Below Oreburgh

Chapter Nine

Below Oreburgh

Roark arrived at the lab before nine in the morning carrying three maps, a dirty helmet, and the expression of a man who had not slept enough because something underground had personally offended his ability to rest.

Gray noticed all three immediately.

He was in the main laboratory with Mira, reviewing a soil analysis from the eastern edge of the ranch, when the rear door opened hard enough to hit the stopper.

Roark came through it at speed.

“Gray.”

Gray looked up.

Roark crossed the room without taking his jacket off. “I found something.”

That was enough.

Gray handed the tablet back to Mira. “We’re done.”

Mira looked at him.

They were not done.

Gray stood anyway.

Roark reached the nearest worktable and spread out one of the maps. It was an Oreburgh mining survey, heavily marked in pencil and grease. Several newer notes had been written along the southern edge, including one section circled hard enough that the paper had nearly torn.

Gray moved beside him.

“What?”

Roark tapped the circle. “Lower east branch. Old extraction zone, abandoned before I took over regular surveys. We had a minor collapse yesterday evening after a shift change. Nothing serious, nobody hurt, but it exposed a void behind one of the older walls.”

Gray’s attention sharpened.

“How large?”

“I don’t know.”

Gray smiled.

Roark pointed at him. “Don’t start. I actually don’t know.”

“That makes it better.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

Mira remained at the other side of the table.

Gray had forgotten she was there.

Roark continued, “We thought it would be another old chamber. Maybe a secondary cut nobody recorded. So we cleared enough debris to get a look.”

He paused.

Gray waited.

Roark was enjoying this.

That was irritating.

“What did you see?”

Roark grinned. “Not a mine.”

Gray leaned closer.

“Natural cavern?”

“Partly.”

“Partly?”

“That’s the problem.”

Roark pulled out a second sheet.

This one was not a map.

It was a sketch.

Rough.

Fast.

Clearly done late at night by someone too excited to care about proportions.

Gray stared.

The first chamber was enormous compared with the access tunnel.

A wide cavern opened below the mined rock, its floor dropping several dozen feet before flattening into what Roark had labeled as a broad basin. There were stone formations along the walls, several raised shelves, and something near the far end that looked like vegetation.

Gray frowned.

“You drew plants.”

“Yes.”

“Underground.”

“Yes.”

“How far underground?”

“At least several hundred feet below the lowest active mine levels, probably more depending on the slope.”

Gray looked at the sketch again.

“You’re sure they were plants?”

Roark stared at him.

“I know what plants look like.”

“Fungi?”

“Some, probably. Not all.”

Gray looked up.

Roark’s grin widened.

“There were trees.”

Gray stared.

Mira said, “Trees?”

Neither man looked at her.

Roark nodded. “Not normal ones. Shorter. Pale bark on some. Broad leaves on others. There’s enough light down there to see without a lamp once you get into the chamber.”

Gray’s head snapped toward him.

“What kind of light?”

“That is why I’m here.”

Gray leaned over the sketch again.

Roark pointed toward several marks along the ceiling.

“Crystals, maybe. Mineral deposits. Some sort of bioluminescent growth. I didn’t get close enough to tell.”

“Color?”

“Blue-green mostly. A little yellow near the walls.”

“Heat?”

“Warmer than the mine above it.”

“Air quality?”

“Normal enough for the readings we had. Higher humidity.”

“Water?”

“I could hear it. Didn’t reach it.”

Gray was already mentally reorganizing his day.

Mira noticed.

“Soil?”

Roark finally looked at her.

“Dark. Rich-looking. A lot more organic material than I expected.”

Gray asked, “Pokémon?”

That changed Roark’s expression.

“Yes.”

“What species?”

“That's the other weird part.”

Gray waited.

Roark picked up the third sheet.

More notes.

Several names.

Gray read them.

Rhyhorn.

Geodude.

Zubat.

Onix.

Nothing impossible.

Then farther down:

Budew.

Buneary.

A pair of Combee.

Gray frowned.

“Combee.”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“I have no idea.”

“Flowers?”

“Some.”

“Enough for a colony?”

“Didn’t stay long enough to count.”

Gray looked at him.

“Why did you leave?”

Roark gave him a flat look.

“I’m a Gym Leader and mine supervisor, not a lunatic.”

Mira made a small sound.

Gray ignored her.

Roark continued, “I had three miners with me, none equipped for unknown habitat exploration. We’d entered through a collapse we hadn’t stabilized yet, and we didn’t know if there were territorial Pokémon deeper in. So we marked the access point, backed out, and sealed the immediate area until morning.”

Gray considered this.

Responsible.

Annoyingly.

“How far did you go?”

“Maybe two hundred meters into the chamber.”

“That’s nothing.”

“Exactly.”

Gray looked at the sketch again.

There were more tunnels beyond the basin.

Roark had drawn three.

One disappeared between large stone formations.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

One dropped sharply.

One continued toward another patch of light.

Gray pointed.

“These?”

“Saw them from a distance.”

“You didn’t check?”

“No.”

Gray stared.

Roark stared back.

“I told you. Responsible adult.”

“That sounds miserable.”

“It was.”

Gray smiled.

Roark smiled back.

Mira looked between them.

“No.”

Gray turned.

“What?”

“You are doing the thing.”

“What thing?”

“The thing where you both forget everyone else is in the room and start planning something dangerous without saying it out loud.”

Gray looked at Roark.

Roark looked at Gray.

Neither had actually said anything.

Mira pointed.

“See?”

Gray frowned. “We’re discussing.”

“You already decided.”

Roark said, “Technically—”

Mira raised one hand.

“No. Lyra has infected me.”

Gray sighed.

“Terrible.”

Mira picked up her tablet. “I’m getting her.”

Gray immediately said, “Unnecessary.”

She was already walking away.

Roark watched her go.

“We have maybe two minutes.”

Gray nodded.

“Probably less.”

They both looked down at the maps.

Roark lowered his voice.

“I want to go back today.”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t asked yet.”

“Yes.”

Roark looked at him.

“You’re coming?”

“Obviously.”

“That easy?”

Gray frowned. “You found an unknown subterranean ecosystem below Oreburgh.”

“I knew you’d say yes.”

“Then why are you pretending this required persuasion?”

“I wanted to enjoy the moment.”

Gray pointed at the sketch. “If those are actual trees, I will forgive you.”

Roark laughed.

Gray pulled the map closer.

“How stable is the access?”

“Good enough once we reinforce one section.”

“Equipment?”

“Mine can supply most of it.”

“Sampling kits?”

“I assumed you’d bring those.”

“Obviously.”

“Food?”

Gray looked at him.

Roark nodded.

“I’ll bring extra.”

“Good.”

“Water?”

“Yes.”

“Emergency climbing gear?”

“Yes.”

“Medical?”

“Blissey.”

Gray stopped.

He thought about that.

“No.”

Roark blinked.

“No?”

“She can’t maneuver well in unknown tunnels. If the terrain opens later, maybe, but not initially.”

Roark nodded immediately.

“Fair.”

“Bastiodon.”

“Too broad for some passages.”

“Aggron?”

“Same problem.”

Gray considered.

“Absol.”

Roark nodded.

“That makes sense.”

“And Aerodactyl if the first chamber is actually as open as you’re claiming.”

Roark’s eyebrows rose. “Underground flight?”

“He'll love it.”

“That sounds like a reason not to.”

Gray smiled.

Roark had a point.

Lyra appeared in the doorway.

Mira stood behind her.

Gray looked at the clock.

One minute thirty-two.

Efficient.

Lyra came toward the table.

“What did you agree to?”

Gray looked offended. “Nothing.”

Roark said, “We haven’t officially agreed.”

Lyra stopped beside them and looked down at the maps.

Then at the sketch.

Then at both men.

“No.”

Gray sighed. “You haven’t heard anything.”

“I know enough.”

“You do not.”

“Roark found a cave.”

Roark raised a finger. “Cave system.”

Lyra looked at him.

He lowered it.

Gray tapped the drawing. “Possibly an isolated subterranean ecosystem.”

“No.”

“With surface-associated Pokémon living hundreds of feet underground.”

“No.”

“Unknown mineral illumination.”

“No.”

“Multiple unexplored passages.”

“Especially no.”

Gray frowned. “Your methodology is weak.”

“My methodology is that both of you almost got chased out of a tunnel by Dugtrio less than a month ago.”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“We knew there were Diglett.”

Roark looked at him.

Gray looked back.

Roark said, “We did not.”

Gray thought.

“Fine.”

Lyra folded her arms.

Gray could already tell this was going to become negotiation rather than actual refusal.

That was good.

He leaned against the table.

“We’re going.”

“I know.”

That surprised him.

He narrowed his eyes.

Lyra looked tired.

“I am not going to waste fifteen minutes pretending I can stop you.”

Gray smiled.

“Growth.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

Roark smiled too.

Lyra pointed between them. “What I am going to do is make sure neither of you turns this into a recovery operation.”

“That seems pessimistic.”

“You climbed into an unmapped abandoned tunnel because you saw old wood.”

“That was interesting wood.”

Roark nodded. “It was.”

Lyra closed her eyes.

Mira quietly left.

Smart.

Lyra opened them again. “When?”

“Today,” Roark said.

“No.”

Gray looked at her.

Roark looked at her.

Lyra held up a hand before either could speak.

“Tomorrow.”

“Why?” Gray asked.

“Because if this is actually unexplored, you need more than two backpacks and enthusiasm.”

“We have experience.”

“You also have absolutely no idea what's down there.”

Gray opened his mouth.

Stopped.

That was true.

He disliked when people used his own principles against him.

Lyra noticed.

“Exactly.”

Roark looked at Gray.

“She’s right.”

Gray turned.

“Coward.”

Roark shrugged.

“I work in mines. The difference between interesting and dead is usually preparation.”

Lyra pointed at him. “Thank you.”

Roark smiled.

Then realized she was smiling back.

His own smile became briefly stupid.

Gray noticed.

Of course.

Lyra did not.

Or pretended not to.

Gray had not yet determined which was more likely.

“Fine,” he said. “Tomorrow morning.”

Lyra nodded. “Good.”

“Early.”

“How early?”

“Before sunrise.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll stay underground until midnight if nobody stops you.”

“Unproven.”

Roark cleared his throat.

Gray looked at him.

Roark looked away.

Traitor.

Lyra said, “Seven.”

“Six.”

“Six thirty.”

Gray considered.

“Fine.”

“Check-in every two hours.”

“No signal.”

Roark said, “Mine radios should work through part of the system if we set repeaters.”

Gray looked at him.

“Good.”

Lyra nodded. “Repeaters.”

Gray sighed.

“Fine.”

“Emergency return time.”

Gray frowned. “What?”

“You pick a time when you come back even if you haven't finished.”

“That defeats exploration.”

“That keeps me from calling Rangers.”

Roark scratched his jaw.

“Probably smart.”

Gray stared at him.

“You’ve changed.”

“I have employees too. I understand liability now.”

“Disgusting.”

Lyra ignored them.

“Six in the evening.”

Gray laughed.

“No.”

“Seven.”

“No.”

“Eight.”

Gray hesitated.

Lyra saw it.

“Eight.”

Roark nodded.

“Works.”

Gray looked between them.

“This feels like conspiracy.”

“It is.”

“Fine. Eight.”

Lyra tapped something into her tablet.

Gray hated how final that made everything.

Then she looked at him.

“You also have work today.”

Gray looked toward the maps.

“This is work.”

“Your work here.”

“Same field.”

“Gray.”

He sighed.

“Fine.”

Roark started rolling up the old survey map.

Lyra stopped him.

“Leave copies.”

Roark looked at her.

“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”

He hesitated.

Then added, “You can keep the original if you want.”

Lyra looked confused.

“Why would I need the original?”

Roark looked at the map.

Then at her.

“No reason. Copies are fine.”

Gray lowered his head.

This was painful.

Lyra walked away with the sketch.

Roark watched her for several seconds.

Gray waited.

Roark eventually looked back.

“Don’t.”

Gray smiled.

“I said nothing.”

“You’re about to.”

“No.”

“You have the face.”

“What face?”

“The same one Lyra says you have.”

Gray looked offended.

“Don't compare me to responsible people.”

Roark rolled up the maps.

“We should pack.”

Gray's smile disappeared immediately.

“Yes.”

Packing turned into an argument about weight.

This happened within five minutes.

Gray believed that anything potentially useful should be brought.

Roark believed that if Gray carried everything he wanted, one of them would eventually have to carry Gray.

Gray objected to this characterization.

Roark opened Gray’s expedition pack and removed a fourth notebook.

“No.”

Gray took it back.

“Yes.”

“You already have three.”

“One is field observations.”

“One says field observations on the cover.”

“Correct.”

“What’s the second?”

“Geology.”

“You are not a geologist.”

“I know geology.”

Roark stared.

Gray continued.

“The third is Pokémon behavior.”

“And the fourth?”

“Backup.”

Roark put it on the table.

“No.”

Gray picked it up.

“Yes.”

They were in the equipment room behind the main laboratory. Half the floor had disappeared beneath ropes, packs, climbing harnesses, first-aid supplies, sample containers, field scanners, lights, spare batteries, emergency blankets, filtration equipment, and two helmets.

Elias stood nearby taking inventory.

He had made the mistake of asking whether they needed help.

Now he was trapped.

Roark pulled a metal sample case from Gray’s pile.

“What’s this?”

“Mineral collection.”

“You have bags.”

“For loose material.”

“And the case?”

“Fragile crystals.”

“We don’t know there are fragile crystals.”

“That is why we need the case.”

Roark looked at Elias.

Elias adjusted his glasses.

“I am not getting involved.”

“Coward,” Gray said.

“I’ve watched both of you argue for twenty minutes about notebooks.”

“Important argument.”

“No one is winning.”

Gray zipped the fourth notebook into his pack while Roark was distracted.

Problem solved.

Roark turned back.

“Did you put it in there?”

“No.”

Elias looked away.

Roark stared at Gray.

Gray stared back.

Roark sighed.

“Fine.”

They continued.

Gray packed a handheld environmental sensor.

Two specimen bags.

Then six more.

A compact camera.

Waterproof tags.

A field tablet.

Rope.

Medical supplies.

A fossil hammer.

Roark saw that.

“Why?”

Gray looked at him.

Roark immediately corrected himself.

“Actually, never mind.”

Gray nodded.

“Good.”

They packed food next.

That created fewer arguments.

Roark had brought enough preserved meals and high-energy snacks for a full day.

Gray added chicken fried rice.

Roark watched.

“In your backpack.”

“Yes.”

“Cold.”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to eat cold fried rice underground.”

“Yes.”

Roark shrugged.

“Fair.”

Tessa appeared carrying a smaller pack.

“Pokémon supplies.”

Gray took it.

Inside were food portions for Absol and emergency treatment materials.

She had labeled everything.

Gray nodded approvingly.

“Perfect.”

“Who are you taking?”

“Absol.”

“Only?”

“Initially.”

Tessa frowned.

Gray explained the access limitations.

She agreed.

“If the chamber is as large as Roark says, you can bring someone bigger on later trips.”

“Exactly.”

Roark leaned against the table.

“Onix stays near the mine entrance.”

Gray nodded.

“Good.”

Tessa looked between them.

“You two are going to touch something you shouldn’t.”

Gray frowned.

“No.”

Roark said, “Probably.”

Gray looked at him.

Tessa smiled.

“At least one of you is honest.”

“We are trained professionals.”

“So were the people who built half the rehabilitation wing.”

Gray considered.

“Fair.”

She left.

Roark smiled.

“I like your staff.”

“Everyone does.”

“Except you.”

“I like them.”

Roark raised his eyebrows.

Gray looked away.

“Shut up.”

By midafternoon, the expedition had somehow become official.

Gray hated that.

Lyra filed a League field notice.

Marcus volunteered to help place the radio repeaters near the upper mine levels.

Mira prepared sterile collection containers after hearing about the underground vegetation.

Elias created an equipment checklist detailed enough to make Gray uncomfortable.

Tessa prepared emergency Pokémon care supplies.

What had begun as Roark bursting through the door with a dirty map had turned into an actual research operation.

Gray stood over the central worktable watching Lyra distribute copies of the route plan.

“This has become bureaucratic.”

“Yes,” she said.

“I liked it better when we were just going into a hole.”

“That sentence is why this became bureaucratic.”

Roark was beside her reviewing the access map.

Gray noticed that he had somehow changed into a clean shirt.

Interesting.

Lyra pointed at a section of the mine plan.

“You said this is the exposed wall?”

Roark leaned closer.

“Here.”

“Then the first repeater should be above that.”

“Yeah. Signal should carry into the upper cavern if we mount another near the drop.”

Lyra looked at him.

“You can set that safely?”

Roark nodded.

“Absolutely.”

No awkwardness.

Good.

Then Lyra smiled.

“Thanks.”

Roark's ears went slightly red.

Gray looked down at the map before anyone caught him watching.

Progress remained inconsistent.

Lyra moved on.

“If you lose signal for more than one check-in, you turn around.”

Gray looked up immediately.

“That is excessive.”

“It is not.”

“What if the equipment fails?”

“Then you turn around.”

“What if there’s something interesting?”

Lyra stared.

Gray realized the weakness of his argument.

Roark said, “Probably don’t use that one.”

Gray sighed.

“Fine.”

Lyra wrote it down.

“You're enjoying this.”

“No.”

“You're making rules.”

“That is my job.”

“You smile when you make rules.”

Roark looked at her.

Gray saw it happen.

He had accidentally complimented her.

Not intentionally.

Lyra smiled faintly.

“I like organization.”

Roark said, “Yeah.”

Too softly.

Gray looked at him.

Roark avoided his eyes.

This was going to become a problem eventually.

A funny problem.

But a problem.

Gray returned to the map.

Later that evening, Gray sat on the floor of his house surrounded by equipment.

Bastiodon stood in the doorway.

Blissey stood beside him.

Both looked disapproving.

Gray frowned.

“What?”

Blissey looked at the backpack.

Then at Gray.

“I’m going underground.”

She stared.

“With Roark.”

The stare intensified.

“He works in a mine.”

Blissey folded her arms.

Gray looked at Bastiodon.

The old Pokémon rumbled.

“Not you too.”

Gray went back to checking supplies.

Absol lay nearby, head resting on his paws.

He had reacted differently.

Gray had shown him the pack.

Said underground.

Unknown habitat.

Absol stood immediately.

No complaint.

No judgment.

Another reason Gray loved him.

Chatot sat on the back of the couch watching the packing process.

Gray had already decided he was not coming.

This had led to an argument.

Chatot had lost.

Mostly because Gray had closed him out of the equipment room for an hour.

Now the bird was sulking.

“You’re staying.”

Chatot turned around.

“Yes.”

He turned farther away.

“You hate caves.”

No response.

“You complain when it’s dark.”

Chatot puffed.

Gray smiled.

“Exactly.”

The bird looked over one shoulder.

“Fuck off.”

Gray laughed.

“Love you too.”

He zipped the pack.

Then checked it again.

Then opened it.

Blissey made a noise.

Gray looked up.

“What?”

She pointed toward the clock.

Nine fifteen.

“I know.”

She pointed upstairs.

“I’m not going to bed at nine fifteen.”

She continued pointing.

“I need to be up at five.”

Blissey stared.

Gray stopped.

That argument had not gone the direction he intended.

He sighed.

“Fine.”

He stood.

Bastiodon moved aside.

Gray looked down at the packed equipment one last time.

Tomorrow.

Unknown tunnel.

Unknown chamber.

Underground vegetation.

A subterranean ecosystem deep beneath Oreburgh.

Possibly more passages.

Possibly more habitats.

Roark had seen only the first one.

That thought alone made Gray's skin buzz.

He looked toward Absol.

“You excited?”

Absol opened one eye.

Gray smiled.

“Yeah.”

Blissey pointed upstairs again.

“I’m going.”

He turned off the light.

The pack remained by the door.

Ready.

Gray made it halfway up the stairs before his phone buzzed.

He checked.

Roark.

A message.

Found one more old map. There might be another descent past the first chamber.

Gray stopped.

Blissey, behind him, made a warning sound.

Gray typed:

How far?

Roark replied almost immediately.

No clue. Map just says “lower passage.” Could be nothing.

Gray smiled.

Blissey made the sound again.

Gray typed:

Bring it.

He put the phone away.

Then thought.

Took it back out.

And sleep.

A pause.

Roark replied:

you too

Gray looked at the message.

Then at Blissey.

She was staring at him.

“Everyone’s against me.”

Blissey smiled.

Gray went upstairs.

For once, he did not stay awake thinking about work.

He stayed awake thinking about what might be beneath Oreburgh instead.

Which was completely different.