A hippie Grimer? xD
You have random pokemon personalities.
You have random pokemon personalities.
Writing Rose Quartz and Onyx
- Thread starter Crystal Hikara
- Start date
- Status
And that's the entire point, 
I'm trying to mess aroung with your typical perception of Pokemon. I mean, before this, when you hear of an Oddish, you probably think of a cute little grass-poison type. But now...XD
And, after Chapter 25 is posted, there will not be any new chapters for a while. I'll be rewriting the first 20 or so chapters to that point, because I hate looking at my old writing. D:
Chapter 16- Guilt
“Ok, that joke has seriously been dead for a while. Quit it you guys,” Kara irately sighed, lagging a little behind the chortling pair. It had gotten considerably lighter in the forest of the Eclipse Woods, and they would arrive at Zenith a few hours before nightfall.
“Oh, can’t you let us have our fun…man?” At Crystal’s comment, more chuckles insued.
“Ah, but we’ll have to stop soon, Mewster. My sides are killing me,” Kiyo gave a short cough, clutching at her sides.
“Har de har har. Very hilarious.” Kara’s emerald jewels rolled to the mid-day sky. “…say, where did she get Mewster as a nickname from, anyways?”
“Ah, it’s not really my nickname…” Crystal started, swatting her hand the eldest trainer’s way, but she was too quick.
“Hahaha, I have no idea, to be honest. I think it stemmed from a dream I had involving pickles or something.”
“Pickles?”
“Yeah, I know, right? It may have something to do that she always seems to talk like a Meowth when she speaks to Pokemon, too.”
“How many times do I have to tell everyone that I’m not speaking Meowth?”
“Well, what Pokemon are you speaking as, then?” At this, the blonde-haired girl gave a definite pause. She appeared as though she wanted to shout out her answer, but she decided against it.
“Whatever!” she nearly yelled, and stomped on down the path heavily to show her frustration.
“Dustren, one, Hikara, zero. I win once again!” the fire trainer made a flexing movement, along with the sound effect ‘ka-ching!’, before she quickly caught up. Kara, of course, said nothing- no need to bring up the hippie Grimer again.
However, Crystal’s rage soon disappeared, as did her step rate. A feeling of nervousness came over her, and she shot a glance all around her.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Kiyo questioned.
“I just…”
“Just what?”
“I feel as though we’re being followed, or watched.”
“There’s no one around. Flareon and Zaika probably would’ve noticed something odd if there was, and they look fine.”
“I- I guess…” the preteen gazed to the two Pokemon, whom appeared confused as she. “So…you two haven’t heard or felt any eyes on our group?”
“No, none to my knowledge,” Flareon shook her head.
“I sense no people in the area,” the Scyther concurred.
“People? So, could there be a Pokemon around or something of that nature?” And by something of that nature, it was clear to Crystal just what that meant, and the thought made her sweat.
“I doubt so. I may not have the strongest feeling for presence, but I don’t feel any around here,” With that, the girl sighed uneasily.
“I still feel like we’re being watched,” she muttered in English, and continued along, making sure to stick extremely close to her friends.
And, without further incident, the bright city of Zenith had come into view, People were bustling busily about, most in normal clothing, but it was seriously obvious that something was amiss in the town. Maybe it was the occasional Missile standing guard at houses or establishments. At least the Pokemon Center, which they could make out due to the large red ‘P’ on the building, looked safe. The road through the city to get there, though, was bound to be swarmed.
“Great. Welcome to Launch City, filled with deadly Missiles all over the place, ready to launch into battle and try and dominate everything,” Kiyo rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think we should be cracking jokes right now, Kiyo.”
“It was more sarcasm. I’m not looking forward to it any more than you two are.”
“Well, I could probably get by unnoticed by the Grunts. You two, though, who have a history with them…” Kara started, grabbing at her chin lightly, though once again something twitched upon her forehead. Crystal was about to note it before she was beaten to the chase.
“It’s a good thing, then, that I packed the suits, eh?” the fire trainer grinned.
“You’ve- when’d you sneak those into your bag?! You were asleep in that recovery bed all night long!” Crystal’s eyes grew large as the eldest tugged out the two black costumes.
“Wha…?!” Kara exclaimed at the sight of them, rage and guilt almost building up in her emerald eyes.
“Relax, relax. We, and I mean Umbree, knocked out two guard Grunts back in Sunrise City and stole their outfits so we could infiltrate the Silph building…” she hastily threw cap, outfit, and oddly-colored wig to Crystal, whom whined.
“I hate this outfit, I really do. I swear, this just adds in to another reason why I’m never going to join up with Team Missile.”
“Besides the fact that they’d force you into world domination or something stupid of that nature.”
“Right, exactly.” Grudgingly, she took to the trees where she wouldn’t be seen, and soon enough the outfit was upon her. She dually fixed the wig and cap a little bit, making sure her tell-tale bangs couldn’t be seen. Nearly tripping with the odd boots on, she came out of the brush with her outfit in her bag. If she didn’t see the mismatching eyes, she would’ve sworn that Kiyo was a normal grunt out to get her. Kara sort of stared in amazement for a moment as the two trainers swapped the Pokemon on their normal belts to the Missile belts.
“Wow, those outfits make you look exactly like a pair of Grunts…”
“Yeah, yeah, now we need you to do a favor, Kara, and hold onto our bags. If we go in there with them on, they’ll know all too well that we are the top two on their most-wanted list, chances are…” Kiyo took a few Super Potions, Pokeballs, and other resourceful items out of her bag before handing it to Kara.
“Oh, sure, dump it all on me. Why did I join up with you two again?”
“Sorry, Kara…” the youngest sheepishly apologized, removing a few things herself and placing them in the little bag strapped onto the belt.
“Of all the trainers, why two trainers that are desperately wanted by Team Missile? Why didn’t they tell me earlier? Agh, just gimme the bag, Crystal. I definitely deserve an Absol after this…” she took it, and she threw both her own bag and the young girl’s bag into Kiyo’s. The load seemed to be heavy, and she was taken aback by the different feel of the backpack.
“Alright, so we’ll go fifteen minutes ahead of you, because it’d be odd to be walking with someone not of Team Missile, and then we’ll meet you at the Pokemon Center.”
“I…might be a while.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to check in on my family. I feel so bad for having escaped at their beggings, and they probably are stuck in the city from lack of Pokemon…” She stared guiltily at her feet, her words ridden with an odd tone. “Ah, yeah. Long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“Ok?” Kiyo rubbed at the cap a little bit. “Whatever you say…c’mon, Crystal.”
“Hey, we should go by different names now. If we call each other our real names, people are going to get really suspicious.”
“Ha, wow, and you thought that all on your own? My lil’ trainee’s growin’ up! Mama would be proud!” she hastily grabbed Crystal and pet her heavily on the back.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Then I shall be James and you Jesse,” Kiyo beamed widely.
“Say who?”
“Ah hah hah, never mind. They were just a notorious couple with a talking Meowth that were always after Satoshi, or so I heard. I have no idea why they were so intent on catching his Pokemon. Maybe because Satoshi caused Giovanni so much trouble? He’s on the top wanted list, too, though I have to wonder if he got beat out by you, dearie.
“Anyways, seriously! I will be…Adam, and you, Laura. There, that ought to make for common enough names that won’t be questioned.”
“What about last names?”
“Rarely will a Grunt use their last name,” Kara nodded towards Kiyo. “If there’s a spy in the team, they use only first names so they’ll have a difficult time getting any information about them, especially since they are disguised.”
“Ha, another that seems to know a lot about the worms, eh?” Kiyo grinned warmly back. “Well, whaddaya say we go in and do some heavy infiltration like before, eh Laura?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever, Kiyo,” she rolled her eyes, and started upwards towards the city.
“That’s Adam to you, miss!” Kiyo chuckled a little more, before both gave a short wave to the medic before parting company.
The plan worked surprisingly seamlessly. No-one dared to question their guise, and armed with a dark Pokemon each, they managed to blend in with the other members of the team. They soon discovered a whole slew of corrupt activities in the city, much like Etike had described; they soon found out that they, however, as unscrupulous fellow members of Team Missile, received heavy discounts for anything and everything in the city. It was rather terrible.
“I swear, if only my brothers were here, I could just clear out the entire lot of these losers…” Kiyo struggled with rage tinted in her voice as a Missile vendor shooed them away with Potions, Pokeballs, and even Missile Balls. Needless to say, they supplied them to the next needing Missile they could find for a few Revives.
“Yeah, if my siblings were here, then all of us could definitely clean this place out.”
“Minus you.”
“Give a starter a break, will you?”
“It’s not as fun that way.”
“Bah, well, shouldn’t we check out the gym or something?” Crystal let out a heavy breath underneath her mutters.
“Yeah, that’s probably smart. We still have plenty of time, anyways.” However, their plan was taken a little roughly as they were pushed aside by a rather large trainer.
“Hey, watch where you’re going, pal!” Kiyo angrily responded in a masculine voice, before shaking her head. Two Missiles, though, soon caught up to the pair.
“Did you two see that trainer just run away?” The taller spoke, a fierce-looking Electabuzz at his side. The electric type pulsed with energy, and seemed to give a peculiar glance at the two.
“Yeah, why?” Crystal spoke, trying her best to sound Missile-like.
“He didn’t pay the price for losing at the gym, that’s what! Where’d he get to, you know?”
“Unfortunately, we didn’t pay too much attention, though I thought I saw him going south of the city.” ‘Adam’ quickly made the story up.
“Agh, he’s making for the forest! Hurry, Clyde! That little jerk isn’t getting away from us this time!” The one with the electric type ushered to his partner in crime.
“He’ll pay for what he did to my Haunter!” Clyde nodded, and with their feet flying, they took off for the forest.
“…poor guy. Hope he gets away to the east okay,” Kiyo fixed her outfit a little bit.
“Yeah. But what do you suppose they meant by ‘paying the price for losing?’”
“I have none in the faintest, but it surely can’t be good. C’mon.”
“What, another pitiful fool to challenge my- oh, welcome.” A large man stood at the head of the gym, clothed in normal gym leader clothes. It was obvious, though, from the number of Missile Balls on his waist that he was probably at least a Grunt Leader.
“Sir! Reporting in for Clyde and his partner, as they are chasing the fellow who lost!” Kiyo saluted, and Crystal wasted but a mere second following suit.
“Excellent, excellent. You two, though…are you new around this place?”
“Yes, sir. We just joined the team. I am Adam, and this is my partner, Laura.”
“Ah, so I’m sure you don’t know all that much about the team, then.”
“No, sir, we don’t.”
“Ah, I somewhat figured from your lack of Missile Balls upon your waists…” With a swift, general hand motion, he noted the somewhat narrowed belts. His dark eyes lingered upon the black Pokeball latched to Crystal’s side. “…that’s an odd ball. Never seen one like that before...”
“Ah, yes, sir. It’s just a seal on an ordinary Pokeball, sir,” Crystal hastily responded.
“She has been intent on joining Team Missile for a while, sir, and so she tried to make a Missile Ball seal to intimidate others with before her application was accepted, sir.”
“Good, we like that sort of dedication in our team. Now, I take it you haven’t claimed a Missile Pokemon yet, you two?”
“No, sir.”
“Very well. I’ll take the moment to provide you with one each, though I have to say, Adam, you’ll have to place one of your extra Pokemon in your PC storage account first.” At the request, Kiyo’s stoic face gave a despised twitch, but she walked over to the nearby PC and did so. The Pokeball with a lightning bolt etched upon it was no longer with her. “Good, good. Now, Adam, let me log into the Missile Box for you. You can then choose one of the Grunt Pokemon. Laura, you will soon do the same, so pay attention.”
Of course, though, Crystal was not paying attention. Her heart was beating heavily. This was not in the plan, to use Missile Pokemon. Isn’t it stealing a stolen Pokemon, in a way? It just doesn’t sit right with me…at all! Evidently the fire trainer was hiding her worry well- a Pokeball, black with red and yellow markings on it soon appeared, and she rashly took it and attached it to her belt. “A good choice. Digletts can be very powerful with their Earthquakes and Magnitudes. Now, Laura, please choose.”
The incognito trainer gulped down her fear, and walked over lightly, with a stern face on, then gazed at the box. Not a lot of great pickings…agh, what am I thinking?! Not like I’m keeping it. I should just pick one and get it over with…wait, what’s... Crystal blue eyes locked upon an icon located on the computer. Her heart pounded in her boots, ridden with guilt. I shouldn’t…but I...I’ll just take it anyways, even though this is wrong…! Soon, she clicked on the electric type, and chose ‘withdraw’ from the pop-up menu. Within seconds, a sickeningly smooth black ball awaited for her new master. Trying desperately hard not to treat it as though it was poison, she clipped it onto her belt. She could hear her other Pokemon’s disapproval of the new member, though their voices were hushed, almost non-existent. A worse guilt started to hang over her head powerfully, as though she had committed the worst of all crimes, as though she herself had just signed herself into Team Missile.
“Wonderful, wonderful. We do have a habit of using electric types around here, in the case of those pesky gym kids from before try and challenge us.” He paused, turning to see the two Missiles they had bumped into before on the street. One appeared to have something cltuched tightly within his fist. “Ah, that’s Clyde and Steven now. You two are dismissed.”
“Sir!” Both simultaneously motioned, and trotted out past the two. When they were finally outside, Crystal turned to Kiyo.
“Oh my gods, we need to free these Pokemon! It’s driving me insane!” the younger of the two immediately whimpered.
“I know, I know, but we’re going to have to keep them for a while longer, if we’re going to get the gym back,” Kiyo heaved a sigh. “And you wanna talk lousy picks from that box? Gross. I’ve seen better pickings in the wild back near Dawndew…”
“We didn’t even figure out what the price of losing is…”
“Oh, yes, I did. It’s giving up one of your Pokemon, your most beloved. I could tell, just that way that the trainer was clutching a Pokeball when he ran past, and the way the Grunts were sturdily holding onto the same ball now.”
“Whaaat?” Crystal gasped. “But…to lose their most beloved partner…"
“Yeah, I know. I couldn’t think about having Flareon stolen from me like that myself…but, for that reason, I could see why so many would flee this place. Again, I feel so bad for that trainer. They’re probably taking those Pokemon and turning them into Missile Pokemon.”
“That’s…” This news only made the weight upon Crystal’s shoulders that much worse. Chances were that the Pokemon she took was definitely from another trainer whom had failed to win.
“…Anyways, what did you pick as your companion?”
“…”
“Come on. After this is over, we’ll find the proper owner and we’ll give it back. It’s not like we’re permanently keeping them.”
“Well, uh…” the gifted one heavily picked off the ball, and released it. With a rather brilliant flash, one that was surprisingly bright, out popped said Pokemon. Electricity gushed from the Pokemon’s heavy wool down to the blue tail, which glowed like a flashlight. The creature, mainly yellow, appeared confused for a second, until it turned around to face Crystal. It did not look pleased, and judging by the harsh tongue that was nearly as bad as Flora’s, it was very upset of being stolen from whomever it had been taken from.
“Who the bleat are you?! Eh? What right have you to go gallivanting in on my family and pry me away from there?! Huh, punk?!” The obvious female screeched, charging up some heavy charges in her curved hair. Her deep blue face was ominous with rage.
“A Mareep? You chose a Mareep?” Kiyo’s eyes questioned her.
“Eh, ya-AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!” Without saying anything further, the sheep had let loose a Thundershock at her ‘trainer’. Thankfully for the trainer, though, the Pokemon’s ability to charge was rather weak, and the pain was nothing in comparison to the probability of her heart stopping. After the shock, Crystal tumbled forward lightly, completely dazed and just barely caught by Kiyo.
“Take that, you no-good, bleating bleat bleater! Now, you’ll take me back to my bleatin’ family right this second, or I’ll bleating Thunder you!” Careful arms slowly helped the blonde to her feet as she recovered her wits slowly.
“Wait just a second, I can explain all of this…” she weakly muttered, gasping for breath. Her hands feebly clutched at her heart.
“No! I’m not gonna bleating listen to your bleating bleat excuses, even if you do speak my bleating language!” the Mareep retorted, returning to charging up. However, three Pokeballs detached themselves from Crystal’s belt, causing Dragola, Flora, and Serge. Pup to appear. They didn’t look pleased, with their trainer and the new companion.
“Homey-C, what this you be doing without our pe-mission, eh? Going behind our back and getting some wannabe tough one from Team Missile? Is you be telling us you be joining their no-good team, eh?!”
“Flora, no, it’s just-”
“I have to admit, Hikara, I’m rather disappointed in you…doing something so hypocritical in such a desperate time as this, and for what? Some half-witted Mareep,” the Poochyena growled.
“C’mon, Serge, if I can just explain-”
“Who are you calling half-witted, punk?!” the electric type cried back, static making snapping sounds within the thick fur.
“Crystal, you’re not gonna send me off, are you?” Dragola sadly looked up to her trainer. The fighting continued, and for a while, she kept trying to explain- until suddenly flames erupted as her final Pokeball opened wide. Flora danced around on the ground in what seemed to be a break dance for a bit, trying hard to smother a flame that caught onto one of her leaves, Sergeant Pup gave a pained howl as he rolled in the dirt to put out his singed hair, and the Mareep had to discharge the lightning in order to counteract the flame that came her way. Flare stood calmly beside Crystal.
“Give the girl a chance to explain herself before you go pointing fingers. You’re all being rather childish, as though you just came out of your eggs. You should all be ashamed. Now, Crystal…” She turned to her trainer, sapphire eyes ridden with a hint of doubt as well. “…please explain your actions to us.”
“…thanks, Flare…” the trainer paused, slowly rising to her feet. She took a moment to take the cap off, as well as the teal wig. Her golden hair fell down around her for a second, and she fixed her bangs which fell back into their proper space. Mareep’s eyes widened, and her mood changed drastically.
“Hey, I think I’ve seen you somewhere before!”
“On the posters of Team Missile’s Most Wanted Trainers?” she glumly smiled.
“Heck if I know! Something about them not liking you, that’s for sure-wait a sec, so then why are you…?”
“Me and my fellow trainer here- Kiyo Dustren, she’s wanted too- are trying to free this city and the captured Pokemon within them. To do this, we figured sneaking around incognito was the best choice.”
“So why’d you be pickin’ up Ms. Mad-at-da-World then, eh?”
“Shut your face, there, ghetto chick,” the ewe snapped at Flora.
“Make me, baaa humbug!”
“Oh, that’s…” Before she could react, though, Dragola had gotten between the two using Extremespeed and separated them.
“Calm down!”
“If I didn’t pick up a Pokemon, then the ‘Gym Leader’ would have gotten seriously suspicious, wouldn’t he have?” Crystal’s voice softened. “I didn’t have a choice, and I’m sorry I couldn’t have communicated that with you, my friends. Honestly, it was an unwilling choice, but…Mareep, I promise, as soon as this is over, I’ll get you back to your original trainer from where you were stolen.”
“Er, I wasn’t stolen from any trainer.”
“’Cuse me?”
“I was caught from the wild, from my family nearby.”
“Ah, well, I’ll just have to let you go back to your family, then, won’t I?”
“Say what? You’d…you’d do that?” the sheep gasped, sounding like a little lamb.
“Yeah. You were taken unwillingly. Besides, if you’ll help me to help out these others, it’s the least I can do. And that goes for the Diglett that Kiyo received as well.”
“I’ve…never heard of a trainer doing that before...” Almost embarrassed, the wooly creature shrunk back, lightning crackles no longer coming from her fur.
“Ha, well, maybe that be because Homey-C be a damn fine trainer at that! My hood be proud that she caught me, novice or not.”
“Flora…”
“You’d…really do that?” the temporary team member squealed, nearing tears.
“Yup! When Crystal says something, she always means it!” Dragola grinned widely, violet eyes lightly shimmering.
“…tch. I have to apologize, Hikara…again, I have gone and judged you. Ha…not at all like the typical trainer, that’s for sure. A little more naïve than I think she ought to be.”
“Hey, c’mon, Serge! Was that just a compliment I heard from you?”
“I think that be one if my ears ever did deceive, Homey-C!”
“It was merely stating a fact…there was absolutely no compliment to be had within my apology,” the dog rolled his eyes, bashfully glancing away.
“…let me ask you, miss, er, Crystal…” At this, everyone paused. “I, er…what exactly is your aim in this road you’re to take with me, and afterwards?”
“…Me?” the gifted girl paused. Her hand went to her hair and wrapped itself around a stray strand repetitively. There are…a lot of ways to answer that. Come to think of it, it had nearly been a different answer for all of my partners. Is there…a true answer…? I had told Breeze that I aimed to become the strongest, as we walked and flew hand and wing. I had told Dragola I would help her to achieve the dream of becoming someone her parents could be proud of. I told Flora she would be part of something that went down in history as a huge event that her name would be glorified in. I told Sergeant Pup I would help make him into a strong, dependable soldier that could have a family and protect them better than he did when I first caught him. I told Flare that someday she would become a beautiful yet deadly Blazeburst, calm and yet masterful of her ways from learning as both teacher and student. Granted, I do mean all of those promises, but something…something’s missing from those promises. I…don’t know quite what to say, to make it specific to the Mareep; I know nothing of this sheep’s hopes and dreams, other than to get back to her family...how do I work off of that? What am I to say…?
“I…” the gifted one continued with her silence, and her training companions gazed up curiously at her. The warm wind caught a long strand of her blonde hair, making it dance towards the sky. Slowly, her eyes followed the strand, gazing at the endless, reflective blue that dyed her eyes the same hue. The…sky. They say it’s the limit, but…I don’t think it is…the sky is…my…dream… An epiphany swept over the ten-year old. Finally, she inhaled, and a small smile rose from the depths of her sudden realization.
“With you, I hope that we can all become stronger and closer to our lifelong dreams. My journey…it’ll be one to prove myself, to prove that I’m not some little kid anymore. It’ll be to prove that I have the power to protect myself, as well as others. It’ll be to help my friends achieve the best they can be, and in turn, grow as well from their strength. I may not quite know what troubles will lie in front of me, but I just want to get through them as a team. Just that friendship is more than I could hope for from you guys.”
All remained silent for a moment, merely gazing up with dignity at their bizarre trainer before moving. Flare appreciatively huddled close to her leg, giving a single note of her potent song and allowing Crystal’s ears to slurp it up greedily. Dragola beamed brightly, before she too went to her trainer’s side and wrapped her friendly. Sergeant Pup, granted, didn’t move, but he did grin and paw at the ground, letting out what sounded like a sarcastic chuckle. Flora bounced about happily, cheering her ‘Homey-C’ and making obvious ghetto symbols with her leaves. The Mareep, maybe still feeling a little outcast and in shock at the pleasing turn of events, merely stood there, close to electrified tears.
Kiyo, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to reveal the mole Pokemon she had claimed as her own as well. The creature was not pleased, to say in the least, but the Diglett did take the time to look over at the other joyous team.
“Uh…Crystal. I…don’t like breaking you away from whatever you’re doing right now, but could you explain to this Diglett what’s going on, and that we’re on…his side?” The fire trainer had taken a moment to roll up one of her sleeves of the outfit, revealing her Pokegear. Even as she gazed over his statistics, she kept a weary eye upon him. His small eyes beadily glared up at her.
“Sure, no…worries…” the blonde nodded nervously, and gazed over at the ground type. “Er, hi there. …Don’t bite me?”
“Say what? You speak?!” the surprised little creature milled his way on over. In a practice of caution she took a step or two back. “…And you’re with this scumbag?”
“Ah ha ha, that scumbag is actually your friend. We all are. We’re gonna help you escape.”
“What? But you’re…”
“Oh, we’re just in disguise! We aren’t actually Grunts. There was a huge screw-up on that guy’s end and he ended up having us choose Pokemon though we didn’t want to. Be glad that we found you.”
“So you’re letting me go then, back to my trainer, right?”
“Eh, not so fast, I’m sorry to say. Would it be to much to have you stick around and wait until we get through the city?” At this, the Diglett sunk down into his hole a little bit.
“But…surely my trainer is waiting for me. I have to get back to him as soon as I can!”
“I know, but we need your help before we can safely get you to your trainer without suspicion. Please, Diglett?”
“I guess…”
“Listen, you can still even pretend that you hate us, or you really could! We both promise that we will get you to your trainer as soon as we can. And I like to think I keep my promises well,” Crystal beamed.
“Ah…I really don’t have a choice, anyways, it seems,” he grumbled. “Fine, fine, I’ll deal out some damage where I can…”
“Alright! Thanks, Diglett!” The girl then stood up, facing the black-haired trainer. “There we go. I think that’s all straightened out.”
“Wonderful. Trainer or not?”
“A male trainer.”
“Ohh, really specific.”
“He’ll probably know and hop out of his Pokeball when he sees his trainer.”
“He better not do that when we’re still in outfit…” With her growl, Crystal nodded.
“Ah, yeah, better tell him that. …Hey Diglett?”
“Yeah? Whaddaya want?” he turned around after digging back to Kiyo’s side.
“Well, will you let us know who your trainer is with a wiggle of your Pokeball when we’re in our Grunt outfits, and pop out and head over to your trainer when we aren’t?”
“Oh! Of course. Yeah,” he gave a twitch of his pink nose, as though nodding vigorously.
“Alright!” She again went to turn Kiyo’s way, but not before crystal blue eyes widened greatly. With tears and friendly static shocks pouring from squinted eyes, the Mareep finally dashed forward, and leapt onto the girl, pinning her down in surprise. “Wha?!” The static shocks felt more like an itch to be scratched than attacks as she wrapped her arms instinctively around the creature.
“Just t-thank you s-so much! N-no one’s ever d-done something t-this nice for me b-before!” she bleated, still sobbing uncontrollably.
“H-hey! Don’t worry about it! C’mon! Those shocks tickle!” Crystal flew into a giggling fit.
“You’re a little too happy for my tastes, to be honest,” the Diglett glared at the joyous pair, and gazed up apathetically to his own silent trainer.
“Hey, Laura? We’re kind of on a secret mission here. Team Missile doesn’t caress their partners like that. If someone spotted us like we are now…” the aging teenager rolled her eyes, instinctively checking on her own cap.
“Ah, right. Um, I hate to say it, Mareep, but you’re gonna have to go back into the Pokeball for now. All of you.”
“Aw, but Homey-C!”
“I know you love the fresh air, Flora. There’ll be other times you’ll get to walk along side me.”
“Ah, you always be saying dat, but with dis bus’ness from Missiles, you never be followin’ dat promise, fo rizzle…” Reluctantly and having made her point, the Oddish was back within the Pokeball. Flare gave another warm chirp, both welcoming and saying farewell to her new companion, before returning to her capsule home as well. Dragola gave a brief handshake with her tail tip to the Mareep, smile quite warm, before she too disappeared. Serge. Pup paused before he turned to say something further.
“You do never cease to amaze me, Hikara, that’s for sure. I can’t tell if you’re nuts or the best thing to happen to Pokemon in a long time.”
“Serge…”
“I shall be ready to patrol the vicinities whenever you wish me to. Sergeant Pup heading out.”
“That’s a 10-4,” Crystal snickered lightly as she rolled her eyes, holding out the last normal Pokeball and recalled him. “Ah, they’re all a buncha characters…”
“Yeah, maybe. I think that I’m fairly normal in comparison, though…aren’t I?” With the last part of her question, her voice began to hold an intimidating tone. Best not tell her she has some serious mood swings, then, Crystal thought, sweating lightly.
“A whole lot saner than most of my crew, that’s for sure! Well, besides Flare. She has a really strong head attached to her tiny feathered shoulders. Anyways, when I call you out next, immediately start giving me the nasty attitude like you were before unless I let you know that we’re alone, ok?”
“Sure thing! I call myself a bit of a prideful actress in my ability to confuse others,” Mareep gleamed.
“Ha, cool. …You know, it’s gonna be weird calling you Mareep. I think you need a nickname. How’s that sound?”
“Er, actually, I don’t know, really…” the lamb shrunk back at the thought.
“Well, me and Kiyo will help formulate a good nickname for you, how does that sound?”
“…I’ll have to give it some thought, I guess…well, uh, nice meeting you and all of that, then…” Without a further thought, and somewhat disdainfully, the Mareep nudged her snout against the Missile Ball, and disappeared within. There was a click, and Crystal felt the weight of freeing the Pokemon in the future come to her once again as she rose to her heavy feet.
“Alright, then, all set. We’re gonna have to think of some possible nicknames for Mareep. Calling her Mareep feels weird…” As she spoke, the blonde turned back to being cyan-green as she fixed her wig.
“Don’t even bother,” Kiyo muttered as she recalled the Diglett, who, just like the electric type, did not appear happy about returning to the nefarious orb.
“Huh?”
“Just because it’s a Missile Ball doesn’t mean that it’s your Pokemon. That Mareep has a life of her own, one that she was stolen from. Chances are a Pokemon will not obey you if you use a nickname when you aren’t listed as the original trainer whom caught it, anyways. In the case of the Missile Ball sharing system, the Missile Balls immediately put a team sort of identification number on them with Giovanni listed as the original trainer, so there is no way to really claim one as your own…unless you steal it, which you aren’t going to do.”
Something about the way Kiyo spoke made Crystal feel funny, as though she was guilty. Maybe it was that the fire trainer had somehow tapped into the gut feeling that the newbie trainer wanted to keep Mareep for as long as her Pokemon journey lasted, and totally disregard the laws of the trainer. Maybe she was accusing her of thinking of a crime that was on the same level as being a true Missile Grunt. Maybe, even, something more played into this, though the girl would have no knowledge of this. At any rate, it did leave her with a sour taste in her mouth as she straightened out her cap once she was positive no pink from her bangs could be seen.
“Ah, okay. See, I have no idea about all of this original trainer, id number, trading-stealing thing. Thanks for warning me.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Excuse me, you two.” From behind, one of the grunts from the gym- Clyde- suddenly was upon them. Crystal nearly twitched violently at that, having been taken by surprise.
“Ah, yes?” the startled female quickly responded.
“We are asked to bring you into the gym for training purposes. New recruits, right?”
“Yeah,” Kiyo nodded.
“A Class C trainer has recently caused some troubles with a member of ours, and demands a fight with Aaron. He believes it should be a good learning experience for you two.”
“Class C?” Crystal questioned.
“There are a few different classes of trainers, based upon how badly they are wanted by us of Team Missile. It ranges from Class A or Class S, where the most powerful perpetrators are, to Class L, whom are the lowly people that simply verbally batter our name when they think no one is around. But yes, she has given us problems of the past. She was, for a very brief time, part of Team Missile, but then…” His voice shrank down to a deadly whisper in one of the most condemning voices Crystal had ever heard.
“She stole a high-class Missile Pokemon, stole some cash, and left the team.” Chills ran up the masquerading trainer’s spines, wondering which was better: this trainer or the Missiles. Kiyo, of course, knew which was the more appropriate answer to give this grunt.
“She’ll never get away with it, that’s for sure.”
“Indeed, she won’t. Still, we think she’s rather…weak, and so it might be a good experience for you as trainers to watch the battle that ensues. Come along…” He started off towards the gym, and soon the pair was silently in line with the man. They walked closely together, so they could speak amongst themselves without being heard.
“This sounds pretty bad. I don’t know which is worse in this case, the trainer or the Missiles.”
“Always the Missiles. You know that,” the one hidden in the man’s outfit hissed back.
“Yeah, but still…I wonder what Kara’s doing right now, at any rate?”
“She’s probably home or something with her parents, knowing her, or at least visited them. I gotta feel somewhat bad for that kid, but…”
“What?” Crystal whispered as they drew near to the gym.
“I’ve always had a funny inkling about her. Call it intuition, but she seems a bit off to me. A beginner trainer, catching a shiny Scyther? Scyther are hard enough to find in Beghta, and they can only be caught near Mornfall in the southwest. That, and she’s rather athletic. There are other things, like her trainer card I caught a sneak peek of when we had cleared Apollo Bridge and some of her facial expressions when Team Missile came into play…” her voice died out, as they stopped just behind Clyde.
“Under Giovanni’s command we live by!” he stated, and the doors were promptly unlocked and the party was allowed in. Crystal’s eyes began to grow, and she nearly exclaimed out loud, though Kiyo’s words cut her off.
“Don’t say anything…but I knew something was off about her…” she glared back to the struggling brunette, fighting off two Missile Grunts, a different look in her emerald eyes.
I'm trying to mess aroung with your typical perception of Pokemon. I mean, before this, when you hear of an Oddish, you probably think of a cute little grass-poison type. But now...XDAnd, after Chapter 25 is posted, there will not be any new chapters for a while. I'll be rewriting the first 20 or so chapters to that point, because I hate looking at my old writing. D:
Chapter 16- Guilt
“Ok, that joke has seriously been dead for a while. Quit it you guys,” Kara irately sighed, lagging a little behind the chortling pair. It had gotten considerably lighter in the forest of the Eclipse Woods, and they would arrive at Zenith a few hours before nightfall.
“Oh, can’t you let us have our fun…man?” At Crystal’s comment, more chuckles insued.
“Ah, but we’ll have to stop soon, Mewster. My sides are killing me,” Kiyo gave a short cough, clutching at her sides.
“Har de har har. Very hilarious.” Kara’s emerald jewels rolled to the mid-day sky. “…say, where did she get Mewster as a nickname from, anyways?”
“Ah, it’s not really my nickname…” Crystal started, swatting her hand the eldest trainer’s way, but she was too quick.
“Hahaha, I have no idea, to be honest. I think it stemmed from a dream I had involving pickles or something.”
“Pickles?”
“Yeah, I know, right? It may have something to do that she always seems to talk like a Meowth when she speaks to Pokemon, too.”
“How many times do I have to tell everyone that I’m not speaking Meowth?”
“Well, what Pokemon are you speaking as, then?” At this, the blonde-haired girl gave a definite pause. She appeared as though she wanted to shout out her answer, but she decided against it.
“Whatever!” she nearly yelled, and stomped on down the path heavily to show her frustration.
“Dustren, one, Hikara, zero. I win once again!” the fire trainer made a flexing movement, along with the sound effect ‘ka-ching!’, before she quickly caught up. Kara, of course, said nothing- no need to bring up the hippie Grimer again.
However, Crystal’s rage soon disappeared, as did her step rate. A feeling of nervousness came over her, and she shot a glance all around her.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Kiyo questioned.
“I just…”
“Just what?”
“I feel as though we’re being followed, or watched.”
“There’s no one around. Flareon and Zaika probably would’ve noticed something odd if there was, and they look fine.”
“I- I guess…” the preteen gazed to the two Pokemon, whom appeared confused as she. “So…you two haven’t heard or felt any eyes on our group?”
“No, none to my knowledge,” Flareon shook her head.
“I sense no people in the area,” the Scyther concurred.
“People? So, could there be a Pokemon around or something of that nature?” And by something of that nature, it was clear to Crystal just what that meant, and the thought made her sweat.
“I doubt so. I may not have the strongest feeling for presence, but I don’t feel any around here,” With that, the girl sighed uneasily.
“I still feel like we’re being watched,” she muttered in English, and continued along, making sure to stick extremely close to her friends.
And, without further incident, the bright city of Zenith had come into view, People were bustling busily about, most in normal clothing, but it was seriously obvious that something was amiss in the town. Maybe it was the occasional Missile standing guard at houses or establishments. At least the Pokemon Center, which they could make out due to the large red ‘P’ on the building, looked safe. The road through the city to get there, though, was bound to be swarmed.
“Great. Welcome to Launch City, filled with deadly Missiles all over the place, ready to launch into battle and try and dominate everything,” Kiyo rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think we should be cracking jokes right now, Kiyo.”
“It was more sarcasm. I’m not looking forward to it any more than you two are.”
“Well, I could probably get by unnoticed by the Grunts. You two, though, who have a history with them…” Kara started, grabbing at her chin lightly, though once again something twitched upon her forehead. Crystal was about to note it before she was beaten to the chase.
“It’s a good thing, then, that I packed the suits, eh?” the fire trainer grinned.
“You’ve- when’d you sneak those into your bag?! You were asleep in that recovery bed all night long!” Crystal’s eyes grew large as the eldest tugged out the two black costumes.
“Wha…?!” Kara exclaimed at the sight of them, rage and guilt almost building up in her emerald eyes.
“Relax, relax. We, and I mean Umbree, knocked out two guard Grunts back in Sunrise City and stole their outfits so we could infiltrate the Silph building…” she hastily threw cap, outfit, and oddly-colored wig to Crystal, whom whined.
“I hate this outfit, I really do. I swear, this just adds in to another reason why I’m never going to join up with Team Missile.”
“Besides the fact that they’d force you into world domination or something stupid of that nature.”
“Right, exactly.” Grudgingly, she took to the trees where she wouldn’t be seen, and soon enough the outfit was upon her. She dually fixed the wig and cap a little bit, making sure her tell-tale bangs couldn’t be seen. Nearly tripping with the odd boots on, she came out of the brush with her outfit in her bag. If she didn’t see the mismatching eyes, she would’ve sworn that Kiyo was a normal grunt out to get her. Kara sort of stared in amazement for a moment as the two trainers swapped the Pokemon on their normal belts to the Missile belts.
“Wow, those outfits make you look exactly like a pair of Grunts…”
“Yeah, yeah, now we need you to do a favor, Kara, and hold onto our bags. If we go in there with them on, they’ll know all too well that we are the top two on their most-wanted list, chances are…” Kiyo took a few Super Potions, Pokeballs, and other resourceful items out of her bag before handing it to Kara.
“Oh, sure, dump it all on me. Why did I join up with you two again?”
“Sorry, Kara…” the youngest sheepishly apologized, removing a few things herself and placing them in the little bag strapped onto the belt.
“Of all the trainers, why two trainers that are desperately wanted by Team Missile? Why didn’t they tell me earlier? Agh, just gimme the bag, Crystal. I definitely deserve an Absol after this…” she took it, and she threw both her own bag and the young girl’s bag into Kiyo’s. The load seemed to be heavy, and she was taken aback by the different feel of the backpack.
“Alright, so we’ll go fifteen minutes ahead of you, because it’d be odd to be walking with someone not of Team Missile, and then we’ll meet you at the Pokemon Center.”
“I…might be a while.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to check in on my family. I feel so bad for having escaped at their beggings, and they probably are stuck in the city from lack of Pokemon…” She stared guiltily at her feet, her words ridden with an odd tone. “Ah, yeah. Long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“Ok?” Kiyo rubbed at the cap a little bit. “Whatever you say…c’mon, Crystal.”
“Hey, we should go by different names now. If we call each other our real names, people are going to get really suspicious.”
“Ha, wow, and you thought that all on your own? My lil’ trainee’s growin’ up! Mama would be proud!” she hastily grabbed Crystal and pet her heavily on the back.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Then I shall be James and you Jesse,” Kiyo beamed widely.
“Say who?”
“Ah hah hah, never mind. They were just a notorious couple with a talking Meowth that were always after Satoshi, or so I heard. I have no idea why they were so intent on catching his Pokemon. Maybe because Satoshi caused Giovanni so much trouble? He’s on the top wanted list, too, though I have to wonder if he got beat out by you, dearie.
“Anyways, seriously! I will be…Adam, and you, Laura. There, that ought to make for common enough names that won’t be questioned.”
“What about last names?”
“Rarely will a Grunt use their last name,” Kara nodded towards Kiyo. “If there’s a spy in the team, they use only first names so they’ll have a difficult time getting any information about them, especially since they are disguised.”
“Ha, another that seems to know a lot about the worms, eh?” Kiyo grinned warmly back. “Well, whaddaya say we go in and do some heavy infiltration like before, eh Laura?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever, Kiyo,” she rolled her eyes, and started upwards towards the city.
“That’s Adam to you, miss!” Kiyo chuckled a little more, before both gave a short wave to the medic before parting company.
The plan worked surprisingly seamlessly. No-one dared to question their guise, and armed with a dark Pokemon each, they managed to blend in with the other members of the team. They soon discovered a whole slew of corrupt activities in the city, much like Etike had described; they soon found out that they, however, as unscrupulous fellow members of Team Missile, received heavy discounts for anything and everything in the city. It was rather terrible.
“I swear, if only my brothers were here, I could just clear out the entire lot of these losers…” Kiyo struggled with rage tinted in her voice as a Missile vendor shooed them away with Potions, Pokeballs, and even Missile Balls. Needless to say, they supplied them to the next needing Missile they could find for a few Revives.
“Yeah, if my siblings were here, then all of us could definitely clean this place out.”
“Minus you.”
“Give a starter a break, will you?”
“It’s not as fun that way.”
“Bah, well, shouldn’t we check out the gym or something?” Crystal let out a heavy breath underneath her mutters.
“Yeah, that’s probably smart. We still have plenty of time, anyways.” However, their plan was taken a little roughly as they were pushed aside by a rather large trainer.
“Hey, watch where you’re going, pal!” Kiyo angrily responded in a masculine voice, before shaking her head. Two Missiles, though, soon caught up to the pair.
“Did you two see that trainer just run away?” The taller spoke, a fierce-looking Electabuzz at his side. The electric type pulsed with energy, and seemed to give a peculiar glance at the two.
“Yeah, why?” Crystal spoke, trying her best to sound Missile-like.
“He didn’t pay the price for losing at the gym, that’s what! Where’d he get to, you know?”
“Unfortunately, we didn’t pay too much attention, though I thought I saw him going south of the city.” ‘Adam’ quickly made the story up.
“Agh, he’s making for the forest! Hurry, Clyde! That little jerk isn’t getting away from us this time!” The one with the electric type ushered to his partner in crime.
“He’ll pay for what he did to my Haunter!” Clyde nodded, and with their feet flying, they took off for the forest.
“…poor guy. Hope he gets away to the east okay,” Kiyo fixed her outfit a little bit.
“Yeah. But what do you suppose they meant by ‘paying the price for losing?’”
“I have none in the faintest, but it surely can’t be good. C’mon.”
“What, another pitiful fool to challenge my- oh, welcome.” A large man stood at the head of the gym, clothed in normal gym leader clothes. It was obvious, though, from the number of Missile Balls on his waist that he was probably at least a Grunt Leader.
“Sir! Reporting in for Clyde and his partner, as they are chasing the fellow who lost!” Kiyo saluted, and Crystal wasted but a mere second following suit.
“Excellent, excellent. You two, though…are you new around this place?”
“Yes, sir. We just joined the team. I am Adam, and this is my partner, Laura.”
“Ah, so I’m sure you don’t know all that much about the team, then.”
“No, sir, we don’t.”
“Ah, I somewhat figured from your lack of Missile Balls upon your waists…” With a swift, general hand motion, he noted the somewhat narrowed belts. His dark eyes lingered upon the black Pokeball latched to Crystal’s side. “…that’s an odd ball. Never seen one like that before...”
“Ah, yes, sir. It’s just a seal on an ordinary Pokeball, sir,” Crystal hastily responded.
“She has been intent on joining Team Missile for a while, sir, and so she tried to make a Missile Ball seal to intimidate others with before her application was accepted, sir.”
“Good, we like that sort of dedication in our team. Now, I take it you haven’t claimed a Missile Pokemon yet, you two?”
“No, sir.”
“Very well. I’ll take the moment to provide you with one each, though I have to say, Adam, you’ll have to place one of your extra Pokemon in your PC storage account first.” At the request, Kiyo’s stoic face gave a despised twitch, but she walked over to the nearby PC and did so. The Pokeball with a lightning bolt etched upon it was no longer with her. “Good, good. Now, Adam, let me log into the Missile Box for you. You can then choose one of the Grunt Pokemon. Laura, you will soon do the same, so pay attention.”
Of course, though, Crystal was not paying attention. Her heart was beating heavily. This was not in the plan, to use Missile Pokemon. Isn’t it stealing a stolen Pokemon, in a way? It just doesn’t sit right with me…at all! Evidently the fire trainer was hiding her worry well- a Pokeball, black with red and yellow markings on it soon appeared, and she rashly took it and attached it to her belt. “A good choice. Digletts can be very powerful with their Earthquakes and Magnitudes. Now, Laura, please choose.”
The incognito trainer gulped down her fear, and walked over lightly, with a stern face on, then gazed at the box. Not a lot of great pickings…agh, what am I thinking?! Not like I’m keeping it. I should just pick one and get it over with…wait, what’s... Crystal blue eyes locked upon an icon located on the computer. Her heart pounded in her boots, ridden with guilt. I shouldn’t…but I...I’ll just take it anyways, even though this is wrong…! Soon, she clicked on the electric type, and chose ‘withdraw’ from the pop-up menu. Within seconds, a sickeningly smooth black ball awaited for her new master. Trying desperately hard not to treat it as though it was poison, she clipped it onto her belt. She could hear her other Pokemon’s disapproval of the new member, though their voices were hushed, almost non-existent. A worse guilt started to hang over her head powerfully, as though she had committed the worst of all crimes, as though she herself had just signed herself into Team Missile.
“Wonderful, wonderful. We do have a habit of using electric types around here, in the case of those pesky gym kids from before try and challenge us.” He paused, turning to see the two Missiles they had bumped into before on the street. One appeared to have something cltuched tightly within his fist. “Ah, that’s Clyde and Steven now. You two are dismissed.”
“Sir!” Both simultaneously motioned, and trotted out past the two. When they were finally outside, Crystal turned to Kiyo.
“Oh my gods, we need to free these Pokemon! It’s driving me insane!” the younger of the two immediately whimpered.
“I know, I know, but we’re going to have to keep them for a while longer, if we’re going to get the gym back,” Kiyo heaved a sigh. “And you wanna talk lousy picks from that box? Gross. I’ve seen better pickings in the wild back near Dawndew…”
“We didn’t even figure out what the price of losing is…”
“Oh, yes, I did. It’s giving up one of your Pokemon, your most beloved. I could tell, just that way that the trainer was clutching a Pokeball when he ran past, and the way the Grunts were sturdily holding onto the same ball now.”
“Whaaat?” Crystal gasped. “But…to lose their most beloved partner…"
“Yeah, I know. I couldn’t think about having Flareon stolen from me like that myself…but, for that reason, I could see why so many would flee this place. Again, I feel so bad for that trainer. They’re probably taking those Pokemon and turning them into Missile Pokemon.”
“That’s…” This news only made the weight upon Crystal’s shoulders that much worse. Chances were that the Pokemon she took was definitely from another trainer whom had failed to win.
“…Anyways, what did you pick as your companion?”
“…”
“Come on. After this is over, we’ll find the proper owner and we’ll give it back. It’s not like we’re permanently keeping them.”
“Well, uh…” the gifted one heavily picked off the ball, and released it. With a rather brilliant flash, one that was surprisingly bright, out popped said Pokemon. Electricity gushed from the Pokemon’s heavy wool down to the blue tail, which glowed like a flashlight. The creature, mainly yellow, appeared confused for a second, until it turned around to face Crystal. It did not look pleased, and judging by the harsh tongue that was nearly as bad as Flora’s, it was very upset of being stolen from whomever it had been taken from.
“Who the bleat are you?! Eh? What right have you to go gallivanting in on my family and pry me away from there?! Huh, punk?!” The obvious female screeched, charging up some heavy charges in her curved hair. Her deep blue face was ominous with rage.
“A Mareep? You chose a Mareep?” Kiyo’s eyes questioned her.
“Eh, ya-AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!” Without saying anything further, the sheep had let loose a Thundershock at her ‘trainer’. Thankfully for the trainer, though, the Pokemon’s ability to charge was rather weak, and the pain was nothing in comparison to the probability of her heart stopping. After the shock, Crystal tumbled forward lightly, completely dazed and just barely caught by Kiyo.
“Take that, you no-good, bleating bleat bleater! Now, you’ll take me back to my bleatin’ family right this second, or I’ll bleating Thunder you!” Careful arms slowly helped the blonde to her feet as she recovered her wits slowly.
“Wait just a second, I can explain all of this…” she weakly muttered, gasping for breath. Her hands feebly clutched at her heart.
“No! I’m not gonna bleating listen to your bleating bleat excuses, even if you do speak my bleating language!” the Mareep retorted, returning to charging up. However, three Pokeballs detached themselves from Crystal’s belt, causing Dragola, Flora, and Serge. Pup to appear. They didn’t look pleased, with their trainer and the new companion.
“Homey-C, what this you be doing without our pe-mission, eh? Going behind our back and getting some wannabe tough one from Team Missile? Is you be telling us you be joining their no-good team, eh?!”
“Flora, no, it’s just-”
“I have to admit, Hikara, I’m rather disappointed in you…doing something so hypocritical in such a desperate time as this, and for what? Some half-witted Mareep,” the Poochyena growled.
“C’mon, Serge, if I can just explain-”
“Who are you calling half-witted, punk?!” the electric type cried back, static making snapping sounds within the thick fur.
“Crystal, you’re not gonna send me off, are you?” Dragola sadly looked up to her trainer. The fighting continued, and for a while, she kept trying to explain- until suddenly flames erupted as her final Pokeball opened wide. Flora danced around on the ground in what seemed to be a break dance for a bit, trying hard to smother a flame that caught onto one of her leaves, Sergeant Pup gave a pained howl as he rolled in the dirt to put out his singed hair, and the Mareep had to discharge the lightning in order to counteract the flame that came her way. Flare stood calmly beside Crystal.
“Give the girl a chance to explain herself before you go pointing fingers. You’re all being rather childish, as though you just came out of your eggs. You should all be ashamed. Now, Crystal…” She turned to her trainer, sapphire eyes ridden with a hint of doubt as well. “…please explain your actions to us.”
“…thanks, Flare…” the trainer paused, slowly rising to her feet. She took a moment to take the cap off, as well as the teal wig. Her golden hair fell down around her for a second, and she fixed her bangs which fell back into their proper space. Mareep’s eyes widened, and her mood changed drastically.
“Hey, I think I’ve seen you somewhere before!”
“On the posters of Team Missile’s Most Wanted Trainers?” she glumly smiled.
“Heck if I know! Something about them not liking you, that’s for sure-wait a sec, so then why are you…?”
“Me and my fellow trainer here- Kiyo Dustren, she’s wanted too- are trying to free this city and the captured Pokemon within them. To do this, we figured sneaking around incognito was the best choice.”
“So why’d you be pickin’ up Ms. Mad-at-da-World then, eh?”
“Shut your face, there, ghetto chick,” the ewe snapped at Flora.
“Make me, baaa humbug!”
“Oh, that’s…” Before she could react, though, Dragola had gotten between the two using Extremespeed and separated them.
“Calm down!”
“If I didn’t pick up a Pokemon, then the ‘Gym Leader’ would have gotten seriously suspicious, wouldn’t he have?” Crystal’s voice softened. “I didn’t have a choice, and I’m sorry I couldn’t have communicated that with you, my friends. Honestly, it was an unwilling choice, but…Mareep, I promise, as soon as this is over, I’ll get you back to your original trainer from where you were stolen.”
“Er, I wasn’t stolen from any trainer.”
“’Cuse me?”
“I was caught from the wild, from my family nearby.”
“Ah, well, I’ll just have to let you go back to your family, then, won’t I?”
“Say what? You’d…you’d do that?” the sheep gasped, sounding like a little lamb.
“Yeah. You were taken unwillingly. Besides, if you’ll help me to help out these others, it’s the least I can do. And that goes for the Diglett that Kiyo received as well.”
“I’ve…never heard of a trainer doing that before...” Almost embarrassed, the wooly creature shrunk back, lightning crackles no longer coming from her fur.
“Ha, well, maybe that be because Homey-C be a damn fine trainer at that! My hood be proud that she caught me, novice or not.”
“Flora…”
“You’d…really do that?” the temporary team member squealed, nearing tears.
“Yup! When Crystal says something, she always means it!” Dragola grinned widely, violet eyes lightly shimmering.
“…tch. I have to apologize, Hikara…again, I have gone and judged you. Ha…not at all like the typical trainer, that’s for sure. A little more naïve than I think she ought to be.”
“Hey, c’mon, Serge! Was that just a compliment I heard from you?”
“I think that be one if my ears ever did deceive, Homey-C!”
“It was merely stating a fact…there was absolutely no compliment to be had within my apology,” the dog rolled his eyes, bashfully glancing away.
“…let me ask you, miss, er, Crystal…” At this, everyone paused. “I, er…what exactly is your aim in this road you’re to take with me, and afterwards?”
“…Me?” the gifted girl paused. Her hand went to her hair and wrapped itself around a stray strand repetitively. There are…a lot of ways to answer that. Come to think of it, it had nearly been a different answer for all of my partners. Is there…a true answer…? I had told Breeze that I aimed to become the strongest, as we walked and flew hand and wing. I had told Dragola I would help her to achieve the dream of becoming someone her parents could be proud of. I told Flora she would be part of something that went down in history as a huge event that her name would be glorified in. I told Sergeant Pup I would help make him into a strong, dependable soldier that could have a family and protect them better than he did when I first caught him. I told Flare that someday she would become a beautiful yet deadly Blazeburst, calm and yet masterful of her ways from learning as both teacher and student. Granted, I do mean all of those promises, but something…something’s missing from those promises. I…don’t know quite what to say, to make it specific to the Mareep; I know nothing of this sheep’s hopes and dreams, other than to get back to her family...how do I work off of that? What am I to say…?
“I…” the gifted one continued with her silence, and her training companions gazed up curiously at her. The warm wind caught a long strand of her blonde hair, making it dance towards the sky. Slowly, her eyes followed the strand, gazing at the endless, reflective blue that dyed her eyes the same hue. The…sky. They say it’s the limit, but…I don’t think it is…the sky is…my…dream… An epiphany swept over the ten-year old. Finally, she inhaled, and a small smile rose from the depths of her sudden realization.
“With you, I hope that we can all become stronger and closer to our lifelong dreams. My journey…it’ll be one to prove myself, to prove that I’m not some little kid anymore. It’ll be to prove that I have the power to protect myself, as well as others. It’ll be to help my friends achieve the best they can be, and in turn, grow as well from their strength. I may not quite know what troubles will lie in front of me, but I just want to get through them as a team. Just that friendship is more than I could hope for from you guys.”
All remained silent for a moment, merely gazing up with dignity at their bizarre trainer before moving. Flare appreciatively huddled close to her leg, giving a single note of her potent song and allowing Crystal’s ears to slurp it up greedily. Dragola beamed brightly, before she too went to her trainer’s side and wrapped her friendly. Sergeant Pup, granted, didn’t move, but he did grin and paw at the ground, letting out what sounded like a sarcastic chuckle. Flora bounced about happily, cheering her ‘Homey-C’ and making obvious ghetto symbols with her leaves. The Mareep, maybe still feeling a little outcast and in shock at the pleasing turn of events, merely stood there, close to electrified tears.
Kiyo, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to reveal the mole Pokemon she had claimed as her own as well. The creature was not pleased, to say in the least, but the Diglett did take the time to look over at the other joyous team.
“Uh…Crystal. I…don’t like breaking you away from whatever you’re doing right now, but could you explain to this Diglett what’s going on, and that we’re on…his side?” The fire trainer had taken a moment to roll up one of her sleeves of the outfit, revealing her Pokegear. Even as she gazed over his statistics, she kept a weary eye upon him. His small eyes beadily glared up at her.
“Sure, no…worries…” the blonde nodded nervously, and gazed over at the ground type. “Er, hi there. …Don’t bite me?”
“Say what? You speak?!” the surprised little creature milled his way on over. In a practice of caution she took a step or two back. “…And you’re with this scumbag?”
“Ah ha ha, that scumbag is actually your friend. We all are. We’re gonna help you escape.”
“What? But you’re…”
“Oh, we’re just in disguise! We aren’t actually Grunts. There was a huge screw-up on that guy’s end and he ended up having us choose Pokemon though we didn’t want to. Be glad that we found you.”
“So you’re letting me go then, back to my trainer, right?”
“Eh, not so fast, I’m sorry to say. Would it be to much to have you stick around and wait until we get through the city?” At this, the Diglett sunk down into his hole a little bit.
“But…surely my trainer is waiting for me. I have to get back to him as soon as I can!”
“I know, but we need your help before we can safely get you to your trainer without suspicion. Please, Diglett?”
“I guess…”
“Listen, you can still even pretend that you hate us, or you really could! We both promise that we will get you to your trainer as soon as we can. And I like to think I keep my promises well,” Crystal beamed.
“Ah…I really don’t have a choice, anyways, it seems,” he grumbled. “Fine, fine, I’ll deal out some damage where I can…”
“Alright! Thanks, Diglett!” The girl then stood up, facing the black-haired trainer. “There we go. I think that’s all straightened out.”
“Wonderful. Trainer or not?”
“A male trainer.”
“Ohh, really specific.”
“He’ll probably know and hop out of his Pokeball when he sees his trainer.”
“He better not do that when we’re still in outfit…” With her growl, Crystal nodded.
“Ah, yeah, better tell him that. …Hey Diglett?”
“Yeah? Whaddaya want?” he turned around after digging back to Kiyo’s side.
“Well, will you let us know who your trainer is with a wiggle of your Pokeball when we’re in our Grunt outfits, and pop out and head over to your trainer when we aren’t?”
“Oh! Of course. Yeah,” he gave a twitch of his pink nose, as though nodding vigorously.
“Alright!” She again went to turn Kiyo’s way, but not before crystal blue eyes widened greatly. With tears and friendly static shocks pouring from squinted eyes, the Mareep finally dashed forward, and leapt onto the girl, pinning her down in surprise. “Wha?!” The static shocks felt more like an itch to be scratched than attacks as she wrapped her arms instinctively around the creature.
“Just t-thank you s-so much! N-no one’s ever d-done something t-this nice for me b-before!” she bleated, still sobbing uncontrollably.
“H-hey! Don’t worry about it! C’mon! Those shocks tickle!” Crystal flew into a giggling fit.
“You’re a little too happy for my tastes, to be honest,” the Diglett glared at the joyous pair, and gazed up apathetically to his own silent trainer.
“Hey, Laura? We’re kind of on a secret mission here. Team Missile doesn’t caress their partners like that. If someone spotted us like we are now…” the aging teenager rolled her eyes, instinctively checking on her own cap.
“Ah, right. Um, I hate to say it, Mareep, but you’re gonna have to go back into the Pokeball for now. All of you.”
“Aw, but Homey-C!”
“I know you love the fresh air, Flora. There’ll be other times you’ll get to walk along side me.”
“Ah, you always be saying dat, but with dis bus’ness from Missiles, you never be followin’ dat promise, fo rizzle…” Reluctantly and having made her point, the Oddish was back within the Pokeball. Flare gave another warm chirp, both welcoming and saying farewell to her new companion, before returning to her capsule home as well. Dragola gave a brief handshake with her tail tip to the Mareep, smile quite warm, before she too disappeared. Serge. Pup paused before he turned to say something further.
“You do never cease to amaze me, Hikara, that’s for sure. I can’t tell if you’re nuts or the best thing to happen to Pokemon in a long time.”
“Serge…”
“I shall be ready to patrol the vicinities whenever you wish me to. Sergeant Pup heading out.”
“That’s a 10-4,” Crystal snickered lightly as she rolled her eyes, holding out the last normal Pokeball and recalled him. “Ah, they’re all a buncha characters…”
“Yeah, maybe. I think that I’m fairly normal in comparison, though…aren’t I?” With the last part of her question, her voice began to hold an intimidating tone. Best not tell her she has some serious mood swings, then, Crystal thought, sweating lightly.
“A whole lot saner than most of my crew, that’s for sure! Well, besides Flare. She has a really strong head attached to her tiny feathered shoulders. Anyways, when I call you out next, immediately start giving me the nasty attitude like you were before unless I let you know that we’re alone, ok?”
“Sure thing! I call myself a bit of a prideful actress in my ability to confuse others,” Mareep gleamed.
“Ha, cool. …You know, it’s gonna be weird calling you Mareep. I think you need a nickname. How’s that sound?”
“Er, actually, I don’t know, really…” the lamb shrunk back at the thought.
“Well, me and Kiyo will help formulate a good nickname for you, how does that sound?”
“…I’ll have to give it some thought, I guess…well, uh, nice meeting you and all of that, then…” Without a further thought, and somewhat disdainfully, the Mareep nudged her snout against the Missile Ball, and disappeared within. There was a click, and Crystal felt the weight of freeing the Pokemon in the future come to her once again as she rose to her heavy feet.
“Alright, then, all set. We’re gonna have to think of some possible nicknames for Mareep. Calling her Mareep feels weird…” As she spoke, the blonde turned back to being cyan-green as she fixed her wig.
“Don’t even bother,” Kiyo muttered as she recalled the Diglett, who, just like the electric type, did not appear happy about returning to the nefarious orb.
“Huh?”
“Just because it’s a Missile Ball doesn’t mean that it’s your Pokemon. That Mareep has a life of her own, one that she was stolen from. Chances are a Pokemon will not obey you if you use a nickname when you aren’t listed as the original trainer whom caught it, anyways. In the case of the Missile Ball sharing system, the Missile Balls immediately put a team sort of identification number on them with Giovanni listed as the original trainer, so there is no way to really claim one as your own…unless you steal it, which you aren’t going to do.”
Something about the way Kiyo spoke made Crystal feel funny, as though she was guilty. Maybe it was that the fire trainer had somehow tapped into the gut feeling that the newbie trainer wanted to keep Mareep for as long as her Pokemon journey lasted, and totally disregard the laws of the trainer. Maybe she was accusing her of thinking of a crime that was on the same level as being a true Missile Grunt. Maybe, even, something more played into this, though the girl would have no knowledge of this. At any rate, it did leave her with a sour taste in her mouth as she straightened out her cap once she was positive no pink from her bangs could be seen.
“Ah, okay. See, I have no idea about all of this original trainer, id number, trading-stealing thing. Thanks for warning me.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Excuse me, you two.” From behind, one of the grunts from the gym- Clyde- suddenly was upon them. Crystal nearly twitched violently at that, having been taken by surprise.
“Ah, yes?” the startled female quickly responded.
“We are asked to bring you into the gym for training purposes. New recruits, right?”
“Yeah,” Kiyo nodded.
“A Class C trainer has recently caused some troubles with a member of ours, and demands a fight with Aaron. He believes it should be a good learning experience for you two.”
“Class C?” Crystal questioned.
“There are a few different classes of trainers, based upon how badly they are wanted by us of Team Missile. It ranges from Class A or Class S, where the most powerful perpetrators are, to Class L, whom are the lowly people that simply verbally batter our name when they think no one is around. But yes, she has given us problems of the past. She was, for a very brief time, part of Team Missile, but then…” His voice shrank down to a deadly whisper in one of the most condemning voices Crystal had ever heard.
“She stole a high-class Missile Pokemon, stole some cash, and left the team.” Chills ran up the masquerading trainer’s spines, wondering which was better: this trainer or the Missiles. Kiyo, of course, knew which was the more appropriate answer to give this grunt.
“She’ll never get away with it, that’s for sure.”
“Indeed, she won’t. Still, we think she’s rather…weak, and so it might be a good experience for you as trainers to watch the battle that ensues. Come along…” He started off towards the gym, and soon the pair was silently in line with the man. They walked closely together, so they could speak amongst themselves without being heard.
“This sounds pretty bad. I don’t know which is worse in this case, the trainer or the Missiles.”
“Always the Missiles. You know that,” the one hidden in the man’s outfit hissed back.
“Yeah, but still…I wonder what Kara’s doing right now, at any rate?”
“She’s probably home or something with her parents, knowing her, or at least visited them. I gotta feel somewhat bad for that kid, but…”
“What?” Crystal whispered as they drew near to the gym.
“I’ve always had a funny inkling about her. Call it intuition, but she seems a bit off to me. A beginner trainer, catching a shiny Scyther? Scyther are hard enough to find in Beghta, and they can only be caught near Mornfall in the southwest. That, and she’s rather athletic. There are other things, like her trainer card I caught a sneak peek of when we had cleared Apollo Bridge and some of her facial expressions when Team Missile came into play…” her voice died out, as they stopped just behind Clyde.
“Under Giovanni’s command we live by!” he stated, and the doors were promptly unlocked and the party was allowed in. Crystal’s eyes began to grow, and she nearly exclaimed out loud, though Kiyo’s words cut her off.
“Don’t say anything…but I knew something was off about her…” she glared back to the struggling brunette, fighting off two Missile Grunts, a different look in her emerald eyes.
Whoa. Didn't expect that.
And yes, thanks to you I think of Oddish very differently. xD
And yes, thanks to you I think of Oddish very differently. xD
A lot of people do now. I don't know if that's good or bad...
Chapter 17- Explosion (Kara's Repentence)
Kara…?! If it wasn’t for the fact she was playing the ‘good guy’ in this situation, she would’ve burst out in questions. Kara, a Missile Grunt at one time, and she stole money and Pokemon?!
“Ah, they’re here. Adam and Laura, I’ve called you to watch this display, just so you know what would happen to you if you ever decide to…leave us,” the faux leader, Aaron, clapped his hands, and the Missiles walked away from the medic traitor. She fixed her outfit, glaring back, death in her eyes.
“You’re talking mighty big there, Aaron…haven’t changed a bit, have you?” she snarled.
“Kara Hikorume…You haven’t changed too much either, you stubborn girl. Now, why don’t you just make it easy on you and hand back that Scyther you stole from us like a good girl?”
“Ha, dream on, pal. I rescued Zaika for a reason. No good, thieving, avarice-induced-”
“Funny, that’s not what you said when you signed up with us. If I remember, you were the one looking for money. Isn’t that right?” There fell an ashamed silence. “Ha, how predictable. You never could come up with a good excuse…”
“You-” she took the moment to swear at them, before continuing, “were the reason why I had no choice but to join, anyways!” she gestured rudely towards the man.
“We never forced you into working for Team Missile, like we would to some others, but, alas, maybe now we will make that choice.”
“What?”
“If you can beat me… I’ll allow you to possibly come and join Team Missile again, Kara. Give us back the shiny Scyther, grovel at my and Kinshayti’s feet for forgiveness and set out to capture a Class S offender, and we may forgive you, and let you help out your family with their medical bills. That’s what you were going for, right?”
“Never…never will I do that!” Her voice raged. Crystal could not help but stand there, dumbfounded. Thankfully, it still looked as though Kara hadn’t noticed them. Am…am I just dense? Why did I never notice these things like Kiyo did? I just can’t…believe, Kara… She dared to look at her mentor, yet she remained dead-pan faced, and nearly hateful of all around her.
“If you lose, you do know what will happen to your dear grandmother and father, right?”
“Don’t threaten me…”
“Oh, but how simple it would be just to have your ‘Zaika’ be taken back, and have him go all the way over there, aaaaand slice…-”
“COMBUSKEN, LET’S SHOW THIS DOLT WHAT WE CAN DO!” she angrily screamed, chucking a Pokeball out. The chicken faithfully come out, standing in front of her trainer upon the groveled floor.
“We’re just going to settle this with a battle, then? Have it your way, then. Three on three. Heh…Alright, let’s head out, Lightning...” He tossed a Missile Ball as though it contained not a living, breathing creature, but as a plush toy. Regardless, the dark Pokeball snapped open to release an electric dog. It growled menacingly at the young fowl, electricity arching around its lime green and neon yellow body.
“Battle set! Gym Leader Aaron versus Challenger Kara! Battle begin!” A Missile Grunt on the sidelines, dressed in a referee’s outfit marked with the red RM known for Missile members, flagged them both down.
“Combusken, Double Kick!” the traitor roared.
“Lightning, Charge,” the Missile Grunt Leader almost boredly whispered before yawning. It wasn’t long before the Pokemon jumped into action. The dog-like electric type pulsed with electrons, though any other actions it took were invisible. The fowl, however, speedily moved in, spinning around to launch a kick which landed perfectly. She soon landed onto her kicking foot, and stretched out her second foot to land another sharp hit on the electric type. Kara only paused for a second between the attacks before issuing another command.
“Alright, now try an Ember!”
“Spark…” the leader hummed to himself, checking out his black-gloved fingernails. Of course, more than sparks were now flying in the battle. Flames danced in the air, colliding rapidly with the Electrike. However, it soullessly dashed forward, electricity crackling and rumbling like thunder. The attack was so swift that it nailed the poor fire-fighting type, and thusly the Combusken was knocked over. She struggled to her feet, but she shuddered, nearly losing her footing.
“Paralysis,” Clyde snidely remarked. “Aaron’s specialty, and Spark works well for both its decent damage and high paralyzing ratio. Charge really helps to up the attack.” Crystal said nothing, yet continued watching the battle.
“Combusken, fight off the paralysis! Quick Attack!”
“Start your Charge again, Lightning…” However, even as the electric-type began glowing with power once more, Kara’s starter tripped, and fell to the ground. The fire type struggled to move, let alone rise to her feet.
“Come on, Combusken! Get up and try again! Quick Attack!”
“I think it’s time to say good night. Hit it with Thunder,” the grunt leader suddenly turned merciless in voice. There was the sound of machines clicking and gears churning, and the rose-banged trainer gazed up in awe as she saw that the roof was opening and folding away. “Really, it’s quite a beautiful creation, this gym!” Aaron proclaimed, noticing the building storm clouds. “It was a complete waste to have it be used by those Flying-type users. It should be completely used for thunder, lightning! Might is right! Flying types can’t compare to electricity’s natural power!”
The Electrike’s eyes began to glow, and it suddenly called out to the heavens. Swiftly, it sent all electrical power it had collected into a split in the clouds. There was a silence, only broken by the sound of chicken feet scraping against the natural gym floor, finally colliding with the beast at great speed before leaping back and nearly tripping up again. Suddenly, flashes started to dazzle the competitors and spectators from above. The thunder cackled maniacally, and lightning danced freely. ‘Lightning’ stared at the clouds for a brief moment, before snapping its gaze on the wounded Combusken.
“Good night,” he growled with a sneer.
However, in the split second the Thunder attack crashed down, something went…wrong. Even in temporary deafness, Crystal thought she could make out familiar words.
“Judgment be upon you as lightning descends, scum.”
After that, light overtook the stadium, and the girl and ‘fellow’ grunts were blown back by the concussive blast, debris soaring freely in the electrified gusts that followed. Then, silence. The light died into temporary darkness, before aquamarine eyes found themselves fixed on the scene, trying to squint through the thick dust cloud and the destruction. Both Kara and Aaron had been knocked back, though both cautiously got to their feet.
“WHAT THE…?!” Aaron loudly swore as the wind swept away the last of the dust. Both the Electrike and Kara’s Combusken were down for the count.
“Uh…both combatants are unable to battle!” the referee announced. The blonde darted her eyes around rampantly, taking in many shocked faces. Even Kiyo seemed to be deep within surprise, though she tried to remain calm.
“Laura…did you hear anything with the thunder?” she whispered hoarsely.
“I think I did…’judgement be upon you as lightning descends.” ‘Laura’ muttered back.
“Because I heard something like a Pokemon’s screech right before the lightning hit.” At that, gold and silver eyes returned to the field. It had been a Pokemon that had perhaps struck with a second lightning attack to take down the Electrike that now rest inside the Missile Ball, as Combusken rested within the normal Pokeball.
“You…you got lucky. Thunder has never backfired before,” scowled Aaron restlessly as he unclipped another Missile Ball. Kara said nothing, appearing still in a bit of an furious daze, and threw out one of the Great Balls. A horrid stench filled the sweet air, and Hikara found herself nearly gagging.
“Hey, man, why am I, like, out and about here?” he gazed towards his trainer lazily. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the gifted one had to suppress great laughter among her coughing fit.
“A Grimer. Hah, that would make for a good Missile partner, wouldn’t you agree, Kara-”
“Just send out your Pokemon.” He paused, perhaps amused at her tone of voice, before he did as was told. The Missile Ball soon revealed a Vigoroth with an apparent temper.
“Round two! Grimer versus Vigoroth! BEGIN!” the MC waved his flags again, signaling the battle’s start.
“Vigoroth, Swagger.”
“Grimer, Sludge!”
“Maaan, why all the violence? It’s, like, so uncool, but if you insist…” the Grimer shrugged, then seemed to bubble with toxic ooze. He then sucked air in, shortly thereafter releasing it, which nailed the Vigoroth. It cried in pain as it tried to wipe the toxic goop off its face, but as it did so, it also took a prideful stance though wounded. With a careless wipe of its face, the sloth gave an arrogant smile.
“Come now, you really think that hurt? I’ve seen Weedles with better poison attacks than that one,” it bluffed.
“Oh, that’s it, man. Bring it,” the hippie fell for the Swagger, and even though he seemed confused in uncharacteristic anger, the filth on his body bubbled potently.
“Grimer, keep your head! Sludge again!”
“Vigoroth, Fury Swipes. Keep with the Fury Swipes until it faints from it.” Once again, the whimsical voice was replaced by nastiness. The active sloth dashed forth, claws drawn, which then proceeded to rake and slash the opponent in great succession. However, Grimer wasn’t going to give in so easily. In between one attack, he nearly exploded with Sludge, covering a majority of the Pokemon. It shrieked for a moment, before continuing its charade. Unfortunately for Kara, it wasn’t too much later that the Grimer was muttering about peace and love as it fell into an amorphous puddle.
“Grimer is unconscious and unable to battle! Round two goes to Aaron!”
“Grimer, return! …Zaika…don’t let me down! Let’s show them how much more powerful you are with a real trainer!” Kara showed light signs of panic as she withdrew her last Pokeball, the faithful Great Ball holding the Scyther, tossing it into the field as the poor sludge puddle was recalled. Zaika appeared in a flurry of shines, rubbing his scythes together powerfully. She was ready to make the call for an attack, but the Vigoroth gave a loud cough, before he fell to the ground in sweats.
“Poison,” Kiyo muttered.
“Yes. It’s unfortunate for Aaron that Sludge, like Spark, has such a high chance of inflicting a special condition. Swagger backfired for him this time.”
“Vigoroth, return.” He growled. Now both were down to one Pokemon each. “Hahaha…you’ve managed to best out two of my Pokemon. I’m impressed. However…” He withdrew the last Pokeball on his waste, this one normal. Still, the sight of it unnerved all around. “…this is where the battle ends. Kirlia, let’s deal out some pain.”
“Kirlia?” ‘Laura’ questioned.
“Haha, she’s done for now. Kirlia is Aaron’s strongest Pokemon,” Clyde’s partner, Steven, chuckled.
“Don’t Psychic types have a weakness to Bug types normally, though?” ‘Adam’ asked, raising an eyebrow.
“This Kirlia is special, though…It’s really an amazing thing to watch,” he countered, faith high within his leader. The sound of the Pokeball clicking open with the flash of light brought their attention back into life. There stood what appeared to be a ballerina-type Pokemon, performing point and balancing on small legs. It was a pretty Pokemon, yes, but even as Crystal watched the arms of the psychic type rise and fall, she couldn’t help but feel something was drastically wrong with this Pokemon.
“Round three! Zaika versus Kirlia! Begin!”
“Zaika, set to work! Fury Cutter as many times you can hit it, then Pursuit!” Kara shouted out.
“Kirlia, Shock Wave, and then use Shadow Storm.”
“Shadow Storm…?!” Given the tone of voice the fire trainer took at that, it was a move that was not normal for a Kirlia.
“Haha…that Scyther is as good as dead,” Clyde snickered.
“Shadow Storm…it’s a special move normal Pokemon can’t learn. Think of it as Hidden Power on crack- it’s super effective against all types,” Steven added with a chuckle.
“How did Kirlia learn it, then?” Kiyo questioned, appearing as though a new trainer.
“Simple, really, as we took a page out of an foreign organization’s book…” the Missile grunts turned to the battle. Zaika had launched into the set of strikes, landing each hit with precision onto the Feeling Pokemon, untill there was one slip. The eyes of the Kirlia turned shockingly cold, as it pirouetted, launching out a wave of electricity that hit the bulls-eye on the bug. It then began to glow with a dark aura, one that seemed to grab at Crystal’s heart and tug on it. Her eyes widened in fear, as she saw the Scyther do the same.
“You just close their hearts.”
Dark winds combined with the shadow of electricity began to unfold overhead.
“Adam…?” Crystal eyed her friend, using the faux name. Did Kara really deserve this? She was their friend, and here they were, merely watching her get defeated. And it tugged at her heart heavily. She tried to transfix this message to the fire trainer, whom merely fingered the Friendball on her waist.
“Wait. This is something I want to see. This power…”
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Clyde chucked. “I can only imagine what it does to the trainer right now.”
“Zaika, return…” She tried to recall her Pokemon, but he was too stubborn, dodging the light that would drag him back in.
“…I’m sorry, Kara…” He turned to the Kirlia. “…but even if I would be hurt or killed by this attack, I’m going to protect you like you tried to do for me until my death.”
He suddenly dashed forth, glowing purple, before slamming into the Psychic type.
“Such futile words, you know, for your last,” The female ballerina spoke, before spinning around again. As she began spinning, the winds ensnared the poor Scyther, tearing at it with the dark power. Crystal herself could feel her heart being shred into near nothing as the differently colored Pokemon shrieked and cried, wounds unseen happening.
“Zaika!”
“Adam…” the girl harshly whispered again. I…can’t take it! It’s killing me to watch this! Kara, even if she did lie to us, certainly doesn’t deserve this!
“Laura, my dear partner, how many times do I have to tell you…that’s Kiyo to you, miss?” The two grunts spun around at the comment, but not before she had silently punched both in a specific area of the neck. They crumbled under her swift attack without anyone else seeing and suspecting much. It appeared that even the referee was having difficulty staying on his two feet from the powerful feeling vacuum. “Well, then, shall we? This feeling is terrible. Skar, Metal Sound, then help us to get out of here. Diglett, create a Sand-Attack smokescreen so they won’t know what hit them.”
“Mareep, try and paralyze that Kirlia, her trainer and the MC with, ah, some sort of electric move.” Crystal muttered, nodding to her friend, and the three Pokeballs released the Pokemon. Swiftly they set to work. Both muted out the harsh cry from the metal bird as he crooned the Metal Sound, while the Diglett dug about rampantly, scattering sand and debris into the air. Mareep glared at Crystal for a second, frowning then grinning, before she set out a set of jolts. They caused the humans to cry out in pain, and stop the harsh wind in the area. The debris began to settle, and so Kiyo hastily recalled the ground type in favor for her Arcanine.
“What?! Zaika!” Kara coughed amongst the confusion. There was the sound of a Pokemon returning to its capsule home, and soon the metal bird headed on over to the medic, nudging her. “Wait, Kiyo’s…?”
“Let’s go! Skarmory, Strato Fly Kara to the edge of the woods! C’mon, get on Mewster!” Despite being called her unfavorable nickname, she hopped up onto the fire-type’s back, also recalling the smug electric lamb. The majestic fire type gave a cry, and leapt into the sky, leaving the gym. A confused Kara clung tightly to Skarmory, and just as the Missiles began to overcome unconsciousness, Metal Sound, and paralysis, they were gone.
As the three female trainers sat in a small clearing in the dense edges of the Eclipse Woods, an awkward silence befell them all. Crystal dared to dart her sky blue eyes back and forth between Kiyo, whom stood, leaned up against a tree, gazing at nothing, and Kara, whom remained in an ashamed curled-up position away from the two of them. The girl could sense rising tension in the air. It’d only be a matter of time before one of them had to talk to end the choking quiescence, and then surely all of the underworld and high waters would drown their ears. Just as predicted, that time came rather quickly.
“I, uh, appreciate you getting me-” Kara started, but the ticking time bomb went off. Kiyo cut her off, with extreme distaste in voice.
“You were once a Team Missile member.” There was a silence. Taking that as an ashamed ‘yes’, the eldest continued. “Why didn’t you tell us from the beginning, Kara…?”
“I…er…I was afraid you two might’ve been-” Again, she got cut off.
“Us, be part of Team Missile scum, when we’re on the very top of their hitlist? Ha, don’t make me laugh. I’m sure you knew upon hearing my name just exactly who I was, and how highly up there on the list I was wanted. I would say the same for my comrade, but she was only kidnapped recently. Besides, if I remember correctly, you somewhat flinched for a second when I said my name. Old habits die hard, ne?
“Now, to be honest, I should’ve given Crystal more warning and kicked you out at the signs of you being a Missile member. First, when you said that you caught your Scyther in the Eclipse Woods? They only appear on the southwest coast, in the woods near Mornfall. Having a Shiny Scyther from the Eclipse Woods would be damn near pointless, as there isn’t really too much for them to eat to fill their pallet around here.” Kara winced, caught red handed in the first lie. “Now, I really didn’t say anything to that degree, as I figured, oh, she probably just forgot where she really got it from.
“But then, there was the Apollo Bridge incident. True, anyone would flinch at the thought of hundreds of Missile Grunts…” As she said so, Crystal herself winced, as did Kara, though her expression was different- “…but the look on your face is different from the hatred or pain that most normal people express. It appeared more…stressed, guilty. The face of a fugitive or something of that nature, and not looking forward to sneaking past officials to get out of jail free. Not to mention I did overhear a few Grunts nearby when Crystal was trying to find Umbree and get us out who were lazily off duty about how they were gonna get the big bucks after turning two S perpetrators and a C ranked one as well, before the idiots finally saw the Gyarados on the bridge and ran to help. C rank is not a small rank that they give away on a whim. You have to really befoul Team Missile to get anywhere past E rank.
“Next, there was when I pulled out the uniforms. Now, anyone could say ‘whaaaaaat?’, but, again, guilt and panic in your eyes. You almost had anger there, too, as though your friends had been lying, and were ready to turn you in. You didn’t even bother to look at Crystal at this point. You glared at me dead on, more than likely because I was much stronger than you, and you knew it. You were worried I’d be the one to turn you in.
“Lastly, there was something you said…‘I’m going to be a while. I have to go attend to my family.’ It doesn’t take too long to go to your house in a small area, especially when it’s right near the Pokemon Center.”
“What do you-” Kara tried to feebly mutter, but Kiyo was on her raging tangent. There was no way to stop her, and Mewster feared this. This side of Kiyo was horrendous to behold, and she hoped she never had to anger her this much.
“Don’t play games with me.” At this, the sly fire trainer rose a trainer card up. It wasn’t her own super card with badges galore scattered upon it, but Kara’s. “This gave me the final proof I needed.” The traitor’s eyes widened. She didn’t bother to look in her bag for the card.
“How did you get that?”
“Same way I got my hands on this piece-o-junk. Crystal, you really need to get this Pokegear fixed, I swear.” She rose up the Pokegear, though the youngest didn’t protest as she apathetically threw it back to the girl. “Not only does it quite bluntly show your address on the card, which I know is on the same street as the Zenith Pokemon Center from my map, but there’s something that’s been inked out right over…” she traced her finger over to the upper right hand corner of the card. There was a blob of ink resting there. “…here. Unfortunately, you didn’t ink out the other side or do something to cover the holographic symbol there. That symbol…” She held the card up to a small light crack from the trees above. Squinting, Crystal could make out something of an amorphous symbol through the permanent marker. “…Heh, that symbol is definitely the secret symbol Team Missile uses to identify with other grunts. Not too many normal folks know that symbol means that, so they get away with services like the Pokemon Center and the Mart. Feh…” The onyx-haired trainer spitefully tossed it back to the trainer.
“That was really the icing of the cake. That, and seeing the whole bonanza at the gym. I figured you’d want to try and challenge the gym to get back at old members or something. My…apologies, Crystal. I guess I should’ve warned you earlier about some of this, so you wouldn’t be as in shock as you probably are now, but little Ms. Traitor over here-”
“That’s enough of you trying to make me look like the bad guy!” Kara screeched, clambering to her feet.
“I’m not making you look like the bad guy. If I wanted to have done that, I would’ve silenced the voice of reason within me and left you there to be tortured and killed, along with your Pokemon. I’m not that heartless.” There was a sudden change in Kiyo’s facial expression, though very subtle. It appeared as though she had been struggling against bursting out with something, but she decided against it. Her voicebox seemed to swell up a little bit, as well. “I was just stating the facts. I’m giving you the chance to explain yourself here. Maybe, just maybe if it’s a decent enough reason, I’ll let all of this slide. So, let’s hear it, Kara. What are your excuses for joining Team Missile in the first-” Finally, Kara was all too ready to retaliate, anger bubbled up within her.
“I joined because I had no choice!”
“Oh, likely excuse. I’ve heard that one before,” Kiyo coldly picked at her ear.
“Shut up and let me explain! You said you’d be giving me a chance to explain myself, but here you are, cutting me off again! I’m getting sick of it!” she began trembling.
“Well, then, fine! Explain, though I don’t know if it’s going to do you any justice, to be honest!” Kiyo retorted.
“You’re really starting to-” she swore lightly, “-me off, you know that! You and your cocky, ‘oh, I’m so cold and harsh and S-rank’ attitude!”
“You have no right to try and figure out why I’m S-ranked and understand why I hate your kind so much.” And that was the last poor Kara could take. She flew forward, throwing a few well-aimed punches at the fire trainer’s temples. However, she dodged to the side, trying to kick the medic in the stomach to put her in her place. Crystal watched on horrified. This was no way to settle a quarry. I have to do something, but…what? The answer soon hit her, after remembering her first gym battle.
“Flora, please help to stop the fighting and calm them down with Sweet Scent!” she called out, and the feuding couple didn’t even notice as the Oddish popped out.
“Ah, turf war you be wantin’ me to settle, shizzle?” She glanced shakily at the two.
“Yes, yes! Hurry!” As she ushered the grass type to do so, direct powerful hits looked inevitable. Flora was just in time, scattering all sorts of reddish powder which caught on the wind and drifted carelessly over to the two. They became sluggish, and slowly backed away from each other, losing their will to fight physically.
“…Sweet…Scent?” Kiyo muttered, gazing over to Crystal.
“Can’t you at least keep it to being verbal?” The gifted one picked up her little weed. “I can’t stand for you two to be dealing out more damage physically than what is necessary…” They stared for a moment at the young trainer, then themselves, appearing rather ashamed of their actions. “I don’t…I don’t want to have to resort to having Flora use a new move she picked up while we were training in this forest.”
“Which would be?”
“Stun Spore.”
“You jest. Stun Spore is a move that Oddish can only learn after reaching level ‘sixteen’. Flora is nowhere near that.”
“I’ve heard Pokemon can temporarily use moves they typically don’t learn until later- or ever at all!- if there’s a critical situation from my brother Ryouo. I think if there was bloodshed, I could count that as critical and Flora could use it.” There was a silence.
“…Kara? Please, try and explain yourself.” The medic, who gazed at her feet, started shaking again. Crystal’s voice had been sympathetic.
“I…” She paused, gazing at Kiyo for a brief second, before going into her tale.
“I guess it started when I was thirteen, two years ago. I had grown up in a small house in Zenith, along with my mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, and little sister. Well, I also had an older brother, but he had died in a bad weather accident when he tried to leave for Johto to see if he couldn’t make a better career in a better area. It was…a painful and financially tough time. They never did find his body, sadly. We couldn’t have a proper burial for him or his lost Pokemon. We were a close family, holding onto each other for support. I was trying my best to help out, training to become a member of the Zenith Gym so I could one day get powerful enough to win against a lot of trainers and get money to help the family.
“There was a year of training, me with my Torchic starter, which had been my gift from my family. But then…the Missiles came into town. The take over was so swift, I didn’t even get the choice to retaliate against them or not. They started to heavily tax the people of the city, taking advantage of most of their wealths, and allowed no one to leave. Our family was hit financially harder, and my grandfather developed what was a bad cold, and then a life-threatening illness, and eventually they came to us because we couldn’t make the mortgage payments on our house. All of our money concentrated on food and Grandpa’s medicines.
“Aaron and his cronies…they threatened to kill us, because we weren’t giving them what they needed. When we told them we couldn’t afford it, they laughed, then Aaron sent out his Kirlia and started to torture my Grandfather. I couldn’t just let him die in such pain, and so I told them to stop. They asked what I would do to make the payment to leave him alone, but I couldn’t think of much of anything. Then Aaron made a deal I couldn’t afford to say no to- kill my grandfather, or join Team Missile as payment for the house. My…family wasn’t happy about that deal, but I took it upon myself as the best trainer of my family to join up.
“I have done…hideous things when I was with Team Missile, none of which I’m proud of…” As Kara continued, she shook even more. There was the sound of soft droplets of water hitting the hard earth below as her voice became even more unstable. “I’ve stolen things from friends, I’ve beaten people whom were as trapped as I, helped to root out the Gym Leader I looked up to, and even physically hurt people. I…couldn’t stand it. However, they kept their word, rewarding me for these vile acts. My parents eventually had their house all but paid off, my grandfather’s illness all but healed, and even said they would promote me soon if I kept the ‘good work’ up.
“That…it was the last straw for me. I couldn’t take it. I had been saving up a lot of money besides the royalties of being a member, and I gave it all to my family. I didn’t tell them what was going on, but I figured as long as they had that money, they’d be safe for a while from Team Missile’s high prices. Now, without worry for my family, I set out to do something I needed to do to pay back some of my guilt against the team.
“I…when it was late one night, I went into the Missile HQ here, and snuck by everyone to where they hold all the Pokemon. I saw how all of these Pokemon were being tortured. Time was short- I couldn’t rescue them all. However, I did see one that I fell in love with… Zaika…” She rose up the Great Ball, releasing the Pokemon. He was still bruised all over, but his wounds weren’t bleeding. He rested unconscious on the ground, until she plopped onto her knees and took the bug into her lap, softly stroking one of his scythes. “The poor thing…he was in the worst of cages, and a sign on his cage said ‘to Giovanni, a prize worthy of your greatness.’ I despised that, treating him like he was nothing. And so…I stole him from the area.
“I then pillaged for all I could get my hands on- medicine, money…” She suddenly began coughing. Her voice was terrible, reeking of shame. “I gave all the money I stole to my family in a little envelope, and then I cast my outfit onto the ground with a knife through it. I was done with them.
“I…don’t even remember how fast I ran that night, the day that followed, and the following week. I just needed to get away from there as fast as I could, and exhaustion or hunger didn’t bother me. I just wandered with the wind. No Missiles came after me. I finally collapsed, at the crest of Hourchime. My body was so weak, but I was still stubborn. The people of the Pokemon Center…they treated me until I was back to normal, and, well, after I sort of explained my story, they allowed me to stay and work for them. I didn’t tell them I had been part of Team Missile.
“And then, one day you two came into Hourchime. It was…weird, but as Kiyo rightfully said, I knew she was a strong Class S perpetrator. I hadn’t heard that much on Crystal, but I heard tales through nefarious members of Missile that Kiyo was one trainer they never wanted to face, much like Red. I…kind of admired her strength, and thus came up with the story of challenging the gym and nearly getting killed. I wish that had been the case…I feel so cowardly for running away. I admired you two’s strength, even Crystal; she was with her gift, one that made her so hunted by Team Missile, yet here she was, trying to make her dream come true, Missiles or not.
“I…was inspired by you two, and I knew that my family wouldn’t want me to be doing something so safe for the rest of my life like staying in a Center and sending what I could to them through private mail and the alias of my cousin whom lived nearby. They’d want me to chase that dream of becoming someone like the gym leader. Even if she was kicked out of the gym, I know the gym leader’s still out there, protesting and using her powerful Pokemon to do battle. You’re all fighting so hard for your dreams, and I wanted to do that to. That’s why I wanted to join up, but…” She drifted off, still choking back hiccups of tears. “I didn’t think it’d be good for you to know about my past. I was so ashamed, I nearly begun to believe the lies I told to block out the cowardly choices I’ve made. I’m sorry, Kiyo, Crystal. I know I’ve wronged you in not telling the truth…” And then she turned silent, burying her face in with her unconscious stolen Pokemon.
“…Kara…” Crystal was nearly choking up herself, and gazed to Kiyo. Obviously her rage still existed, and she refused to be as empathetic as the gifted one. Her expression still looked rather rough. She then lifted up the Friend Ball from her waste, and Skarmory popped out.
“Oh, boy! Hi Kiyo! What’s up?” The metal bird nuzzled up against his trainer, but seeing that she wasn’t in the mood, he quickly backed off, gazing curiously at her. It wasn’t too much longer that he hastily offered his back to the trainer, now facing away from Kara and Crystal.
“Strato Fly,” Kiyo merely commanded, fixing the Missile cap on her head.
“Kiyo?! Where are you going?”
“You’ll see when I come back.” Before Crystal could protest any further, she was gone, flying towards…the city?
“…Kiyo…” the blonde muttered, gazing off into the small hole from the trees.
“If you wish to survive, Missile members, don’t move and give us any problems.”
“Eh?!” A voice caught Crystal off guard as she returned her sight to the ground around her. Several trainers had encircled them, most with some sort of flying type. Kara didn’t budge from her spot.
“I think you have this all mixed up here,” the girl started. “We aren’t actually…”
“Silence. You’ve come into the woods, even though your home is in the city. Now you’ll pay for all that you’ve done on our territory,” one teenaged boy with a Butterfree pointed accusingly. “Now, you’ll make your surrender easy and there won’t be much trouble from us. We have you outnumbered, no matter how powerful you happen to be. If you struggle, we will use force.” At this, Mewster sighed, gazing up to the sky. Man, Kiyo just had to pick the worst time to leave.
Chapter 17- Explosion (Kara's Repentence)
Kara…?! If it wasn’t for the fact she was playing the ‘good guy’ in this situation, she would’ve burst out in questions. Kara, a Missile Grunt at one time, and she stole money and Pokemon?!
“Ah, they’re here. Adam and Laura, I’ve called you to watch this display, just so you know what would happen to you if you ever decide to…leave us,” the faux leader, Aaron, clapped his hands, and the Missiles walked away from the medic traitor. She fixed her outfit, glaring back, death in her eyes.
“You’re talking mighty big there, Aaron…haven’t changed a bit, have you?” she snarled.
“Kara Hikorume…You haven’t changed too much either, you stubborn girl. Now, why don’t you just make it easy on you and hand back that Scyther you stole from us like a good girl?”
“Ha, dream on, pal. I rescued Zaika for a reason. No good, thieving, avarice-induced-”
“Funny, that’s not what you said when you signed up with us. If I remember, you were the one looking for money. Isn’t that right?” There fell an ashamed silence. “Ha, how predictable. You never could come up with a good excuse…”
“You-” she took the moment to swear at them, before continuing, “were the reason why I had no choice but to join, anyways!” she gestured rudely towards the man.
“We never forced you into working for Team Missile, like we would to some others, but, alas, maybe now we will make that choice.”
“What?”
“If you can beat me… I’ll allow you to possibly come and join Team Missile again, Kara. Give us back the shiny Scyther, grovel at my and Kinshayti’s feet for forgiveness and set out to capture a Class S offender, and we may forgive you, and let you help out your family with their medical bills. That’s what you were going for, right?”
“Never…never will I do that!” Her voice raged. Crystal could not help but stand there, dumbfounded. Thankfully, it still looked as though Kara hadn’t noticed them. Am…am I just dense? Why did I never notice these things like Kiyo did? I just can’t…believe, Kara… She dared to look at her mentor, yet she remained dead-pan faced, and nearly hateful of all around her.
“If you lose, you do know what will happen to your dear grandmother and father, right?”
“Don’t threaten me…”
“Oh, but how simple it would be just to have your ‘Zaika’ be taken back, and have him go all the way over there, aaaaand slice…-”
“COMBUSKEN, LET’S SHOW THIS DOLT WHAT WE CAN DO!” she angrily screamed, chucking a Pokeball out. The chicken faithfully come out, standing in front of her trainer upon the groveled floor.
“We’re just going to settle this with a battle, then? Have it your way, then. Three on three. Heh…Alright, let’s head out, Lightning...” He tossed a Missile Ball as though it contained not a living, breathing creature, but as a plush toy. Regardless, the dark Pokeball snapped open to release an electric dog. It growled menacingly at the young fowl, electricity arching around its lime green and neon yellow body.
“Battle set! Gym Leader Aaron versus Challenger Kara! Battle begin!” A Missile Grunt on the sidelines, dressed in a referee’s outfit marked with the red RM known for Missile members, flagged them both down.
“Combusken, Double Kick!” the traitor roared.
“Lightning, Charge,” the Missile Grunt Leader almost boredly whispered before yawning. It wasn’t long before the Pokemon jumped into action. The dog-like electric type pulsed with electrons, though any other actions it took were invisible. The fowl, however, speedily moved in, spinning around to launch a kick which landed perfectly. She soon landed onto her kicking foot, and stretched out her second foot to land another sharp hit on the electric type. Kara only paused for a second between the attacks before issuing another command.
“Alright, now try an Ember!”
“Spark…” the leader hummed to himself, checking out his black-gloved fingernails. Of course, more than sparks were now flying in the battle. Flames danced in the air, colliding rapidly with the Electrike. However, it soullessly dashed forward, electricity crackling and rumbling like thunder. The attack was so swift that it nailed the poor fire-fighting type, and thusly the Combusken was knocked over. She struggled to her feet, but she shuddered, nearly losing her footing.
“Paralysis,” Clyde snidely remarked. “Aaron’s specialty, and Spark works well for both its decent damage and high paralyzing ratio. Charge really helps to up the attack.” Crystal said nothing, yet continued watching the battle.
“Combusken, fight off the paralysis! Quick Attack!”
“Start your Charge again, Lightning…” However, even as the electric-type began glowing with power once more, Kara’s starter tripped, and fell to the ground. The fire type struggled to move, let alone rise to her feet.
“Come on, Combusken! Get up and try again! Quick Attack!”
“I think it’s time to say good night. Hit it with Thunder,” the grunt leader suddenly turned merciless in voice. There was the sound of machines clicking and gears churning, and the rose-banged trainer gazed up in awe as she saw that the roof was opening and folding away. “Really, it’s quite a beautiful creation, this gym!” Aaron proclaimed, noticing the building storm clouds. “It was a complete waste to have it be used by those Flying-type users. It should be completely used for thunder, lightning! Might is right! Flying types can’t compare to electricity’s natural power!”
The Electrike’s eyes began to glow, and it suddenly called out to the heavens. Swiftly, it sent all electrical power it had collected into a split in the clouds. There was a silence, only broken by the sound of chicken feet scraping against the natural gym floor, finally colliding with the beast at great speed before leaping back and nearly tripping up again. Suddenly, flashes started to dazzle the competitors and spectators from above. The thunder cackled maniacally, and lightning danced freely. ‘Lightning’ stared at the clouds for a brief moment, before snapping its gaze on the wounded Combusken.
“Good night,” he growled with a sneer.
However, in the split second the Thunder attack crashed down, something went…wrong. Even in temporary deafness, Crystal thought she could make out familiar words.
“Judgment be upon you as lightning descends, scum.”
After that, light overtook the stadium, and the girl and ‘fellow’ grunts were blown back by the concussive blast, debris soaring freely in the electrified gusts that followed. Then, silence. The light died into temporary darkness, before aquamarine eyes found themselves fixed on the scene, trying to squint through the thick dust cloud and the destruction. Both Kara and Aaron had been knocked back, though both cautiously got to their feet.
“WHAT THE…?!” Aaron loudly swore as the wind swept away the last of the dust. Both the Electrike and Kara’s Combusken were down for the count.
“Uh…both combatants are unable to battle!” the referee announced. The blonde darted her eyes around rampantly, taking in many shocked faces. Even Kiyo seemed to be deep within surprise, though she tried to remain calm.
“Laura…did you hear anything with the thunder?” she whispered hoarsely.
“I think I did…’judgement be upon you as lightning descends.” ‘Laura’ muttered back.
“Because I heard something like a Pokemon’s screech right before the lightning hit.” At that, gold and silver eyes returned to the field. It had been a Pokemon that had perhaps struck with a second lightning attack to take down the Electrike that now rest inside the Missile Ball, as Combusken rested within the normal Pokeball.
“You…you got lucky. Thunder has never backfired before,” scowled Aaron restlessly as he unclipped another Missile Ball. Kara said nothing, appearing still in a bit of an furious daze, and threw out one of the Great Balls. A horrid stench filled the sweet air, and Hikara found herself nearly gagging.
“Hey, man, why am I, like, out and about here?” he gazed towards his trainer lazily. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the gifted one had to suppress great laughter among her coughing fit.
“A Grimer. Hah, that would make for a good Missile partner, wouldn’t you agree, Kara-”
“Just send out your Pokemon.” He paused, perhaps amused at her tone of voice, before he did as was told. The Missile Ball soon revealed a Vigoroth with an apparent temper.
“Round two! Grimer versus Vigoroth! BEGIN!” the MC waved his flags again, signaling the battle’s start.
“Vigoroth, Swagger.”
“Grimer, Sludge!”
“Maaan, why all the violence? It’s, like, so uncool, but if you insist…” the Grimer shrugged, then seemed to bubble with toxic ooze. He then sucked air in, shortly thereafter releasing it, which nailed the Vigoroth. It cried in pain as it tried to wipe the toxic goop off its face, but as it did so, it also took a prideful stance though wounded. With a careless wipe of its face, the sloth gave an arrogant smile.
“Come now, you really think that hurt? I’ve seen Weedles with better poison attacks than that one,” it bluffed.
“Oh, that’s it, man. Bring it,” the hippie fell for the Swagger, and even though he seemed confused in uncharacteristic anger, the filth on his body bubbled potently.
“Grimer, keep your head! Sludge again!”
“Vigoroth, Fury Swipes. Keep with the Fury Swipes until it faints from it.” Once again, the whimsical voice was replaced by nastiness. The active sloth dashed forth, claws drawn, which then proceeded to rake and slash the opponent in great succession. However, Grimer wasn’t going to give in so easily. In between one attack, he nearly exploded with Sludge, covering a majority of the Pokemon. It shrieked for a moment, before continuing its charade. Unfortunately for Kara, it wasn’t too much later that the Grimer was muttering about peace and love as it fell into an amorphous puddle.
“Grimer is unconscious and unable to battle! Round two goes to Aaron!”
“Grimer, return! …Zaika…don’t let me down! Let’s show them how much more powerful you are with a real trainer!” Kara showed light signs of panic as she withdrew her last Pokeball, the faithful Great Ball holding the Scyther, tossing it into the field as the poor sludge puddle was recalled. Zaika appeared in a flurry of shines, rubbing his scythes together powerfully. She was ready to make the call for an attack, but the Vigoroth gave a loud cough, before he fell to the ground in sweats.
“Poison,” Kiyo muttered.
“Yes. It’s unfortunate for Aaron that Sludge, like Spark, has such a high chance of inflicting a special condition. Swagger backfired for him this time.”
“Vigoroth, return.” He growled. Now both were down to one Pokemon each. “Hahaha…you’ve managed to best out two of my Pokemon. I’m impressed. However…” He withdrew the last Pokeball on his waste, this one normal. Still, the sight of it unnerved all around. “…this is where the battle ends. Kirlia, let’s deal out some pain.”
“Kirlia?” ‘Laura’ questioned.
“Haha, she’s done for now. Kirlia is Aaron’s strongest Pokemon,” Clyde’s partner, Steven, chuckled.
“Don’t Psychic types have a weakness to Bug types normally, though?” ‘Adam’ asked, raising an eyebrow.
“This Kirlia is special, though…It’s really an amazing thing to watch,” he countered, faith high within his leader. The sound of the Pokeball clicking open with the flash of light brought their attention back into life. There stood what appeared to be a ballerina-type Pokemon, performing point and balancing on small legs. It was a pretty Pokemon, yes, but even as Crystal watched the arms of the psychic type rise and fall, she couldn’t help but feel something was drastically wrong with this Pokemon.
“Round three! Zaika versus Kirlia! Begin!”
“Zaika, set to work! Fury Cutter as many times you can hit it, then Pursuit!” Kara shouted out.
“Kirlia, Shock Wave, and then use Shadow Storm.”
“Shadow Storm…?!” Given the tone of voice the fire trainer took at that, it was a move that was not normal for a Kirlia.
“Haha…that Scyther is as good as dead,” Clyde snickered.
“Shadow Storm…it’s a special move normal Pokemon can’t learn. Think of it as Hidden Power on crack- it’s super effective against all types,” Steven added with a chuckle.
“How did Kirlia learn it, then?” Kiyo questioned, appearing as though a new trainer.
“Simple, really, as we took a page out of an foreign organization’s book…” the Missile grunts turned to the battle. Zaika had launched into the set of strikes, landing each hit with precision onto the Feeling Pokemon, untill there was one slip. The eyes of the Kirlia turned shockingly cold, as it pirouetted, launching out a wave of electricity that hit the bulls-eye on the bug. It then began to glow with a dark aura, one that seemed to grab at Crystal’s heart and tug on it. Her eyes widened in fear, as she saw the Scyther do the same.
“You just close their hearts.”
Dark winds combined with the shadow of electricity began to unfold overhead.
“Adam…?” Crystal eyed her friend, using the faux name. Did Kara really deserve this? She was their friend, and here they were, merely watching her get defeated. And it tugged at her heart heavily. She tried to transfix this message to the fire trainer, whom merely fingered the Friendball on her waist.
“Wait. This is something I want to see. This power…”
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Clyde chucked. “I can only imagine what it does to the trainer right now.”
“Zaika, return…” She tried to recall her Pokemon, but he was too stubborn, dodging the light that would drag him back in.
“…I’m sorry, Kara…” He turned to the Kirlia. “…but even if I would be hurt or killed by this attack, I’m going to protect you like you tried to do for me until my death.”
He suddenly dashed forth, glowing purple, before slamming into the Psychic type.
“Such futile words, you know, for your last,” The female ballerina spoke, before spinning around again. As she began spinning, the winds ensnared the poor Scyther, tearing at it with the dark power. Crystal herself could feel her heart being shred into near nothing as the differently colored Pokemon shrieked and cried, wounds unseen happening.
“Zaika!”
“Adam…” the girl harshly whispered again. I…can’t take it! It’s killing me to watch this! Kara, even if she did lie to us, certainly doesn’t deserve this!
“Laura, my dear partner, how many times do I have to tell you…that’s Kiyo to you, miss?” The two grunts spun around at the comment, but not before she had silently punched both in a specific area of the neck. They crumbled under her swift attack without anyone else seeing and suspecting much. It appeared that even the referee was having difficulty staying on his two feet from the powerful feeling vacuum. “Well, then, shall we? This feeling is terrible. Skar, Metal Sound, then help us to get out of here. Diglett, create a Sand-Attack smokescreen so they won’t know what hit them.”
“Mareep, try and paralyze that Kirlia, her trainer and the MC with, ah, some sort of electric move.” Crystal muttered, nodding to her friend, and the three Pokeballs released the Pokemon. Swiftly they set to work. Both muted out the harsh cry from the metal bird as he crooned the Metal Sound, while the Diglett dug about rampantly, scattering sand and debris into the air. Mareep glared at Crystal for a second, frowning then grinning, before she set out a set of jolts. They caused the humans to cry out in pain, and stop the harsh wind in the area. The debris began to settle, and so Kiyo hastily recalled the ground type in favor for her Arcanine.
“What?! Zaika!” Kara coughed amongst the confusion. There was the sound of a Pokemon returning to its capsule home, and soon the metal bird headed on over to the medic, nudging her. “Wait, Kiyo’s…?”
“Let’s go! Skarmory, Strato Fly Kara to the edge of the woods! C’mon, get on Mewster!” Despite being called her unfavorable nickname, she hopped up onto the fire-type’s back, also recalling the smug electric lamb. The majestic fire type gave a cry, and leapt into the sky, leaving the gym. A confused Kara clung tightly to Skarmory, and just as the Missiles began to overcome unconsciousness, Metal Sound, and paralysis, they were gone.
As the three female trainers sat in a small clearing in the dense edges of the Eclipse Woods, an awkward silence befell them all. Crystal dared to dart her sky blue eyes back and forth between Kiyo, whom stood, leaned up against a tree, gazing at nothing, and Kara, whom remained in an ashamed curled-up position away from the two of them. The girl could sense rising tension in the air. It’d only be a matter of time before one of them had to talk to end the choking quiescence, and then surely all of the underworld and high waters would drown their ears. Just as predicted, that time came rather quickly.
“I, uh, appreciate you getting me-” Kara started, but the ticking time bomb went off. Kiyo cut her off, with extreme distaste in voice.
“You were once a Team Missile member.” There was a silence. Taking that as an ashamed ‘yes’, the eldest continued. “Why didn’t you tell us from the beginning, Kara…?”
“I…er…I was afraid you two might’ve been-” Again, she got cut off.
“Us, be part of Team Missile scum, when we’re on the very top of their hitlist? Ha, don’t make me laugh. I’m sure you knew upon hearing my name just exactly who I was, and how highly up there on the list I was wanted. I would say the same for my comrade, but she was only kidnapped recently. Besides, if I remember correctly, you somewhat flinched for a second when I said my name. Old habits die hard, ne?
“Now, to be honest, I should’ve given Crystal more warning and kicked you out at the signs of you being a Missile member. First, when you said that you caught your Scyther in the Eclipse Woods? They only appear on the southwest coast, in the woods near Mornfall. Having a Shiny Scyther from the Eclipse Woods would be damn near pointless, as there isn’t really too much for them to eat to fill their pallet around here.” Kara winced, caught red handed in the first lie. “Now, I really didn’t say anything to that degree, as I figured, oh, she probably just forgot where she really got it from.
“But then, there was the Apollo Bridge incident. True, anyone would flinch at the thought of hundreds of Missile Grunts…” As she said so, Crystal herself winced, as did Kara, though her expression was different- “…but the look on your face is different from the hatred or pain that most normal people express. It appeared more…stressed, guilty. The face of a fugitive or something of that nature, and not looking forward to sneaking past officials to get out of jail free. Not to mention I did overhear a few Grunts nearby when Crystal was trying to find Umbree and get us out who were lazily off duty about how they were gonna get the big bucks after turning two S perpetrators and a C ranked one as well, before the idiots finally saw the Gyarados on the bridge and ran to help. C rank is not a small rank that they give away on a whim. You have to really befoul Team Missile to get anywhere past E rank.
“Next, there was when I pulled out the uniforms. Now, anyone could say ‘whaaaaaat?’, but, again, guilt and panic in your eyes. You almost had anger there, too, as though your friends had been lying, and were ready to turn you in. You didn’t even bother to look at Crystal at this point. You glared at me dead on, more than likely because I was much stronger than you, and you knew it. You were worried I’d be the one to turn you in.
“Lastly, there was something you said…‘I’m going to be a while. I have to go attend to my family.’ It doesn’t take too long to go to your house in a small area, especially when it’s right near the Pokemon Center.”
“What do you-” Kara tried to feebly mutter, but Kiyo was on her raging tangent. There was no way to stop her, and Mewster feared this. This side of Kiyo was horrendous to behold, and she hoped she never had to anger her this much.
“Don’t play games with me.” At this, the sly fire trainer rose a trainer card up. It wasn’t her own super card with badges galore scattered upon it, but Kara’s. “This gave me the final proof I needed.” The traitor’s eyes widened. She didn’t bother to look in her bag for the card.
“How did you get that?”
“Same way I got my hands on this piece-o-junk. Crystal, you really need to get this Pokegear fixed, I swear.” She rose up the Pokegear, though the youngest didn’t protest as she apathetically threw it back to the girl. “Not only does it quite bluntly show your address on the card, which I know is on the same street as the Zenith Pokemon Center from my map, but there’s something that’s been inked out right over…” she traced her finger over to the upper right hand corner of the card. There was a blob of ink resting there. “…here. Unfortunately, you didn’t ink out the other side or do something to cover the holographic symbol there. That symbol…” She held the card up to a small light crack from the trees above. Squinting, Crystal could make out something of an amorphous symbol through the permanent marker. “…Heh, that symbol is definitely the secret symbol Team Missile uses to identify with other grunts. Not too many normal folks know that symbol means that, so they get away with services like the Pokemon Center and the Mart. Feh…” The onyx-haired trainer spitefully tossed it back to the trainer.
“That was really the icing of the cake. That, and seeing the whole bonanza at the gym. I figured you’d want to try and challenge the gym to get back at old members or something. My…apologies, Crystal. I guess I should’ve warned you earlier about some of this, so you wouldn’t be as in shock as you probably are now, but little Ms. Traitor over here-”
“That’s enough of you trying to make me look like the bad guy!” Kara screeched, clambering to her feet.
“I’m not making you look like the bad guy. If I wanted to have done that, I would’ve silenced the voice of reason within me and left you there to be tortured and killed, along with your Pokemon. I’m not that heartless.” There was a sudden change in Kiyo’s facial expression, though very subtle. It appeared as though she had been struggling against bursting out with something, but she decided against it. Her voicebox seemed to swell up a little bit, as well. “I was just stating the facts. I’m giving you the chance to explain yourself here. Maybe, just maybe if it’s a decent enough reason, I’ll let all of this slide. So, let’s hear it, Kara. What are your excuses for joining Team Missile in the first-” Finally, Kara was all too ready to retaliate, anger bubbled up within her.
“I joined because I had no choice!”
“Oh, likely excuse. I’ve heard that one before,” Kiyo coldly picked at her ear.
“Shut up and let me explain! You said you’d be giving me a chance to explain myself, but here you are, cutting me off again! I’m getting sick of it!” she began trembling.
“Well, then, fine! Explain, though I don’t know if it’s going to do you any justice, to be honest!” Kiyo retorted.
“You’re really starting to-” she swore lightly, “-me off, you know that! You and your cocky, ‘oh, I’m so cold and harsh and S-rank’ attitude!”
“You have no right to try and figure out why I’m S-ranked and understand why I hate your kind so much.” And that was the last poor Kara could take. She flew forward, throwing a few well-aimed punches at the fire trainer’s temples. However, she dodged to the side, trying to kick the medic in the stomach to put her in her place. Crystal watched on horrified. This was no way to settle a quarry. I have to do something, but…what? The answer soon hit her, after remembering her first gym battle.
“Flora, please help to stop the fighting and calm them down with Sweet Scent!” she called out, and the feuding couple didn’t even notice as the Oddish popped out.
“Ah, turf war you be wantin’ me to settle, shizzle?” She glanced shakily at the two.
“Yes, yes! Hurry!” As she ushered the grass type to do so, direct powerful hits looked inevitable. Flora was just in time, scattering all sorts of reddish powder which caught on the wind and drifted carelessly over to the two. They became sluggish, and slowly backed away from each other, losing their will to fight physically.
“…Sweet…Scent?” Kiyo muttered, gazing over to Crystal.
“Can’t you at least keep it to being verbal?” The gifted one picked up her little weed. “I can’t stand for you two to be dealing out more damage physically than what is necessary…” They stared for a moment at the young trainer, then themselves, appearing rather ashamed of their actions. “I don’t…I don’t want to have to resort to having Flora use a new move she picked up while we were training in this forest.”
“Which would be?”
“Stun Spore.”
“You jest. Stun Spore is a move that Oddish can only learn after reaching level ‘sixteen’. Flora is nowhere near that.”
“I’ve heard Pokemon can temporarily use moves they typically don’t learn until later- or ever at all!- if there’s a critical situation from my brother Ryouo. I think if there was bloodshed, I could count that as critical and Flora could use it.” There was a silence.
“…Kara? Please, try and explain yourself.” The medic, who gazed at her feet, started shaking again. Crystal’s voice had been sympathetic.
“I…” She paused, gazing at Kiyo for a brief second, before going into her tale.
“I guess it started when I was thirteen, two years ago. I had grown up in a small house in Zenith, along with my mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, and little sister. Well, I also had an older brother, but he had died in a bad weather accident when he tried to leave for Johto to see if he couldn’t make a better career in a better area. It was…a painful and financially tough time. They never did find his body, sadly. We couldn’t have a proper burial for him or his lost Pokemon. We were a close family, holding onto each other for support. I was trying my best to help out, training to become a member of the Zenith Gym so I could one day get powerful enough to win against a lot of trainers and get money to help the family.
“There was a year of training, me with my Torchic starter, which had been my gift from my family. But then…the Missiles came into town. The take over was so swift, I didn’t even get the choice to retaliate against them or not. They started to heavily tax the people of the city, taking advantage of most of their wealths, and allowed no one to leave. Our family was hit financially harder, and my grandfather developed what was a bad cold, and then a life-threatening illness, and eventually they came to us because we couldn’t make the mortgage payments on our house. All of our money concentrated on food and Grandpa’s medicines.
“Aaron and his cronies…they threatened to kill us, because we weren’t giving them what they needed. When we told them we couldn’t afford it, they laughed, then Aaron sent out his Kirlia and started to torture my Grandfather. I couldn’t just let him die in such pain, and so I told them to stop. They asked what I would do to make the payment to leave him alone, but I couldn’t think of much of anything. Then Aaron made a deal I couldn’t afford to say no to- kill my grandfather, or join Team Missile as payment for the house. My…family wasn’t happy about that deal, but I took it upon myself as the best trainer of my family to join up.
“I have done…hideous things when I was with Team Missile, none of which I’m proud of…” As Kara continued, she shook even more. There was the sound of soft droplets of water hitting the hard earth below as her voice became even more unstable. “I’ve stolen things from friends, I’ve beaten people whom were as trapped as I, helped to root out the Gym Leader I looked up to, and even physically hurt people. I…couldn’t stand it. However, they kept their word, rewarding me for these vile acts. My parents eventually had their house all but paid off, my grandfather’s illness all but healed, and even said they would promote me soon if I kept the ‘good work’ up.
“That…it was the last straw for me. I couldn’t take it. I had been saving up a lot of money besides the royalties of being a member, and I gave it all to my family. I didn’t tell them what was going on, but I figured as long as they had that money, they’d be safe for a while from Team Missile’s high prices. Now, without worry for my family, I set out to do something I needed to do to pay back some of my guilt against the team.
“I…when it was late one night, I went into the Missile HQ here, and snuck by everyone to where they hold all the Pokemon. I saw how all of these Pokemon were being tortured. Time was short- I couldn’t rescue them all. However, I did see one that I fell in love with… Zaika…” She rose up the Great Ball, releasing the Pokemon. He was still bruised all over, but his wounds weren’t bleeding. He rested unconscious on the ground, until she plopped onto her knees and took the bug into her lap, softly stroking one of his scythes. “The poor thing…he was in the worst of cages, and a sign on his cage said ‘to Giovanni, a prize worthy of your greatness.’ I despised that, treating him like he was nothing. And so…I stole him from the area.
“I then pillaged for all I could get my hands on- medicine, money…” She suddenly began coughing. Her voice was terrible, reeking of shame. “I gave all the money I stole to my family in a little envelope, and then I cast my outfit onto the ground with a knife through it. I was done with them.
“I…don’t even remember how fast I ran that night, the day that followed, and the following week. I just needed to get away from there as fast as I could, and exhaustion or hunger didn’t bother me. I just wandered with the wind. No Missiles came after me. I finally collapsed, at the crest of Hourchime. My body was so weak, but I was still stubborn. The people of the Pokemon Center…they treated me until I was back to normal, and, well, after I sort of explained my story, they allowed me to stay and work for them. I didn’t tell them I had been part of Team Missile.
“And then, one day you two came into Hourchime. It was…weird, but as Kiyo rightfully said, I knew she was a strong Class S perpetrator. I hadn’t heard that much on Crystal, but I heard tales through nefarious members of Missile that Kiyo was one trainer they never wanted to face, much like Red. I…kind of admired her strength, and thus came up with the story of challenging the gym and nearly getting killed. I wish that had been the case…I feel so cowardly for running away. I admired you two’s strength, even Crystal; she was with her gift, one that made her so hunted by Team Missile, yet here she was, trying to make her dream come true, Missiles or not.
“I…was inspired by you two, and I knew that my family wouldn’t want me to be doing something so safe for the rest of my life like staying in a Center and sending what I could to them through private mail and the alias of my cousin whom lived nearby. They’d want me to chase that dream of becoming someone like the gym leader. Even if she was kicked out of the gym, I know the gym leader’s still out there, protesting and using her powerful Pokemon to do battle. You’re all fighting so hard for your dreams, and I wanted to do that to. That’s why I wanted to join up, but…” She drifted off, still choking back hiccups of tears. “I didn’t think it’d be good for you to know about my past. I was so ashamed, I nearly begun to believe the lies I told to block out the cowardly choices I’ve made. I’m sorry, Kiyo, Crystal. I know I’ve wronged you in not telling the truth…” And then she turned silent, burying her face in with her unconscious stolen Pokemon.
“…Kara…” Crystal was nearly choking up herself, and gazed to Kiyo. Obviously her rage still existed, and she refused to be as empathetic as the gifted one. Her expression still looked rather rough. She then lifted up the Friend Ball from her waste, and Skarmory popped out.
“Oh, boy! Hi Kiyo! What’s up?” The metal bird nuzzled up against his trainer, but seeing that she wasn’t in the mood, he quickly backed off, gazing curiously at her. It wasn’t too much longer that he hastily offered his back to the trainer, now facing away from Kara and Crystal.
“Strato Fly,” Kiyo merely commanded, fixing the Missile cap on her head.
“Kiyo?! Where are you going?”
“You’ll see when I come back.” Before Crystal could protest any further, she was gone, flying towards…the city?
“…Kiyo…” the blonde muttered, gazing off into the small hole from the trees.
“If you wish to survive, Missile members, don’t move and give us any problems.”
“Eh?!” A voice caught Crystal off guard as she returned her sight to the ground around her. Several trainers had encircled them, most with some sort of flying type. Kara didn’t budge from her spot.
“I think you have this all mixed up here,” the girl started. “We aren’t actually…”
“Silence. You’ve come into the woods, even though your home is in the city. Now you’ll pay for all that you’ve done on our territory,” one teenaged boy with a Butterfree pointed accusingly. “Now, you’ll make your surrender easy and there won’t be much trouble from us. We have you outnumbered, no matter how powerful you happen to be. If you struggle, we will use force.” At this, Mewster sighed, gazing up to the sky. Man, Kiyo just had to pick the worst time to leave.
Great!
Can't wait for more!
Can't wait for more!
BA-DA-DUM! Now I get to introduce one of my more favorite characters. Hahaha, let the games begin~
Chapter 18- Aikaze
“I’m telling you, we aren’t Missile Grunts…” Crystal found herself repeating for what seemed to be the thousandth time.
“That’s not what your outfit says,” came the same response from one of her captors. They walked in a line, Kara likely to be a few guards behind her. There was a rope that tied her hands behind her back, the ends of each held by the flying trainers on either side. Her Pokemon had been taken away from her, and they were being totted along at the front of the pack. In addition, they had her blindfolded, even in the dark woods.
“And I told you how I got ahold of this outfit and why I’m wearing it!” she cried exasperatedly.
“Uh huh. Likely story.”
“It’s the truth! By the Legendaries!”
“We don’t fall for Missile lies so easily,” and thus they were at the beginning of the vicious cycle once more.
“Alright, alright, fine! Call me a Missile even though I’m not! Where are we going?”
“We can’t tell you that, otherwise you’ll rat if you get away.”
“Yeah, rat to my Missile Grunt leader, riiiight?” she drawled sarcastically, tripping over some roots.
“Exactly. Good, maybe you’re not as idiotic as you seem, Missile.” Once more she sighed, grumbling. Why had Kiyo taken off like that, and where did she go? Where is that girl when you need her? However, she stumbled to a stop as they yanked back on the rope. Her ears strained for knowledge of this area.
“We’ve caught some Missile Grunts! We do this for Aikaze!” Aikaze? Wasn’t that the gym leader’s name? There was the sound of rustling feet, and once again she was tugged forward. Different voices and the noise of battling Pokemon came into ear, though they passed it by. Wings rustled and songs were song all around the area. If Crystal wasn’t bound up and free to do as she pleased, she would have loved to check out this bird paradise. Then, they paused at another guarded area, where something of a different password was spoken, and then continued on. Out of nowhere, though, they stopped, and they didn’t move again.
“Ms. Aikaze! We’ve captured two Missile Grunts! We overheard them in the woods, and look at the outfit this one is wearing!” Crystal was then nearly kicked to the ground. It felt like being stuffed into a cage all over again.
“Hmm? Two grunts, far into the woods?” she spoke with a bit of an accent, though her voice was calm.
“Yes! Look, this one even had a trainer card with the symbol on it, though she clearly tried to hide it.”
“…Let me see their eyes and let them speak?”
“Ah, of course.” Soon, the heavy cloth slipped off of Crystal’s eyes. She had to blink a few times to get used to the fiery lighting around. Her eyes found themselves at the bottom of a red dress lined with gold. Gazing up, she saw all sorts of golden wings about her, as well as black hair tipped in crimson. She had lovely chestnut-colored eyes that stared back down at her.
“Whom do you say you are?”
“Not a Missile Grunt. This is all a big misunderstanding!”
“She keeps saying that.”
“Wait, let me hear her out,” the leader muttered, turning to the female.
“We were trying to get into Zenith unnoticed so we could try and free it by challenging the fake gym leader. We had stolen these outfits and used them before when Sunrise had been taken over!” she hastily explained.
“When you say ‘we’, are you referring to your friend over here?”
“Well, there was another, but she just flew off right before your trainers here busted in and caught us.”
“I see…what was her name?”
“Kiyo Dustren!” There was a pause.
“And yours?” She also gazed at Kara, though her eyes remained soullessly on the ground.
“I’m Crystal Hikara from Dawndew.”
“I see…” There was a pause, in which she moved to the medic. “What of you?”
“It really shouldn’t matter.”
“How so?”
“I was part of Team Missile at one point. Punish me if you want, Ms. Aikaze. I deserve it. Just…be kind to Zaika and my Combusken, alright? They don’t deserve punishment.” The majestic gym leader’s face took to perplexity.
“…I…see. Your name?” Given the woman was so persistent, Kara sighed apathetically and gave in.
“Kara Hikorume.”
“Ah…I believe…I understand…” her voice saddened a little bit, before she turned to her underlings.
“May I see their trainer cards?” Hastily, there was a rustling sound from each bag, and the two were handed over. With cards in hand, she walked back, looking at the fugitive’s cards in better lighting. She paused just a moment, flipping each over, before she muttered, “It’s alright. Release them from the ropes.”
“Huh? But, Ms. Aikaze…”
“Congratulations, men- what you’ve caught are two high-class perpetrators to Team Missile, and not Missile Grunts,” she softly stated, and they murmured stupidly amongst themselves. Soon enough, Crystal’s wrists were free, and she rubbed them.
“Ah, er, thank you.”
“We’re sorry for the mix up, Ms. Crystal. You’ve probably already had a lot to deal with, no?”
“Maybe, yeah.”
“I see…” she paused, before taking a short curtsey. “I am Iku Aikaze, true gym leader of Zenith City. Well, this is our makeshift gym area, at least. We are well met and glad to have both of you here.”
“Ah, yes, thank you. Pleasure to meet you, too…” she gazed around. Well, now what? We found the real gym leader, but without Kiyo by my side, what am I supposed to do…?
“Now, it seems as though both of you are collecting badges?”
“Yeah…” Crystal sheepishly admitted, though as she got to her feet, Kara remained hollow. “…?”
“What’s…the matter?” Of course, Kara gave no reply to the gym leader.
“Well, it’s…a bit of a long story as to how she’s here, and…”
“Kara…I remember meeting you once. You aren’t anything like you were before they forced you into working. Don’t blame yourself for that. The important thing is that you and your family are alive,” Iku muttered to the trainer.
“It still doesn’t help my conscious at all.”
“I understand that. Still, would your parents and family want you to be held down by this? Or would they want their proud family member to fight for them still?” Still the traitor responded with nothing much, but she slowly got to her feet. “Well, if you wish, you two are welcome to stay here for a while, and challenge me when your Pokemon are all rested up. I have an inkling both of you wish to do that?”
“Ah, well, I mean…” Crystal stuttered.
“Chances are you won’t be able to make it too far without my badge.”
“Ah, it’s not that…”
“You’re a new trainer, and you’re relying on Kiyo for your aide?” And the girl gulped. She hit the hammer on the nail right into and through her heart. She quietly chuckled. “I understand that. Still, you should be more confident within yourself. It’s times like these where we must be strong together, and strong as an individual. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Of course, the words were registering through the young trainer’s mind, but she was just…totally shocked by the harshness of the words.
“Yeah, I…”
“Kiyo, despite her strength, isn’t always going to be there for you. I know that there will come a day where she will have to attend to something, much like she is right now, and she won’t be able to help out if you get into trouble. I hope that you will be strong enough by then to handle your own moves, and create your own strategies. Maybe…you should start now. Your Pokemon are being treated in the grotto not too far from here, where the stream curves through. If you wish, come back to me once you gather them, yes? I patiently wait for your challenge.” Iku smiled, twirling a bit of her feathery hair. Crystal turned to Kara.
“Let’s go, yeah? Your Combusken and Zaika are probably waiting for you…” She grinned like a goof. However, Kara only looked up briefly, and without her soul in her eyes. Mewster somewhat winced at the sight empathetically.
“Yeah, let’s.”
Back in Zenith City, grunts were still on high patrol for the three rogue trainers, though chances were they’d never find them. Aaron was blazing angry, his point-dancing creature waiting patiently by his side. “Grah! Kara brought it upon herself! Go for the family, you three!” he angrily thrust his hand randomly to three grunts, whom nodded and swiftly took to the house near the Pokemon Center. Soon afterwards, it was decided that two would stay outside the door, and only one enter. The family had no Pokemon, and given by all of the Pokeballs on the third’s waist, he was an expert trainer, despite his low rank, and thus could handle the situation if they tried to resist.
“Huh?! Who are you?!” One man suddenly rose from his chair as he glared at the incoming grunt.
“That isn’t of any importance,” he coldly stated.
“What do you want from us this time? We have your monthly fees, you scumbag, if that’s what you want-”
“I was not sent here for that.”
“Then what do you want?!” From the corner of the grunt’s view, he could subtly make out three female figures huddling over a sickbed. An old man lay there, muttering something about how he’d scare them off. The obvious grandmother of the family pet his balding, spotted head in an effort to calm him down. The mother was silently hugging the young daughter, who’s head was buried within her parent’s womb. It was a small house, too small for a family of five.
“I was sent to…move you.” At this phrase, the family man froze. Several chestnut hairs nearly left his emptying scalp.
“Move us…where? What…for?”
“That is not your concern.” As the grunt spoke, he rose up all of the normal Pokeballs on his waist, leaving his Missile Ball untouched. “Come. There are guards waiting outside.”
“Huh? What do you mean? It’s still daytime out, I’m sure…” Crystal gave her friend a puzzled look as she started moping off in the direction of where the camp’s beds were.
“I’m just…exhausted. There was a lot that was hard on my heart, and I fear more is coming. I really just need some sleep now. Ha, you might not believe it, but I did not sleep well last night, having decided I was going to find and take on Aaron.” Her eyes were still hollow, devoid of emotion.
“What about your Pokemon?”
“Well, I’d ask you to do it, but I don’t even deserve that much kindness from you at this point. I’ll get them tomorrow morning.”
“It’s not a problem to go and grab them, you know-”
“Don’t waste your energy on me.”
“If I’m gonna be over there anyways…”
“Just…good night.” With that, Kara slunk off, saying not another word. The gifted one merely observed as she left the area, walking around the training spots. She couldn’t help but feel the vicious pangs of empathy beat within her heart. I want to help, I want to do something for Kara that’d get her out of this stupor, but what is there to do, really? Well, I could at least get her Pokemon. Then again, that might lead to her possibly getting angry at me. Still, she resolved, I’m going to do it, regardless of the consequences.
With that thought permanently stuck in mind, Crystal paced herself to her Pokemon. She was all too eager to be with them again, to have them by her side; she felt so naked without her bag and trainer belt on. And soon, as the woods deepened in the eternal night, the young trainer began to sweat lightly. There’s something…about this area, I don’t know what it is, but…it’s really creeping me out, she shivered, feeling an infinite number of eyes locked onto her. Her walk turned into a light jog, and soon she found the area. The nature was broken by a single piece of machinery, one the girl noticed was the same healing machine they used in most Pokemon Centers. A murky stream trickled through the area lightly, with various wild and trainer Pokemon gathering to quench their thirsts in peace. Among these, Crystal noted, was Flora, Sergeant Pup, and Dragola. Oddly enough, though, there were no trainers besides her lonely self around.
“Hey, guys!” she whispered so as not to disturb the others. The small portion of her motley crew gazed up, and anxiously returned to their trainer.
“Hikara! Did they take you as a POW?” the Poochyena barked, obviously ready to ‘annihilate the enemy’ if she so much as moved her head up and down an inch.
“I was so worried when I was released by those bird trainers and I didn’t see you anywhere!” Dragola slithered up and around her mistress’s body till she was in her arms, snuggling tightly.
“Bah, I says to da ‘Pup, she be too tough to just be taken as a outsida, but he don’t listen to da voice of reason, fo’ shizzle!” Flora gleamed up proudly at her strong trainer. Serge merely rolled his eyes.
“Hahaha…it was just a big misunderstanding, that’s all. They saw the Missile outfit and just assumed otherwise, but it’s all okay now…” Crystal slowly hugged her Dratini, and gazed around. “Where are the others?”
“I’m right here.” Mewster then proceeded to nearly throw her poor serpent Pokemon into the river from shock. She swiftly turned around to see the Torchic.
“Ahh, Flare, don’t do that! It’s bad enough I feel as though I’m being watched all the time in these woods!”
“I apologize,” she cooed, fluffing her feathers up as she gazed warmly up at her trainer.
“Ha, it’s not a problem. But, uh, where’s the Mareep?” she glanced around, letting Dragola down as her arms screamed soreness.
“Oh, dat ol’ ewe? She never came outta her ball. I tink she be too nervous too, dat you not be around,” the Oddish motioned towards the healing machine. A single Missile Ball waited upon the counter, all upon its lonesome among four crimson and pearly balls.
“Ah, thanks...” The blonde wasted no time in heading over. Surely enough, her bag was waiting for her as well as her Pokeballs, and with an easy sling and clip, she was fully re-equipped. She then latched on all of her capsule tools to her waste, recalling her Pokemon, but then she stared at that last dark Pokeball. Well, a promise is a promise...We are out of Missile territory, and so she would more than likely be able to get back home to safety…
“Hey, Mareep, come on…out,” she called, holding her home before her gently. With a simple flash, the fluffy wool Pokemon was released, and she glanced around. Her tail glew, illuminating the area in a coat of pale yellow.
“Eh? You’re back!”
“Yeah,” she softly whispered. “Uh, Mareep?”
“Hmm? What’s with the pout, eh?”
“Ah, well…how far do you think your family is from the Eclipse Woods we’re in now?”
“Eh? Maybe a short walk. Why?” she rose a sheepy eyebrow, but Crystal uttered nothing. She just gazed over the Pokeball, taking in the dark colored. Her emotions infuriated her and contradicted her beliefs she was so stubbornly clinging to. That was the final straw that finally made her whisper.
“Go. You’re free.”
It was then that a bright flash of bluish light burst out from not only the capsule, but from around the Mareep. Her eyes widened in wonder as the malfunctioning Pokeball hopped open, before clamping shut. An arc of electricity ran over the tool, causing the trainer to drop it. It then remained still. It would never open again.
The sheep gazed up at her trainer in wonder.
“How…I mean…why?”
“I made…a promise, didn’t I…? Go on. Your family is waiting for you. You should…never be forced to abandon your family for another’s wants, anyways.” Crystal didn’t look up from the ground.
“…Crystal…” The Mareep muttered somewhat sympathetically, before taking a few steps back. “… …thank you.” With a final bleat, she dashed off into the woods, never looking back. There was a moment of silence, broken only by footsteps behind her.
“Are you…alright?” It was Aikaze.
“Yeah,” the trainer lied, her words obviously choked. “Fine.”
“That was…a very noble thing you just did. You promised that Mareep you would release her when you got the chance, because she was captivated by Team Missile, no?”
A small nod.
“I…realize how hard it may be to let a friend go, and to do the right thing. Not many trainers would have done that. Take some pride in that.”
Silence.
“Maybe you should get some rest. You obviously need it, especially after today.” It was then that Crystal slowly rose to her feet. She caught Iku gazing upwards at the sky, hearing a flight of several wings in formation, before she returned her maroon eyes down upon the newbie trainer. “There’s always tomorrow for training. Just remember something… that Mareep, even if she was released and went back to her family…she’s always going to remember your kindness, and you will as well. You’re linked now…I’m sure you’ll meet her again some day, and she’ll help you out in your greatest hour of need.” Finally, the gym leader caught contact of crystal blue eyes, lightly awash in tears. She forced a smile, despite she had just done one of the most difficult things in her life at that point.
“Yeah…you’re right.”
“Well, take your time resting up here and the like. I have some business to attend to, I think.” With that, Iku smiled, and gracefully left, red dress catching in the air as she departed. Crystal was left alone in the area for a moment, and she shot a glance at the dead Pokeball.
“…Maybe all…Missile Balls do need to be destroyed like that,” she muttered, before turning to leave. However, a dark cackle froze her mid-step. “…?!”
“Aw, look at the poor baby twainer. Do you miss your Kiyo by your side?” Shocked by these words, she spun around several times, gazing to see if any of the Pokemon had spoken. However, they were all too enthralled with their drinks to have possibly said anything. “Come now, surely you can see me? Hehehe! Don’t waste your time! Just go to sleep and wait for your twainer to fetch you and feed you, hmmm?” Completely wigging out of her mind, she fought to hold back a scream. A bead of perspiration rolled down her dampening forehead and onto the ground.
There was a light tap on her shoulder.
She sprinted off as though using Extremespeed, howling like a Exploud with a stomachache. The creature behind her cackled.
“Oh, how fun it is to play with a new toy and totally mess with their heads!” he gleamed, before fading away.
Now huddled in one of the makeshift beds stuffed full with feathers and leaves, Crystal was ready for sleep, though fear and paranoia had pumped her adrenaline to the max. Sleep would not visit willingly for at least another hour. She whimpered as she tightly held onto Flare and Dragola. She also called out Sergeant Pup to rest on her bed as a faithful watch dog, and he growled at the least bit of movement, taking his job seriously like everything else.
“Definitely my imagination, yeah. Couldn’t have been something touching me. There was nothing that coulda reached my shoulder around there!” she mindlessly squeaked and babbled, head under the covers.
“You never know around these parts, Hikara. One too many times I have seen gh-”
“DON’T SAY IT!” she screamed dramatically, continuing her whining. Her Pokemon gazed at her with concern, unaware of her deathly fear of the dead spirits of the world that haunted the living.
“…if you insist.”
“What, you mean a GHOOOOST?” Crystal winced and shrieked more at hearing Dragola tease her.
“NOOOOOO! DRAGOLA!!!”
“What?”
“Whyyyy? Why did you say itttt?!”
“Say what? …You mean, ghooost?”
“Yes, that! ENOUGH!” she pleaded.
“I didn’t say anything, though?” the Dratini eyed her questionably, clearly confused.
“Don’t lie! I heard your voice saying it several times!”
“I didn’t, I swear! I have no idea what the word is!” she exclaimed. “Ghooooooost!” Of course, Crystal’s eyes were now glued on the Dratini, panic-stricken. Her mouth hadn’t moved on that last word. Dark laughter once more tormented her, having been discovered as the outside source. The young trainer cried out in protest, clinging stubbornly to her Pokemon.
“He’s back, he’s back!” the gifted one sobbed.
“Where?! The Poochyena growled and used his Howl to bring up his attack, ready to lash out when the adversary was discovered. The girl daren’t remove herself from her sheets, too afraid to try and help answer the question.
“He’s laughing! Serge, make him stop!”
“I don’t…hear anything!” He sharply moved about on the bed, more than likely trying to place his sharp eyes on the creature.
“I swear I’m not lying! I hear him laughing!”
“Crystal, I don’t hear him either,” Flare lightly nuzzled up against her trainer, attempting to calm her down. “Your imagination may be getting the better of you.”
“I don’t hear anything, Crystal…” the Dragon Pokemon concurred.
“No, no, no! It’s real! He’s saying things that I didn’t hear before!”
“What’s the matter, hmmm? Do I…scaaaaaare you?”
“Make him stooop! He’s right above my sheets!” There was nothing but laughter, and she felt something the size of the Poochyena land at her feet. “Serge! Serge?!” There was no response. Slowly, and frightened, she dared to peek out. The dark type was, oddly enough, fast asleep. There was no visible sign of that…presence, though the air she breathed in was now putridly cold. “Serge…? SERGE! WAKE UP!” She quickly shook him hard, but he simply snored lightly. He never slept at night.
“Aw, how precious! The pup with the military complex finally gets a night off,” the presence scoffed with that deep laugh. “I guess it’s just you and me now, isn’t it…?” At that, she felt the persistent begging of her other two Pokemon to calm down end. Glancing back under her sheets nervously, she nearly screamed when she saw both Flare and Dragola fitfully resting. The small remaining color in her face disappeared all together.
“W-who a-a-are y-you…?” she stuttered, clinging to her Pokemon. Even if they would not awaken, they still gave her a false sense of protection against this fiend.
“Meh, not of any importance. The point is that you’re so…terrified by me just sitting here, taunting you…Crystal.” She horridly winced at that, her heart skipping two or three beats. She never knew that hearing her name could be so menacing, even in the case of her mother yelling at her or Team Missile’s Kinshayti calling her that in a rotten cotton candy voice. “Hehehe! I don’t even have to try to scare you! This is so fun!"
“GO AWAY!” Tears began falling out of fear as she buried her head under the pillow.
“Or else what? You’ll send Kiyo, your bodyguard, on me? News flash, tuts! She is GONE! You can’t rely on her for everything…” he sang menacingly, but…that last part caught Crystal by the heart. Iku had said the same exact thing just an hour or two ago. “Oooh, I hit the bulls-eye with my dart, did I?”
“Just go!” she feebly cried, trying to keep her breathing under control.
“Aw, but that’s no fun! Besides, I was asked to babysit you and that kid, anyways.” Hikara could imagine whatever beastly creature he was thumbing over to Kara, if he has a thumb. Maybe he doesn’t have any hands. Maybe he doesn’t have a head to nod over there with either! She hyperventilated at the very thought of it. “You know, I had so many cool little tricks to pull, but it’s kinda sad…I don’t even get to use them, because you got so frightened on your own! Pa-the-tic!”
She gave no fighting statement to that comment.
“You know, still…” his words drifted ethereally off. “I have to give ya some credit- maybe you are more bold and courageous than even Kiyo or yourself thinks.” Despite the grammar issue, the sentence caught Crystal’s attention, and she calmed down just a tad. “Heh, going boldly in and trying to help with Sunrise- though, granted, you failed at that, getting your first badge in one shot, still evading Team Missile, even going through with the infiltration and picking up that Mareep, even if you know it was the wrong thing to do… yet even though you somehow nearly managed to screw up on all of them, you still whipped them around into good experiences and smiled at the end of it! Hahaha…you really do got some dumb luck and a different kind of confidence, kid.” She remained entirely silent at this. Why on earth is he scaring me senselessly one moment, then the next, praising my adventures? “Still, maybe your lucky streak…will come to an end shortly. Or maybe later! The gambler, even when lucky, eventually has to lose it all in order to know his limits. Then again, sometimes they don’t know their limit, and they end up on the street in rags. Which will you become, I have to wonder…? Heheheh…
“Anyways, I think we have had an excellent first meeting!” The sound of clapping echoed through the area. “Tormenting you has been a great pleasure, trust me!” He boomed with that eerie tone, and soon she slunk back. However, the laughing died off, then there was silence. Crystal’s heart calmed down slowly but surely, and she once again removed her blind. There was nothing moving about except for the gentle rising chests of Pokemon and trainers alike. She sharply faced Kara near her, whom appeared unaffected from all the loud noise, though she appeared disgruntled as she hugged her pillow. It then hit her- she had forgotten to get the medic’s Pokemon in her fit of hysteria. Well, was she to blame? She didn’t think so. Regardless, the more she stared at the sleeping teen, the more guilty she felt.
It was only a few seconds later that Crystal was tiptoeing barefoot and in her lavender nightgown out of the area, towards the grotto. There were a few guards about, and they gazed at her oddly. Paying no heed to this, she made it to the quiet area she had first encountered ‘Mr. Presence’, as she would refer to him as, given he wouldn’t give her his name. Again, all was in general peace, the only sound that greeted her ears being the slowly flowing river and the occasional cry of a Hoothoot. Still, she scrambled desperately around, and soon she was more than happy to find the single Pokeball and the two Great Balls resting not too far from the machine in a cubby hole for Pokemon that had been left there for the night. The sack Kara always used to carry her essentials around in lay within Kiyo’s bag next to the balls. Quickly taking the creatures and her friends’ bags and releasing the Combusken, Grimer, and Scyther to make sure she was right in her selection, she hustled back to the camp site, placing the three balls and huge bag down beside her bed. Automatically the Combusken hopped out, sleepily situating herself with her slumbering trainer. Crystal gave a small smile as the traitor happily cuddled with the fire type, before getting comfortable in her bed.
Not that sleep would come to her or anything of the sort.
“Tsk tsk! That’s never how you fall asleep!” The voice returned for just a moment, and her breath stopped. She feigned sleep as best she could, though it was difficult on her back. “Come on, you can’t fool little ol’ me like that. I know you like sleeping on your side, Crystal.” Again, she gave an involuntary twitch. “But, I suppose I’ve been the bad guy for too long. Maybe I’ll help you out. Or not. Maybe I’ll hang around all night and deprive you! Oh, the choices! They’re inevitable!” he joked, taking on his mocking tone once more. “…I’ll be nice for tonight, though, because I think the one who sent me to baby-sit would be rather angered if I did the latter. Ah well, maybe another night.”
With that, there was silence. He had apparently left, and at that, the girl sighed. Still keeping her eyes closed, and trying to rid her head of that voice, she softly ran her fingers through her Torchic’s feathers, then moved on to feel the silky smooth scales of the Dratini. Just who was that presence? Why was he, of all things, sent to me, to ‘baby-sit’ me and Kara? Who would want to keep an eye out on me? I can’t imagine Kiyo doing such a cruel thing, and especially when she was still miffed at the traitor. Who, who, who?
Crystal sighed, slowly stretching in her bed, and yawned. She opened her eyes vaguely, just to clear out her doubt that there was nothing there before she would turn over onto her side.
Evil-appearing crimson eyes, surrounded by purple, glared back at her. She attempted a scream, but couldn’t get it through before he muttered two words in a death tone.
“Good night.” With the eyes flashing before her, suddenly the weight of her exhaustion caught up with her. Dizzily, her eyes shut, and she found herself asleep not a second later.
Chapter 18- Aikaze
“I’m telling you, we aren’t Missile Grunts…” Crystal found herself repeating for what seemed to be the thousandth time.
“That’s not what your outfit says,” came the same response from one of her captors. They walked in a line, Kara likely to be a few guards behind her. There was a rope that tied her hands behind her back, the ends of each held by the flying trainers on either side. Her Pokemon had been taken away from her, and they were being totted along at the front of the pack. In addition, they had her blindfolded, even in the dark woods.
“And I told you how I got ahold of this outfit and why I’m wearing it!” she cried exasperatedly.
“Uh huh. Likely story.”
“It’s the truth! By the Legendaries!”
“We don’t fall for Missile lies so easily,” and thus they were at the beginning of the vicious cycle once more.
“Alright, alright, fine! Call me a Missile even though I’m not! Where are we going?”
“We can’t tell you that, otherwise you’ll rat if you get away.”
“Yeah, rat to my Missile Grunt leader, riiiight?” she drawled sarcastically, tripping over some roots.
“Exactly. Good, maybe you’re not as idiotic as you seem, Missile.” Once more she sighed, grumbling. Why had Kiyo taken off like that, and where did she go? Where is that girl when you need her? However, she stumbled to a stop as they yanked back on the rope. Her ears strained for knowledge of this area.
“We’ve caught some Missile Grunts! We do this for Aikaze!” Aikaze? Wasn’t that the gym leader’s name? There was the sound of rustling feet, and once again she was tugged forward. Different voices and the noise of battling Pokemon came into ear, though they passed it by. Wings rustled and songs were song all around the area. If Crystal wasn’t bound up and free to do as she pleased, she would have loved to check out this bird paradise. Then, they paused at another guarded area, where something of a different password was spoken, and then continued on. Out of nowhere, though, they stopped, and they didn’t move again.
“Ms. Aikaze! We’ve captured two Missile Grunts! We overheard them in the woods, and look at the outfit this one is wearing!” Crystal was then nearly kicked to the ground. It felt like being stuffed into a cage all over again.
“Hmm? Two grunts, far into the woods?” she spoke with a bit of an accent, though her voice was calm.
“Yes! Look, this one even had a trainer card with the symbol on it, though she clearly tried to hide it.”
“…Let me see their eyes and let them speak?”
“Ah, of course.” Soon, the heavy cloth slipped off of Crystal’s eyes. She had to blink a few times to get used to the fiery lighting around. Her eyes found themselves at the bottom of a red dress lined with gold. Gazing up, she saw all sorts of golden wings about her, as well as black hair tipped in crimson. She had lovely chestnut-colored eyes that stared back down at her.
“Whom do you say you are?”
“Not a Missile Grunt. This is all a big misunderstanding!”
“She keeps saying that.”
“Wait, let me hear her out,” the leader muttered, turning to the female.
“We were trying to get into Zenith unnoticed so we could try and free it by challenging the fake gym leader. We had stolen these outfits and used them before when Sunrise had been taken over!” she hastily explained.
“When you say ‘we’, are you referring to your friend over here?”
“Well, there was another, but she just flew off right before your trainers here busted in and caught us.”
“I see…what was her name?”
“Kiyo Dustren!” There was a pause.
“And yours?” She also gazed at Kara, though her eyes remained soullessly on the ground.
“I’m Crystal Hikara from Dawndew.”
“I see…” There was a pause, in which she moved to the medic. “What of you?”
“It really shouldn’t matter.”
“How so?”
“I was part of Team Missile at one point. Punish me if you want, Ms. Aikaze. I deserve it. Just…be kind to Zaika and my Combusken, alright? They don’t deserve punishment.” The majestic gym leader’s face took to perplexity.
“…I…see. Your name?” Given the woman was so persistent, Kara sighed apathetically and gave in.
“Kara Hikorume.”
“Ah…I believe…I understand…” her voice saddened a little bit, before she turned to her underlings.
“May I see their trainer cards?” Hastily, there was a rustling sound from each bag, and the two were handed over. With cards in hand, she walked back, looking at the fugitive’s cards in better lighting. She paused just a moment, flipping each over, before she muttered, “It’s alright. Release them from the ropes.”
“Huh? But, Ms. Aikaze…”
“Congratulations, men- what you’ve caught are two high-class perpetrators to Team Missile, and not Missile Grunts,” she softly stated, and they murmured stupidly amongst themselves. Soon enough, Crystal’s wrists were free, and she rubbed them.
“Ah, er, thank you.”
“We’re sorry for the mix up, Ms. Crystal. You’ve probably already had a lot to deal with, no?”
“Maybe, yeah.”
“I see…” she paused, before taking a short curtsey. “I am Iku Aikaze, true gym leader of Zenith City. Well, this is our makeshift gym area, at least. We are well met and glad to have both of you here.”
“Ah, yes, thank you. Pleasure to meet you, too…” she gazed around. Well, now what? We found the real gym leader, but without Kiyo by my side, what am I supposed to do…?
“Now, it seems as though both of you are collecting badges?”
“Yeah…” Crystal sheepishly admitted, though as she got to her feet, Kara remained hollow. “…?”
“What’s…the matter?” Of course, Kara gave no reply to the gym leader.
“Well, it’s…a bit of a long story as to how she’s here, and…”
“Kara…I remember meeting you once. You aren’t anything like you were before they forced you into working. Don’t blame yourself for that. The important thing is that you and your family are alive,” Iku muttered to the trainer.
“It still doesn’t help my conscious at all.”
“I understand that. Still, would your parents and family want you to be held down by this? Or would they want their proud family member to fight for them still?” Still the traitor responded with nothing much, but she slowly got to her feet. “Well, if you wish, you two are welcome to stay here for a while, and challenge me when your Pokemon are all rested up. I have an inkling both of you wish to do that?”
“Ah, well, I mean…” Crystal stuttered.
“Chances are you won’t be able to make it too far without my badge.”
“Ah, it’s not that…”
“You’re a new trainer, and you’re relying on Kiyo for your aide?” And the girl gulped. She hit the hammer on the nail right into and through her heart. She quietly chuckled. “I understand that. Still, you should be more confident within yourself. It’s times like these where we must be strong together, and strong as an individual. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Of course, the words were registering through the young trainer’s mind, but she was just…totally shocked by the harshness of the words.
“Yeah, I…”
“Kiyo, despite her strength, isn’t always going to be there for you. I know that there will come a day where she will have to attend to something, much like she is right now, and she won’t be able to help out if you get into trouble. I hope that you will be strong enough by then to handle your own moves, and create your own strategies. Maybe…you should start now. Your Pokemon are being treated in the grotto not too far from here, where the stream curves through. If you wish, come back to me once you gather them, yes? I patiently wait for your challenge.” Iku smiled, twirling a bit of her feathery hair. Crystal turned to Kara.
“Let’s go, yeah? Your Combusken and Zaika are probably waiting for you…” She grinned like a goof. However, Kara only looked up briefly, and without her soul in her eyes. Mewster somewhat winced at the sight empathetically.
“Yeah, let’s.”
Back in Zenith City, grunts were still on high patrol for the three rogue trainers, though chances were they’d never find them. Aaron was blazing angry, his point-dancing creature waiting patiently by his side. “Grah! Kara brought it upon herself! Go for the family, you three!” he angrily thrust his hand randomly to three grunts, whom nodded and swiftly took to the house near the Pokemon Center. Soon afterwards, it was decided that two would stay outside the door, and only one enter. The family had no Pokemon, and given by all of the Pokeballs on the third’s waist, he was an expert trainer, despite his low rank, and thus could handle the situation if they tried to resist.
“Huh?! Who are you?!” One man suddenly rose from his chair as he glared at the incoming grunt.
“That isn’t of any importance,” he coldly stated.
“What do you want from us this time? We have your monthly fees, you scumbag, if that’s what you want-”
“I was not sent here for that.”
“Then what do you want?!” From the corner of the grunt’s view, he could subtly make out three female figures huddling over a sickbed. An old man lay there, muttering something about how he’d scare them off. The obvious grandmother of the family pet his balding, spotted head in an effort to calm him down. The mother was silently hugging the young daughter, who’s head was buried within her parent’s womb. It was a small house, too small for a family of five.
“I was sent to…move you.” At this phrase, the family man froze. Several chestnut hairs nearly left his emptying scalp.
“Move us…where? What…for?”
“That is not your concern.” As the grunt spoke, he rose up all of the normal Pokeballs on his waist, leaving his Missile Ball untouched. “Come. There are guards waiting outside.”
“Huh? What do you mean? It’s still daytime out, I’m sure…” Crystal gave her friend a puzzled look as she started moping off in the direction of where the camp’s beds were.
“I’m just…exhausted. There was a lot that was hard on my heart, and I fear more is coming. I really just need some sleep now. Ha, you might not believe it, but I did not sleep well last night, having decided I was going to find and take on Aaron.” Her eyes were still hollow, devoid of emotion.
“What about your Pokemon?”
“Well, I’d ask you to do it, but I don’t even deserve that much kindness from you at this point. I’ll get them tomorrow morning.”
“It’s not a problem to go and grab them, you know-”
“Don’t waste your energy on me.”
“If I’m gonna be over there anyways…”
“Just…good night.” With that, Kara slunk off, saying not another word. The gifted one merely observed as she left the area, walking around the training spots. She couldn’t help but feel the vicious pangs of empathy beat within her heart. I want to help, I want to do something for Kara that’d get her out of this stupor, but what is there to do, really? Well, I could at least get her Pokemon. Then again, that might lead to her possibly getting angry at me. Still, she resolved, I’m going to do it, regardless of the consequences.
With that thought permanently stuck in mind, Crystal paced herself to her Pokemon. She was all too eager to be with them again, to have them by her side; she felt so naked without her bag and trainer belt on. And soon, as the woods deepened in the eternal night, the young trainer began to sweat lightly. There’s something…about this area, I don’t know what it is, but…it’s really creeping me out, she shivered, feeling an infinite number of eyes locked onto her. Her walk turned into a light jog, and soon she found the area. The nature was broken by a single piece of machinery, one the girl noticed was the same healing machine they used in most Pokemon Centers. A murky stream trickled through the area lightly, with various wild and trainer Pokemon gathering to quench their thirsts in peace. Among these, Crystal noted, was Flora, Sergeant Pup, and Dragola. Oddly enough, though, there were no trainers besides her lonely self around.
“Hey, guys!” she whispered so as not to disturb the others. The small portion of her motley crew gazed up, and anxiously returned to their trainer.
“Hikara! Did they take you as a POW?” the Poochyena barked, obviously ready to ‘annihilate the enemy’ if she so much as moved her head up and down an inch.
“I was so worried when I was released by those bird trainers and I didn’t see you anywhere!” Dragola slithered up and around her mistress’s body till she was in her arms, snuggling tightly.
“Bah, I says to da ‘Pup, she be too tough to just be taken as a outsida, but he don’t listen to da voice of reason, fo’ shizzle!” Flora gleamed up proudly at her strong trainer. Serge merely rolled his eyes.
“Hahaha…it was just a big misunderstanding, that’s all. They saw the Missile outfit and just assumed otherwise, but it’s all okay now…” Crystal slowly hugged her Dratini, and gazed around. “Where are the others?”
“I’m right here.” Mewster then proceeded to nearly throw her poor serpent Pokemon into the river from shock. She swiftly turned around to see the Torchic.
“Ahh, Flare, don’t do that! It’s bad enough I feel as though I’m being watched all the time in these woods!”
“I apologize,” she cooed, fluffing her feathers up as she gazed warmly up at her trainer.
“Ha, it’s not a problem. But, uh, where’s the Mareep?” she glanced around, letting Dragola down as her arms screamed soreness.
“Oh, dat ol’ ewe? She never came outta her ball. I tink she be too nervous too, dat you not be around,” the Oddish motioned towards the healing machine. A single Missile Ball waited upon the counter, all upon its lonesome among four crimson and pearly balls.
“Ah, thanks...” The blonde wasted no time in heading over. Surely enough, her bag was waiting for her as well as her Pokeballs, and with an easy sling and clip, she was fully re-equipped. She then latched on all of her capsule tools to her waste, recalling her Pokemon, but then she stared at that last dark Pokeball. Well, a promise is a promise...We are out of Missile territory, and so she would more than likely be able to get back home to safety…
“Hey, Mareep, come on…out,” she called, holding her home before her gently. With a simple flash, the fluffy wool Pokemon was released, and she glanced around. Her tail glew, illuminating the area in a coat of pale yellow.
“Eh? You’re back!”
“Yeah,” she softly whispered. “Uh, Mareep?”
“Hmm? What’s with the pout, eh?”
“Ah, well…how far do you think your family is from the Eclipse Woods we’re in now?”
“Eh? Maybe a short walk. Why?” she rose a sheepy eyebrow, but Crystal uttered nothing. She just gazed over the Pokeball, taking in the dark colored. Her emotions infuriated her and contradicted her beliefs she was so stubbornly clinging to. That was the final straw that finally made her whisper.
“Go. You’re free.”
It was then that a bright flash of bluish light burst out from not only the capsule, but from around the Mareep. Her eyes widened in wonder as the malfunctioning Pokeball hopped open, before clamping shut. An arc of electricity ran over the tool, causing the trainer to drop it. It then remained still. It would never open again.
The sheep gazed up at her trainer in wonder.
“How…I mean…why?”
“I made…a promise, didn’t I…? Go on. Your family is waiting for you. You should…never be forced to abandon your family for another’s wants, anyways.” Crystal didn’t look up from the ground.
“…Crystal…” The Mareep muttered somewhat sympathetically, before taking a few steps back. “… …thank you.” With a final bleat, she dashed off into the woods, never looking back. There was a moment of silence, broken only by footsteps behind her.
“Are you…alright?” It was Aikaze.
“Yeah,” the trainer lied, her words obviously choked. “Fine.”
“That was…a very noble thing you just did. You promised that Mareep you would release her when you got the chance, because she was captivated by Team Missile, no?”
A small nod.
“I…realize how hard it may be to let a friend go, and to do the right thing. Not many trainers would have done that. Take some pride in that.”
Silence.
“Maybe you should get some rest. You obviously need it, especially after today.” It was then that Crystal slowly rose to her feet. She caught Iku gazing upwards at the sky, hearing a flight of several wings in formation, before she returned her maroon eyes down upon the newbie trainer. “There’s always tomorrow for training. Just remember something… that Mareep, even if she was released and went back to her family…she’s always going to remember your kindness, and you will as well. You’re linked now…I’m sure you’ll meet her again some day, and she’ll help you out in your greatest hour of need.” Finally, the gym leader caught contact of crystal blue eyes, lightly awash in tears. She forced a smile, despite she had just done one of the most difficult things in her life at that point.
“Yeah…you’re right.”
“Well, take your time resting up here and the like. I have some business to attend to, I think.” With that, Iku smiled, and gracefully left, red dress catching in the air as she departed. Crystal was left alone in the area for a moment, and she shot a glance at the dead Pokeball.
“…Maybe all…Missile Balls do need to be destroyed like that,” she muttered, before turning to leave. However, a dark cackle froze her mid-step. “…?!”
“Aw, look at the poor baby twainer. Do you miss your Kiyo by your side?” Shocked by these words, she spun around several times, gazing to see if any of the Pokemon had spoken. However, they were all too enthralled with their drinks to have possibly said anything. “Come now, surely you can see me? Hehehe! Don’t waste your time! Just go to sleep and wait for your twainer to fetch you and feed you, hmmm?” Completely wigging out of her mind, she fought to hold back a scream. A bead of perspiration rolled down her dampening forehead and onto the ground.
There was a light tap on her shoulder.
She sprinted off as though using Extremespeed, howling like a Exploud with a stomachache. The creature behind her cackled.
“Oh, how fun it is to play with a new toy and totally mess with their heads!” he gleamed, before fading away.
Now huddled in one of the makeshift beds stuffed full with feathers and leaves, Crystal was ready for sleep, though fear and paranoia had pumped her adrenaline to the max. Sleep would not visit willingly for at least another hour. She whimpered as she tightly held onto Flare and Dragola. She also called out Sergeant Pup to rest on her bed as a faithful watch dog, and he growled at the least bit of movement, taking his job seriously like everything else.
“Definitely my imagination, yeah. Couldn’t have been something touching me. There was nothing that coulda reached my shoulder around there!” she mindlessly squeaked and babbled, head under the covers.
“You never know around these parts, Hikara. One too many times I have seen gh-”
“DON’T SAY IT!” she screamed dramatically, continuing her whining. Her Pokemon gazed at her with concern, unaware of her deathly fear of the dead spirits of the world that haunted the living.
“…if you insist.”
“What, you mean a GHOOOOST?” Crystal winced and shrieked more at hearing Dragola tease her.
“NOOOOOO! DRAGOLA!!!”
“What?”
“Whyyyy? Why did you say itttt?!”
“Say what? …You mean, ghooost?”
“Yes, that! ENOUGH!” she pleaded.
“I didn’t say anything, though?” the Dratini eyed her questionably, clearly confused.
“Don’t lie! I heard your voice saying it several times!”
“I didn’t, I swear! I have no idea what the word is!” she exclaimed. “Ghooooooost!” Of course, Crystal’s eyes were now glued on the Dratini, panic-stricken. Her mouth hadn’t moved on that last word. Dark laughter once more tormented her, having been discovered as the outside source. The young trainer cried out in protest, clinging stubbornly to her Pokemon.
“He’s back, he’s back!” the gifted one sobbed.
“Where?! The Poochyena growled and used his Howl to bring up his attack, ready to lash out when the adversary was discovered. The girl daren’t remove herself from her sheets, too afraid to try and help answer the question.
“He’s laughing! Serge, make him stop!”
“I don’t…hear anything!” He sharply moved about on the bed, more than likely trying to place his sharp eyes on the creature.
“I swear I’m not lying! I hear him laughing!”
“Crystal, I don’t hear him either,” Flare lightly nuzzled up against her trainer, attempting to calm her down. “Your imagination may be getting the better of you.”
“I don’t hear anything, Crystal…” the Dragon Pokemon concurred.
“No, no, no! It’s real! He’s saying things that I didn’t hear before!”
“What’s the matter, hmmm? Do I…scaaaaaare you?”
“Make him stooop! He’s right above my sheets!” There was nothing but laughter, and she felt something the size of the Poochyena land at her feet. “Serge! Serge?!” There was no response. Slowly, and frightened, she dared to peek out. The dark type was, oddly enough, fast asleep. There was no visible sign of that…presence, though the air she breathed in was now putridly cold. “Serge…? SERGE! WAKE UP!” She quickly shook him hard, but he simply snored lightly. He never slept at night.
“Aw, how precious! The pup with the military complex finally gets a night off,” the presence scoffed with that deep laugh. “I guess it’s just you and me now, isn’t it…?” At that, she felt the persistent begging of her other two Pokemon to calm down end. Glancing back under her sheets nervously, she nearly screamed when she saw both Flare and Dragola fitfully resting. The small remaining color in her face disappeared all together.
“W-who a-a-are y-you…?” she stuttered, clinging to her Pokemon. Even if they would not awaken, they still gave her a false sense of protection against this fiend.
“Meh, not of any importance. The point is that you’re so…terrified by me just sitting here, taunting you…Crystal.” She horridly winced at that, her heart skipping two or three beats. She never knew that hearing her name could be so menacing, even in the case of her mother yelling at her or Team Missile’s Kinshayti calling her that in a rotten cotton candy voice. “Hehehe! I don’t even have to try to scare you! This is so fun!"
“GO AWAY!” Tears began falling out of fear as she buried her head under the pillow.
“Or else what? You’ll send Kiyo, your bodyguard, on me? News flash, tuts! She is GONE! You can’t rely on her for everything…” he sang menacingly, but…that last part caught Crystal by the heart. Iku had said the same exact thing just an hour or two ago. “Oooh, I hit the bulls-eye with my dart, did I?”
“Just go!” she feebly cried, trying to keep her breathing under control.
“Aw, but that’s no fun! Besides, I was asked to babysit you and that kid, anyways.” Hikara could imagine whatever beastly creature he was thumbing over to Kara, if he has a thumb. Maybe he doesn’t have any hands. Maybe he doesn’t have a head to nod over there with either! She hyperventilated at the very thought of it. “You know, I had so many cool little tricks to pull, but it’s kinda sad…I don’t even get to use them, because you got so frightened on your own! Pa-the-tic!”
She gave no fighting statement to that comment.
“You know, still…” his words drifted ethereally off. “I have to give ya some credit- maybe you are more bold and courageous than even Kiyo or yourself thinks.” Despite the grammar issue, the sentence caught Crystal’s attention, and she calmed down just a tad. “Heh, going boldly in and trying to help with Sunrise- though, granted, you failed at that, getting your first badge in one shot, still evading Team Missile, even going through with the infiltration and picking up that Mareep, even if you know it was the wrong thing to do… yet even though you somehow nearly managed to screw up on all of them, you still whipped them around into good experiences and smiled at the end of it! Hahaha…you really do got some dumb luck and a different kind of confidence, kid.” She remained entirely silent at this. Why on earth is he scaring me senselessly one moment, then the next, praising my adventures? “Still, maybe your lucky streak…will come to an end shortly. Or maybe later! The gambler, even when lucky, eventually has to lose it all in order to know his limits. Then again, sometimes they don’t know their limit, and they end up on the street in rags. Which will you become, I have to wonder…? Heheheh…
“Anyways, I think we have had an excellent first meeting!” The sound of clapping echoed through the area. “Tormenting you has been a great pleasure, trust me!” He boomed with that eerie tone, and soon she slunk back. However, the laughing died off, then there was silence. Crystal’s heart calmed down slowly but surely, and she once again removed her blind. There was nothing moving about except for the gentle rising chests of Pokemon and trainers alike. She sharply faced Kara near her, whom appeared unaffected from all the loud noise, though she appeared disgruntled as she hugged her pillow. It then hit her- she had forgotten to get the medic’s Pokemon in her fit of hysteria. Well, was she to blame? She didn’t think so. Regardless, the more she stared at the sleeping teen, the more guilty she felt.
It was only a few seconds later that Crystal was tiptoeing barefoot and in her lavender nightgown out of the area, towards the grotto. There were a few guards about, and they gazed at her oddly. Paying no heed to this, she made it to the quiet area she had first encountered ‘Mr. Presence’, as she would refer to him as, given he wouldn’t give her his name. Again, all was in general peace, the only sound that greeted her ears being the slowly flowing river and the occasional cry of a Hoothoot. Still, she scrambled desperately around, and soon she was more than happy to find the single Pokeball and the two Great Balls resting not too far from the machine in a cubby hole for Pokemon that had been left there for the night. The sack Kara always used to carry her essentials around in lay within Kiyo’s bag next to the balls. Quickly taking the creatures and her friends’ bags and releasing the Combusken, Grimer, and Scyther to make sure she was right in her selection, she hustled back to the camp site, placing the three balls and huge bag down beside her bed. Automatically the Combusken hopped out, sleepily situating herself with her slumbering trainer. Crystal gave a small smile as the traitor happily cuddled with the fire type, before getting comfortable in her bed.
Not that sleep would come to her or anything of the sort.
“Tsk tsk! That’s never how you fall asleep!” The voice returned for just a moment, and her breath stopped. She feigned sleep as best she could, though it was difficult on her back. “Come on, you can’t fool little ol’ me like that. I know you like sleeping on your side, Crystal.” Again, she gave an involuntary twitch. “But, I suppose I’ve been the bad guy for too long. Maybe I’ll help you out. Or not. Maybe I’ll hang around all night and deprive you! Oh, the choices! They’re inevitable!” he joked, taking on his mocking tone once more. “…I’ll be nice for tonight, though, because I think the one who sent me to baby-sit would be rather angered if I did the latter. Ah well, maybe another night.”
With that, there was silence. He had apparently left, and at that, the girl sighed. Still keeping her eyes closed, and trying to rid her head of that voice, she softly ran her fingers through her Torchic’s feathers, then moved on to feel the silky smooth scales of the Dratini. Just who was that presence? Why was he, of all things, sent to me, to ‘baby-sit’ me and Kara? Who would want to keep an eye out on me? I can’t imagine Kiyo doing such a cruel thing, and especially when she was still miffed at the traitor. Who, who, who?
Crystal sighed, slowly stretching in her bed, and yawned. She opened her eyes vaguely, just to clear out her doubt that there was nothing there before she would turn over onto her side.
Evil-appearing crimson eyes, surrounded by purple, glared back at her. She attempted a scream, but couldn’t get it through before he muttered two words in a death tone.
“Good night.” With the eyes flashing before her, suddenly the weight of her exhaustion caught up with her. Dizzily, her eyes shut, and she found herself asleep not a second later.
Interesting.
So why is she afraid of ghost? Is it just like a normal fear or is there a reason?
So why is she afraid of ghost? Is it just like a normal fear or is there a reason?
I believe it was explained back a while ago in chapter...7, 8? At least, I think it was...maybe a later chapter. I know she said something concerning Ryouo and his Treecko Underbrush to that extent. *shrug* Too lazy/don't know the control for searching the chapters to find the quote.
Anyways...
Chapter 19- Kiyo's Generosity
“Hey, c’mon Crystal. Time to get up…I think.” Groggily, the girl came to a semi-conscious state.
“Mmm?”
“It’s morning. You’ve been sleeping like a Golem. Come on, time to wake up.” Slowly, the blond opened an eye to see Kara there. Well, at least she appeared to have some life back in her eyes.
“What time is…oh, come on! It’s only nine, Kara!” the girl whined heavily, after glancing at her Pokegear.
“Yeah, but we normally get up by seven at Kiyo’s hands…we should probably investigate the area and get prepared for our matches, eh?” At forming the elder teenager’s name, the medic’s eyes seemed to lose their lively quality for just a moment.
“Maybe, yeah. Stilllll, shouldn’t we take advantage of the fact that Kiyo isn’t here right now? We may never sleep in late again…” As she rolled over though, the thoughts of her horrid dream and the events leading to her sleep made her nearly jump out of the bed. Her eyes were startlingly wide in terror.
“Hmm? What got into your bed?”
“A g-ghost did, last night, that’s what!” she stammered.
“A ghost?”
“He tortured me and then invaded my dreams and glowy red eyes and taunting me and wahhhhhh!” Crystal clung tightly to Kara, sobbing lightly.
“…jeez! You must be really frightened of them!” There was a fierce nod from the girl.
“Ever since my brothers Ryouo and Wizar were camping with me and telling scary stories of g-ghosts and d-death, well, I went to b-bed that night, and then s-something, it, it, it…”
“Was haunting you?”
“YES!” Crystal squealed, nearing tears again. “I-I know it was j-just Ryouo’s Treecko Underbrush p-playing a mean joke, but it scared me so b-bad!”
“Wow, I didn’t know you had such a traumatic experience with them,” Kara blinked, rubbing her neck and lightly patting Crystal’s back. “That’s bad…”
“Mmhmm!” she mumbled, still in fear.
“Well, did you get the ghost’s name?”
“N-no, he wouldn’t tell m-me. Why?”
“There’s an old myth concerning names…well, it’s said that when you know a person’s or creature’s name, you instantly know a small part of their soul. When you know that name…there’s something that happens that allows you to relax a little more and more when that person or creature is around, until maybe you could…become friends. Next time, when that ghost comes, try not to fear him. Persist for his name. Maybe if you get his name, you’ll be worry free for a while.” The girl, however, was completely lost. It just didn’t make sense to her. How could knowing something as small as a name make her less afraid? Regardless, she decided it’d be worth a shot, and so she nodded. “…Oh, and Crystal?”
“Hmm?”
“Could you, like, stop hugging me now? There aren’t any ghosts around now.”
“Ah, er, sorry. It’s just the thought, you know, that kind of flips me out, you know? Hahaha…” Hastily she withdrew from Kara, allowing her some room to breathe.
“Ha, not a problem…just don’t always come hugging me, you hear? I’m not a person for hugs.”
“Funny, you fooled me, the way to clung to your Combusken last night.”
“That does not count! Combusken is a Pokemon, and not human!”
“Is there really any sort of difference, considering we’re both alive and have dreams of our own?” That comment seemed to bemuse Kara, and she remained speechless for a moment.
“…Yeah, maybe. Let’s get ready for our battle against Iku, shall we?”
“Changing the subject, are we…?”
“Nope, just anxious for a battle, that’s all.”
“Round two! Combusken versus Starly! Begin!” the referee declared, and the two trainers marched into action.
“Combusken, get in there! Sand Attack, then start up with your Double Kicks again!” Kara appeared to be back in full health, eagerly encouraging her Pokemon on. Even if the Combusken was slightly damaged from the fight against Iku’s last Pokemon, it was still raring for more.
“Starly, Double Team, then proceed with Quick Attack,” Iku calmly ordered. The Starly gave a little cry of joy, before dashing in. Multiple images faded out around the bird, each appearing solid. The Combusken, though, was prepared, and started digging at the sandy floor, scattering sand everywhere. She succeeded in getting it into the opponent’s eyes, who fluttered confused for a moment. Crystal decided she felt like the bird at that point- it was difficult to be spectating from the near front of the circle of trainers cheering on both combatants. Trying to keep an idea on strategies to use for her fight was even more difficult with all of the noise around her. Slightly blinded by the sand, the Starling Pokemon dashed forward to where he thought the fire type may be hiding, only to be left empty handed. Said fire type, however, noticed the dive and suddenly whirled around with three swift kicks.
“Alright, now try an Ember on the Starly when it comes around again!” the brunette ordered.
“Starly, keep up with your Quick Attacks. Try to Gust it when you can see where you’re aiming.”
Fire spout out from the Combusken’s mouth as the Starly swooped in. Crystal noticed that the sand still hanging in the air suddenly glowed red hot and then turned shimmery in the dim forest lighting, and this made her very puzzled. The purpose of the attack scored its mark, though- singe marks covered the flying-type’s white and black feathers. He gave a sharp cry, though he still painfully flapped his wings. The dust cleared, and the Gust seemed to damage Combusken greatly.
“Combusken, just a little more! Ember again!”
“Quick Attack to finish it off!”
As the bird dashed forward as hot flames danced in the air, Crystal suddenly lost track of the battle, and so did many of her fellow on-lookers. For some reason or another, both Pokemon were now resting on the cold earth below them.
“Both combatants are unable to battle! Please recall your Pokemon and send out your new Pokemon!”
“Aw, man! Double knock-out!” Kara whined, recalling the fallen Combusken.
“Yes…they are so rare nowadays, aren’t they?” Iku followed suit, returning the small Pokeball to a decorative chain attached to her sash. She plucked off the final Pokeball, the one at the end of said links. Without much hesitation and with confidence, Kara removed one of the Great Balls of her waste.
“Alright, Pidgeotto, go forth.” The gym leader tossed the capsule lightly into the air above her, in which the gorgeous evolution to Pidgey was released. Seeing the creature made the newbie trainer long for her friend Breeze again, and sorrowful images flooded her mind, until a rank stench flooded her nose. Kara had called out Grimer.
“What’s up, my friend?” he slowly asked the floating Pidgeotto. “Ah, man, this is another, like, battle, isn’t it? What a life for a peace-lover like me…” Even if all were gagging around her and she was as well, the gifted one couldn’t help but beam with laughter. That Grimer was always hilarious, she decided.
“Round three! Grimer versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Pidgeotto, start things off with Gust. I can’t stand that stench,” the leader mumbled, holding a hand to her nose.
“Grimer, Sludge! Let’s prove Kiyo wrong that birds do get more easily poisoned than other Pokemon!” Ahh, so that’s why Kara was so intent on battling today, Crystal noted. However, she remained silent for the remainder of the match. The Pidgeotto did end up getting poisoned, just as Kara speculated, and there was nothing but a confident smile on her face as the true Tornado Badge was placed into her hand.
“Congratulations, Kara.”
“Haha, thanks, Ms. Aikaze!”
“I heard that you dreamed of being part of our gym one day…?”
“Eh?! Oh, yeah. Ha…”
“Would you like to join, once we’re done fighting Team Missile, and have reclaimed our city?”
“R-really?!” the brunette beamed, emerald eyes widening.
“Of course.”
“Even though I was once part of Team Missile?”
“You didn’t have a choice in the matter, and you stand firmly against them now,” Iku smiled. “I’d be happy to have you and your Pokemon- given you have at least one flying type, eh?”
“I do have one! His name is Zaika, and he’s the Pokemon I rescued from the Missiles. He’s a Scyther!”
“Haha, wonderful. Well, we’ll have to discuss this later, no?” Her eyes then fell on Crystal for a moment. “…I take it you wish to battle as well?”
“Ah, er…yeah,” the blonde nodded sheepishly.
“Well, take your place in our stadium. I just have to heal my Pokemon with haste. I apologize for any wait-”
“Oh, no, not at all!” she swiftly wafted her hand in the air. “Not much of a battle if your Pokemon are fainted, right?”
“No, indeed not.” Iku smiled politely, then slowly and gracefully walked off. The new trainer took to the box, listening vaguely to Kara’s chatter. Well, Kiyo wasn’t there to encourage her, or give her any useful tips before the match, such as ‘don’t screw the big one up!’ or ‘keep in mind that flying types are weak to cold temperatures’, even if she already knew as such. She fidgeted. Those five minutes were the longest of her life, and by the time the gym leader returned to her position and asked if she was ready, Crystal nearly whispered that she wasn’t.
“Crystal…I’m so sorry.”
The girl sat dumbfounded and feeling terrible upon her resting bed. In her hands were the three Pokemon that had gone down in the match against Aikaze. She had made it to the Pidgeotto, true, but that Aerial Ace move was simply too strong! It had overwhelmed her poor Flare and Dragola. Her eyes were glazed over. She was forcing tears back.
“Ah, don’t…worry about it. It’s not…like I had my Pokemon kidnapped or anything after the battle…” she tried to give a smile as she spoke, but her words were so choked up it was difficult to do so. She made a valid point there! They were still with her, resting safely in their Pokeballs. However, even against all the technical losses against Team Missile- Chris Johnson at the beginning of her journey, the Missile Grunts whom appeared at Dawndew Lake when she was searching for the Pecha Berry for Blaze, the Missile Admin Yoramatu…something was different against Aikaze. Something screamed within her ‘She’s a normal gym leader! You should have been experienced enough by now to take her down!’, and it nagged and ate away at the girl.
“Well, there’s always tomorrow, ne? We’ll just have to do some training and get your Pokemon up and beyond where they are now!” Kara tried to sound optimistic, but Hikara didn’t need this.
“Ah, yeah, maybe.” She drifted off into her own thoughts. Something then made her think. “…What do you think Kiyo is doing? I imagine she’d have a hard time finding us here.”
“Hmm?” the medic’s face faltered at the name of the fire trainer. “Hmm, yeah. I still…haven’t quite forgiven her for going as far as she did there. It was uncalled for.”
“Kara…”
“What, what? You miss having Ms. Naggybutt on you all the time?”
“Well, sort of kinda. It’s difficult to explain-”
“So you’re saying that we go find her, then? Forget it.”
“Kara…Fine, I’ll go and see if I can’t find her myself.” Crystal rolled her eyes, and stood up. Slowly, she reattached her Pokemon, and prepared to head out.
“Eh?! Where do you think you’re going?!”
“I’m going back to the clearing where we last saw her.”
“Are you, like, insane?!” Now Kara was listening. “There are Missiles out there! Going out there alone is like saying to them, ‘hey, I’m Crystal Hikara, and I talk to Pokemon! Kidnap me, will you?’!”
“Something tells me Kiyo would think to return there first. I do realize that Team Missile is out there looking for me and the like, but I should do it, all the same. Besides…I made a promise to her that I’d find something for her. I haven’t found it yet, and I’d feel bad if she hadn’t received her…payment for sticking to such a newbie trainer like myself and tutoring me.” The medic seemed silent for a moment.
“Fine, fine! I’m going with you, but I refuse to talk to Kiyo if she does show up, you hear?”
“I never said anything of the sort.”
“I’m sure you were thinking it, weren’t you?”
“Maybe a little bit,” Crystal sheepishly grinned.
“Oy, called that one,” Kara groaned, gathering her stuff.
“Have to give her back her bag you’re wearing now, anyways…”
“I know, no need to remind me…by the gods of this world, what does she put in this bag? Bricks?”
“You got me,” the preteen shrugged.
“Oh, so you’re leaving…?” Iku had seen the pair heading out, and had swiftly moved to the exit to catch up with them.
“Yeah. We have to find Kiyo and stuff. She might be waiting for us.”
“I see…well, just know that you’re welcome back here at any time.”
“I was actually figuring to drag her back here when we found her.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah…chances are…she’d totally get on my case if I let her know that I had lost, ha ha…she’s always like that, I guess.” Crystal somewhat ashamedly rubbed her neck.
“Well, in that case, have you any idea how to get back here…?”
“Er, well, actually, no.”
“Ha…always impulsive, young trainers, no?” With a warm smile, she began searching within her robes. She withdrew something that appeared like two small badges. “These are our…rebellion badges, if you will. They work in coordination with any sort of mapping device, even if broken, to lead you back here. They’ll also let our allies of other trapped cities know that you’re on their side, and they’ll take care of you, I’m sure. Consider yourselves members of our little clan…and take them.” She handed each to the trainers. Crystal paused for a moment, squinting at the little thing. It was a wing-shaped clip, but instead of looking entirely like the badge she handed out only to worthy trainers, gold lettering in an oval proclaimed their association name- MRA.
“MRA?” Kara questioned, finally uttering words.
“Ha, yes. It’s a bit of a corny title, but it stands for Missile Rebellion Army,” Iku bashfully nodded. “We’re just the flying division, of course. There are several others spread around. There’s a sea division, given we know they have a base on one of the islands- Crescentflood, Midnight, or Torrentpour. We have a nature division who travel around the region and the like, as well, but the numbers on them are slim to none as of currently.” At that, she appeared a tad bit dejected, obviously wishing this wasn’t the case. “Well, at any rate, I trust you’ll make it back here safely with those badges in tact.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks, Iku…” the pink-banged trainer nodded, attaching it to her Pokegear in the sense that it was a card expansion. It gave a feeble whir of attention before returning back to its terrible state.
“And Crystal…”
“Hmm?” she glanced up at her name being called.
“Don’t let this loss get to you too badly. Everyone loses occasionally, and you did put up a rather good fight at that. There is no shame in your loss.”
“Ah, yeah…thanks.” However, against her smile and her words was that heavy, oppressive feeling of losing weighing down upon her. To try and get her mind off the subject, she glanced over to Kara. “We should try and find Kiyo now.”
“I guess, I guess…” The medic’s face proved otherwise, that she was just trying to help Crystal as a part-time bodyguard instead of going to listen to the fire trainer and more of her rantings.
“Well, may a lucky wind guide you to her, at any rate,” Iku gave one of her feeble, wise grins, curtseying a little, before heading off to return to her duties as the gym leader.
“She isn’t coming,” Kara noted for the umpteenth time, or so it seemed to the stubborn blonde.
“No, she’ll be back here. I know it.”
“Jeez, you’re so stubborn! I would have never thought someone as meek and weak as yourself that you’d be like this,” she drawled sarcastically.
“Ha, well, I was stubborn enough to go against my mother’s wishes in becoming a trainer, no?”
“Touché, I suppose.” The brunette’s emerald eyes shifted to the ground, and she fixed her ruby red shirt as she did so. “Still, how long have we been out here for?”
“I couldn’t tell you. My Pokegear is on the fritz, even more so today. Probably has something to do with the badge being attached, I think.”
“Maybe so. Still, if she doesn’t come soon, I’m off. I won’t care about you and Team Missile any more, you hear?”
“That’s alright. I’ll wait.”
“You are so stupid in your ways.”
“Maybe so, but I made a promise. I’m not going back on that.” Kara breathed out deep at that, and shook her head. Silence fell upon them, and Crystal gazed around the little area lightly. Well, where had Kiyo gone off to in her rush? Take on Team Missile herself and rid the city upon her own accord? Gone not too far off to her home in Sunburst to relax and unwind a little? Or was she off doing something else? The youngest couldn’t choose which would be the most realistic answer, and merely just continued off in her thoughts.
Her thoughts were broken when there was a mighty crash of silver feathers, the ground, and a human body.
“Agh! Stupid little…that’s it, no more feather scratching for you for a while!” The trainer angrily called up to the metallic bird, whom still appeared happy. Kiyo had indeed returned, though it appeared as though she hadn’t noticed Kara nor Crystal. The girl merely beamed at that, and turned to the medic. She didn’t appear quite as happy as more sadistically chuckling to herself about the onyx-haired trainer’s grand appearance. Crystal noted that she still appeared in the Missile garb, though her wig and cap had long since been removed.
“Kiyo!” At ‘Mewster’ calling her name, she turned around.
“Eh? Oh, good. You didn’t leave here.” With that, her mismatching eyes caught sight of Kara, and narrowed. “Ah. Yeah. You didn’t either.”
“Where’d you go off to, Kiyo?”
“Ah, well, back to Zenith. I had to take care of some business. But, do tell me, Crystal, where’d you get this little nifty badge like thing? MRA?” she sneakily lifted up her Pokegear, taken clean off Crystal’s watchband once more.
“Kiyo! Can’t you just look for yourself and not take it?!”
“Naw, that’s not as fun as watching your cheesed off expression!” the youngest Dustren beamed. “Camman, now, what is it?”
“It’s from the gym leader, Iku, and a group of trainers. They are hiding out in these woods, and, well, they took us in by mistake as Missile members and the like…”
“Ah, I see…though they were partially on the dot…” The last part she muttered more to herself, but Crystal caught it with her sharp ears. “Well, anyways, the gym leader, hmm? Take it you went and got your badge, then?”
“Ah, er, well…”
“Crystal…?”
“I…actually, ah… …lost,” she muttered ashamedly, gazing off into the distant trees, where supposedly the Aerial MRA base was located.
“You…what?” Kiyo’s eyebrow rose, and her voice seemed to change. It was almost…disappointed?
“Yeah. I…couldn’t win against her. Her…her last Pokemon…it was…too strong.” Drat, I must look a mess right now…
“…you’re not…kidding…wow. Uh, shoot. Sorry to hear about that…” the fire trainer eyed her sympathetically, with honesty in her voice. Crystal’s eyes didn’t meet hers. They were too filled with humiliation to bother with her friend. There was the sound of rustling fabric, though, and she soon looked up. Kara had removed her bag from Kiyo’s, and tossed the monstrous backpack to its owner. She caught it with a simple ‘thanks’, though there was something in her eye…something that inferred a lack of trust for the traitor, still?
“Don’t look at me like that,” the brunette growled as she slung her bag over her shoulder, relieved of the ton of supplies. “I wouldn’t be interested in any of your stuff anyways.”
“I was waiting more for an apology.”
“Me?! Ha, you’re the one that went severely far there, Miss Pompous trainer! I’ll apologize when you have!”
“I have.” At that comment, Kara appeared confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Hahaha…just promise you won’t whine about your family any more and forget the moment you joined Team Missile and any events that occurred whilst you wore their evil garb. Then I’ll tell you what I mean.” Slowly, the medic rose an eyebrow.
“I…I’m not whining about my family. I’m just concerned about them.”
“Don’t be concerned with them any further.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Promise me you will never even consider Team Missile as an escape for money.” Something…gleamed in Kiyo’s eye. The young trainer couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad news she brought with her from the heavens.
“…I’ll never return to those scumbags. You know that.”
“…good. Ha, well, I don’t want you cheering or nutthin’, so I’ll just take your little badge thing and start off towards the camp and leave it up to Crystal to tell you.” Kara was steamed when the fire trainer lifted up the petit badge, clipping it to her digital map. She then beckoned the gifted one forth, and she slowly walked up.
“What are you babbling about?” Crystal muttered.
“Ha, well, so I found out that obviously Team Missile was angry about Kara escaping and stuff, right? They were gonna take it out on her family. I, of course, intervened.” Crystal blue eyes widened at that.
“What?!”
“Yep, you know what I’m talking about. I basically entered into their house, looking like your everyday Missile Grunt, but I had taken the time to grab ahold of a team filled with flying types. Haha, and guess what? I destroyed the Peons outside, and then to the sky we went. Needless to say, I think the Hikorume family will be doing well in Dawndew. Team Missile wouldn’t think to search there, chances are, because it’s such a tiny town, yeah?” Before Crystal could even be proud to have Kiyo as a friend, she was popped on the head. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not done talking to you. We’re having a serious talk about you and your Pokemon once you return to the forest.
“Now, I believe I’ll leave. Crystal, remember to tell her long after I’m gone. Don’t disappoint me.” With that, the teen wandered off quickly into the woods, Skarmory clattering along happily. Kara rushed into her face.
“What’d she say? What’d that-” she took a moment to swear, causing the younger of the two to wince a tad, “- say, talking about my family, hmm?”
“Ah, er…” She swiftly glanced back. True, the soft-hearted girl wasn’t in sight, but she had to stall for a little more time, she figured.
“Crystal…tell me…”
“Well, if you’ll just wait until I’m sure she’s gone…”
“Agh!” A sudden cry or two from the nearby bushes, as well as some sort of chilly wind, caught both of their attention for the moment. Rapidly their feet carried them, and there, totally stunned and knocked out was a pair of Missile Grunts and their poison types. The girl shivered lightly, but she was more taken aback at the scene.
“When’d they get here?” Kara nearly swore.
“I…dunno. Kiyo?” the youngest Hikara questioned, though there was no response. The hair on the back of her neck rose at the eerie silence.
“…If Kiyo’s long out of earshot, then how did they just get knocked out, and with what appears to be psychic and dark wounds?” the medic pondered, though her mood shifted rapidly as Crystal latched onto as a breath of a masculine voice sung out to her.
“You’re welcome~!”
“GAH!!! Kara, help! He’s right behind me! He’s teasing me again!”
“What do you mean? There’s no one there…who?”
“It’s that…Mr. Presence! The same one from last night! Get him away! GET HIM AWAY!” she hysterically sobbed.
“Crystal, you’re babbling mindlessly again. There’s nothing there. I don’t hear a single word…”
“That’s because fo-for whatever reason, I-I can hear him and no one else can!” she clutched tighter on the girl as she felt something hissing from behind.
“Ah…what a mess…” Kara pondered, rubbing her neck before shoving the gifted one off her. “Can you, you know, at least not cling when that happens?”
“I’m sorry…I’m a mess…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, what to do with these grunts…” she called out coolly, checking over the pair. Both were male, with a small bat on one’s face and a nearly twisted Seviper on the other.
Seconds later Kara had stolen the Missile Balls, and the Pokemon would be free as soon as they were to awaken from their brutal punishment.
“That takes care of that, I think…” the medic beamed, and returned her gaze to the recovering Crystal. “…Jeez, still haven’t gone back to normal?”
“Iiii don’t think I’ll be normal until we get outta these woods,” she responded with a sniffle.
“Oi…well then. Shall we head back the gym area, then?”
“Y-yeah,” she weakly nodded.
“And you still have to tell me about what Kiyo told you to tell me.”
“I know.”
“Well?”
“Let’s just say that your family is safe.”
At least, I think it was...maybe a later chapter. I know she said something concerning Ryouo and his Treecko Underbrush to that extent. *shrug* Too lazy/don't know the control for searching the chapters to find the quote.Anyways...
Chapter 19- Kiyo's Generosity
“Hey, c’mon Crystal. Time to get up…I think.” Groggily, the girl came to a semi-conscious state.
“Mmm?”
“It’s morning. You’ve been sleeping like a Golem. Come on, time to wake up.” Slowly, the blond opened an eye to see Kara there. Well, at least she appeared to have some life back in her eyes.
“What time is…oh, come on! It’s only nine, Kara!” the girl whined heavily, after glancing at her Pokegear.
“Yeah, but we normally get up by seven at Kiyo’s hands…we should probably investigate the area and get prepared for our matches, eh?” At forming the elder teenager’s name, the medic’s eyes seemed to lose their lively quality for just a moment.
“Maybe, yeah. Stilllll, shouldn’t we take advantage of the fact that Kiyo isn’t here right now? We may never sleep in late again…” As she rolled over though, the thoughts of her horrid dream and the events leading to her sleep made her nearly jump out of the bed. Her eyes were startlingly wide in terror.
“Hmm? What got into your bed?”
“A g-ghost did, last night, that’s what!” she stammered.
“A ghost?”
“He tortured me and then invaded my dreams and glowy red eyes and taunting me and wahhhhhh!” Crystal clung tightly to Kara, sobbing lightly.
“…jeez! You must be really frightened of them!” There was a fierce nod from the girl.
“Ever since my brothers Ryouo and Wizar were camping with me and telling scary stories of g-ghosts and d-death, well, I went to b-bed that night, and then s-something, it, it, it…”
“Was haunting you?”
“YES!” Crystal squealed, nearing tears again. “I-I know it was j-just Ryouo’s Treecko Underbrush p-playing a mean joke, but it scared me so b-bad!”
“Wow, I didn’t know you had such a traumatic experience with them,” Kara blinked, rubbing her neck and lightly patting Crystal’s back. “That’s bad…”
“Mmhmm!” she mumbled, still in fear.
“Well, did you get the ghost’s name?”
“N-no, he wouldn’t tell m-me. Why?”
“There’s an old myth concerning names…well, it’s said that when you know a person’s or creature’s name, you instantly know a small part of their soul. When you know that name…there’s something that happens that allows you to relax a little more and more when that person or creature is around, until maybe you could…become friends. Next time, when that ghost comes, try not to fear him. Persist for his name. Maybe if you get his name, you’ll be worry free for a while.” The girl, however, was completely lost. It just didn’t make sense to her. How could knowing something as small as a name make her less afraid? Regardless, she decided it’d be worth a shot, and so she nodded. “…Oh, and Crystal?”
“Hmm?”
“Could you, like, stop hugging me now? There aren’t any ghosts around now.”
“Ah, er, sorry. It’s just the thought, you know, that kind of flips me out, you know? Hahaha…” Hastily she withdrew from Kara, allowing her some room to breathe.
“Ha, not a problem…just don’t always come hugging me, you hear? I’m not a person for hugs.”
“Funny, you fooled me, the way to clung to your Combusken last night.”
“That does not count! Combusken is a Pokemon, and not human!”
“Is there really any sort of difference, considering we’re both alive and have dreams of our own?” That comment seemed to bemuse Kara, and she remained speechless for a moment.
“…Yeah, maybe. Let’s get ready for our battle against Iku, shall we?”
“Changing the subject, are we…?”
“Nope, just anxious for a battle, that’s all.”
“Round two! Combusken versus Starly! Begin!” the referee declared, and the two trainers marched into action.
“Combusken, get in there! Sand Attack, then start up with your Double Kicks again!” Kara appeared to be back in full health, eagerly encouraging her Pokemon on. Even if the Combusken was slightly damaged from the fight against Iku’s last Pokemon, it was still raring for more.
“Starly, Double Team, then proceed with Quick Attack,” Iku calmly ordered. The Starly gave a little cry of joy, before dashing in. Multiple images faded out around the bird, each appearing solid. The Combusken, though, was prepared, and started digging at the sandy floor, scattering sand everywhere. She succeeded in getting it into the opponent’s eyes, who fluttered confused for a moment. Crystal decided she felt like the bird at that point- it was difficult to be spectating from the near front of the circle of trainers cheering on both combatants. Trying to keep an idea on strategies to use for her fight was even more difficult with all of the noise around her. Slightly blinded by the sand, the Starling Pokemon dashed forward to where he thought the fire type may be hiding, only to be left empty handed. Said fire type, however, noticed the dive and suddenly whirled around with three swift kicks.
“Alright, now try an Ember on the Starly when it comes around again!” the brunette ordered.
“Starly, keep up with your Quick Attacks. Try to Gust it when you can see where you’re aiming.”
Fire spout out from the Combusken’s mouth as the Starly swooped in. Crystal noticed that the sand still hanging in the air suddenly glowed red hot and then turned shimmery in the dim forest lighting, and this made her very puzzled. The purpose of the attack scored its mark, though- singe marks covered the flying-type’s white and black feathers. He gave a sharp cry, though he still painfully flapped his wings. The dust cleared, and the Gust seemed to damage Combusken greatly.
“Combusken, just a little more! Ember again!”
“Quick Attack to finish it off!”
As the bird dashed forward as hot flames danced in the air, Crystal suddenly lost track of the battle, and so did many of her fellow on-lookers. For some reason or another, both Pokemon were now resting on the cold earth below them.
“Both combatants are unable to battle! Please recall your Pokemon and send out your new Pokemon!”
“Aw, man! Double knock-out!” Kara whined, recalling the fallen Combusken.
“Yes…they are so rare nowadays, aren’t they?” Iku followed suit, returning the small Pokeball to a decorative chain attached to her sash. She plucked off the final Pokeball, the one at the end of said links. Without much hesitation and with confidence, Kara removed one of the Great Balls of her waste.
“Alright, Pidgeotto, go forth.” The gym leader tossed the capsule lightly into the air above her, in which the gorgeous evolution to Pidgey was released. Seeing the creature made the newbie trainer long for her friend Breeze again, and sorrowful images flooded her mind, until a rank stench flooded her nose. Kara had called out Grimer.
“What’s up, my friend?” he slowly asked the floating Pidgeotto. “Ah, man, this is another, like, battle, isn’t it? What a life for a peace-lover like me…” Even if all were gagging around her and she was as well, the gifted one couldn’t help but beam with laughter. That Grimer was always hilarious, she decided.
“Round three! Grimer versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Pidgeotto, start things off with Gust. I can’t stand that stench,” the leader mumbled, holding a hand to her nose.
“Grimer, Sludge! Let’s prove Kiyo wrong that birds do get more easily poisoned than other Pokemon!” Ahh, so that’s why Kara was so intent on battling today, Crystal noted. However, she remained silent for the remainder of the match. The Pidgeotto did end up getting poisoned, just as Kara speculated, and there was nothing but a confident smile on her face as the true Tornado Badge was placed into her hand.
“Congratulations, Kara.”
“Haha, thanks, Ms. Aikaze!”
“I heard that you dreamed of being part of our gym one day…?”
“Eh?! Oh, yeah. Ha…”
“Would you like to join, once we’re done fighting Team Missile, and have reclaimed our city?”
“R-really?!” the brunette beamed, emerald eyes widening.
“Of course.”
“Even though I was once part of Team Missile?”
“You didn’t have a choice in the matter, and you stand firmly against them now,” Iku smiled. “I’d be happy to have you and your Pokemon- given you have at least one flying type, eh?”
“I do have one! His name is Zaika, and he’s the Pokemon I rescued from the Missiles. He’s a Scyther!”
“Haha, wonderful. Well, we’ll have to discuss this later, no?” Her eyes then fell on Crystal for a moment. “…I take it you wish to battle as well?”
“Ah, er…yeah,” the blonde nodded sheepishly.
“Well, take your place in our stadium. I just have to heal my Pokemon with haste. I apologize for any wait-”
“Oh, no, not at all!” she swiftly wafted her hand in the air. “Not much of a battle if your Pokemon are fainted, right?”
“No, indeed not.” Iku smiled politely, then slowly and gracefully walked off. The new trainer took to the box, listening vaguely to Kara’s chatter. Well, Kiyo wasn’t there to encourage her, or give her any useful tips before the match, such as ‘don’t screw the big one up!’ or ‘keep in mind that flying types are weak to cold temperatures’, even if she already knew as such. She fidgeted. Those five minutes were the longest of her life, and by the time the gym leader returned to her position and asked if she was ready, Crystal nearly whispered that she wasn’t.
“Crystal…I’m so sorry.”
The girl sat dumbfounded and feeling terrible upon her resting bed. In her hands were the three Pokemon that had gone down in the match against Aikaze. She had made it to the Pidgeotto, true, but that Aerial Ace move was simply too strong! It had overwhelmed her poor Flare and Dragola. Her eyes were glazed over. She was forcing tears back.
“Ah, don’t…worry about it. It’s not…like I had my Pokemon kidnapped or anything after the battle…” she tried to give a smile as she spoke, but her words were so choked up it was difficult to do so. She made a valid point there! They were still with her, resting safely in their Pokeballs. However, even against all the technical losses against Team Missile- Chris Johnson at the beginning of her journey, the Missile Grunts whom appeared at Dawndew Lake when she was searching for the Pecha Berry for Blaze, the Missile Admin Yoramatu…something was different against Aikaze. Something screamed within her ‘She’s a normal gym leader! You should have been experienced enough by now to take her down!’, and it nagged and ate away at the girl.
“Well, there’s always tomorrow, ne? We’ll just have to do some training and get your Pokemon up and beyond where they are now!” Kara tried to sound optimistic, but Hikara didn’t need this.
“Ah, yeah, maybe.” She drifted off into her own thoughts. Something then made her think. “…What do you think Kiyo is doing? I imagine she’d have a hard time finding us here.”
“Hmm?” the medic’s face faltered at the name of the fire trainer. “Hmm, yeah. I still…haven’t quite forgiven her for going as far as she did there. It was uncalled for.”
“Kara…”
“What, what? You miss having Ms. Naggybutt on you all the time?”
“Well, sort of kinda. It’s difficult to explain-”
“So you’re saying that we go find her, then? Forget it.”
“Kara…Fine, I’ll go and see if I can’t find her myself.” Crystal rolled her eyes, and stood up. Slowly, she reattached her Pokemon, and prepared to head out.
“Eh?! Where do you think you’re going?!”
“I’m going back to the clearing where we last saw her.”
“Are you, like, insane?!” Now Kara was listening. “There are Missiles out there! Going out there alone is like saying to them, ‘hey, I’m Crystal Hikara, and I talk to Pokemon! Kidnap me, will you?’!”
“Something tells me Kiyo would think to return there first. I do realize that Team Missile is out there looking for me and the like, but I should do it, all the same. Besides…I made a promise to her that I’d find something for her. I haven’t found it yet, and I’d feel bad if she hadn’t received her…payment for sticking to such a newbie trainer like myself and tutoring me.” The medic seemed silent for a moment.
“Fine, fine! I’m going with you, but I refuse to talk to Kiyo if she does show up, you hear?”
“I never said anything of the sort.”
“I’m sure you were thinking it, weren’t you?”
“Maybe a little bit,” Crystal sheepishly grinned.
“Oy, called that one,” Kara groaned, gathering her stuff.
“Have to give her back her bag you’re wearing now, anyways…”
“I know, no need to remind me…by the gods of this world, what does she put in this bag? Bricks?”
“You got me,” the preteen shrugged.
“Oh, so you’re leaving…?” Iku had seen the pair heading out, and had swiftly moved to the exit to catch up with them.
“Yeah. We have to find Kiyo and stuff. She might be waiting for us.”
“I see…well, just know that you’re welcome back here at any time.”
“I was actually figuring to drag her back here when we found her.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah…chances are…she’d totally get on my case if I let her know that I had lost, ha ha…she’s always like that, I guess.” Crystal somewhat ashamedly rubbed her neck.
“Well, in that case, have you any idea how to get back here…?”
“Er, well, actually, no.”
“Ha…always impulsive, young trainers, no?” With a warm smile, she began searching within her robes. She withdrew something that appeared like two small badges. “These are our…rebellion badges, if you will. They work in coordination with any sort of mapping device, even if broken, to lead you back here. They’ll also let our allies of other trapped cities know that you’re on their side, and they’ll take care of you, I’m sure. Consider yourselves members of our little clan…and take them.” She handed each to the trainers. Crystal paused for a moment, squinting at the little thing. It was a wing-shaped clip, but instead of looking entirely like the badge she handed out only to worthy trainers, gold lettering in an oval proclaimed their association name- MRA.
“MRA?” Kara questioned, finally uttering words.
“Ha, yes. It’s a bit of a corny title, but it stands for Missile Rebellion Army,” Iku bashfully nodded. “We’re just the flying division, of course. There are several others spread around. There’s a sea division, given we know they have a base on one of the islands- Crescentflood, Midnight, or Torrentpour. We have a nature division who travel around the region and the like, as well, but the numbers on them are slim to none as of currently.” At that, she appeared a tad bit dejected, obviously wishing this wasn’t the case. “Well, at any rate, I trust you’ll make it back here safely with those badges in tact.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks, Iku…” the pink-banged trainer nodded, attaching it to her Pokegear in the sense that it was a card expansion. It gave a feeble whir of attention before returning back to its terrible state.
“And Crystal…”
“Hmm?” she glanced up at her name being called.
“Don’t let this loss get to you too badly. Everyone loses occasionally, and you did put up a rather good fight at that. There is no shame in your loss.”
“Ah, yeah…thanks.” However, against her smile and her words was that heavy, oppressive feeling of losing weighing down upon her. To try and get her mind off the subject, she glanced over to Kara. “We should try and find Kiyo now.”
“I guess, I guess…” The medic’s face proved otherwise, that she was just trying to help Crystal as a part-time bodyguard instead of going to listen to the fire trainer and more of her rantings.
“Well, may a lucky wind guide you to her, at any rate,” Iku gave one of her feeble, wise grins, curtseying a little, before heading off to return to her duties as the gym leader.
“She isn’t coming,” Kara noted for the umpteenth time, or so it seemed to the stubborn blonde.
“No, she’ll be back here. I know it.”
“Jeez, you’re so stubborn! I would have never thought someone as meek and weak as yourself that you’d be like this,” she drawled sarcastically.
“Ha, well, I was stubborn enough to go against my mother’s wishes in becoming a trainer, no?”
“Touché, I suppose.” The brunette’s emerald eyes shifted to the ground, and she fixed her ruby red shirt as she did so. “Still, how long have we been out here for?”
“I couldn’t tell you. My Pokegear is on the fritz, even more so today. Probably has something to do with the badge being attached, I think.”
“Maybe so. Still, if she doesn’t come soon, I’m off. I won’t care about you and Team Missile any more, you hear?”
“That’s alright. I’ll wait.”
“You are so stupid in your ways.”
“Maybe so, but I made a promise. I’m not going back on that.” Kara breathed out deep at that, and shook her head. Silence fell upon them, and Crystal gazed around the little area lightly. Well, where had Kiyo gone off to in her rush? Take on Team Missile herself and rid the city upon her own accord? Gone not too far off to her home in Sunburst to relax and unwind a little? Or was she off doing something else? The youngest couldn’t choose which would be the most realistic answer, and merely just continued off in her thoughts.
Her thoughts were broken when there was a mighty crash of silver feathers, the ground, and a human body.
“Agh! Stupid little…that’s it, no more feather scratching for you for a while!” The trainer angrily called up to the metallic bird, whom still appeared happy. Kiyo had indeed returned, though it appeared as though she hadn’t noticed Kara nor Crystal. The girl merely beamed at that, and turned to the medic. She didn’t appear quite as happy as more sadistically chuckling to herself about the onyx-haired trainer’s grand appearance. Crystal noted that she still appeared in the Missile garb, though her wig and cap had long since been removed.
“Kiyo!” At ‘Mewster’ calling her name, she turned around.
“Eh? Oh, good. You didn’t leave here.” With that, her mismatching eyes caught sight of Kara, and narrowed. “Ah. Yeah. You didn’t either.”
“Where’d you go off to, Kiyo?”
“Ah, well, back to Zenith. I had to take care of some business. But, do tell me, Crystal, where’d you get this little nifty badge like thing? MRA?” she sneakily lifted up her Pokegear, taken clean off Crystal’s watchband once more.
“Kiyo! Can’t you just look for yourself and not take it?!”
“Naw, that’s not as fun as watching your cheesed off expression!” the youngest Dustren beamed. “Camman, now, what is it?”
“It’s from the gym leader, Iku, and a group of trainers. They are hiding out in these woods, and, well, they took us in by mistake as Missile members and the like…”
“Ah, I see…though they were partially on the dot…” The last part she muttered more to herself, but Crystal caught it with her sharp ears. “Well, anyways, the gym leader, hmm? Take it you went and got your badge, then?”
“Ah, er, well…”
“Crystal…?”
“I…actually, ah… …lost,” she muttered ashamedly, gazing off into the distant trees, where supposedly the Aerial MRA base was located.
“You…what?” Kiyo’s eyebrow rose, and her voice seemed to change. It was almost…disappointed?
“Yeah. I…couldn’t win against her. Her…her last Pokemon…it was…too strong.” Drat, I must look a mess right now…
“…you’re not…kidding…wow. Uh, shoot. Sorry to hear about that…” the fire trainer eyed her sympathetically, with honesty in her voice. Crystal’s eyes didn’t meet hers. They were too filled with humiliation to bother with her friend. There was the sound of rustling fabric, though, and she soon looked up. Kara had removed her bag from Kiyo’s, and tossed the monstrous backpack to its owner. She caught it with a simple ‘thanks’, though there was something in her eye…something that inferred a lack of trust for the traitor, still?
“Don’t look at me like that,” the brunette growled as she slung her bag over her shoulder, relieved of the ton of supplies. “I wouldn’t be interested in any of your stuff anyways.”
“I was waiting more for an apology.”
“Me?! Ha, you’re the one that went severely far there, Miss Pompous trainer! I’ll apologize when you have!”
“I have.” At that comment, Kara appeared confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Hahaha…just promise you won’t whine about your family any more and forget the moment you joined Team Missile and any events that occurred whilst you wore their evil garb. Then I’ll tell you what I mean.” Slowly, the medic rose an eyebrow.
“I…I’m not whining about my family. I’m just concerned about them.”
“Don’t be concerned with them any further.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Promise me you will never even consider Team Missile as an escape for money.” Something…gleamed in Kiyo’s eye. The young trainer couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad news she brought with her from the heavens.
“…I’ll never return to those scumbags. You know that.”
“…good. Ha, well, I don’t want you cheering or nutthin’, so I’ll just take your little badge thing and start off towards the camp and leave it up to Crystal to tell you.” Kara was steamed when the fire trainer lifted up the petit badge, clipping it to her digital map. She then beckoned the gifted one forth, and she slowly walked up.
“What are you babbling about?” Crystal muttered.
“Ha, well, so I found out that obviously Team Missile was angry about Kara escaping and stuff, right? They were gonna take it out on her family. I, of course, intervened.” Crystal blue eyes widened at that.
“What?!”
“Yep, you know what I’m talking about. I basically entered into their house, looking like your everyday Missile Grunt, but I had taken the time to grab ahold of a team filled with flying types. Haha, and guess what? I destroyed the Peons outside, and then to the sky we went. Needless to say, I think the Hikorume family will be doing well in Dawndew. Team Missile wouldn’t think to search there, chances are, because it’s such a tiny town, yeah?” Before Crystal could even be proud to have Kiyo as a friend, she was popped on the head. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not done talking to you. We’re having a serious talk about you and your Pokemon once you return to the forest.
“Now, I believe I’ll leave. Crystal, remember to tell her long after I’m gone. Don’t disappoint me.” With that, the teen wandered off quickly into the woods, Skarmory clattering along happily. Kara rushed into her face.
“What’d she say? What’d that-” she took a moment to swear, causing the younger of the two to wince a tad, “- say, talking about my family, hmm?”
“Ah, er…” She swiftly glanced back. True, the soft-hearted girl wasn’t in sight, but she had to stall for a little more time, she figured.
“Crystal…tell me…”
“Well, if you’ll just wait until I’m sure she’s gone…”
“Agh!” A sudden cry or two from the nearby bushes, as well as some sort of chilly wind, caught both of their attention for the moment. Rapidly their feet carried them, and there, totally stunned and knocked out was a pair of Missile Grunts and their poison types. The girl shivered lightly, but she was more taken aback at the scene.
“When’d they get here?” Kara nearly swore.
“I…dunno. Kiyo?” the youngest Hikara questioned, though there was no response. The hair on the back of her neck rose at the eerie silence.
“…If Kiyo’s long out of earshot, then how did they just get knocked out, and with what appears to be psychic and dark wounds?” the medic pondered, though her mood shifted rapidly as Crystal latched onto as a breath of a masculine voice sung out to her.
“You’re welcome~!”
“GAH!!! Kara, help! He’s right behind me! He’s teasing me again!”
“What do you mean? There’s no one there…who?”
“It’s that…Mr. Presence! The same one from last night! Get him away! GET HIM AWAY!” she hysterically sobbed.
“Crystal, you’re babbling mindlessly again. There’s nothing there. I don’t hear a single word…”
“That’s because fo-for whatever reason, I-I can hear him and no one else can!” she clutched tighter on the girl as she felt something hissing from behind.
“Ah…what a mess…” Kara pondered, rubbing her neck before shoving the gifted one off her. “Can you, you know, at least not cling when that happens?”
“I’m sorry…I’m a mess…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, what to do with these grunts…” she called out coolly, checking over the pair. Both were male, with a small bat on one’s face and a nearly twisted Seviper on the other.
Seconds later Kara had stolen the Missile Balls, and the Pokemon would be free as soon as they were to awaken from their brutal punishment.
“That takes care of that, I think…” the medic beamed, and returned her gaze to the recovering Crystal. “…Jeez, still haven’t gone back to normal?”
“Iiii don’t think I’ll be normal until we get outta these woods,” she responded with a sniffle.
“Oi…well then. Shall we head back the gym area, then?”
“Y-yeah,” she weakly nodded.
“And you still have to tell me about what Kiyo told you to tell me.”
“I know.”
“Well?”
“Let’s just say that your family is safe.”
Yay!
Kiyo finally back!
Kiyo finally back!
Yep yep yep. Nows for the end of the second part of the story with chapter 20. I'm so proud of some of the strategies here. ^^
Chapter 20- Aerial Assault
Now, I wonder if this will work, Crystal muttered in her mind as sand danced around the practice area. However, her attention swiftly moved off of Flare to Kiyo as she approached. Her messy black hair was ruffled up and she was viciously trying to fix it as she drew nearer.
“How’s the training going? Looks like you’re digging for treasure that doesn’t exist or something of the like,” she noted to the Torchic.
“Ah, no. Trying out a strategy I noticed when I was watching Kara.”
“Don’t. Mention. That. Name,” the fire trainer growled, still forcing her hair to be in its even split on the scalp.
“Huh? Why?”
“She just gave me the sob story and the noogie of a life time,” she groaned in return, finally giving up on her hair.
“Ah, haha, I noticed.”
“Yeah. Ridiculous. Her knuckles really dig to the bone, I swear…” Dustren then paused to gaze to the girl. “…So how’re you doing?”
“Hmm? I’m alright.”
“Yep, terrible liar.” At that comment, Crystal remembered the male Admin of Team Missile, Yoramatu, and thusly she winced. “What’s on your mind?”
“Ah, just…I dunno if I can beat her or not. I couldn’t even touch her…” Mewster’s voice trailed off. Saying Pidgeotto was scarring in more ways than one.
“You couldn’t touch her…?” Kiyo rolled her hand as though saying ‘go on?’.
“Ah, her last Pokemon, that’s all. It just used a move called Aerial Ace…?”
“Aerial Ace…?” Mismatched eyes quickly diverted themselves to the Torchic, whom was now spewing little flames all over the sand that had been kicked up. Kiyo rose an eyebrow. “Aerial Ace is a move that cannot be evaded, given its speed. Moves like Sand-Attack and Ember will not hinder it, I hope you realize…”
“It’s a different strategy for her Starly and her Swablu. Don’t you notice the sand and the like right there?” As Crystal pointed, Kiyo watched, then finally nodded.
“I think I get it now. Man, you must have really paid close attention to the match with Kara to notice something so small as that, but I hope you realize that that won’t be enough dirt and sand to really make your strategy pull forward. You’re gonna need a lot more to be loose, and chances are Iku is gonna catch on before you can even muster up all the heat that Flare has to make your little plan work.”
“I know. That’s where Serge. Pup will come in.”
“You’re insane.”
“It’ll help to get the dirt in the air and act as a smokescreen at the same time! Two birds, figuratively speaking…”
“Your Pokemon won’t be able to just use these strategies and hand victory over, I hope you know.”
“I know. I’m training after I’ve perfected this.”
“Alright, but I want you two to do some laps around the place afterwards. I think it’ll help out with Flare’s ability to use Flamethrower. You know, widen her air sacks. I’ll let Blaze help you know what I mean.”
“Uh, how about not, Kiyo?”
“Ah haha…too bad losing is no longer an option for you whilst you’re in my presence, Mewster,” the fire trainer gave a smirk, her trademark smile.
“…Slavedriver…” Crystal whined, before Flare made an amazing spectacle before their eyes. She swiftly tottered over, panting from the Flamethrower and the crazy training she was placed through.
“Alright kid, you can get a…break?” Blaze’s voice went from authoritative to frustration as young trainer and her Pokemon collapsed quickly on the ground, hyperventilating. Several burn marks scarred their behinds, as he was quick to pursue them around and egg them on. “Oh, come on. You two surely aren’t parta my fam’ly if you’re panting from that little run.”
“Little!” Crystal gasped out. “My lungs are collapsing!”
“You did push us a little far…” Flare condemningly added to her father.
“Toughen up, you hear? Team Missile would have a field day if you ran like that and was trying to escape them!” the Charmeleon roared.
“You’re as terrible a slavedriver as Kiyo!”
“Ha, I’m going easy on you kid! Be glad she sent me and not Arcanum to chase your butts, else you’d be all ashes now!”
“Stop with the kid business! It’s Crystal! Cry-stal!”
“I could easily overpower you. Hate to break it to you, but that’s all you are right now. A kid. Both of ya. You’re gonna need to seriously be able to do massive training before you could take this stuff down.”
“Oh, that’s it. I swear, the next time we’re near water, I’m gonna take your Pokeball and chuck it in the water!”
“See, that’s unfair fighting. Threatening something that would kill me! Ha! Who the hell you think you are, kid? Part of Team Missile, because you sound like ‘em right now!” At that, Crystal winced. She couldn’t make a comeback for that. “Now, stop with your whining. That was a long enough break. We’re gonna do five extra laps for that comment!”
“I think I’m gonna go train against some of the flying trainers around here instead, less you want me to faint,” Flare noted.
“Ditto,” her trainer concurred.
“Nope, I had strict orders to run you guys around till you did faint. Now…” he grinned evilly, returning to all four paws and prying open his jaw. Flames danced at the back of his throat, and with that, Crystal and the Torchic were up on their feet. “Let’s dance!”
“Uhn?”
“’Bout time you woke up,” Kara softly muttered, treating the many burns on the gifted one’s skin. At the same time, she shot glares over to Kiyo, who was merely performing some sort of secret handshake with the Charmeleon, whom appeared triumphant. “Can’t believe she pushed you that far…”
“Okay…what happened…? Where’s Flare…?” Crystal groaned.
“Flare’s resting on top of your bed. Don’t worry, she was already healed. She’s just tired. She deserves as much rest as you do.”
“Yeah…last thing I remember I tried to order her to use Sand Attack and Flamethrower to get him off our tail, but something hit my head…?”
“A punch from good ol’ Blaze here,” Kiyo chuckled coldly.
“Why, Blaze?” the blonde switched to the Pokemon language quickly.
“You attack, I attack. Eye for an eye, as they say. I was given orders to attack back if you attacked,” he shrugged. All Crystal could force out was a groan. My lungs are killing me.
“Well, as soon as she’s better, lemme know. I have the Serge to deal with next.” The sly teen rose up one of Crystal’s Pokeballs, got to her feet with the Charmeleon, and left.
“Wait, what?! No! Sergeant-hackcough…Pup! Don’t…ack! Don’t push him too hard!” the newbie trainer weakly called out as she tried to sit up.
“Don’t overexert yourself,” Kara pushed her back down on the bed. “You need your rest.”
“But, Serge…”
“He’ll be fine. He does have a military complex, right? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind it that much.”
“I…guess.”
However, the Poochyena came back in as terrible a condition as Flare, if not worse. Fire had scorched some of his hair, and burns and bruises still covered his body.
“What’d you do?!”
“Huh? Oh, I just had Char force a couplea laps, that’s all.”
“Looks like more than that!”
“Well, evidently Serge got sick of the constant burns and tried to attack. Like trainer, like Pokemon, as they say.”
“You’re terrible, horrible, and a slavedriver from the underworld!” Crystal coughed out.
“And you’ll thank me later for it all when you go to face the High Council, no? Ha, if that’s what you wanna do. I dunno…based on your lack of confidence thus far, I don’t even know if you’ll even make it past Iku…” Kiyo stretched. “Well, soon both should wake up. I’d rest all you can before you do go to train against the other bird users around here, yeah?”
“Slavedriver,” the youngest of the group pursued.
“Have to have been slavedriven to be a slavedriver, you know!” She threw a hand up into the air casually in a wave. “Maybe I’ll tell you later about it. If you win your badge, maybe. I’m washing up.”
“Oy…”
“Don’t mind her. You’re right. …even Team Missile didn’t push trainers this far, I’m sure,” Kara noted with some sort of distaste in her voice.
“Yeah…I can’t think of Kiyo having a slavedriver though. I can’t imagine her as a beginning trainer. She’s just so…”
“Tough?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Maybe. I bet she still has her struggles against certain opponents though. I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s always someone stronger than you out there. I bet even the Champion of Beghta has had his or her fair share of losses, though better to lose early rather than later, no?”
“I guess…”
“You can’t grow without training and losing. Just remember that.”
“Like I need a lecture from you too…”
“Hahaha, think of it as more advice.” The brunette gazed off to where Kiyo had left off to after she finished her words. “…I’d go train now, unless you want Flora or one of your other Pokemon to fall prey to being the mouse in cat and mouse.”
“Mmm, prolly a good idea,” the blonde nodded, struggling to her feet.
“Alright. Lemme know when you come back, and don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Kay.”
Crystal had lost several matches that day, though her Pokemon had indeed grown. Even the little Oddish, whom was weak to the flying types, was beatboxing around after growing a level or so. Serge Pup and Flare had comfortably crashed on Crystal’s bed, sleeping soundly after a long day of work. Dragola nudged up against her trainer, trying to get cozy after receiving many wounds of her own. However, unlike her little critters beside her, the gifted one had sleep elude her once more that night.
“Can’t sleep?” A sudden voice made the girl jump and twitch, though she calmed down as she noticed the Umbreon leap up onto her bedside.
“Oh, Umbree…don’t scare me like that,” she breathed out, weakly clutching her chest and throat. He gave a soft chuckle.
“Ha, I’m sorry to have disturbed you so suddenly, then.”
“Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Alright.” The dark type fell silent for a moment, gazing over the team. “They’ve become more powerful,” he noted.
“Yeah, I think so. They’ve grown a few levels, no thanks to Kiyo’s training.”
“You really shouldn’t rely on her to become stronger.” At that comment, she swiftly turned her head. He appeared unusually serious, and his voice deepened a tad.
“Huh? Wha…?”
“Whether you know it or not, you would still be stuck trying to win your first badge if it wasn’t for Kiyo. Chances are you wouldn’t be able to go forward and get your second badge possibly without her being here either.”
“Umbree…?”
“Ha…Maybe I sound a bit like her, yeah? Like Kiyo. Regardless, Crystal, I think it’s for the better that you go and start training whenever Kiyo isn’t around. Trust me when I say there may be a time you two part.” At the thought, the girl gulped. Travelling without Kiyo there to protect her from Team Missile? “It may seem…inconceivable right now, but trust me. I see the potential in you. Ha…student may even overcome mentor, in the long run.”
“Why are you saying all of this?” At that, he gave a softer laugh.
“Maybe I just…see a bit of Kiyo in you, when she was younger. Young confidence…I know it myself, when I was still…an Eevee. I’ve seen how Kiyo’s managed to grow, and how I’ve grown, and I don’t want you to become a disappointment to your family, I guess.”
“Umbree…you’re really weird…”
“I’ve been told that.”
“Oy. And honest.”
“Haha, I suppose so. They always said I was one of the more sincere Eevees of the family. Espy was true, yes, but she was always a little too soft, and that could get Kouta into trouble from time to time. Flareon…? Hahaha. Stubborn and sarcastic, too much like Kiyo. She houses as many dark secrets as Kiyo does. Jolteon was just generally angry at the world, though she does have her soft spots. Odd, considering what kind of goof Kaien was.”
“Wasn’t there two more siblings of the family, though?” At this, the moonlight Pokemon spoke not a word, rings flashing like a constant heartbeat.
“I once belonged to…one of the siblings.”
“Huh? Once?”
“I was adopted by Kiyo after certain…circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
“I’m not getting into them.”
“Like you won’t tell me anything of the stuff that Kiyo and Kinshayti have against each other?”
“Yes. As I’ve said, it’s for Kiyo to reveal when she is ready. It’s not an easy topic for her.” Crimson eyes traveled over to where the onyx haired girl slept fitfully. “It’s not an easy topic for any of us.”
“…alright.”
“Anything else on your mind?”
“Not…really-wait.” Umbree gazed up at Crystal for a moment, confused.
“Hmm?”
“There was this…” she gulped, trying to swallow her fear, before proceeding, “there was this…presence that has been stalking me and…haunting me…” At this, his eyes narrowed.
“Oh?”
“Yeah…he said he was sent to baby-sit me and Kara whilst Kiyo wasn’t around. Do you…know if Kiyo sent anything like that purposely on us?”
There was a long pause, before a simple reply.
“No.”
“Do you know anything about this…presence?”
“Only a little.”
“Well?”
“Ha…just that he’s a ghost Pokemon, and he means no harm to you or anything.”
“Are you sure?” At the word ghost, Mewster had paled to china doll white. “He haunted my dreams and scared me a lot when you were gone.”
“He won’t do it again,” Umbree firmly growled. “He had better not…”
“How can you be so sure? I mean, Sergeant Pup couldn’t even detect him or anything…”
“Trust me. I can.”
“…alright. …Umbree?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you, uhh…sleep on my bed again tonight? I feel comforted a bit when you sleep nearby.”
“Sure,” he nodded without question, settling himself down on a patch of the bed that was exposed to moonlight contently.
“Thanks,” Crystal whispered, as she slowly positioned herself on her bed and closed her eyes. Sleep still eluded her, even after Umbree settled down on her bed and time passed by. She felt as though the presence was around, stalking her once more, though no foul words made their way into her ears. Her body uncontrollably shivered.
“Something the matter?” Umbree muttered.
“Ah…it’s nothing.”
“You feel him, don’t you…?”
She nodded.
The Umbreon breathed out heavily.
“You can’t sleep?”
“It’s…the gh-…Mr. Presence coupled with the anxiety of tomorrow’s match.”
“I…see.” His eyes swiftly traveled above Crystal’s headrest and narrowed, before the Eeveelution let out another sigh. “Alright. You can do it…but no Dream Eater.”
“Huh? Before Crystal could question his words, though, those creepy eyes flashed before her, and the unconscious world swiftly took her in.
“Alright, you’re all set for your early rematch,” the referee noted to the blonde.
“Thanks. Oh, and, uh, one little request?”
“What is that?”
“Can, uh…can you make sure that Kiyo Dustren doesn’t come to spectate this match and is out of my earshot?”
“Sure, but why?”
“Ah, just…a personal resolve I made early this morning, that’s all,” Crystal rose up her shoulders.
“Alright, I’ll notify two guards to make it so she cannot see the battle and that her comments will not be heard by your ears.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Crystal blue eyes followed the man as he left to speak with a pair of guards nearby. Her aquamarines rashly turned to the arena, where Iku was taking her place. A firm hand gripped onto her first Pokeball. I have to prove this to myself. I have to prove to myself that I can’t be depending on Kiyo’s support for the rest of my training career. This time…I’ll win on my own, without her there to cheer me on. Those words lingered in the gifted one’s mind as she firmly placed her feet in the battle square marked for trainers.
“Are you prepared for a rematch, Crystal?” At Iku’s comment, she swiftly nodded. “Alright. Same rules as before- single battle with three Pokemon, no time limit, switching allowed.” Her delicate fingers reached down to her sash’s buckle, and she plucked off her first orb. “Shall we?”
“Yes,” the girl simply said, and held out her spherical container. “Sergeant Pup, let’s start things up. Frontline, atten-hut!” With the order, the dark dog quickly stood in a stiff position, his gaze never wandering off of Aikaze.
“Sergeant Pup, awaiting orders,” he barked back.
“Alright then…let’s start things off again, Swablu.” With grace, she threw the red and white orb skyward, releasing the blue bird with cloud like wings. It floated into battle, chirping happily, and noticed Crystal. The Cottonswab Pokemon flapped her fluffy wings and floated past Sergeant Pup, continuing to sing, pleased, before the blue bird landed on Crystal’s head. Iku shook her head as Sergeant Pup abruptly turned and growled at the menace. The trainer slowly gazed up at the Pokemon, who voiced out a simple “Hi!” Mewster picked Swablu off her head and lightly tossed her back to the fighting field. The growing crowd roared with laughter.
“Always did have a friendly nature,” Aikaze shook her head.
“Ha, I don’t mind. She is cute.”
“Even if you know how much trouble it caused you last time?”
“Yeah.”
“Very well.”
“Round one! Sergeant Pup versus Swablu! Begin!”
“Alright, sweep in for a series of Fury Attacks,” the gym leader ordered.
“Serge, hold your ground, then about face and throw up your smokescreen.” Crystal ordered.
“10-4, Hikara,” he grinned as he firmly planted his paws and claws into the ground. “I do like this new dialect you’ve taken with me, ma’am.”
“Part of the plan,” she nodded and whispered, and turned to watch the battle. Swablu appeared a little hurt that she had to battle the same trainer again, but soon swooped into action, beak first. As soon as she was close enough, though, the ‘Pup swiftly spun around, kicking sand up as he did so. More poured into the air as he dug furiously. Several chirps and the sound of talons scrapping the ground indicated Crystal’s success.
“Now, prepare your attacks before a full frontal assault! Keep at them unless it tries to escape, then fall back and prepare for another assault.”
“Swablu, try and Quick Attack out of the cloud of dust and then follow up with a Sing,” Iku sweated lightly, unaware of what exactly her opponent was planning. A cry to the forest caused Rattata and Oddish to scatter from the nearby trees, before a pained chirp was heard. The Swablu quickly appeared above the scene, flapping one wing a little roughly. Sergeant Pup simply waited in the dissolving sand cloud, starting up another howl as that playful, calm song greeted all ears around. The sound of staggering footsteps unnerved the blonde.
“Now, Quick Attack and Fury Attack combo,” the gym leader calmly issued the command, though Crystal could hear a faint whisper of worry in her voice.
“It’s coming in at four o’ clock!” the gifted one almost hurriedly whispered in the Pokemon language. “Snap to your feet! This is no time for a nap!”
“Hmmm…wha…?” the drowsy response came from the pup, as he gazed absentmindedly to his trainer. His eyes suddenly snapped open after a few seconds.
“Oh! Right! War!” Sergeant Pup growled, and immediately turned to his left, greeting the startled Swablu with a snarl. Their two bodies collided with Tackle and Quick Attack; the poor flying type didn’t have the chance to even use Fury Attack as fangs dug comfortably into her fluffy wings. Serge. Pup, with his grasp on the creature, threw it off to the side unceremoniously, declaring his dominance and the round one victory. Swablu gave an unhappy chirp before her eyes closed, no longer able to battle.
“Hm…you took it down easier that time. You’ve been training, haven’t you…?” Iku swiftly recalled her fainted Pokemon, removing another Pokeball from her penant chain.
“Ah, a little.”
“Was that upon your own accord or was that Dustren’s help?”
“Partially both, I suppose. Hahaha…” Crystal chuckled nervously, thinking of how she still was sore from Blaze’s embers dancing over her behind.
“Yeah, Crystal! Way to take ‘em out!” Kara beamed, finally reaching the front of the crowd.
“Kara!”
“Yeah, it’s me. Why’d you go and have to take a match so early? Oh, and Kiyo’s flying off the handle, you know. She’s mad the guards aren’t letting her through.”
“Ah ha ha, I figured.”
“Very well…” the gym leader muttered, “Alright, Starly. Take care of this quickly.” Once again, the Pokeball flew gracefully in the air, as well as the black and white starling Pokemon that was released from it. The little bird soared in, flying near to where Sergeant Pup was stiffly standing, awaiting his next command. “Do you wish to switch your Pokemon?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Alright then.”
“Round two! Sergeant Pup versus Starly! Begin!”
“Full frontal assault!” Crystal boomed.
“Gust, then try to finish it with Quick Attack! If it tries a Sand-Attack again, Double Team!” Iku retorted in her small voice. Each Pokemon performed as they were told beautifully; Starly was swift to flap his little wings and throw the small dog nearly clear off the playing field. Sergeant Pup was quick to his feet, and the Poochyena leapt and landed his body on the bird. Jaws and neck feathers intertwined deadly close to one another, but a fast jab to the dark Pokemon’s side rendered his Bite attack useless. He roughly collapsed on the ground, though he struggled with his tiny paws in futility to get to his feet.
“Serge?” the owner called out hopefully.
“Ah…sorry, Hikara…Pokemon…down.” With that, he truly fell, saying nothing more. He was resting comfortably within his ‘medical tent’ soon thereafter. Crystal was hindered by Sergeant Pup’s fall only a second before she held out her next orb.
“Flare, let’s try our strategy.” The fire Pokemon popped out, standing close to her trainer’s side. She gave an acknowledging chirp before dashing out to the field. Iku rose her eyebrow after taking a closer look at the Torchic, given she was more concentrated on the first battle.
“Such a small Torchic…”
“Yeah, she’s newborn.” At that, the gym leader frowned.
“I hope you do realize that you’re putting a lot of stress on a newborn.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“Round three! Flare versus Starly! Begin!”
“Flare, Sand Attack.”
“You know what to do, Starly. Double Team.”
At the command, Flare swiftly planted one of her talons in the soft earth before using the other to scrape around. Dust easily filled the air quickly, though she dug more and more until there was nearly a sandstorm of the earth. The Starly seemed to give a gritted chirp, before many copies of white and black formed in the air.
“Hold your ground, Flare. Keep up with the Sand Attack…”
“Starly, move in for some Quick Attacks. When it’s down, use Gust to remove the area of the sand.” There were several simultaneous cries from each of the doppelgangers as they dove blindly in, hoping to strike at the fire type.
“Now!” Crystal suddenly cried, and flames erupted, pointed down at the earth. Flare zoomed up into the air, furiously flapping her tiny golden wings. The Starly barely missed, and now the group of them appeared confused.
“Above!” Iku sweat at the scene, but it was too late.
“Flamethrower on all the sand, Flare!” Fire quickly emitted from her tiny beak in an amazing spectacle of carnage and glittering glass. The dense sand soon changed under the high heat and melted above the true Starly, forming what appeared to be a hot glass cage over it. The other fakes flew this way and that, scattering so as not to be hit by the flames. Aikaze gave a gasp. The audience was cheering like mad. Crystal couldn’t help a small triumphant smirk.
“Using Sand-Attack was more than to keep my Pokemon at bay…it was to get all the dirt in the air so you could capture one of my Pokemon…”
“Yeah. I learned that from watching Kara’s fight,” the girl nodded. “Now, Flare, take out all of the other doppelgangers quickly with Peck and Scratch for when the rest of the sand has fallen!”
“Starly, try to get out of the cage!” Cries of protest about being within a cage and not being able to fully extend his wings came from the starling, and he pecked furiously at the glass with little success. Flare, in the meanwhile, dashed about mercilessly and stoically, driving beak and talons effortlessly through the mirages until they had cleared.
“Now, Ember! If it gets out of the cage, keep it close and use Flamethrower if you can spare the energy!”
“Starly, try your best to shield yourself from the flames while trying to get out of there!” Starly’s pecking rate had already increased when it heard ‘Ember’, and thus he was nearly throwing his whole body into each strike of his beak. The glass was shattering slowly, true, but Flare had at least an open attack or two left before the strategy was to be demolished. She hopped to a stop in front of the molten cage, opened up her beak, and little sparks of flames danced out. They made their mark on the Starly through the bars of the cage, and he finally jolted out with a smash from his head. The Torchic was too prepared for him. More flames burst forth, consuming it. The bird was rendered useless upon the earthy floor not too much later.
“Well, that was definitely a smart play there, Crystal. Definitely smart. I don’t know too many trainers that paid as close attention in their chemistry classes to remember that glass is heated sand, or to the little details in battle. Such strategies are very becoming of a trainer, yes…” Iku spoke softly after her second Pokemon returned to his Pokeball, before unlatching the last one. Crystal gave a small gulp at that. “However, such a strategy will not work on opponents that are swift to strike. Best of luck with this last one…with my Pidgeotto.” Wind kicked up around the area as the feathered fiend rose from the last, most worn Pokeball of the gym leader’s team. It cried out most gorgeously in the voice to rival an opera singer, before hovering before the now panting Flare.
“Do you wish to switch out?”
“No,” Crystal gulped.
“Round four! Flare versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Flare, be careful of that Aerial Ace attack! Use Flamethrower as a last ditch attack if it tries to use it!”
“Go on fleeting wings and use Aerial Ace.” The Torchic eyed the flying type wearily as she flew in with incredible agility, ready to strike. That golden beak opened wide once more, and the wash of flames erupted again, but only a few feathers of the opponent were singed before the air slash of sorts made the fire type stoop to the ground and not return to her tired talons. The Pidgeotto fluttered back after the attack, favoring one of her wings over the other where burn marks were evident.
“…well, good job Flare,” the pink-banged trainer whispered quietly as she recalled her. Well, there’s just one Pokemon left I can choose. It can’t be Flora, that’s for sure. Guess it’ll have to be…
“CRYSSSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!” A shout startled her out of her almost dream-like state as her aquamarine eyes quickly darted around for the one who called her. Even as she saw the creature headed towards her, she didn’t stand a chance; Crystal was soon toppled over by a hysterically sobbing…
“Mareep?!” the trainer exclaimed in utter confusion.
“Ooooooh, Crystalcrystalcrystalcrystalcrystalcrysssssssstaaaaaaaal!” the electric type bleated away mindlessly, burying her head happily into her arms. “I was…they were…I…baaaaaaahahahaaha!” Mewster wasn’t the only one to appear astonished by these turn of events; Iku appeared quite surprised herself.
“I…what? Calm down! Deep breaths! One thing at a time?”
“Well, I went back to where my family was waiting, but they weren’t there, so then I traveled around for a bit, but then I found them, but they didn’t care that I came back, and just wanted me to be like everyone else, and you know I don’t like that, so I said ‘sayonara folks!’ and I bolted back here, hoping you hadn’t been touched by that EVIL Team Missile and stuff, and here you are, and I’m so glad to see you, and would you mind if I went with you as your Pokemon because no one’s ever been so kind and caring to me as you’ve been?!” she spoke so rapidly the poor gifted one had a difficult time keeping up with her run-on story.
“Er, Mareep…”
“I understand if you wouldn’t want a mood-shifting creature such as myself! My family hated it, trainers that tried to catch me hated it, and I wouldn’t put it past you if you didn’t think anything more of me than anyone else has before! I just thought that maybe you could help me out with my problem and that maybe you, your human friend, your Pokemon and your little rappin’ Oddish could sorta be the family I never really had that I fit into!” Crystal sighed.
“It’s not that…”
“What is it? Is it my wool? Is all this sudden and you need to think about it, because, I mean, I can understand if you need to think about it…”
“I was in the middle of a battle, actually.”
The Mareep paused.
She stared at the slightly ennuyé Pidgeotto and her shocked trainer.
She gazed up to Crystal with large chestnut eyes, something of a fire burning within them.
Suddenly, the wool Pokemon leapt out from her arms and onto the battle field. “I know! I’ll prove to you how I can be useful, and then you can decide if you want to keep me or not! Is that ok? Huh, Crystal?”
All Crystal could do was look up to Iku bashfully. “Uh, Iku?”
“Yes?”
“Ah, would you, ah, mind if I used the Mareep for this final round? She said she wanted to become my Pokemon after all.”
“Ha…Of course. You know the old saying, don’t you…?”
“I’m afraid I don’t.”
“If you truly love something, let it go; if it comes back to you…”
“It…was always yours to begin with,” Crystal finished, her heart pounding in her throat now.
“So of course you can use it as your last Pokemon, if it was always yours,” Iku beamed warmly.
“Thank you…” the young trainer choked, and her gaze fell back upon the eager Mareep. “…alright, you can battle.”
“Sweet! I won’t let you down, Crystal, but that little birdy? Oh, she’s definitely going down!” the electric type cackled, letting off sparks as she did so.
“Round five-final round! Mareep versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Pidgeotto, don’t back down. Use Quick Attacks to try and take it down as fast as you can.”
She’s not using Aerial Ace…? “Mareep? What was your moveset?” the preteen called out.
“Thundershock, Thunderwave, Growl and Tackle! Come on, just order me around quick before Birdy here does anything!”
“Ah, alright…Tackle it when it comes close enough, I guess!” she hesitantly commanded. Crystal knew nothing about Pokemon that could use lightning at whim. The Pidgeotto swiftly dived in as the Mareep tried to babble something out to Crystal, and bodies collided. An arc of electricity soon jumped from the golden wool of the sheep, and the bird cried out in pain and made sure that there was plenty of distance between the two of them.
“Huh?” Crystal pondered, watching as the sparks danced off the majestic flying type, then ended. Iku did not seem pleased and calm any more.
“Quick Attack. It should fall soon.”
“Crystal, come on! Surely you know about flying types?!” the electric type bleated angrily.
“Ah, no?”
“How can you not know that electric attacks are one of their best known weaknesses?! You grow up in Dullsville, Hickcity or something like that?!”
“Electricity is strong against…” the girl’s eyes shot quickly to the ever nearing Pidgeotto. “…Mareep, Thundershock…?”
“Boom, baby! Now we’re in business!” the sheep beamed, though her face turned dark as electricity shot not only to the ground, but in a powerful bolt to the flying type. Pidgeotto cried out, but not before she got in another hit. The Mareep nearly tumbled over, unconscious, but she clung stubbornly to her little health left.
“Finish it! Quick Attack!”
“Mareep, get up! Try another Thundershock before it can hit you!” Crystal’s heart was pounding heavily now. It was a matter of do or die at this point. It was all on who attacked first, and she knew Quick Attack was very difficult to beat in that department.
The two combatants prepared for their last attacks.
Yet the Pidgeotto froze mid-air, shocks flying from her body, inches away from earning another victory against the trainer.
“No!” Iku nearly screeched helplessly like a bird being caught by a predator. Lightning filled the arena once more. Pidgeotto landed with a thump on the ground, occasionally twitching.
“…Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Match goes to challenger Crystal Hikara!” the referee was drowned out at ‘Pidgeotto is unable’ by many hoots and hollers from the crowd. Aikaze paused for only a moment before forcing a small, calm smile. She cautiously walked over to her fallen Pokemon, taking her into her arms and comforting the bird for a moment before it disappeared into her Pokeball. Meanwhile, the Mareep grinned triumphantly over the scene and the mess of the field she had created, before gazing back at Crystal.
“Hah! How’s that for a match?!”
“Oh, Mareep!” the gifted one beamed, and clung suddenly to the wooly Pokemon, who seemed so surprised at this gesture.
“Huh what?!”
“I would be so honored if you wanted to come and join the team! Really, I would! I nearly couldn’t take it when I released you, I swear!”
“Okay, okay! Yay! I’ll go!”
“Way to take down the leader, Crystal!” Kara cheered on, running to her side. “Man, if I had an electric Pokemon for the fight…”
“CRYSTAL!” A roar jolted the girl away from her new Pokemon. Kiyo had finally pushed aside the guards, hearing that the battle was over, and she appeared very angered at her student.
“Kiyo! I, er…”
“No! None of that! Why the-” her tongue turned mildly vulgar for a second, “-did you make it so I couldn’t watch, eh?! I demand an answer!”
“Well, it’s, ah…” More interruptions cut her off, though, as one of the Pokeballs clasped onto her belt shook. Startled, she clumsily brought out the wobbling orb, which forcefully jumped open, revealing the still wounded, yet conscious, Sergeant Pup.
“Serge?! What are you…”
“I…don’t know. It’s just a weird feeling, Hikara…” he winced, staggering about. “I don’t know what’s happening…”
“Are you okay?!” Crystal wasted no time in trying to pick up the dog, though a brilliant flash coupled with an unnatural wind caught her off guard, and she was forced back. However, the flash didn’t die down after it was emitted from the dog’s body. The glow continued. “Kiyo! What’s…happening to him?!”
“He’s…evolving,” she softly murmured, shielding her unevenly colored eyes as she too spectated along side Kara and Crystal. Soon the Poochyena was lifted gently up in the air by the wind, and the changes began to occur. His legs grew out to appear graceful and tall, his paws enlargening to support his new body. The length of his body stretched out, his shaggy fur becoming sleek. Even his tail seemed to mature into something majestic. The light died down after the change had been completed, and the wind set the new creature down on his paws. Smooth black fur now dominated most of his body, though the gray of his youth was still apparent in areas.
“Sergeant…Pup?” However, he gave no response. He simply returned to the unconscious world, exhausted from his efforts, and staggered down to his side. A beeping from Crystal’s awry Pokegear caught her attention, though she occasionally returned to gaze at this new creature.
Congratulations! Your Serge. Pup evolved into Mightyena! Rename Serge. Pup? Mightyena…? So that’s the evolution of Poochyena…? Well, a deal is a deal, and he is bigger now, so…
“Lieutenant Yena…” Crystal pursued, and there was an affirmative click from the contraption on her wrist.
“…see that? Irony strikes again. See? This is why I think Kaien believed in karma. You were a jerkwad to me, and thus your Poochyena evolves after the battle with Iku, not before it! HA! OWNED!” Kiyo smirked and jeered.
“Wonderful…”
Chapter 20- Aerial Assault
Now, I wonder if this will work, Crystal muttered in her mind as sand danced around the practice area. However, her attention swiftly moved off of Flare to Kiyo as she approached. Her messy black hair was ruffled up and she was viciously trying to fix it as she drew nearer.
“How’s the training going? Looks like you’re digging for treasure that doesn’t exist or something of the like,” she noted to the Torchic.
“Ah, no. Trying out a strategy I noticed when I was watching Kara.”
“Don’t. Mention. That. Name,” the fire trainer growled, still forcing her hair to be in its even split on the scalp.
“Huh? Why?”
“She just gave me the sob story and the noogie of a life time,” she groaned in return, finally giving up on her hair.
“Ah, haha, I noticed.”
“Yeah. Ridiculous. Her knuckles really dig to the bone, I swear…” Dustren then paused to gaze to the girl. “…So how’re you doing?”
“Hmm? I’m alright.”
“Yep, terrible liar.” At that comment, Crystal remembered the male Admin of Team Missile, Yoramatu, and thusly she winced. “What’s on your mind?”
“Ah, just…I dunno if I can beat her or not. I couldn’t even touch her…” Mewster’s voice trailed off. Saying Pidgeotto was scarring in more ways than one.
“You couldn’t touch her…?” Kiyo rolled her hand as though saying ‘go on?’.
“Ah, her last Pokemon, that’s all. It just used a move called Aerial Ace…?”
“Aerial Ace…?” Mismatched eyes quickly diverted themselves to the Torchic, whom was now spewing little flames all over the sand that had been kicked up. Kiyo rose an eyebrow. “Aerial Ace is a move that cannot be evaded, given its speed. Moves like Sand-Attack and Ember will not hinder it, I hope you realize…”
“It’s a different strategy for her Starly and her Swablu. Don’t you notice the sand and the like right there?” As Crystal pointed, Kiyo watched, then finally nodded.
“I think I get it now. Man, you must have really paid close attention to the match with Kara to notice something so small as that, but I hope you realize that that won’t be enough dirt and sand to really make your strategy pull forward. You’re gonna need a lot more to be loose, and chances are Iku is gonna catch on before you can even muster up all the heat that Flare has to make your little plan work.”
“I know. That’s where Serge. Pup will come in.”
“You’re insane.”
“It’ll help to get the dirt in the air and act as a smokescreen at the same time! Two birds, figuratively speaking…”
“Your Pokemon won’t be able to just use these strategies and hand victory over, I hope you know.”
“I know. I’m training after I’ve perfected this.”
“Alright, but I want you two to do some laps around the place afterwards. I think it’ll help out with Flare’s ability to use Flamethrower. You know, widen her air sacks. I’ll let Blaze help you know what I mean.”
“Uh, how about not, Kiyo?”
“Ah haha…too bad losing is no longer an option for you whilst you’re in my presence, Mewster,” the fire trainer gave a smirk, her trademark smile.
“…Slavedriver…” Crystal whined, before Flare made an amazing spectacle before their eyes. She swiftly tottered over, panting from the Flamethrower and the crazy training she was placed through.
“Alright kid, you can get a…break?” Blaze’s voice went from authoritative to frustration as young trainer and her Pokemon collapsed quickly on the ground, hyperventilating. Several burn marks scarred their behinds, as he was quick to pursue them around and egg them on. “Oh, come on. You two surely aren’t parta my fam’ly if you’re panting from that little run.”
“Little!” Crystal gasped out. “My lungs are collapsing!”
“You did push us a little far…” Flare condemningly added to her father.
“Toughen up, you hear? Team Missile would have a field day if you ran like that and was trying to escape them!” the Charmeleon roared.
“You’re as terrible a slavedriver as Kiyo!”
“Ha, I’m going easy on you kid! Be glad she sent me and not Arcanum to chase your butts, else you’d be all ashes now!”
“Stop with the kid business! It’s Crystal! Cry-stal!”
“I could easily overpower you. Hate to break it to you, but that’s all you are right now. A kid. Both of ya. You’re gonna need to seriously be able to do massive training before you could take this stuff down.”
“Oh, that’s it. I swear, the next time we’re near water, I’m gonna take your Pokeball and chuck it in the water!”
“See, that’s unfair fighting. Threatening something that would kill me! Ha! Who the hell you think you are, kid? Part of Team Missile, because you sound like ‘em right now!” At that, Crystal winced. She couldn’t make a comeback for that. “Now, stop with your whining. That was a long enough break. We’re gonna do five extra laps for that comment!”
“I think I’m gonna go train against some of the flying trainers around here instead, less you want me to faint,” Flare noted.
“Ditto,” her trainer concurred.
“Nope, I had strict orders to run you guys around till you did faint. Now…” he grinned evilly, returning to all four paws and prying open his jaw. Flames danced at the back of his throat, and with that, Crystal and the Torchic were up on their feet. “Let’s dance!”
“Uhn?”
“’Bout time you woke up,” Kara softly muttered, treating the many burns on the gifted one’s skin. At the same time, she shot glares over to Kiyo, who was merely performing some sort of secret handshake with the Charmeleon, whom appeared triumphant. “Can’t believe she pushed you that far…”
“Okay…what happened…? Where’s Flare…?” Crystal groaned.
“Flare’s resting on top of your bed. Don’t worry, she was already healed. She’s just tired. She deserves as much rest as you do.”
“Yeah…last thing I remember I tried to order her to use Sand Attack and Flamethrower to get him off our tail, but something hit my head…?”
“A punch from good ol’ Blaze here,” Kiyo chuckled coldly.
“Why, Blaze?” the blonde switched to the Pokemon language quickly.
“You attack, I attack. Eye for an eye, as they say. I was given orders to attack back if you attacked,” he shrugged. All Crystal could force out was a groan. My lungs are killing me.
“Well, as soon as she’s better, lemme know. I have the Serge to deal with next.” The sly teen rose up one of Crystal’s Pokeballs, got to her feet with the Charmeleon, and left.
“Wait, what?! No! Sergeant-hackcough…Pup! Don’t…ack! Don’t push him too hard!” the newbie trainer weakly called out as she tried to sit up.
“Don’t overexert yourself,” Kara pushed her back down on the bed. “You need your rest.”
“But, Serge…”
“He’ll be fine. He does have a military complex, right? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind it that much.”
“I…guess.”
However, the Poochyena came back in as terrible a condition as Flare, if not worse. Fire had scorched some of his hair, and burns and bruises still covered his body.
“What’d you do?!”
“Huh? Oh, I just had Char force a couplea laps, that’s all.”
“Looks like more than that!”
“Well, evidently Serge got sick of the constant burns and tried to attack. Like trainer, like Pokemon, as they say.”
“You’re terrible, horrible, and a slavedriver from the underworld!” Crystal coughed out.
“And you’ll thank me later for it all when you go to face the High Council, no? Ha, if that’s what you wanna do. I dunno…based on your lack of confidence thus far, I don’t even know if you’ll even make it past Iku…” Kiyo stretched. “Well, soon both should wake up. I’d rest all you can before you do go to train against the other bird users around here, yeah?”
“Slavedriver,” the youngest of the group pursued.
“Have to have been slavedriven to be a slavedriver, you know!” She threw a hand up into the air casually in a wave. “Maybe I’ll tell you later about it. If you win your badge, maybe. I’m washing up.”
“Oy…”
“Don’t mind her. You’re right. …even Team Missile didn’t push trainers this far, I’m sure,” Kara noted with some sort of distaste in her voice.
“Yeah…I can’t think of Kiyo having a slavedriver though. I can’t imagine her as a beginning trainer. She’s just so…”
“Tough?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Maybe. I bet she still has her struggles against certain opponents though. I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s always someone stronger than you out there. I bet even the Champion of Beghta has had his or her fair share of losses, though better to lose early rather than later, no?”
“I guess…”
“You can’t grow without training and losing. Just remember that.”
“Like I need a lecture from you too…”
“Hahaha, think of it as more advice.” The brunette gazed off to where Kiyo had left off to after she finished her words. “…I’d go train now, unless you want Flora or one of your other Pokemon to fall prey to being the mouse in cat and mouse.”
“Mmm, prolly a good idea,” the blonde nodded, struggling to her feet.
“Alright. Lemme know when you come back, and don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Kay.”
Crystal had lost several matches that day, though her Pokemon had indeed grown. Even the little Oddish, whom was weak to the flying types, was beatboxing around after growing a level or so. Serge Pup and Flare had comfortably crashed on Crystal’s bed, sleeping soundly after a long day of work. Dragola nudged up against her trainer, trying to get cozy after receiving many wounds of her own. However, unlike her little critters beside her, the gifted one had sleep elude her once more that night.
“Can’t sleep?” A sudden voice made the girl jump and twitch, though she calmed down as she noticed the Umbreon leap up onto her bedside.
“Oh, Umbree…don’t scare me like that,” she breathed out, weakly clutching her chest and throat. He gave a soft chuckle.
“Ha, I’m sorry to have disturbed you so suddenly, then.”
“Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Alright.” The dark type fell silent for a moment, gazing over the team. “They’ve become more powerful,” he noted.
“Yeah, I think so. They’ve grown a few levels, no thanks to Kiyo’s training.”
“You really shouldn’t rely on her to become stronger.” At that comment, she swiftly turned her head. He appeared unusually serious, and his voice deepened a tad.
“Huh? Wha…?”
“Whether you know it or not, you would still be stuck trying to win your first badge if it wasn’t for Kiyo. Chances are you wouldn’t be able to go forward and get your second badge possibly without her being here either.”
“Umbree…?”
“Ha…Maybe I sound a bit like her, yeah? Like Kiyo. Regardless, Crystal, I think it’s for the better that you go and start training whenever Kiyo isn’t around. Trust me when I say there may be a time you two part.” At the thought, the girl gulped. Travelling without Kiyo there to protect her from Team Missile? “It may seem…inconceivable right now, but trust me. I see the potential in you. Ha…student may even overcome mentor, in the long run.”
“Why are you saying all of this?” At that, he gave a softer laugh.
“Maybe I just…see a bit of Kiyo in you, when she was younger. Young confidence…I know it myself, when I was still…an Eevee. I’ve seen how Kiyo’s managed to grow, and how I’ve grown, and I don’t want you to become a disappointment to your family, I guess.”
“Umbree…you’re really weird…”
“I’ve been told that.”
“Oy. And honest.”
“Haha, I suppose so. They always said I was one of the more sincere Eevees of the family. Espy was true, yes, but she was always a little too soft, and that could get Kouta into trouble from time to time. Flareon…? Hahaha. Stubborn and sarcastic, too much like Kiyo. She houses as many dark secrets as Kiyo does. Jolteon was just generally angry at the world, though she does have her soft spots. Odd, considering what kind of goof Kaien was.”
“Wasn’t there two more siblings of the family, though?” At this, the moonlight Pokemon spoke not a word, rings flashing like a constant heartbeat.
“I once belonged to…one of the siblings.”
“Huh? Once?”
“I was adopted by Kiyo after certain…circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
“I’m not getting into them.”
“Like you won’t tell me anything of the stuff that Kiyo and Kinshayti have against each other?”
“Yes. As I’ve said, it’s for Kiyo to reveal when she is ready. It’s not an easy topic for her.” Crimson eyes traveled over to where the onyx haired girl slept fitfully. “It’s not an easy topic for any of us.”
“…alright.”
“Anything else on your mind?”
“Not…really-wait.” Umbree gazed up at Crystal for a moment, confused.
“Hmm?”
“There was this…” she gulped, trying to swallow her fear, before proceeding, “there was this…presence that has been stalking me and…haunting me…” At this, his eyes narrowed.
“Oh?”
“Yeah…he said he was sent to baby-sit me and Kara whilst Kiyo wasn’t around. Do you…know if Kiyo sent anything like that purposely on us?”
There was a long pause, before a simple reply.
“No.”
“Do you know anything about this…presence?”
“Only a little.”
“Well?”
“Ha…just that he’s a ghost Pokemon, and he means no harm to you or anything.”
“Are you sure?” At the word ghost, Mewster had paled to china doll white. “He haunted my dreams and scared me a lot when you were gone.”
“He won’t do it again,” Umbree firmly growled. “He had better not…”
“How can you be so sure? I mean, Sergeant Pup couldn’t even detect him or anything…”
“Trust me. I can.”
“…alright. …Umbree?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you, uhh…sleep on my bed again tonight? I feel comforted a bit when you sleep nearby.”
“Sure,” he nodded without question, settling himself down on a patch of the bed that was exposed to moonlight contently.
“Thanks,” Crystal whispered, as she slowly positioned herself on her bed and closed her eyes. Sleep still eluded her, even after Umbree settled down on her bed and time passed by. She felt as though the presence was around, stalking her once more, though no foul words made their way into her ears. Her body uncontrollably shivered.
“Something the matter?” Umbree muttered.
“Ah…it’s nothing.”
“You feel him, don’t you…?”
She nodded.
The Umbreon breathed out heavily.
“You can’t sleep?”
“It’s…the gh-…Mr. Presence coupled with the anxiety of tomorrow’s match.”
“I…see.” His eyes swiftly traveled above Crystal’s headrest and narrowed, before the Eeveelution let out another sigh. “Alright. You can do it…but no Dream Eater.”
“Huh? Before Crystal could question his words, though, those creepy eyes flashed before her, and the unconscious world swiftly took her in.
“Alright, you’re all set for your early rematch,” the referee noted to the blonde.
“Thanks. Oh, and, uh, one little request?”
“What is that?”
“Can, uh…can you make sure that Kiyo Dustren doesn’t come to spectate this match and is out of my earshot?”
“Sure, but why?”
“Ah, just…a personal resolve I made early this morning, that’s all,” Crystal rose up her shoulders.
“Alright, I’ll notify two guards to make it so she cannot see the battle and that her comments will not be heard by your ears.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Crystal blue eyes followed the man as he left to speak with a pair of guards nearby. Her aquamarines rashly turned to the arena, where Iku was taking her place. A firm hand gripped onto her first Pokeball. I have to prove this to myself. I have to prove to myself that I can’t be depending on Kiyo’s support for the rest of my training career. This time…I’ll win on my own, without her there to cheer me on. Those words lingered in the gifted one’s mind as she firmly placed her feet in the battle square marked for trainers.
“Are you prepared for a rematch, Crystal?” At Iku’s comment, she swiftly nodded. “Alright. Same rules as before- single battle with three Pokemon, no time limit, switching allowed.” Her delicate fingers reached down to her sash’s buckle, and she plucked off her first orb. “Shall we?”
“Yes,” the girl simply said, and held out her spherical container. “Sergeant Pup, let’s start things up. Frontline, atten-hut!” With the order, the dark dog quickly stood in a stiff position, his gaze never wandering off of Aikaze.
“Sergeant Pup, awaiting orders,” he barked back.
“Alright then…let’s start things off again, Swablu.” With grace, she threw the red and white orb skyward, releasing the blue bird with cloud like wings. It floated into battle, chirping happily, and noticed Crystal. The Cottonswab Pokemon flapped her fluffy wings and floated past Sergeant Pup, continuing to sing, pleased, before the blue bird landed on Crystal’s head. Iku shook her head as Sergeant Pup abruptly turned and growled at the menace. The trainer slowly gazed up at the Pokemon, who voiced out a simple “Hi!” Mewster picked Swablu off her head and lightly tossed her back to the fighting field. The growing crowd roared with laughter.
“Always did have a friendly nature,” Aikaze shook her head.
“Ha, I don’t mind. She is cute.”
“Even if you know how much trouble it caused you last time?”
“Yeah.”
“Very well.”
“Round one! Sergeant Pup versus Swablu! Begin!”
“Alright, sweep in for a series of Fury Attacks,” the gym leader ordered.
“Serge, hold your ground, then about face and throw up your smokescreen.” Crystal ordered.
“10-4, Hikara,” he grinned as he firmly planted his paws and claws into the ground. “I do like this new dialect you’ve taken with me, ma’am.”
“Part of the plan,” she nodded and whispered, and turned to watch the battle. Swablu appeared a little hurt that she had to battle the same trainer again, but soon swooped into action, beak first. As soon as she was close enough, though, the ‘Pup swiftly spun around, kicking sand up as he did so. More poured into the air as he dug furiously. Several chirps and the sound of talons scrapping the ground indicated Crystal’s success.
“Now, prepare your attacks before a full frontal assault! Keep at them unless it tries to escape, then fall back and prepare for another assault.”
“Swablu, try and Quick Attack out of the cloud of dust and then follow up with a Sing,” Iku sweated lightly, unaware of what exactly her opponent was planning. A cry to the forest caused Rattata and Oddish to scatter from the nearby trees, before a pained chirp was heard. The Swablu quickly appeared above the scene, flapping one wing a little roughly. Sergeant Pup simply waited in the dissolving sand cloud, starting up another howl as that playful, calm song greeted all ears around. The sound of staggering footsteps unnerved the blonde.
“Now, Quick Attack and Fury Attack combo,” the gym leader calmly issued the command, though Crystal could hear a faint whisper of worry in her voice.
“It’s coming in at four o’ clock!” the gifted one almost hurriedly whispered in the Pokemon language. “Snap to your feet! This is no time for a nap!”
“Hmmm…wha…?” the drowsy response came from the pup, as he gazed absentmindedly to his trainer. His eyes suddenly snapped open after a few seconds.
“Oh! Right! War!” Sergeant Pup growled, and immediately turned to his left, greeting the startled Swablu with a snarl. Their two bodies collided with Tackle and Quick Attack; the poor flying type didn’t have the chance to even use Fury Attack as fangs dug comfortably into her fluffy wings. Serge. Pup, with his grasp on the creature, threw it off to the side unceremoniously, declaring his dominance and the round one victory. Swablu gave an unhappy chirp before her eyes closed, no longer able to battle.
“Hm…you took it down easier that time. You’ve been training, haven’t you…?” Iku swiftly recalled her fainted Pokemon, removing another Pokeball from her penant chain.
“Ah, a little.”
“Was that upon your own accord or was that Dustren’s help?”
“Partially both, I suppose. Hahaha…” Crystal chuckled nervously, thinking of how she still was sore from Blaze’s embers dancing over her behind.
“Yeah, Crystal! Way to take ‘em out!” Kara beamed, finally reaching the front of the crowd.
“Kara!”
“Yeah, it’s me. Why’d you go and have to take a match so early? Oh, and Kiyo’s flying off the handle, you know. She’s mad the guards aren’t letting her through.”
“Ah ha ha, I figured.”
“Very well…” the gym leader muttered, “Alright, Starly. Take care of this quickly.” Once again, the Pokeball flew gracefully in the air, as well as the black and white starling Pokemon that was released from it. The little bird soared in, flying near to where Sergeant Pup was stiffly standing, awaiting his next command. “Do you wish to switch your Pokemon?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Alright then.”
“Round two! Sergeant Pup versus Starly! Begin!”
“Full frontal assault!” Crystal boomed.
“Gust, then try to finish it with Quick Attack! If it tries a Sand-Attack again, Double Team!” Iku retorted in her small voice. Each Pokemon performed as they were told beautifully; Starly was swift to flap his little wings and throw the small dog nearly clear off the playing field. Sergeant Pup was quick to his feet, and the Poochyena leapt and landed his body on the bird. Jaws and neck feathers intertwined deadly close to one another, but a fast jab to the dark Pokemon’s side rendered his Bite attack useless. He roughly collapsed on the ground, though he struggled with his tiny paws in futility to get to his feet.
“Serge?” the owner called out hopefully.
“Ah…sorry, Hikara…Pokemon…down.” With that, he truly fell, saying nothing more. He was resting comfortably within his ‘medical tent’ soon thereafter. Crystal was hindered by Sergeant Pup’s fall only a second before she held out her next orb.
“Flare, let’s try our strategy.” The fire Pokemon popped out, standing close to her trainer’s side. She gave an acknowledging chirp before dashing out to the field. Iku rose her eyebrow after taking a closer look at the Torchic, given she was more concentrated on the first battle.
“Such a small Torchic…”
“Yeah, she’s newborn.” At that, the gym leader frowned.
“I hope you do realize that you’re putting a lot of stress on a newborn.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“Round three! Flare versus Starly! Begin!”
“Flare, Sand Attack.”
“You know what to do, Starly. Double Team.”
At the command, Flare swiftly planted one of her talons in the soft earth before using the other to scrape around. Dust easily filled the air quickly, though she dug more and more until there was nearly a sandstorm of the earth. The Starly seemed to give a gritted chirp, before many copies of white and black formed in the air.
“Hold your ground, Flare. Keep up with the Sand Attack…”
“Starly, move in for some Quick Attacks. When it’s down, use Gust to remove the area of the sand.” There were several simultaneous cries from each of the doppelgangers as they dove blindly in, hoping to strike at the fire type.
“Now!” Crystal suddenly cried, and flames erupted, pointed down at the earth. Flare zoomed up into the air, furiously flapping her tiny golden wings. The Starly barely missed, and now the group of them appeared confused.
“Above!” Iku sweat at the scene, but it was too late.
“Flamethrower on all the sand, Flare!” Fire quickly emitted from her tiny beak in an amazing spectacle of carnage and glittering glass. The dense sand soon changed under the high heat and melted above the true Starly, forming what appeared to be a hot glass cage over it. The other fakes flew this way and that, scattering so as not to be hit by the flames. Aikaze gave a gasp. The audience was cheering like mad. Crystal couldn’t help a small triumphant smirk.
“Using Sand-Attack was more than to keep my Pokemon at bay…it was to get all the dirt in the air so you could capture one of my Pokemon…”
“Yeah. I learned that from watching Kara’s fight,” the girl nodded. “Now, Flare, take out all of the other doppelgangers quickly with Peck and Scratch for when the rest of the sand has fallen!”
“Starly, try to get out of the cage!” Cries of protest about being within a cage and not being able to fully extend his wings came from the starling, and he pecked furiously at the glass with little success. Flare, in the meanwhile, dashed about mercilessly and stoically, driving beak and talons effortlessly through the mirages until they had cleared.
“Now, Ember! If it gets out of the cage, keep it close and use Flamethrower if you can spare the energy!”
“Starly, try your best to shield yourself from the flames while trying to get out of there!” Starly’s pecking rate had already increased when it heard ‘Ember’, and thus he was nearly throwing his whole body into each strike of his beak. The glass was shattering slowly, true, but Flare had at least an open attack or two left before the strategy was to be demolished. She hopped to a stop in front of the molten cage, opened up her beak, and little sparks of flames danced out. They made their mark on the Starly through the bars of the cage, and he finally jolted out with a smash from his head. The Torchic was too prepared for him. More flames burst forth, consuming it. The bird was rendered useless upon the earthy floor not too much later.
“Well, that was definitely a smart play there, Crystal. Definitely smart. I don’t know too many trainers that paid as close attention in their chemistry classes to remember that glass is heated sand, or to the little details in battle. Such strategies are very becoming of a trainer, yes…” Iku spoke softly after her second Pokemon returned to his Pokeball, before unlatching the last one. Crystal gave a small gulp at that. “However, such a strategy will not work on opponents that are swift to strike. Best of luck with this last one…with my Pidgeotto.” Wind kicked up around the area as the feathered fiend rose from the last, most worn Pokeball of the gym leader’s team. It cried out most gorgeously in the voice to rival an opera singer, before hovering before the now panting Flare.
“Do you wish to switch out?”
“No,” Crystal gulped.
“Round four! Flare versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Flare, be careful of that Aerial Ace attack! Use Flamethrower as a last ditch attack if it tries to use it!”
“Go on fleeting wings and use Aerial Ace.” The Torchic eyed the flying type wearily as she flew in with incredible agility, ready to strike. That golden beak opened wide once more, and the wash of flames erupted again, but only a few feathers of the opponent were singed before the air slash of sorts made the fire type stoop to the ground and not return to her tired talons. The Pidgeotto fluttered back after the attack, favoring one of her wings over the other where burn marks were evident.
“…well, good job Flare,” the pink-banged trainer whispered quietly as she recalled her. Well, there’s just one Pokemon left I can choose. It can’t be Flora, that’s for sure. Guess it’ll have to be…
“CRYSSSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!” A shout startled her out of her almost dream-like state as her aquamarine eyes quickly darted around for the one who called her. Even as she saw the creature headed towards her, she didn’t stand a chance; Crystal was soon toppled over by a hysterically sobbing…
“Mareep?!” the trainer exclaimed in utter confusion.
“Ooooooh, Crystalcrystalcrystalcrystalcrystalcrysssssssstaaaaaaaal!” the electric type bleated away mindlessly, burying her head happily into her arms. “I was…they were…I…baaaaaaahahahaaha!” Mewster wasn’t the only one to appear astonished by these turn of events; Iku appeared quite surprised herself.
“I…what? Calm down! Deep breaths! One thing at a time?”
“Well, I went back to where my family was waiting, but they weren’t there, so then I traveled around for a bit, but then I found them, but they didn’t care that I came back, and just wanted me to be like everyone else, and you know I don’t like that, so I said ‘sayonara folks!’ and I bolted back here, hoping you hadn’t been touched by that EVIL Team Missile and stuff, and here you are, and I’m so glad to see you, and would you mind if I went with you as your Pokemon because no one’s ever been so kind and caring to me as you’ve been?!” she spoke so rapidly the poor gifted one had a difficult time keeping up with her run-on story.
“Er, Mareep…”
“I understand if you wouldn’t want a mood-shifting creature such as myself! My family hated it, trainers that tried to catch me hated it, and I wouldn’t put it past you if you didn’t think anything more of me than anyone else has before! I just thought that maybe you could help me out with my problem and that maybe you, your human friend, your Pokemon and your little rappin’ Oddish could sorta be the family I never really had that I fit into!” Crystal sighed.
“It’s not that…”
“What is it? Is it my wool? Is all this sudden and you need to think about it, because, I mean, I can understand if you need to think about it…”
“I was in the middle of a battle, actually.”
The Mareep paused.
She stared at the slightly ennuyé Pidgeotto and her shocked trainer.
She gazed up to Crystal with large chestnut eyes, something of a fire burning within them.
Suddenly, the wool Pokemon leapt out from her arms and onto the battle field. “I know! I’ll prove to you how I can be useful, and then you can decide if you want to keep me or not! Is that ok? Huh, Crystal?”
All Crystal could do was look up to Iku bashfully. “Uh, Iku?”
“Yes?”
“Ah, would you, ah, mind if I used the Mareep for this final round? She said she wanted to become my Pokemon after all.”
“Ha…Of course. You know the old saying, don’t you…?”
“I’m afraid I don’t.”
“If you truly love something, let it go; if it comes back to you…”
“It…was always yours to begin with,” Crystal finished, her heart pounding in her throat now.
“So of course you can use it as your last Pokemon, if it was always yours,” Iku beamed warmly.
“Thank you…” the young trainer choked, and her gaze fell back upon the eager Mareep. “…alright, you can battle.”
“Sweet! I won’t let you down, Crystal, but that little birdy? Oh, she’s definitely going down!” the electric type cackled, letting off sparks as she did so.
“Round five-final round! Mareep versus Pidgeotto! Begin!”
“Pidgeotto, don’t back down. Use Quick Attacks to try and take it down as fast as you can.”
She’s not using Aerial Ace…? “Mareep? What was your moveset?” the preteen called out.
“Thundershock, Thunderwave, Growl and Tackle! Come on, just order me around quick before Birdy here does anything!”
“Ah, alright…Tackle it when it comes close enough, I guess!” she hesitantly commanded. Crystal knew nothing about Pokemon that could use lightning at whim. The Pidgeotto swiftly dived in as the Mareep tried to babble something out to Crystal, and bodies collided. An arc of electricity soon jumped from the golden wool of the sheep, and the bird cried out in pain and made sure that there was plenty of distance between the two of them.
“Huh?” Crystal pondered, watching as the sparks danced off the majestic flying type, then ended. Iku did not seem pleased and calm any more.
“Quick Attack. It should fall soon.”
“Crystal, come on! Surely you know about flying types?!” the electric type bleated angrily.
“Ah, no?”
“How can you not know that electric attacks are one of their best known weaknesses?! You grow up in Dullsville, Hickcity or something like that?!”
“Electricity is strong against…” the girl’s eyes shot quickly to the ever nearing Pidgeotto. “…Mareep, Thundershock…?”
“Boom, baby! Now we’re in business!” the sheep beamed, though her face turned dark as electricity shot not only to the ground, but in a powerful bolt to the flying type. Pidgeotto cried out, but not before she got in another hit. The Mareep nearly tumbled over, unconscious, but she clung stubbornly to her little health left.
“Finish it! Quick Attack!”
“Mareep, get up! Try another Thundershock before it can hit you!” Crystal’s heart was pounding heavily now. It was a matter of do or die at this point. It was all on who attacked first, and she knew Quick Attack was very difficult to beat in that department.
The two combatants prepared for their last attacks.
Yet the Pidgeotto froze mid-air, shocks flying from her body, inches away from earning another victory against the trainer.
“No!” Iku nearly screeched helplessly like a bird being caught by a predator. Lightning filled the arena once more. Pidgeotto landed with a thump on the ground, occasionally twitching.
“…Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Match goes to challenger Crystal Hikara!” the referee was drowned out at ‘Pidgeotto is unable’ by many hoots and hollers from the crowd. Aikaze paused for only a moment before forcing a small, calm smile. She cautiously walked over to her fallen Pokemon, taking her into her arms and comforting the bird for a moment before it disappeared into her Pokeball. Meanwhile, the Mareep grinned triumphantly over the scene and the mess of the field she had created, before gazing back at Crystal.
“Hah! How’s that for a match?!”
“Oh, Mareep!” the gifted one beamed, and clung suddenly to the wooly Pokemon, who seemed so surprised at this gesture.
“Huh what?!”
“I would be so honored if you wanted to come and join the team! Really, I would! I nearly couldn’t take it when I released you, I swear!”
“Okay, okay! Yay! I’ll go!”
“Way to take down the leader, Crystal!” Kara cheered on, running to her side. “Man, if I had an electric Pokemon for the fight…”
“CRYSTAL!” A roar jolted the girl away from her new Pokemon. Kiyo had finally pushed aside the guards, hearing that the battle was over, and she appeared very angered at her student.
“Kiyo! I, er…”
“No! None of that! Why the-” her tongue turned mildly vulgar for a second, “-did you make it so I couldn’t watch, eh?! I demand an answer!”
“Well, it’s, ah…” More interruptions cut her off, though, as one of the Pokeballs clasped onto her belt shook. Startled, she clumsily brought out the wobbling orb, which forcefully jumped open, revealing the still wounded, yet conscious, Sergeant Pup.
“Serge?! What are you…”
“I…don’t know. It’s just a weird feeling, Hikara…” he winced, staggering about. “I don’t know what’s happening…”
“Are you okay?!” Crystal wasted no time in trying to pick up the dog, though a brilliant flash coupled with an unnatural wind caught her off guard, and she was forced back. However, the flash didn’t die down after it was emitted from the dog’s body. The glow continued. “Kiyo! What’s…happening to him?!”
“He’s…evolving,” she softly murmured, shielding her unevenly colored eyes as she too spectated along side Kara and Crystal. Soon the Poochyena was lifted gently up in the air by the wind, and the changes began to occur. His legs grew out to appear graceful and tall, his paws enlargening to support his new body. The length of his body stretched out, his shaggy fur becoming sleek. Even his tail seemed to mature into something majestic. The light died down after the change had been completed, and the wind set the new creature down on his paws. Smooth black fur now dominated most of his body, though the gray of his youth was still apparent in areas.
“Sergeant…Pup?” However, he gave no response. He simply returned to the unconscious world, exhausted from his efforts, and staggered down to his side. A beeping from Crystal’s awry Pokegear caught her attention, though she occasionally returned to gaze at this new creature.
Congratulations! Your Serge. Pup evolved into Mightyena! Rename Serge. Pup? Mightyena…? So that’s the evolution of Poochyena…? Well, a deal is a deal, and he is bigger now, so…
“Lieutenant Yena…” Crystal pursued, and there was an affirmative click from the contraption on her wrist.
“…see that? Irony strikes again. See? This is why I think Kaien believed in karma. You were a jerkwad to me, and thus your Poochyena evolves after the battle with Iku, not before it! HA! OWNED!” Kiyo smirked and jeered.
“Wonderful…”
Wow. End of the second part!
Great battle in this chapter :F
Great battle in this chapter :F
Yep, I'm proud of this chapter. :B
If you don't mind, my readers, keep this thread alive in my absense. :X
If you don't mind, my readers, keep this thread alive in my absense. :X
No problem.
Hopefully more people besides me will post to keep this alive. =P
Hopefully more people besides me will post to keep this alive. =P
I totally forgot about this! I better get reading, but I don't have time right now. I need to get to work! Bye!
Wow. She hasn't posted anything for a while. :/
I thought she'd post at least another reply or something by now.
I thought she'd post at least another reply or something by now.
Well, like it says in my sig, I'm not really on recently cause of work and stuff. That, and I don't have any new chapters edited, which means no new chapters for a while. I'm also gonna concentrate on re-writing the first...however many chapters of RQO, because they're awful. >P
Some changes:
-it'll be darker. I hope. I hope I can make it darker
-actually will have official art and better descriptions! whoo!
-Kara will make a 1-chapter cameo, she will not be travelling.
-Yondaime's appearance and name will be changed.
Sorry for the lousy update, but time is short...x.x
Some changes:
-it'll be darker. I hope. I hope I can make it darker
-actually will have official art and better descriptions! whoo!
-Kara will make a 1-chapter cameo, she will not be travelling.
-Yondaime's appearance and name will be changed.
Sorry for the lousy update, but time is short...x.x
It's okay. I know how it could be. I had two of my fics die since I was short on time.
Looking forward to the changes on new chapters!
Looking forward to the changes on new chapters!
CA: Yeah, ES died because of that too. :X Just not enough time and not enough comments.
I feel slightly better about myself after looking at an old lol story I wrote called Chronicles of Cyranea. So bad...but, regardless...
Martainia: Hahaha, thanks. Yeah, I like to think I put a decent amount of effort into things like this. And hey, there are sparce grammatical issues splattered against the story like inkplots from a quill pen. It's not perfect, hence why I'll be re-writing it. I look forward to your further comments.
At any rate, just because I can, Chapter 21. It'll keep it alive and I can at least post till chapter 25 before I really run outta material.
Chapter 21- First Edition
Now armed with her second badge, a Mightyena, and farewell wishes from the flying trainers and Iku, Crystal was irritated as the small group emerged from the Eclipse Woods on the other side of Zenith, proceeding along Route 52 to eventually reach Eclipse City itself. “No, it can’t be that simple,” she argued, annoyed.
“Oh, come on! I thought Amphy was cute!” Kara pouted. “It’ll be great for when she evolves!”
“She’s a Mareep, and I can always rename her when she does evolve.”
“Kara, Mewster’s gotta point on this one, for a change,” Kiyo sneered, rubbing her hand on Crystal’s skull teasingly. “Amphy is the name of the Lighthouse Guardian in Olivine City in Johto anyways. No; an awesome nickname for the Mareep would be Thora.”
“Thora?”
“Yeah, like Thor? Viking god of thunder, uses a mighty hammer in battle?”
“It sounds too weird, and too much like Flora. I fear I’d get them confused.”
“Oh, come on. Norse mythology is so cool though! That’s where I got Jormungand from, you know.”
“Yeahhh, I still think that Amphy is good,” Kara glanced over to Kiyo, raising up her eyebrow in such a manner as to infer ‘you’re crazy’.
“Oh, forget it you guys. You aren’t helping…” Crystal clutched weakly at her temples. A weak headache was coming on, and they still couldn’t think of a suitable nickname for the Mareep who still walked beside them.
“Well, worse comes to worse you can always re-name it when you think of a good name by the time it evolves, yeah?” Kiyo pondered.
“But…just saying Mareep sounds so weird…”
“Then don’t complain and just give it a name already! Even if it is something as simple and dumb as naming it, I dunno…Light!”
“Kiyo, that was lame. Light for a Pokemon that uses its tail as a lightbulb in later evolutions?” the brunette scoffed.
“Like Zaika is any better! It’s just a messed up way of saying Scyther, that’s all!”
“Like Blaze or Umbree is more original!”
“Naming Umbree was not my choice! I adopted him!”
“Light…” the youngest muttered to herself, delving out of reality and the two elder trainer’s heated argument. “…Kiyo.”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“You know stuff about mythologies and different languages, right?”
“Sure…why do you ask?” the onyx-haired trainer blinked.
“Gimme some different language translations for light or any sun goddesses?”
“For light? I was kidding about that.”
“Just…gimme some.”
“Alright…” The fire type user fell mute for a moment, before counting off her fingers. “Well, there’s lumos, at least I’m pretty sure that’s Latin for light…then there’s many different variations of that, like lumiere…there’s Apollo in Greece, he’s the god of the sun, uh…Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun in Japanese cultures…then there’s just Hikari. That’s the true literal translation in Japanese for light.” She paused, gazing at the blonde. “…Kinda like Hikara, your last name…” she muttered.
“Hikari…” Crystal missed the muttered part of Kiyo’s comment. Instead, she turned to the Mareep. “…Hey.”
“Whut?” was the sullen response. She had found the babbling over names to be quite irritable.
“Hikari.” At the sound of the name, the dark amber eyes fixed themselves upon the new trainer. “…what do you think of that nickname?”
“Uh…” the sheep trailed off, pausing mid-step. “…what’s it mean? Anything?”
“Light.”
“Light? Sounds a tad, ah, cliché for my breed, you know…”
“…back to the drawing board, then…”
“Okay! Hikari it is!” The sudden affirmation caught Crystal off guard.
“Huh?!”
“I said I like Hikari?”
“I thought you said that it was a tad cliché though?”
“‘Light’ is, and true that it is that Hikari means that, but cliché is cliché for a reason, yeah? It’s a decent name, good in a lot of people’s eyes and thus they use it for whatever reason. Just because people use it a lot and like it a lot doesn’t mean it should be so shunned so easily. At least, that’s my belief.” Moving off her front hooves to settle on just her hind legs, she gave a simple human-esque shrug. “I like Hikari because I like it. Is that so wrong to like it because I like it and not based on others opinions?”
“Ah, no, it’s just…”
“You think me and my opinions are weird? Okay, I see how it is. I’ll travel off somewhere and you’ll never-” However, Crystal reacted too rapidly for the Mareep to comprehend the sudden withdrawal of an empty Pokeball and stuffing the poor sheep into the capsule device.
“Ah ha ha…I thought you said that I was the only one that was nice enough to you anyways!” she hissed to the wobbling Pokeball, in which case it turned limp. “Just lemme know when you want to come out, alright? But you shouldn’t be out all the time, else we might have an issue with your stamina and the like when we battle later, okay?” A small shake from the ball gave the positive answer. Soon enough it was resting upon the young trainer’s belt.
“Well, what was that about? She write essays or something?” the mentor joked.
“Ah, sorta kinda. Interesting way of thinking…what do you think of cliché things, anyways?”
“Me? Cliché is boring, and bad. It’s like stories that are serious and try to incorporate the fourth wall, or use the typical damsel-in-distress being rescued by the hero clad in shining armor who slayed the Salamence or something like that. It’s just so terribly overused and it makes me sick, to be honest.”
“And yet you still named your little Charmander Blaze,” Kara snickered.
“I was younger when I got him! That was nearly five years ago! I was a little idiot back then!”
“He’s five years old and he still isn’t a Charizard?”
“You kidding? Fire-flying type? Yeah, it’d kick so much tail and stuff to have one, but one Rock Slide from a decently powerful Pokemon and it’d be DOWN. I get the notion Blaze wants to become a Charizard like his father, but I’d rather him be his little Charmeleon self so he would actually survive the attacks…well, at least until he grows some more.”
“How much more can that crazy high level thing grow?!”
“Blaze’s father?” Crystal interjected, pondering this.
“Hmm? Oh, Apollo. That’s the name of his Charizard father.”
“Apollo?”
“Yeah, but…he never does admit to it, but he does miss him, I’m sure. He was torn when he was…murdered.”
“Murdered?!” Now Kara’s attention was back in the conversation, instead of having her head swim with the thought of stronger Pokemon than Kiyo had.
“It’s not a pretty story, and I’m sure I’d wake up with all my hair burned off if I told it without permission from Blaze anyways.”
“Who did Apollo belong to?”
“…ah, it’s not of importance.” Kiyo shook her head, something of grief growing upon her face. She swiftly gazed off to the city, and changed the subject. “Ah, Eclipse City…looks like there’s something going down there.”
“Huh?” Forgetting the fact that they were having deep conversation, crystal blue eyes swept down to the scene. Masses of people, fireworks, and Pokemon seemed to crowd in the streets, and music could be heard from the distance that separated them from the urban community.
“No way! This was great timing! The Eclipse City Festival!” Kara beamed.
“Eh?”
“Oh, come on, Kiyo! Surely you’ve heard of it!”
“Even I’ve gone to the festival with my family when I was younger, Kiyo.”
“You forget, I didn’t grow up in the Beghta Region. True that it may be that I originate from Sunburst, I spent most of my younger years in Ecruteak with my siblings before I headed out on my journey to clear out Johto and Kanto.”
“Aw, come on! This is like the most well known aspect about Beghta!” Emerald eyes shone condoningly upon the fire trainer. “Well, that and the tournament that’s held during the festival…”
“That’s right! Regional Championships!” Crystal gasped. “Shoot, and I don’t have my deck with me…!”
“Your deck? Are you telling me it’s a trading card game tournament?”
“Only the biggest in the Beghta Region! It’s always held in Eclipse City, too! And, if you’re good enough, you can win free booster packs and possibly travel money for Nationals!”
“Nationals?”
“Ah, where’s Nationals this year?” Kara pondered.
“I think they said it was going to be in Kanto, but I could be wrong…”
“Uh huh. While you two are geeking out about your TCG, I’m going to fly ahead and make sure that Team Missile hasn’t snuck into the city. No need to cause a ruckus, eh?” Kiyo rolled her eyes, and paused. Her hand pulled off an aging red orb and tossed it to Crystal, whom quickly caught it.
“Huh?!”
“He’ll be your bodyguard whilst I’m gone, Mewster.”
“Okay, this bodyguard stuff and this Mewster stuff is really getting to me.”
“Gooooode!” She chuckled, before withdrawing the metal bird and jumping onto his back. “Have fun!”
“But, Kiyo…!”
“If you want, I can go grab your deck and stuff real quick after I make sure the city is clean!”
“Kiyo, I would like that, but-!”
“Anything after but is the stuff that comes outta a Tauros!” she called back, and then was gone.
The Pokeball rolled out of Crystal’s hand and landed on the ground to call out the Pokemon upon its own accord.
“Eh?”
“Kept tight in that little thing far too long, I should be able to be outta bout like Umbree always is…” the Charmeleon grumbled as he stretched and lightly scratched his side. Noticing that his trainer wasn’t available to take out his rage on, he gazed back at Kara and Crystal. “Oh, it’s the two kids. What, am I on babysitting duty or somethin’?”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” the younger of the two dryly retorted. “Kiyo was going to check out Eclipse City for Missiles.”
“And she didn’t take me along?! What’s this bull?! I need some action! Why da heck didn’t she have Flareon or Jolteon or Umbree watch you, eh? Nooo, she favors those twerps, and I get stuck with the boring jobs so I can’t level up! Gahhh!” Blaze roared angrily, stamping his foot on the ground. “Sick of this bull-”
“Calm down, calm down…”
“Don’t go tellin’ your boss to calm down, you!” he pointed up at the girl with sharp claws, before taking a moment to gaze down at the city. “Cripes, and she left me here when a festival is going on! What is this?!”
“I know, I know!” Crystal groaned. “She is just quickly making sure that Team Missile isn’t around before she goes and gets my deck and then comes back-”
“Deck?” Blaze cut her off, raising a bald eyebrow.
“Ah, yeah. My Riptide Dance deck.”
“Like, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, that sort of deck?”
“Yeah, why?”
“There’s a tournament during the festival?”
“Yes…?”
“Oh, I’m gonna need to get to a PC then!” he boomed. “If you’s gonna be entering, I am!”
“Uh, Pokemon can’t play card games?”
“Bull! Pops taught me all about ‘em, and told me stories of how the legendaries would play Poker to decide who was assigned what job as a guardian of time or the sea and stuff!”
“Your dad? Apollo?” At the name, his confident grin somewhat faded.
“Ah, you heard from Kiyo about Pops?”
“A little. All I heard was that he was a Charizard, and he was…killed.” His fierce red skin turned a sickly orange as he turned his eyes sorrowfully to the ground.
“Pops wasn’t a Charizard. He was the Charizard. All other Charizard could never stand up to him. He was larger than life. He taught me the ways of his group, our family, saying that one day I’d be as great a Charizard as him, but…it was just terrible, when he was killed in the heat of battle. He was a proud Pokemon, yes, but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did, and yet he said to me before he left, ‘Death is just the beginning, and be sure to one day avenge me, son…’ Ha…I dunno why I’m tellin’ ya any of this, but now you know why I’m angry about Kiyo leaving me behind and not leveling me up, yeah?”
“Yeah…that’s…terrible.”
“Ha, lookit you, gettin’ all choked up over my little story, when you didn’t even know him. You’re something else, kid, I tell ya that much…”
“Ah, it’s just, ah…I often feel other’s emotions and stuff, especially if I’m friends with them…we are friends, right Blaze?”
“…Maybe. I respect ya, kid, for putting your life on the line for me, buuut not that much yet. It takes a long time. By the way? What chu just said? We calls that empathy.”
“Empathy?”
“It means you feel the same as others around ya. It’s a rare open trait for humans, I tell yeah that much. Pokemon are much more focused on empathy, especially some Pokemon like Espeon or those caught in Friend Balls. Really explains a lot with dat Skarmory kid, that’s for sure…” the lizard muttered beneath his breath.
“I’ve never heard that before.”
“That’s cause you’re only ten.”
“I’m turning eleven in February.”
“Still ten now,” Blaze coolly gazed at his talons.
“Whatever,” Crystal sighed.
“So what does our little lizard friend say, eh?” Kara evoked the English Crystal knew so well once more.
“Ah, he was just ranting about how he wanted to be a Charizard, that’s all.”
“Hey kid! No telling her about Pops, you hear? Less you want a burned butt again, then by all means, go ahead!” Blaze called up to her.
“That’s it? He say anything about Apollo?” With a simple gaze at the fire type, the gifted one slowly shook her head. “Well, that’s uneventful. You should ask him.”
“I fear for my butt.”
“Ah, that’d do it. Oh, look. Kiyo’s coming.” Eyes drifted up to the bright cerulean sky as metallic feathers once again showered down upon them.
“City’s clean,” Kiyo shouted as she slipped off of Skarmory’s back and landed into a crouch. “I think I got the right deck, by the way. Gods, kid, you have too many cards for your own good!” A blue deck box was tossed Crystal’s way, and she swiftly caught it.
“Careful! There’s some difficult to get cards in this deck!”
“Uh huh. Spare me. How’d you get five binders filled with cards, anyways? You got an endless allowance or something?”
“No, Dad would always bring home booster boxes when he came back from a trip from the different places he’s traveled.”
“Booster boxes! Lucky!” Kara whined. “Those things cost so much! I’m lucky if I got one pack of cards every two or three months!”
“Dad is an archaeologist, and I guess a lot of the guys he travels with are into it anyways. He never did get into it, but when the guys let him borrow a deck, he was a professional at it,” Crystal beamed. “He’d always win enough money from them to buy the packs. I would split the box with my siblings, but Wizar wasn’t into it, Ryouo would always try and sell his cards, and Kira would let Asa get to them if they weren’t kept in my binders. Eventually they just didn’t care, and I got all the boosters.”
“I say it again- lucky.”
“I saw some Japanese cards there, too…your father went to Japan?” Kiyo interrogated.
“Yeah, there’s some weird ruins in the area, I guess? It was definitely cool to see all the different artworks from there and stuff.”
“How much do the cards go for anyways?”
“Some are really rare. I don’t have that many…”
“Like?”
“Well, I do have the Shining Magikarp from a booster box my father got me when he was in Johto.”
“Shining Magikarp?! No way.”
“First edition,” Mewster beamed.
“WHAT?! THAT THING GOES FOR OVER FIFTY GRAND ALONE! How the heck you get that thing?!” Kara shook Crystal vigorously.
“Kara, you’re gonna snap the poor girl’s neck and kill her before her third badge.”
“Oy! I dunno! It was in a first edition booster! I dunno, I dunno!”
“If that isn’t rare, what the heck do you run in your deck?! First edition Charizard from Kanto?! Three Time-Space Distortion?! Four Victory Medals?!”
“No! Feraligatr and Blastoise! Gah!”
“Blastigatr? Like, the Waterlog Blastoise and the Energy Cyclone Feraligatr?”
“With some Absol thrown in, yeah.”
“How many Energy do you run?”
“Twenty-eight on the dot-”
“Twenty-eight?! What, do you have like, no trainers or supporters in your deck?”
“I have some Roseanne’s Research, Bebe’s Search, Night Maintenance, Rare Candy, four Felicity’s…that’s all I need, really.”
“Kid, I hate to break it to you, but you’re insaaaaaane. Like, a lot. I knew that before, but this just takes the cake.”
“What takes the cake is the geekiness level here,” Kiyo drawled, rolling her mismatched eyes. “Come on, take your talk to the city.”
“Oh, and Kiyo?”
“Mmmm?”
“Blaze said he wanted his deck from your PC.”
“Oh, now you gotta be…” she groaned, gazing at the adamant fire type. “Blaze, you can’t seriously have been sneaking people card games behind my back again…”
“Tell messy-hair here that I’s playing in that tournament, no matter what she says against it,” the Charmeleon mercilessly ordered.
“I really think he wants to participate in that tournament, Kiyo.”
“He’s a Pokemon, though. It’s not like he can read the cards and know the effects of attacks and what they do anyways. He’s too stupid.”
“She talking smoke about me? Eh? I swear, it feels like it, and none of ya fluff, kid!” he growled, beady teal-blue eyes locking onto pitiful Crystal.
“She said that, uh…”
“Tell me, less you feel my burning wrath.”
“She said that you couldn’t read the trading cards, and yeah.”
“And yeah. There’s more.”
“No, there isn’t-”
“Kid. You’re a terrible, terrible liar. I know lies when I smell ‘em.” Hearing that phrase for the third time now, the gifted one knew to practice up on her skills for when it’d be critical to tell a lie to escape a situation alive.
“She, uh….she called you…oh gods, don’t hurt the messenger, but she called you…stupid?” she squeaked out, and the flame crackling and burning igneous colors upon the tip of his tail shot up to the sky in rage.
“She WHAT?!” Blaze whipped around, heat shimmering off his body. “Why you little…! Even Pops wasn’t that disrespectful to one of the family!”
“Er, Blaze…?” Kiyo tugged lightly at her long-sleeved shirt’s collar, before eyes fell upon Crystal. “…You told him I called him an idiot, didn’t you.”
“He was gonna eat me alive if I didn’t!”
“Oh, great. You really need to learn to get to be a better liar. Ah well, best take the brunt of the aggression for his comment now…” she sighed, and cast aside her supply bag and her coat. For the first time, Crystal could really notice her feminine like features upon her body noticeably. The coat served as a true blind, that was for sure, or so the girl decided.
“Crystal, sooomething tells me we need to be far away from this when he explodes with his anger,” Kara meeped, backing away slowly.
“Yeah…”
“Go on to the city. I’ll be shortly along,” Kiyo coldly muttered. “Oh, and Crystal…” The tone of her voice was nothing less than pure wrath.
“Yes…?”
“You and I are training after we get outta the city and you’ve had your fun. Enjoy your last few days of freedom.”
“Yes, mistress…” Mewster clung onto Kara, fearing for her life, as the two scuttled away.
Flames soon engulfed the nearby trees, only to be dampened shortly thereafter with massive amounts of water.
The two trainers were half-way to the city when Blaze tottered up, swiping his hands together in a ‘job-well-finished’ manner.
“Ah, I feel much better about myself…now, kid.” Said ‘kid’ turned to face the flare Pokemon.
“Yeah?” She was shocked a moment later when a Pokeball flew into her hands- the one the Charmeleon called home. “Huh?”
“I’ve had enough of dat trainer for a while, so you’ll have to make do till she says her apologies.”
“I’ll have to make do…?”
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, s’not like there’ll be any Missile Grunts for me to battle, but yeah…I need to cool my head. That, and best start teachin’ yah how to lie better. Terrible, I says.”
“Oogh. Why does everyone have to say that…?” the blonde groaned.
“Because, you’re…ha, naw. Not like you’d get what I’d call ya, anyways,” he softly chuckled.
“Tell me anyways?”
“Nah, I’ll taunt ya till then. In the mean time, get me to the Center so I can hack into Kiyo’s computer system and grab my deck, yeah?”
“Alright…man, I’ve heard of role reversals, but this is ridiculous…” the girl groaned, switching back to English.
“Sooo he kill Kiyo or something and decide to be handed over to you?”
“She’s not dead, but pretty much on the dot otherwise…”
“And what about a role reversal?”
“He’s ordering me around.”
“Order him around. He’s the Pokemon.”
“A strong Pokemon that’d kick my can if I tried to.”
“Ahhh, right. You probably wouldn’t have enough badges to tame him and keep him under control.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, come on, Crystal…” Kara swatted her hand at said child. “More badges shows the sweat and hard work of your Pokemon, and how much tolerance it takes to keep them under the leash so that you can earn the badge in the first place. The more you have, the higher leveled the Pokemon you can tame, even if they don’t belong to you.”
“So how many would I need to get Blaze to obey me, you think?”
“What’s his level?”
“Uhh…I’ll check, if my Pokegear works…” she muttered, clicking and rotating the buttons and dials. She staggered back as she saw the level.
“What?”
“…Fifty-one.”
“You gotta be kidding.”
“No. That’s what it says. Fifty-amazing-one.”
“You’d need a ton of badges, like, maybe six, to control that thing then…man! That’s crazy!” Kara clutched her head. “Mind-boggling!”
“Hurry up, you Slowpokes,” Blaze interjected, waving a claw around. “We might miss the first round if we’re not quick to register…”
“Alright, we’re coming…” Crystal called to the creature as she increased her pace, though she had to wonder: just how did Kiyo get her Pokemon to such monstrous high levels?
I feel slightly better about myself after looking at an old lol story I wrote called Chronicles of Cyranea. So bad...but, regardless...
Martainia: Hahaha, thanks. Yeah, I like to think I put a decent amount of effort into things like this. And hey, there are sparce grammatical issues splattered against the story like inkplots from a quill pen. It's not perfect, hence why I'll be re-writing it. I look forward to your further comments.
At any rate, just because I can, Chapter 21. It'll keep it alive and I can at least post till chapter 25 before I really run outta material.
Chapter 21- First Edition
Now armed with her second badge, a Mightyena, and farewell wishes from the flying trainers and Iku, Crystal was irritated as the small group emerged from the Eclipse Woods on the other side of Zenith, proceeding along Route 52 to eventually reach Eclipse City itself. “No, it can’t be that simple,” she argued, annoyed.
“Oh, come on! I thought Amphy was cute!” Kara pouted. “It’ll be great for when she evolves!”
“She’s a Mareep, and I can always rename her when she does evolve.”
“Kara, Mewster’s gotta point on this one, for a change,” Kiyo sneered, rubbing her hand on Crystal’s skull teasingly. “Amphy is the name of the Lighthouse Guardian in Olivine City in Johto anyways. No; an awesome nickname for the Mareep would be Thora.”
“Thora?”
“Yeah, like Thor? Viking god of thunder, uses a mighty hammer in battle?”
“It sounds too weird, and too much like Flora. I fear I’d get them confused.”
“Oh, come on. Norse mythology is so cool though! That’s where I got Jormungand from, you know.”
“Yeahhh, I still think that Amphy is good,” Kara glanced over to Kiyo, raising up her eyebrow in such a manner as to infer ‘you’re crazy’.
“Oh, forget it you guys. You aren’t helping…” Crystal clutched weakly at her temples. A weak headache was coming on, and they still couldn’t think of a suitable nickname for the Mareep who still walked beside them.
“Well, worse comes to worse you can always re-name it when you think of a good name by the time it evolves, yeah?” Kiyo pondered.
“But…just saying Mareep sounds so weird…”
“Then don’t complain and just give it a name already! Even if it is something as simple and dumb as naming it, I dunno…Light!”
“Kiyo, that was lame. Light for a Pokemon that uses its tail as a lightbulb in later evolutions?” the brunette scoffed.
“Like Zaika is any better! It’s just a messed up way of saying Scyther, that’s all!”
“Like Blaze or Umbree is more original!”
“Naming Umbree was not my choice! I adopted him!”
“Light…” the youngest muttered to herself, delving out of reality and the two elder trainer’s heated argument. “…Kiyo.”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“You know stuff about mythologies and different languages, right?”
“Sure…why do you ask?” the onyx-haired trainer blinked.
“Gimme some different language translations for light or any sun goddesses?”
“For light? I was kidding about that.”
“Just…gimme some.”
“Alright…” The fire type user fell mute for a moment, before counting off her fingers. “Well, there’s lumos, at least I’m pretty sure that’s Latin for light…then there’s many different variations of that, like lumiere…there’s Apollo in Greece, he’s the god of the sun, uh…Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun in Japanese cultures…then there’s just Hikari. That’s the true literal translation in Japanese for light.” She paused, gazing at the blonde. “…Kinda like Hikara, your last name…” she muttered.
“Hikari…” Crystal missed the muttered part of Kiyo’s comment. Instead, she turned to the Mareep. “…Hey.”
“Whut?” was the sullen response. She had found the babbling over names to be quite irritable.
“Hikari.” At the sound of the name, the dark amber eyes fixed themselves upon the new trainer. “…what do you think of that nickname?”
“Uh…” the sheep trailed off, pausing mid-step. “…what’s it mean? Anything?”
“Light.”
“Light? Sounds a tad, ah, cliché for my breed, you know…”
“…back to the drawing board, then…”
“Okay! Hikari it is!” The sudden affirmation caught Crystal off guard.
“Huh?!”
“I said I like Hikari?”
“I thought you said that it was a tad cliché though?”
“‘Light’ is, and true that it is that Hikari means that, but cliché is cliché for a reason, yeah? It’s a decent name, good in a lot of people’s eyes and thus they use it for whatever reason. Just because people use it a lot and like it a lot doesn’t mean it should be so shunned so easily. At least, that’s my belief.” Moving off her front hooves to settle on just her hind legs, she gave a simple human-esque shrug. “I like Hikari because I like it. Is that so wrong to like it because I like it and not based on others opinions?”
“Ah, no, it’s just…”
“You think me and my opinions are weird? Okay, I see how it is. I’ll travel off somewhere and you’ll never-” However, Crystal reacted too rapidly for the Mareep to comprehend the sudden withdrawal of an empty Pokeball and stuffing the poor sheep into the capsule device.
“Ah ha ha…I thought you said that I was the only one that was nice enough to you anyways!” she hissed to the wobbling Pokeball, in which case it turned limp. “Just lemme know when you want to come out, alright? But you shouldn’t be out all the time, else we might have an issue with your stamina and the like when we battle later, okay?” A small shake from the ball gave the positive answer. Soon enough it was resting upon the young trainer’s belt.
“Well, what was that about? She write essays or something?” the mentor joked.
“Ah, sorta kinda. Interesting way of thinking…what do you think of cliché things, anyways?”
“Me? Cliché is boring, and bad. It’s like stories that are serious and try to incorporate the fourth wall, or use the typical damsel-in-distress being rescued by the hero clad in shining armor who slayed the Salamence or something like that. It’s just so terribly overused and it makes me sick, to be honest.”
“And yet you still named your little Charmander Blaze,” Kara snickered.
“I was younger when I got him! That was nearly five years ago! I was a little idiot back then!”
“He’s five years old and he still isn’t a Charizard?”
“You kidding? Fire-flying type? Yeah, it’d kick so much tail and stuff to have one, but one Rock Slide from a decently powerful Pokemon and it’d be DOWN. I get the notion Blaze wants to become a Charizard like his father, but I’d rather him be his little Charmeleon self so he would actually survive the attacks…well, at least until he grows some more.”
“How much more can that crazy high level thing grow?!”
“Blaze’s father?” Crystal interjected, pondering this.
“Hmm? Oh, Apollo. That’s the name of his Charizard father.”
“Apollo?”
“Yeah, but…he never does admit to it, but he does miss him, I’m sure. He was torn when he was…murdered.”
“Murdered?!” Now Kara’s attention was back in the conversation, instead of having her head swim with the thought of stronger Pokemon than Kiyo had.
“It’s not a pretty story, and I’m sure I’d wake up with all my hair burned off if I told it without permission from Blaze anyways.”
“Who did Apollo belong to?”
“…ah, it’s not of importance.” Kiyo shook her head, something of grief growing upon her face. She swiftly gazed off to the city, and changed the subject. “Ah, Eclipse City…looks like there’s something going down there.”
“Huh?” Forgetting the fact that they were having deep conversation, crystal blue eyes swept down to the scene. Masses of people, fireworks, and Pokemon seemed to crowd in the streets, and music could be heard from the distance that separated them from the urban community.
“No way! This was great timing! The Eclipse City Festival!” Kara beamed.
“Eh?”
“Oh, come on, Kiyo! Surely you’ve heard of it!”
“Even I’ve gone to the festival with my family when I was younger, Kiyo.”
“You forget, I didn’t grow up in the Beghta Region. True that it may be that I originate from Sunburst, I spent most of my younger years in Ecruteak with my siblings before I headed out on my journey to clear out Johto and Kanto.”
“Aw, come on! This is like the most well known aspect about Beghta!” Emerald eyes shone condoningly upon the fire trainer. “Well, that and the tournament that’s held during the festival…”
“That’s right! Regional Championships!” Crystal gasped. “Shoot, and I don’t have my deck with me…!”
“Your deck? Are you telling me it’s a trading card game tournament?”
“Only the biggest in the Beghta Region! It’s always held in Eclipse City, too! And, if you’re good enough, you can win free booster packs and possibly travel money for Nationals!”
“Nationals?”
“Ah, where’s Nationals this year?” Kara pondered.
“I think they said it was going to be in Kanto, but I could be wrong…”
“Uh huh. While you two are geeking out about your TCG, I’m going to fly ahead and make sure that Team Missile hasn’t snuck into the city. No need to cause a ruckus, eh?” Kiyo rolled her eyes, and paused. Her hand pulled off an aging red orb and tossed it to Crystal, whom quickly caught it.
“Huh?!”
“He’ll be your bodyguard whilst I’m gone, Mewster.”
“Okay, this bodyguard stuff and this Mewster stuff is really getting to me.”
“Gooooode!” She chuckled, before withdrawing the metal bird and jumping onto his back. “Have fun!”
“But, Kiyo…!”
“If you want, I can go grab your deck and stuff real quick after I make sure the city is clean!”
“Kiyo, I would like that, but-!”
“Anything after but is the stuff that comes outta a Tauros!” she called back, and then was gone.
The Pokeball rolled out of Crystal’s hand and landed on the ground to call out the Pokemon upon its own accord.
“Eh?”
“Kept tight in that little thing far too long, I should be able to be outta bout like Umbree always is…” the Charmeleon grumbled as he stretched and lightly scratched his side. Noticing that his trainer wasn’t available to take out his rage on, he gazed back at Kara and Crystal. “Oh, it’s the two kids. What, am I on babysitting duty or somethin’?”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” the younger of the two dryly retorted. “Kiyo was going to check out Eclipse City for Missiles.”
“And she didn’t take me along?! What’s this bull?! I need some action! Why da heck didn’t she have Flareon or Jolteon or Umbree watch you, eh? Nooo, she favors those twerps, and I get stuck with the boring jobs so I can’t level up! Gahhh!” Blaze roared angrily, stamping his foot on the ground. “Sick of this bull-”
“Calm down, calm down…”
“Don’t go tellin’ your boss to calm down, you!” he pointed up at the girl with sharp claws, before taking a moment to gaze down at the city. “Cripes, and she left me here when a festival is going on! What is this?!”
“I know, I know!” Crystal groaned. “She is just quickly making sure that Team Missile isn’t around before she goes and gets my deck and then comes back-”
“Deck?” Blaze cut her off, raising a bald eyebrow.
“Ah, yeah. My Riptide Dance deck.”
“Like, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, that sort of deck?”
“Yeah, why?”
“There’s a tournament during the festival?”
“Yes…?”
“Oh, I’m gonna need to get to a PC then!” he boomed. “If you’s gonna be entering, I am!”
“Uh, Pokemon can’t play card games?”
“Bull! Pops taught me all about ‘em, and told me stories of how the legendaries would play Poker to decide who was assigned what job as a guardian of time or the sea and stuff!”
“Your dad? Apollo?” At the name, his confident grin somewhat faded.
“Ah, you heard from Kiyo about Pops?”
“A little. All I heard was that he was a Charizard, and he was…killed.” His fierce red skin turned a sickly orange as he turned his eyes sorrowfully to the ground.
“Pops wasn’t a Charizard. He was the Charizard. All other Charizard could never stand up to him. He was larger than life. He taught me the ways of his group, our family, saying that one day I’d be as great a Charizard as him, but…it was just terrible, when he was killed in the heat of battle. He was a proud Pokemon, yes, but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did, and yet he said to me before he left, ‘Death is just the beginning, and be sure to one day avenge me, son…’ Ha…I dunno why I’m tellin’ ya any of this, but now you know why I’m angry about Kiyo leaving me behind and not leveling me up, yeah?”
“Yeah…that’s…terrible.”
“Ha, lookit you, gettin’ all choked up over my little story, when you didn’t even know him. You’re something else, kid, I tell ya that much…”
“Ah, it’s just, ah…I often feel other’s emotions and stuff, especially if I’m friends with them…we are friends, right Blaze?”
“…Maybe. I respect ya, kid, for putting your life on the line for me, buuut not that much yet. It takes a long time. By the way? What chu just said? We calls that empathy.”
“Empathy?”
“It means you feel the same as others around ya. It’s a rare open trait for humans, I tell yeah that much. Pokemon are much more focused on empathy, especially some Pokemon like Espeon or those caught in Friend Balls. Really explains a lot with dat Skarmory kid, that’s for sure…” the lizard muttered beneath his breath.
“I’ve never heard that before.”
“That’s cause you’re only ten.”
“I’m turning eleven in February.”
“Still ten now,” Blaze coolly gazed at his talons.
“Whatever,” Crystal sighed.
“So what does our little lizard friend say, eh?” Kara evoked the English Crystal knew so well once more.
“Ah, he was just ranting about how he wanted to be a Charizard, that’s all.”
“Hey kid! No telling her about Pops, you hear? Less you want a burned butt again, then by all means, go ahead!” Blaze called up to her.
“That’s it? He say anything about Apollo?” With a simple gaze at the fire type, the gifted one slowly shook her head. “Well, that’s uneventful. You should ask him.”
“I fear for my butt.”
“Ah, that’d do it. Oh, look. Kiyo’s coming.” Eyes drifted up to the bright cerulean sky as metallic feathers once again showered down upon them.
“City’s clean,” Kiyo shouted as she slipped off of Skarmory’s back and landed into a crouch. “I think I got the right deck, by the way. Gods, kid, you have too many cards for your own good!” A blue deck box was tossed Crystal’s way, and she swiftly caught it.
“Careful! There’s some difficult to get cards in this deck!”
“Uh huh. Spare me. How’d you get five binders filled with cards, anyways? You got an endless allowance or something?”
“No, Dad would always bring home booster boxes when he came back from a trip from the different places he’s traveled.”
“Booster boxes! Lucky!” Kara whined. “Those things cost so much! I’m lucky if I got one pack of cards every two or three months!”
“Dad is an archaeologist, and I guess a lot of the guys he travels with are into it anyways. He never did get into it, but when the guys let him borrow a deck, he was a professional at it,” Crystal beamed. “He’d always win enough money from them to buy the packs. I would split the box with my siblings, but Wizar wasn’t into it, Ryouo would always try and sell his cards, and Kira would let Asa get to them if they weren’t kept in my binders. Eventually they just didn’t care, and I got all the boosters.”
“I say it again- lucky.”
“I saw some Japanese cards there, too…your father went to Japan?” Kiyo interrogated.
“Yeah, there’s some weird ruins in the area, I guess? It was definitely cool to see all the different artworks from there and stuff.”
“How much do the cards go for anyways?”
“Some are really rare. I don’t have that many…”
“Like?”
“Well, I do have the Shining Magikarp from a booster box my father got me when he was in Johto.”
“Shining Magikarp?! No way.”
“First edition,” Mewster beamed.
“WHAT?! THAT THING GOES FOR OVER FIFTY GRAND ALONE! How the heck you get that thing?!” Kara shook Crystal vigorously.
“Kara, you’re gonna snap the poor girl’s neck and kill her before her third badge.”
“Oy! I dunno! It was in a first edition booster! I dunno, I dunno!”
“If that isn’t rare, what the heck do you run in your deck?! First edition Charizard from Kanto?! Three Time-Space Distortion?! Four Victory Medals?!”
“No! Feraligatr and Blastoise! Gah!”
“Blastigatr? Like, the Waterlog Blastoise and the Energy Cyclone Feraligatr?”
“With some Absol thrown in, yeah.”
“How many Energy do you run?”
“Twenty-eight on the dot-”
“Twenty-eight?! What, do you have like, no trainers or supporters in your deck?”
“I have some Roseanne’s Research, Bebe’s Search, Night Maintenance, Rare Candy, four Felicity’s…that’s all I need, really.”
“Kid, I hate to break it to you, but you’re insaaaaaane. Like, a lot. I knew that before, but this just takes the cake.”
“What takes the cake is the geekiness level here,” Kiyo drawled, rolling her mismatched eyes. “Come on, take your talk to the city.”
“Oh, and Kiyo?”
“Mmmm?”
“Blaze said he wanted his deck from your PC.”
“Oh, now you gotta be…” she groaned, gazing at the adamant fire type. “Blaze, you can’t seriously have been sneaking people card games behind my back again…”
“Tell messy-hair here that I’s playing in that tournament, no matter what she says against it,” the Charmeleon mercilessly ordered.
“I really think he wants to participate in that tournament, Kiyo.”
“He’s a Pokemon, though. It’s not like he can read the cards and know the effects of attacks and what they do anyways. He’s too stupid.”
“She talking smoke about me? Eh? I swear, it feels like it, and none of ya fluff, kid!” he growled, beady teal-blue eyes locking onto pitiful Crystal.
“She said that, uh…”
“Tell me, less you feel my burning wrath.”
“She said that you couldn’t read the trading cards, and yeah.”
“And yeah. There’s more.”
“No, there isn’t-”
“Kid. You’re a terrible, terrible liar. I know lies when I smell ‘em.” Hearing that phrase for the third time now, the gifted one knew to practice up on her skills for when it’d be critical to tell a lie to escape a situation alive.
“She, uh….she called you…oh gods, don’t hurt the messenger, but she called you…stupid?” she squeaked out, and the flame crackling and burning igneous colors upon the tip of his tail shot up to the sky in rage.
“She WHAT?!” Blaze whipped around, heat shimmering off his body. “Why you little…! Even Pops wasn’t that disrespectful to one of the family!”
“Er, Blaze…?” Kiyo tugged lightly at her long-sleeved shirt’s collar, before eyes fell upon Crystal. “…You told him I called him an idiot, didn’t you.”
“He was gonna eat me alive if I didn’t!”
“Oh, great. You really need to learn to get to be a better liar. Ah well, best take the brunt of the aggression for his comment now…” she sighed, and cast aside her supply bag and her coat. For the first time, Crystal could really notice her feminine like features upon her body noticeably. The coat served as a true blind, that was for sure, or so the girl decided.
“Crystal, sooomething tells me we need to be far away from this when he explodes with his anger,” Kara meeped, backing away slowly.
“Yeah…”
“Go on to the city. I’ll be shortly along,” Kiyo coldly muttered. “Oh, and Crystal…” The tone of her voice was nothing less than pure wrath.
“Yes…?”
“You and I are training after we get outta the city and you’ve had your fun. Enjoy your last few days of freedom.”
“Yes, mistress…” Mewster clung onto Kara, fearing for her life, as the two scuttled away.
Flames soon engulfed the nearby trees, only to be dampened shortly thereafter with massive amounts of water.
The two trainers were half-way to the city when Blaze tottered up, swiping his hands together in a ‘job-well-finished’ manner.
“Ah, I feel much better about myself…now, kid.” Said ‘kid’ turned to face the flare Pokemon.
“Yeah?” She was shocked a moment later when a Pokeball flew into her hands- the one the Charmeleon called home. “Huh?”
“I’ve had enough of dat trainer for a while, so you’ll have to make do till she says her apologies.”
“I’ll have to make do…?”
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, s’not like there’ll be any Missile Grunts for me to battle, but yeah…I need to cool my head. That, and best start teachin’ yah how to lie better. Terrible, I says.”
“Oogh. Why does everyone have to say that…?” the blonde groaned.
“Because, you’re…ha, naw. Not like you’d get what I’d call ya, anyways,” he softly chuckled.
“Tell me anyways?”
“Nah, I’ll taunt ya till then. In the mean time, get me to the Center so I can hack into Kiyo’s computer system and grab my deck, yeah?”
“Alright…man, I’ve heard of role reversals, but this is ridiculous…” the girl groaned, switching back to English.
“Sooo he kill Kiyo or something and decide to be handed over to you?”
“She’s not dead, but pretty much on the dot otherwise…”
“And what about a role reversal?”
“He’s ordering me around.”
“Order him around. He’s the Pokemon.”
“A strong Pokemon that’d kick my can if I tried to.”
“Ahhh, right. You probably wouldn’t have enough badges to tame him and keep him under control.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, come on, Crystal…” Kara swatted her hand at said child. “More badges shows the sweat and hard work of your Pokemon, and how much tolerance it takes to keep them under the leash so that you can earn the badge in the first place. The more you have, the higher leveled the Pokemon you can tame, even if they don’t belong to you.”
“So how many would I need to get Blaze to obey me, you think?”
“What’s his level?”
“Uhh…I’ll check, if my Pokegear works…” she muttered, clicking and rotating the buttons and dials. She staggered back as she saw the level.
“What?”
“…Fifty-one.”
“You gotta be kidding.”
“No. That’s what it says. Fifty-amazing-one.”
“You’d need a ton of badges, like, maybe six, to control that thing then…man! That’s crazy!” Kara clutched her head. “Mind-boggling!”
“Hurry up, you Slowpokes,” Blaze interjected, waving a claw around. “We might miss the first round if we’re not quick to register…”
“Alright, we’re coming…” Crystal called to the creature as she increased her pace, though she had to wonder: just how did Kiyo get her Pokemon to such monstrous high levels?
- Status