So doing another shout out for one of my recent reviewers, Katy 2610 said that she loved the story so far. Thanks Katy 2610! Even little reviews like this get my attention and keep me writing, so keep reviewing you guys!
I don't own Pokemon!
Chapter 19: Reuniting A Family
Tuesday, February 25th
"Zubat, you're up!"
"Ruby, I choose you!" Both Pokemon appeared in the small room, and a small fear arose in my mind. I would rather not destroy this neat little office in this sure to be thrilling battle, but it seemed that I wouldn't have a choice in the matter, as Mars commanded her flying and poison type to perform it's first move.
"Toxic!"
"Look out Ruby!" The horse Pokemon wasn't able to escape the purple sludge that Zubat threw up all over her, severely poisoning my Pokemon. "Flame Wheel!"
"Bite!" The dual flying and poison type easily evaded the attack and bit onto Ruby's hindquarters, causing her to whinny in pain. I grit my teeth, this Mars girl was better than I had expected her to be, unlike the grunts of the organization.
"Come on Hikari, beat her down!" I heard Janie's small but brave voice from somewhere behind me. Sometimes it not only surprised me how courageous such a small person could be, but also how they could inspire you. I was going to win, if only for Janie's sake.
"Use Double Kick and get that flying rat off of you Ruby!" Our attack just nicked one of Zubat's wings, enough though to detach it from Ruby. "Now use an Agility and Flame Wheel combo!" This time Ruby was able to blaze Mars' Pokemon down.
"Argh, get up Zubat! Use Bite again!"
"Keep it on the ground with Stomp!" Ruby used her harder than diamond hooves to smash the smaller Pokemon into the tiled floor, leaving a sizable dent.
"Get out of there!" Mars sounded absolutely furious, and though I nearly laughed, some small part of me felt bad for her. Something told me that her and I, had Mars never joined Team Galactic, might have someway become friends. Now though, the chances of that happening were extraordinarily slim.
"Use Stomp again!" The horse Pokemon reared up to obey my command once more, but instead of ramming her feet into the opposing Pokemon again, she toppled over to the side. "Ruby!" I cried out. Mars snickered at me.
"Psh, took long enough," The commander took out a Pokeball and returned Zubat. "This things just about as good as dead..." She muttered, handing the red and white capsule to a nearby grunt, a woman, who wore large glasses and looked deathly nervous. The grunt, in return, gave Mars a second Pokeball.
"Purugly, my pride and joy, destroy this lousy brat and her Pokemon!" Okay, so my mom's first Pokemon was her Glameow, and I grew up with that cutie pie, who I tend to call Glama, but this thing. It wasn't really hideous, just looked like it could take on about fifty blueberry pies, and oh Arceus the whiskers. What, was this thing the dummy for a group of four year old beauty students? Did they crimp it's whiskers and paint it pretty colors? Because if so, I think they got a little too much into the finger painting.
So of course I pulled out my Pokedex. What, did you think that I wasn't going to get the entry on this sassy disaster?
"Purugly, the tiger cat Pokemon. It binds its body with its tails to make itself look bigger. If Purugly locks eyes, it will glare ceaselessly."
"Sounds about right..." I mumbled, looking into the judgmental eyes of the opposing Pokemon, who appeared less than happy to be here.
"Roww," The Pokemon looked towards Mars, waiting.
"Take it out with Shadow Ball."
"Ruby, NO!" I scrambled for the fire type's Pokeball, but it fell from my hand and clattered to the floor. I heard a whinny and a small boom, and saw a cloud of smoke appear where my Pokemon had been. It was already too late. Ruby was out cold.
"Ruby!" I desperately called again, running over to the tan body lying on the ground. Her fiery mane was barely still alight, and Ruby trembled in her unconsciousness. She was still badly poisoned and in pain. "Ruby..." I stroked her muzzle gently, grabbing for the Pokeball I had dropped earlier. As soon as she was safely inside the red and white sphere, I cradled the Pokeball close to my chest, letting my long blue locks fall around my face.
"I'm so sorry Ruby."
"Look out!" My head snapped up, only to see a blur of blue and white hurtling towards me. I went to scream, but there wasn't enough time to do so before I had to roll out of the way. I rolled straight into a bookcase, which came over on top of me.
The pain was deep and remained, pulsing throughout several places of my body, sure to leave bruises.
"Hikari!" I heard Janie's small voice, and Mars commanding something else of her Purugly. I couldn't quite hear it underneath the wooden structure, but I knew it wasn't something good, not after Purugly had just attacked me. I felt around in the darkness, and with some sort of strange luck, managed to grab onto one of my Pokeballs, containing one of my Pokemon.
"Use Razor Leaf," I whispered, pressing the small button on the capsule, just as the bookshelf was slashed to pieces by Mars' powerful Pokemon. But Mazey was just as quick, and before Purugly could use her powerful Scratch attack the normal type was cut up by at least a hundred razor sharp leaves.
I looked up, blue eyes deadly, at Mars. She appeared bored, even annoyed.
"So you still want to keep going I'm guessing?" I glared even harder, but it didn't seem to affect either Mars or her Pokemon. "Faint Attack."
"Withdraw!" Mazey raised her defense, taking on the attack before I commanded one of her own. "Now use Absorb!"
"Fake Out!" Purugly, with surprising agility, landed front paws first, slapping them together just as she touched down on the ground. Mazey was sent flying backwards, into a computer. The screen was shattered, and the whole device was thrown onto the floor, most likely destroying the entirety of it.
"Shadow Ball!"
"Leaf Sphere!" There wasn't nearly enough time to finish Leaf Sphere, and it was blown up by the other attack, creating a cloud of black smoke which left everyone in the room coughing.
"Use Scratch again!" Purugly appeared through the smoke, her claws glowing.
"Dodge it and use Tackle!" The grass type sidestepped the attack, then rammed into the other Pokemon.
"Shadow Ball!" Purugly immediately recovered from the attack, and shot a dark orb at Mazey. She jumped up just enough to not get hit by the attack, but was blown backwards and into a nearby chair.
"Come on Mazey, we're doing this for Janie! You can do it!" The starter type Pokemon just barely managed to get up, one leg at a time.
"Psh, this is pathetic," Mars began, blowing a stray strand of her bright red hair out of her face. It had begun to stick to her forehead, now covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "I'm going to end this, for Team Galactic, and I'm going to end it now! Purugly, Shadow Ball!"
"Mrwoow!" The tiger cat Pokemon opened it's small mouth as wide as it could, and generated a large sphere of dark energy.
"Mazey, Withdraw!" Mazey pulled her legs and head close to her, but the attack she used was not Withdraw. Her eyes turned a creepy, almost terrifying red color, and she was surrounded by a transparent aura of the same color. I quickly went to my bag, currently lying on the floor several feet away, to grab my Pokedex and discover what this new move was.
"Curse, a move of unknown type. It increases the attack and defense of a Pokemon, but decreases their speed. When used by ghost type's the effect is drastically different." I smiled. This would be of great help to us.
Finally, Purugly hurled her enormous Shadow Ball at Mazey, who stood her ground, still with the red aura and eyes. The sphere collided with Mazey's small body, creating a whoompsh noise, but when the pitch black smoke cleared, she was still there, standing strong. The red aura dispersed, and Mazey stood, looking good as new.
"That's my girl!" I praised, more determined than ever to win back the Valley Windworks.
"What!? Not possible! Faint Attack Purugly!"
"Surround yourself with Razor Leaf!" Mazey allowed a storm of the leaves to surround herself in a protective manner, and when Purugly reappeared, she was slashed by the leaves. "Now use Absorb!"
"Wiiig!" The starter Pokemon stole energy from the foe Pokemon, who was still down on the ground.
"Finish this up with Tackle!" Mazey ended the battle in a final motion, knocking Mars' Pokemon onto the ground. Purugly skidded across the tile floor, ending at Mars' high heeled boots.
Her eyes, ruby red as her hair, were wide as dinner plates. The young woman stared, uncomprehendingly down at her unconscious Pokemon.
"I-I lost? What? This can't be! You... You uppity brat!" Mars face grew extraordinarily red. Just the sheer extent of her ferociousness was enough to make anyone who was high on pride burst into laughter. Luckily for the Team G commander, I was feeling particularly generous today, and my expression remained blank as I stood fully erect after having pat Mazey's head in congratulations.
The assistant grunt had already returned Purugly to it's Pokeball, and I would have felt bad that Mars hadn't thanked her for all it's help, but the Pokemon did have quite the attitude. Still though...
Mars had turned away from me and was now holding her face in her hands.
"Oops!" She shouted suddenly, sarcastic, and very, very angrily. "Well I really messed that one up..." Mars sighed, and let her arms drop to her sides. "But..." She began, seeming unsure of herself. Then her bright red eyes darted over to me. "I did enjoy our battle."
"My, my. Lose to a child, will you Mars?" The strange short man with the light violet hair and the lab coat spoke up, acting as if he were superior to the commander. The man waved off his own comment. "Though, I suppose it does not matter. We've collected plenty of electricity." I looked at the both of them in confusion.
"Electricity for what?" I asked, foolishly I might add. The short man approached me. He was nearly a whole head shorter than I was, and had to stand on his tip toes to get up into my face.
"Wouldn't you like to know." He then walked around me, heading towards the hallway which lead out of the factory. "I will tell you only that with it, we can do something quite spectacular. It seems quite obvious to me, Charon-"
"Oh shut it old man! Quit giving away the bosses plans!" Charon looked back towards Mars, giving her the evil eye.
"Very well young lady," The implementation of Mars being a child was obviously meant to irritate her, and it worked. Mars huffed angrily, her red eyes blazing. "We should be going anyways." Charon turned again to leave, but Mars stopped him once more.
"Will you shut it already!?"
"Well she really needs to work on that temper," I said under my breath to Mazey. Luckily, no one but the starter Pokemon heard me.
"The boss is the only person in the world who is allowed to order me around! You can just keep your yap shut around me, you only just joined us recently Charon." Mars sneered, voice dripping with disgust, even hatred. "Don't think you're anything important." The commander's voice grew quiet, and she looked to the floor, covered with various items and shattered glass. Mars took one last deep breath, shutting her eyes and holding it for a few moments, before opening them up again and exhaling.
"I guess it's time to say goodbye and leave for the time being." With those last words, Mars gently pushed past me, but not before Janie had run up behind me to hide. The rest of the grunts, and that Charon man, all followed suit, picking up a few stray notebooks along the way. I didn't try to stop them. There was nothing I could've done to keep them here for Officer Jenny to take care of.
"That lousy Team Galactic..." The scientist from earlier had approached the two of us, adjusting his glasses on his face, still shiny with sweat though he was in the process of wiping his forehead on his sleeve. "They kept saying that they had to gather Pokemon and energy no matter what. It was for creating a new universe, or so they claimed."
"Papa!" Janie cried out, running to the man and throwing her arms around him. As she buried her face into his lab coat, I saw that she was crying, adding to the dampness of her father's clothing.
"Ah hah, nice to see you kiddo, I'm so glad you're alright." He kissed the top of her head, holding tightly to the young girl. The man then looked back to Hikari. "Thank you so much. If it weren't for you I-... I don't know if I would've seen my little girl ever again." My eyes widened involuntarily. I'd never saved a life before.
"I- I mean, it was nothing, I just took care of Janie was all," Both Janie and her father grinned at me.
"Well, if nothing else, I appreciate that. Anyways, nothing Team Galactic said ever made any sort of sense to me. And again, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your saving me. Seeing my little girl again-" He was getting choked up, nearly at tears. "I could never repay you, Hikari, right?" I nodded, wiping away a stray tear of my own.
"Papa?" Janie piped up.
"What is it sweet-cheeks?"
"You're really stinky." I burst out laughing, while Janie's father blushed and chuckled nervously.
"Oh really?" The young girl nodded.
"Yup! Go shower now stinky!" We all laughed again, I being especially glad to see this family back together again. Well, almost. That was when a screeching creature smiling as best he could came barging into the small room, flapping his wings wildly about.
"Free!" Both Janie and her father shouted together. They both wrapped their arms around the huge bird Pokemon, and the Fearow drew it's wings around the three of them. Now they were complete.
"Oh, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you Free! You took good care of Janie, right?" Free nodded vigorously, and nuzzled who I presumed to be his trainer's face.
"Fearow!"
"Thanks again for making the space men go away Hikari!" I knelt down to Janie's level.
"Of course Janie! If you ever need any help, with anything, just give me a call." I explained, grabbing a pen and a small piece of torn paper up off of the floor, and quickly scribbled my name and number down, before handing it to Janie. The small girl nodded, and wrapped her arms around me. I was surprised at first, but quickly hugged her back.
"I'm going to miss you Hikari." The young girl whispered.
"I know. I will too." We released each other, and Janie went to stand by her father, taking his larger hand in hers. "Bye you guys! Take good care of yourselves and this place!" I said, picking up my things from the floor and returning Mazey to her Pokeball.
As I made my way towards the exit, I waved and said goodbye at least two more times to the owners of the Valley Windworks. Finally, I was just about to exit, get some fresh air and breathe in some sweet victory-
"Ah, yes! Hikari, it is you, yes!" I looked at the middle aged man in confusion. Something about the lines in his face, the serious look, and the exaggerated detective's coat tugged at my mind. "I have heard that Team Galactic appeared at this power plant."
"Um yeah, you just missed them. Shouldn't you have seen them leaving?" I asked, purposely not using his name. I knew this guy, I knew I did.
"Hm, are you sure? They are not still on the premises?"
"No, I'm sure, I defeated their commander myself-"
"I shall go investigate!" The man pushed past me and farther into the building, walking at a brisk pace. I snapped my fingers and pointed at nothing in particular.
"That's right! He's that weirdo from the International Police Department or whatever! Looker! The walk totally gave it away," I said to myself, crossing my arms over my chest and feeling once again quite proud. Within a few minutes, Looker had returned.
"Magnificent it is! What you have said, it is all true! Superb! Even if you are young, you are a wonderful trainer, through and through!"
"Thanks," I replied, and nearly added a sarcastic side comment, but decided against it at the last second. Looker was after all, a cop.
"Very well then, I shall pursue the culprits! I have received word from reliable sources that Team Galactic has a hideout in Eterna City, so there I must go!" And with that, Looker was off, on his way to do his duties.
I sighed, then walked outside, where it appeared as if the weather forecast from a few days ago had been correct. The wind was blowing wildly, and bits of snow and hail fell from the sky, becoming more and more violent with each passing minute.
"Man," I spoke aloud. "I'm starving. I suppose I'll have to get something to eat, and then-" I looked down, about to check the time on my Poketch. 1:07. I swore quietly to myself, then broke out into a run. I had a dress appointment to get to.
Tuesday, February 25th
I really feel like this chapter could've been a lot better, but I don't know how to get it to that point. Oh well, it's better than waiting another two months to get it done. Again you guys, thanks for reading, and please review! Give me some advice, criticism, or just tell me what you think! Hope you read again soon!