Disclaimer: This story is set in a separate universe to the Anime, Manga and Videogame series of pokémon. It is partially based off of the games Red/Blue/Yellow and the remakes, FireRed/LeafGreen with various differences. Multiple characters from the games and anime may have altered story lines or completely different ones to the original. This book is a short sequel to my previous stories (The Crobat Chronicles 1: Kanto and 2: Johto) This specific story is aimed around one characters and their origin story. For full understanding as to the events proceeding this story, read the previous books. Some language may be adult or insulting to certain groups. Reader discretion is advised.
Dawn arose on another early summer day. The fields outside of Pallet town glowed healthily with the light of the warm soil and dry, comfortable grass. The sky was cloudless and blue, the wind was slow and soothing, and the sun was illumination. And on this morning, in one of the many field, a pokémon battle was beginning.
"Earthquake!" Joe roared. His donphan smashed its powerful forelegs down on the grassy earth, causing it to splinter and crack. The floor shook, and his opponent, a fearless kangaskhan, stood unbothered by the shaking.
"That's it!" His uncle, Walker, cheered. "Now, Thumper, use Reversal!"
The Kangaskhan, who was called Thumper, charged at its opponent, swinging a large arm forwards like a flail mace.
"Roll out of reach, Terrence!" Joe instructed. The Donphan, evidently called Terrence, curled up and rolled backwards with surprising speed, narrowly avoiding a forceful punch from the Kangaskhan. The air around where he had been rippled with the strength of the blow. Walker smiled.
"Well done." He said proudly. "Every time we do this I forget how much you've learned."
"You need to stop underestimating me, uncle." Joe stated with a slightly smug smile. "I didn't beat two leagues by luck alone."
"True." Walker agreed. "Though you have a habit of losing attention now a days." He added.
Joe glanced back at the battle. He hadn't realised that Kangaskhan was charging in for another attack, and Terrence hadn't move out of the way yet.
"Look out, Terrence!" Joe yelled.
The Donphan spotted its rampaging opponent and attempted to stop it in its track, but sadly the dizzy punch that came flying towards his face broke any line of defence he could have put up.
"St-rike!" Walker cheered. Thumper screeched to a halt a few metres away from the plummeting Donphan. Terrence landed snout first into the dirt, his eyes rolling and his face aching. Joe winced.
"That's gonna sting." He muttered.
"Cro." The crobat beside him agreed with a wincing squirm.
Terrence the Donphan rolled himself back onto his feet, but his dizziness wasn't going away yet. Joe cursed under his breath. Kangaskhan had confused him. That would make this tougher.
"You ready to pull him out?" Walker asked, almost too caringly.
Joe shook his head. "No. He can take a few more hits. He's not down yet." He told him.
Terrence attempted to nod in agreement, but only succeeded in headbutting its own legs. Walker nodded.
"Yeah." He said sarcastically. He threw his arm forward. "Thumper, use Mega Punch!" He yelled.
Kangaskhan rushed forwards, a glowing fist racing across the grass field.
"Defence Curl!" Joe instructed.
Terrence curled up into a ball form, his armoured back protruding from the grey spherical shape.
"Now, use rollout! Strike between its legs!"
Terrence began rotating on the spot, before shooting forwards like a cannon ball and striking into Kangaskhan lower waist. The large and rather heavy Pokemon was kicked three feet off the floor before landing on its back in the short grass. Thankfully Kangaskhan was female, so the attack didn't do as much as it could have, but it still hurt. The bruised beast pushed itself up on its stock arms to see the ball of armoured elephant rolling back towards it from the opposite direction.
"Endure!" Walker called.
Kangaskhan tensed in place, prepared for the attack. When it came, it was knocked flat on its back. Terrence rolled over its body and passed by, turning a few metres later and preparing to come back for a third attack.
Kangaskhan began to push itself back up. It was clearly weaker than before, and it seemed to only just be hanging on by whatever energy it had saved by enduring.
"Stop!" Joe called.
Terrence stopped. Walker nodded with thanks to his nephew and withdrew Kangaskhan from the battle.
"A fine attempt today, Thumper." He said with respect. "You nearly had him that time." He clipped the pokeball back to his belt, where five other pokeballs nestled.
Joe smiled and wiped his forehead. His fringe of brown hair flicked as his gloved fingers brushed it away.
Joseph Derek Arthur Glende, known simply as Joe to his friend and family, was a fourteen year old Pokemon trainer born in Pallet Town, Kanto. He wore a black hoodie with a grey t-shirt underneath and a set of blue jeans, red trainers and a black and red hat, with a white pokeball logo on it. His shirt carried the image of two bird wings crossing in an X formation. A pokétch was wrapped around his right wrist and a PokéNav sat in his pocket. A simple bag was lying by his feet, the material worn down with time.
The last year of his life had been a true adventure. Around June and July he had become a pokémon trainer, though not to the usual starter pokémon that were given out at the pokémon lab. No, instead he had found himself on top of a hillside the night before he was to become trainer, saving some strange purple bat creature from a swarm of at least six angry beedrill. That same purple bat creature was floating beside him at that very point.
His name was Ralph, and he was a crobat, a later discovered evolution of zubat. He and Joe had been close friends ever since their fateful meeting on Pallet's hillside. Since then they'd been practically inseparable, and the only people that had succeeded in splitting them up had used mass force to do so. The glue between them set quicker than hard concrete and was tougher then reinforced steel. They were a perfect duo. Joe was the strategy, and Ralph was the force, though both were perfectly able to do the other's job and neither of them were even terribly good at it to start with. Joe had a habit of losing concentration and Ralph got angry to easily.
But since their adventures that had changed, and they had become much stronger as a team. They had travelled all across both Kanto and Johto within the span of a year. They had defeated many tough opponents and even faced legendary pokémon. They had stopped Team Rocket… twice, and had vanquished a long forgotten monstrosity, with help of course. They couldn't forget about their friends. They had lost, they had suffered, yet they had always come out on top, stronger for their grieving. They had let no wall halt them, and now here they were, one of the strongest teams in both Kanto and Johto combined. They had defeated both the Kanto League and the Johto league. Most trainers couldn't admit to that feat. But Joe would never claim that it was purely him who had gotten them that far. He would have never even gotten close without their many other Pokemon and their human friends and family aiding them all the way.
"Well done, Terrence." Joe said as he too withdrew his Pokemon. He clipped the pokeball onto his own belt, where his own five other pokeballs waited patiently for their turn. One pokeball in particular was unique. A white coloured shell with a red ridge, unique to the usual half red half white shell and black ridge. On top of that, a small G signature was carved into the hinge on the back. This was Ralph's pokeball. He had been found with it, on the same day that Joe saved him from the beedrill. The story behind it was a long and tiring one. A sticker was plastered onto each pokeball. Ralph's pokeball had a poisonous skull with a bird wing plastered just beside it. The ball that belonged to Terrence had a clump of earth on it. The other four had a flame sticker, a water droplet sticker, a leaf sticker and a thunderbolt sticker. Each sticker embodied the type of the pokémon contained within. The poison skull and wing indicated that Ralph was a poison and flying type, the earth symbolized ground type, and so on for the rest. It helped Joe remember whose pokeball was whose.
Joe unclipped one off those pokeballs now, the one with the lightning bolt on it, and released it onto the grassy battlefield.
"Go, Pippy!" He called.
An upbeat and peppy Raichu appeared on his side of the field, its long tail whipping back and forth behind it. Sparks scattered from its red cheeks. He seemed eager to fight.
Walker smiled to himself. "Let's make this interesting, shall we." He said. He unclipped a new pokeball and threw it. "Go, Sonic!" He yelled.
From his pokeball burst a mighty pidgeot. It's red and yellow head plumage rustled in the wind. It held its proud, self-centred head high as it spotted its sparking opponent and clucked its beak.
Joe smiled. "Giving me the type advantage, uncle?" He asked. "What are you planning?"
"I just thought it'd give me a bit of a challenge." He said. "Otherwise I might get bored."
'It is on now!' Joe thought, with a wisecracking grin. He threw his arm forward. "Pippy, use thunderbolt."
Pippy the raichu fired a powerful bolt of electricity towards pidgeot.
"Dodge!" Walker called.
With a flap of its wings Sonic propelled itself upwards, avoiding the speeding bolt of electricity. Lightning was fast, but he was faster.
"Now, use quick attack!" Walker instructed.
Pippy wasn't fast enough to dodge Sonic's attack. He took the strike full force into the chest. Thankfully it was a weak attack, but it had sent him rolling back a few feet.
"Now wing attack it!" Walker instructed.
"Hold in there, Pippy!" Joe called. Pippy waited, crouched down into the grass like a flexing leopard waiting to pounce. Sonic flew in to attack. "Now, strike it with thunderbolt!" Joe called.
Pippy jumped up right in front of Sonic as it came in to attack, sparks resonating from his body. Sonic was moving too fast to steer out of the way. The attack blasted him in the face, sending powerful jolts of electricity through his body, clipping his wings. The bird collapsed to the ground, flinching.
"Come back, Sonic." Walker called. Sonic was withdrawn from the battle, its body still sparking with static. Pippy smiled to himself. That battle had gone quicker than it usually did. Since he'd evolved his lightning attacks had become a lot stronger.
"Honestly, what were you thinking there, uncle?" Joe asked with a smug grin. Walker smiled back with his own embarrassed grin.
"I was a bit too hopeful there." He admitted. "Still, I gave it a try. Sonic was able to get his hits in at least. It wasn't too bad."
Joe shook his head. "I thought you used to be a champion trainer?" He said.
Walker shook his head. "I was never the champion." He told him. "I was a very good pokémon trainer, but never the champion. I'm not that good."
Walker Glende had once been a trainer more than twenty years ago. He had lost his first pokémon in a sad accident, and as a result he had apparently gone off the rails a bit. Joe didn't know the full story, but he knew that at some point both his uncle and his father had been working for the famous Team Rocket, a band of criminals that stole pokémon from their trainers, abused those said pokémon and even went so far as to kill them if necessary, or sometimes by accident.
Joe remembered what happened to Sting, the first pokémon he'd ever caught, and the first one he'd ever lost. Sting was a beedrill that he had caught as a weedle in Viridian forest. He was killed after being shot during a fight with Team Rocket in Lavender Town. Subconsciously Joe rubbed his eye. He would never forget the pain he went through after his loss. He still wasn't truly over it, and he feared he never would be.
His uncle had once explained that he had been a part of Team Rocket for several years before finally leaving and starting up a team to defeat them. He had never told Joe who the other members were. Meanwhile his father, and mother, had both remained in team rocket until its original demies. At some point during their end he had been born. Only recently had he learned all this. Up until then he'd believed that his father was a policeman who was killed in a tragic accident. The truth sadly hurt more than the lies. But at least he'd eventually met his father, and he'd managed to redeem himself and tried to stop everything he'd help set in motion. Sadly that had led to him losing his own life. Joe couldn't help but feel partially guilty for that. He hadn't needed to die.
And then, from out of nowhere, a memory popped back up into his mind. It had jumped through the linked thoughts of his father and Team Rocket's last stand in Goldenrod City. Something his uncle had once told him about suddenly crept up into his conscious thought.
"Hey, Uncle Walker?" Joe said suddenly.
"Yeah?" His uncle said.
"You never told me the full story about how you got involved with Team Rocket." Joe said.
Walker Glende's happy expression seemed to drop. "Oh." He muttered. He scratched the back of his head and put a now fake smile on for his nephew. "I don't think you need to know that story." He told him.
Joe shook his head. "No, I'd like to know it." He argued simply.
Walker sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it, Joe." He said. "Let's get back to the battle, shall we?"
Joe shrugged. Pippy and Sonic had already been withdrawn from the battle, and all they needed to do now was send out another pokémon to replace them.
"Go, Pitt!" Joe called as he released his next pokémon. A large male venusaur appeared on the grass field. Pitt yawned loudly.
"Been a long time since I've seen him." Walker said with a small grin.
Joe had plenty of pokémon by this point. Since he'd been traveling in both Kanto and Johto he had been able to raise two very different teams, each with their own unique strength and weaknesses. At this point in time he had owned sixteen different Pokemon, although after certain events on their journey he now owned only ten of them. The others had been lost through trade, released either because they wanted to be let go or because they were too violent to keep, and in one case even killed. One of the pokémon he still owned wasn't even a team member. That pokémon was his personal pet. Blitz the Growlithe had been given to Joe as a birthday present on his thirteenth birthday, and while he was energetic and eager, he was too young to take on any of his adventures. As a result he had been kept at his uncle's farm during the past year of traveling. He hadn't been happy about it, but he had at least been safe. Before this battle six of those pokémon had been picked out to take part. So far Joe had only sent out two of them. Now it was time for a third one to appear.
Walker released his next pokémon. "Go, Cannon!" He called.
A heavy shelled Blastoise landed on the field. Another battle where Joe had the type advantage, yet knowing his uncle he probably had something planned.
"Solar Beam!" Joe called.
"Rapid Spin!" Walker called.
Pitt began gathering light. Cannon shrunk into its shell and began spinning rapidly on the spot. When the beam of green energy collided with the approaching spinning shell there was an explosion. Colour irradiated the field, with bright luminous greens and frantic shattering whites. Cannon still came rotating forwards, undeterred by the powerful attacked. Pitt's proud expression dropped to a worried stare.
"You can still stop it!" Joe called encouragingly. He had a secret ace up his sleeve. Since he'd gotten Pitt back from his father he'd taught him a new move, having had plenty of time since defeating the Johto League. This was one move that only a venusaur could learn. It was time he put this move into action. "Use Frenzy Plant!" Joe commanded.
Pitt grinned. This would stop the oncoming tank of a turtle. Pitt raised his single leg up, then stomped down hard. A footprint was left deep in the earth. A second later the ground ahead of him shook, and from it six massive barbed roots erupted out from the ground. They lashed up towards the sky like tentacles of vegetable matter. Then they fell down, plummeting like hacked down trees in a six pointed X towards the opponent Blastoise. Unable to halt, Cannon was forced to endure the attack head on. He was crushed under the weight of the roots. Joe pumped his fist.
"Perfect!" He yelled. Pitt smiled proudly once more, his legs drooping tiredly. A move like that expended a lot of energy, and Pitt had used so much already. He would need a small rest before being ready to pull off another attack.
"I must say, I didn't know he could do that." Walker muttered, impressed by his opponent.
Joe, Ralph and Pitt all seemed to be smugly grinning. Their grins faded quickly however, as suddenly the massive roots trapping Cannon in a pile began to shake. They looked in horror as one by one the roots split in half and evaporated into compost. A spinning shell sat in the middle of the roots, refusing to give up no matter what powerful grass moves were thrown down on it. The remnants of an energy shield faded away around the blue turtle. Joe, and Pitt, subconsciously gulped in internal fear.
Walker couldn't help but grin himself. "Though you forgot how Cannon likes to use protect." He said. "And now you're left open." He pointed a hand out.
"Skull Back!" He called.
Pitt was forced to watch his opponent run towards him, its round head shrinking into its shell and switching to charging on all fours. When he was barely inches away, Cannon pushed his head back up with the force of a double barrel shotgun. Its strong cranium smashed Pitt in the face. That was sadly all it needed in order to take him out. Pitt collapsed. The combination of the Frenzy Plant and the strike to the face had left him with no energy. He succumbed to his own weight, his legs sprawled out and his head in the mud. Cannon celebrated by firing a few hydro pumps into the air. The water came back down as rain droplets, falling upon the on looking trainers and the remaining pokémon.
"That's one for me." Walker counted, smiling. "I'm slowly catching up. Another three to go." Joe smirked arrogantly. He shook his head in muttered 'ha-ha' in an almost mocking way.
Pitt and Cannon were withdrawn from the battlefield. Joe was not disappointed in his pokémon. This was the first battle he had taken part in and where Pitt knew Frenzy Plant. It was only expected of him to not know how to use it properly. But he'd have time to practice and time to learn. Joe clipped Pitt's pokeball - which wore a leaf sticker on its shell - back to his belt. Walker also withdrew his pokémon. Three left on each side.
"Out of curiosity…" Joe said suddenly, testing the waters. "Why don't you want to talk more about your past?"
Walker Glende lowered his head a little, sighing with irritation.
"I just don't." He said quietly. "Can we not leave it that?
"I'm just wondering why. You told me about my father and mother, and about Team Rocket, but you never told me the full story… about what happened to you." Joe shrugged. "It's just on my mind. I was a little curious to know…"
"I'd rather not bring up my past." Walker interrupted him. "There's nothing to learn from it."
"Nothing at all?" Joe asked.
"Nothing." Walker said firmly.
A pokeball was thrown and a hitmonlee appeared on the field, performing a judo flip kick the second it was released.
"Now, let's get back to our battle, shall we."
Joe shrugged, deciding it was probably best to just let it go for now. But it still hung around at the back of his head. He couldn't shake the question, no matter how hard he tried. Not even the presence of one of his old Pokemon could shake it.
The hitmonlee fighting now on Walker's side was called Carter. He had once been on Joe's team during his recent travels, in fact he had help Joe defeat the Kanto league champion, who turned out to be one of Joe's childhood friends. He had done an amazing job at defeating a rather troublesome snorlax. But when Joe had left for Johto he'd left most of his Kato team behind. Carted had been one of them. He'd been kept at the farm, and he'd helped Joe's uncle out with farm work and house work. It seemed that now they worked together in pokémon battles as well. Joe was not upset by this. As much as he loved working with Carter, it was his choice to join Walker's team. He seemed to get more activity being with him, even if it was just farm work. Every now and then he'd return to battle alongside Joe, if ever he felt like it. But now he pretty much belonged to Walker.
Joe smiled a little to himself. "You traitor." He joked.
Carter blinked, and then gave him a cheeky stare, flicking his eyebrow up twice.
Joe unclipped his next pokeball. This one had the water droplet sticker on it, with a small wing sticker beside it. He flicked it up into the air and caught it on its way down. He then threw the ball onto the grass ahead.
A monstrous red gyarados appeared on the grass, its long, scaly body wriggling about just above the floor. It hissed, its fang bared at its opponent. Carter seemed unthreatened by it, but Walker was a little worried.
"Is she safe to let out here?" he asked, staring at the titanic sea serpent levitating above the ground. Joe smiled at him.
"Don't worry. Cyclone will behave herself this time." He said. "Won't you, Cyclone?"
The red gyarados made a gurgling roar.
"I think that's a yes." Joe said, a little unsure of himself. Walker narrowed his eyes.
"You know what happened last time you let her out." He said seriously. "It took me several days to fix the living room. The wall is still dented. I had to pay five builders to fix the chimney."
"That's why we aren't fighting near the house." Joe told him. He clapped his hands together. "Shall we get back to it?" He asked. Walker smiled. "Okay then." Joe pointed a finger ahead of him. "Cyclone, use Ice Fang!" Joe called.
Cyclone lunged forwards, sharp fangs glistening with frost and jaws wide open to bite down.
"Blaze Kick!" Walker called.
Carter rushed in to meet the oncoming water dragon. As the two got closer, he crouched and jump up high, sailing almost over the head of the beast. Cyclone reared up in an attempt to grab him in mid-flight, but what she didn't see coming was the flaming heel swinging behind the fighting pokémons. The attack struck her between the eyes. Cyclone screeched and fell backwards, landing on her sailed spine. Carter landed a few feet before her, his foot extinguishing, folding his arms in front of himself. Cyclone groaned.
"Come on, Cyclone. Get him back!" Joe encouraged.
Cyclone began to rear up again. Carter was already preparing another attack, this time planning to use a high jump kick. He took a few seconds to prepare himself, before pushing of the ground and pulling one powerful leg back. However Cyclone had been expecting this, in fact she'd been waiting for it. As Carter was halfway through his jump, she turned her head towards him. A pillar of purple dragon flame blasted from her gaping mouth. The flames hit Carter in his open chest and knocked him back. Carter landed on his back, writhing and swatting the burning air surrounding it. After a few second he flipped up onto his feet, wiping the purple flames of his skin. Cyclone's attack had clearly done quite a bit of damaged, and it had certainly knocked off his concentration. The two pokémons glared at each other hatefully.
"Mega Kick!" Walker called.
"Waterfall!" Joe called.
The two pokémons charged at each other. Cyclone spiralled upwards in a torrent of water. Carter jump, landed on Cyclone's chest, grabbed her skin and began running vertically up her body towards her head. The two of them met at the tip of the attack, and struck one another in an explosion of water and bright white energy. After the implosion they both landed, both unconscious.
"Well, that was an anti-climax." Walker muttered, seeing his defeated pokémon.
"No kidding." Joe agreed, scratching his head, wondering what exactly had happened?
They both quickly withdrew their pokémon from the field.
"I must say, this is a fun battle." Walker said smiling. "I haven't been this excited since I became trainer." He stopped. Joe was looking at him, eagerly interested. Walker coughed and calmed down. "But that's not saying much." He added. "I never had the kind of adventure you did, I mean."
Joe raised an eyebrow. He wasn't falling so easily for his uncle's humility.
"That's not how it sounds to me." Joe told him. "I thought you helped defeat Team Rocket the first time around."
Walker pretended that he hadn't heard him.
"Yeah, I never had many adventures. Not really. Nothing too exciting." He patted his pockets. "I only have two pokémon left now." He said, changing the subject. "Looks like we'll have to wrap this up soon."
Joe was starting to get a little annoyed with him. "Why are you being so defensive?" He asked.
"Sorry?" Walker said, acting like he didn't know what Joe was talking about. Joe didn't fall for his innocence.
"Why do you keep refusing to answer my question?" He asked. Walker sighed with irritation.
"Look, Joe, it's a painful memory for me, okay. I don't want to bring it back up. I already told you the basic outline of what happened. Is that not enough?"
"You didn't tell me everything." Joe told him. "Like how you managed to leave Team Rocket, how you defeated them, how you and my father even got involved with that awful group. You never told me that."
"Can it not wait till another day?" Walker asked.
"No." Joe told him. "Because another day becomes another week, then another month, then another year, and then it never happens." He stated.
"Joseph, I'd rather not do this today." Walker stated. "Now let's get back to our battle please." He insisted.
Joe sighed. He did not answer his uncle, but unclipped his next pokeball. His uncle did the same. They both readied their pokeballs.
"Go, Cinders!" Joe called.
"Go, Fry!" Walker called.
Both pokeballs landed, and two pokémon appeared. It was like looking into a mirror. Two Charizards stared at each other, standing perfectly opposite to one another, flame bellowing from their jaws and claws sharp and raking the air. Both were almost identically, with a few exceptions. Walker's charizard was evidently smaller and younger looking then Joe's. He also had fewer battle wounds.
"Alright, Cinders." Joe said aloud. "You're gonna need to focus your attacks if you want this to be over quickly."
Cinders the charizard roared in agreement. Cinders, like Pitt, had been with Joe since the beginning of his adventures. He had been rescued from a small day-care outside of Cerulean city after it was harassed and eventually attacked by Team Rocket. Pitt had been given to Joe as a present from his uncle for beating his first gym leader. The two of them had both proven to be valuable and extremely powerful team members, as well as close friends surprisingly enough. The two of them seemed to dislike leaving each other's side. In fact Pitt was only taking part in this fight because Cinder's had put up a fuss. Joe had to respect them for that. They'd even decided unanimously to both leave Joe's team when he left for Johto, so that they could stick together. Joe's father had taken them in after that, until the final fight, when everything had come to its end. Now they were both back with him, and closer than they ever had been it seemed. They'd both learned new, powerful moves during that time. Pitt had already displayed his. Joe could only assume that Cinders would get the same chance to do so.
"Dragon Claw!" Joe called.
Cinders flapped his large wings and began rushing across the grass, a sharp claw glowing with dragon flame and prepared to lash out.
"Smokescreen!" Walker called.
Walker's charizard, Fry, exhaled a plume of black smoke. As Cinder's approached he passed through the obscure black cloud. His eyes stung as the smoke touched them, and he found himself lashing around in the darkness. Out of panic he spat a flamethrower from his maw, burning up the air in a blazing arc around him.
"Focus Punch!" Walker yelled.
Cinder's finally found his way out of the black cloud, only to see the opponent charizard powering up an attack.
"Quickly, stop it!" Joe yelled.
Cinder's reacted fast. He jumped at the opponent, his large skin wings letting him glide just above the ground, and lashed out with a glowing silver claw. The attack struck, but not quick enough. Fry had already powered its attack up. A powerful glowing claw struck Cinder's in the gut as his own attack struck. The force was so powerful that it send him flying backwards, where he eventually landed heavily into the earth. Fry meanwhile had a clean slash down his chest that glower with the residue of steel energy.
"Fire Spin!" Walker commanded.
Fry spat a collection of small embers from his maw. The flames collected in a small tornado and rotated rapidly on the spot, before being brushed away by a gust of wind towards the opponent dragon. Cinders had barely gotten back to his feet before he noticed the flame tornado floating towards him, leaving a small burning wake behind it.
"Blow it back!" Joe called.
Cinder's flapped his powerful wings. The gusts he created were strong enough to change the course of the attack. The blazing tornado turned around and rotated back towards its creator. Fry sadly didn't notice this. The tornado hit him, and did minimal damage. However, it did not disappear instantly, as Joe had expected it to. It continued to spin around the red winged lizard, refusing to extinguish no matter how hard Fry tied to put it out. Every now and then the flames would graze his scaly skin.
"Now's your chance!" Joe called, realising he had an open shot. "Use Blast Burn!"
Blast burn was the newest move Cinders had learned. It was a move only Charizards could learn, and it was not only highly potent but also highly explosive. Cinders erupted into fire. He raised back a fist and prepared to slam it into the dry earth.
"Fire Blast and Focus Punch!" Walker yelled.
Fry refocused on the battle. He exhaled a blazing star that glowed almost as bright as the sun. It sat in front of him for several seconds, before Fry struck it with a powerful fist. The flaming star went sailing across the battlefield, right as Cinders made his attack. His claw smashed the ground, and the fire around him sunk into the earth. Seconds later it reappeared in a blazing eruption directly underneath where Fry was standing. Fry was lifted upwards, his whole body singing and burning up. Unprotected, the flaming star hit Cinders directly in the chest. Both dragons took their attacks head on, and both suffered greatly.
Cinders blinked, his breathing heavy. He had exhausted all his energy on the one attack, and was now trying to recover from a direct hit. He winced further. And then he collapsed face first into the grass. Fry landed back on the ground with a heavy thud. For a while he didn't move. And then, by some miracle, he stood up once more. He was only strong enough to kneel by this point, but he was still up, and evidently still eager to fight.
"Another two to me." Walker said, clapping proudly. "Only one pokémon left each."
Joe looked up from his defeated pokémon. He seemed more determined than before, but possibly not for the same reasons.
"Do you still stick by not telling me anything?" He asked.
"Yes." Walker said, suddenly turning much stricter.
"And have you ever planned on telling me anything?" Joe demanded. "You didn't tell me the truth about my parents. You didn't tell me the truth about Team Rocket. Dou you just like leaving me in the dark."
"Joseph!" Walker snapped. "It's not that simple."
"It is!" Joe snapped back. "It really is! It can't be that tough to say one sentence or two."
"Life's not one sentence long!" Walker argued.
"Why are you so defensive?"
"Why do you think?!"
They glared at one another.
"If I win this battle will you tell me?" Joe asked. Walker was quiet. "Promise me that you will tell me about your past if I beat you in this pokémon battle!" He demanded.
"Joe, you're really beginning to annoy me now!" Walker told him.
"Promise!" Joe shouted.
"Okay!" Walker shouted back.
And at that point a simple practice match became a sudden championship clash.
"Ralph, win this for me!" Joe said, his teeth gritted.
"Arco, it's time to lecture my nephew once more!" Walker barked.
Ralph looked incredibly reluctant to get involved in this fight. He enjoyed a good battle, but Joe was unnecessarily angry. He didn't want to fuel that anger by getting into a physical fight with his uncle's pet. But Joe was demanding that he fight, and he had no other pokémon to turn to. At least if he won Joe would get what he wanted. He could at least do that.
Arco the Arcanine, Walker's oldest and closest pokémon companion, had been resting a couple of feet behind Walker's position, basking in the early summer sun. He had been rather ignorant of the ongoing match behind him, but at the call of his name he'd looked up. The great noble fire dog approached his trainer, brushing past his leg and letting his hand fall onto his furry back.
The two trainers continued to glare at each other as their pokémon approached the battlefield. Neither of them would relent from this. If they did, they gave up part of themselves. They would stand by their beliefs. There was an unspoken silence across the field. Even the wind made no noise. Then battle continued.
"Steel Wing!" Joe yelled.
"Extremespeed!" Walker shouted.
Ralph sped forwards in a burst of air, his four wings pushing him forwards. Arco sprinted at his opponent, a blur of white and red, his four legs scrapping up the ground behind him. The two collided into each other. Ralph landed heavily on his wing several feet back. Arco recoiled, the crobat's wing having hit him between the eyes. A silver line bruised his face. Bother pokémon recovered quickly and prepared to attack again, circling one another threateningly.
"Iron Tail!" Walker called.
Arco spun around and whipped his white tail – now glowing silver – at Ralph's face. Ralph was quick enough to dodge the attack, and now Arco was left open.
"Cross Poison!" Joe yelled.
Ralph pulled his large wings back and slashed them down in a glowing purple X across Arco's side. The flame wold yelped and jumped back. The glowing X scarred his red and black fur. Arco looked at his marked skin, then back at Ralph. His fuzzy eyebrows grew stern and angry.
"Return!" Walker yelled.
Arco took a step back, indicating a retreat. And then he lunged without warning. He struck Ralph in the chest with the top of his head. Ralph recoiled back.
"Get him, Ralph!" Joe yelled furiously. He was not eager to lose today.
Ralph rolled his eyes and sighed sadly. This was turning out to be a pretty awful day. Without another thought he took off into the air. Arco watched as he rose up in an arrow of air. Ralph turned in mid-flight and dived down again, aimed towards his opponent.
"Flare Blitz!" Walker yelled.
Arco blasted a burning star at Ralph. The crobat had no time to evade it. He was moving too fast and the blazing star was too wide. He passed straight through it. The flames singes his skin, and embers enshrouded his body, but still he kept flying, diving fasted down more like a comet then an arrow now. He impacted into Arco, and the two pokémon crashed into the ground. There was a heavy grown from the both of them.
"Get up!" Walker yelled.
"Come on, Ralph!" Joe screamed. "Strike it while you can!"
Ralph looked back at his trainer. Joe was fuming. His hear was practically on fire. This wasn't healthy. He was so angry over one thing. He hadn't been angry when this fight started. He didn't need to be like this. This had to stop.
He looked down at Arco. The fire dog was slowly getting his strength back. His eyes were closed but flickering slightly. He was trying to get back up.
Ralph raised a wing to attack. And Arco retaliated. He lashed out suddenly, smacking Ralph in the face with his forehead. The crobat collapsed onto the ground behind him. Arco immediately pounced on him, pressing his heavy paws into his wings and pinning him where he lay.
"Yes!" Walker roared. "Finish this fight."
Arco was just as unrelenting as Ralph was. He took an intake of breath, the back of his jaws glowing bright red with flame. Ralph had no choice but to fight back.
He screeched directly into Arco's ear. The fire dog yelped and recoiled, his ears ringing. His paws weakened and Ralph quickly freed himself, pushing himself back into the air and blasting backwards with a flap of his wings. Arco glared at him. Ralph glared back.
"End this!" Joe yelled. Ralph glanced back at his trainer. Joe was pumping his fist in the air. His face was evil and grinning. He seemed to be almost on the verge of sanity. "Take it down!" Ralph looked back at Arco. Walker was shouting similar things at him, and he looked just as worried about it. Ralph had no idea why this was continuing on anymore. This fight needed to end, yet neither he nor Arco would surrender so quickly, and neither Joe nor Walker would let them. There would be no winner here, and the loser would only suffer greatly. So someone needed to stop this.
"Fly!" Joe yelled.
"Return!" Walker yelled.
Ralph flapped his wings quicker. This fight was about to end, and he would make sure of it. He sped forwards, the air bending around him like thin liquid. Arco began sprinting across the grass, head lowered. The two approached faster and faster, the distance between them getting quickly smaller and smaller. Ralph spread his wings like blades. Arco lowered his head like a battering ram. They were meters way from each other.
And then they stopped. Ralph threw his wings out flat, and stopped in mid-flight. Arco pressed his feet into the earth and came to a jarring halt. The two of them stood and hovered barely feet away from each other, both with the same stern expression. And then, slowly, they turned around to face their trainer and sat down defiantly.
Joe and Walker both gasped.
"What are you doing, Ralph?" Joe yelled. "He's right there!"
"Arco, I didn't tell you to sit!" Walker barked. "Finish him!"
Both pokémon continued their defiance. They sat and glared at their trainers, refusing to move. Simultaneously they shook their heads, both with disobedience and with disappointment.
"Cro!" Ralph shouted, his high pitch screech tone echoing across the field.
"Woof!" Arco barked, his deep wolf voice boomingly loud.
"Is that it then?" Joe said, sounding very angry about what his pokémon was doing. "You're just giving up?! You won't even finish the job?"
"After all we've been through, you're just letting him win?" Walker asked, sounding exasperated. "You know what we've been through, everything we've seen, everything we've done. You won't defend me when I refuse to look back at then?"
Arco held his head a little, but quickly he gained confidence. This was for the best. Like an honest man defying the sinners around him he sat his ground.
Both trainers exhaled.
Joe took a few steps forwards.
"What are we doing?" He asked. Walker looked at his nephew suddenly. "We're arguing for no reason. We let this get out of hand, and we didn't even see it."
Walker found himself unable to respond. His nephew was right. They'd bother let this dispute ruin their practice. It had taken their closest companions to remind them of the fools they were. The thirty year old man felt ashamed of himself.
"Joe…" He muttered quietly. "I'm sorry. I…" He stopped. There was no excuse for his behaviour.
"Don't apologise." Joe told him. "I was just as bad as you were, if not worse."
Ralph returned to his friend's side. He was tired out from having to fight so demandingly. He had hoped for a nice warm up. But, of course, life had a habit of changing plans. Joe patted his crobat companion on the back, proud that he had stood up against him. He was grateful that Ralph knew when to say no, because clearly he didn't. Arco strolled up slowly beside Walker, and his trainer petted him kindly. Arco smiled a little, his aged expression grateful that the fight had finally ended.
"You wanted to know about my past?" Walker said, clearly feeling guilty.
"It's not important." Joe told him quickly. "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to. If it hurts that much then I can wait."
Walker shook his head. "No." He said, swallowing down his nerves. "No. It's time I got this off my chest."
Joe looked at his uncle. He seemed very nervous to speak up. There was the hint of distress in his face. Yet he was letting himself be honest. Joe could only imagine how tough this was for him.
"But not here." Walker continued, speaking a little more confidently. "I'll tell you about it tonight. First we'll have dinner, something to drink… and then I'll tell you exactly what happened."
Would just like to quickly say that this story won't be as long as the previous books, only about 7 or 8 chapters long. There may be some long pauses between chapters, but I will do the best to get them up as soon as I can. Thank you for reading this far, and hope you're looking forward to the next chapter.