Shadows of a Hero
Author's Note: So far, the "soundtrack" is coming along nicely, and I'm excited to share it with readers. This is the chapter when something key happens; I'll tell you that much! I hope you enjoy~!
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CHAPTER II
Kris's face lights up as she jumps over and gives Inca a hug, "It's so good to see you again!"
Inca hugs her back, lifting her clear off the ground, "Same here!" Weavile chirps at seeing the familiar face once again.
"Nice to see you again Inca, it's been a while," Sierra laughed as he sets Kris back onto the paved ground. Kris woozily steps back and Liz shakes his hand.
"I'm just glad to take a break from traveling, and this apparently is a great place to chill!" Inca laughs as two other trainers join him at his side. "Wow, so Sneasel has evolved? You look a lot tougher now than before," he kneels down to pet Weavile, but she swats his hand back with her claws.
"Inca, stop running ahead like that! Who knows where you'll end up next time…" a younger girl sighs as she finally catches up, with another male the same age as Inca beside her.
The other teenager with short blue hair joins them, "Oh ho Inca, flirting again are we?" he laughs at his friend who is surrounded by three girls.
Inca quickly gives his reply, his face red as he looks at Kris, "Might as well give introductions. This is Kris, a long time friend of mine. And these fine young ladies are her buddies Sierra and Liz." He turns his attention to the young girl and blue haired man. "This little twerp is my younger sister, Inthrea," he pulls her over and slings an arm around her shoulder, "and this dude over here is my childhood best friend Toshiro." The newly acquainted friends graciously greet each other, as they continue to walk around the festive plaza.
"…No way!" Kris breaks away from the group with Weavile on her tail straight to an ice cream vendor.
Toshiro stares blankly and confused, "What was that all about?" Inthrea shares his same expression.
Liz, Inca and Sierra can only help but laugh. Finally, Liz speaks up, "Kris has a…thing for ice cream."
Sierra continues, "Everyone has their favorite…and hers is frozen dairy." Toshiro and Inthrea join in the laughter.
"Come on guys, she'll catch up," Inca motions and they continue to explore the square.
A few minutes later, Kris finds them and walks over, licking an ice cream cone that is slowly melting in the summer night while Weavile enjoys one of her own. They group wanders around for a few more hours, enjoying the atmosphere of the festival and buying various souvenirs. "Oh hey Inca, I almost forgot. We got so caught up in the commotion of the fair that you and I still need to battle!" Liz grins and leans toward Inca.
Inca calmly replies with a smirk of his own, "Yeah, right! This will be a piece of cake…just like always!"
Liz winks back, "We'll see about that."
The group backs up as Inca sends out his first Pokémon, Absol, who leaps forward and tosses his head back proudly. "Ready buddy?" Inca shouts to Absol who smiles back.
"You and your dog Pokémon, Inca! Go, Mightyena!" The wolf Pokémon bursts out of its poke ball and howls loudly. "Here we go!" Inca and Liz cry out, ready to go.
"Absol, use Night Slash quick!" Inca commands, and Absol immediately jumps at Mightyena in full speed. Mightyena has no time to react as he is slashed in to the ground. Mightyena stutters back to its feet and growls menacingly back.
Quickly, Liz responds, "Mightyena, Crunch!" Instantaneously, Mightyena pounces back at Absol who becomes pinned to the ground in the grip of the wolf Pokémon's jaws.
Groups of fellow Pokémon trainers and Coordinators of all ages begin to gather around to watch the intensifying battle.
Inca smirks and mumbles under his breath, "Use Thunder bolt!" Absol, cringing under Mightyena and its powerful grip, shoots electricity straight from its body into Mightyena. With a screech, the wolf falls back in pain. "Now, get ready!" Absol gets back to his feet, lets out a deep growl, and a razor wind begins to whip around the blade on his head.
Mightyena struggles back onto four legs, but flinches back with a quiet whimper. "Mightyena?" Liz cries out loud, shocked that her faithful Pokémon could possibly be in trouble already.
Sierra cringes back, and silently whispers "The poor thing can't even move…it must be paralyzed from that blast of electricity." Kris nods with Sierra, still concentrating on the battle, being a trainer herself. Weavile stands quietly next to Kris, observing the battle, attempting to pick up any new strategies.
Liz overhears Sierra from behind her. She hollers with support to her Pokémon, "Come on Mightyena. Get up!" Mightyena tries to stand again, but is unsuccessful.
"Heh…!" Inca grins, "Absol, now use Razor Wind!" Absol leaps into the air, and proudly roars as two violent twisters tear across the battle field directly at the paralyzed Mightyena.
Liz stands there, helpless, as the vicious winds close in on her friend, "Mightyena!!!" she shouts terrified.
As if by gut instinct, Mightyena forces himself up into a stance facing the storm and launches a Shadow Ball directly at them. The twisters break apart and blast a wall of wind around the plaza. The continually growing audience gasps in shock, covering themselves from the shockwave. The wind quickly dies down and the dust settles, restoring the vision on the field. There stood Mightyena trembling, yet baring its fangs at Absol who stood surprised at what had just happened.
Liz's face lights up as Inca's now turns into shock, and she confidently shouts to her Pokémon, "Yeah, there you go!" Mightyena howls back in response to Liz, then turns his attention back to Absol, who was now standing in front of him, ready to continue the battle.
Absol, enraged, charges at Mightyena with a fierce takedown attack. Mightyena braces itself for impact, but then quickly switches into an offensive mode and tackles Absol full force. Absol, surprised once again by his opponent, is hit and barrels backwards. Mightyena, forcing itself forward, immediately continues the assault and returned the takedown, causing even more damage to the battered Absol.
Two people in the audience could be heard arguing with another, "How is this possible? Mightyena is paralyzed."
Another voice shouts back, "Absol can easily take it out, even if it has a status condition!" Cheering for each Pokémon is suddenly heard throughout the now large audience in the lit up square.
A different voice responded back, "Oh what do you know! That Mightyena is highly trained, and can take out any opponent in any condition!"
Inca briefly looks over at the crowd, accepting their cheers, and then eagerly returns his attention to the battle. "That's enough…Absol, use Ice Beam!"
Absol quickly kicks Mightyena off its back, opens its mouth wide and fires an icy beam that pelts Mightyena. The wolf Pokémon flings clear back to where Liz stands from the powerful attack. The wolf Pokémon just as quickly climbs back onto four legs and lets out a ferocious growl.
"Is that all you got?" Liz confidently hollers back to Inca as the beat up Mightyena howls in agreement. "Let's finish this…Mightyena, use--" just as Liz gives the final command, Mightyena lets out a shy yelp, and collapses in front of her. Shocked, Liz stands there motionless.
Inca lets out a mocking laugh, and then winks at Liz who returns her Mightyena. "Great job Absol," he says as he recalls the injured Pokémon back to its ball. "You want to save some time and give up now?"
Becoming frustrated by his cockiness, Liz growls back, "Oh I don't think so. This is far from over!"
Inca laughs again, then replies, "Well, I've got a date to take care of, so let's wrap this up, shall we?" He then casually tosses a luxury ball into the air and out comes his prized Pokémon, Ninetales.
Liz takes out a regular poke ball, and opens it in her hand. Out comes her team's powerhouse and her best friend, Blaziken. It clenches its fists and lets out a threatening roar that shakes the audience around them.
Inca calls out to Ninetales, "This will be yet another easy victory boy!" Ninetales howls in agreement, ready for an effortless win. "Use Extrasensory!"
"What?" Liz stammers confused, not realizing it knew that attack, when just as quickly Blaziken is lifted off the ground, and as the fox Pokémon telepathically tosses her the ground with a crash. Blaziken gets back onto her feet and looks at Liz with a baffled gaze. Liz shakes her head, "Don't let your guard down! Use Mach Punch!" Reacting quickly, Blaziken leaps into the air and pummels Ninetales onto the ground, and quickly leaps back out of the way.
"Get up! That was nothing at all." Inca reassures the fox Pokémon, who lets out its cry, then charges at Blaziken using quick attack. Blaziken, flexes her knees, then immediately jumps into the air clear over Ninetales and the heads of the audience as they stare in awe.
Liz smirks, and then shouts to her partner, "Sky Uppercut!!" Blaziken then begins to fall right on top of Ninetales, and lands directly onto the fox with hers powerful legs in a loud crash and dirt fills the air. Liz and Inca, along with everyone else, shield their faces from the surrounding debris.
As the dirt settles, Blaziken stands triumphantly in front of a trembling Ninetales. The fox lets out a low growl, and then shoots a Fire Blast directly at Blaziken. Ready to counter it, the Pokemon's wrists light into flames as it recklessly charges at Ninetales in a Brave Bird attack.
Bursting right through the flaming star of Fire Blast, Blaziken slams into the fox Pokemon as it crashes backward onto the ground, severely damaged. Landing back near Liz, Blaziken flinches back by the strong recoil, but quickly regains her fighting stance, ready to continue.
"No…Ninetales!" Inca shouts, as it lies defeated on the ground. Suddenly, a shriek is heard from the back of the crowd as someone begins to shout for help. The battle ceases as the trainers and their Pokémon watch while Sierra and Kris rush to see what on earth the commotion is about.
"Excuse me! Pardon!" Sierra politely shouts as they make their way to the back of the crowd. There in front of her was a young child lying in his mother's arms, silently sleeping. Kris kept the look of concern on her face, but was confused as much as anyone else. "But he's just sleeping…?" Sierra finally speaks up to the sobbing mother.
Suddenly the parent looks up right at Sierra and shouts, "That's exactly what's happening!!" Sierra and Kris exchanged confused glances, and then Sierra continues to try and talk to the uncontrollably crying mother.
"So what happened? Did he pass out?"
"Did he get hurt?" "Is it the summer heat?" Voices from around them continued to question.
Kris shoots a glare at the crowd who is gradually becoming rowdy. The people start to quiet down and continue to watch. Sierra tries to lean in closer to the mother who only becoming more frustrated and upset with each unresponsive call to her son. "He…I just- He was getting tired so we sat down on the bench so he could take a quick nap, then about twenty minutes later I…he just wouldn't wake up! He- He won't even respond! Just keeps sleeping…!" her weeping becomes even more intense as her son quietly sleeps in her arms.
Sierra sympathetically places her hand on the mothers shoulder as she holds her son tighter.
"Stand aside! Get out of the way!" A voice shouts as the person plows her way through the crowd. The voice turns out to be Nurse Joy, with a stretcher and two Chanseys directly behind her. "Hold on Ma'am. If you could put your son here…and come with me…" Nurse Joy helps the mother and child to be escorted out of the crowd and back into town toward the Pokémon center.
With the ambulance leaving and the battle over, the crowd begins to disperse and return to the festivities, but still in the somber mood of the moment. Sierra and Kris still stood in the same spot as Inthrea, Toshiro, Inca, Liz and Blaziken rush to them. "What was that all about??" Inthrea shouts distressed, because she was stuck on the outside of the mob during the epidemic.
"…I have no idea," Kris shrugs. Weavile and Blaziken exchange baffled looks. Kris looks over to Sierra to see her response, but she only stares blankly, thinking, at the ground. Kris sighs and looks back at the puzzled group of friends, "I all I got out of it was that a woman's son fell asleep, but he just won't wake up."
Toshiro's face turns a ghastly white, "He…he didn't die did he?"
"No no, no!" Kris corrects herself, face bright red, "He just fell asleep for a nap, then, well, he just kept sleeping. No matter what his mom did to wake him up, he just kept sleeping. It was like he was in a -"
"-Trance." Sierra finishes Kris' sentence. She looks up from the ground to meet the eyes of her friends, "It seemed like he was almost in a sleeping trance…"
The six of them stand there silently for a minute, and no one is sure what to make of this situation. Sierra, Liz and Kris have seen a lot of strange things before, but nothing as weird as sleeping trances, and no one knew exactly what to say or even do.
Inca then shuffles his feet and looks at Kris, but talks to everyone, "Well, standing here won't make things any clearer. We best just head back to our hotels for now, and see what comes up."
Looking right back at him, Kris replies, "I guess you're right…that's enough action for one day."
Everyone else nods in agreement. Everyone finishes up their shopping as they all disperse through the plaza and back into the streets of town.
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Weavile: *nods* WEA! (Do it!!)