Howdy hey hey, dear readers!
Hope you all enjoyed the Halloween Special (if anyone actually read it...)! I know the stories are kinda dull, but they were kinda hurried and... ahem.
In this chapter, there will be some lame attempts at humor, as well as some hurried action scenes, coupled with a short chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Less than Legends, More than Myths
Chapter 10: Boring Action
"Argh, this is just sooo boring!" Brendan said out loud, sitting on his bed. Although his infection was under control now, he still had to stay at the Center for the remaining of the day, just in case. Plus, it was almost dark now, and it was too late to actually do anything.
Nurse Joy had brought some games for him to amuse himself with, but Brendan said, "Any games that you can play alone are not games worth playing.", and the Nurse got pissed off for some reason. She yelled, "FINE! IF THE GAMES ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOUR GREAT PRESENCE, THEN I'LL JUST TAKE THEM!" before saying some censored words and stomping off.
That alone had amused Brendan for the past hour and a half, but now it was getting old. The only consolation the boy had was that his friends probably were just as bored as he was. Okay, at least Jake was, since May and Sara were visiting May's father.
"After all," Brendan thought, "What is there interesting to do in this town?"
--XXXXX--
At the exact same moment that Brendan had that thought, Jake took a mighty leap towards May and Sara and pushed them away, then used the backwards impulse of the effort to throw himself at the ground and roll away just as the Hyper Beam hit the ground and caused a massive explosion. The boy was pushed away with great force, causing him to roll on the ground for almost twenty feet. Shaken and dizzy, not to mention with a horrible ringing inside his head, the boy struggled to his feet.
He was immediately relieved when he saw May and Sara, as dizzy as he was, moving. They were covered in dirt and cuts, courtesy of the Hyper Beam's force, but they didn't seem wounded. Looking around, Jake saw that this was also the case for almost every Team Rocket member. Only a few were wounded, and luckily not seriously. Even though they were cruel and had almost done something seriously evil to Sara, the boy felt relieved at their well-being. After all, he wasn't that evil.
Now that he knew everyone was okay, another problem came up. The Salamence, even though strained from the powerful attack it had just unleashed, was now free and seriously pissed off. The creature roared and flew around the camp. Jake remembered Brendan, during one of their many chats they had when they were little, telling him something about Hyper Beam taking time to recharge. Right then, the boy couldn't care less about it, but the boy had to admit it might just save his life now.
He stumbled over to May and Sara. The girls, being further away from the explosion, weren't as dizzy as he was, but they were still shaken. Seeing him approach, the girls hurried towards him.
"Jake! Are you okay?" May said, genuinely concerned for him for the first time.
"Been through worse." Jake replied with a grin. He then got serious again. "We've gotta move. The Salamence's bound to attack again soon enough, and we better be outta here by then."
The girls nodded, and together the three ran for the (relative) cover of trees surrounding the camp. They were about halfway through when Sara stopped and gazed back at the camp. Jake dragged her by the arm to the trees, seeing as the Salamence was charging up another Hyper Beam. Once they were clear from immediate danger, the group ran down the hill and back towards the Pokémon Center.
They only stopped their desperate running when they were almost a mile from the Team Rocket camp. Thoroughly exhausted, the group collapsed right there and then. They were almost at Petalburg City, but no one had the strength or patience to venture inside and actually find the Center. They considered camping there for the night, which led to this argument.
"We can't camp here!" May protested vividly, counting on her fingers each time she stated an argument. "There's a frenzied Salamence running loose not far from here, we don't have any camping gear, and wild Pokémon often steal from sleeping travelers around these parts! We would be asking for trouble!"
"It probably already destroyed enough for today, you don't have any camping gear, and I couldn't care less." Jake calmly replied in order. "After all, what do we have that is actually worth stealing? It's not like we have any money, and neither of you girls brought your packs!"
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Bigshot, but you don't have your pack either!" May shouted, starting to get hostile. Jake did a quick check and found out that what she was saying was true. He whispered a low curse. Oblivious to the boy, May continued. "Do you carry sleeping bags hidden in your ears? 'Cause otherwise we don't have any gear!"
"Hey, hey!" Jake said, getting angry himself. "If I don't have my backpack, it's because you had to get in the way of that stupid Hyper Beam! I had to drop it in order to save you, which I did without hesitation and against better thoughts! Jeez, I'm starting to regret it!"
"I never asked you to save you!" May shouted, enraged. "You just wanted to be the hero! I could have very well dodged that Hyper Beam on my own! But noo, big Jake has to come and save the day, huh? Well, guess what, big Jake? Go burn in hell!"
"ENOUGH!" Sara shouted, covering her ears and falling on her knees, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Why must you fight all the time!? Can't we just be happy that we're safe? That we're alive? Why can't we just be happy?" And she broke into sobs.
All anger immediately forgotten, May hesitated a little before dropping beside her and patting her back. She shot Jake an apologetic glance, and was surprised by what she saw. The boy was scratching his chin, but May could have sworn he had wiped something shiny near his eye…
"You're right." the boy said, once more serious. "We should just be happy we're save. I'm sorry, Sara. May, if you want to, we can just head back to town. Hopefully, we'll be there in time for a nice soup in the cafeteria…"
"Sara…" May whispered softly, rubbing the said girl's back. "What do you want? Should we go to the cafeteria or stay here for the night?"
"Me?" Sara replied, wiping her eyes. She smiled a bit and stood up, supported by May. "I really don't care. As long as you two are not fighting anymore, I could sleep on ice. But as long as we're here already, why don't we camp for the night? We can tell stories around the campfire, and tomorrow morning we'll go look for Jake's backpack."
"Sounds like a plan." May agreed, also smiling. "That okay for you, Jake?"
"No problem, Random Girl." Jake replied, grinning. His face became once more serious almost immediately after. "Sorry 'bout that. As they say, old habits die hard. Anyway, we still need to figure out how to camp. As you so truly pointed out, we have no gear, at least not until tomorrow. And it's dark already."
"Ah, don't worry, Jacky." May mocked, smiling. "We'll find a way."
--XXXXX--
"Were are they!? Were!? Were!? WERE!?" Brendan shouted, throwing his pillow against the wall. The boy then began to snarl, claw and bite his bed. Probably needless to say, he was not in a good mood. "WERE ARE THOSE FREAKING IDIOTS!? WERE!?"
"Seems like someone is bo-ored." Nurse Joy said, standing by the (now) open doorway of the room. She was carrying something in her arms. "Would you like some games? Like this computerized Naval Battle? Or this 3-D Pokémon Chess?" she teased, showing him the items. She had already offered them once before, about two hours ago, but that did not end well. Brendan eyed the Nurse suspiciously, trying to find out if she had any hidden tricks.
"What do you want in exchange?" the boy finally asked, still trying to figure out why the Nurse was back. And most importantly, why was she being nice. "Money? My Pokémon?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "…My friends? Ha! That's it! You want to exchange my friends for those games! Well, guess what? I accept! Yahahaha!" The boy then began to repeatedly smash his head against the wall.
"Jeez…" Nurse Joy muttered, shocked by the display of… something. "They said that boredom kills, but this is ridiculous!" The Nurse intervened in the scene (relatively) quickly, forcing Brendan to lye back down on his bed and stop struggling, resisting and biting. Once in a comfortable position, the boy curled up into a ball and was immediately asleep, as if nothing had ever happened. The (allegedly) qualified Nurse stood in speechless shock for over a minute before slowly tip-toeing out of the room, locking the door behind her and running away.
--XXXXX--
"Humn, this is not what I had in mind…" May complained, watching Jake from a distance.
"Hey, it does the job, doesn't it?" Sara replied with a grin as she too watched the boy. "I wonder where he learned to do that."
"I guess he must have picked it up back at the farm."
"…Farm? What farm?"
"Oh, that's right, you didn't know! Jake's a farm-boy."
Surprised, Sara looked back towards where Jake was building a provisory shelter using branches from the surrounding trees. Sure, the boy had a certain rural and rough air about him, but he generally didn't seem like much of a farm-boy. May seemed to have similar thoughts, because she too looked at the boy, lost in her own mind. As the said boy finished his work, he dusted his hands off on one another and beaconed for the girls to step forward. As soon as May and Sara were close enough, he spoke.
"There, that should provide some shelter for the night. We should get some sleep now."
"Huh, Jake?" May asked, peeking over the boy's shoulder. "Are you sure three people can fit in there? It looks kinda small…"
"Three?" Jake replied, appearing surprised. "Hey, I built that for myself. You girls sleep on the grass."
"What!? Are you saying you, the boy, are going to sleep in the only decent place around and leave us, the girls, on the cold grass?" May asked, outraged. Jake thought for a bit, then nodded. "Were the hell is your gentleman-ism!?"
"Fine! If you want the tent, sleep on the goddam tent!"
"It's okay… we don't mind." Sara said, stepping in before another fight broke out. "Do we, May?"
May gulped audibly, shooting quick glances between the tent and the grass, before dropping her gaze to the ground and saying in a defeated tone, "'Course we don't."
To the girls' surprise, Jake burst into laughing. It took him a moment before he had recovered enough to say, "HA! You actually bought that!"
"Whaddya mean!?" May shouted, surprised and angry.
"No way I'm sleeping on that thing! Thanks a lot, but I choose life!" Jake continued, still chuckling. "But hey, feel free to take it for the night. As for me, I bid you all goodnight." And he laid down twenty feet from the hut and was immediately fast asleep.
"Boys…" May muttered, shaking her head in disbelief as she headed for the hut. Behind her, Sara chuckled.
--XXXXX--
The door creaked loudly as it was slowly pulled open, casting a thin slice of light into the dark room. Nothing stirred inside, nothing breathed. It was dead silent. May nervously stepped inside, following by an even more nervous Sara and a rather sleepy Jake. At first, the pitch-black darkness of the room made them all blind, but the light from the door still offered some comfort. It was then that the door slammed shut. May and Sara, almost panicking, tried to open it, but to their surprise, it was locked.
"What the…" May began, but soon stopped. Her whispered echoed through the still air and ended up like a terrifying ghostly whisper.
"W-what's going o-on?" Sara asked, terrified, instinctively drawing closer to May. Even Jake seemed serious. He tried to turn on the light switch, there was no response.
"So, you have come…" came a new, icy voice from the darkness. "I've been expecting you."
"G-GHOST!" May and Sara screamed at the same time, hugging each other. "AHHH!"
"Girls…" Jake muttered, shaking his head. He then looked over to where the sound had come from and said, "Brendan? You there, dude?"
Somewhere nearby, shadows moved. Jake extended a hand to touch it, but at the last moment it vanished and everyone could hear a soft, childish, freaky laughter. May and Sara screamed again, and Jake took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Brendan…" the voice said. "Yes, I remember that name. I was once called that… before I was left behind. Before I was abandoned!"
"Dude, we were gone for like… a day!" Jake shot back, trying to keep his voice steady. "Cut the act! It's creeping us out!" He once more reached for the nearby shadows, and once more they disappeared with that ghostly laughter.
"Brendan is no more…" the voice said, then laughed again. "I am Kilyan, the Spirit of DEATH!"
As soon as the voice said those words, the windows were thrown open, and a rush of freezing wind invaded the room. May and Sara screamed again, but their voice was completely drowned by the laughter, which was now raising in volume. Soon, it was the only thing that could be heard, even louder than the rushing wind. Acting as if on practice, May, Sara and Jake bolted towards the door, vainly trying to force it open.
"HAHAHAHAH!" the voice continued, but the ghostly laughter was now subsiding and being replace by a more normal, human laughter. "HAHAHAHAH!"
The trio turned towards where the new sound was coming. At the same time, the lights came on, the voice disappeared completely, and the howling wind ceased. Everyone was surprised to see Brendan laughing so much he were literally rolling on the floor. Jake, with a sour expression on his face, closed the window before heading back to his place.
"HEY! What's the big idea!?" May shouted, outraged. "That was a completely evil trick! It wasn't even fun!"
"Hey hey hey!" Brendan shot back, still chuckling. "You've been gone for at least ten hours! Do you have any idea of how boring it is to stay still on your bed for ten freaking hours!? For your information, I've spent the last three hours planning this, just so I'd have something to do!"
"How did you do that?" Jake asked, looking around the room. "I mean, the locking door, the lights, the window…"
"Well, let me present to you my assistant! Ladies and gentleman, Petalburg City's own Nurse Joy!" Brendan said, bowing and extending one arm towards the door. At the same time, Nurse Joy stepped into the room with a bow of her own. She smiled at the shocked kids in front of her, then broke into laughter. It took her a moment before she could walk over to Brendan and look at whisper some things into his ear. The two chuckled a bit, then the boy cleared his throat and spoke to the rest.
"Nurse Joy here was in charge of all the technical effects. You know, locking the door behind you, cutting off power to the room, opening the window, making her Blissey use Icy Wind to create the howling wind, catching it all on tape, bringing a recorder for the ghostly lau-"
"Wait!" interrupted May, a dangerous light gleaming on her eyes. "Did you say 'catching it all on tape'? Answer carefully."
"Ahm…" Brendan replied, wondering what he could answer. If he said 'yes', he could never accomplish his dream of going to the Sinnoh region, catching a bunch of Chatot and building the Chatot Utopia. If he said 'no', May would either believe him and let it go, or, most likely, kill him there and then. After a long moment of thought, he spoke in a very low whisper. "…Yes?..."
"BRENDAN BIRCH, YOU ARE SOOOOO DEAD!" May roared, literally making the entire Pokémon Center shake. "SAY YOUR LAST WORDS SO I CAN CRUSH YOU!"
"Earthquake!" shouted someone from outside the room. The shout was followed by the running steps and the sound of a window breaking. No one even noticed.
"Humn…" Brendan muttered. "I'd like to-"
"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" May continued. "NOW, PREPARE TO DIE!"
"But… but… you said…" the boy spluttered, incredulous.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO INTERRUPT ME!"
"Urgh…" Jake groaned. "This is gonna be a loooong day…"
--XXXXX--
"Au. Au. Au. Au. Au. Au. Au. Au. Au."
"Cut it out."
"Au. Au. Au. Au. Au. Au."
"Brendan!"
At this moment, Jake was walking with Brendan around Petalburg City. The former was extremely annoyed at his friend, for ever since the… events… in the Pokémon Center, he was repeating that annoying word each time he took a step. They had decided to take a walk before they got gathering their things and finally getting out of Petalburg, while May and Sara went back to the Gym for good-byes (and, in May's case, some phone-calls) and Nurse Joy tried to figure out why one of the Center's windows was broken.
"Claws!" Brendan nearly shouted. Luckily, the road was clear, as it was a rather cloudy day. "Where the hell did she get claws!?"
"They were just nails! Plus, consider yourself lucky it was just a scratch. It could've been much worse."
"You're not the one walking around with raked legs…"
"Urgh! You know what? I'm gonna ignore you from now on."
"…"
"…"
"Au. Au. Au. Au. Au…"
--XXXXX--
"So, everyone's ready to roll?" May asked as the group received their healed Pokémon from Nurse Joy.
"Yeah!" Sara answered enthusiastically. Apparently, it took an almost-semi-nearly-near-death experience to make her lose her shyness.
Brendan gasped, then practically shouted, "SARA! You can talk!" The boy fell to his knees and shouted to the ceiling. "Oh, you've heard my prayers! Thanks SO much!"
Sara blushed and looked at ground. May rolled her eyes, Jake groaned, and Brendan bellowed 'NOOOO' to the heavens. Nurse Joy shot a confused and worried glance between the travelers. Slowly but surely she was starting to fear for their mental health. Out of them all, Jake seemed to be the only one with any degree of normality around him. And those kids sure seemed to attract trouble. Merely being in the Center had made a window inexplicably brake. The Nurse shook her head and sighed. After this, she would have to make a long phone call to her boss…
Finally, Brendan, May, Jake and Sara left the Pokémon Center, heading off towards Rustboro City and their next adventures. There, Jake and Brendan would challenge the Gym (they had decided to skip Petalburg City's Gym, since it was rated 'Tough' by the official PLA Gym Rating). May and Sara weren't very interested in Gym Battles, but since Rustboro was a rather big city, it was bound to have some mauls, so the girls were happy. According to Jake's map, it would take them a little over a week to reach the city.
So, the travelers began their next travel towards the rising sun and new adventures.
Poetic, huh?
Here's a little information about the PLA (Pokémon League Association) Gym Rating. First of all, the trainers do not get in the Ever Grand League by number of badges, but rather by Badge Points. The harder the Gym, the more points its Badge is worth. Here is a little table about that:
Level 1, 'Sandbox'. Easy Gyms that offer little challenge. Suggested for starting Trainers. 2 Points.
Level 2, 'Warm-up'. Easy Gyms that offer a small challenge. Suggested for starting Trainers. 3 Points.
Level 3, 'Easy'. Easy Gyms that offer a decent challenge. Suggested for novice Trainers. 5 Points.
Level 4, 'Challenging'. Intermediate Gyms that offer a challenge. Suggested for novice Trainers. 12 Points.
Level 5, 'Tough'. Intermediate Gyms that offer a good challenge. Suggested for decent Trainers. 18 Points.
Level 6, 'Hard'. Advanced Gyms that offer a great challenge. Suggested for decent Trainers. 25 Points.
Level 7, 'Expert.' Advanced Gyms that offer a huge challenge. Suggested for experienced Trainers. 35 Points.
Level 8, 'Master'. Expert Gyms that offer an incredible challenge. Suggested for excellent Trainers. 50 Points.
To qualify for the League, you need 150 Badge Points. Notice that, unlike the anime or game versions, in this story there are much more than eight Gyms, spread throughout desolate regions and secret spots.
Hope that explained a few things. If needed, I'll post some more information about the PLA Gym Rating in the same this very same way.
Until then, have a pleasant time and don't forget to R&R!
Gotta Go With The Flow!
BlackShadowKnight