"That's going to be pleasant.", muttered Carlos.
Connor said, "Well, at least we know that there are not going to be any Trainers waiting to ambush people with a Pokemon battle. That should cut some time off the trip."
Ray nodded in agreement.
Clara was writing down notes again, only looking up on occasion to check for obstacles. Carla was walking alongside her, still somewhat drained from her feat of magic. Ray noted that Carlos did not seem happy that his sister was standing almost as far away as she could get from him. Ray wondered if he'd be that protective if he had a sibling of his own.
Of course, that wasn't going to happen, because his parents were long gone.
Ray did not want to think about that right now, though, and instead observed the others in order to try to gauge how they were doing.
Kelly had been lagging behind, perfectly quiet ever since they set down his road. Much as she was trying to push it off as nothing, Ray suspected she had quite a bit of history in Azulia City, and most likely a dark one.
John seemed lost in thought, and Ray wondered if something had happened to him there as well. Whatever it was, he didn't seem as worried about it as Kelly.
Ulfsigr was...well, Ulfsigr. Try as he might, Ray could not learn anything about the man, his thoughts, or his history. The strange armor concealed everything from everyone, for a reason Ray doubted he'd ever learn.
Catherine was floating in between everyone, carefully analyzing everything. Ray wondered how she'd gotten the way she was, and which Legendary had done it. It was a mystery he hoped to solve at some point.
Connor seemed pretty relaxed. That was good. Wolfe was calm as well.
Mantis was loyally following Connor, having unofficially declared him his Trainer. Sparkles occasionally burst off of him, a sign of his status as a Shiny Pokemon.
After a little while, they came across a strange old man standing in the middle of the road.
He had long gray hair that covered his features, and a huge backpack loaded with odd trinkets and rare items. He wore long brown robes, and in his hand he held a tall walking stick. At the sight of the Legendborn, he perked up.
"Ah, it is pleasant to meet you all! Here, a little present for each of you!", the man said.
8 Striding over, he placed a large silvery scale in Ray's hands, an oddly ethereal ribbon in Ulfsigr's, an old hard drive in Connor's, a matching pair of red and blue bracelets for Carla and Carlos respectively, a large flower in Clara's, a tattered black cloth in Catherine's, and a deep blue shell for Kelly.
"They say I'm crazy, but I consider myself generous! Stay strong, my heroes!", the old man said, before hurrying onwards.
After he was gone, Ulfsigr commented, "Well, that was strange."
He studied the ribbon. "Hmm, I'm not even sure what this is for. But it would be impolite to throw it away so early."
Kelly put on the hairclip. "Hey, it matches!", she exclaimed, looking at it in a mirror.
Ray pocketed the scale. He wasn't sure what it was for, either, but he sensed a faint power humming from it.
Everyone else put away their new things. After that, they continued walking, until finally the trees began to clear away, replaced by steadily rising slopes and rocks.
Ray looked up at the sky, and noticed the sun was setting. "Let's find a place to stay for the night.", he suggested, "It's getting late, and we could all use some food and rest."
They found a wide clear area off the trail, and started setting up camp. Kelly volunteered to cook this time, and started preparing some beef stew.
Ray sat down on a nearby rock, pleased to relax. But it wasn't long before John came over, saying, "Hey, I think now would be a good time to train. Perhaps we could have a battle?"
Ray shrugged. "Sure."
The two of them walked over to a clear area, before readying their Pokeballs. "First one to run out of Pokemon loses.", Ray declared.
John looked at Ray's four compared to his five. "Um, you have less than I do, are you sure -"
Ray smiled slyly. "I'm tougher than you think."
He sent out Vivian. "Let's get warmed up, shall we?"
Vivian looked excited to battle, waving his fluffy tail happily.
John shrugged, before sending out his Alolan Meowth. "Let's go, Matt! Show that Eevee how we roll!"
"Hoo, boy...", grumbled Matt, before readying his claws.
"Vivian, build up speed! Quick Attack!", Ray commanded.
The Eevee immediately started running faster and faster, until he became a blur of motion.
"Matt, use Taunt! Get him to come at you!", John commanded.
Matt sighed. "Alright, fluffball, you've got speed, but can you actually hit something? Ouch!"
The Meowth was catapulted back by an Eevee charging into him full force.
"Okay, you're fast AND painful.", Matt admitted.
Vivian beamed at him.
"Now, Tail Whip to lower his guard!", Ray shouted.
"Ha, I won't fall for tha-", Matt started.
Vivian wiggled his tail adorably.
"Awww, you're absolutely adorable!", Matt purred.
"Now, Quick Attack again!", Ray said.
Matt was sent flying over to John's side.
"This is getting annoying.", Matt grumbled.
John said, "Alright, Matt, we need a new strategy. Hit that Eevee more times than it can hit back!"
Matt nodded, and extended his claws.
"Vivian, don't let him hit you! Keep building up speed, so we can unleash an extra-powerful Quick Attack!", Ray shouted.
The Eevee started energetically running around in circles across the battlefield, growing faster and faster.
"Pay Day! Try to trip it up!", John shouted.
The coin on Matt's forehead lit up, before firing a blast of coins across the field. Vivian tripped...and began rolling across the ground even faster than before.
"What the actual Distortion!?", cried John.
Ray gave him a confident look. "You have no idea."
Vivian rolled right for Matt, who sighed before pouncing on the ball of fur, claws glowing with dark energy.
After a comical dust cloud brawl, the air cleared to reveal Matt and Vivian on opposite sides of each other, breathing heavily. Then they both fell over, and fainted.
"Vivian, great work!", applauded Ray, "Your training is really kicking in!"
"Matt, come back! Let's try and see if we can do better next time!", John said.
Both of them returned their Pokemon before readying their next one.
"Sentinel!"
"Christina!"
Ray's Golett and John's Shiny Chespin made their appearance, and John grinned confidently.
"You're not winning this one! I have the advantage!", John declared.
Christina sat down and started snoozing.
Ray rose an eyebrow. "If you can keep her awake, that is."
He then commanded, "Sentinel, get ready for this! Iron Defense repeatedly until I tell you to stop!"
A steely aura started whirling around Sentinel, as the Golett started building up its defense.
"Christina, get up! We can't let that robot get too strong!", John cried.
The Chespin did not reply.
John cursed and started digging through his bag, looking for something. Ray calmly watched as Sentinel slowly got larger and tougher, waiting for the right opportunity.
Finally John procured an airhorn. "Christina, WAKE UP!", he yelled, blowing the horn repeatedly.
Sentinel would've most likely been startled by the sudden noise if it wasn't an emotionless robot.
The Chespin bolted to her feet, crying, "Okay, okay, ow my ears!" She saw the Golett. "Ooh, you look mean.", she said.
She summoned a wooden hammer and bashed the Golett with it, but the hammer simply broke on the Golett's skin.
"Now, Curse.", Ray said quietly.
The Golett shuddered as dark energy damaged it, before then sending the energy at the unfortunate Chespin. She yelped as a ghostly needle hammered into her shell, and John looked worried.
"Quickly, Seed Bomb!", John shouted, "You have to get that Golett down, before he uses a Potion!"
Ray scoffed. "I do not resort to items to win my battles."
Christina bombarded the Golett with explosive seeds, which caused it to stumble back and nearly fall over. The Chespin moved in to attack again, but lost her chance when the curse caused her to flinch from pain.
"Phantom Force!", Ray shouted.
"Wait, what -", cried John, as the Golett dematerialized and vanished, "Christina, brace yourself! It could come from anywhere!"
The Chespin curled up, shuddering as the curse hit her again, and readied the spines on her shell.
Which proved futile, as the Golett emerged from the ground.
The Chespin was sent flying over to John's side, and landed unconscious beside him. John looked pale as he returned her, before sending in Geoff.
The Gengar glared at the Golett. "You think you're something, eh?", he growled, "Boo!"
Geoff fired off a sudden Shadow Ball, which slammed into Sentinel and caused it to silently topple over.
Ray returned Sentinel, and grinned slyly at Geoff. "I shall apologize to you after this is over."
"Huh?", asked Geoff, confused.
Ray tossed up a Pokeball. "Winona!", he called.
The Dragonair emerged, grinning devilishly. "Hi, Geoff."
The Gengar didn't even try to fight. He sank into the ground and attempted to escape.
"I know you don't need my commands to deal with this one.", Ray stated.
Winona nodded, before soaring into the sky and scanning the ground for her ghostly nemesis.
"Geoff, you have Curse as well! Use it!", John commanded.
The Gengar reappeared, flinching as he used the ability. Winona hissed in pain, before her eyes lit up with draconic rage.
Geoff did not stand a chance. The Dragonair descended and used Outrage, completely one-shotting the unfortunate Ghost-type.
As John returned the Gengar, he looked rather worried. "How in the world am I going to fight her?"
He sent out Amanda, saying, "You've got to figure out how to stop the Dragonair!"
However, Ray promptly returned Winona, whispering something to the Pokeball as he did so. Then he turned towards John, saying, "How is our training session so far?"
John replied, "Um...terrifying. What is up with your Pokemon!?"
Ray smiled. "I'm no rookie Trainer."
He sent out Checkmate. "Steel Skydrop maneuver! We're finishing this, fast!"
The Corviknight screeched a battlecry.
"Steel Skydrop maneuver!? What the Distortion is that!?", cried John.
Checkmate demonstrated by snatching Amanda in his talons and flying off into the sky.
"Try to get free, Amanda! Don't let him get too high!", cried John.
Her eyes narrowed as she used Laser Focus, then started whacking the Corviknight's legs with Dual Chop. Checkmate could not hold onto her for long, but as soon as the Axew got free, the Corviknight lit his wings up with steel aura and dived after her, before slamming the Dragon-type with his wings and sending her hurtling to the ground at an even greater velocity.
John winced as the Axew plowed a furrow into the ground, and did not get back up. Returning her to the Pokeball, he grabbed his last one.
"Remi! You're going to have to take out two aces! Get ready for a tough fight!", John shouted, sending out his Raichu.
"Checkmate, you are a mighty warrior, but I know you cannot vanquish an Electric-type.", Ray said, "But you can do enough damage that Winona will be able to finish them. Bold as Steel, Final Flight!"
"How come you codenamed his maneuvers but no one - HOLY ARCEUS!", exclaimed John.
Checkmate drained his steel energy into a devastating beam attack, which blasted the Raichu across the ground, before being surrounded in a fiery bird-shaped aura. Checkmate closed his eyes with resolve, before slamming into the Raichu and launching her even farther. He fell over, fainted, but the Raichu was not much better.
"A Steel Beam Brave Bird combo?! Who even DOES that!?", cried John.
Ray answered, "It is what's going to end up finishing you. Winona, you're up!"
He swapped out his Corviknight and sent back in his Dragonair.
"Finish the Raichu with a Dragon Breath!", Ray shouted.
Remi could not even dodge. Winona descended, breathing out deep blue flames, and the Raichu fainted.
John returned Remi. "That was...quite the battle."
Ray nodded. "Indeed. But I am still not strong enough yet."
John looked surprised. "What? You absolutely dominated me!"
Ray shrugged. "Perhaps, but you are not the toughest opponent I've ever encountered. Once I'm strong enough to beat them, then I'll know I'm ready to take on the Darkness."
Ray shot a smile at Winona, who was doing a victory dance in the sky, before looking back at John.
"Come, I believe dinner is almost ready.", he said.
As they walked back to the rest of the campsite, John couldn't help but wonder just what Ray had in his past. There was a lot more to that young man than he normally displayed.
John did not know if he'd ever find out. (-o-)
AN: I figured we were lacking in the battles department, so I decided to write this scene! This is the first of three chapters about their journey to Azulia City, and once I finish those I'll start another series of three chapters titled the Road to Glasheer City, featuring our other group of Legendborn.
Slowly, I am revealing that there is a lot more to these characters than what originally meets the eye. I hope you're enjoying finding out, and perhaps even guessing what the full story is!
I'll just warn you that it might be wrong...there's a lot I'm not telling you yet.
I'll see you all next time!