Andy's gym battle was about to start. Half of the arena was made of earth, so it was confirmed Onix could battle. When he called forth Onix, the referee, gym leader, and spectators all started laughing, but stopped when Andy gave them what can be referred as a 'Dead Stare.'
"Staryu, show this Onix how it's done!" Misty called forth a starfish with a gem in the middle
"I say we get this started. Onix, use rock polish on yourself repeatedly and dodge everything!"
The Staryu couldn't land a single hit on the giant rock-snake Pokémon as it continually got faster. Soon, Onix couldn't get any faster, so Andy decided to start the offense.
"Onix, harden, and then tackle!"
"Staryu, now's your chance! Use scald!"
Onix tackled recklessly into the scalding hot water, and fainted, but not before dealing a fair amount of damage.
"Onix, return, Raichu, bring it!"
The Raichu smacked its tail down fiercely, ready to fight. Sparks shot violently from his cheeks as he saw his opponent. It was clear to everyone; Raichu was one bloodthirsty son of a bitch. Children were clinging to their mothers, and said mothers were either hugging their husbands, or looking for them. Raichu was prepared to fight to the death.
"Raichu, rain dance!" Rain clouds form at the ceiling, being filled with some water from the pool.
"Staryu, use water pulse!" Raichu nimbly jumped out of the way of the slow ball of water. Raichu didn't even wait for what Andy was going to order; he just used thunder on himself.
"Good planning Raichu. Now, quick attack into iron tail!" The large electric type rodent dashed forwards and smashed the starfish Pokémon through the floor of the pool before leaping back onto the ground.
"Staryu, return." Misty said with shock in her voice (Pun severely intended). "Starmie, go!"
Andy held up Raichu's Great ball and recalled him. "Kirlia, would you kindly?" Andy asked, and Kirlia floated onto the field with a nod.
"Hey, why did you recall Raichu?" Misty asked with some annoyance in her voice.
"He'd kill Starmie if I gave him the chance." Andy replied. He shook his head to get rid of the remaining droplets of water. "Kirlia, use psychic."
The small blue and white Pokémon forced the purple star-shaped Pokémon into the ceiling, and then crashing into the pool's floor right beside where Staryu's crater was.
"Starmie, stay under water and use water pulse!" An orb of water came from the edge of the pool, hitting Kirlia before she could act.
"Kirlia, dazzling gleam!" Andy yelled. The bright light that came off of Kirlia was blinding, as expected. Misty couldn't give orders to a Pokémon she couldn't see.
"Release there." Andy said, pointing to where Starmie's Aura was. The brilliant silver light penetrated through the water as if it were air, and hit Starmie directly, and overpowered its sight, blinding it temperately.
"Now, psychic! Get it onto the ground!" Andy commanded. Kirlia forced the Starmie onto the ground, and waited.
"Starmie, use brine!" Misty ordered. The purple starfish summoned a force of water aimed directly for Kirlia.
"Kirlia, repeatedly use teleport and confusion!" Andy ordered. Kirlia teleported behind Starmie and hit it with confusion. Kirlia then teleported above Starmie and used confusion again. On the third teleportation/confusion combo, Starmie tackled into a wall and fainted.
"Starmie, return. Goldeen, come on out!" The horned fish Pokémon leapt into the water and stared at Kirlia.
"Kirlia, use psychic and smash it into the floor." Andy said, irritated that this fight was taking so long. If he would just send out Raichu…
'No, Raichu took down a Gyarados with ease. If I send him out, I fear for Goldeen's life." Andy thought to himself.
"Goldeen, use water pulse!"
"Counter it with shadow ball!"
The two spheres of energy collided with such an energy that Kirlia and Goldeen were pushed back. Kirlia had enough of this fight. Repetitive move sets, all water types… She was going to end the battle in one more hit. Little to her knowledge, Goldeen was thinking the same thing.
"Psychic!"
"Megahorn!"
With the rate of speed Goldeen charged forth with, it was a miracle that Kirlia was able to slow her down. The insectoid energy was making Kirlia lose focus. The battle seemed over and the gym leader's win inevitable. But it wasn't until Andy sensed that Kirlia was crushing something with her psychic power did victory seem possible.
"TELEPORT!" Andy yelled both mentally and physically. He knew what that was. He could feel the controlling Aura around the crushed object.
It was an everstone.
Kirlia was starting to take on the legendary glow of evolution as she stood in the corner of the gym. Everyone (who could see) was staring in awe at the newly evolved Gardevoir. Gardevoir flicked some hair out of her face and stared intently at the opposing Goldeen.
"Gardevoir, use moon blast." Andy said, still processing the fact that Kirlia evolved into Gardevoir. Gardevoir held a pink sphere in front of her, and fired the powerful energy at Goldeen who was hit.
"Goldeen, use water pulse!" Misty commanded in a final attempt to win.
"Finish this off with a shadow ball." Andy groaned. He was getting sick of standing in the trainer box. He needed to do something productive.
Gardevoir fired a shadow ball that ripped right through the ball of water and hit Goldeen directly, knocking it out.
Misty recalled her Goldeen and stepped down from her trainer box. Andy also stepped down from his trainer box, and walked over to the water type gym leader.
"That was an impressive battle Andy. I haven't had so much fun in forever." Misty said. She handed Andy the Cascade badge. "You've earned it."
Andy didn't reply. His mind was in a violent haze as he sensed a powerful psychic enter his range. Andy simply walked over to the door and exited, followed by Gardevoir.
"Andy, what's wrong?" Gardevoir asked the distracted Andy.
Andy violently shook his head. "Someone… Over there…" He managed, and pointed over to a man in a white cloak.
"Andrew Ketchum, by the order of the Aura Guardian Riley, I am to give you these books of Aura." The psychic in the white cloak said, not caring that Andy was being bombarded with his psychic power.
"Give me those." Gardevoir said. When the man didn't respond, Gardevoir tried to take the books by force.
"I cannot allow you to touch these." When Andy didn't move, the man let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, take them. It is obvious my abilities are over powering his senses." And with that, he teleported away, relieving Andy of the energy he generated.
()
Andy couldn't tell what was with that psychic that made him fade, but he decided to let it go for now. He sat outside the Cerulean gym, reading the Aura books while waiting for Samantha to finish her battle with her mom. For some reason, Andy couldn't use his Aura to read the books at the speed he had done with the others; instead, he read at the pace of a normal person.
"What do you think is taking Samantha so long?" Gardevoir asked. "Isn't her team weak to water types?"
"Ah, you forget that Paras she caught yesterday," Andy started, "but Misty's team is rumored to have ice type attacks."
"If she's taking it easy on her, a certain trainer of mine will use an Aura Sphere?" Gardevoir asked, slightly giggling. She remembered that Goldeen had a Megahorn attack, and if Paras was fighting Goldeen, the Megahorn could wipe it out.
"Eh. I've read here that there is more than just the sphere. Apparently, I can fashion anything from a sword to a suit of armour." Andy explained, holding his hand over the book and pouring Aura into it.
"Rhetorical question, smart-ass." Gardevoir groaned.
"Rhetorical answer," Andy playfully countered, receiving an, albeit useless, glare from Gardevoir. Andy sensed a strong happy emotion from inside the gym, an immediately knew what happened.
"Well, Sam won." Andy simply stated, and proceeded to place the books back into his bag. And not too soon, since Samantha came running out the door.
"I WON, I WON, I WON, I WON!" Samantha cheered as she grabbed Andy's hand and started dragging him; both followed by a laughing Gardevoir.
"Where in Mew's name are you taking me!?" Andy asked (closer to blurted) loudly, uselessly struggling against Samantha's grip. Samantha, of course, only replied with a large grin.
"Help me?" Andy asked Gardevoir, who ignored his pleas for help. Andy soon sensed something between Gardevoir and Samantha. 'They're talking to each other! I'm so boned…' Andy thought to himself. He had no choice but to keep up with Samantha for about ten minutes until they reached a clearing in the woods.
"Sit down." Samantha ordered, and Andy sat down obediently, like a dog.
"Why are we here of all places?" Andy asked from the fallen log he called a seat. His fingers dug into the rotting wood and into termite holes (A/N: Yes, there are normal animals in this, how else would you think people eat meat?).
"You'll know soon enough." Gardevoir said in an odd tone. Andy did not know what was going on, but went along with it.
"We," Samantha said, gesturing to herself, Gardevoir, and Andy, "are camping here tonight."
"But my watch says it's only three in the afternoon," Andy complained. "If we start walking, we could stay in a road-side Pokémon cen-" Andy was cut off by an unfamiliar Aura about fifty meters behind him. And another, and another, until there were ten. "We have company," Andy said, and summoned Aura to his hands.
Samantha was shocked. 'No one was supposed to follow us!' She thought, slightly enraged. What she had planned was supposed to be between her and Andy.
"I see you have sensed us." A middle aged man said loudly. "We may as well announce who we are; we are assassins of the Army of the Old Gods. Come with us, Andy, fellow Old God worshipper." His voice had the same… liquid-like sound as Harold's.
"You are destroying the name of the Old Gods you idiots!" Andy spat, still facing away from them. Samantha was equally angry. This was supposed to be time for Samantha and Andy! Gardevoir even agreed to go back in her Premier Ball!
"I was afraid you'd say something like that." The lead assassin groaned. He turned on a blue-tooth like device and spoke into it so quietly, Andy couldn't hear with his advanced senses. "Sniper, he refused; you know what to do." And with that, he walked away, letting Samantha and Andy enjoy their time together. For now.
"What the hell was that about?" Samantha asked no one in particular. "I mean, a group, group, of self-proclaimed assassins comes out of nowhere, and just leaves?" Samantha continued ranting for about five minutes.
"Sam, they're gone. Can you please tell me what the hell we're doing here?" Andy asked, becoming more impatient by the second.
"Well, for starters, this." Samantha said, and started a make-out session with her boyfriend that lasted for about a minute. A minute of bliss. A minute of mouths waging war on each other. When they broke apart, however, it wasn't for air.
The sniper took his shot.
/AUTHOR'S NOTE/ YEAH! ENJOY THAT CLIFF HANGER!... I should hide now, right? Those torches and pitchforks are telling me yes…
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ANYWAYS, I hope for more reviews! We writers love them! PS: I hid two references in the chapter. Guess them, and I'll give you a shout-out!
Exeunt