Chapter 5: Legends Awakened
Ethan stood still, stretching his arms as Aura climbed onto his neck before he set off on his way to Ecruteak. Route 35 as a whole wasn't very big, in all probability it should have taken him a maximum of two days to cross it, and that would be at a leisurely stroll.
He stepped forward, officially exiting Goldenrod and stepping out onto route thirty five. He looked around him, seeing no nearby trainers and walking forward, making his way down the wide dirt road made by centuries of travel between Ecruteak and Goldenrod. Clouds were scarce, the sun beating down on Ethan's neck, negated by a cool breeze as they walked, Ethan answering every question Aura had, of which there were many.
'Okay, I think I have this straight now. We're on our way to Ecruteak City to challenge the gym there, which will be your fourth gym battle in Johto, and from there west to other cities to challenge their gyms.' Aura tried to explain to see whether he had understood it correctly himself.
"Yes. And the reason we're not going east like everybody else does first is because even though the gym leaders in the east would have to fight me with four and five badge teams, their teams even at that stage are ridiculously strong. And Croconaw isn't strong enough or big enough to carry me over the huge lake on the way there." Ethan replied, taking a pen out of his pocket and throwing it up and down, catching it repeatedly as he walked, his eyes on the road in front of him, noticing a trainer not far away.
He picked up his pace, moving at a brisk walking speed, reaching said trainer fifteen minutes later.
"Hi, I'm Jimmy. Have you seen any Pokemon nearby?" the trainer asked, extending a hand which Ethan shook in turn.
"You know this is a road right? There aren't going to be any wild Pokemon on a road." Ethan deadpanned, shaking his head slightly as a frown formed on the young boy's face.
"Okay. In that case, I challenge you to a battle! Do you accept?" the boy asked, getting into a battling stance.
"Three on Three." Ethan replied, reaching for Canis's pokeball before deciding to ask a question. "How many badges do you have?"
"One!" the boy exclaimed proudly as Ethan sighed, moving his hand away from Canis's pokeball, and every other one on his belt.
"Aura you're up. First Battle!" Ethan gestured forward as the emanation Pokemon jumped of his shoulder and onto the ground, moving forward and readying himself.
"Go Larvitard!" the boy shouted, throwing a dented and scratched ultra-ball into the air, releasing an extremely annoyed Larvitar.
'Aura, start off with an Aura sphere, then move in for a force palm when he's distracted, and try bullet punch after that.' Ethan instructed, guiding the young Pokemon every step of the way as it set off into motion, first generating a sphere of blue energy, spiraling it in his hand and firing it off at the Larvitar, scoring a dead center hit and causing it to stumble as Aura moved forward at a blinding pace, slamming glowing fist into the Larvitar before making both fists glow silver and launching a series of punches invisible to him within a few seconds with a bullet punch, sending the rock type flying from the collective pent up force, straight into its trainer.
"Okay, Larvitard, return! Go Skramory!" he shouted, tossing yet another dinged and dented ultra-ball into the air, this time releasing a sleeping Skarmory.
Ethan watched as Aura walked over to it and prodded it, failing to wake it up as the boy cursed, pulling a flute out of his pocket and playing it, waking the avian Pokemon up.
"Skramory, steel wing!" he shouted, turning towards the steel type.
'Riolu, stay where you are and charge up a fist with aura. Duck and grab his wing, swing him around and smash him into the ground.' Ethan instructed as both Pokemon generated energy, the avian setting off towards the bipedal canine, the latter ducking and following Ethan's instructions to the letter, swinging the steel type into the ground using his own force coupled with the bird's own kinetic energy.
'Now just repeatedly force palm it.' Ethan instructed as Riolu did so, executing the command perfectly and giving the Skarmory a beating that would leave it black and blue, or dented actually, for a few days. Red watched as the Pokemon slowly fell into unconsciousness, being recalled by its trainer.
"Good work Aura!" Ethan called out, not bothering to keep it private this time.
"How many badges do you have?" Jimmy asked, handing him a credit token and looking at him curiously.
Deciding not to make him feel bad about losing to a hatchling, he decided to word his reply carefully.
"Three." Ethan replied, smiling and walking away, moving further down the road as the day passed, the sun dipping below the trees near the evening as he approached the gate to Route thirty six. The security guard at the entrance to checked him once before letting him pass into the gate complex connected to the Pokéathalon arena, going to the area's Pokemon center.
He walked up to the counter, getting in line and pulling the card Steven had given him out and examining it, thinking all the while he was in the line. He stepped forward once it was his turn, putting the card back in his pocket.
"Could I have a room for the night and a checkup for one of my Pokemon please?" Ethan asked, smiling slightly. "He just hatched and had his first battle." At the words, Aura climbed off of his shoulder and onto the counter, staring at the nurse.
"Sure, um… let's see. You're sharing with two others, one Sicilia Alaconse, and one Lucania Alaconse. Room three zero six." The nurse replied, handing him a card and picking Riolu up.
Walking to one of the couches, Ethan sat down, thinking again until he saw the nurse standing in front of him, Aura by her side.
"HE's perfectly healthy." She smiled, walking away and leaving Aura with him as he walked to the room he was to share. He made his way up to flights of stairs and to the door marked 306, knocking twice before unlocking it and entering with his eyes closed.
"It's okay, you can open them." He head two voice say, and he opened his eyes to find two young girls, around seventeen years old, sitting, one reading in a chair, the other in front of the mirror blow-drying her hair.
"Hi. I'm Ethan, and I'm going to sleep now." He introduced himself, recalling Aura and going into the small restroom to change, returning to the room and falling flat on the small bunk.
…
Ethan woke the next morning to find himself staring at a wall, his head perched against his pillow which he was holding against a wall while sitting on his bed. Confusing. He dropped the pillow and shifted, moving around to face the floor and standing up as he picked up his bag, ducking into the restroom to change.
Once done, he walked straight out and checked out of the room, getting something to eat from the Pokemon center cafeteria and moving on, walking out to the Pokéathalon stadium, Steven's offer drifting to the front of his mind as he examined the event display at the entrance.
He reached for his Ultra Balls, sending his Pokemon out to read the board as well.
"What do you say guys? Want to try this?" Ethan looked at the board, scanning the event mix, speed, durability, strength, flexibility and others of such kinds.
Canis stared at it, examining it and nodding, looking at the others. Croconaw looked at the board, tapping one of the strength events with the club he had somehow managed to retain. Scyther looked at the board, placing one blade on the speed event, leaving Specter who shrugged and cackled, and Aura who stared at the speed and strength events.
"Okay, let's go register." Ethan suggested and walked into the building recalling his Pokemon.
"Hi, how do I register for a Pokéathalon, I guess?" Ethan asked, standing in front of the woman at the counter.
"There's fixes courses where you pick three Pokemon for three events of one category, and there are custom courses where you pick any three events and can use any three Pokemon for each event, and the total is compared with three other custom course attempts to judge positions. Which would you like to do sir?" The woman smiled, leaning over her keyboard in preparation to register him.
"I think I'll go for custom….. Block Smash, Relay Run and Hurdle Dash." Ethan replied, watching as she keyed in the events.
"Trainer card and use Pokemon please?" she asked as Ethan handed over his card and his belt with all five Ultra Balls.
"Thank you Mr. Photon, please report to lounge sixteen and a half on your far left." She gave him his things back, gesturing towards the end of the hall where there was a door marked with a star, like many others, and sixteen and a half painted on it in bold lettering.
Ethan accepted his belongings and walked down the hall to the door. Knocking once, he entered and sat down in the lounge where there was one other person waiting. A Karate Master by the look of his plain white robe and black belt. Ethan nodded in his direction before examining the page the woman had printed out, jumping at the announcement for Block Smash.
He walked out through the corridor labeled Strength and into the room for Block Smash, an entirely Glass chamber, ventilated of course, in the middle of the hurdle/relay track. Ethan stood in the back, waiting for the signal and releasing Canis as it came, the fire badger smashing into the blocks as per previous instruction, destroying block after block of cement, ripping through the pile as a machamp carried a new one in the duration of two seconds, Canis continuing to smash them as the clock crept down to forty seconds, sweat dripping down his nose.
"Good work Canis, take a break!" Ethan called out, recalling him and releasing Croconaw, who promptly smashed through two blocks with one strike of his club, continuing on two blocks at a time, taking out the pile, and the next, before finally slowing down around twenty seconds remaining.
"Croconaw, rest time!" Ethan called out, recalling him and releasing Aura while the machamp placed the new pile, allowing Aura to jump onto it and smash into it with Bullet Punch, breaking block after block with blow after blow and destroying yet another pile as the announcer called out time.
"And folks, the contestants for this round will be given one more pile to break in twenty seconds, with the same Pokemon currently out, and a black block, much denser, at the bottom, the last block for fifty points!" the man cried out, raising his arms as everyone cheered, a machamp sweating slightly as it first carried over the black block, then the rest of the pile, setting them down in order. Ethan stood tersely as the clock began, watching Riolu dig through the twenty cement blocks in ten seconds before moving on to the black block, which refused to yield.
'Aura no! You have to use our hands!' Ethan shouted over the aura link as Aura prepared an Aura Sphere, heeding his words and absorbing it into his palm before smashing the block apart with a glowing hand as time ran out.
He looked around, seeing little progress with the block with his competitors, only one having made any progress, who had a massive gray Pokemon in front of him, which had impaled the block upon a girder it was carrying.
"And folks, the results of this round are…. Stanley Holt, five hundred and twenty point, for making a hole in the black block but not destroying it, Jimmy Carrion four hundred and thirty five points, Jonah Lee, three hundred and sixty points, and our winner, Ethan Photon with all five hundred and fifty points offered!" the man shouted over the uproar as Ethan smiled, scratching Aura's head.
"Good work buddy! How much energy do you normally put into an Aura Sphere?" he asked, frowning slightly.
'Enough that on its own it can rip a sheet of steel of a hinge.' He replied, looking at him with his head tilted before Ethan recalled him, walking back to the lounge and sitting down. He released his Pokemon again, walking over to the cooler and getting them water.
"Okay, good work guys, now let's just keep this up for the next two events. Specter, you, Aura and Blur are going in for Hurdle dash, and for Relay it's the Aura, Blur and Canis." Ethan explained, sitting down with them and drinking a little bit of water as well.
He sat there with his Pokemon, reading for a little bit with the one book he had decided to pack into his bag, waiting for the next event to come along, which soon enough, it did. At the announcement for the Relay Run, he stepped up and walked out, making his way out of the room and walking towards the field, reaching it to find all three other contestants standing there, fiddling with their pokeballs.
Calmly, he selected the three for his chosen Pokemon of his belt, readying them to work quickly and watching as the countdown began.
"3, 2, 1…. RUN!" The announcer shouted as Ethan sent out Aura first, dashing off onto the course, and then his next two Pokemon to stand by his side, his strategy being Aura relaying a first person view of the course to them through his namesake, allowing them to plan ahead.
Ethan watched as the little Riolu sprinted past two of the other competitors, neck and neck with a Stantler as he crossed the line, tagging Blur, who then shot forward, a literal blur, stealing the show and finishing the lap while nearly lapping the last place Pokemon, switching in for Canis instead, who completed the task and ran as fast as his quadruped form would allow, not outstripping the Pokemon(who he had technically lapped) next to him, rather keeping parallel to it, a good feat for running next to a Pupitar.
Ethan sat in the provided chair, watching his Pokémon's progress on a close up camera with a lap tracker, smiling at the results, taking the time to continue thinking on what was continuously dwelling on his mind, examining the matter and deciding upon it, to confirm his decision once in Ecruteak City.
He watched the countdown clock silently, standing up and clapping vigorously with the rest of the crowd as the race ended, checking the final lap counter before recalling his Pokemon and readying himself for the results.
"Okay folks! In my hand I have the results of the relay run, fresh from the batons! In fourth place, Sidney Stalk. In third place, and I'll remind you that out of four, only first and second are pole positions, Sidney Stalk. In second place… Ethan Photon! And in first place, Colt Stonehearst!" the man announced, causing Ethan's jaw to drop as he checked the lap counter displayed on the board for all four runners, his being around twenty six, and the winner's being ninety four.
Ethan gritted his teeth, nearly flagging the announcer down to ask what was going on when the Pokémon's individual lap list came about and he realized why he hadn't won. Stonehearst's slowest Pokemon had been his Pupitar. Apart from that, in the race had been two invisible blurs. A Scizor and an Arcanine. Now it made sense.
Ethan shrugged for no apparent reason, claiming his certification and walking back to the lounge and lapping out to the immediate announcement of the Hurdle Dash in the next arena, healing his Pokemon briefly and running for the arena, barely making it in time as he launched Aura into the track of shifting hurdles, watching him effortlessly run under them, which wasn't against the rules. What was against the rules was leaving your lane or cutting the lane lines, breaking the hurdle and avian Pokemon. Aura was none of those, and none of his other Pokemon defied those rules either.
He sat down, catching his breath after the three hundred meters he had had to run to get to the stadium from the lounge, watching his competition carefully this time as they gathered their next Pokemon for the next turn, which was not in any way connected. The basic gist of this event's point system was a certain number of points for a certain distance without hitting any hurdles within ten minutes. Then the points of all three runs, one for each Pokemon, were added up and the person with the most points for the day won.
Ethan readied Blur's pokeball, keeping his ace in the hole hidden until the third run and released him as Aura refused the lift back across the distance he had covered, instead choosing to run back through them for fun, not winded much. Ethan waited as Aura ran back, beating the men carrying the contestants Pokemon back and sitting happily by Ethan's side.
'That was fun. I guess that's it for me today?' he asked, sitting down next to Ethan as Ethan nodded, watching as Blur positioned himself to run, his wings vibrating so fast they were flickering in place, blasting off as the gunshot fired, the moment anticlimactic, hilarious in fact as the backdraft from his wings blew all the other contestants back twenty meters and into the wall, forcing them to get back to the line without a running start and then kick off, the time counting, by which point he had already covered a good deal of distance, already at the three hundred meter bend. Ethan couldn't help but laugh as he watched a huge Tauros flying into the wall, along with a large Rapidash and an odd, equine Pokemon with a head on its tail as well, its yellow and brown skin standing out.
Ethan watched as the world melted into shapes and lines passing by from Blur's point of view mounted camera drone, the drone occasionally slipping behind him. The Bug type sprinted as fast as it could without flying, jumping repeatedly to stay in the air above the hurdles, pushing through the course until he finally broke one by accident, but that was just the one. He kept going as the timer counted down, slowly ticking to a stop.
"Great work Blur. Now it's your turn Canis." Ethan said, recalling and releasing the Pokemon respectively before watching the fire type set off. It was a fair run, Canis running under the hurdles without breaking any and getting a perfect score. There was a minimum height for the event, but fortunately, in the posture of height measure a Typhlosion would stand on its rear legs, and increase its height enough to participate with ease.
Ethan readied Specter's Ultra Ball, tossing him out to the line to wait as the other competitors mulled over their Pokemon. He sighed, watching them until finally, the race began, Specter effortlessly passing through each of the hurdles as he built up speed, taking the lead and making it to the end before any other Pokemon. Ethan smiled, collecting his Pokemon and walking to the main arena for the announcements for the day's Pokéathalons.
"Okay folks, in Pokéathalon one….." Ethan tuned out, his eyes roaming over the stands as he waited for the man to call out for Pokéathalon five. A good half an hour later, due to a few difficulties, he did.
"….. Now Pokéathalon five, where in third place we have….. Smith Snitch! In second, Garner Garter and in first... Ethan Photon!" the man shouted, waiting for each of them to come up and receive their medals.
Ethan walked up to the stage after the others, releasing his Pokemon on the way and climbing up the stairs. He stood in line, waiting as the man gave out all the previous medals. Finally, when it was his turn, he took his medal and left for the Pokemon center for the night.
…
Ethan woke up to find himself, once again, staring at a wall. He slowly got up, falling out of the tiny bed in the process and hitting the floor hard. He stood up, gingerly rubbing his back and glaring at the floor.
After a quick shower and a hearty breakfast, he found himself standing at the brink of the bug catching zone, the exit towards Ecruteak in front of him. He pushed off, biking as fast as he could to get as far as he could in one day. He pushed on, the occasional wild Pokemon being dealt with by Blur who could keep up with him effortlessly, until he arrived at a roadblock of sorts.
In front of him was a tree as tall as a building, with barely any leaves, blocking the road entirely. Multiple trainers were standing there, fire types and flying types at their sides trying to get the tree down. Ethan stared at the tree, not releasing Canis after he saw the failed efforts of the trainers, frowning and thinking.
Finally, he whipped his phone out, scanning the tree and waiting for Brendan's database to correspond. He stared at the little radar icon as it circled until with a buzz, the phone opened a page.
Sudowoodo. The …. Pokemon. I don't know everything. It disguises itself as a tree much larger than itself when sleeping. It's a rock type, so if you want to wake it up, try a water attack. Or try spitting on it. Anything works.
Ethan chuckled at the last sentence, reaching for Croconaw's ultra-ball and tossing the gator out.
"Naw?" it asked, pointing first to the club and then to the tree.
"No. Try a water attack instead." Ethan suggested, sitting down as Croconaw charged the tree, blasting water at it at the last minute as the tree shook violently, shrinking rapidly until there was a stick like brown Pokemon standing in its place.
"Croconaw, now you can club it!" Ethan shouted as the gator smashed the club into the Pokémon's side, engaging in a brawl that the opposition was winning.
He watched as the rock type pushed Croconaw back, until white light started to diffuse from Croconaw, the gator glowing as the particles enveloped the space around him, pushing the Sudowoodo back as an enormous Feraligatr replaced the young Croconaw which had been standing there earlier, pushing the Sudowoodo to the ground and knocking it out.
Ethan stared at the Sudowoodo for a moment, deciding not to capture it. Turning to Feraligatr, he cast an eye over the beast's new body.
"How about Leviathan?" Ethan suggested as the gator pondered over it, settling on it and nodding.
"Good. Now let's just get all the way to Ecruteak." He remarked, climbing back onto his bike and recalling Leviathan. He pushed off again, making his way forward.
…
A day and three battles later…
Ethan stood in front of the tin tower, staring at the huge tower in front of him and then turning towards the burnt tower. Ecruteak city had been famous for its two towers. Until one burnt down. The legend went that these two towers had been the nesting places of the legendary birds Ho-oh and Lugia. The Burnt Tower, before it was the burnt tower, had one night in a storm, been struck by lightning and caught fire. The lightning itself caused a great deal of damage to the tower, but the fire destroyed it, and then suddenly, from the same storm, came rain, which doused the fire, leaving the remnants of the burnt tower lying on the site, the underground floors still intact.
As such, Lugia flew away, its new nest's locations unknown to man. Even Ho-oh stopped coming to the Tin Tower after the incident as well, but after performing one last deed in Johto. As the rain settled down, legend had it that Ho-oh flew over the burnt tower, a rainbow forming behind it as it created three beasts in the tower to roam and guard the land. A beast of lightning to temper that which had started the fire. A beast of fire to control the rage of the flames which had destroyed the tower. Lastly, a beast of water, the spirit of the rain that doused the fire. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.
Ethan took one last look at the towers, walking away to get to the Pokemon center and book himself a room before sunset. Again, to fit in with the theme of the town, the roof was a much darker red, more like maroon. Ethan walked through the historical city, passing by the gym which he would challenge at some point on his way.
He finally found himself outside the center around two in the afternoon as rain slowly started, multiple droplets hitting his nose when he looked up. He entered the building, drying his face with his sleeve and walking to the counter.
"Excuse me ma'am, do you have any rooms available?" Ethan asked the nurse, young woman with dark brown hair.
"Do I look like a Ma'am to you!?" She exclaimed, glaring at him before turning to her screen. "214."
She handed him a key as he nodded carefully, walking away and going to the room. He was walking down the corridor towards the elevator when he saw a young man with shoulder length red hair duck into a room, shutting the door behind him rapidly.
'It couldn't have been him! He wouldn't risk staying in Pokemon center!' Ethan thought to himself, shaking his head and walking to the elevator, stepping in and going to the second floor to find his room.
He finally found the room, thankfully empty this time, and stepped into it, closing the door behind him, the first thing he did was let his Pokemon out, then take a shower. He let the hot water wash away all the grime of travelling and sleeping outdoors, drying off and getting dressed before collapsing on the bed. He pulled his phone and Steven's card out, making the decision and dialing the number.
'The phone you're trying to call is currently switched off right now. Please try again later.' A mechanical voice sounded through the speaker as Ethan sighed, putting the phone down and turning over to face his Pokemon.
"Okay guys, first, we're going to explore a bit, since the Burnt Tower is open for exploration, and then tomorrow hopefully, we should take on the gym here. Now it's ghost type, so…. Specter, you're definitely in, but I need you to be careful. Blur, not this time. Bug isn't anywhere near effective on Ghost. Aura, you need to train a bit more, and besides, you're still not effective against Ghost anyway. So that makes it Canis, Leviathan and Specter." Ethan theorized as the door opened and a young girl around his age walked in.
"Sorry, one second." Ethan smiled, recalling his Pokemon to open up the floor.
"Thanks." She replied, quietly, not speaking further and sitting down on the bed.
Ethan picked up his phone and his ultra-balls, clipping the latter to his belt and heading out to the city after a quick lunch in the Pokemon center cafeteria. He walked straight down to the Burnt Tower, reading the sign once more to confirm that it was open for exploration, and picking up one of the complimentary escape ropes in the sack nailed to it.
He walked through the scaffolding doorframe into the remains of the ground floor, light from the sun streaming in from the massive holes in the roof as he walked towards a ladder to the underground floors, making his way down.
He climbed down the rickety rungs, jumping down the last two and pulling a torch out of his bag to see where he was going. There was a notice pinned to the top of the ladder advising against the use of fire for light because of the oxygen consumption.
He stepped forward, making his way through the piles of rubble slowly, past other people exploring the wall inscriptions and random artifacts among the rubble. He wasn't interested in any of that. He just wanted to see the place where Raikou, Entei and Suicune were born, he continued through the lower floors, climbing another ladder down as he caught another glimpse of the shoulder length red hair and the black fleece coat.
He broke into a sprint for a moment, trying to catch up to whom he presumed was Silver until he reached the bottom floor, giving up and continuing his explorations. He found himself in a room with huge crater made of multiple levels in the center. He couldn't even see the bottom. He walked towards the rim, locating and taking one of the e small paths down towards the bottom, finding his way using the torch and his hands.
He felt the earth underneath his foot loosed and crumble as he stepped down from the fifth terrace, shifting under him and carrying him downwards to the bottom of the crater in a massive landslide. He felt dirt climbing over his chest and immediately pulled his mask up, using it to keep his mouth safe as first covered half his body, one of his ultra-balls already in his hand. He moved his wrist as much as he could with his arm trapped in dirt for the most part, releasing Aura, who promptly dug him out once the dirt stopped shifting.
He stood up slowly, petting the bipedal canine and brushed himself off shakily as he saw Silver again. This time, the boy was sitting in front of three statues, one of each beast, in the center of the crater, working on a computer.
Ethan moved forward quietly, thanking the gods Silver hadn't noticed him, releasing his other Pokemon except for Canis and Specter, who might have held a grudge against him and walking forward. He pressed on, stepping towards Silver as he noticed the headphones in the boy's ears.
He readied himself to do what he was planning. Silver was Team Rocket. He couldn't let the fact that what he was doing was seemingly harmless go by anyway. Silver had admitted it himself. He curled both hands into fists and shouted.
"HEY SILVER!" He shouted, his voice echoing through the floor and causing the target to look up.
"The hell are you doing here!?" Silver shouted in reply, closing in on him after setting his computer down, revealing a bold red R logo on it.
"Exploring. What are you trying to pull this time?" Ethan retorted, Blur standing by his side with Leviathan by the other as Silver released a Meganium and a Weavile to stand by his.
"I'm not going to harm the people of Ecruteak, so buzz off. Maybe the tower, but not the people." He sneered, turning back to his computer and swearing, picking the machine up and throwing it up and the crater. Needless to say, it broke.
"I'm not going to let you damage state property! Are you even a Johtan?" Ethan snapped, motioning for his three Pokemon to attack as an all-out battle broke out between Meganium, Weavile, Blur, Leviathan and Aura, Aura and Leviathan taking on Weavile, leaving Meganium to Blur.
'Aura, get this to the others as well! You hit Weavile in the side and knock him down for Leviathan to finish off, and Blur needs to tackle Meganium's petals first!' Ethan explained through aura as he felt the earth vibrate, Silver recalling his Pokemon and pulling a rope out of his pocket.
"I'm out!" he shouted, sneering as the rope coiled into the earth and he disappeared.
Ethan reached for his own bag, thrown back the sudden Earthquake when he saw it happen. The statues were all mid motion, Raikou in a curving jump, Entei with his paws in the air, and Suicune charging.
Ethan watched as stone chips flew off the statue of Raikou, every bit of stone flying outwards as with a flash of light, it left Raikou staring at him in all its grace as a bolt of lightning hit the ground hard, Ethan saved by his sneakers. He recalled his Pokemon immediately, standing extremely still as Raikou examined him.
The canine like beast was… regal and majestic. Its body was lean, made to be lethal, yellow fur covering all of its body except its chest, which was white, and the fur around its head, which was also white. A black stone like mask covered the crest of its head, blue fur extending around its mouth in sparks, two huge saber like fangs extending from its mouth. Upon its back was a mane of purple, a living storm cloud attached to it. Entei's statue started to glow, stone chips flying off it in a repeat of the earlier process. The stone slowly erupted, leaving Entei standing there as a pillar of lava erupted in front of it, falling to the ground and cooling to stone right there.
Entei was more proud looking, long thick, reddish brown fur covering its body except the neck, which was white. A three spiked crown like structure sat above its eyes, spikes of red fur next to them and descending a bit. Under its eyes, sort of like a mustache, was a protrusion of grey fur. Atop is back were two miniature wing like structures of grey and a white billowing cape of sorts. Oddly enough, its ankles had shackles around them.
Ethan stood in shock as the two beasts stared at him, waiting for Suicune to be free. Something seemed to be stopping it. Then all of a sudden, the stone went flying from Suicune and revealed it. Unlike the other two, nothing happened.
Suicune was the most majestic of the trio, looking more for show than for battle. Short blue fur coated its equine body, its chest and neck white from the front. Diamonds of white were patterned on its flanks and a hexagonal structure of blue sat above its eyes, a purple man billowing from its neck. Two ribbons of white in place of a tail extended from the back, floating at its side. Oddly enough, nothing seemed to happen.
Then it roared. Ethan vaguely heard the sound of rushing water, and then the three beasts leapt into the air, disappearing as the chamber flooded, a massive wave knocking Ethan out and carrying him away.
…
He woke up on the ground, staring at the sky as he coughed up water, Leviathan next to him, looking thoroughly drenched. He sat up carefully, looking around him. He was sitting outside the tower, and from what he could see, a huge, blue, metallic Pokemon with four arms was levitating in front of the tower, and a massive body of water was swirling higher into the air through its power towards the clouds.
From what he could tell, the Pokemon was forcing the atmosphere to evaporate and absorb the water to use as rain later. There would be one hell of a storm anyway. He looked around to see Steven Stone standing in front of the tower, directing the metallic Pokemon.
He stood up slowly, coughing a bit. Once he was stable, he walked over to Steven at a slow steady pace. He finally reached him, tapping him on the shoulder as he recalled the metallic Pokemon.
"Ethan! Were you inside?" Steven exclaimed, gripping his arms and examining him as Ethan nodded shakily.
"What happened!?" he asked as a Dragonite roared nearby, the sound traveling further than the gulf. "Actually, that would be Lance, save this for when he's here. Are you okay?"
Ethan nodded again, steadying himself and speaking.
"Yeah, and I can tell you what happened. First however, I accept your offer to be your apprentice."
Steven broke out into a smile, leading Ethan to a tree stump to sit down.
"Great. Once you've figured out what date you'll be in Olivine, tell me! It looks like Lance is here. We had better get ready." Steven remarked as the Dragonite which had roared earlier approached, setting it's trainer down and flying away.
The man walking towards them was black body armor lined with red, a cape attached to his shoulders, his red hair spiked upwards. His face was young, not more than twenty three years old, and his eyes were a deep blue. This was Lance, the champion of the Indigo Region, Dragon Master.
"Steven! What happened here!?" He called out, approaching them carefully.
"I don't know. Ethan however, does." Steven replied, gesturing to Ethan, who raised a hand.
"Let's first get him dry, shall we. To the Pokemon center." Lance stated simply as the Dragonite circled back in, picking all four of them, Leviathan include, and putting them on his back to carry to the Pokemon center, depositing them a second later.
"I take it you have a room already if you don't have your bag?" Steven asked once they were inside as Ethan nodded. "Dry off and come to the coffee shop across the street."
Ethan nodded again, walking slowly to his room and ducking into the restroom to dry off and change. He did so, sitting in front of the heater in the room for a minute before heading out again to the aforementioned shop.
He walked inside, looking around to see Steven sitting next to a man in a hood. It made sense. Lance was too well known in Johto… And Kanto.
Ethan walked up to them and extended a hand in greeting as both wordlessly shook it before leading him outside. Steven reached for his belt, releasing the metallic Pokemon again and giving Ethan a chance to examine it. It looked like it was made up of blue gemlike, translucent stone, with two red eyes, and a metal cross across the face of its hexagonal body, four arms protruding downwards from it.
"Metagross, Indigo League Headquarters." Steven instructed as a flash of light enveloped them, and without the sick feeling from last time, the appeared in a hall which should have belonged in a castle.
"Thanks." Steven recalled Metagross as Lance removed the hood, walking forward, Steven following. In turn, Ethan followed Steven down to an office. Wandering around the room stacked with papers were three young draconic Pokemon, two of which Ethan recognized, a Gible, and a Bagon. The third was unknown to him, a young Pokemon with two axe like protrusions form its mouth.
"Sit, please." Lance suggested as he moved around his desk, sitting down as the three young Pokemon ran to him.
"Now… Ethan, if you could explain what exactly happened there." Lance asked, leaning back as Ethan took a deep breath and began.
"I was exploring the depths of the Burnt Tower, and then I caught a glimpse of a boy named Silver. I've met him once before and I know he works for Team Rocket. You'll have heard of the Slowpoke well incident. I was there. I defeated Rocket Admin Proton's Pokemon, I'm assuming he was carrying weak ones, and then Silver's Ghastly turned on him and saved me the trouble of the fighting him. I now own the same Ghastly, who is now a Haunter." Ethan paused to take a breath as Lance gestured for him to go on.
"I chased him down to the bottom level and lost track of him, until I reached the crater in the middle. After I reached the bottom, I found him sitting there with an R labeled laptop, working. He got frustrated, broke the laptop, and then I engaged him in battle. About halfway through, an earthquake started and he fled. I tried to reach for my bag but the earthquake tripped me up."
"Then, the statue of Raikou started glowing, and stone chips flew out and Raikou came to life. A bolt of lightning hit the ground. The same thing happened with Entei, except a pillar of lava erupted and cooled. When Suicune was freed, nothing happened. Then it sort of roared, and they fled and the chamber flooded. That's all I remember." Ethan finished to the wide eyes of the champions.
"The three beasts are awake!?" Lance shouted, standing up. "Oh crap. Well, it's not really bad. They are the guardians of Johto."
He sighed, sitting back down. "Thank you for your time. Steven if you could send him off, I'd like to discuss this with you and the others."
Steven nodded, raising a hand in his direction and releasing Metagross, who promptly teleported Ethan away. Ethan found himself standing in front of the Pokemon Center again, as he walked in to go to his room. It had been a long day.