Good Friends, Great Training
Alec's POV
As the group continued to Lumiose City, they stopped at a nearby Pokémon Center and contacted Clemont. "It's good to see you all," Clemont said after they said their hello's.
"Are you eating okay? Are you cleaning up after yourself? I hope so. Is the laundry piling up? I hope not," Bonnie asked rapidly.
"Everything is under control. I've just completed my latest invention," Clemont answered Bonnie.
"What'd you make this time?" Alec wondered.
Clemont chuckled before continuing. "With it, you'll never have to do household chores again. I call it, my Gothitelle Domestic Engineer! It automatically detects anything that needs cleaning and polishes it till an immaculate luster," Clemont said as the machine appeared behind him, cleaning the floor.
"Awesome!" Ash commented.
Before Clemont could say anything else, the robot started to try and clean Clemont with a vacuum. Clemont tried to fight it, but the device ended up exploding. "I'll be glad when you get here. It'll be a relief too," Clemont commented, collapsing to the floor.
They ended the call and Cassidy asked, "How often does that happen?"
"It's pretty much a daily occurrence," Alec pointed out.
Once they got their Pokémon back, they continued on their way. "Clemont sure looks ready for your battle," Serena commented.
"Well I plan on winning anyway," Ash said confidently.
"I'm curious about the Snowbelle gym though," Cassidy stated.
"Alec's from Snowbelle so I'm sure he can tell you about it," Bonnie pointed out.
"Oh," Cassidy said, looking at Alec with a pleading look.
"All I'm going to say is that Snowbelle's gym leader is very strong. I'm not giving you an unfair advantage against him," Alec stated. Cassidy then made a pout face and Alec really had to work to resist it. She eventually gave up, but it took a bit of time.
"So, what's your strategy?" Serena asked Ash.
"A strategy, huh?" Ash wondered.
"Right. You'd better think about Clemont's Pokémon and decide on how to beat them," Serena stated.
"Ash already has his strategy. Make it up as he goes," Alec joked.
"Yeah! And that's what I'm going to do!" Ash said excitedly.
"I was kidding," Alec said, but Ash didn't hear him.
"Now you've done it," Serena commented.
"Still, we'd better train hard!" Ash said to Pikachu.
"Some special training Ash? It's been a long time hasn't it," Tierno said as he showed up from around a tree.
"Tierno! Good to see you," Ash greeted.
"Good to see you too," Tierno said as he approached. He then looked at Alec. "Oh wow! Alec! It's so good to see you again! I watched your Champion Battle and it was so amazing!" Tierno shouted excitedly, clearly still seeing Alec as his idol. Alec personally felt really uncomfortable.
"Oh… uh… thanks," Alec said awkwardly.
"Looks like you have a fan," Cassidy commented.
"I need a disguise," Alec muttered.
"Serena!" Tierno suddenly shouted, his eyes forming hearts somehow. "Your hair and clothes are different! You looked great before but it's even better!" Tierno said as Alec glared at him. He didn't know why him fawning over his sister was so aggravating though.
"Uh… thanks, Tierno," Serena said, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Wait. Where's Clemont? And who's that?" Tierno asked, looking around for the tech-wiz before looking at Cassidy.
Cassidy introduced herself and they explained where Clemont was. "Wait, Clemont's a Gym Leader?!" Tierno asked in shock.
"How did you not know that? Didn't you challenge the Lumiose Gym?" Alec asked.
"I did, but I ended up facing a robot," Tierno explained.
"That's Clembot. Clemont built it himself," Bonnie explained.
"Wow! That's incredible," Tierno stated.
"So, did you win the badge?" Ash asked.
"You know it," Tierno said as he pulled out the badge.
"Alright! So, why don't we have a battle so I can get some training in?" Ash offered.
"You got it," Tierno answered.
They found a field nearby that was large enough for a battle and Alec was ready to be the referee. "Sliggoo, I choose you!" Ash shouted as he let out his choice.
"If you don't mind Ash, I think we should have a double battle," Tierno offered. "I'll be going with these two," Tierno said as he threw two Poké Balls that showed a Wartortle and Raichu.
"So Wartortle evolved from Squirtle?" Ash asked.
"Yep. And since you'll be challenging the Lumiose Gym why not battle an electric-type," Tierno stated.
"Pikachu, Sliggoo, let's give it all we got!" Ash said and Pikachu ran out to stand by Sliggoo.
"Alright then. Let the battle begin!" Alec declared.
The second the words left his mouth, they all heard some beeping and a device on one wheel came out of the brush. It rolled up in front of Ash and two arms came out and grabbed Pikachu.
"What in the world!" Ash shouted as the device opened it's top to activate a hologram of Team Rocket.
"Hi. I trust you're as dumb as always. We're remotely coming to you from far away," Jessie started.
[Thaaaaat's right!] Wobbufet stated and Jessie pushed him down.
"And now, witness the sheer power of Team Rocket's newest robot, The Automatic Pikachu Catcher, otherwise known as ATC," James added.
"Our APC is capable of long-distance capturing by detecting electricity from Pikachu and locking in on it," Meowth boasted.
"Where's the mute button for this thing?" Alec asked as he looked around the device, not really concerning himself with Team Rocket's rant.
"Alright, show us your magic APC," Jessie ordered. The top closed and the back opened up to throw out a cage and was about to put Pikachu in it.
"Sliggoo, Dragon Breath!" Ash shouted. He fired at the arms that held Pikachu and released him.
The blast seemed to have messed with the machine, which suddenly went after Wartortle and Raichu, grabbing them both. "Raichu! Wartortle!" Tierno shouted.
"Pikachu, Sliggoo, help them out!" Ash ordered. The two Pokémon ran up to the machine and it knocked Pikachu away but Sliggoo grabbed on to one of the arms.
The machine then threw the three Pokémon into the cage. "Inferno, blast off that wire with Ember!" Alec shouted as he threw the Poké Ball. The moment Inferno was out though, the device grabbed Inferno and threw him into the cage as well.
Before anyone could react, the device and the cage drove off. The group tried to pursue, but a bunch of pink smoke prevented them from doing so. "Inferno!" Alec shouted.
"Where'd they go?" Cassidy asked.
"We'd better find out," Ash said and he, Alec, and Cassidy let out there flying Pokémon and told them to search the area.
When they came back though, they had found no trace of the machine. "Thanks for trying, return," Alec said, returning Soar as Ash and Cassidy returned Fletchinder and Cotton.
"I think we should split up and cover more ground," Serena suggested.
"Good idea," Ash replied. Alec and Cassidy went together to start the search as Tierno went with Bonnie and Ash went with Serena.
Inferno's POV
It was hard for Inferno not to be scared. Some weird device showed up and grabbed him the second he came out of his ball and now he was in a cage going who knows where. [We've gotta get out of here,] Wartortle said, trying to pull the bars apart, but they wouldn't budge.
[Where are they taking us?] Inferno asked, getting really scared.
[It doesn't matter cause we're getting out of here,] Raichu answered and used Thunderbolt on the bars, but ended up shocking everyone in the cage.
[Watch what you're doing!] Wartortle shouted.
[Sorry, I thought that would work,] Raichu said.
[This thing was made to capture electric-types so what did you think was going to happen!] Wartorlte shouted.
They sat in silence for the rest of the trip and they eventually came up to where the machine was supposed to go. "It swiped like a charm," Meowth said as they approached.
"Now we can relax and do our important work at the same time. It's really great," Jessie stated.
"This APC tech will really help us capture a lot of Pokémon," James added as he approached the cage and looked inside. "That's not Pikachu!" he shouted when he saw Raichu.
"What's all the yelling about," Jessie asked as she came up and saw Raichu as well. "Our Pikachu? Where's our Pikachu?!" Jessie asked in a panic.
"You think it evolved?" Meowth guessed.
"I highly doubt it, but that doesn't explain this," James stated.
[I'm not Pikachu!] Raichu shouted as he hit James with a Thunderbolt.
"No no no! The Thunderbolt that normally zaps us has more juice than that," James stated.
"The APC messed up. It started targeting any energy signature after it took a hit," Meowth said when he looked in a panel. "Now what's this thing?" Meowth asked, looking at Litten.
[Eat this you mangy alley cat!] Inferno shouted before shooting Ember into Meowth's face.
"I'm not an alley cat!" Meowth shouted once he recovered.
"I think this is the powerful twerp's Pokémon, but it doesn't have that same kind of imminent fear about it," James said.
"Maybe it's newly caught," Meowth guessed.
"And what's that?" Jessie asked and Wartortle put a Water Gun in her face, messing up her hair. "No one messes up my hair! Pumpkaboo, Shadow Ball!" Jessie shouted once she got up. Pumpkaboo appeared and fired at the Pokémon and hit the wire that held the cage and machine together, sending them away from Team Rocket.
Inferno screamed in fear as the cage approached a cliff and rolled off. They didn't fall for long and crashed into the ground. [Are you all alright?] Sliggoo asked as Inferno came to.
[I'm alright,] Inferno answered as Sliggoo helped him up.
[I'm here,] Wartortle said.
[I'm good too,] Raichu called out.
"Look, it's Sliggoo!" a voice shouted and Inferno saw Bonnie and Tierno.
"Wartortle! Raichu!" Tierno shouted when he saw his Pokémon.
"Inferno! You're okay too!" Bonnie said when she saw him.
[You're okay!] Dedenne shouted as he jumped into Sliggoo's arms.
[Where's Alec?] Inferno asked, looking around.
"You're worried about Alec, aren't you?" Bonnie asked as she picked Inferno up.
"So you four fell from up there? I'm glad you're alright," Tierno said, looking up the cliff.
"Hey! Where's Team Rocket's machine? Didn't it fall down with you?" Bonnie asked.
[No, we were split from it,] Sliggoo answered, shaking his head.
"Wait a minute. That machine can pick up on Pikachu's electricity, so maybe that's where it went," Tierno said.
"That means Ash and Serena are in trouble!" Bonnie added.
"We've gotta find them," Tierno said, getting ready to leave.
"Wait! Just leave everything to us," Bonnie said before looking at Dedenne. "Ready Dedenne?" she asked.
[I'm on it,] Dedenne said as he hopped down and let sparks come out of his checks.
"Dedenne can pick up on Pikachu's electricity, so he can tell them where we are," Bonnie said.
"How do we get in contact with Alec though?" Tierno asked.
"I wish I knew," Bonnie answered sadly.
[I've got'em! Come on!] Dedenne shouted as he ran off with the others behind him.
Alec's POV
"Any luck?" Cassidy asked as they looked.
"No. There's no sign of Inferno anywhere," Alec stated.
"We'll find him," Cassidy reassured Alec. "Wait… what's that?" Cassidy asked.
Alec turned to look at what Cassidy was looking at and saw Team Rocket's Robot wheeling about. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Alec asked.
"That we follow it and it might lead us to Team Rocket? Yes," Cassidy answered and the two followed the robot. It eventually jumped down a cliff and they heard two hard objects hit each other.
The two went to the cliff and found Ash, Pikachu, and Serena below them. "You find anything?" Alec asked them.
"Pikachu picked up Dedenne before the robot attacked," Ash answered.
"Come on!" Serena shouted and the four followed Pikachu.
Inferno's POV
Still following Dedenne, they found themselves in front of a large boulder that blocked their path. "We'll never get over that," Bonnie pointed out, looking at the top which would have to be reached by climbing a smooth surface.
Sliggoo fired Dragon Breath into the rock which only made a hole in it. Sliggoo then started ramming into the stone, hoping to destroy it. "Sliggoo, please stop," Bonnie said, but he ignored her and continued to ram into the stone. Inferno then rammed into the stone as well, wanting to help.
[We're not going to get through it at this rate,] Inferno pointed out.
"Wartortle, Raichu, help Sliggoo out," Tierno told them. The four Pokémon continued to ram the stone, but it just wouldn't budge.
[We've gotta get through!] Inferno shouted as his body was enveloped in flames and he charged at the rock again. With the combined efforts of the others, they rock shattered.
[We did it!] they shouted together.
"Wow! That was Flame Charge," Tierno said, looking at Inferno.
"Yay! Inferno learned a new move!" Bonnie cheered.
After their brief setback, they continued to follow Dedenne and eventually heard some commotion. They saw Ash, Serena, Alec, and Cassidy staring at Team Rocket as their device held Pikachu and prepared to put the mouse in the cage. Inferno ran into it with Flame Charge, knocking the machine back and freeing Pikachu.
"Inferno!" Alec shouted. Inferno ran up to his trainer smiling happily. "Thank goodness you're alright," Alec said with relief.
[I'm better than alright. I learned how to use Flame Charge!] Inferno told his trainer with joy.
"You twerpish brats! Pumpkaboo, Shadow Ball!" Jessie shouted.
"Okay Inkay, Psybeam!" James shouted. The Team Rocket Pokémon appeared and fired their attacks.
"Inferno, dodge it!" Alec ordered and Inferno jumped out of the way of the attack. "Now Flame Charge!" Inferno rammed into Pumpkaboo before turning around and slamming into Inkay's back. "Ember!" Alec shouted. Inferno fired, but Inkay and Pumpkaboo got out of the way.
However, the attack hit Team Rocket's machine, causing a ton of fire to got flying everywhere. The resulting fire had cut off Tierno and Bonnie from the others, who were surrounded by a ring of fire. "Samurai, put this out with Hydro Pump!" Alec shouted, letting out the formidable Pokémon.
[Oh wow this is a mess,] Samurai commented. Before he could let out any water though, they heard something fall above them and Inferno looked up to see a flaming tree falling down the cliff, right towards Alec.
"Alec, above you!" Cassidy shouted in warning. Alec looked up and saw the flaming tree and Samurai tackled his trainer out of the way in time, causing the tree to fall on top of Samurai.
Samurai's cries of pain were so loud that Inferno had to cover his ears as the tree was still on fire when it landed on Samurai. "SAMURAI!" Alec shouted, trying to get to his Pokémon, but the flames were too strong. He tried to return him, but the fire prevented the beam from connecting.
Inferno then felt a drop of water land on his head and looked up to see rain clouds forming overhead. The rain then really started coming down, but it wasn't enough to put out the fire. They served a different purpose though, as Sliggoo's body started to glow. Something shot into the sky from Sliggoo's mouth just before his body started to change. When the light cleared, Sliggoo was now a Goodra.
[No more!] Goodra shouted as the rain started falling harder, managing to put out all the fire.
"Samurai!" Alec shouted, running up to the Samurott still under the tree.
Goodra looked over and seeing the injured state of Samurai, fired off a Dragon Pulse that sent Team Rocket into a blastoff.
Inferno ran up to Samurai to see if he was okay. [Is… he alright?] Inferno asked, seeing that Samurai wasn't moving.
"Samurai… can you hear me?" Alec asked. Samurai's eyes started to blink at the sound of his trainer's voice, but they quickly stopped. "I'm going to get Samurai to a Pokémon Center," Alec told the group as he returned Samurai and let out Soar. Inferno hopped on with Ethan and Alec and Soar fell to the Pokémon Center before anyone could say anything. They found a Center quickly and Nurse Joy took Samurai into the back room.
It was sunset when the group, minus Tierno, showed up at the Pokémon Center and Samurai still wasn't out yet, and they had no news to share. "Is Samurai going to be okay?" Bonnie wondered, her voice filled with worry.
"Samurai's strong. He'll make it," Alec answered, sounding more like he was trying to reassure himself more than anyone. This caused Serena to hug her brother in comfort for a bit.
"Wanna hear about my battle against Tierno?" Ash asked Alec.
"Sure," Alec said, not really interested at the moment but appreciated the distraction.
Ash started talking about his battle and Alec listened as best he could. A little while later, a chime was then heard and Nurse Joy stepped out of the emergency room. "Nurse Joy, is Samurai alright?" Alec asked her.
"Samurott's burns are pretty severe, he'll be alright, but I don't know if it'll make a full recovery," Nurse Joy answered. "We're doing everything we can, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."
"Can I at least see him?" Alec asked.
"Only you and your Pokémon will be allowed in the room, the rest must stay outside," Nurse Joy answered, seeing the worry on Alec's face. Nurse Joy led the way to the room where Samurai was and Inferno and Ethan followed Alec inside.
Once in, Inferno saw Samurai asleep on a bed with monitors near him giving out readings, but Inferno was mainly focused on Samurai.
Inferno then opened his eyes, unintentionally falling asleep. It was dark outside with moonlight flooding into the room. Nurse Joy must have not removed Alec from the room as he was asleep next to Samurai's bed sitting in a chair with Ethan curled in Alec's lap. Inferno then jumped onto Samurai's bed and stood by his face.
[I don't know if you can hear me or not. But I want you to know that I am so sorry for all this,] Inferno started. [This is all my fault. If I hadn't caused the fire you'd be alright and we'd probably be sleeping soundly.]
[I don't blame you,] Samurai suddenly said and Inferno saw he was awake. [It's not your fault. It's those honorless Purrloins that call themselves Team Rocket that did this,] Samurai stated.
[But… I'm the one who caused the fire. I'm the one who got you hurt…] Inferno said, trying not to cry.
[Don't worry. It takes more than a few burns to take down this guy,] Samurai said confidently before it turned serious. [Even so, it would have been an honorable end,] he added.
[Can I ask you something?] Inferno wondered.
[Go ahead,] Samurai answered.
[Why are you so focused on honor? None of the other team members I've met seem to act that way,] Inferno asked.
Samurai looked surprised at first before it turned into understanding. [Right. You're new to the team. Everyone else knows this about me, so it's only fair that I tell you before someone else does.] Samurai took a deep breath before continuing.
[Master wasn't my first trainer,] Samurai started and Inferno guessed he was talking about Alec. [My first trainer was young and idealistic, but he soon began to see less value in gym badges and more interested in money. But he came from a poor family and he turned to stealing. At first, it was to keep us fed, but soon it became our lives.]
Samurai's trainer was following his next target with Samurai, a Purrloin, and a Patrat. They rounded the corner and Samurai saw the target in an alleyway. The perfect target.
[We were getting ready to steal from someone new in the town we hid in. And my trainer was confident.]
"Give me your money and your Pokémon and you won't get hurt," Samurai's trainer said, holding a knife out and the Pokémon in a combat stance. The target turned to look and had a Rufflet and a shiny Umbreon next to him.
"Are you seriously doing this?" the target asked. More curious with a bit of amusement.
"Did you not hear what I said? I told you to give me your money and Pokémon," the trainer ordered.
The target looked at the thief with a stone look in his eyes. "No," he said coldly.
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way. Purrloin, Patrat, take the Rufflet. Oshawott, take the Umbreon," Samurai's trainer ordered.
[Before any of us could react, the other two Pokémon were down for the count, and I was sent into the wall.]
"You are useless! All of you!" Samurai's trainer shouted and attempted to attack Samurai with his knife, but he was held by Psychic from the Umbreon.
"Don't even think about it," the target told him as he took the knife and put it in its sheath. "You're done. I'm turning you in," the target said as he took the Poké Balls from the frozen thief. "And you won't need these," he added before crushing them with his shoe.
[Go. You're all free,] the Umbreon said. Purrloin and Patrat immediately left, but Samurai looked at the one who freed him with awe.
[It was then I knew that this was someone worth following. My near-obsession with honor is because of all the pain I caused in the past. And the hope that I can make up for it,] Samurai finished.
[That's horrible. How could people be so cruel?] Inferno wondered.
[That's just how some of them are. But I think the good ones outnumber the bad ones,] Samurai stated.
[I hope so,] Inferno said.
Alec's POV
Alec woke up in the room where Samurai was recovering and found Ethan curled up on his lap and Inferno sleeping by Samurai. Nurse Joy then walked in and saw Alec up. "Can you take your Pokémon outside, please. I need to check on Samurott," Nurse Joy said, saying her order nicely. Alec nodded and picked up Ethan and Inferno, the former waking up when Alec moved him.
They waited outside for Nurse Joy to finish her checkup and she came out. "I have good news. Samurott will make a full recovery, but I'd advise keeping it in his Poké Ball until you get to another Pokémon Center and have them check on it," Nurse Joy said.
"Thank you so much," Alec said, feeling a huge weight being taken off his chest.