Chapter 7: The Young Commander!
And we are back for another chapter of Daughter of the Pokémon Master! A new character means a new perspective: Simon, the boy, the mystery. What makes him tick? Guess we'll find out huh?
Recap: Holly is the daughter of Ash Ketchum, Champion of Kanto. They travel the Reltoh Region and get separated after Holly catches her first pokémon, Light Type Arkella. Holly is then captured by a mysterious Trio: Myra, Ike and Burrost. After almost managing to escape, she is recaptured by the enigmatic young man, Simon. Supposedly he is the supervisor of Myra, Ike and Burrost? How did a fourteen year old boy manage that? And will Ash actually catch up to Holly instead of making phone calls? Read on to find out!
SIMON:
Simon frowned at the unconscious girl webbed to the fallen tree. He studied her, surprised to see that she was so young, only a year or so younger than himself. But even through the webbing he could see that she had been through a lot: covered in black sand, tiny scrapes across her entire body from something and several other cuts and bruises.
So this is the daughter of the Pokémon Master Ash. I'm impressed she almost got away from that Trio. Even though they are new to the team they were exceptionally skilled. After all, Simon thought to himself, I trained them. Now, on their final exam they had almost completed an exceptional mission alone. It took real guts to kidnap the daughter of a Champion and they would have gotten away with it if not for the sandstorm that covered their ship.
Ike's silly sand tank, Simon mused to himself. That red-haired doofus was more worried about his precious vehicle than their prize prisoner. Simon made a mental note to punish the criminals later, but for now, he had work to do.
Simon patted Neokal on the head and murmured "Well done my friend. Would you keep an eye out for anyone approaching? Give me a growl if you hear movement." Neokal dipped his head in acknowledgement, his yellow eyes shiny from his recent Electric move. The powerful cat began to prowl around the small area of the forest, silent as the night.
Simon turned his attention back to the unconscious girl and knelt beside her. He pulled out a knife from his pocket and began methodically slashing parts of the web until only Holly's arms were bound around her back and a strand of web tied her ankles together. Simon left the small green Pokémon tied up in a bundle so that it wouldn't be able to fight back. The small figure looked even more injured than the girl and was covered in half healed burns. Simon hesitated and decided to help the creature out. He slashed the web around its mouth in one swift movement and looked around the forest. He had passed by a Rawst berry bush not too long ago… There it is. Simon thought. Standing up he approached the tree and picked a single purple berry that was able to cure most burns. Simon knelt by the tiny emerald Pokémon and shook it awake. The eyes of the creature flooded open, blinking in confusion and pain.
"Easy there. Easy now. You have some pretty bad injuries my friend." Simon may have been a member of a team of thieves and criminals but he was never comfortable leaving an injured pokémon untreated. The green Pokémon sniffed his hand and saw the berry. It licked its lips and Simon smiled.
"Here you go. Eat it and feel better." The Pokémon was soon munching contently and almost instantly the burns began to heal. The grass type Pokémon blinked at the sudden loss of pain and looked down at its body. The creature seemed surprised to see web covering its entire body and gazed at Simon in confusion.
"Sni vee?" The Pokémon squirmed and tested the bonds that held it fast. "Sniiii veee sniii!"
"I can't let you free, little one." Simon said looking directly into the Pokémon's eyes. "My team has need of your trainer." The youth called out to Neokal, who pranced back and immediately began sniffing the smaller pokémon. The emerald creature turned away somewhat snobbishly, ignoring the cat's attempts at communication.
"Nee nee kal?" the cat squeaked in its surprisingly high pitched voice. "Kal Neo!"
"Sni sni sni vee sni." The Pokémon replied scornfully. Neokal sprang back and ever a Pokémon could look offended, this one did. Simon hid a smile.
"Come on little guy. You are going up on Neokal's back." He lifted the tiny Grass Type into the air and plopped it squarely on Neokal's shoulders. Neokal for his part looked almost pouty.
"Neo kal kal." The Pokémon murmured rebelliously.
Then the boy turned back to the young girl Trainer. She was breathing lightly, a bit of drool coming out of the left side of her mouth. Simon studied the line of saliva for a moment before grabbing the girl's sleeve and wiping her own mouth with it. Poor girl. I have nothing against her, but a job's a job.
"Victini! Come out of hiding please!" Simon called glancing around the trees for his other pokémon. "I need your power for a second."
"Teenee?" The red and white Pokemon un-camouflaged itself and flew down to rest on Simon's shoulder. Simon reached up and scratched one of its ears, which Victini enjoyed immensely.
"Give me a little dose of strength for a second? I want to lift up this unconscious girl up onto Neokal's back." Victini nodded and tapped Simon's purple colored hair, which caused the boy's mind to race and power flood his veins. Simon bent down and with one hand plucked the bound Holly and gingerly placed her on the back of the burnt orange colored Pokémon. The green Unova Pokémon had been silent as Simon had moved the girl but then burst out in several loud cries, attempting to wake her friend and trainer.
"Please, little one." Simon said quietly. "I don't like to threaten, but if you make another sound, I'll have Neokal shock you again." The grass type Pokémon glared at the muscled youth and Simon could see he had lost a potential friend. Simon sighed and thought to himself: Add this one to the list of people and pokémon I've alienated. In the end it's only the three of us: Neokal, Victini and me.
"All right Neokal and Victini. Let's move it." The pokémon and their Trainer stepped forward as one and sprang into the dense foliage. It was not long before they had reached the same hill that Holly had fled from minutes before. Simon hiked to the top and motioned for Neokal to remain at the bottom, waiting on his signal. Victini, for its part, glided down and landed on Neokal's head and began rubbing its nose vigorously. Neokal growled happily and its leg began twitching, instinctively moving with the itch, much like a dog. Simon frowned at their goofy antics but let them continue. Some intimidating trio we are.
The young man climbed up the hill and soon stood on the peak and surveyed the landscape. Black sand extended as far as the eye could see, with large dusty tornadoes making their way across the desolate scene. As Simon watched, one hand shading his obsidian eyes, a dune hundreds of feet tall was caught in a powerful gust of wind and was gone in seconds. The sun was setting and it would be night soon.
His keen eyes picked up another sight far above his head: a flying type Pokémon spinning in circles above his position. It had sharp eyes, tufts rising above its head giving it a wise appearance and an almost shiny form. Odd. I've never seen that kind of pokémon before. Suddenly, before he could study it further, the pokémon rocketed back towards the forest.
Hmm. Just a wild pokémon? Or could it be flying back to a Trainer, about to reveal our position? If that's true, I have no time to waste. Simon took one last look at the sandy landscape. A storm is approaching from the desert anyway. Soon this entire area will be buried.
Simon then turned to the storm that was occurring closer to him: his three prized pupils yelling at each and pointing in different directions. Myra was yanking at her golden hair pointing at the forest. Ike was stomping his feet and gesturing angrily at the half uncovered sand tank. Burrost was not helping the matter by running around the area blowing bits of fire and occasionally racing over to the remains of the light cage that had held Holly prisoner, giving it a kick and a chomp with his large teeth. Simon folded his arms in front of his body and gave his best commander yell.
"ATTENTION!" He roared. The Trio stopped arguing and looked over at the purple haired youth standing on top of the hill. Each flinched as he called their names.
"Myra! Ike! Burrost! What is the meaning of this? Where is your prisoner? I command you to explain yourselves at once!" The boy began to march down the hill at the same time that they approached him. Simon knew that he stood shorter than the two adults so he stopped just before the hill ended, forcing them to look up to him, rather than the other way around. "Well? I'm waiting."
Uh, you see sir," Myra began, "Well what happened was that uh…"
"—the grrl escaped 'er cage und managed to run uff with the light type Pokemun sir." Burrost rumbled, getting straight to the point.
"And that's why I was trying to convince them to help me free my sand tank! So we could track her!" Ike hollered.
"You are an absolute moron!" Myra screeched. "That would take far too long and that tank of yours can't go into the forest anyway! It grips the SAND, not pine needles."
"You're wrong, YOUR HIGHNESS!" Ike yelled mockingly, "My tank has saw blades that can cut down any tree! It would have made the trip super easy and we would have had her back in minutes!"
"Minutes she would have used to escape, hide or do both!" Myra screamed.
"Enough." Simon said quietly, inserting his soft but brutal word while both humans drew breath to continue their fight. Although they were both hardened criminals, each had a level of respect and fear for their young commander. Simon looked them both each in the eye until they looked away first and then he continued speaking in a dangerously low voice.
"You are both right. If you had ignored the vehicle and chased after her she would have been caught in minutes. If you had taken the minute or so to allow the tank to move after her you would have trapped her in a few minutes as well. But you did neither of those things." Simon slashed his hand in front of his body making the three figures flinch backwards.
"You just stood there like idiots, fighting each other instead! You are supposed to be a team!" The purple haired boy turned a furious glare towards Myra.
"Look." He growled, "I don't care if you're queen of the frickin' world where you come from. Here, on this team it don't mean squat. This man right here is in every way your equal. I paired you two together because your compatibility tests suggested you had opposite skill sets but highly like-minded."
Simon stepped forward towards Myra and, despite being about a head and a half shorter; he exuded such an aura of command that she shrunk back barely looking him in the eye. "You will listen to advice and pull your own weight. I saw you slacking off when the others were uncovering the tank. 'Keeping watch' huh? You know that's a load of Tauros scat."
Simon's eyebrows lurched down angrily as he finished his threat. "She escaped because of you. Pull that kind of stunt again and I will pull you off the team. Got it?" Myra mumbled a reply and Simon quickly turned on Ike.
"And you! You dropped the mission and everything to save your precious pile of junk." Simon held up a hand to stop the words that were about to spring from Ike's angry mouth. "I know you were a highly skilled mechanic back in the shop, but you wanted to be a field agent correct? Out in the field the mission comes first, not the equipment. As sad as that might seem to you, deal with it or drop out of my team."
Ike looked at his feet, shuffling them in the blackened sand. Simon grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled the taller red-haired man down to eye level. "Got. It?" He spat out.
"Sir yes sir." Ike mumbled, any trace of rebellion fleeing his eyes.
"Don't think I've forgotten about you Burrost." Simon leaned down over the foxlike Pokémon, who looked properly shamed. "You did well to go after the girl as soon as she was free but you made a tactical blunder, letting her blind and trip you. Be more careful of your surroundings in the future. I'm not going to tell you how to fight your own battles, but I would advise you not to simply charge forward, headlong into the situation. Keep an eye on your enemy and victory shall be yours." Simon surveyed his students and gave them one last harsh stare before letting out a shrill whistle.
"You are lucky that I was watching you on this mission. I was able to correct your mistake and recapture your prisoners." Simon gestured over his shoulder as he heard Neokal and Victini approach. "Don't depend on me to save your skins again. Next time I'll let you fail and the Boss can discuss the matter with you."
Simon was pleased to see Myra's skin pale and Ike's eyes widen. Good. Let them be afraid.
"Hey! You!" Simon turned towards the sound of an angry female voice. Holly had woken up. "What's the big idea taking me back to these buffoons? I had escaped! So let me go!"
Simon turned back to watch Neokal approach, the girl and her green pokémon still tied to his back. Victini had disappeared, probably camouflaged because of the raised voices it heard.
"It's nothing personal, girl." Simon attempted to shrug nonchalantly. "We have plans for you and your Light Type friend and they don't involve you running away from us."
If looks could kill, Holly's glare would have roasted the skin off of Simon's face. "My name is Holly! Don't act like I'm not a person. What plans do you have, freak? Dad isn't rich you know. You won't get any ransom at all! You're just making an enemy of a powerful Trainer! He'll get you and that's a promise."
"I don't have time for this." Simon replied and turned toward his students. "Burrost! Continue clearing the sand away from that tank! Ike! Go turn on the vehicle and prepare to move out. Myra! Escort these prisoners to the cell on board. And don't let them out of your sight until they are safely stowed! Grab both of her bags too. We don't want her to use that new Light Type of hers."
Simon watched as his students scrambled to obey his orders. Burrost raced towards the mostly uncovered tank and flung large amounts of obsidian sand into the air. Ike sprinted to the tank door and shoved it open, before disappearing inside, presumably heading to the cockpit to start the engine.
Myra walked up to Neokal and commanded the large cat Pokémon to lower Holly and the emerald Pokémon to the ground. The orange beast grumbled but did as was bid of him. Holly was hoisted to her feet and shoved towards the tank. The bindings around her feet allowed her to shuffle slowly towards the vehicle, but not fast enough to escape again. Myra held the tiny green Pokémon, still in its bindings, under her arm, carefully avoiding the head in case it decided to bite her. The golden haired woman gave Holly another rough push and snatched her bag from the girl's shoulders.
"This is mine." She hissed. "Don't think about stealing from me again you little brat." Myra made a move to slap the girl but Simon was suddenly at her side and seized her hand in his powerful grip.
"Don't." He growled. "The Boss said to bring her unharmed and you've injured her enough for one day. Just bring her to the brig." Myra scowled but nodded and began to drag Holly behind her, towards the tank. The girl looked at Simon suspiciously, wondering why he had saved her. Simon looked away, embarrassed. I didn't do it for you. I did it to make sure my student didn't make another blunder. The boy scowled to himself, angry that he was thinking of the girl as anything more than a package, an item he was commanded to retrieve and deliver. I have a job to do. I can't afford to be distracted. Simon was troubled as he gazed at the sun and watched as it dipped over the horizon, the daylight already fading.
Simon then turned to watch Myra make the last few steps towards the door of the tank when he heard Neokal growl loudly, warning his master that an intruder was nearby. Simon swung his head around and spotted a figure on the top of the hill.
It was a man, tall, with a baseball cap holding down messy raven black hair, fingerless gloves on his hands and a look of pure anger on his face. By his side stood a small electric type Pokémon that Simon instantly recognized as a Pikachu. The small Pokémon looked almost as angry as his Trainer, electricity arching from his red colored cheeks. Perched next to them was the strange Pokémon that Simon had seen earlier, circling above his head. So that Pokémon WAS leading someone to our position.
The man let lose an almost animalistic growl and shouted, "What are you doing with my daughter!?"
Bam! Ash finally catches up to Holly! Just in time it would appear. But will he be able to defeat the Team and save his daughter? Or can Holly free herself once again? How will Simon be able to take on the Pokémon Master? And whose sides are you supposed to be on anyway? Are you rooting for Ash to save his daughter, Holly to free herself, or Simon to succeed in his schemes? By the way, are you curious about Simon's Victini? Anime characters don't typically have Legendary pokémon. So why does Simon have one? Guess you'll find out if you keep reading!
END OF PART 7
