It's good to know that the book just keeps getting better! Oh boy, the finale is what I'm nervous about writing. I really want it to make sense, be exciting, and give a sense of completeness. I'm taking a few days break to just recharge after everything that's been going on, so I might not get it up until the end of the week.
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Shiny Expert:Xander
- Thread starter Xman96
- Start date
It's good to know that the book just keeps getting better! Oh boy, the finale is what I'm nervous about writing. I really want it to make sense, be exciting, and give a sense of completeness. I'm taking a few days break to just recharge after everything that's been going on, so I might not get it up until the end of the week.
Displeased Owl
NCTH Leader
Man I feel you, I really need to start the next bit of Journeymen, maybe some art too. Been very biusy the past few weeks
Well, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get out a new chapter, but I've felt kinda burnt out this week with stuff that is going on in Minot (which is where I live). To make matters worse, I'm leaving on vacation, and where I'm going they don't have Wifi! Oh well, I'll still have my computer, and hope to have at least two chapters by the time I come back.
Okay, so here's the finale. I'm gonna be on the safe side and rate it PG-13 for some swearing.
As Xander stood and looked at the sight ahead of him, he was in shock. If there was such thing as an out of body experience, that’s what was happening to him right now. He saw everything as if he were in the air, he saw himself, Wes, Rui, Rowan, and the brave trainers that stood by him and were looking to him for orders. *We can’t win this. Not with the aerial force, and Gonzap’s men on the ground. It was bleak before, but now…now there’s no hope.*
*Well, this is a side that I’ve never seen of you before.* It was Latias projecting her thoughts, and Xander, for the first time, noticed that she was right beside him.
“What are you doing here?”
*What are you talking about? I’m showing you what I see.*
“Wait, what?”
*I can show other beings what I see, that is, if I choose to.*
“Oh, so that’s what’s happening.”
*Yes, I thought that you needed to see the battle field from above, and to see what the hospital is blocking.*
All of a sudden, Xander’s vision turned a full 180 degrees, and he was looking at a flock of pokemon that was just a bit smaller than the aerial pokemon that supported Gonzap, “Please tell me that they’re on our side.”
*They are. Haven’t you wondered where Raj has been?*
To be honest, Xander hadn’t. He had been too busy recovering and worrying about
Team Snagem to think about what had happened to Raj. “Uh, I guess I just kinda figured he was at Snowpoint City.”
*He was, but he heard about what was happening here, and brought some trainers to help.*
Xander’s spirits rose at this point, “We can do this, can’t we?”
Latias smiled, *Yes, but only if we get to the battle right now. I’ve taken too much of your time to show you this. Now, it’s up to us.*
Xander nodded, and suddenly was seeing through his own eyes again. *That has to be one of the most disorienting experiences ever.* He turned to his group and gave them the good news. Just as he finished, the trainers cleared the Hospital, and charged straight for the enemy. Xander took the cue, and let his pokemon out. Scrafty, Braviary, Starmie, Volcarona, and Gorebyss all came out of their poke balls. The other trainers did the same. After Raj’s men engaged the aerial pokemon, Xander knew that it was time, “Charge!” He yelled, and everyone and their pokemon followed. “You guys,” he pointed at his pokemon, “Stay by me, I’m going to need you for when I encounter Gonzap.” A lot of things were uncertain about this battle, but one thing that Xander was sure of, is that he would battle Gonzap, and he would get Latios and Salamence back.
The battles were fierce. Trainers form both sides had to dodge stray attacks that came from pokemon all around them. If Xander had to pick one word to describe it, it would have to be chaos. This was something that he was unprepared for. He hadn’t been part of the Team Rocket or Weather Trio incident. Nor had he partaken in the battle against Team Galactic. He had battled Team Plasma a bit, but an elite trainer named Cole had really won that war. Full scale battle such as this, was something that he had never dreamed he would experience. At a certain point, adrenaline simply took over his, and his pokemon’s, actions. He would dodge, give out orders, and run, all without thinking. He could tell that his pokemon were doing the same thing, as they weren’t always waiting for his commands, and simply acted on instinct.
As Xander and his pokemon waded through the battle, he was able to take down some grunts himself. Although he was almost flattened by a falling Flygon, he simply moved on. He could see Gonzap ahead, and he made a mad dash for the large man. When he came within fifteen feet of Gonzap, the man held up a hand, and suddenly, all of the grunts converged on Xander. “Gonzap you bastard! You can’t take me on by yourself, so you’ll have your men take me out instead?!”
“What’s the point of honor, if you know you can win without it? I know that you do have a chance to beat me, and I don’t wanna take that chance. All right boys, first one to take him out will get-“He was cut off by a stray Acid Spray and his men fell back over each other to get out of the way. The attack had created a ring around Xander and Gonzap that, at its diameter was about twenty feet. Xander looked up and saw Raj and Donnie. Raj gave him a thumbs up and then said something to Mr. Socky, who Raj was riding on. Out of the Hydreigon’s mouth came a stream of fire that hit the ring of acid. All at once, the ground that was hit burst into flames, and there was a ring of fire surrounding Xander and Gonzap. “Hm, looks like I’ll have to beat you myself.”
“Pride comes before folly, Gonzap, remember that as I haul you off to jail.”
“Time to send your butt crying back to mommy, go Drapion!” The big, four legged, purple pokemon materialized and just stared at Xander.
Xander recalled all of his pokemon except for Volcarona, “Alright Volcarona, it’s time for your baptism by fire, literally! Use Quiver Dance!” Volcarona began flying around in a figure eight pattern, glowing all the while. Speeding up, and flowing a bright red, that beautifully contrasted its yellow wings.
“Drapion, don’t let it finish, use Cross Poison!” Drapion moved swiftly, and struck Volcarona with glowing, crossed pincers.
Volcarona made a hissing sound, “Fly up and over to the other side of the fire wall, then use Fiery Dance.” In a flash, thanks to Quiver Dance, Volcarona was on the other side of the fire wall, and sent a blast of heat and wind, that was far more intense than normal thanks to the wall of fire.
Drapion was deceptively fast, and was only grazed by the attack, but that was just enough to give him a nasty burn. “Forget it Drapion, use Earthquake!” Despite the burn on his leg, he dug them into the soft, earthy, soil beneath him, and sent a shockwave through the ground with his arms. Volcarona, though it does hover, cannot fly high enough to avoid attacks such as Earthquake, and he took the full brunt of the attack. He fell to the ground with a thud, and landed on its wings. “Alright Drapion, finish it with Night Slash!”
Just as Drapion was going in for the finishing blow, Xander pulled out a poke ball, “Volcarona, return!” The all too familiar red beam came out of the sphere and encased Volcarona in the same colored light, as it disappeared. “You’ll be able to help later, just not now.” Xander grabbed another poke ball from his belt and threw it, and out came his Gorebyss. The fire danced off of her lovely golden skin. She carefully steadied herself using her back fin. “Gorebyss, I need you to win this fight! Use Shell Smash.” Gorebyss simply fell forward with an extra push from her tail fin, and crushed her shells, which quickly grew back.
Gonzap scratched his bald head, “What the hell was that supposed to do? If you wanna waste your time beating yourself up, all the better. Drapion, use Swords Dance!” Drapion’s claws began to glow, and it made a couple of criss-crossing motions in front of itself, and then began to glow a fierce purple.
“We might be in trouble Gorebyss, Baton Pass!” Gorebyss began to glow, and kept glowing so the light was blinding. Then, all at once, the light dissipated and she was gone. Xander checked her poke ball to make sure that she was actually there, and she was. Xander sent out one of his oldest friends, Starmie.
The star like pokemon appeared, and was ready for battle. “Starmie, you’ve helped me with many battles, and now is the most important battle yet.” Starmie shook in recognition, and then began glowing the same brilliant white as Gorebyss, and to Xander’s shock, stayed that way.”
“Drapion, take out that sea star with Night Slash!” Gonzap barked.
“Starmie, meet Drapion half way with Rapid Spin!” Starmie began to float and spin so fast that it looked like a solid disc. The two glowing pokemon charged at each other, and met at the center of the circle. There was a tremendous explosion. Both Xander’s and Gonzap’s eyes teared up because of the smoke, and Xander coughed so hard he wondered if it was possible to cough a lung up. After the smoke cleared, both pokemon were still standing, but neither was glowing. At the same time, both pokemon fell over, and were recalled. *Damn it! Without all of my pokemon, I’m not sure I can win this.* “Scrafty, you’re up!” Scrafty looked around sleepily. *Hmm, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring Scrafty into this life or death situation…*
Xander’s train of thought was broken when he saw Gonzap send out a Nidoking. “Nidoking, let’s send this dim witted pokemon packing, use Ice Beam!”
Nidoking began charging the chilly beam, and then, Xander had an idea, “Scrafty, use Dragon Dance to dodge!” That woke Scrafty right up. One thing about Scrafty was, he didn’t really care what he was doing, as long as he could break dance while doing it. However, if he couldn’t break dance, he wouldn’t budge. Xander learned how to get past this, and found out that he could actually use it to their advantage because of the odd way Scrafty does everything.
Scrafty began to glow varying shades of red, black, and blue. As Nidoking sent out multiple Ice Beams, Scrafty got to work. He span on his hands, head, and just about every other part of his body to dodge them. “Alright Scrafty, close in, and use Crunch.” He kept dodging, spinning, and weaving his way towards Nidoking, becoming faster every second. By the time Scrafty got within range to attack Nidoking, he had been backed close to the wall of fire. Scrafty then leapt forward and bit directly onto Nidoking’s head, and jumped off as quickly as before. Nidoking howled out in pain, and stumbled back through the wall of fire. That took him out of the fight, and Gonzap looked frustrated.
“Damn you Xander! No matter, there’s no way that you could possibly hurt your own partner,” And with that last word he threw out the master ball that Xander had seen so many weeks before. Out came his old friend, and partner, Salamence. Something wasn’t right though, Salamence had pitch black eyes. “Ah, what the hell, let’s go all out, Latios, let’s finish this punk,” Gonzap also pitched the second master ball that he had, and out came Latios. It had the same pitch black, almost void-like eyes that Salamence had.
“Salamence…” Was all Xander could say. The shock of seeing Salamence like this was almost too much for him. In his shock, he had almost forgotten his ace in the hole. Xander had made a few modifications of his own to the illegal device. His thought was that if he ever got caught with it he would go to jail, modifying it so that any pokemon caught with it didn’t count against his six that he could have with him wouldn’t make much of a difference. He realized that there was only one problem, he only had one master ball, but which should he ensure a catch with? It would have to be Salamence, because he would actually listen to Xander. “Gonzap, what an underhanded stunt to pull. Alright, let’s do this, master-what?” All of a sudden there was a whoosh of air and Latias appeared in the middle of the fight.
*Brother, snap out of it, it’s me, Latias,* There was so much sorrow in her thoughts that it was almost too much for Xander to bear.
Gonzap just smirked, “Don’t waste your energy. We perfected the mind control technology. They can’t hear a word ya say.” Gonzap reached into his back pocket and pulled out another master ball. Xander had come to hate the sight of those things. “Now to complete the pair!” He sent the master ball hurdling towards Latias, who was frozen with fear. Fear for her brother, fear for Salamence, and fear for herself.
“Damn it! Go master ball!” Xander’s Snag Machine began to flow a bright yellow, and he sent the ultimate poke ball directly towards Latias. Xander’s ball, because he was closer to Latias, hit her in the back and she disappeared. The, now full, master ball returned to Xander and he looked at it. *This isn’t what I wanted, but I have no choice,* Gonzap’s master ball continued past its intended point, and went right through the wall of fire that was still raging. Xander sent out Latias, who looked confused.
*What happened?*
“Sorry, but I had to capture you, and now I need your help to free those two!” Xander pointed at the two shiny dragons on the other side of the field.
*Sounds good. I was going to help you anyway.*
Gonzap was furious now, and his eyebrows were shaking visibly, “You’ll pay for this! Salamence, Earthquake, and Latios, use Draco Meteor…on your sister.”
“Gonzap, you’re heartless, and for that, you’ll rot in jail. Latias, dodge it, and use Calm Mind. Scrafty, dodge the Earthquake, and strike Salamence with Dragon Claw!” They both sprang into action. Scrafty began his routine, but was thrown off by the tremors, and barely made the leap up to Salamence.
“Salamence, finish off that street dancer with your own Dragon Claw!” Salamence’s front right claws were surrounded in bluish, draconic energy, and he met Scrafty’s own fist head on. The collision of so much energy cause an explosion and Scrafty fell from the thick black smoke, and hit the ground with a thud.
While the battle between Scrafty and Salamence was going on, Latias was facing off against her own brother, and it broke her heart. *Brother, I know this’ll hurt you, but it’s necessary to free you.* He didn’t respond in the slightest. Latios robotically moved his hands in front of his chest, and began forming a redish, orange sphere. Latias knew that she didn’t have much time, so she quieted her mind, and cleared her head of all thoughts. While in this meditative state, she caught a glimpse of the future, and exactly where all of the meteors would land. She also saw where he would be open to attack directly after the Draco Meteor. Latias came out of this meditative state just as Latios sent the sphere of energy up to the sky. All of a sudden, the sphere exploded and sent dozens of meteors down to the surface.
Latias knew exactly where to go. She dodged, and weaved, in an almost unnatural accuracy. Xander and Gonzap had to duck and dodge themselves, to get away from the ensuing explosions. Scrafty fell right into one of them, and was barely
breathing. “Scrafty return,” Xander whipped out Scrafty’s poke ball as fast as he could, and got him to safety for the time being. “Rest, and I’ll get you to safety as soon as I can.” Xander put the poke ball back onto his belt. Xander looked up at Gonzap, with what seemed to be an unnatural anger. Xander didn’t say anything, he just glared at Gonzap. Words were meaningless at this point. This unnerved Gonzap more than if Xander had chewed him out. Latias felt Xander’s anger, and it spurred her to take her brother out. She charged, and let loose a Draco Meteor at point blank range. Both brother and sister were thrown directly into the ground.
*Xander, now-now’s your chance. Capture my brother, do it…for me,* That was all she could muster, before she fell unconscious.
“Latias…I will.” Xander took out his master ball to return Latias. When she was safe, he grabbed a poke ball, and activated the Snag Machine. His poke ball glowed brightly, and he sent it careening towards Latios. While all of this happened, Gonzap was trying to get up from the ground, which he was thrown to because of the shockwave, coughing from the smoke, which the wind had carried to his part of the field. The poke ball hit the shiny Latios in the head, and he disappeared into it. It dinged once…twice…thrice. It returned to Xander. *Alright, one down, one to go.* “All right, the rest of you, come out!” With that, all of his pokemon that were still in fighting condition, Gorebyss, Volcarona, and Braviary, came out.
“This isn’t over Xander! I’ll catch all of your pokemon, or did you forget that I have a Snag Machine of my own?” He reached for a poke ball, but none was to be found, worse, when he looked at his right hand, the machine that was previously there was shattered to bits, and his hand was bleeding. “Wha-what!” He roared. He reached for his other pokemon, but even they had fallen off of his belt, and when he looked around, weren’t anywhere near him. Gonzap seemed to recover quickly, “No matter, there’s something that you haven’t seen yet.” Gonzap took out a remote, and pressed a red button on it. Right then, Salamence’s eyes went from pitch black, to a blood red. He began to foam at the mouth, and looked around.
“What did you do to him!”
“This is what we were testing a couple of weeks ago when Salamence attacked Snowpoint City. It sends them into, what my scientists call, Berserk Mode. In this state, the pokemon is pushed past their limits. In this state, they are ten times more powerful.”
“But if they are pushed that far beyond their limits, then that’ll kill them!”
Gonzap just shrugged, “As long as they take some enemies down with them, I couldn’t care less.”
Xander was furious; he had spent over a year working on his paper, studying these beautiful creatures, and this how he treats them! “Gonzap…I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Anger dripped from his voice.
“It doesn’t matter how you respond, because you’re done. Salamence, finish off these insignificant pokemon with Earthquake.”
Salamence slammed straight down into the ground, and created and earthquake that would have registered as a nine on the Richter Scale. Xander and his pokemon were thrown twenty feet, and the rest of the Floraroma town was utterly destroyed. After the dust cleared, Xander staggered onto his feet. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his arms were cut up pretty bad. Luckily, the Snag Machine was still intact. When Xander looked around, he couldn’t believe the devastation. Buildings were absolutely and utterly destroyed. Pokemon, and trainers were lying, unconscious or dead all around him. He looked for his three pokemon that were out when the earthquake hit, and they were alive, barely. He returned them to their poke balls.
“I-I-I’m so sorry,” He spoke to his poke balls, “This is all my fault, I wasn’t good enough.” He dropped to his knees in exhaustion and grief.
Gonzap began walking across the uneven surface towards Xander, Salamence in tow, “Now you see the hopelessness that you face. Your pokemon are defeated, your air force is on the retreat, and you’re all alone. Salamence, finish this sad excuse for a trainer.”
Xander looked up at his friend. He looked into his blood red eyes, and then at his fangs that were covered in fire. Xander hung his head. Salamence began walking over to Xander. Out of nowhere, there was a flash of dark green, which hurtled directly into Salamence. Salamence was drilled twenty feet through the torn up ground, and got right back up.
In front of Xander stood Dragonite, “Hey there, long time no see.”
“Drag,” She nodded.
“Glad you could make it. Looks like you got here just in time. Are you ready to win this fight?”
“Dragonite!”
“Good. Fly up to an altitude of 200 feet, then do a spinning Dragon Rush directly into Salamence.” It hurt Xander to say that, but it had to be done.
“Where did that thing come from?!” Gonzap was furious for having victory snatched from him. “Salamence, kill this beast with Dragon Claw!”
Salamence shook the rubble of his back, and his two front claws began to burn a fierce blue. Dragonite at the same moment reached her intended altitude, and her whole body began to glow the same fierce blue. Salamence and Dragonite charged at each other, and met in the middle of the two trainers. The collision of power was so great, that the smoke blotted out the sun, and the shockwave sent everything, and everyone, flying.
Chapter 11: Showdown
As Xander stood and looked at the sight ahead of him, he was in shock. If there was such thing as an out of body experience, that’s what was happening to him right now. He saw everything as if he were in the air, he saw himself, Wes, Rui, Rowan, and the brave trainers that stood by him and were looking to him for orders. *We can’t win this. Not with the aerial force, and Gonzap’s men on the ground. It was bleak before, but now…now there’s no hope.*
*Well, this is a side that I’ve never seen of you before.* It was Latias projecting her thoughts, and Xander, for the first time, noticed that she was right beside him.
“What are you doing here?”
*What are you talking about? I’m showing you what I see.*
“Wait, what?”
*I can show other beings what I see, that is, if I choose to.*
“Oh, so that’s what’s happening.”
*Yes, I thought that you needed to see the battle field from above, and to see what the hospital is blocking.*
All of a sudden, Xander’s vision turned a full 180 degrees, and he was looking at a flock of pokemon that was just a bit smaller than the aerial pokemon that supported Gonzap, “Please tell me that they’re on our side.”
*They are. Haven’t you wondered where Raj has been?*
To be honest, Xander hadn’t. He had been too busy recovering and worrying about
Team Snagem to think about what had happened to Raj. “Uh, I guess I just kinda figured he was at Snowpoint City.”
*He was, but he heard about what was happening here, and brought some trainers to help.*
Xander’s spirits rose at this point, “We can do this, can’t we?”
Latias smiled, *Yes, but only if we get to the battle right now. I’ve taken too much of your time to show you this. Now, it’s up to us.*
Xander nodded, and suddenly was seeing through his own eyes again. *That has to be one of the most disorienting experiences ever.* He turned to his group and gave them the good news. Just as he finished, the trainers cleared the Hospital, and charged straight for the enemy. Xander took the cue, and let his pokemon out. Scrafty, Braviary, Starmie, Volcarona, and Gorebyss all came out of their poke balls. The other trainers did the same. After Raj’s men engaged the aerial pokemon, Xander knew that it was time, “Charge!” He yelled, and everyone and their pokemon followed. “You guys,” he pointed at his pokemon, “Stay by me, I’m going to need you for when I encounter Gonzap.” A lot of things were uncertain about this battle, but one thing that Xander was sure of, is that he would battle Gonzap, and he would get Latios and Salamence back.
The battles were fierce. Trainers form both sides had to dodge stray attacks that came from pokemon all around them. If Xander had to pick one word to describe it, it would have to be chaos. This was something that he was unprepared for. He hadn’t been part of the Team Rocket or Weather Trio incident. Nor had he partaken in the battle against Team Galactic. He had battled Team Plasma a bit, but an elite trainer named Cole had really won that war. Full scale battle such as this, was something that he had never dreamed he would experience. At a certain point, adrenaline simply took over his, and his pokemon’s, actions. He would dodge, give out orders, and run, all without thinking. He could tell that his pokemon were doing the same thing, as they weren’t always waiting for his commands, and simply acted on instinct.
As Xander and his pokemon waded through the battle, he was able to take down some grunts himself. Although he was almost flattened by a falling Flygon, he simply moved on. He could see Gonzap ahead, and he made a mad dash for the large man. When he came within fifteen feet of Gonzap, the man held up a hand, and suddenly, all of the grunts converged on Xander. “Gonzap you bastard! You can’t take me on by yourself, so you’ll have your men take me out instead?!”
“What’s the point of honor, if you know you can win without it? I know that you do have a chance to beat me, and I don’t wanna take that chance. All right boys, first one to take him out will get-“He was cut off by a stray Acid Spray and his men fell back over each other to get out of the way. The attack had created a ring around Xander and Gonzap that, at its diameter was about twenty feet. Xander looked up and saw Raj and Donnie. Raj gave him a thumbs up and then said something to Mr. Socky, who Raj was riding on. Out of the Hydreigon’s mouth came a stream of fire that hit the ring of acid. All at once, the ground that was hit burst into flames, and there was a ring of fire surrounding Xander and Gonzap. “Hm, looks like I’ll have to beat you myself.”
“Pride comes before folly, Gonzap, remember that as I haul you off to jail.”
“Time to send your butt crying back to mommy, go Drapion!” The big, four legged, purple pokemon materialized and just stared at Xander.
Xander recalled all of his pokemon except for Volcarona, “Alright Volcarona, it’s time for your baptism by fire, literally! Use Quiver Dance!” Volcarona began flying around in a figure eight pattern, glowing all the while. Speeding up, and flowing a bright red, that beautifully contrasted its yellow wings.
“Drapion, don’t let it finish, use Cross Poison!” Drapion moved swiftly, and struck Volcarona with glowing, crossed pincers.
Volcarona made a hissing sound, “Fly up and over to the other side of the fire wall, then use Fiery Dance.” In a flash, thanks to Quiver Dance, Volcarona was on the other side of the fire wall, and sent a blast of heat and wind, that was far more intense than normal thanks to the wall of fire.
Drapion was deceptively fast, and was only grazed by the attack, but that was just enough to give him a nasty burn. “Forget it Drapion, use Earthquake!” Despite the burn on his leg, he dug them into the soft, earthy, soil beneath him, and sent a shockwave through the ground with his arms. Volcarona, though it does hover, cannot fly high enough to avoid attacks such as Earthquake, and he took the full brunt of the attack. He fell to the ground with a thud, and landed on its wings. “Alright Drapion, finish it with Night Slash!”
Just as Drapion was going in for the finishing blow, Xander pulled out a poke ball, “Volcarona, return!” The all too familiar red beam came out of the sphere and encased Volcarona in the same colored light, as it disappeared. “You’ll be able to help later, just not now.” Xander grabbed another poke ball from his belt and threw it, and out came his Gorebyss. The fire danced off of her lovely golden skin. She carefully steadied herself using her back fin. “Gorebyss, I need you to win this fight! Use Shell Smash.” Gorebyss simply fell forward with an extra push from her tail fin, and crushed her shells, which quickly grew back.
Gonzap scratched his bald head, “What the hell was that supposed to do? If you wanna waste your time beating yourself up, all the better. Drapion, use Swords Dance!” Drapion’s claws began to glow, and it made a couple of criss-crossing motions in front of itself, and then began to glow a fierce purple.
“We might be in trouble Gorebyss, Baton Pass!” Gorebyss began to glow, and kept glowing so the light was blinding. Then, all at once, the light dissipated and she was gone. Xander checked her poke ball to make sure that she was actually there, and she was. Xander sent out one of his oldest friends, Starmie.
The star like pokemon appeared, and was ready for battle. “Starmie, you’ve helped me with many battles, and now is the most important battle yet.” Starmie shook in recognition, and then began glowing the same brilliant white as Gorebyss, and to Xander’s shock, stayed that way.”
“Drapion, take out that sea star with Night Slash!” Gonzap barked.
“Starmie, meet Drapion half way with Rapid Spin!” Starmie began to float and spin so fast that it looked like a solid disc. The two glowing pokemon charged at each other, and met at the center of the circle. There was a tremendous explosion. Both Xander’s and Gonzap’s eyes teared up because of the smoke, and Xander coughed so hard he wondered if it was possible to cough a lung up. After the smoke cleared, both pokemon were still standing, but neither was glowing. At the same time, both pokemon fell over, and were recalled. *Damn it! Without all of my pokemon, I’m not sure I can win this.* “Scrafty, you’re up!” Scrafty looked around sleepily. *Hmm, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring Scrafty into this life or death situation…*
Xander’s train of thought was broken when he saw Gonzap send out a Nidoking. “Nidoking, let’s send this dim witted pokemon packing, use Ice Beam!”
Nidoking began charging the chilly beam, and then, Xander had an idea, “Scrafty, use Dragon Dance to dodge!” That woke Scrafty right up. One thing about Scrafty was, he didn’t really care what he was doing, as long as he could break dance while doing it. However, if he couldn’t break dance, he wouldn’t budge. Xander learned how to get past this, and found out that he could actually use it to their advantage because of the odd way Scrafty does everything.
Scrafty began to glow varying shades of red, black, and blue. As Nidoking sent out multiple Ice Beams, Scrafty got to work. He span on his hands, head, and just about every other part of his body to dodge them. “Alright Scrafty, close in, and use Crunch.” He kept dodging, spinning, and weaving his way towards Nidoking, becoming faster every second. By the time Scrafty got within range to attack Nidoking, he had been backed close to the wall of fire. Scrafty then leapt forward and bit directly onto Nidoking’s head, and jumped off as quickly as before. Nidoking howled out in pain, and stumbled back through the wall of fire. That took him out of the fight, and Gonzap looked frustrated.
“Damn you Xander! No matter, there’s no way that you could possibly hurt your own partner,” And with that last word he threw out the master ball that Xander had seen so many weeks before. Out came his old friend, and partner, Salamence. Something wasn’t right though, Salamence had pitch black eyes. “Ah, what the hell, let’s go all out, Latios, let’s finish this punk,” Gonzap also pitched the second master ball that he had, and out came Latios. It had the same pitch black, almost void-like eyes that Salamence had.
“Salamence…” Was all Xander could say. The shock of seeing Salamence like this was almost too much for him. In his shock, he had almost forgotten his ace in the hole. Xander had made a few modifications of his own to the illegal device. His thought was that if he ever got caught with it he would go to jail, modifying it so that any pokemon caught with it didn’t count against his six that he could have with him wouldn’t make much of a difference. He realized that there was only one problem, he only had one master ball, but which should he ensure a catch with? It would have to be Salamence, because he would actually listen to Xander. “Gonzap, what an underhanded stunt to pull. Alright, let’s do this, master-what?” All of a sudden there was a whoosh of air and Latias appeared in the middle of the fight.
*Brother, snap out of it, it’s me, Latias,* There was so much sorrow in her thoughts that it was almost too much for Xander to bear.
Gonzap just smirked, “Don’t waste your energy. We perfected the mind control technology. They can’t hear a word ya say.” Gonzap reached into his back pocket and pulled out another master ball. Xander had come to hate the sight of those things. “Now to complete the pair!” He sent the master ball hurdling towards Latias, who was frozen with fear. Fear for her brother, fear for Salamence, and fear for herself.
“Damn it! Go master ball!” Xander’s Snag Machine began to flow a bright yellow, and he sent the ultimate poke ball directly towards Latias. Xander’s ball, because he was closer to Latias, hit her in the back and she disappeared. The, now full, master ball returned to Xander and he looked at it. *This isn’t what I wanted, but I have no choice,* Gonzap’s master ball continued past its intended point, and went right through the wall of fire that was still raging. Xander sent out Latias, who looked confused.
*What happened?*
“Sorry, but I had to capture you, and now I need your help to free those two!” Xander pointed at the two shiny dragons on the other side of the field.
*Sounds good. I was going to help you anyway.*
Gonzap was furious now, and his eyebrows were shaking visibly, “You’ll pay for this! Salamence, Earthquake, and Latios, use Draco Meteor…on your sister.”
“Gonzap, you’re heartless, and for that, you’ll rot in jail. Latias, dodge it, and use Calm Mind. Scrafty, dodge the Earthquake, and strike Salamence with Dragon Claw!” They both sprang into action. Scrafty began his routine, but was thrown off by the tremors, and barely made the leap up to Salamence.
“Salamence, finish off that street dancer with your own Dragon Claw!” Salamence’s front right claws were surrounded in bluish, draconic energy, and he met Scrafty’s own fist head on. The collision of so much energy cause an explosion and Scrafty fell from the thick black smoke, and hit the ground with a thud.
While the battle between Scrafty and Salamence was going on, Latias was facing off against her own brother, and it broke her heart. *Brother, I know this’ll hurt you, but it’s necessary to free you.* He didn’t respond in the slightest. Latios robotically moved his hands in front of his chest, and began forming a redish, orange sphere. Latias knew that she didn’t have much time, so she quieted her mind, and cleared her head of all thoughts. While in this meditative state, she caught a glimpse of the future, and exactly where all of the meteors would land. She also saw where he would be open to attack directly after the Draco Meteor. Latias came out of this meditative state just as Latios sent the sphere of energy up to the sky. All of a sudden, the sphere exploded and sent dozens of meteors down to the surface.
Latias knew exactly where to go. She dodged, and weaved, in an almost unnatural accuracy. Xander and Gonzap had to duck and dodge themselves, to get away from the ensuing explosions. Scrafty fell right into one of them, and was barely
breathing. “Scrafty return,” Xander whipped out Scrafty’s poke ball as fast as he could, and got him to safety for the time being. “Rest, and I’ll get you to safety as soon as I can.” Xander put the poke ball back onto his belt. Xander looked up at Gonzap, with what seemed to be an unnatural anger. Xander didn’t say anything, he just glared at Gonzap. Words were meaningless at this point. This unnerved Gonzap more than if Xander had chewed him out. Latias felt Xander’s anger, and it spurred her to take her brother out. She charged, and let loose a Draco Meteor at point blank range. Both brother and sister were thrown directly into the ground.
*Xander, now-now’s your chance. Capture my brother, do it…for me,* That was all she could muster, before she fell unconscious.
“Latias…I will.” Xander took out his master ball to return Latias. When she was safe, he grabbed a poke ball, and activated the Snag Machine. His poke ball glowed brightly, and he sent it careening towards Latios. While all of this happened, Gonzap was trying to get up from the ground, which he was thrown to because of the shockwave, coughing from the smoke, which the wind had carried to his part of the field. The poke ball hit the shiny Latios in the head, and he disappeared into it. It dinged once…twice…thrice. It returned to Xander. *Alright, one down, one to go.* “All right, the rest of you, come out!” With that, all of his pokemon that were still in fighting condition, Gorebyss, Volcarona, and Braviary, came out.
“This isn’t over Xander! I’ll catch all of your pokemon, or did you forget that I have a Snag Machine of my own?” He reached for a poke ball, but none was to be found, worse, when he looked at his right hand, the machine that was previously there was shattered to bits, and his hand was bleeding. “Wha-what!” He roared. He reached for his other pokemon, but even they had fallen off of his belt, and when he looked around, weren’t anywhere near him. Gonzap seemed to recover quickly, “No matter, there’s something that you haven’t seen yet.” Gonzap took out a remote, and pressed a red button on it. Right then, Salamence’s eyes went from pitch black, to a blood red. He began to foam at the mouth, and looked around.
“What did you do to him!”
“This is what we were testing a couple of weeks ago when Salamence attacked Snowpoint City. It sends them into, what my scientists call, Berserk Mode. In this state, the pokemon is pushed past their limits. In this state, they are ten times more powerful.”
“But if they are pushed that far beyond their limits, then that’ll kill them!”
Gonzap just shrugged, “As long as they take some enemies down with them, I couldn’t care less.”
Xander was furious; he had spent over a year working on his paper, studying these beautiful creatures, and this how he treats them! “Gonzap…I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Anger dripped from his voice.
“It doesn’t matter how you respond, because you’re done. Salamence, finish off these insignificant pokemon with Earthquake.”
Salamence slammed straight down into the ground, and created and earthquake that would have registered as a nine on the Richter Scale. Xander and his pokemon were thrown twenty feet, and the rest of the Floraroma town was utterly destroyed. After the dust cleared, Xander staggered onto his feet. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his arms were cut up pretty bad. Luckily, the Snag Machine was still intact. When Xander looked around, he couldn’t believe the devastation. Buildings were absolutely and utterly destroyed. Pokemon, and trainers were lying, unconscious or dead all around him. He looked for his three pokemon that were out when the earthquake hit, and they were alive, barely. He returned them to their poke balls.
“I-I-I’m so sorry,” He spoke to his poke balls, “This is all my fault, I wasn’t good enough.” He dropped to his knees in exhaustion and grief.
Gonzap began walking across the uneven surface towards Xander, Salamence in tow, “Now you see the hopelessness that you face. Your pokemon are defeated, your air force is on the retreat, and you’re all alone. Salamence, finish this sad excuse for a trainer.”
Xander looked up at his friend. He looked into his blood red eyes, and then at his fangs that were covered in fire. Xander hung his head. Salamence began walking over to Xander. Out of nowhere, there was a flash of dark green, which hurtled directly into Salamence. Salamence was drilled twenty feet through the torn up ground, and got right back up.
In front of Xander stood Dragonite, “Hey there, long time no see.”
“Drag,” She nodded.
“Glad you could make it. Looks like you got here just in time. Are you ready to win this fight?”
“Dragonite!”
“Good. Fly up to an altitude of 200 feet, then do a spinning Dragon Rush directly into Salamence.” It hurt Xander to say that, but it had to be done.
“Where did that thing come from?!” Gonzap was furious for having victory snatched from him. “Salamence, kill this beast with Dragon Claw!”
Salamence shook the rubble of his back, and his two front claws began to burn a fierce blue. Dragonite at the same moment reached her intended altitude, and her whole body began to glow the same fierce blue. Salamence and Dragonite charged at each other, and met in the middle of the two trainers. The collision of power was so great, that the smoke blotted out the sun, and the shockwave sent everything, and everyone, flying.
Displeased Owl
NCTH Leader
Yes, a fitting final battle, you're getting better by the chapter! I can't wait to read the epilogue!
Alright, so here's the epilouge.
***One Month after the Battle for Floraroma***
Xander’s eyes flickered open, and bright light dazzled them. He had to blink a few more times before his eyes had adjusted enough to see. When he could see, he took in his surroundings. What he saw made him groan, he was in a stark white hospital room, and was hooked up to an IV unit, heart monitor, and a few other machines that he really didn’t want to know what they did. He licked his lips, and realized how dry his whole mouth was. He fumbled around the bed trying to look for the remote to call the nurse, and, after a minute or two, was able to find it and pressed the button. Almost immediately, a familiar face walked in, it was Angela. She had a glass of water in her hand and gave it to Xander, who drank it slowly to make sure that his entire mouth was hydrated.
After he finished his water, he could actually speak, “Hm, I think I’ve been in this situation before.”
Angela smiled, “Yes, you have. How are you feeling?”
Xander moved his arms a bit, “Been better, but besides the dry mouth, I don’t feel too bad. What happened, and why am I here?”
Angela’s smile faded, “First, I need to ask you a question. What was the last thing you remember?”
Xander thought hard, and it all came back to him, “Last thing I remember was that I was in a heated battle with Gonzap, and I ordered Dragonite to attack Salamence. Then there was an explosion, and…that’s it.”
“Well, at least you haven’t lost any of your memory. That’s a good sign.”
Xander had a feeling of sorrow, “Wha-what happened to my pokemon?”
Now, Angela gave a slight smile, “They’re all okay, more or less. Scrafty, Braviary, Gorebyss, and Volcarona were in the ICU for a week, but otherwise they are okay.”
“What about Salamence, and Dragonite?” Xander really didn’t want to hear any bad news right now, but he had to know their fate.
“They were badly injured, but they’re strong, and survived. They each have some scars, though nothing that will hinder them in life. Salamence is still in recovery. Whatever Gonzap did to him, it messed him up. Luckily, you were able to incapacitate Salamence before any permanent damage was done.”
Xander breathed a sigh of relief, “Good, thank you.” He then realized that he still had no idea why he was here, “Wait, you said that some of my pokemon were in the ICU for a week. How long have I been out?”
Angela gave him a sympathetic smile, “You’ve been in a coma for a month.”
If Xander had been told that he was going to be an Elite Four member, he wouldn’t have been as surprised as he was now, “A-a-a month?!”
“Yes, you and Gonzap were very close to the explosion, and humans weren’t meant to withstand that kind of power. Gonzap woke up a few days ago, and he’s been arrested.”
“Well, there’s some good news.”
“Yes, it is, and I heard that there’s an ironclad case against him.”
Xander nodded, “But, where am I? I mean, I know I’m in a hospital, but wasn’t the one in Floraroma was destroyed by the earthquake?”
“Yes it was,” Angela’s eyes teared up, “We…lost a lot of people when the hospital was leveled. I was lucky enough to have been one of the doctors that were taken to Jubilife, which is where we are now.”
“I’m sorry Angela. How many were lost total?”
Angela wiped her eyes, “Out of the thirty trainers on the ground, twenty-five made it. The aerial force was decimated however, and out of the odd one hundred, only thirty made it.”
Xander wasn’t sure he could handle the answer to his next question, “Was Raj among the survivors?”
“You mean the Champion of the Unova region?”
“Yeah, he’s a good friend of mine.”
“You’re very lucky Xander; no one that was close to you has been seriously injured. Raj came off pretty much unscathed. You should be grateful, most people can’t say that when there’s a battle like that.”
“Yeah, I realize that. Is Raj here?”
“Unfortunately no, he paid for your hospital bill, and said to give you this,” She took out an envelope, and handed it to Xander.
“Thank you,“Xander opened it. It read, “Dear Xander, if you got this, then that means that you woke up. I wish that I could be there and make sure that you’re doing okay, but some things have come up that need my attention. Just remember, you owe me, and I’ll collect one day. Your Friend, Raj.”
Xander smiled, “Thanks for this Angela. I can’t believe that I haven’t asked this yet, but what happened to Latias and her brother?”
“Latios was better off than Salamence because he was never put into that overdrive, or whatever it was called and recovered remarkably fast. Latias suffered mild damage from her Draco Meteor, but wasn’t hurt too badly.”
“Are they still here?”
“Yes, although, it seems like the two fight a lot.”
“Well, they are brother and sister. So am I all caught up?”
“I suppose for the most part. However, you have three guests that want to see you. I’ll go tell them that you’re awake.”
After she left, Xander had some time alone. *Looks like I survived, and with no lasting consequences thank Arceus. Many gave their lives though for this, and I can never repay them. I suppose the best I can do is live my life to the fullest to honor what they’ve sacrificed. I wonder if Raj really is going to collect on that favor… *
Xander’s thoughts were interrupted by a hug from his cousin Rui, “Xander! I’m so glad you woke up!”
“I can’t breathe!” Xander gasped.
Rui quickly let go, “Oh, sorry.” She smiled, and Xander returned it, “I’m just so glad to see that you’re okay.”
“It’s good to know that you’re okay too. Where’s Rowan?”
“Wes went to get him. So, how ya feeling?”
“Like I told the nurse, I’ve been better, but from the sounds of things, I got off easy.”
“Yeah we did. I didn’t know any of the people that died, but I spoke to some of their families. It was heartbreaking.”
“I wish I could have done something to help them.”
“But you did. I told them about you, and most of them said that they don’t blame you.”
“Most?”
“Unfortunately there were a few people that were looking for someone to blame, and they pinned it on you.”
“They aren’t totally wrong.”
“Yes they are! Don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened! Gonzap did this, and it’s his fault.”
“Alright, alright,” Xander put his hands up in a mock defensive gesture.
Rowan walked in, followed by Wes, “Xander, it is good to see you up!”
“Thanks Rowan, it’s good to be up, although, you’d think that after a month of sleep I’d feel more rested.”
Everyone chuckled a bit at this, and Wes chimed in, “You did really well Xander. You’ve saved this region, and many others. Because of you, Gonzap will more than likely get the death sentence.”
“That is good news. Rowan, I do have one question.”
“Then I’ll answer it to the best of my abilities.”
“I might be remembering things wrong, but did I see Jerry at the battle?”
“Yes, you did. He had joined up with Gonzap, and when we questioned him, he said that he joined because he liked the uniforms.”
Xander’s left eye began to twitch again, “Are you serious.”
“Sadly, yes, I am. What’s worse is that he escaped while en route to the prison.”
“How in the world did he do that?!”
“His Bidoof followed him, and ripped the armored truck to shreds.”
“Well, at least he’s original. I highly doubt that this is the last that we’ve seen from him.”
“Yes, quite.”
Rui chimed in, “I’m just glad that you woke up now. We have to leave tomorrow.”
“Is there any reason?”
This time, Wes spoke up before Rui could, “I’ve been called in as an eyewitness in Gonzap’s case. He still needs to be tried for what happened in Orre four years ago.”
“Well, then I wish you luck, and I’m glad that I could see you guys before you left.”
“Yeah, I am too,” Rui said, “Don’t make yourself such a stranger; stop by if you’re ever in Orre.”
Xander smiled, “I will, I promise.”
“Xander, I need to speak to you in private,” Wes said somberly.
Rui nodded and walked out. Rowan called back before he left, “Once you get a free moment, I would like to discuss some things about your paper.”
Once they were alone Wes went over and pulled all of the blinds, “What is this about Wes?”
“I combed the battlefield before the police got there, and I grabbed this,” He held up the Snag Machine. “It’s yours so it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“To be honest, I think it needs to be destroyed.”
“I agree with you Wes, but I’d like to study it for now. I’m gonna be stuck here for a while, and I’ll need something to do.”
“I’m glad that you feel that way,” He tossed the glove to Xander. “Unfortunately, Rui and I need to get going.”
“Thank you Wes.”
“For what?”
“For everything, for taking care of Rui, for coming to help me, and for helping me get
Salamence back.”
Wes smiled as he left, “Don’t get all mushy on me.”
*It’s going to be hard to readjust back to normal life after all this.* Xander then decided that he was tired of sitting there. He took out the IV unit, and detached the rest of the cords. He got up and sent a thought message to Latias, *Hey, I’m up and movin, could you come up here and show me where the rest of my pokemon are?*
*Sure, I’ll be right there.*
Xander could tell that Latias was hiding something from him. There was some thought that she was trying to cover up. He was surprised that he could sense that. A moment later she came through an open window, “Latias, what’s wrong?”
*Nothing, why do you ask?*
“You can’t hide much from me Latias. Our bond has strengthened, and I can tell that some thing’s bothering you.”
Latias sighed, *My brother is upset with me and left.*
“Why is he upset with you?”
*Well, it’s because I decided to stay with you.*
“Latias, no, I can’t let you do that. You’re free to go back to Hoenn, and to live your life like you did before.”
*But I can’t live my life like I did before. I lived in total seclusion, and was taught that all humans were evil. You proved my brother wrong, and I want to see the world. I want to meet more people.*
“I can’t ask you to give up your family though.”
*Then it’s a good thing you’re not asking.*
“I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”
Latias giggled, *Nope.*
“Well then, welcome to the group. Let’s go tell everyone the good news.”
Latias led him down to where the rest of his pokemon were. Xander was happy to see everyone, but especially Salamence. The two spent the next three weeks in recovery together, and made up for lost time. Xander knew his adventures weren’t over, and thought about travelling to Hoenn soon.
***Two Weeks Later in Professor Rowan’s House***
Xander was in his room packing things up. He had decided that it was time to finally go to Hoenn. He wanted to see where Latias came from, and he himself needed a vacation badly. As he was putting things in his bag a glove fell out. This was the same glove that Wes had given him more than a month back, except, it looked different, more nondescript. “I’m sorry Wes, but I can’t destroy this, not yet,” Xander spoke to himself before putting it back in the bag and zipping it shut…
Now ends Part 1. I will be getting Part 2 up next week.
Chapter 12: Aftermath
***One Month after the Battle for Floraroma***
Xander’s eyes flickered open, and bright light dazzled them. He had to blink a few more times before his eyes had adjusted enough to see. When he could see, he took in his surroundings. What he saw made him groan, he was in a stark white hospital room, and was hooked up to an IV unit, heart monitor, and a few other machines that he really didn’t want to know what they did. He licked his lips, and realized how dry his whole mouth was. He fumbled around the bed trying to look for the remote to call the nurse, and, after a minute or two, was able to find it and pressed the button. Almost immediately, a familiar face walked in, it was Angela. She had a glass of water in her hand and gave it to Xander, who drank it slowly to make sure that his entire mouth was hydrated.
After he finished his water, he could actually speak, “Hm, I think I’ve been in this situation before.”
Angela smiled, “Yes, you have. How are you feeling?”
Xander moved his arms a bit, “Been better, but besides the dry mouth, I don’t feel too bad. What happened, and why am I here?”
Angela’s smile faded, “First, I need to ask you a question. What was the last thing you remember?”
Xander thought hard, and it all came back to him, “Last thing I remember was that I was in a heated battle with Gonzap, and I ordered Dragonite to attack Salamence. Then there was an explosion, and…that’s it.”
“Well, at least you haven’t lost any of your memory. That’s a good sign.”
Xander had a feeling of sorrow, “Wha-what happened to my pokemon?”
Now, Angela gave a slight smile, “They’re all okay, more or less. Scrafty, Braviary, Gorebyss, and Volcarona were in the ICU for a week, but otherwise they are okay.”
“What about Salamence, and Dragonite?” Xander really didn’t want to hear any bad news right now, but he had to know their fate.
“They were badly injured, but they’re strong, and survived. They each have some scars, though nothing that will hinder them in life. Salamence is still in recovery. Whatever Gonzap did to him, it messed him up. Luckily, you were able to incapacitate Salamence before any permanent damage was done.”
Xander breathed a sigh of relief, “Good, thank you.” He then realized that he still had no idea why he was here, “Wait, you said that some of my pokemon were in the ICU for a week. How long have I been out?”
Angela gave him a sympathetic smile, “You’ve been in a coma for a month.”
If Xander had been told that he was going to be an Elite Four member, he wouldn’t have been as surprised as he was now, “A-a-a month?!”
“Yes, you and Gonzap were very close to the explosion, and humans weren’t meant to withstand that kind of power. Gonzap woke up a few days ago, and he’s been arrested.”
“Well, there’s some good news.”
“Yes, it is, and I heard that there’s an ironclad case against him.”
Xander nodded, “But, where am I? I mean, I know I’m in a hospital, but wasn’t the one in Floraroma was destroyed by the earthquake?”
“Yes it was,” Angela’s eyes teared up, “We…lost a lot of people when the hospital was leveled. I was lucky enough to have been one of the doctors that were taken to Jubilife, which is where we are now.”
“I’m sorry Angela. How many were lost total?”
Angela wiped her eyes, “Out of the thirty trainers on the ground, twenty-five made it. The aerial force was decimated however, and out of the odd one hundred, only thirty made it.”
Xander wasn’t sure he could handle the answer to his next question, “Was Raj among the survivors?”
“You mean the Champion of the Unova region?”
“Yeah, he’s a good friend of mine.”
“You’re very lucky Xander; no one that was close to you has been seriously injured. Raj came off pretty much unscathed. You should be grateful, most people can’t say that when there’s a battle like that.”
“Yeah, I realize that. Is Raj here?”
“Unfortunately no, he paid for your hospital bill, and said to give you this,” She took out an envelope, and handed it to Xander.
“Thank you,“Xander opened it. It read, “Dear Xander, if you got this, then that means that you woke up. I wish that I could be there and make sure that you’re doing okay, but some things have come up that need my attention. Just remember, you owe me, and I’ll collect one day. Your Friend, Raj.”
Xander smiled, “Thanks for this Angela. I can’t believe that I haven’t asked this yet, but what happened to Latias and her brother?”
“Latios was better off than Salamence because he was never put into that overdrive, or whatever it was called and recovered remarkably fast. Latias suffered mild damage from her Draco Meteor, but wasn’t hurt too badly.”
“Are they still here?”
“Yes, although, it seems like the two fight a lot.”
“Well, they are brother and sister. So am I all caught up?”
“I suppose for the most part. However, you have three guests that want to see you. I’ll go tell them that you’re awake.”
After she left, Xander had some time alone. *Looks like I survived, and with no lasting consequences thank Arceus. Many gave their lives though for this, and I can never repay them. I suppose the best I can do is live my life to the fullest to honor what they’ve sacrificed. I wonder if Raj really is going to collect on that favor… *
Xander’s thoughts were interrupted by a hug from his cousin Rui, “Xander! I’m so glad you woke up!”
“I can’t breathe!” Xander gasped.
Rui quickly let go, “Oh, sorry.” She smiled, and Xander returned it, “I’m just so glad to see that you’re okay.”
“It’s good to know that you’re okay too. Where’s Rowan?”
“Wes went to get him. So, how ya feeling?”
“Like I told the nurse, I’ve been better, but from the sounds of things, I got off easy.”
“Yeah we did. I didn’t know any of the people that died, but I spoke to some of their families. It was heartbreaking.”
“I wish I could have done something to help them.”
“But you did. I told them about you, and most of them said that they don’t blame you.”
“Most?”
“Unfortunately there were a few people that were looking for someone to blame, and they pinned it on you.”
“They aren’t totally wrong.”
“Yes they are! Don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened! Gonzap did this, and it’s his fault.”
“Alright, alright,” Xander put his hands up in a mock defensive gesture.
Rowan walked in, followed by Wes, “Xander, it is good to see you up!”
“Thanks Rowan, it’s good to be up, although, you’d think that after a month of sleep I’d feel more rested.”
Everyone chuckled a bit at this, and Wes chimed in, “You did really well Xander. You’ve saved this region, and many others. Because of you, Gonzap will more than likely get the death sentence.”
“That is good news. Rowan, I do have one question.”
“Then I’ll answer it to the best of my abilities.”
“I might be remembering things wrong, but did I see Jerry at the battle?”
“Yes, you did. He had joined up with Gonzap, and when we questioned him, he said that he joined because he liked the uniforms.”
Xander’s left eye began to twitch again, “Are you serious.”
“Sadly, yes, I am. What’s worse is that he escaped while en route to the prison.”
“How in the world did he do that?!”
“His Bidoof followed him, and ripped the armored truck to shreds.”
“Well, at least he’s original. I highly doubt that this is the last that we’ve seen from him.”
“Yes, quite.”
Rui chimed in, “I’m just glad that you woke up now. We have to leave tomorrow.”
“Is there any reason?”
This time, Wes spoke up before Rui could, “I’ve been called in as an eyewitness in Gonzap’s case. He still needs to be tried for what happened in Orre four years ago.”
“Well, then I wish you luck, and I’m glad that I could see you guys before you left.”
“Yeah, I am too,” Rui said, “Don’t make yourself such a stranger; stop by if you’re ever in Orre.”
Xander smiled, “I will, I promise.”
“Xander, I need to speak to you in private,” Wes said somberly.
Rui nodded and walked out. Rowan called back before he left, “Once you get a free moment, I would like to discuss some things about your paper.”
Once they were alone Wes went over and pulled all of the blinds, “What is this about Wes?”
“I combed the battlefield before the police got there, and I grabbed this,” He held up the Snag Machine. “It’s yours so it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“To be honest, I think it needs to be destroyed.”
“I agree with you Wes, but I’d like to study it for now. I’m gonna be stuck here for a while, and I’ll need something to do.”
“I’m glad that you feel that way,” He tossed the glove to Xander. “Unfortunately, Rui and I need to get going.”
“Thank you Wes.”
“For what?”
“For everything, for taking care of Rui, for coming to help me, and for helping me get
Salamence back.”
Wes smiled as he left, “Don’t get all mushy on me.”
*It’s going to be hard to readjust back to normal life after all this.* Xander then decided that he was tired of sitting there. He took out the IV unit, and detached the rest of the cords. He got up and sent a thought message to Latias, *Hey, I’m up and movin, could you come up here and show me where the rest of my pokemon are?*
*Sure, I’ll be right there.*
Xander could tell that Latias was hiding something from him. There was some thought that she was trying to cover up. He was surprised that he could sense that. A moment later she came through an open window, “Latias, what’s wrong?”
*Nothing, why do you ask?*
“You can’t hide much from me Latias. Our bond has strengthened, and I can tell that some thing’s bothering you.”
Latias sighed, *My brother is upset with me and left.*
“Why is he upset with you?”
*Well, it’s because I decided to stay with you.*
“Latias, no, I can’t let you do that. You’re free to go back to Hoenn, and to live your life like you did before.”
*But I can’t live my life like I did before. I lived in total seclusion, and was taught that all humans were evil. You proved my brother wrong, and I want to see the world. I want to meet more people.*
“I can’t ask you to give up your family though.”
*Then it’s a good thing you’re not asking.*
“I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”
Latias giggled, *Nope.*
“Well then, welcome to the group. Let’s go tell everyone the good news.”
Latias led him down to where the rest of his pokemon were. Xander was happy to see everyone, but especially Salamence. The two spent the next three weeks in recovery together, and made up for lost time. Xander knew his adventures weren’t over, and thought about travelling to Hoenn soon.
***Two Weeks Later in Professor Rowan’s House***
Xander was in his room packing things up. He had decided that it was time to finally go to Hoenn. He wanted to see where Latias came from, and he himself needed a vacation badly. As he was putting things in his bag a glove fell out. This was the same glove that Wes had given him more than a month back, except, it looked different, more nondescript. “I’m sorry Wes, but I can’t destroy this, not yet,” Xander spoke to himself before putting it back in the bag and zipping it shut…
Now ends Part 1. I will be getting Part 2 up next week.
This is a response via the Review Exchange. I'll be updating this chapter by chapter.
Chapter 1: I thought the introduction to Xander was a bit rushed. I think that you should have probably started out with him losing in the Pokemon League, then trading Ursaring, and finally the scene in his room where he's depressed. But maybe that was in "The Journey of Xander." I wouldn't know. Another thing that bothered me a bit was that characters seemed to "warp" inside of places. For example, Xander was outside the police station, and then all of the sudden he was inside. I think it would be a bit better if you put a transition in between such as, "Xander walked inside the police station." Obviouly, that's overly simple, but you get the point.
Now for the things that I like...
I know that I'm going to love this story because of Xander's choice of Pokemon. All of the Pokemon mentioned are ones that I personally enjoy battling with. I think you've made good choices there. I also like the fact that Xander seems like he's going to be going on a shiny hunt. It will be interesting to see what happens with that. Also, a shiny Latias? That's awesome. With that scene, it really made me wonder what was going to happen? Will it be nursed to health by Xander? Will it become Xander's Pokemon? and more questions came to mind. Now for the police station scene. That was just... really funny! Jerry kind of reminds me of Officer Johnson from Pokemon Colosseum just for his sheer stupidity. And I love stupid humour!
Overall, I think that this is very good so far, and I hope that I'll be able to review the whole thing today, because I have a lot more to say on this than I thought I would. Keep up the good writing!
Chapter 2: I'll start again with the things that I didn't like. The whole "jailbreak" thing was something that I didn't really understand. First off, Pokemon using attacks on humans is something that I don't like. Might as well be evil if they do that. And also, after they broke out, I would have expected some to run away from Xander. Sure, he just saved them, but I would have thought that they would be afraid of all humans after what they had just experienced. Also, I find it a bit hard to believe that 12 Pokemon would just join him because of that. I would have thought many would have liked to remain wild.
Now for things I like. Once again, the choice of Pokemon was sublime! Dragon Pokemon are my favorite type, and I was happy to see many in this chapter. Salamence, Dragonite, Haxorus, Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Latias? Once again, that's just awesome. I also like that some of the new Pokemon aren't accepted right away. Everyone always seems to get along fine within the Pokemon team, and it's nice to see a change from that. Also, I wasn't even thinking about Latias' brother, Latios. Where will he fit into the story? I'll be excited to find out. Overall, another good chapter. I just think that you have to keep a sense of "realism" if that's possible in the Pokemon world.
Chapter 3: Wow. There was nothing that I disliked about this chapter. Great job! The biggest thing that I like is the tie to Pokemon Colosseum. Thank you. Just, thank you so much. Brings back old memories of Gonzap and his eyebrows, Trudly and Folly's stupidity, Wes and Rui (but mostly Wes) taking down Team Snagem and Cipher... But enough with the nostalgia. This was a completely unexpected twist in the plot. What's even better is that you made it flow well. Not choppy, like the last two chapters. You've definitely improved in that sense. I'll be interested to read this even more because I'm reading a Pokemon Colosseum fan fic at the same time as this! Great job!
Chapter 4: Okay. To start off, good chapter. Less grammar mistakes each time. The only one I noticed was a "me" instead of a "my." Also, it may because I haven't read the other Xander stories, but who is Raj? Is he a character that I forgot about from Colosseum? I didn't get that part at all. Also, the cliff hanger at the end... I think it is obvious what's going to happen in the next chapter, but maybe another plot twist is coming/
Now for the good stuff. I liked both of the Latios battles a lot. Something about the way that you describe the battles just... works. I don't know what it is, but keep doing it! Also, good job being able to describe a Psychic "link" between Latios and Latias. The chapter was well executed, and it's flowing even better each time there's a new chapter. Once again, keep up the good writing!
Also, I will continue to read this thread, but I will stop reviewing for now until I get caught up all the way. I've enjoyed doing a review swap with you, and maybe we could do one again? I just didn't want to waste your time with an extremely long post basically saying the same thing every time. "Less grammar mistakes, flows better, I like this scene..." Yada yada yada. You're a good writer. You don't really need my input. But I'll comment once I'm caught up with the storyline.
Chapter 1: I thought the introduction to Xander was a bit rushed. I think that you should have probably started out with him losing in the Pokemon League, then trading Ursaring, and finally the scene in his room where he's depressed. But maybe that was in "The Journey of Xander." I wouldn't know. Another thing that bothered me a bit was that characters seemed to "warp" inside of places. For example, Xander was outside the police station, and then all of the sudden he was inside. I think it would be a bit better if you put a transition in between such as, "Xander walked inside the police station." Obviouly, that's overly simple, but you get the point.
Now for the things that I like...
I know that I'm going to love this story because of Xander's choice of Pokemon. All of the Pokemon mentioned are ones that I personally enjoy battling with. I think you've made good choices there. I also like the fact that Xander seems like he's going to be going on a shiny hunt. It will be interesting to see what happens with that. Also, a shiny Latias? That's awesome. With that scene, it really made me wonder what was going to happen? Will it be nursed to health by Xander? Will it become Xander's Pokemon? and more questions came to mind. Now for the police station scene. That was just... really funny! Jerry kind of reminds me of Officer Johnson from Pokemon Colosseum just for his sheer stupidity. And I love stupid humour!
Overall, I think that this is very good so far, and I hope that I'll be able to review the whole thing today, because I have a lot more to say on this than I thought I would. Keep up the good writing!
Chapter 2: I'll start again with the things that I didn't like. The whole "jailbreak" thing was something that I didn't really understand. First off, Pokemon using attacks on humans is something that I don't like. Might as well be evil if they do that. And also, after they broke out, I would have expected some to run away from Xander. Sure, he just saved them, but I would have thought that they would be afraid of all humans after what they had just experienced. Also, I find it a bit hard to believe that 12 Pokemon would just join him because of that. I would have thought many would have liked to remain wild.
Now for things I like. Once again, the choice of Pokemon was sublime! Dragon Pokemon are my favorite type, and I was happy to see many in this chapter. Salamence, Dragonite, Haxorus, Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Latias? Once again, that's just awesome. I also like that some of the new Pokemon aren't accepted right away. Everyone always seems to get along fine within the Pokemon team, and it's nice to see a change from that. Also, I wasn't even thinking about Latias' brother, Latios. Where will he fit into the story? I'll be excited to find out. Overall, another good chapter. I just think that you have to keep a sense of "realism" if that's possible in the Pokemon world.
Chapter 3: Wow. There was nothing that I disliked about this chapter. Great job! The biggest thing that I like is the tie to Pokemon Colosseum. Thank you. Just, thank you so much. Brings back old memories of Gonzap and his eyebrows, Trudly and Folly's stupidity, Wes and Rui (but mostly Wes) taking down Team Snagem and Cipher... But enough with the nostalgia. This was a completely unexpected twist in the plot. What's even better is that you made it flow well. Not choppy, like the last two chapters. You've definitely improved in that sense. I'll be interested to read this even more because I'm reading a Pokemon Colosseum fan fic at the same time as this! Great job!
Chapter 4: Okay. To start off, good chapter. Less grammar mistakes each time. The only one I noticed was a "me" instead of a "my." Also, it may because I haven't read the other Xander stories, but who is Raj? Is he a character that I forgot about from Colosseum? I didn't get that part at all. Also, the cliff hanger at the end... I think it is obvious what's going to happen in the next chapter, but maybe another plot twist is coming/
Now for the good stuff. I liked both of the Latios battles a lot. Something about the way that you describe the battles just... works. I don't know what it is, but keep doing it! Also, good job being able to describe a Psychic "link" between Latios and Latias. The chapter was well executed, and it's flowing even better each time there's a new chapter. Once again, keep up the good writing!
Also, I will continue to read this thread, but I will stop reviewing for now until I get caught up all the way. I've enjoyed doing a review swap with you, and maybe we could do one again? I just didn't want to waste your time with an extremely long post basically saying the same thing every time. "Less grammar mistakes, flows better, I like this scene..." Yada yada yada. You're a good writer. You don't really need my input. But I'll comment once I'm caught up with the storyline.
Thanks for the review! Yeah, the first three chapters are a bit choppy, and that was something I worked really hard on later. I'm also a fan of pokemon colosseum, and was reading bobandbill's fic about it at the time of writing, and just incorporated it. I didn't include Xander losing at the league because it was the alst thing that happened in the Journey of Xander. Same with the trade and stuff.
Raj is one of the leaders in our league, and is writing his own story: The Journeymen. Perhaps I should start introducing the characters a bit more when they are from other stories. Thanks for pointing that out to me, and for the other complements. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, and would be happy to do another exchange with you.
Raj is one of the leaders in our league, and is writing his own story: The Journeymen. Perhaps I should start introducing the characters a bit more when they are from other stories. Thanks for pointing that out to me, and for the other complements. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, and would be happy to do another exchange with you.
Oh okay. I just finished reading your story, and I have to say, it was excellent! You've definitely improved 100% since you've started writing this story. Everything flowed well, and the final battle was epic! Just a question... How can a Pokemon be in recover? I tried to imagine Salamence and a hospital bed and it conjured up some funny images in my head.
Haha, not exactly what I meant. How I picture it, is like a pet bed that they rest on, and ther're hooked up to different monitors.
Alright, here's the next one. If you've read Professor X then you'll know one of the characters.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, and put all trays in an upright position. We will be landing shortly,” The flight attendant spoke in a, forced, pleasant tone. Honestly, Xander didn’t blame her. This flight was absolutely terrible. There was an obese man that wouldn’t quit complaining, a baby that wouldn’t stop crying, and a group of rowdy teenagers that took pleasure in confusing the poor woman.
*I’ve saved the Sinnoh region, but I still have to fly in coach? What’s wrong with this picture.*
Xander looked back as the group of kids began to hit the call button for the attendant. As she walked by, Xander looked at her name tag, it read “Christy”. She went to sit down at the back of the plane, and sat down, trying to ignore the fifteen year olds that were demanding more drinks. *After I get off the plane, I’m going to talk to those guys.* He then heard the fat man calling out for some more pie, and Xander just shook his head, *Maybe I just should have flown on Salamence…*
It was a rough landing, even the stewardess was holding her head, *I think the pilot was texting while flying.* Xander thought to himself as he got off the plane. Christy was right behind him, and the group of twelve was directly ahead of him. After they had all gotten their luggage, and Xander grabbed his, he approached the teenagers, “Hey guys, what was that back on the plane?”
One of the boys stepped forward, he had darker skin that was contrasted by his bleach blond hair, “What was what?” He said in what Xander could only assume to be the boys attempt at an intimidating tone.
Xander almost laughed at the boys attempt to intimidate him. Xander had just faced down a criminal mastermind, and survived, a fifteen year old that was six inches shorter than him, wasn’t exactly threatening in Xander’s book, “Look kid, you need to apologize to the attendant”, and he pointed to Christy, “She’s just trying to do her job.”
The entire group laughed at him, “How about this, you’re going to turn around, and get out of my face before you get hurt.” The rest of the group followed up on this with insults, and threats.
*Kid’s got guts, I’ll give him that.* “Look, I’m not gonna leave until you give the lady an apology.”
Christy looked over at what was going on, and she walked up behind Xander and tapped him on the shoulder, “You don’t have to do this, I’m fine.”
Xander turned to her, “Maybe, but it doesn’t excuse what they did, and they’re gonna learn that they can’t treat people like that and get away with it.”
“If you’re done talking to your girlfriend, I have a proposal for you. If you beat me in a three on three pokemon battle, I’ll apologize, but if I win, then you have to eat your words.”
Xander smiled, “You have a deal.” The two shook hands, and headed out to the nearest battle field, which was right across the street from the airport.
***Recreational Battlefield***
The field was standard. It was thirty feet, by fifteen feet, and the ground was dirt. It was in the middle of a park, and as Xander and Rick, the boy, took their positions, a crowd began to gather. Xander looked around; people were talking in hushed tones and looking at him. *I wonder if they know who I am?*
His suspicions were confirmed when he sent out Salamence. All of a sudden there was a loud uproar of applause. Xander decided that he might as well enjoy the fame, so he waved to everyone, and this garnered even more applause. Rock just scratched his head, “Who are you?”
“You don’t watch the news much, do you kid?”
“Not really, no. Why should I? Nothing that happens on there affects me.”
“Well, if you did, then you would know that I was the leader of the resistance during the Battle for Floraroma Town.”
“That was you!” All of a sudden, Rick looked worried, “Uh, um, it doesn’t matter! I’ll still beat you, go, Aggron!”
The large Steel/Rock pokemon materialized in front of Xander, “Not a bad choice, but you aren’t going to win. To be fair, you can go first.”
“Fine, but you won’t survive my first attack! Aggron, use Stone Edge!” Small sphere’s of light began to appear around Aggron, and circled around him horizontally. In an instant, they were solid stone, and were flying directly at Salamence.
“Salamence, crush them with Dragon Claw,” Xander spoke as if he were ordering a meal from a fast food joint. Salamence flapped its wings and hovered about three feet off the ground. In a flash, the stones were turned to dust. No one even saw Salamence slash at them; one minute they were there, the next, they weren’t. Rick was stunned, and so was the crowd, though after they recovered they beagn to cheer even
louder. “Salamence, Earthquake.” Salamence let out the most savage roar he could muster, and almost fell over laughing at Rick and Aggron’s reactions of horror. After savoring that for a split second, Salamence flew high up, and dive bombed directly into the ground, sending a shockwave across the battlefield. Salamence was well enough trained so that the destruction didn’t spread beyond the designated battle area.
Aggron was swept away by the stone and dirt. He wound up at Rick’s feet unconscious.
Rick took out his poke ball and recalled the large pokemon. After that he pulled out another one, “You think you’re so smart, try taking this one down!” In a flash of light a Snorlax materialized.
“Snnnooooorrrr…” He looked around sleepily, and then saw the Salamence. The reaction surprised Xander, the Snorlax fell asleep.
“That’s new.”
“Gah, Snorlax! Wake up!” Rick called out desperately.
“Oh well, sorry Salamence, but I can’t let you have all the fun, return,” Salamence nodded, and went back into his poke ball. “Latias, you’re turn.”
The golden pokemon’s fur shone brightly in the mid day sun. All at once there were hundreds of flashes of light, but they weren’t coming from the pokemon, no, they were coming from the cameras that had been whipped out at the same time Latias came out.
*Gah, that’s bright,* Latias complained, *I was taking a nap you know.*
“Sorry about that, but I thought these people would like to see you.”
*Fine, I need the exercise anyways. * Latias had become a valuable member of Xander’s team, and she allowed him to be able to communicate with his other pokemon telepathically.
Xander looked sideways at Christy who seemed dumbfounded. *Wow, that is one magnificent pokemon. I wonder if Xander’s single?* Xander was surprised, usually he could only sense the thoughts of people who were close to him, so far, only his pokemon, and only if Latias was out of her poke ball. To be able to sense the thoughts of a stranger both scared, and excited him, but now was not the time for those thoughts.
“Okay…so you have a legendary pokemon…we can still win this…right?”
Xander shook his head, “Afraid not kid. You should bow out gracefully before you get embarrassed.”
Rick immediately recalled his sleeping pokemon, “Fine.” He walked over to
Christy, “Sorry,” He spoke curtly and then ran off.
“Well, I could’ve guessed that he would be a sore loser.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think that he would give much of an apology. Thank you though, not many people would have cared enough.”
Xander just shrugged, “The kid needed to be taught a lesson. I’m just sorry that you had to put up with it during our two hour flight.”
“To be honest, I’ve had to put up with worse, but thanks again for putting that kid in his place.”
All of a sudden, Xander and Christy were swarmed by the onlookers. Many of them were taking pictures, and the ones that weren’t were holding out pens and paper towards Xander. After about fifteen minutes of commotion, the crowd dissipated, and it was just Xander and Christy. Xander found himself to be slightly nervous, but he did find the words that he wanted to say, “Christy, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?”
Christy blushed, “I wish I could, I really do, but I need to get back to the airport. I have to be on the next flight back to Sinnoh, but here’s my number,” She took out a pen and wrote on Xander’s hand ten digits. She bit her lip, “Give me a call sometime.”
“You can count on that.”
She smiled and walked back to the airport. Salamence popped out of his poke ball.
“Sal-salamence,” (Ha! It’s about time you got a girlfriend.)
“Oh be quiet you overgrown lizard,” Xander joked. While he was stuck in the hospital, he decided that he would learn how to speak with his pokemon. It wasn’t easy, but Latias helped speed up the process a lot by using her psychic powers to imprint things onto his mind. He had found this to be both a blessing, and a curse. “Well, where do you think we should go?”
“Sala-men-sal,” (I’m not sure, but I do know that I want to go someplace with a beach.)
“Same here. There’re quite a few places with beaches in Hoenn. Personally, I’d like to go to Mossdeep. It’s an island city just off the mainland.”
“Mence. Sala.” (Fine by me. Hop on.) Salamence spread his wings, and Xander hopped on.
***Two Weeks Later in Mossdeep City***
Xander and his pokemon were reclining on the beach at Mossdeep city. Xander had really enjoyed the last two weeks, he had gotten to spend time with a lot of his pokemon that he hadn’t seen in a while. Pokemon like his shiny Weavile, which he hadn’t seen in nearly a year, were happy to be able to spend time with their trainer. He had done a few battle demonstrations, and signed a few autographs while he was here, but the best was yet to come. He had scheduled a battle with the gym leaders of Mossdeep, and they were more than happy to oblige. Xander had never been in Hoenn before, and planned for this to be a long vacation. He wanted to challenge all of the gym leaders of Hoenn, but not for their badges. He just wanted to see how powerful the leaders of Hoenn were. It also gave him an excuse to stay here for a few months. Hoenn was like a tropical paradise, and it was too beautiful for Xander to pass up.
Xander looked sideways, and saw Dragonite and Salamence talking to each other, *I have a feeling that I’m gonna be lugging some eggs around for those two soon.*
Salamence and Dragonite had grown close during the rehabilitation, and Xander couldn’t be happier for him. Salamence really needed someone special, just like Xander did. Xander had called Christy a few times over the last two weeks, and they talked for a while, *It’s just too bad that she has to work so much. Otherwise I’d invite her out here.*
His two Lucarios were sitting on either side of him, “So how are two enjoying our vacation?”
Lucario S spoke first, “Cario.” (It’s good.) Xander’s shiny Lucario never did talk much, which was in stark contrast to his other Lucario who wouldn’t shut up.
“Luc! Cario rio. Ario! Car. Lucario!” (I’m really enjoying it! Thanks again for bringing me to the beach. The sun is absolutely beautiful! So are the waves. Hey, I think I’m gonna go for a swim, see ya!) With that he dashed off and dove in. Xander sometimes wondered him he was ADHD, but he just chuckled and closed his eyes.
Part 2: Tropical Vacation
Chapter 13: Fate
Chapter 13: Fate
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, and put all trays in an upright position. We will be landing shortly,” The flight attendant spoke in a, forced, pleasant tone. Honestly, Xander didn’t blame her. This flight was absolutely terrible. There was an obese man that wouldn’t quit complaining, a baby that wouldn’t stop crying, and a group of rowdy teenagers that took pleasure in confusing the poor woman.
*I’ve saved the Sinnoh region, but I still have to fly in coach? What’s wrong with this picture.*
Xander looked back as the group of kids began to hit the call button for the attendant. As she walked by, Xander looked at her name tag, it read “Christy”. She went to sit down at the back of the plane, and sat down, trying to ignore the fifteen year olds that were demanding more drinks. *After I get off the plane, I’m going to talk to those guys.* He then heard the fat man calling out for some more pie, and Xander just shook his head, *Maybe I just should have flown on Salamence…*
It was a rough landing, even the stewardess was holding her head, *I think the pilot was texting while flying.* Xander thought to himself as he got off the plane. Christy was right behind him, and the group of twelve was directly ahead of him. After they had all gotten their luggage, and Xander grabbed his, he approached the teenagers, “Hey guys, what was that back on the plane?”
One of the boys stepped forward, he had darker skin that was contrasted by his bleach blond hair, “What was what?” He said in what Xander could only assume to be the boys attempt at an intimidating tone.
Xander almost laughed at the boys attempt to intimidate him. Xander had just faced down a criminal mastermind, and survived, a fifteen year old that was six inches shorter than him, wasn’t exactly threatening in Xander’s book, “Look kid, you need to apologize to the attendant”, and he pointed to Christy, “She’s just trying to do her job.”
The entire group laughed at him, “How about this, you’re going to turn around, and get out of my face before you get hurt.” The rest of the group followed up on this with insults, and threats.
*Kid’s got guts, I’ll give him that.* “Look, I’m not gonna leave until you give the lady an apology.”
Christy looked over at what was going on, and she walked up behind Xander and tapped him on the shoulder, “You don’t have to do this, I’m fine.”
Xander turned to her, “Maybe, but it doesn’t excuse what they did, and they’re gonna learn that they can’t treat people like that and get away with it.”
“If you’re done talking to your girlfriend, I have a proposal for you. If you beat me in a three on three pokemon battle, I’ll apologize, but if I win, then you have to eat your words.”
Xander smiled, “You have a deal.” The two shook hands, and headed out to the nearest battle field, which was right across the street from the airport.
***Recreational Battlefield***
The field was standard. It was thirty feet, by fifteen feet, and the ground was dirt. It was in the middle of a park, and as Xander and Rick, the boy, took their positions, a crowd began to gather. Xander looked around; people were talking in hushed tones and looking at him. *I wonder if they know who I am?*
His suspicions were confirmed when he sent out Salamence. All of a sudden there was a loud uproar of applause. Xander decided that he might as well enjoy the fame, so he waved to everyone, and this garnered even more applause. Rock just scratched his head, “Who are you?”
“You don’t watch the news much, do you kid?”
“Not really, no. Why should I? Nothing that happens on there affects me.”
“Well, if you did, then you would know that I was the leader of the resistance during the Battle for Floraroma Town.”
“That was you!” All of a sudden, Rick looked worried, “Uh, um, it doesn’t matter! I’ll still beat you, go, Aggron!”
The large Steel/Rock pokemon materialized in front of Xander, “Not a bad choice, but you aren’t going to win. To be fair, you can go first.”
“Fine, but you won’t survive my first attack! Aggron, use Stone Edge!” Small sphere’s of light began to appear around Aggron, and circled around him horizontally. In an instant, they were solid stone, and were flying directly at Salamence.
“Salamence, crush them with Dragon Claw,” Xander spoke as if he were ordering a meal from a fast food joint. Salamence flapped its wings and hovered about three feet off the ground. In a flash, the stones were turned to dust. No one even saw Salamence slash at them; one minute they were there, the next, they weren’t. Rick was stunned, and so was the crowd, though after they recovered they beagn to cheer even
louder. “Salamence, Earthquake.” Salamence let out the most savage roar he could muster, and almost fell over laughing at Rick and Aggron’s reactions of horror. After savoring that for a split second, Salamence flew high up, and dive bombed directly into the ground, sending a shockwave across the battlefield. Salamence was well enough trained so that the destruction didn’t spread beyond the designated battle area.
Aggron was swept away by the stone and dirt. He wound up at Rick’s feet unconscious.
Rick took out his poke ball and recalled the large pokemon. After that he pulled out another one, “You think you’re so smart, try taking this one down!” In a flash of light a Snorlax materialized.
“Snnnooooorrrr…” He looked around sleepily, and then saw the Salamence. The reaction surprised Xander, the Snorlax fell asleep.
“That’s new.”
“Gah, Snorlax! Wake up!” Rick called out desperately.
“Oh well, sorry Salamence, but I can’t let you have all the fun, return,” Salamence nodded, and went back into his poke ball. “Latias, you’re turn.”
The golden pokemon’s fur shone brightly in the mid day sun. All at once there were hundreds of flashes of light, but they weren’t coming from the pokemon, no, they were coming from the cameras that had been whipped out at the same time Latias came out.
*Gah, that’s bright,* Latias complained, *I was taking a nap you know.*
“Sorry about that, but I thought these people would like to see you.”
*Fine, I need the exercise anyways. * Latias had become a valuable member of Xander’s team, and she allowed him to be able to communicate with his other pokemon telepathically.
Xander looked sideways at Christy who seemed dumbfounded. *Wow, that is one magnificent pokemon. I wonder if Xander’s single?* Xander was surprised, usually he could only sense the thoughts of people who were close to him, so far, only his pokemon, and only if Latias was out of her poke ball. To be able to sense the thoughts of a stranger both scared, and excited him, but now was not the time for those thoughts.
“Okay…so you have a legendary pokemon…we can still win this…right?”
Xander shook his head, “Afraid not kid. You should bow out gracefully before you get embarrassed.”
Rick immediately recalled his sleeping pokemon, “Fine.” He walked over to
Christy, “Sorry,” He spoke curtly and then ran off.
“Well, I could’ve guessed that he would be a sore loser.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think that he would give much of an apology. Thank you though, not many people would have cared enough.”
Xander just shrugged, “The kid needed to be taught a lesson. I’m just sorry that you had to put up with it during our two hour flight.”
“To be honest, I’ve had to put up with worse, but thanks again for putting that kid in his place.”
All of a sudden, Xander and Christy were swarmed by the onlookers. Many of them were taking pictures, and the ones that weren’t were holding out pens and paper towards Xander. After about fifteen minutes of commotion, the crowd dissipated, and it was just Xander and Christy. Xander found himself to be slightly nervous, but he did find the words that he wanted to say, “Christy, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?”
Christy blushed, “I wish I could, I really do, but I need to get back to the airport. I have to be on the next flight back to Sinnoh, but here’s my number,” She took out a pen and wrote on Xander’s hand ten digits. She bit her lip, “Give me a call sometime.”
“You can count on that.”
She smiled and walked back to the airport. Salamence popped out of his poke ball.
“Sal-salamence,” (Ha! It’s about time you got a girlfriend.)
“Oh be quiet you overgrown lizard,” Xander joked. While he was stuck in the hospital, he decided that he would learn how to speak with his pokemon. It wasn’t easy, but Latias helped speed up the process a lot by using her psychic powers to imprint things onto his mind. He had found this to be both a blessing, and a curse. “Well, where do you think we should go?”
“Sala-men-sal,” (I’m not sure, but I do know that I want to go someplace with a beach.)
“Same here. There’re quite a few places with beaches in Hoenn. Personally, I’d like to go to Mossdeep. It’s an island city just off the mainland.”
“Mence. Sala.” (Fine by me. Hop on.) Salamence spread his wings, and Xander hopped on.
***Two Weeks Later in Mossdeep City***
Xander and his pokemon were reclining on the beach at Mossdeep city. Xander had really enjoyed the last two weeks, he had gotten to spend time with a lot of his pokemon that he hadn’t seen in a while. Pokemon like his shiny Weavile, which he hadn’t seen in nearly a year, were happy to be able to spend time with their trainer. He had done a few battle demonstrations, and signed a few autographs while he was here, but the best was yet to come. He had scheduled a battle with the gym leaders of Mossdeep, and they were more than happy to oblige. Xander had never been in Hoenn before, and planned for this to be a long vacation. He wanted to challenge all of the gym leaders of Hoenn, but not for their badges. He just wanted to see how powerful the leaders of Hoenn were. It also gave him an excuse to stay here for a few months. Hoenn was like a tropical paradise, and it was too beautiful for Xander to pass up.
Xander looked sideways, and saw Dragonite and Salamence talking to each other, *I have a feeling that I’m gonna be lugging some eggs around for those two soon.*
Salamence and Dragonite had grown close during the rehabilitation, and Xander couldn’t be happier for him. Salamence really needed someone special, just like Xander did. Xander had called Christy a few times over the last two weeks, and they talked for a while, *It’s just too bad that she has to work so much. Otherwise I’d invite her out here.*
His two Lucarios were sitting on either side of him, “So how are two enjoying our vacation?”
Lucario S spoke first, “Cario.” (It’s good.) Xander’s shiny Lucario never did talk much, which was in stark contrast to his other Lucario who wouldn’t shut up.
“Luc! Cario rio. Ario! Car. Lucario!” (I’m really enjoying it! Thanks again for bringing me to the beach. The sun is absolutely beautiful! So are the waves. Hey, I think I’m gonna go for a swim, see ya!) With that he dashed off and dove in. Xander sometimes wondered him he was ADHD, but he just chuckled and closed his eyes.
I think that you did a great job with this chapter. It can always be hard to set up the plot, but I didn't see any flaws here at all. I also liked the humour that you added in.
Overall, great chapter. I love your writing.
That part definitely made me laugh. Also, just a question. How many shiny Pokemon does Xander have? I know he has the 12 that he saved from Team Snagem, his Salamence, his Lucario, and his Weavile. Any others?
Overall, great chapter. I love your writing.
Blaziken10285
The Dojo Master
Where in the world did you get so many shiny pokemon?
I spent a couple months trading with people for them. I got a guy to RNG me some free ones, but I must confess. Some of them are hacked with an AR.
Blaziken10285
The Dojo Master
I've only found one shiny in the wild. A starly in the safari Zone. And what is RNG?
Alright, so I was able to churn this one out, and it starts to set up the main plot.
***The Next Day at the Mossdeep Gym***
Xander stretched as he walked into the large building. He had woken up late, and almost missed his appointment. What’s worse is that he fell asleep in the sun, and was the color of a Vulpix. *Ouch! Man, that hurts!* He thought as he traversed the hall, and he bumped his elbow against a wall by accident.
When he got into the room that said, “Battlefield” He was impressed. The room was a massive dome, and Xander thought he could see where the dome opened up. He had been told to wait here, so that’s what he did. After about five minutes, two young kids came through the doors that he had just come through, “Hey, are you Liz and Tate?”
The two twins nodded. The girl spoke first, “Yes we are-“
The boy finished her sentence, “the Mossdeep gym leaders.”
This unnerved Xander a bit, “Um, okay, I thought you said that you were gonna meet me here?”
“Yes, we did-“
“but we foresaw-“
“that you would”
“over sleep because of a sunburn.”
Xander was really starting to get creeped out now, “Uh, two things. One, do you two always finish each other’s sentences, and two, what do you mean by, ‘foresaw’?”
A pattern was emerging between Liz and Tate. She would speak first, and Tate would follow up, “Yes, we do-“
“finish each other’s-“
“sentences all the time.”
“And when we say foresaw-“
“we mean that we are-“
“psychic.”
Xander had always thought that meeting a psychic would be cool, but these twins were just getting on his nerves, “So, are you guys ready for our battle?” Normally he would like to talk to the gym leader more, but he just couldn’t talk to these two for any length of time.
“Alright, just let us-“
“open up the top of the dome.”
Liz stayed behind, and her brother went over to what apparently were the controls to
the black dome. Tate hit a couple of buttons, and the roof began to retract. Xander had to squint his eyes against the sunlight that began to stream in. After a minute, the dome had fully retracted, and now there was an open battlefield in front of him, and an open sky above him.
Xander got into position on his end of the battlefield, and called to the twins, “What are
you’re rules?”
“This will be a-“
“double battle.”
“Each side-“
“Will get to use two pokemon, and-“
“substitutions are allowed-“
“for both sides.”
“Are you-“
“ready?”
Xander just shook his head, “Yes, I am.”
Liza grabbed a poke ball, “Go, Solrock!”
“Sol,” (I am ready for battle Liza.)
Tate also grabbed a poke ball off of his belt and tossed it out into the
battlefield, “Lunatone, you’re up.”
“Lunatoooone,” (I have forseen the end of this battle, and we lose…)
“Ha! You’re Lunatone doesn’t sound too confident.”
Tate seemed unsure of himself, “Lunatone’s visions aren’t always right. The future is always in motion.”
“You don’t sound too confident. Doesn’t matter, I make my own destiny! Let’s start things off with Salamence and Latias.”
“SAAAAL!” (YAWWWN!)
Liz and Tate were visibly scared, by the intimidating dragon, which they thought was growling at them.
Xander just laughed, *Should I tell them that he’s just yawning? Nah, this way will be more fun.*
“Tias?” (Salamence, why do you have to yawn so loud?)
“Mence?” (Why don’t you yawn louder?)
“La.” (Fair enough, let’s focus.)
“I’ll give you two the first move.”
‘Fine, we’ll-“
“take it. Lunatone, let’s keep them grounded with Gravity!”
“Salamence, Latias, stay low to the ground!”
The pokemon did as their trainers commanded. Salamence landed, and Latias flew low to the ground as she tried to dash towards the opponent’s pokemon. Before she could get there though, gravity intensified, and, even at the low altitude, she hit the floor hard. Salamence was brought to his knees, and even the sun and moon pokemon hit the floor with a thud.
“Latias! Get up, and use Calm Mind!” Latias used her small arms to push herself up a bit. Her eyes began to glow blue, and Xander wondered what she saw when she did that. He shook the thought off quickly as he saw that Solrock was glowing, “Salamence, use Earthquake!”
“Men?” (Are you sure?)
“Yes, do it!”
Salamence let off a tremor that struck all three pokemon on the battlefield. The two Rock types were taken out of the fight, but Latias survived. She was hurt, but she could still battle. Without Lunatone’s influence gravity returned to normal, and the two pokemon took to the skies.
“You may have-“
“beaten our first two,-
“but these next-“
“ones will beat you.”
With that, Liz sent out a Grumpig, and Tate had an Alakazam.
“Pig?” (Why are you using me for a battle?)
“Kazam.” (Grow a spine Grumpig and let us win this for Liz and Tate.)
“Grumpig!” (I do not need to grow a spine!)
Xander was watching the exchange with amusement. It was definitely useful to be able to understand pokemon. “Salamence, use Dragon Dance, and weave through the opponent’s incoming attacks!” Xander had learned the maneuver from Scrafty, and began to use it with all of his pokemon. “Latias, use Draco Meteor!” In truth, Xander wasn’t too worried about the opponent’s attack, he was more worried about Latias’ attack.
“Would you two-“
“stop arguing! Alakazam, use Psychic on the Draco Meteor!”
“Grumpig, prepare to intercept any attacks directed at Alakazam.”
Latias sent the Draco Meteor skyward without hearing about the plan to counter it, “Latias, get outta there!” Latias looked down in bewilderment, but it was too late. The orange colored orb was surrounded in a blue energy, and crashed in to Latias. There was a massive explosion and Latias began to fall. Xander recalled her before she hit the ground and suffered any serious injury. “Good move Tate, but I’m not done yet. Salamence, return.”
“What are you-
“doing?”
“I’m showing you guys what true strategy looks like. Heracross, and Conkeldurr, let’s go!” Xander sent out two poke balls, and his shiny Heracross, and Conkeldurr came out, ready for battle.
“Crossss.” (An overgrown pig is no match for me.) Heracross was always confident in his abilities, sometimes to a fault.
“Duuurrr? Conkel?” (Why are we going up against two Psychic types? Xander, have you lost your mind?)
“No Conkeldurr, I haven’t lost my mind. I know that you guys can win this.”
“Eldurr.” (If you say so.)
“Your confidence-“
“is noted, but”
“it is fallacy to take us on with those pokemon.”
After a moment, Conkeldurr, and Heracross recoiled. They both had a burn on their chests that had come out of nowhere, “I gave them Flame Orbs before we came here. They’ve got Guts, so they’ll just fight even harder. Heracross, let’s start things off with a Swords Dance, and Conkeldurr, use Mach Punch to cover him!”
“Not so fast, Grumpig, Bounce over Conkeldurr, and slam into Heracross.”
“Alakazam, take out Conkeldurr with Psychic!”
Heracross began to pump himself up, and sharpen his horns, and forearms. Conkeldurr stood in front of him to go where the situation warranted. He saw Grumpig Bounce up high, but he began to feel his body moving. He decided that Alakazam was the bigger threat here. Conkeldurr took off at blinding speed, and slammed Alakazam with one of his concrete pillars. Alakazam went flying into a wall, and didn’t get back up. Conkeldurr used the momentum to spin, and darted towards the falling Grumpig, who was knocked off course due to the Mach Punch. At the same moment, Heracross finished his pre game warm up, and looked ready.
“Alright Heracross, finish Grumpig with Megahorn!”
“Grumpig, Protect!”
Grumpig put up a shield of Psychic energy that Heracross just bounced off of. Grumpig lowered the shield only to be bashed be Conkeldurr’s two concrete pillars. Grumpig fell to the ground unconscious, and Liz returned him.
***Pokemon Center One Hour Later***
Xander was sitting with his pokemon that had helped him beat Tate and Liz. Each of them had been treated for injuries they had sustained during the battle and were feeling good. Xander turned to them, “Salamence, you and Latias, you both did really well against Lunatone, and Solrock, but I think we can all agree that Conkeldurr and Heracross were the MVPs of this fight.”
“Salamence!” (Congratulations you two!)
“Tias.” (Yes, excellent fighting skills out there.)
Heracross and Conkeldurr reveled in the praise, “Hera.” (Thanks, I did do well.)
“Conk!? Conkeldurr!” (What are you talking about!? I took out both of them!)
“Cross.” (I took out the Grumpig.)
“Durr!” (No, you just bounced off of his shield like a wimp while I smashed him to bits.)
Xander was tired of hearing them argue, “Both of you stop.” The pokemon all looked his way, “You both contributed to the fight. Conkeldurr, without Heracross you would have just hit Grumpig’s Protect. Heracross, you might not have survived the Bounce attack which Conkeldurr deflected. You two needed each other, and you worked together, that’s what I wanted you two to learn.”
Heracross and Conkeldurr apologized to each other, and went off to train.
“Salmence?” (Is there anything that you’ll need me for today?)
Xander knew what he was gonna ask next, “Why?”
“Mence, Sala…” (Oh, uh, no reason…)
“Do you want to go see Dragonite back at Rowan’s?”
“Sal” (Yes.)
Xander laughed, “It’s no problem, I think I can get along without you for a day. Have a good time, okay?”
Salamence smiled, “Salamence. Sal.” (Thanks Xander. I will.)
Xander went over to the transfer system and switched Salamence out for Toxicroak. He hadn’t seen Toxicroak for a while, so they had some catching up to do.
“Hey there Toxicroak. How are things going?”
“Tox. Croak. Toxic?”(Hey yourself. I haven’t seen ya in a while. Where ya been at?)
“Sorry that I haven’t seen ya in a while, but things have been hectic, and-“
“Cro. Croak. Toxicroak croak.(I was just kidding. I know that you care for all of us. I’ve been having a good time with everyone else, but I’m ready for some training.)
Xander smiled, “It’s good to know that no one holds a grudge against me. Alright, let’s go and train.” Toxicroak and Xander went out to join Heracross and Conkeldurr. The four of them spent the next few hours training. Afterwards, Xander took a shower and his pokemon cleaned up and passed out in his room. He realized it was about time for dinner so he went out to the dining area and got a cheeseburger and fries. He sat down and munched on his fries for a few minutes before a man came and sat down across from him, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
Xander was a polite and sociable man, “No problem.”
They sat in silence for a half a minute before the man spoke up, “I know who you are, you’re Xander, from the Battle of Floraroma.”
Xander smiled, he still wasn’t quite used to people recognizing him, “Yeah, that’s me.”
“I want to say thank you for what you did there. You saved a lot of lives.”
Xander spoke somberly, “I appreciate the praise, but I wasn’t the only one who was part of the fight, I’m just one of the few that made it out alive.”
The man was apologetic, “I didn’t mean to disrespect the people that died. I didn’t come here to talk to you about that anyway. I saw you training with those Fighting types of yours and was wondering if you were a student of a martial art school.”
“No, I’ve never studied any martial arts.”
“Well, I know that Brawly is holding a public training session in a week, and I’m trying to
get hype up for it. You have the perfect build to do Judo, or some similar style.”
“It sounds interesting. I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“It’s John. So, can I expect you in Dewford a week from today?”
“I guess I’ll come.”
“Good, Brawly will be happy to hear it. He especially wants to meet your Scrafty, so please bring him.”
“Alright, I will.”
The two finished their meals, and made some conversation. Afterwards, John thanked Xander for his time, and left.
Toxicroak came out of the room and looked drowsy, and he spoke with a hurt tone, “Croak?” (Did you eat without us?)
“Yeah, sorry about that buddy, but you guys were passed out and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Toxi.” (I was just kidding.)
Xander smiled, “I know. What do you think of taking part in a martial arts seminar?”
“Toxicroak.” (Sounds fine to me.)
“Good, cause we leave for Dewford in three days.”
Well, there ya go.
Chapter 14: Brain Versus Brawn
***The Next Day at the Mossdeep Gym***
Xander stretched as he walked into the large building. He had woken up late, and almost missed his appointment. What’s worse is that he fell asleep in the sun, and was the color of a Vulpix. *Ouch! Man, that hurts!* He thought as he traversed the hall, and he bumped his elbow against a wall by accident.
When he got into the room that said, “Battlefield” He was impressed. The room was a massive dome, and Xander thought he could see where the dome opened up. He had been told to wait here, so that’s what he did. After about five minutes, two young kids came through the doors that he had just come through, “Hey, are you Liz and Tate?”
The two twins nodded. The girl spoke first, “Yes we are-“
The boy finished her sentence, “the Mossdeep gym leaders.”
This unnerved Xander a bit, “Um, okay, I thought you said that you were gonna meet me here?”
“Yes, we did-“
“but we foresaw-“
“that you would”
“over sleep because of a sunburn.”
Xander was really starting to get creeped out now, “Uh, two things. One, do you two always finish each other’s sentences, and two, what do you mean by, ‘foresaw’?”
A pattern was emerging between Liz and Tate. She would speak first, and Tate would follow up, “Yes, we do-“
“finish each other’s-“
“sentences all the time.”
“And when we say foresaw-“
“we mean that we are-“
“psychic.”
Xander had always thought that meeting a psychic would be cool, but these twins were just getting on his nerves, “So, are you guys ready for our battle?” Normally he would like to talk to the gym leader more, but he just couldn’t talk to these two for any length of time.
“Alright, just let us-“
“open up the top of the dome.”
Liz stayed behind, and her brother went over to what apparently were the controls to
the black dome. Tate hit a couple of buttons, and the roof began to retract. Xander had to squint his eyes against the sunlight that began to stream in. After a minute, the dome had fully retracted, and now there was an open battlefield in front of him, and an open sky above him.
Xander got into position on his end of the battlefield, and called to the twins, “What are
you’re rules?”
“This will be a-“
“double battle.”
“Each side-“
“Will get to use two pokemon, and-“
“substitutions are allowed-“
“for both sides.”
“Are you-“
“ready?”
Xander just shook his head, “Yes, I am.”
Liza grabbed a poke ball, “Go, Solrock!”
“Sol,” (I am ready for battle Liza.)
Tate also grabbed a poke ball off of his belt and tossed it out into the
battlefield, “Lunatone, you’re up.”
“Lunatoooone,” (I have forseen the end of this battle, and we lose…)
“Ha! You’re Lunatone doesn’t sound too confident.”
Tate seemed unsure of himself, “Lunatone’s visions aren’t always right. The future is always in motion.”
“You don’t sound too confident. Doesn’t matter, I make my own destiny! Let’s start things off with Salamence and Latias.”
“SAAAAL!” (YAWWWN!)
Liz and Tate were visibly scared, by the intimidating dragon, which they thought was growling at them.
Xander just laughed, *Should I tell them that he’s just yawning? Nah, this way will be more fun.*
“Tias?” (Salamence, why do you have to yawn so loud?)
“Mence?” (Why don’t you yawn louder?)
“La.” (Fair enough, let’s focus.)
“I’ll give you two the first move.”
‘Fine, we’ll-“
“take it. Lunatone, let’s keep them grounded with Gravity!”
“Salamence, Latias, stay low to the ground!”
The pokemon did as their trainers commanded. Salamence landed, and Latias flew low to the ground as she tried to dash towards the opponent’s pokemon. Before she could get there though, gravity intensified, and, even at the low altitude, she hit the floor hard. Salamence was brought to his knees, and even the sun and moon pokemon hit the floor with a thud.
“Latias! Get up, and use Calm Mind!” Latias used her small arms to push herself up a bit. Her eyes began to glow blue, and Xander wondered what she saw when she did that. He shook the thought off quickly as he saw that Solrock was glowing, “Salamence, use Earthquake!”
“Men?” (Are you sure?)
“Yes, do it!”
Salamence let off a tremor that struck all three pokemon on the battlefield. The two Rock types were taken out of the fight, but Latias survived. She was hurt, but she could still battle. Without Lunatone’s influence gravity returned to normal, and the two pokemon took to the skies.
“You may have-“
“beaten our first two,-
“but these next-“
“ones will beat you.”
With that, Liz sent out a Grumpig, and Tate had an Alakazam.
“Pig?” (Why are you using me for a battle?)
“Kazam.” (Grow a spine Grumpig and let us win this for Liz and Tate.)
“Grumpig!” (I do not need to grow a spine!)
Xander was watching the exchange with amusement. It was definitely useful to be able to understand pokemon. “Salamence, use Dragon Dance, and weave through the opponent’s incoming attacks!” Xander had learned the maneuver from Scrafty, and began to use it with all of his pokemon. “Latias, use Draco Meteor!” In truth, Xander wasn’t too worried about the opponent’s attack, he was more worried about Latias’ attack.
“Would you two-“
“stop arguing! Alakazam, use Psychic on the Draco Meteor!”
“Grumpig, prepare to intercept any attacks directed at Alakazam.”
Latias sent the Draco Meteor skyward without hearing about the plan to counter it, “Latias, get outta there!” Latias looked down in bewilderment, but it was too late. The orange colored orb was surrounded in a blue energy, and crashed in to Latias. There was a massive explosion and Latias began to fall. Xander recalled her before she hit the ground and suffered any serious injury. “Good move Tate, but I’m not done yet. Salamence, return.”
“What are you-
“doing?”
“I’m showing you guys what true strategy looks like. Heracross, and Conkeldurr, let’s go!” Xander sent out two poke balls, and his shiny Heracross, and Conkeldurr came out, ready for battle.
“Crossss.” (An overgrown pig is no match for me.) Heracross was always confident in his abilities, sometimes to a fault.
“Duuurrr? Conkel?” (Why are we going up against two Psychic types? Xander, have you lost your mind?)
“No Conkeldurr, I haven’t lost my mind. I know that you guys can win this.”
“Eldurr.” (If you say so.)
“Your confidence-“
“is noted, but”
“it is fallacy to take us on with those pokemon.”
After a moment, Conkeldurr, and Heracross recoiled. They both had a burn on their chests that had come out of nowhere, “I gave them Flame Orbs before we came here. They’ve got Guts, so they’ll just fight even harder. Heracross, let’s start things off with a Swords Dance, and Conkeldurr, use Mach Punch to cover him!”
“Not so fast, Grumpig, Bounce over Conkeldurr, and slam into Heracross.”
“Alakazam, take out Conkeldurr with Psychic!”
Heracross began to pump himself up, and sharpen his horns, and forearms. Conkeldurr stood in front of him to go where the situation warranted. He saw Grumpig Bounce up high, but he began to feel his body moving. He decided that Alakazam was the bigger threat here. Conkeldurr took off at blinding speed, and slammed Alakazam with one of his concrete pillars. Alakazam went flying into a wall, and didn’t get back up. Conkeldurr used the momentum to spin, and darted towards the falling Grumpig, who was knocked off course due to the Mach Punch. At the same moment, Heracross finished his pre game warm up, and looked ready.
“Alright Heracross, finish Grumpig with Megahorn!”
“Grumpig, Protect!”
Grumpig put up a shield of Psychic energy that Heracross just bounced off of. Grumpig lowered the shield only to be bashed be Conkeldurr’s two concrete pillars. Grumpig fell to the ground unconscious, and Liz returned him.
***Pokemon Center One Hour Later***
Xander was sitting with his pokemon that had helped him beat Tate and Liz. Each of them had been treated for injuries they had sustained during the battle and were feeling good. Xander turned to them, “Salamence, you and Latias, you both did really well against Lunatone, and Solrock, but I think we can all agree that Conkeldurr and Heracross were the MVPs of this fight.”
“Salamence!” (Congratulations you two!)
“Tias.” (Yes, excellent fighting skills out there.)
Heracross and Conkeldurr reveled in the praise, “Hera.” (Thanks, I did do well.)
“Conk!? Conkeldurr!” (What are you talking about!? I took out both of them!)
“Cross.” (I took out the Grumpig.)
“Durr!” (No, you just bounced off of his shield like a wimp while I smashed him to bits.)
Xander was tired of hearing them argue, “Both of you stop.” The pokemon all looked his way, “You both contributed to the fight. Conkeldurr, without Heracross you would have just hit Grumpig’s Protect. Heracross, you might not have survived the Bounce attack which Conkeldurr deflected. You two needed each other, and you worked together, that’s what I wanted you two to learn.”
Heracross and Conkeldurr apologized to each other, and went off to train.
“Salmence?” (Is there anything that you’ll need me for today?)
Xander knew what he was gonna ask next, “Why?”
“Mence, Sala…” (Oh, uh, no reason…)
“Do you want to go see Dragonite back at Rowan’s?”
“Sal” (Yes.)
Xander laughed, “It’s no problem, I think I can get along without you for a day. Have a good time, okay?”
Salamence smiled, “Salamence. Sal.” (Thanks Xander. I will.)
Xander went over to the transfer system and switched Salamence out for Toxicroak. He hadn’t seen Toxicroak for a while, so they had some catching up to do.
“Hey there Toxicroak. How are things going?”
“Tox. Croak. Toxic?”(Hey yourself. I haven’t seen ya in a while. Where ya been at?)
“Sorry that I haven’t seen ya in a while, but things have been hectic, and-“
“Cro. Croak. Toxicroak croak.(I was just kidding. I know that you care for all of us. I’ve been having a good time with everyone else, but I’m ready for some training.)
Xander smiled, “It’s good to know that no one holds a grudge against me. Alright, let’s go and train.” Toxicroak and Xander went out to join Heracross and Conkeldurr. The four of them spent the next few hours training. Afterwards, Xander took a shower and his pokemon cleaned up and passed out in his room. He realized it was about time for dinner so he went out to the dining area and got a cheeseburger and fries. He sat down and munched on his fries for a few minutes before a man came and sat down across from him, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
Xander was a polite and sociable man, “No problem.”
They sat in silence for a half a minute before the man spoke up, “I know who you are, you’re Xander, from the Battle of Floraroma.”
Xander smiled, he still wasn’t quite used to people recognizing him, “Yeah, that’s me.”
“I want to say thank you for what you did there. You saved a lot of lives.”
Xander spoke somberly, “I appreciate the praise, but I wasn’t the only one who was part of the fight, I’m just one of the few that made it out alive.”
The man was apologetic, “I didn’t mean to disrespect the people that died. I didn’t come here to talk to you about that anyway. I saw you training with those Fighting types of yours and was wondering if you were a student of a martial art school.”
“No, I’ve never studied any martial arts.”
“Well, I know that Brawly is holding a public training session in a week, and I’m trying to
get hype up for it. You have the perfect build to do Judo, or some similar style.”
“It sounds interesting. I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“It’s John. So, can I expect you in Dewford a week from today?”
“I guess I’ll come.”
“Good, Brawly will be happy to hear it. He especially wants to meet your Scrafty, so please bring him.”
“Alright, I will.”
The two finished their meals, and made some conversation. Afterwards, John thanked Xander for his time, and left.
Toxicroak came out of the room and looked drowsy, and he spoke with a hurt tone, “Croak?” (Did you eat without us?)
“Yeah, sorry about that buddy, but you guys were passed out and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Toxi.” (I was just kidding.)
Xander smiled, “I know. What do you think of taking part in a martial arts seminar?”
“Toxicroak.” (Sounds fine to me.)
“Good, cause we leave for Dewford in three days.”
Well, there ya go.