This is what you have all been waiting for! Chapter 6 of Hoenn Chronicles has finally arrived! Aren't you excited? ...okay, it's not the most valuable chapter in the story as of yet nor is it going to be in the future. But, it is an update, it does have conflict, it (more thoroughly) introduces a new character and it does keep things moving. As promised, Jack will have a much larger part in this chapter. And unlike usual, there will be no shameless advertising in this chapter or in any chapter following this one. I am done not because I do not love those fanfics but because it is tiresome for both me, the author, to type it all out each chapter and for you, the reader, to have to go through the pain of reading it every single time when I'm sure you've already gone to do so, right? And now, on with the chapter!
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"It doesn't matter who you are, you're not going to touch my pokémon!" Dad roared angrily towards the woman who called herself Kujaku; If Greg thought I was bad tempered, he would probably compare my Dad to a charging Rhydon, "No one has the right to take another trainer's pokémon!"
"Why do you think I said it was stealing? For a Gym Leader you're not all that smart," The woman stepped forward so that we could get a better look at her and immediately I could see she was rolling her eyes at us; the woman was wearing a black shirt with a huge red 'R' on it with a matching black mini-skirt and boots, her long navy-blue hair free to blow around with the rushes of wind coming in through the open door of the room. Her dark grey eyes were probably the most frightening feature she had though; they were cold and malicious, something that made me shiver as she spoke to us again, "As we speak my partner is robbing the Pokémon Center. You might as well give up now; you're not getting any help against me."
"Go, Vigoroth! Slaking! Slakoth! Spinda! Linoone!"
Before my eyes the five pokémon came out of their pokéballs as I backed off; this wasn't my fight and the only pokémon I had on me was a Treecko recovering from a hang-over. Something more important was prodding at me; they were attacking the Pokémon Center as well! Greg had probably already gone back to take care of Ralts and Mudkip, but still... I had to get there as soon as possible.
It seemed like Dad and I were on the same track; he turned to me and nodded while shouting out, "Alexa! Get over to the Pokémon Center and make sure your friend and your pokémon are safe! I'll handle this woman!"
"Right, Dad!" I gave him a smile and thumbs up before I began to bolt for the only other door leading into the room; however, an explosion blocked the way as my exit was blocked. Instead, two pokémon were growling at me and approaching me rather quickly before I was pounced by the pair of them and pinned; I didn't even have a chance to brace myself against them.
"I'm sorry, but I think Houndour and Houndoom enjoy the kid's company too much for her to leave so soon," Kujaku laughed coldly and after I tilted my head back I could see the smirk on her face. I could also see Dad; his teeth were gritted before his attention was caught by the woman once again, "Now, why don't we make things more... equal for you? You and the girl battle Houndour and Houndoom in a double battle. If you win... the girl is free to go and we'll release the pokémon and trainers currently at the Pokémon Center. You'll never hear from us again, Norman."
"And if we were to lose?"
"Your pokémon are mine and your daughter becomes a member of Team Rocket whether she wants to join or not. And don't say over your dead body; playing hero won't help you if all of your pokémon can't battle and I could burn you to a crisp with a simple order."
There was complete silence in the gym as I stared at the ceiling, the dog pokémon on either side of me staring at Kujaku to await further orders. This was just way too freaky... but they were going to steal Dad's pokémon and my own if we lost! Worse, I would be forced to steal pokémon for this woman and whoever else was in this 'Team Rocket!'
"...reluctantly I accept your challenge. However, my daughter has no pokémon with her-"
"She does. We spied earlier, she still has a Treecko."
Why did I have a really bad feeling about this? When the two pokémon got off of me I quickly scrambled to my feet and ran to Dad's side, "The sooner we beat this hag the better, right Dad?"
Apparently that comment had pissed her off. How did I know that? It was because Kujaku's eye twitched before she nodded towards the larger of the pokémon she had, that pokémon firing a flamethrower attack in my direction. I just barely managed to jump out of the way while Dad caught me, "You'll regret calling me that kid, especially if you lose."
"Dream on!" Both Dad and I had shouted that before he smiled at me, returning every pokémon he had out except for Vigoroth. And then, it was my turn to release my own pokémon.
"Come on out, Jack!"
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I didn't know exactly how long it was before I was let out of my pokéball again. Regardless, I was out now, everything in front of me was still kind of blurry though. I stumbled backwards before shaking off the blurriness, my eyesight clearing enough to see the two growling mutts staring at me in the face. They weren't Poochyena or Mightyena that much I could tell; it looked like parts of their skeletons were on the outside, it gave them a sinister feel. To my left I saw a Vigoroth, one of idiot's pokémon; Alexa and Idiot were behind me. And yet, despite all of this, I still couldn't quite grasp what was going on.
Someone's voice was in the background; I couldn't tell who's and I couldn't tell what they were saying either. Blearily I blinked before I saw one of the black pokémon charging towards me; it was the smaller of the two, the larger went for the Vigoroth. I was actually preparing to get out of the way but ended up falling backwards, my head smacking hard against the ground. Alexa started to shout (which really made my ears ring, bloody human) and the mutt ended up jumping right over me before skidding a few metres behind my head.
That juice was still affecting me; at any other time I'd consider it a good thing but there was a rabid mutt trying to tear out my throat so it wasn't the time to think about the juice.
"Stand up and fight! Do I really have to hit you while you're down?" I heard said rabid mutt growling at me before I sighed and got back to my feet; it wasn't a very steady stance but at least I wasn't stumbling everywhere anymore.
"Excuse me for having really strong Oran Juice. You should try the stuff I had, it was bloody brilliant..."
The smaller pokémon's face became flat while the Vigoroth and the other pokémon were scrapping in the other corner of the gym, right before some other human shouting; I really needed something to plug my ears with, these loud voices were killing me, "Houndour! Don't just stand there, torch the damn Treecko with Flamethrower!"
"I'm sorry about this," The mutt now known as Houndour sighed before the attack was charged and a massive stream of flame was being fired at me.
It seemed like the mutt disliked his trainer, so why didn't he just leave? That was a thought before I ended up stumbling to the side from the Oran Berry Juice, somehow escaping that attacked unscathed. The unfamiliar voice was shouting again, I turned to glare at the woman while she barked another order; "The damn thing is drunk, Houndour! Don't miss again!"
Fiery blasts were going all around me while I stumbled around the floor, each time missing and leaving me unharmed. I had to wonder if the damn mutt was missing on purpose as his blasts seemed to be hesitant, something I somehow picked up from him. Yes, I knew it was a male a while ago, don't you start on me... Just because I was drunk didn't mean I couldn't catch this sort of thing.
Something caught me off-guard though, one of the blasts caught me square in the chest and knocked me back several metres. When I shakily got to my feet this time though, I saw that my entire front (excluding my face, that part didn't hurt) was severely burned. I probably couldn't take out Houndour like I took out that Poochyena a couple of nights back... not without it hurting me at the same time.
Things around me began to seem clearer as I took in a deep breath; not even Trunk knew I had this move when I was with him. Unfortunately, before I could launch said move I was bowled over by Idiot's Vigoroth. I ended up getting thrown into the air because of it before landing on top of Vigoroth's back. It was out cold and apparently the pokémon with Houndour managed to bite its arm viciously before chucking it at me.
Apparently I was the last one standing in-between Alexa and Idiot against these two. So, there was only one thing I could do now...
Faint from the pain of the god-be-damned burn that Houndour gave me. I'd definitely feel that one whenever I woke back up...
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"Return," I bit my lower lip as I saw my poor, battered Treecko collapse at last. Kujaku smirked at us as Dad stepped defensively in front of me, right before shaking her head, "You can't break our deal now, Norman. The girl and your pokémon are coming with me as per our agreement, there's nothing you can do to stop me from taking them now. Just give up already."
"You will not touch my daughter," Dad growled while I ended up looking towards Kujaku; Dad was standing up for me but I still couldn't help but feel scared. The woman's eyes were probably more frigid than an Ice Beam, and it seriously creeped me out. However, Dad's whispering came into my ear, "Give me your Treecko and run, Alexa. Get back to the Pokémon Center as quickly as you can; I'll protect your Treecko and you won't be kidnapped."
I nodded slowly while Kujaku ordered the Houndour and the Houndoom to approach us; Dad's whispering went into my ear again as we watched them get closer, "Run on three. One... two... three!"
When that last word was said I bolted for the door, somehow running around the two pokémon and slipping right on through. I could hear Houndoom barking after me, Houndour must have stayed behind with its trainer to deal with Dad. Damn it, the large one came after me. Just my luck. When I turned a corner I ended up bumping into another person in a Team Rocket Uniform, said person roughly grabbing my arms and turning me around to face the Houndoom.
I was pinned at that point before I began to struggle and flail violently; if I was going down, it wouldn't be without a fight! "Let me go you jack ass!"
"Orders forbade anyone to leave the building. Besides..." I could hear the cruel laughter in the man's voice while he spoke into my ear now, something that caused me to shudder in disgust, "Kujaku told me that you're the new toy. Don't want to lose you so soon, so you've got no choice now but to come with us, kid."
Something sharp went into the base of my neck after the grunt had said that, mere seconds later I was becoming extremely tired, "Bastards... I'll get you for this..." Those were the last things that I managed to say before everything went black.
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Chaos had reigned at the strange building while I threw pokémon around left and right; there were some that my powers couldn't touch but Mudkip blasted those ones away easily. It must have been at least twenty minutes since the battle started before pokémon from outside started to fight away the pokémon that had been attacking us; soon all of them (along with the humans in the black suits) were gone, leaving only Greg, Mudkip, the red-headed human and I to face the human that had scared the rest away.
"Norman! Who were those guys?" Greg ran forward to the strange man before they began to talk to each other; I looked towards Mudkip then and saw that she wasn't any worse off than before; those pokémon had been no match for our combined team work. However, when the strange human and Greg approached us, I couldn't help but wonder why they both seemed so worried. It was then that the strange human kneeled down before me and closed his eyes, a sigh leaving him.
"I take it you're Alexa's pokémon?" I nodded hesitantly, still curious as to why this human was talking to me before some truly shocking news made me go numb entirely, "You fought well, but unfortunately not everyone managed to escape... Alexa was kidnapped by Team Rocket."
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Dun dun dun! Read and review or you won't get to see what happens to them all! That is all I'll say at the end of this chapter. Until then, you all take care!