POKEMON HEART SOUL ADVENTURES
Hello, everyone! As you can see, I'm back in business, and after spending a little time with Max and May in Hoenn, now we get back to following Ash and his friends in Sevii Islands! And while we're here, we'll end up seeing how Paul and his Torterra fared against that Drapion in Mt. Silver... and what surprise fate has in store for our favourite (?) purple-haired jerk. Again, I apologize for the long break, and I trust I'll be able to whip out Chapter 23 in less time, possibly even halfway next week!
For now, enjoy this chapter, and if you can, tell me how I did!
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Chapter 22 - Mooring at Boon
Onboard a ship headed to Boon Isand, the second of the seven islands of the Sevii archipelago, a familiar group of trainers was busy musing about what they would find at their next stop... or, in the case of the two girls in the team, they were sitting on a bench, in the front part of the ship, and were chatting between them as Boon Island's sea port was getting closer and closer. From their position, Misty and Dawn could clearly see the buildings of the coastal city, and a large golden beach upon which, despite the fact that the sun was already setting, some umbrellas and swimmers could still be seen. But this wasn't what the two were discussing, as Misty had wanted to ask Dawn about that Togekiss she had seen during the battle against Moltres and J's flying machine...
"Say, Dawn... I'd like to ask you something, if it's no problem with you." Misty started, as her eyes idly wandered to the beach.
Dawn turned to her slightly. "Hm? Okay, Misty, tell me... what is it?"
The redhead sighed, feeling a pang of sadness as she remembered the Pokemon she had been a mother to. "That Pokemon you sent against J's flying machine... what was she called... oh, right, Togekiss! Could you tell me something about her? Where did you find her? How did you capture her?"
A little surprised by the question, Dawn hesitated for a short moment before answering. "Well... I got that Pokemon towards the end of my initiation journey..." she answered, rubbing her chin. "It was one day, when I met a girl about my age and looking almost exactly like me, one Princess Salvia... she wanted to spend one day like an everyday person, and take part in a coordinator competition along with her Togekiss. So, when we met by pure accident, we decided to... swap identities for a day, so that she could take part in a competition. For my part, I had to put up with all that high-class etiquette and stuff... ugh, really not my thing!"
The girls giggled a little, interrupting the conversation for a second before Dawn went on. "Still, it was worth it at the end. Salvia won the competition, and then she let me have her Togekiss, who allowed me to win several rounds at the Grand Festival! So... yeah, Togekiss is a part of my team and my family now!"
"I see..." Misty said as she smiled melanchonically. "You know, Dawn, I asked you that because I used to have a Togepi once... Togekiss' first pre-evolved form... I found him when he was still just an egg, towards the end of our journey through Kanto... and I looked after him for a long time, but in the end, I had to set him free when he evolved into a Togetic... it was... quite a sad moment for me, as you can imagine... and seeing a Pokemon so similar to my Togepi after all this time, well, it brought back a lot of memories for me!"
Dawn looked surprised, than a little downcast. "Oh... I see... I'm sorry, Misty, I didn't know you had a Togepi once, and... sorry, didn't want to bring up sad memories." she said, feeling a little guilty.
Still, Misty immediately reassured her. "No, no... it was not your fault at all!" the Water Pokemon expert quickly said. "It's just that seeing that Pokemon, at that moment... but don't worry, you had no way of knowing! Rather the contrary, I was glad to see your Togekiss, she's a magnificent Pokemon!"
"You really think so?" Dawn beamed, her eyes wide with joy. "Well... what can I say... thanks, I'm really glad you do! It's one of the Pokemon I'm the proudest of! And... I hope I can train her better, for the next competitions I'll take part in!"
"If that's the case, we can take our time, now that we're visiting Boon Island, to train a little, right?" Misty answered with a wink, her spunk back in full force. As Dawn nodded, the two girls noticed Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Gary walked to them, just as the ship began boarding the coastline and approaching the port.
"Hey, girls! Are my ears playing tricks on me, or did I just hear you speak about training?" Ash asked, his ever-present smile on his face.
"Oh, there you are, guys!" Misty said, turning to the guys. "Dawn and I were just wondering where you had gone... Anyway, yes, Dawn would like to train her Pokemon for the next contests, especially her Togekiss. And I would like to shake some cobwebs off of myself, it's been a while since I last trained seriously..."
As if he felt himself being called, Psyduck spontaneously popped out of his Pokeball and appeared in front of Misty and Dawn, his head swaying for side to side, and his eyes staring vacantly! "Psy-ay-ayyy..." he quacked, turning to his trainer as if begging her to let him do some practice as well...
Misty sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Ugh... as if I could ever forget about you..." she caustically answered. "Okay, okay, just don't give me an headache as well... I'll have you train a little after we get there, you happy with that?"
"Psy?" the psychic duck quacked, unsure about it all...
"You're surprisingly permissive towards Psyduck as of late, Misty..." Brock noted with a small smile, as he looked nostalgically at the weird duck Pokemon. After all, Psyduck, too, was a part of the times they had spent together... "Can I ask you why, Misty? You convinced yourself that he has the potential to be a great Pokemon, right?"
"More like, since I can't win or even draw with this stupid duck, I might as well just give up now and let him train like he wants, right?" Misty answered with another annoyed sigh. "Anyway, what about you, guys? I guess you'll be spending our stay in this island to get your own Pokemon some training..."
"Exactly." Gary answered, playing with a Pokeball. "We're especially curious about this Move Tutor Phoebe told us about. She told us our Pokemon could learn some pretty strong moves from her. And so... here we are! Ash and I will speak to this Move Tutor about giving our Pokemon a little of her special training, while Brock here wants to ask her about his new Pokemon and that move Gible can use. Now that I think of it, my Blastoise has not been fighting for a while... guess it's time to have him back on top, huh?"
"Hehehee... me, I'd like to see which of our Pokemon will be stronger after we train them here! Your Blastoise... or one of my own starters!" Ash mused, having yet not chosen which of his starter Pokemon would get the special training. "Wouldn't be a bad idea to challenge each other... just like the good old times, huh?"
Gary smiled cockily. "It will be a pleasure Ashy-boy... of course, you already know that I will be the winner, right?" he answered, not resisting the temptation of restoking their old rivalry just a little. The two childhood friends looked at each other with determination, and red flames burst from the background, in an all-too-dramatic fashion!
Misty sighed and turned to an amazed Dawn. "Never mind that, Dawn. When those two get started, there's no stopping them!" she stated, as Psyduck kept staring blankly at the two friendly rivals. The ship was getting closer to Boon Island's port, and their new destination...
oooooooooo
The battle between Paul's Torterra and the wild Drapion had been going on for a while, and it seemed to be reaching its conclusion: both Pokemon were still facing each other, clearly tired but still full of fighting spirit... and while he was not showing that, Paul was quite impressed with Drapion's performance and by his tenacity: rarely he had seen a Pokrmon being able to put his starter on the ropes, and that meant Drapion was a worth Pokemon to have in his team! Still, he needed to see the end of the battle...
Drapion took a pair of quick breaths and, in a last-ditch attempt to bring down Paul's Torterra, he dashed at him, raising his razor-sharp claws... and then bringing them down in a vicious Cross Poison attack! However, Torterra was able to minimize damage by simply turning around a little, so that Drapion's claws only hit his incredibly hard shell. Then, with a speed that once again seemed impossible for its size, Torterra turned around and headbutted Drapion in his abdomen, cutting off his air supply and knocking him down. The scorpion Pokemon tried to stand up again, but he was rather slow to do so, because of the many hits he had taken, and even if he was rather fatigued himself, Torterra was able to take advantage of that time to make his last move.
"Hmm... I have to admit, that Drapion put up a better fight than I thought." Paul said to himself, smiling grimly. "He's certainly nothing to sneeze at, if he managed to give this much trouble to Torterra... fine, then! Torterra, wrap this up with Earthquake!"
The gigantic tortoise was more than happy to oblige, and after standing on his rear paws for a moment, he quickly dropped down with all of his weight, causing a deafening rumbling noise and causing the ground to shake around him. Drapion was unable to dodge the shockwaves, and was hit and thrown around like a rag doll, before one last blow lifted him up in the air and finally slammed him, exhausted and defenceless, into the dusty ground. The giant scorpion tried to stand up again, holding on to a pair of jutting stones with his claws... but as he saw Paul getting closer, an empty Pokeball in his hands, he managed to smile despite being tired and aching all over. It seemed he had managed to impress the young trainer...
"Not bad at all. Few Pokemon have ever brought my Torterra on the brink of defeat." Paul said. He threw his Pokeball, and Drapion smiled in satisfaction and let himself be absorbed inside, putting up no resistance as the sphere began swaying and eventually stopped. Paul then picked up the Pokeball, nodded in approval, and hung it to his belt, firmly intending to start training him the next day. "You did an okay job as well, Torterra. Enough for today, you can come back."
"TOR!" Torterra nodded as he was recalled. Paul put his strongest Pokemon's sphere back in its place as well and, seeing that dusk had already fallen, it might have been a good idea to end his training session there, for that day, and begin his journey back to the Pokemon Center. He was already on his way... when a slow clapping of hands coming from his side drew his attention, and forced him to stop and look around himself to see who was there.
"Brilliant. Truly brilliant." A smug, condescending voice commented on Paul's performanc. As the annoyed purple-haired young man turned around, he was greeted with the sight of a slight, shaved, somewhat haggard man in his forties, with short brown hair and a barely-visible beard on his face, smiling at him in a manner both affable and disquieting, and wearing a uniform similar to those used by Team Rocket... only, the R emblazoned on the chest was turned around, as though seen in a mirror. "I have to say, you were not half bad, young man. Not everyone can train a Torterra that well, and the Drapion you caught was not a joke, either. You do have the potential to become a great trainer!"
"Who are you?" Paul cut to the chase. "How did you arrive here? You're not an offical trainer, so... how could you even gain access to Mt. Silver?"
The man threw his head back and laughed joyously, amused by the younger man's annoyed tone. "Hahahahaaa! No need to get so defensive, boy, I only came here... to make a proposal to you, for lack of a better term! After all, you're a very skilled trainer, and wasting a talent like yours would be a sin, don't you agree?"
Paul was still unconvinced as he glared at the mysterious man. Whoever he was, he was probably part of one of those organizations popping up like mushrooms lately...
"First off, allow me to introduce myself." the man stated. "My name is Cezar, and I'm an high-standing member of Team Vicious, the new organization that will soon be known and feared throughout the world! And as for my proposal, well... how about you join us?"
Once again, Paul had no visible reaction, excluding frowning in suspicion. He was totally unconvinced about that guy, and Cezar seemed to understand that, as he switched to another topic in order to convince Paul...
"Think about it, you've only got to gain from that! You're one of the best trainers your age in the whole continent of Sinnoh..." the Team Vicious agent went on. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have gotten second place in the Sinnoh Conference, right? Well, then just think how much stronger you'd get if you joined us! First off, you could get your revenge on Ash Ketchum, that impudent little boy who defeated and humiliated you... and who's getting to be a pain in the neck for us too..."
"How do you know so much about Ash Ketchum and me?" Paul harshly asked, never dropping his guard.
Cezar dodged the question with a simple laugh. "Hahahaaa... now, now, why would that be important? I'll just say that Team Vicious has its methods..." he answered. "But still... think about it: don't you think it's a great idea? With your abilities, you'd soon get to be a commander of Team Vicious! Not just that... you'd have the best and the strongest Pokemon to choose from to form an invincible team, and get your revenge on the little brat who defeated you! As the saying goes, you wash our backs, we wash yours! You'd be famous, feared and respected everywhere, and everyone would be in awe of you..."
"I'm not interested." Paul said, without even stopping to reflect upon it.
Cezar was still smiling, but it was a forced smile now. He tilted his head on one side, his affable expression never once faltering. "Hmm? What was that? Did you just say... no?" he asked, as if he could not believe Paul had refused such a deal.
"You heard me. I said I'm not interested." Paul shot back, getting more threatening. "I have no need for your tampering and cheap tricks to defeat Ash Ketchum. I will become the strongest trainer in all Sinnoh, and I will get the title of champion... but I'll do it with my own strength. Shortcuts are for losers."
Again, Cezar did not really seem to mind all that much: he just shrugged and gave a smug smile. "Oh, well, the choice is yours. We gave you a big chance, and you blew it." he answered. "Very well... but remember that actions have consequences. For now, we have to part ways... but rest assured that you've not seen the last of us. And you'll realize the power you foolishly gave up. Xatu!"
The Team Vicious trainer produced a Pokeball and opened it, letting out a condor-like Pokemon about five feet tall, white wings with red and black motives wrapped around his body, and forming a face-like drawing. His head was round, covered with short green feathers, with blank almond-shaped eyes and two longer red feathers on top of his head, and he had a sharp, hooked beak. Paul recognized the creature - it was a Xatu, a Psychic / Flying type Pokemon endemic of Johto.
"Xatu, Tleport us back to home base. And you, Paul... this is all for now." Cezar said, still smiling that calm, self-assured smile of his that was grating on the purple-haired trainer's nerves. "But don't think you can escape Team Vicious, now that you decided to oppose us. Of course, you can always change your minf. It would be a shame to kill someone as skilled as you, no? Hahahaaaa!"
Cezar and his Xatu winked out of sight a second later in a blinding flash of light, before Paul could do anything to stop them, leaving the purple-haired trainer alone on the clearing. Unimpressed with the threat, Paul stood there glaring at the place where Cezar had disappeared, then shrugged and went back on his way.
"Hmph. Whatever those idiots say." he said to himself. "If they're asking for trouble, I'll be ready to greet them."
oooooooooo
"Here we are, girls! Finally back to Snowpoint City!" Maylene happily cheered as, standing above a small snow-covered hilltop, she looked to the horizon. From where she was standing, it was possible to see Snowpoint City's buildings and port, and while the city seemed to be still disorganized from the calamity that had struck it, it was also a lot more active than a few days ago.
Zoey and Candice joined the diminutive martial artist and looked in the same direction, happy to see the place they had startedtheir journey from. "Great! We're here, at last..." Candice said with an hopeful smile. "And thankfully, I can see things seem to be going okay... there haven't been more problems while we were away!"
"The citizens have gotten their act together... and are rebuilding everything!" Zoey noted as she looked to the city. It wasn't that clear from where she was standing, but she could see that the reconstruction work was going on smoothly, and morale seemed high. Despite all that had happened, Snowpoint City seemed active and lively once again. The girls looked at each other in approval and, with Candice taking the lead, they quickened their pace towards their goal. Shortly after, the three trainers had arrived at the outskirts of the snowy town, where they found a cheering crowd of enthusiastic people who were applauding the local heroines... and Zoey's attempts at geting away from the maelstorm of congratulations were doomed to failure!
"They're back! The Gym Leader and her friends are back!"
"You did it, girls!"
"Congratulations! I knew you could do it!"
These and similar joyful exclamations surrounded Zoey and the two Gym Leader as soon as they set foot on the paved road. The crowd had gathered around them, and the three friends were trying to make their way, not without some trouble, between two wings of enthusiastic people - both human and Pokemon.
"Er... thanks... thanks a lot..." a rather embarassed Zoey murmured. She wasn't the kind of person who shied away from popularity, but she thought all those people were overdoing it a little... "We... didn't do anything that great, really! We... just followed those criminals back to their home base... and we chased them away!"
"We don't have to worry about avalaches any more!" Candice went on, as she received hugs and handshakes from her fellow citizens. "The... Gym will reopen starting tomorrow, and I'll be continuing my job as a Gym Leader! I got myself a rather long vacation... and a rather hectic one, at that!"
"Anyway..." the voice of Candice's father was heard, and the crowd parted slightly to allow the man to pass and hug his daughter. "You and your friends have averted a terrible threat to this city's safety... you three ought to be proud of yourselves! I'm sure... that those people who were sadly lost to us can now rest in peace thanks to your heroic act. Congratulation, Candice... you and your friends have really honored your name today!"
Candice smiled and nodded, but she did feel a pang of sadness at the thought that, despite the fact that the menace had been vanquished, some people had lost their lives because of Team Vicious' plans. "Thanks, Daddy... we just did what we had to do. And... sadly, we only won a battle, and those criminals are still lurking somewhere else." she stated. "Their boss escaped, and I'm sure we'll hear about them again soon."
"Seems like they're trying to capture Legendary Pokemon..." Maylene added. "At least, that's what some of them revealed to us that they were trying to capture Regice, the Ice Golem. But we don't know what they plan to do with them. Nothing good, that's for sure..."
"We need to keep an eye out on those guys..." Zoey thought out loud, thinking of her best friend who, at the moment, was in Kanto. She was hoping Dawn, along with Ash and Brock, was doing well enough and had not been entangled in Team Vicious' web. "I'm afraid we only got a smalll taste of what those people can do..."
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The next day, on Boon Island...
As the sun was rising in the clear blue sky, a familiar trio of trainers was already on their way through a dusty road zigzagging through the woods: Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Gary had gotten up early that morning, in order to be able to take their time on their way to the northmost part of the Sevii archipelago, where the Move Tutor they were looking for was living. It was clear that not many people walked on that road, and Ash found himself wondering why - he had expected that someone who could teach Pokemon some very useful moves would be sought after by a lot more people...
"Phew... here we are!" Gary commented, stopping briefly to regain his breath after a rather steep part. "This place is kinda desolate, if you ask me... not very many people must be using this road, huh?"
"That's pretty much what I was thinking..." Ash said, agreeing with his childhood rival and friend. "It's not that bad a place, even if it's a little solitary... and it's not as hot as it is downtown!"
Brock laid his backpack on the ground, thinking that it was time to take a small break. "Okay, guys, I think we can stop for a while." he said, before massaging his own back. "Well, I have to agree with Ash, this place doesn't really look any worse than several other places I've seen during our journey."
Ash shrugged. "Oh, well. Not that I'm really interested about the reason why this place is so desolate... I am more interested in seeing this Move Tutor and get some training! I can't wait!"
"By the way, Ash... since you've been taking your starters, I take it you haven't decided which one of them will get the special training, right?" Brock asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. His friend sighed and rubbed his forehead, being forced to admit that, in fact, he hadn't even thought of that...
"I'm not sure, Brock... I was thinking either Sceptile or Infernape, but I still haven't decided..." he affirmed. "I guess I'll be choosing on the fly, I have no idea right now..."
"Pika pi! Pika pika chu!" Pikachu squeaked all of a sudden, pointing between the trees on the side of the road. The forest was not quite as thick there, and it was possible to catch a glimpse of what lied beyond the woods...
"Hm? What's up, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he reached his best friend. Brock and Gary did the same, and the yellow rodent motioned for them to look in the direction he was pointing to, through an opening in the trees. The three of them did so... and stood there in wonder at the awesome sight that presented itself in front of them: from their position, it was possible to see a good chunk of the coastline where Boon Island's residential areas had been built, with spectacular golden beaches and a graceful little town neatly bisected by a large main road from which several smaller ones departed, in a simple yet functional pattern that connected all parts of the city. Even for that distance, it was possible to see how active the small island was: a busy yet collected come-and-go, as if that place's beauty had somehow calmed its inhabitants... and a striking difference from all the big cities they had been to...
"That's quite a sight..." Brock commented after a few moments of silent awe. "When they say that sometimes we should give ourselves a break and look around ourselves a little, they know what they're saying..."
"Pikachu pi pika ka pika pikachu, pikachu?" Pikachu asked as he winked to his trainer, who just sighed and rolled his eyes with a small smile.
"Yeah...I guess Misty and Dawn are having the time of their lives down there..." Ash affirmed. Truth be told, he was a little envious of the fact that his female friends were on the beach right then, while he and his mle friends were climbing those winding little roads. "Who knows what they're doing right now..."
oooooooooo
Misty, wearing her orange two-piece swimsuit, took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salty sea breeze as she walked along the beach, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on her skin and the hot sand under the soles of her bare feet. It had been so long since she had been to the seaside, and the redhead seemed to be making up for lost time. "Aaaah! I missed the sun, the sea and all the rest!" she commented before turning to Dawn. Both girls were wearing their best swimsuits for the occasion. "Hey, Dawn, you ready? Have you already chosen your Pokemon?"
"Of course I did, Misty!" the blue-haired girl readily answered, her hair already done in a ponytail and wearing a yellow two-piece swimsuit, as she reached her new friend. "And I'm ready whenever you are!"
Misty nodded and motioned for the Sinnoh coordinator to get a little farther away. "Okay then... Dawn, try to leave a little more space between us, and step backwards a little... alright, that's okay! We can start! Misty calls... Psyduck and Starmie!"
The redhead tried to throw her Pokeballs... but in Psyduck's case, she didn't have to do that, as the clumsy psychic duck came out of his Pokeball by himself, as per usual, and plopped in front of his reluctant trainer, just as Starmie materialized a little further away. "Ugh... well, at least the silly duck did come out when I called him..." Misty murmured to herself. "Alright, Dawn, your turn!"
"With pleasure!" Dawn answered. "Buneary, Mamoswine... it's showtime!"
A split second later, the bunny Pokemon and the giganticc boar appeared in front of her, emitting their battle cry, and Dawn winked at them before giving them instructions. "Okay, guys... we'll start doing some training with Misty and her Pokemon... we need to be well trained for the next Grand Festival!"
"Buneary!" Buneary answered, agreeing with her trainer. Mamoswine simply nodded, letting out what sounded like a cross between a boar's grunt and an elephant's trumpeting. Dawn clapped her hands and motioned for Misty to start!
"Perfect! Be warned, Dawn, I'm not going to go easy on you!" Misty warned before giving Starmie the first order. "You start this off, Starmie! Attack with Bubblebeam!"
The giant starfish floated in midair and spun around itself for a second before the gem in the middle of its body began glowing and it shot out a rapid barrage of multicolored bubbles, targeting both Buneary and Mamoswine. However, Dawn seemed to already have a counterattack ready. "Well, looks like I'll really have to be serious about this..." she commented. "Buneary, stop those bubbles with your Ice Beam! And you, Mamoswine... use Ancient Power!"
The brown bunny moved her ears, clasped her hands together and shot a beam of freezing energy that intercepted Starmie's Bubblebeam, turning the colored bubbles into icy spheres that floated in the air for a split second before Mamoswine, after having concentrated for a short time, materialized a great number of pieces of stone all around himself and threw them, with lethal accuracy, towards the frozen bubbles. The blow connected, shattering the ice spheres and sending multicolored debris in all directions...
"Psyyyy..." Psyduck quacked as he concentrated on the icy fragments flying everywhere. He probably was trying to use his psychic powers to take control of those fragments and move them around in the air... but it all ended comically when a large piece of frozen rock struck him on the head! Misty winced in sympathy pain, but the blow managed to worsen Psyduck's headache, and the duck wobbled a little but remained upright. He glared at Dawn's Pokemon and attempted a Confusion attack directly upon them, but Mamoswine managed to stand his ground and remain in his place... whereas the smaller Buneary was lifted from the ground and slammed right between the gigantic boar's eyes! Mamoswine grunted and stepped backwards, but he quickly shook himself out of his daze and glared at Psyduck. As she noticed the gigantic boar's tendencies. She only hoped Psyduck's clumsy attack hadn't annoyed him too annoyed expression, Dawn couldn't help but wince... as the hairy Ice / Ground Pokemon was rather well-known for his hair-trigger berserker much...
Sadly, her worst fears came true all too soon, as Mamoswine threw his head back and bellowed in rage so loudly that the nearby water was rippled and slightly shaken, causing several tourists who were basking in the sun to turn their heads to the impromptu battle! Dawn tried to salvage the situation, speaking gently yet firmly to the mammoth boar. "Stop it, Mamoswine! Keep your hair on! Remember what we both learned..."
But Mamoswine was already dead set on making Psyduck pay: with another roar, he charged towards the psychic duck and struck him with the power of a speeding truck, under the disbelieving eyes of both Misty and Dawn and their Pokemon! A well-placed Headbutt attack sent Psyduck flying for a long distance before he fell into the sea, near a bunch of rocks!
"Psyduck!" a worried Misty exclaimed as she and Starmie ran to the duck Pokemon. Dawn blinked, both stupefied and spooked by the power behind Mamoswine's attack, before recalling Mamoswine in his Pokeball and running after Misty, hoping Psyduck wasn't seriously hurt. Misty and Starmie had reached the duck-like Pokemon, crouching in front of him to check if he was well. "Hey, Psyduck, you okay? Don't be an idiot, and answer me!" she asked, one moment before Psyduck stood up as if nothing had happened, shaking hiss head and massaging it with a weirded-out expression!
"Psy, ay, ay..." he quacked, his head moving left and right to show that he was okay. Misty and Dawn sighed in relief, and the blue-haired girl apologized on behalf of her Pokemon.
"Gee... I'm sorry, Misty, I didn't think Mamoswine would act up like this..." she said. "Mamoswine was always quite... well... disobedient after evolving from a Swinub, but I thought he had gotten past that..."
Misty was quick to reassure her friend from Sinnoh. "No worries, you have nothing to apologize for..." she affirmed. "It seems to me that Mamoswine just got angry because Psyduck had hit him like that... but don't worry, nothing happened... huh? What's that?"
The Water Pokemon specialist had noticed something unusual near a seaweed-crusted rock emerging from the water, and both she and Dawn walked to the place, curious to see what that was. "What's up, Misty? Did you see something weird?" Dawn asked as she followed the redhead in the shallow water. There was clearly something living near that rock, but it was hard to tell what it was from that distance.
Knee-deep in the salty water, taking care not to step on something sharp, Misty, Dawn and their Pokemon reached the strange object Misty had seen: it was a Pokemon resembling a small manta ray, blue in color all over with a pale azure underbelly and large wings. A weird pair of "antennae" jutted out of her head and swayed slowly with the movement of the waves, and a strange pattern, resembling a smiling face, was drawn on her back... but sadly, the Pokemon herself didn't look like she was up to smiling: she seemed to be very fatigues, and her large coffee-black eyes were half-closed, and her gills opened and closed irregularly, trying to extract as much oxygen as possible from the surrounding waters.
Misty and Dawn reached the distressed Pokemon, who looked at them in suspicion... and they immediately recognized it: a Mantyke, a pre-evolved form of Mantine who had only been discovered recently, known for its friendly demeanor, its swimming speed and its ability to fly for brief distances. In fact, both girls knew that it was a Water / Flying type.
"It's a Mantyke!" Misty exclaimed, stepping warily around the manta ray cub in order not to frighten her. Mantyke turned around as well and glared at the two girls, not knowing whether she could trust them or not. Even in her weakened state, she seemed ready to flee or fight as soon as she could confirm that the newcomers were a threat. Luckily, that wasn't the case, and the two girls simply stood at a safe distance, trying to speak to the small Water Pokemon and earn her trust. "Hey... hello, Mantyke! How are you doing? Don't worry, we don't mean to harm you..."
"We saw you here, and you seemed to be in trouble..." Dawn continued. "What's the matter, Mantyke? Can we help you in some way?"
"Psy-ay-ay..." Psyduck quacked. Maybe he wasn't too sure of what was going on, but he still wanted to lend a hand.
The small manta ray Pokemon, understandably, stood back for a few more moments and looked suspiciously at the girls... but, in the situation she was in, she needed to place her trust in Misty, Dawn and their Pokemon, at least as much as they wanted to help her. So, after getting over her natural shyness, the manta ray Pokemon delicately floated towards the Water Pokemon expert and let out a low, vibrant call, similar to a song coming from the depths of the ocean. "Mantyyyyke..."
Misty crouched down in the water, soaking herself almost completely, and scratched the Pokemon on her head. "Don't be afraid... Dawn and I are here to help you!" Misty said sweetly. "Now tell me... what's the problem? How can we help you?"
Mantyke moved one of her wing-like flippers, motioning to the open sea she had come from. She seemed to want the two friends and their Pokemon to follow her there...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: And so begins the part set in Boon Island, where Ash and his friends are trying to get some special training... and might end up getting more than they thought! Next two chapter will respectively follow the guys and the girls as they try to solve the issues they will be faced with. To be exact, Ash will face some trust issues with one of his Pokemon... and Misty and Dawn will have their hands full helping Mantyke!
Much as I hate Paul, I have to give him that much: all the badges he's got, he got them the hard way - he earned them. He's the kind of person who thinks an unfair win doesn't count as a win. Therefore, I couldn't see him accept Team Vicious' offer. Of course, that means he's made an enemy of them...
How will all of this go? Well, this chapter ends here, but the next one will be up as soon as I get around to it! See you soon, and leave me a review if you can!