The trainer battle was very nicely done. You portrayed the moves well, and you portray Skarmory in general nicely.
Thanks. She'll be much more fun to write for when she gets older. I got plans. Big plans.
This is exactly the type of pokemon story I have been looking for :) should I be ashamed i read all the chapters in one night?
No, you should feel awesome. I'm flattered. Funny thing is, this is the type pokemon story I've been looking for too. What a coincidence, right?
Thanks to Magikarp Master for editing. What a bro.
Cody: Bastion(Squirtle), Mars (Diglett), Colossal (Larvitar), Antonia (Skarmory), Elesa (Blitzle)
Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidoran [F]), Bella (Oddish)
Jared: Charmeleon, Servine, Croconaw, Bagon, Onix, Jolteon
Chapter 16: Familiar Face
Kito Grove wasn't that big of a town, but the aura of the little burg was calm, making it almost feel warm in the early December winds. The gym was located on the southern side of the town, and stood out from the buildings of brick, being constructed of titanium.
"Boy, they want to make an impression here," Heather commented.
"Most gyms do. The league is a pretty big deal," Jared reminded her. "But I wouldn't worry. You and Cody have been doing well lately, so this should be an easy win for you two. Me on the other hand… 6th tier is going to be hard."
"Graaawrh!" Jared's Bagon roared. The little blue dragon was the newest member of Jared's team, who he had caught in their journey through the mountains north of Kito Grove. The tiny lizard was very aggressive in battle, but still not properly trained.
"Not yet, pipsqueak," Jared aughed. You're nowhere near ready to take on a 6th tier fight. Maybe in a month or so."
"So who is the gym leader here?" Cody asked. Both Jared and Heather gave him a weird look. "What? I haven't had time to use the internet lately."
"There are two gym leaders here," Jared answered. "Ian Powell battles lower tier trainers and Viktor S-var… Sehvarshe…" Jared struggled with the name for a few seconds before giving up. "It's some Russian guy who battles the higher tier trainers. Look, his name is on that plaque." A metallic plaque was hanging near the door with two names inscribed on it. The name that Jared couldn't pronounce was "Svarsevich."
"So I'll be battling Ian then, eh?" Cody said to himself. "Doesn't matter. We're gonna win no matter what." His overconfidence was bubbling to the top of the proverbial pot now. In the past month, he had been on a winning streak, managing to defeat all the trainers at his level and even a few above. The only time he lost was in a rematch he had with Jared, but that was understandable. He didn't feel worried at all about the pre-battle he would have that day and the gym battle he would have later on in the week. "I'm taking that Voltage Badge."
"Skraa!" Antonia screeched in reply. The nights of standing outside were beginning to pay off. A paper-thin layer of flexible steel was now covering her body. She was not ready to battle in a gym yet, but she would be in a few months when the process was complete.
"Not just yet little lady," Cody chuckled. "Your time will come."
"Well, let's get in and sign up then," Jared said. The three trainers and their out-of-ball pokemon began to head into the building when Antonia suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Something wrong girl?" Cody asked.
"Cody, she probably just heard a dog barking or something," Heather said, disinterested. But Antonia had walked several yards away and stared out into the square. Just then, Cody felt a shiver, and it wasn't from the cold.
"Guys…" Cody said quietly. "You getting that weird feeling that we're being watched?"
"No, I get the feeling that you're not getting enough sleep," Jared answered. "Look, when you're done being paranoid, we'll be inside." As the other two entered the gym, Cody walked up to where Antonia was standing and did a complete 360 degree turn so he could survey the area. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary though. Cars continued to drive down the road. Locals continued to pass by on the sidewalk. A stray Growlithe was busy digging through the garbage on the other side of the street. Yet Cody still had a feeling that he was being followed.
"Stella…? You there?" he asked. No, that can't be it. If Stella were here, she'd probably appear out of nowhere and start mumbling incoherent sentences. "Maybe I am crazy," he whispered. He touched the Skarmory chick's head. "Let's go inside. There's nobody here." However, saying those words didn't exactly sooth his consciousness.
"Raichu, Volt Tackle!" the older man commanded in a heavy Russian accent. The leader was wearing simple brown leather clothing, and his short silver hair seemed to sparkle in the flash of his pokemon's attack. His pokemon, a small orange mouse with large grey ears and a thunderbolt shaped tail, was dominating in a 10th tier battle against a game Ambipom. The two tailed monkey had taken the Volt Tackle straight on, but was still trying to get in a Double Hit attack with its appendages. However, its efforts proved futile, as the electric rodent raised its hands in the air and summoned a bolt of lightning to drop from the tiny dark cloud that hung over the arena. The Raichu had used the Rain Dance technique earlier in the fight, forming a storm cloud with water particles in the arena. The effort paid off as the lightning strike hit the Ambipom and knocked it out. The challenger had been defeated.
"Good try Amber," the challenger groaned as he returned his pokemon. The leader tsked and shook his head.
"You are a talented trainer, but your pokemon fight sloppily and waste their movements," Viktor stated. "You must eliminate your needless flashy style of battle. When you have done this, you may try again to win my badge."
"Man, this guy is awesome," Cody whispered. "That was such a good battle. Are you sure I have to battle some other guy?" he asked Jared. "Oh shut up Cody, you only like this guy because of his accent," Jared replied.
"No seriously, this Viktor guy is sweet," Cody continued. "His battling skills are incredible and his pokemon fight with such force. I seriously want to battle this guy."
"I think you're in love," Heather teased.
"I just might be," Cody joined in. He didn't care if they laughed. He just was amazed by the man's battling technique.
"Attention!" a voice blared on the intercom. "Will Cody Storm please report to the main gym floor for battle. Will Cody Storm please report to the main gym floor for battle. That is all."
"Nice, I'm battling on the main arena. Wish me luck!" He gave Heather the camcorder, stood up, and headed down the steps to the arena level. On his way down, he heard Jared's name on the intercom. He would be battling in a different room. Once he reached the battleground, which was made out of stone and hard, compact dirt, he noticed that Viktor still hadn't left the plot.
"Excuse me sir," Cody said nervously, not attempting to pronounce Viktor's last name, "I really enjoyed watching your battle. It was as though none of your pokemon's moves were wasted."
"Ah, thank you young comrade," he replied in a grateful tone. "That is how I have trained my pokemon to battle. Wastefulness leads to laziness, and so we waste nothing."
"Oh, okay." Jesus, this guy has got to be a communist. Not that Cody cared.
"So, you are having a pre-battle today? Will I be battling you later this week?" the older gym leader asked.
"No, I don't think so. I'm only on the 2nd tier to win my second badge," Cody admitted.
"Okay then, you will be battling Ian, my protégé. He is not here today though, so you will not be able to meet him, but you may have your battle nonetheless. I wish you luck." "Thank you," Cody replied. With those final words, a female trainer of about his age met him on the plot. "What kind of battle are we having?"
"Double battle, three pokemon, no standard switching," she answered directly.
"Sounds good to me," Cody said. The opponent took two pokeballs from her belt and released her first two electric pokemon onto the field. At first, Cody thought she had sent out two pokemon of the sane species, but the differences in their appearances became apparent. They both looked like mice, except one had blue on its cheeks, tail, and ears, while the other had red.
Cody was about to send out Mars and Colossal, since, being ground types, they could probably clean sweep this trainer's electric pokemon; but his ability was getting to his head. Why make the battle easy? He wanted a challenge. Putting Mars's pokeball back in its place, he smirked. This fight would still be easy.
"Colossal! Bastion! Do your thing!" The Squirtle and Larvitar appeared on the field. "Rock Slide! Water Gun!" The lizard stomped on the earth and summoned several large stones popped onto the surface. He then charged the two rodents on foot while the stones rolled by his side. The turtle ran behind him, shooting blasts of water at the foes from afar. The Plusle managed to evade the stones, but the Minun was hit by the Water Gun, leaving him open to be hit by the rolling rocks. Seconds later, both mice, even the one who was hit, went into a Quick Attack and rammed their tiny bodies into Colossal's sides. However, he shrugged off the weak collisions and kept running with the rocks, as he made a wide turn and tried to hit the mice again. This time, both of the cheering pokemon dodged the rocks and the water stream with ease, and tried for another quick attack, only to fail again. A different strategy would be needed.
"Minun, Spark to the Squirtle! Plusle, Copycat!" The Minun turned its attention to Bastion and tried to hit him with an electrical tackle, but Cody barely noticed this when he saw what the Plusle did. As his Larvitar charged the red mouse with his legion of rocks, the Plusle hurdled Colossal's horn and briefly touched the Larvitar's head before hitting the ground. But as it hit the ground, a cluster of rocks popped up around the Plusle's feet.
What? How could it do that? Do Plusle even have that sort of connection with the earth? It took Cody a few seconds to figure this one out. Upon briefly touching Colossal, the Plusle managed to temporarily absorb some of the Larvitar's "earth bond," allowing it to have control over the rocks, even though it normally wouldn't have such control. "Take it out before it gets too powerful!"
This command wasn't followed through so well. Bastion was about to spray a stream of bubbles at the Plusle to slow it down, but he was electrified by the Minun that rammed into his chest with a charged slam. It all came down to Colossal and Plusle charging directly at each other with their stones in tow. Colossal proved victorious in this face off, since attacking with rocks was his specialty and all, and the Plusle was thrown backwards, but it managed to re-summon its stones and went in with a little help from its friend.
"Minun, Helping Hand!" The blue mouse ran up behind its partner and began jumping up and down, cheering its friend on as bluish sparks danced on its cheeks. With the encouragement of its partner, the Plusle ran with its stones back towards the Larvitar. This time, the rolling stones from both sides were equal in power as they collided, and both pokemon were at a standstill as they pushed against each other. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Bastion to attack, since it took the effort of both Plusle and Minun to hold off Colossal's attack, but he was still climbing to his feet after being hit by the Minun's Spark. It wouldn't be long before the mice would be able to overpower the lizard by the use of teamwork. It was time to take a risk.
"Sandstorm!" Letting out a yell, Colossal stirred up a twister of swirling sand that engulfed the battlefield. This gave him an edge in pushing back on the stones, since the sand was whipping against the faces of the rodents, tearing off bits of their outer layer of skin and fur. However, this sandstorm acted as a double edged sword, since it was hurting Bastion as well. The Squirtle had made it to his feet, but the flying dirt wasn't doing him any favors.
"Don't give up guys! Keep pushing!" the opponent shouted.
"Bastion, Water Gun, now!" The turtle shot a blast of water through the sand, collecting the particles dirt it passed before drenching the Plusle in water and mud. With this distraction, the Plusle lost its focus and Colossal trampled it with its Rockslide before he started chasing the Minun. Before the Plusle could stand up again, Bastion ran forward, took a flying leap, and drove an Iron Tail into the red rodent's torso, ending any hope of it continuing the fight.
"Plusle, return!" the other trainer said as she sadly recalled her pokemon. But without wasting a moment, she sent out a new electric pokemon. A small striped pokemon with two prongs on its head appeared and let out a shrill cry. It was an Elekid.
"Colossal!" Cody shouted, "Keep the sandstorm up! Bastion, spray that Elekid down!"
"Dodge it Elekid, and use Shock Wave!" The pronged pokemon rolled out of the way of the water blast and sent out two waves of electricity at Colossal and Bastion. The Squirtle was thrown back by the wave, extremely damaged, and the Larvitar was knocked off of his feet (he wasn't hurt by the attack, due to his element, but it had a pushing effect.) Immediately after he was swept off his feet, the Minun managed to get in a tackle on the prone turtle. Bastion shoved it off, but he looked exhausted.
"Colossal, Rock Throw!" Cody commanded. He knew that Rock Slide wasn't going to work against a fast pokemon like Elekid, so going for range would be a better option. But the Elekid was too fast, even for that. It jumped out of the way and tried to use Low Kick on Bastion, but the Squirtle evaded it by nearly inches.
"Minun, help him out! Speed him up!" The blue mouse squeaked in response and hopped onto the Elekid's back, plugging loads of negatively charged electricity into his ally's body. The Elekid let out a shout as he absorbed the energy from the blue battery pack and ran towards Bastion at light speed. Colossal tried to hit him with a Horn Attack, but the pronged pokemon simply punched him out of the way as though he were nothing and kept charging. When he finally caught Bastion, the two were locked in hand to hand combat, but the Elekid quickly overpowered the tired turtle and held him up to his prongs. Once between the two appendages, Bastion was electrified by both electric pokemon. After a few seconds of this, he fell limp and was thrown onto the ground like a rag doll.
"Good effort! Return!" Cody called his turtle back and sighed. He knew Bastion wasn't going to do well against electric pokemon, but he was worried now. This pre-gym trainer knew what she was doing, so he'd have to take her seriously and use Mars. Nervous, he glanced around the arena as he stuck Bastion's ball back onto his belt, but as he was about to take Mars's pokeball off, he froze in fear. On his left in the seating area, he saw somebody who he hadn't seen in months… Frank: the trainer that had saved him from the Houndoom, but also the same trainer who Heather and he found with Cipher clothing. But why was he here in this gym? Did he know that Cody and Heather were the ones that tried to expose him? Was it him who was watching them outside? And why was he smiling like that? As his and Cody's eyes met, Cody looked away. Something was wrong here, but he couldn't be distracted. He had to win this battle. "Let's go Mars!"
The pokeball he threw exploded, and Elesa came out with a loud cry. Cody looked at her, dumbfounded. He had meant to send out Mars, but he accidentally grabbed the wrong pokeball after Frank had distracted him. But it was too late now. He'd have to make do with the Blitzle. "Elesa, Quick Attack!" The little horse bolted towards the Elekid with the Minun on its back, but it was too fast for her to catch. Elesa shifted into a Pursuit, but she couldn't catch up with the Elekid as long as it was being powered by the Minun; that, and the sandstorm was holding her back, because it was hard for her to chase her opponents in the swirling soil. He told Colossal to call off the sandstorm, even though he knew this would give the Elekid an advantage over the Larvitar.
"Horn Attack!" both trainers shouted simultaneously. The Elekid and the Larvitar sprinted for each other at top speed, but at the last second, the Elekid sidestepped, and smacked Colossal with both of his prongs, knocking him over. The Elekid had little time to gloat though, since Elesa had finally caught up with it and smashed her entire body into its side. Her body was glowing with electricity, and she was about to hit the Elekid with a Shock Wave.
"No, don't do that, it won't work well!" Cody shouted, and his Blitzle hesitated. The Elekid was about to take a swing at Elesa, but suddenly, her body flashed with an unbelievably bright light. Was she evolving? No, because when the light ceased, a Blitzle was still standing there. However, everybody; the pokemon, the trainers, even the audience was rubbing their eyes from the flash. Flash… that was what Elesa had done. Without an outlet for that excess electrical energy she had built up, she had expelled some of it in the form of a bright light. But by doing this, she had temporarily blinded Elekid and Minun, who were standing right next to her. Taking advantage of this, she gave the Minun a strong Headbutt and detached it from the back of the yellow and black striped pokemon. The blinded pokemon began to stagger about before getting "back heeled" by the zebra. Colossal, who had recovered from the blinding flash, caught the flying mouse, and slammed it into the ground under his weight, incapacitating it for the rest of the battle.
Now it was two one, but before Cody could get his monsters to take advantage of this, the Elekid knocked Colossal over with a powerful Low Kick before Elesa stuck him with a kick of her own. The two pokemon began trading punches and kicks, but Elesa's slightly larger frame was absorbing the shots better. Suddenly, Elesa managed to pin the Elekid to the ground with her hooves, and letting out a long whinny, she began pumping electricity into the pronged pokemon.
"Stop that! You don't want to recharge him!" Cody shouted, but Elesa either didn't hear him, or didn't listen. But after a few seconds, the Elekid screamed in pain and passed out as his body crackled with excess electricity.
"Looks like I win," Cody said casually as Elesa happily ran circles around Colossal and the opposing trainer returned the Elekid. Still, why did electricity end up being what defeated the Elekid? But he didn't care. The battle was won.
"You battle with such confidence," Viktor said as he approached the plot. "While I may not agree with your style, you did well. I'm sure you will be fine when you battle Ian."
"Thank you sir," Cody replied.
"Also, that Blitzle of yours is quite impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if she evolved soon. Raise her well, because electric pokemon are strong and dependent. Again, I wish you luck."
"Thanks again." Cody said, absorbing the older man's approval. His happiness died down though when he saw Frank from the corner of his eye. The man with the mohawk was still smiling. Why? After returning his pokemon, he slowly made his way back to where Heather was sitting and whispered, "you see him?"
"Yeah, I see him," she replied under her breath. "He's already seen me."
"He's looking at us right now-"
"Attention!" boomed the intercom, cutting him off. "Will Heather Landon please report to the main gym floor for battle. Will Heather Landon please report to the main gym floor for battle. That is all."
"Well, here goes nothing," Heather said as she left her seat. Cody sat down again and focused on Heather. He didn't want to accidentally look at Frank again, because every time he did, it felt as though the guy was trying to probe his mind. Hopefully, the guy wouldn't come over and talk to him. And hopefully he wouldn't try to start a conversation after he left. Just the thinking about the guy felt dangerous.
How can we get him to stop following us?
In the late hours of the night, Cody was busy staring at a book, reading the small print on the pages. After the pre-battle and day training, he decided to spend some of his late hours studying. Tonight wasn't a freeze out night with Antonia, so he figured that curling up with a book would be a nice change of pace.
Bastion gave a small yawn, and Cody patted his Squirtle's head. He felt bad that he couldn't spend as much quality time with his first pokemon, due to the attention he had to give to the others, especially Antonia. But tonight was just the two of them, even though they were just lounging on a couch in the pokemon center. The turtle was exhausted after the battle that he had that day and the extra treatment he was given to deal with his electricity burns, but he still seemed in good spirits.
"I thought you'd be here," Heather said as she appeared behind him.
"Yeah, well I need to take advantage of these cushy centers while I can before we get pushed into a dirty motel."
"That's smart of you," she admitted. "What have you been doing?"
"Well, I uploaded the pre-battle video to my blog and read some of the comments people have left. Maybe after awhile I'll become an internet celebrity, like that guy that hides under the blanket and cries."
"Haha, good luck to you on that," Heather giggled. "What book is that?"
"Bleeding Together by Cynthia Bishop," he answered. "It's her autobiography. I just bought it today, and I love it." "Cynthia… Cynthia…" Heather mumbled as she tried to remember who that was. She sat down next to Cody and Bastion as she continued to ponder. "She's the Sinnoh Champion, right?"
"Correct," Cody said. "She's been champion for almost five years now, and she's only twenty-eight, making her Sinnoh's youngest champ in the last fifty years. Her story is pretty cool, but I really love it how me and her have a similar battle strategy."
"Oh really? What's that?"
"Abstract thinking incorporated into a fight. It's different than how a guy like Viktor does things, but it works. It has for her anyway, so I know it will work for me. She's definitely my favorite professional trainer right now." He closed the book and looked at the cover, which showed the beautiful blonde's face and upper body. My god, she's perfect. Elegance, beauty, and skill, all wrapped up in that sexy body. "Hey Arceus, if you're real, this is all I ask for," he said as he pointed at Cynthia's picture while looking up at the ceiling.
"So she's your current celebrity crush, huh?" Heather asked with a giggle. "Does Viktor know about this?"
"Shut up, it's not as though you don't have one."
"Yeah, but it's totally irrelevant," she said defensively. "To be honest, you are more likely to meet her than I am likely to meet Elijah Wood, being that you-"
"Stop, stop!" Cody silenced her while waving his hands. "Did you just say Elijah Wood?" Heather didn't answer him as she blushed. "Why Elijah Wood? He looks like a total nerd. Somebody better tell Jared that you've got your heart set on a hobbit," he laughed.
"Yeah, about that," Heather started in a concerned voice in an attempt to change the subject, "should we tell Jared?"
"About our celerity crushes?"
"No, you idiot, I'm talking about Frank!"
"Oh shit, I forgot about that." That was a lie. The Frank appearance was still on his mind, though he was trying to suppress it. He still wanted to believe that seeing Frank was all just a coincidence and that he wasn't a part of a criminal organization whose uniforms looked strikingly similar to the Cipher. But how could he know for sure? "Have you told Jared anything about Frank or that night we met him?" he asked.
"No… I haven't told anybody about that," she confessed.
"Me neither. I thought they'd think I was crazy," he sighed. "Besides, we had no proof that he was a Cipher. Maybe that helmet was just for motorcycle riding?"
"Cody, why would he bring a motorcycle helmet into the forest?" Heather asked thoughtfully. "He obviously had it for… whatever the hell they use those helmets for. I don't know, disguise?"
"That's probably it," Cody agreed. "Still, there's little we can do about it now. I think it's way too late for us to file a police report on a hunch we made awhile back. Also, he is a trainer. Maybe he was in town and wanted to watch some trainers fight in the gym?"
"I know you don't believe that, and I don't either," Heather whispered. It had suddenly occurred to both of them that Frank could just as easily walk into the pokemon center, so it was better to keep their voices down. "It's a little bit odd that he appeared in the gym after we did, especially when you thought we were being watched outside." She stopped again as a new question burst into her mind. "What I want to know is why he's following us, if he is following us that is. We haven't done anything or said anything… okay, we may have cost him a couple recruits when we left that helmet sitting out, but still! It's not as though we've hurt his group in anyway. I haven't read or heard anything on the news about any huge criminal organizations in Skitrex."
"Maybe they're trying to lay low?" Cody questioned. "Look at other criminal organizations. Team Rocket fell twice to a trainer revolt because they were so public. Team Galactic fell apart due to the corruption of their leader. Maybe they're trying to be less obvious. I mean, did you hear what Frank was saying? Helping poor trainers get better at battling and running soup kitchens doesn't sound like the operations of a terrorist organization." He shook his head. "We're probably just overanalyzing this and jumping to conclusions. We don't know anything about Frank or this organization he's in or anything." Another long pause enveloped the discussion.
"Hey Cody," Heather asked meekly, "Didn't the Cipher also fall to a trainer revolt in Orre?"
"Yes, but I couldn't tell you the details," he told her. "How would it be possible that they have a branch in Skitrex… I guess it's possible, but you think we would have heard about shadow pokemon by now in the media, because that was one of the group's primary weapons. None of it makes any sense." He looked over at Bastion, who had fallen asleep. The Squirtle seemed to be unaware of his trainer's conflict. "Whatever the case, I hope we never see any of them again. I don't want any trouble with them. That's something for the law to handle."
"You're right," Heather agreed. "If you don't disturb the Beedrill hive, the Beedrill won't disturb you, right?"
"Yeah, I hope so," Cody said. "Let's just hope that-" He stopped talking as he felt his heart stand still. "Holy shit, he's back!" he whispered.
Heather looked to see what he was looking at. It was Frank, and he was standing at the counter. The dark haired nurse took the pokeballs that he handed to her, and he nonchalantly walked over towards the food court in the pokemon center. Either he didn't notice them, or he was doing really well at pretending not to.
"I think we should go to bed now," Heather suggested. "I really don't want to be around for when he comes back."
"Yeah…" Cody agreed. "I just hope we don't have to avoid him all week… and I hope I didn't just jinx us."
I feel like I'm being too predictable. Whatever the case, thanks for your time and the reviews. It will be harder for me to update when school starts, but I'll do my best. Peace out trainers!