Chapter Three: The First Clash
"Greetings, people of Johto. This is Mariana Schwartz, head meteorologist of the Goldenrod Central Forecasting Team. I'm here to confirm the rumors that seem to have swept through the Johto region even faster than the storm itself… but I must first ask, on behalf of law enforcement everywhere that no one, quote, flips out and throws chairs through their television sets and or windows, end quote. Thank you. Now then, first are the reports of the lightning strikes in various…"
Noctali blinked slowly in boredom, no longer really noticing the constant thrum of the television. Nurse Joy had placed him, wrapped in his swaddling towel and all, on a large cushion in her private office, before hurrying off to take care of the 'real' sick Pokémon. She'd had the courtesy to leave a bowl of smelly dry Pokémon food, a pan of sharp-tasting water, and as noted, the television turned on. It hadn't even taken one bite for Noctali to find that he [ihated[/i the food; it was some generic, processed crap best reserved for all the strays she welcomed in.
Wait just a minute… she considered [ihim[/i a stray, didn't she? As this thought repeated itself in his mind, he leapt off the cushion in a flurry, ears jutting rigidly into the air, nose perked high in an egotistical display. He was no stray, and he absolutely refused to be treated like one. Hospitality be damned, he had a name and everything; how could he be a stray? Deciding that he'd had enough of the boring meteorologist's rambling, he trotted out of the open door to the Nurse's office, intent on finding his brother. After all, he needed to cram his story through that uppity Psychic-type's skull if it was the last thing he did.
On the television, Mariana Schwartz was busy gesticulating madly towards an atmospheric view of the Kanto-Johto landmass, showing how both regions were being covered by the strange storm – a storm whose center seemed to be the rugged peak of Mount Silver.
[iNudge.[/i
A mangled noise of ultimate displeasure issued from the inanimate lump of silvery-lavender fur.
[iNudge nudge.[/i
Mentali, who was still half-asleep and very much wanted to stay that way, elected to simply lash out with a pulsation of Psychic energy, just strong enough to shove back whatever was so rudely interrupting his sleep. Waves of pale blue energy wafted off of his still-unmoving form… but they merely slid past the blue-ringed Umbreon who stood there. Noctali had to suppress a giggle at the ticklish sensation of the Psychic energy. He stuck his tongue out in focused determination and extended one dainty black paw, inching ever closer to the dozing form's bony scapula. Closer… closer…
[iNudge.[/i
« FOR THE LOVE OF JOHTO! » Mentali screeched, flinging himself into a perfectly-rehearsed, time-proven, never-before-failed sideways Tackle. Much to the groggy Pokémon's surprise, however, he found himself skidding along the slippery floor, rather than colliding with whomsoever had been bothering him. With repetition came indeed perfection, but also the prospect of one getting used to such a response. Noctali wagged his tail with gleeful pride as he watched his twin struggling to right himself in a small puddle of water.
« That's gotta be like, the ba-jillionth time that's worked, dude! » Noctali cried jovially, bounding over and skidding across the floor on outstretched paws, all just to crash right into his brother. He toppled over the aggravated Espeon, legs flailing, laughing in unabated mirth. Mentali was simply bowled back over onto the floor, clipping his chin painfully against the tiling. After a perilous moment in which his poor head was perfecting a butterfly stroke, Mentali spoke in a quietly controlled voice that belied his current state of wrath.
« Though it may be fun and games to you, my [idear[/i brother, » he began, words slurred by wrathful grogginess, « Your bothersome sense of humor tends to wear my nerves incredibly thin. I kindly request that your frivolous antics cease. Soon. »
Mentali stood, trying his best to conserve what little dignity he had left, and sauntered shakily towards the hallway that led to the back. Perhaps he'd be able to get some sleep there; after all, Noctali wasn't the kind for empty, boring rooms. His tail dragged along the ground, his eyes lowered and hooded by sleepiness. Mentali seemed to overlook the fact that walking like so rendered him rather defenseless…
His wearisome cry of protest was even louder than the exuberant shout which Noctali released upon tackling him – yet again.
And thus the two bickered as they made their way through the fairly vacant Pokémon center, headed towards the strays' rooms. After the attraction of the Shiny Umbreon had been out of sight for an hour or so, the trainers who'd crowded themselves in the waiting room had begun to drift away. The storm had turned itself into a kind of steady pulsation of rain, without all the vigorous lightning and clamorous thunder that had so plagued the Eeveelutionary twins. It was almost as if the wrath of the entity had subdued the instant they entered the Pokémon Center… Therefore, most people simply braved the rains, running to wherever it was that they had to be. One uppity trainer from another region took the pleasure of showing off the shiny powers of his Kirlia – a Pokémon that would never be seen in the Johto wild – by Teleporting. If only he could have seen the faces of the crowd, most of whom had been irked by his constant bragging anyway.
Mentali nosed his way into a vacant room on the left side of the hallway; for a moment, he thought that he'd gone into the same room as before. In reality, it was merely set up in the same lackluster, prefabricated manner. Upon entering, he padded softly over towards the silvery pan of water, dipping his muzzle in daintily for a drink.
He was reminded of his maddening brother when Noctali nearly submerged his entire face in the shallow pan, soaking the lavender Espeon… again. Water shot up his nose as he snorted in surprise, causing him to splutter and sneeze indignantly. Leaping backwards, he laid the most contemptuous glare he could muster upon the black beast. Noctali, to no surprise, simply continued to face-plant in the water pan, happily enjoying himself until all of the water was successfully strewn about that part of the room.
« You… incorrigibly… numb-skulled… scum, » Mentali spat. Despite his scathing comments, though, and a few earlier remarks, he belatedly realized that Noctali had been trying to tell him something before being carried away like a celebrity. The more the idea bounced around within his cranium, the more Mentali accepted that it might be wise to give the beast time to explain himself. « So, um… my dearest brother, » he began, his tone overly sweet, « Do me the undeniable [ihonor[/i of hearing that which transpired in your little escapade today. »
Noctali glanced sideways at his twin, who was disdainfully using his front leg to dry his face. As water dripped like rain from his own soaking visage, he couldn't help but wonder why Mentali suddenly wanted to hear it so much. …Oh well, he was being nice for a change, wasn't he?
« Okay! » Noctali cried, practically cutting a back flip as he leapt around and flew towards one of the plump pillows piled all over the place. He happily plopped down upon the puffy square, legs splayed out haphazardly. As he recounted his [iepic[/i tale, his tail wagged gently back and forth (and was the better part of Mentali's focus).
« It was so awesome! I was walking around the Lighthouse, right? And there was this voice, and it like, sang or something, I'm not really sure – it was talking in my head and in my ears at the same time. I was like, DUDE, that's awesome! Anywho, after he… she… it, what the fevah, stopped singing, it like, TALKED to me, dude! And, and it was like a ghost or something, y'know? No, you dunno… um… like, I could see through it and stuff and the water messed it up! »
Mentali nodded slowly the entire second and a half that it took for his brother to say all that. When more than three nanoseconds passed after the word "up," he took his chance to say,
« So it was a ghost, then? Ghastly aren't exactly common around this city, but we are rather within the proximity of Ecruteak; perhaps one was a bit wayward in its deathly wanderings – mother may even have chased that one dolt out at last. » Though he wouldn't admit it, something about his skeptical assurance was rather… empty, even to his own mind. A Ghastly could have even been haunting the Lighthouse itself, a more likely place of origin, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
« Dang it, Mentali, I already toldja, it was a [idog[/i ghost. It was all blue and white, and it had like, freaky hippy hair or something – all cloudy-like and everything – and these big long ribbons, like some girl would wear, but it sounded like a dude when it talked… maybe he was just into ribbons, heck if I know, but anyway it wasn't no Ghastly or anything, dude, it was like, whooooaaaahhhh. »
Mentali felt a chill skipping down his spine as this description was painted throughout his mind; his fur stood on end, surely making him look poorly groomed and heathenish, but for once in his life, his appearance wasn't too high up on his list of priorities. He'd heard of a Pokémon with that description… but there was no way.
« Noctali… you're… you're joking, surely, I - »
« Dude! I'm tellin' ya, I saw what I saw! And it said something kinda funny, too - »
Mentali bristled even further, as though his own question frightened him, as he interrupted, « Something about Johto's End, by any chance? » His voice was barely perceptible, so quietly did he utter the query.
« EXACTLY, dude! » Noctali shouted, fidgeting all over the pillow so frantically that he was almost literally beside himself. In all his excitement, he managed to fall face-forward off of the pillow, panting with the exertion of his exclamation and making quite the clamor. Such a clamor, in fact, that as he righted himself, ears going in strangely different directions, he realized something rather alarming – Mentali had very much left the room, and he'd totally missed it.
« Dude, that ain't cool. »
Mentali cursed himself for being one of the very few Psychic-type Pokémon out there [iwithout[/i the ability to Teleport, of all things. As soon as he'd realized what Noctali was talking about – even though Noctali himself knew not – he'd bolted out of the Pokémon Center's stray's exit at breakneck speed. One thought charged frantically around his mind after hearing Noctali's tale – he had to go home.
After all, it was his own mother who'd told him the old stories – the Diatribes of the Ancients. She was the reason he'd learned of the startling saga behind the Messenger of the Wind and Johto's End. She was the reason his fur had stood on end at Noctali's recollection, so innocently and ignorantly stated that it could only be true. Of course, to him they had been but fanciful stories, just far enough beyond reason and full enough of fantastical surrealism to entertain his then-juvenile mind.
The rain beat upon him as though it had a personal bone to pick with the bedraggled Espeon. His ears were practically plastered to his neck; his normally dainty paws and tail-tips were all plastered with copious amounts of grainy grey and brown mud. He had currently abandoned all pretense of cleanliness; the most important matter at hand involved getting home as quickly as possible. Above him, the broiling blackness of the sky was split by lightning, evidence of the heavens' mounting wrath.
To top off this loud interruption to his reminiscing, Mentali found himself suddenly flying through the air; something rather large and painfully solid had powerfully struck his hindquarter. A strangled noise escaped the surprised Pokémon before he slammed face-first into the mud, sliding for several disgusting meters. When at last the momentum of his run and the attack died away, he laid in the mud dejectedly, his face and the left side of his body completely coated by the grainy, sticky substance.
Mentali dug his forepaws into the liquid excuse for earth, pushing down with all his might to free himself. The mud had a curious suction to it, so saturated it was by the torrential rains. At last, he managed to get enough traction in flailing about that he popped free of the inch-deep tomb with a peculiar cartoonist's "pop!" He fell back upon his haunches, spluttering both indignantly and in genuine disgust; to his chagrin, he'd partaken a bit more literally than one would imagine of the mud-pie.
Blinking the filth from his eyes, he scanned the area around him for whatever had caused his fall. It was about to get a taste of what a truly outraged Espeon could do… that is to say, if he could actually find it. His blinking eyes roved the long, muddy road back towards Olivine, finding it empty; up towards the far-off Miltank farm, with the same result. There was nothing there! Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he slowly got back to his feet, tail tips lashing, and turned back along his way.
« AAAHHH!!! » he screeched, leaping into the air like a cat in a comic, fur bristled with shock. Upon turning, he'd come face to face – quite literally – with a strange, floating Pokémon. Its body was composed of three symmetrical spheres, each just barely touching another, so that it hovered in a rounded, inverted letter "V." Six black magnets jutted out at strange angles from its form, two allotted to each sphere, as well as nine large, cumbersome screws. One eye blinked innocently back at the shocked Espeon as the Magneton evidently tried to figure out what the creature's problem was.
« What in name of all things JOHTO do you mean, running around and scaring the LIFE out of random Pokémon in such a DISGRACEFUL manner, you agonizingly-proportioned, improperly-suspended excuse for a carbon-based life form?! Are you even carbon-based to begin with, or not? It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that you were composed of some refuse steel scraps or something along those… »
As Mentali carried on indignantly, subconsciously beginning to pace in circles as he named all the possible genetic flaws that could have led to such an incredibly blasé Pokémon (while also naming the numerous defects that the Magneton's parents must have passed on), said three-eyed Pokémon began to feel rather offended. Most of the multi-syllabic words that the strange Espeon employed went right around his central sphere, however, he did catch the gist. Was it his fault that the crazy fox-wannabe had been in his way as he was bettering his Take Down attack? No! That little jerk had no reason to go off on him like that!
These thoughts tumbled around in the Magneton's head for but a few seconds before he'd made up his mind. All three eyes – though physically unchanging in shape – shifted to glare utter death at the obliviously insulting, mud-caked Pokémon below. A small blue spark crackled into life around a screw on his central sphere, mimicked instantly by the other eight screws present. In an instant, a bluish-white charge lanced between the small protrusions, curving around the blue and red ends of the magnets to form a large ring of electricity that encircled the whole Pokémon.
« …and I shan't even [ibegin[/i to postulate upon what could have led to the attachment of those horridly unfashionable magnets upon your – excuse me, are you paying well attention to me? I don't believe – oh, dear Thunder."
Mentali had finally noticed the Magneton, which had risen to hover nearly three meters in the air – far out of his easier reach, and at the perfect angle for something rather sinister.
« Izzzz a Zzzzzhunder-zzzzzzhock-ck-ck, axshallllyyyyyy, » the Magneton drawled, its voice that of all three component Magnemite, speaking together in discordant unison. « I haven't learnnnnned Zzzzzhunderrrr yeeeeet-t. »
« Oh, lovely, I'm sure it's a fantastic attack, but could you perhaps direct it off in the other direction when you release it, please? I'm not terribly fond of electrical shocks, and thus - »
His words dissolved into a buzzing screech as the distance between the Magneton and himself was bridged. The arc of negative ions moved much faster than the most recent lightning he'd witnessed; as such, Mentali couldn't react in time… and consequently, he spent the next several seconds writhing his way through a complex series of shameful contortions, electricity having enveloped his body completely. When at last the onslaught ceased, the lavender-furred Pokémon sucked in an enormous breath, reclaiming that which he'd lost in shrieking.
He took several further gasps, trying to keep from swaying upon his muddied paws. The Magneton was certainly a strong Pokémon, and its Thundershock the same, but Mentali knew that he could withstand far worse punishment than that. He'd merely been unprepared for the sudden attack. After a moment, he bowed his head in resolution and spoke once more. This time, the high-and-mighty air of careless flippancy had gone from his tones, replaced by a decidedly more combative edge.
« Very well then, my dear Magneton, » he breathed, trying not to pant too noticeably. « I see that you're not one for negotiation. » He raised his hooded gaze to lock with the central eye of the still-sizzling Magneton, a knowing smirk besetting his visage. « However, I'm afraid that you'll have to do a [ilot[/i better than that, my dearly misguided acquaintance. »
Mentali crouched low to the ground, his smallish form belying all the power that had built up within his coiled muscles. Every cell within him tensed in preparation; he'd a fair distance to go with his opening move. His level gaze scrutinized the airborne enemy, eyes glinting even though the world was dulled by the storm above. A primal flash it was, that which claimed his midnight irises. Above him, the Magneton finally discharged the last bit of electricity that lingered from its recent attack. Now was his chance!
With a grating, feral hiss, Mentali launched himself into the air, all four legs extending behind him with the force of his vaulting. Startled, the Magneton barely had time to begin twisting sideways before the Espeon's Headbutt connected with a lower sphere. There was a resounding [iclang[/i at the moment of impact; Mentali immediately flung his legs out and fell to the earth; the Magneton unleashed a strangled, buzzing moan as it was spun off balance by the impact. Landing with a grunt of exertion, Mentali had to take a moment to right himself properly; his head was swimming and his ears ringing after that less-than-brilliant choice of an attack. Honestly[iHeadbutting[/i a Steel-type…
The Magneton slammed into the ground a moment later, but immediately rose into the air once more. Its three eyes blinked quickly, one rolling in a nauseating fashion. After it had shaken off the hit – a light one, due to its steel-coated body – it addressed Mentali with more of its transformer-emulated speech.
« I zzzzzaid zhat I didn't-t knnnnnowwww Zzzzzzhunder, » it drawled, the black magnets upon its form beginning to turn on their axes. Overhead, the clouds seemed to congeal, growing ever thicker in the vicinity above the dueling Pokémon. As the magnets upon the silvery tri-orb Pokémon picked up speed, generating burst after burst of sizzling fallout energy, it continued in a sinister tone. « But-t I didn't-t zzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaay… zhat I knnnnneeeeew annnnuzzzzer at-taaaaaack! »
The whirring of his six magnets had allowed each to gather a large orb of pulsating electrical energy; Mentali could feel the shifting currents of electrical charge, seething through the air around him. The static washed over him, causing his fir to stand on end for the umpteenth time that day. As he prepared himself to dodge, he racked his brain for what this may have been. His older sister had never used an attack that prepared itself like this; but then again, she didn't have any magnets, either. He watched carefully, edging slowly backwards, occasionally blinking water from his eyes as the rain continued to beat down upon them. Another ear-splitting crack of thunder pealed a warning from the gods as the Magneton continued its preparation.
The six magnets began decelerating, and as if their speed had kept the electrical spheres small and compact, their deceleration allowed them to expand. The six pulsating balls of static grew until each was at least as large as one of the Magneton's body spheres. When at last the magnets had stopped their spinning altogether, the balls of condensed thunder drifted towards the Magneton's center of balance, seemingly intent upon merging with each other. At first, though, the negatively-charged spheres would not bring themselves too near, thanks to the laws of physics, but then, something else happened.
A light had begun to shine from behind the rotating wall of electricity; a positively-charged mote of energy had appeared between them all. Instantly, the six were drawn to this newest point of energy, unleashing a wild arc of blue electricity with the motion. The Magneton's entire body began to quiver, its magnets and screws twitching with humongous effort; it was pouring everything it had into this next attack. And then, it came to him; Mentali suddenly realized that he was staring at one of the most powerful Electric attacks known, second only in popularity to the over-used Thunder. He remembered where he'd seen this before, as well – the Ecruteak City Gym. The human had ordered his own Magneton to perform such an attack, and he'd given it a rather odd title, as well – Zap Cannon, or some other fantastical appellation. As soon as this thought occurred to him, he then realized one other rather important detail – the formation of so many orbs of energy beforehand hadn't been part of the attack… it had been another move entirely, one his sister only wished she could learn – Charge.
Just as he'd made his mind up to dodge, however, his attention was suddenly cloven by an undulating cry, nearly muted by the howling winds.
« YO, MENTAAAAAAAAAAALIIIIIIII!!! » Mentali snapped his head around in surprise, only to find his twin galloping up the road from Olivine. He made to turn back away, and was going to shout something fleetingly dismissive, but it was too late. As he turned back, his vision was filled with an explosion of blinding white light, rivaling even that which had stemmed from the lightning-Ampharos collision earlier. The overpowering sound of static raped his ears, and the next thing he knew, the attack had connected.
Unlike so many other Electric-type attacks, Zap Cannon did not surround and envelope; instead, it simply hammered. The blast of fulminating charges smashed into Mentali's hip, slamming him instantly into the ground and scorching his fur as the charge passed through his suddenly frail body. The force of the attack sent the Magneton careening off through the air, but it did far worse to Mentali; he literally screamed – both mentally and physically – as a second shockwave of pure energy crashed down upon him like some great and mighty storm surge, grinding his entire body into the ground.
For a moment, neither Mentali nor the Magneton, who had just managed to right himself several decameters away, budged. Overwhelming pain was wracking Mentali's body, the result of far too much electrical stimulation of every nerve cell within him. At once, he lapsed into a partial seizure, his muscles contorting with such violent force that his body was curled into a rigid fetal position, despite the mud which pressed upon him from all sides. But after a moment, the petit mal episode subsided, and his taught myofibrils all relaxed; the mud sucked and squelched around his battered form as he shifted painfully.
Above the din which sounded relentlessly in his throbbing skull, he could vaguely perceive his brother's voice, calling his name with increasing verve. Slowly, Mentali came back to himself, the world returning to him as if from another dimension entirely. He'd never been hit with such a powerful attack; the Magneton had obviously been withholding a great deal with its opening Thundershock. A paroxysm gripped his exposed right side, the thin muscles between his ribs contracting without a return relaxation; the spasm was complete and unrelenting. At last, after finally returning to full worldly awareness, he strained upwards against the mud – the presence of which had likely been his saving grace.
At first, his limbs were so shaky and weak from the recent electrical overload that he merely twitched in the grips of the muck, but after a few moments, enough of his strength had returned that he was able to pull himself free of the slosh. Slowly, with a Herculean effort that he would never have admitted to needing, he came fully to his feet. His knees and elbows vibrated with exertion; somehow, he managed to muster up enough sardonic attitude to curse himself for turning away from the Magneton. He took a shaky step forward, now truly ignoring the redundant sounding of his name from his ever-nearing twin.
Mentali ground his fangs together in aggravated consternation, struggling against the flames of endless pain in his side. The gem upon his forehead began to glow, more fiercely than ever before, as he prepared himself for what had to be done. The Magneton was slowly returning to their makeshift battlefield, rain audibly pinging off of his form as he laid a particularly scathing glare upon the Espeon. He wasn't particularly happy to see the Pokémon getting back up again; after all, he'd allotted every last particle of latent and otherwise stored energy within his body to that attack; he'd even drawn from the storm above, as best as he could, by inverting the charges on his magnets in such a fashion. No Pokémon should have been able to get back up after that – at least, none that didn't seriously pose a [idire[/i threat to his well-being. He gave all of his magnets an analytical spin, feeling for the warm tingle of a developing charge, but alas, none greeted him. He was really and truly without electricity, and he wasn't exactly sure how long it'd take to recharge. Hope quickly fading, he began to rise higher into the air, one last – if slightly moronic – tactic available.
Mentali took another step forward, this time firmly planting his paw before him. The ruby upon his forehead had taken on new life; it glowed with such vibrant white light that the upper edges of Mentali's vision were obscured. His unblinking eyes, normally as black as the night skies above Ecruteak, had begun to shine with a faint, translucent blue light. Another second and the same eerie glow began to emanate from his entire body, rising as though born from the very follicles of hair that covered him. As this peculiar energy wafted off of his form, a rather odd thing took place: a slight breeze seemed to center itself around only Mentali, contrary to the billowing winds of the mounting storm; the long, scruffy tufts of fur that framed his jaw from beneath either ear lifted, ever so slightly, just ruffled by this counter breeze. Even the torrential rains seemed to divert themselves around the growing aura which now enveloped the Eeveelution.
Several meters back down the road towards Olivine, Noctali had stopped in his tracks. Obviously, his brother had gotten into a fight, and he wasn't too keen on getting in the middle of it. Granted, it would have been rather run to jump in front of a concentrated wave of Psychic energy – that funny tingly feeling just [inever[/i got old… but he wasn't too sure he'd like the feeling of Electrical power from the Magneton. Especially after the way that last attack had floored Mentali so much; he had never seen one attack take his brother down with such ease! At least, it had been quite some time since he had… He contented himself by watching, expecting at the very least a nice, shiny show. The rain in his eyes was a bit annoying, so he pranced off towards the edge of the road to nestle himself in amongst a clump of bushes. They were pointy and rather uncomfortable, sharp bits grabbing at his fur and even prodding him in the eye at one point, but it certainly beat the open rain.
The gentle aura which surrounded Mentali grew agitated, ceasing to waft gently from his form and commencing to cling to him, though writhing outwards at the same time, begging for release. The lavender Pokémon had to take another step forward, almost unwillingly, as the rush of so much Psychic energy pounded through him, slamming against the walls of his chest and tearing through his airways. Every sanguine cell within him thrummed with the all too familiar force of the pending attack. His blue-misted gaze rose to affix itself upon the Magneton – which was strangely inching ever higher into the air – and he allowed his next thought to escape the confines of his cranium.
« It's been so very pleasant, dearest bastard. »
His tail lashed out, his eyes bulged open, his jaw gaped wide, and he unleashed a primal roar as he heaved the Psychic energy forth from him. The collective aura, finally given its outlet, surged forward into a jagged beam of psychedelic energy, exploding vigorously from the gem upon his forehead. The erratic Psywave tore through the air between them with nearly as much unfocused ferocity as a poorly-aimed Electrical attack, darting about before it finally connected with the Magneton, who'd been too stunned by the display to respond. A brilliant, contorted sort of flare clove through the area, bearing semblance to some hyped-up child's effigy of a lightning flash as the energy was pounded into, around, and through the enemy Pokémon. The entire vicinity was at once drained of all natural color, briefly replaced by the psychotically pulsating myriad of hues which stemmed from this attack.
The Magneton stood no chance.
As the final lingering fibers of the multi-colored blast rushed by, allowing the murky excuse for nature's appearance to return to the place, the Magneton seemed to disintegrate; the three spheres fell separately, as their component magnets and screws all dislodged and fell behind. There soon came the sound of eighteen various splatters in the mud, as it collectively hit the ground.
Mentali did not look upon the spoils of his victory; he stood instead with his head slightly hung, gasping for breath as the rain continued to batter his form. The better part of the mud coating his side had been pushed away by the persistent rain, along with his last burst of energy. Nonetheless, it was with a decidedly dirt face that he turned to greet his brother, who could be heard galloping up the road.
« Noctali, no - ! » Mentali began, but it was too late. Noctali flew into him, pinning his still-sore form down in the mud yet again. A gasp of surprise, discomfort, and some true pain escaped his chest in a rush, but he said nothing further; no scolds flew from his aggravated mind, no angry hisses fell from his lashing tongue. He simply lay back in the mud and let Noctali go on for a moment about the amazing shininess of his Psywave and how it would soon be a full-fledged Psychic attack if he didn't watch it, and other increasingly superlative statements.
When at last the praising rant was over, Noctali stepped off of his brother's chest and helped him back to his feet, commenting playfully on the dirty state of his fur.
« Yes, well… be that as it may, I honestly don't care right now, » Mentali said, following his brother back up the road. « Let's just head home, shall we? »
An hour passed by, the Magneton's many components not moving at all as the rain continued to cascade from the low ceiling. All over the route, large puddles had begun to form in lower areas; trees hung their newly weighted arms low, unable to stand so proudly tall amongst such continual drenching. Through the rhythmically bland patter of trillions of raindrops upon the saturated ground, the sound of one heavy footfall stood out. A moment later, it was echoed; then, the beast which knew such a heavy gait strode calmly towards the broken Pokémon upon the ground.
Its body was vaguely feline, covered in shockingly yellow fur. A pair of deadly sabers hung from its upper chops, glinting death in the dreary half-light of the storm. A deep violet mane flowed almost gracefully from the back of its head, shifting on the breezes as though it were unaffected at all by the dampness. This great beast loomed over the fallen Magneton, its jagged silver tail jerking about in contrast to the elegance with which it carried itself. Hard amber eyes glared down from its black mask, scrutinizing its defeated minion.
« [iAll failures…[/i » it spoke softly, its deep, resonant voice filling the gaps between that sound which took place in the world and that which did not. « [iShall be treated as such.[/i » Without further ado, it lifted its mighty forepaw, a single spark dancing around one extended claw, and gently placed it upon one of the Magneton's disjointed spheres. A clap of thunder rang through the heavens, unaccompanied by the slightest flash of lightning, as the silvery sheen of the Magneton – and all of its scatter body parts – faded to the shifting gray that so well fitted the grains of ash that it had suddenly become.
The prodigious Pokémon raised his head towards the sky, and was struck by a flash of lightning which sounded no thunder. As the light faded, its form was gone, presence noted only by an incomplete set of paw prints.
The ashes of the Magneton soon blended in with the slosh of the ground, forever gone from the realm of the living; forever a part of the natural world.
Chapitre 3 – Fin; Pour être continué.
Des mots de l'auteur:
At last, chapter 3. I'm so sorry for the wait; school has been utter hell recently. And let me just say in advance, to those of you who may have thought the battle scene was a bit slow, I know. Believe it or not, it was honestly meant to be that way this time.
From Chapitre 4:
"…They all gathered about the hearth, trying fervently to ignore the sounds of the raging storm, even as their home was shaken violently by every blast of thunder. Their mother settled herself before them all, glistening black eyes hooded pensively, as she began to recount the tale…"