Previously, Jonathan, Venam and Ren arrived at Route 2 and began their search for Melia. After an incident between Jonathan and a young girl by the name of Nim, the young man had arrived at his destination.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Rejuvenation, it is the property of its creator, SuperJanBro.
Chapter 7:
Amethyst Cave
Jonathan had entered the large cavern and stared in awe at what he saw. The vast cavern was dimly lit by the sunshine coming in from small cracks on the ceiling, the bright light sparkling off of the small puddles of water littering the cavern floor. There was also an abundance of fist sized amethyst gems growing out of the rocky surface, giving the cave it's namesake. At the other side of the entrance, the young man saw Venam and Ren defeating a pair of Team Xen grunts and knocking them out.
"Phew! Now that was a close one." Ren sighed to himself, wiping the sweat off his brow and recalling his Pokémon. The duo then turned to face Jonathan, who was walking up to them.
"Hey, what took so long?" Venam inquired, gazing into the young man's eyes.
"Long story short, this young girl named Nim tricked me into following her, under the guise of stealing my money. I caught up to her, only for her to challenge me to a battle in some weird place where psychic type attacks dealt more damage. I ended up defeating her, and she warped me back to the entrance of the cave." Jonathan recalled in detail. Both Venam and Ren were unsure on how to respond to the story.
"Well…with your fascinating tale aside, we're going to confront Team Xen, and rescue Melia." Ren declared.
"We should split up for the moment. It's highly unlikely that these chumps will launch an ambush on us!" Venam called out with gusto.
"I don't mean to burst your bubble, but these Xen freaks are smarter than your average grunt. For one thing, they did launch an attack on the S.S. Oceana." Jonathan reminded.
"Well yeah…but I'm sure we can take them down without any problems!" Venam smiled, as the trio went their separate ways. After five minutes of exploring the dark cave, Jonathan was spotted by a Team Xen grunt.
"Well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a little kid, sneaking around where he shouldn't be." She sneered, reaching for a Pokéball on her belt.
"This 'little kid' has won a single badge in the Aevium League." Jonathan told her.
"One badge? Don't make me laugh. I have twenty badges!" she bragged, as she threw her Pokéball and sent out her Vulpix.
"In that case, I'll go for Glavinug!" Jonathan retorted sending out his Water/Ice sea slug. The Xen Grunt gazed at the Glavinug before scoffing to herself.
"That Pokémon looks pretty neat. I might take it from you once I win…" she commented. "Vulpix use Ember on that pitiful looking slug!" The Vulpix showered the Glavinug with miniature fireballs in an attempt to inflict a burn on it
"Dodge and retaliate with a Bubble Beam!" Jonathan responded. The Glavinug narrowly dodged the attack with finesse and launched a torrent of bubbles at the Fox Pokémon. The Vulpix cried out in pain as it was sent hurtling towards a wall and was knocked out from the attack.
"20 badges you say? Are you sure you didn't buy them off of some other trainer?" Jonathan jeered, as the grunt recalled her Pokémon and glared at the young man.
"I'll teach you to say such rubbish!" The Xen Grunt growled, retrieving another Pokéball from her belt. "Go, Shadow Vanillite!" she sent out her Pokémon, who materialised from it's Pokéball and growled at the young trainer.
"Oh boy, here we go again…" Jonathan sighed. "Use Reflect, Glavinug!" The Glavinug chirped in confirmation and created a wondrous blue wall of light, in order to weaken physical attacks.
"Not so fast! I'll have Shadow Vanillite use Shadow Shed!" the grunt retorted, as the Shadow Pokémon spewed a dark cloud that engulfed the Reflect and began to erode it gradually. However the Vanillite soon entered Hyper Mode, as the harsh black aura caused the Pokémon to cry out in pain.
"How can you just stand there, while your Pokémon is getting hurt?!" Jonathan demanded an answer.
"Oh, boo hoo! Shadow Pokémon are only useful as tools to defeat weak trainers. If they get killed in the process, then so be it, we can just create another Shadow Pokémon." The grunt sneered, angering the young man.
"You disgusting bastard!" Jonathan growled, as he began to charge up an empty Pokéball in his Snag Machine. "You just lost the right to any mercy. Glavinug, use Ice Beam!"
"Hah! What's your pitiful little Ice Beam going to do to my Shadow Pokémon?!" the grunt scoffed.
"Who said I was attacking the Vanillite?" Jonathan smirked, as his Glavinug fired a beam of freezing cold ice at the grunt. She cried out in shock as her feet and shins were frozen solid to the floor. Jonathan then chucked the Pokéball at the Shadow Vanillite in an attempt to capture it. The ball shook for around five seconds before the light died out, indicating that the capture attempt was successful.
"Y-you can't just waltz up and capture our Shadow Pokémon!" the grunt snapped, as Jonathan casually walked up to the Pokéball and picked it up.
"Give my regards to your boss when they find out about how you cost them a Shadow Pokémon." Jonathan replied, as he recalled his Glavinug and pocketed the Pokéballs before walking off. A few minutes later, he continued walking down the dark cave, when he stumbled upon a fork in the road that split into two different directions.
'Ah great…just what we needed.' The young man thought to himself, less than pleased over the fork in the road. A familiar voice snapped him out of his chain of thought.
"Oi Jonathan, is everything alright?" Ren called out, as he caught up to the young man and began analysing the crossroads.
"Not really. As you can see, I'm in a bit of a predicament here. The bloody path has split into two, and I don't know which direction to check out." Jonathan answered.
"Listen, I have a feeling that Melia took the wrong path by mistake, and now she's being cornered somewhere." Ren informed the young man. "As for the branching paths, you'll take the north—"he began, but was interrupted by the sounds of a Bug-Type Pokémon chittering. The duo turned to face the cave wall, and spotted a Galvantula that was slightly larger than usual. The EleSpider Pokémon turned to face the trainers and gazed at them curiously.
"A Galvantula?!" Ren gasped in shock. "Why the hell is there a Galvantula in Amethyst Cave?"
"And this is a problem how?" Jonathan inquired.
"Galvantula are not native to Amethyst Cave." Ren informed. "Change of plans, you take the south, I'll take the north, Understood?"
"Sure…you go deal with your spiders, while I'll go find Melia." Jonathan retorted, as the two trainers went their separate way again. As Jonathan walked down the dusty path, he hid behind a couple of small rocks and spotted a few Team Xen grunts walking into another area of the cave.
"I hope they haven't zeroed in on Melia…" Jonathan wished, as he soon spotted the shadow of a tall man looming over him. The young man turned around and spotted another Xen grunt glaring at him.
"Well, well. Looks like we got an intruder snooping around where they don't belong." The grunt sneered, retrieving a Pokéball from his belt.
"If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you're getting!" Jonathan declared, as he retrieved a Pokéball from his bag.
"Aron, destroy this weakling!" the grunt called out, as an Aron materialised out of the ball.
"An Aron, eh? In that case, I'll send out my Yatagaryu in order to end this battle quickly." Jonathan sent out his most trusted Pokémon, who materialised onto the field and let out a majestic, yet intimidating cry. The sight of the powerful Pokémon send chills down the grunt's spine.
"A-Aron, use Rock Tomb." The grunt gulped nervously, as the Aron rammed into a large boulder, shattering it and proceeded to hurl the smaller rocks at the Stormbringer Pokémon, whom had an uninterested look on its face.
*sigh* "Use Thunder…" Jonathan sighed at the sight of the Aron's pitiful display. The Yatagaryu took to the air and dodged the incoming rocks, before charging up some electricity and launched a wicked bolt of lightning at the Aron, dealing massive damage and knocking it out in one hit. The Xen grunt staggered back a few feet in fear, as he recalled his Aron and stared wide-eyed at the intimidating Pokémon.
'W-W-What can I do against a monster like that?!' The grunt thought to himself, not realising that his hand had lightly grazed his other Pokéball. 'Ah yes…I think I have the solution to my problem.'
"Well, are you going to hurry up and call out your next Pokémon? Or are you scared of the big bad intruder?" Jonathan jeered, infuriating the grunt.
"Grrrr, I'll make you eat your words. Go, Shadow Bonsly!" the grunt growled, sending out his Shadow Pokémon, whom glared at its enemies and growled. Jonathan gazed at the Bonsly cautiously; Baby Pokémon may be weak until they evolve, but at the same time, it was a Shadow Pokémon he's currently facing. He figured that the best course of action was to charge up a Pokéball in his Snag Machine and capture the Bonsly, since Baby Pokémon are quite easy to catch.
"Shadow Bonsly, use Shadow Rush!" The grunt barked. The Bonsly nodded and cloaked itself in a shadowy aura, before proceeding to charge at Yatagaryu.
"Dodge!" Jonathan called out, as his Yatagaryu dodged the incoming attack with ease. The Bonsly grinded to a halt and stared at it's opponent. However it didn't go into Hyper Mode for some reason, which confused the young man.
"Huh…why didn't it go into Hyper Mode?" Jonathan asked.
"Ha! Since you're a dead man, I guess there's no harm in telling you." The grunt replied. "Whenever a Shadow Pokémon uses a Shadow move, it cause the Pokémon to enter Hyper Mode which causes it a great deal of pain. However for some reason Shadow Rush is the exception to the rule. In fact, research has shown that Shadow Rush gets stronger if the user is in Hyper Mode."
"I see…I have to thank you for your time." Jonathan smiled, hiding a smirk.
"Huh, what do you mean?! You know that you will die here!" the grunt called out.
"You see, I needed a way to stall for time in order to charge up my Pokéball, and your little explanation was just the thing I needed." Jonathan smirked, as he threw the charged up Pokéball at the Shadow Bonsly and captured it. The Pokéball wiggled for a few seconds before the light died down, indicating a successful capture. The Yatagaryu roared at the grunt, causing them to flee in terror.
"Hahaha, good work on frightening that wimpy grunt!" Jonathan praised his Pokémon, recalling it into it's Pokéball before proceeding to retrieve the captured Bonsly and continuing down the dirt path.
15 minutes later
Jonathan had entered a large, spacious cavern that was quite deep into the mountain. All around the room were large steel structures that were covered in electrical spider webs, with plenty of Joltik and Galvantula crawling on the webs, waiting for prey to stumble into the web. The young man then spotted something odd nestled between some rocks; some sort of small red crystal inside a steel box.
"Hmmm, I wonder what this could be…" the young man mused to himself, as he gently grabbed the crystal. A bright light illuminated the room as a warm, soothing feeling coursed through the young man's body. The light died down a few seconds later, with the warm feeling subsiding immediately afterwards.
'Huh…why do I feel so refreshed?" The young man thought to himself. It was as if he and his Pokémon were completely healed as a result of the crystal. The young man shrugged it off and made his way to the other side of the room, where he spotted another Dimensional Rift being created by Zetta.
"Ah, it seems that you finally caught up to me." Zetta commented, his back facing Jonathan. "Though if I have to be honest, you would be the first one out of you three to confront me."
"Enough games! Where's Melia?!" Jonathan demanded.
"You've caused a lot of damage, boy!" Zetta retorted, ignoring the young man's question. "Not only did you destroy my Dimensional Gyarados, you stole my Shadow Duskull from me!"
"If anyone's causing damage around here, it's you!" Another voice called out. Jonathan turned around and saw Venam and Ren running up to the Xen admin.
"Yeah, for once I agree with Ren." Venam added, as the three trainers stood in line and stared down the older man. "We heard about how you and your cronies in Goldenwood Forest were foiled by the combined efforts of Melia and Jonathan."
"Hmph! You lot may run your mouth, but do you know what has happened here?" Zetta scoffed, crossing his arms.
"What are you talking about?" Ren asked.
"It seems that our efforts were in vain. I'm sure you've spotted the spider Pokémon who have made this place their home. While I was searching for Melia, I happened to find this…it's quite disturbing if I say so." Zetta spoke, as he dropped what looked like a blood-soaked bag onto the cavern floor.
"Wha…what is that?" Jonathan asked.
"Glad you asked. This bag happens to belong to Melia. I saw a Galvantula gnawing on it." Zetta replied, as the three young trainers were horrified at what they heard.
"No…NOOOO! This can't be true! Melia couldn't have—"Venam began, before she broke down in tears. "Melia, you can't die here!"
"NO!" Ren snapped, as he punched a rock and grazed his knuckles. "I refuse to believe this is true."
Jonathan was at a complete loss for words. He didn't want to believe what Zetta said, but the proof was irrefutable. The young man was devastated that he lost the chance to get to know Melia better, lost the chance to show her more of his Pokémon, lost the chance to—
"You all think you can just run your mouths at me, as if you have any significance." Zetta scolded the trio. "You're nothing but a bunch of foolhardy trainers who think they can make a difference in this world."
"We-we came to save her…this cannot be right! This can't be…" Venam choked out, before she resumed her sobbing and collapsed to the floor.
"And I came to apprehend her, but you don't see me with her, do you? Do you know what this means for all of us?" Zetta asked, showing little to know care over Melia's fate.
"Who cares about that?!" Ren snapped. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't of chased her down here, then she would be perfectly fine!"
"Why did you want her anyway?! You pushed her to the point of death, just to pursue your selfish goals! Not only did you kidnap my mother, but you took Melia from me, from all of us! I'll make you rue the day that you even crossed my path!" Jonathan declared, taking a Pokéball from his bag.
"I'll never forgive you for this, Zetta! I shall punish you right here, right now!" Venam declared, reaching for a Pokéball from her belt.
"Ha! You two think you can defeat me? I'll be glad to crush you!" Zetta smirked, as he sent out his Croagunk and Sneasel.
"This is one battle we won't lose!" Jonathan and Venam declared, as the two trainers sent out their Harptera and Drapion respectively. The four Pokémon stared each other down, as their trainers were planning out their first moves.
"Alright Drapion, use Brick Break on Sneasel!" Venam called out.
"In that case, I'll have Harptera use Aerial Ace on Croagunk!" Jonathan replied.
"Ha! So predictable, Croagunk, use Fake Out on Harptera! Sneasel, use Agility to dodge!" Zetta retorted. The Harptera darted towards the Croagunk and was about to strike, when the frog Pokémon retaliated by clapping the air and surprising the Dragonfly Pokémon momentarily, before Croagunk used its hand to slap it's opponent and pushed it back a couple of feet. Meanwhile, the Drapion scuttled towards Sneasel and was about to clobber it with its glowing claw. However the Sneasel dodged the attack as a breathtaking speed and proceeded to hop from rock-to-rock, before landing right near its trainer's feet.
"Ahh…I see he's improved. But it's not enough to stop me! Harptera, use Rock Slide!" Jonathan called out, as Harptera began flying towards some stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
"Drapion, wait for Harptera's attack to go through, before picking off any survivors with Aqua Tail!" Venam told it, as Drapion nodded and held it's ground, waiting for it's partner to finish it's attack.
"I won't let you do that! Sneasel, use Fake Out on Harptera!" Zetta ordered. The Sneasel began to run towards the wall and dug it's claws into the rocky surface, before proceeding to climb the wall at high speeds. The two Pokémon began racing each other to their destination. Eventually, the Harptera reached the stalactites and began chipping at them with it's tail. The Sneasel had reached the top and pulled it's claws out from the wall and jumped towards the Dragonfly Pokémon. However, the Harptera had successfully destroyed the stalactite bases which caused them to smack the Sneasel and send it hurtling towards the ground, as both it and the Croagunk were pelted by the fallen rocks. The Croagunk had wiped the dust away from it's eyes, before it was smacked by Drapion's tail, which was covered in a watery aura. The frog Pokémon cried out in pain as it was sent hurtling towards the cave wall. When the dust died down, it showed that both Sneasel and Croagunk were knocked out by the combo-attack.
"Hell yeah! Now that's what I call teamwork!" Venam cheered, as she hi-fived Jonathan. "Now are you ready to give up Zetta."
"Hngh! It's not over yet." Zetta growled, recalling his fainted Pokémon and unclipping two more balls from his jacket. "But it's time for you upstarts to be dealt with for good!" he sent out his next two Pokémon, which were a Quilladin and an Absol.
"Ha! They don't look so tough!" Jonathan scoffed. "Guess I'll put them out of their misery quickly, Harptera, use X-Scissor on Absol!"
"Drapion, use Poison Jab on Quilladin!" Venam added. The Harptera flew at blinding speeds, it's tail glowing harshly as it slashed the enemy Absol, causing it to cry in pain as it was sent flying into a wall. Meanwhile, the Drapion scuttled towards Quilladin, it's pincer coated in a highly toxic fluid. The Drapion proceeded to jab the Quilladin with it's pincer, causing the Quilladin to cry out in pain, as the venom invaded entered the Pokémon's body. A minute later, the Quilladin collapsed to the ground and fainted, it's body succumbing to the venom.
"Argh! Quilladin, Absol! Get up now!" Zetta ordered.
"It's too late. Your Pokémon cannot continue battling." Venam told him. "I suggest you give up and turn yourself in."
Zetta stared blankly at his opponents, before recalling his defeated Pokémon and looked down at his feet, before beginning to chuckle madly. His laughter grew louder by the second, which unnerved the victorious trainers.
"Ahh, you're taking your loss better than anticipated…" Jonathan said, as he and Venam recalled their respective Pokémon.
"You may have defeated me, but I've still got my friend behind me!" Zetta pointed at the Dimensional Rift, an insane grin on his face. "Now absorb this three pitiful trainers!"
The Dimensional Rift began glowing harshly and proceeded to create a powerful wind that lifted up Venam, Ren and Jonathan and began to suck the trio up.
"Not again!" Jonathan cried out, as he disappeared into the Rifts gaping maw, with Venam and Ren following suit.
The Dimensional Rift
Jonathan groaned to himself, getting up off the floor and shaking the dust out of his hair. He can't believe that he was back in the same accursed place again, never mind that it was just after his first trip to the hellish dimension. This time it took on the appearance of Amethyst Cave, with blood red crystals on the walls, and the same red fog as before. He then saw his friends waking up and managing to get up off the floor.
"Ugh…where are we?" Venam asked, brushing the dirt off her skirt.
"We're in hell for all we know. This place is the Dimensional Rift that Zetta sicced on us." Jonathan answered. "I should know, I've been here before."
"Really?!" Ren exclaimed. "Was it when you and Melia were at Goldenwood Forest?"
"Yep." Jonathan replied. "However it was a lot different. That time, the dimension looked eerily similar to Goldenwood Forest. Here, it looks like Amethyst Cave."
"Do you think the change in area has to do with where the rift was created?" Venam pondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Ren answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's find a way out of here." The trio proceeded to explore the twisted dimension for a few minutes, before Venam spotted something odd.
"Hey look at that!" She called to the two men, as they locked eyes on what looked like a Joltik. However it's body was a dark grey, instead of it's usual yellow. It's eyes were also a dark purple, as opposed to their usual sky blue. "I wonder what's wrong with it…" Venam pondered, reaching out to touch it. Just when her fingertips grazed it's fur, the small spider disappeared.
"AH!" Venam cried out in shock, jumping back a few feet.
"Did you kill the thing Venam?!" Ren asked.
"I just touched the thing and it disappeared!" Venam replied quickly.
"Look, we can talk about this later. Right now we need to get moving." Jonathan halted the discussion, before all three trainers proceeded to continue down the dusty path. Around five minutes later, the trio arrived at a large room that looked identical to the room where they confronted Zetta. What they found rather strange was that there was a decent sized patch of grass at the back of the room underneath a fairly short cliff, with a couple of trees growing from both sides of the grass patch.
"What the hell is something like this doing in a cave?" Venam asked, as the three trainers studied the plant life before them. However they were soon interrupted by a loud chittering coming from behind them. They turned around and saw a massive horde of the grey-furred Joltik glaring at them.
"Yay, we're cornered…" Jonathan said sarcastically.
"Look on the plus side, things can't get worse from here." Ren commented. Immediate after he said that, the ground quivered and quaked as the sounds of large footsteps echoed throughout the cave. The trio turned around and spotted an absolutely massive Galvantula, coloured exactly the same as it's offspring, making it's way to the trainers and looked down on them from the clifftop.
"Uhh…my bad." Ren said sheepishly, as Venam and Jonathan glared at the young man.
"Don't ever say that things couldn't get worse. Things will always find a way." Jonathan scolded Ren.
"Ok, I am not going near that freaky thing!" Venam pointed at the Galvantula. "You've dealt with things like this before Jonathan, you go deal with it."
"Yeah, me and Venam will deal with the Joltik." Ren added, as Jonathan sighed to himself before climbing up the cliff to battle the Galvantula.
"Alright then, guess I'll deal with this Dimensional monster." Jonathan said, as he unclipped a Pokéball from his belt and sent out his Drilgann. Venam and Ren unclipped a Pokéball each and threw them, calling out their Seviper and Frogadier respectively.
"Now Drilgann, use Crunch on that overgrown pest!" Jonathan called out, as the mole Pokémon barrelled towards its foe and sunk it's fangs into the Galvantula's leg, causing it to shriek in pain. The Galvantula then amplified its shrieks to create an especially potent Bug Buzz, causing Drilgann to let go and wince in pain, as it covered it's ears to block out the noise. The Galvantula then upped the stakes by using Signal Beam, landing a direct hit on Drilgann and sent it flying back a few feet, knocking it out.
"Oh man, that hit harder than I expected…" Jonathan commented, recalling his Drilgann and reaching for another Pokéball. "Time to take the stage Vilucard!" the Villainous Pokémon materialised from it's Pokéball and began chuckling to itself, before it began staring at the towering Galvantula.
"I know it's massive, but you can take it out!" Jonathan supported his Pokémon. "Blind that thing with Sludge Bomb!"
The Vilucard leapt into the air and launched a barrage of noxious balls of sludge at the Galvantula's face, covering it's eyes with the sludge. The Galvantula shrieked as it attempted to rub the sludge off it's face, by rubbing itself against one of the large trees.
"Now's our chance, use Zen Headbutt!" Jonathan called out, as Vilucard's head was coated in a harsh blue before it ran towards the large spider and headbutted it's abdomen, causing it to cry out in surprise and fall down the cliff. The young man and his trusted companion hopped down the cliff and sighed in relief as he saw Venam and Ren defeating the Joltik with ease. However the Galvantula got back up on it's feet and charged up a powerful Electro Ball, before throwing it towards Vilucard.
"Oh no! Dodge—" Jonathan began, however it was too late as Vilucard was struck by the powerful attack and was sent hurtling towards the cliff, before crashing into it and was subsequently knocked out. "And we were so close to winning…" Jonathan muttered sadly, recalling his Pokémon, before he glared at the Galvantula.
"It wasn't enough that you took Melia from me and my friends, but to knock out two of my trusted friends?! I shall show you no mercy!" Jonathan growled at this foe. "Go, Frosthra! Send this thing into the next dimension!" the young man sent out his next Pokémon, as a large moth materialised from the ball and took to the skies. It was an extraordinarily beautiful Pokémon with amber-coloured wings, a pitch black body that was covered in a soft but thick fur, six legs that were also covered in the black fur, as well as amber coloured eyes and a pair of amber horns that rested above the eyes and curved downwards. Both Ren and Venam gazed at the creature in awe.
"Wow…it's so beautiful." Venam gushed.
"It looks quite powerful as well." Ren added. "Thank goodness I'm not facing that thing."
"Spot on you two." Jonathan replied. "Allow me to demonstrate its immense power to you. Frosthra, use Blizzard!" The large moth began flapping it's wings quickly, generating a powerful snowstorm that struck the Galvantula, causing it to cry out in pain, as it's entire body was slowing getting frozen. After a minute the EleSpider Pokémon was completely encapsulated in ice, with Jonathan gesturing Frosthra to cease the attack, before thanking it and recalling it into its Pokéball. He turned around and saw that Venam and Ren had finished battling the Joltik.
"Phew…talk about a serious workout." Venam commented, as she and Ren recalled their Pokémon. The three trainers then gazed at the frozen Galvantula, wondering if the battle was over. However they would receive the surprise of a lifetime when the ice began to crack, and the Galvantula escaped from its icy prison.
"It's not dead yet?!" Jonathan exclaimed in shock. "How could it survive that?" He reached for a Pokéball, only for Ren to stop him in his tracks.
"Look." Ren told Jonathan, as they saw what was happening. The Galvantula began to walk slowly towards the trainers, before collapsing onto the ground, exhausted from battling. It was clear to them that it could not continue fighting.
"Galvantula, I understand your anger. However, it's time to rest. Once and for all." A feminine voice spoke softly. It was one that Jonathan recognised; specifically the same voice that ordered the Gothitelle to teleport Professor Jenner. The Galvantula gazed at the empty space up on the cliff, as if to thank the mysterious lady, before it's body disappeared and it's spirit moving on from this world. The room was deathly silent, just like it was before the battle.
"So…I guess we did it." Venam broke the silence. "So now what do we do?" Her question was answered when the room began shaking violently, as the realm faded to black.
Amethyst Cave.
The three trainers had arrived back to where they were before the whole ordeal regarding the Dimensional Rift began.
"Hey Zetta, your Dimensional Pokémon were no match for us!" Jonathan declared, as the Xen Admin turned around and was surprised at what he saw.
"No! How could you escape?!" Zetta growled.
"Hah, that was so easy dude. Is that all you got?" Venam taunted. "Seems that you're all out of cards. But we've still got some up our sleeves."
"You think you're so crafty? Well I may have lost this time, but next time—"Zetta began, before he was interrupted by the feminine voice from before
"As if they'll be a next time. Don't make me laugh at your pitiful jokes." She snarked, as she and her Gothitelle appeared out of thin air and stared down Zetta. She was quite the pretty girl, with wavy long black hair and bright green eyes. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt and a long, billowing, black skirt, with both articles of clothing decorated with various white ribbons, making her outfit resemble that of a Gothitelle. Quite fitting for her, if Jonathan said so.
"Who the hell are you?!' Zetta demanded.
"The name of this beautiful doll that has graced your disgusting presence?" She replied, a hint of contempt for the Xen Admin. "I believe the name Crescent shall suffice."
"Hah! Another fool who opposes Team Xen. I shall gladly crush you alongside these meddling kids." Zetta smirked, as Crescent turned to gaze at the three young trainers momentarily, before turning to face Zetta again and sighed.
"I believe it's time for an uneducated baboon like yourself to be caged up." Crescent told Zetta. "I grow tired of seeing you flop around as if you were worth anything."
"No! Get away from me!" Zetta demanded, as his arms were held back by Crescent and her Gothitelle, before the trio teleported away from the large cave. The three trainers were at a loss of speech as to what they just saw.
"It looks like we won the battle…but at what cost?" Ren broke the silence, as the atmosphere took a solemn turn.
"Damn him! Damn him! DAMN THAT WRETCHED GUY!" Venam shouted at the top of her lungs. "Melia was my best friend…and now she's gone…" she began sniffling, as Jonathan began to gently pat her shoulder.
"I feel your pain. I may not have known her for as long as you have, but I consider her a close friend as well." Jonathan empathised with her. Venam turned to face the young man, a small smile on her face as she lifted his hand off of her.
"Thanks dude…you're pretty cool." Venam replied, wiping her tears away. "I'm going back to Gearen to let Amaria know about what happened to Melia. Later guys." She proceeded to walk back towards the entrance.
"I'm going to pursue Crescent to get some answers." Ren stated, before he turned to Jonathan. "The next Gym is in Sheridan Village. I suggest you train in here for a bit before challenging the gym." He informed the young man, before he followed Venam out of the cave. Jonathan was on his own, as he stared at Melia's bag for a while before walking up to it. The bag was completely empty, with the exception of two Pokéballs and what appeared to be a key card. He analysed the Pokéballs and discovered that they contain the two Shadow Pokémon he had caught at Goldenwood Forest.
"Oh Melia…why did you have to go so soon?" Jonathan muttered to himself, as he crouched down and closed the bag before picking it up. Though his brain strongly believed that Melia had passed on, his heart refused to yield and believed that somewhere, somehow, Melia had escaped and is being held somewhere. If she is alive out there, than it is Jonathan's duty to return her bag with her, and continue liberating the Shadow Pokémon from Team Xen's clutches. Then, maybe then, can Jonathan finally come clean with his feelings. The young man sighed to himself, before proceeding to exit the cave.
Done. Sorry for the late update, but I was tasked with archiving several pages from a website I used to frequent. I'd gotten most of it done, but there's still a few bits left.
In regard to Jonathan's Frosthra, the reason it isn't the usual blue/white is because it's a shiny Frosthra. It's a little nod to my Pokémon Uranium save file where I was lucky enough to catch a shiny Colarva and trained it up. The Frosthra will be Jonathan's ONLY Shiny Pokémon, since I don't want him to become a Gary Stu. The next chapter will be a little shorter, as it will focus on a couple of the side quests in Gearen, mainly the first Hidden Library quest.
