I did it! I finally finished the chapter. Sorry it takes so long to update. Even on Mardi Gras break I have lots of school work to do. I hope you all enjoy.
May, Brendan, and Wally ran through the doors of the Oceanic Museum with the man who'd run into the café. Just as he said, Team Magma grunts were everywhere and their Pokémon were destroying everything. A group of people, presumably others who worked at the museum, were tied up in a corner. A familiar looking Team Magma grunt was staring directly at the group.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't our annoying little group of saboteurs." Tabitha said. "I'm really getting sick of you heathens disturbing our plans. No matter, we'll kill you all here and now! Torkoal, use Overheat!" His Torkoal blasted a large wave of fire at the trio.
"Kip, use Muddy Water!"
"Mari, use Hydro Pump!"
"Linea, use Water Pulse!" All three water attacks were enough to destroy the powerful fire-type move.
"Lair, use Rock Tomb! Brava, use Sand Tomb!" Wally commanded. Lair's first attack prevented Torkoal from moving and Brava's attack immobilized him further in a sand pit.
"Kip, Water Pulse!" Brendan called out.
"Linea, you too!" May added. The two attacks knocked out Torkoal instantly.
"Damn you!" Tabitha yelled. "Everyone attack!" The other grunts sent out all of their Pokémon to defeat the three trainers.
"Plus, Minus, use Thunderbolt and Thunder!"
"Trike, use Discharge!"
"Kirli, use Psychic!" Plus and Minus were able to defeat the many of Golbat that were in the air. Trike's attack hit every Pokémon the grunts sent out, but didn't knock them out. Kirli, blasted all of the Pokémon that she could with her Psychic-type move. Unfortunately, the Houndoom and Mightyena were unaffected by the attack.
"Mightyena, Dark Pulse!"
"Houndoom, Flamethrower!" The grunts commanded their large groups of Pokémon.
"Grow and Tropi, use Solarbeam to counter the Dark Pulse!" Wally commanded.
"Yena, Take Down those Houndoom!" May yelled.
"Zang, use Crush Claw to help Yena!" Brendan told the Zangoose. Yena dodged the Flamethrower attacks and was able to knock out a few of the Houndoom. Zang's powerful claws were enough to take out the rest. Grow and Tropi's Solarbeam collided with the Dark Pulse and caused an explosion. When the smoke cleared, a Mightyena was prepared to use Fire Fang on Grow.
"Grow look out!" Wally yelled. Grow, extended the leaves on her arms and Leaf Bladed the Mightyena to the neck, defeating it. After the Mightyena fell, Grow began to glow.
"I think Grow is evolving." Wally said happily.
When the glowing stopped, Grown had grown to a larger size. She had a red belt-like band on her waist. She had six yellow seeds on her back and a palm-tree-branch-like tail. Her arms now had two sharp, elongated leaves and three claws on each. May scanned the new Pokémon in front of her with her Pokédex.
"Sceptile, the Forest Pokémon. Sceptile has seeds growing on its back. They are said to be bursting with nutrients that revitalize trees. This Pokémon raises the trees in a forest with loving care."
"Grow evolved into Sceptile!" Wally shouted.
"This is great! Now all of our starter Pokémon are fully evolved." May cheered.
"Nice." Brendan said before returning his attention to Team Magma. "Now Tail, use Sky Attack!"
"Kenni, use Blaze Kick!"
"Grow, use Screech!" Grow's loud Screech attack immobilized all of Team Magma's Pokémon and lowered their defense. Tail's Sky Attack and Kenni's Blaze Kick was enough to defeat them.
"Do you really think that is all that we have?!" Tabitha shouted, as he and more grunts sent out more Pokémon. In an instant, Zangoose, Camerupt, Aggron, Rhyhorn, and Claydol appeared in front of the group's Pokémon. The grunts immediately called out their attacks.
"Zangoose, use Close Combat!"
"Camreupt, use Fire Blast!"
"Aggron, use Iron Head!"
"Ryhorn, use Rock Blast!"
"Claydol, use Earth Power!" All of the attack collided with the trio's Pokémon and they were blasted into the wall behind their trainers.
"Oh no." May said putting her hands over her mouth in shock.
"Everyone." Wally said in a worried tone.
"Are they alright?" Brendan asked. As the smoke cleared, all of the trainers' Pokémon stumbled and struggled to stand up. They were able to push themselves up to keep fighting.
"You're going to pay for that!" May yelled. "Kenni, use Overheat! Linea, use Slash! Yena, use Sucker Punch! Plus and Minus, use Thunderbolt and Thunder! Mawi, use Flash Cannon!"
"Kip, use Mud Bomb! Tail, use Pluck! Trike, use Flamethrower! Zang, use Crush Claw!" Brendan commanded.
"Grow, use Solarbeam! Kirli, use Psychic! Mari, use Hydro Pump! Lair, use Metal Claw! Brava, use Hyper Beam! Tropi, use Gust!" Wally yelled. The combined attacks of the group's Pokémon not only defeated the grunt's, it hurled them into the grunts and knocked them all unconscious.
"We did it." May said. "They're all down."
"I'll untie the workers." Brendan said. He ran over and had Zang cut the rope with his claws. As he did that, Wally noticed a strange object on the ground next to Tabitha. He picked it up and put it in his bag without a word.
"Oh thank you so much. You children are amazing." One woman said.
"Even though you destroyed most of our museum in your battle." A man said, slightly upset.
"Yeah, we're really sorry about that." Wally said quietly.
"What happened here?" Brendan asked. "Why did Team Magma come here?"
"Perhaps I can explain." A middle aged man wearing glasses said.
"Who are you?" May asked.
"I am Captain Stern. Those people came to kidnap me so they could steal my Submarine Explorer 1." Captain Stern said.
"What's the Submarine Explorer 1?" Brendan asked.
"A special invention I created to explore the Seafloor Cavern. Team Magma wanted to use it to travel underwater and reach the Seafloor Cavern."
"Why would they want to do that? I thought it was Team Aqua who was obsessed with water." May whispered to Brendan and Wally.
"That man giving orders mentioned something about returning to a hideout in Mt. Pyre." A woman worker commented.
"Mt. Pyre? Isn't that near the Jagged Path in Lavaridge Town?" Wally asked.
"Yes it is." Captain Stern replied.
"Then that is where we need to go." May said.
"Well, you children seem to know what you're doing so go ahead." The woman said.
"And thank you for what you've done. As repayment, anytime you need to travel to Lilycove City, you can travel on our S.S. Tidal." Captain Stern said. May immediately paused.
"Did you say Lilycove City?"
"Yes."
"That's where Master Rank Contests are held, right?" she asked.
"Yes they are. In fact I think there is one later on today." The woman said. May sighed. She looked at Brendan and Wally. Before May could said anything, Brendan began speaking.
"Okay Wally, it's just going to be you and me. May you've got a contest to win. We'll meet you there as soon as we're done." He said smiling. May ran over and hugged them both.
"Do you really mean it?" she asked.
"Of course. We can handle Team Magma." Wally said.
"Oh thank you boys." May said. All of May's Pokémon, except Mawi of course, were thrilled to be entering their final contest.
"Can we take Mawi with us?" Brendan asked.
"Huh. Oh sure." May said tossing over Mawi's Poké Ball. Everyone then went outside. May and the woman went to the S.S. Tidal while Brendan and Wally climbed on top of Tropi and Brava respectively.
"See you in a while May." Brendan said.
"Sure thing." She replied. The Pokémon took off into the air while the boat headed to Lilycove.
Brendan and Wally arrived in Lavaridge Town and were now on the Jagged Path.
"I wonder where that hideout could be." Brendan said.
"Well, I doubt that it would be easy to find a hideout." Wally said. Brendan sweatdropped.
"Yeah, whatever." He replied bitterly. "I just wish there was one little sign." Suddenly, Wally's bag began to glow.
"Huh? What's going on?" Wally opened is bag and pulled out the strange object he'd found at the museum. It glowed even brighter and the ground began to shake.
"What's happening?" Brendan asked. The large rock behind them began glowing as well and a large opening soon appeared. "Where did you get that, Wally?"
"I found it on the floor at the museum. I think it fell out of Tabitha's clothes."
"So this must be the hideout. Let's get in there quickly." Brendan said. He released Kip from his Poké Ball while Wally sent out Grow. They ran through several rooms and floors of the heated cave. As they got further to the back, they began to hear loud growls.
"I don't like the sound of that." Wally said.
"Hurry." Brendan said. The boys ran further through the cave. Once they reached the back room, they saw a very large red Pokémon with a man standing in front of it.
"It's Maxie!" Wally whispered.
"It is now time to complete my plan." Maxie said. He took a small blue sphere out of his jacket. "Groudon... Nothing could awaken you from your sleep bathed in magma... This Blue Orb is what you sought. Wasn't it? I have brought you the Blue Orb. Let its shine awaken you! And show me... Show me the full extent of your power!" The Blue Orb glowed brightly. Groudon soon awakened and roared loudly.
"It's awake." Brendan said. Groudon quickly dove into the magma where it stood. Maxie stood in utter shock.
"Groudon! What's wrong? Wasn't the Blue Orb the key? Groudon! Where have you gone..." Maxie immediately turned around and saw Brendan and Wally hiding. "Oh, so it was you? I've seen you poking around uninvited here and there... I get it now! You must have pulled a cheap stunt!" Maxie then looked at the item in Wally's hand. "Where did you get the Magma Emblem?"
"So that's what this is." Wally said.
"You stole this object from my men. And I thought you were all a bunch of good samaritans." Maxie said. "Well now I see otherwise. Attack now!" He said as he threw three Poké Balls. A Mightyena, Crobat, and Camerupt landed in front of him.
"Mawi, come out." Brendan opened Mawi's Poké Ball and released her into the battle.
"Mightyena, use Take Down! Crobat, use Air Cutter! Camerupt, use Rock Slide!" Mightyena ran towards Mawi and knocked her away. Crobat's Air Cutter sliced into Grow and dealt severe damage. Camerupt's Rock Slide hit both Mawi and Kip.
"Kip, use Muddy Water on the Camerupt! Mawi, use Ice Fang on Crobat!"
"Grow, use Leaf Blade on Mightyena!" Wally commanded. Kip's Muddy Water was enough to knock out Camerupt. Mawi's Ice Fang did some damage to Crobat, but it was still able to fight. Mightyena dodged the Leaf Blade completely.
"That Mightyena is strong." Brendan said. "Kip, use Rock Smash!"
"Grow, use Energy Ball on Mightyena!"
"Mightyena, use Scary Face!" Maxie commanded. Mightyena's intimidating attack caused Kip and Grow to stop in their tracks. "Now, use Swagger!" Mightyena's body glowed dark red and it stared at Kip and Grow. Both of them became confused.
"Damn it!" Brendan yelled. "Mawi, use Iron Head!" Mawi charged towards Mightyena and head butted him.
"Crobat, Confuse Ray!" The Crobat's attack confused Mawi as well.
"Now they're all confused!" Wally said. "What do we do?" Before Brendan could make a suggestion, Mawi used Ice Fang on Crobat and knocked him out.
"What the hell?!" Maxi yelled.
"Mawi, was able to attack even while confused." Wally said.
"Maybe the others can too. Kip use Ice Punch!" Kip was able to execute his attack, but Mightyena dodged again. Unfortunately, he landed in front of Grow, who nailed him with a Leaf Blade. Maxie stood in awe. He recalled all of his Pokémon.
"What makes you so adept at handling Pokémon?" he said. He then turned back to the Magma pool where Groudon once stood. "There has to be some reason why Groudon fled... That's what you're trying to say, aren't you? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Humph... You think I didn't know that? With Groudon gone, there is no longer any need for this blasted volcano. I am going after Groudon, so this is where we part!" Maxie called out his Houndoom and had it use Smokescreen. Brendan immediately sent out Tail.
"Tail, blow away the smoke with your wings!" Tail did as instructed. Once the smoke cleared, Maxie was gone. "You okay Wally?"
"Yeah, the smoke didn't even get near me thanks to you." He replied.
"Alright, now let's get out of here." Brendan said.
The boys walked out of the cave to see that it had gotten darker outside.
"It's getting late." Wally said.
"Yeah, we should stay at a Pokémon Center for the night and then fly to Lilycove City in the morning."
"Good idea." He replied. Tail flew the boys to the center for them to prepare for the next day.
Trying to keep of the average length of chapters. I wouldn't want to update every few months with short chapters. I don't know if I'll be able to update again this week, but I'll try.
I'm also going to try to speed up the actions of the characters so the main story will progress faster. I did so in this chapter by having the Oceanic Museum battle and the Groudon scene/Maxie battle all in this one chapter. I'll try to do this in all upcomming chapters so I can finish the sstory as soon as possible; my goal is in June.