Pokemon Heart Soul Adventures
Chapter 58 - Pallet Town Under Siege
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Kanto was always known to be one of the most peaceful continents in the world, along with Johto and Alola. There are no particular dangers threatening the safety of civilization, even though Cinnabar Island's inhabitants are wary of the volcano near their cities. Even Team Rocket was rather inactive at the moment, even though many suspected that this only meant they were organizing themselves for something huge. Still, Kanto had little in common with the impervious, wind-swept mountains of Sinnoh, the corrupted, polluted landscape of Reborn, or even worse, the mostly lifeless desolation that is Orre.
Which is why most would have found it ridiculous if they had been told that some dangerous terrorist group was heading towards Pallet Town with the intent of razing it. Who could ever bear a grudge against that peaceful town, after all?
Unfortunately, that was just the case at the moment. A large flying machine was slowly approaching Ash's hometown, carrying several Team Vicious grunts within itself. Leading them was an old acquaintance of Ash's, which the young trainer and his friends had had the dubious pleasure of meeting at the beginning of their journey, and once again at the Sevii Islands.
Damien glared out of the window in satisfaction, towards the landscape running below, with the same haughty and self-assured demeanor of an hawk picking out a prey. Soon, they would have arrived in Pallet Town, and that would be thestart of his revenge. He felt as if all the moments he had spent in Team Vicious brought to this particular moment... and his satisfaction was clearly visible on his face as he turned to a group of his fellow grunts.
"Very well... we'll get to Pallet Town real soon, and I'll finally be abe to even the score with Ash Ketchum!" he gleefully exclaimed. "Hehehee... finally, that fool and his little friends will pay for disrespectng me! And I'm sure you can't wait to get there too, right, my dear Togekiss?
"Kiss, kiss!" a cutting, shrill voice answered, belonging to a female Togekiss that was fluttering behind him, a strangely malicious and evil expression on her face. It wasn't a personal to her as it was to her trainer... she was only out to cause some chaos and mischief at the expense of the peaceful town's residents. And she was grateful to Damien for allowing her this chance... had she remained a Togepi, she would have been quite limited in the pranks she'd be able to pull. Now that she was stronger than she had ever been, she could do everything she wanted, and amuse herself with people's reactions. She was excited at the idea of further proving herself to her trainer.
"Excellent! You'll soon be able to go all out on those wimps!" Damien answered, rubbing his hands in a gesture of glee. "I'm sure the boss and Mr. Kodai will be pleased when I tell them that we have defeated and humiliated Ash Ketchum! As soon as the news spread, Team Vicious will be recognized and feared all over the world."
Togekiss slightly bent her wings and flew in a circle around her trainer, chirping in excitement. Pallet Town was only one hour away... soon, they were going to attack Pallet Town with the cover of darkness, and that would have been Team Vicious' first real step towards the conquest of the world...
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It had been a peaceful night for the group of Sinnoh-born trainers that were spending those days in the quiet countryside village. Dawn felt especially content, now that she and Kenny had managed to come clear with their feelings for each other... and now, she was enjoying a good night's sleep, waiting for the next day to do more training with her Pokemon, and spend some more time with Kenny. It seemed that nothing could possibly go wrong...
Which was why the sudden shaking of the room caught her completely off guard, and she was jolted out of her sleep by a tremendous noise assaulting her eardrums and causing her to almost fall off the mattress! Dawn went from deep sleep to fully awake in a fraction of a second, almost biting her own tongue as she sat up in her bed... and as she tried to make sense of what had happened, she heard panicked screaming coming from outside, accompanied by flashes of light! Piplup, who ws sleeping on a pillow at the foot of the bed, woke up with a start as well and looked around in fear, frantically beating his small wings!
"PIPLUP! PIPLUP!" the penguin-like Pokemon chirped, jumping off his improvised bed and running in his trainer's arms. Dawn quickly hugged her starter and turned to the window, staring at the flashes of light coming from it. She was just as scared as her starter was...
"Piplup! It's okay, I'm sure it's nothing serious!" she tried to reassure her Pokemon, even though she was having a hard time believing her own words. "Now... er... all we need to do is wait for Mom to take a look outside, and..."
"Dawn!" Johanna exclaimed as she burst into her daughter's guest room, looking very apprehensive and worried. Dawn allowed her mom to pick her up and sit her in her wheelchair. "It... it all happened so quickly... All of a sudden, a strange flying machine arrived, and landed near Pallet Town... some strange people wearing gas masks, with a mirrored R drawn on their uniforms, came out of it, and now they're letting their Pokemon loose on the town!"
"What? They had gas masks and a mirrored R...?" Dawn exclaimed in shock, with Piplup widening his eyes in dismay. "Darn... I was hoping not tomeet those people again any time soon! What are they doing here?"
"I'm sure they're here for my Ash..." Delia exclaimed as she entered the room, still wearing her nightgown. "They have no idea that Ash and the others are in Johto right now, and I'm sure they're here to get revenge on them. I'm afraid they won't leave so easily..."
"Pipluuup!" Piplup exclaimed as he turned to Dawn, who took a deep breath to calm down and nodded at him.
"Then... what we must do now is go out there and stop them!" the bluenette exclaimed. "Pretty sure Kenny, Zoey and Gary are out there already... we need to go help them!"
"Dawn, honey, do you think you can handle this?" Johanna asked. "I know you've faced these people before, but you weren't in a wheelchair then!"
"No need to worry, mom! I'm not a porcelain doll..." Dawn confidently answered using her catchphrase. "And Kenny and the others will be out there too. I'm sure we can do this!"
Another loud blast shook the guestroom, and Delia and her Mr. Mime pointed to the stairs going to the ground floor. "Then... we must go down there as quickly as we can! Mimy, I'm afraid we're going to need your help too. Those criminals won't stop at anything!"
"Mr. Mime!" the clown-like Pokemon answered doing a military salute of sorts and twirling his ever-present broom like a rifle, before following the rest of the group downstairs.
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Outside, Pallet Town had fallen into chaos. Roughly awakened in the middle of the night by Team Vicious' sudden assault, the inhabitants of the small town were trying to get to safety and let their Pokemon out to battle, while the Team Vicious grunts were attacking all the buildings they could reach, smashing windows, knocking down doors, and ordering their Pokemon to do as much damage as possible. The once-quiet night was now reverberating with chaos and noise, and the only ones who seemed to be able to put up a fight were Zoey, Gary and Kenny, who had managed to let some of their Pokemon out. They were facing the aggressors in a condition of clear numerical disadvantage - ten Team Vicious grunts and their respective Pokemon were facing them, while the other grunts were busy with random act of vandalism!
"Darn, too many of them..." Kenny commented as he kept close to his Breloom, who had just knocked out a Team Vicious Lairon. The young boy was wearing his PJs and a pair of slippers, just like Gary and Zoey... clearly, they had been woken up in the middle of the night by the sudden strike. "What about Dee-Dee and the others? Do you think they'll be okay?"
"I'm sure they'll pull through." Gary answered as his Nidoking blocked an attack from an enemy Tentacruel. "Rather, we need to concentrate on one at the time and take them down this way, if we want to have a chance... we need to reduce their numbers as fast as possible!"
"Lumineon, use Water Pulse! Now!" Zoey exclaimed Her elegant Water-type Pokemon was swimming in a nearby pond, and as soon as he got the order, he jumped out of the water and fired three ring-shaped blasts of water that struck a Weepinbell who was about to shoot acid at Breloom. The Water Plse struck true, and while it didn't do much damage, it still managed to force the Grass/Poison type back a couple steps and confuse him. Weepinbell swayed from side to side and shot an Acid attack at a Team Vicious Grimer. The muddy Pokemon took the attack without much trouble, but quickly turned to Weepinbell and launched itself at him in indignation, and their trainers looked on in shock while trying to get them to stop fighting.
Zoey smiled slightly in satisfaction as Weepinbell and Grimer began fighting between themselves... but it only lasted for a second, since the enemy continued to harass them from all sides, forcing the young trainers to send out three more Pokemon - Gary's Exeggcutor, Kenny's Empoleon snd Zoey's Leafeon joined the fray and launched themselves at the enemy in an attempt to stop their advancement.
"Empoleon! Attack with Flash Cannon!" Kenny exclaimed as his penguin-like Pokemon was attacked by an angry Stantler. Empoleon nimbly dodged the deer-like Pokemon's Horn Attack, then countered by firing a blast of silver-colored energy that crashed upon Stantler, sending him tumbling to the ground! Stantler shook his head and stood up again, but another attack struck him in the side without warning!
"Aura Sphere!" a girl's voice shouted as a graceful Togekiss flew over the battlefield and shot a fist-sized blast of blue energy that struck Stantler even as the Normal-type Pokemon tried to dodge. With a gasp, Stantler fell to the ground and his eyes turned into swirls, and Togekiss opened her wings and smiled at the trainers trio, while her blue-haired trainer arrived as quickly as her wheelchair allowed her to.
"Here I am, everyone! Togekiss and I tried to get here as quickly as we could!" Dawn exclaimed, still in her nightgown. She wheeled herself near her comrades and caught her breath for a moment, just as Kenny went to check on her and see if she was alright. "We're here now! We're going to help!"
"Thank you, Dee-Dee! But you shouldn't have pushed yourself..." a worried Kenny answered to his girlfriend. "Anyway... we appreciate it! Just be careful, okay? I'll take care of protecting you!"
"Now, now, Kenny! Just because I'm in a wheelchair, doesn't mean I'm helpless!" Dawn protested playfully. "Darn... how did Team Vicious get here, anyway? They were looking for Ash, weren't they?"
"I think so." Zoey answered without missing a beat, while her Leafeon was handling an Ariados. The Grass-type Eevolution was trying to dodge the spider Pokemon's venomous mandibles, and to fight back with an attack that could actually work against the Bug/Poison type. "We're not in a competition, Leafeon! Now's not the time to show off! Just use Aerial Ace!"
"Eon!" the plant-like Pokemon answered. He narrowly dodged the giant spider's venomous bite as its mandibles snapped close a few inches away from his head... then, Leafeon jumped up and dove straight at Ariados, slashing it with the razor-sharp leaves growing on the sides of his body. Ariados screeched in pain and stepped back, but quickly recovered and stood ready for another go.
Dawn nodded, motioning for her Togekiss to come close. "Alright... Togekiss, be careful! This isn't going to be easy..." she told her latest Pokemon, all the while she took another Pokeball, and her Piplup jumped off her lap and stood ready. "Thank you, Piplup... Time to get in the spotlight, Mamoswine!"
The mamooth boar appeared in front of Dawn with a deafening trumpeting sound, and moved to intercept a couple of Dodrios racing towards the Sinnoh trio. The three-headed flightless birds halted in their tracks and tried to back away in front of the frightfully sharp ivory tusks Mamoswine was showing them... but just as one threat was averted, a Flamethrower attack struck Mamoswine in the side, causing him to bellow in pain and surprise, and stagger backwards.
"Mamoswine!" Dawn exclaimed, just a moment before a triumphant, and all too recognizable, laugh echoed around them. A Team Vicious grunt was approaching them, and much to Dawn's surprise, he was joined by a Togekiss himself - only, this particular Togekiss has a mean and mischievous expression on her face, which the bluenette could swear she had already seen somewhere. The grunt removed his helmet, revealing a young face with a cocky expression, framed by long and somewhat wavy blue-violet hair. She immediately recognized him as Damien, Ash's old enemy they had faced on Knot Island.
"Well, well, nice to meet you!" Damien started, nose in the air. "Someone else joined the party, I see. Well, that just means I'll get to have more fun!"
"Oh, look, it's that loser guy from Knot Island." Gary commented in an off-handed way.
"The name's Damien, fool!" the young Team Vicious grunt shouted back, his mood taking a plunge. He calmed down just as quickly and glared at Kenny and Zoey, who were eyeing him suspiciously. "Hehehee... what a nice group... one is a pug-nosed brat... and the redhead, I don't know if it's a boy or a girl!"
Zoey ignored the stupid insult. "And who are you? Looks like Dawn and Gary know you already." she stated. Her Glameow was standing close to her, charging a Thunderbolt attack on the tip of his spring-shaped tail.
"Heh. You could say that. I met your little friends and the rest of the gang in Knot Island, in the Sevii Archipelago, and I got humiliated! But now, I have thisnew Togekiss with me, and there's nobody who can stop me! So, where's Ash Ketchum? I am here to take my revenge on that arrogant fool!" Damien answered.
"Arrogant? Pot, meet the kettle." Kenny murmured. "Ash is not here, anyway, and we're not telling you where he is! So why don't you and your thugs leave?"
Damien's triumphant expression vanished. "What? What are you babbling about, brat? You're trying to tell me... that Ash Ketchum is not here?" he asked. "This... this can't be! I... I had gotten ready for the deciding battle in any way I could! And now... now you tell me that Ash is not here?"
"Hey, you only have yourself to blame." Gary shrugged, giving their opponent a mocking smirk. "What, you thought my best rival had nothing better to do than sit here, waiting for a random guy? Not too fast on the uptake, are ya?"
"Hmph... that coward! He's running away from me, I just know! Well, no matter..." Damien muttered darkly, a nasty grin playing on his face again. "Looks like I'll have to take my revenge in another way. I'd love to see his face when he comes back and sees that his hometown has been wrecked, and his friends are in our hands!"
"Aside from the fact that I have no idea why you have this grudge against Ash..." Zoey answered with a frown. "I find this to be despicable. You can't get to Ash directly, so you are attacking the people close to him to vent your rage, right?"
Damien shrugged. "Hey, whatever works. I would prefer facing him directly, but if I can hurt him by going after his pals, I don't mind!"
"Well, you're going through me first!" an incensed Dawn answered, wheeling herself in front of the team. Piplup took his place at the side of the weakened Mamoswine, and chirped out a challenge. "Ash was both a friend and a teacher to me, and his friends are just as important to me! I'm not gonna let you hurt them for your petty revenge!"
"Dawn..." Kenny said in awe, before smiling and nodding in assent. That was something he had always liked in her - whenever she got a passion for something, she wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop her. Zoey and her Leafeon nodded in approval as well... while Damien, after taking a good look at the blue-haired little girl staring at him with confidence despite being in a wheelchair with both her legs in plaster casts, threw his head back and let out a loud, cocky laugh, which briefly drowned out the chaos of the battle.
"HAHAHAHAAA! Well, this is rich! The Sinnoh brat tries to act tough!" Damien chortled, his Togekiss joining him in a mocking laugh. "Say, what happened to you to be sitting there like a cripple? Would you like your arms to match?"
"Kiss, kiss!" the cruel Togekiss chirped.
Dawn and Piplup were about to answer to that... when Zoey and her Leafeon stood in front of her, affixing Damien with such a rage-filled glare, that the bully immediately shut up and stepped back in a moment of fear!
"You just TRY laying a hand on Dawn, and I'll break your fingers one by one!" Zoey practically growled.
"And when she's done, I start!" Kenny intervened. "So you'd better back away while you still can, blowhard!"
"Thanks, guys..." Dawn murmured. She knew her friends would have done anything for her, but to actually see them put their money where their mouth was, was a whole other thing entirely! Still, the blue-haired girl had no intention of sitting aside and letting others do her part, so she recalled the weakened Mamoswine, and wheeled herself forward a little bit. Piplup quickly got in a fight pose near his trainer. "Thank you for your help... but please, let me help. I can't just let you do everything for me, so... Piplup, Togekiss and I will fight as well!"
"Alright, Dee-Dee! Well said, we'll handle these guys together!" Kenny said with a proud smile. Dawn winked at her boyfriend as her Togekiss landed near her and bent down to allow Piplup to mount on her back, then took to the air once again and got ready to face her counterpart on Damien's team.
"Hehehee..." Damien chuckled nastily, even though he was feeling quite a bit less confident now. "So... you really think you can threaten me like that and get away with it? Bring it on, I ain't afraid of ya! Marowak! Hypno! Cradily! They're all yours!"
The young Team Vicious grunt threw three more Pokeballs and let three Pokemon out - an Hypno like the one Ash and his friends had seen in the Sevii Islands, the evolved form of a Cubone... and right after that, a strange fossil Pokemon looking like some sort of plant with a rocky hide, its head similar to a monstrous flower with several whiplike pseudopods for petals surrounding a large, cavernous mouth.
"A Cradily, huh?" Gary immediately recognized the creature. "It is a prehistoric Grass / Rock type Pokemon, and it's said to possess some pretty formidable defenses. Be careful, guys."
"It's okay, Gary! We're not going to be caught off guard by this thing!" Kenny answered as he recalled his Breloom and let out a good substitute. "Okay... it's your turn, Floatzel!"
As Zoey's Leafeon and Gary's Nidoking stood ready to face their enemies, a Pokemon that looked like a large orange otter wearing a lifejacket appeared in front of Cradily and hopped around for a brief moment, before taking a fighting stance.
"Heh, so you've come prepared! But don't get cocky, it won't do you any good!" Damien stated. "Come on, guys! To each his opponent! Togekiss, we'll take care of the crippled girl and her own Togekiss! I want to see the face she makes when we grind her silly Pokemon into the dirt!"
A wicked grin further deformed the evil Togekiss' already unlikeable face. "Togekiss, kiss!" she cackled as she spread her short wings. Dawn's own Togekiss rose up in the air, and Piplup stood up on her back, ready to face what was surely going to be a rough battle!
"Piplup!" the penguin-like Pokemon chirped, as a way to let his trainer know that he was going to give this his best shot...
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"Darn... that kid is always doing whatever he wants!" a Team Vicious grunt grumbled as he and some of his colleagues watched the battle. "We're left here to fend for ourselves, and he stands there wasting time!"
"Meh, what can I say, let it go." another grunt, whose Donphan was smashing through a fence with its Rollout attack, replied. "Meanwhile, we get to show these country idiots what Team Vicious is made of! C'mon, Donphan, keep this up! Smash that fence to pieces!"
The Ground-type elephant trumpeted threateningly and, after curling into a ball yet again, barreled towards the wooden fence at high speed, in an attempt to crush it with its brute strength...
But only a couple inches away from its target, Donphan came to a sudden halt, as if it had been caught by a gigantic, invisible hand! Soon after, it was engulfed in a shining blue aura, and the Ground-type Pokemon was violently thrown back, and bounced on the floor a couple times before landing on the ground in a daze! The other grunt and his Pokemon, a Swellow, turned in that direction with a surprised gasp... and just then, a swift Glameow jumped Swellow and struck with a powerful Slash attack that caused the gigantic swallow to screech in pain! From the garden that was being attacked came a rather angry-looking Mr. Mime, keeping a hand raised in front of himself and wreathed in the same blue aura that had appeared around Donphan.
"Are you surprised? My Mimy knows a couple tricks as well. And that was his Confusion attack." Delia Ketchum explained calmly as she stepped out of her garden. Johanna was right at her side, who recalled her Glameow and scratched him behind an ear as he ruffled on her leg. "I can't say I am as good a trainer as my son, or my friend Johanna here... but if you think I am helpless, I'm afraid you have another thing coming."
"What?" the grunt with the Donphan exclaimed in shock. "What... what do you want with us? This is a matter that only concerns Team Vicious, so keep out of this!"
Johanna shook her head. "I'm afraid that's where you are wrong. You see... this is the town where many of my daughter's friends live. So, this concerns me as well. If you gentlemen have anything to say, I'll be glad to hear you out." she answered, while her Glameow unsheathed his claws.
"Glad to hear that, Johanna." Delia answered as Mimy nodded in agreement. "As for what concerns me, I'll make it easy on you troublemakers. This is my hometown, and I'm not letting you do whatever you want with it. What about it, Mimy? Shall we give these people a demonstration?"
"Mr. Mime!" Mimy answered as he prepared to unleash another Psychic-type attack upon the invaders of Pallet Town.
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"Togekiss, use Air Slash!" Damien and Dawn exclaimed almost in unison. Their respective Togekisses executed a mid-air turn and launched themselves at each other, their wings leaving shining trails of energy in the air as they passed by each other! Piplup held tightly to Togekiss' back and fired a Bubblebeam attack at his opponent, but Damien's Togekiss was quick to turn around and dodge the blast. Then, she quickly went around, swept down towards Dawn's Togekiss and struck her in the side with an Air Slash attack! Dawn's Togekiss cried out in pain and lost some altitude, but she was able to right herself and keep Piplup from falling. Then, she grit her teeth and countered with her own Air Slash attack, scoring a powerful blow on her evil counterpart.
"Alright, Togekiss, now use Aura Sphere! And you, Piplup... prepare an Ice Beam!" Dawn exclaimed, feeling relieved as her Togekiss resisted the powerful blow.
"Hah! Is this all your silly Pokemon can do, brat?" Damien taunted. "Togekiss, show her what you can really do! Use Flamethrower!"
Dawn's Togekiss fired a sphere of shining blue energy at the enemy Togekiss, who smirked nastily and countered by breathing out a huge trail of fire that intercepted the Aura Sphere. The two attacks detonated on impact, creating a spectacular contrast in midair... and Piplup shielded his eyes with one of his wings, took aim... and fired an Ice Beam from his beak, which hit the Aura Sphere and turned it into a pulsating sphere of freezing energy! The Flamethrower attack began to dwindle, as Dawn's Togekiss flew out of range from her opponent's attack. Damien's Togekiss frowned furiously, but she was unable to change her Flamethrower's direction, and she could only follow her opponent with her eyes, as the combination of Aura Sphere and Ice Beam continued to slowly but surely gain ground...
"Now, Togekiss! Use Extrasensory!" Dawn exclaimed. With an half-smirk, her Togekiss turned around and frowned, then shot out a powerful wave of psychic energy that quickly advanced towards her opponent...
Or at least, that's what Dawn wanted her opponent to think, and it worked like a charm!
Too late, Damien realizes that the Extrasensory attack wasn't targeting his Togekiss, but the Aura Sphere that was directed against her! The energy sphere seemed to flicker for a moment... then, much to Damien and his Togekiss' shock, it overpowered the Flamethrower attack, allowing the combination of Aura Sphere and Ice Beam to continue on its path and strike the evil Togekiss in the side! The mischievous Pokemon screeched and lost altitude, almost but not quite dropping to earth.
"What?" a flabbergasted Damien exclaimed. "What's the... meaning of this? What have you done to my Togekiss, you brat?"
"Nothing special... I just thought I might as well use my own Pokemon's attacks in a more creative way." Dawn answered with a wink. "I can see you only care about hitting as hard as you can... but winning a Pokemon battle is not just about hitting hard! To be a trainer means to know your own Pokemon, trust them, care about them, create bonds with them and know when and where let them shine under the spotlight! Of course, I guess that means little to someone who wants to be strong without putting in hard work, like you do!"
"Piplup, pip!" Piplup chirped happily, his wings crossed on his chest. He then winked to Togekiss, who smiled back and flapped her wings. Damien's Togekiss shook off the thin crust of ice that was left on her body, and took flight against, eager for revenge!
"Those... accursed brats!" Damien snarled, and then looked around to try and see how his other Pokemon were doing. To his great disappontment, he saw that they were having an hard time as well, especially Cradily - Floatzel was giving it a lot more trouble than he expected! Although the fossil Pokemon's Grass type gave it an apparent advantage, Floatzel was so fast that Cradily was couldn't get a good shot on him. "Cradily! Stop wasting time and shoot that guy with an Energy Ball!"
"Use Agility, Floatzel! Don't let yourself get hit!" Kenny answered. The already speedy otter-like Pokemon dashed forward with such rapidity that he seemed to simply teleport a short distance, getting out of the way of a glowing ball of green energy that Cradily had shot out of its cavernous mouth. Before the sluggish fossil plant could get on the defensive, Floatzel got close in a mad dash, and Kenny gave the order his Pokemon was waiting for. "Alright! And now... use Ice Fang!"
"Float!" the otter-like Pokemon answered. His fangs began glowing in freezing white-blue light, and he clamped them down on his opponent's body. The prehistoric plant screeched angrily as a layer of ice began forming on its body... and in a moment, Cradily was frozen solid, encased in a large block of ice, while Floatzel stepped back in order to admire his work.
Even Hypno and Marowar weren't doing very well. The Psychic-type pokemon had managed to hit Gary's Nidoking with a Psychic attack, and had inflicted a serious blow on the bulky Poison/Ground type... but Hypno had quickly been blindsided by Zoey's Leafeon, who had sneaked in from the side and struck with surprising speed and power.
"Leafeon, hit with X-Scissors now!" the redheaded coordinator ordered. The Grass-type Eevolution swept down and delivered a double strike with his forelegs which struck the hypnotic Pokemon and staggered him, causing him to step backwards for quite a few steps. Marowar tried to use a Bonemerang attack, throwing his trademark bone club like a boomerang of sorts, but Gary's Nidoking was able to defend himself pretty effectively by blocking the hit with his muscular arms, then countered with a terrific Mega Punch that stunned Marowak for a few moments.
"You know, for someone who was so self-assured, you certainly aren't doing a great job of putting your money where your mouth is." Gary said mockingly, causing Damien to turn livid with rage! Even his Togekiss was losing her cool - Dawn's Pokemon were stronger than they thought, and the blue-haired girl's strategies were surprising...
But that did give a nasty idea to the cruel Pokemon. Grinning wickedly, Damien's Togekiss rose up in the air, getting out of her opponents' range... and after doing a mid-air acrobacy, she swept down, launching herself at her enemies at high speed, while Dawn's Togekiss and Piplup stood waiting, ready to strike as soon as their opponent was in range; the evil Togekiss approached a little more, seemingly about to hit the two Pokemon directly... but at the last moment, she swayed to the side, leaving them stupefied for a moment... before they realized, much to their horror, that they weren't Togekiss' target in the first place!
"PIIIIIP!" the cute penguin Pokemon exclaimed. His opponent was now charging at Dawn herself, who could do nothing but watch helplessly as the evil Pokemon approached! Stuck on her wheelchair as she was, Dawn had no chance to dodge the blow, and could do nothing but pale and widen her eyes as Damien's Togekiss occupied her whole visual field...
"DAWN, NO!" she was able to hear the voices of Kenny, Zoey and Gary calling to her...
...
...
*CRAAAAASH!*
Dawn screamed and shut her eyes as soon as a deafening crash overwhelmed her ears, throwing her for a loop! For some reason, she did not feel pain... only a stunning sensation that left her immobilized for a second... and only when she heard Zoey's voice calling her once again did she realize that nothing had happened to her.
"Dawn! Togekiss and Piplup, right in front of you!" her best friend warned her. With a mixture of hesitation and surprise, the blue-haired girl cracked an eye open... and saw her own Togekiss and her Piplup standing only three feet in front of her, still trying to repel Damien's Togekiss! Both Togekisses were surrounded in a shining blue aura, an obvious warning for an Aura Sphere attack... and Piplup, standing inside his own energy bubble, was firing the most powerful BubbleBeam he could muster, adding it to his comrade's own attack in an attempt to overpower their opponent. It was a pitched battle, with neither side willing to give any ground!
"What the heck...?" Damien exclaimed. "Don't fall back, Togekiss! You're stronger than those fools! What are you waiting for? Wipe them out! Crush them!"
"Togekiss, Piplup, give this all you've got!" Dawn cheered as she took out her pon-pons from who-knows-where and began shaking them like she used to do in her cheering routines! "I know you can do it, guys!"
"Still... I think we should help out as well!" Kenny stated. "Floatzel, help Dee-Dee with an Aqua Jet attack!"
The agile sea otter fired a water spray that struck Damien's Togekiss in the face, doing little damage but disturbing her concentration... which cost her a precious instant and the battle itself! Dawn's Togekiss acted quickly and blew the enemy away by expanding her own Aura Sphere with a single movement... then, Piplup concentrated as well and unleashed a powerful Surf attack! A crushing wave of water came out of his beak and roared towards Damien's Togekiss, engulfing her and pushing her away enough that Dawn's Togekiss was able to organize a counterattack.
"Thank you, Kenny!" Dawn exclaimed happily, she and her childhood friend turned boyfriend exchanging a thumbs-up. "And now... let's wrap this up, Togekiss! Hit her with an Hyper Beam!"
"Kiss!" Dawn's Togekiss exclaimed. A brilliant red and white aura flashed around her elegant body for a few moments... and then exploded into a devastating energy beam that lit up the night and struck the glaring Togekiss head-on! A deafening explosion shook the ground for several seconds, causing several Pallet Town citizens to scream out in fear... and a moment later, Damien's Togekiss fell and crashed to the ground in a dead faint, her trainer looking on in horror and disbelief!
"No... no... " Damien stammered his eyes darting between his swirly-eyes Togekiss, and the triumphant Dawn, Piplup and Togekiss. "Impossible... How could I lose like that?"
"But you did. Live with it." Zoey answered back. The young Team Vicious grunt lifted his glance, only to find himself face to face with a rightfully angry Zoey, who was more than willing to pay Damien back for what he was trying to do to Dawn. "So, here we are, face to face. What are you going to do about it?"
"Ugh... curses..." Damien muttered as he recalled his Togekiss. Now, all of his Pokemon were lying on the ground in defeat as well. "How... how did you do that, you brats? How dare you mock me? I am stronger than you... It was not supposed to end like this!"
Gary sighed and shook his head, finding Damien's tantrum ridiculous. "But you did lose. That's just how it is." he said. "Once again, you thought you could just defeat us with brute force, and you got proven wrong! And now... I'd suggest you hightail it out of here, y'know? You tried to hurt Dawn, who is Kenny's girlfriend and Zoey's best friend. I don't think they have taken kindly to that."
Damien's glance shifted from side to side... and he saw Dawn, Piplup, Togekiss, Kenny, Floatzel, Breloom, Zoey, Leafeon and Lumineon all angrily glaring at him! His arrogance quickly turned into fear, and the Team Vicious grunt stepped back with a strangled gasp before quickly turning around and making a break for it, getting away from Pallet Town as fast as his legs could carry him!
"Hey! That scoundrel is trying to get away!" Kenny exclaimed.
"Leave that spineless coward go. I don't think he'll be back anytime soon." Zoey answered, her eyes still affixed on the fleeing Damien. "It would be better to take care of the remaining Team Vicious guys."
"I don't think it will be necessary, Zoey. Look there!" Dawn noted, pointing to the main square. The Team Vicious grunts accompanying Damien had been demoralized by their leader's defeat, and were recalling their Pokemon before fleeing Pallet Town in disarray. "I think Team Vicious is fleeing! We have won the day!"
"Pip... piplup!" Piplup chirped, tired but proud of his victory.
"You and your Pokemon were splendid, Dee-Dee! Congratulations!" Kenny commented as he reached his girlfriend. "You really showed that cocky jerk what you're made of!"
"You did great too, guys!" Dawn answered after hugging Piplup and Togekiss in joy. "Especially you, Kenny... you were awesome! It could have ended pretty badly if it hadn't been for you!"
Kenny blushed and rubbed the back of his head, while his Breloom chuckled in amusement. "Er... well... heheheheeee... what can I say, Dee-Dee... it was the least I could do, really! And I'm glad I was able to do it, too!"
Dawn surprised Kenny by leaning in and kissing Kenny on the cheek... and after a moment, the young boy turned redder than his hair, and a couple of steam jets came whistling out of his ears as he stood there in an expression of stunned happiness! Zoey, Gary and their Pokemon all gave a short, jovial laugh at the sight...
"Piplup, pip!" Piplup commented, while Togekiss smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Hey, Dawn... I think Kenny has just achieved incandescence!" Zoey stated with an hearty laugh!
oooooooooo
A Donphan and a Swellow fell to the ground in defeat as Mimy and Johanna's Glameow managed, not without serious difficulty, to score the deciding blows... and the Team Vicious grunts could do nothing but stare at their defeated Pokemon in disbelief!
"What? How... how can this be? How can these two be so strong?" one of the grunts exclaimed in shock before recalling his Swellow.
"My, my... a little weak, aren't we?" Delia answered, shaking her head. "You can't even defeat me after all... Thank you, Mimy! When it comes to taking out the trash, you're number one!"
"Mime!" the goofy-looking but powerful Psychic-type answered, his hands on his sides and a proud tilt to his head.
"As for me... well, I just happen to have been a pretty good coordinator, back in my day." Johanna answered, petting her Glameow. "Now, I'd advise you get out of here while you still can. A few Officer Jennies will be here soon, and they will not go easy on you."
"Curses... we just had to let ourselves be dragged here by that bratty idiot!" the second grunt exclaimed. "To heck with this. I'm outta here!"
"Me too! Sucks to be that kid, but I'm not going to cover forhim any more!" the other grunt answered, recalling his own Pokemon before making a break for it. Delia and Johanna stood there, looking at the retreating grunts before exchanging a knowing, congratulating glance.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Berlitz! I can really see those are the moves of an high-ranking coordinator!" Delia said.
The blue-haired woman shrugged modestly. "Thank you, Mrs. Ketchum, but... really, I believe I've done my time." she said. "Rather, I should compliment you. I had no idea you were so skilled at handling Pokemon."
"Well... I'm not, really. It's just that, well, Ash's dad was a pretty good Pokemon trainer, and I learned a thing or two from him." Delia answered, a bit melanchonically. "But let's see how the kids are doing... seems to me, they're handling themselves pretty well."
Glameow nodded as he glanced at the masked grunts fleeing fromPallet Town...
oooooooooo
The wave of panic that had shaken Pallet Townhad come and gone... and as soon as Team Vicious had fled, the populace had begun cheering and applauding for the young trainers that had chased the assailant away, especially Dawn! Kenny was proudly pushing her wheelchair, playfully parading her and her Piplup and Togekiss around the small town's main square.
"Well, I... I just did what everyone would have done in my place, really!" Dawn stated, as Togekiss lowered her wings in a gesture of embarassment and modesty, and Piplup enjoyed the spotlight.
"You really did great out there, Dee-Dee! I'm happy for you!" Kenny exclaimed. He hesitated a little, scratching his cheek with one finger for a moment before he went on. "I was... a little surprised, too! You... really impressed me back there!"
"Kenny's right, Dawn. You were amazing back there!" Zoey answered. She then stopped for a moment, turning to Kenny and staring at him seriously. The young boy stopped in his tracks, looking at the older girl in slight confusion. "By the way, Kenny..."
"Z-Zoey?" the young boy stammered a little. "Is... is anything the matter?"
A few more seconds passed... before Zoey smiled, nodded and patted Kenny on the shoulder. "You get my approval, Kenny! I'm sure you and Dawn will do great together!" she stated at last, smiling a both of them. "Just... make sure not to break her heart, okay? Or else, you will answer to me! Alright?"
Kenny smiled and nodded in a mixture of relief and assent. "No need to worry about that, Zoey... I would never break Dawn's heart, you can count on that!"
"Hey, you're stealing my catchphrase now!" Dawn jokingly protested.
"Good, good. I'm glad everything is cleared up!" Zoey answered, before stifling a yawn. "Still... yaaaawn... I think we'd better get back to bed now. All this adrenaline has tired us all out..."
"I agree. We'll still have a long day ahead of us..." Gary answered. His Nidoking stretched lazily and rotated his right arm. It had been quite the exciting night... but now, the worst was over, and Pallet Town was safe once again.
Once again, things had resolved for the better...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...