Chapter 2: Vs. Graveler: Neo Flare's Revenge

Lumiose Pokemon Lab, Top Floor

"Nini! Counter that Flamethrower with your Aqua Tail!" Trenton shouted, his partner, Dratini, leaped into the air and slammed its tail into the enemy Flareon. The Flareon cried out and staggered backwards a bit. Z and Honedge were battling with the other Neo Flare member, and his Graveler. Trenton, took aim with his Capture Styler, and fired the small top from it, sending circling around the Flareon, much like it had back in the alleyway earlier in the day during the battle with Houndour.

"Flareon, like we practiced! Use Swift!" The woman commanded, in response the Flareon jumped and unleashed a fury of white stars all over the room, a few of them buried themselves into the walls, the floor, the ceiling, all over. Then one of them, pierced the small top, and as a result, caused it to stop spinning and an alarm sound to emit from the Styler on Trenton's wrist.

"What?! How?" Trenton exclaimed, Ranger's Capture Stylers were built to be able to withstand quite a few attacks from a raging Pokemon or two. Yet somehow, this Flareon had taken out Trenton's Capture Styler in one single attack.

The woman laughed, "How pathetic." Then her face twisted back into determination, "Flareon! Lava Plume." Flareon stamped its foot, and an inferno of scarlet flames torched everything around it, including the Dratini, as well as the building. Dratini cried out, and slithered back.

"Nini! Are you okay?" Trenton called out to his partner. Dratini responded with a resolute call, "Alright, Nini. Dragon Rage!"

"Hone! Watch out for that attack and counter with Shadow Sneak!" Z told his partner, skillfully, the Pokemon avoided the projectile soaring at it, and then disappeared into the shadows of the room, suddenly reappeared behind the other Pokemon and slashed at it. The Graveler roared, and turned to swipe at Honedge, but the sword-looking creature had already disappeared into the shadows again.

"Graveler, go! Bulldoze!" The man called out. The Pokemon stomped down and the entire building began to shake violently.

"Fez, you idiot. You want to kill us both?" The woman yelled at the man.

"Quiet Mira, I'm not being beaten by some kid again." The man responded coldly. Then, a portion of the ceiling crumbled and collapsed on top of the Honedge.

"Hone!" Z yelled out.

"Flareon, scorch that slug! Flamethrower again!" The woman, Mira as the man called her, shouted. A red-hot jet of fire shot from the Flareon's mouth and hit the small dragon type Pokemon.

"Nini, hang in there!" Trenton told his Pokemon, then he noticed the floor around his Pokemon ignite with flames. "Nini, Target Clear, Water One!" Trenton suddenly commanded. His Pokemon then spun around, tail raised like a fan, and then Dratini's tail began to glow blue.

"What is it doing?" Mira giggled, "It's not even attacking the Flareon!"

"That's a Target Clear, Dratini wasn't trained for just battles," He looked at his partner, "Dratini knows that our job is to protect everyone, even the enemy, from harm. Dratini is putting out the flames before its burns the whole building down."

"Fine, if you wish to waste my time. Flareon, use Bite!" Mira replied. The Flareon lunged forward and clamped its jaw around Dratini, interrupting the Target Clear.

"Graveler, Magnitude!" Fez commanded his Rock Pokemon. The floor began to quake, and then suddenly, the floor collapsed underneath everyone and the Pokemon and they plummeted.

"I got you Nini!" Trenton shouted, as he soared through the air to his injured Pokemon, clutching it in his arms.

"Hone!" Z called out, gripping his Pokemon by the handle and they fell.

"Bulbasaur!" The dinosaur cried as it flew towards the ground.

"Bulbasaur, I got you!" Z called, putting Honedge behind him, and allowing to use it's cloth to grip to his back. Then he spread open his arms and caught the Pokemon in his arms.

Fez stood on top of his Graveler, as it rolled down the wall of the building, "Ha, time for you to become squash!"

"Fez, I'm still falling!" Mira shouted.

"Z, tell your Honedge to use Protect, you'll survive the fall!" Trenton called out to the boy. Z nodded.

"Honedge, I need you to use Protect!" He told his Pokemon. Then, an invisible barrier surrounded Z, Honedge and the Bulbasaur.

"Nini, I know you're weak, but please, use Wrap." Trenton pleaded to his Pokemon. Weakly, the Pokemon responded with a little cry and suddenly stretched out, wrapping around a piece of exposed rebar from all the damaged floors, stopping Trenton's fall.

"Eek! Flareon, Flamethrower at the ground!" Mira screamed.

Then an explosion of dust clouded over the last couple of floors as everything crashed into the base of the building.

"Z, are you alright?" Trenton asked the boy, helping him up out of the rubble. He looked around for a second.

"Where are Hone and the Professor's Bulbasaur?!" He exclaimed, scanning the rubble for any sign of the two Pokemon.

"Hone…" A faint cry came from under a piece of ruined floor. Z and Trenton heaved the slab of concrete, barely moving it enough for the Honedge and Bulbasaur to climb out. Dratini was curled up on Trenton's shoulder, its breathing faint.

"Hone, are you alright?" Z asked his Pokemon, Honedge fell into Z's hand.

"Oh Hone...Thank you for saving me." Z whispered to the fainted Pokemon.

"Well well, you don't have any Pokemon left to battle my Graveler. Hand over the stone or else." Fez demanded as he rolled safely to the ground on top of Graveler. The Pokemon then revealed its face and grunted.

"Trenton, what do we do?" Z asked, looking to the older boy for guidance

"I have no clue Z. The Capture Styler is broken, and Nini nor Hone can fight." He responded.

"Graveler, finish them." Fez told his Pokemon.

"BULBASAUR!" The small grass Pokemon roared, jumping protectively in front of Z.

"Bulbasaur, get back. That Pokemon is too powerful!" Z told the Pokemon, but Bulbasaur ignored Z, and faced the Graveler. Then, out of the bulb on its back, two long vines flew out like whips and slammed into the rock Pokemon with an immense force, knocking it into the wall.

"Bulbasaur's Overgrow ability." Trenton muttered.

"What?" Z asked, as the Bulbasaur then launched a fury of razor sharp leaves at the Graveler.

"Some Grass Pokemon have an ability called Overgrow, and when the Pokemon's health

gets low, its grass power becomes super powerful." Trenton explained.

"Whoa, cool…" Z said, stunned by the power of Bulbasaur, as it relentlessly attacked the

Graveler. Bulbasaur finished slamming the Graveler around with its vines, and the Graveler toppled over, not moving.

"Graveler no!" Fez called out. Then he pulled out a Pokeball and aimed it at his defeated

Pokemon, a red beam encased the Pokemon and it vanished into the ball, "You win this time kid, but we won't stop until we get your mega stone." Fez said before running away into the cloud of dust.

Z turned to the Bulbasaur, "That was amazing Bulbasaur!" He praised the Pokemon, it let out a small roar in return.
"Thanks Bulbasaur for saving us." Trenton said, flashing the Pokemon a smile.

"Trenton, Z are you two okay?" Sycamore's voice called out from outside.

"Yeah, we're alright. The two attackers got away though." Trenton called back, a little discouraged.

"That's alright, but we gotta get you two out of there asap. The building isn't stable anymore." Sycamore responded. Trenton headed for the exit but stopped once he realized Z wasn't following him.

"What is it?" He asked Z.

"There was another Pokemon up there, I have to find the Pokeball!" He replied, moving rocks around, "Bulbasaur, please help me find your friend." He asked the dinosaur, who immediately began moving rubble around with his vines.

"Alright, we have to hurry though." Trenton said, bending down to dig through the ruined building.

"What are you two doing, we have to get you out of there!" Sycamore cried, "It's going to collapse any minute!"

"We need a minute Professor." Trenton called out, moving a big boulder out of the way.

"Got it! Let's move!" Z shouted, picking Bulbasaur up in his arms, and running for the exit. Trenton closely followed as they rushed out of the building. Just as they got out, the entire building collapsed in on itself, and sprayed destroyed building everywhere.

"Arcanine, Protect those boys!" An adult male shouted, as the building collapsed.

Three Days Later…

Lumiose City, Hotel Richissime

"I'm glad you're doing better Bulbasaur, that last battle took a whole lot outta you didn't

It?" Sycamore asked the dinosaur creature.

"Thanks again Bulbasaur, we couldn't have done it without you." Z smiled at Bulbasaur, which resulted in a smile from the Pokemon in return, which made Z chuckle.

"You know, Z, Bulbasaur looks pretty attached to you." Sycamore said to Z as Z bent down to pet Bulbasaur.

"You think so?" He replied, looking up for a moment.

"A hundred percent." The professor responded, "I've never seen Bulbasaur so attached to someone before." He paused for a moment, deep in thought, as he was about to open his mouth, the door of the hotel room opened, and Trenton came in.

"Well," he sighed, tossing his damaged Capture Styler onto the table before going to sit on one of the beds, "HQ says they can't get a mechanic out here for at least a month, so I guess I'll have to return to HQ and get it fixed there." Then with a tone full of melancholy, he said, "Mission Failed…" Dratini let out a sad cry too.

"Now now Trenton, I think I might know someone who could fix up your styler." The professor said, trying to lift Trenton's spirit.

Trenton's face perked up, "Really?!"

"His name is Cassius, he lives not far from here, in Camphrier City. Why don't you go see him, and get your styler fixed before you continue your Mission?" Sycamore told Trenton.

"Yeah!" Trenton exclaimed, jumping up from the bed, "Mission Begin!" He said, striking a pose, winking, a smile on his face and his thumb sticking out. Z and Sycamore exchanged a look and then laughed.

"Oh yeah, and Trenton," Sycamore then said, looking at Z, "Why don't you take Z with you?"

"Me?" Z asked, looking up from Bulbasaur.

"Yeah, why don't you take Bulbasaur with you, head for Cyllage City, and while you're there, take on the Gym Leader, Grant?" The professor told him.

Z looked at Bulbasaur, and Honedge, "What do you guys say?" Bulbasaur and Hone let

out a cry in agreement, then Z turned to Trenton, "Would you mind the company?" He asked, chuckling nervously.

Trenton smiled, "It'd be great to have someone along with me."

Sycamore stood up from his seat, "Alright it's settled then," Then he pulled a pokeball from his pocket, and handed it to Z, "Here is Bulbasaur's pokeball. Bulbasaur is your Pokemon now." He grinned. Z took the ball carefully from his hand and looked down at it.

"Thank you so much Professor." Z said, and then looked at Bulbasaur, "Welcome to the team Bulba!"

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur roared. Sycamore walked over to his briefcase, and popped it open.

"Trenton, in place of your Styler, take these." He said, handing Trenton a couple of Pokeballs. Trenton looked at the balls in his hands, and then back at the Professor.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to return the ones I don't use." He said.

"Oh, and take this." Sycamore then handed Trenton a small rectangular device, "It's a Holo Caster, that way we can keep in touch while you are gone."

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can!" Trenton exclaimed cheerfully, "Z you ready to go?" Z stood up, and looked at his Pokemon.

"Yeah, let's go!" He said, full of excitement.

Along with Bulbasaur, Z and Trenton head to Camphrier Town to find Cassius and fix Trenton's Capture Styler, and so, a new journey begins!