Chapter 10: The Green Key Shard!
Battle List:
Elin (Lose) vs. 'Nature's Knight' Grovyle (Win) Round 1
Sean, Sarah, Kiera and Luke vs. 'Harmonia's Guardian' Torterra (TBD)
Elin vs. 'Nature's Knight' Grovyle Round 2 (TBD)
I felt myself get hit again as I could only endure the relentless and unpredicatble Quick Attack's, there was no way I could tell where he was going to attack from next! I felt myself get launched into the air, only to get slammed back into the ground again, hard!
I groaned in pain as I stood up, only for the process to begin again. "Is this all you can do, Pawniard?" Grovyle's voice echoed around me. "Didn't you say you wouldn't lose this time!?" I...I think I'm blacking out... "Or is this really all you can do!?"
As I was hit again, my eyes narrowed in anger. Because I just realised that I was sick of this! "No! I'm not defeated yet!" Things seemed to slow down...he was coming in from the left! "Feint Attack!" I disappeared then reappeared above him as he looked up at me in shock. "I haven't achieved my current potential yet!" I clenched my blade and punched him in the face as hard as possible, slamming him into the ground as I shakily stood in front of the Grass-Type. "I'm...gonna beat you!"
Grovyle's eyes were shadowed as he just lay there for a minute...then I saw him smirk with the reed clenched inbetween his teeth. "You got me..." He stood up and shook his head. "This is really interesting! Let's see how else you deal with me!" Suddenly, he jumped up right to the top of the leafy dome. "Bullet Seed!" He began spitting a rain of green seeds down towards me!
"Scratch!" I slashed repeatedly above my head to stop the storm of seeds, but I tired and had to stop, letting them pepper my helmet and body. "Arrrrgggh! I'm not dealing with this again!" Acting purely on rash instinct, I charged straight at the wall, and ran up it! Holy shit, I was running up a wall like a ninja! That's awesome! Anyway, I ran up until I was across from Grovyle, suspended in the air by the force of his own attack. I jumped straight towards him from the tree and slashed, but he spun away and back to the ground!
"Energy Ball!" Grovyle threw the attack up towards me, but I slashed with all my might, and cleanly cut the move in half! "Quick Attack!" He was shooting straight towards me!
"Scratch!" I swung my arm as hard and as fast as possible, hitting him straight in the chest and throwing him to the ground in an explosion as I also landed. "That was close...but..." I looked at my blade, which seemed to be glowing...silver? "Was that really Scratch?"
"That was Metal Claw." I refocused as Grovyle stood up out of the smoke. "To think you would learn a new attack so instantly, in the midst of battle..." He laughed. "Your really a great opponent!" He held his arm out as the leaves on it glowed green and formed into a blade. "Leaf Blade!"
"Metal Claw!" We clashed with our moves, the air around us resonating with power as we both held on, neither of us letting up for even a second. Eventually, the clash was broken, and we were both sent tumbling back, quickly scrambling to our feet.
"Wow...I'm hurting...been awhile." Grovyle coughed.
"You sound like your enjoying yourself." I huffed.
"I am!" He said with a grin. "I've never felt this passionate about a battle before! And I think it's because of you, kid! Fighting you just gets my heart pumping and my mind racing! I don't want to ever stop battling you!"
I couldn't help but smile. "Heh...your a really cool opponent, I'll admit that. And I have a lot to thank you for! I've discovered my limitations...now I want to reach the top of my potential, and surpass it!"
"Then you'd better hit me with everything you've got!" Grovyle smirked as both his blades appeared, and mine glowed green.
"Fury Cutter!" We both cried as we dashed forward, and clashed once again.
Quest Life
"Gah!" Kiera gasped as she was knocked back by the attack.
"Seed Bomb!" Torterra shook from side to side, launching giant seeds from his tree everywhere.
"Vine Whip!" Sean's vines extended and knocked the attack away from the group, the explosions shaking the area behind Torterra as the fire light illuminated his stoic glare.
"Quick Attack!" Luke sped towards the left side of the wall and quickly rebounded off, shooting at Torterra from his right side.
"Is that your plan?" The giant Pokemon asked as its eye looked directly at Luke, and its tree leaves began to glow. "Leaf Storm!"
"Tackle!" Sarah jumped into the air and tackled Luke out of the way of the powerful attack, barely saving the both of them.
"Hey! Over here!" Sean said as he Vine Whipped the Torterra's face, only serving to gain his attention.
"Annoying." He stated. "Giga Drain!" The three tendrils of green energy extended towards him.
"Go, Kiera!" The Snivy waved as he grabbed onto the key Pokemon, who took off around the room, swerving and dodging as the attack chased after them.
"Attract!" Pink hearts surrounded Torterra as Sarah threw them at him.
"Protect!" He was forced to cancel his Giga Drain to protect himself.
"Now!" Sean cried as Kiera threw him just before the shield disappeared.
"Bite!" "Doubleslap!" Luke bit down on Torterra's tail as Sarah slapped his back with her tail.
"Fairy Wind!" "Leaf Tornado!" Kiera and Sean's attacks crossed over each other and collided into the opponents face.
The teram regrouped, most of them panting heavily, and looking very tired. "Hah...hah...did we...hah...do it?" Luke panted.
Unfortunately, the smoke cleared, and Torterra looked only mildly harmed. "This is pointless. You all cannot stand for much longer, let alone fight. You cannot continue like this."
"We'll...hah...decide when we...hah...can no longer fight!" Sean said.
"Are you sure your speaking for everyone?" Torterra inquired. "Your teammates look more exhausted then you."
Sean winced, knowing it was true. Keira waas wobbling in an attempt to keep floating, and Luke was full on laying down, tongue lolling out as he panted, with Sarah's ears and tail drooping, it was looking very bad.
"If you won't surrender, I will defeat you!" Torterra told them as his tree began to glow.
'That next attack is Leaf Storm...' Sean thought. 'Perhaps...if I can have Sarah use that move straight after...it's all I've got right now!'
"Leaf Storm!" Everybody used the last of their energy to throw themselves out of the way of the attack.
"Sarah! Use Copycat, now!" Sean called.
"Hah...huh? Hah...okay...Copycat!" She breathed before launching a storm of green leaves.
"Leaf Tornado!" Sean threw a twister of green leaves from his tail, the two attacks merging together and growing in strength as they engulfed Torterra.
"Ngh!" Torterra grunted as he stood his ground against the force of the attack.
"Come on! Come oooooooooooooooooooooon!" Sean cried as the combined attack continued to grow in size and power.
"Gah!" Torterra gasped as the attack lifted him up off of the ground!
"Haaaaaaaaaaaah!" Using all that he had, Sean redirected the attack upward, and Torterra was thrown skyward, crashing into the roof of the room before quickly falling back down and crashing into the floor, sending debris smoke sweeping across the room.
Sean fell to his hands and knees, taking big gulps of air to try and regain his stamina, whilst the other members of the team had completely collapsed from exhaustion. When he had finally calmed down a bit, he looked up to see Torterra, standing up from his side, a crater underneath him, and his tree missing many leaves.
"Well...that was unexpected." He grunted, clearly having taken some damage.
"Alright...proper damage." Sean could barely manage a small smile. "That's a huge step. So...just a little more..."
Torterra stared at the fellow Grass-Type. "Your still on about this? Frankly, I don't want to fight you anymore."
"I can't give up..." Sean said. "I...won't..."
Torterra snorted. "Your either recklessly stubborn, or stupidly tenacious. This battle was decided the moment it began." The final evolution stood its ground. "At your current Levels, all of you combined couldn't defeat me! Allow me to show you your limitations! Synthesis!"
Sean's eyes widened in shock as Torterra glowed brightly from the sunlight pouring in, his leaves being replaced, and all damage the group had worked so hard to achieve was erased instantly. In the blink of an eye, the battle was over.
Torterra slowly walked towards Sean, until they were face to face, the Snivy frozen to the spot. "So then..." The tortoise Pokemon spoke. "Do you want to continue?"
Sean leaned his head down, it was painfully obvious what the situation was, but it still really, really sucked. "We..." He swallowed his tactical pride. "We lose..."
Torterra nodded. "It takes Guts for a Pokemon to admit when their beaten. Your alright." Sean grit his teeth in frustration, and breathed a heavy sigh. "Here, I'll get some berries to heal your friends.
Quest Life
Our right blades clashed with a strong resolve as we swung with our other blades, stopping each other again. We broke aparat, and he went for a curving slash, so I ducked then stabbed upwards, but he leaned his head to avoid it, then I slashed with my other arm, but he jumped over it! He went for a downward slash, but I blocked it by crossing my blades, then uncrossing them to throw him off.
Everything was a blur, a mix of pure battle instinct and detection of the opponent to counter and look for openings. I threw my whole body into a powerful slash, but he endured it by crossing his blades in front of himself. He then caught me off guard and swung a blade into my chest. I gasped as the attack launched me into the air, where I was then assaulted by a series of slashes from every direction.
This one trick Ponyta wouldn't work on me anymore though, and as soon as I detected him, I slashed him across the face with a Fury Cutter, sending him flying to the other side of the tree. I landed on my feet as he launched himself towards me at an incredible speed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" We began slashing at each other as fast as possible, the clashing ringing out across the tree as we continuosly slashed at each other, parrying every attempt, launching from every angle, refusing to show an y sign of weakness against our admirable opponent. We swung with all our might, and our blades clashed in a blast of energy, sending us both skidding back. We panted heavily, my body was beginning to feel heavy, and my muscles were aching. I'm sure that Grovyle felt the exact same way, given that we were both covered in injuries.
"Hah...haha...Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Suddenly, a green energy erupted out of his body, and I could feel his power increase as he gained an emerald green aura, and the leaves on his wrist glowed. "Overgrow..." He said, looking at his own claw. "When was the last time this activated?...That doesn't matter. It just means now, I'm on my last legs."
He gave that same smirk at me. "Shame...I wanted to keep fighting a little longer...but it looks like we've gotta decide an outcome." He held his arm out, as the leaves grew into a glowing blade twice as big as the previous one. "Let's go."
I narrowed my eyes as I held my arm out, my blade glowing and extending as we faced each other, waiting for the other to react. Until, at eaxctly the same time, we charged at each other, skimming across the grass and flowers at amazing speeds.
"LEAF BLADE!"
"METAL CLAW!"
We swung our attacks at each other, then skidded past, freezing in our stnaces as a tremendous slashing shockwave ripped apart the air mere inches from our faces, petals and grass blades scattering from the pure force of the airwave caused by the attack.
For a minute, nothing happened. Then I felt a sharp and powerful pain slash my left side, and I gasped as I fell to my blades and knees, coughing from the force of the impact.
"Gack..." I breathed painfully, sweat dripping down my helmet. "G-Grovyle...you win..."
Another pause. "No..." He spoke. "You win." Then, he silently collapsed, with swirls for eyes.
I let myself collapse to the ground, swallowing air as I endured the pain until it faded away into a numbing ache, before even attempting to stand up. I carefully walked over to grovyle, as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey..." I breathed as I held a blade out.
"Hey..." Grovyle replied as he accepted the gesture, and I helped him to his feet. "Looks like I lost...ah, well, it doesn't matter to me." He reached down and picked up his reed, placing it back in his mouth. "That was a magnificent battle. Congratulations, Elin."
"Thank you, Grovyle." I nodded.
He stepped aside, revealing the Green Shard entwined with the tree behind him. "A deal's a deal. You may take the shard." I breathed deeply as I took slow steady steps towards it, the object of our journey right in front of us, within arms reach.
"Oh no you don't!" Suddenly, three green tendrils of energy erupted from the grou nd around me, and I jumped back before they could grab me. "You may agree with this, Grovyle, but I will not!" We spun around as Torterra climbed up into the area behind us.
"Old Mon!" Grovyle grunted. "Stay out of this! This is my decision!"
"It's not yours to make!" Torterra rebuffed. "You know how much we depend on the Green Shard!"
"Everybody stop for a second!" Suddenly, Kiera, Sarah, Luke and Sean appeared behind him.
"Guys! Are you all okay!?" I called to them.
"We're fine, now!" Kiera replied. "But, Elin, listen! There's something you need to know about the Green Shard!"
"What is it?" I asked.
"I will answer that." Torterra spoke as he stepped forward. "Thousands of years ago, the ground we currently stand on was known as Sunnia Castle, where the ancestors of that town used to live."
"Wait...this place was Sunnia?" I thought aloud.
"Correct." Torterra nodded.
"Wow! If you know that, does that mean your thousands of years old?" Luke asked.
"I'm not THAT old!" Torterra ranted. "The story of how Harmonia came to be was passed down by my ancestors."
"So then, how did Harmonia get here?" I questioned.
"One day, the Green Shard came crashing through the ceiling, and landed right in the middle of the hall." Torterra continued. "From there, Harmonia instantly grew at a rapid rate, forcing the inhabitants to flee. The only ones who remained were my ancestors, who named the tree Harmonia, and chose to live with and protect it, such as been my families, and is now my, duty."
"Elin, the Green Shard caused Harmonia to grow, so...it can be assumed that if it is removed, the tree will wither." Sean sadly said.
"I will not allow that to happen." Torterra said. "And I am not speaking just on my behalf." Just then, all sorts of Grass-Types appeared and stood behind Torterra, some of tehm were even grouped together into families. "Many Pokemon have come and settled here. This is their home. I will not allow them to become homeless! And you, Grovyle! You would place Harmonia at risk, for the sake of one Pawniard!?"
"I understand the potential consequences!" Grovyle said. "If it messed up, I would take the blame! You could kill me for all I care! But at least I would be honouring the wish of the only opponent I've ever faced that I have come to respect!"
"Grovyle..." I breathed.
"Foolish hatchling." Torterra muttered. "Step away from the shard, Pawniard!"
I stood motionless as the choice was given to me, the internal struggle quickly becoming one-sided. Would I really endanger all of these Pokemon just to bring back a piece of a puzzle I played no part in?...No, I couldn't.
I took a deep breath to give my answer, when I heard something.
What was that? It felt...like a breath of wind...a noise? A voice? I didn't understand it...was it trying to tell me something?
I tried to discern where it was coming from, and I could only pinpoint one location.
The Green Shard behind me.
...Stupid instincts.
Before anybody could react, I jumped over and slashed the roots holding the Key Shard, letting it fall into my arms.
"NO!" Torterra screamed, as Harmonia began to shake violently. "What have you done!?"
"Elin! Why did you do that!?" Sarah cried as she was tumbling around from the shaking.
"Just hold on!" I cried, sounding too desperate.
"Ahhhhh!" Luke shouted as he was sent flying out of the leafy dome entirely.
"You little-!" Torterra growled. "I'll-!" Suddenly, the shaking stopped. "...What?"
I allowed myself to breath again before looking around...nothing seemed to have changed. Un til, I noticed a pink petal, fall next to my feet. I looked up, and my eyes widened. "Wow..."
Slowly, ever so slowly, beautiful pink flowers were blooming all over Harmonia's head, bathing us all in a soft peachy light as the light of the setting sun reflected off of them.
"This is..." Torterra breathed, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
"Guys! Guys!" We heard Luke call. "Please, you HAVE to come out and see this!"
We carefully climbed down and went outside, to see Luke staring upwards with large sparkling eyes, his tail wagging frantically. We turned around and marvelled at the sight of Harmonia, covered in shining pink flowers with the backdrop of the orange evening sky.
"It's so pretty!" Sarah squealed.
"Incredible..." Kiera smiled.
"Hmmm..." Sean thought. "Maybe...the Green Hsrad DID cause Harmonia to grow...but afterwards, it was only holding it back this whole time. Removing it allowed Harmonia to show us its true beauty."
"Looks like you owe me an apology, Old Mon." Grovyle smirked.
"Don't push it." Torterra chuckled heartily.
I, meanwhile, looked down at the Green Shard, wondering just what kind of power it held. Deciding to ignore it for the meantime, I placed it into my Hammerspace and also admired the view.
Quest Life
It was night time now, and the sky was filled with stars, Harmonia's flowers giving off a pink glow, as the residents stood before us.
"I suppose I should thank you for this..." Torterra said. "Still though, I found it a bit reckless. But we are still grateful. You may take the Green Shard and do with it what you wish."
"Thank you, Torterra." Kiera nodded.
"Hey, Elin." Grovyle said. "Think I might try and travel a little, explore the world a bit. So, if you ever see me, give a shout. Maybe we could battle again sometime."
"It's a deal." I agreed, and we shook on it.
"It's a long way back on foot, especially when its dark." Torterra mused. "Luckily for you, some thankful inhabitants would like to give you a lift." As he said that, several Jumpluff bounced forward, assigning themselves to us, two each. "May your travels be safe, and you are free to visit anytime."
So, in no time at all, we found ourselves waving goodbye as we were carried across the winds by Jumpluff, the pink glow of Harmonia shining behind us.
"Hey, Elin." Sean got my attention. "You do realise this travel will make us skip over the Vault Mines, right?"...Crap, I forgot about that.
"Oh...well...don't worry about it, they were only a small group anyway." I waved it off, yet still secretly fearing.
"If you say so..." I could feel the Snivy staring right at me.
So, in my first day in this world, I fought several battles, instigated a giant quest upon myself, went on a minecart ride, climbed a giant tree, and got carried under the night sky by Jumpluff.
This was gonna be good.
Happy Boxing Day everybody!
Yes, I decided to give you guys an extra chapter, because I'm feeling generous. And this concludes the Green Shard Arc! I hope you guys enjoyed it!
Also, I am pleased to say that all 10 chosen have proven that their still reading. I didn't doubt you guys, but I just wanted to make sure and play it safe. To the rest of you, you are still free to submit OC's, because the really excellent ones are taken into consideration.
QOTC: What is your favourite moment from any Pokemon game and why?
Now then, I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll see you next chapter!