(A/N: Lot of work in real life, but have a free weekend after today. Enjoy the chapter.)
Having met up with Celebi after a long time, Ares's mood was on the better than it had been in a long time, as he slowly made his way down the mountain. He had an easy time going down, finding no cliffs or dangerous slopes he had to go down from. While there was no clear path to be seen, there were more than enough wild life tracks to make it easier to traverse.
The forest was getting denser as he descended past a certain point, making it harder to see the way forward. At this point he was forced to have only Lucario out of his pokeball, something that was not uncommon but still a sore spot for his other pokemon. Umbreon didn't like it, as he was out less than before. He didn't really have a choice though, as the surroundings were dark even during the day, the trees were tightly knit together and the forest floors were getting slippery the more they went down. Less than favorable circumstances, even if the danger was low. One wrong step and it would lead to an slight injury at best, a trip to the hospital not that far off either if he's unlucky.
With Lucario walking in front to point out the safe places to walk on, the way forward had slowed down remarkably, yet without any mishaps. The ground had evened out a bit, as they had reached the valley, but the sight in front of them worsened even more as a dense fog set in. It was even worse than in Lavender town.
They couldn't see where they went, not even their hands were visible. At some point Ares lost sight of Lucario as well. He could still feel Lucario was nearby, but he had no clue as to where he was exactly. His sight was limited to just a few inches in front of him. If he wasn't careful he might just trip.
Shuffling forward ever so slightly while feeling his way around, he tried to regroup with Lucario, who was still close by.
That was when the ground beneath him suddenly gave way.
Trying to grab onto something in surprise, he tumbled down without any preparation, rolling down sharp edged rocks and gravel, his head slamming against the sudden turns of the tunnel he had suddenly found himself falling into.
He had thought of putting up an aura barrier to protect himself, but he wasn't fast enough. The most he could do was brace himself and avoid any big injuries. Covering his head with his arms, he slammed hard against the walls, his body sliding further and further downwards.
From far above him, he could hear Lucario growl in anxiety, the sound getting farther and farther away.
*
*
*
[Wake up...]
[Wake up...!]
[Wake up!]
A loud voice reverberated through his head. Blinking slowly, Ares painfully grabbed his head, groaning as looked around in confusion, a pounding headache dulling his senses. Everything was black, with not a single thing visible.
Feeling around his belt for his pokeballs, he called out Umbreon, who quickly lighted up his surroundings. The sudden influx of light temorarily blinded him, as he winced once more.
Removing his hand from his head, it came back sticky and wet, as blood flowed freely from a gash running along his forehead down his eyebrow towards his temple. If it had been a little lower, it would have injured his left eye, something he luckily had avoided. He had no idea how serious the wound was, but for now he covered it up with some cloth from his bag.
Flying around him all anxiously, Mew looked him over from head to toe, sighing in relief when she didn't see any major injuries.
[Finally you're awake. You worried me sick when you didn't wake up at all!]
Mew sniffled, tugging at his shirt tightly.
Patting Mew comfortingly on her back, Ares took a look at his surroundings.
He was in a wide open space, a wide underground river running through the middle. Far above him he could see a gaping black hole, most likely being the place he had fallen from. It was a miracle he hadn't sustained any serious injuries after a fall from such a height.
[Your aura protected you from most of the harm. Even with such a flimsy barrier. Didn't keep you completely unscathed though.]
Mew muttered, a bit downcast. She had been asleep when he fell. She had been too surprised to react when they were rolling down the hole. She was feeling guilty she hadn't been able to help him at all. Even now, she wouldn't be able to teleport them outside, as she had no clue as to how deep below the ground they were. Teleporting needed certain information, such as distance and visuals of the surroundings. Not something she had at the moment.
Not privy to Mew's thoughts, Ares just kept a look at the underground area. There was a scarce amount of pokemon here. A pokemon called Relicanth was swiming in the river, a small school of them going stream upwards.
A bit farther he spotted pokemon that shouldn't be in this region, let alone timeline. Omanyte, Kabuto and Anorith were moving about. These should be fossil pokemon, ones that were long thought extinct, only available through fossil restoration. Yet here they were, moving about without any worry.
A distant but familiar bark was heard, echooing downwards from the tunnel above him.
Reaching out with his aura, Ares could feel Lucario moving about above him. He moved around a lot, yet with every move he was descending downward.
"Seems like I won't need to move for now. Lucario should be here shortly."
Ares muttered, as he began to take care of himself.
Aside from the gash on his head, his ankle was swollen and his leg was painful to move around. It was definitely sprained, maybe even worse.
Calling out Clefairy, he asked her to heal him. Mew was clinging to him a lot, glaring at any pokemon not on his team that was coming closer to them. Not very helpful at the moment in the healing department.
Clefairy happily took on the task, slowly healing the bruises and his other wounds. As the pain slowly faded to a dull ache, Ares slowly moved his leg around. He could move it for now, but he would definitely need to take slowly for a while. Unfortunately, the gash on his head had been deeper than he had thought, leaving a nasty scar.
"Thanks a bunch, Clefairy."
Ares patted her on the head, returning her to her pokeball soon after.
While Mew and Umbreon were taking over the lookout position, Ares spread his aura once more, letting Lucario know where he was. At once the speed Lucario had been going increased, up to the point a rumble was going through the cave as a hole was blasted through the ceiling. Standing on a floor above them, Ares could see Lucario gazing down at them.
"Oh, good to see you are fine as well."
Ares waved, as Lucario quickly made his way down.
Like an overly concerned parent, Lucario carefully looked him over, breathing a sigh in relief when he didn't spot any injuries. His gaze halted on the recently added scar.
"Oh this. Don't worry about it. Clefairy did an amazing job patching me up."
Placating Lucario, Ares began to walk around, wondering where he should be going from here on out. He had looked himself and his possessions over once, to see if everything was there and still in one piece. Fortunately he had everthing and the egg was still fine as well. Pokemon eggs were surprisingly a lot more sturdy than he once thought.
[Let's follow the river up. It should lead to the sea or a lake.]
Mew added, having regained her jolly nature and floated around.
[Maybe getting another pokemon on your team would be nice. Wild ancient pokemon are of a better quality than those restored from fossils. It is a lot easier to gauge their potential.]
Mew helpfully added as she sat down on his shoulder and pointed upstream.
[Anyhow, let's depart. We don't want to encounter any Aerodactyl.]
Mew giggled.