Here's chapter eight, and anyone who has a sibling, I hope you get along a lot better than Aero and Alex!
IX: Sibling Rivalry
Feraligatr is blown back by a powerful Hydro Cannon fired from Blastoise, and since it is the third he is hit by, not to mention a powerful Skull Bash and an Ice Punch, Feraligatr is knocked back, unconscious.
“That was pathetic,” Aero says to his brother, as Feraligatr is returned to his Pokéball and replaced by another, this one a canine, with dark fur and an angry expression.
“Mightyena, use Crunch!” Alex says, as his Pokémon charges forward, mouth glowing with Dark energy. She latches onto Blastoise’s arm, but the giant turtle Pokémon throws it off easily.
“Now, use Ice Beam!” Aero says, and a blast of ice erupts from Blastoise’s mouth, hitting Mightyena and freezing it solid.
“What gives Aero?” Alex says, taking back his Pokémon and sending out another, this one a large, blue, beetle.
“Heracross, use Megahorn!” the Pokémon rushes forward, its single horn glowing, and lunges itself into Blastoise. The turtle is thrown back, but gets up quickly, ready for more.
“Use another Hydro Cannon!” Aero shouts, and both cannons target Heracross, shooting a geyser of water. Impossibly fast, Heracross jumps out of the way, rushing toward Blastoise, who is frozen from the side effect of Hydro Cannon.
“Heracross, use Focus Punch!” Alex shouts, and his Pokémon’s fist glows brightly, hitting Blastoise hard. Surprisingly, The turtle doesn’t get back up.
“What’s this Alex, am I actually witnessing talent?” Alex returns Blastoise and sending out Flareon. The Flame Pokémon growls, and Heracross looks back defiantly.
“Flareon, use Flamethrower!” Aero shouts, and a blast of flame shoots toward Heracross, hitting her hard and knocking her out. Next, after Alex returns Heracross, comes a purple bat Pokémon, which comes out of the Pokéball and immediately slams hard on the ground, causing a small earthquake and sending Flareon flying. The attack is not strong enough to beat her, however, and with a shout of “Swift!” from Aero, small stars of energy shoot from Flareon’s mouth, hitting Gligar hard. The Ground Type Pokémon flies up again, and with a shout of “Now Gligar, another Earthquake!” from Alex, which unfortunately strikes Flareon dead on, taking it out of the battle as a voice forgotten by both opponents rings out.
“Why are you both doing this?” Lexa says imploringly from the side. “This certainly isn’t how brothers are supposed to act!”
“That depends on if your brother is a lowlife sellout who decides to join a criminal gang just because he’s too weak on his own,” Aero says angrily as he throws another Pokéball out. Scizor appears, and flies up to Gligar as the two Pokémon attack each other with no command in the sky.
“We have a very different opinion of sellout, bro,” Alex says bitterly, as Scizor strikes Gligar with a Bug Buzz. The bat Pokémon begins falling, but before he hits, Alex returns him and sends out another Flying Pokémon, this one red and white and vaguely Penguin shaped, and carrying a large white bag. “My idea is that a sellout is a brother and son who decides on his tenth birthday to go off and train Pokémon, and never speaks to his family again. Delibird, use Present!”
The Penguin Pokémon takes a wrapped gift out of her bag and throws it at Scizor. It explodes on impact, but Scizor merely shrugs off the attack. Aero merely laughs.
“I spoke with the important members of my family quite often, actually,” he says, ordering another Bug Buzz from Scizor, which hits Delibird hard and Alex returns his Pokémon yet again, now throwing his last Pokéball, revealing the Combusken Lexa had seen earlier. “Maybe you were too busy with your Team Magma crap when I called to talk.”
“I don’t even want to hear about this anymore!” Alex shouts, as Combusken shoots an Ember at Scizor. The Mantis Pokémon dodges easily and shoots forward, readying a Giga Impact.
“Combusken, use Ember again!” Alex shouts, and this time, the Fire attack makes contact but barely fazes, Scizor at all. Hitting Combusken full force with Giga Impact, clearly knocking the Young Fowl Pokémon out before it even lands back on the ground.
“Well, I think Scizor is ready for your next Pokémon,” Aero says mockingly as his Pokémon lands on the ground to recover from the Giga Impact. “Oh wait, I think that was your sixth, wasn’t it?”
He begins laughing, and before he stops, he feels a hard slap on his face. Growing angry, he rubs it and finds that it wasn’t Alex who had hit him, as he had expected… it was Lexa.
“I’ve had enough of this!” she shouts, addressing both Aero and Alex. “I’m tired of you two fighting. Aero, this is completely out of character for you, and Alex, I don’t really know you, but shame on you all the same!”
Surprisingly, Aero feels a bit of embarrassment from Lexa’s words. Alex, on the other hand, looks full of contempt, and ready to fling himself at Aero.
“I don’t even need to be here,” he says, turning away, but Lexa runs over to him and grabs his arm.
“If you try to leave you’ll need to deal with ME and MY Pokémon, and I’m not as decent as Aero.” Alex laughs, and in response, Lexa slaps him as well.
“Aero is obviously surprised to see you, and I want you to tell us why you’re here, if you’re with Team Magma in Hoenn.”
“Well, actually, I’m here because of Team Rocket,” Alex says matter-of-factly. Aero turns to look at him as he continues. “Maxie, the leader of Team Magma, had heard that Team Rocket was looking to create a super-powerful Pokémon, and he sent me here to find out more.”
“Yeah, like you’d be able to find out anything with those weaklings you call Pokémon,” Aero says, and Lexa looks at him in amazement.
“Are you hearing what he’s saying Aero?” she asks, astonished. “If what he says is true, we’re all in danger.”
“What he says IS true,” Aero says, prompting both Lexa and Alex to stare at him incredulously. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you Lexa, and this is probably a good time…”