Time to meet Ken's rival.
Chapter 14:The Anti-Hero
"LAND HO!"Briny shouted as an island came into veiw. We had backtracked through Petalburg Woods and ran back into the sailor, who had offered to bring us to Dewford Island.
"Finally,"Zaps muttered weakly, leaning over the railing. Turns it out he was prone to seasickness, which he had found out the hard way on our boat ride to Hoenn. It was kind of strange, really. He was the fastest and stealthiest member of the team, and yet he couldn't handle rocking back and forth a little.
"Zaps, you do know that once we're done at Dewford, we'll be right back on this boat, right?"Anubis asked. The Electivire groaned in response.
"Poor Zapperton,"Serenity said, smiling sadly at him."We should try and get our business done as soon as possible for his sake."I nodded in agreement.
"That's just what I was thinking,"I said.
"Wimp!"Zephyr shouted.
"Oh, Excuse me for having a stomach!"Zaps shouted angrily, then groaned and leaned over the railing again.
"This is why I am glad we are not an organic creature,"COREM said as he stared at the retching electric pokemon.
"And we are grateful that we're a spirit,"Wrath said."You mortals are such messy creatures."
We eventually reached the island, much to Zaps' relief. There wasn't much of a dock, it was barely any bigger than our boat. Then again, our boat wasn't that big either. We walked along the beach towards the city, enjoying the nice breeze that blew across the sand. Once we reached the city, we noticed there weren't a whole lot of people here, though I supposed that's to be expected, since we were on an island. We walked around the city for a while to look for the gym. And of course, on the way, I had to bump into some drunken idiot.
"Watch it, you little punk,"he growled/slurred, glaring daggers at me. I rolled my eyes and tried to keep walking."Hey, I'm talking to you!"
"I don't care,"I replied calmly, not even looking at him. I sighed as he grabbed my arm and turned me to face him.
"You know, I wouldn't mind beating the shit outta you,"he spat. I just blinked boredly at him.
"Again, I don't care,"I said flatly. He got right in my face as the other watched silently, other people gathering around us. Great...
"Well, what else am I supposed to do with my time?"he asked. I waved my hand in front of my face, trying to wave away the stench of alcohol.
"Maybe you can learn to breathe through your nose,"I muttered. Everyone laughed while the man rolled up his sleeve, then pulled his fist back. But just before he could attempt to hit me, a black-clad hand grabbed his arm, combined with an unknown voice that was slow, calm, cold, and a little frightening, really."I wouldn't do that if I were you."
We turned our heads to see a young man who looked about 18. He wore a long blue trenchcoat with red pockets and lining. His skinny body was clad in a seamless set of black clothing underneath his long jacket. He had messy white hair that was held back from his face by a mirrored visor pushed back over his forehead. He had a pair of intense yellow eyes over a nose coated with a stripe of white paint. A lean, dangerous-looking Umbreon stood next to him, looking like it was ready to pounce in an instant.
"I don't know you are and I don't care,"the man said, turning his attention to the teen. I took a step back, I didn't need my powers to see that this guy was someone who knew his way around the streets."But I'll rip your fuckin' head off if you don't get out of here."
The teen wasn't fazed in the slightest. He actually smirked."Pal, I've literally heard worse threats from a 5-year old."I couldn't help but grin. I was already starting to like him. The drunkard was obviously pissed by the insult, which was proven when he pulled his fist back to land a punch.
He never got the chance. The boy snapped his fingers, and the Umbreon pounced before the man could react, knocking him down and visciously attacking. The boy looked at me, examining me curiously.
"Aren't you Ken Woods, the Sinnoh League Champ?"he asked casually, as if his pokemon mauled thugs every day. It probably did.
I tilted my head."Does the whole damn world know my name, now?"He shrugged.
"Probably. Hell if I know,"he replied, glancing back down."That's enough, Umbreon."The night fox then calmly trotted back over to its trainer, leaving the mangled drunk unconscious on the ground. The boy looked through the large crowd."This ain't a circus act, folks."
I followed his example."Move along, nothing to see here,"I said, waving a hand dismissively. The crowd hesitated, looked at the now growling Umbreon, and quickly dispersed, a few people carrying the man away. I looked back at the guy."So, who are you?"
"Name's Wes,"he said, putting his hands in his pockets. I blinked in surprise.
"Whoa, as in Wes from Orre?"I asked."The guy who dismantled two criminal organizations in one shot?"He grinned.
"Grand Champion of Mt. Battle and all four Orre Colosseums,"he said proudly.
"Nice,"I complimented."So, what are you doing in Hoenn?"
"Same thing as you, I'll bet,"he said."I'm here with my girl to take on the Hoenn tournament."
"Your girl...Rui?"
He nodded.
"Well, damn,"I said, smirking."Imagine that. Two champions tackling the same region."
"Should be interesting,"he agreed, smirking as well. He looked at my team."The famous team, huh? Not a bad looking bunch."
"Thanks...I think,"I muttered as they came up to us."What about your team?"
"Well, there's Umbreon here,"he said, kneeling down and petting the fox's head."I've also got Espeon, a Skarmory I, uh, got from my boss..."
"Got?"I repeated suspiciously, eyebrow raised."You mean stole?"
"Got, stole, borrowed, appropriated, whatever the hell floats your boat,"he said."In my defense, he was a shadow pokemon."
"Ah. Anything else?"
"Well, I've got...Plusle and Minun,"he muttered embarrasedly.
"Say what?"I asked, trying not to chuckle."What about all the other Shadow Pokemon you purified?"He scowled.
"Rui forced me to let most of them go,"he said angrily."But I was able to keep..."He looked around, then back at me."Can you keep a secret?"
"You have no idea, man,"I said, thinking about my own big secret. He raised an eyebrow for a moment, then shrugged.
"I've got Ho-oh with me,"he said in a hushed voice. Then it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.
"But I've seen Ho-oh before,"I said."And it wasn't that long ago either."
"I got my Ho-oh back in Orre, after completing the 100-floor Mt. Battle challenge,"he told me."He chose me as a worthy trainer for saving his land from the Shadow Pokemon project. The one you saw was probably his brother, if you saw one at all."I said nothing in response."I had the three beasts, too, but like I said, Rui made me let them go."He scowled.
"So, where is she right now?"I asked.
"Said she was heading towards the beach,"he said."She took my Plusle and Minun with her."He frowned again.
"Anyway,"I said, hoping to change the subject before he could get angrier."I take it you're here to challenge the gym?"
He nodded again."You, too?"I nodded.
"So..."
"So..."
"Who goes first?"we asked in unison. We stared at each other for a long moment.
"Three pokemon,"Wes said, backing up while his Umbreon stood at the ready, and putting his visor over his eyes.
"No time limit,"I said, doing the same, my team following suit. I looked at ZC, then tilted my head quickly. They nodded, floating forward and staring the Umbreon down.
"Start."
"Umbreon, Faint Attack,"he said.
"Agility,"I countered. Umbreon disappeared as ZC began flying around at high speed.
"Wait for it,"Wes muttered, watching his movements intently."Now!"Umbreon appeared out of nowhere and slammed into him, despite his fast movements.
"Good shot,"I muttered."Tri-Attack."Recovering quickly, ZC fired the multicolored beam at the black fox.
"Jump!"Wes said. Umbreon leapt into the air, the attack passing by harmlessly."Confuse Ray!"At the apex of his leap, the Umbreon fired a glowing orb of energy. I couldn't help but smirk as the attack hit ZC, knowing it wouldn't work.
"Ice Beam,"I said calmly. Zephyr then fired the frozen beam at the spot Umbreon was going to land at. It couldn't react in time to avoid it, and was sent tumbling backwards as Wes' jaw dropped. Umbreon shook himself of some bits of ice caught in his fur."Sorry, Wes. But my Porygon-Z is already cracked like an egg, so confusion attacks won't work on him. He was already confused from the start."
"Yep!"Zephyr agreed, not the least bit insulted.
"Well, that's different,"Wes said, eyebrow raised."I've gotta admit, I've seen weirder, though."Zephyr gasped in shock. Well, okay, he made a gasping noise. After all, he didn't need to breathe.
"NOTHING'S WEIRDER THAN MESELF!"he said angrily. Umbreon raised an eyebrow.
"Use signal beam,"I said calmly, ignoring his little outburst. He then fired a swirling beam of energy, angrily, I might add, at Umbreon.
"Use Faint Attack to dodge it,"Wes said. Umbreon then disappeared, effectively dodging the attack.
I blinked."Nice,"I said. Thinking quickly, I said "Fly up as high as you can so he can't reach you!"He proceeded to do just that, flying up at least seven stories into the air.
"Clever,"Wes complimented, smirking."Most people have no idea how to dodge-Huh?"He stared up as Zephyr continued to fly up and up and up. My jaw dropped.
"NO! THAT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH!"I screamed as Zephyr disappeared into the sky. I groaned and buried my face into my hands as Wes burst into a laughing fit."Good Arceus, that little guy's gonna drive me insane one day."
"THAT WAS RICH!"Wes hooted through his laughter, holding his sides. His Umbreon reappeared, laughing as well. I looked at the team, who were all staring straight up.
"Think he'll ever come back down?"Fang asked.
"He's got to, he's our comic relief,"Anubis said humorously.
"COREM will most likely bring them back,"Psyche said."Hopefully before they reach the Ionosphere..."
"Wait, do you hear that?"Serenity asked, eyes shut. I raised an eyebrow, then strained my ears, trying to drown out Wes' laughter. I barely made out a distant screeching noise. I looked back up, seeing a glowing spot in the sky that was rapidly becoming bigger. I looked back at Wes, who still chuckling a lot."Uh, Wes?"He wiped a few tears from his eyes and looked at me.
"What?"he asked, still smiling. I jabbed a thumb straight up, causing him to look to the sky, squinting his eyes."...Is that...?"
"Uh-huh."I nodded.
"He's not gonna..."
"Yep."
"Can't you...?"
"Nope."
"Maybe we should..."Wes backed up.
"Oh yeah."I did the same. We all glanced at Umbreon, who was still laughing pretty hard.
"Umbreon..."Wes said anxiously. He didn't seem to hear."Umbreon..."I looked up, seeing that the spot was getting a lot bigger.
"UMBREON!"We all shouted. The fox stopped laughing and looked around with a confused expression. We all pointed straight up, causing him to look up as well. His pupils shrunk as the screeching Zephyr got less than 30 stories away.
"Oh crud."I didn't think an Umbreon could get that pale.
Then, as if time itself had stopped on the battlefield, Zephyr froze just inches away from Umbreon's head. The two stared at each other.
"Hi!"Zephyr said cheerfully.
"...Whaaa...?"
"Imma Hyper Beam you now, kay?"Zephyr asked, then fired said attack a split second later, catching them both in a powerful explosion. We all stared silently as the explosion died down, revealing that they were both knocked out.
"Oooookay..."Wes mumbled, recalling Umbreon.
"That was definitely in the Top 5 weirdest things he's ever done,"I said, recalling him.
"I take back what I said,"Wes muttered, pulling out another pokeball."That Porygon-Z was the weirdest thing I've ever seen."I could have sworn I felt ZC's ball shake a bit when he said that. Wes then threw another pokeball, releasing an Espeon. I looked over my shoulder.
"How about a psychic showdown?"I asked, looking at Psyche, who nodded and walked forward, facing the Espeon down.
"Shall we?"Psyche asked.
"Let's,"Espeon said with a grin. But just before either of us could call out an attack, there was a shout.
"WEEEEES!!"
He paled.
XXXX
End of Chapter
Sorry, for the abrupt ending. This chapter is probably long enough, though.