I missed Dragon Master's one year anniversary! I knew it was yesterday, but I didn't get to finish this chapter in time! Oh well. At least I remembered. I can't believe it's been a year. Even though this story started off oddly, and although my writing has improved but could still use work, I'm glad you guys are still interested.
And sorry for the delay in updating. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the delay.
The end of the story is coming…
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Places such as these usually brought Sarah feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. They made her question her abilities and skills as a trainer. She always got a stomach full of Butterfrees caused by fear.
Strangely, she felt the exact opposite this time.
Sarah found herself clenching and unclenching her hands and tapping her foot silently as she stood in the challenger's circle of the Mossdeep Gym. She bit at her lower lip, anxious for a reason other than fear. Rather, she was anxious for the battle to start. In normal circumstances, seeing that the leader of this Gym was in fact two leaders teaming up for a double battle would have left her in a fit of nerves. But after Saphira and Glaedr's show of skills in her double battle the day before, she was ready to use that teamwork for a badge win.
Sarah quit biting her lip, afraid that any more picking would leave a hole, then looked over to the other side of the Gym where the leaders stood preparing for battle. Meeting them was a bit strange, even after seeing a picture of them the day before in the Gym Leader records. She at least knew the leaders were female twins, early twenties, names Tate and Liza. But meeting them in person felt more like talking to two teenage sisters preparing for a day of shoe shopping. They were professional and polite enough, but the girly way they spoke, and the massive amount of times they used the word 'like' made Sarah feel like she needed to clean her ears afterwards.
Nevertheless, she was here for a badge.
"This will be a Double-Battle!" the judge called from the side of the arena, flag raised. "Only two pokemon a side. First to defeat both of the opposing pokemon is the winner!" He raised the second flag. "Choose your pokemon!"
In one fluid motion, Tate and Liza each retrieved a pokeball from their pocket and threw them into the arena.
"Go, Dusky!" Tate sing-songed.
"Go, Sunny!" Liza crooned.
A Lunatone formed from Tate's pokeball as a Solrock appeared from Liza's pokeball. In the shape of a crescent moon, Dusky shook as it round eyes flashed between sapphire and white, a strange groaning rumble echoing through the air.
Sunny, in the form of a rock-carved blazing sun, spun in a circle much like a Frisbee, flares spitting every which way as a hiss of fire joined its companion's groaning.
Sarah inhaled deeply for relaxation, waiting a few seconds before releasing the air as she tried to ignore the sound of William bouncing from foot to foot with excitement. The twinge in her stomach told of her slight fear to the knowledge of the opposing pokemons' strength. But she knew her own pokemon had great teamwork too.
Team already decided, Sarah pointed toward the arena without looking back and shouted, "Go Glaedr and Saphira!"
In temporary flight, Glaedr flew past Sarah's left as Saphira past her right. They met in the middle of the arena and landed side-by-side, eyes piercing the flashing eyes of the enemy, lips curled to bare pearly white fangs.
The judge waved both flags.
"Let the match begin!"
"Saphira, Dragon Claw! Glaedr, Body Slam!"
Both Pokemon kicked off the ground, thrust their wings for a burst of thrust, then jolted themselves toward the opposing pokemon, roars echoing viscously. Sarah's usual strategy for the beginning of a battle was long distance attacks, but she felt a head on attack would be a better choice, as it may not have been expected. She waited for the leaders' reactions.
Surprisingly, they showed no fear. Instead, the smiled broadly, giggled loudly, then clasped each other's hands and chimed as one voice, "Psychic!"
Dusky shook and groaned as Sunny spun like a disc, both glowing with a purple air. Just as Glaedr and Saphira were inches away from landing their targets, a purple light formed around them, and their flight was ceased, their eyes widened with shock. Sarah's stomach did a loop.
Both dragons thrashed their limbs and flapped their wings rapidly, panicking as they lost control of most of their movements. The opposing pokemon began to use the psychic energy to move the enemy away. Saphira snarled in protest as her wings would not move her forward. She felt as if she'd lost all motor skills, other than useless thrashing. Glaedr growled angrily as he found the same results.
Once a distance of ten feet was achieved, the opposing pokemon detained the dragons, then began to groan and spin faster. As they did, Saphira and Glaedr's pupils' dilated and they began to cry out as every inch of their bodies were assaulted by strangling pain. They thrashed harder as they could do nothing to stop the attack.
Sarah's heart began to race and panic set in as her pokemon's cries echoed through the air. They had no control of their flight and the attack was doing extensive damage. What could she tell them to do?
They had no control of their wings, but maybe they still had control of their mouths?
No other plan in mind, Sarah quickly shouted, "Saphira, Flamethrower!"
Although her mind was temporarily blinded by pain, Saphira heard her trainer's command. She pushed past the pain long enough to realize that she still had control of her mouth, opened it without aiming, and shot a Flamethrower.
Luck was obviously on their side, as the un-aimed Flamethrower hit Dusky square in the face, sending the moon-shaped pokemon backwards. It lost control of its psychic flow, and Saphira was released.
Saphira landed on all four legs, although they shook momentarily as they tried to hold her weight up. Fighting the urge to collapse, she fired one more powerful Flamethrower into Sunny's face. Although the element did little damage, it caught the pokemon by surprise and sent it backwards as well, releasing Glaedr.
Glaedr managed to stay standing on all fours legs, although his head and wings were momentarily hanging limply as he panted for breath. Saphira had a similar appearance as she tried to recover from the powerful attack.
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
But within moments, both shook it off as best they could and focused on the battle. Too much time wasted remaining stationary would increase the chance of a loss.
Tate and Liza didn't seem to have any concern over that turn of events. Instead, they just continued to clasp each other's hands and smile broadly, giggling louder than ever. Sarah blinked at the two. It was good that they were having fun, but she found laughing and smiling over a failed attack a bit… weird.
As if they were shouting the name of a game instead of an attack, the twins shouted, "Double-Edge!"
Sunny and Dusky rumbled and groaned, spun in circles, and shot themselves toward their enemies.
Glaedr and Saphira leapt into the air and made their escape.
The two dragons flew high in the arena, preparing to avoid the enemy while devising their next move. Sunny and Dusky chased after them, looking identical to a Frisbee and boomerang. Tate and Liza smiled and giggled at the display. Sarah tried to drown out the chuckles and decide what her pokemon should do next.
As the enemy began to close distance between them, Saphira swerved expertly to the right, turning a full circle and finding herself right behind dusky. She opened her maw and snarled as she fired a flamethrower. The spinning disc jerked itself out of the line of fire, then swerved at lightning speed and slammed Saphira in the chest. The dragon groaned and shut her eyes at the strong impact, then spun her body out of the way, smacking the enemy with her large tail in the process. Dusky began to lose momentum thanks to the massive hit, and began to fall, spinning more slowly by the second. Within moments, he hit the floor and spun around a few times before coming to a stop on his face, much like a fallen bottle cap.
"Yes!" Sarah shouted, proud of the achievement. No spinning disc could stop her dragon.
To her surprise however, the twins showed no sign of worry to their fallen pokemon. Instead, they continued to flash unwavering smiles and began to spin in circles together as Tate shouted, "Whirlwind!"
Dusky groaned, then flipped itself over like a flapjack, staying afloat a few inches above ground. Its eyes flashed, then it began to spin swiftly. Knowing what its teammate was attempting, Sunny spun down to Dusky's level and waited. Clouds of dust billowed around Dusky and were soon high enough to reach the dragons flying above.
Before Saphira and Glaedr knew it was coming, a great cloud of dust surrounded them, impairing their vision. The small dust specs bit at their unprotected eyes, and they began to cough as they breathed in the tiny particles. They tried to keep their eyes open to see the goings on, but their eyes couldn't handle the driving sand.
As Glaedr's eyes began to water, he began to thrash his head angrily, growling as he could do nothing to stop the particles. He may not have been able to see, but he knew there had to be some kind of action he could take.
Something to drive the sand away.
He steadied his head, closed his eyes, and began thrashing all four wings simultaneously.
As the great gusts billowed from Glaedr's wings, Sarah was amazed to find that the dragon was copying Dusky's move. What a perfect time to learn Whirlwind.
As Glaedr's gusts began to overpower Dusky's, Sunny's eyes flashed and it spun its way through the disappearing sand. While the cloud was still remotely available, it knew it had to use the camouflage to its advantage.
Saphira coughed and shook her head as she attempted to get the sand out of her watering eyes. Glaedr was ridding them of the cloud just to her right, but she still had no visual of the enemies' location. Instead, she let herself be satisfied that her tears had finally cleared her vision and the cloud of dust was almost gone.
Before the cloud had completely disappeared, Saphira was caught off guard as Sunny came flying out of the dust and slammed into her chest. She let out something between a whimper of surprise and a snarl of anger. The disc continued to push on her plated chest, attempting to drive her away from her companion.
In retaliation, Saphira thrust her head angrily, then slashed the Solrock viciously with a Dragon Claw, sending it away like a spinning disc. As it lost momentum, she locked her wings and followed it. Once she reached it she placed both front paws on it and pushed it toward the ground.
Within a few seconds, Saphira had Sunny pinned to the ground, holding it in place with both paws, neck arched and snarling loudly like a predator that just cornered its prey.
She opened her mouth and gathered molten flame in attempt to finish off this part of the battle.
Sunny began to glow.
Before Saphira could even guess what was happening, Sunny performed Explosion, sending a great white light across the arena. As it fainted, Saphira was thrown back mercilessly, snarling in panic and pain, as she could do nothing to stop herself from being thrown across the arena.
Seconds later, the Salamence was slammed into the challenger wall of the arena. The impact actually left a crack in the stone. She fell to the floor and made no move to get up.
"Saphira!" Sarah shouted. Her stomach did a loop as she ran to her dragon.
Skidding to a stop, Sarah immediately knelt down by the dragon's neck and looked at her face. Scrapes were visible across her cheeks, obviously caused by the impact against the wall. Her eyes remained shut.
Sarah gently touched the dragon's neck. Saphira's eye twitched with a slight grimace, so Sarah removed her hand. She would need a lot of healing, but she would be ok. Nevertheless, that was the worst damage Sarah had seen any attack do in a battle. It was almost frightening.
"Sunny and Saphira are unable to battle!" the judge called across the arena.
Sarah didn't know if the dragon could hear her, but said, "Good job Saphira."
The dragon's lip twitched as she made a very faint humming sound. A smile tugged at the corner of Sarah's lips.
Sarah stood up and retook her place in the challenger's circle, trying to keep her mind off her fallen pokemon. It was part of battling and she needed to focus on this one until it was over.
Seeing as Sunny had already been returned to it's pokeball and the dust clouds had been cleared, Glaedr and Dusky had taken places on the arena floor, staring each other down. Glaedr's neck was bent low, a flash in his eyes and his lip curled dangerously as he snarled.
Sarah felt a surge of confidence return. Hurting Saphira was a big mistake on Tate and Liza's part. Now they'd have to deal with a raged Glaedr.
Glaedr stared down the enemy, not even bothering to cease his deep snarls. He decided not to look back, knowing Saphira lay somewhere behind him. Even thought he knew her injuries were curable, seeing her take that much damage angered him. He wasn't just winning this battle for Sarah anymore. Now, it was for Saphira too.
Tate and Liza recovered quickly from the loss and clasped each other's hands once again, smiling as if it never happened. After an obnoxious giggle, Tate shouted, "Dusky, Flash!"
Dusky groaned, then let off a blinding light that engulfed the entire arena. Glaedr roared and closed his eyes as he protected them with one of his wings. Sarah had to close her eyes and cover them with her arm. The only ones who seemed to be unaffected were the twins; she could hear them giggling like it was a game.
"Double-Edge!"
The light disappeared, but the intensity left everyone temporarily blinded. Therefore, Glaedr didn't see as Dusky threw himself like a boulder right into the dragon's chest. He growled in surprise as he was pushed back by the impact. He dugs his claws into the arena floor in an attempt to halt the attack, leaving great gashes in the earth. He blinked as many times as possible, trying desperately to regain his eyesight. If he wanted to finish this battle, he needed to see.
Though the progress was slowed, Dusky strength was larger than Glaedr measured. No matter how he resisted, he continued to slide backwards, never coming to a complete stop. A growl bubbled deeply in his chest. The failure angered him, nearly as much as Saphira fainting. The only way to stop it would be by force. And finish the battle quickly.
Eyesight almost fully returned, Glaedr swung his neck like a whip and thrashed Dusky as hard as he could. It was enough to send the pokemon flying backwards. As the disc flew off, Glaedr wasted no time in charging, aiming as best he could, and firing a Solarbeam. He did not know if his aim was true, as he continued to blink the sight back into his eyes. He just held the attack as long as he could.
Once his energy was spent, Glaedr stopped the beam and lowered his head for breath, keeping his eyes closed. After a moment, he opened them again to see the fruits of his labor. Now that he could see, he could see a defeated pokemon in his line of vision.
"Dusky is unable to battle! The winner is Glaedr, and the victory goes to Sarah!"
Glaedr swung his head and hissed like a large snake, as if to say 'HA!' No giant rock could hold him steady. He held his head high and closed his mouth as he puffed air forcefully through his nostrils, nodding roughly as if to say he had put the enemy in its place.
Tate and Liza stared at the fallen pokemon, mouths agape and expressions identically shocked.
All Sarah could do was grin. How unfortunate that the twins had to deal with Glaedr when he was mad.
Head held high, Glaedr turned from the arena and strutted tranquilly toward the spot Saphira lay, giving Sarah a nod in the process. Sarah returned the gesture and headed to the middle of the arena as Glaedr carefully helped Saphira to her feet.
Sarah stood patiently as she waited for the twins to approach. When both stood in front of her, their faces were the exact expression of admitted defeat, yet a hint of content, knowing that losing was part of being a trainer.
Not moving jointly for once, Tate slipped a hand up the massive sleeve of her kimono. A badge rested in her palm when her hand reappeared.
"We present you with this badge," she said, stretching her hand out for Sarah to take. Sarah accepted, excitement rising in her chest as a smile tugged at her lips.
"Thanks," she said, examining the badge's shape. The pink heart was no less than expected of a pair of Gym Leaders such as these two.
The twins clasped their hands under their large sleeves and politely half bowed before departing.
Sarah closed her hand around the badge, watching the two leave before turning to her pokemon.
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Luckily, no serious injuries were found when Sarah brought her pokemon to the Pokemon Center. Glaedr just needed a refresh, and all of Saphira's injuries were healed as if they never happened, even the scratches on her cheek. Altogether, she was glad to see that no harm was done, and they were one badge closer to the Pokemon League.
"Which city has the next badge?" William asked as he sat by Ignitus on the floor. The Charizard was holding the new heart-shaped badge between two claws and holding it up by his face, looking at William with batting eyelashes as if to say, 'Do you love me?' William suppressed a gag at the icky love joke.
Sarah checked her Pokenav for the next city. She knew which city, she just didn't know its location.
"Sootopolis," she said as she checked the area surrounding the city. It looked as if it rested in a large crater surrounded by the ocean. The inside was made up of bits of land where the buildings sat, then the rest was covered in water. The top was open to the sky, which would be their way in.
"Cool," William said, pushing Ignitus's face away as the large pokemon attempted to kiss him with smoochy lips. Rascal cocked his head at the display, tail wagging curiously. "When can we go?"
Sarah examined the city a bit more. From the look of it, the small bits of land were connected by bridges and most were covered in buildings. There was no vacant island or area visible for camping. Despite the map's surprisingly accurate detail, she didn't think they'd know for sure until they got there.
However, she was in no rush. After all, the final badge awaited them there, and Sarah could hardly believe that they had come this far already. As excited as she was, she knew they'd have to be prepared if they were going to win.
"Well," Sarah said as she put the Pokenav away, "It shouldn't take that long to get there, but I think we should wait until tomorrow. We might as well chill a bit before we get settled in the town with the last badge."
William made a face and fanned the air in front of him as if to rid himself of a pest as Ignitus blew an air kiss in his direction. "Sounds good."
'I agree,' Saphira said as she lay by Sarah's chair. Glaedr nodded in agreement. Rascal jumped onto Ignitus's lap and started licking his face as he understood what point the dragon was getting to in his game.
Sarah smiled. "Well, let's just have fun for today then," she said.
After a bit of exploring, dinner, and a quick training session, the group settled for bed around a fire just outside of town.
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"Target five hundred yards ahead, sir," a Team Aqua Grunt announced, tilting the submarine's wheel slightly to the right.
Archie tapped the arm rest of his chair silently, listening with his interest only on the current situation. "Ready lightning cannon."
"Yes sir," a second grunt said in the next chair over. Small beeps filled the small command room as he typed the override code into the computer. As the screen before him flashed 'Access Granted,' a large gun appeared from a compartment outside the ship, pointing straight ahead of the submarine and toward their target; a large rock formation just under the surface of the ocean.
"Three hundred feet away," the first grunt announced.
Acting as serenely as one would during a typical day at the beach with no regard to their position underwater, Archie said, "Charge cannon."
With a press of a button, the cannon began to rumble. A bar on the screen increased with a high-pitched sound until it was fully charged.
"One hundred feet," the first grunt said.
Archie grinned.
"Fire."
After another button press, a great bolt of energy burst out of the tip of the cannon, blowing one side of the rock formation to nothingness. The debris and bubbles impaired all visual of what lay behind it. After a few seconds, it cleared.
A great Pokemon, three times larger than the submarine, peeked through the hole at its attackers.
One of the grunts gasped. "Kyogre!"
"Second fire, now," Archie commanded. The grunt regained his composure and fired the cannon again. This time, the blast struck Kyogre in the side. The great sea Pokemon cried out, rumbling the machine and the water around it. The attack continued until Archie commanded them to stop.
Once the beam ceased, Kyogre became quiet and lost consciousness.
"Target is knocked out," the second grunt said.
Archie grinned. "Depart to the hideout." He leaned back in his chair, satisfied with their venture as they pulled away. Despite the fact that the first Master Ball had not been retrieved and the first prize, Kyogre, could not be captured, the second one awaited the real prize.
"Now that the beast has been disrupted, the grand prize will appear."
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He slithered lazily through the air, giving little attention to the space surrounding him. He blinked a massive eye and examined the stars around him. They all twinkled brightly, giving the place a feeling of beauty and of peace. Even though it was known as empty space, he called it his home. It was the place he lived. The place he stayed as a content guardian. A guardian over the legendaries that lived on the planet to his right.
Rayquaza steadied himself until he was merely floating in space. He listened to the connection inside his mind, the one that held the bonds to each pokemon he guarded. He concentrated, feeling for any disruption that may have plagued one of the legendaries. Each tie felt strong, therefore telling him that all was well. He began to close the tie.
Before he could, he felt a painful tug on one of the connections. He immediately buried his mind into it, feeling the contact and listening for the connection. It was from the sea beast, Kyogre.
The great dragon, growled and winced, curling up like a striking snake as he felt the sea beast's pain. Something was attacking it. Something had disrupted its peace. It sent him a brief message of its attack and the appearance of the attacker. It cried out for help. Then the connection failed.
Rayquaza attempted to reconnect himself with the creature, but there was no response. His only relief was found in the fact that the tie was no severed, therefore signifying that the pokemon was alive. But the tie was weak. The pokemon was attacked.
Brows furrowing angrily, the great dragon felt a surge of fury build in his being. He released it through a great roar that echoed even in empty space. As guardian, he had to solve this problem. He had to protect the pokemon.
Roar ceased but fury ever building, Rayquaza took off full speed toward the pokemon's home planet.
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Something woke Saphira in the middle of the night. Her eyes cracked open, almost of their own accord. She peeked around the campsite to find everyone else sound asleep. No sounds other than the crackling of the fire.
But something inside of her brought her to her feet. She felt something was wrong. Her instincts, no doubt. They led her away From camp and to an area just outside the campsite. Her eyes looked to the stars, although she didn't know why. The uneasiness in her chest was keeping her sight toward the sky. Something wasn't right. But she didn't know what.
Another presence brought her out of her trance. As she looked to her right, she found Glaedr approaching, eyes locked onto hers. He stood next to her, and they stared for a few moments.
'Do you feel it?' she asked in a whisper.
Glaedr nodded, his eyes full of concern for the feeling they both shared. 'Yes.'
'Me too.'
They both turned their heads as they heard the third voice. Ignitus walked up to them, fiddling with his thumbs nervously. His pupils were dilated slightly with fear, and he was trembling. The feeling was harder for him to cope with than the other two.
Now standing in a huddle, they each studied each other as their instincts continued to buzz with concern. It was a connection to something going on, and a connection with each other. But none of them knew what it was. They just reacted upon it, yet knew nothing of the goings on. And if they didn't know what was causing it, what would they do?
Just then, another feeling cast itself over Saphira, turning her head automatically back to the campsite. Her concern ever grew, and this time, she knew what connection it was.
Without saying anything, she took off full speed toward the camp, her trainer the only thing on her mind. The other two followed right after her.
Upon reaching the camp, Saphira found Sarah in a state of panic. Although she was still asleep, she was rolling every which way, mumbling to herself uncontrollably.
Saphira ran the rest of the way over, skidding to a stop by her trainer. Nudging her cheek gently but forcefully, she said, 'Sarah! Wake up!'
Sarah's eyes shot open and she suppressed a scream. She scrambled into a sitting position, breathing heavily. She looked around herself quickly, then looked at Saphira.
"The dream," she breathed, a drop of cold sweat traveling down her cheek. "The snake… it killed me." She trembled.
Saphira felt a pang erupt in her chest. Whatever connection she felt that had woken her before disappeared and her concern was now focused on Sarah. Was this a coincidence? Did these things connect with one another? What did it all mean?
Concerned for her trainer's welfare, Saphira nudged Sarah's cheek and said softly, 'Go back to sleep. It was just a dream.'
Sarah wanted to argue, but her thrashing left her exhausted. She fell back to her pillow and went back to sleep.
Each dragon shared a glance. One looked horrified, one looked worried, one looked both. None of them knew what was happening. What could be happening?
With an unspoken consent, each dragon lay back in their sleeping positions for sleep. Ignitus checked on William to be sure he hadn't been woken up. Saphira lay even closer to Sarah, almost hoping to provide a protective tent from her dreams. Her uncertainty left a feeling in her chest that she couldn't ignore. Her trainer was having nightmares and she felt something was wrong. Yet she could do nothing about it.
Would she figure it out, or would something happen before she could?
- - - - -
With a gasp, she sat up abruptly in bed, a cold sweat covering her body. She breathed heavily and looked around the dark surroundings of her room. Her chest still held a pang of fear. She felt the surge. She knew it happened. Something was wrong.
And she knew what it was.
Casting her gaze to her dresser, she let her eyes rest on the glass orb that lay under a cloth.
She sighed, shaking her head. "The time has come."
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Interested? Have it figured out yet? The story is going coming to an end! I don't know how many more chapters, but not many. Please review!