Chapter 7: Violent Violet [Part 2]
Pandabot: Yeah so here's the second part of the action from Violet; it contains the first proper battle in the story! Yay! And I must say I'm rather proud of it. But enough of that. This one sets the whole story in motion so it's a pretty big moment, some reviews would be nice. Also I'm going to aim for a chapter every week at the moment now that I'm back in the bowels of education. Now a few words from my recently re-discovered co-writer Peppy Le Hare!
Peppy: Thanks Pandabot. I'm actually very curious to see if anyone has come up with any ideas for ships, aside from the really obvious one. So yeah, review with some shipping ideas. Ciao!
Lyra awoke groggily in a well-kempt bedroom. The sun pried through the crack in the curtains, burning onto the neat, teal sheets. Yesterday's events blurred together in her head,leaving her with only a few memories left clear in her head. She remembered JT coming to find her, remembered entering the Pokemon Center, almost draped over JT's shoulder. She remembered being forced to eat and then being put into bed, remembered JT watching over her as she finally fell asleep.
Oh! JT!
She shot upright in bed, sweeping her gaze around the dimly-lit room; her eyes alighted on the sleeping JT, awkwardly crammed into the chair near her bed. A soft smile spread over her face as she saw him. It was obvious that he had fallen asleep keeping an eye on her. She slipped silently out of bed, grateful that she was wearing warm, dry clothes-
Wait a second who changed my clothes? I hope it wasnt JT...
She quietly padded across the room to the door that led into the main area of the Center; the door squeaked as pushed it open. She stepped out into the main area, almost colliding with the bustling Nurse Joy. The startled woman recoiled in surprise, almost dropping the tray she was carrying. An awkward silence ensued between the two women. Lyra cut the tension and relieved Nurse Joy of the tray. It appeared to be breakfast.
"Ahem. Yeah that's for you two. Free of charge" Nurse Joy said awkwardly, quickly turning away and heading back to the front counter.
Lyra (who was surprised at the show of kindness after she had nearly bubble-beamed her) wordlessly took the tray back to the room. As she entered, JT stirred in his sleep, muttering something inaudible; his eyes opened blearily.
He noticed Lyra standing just inside the door, holding what was clearly a tray of food; he sat bolt upright in the chair.
"Lyra! Are...are you ok now?" he asked cautiously, stretching out the kinks in his back and neck.
Lyra smiled softly at his concern. "Yeah...yeah I think so." She placed the tray down on the bed and began dishing out the unappetising looking food. JT and Lyra uneasily bit into their share of cold, blackened toast. After just one small bite, JT settled on pouring a bowl of cereal and spoke:
"We should get out into the city again – we ran into this guy once…maybe we can track him down before he gets too far…seems like the sort of guy to cause a scene."
Lyra stared down glumly, stabbing her terribly over-cooked scrambled Farfetch'd egg with her fork. "JT…he's probably on the route to Goldenrod by now…"
JT continued to pour his milk in now uncomfortable silence, accidentally overfilling his cereal.
"Sorry," cut in Lyra morosely. "Its my fault…"
"Don't talk like that! He attacked you!"
Lyra didn't look up, still prodding her breakfast with her fork. JT left his breakfast and made for his pack.
"Look – we'll head downstairs and ask Nurse Joy if she's seen anything…he might've stopped by here – and for some directions. And we'll see to getting some decent breakfast!"
Lyra's eyes lit up once more at JT's enthusiasm and met his. She also left the table and went about getting her pack ready, leaving the dejected slab of rubbery egg untouched.
"So I take it that you two are registered trainers?" Nurse Joy asked idly, her unfocused gaze directed at the glass doors. JT and Lyra looked at each other in confusion.
"Registered trainers?" JT repeated. Nurse Joy looked at them sharply, a frown marring her features.
"Yes. Registered trainers. Don't tell me you aren't even registered!"
Lyra spoke up impatiently. "Well maybe if you told us what exactly you're talking abo-"she said scathingly before JT interrupted her:
"Please, go on…" he said, trying to keep the situation in check.
Sending the younger girl a glare, Nurse Joy began to explain.
"It's something that Team Rocket put into place pretty recently. Basically if you want to go anywhere in Johto you have two options. Either join Team Rocket or become a registered trainer. The problem is that registered trainers have to challenge every Gym they come across, no exceptions. And all the Pokemon Gyms in Johto charge a challenge fee; luckily, you can win that back if you beat the Gym. They claim it's a way to keep the Gyms up and running but that isn't fooling anyone..." she trailed off, once again a frown creasing her face.
The silence dragged on for a few seconds before it was broken again.
"So why register everyone if it isn't about the money?" JT asked. Nurse Joy just looked at him for a second.
"They need to stop Blue," she said simply, turning back to the door.
JT and Lyra exchanged a glance at the name, they may live in out-of-the-way New Bark, but everyone knew Blue. He was almost a god among young pokemon trainers as one of the most skilled pokemon trainers of all time. In fact, fifteen years ago, he had been the Pokemon Champion, but only briefly; Red, widely regarded as the best trainer ever, had seen to that.
"What do mean stop him? What is he doing?" Lyra asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Nurse Joy asked simply, looking at the pair in confusion. "He's fighting Team Rocket."
On the other side of Violet City
A young boy lay concealed in the long grass; he stayed perfectly still as he listened to the conversation of two Rocket Grunts on the path.
"Why we gotta stay here? It ain't like anyone's gonna come this way anyway" the taller one complained. The shorter one sighed, "For the hundredth time, we have to stay here so that no-one interferes with our investigation at the junction" he said, exasperated with his companion.
The boy shifted uncomfortably in the grass, pulling his soft hat over his eyes and burying his face in the grass. The taller Rocket sat and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it up with a fluid movement; he sighed in relief.
"Hey you seen all the recruiting going on?" he said, setting his back to a tree and closing his eyes, totally at ease. The shorter one nodded in response, "Yeah they're goin' crazy huh? Apparently they're guarding the newest Ovidian Machine. First test is in a few days I hear" he said, taking a seat on the leaf litter that lined the road.
The boy frowned, this was the first he had heard of this new Ovidian Machine. He began slowly crawling backwards through the long grass, careful to make the absolute minimum amount of noise.
This was trouble.
JT and Lyra stared up at the giant doors of the Gym; a Pidgeotto motif hung overhead. They had learned from Nurse Joy that the only way to become registered trainers in Violet was to beat Falkner, the Gym Leader in this town. The pair pushed on the doors. To their surprise, they swung open easily. Instantly the Gym lights came on, illuminating the battlefield and, more importantly, the lean man standing inside.
JT stared at him for a few seconds, taking in his wiry appearance, then spoke out, his voice echoing around the Gym.
"Falkner?"
Silently, Falkner turned and walked to his left, quickly covering the length of the field, and stepped into the white painted box. He turned and faced the uncertain JT and spoke for the first time.
"Take your place" he said, sweeping his hand to the opposite side of the field.
The pair reached the challenger's box and faced Falkner.
"Good luck JT" Lyra whispered before retreating to the wall.
"This is my Gym so we play by my rules. You are allowed two pokemon. No substitutions, no healing items. Got it?" Falkner barked out. His aggressive nature stunned JT for a second before he nodded quickly, focusing intently on the opposing trainer. Falkner smirked,
"Alright then. Let's go Pidgey!" he threw his arm forward in an underarm motion, launching a pokeball into the centre of the field. The resultant flash of white light materialised into the shape of the small bird pokemon. JT smiled at the familiar pokemon.
At least I won't face any suprises with this one he thought. He took the time to pull out his Pokedex and flip it open in the direction of the angry glaring bird:
'Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back.' JT smirked and drew Hoothoot's pokeball from his belt and, with a quick flick of his wrist, he launched his giant pokemon to meet the Pidgey. As the white light gained form and substance, Falkner raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"That's a good size kid. Too bad I know much more about the Flying-type than you do." Falkner snapped his fingers and his Pidgey took off, soaring around the heights of the Gym gracefully. JT smirked at Falkner confidently.
"Ready Hoothoot? Let's finish this up quickly!"
Falkner laughed in the face of JT's brazen confidence. "I don't know who you've been fighting kid but I guarantee they have nothing on me. Pidgey! Quick Attack!". His Pidgey suddenly accelerated, leaving a white trail in its wake. It suddenly pulled into a dive and rocketed towards the calm Hoothoot. JT smiled in triumph.
"Hoothoot," he said calmly, "Uproar."
Hoothoot's eyes glowed an ominous red. It opened it's beak and released a shockwave of sound that collided heavily with Falkner's charging Pidgey. The attack forced the Pidgey to soar back up to the heights of the Gym. Falkner made an appreciative face for the second time.
"Ok Pidgey! Use Gust! Keep it going!" he called out. "Let's see you counter this one kid…" he mused.
"Hoothoot! Keep sending out those pulses. Push that Gust back!" JT called out, biting his lip in concentration.
Falkner's Pidgey began flapping it's wings frantically, kicking up a powerful windstorm that blew throughout the Gym and towards Hoothoot. A shockwave smashed into the Gust attack, pushing it back towards Falkner's Pidgey. A constant battle began with the Gust fighting to make an advance against the pulsing shockwaves of sound emitted by Hoohoot. Falkner and JT shouted encouragement to their respective pokemon, urging them on. The battle continued for some minutes, the Gust attack carving a shallow furrow in the ground.
The Gust began to peter out as the shockwaves from Uproar became too weak to even reach the Pidgey. Both pokemon panted weakly; the Pidgey locked it's wings and glided around the Gym while Hoothoot stopped tapping it's toe in exhaustion. Falkner's Pidgey dived down towards Hoothoot, forcing its body to obey it's will in one final attack. JT paled.
"Quick Hoothoot! Use Hypnosis!"
Hoothoot's eyes glowed red again as it stared down the charging Pidgey, the air between them distorting as Hoothoot focused it's latent psychic abilities. With a slight stutter, the Pidgey suddenly crashed into the ground, asleep. When the dust cleared it was clear that the impact had finished off the tired Pidgey. Falkner recalled his fallen pokemon and drew out another pokeball. JT called back his tired Hoothoot.
"Great work buddy. You've earned a break."
Falkner smirked and chucked out his second pokemon. "Lets see you stop my Pidgeotto!". A white light materialised into a larger and more dangerous version of Pidgey; the evolved form Pidgeotto. JT quickly flicked open his Pokedex.
'Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon. It has outstanding vision. However high it flies, it is able to distinguish the movements of its prey.' JT knew much less than about the evolved form of Pidgey, but he knew enough to be worried about its speed and agility.
Hmm, Zero won't be much use here, JT thought to himself, Better be Blitz. Lyra stood watching the battle, eyes wide at the spectacle; she clapsed her hands together nervously. A wrist flick and a flash of light later, his Cyndaquil stood determined in the centre of the battlefield, as the Pidgeotto circled above him. This time, JT took the initiative.
"Blitz! Start off with a Smokescreen!"
Blitz nodded and poured thick smoke out of its mouth, blanketing the battlefield and hiding him from view. Falkner smirked triumphantly.
"You really don't know much about Pidgeotto do you?" he said mockingly. He narrowed his eyes at the smoke. "Pidgeotto! Tackle it from above!"
His Pidgeotto searched the smoke closely for a few seconds and then swooped down, disappearing from view. A sudden cry rang out and a second later Blitz flew out of the smoke and slid to a stop, somehow managing to land on its feet. JT frowned in concentration.
How did he find Blitz in that?
Suddenly the Pidgeotto burst back out of the smoke, speeding towards the injured Blitz.
"Blitz… hit it with a Tackle!" JT cried reflexively.
The two pokemon met head on. Pidgeotto seemed to feel the hit as Blitz was knocked back to the ground, shaking its head. Falkner began to laugh triumphantly.
"Haha! You have no chance against my Pidgeotto!"
His Pidgeotto had once again taken to circling overhead, biding its time to strike a telling blow. JT looked at his Cyndaquil, taking in the minor injuries in one glance, and tugged on his glove.
"Come on Blitz! You can take him!" he called out encouragingly.
Blitz looked back at the JT's confident smile and nodded with renewed determination. Suddenly, with almost no warning, his back burst into flames, drawing gasps from the assembled trainers. He glared up at the soaring Pidgeotto and flared his back flames up even higher. JT grinned.
"Alright Blitz! Let's take the fight to them. Use your Ember attack!" he called out, swinging his hand up to point dramatically at the circling Flying type.
Blitz let out an angry cry and spit forth a storm of small flames, making the attack impossible to dodge for the Pidgeotto. The Pidgeotto banked and dove, attempting to get under the attack. Blitz halted the attack and charged at the Pidgeotto. The pair of battlers seemed on a collision course, but at the last second Blitz dropped to the ground, dodging the Pidgeotto's attack in the shallow trench dug out by the first battle. Spinning round, Blitz spit forth another Ember attack, hitting Pidgeotto in the back over and over again. Again it managed to get out of the major line of fire and escape the attack, this time soaring right to the top of the Gym.
Falkner gaped at his change in fortune. He growled angrily to himself and called out his next attack.
"Ok Pidgeotto! Let's use our speed! Quick Attack!". The circling raptor suddenly accelerated, reaching mind-numbing speed, before it dove down straight at Blitz, giving the Cyndaquil only seconds to react.
"Blitz! Dodge!" JT called out desperately.
Blitz leapt to the side but Falkner's Pidgeotto, displaying incredible agility, copied the movement and slammed into the helpless pokemon.
"Blitz!" JT cried out, watching as his pokemon was sent tumbling along the ground. It rolled to a stop at JT's feet and slowly struggled to its feet. Behind him he heard Lyra's sharp intake of breath. Falkner laughed again.
"Looks like you're beat kid. Let's finish this Pidgeotto!"
At his call, Pidgeotto swooped down, readying itself for the finishing blow; the expectant silence was broken by Blitz's sharp cry.
"Quiiiiil!" it cried shrilly. The flames on it's back suddenly burst into an inferno and began to swirl around it's small form, hiding the small fire pokemon from view. Falkner's jaw dropped as his Pidgeotto swept back into the sky.
"No way" he said in disbelief.
JT watched on in anticipation. Suddenly there was a massive flash of light that blew apart the inferno revealing a low-slung body, bigger than Cyndaquil, and more echidna-like.
Lyra gasped in amazement - Did Blitz just...evolve? she thought, awestruck. JT smiled at his pokemon.
"Looks like it's time to finish this up" he said cockily.
His newly-evolved Quilava turned back and seemed to smirk at him. "Quil!" it growled, nodding its head quickly. JT smirked up at the flabbergasted Falkner and called out to Blitz.
"Alright then! Let's use Ember again!"
Another storm of flames, bigger and more violent than the last, shot towards the roof. Falkner's Pidgeotto was hit again and again by the powerful attack until, finally unable to keep itself aloft, it plummeted towards the ground. Blitz stopped its attack and watched the raptor fall warily, relaxing when Falkner recalled it, ending the battle.
Blitz let out a cry of victory then turned back to his master. JT leant down to pat his new pokemon - Blitz quickly extinguished the flames still burning all along it's back. Lyra came forward, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Way to go you two!" she squealed, throwing her arms around JT's neck and pulling him into a tight hug. Blitz watched and let out a bark-like laugh as JT's face grew a deep red (whether from embarrassment or from a lack of air he did not know). Pulling herself off JT, Lyra leant down and patted Blitz, who was preening under all the attention it was receiving. A voice interrupted the celebrations.
"Well done challenger."
The small party turned to see Falkner smiling ruefully at JT. "Not bad kid. Not bad at all. Here, you've earned this" he said as he held out a hexagonal badge, stylised to look like a pair of swept back wings. JT grinned and took the badge, feeling immense pride in his pokemon, especially in his new Quilava. Lyra stood to the side and watched as he showed the badge to Blitz, laughing as Blitz flared up proudly; she wore a soft smile on her face.
JT walked with his gloved hand held behind his head, his face still plastered with a grin. He looked at Lyra walking beside him.
"That was amazing huh?" he said excitedly.
Lyra rolled her eyes mockingly. "Oh yes. You were just a magician in there. Never mind a badge, you deserve a medal" she said sarcastically. JT pouted at her.
"No need for that" he said, pulling an exaggerated face; Lyra giggled. She bit her lip thoughtfully and after a second of silence she spoke up.
"Seriously though. That was really good. I didn't know you could actually battle."
JT blushed, grinning awkwardly at Lyra's rare praise. Lyra stopped, forcing JT to turn and look at her, and then awkwardly spoke again.
"Do you think that you could...you know...give me some pointers?"
JT frowned at her surprise. "You serious?" he asked incredulously. Lyra just gave him a dirty look. He held his look of surprise as he spoke again.
"Uh yeah sure. If you want, I can help out."
Lyra smiled gratefully at him, thanking him with her eyes.
The pair walked in comfortable silence for a short time, JT was still taken aback by Lyra's request; she had never sought help about her pokemon before. Lyra was also deep in thought, remembering the way that foul boy had humiliated her. Suddenly their silent contemplation was shattered by a rough voice;
"Where do you thing you're goin'?"
JT and Lyra looked up and saw a small group of maybe four or five - it was hard to tell from the way they were arranged behind the tall boy at the front. JT subtly edged in front of Lyra, half-hiding her from view.
"We're just heading back to the Pokemon Center. So if you don't mind..." he answered, the barest hint of a threat in his voice. The tall boy, obviously the leader of the small ragtag gang, laughed heartily at his answer.
"Well you see buddy," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "I think I do mind. I think that if you want to ever make it back then you should give up all your money."
JT glared at the boy, letting his hand drift unobtrusively back to his belt. "And if we don't?" he asked, daring the other boy.
The leader smiled evilly as he drew a small knife from inside his coat. "I'm sure we can just take it…" Similar rustles from behind the leader indicated that the rest of the gang had drawn weapons. JT and Lyra both reached for pokeballs, ready to unleash hell on these arrogant kids when a voice cut across the scene, coming from behind Lyra and JT.
"What's goin' on here then? Not tryin' to steal from us are you, Steve?" the dark voice said.
The leader, obviously Steve, paled and began edging away, staring past the two young trainers. JT turned and looked behind, cursing inwardly as he recognised the infamous uniform of Team Rocket. He heard the patter of footsteps behind him and knew that Steve and his gang must've run off, leaving the pair to face the three Rockets alone.
Surreptiously, JT plucked his pokeballs off his belt and, leaving them in their small form, dropped them into his pocket. The one who had spoken leered at Lyra, and then spoke again.
"Looks like we've a couple of recruits here anyway boys" he said, drawing nasty laughs from the pair behind him. JT stepped quickly in front of Lyra, glaring at the three men, daring them to make a move. The leader sighed.
"Look kid, we aren't gonna do anything creepy with your little girlfriend there. We've got orders to recruit some new kids for Team Rocket so that's what we're doin'. Come quietly and no-one's gonna get hurt, alright?" he said, a hint of sympathy in his voice.
JT, thinking furiously, backed right up so that he was actually pressing against Lyra. He made a show of turning back to consult Lyra and, while he did so, he quickly removed her pokeballs from her belt and dropped them in her pocket. He looked into her eyes.
"Just follow my lead, ok?" he whispered urgently, before he turned back to the Rockets.
"Can we keep our stuff if we go with you?" JT asked throwing a slight accent onto his voice, making him sound a lot more like Steve. The Rocket raised an eyebrow.
"I guess so. As long as you don't have any rare pokemon on you."
JT, his heart beating furiously in his chest, gave him the dirtiest look he could manage. "If we had rare pokemon, would we be living in the streets?" he said, a sneer running through his voice.
"Heh. Guess not kid," the Rocket smirked. "Let's go get you set up then."
He turned and led the way, his cronies waiting behind until Lyra and JT had passed them, trapping them in a triangle. Lyra leaned into JT and hissed into his ear.
"What are you doing? This is Team Rocket!"
JT whispered back, just as venemously. "I know that but maybe we can bluff our way through this. They would've taken us and you know it".
Lyra glanced around at the pair following them and then at the crowd, carefully avoiding eye-contact with them or the Team Rocket goons. She leaned in again, "I hope you know what you're doing JT..."