Chapter Three: The Bleeding
Archer pinned the struggling Slowpoke mother to the ground, then climbed on her back to stop the creature from thrashing wildly. He had to give the worthless animal some form of credit – she was determined to fight him, but her strength was fading fast. "What a worthless Pokemon these Slowpoke are," he commented, bringing his head down besides the Slowpoke's torn right ear. "But never fear. Your death will not go wasted."
"Would you like to have the tail removed now, Archer?"
Archer turned his head to the right, facing an aqua-haired man, wearing an expression of hunger on his face. The man had an insatiable appetite when it came to inflicting harm on others and Pokemon. He had a natural talent for crafting weapons of cruelty and pain. It was for that reason alone Archer promoted him to the rank of commander. "Yes, chop it off."
"With pleasure, Archer!"
Archer glanced behind him as the man raised his rusted cleaver above the Slowpoke's tail. The tail moved back and forth then paused. That's when Proton brought his cleaver crashing down, slicing off the tail immediately eliciting a mournful cry of pain to exit the Slowpoke's mouth. "Ariana, collect as much as blood as possible," Archer said, turning to his only female friend.
If Proton was the torturer and executioner, then Ariana was the one who issued the death sentence. She lacked the physical strength to carry out the gruelling tasks, but she could convince others to do the work for her just with words. Once she had even convinced a trainer to kill himself after she defeated his weakling team.
She nodded, pulling out a glass vial from her pocket. Crawling over to the wounded animal, she lowered the vial to the pool of blood around the Slowpoke, and scooped up as much of the sticky liquid until it was full. She tucked it back in her pocket and rose to her knees, dusting herself clean of the sand grains that clung to her clothes. "We can't stay here for long, Archer. The local gym leader might come by and then we'll be in trouble.
Archer nodded. "Get what we need. I will see both of you back at the base."
"Yes, Archer," the two commanders chorused.
"Remember do not feel any remorse for your actions here today. We serve Giovanni, the one true ruler, and our actions are done in his name."
"Hail Giovanni!" Proton and Ariana chorused.
Archer crawled of the Slowpoke and kicked her in the ribs, forcing the dying animal to cough up some blood. "It's a shame Pretel is missing out – he would've loved to have been here today." Pretel was the final commander and the youngest of the group. He had just turned twenty-five the other week, but already he was exhibiting signs of a true leader. He helped Archer recruit members and he devised strategies to capturing Pokemon.
"Where is Petrel, anyway?" Proton asked, dipping a hand into the blood, moving his hand around until it was covered in it. He raised the hand to his mouth then stuck out his tongue, running it along the side, lapping up the blood. "It's not actually that bad. It's kinda sweet."
Archer pulled his eyes away, turning back to Ariana. "I've given him a task to carry out at the Goldenrod Radio Tower. He has a task involving messing with the radio transmitters to brainwash the minds of Pokemon through sound," Archer answered.
Ariana glanced down at the Slowpoke. "I'll take this tail back as souvenir then. I'm sure he'd love that," she said, twirling a lock of red hair around a finger. Archer nodded. She picked up the stub, brought it to her lips and kissed it. "He's going to love it. He'll probably attach it to his wall of Pokemon tails. So anyway, what do you plan to do with all the blood we've collected?"
"We're going to sell it the shops, disguising it as an energy drink for Pokemon. We'll say it's a drink that temporarily gives Pokemon a boost when in reality, it's a toxin that slowly shuts down the immune system overtime." His smirk widened. "It'll make us rich enough to pay out Giovanni's captors so he can be released."
"What if those snobs from the league sniff us out? You know Lance won't hesitate to destroy us when he finds us."
"Do not worry about the Champion. He believes he is stronger than us, but he can't close down all our operations."
"Maybe I should stay behind and distract him if he decides to pay us a visit," Ariana said. "We haven't collected all the tails yet." Proton nodded.
Archer considered it. There were still a few Slowpoke tails to collect. More tails meant more profit, and he could always do with more money. "All right. Both of you can stay here then. I'll return to our headquarters." Archer didn't like turning away from a fight, but as Giovanni once said, it was important to live to fight another day.
"What are you going to do, boss?" Ariana asked.
"I'm going to help you throw the league brats off our trail." He didn't explain it further, and his executives didn't ask for further details. He knew what he had to do, and it involved making a secret trip to the Dragon Den shrine in Blackthorn City. Ushering his companions out of the cave, he lead them to a secret opening in Azalea Forest. He hoped their actions here today would bring them one step closer to freeing Giovanni, and one step closer to defeating Red, the man solely responsible for driving Giovanni away. I will free you, Giovanni.
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Lance stormed into the entrance of the shrine, slamming the door behind him. His journey back to Blackthorn City hadn't been a fun one. The sun had been shining on the southern side of Johto, but the northern half was covered in rain. Now he was cold, soaking wet and mad. His Dragonite stood at his side, looking equally as frustrated as his master. Heading into the main area, he expected to see his grandfather, but instead spotted his cousin. His mood dampened.
She arched a brow, giving him a mocking questioning look. "Your girlfriend called," she said, giving Lance a teasing smile. She sauntered over, dangling a pink letter in between her fingers of her left hand.
To Lance's annoyance, there was a big love heart on the front of it. It could mean only one thing – Marina was at it again. "She's not my girlfriend." He snarled the words. That damn girl just would not give up. Just the mere mention of her name sent a shudder down his spine.
Clair opened the envelope and read the letter. The sheet of paper was also pink. "Dear Lance. You haven't replied to any of my letters and I was worried they might have gotten lost, so I'm sending you another one. You are the greatest and cutest of all the elite trainers in the world and I'd be totally honoured if you would watch my performance this coming weekend if you are not busy. Please let me know so I can make the arrangements. Your biggest fan, Marina." Clair threw her head back and laughed. She continued to laugh until tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"It's not funny," Lance scowled. He stepped forward and tried to grab the letter from his cousin, but she jumped aside.
"It is funny! She is so in love with you." Clair started laughing again, wiping tears from her eyes. "The trash out the back is full of letters from her." She glanced back down at the letter again, her finger running down the paper. "This is my favourite line. You are the greatest and cutest of all elite trainers in the world… ah ha ha ha ha! Someone needs to get their eyes checked."
"Shouldn't you be at the gym?" Lance replied, desperately trying to change the topic from his love life (well, lack thereof) to something else.
She snorted. "I've finished for the day. There's no one worthy enough to challenge me. I'm the best Dragon Master in the world."
Lance glared. "Correction. You're the second best dragon master in the world, or have you forgotten about your dear old cousin?"
She stuck her tongue out at him. Real mature, Clair. "Fine. Second best. What's put you in such a foul mood anyway?" she snapped, turning her back to him. Lance bit back an angry reply. This was typical Clair behaviour. An argument was what she wanted.
"Where is our grandfather? I need to speak with him."
She glanced over her shoulder, flipping her long ponytail over her left. "Meditating. I wouldn't interrupt him. You know how he gets when someone interrupts his personal time. You can tell me though."
He shook his head. "No, I can't. This is serious business, Clair. This is not a game."
Rolling her eyes, Clair sighed loudly. "You are such a bore these days. Ever since you became Champion you've been acting like you've had a stick up your arse."
"At least one of us takes our responsibilities seriously," he retorted, feeling his own temper flare.
Her eyes flashed with anger. "I do take my role as a gym leader seriously!"
It was too late to stop the argument now. "I've seen you battle, Clair. You taunt your opponents, you claim they are inferior to you… you don't treat your opponents with respect." He stared her down, but Clair didn't even flinch.
Clair kicked the floor spitting at the space before him. "You are the region's greatest hypocrite. You think you are better than everyone else… you should practice what you preach."
"I don't taunt my opponents during the battle unless they deserve it." It was people like that fool with the Chikorita who deserved it. "You'll always be a gym leader… you'll never be a Champion."
"And neither will you, Lance. At least, you'll never be a true Champion. I earned my position as gym leader. Unlike you, dear cousin," she sneered, knowing the latter part of her sentence hit home. "Yeah, that's right. I figured it out. You're always showing-off, and I figured you were trying to cover up something. Red gave you the title." She turned on her heel and stormed towards the exit then stopped in front of a photo frame.
"Clair…" he warned.
She looked over her shoulder as if to make sure he was watching closely, then proceeded to remove the frame off the wall. She let it drop and pretended to be upset. "Sorry, my fingers must have slipped," she said, turning around, to storm out of the shrine.
Lance walked over to the fallen frame, bent down and turned it over. The photo was of his team and himself receiving the Champion title. He was the youngest of the Elite Four – most trainers never reached that level until they were in their mid-twenties, but his team of carefully chosen dragon-type (and draconic looking) Pokemon had earned him a place.
The photo was, of course, a lie. It had been taken a couple of days after Red had given him the title to prove to the world he had secretly defeated Red. It was actually Red's idea – after all, it was the only way to prove he had earned the title. The frame was broken now. There was a crack running down the middle. Shattered. That's what the rest of his life would be if the truth ever came out.
He picked up the broken frame and stood up then hurled it across the room, letting it smash against the far wall. His Dragonite flinched, seemingly confused, but quickly shook it off. His first Dragonite looked at him as if asking what to do next? "We're going back to the Indigo League. From now on, I'm doing things my way."
He wasn't going to take advice from Clair. Nor was he going to listen to his grandfather's warnings no more. No one had the authority to tell him what to do. He was the Champion. And that meant more than just being the top trainer. The region was in trouble and it was his responsibility to solve it, no matter what it took.
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Lyra's current route was an uneventful one in battling terms. There was only one trainer and he specialized in bug-types. His team consisted of three Caterpie's and one Weedle. It was hardly worth the effort, but her Pidgey and Toto were eager to battle. The grass patches weren't offering much excitement either. The sun was still out, and the temperatures were causing Pokemon to seek shelter. Every once and awhile though, she'd come across a Rattata, but she wanted to save her pokeballs for a Pokemon she really wanted as part of her final team.
Eventually, she found something that caught her interest. There was a cave up ahead and a signpost right next to the entrance. She hurried over to the sign and read the bold print. "Dark Cave." She chuckled. "I hope I brought a flashlight." Opening her bag, she searched around for a torch but found nothing. Arceus' breath, she cursed. Toto was looking up at her, looking slightly nervous. "Don't worry, we won't go too far in," she assured Toto.
Toto seemed to relax a little and followed Lyra inside the cave. It was dark. Very dark. She wouldn't have been able to see her own hands if it wasn't for the light coming from the entrance. It would be wise not to stray too far, she thought. Not only was it dark inside, but it was humid and deathly quiet. She felt Toto's stubby arms wrapping around her leg.
With great caution, she walked a few metres north, walking further into the darkness. The further she strayed from the light, the more nervous she felt, so she turned around and quickly came back. Apparently, there were Zubat within these caves. Having a bat-like Pokemon would be useful in dark places, but how could she catch one if she couldn't even see?
There was a flutter of wings. Lyra froze. Toto growled softly. Lyra dared herself to look up then wished she hadn't. There! A Zubat! It was hanging down from below looking directly at her. Or at least she thought it was. She couldn't locate any eyes on the bat. The bat bared its fangs. Lyra screamed.
The bat dropped down from the ceiling and dove towards her, its wings beating the air frantically. She threw herself onto the ground, pressing her belly on the cave floor and stopped moving. If she didn't move, perhaps the bat wouldn't be able to sense her. "Toto," she whispered. "Use Water Gun!"
Toto leapt into action, aiming a burst of water at the bat. The bat avoided the attack, hovered in the air and opened its mouth wide. Lyra frowned, unsure of what was happening. "Use Water Gun again, Toto." This time Toto didn't obey. It looked at her with a blank gaze. "Uh, Toto?" she asked. Toto turned away and walked around in a circle making soft growling noises. Confused, Lyra pulled out her Pokedex and brought up information about Zubat.
Zubat. While flying, it constantly emits ultrasonic waves from its mouth to check its surroundings.
Those invisible waves probably confused predators to allow time for the Zubat to escape, she concluded.
While Toto walked around in circles, Lyra summoned her Pidgey. Pidgey's eyesight was no better than Toto's in this area, but Pidgey was more agile. "Use Tackle!" Pidgey jumped into the air, flapped her wings to gain some altitude and hurled herself at the Zubat. Zubat fell to the cave floor, as Lyra's Pidgey kept it pinned to the ground.
"Use Tackle again!"
Pidgey nodded, jumped off Zubat then charged again. Before Zubat could gain enough height, it was thrown across the floor, this time hard enough to knock it out cold. Lyra heaved a sigh then threw a Pokeball at the poor bat. The ball rocked to the right, left then the right again before it paused. Three seconds… two seconds… one second… success! Zubat had been caught.
"We did it!" Lyra cheered, standing up from the ground. Pidgey flapped her wings then came down to land, ruffling her feathers, looking quite smug. Toto recovered from his confusion status effect, and the young crocodile looked at Lyra apologetically. "It's all right, Toto. It's not your fault." She picked up the pokeball and attached it to her pokebelt.
Pidgey and Toto ceased their celebration dance. They both froze. Noticing their sudden stance, Lyra too froze. She slowly glanced over her shoulder, squinting into the darkness. There was some faint fluttering, followed by a few shrieks before a whole colony of Zubat's emerged from the darkness. No words needed to be said. She made a dash for the entrance. Pidgey and Toto made frightened noises and followed Lyra towards the safety of the sunlight.
She threw herself out of the cave, and landed on the grass outside. Pidgey and Toto landed beside her. "That was too close to comfort, I'm not going back in there again without a light next time," Lyra said, panting, as she rolled over onto her back. She then started to laugh. "But it wasn't a waste. I caught a Zubat." She held her newest companion's pokeball in the air and smiled. She was halfway in finalizing her team. Her next stop was Violet City.
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Slowpoke were dying and the numbers were growing with each passing day. On Monday two had died. On Tuesday, the number had doubled to four deaths. It was now Wednesday and the neighbours had reported there had been at least another three Slowpoke deaths. Bugsy wanted to track down the people responsible for hurting the gentle creatures, but he had to remain at the gym. A gym leader was not allowed to leave on any condition unless specifically asked to by the Champion.
Lance hadn't said a word and so Bugsy remained here in the gym, powerless to do nothing while more Slowpoke were murdered by cruel people. He hadn't caught a glimpse of the culprit, yet the neighbours had claimed they were wearing black clothes with an 'R' letter emblazoned on their jackets. The 'R' could only mean one thing. Team Rocket had returned.
"Bugsy, you have to settle down," Kurt said, trying to calm the bug-type specialist.
"I can't! I feel I need to do something!" he said, pacing back and forth, legs unable to sit still.
"The Champion is probably on his way now to solve the problem."
Bugsy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he wants to solve it himself so he can be the hero while the rest of us standby and do nothing."
Kurt looked at him with impatient eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, I can explore the Slowpoke Well before Lance arrives."
"But what about your back – you said it's been giving your problems. I don't think it would be a smart idea for you to climb down there. It should be me. It should be my responsibility to look after this town and its inhabitants. My bugs can see perfectly fine in dim light and they'll be able to take on anything," Bugsy explained, frowning.
Kurt moved to stand at the door's entrance. "I'm going to head down into the well. I've been looking after the Slowpoke for over three decades now."
Bugsy blocked his path, shaking his head. "You are going to go back home and rest. If you fall down and break your back again, your granddaughter is going to throw a tantrum."
"You cannot leave the gym to embark on this quest."
"Then I'll find somebody else to head on down. The next trainer who passes through can investigate. If they've received the badge from Falkner, they should be strong enough to handle anything down there."
"Bugsy…"
"I'm the gym leader of Azalea Town, Kurt. You're going back home even if I have to take you back there myself." He opened the door and exited the gym, the elderly man following behind him.
.
Violet City was a large place – it was twice the size of New Bark Town, in fact. Unlike her hometown, there were no grass patches here. The ground was covered in beautiful coloured grey tiles, giving the city quite a magnificent grand feeling. There was even a lake nearby with a bridge connecting to a tall three storey tower. She spotted the Pokemon Centre to her right, and in the background, she spotted the gym and the Poke Mart. There was another building behind it and the signpost at the front read, 'Trainers' School'. Interesting.
She walked around the city some more and spotted two other routes. One led to Route 32, and the west path led to Route 36. She wasn't quite sure which path to take yet, but there was no point in thinking about that for the time being. Take on the gym now? Or take on Sprout Tower? Perhaps she ought to explore Route 32 to catch some other Pokemon? If she caught another one now, she could use Sprout Tower to train them.
That sounded like the most reasonable plan, but first a trip to the Pokemon Centre was needed. She went inside and spotted a lady behind the counter who looked very familiar to the one in Cherrygrove. Did all the assistants look the same? Weird. She shook her head, walked up to the counter and handed her Pokemon over to the nurse. A few minutes passed, and she soon had her team back in her possession.
It was time to head to Route 32 to catch her next Pokemon. She walked through the route gate, and exited soon afterwards. There was a path of grass to her immediate right and she ventured into it. She couldn't see any Pokemon in the long grass, but Totodile seemed to have caught the scent of something. Following her trusty little sidekick, she soon came across a cute little blue sheep eating grass.
She pulled out her Pokedex.
Mareep. If static electricity builds in its body, its fleece doubles in volume. Touching it will shock you.
Mareep sounded like a powerful Pokemon to have. An electric-type Pokemon would be useful for tackling any Water-type Pokemon in the future. Besides, it was also adorable. She knew she just had to have it.
"Zubat!"
Zubat popped out of his Pokeball and hovered in the air. Lyra was a little unsure if Zubat could function properly during daylight, but the bat seemed to be doing quite fine. "Use Supersonic!" The bat obliged and emitted his confusion attack. Unfortunately, the sheep avoided the attack, moving away to graze on some other grass. "Use Leech Life!" she declared.
A small tiny seed burst from the bat's mouth, landing on the Mareep's head. The Mareep didn't even flinch. Well, that was useless, thought Lyra. Zubat's other move was Astonish, but that did little damage as well. The Mareep was still ignoring her, finding the grass far more fascinating than some Zubat and its trainer.
"Sorry, Zubat. Maybe next time." She recalled her Zubat then brought out her Pidgey. Flying-types were weak to electrical-types, but she hoped Pidgey's speed would give her the upper hand. "Pidgey, use Tackle!" The little squat Pidgey gained some altitude, then threw her body against the female Mareep. Now the sheep was enraged. Tiny electrical bolts radiated from her fleece.
The Mareep counter-attacked with a tackle of her own, throwing Lyra's Pidgey off balance. Pidgey toppled backwards, but regained its composure and took to the air again. Lyra used Tackle again, managing to land a blow on the sheep's head. A critical hit! Lyra threw a fist into the air cheering loudly, but the battle had not been won yet. "Use Tackle again, Pidgey!"
Pidgey used the same move for a third time causing the Mareep to tremble. The sheep was low on energy. It was the right moment to throw a pokeball. Lyra threw a ball. This was her third one – only two pokeballs remained. White light encased the Mareep. The ball rocked back and forth. Right. Left. Then right again. The suspense was unnerving. Then… Success! Mareep had been caught!
Only two spots remained on her team. Well, technically it was three because she didn't plan on taking Pidgey all the way to the end. Only one flying-type was needed and that spot was taken by Zubat. Time to head back to the Pokemon Centre then it was time to take on the Sprout Tower challenge.
.
Entering the tower was like walking into a graveyard. It was awfully quiet, somewhat chilling yet oddly relaxing. Eerie music played, and Lyra wondered where the sound was coming from. She saw no speakers, but suspected there were speakers hiding up in the corners somewhere. At least it was nice and cool inside which was a pleasant change from the heat outside. She spotted an elderly man wearing robes nearby and walked over to introduce herself. "I'm Lyra, and I'm ready to take on the Sprout Tower challenge!"
The man nodded. "Fight your way through the tower and you'll earn a prize at the end. Good luck to you. Climb the tower to begin," he said, pointing to the nearby ladder.
Lyra nodded, placing her hands and feet on the rungs. She started to climb upwards until she finally reached the first level. A sage, who looked identical to the one at the entrance, awaited her. She found a name badge. Sage Nico. "I will test you and your Pokemon."
He summoned his Pokemon – a Bellsprout. What a strange looking plant, Lyra thought. She allowed Toto to take the first battle, but regretted that immediately when Bellsprout used a Razor Leaf. Toto yelped, and squeezed his eyes shut, wincing from the pain. Lyra cursed herself for her moment of stupidity. Water-types were weak against grass-types. She withdrew Toto and summoned Zubat instead. Zubat was still incredibly weak, but she was going to persevere with him. "Use Astonish!"
The Bellsprout winced, but didn't seem that affected by it. It countered with Razor Leaf which little damage. This was going to be a long battle, Lyra thought. "Keep using Astonish, Zubat!" The cycle repeated until the Bellsprout fainted. Two more Bellsprout were summoned. This repeated until the other two fainted. Zubat returned to his pokeball, and Lyra advanced to the next sage named Sage Chow.
Sage Chow, like Sage Nico, used Bellsprout. Three Bellsprout to be precise. Again, she used Astonish until all three were defeated. Zubat became stronger with each battle and Lyra hoped Zubat was close to being able to learn another move. Sage Edmond was next. He too had three Bellsprout. Lyra was beginning to get sick of battling the strange-looking plants. So far she had fought and defeated nine of the blasted Pokemon.
She suspected there were more to come which made sense considering the building was called Sprout Tower. On the second level she was pleased to note there were was only one sage. Sage Jin, a trainer with only one Bellsprout, thank Arceus. This battle was tougher, and she knew it was because the Bellsprout had received better training. Its attacks hit harder, but not enough for her to be concerned. Zubat once again triumphed. Now onto the third and final level. Being the third and final level, there was less navigating to do. The path was straight and guarded by two sages. Sage Neal and Sage Troy. More Bellsprouts.
Sage Neal had one. This battle reminded her of the battle with Sage Jin as this Bellsprout was equally as strong as the previous one. Zubat battled hard and gained Lyra another victory, but the bat was beginning to tire now after all these continuous battles. She brought out her Pidgey as she faced off against Sage Troy. Once again she battled a Bellsprout. Surely, this had to be the last one, she thought.
The Bellsprout fainted. Sage Troy summoned his next one, and Lyra was glad to see it wasn't another Bellsprout. The Pokemon was an owl. A one legged owl to be precise, or at least looked like it had one leg. She pulled out her PokeDex.
Hoot Hoot. It always stands on one foot. It changes feet so fast, the movement can rarely be seen.
That explained why it looked like it had one leg. Hoot Hoot hit a little harder than the Bellsprout, but fortunately Pidgey was of equal level. Pidgey fought back starting the battle with Sand Attack to lower the accuracy of its opponent. Temporarily blinded, Hoot Hoot missed its second attack, giving Pidgey the advantage. It wasn't long before the Hoot Hoot fell. "Well done. Now you may face Elder Li."
The sage bowed allowing Lyra to bypass him to face the Elder Sage. The man was easy to spot for he was wearing a fancy purple and yellow robe. Standing in front of him was a red-headed boy… Silver. Lyra almost scowled at the sight. What was he doing here? "I worry about your Pokemon. You do not treat your partners kindly."
"You are too weak! It was hardly worth the effort!" Silver said, sneering. "Give me my prize you foolish old man," he demanded, giving the Elder a hard stare.
The Elder Li sighed and gave the boy what he wanted. Silver snatched the item away and turned around only to find Lyra standing a few feet away. He stormed over, spat at her feet then marched off towards the exit. What in the name of Arceus was that about? She shook her head at Silver's retreating figure and strode over to the Elder Li.
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Thanks for reading!