A/N: YAY! I'm back and I got a review! Wait. Only one? Aww come on. You can do better than that. Ah wells. Here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Slayers.
Ch. 9: Trouble from the Past, Present, and Future
Lina yawned. She was exhausted after yesterday's and this morning's ordeal. Lina brightened, however, when she remembered where she was and how much food there was. With food clear in her mind's eye, Lina set off for the breakfast nook.
After breakfast, Lina informed the family that she had to go somewhere, but Zel would stay for the gala. At this, Zel seemed a bit disgruntled, as if he were having second thoughts. If Lina saw this, she made no comment of it, and started on her way with Gourry.
Lina's first stop was Lavender City. Not too many people knew it, but Lavender City had an official pokemon gym in it. With fast paced traveling, she arrived there that very night. She sought out the pokemon center and set to work. Lina knew that the Lavender City Gym used ghost pokemon. That much was obvious from the town's reputation. Therefore, Lina would have to make her pokemon team reflect on that type. In other words, no normal pokemon.
Long after others had gone to sleep, Lina had made out her plan of action as well as her pokemon team. It went as follows: Charmeleon (Pyro), Pikachu (Pico), Victreebel (Vick), Gyarados (Gary), Gengar (Gene), Ditto (Dot), and for "insurance" Dragonite (Dragu)'s pokeball was tied to a string around her neck.
Using a program in her Statidex, Lina navigated her way to the gym the very next morning after breakfast. Gourry went along with her to watch, but he was still sleepy as it was still very early. The building they had stopped in front of looked old and dreary. Its walls were as gray as the sky before a flood. A tall tower with seemingly horns and a ghoulish face loomed over them in the background. The town as a whole had a look and feel of foreboding, but this was the heart of it all. Taking a deep breath, Lina pushed open the doors and proclaimed her challenge.
"I, Lina Inverse, have come to challenge the Lavender City Gym Leader!"
Inside was very dark; the only light came from the open door. From that light however, Lina noticed that the place was a very cut and dry gym. A pokemon fighting arena (I forget if they had a specific name) lay squarely in the middle of the bare room. There were no windows, but Lina could make out an open doorway to a staircase directly across the room from her. From there, a shadow descended upon the room. The figure nonchalantly strolled into the room, a hand on his/her hip, and a decisive slant to his/her figure. With their free hand, they snapped their fingers. Immediately, a dim light turned on directly in the middle of the field.
Lina could now see the figure clearly. It was definitely a girl, perhaps in her mid-20's, wearing a black bandana over her raven haired- head, a loose cut black shirt with a white skull on it, and ripped dark blue jeans. She had a spiked collar around her neck, as well as her wrists. Lina was a bit startled as the woman stared coldly, unemotionally, at her with gray eyes that seemed to at first be dull, but hid a determined spirit.
In a monotonous voice, the woman introduced herself. "I'm Takai, the current Lavender City Gym Leader. A three-on-three pokemon battle. The challenger may substitute at any time, but the gym leader may not. Let's battle."
Both trainers entered the trainer's boxes on either side of the field. Takai sent a Ghastly in first. For insurance, Lina checked it with the statidex.
Name: Gate
Race: Pokemon
Species: Spearow
Type: Ghost/Poison
Height: 4' 4"
Weight: 0.3 lbs.
Area: Lavender City (Pokemon Tower)
Level: 24
Attacks:
-Hypnosis
-Spite
-Nightshade
-Confuse Ray
Levels to Evolution: 1
Status: Captured (Lavender City Gym)
Overall Grade: A
Lina chewed her lower lip a little. This might be a bit challenging. Quickly, Lina formulated a plan and chose her first pokemon, Gengar.
"Let the battle commence. Ghastly, use Nightshade."
Lina launched forward with a command of her own. "Do it as we practiced Gene! Now!"
The command was barely out of her lips before Gene dodged Gate's attack. As if unused to this, Gate looked around, searching for his foe. Lina smirked. "Nightshade cage!"
Immediately, Gate was trapped within a cage of black Nightshade bars. Gene soon appeared again outside of the cage facing its opponent. Gate attempted to disappear and reappear outside, but something went awry with that plan. As soon as he disappeared, he went into the form of a light and bounced around the cage interior. Gate reappeared ten times more haggard than when he had first disappeared. Lina smirked. Takai seemed to be taken off guard, but she soon smirked as well.
"I commend you on the skill of which you have trained your pokemon, but this will not end here. Gate. Hypnosis."
Psychic blue waves began to appear from Ghastly's ever drooping eyes. It took both Gate and Takai by surprise when the waves bounced off the cage walls and echoed back to hit Ghastly. That was it. Gate was down and out. If he hadn't been asleep, the fall would have injured him into unconsciousness.
As soon as Takai returned Gate to his pokeball, Gene dispersed the cage. He seemed a little tired out, but he could still fight. Next, Takai sent out Haunter. Lina stayed with Gene and made the first move.
"Gene- Mean Look!"
"Hate, dodge and use Curse!"
Lina was taken aback by this, but recovered quickly.
"Dodge it. Scan for Haunter and use Confuse Ray!"
Gengar's aim was directly on target, for even when Haunter was invisible, Gengar still hit it dead on. Haunter reappeared with confused eyes. Takai risked commanding Hate to use Nightshade. At the same time, Lina directed Gene to do the same. Gene's was more powerful, and it forced back Hate's attack until it knocked him down. Haunter was unconscious. Takai's face remained emotionless as she returned Haunter to his pokeball. Takai did not seem anywhere near surrendering as she released her final pokemon- Gengar.
"Gash, use Hypnosis."
Lina retaliated. "Gene, Curse."
Both attacks hit home. Gene was asleep, but Gash was cursed. Lina returned Gengar, complimented him lightly, and chose her next pokemon.
"Pyro, I choose you! Fireball 101!"
Pyro entered the arena with a swift and sweet ball of fire emitting from his mouth. With his trained expertise, Pyro launched it straight at Gash. Though cursed, Gash managed to dodge it. However, as Lina caught Gash in a split-second wince as soon as he reappeared, Lina knew that the curse was affecting him. Taking courage from this, she had Pyro attack with Fire Spin. Normally, pokemon like Pyro who were still under Lvl. 50 (He was only 28 at best), couldn't do Fire spin, but that's only if they learned it naturally. Lina knew how these attacks worked already, and simply trained Pyro to achieve it. Maybe the curse had slowed his reflexes, or maybe the sudden stream of fire encircling it had stunned him long enough for it to envelop him, maybe it was both. Either way, it caught Gash, and when the fire dispersed, a fainted Gengar flopped to the ground.
With an almost disappointed exhale, Takai returned Gash to his pokeball. Her back straight, and eyes once more emotionless, Takai made her way across the room to Lina. "You have trained your pokemon well. Take this Ghost Badge as proof of your victory today."
Lina struggled to keep her face straight as well as she accepted the badge that Takai held out to her. However, as soon as her hand left Takai's, and it held her newest badge, Lina couldn't keep it in any longer. Lina cheered and hugged Pyro around his neck. Very happily, Lina thanked Takai. Before much more time had passed, Lina and Gourry left the gym. By now, it was early afternoon. Time for lunch!
From a window on the second story of the gym, a silhouette watched the two trainers leave. As Takai returned upstairs, the figure did not turn before asking, "What do you think of them?"
Takai inclined her head slightly out of respect. "I'm not too sure about the guy, but the one I battled…I believe she called herself Lina Inverse…she trains her pokemon in a way never before seen by me, or anyone I know. It may sound strange, but I think I learned a little just from battling her like that."
The shadow now turned, and stepped into the light of the window. From there, he could be better seen, but he looked much more foreboding. To Zelgadis, it would have seemed to be a ghost, but to Takai…he was family. No, he was her beloved father…in law. "Let's watch them a while longer. This Lina Inverse…may be useful for my plans."
Lina strolled the streets in contented silence after having a well deserved buffet of food. Next to her, also quite content, was Gourry, whistling a mindless tune. After calming herself with her walk, they made their way back towards Saffron City.
By walking very fast, Lina and Gourry made it back by a few hours to midnight. There, they had a luxurious dinner, at the ongoing gala. Despite his earlier willingness, Zelgadis was sulking in the corner, no doubt facing the horrors on people's faces when they saw him, at least in his own mind. With much coaxing, Lina finally dragged Zelgadis around to ask around about Rezo Akahoushi. As luck would have it, most answered that they had not seen him for over two months now. Apparently, Rezo was the type who would not go out of his way to speak or see anyone without a very good and necessary reason. Late into the night, they finally gave up and retired in hopes of a fitful sleep.
That night, Lina dreamt of home, and not the good memories. She recalled whenever she was naughty even to the tiniest extent, her sister would punish her in ways the outwardly seemed 'getting off easy' but it was really tormenting Lina inside. Lina tossed and turned all night, and ended up throwing her pillow, blanket, and by morning, herself, off the bed.
Zelgadis was not that far off. He dreamt of home as well – playing with his grandfather had always been fun for him. Zelgadis was a serious child even at a young age. By the age of five, Zel had won a chess tournament, beating experienced players 5-10 times his age. All of a sudden, the lighthearted dream turned into a nightmare as he witnessed his grandfather's demise once more.
Gourry dreamed of food. Miles upon piles of delicious food. Chocolate parfait swirled with vanilla…whipped cream on top…and a cherry on top of that. Mmmmmm…..(:P)
As soon as the sun had risen, Lina was off. She couldn't wait for Gourry or Zel to wake up naturally, so she had Pyro light a fire under their behinds. After a quick breakfast, they headed towards Celadon City. On the way, they came across a large canyon area where a whole pack of Mankey and Primeape lived. It didn't take long for the travelers to be surrounded by them. With a smirk, Lina called forth all of her pokemon excluding Dragonite. As swift as a race car, Lina commanded her pokemon to do whatever it took to knock them all out. In this way, Lina leveled up her pokemon so much, that Pyro was a step away from evolving, and all of her other pokemon had leveled up at least two or three levels. Gourry and Zel watched in stunned silence as Primeape after Primeape fell to the extreme power of Lina's pokemon. Even Gyarados, a water type, creamed his opponents. In a matter of minutes, Lina's pokemon had completely demolished their forces. For kicks, Lina even caught the strongest one there.
Not much later, they arrived at Celadon City. That night, they slept peacefully once more, unaware that as they slept, people that sought them out, and people they would search for, were currently on their way to Celadon City as well.
A/N: Sorry I'm late! I'm also sorry if this chapter has turned out to be really short. Really I am! I hope you review this time! Please continue reading my fic! Thx! Bye!