Here's the second chapter for y'all, I hope you enjoy!
~Silverleone
Looking up at the stars as I relaxed against Lugia's belly, I thought back to each time I found a team member...
««{{Flashback}}»»
I jumped in to help the Professor stop the fighting. I winced when I got a claw to the hand but reached in to grabbed a wiggling body. I ducked as a weak ember flew over my head. I had grabbed the Litleo.
"Hey, quit moving." I held it at arm's length as it wiggled a little more before looking at me.
"There, that's better. Now, why were you picking a fight, huh?"
"Oh you poor thing." I thought for a minute, then smiled. "Would you like a male trainer instead?" She perked up and smiled.
"Lit?! Leo lit!"
««{{¤}}»»
"Hey Nidoran...Do, do you want to come with me?" He froze, and tears started springing up in his eyes. "You don't have to if you don't wan-Oof!" I instinctually wrapped my arms around him as he leaped into my stomach, trying to hug me with his puny legs. I sat there as he looked up at me, a smile spreading across my face.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Nido!"
««{{¤}}»»
"Unbelievable. How did we get so lost?" I hear some shouting and looked up to see what was going on, only to see a Riolu running down the trail. Three boys were chasing after it. One of them threw a rock and hit it in the back of the head, making it hit the ground with a cry. My vision turned red.
"HEY!" Litleo jumped at the volume of my voice as I ran forward, getting in between them. "That's enough!"
I crouched down slowly, not wanting to scare the injured Pokémon.
"Hey Riolu. My name is James. I'm sorry those kids hurt you." I set down a Potion and backed away. "This will make you feel better." I stood up and started walking away.
"...Are you sure Riolu? You could be free." Riolu nodded, walking over to meet Litleo as she placed the Pokéball in between us. Riolu pressed the button, the ball snapping open and sucking it in. It snapped shut and didn't even wiggle, just dinged right away. I walked over and picked it up, letting out the newly captured Pokémon. It formed on the ground, then immediately leaped at me, wrapping its tiny arms around my neck. I held it, gently petting its back.
"It's okay Riolu, you won't be hurt by those boys anymore."
««{{¤}}»»
"Thanks for the save back there!" I collapsed onto a rock, pulling my bag off of my shoulders gingerly, my arms sore. I had slipped on some icy snow and had slid right off a cliff. Thankfully, a random Metang had flown down after me and dragged me back up the cliff. I took a drink of water as the Metang slowly circled me. It stopped in front of me and spun sideways, whirring happily. I lowered my bottle from my mouth and raised an eyebrow.
"...What?"
««{{¤}}»»
"Not a chance! Haunter, use Explosion!" My heart dropped and I paled in horror.
"NO!" Riolu lost his footing and faceplanted before looking back at me in confusion. "RUN!" I cried as the Haunter cackled loudly, a bright light erupting from its form.
"Eeh?" I looked up and saw a new Pokémon poking out of the bushes. Its brown fur was complemented with the cream white fluff around its neck. Its dark brown eyes looked on, filled with concern. It took a tentative step forward, only to cower when Litleo growled. I placed my free hand on her back as she glared at the newcomer.
"It's okay Litleo. I don't think it wants to fight. Just be on guard." She nodded and circled around behind me, ready to attack, but staying out of the way. I turned my attention back to the little fluff ball with legs.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." It walked forward, its eyes solely on Riolu and its wounds. It stepped closer and gently nudged Riolu's arm, pulling back a little when he unconsciously winced away. It nodded its head and closed its eyes.
I was confused when a green light began emanating from its fur, and Riolu began glowing as well. My eyes widened when Riolu's wounds began to glow brighter than the rest of him, healing much faster than they normally would.
"How did you do that?" It nodded.
"E-e-vee!" It cheered.
««{{¤}}»»
I sighed gently, a single tear falling as I thought how badly I screwed up. I got cocky thinking my low level team of 5 would be enough to take on Titan Corp. I hadn't trained enough, and it caused me to lose to Damien, the leader.
After he had mopped the floor with me, he proceeded to tie me up and make me watch as he tortured my team. They were such young Pokémon. I shut my eyes. I did my best to keep my voice down, I didn't want to wake Lugia.
"Why was I such a fool? There was no way I could have beaten him. I should have trained more. I should hav-!" I clenched my fist, glaring at it. I heard a gentle coo and looked over to see Lugia's eye was open. It lifted its head and nudged my knee with the gentlest touch, concerned. I wiped away my tears and tried to keep at least some of my dignity.
"Sorry if I woke you Lugia... I couldn't sleep." It rubbed its beak against my cheek, a gentle purr coming from it. My hands came up to gently run along its beak. "I was thinking about my team. I was a fool to think that I could take on Damien, and now they...they are suffering for my mistake. It's my fault they are being tortured. Or worse, they could already-!" I couldn't say it. I had grown so close to them, and I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to them.
Lugia watched me closely for a few silent seconds, then its eyes started glowing, and a gentle song filled the clearing we were in. I could almost see the deep ocean as the song filled my mind, blocking out any other thoughts or sounds. I could only listen to it as the calm melody dried my tears as I stared into the blue light of Lugia's eyes.
The song ended after a while, and the light disappeared. I didn't want to break the silence by breathing, but my body forced air into my lungs, which snapped me out of my stupor. I placed a hand on its cheek, a sad smile on my face. When I spoke, it was a broken whisper.
"...Thank you."
««{{¤}}»»
"No way! What is that Pokémon?! It's huge!" My eyes snapped open and I found myself wrapped up in Lugia's embrace. I scrambled to stand up, waking up the Legendary. I looked around and spotted a young kid, couldn't be more than fifteen. The sun was just above the tree line, signaling midmorning. I had to think fast. If the kid threw a Pokéball, it was over.
"Sorry kid, this one is not for capture." I said.
"Hey! Who are you?!"
"I'm this Pokemon's trainer."
'Lugia, please, if he calls us to battle, will you fight with me?' I felt a gentle nudge in my back, and I looked over my shoulder to see it crouched there. It nodded and curled up, then threw its wings out and its head back, letting out a loud cry that shook the air. The kid took a step back in surprise. I slid my Pokédex from my pocket, scanning Lugia from behind my back.
"Wow, that's a big Pokémon! Too bad I've got the perfect tool to beat it! Battle me!" I sighed, ignoring the fact that he called his Pokémon a tool.
"Kid, I really don't have time. We have to get all the way across the country in less than a week."
"I'll make this so quick, you won't even need a Pokémon Center!" He called out excitedly. I weakly pointed a finger at him.
"That doesn't make any...whatever." He lobbed a Pokéball high into the air.
"Go Pidgeot!" My eyebrows raised a little. I was impressed as the large bird flew around, stopping to hover in front of the boy. I smiled, peaking at Lugia's moveset that my Pokédex pulled up.
"You leave us no choice. Lugia, Aero Blast." Lugia charged up and fired. The following blast knocked me backwards, smacking into its chest as it caught me with its wings. I coughed as the smoke and dust settled. A downed bird was laying in the ground, completely knocked out. I blinked and looked up at my newest friend.
"Did'ya have to overdo it?" It titled its head to look down at me, almost looking like it would rather not answer. I sighed, looking back to the trainer.
"That's not fair! I didn't even have a chance to attack!" He whined.
"S'not my fault Lugia is so fast. But I gotta go. See ya." I grabbed my bag as Lugia bent down so I could hop up.
"You can't leave! We haven't finished!"
"Kid, I'm going to flatten anything you throw out. You might want to get your Pidegot to the Pokémon Center." Lugia crouched down and leaped high, flapping its wings to climb into the air. The kid was shouting for us to come back, but we ignored him.
"Well, that went surprisingly well, nice attack back there. Just…maybe tone it down? Your strength is astronomical compared to most people around here." Lugia called out a thanks and we flew on. I settled down for a long ride, hoping it wasn't too tired.
"If you ever need a break, feel free to land. I'm going to come up with a strategy for helping my team." Lugia nodded and I pulled out my Pokédex, zooming in and taking a screenshot of the base we were headed towards. I studied it carefully, doing my best to remember the inner structure of it. I marked a few points on the photo, knowing where the main entrance was, and finding about where Damian's office was.
'They have to be holding my team in the middle, maybe in a basement. I really wish I knew exactly where, that would make things easier...'
««{{¤}}»»
I had Lugia fly in low over the tree tops. We landed in a clearing not too far from a Pokémon Center. I hopped off of Lugia's back, my legs a little shaky from being in the air right after waking up. I dropped my bag and dug through it, looking for something.
"I thought I had it in here...ah hah!" I pulled out a card and looked it over. "Yup, this'll do. I'll be right back Lugia, you just stay hidden, alright?" It nodded and I patted its beak. I made my way through the brush and trees. I broke the tree line and jogged into town. After a quick look over my map, I found the Pokémon Center. Walking up to the front desk, I saw a Nurse Joy standing there.
"Hello and welcome to the Pokémon Center, how can I help you?" She said cheerily.
"I won a tournament a while back, and I got this card to turn in to receive a Pokéball." I handed her the card, which she scanned.
"Yup, it looks legitimate. Please follow me." She opened the counter, allowing me to step through. She walked into the back room, picking up a catalog book and running her finger down it. "...Let's see...Ah, there it is." She set down the book and walked around the corner, moving to a certain shelf before pulling out a small bin. She reached in and pulled out a cherry red Pokéball. The sides were concaved, giving it a unique shape. She handed it to me.
"Now, there are a lot of people who want to get a hold of these Cherish Balls because they are rare. Carrying it on your belt is not recommended."
"Possibly get stolen, got it." I put it in my pocket and held out my hand. "Thank you Nurse Joy." She shook it.
"Of course! Is there anything else I can do for you? I noticed you only have one Pokéball on your belt. Do you only have one Pokémon?" I winced, having hoped she wouldn't have asked.
"It's...a, long story..." She raised her eyebrows.
"Are you saying you won a tournament with a single Pokémon?" I couldn't meet her eyes.
"No, I did have 6...but I made a mistake and now..." I swallowed my nerves. "I have to fix that mistake." Concern spread across her face, her hand coming up to her mouth.
"Oh my. Did someone steal them?"
"There is nothing you can do about it. Officer Jenny wouldn't even touch these guys." She gave me a hard look.
"Well, I don't know about that. Who are they? Stealing Pokémon is not only against the law, but also horrible." I shut my eyes, turning my head.
"There's nothing you can do."
"Young man, you tell me who it was this instant." I clenched my fist, trying to fight it, but I sighed.
"You know Titan Corp. right?"
"Why, yes. Where are you going with this?"
"Damien, the head of the company, is not the nice man you see on TV. He is cruel and calloused and takes pleasure in seeing others in pain." I went on to explain I had found out that he planned on using a few Pokémon with different abilities to try and take over the region. I had trained for a while and had gotten cocky in thinking I could take him on.
"He slaughtered me. I had no chance." Joy's eyes were wide in horror.
"He didn't...He couldn't have..." I shook my head before clearing my throat.
"No, he didn't kill them...But he tortured them right in front of me. ...I was forced to watch them as they...they..." I paused to regain control of myself. "I screwed up, and now I need to fix it." I held up the Cherish Ball. "And I've got just the way to do it."
"You know that doesn't have a higher catch rate, right?" She was giving me a skeptical look.
"Yeah, but I've got someone waiting for it. They're going to help me out."
"You're going to need a lot more help than just one Pokémon, I hope you learned that from the last time."
"Believe me, I'm not going in blind."
"I'm going to call the Officer Jenny up there and see what I can do."
"...Okay." I really didn't have a choice in the matter. "While you are doing that, I'm going to go and get m-!"
*SCREECH BOOM* Something shook the building. We ran outside, and I looked up in horror when I saw Lugia flying around above us, another Pokémon following close behind.
"Go Skarmory! Use Air Cutter!" My head snapped over when I saw a guy running out of the trees.
"NO!" I shouted in fear as a metal bird flapped its wings hard, sending blade shaped air at Lugia. Lugia curled in its wings and dropped below the attack. It charged an Aero Blast and fired it, only for the Skarmory to copy its movements.
"You're mine Lugia! Skarmory! Get it!" Skarmory dashed at it, having a surprising amount of speed. I ran forward, calling out.
"Lugia! Use Thundershock!" Lugia released a Thundershock, striking the bird. It squalled in pain as its muscles spasmed, making it fall to the ground.
"Lugia!" It turned to me and squawked. "Catch the Skarmory!" Lugia dove down and caught the falling bird with its psychic powers. It set it on the ground and glided over to meet me as I ran up, bending its neck down as I wrapped my arms around it.
"You aren't hurt, are you?" I checked it for any damage while the other trainer stormed over to me.
"Hey! What's the big idea?! That's my capture!" I turned to the kid.
"Lugia is my friend. No one is capturing it." I placed my hand on its head as a low rumble sounded from it. The trainer pulled out a Great Ball and held it up.
"That Pokémon hasn't been captured yet, which means it's free game. It's mine!" He chucked the ball, which I moved in front of and caught it with a stiff arm. I tossed the ball back.
"Lugia wanted to come with me. I just needed to get a certain Pokéball for it." I pulled out the Cherish Ball and enlarged it.
"Where'd you get that?!"
"I won it in a tournament. Now, if you'll excuse us." I turned around, only to hear and see the Great Ball whiz past my head. It bounced off of Lugia's forehead and opened. "LUGIA!"