Hello everyone. This chapter begins the next arc in Jason and Kristine's adventures. They've been warned of the dangers, and this will be by far their toughest challenge yet. Can they endure the trials they face ahead?
On the morning after their victory, the twins headed out of Saint Brandon towards Route 106, also known as Western Nappalchan Approach. The air was getting cooler, and the grass looked rugged and brown instead of fresh and green. Everything seemed to be getting more barren as opposed to the liveliness the twins were accustomed to. With the Tranquility Gym behind them, Jason and Kristine had a daunting task before them: The Nappalchan Mountains. They have been warned that this is unlike anything they've ever faced; they would admit they don't quite understand the reality of the situation. The only way for them to find out would be actually to venture across the Mountains themselves. First off, they would have to get through the Western Approach.
"So, we've been at this for how many weeks?" Jason mentioned. "Five? Six?"
"Something like that," Kristine replied. "And they say traversing the Nappalchan Mountains would take three months alone if we're lucky."
"If we're lucky…." Jason muttered.
"Weather and all that stuff," Kristine lightly elaborated. "Many pokemon live in the Mountains—a lot of rock and ground types, ice types, of course, and fighting types. For you and me, we have two pokemon left each to complete our teams. Chances are we will have a full team of six by the time we're done with the Mountains."
"Sounds good to me," Jason replied. "We just gotta make sure we train our pokemon every day."
"And we need to figure something out for Magikarp," Kristine suggested. "Hopefully, we can find streams and whatnot."
"Yeah," Jason nodded. "I don't want to keep him in his pokeball the whole time. The Coast is hundreds of miles away."
"Hundreds…" Kristine mentioned. "And to think we gotta walk all of that to get to the next gym."
"Our leg muscles will be huge," Jason chuckled.
Kristine laughed. "Oh, I hope not."
The two continued down the trail, making camp at a nice, flat area by nightfall. The next day, after their morning routines, the twins packed up and continued.
The terrain began to change even more as hills and cliffs began to appear. Jason and Kristine could see the Nappalchan Mountains even from a long distance away, and they were still several days away from approaching the base of the range.
"I wonder if Ralts and Taillow are close to evolving," Kristine mentioned to Jason. "What do you think?"
"They're doing well," Jason replied. "I know Taillow's been trying really hard lately, though she's had some tough breaks."
"Right," Kristine nodded.
"I just wonder what I can do to bring out their potential," Jason added. "They all fight and train very hard."
"Just give them time," Kristine said. "Evolutions aren't forced; they just happen unless they evolve from an elemental stone, of course."
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "We'll just keep at the training."
After another night of camping, Jason was up and early with his pokemon the next day. He even let out Magikarp at a nearby pond.
"Taillow!" Taillow chirped as she flew over Jason. She flew at a tree at a super-fast speed, clipping it as she flew right by it with a powerful attack.
"You're learning Aerial Ace!" Jason noted.
"Taillow!" Taillow made another pass, chipping another mark into the tree.
"If you're learning Aerial Ace, you must be close to evolving!" Jason said.
"Taillow, Taillow!" Taillow nodded.
"Ralts!" Ralts brought up leaves through telepathic energy and hurled them into the open.
"And it looks like you're trying to perfect Magical Leaf, Ralts," Jason chuckled.
Jolteon faced the same tree Taillow struck at. He charged at it head-on and bit the tree with electric energy pulsing out of him.
"Woah, Jolteon!" Jason seemed impressed. "You learned Thunder Fang!"
"Jolt!" Jolteon barked.
"Karp karp karp karp karp," Magikarp splashed in and out of the water.
"And you're trying, Magikarp," Jason snickered. "Keep it up!"
"Karp karp karp!"
"Well, well," Kristine approached Jason. "Another day of intense training, huh?"
"Yep," Jason nodded. "Everyone's gotta get ready for the long trek through the Mountains."
"Magikarp included, I see," Kristine chuckled.
"Karp karp karp!" Magikarp kept splashing.
"Okay, everyone, training's over," Jason declared. "I say we made a lot of progress today."
Jason then recalled all of his pokemon.
"Shall we pack up and head out?" he asked Kristine.
"Sure," Kristine replied.
The two proceeded back to the camp and packed up before heading on the trail once more.
"Once we get to the first pokemon lodge, I'll have to get Machop checked out," Kristine spoke.
"You'll have one heck of a capable pokemon once he's healthy again," Jason replied. "Did you know that Machop is strong enough to lift you and place you on his shoulder?"
"He's like three feet tall!" Kristine seemed surprised. "Could he really do that?"
"They don't call his evolutionary line the Superpower Pokemon for nothing," Jason smirked. "You should try it some time once he gets better."
The trail took the twins into a rugged area, where the right of the road sloped down to a flat area. They both saw a trainer below capturing what appeared to be a rhyhorn.
As the twins walked by, Jason saw that the trainer is clearly Alex, and he used one of his pokemon to defeat and capture a wild rhyhorn.
"Return, Sneasel!" Alex recalled his pokemon. He then examined the pokeball the rhyhorn became bound to. He put the pokeball on his belt satchel before turning around to face Jason and Kristine looking at him from the trail.
"What are you two looking at?" Alex scoffed.
"Congrats on that rhyhorn, Alex," Kristine commended in a monotone voice. She then turned to Jason. "Let's keep moving."
"Hey, Alex!" Jason ignored his sister. "You wanna battle me or what?"
"Are you still going to ask me to battle you?" Alex smirked and crossed his arms. "Please."
"Why won't you battle?" Jason began to approach him.
"Because it's a waste of my time," Alex maintained his stance. "Do you still have three pokemon?"
"Four now," Jason replied. "I caught Magikarp at Lake Serenity."
Alex snorted from holding back his laughter. "I think what's even sillier than that is if you actually use a magikarp in battle."
"Are you going to battle or not?" Jason kept insisting.
"I remember you yelling that I would regret ever becoming a trainer if I ever battled you," Alex replied. "Okay, if that means you'll shut up about battling me in the future, fine. Let's go. Three on three."
"I guess I can be the referee," Kristine said as she walked down the hill.
"No need to bother," Alex insisted. "I will dispatch your brother quickly. Just watch."
"Uh, okay," Kristine replied. She turned to Jason and muttered towards him, loud enough for him to hear. "Please take this jerk out."
"He's mine," Jason smirked and approached Alex on the flat field.
"You go first," Alex said.
"Alright," Jason took position on the far side of Alex. He pulled out his first pokeball with the intent of taking out whatever Alex would use. "Let's go, Ralts!"
"Ralts!" Ralts bowed her head as soon as she was summoned.
Alex smirked. "Ralts, huh? Go, Beedrill!"
The massive bee-like Pokemon with two large stingers that resembled lances popped out of its Pokeball. It faced Ralts while making buzz-like sounds.
"Beedrill, Pursuit, let's go!" Alex called.
Beedrill charged at Ralts head-on.
"Ralts, Double Team!" Jason responded.
Ralts projected multiple copies of herself. Beedrill, however, homed right at her, striking her amidst the dozen copies that surrounded her. This knocked her back, sending her tumbling once before she could get back up.
"What?" Jason was surprised. "How?"
"Because Beedrill is that quick," Alex replied. "He locked onto Ralts before she created that useless illusion."
"Err," Jason had enough of Alex. "Ralts, Magical Leaf!"
"Ralts!" Ralts used telekinesis to project sharp leaves in Beedrill's direction.
"Dodge it!" Alex commanded.
Beedrill flew upwards to avoid the attack.
"Twin Needle!" Alex followed up.
Beedrill dove down on Ralts with its needles at the ready.
"Confusion!" Jason called.
Ralts' eyes turned purple, but Beedrill was moving too fast. Beedrill dove down and struck Ralts with sheer force, sliding her back considerably. She was barely able to stand on both of her feet, suffering from a significant attack.
To make things worse, a purple mist covered her body. Beedrill poisoned her.
"Ralts!" Jason yelled.
Ralts attempted to use Synchronize to pass the poison back to Beedrill, but since Beedrill was a poison type in addition to bug, he was simply immune to it.
"Beedrill, Venoshock!" Alex commanded.
Beedrill used its stinger to project a powerful purple liquid at Ralts. She was defenseless against the attack as she was drenched by it. The force behind it sent her flying back, crashing to the ground right in front of Jason. She was unable to get up.
"Oh no…" Jason sighed in frustration. He recalled Ralts. "I'm sorry, Ralts."
Alex crossed his arms. "Beedrill had an advantage against Ralts. Venoshock does double the damage to poisoned targets. That, and Ralts is weak to poison type abilities."
"Is that why you let Jason call out his pokemon first?" Kristine seemed disgusted at Alex.
"It's called being smart," Alex replied. "Now, let's see what you'll do next."
"Jason, let's not give in to this jerk," Kristine tried to convince her brother to stand down.
"Alright, if that's the game you want to play," Jason ignored his sister's plea and pulled out his second pokeball. "Let's go, Taillow!"
"Taillow!" Taillow chirped.
Alex smirked. "Return, Beedrill."
Alex recalled his pokemon and pulled out another pokeball. "Go, Sneasel!"
"Sneasel!" the black cat-weasel Pokemon was summoned as it stood on both feet. It had white claws and three red tail feathers.
Kristine pulled out her pokedex to examine the creature.
"Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokemon," the pokedex explained. "Sneasel scales trees by punching its hooked claws into bark. It seeks out unguarded nests and steals eggs for food while its parents are away."
"Seems like a happy pokemon," Kristine sarcastically spoke.
"You're not fighting with Beedrill? What gives?" Jason seemed puzzled.
"It's called being smart," Alex replied, driving his case once more. "You going to attack or what?"
"Taillow, Quick Attack!" Jason commanded.
"Taillow!" Taillow charged at Sneasel.
"Sneasel, Pursuit!" Alex responded.
Sneasel charged at Taillow in a zigzag pattern and struck her on the side, knocking her down.
"Sneasel!" Sneasel crossed his arms, unimpressed, just like Alex.
"Taillow!" Taillow quickly got up.
"To the sky!" Jason commanded.
Taillow flew to the sky, out of Sneasel's reach.
"Dive down for Aerial Ace!" Jason followed up.
Taillow dove down at Sneasel, preparing for a well-aimed hit-and-run.
"Icy Wind, let's go!" Alex called.
Sneasel, both a dark and ice-type pokemon, blew a breath of frost from her breath, projected into a powerful icy gust aimed at Taillow. Taillow flew right into Icy Wind, damaging her, worsening her vision, and slowing her down. To make things worse, Taillow was weak to ice-type abilities.
"Feint Attack!" Alex followed up.
Sneasel leaped into the air at a lightning-fast speed and kicked Taillow right out of the air. He flew all the way back, crashing in front of Jason just like Ralts did. And like Ralts, Taillow was unable to get up.
Jason didn't say a word. His hands began to tremble. He could not believe that Alex began to deliver on his words. He recalled Taillow and grabbed Jolteon's pokeball.
"Let's go, Jolteon!" Jason yelled.
"Jolt!" Jolteon barked and charged at Sneasel.
"Return, Sneasel!" Alex recalled. He then pulled out another pokeball. "Go, Rhyhorn!"
Jolteon halted as Rhyhorn was brought out. Rhyhorn had looked weary from his encounter moments before.
"You just caught Rhyhorn!" Kristine spoke sternly. "You can't just use him in battle like that!"
"I can and I will," Alex rolled his eyes. "And I won. Rhyhorn is the counter to Jolteon through and through."
"Jolteon, Thunder Shock!" Jason commanded.
"Jolt!" Jolteon projected Thunder Shock at Rhyhorn. It struck him head-on, but nothing happened.
"Aren't you supposed to be a trainer?" Alex scoffed. "Electric-type attacks do not affect ground types."
Alex then turned his attention to Rhyhorn. "Horn Attack, let's go!"
Kristine knew Alex had already infiltrated Jason's head. Jason knew better than to hit Rhyhorn with Thunder Shock, but any sense of composure went out the door. Jason was far gone; Alex had him exactly where he wanted.
Rhyhorn charged at Jolteon head-on.
"Double Team, Jolteon!" Jason responded.
Jolteon projected multiple copies of himself. Rhyhorn ran right through one of those copies.
"Smack Down! Now!" Alex yelled.
Rhyhorn used his upper body to slam down on more of the copies in an attempt to flush out Jolteon.
"Jolteon, Swift!" Jason commanded.
"Jolt!" Jolteon fired a volley of stars at Rhyhorn. Again, Alex made no effort to get Rhyhorn to dodge it. Star after star exploded on impact, and as the smoke cleared, it appeared as if Rhyhorn was unscathed by the attack.
"Charge Jolteon and use Bulldoze!" Alex issued.
Rhyhorn charged at Jolteon once more, using so much power that he kicked up entire dirt mounds as he ran towards him.
"Swift, Jolteon!" Jason yelled. "Stop him!"
"Jolt-eon!" Jolteon used as much of his might to use Swift in efforts to stop Rhyhorn. Still, Rhyhorn charged head-on, running through the smoke as nothing happened. He struck Jolteon with sheer power, essentially punting Jolteon off the field. Jolteon came crashing down, and this time, he struck Jason, knocking him down as well.
"No!" Jason screamed as he fell to the ground with Jolteon. It was clear that Jolteon was unable to continue.
"Jason! Jolteon!" Kristine yelled, concerned for the safety of both her brother and Jolteon. She ran over towards them.
"Heh," Alex recalled Rhyhorn and crossed his arms. "Is that the best you can do? Pathetic. You should quit right now before you get yourself killed in the Mountains."
"Are you okay, Jason?" Kristine got on her knees to help her brother up.
"Yeah…" Jason shook it off. He looked over at Jolteon. "Jolteon, are you okay?"
"Jolt…" Jolteon managed to get up.
"Good," Jason was relieved. He then recalled Jolteon. "I'm sorry, Jolteon."
Jason stood straight up and faced Alex. "I'll never quit," he spoke.
"Spoken like a true idiot," Alex lightly shook his head as if he was disappointed.
Kristine stepped forward in defense of her brother. "You're one dirty player, you know that?" she called him out.
"For what? Using my head?" Alex smirked, amused by the accusation. "There's playing hard, and there's playing smart, so sorry if actually using my brain offends you."
"I'm assuming you have the Tranquility Badge," Kristine added.
"Of course," Alex reopened his eyes, wondering where Kristine was getting at.
"Then I wonder what on earth Justin saw in you in which he decided to grant that Tranquility Badge to you because you have no heart or care for your pokemon," Kristine continued her verbal onslaught.
That wiped the smirk off Alex's face. "I got the Tranquility Badge because I won the battle," he simply replied. He then walked away from Kristine as if she triggered a soft spot within him.
"Well, he's gone now," Kristine turned around to face her brother.
Jason was steaming. His whole body was trembling, and it appeared as if his spirit was shattered from that battle. It was humiliating to him for him to lose so significantly. It was as if all of his effort put into training went to waste.
"Jason, are you –" Kristine put a hand on Jason's shoulder, but he swatted it away.
"Jason, I'm just trying to help you," Kristine kindly continued. "Please, if there's anything I can do –"
"Let's just keep going," Jason replied emotionlessly.
He then proceeded back up the hill and onto the path, with Kristine right behind him.
Jason remained silent for the rest of the day, even during lunch. It was awkward for Kristine, but she didn't know what to say to him. He was a proud trainer until this point, she thought, only to be humiliated and bullied by Alex.
Jason replayed the whole battle in his head. He thought of every possible scenario he could do to help turn the tide of the battle. But, instead, he thought of the head-on approach as opposed to the divide-and-conquer strategy Alex imposed. Jason had a tough time accepting this humiliation. He wanted to beat Alex badly, and everything backfired on him.
He later blamed himself for the loss. He figured he became so blinded by the desire to defeat the jerk that he fell into all of his ruses. He knew he couldn't have that happen again, especially if he ever wanted to defeat Alex.
At night, the twins set up camp. Kristine started to get annoyed at Jason's complete silence, even as she cooked dinner for the two. She served him stew, which he took without saying a word.
"You need to move on," she sternly told him.
This caught Jason's attention.
"Yes, Alex beat you badly," Kristine spoke the truth. "Yes, you feel ashamed for it. How do your pokemon feel about it? Pretty freaking ashamed, too, I bet, especially since you never addressed or encouraged them. You need to learn from this and move on, Jason."
Jason sat there for a moment, contemplating what Kristine told him.
"You're right…" he finally replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Kristine continued. "Toughen up and move on! Otherwise, Alex will keep beating you like that! You wanna beat him? Then stand up and destroy him the next time you meet!"
Jason smirked at the comment, and that was exactly what Kristine wanted to see from him.
"Look," Kristine said. "I didn't like seeing you like that. I know you're becoming the comeback specialist. But things like that happen. You just need to react to it the right way and move forward."
"Yeah…" Jason sighed. "I'll talk to my pokemon in the morning. Thanks for the pep talk, sis."
"Hey," Kristine kneeled in front of Jason. "You know I do this because I love you. You're one of the toughest people I know, and I need you to stay tough, for both of us and our pokemon."
Kristine leaned towards Jason and placed her hand on the back of his head, touching her forehead against his. "And when you fight Alex again. Please, oh please, defeat him. Or I will."
She then smiled at Jason and got back up.
"I'll take him down next time," Jason assured her.
After dinner and some time hanging out under the stars, the twins headed back inside their tent. Jason was able to find some closure about the day's events and managed to get a good night's rest.
At dawn break the next morning, the twins slept in. As Jason was still sound asleep, one of his pokeballs next to him wobbled. It then opened as Taillow hopped right out of it. Taillow then hopped her way out of the tent, trying to be as quiet as possible.
The noise the pokeball made to bring out Taillow woke up Jason, though he was still in a drowsy state.
"Wha-why is Snorlax eating all of the pancakes…." Jason mumbled. "He already ate his fill…."
He then snapped out of his drowsy trance and realized he was awake.
"That was a weird dream," he muttered. He looked across the tent to see Kristine sound asleep, cuddled up in her sleeping bag.
"Sleep tight, sis," Jason smirked as he glanced over to his pokeballs on his right. One of them was completely opened, and he identified that as Taillow's.
"Taillow?" Jason said aloud. "Oh no, Taillow's out!"
"Wait, what?" Kristine mumbled as Jason unintentionally woke her up. "I had this weird dream about this Snorlax walking into our kitchen back home and eating our pancakes."
"Kristine, I would tell you that I had the same dream, and that's pretty creepy that it was to the exact detail, but Taillow got out," Jason explained.
"Well, we're twins, and I wouldn't be worried about Taillow," Kristine replied. "She shouldn't have gone too far."
"I'm going to look for her anyway," Jason said as he headed out the door. "And us being twins has nothing to do with synchronized dreaming!" he quickly stated.
"Give me a minute; I'll be right behind you," Kristine said loud enough for Jason to hear her. She then smiled and muttered to herself. "And why not? Being twins totally had to do with having the same dream."
Jason proceeded to search for Taillow. He could hear her chirps from a distance and followed where the noise came from. As he got closer, Taillow's chirps sounded more like attack grunts, and it sounded as if she was striking against a tree.
Jason approached the noise source and saw that Taillow was repeatedly striking against a tree with Aerial Ace.
"Taillow!" she swiped against the tree with power. Then, she made another pass and struck at the tree again.
"Taillow!" she showed no signs of slowing down.
"Taillow?" Jason tried to grab her attention.
"Taillow!" Taillow struck the tree once more, then flew up for another pass.
Jason saw that Taillow was pushing herself to the absolute limit. Kristine was right, he thought. His pokemon were just as humiliated as he was, and they probably felt they were to blame. Whatever the reason was, Taillow was motivated to train to the brink.
"Taillow!" Taillow struck the tree once more.
"Keep it up, Taillow!" Jason encouraged Taillow. "You're doing awesome!"
"Taillow!" Taillow made yet another assault on the tree.
"Just like that!" Jason yelled. "No one's going to stop you now! Keep going!"
"Taillow!" Taillow struck the tree again. Jason knew she had to feel fatigued.
Taillow made one more pass into the air.
"Taillow!" Taillow chirped. It suddenly occurred to Jason that would be the last time he ever heard that chirp from his pokemon.
Taillow's wings glowed, and then her entire body glowed.
"Taillow!" Kristine gasped as she stopped beside Jason, having sprinted along the way. "She's evolving!"
Taillow appeared to take a larger form while evolving. As the glow dissipated, she was Taillow no more. A swift, larger dark blue bird with a red breast swept feathers on the back of her head, and a white underside took her form. Taillow became Swellow, the quicker, more powerful evolution.
"Swellow!" Swellow swooped down on the tree with a powerful Aerial Ace assault.
The tree was weakened to begin with, but this Aerial Ace was so powerful that it cut the tree deep enough for it to tumble sideways.
Even though the tree tilted down in the opposite direction, Jason grabbed Kristine for precautionary measures and took two steps back with her. Then, having realized that they were in no threat, he let go. Kristine lightly laughed in courtesy over her brother's protective instincts.
"Swellow!" Swellow landed before Jason and Kristine, greeting them.
"Such a pretty bird!" Kristine said as she pulled out her pokedex.
"Swellow, the Swallow Pokemon," the pokedex explained. "If its two tail feathers are standing at attention, it is proof of good health. It soars elegantly in the sky."
"Well, she's healthy, all right," Kristine looked at Swellow's tail feathers.
"Swellow…" Jason approached Swellow. "That's why you wanted to train so hard."
"Swellow," Swellow caught her breath. She was clearly exhausted.
"Here," Jason smiled and pulled out Swellow's pokeball. "Get some good rest. I'm proud of you and always will be. You don't need to prove your worth to me; you just cut down a tree by yourself!"
"Swellow," Swellow nodded at Jason.
"Come on, return," Jason recalled Swellow into her pokeball.
Jason then faced Kristine. "I'm going to find a nearby stream or something to bring out Magikarp, and I'll talk to the rest."
Kristine nodded and smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. But should you go get dressed first?"
The twins were still in their sleeping gear.
"It'll just be a few minutes," Jason replied.
"Okay," Kristine said. "Then I'll go get dressed."
Kristine headed back to the tent as Jason went deeper into the lightly forested area. He found a stream moments later and brought out Magikarp before bringing out Jolteon and Ralts.
"Okay, everyone," Jason addressed. "Yesterday's been a rough day for all of us. I'm going to take responsibility for it. I let Alex get to me, and I won't let that happen again. Now, I don't blame any of you at all. You're all very capable, and you've proven that by helping our team win two badges so far. So, let's keep practicing and getting at it. Our main goal is to win all twelve badges and be the very best team in all of Inventum, and we can definitely do it despite losses and setbacks!"
"Jolteon!" Jolteon howled.
"Ralts!" Ralts nodded.
"Magikarp!" Magikarp splashed in the water.
"Now I'm going to go back and change," Jason continued. "But we'll come back to this spot shortly and begin our morning routines so that we can get ready for the Nappalchan Mountains."
Jason recalled his pokemon and headed back to camp. As he approached it, Kristine walked out in her training gear.
"How'd it go?" Kristine asked him.
"They're pumped up and ready to go," Jason replied. "I pity whoever they face next."
Kristine chuckled. "I would pity whoever you face next. Pokemon don't take losses kindly, either."
As soon as Jason put on his gear, he went to the same spot he addressed Jolteon, Ralts, and Magikarp and began his morning training routines with them. Afterward, Jason and Kristine packed up and continued down the road towards the Nappalchan Mountains, where the air got gradually colder the further the two continued down the road.
With a long road to go to the next gym, the twins wondered what challenges awaited them. And they knew surely they would run into the rest of their friends and rivals again. To know what would be in store soon would be anyone's guess.
