Hello. I haven't updated in over a year. Honestly it was me being demotivated but recently a creative spark has hit me once again. I looked over my notes and have decided to redo some things in the plot and I'm much happier with it now.
Thank you to the 5 people that reviewed this story and I hope you still enjoy what I put out in the future. I will be continuing to update hopefully regularly (Or irregularly with not too much time between updates...) so that we can progress and I can get feedback and learn more
In the meantime, why bother wasting time with meaningless pre chapter babbling? I've already been so late on this and thats not why you're here. You're here to read my story. Here's the next installment, and I promise the next one won't take a year.
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Aurora Sapphirus
By The Mew in a Chair
Chapter 2
...
Ok, admittedly, this wans't exactly the start I wanted to have to my time in the Kalos Region. A total Blackout, right after meeting Lisia was a less than ideal situation. But hey what can you do? Problems always pop up when you don't want them to and there's nothing you can do but either wait them out or work to fix them. Admittedly I didn't have as much experience with technology as someone like this Clemont guy that Lisia had talked about but that didn't mean I was going to sit by.
Helping people was always something I liked doing. It was a trait I feel like I picked up from Ash. That rambunctious attitude of his always setting me on the path of what felt like Justice. Now that sounds a bit over exaggerated for just a blackout but hey. There was no need to worry! Not when I was around of course.
What surprised me more was I started to remember this guy. I recall he traveled with Ash before. Was it fate pulling me towards all these familiar faces at once? or was it something more? Either way. The storm surrounding Lumoise was worrying and here I stood in it, watching this friend of a friend work diligently...
...
A few minutes had passed since the lights in Lumoise had gone out and people were already gathered around the main circuit grid that was located at the base of the tower.
Clemont coughed as he lifted up the fuse box. Dawn and Lisia stood behind him as smoke poured from the metal casing. He scratched the back of his head and looked at the two girls with an annoyed grunt.
"Well…Power grid got completely fried. The odds of a single bolt of lightning just happening to hit it were about one in 125700…" He sighed as he adjusted his glasses before taking them off and began to rub them as he got lost in his own thought.
The blonde Gym Leader was already at the base of the tower when the lightning had struck. Lisia had pulled Dawn over to him as the storm they had felt beginning to channel earlier began, coating Lumoise in a thick sheet of heavy rain. People were going inside and scampering about, using Fire and Electric type Pokemon to try and make lights for people to see.
Clemont motioned for the two to help him take a look at the main power grid of Lumoise Tower, hoping it would be easy to fix but it looked grim. A young girl exited the base of the tower and ran over, her blonde hair the same shade as Clemont's but her smile was brighter and her clothing was heavy with leather straps. She looked at Lisia and Dawn. In her hands was a Pokemon Dawn had seen once or twice on TV but never in person, a Dedenne.
"Big bro, what happened!? I could barely find my way down here and nearly slipped on the stairs!" She said as she turned back to him, obviously his little sister.
"Lightning strike took out the main grid…and all the power in Lumoise" Clemont sighed as he put his glasses back on and turned back to his two guests "I'm so sorry about the conditions. I saw Lisia and thought she might be able to help but in the rush I didn't even get to introduce myself. I'm Clemont, Gym Leader of Lumoise and full time inventor"
Clemont held his hand out and Dawn shook it. She looked at him and cocked her head, suddenly recalling in a discussion with Ash a long while ago that he travelled with a boy and his sister who matched their descriptions.
"Pleasure to meet you!" The blunette said, nonetheless happy to meet Kalosian natives. She turned to the girl "I'm Dawn, what's your name?"
"Bonnie! I'm Clemont's little sister and also his…" She motioned to Dawn and she leaned her head down as Bonnie made a little grin before whispering into her ear "…personal matchmaker. I'm looking for his wife…"
Clearly her brother heard that because a large robotic arm popped out of the backpack Clemont was wearing and picked up Bonnie from the shirt collar, causing her to almost lose the Dedenne in her hands as she was lifted off the ground. The Gym Leader rolled his eyes before turning back to Dawn and Lisia.
"Anyways…the storm's getting really bad. Why don't I invite you guys inside for a few minutes so I can run a quick scan of the network and see if there's a way I can fix this?" He said as he motioned a hand to the sliding door of the tower. Lisia and Dawn nodded.
"That's totally cool! Thanks Clemont. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help you out with this! After all you've helped me out so much since I opened!" Lisia exclaimed as they walked towards the door, Clemont placing Bonnie back on the ground as she trailed behind them.
The inside of the lobby of the Prism Tower was dark, but Clemont was clearly prepared for incidents like this. He snapped a finger and a few emergency lights popped on from the floor, dimly lighting the room. The four humans and the two Pokemon sat down. Piplup looked around a little concerned as Clemont pulled out a small laptop and began typing.
"Now let's see here…The main power grid is here at the base of the tower since the tower is in the middle of the city, however I have several backup generators lining the sewers of the city, all hydro powered…But something's strange, the flow of the water seems to have slowed completely to a stop and some of the generators aren't pulling any energy from the water" The gym leader explained as several charts and pictures began to pop up on the screen.
"You use the sewers to power the city?" Dawn gasped. The blonde Gym Leader nodded.
"Yeah over the years I've been looking for ways to make the power in Kalos less reliant on Pokemon and human production and more reliant on the ecosystem. The canals that travel around Lumoise all open into the ocean but also are filtered through our sewage, which helps generate power for the city in case the main grids fail" He explained.
"My brother's really smart! It took him only a few months to set up all the generators!" Bonnie laughed and hugged her brother, who pushed her away quickly, his voice serious.
"But…I've never had this problem before. Usually when there's a short circuit with the main grid a backup generator would normally be able to at least temporarily restore power to the city but this time it doesn't look like ANY power is coming. The first generator at the entrance to the sewage plant has completely stopped, which means something is stopping the flow of water" He said as he gripped his chin, pondering the situation.
"Do you think it's the storm? Or Pokemon perhaps?" Lisia asked with a raised eyebrow as a clap of thunder boomed outside.
"That has to be it. Something is plugging up the water at this part…" Clemont said as he turned the screen so Dawn, Lisia, and Piplup could see it, and pointed to a spot on the screen, which was displaying a large complicated looking digital blueprint.
"We have to send someone there to fix it!" Dawn said "In a storm this bad people are going to need power…"
Clemont nodded and turned the laptop back, quickly typing some commands in.
"I would go myself but I need to stay here and reboot all the systems, and fix the wiring in the fuse box. Bonnie's not a very experienced trainer yet so if something's dangerous down there I don't feel comfortable sending her alone, and I can't get in contact with any police right now because the phones are down too" He sighed as he typed. Bonnie frowned at that comment and looked over at the one Pokeball she had attached to her belt, which Dawn guessed was Dedenne's.
"We can go Dawn!" Lisia said as she stood up in a huff, a glint in her eyes. Dawn looked at her funny, the thought of exploring a sewer not sounding like the greatest thing in the world but then again, there wasn't much more she could have done in that situation if they wanted to fix the power.
The blunette nodded and stood up with her new friend and looked down at the pair of siblings.
"Yeah it shouldn't be too much trouble after all..So…Where is this generator again?" She asked Clemont.
...
The submarine docked in the port, the rain pouring from the sky like the rage of a Slaking against the ground. Several men exited it, wearing ponchos that covered their faces. The dark skinned captain stood up, the wind blowing his anchor necklace around as he glared at the sky.
"Is this your doing Kyogre? You great slumbering beast…" He thought as they began walking down the dock, noticing the lack of people around.
"Captain Archie, the power appears to have shut off all around the city just before we docked. Do you think we should take cover inside the sub for now?" A beefy looking man said to him. Archie frowned and looked at him.
"I thought the Kalos Region would be a good place to begin our search but we may have gotten lucky after all…set up the station out here and begin scanning the area for any readings. This storm looks to be a big one but it also looks like it'll be the clue that leads us to Kyogre…" He said in a stern, commanding tone.
The people behind him all saluted and went back into the sub to grab some equipment Archie clutched his anchor and looked towards the darkened horizon of Lumoise, where he could barely make out the tower's peak against the dark skyline.
"The Kalos Region…The land where Death and Life were supposedly created…" He thought "And legends will meet…"
...
Dawn had travelled many places over the years. Admittedly a sewer was not one she wanted to put on that list but she unfortunately had to now. It honestly wasn't nearly as bad as she expected, the water actually looking relatively clear. Clemont described how the filtration system worked in the city and how it worked in sections but most of it seemed to just devolve into technical mumbo jumbo that Dawn didn't understand.
Lisia looked onwards and back at the device in her hand, a holocaster with Clemont's face on it. The Gym Leader wasn't paying much attention to Lisia and Dawn as he was busy pulling wires and placing new ones in, wiping the rain from his glasses as he adjusted his poncho. A crash of lightning went through the sky, lighting the city for a brief fraction of a second before vanishing as quickly as it came.
"We should be getting closer to the spot…Just around this corner…" Lisia said as they walked alone the path.
The Lumoise Sewers had paths going around the canals that were contained under the roads, all fenced off with metal bars to prevent people from freely entering, so at least the girls didn't have to wade through the water to make any progress. Lisia turned the corner with Dawn following, Piplup cocking its head every once and a while to check if the coast was clear.
"When you get to the generator, there should be several rows of buttons. The blue one on the fifth row and the red one on the second should always be blinking and the green one on the first row should always be solid" Clemont explained through the Holocaster as he worked.
"Green, solid, red and blue, blinking. Got it" Dawn murmured.
Piplup looked ahead, squinting as the light faded slightly from the sewer, the light from the Holocaster and the flashlight Dawn had brought providing a rather dim view of the tunnel as they walked. Suddenly the Penguin Pokemon began to shudder and clutch his trainer's shoulder, shaking her body.
"What is it Piplup? You sense something?" She gasped as her and Lisia stopped.
"Lup! Piplup!" He said as he pointed ahead. Dawn crinkled her nose.
"You smell that?" She asked as she covered her face and looked at Lisia. The model nodded and covered her own face with her hand.
"Ugh…smells AWFUL! Too awful for even this place…" She grunted as they kept walking, slowly. The water looked to be changing as they moved, becoming more murky and the flow of it seemingly stopping.
Suddenly a shining shot came from the dark, causing Piplup to leap off of Dawn's shoulder instinctually and fire off a blast of bubbles, colliding with the shots, a Pin Missile attack, and causing a small explosion in the air. He landed in front of them, glaring into the dark as Dawn shined the light, gasping as the attacker was revealed.
"Oh my god! No wonder everything's busted!" Lisia gasped.
In the sewer, on top of the whirring generator and on the pathways, was a group of Muk, moaning as slime oozed off their bodies (Clearly the cause of the stench) and in the water was a school of Qwilfish, their bloated bodies blocking a majority of the water flow. They all turned their attention to the two trainers with a glare. One Qwilfish started swimming through the water, making a dash at Piplup.
"Agh! It was a bunch of Pokemon after all! The storm must have bothered them and they all came here at once!" Dawn said "Piplup! Drive them away with Drill Peck! Go!"
The Penguin Pokemon dove into the murky water and effortlessly dodged the Qwilfish's lunge, its beak glowing with energy as it spun through the water like a motorboat, turning and slamming into the Qwilfish that had attacked prior with a powerful peck, slamming it against the wall.
"Nice moves Dawn!" Lisia cheered. However the celebration was short lived as the Qwilfish rolled into the water and glared at Piplup, another one swimming and surrounding the Penguin Pokemon with their bodies. Both of the Balloon Pokemon then fired off a second round of Pin Missiles, this time coming from two directions. One of the Muk seemed to notice the action after remaining dormant for some time and opened its mouth, firing off a volley of sludge as well.
"Dodge it! Ice Beam!" Dawn ordered as the attacks came towards her Pokemon. Piplup nodded and leapt up, making a splash as he hopped towards the ceiling, dodging most of the missiles but getting hit by a stray shot of sludge. He gasped and fell down, but quickly tumbled upright before firing off a strong beam of ice from his beak, freezing up a majority of the water as well as locking the two Qwilfish in place.
The others looked annoyed and debloated, freeing themselves and causing water to flow out, pushing the frozen Qwilfish towards Piplup.
"Uh oh! We need to get to higher ground!" Dawn said, surprised as water rushed towards them.
"Ali! Help us out!" Lisia said as she tossed a Pokeball, releasing its inhabitant.
On TV, Dawn had seen Lisia's Altaria many times but seeing it in person, even in the dim lights they had as Lisia pocketed the Holocaster was something else. The large Altaria squealed before grabbing Dawn and Lisia with its wings as Piplup leapt up towards it, dodging the rush of Qwilfish flooding out of the corridor.
Ali flapped in the air holding onto the two trainers easily as it floated. Dawn felt herself getting nauseous from the smell of the Muk's as she gripped onto the Altaria's body.
"I can take them all out in one shot…" Lisia muttered as she reached for her necklace before gasping, noticing her arm seemed to be bare. Dawn looked confused as the model muttered what sounded like several curse words under her breath "Never mind…"
Two of the Muk suddenly opened their mouths and fired off their own attacks, a pair of Flamethrowers. One defrosted the Qwilfish as Ali dodged it and another went straight for Piplup, who quickly jumped back into the water with all the Qwilfish to avoid the fire.
"Crud! What do we do?! There's so many of them and we can't get down there now until the flooding stops!" Lisia said, looking at the nervously low ceilings of the sewer as the Muks prepared to take aim with another shot of sludge. The Qwilfish all glared at Piplup who sat in the water, paddling and looking around him.
...
Back at the base of the tower, Bonnie was inside, running wires through the door to Clemont, who was hard at work on the fuse box. He grunted and bit his finger as a spark touched it.
"Ouch!" he muttered as he shook off the pain as more and more thunder and lightning crashed and exploded in the sky. He grimaced at the situation as the storm worsened. He looked nervously at the canals, which were crashing against the walls that contained them. This was one of the worst, if not, THE worst storm he had ever seen in his life.
"I wish dad was here!" Bonnie yelled through the howling wind "It'd make things so easy!"
"I know Bon! But we're in charge now while he's travelling! So we have to deal with it ourselves! Hopefully Dawn and Lisia have the generator almost fixed because I might almost be done with the fuses…" He yelled back at his sibling.
He fit a wire in place and snapped a finger.
"Bingo! Got it! I just need a big surge of power now to get it kick started and then when the Generators all turn back on everything should reconnect!" Clemont said, reaching for his belt "Heliolisk should have enough power for this…huh?!"
His hand grasped air. The gym leader looked confused as he searched himself for his Pokeballs before gasping.
"Bonnie! I locked my Pokeballs in the gym with Clembot! And the door's locked up there because of the lack of power!" He yelled. Bonnie slapped her face.
"You dummy! How could you do something so stupid!" She yelled back.
Unnoticed by the two bickering siblings, one person hadn't gone inside and instead had a hoodie pulled over his head. Even in the howling wind and pouring rain his footsteps seemed to stand out as he approached the base of the tower, his onyx eyes piercing through the rain and viewing Clemont as the wind blew the Hoodie back, wetting his face with the storm as he approached the gym leader.
"Agh I don't know what to do…Without a strong electrical surge…" He muttered. A flash of light appeared in the corner of his glasses and he turned as an Electivire stood behind the now unhooded man.
"Need help?" Paul said with a grunt as he looked at Clemont through his glasses.
...
"Gah!" Dawn yelled as the Altaria weaved around the area, dodging a few shots of sludge. The initial surge of water seemed to be receding so Dawn loosened herself from the Altaria's grip and landed on the opposite side of the generator.
"What are you doing!?" Lisia said, shocked as she swung her body up onto her Altaria's back.
"Splitting them up! You hand the Qwilfish from the air and I'll handle the Muk!" Dawn said as Piplup swam towards her, the Qwilfish firing multiple Pin Missiles that were easily dodged by the agile Penguin Pokemon.
"Right! Good plan! Ali use Moonblast!" Lisia ordered.
"Al..TAR!" the Altaria squealed as a bright blast of Pink energy quickly materialized at its beak before firing towards the water, causing a burst to splash several Qwilfish aside easily, knocking several of them out at once. The remaining Balloon Pokemon all turned and fired off powerful looking Hydro Pumps, which the Altaria weaved around.
Dawn yanked out a second Pokeball as the Muk all began to turn to her, glaring as Piplup leapt over them to Dawn's feet.
"Hydro Pump!" She ordered as the Muk's fired off their Sludge attacks once again.
Piplup leapt forward, ducking and weaving around the projectiles before blasting an incredibly potent stream of water from his beak, drowning one of the Muk's that was on top of the generator and washing it off as it collapsed at the foot of the device, fainting.
"Now the next one!" She yelled.
"Ali! Sky Attack!" Lisia ordered as she leapt off of her Altaria's back.
The Altaria took action instantly as the Qwilfish fired another shot, more Pin Missile bullets barely missing the cloudy Pokemon as it gracefully dove towards the water, parting it as its wings collided with them, knocking the remainder of them out.
"Finish them off! Ice Beam go!" Dawn yelled.
Piplup shot off a second beam of ice, crashing against the water before colliding with one of the Muk's, who tried in vain to return fire with its own Flamethrower but was quickly outmatched as steam formed. The Muk gasped as it was struck and blasted backwards.
The two humans and their Pokemon stared daggers at the unconscious Pokemon as lightning struck from the storm outside, temporarily lighting the whole tunnel. The wild Pokemon all slowly slunk towards the exit of the sewers, leaving the tunnel quiet.
Lisia and Dawn sighed in relief as they walked towards the generator, viewing the rows of buttons and devices hanging off of it as it hummed warmly. They both exchanged a hearty high five.
"That was awesome!" Lisia exclaimed happily "You're pretty good!"
"Thank you! You too" Dawn giggled as they pressed the buttons.
"Green, solid, red and blue, blinking. Got it! We did it!" Lisia exclaimed as she tapped them.
Almost immediately, the generator began to whir. They looked down to the canal as a light came on below the water, causing a small paddle to start shoveling water into a pipe under the generator as it began to hum louder. Slowly but surely, the lights at the ceiling of the sewer began to flicker and turn on.
"Let's get back to Clemont!" Dawn exclaimed as Lisia took out the Holocaster.
"Is everything ok on your end?" The model exclaimed as she wiped her brow, Clemont's face popping into view. He nodded at them and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah! Somebody happened to come by and helped me restore power to the main grid so everything should be up and running in a few minutes! You guys were awesome for helping! What was the issue?" He asked.
"We'll explain when we get back. But that's so lucky!" Lisia said as she recalled her Altaria, Piplup hopping up onto Dawn's shoulder as they began walking back to where they came in, the rain pouring against the sewers as they did.
...
To say Dawn was surprised to see Paul again wouldn't have been a huge understatement. She gave him a hearty smile as he looked away, rolling his eyes as Clemont placed cups of Hot Cocoa in front of him, Paul, Lisia, Dawn, and Bonnie. Piplup, Electivire, Ali, and Dedenne were all on the floor eating. Electivire was happily in conversation with Piplup, glad to see the Penguin Pokemon again.
"You travelled with Ash right?" Dawn said as she sipped her cocoa and looked at the pair of blonde siblings. They nodded and exchanged a few stories with her.
"Yeah I wish Serena was here but she was off in Johto training. She's been considering battling gyms next year which is going to be a new experience for her…" Clemont said with a sigh as he looked outside, the storm still pounding against the city but it seemed to be on the verge of lightning up a bit.
The trainers were currently seated in the lobby of the tower on the couch near the desk, several people taking shelter from the storm around them but respecting the group's privacy.
"So you're a top coordinator! I knew I'd seen you before! Who woulda thought you travelled with Ash though!" Bonnie said happily as she looked at Dawn. She blushed and scratched her hair, adjusting her bow.
"I'm sorry the storm ruined the view of the city Dawn, we can catch it tomorrow though!" Lisia said as she looked up at the clock, which had struck 12:30 AM. It was very late at night.
Paul was the only one who hadn't said a word all conversation. He sat next to Dawn on the edge of the couch looking vacantly at the Pokemon and sipped his cocoa in silence. Lisia had her eyes on him, glancing at the stone cold trainer occasionally as he watched the Pokemon.
"So…What brings you here Paul? An experienced Pokemon trainer like yourself on a vacation I presume?" Lisia asked as she placed her mug down on the table. He shook his head and turned to her, crossing his legs.
"I'm here for the Champion's League" He said quickly and bluntly, his eyes narrowing.
Bonnie and Clemont's eyes widened.
"Wow that must mean you're super strong!" Bonnie laughed. Paul grunted in annoyance and looked away as Dawn put a hand on his shoulder.
"He battled Ash many times when I first became a trainer…" She giggled "You try to act tough but you've softened up over the years! Ever since you met him…"
Paul rolled his eyes and nudged the blunette's hand off his shoulder before standing and bowing to Clemont.
"Thanks for the hospitality. I appreciate it. I have a room at the Pokemon Center though and I should probably get back to it and actually make the money I spent on it worth something" He said before turning to the door. Electivire noticed and got up, patting Piplup's head before walking up to his trainer, before being recalled into his Pokeball.
The door opened and the rainstorm echoed through the lobby as everyone turned their attention. Paul's mouth dropped open as he saw why it had opened. He hadn't gotten close enough to set off the auto lock feature. Someone else had come into the door.
It was a woman with a short haircut and exquisite white clothing, a handbag around her shoulder as she gripped a large white umbrella. Her body exuded radiance and yet a gentle feeling. Clemont stood up excited as Dawn gasped and admired the woman.
"Hello Clemont!" She said as she walked in, water dripping from her coat as some of it had slipped under her Umbrella. Several people walked up and crowded her as Paul shook his head and stood to the side, allowing Clemont to walk up and shake the woman's hand.
"Long time no see Diantha! It's pretty bad out there…I'd think you'd be staying at a hotel!" He said as the Kalos Champion folded her umbrella.
"I was but the power went off so I decided to take a stroll to you and see if you had everything under control and it looks like you indeed did" She said smiling warmly as people ooed and awed at the native movie star and champion of the region. She made a kind gesture and people backed away, allowing her to brush past Paul and walk to the table, where Dawn was sitting with her mouth agape.
"Hello Lisia! Pleasure to see you! Is your uncle doing well?" Diantha said as she sat down in what was Paul's spot, placing her Umbrella on the table. Lisia giggled and nodded.
"He's going to be here soon! So you can ask him that in person! I assume you're here for the same reason as Paul over there?" The teal haired girl said as she motioned the Plum headed boy still standing near the door.
Diantha turned her head and gazed at Paul. No matter how many powerful trainers he had met in his travels, authority figures like Champions and Frontier Brains had always given him the chills. It was a feeling he didn't like. It made him feel weaker and a lot more vulnerable. He turned and exited the building quickly, not saying a word as he didn't want to get caught up in conversation.
Dawn frowned but looked at the Champion who had so casually entered the building. She turned to her.
"So tell me…Miss Dawn right?" Diantha said "What brings you here?"
Dawn couldn't help but crack a wide grin as the Kalos champion began conversation with her, as the storm raged on and the group sat drinking their warm cocoa in the night.
...
Next Time
Dawn and Lisia begin their work, and new faces are introduced as the mysterious group that had set up shop at the docks of Lumoise is!?...
Phew! I wrote all of this in one two and a half hour sitting so I hope it turned out at least somewhat decently. If you all enjoyed it please leave a review and comments or follow! I promise again that the next chapter won't take another year to come out and thank you to everyone who's given this story a view and a looksee so far! I hope my writing improves quickly.
Again thank you all for reading and I hope the next chapter as well as this one is enjoyed by all of you wonderful readers! See you in the next one!
