The Linoone Dilemma
"Ladies and gentlemen I'm afraid that we have to make an unexpected stop for repairs," The ship captain announced. "Please enjoy the sunny shores and beaches of Delfino Island or relax onboard the ship as this'll take awhile. We'll try and get her back up and running as soon as possible!"
"Well more time to train Piplup and Dratini!" Zach gazed down at the Dive and Lure balls containing the newer additions to his team. Piplup had already undergone a bit of training prior to Dratini's capture but he was the one most suitable to spare with Dratini.
"Again? You've been training them practically all day on the ship, why don't you take the chance to relax for a change? Your Pokemon sure could use the rest." Marnie pointed out as Scorbunny and Lucario cried out in protest along with their trainer as none of them seemed to like the idea.
"Kabu's no joke, if I wanna beat him then I have to keep practicing! Lucario and Corvisquire won't be able to take the heat so I've gotta get Piplup and Dratini prepped and ready to take him!" Lucario and Scorbunny nodded in agreement with their trainer.
"Ya didn't even fight Nessa yet ya goof, wait until then to start worrying about him!"
"Come on, it'll be fun!" May added with a smile. "I still found time to have fun and it didn't stop me from winning Grand Festivals!"
"Besides you bailed on us back at Meadow Island, ya owe us." Marnie gave her friend a light smirk. "You're getting way too focused on your training, you need to tone it down or you'll wind up crashing and burning eventually!"
"Alright I guess." He let out a defeated sigh as he didn't see a way out of this
"Liepard, Play Rough!" Liepard sprang towards his opponent, a thick cloud of dust formed up as Liepard and the opposing side's Swampert could be seen fighting and struggling within the dust cloud before the fully evolved Hoenn starter was tossed out of the cloud and landing in a defeated slump before his trainer. The trainer let out a groan in defeat as his opponent had a sly smirk upon his face while whistling for Liepard to return to his side.
The winning had quite the bizarre hairdo as it resembled a Qwilfish! His red and white jacket was one of the latest trends in Unova fashion, mostly on account of his fans purchasing it. He also appeared to be around the group's age from the look of him, appearing to be quite the accomplished trainer as well as the familiar voice of the Rotom Drone spoke up.
"Congratulations trainer Hugh, you are now in the top 500 and officially Diamond Class!" Most would find that exciting news, heck Ash was shaking from excitement upon hearing the news as he was determined to challenge the trainer, however Hugh looked oddly frustrated at the news and emitted a light scoff.
"Impressive but we've got to keep training harder, we'll never destroy Team Rocket at this rate."
"Meow." Liepard meowed in agreement, both seeming to share a hatred of Team Rocket for some reason.
"See that edge lord over there? You don't want to wind up like him do you? He's hardly emitting any emotions!" Marnie hissed out at Zach.
"I guess you do have a point," Zach stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket before raising an eyebrow as he noticed Chloe looking at Hugh in a way he'd never seen her look at anything before.
Ash meanwhile was pulling out his Rotom Phone and soon had his finger over the challenge button before Marnie quickly yanked it out of his hand. "Not today, you're almost as bad as Zach is! You could do some relaxing too, you just advanced in ranking so it's not like taking a day off will bite you in the butt."
Pikachu covered up his mouth and snickered as he saw how shocked Ash was at Marnie's action.
"Oh come on, it's not everyday that I can face somebody like him!" Ash groaned out while Marnie slipped the phone into her bag.
"He's here in Hoenn, I'm sure your paths will cross again at some point! Now let's get going to the beach!"
Ash opened up his mouth to protest but found himself unable to, simply following Marnie and the others to the beach.
"Come on out everybody!" Zach shouted as he threw four Pokeballs into the air with Linoone, Corvisquire, Piplup and Dratini all joining him on the beach while the others did the same with their Pokemon. "We're all gonna relax today so no training."
"Noon!" Linoone growled out, his eyes narrowed while his claws dug into the sand. The Dark type didn't seem fond of the idea at all!
"Look Linoone I'm not fond of it either but we can't battle all of the time! How about you play with Piplup and Scorbunny, I'm sure they'd love to have you!" Zach tried getting through to his Pokemon.
"Pip!"
"Scor!" The two cried out in agreement as they held out their hand/flipper for Linoone to take only for the Dark type to stick out his tongue and turn his back to them.
"Linoone..."
"Or you can sit there and sulk if you want, we'll let you have privacy." Zach shrugged, if Linoone didn't want to relax then he wasn't going to force him to. Lucario carried Dratini over to the ocean and gently set him down, the Dragon type let out a happy coo as he started swimming around while Lucario watched and kept a close eye on his youngest teammate with a protective stance. Corvisquire meanwhile had taken to the skies and was simply soaring around aimlessly but not straying too far. Scorbunny and Piplup began chasing each other across the beach and were shortly joined by May's Delcatty and Ash's Oshawott.
Zach reached out and pet Linoone before turning to face the others as he heard the girls returning from getting into their swimsuits. Ash found himself locked in place as Marnie returned, wearing a bikini that had the same color scheme as her former gym outfit, her hair was also undone which made her look like a completely different person as she looked more feminine than usual. Ash's face started growing a red coloring as he couldn't help but find his eyes wondering while Pikachu stood by his side with a smirk across his face as he struggled to hold in a giggle fit.
Zach noticed the look on Ash's face and couldn't help but let out a light laugh unaware of what was happening behind him as a giant shadow flew over the island, catching Linoone's attention as his nose began to twitch. The Dark type uttered out a growl and formed a light smirk before quickly giving chase and following the creature, leaving unnoticed.
Chloe's thoughts appeared to be focused elsewhere as shortly after appearing she sat down next to Eevee and began stroking her Pokemon's head while gazing out at the ocean. Marnie blushed upon noticing Ash staring or at least she assumed he was, she found herself a bit nervous but pushed them down as she approached Ash and formed a smile as she took his hand. "Shall we go for a swim?"
"Y-Yeah, sure I'd like that!" Ash temporarily cleared his thoughts with a shake of his head.
"Good... race ya there!" Marnie dropped her hold on him and raced for the ocean, Ash laughed before quickly rushing after her in pursuit.
Zach watched them go, feeling a bit left out seeing as the whole coming here was Marnie's idea and she ditched him but he could tell his two friends liked each other and if this was a chance at them revealing that to each other he wasn't going to stand in their way. "Alright Linoone, let's go-" Zach paused shortly before turning around as May arrived late. He'd almost forgotten that she was there as he was so used to there only being four of them, that wasn't the only thing that got him distracted though as he'd never really had exposure to women wearing swimsuits until today. Marnie and Chloe were like sisters to him so he didn't have much reaction there but May? She was new and admittingly pretty attractive he had to admit. He bit his lip as she approached in a light pink bikini, his eyes constantly flickered as he tried to look away but found his eyes being drawn to certain assets. "H-Hey..."
May noticed he seemed a bit flustered and saw his stares but brushed it off, she was a top Coordinator so she was quite used to being the center of attention like that. Not finding it weird or annoying but flattering that somebody she knew thought of her that way, there was Drew but he'd moved on to Solidad years ago. "Hey," She replied calmly while giving him a warm smile.
"Everyone else is busy with their own thing so... wanna just go into the water and splash each other?" Zach asked before mentally facepalming.
May let out a giggle. "You've never been to the beach before, have you?" She playfully teased before grabbing a hold of his arm. "Sure thing but first... tag, you're it!" May laughed before rushing off.
"H-Hey!" Zach quickly gave chase, rushing after her while emitting a light laugh.
"You know I'm glad you told us to relax, it's oddly... peaceful." Ash breathed out as he floated on his back.
Marnie laughed. "See I told ya that it'd do ya both good!" Marnie glanced towards the shore as she realized she forgot Zach in her haste to get out here, wondering if he'd snuck off but calmed down upon seeing him and May chasing each other across the beach. "A true champion needs to learn to relax but not too much obviously or else you will fall behind!"
"I guess I have been battling a lot lately," Ash stated as his thoughts drifted off. Though not very noteworthy he did face a few opponents other than Drake while in Hoenn, providing some great experience for Kubfu, Dreepy and Sobble. "I should relax after a major battle like Drake though, that took a lot out of me."
"You did give the Pokemon a rest, you deserve one too." Marnie nodded in agreement. He'd switched them all out and sent them to Oak's lab afterwards so he could continue training the Pokemon that needed catching up.
"That's a fair point." Ash breathed out.
"I only say that cause I care, we all do." Marnie patted his shoulder. "So since the boat's not leaving until tomorrow ya wanna just camp out on the beach tonight? It's been awhile since we've gotten to do that... as a group anyways." She remembered that he had to while on his Mega Evolution trial. "It'll be nice to stare up at the stars."
"Why not? I've missed it!" Ash grinned, camping was one of his favorite things to do while on an adventure and most the few two weeks he'd slept in a ship cabin.
"Great, so have you given any thought as to what you wanna do after you win the World Championship?" Marnie casually asked. She guessed that Zach was likely to settle down somewhere after beating Mustard but Ash was more difficult to read which she had to admit was rather alluring.
"I haven't put much thought to it," Ash stated while closing his eyes to think. "Maybe I'll keep traveling the world, there are always more Pokemon out there waiting to be discovered and I can't imagine myself settling down some place, that seems like it'd be more Zach or Chloe's thing. I get itchy when I stay in one place for too long."
Marnie thought about what he said and placed her hand beneath her chin in thought. "I think I'd like to keep traveling too, I'd like to own every Dark type someday but first my focus is on beating the Dark type masters and taking the title of strongest Dark type specialist for myself!"
"Yeah, that's the spirit! Never give up on that dream!" Ash grinned before a realization came to him. "Sidney... you'll be battling him?"
"Oh no, not yet! You already called dibs on him and I think I could use a bit more training before that. We can always come back here later, right?"
"Definitely, and I'd be happy to train with you if you want." Ash offered.
"I'd love that..." The two smiled at one another for a moment before continuing their swim.
Dusk was soon approaching as they all gathered up and Chloe retrieved the Pokemon chow from her bag before passing it out and filling the bowls of the various Pokemon. Zach's eyes darted around as he didn't notice the familiar black and white fur of Linoone anywhere within the group.
"That's strange, usually Linoone is one of the first to eat." He commented before shouting out for his Dark type. "Linoone?!"
No answer came, Lucario broke apart and began walking down the beach with his eyes glowing a bright blue color as he used his aura to track Linoone's but there was nothing recent to go by, Linoone had been gone for a few others if not the entire day! Lucario looked back at his trainer and shook his head as Zach hung his head.
"I shouldn't have left him to sulk, I should have stayed and trained with him!"
"Don't blame yourself, Linoone probably just got hungry and wandered off!" May placed her hand on his shoulder. "If it helps I'll help you look for him."
"We all will!" Ash chimed in before Marnie let out a light cough.
"You all were using a lot of energy today, ya should eat and drink something first so ya don't collapse out there!" Sure enough after she said that all three of the trainer's stomachs growled loudly.
"You're right, Corvisquire's been flying all day and I definitely need him if I have hope of finding Linoone. He's the only Flying type we've got on hand!" Seeing how Latias and was busy recharging at Oak's lab. Zach quickly rushed to the food along with Lucario and Scorbunny as the three hastily began shoving food into their mouths.
"Not too fast ya goof!" Marnie sighed, shaking her head lightly as the rest went over to the food and got their own portions.
"There you youngsters are," The ship captain suddenly arrived on the scene, panting and seeming out of breath. "Y-You kids n-need... t-to get back... volcano... she's g-gonna blow!"
"Volcano?!" Zach quickly shout up and turned his head, taking note of a volcano that was quite noticeable but they were all too distracted to really notice it before. "Why is it erupting now of all times?!" The ground started shaking beneath them as smoke started pouring from the top of it.
"S-Something... something upset the guardian of the volcano... i-it's mad... o-or at least t-that's what the locals say! Y-You kids need to go!"
"I'm not leaving without Linoone!" Zach growled out, quickly shooting up before waving his hand to Corvisquire. "Let's go, Corvisquire!" He rushed on into the nearby forest as Corvisquire flew above him. "If something did attack this 'guardian', it's likely Linoone..." Linoone much like his Rotom Phone informed him did have a habit of attempting to start fights with Pokemon stronger than him, thankfully most were trainer Pokemon before now so it hadn't been anything serious but he wasn't about to lose another member of his team, not like this... if Linoone was up there he was going to either drag Linoone down or catch whatever was up there to stop this madness!
"Did he just...?" Marnie facepalmed before turning to Ash. "Alright I'll search the beach, Ash you take the forest, May you follow Zach in case he does something stupid." She sure wasn't sending Ash after him, they'd probably wind up dead. They didn't seem to piece together what he had. "Chloe, you go to the ship. We'll meet you there."
Chloe nodded though had a frustrated expression as she did so, finding herself as the weakest link but knew they had a point. Eevee still couldn't control her powers and she'd just be a liability. She headed back with the captain while the others ran off.
"Your friends are crazy... and stupid." The captain said.
"I know." Chloe sighed.
"Noone!" Linoone's fur was scorched black, the Dark type's breath was heavy and drawn out but he continued staring up at his opponent with a look of anger and hate. His claws began glowing a bright purple coloring as he leapt up and slashed the giant fire bird with them! The bird cried out in pain but rather than weaken it, the attack only seemed to enrage it!
"Linoone there you-Oh Arceus..." Zach gasped for breath as his eyes were quick to notice the legendary bird Pokemon known as Moltres! He quickly pulled out his Rotom Phone to read up on the Pokemon.
"Moltres the Flame Pokemon, Moltres is a legendary bird Pokémon that has the ability to control fire. If this Pokémon is injured, it is said to dip its body in the molten magma of a volcano to burn and heal itself!"
"..." Zach and Lucario looked at one another upon hearing that before looking at Linoone as they pictured him arriving on the scene and attacking Moltres as he was healing. No wonder it looked extremely ticked off! "Linoone, get over here!"
Linoone didn't respond but Zach saw his ear twitch indicating that he heard.
"Linoone we can't take on a legendary Pokemon, get out of there before it roasts you alive!" Zach shouted out, fear showing in his eyes as Moltres started firing a beam of orange, black, red and yellow fire at the Dark type. Zach clenched his fists and cursed beneath his breath as he quickly rushed down to Linoone and tackled him, taking the majority of the attack as Linoone looked up at him and growled for a moment as he hated having the battle being interrupted. However that look soon changed as he realized his trainer had taken the hit for him, Zach gritted his teeth as the attack hit, burning the back of his hoodie and the t-shirt beneath right off and striking his back. Linoone's eyes began looking apologetic as the Dark type realized how selfish he'd been focusing on him and only him growing stronger, not realizing that his trainer loved him and wanted them to grow stronger together! Linoone's expression soon turned to anger as he turned his gaze towards Moltres, the moon light reflecting from his pelt as he leaned back his head and howled, a bright blue light surrounding his body as he started standing on two legs, his body becoming badger-like in shape while also growing into a more muscular figure. The light soon faded to reveal his evolved form before the badger Pokemon let out a fierce cry that sounded like a howl, Moltres flinched in place as Obstagoon lashed out at the opponent!
"Obstagoon the Blocking Pokemon. It evolved after experiencing numerous fights. While crossing its arms, it lets out a shout that would make any opponent flinch!" The Rotom Phone rang out as Obstagoon's data was registered.
"Y-You evolved...?" Zach collapsed to his side as Lucario quickly rushed to his aide.
"Car!"
"Goon, Obstagoon!" Obstagoon repeatedly howled out, blocking Moltres' window of attack as the Dark type relentlessly lashed out at Moltres with every remaining ounce of strength he had. Beating it wasn't a selfish desire anymore, Obstagoon wanted to win to save his trainer before he got killed on his account! "Goon, goon!"
"Tres!" Moltres gave Obstagoon a whack with his wing, sending the badger flying back!
"Piplup!" Piplup shouted out as he rode in on Corvisquire's back, the penguin firing bubbles repeatedly from his beak as Corvisquire circled the air above.
"Scor!" Scorbunny formed an electrical ball between her paws and dropped it, kicking it towards Moltres. The attacks seemed to just further enrage the bird Pokemon though as he blasted all of them with Incinerate, the Pokemon quickly dropping like flies as they landed in defeated slumps. Moltres soon turned to face Lucario who was looking the trainer over, Moltres thought it dumb that a new trainer like he obviously was would stand a chance against him, his anger blinding him to the truth of that the others only attacked to save Obstagoon and their trainer. Moltres opened his mouth and prepared to fire off another Incinerate before a Mega Blaziken came swooping in, his foot burning as he delivered a critical strike right to Moltres' chest, the bird's eyes widened before he fell forward and crashed into the ground with a loud thud, the lava immediately ceased movement, smoke began clearing up as the rumbles came to a halt as Moltres laid in a defeated heap beneath Blaziken.
May arrived on the scene shortly after, her eyes darting around and examining the scene. All of Zach's Pokemon save for Lucario, who stood over him protectively and Dratini who was in his ball, were defeated and scattered about. She slowly walked over and couldn't help but scream at the sight of Zach's back, it wasn't fatal but Moltres had definitely left a mark that wouldn't be going away anytime soon! Zach let out a groan of pain as May quickly released an Indeedee, the Pokemon's hands began glowing a bright pink as she held them over his body, the injury began to heal but the scar remained and he was still in pain, the aim was to make sure she could safely move him so they could get help though.
Her scream seemed to waken Moltres as the fire bird slowly began rising up before looking down upon the scene, seeming to examine it.
"Moltres... for what it's worth, I'm sorry..." Zach muttered out, his gaze focused on Obstagoon as much the injury hurt he was still worried about Obstagoon more than his own self. Moltres tilted his head before crying out and bowing his head as he accepted the apology. May reached for Zach's belt and returned all of his Pokemon, even Scorbunny as she wasn't aware she hated it in there. Lucario remained over his trainer and growled as Blaziken approached and tried scooping Zach up.
"Lucario please, you can trust me. Mega Blaziken is far faster and stronger than you, he can get Zach back to the boat in no time!"
Lucario narrowed his eyes and growled unsurely but eventually backed off as he knew she was right.
"Thank you, I promise I won't let harm come to him."
The three headed off with Blaziken speeding ahead as he carried the injured trainer, Moltres turned his back to them and began settling down into the lava pool once more before a Rocket ball suddenly struck him from behind and sucked him in! Sierra picked up the ball and tossed it up and down.
"That fool's brave but idiotic, a perfect distraction. Welcome to Team Rocket, Moltres. Hope you survive the experience!" She cackled.
"Obstagoon!" Zach immediately shot awake after what felt like hours later but the presence of a Servine seemed to tell him he was out longer than that. He could only assume that Ash had battled somebody with her and she evolved during that time. He soon saw the bed next to him where Obstagoon was placed, the badger's breathing was slow but he was alive.
"Your Obstagoon will be fine," The ship's Nurse Joy stated before pushing him back down. "He just needs rest... a lot of rest, he summoned up a lot of power and overexerted himself by forcing an evolution on top of serious injuries. He won't be in any condition to battle for a few months."
"A few months?!" Zach gazed towards his Pokemon with visible sadness in his eyes. He had hoped that Obstagoon and him could finally grow a proper bond and work as a team now that the badger viewed things differently. Obstagoon weakly turned his head with a look full of sorrow, letting his trainer know that he was sorry for what he'd done and hoping that he'd forgive him. "Obstagoon... is he fit for travel at least?"
"I'm afraid not, he'll need plenty of bed rest for a few weeks. Frankly he's lucky, most Pokemon don't even survive that. Do you got anywhere he can stay? We can provide room at the next Pokemon Center if not." She offered.
"Obstagoon..." It wasn't fair, a week ago he lost Butterfree and now Obstagoon wouldn't be fit for travel for who knows how long? "Maybe I should just quit... we'll try next year's Galar League, we'll go back to Wedgehurst together."
""Obstagoon wouldn't want that," Ash spoke up. "You two worked really hard to get where you are, it wouldn't be fair to either of you to give up on your dream. Obstagoon will be fighting with you again once he gets better and I'm sure the two of you will beat the Galar League together!"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu nodded, if he was in Obstagoon's shoes he'd feel the same way about Ash.
"Goon!" Obstagoon shook his head, slowly reaching out with his paw to lightly grip Zach's hand as the badger gave him a warm smile.
"O-Okay, I'll continue fighting... for the both of us." Obstagoon smiled before laying his head down and closing his eyes. "And I'll visit you as much as I can, I'll miss you Obstagoon and I want you to still feel like part of the team!"
And Obstagoon's out of the picture for awhile, it was the only way I could justify him actually dishing out damage to Moltres at this stage. May was the one who truly defeated him however
How did Servine happen? You'll see in the next chapter, I'm not making Ash's Pokemon randomly evolve offscreen, that's stupid. They may train offscreen but evolving offscreen ain't happening. Zach was out for a bit and the next chapter shows what Ash was up to along during that time.
And yeah, Hugh's here. Maybe he's who Ash is battling next? You'll see
