Spring Hawk, I'm glad you like Fiendre! (And I really don't know where those two paragraphs came from… OO) Fiendre knows Solorite well, and it's just in his nature to be belligerent and challenge him. He knew that he wouldn't be fighting. And there might just be a hidden side to Fiendre, even though for a fact he didn't get enough to eat hanging around Dominus's castle.
Catalina? That would have worked too… oh, now I'm going to name some random Pokemon in this story Catalina because I like it. As for the Abhorsen series, I'll have to read those! They do sound interesting… And Houndoom have ears… I think… yeah, because when a Houndoom from Pokemon Stadium 2 strikes his battle pose, his ears twitch. Thanks for your review!
Moon, this chapter is much longer this time! ;)
Chapter 19
"What's wrong Sara?" Asked Elvina with a note of worry in her voice as she looked down on her friend. Sara's normally bright, cheery face was set with worry lines. The blonde girl's Vulpix, whom was now to be called Althea, was fast asleep on her lap, like a little crimson puff-ball.
"I can't keep from thinking about Rika…" Sara murmured, running a slim hand over Althea's red fur. It was then that Elvina noticed that she was awfully pale, as if coming down with something; the shade of cream was gone from her skin.
"Worry wart." Star had been perching in the grand oak tree looming behind them, being her normal, snappy self.
"Star, be polite." The snappy, normally agitated voice of Dorovi growled from under the tree, as he had been basking in the late morning sun. "Sara has a right to be nervous, if you ask me."
"I would agree with you." Elvina murmured to Dorovi, yet snapped to attention when the blonde's focus turned back to her.
"What did you say?" She asked curiously.
"Errm, nothing. Anyways, Sara, if I've told you once, I've told you too many times, that Rika was a big fake anyways. She said that Karen would become strong enough to take down Adam's Milotic, yet did she change in any ways at all?" Elvina didn't wait for an answer and abruptly shook her head, "There you go! Don't worry about it, it won't happen."
"What won't happen?" Rio was heading towards them, flanked by Drake and Tabitha. They had been hunting, who knows where, Elvina didn't know, and had their hands full with Corphish (Who were still alive and snapping at Drake's hands.) and a couple of assorted, small fish.
"What are we going to do with crabs like that?" Sara countered quickly, motioning to the Corphish.
"We're going to eat them." Rio responded, yet there was a stubborn expression on his face that even his mask didn't hide. "But what won't happen? A lot of things happen around here."
"Some stupid boy isn't going to come back and try to take Sara's Vulpix, that's what." Elvina said for her friend, who let off what sounded like a relieved sigh. "Now let's eat before the Corphish there cut Drake's hands to shreds. You remember what happened with the Roselia, right Drake?"
Even though Tabitha and Rio both looked stumped about the Roselia, Drake's ears blushed a deep scarlet. "Yes, well… these haven't hurt me yet."
"And this is when one of them gets curious and decides to clamp onto one of your fingers." Sara blurted.
"Roselia? They can't hurt a fly…" Tabitha snorted, "Really…"
"No, no! Roselia can be killers!" Sara was snickering by now, Drake becoming more and more scarlet as they spoke.
"Ha ha!" Star's jittering came from the tree again, "That was hilarious! Drake, we should bring you back to the Roselia Gardens sometime!"
Eventually, actually, the Corphish got away, scurrying to freedom, since they actually did realize Drake's fingers were a weak point… oh, well, that wasn't so bad, since Drake's Pokedex droned that Corphish weren't really tasty anyways. As a newly lit fire, from Althea's mouth, cooked their fish meal, Sara decided to tell the whole tale of 'Drake and the Roselia'.
"You see, Roselia like sunlight like any normal plant, so that's why they all live around the limits of Sun Desert and Jade City." She began, to nods, "Well, the place in which they like to bask in is called the Roselia Gardens. Drake got the idea that he could catch one."
"It didn't work well." He interjected.
"No, of course it didn't, or he would probably have a Roselia by now." Sara motioned where Drake's three Pokemon had decided to perch, sit, and relax. Actually, two, as Mellow had decided that Star's tree was better. She was squawking at the male Swellow in the background. Elvina found this hilarious, even if Mellow and his court shipping were serious.
"Anyways, he ordered Dorovi to use Crush Claw on the biggest one there. It was huge! Well, it seemed to be the Roselia leader, the King, if you will." She pretended to be wearing a crown, which excited a chuckle out of Tabitha, "He cried to the other Roselia, who in turn began to attack Drake and Dorovi. Except… Dorovi was safe in his Pokeball after he knew what was happening."
"Drake was lucky to escape with minor cuts and scrapes from the things." Sara concluded, as the fish started to smoke slightly. They were quickly taken up and distributed, two small fish per person or Pokemon, which was amazing seeing as there was so many people and Pokemon. Yet, Rio and Tabitha were feeding most of theirs special food themselves. No small task, but Rio only had to feed two of his Pokemon breakfast, including one temperamental Geodude and a very large Blastoise. Tabitha seemed to be putting his on a diet of things that would make his Pokemon stronger, faster, and overall better in battle.
Elvina got to talk to his Manectric, the only really interesting one in the bunch. He wasn't as scratched up now as he was a couple days ago, when he was holding Dominus up. Tabitha had a couple of interesting potions that she had to remember to ask him about, as they did wonders for an open wound.
"Was Dominus hard to battle?" She had started out, causing the electric dog to jump in surprise.
"As hard an opponent as I've ever had." He responded airily, as if knowing for a fact that Elvina wouldn't understand him anyway. As with most Pokemon, the Manectric got a shock when he realized he was wrong.
"That's interesting. So Dominus isn't all he's cracked up to be?"
"He's never been all he's cracked up to be, human." The fiery tone of Fiendre cut the Manectric off before he could even reply. The Houndoom had been carrying a Pokemon that Elvina didn't really want to recognize, as he had been eating at it for a while.
"And what makes you so sure?" Elvina countered, "Even a Houndoom as obviously old as you couldn't have known what Dominus was like so long ago."
She had said it then, the hound barked with laughter that literally had him shaking all over. "Oh… oh, humans… so clueless!"
"I'd like to know, if you don't mind. Knowledge is the cure to being clueless." Elvina leveled a scowl on him, which was taken as little threat.
"I can't agree with you there." He argued, when recovered from his laughing fit, "Humans were created to be clueless creatures. And they're serving their purpose well, they are. Would Armaldo, for example, still be alive right now, if it were not for humans?"
"Well, we recover them from fossils in their unevolved form, then they eventually become strong Pokemon, then well, some can't do without them now, I guess. But true enough, Armaldo wouldn't be alive if not for humans."
"Huh, and am I not the only one who notices that Pokemon like that were not supposed to have come back? They all died out of natural causes. But why did they get brought back? Humans, stupid, who thought they were coming up with a breakthrough." At this point, the Manectric scampered away, sensing the growing argument coming from them both.
"So what's wrong with them, might I ask you? I have never, in all my life, seen an Armaldo make any sort of news for being destructive in any ways." Elvina countered.
"Yes, but, what happens with the Armaldo and their unevolved form… Anorith, I would think, bloom in population? That makes all of them are life that can never come back, since they have been registered as extinct, so none of them may come back as Sprites-"
"Sprites?" Elvina repeated, "What are you talking about?"
"Huh, you don't know? I thought as much… Pokesprites are Pokemon that can evade the Afterlife after they die, and come back as immortal forms. Very, very few Pokemon really come back, even though the Sprite population never really decreases much these days, so there are a lot of us. Yes, I'm a Pokesprite, so you know that I've seen Dominus for what he really is," The old hound's voice was full of scorn, "An old fake. His empire was built on collective fear, in which it grows every time someone shows fear for the man. He's just a normal human, save for the Pokemorph part, which can be taken care of in most normal ways."
"So you're saying that you've lived for thousands of years."
"Exactly! Now that your puny human brain has finally grasped that concept, you'll believe that Dominus shouldn't be feared."
"As fear creates a stronger evil." Murmured Huan, licking his mouth clean of the fish taste.
"Where did that come from?" Elvina asked, stroking her Eevee warmly across his back.
"I don't know. But my mum said all the time to me when I was a little one, so I just remember it all the time."
"More…" She heard Drake wine, and knew that he had finished his meal. It was funny, as Drake always wanted more to eat, all the time.
With one last, fleeting look at Fiendre, Elvina picked up her Eevee and headed back to their camp, and not a moment too soon. For out of the underbrush sprang Adam, with his Milotic right behind him. "Finally! I've finally found you again!" He exclaimed, holding out his hand just as Solorite, hissing and spitting, came to a protective pose in front of Sara, "Your Vulpix, if you will."
"For another battle, maybe?" Sara suggested mildly, yet there was a slight quiver in her voice.
"You aren't getting my daughter. Tell Dominus that much." Solorite roared, the fur on his back sticking up and fluffing now.
"Dominus!" Sara repeated, looking from Adam, then casting a puzzled look to Rio. He scowled and nodded at that.
"Solorite's daughter, how he can't wait to get his hands on her! Draw you Pokeballs Sara, you'll need them today!" The familiar voice of the man that had called himself, 'the Lord of the red-eyes' came from behind Adam. Top-hat and all, the greasy man was back, and grinning wildly.
"Two on one, that's hardly fair!" Rio interjected, standing at Sara's side, "It shall be a fair fight, if I have anything to say about it."
Elvina glowered at Rio as she pushed him aside. "I'll battle with my friend, thank you." She spat sourly at him, as he fell over.
"Ahaha! Good one Elvina!" Star chirruped.
"Okay, alright, fine!" Rio growled as he retreated away from them.
"One Pokemon each." Adam said in measured tones, "Is your Flygon ready for another pounding, Sara?"
"No such luck with that." Sara growled in reply as she nodded to Karen, of all Pokemon, "I choose my Eevee."
"And I choose Foam, go!" Elvina barked to her Seel, who shook in shock before moving in front of her in a battle pose.
"An Eevee and a Seel, you've got to be kidding me! Alright Milotic, let's show them what a real battler looks like!" Adam exclaimed, as they all gave room for the battleground, stepping back and away from the now smoldering fire. The serpent creature cried and snaked around to level a vicious pose at her enemies.
"Right, Aero." The other man tossed his Pokeball and released an Aerodactyl, who let out a roaring cry to the sky before leveling himself with flaps of his heavy wings.
"Tampering with nature, I say." Fiendre murmured, he had taken a spot aloofly at the side of Elvina. "Yet another Pokemon Mother Nature decided to do without…"
"Sara, Elvina! Pay attention to that Aerodactyl!" Rio roared from the sidelines, worry in his voice.
"Oh, and Rio…" Aero's trainer leveled him a very nasty gaze, "Dominus has so many nice things to say to you…"
"Be quiet Famulus, tell Dominus he can shove it!" Rio retorted, and finally they knew the man's name.
"Are we going to battle or what?" Elvina asked impatiently, pointing a finger at the flying creature, "Foam, Aurora Beam!"
The multicolored beam that shot from Foam's horn looked as chilling as it really ways, aimed strait for Aero. The Pokemon waited for the last second to dodge the beam, and even then it did it too quickly for comfort. This Pokemon was fast.
"Ancientpower." Famulus said with a snicker. The creature's response was to go into a nose dive at Karen, and upon impacting ground, as the Eevee was fast enough to dodge it, the ground crumpled up and rolled after her, as if trying to swallow Karen up. This continued for about a minute, until she jumped over the tide of ground and back flipped to safety.
Upon orders, Karen jumped for Aero's wing to clamp down on it with her powerful mouth, but was swatted away by Milotic and her large, fan-like tail.
Another Aurora Beam was shot at the Aerodactyl, this time with Karen attacking him at the same moment, causing enough mass confusion that he was hit by the beam and momentarily frozen in mid-air. But with a shake of his body, the Pokemon was as good as new, and maybe more ferocious then ever.
A wave of water crashed down on both Karen and Foam, the Surf attack sent over by Milotic. It was enough to get Elvina's socks soaked and shoes drenched. She noticed that Karen was already in a bad condition, breathing heavily already. The Aerodactyl dove at her with mouth gaping wide, immense fangs ready for the taste of blood. But that taste would never come.
Right before Aero had the chance to clamp down on his enemy, Sara cried out Karen's name with some force. It was like a surge of power for the Eevee, as she turned and surveyed her trainer, face contorted with fear for her, in which she used to not only dodge the attack, but cause some damage as well.
The Eevee gave a mighty leap and landed on Aero's back, where the Pokemon was stunned for a moment before realizing what happened and attempting to shake her off. And he eventually sent her flying, after Karen had taken a mouthful of the tender skin on his wing with her.
"Karen!" Sara gasped again, eyes wide and mouth open as she watched the show of light that happened as she fell right in front of Milotic, the serpent creature with tail ready to swipe. She became larger, ears lengthening and tail splitting. Just as the show of light fell away, Karen was swatted back at Foam.
Even though the Seel saw the completely silver-furred Pokemon heading straight for him, he wasn't fast enough to get away from her. He and Karen became a pile of Seel and Espeon for a second, before Karen righted herself and fixed her glassy purple eyes on Sara. Instantly, Sara broke out into a wide smile at her Pokemon, before telling her to try a Swift attack.
The stars that Karen shot from her ruby jewel were too numerous to avoid, and the Milotic felt damage for the first time in this battle. Some of the rays even veered off course and hit the Aerodactyl, but he paid no heed to them as he did a full body slam on Karen, giving her heavy bruises along her back and side. Evolution or not, Karen couldn't keep this up for very much longer.
"Foam, try an Ice Beam attack!" She ordered her Seel, who put on a mask of intense concentration before he fired, with pain as it looked, an icy beam that scraped across the Aerodactyl's side. He roared in pure fury before going into a nose-dive, and was shocked to find that he could no longer move downward.
Karen's ruby jewel was glowing brightly, creating a barely seeable wall in front of Aero. As she put her concentration into it, the barrier caused by her Reflect attack grew and folded around the creature. "Now, Foam." Elvina said, taking her cue from the look that Sara had given her, "Use another Ice Beam!"
Milotic wasn't going to just sit there though, she took the attack that Foam had aimed at Aero, and took another Ice Beam as he tried, frustrated, to hit his original target. Her middle was icing up, and she looked to be freezing finally from the attacks. But Karen's head was starting to bob slightly, the glow of her jewel diminishing, as the Aerodactyl slammed himself into the barriers holding him away from the fight.
Finally, just as Aero claimed his freedom again, Foam got a clear shot at the Pokemon, in which he hit his mark well. Completely frozen over from a hit to the chest, Aerodactyl crashed to the ground in a faint.
Scowling, Famulus recalled Aero and stepped back, before retreating into the darkness with, "You can still handle them." To Adam before he was gone. His Milotic, compared to Karen and Foam, was still in a good condition. Karen slumped down, exhausted, from holding the Reflect attack way too long.
It was a good chance to even the odds, which was taken as Milotic sent Karen flying for the last time with a flick of her tail. The Espeon landed hard off to the side, near Fiendre who gave her a sniff before getting up and retreating back some. She, too, had fainted.
This was it now. Elvina could feel the sets of many eyes boring into her back, the hopeful ones of Althea, the furious ones of Solorite. She would have to win, to prove that she was just as good of a Pokemon trainer as any of them, and send these darklings back to the dark hole they crawled out of.
The surprise came when, of all Pokemon, Mellow landed on her left forearm and gave her his vote of confidence. Murmurs from many of the other Pokemon that were watching, both captured, and the wild Pokemon that made this forest their home. The wanted her to win. And win she would.
"Foam, use Headbutt!" Elvina cried, her Pokemon obeying her with a charge at Milotic and stab at her with his horn. It wouldn't be able to do much, but as both Elvina and her Seel knew, his evolution was close enough that if he could just get enough experience…
Foam received a slam from the Milotic's tail for all his troubles, and he actually slammed her back. For a second it appeared that they would slap each other around with their tails until Foam let out a barking cry and flopped over, looking as if he had been defeated.
The forest, and all the Pokemon in it, seemed to hold in their breath. For a sinking heartbeat, Elvina thought that she had lost it, lost the chance given to her to save Althea. But… it wasn't the case at all.
Another heartbeat later and Foam was back up, panting heavily. In his eyes glowed a new-found power that soon spread across his body. It was now Elvina who was holding her breath, as she admired the magnificent change that was happening to her Pokemon. She had seen it before, yes, many times, but it felt much different to be the trainer of the Pokemon who evolved.
The fully grown Pokemon lifted his head, standing higher, and letting out an air of power. He had succeeded, he was a Dewgong! Shivers when down Elvina's spine when she remembered the cold attack that her Pokemon had just learned through his evolution, and when she uttered the two words in an order, they seemed to have the same chill to the air. Sheer cold.
Foam clapped his fins together, creating a slapping sound, before launching his attack. Suddenly, the air all around felt frosty, yet Elvina was glad she was standing behind Foam, not in front of him. A cold mist settled around Milotic, who helplessly waited for the end. The mist solidified into a sheet of pure ice, in which the serpent Pokemon was encased it. For a second, the statue-like figure just stood there, before collapsing over, the ice shattering in large chunks.
Adam recalled his Pokemon, then turned tail and fled, before he had to face them. It took a second for the thought to sink in, they had won! "Wonderful!" Rio broke through the silence, "Not one, but two evolutions in one battle! That's nearly unheard of!"
"Thanks." Sara muttered, casting a shiny-eyed glance at Elvina, "But it was Elvina who did all the credit."
"Oh no you don't! You're not putting all the credit on me!" Elvina beamed down on Sara, as she was much taller being six years older, "We won. And that's all there is to it."
"I'll bet you Dominus is going to be steaming!" Drake exclaimed brightly, "And he'll probably want Karen now too!"
"But he won't get me." Althea barked firmly, exciting a tense laugh from her father.
"Of course not." He murmured, looking after Famulus and Adam, "None will touch any of us."
"You see?" The misty voice of Rika put in, "Wasn't that a nice battle?" She was leaning on an old tree, grinning at Elvina in particular. "And do you still believe that I'm a nut-case, Elvina?"
She blinked, "How did you know-"
Rika waved her question away impatiently, "I know everything, besides, you all should be heading to Cobalt Strip right now. On your way, you might find a friend or three…" The psychic smiled brightly before turning and flouncing away.
"Who was that?" Tabitha asked quietly, "And what in the world was she talking about?"
"You don't what to know." Elvina put in, "You really don't want to know. Now, come on everyone! We've got Pokemon to recover and places to go!"
Sara, with one look at the Pokeball that held Karen, nodded her agreement at that statement.