Well, here we go! Chapter three is up and running for you guys! It took a little while, compared to the first two chapters, but I promise, it was worth the wait. After looking over many helpful reviews from Warrior of Hope and St. Elmo's Fire, I feel like I made this chapter the best it could be, and I'm extremely confident in it. Regarding plot, though, a lot of eventful things happen this chapter, and I genuinely hope that you all enjoy it! Before I get into this chapter, however, I want to thank you guys for the continued support!
Chapter 3 - The Altercation
Canalave City, Sinnoh
September 5th, 2032
Canalave City was nothing like the northern part of Sinnoh and Lenny Collins welcomed it. To put it simply, the port city was nice right now, with perfect amounts of wind and sun. Lenny was wearing a blue sweatshirt and black joggers and black shoes that seemed fairly comfortable as he walked through the city, a brownish-red monkey, standing just over five feet tall, with a large red-orange flame, by his side. The Infernape had a content expression on his face, much like his trainer.
Lenny, with a small smile on his face, turned to Infernape and opened his mouth to speak.
"Y'know Infernape, I can't believe that we're going to be officially starting our journey in less than five days," he said, Infernape giving him a nod in response. "After we finish this job for Professor Rowan, we are going to be training hard for next season, especially considering how we ended things off in the Ever Grande Conference."
"Infer," Infernape said lowly, cracking his knuckles. If there was one thing Infernape wanted, it was to win the Lily of the Valley Conference.
The two continued to walk around Canalave City in order to kill time off. They decided not to train for now because they were going to Iron Island, and as Professor Rowan said, it was dangerous and the wild Pokemon tend to be very strong. Considering they were going deep into the cavern, too, they needed all the energy they could have.
Sitting down at a bench by the water, Lenny closed his eyes and rested. Infernape shook his head, following suit by sitting next to him, although he had kept his eyes open.
"This city's very peaceful now, though," Lenny spoke up. "I remember when we used to come up here with Professor Rowan when I was like eight, and it was so busy." Lenny opened his eyes and smiled at the Infernape. "Things have changed a lot since then, I guess," he said with a laugh.
Infernape shared a laugh with Lenny and nodded, with a slight smile on his face.
Lenny closed his eyes once more, keeping his thoughts to himself, as Infernape sat on the bench, staring off into space.
"Infer nape," Infernape said to himself quietly. He looked at Lenny, who still had his eyes closed, and smiled. His trainer meant the world to him, and there was nothing that could change that.
The two sat on the bench in silence, and Infernape decided to close his eyes. They had plenty of time until the ferry for Iron Island arrived. Wind felt nice against their faces and the clouds in the sky were now hiding the sun, so they weren't basking in the sun's rays. The environment they were in was soothing, to say the least, and if they weren't doing something for Professor Rowan, both Lenny and Infernape could fall asleep.
However, peace was interrupted by the sound of another trainer and Pokemon.
"Greninja! Wait up!" a masculine voice cried out, causing Lenny and Infernape to simultaneously open their eyes and groan.
"Gren! Gren!"
From the bench, Lenny could see a dark brown-haired teenager, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and khakis with black shoes, chase after the Greninja.
Sighing, both Lenny and Infernape got up from the bench and walked in front of where the two were heading. Upon seeing them, however, the Greninja and his trainer stopped in their tracks. The trainer, however, seemed a lot more angry than the Greninja.
"Hey!" he called out. "You stopped our traini- oh shit, you're Lenny Collins, right?"
"Yeah," Lenny answered, with a head nod. "Who ar- wait, you're Michael Owens from the league meeting, right?" With a head nod from Michael, both trainers stuck out their hands at the same time and shook them. "It's good meeting you outside of such a formal place, y'know."
Michael gave Lenny a smirk. As the two Sinnoh League signees interacted with each other, both Michael's Greninja and Lenny's Infernape gave each other nods in respect.
"Likewise," he responded. "Anyway, how are you doing? It's been a few days since the meeting, and even then, we didn't really get to introduce ourselves properly."
"I've been doing alright, lately," Lenny said. "Haven't really gotten around to training yet because Professor Rowan sent me out on a job for him, and the thunderstorm in Jubilife didn't help too much either."
"Oh, that thunderstorm slowed me down quite a bit yesterday as well," Michael admitted. "And I'm with you as well. I haven't really been training as much as I should." Michael took a glance at his Greninja and smirked. "But that's why we're going to Iron Island! I figured that there would be a lot of Steel-types there, and considering I'm going to challenge Byron's gym, it'll be a lot of help."
Lenny gave Michael a surprised look, causing the later to give him a confused one.
"Really?" Lenny asked rhetorically, before Michael responded with a head nod. "That's funny because Infernape" - he pointed to him - "and I were going there for Professor Rowan."
"It's a small world, am I right?" Michael asked with a laugh. However, he then have Lenny a curious glance. "I am curious, though. You and the professor seemed very, very close. Is he a relative or something?"
Lenny shook his head before responding.
"No, not quite," he started, "but I guess you can say that he's been almost like a grandfather and a role model to me for the longest time. My parents were also researchers for him, so there's that also."
"That's nice to hear," Michael commented. "It must be good for you, though, being closely acquainted to such a large and influential figure in Sinnoh and all."
"Yeah, it is. I wouldn't know what I would do without the old man in my life," Lenny said, with a laugh. "In all seriousness, though, he's also really the main reason why Infernape and I are as close as we are."
"Really now?" Michael asked curiously.
"Infernape!" the Infernape said with a smile, jumping in on their sudden conversation.
Both trainers laughed at the Infernape's antics before Lenny continued on.
"Oh yeah definitely, Michael," he said, nodding. "Ever since I was like eight-years-old, I would hang out with Infernape, who was a Chimchar back then obviously, when my parents went out and did something for the professor, and we just bonded extremely well, I guess." Lenny glanced at the Infernape, who had been smirking ear-to-ear the whole time, and gave him a smirk of his own. "I don't know what would life be like if I hadn't met him. Infernape is like a brother to me."
"I could say the same about Greninja, Lenny," Michael said, looking at the Water-type, who was listening to the conversation closely. "When I was picking my starter in the Kalos region, Greninja had been so attached to me that I couldn't just not pick him. Ever since that moment, our bond has been unbreakable, and I would honestly do anything for him," he finished off, nodding at the frog-like Pokemon.
"Gren! Ninja!" the Greninja exclaimed in response, confirming what Michael had said.
"Glad we're in similar boats, Michael," Lenny said. "At least there's someone else who treats their Pokemon with a lot of respect."
The two had continued conversing for roughly ten more minutes. Despite only seeing each other once before this, the two had seemed to click well together and got along nice. Even though they were competing against each other in the Sinnoh League, Michael and Lenny seemed like they wouldn't mind being friends or at the least good acquaintances. Even Infernape and Greninja got along, too, having their own conversation off to the side.
Before they realized, though, the ferry came rushing through incredibly loud and the drawbridge rose up even louder. Michael and Lenny turned to see the boat come at a stop and a voice over a loudspeaker start talking.
"Anyone using the ferry to Iron Island may get on now," the voice said. "I repeat, anyone using the ferry to Iron Island may get on!"
"Well, that's us," Lenny said, getting up from the bench both of then sat at.
With that, the four - Michael, Lenny, Greninja, and Infernape - walked over to the ferry, which was stopped in the water. The only people getting on the ferry were other trainers, looking to train before the season started, and a few workers. Once on the ferry, Michael turned to Lenny and eyed him with an inquisitive look.
"So," he began, causing Lenny to turn towards him, "why did Professor Rowan send you to Iron Island of all places. From what I remember, there isn't really much there, besides strong wild Pokemon."
Lenny shrugged at Michael's question.
"You'd be surprised, Michael," Lenny stated, grabbing his attention. "There's a lot more there than what meets the eye."
"What do you mean by that?" Michael asked simply, with a head tilt and eyebrow raise.
"I'm not really sure if this is classified information or not, but I figure Professor Rowan wouldn't mind if I told you," Lenny started, grabbing Michael's attention even more. Now, he was curious and wanted to know what was happening. "To sum it up," he started in a slight whisper, "the Adamant Orb, the Timespace Orb representing Dialga, has been acting weird and it's located in the depths of that cave, and the professor fears that someone or something may be tampering with it."
"I thought those were protected at the Spear Pillar in order to prevent anything like the Galactic scenario from happening again?" Michael asked, a somewhat shocked look on his face. If there was anything he'd expect Lenny to tell him, that would be the last.
"They were at first," Lenny revealed. "But apparently, they returned to their original spots after some time, and the professor was assigned a job to monitor them," he said, remembering all the times they looked at the Timespace Orbs when Lenny was younger.
"Oh wow," was all Michael could say. "Y'know, out of all the things that you could've told me, that was the last thing I expected."
Lenny laughed sheepishly before opening his mouth to speak.
"Well, you seem trustworthy, to be completely honest," Lenny added, with a slight shrug. "Plus, I'm sure it's nothing major either. I don't think there's any new evil organizations, running wild around Sinnoh."
"There probably isn't, but what if there is?" Michael suddenly asked. "It probably is uncommon for the orb to start acting up out of nowhere, too, so there has to be somebody there, right?"
"Nonsense," Lenny said, shaking his head. "If there was evil in Sinnoh, Cynthia and the rest of the League would've stopped them. After Galactic fell, crime here has been at an all-time low, you do realize?"
It was Michael's turn to shake his head, catching Lenny off guard.
"I realize that, but do you realize how long it took for the League to realize there was actually something going on? Maybe they're just keeping it lowkey now? While going after the Timespace orbs will be a bold move, they aren't really doing much else, right?" Michael asked rhetorically, but Lenny didn't say anything in response. "All I'm saying is that if there was evil in Sinnoh, they would be keeping their actions on the low, especially considering what Galactic did and how close they were to succeeding," he finished before sighing. "Listen, I'm not saying I'm right or anything. All I'm saying is that there could potentially be some evil down there."
There was an awkward silence between Michael and Lenny, with Lenny simply staring off at the vast sea the ferry was traveling on and Michael giving Lenny a confused look. Their Pokemon weren't really doing much besides listening in on their conversation.
However, Lenny finally let out a sigh.
"Maybe you're right, Michael," he said, still looking off at the sea, before turning to him. "I don't know, but maybe there is someone down there. My original theory was that it was probably some Psychic Pokemon, but after considering it, what Psychic Pokemon live in Iron Island?"
Michael nodded his head.
"Exactly," he said, staring off into the sea also. After a few seconds, though, he turned back to Lenny and said, "What if I come down there with you just in case there is somebody down there?"
Lenny considered it for a few seconds. He turned to Infernape, who was standing besides him, and he gave him a nod.
"That's fine," Lenny said. "Maybe after we can have a three on three battle or something after, before the season starts, y'know? We both haven't really been training too much, so I think it's fair."
Michael nodded with a slight smirk on his face. Turning to his Greninja, he had an equally as excited look on his face.
"I like the sound of that, Lenny," he said in response. "When we get back to Canalave, we'll have it at the Pokemon Center's field, alright?"
"Fair enough," Lenny responded with a smirk of his. "Listen, though, with all due respect, I'm gonna come out on top."
Michael and Greninja both rolled their eyes almost simultaneously.
"We'll see about that one, Lenny," he said. "I can promise that you'll be in for a difficult match, though."
Both Michael and Lenny were now in a conversation about who would win this upcoming match as the boat continued through the cold saltwater, causing a loud roaring sound. In the distance three islands were present, the one closest to the ferry being the largest. This island had a mountain that almost blocked the white clouds in the blue sky. The other two islands had been much smaller, one with a lot of dark trees - some missing most of their leaves - most likely providing a lot of shade, and the other seeming much more open, although it had its fair share of trees.
Michael, Greninja, Lenny, and Infernape all had turned to face the massive mountain ahead of them in utter awe, their mouths gaping wide open. What surprised them even more had been the sheer amount of boats that were crowded around the apparent hub in the form of Iron Island.
Jesus Christ, Lenny cursed in his thoughts, still staring awestruck at the outside of the cavern. If it's this big on the outside, I wonder how big it is on the in-
"Lenny," Michael interrupted, turning to him, "I always knew that Iron Island was large, but actually seeing it in person, it's gigantic." Michael turned back to Iron Island, eyeing it curiously. "Considering how big it is, how are we supposed to find the Adamant Orb?" he asked in a low whisper.
"Honestly, I think we're going to be spending a lot of time here, Michael."
Michael groaned in response, and Lenny let out a sigh at his antics. Both Infernape and Greninja both shook their heads at Michael, causing him to let out a sigh of his own. Lenny noticed the Pokemon do that, and a small laugh was drawn out of him before he started to speak.
"You do realize this was your choice - to come with me, that is - right?"
Silently, Michael nodded his head. He looked forward at the sky-piercing cave and merely shrugged. Michael eyed the mountain and scanned it from top to bottom. Almost surprisingly, he put a small smirk on his face.
Well, at least we get to train later, Michael thought to himself, glancing at Greninja through the corner of his eyes. However, Michael turned back to Iron Island and sighed once more. Still, though, why did I decide to come here in the first place?
For the rest of the ferry ride, Lenny and Michael had been in silence. They did not know what to expect once on Iron Island, but all they knew was that they had to locate the Adamant Orb somewhere in the colossal labyrinth.
Here we go…
X.x.X
Iron Island, Sinnoh
September 5th, 2032
"Excadrill, keep digging down!" a deep voice boomed across the caves of Iron Island. "You have to go further!"
The speaker was a large, built older man with reddish-brown hair that had been unkept and spiked all over the place and black eyes. On top of that, he had a thick beard the same reddish-brown color as his hair. He, holding a rusty shovel, had also worn a simple white tank top that appeared to be drenched in sweat, beige cargo pants, and brown works boots; he also had a whistle over neck. As he watched the Excadrill work, though, there was an unimpressed look planted on his face.
"You can go harder, Excadrill," he said with a displeased tone behind his voice. "I want you to use Drill Run and keep drilling down farther."
As Excadrill followed through with the commands almost immediately, his claws and razor-sharp horn glowing a light brown, Byron, the Canalave gym leader, stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, an unimpressed look planted on his face.
Being the sixth gym leader of the Sinnoh League, Bryon couldn't be a pushover. He trained his Pokemon to be exceptionally strong in defense, offense, and their respective skills. For Excadrill, this had been the durability and strength of his drilling ability, and the duo had been working on this for the past two hours now. Despite his old age, Byron wasn't afraid to give his Pokemon one-hundred percent and he expected the same in return.
"Excadrill," Byron started. Despite him beginning to speak, the Excadrill kept drilling as fast as he could. "I only do this to you because I want you to be the best you can be, and the only way you can be the best is by working hard."
Byron looked at the five other Pokemon currently around him. There had been a Steelix, who barely had her head surfaced above the ground. The Steelix looked to be exhausted as she took deep breaths before diving back into the large, gaping hole. Another Pokemon had been a Lucario, and he was seated off to the side with his eyes closed tight. The jackal had been radiating a dark blue energy and looked to be incredibly calm. Against the wall, which had multiple, deep holes in it, was a gassed Aggron that had a band on his left arm, with a white, grey, amd silver stone, whose rock hands had been bruised up. Off in the middle of the room, though, a Bisharp, with his head glowing a shining silver and both of his blades a dark black color, had been charging at a massive navy blue, penguin-resembling Pokemon. In response, she shot a stream of scalding water, which sent the Bisharp backwards. Upon this, the Empoleon had let out a loud cry in triumph.
As all of this had been going on, a slight smirk could've been seen on Byron's face. What he said to Excadrill had been true. He expected his Pokemon to work past their limits, and even in the depths of Iron Island, there was no exception.
Byron watched this continue on for roughly another thirty minutes, the look on his face being completely serious. Every single day, this was apart of Byron's daily training ritual. Being his strongest team, he trained these six Pokemon incredibly hard. The day started with thirty minute warm ups, which they had already done, and now they were on the next part: their individual training.
Suddenly, though, Byron blew the whistle as loud as he could, and all six Pokemon stopped what they were doing, each turning their attention to him. His arms crossed, he eyed down all of his Pokemon, who were around him in an awkward circle.
"Well," he began, "to begin with, I would like to announce that I am very proud of all six of you, considering how hard you all have been working these past few months. As your trainer, it makes me incredibly happy to see how much you have all improved since the end of last season, despite how hard I may seem to push you guys." As Byron spoke, he had a smile of pure admiration on his face and began to tear up a little, causing him to wipe away at his eyes almost directly after. "The new season starts in five days, and I truthfully believe that we are ready to take things to the next level. Ever since Volkner had gotten moved to the Elite Four, we have been statistically the hardest team to beat" - he glanced at each of his six Pokemon individually and nodded at them - "with only thirty percent of trainers being able to defeat us in the past four years. Considering this, I believe at the end of this season we can be eligible for the Elite Four test, and I am confident that we can pass it.
"You guys are my family, and if there was any team on this planet that I think is ready for this, I confidently believe it's ours," he proclaimed with a proud smile on his face. At this revelation, his entire team had let out cheers, with Steelix being the loudest, letting out a roar that seemingly shook the whole cave system. However, Byron wasn't finished off yet. "I'm sure you guys have heard, though, that this season is supposedly the hardest season we've had since Cynthia challenged the gym circuit. The top twenty seeds in the Sinnoh League were all at least semi-finalists in last year's regional conference, no matter where they competed. The projected number one seed also made it to Ash in the Radiant Chamber, losing in a 3-0 battle." All of his Pokemon, especially his Bisharp, gave him looks of disbelief. "The number two and three seeds have also made it to at least the third Elite Four member, with the number two seed giving Iris a run for her money in Unova and the number three seed only losing to Misty by one Pokemon in Kanto," Byron continued, taking a deep breath.
"That's why, this season, we can't let up for one, single second." Judging by the looks on their faces, Byron's entire team liked the direction this talk had been going. "If we want a chance at an Elite Four spot, we need to give every single battle, whether it'd be against a trainer getting his first badge or the number one seed in the Sinnoh League, one-hundred perce-"
"Hey Byron!"
Byron turned to the sound of the voice and saw four figures looking at him, two humans, an Infernape, and a Greninja. Upon seeing them, he smirked, while the two stared at his team in shock.
Michael Owens, former finalists of the Lumiose Conference, he thought, and Lenny Collins, a semi-finalist of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
"Michael and Lenny, right?" Byron asked, approaching the two. When they gave him a curious look, he continued, "You guys are probably wondering how I know your names, right?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know," Lenny said, with a curious tone of voice. "Are we seriously this popular in the Sinnoh region, Byron?"
Byron simply nodded his head in response with a laugh as his team looked on in confusion. He turned to his team and told them to run off, but to be back in about two hours. Five out of the six Pokemon immediately obeyed and ran off - in Steelix's case, dug - with only Lucario staying behind. Byron turned to Lucario, who had just nodded, and he didn't mind. Byron turned his attention to Lenny and Michael once more.
"You just sent your Pokemon off to do whatever?"
Byron looked confused by Michael's question.
"It's not like they're going to run off, Michael," Byron told him, laughing. "When you're as old as me, you tend to develop bonds with your Pokemon that go beyond the Pokeball. Those six" - he motioned to his Lucario - "are my family, and I would die for them and vice-versa. I allow them to do as they please, and I trust that they wouldn't run away."
Wow, was all Lenny could think of as Byron went on about the bond between him and his Pokemon. He looked to his Infernape, who was just as engrossed in the conversation. As close as our bonds are, I don't think I could have Infernape just wander off or even any of my other Pokemon.
"I understand, Byron," Michael said. Before he went to continue, Byron's Lucario pulled Infernape and Greninja off to the side, and the three started having their own conversation. Not even paying attention to that, however, Michael continued. "By any chance, though, do you know about the Adamant Or-"
Byron's eyes opened wide at what Michael had been starting to say. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to his face, an angry look in his eyes. Byron looked to be ready to scream in Michael's face. Lenny, though, watched on completely taken aback at what was happening. Lucario, shaking his head, noticed this, however, and walked over to Byron. The Lucario pulled Byron off Michael and shook his head at his trainer even more.
Byron soon nodded his head in understanding and said something to Lucario before he went back over to Greninja, who was about to attack Byron, and Infernape. Byron turned back to Michael and bowed his head apologizing.
"I'm sorry for my outburst there, Michael," Byron said, with a sincere look. "It's just that the Timespace Orbs are a very sensitive thing to talk about in Sinnoh after the whole Galactic scenario all those years back."
Michael didn't even say anything in response as he avoided eye contact with Byron, so Lenny stepped forward to speak.
"Before I continue for him," Lenny started, "why did you stop? Lucario just came here an-"
"He told me that Michael wasn't a threat, using aura," Byron explained. "I'm assuming you're familiar with aura, so I'm going to go straight to the point. Any Lucario, with enough training and a close bond to their trainer, is capable of communicating telepathically with aura manipulation-simple as that."
"Oh," was all Lenny said. "That's incredible, Byron. I didn't know aura allowed them to communicate telepathically. Professor Rowan never told me that." Byron didn't say anything as Lenny continued on. "Speaking of Professor Rowan, though, he's actually the main reason why we're here. As you may or may not know, he was placed in charge of monitoring the Timespace Orbs energy production rate, and to put it simply, he's saying that each Orbs' rate of energy is increasing drastically, so he had assigned me to check on it."
"Then why is Michael here?"
Lenny simply shrugged in response before speaking.
"We passed by each other in Canalave, and Michael had said that he was going to Iron Island to train. I figured that it would be safer to have another strong trainer with me, just in case something was up."
Byron nodded his head. "Well if you guys need, Lucario and I can show you where the Adamant Orb is located," he said, motioning for Lucario to walk over. Infernape and Greninja also followed suit and stood by their trainers before Byron continued on. "The Adamant Orb is fairly close to where w-"
Byron suddenly stopped talking all of a sudden and he stood there completely unmoving, almost like he was frozen. Byron hadn't blinked once since he stopped talking and stood in the same position he had been in. Michael, Lenny, and the three Pokemon all looked at him in confusion.
"Byron?" Michael asked, finally saying something, as he waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello?"
Byron didn't even respond to Michael, who looked freaked out at this point. To everyone in the area, it seemed like Byron was frozen in time, almost like a statue. However, Lucario suddenly made a sound of realization, causing everyone to turn towards him.
"Lu! Lu! Lucario!" he cried out, his hands waving with a blue aura. Crying out once more, he turned and started to sprint off farther in the cave.
"Let's follow him!" Lenny yelled suddenly, sprinting after Lucario.
"Infer! Infernape!" the Infernape exclaimed as well, running after Lenny and the leading Lucario.
"Well, I guess we have no choice." Michael turned to his Greninja but was surprised to see that he was already running off in the other's direction. I guess I have no choice then, Michael thought to himself, sprinting after the others in order to catch up, leaving the frozen Byron by himself.
Continuing down Iron Island's cavern, however, both Michael and Lenny were wondering the exact same thing.
What the hell is happening?
X.x.X
Iron Ruins, Sinnoh
September 5th, 2032
"Lenny, do you feel that?"
Lenny, Michael, Greninja, and Infernape had been following Byron's Lucario for the past ten minutes when they wandered upon a large door towards the bottom of Iron Island's cavern. The door had been a dark gray color and felt cold to the touch. The door was made out of a pure metal, and in the center of the door, there had been a massive hole, almost like someone had broken in.
"Yeah..."
Lenny and Michael stared at the hole in the door and had been feeling a weird energy being exerted from it. They didn't know how to describe it, but it made them feel extremely uncomfortable and sent chills through their spine.
"Do you think… the Adamant Orb is down the-"
Before Michael could even finish what he was saying, Byron's Lucario, Michael's Greninja, and Lenny's Infernape walked through the hole in the wall. Lenny and Michael turned to each other and nodded, following suit.
As they all walked farther down, the weird energy intensified, and it felt like it was getting harder to breathe, with Lenny and Michael taking deep breaths. The Pokemon, however, seemed fine as they continued marching down, not looking back. The temperature had also seemed to drop drastically. The farther they walked down, the colder they felt. Their deep breaths were noticeable due to the cold temperatures.
"I can't help but have a bad feeling about this, Michael," Lenny said, turning to him. "This is way too sketchy, especially with what happened to Byron back there."
Michael didn't even respond immediately.
If there is… something farther down, am I even strong enough to face it?
"I have to agree with you," Michael responded grimly, looking forwards. He saw the three Pokemon continuing on in an almost fearless manner. "But if they're able to continue on, we have to as well. We have to be strong for our Pokemon."
Similarly to Michael's actions earlier, Lenny didn't say anything but looked at the ground and sighed. He brought his gaze up and stared at the three Pokemon-specifically, his Infernape, who didn't even look back.
"Y'know, I'm starting to think that there may be something going on," Lenny said. "Pokemon are very good at sensing danger, so I can see them going towards it."
"I guess so."
They all continued walking forwards, but stopped as soon as they came to a crossroads, with a path leading in every direction. Lucario, still leading, closed his eyes and put his hand out, blue aura pulsing around it. He remained like that for about ten seconds before throwing his hand down and opening his eyes.
"Lu."
Byron's Lucario turned to the left and began sprinting down the passageway, everyone else following once more.
The path they were going down wasn't as long as the one before as there was another door before them. This one had been completely destroyed and blown down, revealing an open space. The walls were mostly made of rocks, with iron plates randomly scattered across. In the room there were broken down pillars. At the other side, a statue was present, resembling one of the Legendary Golems, Registeel.
In the center of the room, though, was a large pillar, with a shiny blue orb made entirely out of pure diamonds. Around the orb, however, were two men, one dressed in a brown trench coat, brown hat, black pants, and shoes, the other dressed in a black leather jacket, fingerless gloves, dark blue jeans, and brown shoes. The man in the trench coat had grey eyes and the man in the leather jacket had blue eyes. The two men had various machines scattered around the orb, but they didn't have anyone operating them. The machines seemed to monitor the orb and each had sensors attached to them.
The room itself, though, was incredibly cold and even more difficult to breathe in. Due to Michael and Lenny's heavy breathing, however, one of the men-the one dressed in the trench coat-noticed them and began to speak.
"You may be wondering what we're doing in a place as… sacred as the Iron Ruins," he started. "You may also be wondering what we're doing to this legendary artifact, the Adamant Orb." Lenny and Michael didn't say anything, but stop the three Pokemon from charging forwards. "I will entertain you by telling you what you may kr may not be wondering, though."
Lenny and Michael couldn't help but be extremely creeped out by the men in front of them.
What th-
"My name is Ajax and this" - he motioned to the person besides him - "is my brother Z."
Z turned around and stared at Michael and Lenny with a deranged look in his eyes. Not saying anything, though, he started to laugh in an almost maniacal manner, completely uncontrollably. Sitting down on the ground, crossing his legs, he started to speak.
"Michael Owens and Lenny Collins," he greeted with a crazed laugh. "It's such a PLEASURE to meet the Sinnoh League's newest signees! You guys must be AMAZING trainers!"
Lenny and Michael both took a step back, completely taken off guard.
"W-who the fuck are you?" Lenny asked, his voice shaky. "And what the hell is your problem?"
Ajax shook his head at Lenny's questions.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't use such foul and frowned upon language. It is extremely unprofessional and uncalled for, Mr. Collins," Ajax said in a disappointed tone before looking down at Z. "Please, though, don't mind Z. He gets excited easily."
At Ajax's comments, Z, still sitting down, had begun laugh even more crazed as before, spit drooling from his mouth. The longer Michael and Lenny were in the room with this Z character, the more creeped out they were.
"HA!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't we just freeze them here Ajax? Wouldn't that be sooooo INCREDIBLY funnnnnn?" Ajax shook his head at Z's comments. "What? Is it too EVIL for our standards?"
"No, it's not too evil, Z," Ajax said. "We definitely could just freeze them here, like we did with that pesky gym leader, and leave with the Adamant Orb since we're already finished with our research, but that wouldn't be any fair.
"The Cult of Time is an organization based on integrity and fairness, even if you refuse to accept that," Ajax continued, bringing an overly exaggerated frown to Z's face.
"EXACTLY!" he exclaimed, clasping his face. "That's the problem! We need to finish the mission QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY in order to succeed!"
Ajax shook his head once more.
As the duo continued arguing, Michael and Lenny glanced at each other and nodded.
"We have to destroy the machines," Lenny suddenly whispered to Michael. "I'm assuming that's where they're keeping their resea-"
"THE MACHINES, AJAX! THESE BUFFOONS ARE ATTACKING THE MACHINES!" Z cried out, his voice echoing. Taking a Pokeball out of his coat pocket, he screamed, "We have to stop them!" As he threw the Pokeball, a large Houndoom appeared from the blue light. "GET THEM HOUNDOOM! SHOW NO MERCY!"
Sighing, Ajax followed suit, tossing a Pokeball in an almost nonchalant manner. From the Pokeball, a Gallade took form.
"You know what to do Gallade."
The two Pokemon charged forward, with the Houndoom's mouth spewing searing hot flames and the Gallade's blades glowing a dark purple color. Infernape and Greninja stood back, glancing at their trainers, as Lucario charged at the two Pokemon almost fearlessly with his fists glowing brown.
"FLAMETHROWER!" Z yelled suddenly. "BURN THE JACKAL TO A CRISP!"
"Gallade, use Psycho Cut after," Ajax commanded in a calm tone.
The two Pokemon obeyed immediately with Houndoom firing off a large stream of fire that completely engulfed Lucario and ran into the rock wall, effectively searing it. In the fire, a silhouette of Lucario could be seen, and he slowly dropped to his knees. Once the fire dispersed, however, Lucario had burn marks all over his body. Gallade took advantage of this and sprinted towards Lucario, at lightning speeds, and struck him in the sides and head with his purple-glowing blades, sending him flying into the rock wall and also out of commission.
"Oh shit," Michael called out as Greninja got into an offensive stance. "They took out one of Byron's strongest Pokemon with two hits."
"I know," Lenny said simply with Infernape following Greninja, getting into a stance of his own. "We can't let that get to u-"
"No matter how strong a Pokemon is, without a trainer's strength, they will always fall quick," Ajax said. "Let's see how quickly yours fall, though! Thunder Punch on Greninja, Gallade!"
"Intercept with a Flare Blitz, Infernape!"
"JUMP IN FRONT, HOUNDOOM!"
"Get ready, Greninja! Scatter with Double Team and then use a Night Slash barrage!"
The four Pokemon instantly followed their trainer's commands. First, the Gallade rushed towards Greninja, with his green blades coursed over in electricity. Immediately after, however, Infernape encapsulated himself in raging flames and sprinted on all fours to Gallade. Houndoom, though, ran in front, completely absorbing and dismissing the Flare Blitz, letting out a loud howl. Since the attack was negated, Gallade closed the distance between him and Greninja and swung his blades, but only hit a copy. In seconds, Gallade was swarmed by copies of Greninja, each glowing a black color, with their hands glowing with dark energy. The copies ran towards Gallade and each attacked him with their own barrage of Night Slashes.
"Find the real copy and use Close Combat!" Ajax called out.
"While they're busy, Infernape, use Mach Punch on the Houndoom and follow up with a Close Combat of your own!"
Gallade closed his eyes but couldn't find the real Greninja, and he couldn't help but continue to get pelted by Night Slashes. As this was going on, though, Infernape, with a dark brown fist, rushed, Houndoom, who had been spacing himself after taking the Flare Blitz. Immediately, he nailed Houndoom in the ribs, sending him backwards and to the ground, but he pursued. Grounded, Houndoom couldn't do much but take the fury-induced kicks and punches from Infernape, dealing huge damage.
"Fuck! Gallade, use Drain Punch on the copies!"
"Houndoom! Put him in an INFERNO!"
Michael opened his eyes wide. "Greninja get out of there!"
As the Gallade was destroying the Greninja's copies, the real Greninja jumped out of there quite literally, still completely pitch black. Simultaneously, Houndoom put a smirk on his face as he took the Close Combat and let out another howl before glowing a dark orange color. He emitted a cyclone of pure fire, completely enclosing him and Infernape, who let out a cry in pain as he couldn't escape.
"Greninja, get in there again! Shadow Sneak then Dark Pulse point-blank!"
"Infernape, bring electric to the fire! Thunder Punch!"
Greninja, glowing a dark purple, faded into the shadows. Gallade looked around for Greninja, who had went completely invisible. Seconds later, though, Greninja literally came out of the ground and struck Gallade in the stomach, causing him to bend over. Now turning pitch black, Greninja fired off a beam of pure black energy, sending Gallade backwards. At the same time, the Inferno attack was now coursing over with electricity and the Houndoom was sent flying out of it, static all over him. The Inferno attack died down and in the aftermath of it, Infernape stood there, almost completely unfazed, besides a few burn marks.
"Acrobatics, Infernape!"
Limbs glowing a light blue, Infernape jumped towards the Houndoom, who was barely standing, and pounced on him, delivering a multitude of kicks and punches once more, although this wasn't doing much damage, unlike the Close Combat blows from earlier. Seeing how Infernape had the Houndoom pinned to the ground, Lenny placed a smirk on his face, despite the dire situation they were in, and gave another command.
"Double Mach Punch him through the ground!"
In an instant, Infernape buried both of his fists into Houndoom's side, in a hammer fist motion. In response, however, the Houndoom bit down on Infernape's arms.
"HAHAHA!" Z laughed. "Now while you have the chance, Thunder Fang!"
Houndoom bit down on Infernape's arms even harder, with electricity surging in his sharp teeth. Infernape let out a cry in pain as he was shocked all over by the Houndoom. Seeing this, however, Michael decided he needed to step in.
It's a team effort, he thought.
"Greninja! Water Shuriken on the Houndoom!"
Nodding at his trainer, Greninja, with the Gallade not getting up yet and Ajax screaming at Gallade also, turned around and began to glow a dark blue color. He formed a shuriken made of light blue water in his hands and launched it at Houndoom. He repeated this process about four times and Houndoom was pelted by the Water Shurikens, sending him flying into the ground, bringing up a cloud of dust.
"HOUNDOOM!" Z cried out when Houndoom hadn't gotten up after the dust died out.
"Leaf Blade!" Ajax shouted as soon as the Gallade got up to two feet.
At breakneck speeds, Gallade sprinted at Greninja with both of his blades glowing a leaf green color and sliced a turned Greninja down the back, sending him into the ground. With a smirk, Gallade prepared to strike a finishing blow, but Lenny prevented this from happening.
"Thunder Blitz!"
Unlike the Flare Blitz earlier, Infernape sprinted at Gallade on all fours, still covered in fire, but his fists were emitting electricity. This had caused the fire to develop a coat of electricity to it and Gallade or Ajax didn't even see the attack coming, due to its surprising speeds. Infernape basically crashed into Gallade, sending him crashing into the rock wall, much like what happened to Lucario earlier.
After a few seconds, it was clear that neither Houndoom or Gallade were getting up. Infernape and Greninja, both bent over breathing extremely heavy, let out a sigh of relief and looked at each other, nodding their heads at each other in respect.
Lenny and Michael glanced at each other with a smirk, while Ajax and Z recalled their Pokemon. Furthermore, Ajax shook his head in a disappointed manner as Z dramatically dropped to his knees.
"You know," Ajax started, "I should've expected to lose that, bu-"
"WHY?! WHY DID WE LO-"
"Relax Z, we didn't lose just yet! We still have our final trump card!" Ajax proclaimed with an evil smirk on his face, grabbing another Pokeball from his belt.
"What are you guys going to do now?" Lenny asked, getting ready to call out another Pokemon. "We already beat you. What else do you have to off-"
"Darkrai, end them!"
As Ajax threw a black and grey Pokeball, Michael and Lenny tensed up, with their eyes wide opened. Additionally, Greninja and Infernape, despite their exhaustion, got into defensive stances, preparing for anything to happen. When the Pokeball opened, as Ajax promised, a Darkrai materialized out of black energy.
"Holy shit," both of them muttered as they stood in the presence of the mythical Pokemon.
"Dark…" it muttered quietly, causing Infernape and Greninja to tremble. If there was one Pokemon they planned on facing, it wasn't a Darkrai. "...RAIII!"
Not even needing a command, it summoned an orb of black energy that had equally as dark electricity surging around it. As it prepared the Dark Void attack, it had a pained look on its face, making Darkrai seem like it was struggling.
"Michael." Lenny suddenly turned to him, with a sigh. Michael looked at him, and Lenny continued, "Thank you for helping me."
Michael didn't say anything, but nod as they both turned to face Darkrai, who summoned a Dark Void about the size of a basketball. Darkrai glanced back at Ajax, who nodded with an ear-to-ear smirk on his face, and fired the Dark Void. Once it fired the Dark Void, both Lenny and Michael closed their eyes knowing what was going to happen. Greninja and Infernape tried running away, but the Dark Void exploded and began to spread in every direction, covering Michael, Lenny, Greninja, and Infernape like a blanket of nightmares. When the darkness subsided, all four of them were asleep on the ground, twisting and turning restlessly.
After, Z had turned to Ajax and laughed maniacally.
"BAHAHAHAHA!" Z cried out, drawing Ajax to shake his head. "Y'know, you could've done that to begin with! HA!"
"I wanted to have some fun, but they were a lot stronger than I had originally anticipated," Ajax admitted, shrugging, before turning to the Darkrai once more.
"Darkrai!" he cried out, Darkrai turning around to face him. "I command you to put anyone who walks through that door into an eternal nightmare!"
"D-Darr," Darkrai responded, voice shaking, as it turned to face the entranceway.
Ajax and Z now turned to the Adamant Orb besides them, with evil smirks on their faces. Ajax walked forward and cupped the Adamant Orb in his hands, hoisting it into the air as if it was his prized possession.
"FINALLY!" Z yelled, running over to Ajax. "Now Mr. Stark will welcome us back in open arms! For the Cult!"
Ajax shook his head at his brothers excitement as he stared at the Timespace Orb, the smirk still present on his face.
"Lord Dialga, we shall soon welcome you into our world," Ajax said, dropping to one knee. "We shall free you from your confinement in the realm of time and free the world from the plagues that cloud its beauty!" Hoisting the Adamant Orb even higher, much like Z earlier, he yelled, "For the Cult!"
X.x.X
Pokemon League Facility, Kalos
September 6th, 2032
"You know, Ash? I've been wondering a little. What do you think about the Sinnoh League this year?"
"Honestly Serena, I really don't know," Ash Ketchum said from his desk, a Pikachu sitting on his right shoulder.
Ash and Serena were seated in an office somewhere in the Pokemon League. They were seated at an expensive-looking desk with many papers piled onto it. Likewise, there was also a picture of Ash and Serena, who were both dressed in a tuxedo and white wedding dress respectively. There was another picture of Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, holding Serena, who had a small baby in her arms. Across the room there was various pictures of Ash and his companions throughout his journey as well as his badges framed up on the wall.
"I know that there is a lot of great competitors that we could've used in the Kalos League, but I'm glad Cynthia and the rest of Sinnoh has such an amazing roster this year. They have a great season ahead of them." Ash glanced to Pikachu, who was actively engaged in their conversation. "Right Pikachu?"
"Pika pika!" he exclaimed, taking the signature hat of Ash's head.
Serena, who had been sitting across from Ash, laughed at Pikachu's antics before responding.
"What about Michael? He got signed to the Sinnoh League, right?"
Ash nodded his head and smiled with a happy look on his face.
"Yeah, he ended up getting signed to Sinnoh," Ash said, shrugging. "It would have been nice to have him under Kalos again, but I was a trainer before. I know what it's like to want to travel worldwide, and I've been there before, in his exact same position."
"Pika!" Ash's Pikachu agreed, nodding his head.
Serena nodded her head knowingly. In his younger years, Ash had traveled around the world and became one of the most famous trainers of all time, with his equally as famous goal of becoming a Pokemon Master never leaving his mind.
"I know, I know, Ash, but I miss having him around Kalos," Serena admitted, with a sigh. "I honestly hope he's doing well, though. He was so upset after his loss in the finals."
"I understand that Serena, especially considering that this coming from someone who's been in that exact same position," Ash said, simultaneously thinking back to his loss to Alain almost two decades ago. "I really do miss him here, though, as well. I'm not gonna lie, I sorta see a younger version of myself in him."
Pikachu looked at Ash and nodded his head. "Pika pikachu," he said, laughing.
Serena nodded her head once more, agreeing with Ash.
"I can see it," Serena noted. "Losing in the finals aside, his adventure here is very similar to your Kalos journey all those years ago." Serena subliminally smiled, thinking back to those times.
"I can see some parallels," Ash admitted, shrugging as he sat back in his chair. "Seriously, though, I really hope Michael goes far in the Sinnoh League. He's worked so hard and continues to think he isn't good enough."
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, also agreeing with Ash and Serena. "Pikachu, chu."
"He just needs to build his inner confidence." As Serena spoke, she had a serious look on her face. "In the beginning of my journey, I wasn't confident in my abilities in performing whatsoever, especially after my loss to Aria," she said. "I guess that's why I went to Hoenn to compete in contests, though, to better myself, and I can see him doing the same: going to Sinnoh to better himself before he comes back to Sinnoh."
Both Ash and Pikachu gave Serena a nod in agreement.
"I can see him doing that, I guess," Ash said. "However, just because he ma-"
A loud, urgent knock on the door had interrupted Ash, causing him and Serena to sigh.
"Who is it?"
"It's Alain, and I have bad news," he said, waiting for Ash to allow him in.
Ash let out a sigh as he sat up in his chair, causing Pikachu to jump off his shoulders, hat still on his head. Serena sat on the chair, wondering what the apparent bad news was.
Hmm?
"Come in Alain."
Not even two seconds later, the door opened, revealing Alain, dressed in an outfit similar to the one he wore back during his Kalos journey. He wore a pair of blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and his signature blue scarf. The expression on his face showed that it was really dire news.
"So what is it?"
Letting out a sigh, Alain prepared to drop a bombshell on Ash.
"Ash," he started, taking a deep breath, "to put it simply, the Adamant Orb in Sinnoh was taken from its position on Iron Island." Ash, Serena, and Pikachu all opened their eyes in surprise.
"Pika?"
"What do you mean it was taken?" Ash asked. "Like literally stolen? I thought it was near-impossible to penetrate the doors of the ruins?"
Alain shrugged his shoulders, not being able to provide Ash with an exact answer.
"That's what Cynthia told us when she moved the Orbs all those years ago," Alain said. "But I guess not. It doesn't end there, though."
Ash's eyes opened as wide as a golf ball at this revelation.
"What else could there possibly be?"
Alain glanced down at the ground, gulping loud as he prepared to drop a bombshell once more. Not even looking up with his eyes closed, Alain spoke.
"Michael Owens was found at the scene unconscious, in a nightmare of sorts, and is now in the hospital," Alain said, finally looking up at Ash.
Ash sat there in his seat and shook his head, eyes tearing up a little. Similar to Ash, both Serena and Pikachu had been taken aback by what Alain had said. Ash, though, simply stared at his desk, allowing a single tear to drop on the solid wood.
Fuck… why did this happen to him?
There it is! The end of chapter three! I really hope you guys enjoyed it! To recap, though, we finally introduced Ash Ketchum, who learns about the unfortunate fate of Michael Owens (and Lenny). I wasn't thinking about putting a battle in this chapter originally, though, but I feel like it made the Adamant Orb altercation much more intense, I guess. Also, speaking of the altercation, we also introduced Ajax and Z! I really enjoyed writing their characters, especially Z's, but I don't know how you guys feel about them. Before I put down the questions, however, I just want to say one thing regarding this story: don't expect anything!
1: What do you guys think of Ajax and Z? I feel like I made them polar opposites of each other, with Ajax being more mature while Z is kind of—for lack of a better term—insane?
2: What did you think of the battle this chapter?
3: What do you think of Darkrai being in the hands of Ajax and Z? I know some people may not be fans of Legendary/Mythical Pokemon being caught, but to be fair, Darkrai and others fit incredibly well with how I want this to be shaped out.
4: Lastly, what's Ash's relationship with Michael? Any guesses?
