Just a heads up, this chapter contains my first 6 vs. 6 pokémon battle. I'm experimenting with this because writing 6 vs. 6 is a long process. I'm probably going to save fights of this length for gym leaders in the future, but one good thing about this is that you do get to see all of Cody's pokémon. As he continues to collect more, it's going to be a process trying to give them all ample screen time.
Review Response:
I'm starting to wonder if the universe hates Cody.
If the universe loved him, the story would be boring and he would be a Marty Stu. And nobody likes that.
Awesome story but can you plzzzz make it more humorous...?
Eh… thanks, but I'm not sure how to respond to this. This isn't a humor story (though I add it when I can.) If you want humor, read SONIC HIGH SCHOOL. No seriously, when you're all done with this chapter, go read SONIC HIGH SCHOOL by DarkDoomFireMaster. It is probably the most hilarious thing I have ever read on this site. It makes My Immortal look bland by comparison in the later chapters.
Thanks to Magikarp Master for the editing. And now…
Cody: Bastion (Wartortle), Mars (Diglett), Colossal (Pupitar), Antonia (Skarmory), Cortez (Litwick), Eevee
Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidorina), Bella (Gloom), Smaug (Trapinch), Sasha (Eevee)
Jared: Charmeleon, Servine, Croconaw, Jolteon, Gastly, Bagon
Chapter 34: Red vs. Blue
Jared had correctly predicted what would happen to the three trainers that had attacked Heather, Cody, and him. The multiple charges that were brought against them in court had already landed them in the JJC, and two of them had their licenses taken away permanently, while the third (one of the followers) had his suspended, given that he seemed to take slightly better care of his pokémon. While the three trainers were waiting to be tried for other criminal acts that they had committed, their pokémon were taken from them and put up for adoption, save a few (such as the Houndoom) who were sentenced to be destroyed, due to their ferociously feral and likely irreversible behavior.
Again, just like Jared had foreseen, Cody was very forward about adopting the Eevee, who seemed to have received more abuse than her fellow pokémon. After pestering the pokémon adoption services, receiving a background check, filling out some paperwork, and paying a small fee, the Eevee pup was his. However, this adoption brought on a whole onslaught of other complications. The Eevee, while learning to view Cody as her protector quite quickly, was still anxious around other people or pokémon, becoming terrified in their presence. He continued to expose his new pokémon to others in order for her fear to lessen, but judging by what the nurses had told him, there was a good chance that this Eevee may not be a good candidate for battling in the future, given her anxiety and history of abuse. The young trainer had accepted that condition early on though, especially after he got in touch with the breeder from whom the Eevee was stolen from. After explaining the situation and offering to pay the man the price that the Eevee was worth at the time she was stolen, the man refused. "You ain't the thief, kid. And I'm not one either. Not gonna make you pay money for damaged goods." The way that that was phrased bothered Cody, but he decided not to question the man's views on his business regarding pokémon.
Some time had passed, and the trio of trainers was deep within the woods again, slowly making their way north to Graywood, the city of trees. There, the next badge awaited in a gym of grass and bug trainers. Until then, the journey was full of endless hikes and the intentional crossing of paths with Diglett colonies. Still, Mars just couldn't find a suitable pair of Diglett to join with him, making these visits very frustrating. On top of that, Cody noticed that Jared seemed a bit frustrated and moody as well, and for once, that wasn't his fault. Maybe something was going on between Heather and him? It's none of my business, he thought to himself multiple times. He had other things on his mind, such as the memories of Darkrai's last major appearance, prepping for the next gym and caring for the Eevee pup. Right now, she was walking by his side, looking a lot healthier than she had a few weeks ago, even though the scars that she wore were more much more visible after her fur was cut short for easy treatment. She was also on a body leash now, due to her flighty behavior, but she did not seem to mind it (it attached to her back instead of her neck in order to reduce the strain.)
"Do you have any names for her yet?" Heather asked, breaking the silence that had been dwelling among the group for about an hour as they made their way to the next little town (which was now within minutes away.)
"I don't know… I'm trying to think of something that isn't a human name. I named my last three pokemon after people, so I need to switch it up a bit," Cody answered looking down at the pup that cautiously walked by his side. I wonder if she was named before… It was an unwritten rule among trainers that re-naming a pokémon that one received as a gift or in a trade was a big no-no because the original name carried the memory of the trainer before. However, Cody decided that a new name would probably benefit the Eevee in that regard. "You have any suggestions, Jared?"
"You're asking the wrong guy," Jared mumbled back, not even looking over. "I don't know… Lucky?"
"Yeah, if all else fails, we'll come back to that one, Cody replied in a slightly humored tone. As much as he wanted to poke the bear, he decided against it for the time being. Given how Jared had seemed a bit stressed as of late, he decided to keep his distance. Still in a good mood though, he smiled at what he saw. "Check it out, we're here!"
Banyen was a tiny town, but it was bigger than a lot of the burgs that the group reached, out in the sticks. It was also lovely to look at, though that may have been because the evening twilight cast a beautiful shade of red onto the buildings.
"Let's get to the pokémon center," Jared urged.
"Eh, why bother?" Cody muttered in response. They had just left another town that very morning and after a day of traveling, they only encountered one trainer, which Heather battled. Cody felt bad for his team, since other than their daily exercises, his pokémon hadn't gotten a chance to really stretch their legs. He felt even worse for Elesa, who he had deposited and transferred back home while he had his seventh pokémon with him. Every time he reached a PC, he would alternate between which pokémon he had back at home (though he typically cycled between Elesa, Cortez, and Mars when they were not passing though Diglett colony locations.) When at home, his pokémon would relax in his wooded backyard, which had enough food for them and enough comfortable places to rest. His father was ecstatic about this change, happy to see new, youthful pokémon about. His mother was somewhat less receptive, but she did admit that she loved Elesa, saying that the young Zebstrika was a beautiful pokémon to look at. She was not as thrilled about Cortez though, who loved to spook her (though all of his pranks were relatively harmless.)
"We still need to check if they have any lodging this evening. Even though this town seems a bit slow, they may already be filled up," Jared reminded him. The three trainers entered the pokémon center where Heather decided to let her pokémon get a quick check-up while Jared inquired about bed space. Noting that he had a bit of time to spare, Cody decided that it was a good time to catch up with grooming his team. He opened up Bastion's ball and smiled as he greeted his first pokémon.
The Wartortle had grown quite a bit since evolving, though his shell was pretty lean. A doctor had told him that this was because Bastion was a freshwater variant of the Squirtle line. In comparison with their cousins that lived in oceans, freshwater Squirtle and their evolutions were leaner and faster, which were better for travel on land, compared with their bulkier cousins who rarely left the water at all except to lay eggs. Even so, Bastion was still one of Cody's best tanks, able to absorb quite a bit of damage before dropping, though not to the same extent as Colossal. After letting the turtle nuzzle him some, the young trainer took out a brush and began to run it through the turtle's long, fluffy ears and his several fluffy tails while the Wartortle laid his head on Cody's knee, enjoying the brushing. Meanwhile, the Eevee moved forward from Cody's lap to sniff the turtle, though she stood at the ready to run. But now that she actually would approach Cody's other pokémon, he figured this was a nice advance in her healing. For the time being, this was a nice improvement. It was the simple moments such as these that gave Cody much pleasure and nothing could possibly ruin this quiet moment.
"STORM! We meet again!"
I stand corrected. Cody looked up from the grooming to see none other than his best friend, Laurence. The two hadn't seen each other in nearly seven months since Tempest Valley and due to the poor cellphone reception in the wilderness, their general communication was limited to the occasional phone call and internet message. Since then, Cody could see several noticeable changes in his friend's appearance, making him almost unrecognizable. At first glance, Cody noticed that Laurence had grown a few inches, reaching 5'11" or so and he was growing his light brown hair out to a much longer length than usual. Under his jacket, he wore a light blue t-shirt with the words "Jacobson Winner" printed on it in bright orange letters. Must have won a tourney there or something, Cody thought to himself. And like always, his friend was wearing that cocky expression on his face as if he was the best trainer in Skitrex. I'll have to prove otherwise… Still, coincidental as it was that he'd bump into his friend this far away from home, he was glad that he did.
"Laurence," Cody replied, setting the Eevee on the couch and standing up. "It's been too long." The younger boy definitely lacked the energy that his friend had, but Laurence did not seem to care. He rushed forward and gave Cody a strong, one-armed hug, patting him on the back some. "Wow, you got taller."
"So did you, kiddo," Laurence laughed heartily. He then looked down at Bastion. "And look at you! A Wartortle now. You're growing up so fast, buddy." He stroked the Wartortle's ear and the turtle seemed to like the attention. Cody figured that there was no way Bastion would remember Laurence after the amount of time that had passed, but even so, his pokémon seemed to like him anyway. "And who is this?" he asked while looking over at the Eevee. He took a step towards her, but at the movement, the little pup cowered in fear, leaving the outgoing teen slightly surprised. "Whoa, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it so much," Cody reassured him, reaching over to give the pup a pat on the head. "She's a rescue, kinda. Abused by her last trainer and still kinda skittish."
"Huh, that's rough," Laurence lamented, his voice calming slightly. "You're a good guy for taking her in."
"I kinda had to," Cody admitted sheepishly, though he smiled at his newest pokémon. "So how are you? What you up to these days?"
"You know, same ol' same ol'," the older boy answered casually. "Heading out to Graywood for the Forest Badge and all. Been prepping for double battles for a bit for that, given how you gotta pair with another trainer of your tier. Gotta have synergy and what not, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it," Cody agreed with him. An idea instantly struck him. "Dude, come with us and battle with me. You and me as a team could take that badge with no problem." His original plan was to battle with Heather, but seeing as how they had not talked about the matter yet, he didn't feel bad asking Laurence first,
Laurence seemed to like the idea, but his eyes softened some upon hearing it. "That would be the coolest thing, but I can't. You see, I kinda promised somebody else right now that we'd team at Graywood."
Cody noticed that Laurence had broken eye contact with him, now staring past him, so he turned his head to look at what his friend was eyeing. It was a girl who looked about Laurence's age, wearing a gray tank top and an even grayer pair of cargo pants. Her face was quite pretty, but Cody couldn't focus on that, given some of her other features, the most blatant being her hair… or lack thereof. The girl's head was completely shaved and she had several of piercings on her ears, lips, and nose. Laurence did always dig the "unique" ones, Cody thought to himself. When noticing that she was being watched, the girl smiled and waved hello. Huh. She does have pretty teeth, I'll give her that. I wonder why he never mentioned her over the phone. "So… she your girlfriend?"
"Cody, Cody, Cody, always rushing to put a label on everything," Laurence chided in a joking manner. "I met her a month ago, and let's just say that me and her… we know each other very well."
"Huh, okay," Cody answered, getting the picture. "Is she good?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Laurence chuckled lightly. "She does this amazing thing with her tongue tha-"
"I meant her training," Cody interrupted, rolling his eyes. The last thing he wanted to hear about was how Laurence was getting more action than him.
"Hell yeah, she'd kick your ass," he snorted. "So, when do I get to see-"
"Hey Laurence!" Heather chimed in as she and Jared approached the two boys. "It's good to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, hon," Laurence answered, giving her a quick hug. "Keeping this one in line, I hope?" he asked, looking over at Cody again.
"What else is new?" she giggled in response. "Anyway this is,"
"Wait, wait, let me guess. You're Jared," Laurence said, extending his hand for a shake. "Cody has told me all about you."
"Really now? What did he say?" Jared asked bluntly.
Cody felt his face go white. Please, for once, don't say anything stupid.
"That you're a very talented trainer," Laurence complemented, causing Cody to mentally sigh in relief. "I believe it too. Saw you win against Eagle back at Tempest. We should battle sometime."
"Yes, well… thank you," Jared replied, shaking his hand, smiling a little bit, though still unsold on Laurence himself.
"So…" Cody's friend began again, spinning around to face him. "When do I get to see this Skarmory of yours? Wait, no, don't just show me. Battle me. There's a battle plot right outside.
Immediately, Cody nodded his head in agreement. He had been itching to battle all day, and now he had the chance. "Sure. Just let me get to the PC. I have to withdraw a pokémon." As his friend rushed towards the door and he went to the PC while pulling out his phone to alert whoever was home to send him Elesa, he could hear Jared muttering to Heather about them.
"No wonder Cody likes this guy. He's like his evolved form."
"Oh Jared, just…"
It was no time to care about Jared's petty remarks. This time, he knew he could beat Laurence.
"Stomp him," Laurence's 'friend' ordered as she seductively leaned on his shoulder. The teenage boy smiled confidently.
"What, this noob? Piece of cake. Give me three minutes," Laurence laughed. Cody smiled at the joke, but he didn't respond to it otherwise. Even though Laurence was his friend, he was still taking this upcoming battle very seriously. It was sort of hard to concentrate though as the twilight was shining right at him, tinting his shirt to a reddish color.
"So how are we doing this?" Cody questioned. "And what's the wager?"
"Let's go all out," Laurence suggested. "All six pokémon, no switches, and one hundred dollars on the line. Too much pressure?"
"Hardly," Cody replied, grinning. Trainers rarely engaged in full six on six battles, given that while on the road, any trainer would have a pokémon that was nursing a nagging injury from a previous encounter, and often, it was safer not to use every pokémon, due to a trainer's reliance on them to survive. But since there was a pokémon center not thirty feet away, they knew they could make an exception. Cody patted Bastion on the head, signaling him that he'd be up first, but before he could give the order, an explosion of light burst from his belt.
"Wiek weik!" Mars squeaked as he entered the field uninvited.
"Ha, this again?" Laurence chuckled. "We'll play fair. I'll pick somebody at random." The last time this had happened, Cody had the advantage, as Laurence had picked a pokémon that Mars was strong against. This time though, the odds were not in his favor, as the pokémon his friend sent out was a green looking simian with wild fur and a hairdo that reminded Cody of a giant brocoli stalk.
"Meet Asparagus," Laurence introduced. "And trust me, he's just as nasty as the food I named him after. Seed Bomb!" Letting out a crazed shriek, the monkey produced a seed bomb in each hand and hurled them at the mole pokémon. The attack was obvious though and Mars quickly dug underground, barely dodging the small flora explosions. Reappearing behind the grass pokémon, the Diglett hurled a ball of mud at the back of the monkey's head. It was a direct hit, but the attack only seemed to annoy Asparagus, as he grunted at the ineffective blow.
"He's got typing on you. Slow him down with a Bulldoze and keep low," Cody ordered. Mars burrow-charged the Simisage, a wave of dirt trailing him. Fast as Mars was, the Simisage was faster, leaping over the wave with little difficulty before throwing two more bombs at the mole. Cody cringed as his pokémon barely dodged the blows. Mars was still a glass cannon after all, and just one of those seed bombs would be enough to put him down for the count. "Magnitude, and be ready to dig!" The mole made the earth shake, throwing the Simisage off balance, but he quickly recovered and launched another Seed Bomb at the Diglett. As expected, Mars went underground again, reappearing right behind Asparagus again and smacking him in the legs with a well-placed Bulldoze. Mars must have tweaked the monkey's knee, as the Simisage seemed to favor his left leg as he pulled himself back up. Perfect. Target acquired. "Dig! Take him off balance!"
"Now's your chance! Absorb!" Laurence ordered confidently. Just as Mars popped up under the Simisage, the bigger pokemon grabbed the mole's head with lightning fast reflexes. He shrieked gleefully as he drained the Diglett's energy, leaving the mole dazed and confused. Cody called out to his pokémon, but it didn't matter. By Laurence's command, his pokémon leapt into the air and threw two seed bombs at the Diglett. The two direct hits left Cody's pokemon unable to battle. And much to his dismay, he saw that the Simisage's limp was lessened. The Absorb attack worked greatly in his favor.
"You let your guard down there, Cody," Laurence sighed, shaking his head slightly, though the smile didn't leave his face. "Letting a ground pokemon get that close to a grass type is bad news."
"Yeah, yeah." Please don't lecture me right now. He returned Mars to his ball, giving him words of praise for his efforts. "One pokemon down doesn't give you the win here," he reminded his friend. "And I highly doubt that your Simisage can defeat a fire pokemon like…" He opened up his next pokeball, and his Litwick flew out, giggling maniacally. "Cortez."
"Oh really?" Laurence laughed, seemingly unconcerned. "Work Up!" At the direction, the Simisage began jumping up in down, working himself into a frenzy. From what Cody remembered, the Work Up tactic was commonly used by pokémon with bursting energy to boost them over the top to a point of pure frenzy. Though this typically caused them to let their guard down, a level headed trainer could easily make up for the loss.
"Cortez, focus yourself and use Will-o-Wisp!" Cody ordered coolly. Still laughing like a mad man, Cortex produced a blue flame that he directed towards the grass monkey. By now though, the simian was very agitated, and he dodged the flame easily before throwing two seed bombs at his foe, who lazily avoided them. Even if they had hit, they would have done little. "Try an Ember!"
"Mud Bomb!" Laurence ordered, and within a second, the monkey had hurled a brown blob at Cortez, who managed to fly out of the way while shooting his own attack.
Where did he even get the mud? I never saw him pick it up… unless… oh God, I hope not. "Cortez, he's too fast! Trap him in a Fire Spin!" Cortez shot a spinning spiral of fire at the monkey, but again, he was not fast enough to hit the target, as the Simisage had backed up enough to leap over the flames if he wished.
"Acrobatics!"
"Night Shade!"
Just before the monkey landed his attack, Cortez had engulfed him in a Night Shade in midair, effectively slowing Asparagus's movement to a crawl. As the monkey slowly fell, Cortez flew in with a Flame Burst, effectively singeing his foes fur. When the monkey fell from the shade, his fur was still burning slightly, but he shook off the flames and began hurling seed bombs again, all of which Cortez dodged easily while he shot embers. This went on for a minute, but it was obvious that Asparagus was getting sloppy with his attacks as the burns he suffered continued to worsen.
"Now, Hex!" Cody ordered. The candle pokémon began to sing a cryptic chant and as a strange dark sphere appeared around the Simisage, his burns intensified. Letting out a shriek of pain, the monkey provided an easy target for Cortez, who swooped in with another Ember. This ended the match-up.
"Well now…" Laurence replied, smiling. "We're going to play that game? The simple 'match type?'" Once returning Asparagus, he produced another pokeball. "Because I can role with that. Shelly, playtime!" The pokeball opened, showing the Gastrodon that Cody originally knew as a Shellos months back. She was mature in form, her underbelly and neck colored in a deep purple, matching well with her soft, dark-gray, rigid shell. Her face was kind of creepy looking with white, soulless-looking eyes and topped with two pointy horns that stuck straight up.
Great, Cortez is gonna have his work cut out for him. "Light her up with a Will-o-wisp!"
"Water Pulse." The cool order was all that Shelly needed to douse the blue flame before it even got close. "Cody," Laurence sighed, "you can do better than that. Mud Slap."
"Dodge left and use Smog!" Cortez flew leftward at a downward angle and released a poisonous gas from his mouth that collided with the sea slug's gooey body. Cody new little about the Shellos line, but he did know that they drank through their skin. It was likely that they could get poisoned by being hit by foul gasses with their body as well. It seemed to work well enough, as the Gastrodon appeared to sway in an ill manor. "Now Night Shade!" The black void covered a portion of the field again, surrounding Shelly entirely. Still sick from the smog, she quivered in pain as Cortez had taken control of the battle, giggling gleefully at his accomplishments. "Now, Fire Spin!"
"Mirror Coat," Laurence responded, as if he were waiting for the correct moment to strike. Even though she was ill with minor poisoning and trapped in a Night Shade, her skin glowed blue for a second right before the orange flames touched her. Once touching her skin, the flames shot back at the attacker, now colored blue like her skin. When they hit Cortez, the little ghost pokémon let out a scream. Rather than absorbing the fire like he normally did, this reflected fire seemed to have properties that he could not take in. With his focus broken, the Night Shade fell and the slug was free again. "Water Pulse!" Like Mars before him, Cortez was a glass cannon, holding a variety of attacks in his arsenal but falling to one big attack that was super-effective. Taking the direct hit of a Water Pulse as Litwick from a mature Gastrodon would only end in a fainted Litwick, and this time proved no different.
"Good effort," Cody encouraged after returning the ghost, who was still smiling, even after fainting. "Good show thus far, but those two pokémon were the lightweights of my team," Cody said cockily. In a battle like this, he needed any psychological advantage he could get. "Can you handle the next division?" Looking at the Gastrodon, two words came to mind. Target practice. "Time to grace the stage, Antonia!" When entering the battle plot, the beautiful bird of steel let out her signature screech. Most of the people surrounding the plot covered their ears, but Laurence gazed at her in wonder.
"Wow, she's prettier in person," he said in low awe. "But this isn't a beauty pageant. Shelly, Mud Bomb to the wings."
"Slash and move into an Agility," Cody ordered urgently. Mud in the wings was always bad news for a pokémon, but Antonia knew that as she used her wings to cut through the mud balls that were thrown at her before using them to slash at the sea slug. Her agility picked up, allowing her to avoid more attacks that were launched at her. This continued briefly before Laurence wised up and ordered his pokémon to use a Water Pulse instead. This time, Shelly managed to hit her target, knocking Antonia backwards, though she wasn't knocked down. When the Gastrodon tried to take this opportunity to make an approach, Antonia released metal spikes from under her wings all over the field, halting the slug in place. If she kept going, the spikes would get caught on her underside, causing her to lose energy via attrition.
"Mud Slap!" Laurence ordered. The mud blot smacked Antonia in the face, but she was hardly fazed, given how keen her vision was. Flying at her top speed, she concentrated her iron to the wings before striking the Gastrodon in the neck with her steely appendages. This wasn't enough to put the bulky Gastrodon down, but it did stun her enough to give Antonia an opening for an unopposed fury attack. Again and again, she struck the slug with her beak, wings, and talons before the slug slumped.
"Well done. She is quite the specimen," Laurence complimented, his next pokémon already in hand after returning the previous. "But you know, the higher they fly, the harder they fall."
"I don't think that's how it goes," Cody chuckled, already mentally preparing for his next foe. Knowing Laurence, he would probably send in Bolt or that Numel he said he caught a few months back. He hoped it was the latter, only since while Antonia was weak to fire, she could handle it well. Electricity was a different story entirely.
"Then you can quote me on that," his friend said, grinning. "Lady Blaise, you know what to do." His third pokémon, the big orange camel with volcano-like humps that appeared on the field and her appearance left Cody in silence. The Numel that Laurence had told him about had evolved and while she was not fully grown (at about four feet tall) there was something about the Camerupt that scared him. It had to be her eyes. Those focused, angry eyes.
"She evolved two weeks ago. When I found her as a Numel, I saw so much potential. Now, she's a machine, trumping pokémon left and right. Next to Flex, she's my strongest right now." Laurence clenched his fist, grinning widely. "And now, she will win another fight. Blaise, light her up." The Camerupt let out a deep noise, between a grunt and a roar, and began to spray a stream of fire up at the steel bird from her mouth. Antonia easily dodged the fire before flying in for a slash at the camel's sides. Blaise howled in pain, but the pained noise was angry and seemed to empower her as she shot another burst of fire at Antonia. This time, she hit the Skarmory's right wing, and the bird screeched as she struggled to keep airborne. Once she was low enough, Laurence ordered a Flame Charge of his pokémon. Blaise wasn't particularly fast, but the charge helped her pick up speed. Ignoring the spikes that stuck to her feet, she leapt into a Take Down, driving her sturdy head into Antonia's armor. This brought Antonia down to earth.
"Baby, I need you to get into the air and use Air Cutter. Keep your distance!" Antonia managed to fly again, whilst absorbing more of the flames before slashing the air at rapid speed. The razor-like air blasts she created cut through the flames that the Camerupt spit out, but they barely impacted the camel's tough skin. She upped her ante with a Whirlwind that picked up many of the remaining spikes.
"Ground yourself!" Laurence ordered. His Camerupt braced herself for the spiky whirlwind that approached, not being pushed, but being hit by many of the spikes that drove into her thick skin. All the while, Antonia left her continual circling that fed the whirlwind with more air and backed up to blow more wind in it from a distance. Keeping a whirlwind going was hard work, but her little tornado was holding Blaise at bay, but neither she nor Cody noticed the volcanic humps on the camel's back tilt their aim towards the Skarmory. "Now! Fire!"
"Wait, wha-"
"HOAH HO!" the camel roared as she shot two balls of fire, one from each hump, at Antonia. They both hit, blasting her backwards before she crashed into the ground again. When she stood up again, parts of her metal armor were still burning and she was unable to get back into the air.
"Antonia, you can do this! Just don't get hit and get her with a Steel Wing!" Cody told his pokémon, though he could see the end of this match in sight.
"Rock Slide!" Laurence yelled out. With a stomp of her two front feet, she pulled three medium sized boulders out of the earth. When she charged Antonia, the bird ran at her as well, cutting through the first rock with her iron wing as if the boulder was made of butter. But this slowed her down and left her vulnerable to the Camerupt's second Take Down. That was enough to finally bring the iron maiden to her knees, as the repeated fire attacks and physical traumas were too much for her.
Cody returned Antonia to his pokeball, sighing in response to this loss. Ever since that battle with Hornsby, his Skarmory had been a force to be reckoned with. How sad it was now to see her dispatched after putting so much effort into the fight. "You did well. Rest up," he whispered. Looking from his pokeball to Bastion, he gave a nod, and his first pokémon entered the field to face the much bigger Camerupt. "Double weakness," Cody stated, smirking.
"You and I both know that that's not the end all," Laurence replied, returning the smile. "Blaise, light him up."
"Water Gun!" The Wartortle's water attack easily doused the incoming flames, but when the powerful stream hit Blaise's face, she didn't seem fazed at all. Again, she launched balls of fire that exploded at impact, but Bastion was too quick. He dodged each ball before shifting to the side and releasing a Bubblebeam straight into the Camerupt's side. The camel roared and teetered a bit from the blow, but she wasn't damaged as much as Cody had hoped, thanks to her rock solid build helped her endure the hit. Instead of giving in, she slammed her feet against the ground, creating tremors that were strong enough to knock the turtle off of his feet. Seeing an opening, Blaise saw her opening and instinctively charged her target. Bastion did manage to stand up, but before he could spray her, he took a blow straight to his chest. When Bastion crashed to the ground again, he was sprayed with another Ember before being charged at again. But this time, Bastion was ready. Pulling his limbs into his shell, he used Aqua Jet, blasting his shell into the Camerupt's head. Both pokémon were knocked back from the blow, but Blaise recovered quicker. She launched two more fireballs from her humps. The turtle withdrew into his sturdy shell to protect him from the hits, but when leaving the shell again, it was apparent that the impacts of the explosions were taking their toll on the Wartortle. He kept dodging the flames, but his movements were slowing with each escape. This Camerupt was truly something special.
"Bring him down with a Body Slam!" Laurence ordered, growing weary of the matchup. His pokémon barreled forward, leaping into the air to crash her heavy body into the prone Wartortle.
"Protect!" Cody yelled out frantically. Making a sturdy stance, Bastion threw up his protective bubble that blocked the blow of the Body Slam. Blaise let out a loud, injured groan upon the impact, but she re-situated herself immediately.
"Lava Plume!" Laurence ordered, and his camel pokémon began to produce smoke from her mouth as lava burst from her humps, piling onto the protective force field. Within seconds, the Protect broke and Bastion let out a scream as the lava burned him. Such an attack could permanently scar and kill a human, but Bastion was tougher than that. He let out a powerful stream of water right into the Camerupt's face before following that up with an Iron Tail to the skull. Still, Blaise would not fall. Instead, she backed up, trying to shake off the blows. But as her mouth began to smoke, Cody noticed that she was preparing another Lava Plume. This, he could not allow.
"Bastion, douse that fire now!" Cody shouted. The tired Wartortle did as he was told, hopping onto the Camerupt's head and spaying water into the volcanic humps. Blaise let out an agonizing roar as her Achilles heel was struck. Without enough power to heat herself back up, she was unable to deal with the next attack: a Water Pulse to the face, and she finally fell into a slump. Bastion stepped back, prideful of his work, but he was obviously injured from the bout, judging from the burn marks on his skin and shell. "Good work! You wanna keep going?" Cody asked, concerned for his pokémon's. The turtle didn't even react to the question. As far as he was concerned, the battle didn't end until finally dropped.
"Impressive," Laurence commented, returning Blaise to her pokeball and giving it a quick kiss before putting it back on his belt. "Took your Wartortle a bit to do that though. Luckily, Bolt is more than willing to pick up the scraps." In a second, Laurence's Pachirisu was on plot, his puffy, yellow cheeks crackling with electricity. Since the last time that Cody had seen the squirrel, it seemed a little bit bigger and its fur seemed to be thicker and healthier. Comparing the squirrel to Bastion, who was worn down quite a bit from that Camerupt, the match-up did not look promising on Cody's end.
Our only chance is if Bastion can douse that thing with enough water to put the electricity out. Still, Pachirisu are extremely hardy for their size and build. Gotta remember that. "Water Gun, and be ready to jet!" Bastion started off this new match up by spraying a stream of high pressured the squirrel right off the bat, but Bolt was lightning fast, dodging the spray easily. Before he could land contact with a Spark however, Bastion had already withdrew into his shell so he could Aqua Jet away and regroup. Once out of his shell again, he let loose a Water Pulse. This attack hit, causing Bolt to stumble some in the midst of his run, giving Bastion another opening for an Iron Tail to the squirrel's torso. However, Bolt instinctively clutched on to Bastion's shell and let a surge of electricity run through the Wartortle's body. Surprising to both boys, this didn't put Bastion out. Though he was in so much pain, he pulled into his shell for a Rapid Spin, shaking the squirrel off before opening on him with another Water Gun. Upon landing the attack, it looked like the Pachirisu was out of electricity, as the crackling on his cheeks looked weaker than normal. But the squirrel himself still looked to be in great form. He ran forward and leapt onto Bastion's shell, as the Wartortle was now too worn down to escape quickly enough.
"Hyper Fang!" Laurence ordered, and the electric squirrel chomped down on Bastion's neck before sending powerful volts through the turtle's system. Not able to handle this attack, Bastion crashed into the earth, leaving Bolt victorious, but without much electricity left.
Cody returned Bastion to his pokeball, whispered words of encouragement, and smiled. He knew from personal experience that an electric pokémon without electricity was limited. Tough as this Pachirisu was, he would be running on low without electricity, thanks to the dousing. But on the chance that the squirrel could build up a charge again with enough kinetic energy, Cody needed to counter that electricity with something that could sap it all away. "Elesa, time to clean house!" His next pokeball opened, and Elesa entered the plot in a gallop, whinnying with energy beyond compare. When looking at her tiny foe, she just snorted.
"Size doesn't matter! Leech her!" Laurence shouted. Immediately, the squirrel dodged the furious horse that came to stomp on him and latched onto her back, biting into Elesa's neck. This didn't seem to hurt Elesa at all, but Cody knew what was happening. The little squirrel was trying to leech electricity from the much bigger pokémon, and like he learned with battling the Kito Grove gym, electric pokémon were susceptible to getting overcharged.
"Surge it!" Elesa stopped running and used her energy to channel all of her electricity into the little Pachirisu. It didn't take long for the squirrel to get overcharged and he fell from her side, screaming loudly. Elesa took this moment to stomp on him repeatedly. Despite Elesa's repeated pounding with her diamond hard hooves, the Pachirisu managed to roll out of the way. He tried to smack Elesa with his tail, but the horse still had energy to burn. Bursting into a gallop, flames caught fire and she rammed into the tiny mammal with a Flame Charge. Still, the resilient little pokémon survived the blow, using the last of his energy to launch a Quick Attack at the Zebstrika's throat. It was a valiant effort, but an ineffective one as well, only pissing Elesa off even more. With one final stomp, she eliminated her opponent.
"Return," Laurence said, not seeming surprised. He looked back Cody, still not worried. "You know, my next two pokémon… not so great for fighting electric types. But this won't be a problem. Romulus! Neutralize her!" The next pokémon on the field was a beautiful Vaporeon whose blue, scaled body glistened in the sunlight as he wagged his fishlike tail. Obviously, Laurence was going for the dousing strategy that Cody had used a few minutes before on Bolt. But with a fresh pokémon out on the field as opposed to an injured Bastion, things could work out entirely different.
"Elesa, don't let him hit you! Serpentine into a Spark!" He knew that the Zebstrika still hadn't adjusted to the 'serpentine' command yet, but with time, hopefully she'd pick it up. Regardless, the electric pokémon charged the Vaporeon that just sat there. What is he-
"Detect!" Laurence burst out. At the last moment, the Vaporeon shifted his body to the left, dodging the Spark by inches. Since she was in a run, Elesa would have to circle around, giving Laurence time for another command. "Now Charm!" As the electric horse closed in on her target, Romulus turned towards his target and gave his opponent a cute look of innocence. This didn't slow Elesa down, but right before she hit home, the Vaporeon performed a front flip, lightly touching his foe with the tip of his tail, not hurting his target at all. Elesa skidded to a halt, looking at the now adorable pokémon that just seemed to be playing around. The Charm technique was excellent at disarming aggressive foes and right now, Elesa was baffled by what was happening.
"Don't fall for it! Hidden Power!" Cody shouted to his pokémon in hopes of snapping her back into action. Elesa let loose the green energy spheres from her body, and though she hit her target, the spheres looked significantly smaller than normal. She was obviously going easy on the aquatic canine that she was fighting.
"Acid Armor!" Laurence ordered. At this command, his pokemon's body started to let out a purplish sweat with a peculiar smell. The liquid seemed to harden on his pokémon's scales, toughening them further.
Charm, Acid Armor… He's going to be tanking against Elesa. Smart move. "Elesa, you need to hit him hard! Spark!"
"Bubblebeam!" At this command, Romulus went loose with a bubble attack that collided with the Zebstrika as she charged. She let out a scream as the attack hit, and though she landed the Spark, it was obviously weakened from the dousing. The Vaporeon circled his prey before trying to land a Quick Attack, but before he hit, Elesa lit up with a Flash, blinding the dog while she moved into position to kick him with the back of her hoof. Still, the attack was weaker than it should have been. The Charm must have had some sort of brief psychological effect on her.
"Shock Wave!" Elesa let loose a weak lightning attack that homed in on Romulus, who absorbed it easily before opening with an Aurora Beam. The rainbow colored ice beam hit the horse in the side, slowing her general movement as coldness ran through her body. With the new opening, the Vaporeon blasted her with another Bubblebeam, making a direct hit. By now, Cody could see that Elesa's electricity was fizzling out. If only I could switch her ou… wait, I can switch her out. "Volt Switch!" Using the last of her electricity, Elesa smacked into her target before converting herself back to a pokeball flash and returning to her trainer.
"Hey, I thought we had a no switching rule," Laurence stated, frowning at the occurrence.
"Baton Pass, Volt Switch, U-Turn, and moves like them are legal switches in a non-switch situation," Cody reminded him. "Because pokémon can do that on their own ability-"
"Fine, I get it Oak," Laurence sighed.
"Yup. Colossal! Wrap this up!" The Pupitar exploded onto the battlefield, humming in a low pitch. Ever since his battle with Hornsby's Donphan, no foe was too big for him to handle. Hopefully breaking through the Acid Armor would be easier than breaking a near invincible elephant.
"Charm!" Laurence ordered, going for his earlier strategy.
"Magnitude!" Cody returned. This time, Colossal stopped the move before he could be affected by shaking the ground and making the eeveelution fall on his face. With this opportunity, the pupa pokémon used his pressurized air pockets to shoot himself forward, headbutting the prone Vapreon. He followed up this launch with a wild and yet somehow controlled Thrash, breaking through Romulus's tight defense.
"Back up and use Bubblebeam!"
"Rock Slide!" Upon this command, the Pupitar palled up three rocks, each being a foot farther from his body than normal. Cody had taken Cedric's advice about training his Pupitar to pull up distant rocks, slowly increasing his pokemon's range. As he ran (so to speak) with his rocks at his foe, the Vaporeon's beam of bubbles shattered one boulder, but the rest hit the target. Still, Romulus was in great condition. He strafed to the side and hit Colossal with an Aurora Beam, slowing the blue shelled pokémon down with the ice crystals the attack formed, similarly to how he slowed Elesa earlier. However, Colossal stayed focused, continually pulling up rocks just in time to block the Bubblebeams. Strong as he was, Cody knew that one critical Bubblebeam could take his pokémon out if it hit. "Sand Storm!"
Colossal roared as he began a small Sandstorm on the battlefield. The blasting sands hindered Romulus some and his attacks became less accurate, giving Colossal the advantage, despite being slow. With all of his might, he blasted himself into the air and landed a Body Slam on his slowed target before landing on the side and smacking the eeveelution with a Dark Pulse. This combination was enough to finally break the Vaporeon as the onslaught of attacks mixed with the Sandstorm was just too much.
"Return," Laurence yelled out so his voice would be heard over the small Sandstorm that Colossal contained on the battlefield. "Very impressive. The little guy," he said, referring to Colossal, "has grown up a lot since we last battle. Then again, so has my little guy. Flex, time for a workout.
Cody was somewhat shocked to see Laurence's first pokémon on the field again. He had heard that Flex had evolved, but seeing the once tiny Machop as a grownup Machoke left him in awe, even though his vision was somewhat blocked by the flying sands. The Machoke stood at about five foot ten and his muscles were bulging. The brutish pokémon took a moment to flex his biceps before looking down at the much shorter Pupitar. Cody remembered how even as a Machop, Flex could defeat Gordon's Graveler back home at Stone Rise, so beating a Pupitar as a Machoke was dangerously feasible, especially given the matchup of elements.
"Keep the Sandstorm going and use Rock Slide!" Colossal ran at the Machoke with three fresh boulders, but the bigger pokémon was deceptively fast. Sidestepping the attack, he picked up one of the boulders with one hand and threw it straight at the Pupitar, stunning the pupa pokémon momentarily.
"Focus Energy and then Ice Punch!" Laurence bellowed.
"Dark Pulse!" Cody shouted. It took a moment for the Pupitar to collect his focus from being stunned, allowing the Machoke to build up his stored energy. When Colossal finally let a Dark Pulse loose at his foe, the Machoke effortlessly swatted the dark energy away before punching the pupa in the face. As his fist connected, ice crystals formed around where he punched, but Colossal wasn't through. Using Chip Away, he tried to break through the onslaught of attacks, but the Machoke blocked most of these attempts with basic martial arts blocks before whacking the Pupitar in the face with a Karate Chop. As the attack hit, Colossal looked a bit dazed in his stance and the Sandstorm fell flat from his lack of concentration, leaving Flex's skin scrapped up, but he still looked to be in top form.
"He's good, Cody, but Flex is better," Laurence said, though his tone was not one of bragging. "He's focused enough fight Psychic pokémon and win at times."
"We're not as easy as Psychic types, I'm afraid," Cody replied with a smirk. "Magnitude." The small earthquake set Flex off guard long enough for Colossal to land a headbutt to his face. Even though the attack hit, Machoke did have enough focus to catch the attacker, hoist him onto his back, leap several feet into the air and deliver a Vital Throw combined with a suplex. There was no getting up from that after all the attacks he absorbed.
"Solid work, Colossal! Return!" Once the pupa was back on his belt, Cody released his last remaining pokémon, Elesa. When she was back on the field, stamping her hooves and snorting, it appeared that the Charm had worn off. However, judging by the electricity currents that ran over her body from excitement, she wasn't even close to recovering even half of her electricity that had been doused. She had enough for a weak electric attack, but not enough for a Flame Charge or a Shock Wave or a fully powered Spark. Her best bet would be to rely on physical attacks until she could charge herself up enough to use proper electric type moves. "You need to recharge! Quick Attack!"
"Dig!" Laurence ordered. Before the Zebstrika connected with her enemy, Flex had rapidly dug underground. Cody was a little taken back by this, not because of the move itself (he had seen Flex use Dig before) but by how fast the Machoke managed to get underground before being hit. Unfortunately, while he had left an obvious hole to follow, Elesa would not have the electricity to shoot attacks to follow him underground.
"Just stay calm and-" Suddenly, the Machoke emerged to grab the electric horse, but to everybody's surprise, Elesa managed to scoot over just enough so that Machoke came out behind her, allowing her to give him a strong kick to the jaw with both of her back hooves. This attack sent Flex backwards, staggering.
"Brilliant!" Cody praised his proud steed. "Now Hidden Power!" The green spheres smashed into the Machoke's chest as he tried to catch up with the speedy horse. Every time he got close though, Elesa would set off a flash to blind him with light before moving herself into a position to kick him again. Slowly but surely, she was building up her electricity once more. "Now, tackle him and surge him!"
"Enough is enough! Foresight!" For Flex, the world seemed to slow down as he focused in on the Zebstrika who had moved into the offensive. With his lighting reflexes, the Machoke crouched down on one knee and swept the legs of the horse with his other. Elesa toppled over and before she could get back up, Flex effortlessly scooped her onto his back and performed another Vital Throw. Elesa was still not down completely though, so before she could pull herself up from that move as well, the Machoke wrapped his arms around her throat and his legs around her one, bending her backwards like a pretzel.
A perfect Submission, Cody thought to himself. He called for Elesa to use whatever electricity she had left to break the hold, and while she surged all of it through the Machoke, he would not relent. Finally, Elesa's struggles finally stopped and the battle was over. Flex stood up, flexing again for all to see. Even with the beating he took, he looked as though he could go for another round.
"Victory!" Laurence sang as he entered the plot and high fived his muscle-bound friend.
"Yeah, congratulations," Cody replied glumly, though he was still smiling. The battle was great, but it bothered him that he knew that under the right circumstances, victory would have been possible. One of these days Laurence, I will win. And when I do, I'm not going to let you live it down. He petted Elesa's jagged mane before returning her to her pokeball and digging out the money he now owed Laurence. "That was pretty prime, I will admit."
"Of course it was. It was me who you were battling," Laurence teased with mock arrogance. "Look, we need to catch up. Would your friends mind if we left to grab a bite?"
Cody looked over at Heather and Jared, who were already leaving the plot's side. They're probably going out tonight… unless Jared is still moody about whatever. "They won't mind." Cody looked over at the bald chick that Laurence was currently traveling with. Right now, she was just leaning against a telephone poll, staring into space. She was probably just daydreaming. "Would your girlfriend mind being left alone?"
"Again with that word," Laurence chided in a half whisper, almost sounding a bit annoyed that Cody used it again. "She'll be cool with it. Besides…" He got a devilish look in his eyes. "If she gets hungry later, I got a dessert for her ri-"
"You know, suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore," Cody interrupted before Laurence could finish his statement. Losing was bad enough already, but the images that were now floating in his head made everything a little worse.
The boys grabbed breakfast for dinner at a local diner. Laurence was insistent on getting the "Slice of Heaven" meal that contained a little bit of every breakfast food served at the place so he could rate it all in his restaurant blog later on that night. Cody just got pancakes, since after just losing one hundred dollars, he wasn't in the mood to spend all that much. While eating, Laurence went on and on about his adventures, though most of his stories boiled down to two subjects: awesome pokémon battles and girls, the latter of the two making Cody kind of jealous. Deciding that he wouldn't let Laurence have all the fun, Cody went in to detail about being attacked by Casper and the haunted house that he and his group had visited. He kept the Darkrai stories to himself, but the other two seemed to be enough to grab Laurence's attention.
"So, I assume you're not telling your mother about this, correct?" Cody's friend asked jokingly as he tried the scrambled eggs.
"Are you kidding? I haven't even told her about the Skarmory scars yet," Cody replied, chuckling some. "She'd go even crazier than normal."
"Hey, be nice, Mrs. Storm is a perfectly good woman. Just a little protective of her pwecious baby boy," Laurence joked in his baby-talk voice, aiming it more at Cody than his mother. A good choice in his mind. As much as his mother annoyed him sometimes, he would have punched anybody that insulted her.
"No doubt," Cody replied, petting the Eevee pup that slept on his lap. He was kind of surprised that the management of the diner allowed him to bring the pup in to begin with, but he was glad that they did. He needed to spend all the time that he could with this Eevee. "So, I was thinking… you and Marissa are heading towards Graywood for your battle? Why not come with us? It would be cool to travel with you for once."
"Would if I could, but I can't," Laurence replied instantly between bites. "We got tickets to go to some concert out in McNoi. Not even sure who's singing at it. It's one of the bands that Marissa likes, so… either way, I don't think your friend, Jared, likes me all that much, judging by the looks he kept giving me."
"Don't take that personally, but yeah, that all won't work then," Cody admitted with a light groan. "We're heading to Lockton City. It's pretty much the most direct route to Graywood, so… How do you even have time for concerts anyway?"
"How don't you?" Laurence asked, answering his question with a question. "You told me the other day over the phone that you pretty much live, sleep, and breathe pokémon. I mean, dedication is good, but you need to relax some. You have these black bags under your eyes and your left eye has been twitching for the past few minutes," he pointed out.
"Huh, that's a new one," Cody mumbled as he traced the spot that Laurence pointed out under his eye. "Maybe you're right. I've had a lot on my mind lately with the training and the people I travel with and this new Eevee that was abused, and my parents fighting and-"
"Cody," Laurence interrupted, placing his fork on the plate in front of him. "I have a confession to make. I'd really hate to add to your pile of stress, but this is better off being said in person, or I would have done it over the phone."
The younger trainer couldn't help but feel nervous when Laurence started a sentence this way. The fact that Laurence seemed to put all of his comedy to the side for just one moment seemed to indicate some sort of dramatic news. "What is it?" he asked, curious and confused.
For a moment, Laurence just stared at him, trying to figure out how he'd deliver the awkward news. It didn't take him long to decide that just saying it would end that nervous feeling quickly and efficiently.
"Cody, I ran into Derrick."
There would have been absolute silence if it wasn't for the sound of the radio and the grill that sizzled in the other room. Cody just stared, his mouth agape. He had not seen Derrick since his entry in the Diamond Beach tournament, and that was only over the TV many years ago. But now…
"Derrick… as in my brother, right? As in the douchebag that decided to cut contact with me and my family because we were 'holding him back'?"
"Right."
Another silence.
"How did you run into him?" Cody asked, keeping his composure.
"When I was competing in my tier at the Jacobson tourneys, he was in the highest available tournament, competing as well. I managed to catch his attention, and he remembered me. He didn't tell me much though when we chatted. Just that he's been traveling to other regions and competing. He didn't seem to have any friends with him and he didn't talk with anybody else while we were there. He only seemed to be there so he could collect his money and move on."
"Sounds like him alright," Cody muttered to himself, taking his final bite of the food in front of him. Why would he even come back? Jacobson is pretty minor on the tourney scene. "What did you tell him about me?"
"Oh god, you're going to be so mad at me…" Laurence replied, looking down at his plate that was almost empty now, his eyes hollowing. "I told him that you're a trainer now. That you have three badges and that you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself."
Cody blinked. "I'm going to be mad at you for that?" he asked, not getting what the problem was there, even if he felt like it was a minor invasion of his privacy. If Derrick cared, he should do the research himself rather than relying on a friend of Cody's to fill in the gaps.
"No…" Laurence looked troubled as he delivered the news. "You're going to be mad at me because I gave him your cellphone number."
The younger boy's eyes flashed with anger as his face reddened. "You did WHAT?" The raising of his voice awoke the Eevee, who curled into a little ball out of fear.
"I'm sorry, it seemed like a good idea at the ti-"
"A good idea at the time?" Cody parroted back in a shout, not caring if people were staring. "Why would I want him to have my number? So we could have a little chat sometime? I don't want anything to do with that asshole, and you know it! Now he has my number that you willingly gave to him and-"
"Cody, I'm sorry," Laurence pleaded, looking upset at his friend's rage. "I thought maybe if he cared enough, he'd call-"
"If he cared enough, he'd call home and ask my parents for my number! It's not like we moved! Or better yet, he wouldn't have treated us like dirt at all! You think-"
"Look Cody, I know now that I shouldn't have, but I… I don't know… I just wanted to help. I know things are rough for you right now with your parents and that guy following you and everything else, but I thought… I don't know. If I had a brother, I'd want to see him again, even if he did hurt me… Look, I'm sorry for what I did, but it was a few weeks ago. I mean, it's not like he's called you, or you would have told me, right?"
Though he was enraged, Cody could see that Laurence was very upset. Despite being a complete moron at times, Laurence meant well, and Cody couldn't stay mad at him. "You're right, he hasn't called me… So I guess it doesn't matter. I'm sorry I yelled. I just… just…"
"Just had to be dramatic?" Laurence chuckled in his attempt to lighten the mood. Thanks to his natural charisma, it worked.
"Sure, we'll leave it at that," Cody answered, tickling the Eevee pup's tummy and relieving her of the stress that she had just built up. "You mind if we get the check soon? I need to crash."
"Sure, just let me finish these eggs" Laurence answered, relaxing against the cushioned seat, enjoying the lightened mood once more. The two continued their chat while they waited for the check and their chat gave Cody a fabricated sensation that things were as they used to be. However, in the very place he was dining, something new was unfolding.
A man sat alone in a booth nearby, listening to the two teenagers as they chatted about typical teenage subjects: friends, pokémon, women; nothing that he hadn't heard before. Just by looking at the man, there wasn't anything extraordinary about him. To most of the people who saw him, he was just another ordinary man in his late twenties with a decent looking face, sandy blonde hair, and a minor case of male pattern baldness. But while he sipped on his coffee, he was listening for key words, and the boy with the blonde hair said the words that he was listening for: Lockton City. More importantly, the boy said that he was going there.
Not expressing any reason that the words might be important, the man pulled out his cellphone and sent the following text:
[Report: Target Sierra Charlie spotted in Banyen. Approaching Lockton. Estimated arrival date between 5 and 7 days.]
He received an answer within the minute.
[Your service has been noted. Standby for future instruction.]
Putting the phone away, the man finally revealed a brief grin in his success. What a stroke of luck this was. He was only recruiting in Banyen, but the fact that he could recognize this target in particular, thanks to the one picture as well as the description he saw the day before on an email that listed threats to the organization… he was a minor target, but even so, anything he could do to help the cause. "From the ashes, we shall rise," he whispered to himself, just before downing the last of his coffee. It was only a matter of time.
Sooo… who has a good name for the Eevee? I want to stay away from Roman/Greek gods and real names, so if you have suggestions, leave them in the review. Remember though, since I will not say what the Eevee will be evolving into, pick something that doesn't apply to a specific element.
Also, I'm looking for a co-beta right now so I can alternate between Magikarp Master and somebody else. Anybody interested? If so, please PM me.
Until next time!