Riley O'Brian and the Master of Space Chapter 3: Let's Get Down to Business
"Speech"
"Telepathy"
'Thought'
Riley grips his walking stick apprehensively. 'This will be a memorable day no matter what,' He thinks to himself. He and his three companions, Ash, Pikachu, and Latias, are in the Sinnoh Region. Ash had explained the Pokémon Leagues and the five leagues. It was decided that, in order to make traveling easier, that Riley would register as a trainer. In order to do that, they were heading to a lab to get a Pokédex and a starter Pokémon by a professor named Professor Rowan. Ash had already told him the three start types and what they might evolve into. As they neared the lab, Riley took a deep breath. He looked at Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder than Latias who was disguised as Bianca. "Ready?" He asks, a bit nervously.
Ash nods. Then the group walks in. They see a professor in the middle of some work. He has white hair and a mustache. "Hello Professor," Ash says. The man looks up. "Ah, Ash, is there anything you need?" Ash shakes his head. "Not for me, no. But my friend here wants to become a trainer." Professor Rowan walks over to Riley. "Is that so?" Riley nods. "Yes sir." Rowan actually smiles a bit. "Eager one aren't we? Very well, follow me," He says, turning around and heading deeper into his lab. Riley follows behind him, with a bit of caution. No point in bumping into stuff that he doesn't know what it is.
The group stops at a table with three Pokéballs on it. "As your friend may have told you, there are three Pokémon to choose from," The professor says. He opens one of them and a blue penguin comes out. "Peplum, a water-type Pokémon." The second one has a chimpanzee-like Pokémon with a tail of fire. "Chimchar, a fire-type." The final Pokémon looks like a turtle with a brown shell and a twig on its forehead. "And last but not least, Turtwig, a grass type. So, which do you choose?" The professor asks Riley. He thinks about it for a few moments. "Sir, I choose Turtwig," He says confidently. Rowan nods and returns the Pokémon to their Pokéballs. He then hands the one containing Turtwig to Riley, as well as a red machine. "This will be your Pokédex. I'm sure that Ash can show you how to use it later," Riley takes the two items and pockets them. "Thank you sir," Riley says frankly. The professor nods. "Well, good luck on your journey, whatever it is." Riley nods and leaves with his companions. "So, Riley, what do you plan on doing with Turtwig?" Ash asks. Riley smiles.
"Why train him to be the best he can be, of course," He says. With that, he shouts. "Turtwig, come on out!" The turtle-like Pokémon comes out of the Pokéball. "Finally, it's good to be out of that lab!" He exclaims excitedly. Riley chuckles. "Glad to hear that," He says. The tiny leaf Pokémon looks up in surprise at his new trainer. "You understand me?" He asks, not quiet believing it. Riley nods. "As well as all other Pokémon. Ready for some training?" He asks Turtwig, a challenge in his voice. Turtwig nods vigorously. "Of course!" Riley smiles again. He turns to Ash. "I would like to stop here for now and get some training with Turtwig," He tells Ash, who nods in understanding. "Sure."
Riley turns back to his new companion and takes out his Pokédex and turns it to him. He ignores most of the information for now, wanting to see the moves Turtwig knows. 'Hmmm, tackle, razor leaf, absorb, and withdrawal. Could be better, but not bad' He thinks, putting the device away. "Okay, while I train Turtwig, how about you guys get camp ready?" After Latias and Ash agree, Riley walks into the woods to a clearing, Turtwig right behind him. When the two reach the middle of the clearing, Riley stops and turns to his new partner. "Ready?" Turtwig nods furiously. "Good. I will make a serious of gestures, each one will be for each of your moves. Understand?" Riley asks. Turtwig nods again. "Good. Okay, first gesture is for tackle. Watch carefully." With that, Riley tightens makes his right hand into a fist then punches forward. "For razor leaf, this is the signal." Riley makes a horizontal slicing gesture. "Vine whip" The young trainer moves his right hand near the back of his neck and makes a diagonal downward slash. "For absorb." He crosses his arms then flings them backwards. "And finally, withdrawal." Riley does the opposite of the gesture for absorb, bringing his arms into an X. "Now, let's try it out," Riley says with a grin. After going through the exercise for Turtwig, Riley decides to also exercise with his new comrade.
He unsheathes his rapier and falls back into an old routine from his past days of fighting. Parry. Thrust. Sidestep. Lunge. Repeat. After about an hour, the two decide to stop. "Good job today, Turtwig. I think you have great potential," Riley says encouragingly, sheathing his rapier into his walking stick sheathe. "Thanks. But I am curious, why do you fight with a sword?" Turtwig asks. "One, it is not a sword, a sword can be used to stab, cut, or slash. This is a thrusting sword, a rapier. Second, that is a long, long story to tell. Someday I will tell it, just not today." Turtwig nods, a bit disappointed. "I can tell you this, the story is quite interesting to say the least." Together, the two walk back to camp. When they get there, they find that dinner has already been made. Together, the travelers gorge themselves on the food, then head to the tents to get much needed rest.
Elsewhere in the Sinnoh Region near the campsite…
A portal opens in a dark forest. Out of it steps out a fearsome sight. A black cape coated with dried blood sways in the wind. Alarmingly blood red armor glistens in the last rays of dying sunlight. His helm is the bleached skull of an elk. The antlers are tipped with blood. The warrior takes off his helm and looks around. His head is shaved. A scar runs across his face. One eye is ruined, a partly empty socket covered with an eye patch. His one remaining pale blue eye glints with a malicious intent. "So, my old foe, this is where you are? No matter, I will find you. I am a hunter! I will have my revenge. You shall pay for my eye with your life, Riley O'Brian," The warrior says the name with venom simply oozing from his tone. Then he shifts his form into a monstrous giant wolf. He sniffs the air experimentally before turning his head in a south east heading. 'There you are.' The wolf lifts his head and howls to the sky, the sound carrying for miles. 'There's nowhere to hide now, boy!' The wolf thinks as he bounds over to the campsite.
At the campsite that night…
Riley wakes up and listens, but hears nothing. He frowns. 'I could have sworn I just heard something' Just as he is about to go back to sleep, he hears something a howl. Riley frowns again. 'That howl, I know it from somewhere. Could it be?' With that, Riley gets up and grabs his walking stick. Then he steps outside. He scans the surroundings and sees nothing. He turns around to look at the area behind him when he hears a low blood chilling growl. Almost dreading turning around, Riley does so and confirms his fear. A monstrous wolf, the coat matted with dirt and blood, mouth slightly foamed with saliva. It opens its jaws to let forth a loud howl and then lunges, changing form in mid-air to the human form of Riley's nemesis, the Horned Warrior. He did not know his name, nor did he want to. With a fearsome yell, the Horned Warrior brings down his two hand axe in an attempt to split Riley in two. The young warrior steps aside, a grim smile on his face. "What is with your constant attempts at killing me? You are, were actually, a great general, albeit a misguided one. You do what your patron bided you, and yet you are reduced to seeking vengeance and risk her wrath by doing this, no doubt without her consent. Is it because, I took your eye?" Riley asks, a slight smirk on his face as Ash and Latias wake up to see what is going on.
The comment obviously struck a sore point. "I TOOK YOUR AIR GROUP! I TOOK YOUR AIR GROUP ON THE BATTLEFIELD! I SLAYED YOUR PILOTS! I HUNG THEIR HEADS LIKE LANTERNS! I KILLED YOUR WING WOMAN!" He shouts before calming. "And I will kill you, too." Riley cracks his knuckles. "Bring it." Then he draws his rapier. He makes sure not to parry the massive war axe with his thin sword or he would risk breaking it. He waits for an opening and when he sees it, he lunges. The tip of his sword scores true, hitting the side of the half blind warrior. Riley quickly withdraws his rapier to prevent it from being broken or leaving himself open to a retaliatory strike. He repeats this several times, lightly wounding and infuriating the Horned Warrior.
Seeing that the fight is now against him, the warrior breaks off from fighting. "This is not over. Far from it. Watch your back boy!" He says threateningly before changing back into his wolf form and leaping back into the shadows. Riley waits a few minutes before sheathing his rapier in his walking cane.
"Who was that?" Ash asks, justly confused. "An old friend, so to speak. One that I thought I would never meet again. Obviously, I have been proven wrong." He sits down near the dying camp fire and pokes at hit with his rapier, stirring the flames. "Well? We want an answer," Latias asks, politely but firmly. Riley brings out Turtwig and becomes quiet, staring at the flickering fire for a few minutes. The fire casts shadows on his face, making it appear angrier and more dangerous then it usually is. Finally he speaks.
"I do not know his name, nor his origin. I met in in the battlefield several years ago. I took his eye while defending myself. Ever since then he was hunted me for vengeance. We have clashed another time, and that was when our rivalry became personal. He is a fearsome, skilled, and deadly warrior who want even think about killing innocents to achieve his goal, and even sometimes enjoys doing it. He is a shape-shifter, able to become a giant wolf as you have seen. He has also sworn to kill all who help me. So now I may have just ensured your deaths," Riley says, his voice filled with emotions such as anger, hatred, bitterness, and a touch of guilt. Before ever Ash or Latias can stop him, he gets up.
"You may want to get sleep. I'll keep watch tonight," With that, Riley gets up and heads into the woods, his cloak hiding him from sight. Ash and Latias look at each other. Almost at once, they speak. "You talk to him," Ash says. "You talk to him," Latias also says. Pikachu and Turtwig look at each other. "Who do you want to bet is going to talk to Riley?" Turtwig asks. "Tomorrow's breakfast says it's going to be Latias," Pikachu says. Turtwig nods. "You're on." "I think you should do it," Ash says. "But you're the compassionate guy. Why not you?" "Because I have not been in the kind of situation that Riley is talking about," Ash protests. Latias raises an eyebrow. "And I have?" Ash shrugs. "Well, not quite that sort of situation. But I say you should do it." Latias sighs. "Fine. I'll do it in the morning," She says, conceding defeat. Turtwig quietly sighs. "And there goes my breakfast."
MorgothII: And chapter three is finished! First person to correctly guess the hidden reference in this chapter will be mentioned. As always, be polite and leave a review for me. Thank you.