Chapter 12
Incyte
Alfa woke up to his styler vibrating on his bedside table. There was an incoming message. He stretched his arm out for his styler and ended up falling of the bed and hitting the floor headfirst. He groaned as he got to his feet and checked his styler. He checked the message. It was from the professor. It said that firstly the team name had been changed to Incyte. Second was a reminder of the finals the next day. They were to go up against Brotherhood, who would have been their first opponents if not for, well, Alfa couldn't remember why they didn't play against Brotherhood.
He walked towards the door and left the room, squinting in the bright light that flooded through the hall's window. His windows were curtained at the time. He checked the wall clock. Seven forty-five. Alfa walked through the hall and slipped into a room on one side. It had been converted into a cinema room, but it was exactly the same shape and size as the room two floor below it; the lab. Sicilia didn't know about the dumbwaiter in the corner, Alfa walked over to it, pressing the button as he waited for the machinery to silently pull up the dumbwaiter. He lowered himself through the opening, hitting his head against the top.
He pulled the interior lever down, making the platform on which he was crouching descend. A few moments later, he was in the lab, stepping out. He managed to hit his head again. It really was annoying. He had hit his head three times in fifteen minutes. He walked over to blueprint board and pulled up his design. The only flaw in it was how to convey his intentions to the Pokémon through the disc so it wouldn't thrash about or get injured in the process.
He stood there thinking for a good twenty minutes. He wasn't going to copy the mechanics of the capture styler. That he had sworn. After finding no answer to his question, Alfa left the room and climbed the stairs back, heading for Ice's room. It was a working day, Thursday, but they had practice, with the emergency beacon activated though. If anyone dialed 405, the phone would send out a signal, acting as a distress beacon for union operators to receive.
Alfa went to Ice's room and walked in, waking Ice up.
"What time is it?" he groaned.
"Eight fifteen." Alfa replied. "Get up, its practice day. The finals are tomorrow." He left the room, heading for Sicilia's room to see if she was awake. She wasn't. Alfa went back to his room and left a note for Sicilia via message board saying they would be back for a late lunch, and to order lunch from somewhere around two thirty. He changed into his ranger uniform and grabbed his cellphone and his styler. Ice had built the trio's phones. They operated on a normal phone network, but had been configured so the three could call each other without ordinary cellphone signal.
He went downstairs and poured out two bowls of cereal and headed out to find Latios. He found Latios clearing the way as usual.
'Be ready.' Said Alfa briefly before he went back inside for breakfast. He joined Ice at the table and wolfed down the bowl of cereal, taking a box of Tic Tac from the fridge, eating a few and putting the box in his pocket. Ice headed up to get his keys. They were using his car today. Alfa bent down to push in the metal strap .lock on his shoes. He pushed them into lock and headed out to the car. He sat down in the front passenger seat as Ice came out and took the wheel. The duo wove through the lake and made their way to the union, arriving there within a half hour. The first half of their day passed quickly amidst practice and one emergency call for which Wendy was sent out. The team broke for lunch at around two fifteen, collecting new slightly changed uniforms. His consisted of a crimson shirt with a broad white stripe in a very wide V on his chest made up of white paneling in the shape of a football's panels. His shorts were white with a red paneled stipe going inwards in a V when he joined his legs. The captain's armband had been edited so that it was again the same style of paneling as the shirt, half in red, half of it in white.
Ice's uniform was pretty much the same, just full sleeves and keepers gloves. As the two boys headed for their home, Sicilia called Ice, who tossed his phone to Alfa since they had just reached the cave.
"Hi." Said Alfa.
"Alfa, is that you? Why do you have Ice's phone?" she asked.
"He's driving. We're on our way home, have you ordered lunch?" he replied.
"Yes, subway. See you soon." She answered before cutting the call. The two boys passed through the cave as the call ended, exiting it into the snowy plains of the Hia valley. Ice hit the accelerator and they flew across the land, not slowing down until they reached the lake at one hundred kilometers per hour. A few minutes of navigating the rapids later, the boys had parked the car in the garage and were running up the stairs to Sicilia and Alexis.
"Turkey and roast beef for the two of you. I checked the weather and there's a blizzard forecast so I ordered eight instead of four so that we don't have to cook." Said Sicilia, taking two subs out of a plastic bag and sliding them across the table for the boys to unwrap and eat. The four sat down together as all of a sudden, it started snowing and the wind started blowing. The forecast was right, they were trapped in a blizzard. They spent the day playing board games since they had to conserve energy as the power lines were shaking and might have snapped. So the boys set up a battery charge.
The next day, Alfa looked out the window when he woke up at six. They had all gotten up early so that they could catch the flight to Johto, where they would play in the pokéatholon stadium against Brotherhood. The blizzard had stopped and snow was falling lightly. They had all packed their bags, and set off for the union immediately after having breakfast. Incyte was travelling by air to Johto, which was a few time zones behind, but that would let them rest once they got there. They grouped up at the union, setting off for the airport in their own cars, since the Unions Coach was out for servicing.
They were checking their bags in as Kellyn passed around a small bottle before zipping it up in his check in luggage.
"Anti-jetlag medicine. Take one now." He whispered as he passed the bottle to Alfa. Soon, the entire team was on the plane, asleep in the first class section which was empty apart from them. It seemed that not many people were going to Johto that day. As the plane touched down in Johto, Alfa woke up, realizing they had arrived. The day was here. It had been a five hour flight, departing at seven in the morning, Almian time. Johto was three hours behind them so they arrived at nine in the morning.
Alfa glanced out and looked at golden rod city's view as they passed through it in a rented coach. It was an amazing sight. Seeing this and realizing how many new places there were to see in the world, Alfa promised himself he would visit them all once. The team arrived at the stadium and sat down in the bleachers, resting until ten thirty, and then beginning practice. They stopped at eleven thirty to get their energy levels up and also not reveal their playing style to Brotherhood, who had arrived. The match was about to start at twelve with Incyte kicking off, but all of a sudden, the commentators made an announcement.
"Player, the match format has changed. There will be no half time, instead, whenever I say switch, I have a schedule here, you will stop all movement and your exact place will be taken by your Pokémon. If there is a struggle for the ball, the referee will decide who gets the ball. Ready, start!" he said, as the whistle blew at the end of the announcement. Kellyn and Lunick kicked off, Kellyn making a dash for the goal, but all of a sudden, found himself face to face with Misty and Jasmine who were blocking his path. Without stopping, he dove down feet first and slid between them, taking the ball along with him as he kicked it to Sven so it wouldn't get taken while he was still on the ground. Sven ran as far as the d, but Brock Orton managed to stop him and take the ball, sending it flying across the field to Blue.
Blue sped forward at an incredible pace, making it past the defenders and kicking the ball at Ice, who managed to stop it with the tip of his hand. As he was about to throw the ball out, the commentator shouted 'switch' through the microphone. Every single player stopped moving as their Pokémon came and stood in their exact spots before Latios threw the ball out to Blaziken who sent it flying across the field's width to Sceptile.
Sceptile, Blaziken and Cranidos weaved through the defense, taking their time to get everything lined up for a shot, before Sceptile launched the ball straight at Metagross on purpose. Alfa stood at the edge of the field guessing what had happened. The attacking trio had predicted Metagross's defense style. Metagross extended all of its legs and began spinning in the air, sending the ball to a waiting Cranidos who head-butted it back, but Metagross span into the corner and sent it straight to Blaziken, who kicked it into the opposite side of the net, scoring one for Incyte.
Blue's Scizor kicked off, weaving through the defense with an incredible speed, and leapt ten feet into the air, firing at the goal. Latios sped forward and stopped it with a sound blast, sending Scizor into the air as well, but Scizor managed to kick it in while Latios was descending. The score was even.
All of a sudden, there came an exclamation of 'switch' from the speakers. Kellyn and Lunick kicked off again, this time taking the ball into the D before passing to Alfa who kicked it into he net, curving it just below Chuck's arm. The game continued for a while, switching again twice. There were fifteen minutes left in the game when Alfa and the other went back on the field. Blue had the ball and sped into the D again, running like a madman. He kicked the ball at ice who punched it back, but Blue lashed out determinedly and sent the ball flying just pass Ice. The first goal he had ever conceded in his life.
Lunick kicked off, passing the ball to Kellyn, who all of a sudden, ran forward again, weaving through the defense, and before Chuck could try and grab the ball, he changed direction slightly and slid the ball into the goal just before the whistle for full time blew. They had won.
Three days later
Alfa woke up in the hotel, next to Ice. They were in Unova for a celebration hosted by Wyvern in Nimbasa city. Wyvern had decided to host a celebration for the top three, they had won the runner up match, and Ice and Alfa had travelled to Unova with Sicilia and Alexis. His head was hurting, and to make matters worse, he fell out of bed again and hit his head against the floor, again. Ice woke up when Alfa fell to the floor, groaning as he sat up.
"What happened last night?" Alfa groaned as he sat up.
"Major party. We had a little too much of Unova's special drinking concoctions. Whichever berry they used is making my head spin. The only thing I remember clearly is that Elesa was hitting on you." Replied Ice.
"Seriously dude?" replied Alfa as he laughed. "The only thing I remember is Skyla hitting on you." They both began to laugh hysterically as they began to remember the night before. As their heads began to clear, Alfa's cellphone began ringing.
"Hello, Alfa I have an important mission for you. Meet me at the peak of Altru tower in front of the luminous crystal as soon as possible." Said the professor, cutting the call before Alfa could answer.
"You guys go sightseeing for a couple of days." said Alfa as he pulled his jacket on and headed out. "I'll meet you at home."