Slashed: Hey guys! It's CheezBucket here!
Ryder: What happened to you?
Slashed: I changed my name! Don't worry, this is probably the only time I'll ever do that, but from now on out, class me Slashed.
Brazen: Cool! Ok, new story time!
Slashed: Let me introduce the story! So this is my new long term project that I'll be working on a LOT. Please review!
Aurora: I'll do the disclaimer: Slashed doesn't own pokémon. What, did you think she did?
Slashed: That's v right. A few more things before I get to this, though.
There are many pokémon that have unique traits or abilities, or just something that they as a species all know or do. For example,
When two Lucarios meet for the first time (or last), they will grab each other's paws and try to push each other over. It's sort of a short, friendly competition.
If a Xatu ever loses an eye somehow, it'll grow back eventually.
If a Tangrowth loses any part of it's body, as long as it's made of vines, it'll grow back. Same thing for Tangela.
And many more!
The last thing j have to say before I start the story, a big thanks to Lord of Dong (I love your name by the way) for a trio os OCs, but a slightly bigger thanks to BreBee, who gave me countless characters to use along with many ideas, and multiple pointers! I would have never gotten this out without either of you!
Lets get this show on the road!
...-...-...-...-...
Ryder's P.O.V
Hi! My name is Ryder, Ryder the Lucario. I'm a high school student at a very famous high school, Johto High. It's name? It was the first school found in Johto after our ancestors killed all the humans 50 years ago! That was known as the Pokémon Revolution Act. One of our History teacher fought in it! He's pretty old. Anyways, I go here with my best friends Brazen and Aurora, a Greninja and Meowstic. Let's see, what else...oh yeah! I love hockey. Well, most people at my school do, but it's kind of a thing in Johto now. That's all for now. Good bye!
Regular P.O.V
"Guys, it's our second to last day of summer vacation. I'm really sad," said a little white pokémon, with some blue on her.
"C'mon, really? You're a Meowstic, a psychic type pokémon! You love school!" said a blue amphibian like pokémon.
"It's not that I don't, I really do...but I'm going to miss hanging out!" said the Meowstic.
"Brazen, Aurora...we may not have much time until our fun is drowned in the monstrosity that is high school...but we gotta make this count! Tommorow, we go paint balling. Whadd'ya say?"
The duo looked skeptical at first. "Hmm...I'm in," said the Greninja, Brazen, giving a smirk.
"If this is going to be how we spend our last day of freedom before high school..." began Aurora, "then I'm in."
Ryder and Brazen hooted as Aurora gave them both high fives.
"Paint ball! Paint ball! Paint ball!" They chanted on the roof of Brazen's house.
...
"Welcome to Park Paintball! Admission is $10," said a Wigglytuff behind the counter at Park Paintball.
"Okay," started Ryder, "if we all pool our money together...$14...Brazen, that's a button...yup! We have $30! Here you go, ma'am!" Ryder handed her the money as they walked inside to wait.
"What about the other place? I liked that place. That place was nice," said Aurora.
"Aurora, chill. We've never been here, and when else would we have the chance? I'm telling you, the reviews on this place are great!" said Ryder.
"Yeah, but still, we could be playing experienced pokémon. I have dignity, you know."
"How big of a loser must you be to be an 'experienced' paint ball-"
A Bisharp, Luxray, and Heliolisk walked past them, wearing black shirts, pants, and hats. Well, for hats, Luxray wasn't, his hair was already black.
"I guess you think those guys are pretty big losers, eh?"
"Aurora...yes, yes I do. Very much so," Ryder whispered.
Three other pokémon sat on the bench on the other side of the room, in a dark corner. One of them appeared to be a Mienshao, but they couldn't make out the other two in the poorly lit room.
"I'm sure you all know the rules," started a Raichu, who wore a hat with the name 'Park Paintball' on it. "But I'm forced to say them so all you kids don't get hurt." He had a blank expression and spoke with a flat tone. He looked pretty worn, but it was the last day of summer vacation! Of course a bunch of kids would come today! He should've taken a personal day...
"You take these guns," he began again, giving the nine pokémon each a small paintball gun. "There are others you can find around the map, but these are your starting weapons. There are also hidden traps around, where you wouldn't want to step. The way to win is the first one to find the hidden amulet coin will win for their team. The game will automatically end after four hours if no one manages to find it. There will be clues in various spots around the area, they'll tell you how close you are to the amulet coin. Finally, there is absolutely NO climbing the silver fence. Any questions?"
One of the pokémon sitting by the Mienshao wore a black hoodie and raised a black paw.
"You, in the back."
"Is there a cheating penalty? Say, if one individual was to cheat? Do they get punished?"
The Raichu sighed, as if he wanted to just be done with this job. "Yes, if you get caught, and only if you get caught, you'll be eliminated from the game. There are plenty of cameras set up around the park. Is that all?"
"No. Does our whole team get disqualified if one member cheats?" she asked.
"Yes. When you are out, make your way to the Zubat Statue on top of the mountain. Any more questions?"
Not wanted to bother the already annoyed Raichu, everyone kept their paws on their laps, or hanging at their sides (except for Luxray, for obvious reasons).
Brazen's P.O.V
I'm Greninja, but they call me Brazen 'round this joint. I'm just kidding. I don't really talk like that. Oh, I'm not kidding about me me being a Greninja named Brazen though. My best friends are Ryder and Aurora. I couldn't ask for more fun people, not ever. Little known fact about me, I absolutely suck at hockey. Ryder is great at it, Aurora is too, I'm just not. I love to paint though! Tommorow, I'll be starting 9th grade at Johto High. Oh crap, we're starting paintball. Peace out!
Regular P.O.V
"An amulet coin, eh?" asked Aurora, stepping outside. "Ryder and I are both pretty good at puzzles. We'll look for the clues. Brazen, try to take out the competition."
"Gotcha. Did he say a 5 minute grace period?" Aurora nodded. "Okay, let's split up. I'll scale a few trees to see where our competition should be. And the weapons."
"Sounds good to me," whispered Ryder, disappearing behind a tree silently.
"See you later, Brazen," whispered Aurora, running in the opposite direction.
"Yup," said the frog. Using hid sticky webbed feet, he climbed it swiftly and sat in the foliage.
"Alright, alright, where's my competition at..." He whispered to himself. "Oh shit! What the hell is that?"
There was a shining black item a few trees over, sitting on top of a branch. It was- a gun! It would be so much more useful than the slingshot like device they had all started with.
"Hell yeah!" he heard a voice yell, just as he started advancing towards the paint shooting weapon.
"Crap." Brazen shrunk into the tree as he saw a rather tall bipedal pokémon start in the direction of it, running. It was the Mienshao from earlier. Who were it's other teammates though? He only saw this one, and if he came face to face with another one, either of them, or even both of them, would be eliminated. And he certainly didn't want that to happen.
The Mienshao examined it. "This'll be very useful," she said, her voice now classified as female.
"Can I take her out in one shot?" Brazen asked himself. "If I can't, she'll surely paintball me. But if I hit her, only 5 more to go. Do I try?"
The Mienshao, who was about to leave, had ears that twitched a bit.
"What? Who's there?" she asked, growling slightly. Her long, slender hands wrapped around her newfound weapon, slowly turning around to face the trunk of the tree Brazen was in. It had been definitely at least 5 minutes, and the grace period was over.
Brazen barely had time to jump to the next tree as she started shooting it in his direction. He was found.
...
"Hmm...ok...wait, what? No...over there?...hmmmmmmm..." Aurora was having trouble figuring out the first clue she found.
"My species and typing are not unique.
I stick to cave walls when I go to sleep.
I'm just trying to focus and I'm aware,
If you hit me with a fighting move I will not care."
"I just don't get it!" she yelled into a tree trunk.
"Hmm."
She hears a quiet humming voice from behind her. Quickly whipping around, she shouted, shooting paint all over.
"AHHHHH! WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF!" She shot paint in every direction, except for where the pokémon, a Zoroark, stood.
"Wow. Hate to admit it to such a pretty girl like you, but that was pretty pathetic."
Aurora had her eyes closed as she was shooting. Even though if she was to get shot, she wouldn't get hit in the eyes since they all had to wear masks for safety purposes.
"How dare you! No one calls me pathetic and gets away with it!" Aiming her small paint pistol at the dark type, she pulled the trigger. The Zoroark, a clever species they were, didn't even flinch as nothing came out of the gun.
It was empty.
"Oh...oh, crap," she murmured, dropping the weapon as the Zoroark took out one of his own.
"Now," he whispered in a low, low voice, "you lose."
Still holding on to the clue, she ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her.
...
Ryder appeared to be having more luck than his friends. Throwing his pistol on the ground, he moved a bulky boulder out of the way to uncover a sort of small machine gun, along with a piece of paper taped to the side. A clue!
He opened it up, reading what it said.
"Right now I'm not that happy.
Considering many are mean.
You may not see this very much,
But sometimes my species can be green."
"I, uh, what?"
He stood alone in a cave, near the entrance which he walked in. "Sometimes my species can be green? How much sense does that make? Zilch!"
However, he was fortunate at this time. He wasn't visible to any other pokémon at this moment. He had an overpowered weapon, fully loaded, and had a clue. He couldn't figure it out, but he still had it.
"I wonder if the other guys are having good luck...?"
...
"Don't hurt me!" yelled Brazen, hanging from a tree branch, holding his small paintball pistol with his foot.
"You have gotta be kidding me. It's paint! Chemical free, generic paint! You'll hardly feel it!" yelled the opposing Mienshao, who stood on the ground beneath him.
"I have a family!"
"Quit your whining! It's paintball! P-A-I-N-T-B-A double L, paintball!"
"I have so much to live for!"
"Whatever, I'm ending you here. Your time in the game, I mean, not your life."
Now, right here, the same thing that happened to Aurora happened to the Mienshao. As she pressed the trigger on her new weapon, it only made a clicking sound.
"Oh my...you've got to be kidding me! I just picked this up a minute ago! I hardly shot any paint out of it!"
"Excuse, me! You missed me like three hundred times!"
It was around this time that Brazen realized what he could do. If only Mienshao didn't have her eyes glued to him, he could get his gun in his hand and shoot her. He would have to distract her.
"Hey, look! An Oran Berry bush!" he yelled.
If Mienshao was interested, she definitely didn't show it. She stood completely and perfectly still, not moving a muscle.
"I, uh," stammered Brazen, trying to think of more ways to get her eyes off of him. Not having anything, he spat on the ground in between them. She still didn't back up.
Remember when Raichu said that there were hidden traps? This is where that comes into play.
Brazen spit his saliva out onto a small stone that was sitting on the ground. Mienshao didn't really care too much, or she would have) moved.
Suddenly, a tiny beep was heard and the rock glowed red. Brazen hanging from tree vines and Mienshao standing on the ground, they both realized what was about to happen.
"Well, we can't all be winners."
...
Aurora was still on the move with the Zoroark not far behind her. Luckily, Zoroark narrowly dodged a tree, but it slowed him down quite a bit, as he couldn't see Aurora slip into a cave. The same cave that Ryder was in.
Not that she realized it.
Zoroark didn't see her enter, so he continued running by, searching for her.
Ryder, of course, heard heavy breathing from the psychic cat as she crawled under a rock to hide, so he turned around the corner, armed with his new paintball machine gun.
"Who is it? Who's there?"
Aurora realized.
"Ryder? Is that you?"
Ryder realized as well.
"Aurora? What're you doing?"
Aurora crawled out from under the rock, shaking off the dust and dirt.
"Running from that Zoroark out there. What're you doing?"
"Trying to figure out this riddle. Do you have any idea?"
"Oh, so you found one too?" questioned Aurora, taking out her small piece of paper. "Mine doesn't make any sense. Wanna swap?"
"Ok, sure. Take hime," said Ryder, taking Aurora's piece of paper. "Lets see...not happy, others are mean...May not see it much...we can be green?" He stared at it, confused.
Aurora was reading the one she got from Ryder. "Species and typing, not unique...stick to walls...focus...resistance to fighting type moves?"
"But what sort of Pokémon can be green sometimes? I'm thinking Kecleon. Those are some pretty sneaky guys, eh?"
"I guess that sort of makes sense, but Kecleons are weak to fighting type moves..."
"Oh, yeah. You're right."
"I wonder what they could mean then?"
"Well, mine says trying to focus, maybe it's talking about abilities? How many pokémon can have inner focus as an ability?"
"Too many to count," replied Aurora. "Wait, don't you have inner focus?"
"I do? Oh, yeah! Haha, you're right."
"Then focus on these riddles so we can win!"
"Yeesh." Aurora glared at him. "Ok, well we know Lucario can have it, the Abra family can I believe, Zubat family, those two horses from Alola,"
"Wait! The Zubat family can have inner focus?"
"I'm pretty sure. Why?''
"I'm think that's our answer! They have inner focus, stick to cave walls, are green in shiny form...that's it!"
"So the answer is Zubat...but what does that mean? Are we supposed to find a Zubat in here and make it give us an amulet coin?"
"No. We're going to Zubat Statue."
...
Brazen and Mienshao were walking to Zubat Statue together, like they were told to when they got out. They were both definitely out. Brazen had neon pink face covering his face, front torso, and even in between his toes, while Mienshao got it all over herself. Brazen decided to speak first.
"Did Raichu say anything about getting food at Zubat Statue?"
"Sadly, no, he did not."
...
"Aurora, make like a Shedinja and hurry! Who knows how close the others could be by now?"
"I'm trying, Ryder! My legs are so small though!"
"We need to win!"
Ryder got a few feet in front of his friend. They walked past a group of trees, which were suspiciously rustling. Ryder passed them without a trouble, but as Aurora was making her way by, a long leg stuck out and tripped her. Then, a hand covered her mouth as she was dragged into the foliage.
At the sound of silence, Ryder stopped and turned.
"Aurora?" he said. "Aurora? Where'd you go?"
Silence.
Just for a fee seconds. Then a scream. It said,
"RUN!"
...
There was a tiny space within the suspicious looking circle of trees. That's where Zoroark and Aurora resided.
"I'm going to finish what I should've finished a long time ago. Like half an hour ago." said the Zoroark.
He took out his pistol. Before she was shot all over, she noticed a shining red scar across his left eye. It looked rather fresh. She wanted to ask about it, but this was a complete stranger facing her. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
She faced her fate.
...
Ryder was still running. He has made it to one of the three bases of the hill, which was set up like a tripod. The Zubat Statue was in sight. Leaning against it, he saw Brazen, as well as the Mienshao he noticed in the waiting room. Aurora wasn't here yet. Neither was the Zoroark. He had yet to find out who the other member of their team was.
Brazen noticed him dashing up the hill. His eyes suddenly brightened up.
"C'mon, Ryder! You can do this! Don't let her beat you!"
Her? HER? Who? He turned around, still running. There was no one behind him.
The Mienshao was facing down one of the other legs of the hill, shouting.
"Run with those fast Lucario legs of yours!"
For a second, Ryder believed that she was cheering for him. Then he believed that that was stupid, and she was on a different team than he was. But that meant...there was another Lucario!
He began thinking. "Don't let your species prevent you from winning. C'mon...you can see the amulet coin on the Zubat Statue. Grab it. There's only a few yards left until you'll be there. Do it..."
The other Lucario was running up the hill, same speed as him. She looked shocked to see him too. They were both thinking the same exact thing. They knew what they had to do.
Completely avoiding the Zubat Statue, they collided with each other and performed the Lucario Meeting Ritual- the thing I explained at the beginning of this story and refuse to explain again.
Brazen, Mienshao, and now Zoroark and Aurora- they all just stared. Ryder and his rival Lucario had the same strength. They could not push each other over. So they were awkwardly clasping their hands together, when either of them could've been winning the game.
This went on for a minute. Then, they heard a call-
"Yeah! Heliolisk! Go, go, go!"
The Lucario duo stopped what they were doing, and everyone stopped staring. They all looked down the third leg of the hill. And guess what it was!
Yeah, Heliolisk. The fastest of their trio, he jumped onto the top of the Zubat Statue in one swift motion, grasping the amulet coin.
Ryder forgot about them completely.
And so they won.
...
Slashed: So one thing about this story, it was supposed to come out and Christmas, but I got my phone taken away for a whole semester, the my WiFi broke and crap, so yup. It's coming out of Valentine's Day (there's 21 minutes left of Valentine's Day when I'm typing this).
Ryder: Well now that it's out, you have to work on it more often.
Slashed: Shut up, bully. Anyways, in the next chapter, it'll be their start of school (all of the main characters are in 9th grade at this time).
Brazen: This chapter's review: Comment your favorite character or line from the story!
Slashed: Well, ok, peace out homies.