Pokemon
Passion For Glory
Chapter three, coming up!
Weirdly, I cannot think of a single thing to say, so I'm just gonna go ahead...Wait! I'm on holidays. Not making any promises, but hopefully I'll get more work done.
On with the chapter!
000
"Not important," Bray heard Lex say, and she quickly shut the door, backing away quickly, a tiny smirk on her face. Bray looked behind him, looking after Chase, who had already begun to walk away.
"Hey Chase! Wait up!" he called, and Chase reluctantly halted, looking at his two companions.
"The hands are turning," he replied. "It's half an hour to Lake Verity and another half-hour back. We'd better get going real soon, cause it'll be dark in three hours."
"Rightio," broke in Lex, and she bounced over to them. As she walked past to join Chase, Bray exchanged a glance with the girl; she gave him a warm smile, her bright green eyes closing as she did so. Bray noticed that she seemed to do this whenever she smiled. He studied Lex's face; what with the freckles and the blonde-tipped black hair, Lex was quite the article, possessing a definite feeling of tomboyishness, yet at the same time was delicate, charming and kind. And, thought Bray with a feeling of embarrassment, she was quite attractive.
Bray blushed a little as the thought crossed his mind, and before he could turn away, Lex's eyes were back open, and she looked with amusement at his flushed cheeks.
"Calm down there, B-Boy," she giggled. "We've just met."
She gave him a wink, and lightly ran over to where Chase had already begun to stroll off again. Bray watched her go, his mouth slightly open in surprise.
"Buuuui..." Jett said, and made a small snickering noise. Bray looked at the Buizel indignantly.
"What are you talking about! It's not like that at all!" he hissed, and ran after the two trainers, pulling alongside Chase. His friend looked at him and rolled his eyes.
A minute later, the three of them passed under a large banner on the edge of town, and the path changed once more, only this time it was from concrete to hard-packed dirt. The lines of buildings ended; they had left the town.
Ten metres away, on the side of the road, a sign in the shape of an arrow pointed down the path in the direction they were going. It was freshly painted, white with thick black letters:
Route 201
Twinleaf Town 3km
Lake Verity 3.5km
"Well, boys..." said Lex, as they went past the sign. "We're on the way. To Lake Verity, and to Mesprit!"
000
The sun grew closer and closer to the horizon as they walked, the day slipping by before them. By the time they reached the lakefront of Lake Verity, it was already three o'clock.
The lake was hidden amongst a forest of trees, the woods surrounding the entire body of water, closing it in. A dirt path cut its way through the trunks, before breaking free of the foliage and emerging beside the water. There was a small beach of sorts, only without sand. The land was covered in grass instead of grain, stretching for a portion and cutting into the lake. All around the rest of the lake, the trees reached the very edge of the water, making this grassy stretch the only dry ground that looked onto the lake.
The water was fantastic, a beautiful blue, and was perfectly still, except for the small, almost invisible waves where the wind disturbed the surface. Bray looked amazed as he surveyed it.
"This place is awesome," he said in awe, not even blinking as he gazed at the landscape.
"Yeah, you could say that," smirked Chase, stepping up to a tree and leaning back against it, arms folded. "Lake Verity, home of Mesprit, Being of Emotion"
"And we're meant to find it..." murmured Bray, furrowing his brow. Where were they meant to start? Suddenly he straightened up, looking around.
"Hang on, where's Lex?"
A cry answered him, and to Bray's surprise it came from above. "Up here, B-Boy!"
A joyful laugh followed the words, and Bray looked up in a tree. Lex had already climbed it, and was perched in one of the top branches, shielding her eyes from the sun.
"What are you doing up there?"
"Getting a better view," she answered casually, as if climbing trees was completely normal behaviour. "Can't see anything...hold on."
With a cracking of the branches, she shifted in the tree and leapt down, deftly landing on both feet, before overbalancing and crashing to the ground.
Chase rolled his eyes.
"You won't find anything on the surface," he said disdainfully. "According to the legend, the three Lake Guardians live in underground caverns at the bottom of the three lakes. We'll have to go to the bottom to find them."
Bray smirked, and jabbed his thumb at Jett sitting on his shoulder. "No problem at all. Jett, swim out there and find the underground cavern."
Lex was climbing to her feet, dusting herself off from her reconciliation with the ground, wincing. "Bottom of the lake, huh? I'll help out as well."
She pulled a miniature pokeball from her belt and pressed the button, causing the ball to grow to full-size. "Piplup, I need you," she announced, and the ball flipped open, releasing a small blue penguin pokemon.
"Piplup!" it squeaked. Its voice was very high.
"Piplup, search for the underground cavern with Jett, alright? Split up and try and find it together."
Piplup and Jett both nodded, and leapt into the water in unison, creating identical splashes of water.
"Do you think it's there?" asked Lex, gazing at the spot where the two pokemon had vanished. "Wouldn't that be amazing? An actual Legendary Pokemon, right here at Lake Verity. That's mind-blowing, isn't it?"
Chase looked disinterested. "I doubt it. This lake would have been searched by pokemon hunters a thousand times over, we won't be the ones to uncover Mesprit."
"Oh..."
A few minutes later, their pokemon returned; just as Chase had predicted, nothing had been found. Lex gave a great sigh as she called Piplup back to its ball.
"Thanks, Piplup, you did great," she murmured.
Chase looked annoyed. "I hope neither of you mind me saying," he grunted, "but this whole expedition was a waste of time. I don't know why I agreed to come. What did we get out of it? We're still clueless about Mesprit."
"I guess you're right, sort of," sighed Lex again, but then her face brightened. "At least we got to come to the lake."
"And besides," piped up Bray, and Chase noticed a unique look in his eye. He recognised that look; it meant Bray had some sort of wild idea. "We can still make something out of this."
"And what exactly would that be?"
"Chase," said Bray, his voice rising in excitement. "Since I saw you battle Turk back in the City before, I've been wanting to say this; Chase...I challenge you to a battle!"
The effect was immediate. Chase, normally so composed, was visibly taken aback by the challenge. His hazel eyes widened slightly, his thin black eyebrows contracting as he stared at Bray. Likewise, Lex was stunned, gasping slightly and looking wildly between the two boys.
"Are you crazy?" she asked incredulously. "You want to battle the Wolf? Look, Hotshot, I know you think you're good but Chase is out of your league. You're not even a trainer!"
Bray stubbornly ignored her, looking at his oldest friend with a cocky grin on his face, pleased by the reaction he had gotten from him. "Well? What do you say?"
Chase still didn't speak, only reached up with his hands and began unzipping his jacket, revealing a black shirt beneath. Bray was confused; what was Chase doing?
That question was answered a second later when Chase reached into his jacket and pulled something from an inner pocket. It was a small case of some sort, silver with a picture of a pokeball on it. Holding it out towards Bray with one hand, Chase flicked the catch holding the case shut with a finger, letting it fall open.
Bray's eyes widened. The inside of the case was velvet lined, cushioning the contents, which winked under the bright sunlight. There were three of them. Three badges shined out of the case from their resting spots, successfully stopping Bray's enthusiasm in its tracks.
"Are you sure you want to follow through with that challenge?" asked Chase quietly. "You're not a trainer; you've never raised your pokemon to battle. I, on the other hand, am Rank 3. What you saw in Jubilife was nothing. I'd wipe the floor with you."
Chase surveyed his friend with his hazel eyes, a fierce gaze saying "Don't battle, you'll only lose". But Bray wasn't the type to simply back down. He'd show Chase who was weak.
"You don't scare me. Come on, let's have a battle."
Bray's eyes stared back into Chase's, full of defiance. The look reminded Chase of experiences past, memories of Bray and the others in Jubilife, how they used to talk of becoming trainers and beating the gyms. Him leaving Jubilife behind had crushed Bray, Chase knew that, and he recalled the day that he had left.
"You wait, Chase," Bray had said, as the two stood on the edge of the city, their last moment together before Chase had departed. "One day I'll leave this place too, and then we'll battle. I'll beat you then, I swear to you."
And now, it seemed, the time for that battle had come. Chase nodded.
"Fine, we battle."
"What?" exclaimed Lex. "We don't have time for this, City-Boy, you said yourself that we had to hurry to get back before sundown, remember?"
The corner of Chase's mouth tilted up in a smirk, and he plucked a pokeball from his studded belt. "This won't take long." Holding the small sphere up, he snapped his fingers. The ball flicked up into the air, enlarging as it did so, and fell quickly back down to Chase's hand, where he caught it on the tip of a single finger. The ball flashed as it spun, perfectly balanced.
"To fight is to win," he said confidently. "Go, Monferno!"
He flicked his wrist and the pokeball arced into the air, before bursting open in a flash of white light. The beam of radiant energy swooped around and struck the ground between the two boys, forming into the shape of a small monkey. The light faded, revealing an orange creature which stood on two legs. It's arms were long, with five fingers on each paw, and the pokemon's thin tail was decorated with an intense ribbon of fire that flowed from the tip. A white collar of fur surrounded its neck, and it had a proud look of confidence on its face.
"Mon, Monferno!" it cried, throwing its arms into the air.
"Huh? A Monferno?" Bray was surprised. "What type of pokemon is that?"
Lex sighed, but was obviously content with the battle. "Monferno are Fire-Types," she explained. "They're small, but they're a lot tougher than they look."
Bray smirked. "A Fire type, eh? No problem. Jett's a Water-Type, we'll control this battle easily, right Jett?"
"Bui!"
Bray reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of folded-up black sunglasses, which he flipped open and pushed onto his face. "Then let's show 'em what you can do!"
Jett leapt off Bray's shoulder and landed in front of Monferno, puffing up its flotation sac to make itself look tougher. Monferno stared it down, the two pokemon sizing each other up. Suddenly, the fire monkey seemed to dismiss Jett, looking away and closing its eyes in disdain.
"Bui! Bui, bui, bui!" Jett looked angry, and took several steps backwards to clear the field so they'd have room for battle. Its two tails whirred in a circle as it prepared to fight.
"Are you sure you still want to do this?" asked Chase casually, looking rather bored. Bray nodded furiously. "Well, have it your way. Lex, you're ref."
"What? I'm not a part of this!"
"Just do it."
"Fine..."
Lex backed away to the trees, and finally the stage was set. Here, on the Verity Lakefront, they would battle. A single bead of sweat ran beneath Bray's sunglasses and down his nose; he wiped it away, grimacing at himself as he did so. Why was he sweating? Chase couldn't be that hard, could he? Surely Jett's type advantage would help win the battle...right?
"Start!"
Chase reacted instantly. Raising a hand, he shouted out his order.
"Get in close, Monferno. Strike quickly, Fury Swipes, go!"
Monferno's monkey feet propelled it across the grass, drawing it closer to Jett with every passing second. The Buizel was taken aback by Monferno's ferocity and cringed.
"Jett, move out of the way!" cried Bray, but Chase merely smiled.
"That won't do any good..."
And sure enough, as Jett dived to the left, Monferno followed it easily, not losing any speed as it changed direction. Raising its arms high in the air, the sun glimmering off its claws, Monferno crashed its hands down upon Jett, striking the otter across the face. Jett was knocked aside, but Monferno followed up with another hit, and then another. Finally, it leapt high into the air and landed a short distance away.
"Regretting battling me now?" called Chase. "We may be old friends, but that doesn't mean I'll hold back from fighting you. Monferno, Flame Wheel!"
Monferno screeched loudly, and suddenly it jumped about two feet off the ground, and somersaulted in midair. To Bray's shock, it burst into flames, creating a flaming ball of spinning fur, which landed on the ground and began rapidly rolling towards Jett, who was crawling to its feet.
"Quick, Jett, jump into the air!" Bray panicked. So far he hadn't even been able to get a single attack in, Chase's offense was too fast. Suddenly, Bray realised why Professor Rowan had described Chase as having airtight strategies; by keeping up a constant attack, Monferno was also ensuring an unbreakable defence; the opponent is too busy being whacked around to fight back. So much for his type advantage.
The furious ball of fire that was Monferno drew closer by the second, and following Bray's instructions, Jett crouched down and jumped into the air, wincing as it did so. The Fury Swipes had taken a lot out of it. Below on the ground, Monferno was going to too fast to stop. But Chase didn't even hesitate.
"Follow it!"
"No way!" shouted Bray, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Monferno, still spinning, kicked off the ground and flew into the air, colliding with Jett about four metres off the ground.
"BUI!"
Jett slammed into the ground, cringing in pain, while Monferno landed next to it, back to normal. It straightened up to its full height and beat its chest with its hands. Bray was stunned; Chase had picked him apart without taking a single hit.
"Mon-ferno!"
"Jett!" cried the loser of the battle, breaking out of his stupor. He and ran over to his wounded pet, scooping it up and examining it. He ripped of his sunglasses; they were darkening his view. "Are you OK?"
"Bu-u-u-i-i..."
"Return, Monferno!" ordered Chase, holding up the monkey's pokeball. A small spear of red light shot from the capsule and hit Monferno, sucking the pokemon back inside. After replacing the ball at his belt, Chase joined Bray, reaching into his jacket and tugging out a small spray bottle.
"Spray some of this on Jett," he said. "It'll make him feel better."
Bray took the bottle with a nod of thanks, and gave it a few squirts. A minute later, Jett was looking well again.
"Bui...bui, bui..." it said sadly, hanging its head. Bray shook his head. "You did great, Jett."
The two boys stood up again, and exchanged a long glance. Chase's eyes were as hard as ever, but Bray's possessed a new fiery determination.
"You're even better than I thought," he muttered, unwilling to admit his newfound reverence for his friend. "Looks like being a trainer suits you, eh?"
Chase chuckled lightly, and turned away, beginning to walk back to the small path leading out of the Lakefront, towards Route 201. "You could say that."
He disappeared down the path, Bray looking after him. Suddenly, he was thumped on the back, and turned to see Lex, who had an "I told you so" look on her mug.
"You stood no chance. He went easy on you, you know?"
"What?" Bray was shocked. "No he didn't."
"Yes, he did. The Wolf has three badges, Hotshot. You're not even a trainer. Do the math."
Bray's mind went into overload as he realised the truth in her words. "Have you ever battled him?"
Lex grinned, flashing back. "I did once. After he got his first badge, I took him on."
"Who won?"
"It was a draw. Now come on, time's ticking, B-Boy. We've gotta get back to the lab. Professor Boring will be waiting for us, the old fusspot."
Lex followed after Chase, leaving Bray behind on his own. The boy turned back for one last look at the lake. This had been one hell of a day, that's for sure. He picked up Jett and placed the otter on his shoulder, before grabbing his sunnies from the grass and sliding them back into his pocket.
"Come on Jett, let's go."
With a new spring in his step, Bray ran after the others, disappearing down the path. Suddenly, the air shimmered, a small distortion a few metres above the ground. Mesprit watched the trainers go, filled with fascination, and wondered if they'd ever return.
000
It was five o'clock by the time the three trainers arrived back at Sandgem Town. Bray's feet were aching from the day of walking, unused to so much travel. Both Chase and Lex, on the other hand, were fine. They seemed to share some sort of joke as they took turns glancing at Bray as he trampled along the path, but they didn't say anything.
"We made it!" gasped Bray when they passed under the banner leading into town. "Finally."
"You sure do complain a lot, don't you Hotshot?" smirked Lex, her green eyes closing as she smiled. "I guess I can't talk, I used to never shut up when I had to walk a lot."
"You still don't," murmured Chase, and Bray laughed.
A few minutes later, the lab was in sight. Lex frowned as she saw a man standing out the front of the building, staring up at it.
He was tall, with a hard face, though looked young, perhaps only thirty. Tough blue eyes stared up at the lab, an intense knowing gaze that gave Bray chills. The man had thin eyebrows and tough brown hair that was cut fairly short. His arms were held behind his back, and he wore a dark casual suit with an equally dark long-sleeved shirt underneath. A large spiky E was embroidered on the right breast of the suit, and he wore matching pants. Shiny dark shoes covered his feet.
"Who's he?" asked Bray, his sore feet forgotten, but Lex shook her head.
"Don't ask me, I haven't got a clue. Do you think he's an associate of old Greybeard?"
Chase shrugged a shoulder, eyes drooping uninterestedly. He looked bored.
The three finished their trek to the lab, drawing up beside the man, who didn't look around. Suddenly, he spoke.
"Curious, isn't it, how such famous sites can be so simple? This town is remarkably quaint for having such a reputation. To think, that Sinnoh's greatest all started their journeys at this very laboratory. Curious."
"I guess," replied Bray, confused. Who was this guy?
"But then, I suppose, everybody has to start somewhere, don't they?" murmured the man, and he finally looked over at the three. "As did I, far away from here. And look at me now..."
"What are you now, then?" piped up Lex, smiling pleasantly at the man. Obviously, he didn't have the same effect on her that he had on Bray, for she seemed perfectly undisturbed by him.
The man smiled faintly, a small expression that suited his face. For a moment, his hard blue eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement, but then it was gone.
"Oh, if only you knew. No doubt you wouldn't be interested in my position; it's not one that young spirits such as yourselves would find reassuring."
"We're not children," broke in Chase, looking annoyed. His arms were folded.
The man smiled. "No...you're not."
A silence hung in the air, broken quite suddenly by the door of the lab swinging wide open. Professor Rowan stood in the doorframe, poking his large moustache into the street.
"Ah, you're back," the Professor said. "What took you? Now, come in, come in, you must tell me of everything you..."
Rowan's voice drifted off as he noticed the man in front of the lab, and his moustache bristled.
"My lord...what are you doing at my lab? Leave at once, you have no business here."
Bray was startled by the fierce tone in the old man's voice, and looked at the target to whom it was directed.
The man tilted his head, and for a moment a twinge of sadness seemed to pass over his face at the hostility.
"Very well...my regards, Professor Rowan. Farewell."
He turned and left, striding quickly down the street before turning and passing from sight. Rowan let out a held breath.
"Er...Professor?" asked Bray, but Lex asked the question before it had left his mouth.
"Who was that man?" she inquired. Her eyes were filled with confusion, mirroring Bray's thoughts. Contrasting with both of them, Chase had a hungry look in his eyes, curiosity finally overtaking his stoic indifference.
Professor Rowan shook his head in a dither, looking incredibly worried. "I'm sorry to say that was Gamma, one of the four Admins of Team Epsilon."
Chase drew in his breath, and Lex looked horrified. Bray was also shocked; that man, part of the criminal organisation that had recently arisen in Sinnoh? After the terrors of Team Galactic only six years before, Epsilon was by no means welcomed by the people of the region, and was feared region-wide due to their cruelty and disregard for humans and pokemon. Almost nothing was known about them, and this was the first time Bray had heard of any particular leader.
"But...what was he doing here?" asked Lex quietly. "What did he want with you?"
Rowan shook his head, his normal annoyance at Lex pushed to the back of the queue. "I don't know."
They were silent for a few seconds, all lost in thought, before Rowan suddenly clapped his hands.
"Well, no time for standing and speculating, I need to hear about your expedition. It went well, I trust? What news?"
"Well..." said Lex hesitantly, but suddenly Bray interrupted her.
"We definitely have some," he said cockily, and Chase once again saw that determination flaming in his eyes. "I have a big announcement to make."
The boy looked at his companions, who stared back confused, with the exception of Chase. A triumphant grin was on his lips, and a spark of mutual respect shot between the two friends. Chase nodded; he already knew what Bray was going to say, and accepted his decision without a shadow of a doubt.
Bray grinned back at him. "I want to be like Chase and Lex. I want to get stronger. So I've decided...I'm going to leave home and travel Sinnoh, and become a pokemon trainer!"
000
Hmm, I don't think I did too well with this one...just seemed like the characters weren't as individual as they were in the last two...who knows? You guys tell me.
Wooooo, Gamma showed up! As he was in AA, Gamma is my favourite character, I love his personality and position. Too bad Rowan ordered him away, eh?
And of course, the (rather small) cliff-hanger – if it even counts as that – at the end. You probably all saw that coming, but...surprise! And Chase is pretty strong, eh? His strategy is one that I love in the show, just wallop 'em with endless attacks and stop 'em from fighting back.
Well, that's all I have to say for now, I guess. See ya's all sometime soon ;)