Chapter 3: Can't Catch A Break Around Here
A/N: Sorry about taking so long, I injured one of my fingers badly and was instructed to not use it for more than a while, so typing has been ludicrously slow. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
Review Replies:
Zierre: Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, please keep doing so. Thanks for your comments, I'll try my best to add more dialogue whenever he isn't alone. On a side note, dialogue will always be a separate paragraph except for the sentence extending from it or leading to it. It's just more appropriate format wise. But still, thanks. Keep reviewing, Alfa19
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Four days later, deep inside Ilex Forest…
Ethan swore under his breath as he tripped over the roots of another tree, unable to see properly in the perpetual darkness caused by the thick canopy of overgrowth, trying to navigate the forest without enough light.
"Screw the fire hazard!" Ethan said to himself as he reached for the ultra-ball on his belt with glowing red lines with a kaleidoscopic effect like lava, tossing it out as Quiver formed out of red light, taking the stage.
"Hey buddy, can you give me some light without setting fire to anything?" Ethan bent down closer to Quiver as the fire type nodded, small flames coming to life all over its back.
"Thanks." Ethan smiled slightly as he walked through the forest, now able to see what he had been tripping over constantly. The roots of trees had sprung up everywhere and they were tripping him up as he walked, not to mention the thousands of extended branches getting in his way and the piles of sticks all over the ground.
The undergrowth was thick in the area, the canopy of trees so tightly woven that there was barely enough light to see his hands in front of him.
"So, Quiver, what do you suppose waits for us in the next gym in the circuit?" Ethan asked, aware that he wouldn't be able to understand Quiver's reply.
Quiver made a noise which sounded more like a growl and a purr blended together than anything else as he rubbed the side of his body that wasn't on fire against Ethan's leg momentarily.
"Okay then. Let's just keep going." Ethan replied, moving forward and following the paths in the trees until he reached a clearing.
The canopy of trees had opened up and moonlight flooded the clearing, illuminating the small shrine in the middle of the clearing, more like a large wooden bird house raised on four legs to about his head height. He stopped and stood silently as Quiver let the flames die out, staring at the shrine, the area silent.
Ethan was about to walk up to the shrine when he felt a breeze blowing. He heard a small growl of recognition from Quiver, who had dipped his head in respect. Ethan froze, unsure of what was about to happen as he closed his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them again, he could see various people, completely oblivious to the presence of anyone but themselves and the Pokémon with them. He stood and watched as they walked through each other, the forms ghostlike, and walked towards the shrine, visibly feeling the same breeze as he did.
He stood there for a moment, watching and listening as the ghostly apparitions talked to themselves and their Pokémon, eventually moving away from the shrine. He closed his eyes again and opened them, and the apparitions were gone, no trace of their presence left.
"That was just outright freaky." Ethan shuddered, rubbing one shoulder and pulling his mask up. "I don't want to breathe in any more of whatever weird spore this place is filled with. Come on buddy, let's split."
Quiver growled in agreement as Ethan slowly made his way around the shrine to the other opening in the trees near the clearing, in the direction he had wanted to go. He reached the opening, looking behind him and sprinting through, stopping a minute later as Quiver nuzzled his leg to indicate they were far away enough.
The flames on Quiver's back were present again as they walked through the now lit up darkness, trying to find their way out of the seemingly endless forest. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath when he noticed what was around him.
He stopped moving altogether as his eyes followed the millions of webs around them to find a colony of sleeping Ariados sitting at their ends. He reached slowly and deliberately for Scyther's ultra-ball, letting the bug out and holding a hand up in a plea for silence as the bug Pokémon took in the Ariados webs around him, its eyes narrowing as it looked back at Ethan.
Ethan bent down, drawing in the soft soil with his finger as Scyther leaned down to see the crude drawing of it cutting a portion of the webs for their escape.
Scyther examined the crude images, standing up slowly and moving towards the other side of the webs, where an intricate system of webs was blocking the exit. It moved towards them, raising an arm and slipping it through a gap in the webs, slowly and carefully pushing the blade down to make part of the blockage fall like a flap, slipping it arm through another gap and repeating the process.
Ethan smiled, and tried to walk through the gap slowly, making his way out as he nearly fell through the gap in the web. He stood up and tried to move forward wanting to swear when he realized a web had caught hold of his back and he couldn't move further. Scyther moved towards the web, cutting it and letting the string fall without realizing where it was headed. Ethan turned around as he saw the web pass over Quilava's ever flaming head and catch fire, the whole web network going up in flames as dozens of yellow eyes appeared behind the flames, staring at him.
"Oh shit." Ethan swore as he heard a horrible screeching noise, the entire Ariados colony jumping out of the trees and scuttling after him as he broke out into a sprint, trying to save his hide, his Pokémon in front of him.
He fell down and tripped over another root, not paying attention to the path as an Ariados landed on him, trying to bite his neck as Scyther knocked it off, cutting into its side as the Quiver set fire to the webs they kept shooting off. He scrambled back, reaching for his belt for his other two Pokémon as Quiver and Scyther were both beaten back by the sheer number of wild Pokémon waiting for them.
He tossed both his other Pokémon out as Croconaw and Specter formed in front of him, staring at the opposition before attacking. He watched as his Pokémon held the Ariados at bay, neither side having a distinct advantage, the battle in a position to go on for more than a while.
There was a loud explosion and he saw the corpse of an Ariados lying on the ground, Quiver thrown back against a tree, bleeding and breathing. Ethan cried out in horror, standing up and rushing an Ariados pointlessly as he did surprise it though, punching it between its pincers and getting thrown back twenty meters against a tree as he could see the Ariados pack closing in on him to feast, his Pokémon lying in various places all around, weakly trying to move. He sighed, accepting his fate, knowing that he would try to reject it the moment he was bitten when he was blinded by a brilliant flash.
He tried to raise and arm to cover his eyes, failing to do so when fire filled his vision. The Ariados were burning, something biting them and scratching and basically wrecking them as they tried to flee to no avail. He closed his eyes and opened to see a wounded Typhlosion standing over him, the desire to save him providing the energy needed for evolution.
"Quiver?" Ethan mumbled his throat hoarse as the great beast lay down by his side, too weak after the battle to carry him away.
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Six hours later…
Ethan groaned, his back aching as he slowly sat up, his Pokémon gathered around him, asleep. He reached for their ultra-balls, recalling all of them and trying to stand up. He didn't succeed, falling back down and holding onto a tree.
He looked around and saw around a dozen Ariados lying on the ground in various places, unconscious.
"There were definitely more than that. They probably scuttled away. I should get out before they wake up anyway." Ethan murmured to himself, letting Quiver out and leaning against him as they slowly made their way to the exit of the forest nearby.
Ethan squinted as he walked onto the open road, daylight something he wasn't accustomed to any more.
He covered his eyes with his arm and stumbled forward, moving around slowly and leaning on Quiver for support.
He hobbled forward, trainers, deciding not to challenge him since he was; a) walking around with a Typhlosion, b) leaning on it for support. At some point, another trainer carrying a poke ball that was green from the top with net like designs on it ran by straight to the house near the entrance to Goldenrod and went in.
He walked slowly down the dirt road noting the house near the entrance to Goldenrod city and making up his mind to ask the people there if he could use their bathroom and check to see if he had any wounds that would need attention in the city.
He walked up to the house, realizing it wasn't a proper house when he saw the Pokémon daycare sign and the old man standing outside. He walked to the man and stopped.
"Excuse me sir, do you have a restroom I could use?" he asked quietly as the old man smiled kindly and ushered him in.
He walked into the building, seeing a small room with a counter halfway through it, an old woman standing behind it. To the right the wall turned and there was a small grassy area where small Pokémon were playing about. His eyes widened as he noticed an Ariados staring at him. He could have sworn it was one of the Ariados that had attacked him.
His muscles tensed, sending a spasm of pain through his body as the bug leaped at him, trying to bite him as the old man released a large metal beast, grey armor in place of its hide with a white head, two sharp horns protruding from it, its noise a perfect point for spearing things.
The impact of the Ariados's blow had sent him back, spasms of pain greater than anything he had ever felt before coursing through his body. He cried out as the metal beast picked up the bug, tossing it behind the fence separating the pen and the room before picking him up and carrying him to the counter as reality faded away again.
He woke up later, lying on a small table without his shirt, his pant legs rolled up, someone applying medicine to what he guessed were his wounds.
"Ethan, what happened to you!?" a young girl shouted as he regained his senses realizing who it was.
"Brilliant. Lyra? Why the hell are you treating my wounds? Come to think of it, why the hell are you here?" Ethan growled
"I'm staying with my grandparents for a little while! They run the daycare center! Now tell me what the hell happened to you!?" she shouted, her voice echoing in his ears.
"Ariados colony in the forest, webs caught fire. They attacked." Ethan coughed, sitting up slowly as Lyra put away the medicines she was applying slowly.
"Where are my Pokémon?" He asked, reaching for his shirt as Lyra smacked his arm, deterring him from it.
"No shirt for now mister. The medicine heals wounds fast, but it burns through anything else." Lyra instructed him.
"Aww. You probably just want to keep me here without my shirt." Ethan teased her as her cheeks went a brilliant shade of scarlet.
"ARGHH! YOU STUPID, CUTE, IDIOT!" she shouted.
"There! You just admitted that you think I'm cute, therefore you would have wanted to see me without my shirt on! Arceus knows what else you decided you wanted to see while I was out cold!" Ethan sat up, examining his wounds through the tranlucentish white paste covering them. Mostly transparent, but slightly translucent.
His back had welts and bites all over it from the bug Pokémon's legs and well, their, bites, and his legs were bruised in patches, as well as his shoulder blades when he looked in the mirror. His neck had three large white bandage-like patches taped to it, treating what he assumed were severe bites, and his chest had more than a few welts and bruises. His forearms were covered in bites, scratches and scrapes as well, both hurting less than they should have. He assumed it was the medicine that had been applied to them.
The old man walked in through the door, staring at them.
"So, you two do know each other. Lyra, why won't you introduce us to your friend here?" he laughed as Lyra gave Ethan a final death stare, turning back to the man who Ethan assumed was her grandfather now.
"Grandad, this is Ethan Photon, a kid from New Bark Town. We know each other, that's pretty much it." Lyra explained to her grandfather as the man nodded, turning towards Ethan.
"You may need to wear a different shirt when you leave kiddo." The man said, pointing towards Ethan's shirt, which he now realized had a couple of dozen holes in it, not to mention the tears and rips in the fabric.
Ethan sighed, picking it up and rolling it into a ball as he reached in his bag for a fresh shirt, taking one out and putting it down.
"We're going to inject you with some sleeping solution from a Bulbasuar so you'll sleep until the medicine is absorbed and you can put on your shirt and leave. Should be about three hours. We can show you the reserve after that, but that's about it.
"Okay then." Ethan sighed as Lyra took out a vial of purplish powder, mixing it with water and pouring it into a burette marked in hours. He squinted to see three hours on the burette as he glanced at the clock on the wall.
So, he would wake up around eleven in the morning. His eyes widened slightly as Lyra loaded the liquid into a syringe the size of his arm, the needle as long as it, and positioned it over his arm.
"What in the unholy name of Darkrai Lyra!" he shouted, trying to back up slightly as Lyra laughed for a moment, loading the liquid into a standard syringe and injecting him.
"Sweet dreams." The words slurred in Ethan's mind and her voice became extremely deep as the Bulbasaur's concoction took effect and thoroughly knocked him out, sending him into a deep slumber from which he would awaken in three hours.
Figures started to form in Ethan's mind, a large white bird bigger than professor Elm's entire laboratory, bigger than the Golden Rod Radio Tower as far as he could tell, with blue streaks and highlighting all along its body, and another the same size, more in the shape of a phoenix with magnificent reddish orange plumage, the ends of its wings changing into rainbow colors and a white underbelly.
He could see a battle going on, the world fighting to survive as the two titans went all out against each other, leveling cities with stray attacks, cutting the ground open with their wingtips as they tilted to bank to either side, flames erupting from the beak of one, scorching the shining white plumage of the other as the seas rose, canons of water forming in the white bird's maw and firing off at the orange one.
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Ethan woke up with a start, noting that most of the minor injuries were missing and the larger ones had shrunken, and the medicine was missing, though he was still sore all over.
He stood up slowly, taking the shirt he had set down earlier and wearing it, noting that he was alone. He walked out of the room, taking his ultra-balls out of the heal mech and clipping them to his belt.
Standing behind the counter with her back towards him was the woman he had seen earlier, dealing with a customer. The man handed her two poke balls and then left, walking out of the building disappearing form Ethan's line of sight.
"Why hello there son!" the woman greeted him, turning around.
"Hello." Ethan replied shortly, opening the door to the other side of the counter and stepping out.
"That Ariados is in solitary confinement until it learns not to do that." The woman replied.
"Um… you shouldn't do that to it. It's partly my fault that I was attacked. My Quilava sort of accidentally set fire to the colony's nest in the outskirts of the forest. I'm assuming someone found one of the weakened Ariados fleeing and caught it. It then attacked me because my Quilava, well my Typhlosion now, evolved and burnt the whole colony until they either escaped or they were knocked out." Ethan explained, leaning against the counter.
"Well in that case, LYRA! GET THE BUG OUT OF THE CONFINEMENT GREENHOUSE!" she shouted, deafening Ethan as he raised his hands to cover his ears.
"Now then dear, would you like to see some of the Pokémon we have here? Maybe a tour of the daycare? If your Pokémon could stop the Ariados colony, you'll be plenty safe." The woman offered as Ethan mumbled yes.
"Jedidiah! Show the kid around!" the woman once again called out as the old man shouted back something ineligible and walked into the room, unlatching the gate and ushering Ethan inside to show him around before closing and locking the gate again.
"Now, I'm assuming you'd like to see powerful and rare Pokémon?" the old man chuckled, releasing a large sleek, slim minimalistic bird with a metal body, a Skarmory, native to some parts of Johto, extremely rare, and extremely hard to catch, or fight.
Ethan let out a low whistle, staring at the massive bird as the man chuckled, gesturing towards the pond.
"Take a look when the surface starts to bubble." He stated and Ethan fixed his gaze on the water, waiting patiently as the water slowly began to bubble, indicating a water Pokémon letting out air as it prepared to switch from gills to lungs upon surfacing.
Ethan stared at the pool a he was suddenly hit by a spray of water and out of the water burst a large blue and white serpent with its maw permanently fixed open, easily over fifty feet long The gargantuan Pokémon had a three spiked greenish blue crown over its head, two long blue whiskers trailing from its face.
"Beauty of a Gyarados, isn't he?" the man chuckled as Ethan's face went white as a sheet.
"Calm down Soapsun! Just a visitor."
Ethan regained his composure as he examined, Soapsun, as the owner had deemed fit to name him.
"Come along now!" the man said, hurrying forward at an incredible pace for his age. Ethan ran to catch up to him, following him through the open area to the forest and through it to the river. The river itself was not very wide, just wide enough that he would have to use a Pokémon to get across, and moving at a decent pace. He stopped as he noticed the edges of the river were lined with huge chunks of ore with silvery metal gleaming in the sunlight as the metal inside the rock reflected the sun.
"Iron ore." The old man whispered. "It's about lunch time, so it should be here soon."
Ethan nodded, excited as he crouched down behind a bush and waited silently as he heard a deep, deafening, metallic roar. He watched in awe as a hulking eight-foot beast with a body that looked as though it was made of iron armor. Huge plates and folds of grey metal covered its hide and its tail, some white mixed in, such as its head which was shaped like a slice of cake, made of metal, with a jaw cut into it, the jagged metal teeth perfectly aligning, and what looked like a samurai helmet adorned on its head, the folds of the metal plating coming down on either side of its head, and instead of ending in a round cap to the head, because the Pokémon's actual head, or well at least part of it, was shaped like a triangle, it became symmetrical like a tetrahedron lying flat on one of its three faces, a right angles tetrahedron, with two equally sized upper sides from which near the area where the curve became symmetrical, protruded two thin, long conical horns.
"Arceus what is that thing?" Ethan whispered under his breath as he whipped out his phone, taking a picture of the Pokémon and sending it off to the same person he had sent the question to earlier.
He stared at his screen as the man remained silent, watching the beast. He covered the speaker with his hand as the message icon appeared, opening the message itself.
'Aggron, the iron armor Pokémon. Powerful as hell, grows from a cute little thing called Aron. Eats iron, or iron ore. Marks caves, tunnels, mineshaft, even mountains, (Actually more commonly mountains) with iron in them as its territory. Why the fish is it in Johto!? Lucky son of a magikarp! Send me pics if you can get up close.'
Ethan looked up to see that it was indeed eating the huge chunks of iron ore, which seemed to be the reason it was at the river in the first place.
"Got this one from a personal collector. He wants to enter the battle frontier over in Hoenn and he said he needed some powerful Pokémon to do that. So, he sent us his Aron to raise, after of course raising it enough himself that it harbors the amount of affection that should exist between trainer and Pokémon for him." The man rambled on as Ethan stepped out from the bush, unconsciously moving towards the metal beast.
"Guardian! It's me!" the man called out, hurriedly hobbling over to the Aggron and putting one hand on Ethan's shoulder, his grip like iron.
"Ethan here is a friend. He was hurt by wild Ariados. We don't want to hurt him, right?" the man went on as the Aggron set down a piece of ore it was about to eat, nodding.
"That's good. Ethan, meet Guardian, one of the most powerful Pokémon that exists in this area."
"Nice to meet you Guardian." Ethan smiled slowly as he tried to reach up and pet the Aggron on the shoulder, barely reaching it.
The metal beast let loose a happy roar and sat down, continuing to eat as Ethan ran a hand along its back, examining its metal body.
"Amazing." He muttered under his breath before he noticed the old man walking away.
"Come along now, if I'm showing you the zone, there are a lot of Pokémon you'd be interested in."
"Thanks for all this, Mr.…. Lyra's grandfather." Ethan laughed weakly at the last part of his statement as the old man led him further into the forest, the shadow of Skarmory passed over them repeatedly, the metal bird circling the sky above them and keeping watch.
"Okay, last one for today, and hopefully this will inspire you to train one of these, because they are extremely loyal." The old man remarked as he led him towards a huge cliff inside the area of the Safari zone as the ground trembled and a large winged shadow closed in from above.
Ethan stepped back as a large ten-foot-tall orange dragon flew out from over the cliff and landed in front of them, folding its leathery green wings which seemed tiny in comparison to its massive body. it reached out with one thick arm and held its tiny hand out, the claws on the edges constituting for fingers as it stood there waiting before it realized it was doing something wrong.
It struggled to squat down lower before extending its arm again, and this time Ethan shrugged and shook it, now able to reach the actual hand. The dragon smiled and gurgled happily as it sat down, watching the two humans contentedly.
"This lady, is a Dragonite! One of the rare dragon type Pokémon, and extremely powerful as well. In the wild they're normally docile, unlike many dragon types, and they're always friendly." The old man explained as he glanced at his watch.
"Well, we had better get going. Do you want me to take you through a shortcut to the sides of Goldenrod city?" he asked as Ethan mulled it over then nodded.
"Skarmory! Take him to Goldenrod!" he hollered at the top of his lungs as dread filled Ethan when he realized what was about to happen and silently lifted his arms.
Skarmory's shadow swooped down from above and its talons wrapped around Ethan's raised arms, not cutting into him or pinching him as it carried him low, barely over the trees, towards the city, dropping the boy in a small, nice, back area of the town to which access was secluded.
Ethan let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, shaking slightly as he examined where he was.
"Never again. At least, not like that!" he shuddered as he saw a bored looking man standing outside the bike shop in front of him, locking a sleek emerald, black and gold bike as he opened the door to the shop.
"Hey mister!" Ethan called out as the man froze, turning around, uncertain whether he was being addressed as he saw a young man running towards him.
"How much for the bike you just locked outside?" Ethan asked, reaching for his wallet.
"Oh my god! You're the first one to have wanted a bike in sixteen years! I've just been selling inflatable tubes since then! For that you can have it for free! Ride it around town and show people what amazing bikes I make!" the man exclaimed with a glint in his eyes that made Ethan slightly uncomfortable as he tossed him a key.
Ethan leaned forward, missing the catch and picking it up from the floor as he walked outside to unlock it. He opened the padlock, fitting it into his bag and climbing onto the bike.
He walked it back a little before putting his foot to the pedal and speeding out of the area to another similar colony before stopping in front of a house with crates and beds and suitcases, and more crates, piled up outside, a young woman with honey blond hair and a man with sleek black hair brushed down supervising the loading of the luggage into the van parked out front."
"Mr. Maple, Mrs. Maple!" Ethan called out as they turned their attention towards him, smiling.
"Ah! Ethan! What brings you to our neck of the woods?" Caroline Maple asked as Ethan shifted slightly. "I'm on my journey as a trainer, and I thought I'd stop by and see you all one last time before you leave and the new owners move in." He explained.
"When are you guys leaving anyways?" he asked as Norman walked up to him.
"In two hours. Then the new owners will arrive soon after and move in." he replied, his face calm, his eyes betraying joy too great for words.
"Good luck being one of the upper gym leaders over in Hoenn! Could you tell me anything about your replacement here sir?" Ethan asked hesitantly as Norman nodded.
"Very young, about eighteen, pink hair, loves Miltank, and her name is Whitney. She's strong, perfect for the position of third gym, but she isn't used to losing at all. She may take it badly. And she's very childish." Norman replied, turning towards the builders.
"Brendan's upstairs, working on his computer."
"Thanks." Ethan nodded, heading in through the open door and through the empty house up to the second floor, knocking on the open door of a barren room and entering as his friend looked up from a sleek thin, silver laptop.
"Haylo." Brendan greeted him, holding the computer in one hand and shaking Ethan's hand with the other. "How the hell did you run into an Aggron here?"
"Daycare center. Long story, I'll tell you some other time. But now tell me, when the hell is your bloody app going to be ready?" Ethan laughed as Brendan smiled.
"Actually, I finished it two hours ago. I was just checking that the security measures work. Nobody but you me and Bill will have access to the data. We don't have all the Pokémon in the world catalogued in it, heck, probably around half maybe, and we don't have all the data either. I'm trusting you to enter more data on any Pokémon you catch or are given. We have all of Indigo, thanks to Bill, and I've accumulated all the data I can on Hoenn since I'm moving there, and a little bit on Sinnoh, Kalos and Unova." Brendan explained as he plugged a wire into the computer, handing the other end to Ethan who connected it to his phone, the Slate connecting to the computer as Brendan copied an app to it, nodding towards the fingerprint sensor on the front.
Ethan scanned his fingers one by one as the app registered him as the owner, locking itself against everyone else.
"So, just point the camera at a Pokémon and it tells me what it knows?" Ethan asked as Brendan closed his laptop and slipped it into a satchel sitting with him on the lone crate in the room.
"Yeah. Next time you see Bill, thank him, and if you upgrade your phone, we'll have to recode it a bit, so talk to Bill about that as well."
"Don't worry. I won't have that problem. Bill's the mastermind behind Slate, so I'm only ever going to upgrade to a Slate. How do you think I managed to afford it?" Ethan chuckled as Brendan nodded.
"Well… I guess this is farewell for now bro." Ethan remarked solemnly, shaking Brendan's hand and then hugging him once.
"Bye bro." Brendan replied, as serious as he could actually be.
Ethan nodded, saluting him and walking out, going back out to the street and mounting his bike once again as he headed out to the main city to find a Pokémon center to stay the night in.
He wound up in front of the Pokémon center across the road from the mag-lev rail station, the latter of which seemed to be out of order or something, and walked inside, walking up to the counter.
"Hello, how may I help you?" the nurse at the counter asked, smiling.
"Um… I need a room for the night." Ethan replied as the nurse dug out a key and handed it to Ethan, pointing him in the direction of the room.
Ethan walked in, dumping his bag and his bike, which came with a small capsule like a poke ball for storage, in the capsule, and putting it on the bed.
He walked out again, making his way out and towards the quiet docks, standing on a viewing dock, a wide terrace over the ocean for looking out to sea, dialing his mother's number.
"Oh, hello Ethan honey! How are you?" she asked, picking up after the third ring."
"I'm good mom. How are you?" he replied, thinking over his adventure, and deciding the parts not to tell her about if she asked to hear about it.
"How's your journey going? Tell me everything!" She squealed in delight as Ethan sighed.
"Relax, it's a long story." Ethan remarked, "Well... from Violet City…."
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One retelling of Ethan's story with certain parts omitted later…
"Well that sounds great! Don't forget to visit your Cousin Archer! I'm sending you his phone number. Call ahead first." She ended, cutting the call and texting him a Goldenrod number.
He copied it, saving it and dialing the number. It picked up after a few rings.
"Hello, Archer Toluene here. Who might this be?" the man at the other end asked, his voice smooth and persuasive.
"Hey Archer, it's me Ethan. Do you mind if I drop by today? I'm in Goldenrod as it is." He asked, getting straight to the point, leaving all actual things worth talking about for the face to face.
"Ethan! How have you been! Of course! Come to the mag-lev station and give them your name. I'll tell them to let you come up to my office." Archer replied, cutting the call as Ethan walked towards the east, heading for the mag-lev rail station.
He walked inside, going up to the elevator and giving the guard his name.
"Third floor, opens into the room." The man grunted, opening the elevator for him as he stepped inside, pressing he metal button for the third floor.
He waited until the bell sounded and the doors opened, stepping out into a large spacious office with a light blue carpeted floor, and a light wood desk curving in front of the window, the room decorated well with a few white leather chairs and couches and a steel and glass coffee table, two leather backed chairs next to each other in front of the desk, a swivel chair behind it.
Standing with his hands on the swivel chair behind the desk was Archer, a tall slim man around 6' 2", with a sharp cut jaw and place skin, his short cyanish blue hair ruffled, his white suit impeccable as always.
"Archer!" Ethan greeted him as Archer in turn raised his arms and smiled.
"Ethan! How good to see you! What brings you so far from home? Is Aunt Melissa with you? Or Lucy?" he asked, walking around his desk.
"No. I'm on my journey as a Pokémon trainer now."
"That's good. That's wonderful in fact." Archer replied, taking two bottles of soda out of the mini fridge Ethan hadn't noticed earlier and setting them down in front of Ethan before fetching two glasses.
"How's work going these days? Why'd you guys close down the mag-lev rails?" Ethan asked, opening his bottle and pouring some into the glass.
"We're killing two birds with one stone. We have some cargo we need shipped from our old offices in Saffron to Goldenrod, and we have some technical issues with the train. So, we're having trains carry the cargo here as testing and fixing them after we see the issues. Problem is, it isn't a little bit, or some, it's actually quite a lot, and we have some major issues. We may be closed the entire year!" Archer sighed, holding up his hands.
"Wow. That's… difficult." Ethan replied, a bit at a loss for words.
"But since you guys are family, here. You can still use the train at the risk of the lights going out, or a few other things that won't harm you." Archer picked up a card from his desk, scribbled something on it and signed it, handing it to Ethan.
"Hand that to the reception lady and she'll make you a mag-lev pass with my permission on it for the trains we have managed to repair." He explained as Ethan smiled, nodding.
"Thanks."
"How many badges do you have right now?" Archer asked, leaning back on the couch.
"Two. I've been through Violet City and Azalea Town on my way here."
"That's good. So, you'll take on Whitney next?" Archer inquired, drinking his entire glass in one go.
"Yep." Ethan replied as Archer's phone buzzed and he excused himself to his desk for a moment to answer it as Ethan sighed.
Archer walked back over after a brief conversation.
"Sorry, but I've got a meeting in fifteen minutes. Why don't we meet up over dinner tonight? Say around seven? We can have a battle later." Archer suggested, opening the elevator door.
"Sure. I don't see why not." Ethan replied, shrugging and shaking Archer's hand.
"Meet me at the sea side restaurant next to the radio tower." Archer finished as the doors closed.
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Around four in the afternoon…
Ethan walked forward, staring at the radio tower when he felt something under his shoe and stepped to the left while lifting his foot to check. He felt a rush of wind and then he fell to the ground, his balance impaired as a man in magenta pants and a purple shirt with magenta sleeves, as well as a black waistcoat stumbled next to him.
The man's eyes widened as he noticed Ethan lying on the sidewalk.
"Oh dear! I'm so sorry! My teleportation is still a bit towards the weaker side!" the man apologized, helping Ethan to his feet as Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, my name is Will, one of the Elite four of the Indigo League and… my my… you have a powerful Aura!" Will introduced himself as Ethan's mouth fell open. He was standing in front of one of the five most powerful people in all of Indigo, one of the three most powerful from Johto.
"Hi…. I'm Ethan Photon." Ethan shook Will's outstretched hand and looked at him quizzically.
"What did you mean when you said I had a powerful Aura? And while we're on the subject, what is aura?"
"Oh my… this might take a while. Let's sit down shall we?" Will suggested as he didn't let go of Ethan's hand.
Suddenly the whole world warped around Ethan as he felt the contents of his stomach slowly rise up his throat, falling back as they materialized on a terrace in a small castle by the seaside, built into a mountain, two chairs and a table with hot coffee waiting on it in front of them.
"Why don't we sit down?" Will suggested again, pulling forward a chair and sitting down.
"Coffee?" He asked as Ethan numbly nodded, the pitcher pouring out steaming coffee into a mug which slid over to him slowly.
He accepted it, drinking slowly as he tried to recover from the queasiness of teleportation.
"Aura is essentially a type of energy every living being exudes, an energy which all Pokémon can see, clairvoyants can see, but humans can't. There's even a Pokémon line that can manipulate aura. Your aura reflects your personality. You like to be fast and not necessarily have strength behind you to pack a punch. But you don't mind strength either. Look at your Pokémon. All of them are fast or will grow up to be fast, and most of them are powerful too." Will explained.
"How do you know what my Pokémon are?" Ethan exclaimed, reaching for his ultra-balls.
"Clairvoyant, remember? When I mentioned Pokémon, they drifted to the front of your mind."
"Now that I've explained this to you… let's return." Will stated as he took Ethan's hand again, the same feeling passing as they reappeared on the Goldenrod City pavement. Ethan felt like hurling but he held back, trying to avoid it. The day was confusing enough as it was.
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
Around 7:58 p.m. the same day…
"So, Ethan, what Pokémon do you have?" Archer asked, wiping his lips with a napkin.
"I'm not answering that until you tell me what Pokémon you have on you for the battle." Ethan replied, smiling.
"Fair enough… I have a Houndoom, a Houndoor and a Crobat. Now you." Archer replied, smirking slightly.
"Typhlosion, Scyther, Haunter, Croconaw." Ethan replied, taking the last piece of his fish with his fork and eating it.
"Three on three on the beach?" Archer asked as Ethan nodded, reaching for his Ultra balls as he tried to choose which Pokémon to keep and which one not to use.
Scyther and Quiver were no use against either Houndoor or Houndoom, though both would be good against Crobat. Specter was actually also useless against the hounds, which meant that Croconaw would definitely fight.
He would have to use Pokémon that could hit a flying Crobat so he would have to think. But bug types also had a weakness in poison types. So, it would have to be Quiver and Specter.
Ethan walked out with Archer as the former paid the bill and headed out. He followed his older cousin out to the beach, taking his shoes off and setting them on a chair as Archer did with his jacket and his own shoes.
"Houndoor, you're up!" Archer shouted, letting the young dark type come out on to the beach. It growled at the sea, then turned towards Ethan as he tossed out Croconaw.
"Croconaw, water gun!" Ethan shouted as the Crocodile Pokémon let loose a stream of water at the dark type, knowingly backing it into the ocean as the attack missed but a wave hit the young hound, knocking it out.
"Houndoor, you did well anyway. Your turn Houndoom!" Archer shouted as he recalled the fallen hound and tossed out another one, bigger, meaner, and of course, evolved.
Ethan raised an eyebrow at Archer's choice of Pokémon, not saying anything.
"Croconaw, once again!" Ethan instructed as the croc shot a water gun at Houndoom, the dark type leaping to higher ground this time.
"FELLAS! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CUT IT SHORT! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! WILD TYRANITAR!" a man shouted down from the docks.
"Can't catch a break around here, can I?" Ethan muttered, heading for his shoes. "Just can't catch a break."