Well, here's Chapter 4. Rate and Review!

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The Flame of Destiny: Chapter 4: The Lorrestine Gym

## Randrake Arc, May 13, AW667

To the northwest of Lorrestine was a massive mine. Draxel walked down the northern road towards the mine, the forests giving way to plains and rocky hills. Soon, the site was in full view.

It was a gigantic hole in the ground, littered with tunnels and factories, as well as vehicles and Pokémon. Outside of the mine and on a nearby mountain lay a building built into a cliff. "Lorrestine Gym" was engraved on it. The building was of gray stone, and looked sturdily built. Built into the cliff face, there was a massive shadow cast over it, and there was a path leading up the mountainside to the structure.

Draxel looked at the path, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. It was going to be a long hike up. He began walking, the rocky road digging into his shoes. He ignored it, Char's flame glowing brightly on his shoulder.


After walking for a good hour, he reached the cliff base. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and he wanted to make it to the structure as soon as possible. He looked over the mine. Piles of orange-brown dirt were sifted through, and massive chunks of slate were driven out towards factories for processing. Looks like he wasn't going to make it back to the Pokémon Center by night. He looked up at the steep path, then began to walk up.

"Ugh…"

After walking up for a while, he sat down on a small but flat surface, the ochre rock providing a sturdy hold.

"Char!"

Char poked his soil-stained khaki pants. He looked up at Draxel.

"Char!"

He pointed at his mouth.

Draxel looked down at Char, then slid his backpack off of his back.

"…"

He pulled out two granola bars and opened one. He gave it to Char, who began to wolf it down. He reclined on the cliff and slowly chewed on the other one. From where they were on the cliff surface, they had a pretty good view of Lorrestine.

"Hey. Kid."

In an instant, a shadow flew over him.

"Fearow! Aerial Ace!"

He grabbed Char and threw himself down on the flat ground, cringing as claws raked into his back. He felt blood. Pain.

"Hmph. Protecting a damn Pokémon? What kind of idiot are you?"

He got up, wincing in pain. Then he took a good look at his assailant.

"Fearow. The large bird Pokémon. It boasts a very sharp beak and can stay aloft for great periods of time."

On the Fearow's back rode a man holding a spear. A shiny, steel, legit spear.

"I'm looking for some prey. You'll be fine."

He twirled around the spear, then mounted his Fearow.

"Fearow! Quick Attack!"

Wasting no time, Draxel began to dash up the Cliffside towards the Lorrestine Gym.

"Char! Smokescreen!"

Char immediately obeyed, spewing a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth. Draxel ran up, apnting heavily.

"Got'cha!"

Draxel ducked as the spear slammed into the rock behind his head.

"Char! Ember!'

"Ember? Don't give me such a useless move! You won't make it to the gym, kid. I'm a proud member of Team Rising. And I won't let you run!"

With that, he yanked out his spear and slammed it at Draxel, who jumped up and grabbed the edge of the path above, throwing himself upwards onto the path above.

A bead of sweat rolled down his face. He was pretty high up the cliffside, and falling would be life-threatening.

"Damn it!"

He saw the gym; it was only a few meters above him. He decided to make a dash for it.

"Take THIS! Fearow! Drill Peck!"

Draxel cried out as the Fearow slammed its beak into his back, slicing into the muscle beneath. Blood pouring from his back, he jumped onto the flat surface in front of the gym.

"Char! Ember!"

Char began to fire embers at the Fearow. It easily dodged them all, then swooped down for the kill.

Char froze, terrified as the sharp beak and loud screech fell upon him.

"Char!"

Draxel dashed forward, sliding down. He grabbed Char and rolled to the side, the Fearow's beak slamming into the ground and missing its target.

"Seriously? Only a Randrake idiot would sacrifice himself for a Pokémon."

Draxel stared the guy down.

"Then where the HELL are YOU from?"

The man looked at him as if Draxel was just an annoying prick.

"Me? I'm from Sinnoh. Why the hell would you care?"

"…Then you're the one in the wrong."

Draxel stood up, ignoring the blood dripping to the ground.

He ran forward and punched the guy in the face, knocking him off of his mount.

"You're trying to destroy our region. Leave."

"…I will NOT. Why the hell should I bow down to a little prick with a weak Pokeemon? Rhydon! Go!"

He threw a Pokéball, a Rhydon materializing from it.

"Shoot! A rock and ground type!" Draxel swore.

"Now say your prayers, boy."

"Stop it." An unknown voice called.

A masked figure completely covered in black landed on the field.

"Wait a second… you're the ninja who kidnapped Kieren, aren't you?!"

Draxel narrowed his eyes.

"Char! Attack!"

"Kyro!"

Before Char could attack, Kyrofrein landed next to his partner, electricity-colored fur rippling with sparks.

"Shit." The assailant said as the ninja walked over to him.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear any more garbage from you."

The assailant narrowed his eyes.

"Really? Seriously? You? Who's younger than me? You who doesn't care about Team Rising's goals and only works for his own selfish goals?"

The ninja narrowed his eyes.

"Say what you will. Now leave."

The assailant spat, then mounted his Fearow.

"Rhydon, return."

He immediately flew off, and the ninja was gone in a flash.


"…Good job out there."

Leiger emerged from the gym, closing the door behind him.

"You did a commendable thing back there, protecting your Pokémon. For that, I laud you. Now, congratulations for reaching the gym. Get inside now; you'll need medical help soon."

Draxel walked over to Leiger.

"Why didn't you intervene?"

Leiger nodded his head.

"…People need to be in those kinds of situations to get stronger. Same for Pokémon. And besides, it was your battle, was it not?"

Draxel lowered his head.

"I understand."

"Now, let's get you treated. Irvin! Get over here!"

"Yes boss!"

Immediately, a man with a Vibrava ran over from one of the training rooms.

The gym was basically an arena, with rooms branching off of it. There were lights that lit up the stone walls.

"Oh god. You're pretty badly injured. Come with me."

Irvin beckoned to Draxel, and Draxel decided to follow him. Irvin entered a hallway off of the arena.

Inside the hall, there were a number of rooms. Irvin stopped in front of one of them opened up the door, leading Draxel inside. Inside there was a bed with all kinds of first aid equipment on the tables.

"Get onto the bed."

Draxel did as asked, wincing as sharp spikes of pain dug into him. Char stood on a nearby table, watching.

"I'm going to remove your shirt. It's going to hurt a little bit."

With that, Irvin began to pull Draxel's shirt off.

"Hold still."

He grabbed an IV tube and placed it on the workbench.

"I'm going to get the nurse. Don't do anything reckless."

With that, Irvin walked out. The pattering of his boots hitting the ground resonated, then faded.


Char walked over to Draxel, looking down at the table.

"Char… it's not your fault."

"Chaaaar…."

Char stopped whining when he felt Draxel's warm hand on his head.

He looked back up.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."


Draxel's mind was in turmoil. The ninja had appeared again, but had actually protected him. Perhaps the ninja wasn't an enemy. No. He was. He was part of Team Rising, the group he'd heard about that wanted to take over Randrake and turn it into a region like all of the rest. It was an organization that used political manipulation, corruption, torture, and brute force to achieve its goals.

Draxel thought about who the ninja really was. That Pokémon, Kyrofrein, wasn't a Pokémon he'd ever seen before in Prof. Tamarack's lab. But if it was partnered with a trainer, then why wasn't its data in the PokéDex database?

Ah.

Being in the PokéDex database but being one of a kind as far as the world knew would mean that Kyrofrein would lose all of his freedom. But the ninja wasn't a good guy. He was the type that would kill to eliminate his foes, even if they were innocent.

Draxel sighed. Thinking about all of it was too hard. He soon fell asleep without realizing it.

## Randrake Arc, May 14, AW667

"Argh… Where…am…"

He attempted to open his eyes. He moved around; his back felt fine. So…

He jolted up. He was completely surrounded by darkness, save for a small flame that barely illuminated the room. It was Char, fast asleep.

He stood up, reaching back and feeling his back. There was a rough series of slight bulges. Probably from where his back had been raked apart. Apart from that, the beak stab seemed to be gone. He stretched a bit. Not too much pain, although he didn't feel that great.

"Chaar…"

Char walked up to him, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh yeah. Char. Where are we?"

Char shook his head.

"Oh yeah. You were asleep too."

There was a static boom, which drew their attention.

"W…welcome to the Lorrestine Gym. This is Leiger, the gym leader, speaking. In front of you is a collection of weapons. Surrounding you are enemy Pokémon. Defeat them all!"

With that, the speakers went black.

Draxel looked around nervously, then picked up his PokéDex. His backpack wasn't with him, but in front of him were the weapons, all wooden. Swords, spears, nunchucks, staffs… all kinds of weapons.

He opened the PokéDex and pointed it at the weird lights that were appearing around him. He shuddered, as did Char. Why the hell was he suddenly in this cavern? He had to know.

"Elgyem. The cerebral Pokémon. It holds great psychic power and can cause headaches."

"Great. So now we're surrounded by unfamiliar Pokémon. Char, get ready!"

He grabbed the first weapon he saw, a sword. He was pretty sure he could use it.

He dashed forward and sliced, tripping on the ground and completely missing the target. He was immediately hit by a racking headache.

"Argh!"

He held his head, wincing in pain. It subsided. Looks like the sword wasn't his thing. Too heavy.

He retreated, then grabbed a staff.

"Chaar!"

Char yelled out as Draxel accidentally hit him. Another series of racking headaches hit him.

"Ugh! Damn it!"

He grabbed the nunchucks. Granted, he had no clue how to use them, but he had already failed epically with the sword and the staff, so why not try?

"Ha!"

He dashed forward, swinging while holding onto one of the bars.

It connected.

In an instant, the room lit up.


He was in a large underground arena. The other Elgyem began to move forwards.

"So I guess I'd better learn how to use these. Char! Let's go! Smokescreen!"

Char blasted smoke, blinding a number of enemies. Draxel, now that he could see clearly, swung again, smashing an Elgyem back. He swung it in the air a few times, the chain rattling in the air.

"Char! Ember!"

"Chaaaaaar!'

Out came a fiery blast more like the embers that other Charmander would use, not the usual tiny embers that Char usually spit out. The attack hit a number of Elgyem, which fell back.

"Ha!"

Draxel swung again, falling to his knees in order to hit the enemy more accurately. He smashed a few of them, which retorted with Confusion.

Draxel saw the distortions in the air and jumped back, spinning the nunchucks.

Then he bent his arm inwards and smashed himself on the chest. He hit the ground with a thud.

"Char! You can do this! Metal Claw!"

Char hesitated, unsure of whether he was capable of attacking.

"Char! You can do it!"

"Chaaaar!"

Char dashed forwards, claws slamming into the Elgyem.

"That's enough!"

Irvin opened the doors to the arena. He came in with his Vibrava, spinning nunchucks in the air.

"Good job, Draxel. Nice choice with the weapon too. I'll be your teacher until you learn how to fight with it."

Draxel sat up.

"Wh-what?"

Irvin let out a laugh.

"Hehe. It's been a long time since I was the one who had to take up a disciple."

"What do you mean by disciple?!"

Irvin blinked.

"Oh yeah. You don't know. Well, basically, Lorrestine Gym offers weapons training for trainers. You got beaten up, and most trainers need to know some form of self-defense in this region. So… you should learn how to use a weapon. You're young, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Why are you doing this? I never-"

"It's free. It's for your own good. If your Pokémon can't protect you and you can't protect your Pokémon, then what good is it?"

Draxel nodded, then stood up.

"OK. Elgyem! You're free!"

He held out a capture styler.

"I'm a Pokémon Ranger. This is my partner, Vibrava. It's my job to help people."

He then held out his nunchucks.

"OK. Start by holding one of the bars at the tip, the side connected to the chain. Swing the nunchuck towards you while bending your arm. Swing up and catch the other bar in your armpit."


After a series of repeated failures, Draxel finally collapsed on the ground, sweating.

"…Not bad. Not bad. Anyways… come with me. You should get some breakfast."

Oh yeah. It was morning.

Draxel stood up and picked up Char. It was time to eat. The doors to the arena opened, revealing a bright dawn over the cliffside and a view of the verdant Southern Mountains.

"Come on! Let's go!"

A smile came to Draxel's face, and he followed Irvin out the door.

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So… that took a while, but I'm glad it's done. Now, time to see what'll come next~