Chapter 15: Back on the Road
A/N: Okay so side note… I'm going to not reply to reviews if there's nothing to address in them or reply to. I mean there's only so many times I can say something along the lines of 'thanks', or 'no spoilers'. Other side note… I do in my notes us levels to keep track of strength (roughly) but they can exceed one hundred indefinitely. An estimate here is that Typhlosion in this chapter is level fifty. Branching off of that is that evolution however is not necessarily by level. So, a starter could be level forty and not have felt the urge to evolve for the second time. Moving on. Took a break for a while. Fun stuff. In any case, I'm back! Enjoy! Alfa19
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"Olivine is under control, and right now Lance is planning to crush the remaining Kaloasian forces over the course of the next couple of months. What he let slip though is quite interesting. He's planning to hold the Indigo Conference, as in the one with a sixteen-badge requirement normally, as soon as that's been done, open to anyone who collected any eight badges instead of all sixteen in the year before the attack on Olivine, to collect a larger crop of fresh Ace Trainers. What he was gunning for was to take the usual amount as ordinary Ace Trainers who start off as apprentices in foreign regions, and about the same number, maybe a few more, who finished below this crop, to start as trainees to keep the forces strong. While he prefers to act like a hammer instead of a sword, he knows how to think. Defeating Kalos's standing forces in Indigo won't finish this all. They'll return very quickly." Steven grimaced, setting down his cup.
"I see how it's interesting but I fail to see where this ties in to me, if you're not letting me return right now. Besides, the gyms will be closed to help with the effort even if I was there." Ethan replied, crossing his arms.
"If you can collect four Hoenn badges, at your current level, I'm fairly sure Lance would be willing to give you audiences with Claire and Pryce at my behest so that you could compete." He explained, Clara talking to Victoria and Blake on the side.
"I see how this is shaping up, but I've got one question. Why four?"
"We could try with two since you have six, but four is a good balance between experience and amount of time spent because I'll plot you through four specific gyms on your route. That leaves you stronger, and us with a good deal of time to train. Let's get started." With that the champion stood up, going away for a second and returning with a map of Hoenn, which he promptly spread across the table.
Ethan stared at the map on the table, standing next to Steven. Steven reached out and circled four cities, each with a star made above them afterwards.
"So, the four gyms you'd challenge would be Mossdeep, Sootopolis, Mauville… and either Petalburg or Lavaridge." With which he gestured to Mossdeep, a walled island in the middle of the ocean, a large city near the south west coast line, and two small cities in the far west, one north, one south. "Mossdeep is run by psychic twins Tate and Liza, Sootopolis by the strongest gym leader and master coordinator of Hoenn, Wallace, a genius with water. Mauville is run by Watson, a jolly old fellow whose hobby is tinkering with the city's electric systems. Petalburg is run by Norman-"
"Norman Maple?" Ethan asked, putting his hands on the table.
"How did you know?" Steven stared at him, bewildered.
"He moved from Goldenrod. His son is one of my best friends." Ethan replied, looking at him sheepishly. "Sorry, go on."
"Normal, master of normal types. The thing is he's radically different from Whitney. With him you'll find yourself in a tough battle with someone who thinks like a chess player. And an intimidating chess player at that as I'm sure you know." He added dryly, "Lavaridge is in some ways a better choice because you haven't taken on a fire type gym, but the gym leader, Flannery, is admittedly inexperienced. She's new to the job. Out of those two it's your choice."
"I'll say from a tactical standpoint after our discussions of what you have and haven't encountered in terms of battle to not take on Tate and Liza immediately. Morty was one person commanding two Pokemon which some people do on occasion. The tricky bit with Tate and Liza isn't that they're two independent minds with independent Pokemon, it's that they're entirely synced. They've been doing this since they were about seven. That's four years." He explained, moving the pencil away from Mossdeep. "You take your pick and then I'll start with a route."
"I think I'll take on Petalburg. It gives me a chance to meet my friend for a little bit." Ethan decided, looking at the map.
"Alright. We'll start off by teleporting you there first thing in the morning before I head off to the League. From there, you can travel through Oldale, not much of a walk, and cross a small lake to get to the north of Slateport. You can take the bike route or the low road to Mauville from there. Mauville to Mossdeep… I'd like for you to travel north east from Mauville and go through what some consider the depths of Hoenn's wilderness, see its beauty, and go to Fortree City. There are tournaments held there from time to time, and the gym leader, Winona, can help you out with flying on your Dragonair or Dragonite, because from there I want you to fly to Mossdeep, then to Sootopolis."
"Gotcha. Thanks." Ethan quickly made notes in his phone, putting the device back in his pocket and looking towards the others. "I'll be off then. Nice to meet you Clara. Thanks for dinner Steven."
"Thanks for coming. By the way Ethan," Steven stopped him in the doorway, "You've got… six weeks to do this, then training starts. Ask for your teleport at the Pokemon center. I'll issue it right now."
"Yes sir." Ethan replied, walking out and back to the Pokemon center. Once he was back in his room he stopped to think for a minute. Doing the first thing that came to his mind, he pulled out his phone and left a message for Brendan, before changing and going to bed.
…
Morning came sooner than he had expected it, rays of sunshine waking Ethan up to read six in the morning off of the clock on the wall. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The membrane behind the bed wasn't fully opaque if seemed. He picked up his things slowly and went off to shower, getting himself dressed in a red sweatshirt and a pair of trousers before heading out to the lobby of the Pokemon center with his pokeballs on his belt and his bag on his back.
He pulled his ID out and walked up to the nurses' station, waiting until one of the three counters other than emergency was open. It took fifteen minutes, in which time he had a small back and forth with his mother and sisters over text, checking on them, as well as one with Brendan. As he approached the front of the line, a headline on one of the flat screens on the wall caught his eye. He read the stripe at the bottom of the screen and stared at the image of the burning trees and destroyed road.
New Bark Town latest to fall victim to Kaloasian attacks
He took a deep breath, thanking the lord that his family was in Unova, and walked up to the nurse.
"Hi, I believe there's a teleport to Petalburg city waiting for me, Ethan Photon." He handed over his ID as the nurse typed away with one hand, holding the card up to the light with the other.
"Right this way sir." She said after a moment, handing him the card back and opening the side door into the counter area.
He stepped inside oddly curious as to what the center looked like from the point of view of the nurses. Once he was inside, the nurse stood him on a glowing white pad with a wide metal rim and typed away once more, leading Ethan to wonder how it worked, or what was going on.
A few seconds passed as he stood there uncomfortably, more than a few of the trainers in the lines looking at him curiously. Finally, with a light folding sensation, he saw the center disappear and reappear, only different. He took a look around as the nurse in front of him, a different one, instructed him to step of the pad. Moving forward and stepping out of the counter, he looked around. The new Pokemon center he was in was a smaller establishment, and certainly not as tropical as the one in Mossdeep. Simple white walls, couches and TV's made up the lobby, along with two corridors branching off.
"Welcome to Petalburg City Mr. Photon. Would you like a room?"
"That I would." Ethan replied, putting a hand over his mouth as he coughed lightly.
"One zero six. End of the corridor." The man handed him the keys to the room, turning to the next person in line.
"Thank you very much." Ethan headed off towards the small corridor, whistling all the way to the end of the six-room corridor where he was situated. He opened the door and walked into a small room with two beds and no other tenants.
He set his bag down on the plain white bed with its neat folds and looked out the window at the small lake nearby with benches around it and old people feeding Tailow. It was a nice homely place from the feel of it. The serenity of the moment was ruined by a buzzing in his pocket which made him jump a foot into the air.
He opened the message from Brendan and typed out a reply, leaving the room immediately to head outside. He stepped into bright sunshine, though nowhere near as warm as Mossdeep, and walked off to the pond nearby, releasing his team to stand with him to discuss the time to come. He had caught a glimpse of the other corridor in the establishment and knew that it was too small a place to have a training area. There had been a cafeteria and an ICU or two at that end of the building.
Ethan looked around and headed for the nearest tree. Having found himself a spot, he sat down and released his Pokemon in a ring around him. Riolu and Dewott immediately went to each other's sides, a sight which made Ethan smile. Specter was floating about in the shadow of the tree, red eyes and a grin like a Cheshire cat. Scizor looked around and took its place next to the tree, taking in the world around it. Knight slithered right into the water, disappearing from view until it pulled its head out. Typhlosion sat down on its haunches, rubbing its side against Ethan.
"So… We're in Petalburg City in Hoenn now. We're going to go challenge the local gym, because I personally feel we can take them on. We did a fair bit of training for Jasmine, and it's a normal type gym again. On top of that, it's Brendan's dad. For those of you who don't know, Brendan's a really good friend of mine. In any case, what evens the footing out here despite the fact that we're battling on seven badge platform is that Mr. Maple's Pokemon are mostly very, very slow. They're really strong but they're also really slow. So I think we can manage this. After that it's a long training stint up until we reach Mauville City, where we challenge another gym leader, then a quite long stretch of no necessary to challenge gyms. In any case… For this battle, we'll see the format then I'll decide. The one thing I can say is that it won't be you Scizor, because a good few of his Slaking and Vigoroth's moves are fighting type, and it won't be you Gengar, because it's kind of a stalemate there. So let's do this!" Ethan cheered, raising a fist into the air, which was promptly met by Riolu's, and then Dewott's flipper.
"Nice." Ethan chuckled, recalling his Pokemon as he started to walk towards the building set into the forest in the north of the city. He walked into the main lobby to find a mat-covered fighting or training ground set up with a door at either end of the far wall, signs fixed to them with nails.
Standing in the center of the field, conversing, were two almost identical people, in every save for their physiques and dress. Their faces were almost like someone had copied and pasted one. To the left was a muscular, tall man with black hair brushed into a wide point downwards and long sideburns on a hard, pale face. His red quarter zip was open a bit from the top, revealing a navy vest to match his trousers. Opposite him was a shorter, stick thin version of him wearing glasses, with a navy and grey sweatshirt and white pants: Norman and Brendan Maple.
"Morning." Ethan called out with a grin, stepping forward.
"Buddy ol' pal o' mine! How's trekking across Johto on your own been treating you?" Brendan walked forward, pulling him into a one-armed hug, the other grasping Ethan's other hand.
"It's been great honestly. Up until Olivine." Ethan's grin changed to a frown for a moment as he stepped back, shaking Norman's hand.
"It was all over the news. As was the attack this morning… Are Melissa and your sisters safe?" The tall man asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"They're in Unova with Lucy, so they're fine. We left the day of the Olivine attack." Ethan replied, turning to face them both. "Before anything else though, I want to put myself down as a challenger to the Petalburg City gym."
"Yes… Brendan mentioned this. How many badges do you have?" Norman frowned.
"Six from Johto. All but Pryce and Clair." He explained, folding his own arms.
"We'll cut to the chase then. Anyone with less than five has to go through the rooms beyond and make it past trainers who specialize in a certain statistic, such as attack or speed. That and the wooden floor in my chamber may not be solid enough for when I have to go all out with Slaking. So this will be treated as a battle for a seventh badge then." Norman gestured towards the man standing in the corner of the room at a desk. "Winslow, register the kid."
Ethan walked over to the man, putting down his details, and then walked back to the battlefield with its navy surface made to absorb attacks and its dull gold lining. The room itself was almost entirely wood panels otherwise.
"Where do you keep the chairs?" Brendan asked his dad, turning to him with an inquisitive look.
"Brendan, there isn't a single chair anywhere in this building except for the one built into Winslow's desk. Just stand on the sidelines." Norman sighed, moving to his box behind the field. The box itself was literally just an outline on the floor, dull gold and slightly raised like the patterns near the rim of the arena. Ethan stepped into his and looked at the field, waiting for someone to announce the rules.
"This contest will be three singles, full reveal. To win the badge, you have to take all three." Norman called out, picking three pokeballs off of his belt right off the bat and releasing them into the outline of the arena. The navy surface had a golden rectangle about two feet from the rim, and other patterning between the rim and the golden rectangle.
Standing there were what Ethan recognized as his Vigoroth, or one of them, one of his Slaking, and a large purple Pokemon with yellow tipped spokes coming out of its head and large hind legs upon which it sat with holes in them.
"Use of Brendan's database is allowed because I have knowledge of Johto's Pokemon as well as Hoenn's." Norman called out as Ethan quickly scanned the unknown Pokemon, revealing it to be a Loudred, a Pokemon which was very effective as using noise to fight.
Ethan reached for his belt and called out his own Pokemon, summoning Typhlosion, Knight, and then Riolu. Riolu stared the opposition down for a moment with a grin, and then decided right then and there to surprise them all. White light enveloped the cub as it knelt, expanding until the golden patterning on the trainer's boxes began to glow and sent up walls of flickering gold energy to shield their eyes from the brightness.
When the glow died down, left kneeling in Riolu's place was a Lucario, with its poised tail, light fur for its torso and spikes added, as well as a new type and steel bones.
'Trainer, I believe I may be of much greater help than anticipated here. I have…. acquired…? Been imbued rather, with knowledge on other techniques which would deal a great deal of damage to the behemoth. Namely extreme speed and bone rush, a specialty of our kind.' A deep baritone voice sounded in Ethan's head, grave with a hint of humor, as Lucario rose, staring down Slaking.
"That was… unexpected…. Regardless, congratulations! You've gone from egg to Lucario. This is great!" Ethan smiled, taking in the sight of the Pokemon he had indeed raised from egg to evolution. "I definitely think we can do this now, if I didn't before."
"As a courtesy for a battler from a foreign region, I won't make you choose first, but I will ask that you call forth your Pokemon at the same time as I do." Norman raised an eyebrow.
"Duly noted." Ethan replied, grinning as he looked at his Pokemon. Typhlosion, Knight and Lucario. They were the bulkier ones in his team, able to take hits as strong as they could dish out. Scizor could too, but bulky didn't fit Scizor, and in this case fighting type moves could deal serious damage to it.
"Both trainers call forth Pokemon on the count of four, and the battle will commence. Ready?" Ethan had to stifle a laugh for a moment as he recalled Brendan's pet peeve: the number three. "One…. Two… Four!"
"Typhlosion!" He called forward, eying the field carefully as Norman's Vigoroth leaped onto the field to challenge the quiet fire type. "Flame wheel!"
The fire type spun forward, not wasting any time. On another day, with another gym leader, Ethan might have made a joke about how fast it went from zero to sixty, but not today. Norman was always had high standards for young trainers, and considering he was quite literally the same age as his son, he would be seen as a kid.
"Left!" Ethan called out once he spotted Vigoroth's muscles in motion propelling it left, and sure enough, careening violently left, Typhlosion slammed into it and sent it flying into a burst of gold energy which revealed the invisible wall.
"Fury swipes." Norman called out.
Vigoroth leapt forward, trying to hit Typhlosion repeatedly with its glowing claws, failing four of six times and striking it twice, once on the flank, once on the underbelly.
"Flame Charge! While you're still there!" Ethan called out as it grappled with Vigoroth, engulfing itself in flames.
Vigoroth's eyes widened as with all its strength Typhlosion flung the already burning Pokemon into the golden barrier and the slammed into it on the rebound, singing a good deal of its fur.
"Feint slash!" the gym leader ordered.
Vigoroth spun into action, throwing feigned attacks and then ducking back to avoid Typhlosion's flaming fangs and then finally hit it with a purple colored glowing slash. The blade hit Typhlosion on the side, sending it careening back as it skid five feet.
"Brick Break!"
Typhlosion caught Vigoroth off guard, slamming its paw into the normal type's gut hard, before following up by using another brick break to block its attack.
"Lava Plume!" Ethan shouted, noticing the bubbling on Typhlosion's back and deciding to use the excess secretion to his advantage.
Typhlosion stared at the pinned down Vigoroth with a gleam in its eyes and roared as lava cascaded out of its back, over it onto Vigoroth, which it released from its grip under the molten rock, jumping back to prepare the next strike.
"Focus Blast!" Ethan instructed.
Typhlosion stood on its hind legs, taking ample time to charge a large rust colored globule of energy the size of a basketball, starting in its mouth and moving just out of it. A beam of the same rust energy fed it from the center of the fire type's open mouth, and the second it was done, the beam dissipated and propelled the sphere forward to collide with and batter Vigoroth.
"Vigoroth! FRS!" Norman shouted, befuddling Ethan as Vigoroth slowly climbed back onto its feet, glaring at Typhlosion. Then all of a sudden, as though it had been sitting on a spring, it sprang forward, slamming its fist into the spot where Typhlosion had been, glowing purple.
Time seemed to slow down and a feral grin crawled onto Vigoroth's face as the glow disappeared and was replaced with a bronze one, and with its other fist and its legs, which were still in motion, it struck Typhlosion hard, and then the fist that had gone behind extended into its claws, began glowing and cut Typhlosion across the back, giving Vigoroth the chance to push off of Typhlosion's chest and jump to safety after dealing a hefty blow to the fire type.
"Solar Beam!" Ethan frowned, wanting to step it up a notch. He waited patiently as did Vigoroth for some odd reason, for the attack to charge up, and then waited until Typhlosion fired it off, hitting Vigoroth dead center.
"Follow up with flamethrower and focus blast!"
This time Vigoroth was moving, but it was dazed from the solar beam's blinding energy and it rushed forward to meet Typhlosion, getting burnt and then hit head on with Focus Blast. The combination of fire, and the massive focus blast sent smoke into the air, contained by the golden barrier, and when it dissipated, Vigoroth was unconscious.
"Set 1, challenger!" Came Brendan's voice as he tabbed it down, doing Winslow's job for the match as he scrawled onto a tablet, the data appearing on a television behind him, set into the wall. "Please select your next Pokemon and call it forward on four. Four."
"Knight." Ethan called out.
The long serpentine Pokemon slithered forward. This would be its first real contest alongside Ethan, and it would most definitely be interesting to see how it turned out.
"Exploud."
"Dragon Pulse!"
"Hyper Voice!"
The two attacks cut right through one another, sound waves bypassing the blue disc pulse and hitting almost immediately. Knight coiled back as the sound hit it, hurting it indirectly. A second later the dragon pulse went straight into Exploud's open mouth, searing it and throwing it back into the golden barriers.
Knight shifted forward, beginning to levitate so as to facilitate easier movement across the field, the same way it flew across forests. The Dragonair was curled up in the air, waiting for a command as it allowed Exploud to regain its bearings.
"Exploud, use uproar!" Norman called out.
Exploud jumped into action right then and there, creating a noise loud enough that the barriers had to contain its effects as the purple Pokemon stood there, leaning forward, low on its legs, its mouth open to its full extent.
"Knight! Extreme Speed and Aqua Tail!" Ethan called out, hands crossed over his chest as the noise finally died down.
Uproar would go on for a good while, but it didn't mean that Exploud was unable to move. Which was where Extreme Speed came in. The Dragonair disappeared from view for a millisecond, then it reappeared in a collision with Exploud which slammed it into the barriers with all the force of a jetliner crashing into it. Capping it off, Knight moved backwards, its tail coating itself in a thick lair of water, which it then slammed into Exploud.
In that instant, the second wave of Uproar sounded. Situated at such as close range, Knight took the brunt of the attack and was sent flying back into the barriers at the other end of the arena. Ethan couldn't hear the noise, but from what he could see he could tell it was loud enough to jar Knight and injure it, without the wall slam, which just made the dragon type dizzy.
"Boomburst!" Norman shouted, and this time Ethan heard a tiny bit of white noise as Knight was slammed flat against the barriers, held in position against them as Exploud let out everything in its lungs.
"Ice Fang and Hammer Arm!"
Norman had turned the tide of the set quickly as Exploud leaped forward, biting into the dragon type's flanks with freezing jaws. Knight cried out in pain as Exploud refused to remove its mouth from around the Dragonair's body, hammerings its fists into its side repeatedly.
"Knight! Dragon Breath, Dragon Tail and Aqua Jet!" Ethan shouted out as Exploud continued its assault.
With an enraged cry, Knight released a stream of blue flames into the normal type's side. In order to react to the pain, Exploud let go of Dragonair. That was its mistake. From there Knight slammed its tail into Exploud, glowing a deep indigo, and threw Exploud into the air, where it shot up itself, coated in water as it collided with Norman's Pokemon, sending it into the golden film protecting the roof.
"Exploud! Ice beam!" Norman shouted as the purple Pokemon plummeted to the ground, not landing on its feet.
In a flash, a beam of icy blue energy crystalizing the air around it shot out at Knight.
"Get out of the way Knight!" Ethan shouted, as Knight barely managed to avoid taking the hit, still getting clipped on its flank by the attack, where ice started to form.
"Match it with your own!" He instructed, tensing slightly as Knight prepared and launched an ice beam, met with, clipping Exploud on the leg and freezing the sound hole on it.
Ethan grinned as he had an epiphany, relaxing.
"Aim for its mouth and the other sound hole on its leg!" He shouted, watching as Norman's eyes widened across the field. The gym leader tried to shout a command but it was too late. Knight had angled the attack towards Exploud's mouth and pinned it to the barrier, where ice solidified and closed off the cavity, then to its leg.
The side effect of closing both its legs was that they were frozen in that position because of the lack of flexibility.
"Exploud! Boomburst!" Norman commanded, crossing his arms.
A second passed and nothing happened.
"Extreme speed!" Ethan shouted out, and the Dragonair struck, coiling back after. The second it moved back, Boomburst shot into the arena, ice exploding from Exploud's mouth and knees and hitting Knight square on.
Somehow Knight had managed to hold its position through the attack, and with cringing eyes, ended the onslaught with a well-placed aqua tail, knocking Exploud out.
"Set two, Challenger! Please engage your remaining Pokemon on the count of four. One, two, four!" Brendan called out.
"Lucario." Ethan called out, watching as the five-foot-tall fighter stepped forward onto the field determinedly, ready to take on the behemoth that was Norman's Slaking. Six foot seven, and probably somewhere around three hundred pounds, its attacks packed quite the punch.
"Lucario, watch out for its attacks. Aura Pulse, Extreme Speed and Bone Rush!" He called out, watching as Lucario executed the attack flawlessly in that exact order. A glowing blue sphere the size of a watermelon slammed into Slaking's gut, pushing it inwards, and then in a flash, Lucario slammed into it as well, hitting the lounging Pokemon hard.
In another second it was a step back and there was a glowing bone of sorts, presumably made of aura, in its paws, with which it hit Slaking four times.
"Chip away!" Norman finally called out, and Slaking raised a single fist and slammed it into Lucario, hitting it hard. As a Riolu, it would have been thrown into the wall, but it's much greater weight, height and of course its steel bones allowed it to bear the attack without moving an inch, even if it hurt just as much.
Slaking had risen to its feet and threw two more punches, one of which struck Lucario on the side, the other missing entirely. Then it just collapsed back onto its side, hand supporting its head as it watched its opponent lazily.
"Lucario, how're you doing? I have no idea about how to gauge your status now that you've evolved."
'I'll be fine. For now, let us focus on the battle. We have to win this set also do we not?' Lucario changed its stance, ready to attack again as it shrugged off the dizziness from the herculean punches.
"Focus Blast!" Ethan instructed, watching as Slaking allowed the attack to charge to the size of an average tire and then hit it, right in the face.
'That thing really doesn't seem so daunting considering it just sits there.' Ethan thought to himself. That was proven wrong the second Focus Blast hit it.
Slaking rose to its feet, using its knuckles to support its weight and leaped at Lucario, slamming into it with a fist before it could blink and sending it crashing into the wall. Ethan realized he was holding his breath as he watched the six-and-a-half-foot tall beast lumber back over to where it had been sitting and collapse once more. So much for not daunting.
"Slaking! Slack off!" Norman called, leaving Ethan perplexed while Lucario rose to its feet, wiping dirt off of its face.
'It's recuperating.' The aura Pokemon pointed out, fixing its eyes on Slaking.
"Then we should to. Drain Punch right now and interrupt it." Ethan instructed, watching as Lucario shot off and slammed a glowing rust colored paw into Slaking, spike and all. Everything seemed to freeze for a second as Slaking actually grimaced, streams of orange energy flowing up Lucario's arm and dissipating into its body as it sucked out the energy Slaking was miraculously recovering.
Lucario took initiative and slammed its other palm into Slaking's abdomen, using Force Palm, and then hitting it with low kick while it was still absorbing energy.
"Finish with reversal!" Ethan called out, cringing as Lucario shifted both its paws, done absorbing energy, and with one swift move, swung Slaking into the air and then the ground on its other side, dashing back to its post near Ethan.
"Slaking! Use Hammer Arm!" Norman called out as Lucario approached to hit it with another attack. The steel type's eyes widened as it tried to move out of the way too late, Slaking's massive fist slamming into Lucario and injuring itself upon Lucario's spikes. Nonetheless, the attack flung Lucario into a barrier, where it slid to the ground, getting to its feet after a second.
Ethan mused for a moment, giving Lucario a second to recover as Slaking made its way back to its old position and collapsed on its side, as it had done so many times.
"Focus Blast, Aura Sphere and Drain Punch."
Ethan tensed once more as Lucario gathered the energy needed for a focus blast, firing off the orange sphere, then immediately after, following a foot behind, a blue one, and leaped forward, shielded by the two attacks. Focus Blast slammed into Slaking's face, and Aura Sphere its lower abdomen, followed by Lucario hitting its chest with Drain Punch and jumping back, getting hit thrice by Chip Away in the process.
Lucario slid to a stop moving backwards on one knee, facing Slaking down after a second, near the barriers on the west side.
"Slaking! Hyper Beam!" Norman called out, pulling a final trick out.
Slaking sat there, its mouth shifting slowly to reveal a toothy grin, through which a white light was visible, before it's jaws opened and it unleased onto the field a blinding white beam of energy, hitting golden spasms of energy all along the borders as it chased Lucario, cornering and hitting it square on right before the attack ran out of energy.
Lucario fell to the ground, lying there for a moment before slowly getting up as Slaking cringed, fixed in position after the attack.
"Follow it with Extreme Speed, Bone Rush and Close Combat!" Ethan instructed, watching Lucario rush across the field and strike, then form a bone in its hands and hit Slaking dead on, five of five times.
Close Combat turned Lucario into a blur, creating waves in Slaking's body with the numerous hits it dealt to put Slaking down, knocking it over onto its back before leaping into the air and firing off an aura sphere at it.
Slaking rose to its feet a few minutes later, facing the panting Lucario at the opposite end of the field, and rushed forward, ready to attack with all its might,
"Lucario! Plan C!" Ethan shouted out, watching as Lucario disappeared for but a second as Slaking lumbered closer.
Slaking was a foot away from Lucario when it suddenly froze, mid charge, and collapsed on the field, Lucario ducking out of its way. The aura Pokemon had charged with extreme speed and unleashed a close combat at the last second, finishing it with a drain punch to siphon energy in case Slaking withstood the attack.
"Slaking is unable to battle! The challenger has in a battle for a seventh badge, defeated Petalburg City Gym Leader Norman Maple to earn the Balance Badge!" Brendan called out as Ethan walked over to Lucario, stepping onto the field.
"You were amazing out there! Get some rest! You deserve it!" Ethan grinned, rubbing Lucario's fur to a silent nod of acknowledgment before recalling his Pokemon.
"Congratulations Ethan. You've done well on your journey, and you've proven me right." Norman shook his hand, placing in it a badge.
"You expected me to win?" Ethan asked, looking down at the badge in his hand. Two dark grey circles with beveled edges were joined by a beveled edged rectangle of the same color, their outward edges tinted purple, each with wide, silver centers.
"The fact that you hopped to another region and started journeying again right after having to leave Johto was a good indicator." Norman greeted. "You earned it. Slaking takes a lot to beat."
"Lucario ought to be proud of what he's done today. I raised him from an egg you know." Ethan remarked as Brendan joined them.
"Well. I can definitely say that you've been taking your journey seriously. No six-badge challenger has beaten dad yet. I mean there've only been four, but still, that's got to count for something, right?" Brendan interjected
"Still, a good job, and you've raised Lucario very well then. What are you up to next might I ask?" Norman remarked.
"Traveling to Mauville City, taking on Watson, then off to Fortree, Mossdeep and Sootopolis."
"Not seeing all of Hoenn while you're here?" Norman raised an eyebrow at his slightly odd route, noting the prominent gyms along the way.
"I have six weeks to do this. Then down to training with a mentor for a while." Ethan explained simply, checking his watch.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Hoenn really is a beautiful place, and if you're traveling by land, Mauville to Fortree is one of the most beautiful and untouched places in Hoenn to go through, quite rich wilderness."
"I look forward to it then. If I may say so Mr. Maple that was a tough battle." Ethan replied, turning to face Brendan.
"Think you have the time to drop by the house, hang out for a while?" Brendan asked, tossing something up and down in his hands.
"Depends on how long it would take to get there, and how long from there to…. Route 103." Ethan asked, checking his watch. It was around ten in the morning.
"So… I've got the car for the day," Brendan began, walking towards the door with him and dangling a key from his forefinger as Norman went about his daily business, "Which means from here to Littleroot where we live," He pointed to the map Ethan had open, "Is about half an hour, then up to route 103… I can get you to the edge of the route, but I can't get you any further, about half an hour again. No routes go through there. If you want to bike there from Littleroot, it's about an hour."
"Why not. I just need to heal my Pokemon and check out of the Pokemon center." Ethan shrugged.
"Being a gym leader has its perks. There's a link to the nearest Pokemon center. We can send your Pokemon from the house and receive them there as well." Brendan explained as they approached the car, a simple silver sedan.
"Meet me outside the Pokemon center." Ethan said, walking down to the building and entering. He made his way to his room as his phone started buzzing randomly.
He pulled it out of his pocket as he walked into the room and gathered his things, frowning as he read the message on the screen.
The Indigo League to remain parallel with its fellow regions has updated trainer ID formats. Please turn in your old ID at your nearest Pokemon center desk for recycling AFTER collecting your new ID from your storage account. Thank you.
Ethan furrowed his brow as he dug out the small silver strip that was his ID and looked at it, wondering why on earth it was deemed necessary to change trainer ID's at this time, in the midst of a war. He made his way to the lone withdrawal and deposit unit in a little cubicle off to the left corner of the building, going up to it and scanning his trainer ID. As far as he knew, there wouldn't be anything apart from the trainer card in it.
He was right. Opening the plain interface, he found one item deposited in the entire system, which he proceeded to withdraw. He turned to the circular pad next to the machine and watched as blue card appeared on it, picking it up. It was the same size and shape as the average credit card, and made out of the same material, a slightly transparent aqua blue radiating from the bottom left corner, a shadow stripe running across the bottom with the word badges in silver, and the six Johto badges he had etched into the same silver. The pattern of the Indigo Crest, in dark blue and silver, partially cut off, dominated the right side, and a cut ribbon of the same blue hue ran across the top, one side bearing his name, the other his ID number, both in silver. The left side, for the most part plain, had a single silvery chip in it, again akin to those in credit cards, and on the other side of the card was a magnetic stripe to match.
"Well, I can't say it doesn't look nice." He muttered to himself as he walked up to the nurses' station.
"Hi, I'm from Indigo, and our trainer cards were just changed, and I was wondering if it's possible for me to hand in my old one for recycling here, or do I need to do that in Indigo?" He asked, holding up the silver tag.
"Here's fine. It's not just Indigo. If I understand correctly, this has been in the process of being finalized for quite a few months now." The nurse smiled, taking the silver piece out of his hand and slipping it into a bin. "Thank you. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Yes, I'd like to check out of my room, Ethan Photon." He handed over his new card, which the man promptly scanned and handed back to him.
"Thank you, sir, and have a good day."
"You too." Ethan smiled briefly as he walked out the door, looked around for the sedan and climbed into the passenger seat, Brendan behind the wheel.
"What took you so long? I thought you were just going to check out of your room." He remarked as he shifted the car into gear, driving off towards the main road to Oldale.
"I was, then I got notice from the Indigo League that we had to pick up new ID's and recycle old ones." Ethan retorted, examining the card in the light before slipping it into the card slot in his phone's cover.
"Well, regardless, how's it been the last few weeks, or however long it's been since we were last in touch?" Brendan turned sharply, Ethan thanking Arceus he had remembered to wear his seatbelt.
"I've been stranded in the Whirl Islands for something around a day, and I've gotten two more badges, and of course I've escaped here." He shrugged, turning towards him. "Yourself?"
"Studying. Working on an application for an internship at Devon. Things along that line." He replied as the car swerved violently to the right.
"Good luck."
"I could say the same. Hoenn's gym leaders are some of the toughest there are. But then again, you just took down my father, so what can I say."
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Four in the afternoon…
Ethan stopped pedaling and folded away his bike staring at the sign in front of him. Route 103 was a foot away, and from what he could see, it wasn't going to be difficult to traverse. For the most part it was made up of tall grass, a few ups and downs, ledges, and surrounded by trees.
A small winged Pokemon, white with a few blue lines and a yellow beak, flew overhead. Ethan scanned it quickly before it rose too high to make sure he knew what it was, identifying it as a common Pokemon known as Wingull, which generally stayed near water. That meant there was a large body of water nearby, at least larger than pond.
He began the simple trek up through the tall grass, keeping his eye out for wild Pokemon. He saw a few that were quickly identified as Poocheyena and Zigzagoon, but simply avoided them, making his way around ledges and all the sort to reach the far end of what was Route 103. At least as far as he could see.
He walked for about seven or eight kilometers, taking a bit under two hours, until he reached wide field with nothing but trees at the north end, and a large lake at the east side. He could see the lake stretching almost as far as he could see, and most likely far beyond it.
Frowning, he set down his pack and sat down. Dewott wasn't strong enough to carry him, and he couldn't swim for kilometers on end. Of his other Pokemon, Dragonair could possibly fly with him, but he was unsure of that. Looking around he saw no discernable way to make it there. Then he noticed the large island sitting smack in the middle of the lake. Situated there was an inn, not too large, with maybe ten to fifteen rooms, and a training ground out back. Ethan frowned. That was the first time he'd ever seen an inn with a training ground.
Thinking off it, he realized he probably had, without registering it in Johto. Checking his watch and realizing it was around five in the evening, he decided that if he could figure out how he was to get there, he would see what the rate was for the night. He could stop, use the training ground and rest. He stared at the gap over the lake and resignedly called out Knight, staring at the dragon type. The twelve-foot-long serpentine Pokemon pressed its head against him lightly, making as sort of cooing noise before pulling back.
"So… Do you think you can fly me to that island over there Knight?" Ethan asked, gritting his teeth.
The Dragonair turned its head to follow his hand and stared at the inn, and its dock, glancing over at the edge of the water for a minute before slowly nodding.
"Great. Let's do that then, if it's possible, because otherwise we're not going to get anywhere." Ethan sighed, staring at Dragonair. It may have been long, but he doubted he would fit on it.
Knight seemed to have realized the same problem existed, and started cooing again trying to attract Ethan's attention.
"I know… I can't fly on you, and you need your tail free, so I can't be carried by you," Ethan sighed, finally looking at where the Dragonair was pointing.
Moored at the edge of the docks were two motorboats, one silver and one blue.
"That's brilliant! Can you go get someone from there?" Ethan asked, smiling.
Without a reply, Knight rose into the air and shot off towards the island, high in the clouds, arcing through the sky gracefully. A few seconds later it dove down and approached the inn, slithering to the main door and knocking its head on it.
Ethan turned to the sky for a moment, marveling at how it seemed to be nowhere near dark yet, even though he knew it would set around seven thirty.
His head snapped down at the sound of a motorboat starting up, Knight well on its way back to him.
"Good boy." Ethan smiled, scratching its head as he recalled it, flagging down the person in the motorboat.
The vehicle made a sharp turn, 'The Island Inn' glittering on its side in the sunlight as it moved towards him. Standing at the prow was a slim young, woman wearing an orange sundress. It took a few minutes, but the boat finally reached him, slowing to a stop about five feet away from the banks.
"Hop on." The woman smiled, fixing her long brown hair as she waited for him.
Staring at the vessel for a second, Ethan tossed his bag onboard, moving back to take a running start. He went as fast as he could, jumping forward at the very last second. He landed inside the boat without an inch to spare. Had he been even a little bit slower, his foot would have caught on the edge and he would have fell face first onto the floor. As it was, he landed on one knee, instinctively turning both ways before standing up.
"Headed for the inn?" The girl asked, smiling at him as she meticulously filed away at her nails with a small silver file, sitting on the dashboard.
"Yes please." Ethan replied, uncertain what to make of her.
"Be careful." She warned, getting off and turning the boat around, before gunning the throttle.
'I get the feeling she isn't an employee.' Ethan thought to himself as he stumbled, holding on to his bag and the edges of the ship tight. The sleek boat cut through the waters like a knife through warm butter, creating a narrow stream of ripples behind it as it neared the inn.
"Don't have any water Pokemon?" the girl shouted over the roar of the propeller.
"Not any large enough to carry me!" Ethan shouted back, heaving a sigh of relief as they slowed down, circling for a moment to cut speed before docking on one side of the small wooden jetty leading up to the main door of the island.
The building in front of him was large for a house, relatively small for an inn. It was a three-story squarish building with a door in the center, a porch, and three windows on each floor above, in line with the door and the ground floor windows, through which he could see a lounge.
He disembarked, hefting his bag back onto his back and walked up to the doors, opening them and holding them open for the girl.
"Why thank you." She smiled mischievously, raising the edges of her sundress ever so slightly as though she were curtsying, and tipped slightly lower a sunhat to match her dress which Ethan had no idea where she had procured.
Ethan walked into the reception area, past two feet of bookshelves which made a sort of corridor at the entrance. To his right was a counter with one woman behind it, to his left was a reading area, and in front of him to the right was a lounge with a fire place, to the left two square tables capable of seating eight people each. Further down were the stairs and two large rooms, and an exit to the back.
He walked to the counter as the girl in the sundress rejoined a small group of three sitting in near the fireplace.
"Room for one?" The woman asked with a smile, opening a register.
"How much is it for one night?" Ethan asked hesitantly. The woman glanced down towards his belt and then gave him a kindly smile.
"For trainers it's about thirty to fifty dollars a night. I'll need to see your ID please." The woman replied.
Ethan handed his card over, a bit perplexed at why the price was so low. Just as he opened his mouth to ask, he got his answer. Hanging behind the woman was a placard.
The Island Inn – A Traveler's Hearth Hotel
Traveler's Hearth hotels are funded privately to charge low rates to trainers with five or more gym badges to provide a luxury they have earned at an easily affordable cost. Please refer to management for rates. Meals included, access to all utilities included.
"You've come a long way Mr. Photon. Your fare will be thirty-five dollars a night. Will you take it?"
"Yes please." Ethan smiled, recognizing the name of the chain even if he had never stayed in one of their hotels before. Traveler's Hearth was well known outside of trainer circles as well.
Ethan checked his watch once more. Five thirty in the afternoon. Taking the key from the woman, he walked up the two flights of stairs to his room and set his bags downs, freshening up and walking downstairs to examine the place. He found outside a tennis court and a pool, and beyond that a training or battle area, which seemed fitting now. He pulled his Pokemon off of his belt and released them all together.
"So guys… we beat Mr. Maple! We've got another badge, a foreign one now, to our names! So… I've a feeling that our battle for number eight will be much harder. So we should train. Get back into the groove of things properly, prepare for our next battle and whatnot. I have something to work on for each of you except for Specter – I'll explain that in a moment – so let's get to work, and then we can relax afterwards." Ethan clapped his hands together.
"Typhlosion. Keep working on eruption. Simple. Scizor… We're going to be working on some more steel type oriented moves like Metal Claw and Bullet Punch. Lucario, dragon pulse, and Dewott, we've got aqua tail. Knight, you'll help with the last two, then I've got a TM for thunderbolt for you. Spread out and I'll come by and start you off." Ethan instructed, waiting for the others to go before speaking to Specter.
"So I do have a move I want you to learn, but for you to learn it you need a target Pokemon. And it's also a tricky one to learn. So we'll start when that when we're with Steven. I haven't found anything else yet, but I am looking. We can't spend six weeks doing nothing. So just practice everything else for now." Ethan nodded at it quickly and walked off to Scizor, Typhlosion already aware of what it was to do.
"Okay. So let's start with Bullet Punch. Essentially, it's steel type contact force, and a ridiculously fast punch. You can do that latter. Let's try and work on the former. Your method of evolution ought to help us ought. I also forgot to ask, how you're feeling in your new form after evolution. It's a big change. If you have anything at all you need to say to me, find Lucario and get help with that. On that note, do you have any trouble? A nod or a shake will suffice." Ethan asked.
Scizor shook its head quickly, performing a series of rapid movements in a more fluid manner than it could have before and cutting a rock into four pieces with x-scissor before he could process what happened.
"Great. Now let's work on nailing steel type moves so we can open up a new arsenal. Really there's not much I can say about this one." Ethan shrugged, walking off as Scizor set itself into a fighting stance. Its body really was much more fluid than before, where it had a fixed stance most of the time. It was crouching slightly, its abdomen back, its upper back following a bit, fists raised like a boxer as it started working.
"Okay… Lucario, so Dragon Pulse will use…. Dragon type contact force! I really didn't know that," Ethan quipped for his own amusement, turning towards the Dragonair next to the aura Pokemon. "Knight here can help with this."
"Dewott… Aqua tail shouldn't be too hard." Ethan began. As if to back up his point, Dewott turned around in agreement, its tail already coated in water. "Well then… I guess it's effectively using it with your body shape and the length of your tail we have to work on. You're stronger than you look. We ought to get someone to check up on you in terms of evolutionary progress. How about we get started?"
Ethan stepped back and watched his newest Pokemon take to attacking a boulder with its water coated/elongated tail to damage it. He was right. Dewott would need a good bit of practice before Aqua Tail could be used effectively. He glanced around the field at his other Pokemon, watching Typhlosion blow lava out violently as it tried to get the consistency and… explosiveness of the attack right.
Looking at the faded white outlines of the area, he decided he ought to get some exercise in as well.
"I'll be right back guys! Keep at it!" Ethan shouted across the field, running inside and changing into clothes he could run in. Once he was back on the field, he started his laps, occasionally slowing down near a specific Pokemon to better observe its progress.
Scizor wasn't having too much difficulty with Bullet Punch. He theorized that the metal coat evolution served to accelerate progress with steel type contact force. From there he went to Lucario, who had made little to no progress whatsoever, but was patiently trying, and then to Specter, who was sparring with Knight, something it seemed like it was beginning to regret from its expression. Knight wasn't too bothered by the majority of the ghost and dark type attacks, even if they did hurt, and was putting up a good fight back, occasionally stopping the battle whenever Lucario needed help. Dewott was doing exactly the same thing. Practicing and experimenting.
Ethan stopped after running what he estimated was about twelve kilometers, having taken two hours with breaks to talk to or keep up with his Pokemon. Then he noticed the girl in the sundress sitting on a deck chair by the pool, watching him, some of her friends with her. Standing by her side was a young man about her age with light brown hair wearing a blood red crew neck and black jeans, watching him and his Pokemon. To her other side was a shorter blonde girl, reading a book.
Ethan checked his watch and recalled his Pokemon one by one after speaking to them a bit about their progress, before walking over to the group by the poolside.
"Anything interesting?" He asked nonchalantly, picking up the small bag he had brought down earlier and rifling about in it.
"You're a pretty strong trainer kid. What's your name?" The guy in red asked.
"Ethan Photon, New Bark Town, Johto Region." Ethan rattled off, setting the bag down and shaking the outstretched hand.
"Liam Maxwell. Slateport City, right here in Hoenn. You've come a long way kid." Liam introduced himself. "How many badges do you have?"
"Six in Johto, and Petalburg as my seventh after I left because of the war." Ethan replied, pulling his swimming clothes out of his bag, ducking into a stall and changing. Without another word he dove into the pool, swimming as fast as he could (which wasn't particularly fast) from end to end. He stopped after a few laps, staying at the pool's edge for a moment where the girl introduced herself.
"Aliana Reynolds." She said to him, giving him the same mischievous smile as earlier. "Nice to meet you."
"I'll say the same." Ethan replied.
Suddenly the girl reading her book looked up. "How many badges do you think we have?"
Ethan stared at her for a moment before his eyes shifted to Liam, spotting something of interest clipped to his belt.
"You're all Ace trainers. Rank Three's." Ethan replied, crossing his arms.
"Well I'll be damned. You're right." The girl replied. "Alice Madison."
"How old are you? And how long have you been a trainer for?" All off a sudden another voice joined the medley, coming from near the door where the last member of the group, a sandy haired, thin man was standing, the sleeves on his green shirt rolled up to the elbows.
Ethan frowned for a second, trying to remember what month it was. Determining it to be November, he replied: "Almost eighteen. It's November. I've been journeying since maybe June or July?"
"Not bad at all." The guy explained, extending a hand as he ventured towards them. "Rick Christensen. Nice to meet you Ethan."
"You seem like an interesting kid. How about we sit down for dinner tonight, the lot of us, at around… Eight?" Rick proposed, crossing his arms and leaning forward against the back of a chair.
"I'll be there." Ethan replied, facing them and diving backwards into the pool to continue his laps. He spent some more time in the pool, clearing his head as slowly the others went inside, waiting until he was alone to exit and make his way back up to his room.
Ethan sat down in his room after showering, staring at the small fire burning in the fireplace to kill fifteen minutes before going downstairs.
'Victoria… I wonder how she's doing…' Ethan stopped thinking for a moment as her image became fixated in his head, until he realized and tried to empty his head, watching the fire burn without a thought for a few more minutes before he headed downstairs to go sit at one of the two tables, where Alice and Rick were already seated. Liam walked up after a minute from behind him and sat down as well, as did Aliana.
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The next morning….
Ethan walked up to the edge of the water with the four ace trainers, waiting to see what they would do.
Liam raised a hand and Ethan could have sworn he heard Seven Nation Army coming from somewhere as the water in front of them started to churn. Each of them had their backs to him and their arms crossed as their Pokemon seemed to arrive. Right in front of Rick, a massive Gyarados broke the surface of the water and leaped out, coming back down with a splash and settling at his height.
In front of Liam the water settled down as a mean looking Blastoise appeared at surface level. Alice was approached by a massive Mandibuzz from above. An Empoleon appeared near Aliana, just as a roaring Salamence flew down to Rick.
"Salamence, can you take Ethan to the other side with us?" Rick asked as the background music stopped, something Ethan determined was coming from Liam's pocket.
The dragon type nuzzled her before bending low as it came near Ethan, allowing the Johtan to mount it as the others took their places atop their Pokemon. Without a word of warning Salamence took to the air, rising rapidly as Ethan held on tight, watching the others progress across the lake until after a few minutes, they reached the other side.
Salamence set the shaking trainer down on the wide dirt path which for the most part made up the east side of Route 103. There was some grass on either side, not tall, and a few more trees on the left than the right, but otherwise it was just a plain and simple route with a couple of people visible milling about further down.
Rick approached him, recalling his Gyarados as the others dealt with their Pokemon, swapping them out for flyers.
"Keep in touch kid." He said, mounting Salamence and joining the others in the sky.
Ethan waited a minute or two to relax slightly before he pulled his bag slightly higher on his shoulder and faced the route. Here he was again, traveling. With a grin he set off. It was good to be back on the road.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Some characters who are introduced may be simply to give Ethan Human Interaction. Some may not. Hope everyone had a good holiday season, whatever they may be for you. Feel free to review! Spironax