Chapter 27: The Drakes
A/N: Enjoy, R&R, and full steam ahead! Alfa19
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I whipped the wooden staff around, blocking the incoming blow. Using my weight, I twisted the locked staves around and wrenched Akari's staff out of her hands and into the air. Reaching out, I tried to grab it with one hand unsuccessfully, almost losing my balance.
"Nice try, but that won't get you far." The red-haired girl had caught her staff again and was ready to spar once more.
The first night, Lance had asked if I had any success acquiring a staff, and I'd mentioned that mine had been shorn in two back in Mahogany Town. Akari had immediately piped up, volunteering to train me with few different plain staves so that we could also work out what kind of balance worked best for me.
The result was that I had spent the last two mornings, for a good three hours each, out in one of the courtyards with her, sparring with staves. The first few had been frankly embarrassing. Lance had a keen eye, and a good deal of the movement and balance came naturally to me, but I didn't have a whole lot of ideas about how to use it. There had been multiple instances where I would try to initiate with the first move, and I would wind up on my back, lying on the floor while Akari tutted. She was just a little bit vindictive, like her cousin Clair.
"Alright. You've learned some stuff, you haven't been completely useless for the last few days, so show me what you've got!" She tapped her staff against the bricks and pointed one end at me, taking a defensive stance as I readied myself.
Keeping an eye on her wrists, I adjusted my grip before striking with the right and swiveling to the left immediately after. Akari caught both blows on her staff, pushing back as I leaned down and brought my staff out under hers, catching it and trying to wrench it out of her arms upwards like I had the previous time.
To my surprise, this time she spun it over, putting me in a precarious position. I used the full extent of my weight to push down rather than let her spring the staff from my hands. Finding little ground as she continued to make subtle adjustments, I let go and stepped back, slightly satisfied as the force she had been putting into defending made her stumble a bit without my pushback.
Diving forward again I pushed back with my staff, only for Akari to catch the blow and twist my weapon until my hands were on over the other and she was almost up against me, holding her staff under my chin.
"Not. Bad." She smiled, looking up at me for a moment longer before stepping away. Her eyes were alight with something I couldn't quite place as she crossed her arms and set the staff aside in the rack of weapons wheeled out to the courtyard. "I think you've got the hang of this."
"Thanks." I stepped back, a bit uncertain about how to react to her look. Not knowing what else to do, I put the staff I had been using back in the rack after wiping it down quickly with a rag.
"I'm going to go to the armory. You're welcome to come with me if you want." She had turned around and was about to walk away, but had stopped and turned to look over her shoulder, standing on one heel, with one foot arched so she was standing on her toes.
"I think I'm supposed to go meet Lance, so I'll just run and shower. Thanks though." I replied, waving briefly before heading in the opposite direction.
I headed over to my room and quickly made my way to one of the bathrooms with a set of clean clothes. Once I was done with the shower, I went back to my room and checked my watch. I still had some time before Lance was coming back. I was going to spend one last night with the Blackthorn Clan before heading south and making my way back to New Bark Town.
Oh, New Bark Town. The last time I was there had been bitter. It was the day I had to part ways with a friend, and the day we had to flee Johto. This time would be better. My mother was at home, with Lily, and everything was settled in again, this time with some fortifications to the house for emergency situations.
Checking my watch again, I thought for a second to figure out the time in Hoenn before picking up my phone and dialing an internet call to Blake. I put my headphones in and held my phone in front of me, waiting for her to pick up. A moment later her face filled the screen, to the background of Steven's kitchen.
"Ethan! Hi! We're all just having coffee and working out some of the last details for the wedding! When are you coming again?" She fiddled with her headphones on the other side of the line.
"I think I should arrive sometime in the last week of March. I should set out with Drake in a little bit over a month." I replied, smiling as she twirled a strand of her hair. One of the nice things about staying a few days in Blackthorn had been the internet access and the ability to talk to her regularly, especially after a few days in the caves. Aboard Drake's ship we had communications frequently enough, helped along by the fact that almost all of the ship's communication was to Hoenn, so it was easy to tag on a call going over satellite with the rest of the constant transmissions.
"That's great!" She turned the phone towards the rest of the occupants of the lounge, showing me Steven, Clara and Victoria all poring over a seating chart with some desert scattered around the tables. "Everyone, say hi! Ethan's calling!"
A few scattered greetings and waves made their way over the line as I smiled back, happy to see them all after a while.
"So where are you off to next? You're leaving Blackthorn, tomorrow right?" Blake asked, flipping the camera back to herself and walking out of the lounge.
"A few days to get through the Dark Cave system, which should be better than the Ice Path because at least I won't freeze to death there, and then a short, two-day trip over to New Bark Town down the mountainside. Full circle, all the way back home." I replied, grinning at the thought.
"That sounds like it should be fun! I can't wait to come over to Johto for the Conference! When you get here, we have space in Steven's box to watch the final rounds of the Ever-Grand Conference."
"Oh, that sounds like it'll be great!" I smiled, thinking about all the experience it would be. I had been to see one conference live in Johto, but the Ever-Grand Conference would be honestly exotic for me. I had a decent exposure to Hoenn's Pokemon now, but there was so much I didn't know. "How have you been doing?"
"Oh, you know, it's just been busy helping Clara get everything ready. When your sister's the bride, there's no end to the work you're doing." Blake sighed. "I've been wrapping up some of my final projects with Aerospace Hoenn, and I'm reaching out to design teams out in Indigo to see what's going on there. I've had some positive response from the Silph Co. Aerodynamics Unit, and I'm trying to find a time to schedule a call with someone from this independent team out in Olivine City, but it's been a little bit tricky."
"Silph Co. sounds like it could be a good possibility, and you know they've got the resources for you to actually pursue things properly. Honestly, I have no clue what my future looks like right now, so don't worry about where you need to be. I may just be traveling kind of aimlessly for a while. I've been having some talks with Lance about what I'm planning on doing after the conference, and it all kind of depends on what happens there I think."
"Oh? Well, okay. I don't mind taking some time off of working either. I've got a decent amount saved up from work here, and I wouldn't mind just journeying with you either." I smiled wide as Blake replied. "I've missed you, and I wouldn't mind the time to just be together. Where are you thinking of going?"
"I kind of want to go to Unova for a bit. Drop by my sister's place and see here, and there's someone I want to try and find there; Lance told me I should try and find the man who was my dad's mentor out there, a retired ace trainer."
"That sounds like fun. I've always wanted to go to Unova properly." Blake looked back at the lounge with an exasperated sigh. "Ugh, I've got to go, but leave me a message before you go back into the caves, alright?"
"Alright. Miss you." I smiled as Blake blew a kiss at the screen and cut the call.
I took a deep breath and walked out of the room, heading over to one of the smaller studies where Lance had taken up residence as he worked his way through League Paperwork. I approached the heavy, dark oak door and knocked on it thrice, waiting to see what Lance would say.
"Come in." A muffled voice came from the other side of the door along with the sound of rustling of papers.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind me. The room was small, not meant to be a proper library of any kind, but it contained troves of knowledge. I entered in the left corner of the room, opposite me was a small window embedded in a bookshelf-wall, much like the others in the room. Tomes and texts of various ages and origins occupied the shelves, coloring the dark wood paneling. I stepped forward to see Lance's desk to my right, in front of the only wall void of bookshelves. An old tapestry, handwoven within the clan I was told, decorated the wall behind him. The bookshelves to his left (my right) along the wall with the door, were filled to the brim with stacks of paper, binders, reports, and documents of all sorts.
Lance sat at his desk, one hand in hair and a pen in the other as he tossed a report mindlessly to the side of his desk. My eyes widened when I looked over to see a Pokemon sitting there. A little bit over four feet tall, the quadruped's blue body was mostly covered in black fur with occasional fuchsia markings. The more surprising thing, however were its two heads. Both extended from necks where I expected the one head to have been, and equally surprising was that both were almost entirely covered in the same black fur. Everything except for their mouths were covered.
"Ethan, this is Max. He's a Zweilous from the Unova region." Lance smiled as he saw my confused stare at the dragon. "Zweilous's evolutionary line develops an extra head each time it evolves, so it'll end up with a third one at some point.
"How does it see?" I asked, sitting down in a plush chair opposite Lance. The curious dragon's two heads were snapping at each other as they tangled for the haphazardly tossed pile of paper on the floor in front of it.
"Honestly, it's eyesight is terrible. It gets better as it grows up, and its eyes aren't covered when it evolves. It makes do by trying to reconcile what both heads can make out. They're completely independent of each other at this stage though, which makes the job a little bit tricky."
"Is it… eating paper?" I was honestly unsure with the vigor it was snapping at the sheets with.
"Zweilous eat a lot, and eat a lot of things, but not paper. While their fighting gets in the way of its intelligence, Max isn't that stupid. Though he can be pretty dumb at times." Lance amended, scratching his head. "He was brighter as a Deino. They tend to like biting just as much as eating, and it's a lot harder to recover documents that Max has chewed up compared to shredded things. It works out for both of us."
"I see." I looked at the Pokemon with a smile. Its goofiness was kind of endearing. Its two heads were preoccupied with each other.
"Max, behave!" Both heads turned to look at Lance, calming down as he chastised them. The older man took two treats out of his desk drawer, tossing one two each side of it as it happily turned back to the papers.
"At least that's taken care of." Lance sighed, leaning back in his chair and setting down the pen he had been holding. "I told you we would talk after your battle with Clair, and I have to admit, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out."
"Thank you." I stopped for a second before asking hesitantly. "Why did she seem miffed that I beat her? Isn't it kind of her job as a gym leader to give out the Rising Badge?"
"Clair's always been stubborn, and a sore loser. She's usually better about it. She does take pride in running the most feared gym in the region." Lance laced her fingers together as he spoke, looking at me. "It's probably my fault honestly. Clair and I grew up together, and she achieved amazing things, but she was always a little bit sore that I kept going further. I don't think she wanted to be champion, but she did things like shape her battling style around trying to defeat me along different stages of her journey, and it's influenced the way she reacts to things."
"It's part of the reason her battling is so ferocious and widely feared. She did an amazing job of it, and aside from Blue, she is the best placed Gym Leader to take on any of the Elite Four." He admitted, leaning backwards. "Of the team that you fought, Lexi and Tari would be on her main roster in fight to wits ends. Haxorus is a new addition, so I don't know how she'd judge that. Her oldest Dragonair, Sappho, wasn't in that fight. Her Gyarados, well I think she underestimated you there. It's something that's fueled her going forward, but it's also held her back. Sappho and her other Dragonair don't mind that they aren't evolving, but they would benefit from it."
"Does it stem from the infamous fact that you had three Dragonite in your championship winning team?" I asked wryly, looking at the man.
"Probably." Lance admitted, sighing. "I probably miffed her off by mentioning you in the first place. She most likely took a little bit of personal offence to having lost because of that. It looks like grandfather has talked some sense into her, but still."
"Ah."
"Moving on. Mahogany Town." Lance pulled a dossier from his shelf and placed it on the table. it was as thick as a physics textbook and it looked almost as menacing as one. "This is what it resulted in."
"Oh."
"I have to admit, your actions were somewhat justified, and had you not gotten in, Team Rocket might have gotten away with more." Lance sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're strong, and you have sense. Serving on Drake's ship seems to have taught you a few lessons. But if you're going to get into these situations, you need to recognize what you're doing. Nicholas did what he did to protect you all. He wouldn't have put himself in harm's way needlessly. Keep that in mind."
I sat silently as Lance flipped through the dossier for a minute before putting it to the side.
"That said, you're building up quite a bit of reputability in certain circles." Lance looked up at me, meeting my eye. "Your name is redacted from all public documents of course, but at this stage, I'd be very surprised if somebody from the corps wasn't keeping an eye on your progress."
"That's… both unsettling and flattering." I shifted in my seat, waiting for Lance to continue.
"Quite bluntly, the combination of your involvement with the Mahogany cases and your service under Drake will help you land a position with the corps after the Silver Conference if you still want to go that way." Lance pulled a paper from a loose stack in his in tray, looking over it before tossing it to Max. "That was their report to me about you."
Taking a breath, I decided to bite the bullet. "What about the league. How far do I have to go before I qualify to be considered for a trainee spot?"
Looking at me quizzically, Lance stopped. A few moments passed as he simply looked at me, taking in my expression.
"If you want an honest answer, I can't say. You haven't even participated in a conference yet. Yes, you trained with Steven, yes you have ten badges, effectively, but there's a lot more to be seen. I did tell you we could talk about it if you beat Clair, and I honestly have to tell you that the answer is I don't know. Our attention has been focused on Team Rocket of late, and trainees have been the last thing on our mind." He gave me a hard look with an indecipherable expression on his face. "I would put it out of your mind and focus on continuing your journey for now. It'll get you further to focus on what's in sight right now."
"I understand." The knot in my chest didn't quite break down entirely, accompanied by a slight sinking feeling. "Do you have any recommendations for something to do after the conference while I figure things out?"
"Kanto is an interesting region to travel if you haven't seen much of it before, and I would recommend taking a little bit of time to unwind after everything from the last few months. No doubt the buildup to the Silver Conference will be intense." Lance leaned back in his chair, looking at me wearily.
"I imagine it will be." I looked at Lance carefully for a moment before speaking up again. "What happened with the Kaloasian forces?"
Lance's expression immediately turned grim. Furrowing his brow, he sat forward, placing both elbows on his desk with his fingers laced. Even Max seemed to sense it. The dragon's left head turned away from the paper to butt against Lance's leg. Absentmindedly, the dragon master put one hand down to scratch the young Pokémon's head and neck.
"There was the attack on Olivine. They wreaked havoc across the harbor, but I made it there in time with Bruno and some of our own forces to fight them back to sea. They didn't seem to be helmed by anyone we recognized. There were raids along other coastal regions. Cianwood took a hit, but Will got there in time to help Chuck get them out with support from the corps."
"Vermillion got attacked, but Karen, Koga and Lieutenant Surge took care of it and drove them out to sea. That was our whole target, to get them out of reach and get backup in to fend them off. Lorelei lent her support to the effort. After a few weeks of fighting offshore, the retreated. We sunk a few of their ships, and they got one of ours."
"This isn't over is it?" I put my head in my hands momentarily as Lance sighed, looking over at a row of dossiers in his shelf.
"Likely not. It doesn't look like there'll be another attack soon, but we've increased patrols around the ocean borders. One of their Elite Four, a man named Siebold, is a water type specialist. He's known for being a high socialite, but my guess is he also runs their navy, making it a force to be reckoned with. Hoenn sent us some fighters to back up our efforts, but they've returned now."
"What about the skies?" I asked, looking at him carefully.
"Some of the more experienced members of the clan are watching them, along with the corps and the league." Lance shook his head. "We managed to repair the damage they dealt, as I'm sure you saw in Olivine. The reconstruction has been a major part of deterring future attacks. Jasmine, Chuck, Surge, Brock, Sabrina and Blue spearheaded the effort, returning everything to normal as fast as they could. They steered clear of Cinnibar interestingly enough, and I don't blame them with Blaine there. New Bark Town should look normal when you get there."
"Oh, okay."
"I'm heading out in a few hours, but I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay with the family. You're always welcome here."
"Thank you, Lance. It's been great." I rose and nodded politely, letting the champion get back to his paperwork as I left.
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January 21st, 2016…
I stood near the entrance to the gatehouse on the inside of the manor, next to Eliza and Roku. Off in the distance, I caught a glimpse of Akari. The red-haired girl looked our way once before turning and walking down another corridor, disappearing from view.
"Thank you for your hospitality. It's been an amazing visit to Blackthorn thanks to you all." I bowed respectfully to the Elder, and nodded in turn to Eliza.
"Ah, but it has been our pleasure to host you. You are always welcome here." Roku smiled, patting me on the shoulder. "If you would wait a moment, I will be right back."
"Of course." I turned towards Eliza as the old man headed off down a corridor, enjoying the morning sun and the cold breeze. To my surprise, Clair walked up from the other side. Dressed in her trademark blue dress, she had her hair done up and her cloak open at the front. How she wasn't freezing, I had no idea. The gym leader hadn't engaged me much while I had been around, but she had been present more around the complex since the day after the Dragon's Den, simply around with the clan at dinner, or in other parts of the manor.
"I heard about your talk with Lance kid." She looked at me with a smirk as the knot in my chest tightened. I refrained from saying anything as she crossed her arms. "Train like hell, show up at the Silver Conference, and beat everyone into the ground. Show them what you're made off, and why you deserve it. Not just that you want it. That's not enough." She gave me a cool, collected look before nodding at me.
"Oh. Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." My surprise was probably visible on my face, judging by Clair's smirk. I hadn't expected to get advice from the Blackthorn Gym Leader, even if she had calmed down.
"Eliza, when you're done here, go straighten Akari out. She's annoying everyone." With that instruction to her younger cousin, Clair headed off, the clacking of her heels audible on the ground.
"What's up with Akari?" I looked at Eliza with a raised eyebrow.
"You haven't noticed?" She returned the look, almost incredulous.
"I mean she's been quieter than usual, but how does that annoy people?"
"Oh, you sweet summer child." Eliza tutted, crossing her arms. "She thought you were single, then she saw you on the phone with your girlfriend, and now she's miffed. She's a bit like Clair, used to getting her way."
"How did she-?"
"You left your door open." Eliza cut me off simply, nodding in the direction of her grandfather, who was approaching again.
"Ethan, here. This is a gift from us to you." The elder handed me a tough, dark staff made of dense, dark oak with leather grips space just where I had liked them when training.
"Thank you so much Elder. I can't even begin to say how much I appreciate this." I examined the staff, feeling the well-balanced weapon in my hands and turning it over. The ends had small rings protruding from them, formed out of small, fallen dragon scales.
The Elder simply smiled as I readied my pack and we stepped through the gatehouse and into the path to the main wall.
"Elder, I've been meaning to ask, but who are these? Are they some of the previous Drakes?" I gestured towards the ten statues on each side of us as we walked out into the open air once more.
The old man's eyes lit up with pride as he looked over the statues, giving each one a momentary glance.
"You would be correct. These are the statues of then Great Drakes, and their partners." Roku smiled, stopping as we walked along the path. "Each of them holds a special place in the history of the Blackthorn Clan.
"Drake Haruki." He gestured at the statue closest to the door, of a tall man with strong a face resembling Clair's, and then to the statue of a Dragonite across it. "And his partner Dragonite. The first Drake of the clan. They established the structure of our people and helped them flourish."
"Drake Akio, and his Dragonite partner Hikaru, who ventured into the mountains and carved out a place for us, founding Blackthorn City."
"Drake Himari and her partner Kingdra Maia, who built the Dragon's Den and swore our clan's loyalty to the dragons. It was her work that built the Blackthorn Estate."
"Drake Hiroshi and his partner Kingdra Senna, who conquered much of Old Johto, ruling over everything except Ecruteak for many decades."
"Drake Hiroto, the one said to have been blessed by the sky dragon himself, and his Dragonite partner Lena."
"Drake Aoi and her Dragonite partner Ren, who defended Blackthorn in the first old war, that which tore apart Johto and reshaped the landscape."
"Drake Akari and her Dragonite partner Regal. They represented Johto in unifying under the Indigo League in 1400."
"Drake Isao, who with his Kingdra partner Aecor, who together rose to prominence as the second champions of the Indigo League."
"Drake Franco and his Kingdra partner Rede, who together traveled the globe in his youth to gather knowledge on not just the dragons of Indigo and Hoenn, but those from all around the world."
"Drake Santo and his Dragonite Partner Louis, who singlehandedly crushed the invading forces from Mahogany Town when they tried to harness ice to defeat Blackthorn. He flew out over the wall, and with his family of dragons wiped out the entire invasion."
We had reached the end of the walk of statues, progressing slowly while Roku talked. I looked back at the line of humans and Pokemon in awe, the awe-inspiring deeds incapable of understatement.
"Thank you for the lesson Drake Roku." I looked down the line at the statues again with a careful eye. "Clair looks quite like the first Drake. And Lance like Drake Hiroto."
"An astute observation Ethan. The Clan considered it auspicious throughout their childhoods how much resemblance they bore to the ten, marking them as destined for greatness. Yet it was something we tried to be careful off, that we had not one but two children who seemed to be blessed by the two greatest of the ten. It seems even that it progressed as we expected. Seeming a reincarnation of Drake Hiroto, blessed by the Sky Dragon, is no small thing for Lance."
"Understandably so." I bowed my head as the elder stopped walking, looking back at him. "Thank you once again for all your hospitality Elder."
"You will always be welcome here. May the dragons watch over you on your journey." The Elder waved politely as I nodded and headed down the path and out of the main gates, stopping to watch them close behind me before I continued on.
I walked out the south of town after a quick stop at the Pokemon center to reorganize the group of Pokemon I had with me. Going inside, I quickly logged onto the PC and opened the map in more detail, looking to see what the routes ahead looked like. It seemed like I had the choice between going through the Dark Cave and almost entirely bypassing Route 45, or traveling down the open valley until I reached Route 46, where they converged.
Quickly making up mind I organized my belongings and my team and walked back out of the building, making for the south exit of the city. It didn't take long to the town border with my belongings in my pack (including the egg in its new container) and my staff in hand.
The valley wasn't particularly wide, but it flourished with life in the space that it had. On either side of me, I could see the mountain walls rising up around the grassy landscape, with the stunning blue of a small river cutting through it running south. The terrain generally seemed to be sloping downwards slightly, descending from the higher altitude of Blackthorn. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text and a picture to Blake before starting down the path on foot.
Within a few minutes I had reached the entrance to the Dark Cave. I took one last look at the valley ahead of me before stepping inside the cave. It was time for two days of travel and training in the Dark Cave.
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Two days later…
"Hey Typhlosion, looks like we're almost at the exit of the cave!" I shone my flashlight down the narrow passage, watching the beam trace a path to the outside of the Cavern.
The fire type Pokemon growled and scampered over the pile of rocks in front of us, heading out to the path ahead. I put the base of the flashlight in my teeth and used both hands to support myself as I clambered over the pile of rocks to get to the exit. A few dozen feet later I emerged into the night sky with Typhlosion. The stars were shining bright in the sky out in the backwoods of Johto, and the full moon made it easy to see the… tree line?
"This isn't Route 46." I looked around confusedly as Typhlosion took stock of the surroundings. This wasn't anywhere I recognized from our travels in Johto, but the landscape was generally familiar.
"Let's keep going. I think I see a gatehouse over that way." I pointed down the road to my left, following the bend in the wide path. At least we weren't somewhere completely off the beaten path.
It took around half an hour for Typhlosion and I to walk down the road in peace to the gatehouse, stepping into the warmth and light quickly. The clock on the wall read ten at night, and the TV display running behind it was running The Goldenrod Late Show, giving me no information about where I was. Sitting behind the information desk was a guard in a blue uniform, reading a magazine during the relative inactivity of the night.
"Hi, excuse me. I think I got a little lost on my way through the Dark Cave. Where am I?" I stood by the desk with a polite smile on my face as Typhlosion stood on its rear legs, trying to look polite.
"Oh wow. You came here from the Dark Cave? Nobody does that!" The guard looked over at me with surprise, putting his magazine down. "You're at the Violet City Gatehouse. You just came in from Route 31."
"Oh. I took a wrong turn inside the cave didn't I." I scratched my head and turned towards Typhlosion. "Looked like we messed up a bit pal."
"There's a rest area with sleeper chairs upstairs if you don't want to go into the city tonight." The guard offered helpfully, gesturing towards the staircase off to the right.
"Oh, thank you! That's really helpful! Have a good one." I nodded at the guard and turned towards the staircase.
The main ground floor of the gatehouse was reasonably plain. The left side of the long building was occupied mostly by the information desk, with the TV behind it. The corner to the right near where I had entered housed the large open staircase. The far corner housed a small lounge area with a few couches around a coffee table.
I climbed up the stairs and emerged into the top floor of the gatehouse. The walls facing the Route and Violet City were fully windows, with pay-per-view binoculars set up by them so you could look out like you were at an observation deck. A small lounge area, a kitchenette with coffee and tea, and a row of sleeper chairs made up the rest of the lounge. Walking up to one of them, I slung my pack down and pulled Typhlosion's portable Pokemon bed out, laying it by the chair.
"Looks like we're here for the night buddy." I lay down on the chair, and waited until Typhlosion made himself comfortable nearby before closing my eyes and doing my best to drift off to sleep. As I lay there, I tried to decide which way we ought to go in the morning. Should we go through Cherrygrove (which we had skipped entirely when heading to Violet City, or fly, or should I try and navigate through the split in the Dark Cave and rejoin Route 46.
'Route 46. Definitely Route 46. I should close the loop from Blackthorn.' I though, putting an arm over my face as I lay on the chair. 'To be fair, I didn't go through Cherrygrove, but that's beside the point.'
"Typhlosion." A low growl came back from next to me. "We'll go back through the Dark Cave. It's probably shorter anyway."
Another dull growl.
"Alright. Good night pal."
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Two more days later…
"Oh, you're fucking kidding me." I stepped out of the Dark Cave once more, Typhlosion by my side as we once again found ourselves at the wrong exit of the cave network as we emerged into the starlight. We stood at the top of the valley once more, where I had originally entered the cave. "Forget this. We're going to the Pokemon center, and we're just going through the valley in the morning."
Typhlosion growled and looked at me with concern.
"What." I glanced at the fire type with a halfhearted cross look as it gestured down the road, unbothered by my look. He knew I couldn't be mad at him. "Oh. No, we're not going to go to the Blackthorn Estate and say we got lost in the cave. I would feel a bit too stupid. Especially after that whole talk with Lance. Besides, I'm going to put Rhydon and Electabuzz in the PC for the hike after all the exercise they've gotten."
Typhlosion nodded its assent and followed me into the Pokemon center without another word, and we checked in, passing the night comfortably in a standard trainer room. The next morning came quickly, and once more I found myself at the top of the valley. This time I simply ignored the caves and marched on, walking down in the green heaven.
Pulling my pokeballs out of my belt, I released around half of my team to pass the time with me and enjoy the fresh air. Specter had no interest in simply walking (or floating with us) during the day, and Typhlosion was spending some time resting after having walked the majority of the Dark Cave stretch with me.
Lucario bounded about the valley walls and the ledges easily, half walking with me, half parkouring the entire way. Knight was up the in the sky, enjoying the open air, and Scizor was ambling by my side, occasionally looking over at Samurott, who was swimming in the river the entire way.
The going was fairly easy, and fairly quiet the majority of the way. It took the better part of a day to traverse most of Route 45, leaving us with maybe three hours of walking until we reached Route 46 the next day. Sheltered from the wind on three sides, the valley was a comfortable place to set up camp for the night with almost everyone sleeping outside, and myself in the tent for a bit of extra warmth.
"Alright guys, let's catch up on where we are a bit and see how we're doing." I piled up some dry leaves and a bunch of sticks that Lucario had produced from one of its trips bounding about the boulders in the middle of a ring of rocks.
Typhlosion and Specter joined us outside as we started up the campfire and I readied dinner, relaxing a little bit with the team. A light meal and some playful banter between the Pokemon passed them time while we ate, until I cleaned up and washed up in the river quickly, returning to the campfire.
"So, we've got all eight badges, and we can head home and unwind for a bit. It's been a pretty amazing journey so far, and we've made a ton of progress to where we want to be." I looked out at each of the Pokemon arrayed around the fire. "How about we take a look at where we are with training and where we want to get to?"
"Typhlosion, Sunny Day seems to be the next target to master. It worked reasonably during the battle with Clair, but I think we can fine tune it to get it just perfect. It did what it was supposed to do though, Solar beam was faster and stronger than I've ever seen it." The fire type nodded and laid its head down on its paws, looking at me sideways as I spoke.
"Lucario, I think there's a lot of good avenues for us to explore here with how we choose to progress. We've got Dragon Pulse on the agenda. Knight, I hope you can help with that." I looked over to the orange dragon as it crooned peacefully, smiling at Lucario. "On the flip side, I think Swords Dance is a technique we should put some more time into. We didn't really get to try it much with Steven, but he was right, we need to implement some more strategic techniques into our style."
"Shadow Claw should work out with Specter's help, and poison jab we need to work on for the both of you." I looked at Lucario, who was focusing as it tried its best to visualize the internals of Swords Dance.
"Moving on to you Specter. We'll find a way to start working on poison jab, but in the mean time we need to work on your technique for Nightmare. The problem is how we practice it, like we had initially figured. I want to get in touch with Morty and see if he can help us work out what it is that we're doing with that move, otherwise we're kind of just sitting around with no really safe way to practice it and we'll have to hope it works when we battle."
"Energy Ball seems to be coming along well though." Specter grinned and chucked a small green orb out at a boulder. One of my favorite things about the move was that owing to its grass typing and some biological things I had no understanding off, when it landed on fertile ground, it could absorb into the soil and make grass or flowers sprout up.
"Scizor, I think Night Slash is the next way to go." I looked at the steel type, watching it nod nonchalantly as I thought. "And we can keep working on developing some of that air wave communication."
"Knight. I think we need to get a hold of Dragon Dance." The big dragon's eyes lit up at the mention of the technique, looking at me eagerly. "Clair used it incredibly effectively, and I think we can learn to do that too. There are other things I want to probe into, but let's start with that. It might make the others easier."
"Samurott, like with everyone else, strategic things are going to be key going forward, so let's work on rain dance." I prompted, holding up my hands as the water type raised its head. "Not right now."
I glanced at the egg container sitting by my side before continuing my discussion with the rest of the team.
"Rhydon and Electabuzz made some great progress in the cave, but they have some time before they catch up to you guys, especially because they weren't with us during our training with Steven." I looked over at the grinning ghost type by the fire, acknowledging its effort. "Rhydon's made some great strides with Thunderbolt with help from Specter, as has Electabuzz. I think Electabuzz has the hang of it, but it'll take Rhydon some more effort."
"Likewise, Rhydon and Lucario have helped Electabuzz along with laying the groundwork for Earthquake, pun intended, but there's work to be done. I think the biggest strides they've made have been with battling discipline and technique." I put a hand on my chin before continuing.
"I think at the next Pokemon center stop we make, we should try and get a sense of when this egg is going to hatch so we're a bit better prepared for it."
'The not-hatchling is happy.' I looked up with surprise at Lucario, whose eyes were glowing just the slightest bit as it focused on the egg container. 'It is warm and happy. It does not seem to be thinking, or know anything, but it is well.'
"Oh." I felt a bit warmer on the inside as I picked up the container and held it, looking carefully at the white eggshell. Nothing seemed different about it, but it Lucario would know better than I would. "I'm glad."
Typhlosion stoked the fire a little bit, turning its attention to the egg afterwards. I carefully opened the flame inlet of the container and nodded to Typhlosion. He walked over, carefully positioning his mouth and blowing a small stream of fire into it, warming up the inside to just the right temperature.
"Maybe we should take a look at how we're doing progress wise with the training guys. It might make dinner sit a bit better." I stood up, stretching my legs. "I think there's no point practicing Sunny Day or Rain Dance right now, so Typhlosion and Samurott, you two can just rest. How about we try swords dance and dragon dance."
Knight slowly rose off his haunches, standing up and stepping back. Lucario gracefully rose and moved towards an open area as I pulled up what information I had on the two moves, looking through it quickly.
"So. Dragon Dance." I looked over at Knight and pulled up the videos of Clair's Pokemon performing it. I had to admit, I was a little smug about the fact that our battle was now in the record, so I dug up an example from that battle. "Here, let's take a look. See what you can remember, and watch this example. Clair really did use it effectively." I held the phone up as comfortably for Knight as I could, waiting as he watched the video with curious eyes, stepping away after four minutes.
The big dragon closed his eyes and started thinking, so I pulled up an exhibit of swords dance in the meantime, walking over to Lucario. The fighting type examined the videos a few times, looking through the various examples of Pokemon putting Swords Dance to use a few times.
"Alright, so Swords Dance seems to pull on normal type energy, so that doesn't seem like it should be too bad for us."
'Agreed. Focus on Dragon Dance while I examine the energies.' I followed Lucario's instruction quickly, looking over at Knight. Hhe had stopped his thinking and was standing with his eyes closed.
His eyes snapped open, backlit by a dull indigo glow as he spread his wings out theatrically, summoning a weak indigo haze around him. His tail swayed behind him as an almost spasmic shock ran through his body, letting the haze dissipate. Poising herself, he shot off into the sky with a speed I had never seen before, rocketing back to the ground almost immediately.
"Woah! Scizor come here!" I called the steel type over. It looked at Knight, eyes gleaming at the challenge to its superior maneuverability. "Let's try trading blows."
The dragon bounded forward, once again with improved speed as Scizor barely dodged the attack, staying on the defensive. Knight's punches missed the steel type as the speed reduced its precision a tiny bit, although one of its punches landed on a boulder, completely shattering it flat.
He lunged for Scizor once more, arms outstretched. The steel type moved to the side, looking on as Knight's speed vanished my lunge, causing him to trip over herself and roll.
"That was amazing for a first go Knight." I smiled and scratched the great dragon's belly. "I think we can pick up from there tomorrow. I just wanted to see where we were."
She crooned happily, patting me on the head before walking back over to the others and the campsite.
"Lucario, do you think we can give this a shot?"
Wordlessly, the fighting type changed its stance, moving into a defensive pose. It's left arm and leg were forward, with its right paw behind, ready to strike. It swung forward swiftly, lashing out with its right paw before stepping back and rising up on one leg as it swiftly moved its arms around, settling after a moment.
Re-centering itself, Lucario repeated the process, trying again, once again to no avail. The fighting type stood straight and took a deep breath, focusing with its eyes closed. Once more, the fighting type readied itself and began the sequence of movements. A faint blue shimmer surrounded its fists and the spectral image of a sword flickered weakly at the last movement, stabbing into the ground in front of Lucario.
I bit my lip and kept quite as he turned around, looking to a boulder and slamming a paw into it. To my surprise, a low growl escaped from Lucario's mouth as it turned back to me.
'Nothing.'
"Don't worry pal, we'll work on it. That's why we're a team." I smiled and clapped Lucario on the back, walking back to the main campsite with it. "Alright all, I'm going to sleep so that we can head out in the morning. Good night everyone."
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The left wall of my tent bulged inwards with a loud smacking sound, waking me up quickly and in a highly disoriented state. I poked my head out of the tent carefully, wincing at the sunlight as I saw Samurott and Scizor entangled in a playful tussle. Yawning, I pulled my sleeping bag out of the tent and started to pack up. By the time I was done, I noticed Lucario sitting on a nearby boulder, meditating.
More surprising was Knight sitting next to the aura Pokemon, attempting to copy it. Lucario didn't seem too bothered, and Knight wasn't terribly bad at it, but there was still something slightly comical about the seven foot plus orange dragon trying to meditate. Using some of the river water to wash up, I managed to wake myself up a bit more.
I removed some of the Pokemon food I was carrying with me and set out portions for the four Pokemon engaged in their various activities before taking out a breakfast sandwich I'd packed away and an apple. I sat by Lucario, watching Samurott and Scizor jump around the grass in front of us. It seemed like they were playing tag, and Samurott was trying to get Scizor.
The relative calm was quite nice as I consumed my journeyman's breakfast, washing up and stretching out my legs.
"Come on guys, let's get moving. We're almost at Route 46, and then we're almost home." I cupped my hands to project the sound out to Samurott and Scizor, who were a bit further out at this point. Knight took to the skies immediately as Lucario and Scizor joined me, letting Samurott slip into the river again.
"Scizor, you and Typhlosion are the only ones who've seen New Bark Town if I'm not wrong. I don't think the others were actually out at all during the short stop last time." I remarked, looking at the bug type.
Scizor nodded silently, glancing over at me. It was always a bit difficult to discern emotion with Scizor because of the lack of a visible mouth. The steel type's body language was telling, and I was getting better at reading it. It had been a major reset, to go from understanding Scyther's communication to grappling with how to talk with Scizor. It hadn't created a rift, but it had been a bit tricky. Scizor gave me a humorous look as it prodded me in the shoulder.
"Hey!" I smiled as it pretended to draw on the ground, making a few scribbles. "Oh, you're talking about the day you joined us! That was a good day. The family got a little bit bigger right then."
Scizor's eyes had a kind twinkle in them as the steel type nodded, ambling along with the occasional leap to carry itself on its wings for a few meters.
"As reckless as I was hiding in the forest, I met you through it. Recklessness seems to be a theme in the past." I smiled with chagrin as Lucario snorted, looking between the two of us.
"I suppose I've never asked, but how has it been for you? Since you left the hive?" I looked at Scizor cautiously. "That really was my fault, and I never really took responsibility for that. I really am sorry for making that happen."
Silence reigned for a moment or three (to be expected given Scizor's typical lack of vocals). Lucario looked between us before speaking out mentally.
'Scizor does not blame you for the incident which lead to it leaving the clan.' Lucario's voice was comforting, a presence I had come to be used to in the time we had spent together. 'It was odd for Scizor in the beginning, to not be in the hive.'
'Yet it became worthwhile, to explore the world and develop outside of the pack that existed. Besides, it would never have evolved on its own. It could not. Scizor feels that you have shown and given it more freedom to develop itself rather than be a part of the hive.'
"Oh. I'm glad I could help somehow Scizor." I inclined my head slightly at the steel type. It reciprocated, before lightly jabbing me in the shoulder with a pincer. "Hey! Okay. I deserved both of those."
I stopped as we neared the end of the valley, taking my phone out for a moment. I could see the bend that marked the exit from the valley and the entrance to Route 46, not far from where we stood.
"Hi mom." I smiled as she picked up the phone.
"Ethan honey! Where are you?"
"I'm out on Route 46. I'll be home in a day or two. Have you and Lily settled back in?" I leaned back against a rock, looking at the landscape.
"Oh, that's lovely. We've been back for a week or so now, and we're doing well. Lily's school has just started, but Lucy has been around more recently. It's quite nice. It'll be good for you to come home."
"I know, I can't wait. It looks like I'll have three weeks at home before I head out again."
"Really? Where are you going to go this time?"
"To register for the Silver Conference, and then I need to try and find an item in Kanto for one of my Pokemon. Then Steven's wedding in Hoenn, and then I'm back in Johto for who knows how long."
"Well. That does sound somewhat reasonable. At least you've been good with calling lately. If you stop, I'm coming to find you and drag you to New Bark."
"Of course, mom. Don't worry, I'll keep it up. I do like talking to you." I laughed, picturing her smile over the phone. "I've got to go so I can keep making headway, but I'll see you soon!"
I shut my phone, slipping it away in my pocket. Moving away from the rock, I had barely taken two steps before a hurricane like gale erupted in the valley. I almost fell over in the turbulent wind, and I would have if Lucario hadn't caught my back. Instinctively my arms had gone over my eyes. Feeling the wind die down, I removed them to look at what was going on.
Descending from the sky and settling to the ground rapidly was a familiar figure decked out in a Hoenn Navy Uniform with a heavy overcoat and a white sailor's hat (how it was still on his head I had no clue). A slim green dragon with kite shaped wings outlined in red was hovering in the hair, slowly descending straight down. Its tail was thinner than Knight's but it was striped with wide bands of a darker green, and its arms were thin and short, clearly not its main method of attack. Long green horns (or incredibly thick antennae?) extended backwards from its head. Its eyes were covered with some natural red lens, standing out as a Cutting ever the impressive figure, Drake hopped off the slim green dragon he had been flying with, letting it mingle with my Pokemon as he walked over to me.
"Kid, how do you feel about coming along on a mission." Gruff as ever, he cut straight to the point as he approached me. "Inland. Not too far from here. Shouldn't be more than a few days."
"Absolutely sir, but how did you find me?" I asked, utterly confused.
"You're the only person in the entire valley, walking around it with a Lucario, a Scizor and a Samurott, and your Dragonite's flying around. It wasn't that hard." Drake deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. "Flygon spotted you lot from a mile away in the sky."
"Oh. Alright. Everybody, come on back!" I called out, recalling everyone except for Knight promptly. I mounted the great dragon's back as Drake hopped back onto Flygon's back with a spryness that belied his age. "Where exactly are we going?"
"Mount Silver."