DarkFoxKit: Hey, everyone, so we may need to warn you our updates are going to slow down for a bit. This is mostly due to real life situations that are out of our control, like my treatment for one. Apparently it's going to leave me very tired, and it's going to make it difficult for me to focus on writing as much until it's over, and from what I've heard, this treatment is going to last for about a month.
Traveling Master: We'll write when we can, but we just wanted to let you know just what's going on. The story may slow down a bit, but don't worry, we'll still work on it. It just might not be as often, unfortunately.
DarkFoxKit: TM might also have some stuff going on out of his control as well. We will try to write when we're able to, but try to be patient with us. If you're reading this in the future, like maybe the far future, then congrats, you don't have to wait, the story is likely, and hopefully, complete and you can just ignore this AN and breeze on by. XP
Traveling Master: For now, enjoy the chapter, things are building up in this tournament.
DarkFoxKit: Now on to gaming. *Holds up the Pokeball 2DS she was too tempted to get even though she had a perfectly good Pikachu new 3DS* … What? The Pokeball was too tempting to ignore. This is what I get for being a Poke nerd.
Traveling Master: I'm not judging. *I said as I start up a Pokemon game on my laptop*
Chapter 30: The Quarter Finals Pt. 2
As soon as Patricia had instigated the match, Blizza and Al were the first to make their moves. Both combatants rushed towards each other, their claws giving off a glow as they prepared to use Dragon Claw. The two attacks collided, causing Al and Blizza to stop the other in their tracks, their claws locked in with the other.
"Heh, now don't go holding back on me because I'm female," Blizza smirked.
"Wait? You're a girl?" Al asked.
Blizza glared at the Charmeleon before she kicked him in the stomach. "Of course I'm a girl, you idiot!"
"Always rushes into things, though it's for the best he handles Blizza," Brody remarked. "Grant, I'll go for Crimson while you take care of that Magikarp."
"You're joking, right? Why give me the weakest Pokemon in all known existence?" The Grovyle huffed. "You two can handle this one."
"Grant!" Brody shouted.
Grant ignored Brody as he grabbed their bag with items and went to the far edge of the arena and sat down. "I'll be cheering you on! Let me know if you want a berry or something."
Brody rolled his eyes at Grant before he looked back at Crimson and the Magikarp. He did say not to underestimate them, but the Magikarp didn't seem any different than any other Magikarp Brody had seen. Brody decided to focus on the Zoroark then.
"Come at me then, if you think you can." Crimson smirked.
Brody was confident in his own abilities, and he knew he had the type advantage over Crimson, but that didn't mean he would let down his guard. He started off by firing an Aura Sphere at Crimson. Crimson was hit by the Aura Sphere, but Brody was a bit confused when he saw that Crimson didn't seem as hurt as he thought he would be. Crimson looked calm and focused. Crimson did take out an Oran Berry from his bag and munched on it though, erasing whatever damage Brody did to him with that Aura Sphere.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Brody," Crimson taunted.
Brody frowned as he focused on Crimson. I may not know what you're planning, but if range attacks won't work, then I better go in close.
Brody then formed a long blue glowing bone stick in his paws, as he started charging towards Crimson. Crimson suddenly picked up the Magikarp by its tail and held it in front of him like a shield. Brody frowned at seeing this, feeling rather angry Crimson would use his own teammate as a meat shield. With no hesitation, Brody leaped forward, preparing to use Bone Rush on the Magikarp, but just as he was about to swing and make contact, his arms suddenly locked, stopping him from finishing his attack.
Brody was confused as he struggled to attack the Magikarp. His body suddenly jumped back on its own. Brody had a look of disbelief, but quickly shook his head, charging once more. Just like last time, Crimson held up the Magikarp as a shield as Brody brought down his attack, only for him to suddenly stop in place. The bone disappeared between Brody's paws as his body was slightly shaking.
"What's wrong, Brody? Having trouble hitting a female?" Crimson sarcastically asked.
The Magikarp then spoke for the first time, having a feminine voice. "Hello, my name is Levi, short for Leviathan~"
While normally Brody would devote all his attention to whenever he met a new female, right now he was glaring at Crimson. "How did you know?"
"You should really be careful on where you tell your little secret to," Crimson replied. "The guild's cafeteria isn't exactly a private place, you know, even if it was empty at the time when you told Team Night Tide about your little curse."
Brody mentally smacked himself, knowing he should've been more cautious. But it was already too late, Crimson had exploited his weakness.
Grant frowned as he was watching this, seeing that Brody couldn't hit Crimson due to Levi. Levi didn't seem to mind that Crimson was using her as a shield either. Grant knew Levi was female when he saw how white her whiskers were, but he thought Al would at least be able to roast the fish before it became a problem. Evidently not, since Al was still duking it out with the Hakamo-o, who was also female.
Looks like I may need to help Brody after all. Of course a Magikarp would have to be more troublesome than it's worth… The Grovyle sighed as he stood up.
Grant went over to Crimson and Levi. "Stand back, Brody. Since you can't fight as long as that Magikarp is conscious, I'll take her out quickly for you."
"Oi, if you think you can take me out just because I'm a Magikarp, then you got another thing coming!" Levi challenged.
Crimson smirked as he tossed Levi into the air. Grant's leaves on his arms turned into a long blade and he jumped at Levi. Levi was struck, and normally a Magikarp wouldn't survive a Leaf Blade from Grant. However, to Grant's shock, Levi was still conscious if barely. She grinned.
"I guess… you missed the Focus Sash on my tail," Levi stated before she slammed her tail into Grant's surprised face, and slapped him silly. She was using Flail, and at low health, her Flail attack was at its max. The attack sent Grant crashing towards the ground due to how strong it was. As Grant hit the ground, it caused cracks to appear.
"Grant!" Brody shouted, shocked to see Grant take such a strong attack.
Patricia was about to check to see if Grant was unconscious, when he started getting up slowly. "...Alright, I give you props, you're a lot stronger than you look. Now this is a challenge I've been looking forward to!"
"Too bad you won't get the chance," Crimson said from behind Grant, catching him off guard.
Before the Grovyle could react, Crimson opened his mouth as flames started to come out. Everyone was surprised as Crimson unleashed Flamethrower on Grant, who took the full force of the fire attack. Grant let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground. Grant could normally take a good punishment or two, but after Levi's Flail attack, combined with a very close range and critical hit from Crimson's Flamethrower, Grant was out cold.
"I didn't know Zoroark could learn Flamethrower!" Shab said, surprised to see the attack.
Dust was equally as surprised. "Apparently they can...but...his attack seemed a lot stronger than a regular one. Why is his Flamethrower like that?"
"Had he always been able to use Flamethrower…?" Berry frowned.
"Who knows, in our last battle, he only used Sucker Punch," Dust commented.
Al had paused after seeing Grant go down. He was surprised to see Grant to be the first one to get knocked out. Suddenly he felt something hard hit his face, sending his body back a few feet.
"Don't get distracted! It'll cost you in a fight!" Blizza snapped.
Al quickly got up while rubbing the side of his face. "Mon, that was some attack, and sorry about earlier, just surprised that my teammate got knocked out. Now where were we?"
Blizza frowned. "Why don't you stop holding back already? I'm sick of you going easy on me!"
Al frowned as he scratched the back of his head. "Again, sorry, but...you don't want me to go all out, trust me."
"And why the Distortion World not!? I can't truly say I won if you won't stop holding back!" Blizza snapped.
Al took a moment to look at the others, seeing Crimson toss an Oran Berry to Levi, Brody unable to attack her because of his condition. With Grant gone, things did seem a bit more difficult now. Al remained silent for a moment, trying to decide what he should do next. Blizza, annoyed that Al wasn't taking this match seriously, decided to charge at the Charmeleon with Dragon Claw. Just as she was about to make contact, Al stopped her attack with his own Dragon Claw.
"You're right, I shouldn't be holding back," Al replied as he pushed Blizza back. "From this point on, I'll be going all out!"
"Good! Now give me your best shot!" Blizza challenged.
Brody picked up the bag of items from the unconscious Grant, and tried to weigh his options. He couldn't attack as long as Crimson had Levi with him, but maybe he could still use items.
"Using a female as shield, that's dirty, Crimson," Brody hissed.
"I'm a Dark type, what did you expect? Our types are known for fighting dirty. And it isn't against tournament rules," Crimson sneered.
"But you're willing to go so far as to use someone's weakness against them?" Brody asked, still angry that Crimson knew his secret.
"In battle anything can happen, it doesn't matter how the battle plays. The only thing that matters is that in the end, there's only a winner, and a loser," Crimson answered.
"Besides, if you can't hit a female, you're as good as deadweight," Levi added.
"That sounded a bit harsh there… it's not Brody's fault he can't hit girls." Berry frowned.
"That Magikarp…" Shab frowned.
"Do you know her?" Dust asked.
"No, I don't know her. But I think I know what kind of school she came from," Shab stated. "By that I mean a school of fish, not an actual building of education. Levi appears to be a wild Pokemon, like me. And from that way she's talking, she likely came from the Destructive Gyarados School. They're best known for their very destructive nature, embracing their power and temper to create chaos and strength. They like scaring other Pokemon away to expand their territory. They're quite a harsh bunch."
"Well that does explain why they have someone like that Magikarp on their team," Dust noted. "Hopefully Brody and Al can manage to turn things around."
Brody dug into the item bag and took out a Wonder Orb. Please let this work…
"What do you plan to do now, hmmm?" Crimson asked, confident that the battle was pretty much in the bag.
"Why don't you come and find out for yourself," Brody countered as he took a defensive stance.
"Alright, I'm game, let's see how you plan on beating us," Crimson grinned.
Levi was using Splash to move closer to Crimson, making her jump high with each Splash she used. Brody quickly held up his Wonder Orb before she could get to Crimson. The Wonder Orb turned out to be a Blowback Orb, and Brody was using it on himself. The orb glowed blue, and Brody felt his body suddenly being thrown by an invisible force right at the bouncing Magikarp. It threw her back from Crimson more, and Brody was on top of her. Thinking fast, Brody took out a seed.
"I apologize for this. But this is necessary," Brody said to Levi as he started to bring the seed to his mouth.
Sensing what Brody was about to do, Crimson quickly fired off Flamethrower at the Lucario, hoping to stop him before he could use the Blast Seed. Brody saw the attack coming and was about to jump out of the way, but then his body refused to move. He then realized that if he tried to dodge the attack, Levi would be in harm's way. Tried as he might, his body refused to move, and unfortunately as the flames reached Brody, the Flamethrower caused the Blast Seed he was holding to explode.
Smoke filled the arena after the explosion, even Blizza had stopped, surprised by what had happened. Everyone waited in anticipation as the smoke cleared away. Crimson cautiously walked to where Brody and Levi were, trying to see through the smoke. As it finally cleared, Crimson was surprised to see Brody, but no sign of Levi, but upon closer look he saw that the Lucario had tried covering Levi from the blast, though it seemed that both Brody and Levi were unconscious.
"Who would've thought that curse of yours would prove to be so useful," Crimson whispered. "But I have to admit, you have guts."
"Incredible, even though they were opponents, Brody had surprisingly tried protecting his opponent, but it looks like those two were still knocked out, leaving only Al left!" Patricia announced as two Chansey came and took Brody and Levi away, as well as Grant.
"Tch, that Lucario gets what he deserved, he shouldn't even be a Crusader if he has a weakness like that," Blizza said before she saw something move out of the corner of her eye and reacted by blocking with her arms. Just then Al had punched her with electricity covering his arms. "Oh, did I struck a nerve?"
Al didn't reply, jumping away from Blizza as he continued to glare at her.
"What? No witty comeback? Are you upset that your sorry excuse for a partner got knocked out?" Blizza taunted.
Al still remained silent, though he then looked to see Crimson, expecting him to come assist Blizza, but the Zoroark simply crossed his arms.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Blizza had already made it clear she doesn't want my help, though I'm sure she wouldn't even need it in the first place," Crimson sneered.
Al returned his gaze back to Blizza as she continued to smirk at him. Al sighed before finally speaking up. "You asked why I was holding back earlier, and I told you that you wouldn't want me to go all out."
"Yeah, and so far you failed to impress me, I thought you were going to go all out, but it still feels like you're holding back!" Blizza shouted.
"Alright, let me show you what happens when I go all out," Al replied.
"It's about time! And once I'm done with you," Blizza then turned to where Berry was sitting and pointed right at her. "You're next!"
Berry frowned, not liking that Blizza was signaling her out. She was mostly self conscious, especially after what happened in her last battle.
"Weren't you the one who kept saying not to take your eyes off your opponent?" Al asked.
Blizza looked back at Al and was confused when she saw that he was on all fours. Before Blizza could ask what the heck Al was doing, the Charmeleon opened his mouth as he let loose a powerful Flamethrower, much bigger compared to Crimson's own flames. Blizza only had time to brace herself as she defended against the fire attack. The flames managed to push her back, but she held her ground. Once the fire had ceased, her body was steaming, but she was still standing.
"Was that supposed to be your best attack?" Blizza taunted, but then was confused when she saw no sign of Al anywhere.
Blizza was on guard, trying to find the Charmeleon, but saw no sign of him anywhere. She walked towards where she last saw Al and then noticed something odd in the distance. Upon closer look she saw there was a hole in the ground. Just then, Blizza suddenly had the sensation as though a predator was watching her, waiting for the right moment to strike. As she turned around she saw Al burst from the ground, claws glowing as he was closing the distance between the two of them. And just like prey that couldn't escape from the predator, Blizza didn't have enough time to defend herself as Al brought down his claws to Blizza's head. As Al's attack made contact, he slammed Blizza head first into the ground.
As soon as Al finished his Dragon Claw attack, he stood up and backed away for a moment as Patricia went over to Blizza to check on her.
"Blizza is out cold!" Patricia announced. "Looks like it's a one on one between Crimson from Team Crimson Raiders, and Al from Team Destruct!"
The crowd started to cheer as Blizza was taken away by the medical team, leaving only Al and Crimson. Dust had never seen Al fought like that before, surprised that the Charmeleon took on such a wild form.
"If I hadn't met Al before, I would've assumed he was a wild Pokemon just now," Dust commented.
"Maybe he is Calcifer…" Berry muttered. "Considering that Meteor told us members of the Volcanic Ash Guild embraces on using their inner wild side."
"Guys, don't forget what I said earlier, Al is our friend, whatever his past may be, it doesn't change who he is now," Shab spoke up, hoping to reassure his teammates.
"Maybe not, but it does shed some light on how he fights, and why he acts the way he does…" Dust remarked, mostly with interest.
Al turned his attention to Crimson. "Well, I tried to warn her. I still don't truly know my own strength though."
Crimson, instead of being angry, was slowly clapping, though in a condescending way. "Well I'm impressed, even I wasn't expecting you to use such a...unique fighting style. But don't think it will work on me."
Al grinned as he got on all fours like last time. "Only one way to find out!"
Al then charged at Crimson, closing the distance between them. When Al was close enough, he leaped forward as electricity started coursing from his arm. But just before Al could use Thunder Punch, Crimson suddenly appeared in front of Al as the Zoroark delivered a Sucker Punch to Al's face, knocking him back. As Al landed on his back, Crimson crossed his arms as he smirked at the Charmeleon.
"You're gonna have to do better than that," Crimson taunted.
Al quickly got up, trying to think of a way to attack. "Alright, let's try this then!"
Al then dug into the ground as he burrowed beneath the arena. Crimson immediately went on guard, though unlike Blizza, he was prepared for Al's upcoming attack. Seconds later the ground behind Crimson started to shift. Crimson, already prepared, stepped to the side as Al burst from the ground. Al was shocked to see Crimson by his side, and before he could recover, the Zoroark dealt another heavy blow, this time hitting Al on his side.
"You are strong, I'll give you that, but all that strength means nothing if I can easily read your attacks," Crimson taunted.
"Read my attacks, huh…" Al said as he slowly got up, wincing a bit from the pain coming from his side. But then an idea popped in his head. "Oh...I wonder…"
"Doesn't matter what you try, it won't work," Crimson remarked.
Al didn't answer, instead he started digging in the ground once more. Crimson only shook his head, already preparing for when the Charmeleon would attack him. Though unlike last time where Al attacked shortly after going into the ground, Al had remained beneath the arena. Crimson assumed Al was just waiting for him to drop his guard, which he found foolish. After a bit, Crimson felt the ground shake and was expecting Al's attack to come but suddenly Al climbed out of the hole where he originally had entered.
"You sure took your time, decided that it was a waste of time digging?" Crimson asked in a taunting manner.
"Oh, I wouldn't call it a waste, though you should be focusing on the ground instead of me," Al grinned.
"What are you-" Crimson started until the ground started shaking more.
Crimson realized what Al had done as the ground around him started to crumble apart. He saw parts of the arena were starting to fall beneath the earth. Though initially surprised, Crimson smirked as he started hopping from different pieces of the arena. As Crimson jumped from one spot to another, the ground continued to give way, but he didn't falter. He finally reached a spot that was outside of Al's trap.
"Too bad, though you were pretty close-" Crimson started, only to have Al punch him in the face with Thunder Punch.
"Come on, Pokemon, it takes a while to have to fix the arena if you decide to mess it up like that!" Patricia complained.
"Heh, sorry about that," Al apologized while smiling. "That wasn't my intention, I was just trying to make the ground shake beneath him, didn't think it would actually start falling apart."
"Well, you certainly weren't lying when you said you didn't know you're own strength," Crimson muttered. "But I will admit, you are strong. To be able to take out my partner Blizza like that… how are you not a Charizard already?"
Al paused for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. Well since you asked a question, how about I ask one? We can go back and forth. So I can already tell you're strong, and your team is pretty impressive, so why resort to exploiting Brody's weakness?"
"Why take the unnecessary risk when I have a way to win the match without taking damage at all? In a battle, it doesn't matter how you win, just as long as you win, that is the Dark type's way," Crimson answered.
"You have a point, but from what I heard, Team Crimson Raiders are all about strength and power, so I find it kinda odd you using such tactics. I mean, kinda makes it seem like you're actually weak," Al pointed out, though not in a condescending way, but more as just being curious.
"You wouldn't understand-" Crimson tried explaining, only for Al to cut him off.
"What's there to understand? You say you're strong, but rely on using tricks. You say you're Dark type, but I've fought with Dark types before, and yeah, they use similar tactics, but they don't boast about their strengths. They knew they had to rely on their cunning tactics to make up for their lack of strengths," Al reasoned. "Then again, maybe Dark types are really strong, but if that were true, they wouldn't really need to use any tricks."
"Enough!" Crimson was annoyed with Al and charged at him.
Al was not expecting Crimson to come straight for him but he held his ground as the Zoroark delivered an attack to his face, but to Crimson's surprise, Al held his ground as he glared at Crimson.
"Looks like someone's feeling pretty sensitive," Al remarked. "Maybe you don't want to admit that you would need to use tactics because you're not as strong as you boast you are?"
Crimson jumped back away from Al, getting more annoyed with the Charmeleon. He was also expecting Al to counter attack, but the Charmeleon didn't come.
"Also, I've been wondering about this, but why don't you use your illusions?" Al asked.
"That's none of your business. Now how about you shut up and get back to fighting?" Crimson yelled.
Al didn't attack, instead he continued with his questions. "Is it because you can't use illusions? Or maybe you suck at making them? I guess that explains why you decided to use Brody's weakness against him. Still, not a very good excuse. If you're bad at illusions, you should've just focused on getting stronger, like you claim to be. That way you can make up for your weakness."
Something seemed to snap inside the Zoroark. He suddenly gave a wide, sinister grin. "You think my illusions are bad? Well then, I guess you have nothing to worry about then."
Suddenly, everything around Al seemed to have gotten dark, and the ground under him began to move on its own. There were suddenly hundreds of Crimsons surrounding the Charmeleon. All of them were laughing maniacally.
"Woah! That's pretty awesome," Al admitted. "But...if you can do something like this, why hold back? Honestly you could've easily used this without having to use your previous tricks."
"SHUT UP!" All of the Crimsons shouted before a dark, shadowy beam launched at Al.
Al was too disorientated to move, and the destructive beam was coming from all over the place, he couldn't tell where to go without running directly into the beam. His instincts were all disorientated as well. Al gave a yelp as the beam slammed into his body before exploding.
As smoke covered the arena from the explosion, Crimson's illusions of himself started to fade away until only he remained. He was breathing hard, having used such a powerful attack. He grinned to himself, thinking that the annoying Charmeleon was finally defeated, but was shocked when the smoke cleared and Al was still standing, though barely. His right eye was closed, his body looked heavily damaged as his breathing was hard. Al then turned to Crimson and gave him a look that caused a chill to go down the Zoroark's spine.
Al continued to glare at Crimson until suddenly he smiled, confusing the Zoroark even more. "...Looks like...you really are...strong...Too bad...it took you...this...long to...actually...show it."
Al then fell to the ground, the flame on his tail was a bit small, showing he wasn't conscious.
"Al of Team Destruct is out cold!" Patricia announced. "Team Crimson Raiders is the winner!"
Crimson was still shaken up from Al's recent glare, but quickly recovered after the crowd had started cheering. He didn't say anything as he glared at the unconscious Charmeleon, laying on the ground. He finally looked away and started leaving, despite having won he only felt bitter inside.
Dust, Berry and Shab were speechless. While Dust had been looking forward to having a rematch with Crimson, he was still shocked to see Team Destruct lose.
"Looks like we might end up fighting Team Crimson Raiders after all," Dust finally said.
"I'm suddenly not really looking forward to that fight…" Berry groaned. "Blizza is going to be so mad, and she's likely to take it out on me."
"I'll make sure she doesn't do that to you," Shab promised.
"No, Shab. You've already sacrificed yourself enough for me, I don't want to see you getting hurt again." Berry frowned.
"And that concludes the Quarter Finals," Patricia shouted into her mic. "And what better way than to end after watching such an amazing match. Before we had a total of 8 teams, now we are down to the final four. Originally we were going to continue on with the Semi-Finals today, but because of the damage done to the arena, we will have to postpone the next match until tomorrow. So make sure you all get a good night's rest, cause as soon as morning comes, we'll be ready to continue on with the tournament!"
"Ah, this will give us a good chance to fully recover before our next match," Dust noted. "And check on Team Destruct."
"What about Emerald? We haven't seen or heard from her since yesterday," Shab reminded.
"Yeah… I would've thought she'd at least come find us after our match was over…" Berry frowned. "I… didn't… scare her off, did I?"
"I highly doubt it, plus, our match was the first one of the day, so even if she happened to be scared, I'm sure by now she would've remembered that we offered to help look for her friends," Dust suggested. "Maybe she just decided to get a headstart and couldn't wait for us."
"Then we'll continue our own investigation after we check in on Team Destruct," Berry decided.
"Don't you need more rest first, Berry? You did still seem quite tired," Shab asked in concern.
"I'll be fine. If Pokemon are going missing, then it's likely Team Destruct might start disappearing too," Berry said.
"Then we best hurry and check on them," Dust stated as he waited for Berry and Shab to climb on his back. Once Berry slithered onto his back and Shab hopped onto Berry's head, Dust started heading towards the exit.
Meanwhile, as the stands were clearing out, Chihiro stretched out. "Whew, those matches were quite intense. One could even say it was pretty wild! Am I right?~"
Cliff and Spooks were laughing while Phantom, and the rest of the Pokemon with Chihiro, groaned.
"Your puns are a waste of time, Chihiro," A Garchomp said.
"Well isn't this a surprise. I was wondering when you would come and say hi, Chopper," Chihiro greeted.
"You could've always just said 'hi' to me," The Garchomp named 'Chopper' rolled his eyes before he looked at the Larvitar.
Cliff backed away a little nervously at Chopper's stare.
"Interesting… when did you get a Larvitar?" Chopper asked.
"Oh, she's not mine, but one of my Crusaders accidentally brought back her egg, thinking it was a rock. You should've seen the look on his face, I'd say it was an eggcellent moment!" Chihiro laughed once more at her clever pun.
"You've never changed, you're still that pun loving fool that you've always been. It's no wonder your guild is so infamous," Chopper grumbled.
"Excuse me, but I believe my own guild are the ones in the semi-finals while yours lost on the first day," Chihiro pointed out.
Chopper growled at that. "The team who battled were weak, if they lost to that team with the weak Goomy and Feebas, then they don't deserve to participate in this tournament!"
Chihiro shook her head. "Same old, stubborn Garchomp. You're still like the first time we met, quick to judge, always failing to see the potential in those you called weak. Your team had fought valiantly, just as my team and every other team that had participated in this tournament. Now is there a specific reason why you decided to show up, beside sharing this pleasant reunion?"
"Yeah!" A younger voice shouted, trying hard to sound all intimidating and angry. "Dad and I have been watching you spoiling that Larvitar. She's never going to get strong if you treat her like that! And it frustrates us!"
Chihiro, Phantom, and Spooks looked down to see a Gible was standing there. He was almost the same size as Cliff if not a little bit bigger.
"Hey, Grandma hasn't been spoiling Cliff, neither has Dust or Berry. They've been raising her and she's been getting stronger while under their care!" Phantom shouted while glaring at the Gible.
"Oh yeah? And I'll bet that Absol just carries her around like he does with that Goomy, right? She'll never be any stronger if he just gives her rides!" The Gible snapped.
Phantom flew down at the Gible so they were eye level. "You saw how they fought with the team that came from your oh so prestigious guild of hardknocks, and how they won, you have no right to say whether or not Cliff will get stronger with how they raise her!"
The Gible moved closer to Phantom. "They must've cheated then, or that team was too weak because they didn't train enough!"
Phantom moved closer as well, causing both of their heads to touch each other. "Oh yeah? If you're so confident, then why don't you battle with Team Night Tide yourself since they're apparently weak in your eyes?"
"Maybe I will!" Gible snapped.
"I'd like to see you try and get the floor mopped with you!" Phantom growled as they were now starting to push each other.
"Alright, that's enough out of you two!" Chihiro put her tail between the two young dragons.
"Let them fight so that my son can prove that he is stronger than your grandchild," Chopper challenged.
Chihiro sighed before looking back at Chopper. "I would've hoped by now we would've come to at least some kind of understanding, but now it seems the youth is picking up on our habits."
"You make that sound like it's a bad thing." Chopper grinned.
"Surely you didn't come to talk to me just because of one Larvitar and to stir up trouble between our children, because that would be petty, even for you," Chihiro grumbled.
"No, there are more pressing matters I wish to talk with you, alone," Chopper replied.
This surprised Chihiro, usually whenever Chopper confronted her, he always did it in front of a crowd, so to suddenly wish to speak with her alone was something Chihiro wasn't expecting.
"What is it then?" The Dragapault questioned as Phantom flew up beside her.
"Like I said, this is something I wish to speak with you, alone, from one Guildmaster to another," Chopper stated.
Chihiro stared at Chopper, wondering if he was up to something but then sighed. "Spooks, Phantom, take Cliff with you until after I'm done speaking with Chopper."
"Are you sure, Grandma?" Spooks asked. He was always concerned whenever Chihiro got serious, it usually meant something or someone was in trouble.
"Don't worry, this will only take a minute," Chihiro smiled at her grandchildren.
"Come on, Spooks, Grandma will be okay," Phantom reassured her brother. "We'll be waiting outside, Grandma. Ready Cliff?"
Cliff looked at Chihiro, worried about her but nodded before following after Phantom and Spooks as they left the room.
"Chompy, wait outside until I'm done," Chopper told the Gible.
"But Dad, I want to see you teach her a lesson!" Chompy the Gible wined.
"Now!" Chopper yelled, causing his son to flinch.
Chompy quickly nodded before heading out the room.
"Well, now we're alone, what is it that you needed to talk to me about?" Chihiro asked.
"As you most likely have heard, there have been rumors in the past about disappearing Pokemon during these tournaments. I didn't put much thought into it, especially since there were reports of them returning a few days later," Chopper explained. "But then after the first match, shortly after Team Aura Force had lost, their team leader had told me that one of their teammates went missing. I didn't care at the time, figuring it would by like those reports before and that they would show up later. Instead of showing up, I find out that their second member went missing. And now even Emerald had failed to show up last night, so I'm starting to suspect these rumors may be more than just rumors."
"Hmm…" Chihiro frowned. "I have heard from other guildmasters that some of their team went missing too, but they did show up again after a while. But they're worried about them because they looked like they had the energy sucked right out of them when they came back. They could barely move or even speak. They don't seem to remember what happened either. It's a bit concerning. Admittedly I do fly around my own team's sleeping quarters to make sure they weren't taken in the night."
"And you didn't see anyone else during your nightly patrols?" Chopper asked.
"Sadly I haven't," Chihiro answered. "I can't figure out who or what has been taking these teams of Pokemon away."
"And none of your guild members went missing either?" Chopper questioned.
"Correct...What are you implying, Chopper?" Chihiro glared at Chopper.
"Before, I came here to warn of the missing Pokemon, but now I'm wondering if maybe you know more than you're letting on," Chopper explained.
"If you're implying that I'm the one responsible-" Chihiro started, only for Chopper to cut her off.
"I'm not accusing, not yet. But so far, with every other guild having their own teams missing, while yours are still perfectly safe and sound seems very suspicious. Especially since you have been watching over your Crusaders every night, and yet you fail to see any other strange activities? For your sake, you best hope those missing Pokemon are found, or else you will be held responsible for their disappearance," Chopper accused, while pointing a claw at Chihiro.
Chihiro glared back. "You better watch what you say, Chopper. You know I would never do something like that. What could I possibly want to do with those kidnapped Pokemon anyways?"
"Who's to say, one can never truly know the intentions of a Ghost Pokemon," Chopper replied. "But you have nothing to worry about, if you truly are innocent, then I'm sure those missing Pokemon are indeed safe and sound."
"And I am innocent. I am only looking out for my guild, maybe something you should start doing for yours," Chihiro hissed, too angry to make a pun. "Now if you're done accusing me, is there anything else you wish to talk about? Cause if not, you are more than welcome to leave."
"That is all, Grandmaster Chihiro," Chopper grunted. He started to make his way towards the exit until he suddenly stopped and looked back at Chihiro, grinning. "Though I wonder how long you'll be keeping that title after today."
Chihiro had half a mind to attack the Garchomp for that comment, but that was likely what Chopper was hoping for. It would make her look bad, and give Chopper more ammo to use on her. She just glared at Chopper as he walked out.
When Chihiro floated out, Phantom, Spooks, and Cliff looked at her in concern.
"Is everything alright, Grandma?" Spooks asked.
"You seem pretty… tense." Phantom frowned. "And you're hardly ever tense."
"Everythings alright, whenever Chopper shows up, things always get tense," Chihiro reassured.
"Who was that big meanie?" Cliff asked.
"Oh, just an old acquaintance of mine, we used to be friends, but as we started getting older, our ideas started disagreeing with one another, and soon we went our separate ways," Chihiro explained. "But you don't have to worry about that old grumpy fart, he's just upset cause he didn't have his afternoon nap."
"Oh yeah, I get grumpy when I miss naptime," Cliff agreed.
Phantom and Spooks frowned at each other, they knew it was far more serious than that, but Chihiro didn't want to worry them or Cliff.
"Come, let's get back to the guild for the night. I also need to look out for my team in case someone tries to take them away," Chihiro said quietly.
"Grant has been very quiet since he woke up," Brody sighed, his fur covered in bandages.
"Is it because of how he lost?" Dust asked.
The Grovyle was sitting in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone. He had some Rawst ointment that was rubbed against his burns. Al, on the other hand was still unconscious as he laid asleep on his bed. He had several bandages wrapped around his body, but for the most part he looked like he was sleeping peacefully. The fire on his tail was pretty strong, indicating he was quite healthy.
"Yeah. Grant is very prideful, especially when it comes to his battling skills," Brody answered. "To have lost so quickly like that was a big blow to his pride."
"Crimson was fighting pretty dirty though," Berry pointed out.
"It was my own fault, I should've been more careful back then," Brody replied. "Just shows you how dangerous it can be if others were to find out."
"Are you worried that Crimson might tell others?" Dust asked.
"I don't think so. If he wanted to, Crimson would've done it the very same day he learned my secret. Though I will still speak with him and hope he decides to keep it a secret," Brody answered.
"I'm still surprised that Crimson fellow was able to get his claws on a Magikarp from the destruction school," Shab stated.
"I'm surprised he got a Magikarp on his team at all," Berry grumbled. "Considering how they only seem to value strong Pokemon to be on their team. A Magikarp is anything but that."
"But everyone knows what Magikarp can evolve into, and a Gyarados is strong," Dust pointed out.
"Right… I guess I just didn't think Crimson and Blizza would be patient enough to raise one up enough to evolve it," Berry admitted.
"Well it just shows that they are pretty resourceful. Though from what I've heard, Al almost gave them a run for their Poke money," Brody chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, it was pretty surprising seeing Al fight like that," Dust noted. "Has he always fought like that? Almost like a wild Pokemon?"
Brody shook his head. "Not always. There are a few times when he starts getting really into a battle he might fight a bit more wild. But you should've seen him the first time we did our mission together. None of us were expecting him to set the entire dock on fire. It took a week for most of my fur to grow back."
"Al sounds like he's very strong, and from watching his battle, he definitely proved to be far beyond the level of an average Charmeleon," Shab noted.
"It's too bad none of us know how strong he really is, or much else about his past. You'd think by now he would've evolved into a Charizard, considering how strong he is, but so far he hasn't shown any signs of evolving," Brody explained.
"Hmm, maybe it has something to do with his past?" Dust suggested. "Though until he gets his memories back, we won't be finding out anytime soon."
Just then, a Blissey came walking in, carrying cartons of food. "It's dinner time, Team Destruct!"
"Oh, someone should wake Al up, I don't think he would want to miss dinner," Dust brought up but was shocked when he saw Al was missing. "Wait, where did Al go?"
Team Night Tide was shocked to see that Al was missing, while Brody only sighed, already having an idea on where his teammate would be. Suddenly they hear the sound of loud chewing in the room and they look back to see that Al was standing next to the Blissey as he had already eaten most of the food.
"Whoa! I didn't even see him eat!" Shab said in shock.
"See him eat? I didn't even see him wake up!" Berry remarked in shock as well.
"Oh dear, I may need to bring in more food," Blissey sweatdropped.
"Sorry about that, I should've warned you about my teammates...appetite," Brody apologized. After Blissey had left to get more food, Brody walked up and punched Al on top of his head. "What do you think you're doing?! Did you forget what we talked about concerning your food?!"
"Sorry! It's not my fault!" Al said as he rubbed the top of his head.
"Not your fault?! You're the only one that has eaten anything!" Brody shouted.
"Again, not my fault. You guys were just too slow," Al laughed as he put another piece of meat in his mouth.
Brody sighed as he turned away from Al. "As you can see, it's quite a handful keeping an eye on Al."
"Yeah, we can see that," Dust sweatdropped.
Shab saw Al eating a big fried fish Pokemon of some kind, likely a Seaking from the size of it. Shab sweatdropped. "I… hope he doesn't mix me up with the food he's stuffing into his mouth…"
Brody laughed at that comment. "Don't worry, he hasn't done that in a long time now...Though we did get an earful from Carrie that day. Anyways, thanks for stopping by to check on us."
"Yeah, of course, we hope you all feel better soon," Berry said.
"There's also another reason why we wanted to stop by," Dust spoke up. "Since your team had lost, we wanted to warn you about the missing Pokemon."
This got Team Destruct's attention, with Al ceasing to eat and even Grant had turned around. Brody looked at Team Night Tide and saw their concerned looks. "Go on."
Dust then went on to explain how at first they were told about the rumors from a reporter, then later from a Cacturne they had met recently. Dust then shared their experience with Emerald the Riolu, of how her teammates had gone missing that they had spent last night trying to find her teammates. They had no luck, but they were planning on meeting with Emerald today and continue searching for her friends. Dust explained how they suspect that those who lost are the ones being targeted.
"But we haven't seen Emerald at all today," Berry added.
Grant frowned. "If you hadn't seen Emerald, then it's likely she went missing too."
"Hold on, we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet, we saw her last night, so it's not like she'd disappear in such a short time," Dust said.
"I don't know," Al spoke up. "I mean, think of it like a big coarse meal. At the beginning there's lots of food, so there's plenty to go around. But as time goes on, you'll find that there is less and less food, so you are now trying to get as much food as possible, with what little time you have left. With the tournament almost being over, I wouldn't be surprised if...what was her name again? Armarad? Ermeda?"
"It's Emerald, get it right," Brody grumbled.
"That's it! Like I was saying, wouldn't be surprised if she went missing in such a short time," Al finished.
"You may have a point…" Dust frowned.
There was a growling sound coming from Berry. She blushed at this. "Sorry… all this talk about food is making me hungry…"
"Oh, there's still some meat left if you want some," Al offered.
"No!" Berry fell off of Dust's back in order to hide under his legs. "No meat! I'm a vegetarian!"
Al gasped as he dropped his food. "Oh...I'm so sorry...how long have you known?"
"What?" Berry frowned, confused by Al's wording.
Brody hit Al upside the head again. "It's a lifestyle choice, Al, not a disease."
"Really? Sounds like a disease to me. I can't even imagine living life without meat," Al shuddered at the thought.
"Don't mind him, he's just a meat lover." Brody rolled his eyes.
"Although… if you're a vegetarian… doesn't that mean you see Grant as appetitising?" Al asked. "Hey Grant, you mind if Berry, and possibly me, can taste you?
Grant responded by throwing a Leaf Blade in Al's direction.
"I don't eat anything with a face on it, that includes Grass types… and any food-looking Pokemon," Berry clarified.
"Have you tried closing your eyes?" Al asked, only for Brody to smack him across the head again.
"Anyways, thanks for the warning. We'll make sure to keep an eye out for anything," Brody said. "And hopefully your friend, Emerald is safe as well. I wish you luck in trying to find her."
"Thanks," Dust said. "We're going to investigate a little bit before we turn in for the night."
"Don't turn in too late, you have your semi-final battle tomorrow after all," Grant stated. "And we will want to watch that."
"Don't worry, we won't repeat this morning again," Dust replied.
With that, Team Night Tide waved goodbye to Team Destruct as Berry slithered back onto Dust's back while Shab went back to his usual spot on top of Berry. After leaving the room, Team Night Tide decided to go to the lobby first, hoping to see if Emerald might be there, waiting for them. But when they got there, they saw no signs of the Riolu, only a few remaining Pokemon who had yet to leave the stadium.
"Was really hoping to find Emerald here, hope she's okay," Dust commented as he continued looking around.
"Maybe Grant was right, maybe she did get kidnapped…" Shab frowned.
"I don't sense her anywhere nearby either…" Berry said worriedly. "Where did we last see her? Maybe that's when she was taken?"
"Well it was close to the spot where we thought we had found a trail leading to her friend, near the dead end," Dust answered. "Do you think we should've brought Brody? He might've been able to help us with our investigation."
"Maybe," Shab said. "Then again, he's never met Emerald before, so I'm not sure if he would be able to track her aura. At least that's how I think Lucario uses the aura."
"Maybe we should go check out the dead end, there must've been something we missed…" Berry suggested.
Dust nodded as he started heading towards the dead end from last night. Thankfully he made sure to have memorized how to get there. As they were getting closer, Dust saw less and less Pokemon, most likely returning back to their homes to retire for the night.
"Alright, I suggest that if we don't find anything, we shouldn't spend too long trying to search in the dark. Unless we actually do come across something, we need to also remember to get some rest for tomorrow too," Dust suggested.
"Yeah, especially if we're fighting with Team Crimson Raiders…" Berry shivered. "I don't like the idea of fighting with an angry Blizza, especially while half asleep."
"Don't worry, my dear Berry. I'll make sure that Hakamo-o doesn't cross the line during our match," Shab reassured.
"I think you might have to worry more about that Magikarp," Dust mentioned. "We might be too busy dealing with our own personal rivals."
Berry's antennae suddenly shot up. "I think there's someone nearby… but I can't locate them exactly… they might be watching us."
Dust immediately went on guard, searching his surroundings, but saw that they were the only ones there. He hadn't expected to come across the kidnapper so soon, his heart was starting to race at the suspense. Berry continued trying to locate whoever was watching them, but she could only sense that they were nearby, and getting closer by the second. Shab was making sure to watch Berry's back as she tried to focus, in case they were suddenly attacked.
"Berry," Dust whispered. "Can you tell how close they are?"
"I… think…" Berry began to say as she was focusing. "They're… right beside you."
Before Dust could even reply, he suddenly felt something cold touching him on the side. All the stress, anxiety, and build up caused Dust to scream, which in turn caused both Berry and Shab to scream. As they are screaming, all of a sudden they hear someone else screaming, which only added more to their own screams. Berry then stopped screaming as she recognized who the newcomer was.
"Calm down! Calm down! It's only Spooks!" Berry spoke up, trying to be heard over the screaming.
Dust ceased his screaming after hearing it was Spooks. "Spooks?"
"S-sorry, I d-didn't mean to scare y-you," Spooks stuttered.
"I'll say! You nearly gave us a heart attack! What's a little Dreepy like you doing out here alone at night?" Shab asked, still a bit shaken up.
"Wait, why are you here, Spooks? If anything I would've expected Phantom to be the one to show up," Dust admitted.
"S-sorry, but s-she's with Grandma right now," Spooks answered.
"Spooks… what's wrong? Something must be bothering you if you're out here alone," Berry asked in concern.
Spooks remained quite for a moment, as he mustered up the courage to continue on. "...W-well you s-see...It s-started when…"
Then Spooks shared how Chopper the Garchomp, Guildmaster for the Lucernas Guild, had shown up. At first he only talked about Cliff and his thoughts about her, but then wanted to speak with Chihiro alone. Spooks mentioned how he had only seen Chihiro get serious a few times, and each time he knew that something or someone was in trouble. Chihiro had Spooks and the others wait outside, but he was so concerned that he ended up eavesdropping on Chihiro and Chopper's private conversation. Spooks went on, sharing how they talked about the missing Pokemon, and at first Chopper only seemed to be warning Chihiro, but after she had mentioned that she had been watching over her teams during the previous nights, Chopper started to accuse her as the one responsible for the kidnapping.
"That...does explain why no one from the Unity Guild has gone missing despite having some of our team already out of the tournament," Dust noted. "With Chihiro constantly watching over them, I can see how it would be difficult for anyone to try to kidnap them. Still, I can't believe that Chopper would even suggest that Chihiro would be the one behind the missing Pokemon."
"Chopper seems to not be a very understanding type," The Feebas noted.
"It'll be alright, Spooks. We know Chihiro is innocent, and Chopper has no evidence supporting his claims on Chihiro being the kidnapper," Berry reassured the Dreepy.
"Well let's just hope he doesn't officially accuse Chihiro, or else things might get worse," Dust brought up.
"What do you mean?" Shab asked.
"One of the perks of getting in trouble back in my old guild is that you tend to pick up a thing or two about certain laws of the guild. I started learning more about these rules so that I can use loopholes and get out of trouble. It did work for a bit, and while the guild couldn't exactly punish me for some time...that didn't stop my Mother from using her own form of punishments," Dust shuddered before continuing. "Anyways, one of the laws I came across that if a Guildmaster were to accuse another Guildmaster of any crime, the accused must take temporary leave, or absent, from their position until proven guilty or innocent. If Chopper brings this up to Grace, Chihiro will be forced to leave until she's proven innocent. And if she's gone...what's stopping the kidnapper from getting the other teams that had lost so far?"
Spooks started to tear up from that. "B-but Grandma is innocent! She would never do such a thing! Phantom and I were with her the whole time!"
Berry quickly hopped down from Dust's back and slithered over to Spooks. "It's alright, don't cry, Spooks. I'm sure Chihiro will be able to prove that she's innocent. No big mean Garchomp is going to revoke her title."
"H-how do you know?" Spooks asked.
"Because your grandmother is very smart, she knows how to work her way through something like this. And we'll even prove it wasn't her by finding the real kidnapper," Berry answered.
"R-really?" Spooks asked as he wiped away some of his tears.
"You can count on us," Dust reassured. "Chihiro has done so much for us, and I'm sure if we were in her position, she would've done the same for us."
"You truly have a way with kids, Berry~" Shab smiled as he began to daydream how Berry would take care of her own children one day, which made him turn as red as a Magikarp once more. Oh my gosh! No, I shouldn't be thinking THAT far ahead yet! Calm down, Shabby old Feebas!
"You alright there, Shab? I think you're heating up," Berry asked in concern, feeling Shab's heat from her head.
"O-oh, it's n-nothing! I'm just...hungry! Yeah, we haven't had a chance to eat yet, so how about we take Spooks with us to get something to eat?" Shab quickly suggested.
"Where? Every stand here is closed for the night," Dust asked.
"Some places in White Leaf Town are still open even at this hour, let's go find someone who is still open," Berry suggested.
"We could try seeing if the Sweet Apple Restaurant is open. It's been a while since we last ate there, and I've heard their business has been booming since then," Dust suggested.
"Fine, but I'm going to make doubly sure there's no Pokemon in my food this time," Berry grumbled, remembering what happened last time they ate there, or rather, what she didn't know at the time.
"I hear their dessert is really good, maybe that'll cheer Spooks up too," Shab remarked as they began leaving the building.
As Team Night Tide and Spooks left the building, two shadowy figures watched them go. One of the figures appeared to be serpent-like.
"You seem pretty annoyed about something," A soothing sounding male voice said to the other shadowy figure.
"Well of course I'm annoyed, with that annoying Dragapult constantly watching over her teams, we've been unable to get any of them! And now we had a perfect opportunity right in front of us! We should have nabbed Team Night Tide when we had the chance!" The second figure hissed with a feminine voice.
"Patience my dear, remember what I taught you?" The male voice questioned.
"When hunting for your prey, don't reveal yourself until the last moment. I know! It's just annoying. Doesn't help that that idiot of a Charmeleon ruined the arena. I almost freaked out, he was this close to revealing what was hidden beneath! Everything we worked for would've gone up in flames in that moment!" The female complained.
"As much as I appreciate the pun, don't you think you're overreacting a little? The stage is thick, it has to be for those who would use moves like Dig to burrow underneath it after all," The serpent stated.
"You weren't there! I saw how strong that Charmeleon was. Oh just thinking of his strength is making me want to go over to his team right now and take them!" The shadowy figure stated.
The serpent used its tail to push under the other shadowy figure's chin. "Calm down now, before you make yourself known. You know very well why we couldn't take Team Night Tide, they are still in the tournament after all. If they were to suddenly disappear, it would cause an uproar, and attention we don't need."
"I know. I just wish that stupid Dragapult wasn't here! Things would go so much smoothly," The shadowy figure said.
"Not to worry, my dear, the pieces are already set for us. It would appear that one of the Guildmasters is starting to suspect poor little Chihiro of being the kidnapper," The serpent stated. "Now all we have to do is give the pieces a little push, and the teams from the Unity Guild will be yours for the taking~"
"Really? Oh this makes everything so much better now!" The female happily exclaimed.
"But just remember, leave that Goomy for me," The serpent advised. "All the others you can have for yourself, but I need that Goomy."
"Why so interested in the Goomy? Is it because of what she did to those poor souls from Team Volcanic Ash?" The female figure questioned.
"You and I both know what that Goomy did was not something any ordinary Goomy could pull off. It seems that there is more to the Goomy, I want to know more about her heritage. I want to know how she used such power. If I can unlock her secrets," The serpent started to chuckle at the mere thought of having Berry. "My dear, you won't ever have to worry about satisfying your hunger ever again."
"Oh I can't wait! It's so close that I can almost taste it!" The female smacked her lips.
"But we will need to be smart about this. First, we will need to get the Dragapult out of the way," The serpent remarked. "Then, we will worry about Team Night Tide after."
"Well it's like you said, all they need is a little push. Did you know that Dragapult's eyes appear red for a moment? When they are squinting? And let's not forget the little 'rumors' of how some Pokemon that disappeared would see a pair of red eyes looking at them," The female said as her own red eyes glistened in the dark. "Maybe we should share this little information with that Garchomp."
"Now you're thinking, my dear~" The serpent said before laughing. "Let's set the pieces in motion."
Dust was walking with Berry and Shab on his back and Spooks was floating beside him. They were passing by the message board that usually had posters of wanted criminals. However, as they were passing by, Spooks gave a curious look as he saw a Smeargle walking up to the board.
"Oh, look, they're updating the outlaw message board," Spooks pointed out.
Dust wasn't too curious, his mind more on the tournament at the moment, but then one of the wanted posters caught his attention. As he gave a closer look, he saw that a female Salandit was wanted, but what made the poster catch his eye was the fact that the Salandit's body was white, instead of being dark gray.
"The White Bandit, a Rank A outlaw, murdered a high commanding officer of the Class Guild, and stole valuables. If captured, you will be rewarded 100,000 Poke. Wanted alive. " Dust read outloud. "I've never seen a Shiny Salandit before."
"Heh, White Bandit, seems fitting. Being a shiny already puts a target on her back, but now that there's a wanted poster, I'm sure it won't be long until she's captured," A sudden new voice spoke up behind Dust.
Dust jumped and turned around, seeing a normal colored Salandit there.
"Whoa, where'd you come from?" Berry asked, surprised herself.
"Just wandering around the town," The Salandit said, having a male voice. "I heard that the valuables the White Bandit stole was actually stolen from her by the Class Guild. But she's an outlaw, so, nobody would take her side of the story of course."
"Really? Well how do you know it was her stuff in the first place?" Dust asked.
"News travels fast between us Salandit, others already have a negative view on us, so we try to stick together when we can," The Salandit explained. "But now that she has a wanted poster, it's just gonna give others more of an excuse to judge us. But what can you do, you can't change what you are."
"That may be true, but just because you were born as a certain Pokemon doesn't mean it determines who you are. Like look at me, do I really come across as some intimidating Absol?" Dust asked.
The Salandit looked at Dust for a bit before answering. "I have to admit, the Goomy and Feebas kinda give you a ridiculous look."
"Hey, we don't make him look ridiculous," Shab pouted.
"Nah, we just make him look cute," Berry chuckled.
"Hey, I'm not judging, I've done some things that are considered pretty weird before too," Salandit chuckled. "Hmm… aren't you three from the Unity Guild?"
"Yes, we are," Berry answered.
"I see… I'll have to remember that for later. I might be considering to join a guild, but I want to make sure it's the right one for me. I've considered Team Volcanic Ash, but that place I've heard is a real Distortion World, and considering I'm male and can't evolve, they may not want me anyways," The Salandit remarked.
"Oh, well if you do happen to join Unity Guild, I can assure you that you will be very welcomed. By the way, I'm Dust and this is Berry and Shab," Dust introduced as he pointed to Berry and Shab.
"I'm Spooks," Spooks introduced.
"It's nice to meet you all. You may call me… Kuro," The Salandit stated. "And I also… well, admire the White Bandit quite a bit."
Dust found it strange that someone would admire an outlaw, but decided not to press further. "Well, Kuro, it was a pleasure to meet you. I do hope to meet you again if you do happen to join our guild, I'm rather interested in the biology of your kind. Perhaps one of these days you might be open to doing some research."
Kuro took a step back from Dust, his suggestion of doing research on him made him nervous. Before he could reply, Berry suddenly shot water at the back of Dust's head.
"Dust! You don't just tell someone you're interested in doing research on them! You're just creeping them out!" Berry hissed before she looked at Kuro. "Don't mind Dust, he's actually harmless and a nice guy. He can just be a bit too into his research that he forgets how to be social with other Pokemon."
"Right, sorry. Just got excited back there. Haven't really met a Salandit before," Dust added as he shook his head.
"Right… well, I do at least admire your battle skills. I've been watching how you fight in the tournament. I must say, it is quite surprising only the teams of the Unity Guild made it to the semi-finals considering it's known as the 'outcast guild'," Kuro chuckled. "I wish you luck in the tournament. For now, I need to get going."
Kuro began walking away into the White Leaf Town.
"Well that was interesting, first we see a poster of a shiny Salandit, then we actually end up meeting a different Salandit. He seems rather nice," Dust noted. "Do you think he knows the White Bandit? Maybe they are siblings or something."
"Maybe, he did say he admired the White Bandit. He must have a good reason for that," Berry agreed.
"Heh, can you imagine if one of us had a sibling that was an outlaw?" Shab brought up.
At that, Dust and Berry grew silent.
"Uh… did I make it awkward?" Shab asked.
"Well… to be fair, that is a real possibility for us since there are relatives we don't know about," Berry chuckled sheepishly.
"Though I must admit, if I did happen to have some sort of relationship to someone who was an Outlaw, I think they would be terrified if they ever encountered my mother. Unless that's the reason why she never mentions who my father is...Oh dear, now I can't stop thinking of the possibilities! First we had Calcifer who might be Berry's dad, now I might be related to an outlaw too!" Dust started to freak out.
"Uuugh, Dust! Stop it before you go further down the Raboot hole!" Berry groaned.
"Um… are we going to eat any time soon?" Spooks questioned.
Dust shook his head, clearing any thoughts of outlaws and such. "You're right, let's go get food. No need to jump to conspiracy theories."
ChloeTheKisune: DarkFoxKit: Heh, you'll have to keep guessing for the time being. We have plans for Berry's real parents, don't worry~
Oragoning: DarkFoxKit: Scab? I think you mean Shab, right? As for when he will evolve… not for a while. It's a bit too soon for Team Night Tide to have such a powerful Pokemon like Milotic on their team right now. And I'd like for each of the team members to earn their evolutions. Too bad Absol can't evolve, if you don't count their Mega Evolution. Although you did give me a cute image of a Goodra with a Feebas on its head. XD
FoxyKhai0209: Traveling Master: Heh, yeah, Team Destruct does make an interesting duo. And they somehow balance each other out...for some reason. Which is good, cause if one of them was missing, I think the other two would cause more problems. XD
As for part 2 of the chapter, well as was mentioned before, they did have plans to meet up with Emerald. But they are may learn that won't be the case. And while it would be interesting to see Brody sense Emerald, gotta remember even Emerald had trouble trying to find her friends, and she was very close with them. She hasn't really met Brody yet, so the chances of Brody sensing Emerald's aura are pretty slim, but you never know. Maybe we planned for it, maybe something else. Just gotta wait and see.
DarkFoxKit: Please don't talk about potential spoiler stuff on here, another reader saw what you said about a fourth member, and asked us about it. There's a reason why we hadn't shown the fourth member yet. I apologize for not replying on the PMs, when I don't reply it usually means I don't have anything to say. If you want to start up another conversation or a question, you'll have to make a new subject if I don't reply for more than a week.
Greatest Guy: Traveling Master: It was a pretty intense battle. But like you said, it only added more to the mystery behind Berry. All which will be answered in time.
DarkFoxKit: The Magikarp, as answered in this chapter, is indeed female. If you look at a Magikarp's gender differences, the males have yellow whiskers while the females have white whiskers.
Star Pisces: Traveling Mster: The Charmeleon they were talking about wasn't a member of Team Volcano, but part of the Volcanic Ash Guild. But yes, there is some mystery behind Al's past. Hard to say if it will be good or bad if the others learn the truth. But only time will tell.
Star Ophiuchus: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Berry's a bit of an exception among Goomy due to a special reason. Also, I'm a fan of those hidden great power outbursts in a character tropes, so I couldn't help but put that in Berry. Brody has trouble telling a Pokemon's gender when he first sees them, even if they have a clear gender difference like Meowstic, since he actually admitted before in the story that he mistook Miyagi for a female before.
Traveling Master: Plus, I think when it comes to Aura, it doesn't exactly show one's gender, but more as what kind of Pokemon they are. It could show a hostile aura, or a friendly aura. And if Brody is meeting a Pokemon for the first time, all he wouldn't be able to tell their gender based off their aura alone. After getting to know them, he'd recognize the Pokemon depending on their aura but before then, not really.
DarkFoxKit: We will get to who Berry's birth parents are at some point, don't worry.
MagiStep: DarkFoxKit: Don't ask us too much about Team Aura Force, we rather keep things about them confidential unless revealed in the story. This chapter wasn't really focused on them anyways. As for the fourth member, I won't say anything about them, you'll just have to wait and see.
Coyobyss: DarkFoxKit: Are you excited or insulted that Berry is 'too powerful'? ^^' If excited, then yeah, it's been pretty fun writing out her outbursts. If insulted, then… sorry, guess I got a bit carried away.
Ice Swing: Traveling Master: That battle against Team Aura Force was pretty tough, but they managed to win against Emerald and her team. And yes, just like with Emerald and her unique eyes, we do have plans for other Pokemon having unique attributes, but won't say further. And the Pokemon looking very lifeless, well you are just gonna have to wait and see if the others will be alright. And as I mentioned before, Brody and Emerald haven't really met each other, so there's a small chance Brody would even know if Emerald was in trouble.
DarkFoxKit: Let's not forget that Emerald couldn't sense her own teammates with her aura either. So it's very unlikely Brody would sense someone he never technically met.
Guest #1: DarkFoxKit: First off, thank you. As for what you were saying about Dust… uh… what are you saying? That Dust was planning poorly in that last battle? Anyways, that team of Fire types were trained to battle against Water types, what with the Sunny Day and having a Pokemon with Solarbeam. Though they're not that good against Dragon types, at least not with Berry's kind anyways, but Berry herself is still a weak Goomy, not counting her outbursts. She doesn't gain the same type attack bonus from Water Pulse either. And Shab is still a Feebas, which is a very weak Pokemon stat-wise.
Berry didn't use a new move with this outburst, it was just that this particular outburst was so violently strong that it turned her moves into something much more devastating and huge. As you will learn when the story goes on, this type of outburst is extremely rare and powerful among the Volcanic Ash Guild, which is why it was supposed to be kept secret from outsider Pokemon. But Berry did use multiple moves, the water dragon you saw her using was in combination with her DragonBreath and Water Pulse, that and the rain made it much stronger.
That Charizard… I won't go into detail about him, but I will say it's not his first time experiencing someone going out of control due to that particular outburst. Remember, he is a top ranking member in Team Volcanic Ash, he has been trained with this kind of power, so he knows how to control it and how it affects someone who doesn't know how to control it.
Traveling Master: Well, Meteor was suspicious and believes that Calcifer might be Berry's father. And if that was the case, as we established before with egg moves, maybe Berry would end up learning something from this "Calcifer." But that is if he is indeed the father. But we aren't restricting egg moves to where they can only be gained from the father, both parents can pass on a move they know unto their child.
DarkFoxKit: And as I've mentioned before, Pokemon can learn their egg moves whether they hatched with them or not in this story. Like Shab, for example, could still learn Hypnosis and Dragon Pulse even if he wasn't born knowing those moves already. The only difference is that Pokemon who are hatched with these moves would have them earlier than if they had to learn it from scratch. Berry didn't have any egg moves starting out, just wanted to mention that, but she can learn those if I wanted her to.
Traveling Master: As Meteor mentioned, Calcifer was a Charmeleon the last time he saw him, and that he ended up giving Igneel those burn scars on his back. And Igneel was a Charizard back then. And I can't deny that your theory is pretty awesome. Who knows, maybe you are right about Calcifer and Igneel. Maybe they did fight each other for the right to mate with the Goodra. But until Al regains his memories, or Igneel decides to share his past, we won't know until later in the future.
DarkFoxKit: The way Burn Up works in this story is that it is only temporary. If the move made them permanently lose their Fire typing, it would've become an illegal move rather than just a move one guild didn't want their members to use. Besides, if a Charmander line lost their Fire typing permanently, they would probably not live very long, since they need their fire to stay alive.
Traveling Master: The name Calcifer does come from that movie, so you guessed it right. But that's just the name alone, we have plans for Calcifer.
DarkFoxKit: Heh, when we first made Team Crimson Raiders, TM wanted to put in a Zoroark character. I decided since he was going to do that, why not make them the rival team to Team Night Tide? So we put in a pseudo legendary Dragon type as well, since Berry is more special orientated, though Goodra can be mixed, we decided to go for a more physical orientated dragon. Dragonite and Salamence were good choices, but since Berry can't fly, and will never be able to fly, we didn't want the rival dragon to be able to fly either. I thought of making it be the Axew line, but Axew isn't a pseudo legendary, so we went with Jangmo-o instead. Personally, I don't really like the Kimmo-o line, but it was the perfect balance and rival pseudo legendary dragon to use for Berry. When we later added in Shab to the team, obviously we had to bring in a Magikarp to Team Crimson Raiders, especially since Gyarados is also perfect for them considering they value power.
I need to clear this up right now; the Amaura was only a possibility, it doesn't mean we will be adding one to Team Night Tide. We had been unsure about it for a future plan, which was why we wanted to get people's votes on whether we should have it join them or not. But then we realized it was far too early to do that, because everyone wanted the Amaura due to the lack of members Team Night Tide have at the moment, and it wouldn't work if nobody knows what Pokemon we planned for Team Night Tide. So we decided to wait until Team Night Tide have their planned out team members before we put that voting on the Amaura back up. But if they do recruit the Amaura, yeah, maybe we will have Team Crimson Raiders recruit a Tyrunt, but again, this is only a maybe right now. As for their answer to Cliff later… heh, we already decided on what Pokemon that will be, but we won't reveal it here. Right now, Cliff hasn't officially joined Team Night Tide because she's still a baby.
Traveling Master: I am loving your theories. I actually always like seeing theories from the reviewers, seeing how close or how far they actually are. I used to do the same back when I first joined Fanfiction, and always got excited to see how close my theory was. Now I won't say much, especially since we are getting close to the end of the tournament, but just keep watching and waiting.
DarkFoxKit: Yes, Berry is going to hate me. XP We will be keeping in the whole Sliggoo having trouble with their eyesights in this story, and it could lead to some interesting scenarios.
Traveling Master: Well, as DarkFoxKit mentioned before, we do have Team Crimson Raider set up as the rival team for Dust, Berry and Shab. Again, won't say too much since we are close to the end of the tournament, you'll just have to wait and see. As for the whole, "thank Kyrogre" and "Praise Reshiram" well there are all sorts of Pokemon, and many Legendary Pokemon, so there will be many different believes. Some will praise Mew, others Arcues. Fire types are more likely to use Reshiram, and so forth. I don't think Dio will be referencing Dialga or celebi, but if you were making a reference to a certain show, then that's a very nice reference there.
And no need to apologize, we were able to read your review. Thanks for your review and for your many questions.
Lonelyboi69: DarkFoxKit: Hehe, well, while Brody does treat all females with high respect, and tends to flirt with them, Shab truly loves Berry, so most of the stuff he says to her comes from the heart rather than his teachings from Brody. Brody just made him more bold about it.
Well, maybe Berry won't go Super Saiyan- *insert number here*, but she might go super dragon. XP
Guest #2: DarkFoxKit: Relax, it's a stage 1 cancer, very treatable, though I suppose there is that 20 to 30% that it could come back. Let's hope it doesn't. My only issue is that my treatment will cause me to lose the ability to have kids, so… I won't be able to have my own children.
The Moonfox Collective: DarkFoxKit: Ooh, Dragon Burst Mode, nice, I like it. I've… never seen Dragonheart, but I've heard of it, I'm sure that reference would make more sense if I had seen the movie.
Traveling Master: Oh it's such a great movie! Oh my gosh! I haven't seen that in so long! I think it's on Netflix, but still, such a great movie! Sequel is...meh...But the third and fourth film are great. But the first was amazing!
DarkFoxKit: I'm sure it is, you dragon nerd. XP
Traveling Master: First, nice example using Anakin Skywalker. Like how Obi Wan said that Darth Vader had killed him, in a sense that would fit very well with your theory. We do have plans for Al's mysterious past, but can't go into further detail. But focusing more on your theory, as Meteor explained, Calcifer ended up using a powerful fire type attack while also using Blazing Burst Mode. Those two combined would do some serious damage to a Pokemon's inner fire. But in the end, as you and Shab greatly put it, doesn't matter what Al's past may be, right now Al is Al.
Well as you most likely saw in this chapter, the Magikarp's whiskers were indeed important. And I think the show itself established how ridiculous and unpredictable a Magikarp evolving would be. From the first time when James kicked his Magikarp, only for it to evolve and summon more Gyarados.
DarkFoxKit: Hmm… Magikarp with yellow whiskers are usually male, so what could the white whiskers mean? Hmmmmmmmm? XP Though if you read this chapter before reading our response, then you should already know.
Guest #3: DarkFoxKit: Is Al evil? No, is he clueless and can make the dumbest of comments at the wrong time? Yes, very much so. Now is Calcifer evil? That's a question we don't know yet. XP
Jojo's Bizarre: Traveling Master: Heh, true. I can see that.
Electrybara: DarkFoxKit: Levels aren't really taken into account in a story like this. The anime doesn't do that either. Pokemon can just learn a late move or evolve at any time they want. Like for example, Goomy can't evolve into Sliggoo until level 40, though Berry is more likely at level 25, or 30 at the latest right now. But her body feels like it's time to evolve. So don't take levels into account too much here. The Pokemon's strength and skills determine how strong they are rather than their number set levels.
Flazar: Traveling Master: Heh, glad you are enjoying the story so far. But as for our update, well we already mentioned what will be happening. Updates will be slow for the time being, but it's only temporary.
Guest #4: Traveling Master: Yup, Dust has shown some interests in the past concerning his father, but he knew Eclipse would not be willing to reveal anything about who his father was. Something did happen between Eclipse and the father, but that will be answered later in the future. As for your idea, it's not bad, and we do have plans for Berry and Dust's parents, but who knows, maybe you ended up guessing what the plans were with your ideas. Or not, can't say for now. But no need to stop sharing your ideas or theories, I always look forward to them. And who knows, they may actually end up giving us some inspiration or ideas for our story.