Okay, so... I know it's been forever-and-a-day since I last updated and I have the usual explanation: school's a bitch. My last report card wasn't so good, so I've been refocusing on getting my grades back up. Anyone currently in high school knows what I'm talking about =.= It's a pain in the ass and gets in the way of your free time. Anyway, I've rambled on enough. Let's get to what you guys came here to see.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon franchise in any way, shape, or form. This is written purely for fun. However, I do on a cell phone I managed to put a crack in. Don't know my own strength o.O
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Chapter 8: The Second Villainous Group! Enter Team Regal!
Grey couldn't hold back the victorious grin on his face as he held up his Geo Badge to the midmorning sunlight. It was the day after his victory over Emily and her juggernaut of a Rhyhorn and he had a right to be proud of himself. He was practically skipping as he walked through Knight City's agricultural district towards the tunnel that would put him on the path to Melange Town. However, pride and arrogance were just one step away from each other and Grey was milking his victory a bit too much.
"Oh, yeah! Who's stupid now, Rae? You said I wouldn't beat Emily and look what I've got to prove it." Grey flicked the Geo Badge like a coin before shoving the small piece of metal into his sister's face. Rachel growled and pushed her brother's hand away from her face.
"Alright, alright; I get it, Grey," she muttered angrily. She quickened her pace in order to put some distance between her and her infuriating younger brother. Grey only smirked and put his badge back into the case he'd received at the Pokémon Centre before leaving.
"Vul Vulpix?" Vulpix mewled at her owner.
"He's just a stubborn little punk, Vulpix; that's all," Rachel growled.
"Hey, Grey, don't you think you're taking this a bit too far? She's your sister, after all," Juniper said in a wise voice. Rosewood nodded in agreement from around Juniper's shoulders.
"Hey, I think I have a right to gloat after all the times she told me to pack it up and go home. This just proves her wrong and I'm gonna rub it in her face as much as possible," Grey responded arrogantly. Juniper sighed; she should've known that getting something through Grey's head would take a lot more than that.
"Either way, I wanna at least get a third of the way to Melange Town before sundown," Grey said. He placed his hands behind his head and smiled to himself, fantasizing about his next gym battle.
For the next couple of minutes, they group made their way through the farmland, passing fields of grazing Tauros and Miltank, houses, and barnyards situated at the backs of the crop fields. The sun shone down on them warmly, reflecting the highly maritime climate, and there was not one cloud in the sky. Everything was pretty much perfect; even Rachel had calmed down a bit. However, peace like this was not meant to last.
"Hey, you guys aren't the same ones that were here yesterday," a familiar voice rang out. Grey snapped out of his daydreaming and June looked up from her notes to search for the source of the voice. It was Jameson, the boy dressed in blue that they'd met before Grey's gym battle. Currently, he wasn't too happy talking to the man standing in front of the entrance to the Melange Town tunnel.
The man in question was wearing a peculiar outfit that resembled and infantry soldier's. The uniform was a regal brown color and the man wore black boots with silver buckles on his feet. Atop his head was a metal helmet with a small pike on top that obscured his eyes and a metal pad rested on his shoulder.
"Listen, kid, I'm just following orders and I was told not to let anyone through here," the man grumbled, obviously annoyed that Jameson was confronting him. "Now, you can come back when we're done here, alright?"
"And I told you that I need to get to Melange Town," Jameson persisted. "Can you just move? I mean, what could I do to mess up whatever you're doing?" The military man growled and Jameson bared his teeth right back. If someone didn't diffuse the situation soon, there'd be a fistfight.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Rachel asked, jogging up to the two confrontational males with her brother and June in tow.
"I keep telling this kid --"
"Jameson; my name is Jameson," the boy interrupted. The man let out an angry sigh before continuing.
"I keep telling Jameson that my associates are doing some important work inside the tunnel and that he'll have to wait until the end of the day to get through."
"And I told him that I need to get to Melange Town. The tunnel's not even that long and I can be out in twenty minutes, tops!" Jameson shot back.
"I agree with Jameson," Grey interjected. "Us being in the tunnel won't cause too much of a problem; this guy's just being difficult."
"You're the ones that are difficult, you little punk!" the man roared finally reaching his limit with the boys. "You should respect your elders and listen when I tell you to wait, damn it!"
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I've got a bit of an authority problem," Grey retorted, putting on a bored and defiant look. "Now would you please move?"
"No! Now get out of here, you brats!" the man shouted. A vein in his neck began to pulse.
"Okay, that's it," Rachel sighed. She picked up Vulpix and held her out towards the man's quickly reddening face. "Confuse Ray," she ordered bluntly. Vulpix's eyes glowed a deep, ghostly blue that the man couldn't take his eyes off of. Slowly, his eyes became crossed and dazed before he finally fell over, clutching his head in confusion.
"Was that really necessary?" Juniper asked as she scrawled down notes on how Vulpix's attack affected humans.
"Yes, it was. Screaming at us wasn't going to help him, anyway," Rachel reasoned with a proud smile. "Thank you, Vulpix."
"Vul vul," the small fox said offhandedly.
"Thank you for that," Jameson said politely, quickly calming down.
"No problem, dude," Grey grinned. Inside Jameson's stomach turned with annoyance. This kid again, he thought. His opinion of Grey being a cocky punk hadn't changed since their first meeting. "I didn't catch your name last time. My name's Grey."
"Jameson," the boy in blue replied a bit curtly. "From Fuchsia City in Kanto."
"I'm Rachel, Grey's older sister."
"My name's Juniper, and this is Rosewood. It's really nice to meet you, Jameson," June said with a smile that made Jameson's hostility completely evaporate.
"You said you were headed to Melange Town, right?" Grey asked. "Well, then what say we travel together? We're all headed towards the same place and we could watch each other's backs along the way."
"I don't know," Jameson mumbled shyly. "I kind of prefer traveling alone."
"Well, traveling in a group is a lot safer than going on your own, right?" Rachel reasoned.
"Yeah, and it must be pretty lonely on your own," June said.
"Ret Furret," Rosewood piped up.
"See; even Rosewood likes you," Grey laughed. "Come on, Jameson. You won't be a burden at all." Jameson considered the offer carefully. True, traveling in a group would be much safer than going on one's own. But, if he did go with them, he'd have to deal with Grey's attitude which he hated so much. He wasn't all that good at socializing, either… In the end, he reasoned that he could put up with Grey, at least until Melange Town.
"Alright," Jameson conceded, "I'll go along with you guys. I guess we're traveling partners now."
"You bet," Grey grinned. "Nice to have you along."
"There's just one thing," Jameson said hesitantly. Seeing the confused looks on his new friends' faces, he pointed down at the confused guard. "What about him?"
"What about him?" Grey shrugged. "I say we leave him here until the effects wear off."
"Good plan, little brother," Rachel said, picking up Vulpix and letting the Fox Pokémon rest on her head.
"Don't I always have good ideas?" Grey grinned before stepping over the downed man and into the tunnel. Jameson sighed heavily. This was going to be one long trip; he could just feel it.
"Hurry it up!" boomed the voice of yet another angry man. The voice echoed throughout the brightly lit expanse of the tunnel, ringing in the ears of his subordinates. Unlike the guard stationed out front, this man was tall and overly muscular with a huge moustache obscuring his upper lip. His eyes were big and currently narrowed in frustration and his bald head glistened with sweat. He was dressed in an outfit similar to the man he'd stationed out front, which was the exact same as the twenty or so grunts he had command over. The only difference was that he had a large gold crown in the center of an icicle, a boulder, and a steel plate design on the left breast and back of his shirt.
Looking over at the dig site he currently presided over, he noted that the excavation's progress was moving a bit too slowly for his liking. For their plans to advance, Team Regal needed this artifact and, damn it all, they needed it now.
"We don't have all day!" he shouted, brandishing a pickaxe at his man and shaking it like he was going to hit somebody with the spiked tool. "That artifact needs to be dug up by tonight and we haven't made much headway!"
"With all due respect, Sir Otto, we've been moving as fast as we can. The Diglett and Machop are exhausted," a grunt leaning on a shovel pleaded through heaving breaths. This only served to make Otto even angrier.
"You dare talk back to one of Team Regal' officials," he rumbled in a low, menacing growl. "You tread on thin ice, boy." The fear-stricken grunt tumbled backwards off his shovel at the look on Otto's face. It was a look that'd make a war veteran wet his pants while simultaneously humbling the veteran's Gyarados.
"I'm s-sorry, sir!" the grunt stuttered quickly. "I'll get back to work and contact you once we've dug up the artifact. Terribly sorry once more, Sir Otto!" With that, the grunt sprinted away as quickly as he possibly could, tripping over a protruding piece of granite in his mad, fear-fueled dash.
Otto snickered to himself. These grunts were ever so easy to scare and manipulate. "Let's pick up the pace, people! Regirock isn't going to awaken itself!" he boomed.
"So, you're from Almia?" Jameson asked Grey as the group made their way through the tunnel with Soul and Vulpix's fires being the only source of light. "That's gotta be real far away from here."
"It is," Grey retorted. "Though, Almia's sort of a backwards place. Instead of a Pokémon League, we have the Pokémon Rangers." Grey uttered the last phrase with a tinge of annoyance in his face.
"Hey, I'm a Pokémon Ranger, remember?" Rachel growled. "We have an important job to do, unlike trainers."
"I can sense this is a bit of a fragile subject, huh?" Jameson laughed nervously. He'd quickly become shy in the time it took to make it this far into the tunnel. Maintaining a normal conversation was hard without practice.
"You don't know the half of it," Juniper giggled. "I've only been with these guys for about two weeks, but, from what I can tell, Grey didn't want to be a Ranger but his dad was forcing him to be one. So he ran away from home with Soul."
"Right, because that's what anybody would do," Jameson said sarcastically.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Grey asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the boy in blue.
"It seemed kind of stupid to run away from home because of that," Jameson elaborated. "Couldn't you have reached a compromise with your dad?"
"You obviously don't know my dad," Grey scoffed.
"Although dad is as stubborn as a Tauros, I have to agree with Jameson," Rachel said, feigning sagacity. "You could've persisted and kept asking dad to let you go."
"I would've been thirty-five and a Top Ranger by that time!" Grey retaliated. "I mean, I know mom and dad are worried about me, but I'm just fine. Kids five years younger than me go off on journeys by themselves and do just fine."
"And Grey does have all that training he went through. I honestly think he would've been fine on his own," Juniper put in optimistically.
"It was still a fool thing to do," Jameson laughed. Grey seethed under his breath. Who was this guy to criticize him? They'd barely known each other two hours.
"Well, nobody was asking you in the first place, so why don't you keep your mouth shut?" he muttered.
"Oh, what's the matter? You mad that someone's poking holes in your plan?" Jameson shot back, his face morphing into one of defensive indignation.
"Yeah, kind of. I don't like people assuming that I can and can't do something just because they say so," Grey growled. The two boys glared at one another and the air became charged.
"Guys, you don't have to fight," Juniper whined, trying to defuse the situation while Rosewood, hating confrontation, buried her face in Juniper's shoulder.
"Forget it, June. I've learned that, once two boys start fighting, there has to be a winner for it to end," Rachel droned.
"Vul-pix," Vulpix nodded. From his viewpoint, Soul could almost see lightning spark between Jameson and Grey's eyes.
"Char, Charmander, char," the little salamander squeaked, pulling on his trainer's pant leg. Hey, calm down, Grey. Grey heaved a sigh and smiled down at his partner.
"You're right, Soul. He's not worth it." Grey picked up his partner and set the Charmander atop his head. "Let's just keep going for now." Grey quickened his pace, taking the lead so as to keep from fighting with Jameson again.
"Whew," June breathed. "That was a close one."
"Furret," Rosewood agreed.
"Sorry," Jameson mumbled. "I'm not that good at making friends since I used to move around a lot as a kid. Doesn't really help that your brother's such a punk," he continued, directing the last part at Rachel. The pink-headed girl only chuckled and waved the offense off with a hand.
"Don't worry; I say the same thing about him. He's just too rash for his own good, you know?"
"Must get in the way of his battles, too," Jameson reasoned.
"It does; he lost to Emily the first time 'round because he rushed in there without any strategy," Rachel recounted. "Honestly, I cannot believe we're related."
"Squirtle! Water Gun, now!" The strict, militant voice rang out, using the cave's acoustics as amplifiers. It was the voice of a boy and, by the sound of it, a trainer. Grey's ears perked up at the prospect of a battle.
"Hear that, partner? We got ourselves another fight!" he grinned, clenching his fists in anticipation. Soul mimicked Grey's toothy smile and thrust his arm out, pointing towards the direction of the voice.
"Char!" Onward! Grey didn't miss a beat and sprinted off towards the owner of the Squirtle's voice.
"You see what I mean?" Rachel said bluntly, pointing at her brother's retreating back.
"Squirtle, dodge left, then use your Water Pulse," the boy ordered calmly. His energetic Squirtle obeyed, dodging his Aron opponent's Headbutt attack and retaliating with a powerful orb of condensed water. The Water-type move impacted Aron, sending a wave of water swamping over it and effectively knocking it out. The boy calmly took out a Pokéball and flicked it at Aron. The Iron Armor Pokémon was barely able to put up a fight and was captured almost instantly.
"Nice job, Squirtle," the boy said with a small smile. The tiny turtle nodded at its trainer and toddled over for a well-deserved rest. The boy was dressed in black jeans, hiking boots, a sleeveless red jacket with a yellow t-shirt under it and sunglasses atop his blonde head.
"Now, let's see what you know…" the boy muttered. He took out his Pokédex and held it over his newest capture just as Grey's voice rang out.
"Hey, is anybody in there!?" he shouted. "I challenge you to a battle!" The boy looked in the direction of Grey's voice to see a bright orange light approaching him fairly quickly. He took a battle stance and ordered his Squirtle to do the same. Grey finally appeared to the boy, breathing slightly heavily as he greeted the boy.
"I'm Grey," he said, not wasting any time, "and I challenge you to a battle. What d'you say?" The blonde boy looked over Grey with calm blue eyes before turning his back to the newcomer.
"No thanks; I've got to get out of here by afternoon," the blonde boy retorted calmly. Grey's face fell like a ton of bricks, but he persisted as the blonde boy turned to walk away.
"Hey, come on; don't be like that. A Pokémon battle's always good for training right? My team could use some of that and I'm sure yours could, too," Grey said in his best attempt at persuasion. The boy stopped in his tracks and turned to Grey with a cold fire in his eyes.
"Are you implying that my Pokémon are weak? Because if you are, then you must be pretty desperate. What are you; a newbie?"
"Don't get all defensive!" Grey shouted.
"Char char!" Soul yipped, backing up his trainer. The blonde boy scoffed and turned to leave. This encounter was wasting time that he didn't really have and, right now, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and Grey as possible.
"Fine, be that way," Grey muttered petulantly. "At least tell me your name!"
"Derek," the boy called back with a nonchalant toss of his hand. "Later." With that, his form was swallowed up by the darkness of the cave.
"He's not very sociable, huh, Soul?"
"Char-mander," the fire lizard sighed. Soul jumped down from Grey's head and set himself upon a boulder to rest. As soon as he did, the boulder became dislodged from its surroundings and released a whole slew of rocks that it had been holding back. The rocks tumbled and crashed into one another, sending extremely loud echoes down the entire expanse of the tunnels. The usual reaction of Zubat screeching in anger and Geodude rolling away from the source of the sound was to be expected.
"Grey, why must you keep doing that?" Rachel admonished as she and the others finally made their way over to him. "I'd like at least one day where I can enjoy some peace and quiet."
"Hey, don't look at me; it was Soul," Grey said as he cleaned out his ears with his pinky. Said Charmander rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.
Unfortunately for the group, Otto had heard the whole thing. Being his naturally suspicious self, his warped reasoning led him to believe that there were other humans besides himself and his men in the caves. His warped reasoning would be right. His face turned a rage-filled shade of puce; had that guard failed in his mission? Oh, this would not stand. Not while Otto of Team Regal was around. Whirling around, he roared,
"Men!" All attention was immediately on him and he continued, "your friend at the Knight City entrance has failed in his mission. And do you all know what that means?" Though Otto was raging now, his men knew this was only the calm before the storm.
"Well, do you?!" he growled. Every one of Otto's men's spines shook with fear.
"Corporal punishment, sir!" they chorused. Otto smiled grimly. Lemmings, he thought; that's all these grunts were.
"Corporal punishment indeed…" he chortled darkly. "Now, I'm going to send two of you out to go find our unwanted guests, even if they've already made it out of the tunnel and into the Melange Town. And when you do find them, bring them back to me personally for… what was it again?" Otto knew full well what the answer was.
"Corporal punishment, Sir Otto, sir!" Otto's mustachioed face broke out into a demonic grin. This was going to be fun for him. He dispatched two grunts like he said he would, confident that they'd succeed in their mission. At least, they'd better, he thought as the two ran towards the tunnel exit. For their own sake.
Meanwhile, Grey's group finally made it out of the tunnel and out to the other side. The terrain that stretched out before them was the same as the area near Knight City; wooded, humid, and slightly mountainous. The path leading to the next town sloped downwards and there weren't as many trees as last time, forecasting a change in geography soon enough. It was now mid-morning, and that fact made Grey realize something that, to him, was extraordinary.
"Hey, guys. With this, we've traveled over one-hundred miles since the start of this journey. Plus, we've gone from jungle to mountain pretty quickly… How's that possible?" he asked.
"Now that I think about it, the geography and climate of this island is pretty strange," Rachel mused. "June, you've lived here longer than us; why is that?"
"The Silver Ring is made up of several islands and one islet including the one we're on now: Pacific Island," June began. "The two main islands, Pacific and Dealer Islands, are the largest and have the most cities. Dealer Island is a lot farther south than where we are now -- a ways east of the Hoenn region, actually -- so it has a pretty warm climate. Pacific Island gets comparatively cooler the further west we go. We only started from a jungle area because the northeastern side of this island is facing the Kanto region."
"So right now, we're a bit south of Johto, right?" Jameson asked. Juniper nodded.
"Mhm; and once we leave Pacific Island, there's a chain of smaller islands connecting us to Dealer Island, but we won't visit them for a while. And since the archipelago is in an L shape and Dealer Island is sort of crescent shaped, we can start making small detours once we leave there," Juniper finished. Grey took out a map of the archipelago and a marker and began making a travel plan as Soul watched curiously at his side.
"So… After we leave Pacific Island," he said, pointing at the land mass slightly south of Johto. He traced his finger down in an L shape, following several smaller islands until he reached the mouth of crescent-shaped Dealer island and the islands that closed the circle, "We'll head to the first city on Dealer Island then over to Quartz City on Forge Island, which is at the top of the crescent."
"Oh, I get it," Rachel dawned. "So then, after that, back to Dealer Island and then to Forsythia Island in the middle of the crescent, then to South Island at the bottom."
Then Jameson said, "And after those three, we have Serenity, Silver, Rainbow, and Golem Islands that connect the two main islands. Then, after them, it's Blue, Heart and Soul Islands for the Pokémon League, and New and Faraway Islands near Kanto and Hoenn."
"And we can make detours at King's Rock Isle and Frost Island along the way," Grey grinned.
"But King's Rock Island is all the way near Orre and Frost Island's so cold compared to the warmth of the main islands," Rachel said, already shuddering at the mention of cold.
"That's because it sits in the middle of this weird current where the waters are always cold," Juniper explained. "Either way, it sounds like a fun trip to me." She giggled and looked up at Grey for confirmation.
"Yeah, and there're bound to be tons of awesome Pokémon along the way, too," Grey said, pumping his fist into the air victoriously. "So, then, let's head out."
"Right," Jameson nodded shyly. "Melange Town it is. Let's go, guys --"
"Hey, you brats!" one of the two grunts Otto dispatched shouted gruffly. The group whirled around in confusion, wondering, for one thing, who had the nerve to call them brats. For Arceus' sake, Rachel was nineteen!
"We've been looking for you. How dare you interfere in Team Regal's affairs!?" the second one said indignantly.
"Team Regal?" Grey wondered with a cocked brow. "Just what the heck is that?"
"I know this one," June muttered gravely. "They're a shady group that's been going around the archipelago doing weird things since a couple of months after the League set in. They're bad news; supposedly, they go around bullying civilians and attempting to steal Pokémon."
"Well, well, well, looks like we've got ourselves a brainiac!" the first grunt growled angrily. "But, that don't matter; you're under arrest by us for interferin' in the first place."
"You kids are going away for a long time," the second one sneered. He and his partner plucked two Pokéballs off their belts and raised them at the group; the international sign of a battle. "And after we kick your asses here, we'll take your Pokémon." He motioned to Soul standing next to Grey's leg.
"Don't you guys know it's rude to use that kind of language in the presence of ladies?" Grey smirked confidently, once again annoying Jameson. Even so, the older trainer joined in on the fun.
"And what makes you think you can take us, huh?" Jameson asked, steeling his gaze. Juniper and Rachel backed up, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of imminent battle. from the sidelines, Soul, Vulpix, and Rosewood cheered on their friends.
"This," the first grunt said with a malicious grin. He tossed his Pokéball into the air, where it split open and a waterfall of silver light rained down, forming into a small, grey-skinned, humanoid Pokémon with powerfully developed muscles and a tail; a Machop. The second grunt followed suit, releasing a sandy yellow shrew Pokémon with a layered brick pattern on its body and beady black eyes: Sandshrew. It was painfully obvious that, despite being fully grown adults, these two grunts were novices at Pokémon battles. In other words, cannon fodder.
Grey took out a Pokéball, enlarged it, and flung it into the air in one fluid motion, releasing his Onix in a massive flash of light. Jameson went after him, releasing his Scyther, Sniper. Sniper opened his eyes slowly and crossed his scythes in preparation for combat. Maverick however, took the more direct approach, lowering his head and letting out a gruff, menacing 'ROOOOH!' at the Superpower and Mouse Pokémon. Machop didn't flinch due to its hardy nature, but Sandshrew played the chicken and curled into a ball.
"Damn it, Sandshrew! Fight like a man!" the Ground-type's trainer commanded.
"Machop, Karate Chop the Onix!"
"Sandshrew, use Rock Tomb on Scyther!"
The two Pokémon leapt into action, albeit hesitantly on Sandshrew's part. Machop's muscles rippled as it fist glowed a brilliant white as it straightened out its arm and bounded upwards with powerful legs, aiming to slam Maverick's head into the ground. Meanwhile, Sandshrew formed a purple energy sphere in its mouth and lobbed it at the ground, causing rock spikes to erupt out of the ground and continue towards Sniper. The super-effective attack dared to cause critical damage, but Jameson was faster.
"Sniper, get up there and Wing Attack Machop!" he commanded, keeping a level head. Sniper obeyed and pushed himself off the ground and away from Rock Tomb with a grunt and several rapid beats of his wings. Said wings began to glow and the Mantis Pokémon slammed them into Machop's tiny, but powerful body. The blow sent Machop off course, allowing Grey to step in to finish the combination.
"Maverick, use Headbutt now!" Maverick obliged happily, coiling himself up and then launching out like a javelin, skull poised down. Maverick's skull slammed into Sandshrew a second before it panicked and curled up into a Defense Curl. Regardless of the defense boost, Sandshrew was still launched forward into the mountain wall, actually becoming embedded into the rock and falling unconscious. The Onix roared in victory and turned towards Machop who was still trying to shake itself out of its daze.
"Sniper, Slash attack," Jameson said. With a loud battle cry, Sniper raised both his arms, the blades shining maliciously in the sunlight. In an instant, he winged his way into close quarters with the Fighting-type and brought one of his scythes down, leaving a long, bloodless gash on its chest.
"Finish it with Dig!" Grey shouted before Maverick dove headfirst into the ground and came up a moment later under Machop, flinging it into the air. The Superpower Pokémon flailed in the air and landed with a jarring thud, effectively putting it out of the battle.
"Looks like we win," Grey grinned as Maverick coiled himself around his trainer victoriously.
"Scy Scyther," Sniper nodded happily as Jameson petted the giant bug's head for a job well done.
"Wasn't even worth the challenge. You guys must be the weakest of the weak," Rachel laughed harshly. The grunts said nothing and returned their Pokémon to their capsules before turning tail and running back into the cave.
"Well, that was good practice," Grey said, placing his hands behind his head coolly. "I'd say I'm getting better. What about you guys?" Jameson, having had enough, sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. Grey shot him an inquisitive and annoyed look, prompting the older boy to glare back.
"Can you be any more arrogant?" Jameson grumbled. "Seriously; your ego must be bigger than a Golem." Grey's eyes narrowed into slits.
"Me? I just like having fun is all. Why don't you loosen up and quit being so serious?!" Grey shouted back.
"Here we go; resorting to shouting like a little kid," Jameson laughed.
"You started it, you punk jerk!" The two of them started to walk forward while simultaneously continuing their argument. Soul climbed up back onto Grey's head while the girls hung back, not wanting to get sucked into anything.
"Who're you calling a punk jerk, you brat?"
"You're only a year older than I am!"
"Rachel?" Juniper sighed.
"Yes, June?" the pink haired Pokémon Ranger asked.
"It's going to be a long journey, isn't it?" the younger redhead whined.
"Fuuurret." Rosewood planted her paw into the middle of her face. If this kept up, all her fur'd become prematurely gray. Vulpix mewled in annoyance, sticking close to her trainer so as not to deal with the fighting.
"You know, maybe it's best if we just ignore them," Rachel groaned.
"You WHAT?!" Otto screamed at the top of his lungs. His face was quickly turning from pale pink to red and the vein in his temple was making itself more and more noticeable with each passing second. The two grunt who'd failed just moments earlier cowered, literally quaking in their boots after relaying their failure. Their fellow grunts stood by, silent as statues, as two of them pulled a large stone tablet out of the excavation site.
"W-w-we're sorry, S-Sir Otto," the Sandshrew trainer stuttered. Anyone could see he was moments away from a mental breakdown. "Those kids…had some strong Pokémon."
"Yeah, boss," the second one said quickly, trying to at least salvage some of his credibility. "One of 'em was real mouthy and used an Onix. He had a Charmander sittin' pretty next to 'im, too. The otha one had a Scyther. We stood no chance, boss; ya gotta understand --"
"Shut up, Terrence!" Otto boomed. He turned his head towards Terrence's partner and said in a low, growling voice, "You're the brains of this little duo. Why didn't you do something about it, Darrel?"
Darrel quivered like a leaf and said, "It was like Terry said, boss. They were way too strong for the two of us grunts." Otto's gaze narrowed and gained some extra malice and venom. He said nothing now, only pointing towards the back wall; the signal for grunts who've failed to await their punishment.
Knowing it was futile to resist, Terrence and Darrel retreated to the back wall. Otto turned around and threw a hand into the air to signal the grunts to pack up. They did as commanded, not wanting to face punishment like their doomed comrades. A brown-haired female grunt walked into the room, a Bayleef stomping faithfully behind her, and approached Otto before saluting.
"Yes, Quinn?" Otto asked, his rage dissipating as quickly as it had come. Quinn was one of Otto's top grunts and was always welcome in his presence. So long as she kept up her good work, at least.
"Sir, the enemy grunt we captured yesterday has finally revealed the location of the next Team Simurgh congregation. Shall we prepare an assault or report this to HQ and await further orders?" Quinn asked in a highly militant voice. Her Bayleef said nothing, opting to look at Otto with emotionless red eyes. Otto stroked his bald chin before replying.
"Take our most elite team from the ones present now. We leave for the location in four days. Dismissed."
"Sir!" Quinn saluted.
"Bay!" the Leaf Pokémon crooned. As Quinn left, an evil smile broke out under Otto's moustache. Team Regal's rivals, Team Simurgh, were looking for a way to gain absolute control over their nemeses, just as Otto's group were attempting to do. He looked over at the stone tablet, riddled with bumps aligned in odd formations, that the grunts had put into a wagon and smiled to himself. With this artifact, Team Simurgh stood no chance. No chance whatsoever.
Okay, so I think this is a bit short for me. I don't really know; I was trying to find a good, suspenseful way of ending this chapter. Did I do a good job?
Grey VS. Jameson. The rivalry of the ages! Man, it's going to be fun seeing how these two act around each other but, if what happened here is an accurate barometer, it will not be pretty.
Thanks again to Shadow Minamoto for submitting his OC, Jameson, and for all his reviews. You rock, dude.
Onto the next Gym! But it will be a while before that happens, though. Stay tuned, read, review, and always remember to wash your hair.
Brave Soul RMS, out.
Chapter Preview: On their way to Melange Town, the group gets lost and stumbles upon an old, run down shack of a hotel to spend the night in. This shady roadside inn just happens to be the favorite hang out spot for some very mischevious Ghost-types with nobody to lead them. And they've just found four new humans and their Pokémon to pick on for the night. Will Grey, Soul, Jameson, and the girls get out by morning, or will they risk being Pokémon playthings for the rest of their days?
Next time: We're Staying the Night! Pokémon Ghost Motel!