Chapter 7
4/14/0046/Noon
Route 32
Blake and Grace walked along a dirt pathway on a slight decline, on route to Azalea Town which would take a good week's worth of traveling with the distance they had to cover. The quiet duo discovered that they had similar tastes through a few conversations, Grace being the quieter of the two which made it seem as though Blake was the talkative one.
Both them currently had their headphones on, blasting music in their ears when they were confronted by a familiar face.
"Hey you!" A voice shouted, jumping out from the bushes into Blake and Grace's path. The two of them came to a halt, removing their headphones with a mental groan
"What?" Blake said.
"Do you remember me?" The boy asked, pointing to himself with his thumb.
"Nope." Blake replied, hanging his headphones around his neck.
"It's me, Galen. We had a match in the Battle Dome last night. Remember?" He continued, reminding Blake about their battle the night before.
"Oh...yeah. What do you want?"
"Let's battle." He said, removing one the two Poke-balls on the belt around his waist.
"You already lost, why do you want to battle me again?" Blake asked, raising one eyebrow while keeping a neutral expression.
"You beat me before this happened." He said, tossing a Poke-ball into the air, releasing a sheep Pokemon that stood on it's hind legs, much of its white wool missing with only a ring around its neck and a poof on it's head. Its skin was a bright pink and it possessed a tail with yellow orb on the end.
"Flaff." It said, looking at Blake.
"My Mareep evolved in a Flaffy." Galen explained.
"Ah, and you want to test out its new strength." Blake said, receiving a nod from him before tossing a Poke-ball into the air to release his new Ralts. "Alright then, I'd like to test out a Pokemon too."
"Ralts?" It muttered, looking around.
"Ralts. It's time to battle." Blake said to the Pokemon, taking out his Pokedex to check its move set. "Hmm, these moves aren't bad."
"Let's go!" Galen shouted. "Flaffy, use Charge."
Flaffy stood completely stood, several small yellow orbs appearing in the air around, beginning to gather around Flaffy.
"Ralts, use Hypnosis." Blake said, receiving a nod from Ralts who placed its tiny arms on its head, a circular gray pulse forming in front its head that then rushed toward Flaffy, hitting the Sheep Pokemon dead on. Flaffy collapsed to the ground mid Charge, sound asleep.
"Flaffy, wake up." Galen said after her realized that the attack had put Flaffy to sleep.
"Ralts, use Confusion." Blake said. A blue outline formed around Flaffy, lifting it into the air. From there, Flaffy was thrown into a tree trunk and then slammed into the ground by Ralts.
The small Psychic type Pokemon began to snicker out loud as it picked up the sleeping Flaffy once again, slamming into down to the ground three more times before tossing it at a tree trunk.
"Ralts, enough." Blake said at the his Pokemon who was quickly becoming ruthless with its attacks, ignoring Blake's orders at it began to laugh out loud. 'It's strong. Stronger than his Flaffy.'
"Come Flaffy, wake up or we're done for." Galen called out to his sleeping partner that was being thrown around like a rag doll.
"Ralts, that will be enough." Blake hissed at the Pokemon who turned around to stick its tongue at Blake, but when it made eye contact with Blake, it froze up, dropping Flaffy. Flaffy's nose twitched several times before the Sheep Pokemon's eyes opened up.
"Finally, Flaffy, use Thundershock." Galen said, watching his partner get back on its feet.
"Flaff!" It said, unleashing a dozens of electrical bolts that rushed toward Ralts.
"Ralts, use Confusion and send them all back." Blake ordered, pointing at the approaching attack.
Ralts turned around, all of the yellow bolts turning blue just before they came into contact with the Psychic type. Now that the attack was under Ralts' control, the small Pokemon aimed them back at Flaffy who couldn't dodge the attack in time, wiping out the little bit of health it had left.
As Flaffy collapsed, Ralts' body lit up in a bright white light, glowing in the day light. Ralts began to grow, becoming taller, the little robe it wore morphing into a skirt. Now Ralts stood on two thin legs, the red horns on the front and back of its head receding into its head while a horn on each side of its head replaced them. The light faded revealing Ralts' new form.
"Kirlia." It said, turning around to face Blake.
'Hmm. No wonder it was so strong. It was already close to evolving.' Blake said, walking up to Kirlia. "Nice."
"Grr, you beat me again." Galen mumbled, retuning Flaffy to its Poke-ball. "I'll beat you Blake!"
Galen turned around and began sprinting back toward Violet City, shouting about starting another training spree.
"Great, I was trying to avoid something like that." Blake mumbled to himself, searching the pathway for Grace who he found seated on a low branch, watching the battle with a notebook on her lap. "Hey, do mind if we stop here to do some training?"
"Go ahead." She said, putting her ear buds back in her ears.
Taking the other three Poke-balls off his belt, Blake gave them a toss into the air to release the other members of his team. After they took shape, Poliwag, Larvitar and Cyndaquil took a few moments to stretch before realizing there were new faces around them. Blake had yet to introduce Poliwag and Kirlia to his time, so he figured he would get that over with now.
"Alright guys. Meet you're new partners." Blake said, watching Poliwag step up to Cyndaquil and Larvitar.
"Poli?" It asked the two of them.
"Cynda, Cyndaquil." Cyndaquil replied.
"Poli, Poliwag, Poli!" It said, beating its chest with his tail twice before hitting Cyndaquil across the face with its tail.
"Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil shouted, igniting the flames on backs before attacking Poliwag. Poliwag was sent tumbling from the Tackle, but it quickly got back to its feet and fired a Water Gun which was narrowly avoided by Cyndaquil, but the attack hit Kirlia who was standing behind Cyndaquil.
"Kirlia." It said darkly, matching Blake's expression from its battle earlier, raising both his hands as its eyes became a light blue. Cyndaquil and Poliwag were lifted into the air after a blue outline formed around them. Swinging its arms to the left, Kirlia send both Cyndaquil and Poliwag flying into Larvitar, and thus the brawl had started.
Both Cyndaquil and Poliwag crashed into Larvitar, angering the small Rock Skin Pokemon. Rising to its feet, Larvitar glared at Kirlia before smashing its small into the ground, ripping a small chunk of earth from the ground which it hurled at Kirlia. The Psychic type Pokemon stopped the Rock Throw with the use of Confusion.
After its experience with Noctowl, Larvitar could tell that Kirlia was going to launch the rock back at Larvitar. Taking a few moments to charge up a Dark Pulse, Blake was surprised to Larvitar, in the heat of the moment, hold the Dark Pulse over its head where the orb became flat like a disk.
From there, Larvitar threw the disk toward Kirlia, watching it hover over the ground as it rushed toward the approaching Rock Throw attack. Cutting through the rock with ease, Blake raised an eyebrow at the power behind the attack. But what really gained his attention was when Kirlia attempted to use Confusion to stop the attack, but even when Confusion had clearly taken over, it continued on its course.
Kirlia was plucked off the ground by the attack, being sent flying into the trunk of a tree with a loud thud.
'Whoa, it flattened the orb to make sure the energy doesn't fall apart like it normally does.' Blake said to himself, thinking about what he could do with this attack.
"Cyndaquil!" The small Fire type Pokemon squealed, releasing a blast of flames from its mouth at Poliwag who fired a Water Gun in return, the water pushing right through the flames with ease. Cyndaquil was knocked backward from the Water Gun that cut straight through its flames, but once it was standing again, Cyndaquil used Quick Attack to close in on Poliwag.
Poliwag directed its Water Gun attack at the ground, lifting it into the air where it was momentarily safe from Cyndaquil, using this time to observe Cyndaquil from above.
Cyndaquil stopped moving, looking up at Poliwag who was in the air. Poliwag cut off its Water Gun, beginnings its decent back toward the ground, aiming himself at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil opened its mouth, using Ember as Poliwag neared it, but Poliwag put its tail in the path of the Ember, deflecting the flames away from it.
Cyndaquil was unsure if its Ember had hit to it continued the attack until a hot object slapped itself down onto Cyndaquil's head, smashing it into the ground.
"Poli!" Poliwag said as it landed on the ground in front of Cyndaquil, its tail scorching hot and tinted red from redirecting the flames.
Kirlia rested against a tree trunk while Cyndaquil lay on the ground, both of their eyes replaced by black swirls. Larvitar and Poliwag turned to face each other, Larvitar glaring at Poliwag much like Blake glaring at anything while Poliwag beat its stomach with its tail, shouting.
Poliwag unleashed a Water Gun on Larvitar which it blocked taking a stone of the ground using Rock Throw and holding it in front of itself before chucking it at Poliwag, landing the swift attack which hit the Water type Pokemon.
Poliwag slid across the ground as Larvitar chased after it, preparing to finish it off using Bite. As Poliwag came to halt, it hit the ground with its tail to push itself into the air and perform a back flip to land its feet.
As Larvitar neared Poliwag, the Water type jumped to the left, narrowly avoiding the Bite attack before returning with a Pound, slapping Larvitar across the face. Larvitar, being a Rock type, was unaffected from the Pound and lunged at Poliwag to the finish Bit attack on Poliwag. Larvitar stepped back from Poliwag, raising its arm in victory. Grace began to clap for Larvitar.
"Good job." She said. "That Dark Pulse was really cool."
"Nice Larvitar." Blake said, spraying Kirlia with his Potion, restoring its health. Blake healed the rest of his team and returned them to their Poke-balls to rest except for Larvitar. "Larvitar, lets practice that version of Dark Pulse you just did."
4/14/0046/Night
Route 31
Robbie sat on a rock, Totodile sitting next to him with am Oran Berry in its hands, happily munching with the blue juice of the berry smeared all over its snout.
"Alright Totodile, today was another success." Robbie said to Totodile.
"Toto, Toto, Toto." It said, munching away on the large blue berry in its hands.
"Tomorrow we'll practice Ice Fang some more and find a few trainers to battle." Robbie said, patting Totodile on the head before looking around for some firewood since it was time to set up camp.
Totodile laid back on the rock after finishing its Oran Berry, ready to sleep for the night.
'Argh, I wish my debut was earlier.' Robbie said to himself. 'I'll have to rush to make for the Rookie Kings. Alright then, for now I'll focus on building up my team. First I have to find an Abra.'
4/15/0046/Morning
Route 30
"Chikorita, use Vine Whip!" Mari shouted after Chikorita landed a Tackle attack on the Poliwag. Two of the green buds on Chikorita extended outward toward Poliwag, lifting the Water Pokemon into the air. From there, Chikorita tossed Poliwag at a tree trunk, finishing off the Pokemon. "Awesome Chikorita!"
Mari took out her Pokedex and took a snap shot of Poliwag, entering the data into the Pokedex.
"Blake and Robbie must be way a head of us." Mari said, getting a nod from Chikorita. "Let's get super strong for our debut and then the Rookie Kings."
After Stanly left yesterday, the town immediately got to work on rebuilding what they could, but where ever Mari went to help, they all insisted that she leave to start her Battle Circuit conquest until they finally forced her out of town earlier this morning.
4/15/0046/Noon
Route 32
Blake watched as the Dark Pulse that Larvitar had morphed into a disk flew toward a tree trunk, cutting through the thick object with ease.
"Nice Larvitar." Blake commented, pleased that they had gotten better at the move after another training session that started at sunrise.
"So are we going to move along now?" Grace asked, putting down her pencil and notebook back into her backpack.
"Yeah, we should start moving again." Blake replied, collecting his hammock and backpack.
"We have to travel through Union Cave before we get to Azalea town. I heard Union Cave is packed with tough wild Pokemon and trainers from Azalea Town." Grace said.
"Good, then we'll get to train some more on the way, when do we get to Union Cave?"
"If we keep this pace we'll be there by lunch time tomorrow."
As the two of them continued to follow the dirt pathway, the tree began to disappear, a rugged terrain setting in around them on both sides.
"Good, we got farther than I thought. We just have to move through this valley, cross the waterway and we should find a Pokemon Center." Grace said, looking around at their surroundings.
"What's that book for?" Blake asked, looking down at the notebook Grace held in her hands.
"It's for the novel I'm writing." She replied quietly, her cheeks reddening from Blake's interest.
"Hmm, let me read it whenever you're done with it." Blake said, putting his headphones over his ears before she could give him an answer. Watching the boy begin to walk on ahead of her, Grace felt as if a wave washing over her body. Studying Blake from behind, he looked like nothing more than your average teenager, but something was bothering her about him.
'Why does it feel like I know him from somewhere?' She asked herself, her cheeks reddening once again. 'Why can't I remember him?'
4/16/0046/Morning
Pokemon Center near Union Cave
"I challenge you!" Someone shouted from behind Blake and Grace, neither of them hearing the person because their headphones were on while Larvitar looked back since it was only one to hear them.
Grace felt someone tap her shoulder and turned around to see a tall, male trainer standing behind them.
"I challenge you." He said again after she shut off her music.
"Sure." She said, taking off the one strap backpack she had on, handing it to Blake who muttered something under his breath as he took his spot at the sidelines. "How many Pokemon?"
"Just one." He said, taking some distance from her, deciding on what Pokemon he should use.
"Who are you?" Grace asked, taking off one of the six Poke-balls on her belt.
"My name is Chris, I'm an A-Class and I want to battle you." He said. "I already know who you are and I want to test my strength against you."
Chris tossed his Poke-ball into the air, releasing a Nidorino. Grace released her Pokemon as well, a yellow Pokemon that stood on all fours with several black, incomplete strips on it. It possessed a huge main of white fur around its neck and a large poofy tail with fluff covering the ankles of its hind legs. This Pokemon was taller than both Blake and Grace while it was standing on all fours.
"She's using her Shiny Arcanine!" Chris exclaimed. He had his work cut out for him. "Let's do this Nidorino, use Poison Fang!"
Nidorino opened its mouth, revealing a pair of sharp fangs that gained a dark purple aura. Pushing forward with its hind legs, Nidorino gave out a loud cry as it charged toward Arcanine.
"Arcanine, use Heat Wave." Grace said as Nidorino approached Arcanine. Arcanine opened its mouth, the air becoming fuzzy and distorted in front of it, flying toward Nidorino.
Nidorino charged into the distorted air, the intense heat wiping out all of its health in one hit. Nidorino collapsed to the ground without even landing the Poison Fang, black swirls located where its eyes would be.
"Nidorino return." Chris said, returning it to its Poke-ball. "I guess the IBF is still a far of dream."
"Don't worry, everyone starts at the bottom and works their way up, that's how I got this far." Grace said, waving to him as he gave her nod before leaving. Grace turned around to see Blake staring with a dark look.
"Who are you?" He asked. Before she could give him an answer, Arcanine could sense the malice being directed at its training and stepped in between Grace and Blake, returning Blake's glare. Blake stepped up to the larger Pokemon, darkening his glare while remaining unfazed by the hot air Arcanine blew in his face with its nostrils.
"Arcanine it's alright. He's friendly." Grace said, trying to calm her Pokemon. She hated trying to introduce people to her Arcanine. It hardly trusted anyone, and while Grace loved it from the bottom of her heart, it was incredibly annoying to to subdue Arcanine and show it when a friend is not a foe.
"Move you over sized fur ball." Blake growled, angering Arcanine. Blake jumped back as Arcanine snorted twice, a small burst of flames exiting its nose.
Arcanine smiled to itself since it was successful in forcing Blake to move first, but just a few seconds after Blake had moved back, a large piece of earth hit Arcanine square in the face. Arcanine stumbled backward with a growl, knocking over Grace who hit the ground with a soft yelp.
"Larvitar!" Larvitar shouted, getting Arcanine's attention.
As Arcanine noticed Larvitar standing a few feet to Blake's left, Larvitar threw another stone at Arcanine, hitting it in the face a second time. Arcanine flinched for a moment before glaring at Larvitar, a low growl escaping its mouth.
"Arcanine, calm down." Grace said, searching for its Poke-ball which had been knocked out her hand when Arcanine bumped into her. Arcanine opened its mouth, releasing a continuous stream of flames that was directed at Larvitar.
Larvitar jumped to is left to avoid the flames before rushing toward Arcanine, a pair of fangs growing in its mouth. Arcanine cut off its Flame Thrower since it had missed Larvitar, beginning to charge a Solar Beam.
As Larvitar ran toward Arcanine, Blake noticed that Arcanine seemed to flicker for just a moment realizing this was a trap. Blake rushed toward Larvitar as it hit Arcanine, but instead of hitting a solid body, Larvitar flew through and image of Arcanine while the real Arcanine was standing a few feet away from Grace, aiming its Solar Beam at Larvitar.
"Arcanine, don't!" Grace shouted as Arcanine fired the white beam at Larvitar. Just before the beam hit Larvitar, it felt something close up around its body, shielding it from the Solar Beam.
Grace watched in awe as Blake grabbed Larvitar with his left arm, putting up his right arm in attempt to shield himself from the Solar Beam, but just before it hit, Blake felt a surge of energy run through him. The Solar Beam hit his right forearm, but instead of obliterating his right arm, it was deflected away, flying up into the sky. Everyone was left speechless, including Blake himself.
'Whoa…' Was all Grace could manage to get out as she tried to understand what just happened. "H…How did you do that?"
Blake rolled up the sleeve covering his right arm a bit, once again seeing the two gray eyes below his wrist, but now the small blue triangle had an extension, looking like a rhombus now, but the extension was gray.
'What's going on?' Blake asked himself, watching the symbols on his wrist flicker.