Pokemon Adventures: Where Legends Cross
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Adventures/Special.
I wonder when I'll be uploading this...
Began writing on May 6th, 2011. FINALLY got through chapter 23! Currently drafting chapter 24.
Chapter 8. Vs. Octillery: The Galaxy Shifts
A strong, salty smell of the ocean struck Emerald in the nose, causing him to frown in annoyance as his eyed blinked open to look up at the sky, blue and clear for once. The stark contrast to the stormy weather he had last seen brought him fully to his senses.
Sitting up with a groan, the undersized (yeah, he is; got a problem with that?) boy looked around to see that he was sitting in the middle of a small beach, the sand mildly warm under the daylight. To his left the ocean stretched out unhindered to the horizon, while to his right was a small ledge, beyond which he could see trees.
Emerald was a very practical person, and the first thing he did afterwards was checking if his Pokemon were all okay. After taking a long look - and a heartfelt thanks - to the drained Sceptile, he was shocked to discover that his Mantine was curled up exhausted in its Poke Ball.
"Did you carry me all the way from the wreckage?" He asked the Kite Pokemon, who looked up to him with a weak smile. Touched, he murmured a soft thanks to Mantine as he tucked his Poke Balls in.
As he began shifting through his belongings (which were mostly there, if a little soaked), his mind went back through that disastrous battle with the Tentacruel and Team Rocket. Unable to keep his anger at bay at meeting those scumbags again, he was about to do some cussing-out at the waves when a most peculiar sight caught his eyes.
When he first departed for Unova from the Sinnoh Battle Frontier in which he had been challenging, Darach of the Battle Castle had informed him that he wouldn't be able to find any familiar Pokemon at all in the new region. So if this was indeed Unova - for some reason he had no doubt of this fact - why in the world was a Slowpoke sitting on a rock in fornt of him, idly watching the waves with its tail in the water?
Blinking in disbelief, his intuition told Emerald that the Slowpoke was from Kanto. What the hell?
Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had identified the Tentacruel from before as hailing from Kanto (and some from Johto) as well. That could only mean one thing.
"Team Rocket," he snarled. "Pity the lightning got'em before I did."
But what was done was done. The villians have paid (with their lives), and now he had to decide on what to do. Obviously, the first thing to do was search for the nearest town and prepare himself. But after that, what then?
"Jirachi..." Emerald whispered, remembering the sight of the little Wish Pokemon falling like a shooting star onto an unknown land in his dream, the reason he left Sinnoh earlier than intended in the first place. Jirachi had called for his aid, and he had answered.
"And I was about to challenge to Tower Tycoon too," he grumbled as he got to his feet (A/N: Well, you did challenge his son, didn't ya?:) ). Just as he was about to try and climb up the ledge and onto the forest floor, a sudden splashing noise from behind caught his attention. Looking back he saw that the Slowpoke was thrashing wildly on the rock, as if a fish had bitten a bit too hard on its tail.
Curious, Emerald leaped back onto the sand and walked over to the Dopey Pokemon as it continued to struggle; it looked like its catch would almost drag it back into the sea. Had the fellow caught a Crawdaunt?
With an immense heave, the Slowpoke finally won the little tug-of-war and hooked up its quarry -
"Waaaah!" Emerald yelled, falling bottom-first onto the warm sand as a person came smacking down inches in front of him, his teeth firmly embedded within the Slowpoke's tail. The dimwit finally managed to shake the person loose with a final heave before dipping its injured - and slightly bleeding - tail back into the water as if nothing had happened.
After taking some time to get over the absurdity of the situation, Emerald slowly crawled over to the boy (somehow his hat was still on), first confirming that he was alive, if unconscious. Upon a closer inspection he saw that the boy was young, around fourteen (then again, he himself was fifteen) with a round, innocent face. Still closer and -
Suddenly, with a warning bellow, one of the boy's Poke Ball burst open to reveal an enormous Torterra, stomping furiously as it roughly brushed itself between its Trainer and Emerald with a suspicious glare that promised violence.
"All right, all right!" Emerald snapped, taking several steps backward from the angry Pokemon with his hands raised. "Relax, boy. I wasn't about to hurt your Trainer, okay?"
"... Tru...?"
The Torterra reacted to the weak voice instantly, clumsily swinging its heavy body toward the boy's open blue eyes. Its face immediately lit up in joy, and he let out a happy growl as he nuzzled his head against his Trainer's face.
"Tru... I'm fine..." the voice gradually gained in strength as the Continent Pokemon helped the boy sit up. "Where... where are we? Where's Pearl?"
Pearl?
The name rang a bell in Emerald's head. His memory took a less pleasant turn, to that annoying hotheaded who had ran into him earlier on the ship's corridor. Admittedly, he was rather impressed with the battle skills he showed later on, but the initial irritance with him wasn't gone. With a small jolt Emerald realized that the boy sitting in front of him was his milder companion, the one that always stood quietly behind Pearl.
Shaking his head at the irony of the situation, he refocused his eyes to see that the boy had noticed him as well, his eyes going wide in recognition.
"Oh," he said quietly, looking unsure of what to say. "Oh, er... hi." He ended lamely. "I'm Diamond, a Dex Holder from Sinnoh."
Emerald resisted the urge to roll his eyes; they got washed ahore from a shipwreck, and he was bothering with introductions.
"Emerald, Hoenn," He grunted shortly, getting to his feet and trying out his artificial limbs. They were a little rusted from the saltwater, but it wouldn't deter his movements. "Think you can go around on your own?" He tossed the words behind his back as he faced the ledge again.
"... I suppose?" The boy replied uncertainly. Slow response. Bad thing in an urgent situation.
"Good," said Emerald without looking back. "Well, then, what are you gonna do now?"
"I find Pearl, and then we continue our journey - our mission." Diamond answered a-matter-of-factly. Emerald glanced back to see that the boy's expression was perfectly straight, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"Easier said than done," he grunted, deciding that the kid needed a little bresqueness. Ignoring a small bell in his mind at the words 'Dex Holder' and 'mission', he continued as he took out his PokeNav: "See this gadget here? Look at the screen; it's been days since our ship got wrecked. Your loudmouthed friend could be anywhere - or nowhere at all."
"No."
"What?" Asked Emerald, fully turning around to look at Diamond's serene expression; was that a smile pulling at the corner of his lips?
"Pearl is willpower," he explained calmly - if one could call it an explanation. "Nothing can kill him, as long as he wills himself to live."
Man, what a strange kid. And he thought Ruby was a wierdo.
"Right, whatever," he muttered, turning his back on Diamond again. "Then you'd better get on with it. You've got a mission? So do I. And I need to get going now."
One step, two steps -
"Wait!"
Emerald felt a vein popping on his forehead. The boy wouldn't let him take three stinkin' steps.
"What?" He snapped, rounding on the younger boy only to find a hand right under his nose, holding a large rice ball in it; the vinyl wrappings had kept it safe from the sea waters.
"Thanks for caring," Diamond told him with a kind smile, holding the rice ball up higher.
The kid was so weird, it made Emerald smile. Just a little.
"Thanks, but no thanks," he replied, this time trying to not sound mean. Then he was about to turn back again when a loud rumbling noise from his stomach clearly stated otherwise.
"It's good," said Diamond, his smile widening. Behind him his Torterra growled in agreement as he dug through his own helpings.
With a defeated sigh Emerald plopped down beside the odd boy as he took the rice ball with a small "thanks,". Unwrapping it swiftly before taking a bite, he bilnked once upon finding out that it really did taste good.
"Didyou save me from drowning inthe currents?" Diamond asked him as he devoured his own food as well with gusto, his words getting muffled up between all the chewing. Ah well, table manners be damned anyway.
"No, I just woke up minutes ago," said Emerald honestly, swallowing his last bite quickly so that it won't spill out while speaking. "You should thank the dimwit Slowpoke over there; it fished you out of the sea."
After following his gaze to where he was pointing at, Diamond looked back at him with a puzzled expression and said: "You mean the Slowbro sitting on a rock over there?"
"Hey, I believe I said Slow - " Emerald retorted as he looked at the little rock, only to find the said Pokemon standing on his hind legs, looking blankly down at the Shellder chomping on its slightly-bleeding tail. "...bro. Huh. Your bite must have caused enough blood to attract that Shellder."
Showing no signs of listening to his mutterings, Diamond slowly got to his feet and walked over to the Slowbro, who very slowly looked up from its tail to see the boy approaching it. Typical of the dimwitted species it made no move to defend itself or even flee as Diamond's face came inches away from its blank eyes.
"Are you the one that saved my life?" He asked softly, reaching out with one hand to pet the Hermit Crab Pokemon's head. Instead of ducking away from his hand, the creature merely cocked its head as he petted it, its absentminded gaze resting on the Poke Balls on the boy's belt.
"Thanks," Diamond told the Slowbro sincerely, taking out and empty ball and showing it to the moron. Emerald sat back and watched in mild disinterest as the boy continued to talk: "This is a Poke Ball. I'm a Pokemon Trainer, who captures Pokemon in this and raise them, make friends with them."
Like the dumbass would ever understand, thought Emerald, though he couldn't help but get to like the boy's pure emotions.
The Slowbro stared at the Poke Ball in front of him with that empty look, looking as if he'd dive inside the little object any moment.
Then, without warning, he raised one stubby hand to press the ball's opening button.
"Huh?" Emerald and Diamond gasped in unison as the Poke Ball opened up, immediately drawing the Hermit Crab Pokemon's form within itself with a bright flash before closing up, effectively capturing it.
Surely it had touched it by accident? Thought Emerald as he rushed over to stand beside Diamond, who was staring into his new accquisition inside the ball with undisguised surprise.
"You want to come with me?" He asked the creature, disbelief clear in his blue eyes. Emerald peered at the Poke Ball, curious as to how the Slowbro would react to the sudden change of situation, namely his confinement.
He nodded.
Emerald blinked, wiped his eyes and looked again.
A goofy smile.
"Thanks!" Diamond cried happily, opening the ball to let his newest member out. "Can I call you Bro, then?"
The Slowbro nodded, still grinning. Tru walked over to his new teammate, looking up and down at him with scrutiny before butting his head playfully against Bro's shoulder.
Emerald was watching the heartwarming scene for awhile - with a smile playing at the edge of his face - when a loud crashing noise drifted to his ears from far away. Looking back up at the ledge, he could hear the sound of trees falling - and footsteps. Heavy ones.
"What's that noise?" Diamond asked, his expression suddenly alert as he returned Tru to his ball.
"You heard that too?" Emerald asked back, stepping in front of him in a protective gesture. "Brace yourself, then. Whatever it is, it ain't gonna be friendly."
"Definitely not."
The voice, cool yet uncontrolled, possessed a naturally irritating edge that immediately grazed Emerald's short temper. Snapping his head up to the top of the ledge, he saw an array of the most ridiculously-dressed people he had ever seen; it looked like the design was originally meant for an especially ugly brand of spacesuits, whith white torso and gray limbs, both striped. Horrible. He'd rather wear Sapphire's leaf clothes. All their uniforms had a golden G printed on their chest, reminding him of... you know.
A man stood at the front of the mob, his blue hair styled up in a similar fashion to Emerald's own. His cyan eyes were as cold as ice as he looked down on the two Trainers with comtempt, but his mouth was curled upwards in a snarl of anger. emerald was at first so confused by his duplicity and his responding anger that it took him a moment to realize that the man's gaze wasn't on him at all.
"What have we here?" The man hissed as his eyes locked on Diamond behind him. "One of those three rats who totally screwed us up, just about alone! I didn't know a tedious lumbering mission could be so rewarding!" Emerald almost shrank back from the savage grin that suddenly ripped across his face.
"Saturn!" Diamond exclaimed, for the first time speaking with steel in his voice. "What's Team Galactic doing here in Unova? It fell apart after Cyrus vanished!"
Team Galactic? Emerald should've known that every regon would have its own band of idiots.
"Yes, vanished, not gone forever," Saturn replied with a disdainful snort. "Foolish boy. Did you think we'd fall to ruin after a single defeat? We serve a new purpose now, but that isn't gonna stop me from ending you here!"
"A new purpose?" Diamond yelled, taking a bold step toward the awaiting grunts and the madman. "What are you talking about? What new purpose?"
"Why should I be telling you that?" Saturn asked back coldly, commanding his minions forward with a wave of his hand. They complied instantly as if they were more machine than human, spreading out like a bird's wing to surround Diamond in a flash.
Like he was gonna let that happen.
"Frenzy Plant, Rock Slide!" Emerald shouted, throwing a Poke Ball directly behind Diamond and another at the base of the rocky ledge. Bursting open to reveal his trusty Sceptile and Sudowoodo, they immediately put their commanded moves into use; multitudes of vines shot our of Sceptile's back to sweep away the grunts that tried to surround Diamond, while Sudowoodo smashed her fists into the rocky ledge, collapsing it and forcing Saturn and the grunts on it to leap away for safety.
"Good work!" Emerald complimented them as they quickly leaped back to his side.
"You... you dare interfere?" Saturn snarled as he reappeared below the destroyed boulders, his expression again distorted in rage. For a moment he looked like a super-nerd whose computer just crashed.
"Emerald, why...?" Diamond questioned from behind, but Emerald silenced him with a dismissive flick of his sleeve.
"I told you I have a mission too, didn't I?" He said, remembering Jirachi calling out to him in his dream. "Keep this in mind, Diamond: Taking down thugs like these is also our mission, as a Trainer and as a Dex Holder!"
Not bothering to check the younger boy's reaction, he then turned straight to Saturn and snapped: "Hey, if you're so keen on 'ending' an innocent kid here, why don't you just do it yourself instead of telling these scumbag losers to do it for you? Or are you too much of a coward to take on him on your own?"
Not for the first time, Emerald saw murder in a person's eyes.
"You lot!" Saturn barked at the grunts, his ice-blue eyes burning dangerously. "Take care of the dwarf here. I'll see to this one - " as he said this he turned to Diamond with a Poke Ball in hand - " - myself. Go, Octillery!"
A flash of light revealed the Jet Pokemon, its small black eyes narrowed menacingly as it leered at Diamond and his newest teammate.
"Bro, think you can handle that Octillery?" Diamond asked the Slowbro quietly. The Hermit Crab Pokemon slowly looked back at his Trainer, then at his opponent, and burped.
That was answer enough.
Giving an encouraging nod at Diamond, Emerald turned away from the younger boy to stand against his own opponents, the grunts that were now surrounding him.
"Okay, are you ready?" He said as he looked at Sceptile and Sudowoodo, crackling his artificial knuckles in anticipation. "Give these jackass morons hell for me. Let's go!"
They nodded.
Wow, I got this one loaded faster than I thought. Sooner or later I'll catch up to where I'm drafting. NO!
Pikachu127, you asked for Diamond, I brought him. Satisfied? :) And with Emerald too; an unlikely combination, but I reckon he's something of an angrier Pearl, they might get along after all XD. As for your other questions: Special! For me to add that we need the objectives, and do you think they'll appear? I'll leave you to ponder that, but I'll promise you this: If Special does appear, it's gonna be friggin' dramatic! And TR? What about TR? *whistles innocently* and I'm afraid against your, er, preferences, Team Galactic has decided to add their presence to this chaotic excuse for a fic. Ah well, at least I enjoyed depicting Saturn as a total madman.
Not to mention Dia's new accquisition! I always thought he should have a Slowbro :) And yes for Darach's mentioning! Why didn't I mention Caitlyn? Eh, you know very well why XD
Well, that's all there is in this chapter. Next chapter we return to Black, I'll spoil that for ya. R&R!
Writing completed on May 9th, 2011. This is Yowl of Time, out.