I have neglected this story… But at least I haven't been lazy with my other ones so I guess that kind of makes up for it.. Just a quick note, from here on out, my chapter lengths are gonna be a bit more varied than normal but quality won't diminish at all; I promise you that. It's just a style change I'm trying out so that the chapters aren't so hellishly long to read, y'know? More enjoyable for you guys. Also, be on the lookout for a Chapter 1 revamp sooner or later. Now, the first of many chapter recaps! And be happy, this is a pretty long chapter here :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, no. But I do own… THIS BAG OF NACHOS! …Why doesn't that make me feel better?
KEY:
"normal speech"
"thought"
translated Pokémon speech
"blah blah blah emphasis blah blah blah"
Pokédex Entries
Last time, Grey, James, and a newcomer named Baxter were working off their debt to Lyle, the owner of the Clubs Ranch. While they were on break, Lucas popped in to check on Grey and to offer him a training challenge: Catch Lyle's most unruly Phanpy, bond with him, and train him up to a Donphan. Grey, eager to prove himself to his senior in Pokémon Training, took the challenge without a second thought.
Throughout Grey's battle to capture Donte, the Phanpy, Lucas analyzed his protégé's battle style and realized that luck and wild improvisation were very prominent. Instead of pointing it out, he decided it would be better to let Grey learn it on his own.
However, behind the scenes, a Team Regal admin named William and his Magmortar tested out a sinister device with the ability to control Pokémon through a peculiar sound dubbed the Frequency Net. The reason for creating the device is obvious, but the true scope of Team Regal's plan remains unknown…
Two days had passed since becoming indebted to Lyle and Grey and James were now on their last day of work. Baxter had paid off his obligations to the farmer and had been let go the day before but the boys still had one more task ahead of them in Lyle's orchard. There was still one full day's work ahead of them. James and Grey were both eager to get it over with, and both for the same reason.
"Last day and we can finally get back to business," James said lazily. He uncrossed his legs and stretched and Grey moved to sit on the other side of the pickup truck to give him room. In response to the now smaller room to roam, the Torchic that had tagged along for the ride hopped up on James' shoulder.
"You can say that again," agreed Grey. He reached behind him smiling broadly and retrieved his Phanpy's Poké Ball. "Can't wait to start training Donte. Lyle said his dad was a Piloswine belonging to a passing Trainer that got into his barn one night so he's bound to know some cool moves."
"Lyle's not mad at you for that?" James asked when he noticed the Poké Ball. "I mean, he said that one was close to evolving and he depends on those Donphan, you know."
"Relax," replied the still grinning Grey, "Lyle said Donte's a bit of a troublemaker anyway. Any Pokémon with that level of energy's my kinda Pokémon."
"A Pokémon after your own heart," the older boy joked. Grey grunted in annoyance and pocketed the ball.
"So what if he is? Doesn't matter either way. He's my Pokémon now 'n Lucas gave me a job to train 'im up to a Donphan so that's what I'm gonna do." Things were silent between the two of them for a while as James steadily grew more and more uneasy after the mention of Lucas.
"Hey, Grey," he said slowly and unsurely, "about that Lucas guy…"
"What about him?"
"You sure you can trust him?" Grey narrowed his eyes waspishly.
"Whaddaya mean by that? You think he's a bad guy or something?" The growing indignity in his voice was a warning sign. James picked up on it and worded his next sentence carefully.
"I mean, he's a random veteran trainer that's suddenly taken an interest in you," he articulated. "Don't you think it's a bit strange?" He forced down a sigh of relief when Grey visibly relaxed.
"Not really," the younger trainer mumbled. "Okay, maybe a little bit. But trainers meet on the road all the time. If he wants to tutor me, who am I to refuse the help?"
"I guess you do have a point there," conceded James. "I'm just a bit wary of the guy. He gave off weird vibes last time on the boat."
"You're imaginin' things!" Grey said flippantly. "Jeez, dude, you're way too careful. Lighten up for once."
Their ride through the plains continued in silence and into greener, sunnier, and hillier pastures dominated by trees bearing brightly colored fruits. Grey recognized a great many of them to be berry trees but the others were foreign to him. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that Lyle's house and ranch were nowhere to be seen.
"How far out are we?" he asked the air.
"Orchards like this tend to be pretty far away from the main ranch. It's so that they can alternate their work schedule between the ranch and the orchard," James answered through a yawn. "Common knowledge, dude."
"I knew that!" Grey retorted. "It's just… I hadn't thought about it in a long while. Shut up!" he added loudly when James gave him a condescending smirk.
"Sure you did." James put his hands behind his head and leaned back comfortably. "And I'm the mayor of Ecruteak City."
"You're a jerk, y'know that?"
"Coming from you, that's kind of funny," muttered the older boy.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
More silence. The truck went over a particularly big bump in the road that made Torchic peep in surprise. As if finally noticing the Chick Pokémon's presence, Grey decided to point it out.
"What up with Torchic, dude?" he asked rather bluntly. Torchic chirped up in response and changed spots to James' lap.
"Him? I have no clue," replied James while he absentmindedly petted the warm bird's head. "He's just been following me around since yesterday. Wasn't causing trouble so I decided to just let him."
"Oh, cool. So you gonna catch 'im?" Grey asked eagerly. James looked repulsed at the thought.
"No!" he said firmly. Torchic's head feathers seemed to droop at this. "I'm not gonna take one of Lyle's Pokémon. He needs them to work."
"He only needs the girls," Grey pointed out in a rare moment of logic. "The girls make eggs that he can sell but if the boys get involved, he just has more Torchic." James blinked in surprise. Was Grey actually using his head to make a point? he thought.
"Besides, he has, like, ten males besides this little guy here," Grey continued. "He won't miss one." James seemed to consider Grey's words carefully and concluded that, surprisingly, the younger Trainer was right.
"I guess," James said unsurely. "And I do need a Fire-type." Torchic brightened up. "But I'm gonna ask Lyle before I do anything."
"We're here, boys!" Lyle called as he brought the pickup to a stop a few meters away from a collection of oran berry trees. "This here's the last job y'all have to do and then you can leave."
Grey jumped out of the truck and stretched his back with audible pops. "So, old man, what's the deal for today?"
"Harvesting. We're goin' up to the ripe trees today and going picking. Apricorns and berries sell pretty well." Grey tilted his head, curiosity piqued.
"Apricorns?" he echoed curiously. "The heck are apricorns?"
"What, you don't know that, either?" James asked incredulously. Grey shot him a glare and heaved a heavy annoyed sigh.
"Just stuff it and tell me already, Rhodes," he said bitingly. "Not in the mood."
"Apricorns," said James with a sigh, "are what were used to catch Pokémon before the advent of the modern mass-produced Poké Ball. You'd hollow one out and put a special device inside and, bam, instant Poké Ball." Grey's attention was immediately recaptured.
"You serious?" he asked disbelievingly. "But they're plants. How's anyone make a Poké Ball out of a plant when the ones made these days are metal?"
"You got me," James admitted. Lyle motioned for the two of them to pick up an empty bushel each and marshaled them towards the oran tree cluster with three stepladders in hand. "They're used to make specialty balls nowadays but it's kind of rare to find someone who practices that trade."
Grey looked upwards in thought and considered the benefits of having a few specialty Poké Balls in his arsenal. It could only be beneficial, he deduced, if there were an exceedingly rare Pokémon he'd set his sights on that ordinary Poké Balls didn't affect. He grinned, stowing the thought away for later and making a mental note to get a few apricorns for himself before leaving the orchard.
"Oh, no way, boy. I know that look." Grey jumped at Lyle's voice behind him and tried to make himself appear as innocent as possible.
"What look?" he asked jovially. "I wasn't making any looks."
"You were planning to steal somethin' from my orchard," Lyle deadpanned. "Lemme guess; the apricorns. I knew it; all the Trainers go fer those." Jaw dropping, Grey knew he was caught.
"How did you - ?"
"Like I said, all the Trainers go fer those," Lyle cut in. Reaching the cluster of oran trees, Lyle hopped up on a stepladder and began picking the fruit. "Tell you what, if you do a good job, I'll give you a few apricorn balls as a thank-you."
"You mean it?" beamed Grey.
"Sure, why not? The guy I sell 'em too pays good money for 'em and gives me a few apricorn balls just in case I'm lookin' to capture somethin' or make some extra cash," explained Lyle.
"Sweet!"
"Just don't steal nothin'!" the burly farmer reiterated. Grey jumped, gave a hasty nod, and set to work picking berries with renewed vigor.
Once again in the shady clearing on the outskirts of Mélange Forest, William's test team was running their last checkup on the Frequency Net. The Regal Admin in question was lazily leaning against a tree, the brim of his helmet pulled over his eyes as he waited for the scientists to finish their job. He did a good job of hiding it but everyone present knew William was growing impatient. Thankfully, after a few quick minutes, one scientist went to fetch William and bring him over to the console.
"It's done, sir," said the head developer. The balding man respectfully bowed out of William's way to let him see the device.
"Twenty-five tests later and it's finally complete," murmured William. "I love it when things go the way they should." He took the device's controller, eyeing it like a finely cut jewel, and allowed himself a smirk of victory. The Frequency net itself was little more than a portable subwoofer with an antenna topping it and a wire connecting it to the controller but behind its deceptively simple appearance was the potential to cause unspeakable havoc. With this, he thought, Team Regal's power and capacity as a threat would rise exponentially, as would his own. The thought of that many Pokémon under his control… It made William want to smile.
Bad things happened whenever William smiled.
"It's working at optimal performance, Sir William. Just activating it should attract a swarm of Pokémon from the area," informed a nearby ragged-looking scientist. "Though this is still a prototype, so take care not to overwork it." William shot him a burning glare.
"Don't tell me what I already know," he snarled. "I'm not going to go and risk breaking the damn thing immediately after confirming that it works. What do you take me for, an idiot?"
"N-No, sir," the scientist balked. He cast a fervent glance at his fellow scientists in a plea for help. Out of well-placed fear for their lives, they all kept their eyes down and left their friend to dry. William eyed the frightened balding inventor dangerously before letting out a snort and averting his gaze.
"You're hardly worth the effort," he said with a scowl. Reaching for the belt of his clean and pressed uniform, William grasped two Poké Balls and enlarged them both in his hand.
"Magmortar, Scizor," he called, tossing them up. An eruption of light flashed brightly released William's star Pokémon. Magmortar let out a low growl while Scizor silently and humbly knelt before its trainer. "Time to wreak some havoc."
Scizor and Magmortar watched William stride to the center of the clearing, raise the Frequency Net's controller above his head and crank its range up to maximum. A high-pitched tone flew out from the device and radiated outwards for miles before being replaced by a deep, pulsing bass. At first, nothing happened. The scientist team looked on with a mixture of curiosity and fear that their invention had failed. William's scowl deepened. Then a deafening buzzing rose into the air.
The wing beats of dozens of Bug-type Pokémon dominated all other sounds as they grew closer to the forest clearing. William smirked. Ninjask, Spinarak and Ariados, and a small flock of Tallow were the first to appear. Following behind them were six very large and very angry Beedrill with the same Pinsir previously controlled by William on point. The Stag Beetle Pokémon gave the object of its rage a death glare and cried out in indignation.
Again? Pinsir roared. The human would pay dearly. It would make sure of that.
Following them came four Parasect, spores lightly falling from their mushrooms as a dozen Pineco lowered themselves from the surrounding trees. Last came a veritable swarm of Zigzagoon and a small group of purple-colored insects William was not completely familiar with.
"Ah, yes," he said when it finally came to him. "The League has been importing Pokémon from other regions into this archipelago, so of course they'd have some species in from Unova." He knelt down to inspect the hissing purple insects and chuckled.
"Venipede," he whispered as if the word were taboo. "How fortuitous." Casting a sweeping glance around the clearing, William found that it was completely packed. The Taillow were forced to either stay airborne or perch on top of the Frequency Net console and the scientists were huddled together and surrounded by the Pineco, struggling not to make even the slightest movement.
"Scizor, take half of the army and lead them to battle. I'll be going with Magmortar." He turned to the mob and raised his voice to make sure they all heard him.
"The rest of you! I give you one edict!" he said in a loud boom. Every Pokémon present, against their wills, was forced to pay attention to William. Every Pokémon present willingly gave the human that dared command them hateful glares. He paused, ignoring their fury and relishing the moment.
William smiled.
"Attack."
Elsewhere, June and Rachel were about to begin a in a training session. The two girls were in the field in Lyle's back yard with one Pokémon out each, Rhea for June and Mudkip for Rachel. Mudkip was splashing around without a care in the pond and Rhea the nidoran was nibbling on a patch of grass. The older Thomas sibling had finally asked June to help her in battle training, a favor that June was all too happy to do. But when asked why she didn't just ask Grey to help, Rachel made a face and insisted they get started immediately.
"Now, are you sure you are going to go through with it this time?" June asked Rachel, skepticism evident. Rightly so, she inwardly thought, given Rachel's distaste for battles.
"Yes, I'm sure," Rachel impatiently replied. "I don't want to be hearing it from my little brother when I 'don't pull my own weight'. Even when my jobs bring in most of the money," she added in a scathing undertone.
"Okay," said and unsure June, "if you say so. Now then, the first thing you want to remember about training is patience. Sometimes things will not go your way or move too slow for your liking but you need to remember that if you work as hard as your Pokémon, things will come much easier to you. Also -"
"June, that's great and all," Rachel interrupted, "but I already know most of that stuff from training with Vulpix." June a puzzled look crossed June's freckled face.
"Then why do you need me to teach you?" she asked. Her nidoran nuzzled her leg and whined for attention, prompting the girl to pick up her Pokémon and cradle her.
"I need to know how to make a weak Pokémon stronger," said Rachel. She called Mudkip over to pat his oblivious little head and continued, "Vulpix is my strongest team member right now and Heracross is powerful on his own already. Lucy is a loaner from Grey so she's got some experience but Mudkip is still a kid. Get what I mean?" June's look of puzzlement persisted for a few seconds before her face lit up in excitement.
"Oh! I know how to do that! Practice battles!" At this, Rachel blinked in confusion.
"Practice battles," she echoed. "You mean what Grey does all the time where he'll put two of his Pokémon against each other?"
"Mhm, it is actually a great way to get a new member acclimated to battle without making them go up against a much stronger and unrestrained wild opponent. It is a basic training approach." Rachel rather uneasily considered the prospect, worried about the outcome. Both of her main fighters were much too strong for Mudkip to practice against, meaning Lucy was the only viable training partner. The only problem with that was Lucy was a bit too eager to fight and hardly ever restrained herself.
"But she is my only option," the rosette said to herself. Deciding with a sigh to open Lucy's Poké Ball, she took a step back and pointed at Mudkip.
"Lucy, this is Mudkip. I don't think you two've met before."
"Bui bui." Hey, kid.
"Mud!" Hi there! Lucy looked up at Rachel and silently asked why she was summoned.
"We're gonna be doing some practice drills with Mudkip here," the Ranger explained. Lucy raised an eyebrow but allowed Rachel to continue. "So, to that end, I want you to train him on how to use his Water Gun and let him practice some attacks on you."
So I'm gonna be his friggin' punching bag? the sea weasel cried. She let out a low growl and barked angrily.
"I know you don't like it!" Rachel said, hands up in defense. "But it's the only way Mudkip can learn without me forcing him straight into a battle with a wild Pokémon. Please, Lucy?" Lucy stood fast in her defiance, huffing indignantly at the thought of becoming a training dummy. Sensing the situation was going nowhere fast, June set her nidoran down and approached Lucy.
"I know it isn't the most attractive prospect," she began soothingly as she stroked Lucy's fur, "but Mudkip needs guidance from an older Pokémon like you. Plus, Grey did say that you need to help Rachel if she needs it."
At this, Lucy gave a defeated sigh. Then she huffed again and turned to Rachel, giving her a reluctant nod. Rachel's face brightened immediately and she pulled the buizel into a tight hug.
"Thanks, Lucy!" she cried.
"I think it would be best to start with Water Gun for now," June suggested, "and have your goal be mastering the attack before the end of the day. Aiming and such will be tackled later."
"Alright then." Lucy jumped out of the hug and took her place next to Mudkip. Rachel took a deep breath and pointed off into the distance.
"Water Gun!" she dictated proudly. Lucy responded with an expertly launched jet of water. Mudkip, seeing the example, attempted to do the same. He took in a deep breath and blew out as hard as he could but only managed to produce a little arcing trickle. Lucy and Rachel let out a unified groan.
"This is going to take a while," giggled June.
"Nidaaa…"
"Alright, Lyle, we've each filled four bushels each of berries and apricorns," a tired Grey reported in to the farmer. He leaned against one of the many berry trees in the area, thankful for the shade, and wiped his brow free of sweat. Lyle gave the bushels a quick glance before smiling in satisfaction.
"What's next?" Jameson asked from his hunched over stance on the ground. "God, my arms are burning…" Grey suppressed a snicker. This was one of the rare times he was happy to have had Ranger training and was able to withstand manual labor like . Lyle beckoned them over while releasing Quagsire from his Poké Ball and led the way towards the shadier back of the orchard where the air was fresher, the leaves were thicker, and the underbrush started to grow wild.
"If y'all thought this here orchard was cool," he said as he led the boys through increasingly thick and shady foliage, "you're gonna love this next one. These guys are imported."
Interests piqued, the boys and Torchic, who had gone off to explore the orchard only to reappear and totter behind Jameson, followed behind Lyle expectantly. Not long later, Lyle took them into a deforested section of the orchard bathed in bright sunlight. In the center of the cleared space was a massive mesh tent, the inside of which was covered in a puffy white substance. Lyle stood proudly next to it, puffing out his chest and gestured grandly towards the tent.
"This right here is my cash cow!" he boomed. "A cotton farm!" Grey blankly stared at the structure, comparing the structure before him to a generic image of a farm in his head and failing to see any similarities. On the other hand, James gave Lyle a knowing grin and approached the tent with interest.
"If I'm right," began James, "you got yourself a hold of about twenty or so Cottonee, haven't you?" Lyle beamed.
"'S right!" he answered. Still, Grey looked on in confusion.
"Okay, I must be outta the loop. What's a Cottonee?" he asked.
"Check your Pokédex," James said simply. So Grey did just that. With the search feature, he typed in "C-O-T" the image of a small, white and puffy Pokémon next jumped up onto his screen.
Cottonee, the Cotton Puff Pokémon. As ninety percent of this Pokémon's body is made of high-quality cotton, they, like members of the Hoppip line, are vulnerable to being swept up by strong gusts of wind. When this happens, they are unable to control their path of movement and can only stop when they bunch together in groups and fall to the ground or when saturated during heavy rain. This species spends most of its time photosynthesizing through their broad leaves and avoid being preyed upon by shooting cotton from their bodies before dashing away with incredible speed. A remarkably docile species, Cottonee are a fairly rare breed outside of the Unova Region. Because they are so plentiful within Unova and completely innocuous, Cottonee have been artificially introduced to other regions with no adverse effects.
"So these guys are one of the introduced species June was telling me about," Grey said. "And they're from Unova; cool!"
"The Pokémon League must've taken some species out of Unova and introduced them into the Archipelago. That was pretty smart of them considering how this region was before," James remarked. He smirked and let out a small laugh. "June's gonna have a field day with this."
"Well, enough standin' around. Lemme show you boys the inside!" insisted Lyle. Lyle pushed back the opening flap of the tent and ushered the boys in. The instant they entered the tent, a wall of humidity swept over them. A loud tittering filled the air and giant puffballs lightly bumped into the boys, bounced off and stuck to the walls of the tent. One side of the mesh was blanketed in white cotton while the other was bare to let in sunlight. There were two water troughs on either end of the tent and scattered around the ankle high grass and on the uncovered side of the tent were twenty Cottonee of all sizes.
"Oh, cool," Grey breathed, impressed. "How'd you get 'em all?"
"Caught 'em all," Lyle replied simply. "League dropped off a bunch of Unova Pokémon near the forest 'round Springbloom Lake so they were free game. I decided, why not start a Cottonee farm? 'S a lot cheaper and a lot less work than growin' cotton and the Pokémon don't seem to mind at all."
"No, they don't," James noted. The Cottonee didn't seem to mind at all that they had been taken from their homes. A species that rarely moved from its basking spot, the Cottonee were all fine with being captured as cotton producers as long as it meant a free place to bask and a good water supply.
"Judgin' by the way they're all laughing, it doesn't seem that way," Grey added. One specimen clinging to the mesh floated down in front of his face, tiny yellow eyes looking warmly at the human.
"Hey there," Grey greeted it with a smile. The Cottonee responded by tittering some more and blowing a few cotton seeds in Grey's face before floating down to play tag with Torchic.
Torchic didn't seem to want to play and instead initiated a mock battle, pecking down the Razor Leaves sent in its direction. Quagsire, not wanting to get hit by a stray Grass-type move, slinked away into a mob of Cottonee on the ground and was quickly swarmed by them. The Water Fish Pokémon tilted his head and blinked his beady eyes stupidly from beneath the blanket of Cottonee.
"Playful little guys," laughed Grey.
"How do you know they're laughin'?" Lyle asked with obvious curiosity. "They always make this same sound no matter if I'm here or not."
"Oh. Well…" Grey hummed in thought as he tried to form an answer. "It's hard to explain. Sometimes, I sorta get these signals, I guess, from Pokémon around me that tell me how they're feelin' or the basic gist of what they're tryin' to say."
"So you can talk to Pokémon?" Lyle assumed. Grey shook his head.
"Nah, nothing like that but it does come in handy a lot."
"I just think he's crazy," James put in with a smirk.
"Well no-one asked you," Grey snapped.
"All right, all right," Lyle said with a chortle. "We're gonna finish up today by collectin' this here harvest and after that, you boys are free to go. But first…" The farmer dug into the pockets of his overalls and handed the boys three Poké Balls each.
"For a job well done," he said kindly. "Take it as a token of thanks. The red 'n yellow ones are Fast Balls; use those to catch buggers that like to run. Blue 'n reds are the Lure Balls used to effectively catch Pokémon you end up fishin' outta the water, and the gray ones are Heavy Balls. Pretty self-explanatory there."
"Thanks, Lyle!" the boys chorused.
"Hey, maybe we should each catch a Unova Pokémon with these, Grey," suggested James. "I mean, they're rare outside of Unova and powerful, right?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Maybe when we get to Springbloom, I'll catch myself one of these guys," Grey said with a gesture towards the Cottonee, "but for now, let's - " Grey stopped speaking on a dime and his face went from jolly to fearful in a split second.
"Dude, what's up?" asked a wary James. "I don't like that look on your face." Grey's head whipped around frantically as he searched for something that only he could sense. Torchic and his opponent suddenly stopped their battle and the Cottonee swarming Lyle's Quagsire all slid off and bunched together in a fear-stricken huddle. Quagsire himself went unnaturally stiff.
"You guys don't hear that?" Grey whispered quickly. Lyle and James responded with confused looks. "It sounds like Pokémon; a bunch of Pokémon, and they're all crying for help."
"Grey," Lyle began warily, "we don't hear nothin'. You think yer just imaginin' -"
"No! Listen!" shouted Grey as he released his Charmeleon. Everyone went quiet and did as Grey said. It was faint, but the ominous sound of a truly large mob of Pokémon groaning, chirping, and hissing their way closer to their location made itself heard. Soul's azure eyes hardened and his pupils became slits. He let out a low hiss and a few flames escaped his mouth as he flexed his claws in anticipation.
This is not good, he said to Grey. I smell a fight coming. And the smell of those guys that raided the tower, he added.
"Jimmy, Soul says he smells those guys from the Museum Tower," Grey relayed. "Lyle needs to get out of here."
"It's getting louder," James breathed. James immediately shifted gears as his mind raced to make a battle plan. His hand flew to his pockets for his Poke Balls to release his Scyther and Duskull and he whirled to Lyle, rattling off orders before his brain could stop his mouth.
"Lyle, take Torchic and Quagsire and all the Cottonee and get the hell out of here as fast as you can. We'll take these guys on."
"What? No!" Lyle protested. "I can't let y'all do that!"
"Lyle, with all due respect, get the hell out of here!" barked Grey. "You said yourself you're not a strong battler and we can't let you fight if you're not. We've got this, okay?" The farmer struggled between common decency and common sense before forcing himself to make a decision.
"Fine," he conceded. "But don't you boys go gettin' in over yer heads." He then produced twenty Poké Balls from his pockets and proceeded to recall Quagsire and the Cottonne.
"C'mon, Torchic!" he called over his shoulder as he exited the tent through its second entrance. Torchic stayed rooted to the spot for a moment and gave James a worried look. James mustered a small smile and a nod to reassure the Pokémon and Torchic tottered away after Lyle. Grey released Strabi and Donte before dashing out of the tent with his Pokémon in tow and James and his team right on their tail.
"Such a picturesque sight," William muttered with a smile as he stood on the hill overlooking Lyle's orchard. "The rolling green hills, pink Pecha trees and the blue Orans and, ooh, even some apricorn trees; how quaint." He turned his head to the massive heat source beside him. Magmortar stood stock still and at the ready. William's smile broadened.
"Magmortar. Fire Blast," he said evilly.
Magmortar's arm cannons were up and primed before the command was even finished, their barrels widening as a torrent of fire formed inside. With a mighty grunt, Magmortar condensed the fire and sent it rocketing out his cannons and down at the orchard where it morphed midair into a flaming image of the character for 'Fire'. The Fire Blast attack met the ground and waves of heat and flame radiated outwards, washing over the trees and grass and turning the impact point into an infernal blaze. The rate at which vegetation turned to ash and smoke rose to stain the clear sky was terrifying to behold.
"And now we send in the troops and watch it burn," William said under his breath. He rose one arm into the air and brought it down and the horde of Pokémon under his control rushed in from behind him.
"As much havoc as you can!" he reminded them gleefully. "Burn it all down!"
William's instant militia set to work destroying as much of the orchard as they could. Pinsir charged forward with the force of a truck and bowled down a tree with ease, then turned to a Pecha tree and gripped it with his horns to wrench it out of the ground and throw it as if it were a stick. The insect Pokémon flew in like a plague, latching onto trees and rapidly stripping them of their leaves and fruit while the Zigzagoon fought amongst each other for the scraps. Those unlucky enough to get into Magmortar's handiwork caught fire and rampaged trying to put themselves out but they only served to spread the blaze when they made contact with the vegetation.
And all the while, their screams and shouts filled the air while their pleas for help and cries of anguish attacked Grey's mind.
"Maverick, put out the flames!" he shouted through clenched teeth. William watched with a mix of annoyance and curiosity as two boys, one in red and one in blue, tore out from nowhere with a mix of Pokémon behind them. The boy in blue released a Zangoose and the one in red was commanding his Onix to smother the fire with dirt and its own body.
"Luna," James said breathlessly, "use Water Pulse on anything that's on fire. NOT SOUL!" he roared when the Cat Ferret readied an orb of water trained at Soul's tail. Luna gave a nod and chucked the Water Pulse into the inferno and grinned as all of the flames died and steam rose up to mix with the smoke.
"Maverick, keep it up. Throw yourself onto any ground fires and toss dirt at the trees but don't break any down!" Grey ordered. The Onix roared an affirmative just as the Pokémon militia stormed into the area, trampling the charred ground.
"And now the fun starts," James muttered. He turned to Sniper and gave the blade bug the slightest of nods. In an instant, Sniper was in the crowd and blitzing Pinsir with a flurry of blade strokes while the Stag Beetle endured with its hard carapace. The buzzing of insect wings overtook their hearing as the Ninjask and Beedrill appeared over the burning treetops and jumped into the fray.
Grey ordered Soul to start shooting down Ninjask before they could utilize their Speed Boost ability and the Flame Pokémon's aim proved true a small fraction of the Ninjask fell to the ground in burning heaps. One particularly agile one sped away from Soul's line of fire and dove at James, claws up and trained on the boy's chest. James rolled out of the way and opened his mouth to call for his Duskull's Shadow Ball attack but suddenly the Ninjask burst into flames and was tackled out of the sky by a tiny orange ball that started wrestling with the burning bug and mercilessly pecking it. The scuffle was over when the Ninjask fell to its attacker, revealed to James to be none other than Torchic.
"Wha…?" he said dumbly. "What're you doing here? It's dangerous!" Torchic shook its head defiantly and sped past James into the Zigzagoon swarm, shooting Embers from its tiny beak and chirping a war cry.
Grey's head was pounding with the echoes of the Pokémon's pain and fear assaulted his mind. He fought them back, trying to focus on the battle but it was proving to be a taxing endeavor. Strabi ran ahead of him and blindsided a Zigzagoon with Spark before launching a Shock Wave into the crowd and frying a few more. The raccoon Pokémon were the most abundant, swarming around the orchard and jumping into the berry trees to steal as much food as they could. Grey's Phanpy was doing well against them, charging in with Rollout and mowing them down as if they weren't there, his rampage growing stronger by the minute.
"Maverick, the Beedrill!" Grey roared over his shoulder. His command was met by the thundering rumble of his Onix followed by impact sounds as the rock snake's Slam attack met with the bodies of the Poison Bee Pokémon. One of the Beedrill sped under Maverick's deadly tail and went for Grey with one of its spears thrust out. Grey jumped out of the way at the last second and the Beedrill ended up embedding its weapon in the ground.
"Rollout full power!" The Phanpy gave a loud trumpet and tucked itself into a tire and started to rotate. Donte took off at full speed and collided with the Beedrill, pulling its spear out of the ground and knocking it back only to throw his full weight onto the Bug-type a moment later with a Body Slam.
"Booba!" grunted Magmortar. Catching his Trainer's attention, the Blast Pokémon pointed an arm down at the battlefield and urged William to look closer.
"Well, doesn't this appear troublesome?" muttered William. He took out a pair of binoculars to get a better look at the raging battle. Focusing on James, he saw the Trainer surrounded by Zigzagoon giving orders to a Scyther and having it mercilessly assault Pinsir as his Zangoose beat the Zigzagoon back with Crush Claw and a Duskull was attacking the Parasect to keep them from letting off any spores. Despite the boy in blue handling himself well, William found that uninteresting and shifted attention to Grey.
"Wait a second… A boy in a red jacket with a Charmander," the Admin murmured to himself. Grey, with one hand clutching his throbbing head, was taking shelter behind his Onix's tail and shouting orders to his other three Pokémon.
"Interesting; seems it's evolved into a Charmeleon. But it's unmistakable. This is the boy Otto wants dead." William put his fingers to his lips and gave a shrill whistle to summon his Scizor. The red armored insect fluttered down from the treetops and William pointed to the battlefield without a word. Scizor took the hint and winged its way into the fray without hesitation.
"Attack the boy in red!" William shouted after it. He then rose his hand and snapped his fingers. A rush of wings was heard as the many Taillow under his control swooped into action, each one holding a Pineco in its talons.
"Things just got more interesting." Putting the binoculars back up to his eyes, William sat back and watched the mayhem.
James breathed a sigh of relief as Sniper ducked under a wild punch thrown by Pinsir and knocked out the Stag Beetle Pokémon with a well-aimed Slash. That was the last Pokémon in his vicinity but there were still more to take out. He heard a cry of pain from Luna when the Normal-type was hit by a Poison Tail attack from one of the handful of Venipede milling about and opened his mouth to give a command. Another cry, this one of battle, rose up behind him and a stream of embers flew and torched the poisonous Unova Pokémon. Torchic jumped onto the scene and threw himself at a Bluk Berry plant beak first to knock out a second vengeful Venipede with Peck.
"Thanks, Torchic - !"
BOOM!
James was thrown off his feet as an explosion sent turf and dirt clouds erupting everywhere. Cough and scrambling to crawl away when another explosion went off to his left, the teenager wiped the dirt from his face to see just what had caused the explosion. In the small crater left by the first blast was an unconscious and badly torched Pineco. His head snapped up at the caw of the Taillow above and his jaw dropped at what he was seeing:
Around twenty or so Taillow were scrambling about overhead dropping glowing bundles that he inferred were Pineco preparing to use Self-Destruct. The Taillow were air raiding the orchard!
"Shit!" he cursed, jumping back up to his feet. He had to find Grey and warn him though he figured it would be redundant given that the explosions were growing more frequent.
"Sniper, Luna, get back here!" he called to his Pokémon. Luna looked away from her defeated Parasect and dashed back over while Sniper was there in a flash to knock away a Taillow that attempted to rush his Trainer.
"Where's Torchic?" the boy said breathlessly. "We need to get him out of here!" He looked around frantically and found the Chick Pokémon being overwhelmed by a group of Zigzagoon mercilessly slashing at him before dispersing and leaving him for dead. Then time seemed to slow down as James looked above the fallen Fire-type to see another Taillow air-bomber preparing to drop a Pineco. The Tiny Swallow dropped its cargo directly above Torchic and the little one struggled to get back up, falling when he put too much weight on his left foot. All of the color immediately drained from James' face.
Instinct took over, forcing James to do the only thing he could to save the injured bird's life. His hand dove into his pants pocket and took out the Fast Ball he'd received moments ago. Not even bothering to aim, James' hand flung forward and threw the surprisingly light apricorn Poké Ball at Torchic and prayed it would reach in time. Torchic looked up at the last second to see the glowing Pineco feet away from hitting his head and froze, giving the Fast Ball a clear target. The next thing he knew, the whole world flashed red as he was pulled away from it and into the darkness of sleep.
The Fast Ball pulled Torchic inside just as the explosion went off and sent it rocketing away from the point of impact. James sprinted after it and dove to catch it, holding it safely to his chest before being joined by Sniper and Luna.
"Sniper, go and get Shishi and tell him to go catch the Pineco to stop the Pineco from hitting the ground, okay?" he said tiredly. Sniper gave him the quickest of nods before flaring his wings and buzzing away. James stared at the Fast Ball in his hand where Torchic undoubtedly slept and heaved a sigh. He'd apologize to Lyle later, he decided. The way things were going, he stood a good chance of keeping his newest catch.
Grey slumped back against his Onix's rocky hide as Soul finished torching a Parasect and Venipede. The younger Thomas sibling gripped his head tighter at the flood of defeated groans that invaded his mind and grit his teeth so tight, he thought his incisors would break. He couldn't take it anymore; his mind felt full to bursting. All the pain, anguish, and distress coming in waves off the forest Pokémon; it was way too much to bear. He had never been able to tune in this well before and being forced to feel all of those emotions at once… Grey let out a strangled yell.
"This is torture!" he shouted only to immediately regret it once his headache flared. "I can't take this anymore! Everyone, please stop!"
Grey, are you alright? Soul asked worriedly.
It looks like he's seriously hurting, Strabi noted over Donte's cries of victory.
Pull it together, kid, rumbled Maverick. Don't let a little headache slow you down.
Patches of earth blew apart and pelted everything within range as the Taillow dropped the last of their live bombs. Grey ducked behind Maverick and peeked his head out only when he was sure the coast was clear. The wild Pokémon were either unconscious from fatigue or having been defeated or fleeing the battleground as fast as they could. Grey didn't blame them. Between the blackened grass and trees, residual flames, and scattered craters inhabited by knocked out Pineco, he wouldn't want to stick around either.
"Could be worse, though," he thought. Most of the trees were scorched or eaten but thankfully still stood but the damage done was heavy. Considering the initial Fire Blast had engulfed more than half of the orchard, it was amazing even this much was still alive. Grey rallied his Pokémon to him in order to get going when a red blur sped in from out of nowhere and threw a glimmering uppercut into Maverick's lower jaw. The Onix, knocked out at the moment of impact, fell with a thunderous thud and added a new crater to the damage. Grey's team's attention snapped over to the assailant. A bright red Scizor stood proudly and silently atop Maverick's head, one claw pointed in their direction.
"Strabi, Shock Wave!" Before the command was even finished, Scizor was behind Grey with its pincers pressing down on Strabi's neck. The Shinx cub struggled to pry her attacker off and desperately shot off sparks to force it to release her but it only made Scizor increase the pressure. Strabi cried out for help and Grey's headache exploded as his sensory powers took a leap in ability
Soul launched a Dragon Rage into Scizor's back, making it drop Strabi, and rushed it with a Fire Fang. The salamander clamped his flaming jaws around Scizor's leg and forced the Pincer Pokémon down on one knee. Wincing, Scizor batted Soul away and barraged him and his team with a Bug Buzz attack that only served to aggravate Grey's headache more.
So you don't like loud noises, do you? Scizor hissed menacingly. It forced itself onto its injured leg and increased the rate of its wing beats to amp up the power of its attack. Grey had to think fast. He searched his mind for any information about Scizor amongst the deafening cries of the Pokémon and managed to find something that would help.
"Scizor heat up by flapping their wings," he recalled. "They're part-Steels, too." His eyes fell upon his Charmeleon and a plan formed in a second. Dashing over and picking up his fallen Shinx before running back behind Soul, Grey shouted over the Bug Buzz,
"Soul! Heat up the area!"
Soul flared up his tail and started waving it around with the rhythm of a metronome. With each passing wave, the air temperature rose in leaps and only got hotter the angrier Soul got. His anger peaked and his tail flame responded by turning blue from the heat. The air was broiling now, forcing Scizor to stop beating its wings lest it overheat and pass out. Begrudgingly, Scizor turned tail and jetted away, moving up the hill and back to its master's side.
Grey followed the armored insect's path until his eyes set upon the man nestled between a Magmortar and his returning Scizor. The man was dressed in a crisp brown military uniform and seemed to notice Grey's burning gaze on him when he chose to respond with a cool glare of his own. Through the murky haze of his throbbing skull, Grey saw the device the man carried and his condescending smirk and somehow knew that this man was responsible for everything that had happened at the orchard. His headache subsided as the fury hidden under the pained moans of the defeated Pokémon made itself known. He sensed their rage bubbling up and meld with his own anger. How could anyone do this to innocent Pokémon when they themselves were a Trainer? Then he remembered the two grunts that assaulted him and James when they cleared Geo Pass and made a small connection.
"You bastard!" he roared, accompanied by Soul's hiss and Donte's trumpeting. "Who are you?" William heard the boy as clear as day but chose not to answer. Instead, he pointed at Grey and said something to his Magmortar who then launched a Flamethrower attack down at him. Soul jumped in the way of the attack and countered it with a Dragon Rage. The resulting blast generated more smoke that, once dissipated, revealed the man and his Pokémon to have left.
Grey solemnly got to his feet, fists and teeth clenched, fighting the urge to go punch something.
Grey? Soul asked carefully.
"Whoever these guys are, Soul," he snarled with the fury of the other Pokémon backing his words, "they went and crossed the line. And it looks like they got something against us."
Dear lord. This was one long chapter. Now we jump straight into the main plot so expect more activity from Team Regal and a whole messload of character development and Pokémon growth. A lot happened and, hey, I'm back now, guys. Consider this my letter of return and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Tell me if there's anything I can do to make the story better as a whole or if there's something you'd maybe like to see and I'll see what I can do. Comments and (constructive) criticism are always welcome so drop a review. Look forward to more and wish me luck in my senior year!
Sincerely,
Brave Soul RMS