"My second book, ah, at it again. I honestly don't remotely know where to start...I guess that's
how it is for everyone on their second journey. Beginning your second journey is always difficult,
there's always so many questions, so many concerns. You just never know what to think.
Granted, it's easier than your first journey, soley because you're no longer the rookie you once
were, now you've been around the block and have an idea of what to expect. But at the same
time, it's also very difficult, just having to start from scrtch. Ha, back when I started my second
jouney, I had no clue that I couldn't use my old pokemon. So like an idiot, I went into that first gym
with a belt of League level pokemon, expecting to sweep everyone off their feet! Boy was I
suprised when they told me I couldn't use them!"
Lavaridge Town Gym Hoenn Region
"What the bloody hell do you mean I can't use Blaziken?!" Iian yelled out quite irrate. Iian, now
eighteen years old, looked somewhat different than he normall did. He had blue jeans on which
looked quite plain, yet he wore a short black sleeved short with a red pattern across it. His 'dirty
blonde' hair was a bit longer than it had been, and it went well with his green eyes and clean
shaven face.
"I mean, that's an official League registered pokemon" The leader Flannery replied. She
looked as she always did, vibrant red hair running from her head, a tight short black shirt, and
shaggy pants. "You can't use that here"
"Why the hell not?!" Iian asked confused and angry
"Because that's the law...How did you get to this gym and not know that?" Flannery asked
crossing her arms
"Well I already had the other badges from when I was a kid, so I just got on my way
here...and..." Iian stumbled over his words
"Alright...fair enough...but you still can't use that" Flannery said looking at the boy "Don't you
have anything else?"
"uhh...I have a wurmple and a tailow..." Iian said pulling forth two pokeballs
"Well..that'll have to do" Flannery said in a bit of disbelief as she pulled forth a pokeball
"...f^ck" Iian said simply
A Few Humiliating Minutes Later
"...Bloody f^cking daft weak ss sh!t" Iian grumbled as he walked out of the gym "Did you
know about this sh!t?!"
The random citizen he yelled at had no clue what he was talking about and calmly waved as
they backed away. Iian was extremely angry that his mighty League team was now unusable in
his home region. The once mighty trainer was no handicapped in his own land, a mighty soldier
wounded.
"Great, just freaking great" Iian grumbled as he walked towards the entrance of a pokecenter,
as he did the doors didn't open and he walked face first into the glass door "..fantastic"
Iian kicked the door before he swung it wide open, barely avoiding striking his own face. He
walked in proudly, a few trainers looking at him as though he were a cuckold. He gave each a
look that could kill as he walked forth to a PC which stood next to the counter.
"You okay?" The nurse asked looking at Iian as she handed a trainer a tray of five pokeballs
"Better than you look" Iian grumbled as he logged onto the PC "My glorious team, all
useless...now all I have is this useless cute worm and this bird most people keep as a pet...and I
need to defeat Flannery, just great!"
Several onlookers watched IIan as he complained, inputting his pokeballs into the machine,
watching them disappear into the system, being transported to his home. Iian continued on with
his complaining as he put in a fourth and final pokeball, the one which held his Blaziken.
"Sorry buddy, I can't afford to keep you with me, you're going to stay with mum and pop for a
little bit" Iian said sadly as the pokeball disappeared into the system "Fan tucking fastic, two
bloody pokemon and I need to defeat this regions fourth damn leader, just fan tucking fastic"
Even more onlookers turned to Iian as he carried on. The boy didn't give a single care, rather
he just continued on with his rant whilst he continued inputting his pokemon. All that remained
was two pokeballs around his belt, two solitary pokeballs. Two normal red and white pokeballs
with weak level pokemon was all the League level trainer had to show for his talents.
"This is some bloody f^cking bullsh!t, I don't know why I'm not allowed to keep my pokemon..."
Iian carried on as he began on his way out the building, a small group of trainers and nurses all
watching as he walked onwards "My pokemon are perfectly posh! I should be allowed to keep
my damned pokemon with me! Who the hell does she think she is?! Didn't she see me at the
Unova league?!"
Iian didn't stop for a breath as he made his way down the street. His loud spew catching the
attention of everyone who walked by him. Innocent bystanders just minding their business when
the loud mouthed boy would come in to pop their bubble of tranquility with his needle of
aggrivation.
"...I mean I understand everyone was really uneasy after the mess that happened in Unova
not too long back, but a league is a league! Why would my own homeland treat me like this?!"
Iian ranted as he found his way down the street "Of everyone, me? Me?!"
By this time Iian had found himself in a small patch of tall grass, the sound of something
rustling around inside of it was clear. Iian pulled forth a pokball from his backback and lifted it into
the air.
"Come on you wanker, I want to beat Flannery already!" Iian yelled out as his eyes followed
the rustling grass "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be!"
As he finished yelling, he noticed a very small creature begin to make its way out of the
grass. There it stood, a small humanoid creature. It looked as though it had been beaten, it had
small cuts and bruises all across its small body. Iian couldn't help but lose his frustration and
change to sympathy as he watched the small creature crawl forth a few inches before falling
onto the ground.
"...Umm...Want to beat Flannery?" Iian asked unsure of what to say as the small creature
rose back to its feet. As it did so, it tilted its small helmet like head up revealing two large watery
eyes just underneath the head plating. Iian stared into the twitching eyes for a moment before his
eyes too began to twitch and grow large.
"Ral ts" The little creature replied holding both of its arms up as though it wanted Iian to pick it
up
"...son of a..." Iian began as he reached down and grabbed ahold of the creature "No offense
little bud, but I need to beat Flannery, I need really strong really...uhh..."
As he spoke, the little Ralts looked up at him, its enormous watery eyes twitching with its
smile. Iian sucked in his lip as he tried to force some words out, but he couldn't manage to say
anything. He held the little pokemon in his arms.
"...well f^ck" Iian said with a sigh as he felt his phone buzzing "I wanted something strong, not
this..."
As he said this he reached into his pocket and pulled forth his ringing phone, all he could see
was the name "Anna". He simply rolled his eyes as he shut his phone off and looked back at his
new partner.
"Well, a pokemon is a pokemon, i'm sure I can make you kick arse somehow" Iian said
looking at the pokemon "Now let's see if we can find anything else..."
Iian made large circles in the grass, still holding the small pokemon known as Ralts in his
hand. He half expected some wild pokemon to turn up at every movement, but he was not so
lucky. Despite not having much luck, he was very resilient and motivated. He spent the next four
hours scavaging the land, looking for any pokemon he could find. All he had was a backpack full
of pokeballs, a wurmple, a tailow, and now a ralts.
"Ya hah! I got you now you stupid mutt!" Iian yelled out as he threw a pokeball full force at a
small pup like pokemon known as Poocheyana, standing opposite it was his white cacoon like
pokemon that had once been a wurmple, now evolved from all the fighting.
"You aren't getting away again wanker!" Iian called out as his large bird, now a mighty
Swellow, swooped down fast striking the fleeing pokemon known as zigzagoon.
"Now that you know something besides teleport, use it!" Iian commanded his small friend who
stood beside another small pokemon, this one being a brown seed like creature known as
Seedot. Ralts boldly puffed up its chest before throwing its whole body forward in a tackle.
"Hehe..just a little more training and we got this..." Iian said to himself smugly as he rubbed
his hands together, quite confident in his abilities. The boy was rather bold, despite the fact that
he had been training in a small patch of grass for the past week, his pokemon all still much
weaker than his previous group.
Lavaridge Gym
"...Umm...are you still sure?" Flannery asked overlooking her opponents Seedot which
struggled to its feet
"Damn it all to hell!" Iian yelled out
Just outside of Town
"Alright guys, so we lost...again" Iian said overlooking his new team of pokemon which stood
around in a semi circle "...f^cking bloody hobnocker is a bloody f^cking b!tch"
"Swe" Iians Swellow squaked looking at his master who was twisting his glove into a knot
"Alright, so...game plan..." Iian said wiping his face in frustration "We aren't really ready
yet...so let's train for another week or two, that's really all we can afford. If we take any longer,
our head start won't mean much...so we train, we go back, and we win, good? Good."
Two Weeks Later
"So you're back again?" Flannery asked watching Iian set his feet in the trainers box of the
rock floored battlefield
"Fourth time's the charm" Iian replied, his face quite serious as he ran his hand across his full
belt of pokeballs
"Yeah you said third time's the charm five days ago" Flannery replied sarcastically as she set
down her bottle of water next to a half eaten sandwhich on a small table
"Well that was the past, this is now" Iian retorted quickly
"Huh, pretty much what I said to you when you asked why you aren't allowed to use your
league pokemon" Flannery said raising a brow arrogantly "Seriously man, you aren't the first its
happened to. Sometimes you get so used to one group of pokemon that you forget how to really
train, i've seen some league level trainers completely fail at new regions. Honestly a solid ten
percent of trainers end up quitting for that reason alone. It's similar to Surge Syndrome, you're so
used to the strong pokemon of your old group that you never are able to catch new ones and
train them properly"
"Well i'm about to show you that I did just that" Iian snapped back quickly
"I'd be amazed if you did" Flannery replied as she pulled a pokeball from her pocket "But i've
seen your kind before, you just won't make it, keep coming back to my gym all you want, your
career is over, sorry. I understand it's difficult to acce..."
"Just shut up and send out the stupid slug" Iian interupted quickly. Flannery let out a smirk as
she clicked her pokeball, the red and white sphere expanding in her hand.
"Alright, I don't think I need to explain how this works" A blue haired man wearing a suit called
out as he stepped into the referee box
"Cress? Aren't you supposed to be in Unova?" Iian asked confused as he looked at the man
"Meh, me and my brothers decided to go on an adventure of our own" Cress replied with a
shrug "And I felt like coming to Hoenn first"
"Weird..." Iian replied nodding his head in understanding
"Cress! Stop talking and get to reff ing!" Flannery snapped stomping her foot on the ground
"Yeah yeah" Cress replied making a whipping motion with his arm "Alright, this battle is a
three on three match for the Heat Badge, first one to knock out all three of their opponents
pokemon wins, Challenger Iian you may send out your first pokemon"
"Alright, time to show you what we got, come on out Kirlia!" Iian yelled out quickly snatching a
pokeball from his belt and tossing it onto the floor. From the pokeballs glow formed a new
creature to his party. It was a white bipedal Pokémon that appeared to be wearing a small dress.
It had green hair like extensions that reached down to its shoulders, along with two red horns.
"Really?" Flannery asked looking at the pokemon cross its arms as though unimpressed with
the woman "It took you three weeks to get that?"
"Better than a slug" Iian retorted
"Yet it will still lose to a slug" Flannery replied without missing a beat. She chuckled to herself
as she tossed forth her pokeball, quickly forming into the marvelous Slugma. Slugma was a
limbless Pokémon composed of a red membrane much like magma. Its body was bright red,
fading to a duller red along its extremities. It had large, round, yellow eyes with small pupils. The
Slugma's head was ovoid with flame like extensions spreading upward from its eyes and round,
stable jowels dangling from its upper jaw.
"We...Won't...Lose" Iian said confdently as Kirlia's eyes began to glow an illuminating purple.
"Bring it! Slugma use sunny day!" Flannery yelled out quikly
"Teleport!" Iian responded quickly
Slugma threw its head high into the air, closing its eyes, Iian watched as a small glimmering
star like ball of energy formed on its forehead. Kirlia quickly threw its arm up and in an instant
had disapeared. As the piece of energy rose into the sky from Slugma, Kirlia manifested behind
the slug and immideatly turned its eyes purple with energy again. This time however, Slugma
began glowing for a moment before it was thrown back several feet, tumbling along the ground.
"Good! Now Confusion again!" Iian yelled out, his eyes practically on fire with devotion to win
the battle.
"Light Screen quickly!" Flannery yelled back, Cress turning his half interested gaze to Slugma
as it lifted its head up.
As Kirlia's eyes began to glow, a glimmering box of light suddenly appeared before Slugma.
Iian watched, grinding his teeth slightly, as Kirlia tried to attack the Slug with its psychic power,
yet it not working. Kirlia seemed to growl with frustration, biting its lower lip as the Slugma stared
vacantly through its wall of light energy.
"Smog!" Flannery comanded, not wasting a moment
"Kirlia Magical leaf before it can do it!" Iian quickly called out.
Kirlia collected its arms on its chest for a moment before throwing them out to either side,
spread far. From the barren rock ground, several glowing green chunks began to rise, swirling
around the masses of green was rainbow like illumination. Kirlia threw forth its arms, yet as it did
Slugma opened forth its mouth and spewed forth a horrendous cloud of black gasses.
"Come on Kirlia" Iian growled as the cloud encompassed the Slugma, hiding it.
Kirlia slowly backed its feet up as the cloud spread, coming closer and closer. As the
pokemon reached the edge of the field, its foot nearly on the white painted line, the cloud
suddenly stopped growing began disspating. The cloud shrunk down, turning to a light mist
around Kirlias ankles. Iian looked onwards to see Slugma rising from the ground, the 'leaves'
having been a direct hit.
"Good job! Now Teleport and Confusion again!" Iian commanded. Kirlia nodded its head,
throwing up its arm again and dissapearing.
"Now Smog again!" Flannery said smugly
Her Slugma obeyed quickly, almost immedietly spewing forth another cloud. A look of panic
overtook Iians face as Kirlia suddenly appeared behind the slugma, directly in the quickly forming
cloud of Smog. Kirlia panicked, but decided to continue its attack. The Slug suddenly shot forth in
a covering of purple light, making a tunnel in the smog, Kirlia quickly leaping back out of the fog.
"Kirlia are you okay?!" Iian asked as Kirlia landed hard on the floor on its side
"Kirl..." Kirlia replied with a cringe before letting out a cough
"Heh...poisoned" Flannery said crossing her arms overlooking her Slugma return to its upright
posistion
"No, no, you're fine right?!" Iian asked his rising pokemon
"Kirl!" The kirlia replied throwing its arm back as though to make Iian back off, as it did so its
chest heaved several times with coughs.
"Not fine, it's poisoned" Flannery said with a grin "Like I said, no matter how many times you
try, you won't beat me"
"I will! Don't think just because Kirlia is poisoned that we're done for!" Iian retorted angrily, his
Kirlia tilting its head in agreement. Both Iian and his pokemons eyes seemed to match in
determination and rage, both ready to win no matter the cost.
"Yeah right, it's as good as over, i've seen every trick your kirlia has, and I remember all of
your other pokemons tricks from the last times" Flannery replied with a large shrug of her arms
and shoulders "Just accept it, Slugma, Overheat!"
"Kirlia you have to dodge it somehow!" Iian yelled out as Slugma began to glow a sickly red
Kirlia looked at its opponent for a moment before the slug unleashed the great attack. All
across Slugmas body, flames shot out in a four foot radius, yet from the beasts mouth came the
true force. In a great burst of flame, entangled with another swilring set of flames around it,
Slugma shot forth the beam of ultimate firepower towards Kirlia. Kirlia looked all across the field,
yet could see nothing to hide behind. The psychic type quickly teleported into the air, but it was of
no help as Slugma slowly turned its head and the beam towards the pokemon. Kirlia locked its
teeth and pulled its arms up to block the attack, in an instant the beam striking the poor
pokemon.
"No!" Iian yelled out as his pokemon fell from the air and struck the ground hard.
"Hehe, told you" Flannery said smugly as she watched Kirlia twitch on the ground.
"Khe khe" Kirlia's body suddenly sounded off, its back rising and lowering as the creature let
off a strange and haunting laugh.
"Huh?" Iiana and Flannery questioned in unison as Kirlia rose to its knees and hands
Kirlia lifted its head, a small stream of a dark blue blood falling from the corner of its mouth as
it laughed. The psychic type rose to its feet laughing, its forearms both scorched harshly, still
letting off small streams of steam. Kirlia spread out both of its arms as though it was going to
give a hug, Slugma looking with confusion. As the slug looked on, it suddenly began heaving.
"What?! No way!" Flannery yelled out as Slugma coughed several times before looking at its
torso with a cringe
"Khe khe khe!" Kirlia laughed unsettlingly as it looked with its large eyes at its opponent slowly
growing in pain.
"Synchronize" Cress said completly unphased "Kirlia can make its opponent suffer the same
ailment it does"
"Kirl!" Kirlia said with a large smile as it wiped the blood on its arm
"I told you" Iian said proudly as he looked at the worried Slugma, clearly in much pain "We
won't give up, we will suffer and accept the pain, but we will push through. Now Kirlia, let's do
this!"
"No! Come on Slugma, I know you can keep going! Overheat again!" Flannery said in worry
as Kirlia centered its hands in the mid of its chest
Slugma wasted not a single moment in charging up its energy, but Kirlia was ready. The
feminine pokemon teleported quickly and appeared feet behind Slugma. As the creature spun
around, Kirlias eyes turned a pure purple glow, quickly enveloping the slug and throwing it far. As
the Slug tumbled, its senses were thrown all out of order. It attempted to charge up its energy
once more, but it was confused and could not properly channel the power, instead it hurt itself in
confusion. Before its trainer could even say another order, the poision in Slugma caused a very
quick and harsh contraction in its sternum, the pain sending the slugma to the floor, completely
unable to continue.
"Well, Slugma's out of it, Kirlia wins this one" Cress said pulling forth a red flag and lifting it
high towards Iian as his Kirlia slowly began walking towards him, its hand on its chest as it had
trouble breathing.
"Kudos, you actually got one down" Flannery said rather sarcastically as she returned
Slugma "About time you stopped sending out bug types and grass types to try and take me on,
but alas, you're still doomed to fail"
"You say that, yet last time I checked, my pokemon just won" Iian said holding his hand up,
his index and middle finger up and spread in a v shape
"Just keep talking" Flannery said annoyed as she pulled forth a second pokeball and lightly
tossed it onto the field. The pokeball hit the ground before it sprung open unleasing its contents.
Out from the glowing mass unleashed formed a very heavy set four legged pokemon. It had a
stout body with red shaggy fur and three blue ring shaped markings on both sides. It had bangs
on top of its head, droopy ears, and a tan furless muzzle.
"Camerupt...been a while since i've seen one of those" Cress said looking at the pokemon
with two large volcano like growths coming from its back
"No problem, we can take chunky the wanker over there, right Kirlia?" Iian asked looking at
Kirlia who held its hands closely on its aching chest, the toxin in its lungs hurting intensly
"Tackle!" Flannery demanded quickly as she threw forth her hand. Her Camerupt obeyed
quickly as it shot forth with surprising speed.
"Teleport!" Iian countered, yet Kirlia could not manage the move. Kirlia cringed as it attempted
to teleport, the moment of pain giving camerupt just the time it needed to throw its heavy body
forth and strike Kirlia, violently sending Iian's pokemon to the ground. "Kirlia!"
"...i'm pretty sure it's unable to continue..." Cress said looking at Kirlia who laid flat on its back,
its limbs spread out as it stared vacantly at the roof.
"Kir.." Kirlia groaned trying to stand up, as it rose to its hands and knees its chest violently
contracted. Kirlia griped its chest in pain before it fell face first on the ground.
"Well, now it is" Cress said looking at the incapacitated pokemon.
"Bloody son of a f..." Iian began before a loud snorting noise interupted him. He turned his
head quickly to see Camerupt coughing up in pain.
"...But how?" Flannery said in shock watching her camerupt cough up
"Hmm, Kirlia must have synchronized just before it passed out" Cress said nodding his head
in aknowledgment
"Haha, hell yeah!" Iian yelled with an excited jump "Kirlia pulling through!"
"...lucky break" Flannery said in an upstart tone
"Luck has nothing to do with it!" The boy retorted as he clipped Kirlia's pokeball onto his belt
and pulled forth a second ball
"...I'm pretty sure half of your skill is just stupid luck" Flannery spoke with a rolling of her eyes
"Well then, let's see how my 'stupid luck' affects Beautifly!" Iian yelled out with quite some
confidence as he threw forth his second pokeball, this time a very unusal pokemon for the trainer
coming forth. It was indeed a rather large fluttering bug with lovely patterns across its black and
grey body. Yet oddest of all were its two large eyes which seemed to twitch about, only adding to
the creatures cuteness.
"Really? That thing is supposed to beat my Camerupt?" Flannery asked looking at the jolly
little insect flutter about in the air, looking as though it was sniffing around for flowers.
"You know, I used to have a Flaaffy, and people said awfully similar statements about it" Iian
responded with a smile. "That Flaffy got me to the Unova Pokemon League"
"Oh please" Flannery said crossing her arms, "After that nonsense with the castle, no one
went to Unova, getting into their league last year wasn't the biggest of acomplishments. This is
Hoenn, you're playing with the big boys now."
"I've been fighting the big boys since I was a milksop" Iian said with a great breath of boldness
as he popped his neck, "I'm not scared of you, I knew what I was getting myself into when I
started my journey"
A Few Weeks Earlier
"Do you really understand what you're getting yourself into?" The middle aged woman asked
as she rocked a newborn back and forth in her arms, her accent much stronger than Iian's.
"Of course I do, I survived Unova didn't I?" Iian replied spreading his arms out in insult. He
stood next to his pokemon who all sat on the ground eating from various pots, cauldrins, and
bowls.
"I know you were still young, but if you don't remember Hoenn isn't anything like Sinnoh or
Unova" A middle aged rather tall man who was evidently the boys father spoke
"Like I said, i'm pretty sure I can handle it" Iian said in a very sarcastic and obnoxious voice,
his Umbreon staring up at him with a mouthful of food
"Look here boy, things are different here and they were different at Unova" The woman began
while she rocked her child back and forth rythmicly, "I know you're a wonderful trainer, ten times
better than your father or I ever could have imagined, but being a trainer is a very sensitive
proffesion. You have to be smart and careful, don't get cocky just because you made it far in
Unova. Even if you've tamed a feral pokemon, that doesn't mean a domestic one can't get to
you. Just look at your uncle. He caught, trained, and fully evolved an axew. What happens? He
gets killed by a seviper that caught him off gaurd in the grass..."
"I'm not daft!" Iian yelled back stomping his foot, "I know what i'm doing. And Hoenn is my
home, there's no way I'll screw up in my home. I'd kill myself if I let that happen..."
Present day
"Son of a f^ck!" Iian yelled out with an eye twitch as his Beautifly laid on the ground in a
smoldering crater, steam coming off of it
"Unable to continue" Cress called out looking at the pokemon, "Good battle though"
"Since when did a bug seem like a good idea to fire?" Flannery asked exasperatedly crossing
her arms and pinchng the base of her nose with her fingers "It didn't work the first three times,
why would it now?"
"Okay, you know what, I am just shutting you out!" Iian yelled returning his pokemon, "You're
just a distraction, and I need focus right now. Swellow you got this!"
"So your tailow finally evolved? Still isn't enough to beat me..." Flannery mocked
"Alright Swellow, keep calm, we got this, just be smart" Iian said to his emerging pokemon,
"Come on, come on"
"Camerupt! Let's go! Overheat!" Flannery yelled out
"Dodge it and wing attack!" Iian yelled in reply.
Camerupt wasted no time in bursting forth with an enormous blast of energy. Flames shot
forth from its backs as it spat out the swirling overheat beam. Swellow, the speedy bird, shot
forth into the air in a fast barrel roll, avoiding the beam. As Swellow shot forth, it slashed its
opponent with its wing, throwing the Camerupt back several feet in a slide.
"Don't stop camerupt! Tackle!" Flannery quickly commanded
Camerupt swung around quickly as the last flame dissipated from its back. The large beast
threw its body at Swellow. The bird attempted to dodge the attack with a sharp shot upwards into
the sky, but the enormous opponent was slightly too fast and struck the bird .
"Follow it up with another Tackle!" Flannery demanded watching Swellow strike the ground
"Quick Attack! Sweep its feet!" Iian countered with a passionate yell.
Swellow landed on the ground and threw itself back from the ground. It spread its wings in the
space of air not six inches above the ground and shot backwards. Camerupt leapt forward, but
Swellow was too fast and shot forth taking out Camerupts legs. The enormous opponent fell to
the ground hard, practically making the ground shake.
"Not bad" Cress said in a state of minor awe as Camerupt crawled to its feet.
"Air slash!" Iian commanded without delay
Swellow swung its great wings forth, shooting forth a gust of wind which shot forth with such
intesnity that it was much like a blade. Camerupt saw its opponent move a moment too late and
took the full impact of the slash which took the beast to the floor.
"Well, Camerupt is unable to continue" Cress said looking at the unconscious pokemon laid
out on the floor
"I can see that Cress!" Flannery yelled out irrate as she returned the pokemon, "Regardless, I
still have one more pokemon."
"Heh, let's see if it can do anything worth while" Iian said smugly as Flannery pulled forth her
last pokeball.
"I guess we'll see." Flannery said with a simple smile. Iian stood waiting as his opponent
tossed the last pokeball into the air. It all came down to this. Wheter or not the pokemon in the air
would win or lose, wheter or not Swellow had what it took. Weeks of trying and weeks of training.
As the Pokeball came down through the air, Iian could not help but remember seeing a very
similar sight in the Pokemon League. Iian couldn't help but have a quick memory flash of the
owner of that pokeball being Anna...or Raian.
"Neat..." Cress spoke, snapping Iian back into reality, his opponent standing across from him.
A Torkoal.
Iian smiled as he looked at his last opponent. It was high stakes, high reward, just like he liked
it. He was more than ready, he had been humiliated too much, and he wanted to show his true
skill now.
A Few Weeks Earlier
Iian stood leaning on a safety rail, overlooking the sky. It was a cool day, much like Sinnoh
days tended to be. Not much time before, he was fighting in a pokemon league, and now not
much later he would be in the Hoenn region. But for the moment everything was still. Everything
was calm. That is, until Iians phone gave off a small buzz.
The cellular device was buried in the boys pocket, and he could well feel it vibrating. He slowly
reached down to his pocket and lifted the device. As it continued to shake in his half hand, he
noticed the number and the name. Anna.
"Umb?" A small voice piped up from beside Iian. It was none other than his Umbreon, a proud
member of his Unova League team.
"...I shouldn't." Iian said simply as he silenced his phone, shutting off its screen, "In Hoenn, it's
just going to be us. I need to get used to the solitude. The less I depend on their company, the
better. It's for the best that I start to wean off of them now. I mean, what's the worst that can
happen?"
Present Day
The large red Torkoal spat forth an enormous swirling beam of fire after the flying bird.
Swellow used great skill and precision to avoid the blast which followed closesly after him,
trailing off into the gyms hard roof. Torkoal kept its eyes closed, which made its sense of where
Swellow was rather impressive, a large stream of flames erupting from a hole in its thick shell.
"Now Wing Attack!" Iian yelled out, clenching his fist tight, the battle was indeed nearing its
end. Swellow was very weak, and Torkoal was very weak, one had to give in soon.
Swellow shot down with great speed, narrowly dodging Torkoals Overheat blast. As Swellow
came close, Torkoal turned the blast directly at the bird, but the bird made a sharp barrel role at
the last moment, twirling around the blast and shooting forth into Torkoal. The birds wing, with
great velocity, struck down into the torkoal's neck, sending the creature back several feet with
force.
"Let's finish this!" Iian yelled out
"Fine by me" Flannery replied
"Swellow!" Iian yelled out at the exact instant Flannery yelled out 'Torkoal!', "Finish this off with
an Air Slash!"
"Hit it with a Tackle!" Flannery commanded in reply.
Torkoal leapt forth off of its strong legs, the turtle was slow yet extremely bulky and powerful.
Swellow wasted no time in charging up its energy and swinging its wings in a mighty shot. The
strength was so great that it sent a large wave at the opponent, stopping it in its mid air tackle.
Swellow let out a cry of pain and rage as it swung forth one more time, sending off an air slash.
The blade of wind struck the torkoal with ferocity, throwing it hard against the ground with impact.
Swellow was so low on energy that the bird fell to the ground the moment after.
"Swellow's still technically able to battle..." Cress said looking at the brd which laid on its side,
azily flapping its wing in a poor effort, "And Torkoal isn't...so...Iian wins it..."
"F^ck yeah!" Iian yelled out as he ran forth, his arms up in joy, onto the field. Flannery dropped
her arms and shoulders in dissapointment as she listened to the boy cheer.
"...damn..." Flannery said returning her unconscious Torkoal
"Ah! Too much damn bad luck." Iian said annoyed as he returned his Swellow, still joyful over
winning his fourth Hoenn gym badge, and his first returning badge, "What the hell did I do to
deserve it...?"
Not Many Weeks Earlier
"...Oh hey, you're home." Iian's mother called out seeing her child walk through the front door,
Umbreon by his side, "You got a package."
"Huh? From who?" Iian asked grabbing ahold of the cardboard box on the counter before him
"How am I supposed to bloody know, just open it and find out" The woman retorted annoyed
as she quickly left the room. Iian could hear her muttering curse words as she paraded down the
hall.
"Well then, what's in here?" Iian asked as he stabbed his thumb through the tape holding the
boxes top shut.
He quickly ripped through the tape and flipped the lid open, revealing a small piece of paper on
top of covered contents. Iian curiously lifted the paper up to red its writing, as he did he noticed a
large tag of paper underneath it atop what appeared to be several pokeballs and potions.
"Dear Iian..." Iian began reading the letter "I know you've been busy, and I know you're
probably really excited to go back to the Hoenn Region. As such, I wanted to give you something
to help you out. Elsa and I couldn't really afford much, so we decided to forward this box to
everyone so that they could all add their own messages and gifts. Anna."
As Iian finished the first paragraph he lifted up a the tag of paper which was atop the other
goods. It was a very peculiar tag which was adorned in strange markings he was unfamiliar with.
"Anna is a bit shy, but she really wanted to give you this Cleanse Tag..." Iian continued reading
"It's for good luck and to protect you in your journey. Good Luck Iian, I know you'll do great Elsa."
"Umb?" Umbreon questioned as it leapt onto a stool next to the counter, Iian shuffling through
the box's contents while reading.
"Hey bro migo. Hillary's taking me to the Fiore region before the Hoenn region, so it's going to
be quite a while before we meet up again. We decided to give you some pokeballs, so you can
catch some pokemon and meet us in the League. Ha! See you there. Josue & Hillary" Iian read
as he lifted a nice looking clean Ultra ball from the pile of pokeballs, before turning to the last part
of the letter."...
Hey Iian, been a while, starting to miss you already. We made it man, we got through Unova,
and now you're well on your way to the Frontier. Stay strong brother, you've got this, I know you
do. We've been through so much together, that I know what you're capable of. So does Anna,
that's why she put this whole gift box together. You have a lot of people supporting you, and we
all know how much you're capable of. Kiera and I spent a lot of money on these potions and full
restores, use them wisely, you're going to need them at the Hoenn League. See you
there Raian."
Iian lifted one of the potion containers and swirled it for a moment before tossing it back in the
box. The bottom of the box was colorful and well decorated in fine papers and drawings from
everyone. Iian lifted the Cleanse tag and held it by the letter for a moment before crumpling both
up and throwing them into the box. Umbreon looked confused as Iian lifted the box and quickly
poured its contents into the nearest rubbish bin.
"Like I said, Umbreon." Iian said simply as he tossed the empty box atop the bin, "The less I
depend on them. The Better."