Trainers, what type are the Pokemon of the lakes?
a) Psychic
b) Ghost
c) Flying
Lucas and Dawn arrived at Canalave City, following the realisation that neither had a normal Surfing Pokémon.
"Alfa, you aren't a commissioned officer. You don't have to fly so rigidly…" Lucas sighed.
"Pardon, sir. It is all instinct, sir!"
"Don't call him sir. Call him Lucas," Dawn added.
"As you wish, ma'am."
Dawn rolled her eyes. She scanned the horizon, and found… Barry.
"Barry!"
"Hey, Dawn. I've been looking for you. Listen… how about a little bit of a scrap?"
Dawn tilted her head.
"Sure, why not?"
"Each team will use five Pokémon apiece. Dawn is borrowing one of mine. No switching is to occur. When a Pokémon faints, the winner is declared unable to battle as well. The Trainer with the most winners will be the overall victor of this match," Lucas narrated.
"Why the fancy rules?"
"Eh, gotta keep this original somehow."
"So… are you ready? Then let's battle!"
Dawn is challenged by PKMN Trainer Barry!
PKMN Trainer Barry sent out STARAPTOR!
Go! Yuki!
Yuki started the fight with an Ice Beam. Staraptor took the blow, and charged with a Take Down. Yuki took that blow, in the hopes that the recoil damage would be enough. Sadly, it wasn't, and the now weakened Yuki lost to a Quick Attack.
PKMN Trainer Barry sent out HERACROSS!
Go! SKORUPI!
What? SKORUPI is evolving!
Time stood still, as Dawn's pick began to get up. Its arms grew longer, as did its body. It lost some of its legs, tail and cuteness. This was a bug that meant business. And it might not even be a Bug.
Congratulations! Your SKORUPI evolved into DRAIPON!
Draipon gave a Night Slash, sending the Heracross back in surprise. Heracross charged forward, and landed a Brick Break. Draipon resisted the blow, and chose a Poison Fang as a finishing blow.
PKMN Trainer Barry sent out RAPIDASH!
Go! ALTARIA!
Altaria gave a low whistle, and spread her wings. A Dragon Pulse came out of nowhere, surprising the Rapidash. The Rapidash then Stomped, flinching Altaria, and gave a Take Down, finishing off Altaria.
"One more winner and Barry takes the battle!" Lucas called out.
PKMN Trainer Barry sent out ROSERADE!
Go! TOGETIC!
Togetic used an Extrasensory, flinching. Togetic's next attack was to use Air Cutter, almost taking down Roserade. Roserade attempted to Giga Drain all her health back, but missed out on Togetic's second Air Cutter.
"A tiebreaker match! I like my battles close!"
PKMN Trainer Barry sent out EMPOLEON!
Go! MONFERNO!
"And the winner is… Barry!" Barry called out.
"Don't count your Torchic before they hatch."
Monferno charged in with a Mach Punch. Empoleon tried to dodge, as he'd seen done many times before… before realising he was about four times heavier since he evolved. He took the full force of Monferno's blow. In return, Empoleon dealt a massive BubbleBeam. Monferno was knocked over, before he looked up.
He was on fire. Literally, his flames had peaked significantly. The tuft of energy he emitted was almost invisible. Monferno spun around, generating a massive Flame Wheel. Panicking, Empoleon tried to spout a BubbleBeam powerful enough to douse the flames. He failed, and simply had to dodge the all-powerful fire.
Dawn defeated PKMN Trainer Barry!
"Wow… you're good. So listen, what's the latest on Team Galactic?"
"Well… we found their leader. He seems pretty bent on some maniacal goal."
"You can beat him, Dawn! You can beat him, Lucas! I know you can!"
"Morning, challengers!"
"Morning?" Dawn asked.
"Huh, what? It's afternoon already? Dangit, I overslept again. Some call me Byron. Others, Dad. Still others, You!"
"OK… Could we possibly get a battle out of you?"
"Why, I'd be delighted!"
Lucas and Dawn are challenged by Leader Byron!
Leader Byron sent out MAGNETON!
Go! TORTERRA!
Torterra gave a mighty stomp, shaking the ground with an Earthquake. Magneton was quickly taken out.
Leader Byron sent out STEELIX!
Torterra smirked. He prepared another Earthquake, before being instantly cut off. Steelix's long neck retracted, icy crystals still falling from his jaw.
Go! MONFERNO!
Monferno focussed, and used a Flamethrower. The Steelix was quickly slow-cooked.
Leader Byron sent out BASTIODON!
What? MONFERNO is evolving!
Time stood still, as Monferno's arms extended to the ground. His red colour scheme was overhauled to white, and his flame moved to his forehead. He let out a long monkey-like war cry.
Congratulations! Your MONFERNO evolved into INFERNAPE!
Infernape jumped at the Bastiodon, using a Mach Punch. And again. Infernape's Mach Punch had become a Close Combat.
Lucas and Dawn defeated Leader Byron!
"Overwhelming power… in the face of my iron-clad defences… *yawn*… then again, I was half asleep… maybe I used the wrong team? Anyway, you earned…"
Lucas and Dawn received the Mine Badge from Byron!
"This will give you immense Strength on the field. Now, if you'll excuse me… *yawn*… I kind of need to wake up a bit."
After a message from Barry, the next place Lucas and Dawn found themselves was at a table in Canalave Library, listening to Professor Rowan.
"Now, as you know, Dawn, I study the process of Pokémon evolution. When you've seen Pokémon evolve, time freezes, and the odds of the Pokémon succeeding at their current task increase ten-fold. But there are Pokémon that are incapable of evolving out there. What are we to believe of them? If evolution provides a distinct advantage to Pokémon, why have those that cannot evolve?
"And that's where you two come in. Within the lakes are mythical Pokémon that don't evolve. I want to know exactly why. Mythical Pokémon, in particular, should prove most important to the study. There are three lakes, and three of you. This is a fortunate occurrence.
"Barry, I want you to go to Lake Acuity. Lucas, Lake Valor. Dawn, Lake Verity. According to legend, the three Pokémon embody the emotions of emotion, willpower and knowledge. Ideally, I want your personality to match the Pokémon you visit. But to be perfectly frank… I don't know which is at which lake. I can only hope you're going the right way."
"OK, I think I got that…" all three of the children nodded.
*KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
"Hoo boy… I can only hope this is not catastrophic…"
"Hey! Heroes of Team Galactic! There was a big explosion at Lake Valor!" one specific voice, amid the thousands of panicking ones, told the four as they left the library. Barry gasped.
"Lucas! Do you want to switch?" Barry asked.
"I'll be fine. I just hope the same thing doesn't happen to you two. But… I did hear something… I have to go to Lake Valor myself. I know exactly what happened."
"You're the boss." Barry sent out his Staraptor, and flew in the direction of Acuity.
"Lucas, can I come with you?" Dawn asked.
"No. You have your job. I have mine. Get going! Altaria, you can keep her safe if they're at Verity, right?"
"You can bet your life on it."
"… I hope that was a positive... Anyway, Alfa! March on to Lake Valor. We have to find out what happened!"
"So… you were the one who thwarted that Grunt. Or tried to, at least!" the leader of Team Galactic's forces at Lake Valor said.
"You cannot win against me. As we speak, Mars and Jupiter are at the other lakes, capturing their mythical Pokémon. Thanks to my efforts, I might add. But now, I'm going to crush you like a bug!"
Lucas is challenged by Commander Saturn!
Commander Saturn sent out GOLBAT!
Go! RAMPARDOS!
Rampardos charged like a bull, smashing his head into the Golbat. The blunt force was enough to throw Golbat's brittle bones out of whack.
Commander Saturn sent out TOXICROAK!
Rampardos' charge continued, as he circled back around to deal with the new threat. Toxicroak stood steady, as the blow dealt some severe damage. It was nowhere near finishing, however, and Toxicroak used a Revenge attack as a finishing blow.
Go! Alfa!
Alfa shot forward like a bullet. Toxicroak attempted his Revenge tactic again, but forgot he couldn't stand a second blow… especially not one like Alfa's Aerial Ace.
Commander Saturn sent out BRONZOR!
Bronzor spun like a top, and used a Rock Tomb. Alfa pierced through the falling stones, even breaking one, to deal a Close Combat. The Bronzor fell to the ground, a shattered mirror.
Lucas defeated Commander Saturn!
"Fool… you can't stand against Team Galactic forever. One day, you'll let your guard down. And then we'll be right there, capitalising on that. I will personally see that you chick friend is broken."
"Threaten Dawn, and I have a Gabite with your name on it!"
"Gabite? Your Gabite doesn't scare me."
*TEAM GALACTIC WILL CONQUER THE UNIVERSE*
"I'm here, I'm here, now what is it, Mars?"
"There's a girl here, trying to stop us. We need backup."
"How many Grunts do you have there?" Lucas asked, mimicking Saturn's voice.
"Four… wait, that wasn't Saturn."
"But that was what I wanted to hear. If I see more than four Grunts there, you will be the first man I go for, Saturn. And believe me; you have only seen a taste of what I can do to scum like you."
Threatening Saturn was a touch cruel, but damn if it wasn't cathartic. He deserved every word for threatening Dawn.
"Oh goddess, I'm delirious."
"No, you're defensive. Don't be ashamed: I did it to Charlie all the time."
"No, I'm not that delirious, Alfa. I still can't talk to you."
"Fair enough. Your Charlie at six o'clock. Now initiating loop sequence."
Lucas held on, as he felt Alfa perform his signature loop. Instead of continuing in his initial direction, he instead went directly downwards. Lucas narrowed his eyes, as the acceleration got stronger. And stronger. And stronger.
*BOOM*
Alfa went right through Purugly, helping out Altaria. Lucas jumped off, and grabbed Mars by the neck. He combed the lake. Four Grunts.
"What are you doing with the lake Pokémon?"
"We don't know. We're just collecting them for Him."
"Who is he?"
"…Cyrus. Don't make me say the name again."
"Dawn, we need to get to Acuity."
The correct answer is a) Psychic.
Next time, on High Road to Giratina, we finally meet Candice in battle.