Okay, I've idled enough, time to work and get the main story of my Pokémon fanfiction series started. There are a number of things I have to say, but I won't make a special introductory chapter this time. As a consequence, today's A/N is split into two parts, the first one about the story in general and the second one about this particular chapter.
First things first, there's a prequel to this story. To anyone stumbling across this story before reading the prequel: I recommend reading the prequel first since it provides a lot of useful information that will make this story easier to understand. There's also an introduction in the prequel that explains a few formal things. I'll try to write this story in a way that allows new readers to understand at least most things even without reading the prequel, but I won't write/explain everything twice.
As you might've guessed from the... well, bizarre summary, I have planned some weird encounters for Marc and his pokémon. I'll go a bit deeper into that: Numerous small character's from the Gen 3 games will appear in this story. Many of these encounters will end up as parodies of the involved characters, certain things I've seen in canon or fan-made work about Pokémon or even real groups.
However, these moments are meant as parody and parody only. None of these scenes are meant as offense or supposed to express a serious, genuine stance towards the characters/people that are portrayed in them. I just want to make this clear.
Anyway, the summary also states that some of the aforementioned encounters will be "disturbing". A fair warning: A certain aspect of the main plot is pretty dark. I can't really say more without spoiling things, so I'll leave it at that for now.
On a related note, I might change the rating when things get serious towards the end.
To sum things up, let me put it that way: They say life has its ups and downs. So will this stories. There will be funny parts, serious parts and "shocking" parts. The story won't become a full-fledged parody, but no thriller either. Of course I'll try to separate and balance the different aspects. That is, unless there's a specific reason for combining them.
On a related note, a large portion of this story will be about Marc and his interactions with various minor characters from all over Hoenn. Let's say I want to give them some love/attention. If there's a NPC from the Gen 3 games that you really like, feel free to tell me and I'll give him/her a cameo if I find a way to fit the character into the story. I can't make any promises, and the "fate" of major characters (such as gym leaders) is already decided, but apart from that, I'm open to suggestions.
By the way, some people might wonder what will become of Adrianna since she stayed behind in Fallarbor Town. Her time will come, don't worry. ;)
Okay, I hope I didn't forget anything (well, I did in my introduction of the prequel).
So, now about this chapter...
Marc and his two pokémon just left Fallarbor Town and are headed to Meteor Falls. I've decided to start things slowly, so this chapter will be about their trip through the cave.
On a related note, I've reimagined Meteor Falls a bit. It's supposed to be a much lager, more complex cave in this story. I've made references to certain parts of the canon Meteor Falls, which will (hopefully) serve as suitable landmarks. Anyway, keep this in mind or certain parts of this chapter might be a little confusing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Marc stands right in front of the entrance to Meteor Falls. At his side: his bagon, Phire, and his zangoose, Robert. Making their way through the cave system of Meteor Falls would be the first "obstacle" on their journey.
Their first destination is Rustboro City. Okay, they could use the road that leads from Fallarbor Town to Rustboro City. They would only have to organise a car ride since this road is off limits for pedestrians.
However, Marc wants to take the "hard" route through Meteor Falls. To be fair, trainers preferred this route. After all, making their way through a cave full of wild pokémon "suits their craft" as someone put it once.
Well, in Marc's opinion, Meteor Falls is a good opportunity to start training. They can't slack off if they want Phire to evolve, can they?
Long story short, Marc and his pokémon wear a determined expression.
Marc: Okay, guys, let's get going.
His pokémon nod firmly and follow him into the cave.
They have to walk through a long tunnel with a few forks. Fortunately, Marc has a map of this part of Meteor Falls on his PokéNav, so they don't have trouble finding the right way.
They are on guard since wild pokémon might launch at them here at any time. Phire and Robert are ready to take them on if it comes to that. However, they make it through the passageway without any encounters.
The tunnel leads straight to the main cavern of Meteor Falls, which is really huge. They survey their surroundings carefully. They didn't encounter wild pokémon so far, but it would be extremely odd for this to continue, especially at this area.
There are indeed several wild pokémon in sight. A few solrocks and lunatones are floating around, and zubats can be seen at the ceiling of the cave. However, none of these pokémon show signs of hostility. They seem to ignore Marc and his pokémon.
Since they aren't in any imminent danger, Marc and his pokémon take a short rest when they arrive at the large waterfall in the main cavern.
To be honest, it is a majestic sight. Most parts of Meteor Falls (such as the tunnel they just walked through) may have a rather eerie atmosphere, but this place is quite tranquil. The faint cries of wild pokémon and the dominating sound of flowing and crashing water (the latter coming from the waterfall), which echo through the cavern, add to this atmosphere, the atmosphere of untouched nature.
When Marc takes in the sight of the waterfall, his gaze subconsciously wanders upwards until it arrives at the giant hole in the wall at the top of the waterfall. He's well aware that the cave system of Meteor Falls extends beyond that point.
Somewhere in the caves behind that hole… That's where Phire came from, that's where his conspecifics live.
Mark remembers what Adriana told him a few days ago about Phire and Naira being the only ones of their kind around the place. Apparently, she thinks that they will never meet others of their kind. Maybe that isn't true after all…
When he achieves his goal, and Phire evolves and becomes able to fly, he can fly up the waterfall and reach the remote caves… Maybe he would do that one day.
Marc's thought process is disrupted by a piercing screech. He turns to the source and sees a zubat flying in circles above his pokémon. Apparently, one of the zubats decided to attack, but his pokémon haven't let their guard down, so neither of them is an easy target.
The zubat seems to have trouble deciding whether to attack Phire or Robert.
Marc [determinedly]: Well, it seems we'll have the first battle of our training.
Phire and Robert cry in unison, agreeing with him. Since the zubat doesn't really attack, it is up to Marc to make a move.
Well, what move? That's the question. The zubat is flying above them, clearly out of reach of close range attacks such as Slash or Headbutt. Robert pretty much can't do anything.
Okay, so it is up to Phire and his ranged attacks.
Marc: Phire, use Dragon Breath.
Phire attacks the zubat with his draconic flames, but the zubat notices the imminent danger in time and backs away, evading the attack. They repeat this a few times. The zubat stays just out of reach of Phire's attacks.
Marc had to deal with flying opponents before, mostly swablus and occasionally a skarmory, but these foes never used their capability to fly to their advantage (because their trainers didn't realise how useful it can be).
This battle shows Marc how troublesome battles against a flying opponent can be, at least if you are earthbound. The zubat is just hovering over them, waiting for an opening. Sure, they are safe for now, but they can't do anything.
Marc [annoyed]: Ugh, this is getting nowhere! Guys, we're wasting our time with this one, so let's get out of here!
His pokémon look at Marc with grim, dissatisfied expressions. Their journey is off to a fantastic start if they seriously have to run from their very first battle.
Marc knows that, and he hates to discourage them, but he has no idea how to battle this zubat right now. On top of that, this zubat doesn't seem worth it.
They make a run for it, heading to the southern tunnels of Meteor Falls. The zubat watches them run at first, but it decides to not let its "prey" flee so easily and chases them.
The zubat catches up to Marc and his team when they reach the exit of the main cavern. When Marc turns around, he notices that the zubat lunges at him. He barely manages to dodge.
Robert tries to hit it with Slash in retaliation, but the zubat is very agile and manages to dodge. It proceeds with its attack by using Leech Life on Phire.
The zubat hits Phire at a pretty vulnerable spot. It bites into his neck. Phire can't reach the zubat with any of his attacks there.
The zubat uses Leech Life to drain Phire's energy and blood. Zubats also like to use this move to ingest nutrients. Needless to say, this process is extremely unpleasant for Phire.
Marc: Robert, you have to help Phire! Take…
Marc stops before he finishes his command. He wants to take action quickly, but he also notices something. Its current position leaves the zubat vulnerable.
Marc: Now that you can hit it, use Quick Attack!
Robert attacks the zubat and hits it with ease. The impact causes the zubat to let go of Phire. Robert doesn't stop the attack yet and basically drags the zubat with her.
The zubat obviously doesn't like that. It attacks Robert with Wing Attack. Its wings hit Robert just hard enough to push her away. Marc tries to use that as an opportunity for Phire to attack.
Marc: Phire, use Dragon Breath!
Phire, who is pretty upset about the zubat "snacking" on his blood (even if just for a few seconds), attacks immediately.
However, the zubat has apparently sensed the upcoming danger, so it flies up as fast as it can. Phire's attack comes just a second too late.
This time, the zubat tries something else. It uses Supersonic. Marc and his pokémon try to cover their ears to protect themselves from the intense sound waves. Well, this defense proves to be futile.
Supersonic is actually one of the moves that affect humans less than pokémon, which are actually much more resilient. The sound waves cause a stinging pain in Marc's ears, but that's all.
In contrast to that, his pokémon basically lose their sense of balance, and their senses of vision and hearing are severely impaired. The sound waves have basically overburdened their senses.
Fortunately, these effects are only temporary, but they make this battle even harder. Marc is aware that his pokémon might not even direct their attacks at the right target in this state… simply because they can't perceive their surroundings correctly.
Nevertheless, he remains calm. The sight of his staggering pokémon merely makes him sigh. Why? Because he already has something to solve this issue.
He takes his yellow flute, one of the glass flutes he has taken with him on his journey, out of his bag and plays it.
The soothing noises of the yellow flute have the exact frequency that can cure the mental ailment of confusion. Phire and Robert snap out of the confusion when they hear the flute. They calm down again.
The zubat isn't pleased and prepares its next attack. Since it doesn't understand that the yellow flute can cure confusion, it just assumes that Supersonic didn't work, so it decides to go with Confuse Ray instead.
To be fair, Marc could just use the yellow flute again, but he's sick and tired of this battle, so he just orders his pokémon to flee again. They exit the main cavern before the zubat can use Confuse Ray.
About an hour later, Marc, Phire and Robert hide in a small crevice in Meteor Falls. This one zubat really gives them a hard time…
It didn't really come as a surprise that the zubat followed them into the tunnels. At first, Marc thought that fighting it would become easier. After all, the zubat couldn't really keep a distance in the rather narrow passageways.
However, as it turned out, the zubat had other tactics up its sleeve. It appeared to be quite skilled at manoeuvring through the narrow space. For instance, when Robert tried to attack it with Slash one time, the zubat quickly flew behind a stalagmite. The rock formation effectively blocked her attack.
On top of that, running away didn't really work out for them either… While trying to escape, they suddenly reached an area with several levels which lead downwards, similar to a natural staircase with wide, flat steps.
The bad thing about this "cave staircase" was that the steps were extremely wet and slippery. When Marc and his pokémon entered this area, they were too fast and slipped. They slid all the way down to the lowest step.
That was bad because they had actually needed to turn right and enter a different branch of the tunnel system. Now they are basically lost.
The zubat has continued to chase them. This makes getting back on track really hard. In order to lose the zubat, they've hidden inside the aforementioned crevice. It is barely big enough for the three to fit into it, but it's the only hideout they could find.
What to do? While they catch their breath, Marc asks himself this question. They probably won't get out of this damn cave without taking this zubat out. Not that he minds at this point.
But how? It's not like their opponent is too strong. It is just… so annoying!
Marc sighs exasperatedly and throws a tired glance at his pokémon. Robert seems overall composed, but Phire… He seems frustrated. Very frustrated.
Who could blame him? This journey is supposed to serve one purpose: his training. Yet their first battle seems to become an utter failure. Off to a great start!
Thinking about this, Marc grits his teeth. He has promised Phire, his sworn brother, that he would help him to fulfil his dream, so why does he throw in the towel just like that? As his trainer, he shouldn't do that. It's his job to figure out how to beat their opponents, yet here he is, wailing over this zubat being annoying.
Rather than just asking how to defeat it and then claiming that there's no way, he should think about this seriously. Calm, thorough thoughts… Their rest at this place is actually the perfect opportunity for Marc to think this through and to devise a battle strategy.
First things first: What's the enemies weak point? Well, judging by their previous experience, there is only one situation in which the zubat is actually vulnerable: when it attacks at close range.
It shouldn't be too difficult to get this chance. The zubat is certainly after them and tries to use Leech Life most of the time.
Could he lure the zubat into the exact same position it was in during their battle at the exit of the main cavern? Actually, why not? Marc remembers that wild pokémon usually use conventional tactics based on what they perceive as "effective".
It should be easy to make the zubat repeat its "success". That would be a good bait. The actual question is what he should do differently to make sure that this won't end as it did earlier.
Fortunately, he has an idea about that.
Marc: Guys, new plan. We will take this thing out, and here's how we do it…
A few minutes later, Marc and his team are on their way to the exit of Meteor Falls. Just as planned, they encounter the zubat soon. It charges from the front directly at Robert this time.
Phire has to act as a decoy for the plan to work. He tries to intercept the zubat with Headbutt. It dodges in time, and Phire's attack only hits the wall of the tunnel.
Well, the zubat doesn't really mind targeting Phire instead of Robert, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity. It uses Leech Life and bites into the same spot as it bit into earlier.
Next step: Robert uses Quick Attack from behind Phire and slams the zubat away. The zubat counters with Wing Attack, which pushes Robert away.
The zubat tries to keep a distance as it did last time. This time, however, Phire's Dragon Breath strikes it before it can move away.
Marc told Phire beforehand when he should attack and the exact direction he should aim at. Based on their previous experience, Marc has anticipated how Robert's Quick Attack would hit the zubat, how far it would be pushed back and how Phire would have to attack in order to hit the zubat without hitting Robert as well.
The plan works almost perfectly. To be fair, Marc should have told Phire to aim more to the right, because Dragon Breath "only" singed the zubat's right wing.
However, the attack does some damage, and (what's even more important) it takes the zubat by surprise. It is startled and completely forgets about Robert, who is still in front of it.
Marc has planned for this, too. Robert knows that she has to deal the finishing blow in this case. She uses Slash and hits the zubat perfectly.
The zubat staggers in the air. In the end, it doesn't have the strength to fly anymore and plunges down.
Robert takes a look at the defeated zubat. She makes sure that their opponent is indeed out cold now. Phire and Marc follow suit.
Marc smiles after making sure that they don't celebrate to early.
Marc [happily]: We did it! Great job, guys!
Phire and Robert answer with confident smiles.
After this moment of enjoying their victory, Marc sighs slightly exasperatedly. They spent a lot of time running through this cave, but in the end, a slight change in their strategy – using an attack a bit faster – has been enough to earn them this victory. It makes the whole ordeal feel redundant.
Anyway, Marc does his best to shake off this feeling. They still have to make their way out of Meteor Falls.
Marc [determinedly]: Okay, guys, let's get going!
They continue on their way, being certainly more confident than before. With this nuisance out of the way, they should be able to leave Meteor Falls without any other inconveniences.
They turn left at the first fork they come across when a certain pokémon begs to differ. The screech of another zubat echoes through the tunnel.
Marc [utterly exasperatedly]: NOT AGAIN!
With that, the first chapter of the main story is finished.
Nothing of importance happens, and the battle might not be that interesting either, but I hope you like it. As I said earlier, I wanted to start things slowly.
Well, the "formidable first opponent" turned out to be a zubat. There's a backstory to this. I once watched a parody video about the Pokémon games (or maybe it was a comic, I'm not completely sure; it's been a while since then) which includes a scene about the player walking through a cave and encountering a zubat which greets him/her with, "Hi, I'm the zubat from five steps ago!" I thought, "What if it really is?" Thus, the idea of a zubat chasing a trainer through a cave was born.
Little Preview: Marc arrives at Rustboro City. First things first, he has to deal with the Trainer Association.