Chapter 19
Go Sports Team!
(-¤-)
I stepped out into blessed dying sunlight once more and breathed in the glorious fresh air. Having spent the night under a mountain was strange to say the least, unnerving, yet weirdly comforting. If that makes any sense.
We had finally made it out near the end of the day. The sun was crashing through the leaves all around and throwing a deep orange fire over everything it touched. My legs felt like jelly from walking for so long with out any breaks and the knowledge that it would be over soon gave me just enough will power to command them forward.
Traveling through Mt Coronet was odd, the knowledge that on top of the stone behemoth was the summoning place of literal gods was one thing that was almost beyond my comprehension. It just didn't feel real, like a story you hear that sounds like it could have happened but still on the edge of unbelievable. I knew that galactic would call out Palkia and Dialga there, but it was a surreal thought. Knowing the future was strange.
The other thing was that I forgot this mountain was a giant super magnet.
Not the whole thing mind you, but there are pockets of iron ores in the tunnels that are magnetized so strongly that it can pull any steel on you towards the walls. In one spot I accidentally stumbled and dislodged my crowbar, only to watch it fly into the ceiling and stick there with a few other metal knick knacks. It took the combined effort of Mark and Luke to pull it off and give it back to me. I had to hold it tightly against the pull until we passed that area.
After a few minutes my eyes adjusted to the wonderfully dimming sun and I continued on my way. The gentle warmth of the day star was lovley, like a hug from an old friend, though it didn't compare in the sheer intense heat from Jacks training at the moment.
About an hour ago I decided that he needed to learn how to control his new move a bit more and that he can do it on the move. He had the basics of fire punch down but I wanted him to refine it and learn proper control. He would most likley never get as much power out of it as a fire type but his Normal typing allowed him a more indepth control of moves than most. They were super flexible with the energies they can manipulate and it was the main reason they tended to have such diverse move pools.
So to help with that he was very carefully controlling the heat of his flames while holding a lump of aluminum foil. Not too much heat as that would burn him out to fast, not too low of a temperature so he gives enough umph to his strikes, somewhere in the middle.
Of course he was doing this while riding on my back pack so I constantly had flames flicking around next to my head. Glad I chopped most of my hair off, wouldn't want to run out of a hole covered in fire .
The throne of gods stood tall and defiant to my back, the gray stone reaching ever upward in its journey to reach the heavens. Trees crawled up the side of the great beast clinging to rock and feeding off natural springs that trickled cool water down the mountain in thin barely existant streams.
Before me a scattered array of trees that could barely be called a forest stretched into the distance, bisected by a lonely dirt road. Grasses reaching over the edges but showing signs of recent upkeep. The blades of green had been chopped back some days ago and their severed greenery had dried and browned in its new goal to feed the roots below.
A pokemon center stood to my left, the clean white paint stood out against the nutured greens and protective browns all around me. The ever present reds and pinks mixed well with the deep orange of sunset. The homey building seemed to whisper gentle promises of rest and safety.
"Ok Jack, thats enough practice for now." I pulled out a rag from my pocket that I had prepared earlier, "Gimme." He snuffed the fire that poured from between his fingers and tossed the foil wrapped object into my clothed hand.
Jeez this things hot. My free hand carefully peeled at the aluminum as I entered the center. The automatic doors slid open with the slightest creak, and Nurse Joy gave me the typical greeting. I half mumbled a hello back, most of my focus was on not burning my fingers. Increased durability or not, blisters suck.
I finally got the metal wrap off to reveal the beautifully baked potato inside. I had gotten a specific craving for them when we hit Eterna City and after Jack got his new super power I figured this might be a good way to train. Two birds and a rock and all that jazz.
Jack peered over my shoulder curiously, scrutinizing the spud in my hand. I blew on it a few times as I made my way across the lobby and finally took a bite. Mmh, perfectly cooked, I knew getting that olive oil was a good idea.
"Bu neary?" He stared at my lunch for a moment.
"Hey, can I get a room for the night?" I asked, now fully focused on social stuff.
She looked vaguely amused at my impromptu lunch and nodded.
"I'll just need your ID-"
"Buneary!?" be scrambled closer to the potato and snapped his head up to look at me "Buneary eary!?" oh he looks royally pissed. "Bun BUNEARY!"
"Dude, whats your problem?"
His answer was to start yanking on my hair and yelling out his name over and over.
"AAAHH, YO WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled out as I tried desperately to defend myself "IT'S JUST A POTATO!" Wait did I tell him it was a potato at first? Oh fuck I forgot to didn't I.
Apparently Jack does not take well to being tricked into cooking my lunch. Which makes sense now that I think about it. I'd be pretty pissed if I trained on some strange task for an hour only to discover that I was just doing chores. Its like the opposite of the karate kid, but with a potato.
"SHIT DUDE I'M SORRY!" I grabbed the scruff of his neck with my free hand and yanked him off, a few strands of my hair coming with him. "Ow ow ow! Here, you can have it!" A offered the slightly munched spud to my fuming bunny.
He growled for a moment before taking a cautious sniff, only to jerk his head back and wretch at the smell.
"What th- its a vegetable! Your a vegetarian, you eat stuff like this all the time!" He's being picky? He throws a hissy fit and now he's being picky!?
He hissed at it and attempted to swat it away before I yanked it back.
I brought the heel of my palm to my brow and took a deep breath. "Ok, how about this." I set him on the counter between me and a quite shocked Nurse Joy. "Next town we get to, I'll let you pick out something from a grocery store, whatever you want. Sound good?"
He gave me a glare for a moment as he mulled it over but steadily nodded his head with a much less pissy "Bun."
I sighed, relieved that that little shit show was done with. I looked up to Nurse Joy awkwardly standing behind the counter with the face of someone who had just seen an argument between her friends parents during a visit to their house.
"So about that room."
(-¤-)
Jack snapped to the left narrowly dodging Karen as she took a mad dive for the short wooden stick in his paws. Luke used the slight diversion to sneak up on him with his silent flight and use an Astonish in an attempt to get Jack to flinch, a strategy that had worked well on Mark earlier.
However Luke was still learning the type chart and forgot that Jacks normal typing let him flat out ignore ghost type moves. Poor dude got a Fire punch between the eyes for his mistake.
The bat was vaulted over as the bunny made a mad hopping dash for his goal post but was stopped as Mark sped forward and simply ripped the stick from his hands. The boost he got from his dragon dance giving him enough speed and strength to do so. Though that didn't make him play it safe and just head for his post, instead he started swinging the small branch at Jack like a bludgeon with a mocking cackle. The urge to fuck with his opponent was far to alluring for the dark type to ignore.
Jack attempted to twist and slip between the blows with the limited martial arts he knew and was met with a certain measure of success. But his failures were harsh and proved that Mark knew exactly how to cause as much pain as possible if the hissing grunts from my bunny were anything to go by.
Both were blind sided as Karen slammed a cloud of poisonous powder on both of them and Luke slammed them back towards the middle of the field with a dual Wing attack.
This was really intense for a game that was named 'Stick'.
We had gotten up a bit later than usual, mostly due to my sore legs. It was gonna be a take it easy kind of day for me, ride a bit on my board take breaks fairly often. That kinda thing. They weren't in horrible pain or anything but I don't want to risk a cramp at 40 mph on that piece of literal garbage.
Any way, I figured with the bit of off time we were having that we should have a training session. Something light to just give everyone a good stretch. So I made a game.
Theres four goal posts with pieces of colored cloth on them, one for each pokemon. Simply touch the stick that gets dropped in the middle to your post to earn a point, first one to three points wins. Simple.
I may have forgotten how competitive pokemon are however.
They had gone all out since the first round and had been quickly learning each others fighting styles and tricks. Karen had tried an ineffective Stun spore on Jack in a previous match only to get charred for it. Mark had been yanked up into the air and spiked back down into the ground by Luke twice now. Jack got gut punched by Mark everytime they got locked into a duel. And Luke had fallen out of the air from fifty feet up after being tangled in Karens Leech seeds.
They were not fucking around with each other.
Jack was currently in the lead with two points having scored both of them with his aggressive plays and superior move pool. Mark and Luke each had one point. Marks was earned through a liberal use of Sand attack and Dragon dance. Luke won his with his ridiculous speed, that match went so fast and unfair that now when he gets ahold of the stick everyone gangs up on him in an effort to get it away from the blazing fast flyer. Karen had yet to earn a point but was making herself an absolute nuisance for everyone involved through her more buff based move set.
I was actually kinda proud of some of the tricks they had pulled on each other. I hadn't given anyone any orders beyond 'take a break' and they were showing very clear signs of improvement. And also where they needed to improve.
Jack tended towards more offensive strategies and an over reliance on his physical strength. While it had worked out decently for most plays, there was a distinct lack of defense in his style.
Luke needed to take a few more risks, his natural patience inherent to his posion typing was good for hunting and more defensive strategies but he would pass up opportunities to attack if the outcome was even a little uncertain. Had he decided to simply tank a few attacks here and there he would have won this game awhile ago. Not to mention that he desperately needs a posion move of his own, he couldnt rely on Karens Posion powder forever.
Mark instinctively fought like he was in a pack since scraggys usually are. This leads to him taunting and annoying his foe instead of simply taking them down. With others of his kind this would serve the purpose of opening his prey up to attacks from the others, but here it tended to be a distraction. He also needed a long distance move to give him a chance against Luke, his Swagger strategy from the cryogonal battle doesn't work when his opponent doesn't need their eyes to see.
Karen needed more focus, the boys learned pretty quickly that messing with her fluff pissed her off beyond belief. And unlike Jack she had alot less control of her anger, the result was that she would lash out at everyone without any real plan while the others ran circles around her. Her move set and mobility could prove a real hinderance to most physical fighters if she could keep a level head.
Most of these problems were softened when I was directing them. But I would like for them to be able to hold their own when I wasn't fast enough to give a certain order. Battles were about guiding your pokemon, not micromanaging everything they do.
These were problems that would take time, theres no quick fix to instinctual behavior, and TMs were expensive. For now I would have to take baby steps, build up type resistance, give them broader strategies and help refine their styles. As brutal as some of their attacks could get, they could always improve.
We had gone to Nurse Joy once already to get them back up to snuff before they dived right back into their new blood sport. This seemed to be a very effective way of letting them burn off some energy and train at the same time, even if it was a bit dangerous.
I sat at the side lines mulling over the possible training techniques I could use to help them while checking my bag again for my missing mallet. It came with my tent so I could drive the stakes into the ground but it was nowhere to be found. I must have left it in the damn cave, well I'm not going back for it. Besides glow rock worked just as well for a hammer.
I had completely forgotten that I had picked it up in the combee cave. It was supposed to be a souvenir but now it was serving a functional purpose, even if it was just to help me set up a game of Stick by pounding the goal posts into the ground. Still had no idea what it was, putting 'Glowing Rock' into a search engine on the Pokenet had pulled up lots of different kinds but not this one, hope its not radioactive.
Eh, I'll be fine.
I particularly nasty crack drew my attention back up to the match. The others were circling Jack, who had gotten the stick back from Mark at some point and was breathing heavily from the Posion powder from earlier. The ground under him was cleared of any grass, smoke and dust was settling around him and the distinct yet faint smell of wood rot was detectable. A clear sign that he had used Shadowball, though I wasn't sure why the others were simply circling. Until Karen made a dive for him that is.
Jack summoned an unstable Shadowball in his free hand, the orb of ghostly energy violently pulsating and fighting its own structure with each moment my rabbit forced it into existence. Karen drew close but was thrown away as Jack smashed the ghostly sphere into the ground he stood on.
A small but energetic explosion smashed into everything in its blast radius, dust was thrown up and the others shielded their eyes from stray debris. Luke blow a gust into the epicenter clearing any dust and allowing me and the others to see a completely unharmed Jack.
Did he just learn how to explode himself?
That's awesome.
He was completely immune to ghost type moves, I guess that includes his own moves. Thats a hell of a deterrent, and a good trick to have in his back pocket.
The others seemed to be trying to figure out how to get past his new shield of boom as he took off sprinting for his goal post. Luke whipped a Whirlwind at him but he used a Quick attack to out run it. Mark made one last desperate dive at him, but was sent away by the shock wave of another self centered Shadowball.
Jack smacked the goal post with the stick and let out a scream of victory as he scored his third point. And then promptly flopped over as the posion in his system finally brought him down.
"Alright, thats enough Stick for today." I returned my now exhausted team to their respective balls, and made sure to pull up all the goal posts. I untied the cloth scraps from them and tossed the actual wood into a bush on the way back to the pokemon center.
I'd need to get Luke back up to good condition before I went riding off down the road. Maybe I should work on my report to Rowan while I wait, he might be a bit impressed with my new game, or Jacks new strategy. I certainly was.
I think scraggys can learn Fire punch, maybe I can get him to cook me a potato every now and then.
Jack certainly wasn't going to do it again.
(-¤-)
Alice Thorn
May 4
Team
Jack
Buneary
Moves: Pound, Foresight, Frustration, Sweetkiss, Defense Curl, Baby Doll Eyes, Quick Attack, Jumpkick, Shadow Ball, Low Kick, Swagger, Protect, Fire Punch
Ability Limber
Luke
Golbat
Moves: Absorb, Super sonic, Astonish, Bite, Whirlwind, Wing attack, Confuse ray, Air Cutter, Swift, Protect
Ability Inner focus
Karen
Cottonee
Moves: Abosrb, Fairy Wind, Growth, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Poison Powder, Protect, Swift, Razor Leaf, Cotton Spore
Ability Infiltrator
Mark
Scraggy
Moves: Leer, Headbutt, Sand Attack, Feint Attack, Swagger, Low Kick, Dragon Dance, Protect, Endure, Facade, Pay Back
Ability Moxie
3340¥
In Box
N/A
I am sorry this one has taken so long to come out, I have literally not had a day off of work for like two and a half months.
I am so tired.
Also I thought of the potato scene in my car and then proceeded to laugh myself into an asthma attack. It still makes me giggle.
Please leave a review, they make me very happy.
