Pokemon Adventures: Where Legends Cross
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Adventures/Special.
Holy crap, I just realized today that I've been posting the title wrong all along! Well, now I've corrected it and added the 'Adventures'... :/
Ah well, no matter. We begin this chapter with our beloved loverboy from chapter 8, up in the air with his new flyer above Castelia. Let's go!
Began writing on May 16th, 2011. Currently drafting chapter 26... almost done, I think.
Chapter 12. Vs. Toxicroak: Stuck in the Mud
- Above Castelia City -
"This is no good," Ruby muttered as he held on to his Straptor's foot, looking down at the enormous metropolis spreading out from below like a great spiderweb in wonder. "Not even you'd be able to see anything through all those buildings. Right, Staro?"
An apologetic caw. Aww, he hadn't meant to word it like that.
He had obtained Staro first as a young Staravia, which Sapphire gave him for this birthday present last year, one her father had captured during a field study in Sinnoh. Obviously he treated his new member as Sapph's gift should be treated, and he didn't forget to repay her two months later (#1), when he caught her a Roselia for her birthday gift; a perfect Pokemon to reflect her beauty, inner and outer, not to mention her fiesty temper.
"This is where the ship was originally supposed to arrive, so there's a big chance of Diamond having washed ashore here," he said to himself and Staro as he shifted his gaze over to the multitude of ports lining the edge of the city. "We don't have much time here, Staro. If we can't find Diamond by tomorrow, we'll have to continue on to the Pokemon League and leave the rest to Sapph."
Staro nodded in understanding.
After they heard the entire situation from Bianca in Nuvema Town, Ruby and Sapphire had quickly decided that the matter was too urgent for both of them to go after Pearl. So after an hour-long debate (and lots of in-between arguments) they regretfully split up; Sapphire would look for Pearl and help him on land, while Ruby would depart for the Pokemon League through the sky - and search for Diamond on the way, if he can.
"Staro, let's move over the northern gate," Ruby suggested to his Staraptor. "Maybe he could've washed up on a beach nearby. It'll be worth a look."
The Predator Pokemon chirped in agreement, swiftly carrying his Trainer over to the lush forest to the north of the city. As his gaze slid over the magnificent city onto the woods, however, Ruby was disturbed to discover that the word 'lush' didn't exactly fit. Here and there he could see trees and grass torn and trampled, as if a swarm of Ninjask had been preying here.
Moving ahead further his scarlet eyes came to rest on a small patch of sand stuck between the ocean by West and the marred forest by East, only to widen in shock as he spotted several people sprawled all over it. Motioning Staro to descend a little, he noticed that they were the most disgustingly-dressed people he had ever seen - resembling particularly ugly spacesuits, ugh! - just before he suddenly heard noises: of Pokemon clashing against Pokemon, and harsh orders of Trainers. Whoever it was that were battling below were really going at it.
"Staro, bring me down!"
"Just keep running!" Emerald snapped from behind Diamond as they ran through the charred and broken forest unheeding of direction, Sceptile and Sudowoodo following right behind as they busily deflected all the Air Cutters and Poison Stings aimed at their backs. "You did your best, but your Pokemon can't run and fight at the same time, okay? It's fine to leave this to me, so quit looking as if you'd guilt yourself into losing and RUN!"
Dia could hardly hear Emerald's voice screaming at his ears, although he did as told and didn't stop running. But he couldn't help himself but keep glancing at Bro's Poke Ball, apologizing to the Hermit Crab Pokemon for making such a blunder. After a long and enduring match Bro had succeeded in taking out Saturn's Octillery, but the Galactic Executive's next choise had -
"Going somewhere?"
A large shape leaped out of the shaded woods ahead of them, and Diamond halted just in time to avoid its claw swipe that barely missed his chest by half an inch. Emerald and his Pokemon stopped beside him, their expressions aghast as they faced their opponent, hearing the sound of the undefeated grunts catching up.
"You're both sorely mistaken if you believe you can escape from me." Saturn's voice had now gained a smug edge as he stepped out to stand beside his grinning Toxicroak. "As long as I know where you're headed, you can only run only half as much as your clumsy legs can carry you. Toxicroak, use Brick Break!" (#2)
The Toxic Mouth Pokemon leaped up into the sky with a roar, prepared to land a devastating karate-chop on Diamond's skull.
"I choose you, Tru!" Dia cried out instictively, sending out the Continent Pokemon just in time for him to take the Brick Break to the head, flinging the Toxicroak back with a bellow.
"Can you hold out a little more?" Diamond asked Emerald without looking back, as the Toxic Mouth Pokemon quickly leaped back up with an enraged hiss.
"I was about to ask that to you." There was a small hint of amusement in the undersized boy's voice as his Sceptile and Sudowoodo cried out in agreement.
"Holding out's my specialty," Diamond assured him with a weak smile, which quickly vanished as he locked eyes with Saturn again. "Tru, use Earthquake!"
"Toxicroak, use X - "
WRARRRR!
A weird, gurgling noise from above made everyone snap their heads upward in surprise, Dia no exception. Right above where Tru and the Toxicroak were about to clash, a large blue shape was falling down upon them like a meteor, roaring out what was most definitely a challenge -
SLAM!
Diamond instinctively took a step back as the figure collided onto Toxicroak in full force, pinning it firmly to the ground while flattening a three-feet radius area around it.
"What the - ?" Emerald exclaimed as he turned around in shock, only to be drowned out by a different, calmer voice:
"Zuzu, Muddy Water!"
The assaultant - a Swampert, Dia realized in amazement - at once opened its wide mouth, pumping out an incredible blast of brown water at the Toxicroak's head, resulting in a huge splash of dirty muk everywhere (Dia, fortunately, was mostly spared thanks to Tru) and instantly turning the nearby area into a muddy swamp.
"I usually abhor fighting in this ungraceful fashion..." A cool, smooth voice spoke from above, and Diamond and Emerald both turned back to see a boy around sixteen, wearing well-matching red-black clothes and a white woolen hat, descending next to them while holding onto a powerful Staraptor. Upon landing he quickly returned the Predator Pokemon as he continued: "... but I see that there's been some picking-on in here. I'm ending this now."
"You..." Saturn growled, but the voice was quickly lost under Emerald's yelling.
"Ruby, you ass!" The blond boy snapped, turning on the taller boy with such force that both him and Diamond involuntarily took a step back. "What was that all about? Falling out from the sky like a circus clown! You nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack, moron!"
"Nice to see you too," said Ruby, sweatdropping with a sheepish laugh. "You haven't changed at all, Em, have you?"
"DON'T CALL ME EM!"
"Toxicroak, Poison Jab!"
"Zuzu, dodge it!" Ruby quickly yelled, using the chance to ignore Emerald's bickering. Zuzu immediately leaped up to avoid the Toxicroak's venomous swipe, landing inside the mudhole he had created with a loud smack.
"Diamond, stand back!" Dia heard Emerald warn him as the grunts began moving in on them again, only to have Tru, Sceptile and Sudowoodo block them as one.
"Diamond?" Ruby looked back at him in shock, his scarlet eyes widening. "Your name is Diamond?"
"How do you know my name?" Dia asked back at the older boy in surprise.
A brief look of relief passed Ruby's face, before it settled grim again as he turned to face Saturn. "Talking can come later. Em, Diamond, leave this man to me and take care of the grunts."
"But you don't even like fighting!" Emerald protested, even as his hands waved his Pokemon forward against the incoming grunts.
"No, I don't," said Ruby without looking back. "But I didn't come to this region as a tourist, either. You know that, right, Em?"
Apparantly, he did. But Diamond couldn't help but keep glancing back at Ruby fighting Saturn, confused and afraid of the too-sudden turn of events.
"If you're done with your petty conversations..." Saturn's irritated voice continued to scratch at Dia's ears as he reluctantly turned back to join Emerald. "Toxicroak, use X-Scissor!"
"Zuzu, use Ice Punch!" Ruby countered immediately, knowing that the Swampert's longer reach would allow him a safe retaliation; he would have used Earthquake if he could, but that would put Diamond and Emerald in jeopardy as well. As expected, the Toxicroak's slash only managed to scrape Zuzu's arm while the Ice Punch connected straight into the Toxic Mouth Pokemon's (ugly) face, sending the craeture rolling across the muddy ground with a roar of pain.
"Push on, Zuzu! Waterfall!" Ruby continued, acutely aware of Emerald and Diamond struggling to cover his back; while both were very able Trainers, they were obviously exhausted by the sheer number of enemies they were facing.
With a roar Zuzu rushed (or rather swam) headlong across the mud, riding upon a violent stream of water that suddenly rose out of the earth to crush its foe against the sheer pressure.
"Brick Break!" Saturn's command remained calm despite the hard hit his Pokemon had just taken. While Ruby could pass that for a villain's apathy, he was surprised to see the Toxicroak leap up and retaliate immediately, looking fairly unharmed (if covered in mud) despite taking an Ice Punch full in the face. Had it recovered?
Unlike the last time, the Toxic Mouth Pokemon didn't try to dodge Zuzu's attack, instead standing its ground and letting the Swampert come to it with its claws raised. Ruby's eyes widened in shock as the opponent took the blow of the Waterfall head-on, bringing its hand (?) down on Zuzu's head in a powerful Brick Break. The Swampert leaped back slightly reeling from the counterattack, whil the Toxicrak didn't so much as flinch from the Water-type attack. If anything, it looked as if the move had made it more... refreshed.
"Well, what are you going to do now?" There was a new, gloating edge in Saturn's voice as Ruby spared a glance at the man. "It's plain to see that your attack has no effect on my Pokemon. This is what you deserve for interfering my hunt."
Ruby bit back a reply, knowing that Saturn was wrong; the Waterfall had certainly been ineffective, but Zuzu's Ice Punch had definitely wounded the Toxicroak. Yet after it fell into the mudhole, it recovered almost instantly...
Wait a minute, he thought, suddenly noticing that during the entire battle the Toxic Mouth Pokemon was constantly moving about like a weaving boxer searching for an opening, but it had never moved out of the mud for a single second. Perhaps...
"Finish it, Toxicroak. Dynamicpunch!" Saturn ordered with cold finalty. With a gleeful croak the enemy shot forward, its fist clenched tight to unleash the devastating move.
"Zuzu, block and smash'em into the mud!" Ruby yelled quickly, his new theory whizzing around in his head. If this was what he expected...
A wall of protective barrier appeared directly in front of Zuzu, causing Toxicroak's attack to strike the Protect move and causing a great explosion that resulted in mud splattering everywhere (Ruby made sure to leap back out of range). Before his opponent could swing back to react again, the Swampert raised one arm high in the air before bringing it straight down upon the Toxic Mouth Pokemon's head, slamming the creature half a foot into the thick mud.
"Fool!" Exclaimed Saturn, his eyes distorting into an expression of demonic glee. "You think you can bring my Toxicroak, a Poison-type, with a Hammer Arm?"
"Not really," replied Ruby, flashing a grin at the man's confused face. "Zuzu, get out of there and freeze all the mud!"
He had the satisfaction of watching the shock spread across Saturn's expression as Zuzu scrambled out of the field of mud with his fists glowing blue, leaving a slightly-dazed Toxicroak struggling to pull its feet out. As soon as his feet entered the grass the Swampert struck his cold fists onto the mud, the Ice Punch triggered as tendrils of ice began spreading rapidly out of the collision spot, connecting and interweaving with each other until the Toxicroak quickly found itself in the middle of a field of ice, its feet stuck firmly beneath the frozen mud.
"I don't know how it does that, but your Toxicroak uses water to heal itself, doesn't it?" Ruby asked Saturn as Zuzu confidently marched back up to the ice to finish off his trapped enemy. "That's why it stayed inside the mud all the time, to absorb the moisture within to recover. Well, no more of that."
"Free yourself! Brick Break!" Saturn ordered hurriedly as Zuzu's fist began glowing again. The Toxicroak swiftly smashed its fists down on its feet, shattering the ice and freeing itself. But cut off from its access to water, it had only the time to look up before two Ice Punches struck its face from both sides one by one, knocking it out cold (pun not intended).
"Nicely done, Zuzu!" Ruby called out proudly as the Swampert ambled over to him with a grin, looking only slightly worn, It had been awhile since the Mud Fish Pokemon had had a real battle, and despite his Trainer's disliek of battling he had been growing a little restless; his specialty was Tough Appeal, after all.
BOOM!
"What was that?" The sudden noise, along with Emerald's startled yell, had Ruby looking up to see a billowing cloud of smoke rising from where Saturn stood a moment ago, followed by a bright flash that made it evaporate in an instant, leaving the nerdy man nowhere to be seen.
"He must have used a Warp Bomb to escape," panted Diamond as he appeared beside Ruby with a somewhat forlorn look. Looking behind the younger boy, Ruby saw that he and Emerald was finished as well, proven by the sight of defeated grunts - and their Pokemon - lying all round them.
"A Warp Bomb? Man," muttered Emerald as he approached them as well, their weary Pokemon trailing behind. "Some gadgetry. What are these guys planning on, make up for their lack of brains for machinery?"
"Or limbs," Ruby muttered under his breath, knowing that the undersized boy would not leave him alive if he heard.
"What did you just say?"
"Oh, Zuzu! Look at you, all covered in mud!" Ruby exclaimed hurriedly, rushing over to the Swampert before Em could push him any further. And man, Zuzu really was in an awful mess. "I'll need you washed up first. Come out, Mimi!"
The Milotic popped out of the Poke Ball at once, cooing affectionately at her Trainer before letting out a mrrow of compassionate laughter at the mud-soaked Zuzu.
"Whatever. Anyway," Emerald grumbled behind him as Mimi began washing Zuzu with a well-channelled Hydro Pump (which works as a good massage too). "Where's Sapphire? I don't think you'd be capable of leaving your girlfriend back in Hoenn while you journey to this faraway land."
"Shut up," Ruby retorted, although he couldn't help but smirk in pleasure. So Em thought they were already dating, eh? (#3) "She's a little behind us, searching for a certain hotheaded friend of Diamond here."
"It's Pearl!" Diamond burst out immediately, making Ruby nearly jump; he didn't know the quiet boy was capable of making such a loud noise. "You've met Pearl! I knew he'd make it. Where is he? I have to find him!"
"Whoa, slow down, kid!" Ruby exclaimed, waving his hands out for silence. "First of all, we don't know where he is right now; he ran off right under our noses screaming for you. Second, if you're with him you must be in Unova for the same goal, right?"
Diamond's eyes widened, as if his words have struck a point. Good. Emerald gave both of them a strange look, as if he had felt something as well.
"I know that you and Pearl are both Dex Holders," Ruby continued, his red eyes boring into Diamond's and willing him to understand. "As a comrade, won't you help me? Unova is in danger, and I know the reason why."
- Pinwheel Forest -
Pearl's muscles ached all over, his breath coming out in labored gasps. But the sound was nothing comapred to that of his Pokemon, who stood in a large ring around him to protect him from their foes. Ememy Pokemon surrounded them from all sides, dotted in between their Trainers all in black; with his vision swimming from fatigue, Pearl was hardly able to discern their black outfits from the dark trees behind them.
"What, don't tell me you've already lost that fighting spirit?" The taunting voice came from the man who stood atop a mossy ledge in fornt of Pearl. He was a lean, tall man with short teal hair and zealous amber eyes, a thoughtful smirk on his face and garbed in a white uniform in contrast to his minions - although the large R was still there on the uniform's chest.
"You see, this is the fate everyone faces when they decide that they are strong enough to challenge the might of Team Rocket alone," continued the man smugly. "I, Lieutenant Archer, shall personally show you the meaning... of endless despair.
Oh. My. God. Six reviews after writing one chapter. This is so touching! *bows deeply in gratitude* I really should be updating faster after this, but unfortunately I'm almost halfway there up to where I've drafted... dang. Life is endless toiling.
Idoloni, I think you have a point about the footnotes, so I'll start making them starting from this chapter. Thanks for the pointed advice! :) I always welcome feedbacks, even if they sting a bit.
#1. Ruby's birthday is July 2nd, while Sapphire's is September 20th. Can't wait till then!
#2. This, of course, is a reference to Emerald's short (and artificial) legs, along with Diamond's overall slow style. Oh, Saturn, now you've done it; made fun of Emerald's size.
#3. In my opinion, they ARE dating already...
Hm... G.T.F.W., five left? Would you like to tell me who those are? :)
Anyway, so Dia and Pearl appears again? And hallelujah, our dearest lovebird Ruby. I gave him a new Staraptor and to Sapphire a Roserade. I think Sapph gave Staro to Ruby to remind him of the strength that he hides within, similar to why Ruby gave her a Roselia. So cute :) And hello to Archer as well! So now you know that the newer faces in TR aren't about to miss out on the action, eh? Unfortunately Ariana and Proton doesn't appear in this arc (too many characters to feature :/), and Petrel? Well... XD
Well, that's all for today. The nexy chapter we begin where we left off, and we're also gonna welcome a new (well, old) face into this fic! You're free to guess! XD R&R!
Writing completed on May 21st, 2011. This is Yowl of Time, out.