Justin, it's been 3 weeks since Blitz got out of the hospital. Give it up. You've got others that require your attention.
No way, Justin replied. He's my friend, Azelf. I'm not gonna sit here and let this happen to him. I've done everything I can speaking to him over the past 3 weeks while I healed. It's time to take action.
Even if you can get him to battle again, he can't use any fire attacks. It'd be like if I restricted myself in a battle from doing anything with my Psychic powers. It's a necessary element of his fighting style, and getting rid of it just for your own satisfaction of him fighting is selfish and stupid.
This is not for my own satisfaction, Azelf. As happy as I'll be if Blitz starts battling again, this is for his own good. He lives for battling, and just because you don't doesn't give you the right to decide what's best for him.
By that logic, you being obsessed with battling also makes you biased, and therefore you don't have the right to decide his fate either. He's your best friend, but he's also your best battler, and I quite frankly see the second role playing more into your decision making.
You don't understand, Azelf. I've battled alongside Blitz before. We were meant to be partners. It's like we don't need a Psychic link to understand what the other is thinking. I can tell that Blitz is having a hard time after getting injured that badly, and if I don't give up on him, I'm gonna get him back in top shape. Would you give up if Mesprit or Uxie had some issue like this?
We're Legends, Justin. The only problems we have are the wrong people discovering us. I'm starting to think you were one of them. That's not exactly the kind of standing you want against a being that could kill you without a second thought.
I thought you were the Pokemon of Willpower. If that's true, then you should be happy that I'm as stubborn as I am. Or did you get your role confused and you're actually the Pessimism Pokemon? Azelf wasn't happy with that response. Justin could tell because of the lingering pain from the mental stabbing Azelf had just committed.
There is a line between stubbornness and just plain stupidity. You'd be well advised to learn where that line lies before attempting to lecture beings that have been around a few thousand years longer than you.
Age and wisdom are separate things, not a deciding factor. Just look at Red. He's not a few thousand years old, yet he knows I shouldn't give up. I need to go. I'm talking to Blitz again. Azelf merely communicated a mental sigh of annoyance before receding.
Justin walked to the deck. He'd been asked to stay on the ship for another month after waking to heal his injuries. Red wasn't kidding when he said I literally had a hole in my back. It's been repaired with artificial Ditto cells which turned into all the skin, bone, and muscle I needed, but then why can't I leave the boat? He sighed, deciding to leave his questions for later, even if they wouldn't be answered. He released Blitz and Zeus before turning directly to Blitz.
"Hey, buddy. How are you doing?" Blitz gave a half-smile before looking off into the distance, leaving Justin to wonder what he was thinking about. "And you, Zeus? Feeling okay?" Zeus squeaked loudly and gave Justin a huge smile before doing the same to Blitz, who gave him the same half-smile. "Blitz, Zeus, how about a little practice battle? We haven't trained in weeks." Zeus had been made aware of Blitz's condition, and eagerly agreed, most likely in an attempt to solve the issues of his problem. Blitz thought about it for a while. Eventually, a hesitant nod. Justin walked over to the other side of the deck with Blitz. "All right, Zeus, Me and Blitz will be battling against you. This will be good practice for if you ever need to battle without me. Use your instincts, and do your best." Zeus nodded before allowing some sparks to escape his cheeks and smiling confidently. Justin yelled "Begin!" before calling his first order.
"Draco Boost!" Blitz roared as his body became filled up with Draconic energy from Outrage and Dragon Dance. Justin was surprised as he noticed Blitz's roar wasn't as loud, but a bit deeper. "Now use Crunch!" It felt weird to not call out the use of a Fire move, but he knew he couldn't use them. Not yet, anyway. That was Step 2.
Zeus wasn't having it, however. When Blitz rushed him with fangs covered in Dark energy, he used Quick Attack and quickly sped away. Alright then, better use a ranged attack. "Dragon Pulse!" Blitz formed a green orb of Dragon energy in his mouth before blasting it at Zeus. Zeus barely dodged the blast, but the explosion behind him winded him. Justin looked and saw a decently sized hole in the floor. Yikes. I'd better not do that again. This boat is expensive. Justin barely had time to think as Zeus shrouded himself in electricity before charging at Blitz.
"Dragon Rush!" Blitz harnessed his power and formed a skeletal avatar of Dragon energy before charging at the Volt Tackle. The two collided in midair, forming an explosion that barely missed the floor. As the smoke cleared, Justin found Zeus laying down injured slightly, and Blitz standing over him, breathing heavily. "Nice job, guys!" Justin said as he clapped. "That was some clash. Are you guys okay?" Blitz gave a confident thumbs-up, and for a brief moment, Justin saw fire in his eyes again. Zeus squeaked and nodded. Justin smiled to himself before the whole world began to spin. He barely registered what happened before Blitz and Zeus caught his fall.
What was that? I feel exhausted, and there's pain all throughout my back. Is this the Ditto cells? Justin could barely see someone walking over to him.
"Justin! Are you okay? What happened?" The words barely registered to Justin as Red brought him back to his room. "I told you to rest for a month, not 3 weeks, you know. You really don't listen, do you?"
The pain finally wore off as Justin responded. "I'm fine. If you had told me that would happen, I would have listened. I was feeling better, so I thought it'd be okay."
Red just sighed and left the room. Justin continued to stare at the ceiling. I don't want that to happen again. I'll have to continue things with Blitz later. He barely managed to grab the Pokeballs off of the nightstand and recalled Zeus and Blitz. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered what his friends were up to…
Before being awoken with a start as Red came back into the room.
"Justin?" he asked,
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Nothing major, just a little thing I wanted to ask you about. Why is there a hole in the ship?" Justin laughed.
x*x*x*x*x
Anthony sighed as he sat at the campfire. "It feels like we've been walking forever. I wish we could have stayed in Glazeburn a bit longer."
Diana nodded. "The route leading up to Granmerge City has a lot of twists and turns. If we were gonna stay all day to make sure the museum was alright, we probably should've waited for tomorrow morning, so we could get as much travel time as possible. Stopping this early does feel like a waste. I get you wanted to walk a bit of extra time after waiting for Justin to at least stabilize for two weeks, but we really should have rested as much as possible first."
Shawn reluctantly agreed. "I thought getting about two hours of walking in would do us some good, but hindsight is always 20/20. Besides, We did nothing but eat, shop, and update Justin's family on his condition, since he's apparently too oblivious to do it himself. I wanted to get back on the road. Anyway, pass me your water bottles. I'll fill them up. Anthony, you grab some extra firewood to keep this thing burning a bit longer. Diana," he added as he pulled out his trainer meal, "you start cooking our food. I'll be back."
After checking his map, Shawn went to a nearby pond that he noted to be teeming with aquatic Pokemon. The water here should be good if this many Pokemon are lining up for it, he thought as he noted several schools of Finneon, a few Dewpider nests, and even a Relicanth swimming about. He released Squirtle, who happily jumped in and immediately began what Shawn could only discern as socializing, as well as Budew, who immediately went up to an unsuspecting cherry tree and began crying out. As he finished filling up the water bottles, Shawn looked on in awe as all the cherries - Cherubi, he corrected, opened their eyes and began to cry as a chorus. Shawn's smile immediately turned to worry as he noticed something, however. In a flash, something was upon the cherubi, and had plucked one away.
Shawn was barely able to make out the culprit. A bird with a hat? No, that's just silly. It must be a crest. What is that? He didn't take any more time to ponder and released Gastly. The bird, which Shawn now recognized as a Murkrow, immediately put down the Cherubi and eyed Gastly with hungry eyes. It was going to fight as hard as it could for its dinner.
Luckily, Shawn had a trick up his sleeve to ensure that Murkrow did plenty of fighting. "Confuse Ray!" he exclaimed with confidence. Gastly created a ball of Ghostly power and shot it at Murkrow…
…or at least, that's what should have happened. Before he could react, Murkrow was upon Gastly, slamming into him with a wing shrouded in Dark energy. Sucker Punch, he realized. Darius was right, Dark-type Pokemon are tricky to handle. Unfortunately, he got up close while Gastly prepared Confuse Ray, so the joke's on him.
Murkrow threw back its head and laughed, celebrating its victory… until it opened its eyes and was met with dozens of illusory enemies, all staring at it with the same hunger it had eyed Gastly with. It panicked, desperately ramming itself into each one of them with Sucker Punch before succumbing to the illusions, thrashing madly about as Shawn prepared to put it out of its misery. "Hypnosis."
Gastly's eyes glowed a deep blue as he approached the Murkrow. As it cowered in fear of the phantoms Confuse Ray had created, Gastly began filling its head with ideas of peace and solace, reassuring it that everything would be okay if Murkrow fell asleep. Murkrow quickly accepted the offer and was passed out. Attempting to directly damage Dark types with Psychic power was always a fruitless effort, but something simpler, like slowly coercing them to sleep? That could work under the right circumstances. Shawn tossed a Pokeball at the now sleeping Murkrow, and easily caught it. He called Budew and Squirtle back to him before releasing Murkrow. After spraying a bit of awakening medicine into its throat, it woke up and immediately began panicking at the sight of Shawn's team.
"Hey, it's fine. We're not gonna hurt you. I caught you. I was wondering if you'd like to come with my friends and I on our travels. You'd get way stronger, and have plenty to eat, so you wouldn't be forced to hunt those Cherubi anymore."
Shawn extended his hand, which now held a Sitrus Berry, and Murkrow stared tentatively at it. The moment Shawn noticed the look in its eyes change, the bird grabbed the berry and ate it in a few short bites. Murkrow gave the closest thing his wings could get to a thumbs up, and Shawn smiled. "All right, then. Let's get back to the campsite. Everyone is probably wondering what's taking me so long."
As they walked back, Shawn's mind returned to the events of the last few weeks. Hearing those voices in his head, Justin nearly dying at the hands of something that looked like a Beedrill who had trained and grew for a thousand years, the fact that Justin had been apparently hearing those same voices for ages now, the things he'd been told by Justin's Riolu, and of course, Blitz now being unable to use fire, as if his very soul had been torn by that Beedrill's needle-sharp arms. As he neared the campsite, he could only hope things would get better as time went on.
He entered the campsite, a small clearing surrounded by a few trees which housed mostly harmless Pokemon like Sentret and Taillow. and tossed Anthony and Diana their water bottles. "Hey guys. Sorry I took so long. There was a bit of an incident."
Diana's expression turned from annoyance to shock as she saw Murkrow hopping in from behind Shawn. "Who's the new addition?"
"This little guy was trying to chow down on some Cherubi by the lake. I figured he'd make a good addition to the team, and it'd be better for the Cherubi population if I just brought him along with me."
Anthony chimed in. "Cool. But keep in mind that he's a Dark type. They tend to be very tricky, so be sure he doesn't pull any pranks on us."
"You got it." Shawn grabbed his now finished trainer meal and some more Sitrus berries from his bag before tossing them to his team. As they ate in a rather uncomfortable silence, Shawn realized something was wrong.
Diana beat him to breaking the silence. "So, how do you guys think Justin is doing?" A few sharp exhales from the others, and before she could continue ,Anthony quickly changed the subject. "You know, Granmerge is the industrial capital of Jiman. It's hard to believe it's in the same region as Glazeburn or Champagne. I bet they'll have plenty of great restaurants and shopping centers, don't you think Shawn?"
"Yeah," he replied, "It'll probably be super easy to stock up on our teams' favorite foods, have a few hot meals to break the trainer meal streak we'll be on when we get there, and have some decent places to train. Although, to be honest, I'm more excited for the gym than anything else. Kenneth is the best Ground trainer in the region. My team has a strong matchup, but I'm hoping to pick up tips on how to train Geodude and Gible a bit better. Maybe some starter moves to ease them into more complicated territory, or just general tactics on how to deal with the speed disadvantage Geodude and Gible have in their earlier evolutionary stages. What do you think, Diana?" Shawn paused a few seconds waiting for her to answer, but was met with nothing but silence. He reached out his hand. "Hey, are you okay-"
Diana immediately cut him off. "Am I okay? I'm fine, but the question I should be asking is, are you okay? I mean, for Mew's sake, we just split off from one of our best friends who we've known for years, who just had his life placed in grave danger, and you immediately make talking about him taboo? I can't believe you're the same people I left Oakgarb with. What, did Arceus descend from on high and force you to be assholes?" That shocked Shawn and Anthony. Diana never spoke so callously. "I just… can't believe he'd abandon us so readily, even if the opportunity was great."
Shawn smiled. "There's the issue." Diana shot him a look before he continued. "Justin didn't abandon us. It's not like we're never gonna see him again. He's taking the best course of action he can to protect his friends and family in the future. He's going to get stronger, and then he's going to come back. When we see him again, he'll be able to help us stop Team Hurricane and things can be normal again. He won't be Jiman's champion, but he'll be Oakgarb's champion."
Shawn paused for a moment to finish his food before he kept speaking. "Of course, we can't just sit here on our asses while he gets all the glory. We're gonna get stronger in our own way, and when he needs us to we'll be right there for him like he'll be there for us. I'm not gonna let him pass me up so easily. So, stop worrying yourselves, finish your dinner, and get to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so we'll need all the energy we can get. Last one to go to sleep puts out the campfire." Anthony nodded, and Diana, after a period of thinking over what Shawn said, did the same. As Anthony and Shawn fell asleep, she lay awake a bit longer. There was something she had been thinking about.
Hey, Mesprit?
What is it, Diana?
If Justin needs our help, you'll tell us, right?
Of course I will. Now, get some sleep. Your friend intends to get some mileage tomorrow.
You got it. Diana put out the campfire, eyes drifting closed with more resolve for the next day than she had felt in over a month.
x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*
Okay, so I know it's been a long time since I updated this fic. It wasn't because of a lack of support, or personal disdain for writing, or any of that sort of stuff. The honest truth is, I simply fell off on Pokemon for a while. I wasn't enjoying it very much, and since I didn't have a Switch immediately, I wasn't able to play any of the new installments.
With that being said, while I did eventually get and play through Sword, I didn't enjoy them too much. In a moment of truth, I decided to get Ultra Sun, since it was the only 3DS entry I had skipped, and I had a ton of fun. So much so, that my love for the franchise was very much reignited and I decided to revisit this and give it another shot. I know this was rather short, but I wanted to ease back into writing this and let the site know I exist again. I'm gonna do my best to keep this updated consistently, and will be looking at any feedback I receive.
With all that being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave any reviews commenting on something you liked in particular, or (Constructive!) criticisms or things you didn't like. Stay safe, and I'll see you next chapter!
-JJ209th