I figured I waited long enough to post this chapter. Gotta warn you, though. Grey gets WORKED in this chapter. Enjoy, all :D
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own the Pokémon franchise in any way. I do own New Super Mario Bros. Wii, thought. Blue Toad's going down hard, bitches!
Chapter Five: Knight City and Bust
Geo Path. The slightly mountainous, wooded area north of Wind Town, a town Grey had spent very little time in. The forest, as was everywhere else, inhabited by Pokémon, mostly of the Bug, Grass, Ground, Rock and Flying-type. It was here where Jameson Rhodes had gotten himself hopelessly lost and also where Grey's party was currently located. They had set up a makeshift camp with a fire in the center and their sleeping bags - which they had bought in Wind Town as well as a large bag after Rachel dragged Grey back to get it - set all around it on the dusty ground.
The first golden rays of sunlight light filtered in through the treetops and the bird Pokémon sang in welcome of the morning. Grey's eyes twitched as the warm light hit them and he groaned. Was It morning already? The nights always seemed to go so fast for him, so he never felt fully awake until the afternoon. The tanned boy sat upright in his sleeping bag, scratched his stomach and yawned loudly. Next to him, Soul woke up, his tail flame growing twice its size with his waking as Lucy still stayed asleep.
"Mornin' partner," Grey muttered sleepily. He dug into his jacket pocket for his glasses and slid them on his face. His vision improved three-fold and he began making his breakfast. In his haste to leave home, Grey'd forgotten about needing more food than he brought along, so Rachel's yesterday errand was to also get human food as well as Pokémon food. Being the proactive woman she was, the Pokémon Ranger had also bought cooking utensils, effectively spending more than half of Grey's funds. This also had the effect of leaving much later than Grey had hoped
"Cha~ar," Soul yawned, mimicking Grey by scratching his cream belly scales and digging into the new bag Rachel had bought for a slice of ham. Soul folded the meat in half and speared it on his claws in order to roast it over his tail flame. His mouth almost watered as the smell of cooking meat reached his nose.
"Soul, would you mind using Ember to light this for me?" Grey asked, pointing to the dead fire of the night before. Soul nodded and spat out a small fireball which set the sticks and leaves alight with flame. Grey placed a tripod above the flames and put a frying pan on top of that to start cooking eggs in. "I wonder how these things didn't break with all the times Rachel fell flat on her face on the way here," Grey voiced aloud.
Next, Rachel and her Pokémon woke up, followed by June and Rosewood. From out of the trees, a Grovyle jumped down with crossed arms and a bored expression on its face. This Grovyle was named Sylva, and belonged to June. Amelia had given Sylva to her daughter as a young Treecko.
"Good morning, Rosewood; Sylva," June muttered, her bright red hair in a messy bun as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.
"Gro." Yo, Sylva grunted. The Grovyle stretched her legs out as Rosewood snaked her way up towards her owner's neck, situating her five-foot body around it like a living fur boa. Juniper sniffed the air and turned her head towards the source of the smell of cooking ham.
"Smells good, Grey," she commented drowsily. "Be sure to make enough for all of us, okay?" Grey grunted something unintelligible through his morning fatigue, but June took it as an acknowledgement. She got up and began pouring Pokémon food into each Pokémon's bowl, pausing only to add crushed berries on top.
"Hah, good luck," Rachel said as she washed her face with a basin filled by Mudkip's Water Gun. "When Grey makes food, he only makes it for himself. It's why Soul's currently roasting ham and bread on his tail." Being a ranger, Rachel was used to getting up early and getting ready quickly. Also due to the same reason, she was used to doing all of this around other people and not feeling any shame whatsoever. She peeled her nightshirt off and rummaged through her bag for her uniform, proving that old habits die hard.
"Put a shirt on," Grey grunted through a mouthful of breakfast. He swallowed loudly and bluntly added, "Nobody here wants to see your boobs." Soul laughed, revealing a mouthful of a curious color combination of roasted ham and Oran berry.
"Oh, shut up, you immature little punk," Rachel shot back, slipping her black shirt on and moving to put on the red and yellow jacket that went with her uniform. "You act like you've never seen my bra before."
"Hey, that camping trip when I was thirteen didn't count. We were on a school assignment anyway," Grey said, not looking up from his Pecha berry juice and breakfast sandwich. Juniper watched, an innocently curious look on her face. She tilted her head to the side and asked,
"So, this isn't the first time she's done this?" The Thomas siblings shook their heads 'no.'
"Whenever we had to go on missions back at the Ranger School, I'd be leader of Grey's squad. First time I did this, he blushed as red as a Tomato berry," Rachel laughed. Grey's cheeks took on a pink tinge.
"Well, what'd you expect?! And Farina was there, too, so don't flatter yourself!" he cried. "Stupid girl and her stupid chest…and stupid hormones…" Juniper's eyes widened in shock and her mouth formed a perfect 'o' as realization dawned upon her. Could it seriously be…?
"Incest?" she asked obliviously. This time, both siblings' faces tinged red, but with anger.
"NO!" they shouted in unison, almost making the redhead researcher fall over and crush Rosewood. Realizing her mistake, Juniper put a hand to her mouth apologetically.
"Sorry," she peeped.
"It's okay, just don't jump to that conclusion again!" Rachel exclaimed. She had her shorts in hand and looked from Grey to Juniper before diving into her sleeping bag to put them on. Grey laughed despite what just happened, fully aware that June's words obviously had an effect.
Mudkip stood next to the bag with a half-eaten apple in his mouth and a confused, innocent look while Vulpix pawed at the bag, just as confused as the Mud Fish
"Man, it's gonna be fun having you around," the brunette boy grinned before chomping down on the last of breakfast and taking eggs off the frying pan to hand to June on a paper plate. "Here's to traveling," Grey said, still laughing. Juniper accepted the plate with a smile and dug in, offering some to Rosewood and Sylva. The Furret accepted the food gratefully but the Wood Gecko Pokémon declined, opting to take an apple from Grey's bag.
"Hey, Luce," Grey greeted his Buizel. Since yesterday, Lucy's opinion of her new trainer was still wary, so Grey's actions in the future would decide whether she took to him or now. However, she warmed up to him when Grey handed her a ham slice.
"Bui bui," Lucy said, grudgingly nuzzling his hand in thanks.
"Can you do me a favor and fill this basin with water?" Grey asked, showing Lucy the now empty basin Rachel had used. Lucy sighed. So far, she'd been made to battle against her will and now she was being used as his personal water pump. Grey wasn't exactly scoring brownie points with the Buizel. Despite this, Lucy readied a Water Gun and prepared to fire it just as a loud explosion was heard in the distance. Even from so far away, the blast shook the ground and startled everybody there, shattering the peaceful sleepy atmosphere that had been present before the thunderous noise. Lucy lost her footing and her Water Gun attack hit Grey full in the face instead of going into the basin. When the tremors stopped, everyone stood stock still, bracing themselves for a possible aftershock.
"Charmander?!" What the hell?!
Grey wiped the water off of his face as Lucy apologetically filled the basin. "Well," he began. "That's one version of an alarm clock. But just what the heck was that?"
"This place isn't known for earthquakes, is it, June?" Rachel asked as she straightened up to be tackle-hugged by Mudkip. Vulpix sashayed over to her owner and nuzzled up against her bare leg.
"No, never," Juniper replied, righting herself from her upside down position with help from the silent Sylva.
"Gro Grovyle." Be more careful, she advised. Juniper thanked her Grovyle and continued.
"Although… Since the League intervened in helping out the archipelago's ecosystem, they've been constructing paths trainers can use to get from town to town. I guess they're digging a tunnel in Geo Path now," the girl reasoned.
"Alright," Grey shrugged, not caring as long as he got to Knight City as fast as possible. "Seems fine to me. Get ready quick, though; we're leaving after breakfast." Grey turned away then to wash his face and brush his teeth. Juniper nodded and pulled her hair out of its bun. This would be a phenomenal chance to study how Pokémon and people worked together outside of training.
Deep within the extensive cave network of the mountainous Geo Path, workers - human and Pokémon alike - toiled to finish the shortcut into Knight City. One group dug at the rock wall with jackhammers, mechanized drills, pickaxes, and shovels. Another group was in charge of the explosives and erecting a protect barrier, a third in charge of debris clearing and the last controlled a team of Psychic-types such as Ralts and Kadabra to inform any passing Pokémon to steer clear of the area for their safety.
These men, women and their Pokémon were all drafted by the Pokémon League to dig a safe, effective path through the area separating Wind Town from Knight City after the decision to annex the Silver Ring archipelago as part of Kanto and Johto. So far, they were doing a fine job; after today, their job would be officially done. Every so often, there'd be a Geodude or a Zubat swarm the were startled and displaced by the blast, but the Pokémon didn't seem to mind too much. They were only so happy as not to run into any bigger Pokémon like Golbat or Rhydon. They weren't so sure that their Pokémon would be able to ward them off if they came out and rampaged.
"Okay, everyone!" the foreman shouted after the most recent detonation. She wiped sweat on her brow with a rag from her overalls pocket and scratched her blonde head before continuing. "It's break time! I want everyone back on the job in an hour, though, so use this time wisely!"
"Yes, Ms. Emily!" the workers chorused, thankful for the rest. Everyone temporarily dropped what they were doing and crowded around several picnic tables to eat and talk before getting back to the grind.
What the workers were joyously oblivious to was that the last explosion they caused had made their fears come true. Sleeping far, far, far beneath the surface, a rocky giant slept, angered beyond all belief that it had been woken up before a time of his preference. The giant tunneled rapidly towards the surface, its head popping up right next to a sleeping Graveller.
Who woke me up?! What the hell was that?! the behemoth asked indignantly. He wanted answers so he could punish the ignorant Pokémon that woke him. He was out for blood… Or at least to scare the crap out of them.
Huh? What? …Oh, it's you. No, it's just the humans on the upper levels digging some kind of tunnel. Others like you have come and complained about it but, from what I hear, this is their last day, Graveller replied lazily. Why not just go back to sleep, Maverick? The behemoth shook his head vehemently, aiming for revenge.
I think I'll go teach those insolent humans a lesson. Thanks for the tip, Graveller. With that, the behemoth gave a devilish grin and dove into the ground as if it were water, searching for the sound of human activity in the caves. Graveller sighed. He knew he just helped a crazy giant Pokémon in terrorizing the humans but somehow, he just didn't care. He just closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
"Lucy, Water Gun it!" Grey commanded, his voice ringing through the rocky forest area.
Lucy obeyed the command, finding the action coming easier and easier to her, as she dodged a rock volleyed at her by a wild Geodude and retaliated with her own powerful stream of water. The Water-type attack was doubly effective on the Rock/Ground-type Geodude, who couldn't stand the agonizing pressure and fainted as an effect. Grey let out a cheer of congratulations to his Buizel, hugging her at the end of her fifth wild Pokémon battle. Lucy grudgingly hugged back but not before biting his arm again. Her reacting that way to Grey's touch was quickly becoming habitual.
"You're doing great, Lucy," the boy said, quickly becoming ignorant to the pain Lucy inflicted on him. "Getting stronger after every fight." And Grey was right. With every battle Lucy and Soul fought, they steadily grew stronger and stronger. The only thing that grew weaker was Lucy's animosity towards Grey, although she still hesitated slightly during battle and became angry at him for catching her in the first place. In short, Grey hadn't earned her respect yet.
"Bui bui," Lucy nodded as she followed the group as they started their convoy once more. Grey turned his head to Juniper's Pokémon, marveling at the Grovyle and Furret. It was to be expected; Grey was still a fairly new trainer and had never seen Pokémon like them before.
"So, what was it like when your Pokémon evolved for you, June?" he asked the girl.
"It felt great; knowing your Pokémon trusted you enough to evolve just for you. Evolution really is a symbol of the relationship between human and Pokémon and it's one of the things I study. I want to know if humans can accelerate a Pokémon's rate of evolution by befriending it," Juniper explained. "So far, looks like Lucy and Soul will be my prime test subjects."
"Test subjects?" Grey asked, tilting his head uncertainly. "You're not using Soul OR Lucy as test subjects and running all sorts of freaky experiments on them." Lucy almost felt touched that Grey defended her.
"No, no," June giggled lightly. "I meant watch wild Pokémon close to their evolution and then compare it to how your Pokémon evolve."
"Yeah, Grey. What'd you think she was going to do; hook them up to machines in tanks?" Rachel joked. Grey had a mental image of Soul in a tank full of some unidentifiable green goo, his tail flame wavering weakly. He shuddered visibly as he imagined Lucy in the same state.
"Either way, the thought's creepy," Grey said. "And neither Soul or Lucy would sit around and let that happen. They'd kick major ass before going down, right guys?"
"Char char!" You bet! Soul replied heartily, pumping his tiny fist.
"Bui!" Yeah! Lucy shadowboxed an invisible enemy to get her point across. One punch accidentally hit a Spearow that was hidden in the shadow of a boulder and the Bat Pokémon screeched loudly at Lucy before flying off. Soul put a paw to his mouth to try and stifle his laughter, but it proved to be futile. Lucy was thankful for her dark orange-brown fur at that moment because it hid her furious blush.
Haha, you two are full of energy, huh? Rosewood laughed at Grey's two Pokémon, who she affectionately named the 'young'uns'.
Too much energy if you ask me, Sylva put in, bored out of her green skull. I don't like noisy kids.
Kids? Soul asked with a raised brow-scale. We're the same age! Sylva scoffed conceitedly.
Yeah, but I've evolved and you haven't, the female Wood Gecko Pokémon pointed out, giving the 'younger' Soul a self-satisfied smirk. Knowing Grey would disapprove - even though he'd more likely laugh - Soul resisted the urge to get Sylva smack in the face with a fireball, instead expelling the flames through his nostrils.
"So," Rachel began, trying to start up a conversation and learn more about Knight City in the process, "what kinds of Pokémon does the Gym Leader from Knight City use?"
"Ground-types," Juniper answered simply.
"I heard that most Gym Leaders use only one type of Pokémon in order to familiarize themselves with that type," Rachel said thoughtfully. "Grey, Soul'll have some trouble against the Ground-types the leader uses, right? I thought Fire-types had a weakness to Ground-type Pokémon."
"They do," Grey nodded. "But Soul will go out first to cause some damage and then I'll send Lucy in to finish them off. Plus, since most Ground-types are part Rock-type, Lucy will wipe the floor with them."
"Don't you think you need some sort of strategy against the leader's Pokémon?" Rachel suggested as Mudkip happily 'kipped' on top of her head. "I mean, I know Pokémon training's nothing like being a ranger, but you need to plan a fair bit for both jobs and not just rush in there blind."
"Your sister's right, Grey. If you run in there and lose too badly, you might lose some of the respect your Pokémon have for you," Juniper added wisely.
"Furret," Rosewood agreed, nodding sagely.
"No big deal, guys," Grey said confidently. "If worst comes to worst, I'll catch a Flying or Grass-type Pokémon to get an extra advantage." Lucy glanced at the trainer with a shocked look on her face. He was thinking of Pokémon as tools to be used! She knew she couldn't trust him.
"I don't like the way you said that, Grey," Rachel huffed. "That sounded like you only think of Pokémon as tools." Grey immediately corrected himself.
"Oh, no, no, I don't; really. But, if that's what it takes, I wouldn't mind having a Pokémon like that help me out," he said quickly, putting Rachel's suspicions to rest but not Lucy's. The Water-type glared at Grey, still fuming at his earlier comment.
It wasn't long before the makeshift caravan reached the entrance to the newly dug Geo Path Tunnel and entered its surprisingly lantern-lit depths with little trepidation in their hearts. The extra light Soul and Vulpix provided didn't go unappreciated, either. Suddenly, another explosion sent tremors down the entirety of the cave and most likely down the rocky slope they'd come from, making the ground unsteady and rocks from the cave ceiling as the group struggled to keep their balance.
"Another one?" Rachel groaned, rubbing her head where a rock hand landed on it. "Man, they don't need to use so many explosives."
"Here's wishing I was the one causing the explosion," Grey grinned crazily. "Right, Soul?" The Charmander growled happily, sharing his trainer's sentiments.
"You two really are crazy," Jasmine giggled. The ground rumbled again, the sound reverberating off the walls of the empty cave and making it sound even more ominous. In the dim light, Soul thought he saw the ground ahead of them ripple as if something were tunneling under it. The little lizard rubbed his eyes confusedly before deciding to ignore the phenomena and plod along faithfully next to Grey.
Back in the chamber where the construction workers were, they'd finally blasted through to the other side, the light from the outside world and the midmorning spilling in like mad. Several Zubat flew out of the opening in the cave in shock and fear followed by a multitude of Geodude and Graveller who wanted a taste of the outside air. Emily the construction foreman looked out at the work she and her team had done with pride, leaning on a shovel she stuck in the ground.
"Well, that's it people," Emily beamed. "All we have to do now is smooth out the arch in this thing and we can call it a day."
"Hey!" Grey called from the tunnel leading into the large chamber. "I didn't know there were people in here!" He, Rachel, Juniper and their Pokémon all followed after him, all thankful to finally be out of the caves. Emily turned to the newcomers confusedly. There was a sign outside that said construction would be done by today and that nobody should come into the caves. Did they even notice it?
"Uh, hi," Emily said. "There was a sign outside that said nobody should come into the caves until the construction was over today. Did you read it?" Grey and Soul laughed as Juniper and Rachel looked at them incredulously. Was there seriously a sign?!
"Yeah, we saw it. But I thought, since construction's gonna be over by today, why not just go in?" Grey reasoned. Sylva instantly made an opinion of Grey and his psycho Charmander: they were total idiots.
"We could've gotten killed during the last blast they set off, Grey!" Rachel shouted at him. Her words never even penetrated his head.
"Yeah, but we weren't killed, were we?" the boy countered smugly. "You think too much into these things, sis."
"And you don't think into things at all! You're gonna get us really hurt, Grey!"
"You're such a worrywart! Will you loosen up already?!"
"Guys, maybe you shouldn't fight in public," Juniper suggested shyly. Her voice didn't get through their shouting; now both siblings had their face in the other's and their shouting got even louder. The workers under Emily's command did their best not to laugh but it was proving to be difficult. In all honesty, their fighting was pretty funny; even Vulpix and Soul started to get into it.
"At least I have the decency to go somewhere else to get dressed in the mornings!" Grey shouted.
"You take that back, you…you…" Rachel stammered.
"Aha, got you there," Grey declared smugly.
"Vul vul Vulpix!" Make him take it back! Vulpix demanded.
"Char! Char Charmander!" Soul laughed, clutching his sides. No! That was too funny!
"Does this happen a lot?" Emily asked June uncertainly. "I get the feeling it does."
"I've only been with them for a day or so, so I couldn't tell you," the redhead sighed. She took a deep breath, causing Rosewood and Sylva to cover their ears before June screamed,
"GUYS!!!"
The girl's voice echoed and reverberated throughout the chamber as if her voice was the pinball and the chamber the machine.
Zubat flapped their wings and screeched in pain. Their over-developed ears unable to take the sheer volume of Juniper's voice. A Paras scuttled out from under its rock in fright before digging a hole to hide in and Graveller looked up from his nap before shrugging the scream off and going back to sleep. Soul and Lucy staggered, swirls in their eyes and ears ringing, as did Vulpix. Mudkip seemed unaffected and clapped for June to scream again, in fact; only Rosewood and Sylva remained unaffected. Most importantly, Juniper's yell had the effect of shutting Grey and Rachel up, as well as scaring most of the workers and Emily.
"Nice set of pipes," Grey muttered dazedly while trying to clear out his ear with his finger.
"Thank you," June giggled innocently.
"Well, that's one way to do it," Emily said, adjusting her helmet. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, displacing everybody who stood upon it. The vibrations got stronger and stronger and louder and louder until everyone was forced to grab onto the nearest boulder or stalagmite for balance. The ground fissured and cracked open; stalagmites fell from the ceiling and broke as if they were glass and the seemingly infinite Zubat population screeched loudly with their Supersonic attacks cutting at everyone's ears as if they were knives.
"June, what'd you do?!" Grey shouted.
"I dunno! I didn't mean it," the girl pleaded. While all this was happening, the fin on Mudkip's head began to twitch slightly, alerting the young Pokémon to something underground that was getting closer and didn't seem too happy, judging by the ground shaking.
"Mudkip!" the young one shouted, attempting to warn Rachel of the impending danger, but his cries were misunderstood as cries of fear.
The ground burst open as a giant, snakelike Pokémon breached it like a Wailmer breaches the sea and sent debris flying in every direction. The Pokémon was large and its grayish-white body seemed to be made of boulders of various sizes culminating in a head with a large, rocky horn protruding from the top. The Onix roared in pure, undiluted rage, throwing its tail around like a massive whip, crashing it into the walls of the cave and causing rocks to rain down. Still in shock, Grey produced his Pokédex and pointed the black device at the Onix.
Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. These massive Rock and Ground-types are able to tunnel underground at an astonishing 50mph. Their rock-hard heads and bodies are the only things protecting them from the tremors they cause. Onix are generally aggressive Pokémon, attacking at the slightest provocation. Onix's bodies give them a remarkable defense against conventional attacks and are able to regenerate any lost parts by eating boulders and soil.
Gender: Male
"Oops," Juniper peeped. "Did I do that?"
"Roooooooohn!" Onix roared furiously, slamming his tail dangerously close to where Grey stood. Luckily, he was able to jump out of the way of the cumbersome blow. Most of the workers had already abandoned ship, choosing to run out of the new opening to save themselves.
"Crap," Emily cursed. It really was hard to find good help these days. "I guess that last explosion was a bit too much."
"You think?!" Rachel screamed as she ran by and dodged a falling rock.
"No matter," Emily muttered, producing a Pokéball from her tool belt and tossed it into the air, shouting "Gligar, let's go!" The ball split open, releasing a purple bat-like Pokémon with a scorpion's tail and pincers and blue wing membrances in a blinding flash of white.
"Gli gli!" the Fly Scorpion Pokémon chimed, crossing its claws.
"Gligar! Dig, then go into Faint Attack!" Emily ordered expertly, arms crossed and a sternly focused look on her face.
Gligar nodded with its tongue lolling out of its mouth and scrabbled at the ground, rapidly digging a hole and tunneling underground. Onix noticed Gligar's actions and stood stock still, roaring at the ground in wait of the impending attack.
Gligar suddenly burst out from underground with its pincers glowing with a bright light and slammed them into Onix's midsection. The Rock Snake groaned in pain at the super-effective attack and glared in fury at Gligar as it faded out of sight and appeared behind Onix for a second attack.
"Oh, sweet," Grey marveled. "Wonder if I can get to be like that…"
"Gligar, now!" Emily commanded. However, Onix was prepared for Gligar this time. The stone behemoth whirled around with unexpected speed and crashed his heavy tail into Gligar, his Slam attack launching the Ground-type forward into the cave wall.
"Ouch…" Grey muttered as Gligar cracked the wall on impact. Snapping out of his gawking state, Grey turned to Lucy and Soul, ready to battle.
"Right, let's hit 'em hard. Lucy, soften him up with your Water Gun then slam him with Metal Claw, Soul!"
"Char!" Soul grunted, flexing his claws as they glowed a metallic silver. Lucy, however, was not so compliant. She crossed her arms and huffed angrily, turning her back on Grey.
"Wh-what?" Grey stammered. "Lucy what's wrong?"
"Bui! Bui bui!" You only think of Pokémon as tools! was what Grey picked up through Lucy's aura of anger and indignation. Soul gave her an angry look, pointing his now normal claws at her for daring to accuse Grey of abusing Pokémon.
"What? No, I don't!" Grey shouted. "Come on, we have to help everyone!"
"Bui!"
"Lucy!"
"Damn it, Grey, quit fooling around!" Rachel shouted after ordering Mudkip to launch a Mud Slap attack in Onix's eyes. Mudkip was only too happy to oblige, following up with a Water Gun attack as Juniper ordered Sylva to get into the fray as well.
The three leaves on Sylva's arms glowed and merged into one large blade of Grass-type energy. She pushed her powerful legs against the ground and slashed the blade straight across Onix's midsection and left a large cut in the rock.
"Great, Sylva! Now, Rosewood, Iron Tail!" Juniper called. Rosewood hardened her tail with rock-hard steel energy and rose to slam Onix with the third super-effective hit in the row. Onix countered the move by slamming his tail into the ground and dragging it forward, sending a rain of rocks into the path of Rosewood's Iron Tail.
Iron Tail shattered the boulder and the Long Body Pokémon landed with an annoyed look as rock fragments and dust fell into her fur. She didn't mind battles, but now her fur was dirty and that didn't sit well with her at all. So, in retaliation, she loosed a powerful Hyper Voice attack. The attack used the cave's acoustics to bounce off the walls like crazy, multiplying its power every time. However, it didn't do too much damage due to Onix's type advantage and instead caused damage to every other Pokémon present.
Grey sighed angrily as Lucy again refused his pleas to help fight Onix, calling him an abusive trainer, from what he could gather. He didn't have time for this now; there was a fight to settle.
"Fine, Lucy. Just get back into the ball, then," he growled, calling Lucy back into her Pokéball with a flash of red. He turned to Soul with a sad smile on his face.
"You're willing to help, right, pal?" he asked. Soul grinned loyally and turned his claws back into tiny, metal daggers. "Thanks. Now hit him hard!"
Soul let out a battle-cry and slashed his claws across Onix's face after it was sent down by a retaliatory Faint Attack from Emily's Gligar. The enraged Onix shot up like an arrow, used his tail to slam the offending Pokémon away and roared a deafening roar, scaring all them back into their Pokéballs. Onix roared again, slithering out of the opening towards Knight City and diving into the ground again to escape.
"Nice Roar," June blinked, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.
"Could rival your voice," Rachel laughed. "Is everybody okay?"
"Aside from a shattered eardrum, just fine," Grey scowled as he somberly stared at Lucy's Pokéball.
"What's wrong, Grey?" June asked, placing a hand on the trainer's shoulder. Soul popped out of his ball and looked at Grey with concern swimming in his blue eyes.
"Char char?" Soul squeaked concernedly, tugging at Grey's pant leg.
"It's nothing," Grey said distantly. He was completely focused on the Pokéball in his hand and, even now, he could feel Lucy's anger seep through it. It felt like something had hit him in the stomach. "What'd I do?" he muttered.
"Well, come on," Rachel said, sensing her brother's uneasiness. "Let's go. Knight City or bust, right?" Grey pocketed Lucy's Pokéball silently and walked out the exit, Soul loyally behind him as usual.
"Wait! Grey!" Rachel called after him, scooping up Vulpix as she ran.
"Oh, um…" Juniper stammered. She turned to Emily and bowed respectfully. "Sorry for all the trouble!" she said quickly before running after the Thomas siblings, thus leaving Emily in the cave by herself, leaning on her shovel and scratching her head.
--
Grey stood near the edge of the mountain path overlooking Knight City. The location of the first Gym was much larger than Wind Town and Seabreeze Village put together, but still relatively small for a city. Some of the buildings were still in construction, but the majority were heavily urban or suburban in style. The plains west of the city were all farmland which was where Grey reasoned most of the food came from. The path Grey was currently standing on led into the eastern entrance of Knight City.
However, Grey was barely focused on the city at the moment because all his attention was focused on his inexplicably angry Buizel. Grey couldn't help but pore over why Lucy'd act that way towards him. Was it something he said or did?
Hey, don't worry, Soul said uneasily. He was honestly trying to calm the storm in Grey's head, but since Grey could only understand a bit of what he said, it proved to be difficult. Soul hated this; he desperately wished he could do more. Why couldn't Pokémon speak human?!
"Thanks, Soul. But this is something words can't fix. We have to show Lucy we aren't like she makes us out to be. Either way, let's get to the Gym, okay? We'll take the Gym Leader down first and then take care of this later," Grey said confidently. Soul nodded and clenched his fist in agreement. Losing their first Gym Challenge was not an option.
"Alright, Grey. Everybody's all healed up," the Knight City Nurse Joy said the next day with the Joy family's trademark smile. She handed Grey the Pokéball tray before bidding him goodbye and taking care of the next trainer in line. Grey released Soul and Lucy from their Pokéballs just as Rachel and June walked up with their Pokémon.
"So, ready for your first Gym Battle, bro?" Rachel asked, Mudkip and Vulpix cradled in her arms. "I still say you should train a bit first."
"Eh, what do you know about Pokémon training, anyway?" Grey said cockily. "It's a cinch; all I have to do is think on the fly and the badge is mine."
"Char char!" Soul chimed in agreement as Lucy stared ahead with an angry scowl.
"Are you sure that's all you have to do?" Juniper asked uncertainly. "Gym Leaders aren't like ordinary trainers, you know. And, from what you've told me, you've only ever battled two trainers at your skill level. You might need to train a lot harder until you're ready to challenge a Gym."
"Well, when you put it that way…" Grey began. "Bah! Who cares about all that. Pokémon battling is about heart and I definitely have more heart than any fool Gym Leader!" Juniper and Rachel's faces both fell like a heap of lead.
"Is he always like this?" the redhead asked the rosette. "Rushing into things before coming up with a plan, I mean."
"I thought you woulda caught on by now. He's got a skull thicker than a Rhyhorn's," Rachel deadpanned.
"Mud Mudkip!" the youngest Pokémon chirped happily.
Soul, you sure this is going to work? I mean, you don't even know which Pokémon the Gym Leader here uses, Vulpix said uneasily.
She's right. You could really get worked out there, Sylva added coolly.
Or worse, your scales could get dirty! Rosewood shouted disgustedly. Mud would get caked all over and get in the spaces between scales… The Long Body Pokémon shuddered at the very thought of Soul's immaculate red-orange scales being dirtied. It sent chills up her spine to envision the sight.
What's a fight without a couple of risks, anyway? the young Lizard Pokémon countered. We'll kick ass no matter who we're up against!
"Soul's right," Grey said, clenching his fist in confidence. He pounded said fist into his open hand and charged right out of the Pokémon Centre leaving Rachel and June in the dust with both his Pokémon following.
Soul wanted to be there to fight beside his trainer and Lucy wanted to see him crash in burn out of spite. In her fuming anger, the Sea Weasel Pokémon forgot that if Grey crashed and burned, she'd go down with him.
Grey burst through the doors of the Knight City Gym just in time to see a boy's Pidgeotto get knocked out of the sky by a Gligar's Faint Attack and fall into unconsciousness.
"Pidgeotto is unable to battle!" the short, black haired referee decreed. "Therefore, Gligar is the winner and the match goes to Emily of Knight City's Pokémon Gym!" The ref held up a red flag in the direction of the Gym Leader whom Grey recognized immediately.
Even though she now wore jeans shorts and a white hoodie stained with dirt while keeping her hair in a long braid, Grey knew who she was. As the defeated trainer walked away with his head hung in shame, Grey called out,
"Hey, you're that girl from yesterday! In the caves!" Emily laughed as Gligar glided back to her side.
"Yep. But we never really caught each other's names," she said cheekily. "I'm Emily, Gym Leader of Knight City and a junior construction foreman. Who would you be?"
"Name's Grey Thomas from Puel Town. Never thought I'd meet the Gym Leader without knowing who she was," Grey said sheepishly. "I heard you use Ground-types." Emily nodded, eyes full of self-assurance.
"Yeah. Now are you going to just sit there talking to me or are we going to start the battle? Hope you're better than the last punk; he only brought one Pokémon with him." Grey could immediately tell that this girl's self-esteem shot through the roof and then some. That, and she loved to show it as much as she could. He figured this'd be an easy win against someone with an ego as big as hers, but he forgot about how well Emily had battled against the wild Onix from yesterday.
"Let's get it started then. Hope you aren't too tired from your earlier match," Grey taunted, picking Soul's ball up first. Normally, Soul wouldn't be inside his Pokéball and would just jump right into battle but, this time, the Charmander knew this was a big event and wanted to make a good entrance.
Emily turned to the ref who sighed exasperatedly. He desperately wished that Emily wasn't so impatient with these Gym battles, but he couldn't change it.
"The Gym battle between the challenger, Grey Thomas of Puel Town and Emily Vega of Knight City will now commence. Each trainer will fight until all of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle. There will be no time limit or limit on the number of Pokémon used," the referee recited. "Are both sides ready?"
"You bet, ref," Emily said cheekily.
"Get on with it!" Grey shouted impatiently, gripping Soul's Pokéball tightly.
"Okay, then. Trainers, please choose your first Pokémon." the ref said.
"Soul, let's go wild!" Grey shouted eagerly, tossing the sphere into the air before the Charmander appeared in midair and landed with a light thud.
"Charmander!" Let's do this! The fire breather was just as eager as his trainer; it was shown all over his face and in the way he flexed his claws. The flame on the tip of his tail burned bright, showing he was ready for battle.
"Gligar, let's show them how it's done," Emily said coolly, her entire demeanor changing in an instant. Grey had no idea what was in store for him.
"Gli-gar!" the Fly Scorpion shouted in agreement as he glided onto the field with an evil grin on its face.
"Gligar vs. Charmander! Let the battle begin!" the ref shouted, the flags in his hands rising like corks shout of a bottle.
"Let's start things off with a bang," Emily said with a calculating edge in her voice that definitely wasn't there earlier. "Quick Attack at full power!" The command was heard and executed without a single moment of hesitation. One moment, Gligar stood on its end of the field and the next, a white blur of light was left behind it as it brutally slammed its one-hundred-plus pound body into Soul's much lighter one. The Charmander bounced across the ground as dirt clung to his scales with every impact, realizing Rosewood's worst fear.
Grey felt as if he'd been hit with that Quick Attack himself; he might as well have been because the shock on his face could've accompanied a blow like that. "Soul, you okay, buddy?!" he shouted in a mix of surprise and concern. He'd never seen the attack coming, Gligar was so fast. For a moment, he thought he might've been in over his head. Emily was battling just as she was yesterday: with a cool, level head and a bag full of tricks.
"Ch-cha~ar…" Soul muttered through the pain as he staggered back up. He wobbled a bit, his vision still shaky after being hit so hard. So this was the power of a Gym Leader.
"Great, then go at it with Metal Claw. Don't let up until he falls!" Grey commanded. Soul did as ordered and ran at Gligar with full intent to slash his steel-hard claws into the opposing Ground-type's head.
"Jump and Faint Attack," Emily said clearly. Gligar nodded and bounded off the ground before it literally faded into the shadows like a specter just as Soul's glowing claws were about to connect.
"Stay calm, Soul. Just wait for it to come out and then counter with Ember," Grey said uneasily. Why was he uneasy in the first place? This battle was supposed to be a complete cakewalk. …Right? Now he wasn't so sure anymore. Now he wished that he had trained a bit more so he wouldn't look like such a novice and, more importantly, so Soul and Lucy wouldn't get hurt.
Soul's entire being tensed up like a coil as he anticipated Gligar's impending attack. His blue eyes scanned the entire battlefield, which was littered with rocks and stalagmites, for any sign of the Fly Scorpion's presence; a wing or maybe a flash of purple.
"Gligar isn't an 'it'. Gligar's a 'she'," Emily said amusedly. "If you want to quit now, I'll let you. This doesn't look to be going your way, kid."
"I'm not a kid," Grey growled, his focus leaving the battle for a split second. But that was all the time Emily needed to launch her attack.
"Now!" she cried, throwing her hand out as if controlling her Pokémon's moves through it. Gligar suddenly burst out from behind a nearby rock and slashed at Soul's stomach with her pincers, laughing the whole time through as the Lizard Pokémon fell to his knees for the second time.
Now, sweat was starting to form on Grey's brow. If he didn't do something soon, Soul was done for.
"Get it with Ember!" he bellowed desperately. Soul launched the projectile at Gligar's face and smirked as the attack met its mark before Grey's order for Scratch came. Soul charged while Gligar was still stunned and slashed his claws across her stomach as hard as he possibly could and was dumbstruck when he saw the attack did little to no damage at all.
"Char?!"
"What?!" Grey shouted.
"I'll admit Gligar's not an expert at taking special-based attacks like Ember. But when it comes to physical attacks, her speed and defense are second to none among my team," Emily stated. "Now, Gligar, finish it. Swords Dance then Dig."
"Gligar!" Gligar spun around like she was caught in a tornado while executing intricate dance steps as her pincers glowed a bright blue color. Using her powered-up pincers to dig into the dirt, she was gone quick as a flash. Then, just as suddenly as she'd gone, Gligar exploded out of the ground and slammed both pincers into Soul's jaw, sending rocks and dirt clumps raining down on Grey.
Soul hit the ground hard and Grey winced, shocked at how the battle was turning out. He couldn't be losing now! Not after everything he said he'd do! He was going to be Almia's greatest challenger and when you say something like that, you cannot lose this easily!
"Soul, please," Grey pleaded. "Get up; you have to!" But Soul wasn't going to get back up. His tail flame was weak now and it flickered every time he tried forcing himself back up. It was useless. Soul's head finally slumped against the ground as he slipped into unconsciousness, securing Gligar and Emily's win.
"Charmander is unable to battle!" the referee shouted, raising the red flag in his left hand towards Emily. "Gligar is the winner!"
"Nice work, Gligar," Emily congratulated as she gave her Pokémon a big hug.
"Gli gli!" the Ground-type said happily before shooting Grey a devious look.
"Take a nice long rest, okay?" Emily raised her Gligar's Pokéball and called her back in before taking another one off of her belt.
Grey walked onto the field, his body still numb from the shock of how easily he'd been beaten. He picked up Soul and cradled his oldest friend in his arms, digging around in his pocket for his Pokéball.
"Ch…Char?" G…Grey? Soul asked, cracking one eye open weakly. Grey saw now how beaten up Soul was. Dirt clung to his scales like a magnet and his body was covered in bruises. Worst of all, Sou's tail flame wavered weakly; a sure sign that he was not fit to fight. Guilt welled up in Grey's chest like a geyser builds up pressure. How could he have let Soul get so utterly thrashed this badly?
"Go back to sleep, Soul," Grey muttered in a low voice. Soul didn't need to be told twice as his head slumped in Grey's arms. Grey recalled Soul into his ball before reaching for Lucy's and tossing it into the air. His former bravado from before the match started was now gone. "Lucy, come out."
"Bui!" Lucy shouted indignantly as she came out of her ball. The Buizel turned to Grey with a look of disdain on her face; how dare this human use her as just one of his tools? But her anger quickly ebbed away when she saw the look on Grey's face. It was set into a look of uncertainty and fear; fear for Lucy's safety. Wondering why, the Sea Weasel looked around and found herself on a battlefield of all places with another human holding up a Pokéball. This was a battle, Lucy deduced. And by the looks of it, one that was not going in Grey's favor, which was why he looked at Lucy with such concern.
"Rhyhorn, let's run them down!" Emily commanded as she lobbed the Pokéball in to the air. It split open with a shower of silver light and out of that light materialized a rhino-like Pokémon with a tough looking gray hide, four stubby but powerful legs and a single, menacing horn on its nose. Rhyhorn's beady red eyes stared down at Lucy with a brutish gaze as if it were ready to gore the puny Water-type on its horn. Judging by said horn, Rhyhorn was made out to be male.
"Lucy, I know you're mad at me," Grey began pleadingly. "But, please. Soul just got beaten up and I don't want the same to happen to you. Work with me here, okay?" The look in his eyes told Lucy he was sincere. She nodded tensely and turned back to Rhyhorn with a determined look on her burnt orange face. Grey relaxed considerably and pulled out his Pokédex to get a good read on Rhyhorn.
Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon. Rhyhorn are generally used for agricultural work, but are immensely powerful Pokémon. Their dense bulk allows them to tackle tractor trailers and send them flying or even level a house. Rhyhorn's horn is its most dangerous asset, as it can pierce a hole even through a steel sheet. However, even with all this power, Rhyhorn have horrible short-term memory and attention spans, only able to focus on one thing at a time. Sometimes this Pokémon will go on a rampage and forget why it began running in the first place.
Gender: Male
Grey pocketed the Pokédex. He felt a bit more reassured that Rhyhorn looked to be a slow Pokémon and had many weaknesses, but he knew Emily had something up her sleeve and that made him feel ten times more uneasy. It was as if a stone weight had sunk into his stomach.
"Rhyhorn vs. Buizel," the ref stated with a steely voice. "Let the battle begin!"
"Lucy, start strong; get him with Water Gun!" Grey shouted. Lucy opened up her mouth and fired the blast of heavily pressurized water, aiming for Rhyhorn's face. The attack struck and the Spikes Pokémon let out a bellow of anger and pain before shaking it off and glaring at the Buizel with renewed fury.
"Let's use that anger, Rhyhorn," Emily said with a smirk. "Take Down!" Rhyhorn bellowed again and snorted loudly, digging his short limbs into the ground and pushing off with surprising speed and tremendous power that made the ground shake. Rhyhorn's linear path was easily dodged, however, as Lucy leaped out of the way right before she was hit.
"Aqua Jet!" Grey commanded, clenching his fists in worry. If he didn't boost his spirits up soon… He didn't want to think about it.
Lucy called a ring of water around her feet as usual and used it to cloak her as she spun her twin tails and sped her way towards Rhyhorn with a burning intent. Her attack hit and the water around her dispersed, crashing onto Emily's Pokémon and making him cry out in protest against the doubly-super-effective attack. But Rhyhorn just wouldn't go down, even after two Water-type attacks.
"Why won't it get knocked out already?" Grey said through clenched teeth.
"You really think I wouldn't train Rhyhorn to take Water-type attacks like a man?" Emily taunted. "Rock Blast, now!"
Rhyhorn grunted and dug into the ground with its powerful horn bringing a heavy boulder to the surface before head butting it and sending it rocketing towards Lucy. The Sea Weasel was able to dodge the first attack using her Quick Attack but Rhyhorn launched a second, larger rock out of the many littering the battlefield. The second rock crashed into Lucy with all the force and subtlety of a wrecking ball, the impact sending her higher into the sky where more three more rocks kept her in the air by juggling her. Rhyhorn took a sadistic pleasure each time Lucy cried out when a rock made contact and relished it especially when the Buizel hit the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
"Lucy!" Grey shouted worriedly. He wrung his hands together wanting desperately to go out there and shield his Buizel from Rhyhorn's onslaught but found himself rooted to the ground in shock. He couldn't lose… not like this… Lucy already had some heavy bruises on her body from that last series of attacks. Grey'd officially lost his cool; there was no coming back from this.
"B-bui…" Lucy grunted, refusing to lose to this idiot of a Rhyhorn. She shakily got back to her feet and readied another Water Gun as Rhyhorn laughed a deep, throaty laugh.
Give it up, Girlie. There's no way you're going to beat me; not with that puny body, the Spikes Pokémon said derisively. Lucy angrily willed the behemoth to shut up but she knew she didn't have the power to back her anger. At least, not in this state.
"Rhyhorn," Emily began with a tone of finality. She was going to end this battle with one last attack, provided Grey was not smart enough to forfeit before the attack was launched. "Use Thunderbolt." Even before the command left Emily's lips, her Rhyhorn began to gather static electricity around its horn. Sparks began to dance around the horn like tiny fireflies, becoming more numerous with each passing second.
Grey's face immediately drained of all color. If an attack like that his Lucy how she was now… No! he thought, immediately putting his Pokémon's safety first. Lucy can't be hit by that! I can't let that happen to her! The words left him before they could be stopped:
"I forfeit!" he cried. Grey ran blindly onto the battlefield, stopping in front of Lucy and throwing his arms out in an attempt to shield her. Lucy's eyes widened in shock, even in her currently battered state. Did this… this human just attempt to shield her with his own body? She'd been wrong about Grey, she realized. He was worthy of her respect.
"Call Rhyhorn off, please!" Emily nodded to her Pokémon, who grudgingly discharged the energy he collected into the ground.
"Challenger Grey has forfeited the match," the referee stated. "Therefore, Gym Leader Emily wins by default." Emily called Rhyhorn back into his Pokéball and said,
"You most likely rushed in here without a plan, didn't you?" Grey nodded in shame. "That was your first mistake. League rules say that if a trainer challenges a Gym and loses, he or she must wait a week before attempting to challenge said Gym again. Come back in a week and then show me what you've got." Emily's face immediately returned to the cocky visage Grey saw before the start of the battle. "Alright, Grey?"
Again, Grey nodded, picking up Lucy and turning to leave the Gym in silence. As soon as he was sure he was out of earshot, he whispered,
"I'll definitely come back in a week." Grey's face was now one of a mixture between hell-bent determination and defeat. "We'll be stronger. We won't lose like we did. Right, Lucy?"
"Bui," the Buizel nodded weakly. All of Lucy's earlier opinions about Grey immediately died when she looked up at him shielding her with his own body. This human cared about Pokémon and he showed it, intentionally or not.
Phew! Man, I loved writing the Gym battle, even if Grey lost the way he did. It just goes to show: winging it is fine, but you have to have some kind of plan behind it if you don't want to get utterly destroyed.
Grey finally earned Lucy's full respect by recklessly charging in to block a potential 10,000 volts of electricity by a sadistic Rhyhorn. Not exactly the conventional way to do it, but it worked.
On a side note, how many of you would actually do what Grey did? I probably would.
Sadly, no appearance from Jameson this chapter, but he will becoming sooner or later. You'll just have to keep reading to find out. Next chapter should be up by tomorrow.