately as Mightyena ran at Beautifly. The blade glowed briefly before slamming into the dark type and sending it flying towards its trainer. Bonnie didn't miss her chance.

"Now Beautifly!"

"Flyyy!" Beautifly cried out, her webs locking Butch and his Mightyena together in a thick web. Sableye was already tied up, struggling to get free. It was fortunate the webs seemed capable of holding a ghost type. Raticate had charged over to help it.

"Dedenne-"

"I don't think so!" Smeargle called out excitedly, darting between Bonnie's Pokemon and Cassidy's, holding up his arms as a barrier began to form. "Thanks again for this fancy little move of yours, notebook boy," the Painter Pokemon called out to Sawyer.

Bonnie gritted her teeth, wishing she had a quick way around Smeargle's King's Shield defence. They'd gotten around it a couple times with Smeargle overusing it, but he'd waited to prevent that happening this time. If only they could get over or under it somehow. Beautifly and Aegislash were too tired to do it quickly, though, and none of Bonnie's Pokemon knew Dig. If only...

"OOOAAAWWW!"

The ground underneath Bonnie shook like a train was speeding along inches underneath her feet. She started to look back, wondering if Onix had lost it, about to attack her and her friends, but instead, all she saw was Roxanne, staring ahead with a big grin on her face. That made Bonnie turn her attention once more to Butch and Cassidy, who suddenly looked very scared.

"OOOAAWWW!" came the roar once again as the ground underneath the two of them and their Pokemon exploded. They were tossed into the air like rag dolls, and Bonnie noticed Smeargle's shiled immediately disappear.

Shauna was the first to take advantage of their vulnerability, seeing Smeargle trying to rise up, the most fortunate of their group as he had been holding up his barrier. "Meditite, High Jump Kick!"

Her Meditite was on the Painter Pokemon in an instant. He leaped over Smeargle as he tried to get away, blocking his escape, before whipping around and landing a kick right on his jaw. Smeargle crashed hard into Raticate as it tried to get up next, and both rolled right into Cassidy, who was trying to pull Butch up. Bonnie and Sawyer quickly made it worse for them.

Before Butch and Cassidy knew it, they were tied up by a very tight String Shot, with sparks dancing along them from a few well placed Nuzzle attacks from Dedenne. The three Team Archaic members Shauna had been fighting were tied up as well. Onix roughly sent them towards the wall, ignoring their muffled shouts of protest. The rock type seemed to be quite pleased with itself, now that it seemed sure of who the enemy was. It was looking to Roxanne quite happily.

"Now for Zinnia," Sawyer murmured as their group turned away from the lower level members to the one in charge. She and Steven had manoeuvred their way further away, with Steven now more on Zinnia's level. Salamence was bruised, and didn't seem to be flying very well, but it seemed like Armaldo was sagging with exhaustion. Bonnie couldn't help but be worried about Zinnia managing to land a powerful blow. She certainly didn't seem concerned about her allies being defeated. Of course, with the intensity in both trainers' eyes, she may not have noticed.

"Zzt! She will be much harder to corner than the others," Rotom called out, finally emerging from his hiding place. He quickly floated over to Bonnie, grabbing onto her shoulder. She almost thought he was hugging her, pleased to see her, but she didn't comment on it.

"Do you think you can trap her, Onix?" Bonnie asked the Rock Snake Pokemon, looking up at its massive head.

Onix narrowed its eyes, looking like it was studying how it should attack, but Roxanne placed her hand on its side. "Zinnia's smarter than that. I have a feeling that Salamence could do some damage, even with Steven fighting it. We'll need to be careful."

"Think we can help?"

Bonnie jumped at the voice, looking over the nearest entrance to the cavern they were in. At the opening to the passageway was Clyde, with that Aron that had been with him before. Behind him were dozens more. She supposed they were the same ones that had helped Steven's Aron before. There even seemed to be a few Geodude with them. "Clyde!' she said happily. "You went to find all those Pokemon?"

"Yeah...sorry I ran, but I figured we needed help. Looks like you did fine without me, though." He looked pretty guilty, but Bonnie felt his little army would be useful even now. "I was hoping another Pokemon would help, but these guys seemed to be willing when we ran into them."

"Ar!" the Aron with him barked, nodding to a few of the ones behind him. Five Aron and a few Geodude quickly rushed over to guard Butch and Cassidy and the others, while the rest remained. The bark also got the attention of Steven's Aron, who nudged its trainer. The Champion quickly glanced over, smirking as he noticed the assembled group.

Zinnia looked over as well, narrowing her eyes. For the first time, she seemed frustrated. Slowly, her gaze went to Bonnie, and for some reason, there seemed to be a strange sense of recognition in her eyes. She seemed a little surprised.

"So...you've taken care of my subordinates," she said. She spoke in a low volume, but everyone could hear her. She suddenly snapped her fingers, and her Salamence took aim at them. Steven cried out, looking alarmed, but it was too late.

Flames burst forth from Salamence's jaws. They launched towards Bonnie and her friends at full speed, and they had nothing in the way to defend against it. Sawyer called for a King's Shield from Aegislash, but he wasn't going to move forward in time.

But then, something was in front of them.

"AAGGGGRROONN!"

The ground shook even more than it did when Onix had burrowed underground. Bonnie and her friends stumbled back, stunned by what had happened. Clyde seemed to be excited, though, cheering as though he knew what had happened. Bonnie supposed it was good, though, as they'd just been saved. But she didn't get why an Aggron was guarding them.

The attack stopped a moment later, and Zinnia stared at them with wide eyes, clearly not having expected the defending Aggron to have arrived. She looked around nervously a moment later. Her Salamence was panting, too tired to do much else now, and Steven's Armaldo was advancing. Aggron and Clyde's Aron army was also moving forward.

"Well..." she murmured, "it appears you've defended your little cave. You haven't heard the last of us, though." She gave Steven a pointed look, before quickly raising her pokeball and recalling Salamence into it. A moment later, she tossed something up. Immediately, smoke poured out of it, plunging the cavern into darkness.

"Beautifly, use Gust!" Bonnie shouted, holding her arm over her mouth.

The Butterfly Pokemon cried out in response, and immediately wind started blowing all around them. The smoke cleared fairly quickly, but Bonnie knew right away Zinnia wouldn't be there once it was all gone. And, as she looked back towards where Butch and Cassidy had been left, she could see they were gone as well. Whatever Zinnia had done, she'd been able to move quickly and get them out in the darkness of the smoke.

"They're gone..." Clyde whispered. "How did they get away so fast?"

"I think I saw her calling out another Pokemon," Steven said, recalling his Armaldo and approaching the rest of the group. "Looked like a flying type. Must've been a pretty fast one."

"She was very strong," Sawyer said, voice shaking from the nervous excitement of the battle. "I couldn't believe her Pokemon were holding up so well against you."

Steven nodded, looking concerned. "If I'd known Team Archaic had trainers like that in their organization..." He frowned, looking like he was lost in thought. He shook his head a moment later, though, eyes going to the Aggron that had come to help at just the right time. "Aggron," he said, "I think we would've been in serious trouble without you."

"That's for sure," Clyde said, smiling at the Iron Armor Pokemon. "Thanks for listening to me, Aggron. I'm glad you came."

"Aggron!" it cried out happily, looking pleased as he accepted the further murmurs of gratitude from the others.

"Oooawww!" Onix then growled, lowering his head, and looking Aggron in the eyes. Bonnie got the impression they knew each other, as Aggron looked away awkwardly, nodding. Onix seemed to smile a moment later, though, growling once more in a more...friendly sounding way. "Oooawww?"

Aggron looked up in surprise. "Aggron?"

Onix nodded, looking to Roxanne, who was watching the exchange curiously. She blinked in surprise as the Rock Snake Pokemon locked eyes with her, though. "What...what is it, Onix?" she asked, frowning.

Steven laughed, looking knowingly at Onix. "I think Onix and I agree on something. You see, before Onix took over with guarding things around here, this Aggron was one of the main protectors of the area. It got a little disinterested and that's when Onix took over. But I think Onix is getting a little older and he'd like to see a little more of the world. It might be time for Aggron to take up his post again."

"Ar!" the Aron that had been with Clyde said happily.

"I've heard about this Aggron," Shauna said. "I remember a lot of Brawly's challengers talking about running into you. This cave could really use you as a leader of its Pokemon."

"Aggron..." Aggron looked a little uneasy, but its eyes went to the little gathered army of Aron that Clyde had brought, along with the few Geodude. Some still guarded the three lower level Team Archaic members that apparently Zinnia hadn't been able to save. They all looked to be in support, nodding to the larger Pokemon. That seemed to seal the deal as he looked to Onix and nodded. "Aggron!"

"Excellent!" Steven said, before looking to the gathered Aron. "And I'm sure your friends there can help you out. We'll need you guys to be on high alert for awhile, but we'll set up some additional help for you." The Aron barked happily in answer, Aggron nodding to confirm he was in support as well.

"But wait," Roxanne then said, looking to Onix. "Why would Onix leave?"

"Zzt! The answer is obvious!" Rotom said, darting forward and floating in front of the Rock Snake Pokemon and snapping its picture. "Onix would like to go with you."

"I think Rotom is right," Steven said. "Onix was good at being the guardian here, but I think it was always meant to head out eventually. I think a rock type expert like yourself would be great for it, Roxanne."

Bonnie nodded in agreement, suddenly excited for her friend. "Yeah Roxanne! Onix would be a great Pokemon for you! You would know how to take care of it better than anyone."

Roxanne still looked surprised, but her eyes drifted up to look at Onix once more, and he smiled back, nodding. "Well," she said, pulling out a pokeball, "in that case, Onix. I would love to be your trainer." She held up the pokeball, and Onix lightly touched it, before he was absorbed into it. The pokeball shook three times, before a soft ding indicated the capture was complete.

"Awesome! Congratulations, Roxanne!" Clyde cheered, smiling at his Treecko. "What a great-"

"Ar! Ar ar ar!"

"Looks like Roxanne's not the only one that's got a Pokemon that was looking for a new trainer!" Shauna said, laughing as the Aron that had accompanied Clyde continued to bark at him, looking straight up at him.

"What? Really? Why?" Clyde looked stunned, and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Clyde!" she said. "That Aron thought you did a really good job getting all its friends here to help us. And Aggron wouldn't have come without you either. Of course it likes you!"

"An Aron is a great Pokemon," Steven pointed out, looking to his own. "They're a determined little Pokemon that's for sure."

Clyde slowly fished a pokeball out, still looking unsure. "I don't know," he said. "Are you really sure about-"

"Ar!"

Clyde's eyes widened as Aron leaped up, quickly headbutting Clyde's pokeball, forcing it to open up, releasing the red light that pulled it inside. A moment later, the pokeball finished the capture. Clyde had just caught his first Pokemon.

"What just happened?" he said, staring at his pokeball on the ground.

"You just got yourself a pretty cool little Pokemon," Shauna said. "Looks like you've got some good training partners to help you get ready for your gym battle now, Bonnie!" she added with a grin.

Bonnie nodded, looking to Beautifly and Dedenne with a confident smile. "We're going to have to make sure we're ready. We've got a lot of training to do." More seriously she added, "We'll need to keep getting stronger if we're going to beat Team Archaic."

Sawyer looked impressed by her words, nodding as she spoke. "We just need to keep gaining experience. That's how we'll all get better."

And what an experience this had been.

Author's Note:

And so, Roxanne and Clyde have some new Pokemon and Team Archaic's plot was stopped. Next up...Bonnie vs Brawly. Got an interesting twist in mind for this gym battle. See you then!