Credit to InfinityFangX for the Banner
Hello, Pokebeach. I am delighted to say that I am going to continue my story, Pulse of the Frontier. In case you haven't read the first one, first of all you should read it, but I'll give you guys a little background anyways.
Palmer, Argenta, Darach, Dahlia, and Thorton became aware that one of their age old enemies, Valrem, malevolent leader of the Hoenn Battle Frontier, has returned. His role in things and ties with the brains are very mysterious. It takes the brains involvement in Team galactic, the organization which valrem overtakes to ultimately put a stop to him.
This thrilling second chapter features some new, and some old characters, as well as some new relationships and mysteries. One of the latest characters is Jun. I really don't care if his name in America is Bary, Jun just sounds a lot better so I'm using it.
Well, I think that's enough for an introduction so without further ado, I present to you, Pulse of teh Frontier 2: Plugged In:
Index:
Chapter 1: The Pokevice: The Great Release
Chapter 2: Mars: Johto Frontier Brain
Chapter 3: Argenta: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Chapter 4: Jun: Sea Rogue Captain
Chapter 5: The Great Marsh: Another Adventure
Chapter 6: The Other Side of the Story: Showdown in the Swamp
Chapter 7: Villianess: Confrontation
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Chapter 1: The Pokevice: The Great Release
“I got your message! Is it really finished?”
With long, swift strides, she crossed the cluttered room that served Thorton as both an office and laboratory. Carefully, she stepped over piles of assorted discarded parts and made her way to stand directly behind Thorton. The latter sat completely still in the straight backed chair at his desk, a cold mist of silence around his being. The moment begged sacredness, and so she stood silent and still, peering over her comrade’s shoulder. He held it in his hands; that which had been the subject of attention over the last three months. Thorton’s whole being was shaky as he turned round in his chair to face her, in a state of disbelief.
It was completely possible that neither brain had, despite the consecutive weeks spent in continuous labor, doubted that the day would ever come. In fact, it was rather likely. Perhaps both had simply talked about the day for the sake of the other, never truly suspecting. Maybe it was just that the long days spent in hard work on the project had been spent for the merely for the sport of the ordeal. Whatever the case, it was for sure that neither could have come close to envisioning the day a short month ago.
Thorton didn’t speak, his lips were quavering. He seemed to be going over the thing in his mind, trying to convince himself despite the palpability of it that it was all real. It seemed just too much to be. He could have pinched himself and see if he would wake up if he weren’t so stiff. Finally, without a word, he nodded to Argenta. Yes; it was time. Nothing would ever be the same.
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Three short days later it was everywhere. Television commercials, magazine ads, the backs of cereal boxes, everything something of its sort and substantiality would go. Its release was scheduled for that very day, just following the release interview. After years of hard work, it would finally be accessible to the public. Yes it was done, and according to the first call to Thorton from the Poke-Mart company, they would be the first to make the big purchase of over ten thousand of them.
Thorton stood at the entrance to the Sunyshore City Poke Mart, the lucky first Poke Mart to put Thorton’s Pokevice on their shelves. To his right stood five men and women, each representing a different one of Sinnoh’s leading five news casting channels. On his left stood the other four brains, Palmer, Dahlia, Darach, and Argenta, all smiling at him and shooting him thumbs-ups. He did his best to return their jovial expressions, but even their cheery appearance couldn’t diminish the lump in his throat.
To say the least, Thorton wasn’t a camera person. He never preferred being anywhere close to the center of attention, and felt more comfortable backstage working the effects. Yet, here he was, the cameramen adjusting their angles to get the best shot of his nearly paled face, and him doing his best to smile. He could feel the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, and he became suddenly conscious to the fact that he was broiling hot. The sun beat down forcefully on the mid-summer day and Thorton found himself fanning himself with his arm.
“Okay, we’ve got five minutes before shooting begins, so you can do what ever until then,” Assured a bubbly young blonde, the reporter for Sunyshore Live. Thorton breathed a sigh of relief and strolled briskly over to where his Frontier Brain comrades stood waiting.
“Can you believe it’s finally happening?” Argenta exclaimed excitedly, “We’ve been working on this thing for like months! I’m so glad that we’re finally done! We should give it one last test run before the cameras go on though.”
Thorton nodded his agreement and produced the sleek, black device from his vest pocket. One push of a big green button later the dark screen flashed white with life. The word ‘Pokevice’ flashed on the screen before disappearing and giving way to the menu screen. Next, a small, virtual, female figure hovered onto the screen and rested in the corner. Her body was decorated with the pattern of 1s and 0s that was binary code and her violet hair flowed in the virtual space like a wave. A talk bubble came from the figure’s mouth.
“Hello, my name is Vivian. I will be your interactive guide through the all-purpose, virtual world of the Pokevice.” Appeared the words in the bubble, “With over one hundred fun-filled games to play, Wi-Fi communications, a pedometer, a camera, a Pokemon health and friendliness tracker, and much more, the Pokevice is heaven on earth designed for you!”
“Yep,” Thorton sighed, shutting down the device and returning it to his pocket, “Everything is A-okay, except of course the Viv glitch.”
Argenta frowned and folded her arms across her chest. A steady wind had risen and it tossed her magenta hair in front of her face. Her ruby red eyes were full of contemplation. Absent-mindedly she blew a strand of hair out of her face, only to let it fall back down again to rest on her nose. “Are you going to tell them?” She asked finally.
Before Thorton could reply, Palmer interrupted. The frontier leader was a stocky, well-built man somewhere in his mid-thirties. He had spiky blonde hair and a large smile, which was currently plastered on his face. “You’ve met my son Jun haven’t you Thor?” He asked, referring to a young-teenage boy who stood beside his father. He resembled his father in a handful of ways, namely the long blonde hair that curved up into a sort of crescent shape on his head. He wore a white and orange striped shirt as well as a green scarf wrapped around his neck.
“Yes, of course I’ve met him before,” Thorton replied, addressing the boy, “But that must have been like eight years ago. Wow, he’s really gotten bigger since I last saw him. How’s it going, Jun?”
But Jun wasn’t paying any attention. Rather, he was staring, mesmerized, at Dahlia, whom took no notice of his gaze as she was absorbed in a quaint conversation with Darach. Jun’s jaw was hanging wide open and for a moment he appeared to be in some form of a daze. It took his father’s snapping fingers in front of his face to reawaken him to the real world.
“Yeah, huh, what?” He asked, still dizzy from the shift. But Thorton had no time to answer as he was called to his station in front of the mart. With a “wish me luck,” he strode off towards the place.
“Well that was rude of you,” Palmer said under his breath once Thorton was a safe distance away, “You totally ignored Thorton I mean what were you looking at anyways?”
“Oh my god,” Jun replied, his heart racing, “Who is that beautiful female with the hair like black velvet and the deep eyes like diamonds, and the crimson lips like the pedals of a…”
“That’s Dahlia,” Palmer interrupted, unnerved, “And what are you talking about?” Jun was going to reply when the sound of the lead cameraman counting backwards from five drove everyone’s attention back to Thorton.
“Hello and welcome to Sunyshore Live!” The blonde reporter exclaimed into her mini-microphone as the cameras started rolling, “You know me! It’s Lillian Sunday here and we’re live at our very own Sunyshore City Poke Mart, the first ever to set Vire Co’s latest creation, the Poke Vice, on their shelves. Here we have with us the Poke Vice’s young inventor, Thorton, here to give us a very first impression to the all new craze that’s sweeping the region! So, Thorton, do you have any opening words you’d like to say before we plug in the Vire Power generator that is going to give Poke Vices around the region the ability to switch on?”
“Yes, yes I do Lillian,” Thorton replied shakily, taking the mike in his hands, “A few years ago, I invented the Poke Vice. I had wanted to make something that would change the world for the better, but I went a little overboard. It turns out that my old college professor couldn’t make heads or tails of it and my idea was rejected.”
Thorton paused for a moment, both to catch his breath and to let the words sink in. “My initial plan, as is most of ours when we fail, was to throw in the towel. But, someone encouraged me not to let it go. Someone encouraged me, to go for the gold and to finish my project. She helped me through every step of the way, tuning down the complexity so that the average Joe could operate it. It wasn’t me alone, but us together that made this dream a reality,” He continued, “I would like to give the credit for the invention of the Poke Vice to the one who has always been there for me. And I hope that you will come up here, and help me count down until plug in time, Argenta!”
If there had been an audience present, it would have erupted in a rain of applause. However, since there was not, Lillian and the brains took the responsibility upon themselves and filled the gap nicely with much clapping and cheers. Argenta grinned from ear to ear as she stepped up to where Thorton stood and the two exchanged a long, poignant embrace.
“Aw, that’s just beautiful, isn’t it Sinnoh?” Lillian exclaimed, still clapping cheerily, “And now that you are both here, let’s kick off this countdown to plug in time with a five!”
Together, Argenta and Thorton held the large power generator steady, preparing to when ‘one’ came to slam it in the outlet formed for its purpose. Over it, they looked each other directly in the eyes. They had come so far together, from the day they met to this. It seemed as if nothing could ever break them apart. Or so they thought.
“Four!” Everyone was shouting together now. Argenta and Thorton inched just the slightest bit closer to the outlet, clutching the generator steadily.
“Three!” Thorton could have sworn that he felt the stinging shock of electricity in his left vest pocket but he ignored it.
“Two!” Everyone present held their own individual Pokevice, thumbs hovering in eager wait over the large green ‘on’ button.
“One!” In that instant, with one powerful shove, Thorton and Argenta slammed the generator into the outlet and it began to radiate with life. During the same second, every Pokevice was turned on and a monotone humming filled the air. Thorton did likewise and switched his Pokevice on.
Suddenly, the cheery humming sound was drowned out and replaced with a loud screeching sound. Cameramen, Lillian, and the brains hurriedly covered their ears with their palms but it wasn’t enough to shut out the uproarious blare. Next, beams of electricity began to fly through the air and it was all one could do to keep from being shocked. The vices were instantly dropped to the ground with a clatter, all except for Lillian’s; it was too late for her.
Smoke billowed from the abandoned devices and clouded the air thickly and densely in soot. Flames sprouted from the vices and with a shriek of terror, the cameramen dashed away from the area, leaving their deserted cameras to burn. Groping hopelessly around in the blackness, struggling to avoid the hail of electricity that came from all sides, Thorton attempted to locate the others.
The raucous screeching noise continued to fill the air, even as the vices burned and their being crumbled away to ashes. It was impossible to hear anything over the blare and so audible communication was impossible. For this reason, Thorton cautiously fought to find his comrades. Despite the obvious uselessness, he cried out into the air, his cried being lost in the din.
Once, his hand brushed against another and he met eyes with Lillian. However, there was something hardly right about them. They glowed a deathly green and glared down at him with malevolence. Then, without a word, she moved with a mechanical consistency in the opposite direction, into the utter darkness, and out of sight. Thorton again tried to call after her but to no avail.
Suddenly, Thorton felt himself being forced backwards by a fierce wind. His jet black hair was whipped into his face and the smoke followed. Within the space of a minute the dense smoke was cleared away and Thorton stood facing Darach and his Staraptor, recoiling from its Fog Clear attack. Simultaneously, the uproarious screeching sound died away.
“Oh thank god, Darach!” Thorton exclaimed, coughing up the last remnants of the smoke, “Where are the others? Are they alright?”
“We’re fine.” It was Palmer who answered. Thorton whirled to face Dahlia, Jun, and him, dusting themselves off and examining minor burn marks.
“Speak for yourself!” Dahlia grumbled, attempting hopelessly to clear the dense black soot from her bright yellow shirt. She did not appear thrilled with the fact that her favorite outfit had nearly been ruined.
“Well at least no one’s hurt,” Thorton replied, chuckling. Then the color drained suddenly from his face and he managed weakly, “Where is Argenta.”
A faint beeping sound targeted their attention. Dahlia, Palmer, Jun, and Dahlia stared at Thorton, from whom the sound seemed to come. Slowly, cautiously, he reached into his vest pocket and removed his own Pokevice. It was still fully intact. On the screen, the image of a virtual envelope hovered above the words, “One new message.”
Swallowing hard, he pressed the button labeled, “receive message”. The following text flooded the screen.
You will pay. I have your friend. You will do what I demand.
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Also, I would be very grateful if whenever you post you say who your favorite character is, I'm very interested to know
Did you make Jun fall in love with Dahlia?
