Chapter 7: Of Shadows and Bugs
It had been three days since my failure to save Celebi. Kai had joined our little traveling group. She was a great addition, always telling fantastic stories. Last night she told us the story of a strange legendary water Pokémon named Manaphy who hatched from an odd egg obtained from the faraway region of Fiore. The night before she told us of the Legendary Golems and how they pulled the continents into place and then proceeded to bring about the Stone, Ice, and Iron Ages of human history. My mind began to wander as we walked, and I wondered if Team Cataclysm would try and go after the Golems and the Manaphy Egg too…
There had been no sign of Team Cataclysm since Count Silver captured Celebi, at least, not in the forest. Their forest fire didn't seem to leave a mark on the forest, thanks to Celebi before Count Silver and Team Cataclysm got their filthy hands on her. The deeper we walked in the forest, the more regret I felt about Celebi being gone.
"All right Ursaring, finish this with Return!"
"Vespiquen, use Defend Order!"
As Lyss, Kai, and I came through a very dense part of the forest, we heard sounds of a battle going on. We rushed ahead into a circular clearing in the forest. There were orange, yellow, and brown autumn leaves all over the ground. The forest's trees created a ring around it so that it made for the ideal battlefield. On the field, there was a large, yellow and black-striped Pokémon. It had a round upper body, four clear wings, a red jewel on its forehead, two long, skinny arms, pincers on its mouth, and a longer lower body that resembled a ballroom gown. There was also a large, brown bear Pokémon standing on two legs with a beige ring of fur around its belly, a beige snout with a black nose, fringes on its shoulders, and five sharp claws on its paws. The bee had a swarm of small insects surrounding it as the bear went in for an attack. The smaller insects failed in protecting the larger insect as the bear assaulted it, leaving the bee unable to battle.
A trainer recalled the bee. He wore a green sweater-vest with a yellow, short sleeved shirt underneath, long, beige pants, a pair of brown loafers, and a pair of square glasses in front of forest green eyes. He had unkempt brown hair that stuck out in all directions, especially this one part that stuck straight up in the center of his head, and a very nervous air surrounding him. He walked across to the other side of the battlefield and shook the hand of another, handing him something shiny in the process. That must've been the Area Leader, Luzige.
The other person was around 15 years of age. He had spikey, red hair with a blue band in it. Attached to the blue band was a small silver device that looked like it held a screen of some sort. He had on a yellow vest with a long-sleeved, black undershirt with a red stripe along the side of the sleeve, baggy blue pants with a red stripe along the sides, a pair of goggles around his neck, black shoes, and gray belt that hung low with a small gray pouch attached to it. What was most interesting about him though, was his right arm, or rather, what was on it. His right arm had this metal contraption on it that started at his shoulder and extended to his hand. It looked like a silver shoulder pad with a black wire attached to it that went down to his hand. On his hand was a strange gray glove with a machine attached to the back with a fluorescent blue light in it. What purpose the machine on the boy's arm served, I had no clue.
"Well, Michael, I'm thoroughly surprised by how well you battled. You only used five of your six Pokémon in a six on six battle, against an Area Leader, no less! You stayed calm and you executed your attacks splendidly! I have the utmost pride in giving you the badge of this area. I have to know, though, what is your final Pokémon?"
"I'm sorry Luzige…" the boy, Michael said "but I can't tell you. I only carry him with me for the sake of keeping him near me at all times. I have vowed never to use him unless the situation demanded it. Had you beaten my Ursaring, I would've surrendered right then and there."
"That powerful a Pokémon, huh?"
"Like you wouldn't believe. All you need to know is that it's so powerful that I still can't seem to tame it."
"Well, like I said, you are a fantastic trainer, Michael, and the youngest I've faced so far. I'd expect nothing less from a trainer from the Orre Region, otherwise known as the region of nothing but trainers."
Now, I know I'm not the best at geography here, but I had never even heard of the Orre Region. It sounded like some sort of faraway, mystical place to me. I mean, I had journeyed through all five regions, ALL FIVE! Yet, here there is a trainer from a region I never ventured. I mean, I know there are other regions, like Fiore and Almia, but those had only Pokémon rangers, no trainers. Yet, here was a trainer who was from a region of Pokémon trainers that I had never heard of. Well, naturally, I was curious, so I had to ask about it.
"What's the Orre Region?" I asked as Lyss, Kai and I walked up to the pair. All four of the people around me looked at me as if I was stupid. "What?" I asked.
"Andrew..." Kai said "how do you not know about the Orre Region? They've been having major coverage in last ten years."
"Yeah" Lyss said "What with the whole first Shadow Pokémon incident ten years ago, and then the second Shadow Pokémon incident five years ago. They've been a hotspot for news for a while!"
"Well, sorry, I've never heard of the place… I was a little busy traveling for a while, the news doesn't really reach you when you're on the road…" I said. I was kinda feeling stupid now since everybody seemed to know about this place.
"Well, Andrew" said the Red-haired boy, Michael in a small fit of laughter "The Orre Region is a large, mostly desert region located between Hoenn and Johto. There are some mountains, and the west side of the region is pretty green and located near an ocean, but everything else is desert. There are rarely wild Pokémon found around it. We have to import our Pokémon from Hoenn and Johto. We are all hot blooded battlers there. However, it seems not many of us were fit for this tournament probably because of Orre being known for its criminal activity rather than its trainers. We have a town of nothing but thieves and rogues. Like Hoenn, we had two criminal organizations, Team Snagem and Cipher. Snagem wasn't much of threat; they just stole other people's Pokémon. Cipher, however, instrumented this whole operation where they artificially closed the door to Pokémon's hearts. The first Shadow Pokémon incident consisted of Team Snagem stealing people's Pokémon, and Cipher turning them into Shadow Pokémon. This was stopped by a former Snagem member named Leo. The second Shadow Pokémon incident was when Cipher created a Shadow Pokémon that was supposed to be immune to purification and used it to attack a Pokémon transport ship. They then took every Pokémon aboard the ship and mass produced Shadow Pokémon. To this day, every Shadow Pokémon has been purified and Cipher has been disbanded. The only exception to this is Shadow Pokémon immune to purification, XD001, they called it."
"That's right!" said Luzige "and they were disbanded the second time because of Michael here! So, naturally, he was selected to be a part of this tournament. So was the other boy, Leo, but after the First Shadow Pokémon incident, we have no idea what happened to him."
"So, you're a hero!?" I said, looking at the younger boy. It was rather surprising that someone could have saved an entire region when he was so young.
"I guess you can say that" said Michael "but I refuse to take that status until I learn to purify XD001."
"What pokemon was XD001?" Lyss asked.
"Hehe, tell you what, you'll know him when you see him. He looks… different from other Pokémon, especially what he is normally supposed to look like."
With that Michael began to walk off. He left the four of us puzzled at his leaving without at least saying goodbye. He walked off towards the forest. Before he entered back into the forest, he looked back at the four of us.
"Don't worry, you all will see me again. With the way things are going now with Team Cataclysm, I'm sure you'll see him, too." And with that, Michael disappeared into the forest.
"So, are you three here to challenge me?" asked Luzige.
"Well, yes, but, not at the moment. You are Luzige, Marcus's older brother, right?" Lyss asked him.
"Why, yes, I am. How do you know my little brother?" Luzige asked.
With that, I told him the story of what happened at the castle. I told him how Marcus and I fought on top of the wall, how we interfered with Lord Diamond and his grunts in setting up the bomb, how we had been knocked out by Lord Diamond's Toxicroak, how Marcus had fought and won splendidly against Draco and his powerful Dragon Pokémon, and how Marcus gave his life for the children he rescued as the castle collapsed.
"And his team? What became of his Pokémon he used for the tournament?" Luzige asked, surprisingly calm about the whole thing.
"Well…" I said "he gave me his Meganium, Noctowl, Slowking, Ambipom, and Umbreon. They were sent to my family's ranch in Hoenn."
"And his Scizor?"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Sport Ball Scizor was held in. I enlarged it and handed it to Luzige. When he saw what it was, he instantly began to tear up.
"I see…" said Luzige fighting back tears. "You know, Scizor was his pride and joy. His signature Pokémon. You couldn't have Marcus without his Scizor."
"I know" I said, trying my best to be as comforting as possible.
"Marcus was always one to rush into things" Luzige said. "When he was old enough to finally get his own Pokémon, he ran on ahead of me the whole way from Goldenrod to New Bark Town. When reached Professor Elm's lab, he took a Chikorita and ran off, eager to start his journey. We were exploring route 29 in the evening. He was determined to catch his first Pokémon then and there. When a Hoothoot appeared, he decided to take it on, not knowing what the hell he was doing. I watched him battle that Hoothoot, and he did so poorly. He was determined, though. He finally got the hang of it and, when he was ready, I handed him an empty poké ball that he used to capture that Hoothoot. He soon took on the Violet City Gym, and I watched him as he won despite having a major type disadvantage. He hurried on ahead through Union Cave, barely letting me stay with him. We got to Azalea Town and, wouldn't you know it, some of those damned Team Rocket guys were attacking Slowpoke Well. Marcus rushed in without thinking. Inside, he caught a Slowpoke and took out those Team Rocket goons. Of course, me and my Bug Pokémon kinda did most of the work, but he was young and we let him think what he wanted. I was a little nervous about the Slowpoke because of how annoyingly slow and difficult they are to raise, but Marcus insisted. He now had a team of three Pokémon as he took on my friend and fellow bug fanatic, Bugsy. After winning, we went on through Ilex forest. He taught his Pokémon Headbutt. He was determined to find a good new Pokémon in the trees, but he didn't find anything. Instead, we just ended up expanding my bug collection more. We made it back to our home in Goldenrod. Mom and Dad were so proud of Marcus that they took him shopping and bought him an Eevee, much like they did with me when they got me a Wurmple. I watched him beat Whitney, the gym leader in Goldenrod, and we went on ahead to the National Park. And that's when it happened. Marcus and I both entered. There had been only two pokemon in the many times I entered that I had never captured: Scyther and Pinsir. That day was both lucky and unlucky for me. I ended up getting Pinsir all right, but Marcus got the grand prize. He found a Scyther and caught it. Not only that, he ended up winning, too. Beating me, for the first time ever. I was shocked. I was even more shocked when he kept the Scyther on his team and raised it himself. After that, he beat the Ecruteak, Cianwood, and Olivine Gyms with little problem. On our way to Mahogany Town, Marcus was beginning to worry that he would never find a sixth member for his team. So, I told him to Headbutt some more trees, which he did. This resulted in him obtaining his Aipom, which he instantly grew to love just as much as the rest of his Pokémon. He took out the Mahogany Gym with ease, got through Ice Path, and took on Clair of Backthorn City. He did have trouble with her, but in the end, his Scyther won out. Since he was still relatively new at Pokémon and he had yet to evolve his Eevee, Scyther, and Aipom, he decided to hold off on his Pokémon League Challenge. A few years later, I had been off studying Bug Pokémon of different regions and had obtained my Leader status, Marcus took on the Johto League. He and Scizor dominated, rarely switching out to his other Pokémon. Finally, the finals came around. His entire team had been wiped out except for Aipom. He sent out Aipom agains a fierce Houndoom. Not knowing what was going to happen, his Aipom successfully used Double Hit and evolved into Aimbipom right then and there. He won the whole thing. I was so proud of my little brother, he had grown so much. And now… now he's gone."
Luzige was really tearing up now. He traveled the entire Johto Region with his brother and helped him on his way to becoming the champion he was. He removed his glasses as tears streamed down his face. He stood up and walked off.
"I will take all three of you on tomorrow" he said, his voice strong despite the pain he was feeling and the tears going down his cheeks. "I will have eighteen different Bug Pokémon ready, six for each of you. Tomorrow's battle will be a battle of strategy for each of you. If you can't strategize well, you will not be able to win against me. Be prepared."
And with that, Luzige walked off. Later that night, he ended up calling his family and telling them what had happened to Marcus. They arranged for him to go home to Johto the next week with his brother's body so they could have the funeral. He would be back before any challengers would reach him.
Lyss had her Pokémon with her in the forest for training. Kai had hers out as they tried to come up with a strategy. I sat alone that night and prepared myself for tomorrow. I knew exactly how I wanted my Pokémon to battle tomorrow. I had a strategy ready.
A/N: Hey, hope you guys are still enjoying so far. I gave two origin stories in this chapter, one for Michael, who we will see later on, and one for our dear friend Marcus! I'm still accepting OCs, just PM me if you'd like to submit one! :)