Ch.55
Is a Friend Indeed
Pokemon is the property of its respective owners
"Ah!" Catherine roared as she hoisted Ursa and her most recent addition to her team, Miltank, with almost no effort over her shoulders causing the two pokemon to gasp in surprise before they both screamed as the former heiress shifted her weight to the side and threw them off.
Ursa wheezed as the combined effect of harshly landing on her back and Miltank unintentionally landing on top of her gut knocked the wind out of the grizzly bear while the pink cow wasn't doing much better as she groggily rolled off the grizzly bear. Dazed, the pink cow began taking in gulps of air before both Ursa and Miltank gagged as Catherine pounced in between them and firmly wrapped both of her arms around their necks.
Grunting with exertion, both Ursa and Miltank struggled to throw off the surprisingly strong girl who gritted her teeth did her best to force all of her weight down onto her two sparring partners. Both normal types exchanged glances with one another and nodded before the bovine bulked up significantly using strength while Ursa used that move along with superpower to increase in girth. Letting out a breathe, both suddenly pushed up forcing Catherine to place one foot back on the ground to stabilize herself while placing another foot in front to push forward against her sparring partners.
Like the unstoppable force and the immovable object, Ursa and Miltank pushed against the much, much smaller girl forcefully causing some of the ground to give way and for the chocolate haired girl's feet to depress into the ground. Even more, big, spider web cracks in the ground and large mound of dirt formed behind the former heiress while streams of sweat poured off Catherine's face like a river, but remembered to breathe properly like Luka showed her, but so did Ursa and Miltank. Catherine realized she was in an impossible situation; either she could continue pushing against her two friends and exhaust herself long before they would or she could try to unbalance one of them while leaving herself vulnerable to the other.
"I have to think of something fast!" Catherine thought to herself as she gnashed her teeth and smashed her head into Ursa's face causing the grizzly bear to hiss and repeat the gesture causing an abrasion to form right above Catherine's eyes.
Yelping, Catherine's feet were suddenly uprooted from the ground and she was nearly forced onto her back had she not gotten down onto one knee and placed one foot back for stabilization as she continued to push against her two sparring partners while blinking away drops of blood. Grunting, Miltank glanced at Ursa and gave a strained gesture at Catherine's back leg causing the grizzly bear to gnash her teeth and nod slowly while still pushing against the smaller girl. In unison, the two normal types knelt down and grasped at the leg the former heiress held back causing Catherine to shake her head to clear off the blood drops streaming down her eyes and relinquished her grip on Miltank's neck causing the bovine to uncontrollably stagger forward.
While Miltank hit the mound of dirt and tried to regain her bearings, Catherine wrapped her other arm around Ursa's neck and twisted her body to the side where she slammed harshly slammed the grizzly bear on her shoulder. Hearing Ursa hiss, Catherine blinked away more blood and quickly rolled off the grizzly bear just as Miltank came crashing down on Ursa's gut shoulder first like she was jumping off the top rope in a wrestling match causing the grizzly bear to dry heave before snarling at the pink cow.
"(Oops, sorry!)" Miltank bashfully apologized to her friend while jumping off of her and rubbing the back of her neck with an awkward grin on her face before both Catherine and Miltank exchanged glances and chuckled while Ursa climbed to her feet.
With a heavy blush on her face, Ursa roared at the duo causing Catherine and Miltank to cover their mouths and snickered a few more times before the former heiress brought her hands up like a bare knuckle boxer while Miltank held her hooves out defensively.
Snorting, the grizzly bear suddenly appeared right in front of Catherine with her forearm coated in a dark, sinister energy causing the former heiress to widen her eyes at the move that almost always hit its mark before holding her hands up and digging her feet into the ground before her eyes bulged as Miltank's hoof smashed into her liver with great force. Instinctively clutching her liver, Catherine collapsed onto her knees and held up her arm to where she thought Ursa was going to strike while blinking away more blood before her head snapped back as Ursa's forearm smashed into her face like a wrecking ball sending Catherine skidding backwards like a rock being skipped across a pond.
Coming to a stop on her belly, Catherine coughed and slowly clambered to her feet while still clutching her liver as Miltank launched a hammerfist at Catherine's knee forcing the former heiress to step back only for Ursa slash her chest with her claws. Like in their previous sparring session the cuts were superficial, but they did make Catherine scream and stagger back just as the pink cow tried to smash her hoof into Catherine's ribs like a hammer. Catherine barely saw the blow coming and just managed to lower her elbow in time to block the strike which made her free arm tingle, but this left her vulnerable as Ursa's claw raked across her arms.
Hissing, Catherine groggily walked back just as Miltank tried clobber the former heiress over the head with both of her hooves and not having enough energy to dodge, stopped the blow in its tracks though the strike sent painful tremors up Catherine's arm causing the former heiress to gnash her teeth. Cursing under her breathe as the grizzly bear's claws made big, shallow cuts against her one usable arm yet again, the former heiress barely managed to spin away from a hammerfist aimed at her knee while shaking her head to clear any blood droplets from her eyes.
Catherine bit her lip as Ursa added three more cuts along her one usable arm, but stood strong against the pain before raising her leg and smashing the ball of her foot in the grizzly bear's ribs with a vicious side kick. Ursa hissed and staggered off to the side where she nearly doubled over while Catherine tried to knee the pink cow in the face, but widened her eyes when Miltank blocked the blow and firmly wrapped her arms around Catherine's leg. Blinking away more blood, Catherine screamed as the pink cow stomped her hoof down onto the former heiress's toes before slugging Miltank over the head like a sledgehammer causing the bovine to grimace, but maintain her grip on Catherine's leg.
Catherine threw a punch toward Miltank's head again, but Ursa tightly wrapped a paw around the former heiress's wrist and applied pressure causing the young girl to grit her teeth as she felt as if her wrist was being crushed in a car compactor. Working in unison, Miltank lifted up Catherine's leg and rammed her head into the former heiress's gut while Ursa put her leg behind Catherine's free leg and shoved the former heiress's head back with her meaty paw. Landing one last punch on Miltank who winced from the blow, Catherine hit the ground hard and let out a pained breathe as Ursa sat on top of her chest and trapped both of Catherine's wrists in her paws while Miltank wrapped both her arms around the former heiress's feet.
Struggling for a bit, Catherine shook her head to get blood out of her eyes before letting out a soft breathe and staring at her friends who looked back at her expectantly.
"I'll get you guys next time; especially you, Ursa," Catherine stated with a toothy grin causing the grizzly bear to snort with a slight smile on her face and got off her smaller friend while Miltank released her grip on Catherine's legs.
"(Better watch out, Ursa,)" Miltank remarked quietly with a grin while nudging the grizzly bear in the ribs with her elbow causing Ursa to huff as the former heiress put a hand on the ground and sucked in a breathe before exhaling.
With a wince, the former heiress rose to her feet while clutching her arm marred with cuts while trying to ignore the burning pain in her liver before Miltank gently wrapped her hooves around Catherine's legs while Ursa put Catherine's arm over her neck. Helping their trainer walk over to the mound of dirt, the two pokemon slowly set the former heiress down on the makeshift bed causing Catherine to hiss as her liver flared up in pain.
"(Help her; be back,)" Ursa stated tersely as she got to her feet and slowly walked away leaving a bewildered Miltank behind who huffed and put her hooves on her hips.
"(Hey, Ursa! Don't just leave me alone! Ursa!)" Miltank shouted incredulously while waving her arms before shaking her head and turning her attention to the former heiress and lifting up Catherine's shirt where she began gently rubbing the bruise on the young girl's liver with her hooves.
"(Sure, leave the new girl with our trainer. That seems fair,)" the pink cow muttered under her breathe while continuing to gently rub Catherine's bruise causing the former heiress to groan and grip Miltank's wrist.
"A little harder please," Catherine requested causing the pink cow to nod and apply a little more pressure causing the former heiress to hiss and tiredly grin at the bovine who smiled back as the grizzly bear returned with Catherine's backpack.
Sitting down next to her friends, Ursa took out Catherine's empty water bottle and handed it to the pink bovine who awkwardly grasped it with her hooves before taking off the lid and holding it up to one of her udders while Catherine leaned her head back on the pile of dirt with a wince.
"Miltank, oh, thank you, I'm glad you're coming with us even though my friends and I are technically participants in a war," Catherine stated while taking the water bottle full of milk from the pink cow who nodded with a smile as the former heiress chugged the milk down and set the bottle on the ground when she finished drinking it.
"(Don't sweat it; I defended Hearthome both times when it was under attack so I know what to expect from these punks and a young, growing girl like you needs herr whole milk and your big sis Vaque is here to provide!)" Miltank assured the young girl while thumping her chest with her hoof with a wide smile on her face as the cut above Catherine's eyes, the bruise on her liver, the cuts on her chest, and the cuts marring her arm disappeared shortly after the former heiress drank the milk.
"Okay, so I think you said you fought both times when Hearthome was attacked, I need my whole milk, and your name is Vaque, correct?" Catherine assumed while making an uncertain gesture with her hands causing the pink cow to nod causing the former heiress to clench her hand and bring her elbow back to her sides with a grin on her face before springing to her feet and checking her body out.
"That's good milk," Catherine remarked in awe as she felt stronger than ever after drinking it while Ursa and Vaque climbed to their feet before going to work grabbing clumps of dirt from the mound they had unintentionally created and began to place it back in the ground.
"Oh right, we should probably do something about that," the former heiress said while rubbing the back of her neck before grabbing balls of dirt in her hand and placing them in the ground before smoothing it out with the two normal types following suit as Catherine glanced at the free for all Luka, Graveler, Floatzel, and Kricketune were having.
Nodding as she saw Luka backhand Floatzel face first into a tree, send Graveler rolling backwards like a bowling ball with a stiff front kick, and snap Kricketune's back with a rigid strike from her palm aimed at his nose, Catherine returned to her task and finished evening out the ground causing her to smack her hands to clear off some of the dust.
"Sightseeing led me to Kricketune and Miltank; I wonder what other pokemon I'll encounter because of that?" Catherine mused before shrugging and charging into the free for all with a war cry causing Vaque to widen her eyes and glance at Ursa who shrugged before gesturing at the battle their friends were in causing the pink cow to sigh.
"(Catherine, wait for us!)" Vaque exclaimed as she sprinted towards the free for all just as Luka smacked Floatzel to the ground with the back of her paw while Catherine pounced on Graveler's head and wouldn't let go while Ursa swiped at Kricketune who expertly parried the blow with one arm before causing Ursa's to uncontrollably spin to the side before falling onto her belly as his other arm smashed into her face.
"This is great," Catherine thought to herself with a cheery grin as she jumped off Graveler and brought her arm up to block a restrained palm heel from her girlfriend who gave a proud grin before narrowing her eyes and pouring on the pressure causing the former heiress to grit her teeth as she barely managed to move her head back as the top of Luka's palm grazed her chin.
The world was out to get her, that much Alice Wayne, ex-heiress of Wayne Hotels and now the bodyguard of the very legendary she attempted to enslave, thought to herself as she somehow managed to get her foot stuck in the mud and tried to free herself to no avail. Her sanity was already being pushed to its limits thanks to Arceus making her experience all the pain she put others through, but Oni contacting her every now and then just to taunt her whenever she failed in her training didn't make things any easier.
She hated it...but then she remembered that's what she would do with her pokemon when she was a trainer and as much as she disliked the insults, she just saw it as karma catching up with her and put up with it. Hearing laughter beside her, Alice turned her head and saw her partner, now an Espeon, lounging on a rock like she was royalty and watched her trainer struggle like it was a television show.
"(How goes it, stupid master?)" Espeon questioned her trainer with her mind while wearing an amused smirk on her face as the ex-heiress growled and futilely tried to pry her foot out of the mud as her partner chuckled at her efforts.
"Well, if you would be so kind as to help me, things would be going a lot smoother," Alice hissed as she once again tried to yank her foot out of the mud only for her foot to stay right where it was causing the ex-heiress to snarl.
"(So kinda like how a lot of your former pokemon asked for your help and you didn't offer them any?)" Espeon pointed out causing Alice to slump her shoulders and let out a soft sigh while the pink cat guiltily looked off to the side before her gemstone glowed a blood crimson similar to the ones Alice's corrupted pokemon had and surrounded her partner's foot with crimson energy.
"Can you please...not do that? Trying to sleep is hard enough; I don't need my supposed partner reminding me of how much of an asshole I was," Alice huffed as her trapped foot was easily lifted out of the mud before being set on solid ground causing the ex-heiress to nod at her partner who nodded back.
"(Yeah, no problem, Alice,)" Espeon responded softly as she hopped off the rock and followed her partner into a cave and after navigating it effortlessly, they found themselves in front of a bridge with some trainers waiting for challengers.
"Ugh...it's the same old trainers and a couple of new ones I haven't seen before. I'm getting sick of Cianwood," Alice growled as the sun pokemon glanced at her trainer and snorted as they crossed the bridge slowly while glancing at the special pokeballs on the ex-heiress's belt.
"(Then why not challenge the gym leader for his badge? We've gained quite a reputation as strong opponents and between Poliwrath and I, acquiring the badge will be...difficult, but it will be ours nonetheless,)" Espeon suggested while stretching her limbs and letting out a soft yawn causing the ex-heiress to snort and fold her arms as she walked by a trainer she had defeated multiple times without batting an eye.
"If you knew anything about gym leaders, which you don't, you should know that they don't accept challenges from trainers who don't have a certain amount of gym badges," Alice retorted causing the sun pokemon to roll her eyes and continue to trot along as the servant of Oni passed by another trainer she had defeated without giving them the time of day.
"(It won't hurt to try, stupid master. Considering our rep, maybe he would be willing to make an exception?)" the pink cat countered causing the ex-heiress to shake her head as the duo entered another cave and after traversing it for a while, she and her partner made it back to Cianwood where there were some people out and about.
"I doubt it; there's plenty of strong trainers on Cianwood and as much as it pains me to say, I haven't done anything special to warrant his attention," Alice responded while walking back to the Pokemon Center causing the sun pokemon to give an outlandish gasp and widened her eyes in fake shock causing the ex-heiress to narrow her eyes at her partner.
"(Oh my gosh, humility coming from the invincible Alice Wayne? Somewhere in the world, a trainer is jumping for joy as their Grumpig learned how to fly. But seriously, Alice; Oni is expecting you to take part in the Pokemon League and you can't do that trapped on Cianwood,)" Espeon pointed out causing the ex-heiress to run a hand through her hair and nod as she passed by a few kids playfully running around the beach on her way to the medical center.
"If you have a plausible suggestion as to how we can leave this dead end, then I'd love to hear it," Alice responded causing the sun pokemon to roll her eyes as the duo entered the pokemon center and found Nurse Joy glowering at a young trainer with her arms folded while the young trainer in question that looked to be around fifteen looked down at the floor while rubbing her arm.
"You incompetent brat. You exhausted your pokemon traversing the whirlpools, didn't properly train or prepare for your gym battle, and your pokemon pay the price for your failure?" Nurse Joy spat venomously like she was an Arbok causing the young girl to break out into tears and cover her face with her hands causing Nurse Joy to let out a soft sigh and awkwardly put a hand on the girl's shoulder which made Alice raise a brow as the girl looked up at the older woman with red, teary eyes.
"Which is why I'll care for your pokemon to the best of my ability in spite of your lack of judgment. Don't let this happen again or we'll have a problem, clear?" Nurse Joy stated in a much calmer tone than before causing the girl to wipe away her tears with her forearm and nodded determinedly causing the medical practitioner to pat the girl on the shoulder before glancing at the ex-heiress.
"I need to talk to you; I'll treat your pokemon after I tend to hers," the nurse tersely informed the ex-heiress while gesturing to the young trainer with her head causing Alice to nod and follow the medical practitioner into the large treatment room where she closed the door as Nurse Joy sent out the girl's pokemon onto a big treatment table.
"Did you hear about those attacks in Hearthome? Oh wait, the first one was your fault so of course you did, but I meant the second one," the medical practitioner inquired while having a Miltank sit on her haunches before giving the pink cow a pill that made the bovine hum happily as the nurse began tending to any wounds on the cow's body.
"(Real smooth telling Jessie everything, stupid master,)" Espeon remarked causing the ex-heiress to nudge the pink cat with her foot while the feline retaliated by smacking Alice in the butt with psychic energy causing the ex-heiress to stumble forward.
"No, I haven't. What's happened?" Alice replied while rubbing her bum and glowering at the pink cat who hummed nonchalantly as the nurse finished tending to Miltank's wounds and after rummaging through one of her drawers, gave the cow a patch of grass for it to feed on causing the bovine to moo gleefully.
"I don't have all the details, but the word is that the attacks were orchestrated by a legendary pokemon team from the obscure region you said Catherine's friends were from. They say that you're sister and her friends were in the thick of the fight and saved a lot of lives," Nurse Joy offhandedly remarked as she began giving a Flaffy a good charge of electricity with a car battery causing the sheep to clap its hands as the medical practitioner charged electricity into the sheep for a few moments before cutting off the power.
"And why, pray tell, is this important to me besides the fact that this involves my sister?" Alice inquired while putting a hand on her hip and raising a brow causing Nurse Joy to finish up tending to any injuries Flaffy had before handing the sheep another patch of grass for it to feed on causing the sheep to squeal joyfully.
"Because they're already reports that strange pokemon have been diverted to Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto so perhaps while your doing Lugia's task, you can take some time to deal with these terrorists. You would be helping your sister and her friends a great deal," the medical practitioner responded bluntly as she grabbed a bottle and poured some of the strange liquid on her hands before applying it onto a Croconaw causing the reptile to grin as the nurse continued what she was doing while the ex-heiress tapped her foot.
"If I do this, will Catherine-"
"No, even if you wanted to stop these pokemon for selfless reasons, your sister still wouldn't want anything to do with you. After all, a few months or a few years of selfless acts doesn't make up for the fact that you committed a lifetime of atrocities just for her attention," the nurse sharply interrupted the ex-heiress causing Alice to growl while Espeon blankly watched the conversation between the two as Nurse Joy finished tending to Croconaw and gave the crocodile a durable chew tow which the reptile took happily and began munching on it.
"Then why should I bother helping her?" Alice snarled under her breathe as the nurse typed some things into a computer before returning the young trainer's pokemon to their pokeballs and setting them down on a tray as she exited the treatment room with the ex-heiress and the pink feline following her.
"Because even though Dmitri, Delia, and their pokemon have been more a family to her than you have ever been, you still clearly care about her so act like a big sister and protect your sibling," Nurse Joy answered sharply causing the ex-heiress to narrow her eyes as Jessie set the tray of pokeballs onto the counter where the young trainer clipped her pokeballs to her belt and gave a grateful bow to the nurse who nodded at the girl before giving her full attention to the servant of Oni who balled her hands into fists.
"How the hell am I supposed to protect her while I'm stuck-"
"I managed to convince Chuck to give you a match despite your...glaring absence of gym badges. Impress him enough and he might be willing to give you a rematch should you...oh who I am kidding, when you lose," Jessie cut in as she let out a sigh and held out her hand while gesturing to the pink cat with her head causing the ex-heiress to snort as she glanced at Espeon who nodded and walked over to the nurse as Alice set Poliwrath's pokeball on the tray.
"Take a seat; this won't be long," Nurse Joy informed the servant of Oni who nodded tersely and sat down on a chair with a sour look on her face and her arms folded while Jessie walked into the treatment room as Espeon jumped onto a table with her partner soon joining her.
"(I'm impressed with the progress Alice has made...although I'm a bit disappointed she's only befriended two pokemon in 7 months,)" Oni mused in Jessie's mind as the nurse began massaging the sun pokemon causing the pink cat to purr in delight and after a few minutes had passed, stopped and gave the psychic cat a rubix cube who smirked and went to work solving the puzzle.
"Considering her personality, be happy that she managed to befriend two pokemon at all," Nurse Joy pointed out while before moving onto Poliwrath and giving the tadpole a massage like what she did with the pink cat and when she finished, she handed the dual type a gripping device which the tadpole gleefully took and strained to touch the two bars together with its hand.
"(True, but she confided in you the task I had assigned her and her awful past which you already knew due to me asking you to watch over her. Also, she took the time to ensure Poliwhirl was as strong as she could be before letting her evolve so she's showing signs of growth, however slow it may be,)" Oni countered causing the nurse to huff as she treated any minor injuries the duo had before grabbing Espeon around her waist and gently setting her on the floor and then returning Poliwrath to her pokeball and placing the pokeball on the tray.
"And you're sure she's grown enough to handle the New Swords of Justice's forces?" Jessie inquired while keeping a blank face as she exited the treatment room and set the tray on the counter while Espeon yawned before walking over to the ex-heiress who clipped Poliwrath's pokeball to her belt and stared at the medical practitioner with narrowed eyes.
"(She won't be alone; my brethren in Kanto and Johto have taken steps to handle these terrorists when they arrive and my kin in Hoenn are diverting as much forces as they can they can to either region to give my relatives in Sinnoh some breathing room,)" Oni responded causing the nurse to resist the urge to huff as Alice ran a hand through her hair and looked down at the ground before glancing at Jessie who put a hand on her hip and raised a brow.
"I didn't ask for your help...but it is appreciated," Alice reluctantly stated before walking out the door with Espeon trotting beside her as the nurse watched the young adult exit the building with her arms folded.
"That still doesn't answer my question; is Alice ready for this?" the medical practitioner restated as she sat down in her chair and leaned back before she felt Oni's presence in her mind once more.
"(Yes, she is. Alice, my brethren, and I will be able to help Dmitri, Delia, and Catherine by containing or diverting some of the forces targeting them, albeit without their knowledge,)" Oni answered causing the nurse to let out a soft sigh and put her hands behind her head as she looked out the window and saw Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath sitting on the beach and watching the sunset with one another while wearing blank expressions on their faces.
"Tensions are already cold between Unova and the other regions and what you're doing will only make it worse," Jessie analyzed while rubbing her forehead and closing her eyes as the trio leader hummed for a moment as the nurse got up and paced around the counter before she felt Oni's presence in her head once more.
"(In the short term, perhaps. My kin in Unova have been unable to forge any alliances outside of their region for either arrogance, self-righteousness, or being isolationists while my brethren in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh are united. As powerful as the New Swords of Justice may be in their region, they're still isolated from the world and that is something my brethren and I intend to exploit,)" Oni replied as Jessie glanced out the window again and saw Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath gaze at the horizon for a few more moments before climbing to their feet and walking toward the gym in stride with one another causing nurse to give a slight grin before she let out a soft sigh.
"Sorry Lugia, you know I understand this goes beyond political concerns, but I don't see Lance and the Elite Four cooperating with the champion and Elite Four in Unova any time soon," Jessie truthfully stated causing the sea god to huff while Jessie sat back down in her chair and put her hands behind her head before she felt Oni's presence in her mind once again causing the nurse to raise a brow.
"(Working together, in spite of past hostilities, should be a lesson your champion and his pantheon take to heart if they intend to interfere,)" Oni said coolly before the medical practitioner felt the presence in her head ebb away like the tides causing the nurse to sigh as she watched the ocean and sunset with a contemplative look on her face.
For Miltank's name, I looked up information on her and found that she was possibly based on the Jersey cattle from the Channel Islands. The language that was once the main one spoken in Jersey, Jerriais, is similar to French and I could have looked up what cow meant in French, but I wanted to use the Jerriais word for Miltank's nickname. So after looking around for a while, I found a translation for cow and thus Catherine has a cow named Vaque on her team just like she was a grizzly bear named Ursa on her team.