Chapter 1
A few years later, after her father was tragically murdered, Yuna was by herself, even without her beloved parents. Her loss of her father set an impact on her life - the sweet and loving Yuna her parents once knew was now an unstoppable battler, looking forward to every new challenge.
Although a ruthless warrior she was, she still had her kind side to look at, but she never showed it. She was alone, not even with her mother; she had mysteriously disappeared... her last words to Yuna were "I'll be back soon..." Yuna waited the whole night for her, just so she could be safely in her mother's arms once more. But she never did come back...
Yuna had given up on helping out people and being loyal. That was all in the past. Both her parents were gone forever, and she had to face the truth: she'd never find anyone who could be her friend, or even love her. She was alone.
It was a lovely summer afternoon, and it was a perfect day for training for the big tournament Yuna was meaning to go to. There was only a week left, and she decided to train extra hard. She went through her old path: Out of the tree she lives in, across the grassy path, down the nettle-infested hill, and through a very complicated maze of some sort. Only she knew the whereabouts to her training place.
She was once more training in her secret area, when all of a sudden a noise came up from nowhere. She looked up, and saw an Eevee running for dear life from a huge flock of spearows. What the heck? That Eevee's gonna go right through my training area if it doesn't turn around! Thought Yuna, furiously. And, sure enough, it ran right to her. Yuna blasted a tree, which came crashing down on the spearows. That was the last of them. The Eevee, petrified, ran to the aid of the ragged-looking Umbreon placed before her eyes. But of course, Yuna, in her own stubborn manner, would never help anyone anymore.
"What do you want?" Exclaimed a very angry Yuna.
"Um... um... um... I-I was j-j-j-just training... for the tournament next week... I was h-hoping I could win... but I got chased by spearows... and...." The Eevee trailed off.
"Whatever. You're making no sense. Just go away, I'm training for it too, so let me have some peace, OK?"
Yuna turned away, as if to tell the little Eevee to get lost. "Anyway. It's not like you're going to be guarded by me or anything. Not even if you got chased by a twenty-ton T-Rex or somethin'."
"But, but, but, the Spearows keep chasing me and I need someone to protect me and…" Eevee remembered something about the competition, which she used to make sure the mysterious Umbreon would protect him, and also be with him on the tag team. "Well, uh, did you know that you have to be in a tag team later on in the game?" said the Eevee.
Yuna glared at him.
"No, because there isn't!" She said.
"Believe what you want, because when you get there you'll be disqualified if you don't find a partner…" Eevee said, looking away. She then looked at him.
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Alright, alright, you can stay, but don't tell anyone where this place is, understand?" She warned.
"OK, OK! I'll try... Oh, and by the way, the name's Kervanos, but you can call me Kero. I hate my real name, so I use that one."
"OK, whatever, Kero. By the way, if you even want to get in the tournament, you have to be at least level 40, so let's get training."
"Alright..."
"What's your current level?"
"About 20-something."
"You got a lot of work to do in that case. Before you fight with me you have to prove yourself. You can stay in this territory but you must hunt your own prey, keep yourself safe, and find your own shelter.
Do this for three days and I'll fight with you. Every time you knock a Pokemon out you grow another level. So fight as much as you can."
She instructed in a military way. Training the young battler might be more fun than she thought.
"OK, three days... first I have to find shelter." Kero said to himself. "That's not so hard..." He went out, collecting pieces of rope. He took some fallen branches and leaned them against the tree, tying them with the rope. "I guess it'll do. Now I need to find something to eat..."
Kero walked down, and saw a dead Pidgey. "Perfect..." He said to himself. He ate away at the Pidgey, quite famished.
After his food, he walked down a bit. He was looking for something to fight him. Kero looked down in the pond, and saw something swimming by. He put his paw in and touched the Something, and in return got water shot at his face. "Hey! No fair! You did a sneak attack on me!" Kero shouted while rubbing his face.
The Something emerged from the water. "Goldeen." It said.
"Oh, it's just a Goldeen. Either way," He exclaimed, sounding as if he had a great responsibility, "I've still gotta grow a level, or else I won't get to fight Yuna!" Kero jumped in the pond. There was a great thrashing about, and then, as if so suddenly you couldn't see it, Kero gripped the Goldeen by the gills, and threw it against a tree. The Goldeen used a water gun and shot him into the water. He quickly leaped up and used bounce, hitting Goldeen hard on the head and knocking it out. "Yes!" Cheered the exasperated Kero. He won!
Chapter 2
4 days had passed, and Kero was now level 36. Kero was quite pleased with himself. The sun was setting, and instead of being wise and heading home to sleep, Kero wanted more fights. He took a drink of water and set out to look for more. He was very pleased with himself, and went to the tree-shed, which Yuna lived in. She stirred, about to go on her nocturnal training, and saw Kero before her. "What do you want?" asked the irritated Yuna, glaring at Kero with her night-eyes.
"Well..." he explained, stuttering as he did so, "I want to train more."
"You idiot, it's way too dark for YOU to train. Leave it to the Umbreons to train at night, OK?" She said, getting up slowly. "So go to your shelter thing and go to sleep. And anyway, it may be too dangerous for you. You shouldn't go unless you want to risk killing yourself."
"Alright, Yuna... Whatever you say..." sighed Kero. But, of course, Kero wasn't actually going to sleep. He was going to train.
It was bleak and dark as rain fell on the ground worse than it had in a long time. Drops of water fell like millions of tiny grenades, bombarding anyone unfortunate enough to be outside in the dark, loomy forest. Heavy raindrops crashed against the insignificant bushes and tall trees, covering the trunk of the tall, towering trees in a slick, shiny skin. The clouds lay fat in the sky like huge alien craft shadowing the forest and its inhabitants from any sunlight and launching a huge attack on Earth. It was chaos, there were many Pokemon filling the grassy floor, everyone trying to get out of the heavy downfall from the heavens.
Kero was trying to avoid the hasty rush and the grenade-like rain, but it was terribly hard work. Kero gave up training and jumped on a tree branch. Droplets from the leaves above fell and crashed onto his furry body, splashing in all directions. He sighed, looking down onto the traffic of Pokemon below, trying to be first to get out of the unforgivable rain which pelted them, soaking them.
"Now what...? I'll never get to train, and the stupid rain is still crashing down on me, no matter what tree I hide under. I was better off hiding in my other shelter, the one I made... Yuna was right, I shouldn't've gone out..." He sighed once more, but much, much deeper and sorrowed as he did so.
Meanwhile, Yuna was struggling, straining herself in the harsh rain to get to Kero's shelter to check if he had listened and stayed inside. There was no 'traffic' where she was that would set her back from trying to find him. The rain did that for the thousands of millions of Pokemon. Yuna hastily ran to a nicely sheltered tree, with its leaves and branches covering every inch of the towering trunk. Yuna sat under it, and looked around for Kero's shelter. It was nearby, but it was still very much so difficult to see through the rain and the overwhelming darkness. She strained her eyes to see through it all. Of course, as you all may know, Umbreons have 'night-eyes' to help them see through the darkness, which was indeed handy for Yuna. She saw a smallish shelter-looking home in the distance. Yuna ran towards it, hoping Kero was in it. She'd finally reached it! But to her disappointment, he had disappeared without a trace. Yuna was furious. Why didn't Kero listen? He might as well have been killed, gone forever without anyone noticing. She didn't give up, though. She walked deeper into the forest as the rain got heavier and the trees became more common and narrowing to her.
It was getting late, and still Yuna was trying to find him. She heard the cries of 'Help! Help!' and 'Someone save me from this deathtrap!'. She figured it was that pathetic Kero. She walked towards to where the distress calls were coming from. She looked up. Nothing. She walked down a bit more, yet again hearing the cries of what could be Kero. But it wasn't. It was a Growlithe, trying to protect itself from the disastrous rain. Growlithe was a fire-type, and they were weak against water, of course. This one was no exception. It looked at her, its eyes full of sorrow and despair. Yuna looked left, as if to tell him there was a shelter in the direction she was facing. Growlithe ran for its sanctuary.
Somewhere far off from where Yuna was looking, Kero saw the rings of something glowing, like a signal. It was indeed faint, but he didn't care. It was the only signal he'd get that would possibly have led him to Yuna. Kero jumped off the useless tree and ran for life towards them. He ran and ran, crashing into other Pokemon. A Pokemon grabbed Kero's shoulder. He turned around, scared. "Machoke!" It said, tightening its grip on Kero. "G-get off me... get off! Go! Go away! Plea-"
But before he could finish, he got a punch, straight in the face. He covered his face and stayed on the ground, blubbering.
Yuna heard something in the distance. A Machoke was babbling to its friends about how it bashed up an Eevee. "It didn't stand a chance!", he said. Eevee? Kero! Kero was the pokemon! Without hesitating, she ran like a thunderbolt to her destination. "Stupid kid." She sighed, and prodded him on the chest three times.
"Yuna…?"
"Yeah, pipsqueak. It's me. Get up."
The rain was getting heavier than ever, and they knew it was a good time to get out of there and into their home.
After a while, they arrived in Kero's home. Yuna was giving Kero a big lecture about-
"Didn't I tell you to STAY in your shelter? Why did you disobey me and run off like an idiot doing who knows what out there? A Machoke even pummeled you." She exclaimed, infuriated.
"I'm really sorry - I... I didn't know it'd be this dangerous..."
"Whatever. I'm not having it. But, since you are stupid, I'll give you one chance. Just don't blow it, kid."
"Hey! I'm not stupid!"
"Like I said, don't blow your luck, kid."
Kero mumbled to himself as Yuna walked away to her own shelter.
~*~Chapter 3~*~
2 more days had passed quickly after the 'rainy' incident. Kero had learned his lesson, and rarely ever disobeyed Yuna. He didn't disobey her at all, actually. There was only one day left, and Kero had finally reached his goal to become level 40. This time, there was warm air surrounding the forest. There were cool breezes at times as if someone was breathing out slowly onto the forest, which was laid out onto someone's hands. A summery atmosphere filled the whole forest with warmth and sunshine. It was a perfect day with no flaws. No darkness. No Pokemon. No rain.
Kero ran to Yuna, filled with joy. "Yuna! Yuna! I've finally reached level 40! Can I please train with you, Yuna? Please, Yuna?" he said, budging her, trying to wake her up.
"Alright... OK... Hold on... I'm... tireddd... leave me alone... oh? What? ... Reached level 40, have we? ... Alright, whatever... ... ... I'll, uh... yeah..." She said, yawning heavily, trying to make sense into her words as she did so. She got up and yawned, showing her sharp, flawless teeth. "Alright," she said between yawns, "I'll train you. Just don't mess up, okay? We have only 1 day left. We'll need to savour these last 24 hours. Capeesh?" She led him out of the shelter, and into a perfectly circulated area, when veiwed from above looked like a tree stump. It had another tree stump on the northernmost and southernmost spots in the circle.
After the battle, a mysterious glow surrounded Kero. It shone white, slowly turning into a red glow. It got brighter and brighter, like a sun glaring onto a crystal. When the light disappeared and things returned to normal, a foxlike creature with pink fur and a ruby red jewel on its forehead stood before Yuna.
''An espeon, eh?" Yuna said, inspecting Kero's new body.
"Espeon? Huh? But there's nobody here!" Kero said, looking around.
"Dimwit! Take a look at yourself!"
"Oh my God!" Kero gasped.
"What?"
"Humans say that when they're surprised."
"Take this." Yuna gave Kero 'Twisted spoon', which was an item to power up psychic moves.
"What's that?" He asked, totally confused.
"It will make you more powerful. You'll need it to defeat the big ol' baddies in the tournament."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Kid, you better not underestimate this Tournament. Let down your guard for one moment and that'll be the end of you."
After a short but a seemingly infinite pause, Kero nodded in an understanding way.
"Now, we have to train to work together. Let's just get this over with so I don't have to put up with this."
It was finally the next day of the tournament. Kero was shivering like mad. Yuna was also nervous, but she didn't show it. She never did. Kero and Yuna walked into the entrance hut hastily.
Suddenly, an arcanine walked up happily.
"Hey! Hey! Remember me! Umbreon lady hello!"
"What the...? Who are you?" Asked the confused Yuna.
"Don't you remember that Growlithe you saved from the rain?" He sighed.
"Oh, yeah. Evolved, have we?" She said, as if she was taunting someone.
"Yeah... I have. By the way, my name's Pyro."
"My name's Yuna. And don't call me Umbreon Lady."
"Oh yeah, what the hell kind of name is Pyro, anyway?"
"It's from Pyromaniac. That's my real name."
"It still sounds wierd. Anyway, you're not a pyromaniac, you idiot."
A voice came over the speakers and interrupted the three friends whom immediately looked up as the sound boomed through the calm air and into their ears.
"ATTENTION! All competetors report to the stadium entrance hall for a brief explanation of your battling options and conditions. You may also report to the ticket booth for seat tickets." Screamed a voice, which was quite scratchy because of the speaker's conditions for the past years. The speakers were sitting on the floor, scratched and battered. There were 4 of them surrounding a pipe in the far front of the stadium entrance.
A flood of pokemon ran through into the entrance hut. The three friends were one of the first to be inside.
"Name," said a hoarse, cracked voice from a pokemon sitting on a desk.
Yuna puffed out her chest and walked forward to the pokemon. "Cut that out, and tell me your name."
Yuna sighed. "Yuna."
"Who will be your team mates for this years competition? You must have a minimum of 3 players to enter."
"Um..." Yuna looked at Pyro and Kero. "Yeah, I have 2 others who want to play. Pyro and Kero, those two behind me."
"Alright. You may enter for your battling options and conditions." She led them to a door, and opened it. The three eager battlers walked through, and into a humongous room. It was very old. It looked as if nobody had ever used it in centuries. The dull, white paint on the walls was scratched and parts of it had fallen out and flaked onto a floor. The floor was only a dark gray ripped up carpet on a concrete floor. The ceiling was in a no better condition as the wall paints. A few things had been thrown up there, and they didn't look like they were coming back down. The tables were actually bench tables, and two teams had to sit on one bench, and those two teams were facing each other in one round. The paint on the tables was scratched off, too, and the red that had been painted over the white was peeling off. A few players were sitting on tables. Three were already set to face each other, but one team didn't have one… yet. Yuna and her friends sat on the table, and just like their team, there were only three players.
Their enimies were a Donphan, an Electabuzz, and an Ivysaur. They knew these pokemon would be tough to beat. Donphan was a ground pokemon. It could send pokemon flying if it rammed them hard enough. It had long, strong tusks on either side of its face, and 4 short but strong legs. Electabuzz was an electric type. Its name could show that. It had stripes all over its body. It had menacing eyes and a V-shaped stripe above them, which always made him look as if he was angry. This pokemon was known to live around power plants and cause major blackouts in cities. Ivysaur was a grass type. It looked like a big dinosaur with a rose on its back, and it had strong vine whips to throw a pokemon around.
Finally, all the pokemon who had qualified for the match were inside the room. There were many strong Pokemon. A houndoom shouted "Attention!" to all of the pokemon and the room became silent.
A houndoom and a noctowl ran the Tournament. The Noctowl appeared at a desk at the back of the room. Everyone looked towards it.
"There are 3 rounds, element wise," He spoke. "Water, Fire and Grass. In each round you'll be in an environment of the corresponding type. Whichever team passes will progress into the Tag Team round. In the Tag Team round you must pair up with someone, which you will battle with for the rest of the matches. You may find a partner for a maximum of one hour to do so. In the finals, there is no limit to the rules. In this part of the Tournament, you will fight with your partner in Tag Team round. The remaining two pokemon who remain in the tournament win! You will get a trophy and a year's supply of food. You will then have a statue of you and your partner in the hall of fame. After each event, you will have a one and half hours break. You may now choose who will be in what element of the three existing choices. You have 5 minutes for this decision. My assistant will check in 5 minutes for your final agreement. I bid you farewell, and good luck." With that, the Noctowl and the Houndoom left the room.
"Well, I'll take the grass stage!" Pyro said proudly.
"But you have an advantage over grass! You'll burn down the field!" Yuna said.
"Duh! That's why I'm going in that round!"
"Fine, I'll take water."
"And I'll take fire." Kero eagerly announced.
The other team overheard the others muttering amongst each other, and the donphan said aloud, as if to tell the whole world his announcement, "If he's taking the grass round I'm in!"
Electabuzz didn't agree. "You idiot! You're weak against grass. You'll faint before the round even starts!"
"I'm no idiot! What round am I supposed to go in, the water one?"
"You nitwit. You're all brawn and no brain whatsoever. That's why I joined you two, so you actually had at least one brain in here."
"You want some of this?" The infuriated donphan bared his strong, sharp tusks at Electabuzz.
"Hey, slow down there! Donphan, maybe it was a little silly saying you'd go in the grass round, but you are, of course, only -"
"No, the nitwit's only a dumb pokemon who doesn't know head from tails. Not a human."
"-Human… Oh, shutup, Electabuzz. If you WERE smart, you'd know you wouldn't pick a fight with a perfectly strong Donphan."
"Whatever, Ivysaur. And if YOU were smart, you'd know you wouldn't pick a fight with a perfectly strong Electabuzz." He boasted.
"Can you please stop being so ignorant? You know, we ARE a team, so it's best to work together."
"Riiight. Yeah, and you're…-" Electabuzz decided to shut up.
"Look, I'll fight the Arcanine, alright?"
Donphan gasped to hear such a thing. "But… you'll be toasted! Burned to a cinder! Ivy to ash! Fried! Gold and crisp-"
"CAN YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!?! I KNOW I'm weak against it, but I don't need YOUR approval of the outcome! I should fight against my weaknesses, not run away from them."
"But... what if you end up running away instead of chopping away at that Arcanine?"
"Hey, it's not always the strongest who wins."
"Riiiight..."
"Okay, let's get this overwith. I'll be in the water round. That leaves Donphan to go in the fire round."
"Right!"
Everyone's five minutes were up. A Mew came out of the door, wearing an apron. She had beautiful pink fur, blue eyes and a long tail. Mews were known to be a legendary pokemon, which were also useful for more than just battling. The Mew spoke.
"Hello there, I'm Nurse Mew. I'll be here to heal you after each part of the tournament. But right now, I have been informed to tell you that your five minutes are up. The first two teams, may you come inside for your battle?"
A strong pokemon team marched through the door and into the field. One of the teams was fire only, and the other team was electric only. This would be a good battle.
After a long, persistent battle ensued in the stadium, the electric-type team finally won.
"May the next two teams please report to the field right now?" Said Nurse Mew, emerging from the door.
Yuna and Ivysaur's team walked inside.
"I hope you got some ointment, Ivycrud." Taunted Arcanine.
"Quiet!"
"Hey, Kero, try not to be an idiot in the tournament." Yuna teased.
"Oh, come on, Yuna. With all my training, Jackie Chan's got nothin' on me!"
"Right, Hercules," She joked.
Chapter 4
"Oooookay! Here we go! Here are our next contestants! On this corner is the the Ivysmashers!"
"I wonder why it was named after your stupid idea of a team name," Pouted Electabuzz.
"Oh, shutup!"
"And on this side is The Wraith team! Let's hear it for both of these two awesome challengers!"
A huge round of applause and cheers for the two teams roared into the Pokemon-packed stadium. The whole place was huge and intimidating. Unlike the waiting room this place was painted like a Queen's palace compared to the small, grungy building. A tramp's home would've suited it for now. There was People watching on either side, and also in the front and the back. It was hard enough trying to pick your nose, let alone trying to concentrate. The ground was made of a polished marble of some sort, but the field was randomly made different. The teams were sitting on benches on the left, and on the right. The field was only made out of a hard, almost unbreakable rocky floor, and in the middle stretching from the top to the bottom of it, was a giant square hole filled to the brim with lava. Rocky platforms were randomly placed on this boiling, magma-filled deathtrap. The steam that was slowly seeping through the lava and into the air was almost unbreathable.
The announcer interrupted the silence like someone throwing a brick through a quiet, calm house's window, causing an ensuing amout of panic from the people living inside their home.
"Players, please walk into the fields and keep your positions!"
Donphan and Kero walked into the steaming hot battle arena.
Silence.
"Three... Two... One... Go!" Signaled the announcer.
As if all at once, donphan sped at Kero, forming himself in a large ball while he was doing so. "Little kiddo, you won't last a second. So I'll be easy on ya, okay kiddo?" Kero ignored him. "Yeah?" He grinned. "YEAH?" Donphan smiled. "Yeah." Suddenly he jolted at him. Kero jumped over him and he crashed into the walls.
"Hah! Strike one!" Taunted Kero. "So, I won't last a second? You'll be easy on me? Eh? I'll see to that!" He was having loads of fun.
"SHUT UP!"
Donphan continued to charge at Kero, and he dodged every one. Kero then used agility and circled donphan, trapping him. Each copy said in a tauting vioce, 'Ooh, which one could I be? Maybe I'm this one? Oh! Behind you! That's it...'
Kero finally lunged at donphan, knocking him into the pit of lava. Suddenly bubbles formed, and a great whirlpool formed in the lava as donphan leapt straight out of it. The burning magma was spraying in every direction. He looked infuriated. "I'M GONNA GET YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I'LL DO!"
He then continued to roll-charge like an idiot.
"You fool! Use something else! We're gonna lose, idiot!" Shouted Electabuzz desperately.
Donphan ignored him. He was blind with rage.
Kero had a plan. As soon as donphan was a foot away, he used confusion and lifted donphan high in the air. He then threw Donphan around in a circle, stopped and threw him hellwards, sending him down and knocking him out cold. There were huge cheers and claps from the audience.
Kero won! But it was hardly difficult for the successful Espeon as the foolish Donphan hadn't taken him seriously enough.
He walked down to his seat. "Not bad for an idiot, eh?" He taunted Yuna.
"Not bad at all, kiddo." Yuna said, smiling lightly, though it faded away as soon as it came.
Pyro was leaping up in the air and celebrating. "Yee-hah! WOOOOhoo! We beat 'em, alrighty we did! YES!"
Kero leapt across the rocks and left with the others just as Donphan came to.
"You IDIOT!" Electabuzz bellowed. "You could've taken out that weakling Espeon with one attack if you just focused on your target properly! If you weren't a ground type Pokemon I would have given you a lesson in pain." "Allow me," Ivysaur said, as a vine spread from Ivysaur's back and slapped donphan across the room
"HEY! I just battled, take it easy on my Ivycrap!"
"You deserved that, Donprat." Smirked Ivysaur.
The announcer spoke yet again. "OK! It's one to nothing! Now, let's start with the water stadium!"
The volcano-like environment went down into the ground, and in its place rose a beautiful sea-like stadium. There were rocks around the edges and ice platforms going from top to bottom. This would be a great match.
"Players, take your positions! ... Three... Two... One... And GO!"
Electabuzz jumped on an ice platform and jumped from one to another. On the other side, Yuna was doing the same. Finally, they came face to face on the middle platform and they wrestled each other. Yuna's paws got grabbed.
"Gotcha!"
"Oh, yeah? You think so, Expectabuzz?" She almost suddenly flipped electabuzz over her head, making him crash into the water with full force. Electabuzz jumped out and used thundershock. Yuna used reflect as it rebounded off the ice platforms and shocking Electabuzz back.
"Hey! No fair! You used my own attack against me!"
"Hey, an Umbreon's gotta do what an Umbreon's gotta do," she teased. "And I can do a lot more..."
She dragged him down underwater, repeatedly punching him, making it impossible to attack. She spun around him, using agility and creating a whirlpool. "I don't remember electabuzz breathing underwater."
Electabuzz drowned as he gasped for air.
The stadium stood silent.
Suddenly, something BURST out of the water, covering Yuna in a wet blanket. Acting quickly before the opportunity ceased, Electabuzz used thundershock - but Yuna leapt right out of the water at that moment. Phew! Wasting no time, she charged up a hyper beam. But just as she fired it, Electabuzz used light screen and neutrallized it. "Damn you electric types!" She was beginning to use up her energy, and so was electabuzz. With a barrage of shadow punches she had knocked Electabuzz out cold and exaughted herself. In a huff, she dropped to the ground."It's... A draw?" A very faint, raspy, scratched voice whispered over the speakers.
"Yuna!" Kero raced to her aid. "Yuna? Are you alright?"
"Don't have a fit kid, I just need to... Rest."
"Ok Yuna, whatever you say..." Kero said with a smile...
As Yuna fainted.
Kero winced, but knew she wasn't fatally hurt. "Don't worry, pal, I'll help you!"
"Awwww-..." began the crowd. Then, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kero sighed and walked away, Pyro bounded up and carried the two away on his back.
Ivysaur had been thinking. What if he was to take over the tournament? He had the brains, he had the power. He would have all those powerful fighters working for him...Yes. He would do it. He would strike when the wriath team was resting. With Yuna out of the way, he would be unstoppable. And nobody would get in his way...
Chapter 5
Meanwhile, Yuna was carried to the Pokemon Center on Pyro's back.
"Aren't you a heavy-" began Pyro-
"Oh, shutup. Yuna's hurt. We gotta take her to the Pokemon Center!" He sighed and walked on.
"Ah! There it is! Look!" Kero turned to look Pyro's direction. A huge, white building with a 'P' on it and some Pokemon were on the very top of it. They walked in.
"Hello, I'm Nurse Mew. How can I help you?"
"Our friend's really poorly... can you help her out?"
"That's what I do! She'll be better in no time." Nurse Mew took her inside a room for healing. "You stay there for a while to heal, alright? I'll be back soon." She walked out of the room.
"C'mon, you numbskull! No, no, no! Don't do that! CAN YOU SHUTUP ALREADY?! QUIT FIGHTING AND GET OVER HERE!" Ivysaur had been shouting nonsense like this to Electabuzz and Donphan. "OK, then! If you won't shut up I'll do it FOR you!" He let out his vine whips and slapped them across the face.
"Hey!" Electabuzz sent a jolt of electricity to him, but Ivysaur knocked it away from him with his trusty whips.
"OK, anyway, we's gonna sneak inside that there window and grab Yuna! But the window's too high, so Electabuzz will be sent in by my vine whips. If he can't open up those... things that heal Pokemon, we'll send in Donphan. Got it?"
"Goddit, boss."
Ivysaur carefully picked up Electabuzz and lengthened his vine whips to match the height of the window. "Get in, quickly!" Electabuzz slid it open and jumped in quickly. He carefully sneaked across the floor, hiding behind anything that was near him so he wouldn't get caught too easily. He bashed and bashed the healing thing that held Yuna, but he wasn't strong enough. He rammed into it. Nope. He thundershocked it. Wouldn't work. Electabuzz gasped for air, tired out. He walked back to the window.
"You can send in Donphan now... Ugh..." Ivysaur picked him up and reached to the window.
"Get in now! Hurry up!" As you all know, Donphans are weak against grass. Because he didn't like his vine whips one bit, he wiggled about through the whole ordeal of getting to the window.
"I... I can't. Go HIGHER!" Ivysaur did as he asked and pushed his vine whips up, and he was still wiggling.
"Now, go in!"
"I... can't... these vine whips won't let me move!"
"Oh, for GOD'S SAKE!!! You're the weakest Donphan in the world as far as I'm concerened!" He finally threw him inside, smashing the window.
Meanwhile, Nurse Mew was walking back to the Center. Suddenly - "Huh? What was that? It sounded like a broken window...!" Nurse Mew said to herself. "Must've been me... Ah well, no matter."
"Well, that was a peice of cake, wasn't it Donphan?" Taunted Electabuzz sarcastically. "Now, get to work, my fat-headed friend, and quickly! Someone might have heard that."
"Oh, shutup!" Donphan curled up in a ball, spinning around in a blur. "GO!" Donphan immediatley went, smashing right into that healing.. thing. Yuna flopped down, onto the floor.
"Have you got her yet?! Called out Ivysaur from the bottom of the building. That smash was WAY too loud! Nurse Mew's probably rushing back now!"
Nurse Mew heard a smash. She broke into a run.
"Yes, yes, we have her! Don't have your knickers in a twist!"
Ivysaur grumbled. The two pokemon walked down the vines like a ladder.
All the commotion had awoken Yuna. "YOU ASSHOLES!" Even speaking hurt. She tried to get free from the grasp but it only wore her out more.
"Calm down, l'il laday." Taunted Donphan. "You're too weak to even blink, so there's nothin you can do!"
"What are you going to do to me, pigs?"
"Oh, not much... we're just going to kill you. Y'know, we're gonna throw you in the river."
Tears fell down Yuna's cheeks. What if she never made it back alive? What if they got rid of her before her friends get rid of them..?
Nurse Mew saw the wreckage of glass piled on the floor. "Oh, dear! Someone's kidnapped Yuna..." She ran down the hallway where the two Pokemon waited.
"Hey, Nurse Mew! So, is Yuna back up to speed yet?" said a gleeful Pyro.
"No! In fact, someone kidnapped her while I was gone! You have to help me find her!"
"Oh, great.. Just what we need..." Kero groaned. He hated trying to find something. It was so tedious. But this time he had to find her. Somehow.
A long time of searching and calling out to poor Yuna ensued. "This is terrible... Oh dear-" She tripped over a rock and landed on her face. Muffled laughter followed. "Hmmpf... Hahmmph... hah, hah HAH...!"
Meanwhile, the gang heard the calls of them. Their enemies were not to far behind, and Ivysaur started to panic.
"Hurry up, you idiots! We've gotta move on and get to the river or they'll catch us!" Electabuzz and Donphan groaned, pacing ever more faster to Yuna's upcoming doom.
The others were indeed not to far behind, but suddenly they started going the wrong direction. They didn't know who was the culprit or even where they were going. "Hey... Nurse Mew, what's that on your foot...?" Kero took it from her. "Looks like a paper..." He unfolded it and read it. It said;
----
TO THE UNWARY POKEMON THAT READS THIS MESSAGE:
Hah! We've stolen that stupid Yuna and you can't do anything about it! We're going to the river, and we're going to kill her by throwing her in the river! You'd better hurry up, fools! She's weak, and she's going to be bashed to a pulp once she reaches the rocks. Heh! I bet you're trying to FIND her. Nice idea guys, but you don't know where we're going! Oh... wait, you do. But when you get there you'll be too late!
Later losers.
Signed,
Us
----
"Oh, great. They go to the river to kill Yuna AND make fun of us..." Kero sighed, and suddenly thought of something. The river wasn't too far from were they were, and they could still catch up to them if the kidnappers hadn't gotten to the river yet or even thrown her in it. Kero KNEW they would get her back, but he also knew anything could happen.
"Hey guys, we gotta go further up to get the kidnappers. Remember, they're going to the river so upwards is the best bet we'll have of getting there before they do. Let's go!"
Nurse Mew, Pyro and Kero ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the river.
They heard faint cries of a pokemon.
"YUNA!!!" Kero ran, and ran...
But only found a dying spearow as it coughed up blood.
"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Pyro joked.
"Oh, dear. We should heal this pokemon at once," Mew said sadly.
"We have OTHER things to worry about, Nurse Mew." Sighed Kero, looking at the injured Pokemon.
"We can't just leave him here..."
"Oh, alright. Just make it quick."
The kind Nurse Mew healed him. Kero looked at the now healthy Spearow.
"Spearow, have you seen some pokemon with a hurt Umbreon over here?" He looked at the Spearow, hopefully.
The spearow spoke with a squawk-ish ring to it.
"Yas," He said, "I hawv. 'Dey went daddawahy!" Spearow spread a wing and with it, pointed to the misty distance in front of them.
"Can you tell us what they looked like?"
"Yas." Spearow coughed. "There was an Ivysaur. An Electabuzz. And a Donphan. 'Dey beet me up and tol' me not to tell you!" Spearow sighed. "I go now." He flew past the tree-tops, waving to the three pokemon.
"Thanks!" They all called out.
"Well, then... those stupid theives thought they could stop us by taking Yuna! Let's give 'em a peice of our minds!"
They ran off into the mist.
"Ah! We're here!" Donphan heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he dropped Yuna off his back.
"Well? Throw it in!" Ivysaur demanded.
"No way, tired... walking up hills with an almost dead Umbreon on your back that's struggling to get off is no easy task!"
Ivysaur was angry. They had no time to waste. He hoped the Spearow hadn't told the Umbreon's friends.
"A-HA! We've got you!"
"WHAT?" Ivysaur turned around seeing the angered Pokemon looking, well, extremely pissed off.
"Thought you could get out, eh? Thought you could escape us? Well, we're gonna KICK YOUR ASSES TO HELL!"
While all this was happening, Donphan had already pushed Yuna into the death hole that was her fate.
"Hey! No fair! Pyro, you can hold those losers off. It's time to go!" Kero quickly ordered and raced off.
He could barely see Yuna as she was swept away. She was conscious, but too
weak to swim to saftey. She was caught in a rapid current and could barely fight back.
She was just about to have her fate sealed as a huge bundle of rocks were place before the river, and even worse - a waterfall. If Kero didn't act fast, Yuna would be dead meat. With a final attempt, Kero leapt in.
He gasped for air as he swam to Yuna. "Gotcha!" He said, putting her on his back and safely manouvering the rocks. All that was left was the waterfall.. but Kero forgot about it. He was going to reach the edge, anyway. Nothing bad would happen... Or so he thought. Suddenly, Yuna slipped from his safe grasp. "YUNA!" Kero jumped into the water once more, trying to swim to Yuna in hopes of getting her safely onto the ground once more.
Yuna was almost over the edge. She quickly grabbed a rock, hanging by a mere thread. A few thin streams of blood escaped from her wounded paws and washed out onto the waterfall. She cried out in pain as she could no longer sustain the tension of trying to hang on.
"Yuna! Hold on!" Kero wailed and leaped in, clawing on the same rock, barely getting on it successfully.
He reached out with his paw.
"Yuna! grab my paw!" The weak Umbreon slowly tried to bring her hand up to meet his...
But instead washed out into the raging river.
Yuna was dangerously near the waterfall now, out of Kero's grasp as he tried to catch her by jumping on other rocks that happened to be there.
"NO! YUNA!" Kero reflexively jumped to his doom in an attempt to save her.
(Yuna's thoughts
I can't breath... I need air... Please, someone, help me...
I was gasping for every breath I could get - which was indeed limited as I was falling down the waterfall at great speeds, every time, every moment shouting, screaming for help, but I was in vain... I knew nobody could hear me, could help me... I couldn't take it any longer, and closed my eyes, waiting for the terrible pain, the slow, remorseless pain that awaited me... and heard a wind whipping through my ears, and the rush of water was starting to fade... I was somehow floating. Not floating, being carried. I opened my eyes...)
Chapter 6
The great rush of the waterfall was rapidly carrying Kero and Yuna to the great rocky depths below, and would surely die - but something came in a great flurry of speed. The dark figure put the exhausted pokemon down, and flew - or ran off. Yuna coughed, and inhaled the air heavily, savouring every breath. She got up, and blinked, trying to make sense of what just happened, attempting to put everything together. She remembered; when the three pokemon kidnapped her and threw her down the waterfall, and Kero jumped down too, and then something caught her, but what? She wondered if Kero was still alive. She ran along the grassy feild in search of her friend. "Kero? Kero? Where are you, Kero? Keroooo!" She shouted for a long time...
(Kero's thoughts
Ugh... Where am I? What am I? Oh no...
I got up, and looked around. The last thing I remembered was when something hit me and I crashed into someplace. I was in a thick forest... Where was this place? I was lying on a thick pile of leaves that seemed to spread into the depths of the gloomy forest. I tried to find a way of getting out of here, and get back to my friends. I was alone, and I was scared. I didn't know what would be my fate; I didn't want to know. I was way too young for this! Why was this happening to me?
I quietly sobbed to myself as the darkness crept over me and covered me in a blanket. It was almost night time. I finally knew what had to be done, and looked for my friends...)
Yuna saw a thick forest to the left of her, but hesitated to go in - she knew that any pokemon could easily kill her, but what if Kero was in there? She'd been searching the whole place around her, and of course this was the only place left. She went in anyway, not knowing what she would expect...
Think branches and leaves covered the ground. This forest was like a jungle, darkness lurking at every turn, the cold night air freezing to the bone as Yuna tread on through the black of night. Every treetop covered the light, making it seem eerily ghost-like. The trunks towered over her as if to claim power among the land.
A cold bead of sweat trickled down Yuna's face and stained her fur. She felt something brush against her leg making her turn around, fast. An eerie vioce came from nowhere. "What's the matter? Are you scared? You never know what might pop out of the darkness..."
"Coward. Show yourself!" Yuna tied her best to hide the fear that paralyzed her, but to no avail. Her eyes showed a genuine look of fear, glancing all over. Her heart was beating loud and fast in such way, she thought, that if someone were to come near they could clearly hear it.
"I am NOT afraid of you!" She lied not wanting to look weak.
Meanwhile, Kero was trying to find his own way out. Fortunately he was on the right trail, but he would soon go the wrong way... Suddenly, Kero heard a noise. "YUNA!" He practically ran at the speed of light, but the only thing that greeted him was a Hoot-Hoot. He sighed, slowly going back to his intended path again.
Yuna tried to defend herself from the voice that was remarking such unpleasurable things. She knew she had to hold her ground, though; the eerie voice would feed of her fears, as it slowly did so.
As the creature that was hiding in the forest came out, its dark, frighteningly huge shadow crept over her (which looked very peculiar... powerful, even), and when its figure finally came to be, the creature revealed itself. It was...
A small rattata with a tape recorder.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Yuna fell down on her head in an anime fashion. "Oh, great," she said, "I get to be freaked out by a stupid rattata with a tape recorder. Geez."
"No, not really, you stupid fool. Look behind you..."
"Huh?" Yuna looked up to see the real figure that emerged from behind the big shadow - she knew that shadow wasn't just a big shadow of a rattata.Before she could respond, the strong paws of the creature snatched her off the ground...
Kero let out a sigh. How could he ever find Yuna in this forest? The fog was getting thicker, and it wasn't helping. He however, continued to call her name. "Yuna! YUNA! Where are you?!" Came Kero's
desperate cries."HEEEEELP!!" Was the scream that answered his question. Kero's ears became alert as
he followed her screams.
It* watched Yuna as she squirmed within his grasp."You are pathetic." He spoke into her mind.
Yuna couldn't stand anymore of his taunting and kicked him in the face, forcing him to release her.
At this time, Kero arrived on the scene. Kero immedeately leapt over to Yuna with a smile on his
face. "YUNA! You're alive!" Yuna pushed him off. "Got bigger problems!" Yuna responded just in time
to use barrier to stop the beam plummeting toward them.
((--I am not revealing the secret identity until later, though you can take a good guess.--))
Nurse Mew's aquamarine eyes flew open. She rose from the bed and stared out the window, watching
explosions to the north as they lit up the pitch black sky. "He's back..." She said in a worried
tone as her eyes narrowed into the distance of eerie blackness disturbed only by the quiet but extraordinarily violent light
of the explosions that showed his presence.
Yuna's barrier was beginning to weaken, but she held it back with all her might. She whispered instructions to Kero."Run Away Kero! I'll stay and fight him!" Before Yuna could finish Kero immedeately refused.
"I ODRDER YOU to run away Kero! If we both die, Pyro will have no one to battle with in the Tag Team round! WE WILL LOSE THE TOURNAMENT IF YOU DON'T RUN AWAY!"
"I don't care about the tournament anymore Yuna! I Just want to help you! You made me whatI am and I'm not going to abandon you, especially not now!" with that, Kero charged rapidly at mewtwo, pinning him to the ground for a second before he threw Kero against a tree.
At that point it became a battle of psycic powers. Each were straining thier minds, but little did the mysterious creature know that Yuna was behind him. She lept on him just as he turned around, at that moment she pinned him to the ground. She sent a beam at him, but he reflected it, knocking her against the same tree and Kero, leaving them in a heap, unconious and bleeding.
Kero's lavender eyes stared into the creature's motionless ones. "W-wh-what do you want? Why are you doing this? And... who are you?" Mewtwo hesitated to answer, but did so anyway. "I am going to capture Nurse Mew and clone her for profit. I am not telling you my identity because it will not matter to you once I kill you!" He raised his paw to unleash an attack. Before it could, Kero mustered just enough energy to blind it with a light beam. Kero pushed Yuna up on her feet. Get up!" Yuna got up and together they ran out of the forest the way Yuna had came in. Eventually the Pokemon had recovered and was going to get back at them. "AHA!" He teleported to where they currently were.
After a few long minutes, they finally had come out of the forest. They ran to the waterfall from whence they came.
And, as you all know, that pokemon got there and attacked them...
"Uh oh..." They said.
The powerful pokemon ran into them in great speeds, and - THWACK!!!! They were instantly shoved into the humoungous cliff. Yuna, dizzy, looked up. Thankfully, she was at the bottom where it wasn't as spiky and death inflicting. Kero, on the other hand...
"Oh my god... KERO!"
Kero was somewhere at the top of the cliff, blood coming out of him, unconcious... Yuna's eyes widened. She was immediately reminded of her father's death...
The pain rushing through Yuna's body was great, but she refused to die for one reason. It was the burning flare of hatred she had for the hunter that murdered her father. Yes, that passionate flare that burned deep within her soul and made her blood boil in hatred. The desire to avenge her father was too great to meausure, and that kept up her strength. This time, This time, Kero was the one in danger, and Yuna had to save him.
The will to live and to make that hunter regret made her seem to glow red. She let out a scream. She wanted so bad to make that wreched hunter pay for his deed...This time Mewtwo was hunting Kero.
She stood up, letting out a mighty yell as her body glowed a golden color, rings shining. Kero stirred but was not fully awoken - he was too hurt to do that. Yuna underwent an amazing transformation.
She grew a few inches, her muscles increasing in size and her claws extending fully.
Her eyes flew open as the glow slowly faded, and Kero woke up; the transformation had probably rejuvinated him!
"Wow..." Kero said, astonished, staring at her as she jumped up and got him off the cliff. "I'm so happy you're still alive!" He cried a little as he had thought he would have been gone for sure.
Yuna couldn't resist and smiled warmly at the young espeon nearly crying tears of joy. "Hey," Yuna said pushing him off her with her paws. "Cut the dramatics, we got a psycho to stop."
Kero smiled and nodded, following her as she put him down and walked, determined to get rid of the evil creature. Her sleek, beautiful fur cascaded off the waterfall, a rainbow reflecting off her now golden rings.
Kero didn't fully understand Yuna's transformation, but he knew it would aid them on thier journey. Yuna was something he couldn't describe. She wasn't a mother figure, or a caretaker, a sparring partner or a trainer to him, but some mix between the 4.
"Oh, yuna... you go get 'em!" Kero said, a sign of significance in his face. Yuna looked at him akwardly, snapped out of it then slightly smiled, sort of like she didn't want to show her feelings. "Well... thanks, kid."
Yuna decided to get down to buisness once and for all. She ran into the Pokemon with all the speed and agility it could create.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" But before the mysterious creature could finish, it went BANG, SLAM into the forest, far, far, away.
"Now!" Yuna said. "Let's get outta here!" They ran to the waterfall they had come down. "Easy." Yuna said, and...
Reverted back to her old self! She had used up all her power for that one single blow on the Pokemon (it was a very powerful one).
"Oh great, now how are we gonna get up there? Especially when I have no more power left..." Yuna sighed sadly.
"Huh..?" Kero looked behind him as a sillouhette behind the rushing river in front of them came to life.
"Wha...?" Yuna looked up, eyes buldging at the massive creature that emerged from it...
"It's..." They chimed together...
"A..."
"GYRADOS!!!!"
The Pokemon was crashing up the waterfall, sending out roars and bellows, making the ground shake! The water splashed on top of the two unfortunate Pokemon.
"Hey... why don't we jump on?" Kero said, an idea coming into his brain.
"Are you MAD?! We're gonna be killed! We might as well jump into a ditch full of spikes and syther claws!" Yuna simply refused to go on the crazed creature.
"Naw! C'mon, it'll be fun!" Kero grabbed Yuna and jumped on.
"NO, WAIT!!!" But it was too late as Kero had already got her onto it, and there was no way she was getting off of the mad Pokemon.
So it crashed up the waterfall, with two very wet pokemon on its back.
But, finally, the Gyarados was up the waterfall. The two jumped off while they could as the gyrados swam off into the distance.
"Well, that was fun." Joked Yuna.
Chapter 7
As Yuna and Kero padded down to where the disaster was, they found a heap of three Pokemon whom were unconcious.
"Oh, it's them. Ivysaur and his goonies..." Yuna shoved them into the water. "Come on, Kero. We gotta get home."
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! WATER!!!! SHIT!!!" Donphan screamed, jumping out of the water. The other two crawled out.
"Gee, Donphan, it's not that bad..." Ivysaur and Electabuzz sneered.
"Look, they're getting away!" They all turned to see Yuna and Kero running off. "Talk to the ass!" Kero yelled back at them. Yuna raised an eyebrow. You'd think he'd learn his lesson by now.
A thin sheet of mist overlayed the land, smothering the light. The forest would have been silent, exept for the gentle, barely audible sounds of cat paws, padding through the grassy terrain. Farher away, though, soft lights illuminated a forestlike field. Upon this field were two Pokemon, an Arcanine and an Ivysaur. The booming voice coming from the speakers echoed far from yuna and kero. *Where are they?* Thought Pyro nervously.
Yuna raised her nose it the air, sniffing. Unfortunately, The stadium was downwind and impossible to sniff out from where she was standing. Nothing but pine scent could be smelt. "Damn it." She mumbled. Kero sniffed the ground, with no luck either. Suddenly he breathed in a terrible yet familiar scent. "Ugh. He was definately here." Yuna smirked down at Kero. "Well, let's follow it!"
A few years later, after her father was tragically murdered, Yuna was by herself, even without her beloved parents. Her loss of her father set an impact on her life - the sweet and loving Yuna her parents once knew was now an unstoppable battler, looking forward to every new challenge.
Although a ruthless warrior she was, she still had her kind side to look at, but she never showed it. She was alone, not even with her mother; she had mysteriously disappeared... her last words to Yuna were "I'll be back soon..." Yuna waited the whole night for her, just so she could be safely in her mother's arms once more. But she never did come back...
Yuna had given up on helping out people and being loyal. That was all in the past. Both her parents were gone forever, and she had to face the truth: she'd never find anyone who could be her friend, or even love her. She was alone.
It was a lovely summer afternoon, and it was a perfect day for training for the big tournament Yuna was meaning to go to. There was only a week left, and she decided to train extra hard. She went through her old path: Out of the tree she lives in, across the grassy path, down the nettle-infested hill, and through a very complicated maze of some sort. Only she knew the whereabouts to her training place.
She was once more training in her secret area, when all of a sudden a noise came up from nowhere. She looked up, and saw an Eevee running for dear life from a huge flock of spearows. What the heck? That Eevee's gonna go right through my training area if it doesn't turn around! Thought Yuna, furiously. And, sure enough, it ran right to her. Yuna blasted a tree, which came crashing down on the spearows. That was the last of them. The Eevee, petrified, ran to the aid of the ragged-looking Umbreon placed before her eyes. But of course, Yuna, in her own stubborn manner, would never help anyone anymore.
"What do you want?" Exclaimed a very angry Yuna.
"Um... um... um... I-I was j-j-j-just training... for the tournament next week... I was h-hoping I could win... but I got chased by spearows... and...." The Eevee trailed off.
"Whatever. You're making no sense. Just go away, I'm training for it too, so let me have some peace, OK?"
Yuna turned away, as if to tell the little Eevee to get lost. "Anyway. It's not like you're going to be guarded by me or anything. Not even if you got chased by a twenty-ton T-Rex or somethin'."
"But, but, but, the Spearows keep chasing me and I need someone to protect me and…" Eevee remembered something about the competition, which she used to make sure the mysterious Umbreon would protect him, and also be with him on the tag team. "Well, uh, did you know that you have to be in a tag team later on in the game?" said the Eevee.
Yuna glared at him.
"No, because there isn't!" She said.
"Believe what you want, because when you get there you'll be disqualified if you don't find a partner…" Eevee said, looking away. She then looked at him.
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Alright, alright, you can stay, but don't tell anyone where this place is, understand?" She warned.
"OK, OK! I'll try... Oh, and by the way, the name's Kervanos, but you can call me Kero. I hate my real name, so I use that one."
"OK, whatever, Kero. By the way, if you even want to get in the tournament, you have to be at least level 40, so let's get training."
"Alright..."
"What's your current level?"
"About 20-something."
"You got a lot of work to do in that case. Before you fight with me you have to prove yourself. You can stay in this territory but you must hunt your own prey, keep yourself safe, and find your own shelter.
Do this for three days and I'll fight with you. Every time you knock a Pokemon out you grow another level. So fight as much as you can."
She instructed in a military way. Training the young battler might be more fun than she thought.
"OK, three days... first I have to find shelter." Kero said to himself. "That's not so hard..." He went out, collecting pieces of rope. He took some fallen branches and leaned them against the tree, tying them with the rope. "I guess it'll do. Now I need to find something to eat..."
Kero walked down, and saw a dead Pidgey. "Perfect..." He said to himself. He ate away at the Pidgey, quite famished.
After his food, he walked down a bit. He was looking for something to fight him. Kero looked down in the pond, and saw something swimming by. He put his paw in and touched the Something, and in return got water shot at his face. "Hey! No fair! You did a sneak attack on me!" Kero shouted while rubbing his face.
The Something emerged from the water. "Goldeen." It said.
"Oh, it's just a Goldeen. Either way," He exclaimed, sounding as if he had a great responsibility, "I've still gotta grow a level, or else I won't get to fight Yuna!" Kero jumped in the pond. There was a great thrashing about, and then, as if so suddenly you couldn't see it, Kero gripped the Goldeen by the gills, and threw it against a tree. The Goldeen used a water gun and shot him into the water. He quickly leaped up and used bounce, hitting Goldeen hard on the head and knocking it out. "Yes!" Cheered the exasperated Kero. He won!
Chapter 2
4 days had passed, and Kero was now level 36. Kero was quite pleased with himself. The sun was setting, and instead of being wise and heading home to sleep, Kero wanted more fights. He took a drink of water and set out to look for more. He was very pleased with himself, and went to the tree-shed, which Yuna lived in. She stirred, about to go on her nocturnal training, and saw Kero before her. "What do you want?" asked the irritated Yuna, glaring at Kero with her night-eyes.
"Well..." he explained, stuttering as he did so, "I want to train more."
"You idiot, it's way too dark for YOU to train. Leave it to the Umbreons to train at night, OK?" She said, getting up slowly. "So go to your shelter thing and go to sleep. And anyway, it may be too dangerous for you. You shouldn't go unless you want to risk killing yourself."
"Alright, Yuna... Whatever you say..." sighed Kero. But, of course, Kero wasn't actually going to sleep. He was going to train.
It was bleak and dark as rain fell on the ground worse than it had in a long time. Drops of water fell like millions of tiny grenades, bombarding anyone unfortunate enough to be outside in the dark, loomy forest. Heavy raindrops crashed against the insignificant bushes and tall trees, covering the trunk of the tall, towering trees in a slick, shiny skin. The clouds lay fat in the sky like huge alien craft shadowing the forest and its inhabitants from any sunlight and launching a huge attack on Earth. It was chaos, there were many Pokemon filling the grassy floor, everyone trying to get out of the heavy downfall from the heavens.
Kero was trying to avoid the hasty rush and the grenade-like rain, but it was terribly hard work. Kero gave up training and jumped on a tree branch. Droplets from the leaves above fell and crashed onto his furry body, splashing in all directions. He sighed, looking down onto the traffic of Pokemon below, trying to be first to get out of the unforgivable rain which pelted them, soaking them.
"Now what...? I'll never get to train, and the stupid rain is still crashing down on me, no matter what tree I hide under. I was better off hiding in my other shelter, the one I made... Yuna was right, I shouldn't've gone out..." He sighed once more, but much, much deeper and sorrowed as he did so.
Meanwhile, Yuna was struggling, straining herself in the harsh rain to get to Kero's shelter to check if he had listened and stayed inside. There was no 'traffic' where she was that would set her back from trying to find him. The rain did that for the thousands of millions of Pokemon. Yuna hastily ran to a nicely sheltered tree, with its leaves and branches covering every inch of the towering trunk. Yuna sat under it, and looked around for Kero's shelter. It was nearby, but it was still very much so difficult to see through the rain and the overwhelming darkness. She strained her eyes to see through it all. Of course, as you all may know, Umbreons have 'night-eyes' to help them see through the darkness, which was indeed handy for Yuna. She saw a smallish shelter-looking home in the distance. Yuna ran towards it, hoping Kero was in it. She'd finally reached it! But to her disappointment, he had disappeared without a trace. Yuna was furious. Why didn't Kero listen? He might as well have been killed, gone forever without anyone noticing. She didn't give up, though. She walked deeper into the forest as the rain got heavier and the trees became more common and narrowing to her.
It was getting late, and still Yuna was trying to find him. She heard the cries of 'Help! Help!' and 'Someone save me from this deathtrap!'. She figured it was that pathetic Kero. She walked towards to where the distress calls were coming from. She looked up. Nothing. She walked down a bit more, yet again hearing the cries of what could be Kero. But it wasn't. It was a Growlithe, trying to protect itself from the disastrous rain. Growlithe was a fire-type, and they were weak against water, of course. This one was no exception. It looked at her, its eyes full of sorrow and despair. Yuna looked left, as if to tell him there was a shelter in the direction she was facing. Growlithe ran for its sanctuary.
Somewhere far off from where Yuna was looking, Kero saw the rings of something glowing, like a signal. It was indeed faint, but he didn't care. It was the only signal he'd get that would possibly have led him to Yuna. Kero jumped off the useless tree and ran for life towards them. He ran and ran, crashing into other Pokemon. A Pokemon grabbed Kero's shoulder. He turned around, scared. "Machoke!" It said, tightening its grip on Kero. "G-get off me... get off! Go! Go away! Plea-"
But before he could finish, he got a punch, straight in the face. He covered his face and stayed on the ground, blubbering.
Yuna heard something in the distance. A Machoke was babbling to its friends about how it bashed up an Eevee. "It didn't stand a chance!", he said. Eevee? Kero! Kero was the pokemon! Without hesitating, she ran like a thunderbolt to her destination. "Stupid kid." She sighed, and prodded him on the chest three times.
"Yuna…?"
"Yeah, pipsqueak. It's me. Get up."
The rain was getting heavier than ever, and they knew it was a good time to get out of there and into their home.
After a while, they arrived in Kero's home. Yuna was giving Kero a big lecture about-
"Didn't I tell you to STAY in your shelter? Why did you disobey me and run off like an idiot doing who knows what out there? A Machoke even pummeled you." She exclaimed, infuriated.
"I'm really sorry - I... I didn't know it'd be this dangerous..."
"Whatever. I'm not having it. But, since you are stupid, I'll give you one chance. Just don't blow it, kid."
"Hey! I'm not stupid!"
"Like I said, don't blow your luck, kid."
Kero mumbled to himself as Yuna walked away to her own shelter.
~*~Chapter 3~*~
2 more days had passed quickly after the 'rainy' incident. Kero had learned his lesson, and rarely ever disobeyed Yuna. He didn't disobey her at all, actually. There was only one day left, and Kero had finally reached his goal to become level 40. This time, there was warm air surrounding the forest. There were cool breezes at times as if someone was breathing out slowly onto the forest, which was laid out onto someone's hands. A summery atmosphere filled the whole forest with warmth and sunshine. It was a perfect day with no flaws. No darkness. No Pokemon. No rain.
Kero ran to Yuna, filled with joy. "Yuna! Yuna! I've finally reached level 40! Can I please train with you, Yuna? Please, Yuna?" he said, budging her, trying to wake her up.
"Alright... OK... Hold on... I'm... tireddd... leave me alone... oh? What? ... Reached level 40, have we? ... Alright, whatever... ... ... I'll, uh... yeah..." She said, yawning heavily, trying to make sense into her words as she did so. She got up and yawned, showing her sharp, flawless teeth. "Alright," she said between yawns, "I'll train you. Just don't mess up, okay? We have only 1 day left. We'll need to savour these last 24 hours. Capeesh?" She led him out of the shelter, and into a perfectly circulated area, when veiwed from above looked like a tree stump. It had another tree stump on the northernmost and southernmost spots in the circle.
After the battle, a mysterious glow surrounded Kero. It shone white, slowly turning into a red glow. It got brighter and brighter, like a sun glaring onto a crystal. When the light disappeared and things returned to normal, a foxlike creature with pink fur and a ruby red jewel on its forehead stood before Yuna.
''An espeon, eh?" Yuna said, inspecting Kero's new body.
"Espeon? Huh? But there's nobody here!" Kero said, looking around.
"Dimwit! Take a look at yourself!"
"Oh my God!" Kero gasped.
"What?"
"Humans say that when they're surprised."
"Take this." Yuna gave Kero 'Twisted spoon', which was an item to power up psychic moves.
"What's that?" He asked, totally confused.
"It will make you more powerful. You'll need it to defeat the big ol' baddies in the tournament."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Kid, you better not underestimate this Tournament. Let down your guard for one moment and that'll be the end of you."
After a short but a seemingly infinite pause, Kero nodded in an understanding way.
"Now, we have to train to work together. Let's just get this over with so I don't have to put up with this."
It was finally the next day of the tournament. Kero was shivering like mad. Yuna was also nervous, but she didn't show it. She never did. Kero and Yuna walked into the entrance hut hastily.
Suddenly, an arcanine walked up happily.
"Hey! Hey! Remember me! Umbreon lady hello!"
"What the...? Who are you?" Asked the confused Yuna.
"Don't you remember that Growlithe you saved from the rain?" He sighed.
"Oh, yeah. Evolved, have we?" She said, as if she was taunting someone.
"Yeah... I have. By the way, my name's Pyro."
"My name's Yuna. And don't call me Umbreon Lady."
"Oh yeah, what the hell kind of name is Pyro, anyway?"
"It's from Pyromaniac. That's my real name."
"It still sounds wierd. Anyway, you're not a pyromaniac, you idiot."
A voice came over the speakers and interrupted the three friends whom immediately looked up as the sound boomed through the calm air and into their ears.
"ATTENTION! All competetors report to the stadium entrance hall for a brief explanation of your battling options and conditions. You may also report to the ticket booth for seat tickets." Screamed a voice, which was quite scratchy because of the speaker's conditions for the past years. The speakers were sitting on the floor, scratched and battered. There were 4 of them surrounding a pipe in the far front of the stadium entrance.
A flood of pokemon ran through into the entrance hut. The three friends were one of the first to be inside.
"Name," said a hoarse, cracked voice from a pokemon sitting on a desk.
Yuna puffed out her chest and walked forward to the pokemon. "Cut that out, and tell me your name."
Yuna sighed. "Yuna."
"Who will be your team mates for this years competition? You must have a minimum of 3 players to enter."
"Um..." Yuna looked at Pyro and Kero. "Yeah, I have 2 others who want to play. Pyro and Kero, those two behind me."
"Alright. You may enter for your battling options and conditions." She led them to a door, and opened it. The three eager battlers walked through, and into a humongous room. It was very old. It looked as if nobody had ever used it in centuries. The dull, white paint on the walls was scratched and parts of it had fallen out and flaked onto a floor. The floor was only a dark gray ripped up carpet on a concrete floor. The ceiling was in a no better condition as the wall paints. A few things had been thrown up there, and they didn't look like they were coming back down. The tables were actually bench tables, and two teams had to sit on one bench, and those two teams were facing each other in one round. The paint on the tables was scratched off, too, and the red that had been painted over the white was peeling off. A few players were sitting on tables. Three were already set to face each other, but one team didn't have one… yet. Yuna and her friends sat on the table, and just like their team, there were only three players.
Their enimies were a Donphan, an Electabuzz, and an Ivysaur. They knew these pokemon would be tough to beat. Donphan was a ground pokemon. It could send pokemon flying if it rammed them hard enough. It had long, strong tusks on either side of its face, and 4 short but strong legs. Electabuzz was an electric type. Its name could show that. It had stripes all over its body. It had menacing eyes and a V-shaped stripe above them, which always made him look as if he was angry. This pokemon was known to live around power plants and cause major blackouts in cities. Ivysaur was a grass type. It looked like a big dinosaur with a rose on its back, and it had strong vine whips to throw a pokemon around.
Finally, all the pokemon who had qualified for the match were inside the room. There were many strong Pokemon. A houndoom shouted "Attention!" to all of the pokemon and the room became silent.
A houndoom and a noctowl ran the Tournament. The Noctowl appeared at a desk at the back of the room. Everyone looked towards it.
"There are 3 rounds, element wise," He spoke. "Water, Fire and Grass. In each round you'll be in an environment of the corresponding type. Whichever team passes will progress into the Tag Team round. In the Tag Team round you must pair up with someone, which you will battle with for the rest of the matches. You may find a partner for a maximum of one hour to do so. In the finals, there is no limit to the rules. In this part of the Tournament, you will fight with your partner in Tag Team round. The remaining two pokemon who remain in the tournament win! You will get a trophy and a year's supply of food. You will then have a statue of you and your partner in the hall of fame. After each event, you will have a one and half hours break. You may now choose who will be in what element of the three existing choices. You have 5 minutes for this decision. My assistant will check in 5 minutes for your final agreement. I bid you farewell, and good luck." With that, the Noctowl and the Houndoom left the room.
"Well, I'll take the grass stage!" Pyro said proudly.
"But you have an advantage over grass! You'll burn down the field!" Yuna said.
"Duh! That's why I'm going in that round!"
"Fine, I'll take water."
"And I'll take fire." Kero eagerly announced.
The other team overheard the others muttering amongst each other, and the donphan said aloud, as if to tell the whole world his announcement, "If he's taking the grass round I'm in!"
Electabuzz didn't agree. "You idiot! You're weak against grass. You'll faint before the round even starts!"
"I'm no idiot! What round am I supposed to go in, the water one?"
"You nitwit. You're all brawn and no brain whatsoever. That's why I joined you two, so you actually had at least one brain in here."
"You want some of this?" The infuriated donphan bared his strong, sharp tusks at Electabuzz.
"Hey, slow down there! Donphan, maybe it was a little silly saying you'd go in the grass round, but you are, of course, only -"
"No, the nitwit's only a dumb pokemon who doesn't know head from tails. Not a human."
"-Human… Oh, shutup, Electabuzz. If you WERE smart, you'd know you wouldn't pick a fight with a perfectly strong Donphan."
"Whatever, Ivysaur. And if YOU were smart, you'd know you wouldn't pick a fight with a perfectly strong Electabuzz." He boasted.
"Can you please stop being so ignorant? You know, we ARE a team, so it's best to work together."
"Riiight. Yeah, and you're…-" Electabuzz decided to shut up.
"Look, I'll fight the Arcanine, alright?"
Donphan gasped to hear such a thing. "But… you'll be toasted! Burned to a cinder! Ivy to ash! Fried! Gold and crisp-"
"CAN YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!?! I KNOW I'm weak against it, but I don't need YOUR approval of the outcome! I should fight against my weaknesses, not run away from them."
"But... what if you end up running away instead of chopping away at that Arcanine?"
"Hey, it's not always the strongest who wins."
"Riiiight..."
"Okay, let's get this overwith. I'll be in the water round. That leaves Donphan to go in the fire round."
"Right!"
Everyone's five minutes were up. A Mew came out of the door, wearing an apron. She had beautiful pink fur, blue eyes and a long tail. Mews were known to be a legendary pokemon, which were also useful for more than just battling. The Mew spoke.
"Hello there, I'm Nurse Mew. I'll be here to heal you after each part of the tournament. But right now, I have been informed to tell you that your five minutes are up. The first two teams, may you come inside for your battle?"
A strong pokemon team marched through the door and into the field. One of the teams was fire only, and the other team was electric only. This would be a good battle.
After a long, persistent battle ensued in the stadium, the electric-type team finally won.
"May the next two teams please report to the field right now?" Said Nurse Mew, emerging from the door.
Yuna and Ivysaur's team walked inside.
"I hope you got some ointment, Ivycrud." Taunted Arcanine.
"Quiet!"
"Hey, Kero, try not to be an idiot in the tournament." Yuna teased.
"Oh, come on, Yuna. With all my training, Jackie Chan's got nothin' on me!"
"Right, Hercules," She joked.
Chapter 4
"Oooookay! Here we go! Here are our next contestants! On this corner is the the Ivysmashers!"
"I wonder why it was named after your stupid idea of a team name," Pouted Electabuzz.
"Oh, shutup!"
"And on this side is The Wraith team! Let's hear it for both of these two awesome challengers!"
A huge round of applause and cheers for the two teams roared into the Pokemon-packed stadium. The whole place was huge and intimidating. Unlike the waiting room this place was painted like a Queen's palace compared to the small, grungy building. A tramp's home would've suited it for now. There was People watching on either side, and also in the front and the back. It was hard enough trying to pick your nose, let alone trying to concentrate. The ground was made of a polished marble of some sort, but the field was randomly made different. The teams were sitting on benches on the left, and on the right. The field was only made out of a hard, almost unbreakable rocky floor, and in the middle stretching from the top to the bottom of it, was a giant square hole filled to the brim with lava. Rocky platforms were randomly placed on this boiling, magma-filled deathtrap. The steam that was slowly seeping through the lava and into the air was almost unbreathable.
The announcer interrupted the silence like someone throwing a brick through a quiet, calm house's window, causing an ensuing amout of panic from the people living inside their home.
"Players, please walk into the fields and keep your positions!"
Donphan and Kero walked into the steaming hot battle arena.
Silence.
"Three... Two... One... Go!" Signaled the announcer.
As if all at once, donphan sped at Kero, forming himself in a large ball while he was doing so. "Little kiddo, you won't last a second. So I'll be easy on ya, okay kiddo?" Kero ignored him. "Yeah?" He grinned. "YEAH?" Donphan smiled. "Yeah." Suddenly he jolted at him. Kero jumped over him and he crashed into the walls.
"Hah! Strike one!" Taunted Kero. "So, I won't last a second? You'll be easy on me? Eh? I'll see to that!" He was having loads of fun.
"SHUT UP!"
Donphan continued to charge at Kero, and he dodged every one. Kero then used agility and circled donphan, trapping him. Each copy said in a tauting vioce, 'Ooh, which one could I be? Maybe I'm this one? Oh! Behind you! That's it...'
Kero finally lunged at donphan, knocking him into the pit of lava. Suddenly bubbles formed, and a great whirlpool formed in the lava as donphan leapt straight out of it. The burning magma was spraying in every direction. He looked infuriated. "I'M GONNA GET YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I'LL DO!"
He then continued to roll-charge like an idiot.
"You fool! Use something else! We're gonna lose, idiot!" Shouted Electabuzz desperately.
Donphan ignored him. He was blind with rage.
Kero had a plan. As soon as donphan was a foot away, he used confusion and lifted donphan high in the air. He then threw Donphan around in a circle, stopped and threw him hellwards, sending him down and knocking him out cold. There were huge cheers and claps from the audience.
Kero won! But it was hardly difficult for the successful Espeon as the foolish Donphan hadn't taken him seriously enough.
He walked down to his seat. "Not bad for an idiot, eh?" He taunted Yuna.
"Not bad at all, kiddo." Yuna said, smiling lightly, though it faded away as soon as it came.
Pyro was leaping up in the air and celebrating. "Yee-hah! WOOOOhoo! We beat 'em, alrighty we did! YES!"
Kero leapt across the rocks and left with the others just as Donphan came to.
"You IDIOT!" Electabuzz bellowed. "You could've taken out that weakling Espeon with one attack if you just focused on your target properly! If you weren't a ground type Pokemon I would have given you a lesson in pain." "Allow me," Ivysaur said, as a vine spread from Ivysaur's back and slapped donphan across the room
"HEY! I just battled, take it easy on my Ivycrap!"
"You deserved that, Donprat." Smirked Ivysaur.
The announcer spoke yet again. "OK! It's one to nothing! Now, let's start with the water stadium!"
The volcano-like environment went down into the ground, and in its place rose a beautiful sea-like stadium. There were rocks around the edges and ice platforms going from top to bottom. This would be a great match.
"Players, take your positions! ... Three... Two... One... And GO!"
Electabuzz jumped on an ice platform and jumped from one to another. On the other side, Yuna was doing the same. Finally, they came face to face on the middle platform and they wrestled each other. Yuna's paws got grabbed.
"Gotcha!"
"Oh, yeah? You think so, Expectabuzz?" She almost suddenly flipped electabuzz over her head, making him crash into the water with full force. Electabuzz jumped out and used thundershock. Yuna used reflect as it rebounded off the ice platforms and shocking Electabuzz back.
"Hey! No fair! You used my own attack against me!"
"Hey, an Umbreon's gotta do what an Umbreon's gotta do," she teased. "And I can do a lot more..."
She dragged him down underwater, repeatedly punching him, making it impossible to attack. She spun around him, using agility and creating a whirlpool. "I don't remember electabuzz breathing underwater."
Electabuzz drowned as he gasped for air.
The stadium stood silent.
Suddenly, something BURST out of the water, covering Yuna in a wet blanket. Acting quickly before the opportunity ceased, Electabuzz used thundershock - but Yuna leapt right out of the water at that moment. Phew! Wasting no time, she charged up a hyper beam. But just as she fired it, Electabuzz used light screen and neutrallized it. "Damn you electric types!" She was beginning to use up her energy, and so was electabuzz. With a barrage of shadow punches she had knocked Electabuzz out cold and exaughted herself. In a huff, she dropped to the ground."It's... A draw?" A very faint, raspy, scratched voice whispered over the speakers.
"Yuna!" Kero raced to her aid. "Yuna? Are you alright?"
"Don't have a fit kid, I just need to... Rest."
"Ok Yuna, whatever you say..." Kero said with a smile...
As Yuna fainted.
Kero winced, but knew she wasn't fatally hurt. "Don't worry, pal, I'll help you!"
"Awwww-..." began the crowd. Then, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kero sighed and walked away, Pyro bounded up and carried the two away on his back.
Ivysaur had been thinking. What if he was to take over the tournament? He had the brains, he had the power. He would have all those powerful fighters working for him...Yes. He would do it. He would strike when the wriath team was resting. With Yuna out of the way, he would be unstoppable. And nobody would get in his way...
Chapter 5
Meanwhile, Yuna was carried to the Pokemon Center on Pyro's back.
"Aren't you a heavy-" began Pyro-
"Oh, shutup. Yuna's hurt. We gotta take her to the Pokemon Center!" He sighed and walked on.
"Ah! There it is! Look!" Kero turned to look Pyro's direction. A huge, white building with a 'P' on it and some Pokemon were on the very top of it. They walked in.
"Hello, I'm Nurse Mew. How can I help you?"
"Our friend's really poorly... can you help her out?"
"That's what I do! She'll be better in no time." Nurse Mew took her inside a room for healing. "You stay there for a while to heal, alright? I'll be back soon." She walked out of the room.
"C'mon, you numbskull! No, no, no! Don't do that! CAN YOU SHUTUP ALREADY?! QUIT FIGHTING AND GET OVER HERE!" Ivysaur had been shouting nonsense like this to Electabuzz and Donphan. "OK, then! If you won't shut up I'll do it FOR you!" He let out his vine whips and slapped them across the face.
"Hey!" Electabuzz sent a jolt of electricity to him, but Ivysaur knocked it away from him with his trusty whips.
"OK, anyway, we's gonna sneak inside that there window and grab Yuna! But the window's too high, so Electabuzz will be sent in by my vine whips. If he can't open up those... things that heal Pokemon, we'll send in Donphan. Got it?"
"Goddit, boss."
Ivysaur carefully picked up Electabuzz and lengthened his vine whips to match the height of the window. "Get in, quickly!" Electabuzz slid it open and jumped in quickly. He carefully sneaked across the floor, hiding behind anything that was near him so he wouldn't get caught too easily. He bashed and bashed the healing thing that held Yuna, but he wasn't strong enough. He rammed into it. Nope. He thundershocked it. Wouldn't work. Electabuzz gasped for air, tired out. He walked back to the window.
"You can send in Donphan now... Ugh..." Ivysaur picked him up and reached to the window.
"Get in now! Hurry up!" As you all know, Donphans are weak against grass. Because he didn't like his vine whips one bit, he wiggled about through the whole ordeal of getting to the window.
"I... I can't. Go HIGHER!" Ivysaur did as he asked and pushed his vine whips up, and he was still wiggling.
"Now, go in!"
"I... can't... these vine whips won't let me move!"
"Oh, for GOD'S SAKE!!! You're the weakest Donphan in the world as far as I'm concerened!" He finally threw him inside, smashing the window.
Meanwhile, Nurse Mew was walking back to the Center. Suddenly - "Huh? What was that? It sounded like a broken window...!" Nurse Mew said to herself. "Must've been me... Ah well, no matter."
"Well, that was a peice of cake, wasn't it Donphan?" Taunted Electabuzz sarcastically. "Now, get to work, my fat-headed friend, and quickly! Someone might have heard that."
"Oh, shutup!" Donphan curled up in a ball, spinning around in a blur. "GO!" Donphan immediatley went, smashing right into that healing.. thing. Yuna flopped down, onto the floor.
"Have you got her yet?! Called out Ivysaur from the bottom of the building. That smash was WAY too loud! Nurse Mew's probably rushing back now!"
Nurse Mew heard a smash. She broke into a run.
"Yes, yes, we have her! Don't have your knickers in a twist!"
Ivysaur grumbled. The two pokemon walked down the vines like a ladder.
All the commotion had awoken Yuna. "YOU ASSHOLES!" Even speaking hurt. She tried to get free from the grasp but it only wore her out more.
"Calm down, l'il laday." Taunted Donphan. "You're too weak to even blink, so there's nothin you can do!"
"What are you going to do to me, pigs?"
"Oh, not much... we're just going to kill you. Y'know, we're gonna throw you in the river."
Tears fell down Yuna's cheeks. What if she never made it back alive? What if they got rid of her before her friends get rid of them..?
Nurse Mew saw the wreckage of glass piled on the floor. "Oh, dear! Someone's kidnapped Yuna..." She ran down the hallway where the two Pokemon waited.
"Hey, Nurse Mew! So, is Yuna back up to speed yet?" said a gleeful Pyro.
"No! In fact, someone kidnapped her while I was gone! You have to help me find her!"
"Oh, great.. Just what we need..." Kero groaned. He hated trying to find something. It was so tedious. But this time he had to find her. Somehow.
A long time of searching and calling out to poor Yuna ensued. "This is terrible... Oh dear-" She tripped over a rock and landed on her face. Muffled laughter followed. "Hmmpf... Hahmmph... hah, hah HAH...!"
Meanwhile, the gang heard the calls of them. Their enemies were not to far behind, and Ivysaur started to panic.
"Hurry up, you idiots! We've gotta move on and get to the river or they'll catch us!" Electabuzz and Donphan groaned, pacing ever more faster to Yuna's upcoming doom.
The others were indeed not to far behind, but suddenly they started going the wrong direction. They didn't know who was the culprit or even where they were going. "Hey... Nurse Mew, what's that on your foot...?" Kero took it from her. "Looks like a paper..." He unfolded it and read it. It said;
----
TO THE UNWARY POKEMON THAT READS THIS MESSAGE:
Hah! We've stolen that stupid Yuna and you can't do anything about it! We're going to the river, and we're going to kill her by throwing her in the river! You'd better hurry up, fools! She's weak, and she's going to be bashed to a pulp once she reaches the rocks. Heh! I bet you're trying to FIND her. Nice idea guys, but you don't know where we're going! Oh... wait, you do. But when you get there you'll be too late!
Later losers.
Signed,
Us
----
"Oh, great. They go to the river to kill Yuna AND make fun of us..." Kero sighed, and suddenly thought of something. The river wasn't too far from were they were, and they could still catch up to them if the kidnappers hadn't gotten to the river yet or even thrown her in it. Kero KNEW they would get her back, but he also knew anything could happen.
"Hey guys, we gotta go further up to get the kidnappers. Remember, they're going to the river so upwards is the best bet we'll have of getting there before they do. Let's go!"
Nurse Mew, Pyro and Kero ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the river.
They heard faint cries of a pokemon.
"YUNA!!!" Kero ran, and ran...
But only found a dying spearow as it coughed up blood.
"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Pyro joked.
"Oh, dear. We should heal this pokemon at once," Mew said sadly.
"We have OTHER things to worry about, Nurse Mew." Sighed Kero, looking at the injured Pokemon.
"We can't just leave him here..."
"Oh, alright. Just make it quick."
The kind Nurse Mew healed him. Kero looked at the now healthy Spearow.
"Spearow, have you seen some pokemon with a hurt Umbreon over here?" He looked at the Spearow, hopefully.
The spearow spoke with a squawk-ish ring to it.
"Yas," He said, "I hawv. 'Dey went daddawahy!" Spearow spread a wing and with it, pointed to the misty distance in front of them.
"Can you tell us what they looked like?"
"Yas." Spearow coughed. "There was an Ivysaur. An Electabuzz. And a Donphan. 'Dey beet me up and tol' me not to tell you!" Spearow sighed. "I go now." He flew past the tree-tops, waving to the three pokemon.
"Thanks!" They all called out.
"Well, then... those stupid theives thought they could stop us by taking Yuna! Let's give 'em a peice of our minds!"
They ran off into the mist.
"Ah! We're here!" Donphan heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he dropped Yuna off his back.
"Well? Throw it in!" Ivysaur demanded.
"No way, tired... walking up hills with an almost dead Umbreon on your back that's struggling to get off is no easy task!"
Ivysaur was angry. They had no time to waste. He hoped the Spearow hadn't told the Umbreon's friends.
"A-HA! We've got you!"
"WHAT?" Ivysaur turned around seeing the angered Pokemon looking, well, extremely pissed off.
"Thought you could get out, eh? Thought you could escape us? Well, we're gonna KICK YOUR ASSES TO HELL!"
While all this was happening, Donphan had already pushed Yuna into the death hole that was her fate.
"Hey! No fair! Pyro, you can hold those losers off. It's time to go!" Kero quickly ordered and raced off.
He could barely see Yuna as she was swept away. She was conscious, but too
weak to swim to saftey. She was caught in a rapid current and could barely fight back.
She was just about to have her fate sealed as a huge bundle of rocks were place before the river, and even worse - a waterfall. If Kero didn't act fast, Yuna would be dead meat. With a final attempt, Kero leapt in.
He gasped for air as he swam to Yuna. "Gotcha!" He said, putting her on his back and safely manouvering the rocks. All that was left was the waterfall.. but Kero forgot about it. He was going to reach the edge, anyway. Nothing bad would happen... Or so he thought. Suddenly, Yuna slipped from his safe grasp. "YUNA!" Kero jumped into the water once more, trying to swim to Yuna in hopes of getting her safely onto the ground once more.
Yuna was almost over the edge. She quickly grabbed a rock, hanging by a mere thread. A few thin streams of blood escaped from her wounded paws and washed out onto the waterfall. She cried out in pain as she could no longer sustain the tension of trying to hang on.
"Yuna! Hold on!" Kero wailed and leaped in, clawing on the same rock, barely getting on it successfully.
He reached out with his paw.
"Yuna! grab my paw!" The weak Umbreon slowly tried to bring her hand up to meet his...
But instead washed out into the raging river.
Yuna was dangerously near the waterfall now, out of Kero's grasp as he tried to catch her by jumping on other rocks that happened to be there.
"NO! YUNA!" Kero reflexively jumped to his doom in an attempt to save her.
(Yuna's thoughts
I can't breath... I need air... Please, someone, help me...
I was gasping for every breath I could get - which was indeed limited as I was falling down the waterfall at great speeds, every time, every moment shouting, screaming for help, but I was in vain... I knew nobody could hear me, could help me... I couldn't take it any longer, and closed my eyes, waiting for the terrible pain, the slow, remorseless pain that awaited me... and heard a wind whipping through my ears, and the rush of water was starting to fade... I was somehow floating. Not floating, being carried. I opened my eyes...)
Chapter 6
The great rush of the waterfall was rapidly carrying Kero and Yuna to the great rocky depths below, and would surely die - but something came in a great flurry of speed. The dark figure put the exhausted pokemon down, and flew - or ran off. Yuna coughed, and inhaled the air heavily, savouring every breath. She got up, and blinked, trying to make sense of what just happened, attempting to put everything together. She remembered; when the three pokemon kidnapped her and threw her down the waterfall, and Kero jumped down too, and then something caught her, but what? She wondered if Kero was still alive. She ran along the grassy feild in search of her friend. "Kero? Kero? Where are you, Kero? Keroooo!" She shouted for a long time...
(Kero's thoughts
Ugh... Where am I? What am I? Oh no...
I got up, and looked around. The last thing I remembered was when something hit me and I crashed into someplace. I was in a thick forest... Where was this place? I was lying on a thick pile of leaves that seemed to spread into the depths of the gloomy forest. I tried to find a way of getting out of here, and get back to my friends. I was alone, and I was scared. I didn't know what would be my fate; I didn't want to know. I was way too young for this! Why was this happening to me?
I quietly sobbed to myself as the darkness crept over me and covered me in a blanket. It was almost night time. I finally knew what had to be done, and looked for my friends...)
Yuna saw a thick forest to the left of her, but hesitated to go in - she knew that any pokemon could easily kill her, but what if Kero was in there? She'd been searching the whole place around her, and of course this was the only place left. She went in anyway, not knowing what she would expect...
Think branches and leaves covered the ground. This forest was like a jungle, darkness lurking at every turn, the cold night air freezing to the bone as Yuna tread on through the black of night. Every treetop covered the light, making it seem eerily ghost-like. The trunks towered over her as if to claim power among the land.
A cold bead of sweat trickled down Yuna's face and stained her fur. She felt something brush against her leg making her turn around, fast. An eerie vioce came from nowhere. "What's the matter? Are you scared? You never know what might pop out of the darkness..."
"Coward. Show yourself!" Yuna tied her best to hide the fear that paralyzed her, but to no avail. Her eyes showed a genuine look of fear, glancing all over. Her heart was beating loud and fast in such way, she thought, that if someone were to come near they could clearly hear it.
"I am NOT afraid of you!" She lied not wanting to look weak.
Meanwhile, Kero was trying to find his own way out. Fortunately he was on the right trail, but he would soon go the wrong way... Suddenly, Kero heard a noise. "YUNA!" He practically ran at the speed of light, but the only thing that greeted him was a Hoot-Hoot. He sighed, slowly going back to his intended path again.
Yuna tried to defend herself from the voice that was remarking such unpleasurable things. She knew she had to hold her ground, though; the eerie voice would feed of her fears, as it slowly did so.
As the creature that was hiding in the forest came out, its dark, frighteningly huge shadow crept over her (which looked very peculiar... powerful, even), and when its figure finally came to be, the creature revealed itself. It was...
A small rattata with a tape recorder.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Yuna fell down on her head in an anime fashion. "Oh, great," she said, "I get to be freaked out by a stupid rattata with a tape recorder. Geez."
"No, not really, you stupid fool. Look behind you..."
"Huh?" Yuna looked up to see the real figure that emerged from behind the big shadow - she knew that shadow wasn't just a big shadow of a rattata.Before she could respond, the strong paws of the creature snatched her off the ground...
Kero let out a sigh. How could he ever find Yuna in this forest? The fog was getting thicker, and it wasn't helping. He however, continued to call her name. "Yuna! YUNA! Where are you?!" Came Kero's
desperate cries."HEEEEELP!!" Was the scream that answered his question. Kero's ears became alert as
he followed her screams.
It* watched Yuna as she squirmed within his grasp."You are pathetic." He spoke into her mind.
Yuna couldn't stand anymore of his taunting and kicked him in the face, forcing him to release her.
At this time, Kero arrived on the scene. Kero immedeately leapt over to Yuna with a smile on his
face. "YUNA! You're alive!" Yuna pushed him off. "Got bigger problems!" Yuna responded just in time
to use barrier to stop the beam plummeting toward them.
((--I am not revealing the secret identity until later, though you can take a good guess.--))
Nurse Mew's aquamarine eyes flew open. She rose from the bed and stared out the window, watching
explosions to the north as they lit up the pitch black sky. "He's back..." She said in a worried
tone as her eyes narrowed into the distance of eerie blackness disturbed only by the quiet but extraordinarily violent light
of the explosions that showed his presence.
Yuna's barrier was beginning to weaken, but she held it back with all her might. She whispered instructions to Kero."Run Away Kero! I'll stay and fight him!" Before Yuna could finish Kero immedeately refused.
"I ODRDER YOU to run away Kero! If we both die, Pyro will have no one to battle with in the Tag Team round! WE WILL LOSE THE TOURNAMENT IF YOU DON'T RUN AWAY!"
"I don't care about the tournament anymore Yuna! I Just want to help you! You made me whatI am and I'm not going to abandon you, especially not now!" with that, Kero charged rapidly at mewtwo, pinning him to the ground for a second before he threw Kero against a tree.
At that point it became a battle of psycic powers. Each were straining thier minds, but little did the mysterious creature know that Yuna was behind him. She lept on him just as he turned around, at that moment she pinned him to the ground. She sent a beam at him, but he reflected it, knocking her against the same tree and Kero, leaving them in a heap, unconious and bleeding.
Kero's lavender eyes stared into the creature's motionless ones. "W-wh-what do you want? Why are you doing this? And... who are you?" Mewtwo hesitated to answer, but did so anyway. "I am going to capture Nurse Mew and clone her for profit. I am not telling you my identity because it will not matter to you once I kill you!" He raised his paw to unleash an attack. Before it could, Kero mustered just enough energy to blind it with a light beam. Kero pushed Yuna up on her feet. Get up!" Yuna got up and together they ran out of the forest the way Yuna had came in. Eventually the Pokemon had recovered and was going to get back at them. "AHA!" He teleported to where they currently were.
After a few long minutes, they finally had come out of the forest. They ran to the waterfall from whence they came.
And, as you all know, that pokemon got there and attacked them...
"Uh oh..." They said.
The powerful pokemon ran into them in great speeds, and - THWACK!!!! They were instantly shoved into the humoungous cliff. Yuna, dizzy, looked up. Thankfully, she was at the bottom where it wasn't as spiky and death inflicting. Kero, on the other hand...
"Oh my god... KERO!"
Kero was somewhere at the top of the cliff, blood coming out of him, unconcious... Yuna's eyes widened. She was immediately reminded of her father's death...
The pain rushing through Yuna's body was great, but she refused to die for one reason. It was the burning flare of hatred she had for the hunter that murdered her father. Yes, that passionate flare that burned deep within her soul and made her blood boil in hatred. The desire to avenge her father was too great to meausure, and that kept up her strength. This time, This time, Kero was the one in danger, and Yuna had to save him.
The will to live and to make that hunter regret made her seem to glow red. She let out a scream. She wanted so bad to make that wreched hunter pay for his deed...This time Mewtwo was hunting Kero.
She stood up, letting out a mighty yell as her body glowed a golden color, rings shining. Kero stirred but was not fully awoken - he was too hurt to do that. Yuna underwent an amazing transformation.
She grew a few inches, her muscles increasing in size and her claws extending fully.
Her eyes flew open as the glow slowly faded, and Kero woke up; the transformation had probably rejuvinated him!
"Wow..." Kero said, astonished, staring at her as she jumped up and got him off the cliff. "I'm so happy you're still alive!" He cried a little as he had thought he would have been gone for sure.
Yuna couldn't resist and smiled warmly at the young espeon nearly crying tears of joy. "Hey," Yuna said pushing him off her with her paws. "Cut the dramatics, we got a psycho to stop."
Kero smiled and nodded, following her as she put him down and walked, determined to get rid of the evil creature. Her sleek, beautiful fur cascaded off the waterfall, a rainbow reflecting off her now golden rings.
Kero didn't fully understand Yuna's transformation, but he knew it would aid them on thier journey. Yuna was something he couldn't describe. She wasn't a mother figure, or a caretaker, a sparring partner or a trainer to him, but some mix between the 4.
"Oh, yuna... you go get 'em!" Kero said, a sign of significance in his face. Yuna looked at him akwardly, snapped out of it then slightly smiled, sort of like she didn't want to show her feelings. "Well... thanks, kid."
Yuna decided to get down to buisness once and for all. She ran into the Pokemon with all the speed and agility it could create.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" But before the mysterious creature could finish, it went BANG, SLAM into the forest, far, far, away.
"Now!" Yuna said. "Let's get outta here!" They ran to the waterfall they had come down. "Easy." Yuna said, and...
Reverted back to her old self! She had used up all her power for that one single blow on the Pokemon (it was a very powerful one).
"Oh great, now how are we gonna get up there? Especially when I have no more power left..." Yuna sighed sadly.
"Huh..?" Kero looked behind him as a sillouhette behind the rushing river in front of them came to life.
"Wha...?" Yuna looked up, eyes buldging at the massive creature that emerged from it...
"It's..." They chimed together...
"A..."
"GYRADOS!!!!"
The Pokemon was crashing up the waterfall, sending out roars and bellows, making the ground shake! The water splashed on top of the two unfortunate Pokemon.
"Hey... why don't we jump on?" Kero said, an idea coming into his brain.
"Are you MAD?! We're gonna be killed! We might as well jump into a ditch full of spikes and syther claws!" Yuna simply refused to go on the crazed creature.
"Naw! C'mon, it'll be fun!" Kero grabbed Yuna and jumped on.
"NO, WAIT!!!" But it was too late as Kero had already got her onto it, and there was no way she was getting off of the mad Pokemon.
So it crashed up the waterfall, with two very wet pokemon on its back.
But, finally, the Gyarados was up the waterfall. The two jumped off while they could as the gyrados swam off into the distance.
"Well, that was fun." Joked Yuna.
Chapter 7
As Yuna and Kero padded down to where the disaster was, they found a heap of three Pokemon whom were unconcious.
"Oh, it's them. Ivysaur and his goonies..." Yuna shoved them into the water. "Come on, Kero. We gotta get home."
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! WATER!!!! SHIT!!!" Donphan screamed, jumping out of the water. The other two crawled out.
"Gee, Donphan, it's not that bad..." Ivysaur and Electabuzz sneered.
"Look, they're getting away!" They all turned to see Yuna and Kero running off. "Talk to the ass!" Kero yelled back at them. Yuna raised an eyebrow. You'd think he'd learn his lesson by now.
A thin sheet of mist overlayed the land, smothering the light. The forest would have been silent, exept for the gentle, barely audible sounds of cat paws, padding through the grassy terrain. Farher away, though, soft lights illuminated a forestlike field. Upon this field were two Pokemon, an Arcanine and an Ivysaur. The booming voice coming from the speakers echoed far from yuna and kero. *Where are they?* Thought Pyro nervously.
Yuna raised her nose it the air, sniffing. Unfortunately, The stadium was downwind and impossible to sniff out from where she was standing. Nothing but pine scent could be smelt. "Damn it." She mumbled. Kero sniffed the ground, with no luck either. Suddenly he breathed in a terrible yet familiar scent. "Ugh. He was definately here." Yuna smirked down at Kero. "Well, let's follow it!"
