Welcome back to Primal Legends! It's been a while, but I'm excited to get on with the story!
Episode 2: The Rusted Johto
Chapter 2: Friend or Foe?
As I proclaimed earlier, we're heading for Bell Tower, so we can kick Ho-oh's shiny bird butt.
Kris and I give each other one look and grin, glancing at New Bark Town's exit. We used to do this all the time back when Johto had color. All we had to do was face each other and give each other the look. Yeah, the look, the one that signified the start of a challenge. Whether it was to see who ate the fastest or who could catch a certain Pokémon first, we would always start it by the look. Now, it meant: 'You better tucker up, sucker, because I'm gonna beat your ass so hard you'll look like a Spinda'.
We shoot forward, sprinting as fast as we can towards Route 29.
The smell of smoke and cinder replaced what was once a refreshing smell of fresh cut grass. The feeling of adventure is gone, now replaced by the feeling of sudden danger. The ominous dark clouds in the sky aren't helping, either.
Suddenly, Krystal glances at me before grinning and shooting a powerful stream of water on the floor, propelling her forward.
Water Jet
"Hey!" I grin as well before covering myself in flame and sprinting towards her to catch up.
Flame Charge
Now we're cruising at high speeds through Route 29, Krystal propelling herself with a stream of water and me burning through the tall grass with an aura of fire around me.
I dreamed of this when I lived in New Bark Town. Being able to ride one of my Pokémon (preferably Exbo) across Johto, burning through anything that came in our way. When trainers battle, they feel as if they are the Pokémon they're commanding. When their partner gets hurt, the trainer feels hurt as well. When their partner defeats an enemy, they feel just as proud as their trainer. When I Thunder Punched Flying-types out of the sky with Exbo, I felt powerful. I felt that I could do anything, as long as I had him at my side. When Lugia used Aeroblast, I felt its full power, even though I was behind it. Right now, it's as if my Pokémon's powers are one with me. I'm the one with the power to Fire Blast opponents now. The dynamics of Pokémon battling work because Pokémon are strong, but don't always know what to do to ensure victory. Humans are the opposite: we know exactly what to do, but we don't have the strength to do it. When battling, Pokémon and trainer become one, a force to be reckoned with. Now that I have the power as well, there's no need for dependence on Pokémon. That said, I can't wait to fight Ho-oh and Lugia so I can get my friends back. They're as much family to me as the other Legends are.
Suddenly, something on the ground makes me abruptly stop my run and trip, falling flat on my face and sliding several feet.
"AUGH!"
Luckily, Kris hears my cry and propels herself backward to land beside me.
"What was that?" She laughs. "Can't handle the speed?"
I shake my head.
"No, something tripped me."
Kris rolls her eyes.
"Sure. Come on, we have to get to Mt. Coronet before Red and Leaf do."
"Alright, alright."
I get up, dust myself off and prepare to Flame Charge again when I hear a sound of a giggle.
"Wait."
Kris frowns.
"What?"
Now the air is silent, making only the sound of a swift breeze evident.
"Hmm. Nothing."
I get in my running position again but prepare my left hand for a Fire Spin. I think I know what's going on.
"Alright, 3, 2, 1, GO!"
On GO, I inch forwards but don't move. Kris runs ahead while an Aipom appears from the tall grass and throws itelf at my feet, a huge grin covering its face.
However, I didn't move, so the Aipom instead looks confused when shoot rows of fire until it's completely surrounded.
Krystal notices and runs back again, but this time realizes what happened.
"Oh, an Aipom! Poor thing only wanted to play with you." She looks at me with a look of disapproval.
"It tripped me during my Flame Charge and made me fly several feet in the air. I don't find that funny."
I sigh and look at the Aipom, which now looks sad it got caught. I used to have one when I was a kid. And by a kid, I mean before getting my first Pokémon. I didn't catch because I didn't know how, but we quickly became friends. I had gotten angry with the people in New Bark Town for whatever reason, I ran away to Route 29. However, I was still scared of the wild Pokémon, so I didn't spend a good time there either. Recognizing my troubles, an Aipom appeared before me and climbed on my shoulder. Over time, we became friends by pulling pranks on New Bark Town's inhabitants. However, it became increasingly clear to me that the Aipom had no sense of judgement. For example, I never did any long-lasting damages or messed with Krystal. I specifically targeted the annoying adults. Aipom never held back. After a while, I went back to New Bark Town and asked for forgiveness. The Aipom followed me there, but never entered the town. I remember its sad face as it walked back to the wilderness. Later still, the Aipom had evolved and started to cause a real threat to the New Bark Town. Prof. Elm had to catch it to make it stop. Now, it's not that I don't like Aipoms, it's just that we've had a bad history. That Aipom taught me a valuable lesson and made me more mature. Had that never happened, I would have turned out more like Nate.
"Promise me you'll leave us alone and we'll let you go."
The Aipom looks at me, then at Kris, then at the tall grass past the rows of fire.
Instead of accepting, it cries desperately into the air and stands on it tail.
"Look little guy, that won't do you any-"
"KURRUWYAUR! KURRUWYAUR!"
A loud sound makes Krystal crouch and clutch her eyes, clearly in pain.
"AAGH! WHAT IS THAT!?"
For some reason, the noise is not as loud for me.
"I don't know."
I look around me, surrounded by the tall grass of Route 29. Let me try to think this out. It's a loud noise coming from the grass that hurts Kris, but not me. It's clearly from a hidden Pokémon, but for it to hurt it has to be a move. Now, a sound-making move that affects a Water/Poison-type but not a Fire/Fighting-type has to be...Hyper Voice! A hidden wild Pokémon is using Hyper Voice!
"It's Hyper Voice! But I don't know where it's coming from."
Kris looks at me with a mixture of pain and anger.
"THEN FIND IT! AAAGGH!"
There's no point in trying to look at the grass, it's too thick. It didn't work then, so why would it now?
Fine.
"Kris! Grab the Aipom and protect yourselves!"
She nods and grabs the small Pokémon before covering herself in a rings of floating water.
Aqua Ring
I then put my arms together and focus on concentrating my energy.
"Here goes...RRRAAAAAGGH!"
Searing flames erupt from me and decimate everything around me except for Kris and her Aipom.
Eruption
I always wanted to do that. Eruption looked so cool on Exbo.
Now that the field is clear, I can see the culprit of the Hyper Voice, which now used Protect to shield itself from the flames.
The Ferret angrily looks at me and growls.
"The Aipom must have called it for help." Kris explains.
Indeed, the Aipom squirms in Krystal's arms and cries for its friend.
Said friend promptly leaps at me and slams its tail on me, but I block it with my arm. Despite its force, it doesn't seem to do much damage.
The wild Ferret used Body Slam!
Trainer Gold uses Quick Guard!
Oh right, I'm Fighting-type.
The realization makes me smile as I wonder what move I'll use next. I've already found out I can use Close Combat, but I wonder if I can also use Special Attack Fighting-type moves.
The angry Ferret then throws itself at me and hits me with a punch that doesn't do much damage either.
I then create a ball of energy between my palms and shoot it at the Ferret, which flies backward and lands flat on its back.
The wild Ferret used Sucker Punch!
It's not very effective...
Trainer Gold uses Aura Sphere!
It's super effective!
Kris and the Aipom were protected by their rings of water, so they're unaffected.
"Is it okay?" Kris asks when she gets up, the Aipom still struggling in her grip.
I shrug and get close to examine the hurt Pokémon.
It's really hurt and badly burnt, but it's not unconscious. It tries to look angry, but it fails and instead looks in pain.
"It's okay, I didn't want to hurt you. I just wanted you to stop because you were hurting my friend."
I point at Kris and the Ferret frowns.
"You attacked me because you wanted to protect your friend, right? I did the same."
Now the Aipom frowns as well.
"Come on, you can rest while we get to Ecruteak City." I smile at my wounded friend and pick him up, cradling him between my arms. It doesn't seem very trusting, but once it sees that the Aipom is now happy, it takes one last look at me before falling asleep. The burns quickly go away and it now looks much healthier. It's still hurt, but it's no longer on the verge of fainting.
"Oh right, Ferret can learn Rest." Kris recognizes the move.
I nod and start walking to Cherrygrove City. Ho-oh can wait.
Yay! Doing this is so fun.
As always, please leave reviews to let me know what you thought!
