CB is about to run into someone very familiar.
"If Sabrina turns me into a doll, I want you all to know that it's been a blast," I muttered.
"What!?" Krysta asked. "Who's Sabrina?"
"Um...I heard that Saffron's Gym Leader was a Psychic specialist who could turn people into dolls to use in some Psychic dollhouse of hers," I explained. By now, Krysta knew that 'I heard' means 'that's the way it was in the fictional series in my world.' Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to tell Colress about this.
"First of all," Colress started. "Turning humans into dolls is physically impossible."
"...We live in a world of Pokémon. Technically, nothing is impossible. Except impossibility, but that's not the point," I said dryly.
"Impossibility being impossible is a paradox," Colress pointed out. "Though I suppose you're right. Anyways, second of all, read the sign on the Gym." I read it, and to my surprise it read...
"'Kiyo the Karate Master'...?" I read with a confused tone...wait! This is back when the Fighting Dojo was an actual Gym, and Sabrina hadn't taken over yet! Yes! I'M SAVED! WOO-HOO! "Alright then, let's go!" I ran into the gym...and bumped into an older man in a karate uniform.
"Watch where you're going, kid," he huffed.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm here for a Gym Battle against Kiyo."
"In that case, come back in three hours. Some upstart named Sabrina thinks she can take over the Gym, and exactly one week from today she and Kiyo are going to have a face-off to decide who gets to be Saffron Gym Leader," the Black Belt explained. "So Kiyo is off training, and will be back for lunch in about an hour. After that, he'll rest for an hour or so, before taking on any challengers for today."
"Ah, I see...I'll be off then," I sighed, walking off with Krysta and Colress.
"So I suppose we'll have to wait a few hours before you can have your Gym Battle..." Krysta sighed. "Oh well. Let's explore the city!" She ran off. I sighed, as Colress and I ran after her. However, as I was running, I noticed a familiar figure walking by out of the corner of my eye. I heard a familiar voice talking to the man by the Gym. I looked behind me, and talking to the man was...
...Paul of Veilstone City.
Yeah, nope. I dashed towards Krysta, pretending not to have noticed Paul. I really don't feel like dealing with that guy right now. Or within the next month. However, just as I was about to catch up with the white-haired girl, I tripped over something. In a flash, Krysta was by my side.
"You okay?" She asked, offering me her hand. I instinctively grabbed it, though when we both realized what had happened, her face turned red and I felt mine heat up. I jumped up awkwardly.
"Er, yeah!" I chuckled nervously. "Anyways, what did I trip over...?" I looked around and saw a... "What the crap is a Ralts doing in Kanto!?" Sure enough, there was a short, white, humanoid-looking Pokémon with a green 'helmet' and two red horns.
"We need to get it to the Pokémon Center," Krysta pointed out. I nodded, as we headed off. But still...what was a Ralts doing in Kanto...?
A few days earlier, in the Johto Region...
"{Hmm...I'm not seeing what the humans think is so fun about this place...}" the older Ralts sighed, his hands behind his head as he and his brother wandered around Goldenrod.
"{Yeah...it's too noisy here...and all the bright lights are making me dizzy...}" the younger brother whined, rubbing his eyes.. They were too distracted by their discomfort, however, to notice that they had wandered into a train station. As the younger Ralts rubbed his eyes, he didn't notice as he fell off the platform and onto a small cart. "{Owie! That hurt...}" Suddenly, with a click, the cart started to move. And it was getting faster and faster. "{Big brother, help!}"
"{I'm coming!}" the older one shouted frantically, using Confusion to try and slow the cart down, but seeing that he couldn't stop it, jumped on, grabbing his brother in his arms as the cart broke out of Confusion's hold and sped down the rails. As...dysfunctional...as their relationship was sometimes, they were, at the end of the day, brothers who loved one another dearly. And so they clung to each other for dear life.
A mere minute or so later, the cart arrived in Saffron, and the two discombobulated brothers staggered off the cart, both too dazed to notice they were going opposite directions. Then the younger brother puked in a nearby bush, before shaking off his confusion.
"{Um...big brother?}" He asked tentatively, before wandering around searching for him.
"'...and that's what he says happened,' she says..." I read from the pages Mel had given me, while the Ralts we had found was playing with Marcus, Melanie, and Lila nearby.
"...So, what do we do now?" Krysta asked.
"We've still got three hours to kill. Let's go find his older brother," I decided.
"I have a few things to take care of, so I'm afraid I must pass," Colress said, as he stood up and left. I recalled Marcus and Lila hopped onto Krysta's shoulder.
"Well, we may be down a man, but we can still find that Ralts if we search hard enough!" Krysta cheered. Melanie and Lila gave affirmative cries of agreement, while I just nodded.
"...Ra...ralu...!" Ralts shyly cheered as well, as I picked it up. And so we set off, Ralts deciding to settle in my arms. We immediately headed off towards the police station first.
"Yeah, I think I know the Ralts you're talking about," Officer Jenny said. "That little guy's quite the roughneck. It first showed up a few days ago and been causing trouble for Trainers ever since."
"How so?" I asked.
"Well, it's been relentlessly beating down any trainer that crosses it's path...the only trainer that's fought it and stood a chance was a girl named Sabrina, and even then, it fought her Abra to a draw before fleeing with Teleport."
...It was able to fight Sabrina to a draw? That's a promising sign. I doubt any other trainer would be able to catch it then.
"Where does it usually hang out?" I inquired.
"It usually appears on the route between here and Celadon, although it occasionally comes into the city too. The Gym Leaders of both here and Celadon would do something about it, but it's not technically doing anything illegal, so the police can't get involved, Kiyo is busy training for his match against Sabrina, and most of Erika's Grass Pokémon are also part Poison and can't handle a Psychic Pokémon with that much raw power."
"Well, nothing left to it but to do it!" Krysta cheered.
"Y'know, some other trainer named Paul just came by and asked the same things. He was going to catch that Ralts...and he had a Shiny Gengar that could Mega Evolve, so I think he's got a pretty good shot at it," Jenny noted.
"...Son of a bitch..." I muttered. Of course Paul would go after a Ralts with that much power. Then I did a double take. "A SHINY GENGAR THAT CAN MEGA EVOLVE!? PAUL!?"
"Er, yeah. Why?"
"Mega Evolution requires a strong bond with a Pokémon in order to be used properly," I started. "Or else the Pokémon will just go on a berserker killing rampage!"
"So...?" Krysta trailed off.
"Have you seen how Paul treats his Pokémon? He trains them intensely, and if they don't meet his standards, he just releases them!"
"Oh...shit," Krysta realized. We looked at each other, nodded, and ran off towards Celadon. We looked around for a bit on the route, and didn't see anything.
"Where are they?" I growled darkly. An giant splash of poisonous gunk from nearby answered my question. Krysta and I ran over, and saw a figure I recognized as Paul, with a dark blue Mega Ring around his wrist, with a white, ghostly figure with three eyes standing in front of him, and an injured, poisoned Ralts standing opposing to it, struggling to stand.
"Sludge Wave, once more," Paul commanded, as a purple tidal wave of gunk came from Gengar's body and knocked the Ralts backwards into a tree. Wait...Sludge Wave!? That's the Halloween 2014 Gengar! Where did he get that!?
"Wh-where did you get a Shiny Gengar that knew Sludge Wave...?" I muttered, dazed. Paul half-heartedly growled in my direction.
"Apparently, it was supposed to be delivered to a trainer calling himself 'Oath', but he never showed up, so the delivery person sold it to me, Mega Stone included."
...I nearly passed out when he mentioned Oath. A month or so ago, OathToOblivion mentioned that he'd just downloaded the Shiny Gengar and was about to go pick it up from the Pokémon Center. Then he posted later that for some reason it never showed up, so he had to go get another code. So how did Paul get into OathToOblivion's Pokémon X game?
My phone vibrated. I picked it up, and saw another message from A.
'Er, sorry about that. It looks like I accidentally pulled his Gengar in when I grabbed him.'
Tch, of course this is A's fault...wait...he said that he had grabbed 'him'...
That means Oath is somewhere in this world too.
I texted him back.
'Wait, you mean Oath's here!?'
'Oops. Busted. I was going to wait until you two actually met up, but I guess I slipped up a bit. Oh well.'
My head was still spinning from all the information that was just dropped on me. Oath is here too? Where is he? Considering he's been here longer, if he was grabbed around the Shiny Gengar distribution and I was grabbed after ORAS came out, he's probably got more Badges than me. Heck, he could be in another region for all I know! But then again...
"You okay? You look kinda dizzy..." Krysta asked. I shook my head. I don't have time to think about this! I slipped my phone back into my pocket.
"I'm fine. But we need to stop Paul," I assured her. The Ralts immediately leapt out of my arms and fired a Confuse Ray, catching Mega Gengar by surprise and causing its eyes to glow a deadly red, before it started randomly firing Shadow Ball and Shadow Punch attacks in every direction, until it hit itself with a Shadow Punch. The older Ralts took advantage of this and shot off a powerful Confusion attack, as the Ralts we'd been helping puffed up it's cheeks and blew out a white, sparkly wind that I recognized as Icy Wind. The Gengar's Mega Evolution cancelled, as it fell to the ground with swirls in it's eyes. Paul angrily recalled it.
"Don't get in my way!" he snapped harshly, as the Ralts we were helping stood defensively in front of his older brother, who collapsed from the poison.
"I didn't do anything besides bring the other Ralts here. And really, if you have a brother, how would you react if you saw someone beating him into a tree?" I shot back. He flinched back for a second. He was probably thinking about what he would do if he saw something like that happening to Reggie.
"Alright, you got me there. But stay out of my way. I'm going to catch that Ralts," he pulled out another Pokéball, but Melanie knocked it out of his hands with a Sucker Punch.
"Sorry. But it looks like my partner has misgivings about your way of doing things..." I explained, before glaring darkly. "...and frankly, so do I. How about a battle?"
"Hmph," Paul huffed, picking up his Pokéball. "How many Badges do you have?"
"Two."
"Only two? I have five."
"Only five? I have eight," Krysta cut in, mocking Paul's own words. "Let me handle this, Leo." I looked at her, and she winked, and I realized her gameplan. I nodded. I went over to the older Ralts with a Pecha Berry.
"Golem, standby for battle!" Paul shouted, calling out a large, lizard-like Pokémon with a rocky shell.
"In that case, George! Ready, set, go!" Krysta shouted, releasing her Graveler.
"Hmph. Pathetic. Why are you using a Graveler against it's own evolved form?" Paul questioned.
"Evolution isn't everything," Krysta said smugly. Paul shrugged it off and began his attack.
"Golem, use Rollout!" Paul shouted, as Golem began rolling towards George at incredible speeds.
"Stop it with Superpower!" Krysta countered, as George began glowing with a red aura, and stopped Golem with two of it's hands. "Now double Focus Punch!" The Graveler used its other two hands to punch a Golem away, its fists glowing as it did.
"Golem..." Golem growled.
I picked at my ears a bit. I could swear I heard some lines from Never Surrender playing in the background, but I dismissed it as my imagination, since no one else seemed to notice.
"That's one advantage Graveler has over Golem," Krysta laughed. "It has four arms while Golem only has two."
"Hmph. Two extra arms doesn't mean a thing. Iron Head!" Golem's head began glowing with a metallic light, before it charged at Graveler.
"Counter by using Earthquake," Krysta shot back smugly. George stomped his foot, causing the ground to shake, making Golem falter. "Now try using Rollout and Superpower simultaneously!"
"Graveler!" George cried, as he began rolling towards Golem, glowing with a red aura. It slammed into Golem, sending it flying past Paul and into a nearby tree. Golem struggled up to it's feet.
"Golem..." It growled.
"Use Magnitude!" Paul demanded. Golem stomped its foot as the ground shook...though we barely noticed the shakes. Magnitude 4, I guess... "Gyro Ball!" Golem began spinning, while shining with a silver light, and slammed into George, knocking him back.
"Rock Polish!" Krysta shouted, as white energy traveled across George's body. "Now use Rollout!"
"Counter with your Rollout!" Paul commanded. Both Pokémon rolled towards each other, but George was faster thanks to Rock Polish. They slammed into each other and stopped.
George jumped back, and got back into a fighting stance.
Golem rolled backwards, its eyes glazed over and unfocused.
"Golem is unable to battle," I said unceremoniously. Paul scowled and recalled it.
"Pathetic," Paul scowled, recalling Golem, before picking out his next Pokéball. "Turtwig, standby for battle!"
"Turtwig!" Paul's starter declared as it emerged onto the field, glaring at it's opponent.
"Use Stealth Rock!" Paul immediately declared, as his Turtwig unleashed a volley of jagged rocks that embedded themselves in the ground.
"George, use Focus Punch!" The Graveler's fists all started glowing white, as it began charging at Turtwig.
"Dodge it!" Paul countered, as Turtwig jumped away from every punch. "Now use Leech Seed!" Turtwig shot a seed out of its sprout, which planted itself in the ground in front of George, draining his energy.
"Use Rollout and quadruple Fire Punch at the same time!" Krysta shouted. George's fists covered themselves in red hot flames, as he tore the Leech Seed off his body, and began rolling towards Turtwig, resulting in an improvised Flame Wheel.
"Use Earth Power!" Paul countered. Turtwig stomped it's front legs, causing yellow energy to erupt from the ground and slam into the Graveler, sending it flying away.
"Use Smack Down!" Krysta commanded, as George threw a glowing stone at Turtwig, who simply jumped away. "Fire Punch, back to back!" George began repeatedly punching at Turtwig with burning fists, though Turtwig jumped away easily. "That speed is becoming a pain...Rock Polish!"
"Now! Use Grass Pledge!" Paul ordered before George could finish the Rock Polish.
"Tur..." Turtwig's head sprout began glowing green, before it stomped it's foot and a tornado of leaves came out of the ground...then another, and another, until George was surrounded. "...TWIG!" The tornadoes converged into one big one, which lifted the Graveler up and sent it flying.
"Gra...vel...er..." George muttered, before he fell to the ground.
"Graveler is unable to battle," I noted, as Krysta recalled George.
"You did your best, George," she soothed, as Paul scoffed. She angrily pulled out her next PokéBall. "Dash! Ready, set, go!" Out came a Pokémon I hadn't seen her use before...but now that I think about it, she's mentioned it before. It was a Ponyta! The Stealth Rocks in the ground then began glowing and surged towards Dash before exploding. As the smoke cleared, Dash shook it off and gave off a ferocious neigh.
"Turtwig, use Earth Power!" Paul shouted, as Turtwig stomped his feet, causing yellow energy to surge up from the ground towards the Ponyta.
"Dodge using Bounce!" Krysta countered. Dash jumped into the air, far out of reach from the yellow energy. "Now use Overheat!" Dash neighed, before her body began glowing red. She tried to land on Turtwig, but Turtwig jumped out of the way. Dash then shot a bright orange stream of flames, though Turtwig easily dodged that too.
"Too bad," Paul mocked. "The first Overheat is always the strongest. After all, after using it, Ponyta's special attack goes down. Now Turtwig, use Grass Pledge!" Turtwig once again created the circle of tornadoes, which sent Dash spiraling into a tree.
"Dash, are you okay?" Krysta asked, worried. The Ponyta in question struggled back up to her feet...er, hooves...and gave a whinny of confirmation. "In that case, use Flame Charge!" Dash covered her body in flames, before charging at Turtwig, who kept easily dodging every blow...
"You could increase Ponyta's speed to help it keep up with Turtwig if you use Flame Charge..." Paul noted. "...except that in order to get the speed boost, you need to actually land a hit. Now use Earth Power once more!" Turtwig stomped again, the yellow energy erupting from the ground. Dash, going too fast, ran right through it, and fell to the ground, panting. Turtwig smirked...and then began glowing blue.
"...Shit," Krysa cursed. As did I. Evolving was the last thing we needed right now! ...Or was it? Turtwig's shape changed and the light burst away, revealing a larger, tortoise-like Pokémon with a gold shell and two bushes on it's back.
"Grotle!" it shouted confidently. Paul took out his Pokédex and scanned it.
"Leaf Storm, go!" Paul declared, calling out a new move. A hurricane of leaves emerged from Grotle's back, which was hurled towards Dash.
"Use Bounce!" Krysta commanded frantically, as Dash jumped into the air. "Now Flame Charge as you come down!" Dash covered herself in flames, charging towards Grotle. Grotle tried to dodge...and tripped over it's own feet and fell over, as Dash bounced off of it.
"What!?" Paul gasped.
"That's right...I almost forgot..." I noted. "When Turtwig evolves into Grotle...it's power and defensive skills increase..."
"...But its speed decreases...!" Paul cursed. I guess this is how he knew to tell Ash that when his Turtwig became a Grotle, huh?
"Well, that works out perfectly! Dash, back to back Flame Charge!" Krysta cheered, as Dash repeatedly rammed her burning body into Grotle, sending it flying.
"Fight back with Earth Power!" Paul frantically ordered.
"How about...no," Krysta cut in. "Low Kick!" Grotle raised its legs, but Dash galloped over and kicked it before it could, knocking it into the ground.
"End it with Frustration!" Paul demanded angrily. Grotle nodded and began glowing red.
"So that's how you want to play it? Fine. Return!" Krysta declared, as Dash began glowing pink...with a much, much brighter aura than Grotle's Frustration, as they charged at each other...before Grotle tripped, causing Dash to send it flying. When it landed, the result was clear.
"Grotle is unable to battle," I pointed out simply. Paul scowled a bit, recalled his Grotle, and walked away...uh-oh. I hope we didn't just cause him to decide to release it...soon enough, he threw a Pokéball behind him and out came...his Golem.
...I feel like a jerk for being relieved...but thankfully, even Paul's not heartless enough to release his starter.
"Take a hike," he said to his Golem. "Losing to your own pre-evolution is pathetic." Then he walked away, as Golem looked down somberly before just walking off.
"The nerve of that guy...! Why I oughta...!" Krysta started stomping towards him, before I grabbed her hand. She looked at me, and I shook my head.
"He's not worth it. He's obviously too stubborn to listen to a word either of us say," I pointed out simply. Krysta sighed, and nodded, before recalling Dash.
"Well, at least you two are okay," she said, looking towards the Ralts brothers.
"Ralu!" The younger one cheered.
"Ra ral rara," the older one scoffed.
"Maw? Wile maw wile mawile," Melanie said.
"Ralu!?"
"Maw!" the two began glaring at each other, and I could have sworn I saw lightning crackle between them...well, they can both learn Thunderbolt...actually, wait, Mawile can't, but she can learn Charge Beam. Or it could just be the rivalry spark.
"Larvesta!" Lila cut in, getting between them, as did the younger Ralts...when suddenly a mechanical claw came from nowhere and grabbed all of them, sans the younger Ralts, who was luckily standing just outside of the claw's range.
"What the-" I cut in, before seeing two familiar people driving a large tank.
"Oh for the love of- you two again!?" Krysta whined. The two figures simply laughed maniacally in response...
"That's right! Us again!" The two figures laughed.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all peoples in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"Butch!"
"Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"
"Surrender now, or you'll surely lose the fight!"
...That's right, in front of us were the secondary goons of Rocket!
"Agh...Cassidy and Bitch again...?" I muttered, once again intentionally getting Butch's name wrong.
"IT'S BU-"
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOUR NAME IS!" Krysta interrupted. Uh-oh...I know that tone of voice...I nervously looked over, and saw a familiarly psychotic expression on Krysta's face. Well, that's a problem.
"Krysta...when you go psycho, you tend to do things you'll regret..." I warned nervously. Krysta blinked and shook her head. She opened her eyes, and I saw that she was back to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Er, right," she sighed. "But when I see those two, I remember what they did to Goomy way back when, and it makes me SO MAD!" And she's back on psycho...
"Goomy...?" Cassidy repeated. "What is she talking about?"
"Hey, I think I know!" Butch realized. "Remember? Near Zeal City?"
"That's right, I remember now! So this is the same crybaby from back then?" Cassidy asked. "Huh, that Goomy really wasn't worth it, even if it was a Shiny Pokémon." I saw Krysta freeze. "It was weak and pathetic." I saw her clench her fists. "Heck, even after strict Rocket brainwashing and training, it was so weak, that it was given to agents Jessie and James of all people!" I heard Krysta snap.
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT GOOMY THAT WAY!" She shouted. I think Krysta's learned Outrage...! ...I guess she technically learned it at Zeal City Gym, though...I didn't have time to think about that, as Krysta pulled out a PokéBall. "ROCKER, DESTROY-!"
"Krysta!" I interrupted., grabbing her hand. "Going psycho won't help anyone!" Krysta shook her head again.
"Er, yeah," she agreed. "Sorry. But it's getting really hard to CONTROL MYSE-Gah, I'm doing it again!"
"Well, while you two are hashing that out, we'll be leaving with these rare Pokémon!" Cassidy shouted, as she and Butch turned the machine and drove away...
"HOLD IT!"
Team Rocket was startled, and stopped.
"A quick question about the Goomy: even if it was so pathetic, it was a super rare Pokémon - and a shiny one! Wouldn't you have just sold it on the black market?"
"...Well...back then Jessie and James were the boss's favorites, and the Goomy was actually on the rather strong side, so he gave it to them," Butch admitted. "So no, it wasn't actually that pathetic at all." I turned back towards Krysta.
"And last I checked, Jessie and James actually have hearts, so you may be able to convince them to give it back," I whispered to Krysta. "Feelin' better?"
"...A little...at the very least, I don't think I'm going to go psycho anymore..." Team Rocket, taking advantage of the distraction, began to zoom off again...only for a second mechanical claw to grab onto their machine's.
"That Mawile belongs to us!" Two more familiar voices shouted, as we looked up and saw two more familiar figures, piloting what appeared to be a cross between a helicopter and a tank, with a mechanical claw on the bottom.
"And who are you supposed to be!?" Cassidy demanded.
"Great...it's Annoying Comic Relief Squad the Second..." Krysta deadpanned.
"I'm Ken!"
"And I'm Mary!"
"And we are the Pokémon Mystery Club! P! M! C!" They shouted.
"That Mawile has warped through space!" Ken explained.
"Therefore, we will be taking it for the sake of our research!" Mary added.
"...You just want the Mawile, right?" Cassidy asked. "As long as we get the other two, you can have her."
"Oh, really? Okay then," Ken agreed.
"What!?" I gasped. I saw Melanie panic. C'mon, think...!
"GOT IT!"
That shout, surprisingly enough, came from Krysta, not me.
"Hey, Team Rocket!" Krysta called. "You didn't know? The PMC called you a bunch of lame losers who wouldn't even be able to catch a Magikarp if it fell out of the sky and landed in your arms!"
"Lame...?" Cassidy repeated angrily.
"Losers...?" Butch added, just as pissed.
"And PMC!" Krysta called towards the other group of annoyances. "These two Team Rocket goons called you a bunch of ridiculously unskilled wannabes that wish you were as cool as them!"
"Unskilled...?" Ken repeated angrily.
"Wannabes...?" Mary questoned.
"We'll show you who can't catch Magikarp!" Cassidy shouted.
"Why don't we see who wishes they were as cool as who!?" Ken demanded, as both of their machines grew second mechanical claws which started swiping at each other, while they played tug-of-war with each other.
"Now's our chance!" Krysta whispered, as I brought out Spear.
"Use Drill Run to free Mel and the others!" I whispered. Spear nodded, and silently drilled through the mechanical claw, causing it to shatter, as Melanie, Lila, and the older Ralts fell to the ground...only for one of the PMC's claws to scoop them all up.
"You aren't going anywhere!" The PMC shouted, before resuming their fight with Team Rocket...until they suddenly stopped.
"Wait! They tricked us!" Ken realized.
"By making us fight each other, they have more time to try to save their Pokémon and escape!" Mary added. Cassidy and Butch gasped in realization.
"Uh-oh..." Krysta muttered.
"In that case, let's team up and give these twerps a lesson!" Butch decided.
"Right!" The PMC agreed, as both of their machines turned towards us. Cannons appeared on both of them, and TR shout out a stream of electricity while the PMC shot out a stream of fire. We all scrambled out of the way...but the younger Ralts tripped. So, I went to go grab it.
This of course, lead to me getting zapped. And burned. And it hurt. But thankfully, whatever force allows humans in this world to survive this stuff allowed me to survive without much pain as well. Seriously, I've literally gotten burnt worse just by touching a burnt marshmallow! Of course, the electricity still hurt (a lot), but I couldn't exactly move, or Ralts would get hit.
"Ralu...!" It gasped.
"Don't worry...just go! I'll be fine!" I gasped out. The Ralts just stared at me. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Ralts stared into my eyes, then at Mel, Lila, and his older brother, before nodding confidently. He then jumped over me, and fired a Confuse Ray attack at the machines, the light somehow going through them and hitting the people inside.
"Wha...why is the sky purple...?" Butch muttered, in a daze thanks to Confuse Ray.
"What...what are you talking about...?" Mary muttered. "The sky is...yellow...but why is there a giant orange where the sun should be...?"
"Now's our chance! While they're confused!" I shouted. "Spear, Drill Run! First to free Mel and the others, then again to send them blasting off!"
"Spi!" Spear agreed, spinning towards the claw to free Mel and the others.
"Wi~le maw!" Melanie shouted as she was freed. Spear then changed course and drilled through the barrels of the cannons, resulting in both machines starting to rattle and glow...just as the joke squads snapped out of their confusion.
"Wha-? What happened?" Cassidy asked...just as both robot blew up.
"Not again! Blasting off is for losers like Jessie and James!" Butch shouted.
"Speak for yourself!" Ken shot back. "We're not from Team Rocket!"
"And yet despite that..." Cassidy trailed off.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" TR shouted.
"With PMC!" The PMC added, as they became little more than a sparkle in the distance.
"Well, that settles that," I sighed, before flinching in pain.
"Wile?" Melanie asked, rushing to my side. I didn't need a notepad to translate that.
"Yeah...I'm fine...what about you guys? Are you all alright?"
"Wi~le maw!" Melanie.
"Vesta!"
"...Ra." And the older Ralts continues to be standoffish...I turned to the younger one.
"What about you?"
"Ralu!" He agreed.
"Well, now that that's over with, and the Ralts brothers are back together, we oughta be going," Krysta said, helping me to my feet. I'm making a mental note to never stand in the path of an electric cannon again. It hurts. A lot.
"Yeah," I agreed, getting up.
"Although, before that..." Krysta suddenly added, pulling out two pieces of fabric from her own pack, bending over, and tying them around the Ralts' necks. They were both scarves, red for the older, blue for the younger. "...there! Now people can tell you apart!"
"Ra...ralu..." the younger one thanked shyly, while the older one huffed and turned his head away, before striking a Kamen Rider-like pose and using Comfusion to make it look like his scarf was blowing in the wind.
"Ral...ra ral," he eventually thanked. We waved, before walking off with Melanie and Lila.
"Well, that was a good way to kill time," I said. "Minus the Rocket and PMC appearances, and the getting electrocuted part of course."
"Yeah yeah...I wonder where they landed, anyway?" Krysta asked.
Elsewhere in Kanto, specifically, near Cerulean...
"AHHHH!" the PMC screamed as they landed.
"That hurt..." Ken muttered.
"Those two got us again..." Mary added. "Why don't we focus on a different mystery for now?"
"I suppose we have no choice..." Ken reluctantly agreed, before pulling out a laptop. "Let's see...oh! We landed south of Cerulean City! According to rumor, there's a hidden village of Pokémon around here! A perfect mystery to solve!" Ken then noticed something else. "Not only that, but the scanner is detecting another being that shows signs of coming through a dimension warp, just like that Mawile and her trainer, also near that supposed village!"
"Great! We can investigate those warps, without dealing with those annoying twerps!" Mary decided. And with that, they headed off away from Cerulean, towards where the rumors claimed this 'Hidden Village' was...
Back to Route 7...
"{Bye...!}" The younger Ralts said quietly, waving as he did, before looking down sadly. The older Ralts watched, before sighing.
"{Just go,}" he said.
"{HUH!?}"
"{It's obvious that you want to go with them, so just cut the crap and go,}" the older Ralts explained.
"{But...what about you...?}"
"{I might be willing to give humans more of a chance now, but I'd still rather stay wild at the moment. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll meet again.} The older Ralts turned around, and the younger could see a small droplet fall to the ground. "{But...but just in case we don't...I love you, okay?}"
"{I...I love you too, big brother...}" the younger Ralts said, tears in his eyes as well, before dashing towards Leo and Krysta. "{Good-bye!}"
"{See you again, little brother...}" the older Ralts said, turning around as he watched his younger brother run off towards the humans, tears in his eyes.
I suddenly felt something on my leg. I looked down, and saw the younger Ralts clinging to my ankle.
"You again? What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Ralu!" He shouted. I looked towards the older one, just in time to watch him Teleport away.
"Could it be...he wants to come with us?" Krysta asked.
"Ra!" Ralts nodded in excitement. I pulled out a Pokéball.
"But...what about your brother?" I asked. "Are you sure he's okay with this? And for that matter, are you?" I asked, holding out the Pokéball. Ralts nodded. "In that case...welcome to the group, Ran!" I said, deciding a nickname on the spot.
"Ralu!" Ralts shouted, jumping up and tapping the Pokéball's button, getting sucked in, as the ball shook three times and pinged. I pulled out my Pokédex.
"Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts can sense people's emotions using its horns. Because of this, it can tell when people have negative intentions and when they have positive intentions, and only appears before the ones with positive. This Ralts is male, its ability is Synchronize, and it knows the following moves: Teleport, Icy Wind, Confuse Ray, and Confusion." I then let Ran out of his Pokéball.
"I know I already said it, but welcome to the team, Ran!" I repeated.
"Yeah, welcome aboard!" Krysta added.
"Ralu!" Ran cheered along.
"Wi~le maw!" Melanie added.
"Larvesta!" Lila cheered as well. We then headed off towards the Pokémon Center...and after that, the Saffron City Gym...
"Well...here we go..." I muttered, standing outside of the Gym, with Ran and Mel standing on either side of me, and Krysta standing behind me. We had gotten fixed up at the Pokémon Center, and were now getting ready to battle Kiyo. I walked into the Gym. Knowing that fighters generally like spirit in their challengers, I shouted as loudly as I could. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!"
"Hah, good! I like that spirit!" I heard a male voice laugh. I looked and saw Kiyo, a brown-haired man in a karate uniform with a black belt, sitting in a meditative position, a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee sitting on either side of him. "Very well! How many badges do you have?"
"Two," I said.
"Very well! Then this will be a two-on-two battle!" Kiyo decided. "Hitmonlee, you go first!"
"Hitmonlee!" The kicking fiend shouted, jumping onto the field.
"Ran, are you ready for this?" Seeing him nod, I pointed onto the field. "Then go!"
"Ralu!" He shouted, Teleporting onto the field.
"The battle between the Gym Leader Kiyo and the challenger...um, what's your name?" The ref, who I recognized as the man from outside the. Gym a few hours ago, asked.
"Huh? Oh, whoops! I'm Leo, from Celadon City," I introduced.
"Okay then. The battle between the Gym Leader Kiyo and the challenger Leo will now begin! This will be a two-on-two battle, and there are no substitutions, except when a Pokémon faints! In that situation, the trainer who's Pokémon is still standing may switch that Pokémon out for a different one! Now, round one: Ralts vs. Hitmonlee! Battle begin!"
"Hitmonlee! High Jump Kick!" Kiyo shouted, as his Hitmonlee sprung into the air, before descending with it's knee aimed at Ran. I opened my mouth to command Teleport, when I noticed something.
'If Boy Scouts has taught me one thing, it's how to judge the trajectory of falling objects, and Hitmonlee isn't aimed at Ran...' I then remembered when Barry fought Paul in the Sinnoh League. "Ran, use Icy Wind on the ground right in front of you, then Teleport away!"
"Ralu!" Ran shouted, taking a breath and blowing cold air onto the ground, causing it to freeze, before Teleporting to another part of the Gym behind Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee landed right in front of where Ran was, just as I suspected, and looked like it was about to turn and spring towards Ran, but it slipped and fell on the ice.
"Now get it with Confuse Ray!" I shouted. Ran nodded and shot yellow orbs of light at Hitmonlee, which surrounded him before bursting, causing his eyes to glow red. "That was your anti-Teleport tactics, wasn't it?"
"Huh?" Krysta asked, apparently not getting it.
"If I had just had Ran Teleport away from that attack, then Hitmonlee would have bounced off the ground towards where Ran had Teleported to and hit it anyway," I explained.
"But you noticed that and froze the ground in front of your Ralts first, so Hitmonlee wouldn't be able to turn without slipping," Kiyo noted. "Then, you hit it with a Confuse Ray, and now it can barely stand." Kiyo gestured towards his Hitmonlee, which was shakily standing up, before suddenly punching himself and falling back down. "Most people think that fighters are all fists and no brains. But I like to prove them wrong."
"Heh. Good," I said. "I really don't like stereotypes that much either. Anyways...Ran, Confusion!" Ran's eyes began glowing, as it unleashed a psychic wave towards Hitmonlee, sending it flying into the wall behind me. It struggled to get up once again.
"Hitmonlee, Focus Punch!" Kiyo commanded, as white energy gathered on Hitmonlee's fist...and it suddenly snapped out of it's confusion, before springing towards Ran again, punching him into the wall.
"Wha-!?"
"The focus required for Focus Punch allows Hitmonlee to counter the confusion," Kiyo explained. I growled at this.
"Ran! Are you okay?" I asked. Ran shakily got up out of the wall and nodded.
"Oh really? Hitmonlee, High Jump Kick!" I noticed this time it was aiming for the wall behind Ran, and knowing that he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, came up with a plan.
"Ran! To the ground!" Ran ducked down as Hitmonlee pressed it's foot against the wall. For once, it's spring-like feet were a disadvantage. After all, the distance between Ran and the wall was small enough, that when combined with Hitmonlee's height and Ran's height, Hitmonlee cannot bounce off the wall in such a way that Ran is hit, no matter how he bounces. And so it sprung off and hit the ceiling, before falling to the ground, taking damage since High Jump Kick missed. "Now Confuse Ray again!" Ran once again sprayed Hitmonlee with yellow lights, causing it to get confused.
"Focus Punch!" Kiyo countered. Hitmonlee started to focus.
"Use Icy Wind on Hitmonlee's feet, full power!"
"Ralu!" Ran shouted, blowing the cold winds as strongly as it could, causing Hitmonlee's feet to freeze to the ground, as it sprung forward, but tripped and fell.
"Hit...mon...lee...!" Hitmonlee growled.
"Now end this with Confusion!" I commanded.
"Focus Blast!" Kiyo countered. Hitmonlee shot a ball of orange light at Ran, as Ran shot off a psychic wave...the two attacks collided, though Focus Blast appeared to be winning out. Then an idea struck.
"Use Confusion to send the Focus Blast back!" Ran nodded, as the wave of psychic energy dissipated, and the Focus Blast began glowing blue, before flying back at Hitmonlee and exploding. When the smoke cleared, the result of this battle was clear as well.
"Hitmonlee is unable to battle! Ralts is the winner!" The referee declared. Hitmonlee shakily got up and walked back to it's trainer's side.
"Ran, why don't you rest a bit?" I suggested, seeing that Ran was panting. Ran nodded and Teleported back to my side.
Outside the Gym, sitting in a window sill, was the older Ralts, his red scarf fluttering in the wind.
"{Did...did he just...win...?}" he gasped. "{Even with a type advantage, against a Pokémon that was clearly stronger...my shy, weak little brother? Maybe there is something to that 'humans make us stronger' bit after all...}" He then looked at his brother sadly. "{Well, best of luck, little brother...nah, you deserve even better than that...'Ran'...}" He looked toward the nearby Lavender Town. "{I've heard a lot of Ghost Pokémon hang out there. I'll go there and train so that trainers like that purple haired jerk don't get the jump on me again. So if any trainer does manage to overwhelm me, they'll really deserve it!}"
And then he Teleported away.
"Hitmonchan, go!" Kiyo commanded, as the punching demon rushed onto the field.
"Melanie, the time has come!" I called, as my partner dashed onto the field herself.
"Round 2: Mawile vs. Hitmonchan! Begin!"
"Mel, use Play Rough!"
"Wi~le maw!" Melanie shouted, rushing towards Hitmonchan and kicking up the familiar cloud of dust.
"Fire Punch!" Kiyo commanded. I saw Mel shoot out of the dust cloud like a rocket, doing her level best to dodge, fear evident on her face.
"Um...I thought we were over your fear of fire?" I asked tentatively. With surprising speed, Melanie wrote up a note and tossed it to me.
'Only when I'm the one who caused it,' it read. I put on my 'deadpan stare' face. Melanie shrugged, a nervous smile on her face.
"Well, use Sucker Punch!" Melanie ducked under another Fire Punch, before warping behind Hitmonchan and kicking him in the head. "Now Flamethrower!" Melanie exhaled a stream of flames into Hitmonchan's face, knocking him back.
"Use Mega Punch!" Hitmonchan's fist began glowing, as he rushed towards Melanie...before slipping and falling on the ice Ran created earlier. I suppose now's as good a time as any for that...
"Melanie, you feel up to using that?"
"Wi~le maw!"
"Okay, in that case..."
"Melanie?" I asked, getting my starter's attention. "I think it's time for you to learn a new move. Now, this move is Awesome, But Impractical, so we won't use it much, but it will be a good ace in the hole for when things go wrong...or when we just want an explosive finish."
"Wile?" Mel asked.
"It's a move called..."
"...Hyper Beam!" I called. Melanie formed a ball of multicolored energy in her hands, and then fired the familiar beam at Hitmonchan.
"Focus Blast!" Kiyo called. Hitmonchan managed to get up to it's feet and fire the orange ball of energy at Melanie, flying right passed the Hyper Beam...and right passed Mel and hitting the wall behind her, while the Hyper Beam slammed into Hitmonchan, knocking it out. As usual, Focus Blast misses when it matters most.
"Hitmonchan is unable to battle! Mawile is the winner! Therefore, the match goes to the challenger, Leo!"
"We did it!" I cheered, running up to Mel, who was panting after firing that Hyper Beam.
"Ralu!" Ran cheered along, Teleporting over to my side. It feels good to defeat a Gym Leader and still have all your Pokémon standing. It's a nice feeling.
"Well done," Kiyo congratulated. "You've earned this Marsh Badge!" He handed me a familiar yellow badge.
"Thank you," I thanked. "Although...if you don't mind me saying, once your anti-Teleport tactics were stopped, you were pretty screwed over by my Psychic Pokémon...I literally caught Ran like, an hour ago. Tops. Sabrina's Psychics have been training with her her whole life."
"Yeah..." Kiyo muttered. "I hate to ask this of a challenger, but do you have any advice? For dealing with Psychics, that is."
"Dark-types," I said. "Use Fighting-types that are also Dark-types, like Scrafty and Pangoro. Maybe add in a Lucario for some Steel support, not to mention, Lucario gets Dark Pulse. And maybe a Fighting-type that's also part Psychic itself, like Gallade or Medicham."
"Hmm...that just might work. The battle with Sabrina will be three-on-three, and I was already going to use a Lucario, and I do have a Pangoro I use in higher level Gym Challenges...and a Heracross. It's part Bug-type."
"Oh, that's right, I forgot Heracross was part Fighting. Well, best of luck," I said, walking off. We ran into Colress on the way out.
"My apologies. It appears I missed the whole thing," he noted.
"Eh, no biggy," Krysta said. Colress then noticed Ran, still standing at my side.
"Oh? So you decided to catch the Ralts from before?"
"Yeah. We reunited him with his brother, had a scuffle with Team Rocket and the PMC, not to mention a jerk named Paul, and then he decided to come with us," I explained.
"Ra!" Ran greeted.
"So now we'll just rest up at the Pokémon Center, and it's off to Vermillion City," I said. Colress nodded, and we all headed off towards the Pokémon Center, and after that, it'd be off to Vermillion City, so that Colress can head off to Hoenn for Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion research, and I can go for my fourth Gym Badge...
Three Badges. Good grief. And thanks for sending them at me, CB. Really. /sarcasm