Hello everyone and welcome to chapter thirty of Hoenn Adventures! I'm writing this the day after posting the last chapter so maybe I'm getting back into the mood of writing again! Enjoy!
"I'm tired…"
"My feet hurt…"
"Can we stop for a second?"
"For once, I agree with you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I means you're unagreeable!"
"For the last time…SHUT THE HELL UP!" Brendan shouted to the two bickering brothers "It's like you're both five years old!"
"I'm not five! I'm fourteen!" Wes countered.
"And I'm eleven!" Michael also countered.
"Then act like it then!" Brendan retorted before turning around facing his back to them "Bunch of misfits…" he whispered to himself. Rui just used Lugia as a threat to the two boys who both backed down "The sooner this is over with, the better."
By this time, they were out of the desert and on the second half of route 111 which was a straight line until it took a sharp turn and into route 113. Route 113 was very different to the greenery that the other routes previously had. Instead, it was covered in ash from the nearby volcano making the once greenery now grey with ash. There were multiple pokemon roaming around such as Spinda, the Spot Panda pokemon which was known for its different patterns of spots, Skarmory, the Armour Bird pokemon which were known for their high defense and some Sandshrew, the Mouse pokemon which had migrated from the nearby desert. Even though it was pure daylight by now, the sky still had dark clouds making it seem like night.
"This is so cool!" Michael exclaimed seeing the atmosphere "I've never seen anything like this!" Brendan too, was memorized by the sight but only one thing crossed his mind and he sighed heavily at the thought.
If only May was here… Brendan thought as he put his head down again and began to walk wanting to get this over and done with. Gallade, seeing his trainer's sad mood, also walked after him.
"We'll get back in time, I know we will." Gallade reassured Brendan with an encouraging smile which Brendan nodded too.
"I know, just…it's difficult." Brendan replied as they carried on walking ahead not hearing the pleas for them to wait for their extra baggage "Even more so with these imbeciles. You owe me big for making me allow them to follow." Gallade chuckled slightly at Brendan's comment.
"Haven't I already done more than enough?" Gallade joked and Brendan nodded and carried on walking.
"What do you mean?" Wes asked hearing the latter half of their conversation. Brendan ignored him but Gallade answered.
"Master Brendan here is challenging the pokemon league. That's why he wants to get to Lavaridge Town." Gallade told Wes as he nodded.
"So, you're challenging the league too? Guess we'll have to battle at some point then." Wes stated smirking slightly.
"Me too!" Michael added but Wes just laughed.
"Please, you only have a Jolteon. That won't get you far." Wes stated again laughing slightly to which Michael punched his arm but Wes ignored it "So…Brendan, was it?" Wes asked trying to start up a conversation "What's your strategy for Flannery?"
"Defeat her pokemon and win a badge, isn't it obvious?" Brendan replied coldly.
"Well, duh. I mean what is your strategy to defeat her pokemon?" Wes asked again to which Brendan sighed.
"Why should I tell you?" Brendan answered still not looking at him "Are you hoping that I'll tell you my strategy and then you'll use it yourself?"
"No…" Wes replied realizing that he had been caught and sighed "Yes."
"To be honest. I have no idea. I just go in blind and hope for the best." Brendan stated giving a nice reply for once to which Wes looked at him shockingly.
"You…just wing it?" Wes asked in disbelief "That couldn't have gotten you far."
"Three gym badges is pretty far, don't you think?" Brendan asked showing his badge case to which Wes marveled in awe at them.
"How did you do it, oh great one?" Wes said practically kneeling down to pray to his new found "god" to which Brendan just laughed at him along with Michael and Rui "You laugh now, but you'll see!"
"Like I said, I just wing it." Brendan replied "Now, can we get a move on? I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." Wes nodded and quickened his pace to match Brendan and Gallade's while Michael and Rui still laughed at Wes sudden change in mood towards Brendan. Gallade was proud of his trainer for lightening up to his new friends as he was able to bring up a conversation with Wes about battles and their experiences.
Wes had told Brendan about his home region, Orre, and that it was a mostly a desert region not far from Hoenn but since it didn't have any wild pokemon, it wasn't a good starting place for trainers so that's why he and Rui had traveled to Johto first before travelling through Orre. Johto was where Wes had met two Eevees and they would soon become the Espeon and Umbreon that he had today. Surprising Brendan, Orre didn't have a pokemon league since it didn't have any natural pokemon to begin with. Wes had quite the reputation in Orre since he had stopped a criminal syndicate known as Cipher from taking over the world with "shadow pokemon" though he wasn't there when Cipher was reborn so Michael took down this form of Cipher so they both had a good image in the eyes of the Orrinian people. Wes also told Brendan that he had a high ranking place in the Silver Conference in Johto ranking in the top eight but when he came to Hoenn, decided to only take Espeon and Umbreon since they were his two starting pokemon. Rui had traveled with Wes through Johto but Michael had only traveled with him in Hoenn.
Brendan told Wes about his experiences in Hoenn thus far leaving out any parts about his personal life such as why he didn't go on a journey for almost five years, what his current situation with the Petalburg Gym leader, Norman, was or the reason that May wasn't with him at the time. Brendan soon found out that whenever Rui was brought into the conversation, Wes would go slightly embarrassed giving Brendan the idea that he liked her more than "just a friend". Meanwhile, Michael and Rui had listened into the conversation adding their own input that either wasn't needed or would correct Wes when he made himself seem greater than he actually was. Gallade was still proud of his trainer since he was able to take his mind off his current situation and able to act like his usual self. Before any of them knew it, they had reached Fallarbour Town.
May had now crossed the desert at a speed that would put a Crobat that used Agility to shame. She had easily reached route 113 but, unlike the group that she was chasing after, she didn't really take in the atmosphere and the sights and just focused on the path ahead quickly reaching Fallarbour Town. She was now very close to her destination.
Fallarbour was a quiet town with not many houses but was most famous for their local professor, Professor Cosmo, who researched meteorites and space travel. He had settled in Fallarbour Town for its quiet atmosphere and since it was the nearest town near one of Hoenn's biggest tourist attractions: Meteor Falls. It had a pokemon centre and a mart but apart from that, not much.
"That worker guy said to find Professor Cosmo, right?" Michael asked as he and the rest of the group looked around the town "I'm guessing that that's his house there – the one with the observatory." Michael stated pointing to a small house at the edge of the town that had a gigantic, metal telescope sticking out of it. Coming to the conclusion that this was where the professor was, they all walked to the house and Wes knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds, a woman came to the door. She had brown hair that went to her shoulders, a pink shirt and a long white skirt but what caught their attention the most were her red, bloodshot eyes. She looked like she had been crying for hours on end.
"Oh, you kids must be the ones who are doing that favour for the cable car service. I'm sorry, but Professor Cosmo isn't in right now." She said as she slowly closed the door but Wes stopped it with his foot.
"Can you tell us where he is?" Wes asked and the woman looked at him for a second before bursting into tears.
"I…I don't know! Some people came in calling themselves Team Magma took him away and the professor, being the gullible person he is at the sound of their interest in his research, gladly followed them!" The woman explained "I know they just want his research and that they'll probably kill him for it! Please, you have to help him before it's too late!"
"We will, where did they go?" Rui asked and the woman pointed to the direction of Meteor Falls not being able to talk due to the mass of tears that she had created "Don't worry, we'll get him back from those evil people! C'mon guys!" Rui said before sprinting off into the direction of Meteor Falls which the three followed quickly and straight into route 114, the path leading to Meteor Falls. Even though he didn't know much about them, Brendan was sure that they had something to do with Team Aqua and he wasn't going to let them get away with it even more so that they were the reason that was halting his way to get to Lavaridge Town as quickly as possible.
Route 114 was a short route that was mostly the rocks terrain of Meteor Falls. It had Swablus, a blue bodied pokemon with cloud-like wings, flying around giving off a peaceful vibe but then it also had the intimidating Zangoose and Serviper that would occasionally square off in a deathmatch duel. The route began being on one side of a wide lake, one of the many that connected to Hoenn's mass amount of water on its borders, that had a wooden bridge any many fishermen hoping to catch a bite though many fell short when they pulled up a Magikarp or Tentacool and just threw them back down into the sea, zapped them with their electric type pokemon or using the element of grass to beat down the unwanted water types. After crossing the bridge, the group then began to climb the mountainous part of the route that would eventually lead them to Meteor Falls where the professor was supposedly being held hostage. The area had many craters that looked like they were made by a meteor. They were so deep that someone could have even rode a skate board in it and done a flip once they got to the edge. The path was very jagged considering that there were many high and low paths with either narrow or wide walkways but they soon made it to the entrance to Meteor Falls.
May, after being told by the same woman that told the group to go to Meteor Falls to find Professor Cosmo, had now gone onto route 114 and she could have sworn she saw a certain trainer's white beanie enter the cave. She decided to ditch the bike since it would be dangerous to cross the mountainous path on a bike so began to sprint somehow not fainting after using so much energy on little to no sleep.
Meteor Falls was clearly one of the most beautiful sights a person could see in the world. Not only was the water splashing against the rocks oddly calming but the waterfall that could be seen throughout the entire cave was like an entrance to another world it was that huge. The water was pure blue which didn't help Brendan at all as he was just reminded of May's eyes but quickly shook it off when he heard a yelp.
"W-What do you want from me?!" A shaky voice whimpered.
"I just said! The meteorite! Give it!" A voice snarled back. The group looked over to where the scene was and saw people dressed in red suits and hoods intimidating a man with grey hair and glasses with a white lab coat who was most likely Professor Cosmo. Cosmo was being backed off the edge of the platform that he was on and, while the waterfall was beautiful, looks are deceiving. There were three people dressed in red, two seeming like grunts whereas the other seemed like their leader. The grunts wore dark red underneath with bright red shirt (with the letter "M" on it that resembled a mountain), shorts (for the male), skirt (for the female), boots and a hood with two horns on either side. Where the male didn't show much skin, only being his face, the female showed her feminine legs. They both wore a yellow buckle around their waist with a satchel around it. They stood like soldiers waiting for their order. Their leader, who had his hood down, wore the same colours only wearing a jacket instead of a simple shirt around his plump figure. The jacket had black mountains with light red behind it. His collar had the Team Magma "M" on each side. He had squinty eyes and a devilish smirk with black, short hair and a slight quif.
"B-but…" Cosmo quivered.
"Shut up! I'm getting tired of this! Just give the damn meteorite…or else!" The Magma leader threatened.
"O-Or e-e-e-else what?" Cosmo asked not wanting to hear an answer.
"Or I, the great Tabitha and future leader of Team Magma, will end your pitiful life!" The Magma leader boasted "So, what'll it be?"
"Hey! That's no way to talk to your elder!" Wes shouted making his, and everyone else's, presence known.
"Oh look at this! Children! More fun!" Tabitha said sarcastically clapping his hands together.
"Sir, want us to take care of this?" The male grunt asked.
"What do you think?" Tabitha retorted quite annoyed "Yes!"
"Yes sir!" The grunt replied doing some sort of salute that consisted of him thrusting his shoulder into the air at an angle that was level with his head, the other grunt, a female did the same.
"Brendan, me and Michael will deal with these two, you get their leader!" Wes stated and Brendan nodded making his way past the grunts "Ready, Michael?" Wes asked as he clutched a ball in his hand.
"These guys are worse than Cipher! I can take them!" Michael boasted as he, too, got a ball in his hand.
"Espeon, purify!" Wes exclaimed releasing the Sun pokemon.
"Jolteon, cleanse!" Michael called as he released the Lightning Pokemon. It had a yellow body with spiked fur and a white mane around its neck. It had black eyes and a cheesy smirk across its face.
"Koffing, do it for the land!" The male grunt called releasing a pokemon that looked like a purple ball with multiple holes in it that let loose poisonous gas. It had a toxic mark below its eyes and a goofy grin.
"Numel, for the great Maxie!" The female grunt exclaimed releasing a small, yellow, four-legged creature that didn't even look like it was paying attention to what was going on. It had a green splodge on the top of its hump and a semi-long neck that housed its camel-like head and its half open eyes.
"Michael, don't use any electric type attacks on Numel, it's a ground type." Wes stated seeing Numel appear on the field.
"I know, I know. Just make sure you use a psychic type attack on that Koffing!" Michael replied and Wes nodded.
"Plan to. Espeon, psychic!" Wes ordered and Epseon's eyes shone blue as it sent a powerful wave of psychic energy towards Koffing.
"Koffing, self-destruct!" The male grunt called and Koffing began to flash as it was about to explode. The female grunt went wide eyed.
"The hell are you doing idiot! That'll hurt Numel too!" The female grunt scolded punching the male grunt right in the cheek.
"Oh right." The male grunt got out before Koffing exploded right in front of him only hurting Numel in the process.
"See, told you that they were worse than Cipher." Michael told Wes as they both watched the scene unfold. Wes removed his palm from his face and shook his head as the smoke cleared seeing a very bruised male grunt with the female beating the living daylights out of him and a wobbly Numel "Jolteon, end this poor excuse for a battle with double kick." Jolteon nodded and walked over to Numel. Jolteon apologized for what it was about to do before it kicked Numel twice making it topple over, fainted.
"Now look what you've done! Imbecile!" The female grunt scolded again as the male grunt laughed it off "Maxie'll be furious!"
"Well, now we have to let these kids past even though we could just kill them." The male grunt said "Go along." He said as they both stepped aside to see Brendan and Gallade watching a scared Tabitha run away.
Brendan had gotten past the two grunts and made his way to Tabitha who still had his back turned to him threatening Cosmo with words and a clenched fist.
"Give. The. Meteorite. NOW!" Tabitha ordered as Cosmo was about to fall.
"Hey!" Brendan called getting Tabitha's attention "How do you like a Psycho Cut?!" Brendan asked as Gallade ran towards him with his blades glowing pink with psychic energy. Tabitha let out a squeal that oddly sounded like a pig but the attack was put on hold by a Mightyena that was holding Gallade back. Tabitha laughed maniacally at Brendan's attempt to hurt him.
"You think a Gallade can beat me?! You're mistaken, child!" Tabitha mocked still laughing maniacally while snorting like a pig.
"This is no ordinary Gallade!" Brendan countered as he raised his arm up into the air and touched his Mega Bracelet "Mega Evolve!" Brendan shouted as he touched the mega stone inside and Gallade became surrounded by a whitish sphere which he easily broke out of revealing his mega evolved form. Gallade easily broke past the Mightyena's attempt to hold him back by quickly switching to high jump kick and kicking it right out of the way and into a nearby wall where it was most certainly knocked out. Tabitha quiverer in fear seeing the angry expression on Tabitha's face as he bit his nails "Get out." Brendan said in a voice with no emotion. Tabitha looked at him with a slightly angry look "I said…GET OUT!" Tabitha heard this and, knowing that he was beaten, ran away like a scared little girl. Gallade returned to his normal form as Wes, Rui and Michael walked up to Professor Cosmo.
"Are you alright Professor?" Rui asked but got no reply for a couple of seconds.
"He…He wanted to see my research." Professor Cosmo said sadly "No one's ever asked that before." Both Rui and Michael sighed and began to walk away with Professor Cosmo back to Fallarbour as Brendan followed but Wes was in awe of Gallade.
"What is the problem, Master Wes?" Gallade asked Wes as he looked down to him. Wes had the dumbest smile on his face and his hands together as he began to jump up and down like an excited school girl.
"YOU CAN MEGA EVOLVE! THAT'S AWESOME!" Wes exclaimed making Gallade go slightly red.
"It's not all that special. I'm not the only one who can." Gallade said modestly.
"Who cares?! Only a special few can do such a thing!" Wes said excitedly before he turned to Brendan and ran up to him and began to violently shake him "How'd you do it?! How'd you get mega evolution?! Please! You have to tell me!"
"I'll…tell…you…later!" Brendan got out in between shakes "Please…let…go…of…me!" Wes nodded and followed Brendan out of the cave. Gallade laughed at Wes reaction seeing a completely different side of him and followed the rest of the group out of the cave but not after being stopped by a certain pirate in blue.
"Ey! Scamp!" Archie called over to just Brendan who instantly looked up at the Aqua leader "I didn't think ye had it in ye. But you beat Magma! Ye could become a great Aqua member and if you were to join, I'd forgive ye for ye interruptions at Rustboro and Slateport."
"Not a chance." Brendan replied instantly making Archie frown "I don't join those who wish to "change" the world for their own benefit." Brendan then carried on walking out of Meteor Falls as Archie sighed.
"Fine. Don't say I didn't give ye a chance!" Archie called back to Brendan before turning away, quickly noticing the meteorite that Tabitha had dropped when he was running "What's this thingy? Is this what Maxie was looking for? No use to me." Archie was about to toss it but the meteorite glowed in his hand "Oh! Did ye just glow me little friend? Maybe you are useful...Nah, maybe not. Just my eyes. I'll give it to the scamp or that professor guy." Archie shrugged and stuffed the meteorite into his pocket.
As Brendan caught up with the others, he heard an all to familiar voice call his name.
"Bren?" It asked.
Cliffhanger that will probably not be answered for almost two weeks! I kid! I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible but no promises! I do have a week off so I'll try! Stay tuned!
