Yes, a new chapter, and about time too. I'll probably be a fair bit slower for a while with chapters, like now, due to it being my final year of high school and all, meaning more tests and homework than ever before, along with many other distractions. And being lazy doesn't help either. =P Review replies are in the next post now, btw, due to lack of character space for this post... so I can actually edit this post. =P
And also, a belated thank you for those who nominated and voted for my fic in the fanfic awards here some months back, earning it a few awards in the end (Man I'm behind the times XD). Certainly surprised me, along with other things such as the (IMO undeserved) following behind this fic, given my random beginnings with this fic to achieve such a thing... but I'm certainly not complaining. =P At any rate... thanks for for reading this fic, all of you, and I hope you continue to do so as I slowly plough onwards to the end!
...Ahem. Now for the chapter. Stuff actually happens now in the game and hence the story, so huzzah for that! If you think there are many references to various things in this chapter, you're not wrong. =P
Thanks to a friend from school (known as Sky Fyre) for beta reading.
Disclaimer – no Pokemon were hurt in the making of this chapter.
Much.
Wes groaned as he staggered down a set of stairs, while trying to fit himself into his blue coat. He was still unaccustomed to living inside a giant tree, let alone spending the night there; and he also wasn't used to living somewhere with so many randomly-placed teapots to boot, as he tripped over one and came down the stairs faster than he had wished to.
“Good morning, Wes! Did you sleep well?” Rui said as she appeared into sight, clad in pyjamas and clutching a particularly oversized teapot, while Wes collided with a heavy clump at the bottom of the staircase. Dazed, he accepted Rui’s help to get him back onto his feet, only being able to make an unintelligible grunt in return as Wes noticed that Rui’s pyjamas were patterned with numerous Pokemon in chibi form. Wes frowned as he rubbed his head.
“I didn’t sleep very well,” he said eventually.
“Why not?” Rui asked worriedly. “And... where did you sleep anyway? I slept on the sofa, and I didn’t see any other bedrooms...”
“That’s because there are no other bedrooms,” Wes said flatly. “No – instead, I had the pleasure of getting to sleep outside on some giant branch...”
Rui stared, as Eagun walked past the two into the kitchen. “Well,” he said, while shrugging, “I told you we were a bit short on spare beds and all.”
“Yeah, I know...” Wes muttered. “Nevertheless, it’s rather hard to sleep when you know that your bed is sitting on a branch a good twenty or so metres in the air! Even if the branch was wide enough to nearly have a Pokemon battle upon it.”
“Ah well. Maybe you’d want some porridge?” Rui said.
“Something – anything will do...” Wes acknowledged, before he paused. “Rui?”
“Yes?”
“By any chance, was the porridge cooked in that teapot you’re holding?”
“Yeah...” Rui said. “There were no pots anywhere, but it should still taste good! I hope...” Wes glanced at Eagun, who again shrugged.
“The teapots were all at half price,” he said flatly.
“Fair enough then,” Wes grinned tiredly, as he accepted the teacup of porridge from Rui and moved to the table, sitting down before looking for a spoon. “Can’t argue with a good bargain I suppose... although you could have bought at least one pot...”
“Anyway, Wes, a bit before I went to sleep yesterday after that fiasco at the restaurant...” Rui said, also sitting down, “I had a look at that book Senilor gave us.”
“Anything useful in there, or just gibberish about how the Relic Stone is actually a stone, chiselled by some nobody?”
“Well, admittedly, some of this info seems to be bogus... like for instance...” Rui said, flipping over some pages before seemingly finding what she was looking for. “‘Useless Fact 797: The Relic Stone can also be used as a football!’”
Wes blinked at Rui. “Am I just still too sleepy, or was the writer just a bit... eccentric?”
Rui laughed sadly, before continuing on. “‘Useless Fact 798: It’s just a stone. Useless Fact 799: You didn’t make it!’” Rui said, turning the page. “‘Useless fact 800: This is... the 800th fact about the Relic Stone!’” she read, before grimacing.
“So... the whole thing is filled with nonsense?” Wes asked. “Great.”
“Not quite, though, Wes,” Rui said, turning to the back of the book. “There actually is something of note written here, on some page titled ‘Give me money’...”
“Ok then...” Wes said, as Espeon and Umbreon slowly stirred, awaking.
“Umbre...re...eon!” (Wazza...what’s that....arrgh!) Umbreon shouted as he opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of Eagun’s face and beard.
“What’s wrong with you?” Eagun asked Umbreon. “But anyway, look at this!” he continued, waving a newspaper at Umbreon, who looked blankly at it.
“Can’t you read?” Eagun asked, disappointed over the lack of reaction. Before Umbreon or Espeon could protest, he started waving the newspaper. “I tell you what cooks my goose – newspaper headlines! It says right here ‘Specialist Claims Electric Chair Can Be ‘Extremely Painful’’! Whoever came up with the idea for an electric chair if it’s so painful then? And who needs different kinds of chairs anyway? What next, thermal chairs? Nuclear chairs? I won’t be able to decide which chair to sit in then!”
Umbreon merely blinked blankly, while Espeon made a small sound of confusion.
“Oh, never mind him,” Beluh said. “Dear, I told you not to read the morning paper, it excites you.”
“But look at this ad right here! It’s RIDICULOUS! They need to make some sign-making course! Now I at least know how to make a sign! Just look at the ones at the entrance of this town!”
“...You made those signs?” Wes asked.
“Yes. Impressive, aren’t they? The ones they tried to put up instead were terrible. Now a stop sign – that’s a sign with oomph!”
“Anyway,” Rui continued, ignoring her grandfather educate Wes’s Pokemon about the intricacies of signs, “it says here... ‘According to ancient lore, the Relic Stone holds power of time travel for the legendary Pokemon Celebi. It is said that Celebi can help one to revive their most pleasant, enjoyable memories, which has been known to cause darkness to flee from the hearts of any Pokemon. To meet it however, you must use an item called the ‘Time Flute’ which is all that one needs to bring Celebi to the Relic Forest. The tune to play to summon the Celebi is ‘I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts’'... wait, it suddenly went weird again...” Rui said. “Why that song?”
“Maybe Celebi has odd tastes?” Beluh offered. “Hmm, that reminds me...”
“It says some other stuff here too...such as that Celebi can also travel into other worlds – ones that don’t have any Pokemon in them? I think that’s still the random ramblings though.”
“Espeon... Espi?” (Celebi – a legendary Psychic Pokemon! But... who’s heard of a world without Pokemon?)
“Umbreon?” (How could anyone live in such a place?)
“But that sounds too ridiculous,” Wes protested. “I mean, Celebi? That’s...” Wes searched for words, but struggled. “It’s...super-duper rare! More rare than a... talking Meowth!”
“I know, but it states here that this information comes from bulbap-”
“I knew it!” Beluh announced triumphantly, pulling out an irregularly-shaped stone tablet from behind a leaning tower of teapots. “All that talk about Celebi reminded me we had this... here, it’s an ancient tablet on the Relic Stone.” Beluh then held out the tablet for all of them to see.
“...Who’s Masto?” Rui asked, confused. “And why are some words entirely or just partly capitalised...”
“Never mind the guy’s name or the capitalisation; look at what it says!” Wes exclaimed. “From the book’s ranting and that, it sounds that the Relic Stone must hold Celebi’s power...and could purify our Pokemon. The last door... maybe it only does so when the Shadow Metre is empty for them! If that’s the case...”
“That’s great!” Rui said happily, as Beluh smiled.
““We can head there after breakfast and see if it works. By the way; Eagun, where are the spoons around here? Only I’ve checked every teapot I could find for them...”
“Spoons are too expensive,” Eagun replied. “But anyway, I’ve always wondered about this,” he continued, turning back to Espeon, Umbreon, and now Plusle, waving the newspaper once more at them, pointing at a headline ‘Manned Spacecraft To Moon Launched To Investigate Possible Presence Of Cheese’ which took up two entire pages. “If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they just leave him there?!”
“Plusle...” (Why can’t you just talk about potatoes?) Plusle asked tiredly.
“Espeon!” (Or just shut up entirely – stones sound more interesting than you!)
“But then,” Wes said uneasily, “how am I supposed to eat this porridge?”
“We... have paddle-pop sticks!” Eagun offered.
Suddenly, the front door flew open as a man stumbled in, gasping for breath.
“Great galloping fiddlesticks!” Eagun cried, suddenly getting to his feet and throwing his teacup full of porridge in the air in surprise.
Uh oh... Wes thought, cautiously eyeing the flying teacup that thankfully wasn’t heading in his direction. I hope he doesn’t start talking about his ‘pokeymans’ again...
Beluh also rose to her feet, looking concerned. “Duncan, what’s the matter?”
Oh great – it’s the guy who was shouting at his letterbox, Wes remembered, as he exchanged glances with Rui.
“It’s... well, there were some strange-looking people that came into town, and they walked all over my lawn!”
Eagun jumped into the air, threw his arms out, and shouted “NO!” loudly, looking at Duncan with a face of pure horror. Then he paused, realised what Duncan had actually said, and quietly got back into his seat.
“Don’t get worked up, dear,” Beluh said calmly. “Now then, Duncan... did they do... anything else?”
“...I don’t know, I just saw them walking on my lawn, and I had this strange urge to tell you about it. So I came right over after I waved my stick at them good! Oh, they got the stick-waving of their lives!”
“...Right,” Wes said, before he resumed his search for a spoon. He then gave a start as another person burst through the doorway.
“Help! Some people just came into town and walked over my lawn too!”
“Whatever is the world coming to?” Eagun said sadly. Then another person came in.
“Not another one...” Rui said.
“Urrgh... a group of people just barged through the entrance of the Relic Forest yelling about how they’d smash the Relic Stone apart!”
“...Ok, that’s not good,” Wes said quietly. “Smash the Relic Stone? But...who’d...” Then he noticed Eagun get up to his feet again, his eyes starting to expand, and stepped backwards uneasily.
“Oh no!” Beluh said worriedly. “Did they hurt you?
“No... well, I tried to stop them, but they just looked at me so I decided I’d run off and tell you guys about it,” he replied sheepishly. “And they walked on my lawn too!”
“So they walked right into the forest?” Beluh asked.
“WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHAT? HOW? WHY?” Eagun shouted as well.
“Well... yes. But Steve’s in there, so he might stop them,” he added uncertainly. Suddenly, Eagun slapped the table with his hand loudly.
“RIGHT! I’m going to stop them! I’m running real fast out!” Eagun shouted, before he sprinted out of the room at an extraordinary speed, ignoring his rushed and mixed-up speech.
“...Wait – where is he going?” Wes said, confused.
“And how can he run so fast?” the man who had just entered murmured.
“No, come back!” Beluh shouted worriedly. “You’re in no shape to run – you know that it’s no good for your heart!”
“Don’t run on my lawn!” Duncan yelled as well.
Distant shouting from outside seemed to suggest that neither of those comments were being heeded.
“Oh dear... Wes, we’ve got to go after him!” Rui said, before she ran off too.
“Um... arrgh! Everyone’s either running off or complaining about their lawns...” Wes grumbled, before getting to his feet, promptly returning his Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and running outside as well. I hope we can stop those people though – so much for peace and quiet...
Despite his tiredness, he quickly reached Rui and began to overtake her, while searching for where Eagun had run off to.
“Where…did….he…go…” Rui panted, anxiously searching around.
“There he is!” Wes cried, rounding a corner and disappearing.
“Where?” she asked, looking around, before she tripped and face-planted into the ground. Sighing, she got to her feet.
“Hey, Wes…” she began, before realising that he too had disappeared from sight.
“Aww…great. Where the heck do I... go now?” Rui said to herself.
Meanwhile, Wes was pursuing Eagun, bemused by the fact that he didn’t seem to be gaining any ground on the old man despite running as fast as he could. Eagun was solely focused on where he was going, jumping fences and rushing through defenceless daffodils, heading in the direction of the town’s Pokemon Centre which was situated on the outskirts of the town. A young man stood outside, glancing confusedly at Eagun.
“Umm, what’s the rush? You look like you saw a talking gingerbread man- OW!” he cried, as Eagun ran right through him and took a hard left, running down a set of stairs by the Pokemon Centre. Without a second thought Wes followed, taking every third step down. As he got to the bottom, turning just in time to avoid falling into the river surrounding the village, he saw Eagun disappear into a cave; Wes sprinted inside.
He stopped short for a moment – the cave was lightly illuminated from the occasional hole that punctured the soil ceiling. A simple yet overrun path lay in front of him, weeds and in particular an enormous entanglement of roots from a large tree above ground concealing most of it, while a small, simple bridge interrupted the trail over a slow-moving stream.
Ahead, Eagun was still running ahead, as two people jumped out of the shadows at him.
“Hey, stop, you old man! Our boss up ahead told us nobody is to get past...is that a beard?” one asked, pointing at it in confusion.
Cipher people! Wes thought, noticing their purple uniforms. This can’t be good.
“Yeah...hey – come back!” the second shouted at Eagun who just ignored him and ran onwards.
“That’s right – you’re supposed to have a Pokemon battle with us! Don’t you know anything? Wait up! That’s what the boss told us...Ah great, he’s gone already,” the first muttered, admitting defeat.
“Boss won’t be happy, will he?”
“Nope. Hang on – who are you?” the man asked, pointing at Wes.
“Stop! I saw you, so we must battle!” the other added.
Ah great – I can’t afford to be held up! Wes thought furiously. This boss of theirs must be off to destroy the Relic Stone himself, and I doubt Eagun can hold him up for long at all... if he even catches up, that is...
“Go, Spheal!” the first person cried, sending out a spherical, blue-and-crème coloured Pokemon that glanced up at Wes with puppy-like eyes.
Then again...those Pokemon hardly look intimidating... Wes added to himself. He knelt down, smiling at the Pokemon, which looked at him with confusion, as did the two cipher agents.
“Now, I don’t really do these sorts of things, normally,” Wes began, “but I really don’t have time for this right now. “ With that, Wes stood up again and struck his leg out, punting the surprised Spheal across the cave.
“Oh no, my Pokemon!” cried its trainer, running off after it as it helplessly rolled away into the darkness. As the other followed him, Wes turned to continue after Eagun.
“Aha! I’ll stop you! Once I get down from here, that is!” a voice cried from above. Wes glanced up, before quickly running to the side of the cave as someone fell from above, giving a small shriek of pain upon landing. “I think I sprained my ankle...” she muttered softly.
“Where did you come from?” Wes managed after a moment, glancing upwards and back to the new, uniformed person that had landed right in front of him, getting up a bit gingerly. Cipher hire ninjas that fall from the ceiling now?
“If you must know, I was searching for my, uhh, Pokemon. I misplaced her...” the woman huffily replied, before wincing in pain.
Wes stared even further. “So naturally, you thought you got it lost up there?”
“...Shut up! It’ll turn up later – I’ll use this one instead! Now: go, Ralts!” she cried, as a small, miniature Pokemon was sent out. Wes stared once more at the white-bodied Pokemon that possessed a green, mushroom-shaped head that looked as big as the rest of its body, and laughed.
These Cipher people are pushovers...it’s the size of my shoe!
“Wes!” someone called suddenly – Wes turned around to notice Rui come in.
“What took you so long?” Wes asked, before noticing a man stand behind Rui.
“Hey, stop ignoring me! Ralts, attack that man with Psychic!” the woman yelled angrily, as the Ralts glanced back with a confused look, coupled with a small, timid cry.
“What do you mean, you don’t know any psychic moves yet?” the woman asked.
“I got lost!” Rui said. “But I got help from this man in the Pokemon Centre.”
“Hiya!” the man said, stepping forward and grabbing Wes’s hand, shaking it. “I’m Enpea Sea!”
“...Yeah, nice to meet you. Thanks and all,” Wes said quickly. “Rui, we’ve got to hurry up and get moving!”
“Ok...” Rui said, “but why is there a Ralts trying to attack your shoe at the moment? Is that that person’s Pokemon?”
“Why are you so useless!? I knew I shouldn’t have brought newly-hatched Pokemon!” the Cipher woman cried in anguish, as the Ralts tried to swat Wes’s shoes with its small arms. “And get away from me!” she added, as the old man who had assisted Rui tried to introduce himself to her.
“Umm... never mind that! Hey, um... Enpea Sea! You can take over this Pokemon battle here for me! Will you?” Wes asked. The old man gave a pondering look in return, before answering.
“...Well, I like battles and all, but I must go back to my spot and get my Pokemon checked up upon beforehand, and tell people about this. It’s my job, you see!”
“...It’s your job? Oh, whatever – never mind about that – just take the battle here for me, please,” Wes insisted.
“But standing in the same spot is more than a job. It’s an obligation – nay, destiny! And I prefer it over my last one - my back's never been the same after it. That job involved standing in the middle of the desert telling people about these discount shoes I got here-”
“Bye!” Wes said, before dragging Rui and running off again, leaving Enpea Sea with the woman and her Ralts behind.
***
On the other side of the underground passage, Eagun rushed out into the soft sunlight, and squinted, worriedly looking for a good sight to reassure him that the Relic Stone was fine. He continued down the stony path, knowing that soon he would reach it. It was the monument, the highlight, of this village – the object that he and many came to visit during walks through the forest by the village, during many a quiet, peaceful morning.
It was hard to explain why - perhaps nobody ever could, but it was as if this very spot radiated tranquillity and peace. A great calm would often fill him... but now it was different – despite the location there, it was obvious that there was trouble afoot. Those goons had tried to stop him from getting to the Relic Forest, and that was supposed to be closed to all but the villagers only! Not that they appeared to do a good job of stopping him. That was something to be thankful for – now he could only hope that Steve had managed to find this other person here and stop him from reaching the Relic Stone and doing... something or rather.
Hmm... what was it again? Eagun thought to himself, as he scratched his head in puzzlement and ploughed onwards. Something about raspberry jam...no, that was yesterday’s breakfast. Ah, I hate it when I forget stuff...
“Curse you, amnes...aminesa... ah, whatever you’re called!” Eagun muttered to himself.
Ah well, maybe I’ll make myself a sign about it next time, he thought more positively to himself. He was aware of the occasional memory loss he tended to have – in fact, most of Agate Village’s residents shared the same problem, all of them getting in age. It was essentially a retirement village, really. He probably shouldn’t have drunk so much tea – it tended to make him sleepy – maybe that was why he wasn’t quite thinking straight.
Concentrate! Eagun thought. Have to concentrate. Now...they mentioned that their boss was up ahead. How far ahead is he though? Is he already there? Did Steve find him? If so, maybe he stopped him. Or maybe he didn’t? And maybe he just slept in today? And where the heck am I again? he mused.
Suddenly, shouting and a cry of ‘Zig!’ broke Eagun out of his trance. He looked around, and spotted a middle-aged man, who gaped at Eagun.
“Steve! How are you! Nice overalls there, by the way. Oh look, the Relic Stone’s ok too!” Eagun said happily, pointing at it. It was of a slightly irregular, yet cylindrical-like shape, and was a simple stone-gray in colour, with the path having now encircled the sculpture.
Yes...I never did think that it was a good replica of a Celebi, personally... Eagun considered, observing the slabs of stone that made up the statue. Artistic license, I suppose.
“Oh, it’s ok – but not for long.”
Eagun turned around to face another man, this one immersed by a gray uniform and helmet, save for a bright-blue scarf. Through the visor, Eagun saw the man smirking smugly to himself, and frowned.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Skrub. And thanks for helping me by the way – I’ll just destroy the Relic Stone now, seeing as you took out my pitiful opposition without me having to even use a Pokemon!”
Eagun looked confusedly at him, and then at Steve, who wordlessly pointed at Eagun’s foot. Eagun looked down, and jumped back in surprise, noticing that he had been standing upon a distressed Zigzagoon. The small racoon Pokemon gave a sigh of relief as he did so, before falling unconscious.
“Oh...I’m sorry?” Eagun said to Steve. Meanwhile, Skrub snickered.
“Pathetic, I’m telling you. You old people shouldn’t try to stop me – it’s bad for your bones. At any rate...” Skrub drawled, turning towards the Relic Stone, grinning all the more now. “Come on out, my Hitmontop.” With that, Skrub held out a Pokeball and pressed the button upon it.
Frowning with bewilderment, Eagun regarded the humanoid Pokemon – it was peculiarly standing upon a spike on the top of its brown head, having landed upside-down. It hissed angrily at Eagun, striking the air with its fists and legs.
“I wouldn’t want to be hit by those attacks...” Steve said quietly to Eagun, who nodded worriedly.
“Hehe...don’t let it fool you – it fights better while upside-down like this!” Skrub boasted. “...Somehow. At any rate – step aside, unless you want to take on my Hitmontop.”
“Then it’s a battle it’ll be!” Eagun shouted, trying to hide his uncertainty.
“Fine then – Hitmontop, attack his Pokemon with Rapid Spin! Or if he has none, attack him!” Eagun stopped for a second and stared at Skrub, and then at the Hitmontop, who grinned at him. The grin looked more like an angry frown though from Hitmontop’s inverted position.
“I’m off,” Steve whispered, picking up his Zigzagoon before he ran off. “HELP! ANGRY UPSIDE-DOWN THINGS ARE GOING TO KILL ME!” he screamed, disappearing into the forest.
“Uhh...” Eagun said uncertainly. “Umm...go, Pikachu!” Eagun said, as he reached into his beard, pulled a surprised Pikachu out, and threw it at Skrub.
“What the-” Skrub said, covering his eyes, as the fat rodent came flying at his face.
“PEKA!” (Arrgh!) Pikachu shouted, landing on Skrub’s helmet, before hanging on for dear life with her short, stubby arms as Skrub strived to swat her off.
“Hitmontop!” (Something to attack!) the Hitmontop said, suddenly turning itself rapidly on the spot. As it became a blur, it suddenly shot off and followed Pikachu’s flight path, and collided with Skrub, who cried in pain. The Hitmontop growled angrily, disgusted that it had missed its quarry, and then swung a leg at the Pikachu, which jumped off just in time from Skrub’s head. Fortunately for Skrub, his view was finally unobstructed, but that gave him a perfect view of Hitmontop’s attack.
“ARRGH! NOT ME, THE RAT!” Skrub screamed.
Meanwhile, Eagun racked his brains, trying to think of what moves his Pikachu knew.
“Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!” he finally decided. Pikachu looked up at Eagun and nodded, and then ran at the Hitmontop determinedly.
The Hitmontop turned around, and observed the lumbering, overweight Pikachu with mirth. As she reached the Hitmontop, it merely spun again with amazing acceleration and struck the rat with its feet one after the other, sending the rodent flying into the Relic Stone. Eagun gasped and watched, as the Relic Stone shook, and then steadied itself once more, as the Pikachu moaned a cry of ‘Peka’ and fell to the ground.
Skrub grimly got up to his feet. “Right, you’ll pay for that, old man. But first I will deal with business. Hitmontop, you idiot of a Pokemon, Rapid Spin on the Relic Stone now, and then I’d let you have some fun.”
The Hitmontop growled, but then grinned, realising what Skrub meant, and spun itself once again before he flew at the Relic Stone.
“No!” Eagun cried.
“Quick – go and use Reflect – stop that...thing!” someone shouted suddenly.
The Hitmontop came to within centimetres of the Relic Stone – and then harshly rebounded from a wall of light that appeared just before it. Espeon then appeared, jumping on top of the Relic Stone, and proudly stared at the hissing Hitmontop.
“Espeon! Esp!” (You’re not about to get past!)
“Good work, Espeon,” Wes said, appearing, with Rui in tow. “Now, focus on that Reflect – keep it up, for that Pokemon gave it a beating already!” Espeon nodded, and then focused his mind, the jewel in his forehead shinning brighter than before as the Reflect he had summoned glimmered brighter in turn.
“You came!” Eagun said, wiping sweat from his forehead before he quickly moved to swoop up his Pikachu.
“Be careful, Grandpa...” Rui warned. “And no wonder, Wes – it’s a Shadow Pokemon!” Rui said, noticing a dense, purple aura surrounding the Hitmontop. Skrub glared at the new arrivals, before he bitterly laughed.
“Oh, so the renegade and the seeing-girl turn up out of nowhere,” he spat. “Looks like I’ll have to rely on the rest of my pathetic Pokemon – at least I brought some more! Go and try to destroy that stone, then, and at all costs!”
“Come on out then, Umbreon and Yanma! Protect that stone no matter what!” Wes hurriedly shouted, grabbing two Pokeballs out at once, while Skrub haphazardly threw out three. Suddenly the stone was surrounded by six more Pokemon.
On Skrub’s side was a Geodude, the levitating rock Pokemon roaring and flying straight at the barrier, its two arms swinging at it. It held however, but uneasily as the Hitmontop also moved in and also began attacking it. Umbreon however appeared from Wes’s Pokeball, and jumped on the Hitmontop, teeth latching onto its limbs. The Yanma however did not pay much attention to the fight.
“Yan-Yan-Yanmamama!” (Oh-look-a-battle-hey-I-smell-coffee-someone-is-drinking-coffee-somewhere!) it said suddenly upon sniffing the air, and with that it zoomed out the way Eagun and Wes had came, disappearing into the forest.
“Oh, how pathetic...” Skrub laughed as his other two Pokeballs hit the ground and his Pokemon materialised. “I’m sure the Pokemon I brought here are better than that!”
Another of Skrub’s Pokemon was a Clamperl; a small, blue shell that merely sat on the ground. Next to it was a Wynaut – a blue Pokemon that was human shaped, although it was the size of a small toddler, and had stubby feet. It happily wagged its long ears and tail, and then suddenly hopped on the Clamperl and merrily danced upon it, appearing not to be in the least bit interested of attacking.
At least that’s good, Wes thought to himself. The Clamperl will be easy as heck even if it ever moves, and the Wynaut line are purely counter-attack Pokemon, so it won’t pose any danger if I leave it alone for now, he quickly concluded.
“None of the other Pokemon are Shadow Pokemon,” Rui said. “Hang on; I think I brought one of my Pokemon with me too...”
“Urgh! Why did I have to bring you?” Skrub shouted, overcome with annoyance at how the situation had escalated. The Wynaut looked at his trainer, and merely shrugged happily, exclaiming ‘Wynaut’. A moment later, Skrub realised the comment made in relation to the Pokemon’s name.
“Touché...”
“Ok then – go, Quagsire!” Rui said, managing to aim her Pokeball and release her Quagsire more or less in front of the Relic Stone. “Ok, just...stand there and don’t let anyone past!”
“Qu...aag,” (Uhh...duh, ok,) the Quagsire responded, before he sat down and stared blankly into space. As the Hitmontop span past it, trying to find a weak point in Espeon’s Reflect, it suddenly waved its flipper out to the side and struck it, before staring at it with its tiny eyes, maintaining the same expression.
“Eagun, just in case...get somewhere safe,” Wes said, grabbing two more Pokeballs. “Go and defend the Relic Stone, Makuhita and Croconaw!”
“Come with me, Pikachu,” Eagun said quietly, hurriedly running off with his prized Pokemon in tow. Meanwhile, Wes’s Pokemon materialised from their respective Pokeballs, and faced off their more intimidating opposition in Hitmontop and Geodude.
Then they suddenly paused, and turned their backs on their opposition and faced the Relic Stone.
“W...Why are you-” Wes began, before Rui grabbed his arm, gasping in surprise.
“Look, Wes! Something’s happening with the Relic Stone!”
Wes, Skrub, and all of the other Pokemon observed the Relic Stone.
“...Rui, it’s just...sitting there,” Wes said finally. But Makuhita and Croconaw certainly think otherwise too, he added to himself, frowning at the two. They were seemingly in their own world, only focusing their attention to the stone. Wes then glanced at the stone, half expecting it to fly up and away, or do something else that was interesting.
“But...can’t you see the green light surrounding the Relic Stone? It’s...”
“Rui, we can’t see auras, remember?” Wes said.
“Oh yeah...” Wes quickly glanced at Espeon, who was looking with bewilderment at the Relic Stone. He senses something’s up too, Wes thought. Hang on...
“And... now the green aura is...engulfing your Pokemon’s auras!” Rui said excitedly.
“What? Damn it!” Skrub swore. “Oi, keep attacking! Either that stupid piece of rock or those Pokemon of his – just don’t let it do whatever it’s doing! We can’t let it!”
“Wynaut?” (Why not?) queried the small, hyper Pokemon.
“Stop saying that! Geodude, try flying over that Reflect and attack the stone from above for starters!”
The Geodude roared once again, and then flew straight up. Espeon frowned worriedly, but then simply shrugged. As the rock Pokemon flew back to earth after bypassing the wall of light, letting gravity quicken its fall, Espeon shifted the shape of it, so that it now formed a dome-like shape over the Relic Stone, just as the Geodude struck it and went rebounding off, as the Reflect attack wavered in response.
Wes winced. Maintaining such a large force field isn’t going to be easy for Espeon, and a few large attacks like that would probably break it! He then quickly glanced at Makuhita and Croconaw, as the Hitmontop spun itself once again and began charging at them.
“Umbreon, quick – stop him!” Wes ordered. Umbreon barked and jumped at the Hitmontop, forcing it to make a detour away from its target for several valuable seconds. Hissing with rage, the Hitmontop came back, as Umbreon braced himself to take the hit – but he didn’t see the Geodude crash into him from above at the same time.
“No! Hang in there, Umbreon!” Wes cried. An unexpected yawn suddenly caught his attention though.
“Maku...TA!” (I feel so...HAPPY!) Makuhita said slowly, stretching his arms. Croconaw followed suit, as he grinned at Makuhita.
“Yes! Wes, I think they’re purified! Their shadow auras are gone!”
“...Are they? They look the same to me... Umbreon, just keep dodging; it may be fine for now!” Wes called.
‘I’m sure,” Rui confirmed, beaming. “Has to be. I can...I can just sense it.”
“Umb, eon! Umbreon! Umb!” (Stop standing and grinning, you two! Arrgh, stop being so happy! It’s like you got a personality change!) Umbreon shouted at the two, as he tried to avoid both Hitmontop and Geodude’s attacks. He then looked at Quagsire for help, who merely glanced back, blinking at Umbreon.
“Ok then-” Wes said.
“CROC!” (WATCH OUT, BRO!) Croconaw suddenly shouted, pointing in the direction of Hitmontop who was charging at them. He then scratched his head, trying to remember why all of a sudden a Hitmontop was charging at them. He felt different – at peace with himself... but this was somewhat surprising for him.
“Ma? MAKUHITA!” (What, a fight? TIME TO DIE!) Makuhita yelled, charging back at the spinning top and punching low, square in the face and sending it the way it came.
“Are...you sure they’ve changed much?” Wes asked Rui, before turning to Croconaw. “Croconaw, I think we’ve purified you for good! But we’ve got a battle first – just help keep that oversize stone safe!” Croconaw nodded, grinned and saluted in response, before also charging into battle, following Makuhita’s lead.
“Maybe not,” Rui said, “but I suppose they were always like this... Croconaw being loyal, and Makuhita being... punch-happy? I don’t think the Relic Stone changed much – it just helped them overcome the final step through Celebi’s power...”
“Hitmontop – just aim for the horn- err, stone! You too, Geodude! Wynaut and Clamperl...can you do something!?” Skrub screeched. The Geodude flew away from Umbreon at that and charged at the Reflect attack once more. Wes grinned.
“Ok then – Croconaw – Water Gun that Geodude! And Makuhita, try a Cross Chop attack on that Hitmontop!” To his delight, Croconaw shot out a powered ball of water at the Geodude, while Makuhita instantly obeyed as well.
“Quick – Defense Curl – dodge – something!” Skrub said worriedly. ‘And Hitmontop, hurry up and get moving!”
“Hitmon...Top,” (I’m feeling dizzy now...I don’t want to attack anything right now,) Hitmontop complained however, looking tiredly at his trainer.
“Wynaut?” (Why not?) Wynaut chanted once more, still dancing on the spot.
“Hit!” (Shut up!) Hitmontop shouted, suddenly looking keen to attack something again. Glaring at Wynaut, it flew at it and threw a punch. As it did so though, Wynaut unexpectedly glared back, stopped dancing and frowned, before it began glowing a deep blue.
“No, Wynaut! Don’t use Counter now!” Skrub shouted helplessly, but it was too late – as Hitmontop punched Wynaut, it suddenly lashed out at Hitmontop, unleashing the attack it had received right back upon Hitmontop. While the two exchanged blows, Makuhita walked up, grinned, and then struck Hitmontop as well.
Meanwhile, the Geodude looked up, suddenly noticing the Water Gun attack. Crying with surprise, it covered its face with its arms.
“Geodude!” (If I can’t see it, it’s not there!) it cried. A moment later it wailed in pain as the Water Gun attack made contact regardless of its actions.
“Geodude!” (I’m MELTING!) With that, the Geodude crashed into the ground, as the water began to mix with the rock and dirt it was made up of. Skrub hastily recalled Geodude to its Pokeball, scowling.
“Piece of junk...HEY!” he shouted, noticing Wes chuck a Pokeball into his Snag Machine and then prepare to chuck it at a dazed Hitmontop, who was reeling from an equally dazed Wynaut and a triumphant Makuhita. “You can’t do that!”
“Wy...naut...” (Why...not...) the Wynaut muttered one last time, before it fell off of the Clamperl it had been standing on. The Clamperl seemed not to have noticed at all, as it still sat motionlessly.
“Thank goodness it won’t say that anymore...” Rui muttered. “I’ve had enough of bad puns...”
“Nrrgh!” Skrub managed, unable to say anything meaningful as he grabbed his Pokeball. “You can’t get my Hitmontop if I return him- what?” he added, as the Pokeball flew out of his hand, struck him in the face, and then crashed suddenly into the ground, shattering into pieces.
“Nice work, Espeon,” Wes said, before throwing the Snag Ball at Hitmontop. It struck and sucked the dizzy Pokemon into its confines, before the Ball landed on the ground. It wobbled once.
Twice.
And thrice, before it stopped, giving a small ‘ping’ of success as it did.
“Too easy,” Wes said, grinning as he picked it up. “Now,” he continued, facing Skrub who has currently venting his rage on an unfortunate tree branch, having returned the rest of his, “I’d advise that you run off now.”
“I...I failed... no!” Skrub shouted, charging at the Relic Stone. Espeon hastily threw up his Reflect attack once more, and it held – but only just, as Skrub bounced off. Fists clenched, he went at it again.
“Makuhita, stop him please,” Wes said simply. Makuhita grinned, simply striking the air in front of Skrub’s leg with one of his arms, causing him to trip and land face-first in front of Quagsire.
“Quag!” (Duh!) Quagsire moaned, surprised, as it swatted Skrub with his flipper before resuming his motionless pose. Skrub slowly staggered to his feet, muttering to himself.
“Fine.... bah, the luck of it. Beaten by the renegade, and some girl in pyjamas.”
Rui looked at her clothes and noticed that she was still dressed in her chibi-Pokemon-patterned clothes, and then recalled that she had run though town – and the Pokemon Centre – in them.
“Whoops...”
“But don’t think you’ve won just yet!” Skrub shouted. “I can always come back! With other people who have better Pokemon than mine!”
“Oh no you don’t.”
Skrub turned around, and gasped. In front of him, Eagun stood, tall and proud.
With the rest of the town’s elderly citizens behind him.
“You’re leaving town now,” Eagun said simply, pointing to the exit. “Your friends already chose to leave peacefully – I suggest you do too.”
“Oh yeah?” Skrub tried once more, his voice however noticeably lacking the arrogance it had beforehand. “Just...just make me!”
“Ok then,” Eagun replied, “we will. Everyone?”
Wordlessly, Eagun reached into his beard and pulled out another Pikachu from it, while each other person brought out theirs as well, some from equally random sources. Skrub, Rui and Wes stared.
“What; didn’t you youngsters know that Pikachu’s the town’s mascot? We’ve got millions of these things!” Eagun said. “Now everyone – attack!” With that Eagun threw his Pikachu, which screeched with surprise at it landed on Skrub’s head. Noticing everyone else start throwing their rodent Pokemon at him, he turned and ran for it, while trying to swat off the Pikachu on his head.
“Get him!” one called, as the elders gave chase.
“That’s what you get for walking on my lawn!” another added.
As the crowd disappeared, yelling threats at Skrub and throwing Pikachus at him, Umbreon trotted forward to Wes carrying a small object in his mouth as Espeon dropped his Reflect attack and hopped off of the Relic Stone.
“Umbre!” (I found something shiny!) Umbreon said proudly, dropping the object at Wes’s feet. Wes picked it up.
“It’s another CD... another Ein File then,” Wes said, before pocketing it. “We’ll send it to Sherles later then, I suppose...” Wes sighed and smiled at Rui. “Well...that was unexpected. We know Cipher are still at large then... but we stopped them once again,” he said.
“We did! And Beluh was right! She said we would purify the Shadow Pokemon here, and the Relic Stone here did!”
“Indeed...” Wes grinned and turned to Makuhita and Croconaw. “So then...” Wes stopped suddenly.
Makuhita was staring at Croconaw, who no longer could be seen, a bright, white light in his place instead. Gradually though, a shape could be made out through the light.
“What...what’s happening?” Rui asked, confused.
“He’s evolving,” Wes said, grinning.
As time passed, the light began to dissipate, Croconaw’s new form coming into clearer view. He was of a more limber shape than his previous, plumper shape, the fat now replaced with an impressive set of muscles and covered with scales on his arms, legs and belly. He was far taller too – at least double the height now, and the red spikes - which there were more of now - upon his head and back were more pronounced.
And suddenly it was over – the light was gone, and in Croconaw’s place was a Feraligatr.
“Fera...?” (I evolved...?) Feraligatr said slowly, testing out his new jaw, before he slowly walked forward. He stumbled slightly, but stayed upright.
“Maku...hita!” (Hey, hang on... I think I’m evolving too!) Makuhita suddenly remarked. Espeon and Umbreon regarded him for a moment or two, before turning back to admire Feraligatr’s new form.
“Maku...Makuhita! Hita...” (Ok, I was wrong...but I gained all of those experience points! Unless I lost them...)
“Quagsire?” (There’s a strange smell...duh,) Quagsire noted, before it shrugged and promptly decided it was a good idea to fall asleep.
“Awesome!” Rui said, beaming. “Although I always thought evolution would be all... I don’t know. More dramatic, with music or something...” she mumbled to herself, before disregarding her thought. “I bet you evolved because you’re purified now!” Feraligatr thought about it for a moment, before smiling smugly, and nodding.
“Well then,” Wes said with a yawn. “We can worry about what happened just now later. I say we go and get some breakfast...” he concluded, walking with Rui and his Pokemon back to the village.
And I better go and find that coffee-obsessed Yanma too, Wes thought to himself suddenly.
***
[Spoiler list in next post]
And also, a belated thank you for those who nominated and voted for my fic in the fanfic awards here some months back, earning it a few awards in the end (Man I'm behind the times XD). Certainly surprised me, along with other things such as the (IMO undeserved) following behind this fic, given my random beginnings with this fic to achieve such a thing... but I'm certainly not complaining. =P At any rate... thanks for for reading this fic, all of you, and I hope you continue to do so as I slowly plough onwards to the end!
...Ahem. Now for the chapter. Stuff actually happens now in the game and hence the story, so huzzah for that! If you think there are many references to various things in this chapter, you're not wrong. =P
Thanks to a friend from school (known as Sky Fyre) for beta reading.
Disclaimer – no Pokemon were hurt in the making of this chapter.
Much.
***
Chapter 14 – Flying Pikachu, Magic Stone
Wes groaned as he staggered down a set of stairs, while trying to fit himself into his blue coat. He was still unaccustomed to living inside a giant tree, let alone spending the night there; and he also wasn't used to living somewhere with so many randomly-placed teapots to boot, as he tripped over one and came down the stairs faster than he had wished to.
“Good morning, Wes! Did you sleep well?” Rui said as she appeared into sight, clad in pyjamas and clutching a particularly oversized teapot, while Wes collided with a heavy clump at the bottom of the staircase. Dazed, he accepted Rui’s help to get him back onto his feet, only being able to make an unintelligible grunt in return as Wes noticed that Rui’s pyjamas were patterned with numerous Pokemon in chibi form. Wes frowned as he rubbed his head.
“I didn’t sleep very well,” he said eventually.
“Why not?” Rui asked worriedly. “And... where did you sleep anyway? I slept on the sofa, and I didn’t see any other bedrooms...”
“That’s because there are no other bedrooms,” Wes said flatly. “No – instead, I had the pleasure of getting to sleep outside on some giant branch...”
Rui stared, as Eagun walked past the two into the kitchen. “Well,” he said, while shrugging, “I told you we were a bit short on spare beds and all.”
“Yeah, I know...” Wes muttered. “Nevertheless, it’s rather hard to sleep when you know that your bed is sitting on a branch a good twenty or so metres in the air! Even if the branch was wide enough to nearly have a Pokemon battle upon it.”
“Ah well. Maybe you’d want some porridge?” Rui said.
“Something – anything will do...” Wes acknowledged, before he paused. “Rui?”
“Yes?”
“By any chance, was the porridge cooked in that teapot you’re holding?”
“Yeah...” Rui said. “There were no pots anywhere, but it should still taste good! I hope...” Wes glanced at Eagun, who again shrugged.
“The teapots were all at half price,” he said flatly.
“Fair enough then,” Wes grinned tiredly, as he accepted the teacup of porridge from Rui and moved to the table, sitting down before looking for a spoon. “Can’t argue with a good bargain I suppose... although you could have bought at least one pot...”
“Anyway, Wes, a bit before I went to sleep yesterday after that fiasco at the restaurant...” Rui said, also sitting down, “I had a look at that book Senilor gave us.”
“Anything useful in there, or just gibberish about how the Relic Stone is actually a stone, chiselled by some nobody?”
“Well, admittedly, some of this info seems to be bogus... like for instance...” Rui said, flipping over some pages before seemingly finding what she was looking for. “‘Useless Fact 797: The Relic Stone can also be used as a football!’”
Wes blinked at Rui. “Am I just still too sleepy, or was the writer just a bit... eccentric?”
Rui laughed sadly, before continuing on. “‘Useless Fact 798: It’s just a stone. Useless Fact 799: You didn’t make it!’” Rui said, turning the page. “‘Useless fact 800: This is... the 800th fact about the Relic Stone!’” she read, before grimacing.
“So... the whole thing is filled with nonsense?” Wes asked. “Great.”
“Not quite, though, Wes,” Rui said, turning to the back of the book. “There actually is something of note written here, on some page titled ‘Give me money’...”
“Ok then...” Wes said, as Espeon and Umbreon slowly stirred, awaking.
“Umbre...re...eon!” (Wazza...what’s that....arrgh!) Umbreon shouted as he opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of Eagun’s face and beard.
“What’s wrong with you?” Eagun asked Umbreon. “But anyway, look at this!” he continued, waving a newspaper at Umbreon, who looked blankly at it.
“Can’t you read?” Eagun asked, disappointed over the lack of reaction. Before Umbreon or Espeon could protest, he started waving the newspaper. “I tell you what cooks my goose – newspaper headlines! It says right here ‘Specialist Claims Electric Chair Can Be ‘Extremely Painful’’! Whoever came up with the idea for an electric chair if it’s so painful then? And who needs different kinds of chairs anyway? What next, thermal chairs? Nuclear chairs? I won’t be able to decide which chair to sit in then!”
Umbreon merely blinked blankly, while Espeon made a small sound of confusion.
“Oh, never mind him,” Beluh said. “Dear, I told you not to read the morning paper, it excites you.”
“But look at this ad right here! It’s RIDICULOUS! They need to make some sign-making course! Now I at least know how to make a sign! Just look at the ones at the entrance of this town!”
“...You made those signs?” Wes asked.
“Yes. Impressive, aren’t they? The ones they tried to put up instead were terrible. Now a stop sign – that’s a sign with oomph!”
“Anyway,” Rui continued, ignoring her grandfather educate Wes’s Pokemon about the intricacies of signs, “it says here... ‘According to ancient lore, the Relic Stone holds power of time travel for the legendary Pokemon Celebi. It is said that Celebi can help one to revive their most pleasant, enjoyable memories, which has been known to cause darkness to flee from the hearts of any Pokemon. To meet it however, you must use an item called the ‘Time Flute’ which is all that one needs to bring Celebi to the Relic Forest. The tune to play to summon the Celebi is ‘I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts’'... wait, it suddenly went weird again...” Rui said. “Why that song?”
“Maybe Celebi has odd tastes?” Beluh offered. “Hmm, that reminds me...”
“It says some other stuff here too...such as that Celebi can also travel into other worlds – ones that don’t have any Pokemon in them? I think that’s still the random ramblings though.”
“Espeon... Espi?” (Celebi – a legendary Psychic Pokemon! But... who’s heard of a world without Pokemon?)
“Umbreon?” (How could anyone live in such a place?)
“But that sounds too ridiculous,” Wes protested. “I mean, Celebi? That’s...” Wes searched for words, but struggled. “It’s...super-duper rare! More rare than a... talking Meowth!”
“I know, but it states here that this information comes from bulbap-”
“I knew it!” Beluh announced triumphantly, pulling out an irregularly-shaped stone tablet from behind a leaning tower of teapots. “All that talk about Celebi reminded me we had this... here, it’s an ancient tablet on the Relic Stone.” Beluh then held out the tablet for all of them to see.
In AGATE’s mystic RELIC,
CELEBI’s power shelters.
The heart imprisoned by shadows
Its last door shall be opened
By THE power withIN.
CELEBI’s power shelters.
The heart imprisoned by shadows
Its last door shall be opened
By THE power withIN.
-The ancient words of Masto-
“...Who’s Masto?” Rui asked, confused. “And why are some words entirely or just partly capitalised...”
“Never mind the guy’s name or the capitalisation; look at what it says!” Wes exclaimed. “From the book’s ranting and that, it sounds that the Relic Stone must hold Celebi’s power...and could purify our Pokemon. The last door... maybe it only does so when the Shadow Metre is empty for them! If that’s the case...”
“That’s great!” Rui said happily, as Beluh smiled.
““We can head there after breakfast and see if it works. By the way; Eagun, where are the spoons around here? Only I’ve checked every teapot I could find for them...”
“Spoons are too expensive,” Eagun replied. “But anyway, I’ve always wondered about this,” he continued, turning back to Espeon, Umbreon, and now Plusle, waving the newspaper once more at them, pointing at a headline ‘Manned Spacecraft To Moon Launched To Investigate Possible Presence Of Cheese’ which took up two entire pages. “If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they just leave him there?!”
“Plusle...” (Why can’t you just talk about potatoes?) Plusle asked tiredly.
“Espeon!” (Or just shut up entirely – stones sound more interesting than you!)
“But then,” Wes said uneasily, “how am I supposed to eat this porridge?”
“We... have paddle-pop sticks!” Eagun offered.
Suddenly, the front door flew open as a man stumbled in, gasping for breath.
“Great galloping fiddlesticks!” Eagun cried, suddenly getting to his feet and throwing his teacup full of porridge in the air in surprise.
Uh oh... Wes thought, cautiously eyeing the flying teacup that thankfully wasn’t heading in his direction. I hope he doesn’t start talking about his ‘pokeymans’ again...
Beluh also rose to her feet, looking concerned. “Duncan, what’s the matter?”
Oh great – it’s the guy who was shouting at his letterbox, Wes remembered, as he exchanged glances with Rui.
“It’s... well, there were some strange-looking people that came into town, and they walked all over my lawn!”
Eagun jumped into the air, threw his arms out, and shouted “NO!” loudly, looking at Duncan with a face of pure horror. Then he paused, realised what Duncan had actually said, and quietly got back into his seat.
“Don’t get worked up, dear,” Beluh said calmly. “Now then, Duncan... did they do... anything else?”
“...I don’t know, I just saw them walking on my lawn, and I had this strange urge to tell you about it. So I came right over after I waved my stick at them good! Oh, they got the stick-waving of their lives!”
“...Right,” Wes said, before he resumed his search for a spoon. He then gave a start as another person burst through the doorway.
“Help! Some people just came into town and walked over my lawn too!”
“Whatever is the world coming to?” Eagun said sadly. Then another person came in.
“Not another one...” Rui said.
“Urrgh... a group of people just barged through the entrance of the Relic Forest yelling about how they’d smash the Relic Stone apart!”
“...Ok, that’s not good,” Wes said quietly. “Smash the Relic Stone? But...who’d...” Then he noticed Eagun get up to his feet again, his eyes starting to expand, and stepped backwards uneasily.
“Oh no!” Beluh said worriedly. “Did they hurt you?
“No... well, I tried to stop them, but they just looked at me so I decided I’d run off and tell you guys about it,” he replied sheepishly. “And they walked on my lawn too!”
“So they walked right into the forest?” Beluh asked.
“WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHAT? HOW? WHY?” Eagun shouted as well.
“Well... yes. But Steve’s in there, so he might stop them,” he added uncertainly. Suddenly, Eagun slapped the table with his hand loudly.
“RIGHT! I’m going to stop them! I’m running real fast out!” Eagun shouted, before he sprinted out of the room at an extraordinary speed, ignoring his rushed and mixed-up speech.
“...Wait – where is he going?” Wes said, confused.
“And how can he run so fast?” the man who had just entered murmured.
“No, come back!” Beluh shouted worriedly. “You’re in no shape to run – you know that it’s no good for your heart!”
“Don’t run on my lawn!” Duncan yelled as well.
Distant shouting from outside seemed to suggest that neither of those comments were being heeded.
“Oh dear... Wes, we’ve got to go after him!” Rui said, before she ran off too.
“Um... arrgh! Everyone’s either running off or complaining about their lawns...” Wes grumbled, before getting to his feet, promptly returning his Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and running outside as well. I hope we can stop those people though – so much for peace and quiet...
Despite his tiredness, he quickly reached Rui and began to overtake her, while searching for where Eagun had run off to.
“Where…did….he…go…” Rui panted, anxiously searching around.
“There he is!” Wes cried, rounding a corner and disappearing.
“Where?” she asked, looking around, before she tripped and face-planted into the ground. Sighing, she got to her feet.
“Hey, Wes…” she began, before realising that he too had disappeared from sight.
“Aww…great. Where the heck do I... go now?” Rui said to herself.
Meanwhile, Wes was pursuing Eagun, bemused by the fact that he didn’t seem to be gaining any ground on the old man despite running as fast as he could. Eagun was solely focused on where he was going, jumping fences and rushing through defenceless daffodils, heading in the direction of the town’s Pokemon Centre which was situated on the outskirts of the town. A young man stood outside, glancing confusedly at Eagun.
“Umm, what’s the rush? You look like you saw a talking gingerbread man- OW!” he cried, as Eagun ran right through him and took a hard left, running down a set of stairs by the Pokemon Centre. Without a second thought Wes followed, taking every third step down. As he got to the bottom, turning just in time to avoid falling into the river surrounding the village, he saw Eagun disappear into a cave; Wes sprinted inside.
He stopped short for a moment – the cave was lightly illuminated from the occasional hole that punctured the soil ceiling. A simple yet overrun path lay in front of him, weeds and in particular an enormous entanglement of roots from a large tree above ground concealing most of it, while a small, simple bridge interrupted the trail over a slow-moving stream.
Ahead, Eagun was still running ahead, as two people jumped out of the shadows at him.
“Hey, stop, you old man! Our boss up ahead told us nobody is to get past...is that a beard?” one asked, pointing at it in confusion.
Cipher people! Wes thought, noticing their purple uniforms. This can’t be good.
“Yeah...hey – come back!” the second shouted at Eagun who just ignored him and ran onwards.
“That’s right – you’re supposed to have a Pokemon battle with us! Don’t you know anything? Wait up! That’s what the boss told us...Ah great, he’s gone already,” the first muttered, admitting defeat.
“Boss won’t be happy, will he?”
“Nope. Hang on – who are you?” the man asked, pointing at Wes.
“Stop! I saw you, so we must battle!” the other added.
Ah great – I can’t afford to be held up! Wes thought furiously. This boss of theirs must be off to destroy the Relic Stone himself, and I doubt Eagun can hold him up for long at all... if he even catches up, that is...
“Go, Spheal!” the first person cried, sending out a spherical, blue-and-crème coloured Pokemon that glanced up at Wes with puppy-like eyes.
Then again...those Pokemon hardly look intimidating... Wes added to himself. He knelt down, smiling at the Pokemon, which looked at him with confusion, as did the two cipher agents.
“Now, I don’t really do these sorts of things, normally,” Wes began, “but I really don’t have time for this right now. “ With that, Wes stood up again and struck his leg out, punting the surprised Spheal across the cave.
“Oh no, my Pokemon!” cried its trainer, running off after it as it helplessly rolled away into the darkness. As the other followed him, Wes turned to continue after Eagun.
“Aha! I’ll stop you! Once I get down from here, that is!” a voice cried from above. Wes glanced up, before quickly running to the side of the cave as someone fell from above, giving a small shriek of pain upon landing. “I think I sprained my ankle...” she muttered softly.
“Where did you come from?” Wes managed after a moment, glancing upwards and back to the new, uniformed person that had landed right in front of him, getting up a bit gingerly. Cipher hire ninjas that fall from the ceiling now?
“If you must know, I was searching for my, uhh, Pokemon. I misplaced her...” the woman huffily replied, before wincing in pain.
Wes stared even further. “So naturally, you thought you got it lost up there?”
“...Shut up! It’ll turn up later – I’ll use this one instead! Now: go, Ralts!” she cried, as a small, miniature Pokemon was sent out. Wes stared once more at the white-bodied Pokemon that possessed a green, mushroom-shaped head that looked as big as the rest of its body, and laughed.
These Cipher people are pushovers...it’s the size of my shoe!
“Wes!” someone called suddenly – Wes turned around to notice Rui come in.
“What took you so long?” Wes asked, before noticing a man stand behind Rui.
“Hey, stop ignoring me! Ralts, attack that man with Psychic!” the woman yelled angrily, as the Ralts glanced back with a confused look, coupled with a small, timid cry.
“What do you mean, you don’t know any psychic moves yet?” the woman asked.
“I got lost!” Rui said. “But I got help from this man in the Pokemon Centre.”
“Hiya!” the man said, stepping forward and grabbing Wes’s hand, shaking it. “I’m Enpea Sea!”
“...Yeah, nice to meet you. Thanks and all,” Wes said quickly. “Rui, we’ve got to hurry up and get moving!”
“Ok...” Rui said, “but why is there a Ralts trying to attack your shoe at the moment? Is that that person’s Pokemon?”
“Why are you so useless!? I knew I shouldn’t have brought newly-hatched Pokemon!” the Cipher woman cried in anguish, as the Ralts tried to swat Wes’s shoes with its small arms. “And get away from me!” she added, as the old man who had assisted Rui tried to introduce himself to her.
“Umm... never mind that! Hey, um... Enpea Sea! You can take over this Pokemon battle here for me! Will you?” Wes asked. The old man gave a pondering look in return, before answering.
“...Well, I like battles and all, but I must go back to my spot and get my Pokemon checked up upon beforehand, and tell people about this. It’s my job, you see!”
“...It’s your job? Oh, whatever – never mind about that – just take the battle here for me, please,” Wes insisted.
“But standing in the same spot is more than a job. It’s an obligation – nay, destiny! And I prefer it over my last one - my back's never been the same after it. That job involved standing in the middle of the desert telling people about these discount shoes I got here-”
“Bye!” Wes said, before dragging Rui and running off again, leaving Enpea Sea with the woman and her Ralts behind.
***
On the other side of the underground passage, Eagun rushed out into the soft sunlight, and squinted, worriedly looking for a good sight to reassure him that the Relic Stone was fine. He continued down the stony path, knowing that soon he would reach it. It was the monument, the highlight, of this village – the object that he and many came to visit during walks through the forest by the village, during many a quiet, peaceful morning.
It was hard to explain why - perhaps nobody ever could, but it was as if this very spot radiated tranquillity and peace. A great calm would often fill him... but now it was different – despite the location there, it was obvious that there was trouble afoot. Those goons had tried to stop him from getting to the Relic Forest, and that was supposed to be closed to all but the villagers only! Not that they appeared to do a good job of stopping him. That was something to be thankful for – now he could only hope that Steve had managed to find this other person here and stop him from reaching the Relic Stone and doing... something or rather.
Hmm... what was it again? Eagun thought to himself, as he scratched his head in puzzlement and ploughed onwards. Something about raspberry jam...no, that was yesterday’s breakfast. Ah, I hate it when I forget stuff...
“Curse you, amnes...aminesa... ah, whatever you’re called!” Eagun muttered to himself.
Ah well, maybe I’ll make myself a sign about it next time, he thought more positively to himself. He was aware of the occasional memory loss he tended to have – in fact, most of Agate Village’s residents shared the same problem, all of them getting in age. It was essentially a retirement village, really. He probably shouldn’t have drunk so much tea – it tended to make him sleepy – maybe that was why he wasn’t quite thinking straight.
Concentrate! Eagun thought. Have to concentrate. Now...they mentioned that their boss was up ahead. How far ahead is he though? Is he already there? Did Steve find him? If so, maybe he stopped him. Or maybe he didn’t? And maybe he just slept in today? And where the heck am I again? he mused.
Suddenly, shouting and a cry of ‘Zig!’ broke Eagun out of his trance. He looked around, and spotted a middle-aged man, who gaped at Eagun.
“Steve! How are you! Nice overalls there, by the way. Oh look, the Relic Stone’s ok too!” Eagun said happily, pointing at it. It was of a slightly irregular, yet cylindrical-like shape, and was a simple stone-gray in colour, with the path having now encircled the sculpture.
Yes...I never did think that it was a good replica of a Celebi, personally... Eagun considered, observing the slabs of stone that made up the statue. Artistic license, I suppose.
“Oh, it’s ok – but not for long.”
Eagun turned around to face another man, this one immersed by a gray uniform and helmet, save for a bright-blue scarf. Through the visor, Eagun saw the man smirking smugly to himself, and frowned.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Skrub. And thanks for helping me by the way – I’ll just destroy the Relic Stone now, seeing as you took out my pitiful opposition without me having to even use a Pokemon!”
Eagun looked confusedly at him, and then at Steve, who wordlessly pointed at Eagun’s foot. Eagun looked down, and jumped back in surprise, noticing that he had been standing upon a distressed Zigzagoon. The small racoon Pokemon gave a sigh of relief as he did so, before falling unconscious.
“Oh...I’m sorry?” Eagun said to Steve. Meanwhile, Skrub snickered.
“Pathetic, I’m telling you. You old people shouldn’t try to stop me – it’s bad for your bones. At any rate...” Skrub drawled, turning towards the Relic Stone, grinning all the more now. “Come on out, my Hitmontop.” With that, Skrub held out a Pokeball and pressed the button upon it.
Frowning with bewilderment, Eagun regarded the humanoid Pokemon – it was peculiarly standing upon a spike on the top of its brown head, having landed upside-down. It hissed angrily at Eagun, striking the air with its fists and legs.
“I wouldn’t want to be hit by those attacks...” Steve said quietly to Eagun, who nodded worriedly.
“Hehe...don’t let it fool you – it fights better while upside-down like this!” Skrub boasted. “...Somehow. At any rate – step aside, unless you want to take on my Hitmontop.”
“Then it’s a battle it’ll be!” Eagun shouted, trying to hide his uncertainty.
“Fine then – Hitmontop, attack his Pokemon with Rapid Spin! Or if he has none, attack him!” Eagun stopped for a second and stared at Skrub, and then at the Hitmontop, who grinned at him. The grin looked more like an angry frown though from Hitmontop’s inverted position.
“I’m off,” Steve whispered, picking up his Zigzagoon before he ran off. “HELP! ANGRY UPSIDE-DOWN THINGS ARE GOING TO KILL ME!” he screamed, disappearing into the forest.
“Uhh...” Eagun said uncertainly. “Umm...go, Pikachu!” Eagun said, as he reached into his beard, pulled a surprised Pikachu out, and threw it at Skrub.
“What the-” Skrub said, covering his eyes, as the fat rodent came flying at his face.
“PEKA!” (Arrgh!) Pikachu shouted, landing on Skrub’s helmet, before hanging on for dear life with her short, stubby arms as Skrub strived to swat her off.
“Hitmontop!” (Something to attack!) the Hitmontop said, suddenly turning itself rapidly on the spot. As it became a blur, it suddenly shot off and followed Pikachu’s flight path, and collided with Skrub, who cried in pain. The Hitmontop growled angrily, disgusted that it had missed its quarry, and then swung a leg at the Pikachu, which jumped off just in time from Skrub’s head. Fortunately for Skrub, his view was finally unobstructed, but that gave him a perfect view of Hitmontop’s attack.
“ARRGH! NOT ME, THE RAT!” Skrub screamed.
Meanwhile, Eagun racked his brains, trying to think of what moves his Pikachu knew.
“Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!” he finally decided. Pikachu looked up at Eagun and nodded, and then ran at the Hitmontop determinedly.
The Hitmontop turned around, and observed the lumbering, overweight Pikachu with mirth. As she reached the Hitmontop, it merely spun again with amazing acceleration and struck the rat with its feet one after the other, sending the rodent flying into the Relic Stone. Eagun gasped and watched, as the Relic Stone shook, and then steadied itself once more, as the Pikachu moaned a cry of ‘Peka’ and fell to the ground.
Skrub grimly got up to his feet. “Right, you’ll pay for that, old man. But first I will deal with business. Hitmontop, you idiot of a Pokemon, Rapid Spin on the Relic Stone now, and then I’d let you have some fun.”
The Hitmontop growled, but then grinned, realising what Skrub meant, and spun itself once again before he flew at the Relic Stone.
“No!” Eagun cried.
“Quick – go and use Reflect – stop that...thing!” someone shouted suddenly.
The Hitmontop came to within centimetres of the Relic Stone – and then harshly rebounded from a wall of light that appeared just before it. Espeon then appeared, jumping on top of the Relic Stone, and proudly stared at the hissing Hitmontop.
“Espeon! Esp!” (You’re not about to get past!)
“Good work, Espeon,” Wes said, appearing, with Rui in tow. “Now, focus on that Reflect – keep it up, for that Pokemon gave it a beating already!” Espeon nodded, and then focused his mind, the jewel in his forehead shinning brighter than before as the Reflect he had summoned glimmered brighter in turn.
“You came!” Eagun said, wiping sweat from his forehead before he quickly moved to swoop up his Pikachu.
“Be careful, Grandpa...” Rui warned. “And no wonder, Wes – it’s a Shadow Pokemon!” Rui said, noticing a dense, purple aura surrounding the Hitmontop. Skrub glared at the new arrivals, before he bitterly laughed.
“Oh, so the renegade and the seeing-girl turn up out of nowhere,” he spat. “Looks like I’ll have to rely on the rest of my pathetic Pokemon – at least I brought some more! Go and try to destroy that stone, then, and at all costs!”
“Come on out then, Umbreon and Yanma! Protect that stone no matter what!” Wes hurriedly shouted, grabbing two Pokeballs out at once, while Skrub haphazardly threw out three. Suddenly the stone was surrounded by six more Pokemon.
On Skrub’s side was a Geodude, the levitating rock Pokemon roaring and flying straight at the barrier, its two arms swinging at it. It held however, but uneasily as the Hitmontop also moved in and also began attacking it. Umbreon however appeared from Wes’s Pokeball, and jumped on the Hitmontop, teeth latching onto its limbs. The Yanma however did not pay much attention to the fight.
“Yan-Yan-Yanmamama!” (Oh-look-a-battle-hey-I-smell-coffee-someone-is-drinking-coffee-somewhere!) it said suddenly upon sniffing the air, and with that it zoomed out the way Eagun and Wes had came, disappearing into the forest.
“Oh, how pathetic...” Skrub laughed as his other two Pokeballs hit the ground and his Pokemon materialised. “I’m sure the Pokemon I brought here are better than that!”
Another of Skrub’s Pokemon was a Clamperl; a small, blue shell that merely sat on the ground. Next to it was a Wynaut – a blue Pokemon that was human shaped, although it was the size of a small toddler, and had stubby feet. It happily wagged its long ears and tail, and then suddenly hopped on the Clamperl and merrily danced upon it, appearing not to be in the least bit interested of attacking.
At least that’s good, Wes thought to himself. The Clamperl will be easy as heck even if it ever moves, and the Wynaut line are purely counter-attack Pokemon, so it won’t pose any danger if I leave it alone for now, he quickly concluded.
“None of the other Pokemon are Shadow Pokemon,” Rui said. “Hang on; I think I brought one of my Pokemon with me too...”
“Urgh! Why did I have to bring you?” Skrub shouted, overcome with annoyance at how the situation had escalated. The Wynaut looked at his trainer, and merely shrugged happily, exclaiming ‘Wynaut’. A moment later, Skrub realised the comment made in relation to the Pokemon’s name.
“Touché...”
“Ok then – go, Quagsire!” Rui said, managing to aim her Pokeball and release her Quagsire more or less in front of the Relic Stone. “Ok, just...stand there and don’t let anyone past!”
“Qu...aag,” (Uhh...duh, ok,) the Quagsire responded, before he sat down and stared blankly into space. As the Hitmontop span past it, trying to find a weak point in Espeon’s Reflect, it suddenly waved its flipper out to the side and struck it, before staring at it with its tiny eyes, maintaining the same expression.
“Eagun, just in case...get somewhere safe,” Wes said, grabbing two more Pokeballs. “Go and defend the Relic Stone, Makuhita and Croconaw!”
“Come with me, Pikachu,” Eagun said quietly, hurriedly running off with his prized Pokemon in tow. Meanwhile, Wes’s Pokemon materialised from their respective Pokeballs, and faced off their more intimidating opposition in Hitmontop and Geodude.
Then they suddenly paused, and turned their backs on their opposition and faced the Relic Stone.
“W...Why are you-” Wes began, before Rui grabbed his arm, gasping in surprise.
“Look, Wes! Something’s happening with the Relic Stone!”
Wes, Skrub, and all of the other Pokemon observed the Relic Stone.
“...Rui, it’s just...sitting there,” Wes said finally. But Makuhita and Croconaw certainly think otherwise too, he added to himself, frowning at the two. They were seemingly in their own world, only focusing their attention to the stone. Wes then glanced at the stone, half expecting it to fly up and away, or do something else that was interesting.
“But...can’t you see the green light surrounding the Relic Stone? It’s...”
“Rui, we can’t see auras, remember?” Wes said.
“Oh yeah...” Wes quickly glanced at Espeon, who was looking with bewilderment at the Relic Stone. He senses something’s up too, Wes thought. Hang on...
“And... now the green aura is...engulfing your Pokemon’s auras!” Rui said excitedly.
“What? Damn it!” Skrub swore. “Oi, keep attacking! Either that stupid piece of rock or those Pokemon of his – just don’t let it do whatever it’s doing! We can’t let it!”
“Wynaut?” (Why not?) queried the small, hyper Pokemon.
“Stop saying that! Geodude, try flying over that Reflect and attack the stone from above for starters!”
The Geodude roared once again, and then flew straight up. Espeon frowned worriedly, but then simply shrugged. As the rock Pokemon flew back to earth after bypassing the wall of light, letting gravity quicken its fall, Espeon shifted the shape of it, so that it now formed a dome-like shape over the Relic Stone, just as the Geodude struck it and went rebounding off, as the Reflect attack wavered in response.
Wes winced. Maintaining such a large force field isn’t going to be easy for Espeon, and a few large attacks like that would probably break it! He then quickly glanced at Makuhita and Croconaw, as the Hitmontop spun itself once again and began charging at them.
“Umbreon, quick – stop him!” Wes ordered. Umbreon barked and jumped at the Hitmontop, forcing it to make a detour away from its target for several valuable seconds. Hissing with rage, the Hitmontop came back, as Umbreon braced himself to take the hit – but he didn’t see the Geodude crash into him from above at the same time.
“No! Hang in there, Umbreon!” Wes cried. An unexpected yawn suddenly caught his attention though.
“Maku...TA!” (I feel so...HAPPY!) Makuhita said slowly, stretching his arms. Croconaw followed suit, as he grinned at Makuhita.
“Yes! Wes, I think they’re purified! Their shadow auras are gone!”
“...Are they? They look the same to me... Umbreon, just keep dodging; it may be fine for now!” Wes called.
‘I’m sure,” Rui confirmed, beaming. “Has to be. I can...I can just sense it.”
“Umb, eon! Umbreon! Umb!” (Stop standing and grinning, you two! Arrgh, stop being so happy! It’s like you got a personality change!) Umbreon shouted at the two, as he tried to avoid both Hitmontop and Geodude’s attacks. He then looked at Quagsire for help, who merely glanced back, blinking at Umbreon.
“Ok then-” Wes said.
“CROC!” (WATCH OUT, BRO!) Croconaw suddenly shouted, pointing in the direction of Hitmontop who was charging at them. He then scratched his head, trying to remember why all of a sudden a Hitmontop was charging at them. He felt different – at peace with himself... but this was somewhat surprising for him.
“Ma? MAKUHITA!” (What, a fight? TIME TO DIE!) Makuhita yelled, charging back at the spinning top and punching low, square in the face and sending it the way it came.
“Are...you sure they’ve changed much?” Wes asked Rui, before turning to Croconaw. “Croconaw, I think we’ve purified you for good! But we’ve got a battle first – just help keep that oversize stone safe!” Croconaw nodded, grinned and saluted in response, before also charging into battle, following Makuhita’s lead.
“Maybe not,” Rui said, “but I suppose they were always like this... Croconaw being loyal, and Makuhita being... punch-happy? I don’t think the Relic Stone changed much – it just helped them overcome the final step through Celebi’s power...”
“Hitmontop – just aim for the horn- err, stone! You too, Geodude! Wynaut and Clamperl...can you do something!?” Skrub screeched. The Geodude flew away from Umbreon at that and charged at the Reflect attack once more. Wes grinned.
“Ok then – Croconaw – Water Gun that Geodude! And Makuhita, try a Cross Chop attack on that Hitmontop!” To his delight, Croconaw shot out a powered ball of water at the Geodude, while Makuhita instantly obeyed as well.
“Quick – Defense Curl – dodge – something!” Skrub said worriedly. ‘And Hitmontop, hurry up and get moving!”
“Hitmon...Top,” (I’m feeling dizzy now...I don’t want to attack anything right now,) Hitmontop complained however, looking tiredly at his trainer.
“Wynaut?” (Why not?) Wynaut chanted once more, still dancing on the spot.
“Hit!” (Shut up!) Hitmontop shouted, suddenly looking keen to attack something again. Glaring at Wynaut, it flew at it and threw a punch. As it did so though, Wynaut unexpectedly glared back, stopped dancing and frowned, before it began glowing a deep blue.
“No, Wynaut! Don’t use Counter now!” Skrub shouted helplessly, but it was too late – as Hitmontop punched Wynaut, it suddenly lashed out at Hitmontop, unleashing the attack it had received right back upon Hitmontop. While the two exchanged blows, Makuhita walked up, grinned, and then struck Hitmontop as well.
Meanwhile, the Geodude looked up, suddenly noticing the Water Gun attack. Crying with surprise, it covered its face with its arms.
“Geodude!” (If I can’t see it, it’s not there!) it cried. A moment later it wailed in pain as the Water Gun attack made contact regardless of its actions.
“Geodude!” (I’m MELTING!) With that, the Geodude crashed into the ground, as the water began to mix with the rock and dirt it was made up of. Skrub hastily recalled Geodude to its Pokeball, scowling.
“Piece of junk...HEY!” he shouted, noticing Wes chuck a Pokeball into his Snag Machine and then prepare to chuck it at a dazed Hitmontop, who was reeling from an equally dazed Wynaut and a triumphant Makuhita. “You can’t do that!”
“Wy...naut...” (Why...not...) the Wynaut muttered one last time, before it fell off of the Clamperl it had been standing on. The Clamperl seemed not to have noticed at all, as it still sat motionlessly.
“Thank goodness it won’t say that anymore...” Rui muttered. “I’ve had enough of bad puns...”
“Nrrgh!” Skrub managed, unable to say anything meaningful as he grabbed his Pokeball. “You can’t get my Hitmontop if I return him- what?” he added, as the Pokeball flew out of his hand, struck him in the face, and then crashed suddenly into the ground, shattering into pieces.
“Nice work, Espeon,” Wes said, before throwing the Snag Ball at Hitmontop. It struck and sucked the dizzy Pokemon into its confines, before the Ball landed on the ground. It wobbled once.
Twice.
And thrice, before it stopped, giving a small ‘ping’ of success as it did.
“Too easy,” Wes said, grinning as he picked it up. “Now,” he continued, facing Skrub who has currently venting his rage on an unfortunate tree branch, having returned the rest of his, “I’d advise that you run off now.”
“I...I failed... no!” Skrub shouted, charging at the Relic Stone. Espeon hastily threw up his Reflect attack once more, and it held – but only just, as Skrub bounced off. Fists clenched, he went at it again.
“Makuhita, stop him please,” Wes said simply. Makuhita grinned, simply striking the air in front of Skrub’s leg with one of his arms, causing him to trip and land face-first in front of Quagsire.
“Quag!” (Duh!) Quagsire moaned, surprised, as it swatted Skrub with his flipper before resuming his motionless pose. Skrub slowly staggered to his feet, muttering to himself.
“Fine.... bah, the luck of it. Beaten by the renegade, and some girl in pyjamas.”
Rui looked at her clothes and noticed that she was still dressed in her chibi-Pokemon-patterned clothes, and then recalled that she had run though town – and the Pokemon Centre – in them.
“Whoops...”
“But don’t think you’ve won just yet!” Skrub shouted. “I can always come back! With other people who have better Pokemon than mine!”
“Oh no you don’t.”
Skrub turned around, and gasped. In front of him, Eagun stood, tall and proud.
With the rest of the town’s elderly citizens behind him.
“You’re leaving town now,” Eagun said simply, pointing to the exit. “Your friends already chose to leave peacefully – I suggest you do too.”
“Oh yeah?” Skrub tried once more, his voice however noticeably lacking the arrogance it had beforehand. “Just...just make me!”
“Ok then,” Eagun replied, “we will. Everyone?”
Wordlessly, Eagun reached into his beard and pulled out another Pikachu from it, while each other person brought out theirs as well, some from equally random sources. Skrub, Rui and Wes stared.
“What; didn’t you youngsters know that Pikachu’s the town’s mascot? We’ve got millions of these things!” Eagun said. “Now everyone – attack!” With that Eagun threw his Pikachu, which screeched with surprise at it landed on Skrub’s head. Noticing everyone else start throwing their rodent Pokemon at him, he turned and ran for it, while trying to swat off the Pikachu on his head.
“Get him!” one called, as the elders gave chase.
“That’s what you get for walking on my lawn!” another added.
As the crowd disappeared, yelling threats at Skrub and throwing Pikachus at him, Umbreon trotted forward to Wes carrying a small object in his mouth as Espeon dropped his Reflect attack and hopped off of the Relic Stone.
“Umbre!” (I found something shiny!) Umbreon said proudly, dropping the object at Wes’s feet. Wes picked it up.
“It’s another CD... another Ein File then,” Wes said, before pocketing it. “We’ll send it to Sherles later then, I suppose...” Wes sighed and smiled at Rui. “Well...that was unexpected. We know Cipher are still at large then... but we stopped them once again,” he said.
“We did! And Beluh was right! She said we would purify the Shadow Pokemon here, and the Relic Stone here did!”
“Indeed...” Wes grinned and turned to Makuhita and Croconaw. “So then...” Wes stopped suddenly.
Makuhita was staring at Croconaw, who no longer could be seen, a bright, white light in his place instead. Gradually though, a shape could be made out through the light.
“What...what’s happening?” Rui asked, confused.
“He’s evolving,” Wes said, grinning.
As time passed, the light began to dissipate, Croconaw’s new form coming into clearer view. He was of a more limber shape than his previous, plumper shape, the fat now replaced with an impressive set of muscles and covered with scales on his arms, legs and belly. He was far taller too – at least double the height now, and the red spikes - which there were more of now - upon his head and back were more pronounced.
And suddenly it was over – the light was gone, and in Croconaw’s place was a Feraligatr.
“Fera...?” (I evolved...?) Feraligatr said slowly, testing out his new jaw, before he slowly walked forward. He stumbled slightly, but stayed upright.
“Maku...hita!” (Hey, hang on... I think I’m evolving too!) Makuhita suddenly remarked. Espeon and Umbreon regarded him for a moment or two, before turning back to admire Feraligatr’s new form.
“Maku...Makuhita! Hita...” (Ok, I was wrong...but I gained all of those experience points! Unless I lost them...)
“Quagsire?” (There’s a strange smell...duh,) Quagsire noted, before it shrugged and promptly decided it was a good idea to fall asleep.
“Awesome!” Rui said, beaming. “Although I always thought evolution would be all... I don’t know. More dramatic, with music or something...” she mumbled to herself, before disregarding her thought. “I bet you evolved because you’re purified now!” Feraligatr thought about it for a moment, before smiling smugly, and nodding.
“Well then,” Wes said with a yawn. “We can worry about what happened just now later. I say we go and get some breakfast...” he concluded, walking with Rui and his Pokemon back to the village.
And I better go and find that coffee-obsessed Yanma too, Wes thought to himself suddenly.
***
[Spoiler list in next post]
Last edited: