Chapter 10: Maritime Contest Part 2
Team Anubis headquarters fifty feet into a mountain to the north of Maritime City, each agent wore black pants along with a black and white striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the symbol of a jackal on their sleeves.
Inside an observatory which had enough screens for anyone to monitor everywhere in NeoTerra sat a single chair, inside the chair sat a man about in his early forties, salt and pepper colored hair, he wore a simple black suit and a white shirt, he tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair and just watched the screens.
Heels clicking were the sound coming from one of his assistants, a young girl in her early twenties, long brown hair that reached her back, gray eyes, and fair skin, she wore the standard Anubis uniform with the altercation that instead of pants, she wore a high skirt.
"Sir, we have a report coming in from the border. Agent Lang is waiting for you on the vid comm."
"Thank you Brooke, patch him through." The boss leaned back in his chair
"Right away." She carried a small pad which she pressed a couple of keys on
All the screens showed one location, a large water battle field, a large number of grunts were issuing orders from the NeoTerra border while the other side had what appeared to be flying Pokemon and jets in the air.
"Mister Lang. I take it you have something to report?"
"Yes sir," The agent on the screen was of Chinese and Russian decent, he wore armor around his uniform and wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes "We're holding Team Rocket off, but they just sent in the second wave, mostly dragon types like Salamance, Flygon and Dragonite, orders sir?"
The Illusive Man thought for a moment, then turned to his assistant "Brooke, give me all project Pokemon statuses on your screen."
"Yes sir," what anyone couldn't see is that she wore a collar around her neck, only the boss knew what it was for, she pressed a couple of keys and handed it over
The Boss took her arm, brought her down and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, she smiled and the collar beeped, she gained an almost robotic posture as she stood straight.
"The old collar still working on her?" Lang asked
"She serves her purposes, I'll have it rewired when we're finished here," He looked at the screen, all the names were just Project 1-20, he knew what they were, Pokemon he originally experimented with.
He turned back to Brooke "Send word to the lab to unleash Project 1, and get yourself to the science wing and get that collar checked, tell them to activate the level S and L switch, and I expect to see you later on."
She nodded and walked off quickly.
"Seems a little too convenient sir." Lang remarked
"Only when you know you can get away with collars like that do they work. Execute Order 65 Lang. I'll leave it to you."
"Yes sir."
Lang looked out at the ocean and then turned to his comm. specialist "Contact Agent Jupiter. Inform him to use Order 65."
"Yes sir." He tapped a few keys and sent the parameters out to a boat along the coast. Anubis was known for having a grand army of Pokemon, land forces managed to block any Team Rocket boat that managed to get through their blockade, flying Pokemon attacked jets and blimps Team Rocket sent into the air and the boats Anubis deployed were using their own boats in order to sink the enemy and use their water Pokemon in order to sink them.
Jupiter was a man in his late thirties, a senior member of Anubis, he was just a teenager when it was formed, and he checked his communication pad and saw the order. He turned to the squad he had taken, his own personal members he handpicked.
"Order 65, we need to move, now! Team Rocket won't know what hit them!"
The boat flew toward a waterfall and sank beneath the surface.
Back at Maritime City, the second round of the contest was well under way. Dawn had won her first battle, as well as Blake and Norm.
Dawn stood on stage on the opposite side, the semi-final match was about to begin, on the other side, a young man named Norman stood on the other side.
"Okay, as a recap, the battle round will be a one on one battle. The Judges will be watching for how grace and talent to the Pokémon's moves and how well they can work. The winner of the final round will be rewarded with the Maritime ribbon," Jillian explained "Dawn? Norman, you two ready?"
"You know it." They said in unison,
"Then begin!"
Dawn took out a Pokeball with a fire seal "Quilava! Spot light!"
The Pokeball opened and a Pokemon standing on all fours, a tan belly, blue top, with small red spots where fire would come out. Quilava jumped into the air and unleashed a wave of fire which broke up the flame into a red light show as it landed on the stage.
"Impressive, now it's my turn." Norman drew a Pokeball; his Buizel was used in the opening, now he had another Pokemon in mind "Slowking! Give us a show!"
A Dive ball flew through the air and erupted in water and the Royal Pokemon came out, a gray shell was on its head with a pink body with a white belly.
"Slowking, use Power Gem!"
Slowking raised its hands and a series of sparkling gems formed around it, it then pointed at Quilava and the gems flew through the air.
"Quilava, dodge with flame wheel!"
Quilava jumped and started rolling as a flame began to form around its body, it flew around the gems but managed to break them with the fire, causing a series of lights came around the stage.
"And it looks like Quilava made Slowking loose some points!" Jillian observed
The screen above them showed Dawn and Norman's faces on it, under each name was a circle with a yellow filling; Norman had lost a few points.
"Quilava, use Swift!"
Quilava's flames erupted and fired a series of stars at Slowking. Slowking braced himself.
"Slowking, use Psychic!"
"Slowking!" Slowking raised his arms and caught the stars flying at it
The stars floated, then Slowking directed them back at Quilava, the stars made impact, Quilava fell back in pain as Dawn's points went down.
Nick gripped his pant leg as Quilava got hurt and Dawn's points started going down, Pichu had a concerned look on his face as well.
Come on Dawn, you got this.
Kara looked over at Nick as she moved her hair off her shoulder, a look of upset and disappoint in her eyes.
"Quilava, are you okay?" Dawn looked over with concern
Quilava slowly stood up on its feet, Dawn was getting worried, Quilava hadn't been in a contest for a while and she knew it was struggling to keep up; even there was a type difference and a disadvantage for Quilava.
"You can say that again."
Nick's face came into her mind, a smile on his face.
He believed in her, Dawn wasn't about to give up yet. It was time to finish this.
"Quilava, Eruption!"
Quilava's flames burst as a large ball of fire was fired from its mouth.
"Now swift!"
Stars again came out as they were attracted to the fire, forming a fire ball with stars rotating around it.
"Slowking! Stop…" Norman was at a loss for words
Slowking was hit with the blast, sending it flying backwards and Norman lost a third of his points, time was running out, only thirty seconds were left.
"Slowking, use Water Pulse!" Norman commanded
Twenty seconds left.
"Quilava, Eruption again!"
Both Pokemon fired their most powerful attacks at each other, they traveled along the field, with only ten seconds left and then they made impact.
The timer ran out as both the Eruption and Water Pulse caused a giant steam attack. The points revealed Dawn had gotten a major advantage over Norman, he was only one half away from the end of the circle, and Dawn had half left.
"Dawn wins this battle!" Jillian yelled happily into the microphone "She will be moving onto the final match."
Quilava ran over to Dawn as she embraced him, both trainer and Pokemon laughing in happiness.
Norm stood confidently on the stage, a wide grin on his face.
"Norm is now on the stage, and here comes Blake Heathermoor!" Jillian announced
Blake walked onto the stage, a Pokeball in her hand, Norm folded his arms.
"Let's just see who will win tonight, huh?" Norm smirked maliciously
"And begin!"
Norm drew his Pokeball "Rhyperior! Give them a show!"
A giant brown dinosaur Pokemon with orange rocks covering his body, a drill on its nose, it roared loudly.
"Chesney! Come on out!" Heather threw her Pokeball out
Chesney, a Sandslash appeared on the stage and let its claws glaze over each other, a determined look in its eyes.
"Let the battle begin!" Jillian announced
"Time to let this end!" Norm snapped his fingers "Rhyperior! Use dig!"
Rhyperior jumped into the air and use its horn to drill into the stage, and slowly began to sink into the ground, the entire arena started shaking.
"No you don't, Chesney, use earthquake!"
Chesney dug its claws into the ground and shook the ground even more, causing a giant crack in the ground.
"Horn drill!"
Rhyperior jumped out of the ground and slammed its horn into Chesney, drilling into it and slammed it into the ground, fainted.
"It looks like Norm won!" Jillian announced
"Wait," Gold looked confused "Someone explain that to me please? What just happened? It looked like the Sandslash was winning."
Nick looked at the stage, nerves were on high, and Tom decided to take over.
"Horn drill is a one hit knock out move, basically, no matter how much health the opponent has left, it's an instant faint."
Gold smiled at Tom, she thought maybe she could trust him, she would have to consider it, but that was for another time.
Kara looked over at Nick "You okay?"
Nick smirked "Yeah, I'm cool. Just anxious, I love watching contests." He lied
"Okay everyone! We've now reached the end of our Maritime Pokemon Contest! Our final match is now between Dawn Berlitz and Norm! The winner will receive the Maritime ribbon!" Jillian announced, a wide grin on her face "Are both sides ready!"
"You know it." Dawn smiled, determination in her eyes
"Bring it on!" Norm said
"Let the battle begin!"
"Quilava! Spot light!" Dawn threw her Pokeball
The Pokeball opened and Quilava appeared "Quilava!"
"Rhyperior, give us a show!"
Norm's Pokeball broke open as Rhyperior came out, it roared
"Don't be intimidated Quilava!" Dawn announced
"Quilava, start with Flame wheel!"
Quilava let his body start to roll and a flame began to form around it and it charged at Rhyperior. Rhyperior braced itself.
"Use Rock Climb!"
Rhyperior dug its feet into the stage and charged with its right arm out, both Pokemon made impact, both trainers lost points, five minutes on the clock.
"Rhyperior, horn drill!"
Rhyperior charged at Quilava, its horn turning at a fast pace, Quilava looked fearful.
"Quilava, dodge and use eruption!"
Quilava jumped out of the way as Rhyperior slammed into the stage, it struggled to get out as Quilava let the flame ball came out of his mouth, and it made impact with Rhyperior's side, causing Norm to lose half of his points.
"It looks like Rhyperior is struggling to keep up with Quilava." Contesta investigated
"Yes, Quilava is doing Remarkable!" Sukizo replied
"Quilava is doing a great job; I hope Rhyperior can keep up." Nurse Joy replied
"Rhyperior! Hammer arm!" Norm ordered
Rhyperior charged and slammed its fist into Quilava's side, causing it to fall to the ground, Rhyperior towered over the Flame Pokemon and held its arm out and slammed into the stage.
"Quilava!" Quilava cried out in pain
"Quilava! Get up please!" Dawn pleaded, tears built up in her eyes
Nick stood and stormed off and onto the front of the theater, close to the stage "Dawn! Throw in the towel! Don't let Quilava get hurt anymore!"
Dawn looked over at him, pain in her eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with admitting defeat, I should know, before your baby is killed!"
Rhyperior looked over at Nick, anger in its eyes.
"Nicholas Gray? Interesting, I didn't know you knew blue over here. You and I have much to talk about when I'm done here."
"Like heck we do! You're a monster!" Nick yelled
Rhyperior charged at Nick, ready to end the by standard, Nick took out two Pokeballs. Quilava looked over and stood up, and then started to glow.
"Quilava?" Dawn looked over at it
"Quilava's evolving!" Nick said
Quilava stood up on two legs; its body began to morph as it grew bigger.
"Typhlosion!" The new Pokemon called out
Nick smiled "Quilava evolved into Typhlosion!"
Dawn took out her Pokedex from the purse by her bag by her feet.
"Typhlosion, the Volcano Pokemon and the evolved form of Quilava. It attacks using blasts of fire. It creates heat shimmers with intense fire to hide itself."
Dawn smiled "Typhlosion! Use Eruption!"
Typhlosion drew his head back, the flames on the back of its neck burst open, it fired the blast right into Rhyperior's back.
Rhyperior turned and charged but the timer ran out.
"And time is up!" Jillian called out
The screen showed Norm had only a point more than Dawn. Dawn frowned and looked up at the screen with pain in her eyes, tears were starting to build, but she held them back, she had to be strong.
Norm returned Rhyperior and approached Dawn and held his hand out.
"Great battle Dawn, it was truly an honor to battle against the winner of the Wallace Cup."
Dawn shook it and smiled "Thanks Norm, it was an honor." She turned to Typhlosion "Come on Typhlosion."
She walked outside and didn't look at the winner ceremony, Nick took notice that Dawn's dress showed her back; he smiled and followed her out, with Pichu following quickly.
As strong as Dawn seemed on the battle field, outside the field, she was broken, Nick approached calmly to hear Dawn crying, her mouth being covered by her gloved hand.
Pichu jumped off of Nick's shoulder and walked over to Typhlosion, tapping its leg and pointing to the side.
Nick placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder "Hey, you did okay."
"No…No I didn't." Dawn replied in between sobs
"Dawn, as I told you, there's nothing wrong with a loss, I for one know how it feels, and I lose all the time. NeoTerra was the first time in a year that I won anything."
"I know, I know. I just don't like to lose." She pressed her back against the building
"Everyone does, every champion or top coordinator hates to lose. The point is that you just have to pick yourself up and just know you have people who care about you." Nick smiled and took Dawn's hand in his
She smiled at him, and leaned in and kissed him on the lips.
Nick returned it full force and slowly parted "What was that?"
"That was from before in my room."
Nick smiled "This is because I want to."
He leaned in and kissed her, stroking her blue hair with his fingers. Dawn smiled and returned it only to part again.
"Bad news, I can't cheer for you at your next gym battle, I have to go to Celadon City in Kanto, go see my mom."
"Your mom?"
"Yeah, she really wants to see me, and I can use the comfort right now."
"Alright, I'll miss you…and your pom-poms." He smirked
"They'll be waiting for you." She kissed him again
Nick held her by the hips and kissed her lips, he felt happy, for the first time in his life, he was happy. He could comfort Dawn all he wanted, but he had his own gym battle to attend to in a few days and he was ready for it.
Okay, now for those of you who are wondering, NeoTerra is linked with my fellow author Blaze210's Pokemon story, a World Left for No One, which I suggest you read. Double posting in one month? I enjoyed writing this, but a break will be needed for now, I will try to get one more chapter soon, it wont be until May though, once May is beginning, I won't update until after the 14th, college semester is finishing up. So I hope you all can bare with me until May 15th, once that day comes, writing will resume!
For now, RxR and happy reading!