Hey guys, I finally managed to get chapter 38 written! As usual, thanks to everyone who has kept up with the story thus far! (and left a review, of course!) Enjoy! ^^
Author's note: Hikari's current line-up is Dewott, Zorua, Unfezant, Sawk, and Deerling. There is currently a space left open in the line-up.
P.S. I do not own Pokemon. Nero belongs to Daisuke Haoru. (Apologies for taking so long to add him to the story! *bows in apology*)
When we last left Hikari, she learned that N had managed to befriend the legendary Dragon-type Pokemon Zekrom. He revealed that if Hikari is to have any chance of defeating him, she must seek out the other Dragon-type Pokemon Reshiram. Now our heroine is traveling to the Desert Resort in the hopes of finding the white dragon.
Tatsuya and I soon landed in Nimbasa City, where we were able to stock up on supplies for our trip to the Desert Resort. We rested for the night before heading out the next morning.
"I wonder if the sandstorms have calmed down by now," I wondered as we approached the gate to Route 4.
"Unfortunately, I don't think they have," Tatsuya said. "You'd better get your jacket out if you don't wanna get sand-blasted. And by the way, it's a good thing you've got Zorua with you. There may be a few Ghost Pokemon in the Relic Castle."
Gulping at the thought, I clutched Zorua's ball on my belt. "Suddenly, I'm glad I've got him, too."
Once we were outside the gate, I pulled on my black jacket to protect my arms from the sandstorm. We headed down the path to our right until we reached the Desert Resort, a vast space of desert. "Whoa! I can see a few Hikers here and there."
"Yeah, despite the sandstorms, this is actually a popular place for Hikers," Tatsuya explained. "I wonder if Cheren and Alder are here yet…"
"They took off ahead of us, so maybe," I answered as we walked. After a while, I accidently bumped into something: an odd-looking statue. "Hmm? Could this be part of the ruins?"
"Dunno," Tatsuya replied. "Although it looks kinda familiar…"
Suddenly, my stomach growled. "Heh heh, whoops," I muttered, a little embarrassed.
"You're hungry already?" Tatsuya asked in disbelief. "We ate back at the Pokemon Center."
"My stomach doesn't seem to care," I retorted as I started digging through my bag for something small to eat. I finally pulled out a Rage Candy Bar that I had gotten back at Icirrus City. "This oughta do it."
Tatsuya's eyes widened, as if he had just realized something. "Uh, Hikari… you should probably put that away. Like, right now."
"What? But I'm hungry…" My voice trailed off when the statue in front of us suddenly started to move. It then turned red and pounded its fists into the ground. My eyes grew wide and I let out a huge scream. "Aaaaahhh! A Darmanitan!"
A wild Darmanitan appeared!
"Darmanitan, the Blazing Pokemon and the evolved form of Darumaka. Its internal fire burns at 2,500°F, making enough power that it can destroy a dump truck with one punch."
"Run!" Tatsuya shouted as he grabbed my hand, and the two of us started running away from the angry red Pokemon. "It must've been in Zen Mode, and the smell of the Rage Candy Bar woke it up!"
"Are you serious?!" I shouted back.
As we kept running, Tatsuya asked, "Are you afraid of Darmanitan, too?"
"Yes! I'm terrified!" I replied, not daring to look behind me as Darmanitan pursued us.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Dewott appeared in front of Darmanitan, making it skid to a stop. "Dewott dewott! (Leave her alone!)" he shouted, drawing his scalchops.
Turning around, I shouted, "Dewott! Are you nuts?!"
"Dew dewott, dewott, (Don't worry, Hikari)" the Water Pokemon replied. "Dewott dewott. (I'll protect you.)" However, a few seconds after those words left his mouth, he was sent flying from a powerful Hammer Arm attack!
"Oh no, Dewott!" I cried as the brave Discipline Pokemon hit the desert sand, his scalchops landing out of reach.
Dewott shakily stood up, having sustained quite a bit of damage from the attack. Darmanitan grinned at the weakened Pokemon before pounding on its belly, surrounding its body with a red glow.
"Uh-oh, that's Belly Drum!" Tatsuya said. "Darmanitan just raised its attack power to its maximum! Dewott's in big trouble now!"
"Hang on, Dewott! Use Water Pulse!" Having steadied itself, Dewott shot a powerful Water Pulse at Darmanitan, hitting it dead on.
Angered by the attack, the Blazing Pokemon began to charge towards Dewott and would've landed another Hammer Arm attack, but Dewott barely managed to roll out of the way. Having missed its target, Darmanitan turned back to me and charged once again.
My legs wouldn't move, I was too scared. "Hikari, look out!" Tatsuya shouted as he moved in front of me, wrapping his arms around me and shielding my body with his own.
We both braced for impact… but it never came. I heard a loud howl and the sound of an Aqua Jet attack hitting its target. I looked past Tatsuya to see that Darmanitan had been knocked away, and a Samurott was glaring at his opponent. "Samu, sam samurott! (I said, leave her alone!)"
Congratulations! Your Dewott evolved into Samurott!
"Did Dewott just now evolve?!" Tatsuya asked in surprise as he released me, looking back at the large Water Pokemon.
"No way…!" I breathed. Dewott evolved… to protect me?!
Samurott then turned to face me. "Samurott? (Are you OK?)" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks to you," I said, patting his armored head. Darmanitan started to get back on its feet before suddenly reverting to Zen Mode. "That's odd… According to the Pokedex, Darmanitan will go into Zen Mode when it becomes weak. Aqua Jet didn't cause that much damage, did it?"
"Actually, quite a bit of that damage came from its Belly Drum move," Tatsuya explained. "While it raises its attack power, it also severely hurts the Pokemon using it. In this case, it, along with Samurott's attacks, was enough for it to revert to Zen Mode. One more move should finish it off."
Smiling at this new information, I decided to use this opportunity to face my fear. "Let's finish this! Razor Shell!"
Samurott stood up on his hind legs and drew his new seamitar from the sheath on his arm. Leaping forward, it slashed at Darmanitan, sending it flying once again, and this time it didn't get up.
The wild Darmanitan fainted!
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, I collapsed onto the sand. "I… I did it… I beat Darmanitan," I said in-between pants.
Tatsuya knelt beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You gonna be alright?"
Nodding, I looked up at him and Samurott, who had walked over to check on me. "Thanks, guys." As Tatsuya helped me stand up, I explained how I had developed my fear of Darmanitan. "You remember how I told you that I was chased by a Darmanitan four years ago? Since then, I've been afraid of it."
"Well, at least you were able to stand up to it in the end," Tatsuya said. "I still can't get anywhere near a Galvantula!"
"Ha ha, good point!" I agreed with a laugh. "Hmm, I wonder how Minnie is gonna react to Samurott."
"Samurott samurott, (I hope she takes it well)" Samurott muttered to himself.
"If she really loves you, I'm sure she will. Thanks for protecting me, buddy," I said with a smile before pulling out a Hyper Potion. "Here, you better take this. You took quite a beating back there."
Smiling back at me, Samurott allowed his injuries to be treated before returning to his Poke Ball.
After that, Tatsuya and I resumed our search for the Relic Castle. Eventually, we saw some large ruins ahead. "That's it! That's the entrance to the Relic Castle," Tatsuya said.
"Well then, let's go," I said, rushing ahead of Tatsuya.
We both stopped when we heard someone shout, "Stop, you two!" We turned to see Cheren running up to us. "You're impressive, making it here before I did."
"Hey Cheren, glad you could make it!" I greeted, happy to see my friend. "What took you so long?"
"Dealing with the Desert Resort's Pokemon took longer than I would've thought," the spectacled Trainer explained. "I only made it all the way out here thanks to my Pokemon."
"Yeah, same here," I told him. "We were delayed by a rampaging Darmanitan."
"Alder's not with you?" Tatsuya asked, remembering that the two of them had left Icirrus City together.
"He went on ahead," Cheren replied. "Let's hurry." And with that, the three of us went inside the Relic Castle.
Looking around, I was impressed that quite a bit of the castle had stayed intact after so many years. Now that we weren't getting blasted by the sandstorm, I removed my jacket and placed it inside my bag. I also let Zorua out of his ball in case we ran into any Ghost Pokemon, and Tatsuya opened his bag to let Victini out.
"I wonder where the Light Stone is hidden in here…" I wondered.
"Well, it's obviously not gonna be in the first room we walk int-AH!" Cheren let out a startled cry when he suddenly stepped into a quicksand puddle and started sinking fast!
"Don't move, Cheren! We got you!" Tatsuya shouted, quickly grabbing one of Cheren's arms while I grabbed the other one. After a few seconds, we managed to pull Cheren out of the quicksand.
"OK, that was too close," I said as I released my grip on Cheren. "You OK?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the save," he answered, looking a little embarrassed. "Let's keep an eye out for any more quicksand."
As we walked, we eventually came to a staircase leading down. Suddenly, Zorua shouted, "Zo, zoru! (Look, up there!)"
Looking where the fox Pokemon was, I froze when I saw a floating mask. "Ahhh! G-Ghost!"
"Calm down, Hikari. It's a Yamask," Cheren told me, rolling his eyes.
"Yamask, the Spirit Pokemon. Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry."
"Cheren, you know darn well I'm scared of ghosts and Ghost Pokemon!" I retorted as I hid behind him and Tatsuya. "Zorua, can you talk to it?"
"Zorua zoru, zorua, (Anything for you, Hikari)" Zorua replied before walking up to Yamask. "(Hey pal, you know this place. Do you know where the Light Stone is?)"
Yamask moved its mask up and down, like it was nodding its head. "(You're on the right path, but there is quicksand past the stairs. You have to fall through the quicksand in order to proceed.)"
Zorua's ears drooped a little. "(Please tell me you're kidding. We almost sank in that stuff a few minutes ago!)"
"(I'm not kidding,)" Yamask replied calmly. "(You must hurry, many men in gray came through here with bad intentions.)"
Men in gray? I wondered before realizing what the Ghost Pokemon was talking about. "That must be Team Plasma! What are they doing here?!"
"Yeah, I thought they might back off while we search for the Light Stone," Tatsuya said. "Guess I was wrong."
"They do whatever they can to make trouble for us," Cheren muttered, shaking his head. "What a complete bother…"
"Zoru! (Thanks pal!)" Zorua said as Yamask disappeared. The Dark-type Pokemon dashed down the stairs ahead of us, and the rest of us quickly followed.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, an older man wearing dark green robes stood in front of us.
"Another Sage?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "What's going on here?"
The Sage looked directly at me. "Ghetsis told us that once again we should test how much power you have. We will see if you can defeat Team Plasma!" Then he threw down a smokescreen and took off in the confusion.
"They've gotta stop doing that," I grumbled, trying to clear my throat after coughing from the smoke.
"So Team Plasma really is here…" Tatsuya muttered grimly.
"I'm afraid so," a voice said. We looked to see a Team Plasma grunt walking towards us. But this grunt looked a little different than the others I had seen; his skin was light brown, his eyes were dark brown, and he wore black-rimmed glasses.
Cheren pulled a Poke Ball out of his bag and got into position. "You go on ahead, Hikari. I'll take care of this guy."
"Hey, hold on!" the grunt said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm not one of those bozos. I'm on your side!" The grunt then pulled back his hood as if to drive his point further. His hair was black and spiky, and his right bangs were white.
I looked at the boys. "Well, he certainly doesn't look like all those other grunts we've seen."
"True," Tatsuya agreed. "But then, how come you're wearing their uniform?"
"I was investigating these ruins when those guys showed up out of nowhere," the young man explained. "I knocked out one of the grunts and swiped his uniform so I could blend in and keep up my investigation."
"Nice!" I commented with an approving smile.
"Thanks!" he said with a grin. "So you must be that Hikari they keep talking about. My name's Nero."
"Nice to meet you, Nero," I replied. "And yeah, I'm Hikari. And this is Tatsuya, Cheren, Zorua and Victini."
"I don't suppose there's any chance of you getting out of that uniform?" Cheren asked, tilting his head.
"Oh, sure! 'Bout time, this thing is killing me," Nero said before moving behind a wall. A few minutes later, he reappeared wearing a red shirt with the number 17 on the front in white numbers, blue jeans, and white and brown sneakers. He also had a black jacket with Poke Balls emblazoned on the back, sleeves and left side of the chest, but he slung it over his shoulder for the time being. "Ahh, that's better!"
"Great! Now let's get moving, we have to find the Light Stone," Tatsuya said as we all started walking again with Nero accompanying us.
It wasn't long before we came to a dead end, where there was more quicksand. "That Yamask earlier said we had to fall through the quicksand in order to keep going," I told the others.
"Yeah, that's pretty much how it works," Nero confirmed before doing a double-take towards me. "Wait a second, you can understand Pokemon?"
"Weird, huh?" I replied. "Somehow, I've always been able to do it."
"Great, as if one close call was bad enough," Cheren grumbled. "Oh well, guess we have to do it." So he reluctantly stepped forward and jumped into the quicksand, allowing himself to pass through.
The rest of us followed suit, and I closed my eyes as the sand swallowed me up. Suddenly, I felt myself falling and I landed on the floor below. "OK, that's a little strange," I muttered as I stood up. "Everybody alright?"
"Yeah, I'm OK," Tatsuya piped up. Victini floated up so I could see he was unharmed.
"Zoru, (I'm good)" Zorua replied.
"Looks like we all made it," Nero said, standing up and brushing some sand off his jeans.
Looking around, I realized someone was missing. "Hold on, where's Cheren?"
"Now that you mention it…" Tatsuya said as he glanced around. But our friend was nowhere to be seen. "Think he ran ahead again?"
"While that sounds like him, I'm not sure that's the case this time," I said, getting a little worried.
A thoughtful expression came across Nero's face. "There are two possible explanations for his disappearance: one, Team Plasma captured him. Two, he had a run-in with… Cofagrigus," he finished with a dark expression.
"C-C-Cofagrigus?" I stammered, not liking the sound of this at all.
"Check your Pokedex and you'll see what I mean," Nero said.
"You haven't seen one yet, Hikari, so I'll show you mine," Tatsuya said. "I'll warn you, it is a Ghost-type Pokemon." He pulled out his Pokedex and an image of a coffin with four ghostly arms appeared on the screen.
"Cofagrigus, the Coffin Pokemon and the evolved form of Yamask. It has been said that they swallow those who get too close and turn them into mummies. They like to eat gold nuggets."
"So Nero, you're saying that Cheren could've been…" My voice trailed off with a shudder at the thought of Cheren being eaten by that creepy Pokemon.
"Well, that's what the stories say, anyway," the older man said with a shrug. "Truth be told, I have no idea if that's true or not."
"Well, no more ghost stories, please," I said before we rounded a corner, coming across two grunts.
The grunts spotted us, and one of them pointed at me. "I've heard about you. I heard you work Pokemon hard!"
"OK, hold up," I interrupted, holding up one hand. "Before we go any further, have you seen a kid with black hair and glasses come through here?"
"The only person we've seen come through is the Champion," the other grunt said. "We ignored him, of course. You're our main concern. Prepare yourself!"
I got into a battle position before Nero stepped up next to me. "Mind if I give you a hand?"
Smirking, I replied, "Sure, why not?" Zorua hopped onto my shoulder as the battle began.
Hikari and Nero are challenged by Team Plasma Grunt and Team Plasma Grunt!
The grunts each sent out a Krokorok. "Go, Deerling!" I shouted as the shiny Deerling pranced onto the battlefield.
"Croconaw, let's go!" Nero shouted as he threw a ball and a blue crocodile Pokemon appeared.
"Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokemon. Once it bites down, it won't let go until it loses its fangs. New fangs quickly grow into place."
"Crunch!" One of the Krokorok rushed forward and chomped down on Deerling.
"Dig!" The other one dug into the ground, popping up seconds later and sending Croconaw into the air.
The older Trainer just smirked. "Is that all? You're seriously outmatched. Aqua Tail, now!" A stream of water spiraled around Croconaw's tail. It then jumped and flipped around, hitting its opponent with its tail and knocking it out.
The foe's Krokorok fainted!
"Deerling, use Energy Ball!" Deerling's attack hit the other Krokorok dead on, and it couldn't continue.
The foe's Krokorok fainted!
Hikari and Nero defeated Team Plasma Grunt and Team Plasma Grunt!
The grunts recalled their Pokemon, and the first one seemed a little sheepish. "Yes, I heard you were strong. You match what I heard perfectly."
"Much better," I said, crossing my arms.
"Now where's our friend?" Nero demanded, his Croconaw giving the grunts a threatening glare.
"I'm telling you, we didn't see a kid come through here!" the other grunt said. "Just get going, will ya?!" Seconds after he said that, he and the other grunt ran right past us.
Tatsuya looked over at me. "They didn't seem to be lying. Let's just keep going."
Nodding in agreement, I was about to recall Deerling when he started glowing. "Another evolution?!" I exclaimed as the Season Pokemon grew in size, and I could see antlers growing on his head. When the glow died down, a proud buck with golden brown fur stood there. Healthy green leaves were growing from his new antlers.
Congratulations! Your Deerling evolved into Sawsbuck!
"Sawsbuck, the Season Pokemon and the evolved form of Deerling. They migrate according to the seasons. People can tell the season by looking at Sawsbuck's horns."
"Whoa! Look at you, Sawsbuck!" I said as I hugged the newly-evolved Pokemon around the neck. Sawsbuck smiled and gently licked my cheek, causing me to giggle.
"Nice work, guys," Tatsuya said. "And I really hate to cut the celebration short, but we've gotta find Cheren."
"You're right," I said before recalling Sawsbuck. "Let's hurry and find him before a Cofagrigus does."
"If it hasn't already," Nero added only to get punched in the arm by me.
"You're not helping!" I shouted at him as he and Tatsuya just chuckled.
Now our heroine doesn't just have a Light Stone to find, but a missing friend as well. Can Hikari face her fear of Ghost-type Pokemon deep in the Relic Castle? Stay tuned!