Alexis struggled through the crowd, craning her neck trying to find Amar. He had said that he was going to get ice cream when they were on the way in but she hadn't been able to find him since. She was startled when she felt someone tap her shoulder and spun around to find Amar standing there grinning apologetically, holding two ice cream cones.
"Sorry about the wait. I got bumped and dropped them on the way in so I went to go get more, but by the time I got back the fight had already started so I got distracted."
"Well, you did bring the ice cream like you promised, so I guess I can forgive you. Did you see what you were hoping to?"
Amar's eyes lit up as he remembered the fight. "It's everything I was hoping for. These gyms are awesome. I wonder if I could build my own?" Amar's voice trailed off as he imagined all of the different things he would want to do with his gym.
Alexis just laughed and took a huge bite out of her ice cream as they walked out into the city.
"We're here! Pewter City, home of your first gym and my first pokémon!" Jenna was jumping around almost as much as Eevee. Clarissa smiled, as always amused by Jenna's almost childish enthusiasm. "Anything you wanna do Ryss?"
"No, not in particular." Clarissa looked back to see Mike training with Vulcan and Enlil. Vulcan had quickly shown himself too competitive and aggressive to train with Poseidon and Eevee was not ready to fight yet, so Enlil was the only who could battle with him. "And since when did you start calling me Ryss?"
"I dunno, am I not supposed to?"
Clarissa suddenly felt bad for the way she was talking to Jenna. It wasn't like Jenna knew that Mike was the only one who called her Ryss. "No, no. It's fine. It's just that, well, Mike's the only one who ever called me Ryss before."
"Really? I had no idea you two were-"
"We're not!" At Jenna's surprised look Clarissa blushed. "I mean…that is…"
Jenna just smiled and glanced over at Mike to see if he was paying any attention, but he was too busy coordinating the movements of Vulcan and Enlil. "If you're that wishy-washy about it then he's gonna get the wrong idea." She said in a sing-song. "He'll be chasing you before you know it."
"No he won't. Will he? You don't think he would do you?"
"Do you want him to?"
"Yes." Clarissa blushed again for answering so fast and tried to cover herself. "Maybe. I think so?"
Jenna was laughing at Clarissa's predicament while still trying to be supportive and helpful. Clarissa didn't think she was doing a very good job. "That's up to you. But you better decide soon." Jenna looked over at Mike again and watched as he berated Vulcan for ignoring his orders.
"I can see the whole battlefield. Your vision is blocked. If I hadn't stepped in you would have been blasted." Mike was holding Enlil's tail and Jenna could already see a bruise developing on his arm from when he had blocked it. "I'm not trying to say that you can only act on my command, you know what your body needs to do better than anyone, but if I do give a command then you need to follow it because it means I'm seeing something you don't." Vulcan stared sullenly for a moment before giving a nod and a bark. "Good." Mike said smiling. "We'll go for another round then."
"He's competent, strong, loves pokémon, and has a great sense of humor. And I'm not as shy as you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like Ryss, I like him too." Jenna ignored anything Clarissa may have tried to say next and turned to Mike. "I'm heading in now Mike. I'll be with my aunt at the station when you finish training."
"Alright." He acknowledged over his shoulder. Jenna pouted a little, but knew that his attention needed to be focused on the two fire pokémon. The two broke off their latest attack and Mike turned around quickly before Jenna was gone. "Jenna!" she turned around, surprise and delight written on her face. "Don't go running into any more wild pokémon. Not unless you want me to become some sort of knight in shining armor anyway." Jenna stuck her tongue out at Mike causing him to laugh, and while he didn't see it, she didn't fail to see the sickly look on Clarissa's face.
After Jenna was gone Clarissa walked closer to where Mike was, watching the fight between Vulcan and Enlil progressively grow more violent. "Enlil, rear!" Enlil twisted enough to use his tail more effectively in an attempt to catch Vulcan. Vulcan, however, had reacted upon hearing Mike's command and leapt back while launching a fierce blast of fire. Enlil ducked under the flames and lunged with his claws extended, intending on taking out Vulcan's legs. "Vulcan, low!" Vulcan cut off his attack and leapt into the air, letting his front drop so he was staring at a surprised Enlil. Vulcan opened his jaws, fangs glowing from the fire growing within his throat. "Enough!" Vulcan chocked on the fire he was suddenly swallowing and lost all control of his movement. Enlil reacted quickly and caught the hound before he landed badly. Vulcan gave an appreciative bark and then stared at Mike questioningly. "That was very good. Both of you. Enlil, you were done for once Vulcan was above you like that." As Vulcan started to gloat Mike tapped him on the nose. "You were screwed too Vulcan, or should I say skewered. Enlil was ready to rip you open with his claws." Vulcan nodded his understanding. He was learning quickly that having someone watch the battle and give commands was far more effective than working on his own strength and instinct alone.
"Wait a minute, where's Eevee?"
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him for a while." Mike turned around, scanning the woods for signs of the little one. "Where is he? Eevee!"
Vulcan barked and ran a little into the woods before turning around and barking again. "That's right! Your sense of smell and hearing are far superior to ours. Track him Vulcan!"
"Michael!" Clarissa couldn't say anymore as Vulcan and Mike had already disappeared into the woods. Enlil sat down and leaned his back against a tree. Clarissa stopped knowing that she couldn't catch up to Mike, instead she reached for Kitsune's ball. The pokéball grew warm and then Kitsune was in her arms, her one golden tail standing out in the middle of the four normal red ones. Kitsune mewed and licked Clarissa's cheek. "Oh Kitsune." Enlil closed the eye that he had been watching with and drifted to sleep. Morpheus was going to be very interested in this.
Deep into the woods and completely unaware that Clarissa wasn't following him, Mike was running as fast as he could to keep up with Vulcan. As they neared an extremely large tree Mike could hear the trilling of Eevee as well as a lighter but fuller tone that made Mike think of the sound of the wind playing through the leaves of the trees. When he could see the base of the trunk he froze, standing in front of Eevee was a leafeon.
The leafeon turned her head as Mike stopped and nodded her approval of his approach. Mike stepped slowly and carefully, doing his best to only step on the dirt and not any of the plants. Vulcan stayed where he was, sensing that this was not a place for him to move freely being a creature of fire. When Mike was close the leafeon rose up and walked over to meet him, Eevee playing around her legs. She stopped in front of him and once again sat down. A vine from the great tree brought down some fruit and held it before Mike. He noticed that it broke into two pieces and so split it, offering half to the leafeon. She smiled and accepted the fruit straight from his hand.
"You're the one who's been helping us aren't you?" At her nod he continued. "Is it because of Eevee?" She nodded again. "Is he yours?" The leafeon shook her head and stood up, pressing her head against his leg. "What? You want to come with me?" She pressed her head against his leg again. "What about the forest? Are you sure you want to leave?" The leafeon looked up at him with deep brown eyes. "Very well. Welcome to the team…Demeter." Demeter waited patiently for the pokéball that Mike pulled out and went in without a fuss. Mike held the ball, still not really believing what had just happened. "Right then, time to get back. Vulcan, lead the way and set the pace a little slower, I can't run that fast for so long."
When he finally returned to where Clarissa was waiting it was almost noon. Kitsune had returned to her pokéball when she heard Vulcan approaching.
"There you are! What happened? Did you find him?" Eevee ran out of the woods just as she finished speaking and ran up to Clarissa and jumped into her arms. "Jeez, don't worry me like that." Clarissa's relieved smile nearly broke Mike's heart. He swore to himself to never leave her alone again. That's when he noticed her eyes were swollen.
"Clarissa, have you been crying?"
"What?" Clarissa was not only surprised by the sudden question, but also by his unusually serious tone and use of her full name. "Wh-Why do you ask?"
"You're eyes are all red and puffy."
"That's a horrible thing to say to a girl." Clarissa had turned away so Mike couldn't see that she was about to cry again, but he felt it.
"Demeter, help me out." Demeter stepped lightly over to Clarissa and rubbed her head against her leg.
"Who-?" Clarissa's question stopped when she saw Demeter. "She's beautiful." Demeter crooned softly, appreciating the compliment. "Where did you find her? Leafeon are rare."
"So Demeter really is a leafeon. I thought so since she got along so well with Eevee." Mike started to walk towards Pewter before he realized the Clarissa wasn't following. "It's about time to get going." Clarissa didn't seem to hear him. "Come on Ryss, I'm not gonna leave you alone again."
Clarissa looked up from staring at Demeter and smiled. "Does that mean you'll wait for me from now on?"
Mike blushed and turned his head so she wouldn't see. "Well, I might not always be there, but I'll make sure that you're never by yourself."
Clarissa laughed as she stood up, glad to see that Jenna had been right. "I suppose that's good enough for now. I think it's about time we caught up to Jenna anyway."
Mike rolled his eyes. "Really? What a great idea! Wish I had thought of that. Oh wait, I did." Mike laughed as Clarissa's eyes narrowed before she gave up and started laughing with him. "I wouldn't be able to say that so easily if you didn't get caught up in your thoughts so much you know."
"Alright, alright, I get it. Let's just go." They walked down into the city laughing, not realizing that Eevee was riding on Enlil's shoulder looking very interested in what he was saying.
0000000000000000
The three of them were looking for a place to eat while they waited for the time Brock had said the battle would be. Mike and Clarissa were being entertained by Jenna as she was ecstatic over finally having her own pokémon.
"She's just so pretty! Her fur seems to always be glowing, and the way it glistens! Oh I just can't get enough!"
"Bet ya Vulcan's stronger."
"Yeah, well, Vulcan's a beast who was born for battle. Taigra's senses are far more acute than Vulcan's"
"What? You can use acute in a normal sentence?"
"Shut up, Ryss. I'm hyper, not stupid."
"I'm sorry I didn't mean it that way."
"Sure."
"It wouldn't hurt you to believe people, you know."
Mike looked back and forth between the two, not knowing what to do. He didn't know why, but he felt that getting involved would be dangerous. Eevee trilled his agreement. Mike started looking around at the buildings they were passing, trying to find a place to eat. He looked ahead to the next corner and saw a nice little café.
"Hey."
What?" Mike winced at the way they both turned on him.
"How about that place."
Jenna looked ahead to where he was pointing and saw the café. "Forget it. That place is the most famous in the whole city. I've always wanted to eat there, but it's always just so busy."
"Well, maybe you just always showed up at a bad time. There's an empty table."
"What! No way! Let's go, Let's go." Mike laughed as he let Jenna pull him along, checking to make sure that Clarissa was still with them which earned him a smile. "Three menus please!" The waiter looked up at the group and then smiled in amusement, seeing the enthusiastic Jenna and Mike and Clarissa panting from the run.
"Here you go."
"Yahoo! I finally get to eat the granite cake!" Jenna practically started running again to get to the table. She got there at the same time as another girl whose beauty nearly took away Mike's breath. Her long black hair and green eyes had a calmness and grace to them that was captivating. Mike shook his head to clear himself of the shock and went over to the table. "Are, are you using this table?" Jenna was trying very hard not to be disappointed, and she was doing well enough that only Mike was able to tell.
"Well, I was going to, but you're in a group and I have no idea when my friend is going to join me."
"It's too crowded to try and find another table, so why don't we share this one." Clarissa, as always, kept a level head when she needed too.
"That's a rather good idea, thank you."
"I'm Jenna." Now that her expectations were assured, Jenna was eager to make a new friend.
"Alexis." She looked questioningly at Mike and Clarissa.
"I'm Mike." Eevee poked his head over Mike's shoulder and trilled. "And this is Eevee." He said laughing.
"I'm Clarissa. Where have you seen eevee before?" This got Mike's attention as he hadn't even noticed Alexis' reaction to Eevee. He looked over and saw that Jenna was also intent on the answer, but not surprised like he was.
"The friend I mentioned before. He has two of them."
"What? Two eevee? But I thought they were extremely rare." Gary had said so himself so Mike was sure that it was the truth.
"They are." She said. "At least, that's what he said too. He left them with me, actually. Jasper, Jace, come on out please." When she called their names two eevee poked their heads out of her jacket. When they saw Eevee they jumped out and onto to the table where Eevee jumped down to meet them. "It seems like they like each other."
"So what is it that your friend is doing?" Clarissa passed her menu to Alexis, opting to share one with Mike instead, and as she was the one who was focusing on the menu she didn't catch the momentary freeze of Alexis' movements.
"He- has some business with one of the corporations."
"Oh," Jenna was unusually calm and focused. "He wouldn't happen to have anything to do with EARTH would he?"
"That's the company whose building blew up in Viridian right?" Clarissa rubbed her ankle remembering the explosion.
"Yes, but why do you think he has business with EARTH Jenna?" Mike was confused as to why it mattered.
Jenna blinked and then laughed, embarrassed. "Well, I really just wanted to show off a bit." Mike joined the others in laughing, but made a mental note that Jenna was not just the fun loving girl she appeared to be.
"He told me to just go ahead and wait here for him, that his business might take awhile and that it would be boring."
"Well, we've got some time so we'll keep you company for the time being."
"You just want to stare at her though."
"Wh-What are you talking about Jenna?"
They all laughed as the eevee played and spent about an hour enjoying each other's company. They laughed even harder when Jenna got excited about finally getting her granite cake.
"Hey Mike, it's already three."
"What? Crap! Look after Eevee."
"Hey, Mike-! Jeez, running off like that already." Clarissa smiled as she picked up Eevee. "Well, shall we get going Jenna? It was a pleasure Alexis."
"What was he in such a hurry for?"
"He's gonna take on Brock." Jenna was pushing her chair in as she got ready to go.
"Really? Mind if I come along? Amar was really interested in yesterday's match."
"Amar?"
"Did I not say that was his name?"
"No. I find it a little odd that you've just been referring to him as 'my friend' for over an hour."
"Leave her alone Jenna. As long as it's not something that will hhurt usshurt us then we shouldn't bother her any further."
Jenna shrugged and grabbed her bag, putting it on her shoulders. "Well, whatever. If you want to watch Mike kick some major butt than you can come along too." Jenna giggled as she tried not to run to the door. "Oh this is gonna be so much fun!"
"Jenna! Slow down! Jeez, everybody's running around so energetically."
"But that's what makes it so much fun to be with them, no?"
Clarissa sighed as she walked next to Alexis. "True, but it's difficult to keep up with all that energy." She shared a laugh with Alexis as they caught up to the impatient Jenna.
0000000000000000
"Big." Mike was staring at the statue of onyx just inside the entrance to the challenger's hall. "Wonder if it's there to impress people."
"That was a life size statue of my strongest pokémon and closest friend. Do you understand what that means young man?"
Mike grinned as the battlefield lit up. "It means this is gonna be fun."
"Oh! The kid's got spunk."
"Reminds you of yesterday's right?"
"Don't go easy on this one Brock! He's got the same amount of confidence as the last one."
Mike cast a glance at the audience and then put them out of his mind. "So, how does this work?"
"I'll take that to mean this is your first gym battle."
"Yeah."
"Then it will be a three on three with you being allowed to make any substitutions you wish."
"You may come to regret allowing me to do that."
"That's quite the confidence you got there kid!"
"Stop talkin' and show us what you got!"
Brock smiled at the crowds enthusiasm but then raised a hand to quiet them. "Just so you know, I am testing your worthiness to enter the league, not fighting you for real."
"All right, let's do this then."
"This will be a three on three battle! Only the challenger may make substitutions. Begin!"
"Let's see how synchronized you are with your pokémon. Sudowoodo!"
"Vulcan!"
Vulcan landed atop a large boulder as Sudowoodo stood before Brock's platform.
"What's with these kids and fire types?"
"Go for it kid!"
"Mike! Win it!"
Mike looked and waved as he saw Jenna waving at him. His smile broadened when he saw Clarissa sitting next to her holding Eevee. He was surprised to see Alexis with them, but decided that it would just make it that much more exciting.
"Where are you looking distracted? Rock throw!"
Mike turned to the field slowly, smiling as he saw Vulcan dropping down behind the boulder he had been standing on.
"Circle right." Mike's commands were calm as he was not in any way concerned, he had already seen the next set of moves for this battle. Vulcan raced around the right side of the boulder and closed on Sudowoodo. "Flamethrower, return." As the fire erupted from Vulcan's mouth he was enveloped in a bright light. "Poseidon, Water Gun, return." Poseidon popped out of his pokéball, unleashed a jet of water from the left side, and was then also enveloped in the light. "Demeter, Vine Whip, hold it." Demeter landed gracefully and then channeled her energy into the ground causing vines to grow which she then controlled to wrap around Sudowoodo even before Vulcan's or Poseidon's attacks reached it. The entire arena was silent as Sudowood was assaulted from both sides by opposing elements, held in place by Demeter's vines.
"Enough! This battle is over!"
Demeter leapt atop a boulder and then sprang from there to reach Mike's side where she sat next to him. He reached down with one of his hands and patted her head. "Well done Demeter, you guys too." The balls glowed slightly as the pokémon inside them acknowledged his praise.
The crowd remained silent as Brock recalled his battered pokémon with a look of concern. "Is this what you meant by that I would regret allowing you to make substitutions as you saw fit? Truthfully, with that one battle you passed all of the tests, however, you don't seem to be concerned for the safety of your opponent."
"Your Sudowoodo was far too healthy for that to have even been close to lethal."
Brock's expression darkened from the frivolity of Mike's remark. "Very well. Let me show what it means to make a gym leader serious. Onyx!"
The ground started shaking and dust fell from the rafters overhead. The ground split open as the large boulders scattered throughout the battlefield receded into the ground only to come back up, revealed as a part of Onyx's body.
Mike stared in surprise at the massive snake before him. "I thought you said that statue was life size?"
"It was when it was made, but that was almost two years ago."
"Huh. Demeter, Overgrow!" Demeter leapt to the battlefield and started glowing with a verdant green light as plants began to sprout all over.
"Nice try, but this place is too dry."
"Return. Vulcan, Fire Spin. Return. Poseidan, Water Gun. Return. Demeter, Overgrow." Vulcan launched a firestorm that was impressive only to anyone who hadn't seen Hinote's. The plants were incinerated and the ash mixed in with the churning earth creating decent soil. Poseidon attacked Onyx directly, the spray watering the whole field, though it didn't seem to bother Onyx. Demeter came back out and began glowing again, but Brock and Onyx had been waiting for that. Almost immediately after she came out, Onyx's slam attack caught her from the side.
"Don't think you'll be able to do it twice, boy."
Demeter struggled to her feet as the colossal onyx turned its head to look at her. Getting a bad feeling, Mike pulled out Demeter's pokéball. Mike blinked as the light emitted from the ball dissipated as it encountered the dust in the air.
"Arena Trap." At Mike's look of confusion Brock continued. "The elements in this dust disrupt the energy from the pokéball. You can no longer make substitutions. Now, show me how you fight when you can't overwhelm your opponent in a three on one battle."
All of Mike's enthusiasm evaporated as he realized that he was now in a fight much like when he encountered the Mightyena pack. "Very well. Demeter, Vine Whip." Onyx's body began to writhe making it impossible to hit, but he wasn't Demeter's target. The roof erupted upward as the vines slammed into it opening the arena to the sky and sun. "How about learning about chlorophyll? Vine Whip!" The vines cracked against Onyx's skin before it even had a chance to register the attack command. "I'm sure you know this, but a leafeon's speed doubles in the sunlight. Demeter's too fast for you now."
"Don't get so confident. How do you think I've held my position as a gym leader for so long. Onyx!" Onyx rose up until its body blocked the whole Demeter had made, reducing the sunlight. "Bind." Onyx's tail whipped out and ensnared Demeter, trapping her within his coils.
"Demeter!" Mike grimaced and raised his hand.
"Enough! This battle is over!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as Mike went out to pick up Demeter as the pokéballs energy was still being blocked. "I'm glad to see that you at least care about the limits of your own pokémon, but you have to have concern for the opponent as well."
"At your level, if you can't tell when your pokémon needs to be recalled then you don't deserve to be a trainer." The crowd went silent again at the harsh tone and words coming from Mike. "Poseidon, crush him." Laughter filled the stadium as Poseidon came back out. In his previous appearances he had only been on the field long enough to fire off a single attack, so none of the crowd was sure of what species he was. Poseidon looked up to Mike's platform and saw the collapsed form of Demeter causing his normally cheerful countenance to turn as violent as Mike's. "Poseidon, the face."
Onyx lunged toward Poseidon, but Poseidon didn't move. He waited until Onyx was near and then fired off a volume of water far greater than any he had shot before. Onyx roared as his head was driven back by the fierce stream of water. Poseidon's body began to grow and change as he continued to drive off any and all attacks by Onyx with powerful blasts of water. Mike's energy began to build as Poseidon continued to fight, reawakening the enthusiasm that had died when Brock had unleashed Onyx on Demeter. Brock noticed this and for the first time since the battle had started he smiled approvingly. Onyx knocked Poseidon through the air and then slammed him into the ground. Mike once again raised his hand, signaling his defeat.
"What's wrong? That's not his limit is it?"
Mike grinned as Poseidon jumped up to be at Mike's side. "Not even close, but he can't beat Onyx yet, so there's no need to make him go through the pain."
"Your only other pokémon is a growlithe. How do you intend to win with a fire pokémon when I still have another rock type I haven't used yet?"
Demeter sat up and Poseidon crossed his arms as he stood at Mike's side. "Cause he can. No matter how strong Onyx is, he's taken a lot of damage from the combined attacks of Demeter and Poseidon. Let's go, Vulcan."
Vulcan's fangs lit up as he leapt out of his pokéball. He bit down on Onyx's tail, and continued to bite through it as the rock melted. Vulcan jumped back as Onyx thrashed about in pain. "I suggest you forfeit young man. Onyx does not normally experience pain and does not like it when he does." As he spoke, a strange light began to gather within Onyx's mouth. "Onyx! Wait!"
Mike hesitated for only a moment, cursing the Arena Trap particles that were still floating around. "Overheat!" Vulcan's body burst into flame and a blast of fire stronger and brighter than any Mike had seen before rushed out from him to meet the pulse of energy that was launched from Onyx. The two attacks merged and melted into each other before they exploded. The concussion and flash of light deadened everyone's senses, even through the protective barrier that protected the trainers and the fans. When the smoke cleared and the streams of energy died down, Onyx was seething with fury and Vulcan was collapsed on the ground.
"That's enough!" The platform lowered and Mike leapt out, running over to Vulcan. "Gym Leader, what is your verdict?" The crowed went silent as they all looked in anticipation to Brock. After a few minutes of silence the crowd started fidgeting.
"Do you think he passed?"
"No way, he didn't even beat two pokémon."
"But he forced Brock to use Onyx and then forced Onyx to get serious."
"But he also really pissed Brock off."
"Shh. Brock's ready to make his judgment!"
Brock stared down at Mike as his platform lowered. "You show a complete disregard for the wellbeing of your opponents, you are vicious and ruthless in your attacks," Brock paused as he allowed his comment to sink in. "However, your pokémon have complete faith in you and follow your commands without question. You've also shown that you have great battle senses and care greatly for your pokémon. While I wish that you were more concerned for your opponents, I can't deny that you are ready to enter the Gym Battle Challenge. Not to mention that you were able to make rational judgments to keep your pokémon safe even though they were facing a far superior opponent. As such, I hereby award Mike, with his pokémon Vulcan the growlithe, Poseidon the wartortle, and Demeter the leafeon with the Stonebadge."
The crowd erupted in cheers once again. "There's another new challenger!"
"Two newbies in as many days that impressed Brock! The next few years are going to be amazing!"
"Mike! Way to go! Who cares that you lost! You won! I mean, got approved! I mean…oh who cares. Good job!"
Mike laughed at Jenna's typical enthusiasm, but stopped when Brock put a hand on his shoulder. "That was really risky, using Overheat like that."
"I had no choice, if I hadn't then Onyx would've killed Vulcan. Just so you know, that was the first time I've ever used Overheat."
"Hmm. I didn't expect Onyx to use Hyper Beam so readily. It's unusual for him to use that move without my command." Brock stopped again as he looked at Mike. "Just a word of warning, I don't know what your first battle experiences were like, but most people will consider you ruthless rather than calculating. Seeing your pokémon up close I now know why you said some of the things you did; much as I did when I was younger you have the makings of a fine breeder. Most people can't recognize you have this talent though."
"Until I fight someone who is at my level and I can just enjoy the fight, every battle will feel like the first two, life or death."
Brock looked with wonder at Mike. "How old are you Mike?"
"Fifteen."
"And you've already been in a life or death battle?"
"Yeah."
"How can you be so upbeat?"
"I won. That's all there is to it." Mike started smiling again for the first time since the battle started. "And I was too busy trying to keep those around me safe to be thinking of the danger I was in until it was past so it didn't really register."
"Mike!" Mike collapsed to the ground under the sudden weight of Jenna leaping on him. "I wanna go celebrate! Come on!"
Brock laughed as Clarissa and Alexis came up to join them. "I see. Try not to overdo it Kiddo."
Mike grinned up from the ground as Jenna tried to pull him up while still sitting on his back. "Just you watch the next one. You've given me a lot to think about."
"Geez, Mike! Stop being so serious! You won! Well, you lost the battles but won the war, or something like that. Anyway, let's go celebrate!" Jenna finally got Mike to his feet and started dragging him away to the protestations of Clarissa and the laughter of Alexis, Brock, and the fans.
Jakul cursed as he ducked around the corner. He checked the hasty bandage he had made along his ribs then leaned out and hurled the pipe he was holding against the machine firing beams of energy at him. It exploded when it got struck and Jakul ducked around the corner again to avoid the shrapnel. "Should've know they'd increase security after Viridian. Soze!" The dragon flowed out of his pokéball and looked with concern at Jakul's wound. "I'm fine, I need you to clear the way for me." As Soze flew off down the corridor Jakul released more pokémon. "Rand, make sure that no humans or pokémon get near without warning. Kai, destroy anything that get's in our way." Both pokémon were surprised by Jakul's injury, but nodded their understanding. Jakul wished he could use Mars for scouting, but the halls were not nearly large enough for him to fly around. "Alright, let's go."
Jakul, Rand and Kai proceeded down the hall following the path of destruction left behind by Soze. Jakul grinned his approval as he saw the wreckage, he knew better than to make a dragon angry, and now EARTH would too. He saw a data pad and bent down to pick it up when he heard whimpering. He looked up and dropped the pad from shock. He was staring straight at the one person he had not wanted to meet since he decided to leave.
"Why are you doing this?"
Jakul clenched his teeth and glared at Rand through his mask. Rand whined apologetically. Jakul was trying to figure out why Rand's senses had failed him when he saw the scarf that she was wearing, it had been his present to her for her last birthday so his scent must have lingered on it. "It's dangerous for you to stay here. And stay away from EARTH in the future."
"Why are you doing this?" She repeated herself.
"I'm going to destroy EARTH. If you don't want to get caught up in this then you should avoid contact with them from here on." He knew it was impossible, both of her parents worked for EARTH. He only hoped that he wouldn't encounter them while he was rampaging.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Jakul ignored her and kept heading deeper into the building but stopped when he heard Rand whining.
"What is it now Rand?" Rand didn't answer, he just kept whining. "Rand?" Jakul turned around and froze, shocked by the scene before his eyes. Her brown eyes laughed mockingly at him as her long brown hair settled around her shoulders from her movement.
"You shouldn't leave your back open so easily Masked Man." Something inside Jakul was furious at her for using the name Alexis had given him. She pulled on the chains in her hand and the harnesses around Rand and Kai tightened. "Call back that dragon of yours and I'll think about letting these two go." Jakul slowly pulled his hand up, knocking Mars' pokéball off his belt as he did so. "What are you-" she cut off as the light flashed and Mars was standing over her, a scythe poised against her throat.
"You shouldn't betray peoples trust like that. I was giving you a chance to get out of here with no trouble and you had to go and waste it. Release them." She didn't move except to change her expression from one of shock and fear to one of hate. Release them now!" This time she tightened her grip on the chains and shocks were sent along them to electrocute Rand. "Damn it Kairi!" The girl's eyes widened and the chains fell from her hands as she stared at Jakul. "Kai, knock her out until we have a better option." Kairi didn't need the help as she fainted on her own. "Well, whatever. Rand, carry her. Mars, you're forward scout." Mars hovered slightly and moved forward slowly, taking care not to hit the walls with his wings with Jakul and the rest behind him, Kairi draped over Rand's back.
A few hours later, after having destroyed more security machines and absorbing a lot of data into the data pad, Jakul finally caught up with Soze at the central computer. The young man pulled out the data pad and hacked into the computer, grateful for the electronics courses he'd taken at the accelerated school. After he had finished taking all the new data he turned to Soze. "We're done here." Soze rose up, his eyes glowing, and a bolt of electricity came screaming from the sky, tearing through the building until it crashed into the computer, short circuiting the entire building and frying all of the equipment beyond repair. The young man looked over at the clock that was now permanently frozen in place, it was 1530. He wondered how the gym battle was going. He glanced over at the still form of Kairi. "I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. Mars? What are you doing?"
Mars was staring at a blob of a strange liquefied red metal that was floating in a cylinder. He reached out with one of his scythes to touch the cylinder, but instead of stopping like he had expected it went straight through and into the red metal. Mars reared back, flinging his scythe as the metal flew up his arm and surrounded his entire body. Jakul stared, stupefied for a moment before his brain overcame his stunned senses. "Mars!" He rushed over to Mars but stopped as Mars stood up, however, Mars was no longer a scyther. Whatever that metal was, it had the properties necessary to evolve Mars into a scizzor. Mars dropped down to one knee with one arm laid across the knee. "Well, I guess this trip was a near total success. Let's get out of here before anything else weird happens." As he left Jakul stared for a moment at Kairi before deciding it would be best to drop her off at home; doing that would make it feel more like a dream to her.
Amar stared for a moment at the burnburned out wreckage that was once the EARTH building. Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to do anything here he turned around and headed back. He was heading to the café when he overheard some of the fans returning from the gym battle.
"I'm telling you, I wanna see a battle between today's newbie and yesterday's."
"What's the point? He'd just get steamrolled like he did today."
"You're kidding right? He demolished Sudowoodo in less than ten seconds! The only reason he lost was cuz he pissed off Brock and Brock siched Onyx on him!"
"Well, that may be true.."
Amar couldn't hear anymore of the conversation as they were too far down the street. He forced himself to unclench his fists as he kept walking. Amar vented his anger within his mind and was back to his normal self by the time he got near the café.
"Oh! There he is! Amar!" Amar turned and waved when he saw Alexis before he saw that she was with a group of people. His eyes were especially drawn to the boy in the group. He was tall, with broad shoulders, light brown hair and deep brown eyes. He didn't know what it was, but something about the way that the boy held himself told Amar that he was worthy of interest.
"So this is the friend you were waiting for when we met you?"
"Yes." He was also getting irritated with the way that the boy was so friendly with Alexis. "Amar, this is Mike, Clarissa and Jenna. They kept me entertained while you were taking care of your business." At the mention of their names they each raised their hands in turn. Amar took note that Clarissa was the quiet and serious type while Jenna was enthusiastic.
"So, what did you think of Brock's match yesterday with Jakul? I heard you and Alexis were there to see it." The young man glanced over at Alexis who shrugged apologetically. He amended his evaluation of Jenna to be enthusiastic and perceptive.
"I hear he did better than today's participant," Amar noticed how Mike's smile faded slightly, letting him know why he had thought Mike was worthy of interest. "but he did make Brock break regulation and use his best pokémon so, who knows which is better. I would have to see today's participant in battle myself to make a judgment. But regardless of who is better, Jakul has a really sharp eye for the weaknesses of his opponent and the mind and ability to exploit them. He's a powerful trainer."
Mike got a strange smile on his face as Amar's explanation continued. "I definitely wanna see him fight for myself now."
AmatAmar also smiled as an idea suddenly came to him. "I passed by him on his way out of the arena and I overheard him telling one of the fans that he was heading to Cerulean next."
"Well, that's convenient. So am I."
"Really? When did this happen?"
Clarissa sighed as she turned to Jenna. "Mike hasn't fought any one on his own level yet. That's why we're going to Cerulean."
Amar looked at Jenna, once again reevaluating her before he suddenly stopped himself and changed his reevaluation. Jenna was enthusiastic, perceptive, and scarily deceptive.
"Shall we Amar? They haven't found a place to stay yet so we should probably let them get on with that." Amar watched, laughing, as all three of stopped and looked at each other.
"It looks like they haven't quite figured that out yet. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you all. See you some other time."
"Yeah," Mike said over his shoulder as Amar and Alexis walked away. "Now what?"
"I dunno, I thought you two had already made plans."
"We thought you had taken care of things since you're aunt lives in this city." Clarissa was looking somewhat concerned.
"What!"
Amar and Alexis laughed as the discussion behind them was quickly turning into an argument. "By the way Alexis, how did Jenna know that I was there?"
Alexis blushed a little as they kept walking. "Oh, I may have, made a little slip. I completely forgot that you were trying to stay as anonymous as possible."
Amar had been about to berate her when he suddenly swallowed it. Images of Kairi and the people from the dragon clan flashing through his mind. "There are some people who don't need to know where I am." That was all that he said and Alexis let it drop. They spent the rest of the evening having fun and exchanging stories on what happened during the day.
"Now what?"
"I dunno, I thought you two had already made plans."
"We thought you had taken care of things since your aunt lives in this city."
"What!" Jenna glanced back and forth between the concerned and angry Clarissa and the amused Mike before grinning. "Well, it just so happens that Aunt Jenny offered to let us stay with her for the night, so, we're set."
Clarissa smiled though her eyes were darkened. "So you were playing with us."
"Hmm? Well, isn't it more fun this way? And besides, I had forgotten until now."
"Is having fun the only thing you care about?"
"No, but having fun is better than not right? And it's not like there was any concern about us not finding a place. And I was serious about not remembering about it until now."
"What-"
"It's fine isn't it? Let's just go before this turns into an argument. I'm too tired to deal with you two getting in a fight right now. Honestly, I don't know why you two fight so much anyway." Mike had already started walking so he didn't see the look that passed between the two girls as they started to follow him. "It's not like your personalities clash that much and there isn't anything in short for you to fight over so…" Mike trailed off as he glanced down a side street, not feeling the cold stares he was getting from behind, too focused on the building with a strange hollow feeling at the end. "Something's wrong."
Clarissa refrained from the remark she was about to make when she felt Eevee stiffen as well. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure, but we should get moving. If we stay here than something's gonna happen."
"That's the EARTH corporation…" Both Clarissa and Mike turned to stare at Jenna, surprised by the seriousness of her tone. "Just yesterday it was like normal. Why is it that every time these two get to a city the EARTH building goes belly up?"
"Uhh, Jenna?" Mike's outstretched hand was ignored. "Really, leaving would be better... she's not listening."
"Jeez, why does she get like this sometimes? I just don't understand her."
"It's 'cause she's not really a goofy airhead. She's just a fun loving girl." He paused and looked at the way she was staring at the building. "A fun loving girl with the heart of a detective." Mike turned to Clarissa and smiled wryly. "Stick close to me, we're gonna end up going in pretty soon and I really don't like the feel of this place." As Mike turned around he felt something brush against his shoulder causing him to jump back with a startled yell.
Clarissa stared at Mike and Jenna turned around, shocked out of her thoughts by the sudden yell. They both just stared at Mike as he stood there with Eevee readjusting his position after nearly getting thrown off when he moved from Clarissa back to Mike. After about a minute Mike started blushing causing the girls to start laughing.
"I never would have thought that Mike was easily frightened."
"Right? He seemed so strong and reliable that I figured he wasn't scared of anything. I mean, he charged into a pack of wild dogs to save me without thinking."
"Come to think of it, he does that a lot doesn't he?"
"Hmm?"
"He fought a guy who had about seven bugs when he only had Enlil after he saw me trapped."
"Did he have a hard time?"
"Of course. He's strong, but he has no experience."
"Oy, oyOi, oi. Don't talk about me like that, it makes me look foolish." By this point, they had all walked over to the entrance of the building without realizing they had decided on exploring the cause of the buildings strange feeling. "Seriously, what's wrong with getting surprised in this situation. I told you that I have a bad feeling about this place."
"But it's not that you were surprised, it's the way that you reacted."
"Whatever, let's just explore this place so we can leave." The laughed again at his sullen tone but Mike had already decided to ignore them. The three of them walked along the empty corridors occasionally catching glimpses of something out of the corner of their eyes, but there was never anything there when they turned to look.
"Hey," Clarissa waited until Jenna and Mike had turned to face her before continuing. "Maybe we should just leave? Mike's right, there's definitely something wrong about this place. And there might be…" Clarissa's voice trailed off as she glanced around nervously.
"Might be..?" Jenna had a mischievous look on her face.
"Ghosts." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"What? Are you scared of a few ghosts?"
"There's nothing wrong with being afraid of ghosts!"
"What are you going to do if a ghost comes out? Run scared to hide behind Mike?"
"Why do you-!"
Mike stopped listening and instead diverted his attention to finding a solution. He needed to find a way to distract them. Whatever had happened here was affecting the girls and causing them to fight even more. He was trying to figure out a way when he suddenly remembered the time when his mom had been really angry. It was a long time ago and all he really remembered about it was that it had something to do with his dad and pokémon, but the part that he was interested in was how his dad had dealt with it. His dad had done something to get her attention and it had really surprised his mom and made her happy. He just couldn't remember what it was. The only thing he could remember about it was the huge flock of butterfree that showed up shortly after. All of a sudden it hit him, butterfree were attracted to flowers and his dad had arranged for an entire field of flowers. Mike didn't have the time or money to try and copy his dad but he did have an alternative.
"Demeter, use Overgrow." Demeter sat down and looked around before finding a suitable place. Her body glowed with a verdant light and suddenly all varieties of plants were growing out of the floor and along the walls. The hallway transformed into a tunnel of flowers. The girls' argument cut off as they stared in wonder at the sudden appearance of so much of nature's bounty. Mike leaned back against the newly florafied wall and sighed in relief. "Finally you two calmed down. I think we've explored enough of this place. Whatever happened here is something that is affecting our emotions. You fight enough as it is, I don't need you two fighting even more."
Jenna and Clarissa shared a bit of an embarrassed look. Jenna laughed a little ruefully as she wrapped her arms around Clarissa. "You've got a point. We can't keep fighting all the time or our fights will ruin the very reason we're fighting."
"Jenna!" Clarissa glanced back and forth between Mike and Jenna with a horrified look on her face, though Mike had no idea why she was so concerned. "Jeez! Fine, let go. Let go of me already."
"Don't wanna." Jenna was back to just messing around which relieved Mike. It worried him when she got serious. "Come on, we fight so much cause we don't get enough skin-ship."
"I'm not a dog!" Clarissa wasn't struggling as much to get Jenna off of her though, and Mike could hear amusement in her voice so he knew that they were getting along better already. He turned to call Demeter along but stopped when he saw her quivering in place with fear.
"Demeter?" The girls turned around as well sensing that something was off. The plants along the hall started dying, alerting Mike that something was very wrong. Just as he figured it would probably be a good idea to call out a couple more fighters the cause of the plants death came streaming out from the walls. "The hell! There are ghosts here!" Clarissa screamed and Mike cursed whatever force had created this. The ghosts were still unstable which meant that they had only recently lost their lives. For there to be this many unstable ghosts meant that a lot of pokémon had died in the last few days. "Enlil, Poseidon, Vulcan, drive them back!" Mike used the time bought by their attacks to get to Demeter. "What's wrong Demeter, come on." No matter how much Mike tried to urge her Demeter wouldn't move.
"Mike!" Mike turned around at Jenna's call to see Clarissa trembling in her arms. "Not here you idiot! Behind you!" Mike turned around again just in time to see one of the ghosts come sweeping in and pass through his chest. A chill spread from where the ghost had flown, turning his body numb. Just as Mike was about to lose consciousness he felt Eevee standing over him, turning back the ghosts as they tried to attack again with a strange dark energy that seemed to radiate from him. Mike once again wondered just what he had gotten his hands on. He glanced over to the girls and saw that Hinote and Taiga were keeping them safe. He forced himself to try and stand, ignoring the numbness that was still within his body.
"Honestly, what is it with me and life or death battles? This is why I can't fight nicely with other people." Mike finally made it to his feet and glared at the ghosts circling around looking for an opening. "When I find the one responsible for causing all this pain and anger I'm going to crush them." His pokémon turned momentarily, feeling the strength of his emotions flowing out, then leapt back into the ghosts and attacked with a new energy. Mike bent down to pick up Demeter but froze halfway when he saw the ghost that had snuck past his other pokémon. In a sort of surreal moment of extended time he stared at the ghost as it looked between him and Demeter. Time sped back up to normal and the ghost launched itself at Demeter, phasing through the wall of plants she had created and disappearing into her body. Demeter mewed pitifully but didn't do anything else. Mike couldn't see anything but the ghosts anymore as his vision had gone black. He wasn't sure himself whether it was from the ghost's attacks or from rage, he just knew that they had hurt Demeter. He felt Eevee standing next to him and could feel the rage cycling between them. Enlil, Poseidon and Vulcan fell back to stand alongside Eevee as their anger at the attack on Demeter was fueled by Mike and Eevee's rage.
Standing behind them, Jenna laid Clarissa down next to Demeter and stared in a mix of fear and awe at Mike and his pokémon. She had known that Mike was very protective of his pokémon, she had seen his fury when his pokémon had been beaten by Brock, but this was completely different. Where that had been anger at losing, they had entered the battle with the knowledge that it was going to be difficult and wanted to test their abilities; here Demeter had been making no effort to fight and had actually been trying to avoid the battle. Jenna was drawn out of her train of thought by the sudden expansion of dark energy from Eevee and Mike's voice. "Five seconds." She had no idea what was going to happen in five seconds but she knew that it was not going to be good. The pulsating dark energies started to stabilize and form a sphere around Eevee. Before she could figure out what could be happening to him she realized that the time had run out. The dark sphere shot out into the center of the ghost horde and was followed by fire and water from the other three. Enlil, Poseidon and Vulcan arched their attacks from the outside, driving the ghosts towards the sphere. "Burst." Jenna saw Eevee nod and then watched as the dark sphere exploded, breaking into pieces that sought out and swallowed the ghosts.
"Mike?" When he didn't respond she walked up slowly, keeping a careful eye on his pokémon, especially Vulcan and Enlil. When she reached him she saw that he was shaking and his hands were clenched so hard into fists that his knuckles were white. "Mike?" He turned his head just enough to see her and Jenna recoiled slightly from seeing his eyes so dark. The color hadn't changed at all, but where they used to be so full of life and laughter they were now dark with anger and pain. She knew that if she didn't act quickly this event was going to scar him. "Mike, Demeter's fine. She's a little shaken but she's fine. Clarissa too, she's just not good with ghosts." Mike turned around to face her fully and she could see that his eyes had regained a little bit of their life. Eevee had also turned and Jenna was shocked to see the exact same emotions reflected in his eyes that she had just seen in Mike's. Seeing that there wasn't really much of a difference in his countenance she decided to try something else. "I can't get them out alone so I need your help. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and do what needs doing."
Mike's eyes flashed with anger but the pain and rage were gone. Even though he was angry it was a normal anger so she couldn't help smiling. "Wha-what's with you? First you talk down at me and then smile as if nothing happened. You think I'm just gonna ignore that?"
Jenna just threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm just glad to see you back to normal." Without saying anything else she went over to Demeter and with Taiga's help started carrying her out of the building.
Mike felt the stares of his pokémon on his back and turned to find them grinning at him. He felt his face flush as he realized they knew exactly what had just happened. All of a sudden he turned back down the passage where the ghosts had come from and yelled as loud as he could. His pokémon looked at him as if he was weird and Jenna turned back around looking concerned. "That feels better. If I think too much about this I'm gonna turn all weird."
"Too late for that dear, you're already the craziest guy I know."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike easily picked up Clarissa in his arms and ran to catch up to Jenna. "And what's with the 'dear?'"
"No real reason. Just wanted to test the sound of it." Jenna grinned at him for moment before her face blanched. She laughed nervously and then faced forward again. "It's this way, we might as well just go to my Aunt's place."
"How much further is it?"
"Not far, and once we get there we can take a hot shower, get some sleep and put this whole thing behinds us." Jenna glanced backwards nervously again before leading the way around a corner back onto a brightly lit and populated road. They got a few strange glances from the people walking around but no one bothered them so they just kept going.
"What's up Jenna? You've been kinda ancy ever since we left EARTH."
"It because of all the craziness that happened there, and I used up a lot of energy cheering for you at the gym, and all of that adrenaline is now suddenly gone." Jenna sighed as she balanced Demeter again before she fell off of Taiga's back. "Even I don't have limitless energy."
"Ummm…j-just how long do you plan on carrying me?" Mike looked down to see Clarissa's bright red face. "N-not that I really mind though."
"Ryss! You're awake! How're you feeling?"
"Embarrassed and exhausted from fainting like that." She paused for a little bit and her blush deepened. "I hate ghosts."
Mike laughed in relief and adjusted her weight so it was more comfortable. "Well, don't worry about that for now and let's just get to Officer Jenny's house so we can rest. I'm at my limit for excitement in one day. Oh, while I'm thinking about it, are there any pokémon doctors in Pewter?"
Jenna turned back from the corner she had just been about to go down., once again with her excited grin. "Didn't you know? Brock is this city's pokémon doctor."
AN: Please review. This is my first work after all and writers love feedback