Locke and Key: A Nuzlocke Story
A/N: Only one chapter and an epilogue left…
Thanks for the reviews/alerts, everyone. :D
And to my editor, as always. :3
Lance was everything he was on TV, and more. This guy had something I'd never have—something very few TV personalities have in person. Presence.Maybe it was the fact that he had dragons at his belt, but his confidence touched me even from my platform.
I observed his arena first—it was much like Bruno's had been, but with a stable hard floor. Your typical stadium, in truth. His dragons needed no cold water, no dirt, no shadows.
From our standard distance, I could see his high cheekbones and flame-colored hair. His eyes were bright and almost feverish, and his smile was calm—it went ill with the rest of him, actually.
His dark cape skimmed the floor. Seriously, he was wearing a cape.
"Greetings, challenger," he called. "As you probably know, I am Lance, the final member of the Elite Four. If you defeat me, you will face the Champion of the Pokemon League."
"Yupp," I said, all lackluster. Who cared about the camera? I was still only here to win.
"Very well then. Are you prepared?" He punctuated this question by drawing his first Poke Ball.
"As much as I'll ever be," I answered.
He laughed. "As we all are, challenger. As we all are. Very well. Let this match commence!"
He tossed the Ball, releasing a familiar blue and white beast with a face of whiskers and fangs. Gyarados—not technically a dragon, but a Pokemon of immense renown and power.
"Flitz, go! Use Spark!"
As soon as my Electrode appeared on the field, his round body stormed with electricity. He rolled faster than my eye could follow—straight into the Gyarados, whose double weakness caused it to roar in agony.
It didn't scare me. It wasn't the worst weapon in Lance's arsenal—Gyarados was just the opening note to a song of blood and valor, really. I watched without expression as the enormous blue and white beast crashed to the ground, fangs jostling in its ferocious head.
Lance recalled his Pokemon without batting one fine eyelash. He was all for the camera, this one. "Dragonair, go!"
I recalled Flitz as he spoke—there was no reason for me to use Electrode now. A graceful serpentine creature appeared on Lance's side of the field, coiling delicately. It was far less fierce than Gyarados; in fact, Dragonair was beautiful, in a way. It shone, gemlike, uniquely sapphire rather than blue—a deadly beauty.
I chose Kashen for this match. As the light from his Ball faded and he unfurled his wings, I commanded, "Dragon Claw that fucker, Kashen."
As I spoke, Lance pulled his arm back and suavely ordered, "Dragonair, Dragon Rage!"
The snake-bodied dragon was quicker than it looked, but Kashen managed to drag his glowing red claws across it just as it breathed green fire in his face. They disentangled, glaring at one another—Dragonair's sleek blue body dripped red from the attack.
"Again! Dragon Claw!" This time, the end came quick—Kashen pulled his arms back and let the furious hits fall where they would. The dragon fell, red staining its battered blue body.
"Dragonair, go!" He called again, unfazed. I groaned—an identical Dragonair appeared, this one unbloodied and glaring fiercely.
"Repeat, Kashen! Dragon Claw!" He darted forward, long claws glaring under the lights, but this dragon wasn't going to fall in one hit. It slithered forward as his claws raked over it. Simultaneously, Lance gave his command:
"Thunder Wave!" After hearing its orders, Dragonair swiftly drew its coils over Kashen, static running from its body to his. His wings clipped, Kashen slumped, eyes burning furiously.
"Oh, damn it," I muttered to myself. There was no way he was going to outspeed the little fucker now, and what if he didsurvive the next attack, but he seized up?
"Return, Kashen," I said, withdrawing him. "CeeCee, you're up!"
No sooner was my Dewgong on the field than Lance commanded, "Hyper Beam."
I stared in shock. Hyper Beam was one of Lance's signature moves, but I wasn't aware that his pre-evolved dragons could use it. It arched its sapphire neck, a powerful beam plowing its way into CeeCee from its mouth. Luckily, he took the hit in stride, and ignoring the burn marks that flecked his white pelt, he released an Ice Beam that took the panting dragon in its delicate chest.
The serpent fell—and Lance recalled it, still not visibly worried. He's down three, I thought, observing him. He still has his two best players, though, so why would he worry?
"Aerodactyl, go!"
Interesting. The light faded, revealing a prehistoric reptilian thing with stone pieces for scales, a long mouth full of teeth, and slender wings. Not technically a dragon, but nor was Gyarados.
I promptly withdrew CeeCee, who was injured from Hyper Beam. I need someone to take a hit or two, so I can heal Kashen and CeeCee, I thought, glancing worriedly at my belt. Frederick or Lyrica would do the job, but… "Lyrica, go!" My Nidoqueen once more took the field, looking more than ready to face the beast before her.
"Brace yourself, baby," I called, rummaging through my bag. "I'm going to need you to take some hits for me."
"Nal," she said calmly, planting her feet. Lance smiled.
"Aerodactyl, Hyper Beam."
I clenched my teeth. A white flare engulfed the room, radiating from the energized beam Aerodactyl was shooting at Lyrica. I knelt on the floor, trying to inject Full Restores into Kashen and CeeCee's Poke Balls, but I was trembling so badly that I nearly dropped them both.
Come on, Lyrica, I thought desperately. Hang in there…
The bright light faded. I gazed fearfully over my platform's rail, onto the field where Lyrica still stood. She was leaning over heavily, and her tough skin was scorched painfully, but she was alive.And she still had enough health to attack.
Hyper Beam, you see, is a move that has its sacrifices. The attack takes so much out of the user's body that it must rest after use. Aerodactyl's wings stiffened, and it fell to the floor, panting.
"Lyrica," I said, trying to hide my smile, "Superpower."
Because Aerodactyl was half Rock, the move hit neutrally, but Lyrica's glowing arm thrust him to the floor. Flecks of stone flew into the air after the smashing blow.
"Return, Lyrica," I called, before it could recover. She'd done more than her fair share. "CeeCee, finish this clown! Ice Beam!"
Aerodactyl had staggered to the air again on unsteady wings, and was preparing a move—AncientPower, maybe?—when my Dewgong's frosted breath took him in the chest and sent him reeling.
"Return, Aerodactyl," Lance said. Still kept his composure. His last Pokemon was one of legends. "Dragonite."
Dragonite, indeed. It stood at a little over seven feet tall, its golden scales shining like armor under the arena lights. Despite its height, however, Dragonite didn't have an intimidating appearance. Its wingspan was half of Kashen's, its fangs invisible, its claws small and ineffectual.
Yet, I knew from TV reruns that Dragonite's strength didn't rely on his fangs, claws or wings. Dragons burned from within.
And I don't mean that they use special moves.
They used to say that dragon's souls were created as weapons of the legendary Pokemon in their ancient wars. I don't really believe that legendary Pokemon used Dragonite or Garchomp as soldiers in some great battle, but I do believe in the ancient blood that runs in those Pokemon's veins.
There's some mystic power there, whatever it may be.
"CeeCee, use Ice Beam," I called, as Dragonite's body began to glow. Literally, it looked as though it were evolving—but the energy was red and orange, like a dancing wildfire.
"Dragonite—Outrage!"
And there it was—the moment I'd been dreading.
Being much swifter and higher-leveled than CeeCee, Dragonite swept forward with blinding speed and power. His entire body began to spiral, then crashed into the Dewgong with dizzying impact.
My Dewgong flew backwards, hitting the base of my platform with a skull-crushing THUD.
"CeeCee!" I rushed at the rail, looking frantically for my Dewgong's body. There's no way he survived that, I thought, tearful. There's no way.
But there was. His Ice-typing gave a tiny resistance… and he struggled forward, bleeding from his head wound, to fire the Ice Beam I'd ordered before his near-death.
The cold beam brought Dragonite to its knees, and it wailed as it began to cover over his stomach and chest.
It didn't fall, though.
Lance and I both used the next turn of battle to heal—the astringent scent of Full Restore permeated the air as both of our Pokemon—visibly battered, but lively with battle spirit—managed to rise again.
I wasn't sure if CeeCee had gotten lucky, surviving that Outrage, but I knew he was the only one of my Pokemon who could. It would have taken Kashen down immediately, and Dragon Claw wasn't going to kill Dragonite—not if it wasn't used by a Dragon-type. The beast was just too strong.
"CeeCee," I said, leaning over my railing. "You're my only hope." There was a risky move… I had to take the chance. Too much more of this, and neither of us would survive to the end. "Blizzard."
"Dragonite," Lance called confidently from his side of the arena, "use Hyper Beam."
Dragonite lowered its head almost as Lance spoke, and fired the same obliterating white ray I'd seen Lyrica tank at CeeCee.
Surely, you can survive this… you survived an Outrage, for god's sake… CeeCee, come on…
The white light cleared. Sure enough, my Dewgong was still standing, although he looked as though he was on the brink of death.
His tail glowed silver—he swept it forward, hurling an Arctic storm at Dragonite. To my surprise and glee, it hit its mark—the dragon screeched in a foreign cry, then crumbled to its knees, ice crusting over its body.
We had beaten the dragon master—and no one had died for it.
Lance stared incredulously at his beaten legend, then smiled back up at me—for the cameras, I knew. There was an icy look in his eyes, and a stiffness around his mouth.
"Congratulations, challenger," he called in a brittle voice that almost passed for cheerful. "You're the second person in many years to conquer my dragons."
Green, I thought. My good old buddy Green.
Something occurred to me before I left the room, however. I took Lance by the shoulder, making sure not to dirty his cape, and turned him away from the cameras.
"If you had such powerful Pokemon that next to no one could beat, why the helldidn't you get the League down into Kanto to stop Team Rocket?" I asked forcefully.
He stared at me for a moment. "I'd heard about you bringing them down. You really are the girl who was Giovanni's end, aren't you?"
"It wasn't easy," I said, anger fueling me. "They've killed people, Pokemon… all of the gym leaders were either too afraid or too weak to stop them. They infested three cities, completely overtook the biggest metropolis in Kanto… and you bastards did nothing!"
"Giovanni promised me long ago that nothing harmful would come from Rocket Enterprises," Lance said, his mouth twitching. I could tell I was pissing him off, but I was far from caring. The memories of Mt. Moon, of Tradden on Nugget Bridge, of Dusty's mother and Silph Co., of Blaine's haunted face as he told me the story of Mewtwo, were washing over me in a riptide of emotion.
I had come to the end of my journey, but my journey had not been a typical one. No normal trainer has to deal with terrorists. They deal with loss and friendship and rivalries, wins and losses, battles and dreams—not with men in black toting guns and killing their friends, terrorizing towns.
I was a teenage girl. I'd walked out of Pallet Town with no real plans. I just wanted to be a good trainer, maybe make some money and gain a good reputation with the League. I'd ended up taking down the worst threat Kanto had seen in decades, and I got no real credit for it.
That wasn't what bothered me the most, though. It was the blank expression on Lance's face. It was the indifference of the Pokemon League.
It was the fact that I had to face my friend in a few minutes, and the fact that we could destroy each others' lives and dreams with one final battle.
"Fuck you," I said, biting my tongue. Blood filled my mouth, as it filled my eyes. "You're all paid-off plastics who are only here to impress Kanto's youth into becoming trainers. You little bastards can't even take on one criminal organization together, but I took them on with my Pokemon—me, a girl half your age."
"Leaf," he said as I stormed to the door. I paused.
"We—I—I thought Giovanni was going to bring good to Kanto. I thought he was going to save us," he said. I was surprised to hear him justify himself to me.
"Save us from what?"
"From the broken nation we are." He turned to me, eyes pleading. "You're right. The League did nothing. But the gym leaders could have. The trainers themselves could have. The only two people who even considered taking on Team Rocket were children, and… that's our problem. We are broken. I thought… with the dangers… we'd rise together, but…"
"They would have," I said simply. "If you had."
I didn't want to hear anymore about it. Team Rocket was dead and buried, and the last obstacle was one I'd been facing since I started this journey.
I closed the door on Lance's excuses—and on my journey itself.
The end is nigh, I thought wearily. Five Pokemon left.
It ends here.
For some of us, at least.