I'm back! SPRING BREAK!!! And there was a moment where my computer was broken (the Video Card was fried) but it's fixed. So… I hope to update a lot this week.
In reply to il2swim57 (an anonymous reviewer): Yeah, there's going to be more battles, don't worry. I got SoulSilver, and I'm raring for Pokémon!!!!
As the ambulance sirens faded into the distance, both Kaiba and Ryou Bakura sat numbly on a bench on the sidewalk while Joey paced in aggravation. Night was falling fast, and there was only enough sun left to stain the sky orange.
"We need to keep moving," Joey insisted. "If we ever want to get home, we need to be searching for Dialga and Palkia. Come on!"
Kaiba glared icily at the blond, making him shiver. "Mind your manners, Wheeler. Bakura is in no condition to continue with our search."
Joey threw up his hands in frustration. "Well then I'll go by myself!" He turned to leave, but suddenly there was a green flash from above, and everything around them abruptly slowed to a stop. Cars in the street halted all at once. People paused in mid-step, their eyes gazing intently ahead towards their destination. Trees froze, bent by a now-thwarted wind. Kaiba, Joey, and Bakura craned their necks to peer up into the sky. Teddiursa made an amazed sound as Celebi spiraled down quickly.
Celebi hovered in front of Bakura, as the white-haired boy stared mournfully into the Pokémon's large blue eyes. It reached out its long green arms, and both it and Bakura glowed a leafy green. With a blinding burst of light that forced Kaiba and Joey to look away, they vanished. Clearing spots from their eyes, Kaiba and Joey stared wondrously at the spot where Bakura once was. Time sped up once more, and no one gave them a second glance. Teddiursa was completely astonished, crawling over to the still-warm spot and patting it curiously, as if to test if he was still there.
"I guess Celebi brought him home," said a stunned Joey. Kaiba nodded.
"If we want to get home too," he reminded Joey, "then we need to find Dialga and Palkia as fast as possible."
"Shall we split up?" Joey asked. After a moment, he spoke again. "But wait, all you have is Teddiursa."
Teddiursa seemed to take offense to this. She stood up and made a fierce face at Joey, growling in a way that was supposed to be intimidating, but just sounded adorable. Kaiba lifted her up by the scruff of her neck and placed her in his lap again.
"I'll be fine," he said defiantly. "I can take care of myself, you know. And besides, finding either of them does not mean fighting."
"No, but it highly implies."
Kaiba sighed. "All right, fine. Let's split up, and if I find either of the two Legendaries, I'll run. Sound good to you?" he snapped.
Joey rolled his eyes. "If you insist. So where shall we look?"
"Somewhere without a lot of people. I'll check the docking bay, and you can check the city park again."
"Sounds good."
By the time Joey got to the park – he had walked, being exhausted from the day's running – it was dark enough for the lamps to be turned on, shedding a sickly yellow light in ten feet radii. It was bitterly cold, and there wasn't a person in sight, so Joey released his Growlithe and Houndour, and their radiant body heat kept his fingers from freezing.
He found himself back to where they had first appeared in this time and place. The garbage can he had so unceremoniously been dumped was still tipped over, and this time, under the lamplight, he noticed a couple things glinted. Trying to ignore the smell, he squatted next to the spilled mess and gingerly poked his hand into the trash and pulled out a Pokéball that was a dark green covered with lighter green spots – a dusk ball. He placed it aside on the ground – where his two pokémon sniffed it with interest – and reached for the garbage again. This time he withdrew four stones. A round sky blue one, a green one with a lightning blot on it, one as dark as the night, and a yellow one that sparkled in the lamplight like glitter.
He let Growlithe and Houndour sniff these stones curiously before shoving them in his jacket pocket. Maybe when he got back, Mokuba or Serenity could tell him what they were. They were obviously part of the Pokémon universe, for he had never seen stones like these before. He stood up once more and squinted into the darkness.
"If I was a large, intimidating Legendary, where would I be?" he said dryly to himself. Suddenly, there was a loud screech and a crash behind him, followed immediately by the light vanishing. He whirled around to see the lamp on the ground in pieces, and the large looming shadow that could only belong to one of the Legendaries. This one was on four legs. Dialga.
Something glowed up high where the creature's mouth was, and Joey dove out of the way just in time for an oddly colored beam to decimate the place where he had stood. Houndour whined a little, but Growlithe stepped forward and growled bravely. The blond smiled slightly and released his other pokémon: Mightyena, Electrike, and Delibird. He didn't send out Entei yet. He wanted to see if he could do this without the help of a Legendary. Dialga seemed to be waiting – or unable to attack. Joey took his chance.
"All right!" he said firmly. "Growlithe, use Flamethrower! Houndour, Fire Fang! Mightyena, you use Assurance! Electrike, Thunder Fang! Delibird… um, what can you do anyway?"
Delibird gave an odd sort of wink, reached into his bag, and chucked a dark shape at Dialga. It exploded on contact.
Joey sweatdropped. "That's nice… but I'm going to teach you moves later." His other pokémon obeyed his orders and leaped at Dialga in blitzkrieg.
Walking around the docking bay at night with minimal lighting was nerve-wracking, even for someone like Seto Kaiba. And if it was nerve-wracking for him, you can only imagine what it was like for Teddiursa. The poor little bear was shivering with fear inside his coat.
There were snow drifts against all of the buildings, but other than that it was relatively clear of snow. The stormy gray water crashed against the dock as the bitter wind bit into Kaiba's skin. Finally, he ducked inside a warehouse to avoid the gusts. This one had its front gate carelessly left open, but he didn't really care at this point.
At the back of the warehouse, something glinted in the dim light. Intrigued, he strode towards the mass of objects. When he kneeled on the cold concrete floor, Teddiursa poked her head out of his jacket, glanced around, and hopped out. She reached forward with a paw and nudged the object nearest to her. Kaiba picked it up and recognized it as a Dusk Ball.
"This'll come in handy," he said softly to Teddiursa. Then he stopped. Why was he talking to an animal-monster-thing? He shook his head as if to clear it before studying the other objects. One of them was freezing to the touch, being some sort of steel cylinder. The others looked like stones. Two of them were of fiery coloring, one was dark as night, and the other was the color of a lake on a nice day. Shrugging, he pocketed them. He'd have Mokuba tell him what these things were when he got back.
Suddenly, what little light there was darkened. Kaiba simultaneously rose and spun to face the entrance. A dark mass that could only be Palkia stood there, blocking it. He was trapped.
"Crap," he said under his breath. Palkia shifted, moving its arms to form a glowing ball between them. Kaiba had to dive to avoid the resulting sphere of power, scooping up Teddiursa as he did so. Palkia advanced, and he felt a jolt of emotion that made his teeth rattle. It was something he hadn't felt in years. It made his joints lock in place and his muscles quiver.
Fear.
Teddiursa wriggled out of his arms and hopped to the space between him and the advancing Legendary. She thrust out her arms and shouted at the top of her lungs. Palkia stopped and seemed to look down amusedly at the small bear. Teddiursa refused to move. It was as if she was… protecting him?
Joey cursed to himself. He had landed a few hits on Dialga, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. Dialga itself had knocked out his Houndour, Delibird, and Elecrike already. All he had left was Mightyena and Growlithe. Well, and his unused Legendary.
Joey sighed, lifting Entei's Pokéball from his belt. "I guess I have no choice," he muttered to himself. "Legendary battle it is. Sorry guys. Go, Entei!"
The massive brown beast emerged in a flash of red light. With a brilliant roar, it faced down the other enormous Legendary. Growlithe and Mightyena flanked it like little foot soldiers.
"All right!" Joey roared. "Entei, use Fire Blast!!!!"
There was much snarling as Entei opened its giant mouth. A fireball formed, and with a stretch of muscles, it exploded forth, hitting Dialga dead on. Dialga braced itself, but it was a lucky critical hit. A pause. Dialga winced. It was burned.
"Yes!" Joey howled. "Growlithe, Mightyena, use Crunch!" The two dog pokémon, both dwarfed by the Legendaries but unafraid and loyal to their master, leaped at Dialga, sinking their teeth into each front leg. Dialga screamed. It was time.
"I hope this works," Joey said, taking out the Dusk Ball. He wound up his arm like a baseball pitcher and chucked it as hard as he could at Dialga. It ricocheted off of the Legendary's blue body, but not before opening up and swallowing Dialga in a dark light. The ball landed on the ground. It wiggled once. Twice. Thrice. It stopped. Nothing more happened.
Joey let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He felt the tension in his muscles seep away. He walked over to the Dusk Ball on the ground, a little wobbly in the legs. Picking it up, he turned to his three pokémon.
"We should go find Kaiba," he said to them. "Entei, think you could give me a ride? I mean, can you move fast enough to like, not be seen?"
As if in answer, Entei bowed its head before bending its knees to lie down. Joey returned his other two Pokémon to their balls and climbed on to the massive beast. He held on to a few clumps of fur, and Entei took off and speeds he never thought an animal could go.
Palkia knocked Teddiursa shamelessly aside with a gigantic arm. The little bear was pitched almost to the other side of the warehouse. Kaiba leaped to his feet, suddenly very angry. He didn't even really understand why, but in his moment of hot rage, he didn't care.
"Hey!" he shouted up and the monster that could probably kill him in a second. "Don't you dare do that!" Palkia made a noise that sounded strangely like an evil chuckle. It withdrew its arm and shot it out. Kaiba was swatted into the back wall like a human swats a fly. Pain shot up his spine as the wall crumbled a little. The world spun before him
And suddenly, Teddiursa was back, standing between him and Palkia. He could see her trembling with terror, but still she stood with her arms outstretched, as if saying "thou shall not pass!" Then, she rushed forward and started scratching at Palkia's leg. Palkia replied to this by drawing back a claw. That claw glowed a shiny purple before slashing at Teddiursa.
The slaughter continued in a manner similar to this. Time and time again, Teddiursa was brutally knocked aside in every manner by Palkia. Even as Kaiba came slowly out of his daze, he couldn't do anything. Finally, a hit from Palkia sent Teddiursa skidding on the concrete floor near his feet. Kaiba shifted to his knees so that he could reach the poor little bear.
"Teddiursa," he whispered to the exhausted pokémon. She could barely move, and she was covered in multiple scratches. "Don't fight anymore…"
She made a disgruntled sound and struggled to her feet once more. She could hardly stand at all, and she seemed in danger of falling over at any moment, but still, she stood. She stood and glared up at Palkia. And then she roared.
Teddiursa roared at the top of her lungs. It wasn't very formidable or frightening, but she roared. And then, that roar changed. She became enveloped in a bright white light. Her roar deepened, and her shape changed. It shifted, grew, and bulked up. And all at once, there wasn't a cute little pokémon that looked like a teddy bear. In place of that was a tall, terrifying monster that resembled a grizzly bear.
"Teddi…ursa…?" Kaiba was in awe. The large bear pokémon charged at Palkia, bringing back her arm to hammer it down on the Legendary. Palkia howled, and tried to swat at the evolved Teddiursa again, but the evolution ducked under the claw, smashing her own into Palkia again.
Palkia was getting desperate. Anyone could see that. So it released its most powerful attack, one that it had used in the beginning. It drew both hands back, summoning the writhing sphere of power, and thrust it at the bear pokémon. It missed her by miles, slamming instead into the wall right above Kaiba's head. With minimal time to react, he tried to dive out of the way. The bits of concrete fell around him, and one chunk hit him mercilessly on his head.
He stayed conscious long enough only to see his pokémon land one final blow on Palkia, and to spot the silhouette of Joey and Entei at the entrance to the warehouse.
"Just a minute too late!" Joey hissed, adding a string of curses to the end of his statement. He hurdled off of Entei and raced at top speed to where Kaiba lay, now knocked out, on the ground. Palkia had collapsed. Joey saw the Dusk Ball on the floor and quickly caught the Legendary. The grizzly bear creature ambled over and slid her claws under Kaiba's limp body. She lifted him up easily.
Joey released Palkia and Dialga once more. Now weak, they stood with great effort.
"Take us home," Joey ordered in the coldest voice he had ever uttered. "Now."
Thus ends the Time Travel Arc.
Hooray!!!!! Well, hope you enjoyed it. I'm kind of happy with it. :) don't forget to review!
Happy spring break!!!!!!