DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or any other companies or products mentioned in this story. I'm back, bitches!

Pokémon Zeta Advance

Chapter 9: Battle Of The Beetles!

"Here we are, Slateport City!" The ship stopped next to a dock.

"Huh. Last time I was in Slateport, they didn't have a dock," I said, taking in a deep breath of air. Eevee stretched out and jumped onto the dock. Furret, Espurr, and Dunsparce followed, and ran onto the beach. Carburn jumped onto the dock excitedly.

"Hellooo, Slateport! Bring on the fajitas and the hot señoritas~!" Rain smacked him casually as she stepped off the boat. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Rain smirked. "Slateport doesn't have~ any Mexican restaurants," she said.

"Well, according to the Town Map, they do~ have a Pancheros, but Pancheros don't make fajitas," Chase said reviewing his Pokénav.

"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Briney!" I said, thanking the old man.

"Hehehe! It's the least I could do for ye, lad! Ye saved Peeko, m'boy! Not once, but now twice! If ye ever need a thing, just ask!"

"Wingull!" Mr. Briney laughed.

"Aye, Peeko! I feel this won't be the last time we see these kiddos!"

"I'm telling you, it was ten feet long if it was an inch!"

"No way, man, there's no such thing as a ten foot Magikarp," Chase said, denying Carburn's claim. "And there's no freaking way you have the strength to pull one out of the water!"

"Actually, I've seen a giant Magikarp before while I was traveling the Orange Archipelago subregion," I said, reminiscing about my travels. "I've never heard of one in the Lake Of Rage, though."

We were on our way to the Contest hall, and we were all telling stories to pass the time.

"What about you, George? Any old war stories, ya geezer?" Burns asked. I smirked.

I laughed. "More than you can imagine, kid!" All three seemed to lean in. "Well," I started, "when I was in Sinnoh, I dug for fossils with Roark and Byron for a while."

"Uh-huh..."

"Go on..."

"Dunsparce..."

"And I hit something metallic with my pickaxe."

"Yan..."

"Fascinating..."

"... Then, we... Dug it out."

"Incredible..."

"Furr..."

"Okay, are you guys gonna let me finish?"

"Sorry, continue."

"Thank you. Anyway, it was the side of a 1972 Jeep CJ. I'd discovered Roark's long lost first car!" We all started laughing, but a crowd of people rushed past us, pushing us all to the ground in the process. Suddenly, some guy tripped over me.

"Hey! Watch it, ya street bums!" He yelled.

"Us watch it?! You're the jackass who wasn't watching where he was going!" I retaliated, jumping to my feet.

"Eevee!"

"You try not being in a rush to get an autograph from a contest idol for your kids!" With that, he rushed off to the contest hall.

"Did he say 'contest idol?' Ooh! It might be Ana! Guys, Ana might be in this city!" Chase panted excitedly, running after the jerk with Yanma hot on his tail. Rain and Carburn sighed. We all rushed after him.

'You know the old saying, "never meet your heroes?" We might be getting a prime example.'

When we got to the Contest hall, there was a crowd around the entrance. Luckily, there was a spot in the crowd where we got a chance to see what the hype was about. I smiled and shook my head when I saw a familiar face.

"Hey, everyone! I'm glad to see you all took the time to stop by for..." She paused for dramatic effect, and struck her trademark pose. "Lisia's Contest Spectacular Talent Scouting Excursion! Time to see who's got what it takes to climb to the top of the Contest Spectacular ladder of fame!" The teenage girl scanned the crowd slowly, her teal hair practically glowing from the sunlight. She was wearing a blue and white sleeveless top and a matching skirt, as well as a headband and matching shoes. Soon, she spotted Eevee and I in the crowd, and her teal eyes lit up with joy.

I chuckled. "Hey, Shortie!" She ran over, splitting the sea of people like Moses.

"George! It's been, what, three years?" She asked.

"Yeah, about three. How've you been?"

"Great! Ali and I, as you can tell, are huge contest idols, and we're even been approached about product endorsements!"

"That's awesome, Lisia!"

"Vee!" Suddenly, I felt a dark presence. As if a massive shift in a nearby aura created a powerful dark entity...

"So, George... How do you know this... Child..?" I could feel the controlled rage in Rain's voice, and when I looked, I saw a dark aura around her.

Never pegged her for the jealous type... I thought. "R-Rain, this is Lisia... She's an old friend from the last time I was in Hoenn."

"Actually, George helped me get my start in contests! He's like the older brother I never had!" Suddenly, the dark aura disappeared.

'Hallelujah, we're alive!'

Hallelujah, you're still here...

"So where's the big bird himself?" Lisia asked.

"Back at the ranch," I replied, "Had to leave him behind. I'm trying to stay incognito, get it?"

"Aaahh. Gotcha," she said. Suddenly, the Contest hall doors slammed open, revealing a girl of around Chase's age, maybe a little older, with muddy brown hair and golden-yellow eyes full of arrogance and anger. Her hair had blonde highlights, clearly meant to make her hair look more dirty blonde. She wore a short, brown dress with matching high heels and a belt with a brass buckle, and a black pleather half-jacket. She was being followed by a Pinsir wearing a bandana on its head.

"Hey, Lissi, what's up? Find a new loser crew to hang out with?" She laughed in a demeaning manner, trying to get under Lisia's skin. Instead of getting irritated, however, Lisia just smirked.

"Now why would I be hanging out with your friends, Ana?" Everyone's jaws dropped.

"... Gonna need some Burn Heal over here."

"Shut up, Carburn..!" Chase whispered angrily. Ana huffed angrily.

"How dare you, Lisia?! I am an interregional star! You're hardly even known of where I'm from! Yet I choose to grace Hoenn with my presence, and you insult me?!" She was throwing a full-blown, bona-fide diva temper-tantrum. Everyone started looking a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, Ana, chill," I said. Suddenly she turned towards me.

"'Chill?' 'Chill?!' You think this is some sort of joke, you f**ker?! Why don't you and your blue-haired bitch stay out of this?!" That did it. I reached for Charizard's ball, but before I could even grab it, Chase stepped in.

"I don't appreciate you insulting my friends. I think it's time someone took you down a peg or two!" He announced. "Ana, I challenge you to a battle! One Pokémon each, no time limit! If I win, you have to apologize to my friends!" The Contest idol laughed.

"Deal, but if I win," she said, pointing at Carburn, "you and the idiot will become my personal servants for the rest of your lives!"

"Now wait a second, I'm not some sorta doll to be won at the state fair-"

"Deal," Chase agreed, completely ignoring Carburn.

"Hey, Bug Boy! Gamble with your own chips here, huh?!"

We managed to find a ref for the battle pretty quickly, and the Contest hall battle stage was free for our use. As we sat in the bleachers, Furret skittered around, occasionally popping his head up to see, Espurr was asleep on Rain's shoulder, Rain was watching with wide eyes, waiting for the battle to start, Burns was biting his nails, Dunsparce was trying to comfort him, and Eevee and I were watching expectantly, ready to examine both trainers' strategies.

"The battle between Chase from Goldenrod City and Ana from Hearthome City will now begin!"

"Obviously, I choose Pierce," Ana stated. Her Pinsir, who must've been Pierce jumped onto the battlefield. Chase stared down Pierce for a moment.

"Heracross! I choose you!" he exclaimed, throwing a Pokéball into the air. The Pokéball popped open, releasing a stream of white light which revealed Heracross, who had his Mega Stone perched on his horn. It was clear that Chase's determination had spread to Heracross and Yanma.

Maybe he'll actually pull it off, then, I thought.

"Heracross, Aerial Ace!" Heracross launched himself at Pierce.

"Pierce, dodge." Pierce twirled out of the way. "Close Combat." He slammed his elbow into Heracross's back.

"Counter, Heracross!" Heracross spun himself around before Pierce could land another blow and punched him just to the left of his mouth. "Now Night Slash!" Heracross's claw found the right side of Pierce's face. Ana was starting to look worried.

Meaning Chase is the only one who had a strategy going in, I mused, grinning slightly.

"Enough of this!" Ana screeched, pulling something out of her jacket pocket. Rain gasped.

"She has a Key Stone!"

"That's it, man! We're done for! Game over, man, game over!"

"It's nothing to worry about, guys."

"George are you insane?!" Carburn asked. "Heracross is nowhere near strong enough to take a Mega!"

"Just watch," I responded.

"Now, Pierce!" Ana said, "MEGA EVOLVE!"

Nothing happened. Pierce didn't Mega Evolve, or even get a power boost.

"So that was your strategy, toy with us, then Mega Evolve to end it," Chase said. "But it looks like you missed something. Well... Allow us to show you how it's done! Let's do it, Heracross!" Heracross chirped in agreement, and Chase tapped the Key Stone on his belt buckle. "Mega... EVOLUTION!" A huge burst of light surrounded Heracross, and when it exploded away, the blue bug was bulkier and had a smaller second horn like a nose. "Aerial Ace!" Heracross launched at Pierce once more, but this time, the blue beetle nailed the Pinsir with a critical hit, causing it to faint.

Ana dropped to her knees. "W-Why..? Why didn't he Mega Evolve..? He'd done it so many times before..."

"It's not that he didn't Mega Evolve," I said, jumping down. "It's that he couldn't."

"W-what..?"

"In order to Mega Evolve, a trainer and their Pokémon need three things; the Mega Stone, the Key Stone, and a powerful bond. Somewhere along the line, you and Pierce lost your bond."

"Eevee."

Ana looked down at Pierce's Pokéball, and cried a little. "I-It's - all - my - fa-ault!" Chase pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket for her to dry her eyes.

"Look, Ana," he said, kneeling down next to her, "you just need to stop letting fame get to your head. Keep in mind everyone who helped you get where you are today. Find some friends who'll help keep you grounded in reality, got it?"

She smiled and handed back his kerchief. "You mean... Someone like you..?"

"Sure," Chase said, grinning. Ana blushed and faced the other direction.

Ohhhh!

'Ohhhh!' Looking at the others, I could see it was clicking with them too. Well, all but Chase. Typical.

"I'll see you all again, right?"

"Yeah, we'll be in Mauville tomorrow. Maybe we can meet up before we leave," I stated.

"Sounds like fun! Sorry again. For everything..."

"Don't sweat it, ancient history!"

"Wasn't that just this morning, though?"

"Not now, Carburn."

"Yes now, Bug Boy! Just cause she's your girlfriend doesn't make it 'ancient history!' Irrelevant history, maybe."

"What about a girlfriend now?" Ana giggled.

"Bye!" She walked towards her hotel, and eventually disappeared into the building.

"I should probably go, too," Lisia announced. "If you need anything, here's my number~!" She handed Carburn a slip of paper, and ran off as well.

"Wait, why'd she give Burns her number? I already-Ohhhh."

Well, this has been a long time coming. Sorry it took so long everybody, I've just been swamped with school and work and stuff.

In memory of Satoru Iwata

Thank You