The Legend of A Master
DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR NARUTO, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
Chapter 8 - Battle at Pewter City Gym
When he had arrived at Viridian, he had learned that Green had been called away on some sort of emergency. That made the fact that he had made time to see him off all the more special, but it also meant that he had to wait until Pewter if he wanted a gym battle.
The rocky surroundings of Pewter City were refreshing and a stark contrast to the city metropolis of Viridian. The stone architecture and rustic appearance appealed to him strongly.
"You're standing on my merchandise."
He peered down to see an old man with a shaggy beard wearing his hat low.
"I said, you're standing on my merchandise." as he coughed. Somehow the old man was familiar.
"Do you want to buy something or are you just gonna stare at my face?" Arion said nothing, looking intently at all of the rocks on display.
"Get lost if you don't want to buy," Arion trained his red gaze on the man as he flinched slightly. He was still silent but his brief scan confirmed it. He pointed to one of the larger boulders behind the man.
"That one"
"5000 Ryo" The peddler rubbed his hands anxiously. It had clearly been many days since he had made a sale.
The boy nodded his bright eyes scanning the rock handing over the money instantly.
"Would you like me to transport it somewhere?" He asked releasing a Rhyhorn.
She was well cared for. Not coddled in any way, her skin had a dull sheen to it as most rock Pokemon did in their prime. Then there were her eyes, they were bright red and sharp, the mark of a well-raised specimen.
"The Pokemon Center," Arion requested as he gave the Rhyhorn a grateful pat on her horn, she gave a purr of appreciation.
After having secured a room he looked at his new rock. He wove a few hand signs.
"Doton: Ishi no Bunri [Earth Release: Stone separation]"
"An Old Amber"
Fossils often went easily into the millions when it came to bidding, he had gotten lucky on that sale. He remembered reading about the fossil reanimation technology on Cinnabar island.
"Well, it seems I have more work to do..."
He polished up the old fossil, disposed of the rock fragments, and placed it securely on his desk. He glanced back at his backpack.
He chanced a quick glance on Eon, he was tired out after his checkup and was napping, he cracked a small smile letting the silver fox sleep some more before heading outside once more.
It might not be the first thing that came to mind but Pewter city was quite well-stocked in its markets. Sure it might not be as grand as Celadon or even Viridian city but it had more than enough for basic training needs and even a little more.
Being a mining town, the markets were often brimming with supplies to help Pokemon increase their strength. Conventionally it was only for fighting or rock types sometimes that helped extensively with the mining process, but it could be modified for all types of Pokemon, to be honest.
As sharp eyes scoured the market places for good wears, something caught his interest at the edge of his vision. The old rock seller from earlier was crouched behind the bushes obviously peeping into the back room of a house.
"You should just go and talk to your son" the old man startled almost blowing his cover.
"He'll forgive you, Brock is nice like that I've heard"
"...I left them alone for so long" Arion rolled his eyes at that.
"And what exactly are you doing now?" he tossed out as he walked away.
"Hyper potions... Potions...Some Pokemon food...Some human food...Some cleaning equipment...Some more rope...I think I got everything I need"
When he reentered his room Eon was awake and yipped at his return. The silver fox leapt and landed safely on his trainer's shoulder. Raising a hand and absently rubbing behind his ears the boy thought more as he left the building. A gym battle awaited him soon...
Yosh, it was showtime.
He made his way slowly through town, Eon was bright and alert looking around perched on his shoulder. He stood in front of the Gym's imposing doors. The glass doors slid open.
"Please insert your Pokedex into the given slot if you wish to battle the Gym Leader." A robotic voice called out.
It made sense that this was the system used. It would regulate the level of difficulty that a Gym leader could give an opponent based on how much experience the trainer had. This could be determined by how many hours the Pokedex had been active for.
"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym"
A squinty-eyed individual stood across from him. He was dressed in a burnt orange T-shirt with a green vest and brown pants.
"Arion, my name is Brock Slate and I accept your challenge."
Behind him, a platform opened with six Pokeballs from which he picked up two.
"Geodude, I choose you" A healthy Geodude popped out. His eyes were sharp and bright. He looked ready and alert scanning for the opponent.
"Senshi, to the battlefield"
Brock was a little surprised. A Scyther was an extremely rare find in the Viridian forest.
"Let the battle begin!"
"Geodude, Tackle!" A chill went down Brock's spine.
Both trainer and Pokemon had their eyes closed. The trainer brought his fist back, opening his palm and exhaled.
He brought his hand forward with a sharp palm strike and Senshi disappeared in a burst of speed.
"Geodude, be careful and charge up a focus punch"
"Senshi now, use Quick Claw"
Senshi appeared behind Geodude in a streak of white and slashed the juncture of the arm that was charging the Focus Punch. The power stored in the fist dispersed in the direction of the strike, effectively pummeling the rock Pokemon to the ground knocking him out.
Brock was shocked. Here was a new trainer who had complete trust in his Pokemon and could wordlessly command them, using combination attacks. He placed back his second Pokemon back into the tray and took the sixth Pokeball
"I won't underestimate you anymore...
Steelix, I choose you!"
Here she was. The strongest Pokemon he had in his possession. He was going to force this trainer to take him seriously.
Arion was a little surprised. He didn't think that it would be that easy to beat Geodude. Now he was faced with a Steelix that was on par for an eighth gym badge.
"I won't use any of the strategies, I just want to test your skills with a higher defence... Will you change Pokemon now?"
"Senshi?"
The Scyther shook his head.
"I'll be staying with Senshi"
"Then let the battle begin!"
"Steelix, iron tail."
A huge steel tail came crashing towards the green mantis. His trainer exhaled before dropping into an attack stance once more, Senshi disappeared in a burst of blinding speed.
"Okay, now Steelix use bind!"
"X-scissor" The X shaped Beam of energy harmlessly bounced off the tough skin. Steelix hardly felt it though she paused for a second giving Senshi an opening.
"This is going to be tough. Senshi, Vacuum Wave"
The disadvantage of having such a huge body is that it didn't allow for dodging. It hit Steelix's head on stumbling her for just a second.
"Senshi, Ariel Break..." He waited for just the right timing as Steelix rose.
"Now!"
With a swift aerial ace, Senshi was in position for a ferociously destructive Brick Break right behind Steelix's head. With that Steelix fell over incapacitated and unconscious.
"Wha...?"
It was a stunning turn of events. The strongest Pokemon of the Pewter Gym lay defeated at his feet.
"This is madness, Steelix shouldn't have fainted from one brick break! No matter how powerful. How did you do it?"
The red-eyed trainer stared back at him. He stared vacantly even as the Gym leader waited patiently for an answer.
"...Before I became a Pokemon trainer, I was Professor Oak's aide. I worked with several species of Pokemon, researched and recorded data for him"
"And...?"
"I learnt about Pokemon physiology, much like humans, they have specific pressure points that are very sensitive. I had Senshi target those points so I could knock them out much faster"
"Pressure points?"
In his years as a Pokemon Trainer and a Pokemon breeder, he had never stopped to consider the likeness. It was truly mystifying. Brock's mind went through the possibilities and was astonished. It was a truly fascinating perspective, he had never stopped to consider such a glaringly obvious idea, that he felt a little disappointed in himself as an aspiring medical professional.
"Thank you for being honest Arion" He reached behind him and took the badge from the stand.
"For defeating me in battle, I award you the Boulder Badge. Congratulations."
Arion took the offered badge graciously, pulling out a sleek badge case from one of his many packets and affixing it inside. He bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Brock. For everything"
He approached Senshi who stood obediently behind him gently nuzzling and embracing him. He reached into another pocket and offered her a couple of Pokeblocks that he scarfed down immediately.
"Thank you, Senshi. Return and rest for now." He then strode out of the Gym, first Gym badge in hand and well on his way to the next one.
Brack watched him leave. That kid was going to shake the Pokemon world to its core.
A FEW DAYS LATER
He was still in Pewter City. Mount Moon provided a great place to train and condition all his Pokemon. He would just camp, but more often than not had to head back to check if his order had been dropped off yet. His entire team loved it too. He exhaled...
His Pokemon were really the best.
He made his way to the Pokemon Centre. By now he was a regular and Nurse Joy's eyes lit up in recognition.
"Ahh Arion, a package has come in for you"
Finally. It was here and Oh my god it was here. He nodded at Nurse Joy and gently took the package from her waiting hands.
"My laptop and supplies"
He had had a laptop custom-built for many reasons, but mostly to do some research on the energy reading he had been collecting in Mount Moon. Yes it was expensive but he was basically a billionaire, money wasn't a problem.
"Now that I have this, time for some serious grinding."
MOUNT MOON
"Come back Storm, it's time to eat"
"Pidgeeoootttoooo"
The gang was all here. This was good. He was three-fourths of the way through Mount Moon when he caught his new additions, his male and female Nidoran: Venosauraus and Venomon. They were cute little things. They had the potential to be very impressive. With that, he had a full team of six so he sent home Forrest.
He needed a little more time before he was comfortable with rotating full batches of six Pokemon. So switching out but always having one of his original four was helpful. And also them training at Mount Moon gave him time to pursue other activities.
As they had been training, Arion had been steadily mining for evolutionary stones, treasures and fossils. Up to now minerals and moonstones were the most common finds, he had been able to mine a few evolutionary stones though. He sat by the fire, taking inventory of his finds.
Doing a quick chakra pulse to search for enemies, he found none. Satisfied he said goodnight to his partners and settled in once more for a long night.
A couple of hours later when his team was still sleeping the light in his tent still burned bright. He removed his glasses and cracked his neck still hunched over his work desk. His laptop screen shown brightly with the data readings and information about his latest objective.
Mega stones.
They seemed to be available in nature but rare. They were larger than evolutionary stones but he was confident that he was on the right track. The energy readings were looking positive and he was close. He wondered which one he would find.
Two more days of mining when he struck it. The readings were off the charts.
Charizardite X.
He smirked. Jackpot. He carefully stored it into a separate capsule and zipped it into his backpack.
A whirring sound caught his attention and he frowned. The wall behind him exploded at that. His eyes widened. The familiar huge red R was prominent and the man seemed to be after moonstones. A Rhydon stood imposingly his horn shone in the dull light. Eon growled at the symbol but whimpered when a man stepped out.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
Arion snapped back to attention. A strange blue-haired man stepped out of the huge drill. His uniform was different from the other grunts he had seen. It was grander with reinforced stitches and a star pinned to the lapel.
"A trainer all by their lonesome, mining stones. With my science experiment no less"
This wasn't the time to think. He pulled out his Pokedex in an attempt to look like he was scanning the Rhydon but really he was swapping out his team to prepare. He sent back Venomon, Venosauraus, and Storm to bring back his original four.
"Rhydon's horn can crush even uncut diamonds. One sweeping blow of its tail can topple a building. This Pokémon's hide is extremely tough. Even direct cannon hits don't leave a scratch." the Pokedex beeped out.
"Ignoring me are you?"
"Absolutely not. What do you need nameless stranger?"
"Nameless stranger? you don't recognize me or my affiliations?" Arion shrugged.
"Not particularly" The strange man's eyes somehow became wilder at this.
"Then allow me to introduce myself...
My name is Siel and I rank as Commander in Team Rocket.
Now be a dear and return that Eevee to me" Arion's eyes narrowed at that and his posture became hostile. Eon shivered but Arion knelt and gathered him into his arms. He pressed their foreheads and the silver Eevee relaxed.
"I won't let them hurt you Eon. Trust me."
"His name is Eon and he's my starter and he's no science experiment"
"I beg to differ it was my biggest success. Then it went and ran away" and Arion scowled at him.
He straightened up as Eon jumped down a new resolve in his eyes. He picked up a pebble as Siel just stared.
"You into magic Siel, Commander of Team Rocket?" he asked softly. The blue-haired man just frowned.
"Sure why not?"
"Then you'll love this" He stretched out his fist and let the pebble fall. Siel's eyes instinctively followed the motion and Arion used the time to disappear.
"Goodnight" he whispered. Siel's eyes widened and his vision turned black with a devastating chop to his head. The Rhydon though hesitant, charged with a horn attack but Poseidon was ready. A devastating hydro pump met her straight on knocking her out.
"Thanks, guys"
He took his time to strip the pompous man of his clothes and shoes. Then he was tied to a boulder and secured several times with numerous lengths of rope. The man wouldn't wake for a while. Arion looked around. Satisfied he placed a hand on the man's head.
"Sharingan"
His eyes widened as he learnt of the dealings going on. Giovanni wasn't active but his organisation's name was being used. This was interesting. He needed to inform Silver. He stuffed the man's clothes into his own bag and then raided his machine.
He found several interesting things there. A keycard to...something and plans for the mined stones. He then stripped down the machine and stored all the useful parts in a scroll. It was now pretty useless.
He smirked and hefted his bag onto his shoulder, readjusting the hood and mask he wore to prevent dust inhalation.
"I'll have to keep a close eye on them for sure"
Signing Off,
The Aura Phoenix.