Chapter Text
Sakura was not lost. He had traveled across the land searching far and wide for the strongest opponents, pokémon and trainers alike, to challenge. He had trained with his team ceaselessly since beginning his journey. While Sakura didn’t have a full team, his riolu and poliwhirl were more than enough. The seven gym badges they had earned proved it.
He was the danger in the tall grass.
So no, Sakura refused to admit that he was lost.
“Dammit!” cried Sakura as he booked it away from his sixth zubat encounter in the past three minutes.
Yelling hadn’t been the smartest move because it drew the attention of nearly a dozen more zubat that had been hanging from some perch that was too far above Sakura’s head to see clearly. They swooped out of the darkness to join up with encounter number six in giving chase. Sakura really hated these damn caves.
It wouldn’t have been difficult to beat the zubat even if they all came at him at once. There was just no damn end to the flapping menaces. Every time Sakura stopped to beat one he’d lose track of which direction he’d been heading. That was why despite having entered the caverns early in the morning he had yet to find his way to the other side. If the complaining of his stomach was anything to go by, it was way past dinner time. Sakura was hungry and directionally challenged and mad. So he had decided to run away from a battle for the first time in his life. Was it giving up? Yes. But it was still infinitely better than using the escape rope he had. Using that would not only be an admission of defeat, it would be an admission of defeat in front of an audience and Sakura would rather fight every zubat in the Makochi Region before letting that happen.
There was a narrow crack in the mossy wall ahead, practically imperceptible in the dark. Sakura wedged himself into it and held his breath. Thankfully the zubat flapped noisily past his damp crevice.
Sakura was about to head back out when his foot caught on a clump of moss. Instead of stepping out to resume his trek, Sakura lost balance and ended up wedged even further in his hiding spot. Already he had his cheek pressed up against the cool surface of the wall while the uneven rock behind him jutted uncomfortably into his back. Now he was in a similar situation only rather than standing solidly on his feet Sakura was in a semi-lunge that was starting to make his thighs burn and still falling further into the crack.
Sakura was beginning to seriously consider using the escape rope when he landed face-first on the other side of the crack. The impact echoed hollowly through the new chamber. It appeared that the zubat cave was connected to a smaller cave by way of the crack. This new cave was still vast but the ceiling was actually visible making it clear that it was entirely zubat-free. Even though he was still lost Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.
Without the constant dread of a zubat encounter weighing him down Sakura was free to examine his accidental sanctuary at his leisure. The cave was carpeted in plush greenery. Little leafy things popped up between the bed of moss at weirdly regular intervals. Sakura didn’t stop to wonder at how all these plants flourished without sunlight. He plopped heavily next to the pool of water to catch his breath. The water looked incredibly clear, like glass, but Sakura couldn’t be entirely sure because the surface was constantly rippling as droplets fell from a cluster of stalactites near the center of the pool. He wondered if the water would taste as magical as it looked but he had enough common sense not to test it out.
Suddenly reminded of his dry throat, Sakura rummaged through his pack for his water. The first sip was bliss. When he went back for another Sakura was interrupted by something crawling into his lap.
“Hugk!” Sakura choked, spraying water everywhere.
Sakura stared down at the audacious bastard that had snuck up on him. It was a spiky but round… baby? He had seen a lot of things during his travels but Sakura had never encountered a pokémon quite as helpless-looking as the thing currently nuzzling into his stomach. It looked like it probably made little squeaky noises when it walked. Cautiously, Sakura loosened his fists, which had instinctively gone into a fighting position. The now crushed water bottle fell noisily beside him.
The bastard rolled happily in Sakura’s lap trilling like a baby. Sakura had gone so red he was almost purple. What the hell was this pokémon? It was too weak and cute to be wandering alone in the zubat-infested caverns. More importantly, why was it using Sakura as a playground? Didn’t the thing have an ounce of self-preservation? The look in Sakura’s eye typically worked better than any repel to keep the small-fry off his case. But this… baby? Because everything about this cheeping egg screamed baby. This baby was falling asleep on his lap. Sakura felt like he might pass out too.
“Togepi,” called a breathless voice somewhere behind Sakura. “If you eat all the berries again you won’t be getting dessert tonight!”
Sakura cradled the tiny pokémon to his chest protectively as he stood. Adrenaline from his earlier escape was still pulsing through his veins making it a challenge to piece together the meaning behind the words. All he knew was that someone was here and people, trainers, were never good news. His other arm came up ready to swing. “Can I help you?” The way he growled the words made it clear that it was a threat rather than an actual question.
The two stood there for a moment, their reflections blurred in the pool beside them. Sakura gave his most aggressive stare while the newcomer blinked back stupidly in surprise. In this world, eye contact was grounds for a pokémon battle but neither trainer moved towards their poké balls. Sakura had encountered pokémon thieves in the wild and they only seemed to get the message to change their ways when he convinced them with his fists. This guy in the bowels of the mountain could have been one of them. The pokémon had started softly trilling in its sleep. Sakura wasn’t about to let anyone bother it.
The guy was slow to recover from his surprise. Despite Sakura’s menacing aura the guy simply ran a dirt covered hand through his hair looking mildly embarrassed. “Ah, hope Togepi didn’t cause you any problems!” As he drew closer Sakura was able to make out streaks of soil left behind in the man’s otherwise colorless hair. “He’s normally pretty shy but it looks like he warmed up to you right away!”
The man walked right up to Sakura with no regard to Sakura’s fighting stance. He cooed and wiggled a grubby finger at the sleeping pokémon in Sakura’s arm. The spike ball woke up immediately and started making a noise awfully similar to a baby’s laughter. Sakura stood transfixed. The ball, Togepi, rolled out of Sakura’s grip and padded off to the plants.
“It’s my first time running into anyone down in this part of the cave,” the man said to Sakura. Sakura was pretty surprised to have met someone here too. He was more surprised by the fact that someone outside of a Pokémon Center had engaged him in conversation without battling. “What brings you round these parts?”
Sakura flinched away from the man’s blinding smile. “Zubat,” he finally managed to answer, throat tight. He could hear cheerful trilling somewhere behind him.
The man nodded understandingly. “That’d do it. It might be a bit tough to get back out from here though.” He took in Sakura’s ragged appearance with a thoughtful hum. “If you aren’t in a rush you can stick around while I take care of the berry trees then I’ll show you a shortcut back to town.”
Togepi had come back from its frolicking to sit on Sakura’s sneaker. It was almost too convenient. But letting this dude lead him topside sounded like the least embarrassing route. Frowning down at the spike ball Sakura stuttered out a flustered acceptance.
“Awesome,” the man said smiling that painful smile, “I’ll just be a moment. My name’s Umemiya, by the way!”
Sakura was sitting on the mossy carpet again letting Umemiya’s Togepi climb through his legs. He shot a skeptical look at the grimy hand Umemiya proffered. He hesitantly reached out.
“Sakura.”