Here starts chapter 4!
The setting was chaos but a kind of cheerfully controlled chaos that left spirits rising. Pokemon leaning against each other, or leaning over each other aggressively, biting at plates and bowls and fingers daringly.
Felix tapped Lilith on the nose for trying to steal his finger and almost gave it up again.
"Is it always like this?" Houndour said, blinking as he took in the carnage. They had not taken up room in the Pokemon Centre as the trainers preferred to have their pokemon out as much as possible, taking up position outside the city in trainer lodgings.
Before Gabriel could respond, a voice called out to him.
"Gabe get your butt over here and start eating! Dinner isn't going to eat itself, you know!"
"Don't let it get cold now," Gabriel placed a bowl full of soup on the ground for the houndour, who gave barked in thanks.
"So, what brought you all the way out here, Houndour? You were kind of beat up back there when Gabriel found you." Felix asked, trying to start a conversation with the recent addition to their team. He found it quite odd that a dog pokemon was alone when they found it instead of with the rest of its friends.
The Dark-type looked up from his food and gave the question some thought. "Got separated from my pack by some mightyena we were fighting with earlier. They are neighbours of ours, but we don't really get along. Had me running for a while when I accidentally crossed into their territory."
"Bunch of bastards they are," Lilith said with some malice behind it before turning over to her trainer. "You think we can take a detour and go on a little field trip?"
"No, Lilith. We are not going to destroy another community of pokemon. Angie already did that to the pond colony for Bugs, and I still feel bad about that."
"Tch, you never let me do anything fun."
Gabriel tuned out his brother and the absol as it pretty much devolved into an argument of unequal opportunities and Angie reaping all the fun she could get from hearing a one-sided conversation.
"What's she saying?" she asked excitedly as Lilith scoffed something easily translatable into any language.
"That I am a very unflattering thing," Felix remarked dryly.
While everyone ate, Gabriel cast a slightly sad look at the houndour. He had asked Angie and Felix if they were willing to take him in, but both said that the pokemon was his.
That wasn't fair.
He returned to playing with the pokeball, maneouvering it around in his hands, poking at the two buttons that existed on it. The big middle one was the release and there was a smaller one that was harder to press.
He pressed it, but nothing happened. He was pretty sure a release was meant to do something but the pokeball was still registering Houndour to it.
He set it aside and decided to work on an empty one. Maybe if he could work out how it tied a pokemon to it he could undo the tie?
He fiddled at it for a while before an unusual hit of frustration hit him and he threw the pokeball.
It flew through the leaves of a tree and hit something with a distinctive mechanical sound. Gabriel's heart fell out of his body as he swiftly leapt through the leaves as well.
Right in time to see a pokeball click.
Felix and Angie poked their heads in concern as Gabriel made a sound that was not human, cradling a pokeball in horror.
The celebration of his second pokemon was not met with jubilance.
"Judging from those two, you must have had it rough today." Gabriel placed another bowl for the houndour. It was another day, another night, and two pokemon in his care. "Once you get all better, we can decide what to do next from there before heading out. Sounds good?"
"Yep!" Houndour replied with a happy bark.
Dante spat out an ember to lit up the bundle of sticks underneath the pot. He gave himself a satisfied nod. "I got the fire going again!"
"You did?" Gabriel looked over his shoulder. "Great. That will save me some time then. I just need the detergent…." It was easier to clean dishes with hot water.
Their new comrade opened up an eye and let out a yawn. "Can you guys lower the noise? Some of us are trying to sleep here."
"Sorry, sorry." He amended, bringing out towels he ruffled out of his backpack. "Oh, there are some preservatives in here. Score."
"Meat!?" Electrike came up from his spot and bounded over. "Surely, you can't be thinking of not sharing that with us, are you?"
The houndour shook his head. "He would never do that. That's human food."
"Well, if it's any better than the ones in the garbage bin behind that human building, count me in."
"A lot better," Houndour said.
While they were talking, Gabriel was going down his mental checklist. It's just them considering Angie and Felix stated they can take of themselves before running off, so it shouldn't be much...
"Woah, that's a lot. All of this for us? Not that I'm complaining or anything." Electrike almost went for a tiny nibble on a sausage before Houndour placed a paw down.
"No, it's just what I'm planning for everybody else," Gabriel said, pointing towards the group of pokemon that belongs to Felix as they settled into his camp.
"What's up with those guys?" Dante asked.
"Felix tried to cook us a reunion dinner," Isolde answered, the gardevoir curling into a ball. "So much smoke and fire."
"It felt like it was going to do super-effective damage to me and I haven't even tried it yet." Ruby shivered at the sight of what Felix prepared. Her nine tails flicked in agitation.
"What did you do with my money?" Angie demanded, slamming a hand next to a dozing Felix's head, startling him.
"What?" he yelled, still alarmed.
Angie grabbed him by the shirt and drew him close. "I am missing 160 Poké. Where. Did it. Go?"
Elsewhere.
"Make it rain bitches!" Tania laughed, tossing the notes in the air. Bugs danced under the cascading money, thoughtless and unaware of what he was really doing.
Baku seeped into the area, his incorporeal form shivering in place with the beats Isolde was playing through the phone she owned. "You should know/understand," he tittered, sliding up next to Tania and nearly enveloping her in his body. "Our beloved/cherished trainer has sold you out."
The music paused.
"Well..." Isolde said, rapidly packing up her equipment. "This was fun. Thanks for the video. Bye!" And she ran as a terrifying human teenager prowled out of the woods surrounding them.
Baku and Tania were gone. It was only Bugs. With the money around him.
"E-eep," he whimpered as Angie approached.
"Alright, Angie, where do you want to go?" Gabriel placed his phone on the table showing the Kalos map. "Your journey so you call the shots."
"That's unless you try to kill us all by taking short cuts," Felix added.
Angie rolled her eyes. "I don't need you telling me that since you get in more trouble than either of us."
"That's not true!"
"It's pretty much true," Tristan called out from his game of Uno.
"Remember when Andrew fired acid in the city?" Tyson offered.
"Or when Joey and Malissa stole/thieved that Oracion disk/music/calming power?" Baku asked. "Pretty sure that nearly murdered/killed everyone."
"There's that time when we blew up that building, too. Also Uno." Isolde placed her card down while everyone was distracted.
"Which time?"
"My point exactly."
Felix muttered about traitors and folded his arms.
"What's the closest gym badge from here?" Angie asked.
"Lumiose City, but you already got that badge."
They shared a significant look. Plans broiling in their fiendish little heads, Gabriel was none the wiser.
"There's Snowbelle if you want to go." Felix pointed at the lower right side of the regional map.
"You just want to go there because of your ice powers," Angie said.
"Can you blame me?"
"No..." She would fucking abuse that in the winter wonderland. "Snowbelle it is, but I forgot to pack for the weather."
"I wonder how Nathan's going?" Phoebe said out loud as they walked along the path She'd decided to come back on the team for a short while, just to meet Angie and Gabriel's new pokémon.
Gabriel had given up about trying to release them considering the pair were so happy around everyone else and even himself.
Thus, he'd given in and given them names. Dante for Houndour, Laxus for Electrike.
"He'll be fine," Felix replied, nothing but confident in Nathan. Phoebe smiled at him, not many of their team were so confident in him but Felix has not wavered even once. It meant a lot to Nathan, she knew, so it meant a lot to her as well.
"Hey," Angie said, elbowing Felix as she butt right in. "You've got that look on your face," she said.
"I do?" Felix asked, unaware of what his own expressions were or what look she was seeing.
"Yep." Angie nodded, no explanations needed in her mind. "And so I'm going to destroy you."
"?" If Felix's expression could talk, that'd be the sound.
Angie rolled her eyes. "Hey, Pheebs! Luxio wants another go at you."
Phoebe, who knew exactly what Angie was rambling on about, gave her a confident look. "Felix?" Phoebe said, pulling the confused trainer's attention to her. "Inform Angie her hair is snot and I'll be blowing my nose with Luxio."
"...What?"
"Let's battle!" Phoebe declared, doing a dramatic pose before running off to the field to the side. They had stopped for lunch, Gabriel hard at work as always.
"You want to get in on this?" Angie called as they took their places.
"I'll officiate," Gabriel replied, waving the ladle. "From here. I can still see everything." He gave Dante a pat on the back, the houndour hard at work keeping the flames stoked.
"I can keep it going if you'd like?" Dante offered as Angie and Felix exchanged some trash talk, part of it translated. Tristan, Isolde, and Ruby came to watch as the battle began.
"That's more than fine," Gabriel replied, keeping a close eye on the battle along with the food. "You can battle if you'd like."
"I'd prefer to help you with lunch."
Gabriel couldn't help but smile a little at that. When the time came to end the battle and serve lunch, he continued wearing that small smile.
"I'm surprised you are not strangling me at the moment."
Angie drew a card from the deck and added it to her hand. "This is like the third time that we've fallen off a cliff today. You get used to it eventually."
"And eventually is...?" Felix asked.
"Yesterday. Where have we fallen off five times and just getting back from Santalune City." She shrugged and casually did a backflip. "Who knew there are so many cliffs on Route 4? This is supposed to be a garden pathway, but we keep finding ourselves on mountainous terrain."
"Well, you did want to go on the unbeaten path and explore the wilderness. I can even see the field we were on originally over there." Felix pointed at the flower garden, which was a fair distance from them. He can even make out the water fountain in the middle of the path.
"Meh. It was boring to take," Angie said before revealing a full house in her hand. "So when is Adrien going to save us?"
"He said he's tired of flying us out all the time. Something about it happening too often. Ah, darn it..." Felix made a move to grab some more cards out of the deck, but they were all blown away by the wind.
"Looks like we are all out of cards. I win!"
Felix was staring intently at something, eyes not leaving it at all.
"Felix?"
Felix was actually just staring into space, not focused on anything at all.
"Felix?"
Felix couldn't focus today. It was just a day of not focusing, his mind sliding slowly from one thing to another.
"Felix? Hey?"
Because focus brought thought and thought inevitably led to Keira.
"Listen to me!"
He blinked as his cheeks were lightly smacked and his eyes blurred a bit before they focused. He realised he hadn't been blinking much as his eyes began to sting.
Angie was staring down at Felix with worry all across her face. They were part of the way to Snowbelle and he didn't seem too enthused about the sprinkling of ice on the ground this morning. Didn't seem enthused about the idea of finding some more of his pokémon. Didn't really even eat breakfast, just gummed on a piece of toast as everything moved around him.
"Sorry, I zoned out," Felix said, "did you say something?"
"Yeah, I wanted to know if you could make me a snowman?" Angie said, with a clear lack of conviction. "So, I could wreck it and make snowballs to throw at Gabe. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Felix slowly got to his feet, he still seemed a bit out of it but he was at least responding. "Do you have any water I can use?"
Angie vaguely gestured to the river they were next to. "Oh. Right."
He did some hand waves and moisture froze in the air above the water, almost peeling layers of ice off the moving water. It took a while, Felix couldn't make much at a time even with an additional water source. But he soon had fashioned her a snowman shaped like Angie herself, he even mixed some grass into the top to visualise her hair.
She would have knocked him into the water for that, but Felix had already wandered off looking lost.
She didn't like it and Angie needed to put her intellect towards a different endeavour than assaulting Gabriel. No, she had to cheer Felix up. A conundrum to be sure.
"So, how long have you known your trainers?" Dante asked the collection of quadrupeds before him.
"I've known Felix for a little while now," Shadow answered, slowly wagging his tail as their trainers argued about something not worth arguing about. "I was the first member of the Unova Team, and because of that I'm the Team Leader for Unova. A... year or so I think the humans refer to that amount of time?"
"I've been with Angie for years and years!" Luxio bragged. "Way longer than anyone else here or there! The only pokémon that would compare to me would be Keira!" And then he closed his mouth in horror.
Thankfully, he did not say this around anyone older than Shadow. The umbreon did cock his head at Luxio, asking. "I never met her until that battle against Team Plasma. How much did you know her?"
"Is Keira the lucario that died?" Dante asked, deciding to be blunt just to understand not to hurt any feelings later. He received a pair of nods.
"Keira was... weird," Luxio answered, thinking over the question a bit. He didn't really have any problem with her, but he did adopt a lot of Angie's own mannerisms and he knew Angie didn't like her. Even if she'd never, ever, admit that.
"How so?" Shadow asked, very curious. The only things he'd heard about Keira was how strong and awesome she was. Not that he didn't like that, but someone's view that wasn't influenced by nostalgia or emotional connection was interesting.
"She liked to act like humans do," Luxio answered. "Using their things. Sleeping in their beds. She even went to the learning place that human children go to. I wasn't allowed to go with Angie, but Keira was. I think she actually pretended to be one of the human children learning. I saw her carrying one of those little bags that Angie brought to the learning place."
"She liked to pretend?" Dante asked, one of his ears flopping.
"I haven't heard anything like that," Shadow said before something occurred to him. "Well... besides the fact that she'd often act more like everyone's trainer than Felix did. At least in the actual training way. I don't know about that, Felix has always trained me and the others really well, so it's hard for me to imagine."
"I would believe that." Luxio nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to be a human trainer even. Which seems silly to me, but Felix has pokémon powers so... hmm."
"You knew her well?" Dante asked.
"No." Luxio shook his head. "I barely knew her. Angie didn't get me until Felix already was with Keira and stuff. I battled her a bunch of times, I even won!" He didn't mention that his win/loss ratio was rather low against her. "But she wasn't really around that much for me to know her."
Dante nodded, building his confidence to another question. "So... you know Felix and Angie and all that pretty well?" Luxio shrugged but didn't say no. "What about Gabriel?"
Luxio beamed. "Oh yeah, I've known Gabriel for ages now! I totally knew he could understand pokémon all this time. He never chatted, hiding it for some reason, but it was super obvious! He's been around for as long as I can remember."
"Was he different when he was younger?"
"Not really. He was a bit... hmm." Luxio couldn't really find the words. "Happier? I don't know. He seemed more energetic I think. He's still really active but there's that..."
"Just so, part," Dante finished. Luxio nodded. They didn't have the word autonomous in mind, but it fit quite well.
"He's always been really nice though. Nice and helpful. He gets to know the pokémon at the Day Care and is really good at helping everyone. You're pretty lucky to have a trainer like him. Not as lucky as me!" Luxio laughed. "But still pretty lucky."
"What about me?" Shadow asked, still a part of this. "Aren't I lucky to have a trainer like Felix?"
Luxio smirked. "Eh."
"Eh!?"
"That's what I said."
"Well, you're wrong! Felix is the absolute best!"
"He's nothing to Angie!"
"He can understand me!"
"Angie doesn't need to know my words to understand me!"
Dante raised a paw to try and calm them down, but Luxio tackled Shadow and they got into a scrap. He eventually separated them before anyone (Luxio) got hurt.
They made up easily and started talking about the best kinds of attacks. Dante relaxed and joined the conversation until dinner was called.
Eventually, something would happen that took everyone's attention for a while. Just a few hours out from reaching Snowbelle City, Felix and Angie had been training their pokémon.
Angie, for the express purpose of destroying the Gym Leader and all they held dear. Felix, because Angie asked him and his pokémon had just looked too damn hopeful.
"Gabe, are you sure you don't want to train your pokémon with the rest of them?" Felix asked having noticed that the two canines hadn't had much experience in the field with a trainer.
"They can train," Gabriel started, "but I just let them do what they want. Don't want to force them into anything, right?"
Felix nodded slowly. He understood that. Some of his own pokémon started their own group called the NFL, or the Non-Fighter-League, to celebrate pacifism and hone their skills in other areas besides battling. Laxus and Dante, however, didn't strike Felix as that kind of pokémon.
Angie agreed, however unknowingly. "Yeah, but you could still have them learn how to prepare themselves for some stuff," Angie pointed out. "Exercise is still pretty good and I think your electrike is getting a bit of a belly."
They turned to Laxus who was currently in a food coma and on his back.
Laxus cracked his eyes open. "Hey! I can still take on any of you!" He rolled onto his feet and waddled over, Angie smirking as she could see the bait had been taken. "Who am I taking on? The ice theatre kid or the tomboy?"
Angie didn't understand what the pokémon said and Gabe was giving him a funny look, but an evil thought came to Felix.
"Why don't we have a double battle?" he asked. "You have Dante, so might as well have them learn to work as a team."
"I don't know." Gabriel took a step back and looked back at his simmering pan of food. "I don't have much practice in that sort of thing like you two." He gave Laxus a pat on the head.
"Well, duh." Angie rolled her eyes. "You got to make time for it."
"That settles it then!" Felix clasped his hands together. "It will be me and Angie against you, Gabe."
"We are going to spar?" Dante asked, delighted.
"Yup! Now, I should probably pick someone easy to start you out with..." Felix looked around the field to find who he was looking for. "Tristan? You up for a battle?"
"I'm supposed to be easy?" Tristan asked a little jokingly.
Felix grinned. "I can actually count on you to go easy."
He got thumbs up from the loyal pokémon.
"Well, time for Luxio to kill again!" Angie put on her own smile, seeing her opportunity to rip some experience from her foe's bodies.
Laxus let out a chuckle. "We are going to wipe the floor with you."
"We'll win!" Dante stands right beside his ally with a puffed-out chest.
Seeing no way out of it, Gabriel agreed.
The food was left to simmer away as the three trainers and four pokémon took to the battlefield. On the right side of the field, Angie and Felix did stretches, on the other side Gabriel stood awkwardly with his two growling canines in front of him.
"You think Tristan will take it easy on us?" Dante whispered to Laxus. The swampert did cover both of their weakness pretty hard.
Laxus waved a paw. "I got a plan for him. I heard right when you said you know Solar Beam?"
He got a nod in response. "It's pretty sunny right now, so I can probably get it off fast."
"Perfect. Tristan is the main problem for us to win. Luxio is whatever."
Dante eyed the named Electric-type who was busy getting hyped up by his trainer. "I don't know. He could be strong, too."
"Don't worry about it, just keep your eyes on the prize and we'll be done before second lunch."
"How easy should I take it on them?" Tristan whispered to Felix, who nodded quite emphatically. "Ah. I understand."
"Yeah. Don't go too hard with your attacks, try to listen to me more than your judgement for this fight."
"Got it."
"Rip. And tear," Angie directed, Luxio nodding along loyally. "Go for the throat. Go for the balls. Go for everything!"
"Are you ready, Gabe?" Felix called. His older brother took a visible breath and nodded. "Alright. Isolde will officiate." The gardevoir was already holding up two flags, along with a hand-drawn board that proclaimed her love for Tristan.
"Garde," Isolde began, to Angie's ears. "Begin!" she shouted, to the rest of them, dropping the flags.
Angie was the first to act. "Luxio, Thunderbolt on Dante!"
Just as quickly as she began to order it, Luxio was already leaping into action, crackling with electricity His star-tipped tail did a wave before he unleashed the storm within on Dante.
But the electricity did not head for the houndour, but the electrike. Laxus grinned as he pulled the electricity towards him, energising himself with the voltage
Laxus and Dante began to move as Felix added his own hand to the chaos. "Tristan, striker Dante with Hammer Arm!"
The two canines shared a glance and a nod before splitting up. Dante ran for Tristan while Laxus tussled with his fellow Electric-type.
Tristan's hand lit up glowing white as Dante ran not away but for him. He frowned and held the burst of energy back, waiting for the houndour to make the first move.
"Fire Fang, I think," Gabriel called, almost half-heartedly. Dante's mouth immediately burst into flames and he zipped forward, going for the meaty part of the arm Tristan was channelling the Hammer Arm into.
Dante's burning mouth latched onto Tristan's arm and the swampert grunted in pain, feeling the spike of the teeth as well as the flames licking at his flesh. The shock to the arm caused his focus to snap and his Hammer Arm faded, just as Dante planned.
The houndour let go and kicked off, aiming to be clear of Tristan and follow up with a devastating attack.
But Tristan's other hand came out of nowhere and snatched him around the midsection, causing Dante to help.
"Water Gun," Felix called and from Tristan's hand gripping Dante, not his mouth, came a sharp jet of water, knocking Dante up as Tristan tossed him into the air.
As these two were taking each other on, Laxus met Luxio in the middle. The older pokémon was definitely stronger, but Laxus was certain he was smarter. He evaded Luxio's clumsy strikes, laughing and teasing Luxio into trying to shock him a few more times, to no avail.
"Woah, that was close," Laxus laughed, rising above Luxio as the larger pokémon tried to pounce on him. He floated up in the air, almost like he was levitating.
"Magnet Rise," Laxus said, sticking his tongue out at Luxio's baffled expression. "Also, Swift!" Luxio yelped as stars were launched at him, cutting through his fur and popping nastily. "Thanks for the boost!" Laxus finished, falling down to pounce on Luxio's head and over to where Tristan was about to lance Dante out of the sky.
Swift was too slow, but Charge Beam wasn't.
Tristan flinched as electricity struck him in the side. It didn't hurt, not much at least, thanks to his type, but it was still a surprise.
"Okay, big guy," Laxus said, flying forwards. "Let's see how you taste!"
Tristan raised his wounded arm up to block and Laxus latched on, biting the same spot with freezing cold rather than burning heat.
It was not pleasant to have the same spot bitten twice and Tristan gasped, trying to shake the pokémon off. But thanks to Laxus floating, he couldn't use gravity to dislodge him.
"Fire Fang!"
Laxus' cunning joy was stalled when he felt something close around his tail and he yelped in pain, releasing Tristan just enough for the much-larger pokémon to force him back.
"Gah! Ow! Get off!" Laxus yelled, wriggling in place before falling to the ground as Luxio pulled with all his might.
"Got him!" Luxio growled between his jaws, pouncing on Laxus. He got shocked, several times, but didn't relent.
"Dante! NOW!" Laxus yelled, thrashing desperately to force Luxio off him.
"Tristan!" Felix's voice came through the chaos, reaching his pokémon. "Surf right upwards!"
He followed on pure reflex. Felix had long taught all his pokémon that they were free to battle on their own instincts as they could think for themselves. But everyone, even Keira, deferred to him when Felix saw something coming.
Firing a Surf out of his feet, washing Laxus and Luxio away, Tristan barely evaded a blinding pillar of light from striking him head-on.
But he still wasn't fast enough to evade it again when Dante turned his head up, still firing the Solar Beam and lancing Tristan across his whole front.
"Tristan!?"
"The FUCK!?"
"You know Solar Beam?"
Dante grinned proudly as Tristan fell like an anvil, wincing slightly when the swampert hit the ground hard. "Yup!" he barked happily, turning to Gabriel. "And it's sunny too!"
Gabriel nodded, just slightly. "Alright, can you do it again because one hit is not going to be enough for Tristan."
"Oh come on," Dante said, turning back, "he's four times weak… oh dear."
Tristan was a swampert. A large, bulky, not-fast pokémon. And yet he was still literally flying at Dante with the speed of a rapidash.
His left hand glowed brightly and Dante could only squeeze his eyes shut before the Hammer Arm crashed into him, smashing him into the ground.
"Oh, shit!" Laxus yelled, still shaking water off. He tried to zap Tristan, but that achieved nothing. He cursed and re-evaluated the situation.
Stopping to think in the middle of battle, however, with no help from the trainer left him easy prey for Luxio, who had similarly been trying to dislodge the water from his ear.
"Nice teamwork," Angie snapped at Felix. "You hit Luxio!"
"It was that or let Tristan take a Solar Beam head-on," Felix retorted. "And he's the one with the advantage here."
"You think so? Luxio!" Angie yelled. "Fire Fang onto Laxus and toss him like a ragdoll!"
"Laxus, watch out!"
Laxus heard the warning a moment too late and yelped as his tail was bitten again. The wet ground beneath his paws vanished in an instant as Luxio pulled and twisted, tossing Laxus around before launching him into the air.
"He's wet now," Angie grinned. "Nice teamwork." She winked. "Thunderbolt!"
Laxus gasped as the electricity tore across him. He was able to absorb some of it, but the water drenching him was interfering with his ability. He still absorbed most of it, and his eyes glinted with another power boost.
"Laxus!" Gabriel called. "Can you help Dante?"
Laxus nodded and a whole storm of stars appeared around him. Impressive for a little electrike. Laxus unleashed his Swift Storm upon his opponents before floating again.
"Break them!" Felix and Angie yelled at once, while Gabriel began to get his head screwed on.
"Dante, if you can hear me, use Snarl!"
Dante, still half-buried, could hear Gabriel and gave it his all, dark ripples of energy cascading over the ground as the sky was lit up by falling stars.
Tristan and Luxio staggered as their feet were knocked out from under them, the dark energy crawling over their bodies and draining their Power. Tristan's Hydro Pump and Luxio's Thunderbolt were weakened and splintered from the double assault and the avalanche of Swift stars descended on them.
Laxus flew over to Dante as the sparkles blinded the trainers. Flying down with force and slamming into the ground, punting Dante out of his grave like a kid jumping on a catapult.
"Ow, my head," Dante groaned as Laxus helped him onto his four wobbly legs. "Did you get the number of the stampede that hit me?" He could barely stand after taking that hit from Tristan.
"Just one," Laxus said and pointed Dante at the recovering Tristan. "Now, let it loose puppy!"
"Dante, Solar Beam!" Gabriel commanded and Dante's eyes snapped wide and his ears went up.
"Yes!"
"How powerful is that electrike?" Angie gasped as their vision began to return.
"Wouldn't be THAT powerful if you didn't keep amping him up!" Felix growled, rubbing his eyes. "And, oh great. Dante's about to do it again."
"Shit! Luxio Thunderbolt Dante!"
"What are you doing!?" Felix yelled as Laxus absorbed that.
"I'm doing SOMETHING unlike you!"
"You're helping the enemy!"
"Hey," Angie called. "Mind if I join your team?" Gabriel smirked at that. Felix gave her a Look.
He switched gears. "Alright. Tristan, brace."
Dante fired the Solar Beam, the sun was still bright enough for a quick one, as Tristan planted his feet and raised his arms. Tristan called upon his Ice Punch to wrap his limbs in ice to weather some of the blast.
Felix remained in place with Tristan between him and Dante as the Solar Beam struck Tristan head-on. The shockwave pushed Angie back but it just ruffled Felix's clothes. It burned the ice away, light bursting in every direction from the stalwart swampert. Tristan felt his legs wobbling and the land around him breaking away, but he did not fall.
"Go, Tristan, go!" Isolde cheered and he grinned and roared, stomping the ground.
The ground stomped back.
Everyone buckled as a tremor ran through the battlefield for a second, Gabriel and Laxus cursed while Felix nodded. "Earthquake!"
"That'll hit Luxio!" Angie screeched. "Quick! Jump on Tristan!"
Luxio was as fast as Angie's reactions and managed to clamber onto Tristan's back before a shockwave came down with Tristan's fist, breaking up the earth in a few meters from the punch and shaking it far harder.
Laxus zoomed into the air again, holding Dante in his teeth as they desperately levitated over the shockwave.
"Have Tristan throw Luxio at them," Angie demanded and Felix nodded.
"Tristan, do it!"
Luxio squeaked as he was plucked off Tristan's back and tossed like a softball at the struggling duo. He collided with the pair and the three fell down in a pile of claws and blasts of fire and electricity.
"Surf and get over there," Felix commanded and Tristan used a pressurised globe of water to blast himself towards the trio, as fast as he had attacked Dante earlier. "Go for Laxus!"
"Laxus get away!"
Laxus jumped up, but Tristan was a lot more agile than his bulky frame suggested and he snatched Laxus out of the air before he could get away. Laxus bit down but Tristan did not stop.
"Swift! Dante, Snarl again!" The stars and darkness poked and prodded at Tristan, but he still did not release Laxus.
"Hammer Arm!" Felix said and Tristan did as commanded. Hand gripping Laxus glowing brightly before slamming the electrike down on Dante.
"Oooh," Angie winced but grinned. "That one was brutal."
"What can I say?" Felix shrugged, almost a smile. He jogged over to Tristan, patting him on the shoulder in thanks and Isolde cheered her partner on all the more.
Felix walked with Tristan over to Gabriel, picking up the defeated pair on the way, who was wearing an almost resigned expression on his face.
Felix wasn't sure what it was. It sure was an expression though. His face it… faced a lot.
"Holy shit, Gabe," Felix said, as Tristan set down the two canines with a groan. He sat down himself, smiling when Isolde swept over and began tending to his wounds.
"Good battle, Felix," Gabriel said softly, eyes soft and kind. He knelt down to give his pokémon a stroke on their backs.
"Good?" Felix asked, still boggled. "How about what the hell? How did you get so good?"
"Good?" Gabriel asked, gathering Dante and Laxus up in his arms. "I hardly did anything, it was them that did most of the work out there, not me. They did great for their first battle."
"Gabe…?" Felix asked, as Gabriel turned to carry his pokémon back to the campsite. "That was really impressive. You all did well."
"You did as well," Gabriel said and wandered back.
Felix frowned, not sure what to make of it. Before he could go after Gabriel, however, Angie came storming back over to yell at him for winning and sufficiently distracted everyone.
Potions and berries were shared and soon enough the three unconscious pokémon awoke. While Gabriel commandeered Felix and Angie's limbs for help setting the table, the pokémon all came together to discuss the battle.
"You are very intelligent, Laxus," Tristan complimented, sitting comfortably with Isolde. She had patched him up already, so he was fine to go again if he needed.
"I know," the electrike replied, laying down next to Dante. They both had to sit down after that. Luxio was stubbornly trying to stand, but he kept wobbling and bumping into Lilith.
He sat down when she threatened him with castration.
"The Solar Beam was quite the surprise," Isolde said, leaning against Tristan. "Where did you learn that? And how, rather?"
Dante gave an indifferent wag of his tail. "My pack liked to spar with all sorts of pokémon. I just sort of picked it up over time."
"Very impressive," Isolde said, Tristan nodding along.
"What about me?" Luxio asked, offended he wasn't being complimented yet. "I was your partner! And you tried to wipe me out with that Surf! And failed."
"You were invaluable," Tristan said, pacifying Luxio for the moment. "Holding off the Solar Beam and all. I am sorry my attack harmed you, but I follow Felix's directions when he gives them."
"There's one thing you'll learn if you and your trainer mean to remain around Felix," Andrew hissed. He was a little farther back from the huddle, similar to Lilith's own separation from the group. He was close enough to speak, however.
"And what's that?" Luxio asked, but he could see the rest of Felix's pokémon all knew what Andrew was hissing about.
Tristan and Isolde looked the tiniest bit guilty. Lilith looked amused, Ruby was giving a quirky smile while Horizon held a most enthused expression.
"Felix is the ssstupid nice kid with rocks in his head," Andrew answered. "Happy-go-lucky and always kind and courteous."
Now Tristan and Isolde couldn't help but look the tiniest bit amused at the tale Andrew was spinning.
"Felix is a brutal trainer to fight," Lilith continued, irritating Andrew as he had more build-up to wax lyrics about.
"Yes," Andrew grumbled, to Luxio's surprise. "If you ever find yourself wondering why the likes of Lilith or Adrien, or even myself, can work so well with him, just consider he would have sacrificed you without hesitation."
"Don't let this cloud your view of him," Ruby asked, looking to Luxio, Bugs, Dante, and Laxus. "He is a nice human and a wonderful trainer. But he's quite…"
"Relentless in battle," Tristan continued for her.
"I'd even go as far to say brutal," Isolde countered. "Not always and he certainly knows how to hold back, play fair, pull punches and such. But if he's battling, he's probably willing to go a bit over the top to win."
Rolling her eyes, Lilith added her own view in. "It's not to win," she scoffed, "it's to make sure we're not hurt. Or, at least, not AS hurt as the enemy. You know him. He's so worried about us fighting all the time that he wants to make sure we don't get hurt. That's why he's so merciless."
Shaking her head, she glanced at the four pokémon not really in the know. "But enough about that. We've got YOU to talk about." She grinned. It was not a nice grin, Dante adjusted himself and incidentally put himself between Laxus and Lilith. She grinned wider.
"That was really impressive," Bugs said shyly, glancing at the two canines and ignoring Luxio's huff of offence. "I've never seen a non-Flying-type fly before."
"I am awesome," Laxus replied. Dante gave him a proud smile.
"I'll say!" Ruby beamed. "You did make a little mistake though," she added, puncturing Laxus' big head and bigger ego.
"Excuse me? I made no mistake, I was simply overpowered. Such a thing is no fault of my own."
Ruby cocked her head, her nine tails flowing behind her. "Sorry, but you did."
"What was it then?" Laxus demanded.
"You didn't really think that Luxio was a threat," Ruby pointed out, causing Laxus to blink. "You were too focused on Tristan. Not a terrible idea, sure he was the bigger threat, but that didn't mean Luxio wasn't there."
"Yeah!" Luxio said, deciding he liked Ruby. "You just played around with me, but I showed you later."
"Mmm," Laxus murmured, glancing away for a moment. He couldn't really fault her point since she was right. But still. "Splitting too much focus to take down Luxio would just waste our strength."
"The fact of the matter is," Lilith said, taking over for Ruby. "You wouldn't have been able to beat Tristan even if Luxio wasn't in this battle. You barely winded him. Rather than scrabbling uselessly at him, you could have gotten some points for taking out Luxio and going down two to one."
"We did damage!" Dante claimed, backing Laxus up.
"You hit Tristan point-blank with a Solar Beam and he was barely breathing heavily," Lilith shot back.
"Well… he blocked with ice!"
"But you still hit him. How much more damage do you think you could have done?"
"You want to fight?" Laxus snapped. Immediately the tone changed and Tristan reached over to grab Lilith's tail, slicing his hand in the process.
"Do not do that," Tristan said, not really clear who he was saying it to.
Lilith, who hadn't moved, gave him an amused look. "I'm not going to hurt them," she said, rolling her eyes and Tristan let go of her tail. She made a sharp movement and he jumped, grabbing her again.
This time Lilith laughed at him, and Tristan was pulled back to Isolde with a grumble, she began to tend to his sliced hand before it began to bleed too badly.
"Tristan's a bit jumpy," Ruby said, giving Lilith a long look. "But it's really not a good idea to try and provoke Lilith."
"I'm just a ball of fun," Lilith replied. "Wouldn't hurt any puppies. Well… besides."
"You ones you massacred, yes," Isolde said, cutting Lilith off. Lilith gave her a faux-offended look before smirking and getting up, wandering over to the trainers.
"She's gone," Horizon said, relieved. She took Lilith's place, but closer to the group. "I have judgement to give as well!" She beamed.
"Now what?" Laxus growled.
"No-no! It's good! You can't get better unless you consider what you did wrong!" And with that, she turned to Tristan. "You went way too easy after the first Solar Beam. Even if you weren't in much danger, that proved they were a lot craftier than anyone was expecting. It's much harder to give up when it looks like you have a shot, and it looked like you were struggling."
Tristan blinked, surprised. Everyone blinked, surprised.
"I… well, I suppose you do have a point." Tristan nodded.
"I do! Yes." She turned to Luxio. "You need to diversify your move set. You couldn't do much in this fight besides distraction and do a few tricks. Otherwise, you were dead weight!"
She said all this very fast, very excited, and exceptionally happy.
"And you two!" She turned to the final duo. "You need to listen to your trainer more! You're smart, Laxus, but so is Gabriel. He definitely saw stuff that you either didn't or was happening too fast for you to think about. Even though Tristan and Luxio were technically acting slower since they relied on their trainers, they were also acting a lot smarter thanks to that extra helping hand!"
She ruffled her whole body. "Felix lets us do what we want in battle, and I like that, but when he has an order to give, it's usually a smarter idea to follow it than to not! Plus, fighting WITH your trainer is just more fun, it's a trust thing too!"
Laxus sighed, growling out. "Fine."
"Why couldn't you say that with Lilith here?" Dante asked, curious, as their humans called them for the meal.
In the same happy tone, the archeops answered, "Because I think she's absolutely terrifying!"
They groaned at the pun.
Heads looked up curiously as a typhlosion entered the Pokémon Centre.
It was a little strange to see, really, for three reasons. The first reason why just how downcast the typhlosion looked, head bowed, feet dragging, an absolute aura of shame and misery covered it like a cloak of gloom.
The second reason, more noticeable to the people who looked closer, was that the typhlosion had on a pair of glasses as well as some sort of travel bag. Small spectacles, with the right lens being cracked but not entirely broken.
The final reason was that there was no human that was with them. And no urgency to the typhlosion's movements that would imply distress.
The Nurse Joy on staff waited curiously as the typhlosion approached, speaking out. "Welcome to the Pokémon Centre. Are you okay?"
The typhlosion reached the counter and opened his travel bag, pulling out a set of cue cards. He looked through them in silence, the nurse waiting awkwardly, before finding the one he needed.
Passing it over, the nurse read it quickly.
Hello, my name is Nathan and I am a typhlosion.
May I use your telephone? Yes, I know how to use it.
She blinked just once before looking up. "Certainly, it's uh… over there." She gestured and the typhlosion gave her a weak smile and took the card back before wandering over.
By this point, he had a few eyes on him and the nurse asked one of the wigglytuff on staff to make sure their guest was okay.
Nathan was not having a good time.
He slowly punched in the numbers into the touch screen before him, knowing them far too well by this point. He had been the one to teach everyone else how to use the phones, remember the numbers, and write out all the cue cards the teams would need.
He was a rather intelligent pokémon, but he wasn't feeling it at the moment.
His trainer had vanished, no one could find him, and no one had been able to help him. Not with Keira, not with anything. He just vanished.
After they finally tracked down what region he had disappeared off too, without any of them, they had mobilised. It had been Isolde's idea to invade Kalos to track their trainer down. No one had any real problem with it, Felix had helped them and now he needed help. It was obvious.
Yet, this undertaking was insane. For so many pokémon to go out, they numbered thirty exactly, to find one elusive human. It would not be easy.
So, they split up.
Forming themselves into teams, they would enter Kalos and search until someone had found Felix. To that end, they needed to be able to tell the others once they had succeeded. It had been up to Nathan, then, to teach several other pokémon how to operate human communication devices.
Isolde already knew how, but it was him who had to teach Tania, Brian, and Bastion. It had not been easy. He had gone further and taught Alice and Minerva as well, as they would remain behind to help coordinate.
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Felix's weird criminal friends, even though they had a falling out with him in Unova, had gotten them to Kalos, but after that, it was down to them.
If only… if only Nathan's team hadn't broken up. Leo had wanted to go one way, Zephyr believed they should go another, Athreos was no help, and Joey and Malissa run amok as they always did.
A week ago the pressure had finally cracked and they had all gone a different way, leaving Nathan alone and ashamed.
He was the Team Leader of Johto. And yet he shouldn't be. He was the leader of this team to find Felix, their wonderful trainer who was so hurt. And he shouldn't have been.
Sighing, he waited for Alice or Minerva to pick up. Rowan was kind enough to let them do this, despite the legal issues involved. Most of them didn't know/care about those, but Nathan did. He knew the professor was sticking his neck out for them here.
Nathan could feel eyes on him, but he didn't care at this point. They had been equipped with some mobile devices, but Leo inevitably overcharged and destroyed the battery. He had told him over and over that he had to be careful.
He didn't listen.
Phoebe would have done beautifully, Nathan doubted Isolde was having any issues at all.
Well, he rethought that. Isolde did have Lilith on her team as well as Adrien. Those two would either cancel each other out or multiply the problem.
Phoebe was there. So, at the very least, Nathan doubted she was having as bad of a time as him. Isolde was capable of leading, he was just the unlucky pokémon that had to be the first pokémon on the Johto Team, forcing him to be Team Leader and-
"Nathan?"
Snapping out of his reverie, Nathan managed a smile for Alice. She was looking very worried over the video phone. "A-Afternoon, Alice," Nathan said, stuttering just once out of embarrassment of dozing.
She smiled kindly at him. "I am so relieved you called," she said, excitedly. "We've been trying to contact everyone, but besides Tania, no one has been able to be found."
"You've been…?" Nathan began, blinking. Why would they be trying to contact everyone, unless?
"Felix has been found!" Alice beamed and Nathan's heart leapt for joy.
"WHAT? Really?" A few humans, and pokémon for that matter, jumped when the typhlosion suddenly barked out energetically, the burners on his back flaring for a moment due to his excitement.
Alice giggled at his loss of control as Nathan reorganised himself. "This is fantastic, is he okay?"
"Felix is fine," Alice answered, nodding. "Isolde's group managed to find him and rescue him from his kidnapper, an aegislash that was controlling him. He's currently back in Kalos, looking for everyone else. Tania's group has been recovered, but everyone else we're still trying to find."
"He's alright…" Nathan breathed, waves of relief crashing into him. He refused to cry in front of Alice, however. Merely sniffled a little.
Alice smiled at him again. "And he'll be so relieved to see you all again," she said, and Nathan's heart did a different flip. A flop of dread. "Where are you now? I can contact Felix to contact Rowan and send your pokéball's over and get you back right away."
Nathan's mind ran a million thoughts a second and he spluttered out. "Wait, where is Felix?"
Alice paused and thought for a moment. "Just outside of Snowbelle City, I believe."
Nathan's panic subsided slightly, he could work this out. "I'm just in Snowcrest, that's very close. We'll come down and surprise him! Everyone one of us. Leo, Athreos, Zephyr, Malissa and Joey. And me."
Holding a quirky look, she asked. "Are you sure?"
"Positive!" Nathan nodded. "Oh, I'm so excited! We don't need to bother him, he might be out of contacting range anyway."
"Nathan…?" Alice asked softly and he swallowed thickly. She saw right through him, he lost them all, he was a failure, that could never have been trusted with-
"Have fun," Alice said, snapping him out of the reverie again. Smiling happily she gave a twirl. "I've missed you all, especially you and your kindness. I can't wait to see you all again. I'll let Felix know where you are, so he can hurry up! Tania asked the same thing as you," she giggled. "I imagine it'll be like that for everyone, ah…"
They spoke a few moments longer, Alice thankfully not asking why no one else was on screen, and then moved on.
Heads turned curiously as a typhlosion exited the Pokémon Centre. It was curious to see, for one primary reason.
He no longer looked so defeated. A gleam of determination had entered the eye behind the cracked lens and the typhlosion raced out, purpose in mind and passion returned.
"Did that typhlosion just use a phone?" someone asked into the silence that entered the room after Nathan left.
"Just another day in Kalos."
So, the general layout of these chapters will have plot relevant stuff generally at the start/end, and a heaping of character moments in miniature scenes in between. Focusing on the trainers, the pokemon, and the trainers with their pokemon. It's run to write, my beta wrote a good portion of this chapter too!