Pokemon Legends: Sinnoh Saga
Chapter 21
Dusk's Roulette
Tension filled the air as the two girls stared each other down. Dawn, having just arrived in Veilstone, was already faced with an old enemy. Only a few feet in front of her stood Dusk, blocking her path.
"Already..." Dawn muttered, glaring at the girl.
"I told you I wasn't done with you yet. I was merely waiting for a plan to come together," Dusk said to her.
"So I've just walked straight into another of your traps?"
"Well, you're not quite there yet, but there won't be any escape for you."
"Tch...after coming so far..." Dawn muttered. "But I won't give up! You're just another obstacle to me, so I'll..."
"Okay, this dialogue is bugging me. It's like the lead-up to a duel between the hero and his arch-nemesis, so cut it out!" Dusk growled, then pointed a finger at Dawn. "Just what's so important in Veilstone that you're acting like this over it!"
"Oh... well... umm..." Dawn twiddled her fingers and glanced off to the side.
"Does this have anything to do with video games?" Dusk asked her. Dawn slowly nodded. "Let me guess, now that you're finally out of the house, you've decided to go to the famed Veilstone Department Store and buy your games in person, haven't you?"
"Umm, you wouldn't be willing to let me go for now to test that theory, would you?" Dawn asked her, smiling sheepishly.
"Just go already!" Dusk yelled, waving her off. "And make it quick, before I change my mind!"
"R-really?" Dawn beamed, then ran up to Dusk and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Dusk! You're the best arch-nemesis ever!" she said, then ran off toward the department store.
"...I don't understand that girl anymore." Dusk mumbled, then grinned to herself. "Anyway, she might not realize it but she's playing straight into my hands!"
I still have little faith that this plan of your's will work, a voice said to her.
"But now, in a way, I have insurance that it will," Dusk said, smirking. "Afterall, the less money she has to start with, the more damage my next trap will cause!"
Dawn wasted no time in heading to the department store, even skipping the usual mandatory visit to the pokemon center. From there, it didn't take her long to locate a small video game outlet and she immediately started sorting through the available games.
"Wow! I can't believe the games they have here!" Spotting one game in particular that interested her, Dawn pulled it from the rack and looked over the case. "I was never able to find somewhere to order this before. Used copy, but as long as it works..."
Curious, Dawn took another look at the shelf to compare prices. Her jaw dropped when she saw the price. "Wh-what? When did new games get so expensive! They were never cheap to order but I always thought that was because I was paying extra for the delivery!"
"If you're getting them delivered by pokemon, there's very little extra charge," a boy said, having overheard her.
"So then...I really was paying that much just for the game..." Dawn frowned and looked at the game she held in her hand. "Maybe I should stick to buying used games..."
"You could also trade in some of your old games," the same boy suggested.
"Part with my old games! NEVER!" Dawn yelled, then turned her back to the boy. "Sell my games...the nerve of some people..."
Dawn moved along the length of the rack, looking over the used game section. After picking out a few, totalling the same price as she would have paid for one new game, she went straight to the register to pay for them. In addition to the games, she found herself walking away with a discount card that was shoved into her hands.
With her newly bought games in hand, Dawn departed from the outlet and was debating what she should do about Dusk now. On one hand, Dusk was probably waiting for her. But Dawn figured she might be able to escape if she took a different exit. While she was trying to figure this out, she walked past a clothing outlet and spotted something that interested her.
"Pants...I could probably use a pair of those..." Dawn mumbled to herself, recalling the incident with the mud on the way to Pastoria. A few mannequins stood in the store window she was looking in, most wearing jeans and showing off the latest styles. Dawn looked through the store window to try to get a look at the selection before going inside to take a closer look.
Upon walking into the store, Dawn immediately realized how out of place she was. The environment felt foreign to her. Shelves and racks were lined with brand names she didn't recognize in the least, and she didn't see anything remotely close to the outfit she was used to wearing. Dawn was so out of place in the clothing store that she nearly jumped when one of the store employees approached her.
"Is there anything I can help you with, miss?" a woman asked her. Dawn turned around with a start and remained silent while she tried to put her words together in her head.
"Umm... I'm kinda... you see recently..." While Dawn was trying to explain her situation to the woman, she was pointing down. From this, the store employee seemed to understand.
"Right this way, miss," she said, motioning for Dawn to follow her. Thinking the woman managed to understand her, Dawn followed her through the store. The display she lead Dawn to, however, wasn't quite what she expected.
"Umm...how should I put this? Even though I suppose I could use more of these, I was looking for something that... covered a bit more," she said to the store employee. The display the woman had lead her to was a rack lined only with panties.
"Oh, were you maybe looking for pants?" the woman asked. Dawn nodded to her. "My apologies! Right this way!" The woman hurriedly lead Dawn to another section of the store not far away, where a variety of pants were on display. "Here we are, miss! Is there anything specific that you're looking for?"
"Umm...not really, I think I can handle it myself from here," Dawn replied. The woman nodded and then wandered off to see if any other customers needed help.
I'll only worry about getting one pair for now since I bought those games, just something to wear with this jacket incase I ever go swimming in mud again. Dawn furrowed her eyebrows when she recalled the incident. A wild eevee had lead her into the mud, rather deep mud. It was a very uncomfortable experience for her.
Dawn looked around briefly and spotted a pair of pants that she liked, one of the brand name pants. She took the pants from the shelf they were lying on and looked them over, making sure they'd fit before checking the price. She immediately cringed when she saw how much they cost and put the pants back. Paying that much for a pair of pants is ridiculous! There has to be something cheaper here!
Dawn quickly looked over the other available garments, soon realizing that a brand name should be considered a warning label. Eventually, though, she found something she did like, and for a reasonable price. Nestled in one corner of a shelf on the wall, Dawn found a pair of bike shorts like the ones she remembered May wearing.
These... I could just wear something like this with my jacket, Dawn thought, holding up the shorts. She carefully tucked the shorts under her arm, then stopped by the panties display to grab a few before heading to the cashier. After paying for the items she headed for the department store exit, but stopped on the bottom level.
Should I find somewhere to change now? Dawn wondered. Moreover, what exit should I take? Can I go some way to potentially avoid another encounter with Dusk? She must be waiting outside by now... After thinking it over for a moment, Dawn let out a sigh and walked outside, her bought items in plastic bags in one hand and her travel bag on the other side. Sure enough, Dusk was waiting just outside the department store.
"You surprise me, Dawn," Dusk said to her. "I thought for sure you would be gone hours, but not only are you already out, but you've bought something beside video games with your money..."
"Hey! I know enough to buy something when I need it!" Dawn shot back. "Anyway, I suppose now you're going to try to lead me into that trap of your's?"
"Something like that," Dusk replied. "But perhaps we could discuss this somewhere else like, say, the Veilstone Game Corner? That's a fairly neutral place to meet, don't you think?"
That's definitely suspicious, but better to try to deal with this somewhere public, Dawn thought, then nodded to Dusk. I'll just have to figure out what she'd be planning before we get there, and then maybe defeating this trap of her's will knock her down a peg or two!
Dawn followed Dusk across the city to the game corner. Dawn stopped outside to admire the colorful display on the building, though the lights didn't particularly stand out in the middle of the afternoon. After a moment, Dawn realized Dusk had went inside without her and quickly moved in as well.
"Here," Dusk said as soon as Dawn was in the game corner. She was holding out tube-like item to Dawn, which contained a handful of coins. "Why don't you take these and try out one of the slot machines? And if you run out of coins, you can always... buy more..."
"Umm... okay then... thanks?" Dawn gave Dusk a curious look as she took the coin case from her and kept an eye on her as she moved to an unoccupied slot machine. Dawn took a good look at the machine, making sure it wasn't trapped in some way, then sat down in front of it.
Okay, now I'm confused, just what is Dusk planning by giving me coins for the slot machine? Dawn wondered. She looked back toward where Dusk had been, but the mysterious ghost girl was already gone. Suspicious. It's almost as if this actually WAS her plan, but I wonder how this was supposed to work?
Shrugging it off, Dawn turned and inserted her first coin into the slot machine. The reels spun and Dawn watched them closely, pressing a button under each reel to stop them. When all three reels were stopped, she had three moonstones lined up and won 15 coins. "Hey! This is pretty easy!" she said with a grin, then pulled the reel again.
Pull after pull, Dawn was winning big, usually managing to at least line up three pokeballs during a particularly bad pull but more frequently getting pikachus and moonstones. She managed to keep her streak going, earning a clefairy bonus round in the process to win even more coins. From her hideaway, Dusk watched the events unfolding with a look of utter shock.
"But... but she's supposed to be wasting money on this until she's dirt poor!" Dusk protested.
Dusk, I believe you may have confused the game corner for a casino, a voice said to her. On top of that, Dawn herself is a gamer, as you are no doubt aware. Stopping the reels at the correct time is nothing for her.
"Even so, I won't let this end for her so easily!" Dusk growled, clenching her fists. "Enjoy the slots while you can, Dawn, because I'm not finished with you yet!"
"I don't know what she was planning, but this doesn't seem like much of a trap," Dawn said to herself while coins were spilling out into her slot machine's tray. "I keep winning coins, and I can trade them in for TM's which will just make my pokemon stronger..."
"Hey, hey! You seem to be on quite the streak there, young lady!" a gambler looking over her shoulder said, grinning. "Maybe you could show me a trick or two?"
"Umm... maybe?" Dawn said. She glanced back curiously to see who was talking to her and saw an older, balding man wearing a white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a focus band tied around his head. "It's not really that hard hard, what do you need to know?"
The man laughed. "Well I need to know how to win, of course!" he replied. "I'm not even coming close to getting any coins! And I really want some of those TM's!"
Everyone does, Dawn thought, rolling her eyes. "Well, why don't you try using the machine next to me first?" The man looked at the machine, then grinned and nodded.
"Alright! Just watch me!" The man quickly sat down at the machine next to Dawn and put a coin in the machine, then pulled the lever. He then watched the reels closely for a moment before suddenly raising his hand into the air. "Ok! I've got them now!" he yelled, then pushed the three buttons to stop the reels in succession. The reels stopped on a pikachu, a Team Galactic symbol, and a pokeball, leaving the man disheatened.
Even I can easily tell what's wrong with that! Dawn thought, glaring. Instead of helping, though, Dawn decided to humor him instead. "Gee, I don't know how you're not winning anything! That technique is perfect!" she said sarcastically.
"Isn't it!" the gambler replied. "My luck must just be terrible then, but it'll have to change eventually!"
Yeah, you'll have to get really lucky to get anywhere with that! Dawn thought to herself.
"I have to thank you somehow for helping me get my confidence back." The man thought for a moment and then grinned. "I know! I'll introduce you to my daughter!"
"Wh-what!" Dawn said in disbelief. She wasn't sure if she was more surprised by the suggestion, or that he actually had a daughter. "How is that supposed to be thanking me anyway!"
"You'll see!" the man replied, then grabbed Dawn by the arm and dragged her toward the exit.
This is like Barry all over again! Dawn thought, grimacing. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull her hand free of the man's grip. And no one else in the game corner was trying to stop him either. Come on! I was on a roll! One more bonus round and I would have gotten the special prize!
By the time Dawn was taken outside, she stopped struggling. It didn't seem like it was doing her much good, afterall. With one hand free, she was tempted to just have Bowser sort things out for her, but decided having one of her pokemon attack someone would look bad if she wasn't in danger. So far as she could tell, she wasn't in any danger.
She was more than a little surprised when the man lead her to the Veilstone gym. She thought it must be some kind of joke at first, he hardly seemed like a gym leader afterall. By then it was dark out as well, and long past the gym's closing time. When they reached the door, though, Dawn saw him taking out a key.
This guy couldn't possibly be the father of this city's gym leader, could he? Dawn thought, then frowned. Did he get some idea in his head that I'd want to challenge her or something? As she watched him, the man unlocked the gym's door and then stepped inside.
"Maylene! I'm ho-"
"DEADBEAT FATHER KICK!" The man was suddenly forcefully thrown out of the gym by a strong kick. He landed on his back several feet behind Dawn and remained almost completely still after he had landed, having had the wind knocked out of him.
Whoa! His daughter must be really strong! Dawn thought. A pink-haired girl that didn't seem any older than Dawn herself then walked out of the gym. That's... that's her!
"Father, your gambling habits are bad enough," Maylene said to her father, then pointed at Dawn. "But taking a young girl home with you absolutely will not be tolerated!"
"B-but you don't understand!" Maylene's father pleaded, suddenly regaining his strength and sitting up. "The reason I took her here is because..."
"ENOUGH! I will not hear anymore of your excuses!" Maylene yelled at him. "If you don't find a job by tomorrow, then you're going to be Lucario's new sparring partner!" Maylene then turned to Dawn, placed her hands together, and bowed. "I apologize for any trouble my irresponsible father may have caused you."
"Wait, so, you're really the gym leader here?" Dawn asked, blinking in disbelief.
"That is correct," Maylene replied, nodding. "Though I have no idea what it means to be strong, or even how I've come to be a gym leader, but I will give it my best regardless."
I don't get this one at all! Dawn thought. She doesn't look any older than me but she's already a gym leader and strong enough to kick her Dad around...
"Would you like to come inside for now? I was just in the middle of training with two of my pokemon."
"Well, sure, since I'm here anyway," Dawn replied, then followed behind Maylene as she went inside. I'll have to cash in my winnings tomorrow I guess. I wonder what TM's I should get? Or maybe one of those other items?
"H-hey! What about me!"
Maylene stopped in the door, turning to glare at her father. "Isn't there something you're supposed to be doing now?" she said, then shut the door in his face.
Inside the gym, Dawn was faced with another surprise. It wasn't Maylene's pokemon, two humanoid fighting-types. One a gray-skinned machoke, the evolved form of machop, and the other a more canine-looking pokemon that Dawn recognized as a lucario. At this point, she had fully expected Maylene to be a fighting-type gym leader anyway. No, what had caught Dawn by surprise, and Maylene herself didn't see until she finally turned around, was the girl on the other side of the gym that the two pokemon were staring at.
"Everything has proceded exactly as planned," Dusk said with a smirk. "Now, only in the final stages of that plan, will you come to appreciate my full genius, Dawn!"
"Wait... what? You planned for this to happen?" Dawn said in disbelief.
"I'm confused, who are you exactly and how did you get into my gym?" Maylene asked.
"I'm known simply as Dusk, and I can go wherever I please," Dusk replied. "Now, witness the final phase of my plan!" Dusk then reached into her cloak and took out an amber-colored gem.
She's planning to evolve one of Maylene's pokemon! Dawn realized. When a dark aura descended upon Maylene's Machoke, Maylene and Lucario took notice as well. Lucario immediately jumped away from Machoke and cupped its hands together at its side, forming a blue ball of energy between them.
"HEY! What are you doing to my Machoke!" Maylene yelled at Dusk, clenching her fists.
"It's quite simple, really," Dusk said, then held out the amber gem. "By using this, I can force a pokemon to evolve so long as it's not fully evolved already. However, this form of evolution is unnatural, and causes the pokemon to go on a rampage."
Machoke's form began to change at that point. The most noticeable change was the sudden growth of an additional pair of arms. Maylene gasped when she saw this, realizing what Dusk had said was true. Still holding the ball of energy, Lucario looked between Dusk and the newly evolved Machamp, debating where to throw it. He eventually decided to hurl the Aura Sphere at Machamp, but Machamp raised one of its four arms and blocked the attack with its hand, leaving barely a mark.
"Its a lot stronger now, but even so I can just..." Maylene reached for Machamp's pokeball, which had been clipped to her belt, but found nothing. Looking down in shock, she saw a banette disappearing into a vortex with it. "My pokeball!"
"I knew a gym leader wouldn't be as stupid as Dawn here, so I've already taken the liberty of making sure you couldn't recall it," Dusk said to her. "Now, why don't you two have fun with this one? Of course, I could easily keep a pokemon like this under control with my ghosts, if that same Dawn agrees to go home right now and stay there."
"Jax! I choose you!" Dawn called out, removing a pokeball from her belt and releasing Jax. "I'm not going to quietly back down after a comment like that! It's still just one pokemon! Even if I was alone, I could handle something like this!"
Is she nuts! She's really going to send out a machop against a machamp! Maylene thought.
"Suit yourself then." Not wanting to stay around any longer, Dusk concentrated and opened a vortex below her. She disappeared into the vortex, closing it behind her and leaving Dawn and Maylene to deal with Machamp.
"Dawn is it? Once we deal with Machamp, I expect a full explanation!" Maylene said to her. "Lucario, try hitting with Aura Sphere again!"
"Fine by me!" Dawn said. "Jax, get in there and attack with Vital Throw!"
"-Even if you're evolved, there's no way you can beat me,-" Lucario said to Machamp as he began forming another Aura Sphere in his paws. Machamp turned and charged toward Lucario, but Lucario fired first. The Aura Sphere shot into Machamp's chest and he grunted when it hit, but it was only slowed momentarily.
Lucario barely had time to register the shock from Machamp shrugging off a second Aura Sphere before it was upon him. Machamp crossed its arms and then uncrossed them, making a chopping motion with each. Lucario hopped back out of the way of the first chop, but Machamp seemed to be ready for this as he attacked with his upper arms as well and managed to land a hard blow across Lucario's face and knocked him to the ground.
"-That's enough out of you!-" Jax yelled as he closed in from behind. He grabbed Machamp by one of his lower hands and then pivoted around to throw him back across the gym. Machamp hit the floor hard near the other side, but wasn't down for long before jumping back up on its feet and shooting a glare at Jax. Though a bit dazed by the blow, Lucario was soon back up as well.
"Two Aura Spheres and its not even slowed down... Just how much stronger did my pokemon get!" Maylene wondered aloud. She was about to get her answer as Machamp suddenly raised all four arms in the air and slammed the ground. A shockwave shot through the gym floor, causing it to shake violently and knock Jax and Lucario off their feet. Lucario, being a steel-type pokemon, was knocked out instantly but Jax was able to endure it and got back up as soon as the shaking ended.
"That... that was an Earthquake!" Dawn said in shock.
"We started working on that technique after the last challenger, but we didn't have time to perfect it yet..." Maylene said. "It must be able to use it now that its evolved, that makes it a difficult opponent."
"Even so, there's no way it can take much more!" Dawn said. "Jax, don't back down yet! Knock it down with Low Kick and then use Seismic Toss!"
"-Now THIS is a battle!-" Jax said as he charged toward Machamp. Machamp did likewise, crossing his arms for another Cross Chop attack. As he had with Lucario, Machamp opened his lower arms in a chopping motion, but Jax dropped down into a sliding kick to sweep the Machamp's legs out from under it. As Machamp went down, Jax rolled behind him and grabbed him by the feet.
"-It doesn't matter how many arms you have, you can't grab me from here!-" Jax said, then started to spin Machamp around him. After a few turns, Jax let go and flung Machamp into a nearby wall. Machamp hit it, crumpled to the floor, and remained motionless. A dark aura could then be seen flowing out of Machamp's body, but it did not revert to a machoke.
This girl... she's not just some common trainer it seems, Maylene thought. An Earthquake from a Machamp would have defeated most machops, but this one withstood it to deliver the finishing blow. A machop that strong must be close to evolving...
Sure enough, with the berserk Machamp downed, Jax became surrounded in a white glow. His body quickly expanded, becoming much more muscular looking. He grew quite a bit taller as well, nearly doubling in height. Jax now had the same form as Maylene's pokemon had before Dusk forced it to evolve.
"-Nice. I feel a lot stronger now!-" Jax said with a grin, flexing his newly formed muscles.
"Way to go, Jax!" Dawn cheered, grinning to herself. Now I only have on unevolved pokemon!
"I don't think we're finished yet! Look!" Maylene called out, pointing toward Machamp. Her pokemon was getting back up again, rubbing his head, then turned and looked at the newly evolved Jax.
"-Hey, you, don't get cocky just because you beat me.-" Machamp growled at Jax. "-I just wasn't thinkin' right, ya got that?-"
"-Heh, whatever you say,-" Jax replied.
"It's alright, after you knock out a pokemon forced to evolve like that they come to their senses," Dawn explained to Maylene. "Normally they un-evolve too."
Maylene sighed and rubbed her head. "Ok, you definitely have to explain this to me," she said, then glanced over at Dawn. "Did you have any other plans tonight?"
"Well, no, I guess not," Dawn replied. Have to hold off on cashing in my coins until tomorrow then...
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
"Y-you mean you'll really give me a job!"
"Of course," a man with blue, crescent-shaped hair said to Maylene's father. "We're ALWAYS hiring."
Author's Notes: People often seem to think of the Game Corner as a casino for some reason. It's not. In function, it's actually closer to a pachinko parlour. Granted, we don't have pachinko parlours in North America, to my knowledge. Its a Japanese thing that's like a casino, but you win prizes instead of cash. Notably, Japan also has some pretty strict gambling laws, but pachinko gets by. Yeah, I got bored one day.
That part at the end was something I thought up just while writing today. Both characters are likely to get an appearance next chapter. Chapter 22 will be focusing on Team Galactic in general.