Pokémon Crimson Gold
Chapter 89: Old and new faces
Standing on one end of the ring was a Kanto Trainer, name was Oscar, from Saffron City. In front of him was his last Pokémon of two, a mighty Kangaskhan.
On the other side of the ring, there stood another Trainer, a man from Pallet Town named Leviathan. Unlike his opponent, this man was using a Legendary Pokémon, Zapdos.
Ethan watched intently as he sat in the waiting room, where some Trainers stayed as they waited to be called for battle. The boy himself just sat there, with no one by his side but Meganium and Ampharos, his two Pokémon who managed to defeat one of his rivals, Kenneth.
Ethan just sat there analyzing the battle at hand. Along with his Pokémon of course, it was scary, this Oscar guy's first Pokémon, a Tauros, was taken out in a single blow from the Zapdos' Thunder.
"No way..." Ethan muttered as he watched another knockout. The Kangaskhan along with its baby which sat gracefully in its' mother's pouch was too taken out in a single blast of Thunder, easily knocking out mother and baby.
The Kangaskhan fell to its knees before falling flat on its face. It would normally make Ethan feel bad seeing a Pokémon get taken out so easily but not this time. More than anything the boy was stressed out by it.
There was a brief silence between Ethan and his two Pokémon for about half a minute. They all just sat completely still watching as this Leviathan guy walked off the stage without giving his opponent even the slightest gaze of respect.
Meganium stood still without moving a muscle or even speaking. Her eyes were that glued to the screen.
Ampharos being an electric type himself, felt shocked just by seeing the sheer intensity of the flying type's Thunder. It almost was like he was electrocuted along with the Kangaskhan.
Finally, Ethan broke their silence and spoke. "...He's a tough Trainer, no doubt about that, but we're stronger, you got that you guys?"
Meganium and Ampharos hadn't even batted their Trainer an eye before he repeated himself.
"Oh come on guys, so what Leviathan's got a Legendary, we've got something he doesn't, we've got the strongest bond between Trainer and Pokémon out there, plus, he may lose a match before we even have a chance to battle him." Ethan explained which caused Ampharos and Meganium to look at him funny.
Just the idea of this guy losing a match was funny to them, this Trainer they just watched take down two Pokémon with a single move without any breaks in between.
"Amphar, Amphar!" Ampharos laughed.
"Megay Megay!" Meganium said approaching Ethan from his side and laying her head on his shoulder.
Ethan smiled and put his hand on her head petting her gently. He raised the other hand to his electric type, signaling him to come towards him.
Ampharos turned to Ethan and walked over to him. Ethan smiled and laid his hand on him as he pet him softly.
"You two, along with Togetic, Espeon, Heracross, and Gyarados are the best Pokémon there are, we are going to win this, alright?" Ethan said.
"Megay!"
"Ampharo!"
"Good." Ethan said as he stopped petting the two. "Now I say we go and get you guys fixed up, come on, let's go."
The boy got up from the chair he was sitting on right before turning off the monitor with the remote. He's seen enough, enough of Leviathan. With Ampharos and Meganium walking by his side he made his way for the door, all before...
"Bellossom!" Ethan heard startling him, below him from beneath where he could see came the little Pokémon instantly hugging his leg much to his surprise.
"Uh, Bellossom, wait a minute, you're the same Bellossom I met on that ferry from the other day, you were with that kind Unova girl, what was her name, Garnet?" Ethan asked as he picked up the Pokémon and held it in his arms..
"Bello, Bellossom!" The cute little grass type said making Ethan smile.
"So, what're you doing here, is she here?" Ethan asked.
"Bello, Bellossom!" Much to his, Meganium, and Ampharos' surprise, Bellossom leaped out of Ethan's hands and sped out the door still looking back at him.
"Think she wants us to follow her." Ethan said getting a nod of the head from his Pokémon who followed him as he exited through the door into the empty hallway.
Ethan looked around and found Bellossom at the opposite side of the corridor. She stood in front of another door to which the Trainer and his Pokémon followed behind her.
"Where are you going off to?" Ethan said curiously as he peaked his head through the half open door to which she was looking through.
Inside was Kenneth, he was sitting on a chair inside. Besides him was the grass type tender herself, Garnet, who was wiping Venusaur's bruises off with something Ethan couldn't tell exactly what.
It is her, well, she did say she was going to watch the Indigo league... Ethan realized as he watched.
"Is, is Venusaur going to be alright?" Kenneth finally asked turning to the girl as she put one final bandage on Venusaur's forehead.
"I assure you, your Venusaur is fine, thankfully he wasn't too terribly damaged." Garnet said giving the Kanto boy a smile. "Really though, you have a good grass type on your side, you should consider yourself lucky. And you seemed to take good care of him, hear that Venusaur, you're in good hands."
Venusaur looked at the girl and gave a smile, he seemed to really like her presence from what Ethan could tell. And Ethan couldn't blame him either, he wasn't even a Pokémon yet he really liked her as well.
"Venu, Venus!" Venusaur said as Garnet gently pet him before getting up. After of which Kenneth came by his Pokémon's side and hugged him.
"I'm so glad you're okay Venusaur, even though we lost, I'm still really proud to have you as my Pokémon!" Kenneth said gently laying his hand down on his starter's head.
"Well, please, if your Pokémon are injured, make sure to come to me, well, if a Pokémon Center isn't a convenience you have at the time, I'll gladly fix up any Pokémon in need." Garnet told Kenneth.
"Thank you for that, I really appreciate it." Kenneth said happily. "There any way I can repay you?"
"Oh no, please don't worry about it, it's my pleasure, really." Garnet replied.
"No really, let me make it up to you." Kenneth said getting a deviant look. "How about you and I go get a bite to eat, just the two of us, maybe watch a movie afterwards?"
"Haha, well I'd love to." Garnet snickered before shaking her head. "But I'm not sure how my boyfriend would feel about that."
"Venu Venusaur..." Venusaur said looking at his Trainer with a disappointed sigh.
"Oh man, well, can't blame a guy for trying." Kenneth said before turning around with a hand wave. "Well, thanks again, and see you around!"
"Don't be a stranger, come back to me if you need anything." Garnet said returning his wave.
Ethan having seen Kenneth walking towards the door stopped peaking not wanting for his friend to know he was ease dropping went and hid behind the door, to which Kenneth happened to look in his direction as he walked out.
"Uh, that you, Ethan?" Kenneth asked as Ethan took two steps from behind the door.
"Um... no." Ethan said jokingly.
"Were you here the whole time, I uh, really hope you didn't hear that last part." Kenneth said with his Venusaur nodding.
"Oh uh, I didn't hear a thing, I just got here." The boy lied before pointing to the tiny grass type before him. "Bellossom here made sure I followed her here, I'm guessing that girl from the boat, Garnet is here?"
"Yup, you should go and have her tend to Meganium and Ampharos, she gave Venusaur and Arcanine a pretty awesome nursing, she's the best." Kenneth explained.
"Yeah, that sounds like her, she did this thing last time where she read Meganium's thoughts just by touching her." Ethan said. "She's not normal, she's got good hands."
"Heh heh, that's what she said." Kenneth said chuckling as he nudged Ethan on his shoulder before walking off in the opposite direction.
"...The heck does that mean?" Ethan said turning around as Kenneth head off, not too long afterwards he turned back to Bellossom who was trying to get his attention.
"Bello, Bellossom!" Bellossom cried before running through the door.
"Well guys, what do you say we go and get you two healed up?" Ethan asked to which both Meganium and Ampharos nodded their heads. Ethan had a big smile as he walked through the door with Garnet looking up to see him.
"There you are." The Unova girl said cheerfully. "I saw you battle from the monitor, and once we saw what condition Meganium was in after the battle I sent Bellossom to go and find you."
"Awe, that's real sweet of you." Ethan replied before taking a seat next to her. "So, if you know why I'm here let's not waste any time, Ampharos got seriously hurt with that Fire Blast attack, and Meganium, well, actually, you saw the battle anyway."
"Yeah... and I saw how she was hit head on by that Giga Drain for that extended amount of time, it's amazing how she's still standing, you're really strong you know girl." Garnet said petting Meganium on her forehead causing her to squeal.
"So, Meganium first and then Ampharos?" Ethan asked as Garnet began to tend to his grass starter.
"Absolutely, I'm sorry Ampharos but Meganium seems to be in a bit more pain than you, it's important I treat her first since she lost a lot of energy from that battle, that alright?" The girl asked as she put on a glove.
"That okay by you, Ampharos?" Ethan asked turning to his electric type.
"Amphar, Ampharos!" Ampharos nodded his head without a second waste.
"Well, Ethan, first of all, do you know the effects of Giga Drain on a Pokémon?" Garnet asked the boy.
"I believe so." Ethan answered. "Doesn't it just steal another Pokémon's energy."
"True, but there's more to it, it takes a Pokémon's nutrients, vitamins, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, that kind of stuff." Garnet explained.
"Yeah, and then what?" Ethan asked.
"I'm going to have to get Meganium some help with that, she needs more nutrients, and the energy of the Sun isn't enough, she's going to need something from my medical kit." Garnet said unpacking a white box with a red band aide mark on it.
"Megay?" Meganium said wondering what Garnet was looking for. Her face lit up with surprise however once she noticed all the medical equipment inside.
Finally, Garnet pulled out a sharp looking needle which filled Meganium with fright but she tried not to show it. Ethan noticed her slight shaking and walked up to her.
"Meganium, don't be scared girl, it might hurt for a second but afterwards you'll be perfectly fine, and you'll feel much better." Ethan explained to her gently petting her trying to calm her.
Ampharos was shaking much more than Meganium just by the sight of the needle, and he didn't even need one. "...Amphar, Ampharos..." He said repeatedly rocking back and forth.
"Ampharos, you don't even need one." Ethan stated which caused the Light Pokémon to stop after laughing at his goof.
Ethan turned back to Meganium with a smile as he held his hand out. "Here, take out one of your vines, squeeze me if it hurts, just pretend I'm the shot and squeeze me like you want to hurt it, kay girl?"
Meganium reluctantly shook her head. Using a single vine to clutch onto Ethan's hand as he stood beside her.
"...Okay, this is going to be nice and fast, three, two..." As she spoke those words she quickly injected Meganium with the needle in her leg before even reaching one. The poor grass type not expecting it couldn't do anything other than squeeze at Ethan's hand as hard as she could.
"Aieeee!" Ethan screamed throwing his hand in the air after Meganium let go of her vine. His hand was completely red as he held it with his other hand. "Owie, you didn't have to pretend that hard."
"Megayay!" Meganium let out a giggle as Garnet put away the needle.
"Well, that should help with her lack of nutrients, still, make sure she gets something to eat later today, that was a really scary Giga Drain she was hit with." Garnet explained.
"Well, is Meganium done yet?" Ethan asked.
"Mmm... not quite, let me clean her up a bit more, she's got a lot of rashes, don't want any getting infected." Garnet said as she firmly placed a bandage on Meganium's legs.
"So, she going to get a lollypop?" Ethan joked getting a giggle out of Garnet.
"Haha, if she keeps up the good behavior then maybe." The girl laughed as she grabbed a disinfectant wipe from the table.
Ethan was amazed by Garnet. He watched as she fixed up Meganium, and even Ampharos afterwards to a tea. Both were in good health. Ethan didn't even realize it as he almost completely lost track of everything, he just watched her stunned by how good she was at something she wasn't even asking money for. She was his age yet might have been better than some Nurse Joy's he knew.
"...Ethan, Ethan." Garnet spoke waking Ethan from his state. He looked up to see Garnet and by her side were Meganium and Ampharos completely healthy-looking.
"Amphar, Ampharos!" Ampharos laughed with not a single burn on him.
"Megay, Meganiuh!" Meganium said in just as good shape, cheerfully.
Ethan looked up at Garnet and smiled as he held his hand out. "I'm sorry I was uh, just lost in thought, you're incredible, really."
"I wouldn't go that far, if you think I'm good you should see my dad." Garnet said shaking his hand. "It's really nice to see again, and I'll be wishing you the best of luck during the rest of your time participating in the league."
"Sure thing, well, I'll stop bothering you now." Ethan said before walking away. "Oh, and goodbye to you to Bellossom, and thanks for leading me here."
"Bellossom, Bell, Bell!" The Flower Pokémon cried waving her hand bye towards Ethan.
As Ethan walked at the room along with Meganium and Ampharos by his side, he turned around hearing someone walking towards him.
Surely enough, it was Garnet once again.
"Anything the matter?" Ethan asked.
"There's just one last thing, Ethan." She said before walking up towards Ethan's ear. "Look, about Meganium, it's best you keep her out of league battles from now on, at least for the ones that aren't six on sixes. You of all people should know how much that injury... affected her."
"Yeah, you're probably right, I was pretty lenient on her compared to my other Pokémon when training for this thing, for that exact reason." Ethan explained.
"That may be true, but still, don't even do a stunt like what you did when switching out Ampharos for Meganium against Arcanine, you have to be responsible for what happens to her, God forbid I may not be here next time, and God forbid no one will be able to help her.
Ethan turned around and took one glance at Meganium who was walking along cheerfully with Ampharos. He took one good look at the injury on her lower belly would have healed by now but it wasn't. It had been over a month since that day in Goldenrod, Johto, where she was scarred for life. It was true Meganium managed to get stronger even with it, but it undoubtedly took its toll.
He turned around facing Garnet once more. "You said you read Meganium's mind right, do you really know everything that happened?"
"Everything Ethan. I know she was given the hardest of injuries during your battle with a member of Team Rocket, Proton I believe." Garnet stated.
"Then you would know that I've tried everything in my power to prevent something like that happening to Meganium ever again, it was my fault, I was too naïve. I thought as long as I had faith in my Pokémon I would always win, and while I haven't lost faith in them, I now know sometimes you have to come to terms with reality. It's my fault what happened to her, so I'll make you a promise, I won't use Meganium in any league battles so long as they aren't six on sixes." Ethan swore as he raised too fingers and crossed them. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Good, I'm glad you understand." Garnet said taking two steps back. "Well, go to your Pokémon, they're waiting for you."
Ethan listened and turned around. At the end of the corridor stood Meganium and Ampharos who were watching him with smiles.
"Okay then, bye Garnet, I'll see you if anything else happens." Ethan said before he jogged behind the two in front of him. "Wait up you guys."
Ethan finally caught up to the two before he started walking normally as the two of them walked side by side with him.
"So, she take care of you guys well or no?" Ethan asked.
"Megay!" Meganium squeaked extending one of her vines. She was holding something in her vine but Ethan couldn't make out what, seeing this she used her other vine to open Ethan's right hand before dropping something in it.
"What's this?" Ethan asked looking at his hand. Much to his surprise, a lollypop was resting there which made him chuckle instantly. He looked up to Meganium who nodded her head already knowing what he was thinking.
"She remembered the lollypop!?" Ethan cried. "And I was joking, man that girl's really cool, I can see why Kenneth had a crush with her, haha."
At that Ethan and the two opened the exit to the Indigo plateau after making it through the main hallway. Immediately he noticed there were quite a bit of folk hanging out, kids sitting on the stairs, adults taking to those at the admission tables, and even just plenty of people trying to make their way through, after all who wouldn't want to watch the Indigo league.
"Hmm... you tired Ampharos?" Ethan said looking over to his electric type who was yawning.
"Amphar, Amphar!" Ampharos said giving a nod.
"Got it, well, return for now." Ethan said withdrawing him to his Pokéball. "You killed it out there earlier, so get some rest, you deserve it."
"What about you Meganium, I bet you're tired after all that battling, especially with you losing all those nutrients, well, even if you were replenished." Ethan said turning to Meganium.
"Mmm, Megay Megay!" Meganium cried turning her face away from Ethan and walking faster, she never did much like being in her Pokéball after all.
"Kidding, kidding." Ethan apologized, he went to walk after her, but was alarmed when someone called his name a bit matter-of-factly.
Ethan turned around to see Silver himself walking up to him with his hands in his pockets. "Oh, hey Silver, what's up?"
"Why do you care?" Silver asked suddenly looking annoyed.
"You're right, I don't." Ethan laughed as he walked towards the stair railing placing his arms on it. "But you were the one calling me, so..."
"I wanted to ask you about that Leviathan character, the one with the Zapdos." Silver said causing Ethan to groan.
"Ugh, everyone wants to talk about him, you know for once I don't want to hear about him." Ethan sighed.
"You should be, I thought all this time my only adversaries would be you and Lyra, but I guess I was wrong, I'll have to battle harder than I ever have if I'm to be paired with him in a match, and the same goes for you in that matter." Silver said in all seriousness.
Ethan turned around and faced Silver. "So... you didn't come here just to tell me that, did you?"
"Hmph, not quite." Silver said crossing his arms. "Don't forget, I want to battle you myself, so don't you lose if you get paired with Leviathan right, I want to battle you, and crush you under my foot myself, once and for all." Silver stated. "So don't you go losing, that battle you had earlier with that Kanto Trainer was pretty close."
"Hah, it was, wasn't it, but that just makes the victory all the more deserved, right?" Ethan said laughing.
Silver showed no amusement. "No, remember who you are Ethan, I hate to admit it but you're a really powerful Trainer, I don't want you losing in one of the beginning rounds. Not yet at least."
With that Silver turned around and began to walk away, but as he did he instantly stopped as someone stood in front of him catching his attention.
"Y-you..." Silver said looking up at the man. The guy was tall, no doubt. The man wore a fancy black suit along with black penny loafers. A black suit with pants, a white shirt with a red necktie, on top of that was a larger investigator coat with the same matt black coloring as the rest of the suit. Most importantly however, the man wore a black fedora hat which nearly covered his face entirely. Silver couldn't get a good look at his face, other than his lifeless blue eyes, and a single strand of hair.
"You..." Silver said once again before keeping his cool. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"
The man let out a tiny snigger before covering his mouth with a handkerchief. "Do excuse my laughter, so, you're Silver, I witnessed your battle during the first round. You see, I'm competing in the Indigo league myself."
"And why is that necessary for me to know, what do I care about your witnessing." Silver said before walking past the man. He only took a few steps before the man in the trench coat laughed once more, a laugh which felt like it was piercing Silver's soul.
"Actually, what's your name?" Silver asked without turning around. "Who are you?"
"I've chosen not to give my real name; I go by the alias of, Mister Viridian..." The man said which again gave Silver an uneasy feeling.
"Mister... Viridian... that's the weirdest alias I've ever heard, why would you choose to name yourself after a city, and a mediocre city at that?" Silver asked.
"If you don't like it, you can call me Mr. V." Mister Viridian said before turning to Ethan who was paying close attention to their conversation.
"I also watched your battle, for both rounds, Ethan from New Bark Town I take it." Mister Viridian said holding out his hand for Ethan to shake.
Ethan looked around, he didn't want this guy to be talking to him but unfortunately he was. Something was creepy about the guy. Either it was because he had a cold robotic stare or because he caused Silver to lose his composure, either way he really bothered him.
Against his best instincts, Ethan listened to him and shook his hand. "Hey... Mr. V, yup, I am Ethan from New Bark Town, the one and only, oh, and this is Meganium."
She didn't even look the man in his eyes as he stared at her. Meganium was just too creeped out to even say hi to him.
"Look, you could say I'm a fan of yours Ethan, I saw you once before, a long time ago, or rather I should say I heard of you, weren't you the kid from Professor Oak's talk show?" The man asked, something Ethan had basically forgotten.
"Funny you remember that, you really must've done your homework." Ethan said earning a head nod from Viridian.
Mister Viridian was still holding Ethan's hand. Something which was creeping him out more and more as the man wouldn't let go, he wasn't gripping him too tight either, he was just holding him awkwardly.
"Uh, I think you can let go of my hand now." Ethan said to which Mister Viridian wouldn't let go much to his anguish. Instead Mister Viridian hadn't spoken a word simply filling Ethan with more uncomfortableness.
Meganium watched the whole thing before she decided enough was enough from the creep. She was about to walk up there and give the guy a piece of her mind before someone walked up to Mr. V and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Both Ethan and Meganium looked only to see the last person they expected. The man standing there was one they hadn't seen in a long time, a man who needed no introduction as he had made quite an impact on Ethan's life, Eusine himself.
"What're you doing here?" Ethan asked no longer uncomfortable but surprised.
Eusine ignored Ethan still facing the weirdo locking eyes with him. "Look, Mister Vermillion or whatever the hell your name is, you unhand the kid right now, and get walking..."
Mister Viridian looked at Eusine with an amused smile. "Oh, do excuse me, I'm sorry for that Ethan." He said letting go of the boy's hand.
"Now get on out of here, and fast." Eusine said standing in front of Ethan to which the kid appreciated.
"Absolutely, I believe I've made quite the impression after all." Mister Viridian said turning around facing the door to the plateau as he took a few more steps before talking. "Oh, and I do hope we get to battle each other during the upcoming rounds, Ethan. We're going to have a HELL of a time."
As he continued his walk. Silver stood in front of him giving him the cold stare which Mister Viridian noticed.
"Don't worry about facing Ethan, V..." Silver said. "I want to battle you myself."
Mister Viridian chuckled at that covering his mouth once more with his handkerchief. "An entertaining thought, but I don't share the same interest, you're of no concern to me at the moment."
He said those words walking past Silver who remained still. Surprisingly no sudden retorts, no bickering, nothing.
Ethan ignored Silver looking at Eusine whom he hadn't counted on seeing. Especially not in Kanto, he would have guessed Eusine was at Johto still trying to prove himself to Suicune until the day he died.
Before he could even muster a word, Eusine raised a camera he was holding and snapped a shot of Ethan and Meganium, which neither of them saw coming.
"Okay, on to one creep to the next." Ethan mumbled. "So, what are you doing here anyway Eusine?"
Eusine snickered. "Sorry about the photo, but I just wanted to capture this moment so I never forget, I've been looking for you Ethan, I'm also competing in the Indigo league, I suppose you didn't see me."
"Yeah... forgive me for that." Ethan replied. "Hmph, I never would have guessed you collected all eight of the badges from Kanto or Johto, I never thought you'd do anything that doesn't involve Suicune."
"Megay, Megay!" Meganium agreed.
"You're right about both. It took me some time to collect all eight of the Kanto badges, a month's time, thankfully I didn't have to go around the region on foot like you did, I had means of transportation. And I decided to collect the badges in my home region rather than Johto." Eusine began.
"And?" Ethan said.
Eusine smiled. "I want to battle you myself Ethan, same as I always have, that's why I came here."
"Of course, but you already beat me, remember, what's different now?" Ethan asked.
Eusine smiled. Reaching his hand under his bow tie and into his shirt he pulled out something. Another photograph.
He held his hand out and Ethan grabbed it. It was a photo the boy had seen before, the Legendary Pokémon Suicune walking between the stars, the same photograph he recognized Eusine to have taken from Blackthorn, Johto.
"As much as I love seeing Suicune I'm not very impressed with a photo I've seen before." Ethan said returning the photo. "Plus, what makes you think it'll recognize you for this, competing in the Indigo league?"
"Isn't it obvious Ethan, in the past few months I've seen Suicune more than I ever have in my whole life. And that's thanks to you, Ethan, I didn't see it before but I don't just envy you, I thank you, ever since that fateful day I battled you in Cianwood, this has been most exciting time of my life." Eusine continued. "But something happened, ever since that day in Blackthorn, Suicune hasn't reappeared, ever since you left my life Suicune has vanished, suddenly my prime of life has come to an end."
"It's just been a month Eusine." Ethan said. "What makes this any different, like you said, you haven't seen Suicune once in your life until we first met."
"True, it's as it's always been, Suicune doesn't care about me... no matter how hard I've tried, compared to you, and its previous chosen, Suicune never cared about me." Eusine said, Ethan could hear it all, the sorrow in his voice, it nearly breaking, all before he filled back with his usual assertiveness. "Alas, it is of no consequence, because I refuse to give up. I realize now perhaps I haven't proven myself to Suicune the way you have, perhaps because I never collected all eight badges, perhaps because I never fought the eight Gym leaders of a region, and because I never challenged an Elite four, that's the reason I'm always in your shadow."
"And now you did that, so you want to battle me to prove yourself as the superior Trainer, or as the superior Trainer for Suicune, right?" Ethan asked. "But you already defeated me before, like I said earlier."
"That's right, but I wasn't a Trainer then, I was merely a kid chasing in the footsteps of a Legendary Pokémon. Now that I have collected all eight badges, we'll finally be able to face each other as equals, I was your inferior then, but now I will prove my superiority to you, Ethan." Eusine said before cackling. "But there's something else, something else that caught my eye."
"Don't tell me, that Leviathan guy." Ethan guessed to which he was unfortunately correct.
"Hmph, good answer. Did you see him, I have no idea how, but he somehow managed to capture a Legendary Pokémon, that Zapdos. I couldn't believe it, in all my life I never dreamed of catching Suicune, I've only wished to befriend it and to bond with it, but now I have a new hope, I see now that it's possible. It won't be easy, proving myself I mean. I'll have to battle you, conquer the league, then defeat the Champion, and of course there's Leviathan, although he's powerful, I'll have to defeat him, I can't afford to lose when I've come so far." Eusine stated honestly.
"Yeah... everyone's worrying about battling that guy, but it's different with you, you have zero doubt in yourself, you acknowledge him as a strong opponent, but you've already acknowledged you're going to win." Ethan said. "Some may call that arrogant, or delusional, but I respect it."
"Thank you, so don't forget Ethan. I'm never going to lose again, I'm going to battle you, and win, not a hollow victory between, but a Trainer defeating another fellow Trainer, you hear me Ethan, so don't lose until we have our battle, got it!?" Eusine asserted.
"Ha, you'll have to get in line." Ethan chuckled softly as Eusine nodded his head and walked past Ethan and Meganium. Before he could go however, Ethan called out to him by name.
"Eusine!"
"What?" He said turning around.
"I didn't get to say thanks, for helping me with that stranger from Viridian, really, thank you." Ethan said which caused Eusine to smile.
"I'll see you again Ethan, hopefully sooner than later." Eusine said turning back and walking off.
Silver having stood there the whole time, listening to both their conversation came to Ethan's side with curiosity.
"And who was that guy exactly?" Silver asked.
"Oh, ya know, just another guy off my rogue's gallery." Ethan joked. "Only he's a psychopath, he's really, really obsessed with the Legendary Pokémon, Suicune."
"Suicune..." Silver said before getting a realization. "Ethan, do you remember what happened during what I imagine was your first visit to Ecruteak?"
"How could I forget, you almost got me, Meganium, and Lyra killed, and... other stuff I'm not proud of happened back there." Ethan admitted.
"Well, yeah, but something happened, before the flames consumed us all, I saw, what seemed to be three figures, they had a presence to them, could one of them... have been this Suicune?" Silver asked.
"Well, I have seen many confirmed Suicune sightings since, so it is possible, and if there was three, then that could have also been the other two of the trio, Raikou, and Entei." Ethan said. "Or, it could have just been the fumes getting to you, you never know."
"Hmph, yeah, I guess you're right. Although I suppose that's not important now, that man who called himself Mister Viridian, he bothers me on many levels." Silver confessed. "I... feel like, I've seen him before somehow."
"Well, hopefully if we're lucky neither of us will have to battle the creep." Ethan sighed. "Hopefully..."
"Still, he bothers me, and really, why would he use an alias to an event such as this." The redhead asked. This intrigued Ethan, coming from the guy named Silver.
"I don't know, I don't know anything, now do I?" Ethan asked. "Come to think of it, Silver, we may be on good terms now, but I still don't know anything about you either, do I? Us talking on a personal level doesn't change the fact of what you did, you stole Cyndaquil, and I made a promise to Professor Elm Cyndaquil would be returned to him, and here we are, both you, and the Professor, all in the same place, at the same time." Ethan said, he walked circles around Silver who gave a smile.
"Are you going to tell him?" Silver asked not looking his rival in the eye.
"I have to, don't I, I made a promise, but then again, I think you've changed. I see how you treat your Pokémon differently now, but it doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day I know nothing about you, your history, if you're even from Johto, and of course, your real name."
Silver gave a smirk. "You idiot. You saw my Trainer card, remember, you know my name is Silver."
"It could be forged, it's not something we should harp on now I suppose, but still, don't forget, I have to do what I have to do, whatever that may be." Ethan said.
Silver turned around. "Well, whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be the right choice, you seem to be good at making the right choice."
He began to walk off in the opposite direction as Eusine. Ethan watched as he walked off, Meganium was a little surprised by how hard Ethan was on him, but she knew maybe it was for the best. After all, how could Ethan trust someone who was hiding his real name.
After Silver made his way inside, Ethan sighed and took a seat. Sitting right beside Meganium who stood next to him. The kid was lost in thought, so much had happened during these two rounds, and there were still three to go.
"It's... weird Meganium, it feels like everyone wants a piece of me." Ethan told her to which she nodded. She couldn't say much, so instead she laid her head next to him so he wouldn't feel alone.
And that's all I've got for today, two chapters in two days, feels like it's been a hot minute since I've done something like that. Anyways, today at college I decided to donate blood, why does that matter? Well it doesn't, but my mom was super pissed at me for not calling her first and I just wanted to vent about that, anyways, new chapter soon.