Pokemon: the Game - Chapter 23

The trail dead-ends at a vertical cliff face. The wall is covered in small holes, the largest no wider than a human thumb on the surface, and narrowing to a point as they go deeper. In front of the wall stands a wooden signboard, adorned with a red arrow pointing skyward.

Zack glances at Cid, who is standing beside him. They are alone on the trail. Zack looks at the cliff face, then the sign, then back to the cliff face, and back to the sign. He nods, his eyes narrowing. “Do you think it means we - ?”

Cid cuts him off, “Of course it means we climb here! Demon Trainer Cid cannot believe you would have difficulty discerning the meaning of such an obvious symbol.”

“Oh!” He looks back to the sign and tilts his head to the side. “So I was thinking red means stop, like people should stop climbing here and go somewhere else.” He steps forward and runs a hand along the pockmarked surface. “Because its seems like lots of people have gone up this way.” One of the small holes collapses, raining dirt on his hand as Zack pulls away. “Maybe this cliff is too dangerous?”

Cid scowls. “Demon Trainer Cid is loath to admit she now understands your earlier confusion. Red can be the color of stopping, but it can also be the color of a Pokeball.” She pulls the ball from her side and sends out Jigg-O. The Igglybuff hops atop her head as Cid points to the sign. “A red arrow sign indicates a place of Pokeclimbing. Mountain Climber Kegger had them installed in various places to promote the activity, and thus his shoes.”

Zack's eyes light up as he looks down at his shoes. “His shoes! Oh wow oh wow oh wow the Spike Shoes! Stop making me think about them, because I get distracted remembering how awesome they are!” He bends his leg to stare at the shoe on his right foot. “Sooooo awesome!”

The shoes have hard, rubber soles covered in steel-tipped cleats. The toe is larger than for a normal shoe, rising to almost the same height as the ankle. Zack taps the side of his shoe, and a triangular spike – roughly an inch wide and three inches in length – emerges from the toe. He does the same for the other shoe and looks to Cid, who taps her feet together to make both spikes pop out.

Zack sighs with a grin. “I remember getting these shoes like it was yesterday.”

“It was yesterday!” Cid grunts and folds her arms. “If you had not spent so long on the practice wall, we would have been Pokeclimbing for real yesterday. But instead, Demon Trainer Cid was forced to endure hours of watching you and the quiet one reiterate that most simple of tasks.”

Her voice fades from Zack's hearing as he smiles up at the sky.



The curling mists part to reveal many pillars of stone rising from unseen depths. Atop the pillar's tips stand men and women of unequaled grace, balancing on a single finger or toe or heel. They do not shake or quaver as they wait in a meditative silence.

Two men with bare chests and wearing only workout shorts swing in from opposite directions. The taller of the two has his hair braided in ropey dreads, while the shorter (but no less muscular) has a roguish grin. They let go of the vines they swung in on, flip through the air, and land on two close pillars. Finding their point of equilibrium in an instant, they bump fists to produce a flash of brilliant light that burns away the remaining mists.

The taller of the two bobs his head and snaps his fingers. “Yo yo yo, my bro Zack! On that last climb you did not lack!”

The shorter (but no less rugged) man snaps back and continues the rap, “Thanks Keggar, I ain't no beggar. I came here to win and that's what I been. So how did I do, I'm looking at you!”

The taller man holds his long arms above his head, and a golden star forms between his hands. “You did the best, better than the rest! I give that climb an A-plus-plus, a record absolutely no one can bust.”

Keggar brings his arms down and the star flies across to the shorter (but no less handsome) man, where it sinks into his forehead and forever marks him as the world's best at everything. The other people on nearby pillars turn to clap for the man with the golden star. Some of them have forehead stars too, but their silver and bronze stars are dim in comparison.

The man with the golden forehead star lifts his hands to the heavens. He spins atop his pillar, to face all of the cheering people. Above him, a woman wearing a dress with a rainbow pattern smiles at him from her passing cloud. The world's most beautiful woman does not tread upon the earth like other people. Below, a shaggy blur leaps between the pillars, too fast to be seen. The world's fastest Slakoth streaks past, producing a sonic boom in the shape of a paw that Zack low-fives.

Three of those surrounding do not clap or cheer or smile: a man, a woman, and a shadowy abomination of tentacles, horns, and claws. They are silent, and remain visible as the mists return and cover the other people. The man has a star as well, but only silver so far. The word's coolest dude wouldn't be any cooler with a gold star anyway, and he slouches atop his pillar as if considering the meaning of life or something deep like that. The woman has a gold star, but its shine is dull below her vibrant pink hair. The world's smartest lady laughs behind the sleeve of her doctor-scientist-professor coat.

The shadowy abomination leaps from one foot to the other and screams, “Demon Trainer Cid is unimpressed! I demand Zack do a real test! Achieve the A-grade in half the time, now that would be a truly masterful climb.”

Kegger grunts, “He already did, young broski of mine.”

The world's coolest dude shrugs and flips back a tuft of his hair. “So if we all have our certification, we can climb anywhere in the nation?”

The world's smartest lady nods and says something so intelligent that no one can understand her. She speaks and speaks and speaks, finishing by holding her hand out to Kegger, palm up.

He laughs. “It's been said I would, and now it's time I should. I'll give you all a pair of my climbing tools, so out on the slopes you won't look like fools.” He raises his arms again, and a solid sphere of awesome light expands from between his clasped hands to cover Zack, Hiero, and Lana.

When the light recedes, all three are wearing a pair of the world's coolest shoes. The world's coolest dude looks down at his and nods, immune to their stunning coolness. The world's smartest lady looks down as well, trying to calculate their coolness factor, but she ends up only frowning.

Zack pumps his arms and shouts, “Wow, wow, wow! You'll give away something this cool now?”

“Of course I will bro, my shop's not for show.” Kegger snaps. Shoes fall from the sky, raining down around them. “When you want upgrades they won't be free, but for now the basic kit will be on me!”

The shadowy abomination laughs. “Look deeper and his motives you will see.”

Kegger nods. “Now there's two basic rules for you all to follow, don't worry they'll be easy to swallow. First is to use the shoes on appropriate cliffs, only those with a special sign that you can't miss. Second is to never, ever use them on a living creature.”

The shadowy abomination chimes in, “Unless you want Mountain Climber Kegger on the news to feature.” It clicks its claws together and spikes emerge from its body, dripping with ichor.

Kegger glances up at the abomination. “Sometimes I thank Arceus that I was able to be your teacher.” He laughs and turns back to the others. “And with that I've covered all of the bases. First, only use the shoes in appropriate places. Second, never on some dope. Now, go climb without rope!”

Zack throws his arms wide, as light beams from his body and pierces the mists. The light of the sun beams down on him as a slanted pillar. “Awesome, so awesome, these Spike Shoes are the best! Please tell us what you call them, that's my only request!”

The Mountain Climber nods, and sunlight beams down on him as well. “The RKE system, bro! Allow me to list 'em! In other words I call this the Radical Klimb Everywhere system!”



Zack grunts as he digs the spiked toe of his shoe into the wall. Reaching up, he grabs another hole above and uses the thin ledge to hold himself against the cliff face. With his foot he pushes himself higher up the vertical wall. Slakoth is wrapped around his neck, shaking a little as the Pokemon presses its face against his neck.

A little ways below and to his left, Cid climbs the wall with Jigg-O napping on her head. She is silent, other than a low and steady breathing coming from her pursed lips.

The boy above laughs through a panting exhale. “This is awesome exercise! There aren't any places to climb in Vitalian, other than houses, and nobody would let me.”

Cid sneers. “Never allow another's opinion to decide your actions. Demon Trainer Cid does as she pleases, when and wherever she is.”

“Uh … yeah, I guess so!” Zack grins and nods, before focusing on the wall in front of him. “I guess I could have guessed that about you.”

“As for this 'exercise' that you speak of,” Cid continues after a short glare at him. “That is not the true purpose of Pokeclimbing. Demon Trainer Cid climbs to reach the top of this cliff, not for any side benefit.”

Zack's eyes widen. “Really? But it's the Radical Klimb Everywhere system! It's all about klimbing!”

Cid stops climbing and looks away. “That is not its true name. Mountain Climber Kegger is not so simple a man to give away a tool without some benefit to himself. He is an amazingly duplicitous man in that way.”

“What!” Zack gasps, staring down at her. “Oh wait, yeah! You said he made money from upgrades.”

The girl below rolls her eyes. “No, Demon Trainer Cid said that he had a deeper motive, nothing more. He sells upgrades at cost, which truly aid the climber in their task.” Cid sighs and continues climbing. “The true benefit is found within the shoe and its spike. He calls it the Radius Kernite Emitter system.”



Lana and Hiero are sitting on a bench along the trail. Hiero is only wearing one of his Spike Shoes, and the other is spread out in pieces on the ground. Lana leans over them, glaring down. Her purse sits open at her side, various mechanic tools sticking from inside.

“I knew there would be some other purpose!” She grins. “Interesting. I see why that odd Cid girl looks up to him.”

Hiero looks from Lana, to the shoe pieces on the ground, and back to her. “Lana, will you explain the other purpose to me? I would like to know what the other purpose is, Lana.”

She nods and points to a small, black box. “That is a Kernite Emitter. They work like a radar system you might see in a submarine, but throw subatomic particles known as Kernites. When the Kernites hit any item emitting a particle known as a Boron, both particles combine and return in the direction that the Kernite came from.”

Rendered speechless, the boy beside her blinks several times. Lana laughs and pulls out her Poketool.

“Have you ever heard of the Item Finder app?” She presses a few buttons and brings up a screen with a line waving back and forth. “This is mine. It works because my Poketool has a weak Kernite Emitter, along with a few other detectors and such crammed together.”

Lana points back to the black box on the ground. “That is a strong Kernite Emitter, which allows it to send Kernites deeper into the ground. I would guess the spike works as the focusing wand, and also the antenna for returning Kernite-Borons.”

Hiero closes his eyes and tilts his head back. The sun coming through the leaves of a tree dapples his face with light and shadow. “But, that's … Why is a Boron so important? What do Borons come from?”

“Evolutionary stones.” Lana reaches down to pick up the pieces of the shoe. As she puts the shoe back together, she frowns. “Which means … he's using people to find stones?”



Zack and Cid pull themselves up over the final ledge and onto a flat surface. They rest there, both panting after their climb. Crying big tears, Slakoth jumps from Zack's back to kiss the cracked and dusty ground several times. Jigg-O sneers at the other Pokemon's display.

Zack sits up and stares toward the horizon. A twisting Spinarak web of dark gaps in the ground is spread out for miles before him. “Wow! So we're above the canyons now?”

Cid nods. “From here, climbers can venture down into the upper cliff maze. Reaching the other end will deposit one back on Route Eight, going to Bonif.”

“Wow … I wish Rae could see this.” Zack stares at the horizon, smiling as the sun warms his face. “I know! I'll get a hot air balloon and learn to pilot it and get a balloon license and bring her here with it!” He glances at Cid. “I think she didn't like the idea of climbing. I guess it is kind of dangerous. And it's probably better that she stayed behind to look after Clay.”

She shakes her head. “World Savior Regola fears no danger. She is my archenemy after all.”

Zack tilts his head to the side with a half smile. He jumps to his feet and runs to the nearest cliff edge. “Wow! There's lots of ledges and walkways down there!” A small beep comes from his shoe, and he looks down. “What? Did my shoe just level up?”

As he bends down to take a closer look, the cliff edge crumbles below him. His eyes go wide and he flings his arms back, waving them in a useless attempt to stop himself from falling forward.

A dark shape tears through the sky above and swoops down, vanishing and re-appearing as it darts from side to side. The Aerodactyl twirls right in front of Zack, causing a small burst of air that pushes him backwards onto safe ground. The Pokemon is gone as fast as it came, and Zack is left sitting on his butt with a blank expression and his hair tossed around.

Cid stands with a shout, “Hey! What?” Her eyes search the sky, but then she runs to Zack's side. “Are you seriously unhurt? I've never - Are you crazy? Never mess around near a cliff edge!” She glances around again. “I can't – Demon Trainer Cid cannot believe how lucky you were.”

Zack reaches up to his face and presses a hand against his cheek. He mumbles, “Something hit me?” With dry eyes, he looks up at Cid and shows her the droplets of water on his fingers. “It was crying, Cid.” Slakoth crawls forward to slump against Zack's back and start patting his shoulder. He shows Slakoth the wetness too. “It was crying, buddy. I wonder why.”

A young woman pops her head up above the side of a cliff and stares at Zack and Cid. “Hey, did you two see … You!” She points at Zack, who looks back at her. “You challenged me to a battle the other day! So you finally came up?”

Cid glances at Zack. “Is this woman telling the truth?”

Zack stares out at the horizon. He shakes his head and looks up at the female Trainer with a big smile. “Yeah, okay! I'm ready when you are! Leeeeet's do the battle thing!”