There will be a slight change from the previous chapter. "Gex", the character that Serena battled with previously, will now be named "Marcus". It has more zest to it and I do have more in mind for Marcus than just a plain antagonist, as you're about to see in this chapter. Thank you for your time.
Apparently she couldn't go a single day without making a scene of herself in front of everyone. Serena didn't bother to go to class the next day, or the day after that. She was determined to lock herself in her room and stay there while she thought of what she had done.
In her mind, she knew she was right to keep Marcus from further injuring Shauna's Chespin. But afterwards, she went completely overkill on his Onix and more than likely injured it worse than Chespin.
Her emotion had run hot that day, that's what ate at her the most…
A ring of the doorbell had snapped her out of her thoughts. She poked her head out of the covers of her bed to listen. Another chime came.
Her mother had left for the day to visit an old friend, leaving her with the house. Meaning she had to answer it.
Still in her pajamas, Serena dragged herself downstairs and to the front door. When she cracked the door open she was met by the harsh glow of an afternoon sun. When her eyes adjusted, she recognized who it was.
"Marcus," Serena said almost too harshly.
For a handful of seconds he stood there, hands in his pockets and avoiding eye contact.
"I'm…" He finally began to speak. "I'm sorry."
Serena cocked a brow. "You're apologizing?"
Another silence ensued before he gulped and said. "Yes…" In a very defeated tone.
Genuine surprise came to her as she recognized that this wasn't the same Marcus she had battled earlier. By the sunken look in his eyes, she could see the experience had broken him more than she had ever imagined.
"I'll go now," Marcus turned and began to walk away with heavy steps.
Part of her wanted the boy to just keep walking, but an even greater part of her told her take action.
"Hold on," She called out, opening the door all the way and stepping out onto the patio.
Marcus half turned and had a confused look on his face. "I'm sorry if I woke you."
Serena froze and remembered she was still wearing her pink pajamas that were wrinkled from a night of constant turning in her sleep. Red founds its way to her cheeks.
"No, it's nothing." Serena said with a dismissive wave, trying to cool herself down. "I just need to know, really, is just why are you apologizing?"
Now turned fully back to her he responded, "The way I acted the other day. I attacked your Pokémon without considering your safety. And then there was that other girls Chespin I injured…" He turned to walk away again. "I just… needed some closure."
"I should apologize too, you know."
Marcus halted. "What?"
Serena began to tussle with her loose hair. "What I said to you, and what I did to your Onix, that wasn't okay. I tend to let my emotions get the better of me sometimes. So I think I should at least say… I'm sorry."
A third silence rolled by. Neither of them moved or said a word as they stood there like statues. Any tensions that had existed during their battle were no longer in existence.
Marcus finally put on a small but sincere smile. "Don't apologize, please. You taught me an important lessons, I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I made a complete fool of myself the other day so I deserved what I got."
Serena shook her head. "It was still wrong of me." A thought then crossed her mind. "Come inside,"
A few white hairs stood up on Marcus' head. "What?" He said again, stunned.
Serena toyed with her hair some more. "I owe you for what I did." She felt the red coming back for round two. "I think I owe you some training."
"You want to train me? After what happened?" He shook his head. "Even if you forgot about that, what would Calem and his friends think about it?"
"Consider it our way of burying the hatchet. You want to be strong, I get that. So I'll help you battle better with your Pokémon."
"I don't know…"
Serena then did something really gutsy. She walked over and grabbed Marcus by the wrist. "You're not the only one who wants some closure. C'mon."
Marcus didn't dare complain as he was dragged into the house. Serena's grasp felt like having iron shackles slapped onto him.
"Wait here," She said, leaving him in the family room and running upstairs.
Not exactly knowing what to do, Marcus thought it would be okay to look around. He saw plenty of family pictures lying about. Most of them were of just Serena and an older woman whom he assumed to be her mother.
One picture though stood out amongst the rest. It sat on the mantle of the fireplace and had a framed picture of a younger Serena and her Lucario. In the picture she was holding a huge trophy that was almost as big as she was. She looked happy, with a huge smile on her lips and an even happier mother by her side.
Marcus sighed. He wished he had that, someone by his side rather than a trophy in hand.
"That was the first Ruby Cup Tournament I had ever won."
Marcus turned in mild surprise. "Is it really?"
Serena nodded. "I was nine at the time."
"Incredible…"
Serena had changed into a black martial arts garb with no sleeves and a blue sash wrapped tightly around her waist. Her hair was neatly combed and braided behind her head and she had three Poké Balls attached to her sash.
"What are staring at? It's just my training attire." She said with slight embarrassment.
"I'm not starring." He said, jerking his head away to hide a slight redness. But then said, "It does look… practical on you."
"Is that the closest thing I'll ever get to a compliment from you?"
"Yes," Marcus said simply.
Serena rolled her eyes. "This way Mister Sunshine,"
They walked a path through some brush that led to the lakefront behind Serena's home. The land was flat, save for a few boulders and weathered tree logs. The water was like crystal and reflected the beating sun perfectly.
"Since we're both skipping classes, we should have the whole day to ourselves." Serena said, unclipping a Poké Ball.
Marcus gulped. "Are you going to use Lucario?"
Serena shook her head. "No, sadly despite what I think, Lucario still might hold something against you for how you acted."
Marcus looked at the ground. "I wouldn't blame him."
"Her." Serena corrected with a smile. "Lucario is a girl."
Marcus' eyes widened. "I've heard Lucarios are a rare species but female Lucarios are even rarer."
Serena shrugged. "I guess I was lucky she found me. But that's a story for later. Now," She whirled her Poké Ball high into the air. "Time to spar, Aggron!"
A titan of steel appeared in the air and impacted the ground with enough force to put Marcus off his feet.
"W–what is that thing?" He said with eyes and mouth wide open
Serena smiled again. "This is my Aggron. He may look all big and scary but on the inside he's the gentlest Pokémon you'll ever meet." She put a hand on Aggron's bulky steel armored arm. "Isn't that right?"
Aggron picked up Serena and hugged her like a little kid would hug a teddy bear. Serena looked like her head was about to pop off though.
"Okay, okay, gentle Aggron! I said gentle!" Serena said as she struggled free of the crushing grasp. Aggron didn't know any better, it was just so big. It was smaller than an Onix and yet the impact suggested it was even heavier than one.
After catching her breath, Serena turned to Marcus. "Okay, send out a Pokémon."
Marcus nodded. "Right, if it's going to be Aggron then…" He reached for a Poké Ball.
"Wait," Serena interrupted. "Before you choose, consider what you see before you. Aggron's massive body houses a lot of power, and you should assume there's more power in him than Onix. What big Pokémon have in strength, though, they lack in speed." She folded her arms as a mentor would when addressing a pupil. "If I were you, I'd forgo any thought of trying to overpower your opponent. There are other ways of winning."
How strange, Marcus lived his whole life trying to conquer his enemies through brute force alone. He couldn't imagine winning in any other way.
But still, he believed her words had validity to them. She was a Champion after all.
"In that case," Marcus put back Onix's Poké Ball and took out his one other. "Let's go Noibat!"
A tiny bat like dragon-type appeared. It was a jittery Pokémon at that as it flew around and around Marcus excitedly.
"Hey Noibat, cut it out!" Marcus tried to grab hold of it but it flew out of his grasp every time. "Noibat!" Marcus jumped to catch it but it flew high and out of his reach. Marcus ended up falling onto the grass with a thump.
He sighed and sat up. "This is why I don't like using Noibat for battles. It hardly listens to me."
"Hmm," Serena put a finger to her chin as she studied the little Pokémon doing aerial flips high above. "Right then, Aggron."
Aggron nodded and picked up Serena with one arm. It then, astonishingly, threw Serena at Noibat a few dozen feet in the air. The bat dragon-type never saw her coming until she was right on top of him. She wrapped both arms around the startled Pokémon and came falling back to the ground.
"Are you crazy!?" Marcus ran to try to catch her and Noibat but a charging Aggron blew right past him and caught the both of them.
Serena laughed wildly as her Aggron cradled her as she held onto Noibat. "I'm not crazy. I just have a lot of trust in my Pokémon." She ordered Aggron to let her down and she walked over to a still baffled Marcus. "I knew Aggron would catch me without asking. Just like how I knew Lucario was going to stop your Onix if I protected Shauna's Chespin." She said as she scratched Noibat's fluffy head. It purred happily at this.
Marcus let out a long sigh. "I can't believe you have that kind of faith in your Pokémon. You could've gotten yourself seriously hurt." He said, trying to not make it sound like he was scolding her.
"But I wasn't. All thanks to Aggron here." The burly Pokémon behind her made a sound of approval. "And Noibat here trust you a lot too. I can tell." Serena opened her arms and Noibat swooped out and perched itself on top of Marcus' head. The trainer fought off the urge to get it off him.
Noibat smiled happily as it made a nest out of Marcus' hair. "This one never listens to me. How can you think it trusts me?" He asked.
Serena shrugged. "I can guess you could say I can sense these sorts of things about people and Pokémon. Now then," She traveled backwards to put some distance between them. "We can start battling. Are you ready Aggron?"
The steel titan of a Pokémon stomped a foot into the dirt and roared, shaking everything within the vicinity.
"Just wait a second!" Marcus said after nearly falling over. "I already said Noibat never listens to me."
Serena gave him a mischievous smile. "That's because not all Pokémon respond to the same commands. Noibat likes to play, so make this sound like a game to it instead of a battle."
"You really are crazy…" Noibat then flew off his head and went out to face Aggron.
Serena thrust a fist into the air with enthusiasm and then pointed it at Noibat. "Okay! Aggron, use Flash Cannon!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Marcus exclaimed but it was too late. Aggron charged up a ball of compressed light and was about to fire it. "Oh fine then! Noibat, let's play a game!" The Pokémon's large ears instantly perked with interest. "We'll play the dodge game. Don't let any of those attacks hit you and you win!" Noibat chirped in acknowledgement.
"Fire!" Serna yelled out and Aggron released a torrent of light at Noibat. The nimble Pokémon took off faster than Marcus ever expected it to move and avoided the Flash Cannon.
"Nice job Noibat." Marcus said.
The other trainer nodded in approval. "Good dodge," She put on another smirk. "Let's see you dodge it again. Aggron, use Flash Cannon at rapid speed!"
Aggron charged up another Flash Cannon but this time only putting a fraction of its power into it. It then fired it much faster than both Marcus and Noibat were expecting. Noibat narrowly dodged it but had to dodge again as Aggron fired off another mini Flash Cannon, and then another and another.
Some fifty shots of Flash Cannon were fired in a minute's worth of time. Noibat managed to dodge all of them but its wings were beating slower as the tuckered out Pokémon panted heavily.
"I'm impressed," Serena said. "I was honestly expecting at least one of Aggron's shots to hit. Noibat most certainly has the strength needed for the next step. The only thing holding it back is your connection with it."
"What is exactly the next step?" Marcus questioned.
Serena smiled. "Evolution of course,"
"You mean Noibat can evolve? Are you serious?"
She nodded. "Yes, but it won't do so until your build a stronger connection with it."
Marcus looked at Noibat in astonishment and wondered. How did it carry on? It went far beyond his expectations already and yet it still fought on with such determination. Had he been blind to his Pokémon loyalty this whole time?
Marcus spoke. "A strong connection, huh?" He clenched his fist. "Maybe our connection is already strong and we're on the brink of something even greater. What do you think Noibat?"
The dragon-type chirped in agreement, a determined look set into both trainer and Pokémon's eyes.
"It's our turn to play Noibat! Let's hit the target with Razor Wind!"
Noibat responded immediately, sending gusts of compressed wind at Aggron. Aggron simply stood there a let the Razor Wind hit it over and over again. It didn't flinch even once.
"That's the way," Serena said. "Hit us with everything you have."
"In that case," He made a sweeping motion with his arm. "Noibat, use Air Slash with everything you got!"
Noibat unleashed everything it had left in a series of concentrated air blades that fell down upon Aggron like an array of swords. Like before, Aggron took the damage head on.
"Keep it up!" Marcus exclaimed and Noibat kept the pressure on.
From this distance, Serena could clearly see a bond being reformed and sharpened. Noibat's and Marcus' auras were more in sync now, giving them both stronger wills in battle. If Aggron wasn't as strong as it was, they could've won the battle by now.
But, Aggron has yet to even tap into its full might.
"You're doing a great job Marcus." Serena said. "So don't take this the wrong way. Aggron, use Iron Head!"
While still under Noibat's assault, Aggron's armored skull began to glow brightly.
"Back to the dodge game Noibat! Fly high into the air!" Marcus called out and Noibat obeyed.
Serena grinned. "Nice try. Aggron, follow it!"
Aggron crouched down as far as it could on its bulky legs and extended its tail outwards. It then slammed its tail into the ground just as it pushed off its legs. Aggron actually soared upwards, like a giant steel missile.
Noibat was caught on the Iron Head and took its full damage. Aggron came down first with a humongous bang. Noibat was suddenly caught by Marcus who dived out to catch it in his arms.
"I got you," Marcus said as he slid across the dirt. His white tunic and pants may have been dirtied but he cared more about his Pokémon than those. "You were amazing Noibat." He said, cradling the exhausted Pokémon. "Next we'll win the game for sure." He said with an earnest smile.
"Are you starting to see now how important a bond is with your Pokémon?" Serena asked, offering a hand to help the other up.
Marcus nodded. "I am. It's incredible that I didn't notice this before." He face suddenly went grim. "I guess my quest to being the strongest trainer had blinded me in a way."
"Possibly, yes." She agreed. "But strength isn't all there is to be the strongest. Just remember that."
"If only the rest of my family could understand that." Marcus said with a gloom look. "In my family, a fully evolved dragon-type Pokémon is considered a status symbol. That's why I caught Noibat as my first Pokémon, so that I could make it evolve and finally show everyone that I wasn't the weak runt of the family."
Serena sensed a whole swirl of emotions within Marcus. There was far more to him then she could have ever thought during their first battle. She put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I was wrong the other day. You are strong Marcus, remember that too and believe in your Pokémon."
He nodded. "I will, with all my heart."
The sun was setting by the time Marcus had stepped out the door. He couldn't get over how incredibly strong both Lucario and Aggron were. Not to mention she still had one other Pokémon he hasn't seen yet. If being close to her Pokémon is a part of the reason Serena was so strong, then he'll do the same. Onix and Noibat weren't tools to him anymore, they were his friends. This was something he should've recognized a long time ago.
Just as he opened the gate to Serena's front yard and walked into the street he immediately stopped when he heard someone call out, "Marcus!"
He spun on his heel to see Calem charge down the street at him with Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor right behind him. They all came to a stop right next to him.
"Just what are you doing here?" Calem asked interrogatively. "Were you just battling Serena?"
Marcus threw him a look. "Yes, I was."
Calem clenched his fist. "Even after the other day you still wanted more trouble."
Shauna perked up. "By the looks of it, Serena gave him a thrashing!" She said as she took note of his dirt stained clothes.
Marcus sighed and looked away. "If you're so interested why don't you go ask her yourselves?" He turned and took a few steps down the street before remembering something. "Oh yeah," He looked back. "I apologize for your Chespin. I was out of line."
Shauna was taken by surprise. "Huh? You're apologizing?"
"Is that wrong of me to do?" Marcus retorted, thinking of how Serena had a similar reaction. Was he perceived this negatively by everyone? He'd have to work on that also.
"Um, no, I guess." Shauna said.
Marcus didn't say another word and left the group.
Tierno spoke up. "What was that all about?"
Calem watched Marcus walk down the street and he couldn't help but think there was something different about him than before. "I'm not sure but let's find out."
Serena was in the middle of undressing out of her martial arts garb when the door rang again. With a sigh she threw her clothes back on, wondering if Marcus had forgotten something.
She swung the door open and was immediately greeted by a pulverizing hug from Shauna. "Serena! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" She, Calem, Tierno and Trevor were all here.
Serena struggled to breathe as it was like being hugged by Aggron all again. "Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"
Shauna finally let go and Calem explained. "We just saw Marcus leaving here. So naturally we were concerned."
"He just came over to apologize, that's all. And then, well, one thing led to another and we ended up having a battle."
"That Marcus," Calem began. "He just doesn't know when to give up."
"I wasn't like that at all." Serena said. "I wanted to make him see there was more to training Pokémon then brute strength." Folding her arms across her chest, she asked, "By the way, why are all of you here?"
Calem began. "Because we–"
"Because we were missing you!" Shauna blurted out. "And we wanted to know why you weren't coming to school."
"Oh," Serena felt embarrassed. "I just had thought I could use some time off."
"You're missing all the work." Trevor said. "Mr. Furo did just say the exams were coming up."
"Not to mention you're the school's hero now." Tierno commented. "Everybody thinks you're crazy strong and they all wanna battle you now."
"Oh great," Serena said with a slump. "That's exactly what I wanted to avoid."
"Don't worry about it. They'll have to get through us first if they ever want to challenge you." Calem said.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked.
The four friends smiled to each other. "We made it known to everyone that you're our friend." Tierno said.
"And that anyone who challenged you would have to challenge the rest of us first." Trevor said.
This took Serena aback. "Why would you put yourselves in the same boat as me? Don't you know what you're getting into?"
"We're all friends silly." Shauna proclaimed. "So of course we got your back."
"You guys…" Serena sensed that they were sincere and meant every word. That brought a smile to her face. "You guys are the best!"
"You better believe it." Shauna said with a thumbs-up gesture.
Suddenly one of the Poké Balls on Serena's sash burst open and Lucario came out. She put her pawed hands on her hips and howled lightly.
Serena laughed. "Lucario says she will watch all of our backs too."
"She?" Calem said surprised. "Lucario is a female?"
Serena laughed again. "You know, Marcus had the same reaction."…
Later that night…
"Here Noibat, eat up." Marcus set a bowl of Oran berries, Noibat's favorite, before it.
The little dragon wasted no time in devouring the dish. Once it was done it flew over to Marcus as he sat on the large velvet red coach next to a large burning fireplace in the living room of his empty mansion. It was empty because the rest of his family resided in a different home on the other side of Kalos region. He had been sent to live here after being expelled from the last prestigious academy his father had thrust him into. It was a sort of exile.
The funny thing was he got thrown out of all those academies on purpose. He wanted to show the rest of his condescending family that he didn't want to be like the rest of them, whose lives centered on fortune and power. For a while, all he wanted was to be stronger than them to prove he could decide his own destiny. But now…
He looked down at Noibat and patted its head. "None of that matters anymore." He said looking into its eyes. "We can do anything as long as we're together,"
Noibat squeaked happily and licked Marcus' face.
"Geez, you smell like berries now." Marcus said. "I think we'll play another game before turning in for the night."
Noibat flew up in down in excitement.
And then, something began to happen. Noibat's body began to glow wondrously with a light brighter than the burning sun.
Marcus couldn't believe it. "This is…"
Talk about doing a one-eighty. I just couldn't leave Marcus as a generic bully stereotype. Making a part of the story makes things a bit more interesting in my opinion. What do you think? Is the new Marcus a good or bad addition to the story?
I'm still on the fence on whether I should carry on with this story or not. If I do commit, I would be putting out at least two chapters a week on a fixed schedule. So if you really want to see this story updated, let me know!
Till next time fellow trainers,
Xander867