The Golden City
…..
A/N: Wow, this chapter took a lot longer than I expected. I've been pretty busy this past month, not only due to college but also several other things I've recently become involved in. This year started off with a bang, but I hope to get to updating sooner in the near future. Meanwhile, I've looked at the reviews and the PMs, and I hope that I've addressed some of the issues/comments that were brought up. Again, first attempt at a story like this, so please excuse some of the rookie mistakes I might make. Also, sorry about the length of this chapter. I considered adding the next step of Ethan's journey into this chapter, but I felt like, plotwise, it wouldn't really make sense and it would leave the chapter off at a weird ending. Anyways…here we go!
…
"Try again, Dancer."
The Clefairy pointed one digit into the air and concentrated hard. Soon, dozens of small particles of light appeared around her hand, swirling around the tip of her finger until they met to form a dense ball of light. Dancer drew her finger down and pointed at a tree they were using for practice. A second later, a beam of light shot forward from Dancer's finger and struck the tree, only for the energy to dissipate upon contact. The light in Dancer's hand died.
Dancer looked down, dejected. As she looked up at Ethan, she flinched slightly before resuming her usual stance in preparing the attack.
"It's okay, Dancer," Ethan sighed. The Clefairy still had the tendency to be slightly afraid of him, especially when she failed something or lost a battle. He figured that it was a result of having been owned by Team Rocket, which made his teeth hurt at the thought. He shook his head and banished the stray thoughts. "Come on, you can do it. Try again, Dancer."
The move that he was trying to teach Dancer was Dazzling Gleam. The fairy move essentially worked by having the pokemon in question gather enough fairy energy, which, in this case was drawn from the moonlight stored in the Clefairy's small wings on its back, and concentrate the energy into one point before unleashing it in a single beam of energy. Ethan had found the move on his Pokedex after doing some research into the clefairy and figured that it would give Dancer more teeth in a fight. It wasn't an exact science, trying to teach a pokemon a move through a video demonstration and a description, but Ethan didn't really have many other options than to trust in his friends' abilities.
Dancer concentrated hard as she formed another ball of light above her head, faster than the last time. Ethan looked up just in time to see Dancer fire a pink beam of energy into the tree, carving through the wood and into the ground behind the tree, throwing up a small cloud of dust.
Ethan grinned. "Nice! Good job, Dancer."
Dancer squeaked in happiness and began to hop side to side. Ethan rubbed the Clefairy's head and looked around.
Espy had disappeared for a little while. Roughly an hour ago, the Kadabra had simply told him, "I will return soon, friend. There is something that I must do", and walked into the forest. Ethan had shrugged and told Lyra what had happened, who shrugged and decided to work with her pokemon in the meantime. She also had to check on the egg and make sure that it was fine after all the traveling they had done. They agreed to pack up camp but to stay until Espy returned. So Ethan had taken the time to work with his team.
Tricky was just floating around the edge of the clearing. The Gastly enjoyed tormenting pokemon tremendously, cackling as it caused Caterpie to fall off tree branches or disturbed a Pidgey's roost. While Ethan didn't mind that Tricky was getting his daily dose of mischief out of the way, he hoped that the ghost wouldn't provoke anything beyond what it could handle—namely the hives of Beedrill and Kakuna that were known to nest in the Ilex Forest. A couple of Beedrill, Ethan reasoned that they could handle. He couldn't imagine a pitched battle with dozens of the flying bugs.
I have returned. We may leave now, if you wish. Espy appeared next to Ethan without a sound. Ever since the Abra had evolved, Espy's powers had grown exponentially. Before, when she teleported, there was a noticeable flash of light and a small crack as she flitted in and out of the dimensions. Now, there was only a small gust of air as Espy materialized into existence and pushed the existing air out of the way with her body. It was only a small sign of what she could do in the future.
"What were you doing?" said Ethan as he shrugged on his backpack. He quickly recalled Tricky and Dancer; Clefairy weren't really built for continuous long-distance travel and he didn't want to bother to keep track of Tricky as they made their way through the Ilex Forest.
Blue aura swirled in front of Espy as a single, silver object levitated from behind her body and hovered between them. The object looked like a spoon to Ethan, yet there were subtle differences. Intricate swirls were etched into the circular end of the object, which wasn't as concave as that of a spoon. Other than that, the object was impossibly smooth, and Ethan could even see his reflection along the length of the metal.
For my kind, we must have an object in which we can focus our energies and affect the world around us. This "spoon", as you humans refer to it, is made of pure silver, drawn from the depths of the earth. Without it, my powers would be relatively fragmented and weakened.
Ethan nodded. "I understand," he said simply.
"Hey, can we go yet?" Lyra asked, appearing behind him. Emerald nudged his shoulder with her head. "It's almost noon, and I want to be able to get through a good bit of the Forest today."
"Okay," said Ethan, and he looked at Espy. "Ready to go?"
Yes.
Ethan returned Espy, and they began their journey.
Since it was only a month after the Indigo Conference, there were plenty of trainers on the road. On this side of Johto, most of the trainers Ethan and Lyra encountered were young, around their age for the most part, though they definitely weren't as skilled as they were. Most of them didn't have any badges at all, though there were a few that had one, maybe two. Those with one badge mostly had fire and flying pokemon, a sure sign that they had simply used their pokemon's natural advantages against bugs and beaten Bugsy's watered down teams surely without much effort. They actually weren't that strong, or trained for that matter. That was a common strategy, apparently, but Ethan didn't really understand the reward behind it. What was the point of essentially lying to yourself about your skills? He didn't understand it, Lyra didn't understand it, but he definitely didn't mind when he beat their pokemon and his winnings.
Every now and then, they ran into a much stronger trainer, one with five or more badges under his/her belt. One of them had had a Magmar that had nearly destroyed a huge chunk of the forest during their battle. Espy had valiantly attempted to hold off the Magmar, teleporting away from its destructive attacks and hitting it with psychic blasts with hit-and-run tactics, but the Magmar was tough and barely seemed tired after several such hits. In the end, the Magmar had caught Espy off guard and overwhelmed her shields with a massive gout of flame. Ethan had gladly handed over his winnings to that trainer, who seemed impressed that Espy had managed to hold off the veteran battler for so long.
It was mid-afternoon when they ran into a strange man wearing dark robes criss-crossed with white strips of cloth. The man had noticed them immediately and ran over to them.
"Hey, there!" The man's face was dirty and sported a grizzly beard. His hands were streaked with black and gray, though after a second Ethan realized that the marks were made from ash.
"You two look like strong, helpful trainers," the man continued, his eyes looking wild. "Have you seen a Farfetch'd running around this forest? It belongs to my family."
They both shook their heads. "Sorry," said Ethan, shrugging. "We haven't noticed any."
The man clutched his head and turned away, muttering to himself, though certainly not quiet enough so that Ethan couldn't hear him. "This is bad. This is not good. What are we going to do now? We'll have to close the kiln if I can't find him, and then we'll have to spend even longer looking for another one…"
"Are you okay?" said Lyra, looking concerned and a bit quizzical.
"No!" said the man, whirling around and causing the two to jump a little. "That Farfetch'd cuts the wood for my shop, the Azalea Kiln! If I can't find him, I'll lose at least a week's worth of business! Please, will you help me find my Farfetch'd?"
"We'll look around on our way ahead," said Ethan. "If we find him, we'll bring him back."
"If we find him," Lyra whispered as they continued to walk through the forest, leaving the man behind them. "The Ilex Forest is huge. Needle, meet haystack."
"I know," said Ethan, glancing around the trees. "But it won't hurt to at least keep our eyes out for a Farfetch'd. If we don't see it, then we just keep walking. If we do, we'll try to catch it and bring it back to him."
"Okay," said Lyra, shrugging.
"Hey, I think I see another trainer," said Ethan, squinting ahead. A short boy in blue shorts was walking towards them with a Rattata trotting alongside him. "You want this one?"
"You got the last one," said Lyra, walking in front of Ethan.
"He looks easy anyways. I'll wait for a real challenge."
"You already battled the Magmar guy, didn't you?"
"Okay, a real challenge that I can beat."
An hour and several trainers passed, and Ethan saw something. "Check it out!" he said, stopping Lyra. "Is that a Farfetch'd?"
A brownish-feathered bird was hopping along a branch of one of the trees. It was short and its face was tipped with a yellow bill. One wing was curled around a green-tipped stick, tapping against the tree as if the Farfetch'd was expecting something to happen. The bird turned its head towards them, ten meters away, and squawked once. Then it hopped into the brush.
The two stared confusedly at the now empty tree for a second before Ethan suddenly shook his head. "That's the Farfetch'd! Follow it!"
Ethan released Tricky, who immediately began to float alongside him as he launched himself into the thicket. "Ethan, wait!" Lyra's voice called out behind him, but Ethan was already sprinting through the forest, knocking tree branches and forest brush out of his way. The small brown form of the Farfetch'd was only meters ahead of him, but the little bird seemed to pick up the pace as it realized that it was being chased. Then the Farfetch'd fluttered up into a tree, high above Ethan's reach.
"Tricky, get that Farfetch'd!" The Gastly cackled as it swooped up to meet the Farfetch'd. As Tricky approached, the Farfetch'd twirled the stick around its back and fluttered to the side as Tricky zipped past where the bird had stood. As soon as the Gastly was in range, the Farfetch'd raised a glowing wing, still carrying the stick, above its ahead and smashed its weapon on Tricky, who quickly dissipated into a puff of smoke. The Farfetch'd looked down at Ethan, hopped off the tree, and began to retreat further into the forest.
Ethan cursed and sprinted after the bird. He could hear Tricky reforming behind him, but he couldn't let the bird out of his sight. The forest was bursting with sounds of pokemon all around him, all chirps, hisses, buzzes, and squeaks, but he was trying to listen for the bird's familiar squawk, which penetrated the din every now and then. The Farfetch'd always seemed to be just out of reach, as if the bird was toying with him.
Ethan ran around a tree and ran for close to a minute before he finally realized something. He couldn't see the Farfetch'd anymore. At all. It was as if the bird had simply disappeared.
Ethan stopped and looked around, slowly regaining his breath and quickly realizing the problem now. He was in the middle of the Ilex Forest, far away from the main road and surrounded by nothing but trees and pokemon. A familiar chill appeared near his right ear, and he waved Tricky away; he didn't have time for the ghost's antics right now. He needed to get his bearings and figure a way out of the mess he had gotten himself into—and soon. Ethan wasn't too worried about being attacked by wild pokemon; most of the pokemon in the Ilex Forest were passive and generally only attacked when provoked. He was mostly worried about starvation and exposure. He only had a few day's worth of supplies in his backpack for him and his pokemon, who would probably survive longer than him if they became stranded out here.
Keeping calm, Ethan began to walk back from where he came from, following the trail of disturbed leaves and grass left from his earlier sprint. Tricky was idly floating around him as he walked, fazing through trees and nests and generally disturbing the surrounding pokemon. "Cut it out, Tricky," said Ethan, glancing at the ghost, who stuck its tongue out at him in response. "You're going to end up bothering something you can't handle."
The Gastly opened its mouth wide and abruptly dissolved into a cloud of purple gas, losing form and corporeality in an instant. A few seconds later, the gas rippled and reformed back into the familiar round shape of Tricky, who proceeded to stick its tongue at him once more.
"Yes, you're practically invincible," said Ethan dryly, rolling his eyes. "But I was mainly talking about me."
Tricky giggled. Ethan stared at him. The ghost swooped into the air above him and hovered there with a frown on its face, disappointed at having its fun curtailed. Ethan grimly smiled as the picture the two of them, a Gastly floating above his head, reminded him of dead souls departing for the afterlife. That's right; think positive thoughts.
Then, something far off echoed. Ethan glanced over where the sound had come from, but there was no one there. Just trees and brush. Then, another echo. Ethan frowned and concentrated. It sounded as if someone was calling his name. As another echo passed, he began to walk towards the source, slowly at first but breaking into a jog after a minute. As he walked closer and closer, the sound started off as soft as a whisper and gradually increased in volume until the echo was bouncing around from all different directions. Now that he was closer, it sounded like someone was saying "chosen." Ethan's hand parted away another branch, and he stopped. Lowered his arm and slowly stepped into the small clearing that had appeared in front of him.
A small wooden structure stood in the center of a clear patch of grass in the middle of the forest. It looked like a large birdhouse, except, birdhouses didn't have gently flowing arches and carefully rounded edges. Didn't have a small piece of wood protruding from the center of the structure, where a small intricately carved figurine stood as if it was growing from the wood. Didn't have small golden sunbeams casting light over it, with small motes of dust and particles dancing in the light. To Ethan, it looked more like a shrine of some sort.
As Ethan was mesmerized by the sight, his hand unconsciously unlatched the two pokeballs from his belt and released Espy and Dancer. The Clefairy stopped and stared at the structure, an expression of pure joy on her face. Espy looked at the shrine with glowing blue eyes, and the spoon in her hand trembled as she stared at the shrine. This is a special place.
"What is it, though?" said Ethan after a moment. He looked up; even Tricky was staying unnaturally still, not a smile or frown on its face as it gazed at the shrine. He wasn't as strongly affected as his pokemon, but Ethan did feel strange. His body felt lighter, and his mind was wandering in a thousand places, as if the energy in the air was energizing him. Ethan felt vibrant and alive.
Over the course of time, it is accepted that there are always beings more powerful and higher than you. Such is the natural order. But, eventually, there comes a time when there are beings that are beyond mortal comprehension, beyond even the understanding of psychics, we who understand the physical world in its entirety and focus our energies on whole universes. Their work shapes dimensions, and we feel its ripples across time and space.
"I…understand," said Ethan slowly. It wasn't an exact answer, but he understood it as if her intentions and words had simply passed into him from her. He simply understood it, even if his consciousness didn't recognize it just yet.
Heat began to spread over the top of his head, starting from his hair and slowly traveling downward until his entire body felt warm. The warmth wasn't uncomfortable; it reminded him of a cold winter day, when he would sit in front of a fireplace with his arms nestled in the crooks of pillows, watching the flames crackle and dance before him. He could see the light around him building up in intensity, growing brighter and brighter until the grass almost appeared pure white. By some strange reasoning that popped into his head, Ethan looked up.
He wasn't blinded. Light seemed to bend around him wherever he looked. His eyes slowly roved over the daytime sky until he gazed over where the light seemed to emit from. Not the sun, but from something else. An iridescent gamut of colors and lights, gently streaking across the sky. It was if a thousand rainbows had coalesced into a single point and was now floating above him like the slowest shooting star, leaving sparkles flitting around in its wake. The entire sky seemed to warp around the spectacle, twisting and shifting as it moved through the air. Ethan felt strong and alive, yet so infinitesimally small compared to the wonders of the world, the galaxy, and the universe.
Then, the light began to dim. The colors receded until the sky was once again its normal clear blue. The voices around him and in his head died down until there was nothing but the sounds of everyday, average pokemon around him. Ethan collapsed to the ground, sitting down hard on the grass, his legs jelly as the sensation of energy and life bled away into nothingness.
What…was that? Ethan thought, for the spectacle he had just witnessed and the sensations he had just felt were beyond words. He felt oddly happy, though he wasn't sure why.
Espy seemed almost frozen, her eyes riveted on the sky above them. As if his words had jolted her awake, his friend slowly looked down until her eyes met his. A mere example of the wonders behind the physical existence that we have come to know as all that exists.
"But," said Ethan as he found his voice again. "What exactly was it?"
Life.
Ethan looked up again. This time, there was a small figure flying through the sky, floating gently in circles around their general area. The figure grew closer and closer until Ethan could see the bird's red streaked feathers and beautiful plumage. The bird was probably over half of his height and its wings created gusts of wind that buffeted Ethan as it descended. The Pidgeotto chirped again and circled just overhead. Ethan knew in an instant that the bird was Phoenix.
Lyra's Pidgeotto hovered over him for a few more seconds before zipping away again, having located him. Ethan simply remained sitting on the grass, staring at shrine that had likely brought him to this place. What was its purpose, and what kind of beings rested here, in the middle of the Ilex Forest? There were so many questions, and they were all spinning through his head as he sat there, gazing at the structure. Espy was shining with psychic energy, her entire body shimmering with blue aura, energized by Life. Tricky was lurking around in the shadows of the trees, frowning at the sudden outpouring of light and heat that had enveloped the clearing. Dancer was hopping around the grass, dancing in circles around Ethan and Espy as if she were performing some strange ritual. The Clefairy had the widest smile on its face as it squeaked excitedly at them.
A few minutes later, Ethan heard a rustle behind him. "Ethan!" Lyra's voice called out, and he staggered to his feet, the blood in his legs hissing at him for sitting on them in one position for so long.
"Hey, Lyra," said Ethan.
"Really? Just 'Hey, Lyra'?" said his friend, glaring at him. "What were you even thinking? You just ran off into the middle of Ilex Forest and expected to find your way back how?"
Ethan shrugged helplessly. Lyra rested her forehead against the tips of her fingers and sighed before glaring at him again. "I've been looking for you for nearly an hour."
"Really? It's been that long?" Ethan hadn't thought that his experience had really taken so much time. It seemed so short to me…
"Yes, it has!" said Lyra. "I had Phoenix searching for you while I looked on the ground. Then I ran into a Beedrill on my way here, and I was lucky that Phoenix actually evolved in the middle of battle. Otherwise, I would have really been in trouble."
"Sorry, Lyra," said Ethan. "I didn't mean to put you in danger, too."
She shook her head. "Just…don't be so stupid again, okay? There's only so many times I can do this sort of thing until you get unlucky."
"Yeah," said Ethan, nodding. He looked up, as if the thing he had seen in the sky would appear again.
Meanwhile, Lyra had noticed the structure behind him. "And what's this behind you?"
His friend walked over to the shrine, looking it over closely. "Wow," she said admiringly. "Someone put a lot of effort into this. And…is this supposed to be Celebi?"
"What?" Ethan moved next to Lyra now, and followed the line from her finger to the small figurine in front of the shrine. Now that his head was clearer, he could fully inspect the figurine. At first, he thought it was a person, but as he looked closer, he realized that the statue wasn't even remotely humanoid. The creature had a large, round head, nearly half the bulk of its body, and its eyes were large on its face. Two delicate-looking branches grew out of his head, looking like antennae.
"Celebi, the Voice of the Forest," said Lyra, frowning as if she was trying to remember some long-forgotten lesson. "It's an old legend. It's said that Celebi is the guardian of the Ilex Forest, and that this shrine is supposed to be its home."
Ethan frowned. Was it possible that he had actually met Celebi? "What else about Celebi? Anything about…heat or light?"
Lyra shook her head. "I don't think so. The only other thing I know about Celebi is that it's supposed to be a traveler of time. It's supposed to only be present during times of peace."
So it probably wasn't Celebi that Ethan had met. But what could he have possibly seen in the sky? He resolved to conduct some research of his own later. Out loud, Ethan only said, "Why do you know so much about old legends?"
"It's always been interesting to me," said Lyra, stepping back from the shrine. "Anyways, we've got to get back on the main path. I really don't want to be stuck out here when it gets dark."
"Uh, do you know your way back?" said Ethan, looking behind Lyra, where she had entered the clearing.
Lyra walked over to an average looking tree and pointed at a cross cut into the bark. "Trail markers," said his friend, looking back at Ethan. "Someone here's got to keep us going the right direction."
…
Fortunately for Ethan and Lyra, Ilex Forest wasn't that large, just barely over one thousand square miles of area. Thus, it only took them roughly five days to navigate their way out of the forest proper.
Now they had reached the outskirts of the Goldenrod sub-region. Unlike most of the other cities in the Johto region, Goldenrod City was an organism that spread far beyond its core structures. The main city stretched nearly six miles in every direction, with multiple suburban living areas branching out from the core. Most of the residents and businesses in Goldenrod tended to stay within its immediate area of influence. But as the administrative center and the largest city in the Goldenrod sub-region, the borders of the metropolis actually stretched nearly seventeen miles from its center. And so Ethan could already see small inns and traveler's stores dotting the main road, each populated with several trainers and businessmen, all on their way to the Golden City. It was only just the beginning of the day, and as Ethan was walking along the cobblestone path to the city, he could see some of the trainers splitting off from the side of the road, pokeballs clutched in their hands.
One trainer held two pokeballs as he stood in Ethan's path, and he pointed at him. "Yo! Ready for a battle?" said the trainer, a sandy-haired skater type wearing dark sunglasses. The sun was shining bright today, and Ethan was beginning to wish he had brought a pair of sunglasses with him on his journey.
"I'm always ready," said Ethan, unlatching a pokeball from his belt.
The teenager shook his head, grinning. "Want to make it interesting? We'll have a double battle, with double the standard winnings. Two on two."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. While he had battled with more than one pokemon before and even with another trainer cooperatively, he didn't have any real experience with the battle mode. Doubles battling was a style of battle brought over from the Hoenn region. It had come into its own in the competitive battling scene, but most major tournaments and competitions still tended to only hold the singles battling mode.
Doubles required a great deal of coordination and skill. Just because two pokemon were very powerful on their own didn't mean that they were necessarily powerful together. Two decent pokemon that could work together would always beat two strong pokemon that didn't work together. During a doubles battle, pokemon had to be simultaneously aware of their partner and their two opponents. The trainers had to keep the entire battlefield and the four pokemon in perspective. It was a style of battling that required much more thought and strategy than singles battling.
Ethan didn't care, though. He and his friends were determined to win, no matter the challenge.
Espy and Dancer appeared on the ground in a flash of light. Although Tricky was more experienced than Dancer, Ethan couldn't send the ghost type out with Espy. Until Tricky evolved into a Haunter and learned to control its ghostly energies and poisonous gases, its mere presence would have an adverse effect on Espy, especially if Tricky was actively using its abilities in battle. "Guys, this is a doubles battle," said Ethan, as the two pokemon looked at each other and then at Ethan. "You're going to have to work together to beat this guy."
Dancer squeaked happily and hopped back and forth. Espy hummed her understanding and turned to face the opposing trainer, who had just released his own pokemon. A yellow furred Pikachu and a tough looking Poliwhirl appeared on the other end of the field. The Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity as it readied its body for attack. Poliwhirl stepped forward, partially blocking Pikachu as it assumed a battle stance.
"Espy, use Confusion. Try to catch both of them." A wave of psychic energy rippled across the field from Espy's outstretched spoon.
"Poliwhirl, bubblebeam! Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" The Poliwhirl released a torrent of bubbles from its mouth, meeting the psychic attack in the center of the road and causing both attacks to explode in a bright flash of light and water. Pikachu growled and launched an intense bolt of electricity at Dancer and Espy, who quickly raised a psychic barrier and blocked the attack.
Ethan's mind raced. Poliwhirl seemed to be the wall of the duo, blocking hits and able to do close combat work for its partner Pikachu, who looked more like a ranged fighter. If his pokemon focused their attacks on Poliwhirl, who didn't look like it was able to really dodge very well, then Pikachu would fall shortly after.
"Espy, lock Poliwhirl with confusion!" said Ethan now. "Dancer, hit him with dazzling gleam."
Espy's spoon bent slightly as she channeled an intense amount of psychic energy through her focus and straight towards Poliwhirl, who was quickly surrounded by a blue aura and struggled to move even a finger. Dancer raised a single digit and, with days of practice behind her, fired off a bright pink beam of light at Poliwhirl.
Which was immediately countered with a blast of electricity that met the fairy attack in mid-air, dissipating the beam of energy. "Poliwhirl, Pikachu," said the teenager, recognizing the threat. "Wave Current!"
Poliwhirl stopped struggling and immediately began to spout a deluge of water from its mouth. Espy blocked the water with her barrier, allowing the attack to wash around her and Dancer. Pikachu suddenly leapt high into the air and released a bolt of electricity straight into the water-covered ground.
"Teleport!" Ethan shouted as he realized the danger. "Now!"
Pikachu's attack rippled across the ground, conducted by the water left by Poliwhirl. As the electricity sparked towards Espy and Dancer, the psychic raised her spoon and both of them vanished from existence, leaving the electric strike with no target as it dissipated upon reaching dry ground.
Poliwhirl dropped to the ground, freed from its psychic prison. An instant later, Espy and Dancer seamlessly reentered the physical dimension, right behind their two opponents. Before the pokemon could notice or their trainer could react, Espy launched a wave of psychic energy that crashed into both pokemon, blasting Pikachu halfway across the field and knocking Poliwhirl to the ground. The water type quickly staggered to its feet, only to be blasted again by a dazzling gleam from Dancer. Poliwhirl shook and struggled to stay on its feet. Dancer leapt forward and landed atop the water type, bringing him down to the ground.
Pikachu recovered now, its fur sparking dangerously as it stalked its two opponents warily. The sandy-haired teenager recalled Poliwhirl, frowning. "Volt Tackle on the Clefairy!" said the trainer determinedly. "Bring at least one of them down."
The Pikachu growled, and suddenly the rodent was alight in a cocoon of electric sparks, nearly blinding Ethan. The electric type barked and dashed forward faster than Ethan could react, a literal living bolt of lightning as it streaked across the ground. Espy launched a flurry of psychic energy at the Pikachu, and Dancer used two fingers to fire off an intense beam of light. Both attacks met the Volt Tackle and exploded in a cascading blaze of electricity and energy. A rumble boomed across the field, and Ethan had to keep his eyes hidden behind his arm for several seconds until his vision finally returned to normal. He lowered his arm.
From where the Pikachu had first launched its attack to where Pikachu had been struck by Espy and Dancer's attacks, a trail of scorched earth lay steaming from the electric type's Volt Tackle. Pikachu lay twitching in the middle of the road, its fur slightly blackened from the amount of intersecting energies in which it had been immersed. A ring of scorched earth surrounded the electric type.
Ethan exhaled. "Great job, guys." He crouched down to meet Dancer, and more or less Espy, at eye level. "You guys did amazing for your first real doubles battle."
Dancer squeaked happily at him, and Espy simply said nothing, though her eyes seemed to smile at him. Ethan stood up just as the sandy haired teenager walked over to him.
"Great battle," said the teenager with no apparent ill will at all. "Your pokemon are pretty strong."
"Yeah," said Ethan, looking down at them. "They are."
The teenager handed his winnings over to Ethan and left after bading him goodbye. Ethan returned his two friends and moved over to the side of the road where Lyra had been watching the battle.
"Pretty good for your first doubles battle," said Lyra, nodding. "You want to let your pokemon have a rest before we move on?"
"Nah, that battle didn't really wear them out," Ethan replied, slipping another pokeball into his hand, this one slightly darker than the rest. "We can keep moving. Besides, Tricky's still fresh."
"I definitely get the next battles," said Lyra, rolling her eyes. "You have battled the last four trainers. Nimbus has barely gotten to battle anyone, and I'm pretty sure Phoenix will go crazy if I leave her in her pokeball any longer."
"Well, I do need to teach my team some new techniques," said Ethan slowly. "They could use a bit more firepower."
"Exactly."
Ethan feigned sighing. "Fine. I guess your pokemon do need to catch up to my friends."
Lyra punched him in the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."
…
Ethan had never been in a city this large. His mother had taken him to Violet City occasionally, but for the most part he had stayed in their secluded side of Johto all his life. The population of New Bark Town? Just over one hundred people, making New Bark Town one of the least populated towns in the Johto region. True, it was home to the lab of Professor Elm, one of the world's foremost experts on Pokemon evolutionary theory and egg research, but aside from that, New Bark Town didn't have much else to offer.
The population of Goldenrod City? Numbered in the tens of thousands.
Most of that number lived on the edges of the great city in the suburbs and the residential districts. Even so, the number was staggering to Ethan. Their walk through the main highway through the city took them past movie theaters, massive department stores, bookstores, trainer shops, casinos, and so much more. Fortunately for the duo, Lyra had thought to purchase a map of the city from one of the roadside inns they had passed on their way to Goldenrod proper. Thus, it only took them around twenty minutes to find the Pokemon Center near the southern side of the city.
The Goldenrod Pokemon Center was large. It had to be, in order to accommodate the literal hundreds of trainers that passed through the city every day. Goldenrod was the largest city in the Johto region, and it sat near the nexus of traffic in Johto just some miles north of the city. Thus, Ethan was sufficiently overwhelmed by the time they reached the counter to meet a young nurse attending the station.
"Hi, I'm Nurse Ellen," said the cheerful nurse. "You two look like you've been traveling a long ways."
"Yeah," said Ethan, suddenly aware of the distance they had gone. His body was beginning to ache. "We're just looking for two rooms for a couple of nights."
"Okay," said Ellen, her fingers flying across the keyboard of the computer behind the counter. "Trainer ID?"
Ethan and Lyra told the nurse their information, and soon the nurse had put them in for two rooms. "You'll be staying rooms 315 and 316," she informed them, handing the two trainers a pair of key cards. "There are stairs on your left, or you can take the elevators on your left behind my station. Enjoy your stay in Goldenrod, Mr. Rider and Ms. Kotone."
"Thank you," said the both of them, and they both headed up to their rooms. On their way there, Ethan passed by all sorts of different people. All of them trainers. There were younger types, similar to himself, with bright expressions on their faces and young pokemon traveling at their sides. There were older types, like a graying-haired man in a brown suit with a Drowzee following him from behind. There were strange types, like a pair of giggling girls wearing bubblegum pink clothing with multiple buttons and flair. They each carried a cute little Pichu in their hands as they passed them in their hallway.
"They don't really look like trainers," said Ethan, raising an eyebrow after they had passed out of earshot.
"Those girls were probably Contest coordinators," said Lyra as they stopped in front of their rooms.
"Contest what?" said Ethan confusedly.
Lyra looked at him strangely until she suddenly chuckled. "Sorry, I sometimes forget that the only thing you pay attention to is battling. Pokemon Contests. You know, the competitions where people and pokemon dress up and perform to impress a panel of judges and the audience?"
Ethan frowned. He had heard of Contests before, but as Lyra had aptly put it, he didn't really pay much attention to those type of events. Certainly, he had never considered it before himself. "I think so."
Lyra waved a hand at him. "Forget it. Just stick to battling, Ethan. It's the probably the best for you."
Ethan shook his head. "So are you planning on going out?"
Lyra outright laughed at him. "Are you kidding me? As soon as I get inside this room, I'm going to sack out on the bed. I am tired."
"Well, I think I'm going to go out and explore," said Ethan, shrugging as he unlocked his door.
"Suit yourself," said Lyra, yawning a bit. "Try not to get lost. It's a big city."
"We'll see."
Twenty minutes later, Ethan had thoroughly immersed himself in the hustle and bustle of Goldenrod City. He was standing in the middle of a shopping plaza filled with more shops than he had ever seen in one place in his life. And, just across the road was quite possibly the largest building he had ever seen.
The Goldenrod Complex stood three stories high, but end to end spanned longer and farther than Ethan could see. Goldenrod architecture generally followed modern trends, with straight lines and conservative colors predominating the style of most structures in the city. The Goldenrod Complex was different. Instead of a flat roof, the Complex had a curved dome-like roof, made up of almost entirely glass skylights and steel support beams. The building was colored with soft yellows and oranges, giving off a much more lively air around the Complex than its surroundings.
Inside, the Goldenrod Complex seemed even bigger. The storefronts were arranged circularly around a single open space that opened up to the rooftop skylights, allowing Ethan to see into every floor from one point in the center of the mall. Escalators facilitated travel through the floors, and a set of elevators against one of the main support beams for the building were positioned on the edge of the inner circle. Bright lights from the stores and the mall itself assailed Ethan's eyes, and he found himself rubbing his eyes every minute or so to adjust.
While there were certainly many stores that catered specifically to trainers, Ethan made a beeline for the TM stores. While he did know how to shop for himself, he didn't need clothes, he was too young to purchase wines and alcoholic drinks, and he didn't need accessories for himself or his pokemon. What he did need were traveling supplies, but he could find those just about anywhere. No, what Ethan wanted was much harder to find: TMs.
Technical Machines, or TMs, were invented by a Silph corporation research team. The process was patented, and therefore unknown to the general public, though it involved the use of psychics and specially made material that could store psychic energy. Thus, they were difficult, if not impossible, to manufacture without the Silph process and only certain stores, like the Pokemart, were licensed to sell them.
TMs allowed pokemon to learn moves and acquire abilities that they otherwise would not have been able to learn on their own. Clefable, for instance, could not learn Psychic on their own, though they had the potential. With a TM, Ethan could teach Dancer the move Psychic, though he would probably end up having Espy teach her instead of purchasing an expensive TM.
Ethan found himself mesmerized by the rows and rows of TMs in one of the glass display case of Silph TMs, the official carrier of TMs. There were so many options, ranging from simple moves to complicated moves and from physical abilities to energy-based abilities. He looked at one particular disc, a solid blood red color: Fire Blast.
It cost $5500.
That's… a lot. Ethan shook his head, as if he could clear his vision and the price would change. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't battling nearly enough trainers, or more experienced ones at that, to be able to make that kind of money easily. Ethan suspected that it would take at least another month or two for him to be comfortable with spending that kind of money on a single TM. He looked for other options.
Protect was a possible candidate. Most pokemon could learn the move; it more or less relied on the latent energy that pokemon drew their power from anyways. Using Protect, though, had its drawbacks; while the move was a quick and solid way to defend against a sudden attack, the process of drawing the energy out and using it as a direct shield against an attack was inefficient by most standards and often tired out the user. In any case, seeing the value in having an emergency fallback move, Ethan bought the Protect TM for a little over $1000.
The second TM he bought was Double Team. The technique allowed the user to produce several copies of itself that would confuse its opponent. Most pokemon had rudimentary ways to differentiate the clones from the original; the clones usually didn't have a smell that pokemon with trained noses could detect, the clones often had flickers or flaws that resulted from imperfect use of the technique, and the clones didn't weigh anything, allowing pokemon that could detect vibrations or tremors in the ground to divulge the location of the user. However, a pokemon that had mastered Double Team could alleviate all of these issues by creating more realistic clones. Ethan had remembered seeing a Hypno on television that could produce a hundred clones, each as seemingly real as the original.
Ethan pocketed the TMs with satisfaction, though he was a bit down at the mouth at how much the techniques had cost him. Having finished his business inside the Goldenrod Complex, Ethan headed outside now, where he would likely leave the city to go have his pokemon learn the new moves.
A ring pierced the air. Ethan looked around a bit before he realized that the ring was emanating from inside his pocket. He dug inside his pocket and pulled out his phone with a blink; he had forgotten he even had one. He answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hey, Ethan," came Lyra's voice over the speaker. She sounded a lot more chipper and alert than when he had left her back at the Pokemon Center. "I just woke up and decided that I wanted to explore the city a bit. Where are you?"
"I just left the Goldenrod Complex," said Ethan, looking around as if he could see Lyra in the crowds forming outside of the giant mall.
"Okay, cool, you're not actually that far. I want to check out this restaurant called the Goldenrod Garden. It's a pretty famous place, and it's supposed to have really good curries."
"Well," said Ethan, thinking about it. "I'm not really a fan of spicy food…but since we're here, I might as well try it."
"Awesome. Meet you there in about twenty minutes."
"Okay."
Half of an hour later, Ethan and Lyra were sitting in the seating area just outside of the restaurant. The Goldenrod Garden interior had gone for a more classy look, with dark oak wood floors and lanterns providing lighting around the restaurant. The seating area was cordoned off by a wrought-iron fence. The tables were made of the same metal. Red-and-white umbrellas hung over each table, providing shade from the bright afternoon sun. Ethan thought that they were more of an affectation than actual protection from the elements, but since the sun wasn't getting in his eyes, he couldn't really complain.
"Their Hoenn classic curry is really good," said Lyra as she quickly dug through her meal. "What do you think?"
Ethan set down his third glass of water in five minutes, half of the drink already gone. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you through my water," said Ethan. He ducked underneath a quick swat from Lyra. "I mean, the curry is pretty good, but like I told you, I can't really handle spicy food. Forgive me if I'm uncultured."
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Well, I can say that I tried to get you to enjoy the finer parts of life."
Ethan was about to retort when he felt something brush his leg. At first he thought it was Dancer, who had busied herself staring straight into one of the dim lanterns behind him, but the touch had felt lighter, softer than her usual poke. Hair?
He looked down. A orange-and-cream colored ball of fur was sniffing the ground around his feet. Its back was striped with black strips of fur and when it looked up at him, it had a small muzzle and bright amber eyes. The Growlithe sat on its haunches and looked at him expectantly, its tail wagging slightly behind its body.
"Aw, how cute!" said Lyra as she spotted the Growlithe underneath their table.
"Yeah, he is," said Ethan as he picked up one of the pieces of meat in his curry and held it out in front of the Growlithe. The dog cautiously sniffed the meat in his hand and, after a moment, quickly lapping it up with its tongue. The Growlithe stuck out its tongue and panted happily, clearly wanting more. Ethan smiled in spite of himself and fed the Growlithe more of his meal. After several bites, the dog was satisfied and nudged against his leg, contented.
"Well, since the opportunity is right here," said Ethan as he pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at the Growlithe. The encyclopedia whirred and beeped as it located the Growlithe's data within its databanks and compiled it with the data from its scan. Then Dexter began to speak. "Growlithe, the puppy pokemon. Male. It has a brave and trustworthy nature. It fearlessly stands up to bigger and stronger foes. This Growlithe knows the moves tackle, bite, ember, flame wheel, and iron tail. Its ability is Flash Fire, which makes this Pokemon immune to fire-type moves and will increase the power of this Pokemon's fire moves if struck by fire."
"You're a tough little guy, aren't you?" said Ethan, looking at the small fire type before him. He had blinked at the mention of iron tail, but he guessed that one of his parents had known the technique. Iron tail was a powerful steel-type classified move that allowed the user to focus its energy into a single limb, its tail, rendering the limb very strong and very dense. It could shatter stone with ease, and in some cases even steel, depending on the user. Ethan really doubted that Growlithe could use Iron Tail, seeing as the pokemon was so young, but it meant that Growlithe had the potential to learn the move. And that in of itself was valuable.
"You want to be part of my team, Growlithe?" Ethan asked the dog, which was sitting on its haunches now. The Growlithe cocked its head as it stared at him, as if it was pondering the idea. Then the Growlithe hopped to its feet and nudged his leg, barking once. Ethan started at the sudden sound and quickly looked around before laughing quietly. "Okay, I'll take that as a yes."
"He's so cute," said Lyra, still looking at the Growlithe from her side of the table. "If you didn't want him, he'd be with me already!"
"Sorry, got to be quicker," said Ethan, and looked at Growlithe. "So, what am I going to call you? Do you want a name?"
A quick nod and more panting. Ethan thought carefully about this one. He thought that he had rushed the last names a bit, so he sat back a bit, frowning. A million possibilities like Flamer and Inferno came to mind, but none of them were really creative. And they seemed a bit uncharacteristic of the bright and chipper dog before him. Two minutes passed before the name finally hit him. "Agni?"
The Growlithe whuffed at him, panting happily as Ethan registered his new pokemon in his Pokedex. He quickly withdrew a pokeball from his belt and held it out towards the dog. Before he could do anything else, Agni leaned forward and touched the capture sensor on the pokeball, opening the device and "capturing" him. Ethan blinked and chuckled as he registered the pokeball onto his trainer ID now. After a minute, he released Agni, who nudged his leg upon seeing again, prompting a laugh from the young trainer.
"Hey, Dancer," Ethan called out towards the fairy type, who was now prancing around one of the lantern posts, simply delighted by the glowing ball of light. Dancer leapt over to them in a single bound and stopped to stare inquisitively at the fire type.
"Agni, this is Dancer. Dancer, this is Agni, the newest addition to our team." Agni barked its greeting at Dancer, who squeaked and tapped on the Growlithe's nose in return, causing the fire type to quickly shake its head. As the two continued to interact, Ethan turned back to Lyra. "So what's next?"
Lyra shrugged. "The tunnels beneath Goldenrod are supposed to be a great place for battling. At least, that's what I've heard around the Pokemon Center."
A smile tugged at Ethan's lips. Exploring the city had been great, but now it was time to get back to what he did best. It was time to battle.
….
"Try it out, Espy."
The Kadabra concentrated and a blue aura emanated from her skin. A second later, three more Kadabras appeared on either side of Espy. The psychic lowered her spoon, and the others did the same. Then she dropped the technique and the clones disappeared, the energies dissipating as they were released from her psychic control.
"Awesome," said Ethan, grinning. "I knew you'd get it fast." The young trainer looked around at his team. TMs had come far since their origin. In the past, TMs were limited in their use, only being able to impart knowledge of an ability to one pokemon before becoming completely unusable. Now, as technology had grown and made progress in the last few years, commercial TMs had a cap at three uses before they stopped working. Ethan had taught the technique to Tricky, Dancer, and Espy, seeing as they were currently the most fragile of his team and could use the technique to greatly enhance their move pool and abilities in battle.
Ethan returned his friends one by one and turned towards the open tunnel before them. "Now we're ready."
The Goldenrod Underground was the premiere battleground of Goldenrod. In the distant past, a river system had divided what was now the largest city in Johto in half. The city had slowly grown around the river, building bridges and forming a bustling port city in the Feudal Era of Johto. Then the river running through the city itself dried up, leaving only dry sand in its place. Goldenrod was forced to switch its main ports to the river running adjacent to the city, and the riverbed within the city was paved over. The bridges remained, and eventually expanded to become whole streets. Over time, the area was covered by the streets and became a massive tunnel underneath the city. In the modern era? The original riverbed formed the Goldenrod Underground, where trainers of all skill levels came to battle and test their mettle in the largest hub of traffic in the Johto Region.
Most of the trainers in the Goldenrod Underground were travelers simply passing through the city. There were some, though, that lived in Goldenrod and had obviously been battling for a while. Ethan and Lyra encountered some of these trainers when Ethan had noticed a large crowd towards the middle of the Underground. Ethan, being all of twelve, strained to see over the heads of the crowd. "I can't see," said Ethan finally, stepping down. "Let's try to find out way to the front."
Threading their way through the ground, it took them half of a minute to reach the center. The crowd had formed a circle with a twenty meter radius. There were four people in the center, big burly biker types with ripped sleeves and rugged jeans. Three of them stood towards the edge of the circle. One of them stood in front of his compatriots, his face marked with a wide smirk. "Lickitung, wrap up this pathetic excuse for a pokemon."
A pink, bulbous pokemon with a shiny bald head stood in front of its trainer. Its beady black eyes blinked as it suddenly opened its mouth and extended a long, wide pink tongue towards its opponent, a Chikorita. The grass type squealed and tried to run away, but the tongue was too fast; it quickly latched around Chikorita's body and quickly began to constrict the small pokemon. A few seconds later, the Chikorita was returned in a red beam of light by its trainer, a young boy with a blue cap on his head and a disappointed expression on his face.
"Go back to school, kid!" said the burly trainer, laughing low and hard. "You've got a lot to learn. The Underground is for big boys only. Now hand me my cash."
The trainer handed over the winnings to the burly trainer, who began to count the bills as soon as they landed on his open palms. The young boy disappeared into the crowds. Ethan frowned and found himself unconsciously stepping towards the four trainers. The burly man patted Lickitung on its bald head and looked out towards the rest of the crowd. "Who else wants to battle the Gold Four? We've all got one pokemon each. A thousand and five hundred dollars to anyone who can beat all four of us in a row!"
"I'll do it," said Ethan, stepping forward into the ring. He didn't know what motivated him to battle these obviously experienced trainers, but he never backed down from a challenge.
The burly man looked at him for a moment before laughing hard. "We're getting nothing but kids today," he guffawed. "I'll give you a chance to step out, little boy. I don't like taking easy money."
"Neither do I," said Ethan, the words falling out of his mouth faster than he could think. "Maybe I should battle your friends instead of you?"
One of the biker types, slightly bigger than the two that flanked his sides, chuckled. "You've got a mouth on you, kid," said the Lickitung's trainer, examining the young trainer closely now. "Let's see what you've got."
Ethan released Agni, who barked as soon as he was released. It stood determinedly in front of Ethan a fearless protector of its master.
The burly trainer laughed again. "You brought a cute puppy to slaughterhouse, kid. Lickitung, wipe that mutt off the field."
The normal type stepped forward and turned to the side before suddenly whirling around, bringing its long tongue whipping towards Agni in a wide arc.
"Agni, jump and use Ember!" Ethan shouted, and the Growlithe complied. As the tongue whistled towards the dog, Agni jumped over the tongue and spat out a stream of red-hot embers from its mouth, battering Lickitung with its attack.
"Wrap it up now!" the burly trainer snarled, and Lickitung's tongue suddenly stopped its sweep as it arced upwards and then downwards towards the Growlithe. Agni dodged the attack and spat embers at Lickitung again, this time nailing the normal type in the face, causing the pokemon to recoil from the attack.
"Fire wheel, Agni," Ethan ordered. Agni rushed towards the Lickitung while it was still rubbing at its burned face and released fire from its mouth, which whipped around the Growlithe as the dog sprinted towards the normal type. At the last second, Agni leapt into the air and curled into itself, a living ball of fire as it sailed through the air and crashed bodily into Lickitung, knocking the normal type back and skidding across the ground. Lickitung slowly began to get to its feet, but another ember attack from Agni knocked it out for good.
"Good job, Agni!" said Ethan, and he meant it. Considering that it was the Growlithe's first official battle, Ethan hadn't really expected such a clean win.
The Growlithe whuffed back at him, pleased at the praise from its trainer. The burly trainer returned the Lickitung just as one of his compatriots laid a hand on his shoulder. "Can't believe you lost to a little boy, man," said the trainer, chuckling as he stepped forward.
"He got lucky," the burly man snarled, stepping towards the back. "Beat him."
The second trainer released his pokemon. A yellow dumpy figure appeared in front of the biker trainer, its eyes looking at Agni sleepily. Ethan wasn't fooled, though. He knew that this pokemon was dangerous, despite its unassuming looks.
Drowzee took another step towards Growlithe, and slowly began to raise its hands. "Agni, use ember now!" Ethan shouted.
Agni spat fire from its mouth, which arced across the field and crashed into a psychic shield erected by the Drowzee. Agni kept up the attack, pounding on the psychic barriers with its embers. As the attack continued to be repelled by Drowzee, the psychic type slowly raised one hand and extended it towards the dog. Agni yelped as it was suddenly lifted into the air by invisible forces, struggling against the grip that Drowzee now held it in.
"Keep up the ember attack!" said Ethan, and Agni fired more embers at Drowzee. As the psychic shield began to show its first cracks in its defense, Drowzee's digits flicked downward and Agni sailed to the ground with a smack, abruptly cutting off the attack. Agni shook its head and attempted to fire more embers at the psychic, only for the Drowzee to swing its fingers down and slam Agni into the ground again. The Growlithe struggled to get to its feet, growling weakly at the Drowzee, who continued to stare at the fire type impassively. Ethan was about to recall Agni when the fire type barked back at him, shaking its head vigorously. Ethan blinked as Agni suddenly rushed towards the Drowzee, spitting embers from its mouth. Drowzee's shield blocked the attacks again, and the psychic batted the dog to the side with a wave of its hand. Agni whined but didn't get back up again.
Ethan returned his newest pokemon. "You won't give up, will you?" he whispered to the pokeball, which seemed to warm up in response. He looked back at the trainer, who shrugged at the amazing resilience of the Growlithe. "Your puppy was tough," said the big man. "But you can't handle Drowzee. I've got years on you, kid."
Ethan raised an eyebrow and twirled another pokeball in his hand now. He had wanted to test out the newest addition to his team, and he did. Agni had done wonderfully. But he was done messing around.
Tricky cackled as it was released, swooping around the tunnel before coming to a stop in front of Ethan. The Gastly grinned as it noticed the Drowzee, emitting a low, dark chuckle that caused shivers to run down his back. The Drowzee's trainer frowned but didn't say anything. Neither did Ethan. There wasn't much to say.
"Drowzee, shut it down with Confusion," the biker ordered, the Drowzee quickly launched a flurry of psychic energy towards the ghost, who easily dodged the attack as it raced towards its prey, a trail of noxious gas in its wake. Tricky cackled and swooped high into the air before arcing down towards the Drowzee, who quickly erected another barrier to stop the ghost. Tricky's body crashed into the construct and almost instantly melted through it its ghostly energies easily destroying the psychic shield. Then Tricky was upon Drowzee, engulfing the psychic with its body. Between the ghostly energies and poisonous gases that made up the Gastly's form, Drowzee was unconscious in seconds.
Ethan nodded in satisfaction. As expected, Tricky had had no issues whatsoever. The ghostly energies that formed its body, combined with Tricky's speed and agility, had been too much for Drowzee.
The second trainer gritted his teeth as the third trainer, a portly, bald-headed man, stepped up to the challenge. "No one's ever beaten two of us," he said, his breath harsh as even the slightest movement took effort to move his large body. "But you ain't going to get any further than me, kid."
The fat man released his pokemon. Three spheres of metal slowly levitated into the air, held aloft by the creature's manipulation of electromagnetism. Three sets of eyes stared Tricky down, who quickly spun around in the air and stuck its tongue out at the Magneton.
"Be serious, Tricky," said Ethan, frowning. "This one looks tough." Magneton were made up of three fused Magnemite. Like their pre-evolution, they were made up entirely of steel and used their powerful magnets to maneuver and launch their attacks. They were tough, and they were powerful. Magneton had access to a dangerous move pool and could actually maneuver around pretty quickly, despite the heavy steel that composed their bodies. Their unique chemical makeup meant that Tricky's poison wouldn't even affect them, though the Gastly's ghost abilities would still work. Tricky had beaten the Magnemite back in the cave because it had surprised it. It wouldn't be so easy this time, especially since they were facing the evolved form.
"You can't just rush it," said Ethan as he stared at the Magneton, which simply just stared back at him. "Your poison can't touch it. Dodge its attacks, try to catch it off guard. If you manage to stun it, then you can move in."
And with no further instructions, Tricky grinned and immediately took to the air, high above Magneton.
"You haven't got a ghost of a chance, kid," said the fat man, chuckling. "Magneton, lock on and tri-bolt."
The electric type whirred and beeped as all three of its eyes flashed red and locked in on Tricky's wispy form. Then each of the three magnets sticking out of the sides of the Magneton sparked with electricity before they each released a thin bolt of electricity towards the Gastly. Tricky dodged the first bolt, then quickly evaded the next bolt, and just barely managed to swoop underneath the last bolt as it reached attacking range of the Magneton. The ghost type's form darkened as Tricky suddenly released a wave of ghostly energy towards the electric type, which shuddered as the Night Shade passed through its form.
After a moment, Magneton renewed its assault and quickly began to fire off more and more thunderbolts at Tricky, who dodged each bolt but was just a hair slower each time. Ethan gritted his teeth. With the sheer volume and fire rate of the attacks, Tricky couldn't get a hit in. And sooner or later, Magneton would hit its target and cripple the ghost.
It was time for Ethan to reveal the fruits of his latest training with the ghost. "Tricky, hit him with Confuse Ray!"
Tricky slowed down just barely as the Gastly began to channel the extra-dimensional energies needed to form the technique. In a few seconds, Tricky had formed a small but dense ball of strangely colored light and held it in place in front of itself.
Only for a bolt of lightning to strike Tricky directly in the center of its forehead. Tricky looked for surprised for the briefest of moments before the ghost dissipated into a cloud of purple. Ethan sighed. They had been so close to forming the Confuse Ray. Unlike conventional ghost type techniques, which drew from the pre-existing energies a ghost had in place in order to maintain a corporeal form in the physical dimension, Confuse Ray drew power from the other dimension, a direct line to the strange and twisted energies that ghost types used to function. The energies would scramble the minds of any pokemon that came into contact with the attack, though dark types were able to resist the energies to a certain extent. It was a very potent attack, but, unfortunately for them, Tricky had only learned the move a few days ago based on instructional videos they had watched. It took the ghost at least a couple of seconds to muster the energy, and even launching the attack took time. Ethan sighed and pulled out his pokeball, ready to return Tricky once he had reformed.
Whispers from the crowd interrupted his thoughts. He looked around as the most of the crowd continued to look towards the ceiling. His head came up.
The gases that had resulted from Tricky's dissolution were swirling in a vortex of purple. Ethan frowned. When Tricky reformed, it was usually a quick process that nothing more than the gases condensing and contracting until they solidified into the Gastly form. This was decidedly different.
The gases darkened until they were nearly black. A wave of unseen energy rippled across the tunnel, and Ethan had to shake off a sudden outbreak of goosebumps that had come up out of nowhere. The gases slowly began to contract, but instead of the usual sphere that Ethan had come to know as Tricky's form, the gases formed an entirely different shape. Two smaller puffs of gas began to coalesce just outside the main cloud, and those shaped into something resembling hands. The main collection of gases solidified, and the now solidly dark cloud opened up to reveal a familiar pink tongue as it extended out. Two large spots of white rimmed with red appeared on the gas cloud, and the ghost turned its malicious stare towards the Magneton, which had continued to blankly stare at Tricky throughout the entire process.
Tricky had evolved into a Haunter.
Ethan's resulting grin threatened to split his face. "Tricky, hit him with Confuse Ray!"
The fat man stared at the ghost for another stunned second before the words suddenly hit him. "Wait, Magneton! Get him with thunderbolt now!"
As Magneton's sides began to spark with electricity once more, Tricky cackled and flew up towards the ceiling before disappearing into the shadows. Magneton fired its thunderbolts, all of which struck empty air as its target vanished. Magneton whirred and slowly rotated around as it began to search for its opponent. Then, out of the corner of Ethan's vision, a shadow that looked too solid began to ripple and formed Tricky's figure as the ghost type ascended from the darkness. With Tricky's evolution came the ability to travel through shadows and cloak in darkness, and the Haunter was taking full advantage of its new abilities. A small sphere of colorful lights appeared in Tricky's "hands" as the Haunter formed the Confuse Ray. A second later, Tricky launched its attack, striking the Magneton in the back before the electric type could even notice. The Magneton beeped and began to shudder as the ghostly energies scrambled its mind, causing the electric type to dip and weave in the air.
"No!" the fat man yelled as his pokemon began to spin around in confusion. "Magneton, cut it out! Use Thunderbolt!"
But the Magneton was completely unresponsive to its trainer's calls and continued to malfunction. Tricky dashed forward with terrifying speed and loomed over the Magneton, which was still completely unaware of its surroundings or the impending danger. Tricky's hands descended into the Magneton's body, which stiffened as Tricky's tongue also wrapped around the electric type. Seconds later, the Magneton emitted a low beep as it crashed to the ground, its control of electromagnetism failing from the assault.
"Yes!" Ethan shouted even as the other trainer cried out in despair. Tricky grinned and vanished into the shadows. Ethan had just a second to blink before a rush of cold passed through him. Tricky reappeared behind him with its hands outstretched next to his head, cackling. Ethan rolled his eyes. "Maybe this wasn't such a great thing after all," he joked, and the ghost flipped over his head, relishing in its newfound power and control over its energy.
The fat man was silent as he retreated to the back of the crowd. The fourth and final man stepped forward now, slowly clapping for the young trainer. This man was taller and leaner than his compatriots, the muscles in his arms and chest well defined. He ran a hand over his short hair as he appraised Ethan. "Not bad for a kid," he said, his voice deep. "My boys have been battling for years. I honestly am really surprised that you've beaten them—and with only two pokemon, too. I think this is going to be a really good battle."
A flash of light. The air temperature in the tunnels suddenly cranked up a few degrees as the man released his next pokemon: a Magmar. The fire type stood just barely over four feet tall, and its body blazed with fire and power with every step it took. The Magmar sneered at Tricky, which stuck its tongue out in return.
Ethan grimaced. The last Magmar he had fought had left his team in ashes. To be fair, that Magmar had belonged to a five badge trainer while his team had only been formed after four weeks. The circumstances were a bit different here, but would they be enough to tip the scales?
"My boys made a mistake in underestimating you," said the man as he raised one hand into the air. "I won't."
Magmar roared and released a stream of flames into the air, bathing the ceiling in fire. Ethan gritted his teeth as the heat wave rushed over him, easily eliminating the cold that had passed over his body from Tricky's presence. Magmar's head snapped down and suddenly spat a torrent of fire towards Tricky, who flew to the side to dodge the attack. Tricky chuckled and released another wave of ghostly energy from its hands, a Night Shade attack substantially more powerful than it had been able to form before. Magmar swept its head to the right and the flamethrower met the night shade in the middle, causing both attacks to explode in a ball of flame and shadows.
A second later, Tricky appeared behind the fire type, hands outstretched to constrict it, only for Magmar to whirl around and release a massive gout of flame from its mouth, bathing the pokemon in fire.
"Tricky!" Ethan shouted. Magmar continued to pour fire towards the ghost for several more seconds before it finally cut off the attack. The ground in front of the Magmar was completely scorched, charred black as deep as a foot into the ground. Black smoke trails continued to waver upward from the inferno that Magmar had released into the tunnel. The fire type stomped a shackled foot onto the ground and shot a tower of flame towards the ceiling, its display of dominance clear in the Magmar's raised arms and wide posture.
Ethan sighed. Magmar and its kind were powerful, beyond anything Ethan had encountered so far. Even Tricky's timely evolution hadn't been enough to tip the scales. His eyes scanned the tunnel as he looked for the remnants of the ghost, where it would reform momentarily. His eyes stopped just next to the Magmar's head, where a familiar cloud of purple began to form.
Ethan's eyes widened just as two dark purple clawed hands reached out from the poison cloud and wrapped around the Magmar's face, completely blocking the fire type's vision. Magmar suddenly stopped its celebration and immediately spewed a gout of fire from its mouth in attempt to shake off the ghost. Tricky's head appeared now, and its mouth was stretched in a wicked grin as the ghost wrapped its body around Magmar's head, just above its mouth and the dangerous flamethrower. Ethan winced at the intense temperatures that Tricky must have been feeling, but he knew that it was nothing compared to the damage Magmar would be taking. Haunter and its evolutionary line were comprised of extra-dimensional energies and poison. Thus, aside from the myriad of abilities they were capable of learning and using, one of their primary methods of attack was often using the natural weapons their bodies possessed. In a sacrificial gambit, Tricky was subjecting Magmar to a cloud of poison and scrambling its mind with its ghost energies.
Magmar was going crazy. The fire type screamed in pain as Tricky mercilessly tore at its mind and body. The Magmar was blasting flames left and right at invisible foes, releasing so much heat that Ethan had to turn away slightly as the skin on his face began to tingle from the ambient air temperature. Then the screaming stopped, and Ethan looked back.
Tricky had slipped away from its grip on the Magmar, and now lay on the ground before him, exhausted. Magmar only looked slightly better; the fire type's face was blackened, and its eyes were rimmed with dark purple lines. One hand was braced against the ground for support. Magmar was finished, even if it didn't even recognize it itself.
Tricky looked up at Ethan with tired eyes and emitted a low chuckle. Ethan smiled a little before returning the ghost back to its pokeball. "You were amazing," said Ethan as he slipped the pokeball back into his belt and retrieved his last one.
Espy appeared on the field now. The psychic gazed impassively at the destruction on the field and the almost prostrate Magmar on the ground. I sense energies not native to this world. Might I assume the ghost was just present?
Good guess, Ethan thought, grinning. It's time to finish this.
Espy fixed her stare on the Magmar, who had managed to stagger to its feet. The fire type growled and spat a weak tongue of flame into the air, defiant until the end. Espy's eyes shined with power as she prepared her attack, the air around her beginning to shimmer with power.
"Hit that Kadabra with Flamethrower, Magmar," growled the Magmar's trainer, though it sounded half-hearted. "Give it all you got."
Ethan felt a pulse of amusement in his mind as the Magmar roared and launched a stream of fire from its outstretched palms, which streaked across the field and straight towards Espy. Ethan blinked, and the psychic vanished, leaving nothing for the flamethrower to hit as it uselessly bathed the ground where Espy once stood. An instant later, a powerful Psybeam struck Magmar in the back as Espy reappeared behind the fire type. Magmar collapsed onto the ground and didn't get back up.
Scarcely a challenge.
Sometimes it's nice to enjoy the easy victories, Ethan thought back. A clap interrupted his thoughts, and Ethan blinked as applause begun to erupt from the crowd, who had been intently watching the four-fold battle.
"Good job, kid!"
"They're starting out so young."
"I can't believe that a kid just beat these guys!"
"Awesome battle!"
"That was a pretty good battle, Ethan," said Lyra as she tapped him on the shoulder. "I'm going to have to step up my game to beat you, don't I?"
"It's good to know that I'm such a good influence on you," Ethan replied back, and Lyra laughed.
"Good battle, kid," said a voice behind him, and Ethan turned around to see the Magmar's trainer holding his hand out. Ethan took the handshake, his smaller hand engulfed by a heavily calloused and muscled hand.
"Haven't been beaten that solidly in a while," said the man, nodding over to his compatriots, who still looked at Ethan sourly. "Anyways, here are your winnings. As promised."
The man handed Ethan a stack of bills, which he took and placed in his backpack. Hey, I got my money back at least.
"I haven't seen a psychic link used before," the man continued, nodding over to the second trainer Ethan had battled. "Dave over there has been trying for a year with his Kadabra, but they can't ever get it just right."
Ethan blinked. "What? A psychic link?"
The man chuckled. "You're saying you don't know what you were doing? Yeesh, I'm forgetting you're only like, what, eleven? Psychic pokemon can link their minds with their trainers so you can communicate without even saying a word. It's hard to do, especially during battle when you've got a lot of action going around and both the trainer and the pokemon are focused on different things."
"Yeah, I didn't even notice it until the battle today," Lyra piped in now. "Your eyes glowed slightly blue when you released Espy."
"It didn't look that solid, true," the man commented. "The eyes tend to glow brighter when the link is stronger. But it's impressive if you've managed it as young as you are."
Ethan shook his head. While he had known about psychic links before, he had never considered that simply talking to his friend mind-to-mind during battle was evidence of a burgeoning psychic link.
Nor did I. Espy's eyes had faded to their usual color, not highlighted by the use of her psychic powers anymore.
"Anyways, good match," said the man, nodding before he left to go back to his friends.
Lyra clapped Ethan on the shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. "Did you ever pay attention in class, Ethan?" said his friend, rolling her eyes. "Come on, I do actually want to battle today. I'm tired of watching you get all the action."
"I'll watch a few battles," said Ethan, nodding. "But I'll have to get back to the Pokemon Center soon to get Agni and Tricky looked at, especially Tricky. He took a lot of damage back there."
Lyra sighed. "Fine, just go leave me alone then. Again." But her smile betrayed her words.
Ethan grinned.
…
"Tricky, cut it out."
Dancer's shadow rippled and materialized into the Haunter's form as the fairy turned around and squeaked at the appearance of the ghost. Tricky stretched its mouth with its hands and stuck its tongue out at the fairy, who squeaked back indignantly. Suddenly, Agni jumped through the ghost and dissipated half of ghost's form before landing next to Dancer. The remaining half of Tricky, half of its mouth and one eye to be exact, glared at the dog as Tricky quickly reformed the rest of its body.
Before the ghost could do anything else, Ethan intervened. "You definitely deserved that, Tricky," he said, laughing a little. "Just leave them alone."
Tricky frowned and levitated over to Ethan, allowing Dancer and Agni to continue playing in the corner, which more or less consisted of Dancer jumping high into the air, held aloft by the energy stored in her wings, and Agni attempting to jump just as high and failing miserably.
Espy watched the scene unfold from her position next to his bed, where Ethan was currently resting. He stretched his arms. It really had been a long day.
Tricky had made it out of the earlier battle with few injuries. Ghosts naturally reformed and healed themselves over time using the extra-dimensional energies that fueled their entire being, so it had been a simple process of allowing Tricky time to heal. Agni had taken a beating from Drowzee but had only merited the use of a couple of Potions and some time to rest. Pokemon were tough.
In the corner of his eye, Ethan noticed Tricky slipping into the shadows of the room, where its dark form slowly crept towards Espy. He was about to reprimand the ghost again when Espy's eyes flashed and a bright flash of light suddenly sparked in the corner of the room, partially blinding Ethan but completely blinding Tricky as the ghost recoiled from the Flash, floating about the room, disoriented. Ethan couldn't help but chuckle at Tricky's failed prank, and a pulse of amusement echoed in his mind.
Agni had whuffed at the scene and trotted over to Espy, who looked at the dog impassively. The fire type looked like it was considering getting close to the psychic and licking her face as he had did with Ethan, but Espy's eyes began to glow again and Agni reconsidered, instead hopping onto Ethan's bed and nestling against his body. Ethan patted the dog on the head and ruffled its fur, eliciting a content rumble from the fire type.
Ethan looked around. Aside from Dancer, who stood at the window looking at the moon lit sky, likely absorbing the ambient energy to be stored in her wings, the rest of his pokemon seemed to be winding down. Tricky had retreated into the corner of the room, its body seamlessly melting into the shadows. Espy was resting against her large tail and had closed her eyes, the psychic presence in Ethan's mind minimal as he registered her slipping into unconsciousness.
Ethan looked at his team. His friends. Things that he wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the day's events slide off his mind with the motion. Shut off the lights, and went to sleep.
….
And…FIN. At least, for this chapter. What'd you guys think this time? Leave your comments, reviews, and thoughts with me in the review section, and I'll take time to look at them for consideration.