There is a new title page released for last chapter. I forgot to mention that D:
It was supposed to be every 4 chapters we would change the title page, but Rygel-n was in the hospital and missed the deadline. Would you prefer us to just change the title every 6 chapters, or change it again at chapter 8? ( two chapters away from now? )
Anyway, for any/all information on our RP, please visit the new Tumblr page Rygel-n just made!
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You can see close-ups of the title pages, plus any other art we do for the fic. When art is updated for the story on Ao3, he will upload the pictures there as separate files. He doesn't seem to be updating the art from the story to his DA page.
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EPISODE 7
Vs. The Collector
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The dim lights in the hall flickered, and the Pokemon locked in their cells scrambled to the various phoney shelters set up to hide in fear. Arcanine lowered his front two legs, preparing to pounce if he needed to.
Azure straightened up, glaring at the figure. He could not see the Stranger's face in the dim light, but he could see the Pikachu that led them there perfectly. It jumped down from the Stranger's shoulders to walk in front of him.
"Pikachu…" Cerise whispered, taking a step back.
Azure growled and stepped forward, "Are you that Pikachu's Trainer?"
The man did not reply, there was no noise coming from him whatsoever. He stood motionless in the darkened hall, so still that if it was not for the Pikachu standing in front of him, Azure probably would not have even noticed he was there.
The Pikachu looked back at its 'Master', apparently waiting for some orders, but the man remained motionless. Pikachu nodded and turned back towards the Arcanine, dropping down to all fours, its cheeks sparking, lighting up the dark hall.
"Let Pichu out!" Azure snapped, "Right now! She doesn't belong to you."
Pikachu looked back at his Master again, and his ears flattened. With a whimper, he turned back to Azure and shot an electric attack at him.
"Azure!" Cerise screamed, "Arcanine! Help him!"
Arcanine charged forward, launching a powerful Flamethrower as he did so. The two attacks collided, sending a shockwave throughout the hall, rattling the glass viciously, and sending Azure, Cerise, and Arcanine flying backwards. The three of them landed hard on the ground. Azure was the first to climb back to his feet with an angry look, Arcanine hesitated, waiting to see if Cerise was alright, before running forward to stand protectively in front of the two kids.
Pikachu started charging towards them, and Arcanine jumped as well, charging into an Extreme-Speed attack. Pikachu did not even hesitate as Arcanine came towards him, and instead ran faster. The Pikachu was like a little yellow blur in the air. And the two jumped at each other, Pikachu easily flipped around and its tail started to glow.
"Arcanine!" Cerise gasped, "Watch out!"
But it was too late. The tail seemed to harden, and the Pikachu spun around, whipping the Arcanine hard across the face. The Arcanine howled as it was thrown back. Azure ducked as the Arcanine soared above his head, colliding painfully with the wall behind him. Pichu gasped, jumping back as the wall shook violently.
The Pikachu did not wait for Arcanine to get up, and instead leapt into the air after him again, his entire body lighting up with electricity as he launched a Thunderbolt Attack.
Arcanine jumped out of the way at the last second. There was not much room to navigate in the small hall, and he accidentally jumped right into the wall on the other side. The Pokemon in the cell screamed out in fear and hid further in its shelter. The Thunderbolt, which was aimed at where Arcanine just was, hit the wall in front of Pichu.
Azure gasped, and shielded his eyes ad the hallway lit up. The attack was powerful enough to crack the glass, sending snake-like cracks shooting up the no-longer unbreakable material. Pikachu landed back on the ground and instantly charged at Arcanine again. Arcanine jumped to his feet and opened his mouth, firing a huge Fire Blast attack at the Pikachu.
Azure looked at the cracks formed on the wall and frowned. That Pikachu was powerful… powerful enough to crack the barrier this way…
Pikachu easily dodged the Fire blast, letting the fire scrape against the walls. He lit up with electricity again, and aimed at Arcanine. Arcanine fired back another Flamethrower, and the two attacks collided, causing another shockwave to blast through the hall. Azure felt the shockwave press him against the wall, and heard the weakened glass shudder underneath him as the shockwave shook it. He looked back at Pichu, standing there with a worried look, and back at Arcanine.
"Hey! Arcanine! I have an idea! Can you get over here for a second?" Azure called.
Acranine looked over at him, before the two attacks exploded, sending smoke and sparks blasting through the hall. Cerise fell to her knees coughing, shielding her face from the fight in front of her. Now free from Pikachu's attack, he jumped through the smoke and landed beside Azure.
Pikachu looked back at his Master, but the man was still standing exactly where he was before, seemingly unfazed by the fight in front of him. Not seeing any orders from his Master, the Pikachu turned back to where Azure and Arcanine stood, his ears flattening back.
"Pika…." He whimpered. He looked back at his Master again with a pleading look, as if begging his Master to allow him to stop the attack. But his master still made no move, and after all the time he had been travelling with his Master, he sighed and turned back towards Azure and Arcanine, his cheeks sparking before his body lit up with electricity again.
"Wait for it." Azure whispered, bracing himself.
Pikachu launched a powerful Thunderbolt attack at them.
"NOW!" Azure shouted, jumping out of the way. Arcanine pounced the other way, landing protectively in front of Cerise, as the hall lit up once again.
The Thunderbolt hit the wall almost exactly where it had hit it before, and the force of the attack shot straight through it, shattering the glass.
"Pichu!" Pichu cried, running through the hole in the glass and jumping at Azure. Azure laughed, holding his arms open as Pichu flew through the smoke, and collided with him. He fell backwards, hugging her tightly.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Azure smiled, hugging her tightly,
"Pi-cha!" She whined, snuggling into his chest.
Azure ruffled her fluffy head, and stood back up, carrying her safely in his arms as the smoke cleared. Cerise walked up to stand next to him, Arcanine at her side.
The Stranger stood on the other side, the smoke from the blast waving past his cloak. The Stranger gestured towards them, and Pikachu whined. It was clear he did not want to fight, but seeing his Master gesture towards them was an order. His cheeks sparked again, and he stepped towards them.
Arcanine was panting heavily, his legs shacking where he stood. Cerise looked at him with concern, "Azure… Arcanine can't keep this up much longer! We have to get out of here!"
Azure growled, holding Pichu tightly, "But what about all the other Pokemon here?"
"We'll go back to Viridian City and report this to Officer Jenny." Cerise begged, "Please Azure… we can't save them if Arcanine loses."
Azure was about to protest, when he looked over and saw Arcanine. Arcanine looked exhausted… he really could not go on like this for very much longer… on the other side thought, Pikachu looked like he had plenty of fight left in him. His level was much higher then Arcanine's…
"Fine." Azure sighed.
Cerise nodded and ran over to Arcanine, grabbing the fur at his neck, and pulling herself up onto his back. Arcanine whirled around and quickly crouched down beside Azure. Pichu climbed up onto Azure's back, clinging onto his backpack and freeing up his arms as he reached over and grabbed Arcanine's fur, pulling himself up as well.
Arcanine howled, and bolted - running as fast as he could down the hall. Azure looked over his shoulder and saw the Stranger and Pikachu fade off into the background. It did not look like they were giving chase.
"Come on Arcanine!" Cerise pleaded, "Faster!"
The giant Arcanine pushed itself, rounding corners and bounding up stairs as fast as it could. Before Azure knew it, they were bolting from the front door, and out into the fresh air of the pit. Arcanine turned around and pounced up onto the roof of the building, before running over and jumping up onto some rocks, and jumping its way up to the top of the pit, before bounding out and down the side of Mt. Silver.
Azure smiled as he looked over Cerise's shoulder. From here, he could see both Viridian City, and Pallet Town clearly! Viridian City was much closer, he could make out buildings from where they were.
The Arcanine bounded down the hill, heading straight for Viridian City.
"Shouldn't we head to Pallet Town?" Azure asked,
Cerise shook her head, "It doesn't matter… we'll never make it to Pallet in time…its after eight already."
"Cerise…" Azure muttered, looking away sadly, "I'm sorry…"
She lowered her head, her eyes being shielded by her hat, "I-its fine."
She shook her head and looked back at him, "But at least we saved your Pichu! And Officer Jenny will come back and save the rest of the Pokemon!"
Azure nodded, "Right!"
The Arcanine bounded over the Reception Gate, and down Route 22, speeding closer and closer to Viridian City. The wind was like daggers on their skin, wind-burning their faces and hands raw as they went. Azure pulled Pichu off his shoulder, and put her safely between Cerise and himself. She clung to his shirt, looking up at him with relief.
"I'll never let anything like that happen to you ever again!" He promised, reaching down to stroke the soft fur on top of her head, "I promise."
"Pi-cha…" She whimpered, nuzzling her face into his shirt.
The Arcanine leapt into the air, jumping over the security guard standing in front of the entrance to Route 22, and into Viridian City. Azure gasped as he watched the buildings blur around them. The Arcanine ran straight up to the Police Station, stopping so suddenly, Azure thought he was going to be flung from the large dog's back.
An older woman with graying blue hair, and wearing a blue Police uniform came running out, "What is going on here? Cerise, what is the big emergency that you have to fly like a rocket here?"
Arcanine was panting heavily as he laid down, letting the kids climb off his back. Cerise turned towards him and pulled the Pokeball from her belt, "Thank you so much Arcanine. Please have a good rest!"
A red light shot from the Pokeball and engulfed Arcanine, before sucking him into the ball. She then turned back to the officer, "Officer Jenny! Please! You have to help us!"
"Calm down, Cerise." Officer Jenny said, waving her hands, "I can't help you if I don't know what you need help with. Come inside and explain to me what happened."
She nodded, and Officer Jenny turned around and walked back into the Police Station. Cerise followed after her without a word. Azure sighed, holding Pichu safely in his arms. He looked over his shoulder in the direction of Pallet Town. An old clock tower was in the distance… it read 8:13...
He sighed. Well… so much for starting his Pokemon Journey…
"Pi-cha…" Pichu said, raising her paw up to pap his face.
Azure smiled, "Let's go Pichu."
"Pi-Pichu!" She nodded.
Azure turned back to the Police station, and followed them in.
… … …
"I see…" Officer Jenny sighed, leaning back in her chair, "And you say there were hundreds of Pokemon trapped there?"
Cerise nodded. She had just finished explaining to Officer Jenny everything that had happened since she found Azure laying in the grass. "They were all trapped in small cells! It was awful!"
Officer Jenny sighed and looked out a window, "Sounds like the Pokemon Collector."
"The Pokemon Collector?" Azure asked,
Officer Jenny nodded. Azure had been getting impatient since Officer Jenny led them into her office, and sat them down on these uncomfortable chairs, and Cerise started to tell her story… though, he was not sure if it was disappointment, or impatience.
It had been over half an hour since they sat down in Officer Jenny's office…
He looked at the clock above her desk… 8:47...
There was no hope in getting a Pokemon anymore…
Pichu had fallen asleep on his lap, tired from all the excitement that had happened that morning. He stroked her fur absentmindedly. He was so upset, he almost wanted to cry. This was supposed to be the best day of his life… he was supposed to get his Starter Pokemon, and start on his Pokemon Journey… but here he was, sitting in a Police Station giving a report.
He had mostly been brooding the entire time, not really listening to Officer Jenny and Cerise's conversation, but when Officer Jenny brought up 'the Pokemon Collector', his attention snapped back to them.
"Ten years ago," She stated, "There was a series of Rockslides and Cave-Ins in Mt. Silver and Victory Road, completely changing the structure of the mountain."
Cerise nodded, "We heard about that. You closed off Route 22 and onwards because of it."
She nodded, "Yes. Its too dangerous for anyone - trainers or not - to go there now… so I guess it would make perfect sense for the Collector to make his hideouts there…"
"Who is 'The Collector'?" Azure asked,
"I'm getting there." Officer Jenny explained, "As I was saying, around the time of the disasters ten years ago, a mysterious man appeared, along with an strange, unknown Pokemon. He appeared from Mt. Silver the day the disasters stopped, claiming that he caught the 'Legendary Pokemon' that was hiding under Mt. Silver, and that with it, he was going to become the first person ever to collect one of every Pokemon in the world, and any person who wanted a slice of the fame, was welcome to come work for him… he even claimed that he would pay them handsomely."
"Work for him?" Cerise asked,
Officer Jenny, "That stranger trainer started calling himself a 'Pokemon Collector', instead of a Trainer, and founded a group known as 'Team Getdaze'."
"I've heard of Team Getdaze!" Cerise gasped, "They're a team of Pokemon Thieves, right?"
Officer Jenny nodded, "Yes Cerise! Team Getdaze may have started out as a 'Pokemon Collecting Agency', but their Leader does not care how his 'employees' catch the Pokemon, as long as they bring him one of every kind."
"Even if they… steal them?" Cerise whispered,
Officer Jenny nodded, "That's right."
"And then they get locked in those small cells…" Cerise whispered, "That's so sad…"
Azure leaned forward in his chair, "This 'Pokemon Collector', did he have a Pikachu with him?"
Officer Jenny nodded, "That's right. Its one of the few Pokemon that the Collector seems to keep on him at all times."
Azure leaned backing his chair and looked down at Pichu, the little electric mouse looked back up at Azure with a curious look.
Seven Trainers lost their lives at Mt. Silver and Victory Road… most of them after an unknown large Pokemon moving under the mountain… causing the mountain to collapse, killing all but one of them, and that Trainer emerged claiming to have captured the 'Legendary Pokemon' who was causing the disasters, and then founded Team Getdaze, a group of Pokemon Thieves solely intent on collecting one of every Pokemon around the world…
What kind of man is this Collector? He clenched Pichu tighter. He nearly lost Pichu forever to him.
"Pi?" Pichu asked.
Azure looked up at Officer Jenny again, "Excuse me… they say the longer a Pokemon travels with its Trainer, the longer a Pokemon travels with its Trainer, the more that Pokemon will start taking after its Trainer?"
Officer Jenny nodded, "That's right."
Azure pushed himself away from the desk and stood up, walking over to the window. Pichu climbed up onto his shoulder as he looked out the thin glass, across Viridian City.
"Then why…"
"What's the matter, Az?" Cerise asked, looking over at him.
"Pokemon take after their Trainers… and according to Officer Jenny, that Pikachu that led us to Pichu is with the Collector all the time…" He reached up and scratched Pichu's head. "Pichu!" She nuzzled her face into his hand. Azure smiled and turned around, "Why did Pikachu take us there? Isn't it betraying his Trainer by showing us his secret base, and rescuing one of the Pokemon being kept there?"
Cerise frowned, "Your right…"
"That is strange." Officer Jenny muttered, "That Pikachu led you straight to the Collector, and by the way the Collector ordered Pikachu to attack you, I doubt he wanted you there."
"And if Pokemon really take after their Trainers… that Pikachu seemed really nice, though seemed really worried." Azure muttered, folding his arms.
"Maybe that Pikachu is a different one, then the one owned by the Collector?" Cerise asked.
Azure sighed, "Maybe… but for some reason, I don't think so."
Officer Jenny sighed as well, and pushed herself away from the desk, "Enough chit-chat! You kids are on your way to Pallet Town, are you not?"
"I don't think there's a reason to go anymore…" Azure stated, "The Starter Pokemon would be all taken by now."
"You can still Register as Trainers." Officer Jenny said. She pointed at Pichu, "Even if you do not start your Pokemon Journey this year, you are now of age to have a , she is still a Pokemon travelling in your care. And with Team Getdaze out there, its better to have her Registered as a Pokemon under your care right away."
"Pi?" She asked, tilting her head.
Officer Jenny smiled, "That way, if anyone manages to steal her, if they sell her, and the new Trainer tries to Register her, she will come up as owned by someone else."
"That's a good idea!" Cerise gasped,
"It has been working so far." She nodded, "Oh, and I am sure you want to be there when we report this incident to your father, Cerise."
Cerise paled, "Your going to tell my Dad?"
"Of course I am!" She nodded, "We may need his help infiltrating Mt. Silver."
Cerise looked down at her lap, still visibly pale. Azure looked puzzled, "Who's her Dad? Some important guy?"
Officer Jenny laughed, "You can say that. Cerise's father is the Gym Leader for the Viridian City Gym."
Azure gasped, "Really? That's cool! So, your Father will be the first guy I would have challenged on my Pokemon Journey?"
Cerise shook her head, "Daddy only opens the Gym for a month or so before the start of the Indigo Plateau Tournament. Its closed for the rest of the year."
"Well that's lame." Azure pouted.
Officer Jenny started towards the door, "Come on kids! You can ride in the sidecar." Cerise and Azure looked at each other, and nodded.
Cerise stood up, and started towards the door.
"Cerise!" Azure called after her, she slowed to a stop and turned around. Without skipping a beat, he ran up to her with a smile, "Thank you."
"For what?" She asked,
"For running after me back on Route 1." He explained, "If you and Arcanine did not come with me, I may never have gotten Pichu back."
She giggled and reached up to pet Pichu, "No problem! Like I said, my conscience would never let me allow you to go alone!"
They heard a motorbike roar to life outside, "Come on kids! We don't want to be any later then we already are!"
Azure grinned and turned away from Cerise, breaking into a run towards the exit, and out into the sun-lit morning. Cerise laughed and followed him.
Neither one of them had any idea what was ahead for them, or if they're Pokemon Journey would really begin, but there was one thing Azure knew for sure, and that was that there was some sort of mystery afoot. He wanted to learn more about the Collector and that ghost-like Pikachu that had saved them
A/N:
AIR-HEAD - I'll go by my own tag name from now on, instead of the group one, though I will condense it to Mean-Green. Also, sorry about the wait here, everyone basically went on end of the year vacations or were moving, or other stuff.
MANGANIMEFANDOM - SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I am also sorry that this is not edited properly D: I'll re-edit it later when I have more time… I was just tired of it being on hold for so long We'll update more frequently now :D
RYGEL - Hi! Sorry for the wait, I was moving. A new cover design is up on the tumblr page! Please go check it out!
