Chapter 32: Lieutenant
A/N: Check out the poll on my profile to leave your thoughts on that. Follow, favorite, review, whatever catches your fancy. Retcons and edits should go up by 20th August. Enjoy.
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Nero floated in front of me, red eyes glaring across the field at the Kabutops panting at the other end. The fossilized Pokemon brought back to life by some of the most insane (and utterly brilliant) to have ever lived, was about four feet tall with a disproportionately thin body and a large flat head, all of it hard like an exoskeleton. Nero had taken quite the beating over the course of the battle, but he had fought back well.
"Stone Edge!" The Pupitar focused, and a rain of jagged stones blasted horizontally across the field, raking across Kabutops' body and slamming into its torso and head. A particularly well aimed strike found its way to the fossil Pokémon's knees, striking one and forcing the Pokemon to the ground.
"Finish it with Dark Pulse!" The sounds from around the gym picked up a bit as Nero prepared a blast of dark type energy, launching it straight at Kabutops and knocking the Pokemon out.
"Good work. Your Pupitar has developed in the last couple days." The dark-haired man at the other end of the field recalled Kabutops and walked over as Nero floated to me, gently butting his entire body against my side.
"Watch it buddy, you can knock me over really easily." I laughed and patted his back. A low rumble followed, sounding loud and clear from within the Pupitar's shell. "Thanks Brock. I really appreciate all the help you've given us with training over the last couple of days. Nero has learned a ton hanging around here and battling, and so have all the others."
"I'm glad to hear it. The Pewter City gym is meant to be a place where trainers can come and learn, not just for people to challenge me. Although you've done a pretty good job of that too." A smile spread across his tanned face, his narrow eyes almost closed.
"Hahaha, it's been a good couple of days out here. I think my Pokemon haven't really stretched their legs since we took on Clair."
"That must have been some showdown." Brock grinned, folding his strong arms over his shirt and casting a look around the gym to see what was going on. We had stuck to one of the training grounds with Nero and Kabutops battle.
I had initially stumbled into the Pewter City gym the morning after Rhydon's surgery and stopped to look around. There had been a gym battle going on, or so I had thought. A younger version of the man in front of me had been taking on a girl who I had later learned was one of the gym trainers.
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A few days earlier…
The Pewter City gym was a humble yet imposing building. The exterior was crafted out of stone bricks done by hand from what I had been told, but they had been crafted so well that you couldn't tell. Solid beams of oak framed the edges as well as the cast iron doors standing tall at the front face of the building.
I pulled one of the doors open just a crack and stepped inside, looking around. There was a simple counter made of the same stone bricks with a wooden top by the door, but nobody was standing by it. The vast expanse of the main chamber was occupied by several earthen battlefield with white lines on them, marking the boundaries. Lines of rocks and boulders in varying sizes separated the various training fields and the main central battlefield. Mezzanine level balconies lined the walls, forming a viewing gallery before the stairs in the back led up to a proper second floor with a small library, healing machine and lounges visible in the far corner. The vaulted roof was supported by steel beams and oak alike, the structure easily supporting all the weight of the roof.
The battle in the center of the room drew my attention, possibly because everyone else in the gym was watching. Standing at the gym leader's end was a guy around my age with brown hair down to his chin and narrow eyes. His tan skin was glistening with sweat as he looked at the challenger. A young girl with her short red hair tied in a bun and freckles was battling from the other side of the field. In between the two stood a Nidorina (on the challenger's side) and a Graveler on the gym leader's side.
Rina was in my hands as I climbed up to one of the balconies to watch the battle from above, coming to a stop next to an older man who looked similar to the guy in the gym leader's box. His hair was cut much shorter, barely falling over his face, and his expression was a lot calmer. Then again, he wasn't battling.
"Looks like an interesting battle down there." I watched the gym leader more than the trainer battling him. His commands to his Graveler weren't panicked, and he was doing in my opinion, but he was extremely tired and sweaty, even in the cold air of the gym. "What's up with the gym leader? Why is he so beat up?" I nodded towards the young man down there as Rina waved her arms about, watching the battle with interest. It was possibly her first real introduction to Pokemon battling.
"Every time he loses a Pokemon he's had to stop and do pushups until he can't go on." The older man chuckled, looking over at me. "Congratulations. Togepi are good companions to have."
"Ah thank you." I smiled, "It's only been a few days, but she's wonderful."
"You must be a pretty experienced trainer if you're training a newborn and you've got five more Pokemon with you."
"I've been in my fair share of battles." I shrugged, looking back at the man.
"What's your take on his battling?" He gestured towards the guy with one hand, keeping his eyes fixed on the battleground.
"I think he's commanding his Pokemon well, and adjusting to the flow of the battle as it happens. He's quite focused on winning as far as I can see." I frowned and looked down at his Graveler so that I could better gauge how he was doing. "He's not moving quite in tandem with his Pokemon thought. He knows what he's doing, and his strategy makes sense, but there's a lag between him and Graveler."
"Good catch. What's your name?"
"Ethan."
"Well Ethan, it's nice to meet you. I'm Brock." He stuck a hand out in greeting, before seeing both my hands holding Rina and sheepishly pulling it back. "I'm the gym leader around here."
"Oh, then what's going on down there?"
"That's my brother Forrest. He's been training so that he can become gym leader if I want to quit. We're seeing how he does. The girl is Mary, she's a gym trainer here."
"Neat." I turned towards him, eyes off the battle as the Nidorina collapsed. "Could I train here for a few days?"
"Of course. People are always welcome to come train at the Pewter City Gym." Brock spread his arms and gestured around the massive building. "That's what all the space is for. Is there anything in particular you need help with?"
"I'm training up a few Pokemon who are catching up to my team, and they're all at different stages, so I'm just going to be doing some general training, but I wouldn't mind any input from you on my Pupitar or my Rhydon's progress."
"Well, why don't we get down there for a test run. I'll just talk to my brother." Brock stepped towards the stairs, leading me down.
"Hey, we could even get a hardcore battle in tomorrow or the day after if I bring my full squad."
"Sounds like a plan."
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"Well Brock. I think Rhydon's ready to take you on, and she's raring to go." I looked over at the rock type standing a dozen feet away; the wound on her back had completely healed over the course of the past few days, and she had been participating in training and in some lower intensity battles at the gym.
"This could be almost as fun as our battle yesterday." Brock grinned and walked back to his end of the field, waving an arm for the others to clear it off as Nero took his place by my side.
"Rhydon, this is your moment. Rina, why don't you come over here." I smiled and crouched as the hatchling walked over slowly from where she had been sitting by Rhydon's side. Picking her up, I got back in the challenger's box and watched Rhydon plod over to the field, readying herself for a battle.
"This should be fun." Brock picked a blue and red pokeball off his belt and tossed it into the air, releasing a Pokemon quite similar to Rhydon in many ways. The hulking eight seven-and-a-half-foot beast had a layer of darker armor over its body, marked by orange plates around it. Its horn sat a lower angle, better for jabbing at opponents with, and while the added Pokémon's added girth no doubt slowed it down, its arms were now shaped like jack hammers and its tail had narrowed but had a boulder at the end to club opponents with.
The earth itself shook as the beast roared and slammed its hands together, drill spinning as it eyed up its pre evolution across the field. The Rhyperior was going to be a difficult opponent, no doubt, but it was one that would get Rhydon's blood pumping. She glared at it from where she stood, reciprocating the roar. Internally, I winced, wanting to grab my ears.
"This is the test for your Rhydon." Brock shouted. "Fight Rhyperior!"
Rhydon turned towards me, looking at me with a hint of trepidation in her glare. She shuffled her feet for a moment, stamping the right one into the ground twice and sending tremors through the earth. Trying to maintain my balance, I tried to placate her.
"Hey girl, we've got this. You battled Pokemon in Pryce's gym, at a disadvantage! And you won! We can take Rhyperior on. Trust me like we've worked on for our battles and we'll make them regret ever giving us a chance." I spoke with as soothing of a tone as I could. "Let's show Rina how we battle around here."
Red eyes settled on me, flicking to Rina for a moment as the hatchling trilled joyfully, stretching her hands out in Rhydon's direction. The horned Pokemon nodded and turned back around, stamping her foot into the ground again as the barriers sprang up around the field courtesy of Forest, Brock's younger brother.
"Rhyperior, Bulldoze!" Brock ordered his Pokemon quickly, pointing towards us menacingly. Rhyperior began hurtling towards us, picking up speed as the earth shifted beneath its feet, helping it build momentum. Readying its arms, it pointed both of them towards Rhydon, ready to slam them into her.
"Earthquake!" Rhydon stamped her foot into the ground, upsetting the arena and creating crevices all along its surface. Rhyperior expertly stepped around them and swung both arms straight out at Rhydon, trying to jackhammer her into submission. Taking the initiative Rhydon swung back with Hammer arm, catching one of Rhyperior's arms with her hand and stopping it.
With one arm held back by Rhydon's single handed attack, Rhyperior's momentum carried into a rotation about the now fixed point, the other fist slamming into Rhydon's armor at an angle as forcing her back. Holding on to the evolved Pokemon, she refused to let herself be pushed back more than two feet, roaring defiance and spraying spittle all over Rhyperior.
"Drill Run!" Rhydon couldn't well move very far with Rhyperior still in her grip, but she could swing her head. Leering at Rhyperior, she used her shorter height to her advantage and viciously jabbed her spinning horn into the cavity in Rhyperior's armor beneath its head.
A small cracking sound was audible as she let go of Rhyperior at the moment of impact, sending the rock type skidding back. Its wide body helped it stay balanced in spite of its great height, providing Rhydon a target to focus on immediately.
"Rock Blast!" Rhydon roared and stamped a foot into the ground, a massive chunk of rock coming out of a fissure and floating in front of her. With another brief roar it blasted forward towards Rhyperior.
An evil glint shone in the larger Pokémon's eyes as it lowered its head, the drill nose spinning as it began to charge, running straight into the boulder and shattering it to pieces. Behind the dust I could still make out its bulky form charging.
"Rhydon move!" The large rock type shuffled to the left, attempting to get out of the way of the charging Pokemon to some success. Rhydon managed to avoid the direct hit from Drill Run, but Rhyperior had pulled a trick from up its sleeve amidst the dust cloud from destroying the Rock Blast.
Hammer arm swung into Rhydon's gut and hurtled her back fifteen feet, forcing her to use her tail for support to not fall over from the momentum.
"Rhydon, Earthquake!" She slammed her tail into the ground as fast as she could, sending a massive shockwave out in all directions and catching Rhyperior off guard. The vibrations spread throughout the evolved rock type's body, making it roar with pain as one of its squat feet got caught in a crevice, the earth crumbling around it and falling in over the foot.
"Again!" I caught sight of the inopportune position (for Brock) and jumped to capitalize on it, grinning as Rina trilled on from my arms, a little scared, but mostly excited.
Rhydon roared and slammed her tail into the ground, sending another shockwave through the ground. The earthquake caught Rhyperior and twisted its trapped ankle, forcing the hulking beast to use its tail and arms to stabilize itself as it wrenched the limb out of the crevice and roared.
"That, was utterly devious." Brock called out, looking over at us. "Rhyperior, Rock Wrecker!" A small boulder the size of a soccer ball formed in the air from the glow of brown energy coming from Rhyperior's arms, settling into a physical form with a glowing surface as Rhyperior leered at Rhydon.
The orange plated rock type pulled its arms back before slamming them both forwards and into the boulder, sending it hurtling towards Rhydon faster than either of us could react. The stone slammed into Rhydon's gut, throwing her backwards again and down onto one knee as she grimaced, feeling her battle injuries. I cast a worried glance at her spine, looking for any tell-tale signs that her old injury hadn't healed or that it was resurfacing, but found none. A small sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I watched her flex her spine comfortably, feeling the bruises on her front instead.
"Hammer Arm!" I called out, watching as Rhyperior stood perfectly still. With a small frown I examined the Pokemon, watching it. Its body was barely moving, only to breathe. Rock Wrecker seemed to be one of the moves that exerted so much of a Pokémon's strength that it needed to recover from the exhaustion for a few moments before it could do anything at all.
Rhydon half walked half charged across the field, swinging a glowing fist into Rhyperior and knocking the rock type aside. With a menacing roar, she blasted a hail of smaller, jagged stones at her evolution with Stone Edge, targeting the hollow in its armor and forcing it to the ground.
"Rhyperior! Icy Wind!" The injured opponent took a deep breath, exhaling a freezing gust of wind familiar from the attacks we had seen in Pryce's gym. Rhydon raised her arms over her front, roaring as the frost slowed her down and seeped into her body, draining her energy.
"Take Down!" Rhydon charged Rhyperior, slamming her weight into the other Pokemon from low down and lifting it into the air so that the impact hurled it a good thirty feet and into the barriers.
All six hundred pounds of Rhyperior's rocky body flew across the air and slammed into the shining purple barrier, a resounding crack sounding all over the arena. As it slumped down and fell to the ground, I noticed the web of fractures in the shield, spread across two meters.
"We yield!" Brock raised a hand and recalled Rhyperior, motioning for Forrest to let the barriers down. "That was a well fought battle. Rhydon has definitely learned from training here, and she looks healthy to me."
"Thank you, Brock, it's been a great time out here." I walked over to him and shook his hand before heading to Rhydon and patting her back. The rock type put her hands around me and hoisted me up, gently touching her forehead to my chest as carefully as she could without impaling me.
"You too girl. It was a great battle." I laughed as Rhydon set me down, handing Rina to her for a minute. "You don't need to evolve."
"With the way this battle, and your official challenge went, I'm looking forward to seeing you take on the Silver Conference."
"That was a great battle." I smiled as I remembered my official challenge the other day.
We had gone five on five for the boulder badge, and it had been an exhilarating challenge, but it was a little bit easier than taking on Claire or Pryce, maybe just because of the typing of Brock's Pokemon. He had brought out his Onix (a nasty piece of work who reminded me of Rusty, but less mean), an incredibly fast Golem who was adept at rolling around without getting motion sickness, Rhyperior, a Sinnoh fossil Pokemon called Rampardos that had charged at everything headfirst, and an ancient Hoennian water and rock Pokemon for which the pool had been opened up called Relicanth.
From a distance, Relicanth had seemed small and harmless. Then I had realized it was at least six feet long and three feet tall. The Pokémon's body bore markings resembling an ancient map, with a singular red marker somewhere on its hard surface. It was somewhat passive, but the few attacks it used hit hard. On the other hand, Scizor, Lucario, and Samurott had swiftly taken his team out with their combined efforts. It was a change to have a gym battle where we weren't down to the line. It was reassuring too, given where were headed.
"Thanks Brock, catch you later." I waved as the older man nodded and turned towards some of the spectators, walking away. I led Rhydon out of the gym before taking Rina from her arms and returning her. The sun had almost set, so I made it back to the Pokemon center quickly, returning to my room with a sandwich and some Pokemon food for Typhlosion and Rina. The others had eaten at the gym, but these two hadn't done much for the day.
I quickly gave the two their food and let them sit around the room as I ate my sandwich and turned my attention to the still unfinished letter lying on my desk. More than a few lines had been scratched out, and I wasn't even sure what I was saying anymore as scanned over it, trying to make sense of the incoherent jumble of words I had spat out onto the page. Sighing, I gave up and lay down, calling it for the night.
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Diglett's Cave was an interesting tunnel. Of all the places I had expected to venture in Kanto, this wasn't originally one of them. From what the web had to say (as well as an old man out by the entrance of the cave on the outskirts of Pewter City) it was a natural formation created by droves of Diglett and Dugtrio as they ate away a network of clay veins in the earth between Pewter and Vermilion City. Miners looking for fossils had come and found the tunnel, proceeding to clear out the stone between the hollowed-out veins and make a complete, walkable (or bikeable) tunnel between the two cities, with electric lamps every so often. In fact, it was wide enough that Rhydon, Pupitar, and Electabuzz were all walking with me, aside from Rina, who was alternating between staying in my arms and walking a dozen feet.
"You're growing up pretty fast Rina." I smiled and scratched her head.
"Priiiii."
"Rhydon, what do you think? You think she's getting bigger?" I laughed and carefully walked her over to the rock type, watching her get picked up and hoisted to Rhydon's eye level as she examined the hatchling.
Rhydon grunted, carrying her for another couple of minutes before carefully handing her over to Electabuzz. The electric type hadn't walked with us for too long. While he was comfortable walking around, it wasn't as much his thing, but it had been good for the Electabuzz and Rhydon to slowly build a little bit of trust in each other.
"Rumor has it that Red once walked this cave with Giovanni, before anyone knew Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket." Nero was floating backwards, a blank look in his eyes as I spoke. "… Right… You guys don't really know too much about Team Rocket… huh. Or Red."
I scratched my chin, trying to get a semblance of where to start with it. I knew that the story had been on my own mind a lot lately, but then there were a lot of things on my mind.
"Basically, Red was a trailblazer. His story is legendary among trainers. He set off from Pallet Town as just another trainer and went on to take down a criminal organization called Team Rocket. He then went and won the Indigo Conference and took on the league, winning and becoming the champion of the Indigo League." I carefully took the Togepi from Electabuzz, holding her close as we walked down the path. The Diglett knew better than to cross a Rhydon, leaving us with a clear path straight to Vermilion.
"It was a story that an acquaintance once told me. We were out with this guy named Cassian, training in Hoenn. We got beaten into the ground there and then." Electabuzz's eyes widened as Rhydon's narrowed, inspecting me to see if I was lying. "I'm not kidding. We learned a lot from him though. I might try and get a hold of him for another battle later."
"He wanted us to learn a little bit about Giovanni, and the kind of people who turn out to be villains in some of these classic, fairy tale like legends. Red didn't know that it was Giovanni in charge until he met him at the eighth gym." I neglected to mention the fact that it was the Viridian Gym, unsure of what Rina would make of that. "Nobody knew. Red apparently told Lance he had once been crossing through the Diglett's cave and walked the entire length of it with Giovanni without knowing who he was next to. He was pleasant, charming, jovial, humble. But he was acting."
"It's crazy to think about." I let Rina walk another twenty feet as I stretched my arms and twisted my back, my eyes almost rolling as I felt a satisfying crack go through my spine. "But let's talk about pleasanter things. I'm looking forward to seeing Blake again. You guys haven't met her yet either. She's great."
A goofy smile spread across my face at the memory of days spent with Blake, and Rina clearly liked seeing me happy like that if her smile and attempt at hugging my chest were indicators.
"A ladder. Looks like we're at the end of the tunnel. I'm just going to recall you guys so I can climb out comfortably and then we can get out of here." One by one, I returned the lot of them before climbing up the rope ladder hanging down the hole in the ceiling.
Grabbing a hold, I climbed up it as it swung violently, gripping it as tightly as I could and making my way up. Trying to climb up some of the ropes on the H.S. Katherine had definitely been helpful to physically train my body. I emerged into a small cavern with an exit to daylight.
Strolling out, I emerged onto a grassy plain. Not too far to my right I could see the end of a paved street, leading into Vermilion City with its popular, bright orange roof tiles. The city itself was bursting with activity. Children were playing on the streets and there seemed to be an open-air market similar to Olivine's down by the coast. Standing out in the far corner of the city was the clearly visible structure of a standard Pokemon gym.
The docks were populated with ships of all sizes; smaller ships brought cargo from oil tankers too large to come to the city and from other freight carriers, mingling with the gleaming white cruise ships and yachts. A single gray naval ship was standing at one end of the port, flanking the H.S. Katherine.
Checking my watch, I strolled over to the docks. I had no reason to really stay in a Pokemon center tonight when I could just as easily settle into being back on board the ship a day before I needed to. The gold lettering on the side of the ship became clearer as I neared, the details visible. The gangplank was down, and while a few people were milling about on deck, there didn't seem to be too much activity around. It looked to be quite a lazy day.
I climbed up the gangplank slowly, taking in everything as I boarded the ship. The sails were tied up, the anchors were dropped on all sides, and one of the midshipmen was polishing the Kingdra figurehead, standing in a precarious position over the water.
"Captain Andreas, sir!" I saluted him out of habit, watching the stocky man turn around and look at me.
"Lieutenant Photon, or so I hear." His harsh gaze wasn't the most unsettling thing in the world anymore, but it had definitely worked to keep me on my toes during my first stint as a crew member. "Good to have you back on board."
"Thank you, sir." I nodded my head and continued down the deck until I reached the staircase, hurrying down to L-2 so I could go to my bunk and leave my things there. Walking down the halls of the ship, I made my way to the quadruple I had shared the last time around, stepping in to find it empty but with my things exactly where I had left them the last time, stowed under my bunk.
Hauling out my kit, I put that bag on my bed and stowed away my traveling pack, rifling about in the former to find a uniform set and lay it out for later.
"Look who we have here." I jumped, turning around to see Johnson standing in the doorway with his arms folded and a wide grin plastered across his face. "If it isn't the lieutenant himself."
"If you're asking how it happened, I have no idea how I got promoted ahead of everyone else." I shrugged, reaching out to shake Johnson's hand.
"The Admiral said it was for a confidential field mission. Everyone knows. Don't worry about that part." Johnson looked over at the uniform laid out on my bed and shook his head. "Come on, let's go change your kit."
"What, now? I have to change my uniform too?" I shoved the clothes I had pulled out back in the bag haphazardly, following Johnson out to the kit room again, where he promptly took my bag from me and emptied it, shuffling things about and tossing a few items out into a basket. Before I knew it, he had replaced the main layer of the uniform with a new set of all white trousers and shirts, much like Lieutenant Brown's uniform, or somewhat closer to the Captain's uniforms.
"All right, now that we've got that we've got that sorted, we can keep going with this lieutenant stuff." Johnson tossed me the bag and chuckled as I stumbled backwards with the catch, glaring at him half-heartedly.
"What's the general opinion on deck. You know, that of everyone, I got promoted."
"There's a couple of reasons why nobody is particularly bothered." Johnson raised a hand, ready to count them off on his fingers. "Firstly, you're still in the quad with us, and not in a double like the rest of the lieutenants, but more importantly, you're not kicking someone else out of a double. Secondly, you're only with us for two more months. Everyone kind of figured the Admiral has something going on. Besides, its not like anyone but the highest level of command questions him."
"Ah. That makes enough sense. I suppose I'll find out." We entered the quadruple again and I laid out my new uniform. I swapped shirts for one of the grey and navy naval t-shirts with a jacket on top so that I could still go into town comfortably for the day. "Right, I'm going to head out for a bit, but I'll be back by evening and properly check in then before the morning's journey."
"Gotcha. I'll catch you later then." Johnson nodded and walked off, leaving me to my own devices. Once I had straightened out my things, I headed over to the PC on L-1. I logged into the system quickly and made my moves while it was still online and connected to the broader network. I moved my Pokemon from the network storage to local storage so that I could access them on board the ship, counting myself lucky I hadn't had to do this the previous time. It wouldn't be that bad though.
Once I had my team sorted and the same squad as earlier on my belt (Typhlosion, Specter, Rina, Rhydon, Electabuzz and Nero), I made my way back off the ship and into the city. The Hoenn navy logo was hidden under my jacket for the most part, but a few people still nodded at me in the docks, having seen me go onto and off the foreign ship docked in the yard.
Wandering the streets of the city, I eventually made my way where I had wanted to go the entire time, the Vermilion City Gym. The building stood in the shade of a number of tall trees with wide spread, auburn canopies of leaves, on a chunk of land jutting out of the southwest corner of the city. A waist height fence blocked off access to the building, and from what I could see, it seemed like the door was on the opposite side of the building, the side blocked off by the fence and the trees and the ocean.
"Hm." I looked at the fence for a moment, turning to the waters gently lapping against the shore where the almost entirely secluded patch of land began.
Grabbing a hold of the white painted wood, I jumped and swung myself over it, landing comfortably on my feet on the other side of the fence. Nothing happened as I dusted off my hands, taking a look around.
I walked around the side of the building, noting that the only windows seemed to be high up on the walls, propped open with pushrods. Some noise was audible from inside, but what else was to be expected from a gym. The doors at the front were solid steel, with rivets all around the edges (some useful, most useless) and a thick handle sticking out the middle.
I wrapped pulled my sleeves over my palms and grabbed a hold of the cold metal, yanking it towards me as hard as I could. With an aching groan, the doors creaked open just a few inches, before giving way and sending me stumbling backwards as the swung open and hit the walls.
Composing myself, I stepped into the gym as the doors automatically closed, shutting me inside the utter madness that was the Vermillion Gym. The only normal looking thing in the area was the receptionist's desk to my left, which was obviously empty. Ahead of me stood a grid of trash cans on a linoleum floor, about forty in all.
A series of pylons and tesla coils formed a barrier between the battleground and the trash can area, with electricity arcing between them to make a shockingly dangerous wall. I walked up to one of them and looked at it, unsure of what to do. I turned around and looked at the trash cans again. There had to be something there. It couldn't just be forty trash cans in a grid. It had to be some kind of a challenge for trainers.
I walked back to the grid and peered into the nearest trash can, finding nothing in there. The next one housed a broken pokeball and a few papers, but nothing of note. The entire first row seemed to have nothing in it, but the second from the right in the next row was a little more interesting. Sitting in the bottom of the can was a red switch. Reaching in, I pressed it, the click of the button followed my a much louder click from behind me.
I turned around, looking to see the top of the pylons flashing red before another click sounded and they settled down. The entire time, nothing had happened to the walls of electricity. I continued to poke around until I eventually found another trash can with a switch in it, pressing it. The same thing happened, to a T. Frowning, I looked between the two trash cans.
"They need to be pressed before the lights go out." I murmured to myself, looking around. the other trash can was far. It was to the other side of the grid, and cross a few rows as well for good measure. Then it clicked.
I jogged over to the second trash can I had examined, picking the broken pokeball out of it and hurrying back to the button. Quickly, I tossed the pokeball, watching it arc through the air as I readied my hand. As soon as the click sounded, I pressed the button on my end as well, and the lights turned blue. With a loud crackling sound, the electricity died out, leaving the way forward clear. Not wanting to get stuck if they turned back on, I hurried on through, crossing the line between the two halves of the room before I took in what I was looking at.
The battlefield dominated the room from side to side, pure earth with white chalk lines drawn in it and countless bumps and small holes. A few tough guy types were lounging around, drinking beer and cheering a lone man standing to the back of the field.
He had to have been six and a half feet tall, with muscles that looked like he'd just walked off a movie set wrapped in a green tank top and camo trousers. Dark glasses sat a little low on his tanned face, contrasting his buzz cut blond hair. Hefted over his shoulder was a large canon like blaster of some sort, and sticking out the front of it was… a Voltorb!?
"FIIIIREEE!" I watched with a mix of horror and awe as he launched the Voltorb at a target towards the other end of the battlefield, the Pokemon unleashing an explosive attack as it made impact before rolling back across the field to its trainer.
"That was a good one Voltorb. I feel like we're getting the hang of this." He picked up the round Pokemon with one hand and bumped heads with it before loading it back in his canon. Lieutenant Surge, the Lightning Unovan. The man was a war hero, a decorated soldier and commander, a tactical mastermind and pro with electric types. He had supposedly been both a pilot and a naval officer in Unova, and evidently, he was good with artillery.
"Excuse me." I waved a hand and stepped forward, catching the hefty man's attention before he returned to his Voltorb blasting.
"Oh. Wasn't expecting any challengers." Surge whipped his shades off and looked at me. "I know you. You're the runt who invaded Team Rocket's base in Mahogany Town. Well I'll be damned."
"That would be me." I raised an eyebrow as he lowered his weapon, removing Voltorb from the chamber by sticking an arm down the barrel and yanking it out. "Is that actually a Voltorb cannon or has it just been… repurposed?"
"Genuine Voltorb launcher. First of its kind." He gestured towards his back before I noticed some of the other accessories that came with it. He looked to be wearing thick black fingerless gloves, and a black harness of some kind over his tank top. Mounted to his back was a black rectangle with a few small lights, and three thick, orange cables running from the box to the launcher. "Charges 'em up and blasts 'em out."
"Wow." I shook my head and looked at the weapon again for a moment, speechless.
"I know right." He grinned, removing the pack and harness carefully and setting them down on a chair. "Now, what can I do you for kid? Gym battle? Training? Voltorb launching?"
"I think I'll pass on the gym battle for now, but maybe next time I'm in Vermilion." I shrugged, looking at him. "I'm raising an Electabuzz, and I'd appreciate your help or advice. I have no clue how to judge whether he's ready to evolve or not."
"That, sounds like something we can work on. Bring him out." Surge walked over to a cooler and pulled out a beer for himself, opening it and chugging as I reached for my belt to release Electabuzz onto the battlefield.
"That Electabuzz ain't ready to evolve kid." Surge took another swig, knocking it back and shaking his head.
"That's it?" Both my eyebrows shot up comically fast. "That's all it took to tell?"
"I've been raising electric types since I was a teenager. I know what I'm talking about." Surge binned the bottle and crossed his arms.
"Okay. How do I know when he's ready to evolve? Some of these evolutions that take external items or conditions are really hard to judge for non-specialists." I looked at him with a confused stare.
"The word you're looking for is 'generalist', and there's nothing wrong with that. Specializing is great, but generalizing has gotten a few prominent people pretty far. Alder. Cynthia. Red. Blue." Surge shook his head, "Anyway. Let's run a test on him. Come with me."
I followed Surge back to the line of tesla coils, along with Electabuzz. He approached a screen near the wall and began tapping it, changing a few parameters from what I could glean before he stepped away, motioning for me to do so as well.
"Electabuzz, absorb charge until you can't go any more." Surge called out, hauling me another twenty feet back by the fabric of my hoodie.
I stood and watched as Electabuzz's fur bristled at the current in the air, picking up Surge's command and standing ready. As the tesla coils came to life, the electric type Pokemon began focusing on drawing in electricity and charge. Bolts of electricity flowed into its arms as it extended both, drawing from either side until it was gasping for breath.
Electabuzz's fur was disheveled, and he looked to be short on breath, but he continued on with a few stops until he was on his knees, letting Surge shut the coils down from afar with a remote trigger.
"That's your problem right there. It doesn't matter how strong Electabuzz is right now, he doesn't have enough capacity for an evolution to Electivire to go smoothly. Recall him, come over here, and I'll explain it to you."
"Thanks, Electabuzz." I patted the electric type on the back, whipping my hand away as static electricity saw fit to bite me. Quickly recalling the exhausted Pokemon, I followed Surge over to where his men were hanging around.
"You old enough to drink?" He looked at me suspiciously as he reached into the cooler.
"Yeah."
"Here." He tossed me a bottle and pulled up a chair, plopping himself down on it. Hesitantly, I opened it and took a sip. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't my thing either.
"Electivire among electric types has an excessive capacity to hold charge. It's part of how its physiology works. It uses some of that charge to boost its own speed, and its capable of drawing in electric attacks from opponents to use the energy. But it needs to build up a solid capacity before it evolves and when it evolves to use that effectively. If your Electabuzz evolved now, his capacity for growth would be stunted."
"Oh. How should we work on that?" I leaned forward attentively.
"Power cycling. Basically, you've got to discharge and charge all the way up and down repeatedly. It helps build strength. It's fine to do that by training, but another decent way to do it is just to send lightning bolts into the sky. For charge cycles, absorb electric type attacks if another Pokemon can toss them over. Electabuzz can't absorb them nearly as easily as Electivire though, so be watchful. Power plants are always a good idea. If you're on board a ship, generator rooms can work, although you have to do it quickly and feed the power back into the system."
"Alright. Thank you." I nodded and rose from my chair, giving him a small salute before heading out through the still inactive coils.
"Bring him over when you've been training a while before you try and evolve him. I want to see how you do."
"Got it!"
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I sat down by the docks and pulled the unfinished letter out of my pocket, staring at the words on the page. Uncertainty about what to say, how to say it, and everything that came with it was holding me back. A shiver ran down my spine as the cold breeze picked up, forcing me to get up and move away from the ocean's edge. Walking back into town, I found a coffee shop and gladly opened the door, the smell of cinnamon wafting throughout the room as I found a seat near a window, and more importantly a heater.
Once I had managed to get my hands on a cup of hot cocoa, I pulled the paper out and put it in front of me again, agonizing over what to write while I drank from the cup, a whipped cream moustache sticking around after the fact. Taking my time, I wrote out what I could think of, scratching out multiple lines and starting over more times than in could count. Once I was done, I folded it up and stuck it in an envelope, opening my phone for the address and filling it out.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way back to the docks and approached the nearest mailbox, one right at the edge of the harbor. Taking the letter out of my pocket, I slipped it in and made for the gangplank, walking up it and back onto the H.S. Katherine.
On the deck, Lieutenant Brown was milling about watching over a few preparations for the next day's departure. The first man to show me around the ship glanced at me and nodded once, before turning back to the crew working on the front end of the deck, directing them and making sure work got done. I quickly returned to the quad, greeting some of the other sailors along the way before I ducked into my room, changing into casual naval gear so that I wasn't out of place on board the ship. Once I had my hands free again, I released Rina and picked her up, carrying her out to the deck of the ship.
"Hey Rina, welcome to our new home for the next month." I smiled and showed her the vast expanse of the oceans beyond Vermilion, before turning her towards the ship. "You like it?"
"Priiii." I laughed and tickled her, sending her into a fit of laughter as I walked around the deck, nodding to everyone I met.
The next few hours passed quickly, and before I knew it, Togepi was sleeping on my bed with Typhlosion and I was down in the mess with around forty other sailors, sitting at a table with Wier, Hernandez, Stern and Henderson. Immediately I was reminded of the burly man's resemblance to Lieutenant Surge, who I had seen only a few hours earlier.
"What's been going on here with the ship since Olivine?" I asked, getting used to being back on the ship and being a part of the crew.
"A bit of downtime and a few deep-sea scans. Some of the crew had been assigned their own missions independently so we've been running a smaller crew for a few weeks." Stern replied, gesturing around the room with a fork "This is only the fifth day since arriving that we've had a full crew on board the ship. It's been quiet around here."
"Huh. Interesting. How has that been? Jurisdiction wise, like getting permission to run missions in Johtan waters or in Kanto, or like how have the local authorities been to you guys?" I asked, picking at my plate.
"It's been smooth enough. Hoenn and Indigo have a strong relationship." Henderson explained from across the table. "There haven't been issues with getting permissions really. It's been more of a game of 'do the folks at this outpost know who we are and what we're doing, or are they going to stop us to check.'".
"I see."
"How's that big promotion working for you Lieutenant?" Wier snickered, accompanying it with a lopsided grin.
"Honestly, I have no idea what I'm getting into." I shrugged, my attention back on my plate for the moment.
"How did you even get that promotion?" Stern frowned for a moment.
"It's to do with a field mission under the Admiral's supervision. I believe it's confidential." I replied, "I don't think I'd be allowed to explain it even if I fully understood it."
"Cut the kid some slack. He isn't a permanent crew member, let the Admiral do what he wants. He probably has some reason for it. We'll find out soon enough, he's not going to risk messing something up by not letting us in on it." Henderson reasoned, looking towards the Admiral's table.
Drake sat with Lockwood and Andreas, the missing second captain most likely running the ship at the moment; thus, his table was a slightly quieter affair. The three men seemed to be having a somewhat serious discussion at the table, before Drake nodded once and picked up a small, familiar stick which he used almost as a gavel to get the room's attention.
"Crew!" Drake had a wry grin on his face as he stood up, looking around the room as he put his words together carefully. "We will be engaging in a series of training exercises over the course of our journey to Hoenn."
If the room had already been quiet, all sound immediately died out as everyone focused on Drake, their attention well and truly caught by the last statement.
"Joining us one weeks into our four-week journey will be the H.S. Lucille, inbound from foreign waters. We will be leading the Lucille home to Hoenn with us, to dock in Lilycove City." Drake's eyes took in the quiet room and the growing excitement of all the men and women seated in the mess. "Over the course of these three weeks during which we are sailing together, we will be sharpen our skills and training with the help of their crew. After discussions with Commodore Andersen, we decided that it would be beneficial to both crews to engage in tactical exercises. More specifically, we will be practicing takeovers and seizures."
A joyous uproar burst from the corners of the rom as clusters of sailors began to mull over the new developments excitedly, talking it over with each other.
"We will be following normal procedures for maritime training exercises. Six squads will be participating, led by our lieutenants. Squads will be announced on the deck in fifteen minutes. I expect nothing but excellence from the crew of the H.S. Katherine." Drake nodded once more and departed the mess hall after clearing away his dishes, Lockwood and Andreas staying behind to have their own discussion at the table. Before I could rejoin the conversation, a small blip from my earpiece caught my attention.
"Photon, do you copy. Lieutenant Brown. Over." I hastily tuned my radio, looking at my watch in order to do so.
"Copy Lieutenant Brown. Over." I replied once I had it down, waiting for my instructions.
"Report to the Admiral's office on L-1 Lieutenant. Over."
"Ill catch up with you guys on deck." I nodded to Stern and picked up my dishes, taking them over to the kitchen before walking down the corridor to a familiar set of heavy wooden doors, the gold anchor and chain exactly as I remembered them from the last time I was here. I knocked sharply, waiting for Drake to reply.
"Enter."
I opened the door with the massive brass handle, stepping inside and closing it behind me. The portholes had their small violet curtain open, one side towards the city and the other towards the sea.
"Sit down." Drake was sitting behind his desk with his fingers laced together in front of his thick white mustache, hiding his mouth. Once I had pulled up one of the chairs and seated myself, he continued.
"Much of the reason you were promoted is for tactical training. You've admitted to Lance that you've been headstrong and brash in your actions dealing with Team Rocket, but your intervention has been almost necessary at times. You've saved the League valuable time, and you've helped keep Team Rocket from furthering their goals as much as they would like." Drake's stormy eyes were focused on me, burning a hole in my forehead. "But you don't know what you're doing."
"I told you when you first stepped foot on my ship that I wouldn't be training you. That statement stands. You are being given an opportunity to learn for yourself how to tactically command a squad, and how to work on your own. Make the most of it. Dismissed."
I nodded politely, standing up and making my way out of the Admiral's office and up onto the deck, where most of the crew had lined up, with the Lieutenants standing off to one side. I quickly joined them, slipping into line next to Henderson.
Standing off to one side, unaccompanied was a man about my height with broader shoulders, a slightly tanned complexion, curly black hair and a little bit of stubble on his face. His white uniform was pristine, the main difference to any of ours being the dark navy epaulets and cap (the latter of which was in his hands behind his back). Captain Ricciardo.
"All right. It looks like everyone's here." He spoke up as Fenn squeezed into the line next to me, completing the Lieutenants line up.
"Fenn. You'll be taking Hernandez, Wier, Fredericks and Neil." He wasn't reading off a sheet of paper or any sort of list, rather he was coming up with the squads off the top of his head. "Photon, your squad is Jackson, Johnson, Stern and Roswell."
I nodded and turned towards the amassed crew members, looking for my crew. I caught sight of Johnson and Jackson, both of whom I was plenty familiar with from my quadruple, before trying to spot Stern, and Roswell, who I was less familiar with. The two women were close by, red hair making Stern easy to spot. It looked as though the crew already knew who had to report here, and who would be on duty for the first round of the… tactical training.
I turned back to Ricciardo and realized I had missed the rest of the crew listings, thinking nothing of it as the older man nodded to us and departed, making for the lower levels of the ship.
"All right, let's work out a plan for how we're going to run this." Lieutenant Grant nodded to the other five of us leading squads before departing. "Let's meet in half an hour in the meeting room on L-1."
I nodded absentmindedly, looking around to see who else had been assigned a squad. Fenn, Henderson, Elliot and Garnett. The group dispersed quickly, everyone heading back to their respective stations or wherever they spent their free time, leaving me out on deck to look at the shore. Henderson lingered behind for a moment. Fake lieutenant Surge looked over at me for a moment before speaking up.
"Since you haven't done this before… it's basically high level capture the flag. Discretion is key, so we don't use our Pokemon for this. We'll decide which squads stay on defense and offense with the other lieutenants. Think a little bit about some strategies. See you later Photon." Henderson nodded and walked away, making for Bridge Command Upper as I turned back to the shore.
"Thanks Henderson." I waved briefly before turning back to the shore. I caught sight of the mail drop off box on the docks, a mailman coming by for late pickup, and my mind drifted back to the letter briefly, before I too went down to the lower decks
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
Hey Anita,
To be honest, I have no clue what's supposed to go in a letter. They don't teach you this stuff anymore. It was really cool to meet you thought. I haven't met a lot of people on my journey who I figured I'd run into again, or who're on their own journeys, and it was nice to sit and talk with another trainer for a while, someone who's at the same point and going to the same destination. Figuratively. I know you were headed west not east. You know what I mean. Anyhow, I'm sailing for a while, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to send a reply to anything soon, but I'll see you in Indigo City.
Ethan
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I walked into the meeting room, the last person of the six Lieutenants present to arrive. Henderson was leaning against a wall, Grant was at the head of the table and had a laptop open, and the other three were sitting around the table. Pulling up a chair, I sat down and waited, given the clear lead Grant was taking with this.
"Since this is a simulation exercise, we're treating this like a real takeover. I've been digging to try and get a hold of blueprints of the Lucille, but those documents are restricted to the Captain's level or above." Grant looked up from his computer. "The Lucille is an older ship than ours, so the layout might not be the same. Any ideas anyone?"
"Find pictures of the ship." Elliot gestured towards the laptop with one hand, the other adjusting the bun she had tied her brown hair into.
Wordlessly, Grant connected his computer to the projector and ran a search for the Lucille, producing an array of images of a military destroyer.
"That one." Elliot pointed towards a picture of the ship almost perfectly framing one side of it. She got up and pulled the cord of the projector sheet, letting it roll up to reveal the whiteboard behind it. Picking up a marker, she began to draw.
"It's a standard destroyer, so we know the engine room is there." She marked it with her pen, before turning towards. "The missile chamber is here, and Bridge Command Central is in the same place as ours."
"So that's three of our four targets defined. Good work Elliot." Grant nodded, looking around the room. "Preferences on how we split up the squads?"
"Let's go with three each way for now. Anyone disagree?" Fenn piped up, looking around the room. Silence reigned supreme as a few heads nodded.
"Photon… you're new to this, so you should take offense. Trust me." She turned towards me and I nodded quietly, going along with the current plan. "How about Henderson and I take our squads that way too, and the rest of you hold the fort down."
"Sound like a plan. We'll work out the details another time. I'll show you the ropes for offense Photon." Henderson clapped me on the back and walked out of the room, grinning as everyone else stood up. I smiled and joined them in going out to the deck. This was going to be a fun trip to Hoenn.
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
I leaped over the man trying to get me with a sliding kick, sprinting down the corridor as Jackson grabbed a hold of the H.S. Lucille crew member and held him aside long enough for Roswell, Stern and Johnson to run by before he rejoined us. Stopping before the next intersection, I gestured down the right passage with my hand, sneaking a look down the empty corridor.
Seeing the clear path, I ducked down it and into the stairwell we had found the last time we were on the offensive. Jackson caught up, keeping an eye on the corridor as Stern peered down the stairwell, catching sight of the two sailors standing at the bottom of it.
She gestured down with her hands, looking at me for approval. I took a look down myself, trying to see what we were dealing with. A man and a woman stood at the two lower levels the staircase, guarding the exits. Neither looked particularly heavy (although I could have been wrong, which would really mess us up).
I gestured first at the woman on the level below us, then at Stern, before pointing to the man all the way at the bottom and at myself. When she nodded, I turned to Roswell and Johnson, gesturing at the rope they had with them and at the railing. Having got the message across to the entire team, I took a deep breath and nodded, watching Stern swing herself over the railing.
As she went down over, still holding onto the lowest part of the railing, she caught the female sailor with her legs and sent her stumbling. Dropping down to her level, Stern grabbed a hold of her and twisted her arms behind her back as in followed her down, Johnson and Roswell coming down the stairs to tie the Lucille crew members wrists to the railing. While they preoccupied dealt with her, I swung over the next railing, Jackson following close behind.
As my body hurled itself over the railing and my legs came down, I managed to kick the man standing at the bottom with one foot, making him fall forwards. To my immense disappointment, he caught the wall and stopped himself from falling as I dropped to the ground. He was definitely heavier than he looked. Jackson came up from behind as the sailor swung at me with both arms. Grabbing each one, I struggled to hold him back as the heavier and stronger man pushed me up to a wall. Swinging my foot, I hooked it around his left leg and pulled inwards, unsettling his balance and tripping us both.
Jackson grabbed him from behind and hauled him up, letting me tie his hands to the nearby railing as the others came running down just in time to join us. Once we had taken a moment to regroup, I carefully stepped out into the corridor, noting the clear passage down to the steel door at the end.
"Stern, Roswell, keep a lookout." I gestured at the stairwell and approached the thick slab of steel blocking our way. A massive steering wheel like handle dominated the center of it. I grabbed a hold of it from one end, gesturing for one of the others to take a hold of another spoke.
Pushing as hard as we could, we rotated the wheel, hearing the deadbolt slowly grind across the door until the main lock was open. Jackson gave it a hard tug, almost falling on his back as the door failed to budge. Frowning, I crouched to take a closer look at the door.
"There's a second deadbolt on the inside." I stood up and examined the frame, figuring out how to proceed.
"What do we do then." Jackson gave it another tug to no avail.
"You have the tool kit we brought?" My eyes drifted to the right side of the door, settling on a few spots there.
"Yeah."
"Screwdrivers." I held a hand out as he promptly removed and handed me, watching with wide eyes as I leaned into the hinge and began unscrewing it. "Come one, work on the other ones."
I remained crouching, working on the two hinges at the bottom as Roswell and Stern began unscrewing the upper ones, Jackson and Johnson taking over lookout. A few agonizingly slow minutes later, we had a set of screws (which I promptly slipped into our kit so we could eventually return them) and unsecured hinges.
"Alright. We're not going to get it out nearly the entire way with that deadbolt still there." I gestured vaguely at the door. "Pull it out diagonally from the right and maybe we can make enough of a gap for us to slip through on the other side. Be ready."
I stood by the left edge of the door as Jackson lined up to the right along with Johnson. Pulling with all their combined might, they forced the door out slowly and pulled it out of its frame enough for me to squeeze through the gap, followed quickly by the others. Standing inside were three wide eyes sailors, clearly not expecting us to have removed the door to the engine bay from its frame.
"GET THEM!" I shouted over the deafening noise of the Lucille's engines, tackling one and knocking him to the ground. A chaotic scramble ensued as Roswell and Stern collectively took down another sailor, tying him to railing over looking the engine bay, as did Jackson and Johnson. The others hurried over to help me haul the third sailor to a railing and tie him up.
Once it was done, I breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to the button system that had been put in place for the exercise and pressing it. The light on top of the panel went from green to red, indicating we had captured the engine bay as I tuned my radio and spoke over my earpiece.
"Lucille engine bay secured. Repeat, Lucille engine bay secured. Over." I grinned and gave Johnson a high five as we sat, waiting for any other news. We had heard earlier that the Bridge Command Central had been taken on the Lucille, and the missile bay was secure. Just one left. In the meantime, they had managed to take our missile bay, but to my understanding we still had the other three targets under control.
"Katherine Bridge Command Upper has been taken." My smile dimmed just a bit as I heard the words. We still had the upper hand, but it depended on how fast the others could secure this ship.
"Lucille Bridge Command Upper has been secured." I leaped up as the message came over the radio, tossing my hands into the air when the lights turned blue, indicating the ship had been 'taken over.'
The entire ship's PA system went live as the news was relayed, and I let the others untie the sailors we had restrained while I handed back the screws for the hinges.
"We should probably discuss having these hinges on the insides of the doors now." I suggested, heading off with a nod and wave to the engine bay sailors as we made our way to the deck, untying whoever else we found along the way and returning to the open air.
Once we were on deck, we made our way back to the Katherine, myself on Knight, and the others on their own Pokemon or sharing. As I set down onto the wooden deck, I noted Drake standing there, his eyes on his returning crew.
"Good work sailors." He nodded at us once.
"Thank you, Admiral, sir." I saluted briefly.
"You're learning Photon. You are learning."