Hello everybody! Reaching Chapter 5 here! I plan to pick up the pace from here on forward as the story continues. Everything before here was mainly to set up the setting and characters for the most part. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon, be it games, anime, manga, or anything else.
Chapter 5: Only the Beginning
January 26th-Violet City, Johto 9:30 AM
Zircon/ Quartz's POV
I looked down at the piece of paper in front of me, filled with scribbles all over the place. I had woken up earlier than usual, and started writing down scenarios for today's upcoming rematch with Falkner and how to counter several possible moves and strategies he might make based on the info from our last battle. 'Obviously, our main problem is that Skarmory of his,' I thought to myself, tapping over certain points on the paper as I thought over them, 'It's movepool consists of Rock Slide, Steel Wing, Metal Sound, and Flash Cannon. Also, unless I paralyze it, it can easily fly out of Pete's range.' I looked over to my yellow partner who was eating next to my no-longer-blind bird, Arie. Normally Arie wouldn't be so important in this battle if I hadn't switched out Pete's Thundershock for Volt Switch. While more power was great, unless Pete was the only Pokémon I had left, it was a move that forced a switch out and was my best electric attack that was guaranteed due to Volt Tackle still not being perfected. Yes, while 80% was much better than our previous 50/50 odds, I decided that risking the match on a gamble wasn't worth it the second time around. Besides, I only have one chance at this. The letter Dad sent me gave me only until tomorrow when he got back, and unless I win here, I can't exactly just leave Violet, therefore making finding me all the easier.
"Quartz, you up already?" Gold yawned as he stretched out upon entering the main lobby of the Pokémon Center.
"Yep," I replied crumpling up my notes. I tossed it to the nearest trash bin. I've planned out what I can, so what's left is to just go out and do it. "I've already ate breakfast too, so hurry up Gold-san, I'm ready to get going."
"Hey," he pointed at me, "Do not rush your Master."
"I thought we agreed on teacher?"
"Master, teacher, potato, potahto, same difference," he shrugged walking back to the room to pack his things and get ready. I sighed and turned to my two partners, one sparking at the ready, and one looking at me, with the same vacant expression it always had.
Within an hour or so, we were once again at the doors of Violet Gym. It's been only 4 days, but it feels like several weeks since I last approached these doors. I looked at my teacher, who gave me a big grin, which helped me relax. I took a deep breath before looking straight ahead as I opened the doors.
The first thing we saw was Clyde, as usual. "Hello, and welcome-" Clyde began, "Quartz, you're back? It hasn't even been a week! You giving it another try already?"
I nodded with a determined grin which made my message clear, 'I'm here to win this time.'
"Well, in that case, scan your Trainer Card and head on up," Clyde announced. "Since you've already defeated the Gym Trainers for your level, you can skip them and go straight to Falkner. Good luck!"
I smiled as Gold and I walked past him onto the platform that raised us up onto the battlefield where Falkner knelt on the other side, presumably meditating. "Back so soon?" he asked, opening his one visible eye looking straight at us. "Hopefully improved, I should expect?" I nodded and walked over to my side of the battlefield as Gold walked over to the stands. There's no time to waste, let's get this over with before anxiety decides to take over. I looked down at Pete who ran up, front and center. "Starting with Pichu again," Falkner said, making his way to his side of the field. "In that case," he pulled out a Pokéball, "Pidgeotto, to the skies!" The large bird flew overhead, facing us as Falkner finally reached his side.
'Starting off the same as last time,' I thought to myself. 'Well, let's hope the final outcome is what ends up being different.' The referee checked both sides before starting the match.
Falkner went straight on the offensive, "Pidgeotto, Aerial Ace!"
"Pete, Thunder Wave!" I called out in response. Step 1: Get the advantage in speed and lower his Pidgeotto's altitude. The bird clashed into Pete and received a small electric shock in return. 'Aerial Ace is a move that won't miss,' I thought to myself, 'but the damage is worth the reward,' as I saw the bird flying lower, the paralysis clearly taking effect. "All right, Pete," I said, taking my chance, "Volt Switch!" The move might force us to switch, but with the paralysis affecting Pidgeotto, Arie should be able to keep up. Pete shot a large ball of electricity at Pidgeotto, hitting it dead-on before retreating back into his Pokéball, causing Arie to pop out immediately.
"A new Pokémon," Falkner observed, "and a flying-type no less! Then there is no choice but a battle in the skies! Pidgeotto, take this battle up high!" He said pointing up. His bird, while struggling from paralysis, made its way up.
"Arie, don't push yourself, follow at your own pace!" Paralysis or no, despite the improvement from past couple of days, Arie's wings aren't that big and aerial battles weren't our strong suit, so keeping up with Pidgeotto would be difficult.
"Aerial Ace!"
Perfect! "Confusion!" I called out. If his moves can't miss, then all I have to do is stop him before he reaches his destination. The Pidgeotto's attack was stopped in mid-air as I motioned for Arie to toss it back down until it crashed into the floor. As the smoke cleared from the debris, Pidgeotto was revealed to be out of commission. As Falkner called back his bird I congratulated Arie as he flew back down, his face with as vacant an expression as ever. I chuckled as I thought, 'I guess whether he can see me or not, Arie is always on cloud nine.'
"I see," Falkner called as he looked back to me. "So, Thunder Wave was used in order for Natu to be able to match Pidgeotto in flight." I nodded, smiling only for a while before returning to focus completely on the match. While Volt Switch's power made taking out Pidgeotto even quicker than last time, we both knew it was just the appetizer to the main course of the battle. "So," Falkner pulled out the other Pokéball, definitely containing said main course, "You ready for the real battle to begin?" He threw the ball in the air and out came my worst nightmare, Skarmory. The metallic bird flew around before it settled at a certain height. I decided I needed Pete at full power to take on this monster, so I decided to let Arie continue as I sent him back into the air as it flew before it was facing Skarmory at eye level.
"Arie, Air Cutter!" I called out. I knew Skarmory would be able to either shrug off or dodge my attacks, but if I could drop its speed any percentage, it would be the difference we'd need between winning and losing.
"Push through and use Steel Wing!" Falkner cried. As Skarmory's wings glowed, they smashed through Arie's spirals of wind before into Arie who fell back.
"Arie, don't lose altitude!" I called. When Falkner has the height advantage, he truly controls the flow of the battle as a whole.
"Hmmm, not bad," Falkner mused, before calling out his next attack. "Time to send you back down, Rock Slide!" The metallic bird began forming rocks before tossing them in our general direction.
"Arie, Confusion!" Arie's eyes glowed as it stopped a couple rocks to use as a shield against the onslaught of rocks and throwing some back towards Skarmory before eventually getting overwhelmed. However, Falkner's Skarmory was also so focused on attacking that when my reflected rocks flew back, it hit him as well. From the cloud that was forming in the explosion in the sky, both Arie and Skarmory fell out, with both Falkner and I calling for them to get back in the air. While Skarmory quickly got back in position, Arie took a while before balancing itself along the wind. Unfortunately for us, at this point Falkner was in position to take the chance we had given him.
"Skarmory, trap them! Metal Sound!" Falkner cried as his bird's screech pushed Arie back with no way to escape. I knew what was coming next: Flash Cannon. It was the same strategy he used when he defeated Pete in our last match! Based on how far back Arie was being pushed, there was no hope of getting out of the way before the Flash Cannon. Also, factoring previous damage, I knew Arie wouldn't be able to withstand the Flash Cannon, so I decided that if Arie was going to get defeated, it might as well send a gift for the future at the very least…
"Arie, Future Sight!" Arie opened a couple of portals and blasted rays of psychic energy into both before Skarmory dove in after already readying the next attack.
"Flash Cannon!" The flash of silver light came from the large, metallic bird, engulfing my smaller, green bird. I caught Arie as he fell, obviously out of the count.
"Thanks Arie," I returned Arie to his Pokéball. "I make sure that your efforts lead to our victory." I pulled out Pete's and summoned him. I looked over at Falkner, the battlefield mirroring what happened the first time around. However, this time, Pete was much more full of energy in comparison to last time. "Pete, use Volt Switch before they fly out of range!" With Pete as my only Pokémon left, Volt Switch's pesky side effect wasn't an issue anymore. Now it was just a more powerful electric attack at our disposal.
"Skarmory, dodge it." Skarmory easily dodged the ball of electricity before plateauing again.
'So, without paralyzing it, Skarmory will always either be out of range or able to dodge our attacks,' I thought to myself. I did practice with Volt Switch, but I'm not sure how different its range is compared to Thundershock. Then again, I had one other option…
"Rock Slide!" The command from Falkner ripped me out of my thoughts and thrust me back into the action.
"Pete, same strategy as last time, climb the falling rocks!" I called out. Pete began his climb as the rocks continued to fall.
"That's not going to work two times in a row!" Falkner smiled before yelling out, "Skarmory, Flash Cannon through the rocks!" Without rocks continuing to fall, Pete couldn't get a stable footing, and all the rocks were lined up for a direct hit. I could only wait and watch as the silver laser began charging in Skarmory's mouth.
'Arceus, please help me in any way you can,' I thought, closing my eyes, unable to watch the scene before me. Then, as if responding to my prayer a blast hit Skarmory from behind, causing it to be unable to attack. "Wha-," I began before I saw the cause: the blast from Future Sight finally hit Skarmory! Talk about prefect timing. I decided this was my chance, "Pete, Thunder Wave!" Pete climbed a final rock before giving Skarmory the small jolt of electricity to ensure paralysis.
"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!" Falkner called out. With no more rocks to climb, Skarmory caught Pete and pounded him right back into the ground as it stayed afloat, but with a much lower altitude than before. Pete got up, undoubtedly tired. "Well, here we are," Falkner said, looking upon the field, "Here we are, same position as last time. While planning the Future Sight attack in advance was wise, we've arrived in the same scenario as last time. How will you proceed, Quartz?" He's right, the situation is the exact same as our previous battle, both parties tired, his Skarmory paralyzed, and me without a definite move to finish it off in a single hit. However, if I could just get in close enough, I could surprise him with my new move. "Metal Sound!"
I knew what was coming: once again he was preparing the Metal Sound-Flash Cannon combo! "Pete, stop that wave, hit it with a Volt Switch!" Pete charged up a ball of electric energy and launched in at the wave the metallic birds screech came from. From the collision of both moves, a blast caused a smokescreen. "Now's our chance," I called out, "Move in close and use Volt Switch!" Pete ran through the smokescreen, charged up another Volt Switch and jumped up, face to face with Skarmory.
"Counter it with Flash Cannon!" Skarmory began to charge its blast, but flinched as the effects of paralysis kicked in. Pete took advantage and fired off a Volt Switch, point blank, and propelled himself above Skarmory. For the first time, we had the higher altitude against Falkner.
With Falkner's mind obviously racing on how to escape the current predicament, I knew that confusing him one more time would give us the chance to finally put an end to this. "Hit' em hard Pete, HIDDEN POWER!"
"Let's test it out," Red said as he turned and pointed at a rock. "Fire it at that rock, and you'll see a new type of power you've never seen before."
I got up and nodded, "All right Pete, use Hidden Power!" A circle of energy surrounded Pete before he blasted it at the rock. The rock broke, but I wasn't feeling this 'new power' Red was hyping up. When Pete used Volt Tackle, the rock was blown to smithereens, but here it just kind of broke. "Uh, Red-san," I began, not wanting to sound ungrateful, but what type of move is Hidden Power, I wasn't really feeling the Power, y'know?"
He smiled and pointed, "Look at what's left over from your attack." I turned to see what he meant when I noticed it among the debris left over: small flames at the center of the explosion.
"It's a Fire-type move?!" I stood there in awe.
Red laughed before shaking his head, "Well, not exactly. You see Hidden Power is a move whose type differs depending on the Pokémon using it," he explained. "You see, every individual Pokémon has their own Hidden Power type determined from birth, and only by learning this move can they learn a move of a type they naturally couldn't. Many trainers like to test out Hidden Power to see if they could have a Hidden Power of a type they normally wouldn't be able to use."
"Wait just a second," I stopped him. "If Hidden Power is a random type that's decided based on the Pokémon, is there a chance that Pete's could have been Electric? Why risk using it when it would just be the same as something like Thundershock?"
Red smiled, "While you're right, it's true that Pokémon could have a Hidden Power the same type that they are, there is a way to figure out their Hidden Power type before using the TM."
"How's that?" I asked.
"There are certain people out there who can immediately tell just from one glance at a Pokémon what their Hidden Power type will be," he said. He stopped me before I could respond as he continued, "While I'm not one of those people, after talking with one of these people over in Celadon City, my natural ability as a battler has given me the ability to figure it out as I see a Pokémon battle. So, while I can't figure it out immediately, after seeing Pete practice over these past couple days, I was able to determine what type it would be. Considering the Pokémon that gave you a tough time in Falkner's Gym was a Steel-type, I figured having a Fire Type move in your back pocket could help you out in the end."
I turned back to where we tested out Hidden Power, and Pete was there, poking at the fading embers, trying to figure out how he caused that. I turned back to Red, grinning, "Thank you so much, Red-san!"
He smiled, "No problem, kid," the 'kid' not bugging me for once. "You know, I think you might actually be able to make it somewhere, even with Gold as a teacher." He continued before I opened my mouth, "Still not so sure if we're talking runner-up for next year's Pokémon League, but some people have made it there and won the whole thing in less time than you have until then, so it's not impossible." I smiled as he gave me this encouragement speech. "So, good luck," he said, giving me a thumbs up, "Arceus knows you'll need it to make it through Gold's teaching." He looked back towards Violet and started walking, "Let's head back, Gold and Yells are probably wondering what's taking us so long."
"Right," I said as I ran behind him. "C'mon, let's go Pete."
The blast from Hidden Power engulfed Skarmory in small flames and while Falkner stood there, figuring out how to continue after factoring this new information, his Skarmory continued to be unable to keep up, still under the effect of paralysis. "Let's finish this," I yelled, putting extra emphasis on the 'finish,' "Volt Switch!" Pete charged up the ball of electricity and slammed it into Skarmory, right in the face. The blast created some smoke as Pete did a backflip after jumping out from the attack.
As the smoke cleared, Skarmory seemed to get its footing, but it was it truly too much as it fell to the ground, down and out. "Skarmory is unable to battle, Pichu wins, which means the victory goes to the challenger!"
"WE WON!" I cheered at the top of my lungs. I ran over to Pete who jumped at me. "We won!" I put him down and patted the top of his head, "Great work, buddy." I picked up Arie's Pokéball and looked at Arie through the transparent top, "You too Arie, great work." Arie gave me a look that I hope was one of happiness and not another one of confusion. I looked over to the stands where Gold gave me one of his signature grins.
"Well, that was a great battle," Falkner knocked me back to reality as he walked over to me. He had already called back Skarmory and was putting away its Pokéball. "You've definitely improved from last time. Using your Natu's Future Sight to change the tide of the battle was impressive."
"Thanks," I said, scratching the back of my neck, a tad embarrassed.
"Also, hiding Hidden Power until you did was a bit of a surprise. You truly caught me off guard," Falkner knelt down to look at Pete who was acting triumphant. "Hidden Power Fire, correct?"
"Yep."
"Speaking of which, where and when did you guys learn Hidden Power?" Gold, who apparently had made his way from the stands, asked.
"Red-san gave us the TM the other day," I told him. "Remember the time you and Yellow-san went back ahead of us?"
"So that's what you guys stayed back for. I'm guessing Red-san figured out Pete's Hidden Power type, eh?" I nodded.
"In any case," Falkner cleared his throat, "Quartz, as proof of your victory here at the Violet Gym, I am glad to present you with this." He pulled out a silver badge shaped like a pair of wings. "The Zephyr Badge."
"Thank you so much," I said as I took it. My first badge, the first big step to entering the Pokémon League!
"Now, could you please step here," Falkner motioned to an area in front of a camera. "We'll need your photo for Trainer's Center." Oh yeah, Trainer's Center, the nightly news show for Trainers, always had pictures of all the Trainers who had won badges the previous day. I walked over before remembering something as I stood on the stand.
Just know I'm wishing you the best and if you can, try to send a signal back home, telling us you're OK.
Remembering Dad's note, I figured this would be the best way to do so. My look and name may be different, so the only way I could secretly do this was with a pose. Back when I was around 7 or so, I remember talking with Dad about the poses I'd do when I became a Trainer. I ended up deciding on a simple pose, one fist up into the sky, as I looked forward. I walked up in front of the camera and lifted my badge to the sky, as I looked forward, 'Dad, it's me. Hopefully you'll recognize this pose,' I thought as I smiled for the photo. The camera flashed and it was done.
I pinned the badge on the inside of my jacket as Falkner walked up to me, "Quartz, could I see your Trainer Card?"
"Sure, why?" I pulled it out and gave it to him.
Falkner pulled out a stamp and put a stamp on the Card before returning it. On the location of the 1st badge was a blue stamp of the Zephyr Badge. I looked at him as he explained, "You see, several reports of Trainers either losing their badges or that their badges were stolen kept coming before the League each year, so it was decided to stamp their Trainer Cards as well as a preemptive measure. This way, it keeps Trainers who have worked for their badges from being cheated out of their achievements." He smiled at me before saying, "Congratulations, you've earned your first badge. I look forward to seeing how you do in the future." He looked toward Gold, "I hope you're teaching leads this boy well."
Gold grinned, "You bet!"
Falkner smiled before looking back to me, "I hope we may have a rematch sometime."
I smiled, putting my Trainer Card away, "Sure!" Gold and I took the lift back down as we made our way out of the Gym.
"Nice win, I knew you could do it," Clyde told me on the way out. I thanked him as we exited the Gym back out into the busy streets of Violet.
"Well, how's it feel to win your first badge?" Gold asked, grinning.
"A lot better than losing," I joked.
"I'd imagine so," Gold said, chuckling. He looked at his PokéGear before continuing, "Now it's pretty early, only being around noon, so I guess we can take the rest of the day off to relax and continue on tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I asked. "Shouldn't we take this extra time to keep pushing ahead?" Of course my real reason for pushing ahead was to get more than a couple towns of distance between myself and New Bark Town before Dad got back, but with Gold, just wanting to continue forward should be a good enough excuse.
"So, what you're saying is that we might as well ride this winning momentum that we currently got?" Gold asked.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Hey, works for me.
"Well, let's see which way to go." Gold checked his PokéGear's map before continuing, "We got two options from here: either go west towards Goldenrod or south towards Azalea. Both have Gyms, so it doesn't really matter which way we go. Personally, I'd say Goldenrod since I live there and it'd be nice to crash somewhere other than the Pokémon Center, but since I've got badges from both those Gyms, I'll let you call the shots on where to next."
I sweatdropped at Gold's terrible planning. Again, he's supposed to be teaching me. "Well," I thought out loud, "What types are each of the Gyms?"
"Azalea's a Bug type Gym while Goldenrod is Normal," he told me. "In Azalea's case, when you consider that Arie is also part Psychic, although he's a Flying type, you won't have a complete advantage like you did against Falkner. However, considering Pete has Hidden Power Fire, it might be the better choice of the two."
"Then, let's do it!" I said, starting to walk before Gold cut me off.
"Hey, cool your jets, Quartz. Let's think a bit about this before we rush off. Azalea might be easier in terms of typing, but then it makes more sense to face it later, right?" I gave him a confused look. What does he mean? He sighed, "If you remember, the Gym scales its difficulty based on how many badges you have."
"Yeah, I got that. So what?"
"So, you are going to have to fight Gym Leaders you have a disadvantage against eventually. Therefore, you might as well take them on earlier rather than later, when they're more difficult."
He's got a good point there. It's the whole 'do the hard part now or later' concept that always came up back in school. I could go with the type advantage now with a Gym scaled to two badges and end up facing a Gym with a type disadvantage later with it being scaled much higher, or do the opposite. "Well, when I get to those Gyms," I asked, "won't I just have other Pokémon that will help me fill in those weaknesses?"
Gold thought about it for a moment before saying, "Well, yeah, I guess you could think of it that way as well. So, we're headed for Azalea?"
"Azalea," I said. With that, we stocked up at the nearest PokéMart before headed over to Route 32 once again.
Meanwhile
January 26th-Somewhere in Johto-11:00 AM
Normal POV
"Drain Punch."
In the middle of a forest far off the map in Johto, the grating sound of punch after punch sounded as a black-haired Trainer ordered his green swordsman Pokémon that delivered blow after blow to the short Team Rocket member Carr, who was tied to a tree.
"AGHHH!" Carr screamed as he coughed up blood, a small pool beginning to form at the floor beneath him. His face was damaged all over to a point where it was almost unrecognizable, his short stature being the only thing that could be used to identify him. There were several bloodied bruises on his body signifying points where the Gallade had already punched him. His vision was blurring as Drain Punch was not only causing him immense pain, but also draining him of his energy. He looked up at his assailant who was only wearing a sleeveless black shirt and jeans, the vest he was wearing earlier tossed off to the side.
"Wake up," Garnet said, looking over him. "I'm not done with you. Now tell me, where's Giovanni?"
"I told you already, I don't know!" Carr cried, pleading for the torture to stop. "After the Four Generals failed in their mission to create the Legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh, they all disappeared! Hell, I was locked away the entire time! I brought them together to reform Team Rocket and they double crossed me!"
"Kenshi, try reading his mind once more," Garnet said looking away from him. "If he doesn't give up any more information, we'll beat it out of him." He looked back at his victim, "Make this easier for both of us, before Kenshi breaks you and you become useless." The green swordsman Pokémon's eyes glowed as it began to probe his mind.
"You won't get away with this," Carr said as he winced in pain. "This is police brutality! Just wait until the message from Ecruteak Penitentiary makes its way to your headquarters. If you show up with me like this, you're finished!"
"Speak of the devil," Garnet said as his PokéGear lit up. "Zeta, did you intercept the e-mail to headquarters?" A red circle popped up on his screen before the image of a blue and red duck shaped Pokémon appeared on his screen. "Good, delete it and start running through all of Carr's files, emails, and anything else we've managed to get from him." He turned back to the short man who was glaring fiercely at him.
"You'll never get past the firewalls my computer has set up over my information," he smirked before coughing up even more blood.
"Don't worry about that," Garnet said. "Zeta is my Porygon-Z, specially tailored for infiltrating encrypted files and different cybernetic firewalls. In a few minutes, I'll have access to all of your files, be they deleted or otherwise. Now, all I need is the information in your head." He looked over to his Gallade whose eyes were still glowing as it tried to read Carr's mind. "NOW TALK!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Carr growled. "You're a member of the International Police! This kind of torture is against the code you people follow!"
"Ugh, why do you think I'm doing this way out here," Garnet sighed. "The law enforcement of the International Police is too lenient. It's no wonder they've failed time after time on locating Giovanni or any leaders of evil organizations up to this point! Do you really think I'm doing this with permission from those fools?" He stared back at Carr, the fire in his eyes blazing like an inferno. "Listen, I make my own rules, whether the higher ups like it or not. Way out here, I am the law."
"Look, I know nothing." Carr said softly, barely holding on at this point. "You're better off asking one of the Four Generals, the other two Beasts Orm or Sird, or any other member at this point."
"I have no leads on the locations of the Four Generals at this point," Garnet said. "And no lackeys in Team Rockets I've been able to find have any info either." He looked off into the sky and closed his eyes. "As for the other two Beasts, they've already passed on."
Carr's eyes widened, "What? When? How?"
Garnet turned back to him, "Orm died some years back in police custody recovering from injuries sustained after the incident when your airship crashed near Vermillion City. After years of recovery, he finally succumbed to those wounds. As for Sird," he paused. "She wasn't even truly part of Team Rocket, rather undercover for Team Galactic in Sinnoh. Further investigation proved she wasn't even fully loyal to them either."
Carr eyes grew wide in disbelief, "Wait, she was a spy all along?"
"I had to kill her a couple years back during a mission that went completely out of hand that is now the reason I work outside the International Police," Garnet knelt down and looked Carr at eye level, "That only leaves you." Carr squirmed both in pain and fear of the glare from the Trainer in front of him. "Kenshi, anything?" The Gallade's eyes stopped glowing as it shook its head. Garnet stood up and looked at Carr before saying, "This is your last chance, either give me the information I need, or die."
Tears began to fall from Carr's swollen eyes as he looked up at the merciless monster that stood before him. "I told you, I have no idea where any of the Four Generals, much less Giovanni are. Any shred of information I have would be among my files, which you already have." He hung his head, crying in pain.
"So that's it," Garnet said closing his eyes. He opened them, glaring one last time at the man before him, "I'll make sure your death is painless then, Kenshi: Drain Punch, full power." The green swordsman formed a fist that glowed brightly before slamming it right into the stomach of the Team Rocket member, ripping through the rope that bound him.
"Damn you…" he squeaked out for a second before the punch drained the last of his energy and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Garnet pulled out a small handgun and pointed at the fallen figure in front of him.
"Goodbye, Carr of the Three Beasts," he said as he pulled the trigger and the last of the Three Beasts had died. Garnet and his Pokémon washed up at a nearby river. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this once again, Kenshi." His Gallade just closed its eyes and bowed its head. Garnet returned it before checking his PokéGear to see how Zeta was doing on decrypting all of Carr's files. He put back on his purple sweater and red bulletproof vest. He pulled out a small book from his bag and flipped through it until he reached a page with Carr's face on it. He took out a red pen and marked it out with an 'X" before putting it back. He sent out two Pokémon, Cerberus, his Houndoom, and Ryujin, his Salamence. "Cerberus, burn the entire scene. Ryujin and I will fly over to Base Camp 17, We'll meet you there." He hopped on his dragon and they flew off as his hound ran back and set fire to the entire area where Carr's body lay. "May Arceus have mercy on me for this," he said as he flew off into the distance.
January 26th, Route 32-Johto 12:30 PM
Zircon/Quartz's POV
Walking into Route 32 felt kinda of weird in a way. While we were moving up this time around rather than sticking close to Violet, Gold and I had been training here for the past several days. In any case, since I kinda glided over the Routes leading to Violet due to that first day with Gold's Tibo, this was officially my first time going out into a Route.
Gold looked around, took a deep breath and said, "Well, now that we're here, I'll be off now."
I took a double take here. "Wait, what?"
"I said I'm leaving," Gold said simply. "There's a Pokémon Center at the end of this Route. I'll meet you there."
"Um, Gold-san," I began. "I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you forgetting something important?"
He raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know," I said, "maybe the whole teaching part of your job?"
"Oh that," Gold laughed. "It's just a normal Route, you'll be fine making it through. Why else would you have taken that written exam the other day?"
"There's a world of difference between a written exam and the real thing," I tried to explain. One's a piece of paper and the other is me walking out into the wild, fighting wild Pokémon and other Trainers.
"Come on, Quartz," Gold said. "While I did say I would teach you, I can't babysit you the entire way. You know what they say, 'learn by doing' and stuff. Besides, I can't teach you the normal way, remember, my quest involved saving the region and all." His ultimate 'Get Out of Jail Free' card. "In any case," he continued, "If me, savior of Johto, am right here next to you, everyone will be too afraid to battle you because they'll know you're my student and immediately think you're unbeatable, therefore giving you no training."
While that made perfect sense, the importance of what he just said kind of lost all meaning when a little girl, probably just started her journey as well, came up and said, "Oh my Mew! You're Gold Kaito, right? Can we battle?"
Gold turned to me, "All right, you want a lesson? Here's one." He threw out his Typhlosion, Exbo, which proceeded to battle the girls' team without any instruction as Gold kept explaining to me. "You see, you can't say no to a Trainer battle. Win, get some cash. Lose, pay up and go back to a Pokémon Center to heal. Use Potions during or between battles. Throw in some wild Pokémon battles, rinse, repeat, you're golden." Half his explanation flew over my head because in the background, Exbo was decimating the girls' team like they were just Ledyba in the wind. "Any more questions?"
"I guess not," I said as he returned Exbo and the girl ran back to Violet City to heal her team, fighting back tears. I did remember to stock up on Potions for outside battles and I had pretty much everything I needed, so I nodded, signifying that I was good to go.
"Great, I'll see you at the Pokémon Center tonight, then," Gold said, sending out Togebo.
"Tonight?" I asked. "Will it really take me that long to get there?"
"Eh, probably not," he hopped on Togebo.
"Wait, what if I get there early?" I asked.
"It's your first Route!" he called as he took to the skies. "Take your time! Enjoy the adventure, smell the Roselia, get lost if you have to! Trust me, it'll be a lot longer than you think!" And with that, my teacher disappeared off into the sky.
Although it was disheartening to have my teacher just ditch me out of nowhere, it did give me the chance to experience the feeling of being a normal Trainer. I learned how different it was from what I was told, such as battling wasn't just something that happened when two Trainers locked eyes, but rather an actual challenge needed to be issued. Of the Trainers I ran into, all of them had pretty basic Pokémon, usually consisting of something like a Nidoran, Pidgey, Wooper, or some other unevolved Pokémon, giving an easy win for Pete and Arie. However, their lower leveled Pokémon made it feel like we were all in the same boat, beginners just starting out. However, none of them seemed to have beaten Falkner, or any Gym Leader for that matter, which made my achievement seem all the better.
While there were other Trainers there that were obviously at a much higher level in the area, there was apparently an unwritten rule of Trainer etiquette known as 'don't crush anyone far below you just because you can.' As for wild Pokémon, there were a lot of Rattata, but there were also others here and there such as Mareep. While the idea of catching another Pokémon was there, I decided taking care of Arie and Pete was enough for now. When we got to the bridge, I decided to break for lunch.
The bridge is what really made Gold's decision to head on ahead finally make some sense. Several of the fisherman were up to a battle and Pete managed to make pretty quick work of most of their Water Pokémon and whenever there was a part Ground type like Wooper, Arie would take over. While once again, type advantage was probably a huge part of it, it felt like we were growing pretty fast. It was almost like fighting swarms of Pidgey like I did back during Day 1. It was way into the evening when I finally reached the Pokémon Center.
"Quartz, how's it going?" Gold greeted me. "You sure took your sweet time!"
"Isn't that what you told me to do?" I asked.
"Well yeah," he replied, "but I didn't think you'd take this long! It's already past 6! I guess we'll have to leave Union Cave for tomorrow. We'll crash here for tonight. It not every night where there's a Pokémon Center conveniently around the corner, y'know, so let's enjoy it when we can." After renting ourselves rooms for the night, I recounted the tale of the past several hours to Gold as we got dinner.
"Sounds great," he said. I'm unsure whether that was sarcasm or not. "However, for Union Cave, I'll be going with you."
"Really?" I asked. "What happened to the whole 'learning by doing' plan?" Or did he finally come around to actually teaching me things?
"Super Serious Gal got on my case about 'responsibility,' and stuff," he groaned, putting air quotes around the word responsibility. "She said, 'You agreed to teach him so now it's your job to keep an eye on him,'" he said, imitating his girlfriend. "Apparently, she thinks you could get lost in a cave and die or something. Ridiculous, right?"
"Right…" I said, sweatdropping. He does know dozens of Trainers get injured every year due to getting lost in dangerous places or taking a wrong turn off the map, right? There was a reason the Trainer's Equivalency Exam involved questions outside of just basic Pokémon training! Thank Arceus that Crystal, despite against my overall success affecting their bet, cares enough about my well-being to make sure Gold doesn't slack off on his teaching. Afterwards, as he went to bed, I stayed in the main lobby for a while.
'Tomorrow Dad finally gets back to Johto,' I thought to myself. Based on how long it takes him to get home after docking, then factoring how long it will take him to be able to call Mom, (in the case her PokéGear's on since she usually turns it off while training or battling) I got anywhere between 2-5 days before Mom decides to put a bounty on my head large enough to get half of Johto on my tail. In that time, I've got to erase my tracks as well move forward so there's no trail to me. 'Thankfully, Gold creates enough of a scene around him that detracts any detail to myself,' I thought to myself, chuckling.
"Welcome back to Trainer's Center," the TV in the lobby broke me out of my daydream. I looked over as the broadcast continues, "the following Trainers earned badges tonight. From the Ecruteak Gym: Xenotime…" I kind of zoned out until they got to Violet. "From the Violet Gym, Quartz Dorima!" I looked at the picture they got of me, not bad. I figured the pose I used was good enough to send a just subtle enough message to Dad, so he doesn't worry about me too much, but at the same time, hopefully wouldn't give away my position. Anyway, seeing myself on the TV, despite the new name, gave me a huge boost in confidence that helped me go to sleep soundly that night.
January 27th, Route 32 PKMN Center-10:00 AM
I woke up, pretty easily, confused why Gold hadn't woken me up yet. While neither of us seemed to be really morning people, Gold usually woke up earlier unless it was a special occasion like yesterday's Gym Battle. I walked out into the lobby to see him at a table, eating breakfast.
"Well, well, look who finally decided to get up," Gold said, smiling. "Seems like you're the late one this time Quartz."
"Good morning to you, too Gold-san," I said. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Eh, I'm in no rush," he shrugged. "Just get ready and eat breakfast, I gotta cover our plan for making it through Union Cave." He's got a plan for this? I guess Crystal really did give him a talking to.
"Got it," I replied as I quickly got ready and joined him where he was eating.
While I rushed to eat breakfast, he opened up a map and started explaining. "Now this is like my second time going through this cave, so stay close so we don't get lost."
I almost choked on my food as he said that. After making sure I was okay, I asked him, "Second time? I thought you've been around Johto multiple times!"
"Well yeah," Gold said, as if it were obvious. "However, why would I go through a cave when I can just fly over or around whenever I need to get to my destination. It's not like I'm eager to run into hundreds of Zubat's. Speaking of which, I got us some extra Repels." I stared at him incredulously as he handed me some extra Repels. This is one of the few caves of all of Johto, and he's only gone through it once? "Anyway, from what it says here, it's actually connected to the Ruins of Alph, so if we get lost, we're definitely backtracking quite a bit."
"You mean, we'll be back where we started?" I asked. Really not helping on the 'making distance between myself and New Bark' plan I had going.
"Pretty much, which is why it is important not to get lost," he motioned over to the map. "However, it seems like that shouldn't be a problem unless we head to the water parts of the cave, and since you don't have a Water-type Pokémon, we don't have any reason to go there. So, we'll just go straight through and before long, we should be in Azalea." He smiled and rolled up the map and put it away as I finished up my food. I looked out the window as I noticed a large storm was brewing.
"Should we wait until the storm passes, or are we good?" I asked.
"Nah, we'll be in the cave for a good while, considering there's other Trainers and wild Pokémon," he said. "So if anything, the storm will pass by the time we get out." He picked up his bag and turned to me. "We ready to go?"
I threw out the rest of my food, picked up my bag and nodded. We ran out of the Pokémon Center and made a break for the cave. As soon as we got out of the rain, we took a small break. The cave, while dark, had enough light in it for us to make our way through without the need of a flashlight.
"So, while I did say to stay together so we don't get lost," Gold said, looking around, "There's a good amount of light here. In that case, feel free to explore. As long as we can see each other, I don't think getting lost is too much of a problem. Worst case scenario, if we do get lost, call me on my PokéGear."
"Got it." Once again, we went our separate ways, but not too far off this time. It was like before, if Gold was near me all the time, any challenging Trainers might think twice before starting a battle. As we made our way through the cave, the insane amount of Zubat's began to make themselves known, so I decided to spray one of the Repels Gold gave me to keep them away even if for only a while.
"Hey kid, you want to battle?" I heard off to the side. I looked over to see a Hiker holding up a Pokéball. Well, you can't back off from a challenge to battle, right?
I pulled out Pete's Pokéball and sent him out. "Let's do this!" Pete stretched out his body before getting into position.
"Go, Geodude!" He sent out his rock Pokémon, who floated there in front of me. Well, this is bad. Since Geodude is part Ground type, that's a no to all my Electric type moves. It's also a Rock type, so that makes Hidden Power and Arie also not the best choices. Looks like we're playing the long game, then.
"Pete, Hidden Power!" I called as Pete blasted the Geodude with energy of the move. While it seemed pretty powerful, the Geodude seemed to be unfazed. If I had to guess, Pete was a higher level, but the type disadvantage put the match more in their favor.
"Geodude, use Tackle!" The Geodude quickly slammed himself into Pete, who tried to minimize the damage by blocking the full force of the Tackle. Upon getting to his feet, Pete looked up, more determined than ever. What was better is that Static kicked in during that Tackle and Geodude was paralyzed.
"All right Pete, now's our chance, Hidden Power once more!" Pete shot Hidden Power at Geodude at extremely close range and with a critical hit, took out the Geodude. "Nice one Pete!" I called as the mouse pumped his small paws in victory.
"Not bad, for a kid," he said as he returned his Geodude. As I forced myself from yelling at him for being called a kid, he sent out his next Pokémon, an Onix. I decided I might as well keep up with Pete unless I really felt that I needed to switch it up. "Onix, Bulldoze!" The ground began to shake and as a Ground type move, Pete was really feeling it.
'His Onix actually knows Ground moves,' I thought. 'I got no time to mess around.' "Pete, return!" As Pete got back in his Pokéball, I watched as the Hiker grinned. All I had left was Arie, and Arie wasn't really any better for a matchup. However, at least Arie's movepool was a bit more varied. "Arie, Confusion!" Arie came out and flung the Onix into a nearby wall. I motioned for Arie to fly higher as the Onix got up to try and get out of its close range.
"Onix, Rock Throw!"
"Dodge the rocks and use Future Sight!" Arie flew past several of the flying rocks before firing psychic energy into small portals, for later.
The Hiker looked at me with a smirk before calling, "Onix, Earthquake!" Earthquake? He does know ground moves don't affect Flying types, right? My confusion was answered as Arie was hit by a stalactite from the ceiling of the cave. The constant shaking of the cave cause several to fall. Arie tried to rebalance itself before constantly moving in order to dodge other stalactites. It didn't help that they were falling near me as well. I started running in one direction before a few fell and blocked my exit. I tried to see if I could find Gold, but it seemed the entire cave was caught up in the quake.
"Hey Mr. Hiker!" I called. "You think you might want to calm down with the Earthquake? The cave's practically falling apart!"
"Ha, you surrendering, little man? This is nothing!" He laughed as the cave shook around him. "What's wrong, kid? Where's the confidence from before? Can't handle a small Earthquake!" He laughed loudly as things were getting bad around us. Isn't this guy going a bit far to win a match?
Now under normal circumstances, I would've given up to keep things from going too badly. However, he kept yelling my trigger word, kid, and my self-restraint was growing thin. "I'm NOT a kid!" I yelled. "Arie, Confusion!" With that, the rock snake was lifted off the ground and thrown against the wall once again, finally stopping the shaking of the cave. Before the Onix could fully get up, the Future Sight popped out and struck it, ending the match. As the Hiker returned his Onix, I went and apologized for my little outburst. I really had to learn how to control my reaction to the term 'kid.' Everyone, including Gold called me that, so I guess I had to learn to get used to it.
"It's cool, little man," he said, as I twitched at the last part. "I guess I got carried away myself, in the heat of the battle." He laughed loudly as we parted ways. Note to self, avoid Hikers, or anyone else who seems to be carrying Rock Pokémon. I tried to see if Gold was anywhere around, but fallen stalactites were blocking a good chunk of my way.
"Gold-san, can you hear me?" I called out, waiting for a reply. After several seconds with no reply, I decided to call him. As I took out my PokéGear and scrolled through my contacts, I noticed one major problem. Gold never gave me his number! What a simple thing to forget to account for! 'Great, now I'm lost in the middle of Union Cave, with no sure-fire way to contact Gold.' I thought to myself. Of course, after thinking that, the powers above decided to makes things even worse, and water started to gush into the cave. I knew the cave had underground levels with an underwater lake, factor in the storms along with the quakes from earlier and before long, all the added water caused the cave to flood.
With no water Pokémon to rely on to fight the growing current, I tried to get Arie to fly me to higher ground, but as Arie was never too great at flying on his own, carrying me was obviously not going to work. I put Arie back in his Pokéball as I tried to stay afloat in this current. Now I'm not a terrible swimmer, but I live in New Bark, and there aren't exactly any pools or areas to practice my swimming. There is water at the eastern end of town, but I think I've introduced my mother well enough to explain why that didn't help. In any case, the current wasn't getting any weaker and it wasn't getting any easier for me. If this continued too much longer, I'd need a miracle to save me.
"Masquerain, use Sticky Web!" I heard all of a sudden. In an instant, I was stuck in a web and dragged out of the water by a flying bug Pokémon that I had never seen before. The bug Pokémon, based on what I heard earlier, I guess its species name is Masquerain, dropped me off on some higher ground away from the flood that was enveloping the cave. "Great job, Masquerain!" I turned around to see its Trainer, some girl that seemed to be about Gold's age with purple hair tied back in a high ponytail, wearing what seemed to be either camping gear or scout's gear. She was holding a giant bug-catching net, so I'm guessing she was a Bug Catcher or something. "Masquerain, go out and see if anyone else needs help!" As her Pokémon went out searching for others, she turned to me and asked, "You okay?"
"Yea," I responded, catching my breath from fighting the fierce current. I squeaked out a quick, "Thanks," before I went back to panting heavily.
"Thank goodness," she said. "I was over researching the Ruins of Alph when the water started overflowing. I didn't think the recent storms would be enough to cause the caves to overflow. Don't worry, it's connected to the ocean, so the water should eventually flow out." I looked over to another plateau above the water where her Masquerain was just helping up the same Hiker I finished battling.
"Hey, Quartz!" I heard overhead, seeing Gold flying above with his Togekiss. "You okay down there?" He came down to the same plateau we were on.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said as he landed. "This person helped me out." I pointed to the purple haired girl.
"Gold, is that you?" the purple haired girl asked, looking closer at him.
Gold took a second to respond. "Oh Bugsy!" he exclaimed, "What's up, man?" putting extra emphasis on that last word. As I put two and two together, I finally realized how much deeper my savior's voice was. After adding in that Gold turned to me and mouthed, 'He's a guy,' it finally dawned on me: this girl is a guy!
"Gold, can you help me get people to higher ground as I try to find a way to get the cave to drain out faster?" Bugsy asked as sh-he ordered his Masquerain to continue to find people fighting the current.
"Got it," he said, pulling out a Pokéball. "Togebo, help Masquerain get people to safe heights above the water. Polibo, help anyone who might be pulled under, and try to drain the water out of the cave with Whirlpool!"
As both of his Pokémon rushed to their tasks, I saw a side to Gold I hadn't seen before. Most of the time that I've known him, he was pretty carefree and often joking around. Sure, he was serious during battle or when he really got down to teaching me, but his expression here showed one of determination as he helped out. This was truly the Gold of the DexHolders, part of the team of Trainers that are known as heroes among the region. He was entirely focused and serious about helping out in a situation outside a normal Pokémon battle. It reminded me of all the times he spoke of 'saving the region' whether it was to brag or as some random excuse for how he didn't have a clear method to teach me. Witnessing this moment made me realize that despite his normally careless nature and sarcasm, he was still a DexHolder and that a Trainer of this caliber was teaching me.
I stood quietly and watched as both Gold and Bugsy helped get people to shore from the harsh current. As the water level began to go down and it seemed that the main crisis had been averted, Gold finally changed back to his more carefree self. "Well, it seems that most of the people are now out of the water level and Polibo's taking care of draining the rest of the excess water."
"Thanks again for helping out Gold," Bugsy said, as he looked around to see if anyone else was in need of help.
"Hey, don't sweat it," Gold said. "It's a good thing I was passing by with Quartz so I just managed to be able to help." He turned to me, "Speaking of which," he motioned towards Bugsy, "Quartz, I'd like you to meet the Gym Leader of Azalea Town, Bugsy." Wait, this guy is the Gym Leader? I should have had some sort of suspicion with how he seemed to more than the average Bug Catcher, but to run into the Gym Leader in here of all places? Just my luck.
Bugsy stuck out his hand for a handshake, "Hello Quartz, I heard about you from Falkner." Already, huh? News travels pretty fast between Gym Leaders. "So, you're Gold's new protégé, eh?"
"Pretty much," I responded as I shook his hand. It's a bit nerve-wracking that he just saved my life and now that I know he's a Gym Leader and my next big opponent. Not even mentioning that I didn't notice he was a guy until it was practically spelled out for me. Not the best of first impressions I could give a Gym Leader, I'd say. As we finished introductions, most of the water levels were going down, mainly headed to the lower floors.
"I'll finish up with the basement floors," Bugsy said to Gold. "Can I count on you to make sure everyone else makes it back down safely?" Gold nodded and the two of them got to work. Within about a half hour they seemed to be done with everything. "Well, that seems to be the last of it," Bugsy said. "There doesn't seem to be any real casualties, so I guess we got pretty lucky. I'll stay here a while and make sure things gradually calm down."
"You want us to help?" Gold asked, looking around to make sure there wasn't any real damage.
"It's fine," Bugsy replied. "The worst part of it seems to be done. Besides, I called Falkner to help me work out some of the tunnels in the lower levels." Before Gold could protest, he continued, "I also got some more research to do down by the Ruins of Alph, so don't worry."
"Ok, I guess if you say so," Gold conceded.
"It might take a couple days for everything to get sorted out," Bugsy said, now directed at me, "So, I'll have to put off our Gym match until then, that okay with you, Quartz?"
"Uh yeah, sure." I said quickly. Gotta make sure things are in order first, right? As Bugsy walked away and it was just Gold and I, I finally let a big sigh.
"What's up?" Gold asked me, confused.
"It's just that it felt like completely pathetic way to meet my next Gym Leader like that," I told him. "It made me feel like a helpless kid. How can I face him like that?"
"Don't mind that," Gold said. "It's part of a Gym Leader's job to help out when freak accidents like this happen around their town." Really? I thought they just were in charge of testing out Trainers. I guess it's a more demanding job than I gave it credit for. "Helping out people is kind his job." He paused for a second. "Besides," Gold continued, "if you think that was a bad introduction, you should have seen when I met Bugsy." I looked at him confused. "I thought he was a girl and I hit on him," he said, giving me an uncomfortable smile. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "See," he said, "you got nothing to worry about."
After checking once again on the conditions on the cave, we got ourselves ready to make the rest of the trek out. Due to the recent event, no other Pokémon Trainers wanted to battle either, which was good since it seemed a good number of them were Hikers and had Ground Types which were definitely my weak point.
Upon reaching the exit Gold stopped quickly and jumped behind a rock and pulled me with him. I heard him curse under his breath. "Uh Gold?"
"Shhh!" he said with a finger to his lips. "Quiet! And don't use names!"
"What's wrong?" I asked. The flood crisis was solved and the exit was mere inches away.
"The cave just went through a flood, don't you know what that means?" I gave him a confused look. "That means they'll be TV crews coming through moment now to check out the scene!"
"And?"
"You know how they treat me," Gold said peeking at the exit to see if anyone was coming through. "If I come out now, they'll think I'm the one that caused this mess!"
"But you just saved several people!" I said. "Can't you use this to your advantage?"
"Hell, Bugsy will get all the credit," he said. "He's a Gym Leader for crying out loud!" He looked around and we stood there for a couple minutes in silence just listening for any sign of people coming in.
"So, are we just going to stand here until they clear out?" I asked, breaking the silence. Gold looked up, actually considering the idea. "Gold-san! You can't be serious!"
Gold stood up, an idea obviously being formed. This can't be good. He pulled out a Pokéball, "All right I'm going to get Polibo to blast them with a Hydro Pump. Then, we book it, and we escape any possible reporters? Sound good?" I was about to protest but Gold already was putting the plan into action, heading for the exit.
"Gold-san wai-"
"Polibo, Hydro Pump!" Gold sent out the frog that blasted a huge current of water right out the door. Ironically enough, Gold's plan seemed just like the flood we just went through. This probably wouldn't help the 'troublemaker' personality he was getting known for. "Now run for it!" he yelled as he bolted out of the cave as fast as possible. I didn't run as fast and when I made it out, I ran into a still Gold.
"What's up, why are we stopping?" I asked, before looking around noticing. No one was there.
"I guess they all went towards the Violet entrance," Gold said as he began scratching the back of his head, laughing casually. It was raining hard, but not as hard as before we entered the cave. I read later that Route 33 is notoriously known for always raining so I guess this was unconnected to the storm from earlier. At least it was a really small Route. Before long, as the rain cleared Gold introduced me to our next destination, "Quartz, welcome to Azalea Town."
We walked into the town and I looked around. It was a pretty small town: outside of the Gym, Pokémon Center and Mart, there wasn't much, only a few houses here and there. There was a well outside of town and based on the map from my PokéGear, it was kinda secluded from the rest of Johto.
"It's a pretty small place after being in Violet," Gold said, seeing my face. "However, considering Goldenrod's our next stop, a nice break from the big city might do you some good."
"Well, it's around the same size as New Bark," I replied. "I think I'll manage just fine. So, I guess we better rent a room at the Pokémon Center?"
Gold grinned, "Actually, no." I looked at him confused. "We gotta save money when we can, and thankfully, I got an Aunt who lives here in Azalea, so I think we can crash there for the next couple days until your next Gym battle." He pointed to a house towards the edge of town, "Of course, we'll have to help out, like cleaning dishes and the like, but it's cheaper than the Pokémon Center. Besides, we got a couple days until Bugsy comes back, so we'll train in the meantime. So, after we visit the Pokémon Center and heal, we can head over."
It seemed like a good plan. Staying at the Pokémon Center every day, while cheap, was starting to go through what funds I had. That's not even mentioning buying food from them every day as well. Since Gold wasn't actually doing much battling, I imagine the only money he really has coming in is the cash he gets from the interview he does after Gym battles with Goldenrod Radio. Thinking about our cost expenses afterward, I'd imagine that he was almost as broke as me. He also has Azalea's Gym Badge, so no post Gym battle interview money for him this time around.
"So, we heal?" I said, motioning towards the Pokémon Center.
Gold chuckled, "Yeah, we'll heal up first."
January 27th-Olivine City Harbor-8:00 PM
Normal POV
A boat from Hoenn docked in the Olivine Harbor, carrying Shinji Idaisa along with the intern the Devon Corporation sent with him to Johto. 'Hm, I wonder how far Zircon's traveled over this past week,' his father thought as he set down his bags.
"Ahhh," the intern exclaimed, knocking him out of his thoughts. "It is good to be back!" He turned to face Shinij. "Damn, Mr. Idaisa, no offense, but next time, take a plane or something. These boats take forever!" The intern seemed to be in his late teens, possibly early twenties. His behavior at times was a bit brash, but most of the time, he was extremely proper. He always arrived at meetings 5 minutes beforehand, he was polite at all times, and most noticeably was the state his clothes were in, always as if they were just pressed and folded. Even now, after being on a boat ride for several hours and descending in a rush with hundreds of other passengers all trying to make their way through, he managed to get through without a single wrinkle in his jeans or his bright red t-shirt. Yet, upon landing, he pulled out a lint roller and proceeded to clean his clothes further
"First off," Shinji began, "call me Shinji, there are no needs for formalities here. Second, were you provided with any accommodations? If not, you can always stay at my place. I am in charge of helping you get around. The guest bedr -"
"It's cool," the intern said before he could finish, pushing in his glasses, making his red eyes shine through. "I used to live in Johto before moving to Hoenn. I know the map like the back of my hand," he said showing the back of his hand for effect. "Besides," he continued, "I got a friend who lives in Violet, and I can probably crash at his place for a couple nights." He pulled out his PokéGear, and started typing away, probably messaging said friend. He pulled out a Pokéball and summoned a large green dinosaur-like Pokémon with four large leaves as wings, known as a Tropius. "Just tell me where to meet you tomorrow," he said as he picked up his bag and mounted the large Pokémon.
"We're supp-" Shinij was about to begin as the Tropius began to flap its wings, causing him to flinch from the gusts of wind headed his way. He looked up and saw that with the wind blowing harder, the intern's neatly combed black hair started to blow back in forth, revealing a scar of what appeared to be claw marks on his right forehead. During work, the scar would usually covered up by his hair, making this the first time Shinij had seen it. He was about to ask before deciding against it, "Just meet me at my house at around 9-9:30 AM. We'll talk as I make my way to work on what you can do. I live in New Bark Town, I'll message you the exact address when I return!" By the end, the intern was so high up that Shinji had to yell to make sure he heard. The intern nodded back at him before putting an oddly shaped white hat that could easily be mistaken for his hair before soaring off toward Violet. Shinji sighed as his gaze followed him flying through the sky. He then looked at the evening sky, wondering where his own son was now, in the great region of Johto.
January 27th-Azalea Town-10:00 PM
Zircon/ Quartz's POV
After healing, Gold managed to convince his aunt and uncle to allow the two of us to stay the next couple of days. Like he predicted, we would have to help out a bit here and there, but it was worth it to get a free place to stay. Both of them were nice people, so I kind of felt right at home. Right after the two of us cleaned up the kitchen, we were about to call it a night.
The doorbell rang. "I got it," Gold called, walking over to the door.
"Are they expecting anyone?" I asked. I mean, we were kind of surprise visitors ourselves.
"Not that I'm aware of," he said reaching the door.
He opened it to reveal a girl, about my age, jet black hair with bangs explosive enough to be on par with Gold's, reaching about shoulder height. At the ends of her hair, there appeared to be violet highlights, with her bangs hanging right over her eyes, which were the same color as her highlights. She wore a t-shirt just as violet along with a black jacket with spiky white fur on the ends of the sleeves, along the zipper, to the edges of the back collar. She had jeans that had been cut off into shorts and sandals on her feet. "Gold-nii?" She said upon walking in. "What are you doing here?" Gold-nii? From what I know, Gold doesn't have a younger sister, but since we're at his aunt and uncle's house, she could be…
"Ami?" Gold asked just as surprised. "I should be asking you the same question, I thought you were headed for Blackthorn?"
"Well yeah, but I decided to-wait, that's not point…" Their arguem-er, conversation went into the background as I thought for a moment. I remember hearing the name 'Ami' a couple times now, just being mentioned quickly, never really sticking out too much.
I decided to interject myself to see what was going on, "Uh, hey there," I said, as both Gold and our new guest looked at me, a few seconds going by before Gold finally realized what I was asking.
"Oh right, you haven't met," Gold said. You don't say. "Quartz, this is my cousin Amethyst," he said gesturing towards her.
"Just call me Ami," she said smiling.
And with that, Chapter 5 is done. This actually took much longer than intended, since although the pace of the story is moving faster (every chapter isn't like one day) I don't want to make it so fast where weeks are flying by without notice. Speaking of which, it's officially a week since Zircon first left back in Chapter 1, so I guess that's a milestone.
Anyway, this chapter had some things I want to address:
Quickly, I'll talk about Amethyst. If you look in earlier chapters, I have hinted at her-she didn't come out of nowhere. In any case, she's an OC of mine that is Gold's cousin. While now she won't play too big a role, her importance will increase farther down the line.
Garnet-His involvement with the International Police is very, well let's say complicated. His being an officer and rank are very real, but while it's not a stretch to say he's a rogue cop, it's not that black and white.
The tone shift with Garnet. I feel some people might think it's too sudden, and to tell the truth, this is how he was imagined since the beginning and the fact that it took this long for me to show this side of him makes me think that some people might see it as unexpected.
The paragraph where Zircon talks about Gold may be a bit different than most depictions of Gold, but I felt it was needed. Gold does have his moments throughout PokéSpe and I felt that Zircon had to witness Gold in such a situation to cement Gold's qualification as someone who could teach him. Don't worry, the story won't keep glorifying Gold in the future. He is, well, Gold after all.
Pictures of Falkner & Amethyst as they appear here will go up on my DeviantArt-link in My Bio. Remember, I'm not the best artist, I just do this to give some sort of image of what I'm going for if my descriptions aren't enough for you.
Anyway, I want to try to upload more frequently, just school or work, based on the time of year, coupled with the fact that I'm not entirely satisfied with a chapter until it reaches at least a minimum of 10,000 words, the upload schedule keeps getting delayed. I want to say thanks to anyone who continues to keep up with this story, it is truly appreciated. Extra thanks to anyone who reviews, it is actually what motivates me to keep going.
In any case, that's Chapter 5, I'll begin work on Chapter 6 as soon as this goes up. As always, thank you once again for reading, following, favoriting, reviewing-everything you do. I'll see you all next time.
-MateiFire