Last time on Tony's Journey...
Burgh, the Bug-type Artist and Gym Leader of Castelia City found himself in a life-or-death duel against Sir Mystico, Ghost-type Magician and one of the four Knights of Team Plasma, with Hawes, co-curator of the Nacrene City Museum, and an ancient and valuable Dragon-type Pokemon skull on the line! While Burgh fought valiantly, it was clear from the very beginning that he was outmatched, and Mystico tossed his Pokemon around like rag-dolls, unaware that our intrepid hero Tony was watching them all this time from the bushes, and is planning on saving Burgh and Hawes with his new Venipede, whom he had decided to nickname "Strike."
What will happen next? Find out now!
"Chandelure, Fire Blast!"
"Luuuure..."
"Leavanny, Protect!"
"Leah!"
A hideous burst of flames struck Leavanny's weakening shield, filling the chilled winter air with blistering heat for a split second before returning to the now usual bitterness. "Now, Razor Leaf on Cofagrigus!" Burgh ordered.
"Leah!" Leavanny shouted, unleashing a powerful flurry of dagger-like leaves, sailing right for the yet to be hit Cofagrigus.
"Will-O-Wisp!" Mystico snarled through ground teeth. This battle had been amusing at first, but now it was simply dragging on and on; evidently, any Gym Leader could fight well if backed into a corner. As much as he would like to do this slowly and painfully, he had places to be. Time to dispose of pretty boy.
Cofagrigus's Will-O-Wisp collided with Leavanny's Razor Leaf, reducing in the leaves roasting into ashes and the fireballs sailing towards Leavanny, who easily dodged, landing next to his sweating trainer. Burgh was just as tense as Mystico was - scratch that, he was even more tense. If Mystico lost, he had his minions to fall back on; nothing would be badly hurt but his pride. If Burgh lost, there was a fantastic chance that it would be curtains for him. Mystico seemed to be pretty eager to kill him, and he had a sword. All Burgh had was his sketch pad, so unless Mystico wanted to challenge him to an epic sketching showdown (which would be quite an interesting turn of events, Burgh had to admit) it didn't seem that he'd be making it out of this one.
I can't die now! Burgh thought as he ordered his Leavanny to dodge another Fire Blast. I have so many paintings and sculptures left to make! So many galleries to fill! Well, that and I think I left the oven on at home. I have to go and turn that off...
"Psychic, Cofagrigus!" Mystico shouted, getting fed up Leavanny's constant dodging and weaving.
"Mmmeheheheh!" chuckled Cofagrigus, raising his hands and lifting the frightened Leavanny off of the ground.
Mystico smirked. "Now, Fire Blast!" he ordered Chandlure.
"Luure..." Chandelure said weakly; the Leavanny had been a hard target to hit, and he was feeling weaker after using Fire Blast so many times. Blue and purple flames spouted from his body and blasted into the air, striking Leavanny with a searing, vicious burst of heat and fire.
"Leah!" Leavanny shrieked as the kanji-shaped fire attack struck him. Bugs and fire do not mix, and neither did leaves and fire, so needless to say the attack was super effective. The Bug-type twitched and fell to the ground, out cold.
"Leavanny!" Burgh shouted, now openly panicking.
"Don't worry," Mystico said, his velvety voice now filled with a faux-sympathetic tones. "I'll see to his recovery personally - right before I release him back into the wild where he belongs!"
"No..." Burgh said, his mind wrapped in disbelief as he faced what was quite possibly the worst defeat in his history as a Gym Leader.
"Yes!" Mystico chortled. "Time to bid you a final adieu, Gym Leader!" He jabbed a finger towards the distraught Burgh. "Finish 'im off, gents!" he told his Pokemon.
"Lure!"
"Mehheh!"
Two Shadow Balls shot from the two Ghost-types, the blacking energy fizzling as they sailed towards the terrified Burgh with deadly speed. The artist gave a yelp as he ducked underneath the attack, mentally fumbling for a plan - any plan. Leavanny was out-cold, Whirlipede and Dwebble were helplessly bound in Cofagrigus's Mummy, and the Plasmas had him outnumbered, not to mention they still had Hawes.
"You can't dodge forever!" Mystico sneered. "Stay still and give up already! I'll make it quick if you do!" he promised, drawing his sword.
"No thaaaaanks!" Burgh yelped as he ducked underneath another Shadow Ball, rolling away from the pursuing Ghost-types - and right into Mystico. The artist fell to the ground as the clown loomed over him, saber in his hand and pointed towards him. Without another word, Mystico stabbed at him, missing by inches as Burgh Krabby-walked to the side with a yelp.
"Hold still!" Mystico ordered, thrusting again, only for his blade to pierce the ground instead of Burgh's heart.
Burgh scuttled backwards, his shaking hand reaching into his pockets for something, anything to defend himself with. He felt his hand grip something cold and metallic and he pulled it out and held it up just in time to block Mystico's blade.
Mystico twitched as he looked at Burgh's weapon of choice. "A... A pen...?"
Indeed it was a pen, made from silvery metal, in Burgh's hand. "Uh... Yes..." he said, just as surprised as Mystico was. "It's the pen I got from my father when I graduated Trainer's School. It's made from high-quality, durable steel, and it's completely waterproof." He paused, and a silly grin crossed his face. "Hey! Look, the pen is mightier than the sword!"
"Uh... Sir Knight?" one of the Plasma Grunts asked meekly. "Do you need any help? I mean, we outnumber him..."
"Oh, shut up!" Mystico shouted, tugging at his sword; however, the previous attack had embedded it into the durable pen, and Burgh had no intention in letting his pen - or Mystico's sword - go. "Let go!" the Plasma Knight ordered angrily.
"No!" Burgh retorted. "It's... my... pen!" he shouted, tugging as hard as he could until the pen came free. He collapsed to the ground. "Finally," he gasped, looking over the pen. "I got it..."
Mystico growled as he jabbed his sword against Burgh's throat. "...back..." the Gym Leader finished meekly.
Mystico growled and raised his sword again: he had had it with witty remarks, with the constant dodging and with the fact that Burgh was still alive. With a furious snarl, he brought the blade down, slicing at Burgh's neck with intent to decapitate the Gym Leader and end his reign of terror once and for all.
At that moment, Tony made his move. He would have made it much sooner if his Venipede had been willing, but evidently all eight of the Centipede Pokemon's feet had gotten cold. It took a lot of convincing from Tony to get him willing to fight, but he eventually caved in, and Tony made his move, rising silently from his hiding place, and holding the Venipede carefully in his hand, as if he was holding a bowling ball, he wound up his arm and aimed for Mystico's legs, before rolling the Venipede towards Mystico, whispering "Use Rollout!" as he did so.
"Veni!" the Venipede cried as he rolled into a tight ball and shot past Burgh's fallen Pokemon. Though all of the Plasmas saw the strange, rolling creature shooting towards Mystico, and all of them cried out in warning, the clown was too busy about to behead Burgh. As such, he was caught completely off guard when the Venipede struck him in the legs, sending him to the ground with a surprised shriek. His sword flew into the air, fell to the earth and pierced the ground harmlessly, quivering in the wake of the attack.
Tony smirked. Strike, he thought. That's the perfect nickname.
Burgh took that moment to make his get away, returning all three of his Pokemon before running to Tony's side. Though grateful for his fellow Bug-Catcher's help, he did feel a bit annoyed that the young man was still in the Pinwheel Forest instead of safe back in Nacrene City. "I thought I told you to find your Larvesta and go home!" he reminded Tony as he took his position behind the trainer who still had Pokemon.
"Yeah..." Tony said, turning red. "Sorry about that. This actually happens to me a lot... Oh, check it out, I caught a Venipede!"
"Veni," Strike greeted, trying to play cool.
"Talk later, fight now!" Burgh insisted.
Meanwhile, Mystico looked like he was having an emotional spasm, his face twitching from enraged to amused, back and forth until it became just plain disturbing. Even his Pokemon slowly floated away to a safe distance. The Plasmas watched their Knight's emotion attack with a growing sense of unease; before they had just heard stories of Mystico's possible mental instability, but now they were witnessing it first-hand, and it was scary. Any second it seemed like the Plasma Knight might explode. The only one who seemed unaffected was Gorm, who watched with unknown intent, eyeing both Mystico and Tony, wondering who this newcomer was.
He looked... familiar... somehow... No, it couldn't be...
Mystico finally got a sentence out. "So... the great and mighty Gym Leader need to hide behind a mere child..."
Tony stepped forward. "Alright, that's enough!" he shouted. "Let Hawes go, right now!"
"'Let Hawes go, let Hawes go'!" mimicked Mystico sarcastically. "You know, not everything's about that nerd. Besides..." His eye narrowed dangerously. "What makes you think that you can defeat me?"
"I've beaten Plasmas before!" Tony shouted - not to boast or anything, or course; he just wanted to try and intimidate the Plasmas. "I took down two of your group at the Dream Yard in Striaton City, and two more in the Wellspring Cave! I'm not afraid of you!"
A wave of murmurs filled the grunts as they began to speak and whisper amongst themselves. Mystico didn't seem affected, simply glaring at Tony with dark eyes. Sage Gorm stepped forward, carefully looking over Tony. "So..." he said, quietly. "You are the one who is responsible for those events... In that case I have something for you."
Tony swallowed, but held his ground. "Yeah? What is it?"
Gorm bowed his head. "A sincere apology."
Tony nearly fell over, and Burgh gaped. "Eh... what...?!" they both stuttered.
"The events in the Wellspring Cave were nothing short of Pokemon cruelty at its lowest point," Gorm continued. "Even the Gym Leaders of Unova have never sunk to such a vicious low."
"Eh... thanks?" Burgh muttered, not sure whether to be flattered or not.
"No organization is perfect," Gorm admitted as he stepped out from behind his bodyguards, slowly walking over towards Tony. "There are always bound to be some bad apples. The members who had committed the act have been arrested, and they shall be punished gravely for their crime."
"That doesn't change what happened." Tony's voice became very cold as he remembered what had happened to those poor Pokemon only yesterday.
"Indeed it doesn't," Gorm agreed. "However, we cannot allow such treachery amongst our own ranks destroy our morale. Justice requires eternal vigilance!"
"You call this justice?!" Tony exclaimed. "Kidnapping an innocent man, stealing from a museum... That's wrong!"
"Wrong?" This time, it was Mystico who spoke. "Wrong? Let me tell you what's wrong, little boy," he hissed venomously. "Pokemon being torn from their homes and families, forced into fights for their trainers' amusement. Pokemon who are beaten and starved to maximize their ferocity, who live only to fight others. That's what's wrong in this world."
"But beating and starving your own Pokemon was made illegal years ago!" Burgh argued.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Mystico snapped. "That doesn't stop it from happening..." His voice trailed off, and a serious face of sorrow and horror crossed the clown's face. Tony was no psychologist, but he knew, deep down, that Mystico had seen something that he wished he could unsee - something horrible.
"Kidnapping and stealing are not tasks I partake in with any sort of joy," Gorm said with a sigh. "But it must be done to ensure the safety of Pokemon."
Tony, for once, didn't have anything to say. He was blown away, really. When he fought the Plasmas in the Dream Yard and the Wellspring Cave, he saw them as hypocrites and cultists; horrible, judgmental people with little regard for their own dogma. But looking over this old dude and Mystico, he saw something - a genuine concern for Pokemon well-being and a desire to improve their lots in life. A part of him agreed - he often heard on the news back in Kanto of people who abused or used their Pokemon, and sometimes they could get away with it due to a single slip-up in the legal procedures. However, while a part of Tony did agree with them, he knew that stealing was usually wrong, and so was kidnapping.
Burgh managed to speak both his and Tony's minds: "Even if you're fighting for a good cause, stealing and kidnapping are both wrong!" he declared.
Mystico gave the Gym Leader a scathing glare. "So is enslaving wild Pokemon and forcing them into battle."
"I don't enslave-!"
"Then what would you call it?" Mystico demanded. "Your Holiness, this... Philistine clearly has no appreciation for our efforts to secure a peaceful future for Pokemon," he told Gorm.
"P-Philistine?!" Burgh stuttered, enraged by the accusation.
"Might I suggest that we dispose of these two?" he asked, casting a skeptical eye on Tony, who glared back with defiance.
"The Gym Leader, yes," Gorm said. "But the boy is a child. He has yet to be corrupted completely. Perhaps..." He looked over Tony. "Perhaps you'd like to join us? To make a difference in the World of Pokemon?"
Tony nearly fell over. He had never had anyone attempt to recruit him out of the blue before, especially someone from an organization that he currently had mixed feelings about. "N-no..." he stuttered. "I... I can't..."
Gorm seemed genuinely dissapointed. "How sad... Sir Knight..." He gestured to Mystico and stepped back.
Mystico grinned. "Finally..." he said, relieved. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you were throwing things at me!" He snapped his fingers, and Chandlure and Cofagrigus appeared at his side. "Allow me to return the favor! Shadow Ball!"
Both of the clown's Pokemon cackled as they shot balls of darkness towards Tony, Strike and Burgh, forcing them all to duck. "Alright, Strike!" Tony shouted. "Use Rollout on Chandelure!"
"V-veni...!?" Strike cried, looking at Tony with wide eyes.
"Just do it, okay? We need to get out of this!"
Strike was about to refuse when he saw Sewaddle peer her head out of the bushes, looking around with a bored expression. "V-Veni!" he said, forcing himself to be brave. It'd all be worth it in the end... He swiftly rolled into a ball and shot towards Chandelure, whirling even faster than before due to Rollout's effect; it kept getting stronger each time you use it.
However, Strike could use the move a hundred times and he would still lose. If a Gym Leader wasn't on par with Mystico, than a mere boy with one Gym Badge had no chance. He didn't even have to tell Chandelure to attack Strike, and before the Venipede even knew it he had been blasted by a Flamethrower attack and sent sprawling across the ground, burnt and beaten.
"Strike!" Tony exclaimed, horrified.
"No need to worry about him..." Mystico raised his hands and grinned diabolically. "Worry about yourselves!" he declared. "Psychic!"
Cofagrigus's eyes glowed as he lifted Tony, Burgh and Strike off of the ground and then slammed them together with an amazing amount of force. Tony and Burgh gave groans and gasps of pain as they were dropped onto the ground, thoroughly defeating both of them. Strike had the good fortune to already be unconscious.
Tony groaned as he slowly sat up - only to find his throat on the receiving end of Mystico's retrieved sword. The Bug-Catcher tried to say something (or scream, whichever came out first) but all he managed was a little gasp. He stared up at Mystico with wide eyes, hands instinctively fumbling for a Pokeball.
Mystico smirked. "Move it, kiddo," he ordered.
"N-no..." Tony gasped. His hand slid against Lucky's Pokeball, but Mystico put more pressure against his neck with the tip of his sword. If he pushed any harder, he'd draw blood.
"Leave him alone," Burgh ordered. "He has nothing to do with this."
Mystico roughly shoved Tony aside, sending the blonde to the floor. "Oh, I know," he said. "Don't worry, he'll have plenty of time to repent - you on the other hand..." He raised his sword over Burgh for about the tenth time now, ready to end it, when... Of course...
"Hold it right there, clown!"
Mystico twitched. "OH, WHAT NOW?!" he roared, looking over to see who had interrupted him this time. His rage was swiftly replaced by shock - in fact, a sense of amazement and disbelief took hold of everyone, Tony, Burgh, and Plasmas.
Standing there was Lenora, Gym Leader of Nacrene City, arms folded across her chest and a glare on her face - and standing next to her was Hawes, completely unharmed.
Author's Note:
Another Happy Holidays to all of my readers! I hope it turned out well for you, and you got lots of Gamestop or Barnes and Nobel gift cards like me!
Poor Mystico - can't slit a throat without someone tossing something at him or shouting at him. What a pain...
Reader Question Time! If this story was the actual Pokemon anime, and it had an opening theme, what do you think it would be? Answer after you review!
Strike: "Veni..." Great, I got a name, and then I got pantsed. Wonderful. Eh... review..."
Tony's Party:
1: Lucky, female Butterfree
Ability: Compound Eyes
Move Set: Bug Buzz, Confusion, Sleep Powder and Dream Eater.
2: Sunny, female Larvesta
Ability: Flame Body
Move Set: Ember, Flame Charge, Leech Life and Morning Sun
3: Lancelot, Male Karrablast
Ability: Swarm
Move Set: Fury Cutter, Peck, Endure, and X-Scissor.
4: Female Sewaddle, on loan from Burgh.
Ability: Swarm
Move Set: Bug-Bite, Razor Leaf, String-Shot and Tackle.
5: Strike, male Venipede
Ability: Poison Point
Move Set: Rollout, Poison Sting, Screech and Pursuit.
