Vega woke up slowly that next morning, enjoying the luxury of being able to do so. Joy, who had fallen asleep late that night, was fast asleep beside her. All of the pokemon, aside from her tyranitar, were out and cuddled up, sleeping. Vega stood, stretching her muscles and popping her back out of its stiffness. Sleeping on a rock wasn't the most comfortable, and she made a mental note to go into town and get a few pillows and blankets, and a tarp to cover the tree-rock.
The sun had come up, but within the forest it still appeared dark. Vega quietly took her canteen and Joy's and filled them up at the tree, gouging a hole with her dagger and keeping it open until the skins were full, then allowing the tree to seal the hole with sap.
As the sun continued to rise, and Joy continued to sleep, Vega decided to practice a bit with something she hadn't often used; daggers. She had two of them that she had taken from the man who had tried to kill her. She reached down to one of the sheathes, and pulled the blade from it's seclusion, taking a real look at it for the first time.
The first thing she noticed was the weighting of the dagger. It was completely balanced in the center, where she could lay it flat on her finger and it would remain still. The handle was black leather, and provided a strong, stable grip for her to utilize. The blade was also black, and opaque. No light reflected from it; it seemed to absorb all wavelengths, leaving a matte, ebony color. But it didn't look dull, even with the matte finish. She held the blade up in front of her face, taking her left hand and touching the edge of the-
"Ow!" she hissed, startled, pulling her pointer finger back. Looking at it, there was a thin line of blood. "Wow," she said, amazed, finding newfound respect for the dagger. The other appeared the exact same, and she wasn't going to test it's sharpness too.
During her inspection, she had walked from their campsite, and was now slightly deeper in the woods. She found a large, thick tree, and decided to try throwing them. And, it turned out to be much harder than she expected.
After the fifteenth or so time of either missing the tree completely, or hitting the tree dagger first, she sighed in defeat. "This is so hard," she mumbled, dejected. She had been sure she could figure it out on her own. "Someone is going to have to teach me how to do this…" she sighed, thinking hard. She couldn't think of any Sects that had dagger throwers, or were known for weapon mastery. So many people were focused on pokemon and their potential, that the human potential was often forgotten.
She knew that the soldiers of the Queen's Guard were proficient in all sorts of weapons, but she couldn't think of any in particular that used daggers. There was Arthur, the Strong, who used a two handed great sword to cleave his enemies. There was Lancelot, the Mighty, who used (what else) a lance atop a mighty rapidash. There was Robin, the Swift, who used his bow of cherri wood to silently smite his enemies from afar. Vega knew them all by name, what weapons they used, the battles they fought in… how handsome and brave they were…
She caught herself daydreaming and shook her head, clearing it. The point she had meant to make to herself was that she knew of no Guard that used daggers as his choice of weapon. She remembered that her father had said that they were often the choice of Shades, but the Shades were long gone, and only lived in the memories and tales of the people. She sighed again, frustrated as she made her way back to camp. Maybe I can pay a rogue some good money to teach me. They'll do anything for some coin…
"Vega, there you are!" Joy said, sounding relieved as she rounded the corner of the tree rock. "I was worried where you had gone. Your pokemon were here, and I was starting to think someone had kidnapped you in the night!"
Vega smiled, moving to sit back down on the rock. "No, I'm fine," she said absentmindedly. Her pokemon came up to her, with Sue perching on her head and Lucky leaning against her leg. "Good morning, guys."
The sun was rising higher now, the forest lighting up better than before. Joy stood, running her fingers through her pink hair and cracking her neck. "That rock sure is hard," she said, echoing Vega's own thoughts from earlier that morning .
The older girl nodded. "I was thinking the same thing," she said. "I think that later today we should go into town and get some blankets and pillows that we can take with us on our trip."
Joy looked over their stuff. "As long as we can carry it all…" she said, trailing off.
Vega nodded, understanding. "Maybe once my tyranitar is healthy, he can help us carry our things. Joy smiled at that one, nodding. Vega looked back into the trees, in the direction of Aero. "But, for today, I need to start training. "
And so, the two packed their things up, hiding them under some leaves beneath a large Bluk tree. They each returned their pokemon, and with Vega carrying her egg, they headed back towards the city.
They didn't enter Aero, instead walking to the fields in the west. The ground was more rocky on this eastern side of the Great Plains, yet it was still full of life. Bird pokemon were everywhere, with spearow and fearow, dodo and dodrio, vullaby and mandibuzz, and even skarmory and aerodactyl, dotting the landscape. Some non-flying types even resided here, with herds of tauros and rhyhorn off in the distance, kicking up small clouds of dust and shifting locations every now and again. The plains were barren, and the sunlight hot. Vega released Sue to let her stretch her wings and Lucky to get some sunlight. Joy went off with the two, releasing her own pokemon, and soon the group was romping around.
Vega had found them a tall, flat rock that reached to her waist, and they laid their bags on top just like a table. Watching the pokemon play around gave Vega an idea. "Hey Joy?"
"Yeah?" she laughed, tickling her skitty and Sue at the same time.
"Do you wanna battle?" Vega asked, smiling mischievously. Joy smiled back, nodding enthusiastically. "Well," began Vega. "Since I only have two pokemon… well two pokemon that I want to be battling with, how about a two on two double battle?"
Joy nodded, standing up quickly and nearly jumping for joy. "I love double battles!" she said, slightly catching Vega off guard, having thought she had never battled before. "Let's get started!"
And so, they faced off on the dirt, Lucky and Sue on one end, and Joy's skitty and natu (called Purity and Serenity) on the other. "I hope you're ready for this, Vega!" Joy called, squaring her feet. Vega gulped. She thought she had been ready, but Joy seemed to have a lot more experience than she looked.
Vega made the first move. "Sue, fly up high and get a peck in! Lucky, string shot them both!" she cried. Sue took off, and Lucky hopped (as much as he could) forward.
"Purity, use wish, and Serenity let's see a confusion!" Joy cheered from across the battlefield. The skitty began to glow, rocking back and forth with her eyes closed, and sparkles beginning to form around her body.
Sue had gotten some altitude, and dove for the natu that was hopping her way over to Lucky. The metapod tried a string shot, hitting him in the taloned foot and pinning him in his place. As Sue dove, Serenity looked up just in time to get pecked in the head, an attack that both Vega and Lucky knew hurt like hell. The psychic type's eyes glowed purple, and she caught Sue in the air with her psychic energy. Still locked in place by string shot, Serenity used her confusion to slam Sue into the ground, stunning the bird pokemon.
"Lucky, get closer and try to distract Serenity!" Vega called. "Sue, try singing!"
The sparkles from Purity had gone into the air, disappearing for the time being. What even was that attack? Vega thought, but decided to focus on the action at hand.
"Purity, use fury swipes! Serenity get a reflect up!" Joy called, bouncing on the balls of her feet and giggling. She really loves battling, that's strange, being a healer and all.
Sue struggled to her feet just in time to see the pink kitten pokemon bouncing towards her. She flapped her wings, getting into the air but not before being scratched and clawed all over her body. She was exhausted.
Lucky had gotten right in front of immobile Serenity, and was trying to tackle her, when the psychic type's eyes began to glow again. A purple and green glowing force field appeared between the two, which Lucky launched herself into. She was unable to break it, landing back on the ground and using harden instead.
Sue used her head, swinging behind the natu and using sing. It was a direct hit, putting the psychic pokemon right to sleep. "Yes!" cheered Vega, glad to see things going her way. Sue was airborne and out of the way, and Lucky hardened to a rock. The natu was injured and asleep, and the skitty unable to reach Sue or damage Lucky. "Okay, Sue, regroup behind Lucky while they're at the disadvantage!"
"Disadvantage?" giggled Joy. "You, I believe, are mistaken. Purity, heal bell!"
The little skitty began to glow again, a silver bell of a psychic energy appearing above her head. The bell chimed, waking Serenity up from her slumber. Not only that, but strange sparkles began falling out of the sky and absorbing into the natu, seeming to heal it and strengthen it. Suddenly, the natu was at full health, awakened, and behind a reflect, while the skitty had been untouched. "Now let's finish this with confusion and assist!"
"Sue, get higher!" cried Vega, but it was no use. The confusion had a lengthy range, and grabbed the bird pokemon in the air, slamming her into the dirt once again. Purity began to spin in circles, stopping suddenly and disappearing. She then reappeared out of Lucky's shadow, startling her and then covering her in a dark energy. She promptly fainted, and Sue soon after.
"We did it!" cried Joy, running to and hugging her pokemon.
"Skiii!"
"Natu."
"Wow, good job," Vega said, startled that it had ended like it did, and frustrated that she had lost her first real battle to a little girl. But she was good, and Vega could see why she had lost. Almost. "What was that move that your skitty used at the end?"
Joy, who was petting Purity and Serenity, looked up, smiling. "It was night shade."
"I didn't know skitty could learn night shade…" Vega said, eyeing Purity warily.
Joy just laughed. "They can't! Night shade is one of Serenity's moves; Purity just used assist and was able to use the move too!"
That's an awesome combo. "But what about that sparkly move at the beginning."
Joy watched Vega curiously, still petting her pokemon. "Sparkly move… you mean wish?" Vega nodded."It's a move that anticipates the need to heal early. When a pokemon really needs it, their wish can come true, and they'll be healed!" She said it like it was the most wonderful thing in the world.
Vega nodded, understanding better. She hadn't even thought about how important healing moves are to battle. In fact, not having battled much in the first place, she realized she still had a lot to learn. "Where did u learn to battle like that?" she asked, interested.
Joy shrugged, standing up. "I mean, my dad taught me a long time ago…" she said sadly. "I kinda just kept up with it after he… I just kept up with it." She stopped herself from saying it, and avoided Vega's eyes.
Taking note of her body language, Vega nodded, ceasing her questioning. "Well, you're really good," she said finally. Joy smiled up at her, wiping a tear from her eyes, hoping Vega hadn't seen (though she had.) But the older girl didn't say anything.
They played out in the fields for a few more hours, Vega letting Joy handle her two pokemon. The healer had fixed them right up, using crushed up revival herb to bring them back to consciousness, and then letting her skitty and happiny heal them up. After, she decided to let them go off and play, hopefully getting a little more training done, while Vega herself decided to work on her tyranitar.
She had decided on the name Maron, meaning nightmare or demon in old Rudain. Rudain was the language of the region, but old Rudain was mostly used in the formal courts and Sect temples. She couldn't remember where she had heard the word, only that she had, and that it fit.
She released the large pokemon, who startled her by standing on his two feet. She gulped, looking up at him. Standing nearly seven feet tall, he looked down upon her menacingly. She was immediately scared for her life, and halfway reaching back for her crystal before she realized that she couldn't live in fear. She needed to be confident, and assertive.
Maron thought it was funny when the human looked him in the eyes and told him that she was his trainer. Humans could never control one such as him. But this trainer had been kind to him… he remembered that she had rescued him, and though he might not be submissive and controlled… maybe he would agree to help her. But not after asserting his independence first.
"Go… um…." Vega was saying, trying to think of a move. "Go… use rock throw!" she commanded. She swore the tyranitar raised his eyebrow at her. He just stood there. "Okay…" she said, a little nervous. "Go try… um…" she looked around, seeing just rocks everywhere. "Go try and pick that rock up!" Maron just stood and stared at her.
This is what the human wants? He thought to himself. He understood her words, having the normal intuition of pokemon. All pokemon can understand Rudain, but not many humans can understand pokespeach. He laughed at her command, a deep rumbling gurgle, baring his large teeth and watching her still.
Vega took a step back. This isn't working, she thought. She was about to give up, when he turned to face the rock that she had commanded him to move. He appeared to be following her commands, and she watched intently. He stopped walking and closed his eyes, raising his arms and focusing. Suddenly, all of the rocks around them began levitating and floating towards him, breaking into chunks as large as Lucky. They began to orbit him, in a strange rotating pattern, and then his eyes opened. The rocks slung from their orbit, flying across the field and into the side of the hill, over 100 yards away.
She watched, shocked and terrified, as Maron turned back to her, grinning again. She couldn't tell why he was smiling. The truth was, he was simply happy to be back to full health, and loved showing off his power. He had executed that stone edge perfectly, and was eager to show off even more.
"Taar," he said, watching her. Vega stood, eyes wide, shaking slightly.
"What… what other m-moves do you know?" she stammered, thinking that maybe he would focus more on that than on eating her. The rock move had been impressive enough. Maron smiled even broader when she asked, turning back around and taking a few steps forward.
He closed his eyes, focusing again, with his blue scales on his belly turning black. His whole body seemed to be losing color, until he was a shimmering shade of ebony. Then, with a roar, he released the power, sending out a terrifying dark pulse at the area in front of him. "Ty ra-ra-ra," he laughed, feeling happy for the first time in years. He was back.
Vega heard this laugh, sounding different from his others. Is that… happiness? Or some kind of sick malicious thoughts about how he is going to kill me… "Um… that was really good, Maron," she encouraged, as he turned to face her.
Maron stared at this trainer for a long time. He couldn't place his feelings. It had been… well, he had never had a human ever tell him he had done something right. He felt a wave of sadness, and he sat down on the ground, hard, accidentally using earthquake. A small one, but enough to knock Vega, Joy, and all of their pokemon off of their feet.
Vega was about to scold the big, rock type, but then she saw his face. He was looking at the dirt, eyes wide, nearly in tears. Her heart softened, and she moved towards him. She grabbed his arm, holding him and laying her head on his shoulder. Perplexed, Maron turned his head to look. "You've been through a lot, haven't you buddy," Vega said, rubbing his scales. Maron looked back at the ground and nodded. Vega let go and walked in front of him.
"Well I promise," she said with him looking up again. "That I will never let something like that happen to you. But you have to listen to me, and get along with my family." At 'family,' she gestured towards Joy and the pokemon, that were now standing still and watching her speech. "You have to trust me as your trainer, and that means you have to put your power in my hands. Your amazing power that I know you wield." Flattery couldn't hurt.
Sue chirped and flapped up to Maron, lighting on one of his head spikes. Maron looked up at her, eyes crossing as he did. Vega snorted when he did, giggling, and he looked back down at her. He smiled.
"Hooorn!" Rhy horn rhyrhy hor horn!" There was a commotion to their right. Vega turned to look, and her face paled. Coming up over the hill, was a herd of rhyhorn. It seemed that Maron's accidental earthquake hadn't irritated just Vega. The herd of pokemon was charging down the hill, at least twenty of the rock types running at full speed.
"Ah!" Vega cried. "Joy, run!" And Joy didn't have to be told twice. She ran, holding Lucky in one arm and the egg in another, her pokemon having been returned Vega started to run too, Sue flapping above her head, when she noticed someone was missing. "Maron!" she said, turning back around to face him. He had turned and squared off to the herd. "Maron run!"
But Maron wasn't listening. They're trying to hurt me? They're trying to hurt them? They're trying to hurt… my family? "Tyranitar!" he roared as the herd approached, actually frightening those in front and causing the others to run into them.
He took a few steps forward as Vega watched, horrified. The herd began to approach slower now, flanking him on both sides. Then, Maron's scales started to darken. Vega could only stare.
"Ta!" he roared, firing the dark pulse from his chest. It radiated in a semi-circle, striking each pokemon in the herd. Several of them were taken out right then and there, but the larger, stronger ones weren't having it. They stood, shaking themselves off, and approaching the tyranitar.
"Horn!" cried one of them, firing a rock blast at Maron. He crouched, holding his arms out and creating a force field that shielded him from all of the damage. The protect lasted long enough for him to block two different moves, with him closing his eyes and focusing again. The rocks around them began to lift, and after orbiting his body, fired all around him. They hit each of the rhyhorn in turn, knocking the bigger ones to the ground. They were done, with Maron standing in the midst of them, without a scratch.
Vega stood, staring in fear, at this awesomely powerful pokemon that she had. Then she ran to him, squeezing his side tight, nearly in tears. "I was so worried about you!" she cried, rubbing his scales.
Maron froze when she touched him. She isn't scared? He wondered, glancing down at her. It had been so long since he felt like he was cared about; since he had felt loved.
And it felt like home.