Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Twenty Three
All Rumors Are True
After finally arriving in Vermilion City, the group spent the night at a cheap, run-down hotel. The next morning they were up bright and early, eager to get a move on. It was barely past eight in the morning but they were already well on their way toward the city's northern exit.
"So you're going to try to use that Snorlax against Sabrina?" Rina asked Ashley as they walked through the city. Rina and Ashley walked side by side with Pippi and Bulbasaur following behind their respective trainers.
"If it'll listen to me then I'll definitely use it." Ashley replied, nodding affirmatively. "I hear Sabrina uses psychic pokemon. Psychic pokemon mean special attacks, and Snorlax is apparently good at withstanding special attacks. Fire and ice attacks especially."
"-When'd she hear that?-" Pippi wondered.
"-She apparently decided to look it up. Go figure.-" Bulbasaur replied with a shrug.
"And you plan to see if it'll listen on the way to Saffron?" Rina continued.
"Yep!" Ashley replied with an enthusiastic nod. "We left early as it is anyway, so we're more than making up for arriving late yesterday."
"I didn't think we were on a schedule..." Rina thought, blinking. "Ashley...why does it matter that we make up for lost time from yesterday?"
"Umm...well..." Ashley stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment, though came up blank. "Good question...come to think of it, we haven't even grabbed any breakfast yet have we?"
"No, we skipped it to leave early." Rina replied, stopping and narrowing her eyes at Ashley. "Whats with you lately anyway? You haven't been making any sense since we left Fuschia!"
"Ok, maybe I have been making a few stupid decisions lately..." Ashley admitted, rubbing her head. "Maybe I was out too long in the sun or something when we were at the beach. Though, as stupid as it was, I did get a Snorlax out of it." Ashley shrugged. "Who knows, maybe something else will happen today because of it?" Ashley laughed lightly at the notion, though Rina found it less funny.
"You're right, we do end up in the right place at the right time a lot..." Rina said quietly. "We always manage to show up whenever the hunters are up to something, and we manage to stop them everytime too."
"Now that you mention it, yeah, that is kinda odd..." Ashley said, nodding slightly. "I can understand that they stick around because they don't consider us a threat, but that we always manage to be there in the first place is never more than a coincidence..."
"-Yeah, that IS odd...-" Pippi added, tilting her head to the side. "-It never seemed like they were following us...-"
"-So what? Lets just chalk it up to coincidence and be done with it!-" Bulbasaur grumbled. "-Thinking about it isn't getting us anywhere, and it hardly makes a difference!-"
"Bulbasaur has a point too I guess, we're overthinking it." Rina said to Ashley and smiled at her. "So how about breakfast? I'm starving already!"
"Right." Ashley nodded to her. "Know what? Breakfast is on me! Lets go!" Ashley and Rina turned around to head back toward downtown. As they turn around, they both notice a flash of light in the distance. "Huh?"
"What was that?" Rina wondered, both her and Ashley looked off in the direction where they saw the flash but couldn't see anything. Pippi and Bulbasaur followed their gaze as well but couldn't even see past the buildings due to their height. As the two girls watched they eventually saw a bolt of lightning rise up from the ground.
"Oh...its probably just a pokemon battle." Ashley shrugged and continued on her way, but Rina didn't budge.
"Ashley, wait! I think I just saw a pokemon!" Ashley stopped and looked out toward the sky southeast of them. At first she couldn't see anything, but then a yellow bird and a blue bird rose up briefly. They stayed within sight long enough to launch an attack toward the ground, the yellow one clearly firing an electric attack and the other firing a blue beam, before diving back down again.
"Those pokemon...an ice bird and an electric bird?" Ashley said quietly, hardly believing what she was seeing.
"The only ice and electric bird pokemon I ever heard of were the winged mirages!" Rina said, barely able to contain her excitement. "Ashley! You don't think that could be them, do you?!"
"We won't know for sure unless we check it out, lets go!" Ashley and Rina took off again, this time running toward the area where they saw the two pokemon. Bulbasaur and Pippi were almost left behind when their trainers suddenly took off.
"-I don't get it! Whats the big deal?!-" Pippi called out to them in confusion.
"-Yeah, just what the heck are the 'winged mirages'?!-" Bulbasaur called out as well. Neither of them got an answer though.
- Insert Line Here -
Though Ashley and Rina didn't know it yet, they were right about the identity of the two bird pokemon. Legendary pokemon of thunderstorms, Zapdos, and the wintery legendary pokemon, Articuno, were engaged in battle with Lt. Surge. Both legendary birds had a black collar around their necks, putting them under the control of the Grand Hunters.
Surge's Pikachu and Raichu faced off against the legendary bird pokemon while Voltorb patrolled the area around them to keep civilians away. The battle was taking place just north of the harbour area, which was now closed off while Lt. Surge battled two mysterious men controlling the legendary birds.
"Raichu, attack Articuno with Thunderbolt! Pikachu, provide support fire with Thundershock!" Raichu sent up a bolt of electricity at Articuno flying overhead, followed by a short blast of electricity from the Pikachu standing behind it. Articuno manuevered to the side, evading Raichu's Thunderbolt attack but turning right into Pikachu's Thundershock. Articuno easily shrugged off the attack though, as if it were nothing at all.
"You certainly live up to your reputation, lieutenant." A blonde-haired man said to Lt. Surge. He was wearing a black trenchcoat, black leather gloves, and a pair of sunglasses to hide his eyes. Another similarly dressed man with long, blue hair was standing next to him. "You really should just surrender though. Gym leader or not, you can't stand up to the combined might of Zapdos and Articuno."
"There's no point telling him that, he won't back down anyway." The blue haired man said to his partner. "Articuno, freeze both those rodents with Ice Beam."
Articuno responded to the command, opening its beak and firing a blue beam down at Raichu and Pikachu. The two pokemon jumped in opposite directions, avoiding the blast that froze the ground where they had been standing, then hopped back in a synchronized movement and stood next to each other again.
"I have a sworn duty to protect the innocent civilians of this city! There's no way I'm backing down!" Lt. Surge shot back. "Just who are you anyway? You're not like the other hunters at all!"
"Astute observation. We are what you would call the...directors of the Grand Hunters." The blonde haired man replied. "While the others were capturing rare and powerful pokemon for sale, we were focusing on the legendary pokemon. At long last I have captured the legendary pokemon Zapdos, and as such you may call me Thunder."
"Likewise, with Articuno under my command, I am now known as Freeze." The blue haired man, Freeze, added. "Our names are hardly of any importance to you, however. Since we've been forced out into the open by recent events, we intend to strike back at the Kanto League."
"You can always count on the bad guys to spill their plans when asked." Lt. Surge said to them with a wide grin. "I need to keep this up. I can't beat their pokemon but I can try to stall them until I get backup."
"On the contrary, we haven't told you a thing. Or at least..." A smirk spreead across Thunder's lips. "Nothing you will be telling anyone else. Zapdos, blast his pokemon with Thunderbolt." Electricity charged around the edges of Zapdos' wings. The thunder bird then dove toward the ground, firing out a blast from each wing that combined into a single bolt of electricity.
As the bolt raced toward them, Raichu and Pikachu joined hands and placed their tails on the ground. The bolt struck Raichu first, but the immense electricity from the attack was spread through both pokemon. With their tails on the ground, the electricity was quickly grounded out. Though the attack still caused noticeable damage to the two, its effectiveness was greatly reduced.
"You two have no idea who you're messing with! My pokemon fought by my side during the war. They zapped my enemies into paralysis!" Surge grinned. "The same as they'll do to Zapdos and Articuno! Raichu! Pikachu! Choose your targets and use Thunder Wave!"
"-I've got Zapdos, you take Articuno.-" Raichu quickly instructed his partner. Pikachu nodded, releasing Raichu's hand as they both began to charge electricity. Electricity sparked from their cheeks and then fired out in a weak pulse, carrying enough voltage to cause paralysis without inflicting any damage.
Zapdos tried to evade to the side of Raichu's Thunder Wave attack and ended up only taking a glancing blow to the wing, not enough to paralyze it. Articuno wasn't so lucky, however. Each pulse of electricity from Pikachu hit its mark without fail, paralyzing Articuno's muscles. The icy bird pokemon dropped out of the air like a rock and crashed into the ground in front of Raichu and Pikachu.
"A good try, Surge, but not good enough." Freeze said to him. "Articuno, on your feet and use Mind Reader. Take aim at Raichu." Articuno slowly picked itself up off the ground, almost falling over again due to the paralysis. When Articuno was steady on its feet again it focused its gaze on Raichu, reading its thoughts to predict its movements.
"Mind Reader? Whats he planning?" Surge wondered, gritting his teeth. Though he was experienced as a gym leader, even he had no idea as to what Articuno was capable of. "Raichu, be careful! They're up to something!"
"Indeed we are." Freeze snickered. "Articuno...Sheer Cold." Articuno began flapping its wings, sending out wave after wave of intensely cold air. Raichu felt a chill go through its body and started charging electricity in an effort to warm itself up. However, Articuno simply turned up the intensity of its attack the more Raichu tried to warm itself. Ice slowly began to form on Raichu's body.
"-RAI!-" Surge's Pikachu suddenly jumped out in front of Raichu, taking the brunt of the cold air and giving Raichu the chance to warm up and free itself from the ice. However, it came at a cost. The Pikachu, who hadn't been making any effort to warm itself, was taking the full effect of the cold air. Ice began to form on its body and within only seconds it was completely frozen.
"-PIKACHU!-" Raichu cried out in anguish upon seeing his partner frozen. The ice shattered almost immediately, leaving the unconscious Pikachu to fall to the ground. "-That does it! Legend or not I'm taking you down!-" Raichu, growled while large sparks shot from his cheeks.
"Mind Reader and Sheer Cold? You've been holding that back this whole time?!" Surge angrily accused Freeze as he recalled his fainted Pikachu. "Damn it! We don't stand a chance against that kind of tactic!"
"It hardly makes a difference, you were outmatched from the start." Freeze replied, grinning smugly. "Now, lets deal with that Raichu of your's. Articuno, Mind Reader!"
"Raichu, don't give it the chance!" Surge called out. "Strike with a quick Thunderbolt!"
"Zapdos, block Raichu's attack." Raichu gathered a small amount of electricity, aiming for a quick strike rather than a strong attack. Zapdos tried to dive down to block it, but Raichu had already fired by the time Zapdos had reached the ground. A weak bolt of electricity lanced through the air and struck Articuno. The small jolt barely hurt it but was enough to disrupt Articuno's concentration.
"I'm impressed...but you seem to forget that you're outnumbered here." Thunder said to Surge. "And by two of the winged mirages, no less. We shall end this here with one attack! Zapdos! Use..."
"That IS them! The winged mirages, Articuno and Zapdos!" Ashley cried out in shock as she and Rina arrived on the scene. They were still a good fifty feet away, with Surge's Voltorb blocking their path. Even from a distance, though, Thunder and Freeze could recognize them.
"Ashley! Look! They're wearing collars!" Rina pointed out, then noticed the two men in trenchcoats. "Those two must be hunters!" Rina tried to take a step forward, but Voltorb produced sparks to ward them off.
"-NO CIVILIANS BEYOND THIS POINT!-" Voltorb bellowed at the two, its voice sounding like static.
"-Hey, I don't know if you've noticed, but your trainer needs a bit of help there, buddy.-" Bulbasaur said to it. "-Now move aside and let us through.-"
"Seems even we can't get a break from those two." Freeze noted to his partner. "Mystique better not take much longer. We can't risk taking any chances after what they did to the others."
"I disagree, this seems like the perfect time to take them down for good!" Thunder said defiantly. "Zapdos! Attack those two girls with Thunderbolt!" Zapdos flew past Raichu, charging electricity across its wings as it barreled toward the two girls.
"Damn!" Surge cursed, turning around to follow Zapdos' movements. "Voltorb, stop it with a Spark attack!"
"-STOP!-" Voltorb rolled toward the attacking Zapdos, charging electricity around its body and then throwing itself at it. Zapdos shrugged off the attack with little effort and continued toward Ashley and Rina.
Pippi and Bulbasaur moved in front of their trainers, ready to block the attack themselves, while Ashley and Rina each reached for a pokeball as quickly as they could. Zapdos came to a stop as it prepared to fire, focusing its gaze on Ashley. Seeing her, though, it suddenly squawked and staggered back as if it had been struck by something. Zapdos began flying around wildly and shooting off sparks, trying to resist the effects of the collar.
"Zapdos, stop!" Thunder commanded harshly. Zapdos responded to the command and stopped its struggling, dropping down to the ground. It didn't make another attempt to attack. "Maybe controlling a legendary pokemon with these collars is more difficult than we thought. We may have to upgrade..." Thunder noted to his partner.
"You may be right..." Freeze muttered in response. "But why did Zapdos only resist when it was about to attack?" Freeze wondered. "Could it have such a strong aversion to attacking humans, or is there something else to it?"
"I don't know what just happened but now's our chance!" Ashley called out, holding up the pokeball she grabbed. "Snorlax, here's your debut! Go!"
"Right! Tangela!" Rina took a pokeball in hand as well, pressing the button on the front of it as she called out her pokemon's name. "Go!"
Ashley and Rina's pokeballs opened up simultaneously, releasing their respective pokemon. The massive Snorlax immediately blocked both girl's from the hunter's view with its immense bulk, while Tangela appeared next to it. Bulbasaur took up position on the side of Snorlax opposite Tangela when she appeared, not wanting the other grass pokemon to see him.
"Snorlax, I hope you don't mind, but I need you to act as a shield against those two pokemon." Ashley instructed her pokemon.
"-Wha? You wake me up, stuff me in a ball, and then tell me to act as a shield?-" Snorlax gave a 'hmph' and folded its arms over its chest. "-I don't care what happens, I'm not moving from this spot!-" Ashley looked to Rina, expecting a translation.
"Snorlax won't move from this spot..." Rina replied.
"Good!" Ashley nodded. "Ok, we'll use Snorlax for cover and try attacking them with status inducing techniques."
"-Yay! Friend!-" Tangela wrapped her vines around Snorlax, oblivious to the threat from Articuno and Zapdos.
"Well, backup is backup." Surge thought to himself with a smirk. "Their timing couldn't have been better, thats for sure."
"If you think that Snorlax is going to stop us, you are sadly mistaken." Freeze said to them. "Articuno, target that Snorlax with Mind Reader!" Articuno focused its gaze on Snorlax, using Mind Reader to ensure its next attack would hit.
"That Snorlax won't help you, period!" Thunder called out. "Zapdos, attack the Bulbasaur with Drill Peck!" Zapdos responded without hesitation, despite its previous struggle. A vacuum of air swirled around Zapdos' beak, spinning like a drill. Zapdos flapped its wings and took off, flying toward the group of pokemon.
"Hey now, me and my Raichu are still here!" Surge reminded the two hunters. Raichu emphasized this point by producing sparks from its cheeks. "Raichu, attack Articuno with Thunderbolt!" Raichu fired a bolt of electricity toward Articuno, shocking it with another powerful electric attack. Articuno seemingly shrugged off the attack with little effect.
"Tangela, pull Zapdos toward you with Vine Whip! Pippi, attack Articuno with Volt Tackle!" Rina called out to her pokemon, hiding the disbelief she felt in attacking a legendary pokemon.
"Bulbasaur, paralyze Zapdos with Stun Spore! Snorlax, use Amnesia!" Ashley commanded, then took up her camera from around her neck and focused it on the attacking Zapdos. She managed to grab a quick picture just before Tangela's vines wrapped around it in an effort to pull it away from Bulbasaur.
"-I got-EEP!-" Rather than pulling Zapdos away, as intended, Tangela ended up being pulled toward it herself as she tried to pull it in and ended up slamming into Snorlax's side and let go. Snorlax looked down at her with its usual grumpy expression. Snorlax gave a light shrug and focused for a moment, deciding to follow through with Ashley's command since it didn't involve it moving and knew it would protect it from any attacks.
Zapdos, meanwhile, flew through a cloud of spores, released by Bulbasaur, to finally reach its target and strike Bulbasaur repeatedly with its beak while pushing him along the ground. Zapdos eventually crashed into the ground as paralysis set in and slid to a stop. Bulbasaur was knocked back further when he was finally released from Zapdos' attack, stopping when his legs gave out from underneath him.
"-Damn it...why'd it target me...first?-" Bulbasaur grunted. He tried to get back up on his feet, but just couldn't get the strength to stand. Exhausting himself from the attempt, Bulbasaur fell unconscious.
"Bulbasaur went down in just one attack?!" Ashley said in shock. "I guess thats why its a legendary pokemon..."
While Ashley was busy with Zapdos, Pippi had taken off running across the ground as fast as she could toward Articuno. Electricity charged around her body as she ran, leaving a trail of sparks across the ground behind her like the tail of a comet. Voltorb made no effort to stop her, accepting that the 'civilians' could handle themselves.
"Raichu, aim a Thunderbolt at that Pikachu when it passes by!" Surge commanded. Raichu nodded in understanding and charged electricity, preparing its attack so it would be timed perfectly.
"We're not going to wait around for that. Articuno, attack that Snorlax with Sheer Cold now!" Articuno flapped its broad wings slowly, needing to get closer to Snorlax to reach with the attack. However, its paralysis decided to kick in at that moment and Articuno fell flat on the ground. Freeze grumbled under his breath.
Pippi flew past Raichu, barreling toward Articuno. Raichu timed its Thunderbolt perfectly, aiming the attack at Pippi as she ran past. The electricity in the bolt of lightning Raichu fired at Pippi surrounded her, adding to the coat of electricity already around her body. Shortly after, she slammed full force into the downed Articuno. Pippi staggered back from the impact and shook off the recoil while Articuno cried out and struggled back onto its feet. Articuno was finally starting to look pretty exhausted.
"Even with two legendary pokemon, we can't keep up with them..." Freeze muttered.
"We are starting to get a bit outnumbered here, aren't we?" Thunder noted bitterly. "We need to hold out as long as we can though so they don't get suspicious..."
"Voltorb, I hate to do this to ya pal, but take down that Articuno now with Selfdestruct!" Voltorb quickly rolled forward without giving the command a second thought, already building up energy in its body for the attack.
"-MY LIFE FOR VERMILION!-" Voltorb cried out, throwing itself into Articuno. Voltorb released its stored energy while only inches away from Articuno's face. A sudden explosion engulfed both pokemon, sending them flying in opposite directions to land at their respective trainers feet. Voltorb was clearly unconscious when its body rolled to a stop, and Articuno struggled briefly to get back to its feet before collapsing as well.
"Looks like I'm out." Freeze took a small smokeball from his belt. "Thunder, good luck." Thunder nodded, and Freeze threw the smokeball to the ground. A cloud of smoke surrounded Freeze and Articuno, and both the hunter and his enslaved pokemon were gone when the smoke cleared. Meanwhile, Lt. Surge recalled his Voltorb.
"Ok, I guess that leaves only this one then!" Ashley turned around to face Zapdos while moving next to Snorlax. Zapdos was only now recovering from its paralysis enough to get back into the air.
"We'll handle this, Ashley! Tangela, use Poisonpowder!" Rina called out.
"-Kay!-" Tangela climbed up Snorlax's body to stand on its head and then shook her body, loosing a purple powder from within her vines. The powder floated toward its target, but didn't quite reach.
"We're really not having much luck with this..." Rina mumbled to herself.
"Zapdos, attack Tangela with Drill Peck!" Zapdos flew toward Tangela, air currents swirling around its beak like a drill again. Zapdos flew into Tangela, striking a harsh blow as its beak drilled into Tangela's vines and knocked her off Snorlax. Tangela hit the ground hard at Snorlax's feet, but managed to gather its strength to shake off the attack and get back up again. Tangela was in pretty bad shape, but still able to fight.
"Tangela, lets try again! This time use Sleep Powder!" Tangela turned toward Zapdos, which had stopped in the air while awaiting further orders, and released a cloud of green powder. This time, the attack reached its target. Zapdos dropped to the ground, fast asleep.
"Fools. Don't you realize..." Thunder began, but realized his mistake when he saw Lt. Surge charge toward him with his fist raised. "Damn!" Thunder reached for his smoke ball as quickly as he could, dropping it on the ground. The smoke surrounded Thunder just before Surge reached him. Surge punched at where he thought Thunder was, but his fist struck empty air. Likewise, the sleeping Zapdos suddenly disappeared as well.
"Rina! Did you see that?!" Ashley exclaimed in surprise. "Is that how they do it? Do they teleport somehow?"
"Teleport?" Rina wondered. "If thats how they're doing it...then why hide it?"
"-Rina!-" With the battle over, Pippi bounded happily up to her trainer. "-Did you see that?! I just beat the legendary pokemon, Articuno!-"
"Of course I did! You and Tangela both did great!" Rina replied, congratulating both of her pokemon.
"-Don't get cocky, you didn't do it alone.-" Lt. Surge's Raichu reminded her.
"Shoot...I only got a picture of Zapdos out of that too." Ashley held up the picture she took of Zapdos. She had managed to get a pretty good one, catching Zapdos in mid-flight and about to use Drill Peck. "Couldn't get a decent shot at Articuno..."
"You two handled yourselves pretty well out there!" Surge said to Ashley and Rina. "Not quite soldier material, but for facing down those two pokemon you did pretty well!"
"We didn't really do anything though, aside from Pippi..." Ashley replied, rubbing the back of her neck in embarassment. "Bulbasaur was knocked out, Tangela almost knocked out, and Snorlax just sat there..."
"-Its what we Snorlax do best.-" Snorlax snorted.
"Even so, I woulda been in trouble if you hadn't shown up." He said to them. "I have to go open my gym for the day, but if there's anything I can do for you..." Surge was cut off by a loud grumbling from Rina's stomach. Rina blushed in embarassment.
"Umm...sorry...we didn't have breakfast yet..." Rina said, twiddling her fingers.
"Well in that case, breakfast is on me!"
"Really? Thanks!" Rina replied, grinning widely.
"I wonder though...what were those two after in Vermilion City anyway?" Ashley said thoughtfully.
"Something about getting back at the league." Surge replied with a shrug. "I doubt there was anything more to it than that."
- Insert Line Here -
Meanwhile, down by the dock, a female hunter with purple hair was roaming near the edge of the pier. Her hair was short, and she was dressed similarly to Thunder and Freeze.
"How long do you expect to hide from me, little one?" The woman said, though she was the only one in sight. "I'm not called Mystique for nothing, you know. Like you..." The woman reached into her coat and took out a small slave collar. She spun around quickly, throwing the collar under a nearby truck. A surprise squeak could be heard as the collar struck something underneath it.
"I have psychic powers." The woman grinned to herself. "Well, that took longer than I expected, I admit. I hope those two didn't get in over their heads in the meantime." Mystique reached into her coat again, this time taking out a smokeball. She threw the ball to the ground, creating a smokescreen around her that allowed her and her captured pokemon to disappear.
- Insert Line Here -
Author's Notes: No points for guessing the mystery pokemon in the last three paragraphs there, I think the reference is rather obvious. Zapdos' reaction to Ashley? Maybe not to obvious...
So! Two legendary pokemon introduced in this chapter, alongside three more hunters. I kept changing my mind about whether or not to include this chapter at all, though it does give a glimpse into how the remaining hunters are going to shape up and gives Lt. Surge another appearance. I've been trying to give gym leaders more appearances in this series, outside of their gyms.
Not much else to say really, though I feel this could have been handled a bit better...
