OK, I had some free time on my hands, so I decided to update today! Have fun reading this!
"What?" King Lucario said after Gallade and Gardevoir told him and Queen Lopunny what they had found.
"It's true, sir. It appears that someone has switched maps. Whoever it was left this a note to tell us. The places that my wife chose were rather easy and comfortable. However, the places that the switcher put on his own map, which is the one that Team Valor has now, are not for the weak-hearted." Gallade said.
Gardevoir listed the places on the note. "The Wall of Ice, Corruption Cave, Mt. Dynamo, Forest of Clouds, Thunderous Plains, and Eruption Crater. If they follow this path, they will still get to the Kingdom of Zarton, but it will be far more dangerous, and the chances of them dying are much higher than if they took the path I had chosen."
"You do not have to worry about them, Gardevoir." Queen Lopunny said. Gardevoir looked at her in surprise, as did Gallade. Queen Lopunny continued. "They are the most powerful fighters in this age. I am sure that they will hold themselves up very well."
"She's right. We just have to trust them." King Lucario said. At that moment, one of Staraptor's Fearow army members burst in.
"My deepest apologies for interrupting, Your Majesties, Lord Gallade, Lady Gardevoir." Fearow shrieked. "But I have just been around the area of the Wall of Ice. The only thing is it had been turned into a waterfall! One of the Mightyena and one of the Primeape I was with leapt into the waterfall, and we have found a fallen Mr. Mime behind it! The strange thing was that it had bruises, and the bruises were half-frozen!"
Everyone else in the room looked at each other. "Do you think that was…" Gardevoir started.
"There's no doubt. We have not received word of any other Pokémon traveling around the Wall of Ice area. It had to be Abomasnow." Gallade said.
"What did you do with that Mr. Mime, young Fearow?" King Lucario asked.
"We have taken him into custody, in case you would like to question him." The Fearow answered with a tone of pride.
"Excellent. We will go question him now." Queen Lopunny said, rising from her throne.
Meanwhile…
"Corruption Cave is dead ahead." Luxray said.
"We should rest for the night. It's getting pretty dark, and besides, the amount of berries we've gathered is pretty big. We don't want our bags to burst." Drapion said. It was true. They had gathered almost every type of berry.
"Alright, then. I was getting rather hungry, anyway." Infernape said, setting down his pack. As he did, the ruby necklace that he had packed to give to Lopunny fell out. He tried to catch it before anyone else noticed, but it was too late when he got it. Everyone saw what it was.
"Following the ancient custom, Infernape?" Staraptor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not funny." Infernape growled.
"Hey, we're not making fun of you. You're not the only one." Machamp said. He then drew out a diamond ring for Medicham from his pack. Abomasnow brought out a lapis lazuli bracelet for Roserade from his belongings. Drapion took out a pair of amethyst earrings for Kricketune from his pack. Staraptor revealed an aquamarine hairpin for Swellow from his pack. Finally, Luxray took out a topaz locket for Ninetales from his own pack. All of them looked embarrassed as they did this.
"As you can see, we are not going to be outdone by you." Abomasnow said.
Infernape gave a short laugh and put the necklace back into his pack, as did everyone else for their gifts. They ate in silence. The berries they ate were not only for nutrition, but to protect them from any possible status problems. Pecha berries for poison, Cheri berries for paralysis, Aspear berries for freezing, and Rawst berries for burns. The effects would last into the next day.
Machamp went to get eight fallen tree trunks, while Staraptor cut down leaves with a combination of Aerial Ace and Steel Wing. They then made two beds by putting four tree trunks into the shape of a square and then putting a huge pile of leaves in it. It was comfortable. Infernape, Staraptor, and Abomasnow slept in one makeshift bed, while Luxray, Machamp, and Drapion slept in the other. Despite the limited space, they slept peacefully, and were fully refreshed by the next morning.
They ate another breakfast of berries and apples. For an extra treat, they also ate some fried Seaking meat, which were formerly some dead naval soldiers from Walrein's navy. They were freshly cleaned, cooked, and well-prepared, and were eaten to honor the dead souls of the navy.
After this hearty meal, they were all ready to move on to Corruption Cave. Upon entering, Drapion felt a mysterious feeling creep over him, a sense of foreboding.
"I have a bad feeling about this." he thought.
Some time later…
Team Valor had surprisingly not encountered any other enemies yet, despite the long cave. Also, the seemingly eternal cave seemed to stretch on, and this was frustrating the entire team, except for Drapion.
"Ugh, what is wrong with this place? I don't have any time for this!" Machamp complained, punching the wall.
"Stop it! We don't know what this place can do! There is no telling what could happen to us!" Infernape shouted.
"Whatever could happen, it must be stoppable, or else people would not have even heard of it!" Luxray said.
All of a sudden, Staraptor's body was surrounded by red energy, and he was pinned against the wall. The same thing happened with everyone else, except for Drapion. "What? What's going on?" he asked, looking at his companions.
"I should be asking you. What is the meaning of this? Why isn't my psychic power working on you?" a new voice growled in frustration. Drapion turned around to see a strange Pokemon. Its eyes were glowing with red energy, the same kind that was trapping his friends to the wall. Drapion took his battle stance.
"Who are you?" he snarled.
"I am Alakazam, the lord of Corruption Cave. There is a reason this place is so dangerous. My psychic powers keep almost everyone at bay. Aside from certain Pokemon, they have all died here. You should be just as helpless as your friends, due to your Poison-Type nature. I have 5,000 IQ, so I am never wrong! How is it that you can resist my powers without even flinching?" Alakazam shouted. When Drapion gave a smug smile, he clenched his fist in anger. "Fine! I shall have to force it out of you! Psybeam!" He launched a powerful blast from his palms.
He was in for a huge surprise. Drapion snapped his tail forward and flicked the Psybeam away with barely disguised contempt. "This guy isn't the challenge I was expecting." he thought. Then he grew even more amused when he realized Alakazam was attempting another, more powerful Psychic attack.
"Psychic!" Alakazam tried. A red energy surrounded Drapion's body. It dissipated at once.
Inwardly, despite being pinned to the wall, the rest of Team Valor just could not restrain their need to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Alakazam demanded.
"Geez, for a Pokemon with 5,000 IQ, you are an idiot! Those attacks are worth nothing on me! I am a dual-type Pokemon. My other type is Dark-Type." Drapion explained with a cocky grin.
"And as you should have known, Psychic-type moves have no effect on Dark-Type Pokemon!" Luxray added. Alakazam paled. He was not aware of the fact that Drapion was a Dark-Type.
Still, he would not give up, to Drapion's surprise. "Energy Ball!" The Grass-Type move was something that was not deflected, but countered.
"Sludge Bomb!" Drapion normally used this attack to power up Poison Jab, but he was also skilled with firing the deadly and poisonous projectiles. The Energy Ball was broken instantly with contact with the Sludge Bombs, despite having a weak effect on Alakazam, still caused some smoke to well up upon contact with Alakazam's body, thereby blinding him.
This gave Drapion the distinct opportunity to attack. With his speed, it was quite easy to sneak up on Alakazam. "X-Scissor!" The Bug-Type move was super effective on Alakazam, and brought the Psychic-Type Pokemon to his knees.
"I'm not finished yet! Focus Blast!" Alakazam said. Drapion's eyes widened as he jumped away. He quickly powered up his Cross Poison/X-Scissor/Poison Jab/Sludge Bomb combo. When Alakazam launched his powerful blast, it was all Drapion could do not to get blown away. With his X-Scissor and Cross Poison claws, he was barely able to hold his ground. Gritting his teeth, Drapion stuck his Sludge Bomb/Poison Jab tail into the Focus Blast as well. Unfortunately, it blew up, and blew Drapion into a wall.
"Drapion, are you all right?" Infernape shouted.
"I'll be fine! Just don't worry about me!" Drapion growled. Now he could see how Alakazam was able to beat any Dark-Types that went into this cave. Focus Blast was a Fighting-Type move, and even though Drapion was able to lessen the damage from the Focus Blast, the impact was amazing. Luckily, he had trained against Machamp to try to learn how to counter Focus Blast, and it helped, but even that training hadn't prepared Drapion for something like this.
Then he got an idea. Focus Blast took a few seconds and a lot of energy to charge up. It seemed that the last Focus Blast had taken a lot out of Alakazam's energy. If he could take advantage of the time needed to charge up Focus Blast, he could just get close enough to strike.
"Pathetic! Where's your bravado now? Focus Blast!" Alakazam laughed. Drapion charged right when Alakazam launched the Focus Blast. Although Drapion was going fast, it was not his top speed. At top speed, he could actually run on par with Infernape. He once had a race with Infernape and a few other Pokemon, namely Rapidash, Garchomp, Dodrio, Sceptile, Persian, Linoone, and even Princess Lopunny. He came up below the princess and his leader in third place.
After dodging the Focus Blast, Drapion went into top speed, and used his strength to ram Alakazam. The Psi Pokemon had no chance after the Ogre Scorp Pokemon used his next move.
"X-Scissor!" It was over. Alakazam had just taken two direct X-Scissor hits. It would have been insane to continue. Once Alakazam fainted, the psychic energy imprisoning Team Valor dissipated.
"Nice job, Drapion!" Staraptor crowed. Drapion grinned as Abomasnow slapped him a high five.
"Luxray, what's our next location?" Infernape asked.
"Mt. Dynamo. It's not too far from here." Luxray answered.
Upon hearing the name Mt. Dynamo, Machamp paled. "Mt. Dynamo… the place where I used to live. And if we're fighting who I think we're fighting, we could be in for some serious trouble!"
In the shadows, a Beedrill spy from Yanmega's squad watched as Team Valor left Corruption Cave through the exit that appeared when Alakazam fainted. As quickly as he could before Team Valor spotted him, the Beedrill flew as quickly as he could back to the Kingdom of Zarton.
He broke into the throne room panting. "Your Majesty Dusknoir! Both Mr. Mime and Alakazam have been beaten!"
Dusknoir leapt from his throne. "WHAT! Impossible! Those two were just below Magmortar, Electivire, Ursaring, Yanmega, Rhyperior, and Tangrowth! How could they have been beaten so easily?" he roared.
"Sir, if it's any comfort at all, they still have to get through Mt. Dynamo." Beedrill said.
Dusknoir calmed down, and the face on his stomach seemed to smile with malice. "If that's the case, then we will not have to worry! The Pokemon I sent there is far too powerful for any of them to handle!" he laughed maniacally.
Lopunny and Team Majesta were listening in. Dusknoir had put them in a bedroom that was right next to the throne room. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that the rooms in his castle were not soundproof, and Team Majesta just heard every word they had said.
Upon hearing the name Mt. Dynamo, Medicham gasped quietly.
"Medicham, what's wrong?" Ninetales asked.
"Mt. Dynamo… I have to tell you guys something about it. Mt. Dynamo used to be a haven for Fighting-Type Pokemon. Before our parents died, Machamp and I used to play around and live there as Machop and Meditite. It was perfect…until he came." Medicham sighed.
"Who?" Kricketune pressed.
"A Pokemon called Metagross. He was strong enough to snap our parents like twigs. When he came into Mt. Dynamo, he completely took it over in the name of the Kingdom of Zarton. As far as I know, Machamp and I were the only ones to escape. We fled to the city where we met you guys." Medicham explained.
"Wait. If Metagross is still there, then…" Roserade started.
"Team Valor could be in serious trouble!" Lopunny panicked.
"No. They'll be fine. I don't think that they'll lose. We'll have to believe in them. They would do anything to save us." Swellow said.
"How can you be so sure, Swellow?" Lopunny asked.
"Didn't you see their eyes that night when we were kidnapped? They were blazing with the desire to protect us." Swellow said.
"She's right! I remember seeing Luxray's eyes burning with anger when he looked at his opponent. It must have been because he tried to hurt me." Ninetales remembered.
"And remember when Infernape used Blaze against Armaldo when we were only kids, and then he got me out of the way of Ancientpower?" Lopunny asked, her eyes sparkling.
"I'll never forget that day." Kricketune sighed.
"Medicham, you know what Machamp is capable of. You just have to believe in him." Swellow encouraged. Medicham nodded.
"Team Valor will save us. I'm sure of it." Roserade said.
So, it looks like Machamp is going to avenge his parents! But what are the chances of him succeeding? Will he be beaten down just as easily as his parents, or will his love for Medicham and his desire to avenge his and her parents pull him through? Metagross is pretty tough after all!
By the way, if you're thinking that it's impossible for a Drapion to run that fast, think again! Despite its bulk, Drapion can actually move pretty quickly for someone his size. In my Pokemon Pearl game, my Drapion can actually outrun my Infernape! In fact, he's my fastest Pokemon!
And if you're wondering, yes, Team Valor is based off of my team in Pearl. Sorry for rambling, and please review!