Chapter 10
Eight years earlier.
He was a skinny child, his clothes dirtied and his face smudged with grease and filth. He inhabited the nooks and crannies of his small town, eating whatever his Absol cub managed to retrieve him. He subsisted on the occasional kindhearted stranger. Never had he considered theft, in any capacity. He could not recall his mother, but he was certain she wouldn't have approved. No matter how desperate his circumstances.
It wasn't a well-traveled town. If you were born in Lavaridge, that's where you stayed. People didn't deign to come through very often, unless it was to visit the sporadically active volcano, which last erupted thirty-something years ago. There were the emergency routines that followed, but hope was a rare commodity. The boy didn't have much of it.
At six, he was still a child. And somehow the naivete once harbored had been quashed to the point where he knew full well just how vulnerable he was to his environment and to a stranger.
These days, there were plenty of strangers afoot. They were men and women that he'd never seen before, around town. Most of the people in town were well-known to him; after all, it wasn't a large town, making the strangers stand out even more.
They wore red; that was common to all of them. They spoke in hushed tones, and smiled eerily whenever he stared at them for too long. They made his hair stand on end. There was something intensely foreboding about their presence in his town.
The closest encounter he'd ever had, the one that had stuck with him since, was when the tallish, red-haired, bespectacled man he'd seen around came up to him, while he and Absol rested next to Bassa's shop.
"Sidney, is it?" The red-haired man asked.
Sidney blinked. "That's my name." His fist clenched nervously.
"I couldn't help but notice just how much your Absol is bonded to you. I hope you understand my curiosity."
"What's your name?" Sidney asked, with a glint in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Maximus. But my colleagues refer to me as Maxie. Or Doctor Maxie."
That made Sidney ease up a bit. Maxie was a doctor. "You're a doctor? For Pokemon?"
Maxie smiled and stroked his chin. "Well, I do have some experience in that field, of course. But I tend to leave the medical side of things to the nurses. I'd like to see a Pokemon Center here one day."
Sidney nodded. "Me too, sir. A lot of us want that."
Maxie leaned in, smiling even more broadly. "Do you want to know what I do?"
Sidney was hesitant, but didn't want to be impolite. "Sure."
"I'm a student of the legends! I study the earth beneath our feet and the legendary pokemon that crafted the world we live in today."
This grabbed Sidney's attention. "You mean, like Groudon?"
"Yes! Exactly. You're very bright, you know?"
"Hmm. Well, I just listen to what Bassa tells me. She knows a lot about Groudon, and Kyogre, and the dragons."
"Does she now? Well, Sidney, I have an offer for you, if you're interested."
Sidney looked down, slightly suspicious, but his curiosity outweighed any of his hesitations. "Sure. What's the offer?"
"How would you like to study under my teaching? Together, we can learn more and more about Groudon. He leaned in, whispering now. "Maybe we can learn how to harness Groudon's power for ourselves."
For a moment, Sidney was incredulous. He thought about the possibilities. If Maxie was being serious, then what kind of power would that be? And what could be done with it? Could Sidney help his town? Maybe he could rule the world! The idea of that didn't appeal to him, much, admittedly. Bassa would always tell him that legends were best left to storytellers. He looked up at Maxie and frowned, slightly embarrassed. "I appreciate the offer, sir. But I have to say that I'm not interested."
Maxie scowled. "Hmm. I suppose you're satisfied with your current lot then? You don't mind living like a vermin in the streets of a filthy village?"
Now Sidney was frightened. And when he was scared, he became angry. "Sir. Please back off. My Absol will hurt you if he thinks you're attacking me."
Maxie took a look at the cub and back at Sidney. He chuckled. "Suit yourself, boy." He walked away slowly, not once looking back at Sidney.
The memory of this conversation had not ever left Sidney's mind since.
It was an unusually cool day. Steven woke up groggy and rested on a fallen log for a few hours, taking everything in. He'd let Skarmory do some hunting in the meantime and ate an oran berry cereal bar. Beldum had picked up some type of stone with its lone claw and seemed to be playing with it.
Or maybe it was consuming it.
Steven shrugged. Pokemon had to eat like anything else. Originally, he'd been leary of his partner's carnivorous nature, but after seeing it slaughter several Geodude on the road, he'd been numbed. Maybe it was Beldum's innocuous nature that put him off. Skarmory's bloodlust was less disconcerting. It was the teeth, and the razor sharp wings that made Skarmory naturally intimidating.
His flying companion descended with the grace of a cloud, barely flapping his wings. Poise seemed to come easily to the predatory bird, and it landed with a small cloud of dust-and with a small Zigzagoon trapped in its mandibled beak, still wriggling. Skarmory would never bring prey back fully dead. Almost as if he wanted to impress his owner.
As much as it bothered Steven, he couldn't change his pokemon's habit. Or could he? The little Zigzagoon let out a squeak, held underneath Skarmory's sharp talons. The bird looked at Steven expectantly, as if to say "Look at what I caught. Praise me."
Steven sighed. "Why can't you just finish it off? Why does it have to suffer?"
Skarmory cocked his head, waiting.
"Just...kill it. Do it."
Skarmory waited for a few more seconds before clicking his sharp steel talons and slicing up the little Zigzagoon. It was gruesome. Steven clutched his stomach and grimaced. He'd have to find some way to train Skarmory. But that would have to wait. Because the Mauville skyline was on the horizon.
"You believe yourself worthy of a gym challenge against me?" Juan said with his signature smirk.
"Well, of course," Wallace replied, with an equally cocky grin. "Seaking and I have been training our fins off."
"So I see. And I presume you're interested in a solo battle?"
"Yep. One on one. Me and Seaking against… your choice." Wallace rolled up his sleeves, ready for whatever Juan had in mind.
"Rest assured, my young apprentice. I won't use Kingdra. This is only your first gym battle, after all." For a moment, Juan pondered which pokemon would be best suited to test Wallace's abilities. The boy had matured since coming under his tutelage, there was no doubt about it. He didn't want to break his spirit. Which of his pokemon to select for the battle?
"Juan, you ready?"
Juan turned around and nodded. The two situated themselves across from one another, between them a rocky pool.
"Seaking, I choose you!" Wallace said with a clumsy underhanded throw, releasing Seaking into the pool.
Well, of course… Juan thought to himself with a smile. "Seadra!" He threw his pokeball with force and it bounced off the surface of the water back into his hand, releasing his Seadra into the pool of water.
Wallace grit his teeth. That's the one he uses to train with the other students. This wasn't going to be an easy battle, not at all, even if Seadra wasn't fully evolved.
"Seaking! Use Horn Attack!"
Seaking accelerated, charging with its glowing horn at Seadra.
"Seadra, dodge it!"
With very little effort, Seadra dodged Seaking's attack, swimming out of its charging path. Damn it, Wallace thought.
"It seems as if Seadra outspeeds Seaking. You're going to have to try something else. Now, Seadra, Focus Energy!"
Seadra froze in the water, its eyes glowing intensely before slowly fading back to normal.
"Seaking, now, Horn Attack again, while it's not moving!"
Seaking went in for another charge, this time the distance between the two pokemon significantly smaller. Wallace was confident he could land a hit.
"I imagined you would make a second attempt. You're a stubborn one, Wallace. Seadra! Use a Bubble Beam to slow it down!"
From its snout, Seadra let out a concentrated and powerful beam of bubbles, directly landing a sustained strike at Seaking's forehead, and knocking it off balance. Seaking slowly regained its orientation, but Wallace was surprised at the potency of Seadra's Bubble Beam.
"You see, I used Focus Energy in order to make Seadra concentrate on its next few attacks. I always aim to finish a battle as quickly as I can. What Focus Energy does is heighten all of Seadra's senses ever so slightly-so that he can sense his opponents' weak spots. He must've sensed Seaking's weak point and aimed his Bubble Beam there. Patience is of utmost importance in battle, Wallace."
"But you just said that you finish battles as quickly as possible!"
"Correct. The most efficient way of finishing a battle is by waiting for your opponent to blunder through their attack-and then find the precise moment to decisively secure your victory."
Wallace groaned. "Fine. But this battle isn't done yet."
Juan smiled with a glint in his eyes. "I wouldn't have had it any other way, my apprentice."
"Seaking, use Supersonic!"
From underneath the raucous waves of the pool, a shrill sound was emitted from Seaking, a warning song of sorts-and it was focused directly at Seadra. As a response to this auditory assault, Seadra began swimming erratically in circles.
"Not so concentrated now, huh?"
"Very good. You used a sonic attack that was difficult to dodge, and you effectively countered the effects of Focus Energy." Very impressive, Wallace.
"Seaking, use Horn Attack once more!"
"Seadra, dodge it!"
This time, Seadra was unable to heed Juan's command. Seaking barrelled directly into Seadra with its razor sharp horn, smashing him into the wall of the pool.
"A perfect strike! But we're not finished yet. Seadra, be patient!" Juan knew that aiming for a direct assault would be hazardous, with Seadra's state of confusion. It would be an erratic attack with potential for self-inflicted damage. He knew that Seadra could handle at least ONE more Horn Attack.
Unless the next one was as robust as the last. That was unlikely.
"Seaking, finish him off with ONE LAST HORN ATTACK!"
Seaking charged in-and connected, crushing Seadra against the pool's wall.
Seadra was immobile.
"Wait, did I win?" Wallace was incredulous.
Juan smirked. "It appears so. Come receive your Rain Badge. You earned it."
Wallace yelped with excitement. Juan brought Seadra back into its pokeball. You performed magnificently, my partner.
"We did it, Seaking. I KNEW we would. I had a feeling we would."
"A feeling?" Juan asked quizzically.
Wallace nodded. "Yeah. Instincts."
Wide open and pitch black, the cave beckoned to him. Staring down into the steep darkness, Steven eased down slowly into the depths, keeping his feet perpendicular to the descent. There was a musty smell, like autumn moss, permeating from the cavern. Curiosity might've killed the Skitty…. But I'm tougher than a Skitty.
His shoes scraped against rock, creating an echo. Steven clicked his tongue a few times, enjoying the reverberation. The sound reminded him of his dad's warehouse, huge and metallic.
He drew a flashlight from his backpack once he felt the dusty floor beneath his feet. The cavern extended in two directions. Arbitrarily, Steven decided to go left. His hand traced the wall of the cave, collecting white dust. Despite his spelunking experiences, being alone made him feel intimidated.
"Beldum," Steven whispered, tossing his pokeball into the air. Beldum came out and the pokeball ricocheted back into his hand. The darkness was absolute, the only sanctuary being the soft light emitted by his flashlight and Beldum's robotic chirping.
With Beldum's psychic abilities at play, Steven felt considerably more comfortable in the dark, oppressive environment. Skarmory...would be of no use. He would inevitably panic and fly into a wall, or worse, attack Steven on accident. Razor sharp wings flapping in such a confined space-a mistake was inevitable.
A loud chirp. Unmistakably curious.
Something.
Steven pointed his flashlight at Beldum. "What's up?"
For the next five minutes, Beldum led the way and Steven trailed behind. The cavern became colder, a sharp contrast to the sweaty humidity of the surface. It felt like natural air conditioning. A relief, if anything.
Beldum stopped.
"What is it?"
Without any preamble, Beldum rammed its claw into the wall.
Steven gasped. "What the heck are you DOING?" he whispered frantically.
Totally ignored. Beldum continued picking away at the rock. Even with the flashlight, Steven couldn't make out what Beldum was aiming for. "What are you trying to find?"
Bones.
Bones?
After another smash, the dent in the wall revealed nothing short of an archaeological miracle.
It was a claw fossil. It left Steven with his jaw at his feet.
Bones.
There was a Taillow on his face. It peacefully cooed while Matty slept.
Matty woke up to the feeling of feathers in his lips, and screamed. The pokemon quickly escaped, but Matty sat there for the next ten minutes, hyperventilating. He hadn't eaten in two days, and he looked for Scott and Rhonda to beg one of them for food.
Where were Scott and Rhonda?
His heart froze. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He pinched his leg. "Scott? Just come out, I know you're there."
Silence. Nothing but the swaying of the trees and the chirping of flying pokemon. "Rhonda… please." He hated how pathetic his voice sounded, but he was exhausted. There was nothing to do about it. "Please. Please."
He let out a guttural, throaty shriek.
"PLEASE!"
Everything was gone. The tent was gone. The food was gone. His traveling companions… gone. Nothing but his cargo shorts and long-sleeve shirt remained. His clothes and his backpack-and that was it.
Matty began to heave-short, quick breaths at first, but descending quickly into frantic sobs. The forest ambience made him sweat profusely. Fervent panic clutched at his fragile heart, refusing to let go for even a moment.
He stopped moving. The gravity of his situation came in for a second wave, overwhelming his senses. There was sweat on his brow, and filth underneath his fingernails, like mold hidden underneath the crust of the loaf.
A howl echoed through the forest. Several howls joined in. Poochyena perhaps? They weren't so bad. They weren't aggressive enough to attack an adult.
A howl like no other reigned supreme-towering over the others. The Poochyena subsided into whimpering yelps. The alpha-one of the Mightyena in the pack-had declared the hunt.
Matty gulped.