Mantis
"Ok, take one more deep breath… That's it, good! Now let it out." Jet had his hand on Spark's belly, "Any discomfort?" The little Pikachu shook his head. Jet asked, "You wouldn't be lying to me would you?" Spark put one ear in the air and gave Jet a questioning look.
"I can't have you do any strenuous training if it causes you bodily harm. Now be honest, have you had any problems breathing or moving? Any issues with your electricity at all?"
Spark shook his head and said, "Pi pi, chaaa."
"Mhm." Jet said as though he understood the little electric mouse's cooing. Jet ran his finger over a scar on Spark's abdomen and scowled, "It's all Team Rocket and that god damn organization." Jet stood up and began to pace his room while Spark watched curiously from Jet's bed.
"Because of them, people are dead. Pokémon are dead. The cops are asking me all kinds of questions, like I'm involved. They hurt you, Spark." Jet looked down at his Pokémon with a pained look on his face, "They almost took you from me. And Thorn, and Hydra, they almost took everything from me. And for what?" Jet sat down in a chair, "A fucking pay day? Murderer's and thieves. Slave owners and abusers. That's all they are, Spark. They need to be stopped."
Jet put his face in his hands. Spark hopped on his shoulder and placed a caring paw on his head. Jet grabbed the hand and said, "We're going back to the field, back to training. I don't want you to over exert yourself, you understand?"
Spark nodded and Jet sighed. He stood up and flopped down on his bed. He had just had his mom send Spark back to him over the computer. It was a stressful ordeal to convince her over the phone, as both parents were thoroughly convinced that Jet should just come back home. Jet argued that if they didn't send Spark over, then he'd come home and get him his self before leaving again. Fortunately, after a lot of shouting and crying, Jet's parent's decided he was safer with his Pikachu. This decision was partially due to the fact that the little guy got into an argument with the family Growlithe a few days prior. After the argument turned violent, Spark had easily defeated the family guardian, and this was after the former was injured.
Jet now had five Pokémon on him. He decided that he wouldn't have to train Hydra, Thorn, or Spark that much as they were already strong enough to take on most trainers. His Kadabra and Geodude, however, were different stories. Jet asked around and learned that there was a field east of town that a lot of locals trained at. He decided to go there for a while to train his two underdogs.
Jet had no idea who was going to be his sixth Pokémon to take on Lt Surge, but he was leaning towards either his Pidgeotto or his Weepinbell. Either way he would wait to train a sixth Pokémon until after he caught Neo and Boulder up to standard.
After giving Spark a quick physical, Jet packed all of his bags and checked out of his room at the Pokémon Center. He got on his bike with his gear in tow, and headed east to train for his rematch with Lt Surge. It was time get serious; I'm not losing to that douchebag again!
An hour after leaving the Pokémon Center, Jet stopped to fill up his bike at a gas station just outside of town. "Hi, How may I help you today?" said the cute cashier. "Hey, let me get fifteen on number two, this Gatorade, and these combos. Oh, and a couple of Slim Jim's!"
"Going on a camping trip or something?" the cashier asked noticing Jet's backpack.
"Yeah," Jet said, "Something like that. You know anything about this area?"
"Well yeah," said the cashier, "I kind of live out here."
"Then do you know where I can find a body of water to set up camp by? Somewhere where maybe wild Pokémon go to drink from often?"
The girl looked at Jet's belt and said, "Oh, you're a trainer! Umm, yeah, I know a place like that. If you go straight down this road over here," she pointed to the one Jet had already been driving on, "And go left when you see a big red barn, then there is a huge pond about a half mile out that they don't let kids hang around because of all the Pokémon in the area. If you're a trainer then you shouldn't have a problem."
And so Jet headed out following the cashier's directions until he ended up at what was either a very large pond, or a very small lake. Deciding it best not to park his bike too close to the rode, Jet went around to the other side of the pond to park and camp out by some trees.
This place is perfect! The water is just big enough for Hydra to fit, there are enough tree's to practice maneuverability, and there's tall grass nearby! I don't think this area has any berry tries though, so I'll have to be careful to ration the ones I do have accordingly. Holy shit!
While riding around the pond, Jet spotted a rather rare bug Pokémon fly down from the tree's and bend down to take a drink up ahead. This Pokémon stood at four-eleven, (AN: is it weird that I didn't even need to look up its height online? God I'm a nerd!), head a green exoskeleton, and had two scythe-like blades on its arms. This Pokémon was aptly named Scyther.
Jet stopped his bike immediately and turned off the engine. He could not risk this Pokémon flying off. He reached to his belt and pulled out Spark's Pokeball, "Let's see how much you recovered! Go Spark, use Thundershock!"
Jet sent forth his Pikachu. Before the electric mouse could strike, however, the wild Scyther sensed a nearby foe and jumped the attack with amazing speed. Once in the air, the bug Pokémon surrounded itself with a dark aura as it prepared itself to use Pursuit. Jet quickly said, "Use Double Team, Spark!"
If not for Pikachu's scar, one would not be able to tell he was even injured in the first place as he moved at a tremendous speed. Scyther used Pursuit, but missed and instead hit one of Pikachu's after images. Scyther growled as Pikachu surrounded it with transparent images of himself, and swung its blades and wings in a circular motion.
Silver powder was released from Scyther's body and shot out in a three hundred-sixty degree gust, hitting Pikachu and negating his Double Team. After knocking Spark back with Silver Wind, Scyther shot forward with a Quick Attack. Jet yelled, "Jump and use Thunderbolt!"
Spark jumped the attack at the last second, and sent forth a powerful blast of electricity. But Scyther, who seemed to be getting faster and faster, (AN: She's using Agility.), dodged the attack with apparent ease. It flew at Spark for another attack.
"Use Thunder Wave! Slow it down!"
Spark sent out a weak pulse of electricity at just the right moment before dodging Scyther's blow. The Thunder Wave hit its target and paralyzed the Scyther. Jet said, "Finish it with Thunderbolt!"
Jet's hair stood on end as another powerful jolt of electricity was sent into the atmosphere. This time, the attack hit. This time, Scyther went down. Jet pulled out a Great Ball from his bag and threw it. The wild Scyther was sucked in, rocked feebly a couple of times, and then was captured.
Jet laughed and told Spark, "That is what the fuck I'm talking about! Oh my god you were amazing!" He picked up his Pikachu and threw him into the air, "I missed you, so much! I missed this! The thrill of battle! The euphoria of catching a new Pokémon! Holy shit!"
Jet put down Pikachu and picked up the great ball, "We caught a Scyther! A Scyther! I can't believe it! Wait until Brian hears this one! He always wanted a Scyther!" Pikachu gave a proud, "Pi, pi!"
Jet got out his Pokedex and registered the newly caught Pokémon. She was a female at level twenty-five. She had a wide variety of attacks that included Silver Wind, Bug Buzz, and even Steel Wing. Her speed stat was ungodly, and her attack wasn't anything to be ashamed about either. I'll call you Mantis. Welcome to the team, girl!
Jet looked around and said, "I guess this is as good a place as any to set up camp, what do you think, Spark?"
Spark twitched his ears and went over to the pond to get a drink of water. "Alright, I guess that settles it. Might as well send everyone else out." A few hours later, the camp site was set up and Jet was tending to Mantis' injuries. Hydra was lounging lazily in the pond while the others ate fish.
"You seem to have regained your mobility," Jet informed Scyther, "those paralysis heals work pretty damn fast." Scyther simply growled. Jet got the impression that his new Pokémon didn't like him very much. This was not the first time this has happened, as not all wild Pokémon appreciate being captured. Still, the bond was established, so Jet was in no harm from his newest team member.
"Ok, listen up!" Jet said to his team at large, "Things have been a little chaotic lately, but now it's back to the grind stone! In a couple of weeks we're going to face a difficult opponent, a Gym Leader by the name of Lt Surge. Now, I did some research on this guy, turns out he favor's electric types. I don't want you guys to assume that every Pokémon he sends out will be electric; we don't assume, we prepare for any and everything."
By this point all of Jet's Pokémon were nestled in a circle around him. He turned to his Charmeleon, "Thorn, you will help lead the training, make sure everyone gives one hundred percent." Thorn growled affirmative, and Jet turned to Pikachu, "Spark, you will be doing agility training. I need you at the top of your game. This guy has a Raichu, if need be I'm going to need you to out maneuver it. I know you can do it, you haven't failed me yet." Spark nodded determinately.
Jet turned to Hydra, "We're going to have you do maneuver training as well. These tree's here are tightly spaced, they'll help you with closed quarters fighting. Make me proud, girl." Jet then turned to Geodude, "Boulder, we need to work on your defense and mobility. You are going to be training directly with Spark. And Neo, you have to get accustomed to being a Kadabra rather than an Abra. I also have a few new attacks that I think you should try out."
Jet finally turned to Scyther, "Mantis, the next couple of weeks are probably going to be harder on you than anyone else. I have a lot of new attacks I want to teach you and a lot of strategies I want to go over with you. You will be working directly with Thorn here. He'll help teach you everything you need to know."
And hard it was on Scyther. Jet had her go through some grueling strength training exercises that included running with Jet on her back, having her practice different moves while fighting against the influence of Kadabra's telekinesis, (this was beneficial to both Scyther and Kadabra), and running her through some of Sora's old flying drills.
Although all Scyther can fly, most rarely do. Because of this, their flight abilities are vastly underdeveloped from what they had the potential of doing. Jet decided he wanted his Scyther to be able to fly as well as any bird if the need ever arose, so poor Mantis spent half her days doing aerial drills. Although she didn't have near Sora's skill, the drills helped strengthen her wings. This made her Wing Attack and Silver Wind more powerful.
It was also awkward working on hand to hand combat with Scyther, due to her blades. Jet had to translate all of his punches into slashes and cleaves. Her speed was amazing; she even gave Spark and Thorn a run for their money. Jet wanted to slow her down so they could work more on technique, so he had her wear the binding brace for a while.
It did not take her long to adapt, and soon she moved as though there was no resistance at all. Among her attacks, Bug Bite and Slash were the most powerful. Bug Buzz had some kick behind it as well, but her attack power was much higher than her special attack.
Although she did still have a bit of an attitude problem, she began to trust Jet more as she started to see the results of her training. She soon surpassed all of Jet's other Pokémon in terms of speed. Her swings were so swift, she one time halved a tree in a single blow. It soon became too difficult for anyone to go against her in a hand to hand sparring match; she was just that quick.
Neo was much more powerful as a Kadabra than he was as an Abra. Able to lift an entire tree from its roots with his telekinetic powers. During a battle with a wild Drowzee, Neo took it out in an amazing display of force. Neo also practiced communicating telepathically with Jet. This was a new experience that caused Jet many headaches. However, the ability to silently communicate with a Pokémon in a fight is an invaluable skill that would be sure to give Jet an advantage with Neo during battle.
Geodude's Magnitude had become a force to be reckoned with. Defensively, he was improving on dodging and countering. Jet felt that his team should be ready to face Surge by his deadline, but Jet would have to make some money first. As much as he didn't want to, soon he'd have to go to Faust to earn some money for his Gym Battle.
After ten days of field training, Jet packed his gear and recalled his Pokémon to hit the road. He felt a slight sense of accomplishment muddled in with the need to shower; his weaker Pokémon were showing tremendous progress. After packing, Jet got on his bike and headed for the road back to Vermillion. God I reek! Sometimes baby wipes just don't do the job. I can't wait to shower.
Soon Jet came up to a construction site that was blocking his way. Jet pulled up to one of the workers and asked, "What's going on?"
The worker took a sip of water and said, "Nature kid, that's what. We're supposed to be doing roadwork here because the asphalt got all fucked up. Turns out a family of Diglett nested right under the road and they don't appreciate us working here."
"Diglett?" asked Jet, "There's like a series of tunnels not too far from here that houses thousands of them. They must've migrated."
"Yeah well," said the worker while wiping sweat from his brow, "We can't exactly just tell them to go back to the tunnels, they've been fucking with our equipment all day. We're waiting for some trainers from animal control to come by and catch the little fuckers."
Jet laughed, "Good luck with that! Trying to catch a Diglett is like playing whack-a-mole. There any way around this area?"
"Nah," said the worker, "You'll have to wait for animal control to get here. I wouldn't suggest trying to go straight through, cause those little fuckers are vicious!"
"Uh huh," Jet was starting to get annoyed. "How many are there exactly?"
"Hard to say, to tell the truth! I think around six."
Jet put the kick stand on his bike and took the keys out, "Watch this for me."
"Whoa, whoa! You can't just go over there!"
Jet pulled out his license and said, "I'm a Class A trainer, I'll be fine. I'll catch 'em for you. Just wait here and watch my bike." Jet had a plan in mind. He was not going to catch the Diglett for the construction workers, but for himself. Diglett weren't super rare, but they were difficult to catch. If Jet caught a family of Diglett, he would be able to sell them for at least five grand a pop.
Jet walked up to the area that was blocked off by caution tape. A couple of workers tried to stop him, "You can't go through here, it's too dangerous!"
Jet flashed his license and said, "I'm here to solve your Diglett problem." A man who looked to be in charge exhaled in relief, "Thank God, we've been waiting forever for you guys. Go ahead, do your thing."
Jet walked past the tape and sent out his Kadabra. "Neo, around this area there are a group of Diglett underground, can you sense them?" There was an uncomfortable pressure that was exerted in Jet's mind as he heard Neo's thoughts say, Yes. "Ok, bring them to the surface, we're going to practice that mass hypnosis technique we talked about."
Neo raised his hands in the air as his eyes began to glow. Jet had to break contact with Neo's mind, because the psychic Pokémon was sending too much energy through their mental connection, giving Jet a serious headache. Soon, no less than eight Diglett were pulled from the earth. The tops of their bodies looked like brown, furry capsules; the bottom half was a drill. Jet said, "Ok, boy, put them to sleep!"
Jet had Neo practice a new kind of technique with his telekinesis that constricts the blood flow to the brain, similar to a sleeper hold, to put his foe to sleep. Jet hadn't named the attack, but it was definitely effective as it put all eight Diglett to sleep at once. As soon as they were asleep, Neo dropped them all on the ground. Jet went in his bag and caught them all with eight Pokeballs.
"That's crazy," said one of the construction workers, "We've been fighting these things all week, and you catch them in less than five minutes?"
Jet recalled Neo and smiled, "Yeah, well, I am a professional." He walked back to his bike after registering all of the newly caught Diglett. Jet decided he would put one in storage in case he ever wanted to use it later. The rest, he could sell online and make enough to buy new supplies and pay for his match with Lt Surge. As he started his bike to head out, Jet's mind was on two things; a shower and a payday.
Author's Notes:
Not much happening this chapter, but next one will see a few Pokémon Battles and an evolution of one of Jet's Pokémon. By the way, good job to all of those who suggested Jet catch a Scyther. I was planning on doing that for a while, but my original plan was for him to catch one in the Safari Zone. I brought Scyther out earlier just cause it was requested so often.
Anyways, hope you enjoy the future chapters, and please leave your thoughts on this one!
