Author's Corner. Side Story: Recognition Part 3.
Slybill and his crew walk into the expansive studio lined with spacious sets and as one, they gawk at the numerous cameras and lights filling each room. At that moment, an attractive red-haired woman hops towards them on a pogo stick. A pogo stick.
Awesome: Hi, you must be Slybill. *Extends a hand* It's so awesome to finally meet you.
LP *Bumps Slybill away and grabs the hand*: Pleasure's all mine babe. Say, how 'bout we ditch these psychos and make beautiful music together.
Awesome tilts her head before flipping the pompadour over her head and into a trash can nearby.
Awesome: As I was saying, I think your work has potential so I decided to get off the couch and sponsor your show. It'll be awesome.
Slybill *executes a very polished, well-timed, sliding grovel and lands at her feet*: Thank you so much, Miss Awesomeness127! Words can't describe how much I'm grateful to you.
Scarlet *crosses his arms and mutters lowly*: Butt-kisser…
Awesome: Please, call me awesome since I'm so awesome. It's nice working with you Mr Sly and keep up the awesome work. I have one condition though.
Slybill: And that would be?
Awesome: I WANNA DO THE DISCLAIMER!
DISCLAIMER: SLY DOESN'T OWN POKEMON. ELSE
Mistralton City, Unova Region.
"Ginger's taking too long..." White moaned and rested her chin on the table. "Maybe he got lost."
"Or maybe he forgot what to buy," Skyla suggested and stretched. "Boys do that a lot."
White fiddled with a spoon before popping it between her lips. "By the way, you never told me what that bell said yesterday."
"Oh right!" the redhead said, snapping her fingers in realization. "It said-"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"Looks like someone else rang the bell today," the trainer speculated. Her face went puzzled however when she noticed the changed look on the gym leader's face. "What's wrong?"
"This sound..." she muttered and got off her seat slowly. The bell had never made that kind of sound before. It was eerie, empty and almost creepy. And Skyla had a bad feeling at what it meant. Danger was approaching. But something else was off with the bell's tune. For some reason, the nature it reflected was not human. Neither was it pokemon either. Almost like an empty bottle's, which was super-strange. Turning to the still-puzzled White, Skyla took her hand and began heading for the nearest exit.
"Sky? Where are we going?" the trainer asked in slight protest and beckoned for Emboar to follow. "Shouldn't we wait for Scarlet?"
"He's got a X-transceiver right? We'll call and tell him our location. For now though, there's gonna be something big happening to this city and I think I'll need your help with checking it out."
Once out of the building, Skyla took out a pokeball from her pocket and flung into the air, calling her Unfezant. As soon as the pokemon landed before her, she beckoned for White to hop on. The apprehensive trainer called back Emboar and balanced herself on it before holding tightly to its neck feathers as it lifted off with one flap of its gray wings. Seeing as White was up, Skyla called out her Skarmory, a foreign steel/flying type pokemon resembling a big bird clad in steel armor, and ordered for it to fly in the direction of Celestial Tower as soon as she got on its back. Cawing loudly, the Armour Bird Pokemon took off and Unfezant followed shortly after.
Scarlet gripped Salamence's incoming Crunch attack by the jaws and held them open before pumping electricity into the pokemon from his charged gloves. As the slightly stunned dragon reeled, an Iron Tail from above smacked the top of its blue head and sent it face-first into the ground.
"Volt Tackle!" the hunter ordered and Jolteon gathered wave upon wave of electricity round his spiky fur till he glowed bright yellow. In an instant, he zig-zagged towards the opponent in a bolt of lghtning and slammed into its side, sending Salamence into another shop. Scarlet moved just in time to dodge a sudden snap of Alphinia's sharp jaws and ducked as a car flew over his head, flung by her teleporting dragon-type. Apparently, Salamence had toughened up considerably since their last encounter and was thirsty for blood. And most likely his.
"What exactly are you doing here, Blondie?" the ravenette asked as he dodged a deadly swing of the knight's sharpened nails and whistled as those nails had left severe marks on the lamppost behind him. "Here to get me for what I did to the injun?"
"Injun?" she echoed, slightly confused. Scarlet took that chance however to sweep her legs from under her, sending her to the hard ground. Soon after, the hunter had her pinned to the ground by her arms and smirked as Salamence froze, inches away from biting off his head as he drew his finger gently across her throat. Simultaneously, Jolteon bit down on the pokemon's tail and twirled it round and round with strength from nowhere before letting it off and sending it flying into an oncoming truck (you could imagine the dent on its hood).
"Well, well, well," Scarlet sneered as he tightened his grip on the knight. "So much for a grudge match. Terra was right, you're surprisingly weak."
Alphinia blinked before a smile started to play on her lips. "Terra. You're right, he does look like an Injun, doesn't he?" Her limp hands suddenly stiffened and Scarlet arched an eyebrow as he felt his hand moving from under hers as she slowly but surely overpowered him. "And I'll have you know that Ghetsis said I'm the strongest physically out of all the knights."
Instantly, Scarlet found himself flat on his back with his arms pinned to the ground and it was Alphinia's turn to smirk as she lay over him in a provocative manner. Lowering her head to his neck, Scarlet twitched as he felt her fangs caress his neck lightly.
"Spit it out, blonde. What're you doing here?" he barked, twisting sharply and returning back to his previous position on top.
"Can't I have some fun once in a while...?" she slurred playfully and twisted, sending them back to her position on top.
"Did you get a personality change? You didn't sound this energetic last time we met." And with that, Scarlet reciprocated the action.
"I actually don't know. Every time I remember you, I get so giddy and human on the inside. D'you think it's love?"
Scarlet blanked. "Huh? If you loved me, you wouldn't be trying to sink your teeth into me and chop me to pieces with your over-grown Bagon over there."
"I know! I've never felt anything for you trash at all until I met you and tasted your blood," she whined, slowly overpowering him again. "But one thing is for sure."
Scarlet, noticing that he was fighting a losing battle when it came to strength, jumped away from the girl and backed towards Jolteon cautiously as Alphinia slowly got to her feet. Her ruby-red eyes glowed fiercely and a fine line of drool trailed down her chin.
"The smell of your blood drives me insane..." she finished menacingly and Salamence swooped in from the sky before letting loose a gigantic Draco Meteor. Scarlet and Jolteon jumped in different directions effectively dodging the rocky cannon. However, it came in contact with an upturned car and blew the vehicle apart with a loud BOOM, instantly setting other nearby cars alight as flame met gas-tank. The ravenette coughed as smoke invaded his lungs and eyes. Before he knew it though, a sturdy tail shot through the black clouds and smacked into his side, rocketing him right into another unbroken glass pane showcasing clothes. The shop attendant screamed and ran for her life as the angry Salamence's massive head peered into the broken window in search of the ravenette. Covered in lingerie a good distance away, Scarlet put a hand to his mouth and coughed out trace amounts of blood before ripping off the annoying bra clinging to his head. Hissing in pain at the stinging pain in his side, he scurried away and sat behind a dresser, taking stock of the damages. At best, he had broken a rib from that hard swing of Salamence's tail.
"She's gotten tougher alright..." he deduced lowly and held his breath as a low growl from the said pokemon reverberated throughout the atmosphere. Daring to look back, he spotted the dragon riffling through some piles of clothes and sighed in relief as it huffed and stomped out off the building. Such relief was short-lived however as two smooth hands grabbed the sides of his face from above and made him look upwards.
"Found you," Alphinia sang, smiling brutally. "For human trash, you look nice in a ponytail. Wait...did I just compliment you?"
"Psycho!" he retorted, grabbing her hands and flipping her over the dresser. But not before she whistled and her blue brute bounded back into the wrecked store. Jolteon, on the other hand, ran through the fleeing passers-by in search of his master and almost resorted to sniffing him out when he noticed an entire building go up in flames and a roar of discontent rang through his sensitive ears. Taking the initiative, the lightning pokemon dashed towards the flaming building and looked just in time to see Scarlet jump out a window and land perfectly on his feet. Catching sight of his trusty pokemon, the teen snapped his fingers and ordered for a discharge attack at the live wire dangling behind the Salamence coming through the flames. Complying, Jolteon let loose a big wave of electricity inches past the dragon pokemon and right into the wire. Grabbing Jolteon, Scarlet turned and ran in the opposite direction as Salamence eyed the sparking wire stupidly. Like a scene from a 90's action movie, time went into slow motion and Scarlet flew through the air as the building went KA-BOOM and bricks, glass shards and mannequin body parts flew in every possible direction.
There's no way she'd survive that one, the teen speculated and plopped his panting self on the damaged road before letting go of his pokemon and staring at the debris cautiously. "We should leave, Jolt."
Barking in agreement, Jolteon waited for his master to stumble to his feet before starting off in the opposite direction. Just as Scarlet was about following, he heard a small creak and his blood went cold. Daring to look back, he ground his teeth in frustration and shock as the debris blew open and Salamence flew out, looking slightly burned and thoroughly pissed as ash coated its red wings. Noticing that the slightly dishevelled blonde was not on her pokemon, Scarlet looked down again and saw two red, shimmering dots along with a toothy grin looking back at him through the erupting dust. Peering closely, the hunter's eyes widened as he and Jolteon realized just what Alphinia was holding above her head. It was an entire section of a brick wall. Taking an outrageous guess, one would've deduced that she had ripped off the wall in order to shield herself from the impending blast.
"Hey Scarlet," she said and dug her boot into the ground before arching back. "CATCH!" And the wall was hurled at her two gawking opponents.
"Jolteon," Scarlet started, raising his hand as the wall came close. "Double Kick!"
Jolteon barked and jumped high into the air before sending his hind-legs into the projectile, shattering it on contact. He was thoroughly surprised though as that familiar tail instantly shot through the shattering bricks and smacked him down to the ground. Before Scarlet could cry "Jolteon!", he was wrapped tightly by the dangerous appendage and flung into the air by the teleporting pokemon.
"I HATE SALAMENCE!" he cried as gravity took full control again and he began to drop. Seconds before he hit the ground, Salamence's tail came again and bashed him into a wall before pinning him to it by the waist.
"You've been on the defensive, Scarlet," Alphinia commented, leaning over her pokemon's head and stroking the dazed teen's face. "Is it because you don't have an ice pokemon or you just don't want to risk using the dragon-type again?"
"Actually, Violet taught me never to hit girls, no matter how weird...or psychotic they can be." he replied defiantly, causing the knight to smile wider. "What? It's true."
"You're such a gentleman," she rolled and Scarlet noticed the sudden rise in bloodlust radiating from her eyes as she drew closer. "Makes me want to kill you the more."
Whatever happened to the good, old-fashioned my-pokemon-beat-yours-and-you-run-away method? he sighed and tensed as her lips met his neck. Great, she'll probably get my Jugular this time. "You're not gonna let me off with a warning this time?"
The only answer he got was a sharp pain in his neck as her fangs nipped at his skin.
"EMBOAR, HAMMER ARM!"
Alphinia drew back and leapt off her unsuspecting pokemon as a heavy fist crashed into its head from above, nearly popping out its eyes in the process.
Scarlet dropped to the ground and smirked as the dragon tasted concrete once again and Emboar got off its back before standing beside him. At the same time, White dropped in from the sky on Unfezant and landed in front of him.
"Are you okay?" she gasped, jumping off and kneeling beside the teen. "Your neck-"
"It's okay, just a small scratch," he cut in. He was surprised to find himself relieved that she was there beside him. "Took you long enough, rookie."
"You just had to interrupt, didn't you..."
White turned and glared at the scowling knight who crossed her arms in annoyance.
"I was just about tasting him too..."
Okay, someone has serious issues, Scarlet remarked with a cringe before getting to his feet. "Looks like there's a change in game plan, blondie. You're outnumbered and I doubt you stand a chance against the two of us."
Alphinia simply yawned and snapped her fingers twice, turning as Salamence appeared beside her. "Thanks to the white-haired trash, I've lost my drive now and I really hate it when that happens. That's a good thing though cos Draco would've hated it if I lost myself and killed you all here."
"Are you were going easy on me?" Scarlet hissed and she smirked. "Bitch."
"I guess I'll just leave it to Joid to finish our little fun-spar. Let's get out of here, Salamence," she stated and settled onto her pokemon's back. "It's bedtime anyway."
"After what you did to my city, I don't think so!"
The group looked up to see Skyla and Skarmory hovering above them. Instantly, the Armour bird tucked its wings in and went in for an Aerial Ace on the Salamence below. Salamence grunted before stomping into the ground and lifting off sharply, dodging the piercing attack. However, Aerial Ace never misses and Skarmory grazed its underbelly roughly, causing it to roar in annoyance.
"Oh, its Skyla," the unfazed knight said and straightened up properly on Salamence's broad back. "The sorry excuse for a flying-type specialist."
"I resent that comment," Skyla growled and Skarmory went in for a Steel Wing. "I'm quite the force to be reckoned with, Miss Dragon Knight."
"I'm surprised you know my title." Salamence opened his mouth and fired off a hot Flamethrower. "The Pokemon League recognized us already."
The attack missed by inches as Skarmory soared past the flames and hit its opponent square in the side. Salamence reeled in the air before getting his bearings straight again and unleashing a large Dragon Breath at the pokemon.
"They told me to be on my guard since you guys are said to be devilishly strong," Skyla replied and ordered Skarmory to blow back the attack with a Hurricane. "Although from what I'm seeing, that was probably a bluff."
"Be careful, Sky!" White called from below. "Her pokemon can teleport!"
Skyla arched a brow. "That's a little far-fetched. Salamence don't telepor-"
BAM!
The gym leader and her pokemon whizzed through the air before steadying themselves and blinking hazily at the sudden and unexpected attack.
"You'd do well not to underestimate me, trash," Alphinia called and Skyla looked up to see the Salamence circling above them. Strange, how'd she get there?
"Aerial Ace!" the redhead ordered and Skarmory glowed white again before shooting itself towards Salamence like a bullet. However, the dragon teleported again and appeared behind the bird before letting loose another Flamethrower. Skarmory banked to the left, dodged the attack and was just about sinking its sharp beak into its opponent's hide when Salamence disappeared again and smacked the surprised pokemon away with its tail. The cycle continued until Skarmory began to pant.
"If that won't work," Skyla muttered and paused as the dragon teleported again. Keeping silent, she brought her senses to the fore and darted her blue eyes left and right before feeling a change in the wind's direction on her skin. "Air Cutter, 12 o'clock!"
Skarmory cawed and flapped its wings wildly, sending a dozen sharp blades of wind at the clouds above. Almost immediately after, Salamence reappeared at the expected position and felt the full force of the attack as they slammed continuously into its white underbelly.
"Pilot senses never lie," the gym leader remarked as the opponent roared in pain.
"Hmph!" Alphinia scowled before freezing as if listening to something.
"Now's not the time to be distracted!" Skyla exclaimed. "Aerial Ace!"
Her pokemon complied and shot towards them again only for Alphinia to raise a hand and stop the attack by grabbing Skarmory's beak with her fingers. Without so much as a push from the force of the attack, the knight drew it closer and looked the surprised Skyla in the eyes.
"Joid's here."
And an unnerving roar ripped through the atmosphere.
Down below, Scarlet winced as White pressed a bandage over his neck wound.
"Quite deep for a nick but that should stop it from bleeding," she stated and put the roll of bandages back into her bag before spraying Jolteon with a Max Potion. "There! All better."
"Thanks," Scarlet said and looked up. "She looks like she's doing fine though- Wait, did she just stop that attack with her fingers?"
White stood up and prepared to get on Unfezant. "Stay put Scarlet. I'm going to help."
"That's fine with me-" He stopped and looked around as they heard an ear-piercing roar from nowhere. "...What was that?"
Alphinia let go of her catch and Skarmory quickly put some distance between the two.
"A hydreigon?" Skyla murmured and looked as her opponent's Natu appeared through her mass of curly hair and set up a protective barrier around the hovering dragon pokemon. "What're you doing?"
Alphinia said something, but Skyla couldn't hear it thanks to the Barrier move surrounding the knight. She did catch two words from the movement of her lips though. Behind you.
Suddenly, the gym leader sensed a sharp wave of...something and rapidly ducked. She was super-lucky. A big,blue head attached to a long, black, furry neck stretched right above her and in its mouth was one strand of red-hair that would've been the woman's head if she had been any slower.
Two words. "Look Out!" White cried from below and Skarmory dodged another head that came from below. Skyla herself leaned to the right, avoiding the Brutal Pokemon's third head.
"Hydreigon, The Brutal Pokémon and the final form of Deino. The heads on their arms do not have brains. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything. They will also attack anything that moves," beeped Scarlet's pokedex.
"What the hell..." he gasped as the bigger-than-even-Salamence dark/dragon type snapped and swiped at Skyla whose Skarmory expertly dodged each blow. Finally, it took a deep breath and unleashed a humongous wave of fire, lightning and ice from each of left, central and right heads respectively.
"Acrobatics!" Skyla cried and Skarmory spun, circled, dived, rose and dodged every single wave of super-effective attacks with expertise that only came from years of flying in harsh environment. "Good job. But why's it attacking us?"
"Stay still and don't make a noise, Skyla!" Scarlet called loudly from below. Why he was helping her, he had no idea. "Hydreigon are semi-blind and will attack anything that moves!"
Nodding, the gym leader flew behind a building and had Skarmory perch on its ledge. Hydreigon zoomed past the duo and roared again as they had disappeared from its dim field of vision. As it climbed into the air again, Skyla spotted something...or someone clinging to its back and would've guessed who the pokemon belonged to had it not been for the Salamence slowly rising behind her.
"Hydreigon can't see you," Alphinia muttered menacingly. "But Salamence definitely can!"
Skarmory squawked and Skyla yelped as they were hit from behind by a Dragon Breath from the pokemon. Leaping off the ledge, the duo flew skywards and dipped down again towards Salamence who disappeared and reappeared behind them with a readied Dragon Claw.
"Steel Wing!" Skyla cried and Skarmory intercepted the attack by slamming a wing into the oncoming paw. "Flash Cannon!" A steely-grey beam formed in the Armour Bird's mouth and enveloped Salamence's face with a BOOM. Dust and smoke were thrown up from the explosion and Skarmory flew out before stopping a little way ahead of the oncoming Hydreigon. However, the Brutal Pokemon veered off and headed to the ground...and straight for Scarlet.
Said teen jumped out of the way as it fired a Dark Pulse at him. Behind him, the wall came down and Hydreigon lifted off again before stopping in mid-air. From her angle, White saw something white fall from its back...and gasped as the person landed face-first into the cracked road, leaving a small crater in the process.
Scarlet peered at the most-likely dead person and scowled as he saw a fingerless-gloved hand twitch and grip the floor.
"Sorry, Joid isn't very good with landing," Alphinia called from above and sighed. "Someone really needs to tell him that he has feet."
"Screw that! How's he still alive?" Scarlet yelled and froze as the white-haired boy lifted himself off the ground and got to his feet shakily. Doing a double-take, Scarlet noticed that the silver-eyed boy was his height, with a black sleeveless top that was cropped to show his slim belly. Black tights graced his slim legs and he had no shoes for some reason. On his mouth was a jet black mask or bandana of some sort that covered his nose and mouth and chains hung loosely from his wrists. In some twisted way, he bore a striking resemblance to White. And was it him or was death metal music playing in the background? Speaking of White, the girl shook and nearly stumbled at the sight of their strange-looking attacker.
"W-What is this...?" she stuttered and Scarlet noticed her lips quivering in fear. "I can't feel anything..."
"White...?" he asked cautiously. White never showed such a face before and knowing how good she was at reading people, Scarlet got a very bad feeling especially as he felt that same sense of foreboding emitting from the boy ahead of him. "Something wrong?"
"It's like I'm staring into a black hole. There's nothing in him. No feelings, no emotion, no nothing...Almost like...a zombie..."
At that moment, Joid looked up and sniffed the air before looking at Scarlet blankly. Then his eyes narrowed and he threw his head back as a muffled scream escaped from his bandana.
"What is he-" Scarlet stopped as the scream stopped abruptly and the boy zig-zagged towards him rapidly. Jumping into the air, he threw a fist at the surprised ravenette who dodged the attack and eyed the newly-formed crater in his previous position.
"Graaaaaahhh!" Joid screamed and launched several hap-hazard punches at him, all of which increased in speed and ferocity until one finally found its mark and lodged itself deep into Scarlet's side, sending him flying and hitting his back on an upturned car.
"Scarlet!" she cried.
"Get back!" he replied, stumbling to his feet before coughing out a long trail of blood. "I'm not very sure, but I think it's me he's after."
As if to emphasise his point, Joid zoomed past White and was inches away from the ravenette when Jolteon jumped on him from nowhere and sank his fangs into his neck before executing a bright Discharge. Without giving Joid time to recover, the lightning pokemon twisted and flung him high into the air before Volt Tackling him skywards, all the way to Hydreigon. The Brutal Pokemon grunted as its partner slammed into its belly and sent them both hurtling into a building.
Psychotic asshole, Jolteon growled as he ran up to his master.
"Great job, Jolt. That should set 'em straight," Scarlet smirked and winced at the pain in his side.
"Are you okay, Scarlet?" Skyla asked as her Skarmory touched down beside him. "We've gotta get you to a hospital, pronto!"
"Incoming!" White cried and everyone jumped away as a BIG slab of concrete flew towards them. In the distance, Joid walked out of the hole in the building and crouched low. Very low.
"White, I need a dragon," Scarlet said and tugged on his gloves. Nodding, the trainer took out her pokeball and sent out her Deino. "Get Beartic too."
Skyla hovered beside them and glared up at the smirking Alphinia. "What's so funny and just who is that boy?"
"Looks like everyone's getting serious. This could actually turn entertaining," the blonde remarked and cracked her neck to loosen the stiff muscles. "I guess I'd better raise my game a little."
"You didn't answer the question," the gym leader growled as Joid's slim muscles convulsed. Hydreigon also began to shiver hysterically and growled just as its partner's eyes went purple and cried red tears.
"That boy," Alphinia stated and adjusted her headphones as Joid's mask slowly unravelled and fell slowly to the ground, revealing a mouth set with long canines and black lips. "...Is your soon-to-be worst nightmare."
Emboar and Beartic braced themselves before White and Scarlet tapped Deino lightly, absorbing bits of her DNA and as such activating the Dragon Boost while Skyla tensed on her Skarmory's back.
"I'll go for Alphinia," she said lowly. "As soon as I'm done with her, we'll join up and take down that monster."
"Got it." Scarlet's eyes went red.
"Got it." White's eyes went purple.
"Joid, Hydreigon," Alphinia called and raised a hand at the group. She only needed to utter one word. "Scream."
And thus the real fight began.
"What the fuck is going on?" Camille muttered and nearly fell as a fleeing passer by bumped roughly into her shoulder. "Hey! Watch were you're going asshole!"
"Quite the eventful afternoon, don't you think?"
The goth spun and came face to face with a man in a long, brown trench coat and black gloves. His face was wrapped entirely in bandages and a tall top hat crowned his head.
"You must be Camille," he continued in a sing-song tone and extended a hand. "I am Mr.P. It's a pleasure meeting ORPH's youngest and best mechanic."
"You're my client's representative?" she asked, wide-eyed and a little cautious. At his nod, she relaxed and swung her big duffel bag over her shoulder. "D'you know what's going on?"
"Apparently, a fire broke out in the shopping district and its quickly spreading. We'd better leave now if we hop not to get caught up in all the hassle." A strong wind blew and a helicopter with a stylized P on it touched down in the middle of the park and Mr.P opened the door for her. "Ladies first."
"Thanks," she muttered and looked back at the small city with its fleeing citizens. I hope Scarlet and his friends are okay...
Author's Corner.
Ghetsis: Come with me, everyone and we'll show you just how dark the pokemon world can be. Next time on A Simple Pokemon Story...no, I'd simply spoil it by giving you the title.