Chapter 22: Hellhound
I turned Trish over to the staff at the Lost Tower in order for her to be buried. I also gave them a card, and remembering I hadn't made one for Lin, made another.
Here lies Trish the Shellos
Her calm smile brought
joy to our travels
Here lies Lin the Graveller
A curious soul who
got in over her head
Shortly afterward I went back to the center, withdrawing Zak from the PC. I spent the rest of the afternoon training with him till the middle of the night. By the time I had gotten back to the center, he had evolved into a Haunter. "I have to admit, this being a ghost thing it pretty cool." he said, examining his new hands. "And that Shadow Claw move you taught me, awesome! I can't wait to try it out."
"Yeah, cool, whatever." I said sleepily. I was emotionally spent from the days events and simply collapsed on my bed after releasing everyone form their pokeballs. I fell asleep almost instantly as they chattered amongst themselves.
The next day I awoke somewhere between morning and midday, sleeping in for once. After the morning ritual I collected my things and skipped town as soon as I could. I didn't want to hang around and get into another confrontation with Edwin or, god forbid, the police. I knew I shouldn't have assaulted Edwin like that, but my temper got the best of me, as it has in the past. With Mufasa at my side I made my way up Route 110, turning sharply at the branch to follow Route 215 to Veilstone.
215 was a rainy place it turned out, as I covered my head with my jacket, trying my best to avoid getting wet and failing miserably. It was, apparently, the middle of fall in Sinnoh, providing excellent weather for middle of the day downpours. I was drenched, pissed off and all around miserable. Mufasa was barely doing better than me, at least making an attempt to look undisturbed by the wind and rain. We trudged on through the harsh weather, making our way down the route. Suddenly, a squeak rose up over the wind, catching my attention. Upon looking around I found a Marill huddling in a nearby clump of grass, trying to stay out of the elements. "Alright Mufasa, let's catch the poor guy." I called. A short battle later, I watched the pokeball containing the blue mouse as it faded away. "At least you're dry now." I muttered before pressing on.
A short distance later I encountered a trainer, dressed for the surrounding weather. He asked for a battle and despite the weather and my current emotions, I had to accept. Thankfully, Mufasa ran through his team with minimal effort, ending the battle quickly. "Great job Mufasa!" I cheered. Lightning flashed in the sky, catching my attention. A soft glow filled the air and for a moment I thought it was coming from the storm. As it got brighter, I realized it was Mufasa himself. He grew taller, his shoulder now reaching my stomach and his head up to my shoulders. The fur around his head grew out even longer, becoming a mane of black fur. The black fur spread out across his body so that only the his forelegs were uncovered. He had finally evolved into a Luxray, looking every bit the regal predator he acted like. "Man, that's awesome!" I cried, Luxray being one of my favorite pokemon. "Congrats Mufasa!"
"Hmph. Like there was any doubt I was the best." Mufasa growled, acting like it was just another day for him.
"Yeah, yeah, you're the best, now let's get into town and out of this storm." I chuckled, patting is back lightly as we moved on. After navigating a winding path of hills, bridges and a small forest, we arrived at the Veilstone City gate. As we got closer, the storm let up, being practically non-existent by the time we entered the gate. "Dammit, of all the rotten luck." I cursed, glaring angrily at my soaked clothes. "I'm gonna need to visit a laundry mat, even my bag is soaked." We made our way to the local PokeCenter. On the way, I noticed something that put me in an even worse mood. Team Galactic grunts were all over the city, wandering around the streets and hanging out in storefronts. I noticed a fairly large building on a hill near the entrance of town that had large satellite dishes and the Galactic logo on the front.
When I arrived at the center I asked what it was all about. "Oh, Team Galactic? They're one of Veilstone's largest companies." the nurse replied. "There are some rumors going around about criminal activities, but nothing that effectively pins the crimes to this branch here." she said. "If you ask me, I think they're pretty mean people. They don't seem to be much of a problem now, but if they are criminals than it could get dangerous."
"No kidding." I growled, taking my room key. After drying my clothes, the day was running mostly to an end so I ate dinner and crashed, dressed in my freshly dried pajama bottoms. The next day I decided to explore the next route, try to catch something new before I started training for the next gym. What I discovered was something pretty awesome.
"Holy crap that's a Houndour!" I yelped as the black and orange dog trudged into view. I was standing next to a pond at the beginning of the route and it had just appeared in order to get a drink.
"Yeah, it's a Houndour, what's so special about it?" Lola asked.
"Houndoom is like, the coolest looking pokemon ever!" I explained. "I've always wanted to train one, and I had no idea they were even native to Sinnoh!" I crept closer, trying to get as close as possible before ambushing it. Unfortunately, the dogs sense of hearing was pretty sharp. It looked up and saw me coming before I was even halfway to it. The Houndour growled deeply, ears flattening behind it's skull shaped helmet, barring its teeth.
"Oh crap he's seen us." I whispered. "Quick, Lola, use Quick Attack. Don't knock him out, I want to catch him!" I added.
The Lopunny moved forward, running towards the wild pokemon with impressive speed. She punched him lightly in the side, or at least, lightly for her. As for the Houndour, he seemed pretty pissed off by the attack, yet oddly happy. He howled, not in pain but in joy, before launching an Ember attack, fire spewing from his mouth. Lola rolled out of the way, getting mildly singed by the intensity of the attack.
"Quick Attack one more time Lola, then we'll get him." I encouraged. She nodded, hitting the dark-type dog with another attack. This time he expected the power, holding his ground somewhat. He snapped forward, digging his teeth into Lola's arm, biting down with serious force. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit." I muttered, throwing the pokeball. I didn't want Lola to be seriously injured, and at the same time, didn't want her wailing on the wild pokemon in retaliation. The pokeball hit home, a red glow enveloping the Houndour before it was absorbed into the metal ball. Lola clutched her injured arm as we watched the ball roll back and forth feircely. One, two, three, click. "Man, he really fought hard to get out of there." I said, watching the ball disappear, transported to the PC. "C'mon Lola, let's go get that arm looked at and greet our new teammate." I said, heading back into town.
After a brief visit to the PokeCenter, I had healed Lola and traded Zak out for the Houndour. The ghost-type didn't seem put out at being boxed. "Hey man, no offense, but I don't want to die again." he had said. "I'm more than happy to watch from the bench." I went back out to Route 215, releasing my whole team out except the newcomer.
"Okay guys, as Lola can attest to, this guy might be a bit of a problem, so let's be on guard to keep him from causing any issues." I warned. Everyone nodded and I glanced down at Rose. "You might want to take a step back. Fire-type and all that." She obeyed, moving behind me. "Alrighty then, come on out Cerberus." I called, releasing the Houndour.
Immediately there was a struggle. He growled and snapped, trying to attack the pokemon around him. Armstrong tried to muscle him to the ground only to get a spray of fire for his trouble. Sora barely avoided a Bite attack, as did Lola. Finally, Mufasa stepped forward and roared loudly, making the raging mutt pause. "Behave yourself, or I will teach you who leads this pack." the lion growled. Cerberus glared up at him for a while before looking away with a huff.
"Fine. But one day you're gonna have your back turned, and then I'll be in charge." Cerberus muttered.
Mufasa merely stared but I stepped in between them. "Uh, no, you won't. Not if you want to live for very long anyway." I said. I launched into the details of the challenge, explaining the rules and what would happen to him if he lost.
"That's great, just fucking great." he snapped. "Not only do I get my ass kicked by a rabbit and get captured, I'm part of some kinda death game with this dumbass calling the shots."
"Hey asshole, don't start startin' fights where there isn't one." Rose snapped, stepping out from behind me.
"And who's this little morsel? Didn't see you cowering back there. Good timing too, I was in the mood for a salad." Cerberus leered, lunging at Rose. Faster than I could follow, Lolas leg snapped out in a kick, knocking the dog to the floor at Roses feet.
"I'll put you down before you hurt anyone on this team." Lola warned him. "Mufasa isn't the only one you have to look out for, or did you forget our little fight earlier?"
"I didn't forget girly, though that kick to the head isn't helping." Cerberus snapped. "Fine, the salad stays uneaten. Whatever makes you feel better Princess."
Deciding that Cerberus wasn't going to be a problem anymore with the dual threat of Mufasa and Lola over his head, I stepped forward. "Okay Cerberus, that's you by the way, I figure it's time to start training. You've got to catch up with everyone else here and then we have to get ready for the gym. So get ready for a long day."
"Hurray, I can already feel the excitement." he said sarcastically, following me into the tall grass. Cerberus proved to be a strong fighter, taking down opponents fairly easily. I spotted a bunch of trainers that seemed to specialize in psychic-types and challenged them, letting him go to town. Cerberus was ruthlessly efficient, using both Bite and Faint Attack at their fullest. His fire attacks weren't bad either, roasting the team of a grass-type specialist without a sweat. I didn't know if I should be glad to have his power, or scared of what he was going to do with that power and his attitude. The situation was made slightly worse after the battle with the grass trainer, when he evolved into Houndoom.
Standing just as tall as Mufasa, Cerberus now looked more like a doberman dressed for Halloween. Three bone-like ribs protected his back while two goat horns replaced the skull helmet. His tail was tipped like a devils and more bone-like growths wrapped around his ankles, looking like the remains of chains. He glanced around at his new form, taking it in. "Man, I look good." he mused, admiring his looks. "Bet Princess wouldn't be so mean to me if she got a look at me now."
"Don't count on it." I chuckled. He spit a small flare at me, causing me to jump back. "Dammit, Cerberus!" I scolded as he laughed at me. "Come on, we've got to get back into town. Tomorrow we have to train some more before the gym."
The next day was exactly that, more training before the gym. Using the VS Seeker, I managed to get more battles with the psychic and grass type trainers nearby for Cerberus to fight. Other than Houndour, the route was mostly populated by Ryhorn and Graveller, two pokemon I did not want the overconfident dog to be going up against. Armstrong, Lola and Rose, on the other hand, had a wonderful time battling the local wildlife. After lunch I battled the grass-type trainer some more with Sora, then camped out next to the pond I had found Cerberus at with Mufasa, battling any pokemon I fished up. By dinner time, I felt ready to go. "Alright guys, let's grab some grub then the badge." I said, leading the group back into town.
"Sounds like a plan." Cerberus said, eying Rose dangerously. Mufasa growled at him and Armstrong cracked his knuckles. "Jeez, relax, I was joking." Cerberus said, backing off. "How about you Princess, fancy having some dinner with me tonight?" he asked, glancing over at Lola.
"Only in your dreams Cerb." she said, brushing him off. They had been going back and forth all day, Cerberus hitting on the Lopunny and Lola rejecting him. It had almost become a game between the two, the goal being getting the other to give in.
"You know, you're the only guy I know who would go after someone you met cause she kicked your ass." Rose pointed out. We all shared a laugh at that, minus Cerberus.
"Yeah, well, when you go up against power like that, it leaves quite the impression." Cerberus remarked.
We stopped by a restaurant in the downtown area of Veilstone. It was a pretty nice place, good music and a nice New Orleanish atmosphere that seemed almost out of place in a city like this but was welcome all the same. After dinner, I returned the group to their pokeballs and wandered down towards the gym. On the way, a bunch of flashing lights caught my attention. It turned out to be a casino, advertising TM's as rewards you could cash in coins for. I was about to walk away when a clown drunkenly hobbled over to me, thrusting a briefcase in my arms. "Here." he mumbled. "Take it. I've wasted to much on this place hic anyway." He wandered off, leaving me with the case. Opening it, I discovered it was supplied with a generous amount of coins. "Alright, I'm not gonna turn down an opportunity that's slamming at the door." I said to myself, stepping into the casino.
It was well into the night by the time I exited, having lost track of time playing the slots. I clutched the TM I had won in my hands like it was a lifeline all the way back to the PokeCenter. After getting inside my room, I let everyone out and sat on the bed.
"I thought we were going to the gym, what happened?" Sora asked.
"Found a casino." I said. "The games were so addictive, I just kept winning! Then I started loosing, and I had to make up the difference! Then I started winning again, it's all a confused mess." I held the disk up. "Did manage to score this though. C'mere Cerb."
The fire-type snorted from his position laying by the door. "No thanks, I'm fine right here." he muttered.
"Well alright, if you don't want to learn Flamethrower 15 levels early." I teased, starting to put the orange TM back in my bag.
Cerberus got to his feet and lazily wandered over. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place." he muttered. "At least now I can take that overgrown housecat in a fight."
I hesitated slightly before putting the disk on his head. "I'm telling you now, if you do anything to hurt a teammate while I'm asleep, I'll put you down. I'm giving everyone here permission to attack you if you hit first. Got it?" I said.
He rolled his eyes. "Look, I may not be the most trustworthy guy, but I know when the deck is stacked against me. I'm not gonna pick a fight I can't win, not when loosing means a dirt nap. Now give me the damn disk." I consented, placing the TM on his head. After teaching him the move, I got changed and climbed into my bed. "Tomorrow we've got a gym battle guys, get some sleep." I said before turning the light off.