"You sure you want to come here?"
"Of course! It has one of the biggest libraries in the world! And look!"
Jasmine pointed excitedly to the scenery in front of them. The big blue sea is right in front of their eyes. Like Sunyshore, Canalave also houses a port, but it is not as large as the one in Sunyshore. Canalave's port is important to Sinnoh as it is the only viable means of transport to ship large amount of goods between east and west Sinnoh without going through the hazardous mountain range of Mt Coronet. The Canalave port and Sunyshore port are the main points of contact when it comes to shipment of goods from one end of Sinnoh to another. Canalave port do receive shipments from other regions from time to time, but the sea route to Canalave from outside Sinnoh is perilous. Most ships from the other regions will usually dock at Sunyshore port rather than Canalave as the sea route to Sunyshore is a lot safer to travel on, hence the smaller size for Canalave port.
Feeling touristy, Jasmine dragged her lazy boyfriend along to help take some pictures together to commemorate their long-awaited vacation. She knows she is being uncharacteristically chatty and is talking non-stop, but she cannot help it. It is their long-awaited vacation. She does not exhibit such behaviour to anyone else anyway. Her excited and chatty side is only something that the people closest to her is privy to.
Once she is satisfied with the pictures that they had taken, she then dragged him to the Canalave library, one of the oldest and biggest libraries in the world. Volkner had wanted to bring her to an island at the northeast of Sinnoh for their vacation, a luxurious place which people refer to as the Resort Area. However, she insisted on making a detour to Canalave first before heading to the Resort Area.
How can she miss an opportunity to visit a library as ancient as Canalave's?
They had visited Byron earlier, a rugged but jovial man with a booming laughter to match. She and Byron had a friendly spar as fellow Steel Specialists. Although there wasn't a clear winner since none of them are going all out, she felt that she had learnt a lot from the elder.
The battle also reaffirmed her belief that she still has a long way to go if she wants to be the strongest Steel Specialist in the world. She may be the strongest Steel Specialist in Johto, but she is still far from being the strongest Steel Specialist in the world.
The unique smell of old, dusty books assaulted their noses the moment they entered the building. It got her excited.
"Calm down, Jas. You behave as if you are on a sugar high."
Jasmine half-heartedly moved to step on his toes for the comment, which she missed since he wisely shifted his foot away at the last second. Ignoring her nonsensical boyfriend, she went to look at the shelves of books on display.
It is majestic.
The shelves are so large and some of them towered above her, nearly reaching the tall ceilings of the building. The books at the top can only be accessed by climbing the wooden ladders provided. Some of the books are old, being passed down and carefully preserved in this library from the time they found their way in here.
Volkner had already picked out a book and sat down in a nearby corner, reserving a seat for her. From the title of the book, she can see that he is reading up on some new research recently conducted about electric types.
She can't help but smile at the sight. That's the Volkner she knew, the Volkner that is never satisfied in staying stagnant and is always striving to improve himself, devouring any knowledge he come across. It is how he managed to become as strong as he is today. However, she knew that this part of him is only limited to anything related to pokemon training. If it were anything else, Volkner would probably doze off after reading the first paragraph.
She picked out a few books on Sinnoh's myths and its history before returning to his side, the books she chose are ancient books that cannot be found anywhere else in the world but here. She sat down beside him and leaned against his shoulder for support, idly noting that he took out his jacket and used it to cover her in case she found the air-conditioning in the building to be too cold for her taste.
That action alone made her heart feel sweet and warm.
Some people may find it boring to spend an entire day reading in the library, but she feels that it is a great start to their vacation.
"We can always come back another day, Jas."
"B-But…" She gave another longing look at the Canalave library as they both depart, with him pulling her along by her hand. Somehow, it didn't occur to her that some books cannot be loaned and taken away from the building due to how old they are. Coincidentally, these are the books that she has a great interest in.
She hasn't finished reading them yet!
"It's getting late. Anything you want to eat?"
She took a brief look at the setting sun that looks as if it is about to dip into the vast sea. Now that Volkner mentioned it, she is getting a little famished.
They both got themselves a quick bite before deciding to take a stroll near the iconic drawbridge of Canalave, taking in the sights of the glittering stars in the dark night sky as they both held hands, glad that they finally have time to spend with each other.
"The stars tonight are pretty, aren't they?"
"Not as pretty as you."
She blushed a little in embarrassment but refrained from stepping on his toes. He is trying to get a reaction out of her and she will not give him the satisfaction. Childish? She knows, but that's how they had been interacting with each other since they first know each other. In front of each other, they both behave like overgrown children. He brings out the childish and playful side of her even without her realising it.
"Huh, you didn't blush as much as I thought you would. Congrats, Jas. You improved. The last time I said something like that, I swear that steam almost came out of your ears."
"Stop it~" She half-whined in a plea for him to stop his merciless teasing. The only response she got was his laughter.
Their flirting with each other stopped when they heard a pained scream from somewhere. The both of them exchanged concerned looks before coming to the same decision instantly.
Someone needs help.
The two of them ran in the direction of the scream and found a small isolated house at the edge of the city where the scream originated. The scream is still ongoing.
"Hey! You alright in there?!" Volkner shouted as he pounded on the door, Franky had already been released and is standing by his side.
Jasmine have no doubts that Volkner would break the door down if it wasn't for a harried looking middle-aged man answering the door in the nick of time. His jaws dropped upon spotting Volkner.
"I'm dreaming, aren't I? Are you Volkner?"
"The one and only." Volkner said curtly. "What's going on?"
"My son." The man said with a look of worry on his face. "This hasn't happened before."
Without delay, the man led the two of them into a room with the walls painted a light blue in colour and numerous pokemon dolls placed on the shelves fitted on the wall. It is obvious that this room belongs to those of a child at first glance. A boy, probably about five years of age, is thrashing about violently in his sleep as a middle-aged woman, presumably the boy's mother, is kneeling by the bed worriedly, trying to comfort the boy but to no avail.
"I…I have no idea what is going on. This is definitely not natural, but we have no idea how to help! We cannot wake our son up no matter what we do!" The man said worriedly as he shifted in agitation at being helpless to ease his child's condition.
"How long has this been going on?"
"Our boy complained of having nightmares last night before I left for work this morning. We didn't think much of it, because everyone had nightmares, right? B-But this…"
Volkner has an equally worried look on his face and he glanced back at her, silently asking her for her input. She shook her head. She has no idea what is able to cause this phenomenon. If anything, the only thing that they can agree on is that this is definitely not normal.
"Do you mind if my electivire gives your son a light zap? The voltage won't be anything harmful, I promise."
"As long as you can get him to wake up."
"Franky, see if you can wake him up."
A small weak arc of electricity zapped the boy, courtesy of Franky. The boy stopped thrashing for a while, but the thrashing resumed after a few seconds.
"Dar… it's watching me! IT'S WATCHING ME! Help! HELP! DAD! MUM! HELP!"
The boy's parents immediately went to the boy's side in an attempt to calm him down, hoping that their words can get to their son in his sleep. Jasmine's heart clenched when she witnessed the sight. She wants to help the boy, but she has no idea how to do so.
"Must be the work of a pokemon, but which one?" She heard Volkner talking to himself in a low voice as he paced about in the room in a frustrated manner. He stopped abruptly when he walked past the opened window.
"Volk?" She asked cautiously and walked up to him, placing a hand on his arm.
"Is tonight supposed to be a new moon?"
She looked out towards the window. Like he said, there is no moon in sight today. It is just the dark night sky littered with glittering stars.
"I…I have no idea, Volk."
"Jarvis?" Volk directed his question to the poketch on his wrist, which beeped before displaying the answer Volkner needed.
"A new moon today, huh? It must be that pokemon. It only appears during a new moon because its power is at its strongest then."
A pokemon is the cause of this boy's nightmare? One so bad that he couldn't wake up from? What pokemon could it be?
"If it is a pokemon that is the cause of my son's nightmare, then you can help, right?" The mother of the child pleaded with tears streaming down her face. "Please! We beg of you! Save our son! He… He is the only child we have! Please!"
"We will save him, don't worry." Jasmine knelt down beside the woman and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. This is not the kind of thing that they are expecting to encounter on a vacation, but she cannot possibly ignore their plea for help. She knows Volkner feels the same way too even if he is obviously not very pleased at the sudden turn of events.
They are supposed to be on vacation.
"You have an idea?" She asked him the moment they exited the house.
"Yeah, I think I know what the cause of the boy's nightmare is and I think I know how to wake him up. We need to first find Byron though, if anyone knows how to properly deal with this, it's him. We Sinnoh Gym Leaders are each given a unique responsibility when it comes to our own individual cities and the boy's case is definitely one that is under his jurisdiction. I have a feeling the boy is not the only one with nightmares. If my hunch is right, there are probably a few more people inflicted with nightmares although none of their case is as bad as the boy's because of his house's location being relatively closer to that island. We would have heard a lot more screams otherwise."
"What kind of pokemon is it? Just what pokemon is so strong that it is able to inflict a nightmare so bad that the boy cannot wake up from?"
Volkner's expression turned grim.
"A mythical pokemon. One of the Lunar Duo in Sinnoh's legends."
Jasmine can feel her breath hitch a little.
"Y-You mean…"
"Darkrai."
"Another case, huh?" Byron said as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "This is the fifteenth case I received tonight. My phone has been ringing non-stop ever since the sun had set and at this rate, more people will get affected by this nightmare."
"The last time something like this happened was around fifty years ago, right?"
"Precisely. No one is expecting for darkrai's powers to come and cause troubles again. We need to put a stop to this as soon as possible before more people got caught up in the nightmares. I guess it's time for me to go give cresselia another visit-"
RIIIINNNGG!
"Damn it." Byron gave another sigh as he moved to pick up the phone call, sending Volkner and Jasmine an apologetic look.
"Yes, Byron speaking… Yes, I'm on it… Yes, this is the twenty-second time you guys have called me… Yes, I know darkrai is most likely the culprit behind this phenomenon like what the legends say. Anything else? No? Then I am on my way to get the Lunar Wing from cresselia to wake up the entire city. Stop bothering me already so that I can go out and do my job!"
Byron slammed the phone on his desk shut the moment the call ended.
"Stupid SPF. Don't they know that one call is enough?"
"Somehow, I'm glad that I'm not the Gym Leader of Canalave." Volkner said in amusement, which earned him a scowl from Byron in return.
"Whatever you say, lazyass. So, are you guys helping?"
"Why else are we here?"
"Good, then let's-"
RRRIIIINNNNNGGG!
"GAH!" Byron threw up his hands in exasperation before he stomped over to the phone and swiftly unplugged the telephone line, shutting the phone up. "How can they expect me to work on helping the city if they keep spamming calls?!"
"Look on the bright side, the number of phone calls you received shows that you are loved by the people here."
"What people? Most of the calls are from the SPF! Like you don't receive spam calls from the SPF whenever your city is in danger!"
"I just have Jarvis reroute the calls to somewhere else. Saved me a lot of headaches."
Both Byron and Jasmine gave him incredulous looks at the statement.
"What?" Volkner got a little defensive at the looks sent his way. "If it works, it works. Right?"
"Whatever." Byron swiped his hand across his face tiredly. "Look, I have been guarding the islands for decades. Usually, just giving cresselia a visit and ask it for the Lunar Wing to help us is enough. Cresselia and I are old pals, so I'm the most suited candidate to go to Fullmoon Island and give it a visit since it knows who I am. But darkrai's powers suddenly fluctuating out of control on this magnitude after a long period of peace is very unusual too. So, if it isn't too much trouble, I would like the both of you to check on Newmoon Island and see if there is anything disturbing darkrai. Is that fine by you guys?"
"Don't worry, Byron. Volk and I can handle this." Jasmine said in a sweet smile.
"Sorry to rope you guys into this mess when you two are supposed to be on holiday." Byron said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "But the faster we finish this, the faster we can all go to sleep, yeah? It's already kind of late."
"Sounds good." Volkner said with a yawn before giving a lazy stretch. "Come on, let's go."
"See that island on the left? That's Fullmoon Island. The one on the right is Newmoon Island. Remember, get on the island, check that everything is alright, then get the hell out of there. Trust me, you two won't want to be on the top of darkrai's blacklist. That pokemon can be even more vengeful than a ghost."
"Got it, old man."
"I will have you know that I am still young." Byron scoffed from where he is sitting on the back of his skarmory while Jasmine and Volkner are hitching a ride on Simba's back, who is flying through the skies with Magnet Rise. "Anyway, this is where we split. See you."
With that, the Gym Leader of Canalave dove down towards Fullmoon Island with his skarmory. They landed silently at the edge of the island since the middle is heavily forested. It will be hard even for his skarmory to break through the dense foliage without destroying it.
With his bastiodon and skarmory by his side, he strode through the path which will lead him to cresselia. Cresselia and him are familiar with each other as he gave the legendary pokemon regular visits to check that it is alright, which is also part of his duties as Canalave's Gym Leader. Darkrai doesn't welcome his presence whenever it appears during a new moon, or anyone's presence in general, so Byron left it undisturbed as long as it doesn't disturb the city. Cresselia is a kind-hearted legendary pokemon who seems to enjoy his company and they hit it off pretty well. Still, his sixth sense has been tingling nonstop ever since the sun had set. Something is amiss.
He found out what was missing when he reached the centre of the island. The lunar pokemon itself is missing. A sassy part of his brain suggested to him that maybe it went for a toilet break. Even legendary pokemon have to answer nature's call, right?
The rational part of his brain says that it is unlikely, given the obvious signs of a recent battle having taken place here. The trees around the clearing were crushed by obvious usages of psychic powers. The ground itself had obviously been upturned.
Cresselia was battling something, or someone. This is overall bad news.
A flash of psychic powers in the distance got him and his pokemon running towards the disturbance. He released his entire team as they ran beside him. He is the Gym Leader of Canalave, and it is his duty to ensure that the two powerful pokemon that made their respective homes at the north of his city remains undisturbed.
He will not allow them to fall into the wrong hands. Calamities will befall Sinnoh if the powers of the Lunar Duo are being misused by the wrong people. Protecting the Lunar Duo is his responsibility as Canalave's Gym Leader, just as each of his colleagues all have their own responsibilities for any known mythicals or legendaries taking residence near their respective cities.
The safety of their region's mythicals and legendaries are paramount to their region's security. They Gym Leaders are the protectors of their region's mythical and legendaries and they will guard them with their lives. They all swore upon it the moment they each became Gym Leaders.
Byron burst into another clearing and saw the lunar pokemon having a fierce battle with a large group of dark types being commanded by a group of people wearing outfits that resemble spacesuits. And why do all of them have the same green hair? Is that some new fashion statement that he doesn't know about?
"Flash Cannon!"
A pulse of condensed energy from his aggron separated the dark types away from cresselia, who took the opportunity to pull the distance and levitate itself beside Byron.
"Sorry for being late. Not too badly hurt, are you?"
Cresselia hummed out a reply before using Moonlight to heal itself. Cresselia and him had met each other many times before, when Byron was doing his duty as Canalave's Gym Leader and conducted regular checks on the islands to ensure that everything is alright. There is a need to ensure that no suicidal and idiotic trainers tried to catch the legendary pokemon for themselves. Public access to Fullmoon and Newmoon Island are blocked off and erased from public records for a very good reason. Most people won't even know where these islands are located and the Sinnoh League wants it to remain this way. Assuming that someone managed to catch cresselia somehow, such a move will also have dire consequences on the region due to the power cresselia wields. Darkrai is the same, even if it is not classified by the League as a legendary pokemon but rather a mythical pokemon, just a small step down from the status of legendary. Still, considering how powerful darkrai is, any sane person would prefer for the bringer of nightmares to roam free and live quietly undisturbed than to fall into the wrong hands.
Like the spacesuit wearing weirdos he is facing right now. Who the hell are they? They are lucky that cresselia is a gentle pokemon. It was obvious to him that cresselia was trying its best to tone down its attacks to not accidentally kill them. From the looks of it, the spacesuit wearing freaks were taking advantage of cresselia's kindness in an attempt to defeat it and acquire it for themselves.
Assholes.
"Oi, I'm only saying this once. Who are you and what do you want with cresselia? This is your last chance to get your asses off this island."
"Byron of Canalave." One of the grunts spoke in a robotic manner that gives even him goosebumps. Is this guy even human? Who even speaks like this? "Step aside and hand cresselia over to us. We won't repeat our demands twice."
Byron slammed the tip of his shovel on the ground, cracking the dirt beneath him. His eyes narrowed.
"And if I don't?"
"Then you will die here."
"I guess we both have reached a consensus." Byron's team growled out a warning to the space freaks in front of them the moment their trainer's voice took on an unfriendly tone. "Cresselia may not have wanted to hurt you, but I am not as nice. A fight is what you want, eh?"
"If it means getting to cresselia, yes."
The dark types that gathered around the group of people wearing spacesuits slowly spread themselves out to surround Byron and his team with cresselia in it. Not that Byron cared, they won't be able to get past his team. Cresselia will be safe with him. The lunar pokemon could have took the space freaks down by itself in a jiffy, but it is too kind for its own good to be doing something so violent.
In that case, he will do the dirty job for cresselia.
Byron allowed a predatory smirk to cross his face, one that is mimicked by his pokemon. Finally, it has been a long while since he and his team is able to let loose.
"Then a fight is what you get."
This is not what he was expecting when he decided to investigate the disturbances on Newmoon Island.
As the newly appointed Deputy Head of Security of the SPF, Riley Slyde had rushed to Canalave at the first mention of brewing trouble. After some digging, it became obvious to him that this is darkrai's work. Byron was being held up by the numerous calls flooding his phone and he had to do something as a public figure to pacify the people before going on his own investigation, so Riley avoided contacting the Gym Leader since he was obviously so busy. Thus, Riley headed straight for Newmoon Island, hoping to resolve this issue by himself as soon as possible before everything got worse. For security purposes, the League wants to keep the location of darkrai's residence a secret, thus only a handful of people with a high level of security clearance are allowed to even know where the elusive Newmoon Island really is. Riley is on his own until more trainers with the same or even higher level of clearance arrives to help him.
What he wasn't expecting is for him to encounter an organised crime on such a large scale.
At least thirty trainers wearing the same spacesuits and the same shade of green hair, obviously dyed, assaulted him while another group of about the same number went to confront the mythical pokemon, darkrai. Riley was immediately forced to be on the defensive due to the number of pokemon he and his team were facing. Not only were there many of them, the pokemon commanded by the trainers in spacesuits were well-trained too and definitely specifically trained to confront darkrai. Trying to put them down is a troublesome task. His fight with the spacesuit freaks is taking too long for his liking. He cannot assist darkrai if he continues to get bog down in his skirmish with them.
Riley doesn't know how long darkrai had been battling even before he came here, but at this rate, darkrai might really be captured by these villains. Mythical pokemon or not, all the criminals need to do is to wear it down until it is too tired to resist capture. There are just too many pokemon swarming at them.
Darkrai still looks it is able to go at it for another three days and three nights without rest with how easily it is flinging its opposition into the nearby trees, but it is obvious to Riley that it is slowly exhausting itself due to the large number of foes it is facing. It is just a matter of time.
A Night Slash from his absol cleared a path for him and his team. His lucario fired an overpowered Aura Sphere, taking out a group of bug types hiding in a dark corner. Using this momentary distraction, darkrai put its clawed hands together and forms a pitch-black sphere of energy in between its hands before firing it at a large group of hostile pokemon. The sphere enveloped the group of pokemon briefly before disappearing. However, the affected pokemon are now asleep and twitching uncomfortably, as if experiencing a nightmare.
What move was that?
Thankfully, darkrai is sane enough to register Riley as an ally as they worked together to fend off their attackers, whose numbers never seem to diminish. Their combined efforts were working, until a sudden explosion tore the ground beneath them and sent Riley flying backwards. He would have gotten himself seriously injured if his metagross didn't catch him in time with his psychic powers.
However, that explosion was enough for the unknown group of criminals to deploy their machinery. Four drone-like robots flew out from nowhere and surrounded darkrai from four different angles. They shot out a beam of energy at darkrai, who screamed in pain at the contact. It tried to destroy the drones, but any attempt was thwarted by the criminals' large group of pokemon.
Whatever that beam of energy is, it is quickly wearing darkrai down. Darkrai is rapidly losing its ability to defend itself. This is very, very bad.
"Ursaring!"
Riley's ursaring, who is the nearest to darkrai, roared in response and tried to help the mythical pokemon. However, it found itself on the receiving end of the attacks launched by a large group of feral pokemon and had no choice but to retreat. Riley quickly commanded his team to try and break through the mass of pokemon in an attempt to help darkrai, but there is simply too many pokemon to get through.
If only they have reinforcements.
As if his prayers for back-up was answered, flashes of lightning dropped down from the night sky and destroyed the drones immediately. A huge luxray floated down onto the ground in front of darkrai with two people riding on its back. Riley's eyes widened a little. He knew who the man is.
"Mr Tide?"
"Riley? What are you doing here?" Volkner asked curiously as he hopped off Simba's back, unbothered that he is being surrounded by hordes of feral pokemon under the command of a shady organisation.
"Investigating the source of nightmares in Canalave, my findings led me here." Riley quickly summarised what had happened as his team quickly gathered around him. "I don't know who these guys are, but they have some really dangerous and high-tech machineries. The beams their drones shot out was able to wear darkrai down extremely quickly."
"Not good news." Volkner shared his sentiments as he casually released his entire team out for battle. The woman that is with him followed his example, and Riley had to do a double take when he felt the power emitting from the woman's pokemon team. Never would he expect such an ordinary looking woman to be such a skilled trainer.
Looks can be deceiving.
And who is she? Does she even have the required clearance to know about Newmoon Island? Not many have the same level of clearance him and Volkner both possess. Then again, Volkner was the one who brought her here. She probably could be trusted.
But then again, Volkner had never cared much for the rules…
Never mind that, the current situation at hand takes priority.
"You and darkrai take a break. Leave this to me and Jas. We will send them packing in no time." Volkner said in a very relaxed manner as he walked to stand beside the woman that came with him.
"Are you sure, Mr Tide?" Riley asked the person who was once his teacher, the person who had shaped him into who he is today. If it wasn't for Volkner, he would probably still be cooped up on Iron Island trying to get stronger blindly without a clear purpose in mind. Volkner was the one who first spotted his potential and helped him to grow as strong as he is today.
To him, Volkner will always be his teacher.
"Just sit back and relax, Riley." Volkner said with a casual wave of his hand before addressing the criminals in front of him.
"You guys are from Team Galactic, aren't you? The big G at the front of your suits says it all."
Looking at how some of the grunts tensed when Team Galactic was mentioned, Riley is almost sure that Team Galactic is the name of their organisation. The newly identified organisation that had nearly succeeded in instigating a siege on Sunyshore just a few days ago if it wasn't for Volkner's intervention.
"I have a bone to pick with you guys for what you tried to do to my city." Volkner growled out as he cracked his knuckles. Sensing their trainer's anger, Volkner's electric types also crackled with yellow streaks of electricity which is gradually growing in power. The steel types of the woman's pokemon team shifted menacingly too, although their trainer herself remains silent. She is probably not the chatty type.
"Volkner of Sunyshore. Hand darkrai over to us. If you resist, you will fall."
Volkner pointed a lazy finger at the grunt who had talked back.
"The one who will fall is you guys. Thunder."
With a lazy twitch of his finger in a downward motion as the only warning, a large bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky in the next second, taking out a large group of Team Galactic's pokemon in that unexpected attack. That was the cue for the battle to resume as Volkner's electric types disappeared in flashes of yellow.
Riley allowed himself to take a breather. If Volkner is here, then everything should be alright. He and Flint are the most experienced members among the Thirteen Pillars when it comes to mob battles and handling organised crime. Together, the duo had busted many criminal organisations in Sinnoh even before they became famous.
"Look out!"
Riley's heart nearly leapt into his throat when a weavile emerged from the darkness to try and slash at Volkner's blind spot with its wicked claws. A spinning ball of metal barrelled violently into the weavile just a split second after Riley shouted his warning, taking it out. The forretress leapt back onto the frontlines after seeing that the weavile is now unconscious.
"Thanks, Jas." Volkner said to the woman standing not far away from him, who is commanding her own team and swiftly destroying her opposition.
"Just be careful, okay?"
"Got it." Volkner replied as he commanded Franky to send a powerful Thunder Punch at a group of houndooms, the impact of the punch is so strong that it sent them crashing through the nearby boulders. They never got back up.
More drones appeared from the dense foliage of the forest covered in darkness in an attempt to seize darkrai while Volkner and his female partner are busy in fending off the attacks. Riley and his team were about to respond to it, but a white blur got to the drones first as it smashed into the drones with a cloak of electricity over its small frame. The drones were all swiftly taken out within five seconds.
"Good job, Scrat. More berries for you later."
The pachirisu gave a happy cheer at his trainer's words before diving back into the battle, sending erratic arcs of electricity at his foes while zipping around at speeds too fast to be realistically followed by the naked eye. Riley cannot help but give an amused huff. Some things never change. Scrat is still a glutton for berries like how Riley remembers the bratty pachirisu to be.
Even if he had witnessed his teacher in action many times before, Riley still cannot help but look on in awe at how easy he made battling looks. Still, what was surprising is that his female partner is able to keep up with him with equal ease. Since when did Sinnoh has such a capable trainer in its ranks? From the looks of it, she is actually on Volkner's level!
It didn't take long for the Team Galactic grunts to realise that they cannot win with sheer numbers alone.
"Retreat!"
"Oh no you don't!" Volkner reacted immediately as the Team Galactic grunts began to beat it. "Tec! North!"
Volkner's rhyperior let out a loud bellow before raising large slabs of stone from the earth, creating a huge wall that cut off Team Galactic's escape route. His probopass rained boulders down with Rock Tomb, cutting off the remaining escape routes that Team Galactic might take. Puddle's Waterfall smashed any remaining pokemon of Team Galactic into blissful unconsciousness soon after in one powerful hit.
"Myst, Hypnosis."
Volkner's gallade didn't have a chance to do so as the same dark sphere from darkrai made contact with the Team Galactic grunts instead, immediately sending them into a frightful slumber. From how the grunts are twitching uncontrollably on the ground, the nightmares they are experiencing probably aren't very pleasant. The folks of the past called darkrai the bringer of nightmares for a reason.
"Or that works too, I guess." Volkner looked back at darkrai, who does not seem to be in a good mood for having its home invaded. The still furious darkrai gave a slight dip of its head in their direction as its only indication of thanks before swiftly fading into the darkness.
Riley let out a sigh of relief when darkrai disappeared. For a moment, he had thought that darkrai might attack them in a fit of rage. Darkrai doesn't have the friendliest of reputations even among mythical and legendary pokemon.
"Not the most sociable pokemon, is he?" Volkner mused while stretching his arms and giving a lazy yawn. "Looks like darkrai's fight with Team Galactic is the reason why its powers were fluctuating out of control, even if it was obvious that darkrai was holding back a lot. Maybe it holds some love for Canalave after staying here for so long and does not want more innocent people to get affected by its power? In any case, mystery of the unexplainable nightmares solved. Now all we have to do is to wait for Byron to return with the Lunar Wing."
"I wasn't expecting for darkrai's powers to be strong enough to influence as far as Canalave city whenever it goes into a fight." The woman that was with Volkner gave her own quiet comment. "You said darkrai was holding back, and already the amount of power I can feel from it is staggering."
"And yet Team Galactic has the technological know-how to build machines that is capable of restraining it. Darkrai is not a legendary, but it is close enough in terms of strength. Team Galactic might really be able to catch it if we weren't here. This is a cause for concern."
"If they improve their technology to the point that they are able to restrain even legendaries, like Palkia or Dialga…" Riley trailed off as he realised the implications of a criminal group possessing such technology in their hands.
"Sinnoh is done for." Volkner completed his sentence without missing a beat. "This is a lot more serious than we think it will be. Team Galactic had just proven itself to be a huge threat to Sinnoh."
"Oi, you twerps done?"
The familiar voice got everyone looking upwards as Byron shouted at them from the air, riding on the back of a psychic pokemon.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr Tide, but is Byron riding on cresselia?"
"Your eyes are working just fine, Riley. I didn't quite believe Byron's words to be true either when he first told me that he is 'best pals' with cresselia. I mean, Byron and cresselia? Poor cresselia. Poor, poor cresselia for having to put up with our dear Byron."
"Oi, what poor cresselia? We were best pals since I became the Gym Leader of Canalave." Byron retorted as he and cresselia landed on the ground. His skarmory dropped a huge net containing fallen Team Galactic grunts, who are all unconscious.
"They were on Fullmoon Island too?"
"These fools were trying to capture cresselia." Byron grumbled before turning to the grunts which Volkner and his female partner had fell. "They tried to do the same for darkrai?"
"They would have succeeded if Riley wasn't here. They have machineries that have the capability to restrain darkrai." Volkner answered as their pokemon began to gather the unconscious Team Galactic grunts and pile them together, acting as if having a legendary pokemon hovering right in front of him is a normal occurrence. Riley himself just cannot tear his eyes away from the majestic lunar pokemon, who is smiling at him the moment it noticed the attention he is giving it. How many people can claim to have even seen a legendary pokemon in their lifetime?!
And yet the two Gym Leaders treated their presence as if they are seeing any other pokemon.
"This is bad."
"I know. I just hope our vacation don't get cancelled because of this."
"Eh, leave this to me and Riley. I'm already very thankful to the both of you for helping out, don't let me hold you back." Byron waved it off and his words finally got Riley's attention back to reality. "We will bring them back to the SPF. Cresselia and I will head back to Canalave and do our magic to wake whoever is still experiencing the nightmares. Go enjoy your vacation with your girlfriend. You two earned it."
"Thanks a lot, old man, cresselia." Volkner replied as he jumped onto Simba's back with the woman who had come with him. The friendly legendary pokemon trilled a greeting in return to Volkner and the woman accompanying him. Riley's eyes narrowed a little. Is that woman… Volkner's girlfriend? Since when did Volkner get himself a girlfriend? And one who is such an accomplished trainer? Who is she?
"I'm not old!" Byron shouted back at Volkner with the veins on his neck bulging from the irritation of being called old. It is a well-known fact that Byron's age is a sensitive topic for him. Volkner simply feigned deafness.
"Wait, Mr Tide!" Riley ran after his mentor figure and called out to him before he can fly away on Simba's back. "Can I request for a battle with you?"
That sudden request got everyone to look at him. Riley tried to catch his breath before continuing.
"Y-You promised me a battle the next time we met! I want to show you the results of my training!"
"Ah, I did promise you that a long time ago." Volkner said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin with a hand. "Sure, let's have a battle. How long was it since we last battled? Four years ago?"
Riley nodded enthusiastically. He was Volkner's apprentice, he knew just how powerful Volkner is as a trainer. Volkner is his goal, it is his dream to surpass his mentor. Now is the best chance to show him just how much he had improved. He will shine brighter than the Sun of Sunyshore, this was the vow that he had took when he left Sunyshore four years ago.
This time, he won't lose.
AN: Sorry for the long wait. I had this chapter done like... a month or two ago (?) but I just never had the time to add the finishing touches. Hopefully I will have more time to finish up and post the next chapter asap. No guarantees though, so sorry about that.
And yes, in case you guys were wondering, I was inspired to write Riley in this manner after I watched Spiderman Homecoming & FFH back to back (especially how Peter keeps going on and on about 'Mr Stark! Mr Stark!'). Idk why, but the idea of Volkner having an apprentice calling him 'Mr Tide! Mr Tide!' just amused me to no end. I just cannot RESIST and I just cannot get that idea out of my head. I had to write it out.
Well, in case if you guys don't find it funny like I do, I apologise for my weird sense of humour.
In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Pokemon and trainer list:
Volkner Tide: Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Sinnoh, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash
Main team:
1) Electivire (Franky), male
2) Luxray (Simba), male
3) Jolteon (Jo), female
4) Magnezone (ISpy), genderless
5) Gallade (Myst), male
6) Rhyperior (Tec), male
7) Probopass (North), female
8) Gyarados (Puddle), male
Pokemon used for Gym challenges
9) Raichu (Squeaky), female
10) Pachirisu (Scrat), male
11) Heliolisk (Bask), male
12) Ampharos (Fluffy), female
13) Vikavolt (Vik), female
14) Eelektross (Whirr), male
15) Lanturn (Glowy), female
Pokemon used for Sunyshore's security
16) Rotom (Prime), genderless
17) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
Jasmine Terbium: The Gym Leader of Olivine, Steel Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievement: Johto's Strongest Steel Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Johto, The Iron Wall of Olivine
Pokemon Team:
1) Ampharos (Amphy), male
2) Steelix (Steely), female
3) Magnezone (Magny), genderless
4) Skarmory (Skia), female
5) Forretress (Forest), male
6) Metagross (Mety), genderless
7) Empoleon (Emy), male
8) Bronzong (Bronzy), genderless
9) Mawile (Molly), female
10) Lucario (Lucy), female
11) Excadrill (Drilly), male
12) Ferrothorn (Thorny), male
13) Klinklang (Clang), genderless
14) Bastiodon (Bobby), male
Byron Gallium: The Gym Leader of Canalave, Steel Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Sinnoh's strongest Steel Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Sinnoh, Man of Steel, Shield of Canalave
Pokemon Team:
1) Bastiodon
2) Magnezone
3) Steelix
4) Skarmory
5) Aggron
6) Bronzong
7) Forretress
8) Excadrill
9) Kabutops
10) Armaldo
Riley Slyde: Deputy Head of Security of Sinnoh Police Force, Generalist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Champion of 529th Lily of the Valley Conference, Volkner's apprentice, Deputy Head of Security of Sinnoh Police Force
Pokemon Team:
1) Lucario
2) Absol
3) Ursaring
4) Metagross
5) Salamence
6) Poliwrath
7) Rhyperior
8) Gyarados
9) Toxicroak