Badges – 3
Time – Day 10 of journey.
Current Group: Ash, Misty, Ven, Maya.
Pokemon: Ven – 7. Jake – 7. Maya – 7.
Location: Agassiz Town
Why me? Maya thought as she waved at her friends awkwardly, a noticeably forced smile on her face. "H-hi guys. . ."
Ven immediately smiled with a sense of pride. "Knew I'd catch up!"
Maya tilted her head. Misty answered her question. "We found out you went ahead and got your third badge while we were busy. You passed us right by."
Realization came to Maya. "So that's how? What were you all doing?"
Ven immediately dropped in mood. Ash whispered over to Maya not too discreetly. "A run-in with Team Olympus. We fought it out and beat them, but for Ven finding you-know-who. . ." Maya's shoulders sunk. Ash continued. "Lets say our princess was in another castle."
Maya looked down, not even noticing his lame joke. Misty asked. "Have you gotten your fourth badge yet?" Maya shook her head without looking up at any of them.
"No. . . I was actually on my way to right now. I. . ." They noticed she stopped and looked at her. "Well- I mean. You see, I had my own run in with them." She looked at Ven. "I'm sorry. One of the commanders used Church against me."
Attention shifted to Ven, who's face blanked out with wide eyes. Ash didn't expect that to say the least. "What happened, Maya?"
She elaborated, but refused to look at her friend. "They attacked the tower in this town. Supposedly, the top is the former location of a legendary pokemon. They were there with some device-"
"The Time Caller." Misty frowned. "We heard about Jake going against it. Didn't end well for him."
That was news for her. She didn't comment on it as she continued. "I went in and fought it out against them. The commander. . . Artemis was her name, she used Church. A collar on his neck made him obey her." She slumped more. "I tried everything in my power to get Church back for you, but as soon as I almost did, she recalled him to a pokeball. We were going to battle further, but the gym leader here interfered. As long as she had the Caller thing, she could just keep bringing her pokemon back to power. We had no way to win. So, he threatened to simply kill her if she didn't leave. She didn't call his bluff, and retreated."
Ven's expression didn't change in the slightest. He couldn't change it if he wanted to. Even the densest of people, Ash, noticed the flare of pure rage hidden behind a near emotionless mask. Ash felt it too. He was a famous hothead, so he could guess what MIGHT have been on his mind. "No. That wouldn't help." Ven's look changed to a full blown glare at Ash.
Ash looked to Misty to help. "Odds are it's impossible for you to locate them on purpose. You need to strengthen your pokemon before you think finding them, seeking a fight."
He looked at Maya, trying to be calm. However, his whole body shook from him trying to stop himself from exploding. "y-. . . you said Artemis, right? Her name?"
Maya nodded slowly. "Yes. I'm so-"
"Don't be stupid enough to say it." Ven said. At first, Maya took it as anger towards her. He continued. "This is far more than you should have done for me, thank you." Ven started to step around her as he said to the others. "You guys go on to the gym with Maya. I need to be alone." He walked off before anyone could say much.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Maya walked through the gym doors. Ash and Misty came inside, due to the towns heavy sandstorms, so the usual one at a time rule was suspended this time. While her mind was still on Ven, she knew he'd tell her she was wasting her time or something by worrying about him, but that just made her worry more for some reason.
"You came! Bout time." The leader she saw before came out, hair still spiky and still wearing sunglasses. Jonathan smiled. "You brought company?"
Maya nodded. She turned to Ash and Misty. "This is the gym leader-" She looked at Ash and Misty's gaped mouthed faces.
Ash just pointed weirdly while Misty's head almost tilted until it was sideways. Pikachu was even shocked to the point he couldn't move. All three thought the same thing. HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE BROCK!
Ash almost slid across the field towards Jonathan. "Sir, do you happen to be related to a man named Brock?"
Jonathan put his hand to his chin in thought. "Brock?"
Misty chimed in. "Gym leader of Pewter in Kanto? Rock pokemon master?"
Ash grumbled. "I refuse to believe this is just coincidence. You look exactly the same! He just doesn't wear sunglasses."
Misty then sweat dropped. "Well, Jonathan weirdly dresses more like a cool teenager than Brock does, despite being much older."
Ash turned to Misty excited. "I know a nickname for him! Coolman Brock!"
Jonathan's amusement was quickly dwindling. "Guys."
Misty decided to argue with Ash. "He HAS a name."
Ash retorted. "Well all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys look the same with the same name."
"Guys!" He gets their attention. "First of all, Brock is a cousin of mine. Second," He pointed to Maya. "I believe it's rude to keep our battle from going, so you lovebirds go take a seat."
"We're not-" Both started in unison with matching red hues.
Jonathan halted them with a 'talk to the hand' gesture. It did amuse him by their reaction. "You can go have your lover's spat over there." He pointed to a couple seats. As soon as they sat down, each more than a little flustered, he turned to Maya. "Alright, here's the match up. Five on Five. However, instead of going until one side is completely knocked out, we will match one against one, the winner being recalled. Whichever one of us wins the most one on one matches out of the five will win."
Maya thought quickly. "So after I use a pokemon for one match, I can't for any others?" She saw the logic. You had to take into heavy consideration what you were facing. She nodded. "Okay."
Jonathan smirked. "Good. I'll be first up each match. Go Graveler!" A solid gray rock with arms lands.
Maya smirks. An easy win off the bat. "Go Ivysaur!" She throws out her grass type. "Against your pokemon, I get a double type edge here. Use Vine Whip!"
Jonathan smirks, even as Graveler is beaten into the ground and roped in towards Ivysaur. He smirks. "You already put yourself in a bad position."
Maya tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Jonathan shook his head. "You're right in the type effectiveness, however, you need to be aware of the types of attacks that can be used here." He pointed. "Use Rollout to get within range." Graveler rolled within a few feet of Ivysaur. The grass type jumped over the rock, expecting the attack to zip past, but Graveler halted. Jonathan smiled. "Use Self Destruct."
Maya's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" The blast filled the entire arena, crashing Ivysaur into the ceiling of the gym before falling down unconscious. "But. . . that would make it-"
Jonathan smiled. "My move marked the end of the match. Match goes to me." Maya's shocked face made him grin fully. "That was your best pokemon for type effect here, wasn't it?" Her shock was the answer. They returned their pokemon. He smirked. "Guess you'll have to learn that type isn't everything. Go Rhyhorn!"
Maya thought for a moment. Think about moves. Think about moves. Rhyhorn is straight forward. Attacks with its horn a lot and a few rock moves. He's easy to dodge and vulnerable to. . . She gets her composure back as she throws out her next pokemon. "Glad I swapped Pidgeotto out for this one. Go Nidorina!" The blue pokemon landed.
Ash and Misty were surprised by this one. Ash commented. "Didn't Ven get Nidorino?"
Misty thought back. "Cause I was the King." She remembered him saying those words were why he wanted a male Nidoran. "He had his own stupid reason for wanting a male one."
Ash scratched his head. "But the Nidorans were out of the way to the gyms, so she had to take time out to get this one just like Ven did. Why did she want a female one?"
Misty smirked. Ash could be dense, but she could guess why she might have wanted one. "I know what she wanted to be."
Ash turned to her. "What?"
She sighed, both amused and irritated for the same reason. "It's a subject you know nothing about."
"Use Bulldoze!" Jonathan's voice called. The massive rhino charged head long towards the poison type.
"Dodge it!" Nidorina speed towards the Rhyhorn, ducked and skidding right under it. "Use Rail Whip!" The move taunts the Rhyhorn.
"Use Rock Blast!" Jonathan commands. Rhyhorn starts chucking rocks at the smaller pokemon. Several miss, but one smacks the little pokemon down. "Takedown!" The Rhyhorn charges.
"Use Poison Spikes then Bite!" She decided to copy Jake on this one in more ways than one.
The bite attack latches right onto the horn of the charging pokemon. The charge slowly halts with Nidorina holding the large rock pokemon back just like Croconaw did to Magmar. Jonathan called. "Throw it off into the air!" The Rhyhorn tosses the Nidorina into the sky.
"Oh no!" Maya called.
"Fury Attack!" Jonathan called. Rhyhorn leaped into the air to start beating Nidorina.
Maya smirked. "Double Kick!" This was why she picked Nidorina! The small pokemon kicked Rhyhorn back, halting its attack, before using a second kick to send Rhyhorn back into the ground. The fighting move was super effective as the rhino pokemon crashes on its back. Nidorina lands flawlessly as Rhyhorn is out cold. "YES!" Maya cheers as she returns Nidorina. She rubs the ball on her face. "You did SUCH a good job, yes you did!"
Jonathan withdrew his Rhyhorn. "That was good. How will you deal with Aerodactyl?" The flying rock type came forth with a shriek. It hovers over the poison spikes laid out by Nidorina.
Maya is taken back as she thinks. She throws out a pokemon without announcing it with a smirk. What appears is Magmar. She proclaims happily. "Fire is strong against flying types like Aerodactyl!"
Misty and Ash's shoulder sink as they expect the coming double cross. Misty cries out. "I'm happy your Magby evolved, but fire doesn't work on rock types! Aerodactyl is resistant!" Maya immediately jerked around with shock.
Jonathan's expression is surprise. She didn't say the name of the pokemon. I assumed she was trying to trick me with Zorua's illusion ability. Guess I gave her too much credit. "Rookie mistake. Aerodactyl use Iron Head!" The winged rock pokemon sped towards Magmar. However, just as the attack was about to hit, Magmar disappeared, a gray fox appearing just over top of Aerodactyl. Jonathan clenched his teeth. IT WAS ZORUA!
Maya smiled. "Foul Play!" The fox beat the massive rock beast into the ground with the dark move. The fox moved back.
Maya decided to brag. "I actually DO have a Magmar, in case you're wondering, Jonathan. However, I also know that you saw me with my Zorua at the Psychic Temple. If I tossed out a pokemon you didn't expect, I knew you'd expect it to be Zorua in disguise, so. . ."
She pointed to Ash and Misty. "I had it imitate Magmar to get a reaction out of them! Their reaction completed the gimmick, fooling you into thinking I made that big of a mistake, and opening you up to a sneak attack!"
Ash cheered on. "YES! Good move!"
Misty grumbled. "I don't like being part of a charade. . ."
Jonathan smiled. "Excellent work, but I'm not out yet!" Aerodactyl got up. "Use Thunder Fang-"
Zorua smacked into Aerodactyl without warning, knocking the pokemon back down. Maya spoke clearly. "Dark type move, Sucker Punch!" Zorua held its head high with a smirk. "Zorua's full of tricks!"
Aerodactyl got up again. Jonathan was impressed, knowing the result of the battle now. "Use Sky Drop!" Aerodactyl soared into the air. However. . .
"Zorua, use Agility plus Pursuit!" The small fox gained leagues of speed as it sped into the air after Aerodactyl, catching up and smacking it out of the sky. Aerodactyl landed on the ground, out cold. Zorua landed as Maya withdrew it. "Good going!" She clutched the ball to her. "You're my best!"
Jonathan withdrew Aerodactyl. "Alright, then. One of win for you, and you'll win. However, I still have this." He throws out the next challenge. "Go Tyrantrum!" The T-rex style pokemon comes out.
Ash was awed. "A rock type, dragon pokemon? Wow!"
Misty was a little scared. "I hope Maya has this. . ."
Maya started to sweat. "O-okay. . ." She pulled out a ball. She got back into the game. "Dragon for dragon! Go Gabite!"
The two dragon type pokemon square off, roaring at each other in challenge. Ash seemed to recall Wilson saying something along the lines of the 'dominance of dragons'.
"Use Duel Chop!" Maya called. Gabite sped in, double chopping Tyrantrum down.
"Use Dragon Tail!" Jonathan calls. The dinosaur like pokemon swings around, bashing Gabite away across the ground. Gabite slowly got up.
"Don't give up!" Maya called. The two dragons glared at each other and went at each other again. . . and again. . . and again. Eventually, both dragon types ignored the commands of their trainers and started bashing each other again and again. Maya was starting to panic. "I can't get control of Gabite!"
Jonathan nodded after long since stopping his commands altogether. "Stuff like this can happen. Especially with dragon pokemon."
Over with Ash, he felt a rumble. He felt into his pocket, pulling out a pokeball. The ball shook back and forth with a red flash. Ash smirked when Misty looked at him. "Jonathan's right. Charizard isn't even a dragon type, and he's wanting in on this."
A loud crash is heard as Gabite is planted into the ground. Jonathan smirks. "Your dragon is strong, but it's not as strong as Tyrantrum. That's because power is a base element to dragons. Tyrantrum is fully evolved. Gabite is not."
Maya glared at him. "He's not out yet!" She looks at Gabite, who glares at the enemy dragon. The glare is filled with anger as a white glow begins to surround him. Everyone goes wide eyed.
Ash smiles awkwardly. "Charizard evolved from Charmeleon purely because of the challenge of an Aerodactyl. . . guess the same's happening here."
The glow fades, as Gabite changes into a fully formed Garchomp. It roars. Maya smiles widely. "YES!" The Garchomp quickly shrieks in anger at her as well, making her scream. It steps in front of her as the two dragons stand off again. "Um. . ." She doesn't know if she should, but she commands anyway. "Use Dragon Claw!" Garchomp growls and charges.
Jonathan smiles. "Tyrantrum, use Dragon Claw!"
The two pokemon charge and clash, creating a loud crash and a good deal of debris.
Upon the debris clearing, Maya frowns as Garchomp falls unconscious. "No. . ."
Jonathan looks at his worn out Tyrantrum. "Sorry. Mine won because he started the fight at full power. Yours evolved just too late to be able to win." The two return their pokemon. "So it comes down to this. Go Onyx!"
Just like Brock, he throws out a large rock snake, his trump. Maya didn't even think about her next choice. She was down to two pokemon. "Go Ivory!" The large white Onyx came forth.
Ash and Misty both sweat dropped. "Onyx vs Onyx. . ."
Maya and Jonathan order at the same time. "Use Iron Tail!" The two snakes Each rear back and smack their glowing tails into each other. The tails wrap around as each pulls the other in. "Use Bind!" Both jolt into the other as they go into a large wrapped up heap. The two rock snakes tangle around each other, trying to our wrap the other.
"Use Dragon Breath!" Both command. Both giant snakes spew flames on each other and take massive damage. "Use Rock Slide!" Both command, resulting in the entire battlefield crushing into the ground on the two Onyxes.
Both trainers yell. "Use DIG!" The ground erupts in a plume of dust as both Onyxes disappear into the dirt.
Misty sweat drops. "Now now. . . perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything."
Jonathan called out. "Earthquake!" The ground suddenly shook violently as his Onyx came out. They could hear Ivory give out a large roar of pain.
Maya wasn't done. "Use Iron Tail!" Ivory's tail whipped from the ground, smacking Jonathan's Onyx back for equal damage. The two Onyxes stood off, albeit shakily as both were about to pass out.
Maya smiled. "I guess I win."
Jonathan smiled. "What? We've both taken just as much damage- What?!" His shock came out when his Onyx fell. "What happened?"
Maya sighed in relief. "Rock types are resistant to poison, but damage is damage." She smirked.
Jonathan remembered. "The poison spikes? From your Nidorina!" He was shocked for a moment. He saw that his Onyx wasn't getting back up. "It made all the difference, didn't it." He waited a moment before returning his Onyx.
Maya returned Ivory. "Does this mean?"
Jonathan smiled. "Yep. You win."
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ven laid down in the Pokemon Center. He stared at the ceiling, much on his mind. A voice cut him off.
"H~H~H~H~H~AUNTER!"
He shut his eyes. "Why don't you stay in your ball?" He felt the ghostly hand on his shoulder.
He looked over to see Loki. "Hau?"
Ven looked at his arm. "Great. My arm is numb now." Haunter removed his hand and laughed. Ven couldn't help but chuckle. He still said sarcastically. "Yay, you made me giggle. To the ball with you." He returned Loki as he started shaking his arm to get feeling back. He then looked at his chest, seeing his Eevee, Foxxy, trying to sleep on him. "I don't recall letting you come out. . ." He was a little more than rude about the comment.
He suddenly felt a sharp pain, being that four paws worth of claws going into his gut. His body tensed as he contained the pain.
He pulled her ball out. "Just like Loki. To the ball with you!" He returned Foxxy.
He went back to laying down, until another distraction from his thoughts. The temperature was rising. He opened his eyes again to see the room filling with steam. She jolted upright, seeing his Seadra, Leviathan, and Combusken, Rugal, both out and turning the room into a sauna! "What the hell are you two doing?"
Rugal jumped in fright, but Leviathan just looked back blankly. "Sea?"
Ven sighed. "How are you all getting out?!" He quickly returns both or them. He sighed again as he felt a small shift on the couch he's on. Assuming another of his pokemon got out, he commented without looking. "What do you all want all the sudden?"
Maya's voice came back. "I think they're trying to distract you." Ven looked up at Maya, who holds her new badge. "Ash is currently facing Jonathan. You're next, by the way." She says with as much of a smile as she can. "Your pokemon are right. You need a distraction."
Ven blankly stared ahead. "I just feel like it's pointless. Why should I care about badges? Or anything for that matter when my friend is being used?"
Maya looks away. "I'm sor-"
Ven quickly backhands her leg, not causing pain but stopping her.
"HEY!" She gets flustered.
Ven looks at her with a sad smile. "You've already done more than I've been able to. Don't be sorry. You've done more than me."
She smiles at him. "Not true." He looks at her as she explains. "Yes, Jake fought them when they got the Time Caller and has had a few wins against them. Yes, I stopped them from attaining a legendary and found Church. You, on the other hand, led us back in Zarivar town, gave me an example to go by, push Jake to try harder, and you stopped a massive attack on the Hadron Collider facility, which would have led to a lot of problems." She smiles bigger. "We're making progress. We'll get Church back. Don't doubt yourself. Isn't that the same thing you helped me with?"
With that, she left him to think about what she said.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ash, Misty, and Maya sat in the Pokemon Center when the door opened. Ven walked inside slowly. Maya tilted her head. "Did you beat Jonathan?"
Ven smiled and held up his new badge. "Yep, lets go."
Ash smiled. "Where to?"
Misty looked at a map with bonus information. "Looks like. . . Kivu Town. Home of the Ghost Type Gym Leader Graham."
Ven smiled. "Good. Now, we just have to find Jake."
Ash smiled, but still asked confused. "What for?"
Ven got a determined look in his eye. "Because first I'm going to rub his face in the dirt for last time, then all of us are going to KICK that son of a bitch Zeus' ass so HARD, that the next Zeus wannabe is going to feel it!"
Everyone got a smile on their face as they marched towards the future.
Badges – 4
Time – Day 11 of Journey.
Current Group – Ash, Misty, Ven, Maya.
Pokemon: Ven – 7. Jake – 8. Maya – 7.
In case you are wondering about Ash and Misty's importance, don't worry. Next chapter will focus on them. :p
