DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or any other brand, song, product, etc. that I mention in this story. Never assume I do. Because when you assume, you make an ass out of "u" and me.
Pokémon: Zeta Advance
Chapter 5: Sibling Rivalry
Floatzel and Torkoal were standing before us, ready to say farewell. Floatzel's right arm was in a sling, and Torkoal's nose was running. The Pokémon had said their good byes the night before, so now it was our turn. "Bye, you guys," Carburn said.
"I've only known you two a short while, but it's been fun!" Chase commented.
"Ooh, I'll miss you two! Take care of yourselves, okay?" Rain said, petting their heads.
"I'm sorry, guys... I let you both down..." I said. They both smiled at me, trying to convince me otherwise. I knelt down and wrapped an arm around each of them. "I promise you'll get to see the whole region soon! Once you're all healed up, we'll go everywhere you guys'll miss! I won't leave Hoenn until then! I swear it!"
The two of them hugged me back, Torkoal as much as it could without body slamming me, and we head to the lobby.
We got out of the elevator, terror still flooding my eyes. "Hey, are you gonna be okay, George?" Rain asked, genuinely concerned. She had no idea what unholy embodiment of death she was about to meet. They had already guessed I was afraid of her. I refused to describe her, so they'd spent half the night guessing what she looked like. In the process, they'd nearly scared themselves out of sleeping.
I went to the counter to check out. "Penthouse, checking out."
"Thank you for staying with us, sir! Would you be interested in the annual Rustboro Groundbreak Tournament?" He had my interest.
"Revertemur?"
"Every year for the past five years, Devon Corp. has put on a Pokémon battling tournament to celebrate the founding of the Trainers' School. It's split up into categories, so no one feels too far outmatched! It's open for anyone to enter!"
I thought for a second before answering. "I would be very interested in that." He handed me a pamphlet, and Eevee and I read it while walking to the door. "Hey, guys, their having a tournament tomorrow! If I know anything about my sister, she'll want to sight-see, so we'll be here anyway," I told them when I walked out the door.
"Sounds like fun! And maybe Espurr can learn a thing or two from watching, can't you?"
"Myah!" Espurr agreed.
"Yes! Finally, a chance to show off my skills!"
"Dun!"
"And Nincada can get a little exercise!"
"Yan Yan!" It was settled. We were all entering into our own respective class tiers. Just then, a taxi pulled up. I quickly snatched the pamphlet and stuffed it into my back pocket, and put on a smile.
The door opened, and a woman of about 5'5 stepped out, effectively making her five inches shorter than Rain, the group's smallest member. She had skin paler than mine, and long, blonde hair tied back into a pony tail. The only physical feature that made our relation clear was that she had the same faded ice-blue eyes I did. She was wearing a gray t-shirt and blue skinny jeans. She was wearing an ordinary pair of gray running shoes, too. But the way Chase and Burns were staring, she could've been in a short dress, made up by professionals, and wearing six-inch heels. I smacked them both in the back of the head as hard as I could. "She's engaged, you horny bastards," I explained. Her Persian, a large, feline Pokémon got out as well. What I wasn't expecting was her fiancé to get out of the other side.
He was pretty average looking, and he didn't normally try to impress people. He was about an inch taller than her with an athletic, stocky build. His hair was neatly buzzed, and he was clean-shaven. I reached up and felt my own face. I guess I'm due for a shave myself, I thought, feeling the stubble.
He had on about the same color scheme as my sister, but he was wearing a lab coat. "Hey, Georgie!" My sister chirped. My eyebrow twitched. I hated that nickname. Soooooooo much.
"Hey, Catie. Hey, Kurt," I greeted.
"... Aren't you going to introduce us?" Catie asked, motioning to my friends. Particularly, to Rain.
"First things first. My Balls. I need 'em." Everyone but Catie and I started snickering. Even Kurt. Catie was considerably less amused. Without once changing her expression from her smile, she moved around me like a tiny whirlwind, pinning me to the ground with my arm in a position to break. All of them stopped laughing. My friends' faces changed to expressions of terror. Kurt's and Eevee's changed to mild annoyance.
"I said," she began, pressing on my arm at the emphasis to cause more pain. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Okay! Okay! I give!" She let me go. I got up, and motioned to everyone as I introduced them. "This is Chase. He's a bug catcher. This is Carburn and his partner, Dunsparce. He's our comic relief. This is Rain and her Pokémon, Espurr and Furret. She also has a Froslass."
Catie looked them all over, judging them, like one would judge a cut of meat. She smiled and introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Catie, and this is Persian, one of my partners!"
"Mraaaawww!" Persian said.
"And this is Kurt! His main partner's Arcanine!"
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way..." I held out Floatzel's and Torkoal's Pokéballs.
"Fine. Always right to the point, aren't you?" She pulled two Pokéballs from her purse, and we exchanged them. I used my Pokédex to double check they were the right ones.
Sharpedo-Lvl:36... Charizard-Lvl:100.
Good.
'Oooh, we are in BUSINESS now!'
"Thanks, Catie... Keep those two from getting themselves killed, okay?"
"Only if you can manage to keep yourself out of trouble." She joked. I could tell she was very worried, though. She'd been there when I got the scar.
I smiled. "C'mon! I take after Grandpa! You and I both know I'm not going to listen!" I turned around to find some water to let Sharpedo out of its ball into. Catie saw the pamphlet in my pocket, and snatched it.
"What's this?" I winced. "George, are you entering this tournament?"
"Yyyyyyeeeeeaaaahhhh... I was hoping you could... Cheer from the sidelines?"
"Hell no!" Her expression was one of anger. She got on her tip-toes to be (more or less) eye-level with me. "I'm going to enter, and beat you!" She hissed. Then I got competitive.
"You haven't beaten me in a battle in eight years. Just try to win now. I'll just smash you into the ground again," I hissed back. We were trying to stare each other down. I could see her eyes were ablaze with determination, and I knew mine were the same.
"Oh, boy," Kurt sighed. "There they go again."
"Vee..."
While Kurt and Catie went sight-seeing, the rest of us went to the lake just outside of town. "Sharpedo! Charizard! Come on out!" Two Pokéballs opened mid-air. Out of them came an aquatic Pokémon with a dark blue body, a white underbelly, yellow markings on its body, and read eyes, and a large dragon like Pokémon with orange skin, a pale yellow underbelly, blue eyes, two horns on its head, a brilliant flame on its tail, and blue coloring to the inside of its wings.
The aquatic Pokémon, Sharpedo, made an ecstatic sound, whereas Charizard roared, and launched at me. I couldn't get out of the way. "GEORGE!" Rain screamed in horror.
She went from terrified to confused when she saw Charizard had me in a bear-hug. My Charizard is unique in many ways. The most notable is his height. Normally, Charizard are a little under six foot tall. My Charizard is a foot taller than average.
I was laughing loudly. "I missed you, too, bud! But... It's getting a little hard to breathe..." Charizard let me down, and introduced himself to the others and their Pokémon. Espurr climbed off of Rain's shoulder and onto Charizard's head. Furret started sniffing him all over, to make sure he was safe to hang around. Charizard, in turn, brought his head down, and looked scrutinizingly at Rain.
"Uh... Hi, Charizard..." I could tell she was nervous, so I walked over, and took her hand, and put it out for Charizard to sniff.
"Don't be scared. He may be big, but he's a complete pushover outside of battle." As I said that, Charizard enveloped Rain in a friendly bear-hug, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "He likes you!"
"I noticed!" Charizard put Rain down, and looked around, eyes wide with curiosity. I chuckled again, because Rain's legs were a little wobbly. I took her hand to help support her until her legs woke up a bit more. We looked at each other and laughed, not breaking eye contact.
In her eyes, I could see a sort of amazement, as well as boundless kindness and warmth. That is, until Espurr jumped back onto her head, and used Barrier like a large finger to force me to break eye contact. Rain started laughing at Espurr's over protectiveness, and I started laughing, too.
Then frickin' Burns had to open his mouth. " Rain and George, sittin' in a-" SMACK! Complete silence
"... What?" Chase said. "Someone had to shut him up!" The three of us laughed, as well as all the Pokémon.
"Why, Bug Man?!" I wasn't entirely sure what Chase said.
But it sounded like, "Insulting a man's ship be worse than insulting his mother!"
"Okay!" I said. "Kurt and Catie are both double S-class trainers like me, so they'll be in the 'S-class & up' tier with Rain and I! That means Burns and Chase, you two are on your own on this one!"
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Burns asked.
"I don't know. Ice cream. Souvenir shopping. How ever you want to procrasti-" I was suddenly attacked by the flock of Taillow that I'd pissed off in Littleroot. I screamed and ran around like an idiot. Rain tried to shoo them away. Furret tried to help. Eevee tried to deter them with a Shadow Ball to no avail. Charizard tried to scare them off. Chase searched frantically for a Repel. Carburn and Espurr were on the ground. They couldn't breathe. They were laughing too hard.
After the Taillow left, and first-aid was admitted, we split into two groups for training. "Alright! Sunni, Sharpedo, you two are up first," I said cheerfully. I set up some targets for the two of them. "Sunni, Dazzling Gleam! Aerial Ace! Mist! Sing!"
She shot bursts of light at the first target, hitting the bullseye. Then she flew at top speed and nailed the second target in the bullseye as well. Next, she opened her beak, and mist poured out of it, enveloping her, and she flew around the target, creating a fog around it. Finally, I covered my ears as Sunni began to sing a lullaby. Her final target, Charizard, quickly dozed off. As did Rain. And Espurr. And Furret. And Eevee and Sharpedo, too. "You may need to learn to focus that more!" I said. Sunni landed on Charizard's belly, quite pleased with her abilities.
I set Eevee down next to Furret, and looked at Rain. She was sleeping peacefully, so I decided to wake her up gently. 'Or you could take her back to the room at the Poké Center-'
Suggest that ever again, and I will fucking end you. Permanently. Got it?
'I was just joking-'
Well it wasn't fucking funny. I gently put my hand against her cheek. She started to stir.
"Five more minutes..." She mumbled sleepily, rolling over in her sleep.
"Five more minutes," I whispered, smiling.
I managed to wake up Sharpedo and Charizard, but Eevee was out like a light. Luckily, Sharpedo was fully energized when it woke up, which made training a lot easier. Froslass managed to let herself out of her Pokéball, so I set up some targets for her to practice on until Rain woke up. "Sharpedo! Aqua Jet! Slash! Crunch! Ice Fang!" Sharpedo became enveloped in water and shot itself at a target. it missed, and slashed at another target with its fin. It hit the target, but was a little off. Then, it bit down on a third target, reducing it to crumbs (for biting techniques, I used some giant poffins). Finally, its many teeth started glowing. It bit down on the final target, which froze in its maw.
The sun was setting, and Sharpedo was still having trouble with Aqua Jet and Slash. "Don't get upset, Sharpedo! Look at this as an opportunity to find a special technique!" I said. It seemed to cheer Sharpedo up. "Let's take a break for dinner!"
"YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWN!" I looked over to see Rain finally waking up from her sleep. A while back, I had opened up my sleeping bag like a picnic blanket and set her on it, and put a pillow under her head. That was probably why her hair was all messed up when she sat up. "Mm... I thought I heard something about food?" She said sleepily.
"Yeah. I was just about to grill some steaks for dinner."
"Oh. Fantastic. Just wake me up when it's time to-DINNER?!" Her eyes were wide from the fact that it was now right around 6:30 in the evening. I smiled and laughed a little.
"Sunni's got quite the singing voice, doesn't she?"
"Why didn't you wake me up right away?!"
"I tried, but you said 'five more minutes.' I tried again five minutes later, but you looked just so damn cute, I couldn't bring myself to wake you up." She started blushing.
"D-Did you just say... I'm cute?"
"Yeah, I did." She blushed even more violently, and I smiled. "What're you going to do about it?"
I was really not expecting what she did about it.
When our lips finally came apart, she said, "Not a word to anyone... Not yet at least." I was too stunned to speak, so I just nodded. "Good! Now get to work on those steaks, mister! I've got some training to catch up on!"
I smiled widely. "Yes ma'am!" I said, giving a small salute.
This... This had to be the best day of my life, I thought, laying in bed.
'We can't get too comfortable! What if she gets kidnapped by demons?! Or taken by angels?! OH, GOD, SHE MIGHT BE ON FIRE ON THE CEILING RIGHT NOW!'
... I think I should stay away from Supernatural for a while.
'Awww, but I love that show!'
I can tell.
"Ee?"
"I'm fine, Eevee. Just thinking."
"... Ee-Eevee Eevee vee-vee?"
"None of your business, that's what happened while you were out."
"Eevee, Vee!"
"Sorry, bud. You snooze, you lose!" Eevee thumped me lightly with his paw for the pun. I chuckled deviously at Eevee's frustration. "Another time, buddy. Just not now."
The morning of the tournament went as follows; Eevee and I woke up intensely. We brushed our teeth intensely. Got dressed. Intensely! I decided to put on a pair of fingerless riding gloves ("motorcycle riding," you sick fucks!) and we ran to the battlefields they had put up outside of Devon Corp.'s front door.
There were four of them. One for each tier group. There was the "S-class & above" field the furthest from the front gates. It was also the largest, since all of the larger Pokémon would be there.
Then there was the "A-class" field right next to it, and next to that was the "B-class" field. And closest to the gate was the "C-class & below" field, which was the smallest. That's where any new trainers and small children would be battling.
"What do you think? Dad did a pretty good job, if I say so myself." I looked to my right, and standing there was Steven Stone.
"It's fantastic," I replied. "Are you competing, too, Steven?"
"No, I'll just be watching. I heard that your sister's entering, and I couldn't bear to miss seeing such sibling rivalry!" I looked back at the fields somberly.
"... She got Scizorite, didn't she?"
"Yes. The last one I had in stock. May I ask what happened to her original one?"
"She traded it for my grandpa's golden Pokéball, which someone had stolen and sold."
"There's that 'legendary peacekeeper' gene showing."
"I must'a missed that one." He laughed.
"Just because it hasn't shown itself in you doesn't mean it's not there." With that, he left.
"... Hey, Eevee."
"Vee?"
"Do you think I'll ever be like Grandpa?"
"Eevee!"
"Welcome to the 5th annual Rustboro Groundbreak Tournament! I hope you brought a seat cushion, because you'll be on the edge of it the whole time!" The crowd cheering. The announcer hyping them up. I thought back to a few months ago. 'I thought this is why you left!' Zyx complained.
No... I left because I couldn't take Romulan's insanity. One day, however, I will take his place, and restore honor to the Council!
"Now! Let's begin!" The announcer shouted. The rules for us were pretty straightforward. You could only use three Pokémon per battle, but you could change them up between battles. The final battle will be six-on-six, no substitutions. Other than that, all's fair game, besides the obvious rules and regulations of the League.
Most of my battles are a blur. And during all of Rain's, I was so focused on her, I didn't watch the actual battle. Then, before I knew it, "The four trainers in the S-class and above category to move on to the semi-finals are... George, Kurt, Catie, and Rain!" Thunderous applause. "The first of the two battles shall be George versus Kurt!" I got back on the field, knowing Kurt's team already.
"Oh, this'll be fun!" Kurt called across the field.
"Hmph! You're just a stepping stone to battling Catie!" I called back. It wasn't trash talk, it was just a friendly competition of confidence before the battle.
"Begin!"
"Go! Nidoking!" Kurt cried, throwing his first Pokéball into the air. From it came a large, purple, spiky beast with a thick body and a long tail.
"Eevee, you're up!" I used my arm to launch Eevee into battle, like I'd done a few days ago. The two of them eyed each other, waiting for the first move.
"Iron Tail!" Kurt and I yelled in tandem. Nidoking swung low, trying to hit Eevee on the ground, but Eevee was too fast. He started spinning like a wheel, and slammed his Iron Tail on Nidoking's head.
"Shadow Ball!" I called. Eevee shot a ball of shadowy energy at Nidoking without hesitation.
After that, I fell into a sort of battlefield trance. I can't remember the whole battle, but I remember Pidgeot and Arcanine... "And the winner is... George!" I woke up from my battle-trance, and saw that I'd won. I gave Kurt an apologetic look. He held up a hand to show it was fine.
Catie did not find it fine at all. She went all out against Rain with Spiritomb, Scizor, and Arbok. Her A-Team. It was clear Catie was in a battle-trance of her own when one of Arbok's Poison Jab attacks hit Rain in the arm and Catie didn't notice. My vision went red. No! I have to... Stay calm... Strategy... Strategy... I knew how to handler Catie in a battle-trance, but this one was different. It was like she was possessed. "Are you okay?" I asked Rain.
"I'm fine," she said. "And if I'm not, that's what the paramedics are here for!" She walked to the first aid center, and I turned my attention to Catie.
"Let's settle this. Once and for all."
Three hours into battle. She's down to one Pokémon. I still have three left. It's a battle between Charizard and Scizor. Luckily, Catie's snapped out of her battle-trance, and feeling fine. I, on the other hand, am feeling everything Charizard feels. And I felt like shit.
"Not bad! I didn't expect you to last this long, Georgie!"
'Oh, now she done it.' I slammed my Mega Ring. Catie slammed her Mega Pendant.
"Mega... EVOLUTION!" We both cried in tandem. Scizor and Charizard were both enveloped in light. When it dispersed, Charizard's wings had grown. He now had a third horn atop his head, flap-like protrusions on his arms, a longer tail, and a bigger flame at the end of it. He Mega Evolved into Mega Charizard Y.
Scizor had grown. Its pincers had become mor scissor-like, and its eyes turned blue, but beyond that, there wasn't much change. The sunlight suddenly grew stronger.
"Charizard! BLAST BURN!" I called. Charizard summoned as much power as it could, and fired a huge fireball at Scizor which exploded into a pillar of fire.
When the flames subsided, Scizor fell. Catie was shocked. "Rule one of battling me, Catie," I said as Charizard reverted to its normal form. "Never give me a four x weakness opening." The crowd erupted.
"George Steinkreuz has won! His prize is... A one year free subscription to Devon Corp.'s special assistance services! Anything you need is a phone call away for one full year!"
"Oh well... At least you can make use of that prize here. Kurt and I should head back. See you later, little brother." Charizard and I both fell onto our backs. We started laughing.
"That shit was insane, huh big guy?" Charizard growled in agreement.
Since the path back to the Petalburg side of Petalburg Woods was easier to traverse than the other way around, we decided to wait till morning. That way, we could hit the beach for a little (more) R&R. Then, we could hitch a ride with Mr. Briney to Dewford.
"I've made my decision!" Rain declared at dinner.
"What's that?" Asked Chase through a mouthful of ramen.
"George is a certified substitute Gym Leader, and, according to the laws, can mentor a Glit."
"Yep. It's all official," I said. Rain got up and took her dishes to the conveyer belt that whisked them away to the teenagers who would wash them. Then, she came back, kissed my cheek, and sat back down.
"Wait, you're dating her, too?! That can't be legal!" Carburn spat.
"As long as I don't show favoritism over the other Glits in my care, it's fine. And, since there are none..."
"Anything goes," Rain finished. We high-fived, then went back to the room we were staying in. It had a changing stall in it, in case of a situation similar to ours.
"What happened to secrecy?" I asked her once we'd both changed for bed.
"They were going to figure it out sooner or later."
"Somehow, I highly doubt that." She smiled, and sat down next to me.
"Okay! Time for the oh-so-great Pokémon master to reveal more of his past!" Of course she wouldn't forget.
"When my sister and I were little, Grandpa would push us on the tire swing he had in the back yard and sing us old sea shanties. Not only that, but sometimes, we'd go get donuts, and he would feed bits of his to wild Pokémon from his hand."
"Wow. You talk about your grandpa a lot. He must be a great man!"
I smiled, and a tear rolled down my face. "He was."
See? I told ya I'd get that Taillow attack in! In case you guys are wondering, yes, my grandpa is no longer with us. He, um... He passed away a couple months ago from Lymphoma. It was his third bout with cancer. The stubborn old man didn't go without a fight, though. He was a great man, he was the greatest man I'd ever known, despite some things in his childhood that could've lead him to be... Not such a great man, but... He was always there to help, even when there was nothing you needed. I'd really like to dedicate this chapter specifically to his memory, even though he never knew a damn thing about Pokémon, he loved stories. So, that's all I got for this chapter. See you later!
Everyone really misses you, Grandpa.