SINNOH STORIES

THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER

Author's Notes: I apologize for the late chapter. I've been having fun with my new, shiny bout of writer's block! Plus I've been reading another fan fiction. A very long one at that – Digital Skitty (his ffnet username anyways)'s "Pedestal". Suggest giving it a shot while you wait for more of my amazing story. =p

[[Chapter 8: Pop goes the Volkner]]

The trio of Volkner, Gardenia, and Jasmine was walking away from the busy city of Hearthome, yet Volkner was the only one who felt something unique – a sort of loneliness that he had never felt before in his life. It wasn't a romantic loneliness, it wasn't a loneliness for friendship... it was... well, he didn't quite know the words.

It felt as if he were leaving his destiny behind; a blue haired teenager called Cyrus. A piece of his heart was with him, and he meant it in the least homosexual way possible. But it was as if the Gods themselves had plopped him right down next to Cyrus for a purpose, he just couldn't figure out what this purpose was.

The speaking of a woman annoyed him out of his thoughts.

"... Excuse me?"

Okay, it was a little girl. He recognized it now to belong to Bebe, the girl who's Eevee she had saved the previous day.

He turned around with the rest of the group and found himself a bit worried (he himself couldn't believe that either) at the sight of such despair in her hazel eyes. An Eevee was in one hand, being walked, while the other hand had a Pokeball in it.

"Go on," she said, extending her hand to Volkner. "This here is... well, he was recently born. I don't want to part with him so soon, but I think it's best... he's an Eevee. I want you to train him, Mister Denzi."

Gardenia and Jasmine looked to him expectantly – as if they expected him to take it or something. He scoffed, and turned around to begin to walk off. That was, until she said something to him.

"Eevee can grow strong, you know. They have seven different possible evolutions. He would make a great addition to your team..."

He immediately turned around and swiped the ball from her extended hand. She smiled at this, nodded and began to turn.

"Thanks," Volkner said, before turning around himself. "See ya, Bebe."

Gardenia looked at him like he had grown a third eye; Volkner knew she had already assessed him to be a cruel, cold-hearted bastard when he hadn't healed Chuseph as quick as she would have liked. He had done that solely to shock her and throw her off.

Right?

Gardenia's real concern lay with the fact that he HAD accepted the Pokemon. He had shown some appreciation for once in his life, but that was likely because he had also just received a rare and potentially powerful Pokemon just for a little running around a city.

She worried deeply that he would abuse the poor little newborn, and so she would enforce it strictly that if he were to go off on his own, the Pokemon would be in her care. She brought the subject up now.

"Volkner," she said. "I understand why ya took the lil' guy, but make me a deal here. I'll 'low ya to go off on yer own when we're in towns, but the lil' guy goes with ME when you do."

He was surprisingly agreeable to that.

"Sure," he muttered. "Why the hell not?"

The group traveled swiftly to the route east of Hearthome, heading toward the next destination on the map, Solaceon Town: town of the Pokemon Daycare, newspaper station, and ancient ruins. Three different things to interest three different people.

Jasmine was interested in the daycare. She had always been a one for raising Pokemon, as she could befriend even giants like her Onix.

Gardenia was always a sucker for the press. She wanted to check out the workings of the building.

Volkner had Mana on his mind. He had let the spectacle of last night go as to not inform Gardenia or Jasmine just what had happened to him, but he wanted to see if Ancient Ruins in Sinnoh had been the reason he had been dropped here; probably not, as the nagging feeling in his heart told him, but he would see.

His train of thought was interrupted when an odd figure skidded across the dirt in front of them, taking an almost shy pose. The girls giggled at this, finding it amusing. Volkner just wanted to move past this stranger and go on, but he stood up and straightened himself off, blocking their path.

He was about five foot three in height, and looked around their age. His head was covered in a tangled mess of green hair like the vines of a shiny Tangela, this covered by a white hat with a black rim. His clothing was a simple combination of a navy blue hoody and a pair of jeans, and his feet were covered by a pair of black sandals.

"... Sorry 'bout that," he murmured. The group struggled to hear him, drawing in closer. He flinched sheepishly at this, but allowed them to get close enough – even doing the courtesy of speaking a bit louder for them. "I just wanted to get close before you guys ran out of the way... nearly fell on my butt, though..."

Gardenia was the one to step forward and nod her head, still stifling laughter. "It's okay," she said. "Is there something you wanted from us?"

"Yes," the oddity of nature admitted. "I was up in the trees, looking for my Caterpie – I did find her! – and then I saw you guys pass by. I just felt..." As he spoke, he reached toward the belt around his waist, clipping off a ball from it. "... like I wanted to battle, you."

The pause was for his other hand to lift up and point to Volkner.

"The hell?" Volkner questioned. "Why me?"

The man shrugged. "You just look like someone I'd enjoy battling." Oddly enough, when he said this, a small glint was evident in the man's gaze. He shrugged it off. "By the way, my name is Jordan Summers. Yours?"

"... Volkner Denzi. My comrades Gardenia Natane and Jasmine... Mikan, wasn't it?"

Jasmine uttered a simple, "Yes," in response.

Volkner nodded and continued with a sigh. "But I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I? Fine. We'll battle."

Jordan grinned widely at this and extended the hand with the Pokeball in it, thumb over the release switch. He seemed to be awaiting Volkner's move.

So Volkner would oblige him. "Let's go, Chuseph!"

"C'mon out, Maggie!~"

Two flashes of red light occurred, and in the central point shared between both competitors, two Pokemon were formed.

The name was perhaps the single most uncreative thing Volkner had ever heard in his life. Only his Chuseph came in at a very close second; at least it had some creativity to it, no matter how slight.

Maggie was a Magnemite. A small hunk of circular stainless steel with a white circle in the center, where a single dot rested like a pupil in an eye. Just below this white circle were two screws, while another screw rested atop its head, slightly protruding. Two horseshoe magnets extended from it, one on each side.

Chuseph, of course, had evolved recently. He was now a good bit bigger, two stubby arms extending from his body. On his cheeks were two circular splotches of red, just below his black-button eyes. His ears were pointed, tipped in black His tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.

The two electric Pokemon stared each other down intensely, Chuseph on all fours and emitting a low, "Chuuuu..."

Maggie, however, simply floated there lifelessly.

"Electric versus Electric. Pretty interesting turnout, Mister Denzi..."

"Very much so, Mister Summers," he responded. He was smiling in spite of himself.

"First command goes to you, Mister Denzi," Jordan said. His smile still remained, never having faded.

"Fair enough," Volkner said. He was, in all honesty, a bit apprehensive about this because he knew that Chuseph had no non-electric attacking moves. He knew nothing about this Magnemite, and though for the moment it appeared as if they were on equal terms because both were of the same type, it could easily pull out a non-electric move and slaughter Chuseph. "Chuseph, Sweet Kiss!"

Chuseph moved toward Maggie in leaps and bounds, before finally planting a simple kiss against the Magnemite's "cheek". This quickly caused more than Volkner thought it would: it confused the Magnemite like it was supposed to, but it went haywire.

It darted around the area in a circle, buzzing its loudest, before falling to the ground right on its "face". It lifted up again, shook itself like a wet dog, much to Volkner's awe (he didn't think such a thing was possible of a Magnemite), then awaited its master's command.

"... Okay, then," :Jordan said. "Gravity, Maggie!"

It worked past the mild confusion of the Sweet Kiss, and began to work its magnets together. Once the tips touched, everyone in the area felt suddenly heavier; the Pokemon even more so. Chuseph cried out in shock.

But in the proccess, the Magnemite was pulled down to the ground.

"Stupid move, Summers!" Volkner said. "Chuseph, Volt Tackle!"

Chuseph began to run forward as fast as he could under the invisible pressure, his entire body surrounded by an electrical yellow aura. He leaped slightly off the ground just moments before contact – and was frozen.

"Good job, Maggie! Now, keep the Magnet Rise up, but subtract the Pikachu with a fierce Magnet Bomb!"

+Against the gravity, Magnemite was rising into the air and carrying Chuseph with it. A couple of seconds later, though, Chuseph was screeching out in surprise as a silver ball of energy burst forward from the two magnets touching together, and his struggling was no more.

Grimacing, Volkner returned Chuseph to switch him out with Elekid.

Elekid clashed his hands together excitedly, his face showing slight signs of strain from the gravity in the area: but he wasn't going to let it get in his way, obviously, as evidenced by the fact that he jumped from side to side with his fists barred like a boxer.

"Alright! Cross Chop, Elekid!" Volkner commanded, and the yellow creature with prong-ears responded all too eagerly. He ran forward and leaped up toward the Magnemite, barely managing to reach its height but managing it all the same. He crossed his arms over each other in x-formation, before releasing them, striking the metallic skin of Maggie with an unrivaled strength.

"... A critical hit," Jordan murmured. Magnemite had fallen. Jordan returned it, and switched in his next Pokemon – or tried too, anyway.

"Go Gallade!" a voice screamed, and Volkner recoiled, turning around to see the face of his kidnapper back in the Valley Windworks. He froze and then heard his ears pop, as the green and white Pokemon dashed forward and grabbed him by the hand, before disappearing into the day; Volkner alongside him.

"Flint, darling," the voice called. "Did you pack clean underwear? Proper toiletries? Burn Heals? Potions?"

Flint ran a hand through his thick red hair, turning around to look at the kind old woman who had sheltered him through the night's storm, and had even been as kind as to let him sleep-in and eat a Brunch with her. She was such an awful worry wart, though... he sighed, and nodded to her.

"Yes, ma'am! Thanks for letting me stay with you, and for letting me take a few things. I promise I will come back here some day and pay you back!" Flint called out.

The kind old woman simply smiled and waved. "Don't worry about it, dear. Good luck."

Flint waved back, turning around once again with his Magmar out at his side. "Alright, Mags!" he said cheerfully. "We'll jog for half an hour, then rest. Should be plenty excersise, right?"

"Marrrr!~" Mags responded cheerfully.

And so it would be done, the two of them turning back to wave one more time to the kind old hostess, before they began to jog off into the forest.