Crashing the Party
Tony: Grovyle, Corphish, Hariyama, Swablu
"Grovyle, faster!"
The two of us narrowly escape the hoard of Slugma whose territory we trespassed. The Fiery Path is filled with merciless fire-types, the bane of Grovyle's existence.
Finally, the two of us step out of the path and onto the route we're supposed to be on. South, the desert we saw at the beginning comes to an end. North, our location awaits.
Grovyle and I speed our way out of the route and come to a new location; one filled with ashes. People grab bags and fill them up with these ashes. I've seen them on TV.
One comes up to me and says, "Would you like to collect ashes for prizes?"
I respond, but he does not like my rejection—and throws an ash ball at me. Grovyle threatens the boy with its blades, and he backs off. We keep moving, but to no avail. Grovyle and I are trudging through the thick ashes on the ground. Grovyle's doing the best it can with the egg in its arms; he's trying to keep it warm and clean.
The blue egg seems to move occasionally; it may be close to hatching. I'm excited to see what Pokémon it could be, but I don't mind nevertheless. A Pokémon from my mom is a gift, no matter what. It could be a Phione egg, or a Magikarp. Dratini, or Pidgey. By the coloration of this egg, I'm not sure what Pokémon it could be.
After over an hour of struggling through the ashy grass, Grovyle and I finally make it to Fallarbor Town. I put my bike on the rack and check in to get a Pokémon Center room. I'm not sure when I'll use it, though. As I exit, Grovyle looks at the egg in confusion. I'm wondering about it too…
I decide to take a much-needed break. I send out Corphish, Hariyama, and Swablu. Man, my team is a cool-looking bunch. The next gym specializes in fire-types, so Corphish should fare well.
"Corphish, Crabhammer! Swablu, Hyper Voice! Hariyama, Secret Power! Grovyle, Leaf Blade!"
My Pokémon work hard to please me, and in return I give them all a wonderful lunch. Nothing could ruin this day.
. . .
"Crap."
Sean turns his bike the other way upon seeing the desert. Now he has to go all the way Tony went without meeting up with him. He turns around and head toward the Fiery Path.
From there, he bikes in and meets an injured Torkoal. He heals it, and then it decides to come along with him. That's just one more Pokémon in Sean's possession. From there, he exits the Fiery Path.
. . .
Alex: Dewott, Houndoom, Beautifly, Budew
Combusken and Shiftry are left standing, and my two are kneeling weak on the ground.
"Hang in there, guys!" I chirp, but the judges stare angrily at me. This is a repeat of the first contest I was in.
"I guess I'm done…" I sigh, and grab for the Pokéballs in my bag.
"Too bad, little girl. I'm almost done with my ribbons now!" Willis cheers. Shut up.
"It looks like Willis has won this match!" Vivian cheers, and the crowd has mixed views.
"Don't count your chickens just yet," Mr. Contesta gasps, looking back at the Pokémon.
I whirl around with my Pokéballs to see Houndoom and Budew standing tall, with Combusken and Shiftry falling over. It looks like Willis' Pokémon were too tired to go on, but mine regained strength. I look back at Willis, who falls to his knees.
"Wow, folks! It appears that Alex will be moving on to the semifinals!"
The crowd roars in excitement at the change in events, and I hug Budew and Houndoom. Immediately I go to heal my Pokémon, and then wait in the Coordinator Waiting Room to see the semifinal matchups. The matchups are in! Anne and I are on different matchups, so I'm safe from being eliminated too early.
My battle is with this other girl, and she has a Mudkip and a Chikorita. Beautifly and Dewott easily take them out with a few hits, so I automatically make it through to the finals within about two minutes. The worst part is: that hotshot trainer also made it into the finals.
. . .
"Now the final battle in the Verdanturf Contest is about to take place! This is a single battle, no substitutions, and only a fair game! Are you ready, coordinators?!" Vivian shouts enthusiastically.
"Easy as cake," Anne laughs.
"I don't like cake," I frown.
Anne sends out her Cherrim as I decide to use my Budew. Surely grass-on-grass battles should be decently appealing? Grass-types do have a beautiful sense to them.
"Cherrim, use Sunny Day!"
Suddenly, the ugly purple Pokémon belonging to Anne creates intense sunlight radiate from the sky above the dome. Its form changes from this to a beautiful pink flower Pokémon.
"So beautiful," I gasp.
"Cherrim, now use Petal Dance!"
A stream of pink petals slams into Budew, and while it did hardly an damage at all, Petal Dance managed to gain a lot of fans among the crowd.
"Budew, use Sleep Powder!"
Budew sprinkles a little green powder into the air, and Cherrim falls asleep. Slowly but surely, the sunlight is fading.
"SolarBeam!"
Budew absorbs the sunlight and shoots a beam of energy from its bud to the enemy. However, it seemed to not do much.
"What gives?" I ask.
"Flower Gift, it's ability, raises its Attack and Special Defense stats in the sunlight," Anne explains.
"Now, Cherrim, Weather Ball!"
Cherrim snaps awake and emits a gray ball from its petals. As the orb comes in contact with the sunlight, it turns into an orange attack and hits Budew super hard.
"Budew, use Synthesis!"
Budew heals itself of its damage as the sunlight prevails.
"Cherrim, use Petal Dance!"
"SolarBeam through the attack!"
The two attacks smash together and cancel one another out. The sunlight fades, and the pretty pink petals go back to the purple, overcast Pokémon that looks somewhat gross.
"Now finish it off with a powerful SolarBeam!"
Budew takes time to charge up.
"Sunny Day!"
Cherrim reverts back to its previous form and begins dancing around.
Budew rapidly launches several SolarBeam attacks, and eventual Cherrim falls over exhausted.
"Cherrim has fainted; so Budew and Alex have won the Verdanturf Contest! Congratulations!" Vivian Meridian squeals.
. . .
Finally I got my second ribbon out of the way. Despite what I had heard earlier, the Verdanturf Ribbon is orange-ish. Whatever. I return my Pokémon, get Dewott and the egg, and find Terra.
Soon enough, the requested Magma Helicopter comes. I had called to get an airlift to Fallarbor Town. We'll be there soon enough.
Before Terra and I were allowed on the helicopter, we had to go chance into our Magma uniforms. I've forgotten how they fit; they're kind of hot with all of the layers and what not.
. . .
Tony: Grovyle, Corphish, Hariyama, Swablu
I bike with Grovyle and the egg past Fallarbor Town. We'll come back later. Right now I'm just focused on what's ahead; my next gym badge. Soon enough, we come upon a house in the woods.
"Hi, I'm Lanette. I build the PC Storage Center. Wanna see how it works?"
All I did was step in…and now this girl wants me to see her computer work? Fine by me. I look over her shoulder and watch her. She puts a Pokéball on this computer, and it is analyzed and zapped into the database itself.
"That's very cool!" I admire.
"Well, well, Aqua Boy. You're pretty cool for a bad guy," she smiles.
I have my Aqua uniform on!? No, she saw the patch.
"I have nothing else in life…anyways, what are you doing out here in the first place?"
"Well I was hiding from my adoring fans, but I do have the occasional drop-in from strangers. I give them gifts to have them leave. Do you want one?" she asks slyly. Now this is getting kind of creepy. I'm a teenager, not thirty.
"Uh, sure," I say.
She gets two boxes, one with a Pokéball in it and the other with a Pokédoll in it. She rapidly switches them over and over again.
"Don't pick the one on the right," she smiles.
"Uh, okay," I shrug and pick the one on the left. Grovyle leans against the doorway with the egg, and stares outside at my bike.
"No! You were supposed to pick the right one! Curiosity, kid! Dang it, now I'm going to have to find another one to hide," she frowns.
I open the box to find this…purple Pokéball with pink rims on the top. What is this?
"What is this thing?" I ask.
"That's a very special Pokéball. Only use it when you know it's the right time. That Pokéball…never fails at catching a Pokémon," Lanette explains.
In her hasty shamefulness, Lanette pushes me out of her house and says to never come back again. I put the ball in my pocket, and Grovyle, the egg, and I move on.
Eventually, we hear a voice from behind a bush. Whoever it was, I figure out what s/he wants—there's a giant cave right in front of me.
"Hey, Tony!" a voice calls for me.
"Who's that?"
"Come here, kid!"
It's Matt! Aqua Admin Matt can be seen hiding behind a bush, staring into the cave.
"Are you trying to get us caught or something?"
"Wh-What?!"
"Team Magma is right over there; they're searching for the same thing we are. That cave, that is known as Meteor Falls. That cave has one of the two things we're looking for…"
"And those things are?"
. . .
Alex: Dewott, Houndoom, Beautifly, Budew
The helicopter begins sputtering sparks and making strange noises once we went over this mountain.
"What's going on?" I ask loudly, so the helicopter pilot can hear me.
"Turbulence I guess," he mumbles. The kid is almost as old as I am.
Suddenly, a large BOOM! can be heard from the blades above…and we start falling uncontrollably, plummeting to the earth! Fiery pieces of the blades begin to break off the top, creating fireballs. Large pieces of metal begin to scrape off the helicopter's exterior.
"We're gonna die!" Terra screams.
Dewott grips the egg tightly. I grip Dewott tightly. Terra cowers in the corner.
"What are we gonna do?!" the pilot screams as he runs to us.
"I don't know!" I scream.
Wait…if the pilot is in here…then who's…
"GET BACK IN YOUR ROOM!"
It's too late, because in a few seconds, I can see the ground coming in fast…no, we're coming down fast. Anyway, we have about five seconds before the helicopter explodes.
"Find something to grab!" Terra screams.
Four.
"I don't know what to do!" the kid whines.
Three.
"Dewott?!"
Two.
I thrust myself, Dewott, and the egg out of the side of the helicopter. Terra does the same, but on the opposite side. As we jump out, the power of the explosion rockets us far from the wreckage.
DDDOOOOOOMMMM!
From an aerial view, you can see Dewott lying down, still holding the unscathed egg. Beside of Dewott, I am struggling between consciousness…or maybe it's death.
Whatever it is, I see the silhouette of a person standing over me.
"You're going to be okay," the voice says. It sounds feminine.
"Who…"
"I'm Courtney, Magma Admin. I'll have you patched up in a jiffy. As for you, just lie there and don't move. You have a deep cut in your leg, but you should make it. I'll go get the medical bag. You're lucky you landed on this sand by the cave," the shape tells me.
"Thank…you…"
"Dewott!"
It sounds like Dewott is fine, and I'm assuming by its happy nature that the egg is too.
"Dewott…we're never flying again…"
"Wott…"
. . .
Terra wakes up from her journey to the earth's surface to two faces—Tony and an Aqua Admin.
"What do we do with her?" Tony asks.
"Well, she can't know we're here…so we'll have to hold her hostage. It might help get information," the voice replies.
"We can't do that! I know this girl—she's a good person!"
"Maybe, but we can't leave her here; she's from Team Magma. Besides, we can't let her tell her buddies where we are!"
"But…"
"I'll get the cuffs," the Admin says.
"Tony…what happened?" Terra asks.
"From the sky, it looked like you were flung from a helicopter once its propeller blades messed up. It looked like…your blades were set on fire."
The other person walks up, rolls Terra on her stomach, and cuffs her.
"Take her away, Grunts!" he yells.
Two Aqua Grunts come and pick me up, and then they drag me away to their private area. Blades? Set on fire? Who would do such a thing?
Terra is sent to the temporary Aqua Hideout and has her mouth duct-taped. Could this get any worse?!
. . .
Willis laughs as he watches the helicopter fall from the sky. He pets Combusken and continues wheezing deeply.
"Good Fire Blast, Combusken. You're going to be great in the next contest," he smiles.
He turns his attention back to the plummeting helicopter.
"That's what you get for cheating, girls! Safe trip! Have a nice fall!"
And with that, he plops at the picnic table and enjoys a nice meal with his Combusken and Shiftry. He still thinks she's hot.
. . .
Tony: Grovyle, Corphish, Hariyama, Swablu
"Anyways," Matt continues, "we're after this meteorite from Meteor Falls. As the name suggests, it is rumored to have meteors crash in the cave all the time. From there, we use the meteorite to power the machine we will be using…to make Mt. Chimney, an active volcano, dormant! Then land can no longer expand; for the seas will swallow up all but a tiny portion for Team Aqua to thrive on. Maybe we'll keep Petalburg City, or Slateport City, and rename it Aqua City!"
So that's the main plan so far. While it sounds completely irrational, I could imagine just one city made for those who supported the aquatic views. However…that means many innocent people would lose their homes/lives. While it may seem crazy, yet cool, it's still crazy. Oh well, I did sign up for this.
"Once we get near Mt. Chimney, you will temporarily live in a new Aqua Hideout base, so you don't have to reserve rooms in Little Ms. Cheery's Nursery," he feels through his slick hair.
"Well shouldn't we get the meteorite now, then?"
"Oh, right!"
. . .
Sean bikes past Fallarbor Town, but he eventually gets lost. He even begins riding so fast that he crashes down a hill, landing in a giant bush.
"Ow, I think I pulled something," he frowns, and then starts to pick himself up.
"Here, let me help with that," a voice whispers.
Sean whirls around to see a Magma Admin looking him in the face.
"Well, well, well! Looks like we have an eavesdropper from Team Aqua. You'll be the first prisoner of many in our humble abode," Tabitha smiles, and knocks Sean to the floor and cuffs him.
Tabitha gets his walkie talkie and contacts Maxie.
"We've caught an Aqua spy, so we might want to start heading in soon. The stalemate can end."
"Move in, then. Groudon's waiting for us!"
"Yessir!"
"Oh, and Tabitha? Don't disappoint me. I want the meteorite
and the professor."
. . .
Alex: Dewott, Houndoom, Beautifly, Budew
I hear a pair of feet coming in the cave; it's Courtney again.
"Here, drink this. I'll patch up your leg," she smiles. Her long, black hair is hidden by her Magma costume.
I drink something, but I don't care what it is. Suddenly, two more pairs of feet scamper into the caves.
"What was that?" I ask.
"I'll check it out," she replies.
A few seconds later I hear noises from the other side of me.
"Matt, get out of this cave! It belongs to Team Magma; not Aqua!"
"I don't see your name on it," one of the newcomers says.
"I'll write it down right now!" she scampers for a pen to engrave in the rocks.
"Too late; look right here," he points to his name and Team Aqua already carved into the rocks.
"Let's stop the games and settle this like real Pokémon Trainers!"
"With a battle? Please, girl, you don't know how to battle!"
Courtney's Flareon and Typhlosion go up against Matt's Feraligatr and Vaporeon. They battle it out, while the other set of footsteps comes up to me.
"What happened?!" Tony yelps.
"Tony?! Is that you?" I struggle, but manage to sit up. Tony pulls me over to lean against the wall of Meteor Falls.
"Airplane crash! Of course!" he gasps.
Grovyle is holding his egg just as Dewott is holding mine.
"We have one of your Aqua Grunts held captive; we found him biking toward the cave shortly after the explosion," Courtney says.
"We have one of your Magma Grunts from the explosion," Matt counters back.
"Sean!" Tony realizes.
"And Terra, too!" I groan.
"Can you get on your feet?" Tony asks, and he helps me raise myself up.
"Yeah, I think so. Courtney patched me up, so I can walk now. I was bleeding out, though," I manage.
Suddenly a scientist guy with a medium-sized rock walks up, sees us, and runs back.
"That was Professor Cozmo!" Tony exclaims. I guess Matt told him everything.
Matt and Courtney both are still feuding; so they did not see anything of the professor. Quietly, Tony and I run towards the man to go and help him. I only make a slow jog.
We find him and tell him that we're here to help him with the meteorite.
"How do I know that you guys don't want to take it and use it for evil?"
"We're not," Tony glances at me, "like the others."
"Yeah," I assure.
"Well…okay. But only because you two are kids and not scary adults. Anyway, let's get out through the back entrance.
As we begin running back, we skip down ledges and hop over rocks. Grovyle and Dewott follow behind with the eggs Tony's mom gave us. Finally, the view of the entrance is in view.
But then…
. . .
Shelly grabs a hold of the handle of the TNT explosives. She has them put all in the other entrance, so that way Professor Cozmo can't escape.
"Surely he won't escape us too easily," she smiles, and then pushes down on the handle.
. . .
Tony: Grovyle, Corphish, Hariyama, Swablu
Suddenly, a dozen red lights begin blinking above us; on the ceiling.
"Those look like…" I begin.
"Explosives!" Alex finishes.
We run faster (Alex jogs as quickly as she can) to beat the bombs and get out alive. However, they explode right above us.
"Everybody get down! Now!" the professor cries.
Rocks being crumbling from the ceiling, and then giant boulders begin crashing down. One narrowly dodges my left shoulder, and we all run to the wall and hide. Grovyle and Dewott protect the eggs.
"Go, Corphish! Use your new move, Protect!" I scream, thrusting the Pokéball from my belt and letting my Ruffian Pokémon out.
"Phish!"
Corphish immediately produces a green force-field that protects us from the falling boulders. Although it's getting tired, my Corphish has to keep the barrier up until the rockslide subsides.
"Now what are we going to do? Corphish can't keep us alive forever…" Alex panics.
"Well, I guess we're just going to suffocate," the scientist frowns.
I look at the both of them, panicking. Our Pokémon are still holding the close-to-hatching eggs, but Dewott is upset. Grovyle is casually leaning on the rock with the twig in its mouth.
"You know what to do, don't you, Grovyle?" I ask.
"Gro?"
"Guys, I have a plan."
"Well we're not going anywhere; what is it?" the scientist urges me to explain.
"Alex, does your Dewott still know Icy Wind?"
"Yes?"
"Perfect."
), 