Author's note: See my profile for notes relevant to this story. This is a sequel, so it might not make any sense at all unless you read the first story (shudder). Also, thanks for reading!
"Okay, Terral," Ray said, looking his Skarmory in the eye. "You can do this."
As Ray surveyed the hangar-turned-battlefield, he fingered a small stain on his shirt—his dark blue and black windbreaker remained permanently tarnished by the events of the past few days. He had been kidnapped in some insane plot to end the world—and now he was continuing his League quest like nothing had ever happened.
Better that way, he figured.
The stain—it was actually a burnt spot—reminded him of the whole thing. He didn't really mind the little patch, because it was small and hard to see, but it reminded him of his mistakes. And who needs to be reminded of those?
It also reminded him of Gabe, who was in a coma because of everything—
"You ready over there?" Skyla called from afar. Her Pokémon, an Unfezant, tapped the floor impatiently.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Ray said. The Gym battle was a close one—both Ray and Skyla were down to their last Pokémon.
"Then let's go!" Skyla charged. "Air Slash!"
"You too, Terral!" Ray called.
The Unfezant immediately took off into the air, and Terral followed suit. The hangar gave the two birds plenty of room above, but they fought in such close quarters that it didn't matter.
Ray's battle technique was very loose; he only ordered moves if he thought they were critically important. He usually just told his Pokémon when to be evasive and when to attack, letting them decide their own moves. Currently both combatants were using the Air Slash move, but Terral switched to a different attack after a few minutes. Ray thought it was Air Cutter, but he wasn't sure.
"You sure let your Pokémon do all the work, Ray!" Skyla teased. "Go, Razor Wind!" The attack grazed one of Terral's wings, and the Skarmory faltered in midair.
"You can do it, Terral!" Kristy called from the sidelines. Ray suddenly remembered, with a little anxiety, that she was watching the match—along with Stanley, another friend. Ray had no intention of losing in front of Kristy, if only because he liked to consider himself a good Trainer. Not that Kristy was bad; it was just that she looked like a novice, yet she was keeping up with Ray in getting all the badges—
A piercing cry from above jolted Ray back into focus. To his dismay, the Unfezant had landed a powerful hit on Terral's wings. Terral plummeted to the Gym floor with a pained kee. His silvery wings lay sprawled out on the smooth concrete.
"Paying attention?" Skyla said, arms crossed.
"Yeah," Ray said defensively. "You can't stop now, Terral! Get up!"
"That's more like it." Skyla still had her arms up in disapproval.
Once Terral had picked himself off the floor, Ray said, "Good, keep it up! Guard your wings!"
"Go Terral!" Kristy cheered.
The outcome of the battle looked bleak—Terral had taken a beating from the fall, while the Unfezant only had a few scratches. Ray absentmindedly touched the burnt spot on his shirt again, deciding that he would have to be harder on Terral if they were going to win.
"Steel Wing!" Ray ordered. "Don't miss!"
Terral dived at his opponent in midair, slashing at the Unfezant with his sharp wings. The attack connected, but the Unfezant immediately countered with another attack—
"Watch out!" Ray yelled.
Terral dived out of the way, just in time. The Unfezant flew past, leaving itself open—
"Get it!"
"Sky Attack!" Skyla called.
Terral faltered briefly, apparently knowing what Sky Attack was. The Unfezant flew up to the ceiling, glowing harshly like an overpowered light bulb. It turned and aimed itself at Terral menacingly.
Terral glanced down at Ray, shaking in midair, waiting for a command.
"Fly up and dodge it!" Ray said. He had no idea what kind of attack Sky Attack was, but it looked like a diving move.
And it was. The Unfezant suddenly plummeted in Terral's direction, practically sparking with energy. Terral tried to dodge, but the Unfezant was too fast. Like two planes colliding, the Unfezant smashed into Terral and sent him flying clear across the hangar.
"No!" Ray cried. He watched Terral fall again—tumbling like a ragdoll—and this time he hit the floor without a sound.
"I think that's it, Ray," Skyla said quietly, as her Unfezant returned to her side. She raised her voice. "That was a pretty good match, but—"
"He can still go," Ray insisted. "Get up, Terral!"
Terral shuddered, scraped his wings off the floor, and stood up. Some of the Skarmory's wings looked dented, and others were scratched and dull. A squeal of pity from the sidelines made Ray feel guilty that his Pokémon was so beat up.
But there was no way he would give up, yet.
"Okay, ready," he said.
Skyla frowned. "You're mistaken, Ray. I don't think he's even strong enough to fly."
"Show her, Terral," Ray urged.
Terral crouched and then bravely leapt into the air, but couldn't stay airborne for long. Flapping weakly, he collapsed to the ground again and lay still.
"Come on," Ray muttered. He called out, "Aren't Skarmories supposed to be tough?" It was a rare moment of anger. Terral didn't respond, except by possibly sighing.
"I'm afraid this is the end of the match," Skyla said, walking towards Ray's side of the arena. "Don't worry—you can challenge me again, after your Pokémon get some rest."
Ray sighed and put Terral back in his ball. "I'm sorry for getting all worked up," he said, once Skyla was next to him. "I just didn't wanna lose… I know it sounds stupid—"
"Apologize to your Pokémon, not me," Skyla scorned. "But I know what you mean." She glanced over at Kristy, smiling slightly. "And you've got… motivation."
"What?" Ray turned around. There was Kristy, waving sheepishly.
"Oh, nothing," Skyla said, waving it off. "Go heal up your Pokémon. It was nice to meet you."
An hour later, Ray and Stanley were sitting in a flat, grassy park in the middle of Mistralton City. Ray's Pokémon all did their own things: Spolt, his Manectric, prowled around with Felsin, his Armaldo. His Houndoom, Dax, napped underneath a tree. Occasionally, Archie the Archen would drop from above and land on his head—Dax would fake a snarl, then return to his nap as soon as Archie fled from sight. The little bird perched in the tree again and watched the sunset sink behind some skyscrapers in the distance.
Terral perched on a different tree, far away, motionless like some sort of silver statue.
"How come you're not watching Kristy battle her?" Ray asked Stanley. While they sat on a bench in the park, Kristy was trying for the Gym badge herself. Alone, apparently.
"I just wanted to hang with you," Stanley said. "And Kristy thought you took the loss kinda hard, too." He didn't say it tenderly or anything, to Ray's relief. He didn't like it when people took pity on him.
"It's not really the loss," Ray murmured. He glanced at Stanley, who was watching the Pokémon play. The lanky Trainer had on some shirt with a faded logo Ray didn't recognize. He was also wearing his jacket, which was so faded that the green color was barely visible. His chestnut hair haphazardly angled over his head in scruffy locks. Stanley's super-faded jacket matched his super-faded pants—it was clear the two went together.
Ray turned his gaze away from Stanley. He didn't want to creep him out with all the staring.
Ray turned to what was really on his mind. "I just wish I hadn't been so mean to Terral."
"You were just caught up in it, that's all," Stanley said, scratching his head. "Some toughness isn't bad. I just don't think Terral was expecting it, or something."
"Yeah, I'm never like that with my Pokémon," Ray explained. "I don't want to force my Pokémon to get really hurt, and then they hate me, or something."
"That's understandable," Stanley said as they watched Archie flap his wings around.
"I mean, I want to win, but…"
"Listen, if you're worried your Pokémon will hate you… I'm pretty sure that'll never happen." Stanley gestured with his head at Ray's four nearby Pokémon, who were all enjoying themselves like schoolchildren during recess.
"But look at Terral over there," Ray said, pointing at an empty tree. "Oh, he's gone."
"Where do you think he went?"
"He likes to fly around, really high in the sky. He'll come back."
"Did you, uh, talk to him when you let him out here?"
"Well, no… but he flew off as soon as he was out. Over to that tree."
"Oh." Stanley peered up at the bright sky, looking for Terral. "Maybe you should train them more? I mean, I only see you train them by battling."
"I used to train Spolt and Dax, a long time ago, actually," Ray revealed. "But it was just because I wasn't really allowed to battle yet."
"You should get some dog toys for them," Stanley suggested. "Like a tug rope. Or a Frisbee."
"You mean we're going shopping?" Ray said with some disdain.
"What's wrong with shopping?"
"Well, it's usually boring," Ray said. "I was never into buying a lot of stuff."
Stanley stared at Ray, confused.
"What?" Ray said defensively. "You asked what's wrong with shopping."
"No, I didn't," Stanley said, shifting in his seat on the bench. His slate-colored eyes narrowed, as if he suspected a prank was underway.
"Sorry, Ray," came a voice. "I'm communicating telepathically. You must've assumed I was your friend speaking."
"Huh?" Ray said blankly.
"What?" Stanley said, unnerved.
"It's me, Latios," the telepathic voice said to Ray.
"Oh!" Ray exclaimed. "I didn't know you can talk to me like this."
"I didn't really know, either. I'm trying to reach your friend, but I can't."
"It's the Latios from before," Ray explained to Stanley. "He's talking to me telepathically."
"Okay," Stanley said. "I thought you had broken something in your head just then."
Latios spoke again. "I just wanted to let you know! Your friend Gabe, who is in a co… coma—he's over here, I think. It's kind of complicated, but I think I can get him to wake up!"
"Well, that's good," Ray said, glad that Gabe was alright after all.
"I'll try to reach you again in a better way later," Latios said. "This is kind of tiring, so until next time."
"He's gone," Ray said aloud. "And he said Gabe's gonna be all right."
"Wow," Stanley said, halfhearted.
"What?" Ray asked.
"I wanted to talk to him too," Stanley said. "Talking to a Pokémon's so cool."
A while later, Kristy returned to the darkened park. She skipped as she approached Ray and Stanley, who were preparing their sleeping bags. Ray's Pokémon were going to sleep with them, too.
"I won!" she cried, and it echoed over the whole park. "I was so lucky… I bet she was just tired from battling you."
"Well… congrats," Ray said, sighing.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Actually, Ray was jealous that Kristy won the badge first try. He felt happy for her victory, of course, but he had himself convinced that Skyla had just been worn out. There was no way Kristy could have won. Ray cringed inwardly at his own thoughts, but he still agreed with them to some degree.
That was half of what was wrong.
The other half wasn't so hard for him to say. "It's night," Ray continued, "and Terral hasn't come back yet."
"Do you think he got lost?" Kristy asked.
Ray didn't respond.
"Let's just go to sleep," Stanley quickly suggested. "He'll definitely find his way back by then. And then you can battle the Gym again."
Ray agreed, and settled down for the night.
As Kristy began taking out her own sleeping things, she said, "Is it even legal to sleep here like this?"
"No idea," Stanley said. "Why wouldn't it be allowed?"
"I feel like a hobo."
"Well, technically, aren't we homeless here?"
"Oh, I don't know," Kristy said, giving up.
Everyone soon went to sleep, except for Dax, who decided to get up and wander around. His eyes glowed in the darkness—the Houndoom circled and watched for some nonexistent danger.
Ray tried to search the starry sky for some gleaming shape that could be Terral, but it was hopeless.