Author's Notes: Been a bit distracted by D/P news lately. Anyway, I don't think anyone will be expecting what happens in this chapter. Also, was going to make this chapter include both Alex and May but I realized how long that'd be considering what I had planned for May was actually even longer than what I had planned for Alex, so this will be the first split chapter in a while.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Emerald
Chapter Nineteen (A):
Big Battle, Big Upset
"Norman uses normal type pokemon..." Alex thought as he picked his hat up off the bed in his hotel room. It was the next day, and Alex was mentally preparing himself for his upcoming battle with a gym leader as usual.
"Facade is his signature attack...but that doesn't help me much...his pokemon could still throw just about anything at me." Alex grabbed his belt off the bed, which had six pokeballs clipped to it containing his pokemon as well as his pokenav. He strapped the belt around his waist.
"Normal types...they seem to be able to do just about everything. The only reason you'd want to use another type of pokemon is because they do it better. Doesn't help any that Norman is a skilled battler and has a Slaking. If it wasn't so lazy, Slaking could probably be the most powerful pokemon known." Alex smirked slightly at that last thought as he sat down on his bed and pulled on his shoes.
"Or at least...that most people would know of...I can think of at least two that make Slaking look like a wimp...but they won't see the light of day if I have anything to say about it." Alex tied his shoes, then slung his backpack on his back.
"Wonder who's better? May or her father?" Alex wondered. "Its obvious where her battling skills come from...but I wonder if its possible she's gotten better than her father? Guess I'd find out if she was battling him first. Thats a battle I wouldn't mind seeing though."
Alex got up off his bed and left the hotel room, closing the door behind him. He went down a hallway and then down a flight of stairs into the hotel lobby. He checked out at the front desk and paid for his room, then left the hotel. Once outside, Alex squinted against the morning sun.
"Guess I should get something to eat first. No point battling on an empty stomach..." Alex looked up and down the relatively empty streets of Petalburg, then headed down the street to to a small coffee shop. Despite the streets being empty, the coffee shop was quite packed and Alex had to wait in line for a while.
When Alex finally made it to the front of the line, he ordered a toasted bagel and a large tea. The cashier gave Alex an odd look when he asked for tea, finding it odd that someone his age would drink tea, but didn't say a thing. Alex paid for his food, then sat down at a table near the windows. As he ate his bagel and drank his tea, he further contemplated his battle strategy.
"Golem and Skarmory are practically a given...just as long as Skarmory actually waits for me to tell it what to do this time. Azumarill should be able to hold its own as well." Alex looked out the window as he sipped his tea. Wasn't really much to see though, aside from people opening up their various businesses for the day. The Petalburg Gym would just be opening as well.
"Alakazam is easily my strongest pokemon right now, and her psychic attacks should be able to inflict some serious pain to Norman's pokemon. His Slaking still worries me though...one good hit from that thing will send just about any of my pokemon reeling. I'll really have to be careful around it."
As Alex stared out the window, he noticed a newspaper rack nearby. The first newspaper visible had a picture of some kind of body of water, with what seemed like a blurred image of a pokemon standing on the water. Underneath the picture was the heading 'Unknown Pokemon Seen Running Across Water Near Mauville!'.
Alex picked up the paper and took a closer look at the picture. Whatever the mystery pokemon was, was almost completely blurred, and looked as though it was running across the water. Alex couldn't make out too many details. It seemed to be yellow in color, with purple, black, and gray blurred in. It had a tail and seemed to be running on four legs. Alex couldn't think of any pokemon that would match it. He looked below the picture to read the article.
"An unknown pokemon was seen running across the water near the cycling road on Route 110, south of Mauville. The photograph, featured above, was taken by a pokemon photographer who was taking pictures of pokemon in the area when he saw the mysterious pokemon. The pokemon he saw was described as being a four legged beast with yellow fur, black markings, and what seemed like a purple mane on its back. The man said the pokemon seemed to be at least six feet tall." Alex looked back at the photo, then at the paper's date. It was yesterday's paper, which meant the pokemon sighting was the day before he and May passed through the area.
"What a load..." Alex muttered. "That picture could easily be a fake, and I wouldn't put it past the media to fake an unknown pokemon sighting to sell newspapers or get ratings." Alex folded up the newspaper and put it back in the rack.
"I don't doubt that there's still unknown pokemon in this world, maybe even in Hoenn, but that picture isn't overly convincing." Alex finished the rest of his tea, then looked at his watch.
"Well, time to get this over with...and then I can figure out what to do while I'm waiting for May. Maybe train my pokemon a bit or something. I should probably make a list of what to stock up on before heading towards Fortree." Alex left his plate at the table and threw his empty cup into the trash on his way out of the coffee shop, then headed for the gym once he got outside.
It wasn't long before Alex was standing outside the large building that was the Petalburg Gym, where May's dad was the gym leader. Alex looked up at the large sign above the gym door, then looked straight ahead at the door itself.
"Well...this is it." Alex said to himself.
"Feels kinda odd...first time I meet a friend's dad...and I have to battle him for a badge. Not turning back now though." Alex pushed the door open and entered the pokemon gym. Immediately upon entering the gym, he found a dojo-like battlefield stretched out before him. What seemed to be a wooden floor, with white markings to signify the battlefield. At the other side of the battlefield stood May's father, Norman Maple.
"Welcome, challenger, to the Petalburg Gym." Norman stated from the other side of the room.
"I am Norman, leader of this gym. I believe in balance being the key to victory, which is why I chose normal type pokemon."
"I'm Alex, from Rustboro." Alex said back to him.
"Alex? My daughter asked me if I battled someone named Alex yesterday..." Norman said thoughtfully.
"Heh...yeah...I kinda know her..." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"And I would have battled him yesterday if it wasn't for Dirk..." He then thought. "Though come to think about it, it probably wouldn't have been fair to Norman to show up just before closing time anyway."
"Then she'll no doubt want to know how this battle goes..." Norman said, a smirk forming on his lips as he reached for a pokeball attached to his belt.
"Wouldn't doubt it..." Alex replied, reaching for a pokeball as well. The two trainers simultaneously held up a pokeball and released their respective pokemon.
"Go, Spinda!"
"Golem, lets go!" A red beam fired out from each of their pokeballs and their pokemon appeared on their respective sides of the field. Alex's fully evolved rock pokemon Golem appeared in front of him, while a small brown and white teddy bear appeared on Norman's side of the field.
"Golem, start off with Rock Throw!" Alex's Golem thrust one of its arms forward, sending a shower of rocks towards Norman's Spinda.
"Spinda, deflect those rocks with Psybeam!" Spinda fired twin beams of psychic energy from its eyes, which formed into one beam in front of its face. Spinda struck each of the rocks with its Psybeam before they could reach it, turning them into dust.
"Now, use Hypnosis!" The psychic beams disappeared as Spinda stopped its attack. Its swirly eyes then seemed to be spinning as it looked Alex's Golem directly in the eyes, preparing to use its Hypnosis attack.
"Use Rollout, Golem!" Golem curled up into a ball, averting its gaze from Spinda in the process, then rolled towards Spinda who was still using its Hypnosis attack. The pokemon was knocked to the side as Golem rolled into it, then turned to come around and hit Spinda again.
"Spinda, get back up and get ready with an Ice Punch!" Norman's Spinda hopped back up on its feet, and ice began to gather around Spinda's hand as Golem rolled towards it again. Spinda brought its fist forward, striking Golem with its Ice Punch attack as Golem collided with it. Both pokemon were knocked backwards, with Spinda hitting the wall of the gym while Golem rolled back several feet and uncurled from its Rollout attack. Spinda was still concious, but barely. Golem looked like Spinda's attack hurt it pretty badly, but it was still ready for more.
"Hit it with a Rock Throw, Golem!" Golem thrusted one of its arms towards Spinda, releasing a shower of rocks towards the pokemon. Spinda was still reeling from being slammed into the wall and was unable to avoid the attack. It was struck hard by the rocks Golem had flung at it, and was knocked out. Norman recalled his pokemon and placed its pokeball on his belt, grabbing another.
"Not bad...but we're just getting started." Norman commented, then brought up his pokeball and pressed the white button on the front of the pokeball, releasing the pokemon inside. A red beam shot out towards the battlefield, and a white furred pokemon with brown stripes and a long furry tail appeared. It was Norman's Linoone, evolved form of Zigzagoon. Linoone let out a growl as it appeared on the battlefield.
"Linoone...he'll probably be using Vigoroth next and save Slaking for last." Alex thought.
"Probably safe to assume that Linoone has some kind of attack that could hurt Golem...alright then. Golem, use Rollout!" Golem curled up into a ball, retracting its head, arms, and legs into its rock shell, then started rolling towards Linoone.
"If you thought that, then you should have switched pokemon." Norman replied.
"Linoone, knock it back with Iron Tail!" Linoone's tail seemed to take on a chrome-like appearance as it prepared to use its attack. It waited until Golem was in range before turning sharply, slamming its tail into the rock pokemon, hitting it back like a baseball. Golem was knocked out of its Rollout attack and popped out of its shell to try to get back up.
"Now hit it with Water Pulse!' Norman commanded. Linoone's tail went back to normal, and Linoone fired three blue rings from its mouth, which expanded as they closed in on the struggling Golem, who had managed to get back on its feet. There was a splash of water as each ring struck it, staggering backwards and wincing in pain. Golem fell over on its back as the last ring of water struck it, and was no longer able to fight. Alex recalled his pokemon.
"Golem really didn't stand a chance against that thing..." Alex said as he put Golem's pokeball back on his belt.
"You wouldn't be the first to try to challenge my gym with rock type pokemon, Alex." Norman said to him. "I made sure my pokemon would be ready to face whatever comes their way. There's more to being a good trainer than just type alignments and strong pokemon. Strategy and preparation are the key."
"And yet a good strategy is wasted without the right pokemon to carry it out." Alex replied, taking another pokeball off his belt.
"Alakazam, go!" Alex held up his pokeball and released his Alakazam. Alakazam appeared on Alex's side of the battlefield, holding its two silver spoons as usual.
"You seem to have quite the strong pokemon, Alex." Norman commented. "Alright, Linoone, use Headbutt!" Norman's Linoone lowered its head and charged straight towards Alakazam. Alakazam didn't move, and Alex didn't seem to issue it a command either. Then, just before Linoone hit Alakazam, Alakazam vanished and reappeared behind it. Norman smirked.
"You and your pokemon must have quite the bond for you to allow Alakazam to read your mind like that." Norman said to him.
"Yeah, you could say that." Alex replied. "Alakazam knows all my secrets, but we're both in this together all the way."
"Then your Alakazam must know what you think of my daughter." Norman replied.
"Yeah I...guess it would..." Alex said.
"Wait, what does he think I think of her?" Alex wondered. "I mean...we're friends...and I don't even think he knows I was travelling around Hoenn with her...what could he be thinking?"
"Linoone, use Headbutt again!" Linoone flipped in the air to turn around and face Alakazam and was soon charging towards the psychic pokemon headfirst. Alakazam stood, waiting for Alex's command.
"Or does he know I was travelling with her? Maybe she...err...Alakazam! Use Teleport!" Alex thought about what he wanted Alakazam to do, expecting Alakazam to read his mind as usual. Alakazam didn't move, however, and was knocked onto its back and sent sliding several feet as Linoone slammed headfirst into it with its Headbutt attack.
"What the...? What gives?" Alex wondered. "Wait a second! Thats why Norman brought that up...he was trying to throw me off so Alakazam couldn't read my mind!"
"Now, use Water Pulse!" Linoone shook its head, a little dizzy after its last attack, then turned to Alakazam who was now lying only a few feet from Norman and fired three blue rings towards it.
"Alakazam, Teleport!" Alakazam vanished, causing Linoone's attack to hit the floor instead, leaving a puddle of water. Alakazam then reappeared on the other side of the battlefield.
"Now, use Future Sight!" Alakazam held its spoons up in front of it and concentrated, its eyes glowing white briefly as it sent an attack a short distance into the future.
"Linoone, use Water Pulse again!" Linoone turned around to face Alakazam and fired another Water Pulse attack towards it.
"Counter it with Psybeam, Alakazam!" Alakazam crossed its two spoons in front of it and concentrated, releasing a beam of psychic energy just before Water Pulse could hit it. The blue rings from the attack each burst as the beam struck it, and the Psybeam attack continued on to strike Linoone. Linoone was knocked back by the attack, but got up and shook it off.
"Linoone, get in there and attack it with a Fury Swipes!" Linoone charged towards Alakazam again, this time intent on striking the psychic pokemon with its claws.
"Alakazam, use Teleport!" Alakazam vanished before Linoone even got close to it, and Linoone came to a stop.
"Linoone turn and use Water Pulse!" Linoone turned around and fired a Water Pulse attack into the empty battlefield, but then suddenly Alakazam appeared right in the path of Linoone's Water Pulse attack. Alakazam winced as each ring of water from the attack struck it, catching it completely off guard.
"Now use Iron Tail!" Linoone ran towards Alakazam, its tail taking on a chrome like appearance as it prepared to use its Iron Tail attack. It didn't get a chance to attack, though, as a white beam suddenly struck Linoone from above Alakazam, slamming the pokemon into the ground and causing its tail to revert to normal. Linoone had been struck by Alakazam's Future Sight attack.
"Perfect timing...now use Psybeam, Alakazam!" Alakazam shook off the effects of Linoone's Water Pulse attack, then held up its spoons again and fired an almost point-blank Psybeam attack towards Linoone, sending the fallen pokemon rolling and tumbling across the floor almost all the way to the edge of the battlefield. Norman's Linoone laid on the floor, unmoving and unconcious. Norman recalled his pokemon.
"Not bad, Alex. I have to admit I'm impressed with the skill and strength of your pokemon so far. You're easily one of the better trainers I've faced lately." Norman said as he placed his Linoone's pokeball on his belt.
"I like to think I'm a a cut above the average trainer." Alex replied.
"I'll give you that much." Norman took another pokeball off his belt.
"Vigoroth, go!" Norman released his pokemon from its pokeball, and Norman's Vigoroth, evolved form of Slakoth, appeared on the battlefield. Unlike Slakoth, its evolved form was far more energetic before it evolved again into the lazy Slaking. Alakazam was standing about in the middle of the battlefield, and turned to face its next challenger.
"Alakazam, start off with Future Sight!" Alakazam held its two spoons up and concentrated, its eyes glowing white as it sent a psychic attack into the near future.
"Vigoroth, use Encore!" Norman's Vigoroth started clapping its clawed hands together, causing a burst of applause to echo throughout the gym. The mind-affecting attack forced Alakazam to use the same attack over and over as if it was trying to please a non-existant audience that just gave it an encore. Unfortunately for Alakazam, it could only send one Future Sight attack off at a time, meaning continuous use of the attack was pointless.
"Encore? Not often I see anyone besides me use that attack..." Alex commented.
"It certainly has its uses..." Norman replied. "Now, attack it with Fury Swipes!" Vigoroth charged towards the helpless Alakazam and slashed it across the chest with one of its claws, knocking the psychic pokemon back while it was pointlessly trying to use its Future Sight again. Vigoroth kept slashing at Alakazam with its claws, pushing it back, until finally Alakazam collapsed from the continuous assault. Alex recalled Alakazam and placed its pokeball back on his belt.
"Well at least now I know to watch out for it, and Alakazam got off a Future Sight attack so that should help a bit. Azumarill, go!" Alex held up the pokeball and pressed the button to release Azumarill. A red beam shot out, and the aqua-rabbit pokemon appeared on the battlefield in front of Vigoroth.
"Azumarill, use Rollout!" Azumarill curled up into a ball and rolled towards Vigoroth, knocking it to the side as it rolled towards the other side of the battlefield, then started to turn around to come back for another attack.
"Vigoroth, get ready with a Dynamic Punch!" Vigoroth turned to face the approaching Azumarill and drew its fist back, building up power for its attack. Azumarill continued to roll towards Vigoroth, picking up speed, unaware of Vigoroth's attack. As Azumarill got closer, Vigoroth quickly brought its fist forward, slamming it into the rolling pokemon with an explosive impact and sending it crashing into the far wall of the gym. Azumarill was pretty dazed when it got back up and staggered back into the battlefield.
"Now hit it with another!" Vigoroth charged towards the dazed Azumarill, its fist raised back for another Dynamic Punch.
"Azumarill...spin and use Bubblebeam!" Azumarill started to spin around, not really having a clue as to what it was doing at the moment, and started spewing a steady stream of bubbles in all directions. Vigoroth staggered a few times when the bubbles hit it, but the attack didn't prevent it from getting past Azumarill and hitting it with another Dynamic Punch from behind, the force of the punch sending Azumarill flying to the other side of the battlefield and landing on the floor. It struggled to get back on its feet, and was still dazed from the attacks.
At that moment, Norman's Vigoroth was suddenly struck by Alakazam's Future Sight attack and was sent sprawling to the floor, completely unprepared for the attack. Vigoroth was able to get back up, but was in pretty bad shape after taking the Future Sight attack. Both pokemon were looking pretty bad, but Azumarill was the worse of the two.
"Azumarill, Ice Beam!"
"Vigoroth, Endure it and use Fury Swipes!" Azumarill turned around, looking a bit out of it as it tried to focus on where Vigoroth was, meanwhile Vigoroth used Endure and braced itself for the attack. Azumarill managed to snap out of its daze, and fired an Ice Beam towards Vigoroth. The beam struck it, encasing it in ice which then shattered around it. Vigoroth was able to hang in there courtesy of Endure, but just barely. It then charged towards Azumarill, ready to slash at it with its claws.
"Azumarill try to hit it with a Bubblebeam before it gets you!" Azumarill released a stream of bubbles towards Vigoroth, but Vigoroth managed to maintain its focus as it ran through the bubbles and slashed Azumarill across the chest, knocking the water pokemon out. Vigoroth then collapsed as well, having used up the last of its strength to deliver that final attack. Alex and Norman both recalled their fallen pokemon, then stared at each other from across the gym.
"Both our pokemon went down...guess that means it comes down to each of our final pokemon." Alex said.
"Not many trainers actually get this far." Norman replied. "Of course, I always save the best for last anyway. I congratulate you for making it this far, though."
"This is it..." Alex thought. "Whatever pokemon I send out has to go one on one with Norman's Slaking. No easy task. Numel definitely doesn't stand a chance. Grovyle could probably put up a good fight, but one good hit from Slaking will probably put him down for the count. Skarmory can take a beating and is a pretty fierce fighter, but...will he listen to me? Guess I'll just have to hope for the best."
Both trainers reached for another pokeball, each feeling the tension of the moment. After the fierce fighting their pokemon had gone through, it was all coming down to a one on one matchup. Neither trainer had another pokemon in reserve, as they were only allowed four each and three had fallen on both sides. Alex had already used Alakazam, Golem, and Azumarill and Norman had used Spinda, Linoone, and Vigoroth. It was all coming down to Alex's Skarmory against Norman's Slaking.
"Skarmory, GO!"
"Go, Slaking!" Alex and Norman simultaneously released their pokemon. On Norman's side of the field, his Slaking appeared lying on its side. It was a very large ape-like pokemon with brown fur and what looked like a white beard and hair. It was also a very lazy pokemon. On Alex's side of the field, the ever fearsome steel-bird pokemon Skarmory appeared, and it looked like it was more than ready for a fight.
"Skarmory, use Fury Attack!" Alex's Skarmory began flapping its wings to lift itself up off the ground, then flew towards Slaking to attack it. Alex couldn't tell if Skarmory was actually listening to him though or if it was just going to attack on its own again.
"Slaking, use Hyper Beam!" Norman's Slaking stood up and reared its head back. It then came forward and released a powerful energy beam attack towards Skarmory, pouring much of its energy into that single attack. The beam struck Skarmory and sent it flying backwards and slammed into the floor of the gym. Skarmory slid across the floor until it was resting near Alex. It didn't stay down for long, however, as it quickly hopped back up on its
feet, seemingly unphased by such a powerful attack.
Alex's Skarmory once again charged towards Norman's Slaking, this time running on foot. Slaking, meanwhile, sat back down on the floor of the gym with a thud, resting to regain the energy it spent using its attack. Skarmory was quickly on it and started pecking at it and scratching it with its clawed feet, causing minimal damage at best but Slaking was too exhausted to try to resist Skarmory's attacks. Alex let Skarmory continue its attacks, trying to gauge how long Skarmory had until Slaking was ready to attack again.
"Back off and use Swift now, Skarmory!" Alex commanded when he figured Slaking was just about ready to attack again. Skarmory didn't budge, however, and continued to furiously attack Slaking.
"You seem to be having some trouble controlling this one." Norman said. "Slaking, now! Use Thunder Punch!" Slaking's fist began to crackle with electricity as it prepared to attack again, and Skarmory was still too busy attacking it to notice. Slaking had no trouble concentrating through Skarmory's attacks, and brought its fist up to slam into Skarmory's underside, knocking it straight up into the ceiling and landing crumpled on the floor in front of Slaking. Skarmory seemed to be down for the count at first, but eventually it managed to get back up on its feet.
"That really looked painful..." Alex thought. "Another hit like that and Skarmory will be out for good...and Slaking is still ready for more, despite the beating Skarmory gave it. If Skarmory doesn't listen to me and get out of there..." Slaking gave a big yawn while Alex was thinking over the battle at hand, and Skarmory seemed to take this as an insult. It had a furious look in its eyes as it opened its mouth with a squawk and fired a barrage of stars at the resting pokemon, which Slaking pretty much shook off. Skarmory then went back to attacking it with a flurry if scratches and pecks, doing everything it can to take it down without any thought to its own safety.
"Skarmory fought better when it was trying to kill me and May than it is now!" Alex thought.
"Skarmory, you need to back off! Even you can't take another Thunder Punch from that thing! You have to fight it from a distance!" Skarmory actually paused its attack, as if it was considering what Alex had just said. It then actually jumped back away from Slaking a few feet and flapped its wings, lifting itself up off the floor of the gym. It opened its mouth and released another Swift attack towards Slaking, not wanting to let up on its attack any. The stars struck Slaking, causing minimal damage. Skarmory's attacks weren't doing much to it, but slowly and surely it was wearing it down.
"Good..." Alex thought. "It at least listened to me that much. I can't afford to lose to Norman...I'd never hear the end of it from May."
"Slaking, use Yawn!" Norman's Slaking let out another yawn, this time a white gas seemed to escape its mouth and floated towards Skarmory. Skarmory breathed in this gas, but nothing really seemed to happen. Slaking then went back to being lazy until it felt like attacking again, and Skarmory fired off another Swift attack. Slaking gave a grunt as the attack hit it, as Skarmory's attacks were actually starting to hurt it. Skarmory was preparing to release another attack when suddenly it fell asleep in midair and collapsed onto the gym floor.
"This isn't good..." Alex muttered. Skarmory was now lying on the floor asleep, unable to defend itself from Slaking's attacks, while Slaking was simply waiting until it actually felt like getting up and attacking. Alex was starting to feel like the odds were heavily stacked against him this time.
"Now finish it with another Thunder Punch, Slaking!" Norman commanded. Slaking finally got up off the floor. It gave a yawn and stretched before slowly walking towards Skarmory. It raised its fist back, crackling with electricty, then smashed Skarmory hard in the head with its Thunder Punch attack. Skarmory immediately woke from the shock of the impact, crying out loudly in pain before falling unconcious again, knocked out by Slaking's attack. Alex stared in shock for a moment, before hesitantly recalling his Skarmory. Norman recalled his Slaking as well. The battle was over, and Norman had won.
"Well you put up a good fight, Alex, and you've come closer to beating me than anyone has recently." Norman said to him.
"If your Skarmory was more willing to listen to you in battle you might have actually won."
"Can't win them all I guess..." Alex replied. "I'll just have to try harder next time."
"Thats the spirit." Norman said, smiling slightly.
"Well, guess I'll be seeing you again then..." Norman gave a nod, then Alex left the gym. Once Alex had left, Norman let out a sigh.
"That was pretty close..." He said to himself. "If he had properly trained his Skarmory, he would have likely won. Yet I can't help but wonder what was going through his mind when I mentioned May..."
"Looks like I won't have to worry about keeping myself preoccupied while I'm waiting for May." Alex said to himself, lying back in the sofa he was on. He immediately went to the Petalburg pokemon center after losing to Norman to heal his pokemon, and had already exchanged his Alakazam and Golem for Minun and Swellow using the center's PC. He had decided to give those two a break, and figured he should at least bring Swellow with him.
"Guess I'll spend the rest of the day training just outside Petalburg near the woods. I'm sure Azumarill and Swellow wouldn't mind being back home for a while." Alex looked over at the tv in the corner of the room while he waited. The tv was tuned in to a documentary about Wurmple. Something that Alex wasn't the least bit interested in. In fact, the only one that was interested in it was an all too familiar boy with a net. Alex was doing his best not to be noticed by him, but the boy seemed more interested in the documentary anyway.
Alex only had to wait a few more minutes for his pokemon to be healed, since only two of them actually had any injuries. He thanked the nurse that was operating the pokecenter, then left the center and headed west out of town. He continued west until he reached the beach, and decided to set up there, but far from the water. He dropped his backpack in the sand, then took all six of his pokeballs from his belt.
"Alright guys, training session! Lets go!" Alex released each of his pokemon one by one, clipping the empty pokeballs back to his belt as he went along. By the time he was finished he had Grovyle, Minun, Skarmory, Swellow, Azumarill, and Numel all standing before him.
"We lost in a gym match today." Alex said to his pokemon. "Although that doesn't matter overall, we need to make sure we'll be ready when its time for the real battle." All of his pokemon gave a nod, though none of them really knew what Alex meant by the 'real battle'.
"I want you guys to do a bit of sparring, so I'll pair you off. Minun and Skarmory, you two will be sparring together. Grovyle, you're with Swellow. Numel and Azumarill, you two are together as well. I won't be giving any commands, so fight however you want. Just try not to seriously injure each other." Alex gave a knowing look to Skarmory at that comment.
"Alright, fan out." Each pokemon gave another nod, then ran off in different directions with their sparring partners. They all went far enough away so that they wouldn't interfere with each other's matches, but Alex could still watch them. Alex then sat down in the sand and emptied his backpack in front of him. He took his notepad from the pile of items and started taking inventory, then made another list of what he thought he'd need when he goes to Fortree. He wanted to make sure he'd have everything he needed, or could at least buy it beforehand.
Alex's pokemon immediately began their training once they had spread out. Alex's Swellow attacked Grovyle from above with various physical attacks, while Grovyle was trying to dodge with Quick Attack and respond with Pound and Leaf Blade. It eventually came down to the two of them having a Quick Attack war, each becoming a blur as they moved to dodge each other's attacks then try to strike back with a Quick Attack of their own.
Alex's Numel wasn't putting much effort into its training at all, and instead was trying to fight back against Azumarill using minimal effort and was actually succeeding. Azumarill was a blue ball rolling around the beach trying to hit Numel, while Numel just continued to move to the side each time Azumarill came towards it. Eventually this resulted in Azumarill rolling straight into a rock, smashing it, and landing flat on its face to end its Rollout attack. Numel was about to take the opportunity to attack when a group of wild Marill surrounded the fallen Azumarill.
When Azumarill got back up, it looked around at the Marill surrounding it. Each of them were staring back at it with surprised and puzzled expressions on their faces. Azumarill immediately recognized all of them as being old friends and relatives from before Alex had captured him. He recognized them, but they didn't entirely recognize him at first. After seeming to exchange a few words, Azumarill ran off with its friends, and Numel wasn't at all interested in stopping him. Instead, it just walked over to the bottom of the hill that lead down to the beach and took a nap.
Skarmory was actually fighting a losing battle against Minun. It was trying everything it could to hit the small electric pokemon, but Minun simply kept dodging out of the way. The longer Skarmory fought with Minun the more frustrated it got, and everytime it tried to physically attack Minun it would usually move it of the way and counter attack with Spark. While Minun's attacks weren't nearly as painful as Slaking's Thunder Punch, Skarmory was getting very annoyed. Minun seemed to be enjoying itself though, and almost seemed to be giggling as it fought Skarmory.
Alex stopped his work for a moment to look at his watch, then looked around the beach. He could see Azumarill was no longer training but instead ran off with a bunch of Marill and were splashing in the waves, and a group of Tailow were actually gathering near Grovyle and Swellow. Alex couldn't help but smile.
"I can see where this is going." He said to himself. He tucked his notebook and pencil into his backpack and stood up.
"Hey, Grovyle, come here for a sec!" Grovyle and Swellow stopped their fighting upon hearing Alex's voice, and both turned to face him. Grovyle then quickly cleared the stretch of beach between him and Alex. Swellow, meanwhile, turned its attention to the group of Tailow before it.
"Grovyle, I'm going to head back into town to grab a bite to eat. I'm going to leave you guys to do whatever, but I want you to keep an eye on things. Oh, and I'll be leaving my stuff here. If you get hungry the foods in my backpack, so you can just help yourselves." Grovyle gave a nod.
"I'll be back in a bit." Alex said, before staring up the hill. He paused at the top of the hill and took one last look around the beach at his pokemon before going into town.
"Think I'll grab my tent too..." He thought. "Azumarill and Swellow would probably enjoy being back home for a day."
Grovyle took a look around as well. It actually felt a bit envious of Azumarill and Swellow. They grew up in the wild among friends and family. Grovyle more or less grew up in a lab. He could remember the day he hatched from his egg, shattering it with a few good punches and kicks, just to find himself in a larger egg. He was on a table of some sort, with a clear plastic bubble over it. There were airholes so he could breathe, but it was too strong for him to break through. Especially after just hatching.
Grovyle could also remember there were several more tables around him. Most had unhatched eggs on them, but the two closest to him were starting to hatch as well. There was something pecking its way out of one of them, and another had a fin slicing holes in it. Eventually a Mudkip and a Torchic hatched out of the eggs next to him, and both then tried unsucessfully to get out of their little domes as well. The Torchic that hatched alongside Grovyle was now May's Combusken. The Mudkip, as far as Grovyle knew, was still unclaimed.
Eventually, people in white lab coats came and wheeled the tables they were on out of the room. Next thing Grovyle knewhe was in another,smaller room, and was put in a pokeball. Grovyle spent most of its time after that being trained on how to properly fight by various lab assistants, until it was transfered to Birch's lab along with the Torchic and Mudkip that hatched that day. He spent most of his time in his pokeball after arriving at Birch's, but he got much better treatment from Birch than at the lab where he was born.
From there, Grovyle went to Alex as his first pokemon, and both have come a long way since then. The Treecko had now evolved into a Grovyle, and Alex had many other pokemon with him as well. Alex and the pokemon he's caught have been the closest thing to a family Grovyle's ever had. As Grovyle sat down in the sand, though, he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if he had been raised as a wild pokemon instead...