I'm sooooo sorry for how long this took to write and post, I've been insanly busy with work, and different things I've had to do around my house, but it's finally here! I'm going to try to write at least an hour every night this week, so the next chapter WILL be up faster than this one was, I promise you that!
Chapter XI: Spenser and Blaine: Double Battle for the Ages
As Aero reaches the nearest Seafoam Island, he notices many boats coming from the east, carrying escapees of the volcano’s eruption. As he hears Lexa and Alex land behind him on Lexa’s Gyarados, he scans the faces of the survivors. Most look alarmed, nervous, and fearful, as to be expected, but some he is shocked to see, look relieved.
That’s very interesting, he thinks to himself. I’ll definitely have to look into that later.
An instant after the thought crosses his mind, an old, bald man carrying a large cane rushes past him, heading straight for that group of people.
“What’s going on over there?” Lexa asks, looking on as the old man confronts the person in the front of the group. “Who are those people?” but her questions are soon answered, as the conversation begins to grow louder, and even more people begin to stare.
“The only reason we’re here is because the volcano erupted!” said the man in front of the group, angrily. “We don’t want to be here any more than you want us here old man.”
“You must leave at once!” the old man shouted, hitting the ground hard with his staff. “I will not have you Rockets poisoning my island as you did Cinnabar!”
“Poison?” the other man asks. “We made Cinnabar the leading exporter of Kanto’s goods!”
“No, what you did was make Cinnabar the leading center of crime throughout both Kanto and Johto.”
“Now I’m getting angry!” the man says, pulling out a Pokéball as some of the members of his group do the same.
“Now that’s definitely not fair,” Aero says, reaching for his own Pokéball, but a hand stops him.
“Why don’t we just see what happens, shall we?” says a voice, and Aero turns to see a very strange looking man grasping his arm. The man is wearing a long, white lab coat, and he has a white mustache, with a bald head. “Spenser’s a wonderful trainer, I’m sure he can handle it.”
“Spenser?” Aero says, amazed. Finally realizing who the the old man is, he turns back to face the conflict to see that the leader o the group of Rockets, along with six others, have thrown out their Pokéballs to face Spenser.
“Seven, is that all?” Spenser says, facing two Houndooms, three Golbats, an Ariados, and a Nidoking. Now, Aero recognizes the leader as the scientist he met in Celadon’s Game Corner. Had it not been for the fact that Spenser was certainly about to trounce them, Aero would have wanted a piece of him as well.
Spenser brings a Pokéball from his bag and throws it, the bright light becoming the largest Lapras Aero has ever seen.
“Now, attack!” shouts the Rocket Scientist, and his group does just that. One Houndoom lets loose a Flamethrower, as the other belts out a Sludge Bomb. The three Golbats use Air Cutter, as Ariados uses Poison sting. Finally, the scientist’s Nidoking uses Hidden Power. The attacks move toward Lapras quickly, but the giant Pokémon doesn’t flinch. Using Protect, all of the attacks land on a transparent barrier, and are ineffective. The onslaught ends, and Spenser laughs.
“Is that all? Well, I’ll end this with a Blizzard.” He turned to his Lapras, who nodded affirmatively. “You know what to do.”
His Water Pokémon opens its mouth, and its eyes begin glowing a bright, whitish blue. Moments later, a powerful blast of snow and ice hits the seven Pokémon, and even goes to their trainers as well. When the attack is finished, all seven trainers and Pokémon are seen lying in the sea, getting up slowly and painfully.
“Stay off my island,” Spenser says simply as he returns Lapras to its Pokéball and begins to walk away.
“He sure is something,” says the man standing behind Aero, but Aero gives him no time to comment further.
“Blaine, do you know what caused the volcano to explode?”
The question is blunt, and for a moment Blaine looks stunned.
“Have we met?” the Gym Leader asks, looking Aero over quizzically.
“I challenged your gym three years ago, with my Wartortle, Scyther, and Onix, remember?”
After a moment of silence, Blaine points to the air, making a triumphant noise.
“YES!” he shouts, making people stare. “You beat my Ninetales with your Onix, then I beat her with my Rhydon. Next, you beat Rhydon with Wartortle, before your Pokémon lost to Magmar, correct?”
“Yes sir,” says Aero, impressed with the old man’s memory. “Then My Scyther beat your Magmar.”
“Yes, yes, I do remember you now, boy,” Blaine says, shaking Aero’s hand vigorously. “It is a pleasure to see you again, or,” his expression turned dark, “it would have been, if not for the occasion.” His eyes glances over to his home, where the giant volcano is still spewing lava everywhere.
“Sir, what exactly caused the eruption?”
“No one seems to know for sure, but my guess is that Moltres used it as a potential diversion to escape capture.”
“Is that what that big pyramid thing was trying to do?” asks Lexa, who has been silent since they reached the Seafoam Islands. “It was trying to capture Moltres?”
“That’s the closest thing to an answer we have,” says Spenser, who had walked over unnoticed to the group. “Moltres has lived in Cinnabar Volcano for months now, happily it seemed, but when the Battle Pyramid landed there, I knew there’d be trouble.”
“That big thing was a Battle Facility?” Aero asks in amazement, and Spenser nods solemnly.
“Yes, Brandon the Pyramid King runs it, and he has always had a fascination with Legendary Pokémon. Around a year ago, he battled with the three Legendary Golems; Regice, Regirock, and Registeel. They performed adamantly for him, but he saw them as stepping stones to a greater power. He took them back to their homes in Hoenn, where they now sleep n peace.
“Since then, he has looked for a new Legendary Trio to use in his battles, and he has chosen the Legendary Birds of Kanto. He came here one day and captured Articuno without problem. I actually battled him that day, on the grounds that his lust for power was immoral and inappropriate for a Frontier Brain.”
“How did the battle go?” asked Alex, although he assumed he already knew from Spenser’s ominous expression.
“I lost miserably. I did not defeat even one of his Pokémon. He told me afterwards that his as the way to victory, and the other Frontier Brains would follow or perish.”
“He really said that?”
“Yes, he really said that. It was almost too much for me to bear, as I had taught him almost everything he knows, to have him fall so far from grace.” His expression lightens slightly, but not completely. “That’s enough about all that, right now I need to focus on helping Cinnabar’s inhabitants make themselves at home on Seafoam for now.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, Spenser,” Blaine says with an eccentric wink at the aged man. “What I need most now. To calm my nerves, is a battle!”
Spenser’s expression lightens greatly, and he smiles at the fiery Gym Leader.
“Now that you mention it,” He says, “I could use a battle myself.”
“I’ll battle you, Spenser!” Aero says, eager to challenge such an experienced trainer. “I’m taking the Battle Frontier Challenge, and I’d love to face you for a Frontier Symbol!”
“That sounds great,” Spenser says, his eyes glowing in the starry sky. “But I wouldn’t want to leave Blaine out of the loop…”
“I’ll battle him!” Lexa says suddenly, jumping from behind Aero. Blaine looks at her critically, but she is adamant. “I’ve been challenging gyms in the Kanto region this year, and I’m joining the Indigo League if I get enough badges.”
“Well, the only logical thing to do is have a double battle,” Spenser says eagerly. Blaine nods his head affirmatively, but Aero and Lexa look confused.
“How would that work though,” Lexa says to Blaine. “We’re not both going for a Symbol or a badge, we’re trying for different things.”
“It’s simple,” The Gym Leader says. “You’ll battle both of us, with Aero, and if you both win, you’ll get a Volcano Badge, and Aero will get his Frontier Symbol.”
“Sounds great to me!” Aero says, and Lexa looks at him, giving him a nod.
“Alright,” Spenser says happily. “Blaine and I will be waiting at my Facility, the Battle Palace.” He points to the top of te island, to a mountain, where Aero and Lexa can see a giant, red, palace, adorned with gold around the windows and towers. Looking determinedly at the giant castle, Aero and Lexa are determined to win their respective prizes, knowing that their battle will go much better than their first double battle…
Around an hour later, Aero, Lexa, and Alex stand outside the Battle Palace, ready to enter. They have been to the Pokémon center, had their Pokémon checked by the local Nurse Joy, and Lexa had gone to the PC to get a Pokémon she thought would help her in the coming battle.
“What did you get?” Aero had asked her, but Lexa refused to budge.
Now, they are both ready to face what could be their greatest challenge: a double battle against one of the strongest Gym Leaders in Kanto, and one of the most powerful Frontier Brains in the entire Battle Frontier. Aero knocks on the large, wood door, and the doors seemed to open of their own accord.
Walking inside, all three young trainers are amazed. Paintings cover the walls, and ornate vases line the sides of the hall, leading to another large, oak door at the end of the hall. They walk toward it, and as they near, the lights behind them turn off. When they reach the door, the only light comes from a candelabra above the door, giving off a very medieval vibe.
Lexa pushes the door open, an a blinding light, accompanied by loud cheering and the smell of freshly mowed grass, meets them on the other side. As their eyes adjust, Aero, Lexa, and Alex can see the stadium, the crowd from outside now in the auditorium like seats, the grassy arena filling the ground, and Spenser standing on the other side, Blaine smiling by his side.
“And, here are the challengers!” says a voice from the commentator’s box at the top of the stadium, enclosed in glass. “Aero Matthews from Fuchsia City, and Lexa Phillips from Snowpoint City in Sinnoh!”
The crowd roars, and an aid comes over to where Aero and Lexa are standing, leading Alex to a box seat near the arena. A pathway opens in front of them, and Aero leads the way to the extra large challenger’s box, facing the two powerful trainers.
“Now,” says Blaine loudly, addressing Aero and Lexa. “This will be a four on four battle, each trainer allowed two Pokémon each. When all four of a team’s Pokémon are defeated, that team loses. If we lose, you both get your prizes, even if one of you faints first, alright?”
“Okay,” Aero and Lexa say in unison.
“It looks like the combatants are ready then,” says the announcer, just as Spenser and Blaine take out their first Pokéballs.
“Go Crobat!” yells Spenser, as a large, purple, bat with four wings materializes from the white light of the Pokéball.
“Now, Rhydon!” Blaine yells, and a dinosaur like Rock Pokémon appears, its armor glinting in the bright lights, and its horn spinning rapidly.
“Spenser has Chosen his Crobat,” The announcer yells into the microphone to the crowd, “and Blaine had chosen his ever-reliable Rhydon. How will our two challengers face this unbeatable team?”
“I’ll show you how,” Aero whispers so that only Lexa can hear him. His voice then raises as he shouts, “Go Scizor!”
The Steel Pokémon appears from the Pokéball flying in front of Aero, ready to battle.
“Scizor,” it says coolly, eying the challenger’s Pokémon cautiously.
“My turn,” Lexa says, taking out her own Pokéball. “Go Vaporeon!”
As she says the name, a blue, finned, catlike Pokémon appears, its tail fin waving and its paws testing the soft grass of the arena. Seeing her Pokémon take its place in front of her, she thinks back to the beginning of their friendship, and what an interesting beginning it was…
“Alright Snorunt, he should probably go challenge Fantina at the Hearthome Gym,” Lexa said to Snorunt, looking at a map as they entered the large Contest Capital of Sinnoh. “The guide says she specializes in Ghost Type Pokémon, so Kricketune should be able to handle them.”
Snorunt, standing by her trainer’s side, nodded happily, and Lexa decided to make their way to the Pokémon Center first, t have Nurse Joy check on her Pokémon before her gym battle.
After they arrived at the Center and Lexa handed her Pokémon to the nurse with a word of thanks, she headed over to the PC to check on her other Pokémon. To her surprise, however, there was already a girl sitting on the computer, a restless Eevee on her lap, its brown fur rustled as it struggled to get off its trainer’s lap.
“Are you alright over here?” Lexa asked the girl as she continued struggling with the small Pokémon.
“Oh, I’m just trying to update my PC program,” the girl said in an exasperated voice. “I’m Bebe, by the way, the-”
“-designer of the Sinnoh Pokémon Box program?” Lexa finished, excited. “I use your box system all the time to store my Pokémon! I use it to send them to my brother’s farm in the Johto region!”
“Oh, is that so?” Bebe said, still struggling against the Eevee, which was now wriggling so ferociously that Bebe could not even let go with one hand to use the keyboard. “Does that mean you’re a Pokémon trainer?”
“Yeah, I just started a while back, why?”
“Well,” said Bebe, looking slightly embarrassed, “One of my friends gave me this Eevee for my birthday, but I don’t have the time to take care of it at all. I was hoping to find a trustworthy trainer to give it to, and I was hoping they would take good care of it. It just so happens that I think I know your brother, unless I’m mistaken, because I’ve tracked the Pokémon being sent to a farm of my friend’s in Johto, and they were all of a young female trainer. Could your brother possibly be Tom Phillips?”
“Yeah, he is!” Lexa says, surprised at how far her brother’s influence reaches. “How do you know him?”
“We started our journeys together,” Bebe said. “we were kind of rivals, you could say, until I decided to go into Pokémon computer programming instead.”
“That’s cool,” Lexa said, happy to meet one of her brother’s old friends.
“So, how about it? Would you like this Eevee?”
“Are you sure you want to give it away?” Lexa asked, looking down at the mischievous, but adorable, Pokémon.
“Yes, I have to,” Bebe said simply. “I have no room for it in my home, nor do I have any time to train it properly.”
“If you really don’t want it,” Lexa said, growing even more excited, “Then I’ll take it!”
“Great!” Bebe said, tuning back to the computer and pushing a complicated pattern of keys. “There! Eevee is yours now!”
“Awesome!” Lexa said, and right on cue, Eevee jumped off from Bebe’s lap and into Lexa’s arms.
“I’m sure you two will be very happy with each other,” Bebe said, turning back to the PC and finishing the update. “I’m all set here, so I’ll see you around!”
“Thanks a lot, Bebe,” Lexa said as the programmer walked away, waving. After Bebe left, Lexa logged on to her own box to check her Pokémon, then got her others from Nurse Joy and challenged the gym, defeating Fantina’s Mismagius with a Fury Cutter from her Kricketune.
Later on in her journey, as Lexa and Eevee became very close, Eevee began to evolve one night into what Lexa later learned would have been an Umbreon, but Eevee forced itself to stop. For some reason, it didn’t want to be and Umbreon, and it waited until one day near Mossdeep City, where it used a Water Stone on itself to become the Vaporeon it is today, learning many powerful Water and Ice type moves.
Now, in its first Gym battle in Kanto, it is ready to face what could be it’s most powerful opponent yet, and win a Volcano Badge for Lexa…
“Go Scizor, Iron Head at Rhydon!” Aero shouts, as Scizor flies forward, lightning fast, hitting Rhydon hard in the chest with an Iron Head attack. The attack has incredible force due to the Type advantage, but Rhydon comes out without a scratch.
“Nice try,” Blaine says, laughing. “Now Rhydon, Horn Drill!”
The Rock Pokémon runs forward, but is much too slow to hit the speedy Scizor, which dodges incredibly, as Crobat shoots off Air Cutter after Air Cutter at Lexa’s Vaporeon, who dodges each easily.
“Go Scizor, hit Crobat with a Bug Buzz!” Aero says suddenly, and before Spenser can utter a warning, his Pokémon is blasted out of the air by the orb of green energy Scizor shoots at it.
“You’re fine Crobat,” Spenser says imploringly, and Crobat gets up rapidly, flying after Scizor.
“Vaporeon, use Ice Beam!” Lexa says, and Vaporeon aims a blast of ice at Crobat, but it misses, hitting the wall of the stadium. Turning around faster than Aero can see, Crobat faces Scizor and flies forward, its fangs flaming, latching onto Scizor’s arm with the fiery bite. After a moment, Crobat flings the stunned Bug Pokémon to the ground, where it falls hard, and stays down.
“Aero’s first Pokémon is unable to battle!” the announcer says, as Aero stands in shock at the sudden defeat.
“What’s wrong, Aero?” Spenser says, as Aero returns his Pokémon. “Aren’t you up to speed tonight?”
“Maybe not,” Aero says, taking out another Pokéball with a silent prayer. “But hopefully with this next one, I will be!”
He throws the Pokéball into the air, and when the white light appears, he hopes that he will be able to overcome all four of the opposing Pokémon with only one of his own left…