Author's Corner.
Slybill: Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the long wait. Maybe not very long in your terms but trust me, it felt like a year had gone by since I had last updated. I'll try to resist my sister's puppy-dog eyes next time I'm writing a new page (which will be coming up quite soon). For the mean time, please enjoy *drumroll* THE CHARGESTONE CHRONICLES.
DISCLAIMER: SLYBILL DOESN'T OWN POKEMON. ELSE, PIKACHU WOULD'VE HAD A POWER LEVEL OF OVER 9000 BY NOW!
Chargestone Cave, Unova Region.
Scarlet stopped the cycle at the huge mouth of the cave and murmured for the sleeping companion on his back to get off. With a yawn, White slowly hopped off the seat and lifted her Jolteon-occupied bag before slinging it across her shoulder. Following suit, the ravenette deactivated his cube and took three steps into the cave. First things he noticed were the dark blue walls with tiny sparks of electricity jumping out from them.
"So that's why it's called Chargestone Cave…" he remarked as White leaned on the rocky wall. A sharp yelp followed and he turned to see her rubbing her back shakily before smoothing out the spikes of white hair that formed on her head. "As you can see, the walls conduct electricity so touching it's a bad idea."
Nodding, the white-haired girl pulled out a map and read it, upside down of course, before pointing in an unknown direction.
"Let's go this way," she suggested and Scarlet rolled his eyes before heading in the opposite direction. "Hey! Wait up!" After rolling up the long piece of paper, she caught up with her coach and admired the passing scenery. Charged stones floated around the environment acting in opposite to the earth's magnetic field while small gear-like pokemon fleeted from stone to stone, absorbing stray sparks here and there.
"Klink," White muttered and giggled as one of them accidentally bumped into her. Giving a small mechanical squeal, the Gear pokemon flew around her twice before attaching itself to the blue stone beside her.
"Not gonna catch that one?" Scarlet asked.
White shook her head. "I'd actually prefer a Joltik. They're pretty cute and kinda common in this cave." The hunter whipped out his pokedex and scrolled down to the Joltik page before giving a low whistle in wonder.
"Says here that Joltik are part bug and electric-type pokemon. Never seen that combination before."
"That's why researchers love coming to Unova. There's pokemon here that you'd never see in any other part of the whole wide world!" White declared and puffed up her chest in slight pride before looking around a little. "It's strange though. I haven't seen any Joltik anywhere…"
Scarlet shrugged. "Maybe they're hiding somewhere deep inside the cave." Hunting experience thought him that. "If the weather's too cold for them then they'll obviously look for warmer places where temperatures are favourable. You only get that deep in a cave."
"Wow…I never thought of that…" the trainer cooed.
"Why am I not surprised…" he muttered and stopped in front of two openings. One had bright sapphires lining the walls while the other looked dark and bare. On instinct, his companion skipped over to one of the crystals and marvelled at its beautiful lustre. At that same time, Scarlet's pokedex began to screech loudly before its screen scrambled and went blank.
"Pretty…" White murmured in awe and extended a hand to stroke the sapphire just as her coach deduced the cause of his device's malfunction.
"There's gotta be a high level of electromagnetic waves in the air. I wouldn't-WHTE, DON'T TOUCH THAT!"
BRRZT! ZAP!
Scarlet watched as the airhead took her shaky hand off the crystal and turned to face him slowly. The ravenette stared for a second at her dishevelled look, biting back a laugh at the goofy smile on her blackened face.
"Nice facial expression for someone who just got zapped," he mocked. Nodding robotically, White took three steps toward him and fell flat on her face. "You'll only slow us down by taking a rest you know."
No response. Sighing, he walked up to her and pulled her onto his back before giving her bag a light kick, waking up the sleeping pokemon within.
"Naptime's over, Fuzzball. Let's go."
Without a second thought, the hunter walked into the illuminated opening and Jolteon followed suit, trudging lazily beside his master. 40 minutes later, the group came to a large clearing and inspected the area.
"Judging by how hot it is in here, this must be one of the deepest parts of the cave. Still no Joltik in sight…" Scarlet observed and scowled. They would have sold for a lot on the black market too…
He was just about taking another step when he caught sight of something flashing on the ground not too far away. Walking up to it, the teen saw what looked like a remote control with a big red button on it. Sitting the still unconscious girl on a flat rock, he returned to the item and picked it up gingerly. Had it not been for the dust that had gathered on it, one would've thought that it was almost new. And something told the hunter that this device had probably been dropped not too long ago, most likely by accident too.
"Looks pretty important," he muttered and fingered the red button, careful not to push it in case it might set off a bomb or something. "Wonder who left this here…"
Jolteon's ears flicked up and Scarlet stiffened as they heard a slight scratching from somewhere close-by. With inhuman speed, he tore a charged stone from the wall beside him and flung it hard over his shoulder. A yelp later, the duo turned to see a teenage girl stumble out from behind the wall while rubbing her shoulder painfully. Apparently, the stone had done its work as her black hair had shot up to form a spiky afro and a large frown of discontent plastered itself to her face. Lips painted black and dressed in matching tight leather clothes, she looked every inch like an emo. Sweeping her short hair down, she stomped over to the ravenette and stood on tiptoe to get to his face.
"Da fuck is your problem, scar-faced bastard?" she yelled and Scarlet immediately ascertained, as he pressed a hand to her lips, that he knew her.
"Keep it down already, you don't have to shout," he whispered and bit back a hiss as she sank her teeth deep into his palm.
"And why the fuck no-"
"SSSHHH!"
Narrowing her brown eyes, Camille S. Dark cleared her throat and pointed to White.
"Who the fuck is she?"
"Doesn't matter. Just so long as she doesn't see you," the boy replied and ignored the burning holes being drilled into his eyes by the female ravenette. "Are you in on this Reshiram hunt too?"
"Fuck no! I've got better things to do than chase some fictional monster."
"Easy on the F-bombs, Camie," Scarlet said and walked over to check on White. Just when things were getting good, Rocketfuse just had to show up.
For those who don't know Camille Screwdriver Dark, she was Scarlet's first...and last...attempt at making a friend. Having met 3 years ago during an "office" party (obviously thrown by Boss), the hunter always wondered why he'd tried to talk to that girl standing by the punch with a Mismagius.
"Hi," he had said casually.
"Fuck you," she had replied casually.
And that's how everything began for their semi-tortuous relationship. As he had later learnt, the goth had a fuse shorter than a Torchic's fingernail (Torchic's have no arms so you get the point) and had several horrid, and just plain unimaginative, titles on her name (ranging from The F-Bomb Gothita to The Acid-Blooded Giratina). Her main title, Screwdriver, came about from her position as ORPH's youngest and second-best technician, serving under Vann as his apprentice. She also had that name because you'd be super-screwed if she ever flared at you for no reason whatsoever.
Her wrath was so unstable, Scarlet had even heard that she had scrapped an offender's car with nothing but a screwdriver in 5 minutes flat.
"So...what're you doing here?" the boy whispered, turning to Camille. "And where's your twin?"
Crossing her arms, the girl peeked at White with her exposed eye and huffed.
"I was sent to Unova cos Boss said some client needed my services which was strange since I'm still a trainee. On the way, that stupid Lecher sent us to this dump to get some charged stones for research. Right now, Omni's looking for a remote he dropped."
Omni was Camille's fraternal twin brother by but given his sister's nature, one would never think the soft-spoken and otherwise mild-mannered brother was the older of the two by five minutes. Although not as good as Camille in practical work, his knowledge on weaponry was up-to-date so he had no problem getting under Vann's wing. He mainly followed his twin around to keep her Primape-like temper in check.
Scarlet raised the remote. "You mean this?"
Snatching it, the female ravenette dusted the device and pocketed it.
"I've answered your question so you'll answer mine. Who's the grandma?"
"She's 14 actually but that's not the point. Have you seen any Joltik around here?" he replied. Turning her back towards him, Camille revealed an injured, small, yellow, four-legged bug pokemon with four blue eyes on its tiny head. "Gross."
"I find them cute."
"Their still gros-"
"I. Find. Them. Cute. Got a problem with that?" she asked menacingly and Scarlet dropped the subject. "I just found this little guy not too long ago. A hunter probably got the rest cos the entire nesting area was stripped bare of pokemon except for Klink."
"That's horrible!"
Two heads jerked to the right and saw White, now awake, adjusting her hat and pulling out a pokeball.
"Um...when did you-" the boy was about asking when the white-haired trainer bumped him out of the way to meet his "friend".
"Hi! I'm White! What's your name?" Camille gave her a once over and slowly reached out to grab her outstretched hand. "And why're you so short?"
Tick! went the technician's head as five stress marks broke out across her reddening face.
"You little b-"
"C'mon Scarlet! Let's go rescue those Joltik!" the trainer declared and dragged both the dazed hunter and his pokemon off in an unknown direction.
"Wait the fuck up! I ain't done with you, Miltank!" Camille cried and took off after them. Along the way though, they stopped as the ground shook lightly under their feet.
"What was that?" White wondered and Scarlet straightened up before whipping out his pokedex.
"That hunter was either stupid or brave..." he remarked and snapped the machine shut. "Tell me again how you got that Joltik."
"Well, Omni found an area with lots of stones so we decided to mine them from there. A little while later, I found tyre tracks while taking a break so I told Omni to cover my shift. Following the tracks led me right to this guy on my back. He had probably fallen out of the truck used to carry away the pokemon and I couldn't just leave him there. I am kind after all."
"Yeah right..." the boy murmured lowly and received a punch in the gut that made him double over. For reasons best known to him, her punches could never be dodged. Ever. And they always turned him on...strangely enough.
"Why d'you ask anyway?"
Straightening up again, Scarlet cleared his throat. "Joltik thrive in areas with as much electricity as possible. They also happen to have Galvantula, their evolved forms, protecting them and going on hunts for wires and other electrical appliances."
White shrugged. "So?"
"Galvantula are slightly stupid. They leave their young unguarded in search of food. But they can afford to do that because there's no fear of predatory pokemon or stuff like that. That doesn't make them lax though."
The ground trembled again.
"I don't see where this is going," the trainer mumbled and Scarlet facepalmed.
"Galvantula are very protective of their young. What happens when they get back and the kids ain't home?"
"They go on a fucking rampage..." Camille muttered and froze. "Oh Arceus..."
White, Scarlet and Jolteon looked at her. "What?" they asked in unison (well barked for Jolteon but who cares?).
"You said Joltik and Galvantula thrive in places with lots of electricity, right?" the girl barked and took off ahead of them.
"Hey, where're you going?" White called.
"I left Omni back at the place with charged stones. Their electromagnetic reading's over 9000!"
"I don't get it..." the trainer stated, genuinely puzzled.
"It means Omni's most likely in Galvantula heaven," Scarlet said as he took her hand in his and followed after Camille.
"Oh! Are we gonna help?"
"No!" the hunter scoffed. "This might just be the only way out of this cave!"
The ground rumbled violently this time and the duo stopped as stones hopped about on the floor and the sapphires began to spark dangerously. All went silent afterwards for a few minutes and Jolteon's fur crackled dangerously in anticipation meaning one thing for the humans.
"They're here..." White breathed out lowly and on cue, the walls behind them shattered open with numerous waist-high, pale-yellow, four-legged spider pokemon with large mandibles crawled out in a frenzy. They froze and, as one, turned to face the group staring at them.
Silence...
Silence...
Electricity crackled between their fangs and Scarlet knew what that sign meant. Luckily, White's Sandile, Sandy, burst out just in time to absorb the sudden bolts flung at them.
"We should run," Camille stated as the ground began to rumble again. Nodding, the group ran in the opposite direction but not before Scarlet had Jolteon blast some rocks down behind them, thus blocking the space between the aggressive-looking spiders and the fleeing humans and pokemon. In time, they reached an opening with blue light pouring out from within. Rushing into it, the panting group stopped to see a green-haired boy hunched over and prying out a particularly large charged stone with insulated tongs.
"About time you showed up. I was beginning to think you ditched me." Getting up, the boy spun to face them and nearly dropped his tongs in surprise. "Scarlet...is that you? What happened to your ha-"
"Nice to see you too, Omni!" the ravenette cut in sharply and ordered Jolteon to blast the rocks above the opening.
"We've gotta go. Like right now," Camille said and began packing her tools into a large bag. Omni tilted his head.
"Why?"
"Galvantula. Lots of 'em," White spluttered as the ground trembled ferociously underneath their feet. The greenette arched an eyebrow.
"So we just fight 'em off. Big deal?" Camille swung her bag over her shoulder and walked up to him.
"One. We only have one Mismagius between us. Two. Who'd let their clearly disadvantaged pokemon fight against angry mommies and daddies? Definitely not me! Now grab your fucking bag and let's get the hell outta here."
"You don't have to swea-"
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
The rocks blocking the opening were they had just come from began to shift and low crackles of electricity seeped through the small cracks in between.
"D'you know where the exit is?" Scarlet quickly asked and Camille pointed down a path nearby. "Good! Let's go!"
"But we've gotta save the Joltik!" White interjected and the other humans looked at Scarlet.
"I'll explain later. For now, Mistralton City, okay?" he sighed and grabbed White's arm. "That hunter's probably long gone by now and there's nothing we can do to save the Joltik if we end up as Galvantula-food. Now come on!"
Before she could protest, the ravenette pulled her out of the area with the twins running beside them and Jolteon following closely at their heels. Just at that moment, the blockade shattered and the pokemon swarmed into the area and after their intruders.
"They're gaining on us. It's like they can pinpoint where exactly we're going," Omni huffed as he stole a glance at the rampaging bug-pokemon. "BTW What the heck is that Joltik doing on your back, sis?"
"That's it!" Scarlet exclaimed and glanced at the female technician. "Galvantula mark their young with a tiny drop of weak electric ooze that helps them keep track of the Joltik. The one on your back is definitely one of theirs."
"So?" Camille panted knowing where this was going.
"Get rid of it!" the boys screeched in unison making her scowl and take the weak Joltik in her arms.
"But I found it!" she replied and as they rounded a bend. "I told Jerry I'd bring home a Joltik on my next trip and this is the only chance I've got!"
Omni rolled his eyes and sighed. "Your kids can wait! We'll just find another Joltik somewhere!"
"She's got kids?" Scarlet gasped, nearly tripping. "I thought you hated guys-"
SLAP!
The ravenette slowed down considerably as his cheek stung from Camille's open palmed smack.
"It's not like that! Unlike you, Scarlet, I've got brothers and sisters to feed and I've gotta get them presents once in a while!"
White smiled at her. "You're so caring! You'd make the perfect mom." Camille turned away and tightened her grip on the Joltik as a small blush tinged her cheeks. She'd never been truly complimented like that in years.
"Um, sorry to be a ballbuster but those Galvantula are pulling off some major Spiderman tricks behind us."
Looking back, Scarlet realized what Omni meant as the EleSpider Pokemon slung across the ceilings on threads.
"Great. Just great," he hissed an picked up his pace. At this rate, they'd get caught in no time. Just as he began thinking up ideas to lose them, a Galvantula shot a sticky wad of thread right ahead of their path. It flew past them for a second before exploding open in sparks and forming a web-like structure in their way. Too fast to stop, White crashed into the thread and got the second greatest zap of her life-time. Luckily, she had served her purpose as a shield to bulldoze the web. Unluckily, she passed out again and Scarlet once again had to carry her, this time over his shoulder.
"The opening's right ahead! Just a few more chambers!" Camille cried but gave a shriek as she missed her footing and tumbled down a short slope.
"Sis!" Omni cried and slid down the slope with Scarlet following after shortly. Fortunately, the gothic-looking girl was conscious and had only sustained a bruise on her shoulder. Spewing out some choice words, she stumbled to her feet and continued down the pathway.
"I'm all right. We're almost at the exit!" she exclaimed and jumped over a ledge.
"This would've been so much easier if you'd just gotten rid of the Joltik!" Scarlet growled loudly and grunted as the old scar on his shoulder strained from White's weight.
Camille froze and dropped in front of the ledge before her. "Shut the fuck up!" she hissed lowly.
That's it! I've had enough of this crap! he exclaimed mentally as the redhead in him took over. "Fuck y-MMPH!"
Omni tightened his grip on the startled ravenette's mouth and pulled him down beside Camille before putting a finger to his lips and pointing over the ledge. Gently placing White in a sitting position, Scarlet peeked over the ledge and bit back a curse. He had seen the exit but what was blocking it was the problem as he had spotted a large truck parked conveniently against the light-filled opening. Even worse, the owner was none other than a particularly nasty hunter who Scarlet knew all too well.
"What's Killa Kay doing here?" he whispered as he spotted three lackeys patrolling the area. "He's supposed to be in jail...or sniped...or both."
For those who don't know Killa Kay, he was the strongest, meanest, rudest, most dishonest hunter that ever walked into ORPH's doors. Even LP has his moments but this guy once tried to even take over ORPH from Boss six years ago. Let me tell you, it wasn't a very pretty sight when the man/child was done with him. Not only were his pokemon badly defeated and stripped from him thereafter, the maimed assassin-turned-pokemon hunter had had his tongue personally ripped out by yours truly (Boss) and thereafter had been handed over to the police for execution simply because Boss didn't want to get his hands dirtied any further.
If you ever see him, he's got prosthetics for arms and a mechanized vocal box (which speaks in a spanish accent BTW). Just so you know, before he had started his uprising, he was the one who had trained Scarlet, aged ten then (on Boss' orders of course) to be the fighter he is now.
"He probably escaped to Unova to hide from Rain and Boss," Omni deduced quietly and gulped as the ground rumbled again. "Why would he park here when he knows that the Galvantula are coming this way?"
Camille pointed to a large machine perched on top of the truck. "I'm sure he's planning to capture those Galvantula with that."
The Joltik in her arms began to squirm weakly and reach out to the truck while uttering tiny cries, causing the men at the truck to perk up and look in their direction.
"Shit!" the greenette muttered as they began walking towards the ledge. Petting the tiny pokemon in her arms, Camille silently prayed for their cover to not be blown. Scarlet sighed slowly and weighed his options. On one hand, he could let the Galvantula zap the very life out of him, literally, or he could meet his "master" (who he wasn't on very good terms with BTW, even as his student) and ultimately have to fight him without opening any fresh scars, which is frankly impossible, given Killa Kay's reputation and probable hatred for ORPH.
Pushing White deep under the jutting ledge, he signalled to Jolteon and got up slowly, ignoring the horrified looks from Omni and Camille. Putting on his best childish smile, he called out to the men behind the ledge and waved.
"Scarlet...?" one of them asked, squinting at the boy coming closer to him. Upon recognizing him, the man lowered his gun. "What're you doing-"
Quick as a flash, Scarlet kicked the gun off his hands and gave him a roundhouse kick to the neck, knocking him out instantly. Before the other man could react, Jolteon appeared from nowhere and bit hard into his neck, sending shockwaves down his spine. He slumped, paralysed.
Looking towards the remaining man and his unfazed master, the younger hunter grinned. Killa kay uncrossed his arms and pulled out a pokeball.
"You've grown, shitty brat. Mind explaining what you're doing here?"
"I could say the same for you too, Killa. Your face never fails to make me throw up. Also, I'd love to stay and catch up on the good old days but I'm in a hurry."
Killa flung his pokeball into the air, unleashing a sepia-coloured, ogre-like pokemon wielding two concrete pillars in its massive arms.
"Conkeldurr, the Muscular Pokémon. They use concrete pillars as walking canes. They know moves that enable them to swing the pillars freely in battle," beeped Scarlet's pokedex.
"Looks like you've got new pokemon too," the ravenette remarked and pocketed the pokedex. "Wait, we're not gonna fight, are we?"
The older hunter narrowed his eyes. "I can't have you squealing to that demon that I'm alive so I'll have to cut you...and your friends down here."
"Damn it, he knows," Omni stated and got up. "Hi Killa. Although I acknowledge how strong you are, you can't beat us all with one Conkeldurr and that's a fact."
"Don't underestimate him!" Scarlet hissed lowly. "Killa's taken down plenty of top rangers with just one of his pokemon. If he could escape a maximum security prison and even death row, I've got no doubt we'd be a challenge."
"Accepting defeat already, Scarlet?" the man scoffed but arched an eyebrow at the boy's sudden smirk.
"Me? Of course not. If that Boss-brat could beat you, I'm pretty sure I've got a chance. But you shouldn't watch out for me though."
Killa was just about asking what he meant when a stream of fire brushed right past him. Looking forward, he saw a white-haired trainer and her Pignite glaring at him angrily.
"You!" she cried, pointing a finger at him. "You're the one who captured those poor Joltik, aren't you?"
Killa looked from her to Scarlet and smirked. "Is that your back-up pl-"
"You're going down!" the girl cut in, landing a hard punch into his gut. As we had noticed far earlier, she had a great right hook so it was no small surprise that she sent the unsuspecting man spiralling into a wall. He parried the attack however by using his feet to bounce off the oncoming wall. Rubbing his aching stomach, the stunned hunter looked to the trainer who had just landed that almost devastating punch at him.
"It's thanks to you that Ginger and his friends are in trouble with the Galvantula so you'd better let those Joltik go!" White ordered, not taking notice of the open-mouthed looks on Camille's, Omni's and the remaining lackey's faces.
"Interesting," Killa said and straightened up slowly. "I haven't been hit like that since I fought Boss." Almost immediately, he snapped his fingers and his Conkeldurr appeared from above and brought its mighty pillars down on the unsuspecting White. She escaped the attack however as her Pignite came from the side and tackled the Muscular Pokémon in its owner's direction just as its pillars nearly came down on her trainer.
"Joltik sell pretty high on the bug-pokemon market so I don't plan on letting my catch slip away. If you want to release them, you'd have to beat me in a pokemon battle," the older hunter stated and crossed his mechanical arms again as his pokemon landed perfectly on its feet without so much as a scratch. "If you lose however, you and all your friends die. And I'll be on my way. Deal?"
"Deal!" the trainer stated without even giving a second thought.
"Hey!" Camille jerked up from under the ledge. "Give me a fucking break! I'm not involved in this. I just wanna get outta he-"
"Pignite! Arm Thrust!"
"Conkeldurr, Hammer Arm!"
Author's Corner.
Scarlet *stretches and yawns* : Damn, its been a while, hasn't it?
White: Yup! Lazy Sly's been drawing us.
Scarlet: Drawing us? He can't draw for shit, remember?
Slybill: I resent that comment Ginger! I so can draw! In fact, I'm posting it on DeviantArt
Scarlet: NOOOO!
Camille: Am I in it?
Slybill: Um...no...
Camille: ...
Slybill:...
Camille: WHAT THE FUCK, YOU FOUR-EYED FUCKING FUCKER!
Omni: Four F's in one sentence, wow sis, you're on a roll.
Slybill: billytosan deviantart com *slash* gallery *slash*. That's my account if you wanna see the pics. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be- wait Camie, not the kitchen sink!
CRASH!
Camille: Add dots where the spaces are, nerds. Next time, Sly's drawing me!