Targets
A Pokemon Fanfiction
Okay... as I am currently revamping the ENTIRE story (about ten chapters...), I would not advise going onto Chapter Two until I upload the new and improved version of that one too. Same goes for all the other chapters. By the way, if you're reading this a year after this thing's been uploaded, ignore my ramblings. That is all.
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"Snow? No way," I said incredulously. "That has to be a Hail attack."
"It... probably is." replied the bartender, Gallant. We were the only two people currently in the bar, but that was bound to change with the weather. Sure enough, a man entered through the doorway as I asked for another refill, and he was closely followed by two others. The cheap television on a shelf behind the counter was showing a battle between two apparently well-known trainers, although I'd never heard of either of them. Not that that meant much, as I'd only recently returned from my self-imposed exile on Arahaz, the island of thieves. And asylums, although that's a completely different story. To the point, this was the first the public had seen of me, prodigious teenage trainer that I was, in over three years.
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After I had managed to defeat the Elite Four and Takuto, the paparazzi practically swamped me and my mum with reporters seven days a week. After enduring it for a month, I finally snapped and took Pikachu and Charizard with me to the most isolated, out-of-the-way, altogether obscure place I could find. The Apocalypse Archipelago, on the other side of the world from Kanto, fit the bill nicely.
In no time at all, I had a new team, and was training it on Arahaz. While there were no Gyms there, the island possessed a busy port that swarmed with trainers and coordinators. Very soon, I was involved in at least five battles a day, if not more. Pikachu got stronger than he ever could have in Isshu, Charizard was able to defeat an oversized Nidoking, and in general my training abilities increased 'exponentially', as Oak might have said. I was truly content.
Ambition lured me away from my hidey-hole, though. I knew that I couldn't return to Pallet, but there was always Isshu... Then it was decided. I was going to go to Isshu, with my team, and win the league challenge.
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It wouldn't work. The string of digits was too long, too complex to master. The influx of sudden knowledge was too abrupt to take, and so I did what many a computer did when it's programming failed. I crashed. And doomed everyone in the base to death. Although I was frozen, though, I was still conscious- or the evaluation of it, anyway. I saw the beasts I had helped to create, and though the scenes of carnage were not all too endearing, I felt a certain kinship with the seven. We were all the results of foolhardy humans attempting to play God, the results of cruelty and cowardice. Sometimes, I wonder why the humans gave the eight of us so much power. Granted, I was supposed to be an obedient slave, but the scientists knew that the clones were telepaths. What did they expect but a rebellion when the clones learned of their creators' true intentions? Humans were so foolish.
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I hadn't actually interacted with humans for so long. So the best way to get into practice, I thought, was to take a cruise ship. There were loads of people on them! That's how I found myself on the S.S. Maritime. The name was stupid, but the food tasted wonderful. Each of the halls was blue-carpeted, and empty husks of Shellder and Clamperl hung on the walls, alongside fancy portraits of water-related stuff. The main course of each meal was roast Kingler, although there was a separate dish for vegetarians like me.
"Attention all passengers! A hurricane has been sighted off the coast of Leppon! Return all Pokemon to their balls, and please be alert!" The captain's voice blared from a loudspeaker, which was located right next to my table, and I was almost deafened by the roar. Taking the captain's advice, I recalled most of my team except Pikachu. Then I started to wait out the storm.
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The hurricane was a hoax, of course. It was merely an excuse to get everyone to return their Pokemon- and we were sure that the target would disobey the order by leaving his Pikachu out. That way, we would be sure to find him. It didn't pan out as expected, though.
"What do you mean, there's a slight problem in finding him! He has a Pikachu on his head!"
"So does some other guy," Oracle excused himself.
"Get him to return it or something, then!" I retorted angrily. "Just find the damn target!"
The Lucario muttered something to himself.
"Just go," I snapped.
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When the Lucario and the Swampert came, I knew there was a problem. "Pikachu, on my call."
My Pokemon nodded, and I turned to face the two potential attackers. Any brawl that might have started was stopped, though, by a chance wave that almost tipped the boat on it's side. Luckily, I managed to hold on to a table (that was fixed to the ground), while the two battlers were caught unawares and sailed out of a porthole. I would have cheered, but there were bigger Goldeen to fry. Like an abnormally huge Gyarados rearing out of the waves where the Swampert and his friend fell into the sea.
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"Nick, I thought you said it was a hoax," I said, straightforward and to the point.
"I did."
"So why is there a storm almost on us?"
"I lied."
"Nice to know that my allies are so trustworthy," I commented sarcastically.
He acknowledged my jibe with a nod, then said something else. "By the way, you know how I said that even if there was a storm, that there would only be one?"
"Yeah..."
"I lied again," he said with the air of one talking about the weather. Well, he was, but that's beside the point.
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I almost screamed.
"I had a hunch that this might happen." He could have been talking about the double storm collision or my fit of hysteria, or even both. Most likely the third.
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The water serpent tore into the aluminium exterior of the ship, ripping a massive portion of the wall from it's side. A few people were bowled heads-over-tails into the seething, boiling ocean, and a news reporter decided to comment on this, costing her valuable seconds and a cameraman.
"Pikachu, now!" I yelled, deciding to target the Gyarados rather than escape. A few other trainers were calling out their electrics, but for all we could do, we only succeeded in enraging the 'dos further and pulverising several tables and paintings with electricity. Then someone invited a Magnezone to the party. The effect was instantaneous. The ship half-sank with the sudden weight, and the Gyarados noticed this. It also didn't take kindly to being shocked with another seven thousand megavolts of electricity, or whatever the thing was ran through with, and with a mighty flick of it's tail, sent the robotic Pokemon flying. Only around two or three metres, mind, but that was certainly no mean feat. And it got extra points for hitting the Magnezone's trainer in the chest.
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"As I suspected. One of the storms is Pisces's making. The other... I'm not so sure," said Nick, once again cool as a cucumber. Don't ask me why. It's not like he could just fly away from the whole mess. As I was saying, he was totally calm, and it was too good to be an act. "At any rate, neither of them will disrupt or hinder our cunning plans."
I stared at him, mouth agape. "Neither of them will... the hell?"
"We've already found the trainer."
"How could you possibly know that? We haven't received an update in ten minutes!"
"I'm not the best bounty hunter in the Lucario Guild for nothing, you know," he said easily. "Anyhow, I'll be leaving now."
"What about my payment?" I demanded. It wasn't easy to hijack a cruiser without anybody noticing. Dammit, it isn't easy to hijack a cruiser, full stop!
"In your wallet." Frowning, I looked down at my pocket and pulled out a brown leather moneybag.
"This?"
"No, the one in your shoe. What do you think?"
I shrugged in reply, and checked my wallet. Sure enough, sixty or seventy thousand dollars had magically appeared in it, complete with a reciept. "You do your job well."
He grinned happily, then fell backwards out of the window, which he'd slowly been edging to all this time. Belatedly realising what had just gone down, I groaned in frustration, and looked back at my wallet. The money had vanished, leaving nothing but a bare piece of leather. A Gallade smashed through the roof of the cabin and faced me.
"Apologies in advance. I doubt you will be in a fit state to accept them after I finish."
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Somehow, the Swampert and the Lucario were able to get back on to the deck.
"Pikachu! Iron Tail 'em to hell!" Although the move was generally ineffective against both of their species, my Pikachu was strong enough to hold it's own- or so I thought. Neither of them looked phased by the attack, and the Lucario yawned. The two suddenly dropped into battle crouches, arms raised. I was reminded of Jessie and James, with their constant attempts at grabbing Pikachu... but this time round they were competent. And I wasn't sure about their target, either. "Another Iron Tail, Pikachu!"
This time, the Swampert slammed his arm into my battler before it could attack, throwing it across the room and into the speakers. My electric-type was still able to continue, though, and I grinned. Until I saw that the two fighters had disappeared. And half the ship was on fire. Then I kinda got worried.
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This is a rewrite of the original, if you haven't figured it out yet. Remember to review on your way out!