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 Twenty Seven
Trouble at the Weather Station
May rolled over in her sleep, hitting the wall of the cave and jolting awake. She slowly sat up on the blanket, grumbling a bit.
"I hate this cave..." She muttered. "It better not be raining tomorrow..." She then paused for a moment, listening to the silence around her.
"...I don't hear any rain now, maybe its already stopped?" May reached around in the darkness, trying to find the flashlight Alex had set down earlier. It was nowhere to be found, however, and the fire had long since gone out.
"Where is that stupid thing..." May continued trying to find it, until she heard a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the inside of the cave. May shrieked in surprise, the sudden burst of lightning outside startling her. She quickly covered her mouth, hoping she didn't wake Alex, but she quickly realized she was alone in the cave. Alex wasn't there, and she realized he must have taken the flashlight as well.
"Did Alex ditch me?" May wondered. She thought back to her discussion with him earlier though, and shook her head.
"No, he wouldn't do that...but where is he?" May got up, and slowly made her way around the corner of the cave. She knew the general direction of the cave's entrance, and when she reached the end of the cave she felt around for the small hole that served as the entrance. She then got down on her hands and knees and crawled out. When she got out of the cave she could see Alex standing nearby, and his Magnemite was floating quite a distance a way. Alex had his back to her, and May could see he had already gathered all his stuff together.
"Well, I suppose thats enough for now..." Alex said to Magnemite. "I didn't really think you'd be able to use that attack though..." Magnemite beeped its response.
"I'm tired of waiting now anyway. If she's not awake yet, I'm waking her up. Even if its probably just going to get me punched again..."
"Well of course I'd punch you, how would you feel if you were woken up in the middle of the night?" May yelled to Alex, starling him.
"Geez!" Alex quickly turned around. "Hey, it might be the middle of the night, but you've been asleep for a good ten hours now! We went to sleep early, remember?"
"So thats why you're up so early..."
"Well its not raining now, and we've both gotten a full night's sleep, so we might as well move on. There's a weather station only a few hours walk from here, and with a bit of luck we might be able to get something to eat there..."
"Thats all I needed to hear!" May replied excitedly. "I'll go get my stuff."
Alex tossed May his flashlight, and she went back into the cave with it. A few minutes later she re-emerged from the cave with her fanny pack and all her pokeballs on her belt. The two trainers released their pokemon to feed them, and Skarmory, Swellow, Combusken, and Crawdaunt had thawed out overnight but all four of them were thoroughly exhausted from their fight. Skarmory and Crawdaunt cast angry glares towards Azumarill as they ate their food, plotting how to get back at him for freezing them. After they had eatten, the pokemon all stretched their legs and wings a bit before finally being recalled. May picked up Wynaut to carry it in her arms, and then the three of them set off for the weather station.
As the two of them went on their way to the weather station, the sun began to rise. However, they were unable to see the sunrise. Although the storm had seemed to pass, there was still a dark cloud hanging overhead. The two trainers decided it best to hurry so they wouldn't get caught in the rain. If they reached the weather station they'd at least have shelter from the storm.
They were lucky enough to make it to the weather station without incident. After a few hours of walking, they could see the weather station up ahead. With the weather station in sight, the two of them broke into a run. They stopped, though, when they were close enough to see two men wearing blue bandanas and black and white striped shirts standing in front of the entrance. They recognized the two as members of Team Aqua, and took cover in some nearby tall grass to avoid being seen.
"Team Aqua? What are they doing here?" May wondered out loud.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to get past those two somehow..."
"I think I might have a way..." May took a pokeball off her belt, and held it low in front of her.
"Swablu, come on out!" She whispered. The pokeball opened up and released a red beam of energy in front of her, which formed into the small blue bird pokemon, Swablu. Swablu chirped happily as it was released from its pokeball.
"Swablu, see those two men there?" May said to it, pointing at the two Team Aqua members. Swablu flapped its wings and hopped up on May's head to get a better look.
"Think you could use your Sing attack to put those two to sleep?" Swablu gave a nod, then gave a hop and flapped its wings. It quietly flew over towards the weather center, landing in front of the two guards who immediately noticed it.
"Huh? Is that a Swablu?" The first guard asked.
"I think it is..." Answered the second. "But what would a Swablu be doing all the way out here...?"
Swablu opened its small beak and began to sing a lullaby, and Alex, May, and Wynaut quickly plugged their ears. The two Team Aqua men briefly had a look of shock on their face as they realized what was happening, but didn't have much of a chance to react before they felt their eyelids grow heavy and slumped over onto the ground, fast asleep. When Swablu was sure they were asleep, it stopped singing.
"Good work, Swablu!" May shouted. Her and Alex quickly got up and approached Swablu, who was chriping happily at its success.
"Now we can get into the weather station and put a stop to whatever it is Team Aqua is doing..." Alex said.
"Right! And we can hopefully get some breakfast too!" May added. She then held up Swablu's pokeball.
"Thanks for the help, Swablu. Return!" May recalled Swablu, and placed its pokeball back on her belt.
"Alright, lets go." May said, and the two of them entered the weather station through the front door. Upon entering, however, they found four more members of Team Aqua in the lobby, and all four noticed them enter.
"Hey! How did you two get past the guards?!" One of the men demanded as all four approached May and Alex.
"Well so much for the subtle approach..." Alex grumbled. He and May each reached for a pokeball, but before May could call out her pokemon Wynaut hopped out in front of her.
"Wynaut! Get back here!" May said to it. "You're not ready for a battle yet!"
"Anorith! Go!" Alex called out as he threw out the pokeball, aiming in front of Wynaut. The pokeball landed, releasing Anorith between Wynaut and the advancing Team Aqua members. Each of them then called out their own pokemon, consisting of two Poochyena and two Zubat.
"Poochyena, Tackle attack!" Two of the Team Aqua Members called out.
"Zubat, use Wing Attack!" The other two called out.
"Anorith, Protect!" Another held out its claws sideways, forming a protective bubble around itself. The Poochyena and Zubat rushed towards it, but the Poochyena ended up slamming into the bubble and the Zubats were deflected off to the side as they tried to use Wing Attack. Wynaut remained where it was, looking determined to get involved in the fight.
"Attack again!" One of the Team Aqua members commanded. "That thing's protection won't last against another attack!"
One of the Poochyena rushed towards Anorith to try to tackle it again, but this time Wynaut ran in front of Anorith. As Poochyena was about to attack, Wynaut intercepted with its tail and sent the Poochyena rolling across the floor and into its trainer. The impact left the Poochyena in a daze.
"Useless pokemon..." The Team Aqua member grumbled, recalling his Poochyena.
"Wow...maybe Wynaut is ready for battling..." May said to herself. She recalled Wynaut using a similar tactic against Raikou back in the power plant, in which Wynaut used its own attack against it.
"Wynaut must be discovering its powers." Alex commented. "Alright, use Sword Dance Anorith!" Anorith focused its power, and a blue aura formed around it in the shape of several swords. As Anorith was powering up, one of the Zubats came in for another attack. Wynaut was quick to intercept its attack as well, however, and the Zubat's wing met with Wynaut's tail, taking the full impact of Wynaut's Counter attack to its wing. Zubat was sent spinning into the leg of a nearby tail and was immediately knocked unconcious. Its Team Aqua trainer recalled it.
"Damn it! We're getting our asses kicked by a pair of runts!" One of the two Team Aqua members who still had a pokemon left grumbled.
"Lets both attack that Wynaut at the same time!" The other suggested.
"Alright then...Poochyena, Tackle attack!"
"Zubat, Wing Attack!" The two pokemon closed in on Wynaut, and Wynaut quickly looked between the two of them, trying to figure out which one to counter as it could only take one of them at a time. Fortunately, it didn't have to worry about it.
"These two are all your's, Anorith! Metal Claw!" Anorith's claws took on a silverish appearance as it suddenly leapt over Wynaut's head, slashing down at the Zubat as it moved in to attack Wynaut. Anorith then landed in front of Wynaut and swiped at the charging Poochyena. The injured Zubat fell to the ground behind Poochyena, who was then knocked on top of it from the power of Anorith's attack, both pokemon unconcious. Their trainers returned them.
"Damn it! We got to warn the others!" One of the Team Aqua members said, and all four of them rushed upstairs.
"Wynaut! You were great out there!" May exclaimed, picking up Wynaut and hugging him close to her. Wynaut hugged her as well, happy with its victory.
"Wynaut must have learned a bit about fighting from watching your battles, May." Alex commented. "It must have been looking for a chance to try its hand at battling ever since that incident with Raikou."
"I wonder if he's learned all his attacks yet..." May said, examining Wynaut to see if he's been injured in the battle. Despite blocking two attacks, though, it seemed to be ok.
"Well he obviously knows Counter and Mirror Coat, which is good enough for him to fight with. I'm pretty sure Wynaut that learn all their attacks tend to evolve into Wobbuffet though. Or at the very least, all Wynaut that evolve have learned all their techniques before evolving."
"He's kinda young to be evolving already isn't he?" May asked.
"Who knows? There was never actually any research done into pokemon age and evolution as far as I know..." Alex said with a shrug. "Anyway, enough about that. Those Team Aqua members have probably alerted the others by now, we need to get a move on!"
"Right!" May said in agreement. "Ready for another fight, Wynaut?" Wynaut gave an enthusiastic nod, looking forward to another battle.
"Alright, lets go Anorith." The two trainers and Anorith made for the stairs to go up to the next floor. Alex ended up carrying Anorith, since its legs were too small for it to climb up on its own. When they got to the top, there were two more Team Aqua members waiting for them. Alex and May set their pokemon down on the floor in preparation for battle. The two Team Aqua members, one male and one female, had already sent out their own pokemon, two Corphish.
"You two aren't going any further!" A female Team Aqua member claimed.
"There's no way you're getting past us!" The male said.
"We just beat four of you downstairs and now you expect to beat us with half that many?" May questioned them, folding her arms over her chest.
"Well, they do have better pokemon...I mean the others were using Poochyena and Zubat, these two have Corphish. So they're already ahead." Alex said to May.
"I guess you're right..." May said in agreement. "But still, they're just lowly grunts, right? So their pokemon are still probably pretty weak..."
"Grr...you two are asking for it!" The male exclaimed in rage. "Corphish, use Crabhammer on that Anorith!"
"You too, Corphella! Attack Wynaut!" The female Team Aqua member commanded, calling her pokemon by its nickname. The two Corphish charged towards Wynaut and Anorith, claws raised as they prepared to attack.
"Wynaut, use Counter!" May commanded.
"Anorith, Protect!" Anorith held out its claws as it prepared a defensive barrier against the incoming attack. The Corphish attacking Anorith found its claw bouncing off a bubble of protection around Anorith, while the other Corphish met with Wynaut's tail. The resulting counterattack knocked both pokemon back, Wynaut from the force of Corphish's attack and Corphella from the power of Wynaut's counter. Both pokemon were looking pretty banged up from the attacks.
"Wynaut! Are you ok?" May asked, suddenly she wondered if it was a good idea to send Wynaut into battle like that, especially since she couldn't return it to its pokeball. Wynaut slowly got back on its feet, and looked as though it was having second thoughts itself.
"May, you might want to call Wynaut back." Alex suggested. May nodded in agreement, picking up Wynaut while reaching for a pokeball.
"Sorry Wynaut, but I think these pokemon might be a bit too tough for you." Wynaut nodded, looking a bit upset though. "Alright then, your turn Crawdaunt!" May called out, releasing her Crawdaunt from its pokeball. Crawdaunt appeared in front of the opposing Corphish, and scoffed slightly as it looked down at its opponent. The Corphish, however, didn't back off an inch from its evolved opponent.
"Corphish, attack that Anorith with Crabhammer again!"
"Push it back with a Water Gun attack, Anorith!" The male Team Aqua member's Corphish raised its claw to attack, but was quickly met by a jet of water from Anorith. Though the attack did little to the Corphish, it did push it back out of attack range.
"Corphella, attack with Vice Grip!"
"Crawdaunt, counter with a Vice Grip attack of your own!" May's Crawdaunt and the female Team Aqua member's Corphish both attempting to use Vice Grip on each other, and ended up gripping onto each other's claws. The two pokemon clamped down hard, each seeming to be determined to crush the other pokemon's claws.
"Anorith's holding its own defensively..." Alex thought, analyzing his current situation. "But offensively, Anorith doesn't have much that'd be effective against a Corphish...better switch pokemon."
"Anorith, you've done enough now! Return!" Alex recalled Anorith, placing the pokeball back on his belt and retrieving another.
"Magnemite, go!" Alex pushed the button on the front of the pokeball and tossed it. As it hit the ground, it split open and released a red beam of energy that formed into Alex's Magnemite.
"Magnemite, attack with Thunderbolt!" Magnemite immediately released a blast of electricity towards the opposing Corphish. The electricity struck the pokemon and it was lit up as the electricity coursed through its body. When the attack finished, the Corphish collapsed in defeat and its trainer recalled it. Meanwhile, May's Crawdaunt was beginning to win over its Corphish opponent in the Vice Grip match. Corphella was suddenly unable to maintain its grip as Crawdaunt began to overpower it.
"Good work, Crawdaunt! Now finish it with a Knock Off!" Crawdaunt released its grip with one of its claws, then proceeded to smack Corphella. Resisting the attack drained the last of Corphella's strength, and it collapsed as well. The female trainer recalled her pokemon.
"Damn it! We lost too?" The male trainer grumbled.
"Heh...wusses..." Came a gruff male voice behind them. The two team aqua members stepped aside, and a much larger man came forward.
"So it is you." The man said, looking at Alex and May. "The boss had a feeling one of you would show up, thats why he sent me. I'm Matt, a Team Aqua admin. You won't brush me aside like you did those grunts. And once I'm finished with your pokemon I'm dragging you both back to the base. Archie is interested in meeting you two again, especially you Alex..." Matt grinned evilly.
"Well for your sake, I hope your pokemon are much tougher than your teammate's. Otherwise you'll be eatting those words." Alex said, smirking slightly.
"May, you go on ahead, I'll keep this guy busy..."
"You sure about that, Alex?" May asked him.
"Yeah, I'm sure. How tough could he be? Besides, no point in both of us battling him..." May nodded in agreement, then ran off ahead with Crawdaunt and Wynaut, leaving Alex to face the Team Aqua admin, Matt.
"Heh...you have no idea what you're up against, kid." Matt said as he retrieved a pokeball from his belt.
"You're right, I don't...but I'm willing to bet you don't either." Alex said with a smirk. "So are we going to start, or what?"
"Impatient, aren't ya? Not even the least bit curious as to why Archie wants me to bring you two to see him?" Matt grinned again, chuckling to himself.
"Well I highly doubt he's inviting us over for dinner, or wants to show off his pokemon collection..." Matt twitched noticeably at Alex's taunting. "If it makes you happy, then why don't you explain? While you're at it you can tell me what Team Aqua has planned, and in particular what you're doing here, since you're probably just going to catch us and leave us in a cell of some sort in your hidden base from which we can easily escape through some flaw in the cell itself. Then we can expose all of Team Aqua for what they really are and give the location of your base to the authorities."
"Why you insolent brat!" Matt growled and raised his fist, looking like he was about to attack Alex, but Magnemite suddenly lit up with sparks. Matt snorted at the electric pokemon and lowered his fist.
"You're lucky you have your pokemon with you...but it'll only take me a few minutes to fix that..." Matt held up the pokeball, and finally released his pokemon to start the battle.
"Crawdaunt, go! Crush that twerp's pokemon!" Matt released his Crawdaunt, which appeared to be slightly larger than May's and much more menacing in appearance. Its shell was slightly darker as well, almost making it seem evil.
"Crawdaunt, attack with Ice Beam!"
"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!" The two pokemon immediately went on the offensive and launched their attacks. Magnemite's magnets sparked with electricity before firing off its Thunderbolt attack towards Crawdaunt, meanwhile Crawdaunt pointed its claw at Magnemite and fired an icy-blue beam. The two attacks met, passing through each other without any effect, then struck their respective targets.
Magnemite became encased in ice as the Ice Beam attack struck it, but the ice soon shattered and Magnemite was freed though slightly weakened by the attack. Crawdaunt, on the other hand, took a much greater effect from Magnemite's Thunderbolt attack, growling in pain as the electricity struck it and coursed through its especially conductive body. Crawdaunt was obviously heavily injured by the attack when the electricity subsided, and small wisps of smoke rose from its shocked and charred body.
"You know, you guys should really invest in a more varied team of pokemon..." Alex said to Matt, a smirk crossing his lips. "I mean, really, Magnemite here could probably take on the rest of your pokemon as well...aside from water-type pokemon, all you people ever use is Zubat or Poochyena. Or their evolved forms."
"Don't assume that you'll win just because you have a type advantage, kid. We're just getting started here...Crawdaunt, use Brick Break!" Crawdaunt moved forward towards Alex's Magnemite as fast as its small legs could carry it then hit Magnemite with its claws as if it was punching it. Magnemite was sent reeling from the sheer force of the impact. It was still concious, but barely.
"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt again!" Magnemite shook off the impact from Cawdaunt's Brick Break, and fired off another blast of electricity as a counter attack. This second blast was more than the injured Crawdaunt could handle, and it immediately fell unconcious. Despite his Crawdaunt's defeat, Matt was grinning as he recalled it.
"Your Magnemite looks like its in pretty rough shape. It wouldn't take much for me to finish it off now. Your days of messing with Team Aqua are about to come to an end, girl."
"Girl? Not only are you delusional, you're blind. I've got five pokemon left on me after Magnemite, and Magnemite's not down yet."
"You may look like a boy with your hair cut short like that, but Archie has it all figured out..." Matt snickered. "There's only one person who would know as much about Archie and Team Aqua's goals as you do...and that person is Melany Stone."
"Damn it!" Alex, or rather Melany, thought. "This is what I get for running my mouth..."
"So you figured me out..." 'Alex' muttered. "What does he want now? A medal?"
"He wants to put an end to you and your friend's meddling. You just can't seem to see the beauty of Archie's plan..." By this time, Matt was reaching for his next pokemon. "And since you can't see things our way, you're just going to have to be locked up until we're finished...then everyone will see the glory of Team Aqua."
"You really are delusional..."
"Not quite, but you'll see soon enough..." Matt grabbed the pokeball he was reaching for and released his next pokemon, "Mightyena, go!" A red beam of energy released from the pokeball, and took the form of a black furred wolf-like pokemon in front of Matt.
"Mightyena, attack with Shadow Ball!"
"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!" Matt's Mightyena formed a dark orb of energy in front of it, then launched the ball at Magnemite. At the same time, Magnemite fired off a blast of electricity from the magnets on each side of its body. The two attacks collided, and the impact of the Thunderbolt attack and Shadowball resulted in a burst of electricity and shadowstuff that didn't reach either pokemon.
"Mightyena, now! Use Take Down!" Mightyena charged towards Magnemite, quickly closing the short distance between them, and slammed into it in a full body tackle that knocked both pokemon to the ground. Mightyena quickly stood up and shook off the impact, but the attack was more than Magnemite could stand at this point and it collapsed. Alex recalled his Magnemite.
"There goes your electric pokemon, kid...still think you stand a chance?" Matt taunted Melany, snickering to himself.
"Well unless you have some secret weapon up your sleeve, I still have the advantage...I have more pokemon than you do, and you obviously don't outmatch me enough that I have no hope of winning." Melany placed Magnemite's pokeball back on her belt and drew another. "Numel, go!"
Melany released the pokeball from her grip after pressing the button, and when the pokeball hit the floor, it split open and released Numel. The fire-type pokemon looked around lazily, but upon realizing it was in a battle it suddenly appeared to be more serious and had a look of determination in its eyes.
"Whats this now? You're using a fire-type pokemon now? Against Team Aqua?" Matt snickered. "Thats the last mistake you'll ever make!"
"You don't have any water pokemon left and you know it..." Melany stated.
"Ha! What makes you so sure?" Matt questioned her.
"Well, you have three pokeballs on you. One is Crawdaunt, who's down for the count. The other is Mightyena's. Since the only other water pokemon you Team Aqua seem to use are useless on land, then if you actually intend to use pokemon number three it can't be a water type." Matt growled angrily. Although he acted as though he had Melany right where he wanted her, the truth was he was expecting the grunts would have at least worn their pokemon down. He also didn't expect to have to deal with both Melany and May.
"Even if that is the case..." Matt grumbled. "I don't intend to back down, kid. Mightyena, use Take Down!"
"Didn't think you would...Numel, Ember!" Mightyena took a leap backwards, putting some distance between itself and Numel, then began to charge forward. It didn't get very far, however, before it was hit in the face by a small fireball from Numel. Though the damage seemed minimal, it did distract Mightyena temporarily.
"Now, use Take Down Numel!" Numel charged forward towards Mightyena and hit it with a full body tackle attack. The force of the impact knocked Mightyena onto its side and sent it sliding to its master's feet. Numel shook its head after the impact, shaking off the dizziness it felt from it. Mightyena slowly got back up on its feet and glared at Numel.
"You know, I bet your friend has met up with Shelly by now..." Matt said, grinning widely.
"Shelly?"
"Another Team Aqua admin, originally sent here to overseer Team Aqua's inquiry into this station's study on rain. By now, she's probably mopped the floor with that girl!" Matt snickered.
"Oh really?" Melany replied. "I hope Shelly's better than you are then, because May's at least as good as I am."
May didn't have any trouble moving around to find what Team Aqua was after, as all but one Team Aqua member was watching Alex and the admin Matt battle. May had reached the far end of the room, where a door lead into the station's laboratory. Standing in her way, however, was the last Team Aqua member. A woman with long, curly red hair stood in the doorway with her back to May. Whoever it was seemed to be overseeing Team Aqua's operations on the other side of the door.
"Hey, you!" May called out to the woman. "Either turn around and get ready for a pokemon battle or get out of my way!" The woman slowly turned around to face May and glared at her, clearly unhappy with her intrusion.
"And who do you think you are to challenge Team Aqua?" The woman asked.
"I'm May Maple, and I'm going to..." May was interrupted when the woman suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.
"You're May Maple? You're the one my boss said to watch out for? I suppose you're going to be battling me with that, too?" The woman pointed at Wynaut and laughed some more, much to Wynaut's displeasure, but then her expression changed to a more sinister one. "If you've come here to try to stop us, you've got another thought coming. I'm the Team Aqua Admin Shelly, and I'm not a pushover like those grunts you beat downstairs!"
"Funny, thats what that Matt guy said...so which one of you IS the admin?" May asked curiously.
"Oh, well, you see...there's actually more than one admin because..." Shelly paused for a moment. "Wait a minute, what the heck am I telling you for?!" Shelly quickly grabbed a pokeball off her belt, which contained three pokeballs just like the other admin.
"So you want to challenge me? Lets see what you're made of then, brat! Mightyena, go!" Shelly was wasting no time sending out a pokemon to battle with, and released her Mightyena from its pokeball. The pokemon appeared before her and growled menacingly. May responded by reaching for a pokeball as well after placing Wynaut on the floor.
"Electrike, this ones your's!" May called out, holding up the pokeball and releasing her pokemon. "Go!" The pokeball opened up, releasing Electrike. The green electric pokemon appeared in front of May, looking ready to fight although it appeared to be a bit intimidated at first by the Mightyena's prescence.
"Mightyena, use Bite attack!" Mightyena quickly moved forward with its head low to the ground, then snapped its powerful jaws down hard on Electrike's body. Electrike yelped in pain as Mightyena bit into it.
"Your Mightyena just bit off more then it can chew!" May said smugly. "Electrike, use Thunderbolt now!" Electrike's body sparked with electricity, paralyzing Mightyena and preventing it from letting go. Electrike then channeled its powerful electric attack directly from its body and into Mightyena. Sparks danced all over Mightyena's body as the electricity flowed through it, and its eyes widened in both surprise and pain. It didn't take long for Mightyena to collapse from the powerful electric attack. Shelly grumbled as she recalled her pokemon.
"That was an amateur mistake..." Shelly grumbled to herself. "Well I won't make the same mistake twice." Shelly smirked as she placed Mightyena's pokeball on her belt and took another one.
"I doubt you've ever seen a pokemon like this one before, kid..." Shelly said as she prepared to release her next pokemon. "Castform, go!" The pokeball opened, releasing a pokemon that was unfamiliar to May...and surprisingly cute. The pokemon that appeared was a very small white pokemon that looked like an upside down raindrop floating on a cloud that grew out from the bottom of its body. She was actually surprised to see a Team Aqua member such as Shelly using such a cute pokemon.
"I snatched this little one from the lab here...not only does it have the power to control weather, but it also changes with the weather!"
"A pokemon that changes with the weather...?" May wondered aloud.
"Just watch...and I hope you brought a parka! Castform, use Hail!" Castform paused for a moment, seeming to be confused by the lady giving it commands, but thought it better not disobey her. Castform concentrated, and the room seemed to grow cold. Small flakes of snow began to form in the air, then turned into ice crystals. Soon enough small hailstones were being tossed about in an area surrounding both Castform and Electrike, but not the two trainers.
Just as odd as the indoor hailstorm, however, was the sudden changes to Castform's body. The cloud below it seemed to form into a whirlwind around it, though Castform's body could still be seen through the whirlwind. Castform's body also changed slightly, turning a dark shade of blue with a lighter blue around its eyes.
"Whoa! This is crazy!" May said to herself. Electrike braced itself against the driving hail, which pounded on it relentlessly. Castform seemed unaffected by the hail though. May regained her composure, however, and glared at Shelly through the storm.
"Stealing pokemon is wrong! You can't win with a pokemon you've stolen!" May yelled to Shelly. Shelly just laughed.
"Is that so? We'll just see about that then, won't we?" Shelly raised her finger and pointed at Electrike. "Castform, attack with Weather Ball!" Castform against hesitated with its attack for a brief moment, but followed its orders in the end. The hail storm seemed to form into a ball of ice in front of Castform, which was then hurled at Electrike. The ball of ice landed on top of Electrike then shattered into several shards which were scattered into the storm. Electrike struggled back to its feet after being crushed by the ice ball, and the hail hitting it wasn't helping any.
"Not looking good out there for Electrike..." May thought. "I should switch pokemon...to what though?" May thought for a moment, trying to figure out what pokemon would be best to fight Castform with. She then suddenly had an idea.
"Electrike, good job! Now return!" May recalled Electrike, relieving it from the stress of the hail storm. She then got ready to release her next pokemon.
"Lombre, go!" May released her Lombre, which hadn't actually seen a battle in a while. The water and grass trickster appeared in front of her, in the hail storm. It was immediately battered by the hail and tried to defend itself.
"Lombre, use Rain Dance!" Lombre stood up on two legs, despite the persistant hail, and began to dance around a bit. As it did, the hail began to subside and was replaced by a gentle rain. Lombre continued its odd dance and the rain intensified.
The change in weather had an effect on both pokemon. The rain falling on Lombre actually seemed to be refreshing it as it absorbed the falling water, and Castform's body once again changed. This time its body bore more resemblance to its initial form. The cloud part of it became a larger and darker cloud, while its body turned blue and seemed to be encased in a large, blue, transparent raindrop. Shelly seemed to find something about this strategy funny, however.
"Thats not going to help you at all." Shelly finally stated. "Or did you forget that Castform also changes with the weather?"
"I didn't forget...in fact, that was my intention all along! Afterall, Lombre may be a water-type pokemon...but its also a grass-type! Lombre, use Absorb!" Shelly's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what had happened, and Castform winced in pain as Lombre stretched out its hands towards it. A green burst of energy then suddenly erupted from Castform and flowed into Lombre.
"Nice trick..." Shelly muttered. "But that won't help you for long. Castform, use Sunny Day!" Castform's body began to glow as heat energy began to build up. The energy then seemed to lift from its body, turning into a sphere. The ball of heat then rose up to the ceiling and exploded, creating the illusion of immense sunlight indoor and quickly driving away the rainstorm that Lombre had created.
Once again, the change in the weather brought about a change in Castform's appearance. The bubble around its body grew larger and turned orange, and protrusions grew out all around it, making it look like the sun when drawn by a child. Castform's body became red, and the patch around its eyes became yellow. The cloud under it changed very little, but was now white instead of gray.
"It changed again..." May thought. "But I have a pretty good idea of what it is."
"Lombre, use Water Sport!" Lombre looked up, then started spraying water upwards. The water fell down around and on it, covering itself in water in addition to the water on it from the rain.
"That pathetic move won't help you at all...Castform, us Weather Ball!" Castform seemed to concentrate, and a ball of fire began to form in front of it. The flaming sphere continued to grow, seeming to be empowered by the artificial sunlight it had created previously. The sphere grew larger than castform before it was finally tossed at Lombre. The ball of fire landed on top of it, and Lombre winced in pain as the flames burned it. It was able to hang on, though, because the attack was weakened by the water covering it. The sphere of fire then dissipitated into the air.
"Just as I thought...when weather-duplicating attacks like Rain Dance, Hail, or Sunny Day are used...Castform changes into different pokemon types. Its Weather Ball attack seems to change too. Lombre still has the type advantage, but the heat from Sunny Day makes fire attacks stronger and water attacks weaker...I think my best bet is to take this battle to Castform!"
"Lombre, use Fury Swipes!" May commanded. Lombre ran towards Castform, quickly closing the distance between the two pokemon and unleashing a fury of slashes on it with its claws. Castform cried out at each strike from Lombre's claws, and seemed unable to make an attack of its own.
"Now! Use Water Gun while you have the chance!" Lombre took a small hop back, then sprayed a powerful burst of water at Castform. The sunlight did little to weaken the attack from such close range, subjecting the currently fire-type Castform to a near full strength Water Gun attack at close range. The pressure from the water drove Castform back into the wall next to the door. Castform was knocked out upon impact, and fell to the floor. Shelly grumbled and recalled the stolen Castform.
"Worthless pokemon..." She muttered. "Its power isn't even worth our time..." Shelly gave a 'hmph' and tossed the pokeball carelessly behind her. She then looked up and glared at May.
"Don't think you've won yet, little girl...I still have one pokemon left." Shelly reached for her last pokeball, but as she did she heard a beeping from a communicator she had in her ear. She reached up and tapped on the device, and a small microphone extended down from her headband to her mouth.
"This better be important...I'm busy with one of our targets here." She said into the microphone.
"Targets? What does she mean by that?" May wondered. Shelly was listening to whoever was speaking through the ear communicator.
"I see. Understood sir. We will withdraw immediately." Shelly tapped her communicator again, and the microphone went back up into her bandana.
"Looks like you get lucky this time." She said to May. "But I'm sure we'll meet again." Shelly moved out of the doorway and walked past May and Lombre without another word. Two more members of Team Aqua came out of the other room and followed behind her.
"Huh? What just happened?" May wondered out loud. Lombre shrugged, not really understanding the situation.
"Well, whatever! You did great out there, Lombre! Return!" May held up Lombre's pokeball and recalled it, then placed the pokeball on her belt. She then picked up Wynaut off the floor and held him at eye level.
"Well I guess now we should check on Alex, huh?" Wynaut nodded in agreement.
"Right." May smiled. "But somehow, I don't think he had any trouble..."
"It doesn't matter if she's as good as you are, because you're going to lose to me anyway!" Matt claimed.
"We'll see about that! Time to unleash Numel's most powerful attack...now! Numel, use Overheat!"
"What?! No way! Mightyena, get away from it!" Mightyena followed its master's orders, and quickly distanced itself from Numel to stand in front of Matt. They both waited for Numel's attack...but Numel didn't appear to be doing anything.
"And that, my friend..." Melany began. "Is what you call a 'bluff'. Now attack with Ember, Numel! Give it all you've got and don't stop!" Numel opened its mouth and fired a small ball of fire at Mightyena, striking it in the face. Mightyena shook it off and growled.
"Why you little...! Mightyena, Take Down attack!" Mightyena charged forward, but didn't get very far before it was distracted by another Ember attack, and the second fireball struck it in its front left leg, brining it down. By the time it got back up, another fireball had struck it in the opposite leg, bringing it down again.
"Alright, good! Now finish it off with Take Down!" Numel charged towards Mightyena as it was getting up from its last Ember attack, and as soon as Mightyena was standing again it was bowled over by a full body tackle from Numel. Mightyena was knocked backwards, landing at its trainer's feet unconcious.
"I didn't expect someone like you to fight dirty..." Matt grumbled.
"I'll reserve playing by the rules for real pokemon battles." Melany stated. "Not for battles with criminals."
"I've heard just about enough from you..." Matt recalled his Mightyena, then reached for his last pokeball. As he did, however, a woman grabbed his hand from behind.
"Thats enough, Matt. We're withdrawing. Archie's orders." The woman, Team Aqua Admin Shelly, said to him. Matt glanced back at her, then looked back to Melany and muttered something under his breath.
"Fine. Catching the brats will just have to wait I guess." Shelly and the rest of Team Aqua left down the stairs behind Melany. Matt followed behind, glaring at her one last time before leaving.
"I wonder what that was all about?" Melany thought for a moment, then shrugged and looked to Numel. "Well, I'm sure May must have figured out what they were up to by now. Anyway, you did a good job against that Mightyena, Numel. You deserve a rest." Melany recalled Numel and returned its pokeball to her belt. By that time, May had met up with her again.
"Hey, Alex! Looks like Team Aqua's leaving." May said to Melany.
"Alex..." Melany thought. "Team Aqua's figured out who I am, maybe I should just tell May the truth? ...No, I think its best I keep it a secret still, at least for now."
"Alex! Are you even listening to me?" Melany suddenly noticed May was standing right in front of her, glaring at her.
"Eh heh...sorry, was kinda lost in thought there for a moment, what were you saying?" May hmphed and placed her hands on her hips.
"I said we could talk to someone about getting food now..."
"Right." Melany said, nodding in agreement. "I'm kinda curious what Team Aqua was after here though..."
"I think they were interested in a pokemon they had here that can control the weather..." May replied. "I guess it wasn't what they expected though because they left it behind. Anyway, I guess everyone in the weather station would be in the room up ahead that Team Aqua had blocked off..."
"Alright then, lead the way." May lead Melany to the other side of the building where she had been fighting Shelly earlier, passing many small offices and cubicles along the way which were all empty. When they had reached the door that Shelly was blocking earlier, Melany paused and looked around.
"Wow...this place is a mess..." She commented, looking at the floor around her. There was a large circular area that seemed like it was wet then quickly dried up. Just outside that area it was wet and there was small piles of slush in some areas.
"This is where I battled Shelly, and she was using a pokemon called Castform. There was a lot of indoor weather here..."
"Castform? ...I've heard of that pokemon, but don't know much about it. Its a very rare pokemon with no known habitats in Hoenn. I know its type changes with the weather though."
"Fire-type with intense sunlight, water type with heavy rain, ice type with a hail storm." May said, nodding in agreement.
The two trainers continued into the next room, where the weather station's scientists seemed to be busy cleaning up. There were a few Castforms floating about the room as well, and some of the scientists were tending to them. There were papers all over the place, and the room looked like it had been ransacked. As soon as May and Melany entered the room, all the scientists immediately turned to them.
"You're not one of them...are you?" One of the scientists asked. "No, you couldn't be...you're not wearing their uniform..."
"Nope, we're just the ones that fought them off!" May said to the scientist. "I'm May Maple, and this is Alex."
"Don't pay any attention to her." Melany said, keeping with the guise of 'Alex'. "We didn't fight them off, they left of their own accord while we were battling them." May quickly shot her a look.
"Ah...well thanks for your help anyway." The scientist replied. "It seems they were looking for pokemon to make it rain for some reason, and tried to take our Castform. It seems that at the very least you delayed them from doing that...we need to thank you in some way."
"Umm...you have any food around here...?" May asked sheepishly.
"And raincoats..." Melany added. The scientist blinked and looked at them oddly for a moment.
"Well of course we do..."
The scientists working at the weather station were more than happy to share some of their food with the two trainers, and provide them with a raincoat each since they had a few spares. While eatting, May and Melany explained what had happened to them on their way to Fortree. May also went into great detail about her battle with Castform, and Melany took a few notes from May's story to help understand Castform's abilities.
"So you're the daughter of Norman, the gym leader then." The head scientist, Bill stated. He was the one who had addressed them when they entered the lab earlier, and was still with them while the two trainers ate some waffles. Wynaut had managed to get a berry out of the deal.
"So what about Alex, then? Who's he?" Bill asked.
"Him? He's a nobody." May stated, causing Melany to nearly choke on a mouthful of waffle.
"I see...well its a good thing you two came along when you did, in any case. If you hadn't, then they might have very well made off with all our Castform."
"Oh we deal with Team Aqua and Team Magma a lot anyway..." May said before taking another large bite from a waffle coated in way too much syrup. She chewed it for a moment and swallowed.
"Its kinda funny but it seems like we're often in the right place at the right time to stop them from doing something..."
"You mean they've both been causing trouble?" Bill asked, perplexed by this information. "I've only ever heard of Team Aqua doing such things, but supposedly its only rogue..."
"Thats a bunch of lies!" Melany suddenly blurted out, slamming her hands on the table and startling May, Wynaut, and Bill. Wynaut and May both stopped eatting and just stared at her in surprise. Melany realized she caused a bit of a scene with her sudden outburst, and quickly calmed herself.
"What I meant is...its not just rogue Team Aqua members. Thats just a coverup by their boss to make it look like they're the good guys. Team Magma, on the other hand, just doesn't get caught when they're breaking the law so no one ever thinks they're up to anything."
"They didn't seem to be making any attempt to cover this one up, however." Bill stated.
"Its possible they didn't think they'd be able to. When we were in Mauville, they tried one of their propeganda tricks there, making it look like they were helping out with a Sharpedo problem when really the Sharpedo were their's."
"He wouldn't have been able to beat them if he didn't have my pokemon with him." May added, nodding to herself. Wynaut also nodded in agreement with her. Melany muttered something under her breath.
"You seem to be quite the accomplished trainer, miss May." Bill said to May. "I believe that Castform you fought would do well with a trainer like you, so I would like for you to take it with you."
"You really think so?" May asked. She didn't really think trainers should simply give their pokemon away to someone else.
"Of course, we only use our Castforms for research. I think it would do well with a trainer though, and you said you're working on a pokedex, right?"
"Thats true I guess...ok, I'll take Castform with me."
"Very well, if you just give me your pokedex for a moment I'll transfer Castform to your id." May handed her pokedex over to Bill, who went off with it into one of the laboratories. May and Melany finished their waffles, then waited by the building's exit. Eventually, Bill returned and handed May her pokedex back.
"The transfer is complete, but since you already have six pokemon with you it was sent to your pc as soon as it was registered to you." May flipped open her pokedex and scrolled through it until she found Castform's entry, just to make sure it was there.
"Great, thanks Bill!"
"Your quite welcome, miss May. I hope you'll take good care of it."
With their business at the weather station finished, the two trainers continued on their way to Fortree City for their next gym badge. It was raining when they left, but with the raincoats they were given they made it to Fortree without anymore incidents.
Author's Notes: Yep, secret's finally out. I think in the next chapter I'll go back to referring to her as 'Alex' though, seems easier to write that way, at least until she's no longer pretending to be Alex.