Hi, guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a while - I've been trying to get a little further ahead with writing this thing (and playing OmegaRuby), and you guys are pretty much on my heels right now. So I'm planning on taking all of July so that I can write this thing out. *motions to computer screen where story is displayed*
Defender - Yup! Crystal's learned a lot more since the last story, and I figured she should get the chance to show off a little. And she's gonna show off even more as the story goes on! :)
I'm gonna leave an author's note at the bottom of this, too, because like it or not...I'm gonna need some help from you guys for a few things.
But chapter first!
Chapter 20 - Mural Cavern
The cave that was deepest inside the Granite Cave was known by a number of researchers, Ruin Maniacs, and others interested specifically in ancient prehistoric history. The interesting murals that were painted onto the walls had been under constant debate from different factions, but everyone agreed that it was important.
Although, right now, while the cavern had people inside it, none of them were thinking about looking up at the murals.
A silver-haired young man frowned as he tried to push against his rocky bonds. He still couldn't reach his PokeBalls, considering his arms were held tightly behind his back, but that didn't stop him from trying to struggle in order to loosen the rocky cocoon he was trapped in.
"Dude, there's no way that you're going to be able to break lose," spoke up a blue-haired, muscular man next to him. "I'm the muscleman around here, and I haven't been able to break out of these things."
"Don't underestimate me, Brawly," the silver-haired man replied. "I don't have my title for nothing."
"Yeah, but you need to be able to get to your 'mons, remember?" Brawly gave a dry smile. "Come on, Steven."
"You forget that I traveled across Hoenn like everyone else before I became who I am today," Steven replied.
"But you haven't been working out."
"Will you two shut up?!" barked one of the few people who stood freely. "I don't want to have to come over there."
Brawly sent the figure a sour frown before looking back at Steven. "Look, if we're going to get out here, we're going to have to wait for someone to come from the mainland. Maybe one of the Elite Four."
BOOM!
A sudden explosion caused the cave to shake and rocks to fall from the ceiling. Steven and Brawly would have tried to roll away in order to avoid getting hit, but the rocky cocoon that was keeping them from reaching their PokeBalls also kept them from moving.
Fortunately, the rock also kept most of their bodies protected from any rocks that could have fallen their way.
"What was that?!" someone else in the cave yelped. The rest of the Dewford residents quickly followed with mixed reactions to Granite Cave's shaking:
"Are there people up there that are working their way through the cave?"
"Those people are going to collapse the cave and leave us here to die!"
"Those Pokemon are going to destroy the cave!"
"Shut UP!" A redhead teenage boy shouted from the raised rock platform in front of the mural. "We're working here!"
"Silver, you don't have to be so strict about it," remarked the lazy-looking teenage boy next to the redhead. "I'm not really all that bothered by it."
"Well, I am," came the snapped response. "And that explosion up there isn't helping matters. My Pokemon don't use Explosion or Self-Destruct, so that's gotta be one of yours."
The other boy frowned, then slowly got down into a crouch and placed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes in concentration as the ground seemed to shift and bubble under his hand. "Hmm...The cave above us has changed. It feels like something exploded. There are a lot of knocked out Pokemon, too."
"What?" Silver turned sharply, frowning. "Knocked out Pokemon? Your Pokemon tried to take out some of the wild ones?"
"Ah..." The other boy frowned. "I don't think that's it..."
Steven frowned at that. "What is it that they're talking about?"
"I don't know, but something's definitely got them riled up." Brawly grinned. "I can feel my 'mons wiggling their Balls. Something big's gonna happen - I can feel it."
"There's definitely a tension in the air," Steven admitted. "But...where's the source?"
"Wow, Crystal! That was awesome! You took out all of them in one attack!"
Steven's ears nearly twitched when he heard the distinct, metallic tone of a Steel-Type Pokemon speaking. The only Steel-Types he knew in the area that spoke like that were the Aron that lived in a hidden colony in Granite Cave - and the two boys had only brought Magnemite with them, and they spoke with a more robotic tone than anything else.
So...if an Aron was speaking...who was Crystal?
"I-it was nothing, really, Aaron," came a response from one end of the cave. Steven turned his head as best he could as he and the other trapped hostages tried to see where the voices were coming from.
"I wasn't expecting the Graveler to respond with a Self-Destruct like that, but at least it helped us find the entrance to this cave," commented a girl's voice.
Steven blinked. A Trainer?
"Why was the ladder covered?" asked an innocent voice - another Pokemon, Steven noticed - a Ralts.
"They might not have wanted anyone to find it...or maybe to let anyone get out."
A small group of figures emerged from the darkness at the other end of the cavern, and Steven's eyes widened in shock when he saw who was stepping out into the light.
Crystal's POV - 3rd
Crystal froze, her ears shooting up and her tail stiffening upwards as soon as she saw the large number of people that were pretty much pinned to the cave floor.
"Oh, no." Crystal's eyes were wide as she looked around the room, remembering that she hadn't had her ears or tail hidden since she had entered the cave. She hadn't known how deep the cave was, either, so the sight of all the humans - the Dewford residents, she assumed - surprised and unnerved her at the same time.
"Ah! Steven!" Aaron started running towards one of the humans trapped in what looked like a rocky cocoon, leaving only the head sticking out. "I came to rescue you! And I brought help!"
"Aaron!" Silver eyes widened in recognition.
"Magneton! Get that Aron!" The redhead standing in front of the mural tossed out a PokeBall, releasing what looked like a three-headed Magnemite.
"UNDERSTOOD." The magnets on the Pokemon shifted as it started moving towards Aaron, who slowed when he saw the larger Pokemon coming towards him.
Crystal gritted her teeth a little and held a hand out, palm facing the Magneton. "Psyshock!"
The explosion of psychic energy sent the Magneton reeling in the air; it nearly collapsed to the ground, but it managed to catch itself and hovered low on the ground...until Samuel launched a Leech Seed covered in Stun Spore powder. Sparking and becoming ensnared in vines, the Magneton collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before stilling.
Samuel puffed himself out, as though he was trying to make himself bigger. "Ha! Take that!"
Ando raised his claws in the air and made a clicking noise that Crystal couldn't quite decipher, but the feeling she got from the Anorith was approval. She nodded down to the Pokemon before turning her attention to the redhead and the other boy on the other side of the room.
"I think I know you..." Crystal frowned. "You're Silver - the Trainer Gold was a rival against in Jhoto. I remember seeing you near Goldenrod's Radio Tower."
The redhead stiffened at the statement. "You-"
"Who are you?" The boy wearing the red cap with the PokeBall symbol cocked his head in confusion. "I haven't seen you before. And you look a lot like someone who-"
Silver slapped a hand over the other boy's mouth. "Diamond. Shut. Up."
"Diamond...?" Crystal frowned. "He must be the Ground-Type that Gold warned us about. "
"Hey, Crystal!" Aaron turned around and looked over at Crystal from where he was standing in front of Steven. "It looks like they're stuck in sand and rock or something! I might be able to get them loose, but I don't want to hurt anyone by accident!"
"We might want to find another way then, Aaron," Crystal responded as her tail twitched. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on her, and she was doing her best to ignore them, but it was starting to get a little difficult.
"How about you try to beat us, and we'll let them go if you win?"
"Diamond! SHUT UP!" Silver sent a dark glare at the other boy, who ignored it in favor of looking at Crystal.
Crystal couldn't help but feel hesitant, not sure whether or not she should trust those two. There was definitely something about Silver and Diamond that didn't feel like normal auras - and she didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before when she had seen Silver back in Jhoto.
Then she noticed that there was something strange about the redhead's outfit. It was clear that he was wearing a short-sleeved red shirt, rather than the red jacket that he had been wearing in Jhoto. But his arms still looked like they were wearing steely red sleeves.
Crystal's eyes widened. "No way...you're like Gold and that Crobat woman that was in the Petalburg Woods! Silver, are you a Steel-Type or something?"
Silver stiffened again, looking like he wanted to strangle something.
Diamond blinked. "Oh, you know about that?" He let out a sigh. "I guess we'll have to bring you in, then..." He pulled a PokeBall off the belt at his waist and got ready to throw it when Silver put an arm in front of him.
"I'll take care of her," Silver said, gaining something of a sneering expression. "She's one of those weak Trainers like Gold who likes to rely on friendship and stupid things like that with their teams. With those little weak Pokemon with her? I'll be able to take her on easily." The redhead grabbed a PokeBall from around his waist and tossed it high. "Scyther, take those pipsqueaks down!"
The Ball exploded open, releasing a green Bug-Type with scythes for arms. "Oh, boy! Fresh meat!"
"I'm not about to let you take all the fun." Diamond readied his own PokeBall. "Turtwig, let's go!"
The Ball opened with a bright flash, and a green, four-legged Pokemon with a sprout growing out of the top of its head landed on the ground in front of Diamond. "Okay! I'm ready!"
When Crystal heard the voice of the Pokemon, she was startled to hear how young he sounded - the Scyther was definitely older. So, what did that say about Diamond?
"Richie, you're not going to be able to do much against that Scyther," Crystal warned. "It's a Bug-Type. I don't recognize that Turtwig, but I'd have to guess that it's at least a Grass-Type - maybe a Ground-Type - so it might be a good idea for you to try and take him on, okay?"
Richie nodded. "Okay."
"Samuel, you try and help Aaron - neither one of those Types is going to be easy to take down for you - and that Scyther would definitely give you trouble."
"Hmph." Samuel lowered himself to the ground a little, but he didn't do anything to argue.
"Ando...you stick with me, okay? We're going to try and do something about that Scyther, since you're part Bug already."
Ando clicked something, but Crystal could sense understanding coming from the Pokemon; it was clear that he was starting to understand a little better what was going on around him besides what emotions Crystal was sending his way.
"Okay. Let's go!" Crystal started flying towards Silver and his Bug-Type while the rest of her Pokemon scattered. Richie kept close to her, but he moved away from her when she got close to Silver and came up on the platform in front of the Turtwig instead.
"So, you're going to take me on, huh?" Silver asked, a mocking grin on his face. "Crystal?"
"Don't think that you're going to win just because you and Gold took the League challenge and I didn't," Crystal responded, her tail lashing. She could hear people murmuring in the background, but she made it a point to ignore it as she concentrated on Silver and his Scyther instead. "I'm strong - and so are my Pokemon."
Silver sneered at that. "Oh, really? I'd like to see you try and take us down! Scyther! Cut her to pieces!"
"You got it! Fury Cutter!" Scyther dashed at Crystal, his wings giving him an extra speed boost-
Ando let out a screech and slammed down his front claws.
WHAM!
-and Scyther was rammed into the cave floor by an unseen force.
"S-smack...D-d-down," Ando said, pride in his voice.
Crystal looked at the Anorith in surprise before grinning. "Good job, Ando! Think you can take care of the Scyther while I take care of Silver?"
"Take care of me?!" Silver's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see you try!" He brought his arms up in front of him in an "X" shape before slicing forward. "X Scissor!"
There was a bright green flash as the x-shaped attack went straight for Crystal, and the Mew girl flew upward in order to dodge the attack. However, she was still clipped by the attack and was sent flying back a short distance, hissing at the stinging pain that came from the cuts on her legs.
Ando let out a screech and started to move towards Silver, preparing what looked like some kind of energy attack. The claws came down, causing Silver to stumble back as something slammed down onto his head.
"S-smack Down!" Ando repeated, sounding like he could speak a little better.
Crystal took in a breath and aimed for a different target. "Flamethrower!"
The stream of flames hit Scyther before the Bug-Type could dodge; the Pokemon fell to the ground, covered in burns.
Silver gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as the Pokemon was returned to his PokeBall. "If I had my other Pokemon, I would have made sure that you wouldn't be beating me so easily."
Ando made a chittering noise, releasing angry emotions in waves. He started to raise his claws again, but Crystal moved a hand in front of the Pokemon and focused on the feeling of this being her fight, not Ando's.
"I'll take care of Silver," Crystal said seriously. "You stay back and take a breather."
Ando made a humming noise, clearly feeling displeased, but he lowered his claws and pulled back.
Silver snorted. "You think you can take me on by yourself?"
Crystal brought her arms in front of her in a fighting stance, still hovering above the ground. "I've fought Pokemon one-on-one before. This won't be too different."
"Too different? Ha!" Silver gained a sneering smile before that faded quickly into a dark glare. "I'd like to see you try and beat me." He brought his arms up to form an X again. "X-Scissor!"
The attack nearly hit Crystal when it suddenly shattered against what looked like a glass wall.
Silver stepped back. "What?"
"Barrier," Crystal said. She made a motion with an arm, and the wall visibly dissipated before Crystal raised an arm. "Psyshock!"
The explosion of psychic energy that hit the redhead caused him to yell in pain, stumbling back and gripping his head. He looked up and glared at Crystal with an expression that was mixed between shock and pure anger. "What was-"
"An attack I learned from...someone close to me." Crystal wasn't going to outright say her brother's name here - not in front of everyone from the island of Dewford. "It's not as strong as the attack he can use, but it's good enough for me."
"Psyshock is weaker than Psychic," Diamond spoke up in a thoughtful manner, frowning as he looked away from the fight going on between his Turtwig and Richie. "But it has a stronger counterpart...Psystrike?"
"Psychic would have been too much to take you out," Crystal said, "And I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have to."
"That's-"
"Head Smash!"
BANG!
Crystal turned her head to look behind her when she heard Aaron's call and an explosion of noise. Her eyes widened when she saw that there was someone getting to their feet, rocks and sand dust scattered around his feet.
"Thanks, Aaron." The silver-haired man turned and looked over at Diamond and Silver. "You two. You're with Team Magnus, aren't you? What are you doing here? Why are you interested in the mural?"
"You're asking too many questions," Silver sneered in response.
Crystal took opportunity of her opponent's distraction and brought a hand back before slamming it forward into Silver's chest, energy sparking all over the place. "Force Palm!"
Silver was sent flying back into the wall under the mural before he fell to the ground, sparks flying from his limbs. "Grrrgh! Why you- You're a Psychic-Type! How can you make a Fighting-Type attack so powerful that it feels like you're the exact same Type?!"
Crystal's tail curled around herself. "I'm not just a Psychic-Type, Silver. I'm a specific species of Psychic-Type. Just like you're a specific Steel-Type rather than just that particular typing." Her eyes flashed a bright shade of blue as she focused on her Aura, and she saw Silver's aura's colors. "And it looks like...you're part Scizor, if I'm looking at you right."
Silver's eyes narrowed.
"And you..." Crystal looked over at Diamond, frowning. "I know you're a pure Ground-Type, but the feeling your giving off is unfamiliar..."
"I'm from Sinnoh, so I guess you've never gone there." Diamond reached up to his head, grabbing at the red cap on his head for a moment. "It's cold, but it's a nice region."
A pure-sounding note suddenly came from near Crystal, and she turned her head and looked down.
Richie closed his mouth, looking surprised as Turtwig fell over. "Huh? I meant that to be a Growl..."
Silver snarled something as he started to get to his feet as Diamond returned Turtwig to his PokeBall. The redhead kept stopping and wincing as sparks from Crystal's Force Palm continued to cause his muscles to spasm.
"Good job, Richie," Crystal encouraged, smiling. "I think your Growl turned into a new move. I'll have to check on the PokeDex later."
Silver snorted. "You sound just as weak as you were when I last saw you. What kind of Pokemon were you made out of? A Skitty or something?"
Crystal frowned at that as her tail curled and uncurled, her ears twitching as Steven came up to stand next to her. "What makes to think that I'm a Skitty? I am not absent-minded."
"Skitty are Normal-Types," Steven spoke up suddenly. "Not Psychics, which this Trainer clearly is."
"Oh, yeah? Then I bet she's a-"
There was a bright, sudden flash that abruptly cut Silver off, while at the same time it forced Steven, Crystal, and the others to raise an arm in order to keep the light from hurting their eyes.
The light disappeared quickly, and Crystal lowered her arm before stiffening.
"They're gone?" Richie looked around, confused. "Where did they go?"
"I don't know..." Crystal's eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at the place where the Silver and Diamond had been standing a moment ago. "This is like how it was in Petalburg Woods..."
"Hey!"
Crystal turned when she heard the barking voice, and she locked eyes with a blue-haired man next to where Steven had been.
"Think you could help us get out of these things, kid?" the man asked. "I'm starting to get an itch on my nose and I can't move my hands to get to it."
"I can take care of it!" Aaron called out.
"You can only use Head Smash so many times, remember?" Steven replied. He looked down at Ando and Richie for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. Then he looked back at Crystal. "Do you think you could have a technique that could help?"
Crystal, surprised at the question, started before blinking a couple times. "Uh...maybe? I'm willing to help in any way I can. But what about you?"
Steven gave a smile and grabbed a PokeBall from his belt. "My Pokemon should be able to do something. Let's go, Meta!"
The PokeBall exploded open, releasing a large, steely blue Pokemon with two clawed arms, pointed nose, and red eyes.
"Meta, can you use Metal Claw in order to break the sand and rock around them?" Steven motioned to the people scattered around the cavern, looking at him and Crystal with wide eyes.
Meta hummed. "It should be doable, I imagine. I won't be able to make them as powerful as I usually would, but even half power should be enough."
Steven nodded. "Then go ahead and take care of it. The rest of us will help as much as we can."
"All right, sir." Meta moved towards the closest Dewford local and lifted one of his large arms. "This should not take long at all."
Crystal nodded in agreement, then looked down at Richie and Ando. "Come on, you guys. Let's try to get some of them free ourselves."
"Okay!" Richie replied cheerily.
Ando raised his claws and chittered a little; Crystal could sense that he understood her, even though she hadn't tried to speak to him telepathically. Surprised at this, Crystal smiled at the prehistoric Pokemon before she turned her attention to the nearest person who was trapped - a young girl with a wide-eyed look on her face.
"You can use Pokemon moves? How?" the girl asked as Crystal came close.
Crystal paused for a moment, her hands just short of the sand and rock mixture. She gave a gentle smile as her tail curved around and touched the girl's nose.
"I'm special that way," Crystal said. Her hands started glowing, and she dug them into the sand and rock before slowly and carefully pulling down, leaving claw marks in the mixture. Then she pulled out her hands and started pulling away at the pieces that she'd shredded, creating an opening that the girl slipped out of.
The girl giggled happily. "Thanks!"
Crystal smiled in response as the little girl ran over to where Richie was trying to claw away at another one of the rocky cocoons and quickly joined him, pulling at some of the loose pieces that were at the top. The Trainer watched the girl for a moment before she got to her feet and started for another person. As she went, she realized something.
If I had grown like a normal human...I'm really only a little older than she is.
Spacial Break
Silver was having a bad day. Not only had he failed to get any higher up in the chain of command, but he hadn't been able to defeat Crystal.
And the others weren't going to let him hear the end of it - especially when they heard that it was only because of the boss' intervention that he hadn't been completely knocked out and taken prisoner by the strange Poke-human.
Silver couldn't help but wonder if there was any reason that Crystal hadn't grown ears and a tail before she had come to Hoenn. The higher-ups weren't about to give him any hints - not when they were shipping him off for another location and a second chance to get higher up. Diamond had been shipped out, too, for one of the more isolated areas of the region.
Hopefully, Diamond wouldn't get any higher up than he already was.
Okay...here's the promised author's note.
I'm gonna need a little help with something - mainly in building Crystal a mini-army to take on the Magnus Morons. I'm planning on having each of the "Type Admins" have a rival of some kind, and I'm starting to run out of ideas on what kind of personality and team the rival Trainers should have. I already have ones picked out for the Poison, Steel, Fire, and Water-Types, but the rest of them are tricky business.
Here's the rules for either making up a character or suggesting an already-canon one:
-They have to be in the area when Crystal confronts the "Type Admin" that is their Type (example: Eros from "Poison Woods" was in the area when Crystal confronted Lauriana).
-They can't have overpowered Pokemon on their team (in other words, no Legendaries unless absolutely called for in their line of work...and no multiple Mega Stones, either).
-The rivals can't have Pokemon abilities (for example, Eros can't use Poison Pokemon attacks, while Lauriana does). Team Magnus only made so many "Pokehumans" to be their goonies, and only Gold and Yellow got away from them. (This doesn't mean, however, that there aren't Electric and Normal units in Team Magnus).
-If it's a canon character (like, say, a Gym Leader or one of the Elite Four members), give them a reason to be in the area when the "Type Admin" is. For example, say Misty wanted some Hoenn Water-Types and she came to the region and was in the area when the Water-Type Admin was getting Crystal's attention (this isn't the pair I've got set up, but you get the idea)
Also...I'm going to need a rival in the League for Crystal and Gold to go against. Should I use May and Brendan Birch, since they started around the same time? Do I make up characters? Or do you guys want to send in a character I can mess with? I've posted a poll on my profile for this, so if any of you want a say in this as I continue to write, go and vote there. I'll let you know of the results in a few weeks and work my way from there.
That's pretty much it! So, I'll see you guys the next time I post!