OSPREY…SWOOOSH
UO: Hey everyone-(BOOM) What the hell?
Ash: (Ducks behind something) I didn't do it.
Brock and Max are seen flying.
Misty: (Walks in the door and then proceeds to dodge) What's going on?
Anabel: Something over in the Magnolia set-EEP! (Ducks behind Misty)
Drew: (Charges in with the other girls and slams the door) We're good.
UO: What the heck happened?
Drew: I don't know, some red headed girl go into the 2nd Magnolia set and you know how that guild is.
UO: Did she have a scythe, a rifle and shield or a grenade laucher/hammer?
May: Uh…the third one.
UO: God damn it. Start the show before this set gets ruined.
Dawn: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokemon or any references made. He would be rich otherwise and wouldn't writing this wonderful story.
BOOOOM
(Entire set is destroyed)
UO: Start….the…show
Normal: Dialogue
Italics: Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.
CAPS: Attacks
Bold: Yelling and Belt Noises
Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:
Chapter 42: Mountain trip
Chocovine Tow, two days prior to the contest. (DP113 and 114)
When we last left our heroes, they had pushed back a Team Galactic attack on Mt. Coronet. They were lucky to be there as they had found an Aura teacher and went to his training ground after winning in Canalave City. While on Iron Island, Brock found his temple and successfully cleared it and gained access to his final form. Now they were in Chocvine Town in time for the Phione festival and Dawn and May's next pokémon contest.
Misty was the first one up and took some time to observe her bedmates. She was in a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top and her hair was out of its ponytail and partway down her shoulder blades. She was leaning on a pillow with Ash's arm loosely around her. May, Dawn and Anabel were sleeping shoulder to shoulder and were using Ash and Misty's stomach as pillows. Across her stomach was Anabel in her purple pajamas. The empath reached up to scratch something on her nose and Misty leaned down to move some hair off her forehead. The pleased sighs got Misty giggle, she was so cute. Turning to her right she saw May laying between her and Ash in her bra and sleeping shorts. She was curled up like a cat with a big smile on her face. She was hugging Anabel tenderly and the empath snuggled into her chest. Looking over on Ash's stomach, Misty saw Dawn in her pink pajamas, her hair out of her barrettes and had an arm loosely wrapped an arm around May's stomach. Her other arm was around Ash's neck and was snoring cutely.
Misty looked up at the ceiling. How was she this lucky to have a boy, no man to love and three girls willing to share and love him and her as well? By all rights she should be selfish and keep Ash to herself. She was selfish in a way, but she was selfish over the four that she was in bed with.
"Penny for your thoughts Mist?"
Misty turned her head to see Ash smiling at her. She turned back to the girls. "Just observing our girlfriends here. They look like angels don't they?" Misty asked softly.
Ash hummed in agreement and start to pet Dawn's hair which go her to purr. "I still can't believe we have been dating for several months, yet for some reason, despite the fact that our ancestors got together, it was our choice to be with them, not some predetermined plan." Ash said.
A cute yawn focused their attention to May who was stretching out her arms. "Morning Ash, morning Mist. Hope you had pleasant dreams."
May's voice seem to awaken the other girls as they slowly woke up but did not want to leave the warmth they were in.
"Morning guys." Dawn said as she cuddled into May's back. Anabel seemed to want to not get up and snuggled into Misty.
"Ana? Time to wake up honey." The red haired princess said kissing her on the forehead. This got the empath to open her eyes. "I was comfy Misty." She pouted which got Misty to hug her. They laid there in content silence for a few minutes until they heard a knock on the door.
"You guys awake?" Drew's voice called out.
Ash answered. "Yeah, just feeling too comfortable to move right now."
"Alright then."
The group of five sighed, the moment over. Ash kissed the girls and they got up and started their morning routines.
Once dressed the group went out to enjoy the festival, with Misty using it as an excuse to get Ash to go on a date with her.
Walking around the festival, Misty was leaning on Ash's shoulder and enjoying the moment away from the girls. They may share him but it was nice to have some along time with the boy that had their hearts.
They approached the harbor and sat down on a bench gazing out at the ocean.
"Ash?" Misty asked.
"What's up Mist?"
Misty leaned into his chest. "When...we beat these goons that are threatening Sinnoh, what are we going to do? Do we stay here or do we go with Drew back to his world?"
Ash sighed. "I thought we had this conversation, but I don't think we had it with everyone. But I believe we should go with Drew, Tori and Gabby.
Misty snuggled into Ash. "But what about our families. We are essentially going to vanish from their lives. My sisters may annoy me but they are all I have."
Ash looked up. "Somehow, they'll come with us. I don't think Drew or Tsuki would let us be away from our families."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out the Lightning Topaz. Misty reached into her shirt and took out the Water Sapphire. "I suppose in a way when we agreed to take on our roles as guardians…we are asked to sacrifice ourselves for our loved ones. Both our families and those we fight with."
Ash sighed. "Who am I kidding, I'm a momma's boy. I hope they find a way to bring our folks with us."
Misty giggled. "No doubt about that momma's boy comment but she raised you right. I'm proud to call Delia mom." She leaned up to kiss Ash's cheek. "Speaking of family, I saw something a couple of weeks ago when I saw Cynthia's Togekiss."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I figured Togetic being your…our child of sorts you felt a void I guess."
Misty nodded. "Yeah. It's just that when that happened I saw two kids. They were our kids no doubt, because the little boy had your hair and the girl had mine."
Ash smiled and leaned into kiss Misty. "That sounds cute. I hope to see them in the future. But we need to focus on the now. And that is to keep our world and other worlds safe."
Misty sighed contently at that. "Your right." She then caught something floating up to the surface. They looked down to see a pokémon that resembled a small fairy floating up swimming up to it.
Ash pulled out his pokedex. Phione, the Sea Drifter Pokémon. Phione lives in warm oceans. It inflates the flotation sac on its head allowing it to float on the waves and look for food.
"There you are Phione." Dawn's voice called out. The couple turned to see Dawn run up, with their friends struggling with what appeared to be clothes and other shopping necessities.
"Hey Dawn what's going on?" Ash asked.
"Sorry I wanted to take a picture of Phione so I can draw it later." Dawn said. After the Hearthome collection, Dawn realized she had a talent in drawing and started to draw all sorts of pictures and had enlisted Gabby to help take pictures for future projects. A quick snapshot and Dawn was beaming. "I think I got a good picture here.
"That's great and all Dawn, BUT WHY THE HECK DO WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF!" Max yelled and collapsed along with everyone else.
This got the couple to laugh and watch the Phione swim away.
Two days later (DP114)
Dawn was practicing with her Pachirisu and his Discharge attack. Off to the side Ash was practicing his own electric move and was observing Pachirisu.
"Man Pachirisu has done a great job since you started teaching him Pikachu." Ash said to his buddy. He watched as Dawn went to give Pachirisu one of her poffins when her newly evolved Mamoswine rushed after her and sent her flying. Ash quickly ran and caught the falling coordinator. Fighting down her blush she turned angrily to the large pokémon. "Mamoswine, you are infuriating."
Meanwhile, Pachirsu spotted a Poffin that wasn't eaten. He scurried over to eat it but was stepped on by a large lizard. It looked like a smaller form of Garchomp.
"Gabite, there you are." A peach-haired girl said.
Pachirisu though looked fighting mad. Dawn came over and started to try to calm down the squirrel. This only resulted in her getting sent to the ground. He then jumped up and its teeth glowed signifying a new move was being taught. The dragon bounced the electric type back and Dawn caught her.
"Pachirisu what are you doing?" Dawn asked. This only led to Pachirisu shocking Dawn and causing her hair to go into a frizzy mess.
The peach hair girl laughed outright. "Oh what a poorly trained pokémon, a sign of a poor trainer. Unlike my Gabite here."
The others had caught up. Ash pulled out his pokedex. Gabite, the Cave Pokémon. Gabite goes wild for precious jewels, first digging them up and then stashing them in its nest. Gabby growled. "I would think a poor attitude makes a poor trainer. As far as I know you don't have any ribbons or badges."
The girl scowled. "As if. I have three ribbons thank you very much. Though it should be four if it wasn't for the fluke of a win at the Wallace Cup."
May snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, your…Ursula. You got knocked out in the qualifiers for the Wallace Cup. Wonder why I can't remember you." She asked in mock thought getting some of her friends to laugh.
Ursula growled. "What I want to know is why your rat is attack my poor Gabite."
Dawn recovered from her shock and added bashfully. "Sorry, your Gabite stepped on Pachirisu's favorite treat and he didn't take too kindly to it being squished.
Ursula went into a panic. "What? Your disgusting poffin touched my poor Gabite."
The others watching had one thought, well Gabby and May mostly. 'What a bitch.'
"My apologies. Here have one of mine to make it up." Ursula said giving it to Pachirisu. The squirrel took one sniff and turned away. Ursula growled. "Why you ungrateful little rat." Ursula snarled and raised her hand to smack Pachirisu. Before it made contact, her hand was grabbed. She looked up and for a moment she felt fear as she looked in Dawn's eyes as Dawn squeezed her hand with her deceptively dainty one.
"Don't. You Dare. Hit. My. Pokémon!" Dawn growled as she let go. Ursula worked to get feeling back in her hand.
"Your win was a fluke. We'll settle this in the contest come along Gabite." Ursula said glaring
"We will and I will win." Dawn said returning the glare. Ursula walked off and then tripped ungracefully onto her face. Regaining some of her dignity, she stormed away.
Dawn looked over at Gabby who gave her the peace sign.
"Don't let her get you down Buneary, beat her in the contest and shut her up." Ash said wrapping Dawn in a hug.
Dawn blushed. Misty piped up. "Didn't think you could get angry sweetie."
"If it means protecting my pokémon and you guys, I'll go Gyarados on anyone." Dawn growled, obvious her hormones were going a little bit haywire as she along with Tori were not the ones that looked for fights. She walked away to prepare for her contest with May.
At the contest hall
Dawn was on a bench trying to get her mind to focus on the contest in hand while trying to get Ursula out of her head. Her contest outfit hadn't changed from the Celestic contest save for her gloves had extended past her arm to match her clothes she wore normally and she decided to bring with her parasol as well.
"Hello there Dearie!" A chipper voice called out. She looked up to see Jesseilina walking toward her.
"Oh hi there Jesseilina."
"Oh please, while no one is watching its Jessie." Jessie said in her normal voice. "Something up Dawn?"
Dawn sighed. "Just dealing with a bully, that Ursula is mean."
"Oh come off it, she's a bitch." Jessie said. Dawn giggled. "You said it not me."
Jessie smiled. "Yeah, well I used to have a bully like that, it was Cassidy and she used to rub it in my face. I was secretly glad May and Anabel ended them."
Dawn shook her head. "I hate killing, we all do. But we've realized it is necessary if we are protecting ourselves."
Jessie patted the bluenette's shoulders. "That's why we like you guys. We may not show it, but you guys are our friends. Your friend told us that we didn't have to do any of what we are doing."
Dawn smiled at that. "Drew's always looking out for us. He's like the papa Ursaring. Kind but when his friends are threatened, he goes on a rampage. I'm glad he gave you a chance."
Jessie shook her head. "Good kid, same with Ash. You and the other twerpettes are good for him."
Dawn blushed. "Yeah. Uh…is there anything else going on? I mean you normally don't talk to us unless something comes up."
Jessie hardened his look. "Not here. But I believe they talked about a giant pokémon up north. Snowpoint I think."
"We're going there next, we'll see what's up." Dawn said.
"Dawn are you ready?" May called out. May had added a necklace that matched her eyes to her ensemble. "Oh Jessilina nice to see you again.
"Hi there honey. Just talking to Miss Berlitz here because of a certain coordinator that upset her. I think her confidence is back up."
"That's good. Good luck." May said cheerfully.
"You two as well." Jessilana said walking away.
May turned to Dawn. "Did Jessie give you a pep talk?"
"Yep, no need to worry about me. Now let's go win this contest." Dawn said confidently pulling out her parasol. They went to the waiting room to wait for their turn.
Before long the contest began and several coordinators went on before May. May attempted to use Munchlax and a Metronome combined with a Solarbeam, but her luck didn't hold and May figured she was not going to make it to the next round, but she could still support Dawn. Two coordinators later, it was Dawn's turn. Looking as refined as her friends have come to expect she twirled around and tossed Buneary's ball out.
"Buneary, Spotlight!"
The adorable rabbit came out in a flurry stars.
"Alright, Buneary use Ice Beam." Dawn called out.
Buneary spun and fired the ice attack creating a slide that wound its way down with Dawn in the spiraling section. Buneary then start sliding down like it was at a playground.
"Use Dizzy Punch at the bottom and launch yourself back up." Dawn called as twisted the parasol. Buneary launched herself and Dawn flung the parasol up at the same time spinning in sync with her rabbit companion. Landing at the top Buneary caught the spinning umbrella and posed with it, with Dawn curtseying, getting cheers and aww's from the crowd at the adorable pair.
"Man, Dawn can really break out the great appeals." Ash said.
"Her style since losing in Hearthome has been trying to emphasize cuteness. It has definitely worked for her." Tori said. She turned to Mamoswine who was watching next to the group. It looked disinterested getting the Dog Rider to sigh.
Ursula then took her turn and used an Earth Cloak Wormadam. She ordered a Confusion and then a Rock Blast which created a storm of rocks. Then using Sandstorm she created a sculpture of Wormadam, before using Captivate to end the appeal, getting the crowd to enjoy it.
Back in the dressing room, May and Dan were discussing their appeals and seeing what they could improve.
"Well after an appeal like that, I don't think there is any doubt I'll move on. You two however I doubt will move especially after performances like that. I'll be able to get out the first round that seemed to plague me especially at the Wallace Cup.
May growled. "I wouldn't count both of us out. I don't think I'll make it, but the crowd ate up Dawn's performance."
Before Ursula could retort was announced. As expected by May, she did not advance but Dawn, Jessilina and Ursula did advance.
Ursula huffed and stomped away as May hugged Dawn in celebration. Looking around May snatched a quick peck on Dawn and went to go change into her traveling clothes and headed back to the stands.
Dawn looked through her poke balls to determine who would be sent out in the battle round. Picking Pachirisu she released the energetic squirrel.
"You ready to win?" Dawn asked.
Pachirisu nodded and hopped up onto her shoulder and nuzzled her. With renewed confidence she went to face her first round opponent.
Two hours later, the finals of the contest were beginning. It was Dawn vs. Ursula, and if her friends were honest with themselves, they were the coordinators to beat in this contest.
Marion got the ball rolling. "On my left is Ursula of Jubilife City on my right is Dawn of Twinleaf Town. 5 minutes on the clock and BEGIN!"
"Stomp them flat, Gabite."
"Pachirisu, Spotlight!"
The dragon roared while squirrel looked defiant. Up in the stands, Brock frowned. "Pachirisu is going to have problems, I don't think it got around to learning Ice Fang before the contest so Dawn is going to have to rely on Super Fang."
"Gabites entire family are the same types as Vibrava and Flygon, Ground and Dragon. Dawn's going to have channel her creative juices or her inner Ash." Drew said looking at Ash.
On the battlefield, Ursula opened it up with a Dragon Claw. Pachirisu attempted to dodge but Gabite's speed was able to pierce through Pachirisu's defense. Dawn then attempted a Super Fang but Gabite's speed broke through with Aerial Ace. A Sweet Kiss was summarily dodged and Pachirisu was on the ropes. Looking at the clock and at the point Dawn was down by half her points and Ursula was acting cocky thinking this match was in the bag.
Ursula then ordered a Stone Edge and went for the win. Dawn though was calm and even start to grin as she started connecting with Pachirisu. Pulling out Sylveon she spun in a circle and stabbed down.
"Discharge break through the rocks." Dawn called out. The electrical attack smashed through the rocks and started to deplete Ursula's score.
"Dragon Rage." Ursula said starting to get frustrated. Dawn thrust out her sword and called out a Spark attack destroying the move, causing Ursula to bleed points. Another Dragon Claw was met by Pachirisu's tail which still had electrical energy from Discharge. The clock entered the last thirty seconds and Ursula was now in a frenzy and ordered a Dragon Rage. Remember a couple of moves her friends used, she ordered Pachirisu to spin through the Dragon Rage and hit a Super Fang, which Gabite barely got its fins up in. The clock then ran out. Looking at the scoreboard, Dawn's friends let out a sigh of relief at the win and started high-fiving each other as Dawn celebrated. Ursula stormed off thinking Dawn got lucky as she received her fourth ribbon.
On the route to Snowpoint City (Post DP125)
It had been 10 days since Dawn's victory in Chocvine Town and a lot had happened. They had run into Kenny at another contest and he was seeking his fifth ribbon to qualify for the Grand Festival. Dawn and May entered and it was May that ended up facing Dawn's friend and she ended up with her fourth leaving her with one more to go.
After the contest, Dawn had to deal with two crisis involving her pokémon. First, Piplup started expending a lot of energy via Bide because he was close to evolving. At first Dawn was excited but then she then realized that all she had accomplished was with Piplup in his base form and for that matter with the exception of her Mamoswine all the pokémon she caught were unevolved. She profusely apologized to Piplup and was given an Everstone as a sign of their friendship.
The other incident concerned Ambipom. They all had entered a pokémon ping pong competition and Ambipom seemed to be a natural at it. Dawn tried her best to keep up and ended up reaching the finals, which was better than some of her friends, in particular their leader Drew who showed that his little diability affected some of his motor skills and coordination. Meaning he got knocked out in the prelims with three losses. Only Ash, Brock, May and surprisingly Tori made it, of those who entered, to the knockout stage.
In the finals, Dawn faced off against a pro who was scouting Ambipom to help develop its talent. Dawn left the decision up to Ampipom and the monkey proved her loyalty to Dawn by hand back the ping pong ball to the scout and hugged a tearful Dawn.
Now it was early in the morning and they were in a town about three days away from Snowpoint City. They had stopped to acclimatize to the altitude they were about to climb to as Snowpoint was about 8500 feet up. Drew compared it to a city called Denver. He had them pack extra water to make sure to keep themselves hydrated as at this altitude the body is taking water from their blood to keep it from drying out. (A/N: True story, those not used to it will dehydrate really fast. Dad went to Colorado and he was encouraged to keep drinking water)
Drew and Ash were going over a map and outlining the path they would take. They were dressed in a heavy coat and scarf they had gotten from Johanna. (Think the suits in the anime) The rest were bundled up as well, with Brock and Max having similar colored jackets and the girls in heavy coats and sweaters of a multitude of colors, Gabby was brown, Tori was grey, May was in a green and orange Parka, Misty in a light Blue, Dawn a dark red and Anabel in purple. (Think Dawn's Platinum outfits but more designed for the weather and in the colors described)
"So Snowpoint is here, next to Lake Verity. Nurse Joy said there is a pokémon center almost a day out from here. If we leave now we can get there before nightfall." Drew said.
Ash nodded and turned to Max. "How's the weather?"
"The weather looks nice, but this time of year we never know what weather could happen. (A/N This is early November and they are on the side of the mountain gets a lot snow.)
"Alright we will be wary of the weather. Our fliers can be used to scout the weather ahead. If there is a storm, then we might have to hunker down somewhere if we can't get to the center."
"I already called my cousin, the center should be open for you when you get there. Be safe."
Ash nodded. "Alright guys, let's move out!"
The group grabbed their gear and headed out on the marked trail and followed the map the best they could until they reach a set of woods.
"We got to stay close, these trees can be quite disorienting." Brock said as they entered the woods.
Just then the two Starraptor had returned after flying their scouting flight. They had evolved when Ash and Drew entered a poke ringer competition and had to fight of a small scale attack by Paul and his Honchrow. The worried looks on the bird's faces said it all.
"The wind's picking up. How much further till we get to the center?" Max asked.
"I have no idea. But from the looks of it." Brock said looking at the map. "It's about a mile outside of this forest. Once we get through it, we'll be fine."
"Right, let's pick up the pace. Stay close." Drew said as the group trudged on.
As the weather started to get worse, those who did not have the endurance were started to feel the effects of being on the mountain.
May was near the back of the group with Tori and Anabel. She heard some rustling in the trees and turned to watch.
"May are you alright?" Anabel asked concerned
"Guys we need to keep moving." Tori said.
May seemingly did not hear them and started walking off as she saw something dash into the trees. This caught Misty's attention as May started to wonder off. Anabel gave chase while Tori looked unsure what to do but in the end followed them to keep their friends safe. Misty followed shortly after, with the others not noticing they were gone.
A few minutes later they had caught up to May.
"May are you okay?" Misty said grabbing the coordinator. May snapped out of the daze she was in. "I'm….sorry…I just…thought I saw something. This mountain is messing with my head." May said holding her head.
"Altitude sickness, we need to get to the center soon. Let's follow the trail we left back." Tori said.
Turning around, they saw the trail had disappeared with the wind.
"Now what?" Misty asked.
"Maybe Buddy and Midnight can track our friends." Tori said calling them out. She pulled out a hankerchef that she got from Drew.
"Alright boys, can you sniff out our friends?"
The two dog pokémon took a quick sniff and started sniffing around the ground. After a few minutes the dogs looked up with a whine.
Tori sighed. "The wind is too much. Can you two at least try to lead us out of the woods?"
The two dogs started walking and the girls followed them. Misty was holding on to May in case something else happened. As the sun went down the air became colder and the wind picked up causing the girls to shiver.
Outside the woods, the rest of the group had reached the center and caught their breath.
Nurse Joy showed up. "Oh thank goodness you've arrived. My cousin told me about the ten people showing up. There is a storm on the way." Joy said walking out with some blankets. She then noticed they were short four people. "Where are your companions?"
Drew and Ash turned behind them and noticed they were missing some people. "Guys where are Tori, Anabel, Misty and May?" He said looking at the back of the group.
"I don't know, I thought they were in front of us." Max asked as the group started to panic and looked out the window.
"We've got to go back." Ash said putting on his jacket.
"Absolutely not young man, that storm is about to hit and they can be extremely unpredictable. Your lucky this trail is still open till late November. You are staying here."
Now there wasn't a lot that would drain either of the two lead trainers but keeping them from rescuing their friends would do that as they collapsed to the floor.
"I'm sorry but your friends are going to have to bunker down. There are caves around here, so let's hope they find them. If the storm lets up tomorrow you can go search for them then."
Brock and Gabby had to lead the near out of it Princes to the couch. "They will be fine they are tough girls." Brock said.
"They may be tough, but Tori still has a weak body. She might be burning energy to prevent anything from happening." Drew said. "She's more for helping people than I am, she's more willing to make sure someone gets taken care of first, even when she gets ill." Drew sighed. "If they do survive the night, they are going to be freezing and near hypothermic. If they can find shelter their odds of living will go up. Plus, May and Tori have Fire types they might be fine." Drew said trying to reassure everyone. He looked out the window and pulled out his cross. "Be safe, everyone."
Out in the woods the storm had started to pick up. The girls were starting to feel the effects of the cold and were shivering.
"Guys we need to find a shelter!" Misty said as another gust of wind picked up and the snow
"Where can we hunker down? It's just trees all around!" May said trying snuggle into her jacket.
Tori was trying to keep herself from shivering as she looked for anywhere to take shelter. She spied an outcropping and an opening. "Guys over there!" Tori pointed. The walked a few feet before Anabel collapsed.
"Oh no Anabel!" Misty called out as she picked her up. She gasped as Anabel's face was flushed. "She's losing body heat, come on!" Misty said as she put the empath on her back and carried her to the cave.
The girls collapsed as they got further into the cave. "Thank goodness we f-found this." May said. The girls were wet and cold but thankful to be out of the weather.
"Do we h-have any food?" Misty asked.
"I have some p-power bars. We just need to s-stay a-awake. May call out Blaziken. May nodded and tried to call out Blaziken. But her hands were too numb and she couldn't get the ball. She blew on her hands to warm them up.
"I-Im sorry, its too cold." May said as she wrapped her arms around her legs to keep the heat in.
Misty pulled out a towel and heated up some water and place it on Anabel. "It is a good thing we're in here." She crawled over to May and dragged her over to Anabel. "We need to keep our body heat in. Tori come over here."
The healer nodded and crawled over to make sure she was warmed up. "Got to stay awake." Tori muttered. Misty nodded and tried to get the other two to wake. May stayed awake and Anabel shivered. They were in for a long night.
At the pokémon center, Ash and Drew were watching the storm outside. Their hearts were aching at the thought of their girls out in the cold.
Dawn and Gabby were watching the boys almost in a cationic state and did the only thing they could do and go comfort them.
Gabby wrapped an arm around Drew. "It's tough not being able to help her. She's always relied on us to take care of her. Now she's going to have to survive out there. It hurts to see someone like that in danger and you can't do anything."
Drew said nothing and gripped the cross tighter.
Ash was fairing no better. Dawn wrapped her slender arms around Ash's stomach. "They'll make it. I promise you that. Just keep believing in them." Dawn said nuzzling into his shoulder. Ash was silent and put his hands on her arms watching the storm until they all fell asleep.
Sleep was not going to come for Tori as she fight to keep herself awake. The other girls were shivering despite sharing the body heat.
"We've got to find a way to keep warm and a-awake." Tori whispered. She kept nudging May and Misty awake and barely managed to keep Anabel awake as well. She looked out of the cave entrance.
"C-can't believe we were so stupid to keep the cave open. I-I don't think we're going to make it."
Tori shook her head. "C-can't think like that. C-come on girl think."
Just then, Buddy let himself out of his pokeball.
"B-buddy? What are y-you doing? Get back in your ball."
Buddy whined and then strolled over to her bag and pulled out a wrapped package. Tori realized what this was. May had given her Fire Stone to her when she decided not evolve her Eevee to a Flareon. Knowing Growlithe evolved with a Fire Stone she gave it to Tori who decided to hold onto it because they both didn't want Buddy to evolve.
"Buddy…are you saying you want to evolve to help us? You would give up your puppy state to save us?"
Buddy barked. Tori teared up slightly. "T-Thank you, B-Buddy." With shivering hands she pulled out the stone and held it over Buddy. He started to glow and increase in size. When the light died down, Buddy had turned into a larger dog with a brown collar tail and fur around the legs while become more streamlined for running.
"ARF!" Buddy said.
"So you're an Arcanine now? T-thank you." Tori looked over and panicked. They had all fallen asleep. Tori tried to wake them up, but to no avail. Looking at Buddy, Tori summoned up all her strength and started pulling them to Arcanine. Misty was first and was put on Buddy's back. May was put around the collar. Running on fumes, Tori pulled Anabel and placed him against his stomach. Tori was exhausted after using so much so she crawled to Buddy's head. "You've been a great pokémon Buddy, I hope…a good trainer finds you." Tori said finally losing the battle with sleep and giving into what she assumed was the inevitable.
Buddy looked at the girls and then start to rearrange them and put them all on its back. It then carefully picked up the bags in its mouth and walked out into the storm.
Three hours later through blinding snow, Buddy somehow found the pokémon center. Walking to the door it patted the door and howled.
The gang had fallen asleep around the couches and were woken up by the growling.
"What the heck? It's eleven at night." Gabby said.
Max listened to the noise. "That's weird that's an Arcanine howl. Wonder what it's doing here."
Drew and Gabby perked up at that. Drew went to the door and despite the weather opened the door. In came an Arcanine with four bags its mouth and four bodies on its back. Drew recognized the bags and gasped.
"GUYS WAKE UP! IT'S THE GIRLS! NURSE JOY WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!" Drew said as he scrambled to get the freezing bodies of the kneeling Arcanine. Nurse Joy came in and gasped as she went to check the girls as they were being unloaded.
"Their body temperatures are too low, they are near hypothermic. Chansey we have an emergency get the blankets!" Nurse Joy said in a panic.
The four girls were quickly taken to an empty room by the boys. Misty was in Ash's arms feeling like a Popsicle. Tori was shivering in Ash's arms. Anabel was barely breathing Dawn's arms and May was limp in Brock's.
"This is bad if their body temperature doesn't rise soon, they could die." Brock said. They got inside and wrapped many thick blankets around them all after removing the wet clothes so they were in their undergarments.
"What can we do now?" Max asked worried as she watched her sister lay limp.
"We pray and hope they wake up."
This was the mindset for the next few hours as the storm roared outside into the next day. The girls were still out of it and Ash was pacing the room. Drew was on the bed with his arms in a prayer position while Dawn and Gabby watched
"Ash would you relax, your giving me a headache." Drew growled.
"Three of my girls are in bed, hypothermic and on the verge of death. And you expect me to relax!" Ash yelled.
"Your not the only with a loved one on the line here! Do you think I'm not panicking on the inside?" Drew growled.
Ash stopped pacing and put his face in his hands. He started to shake in tears. Drew sighed. "Sorry. It's the situation. They are tough girls, they will make it."
Drew looked at Tori and the removed his shirt and got into bed with her.
"What are you doing?" Dawn asked.
"We need to warm them up. Skin to skin heat could provide the extra warmth needed" Drew said as he slid into Tori's side. Gabby did the same on the other side after stripping down to her undergarments.
Ash nodded and then moved the girls so they were touching each other. Whether it was a reflex or if they were alive, they instantly sought each other out. Ash got in between them hugged them tight.
Dawn was unsure what to do but seeing the groups seemingly not care about their attire, she sighed and started stripping off her sweatpants and sweatshirt leaving her pink underwear exposed to the world. She shivered at the cold as she went to the lights and turned them off. Covering herself out of reflex, she quickly bounced over to her bed and got under the massive covers and hugged May. Almost immediately the heat being given off by the hug made her drowsy and snuggled into May's back hoping they would wake up soon.
A few hours later, Misty was the first one awake. She moaned as she tried to stretch her limbs but couldn't. She felt stiff, almost…frozen! Misty remembered what happened, they were stuck in the storm when May got disoriented. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep when Tori tried to keep everyone awake. Somehow they all got to the center. Looking at Ash, it was evident he had been crying. She shook him awake.
"Ash? Wake up! Come on."
Ash groaned and opened his eyes. He looked to his left and widened his eyes. "Mist? Your awake." He quietly said.
Misty nodded with tears in her eyes. He reached over and kissed her savoring the moment and thanking whoever was watching over them for keeping them safe. The movement woke up May and Dawn. When May realized where they were, she tapped Ash on the shoulder and kissed him when he turned around. Dawn held on tight to May and was spurned to kiss May's cheek to assure her she was there. Breaking free they watched Anabel who had not woken up.
"Come Ana, you can do it. If they lived, so can you." Ash whispered. A few tense moments later Anabel started to stir. She blinked herself awake. "Is…this heaven? I thought Ash was at the center."
Ash chuckled as tears. "This isn't heaven Ana. Your alive, you all alive." Ash said leaning down to kiss her.
Anabel moaned and realized that they were telling the truth, no way were Ash's kisses this good in heaven.
"How did we survive?" The empath asked.
"I don't know." Misty asked. The girls looked over to see Drew and Gabby rocking back and forth holding Tori tight. "Tori was the last one awake. Tori what happened, last night we fell asleep out in the cave."
Tori was about to respond but the door was nudged open and the Arcanine that brought them to the center walked in.
"Bark!"
Tori smiled. "Buddy there you are."
"That's Buddy? What happened?" Drew said. Arcanine trotted over after placing the bags down and Tori started petting him. "I was the only one awake. Buddy wanted to save us and he evolved to safe us. His fur was probably what kept us warm and saved us." Tori climbed out of the embrace and hug the large dog not even caring about the state of her dress. "Thank you Buddy. You save our lives.
Arcanine barked happily and licked Tori getting her to giggle. It was then Tori noticed her attire. She looked at Drew. "You stripped us out of the wet clothes and hugged us to warm us up?"
Drew nodded. "Sorry only thing I could think of."
Tori shrugged. "Nothing you haven't seen before." She crawled back into the bed. "It feels good though to have skin on skin."
Ash looked at his girls who giggled at his blush. "It's fine Ash." Misty said as she leaned closer and Ash groaned as the four pairs of budding breasts closed in on him. "We aren't going to do anything. Well except for one thing, if Drew doesn't mind going to another room." Misty shooting a playful look at the other male.
Getting the hint he quickly picked up Tori and grabbed another shirt for her to be covered and exited the room with Gabby in quick pursuit. Even though no one else was in the center they decided not risk it.
Once they were outside the room, Misty turned to Ash with a devious look. "Now then, I think we aren't convinced we are alive. Care to help us?" Misty said seductively.
Ash gained a stupid grin and pounced onto Misty who squealed. The other girls quickly joined in on the kissing (Nothing more). Four hours later, they all came out of the room with a kiss stupid expression, Ash in his jeans and the girls in one of their long shirts and a blanket around them.
"Guess we're alive huh?" Ash asked nonchalantly. The girls giggled and kissed him again.
"Guess you girls are awake." Brock said not even caring at their attire. They looked and saw everyone else dressed but to go out into the cold.
"Storm is not going to let up until later. We will leave tomorrow, to give you guys time to recover."
They nodded and sat down to some lunch prepared by Brock and then they relaxed content that their group was safe and alive.
Three days later (DP127)
After a day of recovering they set out for Snowpoint City and arrived by sunset the next day. They had run into the gym leader Candice and she had invited them to the school that she taught at in the city. When they got to the school, they were surprised to see Zoey. She explained that Snowpoint was her hometown and Candice was her long-time friend. She even helped take care of her Glameow when it was a kitten.
After a day of teaching at the academy, Candice was ready to take on the trainers in her gym. The battlefield was extremely icy, a clear indication of the type Candice was going to use. Drew stood on the other side having shed his coat, thankful for his fire abilities.
"Alright time to get your Kiai, four on four let's do this. Go Glaceon." (This is from her Platinum rematch team)
May squealed at the cuteness and swore to ask Candice how she evolved her Eevee. Zoey looked at her rivals/friends. "Candice is all about Ice-types and with the size of the battle it's going to take a while."
"I don't know, Drew is just as unpredictable as Ash. Though I think Candice might have a harder time with him." Tori said.
"So what if he has a fire-type, Candice can beat it."
"Monferno is not the one she should be worried about." Gabby said.
"Let's Ride Haryiama!" The sumo pokémon landed and after a small bit of adjusting got into a stance.
"Its his Haryiama. Fire types might be advertised as the types to beat Ice, but most Ice types can learn water moves. Fighting-types are a much better match." Tori said.
On the battlefield Glaceon launched a Shadow Ball which seemingly bounced off the fighting type. Haryiama attempted to grab Glaceon, but the Ice Eeeve evolution was much faster especially on the ice. It then launched a Water Pulse which like the Shadow Ball bounced off. It landed on a pillar staring down Haryiama who just cracked its neck.
"The battlefields change with the battle. In order to win, you must make the field your own. Haryiama start skating around."
Haryiama did so and charged at Glaceon. The ice type jumped and to Candice's surprise Hariyama skidded and pushed off the icy rocks and began chasing it.
Gabby widened her eyes and groaned. Ash looked at Gabby. "Which event is he trying to imitate this time?" Ash asked.
"A sport called hockey. They use sticks to move a rubber puck across the ice. They can get very violent, as in they have in game penalties for fighting, where other sports would get you tossed. And the trademark is they tend to be very tough in the upper body. And they also have a tendency to crash people into the walls of the rink."
Zoey widened her eyes. With the size differential between the two, it would not take much to seriously damage Glaceon.
On the battlefield, Glaceon was leading Haryiama on a chase leaping above Haryiama and sniping it. Drew though looked calm and even grinned.
Zoey chuckled. "Glaceon is going to wear it out. Candice is leading it into a trap."
"No, it's the other way. Drew is calculating the arc of the jump. He's looking to catch Glaceon in a position where it can't escape." Max said.
That's exactly what Drew was doing. On the next pass, Drew Haryiama to stop short. Glaceon jumped up and was shocked that Haryiama was right where it was going to land.
"Grab it and chokeslam it." Drew called out. Haryiama did as ordered and slammed it into the ground. The force knocked out Glaceon.
"Glaceon?" Candice asked worried.
"Glaceon is fine." Drew said as Haryiama gently picked up the knocked out pokémon and skated over to Candice. Glaceon was already waking up which reassured Candice.
"Thank you. But this battle is just getting warmed up. Let's go Froslass."
Drew frowned and pulled out his pokedex. Froslass, the Snow Land Pokémon and an evolved form of Snorunt. It freezes its opponents to temperatures nearly minus sixty degrees.
Looking at the types, he grimaced. Ghost type meant Haryiama was not going to win here.
"Haryiama stand down." Haryiama skated back and was recalled. Drew debated his options. In the end he settled on a dependable pokémon.
"Let's ride, Luxio!" Drew called out. The second battle began and it quickly became a battle of speed. Froslass could only hit from far away, while most of Luxio's attacks were up close. The two attacked from their respective strengths and traded blows. Unfortunately for Froslass, it shared the fragility of Ice type. Combined with the fact that Luxio knew both Fire Fang and Crunch which were strong against the Ice and ghost types and it eventually went down. But it did a lot of damage to Luxio and it definitely showed.
"Luxio can you still go?" Drew asked his faithful electric type.
Luxio nodded and looked ready to fight again. Candice was still fired up and sent out her Sneasel. Unlike Froslass, Sneasel had the speed to spare and he could use it snipe at Luxio with its claws via Night Slash and Shadow Claw. A full powered Ice Beam knocked Luxio into an ice boulder and knocked out Luxio.
"Well damn that stinks. Great job Luxio." Drew said calmly as he returned the electric type.
"Luxio has been a pet project for Drew. He found her as a Shinx tied up with poachers. He takes great care of her because he does not want her to remember her captivity." Dawn said to Zoey as he tossed the poke ball to Tori.
"Come on Drew, get your Kiai on. I'm all fired up!"
"Relax would you. Geez you would think an Ice trainer would be colder than this. Anyway, Let's Ride, Monferno."
Monferno got into his fighting stance and took the fight to Sneasel. In a bold move, Sneasel activated Hail and then launched an Ice Beam at Monferno. The weather impacted Monferno's vision. Sneasel took advantage of the weather and began guerrilla tactics, with Monferno unable to do anything.
"If you're so insistent on these tactics, fine. Monferno Flamethrower the floor throw up a screen."
Monferno did as he was told and the ice turned into a fog. Zoey was slightly confused.
"Wouldn't this be more beneficial to Sneasel?"
May grinned and waved her finger. "Not so. Drew and his pokémon aren't the fastest or the most graceful. But if there is one thing that he excels at besides power is his tactics."
"He's one of the smartest people I know, in school he's on the honor roll. On the battlefield this means he can change plans on the fly." Tori said. "Unfortunately, his social skills leave something to be desired."
"What do you mean? If he can command the respect of you guys, he shouldn't have problems interacting socially."
"Let's just say, the issue isn't anyone's fault and leave it at that." Tori said.
On the field, the fog had settled in obscuring the pokémon.
"Sneasel keep up the pressure. When you get the chance use Shadow Claw."
"Monferno, this is nothing we haven't trained for. Close your eyes and wait for your chance." Drew said as he closed his eyes to mimic Monferno. Monferno listened carefully as Sneasel ran through the fog. Before long Sneasel landed and charged in. Snapping its eyes open, both Monferno and Drew reached back and launched a Mach Punch at Sneasel sending it back into the rocks and knocking it out.
Zoey's eyes went wide. "Is he a psychic? The whole battlefield was covered how the heck did he spot him? For that matter, why the heck is he mimicking Monferno?"
"Our bonds with our pokémon allow us to be in sync with our pokémon. I'm sure you've seen our performances right?" May asked. Zoey nodded. "Well they are to a point copying us action for action."
"To answer your first question, look at the battlefield." Ash said. The field had cleared up enough to see that the field had melted just enough around Monferno to leave puddles.
"He heard the puddles from that range and was able to react. What kind of training do you guys do?" Zoey asked flabbergasted.
"More than you know Zoey." Dawn said as Candice recalled Sneasel.
"Your Kiai is strong. But can your monkey friend handle my strongest companion. Let's go, Abomasnow.
Ash pulled his pokedex Abomasnow, the Frost Tree Pokémon and the evolved form of Snover. Abomasnow appear when snow flowers bloom and return to places unknown when the petals fall.
"Monferno, you ready for more?" Drew called out. Monferno just crossed his arms. "Alright let's rock and roll. Use Flame Wheel."
The monkey rolled right into the yeti but it bounced off. Drew then ordered Monferno to run and get some distance. But Abomasnow proved it was fast and closed in to use Wood Hammer. He then used used Blizzard to refreeze the field and trip up Monferno. Another Wood Hammer and the defensively weak Monferno was knocked around like a rag doll.
"Damn it, Monferno you alright?" Drew called out. Monferno tried to get his legs under him. Drew sighed. "Ref I'm pulling him out, Abomasnow wins." Drew said calling back the monkey. He tossed the ball over to Tori to look over him.
"Drew may not show it but he's genuinely concerned about the risks our pokémon take. That's why he pulled out when he knew there was no way for him to win." Gabby said.
"Ride again, Haryiama!" Drew called out.
"Now Drew has a problem, if Haryiama gets knocked out who's left." Max asked.
"I think this would be his last chance. Flygon would lose, Swampert would be a poor match and Swellow would have problems." Brock said.
"True, but I don't think Haryiama would go down without a fight."
On the battlefield, Abomasnow was not taking any chances in letting Haryiama get any momentum and charged forward with a Wood Hammer. This however highlighted an issue with Wood Hammer. The first two times the attack connected the attack was extremely powerful. The drawback was that Wood Hammer was similar to Overheat, except it was for attack strength and it wasn't as serious. With Candice unable to switch out, the Wood Hammer did less damage and Haryiama even deflected some of it away. Haryiama started using some of its speed advantage and then used Arm Thrust to keep the large Ice type of balance. One Vital Throw later and Abomasnow was flat on its back and Haryiama was poised to keep pounding it.
"Candice, I know this is your favorite pokémon. Knowing who you still have left to face, would you risk him?"
Candice smiled and giggled. "You are definitely a nice guy your kiai is in total sync. Alright, I conceded. That was a great match."
Drew shook his head. "Nothing gets you down does it? Haryiama help him up."
Haryiama nodded and held out his hand to pull up the large ice type. A nod of respect and Haryiama walked backed over to his trainer who high fived it and walked to the bleachers.
"That was great. Time to make it two for two." Ash said as he passed Drew on his way to the battlefield.
Drew let out breathe. "Whoa. That battlefield was cold. Next time I keep the sweatshirt on." This got giggles out of his girls who wrapped their arms around his to warm it up even though he could his fire powers to warm himself up.
Switching out a couple of her pokémon and then healing the others Candice stood ready just as energetic as before.
"Alright Sneasel let's make up for the last match." Candice said.
"Okay then, Grotle I chose you."
Zoey shook her head. "I would comment on the type match-up, but you guys seem to like proving me wrong."
Candice grinned. "Very unpredictable, I like it Ash."
Ash grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet. Grotle Energy Ball."
Grotle fired the green colored ball. This type the speed advantage was clearly in Sneasel's as Sneasel dodged it and skated around Grotle firing off Icy Wind. But it looked fine, which Brock immediately noted.
"I see, Ash is trying to tank the hits and then when Sneasel gets in close." As Brock said this Sneasel came in close but was pushed back by a Razor Leaf.
"Ash can use the power to negate the typing and the speed." They watched as Grotle gripped the ice with Rock Climb to barrel through Sneasel and send him flying into the mountain.
"As much as I hate using enemy tactics, you don't win a battle without learning. Paul may be a bastard but at least his pokémon know some good moves." Drew said sighing.
Candice wasted no time and switched into a Medicham which was surprising to the audience.
"She must have anticipated fighting types so she snuck in a psychic type. You definitely don't get to be gym leaders for looks." Max said censoring his thoughts because of the two gym leaders in the stands with him.
"If they got in with looks my sisters would be the best gym leaders." Misty snorted trying to warm herself up.
Ash recalled Grotle and send out Staraptor. Ash ordered a Quick Attack but was quickly nullified by a Confusion and knocked it to the ground. Remembering it was a Psychic-type, Ash ordered a Staraptor to use Aerial Ace which was blocked by Medicham's hands. Switching it up, Ash ordered a Close Combat which was countered by a Fire Punch which caused both to be knocked back. Staraptor recovered faster and then went into a Brave Bird which struck Medicham and knocked it out. Staraptor flew away suffering from the recoil.
Feeling excited at the edge, Ash recalled Staraptor and waited for Candice to release her third pokémon. Wasting no time, Candice sent out a Snover. Ash then sent out his Gliscor. Gliscor started with a Fire Fang which then was countered with an Ice Beam. Gliscor recovered and then tried to use Fire Fang again but was pushed back with a Bullet Seed and then an Ice Beam ended Gliscor's short battle.
Ash sighed. "Damn. Alright then return Gliscor. Lucario, I choose you."
Lucario got into his fighting stance. Snover quickly activated Hail and disappeared.
"Lucario, relax and listen for Snover."
Lucario closed his eyes and waited. Lucario's Aura sensing was sharp as he quickly snapped his eyes and launched a Force Palm straight into the gut of Snover knocking it out.
Ash grinned. He was up 3-1 and still had some well rested pokémon. But he figured the last pokémon was Abomasnow. True to his predictions, the giant ice type made an appearance. Figuring speed would be tantamount here he called out Staraptor. Ordering an Aerial Ace, Staraptor charge in but Abomasnow charged up an Ice Punch which stopped the attack dead and then sent Staraptor back knocking it out. Undeterred Ash recalled his flier and sent out Grotle. He ordered a Rock Climb and charged at Abomasnow. But Candice ordered a Wood Hammer and put all of its weight behind it and knocking out the grass type.
Brock winced. "Two quick blows and Ash is down to Lucario."
"This illustrates the main difference in our battling styles. I go for power and sustainability that's why my pokémon are really hard to knock out. Ash focuses on speed and trickery. In a sense you can also tell our combat styles just by looking at our battling styles. I prefer strength, Ash prefers speed." Drew said.
Ash sent out Lucario again, looking incredibly refreshed because of the minimal fighting it did.
"Despite him losing two pokémon, Lucario is still fresh. Ash can pull this off." Brock said.
On the battlefield, Lucario fired off an Aura Sphere. Abomasnow quickly charged in and fired off a blizzard to slow down Lucario. Lucario quickly dodged the punches and ice that was thrown up. Seeing a large boulder go flying, Ash ordered Lucario to hop on the boulder and snowboard around the large pokémon to disorient it. He then jumped over Abomasnow and fired a Force Palm right at the large pokémon's face and sent it crashing to the floor knocked out.
Candice shook her head. "You guys rock and your Kiai is totally in sync. These Icicle badges are rightfully yours. Knock him dead at the Pokémon League." Candice said enthusiastically.
Ash and Drew nodded as they walked up to her and accepted the badges going into their stances as well.
Next day (Elements of DP128)
The mood was quite lively as they discussed travel plans down the mountain.
"So we are about two months ahead of schedule for the Lily of the Valley conference and the Grand Festival is three months away. We can probably get the last badge before going to the festival." Drew said.
Dawn laughed. "It will be nice to take our time for once. It felt like we were in a rush the last couple of weeks."
Drew nodded as the sliding door opened up. They all turned and saw Reggie at the door.
"Reggie? What are you doing here?" Ash asked.
"I was dropping off a pokémon and I came to find Paul. Based on the number of badges I think he has, he should be coming up here soon. I want to talk to him about the group he's with."
"That's going to be hard because he randomly shows up and attacks us. We haven't seen him in a while." Brock said.
Before they could speak further a large shadow passed over the center. Going outside they say a large metal structure that looked like a pyramid.
"It's the Battle Pyramid! Guys its Brandon!" Max said as they started following it. Zoey who was visiting Dawn groaned. "You guys aren't seriously going to run after it…and yeah you are." Zoey said as all but the blue-haired coordinator ran after the pyramid.
Reggie ran over to his truck. "Hop in, we'll follow them. They can't have run off far. The only ruins Brandon could be look at is the Snowpoint Temple.
The girls hopped in and drove to the temple.
"Who's this Paul guy that Brock was worried about?" Zoey asked.
"Paul is Ash's main rival. But more importantly, he has one of the dark Rider belts. He's fought Ash to a draw and nearly killed me once and pitted me against our friends. He's also unfortunately Reggie's brother." Dawn explained.
"If Paul is in the area he might be looking for Brandon. I took the battle frontier challenge but lost to Brandon, pretty badly I might add."
Zoey looked worried as they approached the Snowpoint ruins. Climbing out of the truck, Dawn saw her friends talking to Brandon. Anabel was hugging the older gentleman almost like a daughter hugging her father.
"Hey Dawn, glad you could make it. Brandon, this is our friend Dawn."
"A pleasure young lady. Its nice to see good friends with my adopted daughter."
"Adopted?" Dawn asked.
"Yes, when I was younger I was looked at by a lot of the frontier staff. Brandon took on the father role and I'm thankful for it." Anabel said.
"How touching." A snide voice said. Everyone turned to see Paul walking up.
"Not like it wasn't expected, but what the heck are you doing here Paul?" Ash asked preparing to summon Raikou.
Paul chuckled sinisterly. "Simple, I'm here to take the beast that's locked in this temple."
This set everyone on edge. Reggie though walked up to Paul. "Paul what the heck? This is not like you. Sure you took training seriously but to actually join these terrorists?"
"Simple brother…power. Power to defeat any opponent including the one man who beat you and forced you to give up your trainer career." Paul said looking at Brandon. "I challenge you to a full battle Pyramid King Brandon, subsitutions allowed. I win you give me your pokémon.
"Fine but if I win, you turn yourself in." Brandon said. "We will battle in the pyramid."
Brandon escorted everyone into the arena and stood on the battlefield across from Paul.
"Magmar standby for battle."
"Regirock I need your assistance."
Paul immediately recalled Magmar and switched to a Haryiama for the type match-up.
Drew shook his head. "Brandon faced my Swampert and it took a lot to knock it down. His Registeel finished him off. I used Haryiama so don't be surprised if Brandon knows how to counter him."
Drew's prediction came true as Regirock use Stone Edge to attack. Haryiama shrugged it off. Paul chuckled. "Is this a joke. Haryiama use Arm Thrust."
"Regirock grab him and use Shock Wave."
Regirock bear hugged the fighting type and fired the electric move. Haryiama then tried to use Force Palm but Regirock was surprisingly agile and leaned back and used Focus Punch knocking out the fighting type.
In an alternate universe, the spectators would be shocked at the curb-stomp battle. In this one, Ash and Drew shook their heads. "I don't know how you beat him with Swampert if he could do that much damage."
"I must have gotten lucky. I honestly don't know how I won."
Paul growled and then sent out Electrabuzz.
Ash recognized it. "Go figure Elekid evolved. Strategy is still going to be same."
Electrabuzz tried to use Brick Break which seemingly did no damage. Regirock then used Stone Edge which broke through the Protect. A Hyper Beam follow-up knocked out Electrabuzz.
Ash shook his head. "That was too quick. Now I am questioning how we won."
Paul's frustration was showing as he sent out Magmar. Brandon recalled Regirock and sent out Registeel.
"I remember him, Haryiama had to go Rocky Balboa on him just to get him on the ground." Drew said as Magmar launched a full powered Flamethrower that seemingly did nothing to Registeel. Registeel charged in with Iron Head which connected and stopped the Will-o Wisp from attacking.
Paul was now furious and switched in a Nidoking. Dawn looked curious. "Nidoking is a Poison Type wouldn't that be a bad matchup?"
"Nidoking are also Ground-type and Paul is hoping to use it. Though with the way it took Magmar's attacks it might be a moot point." Zoey pointed out.
On the battlefield Registeel fired a Flash Cannon which hit Nidoking straight on. Nidoking quickly recovered and used Earth Power. To Paul's dismay Regiseel stayed solid even after a Double Kick and a Thunderbolt. An Iron Head ended Nidoking.
"Young man you may have the tactics but you do not have the heart. Your brother did not have that and lost. What drives you?"
Paul stood silent. "What drives me?" Paul said quietly. "What drives me is POWER! TROOPERS TO ME!
Reggie watched as multiple shadowy creatures showed up. Brandon was stoic while with the exception of Zoey, everyone else moved down the bleachers.
"I wanted this power to prove I am the strongest trainer. Now my minions destroy his pyramid!"
"We aren't going to let you do that Paul." Ash said as the riders went into their stances and activated their belts.
HENSHIN
COMPLETE/EVOLVE/ORION/SIRIUS
Paul chuckled. "You think your armor will protect you." Paul pulled out his belt and got into his stance.
Henshin
EVOLVE
Now as Dante, he charged at Aura and Zodiac while the rest began to fight off the troopers.
After a few minutes of battling, it became obvious that while Dante's abilities had improved but he was clearly being over matched with both of the riders fighting and pushing him back.
"Tch...you think your so tough with your armors. You think being able to use your pokemon's abilities make you so tough." He took out a metal device and activated it. He threw it down and it sent out a shockwave.
"What was that?" Ash asked holding up Raikou.
"Simple, a grenade that disables all the advanced features in your belts. Meaning no scanning abilities and no changing your gear."
Drew widened his eyes. "An EMP Burst. God Damn It!" He yelled as he looked at his phone and saw the phone had the static screen on it."
"That is right. It lets be do this." He said scanning a card of his.
DARK PULSE
He pointed his Lance at Hanabi and fired. Aura yelled out to Hanabi.
"DAWN LOOK OUT! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Hanabi watched as the attack came closer and hit her sending her flying into the wall. She screamed at the impact which caused her armor to deform and fall unconscious.
"DAWN NO!" Aura screamed. The shout got the attention of the others and the girls gasped. Kusa flew over and picked up Dawn to get her out of the line of fire.
"Oh and let's not forget you Zodiac." He said charging up another attack and fired at Sirius. The same thing happed to Tori and Orion had to disengage. With four fighters effectively out, the fighting stalemated.
Zodiac and Aura weren't paying attention as they charged at Dante. They were furious at Dante hurting their loved ones and were charging with everything they had. Dante grinned as he simply blocked and used his card abilities to keep the two lead riders at bay.
After a couple of minutes the two were panting at the damage they took and the energy the spent trying to to defeat Dante.
"Like I told you without your belts your useless." Dante taunted.
Aura sighed and closed his eyes. Zodiac was thinking what they could do. He snapped his head up and looked at Aura.
"How many abilities have you learned from the cards?" Zodiac whispered.
Aura widened his eyes. "Of course, why haven't we done that before?"
"Because it takes more power to use. I think we have enough power to beat this son of a gun." Zodiac said.
Aura nodded and stood up holding his hand. Dante laughed. "You don't have your cards what could you possibly-
THUNDERBOLT
Dante was cut off as a large bolt struck him. Seeing an opportunity, Zodiac brought his arms together knuckles out.
PYRO SHOTGUN
Dante was bounced back further. "H-how?"
"Those cards you are so keen on disabling? They teach us how to use them outside of our armors." Aura said. "BULLET SEED.
"I don't even need half my armors. I use them to supplement my own physical abilities. COLT REVOLVER."
The multiple gunshots struck Paul and caused to grunt out in pain. Zodiac picked him up and tossed him and Aura grabbed his head and dropped him to the floor. (Think John Cena and Randy Orton teaming up.)
Dante groaned as he saw his opponents prepared to end him. His body had sustained multiple wounds and he would need time to recover. Taking a Flash Grenade and tossing it, it blinded the two riders and Dante made his escape. When their vision was restored, Dante was gone. Powering down, they looked at their friends. Most of them took a beating but it was Dawn and Tori they were worried about as they took a full attack and they could have more serious injuries.
Drew and Ash growled and everyone felt their anger build.
"RAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHH!"
The pain in their yells was evident as they could do nothing to stop their loved ones from getting hurt.
Will they get their revenge? Find out on Journeys of the Dreamer.
END OF CHAPTER
UO: GOOD LORD THAT TOOK FOREVER! Hope you like this.
Preview: As they descend down Mt Coronet, the perceived failures gnaw at the two trainers. Along the way, Ash's test comes amid his doubts and pain. Then Team Galactic makes their move and the fate of Sinnoh is at stake. What will happen? Find out
Next time: A Prince's Lament
Next chapter is not the final chapter but it is coming soon. Next update is Bleach Grand Prix and afterwards this story will be skipped for 2nd Magnolia.
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OSPREY…SWOOOSH