Hello, (insert your name) . How are you doing? You must be doing pretty well if you're reading my super awesome story that's totally going to make your day better :P. All jokes aside, welcome to another chapter of Unova Adventure! This will be a somewhat quiet chapter, as it will revolve around Owen training for his upcoming gym battle with Skyla. Again, if there are any weird spelling errors, it's because of the iPad. Now, let's get going!
FlamingGreenArrow: I actually didn't realize their moves being so similar until I read your review!
NodokaLover: Glad to hear you were surprised
DaStrawHatReject: It seems like everyone on this site is ;)
Owen's team
Snivy, (f), level 26, Tackle, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado*, Leaf Blade*
Tranquill, (f), level 26, Detect, Air Cutter, Gust, Quick Attack
Heatmor, (m), level 30, Flame Burst, Tackle, Hone Claws, Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes*
Muk, (m), level 37, Sludge, Body Slam, Protect, Poison Jab
Zebstrika, (m), level 30, Quick Attack, Shock Wave, Thunder Wave, Flame Charge
Empoleon, (m), level 36, Bubblebeam, Drill Peck, Metal Claw, Whirlpool, Bide*, Brine*
With Professor Juniper
Krokorok, (m), level 33, Bite, Dig, Dragon Claw, Bulldoze
Puff, (f), level 29, Dynamic Punch, Sing, Rollout, Pound, DoubleSlap*
Heatmor wiped the sweat off his head before putting his hands against the ground. He took a deep breath before starting another set of pushups while thinking of his upcoming gym battle. Zebstrika, Empoleon, Tranquill, Muk, and Snivy all stopped their training and watched as the fire type effortlessly blew through his tenth set of 200 pushups while they had been laying down comfortably.
"Dude, you don't have to make us look bad in front of Owen," Zebstrika joked while he walked over to Heatmor. The anteater didn't respond, and he continued to cruise through the pushups while sweat was poring down his face. "You know Owen said we had the day off, right? Why are you working so hard?" Heatmor remained silent and began to speed up, causing the others to sweat drop. After finishing his two thousandth pushup, Heatmor rose to his feet and took a minute to regain his breath.
"You might want to stop for the day, Heatmor. You could wear yourself out before the gym battle," Muk advised.
"Thanks for your concern, but I'm not taking a day off," Heatmor replied before walking over to a tree and practicing his close range fighting. "If I want to be as a strong as possible, I can't afford to rest."
"Just leave him, guys. Let him do his own thing," Snivy told the four concerned Pokemon. Heatmor nodded in agreement before slamming his fist through the tree, marking the end of his training session. He then moved on to jump roping to work on his agility while the four trainers and their Pokemon sat around with little desire to do anything.
(Switch POV)
"Are you sure Heatmor's okay? Ever since you came out of the hospital he hasn't stopped training," Fate noted while glancing at the sweating Pokemon. "Maybe you should talk to him."
"He's fine. I think he might be annoyed about not being in the last gym battle," Owen answered before drinking a cup of water. "Besides, Heatmor always trains like that."
"Owen, Sawk couldn't keep up with him. You really need to check on him," CJ told the younger teen. Owen turned to his right and was surprised to see Sawk laying on the ground in exhaustion while Heatmor continued to jumprope. After finishing the water in his hand, Owen got up from his chair and walked over to Heatmor. The fire type saw his trainer, but continued to jumprope while looking into his eyes.
"Hey, Heatmor. You've been training pretty hard lately, so why don't you take the day off?" Owen suggested. Heatmor shook his head adamantly while continuing his training, causing Owen to look back at his five other Pokemon nervously. They all shrugged except for Snivy, who walked over to her trainer's side before grabbing the jumprope from Heatmor's hands with her vines.
Heatmor glared at Snivy angrily before turning his attention to Owen, who had knelt down to his eye level.
"Why don't we have a practice battle? I bet CJ and Leaf would help us out," Owen proposed.
"No we won't," CJ called from the table he was sitting at. Leaf nodded lazily before going back to sleep while Wotter and Excalibur were doing the same thing. Owen looked over at Fate, but decided against asking her. She and all of her Pokemon had just trained for their contest, so they were in no mood to battle. He then turned to Rebecca and her Pokemon, all of whom were running around.
"What about you, Rebecca? Would you mind training?"
"Not at all," the twelve year old answered before getting up from her seat and walking over to the other end of the battlefield. "Which one of you wants to battle?" Rebecca asked her Oshawott, Deino, and Deerling. Unsurprisingly, Deerling stepped forward and puffed his chest out proudly. Heatmor looked back at Owen, thinking that battling Deerling was a joke. The expression on Owen's face, however, told Heatmor otherwise.
"Muuuk!" Muk roared lowly while moving over to the referee area. Everyone laughed at the poison type's actions, and he raised his goopy arms in the air. "Muuuk," he iterated while pointing at Heatmor and Deerling before throwing his hands down.
"Deerling, use Energy Ball!" Rebecca ordered. Deerling quickly generated and then fired a large green ball of solar energy at Heatmor. Thanks to his intense training, Heatmor waited for the attack to come close enough before he punched straight through it, wowing Owen and all of the Pokemon outside their Pokeballs.
"Heatmor, counter with Flame Burst!" Owen shouted after Snivy snapped him out of his awed state. Heatmor jumped high in the air while whipping his head back. Then, he shot a large bullet of fire at Deerling, and the grass and normal type was charred to a crisp. Deerling shook the soot off his body before coughing a small cloud of smoke out of his mouth before he turned to Rebecca and waited for a command.
"Wow, Heatmor is really strong. Deerling, use Double Kick!" the girl yelled. Deerling began to sprint towards Heatmor, but Owen and his Pokemon were ready to stop the strong deer.
"Intercept it with Flame Wheel!" Heatmor immediately covered himself in fire while spinning like a wheel, which allowed him to speed towards Deerling. After turning and kicking his glowing white legs, Deerling was surprised to see Heatmor spin around his Double Kick. Rebecca gasped in shock, and Heatmor slammed into Deerling. Rebecca watched as her strongest Pokemon was sent flying into Owen, who managed to catch him.
"Deerling, are you okay?" Rebecca asked while running over to her Pokemon. Deerling nodded before licking Owen's face thankfully, causing the teen to laugh.
"Now use Fire, Water, and Grass Pledge!" a feminine voice barked. Everyone, specifically Owen, turned to the sound of the voice, but they didn't see anything. Suddenly, an enormous tower of green, blue, and orange energy appeared in the distance along with the cries of three Pokemon. "Again!" After a few seconds passed, another tower of spiraling energy appeared.
"Tranquill, go check it out!" Owen yelled to the flying type. Tranquill took off to the sky and Owen waited for the Pokemon to return. After a few seconds, Tranquill returned and began pointing in the direction that she had just returned from.
"I think Tranquill's telling us we should follow her," CJ guessed, which made Tranquill nod and then take off towards the area she had just visited. After withdrawing their Pokemon and a minute of running, Owen, CJ, Fate, and Rebecca arrived at their destination. The four young trainers were in the middle of a field near the outskirts of Mistralton City, and there was an old woman training three strange Pokemon while petting Tranquill. After hearing the footsteps of the group, the woman turned and smiled at the four teens.
"Hello. I'm guessing this Tranquill belongs to one of you, right?" she asked. Owen stepped forward and nodded before Tranquill flew over to him with a bright smile. "My name is Serena. Nice to meet you," she greeted. Despite being elderly, Serena had wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her skin was rather pale, and she wore a pink hat on top of her head along with a red dress.
"I'm Owen Plateau."
"My name's Fate Flores."
"You can call me CJ."
"And my name is Rebecca Leonard."
"Phox," a bipedal fox grunted while walking over to Serena's side. It wore a red dress that was similar to Serena's, and it also held a stick. Then, a round Pokemon with a brown body rolled over. It's body was covered in a strange green clot, and it had two large horns sticking out of its head. Lastly, a small blue frog hopped over to its trainer. It had large yellow eyes that were shaped like ovals, and there was a large amount of bubbles around its neck.
"Wow! I've never seen Pokemon like those before!" Owen exclaimed while pulling his Pokedex out and scanning them individually.
"Species unknown," the Pokedex stated robotically. Frowning sat the information, Owen put the Pokedex back into his backpack before looking back at the three Pokemon that were by Serena's sides.
"These are Pokemon from the Kalos region. They're all quite rare, and each of them are incredibly powerful," Serena told the group of trainers. "Watch this. Delphox, use Fire Pledge! Quilladin, use Grass Pledge! Froakie, use Water Pledge!" The three Pokemon nodded before moving a safe distance away from the five humans before they began to glow orange, green, and blue respectively. Then, each of the three Pokemon slammed their hands against the ground, and three bursts of fire, grass, and water shot out of the ground ten feet away.
"That's awesome! Do you think you could teach my Pokemon those moves?" Owen inquired excitedly.
"Of course. Send out your fire, water, and grass types." Doing just as he was told, Own grabbed Heatmor's and Empoleon's Pokeballs while Snivy hopped off his shoulder. After releasing the two other Pokemon, Serena looked at each of them extensively. After eyeing Snivy and Empoleon, Serena stopped when she saw Heatmor. The anteater looked back at the woman with a puzzled expression.
"I hate to say this, but your Heatmor can't learn Fire Pledge," Serena told Owen.
"Why not?" Owen interrogated with an offended tone.
"Only starting Pokemon are capable of learning the elemental pledges," CJ announced while looking down at his Pokedex. "It's actually impossible for Heatmor to learn Fire Pledge."
"Mor!" Heatmor shouted with a determined expression on his face. Serena looked over at the angered Pokemon and recognized his desire to learn the move. The elderly woman pointed towards Delphox, and then motioned for Snivy and Empoleon to stand by Quilladin and Froakie. Owen's three Pokemon stood by their instructors and watched eagerly as Serena was about to demonstrate the attack.
"Okay. What you three want to do is focus all of your elemental energy into your stomach. Delphox, would you show them how you do it?" Serena asked the fire and psychic type. Delphox walked over to her trainer before turning to face Owen's three Pokemon, who were all watching intently. Delphox took a deep breath and let her arms rest by her sides, but nothing happened. Then, a bright orange aura appeared in her stomach, causing Snivy, Empoleon, and Heatmor to jump back in shock.
"That's so cool," Rebecca whispered to the others, who nodded in agreement.
"Now, you three do the same," Serena told Owen's Pokemon. After they each took a deep breath and closed their eyes, all three Pokemon began to channel their elemental energy towards their stomachs. After a minute passed and none of the Pokemon had successfully focused their energy into their stomach, Serena spoke up again. "Try this; while you're trying to focus your energy, think of water," she said while looking at Empoleon, "grass," then at Snivy, "and fire," while finally turning to Heatmor. The three Pokemon nodded at the instructions and closed their eyes once again while thinking of their elements.
"Poleon!" Empoleon exclaimed while feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline fly through his body. He then looked down to see his stomach was glowing bright blue, and he looked up at Owen excitedly. His trainer began clapping, but he stopped when Serena stuck her hand up.
"Empoleon, focus all of that energy into either of your flippers, and then hit it against the ground," Serena ordered calmly. Empoleon nodded quickly before closing his eyes again and transferring the surging energy into his right flipper. Without another word being spoken, Empoleon slammed his flipper against the ground and a column of water shot up about ten feet away.
"That was incredible! Empoleon sure is a quick learner," Fate remarked.
"Feel the grass on your feet, Snivy. Think of your a dense forest, and let the energy flow through your body," Serena whispered while fouling her attention on Snivy. The grass snake took another deep breath before shifting her feet through the grass. Suddenly, a blinding green light shone through her stomach and she waited for Serena's instructions. "Transfer that energy into your arm and hit the ground." Snivy did as she was told, and a column of green energy flew straight into the air a few feet away.
Everyone began to cheer for Snivy, including Empoleon, but they stopped once they realized Heatmor had yet to succeed at any stage of the process.
"Heee," Heatmor growled angrily after opening his eyes and seeing that Snivy and Empoleon were continuously using their newly learned attacks. "Moooor!" Heatmor roared as he slammed his fist on the ground in rage before he shot a Flame Burst into the air.
"You can do it, Heatmor! Give it another try!" Owen cheered encouragingly. Heatmor looked at his trainer and nodded, albeit angrily, before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. All of the fire in his body began to move towards his stomach, but he didn't feel the rush of power that was obviously surging through Snivy and Empoleon, who continued to successfully perform Grass and Water Pledge attacks.
"Heeeaatttt!" Heatmor screamed before a wave of fire shot out of his tail. After venting his frustrations, Heatmor fell to the ground and he buried his face in his hands. Owen looked at Serena and her Delphox, both of whom were trying to mask their looks of doubt, which made him walk over to Heatmor. The fire type slowly revealed his face while Owen sat next to him and patted him on the back.
"Hey, don't get down about it. You've only tried twice, so pick your head up and try again. If there's any Pokemon I know that can do this," Owen started while looking into Heatmor's eyes, "it's you." He then poked Heatmor on the arm, which made the fire type crack a small smile. As he stood up, Snivy and Empoleon stood by Heatmor's side and began instructing him through each step.
000
It had been five hours of training, and Heatmor had yet to successfully store his elemental energy into his stomach. CJ, Fate, and Rebecca had all left for dinner and came back while Owen and Serena tried helping Heatmor through his struggles.
"Owen, I'm sorry, but I don't think Heatmor can do this. These attacks are only able to be performed by the starting Pokemon," Serena told the determined teen. Owen psi no attention to the comment, and continued cheering for Heatmor while he tried storing fire into his stomach. After Heatmor felt the flames burning in his gut, he slammed his fist against the ground, but nothing happened.
"I could feel a little bit of fire, Heatmor!" Owen fibbed. "We're getting closer!" Heatmor looked at his trainer with a bright smile before nodding and closing his eyes once again.
"Heatmor, stop."
Heatmor opened his eyes and stared at Serena and her Delphox.
"You can't learn this move. I'm sorry, but you just can't," the woman said while shaking her head. Angered by her comments, Owen ran over to his crushed Pokemon's side and glared at the elderly woman.
"Hey, don't you dare tell him that he can't do it! Just because he's not like your special Pokemon right there doesn't mean he can't master Fire Pledge!" Owen screamed while pointing at Delphox and Serena. The two looked at each other before turning back to Owen and shaking their heads in unison. "You know what? Let's battle!"
"How would that solve anything?" Serena asked in genuine confusion, which further enraged Owen. Serena and Owen's friends could see the determined expression on his face, which made Serena start to backpedal. "Fine. Delphox, go." Delphox stepped forward before pointing the stick in her hand at Heatmor.
"Heatmor, let's prove them wrong!" Owen roared. Heatmor stepped forward and pounded his hands against his chest while shooting fire out of his tail.
"I guess this is a one versus one battle," CJ announced, "between Heatmor and Delphox. Serena, you have the first move."
"Delphox, use Flamethrower!" Serena commanded. Delphox unleashed an enormous wave of fire without hesitation, which showed off her incredible power. Despite this, Owen's quick thinking and lack of fear allowed him to counter the wicked attack.
"Heatmor, counter with Flame Burst!" Heatmor reared back and launched a gigantic bullet of fire at the incoming Flamethrower, and the two moves collided. BOOM! A cloud of smoke appeared in-between the two fire types, and they waited for their trainers to order another attack.
"Fire a Psywave through the smoke," Serena whispered so that no one could hear her. Delphox nodded and pointed the large brown stick in her paw towards the cloud of thick black smoke. Owen and Heatmor both flinched in shock as they saw the multicolored beam fly straight through the smoke, and knocked Heatmor onto his back.
"Are you okay, Heatmor?" Heatmor slowly pushed himself back up, clearly exhausted from the hours of training. "Alright, use Flame Wheel!" Heatmor nodded and covered himself in fire before spinning across the grass, which died once he passed over it. Serena and Delphox spotted Heatmor heading their way while he was flying through the smoke, which allowed them to counter with ease.
"Throw him back with Psychic and then use Flamethrower!" Serena yelled while sticking her right arm out and flicking her wrist upwards. Before Heatmor could hit into Delphox, the Kalos starter pointed the stick she was holding straight ahead. A thin blue line of energy surrounded Heatmor's body as the fire around his body was thrown into the air. Delphox then chucked Heatmor across the grass before releasing a wave of fire that engulfed Heatmor.
"Heatmor!" Owen shouted as he ran over to his Pokemon. Heatmor looked up at his trainer and began shaking his head defiantly. Owen backed away from the fire anteater and watched as Heatmor got back onto his feet while slouching over and breathing heavily.
"Owen, you can't change the fact that Heatmor isn't able to learn Fire Pledge just by battling us," Serena scolded. Heatmor glared at the woman and her fire type before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"That's what you think," Owen replied while clenching his teeth angrily. "Heatmor, prove them wrong with Fire Pledge!" Heatmor nodded and began channeling all of the fire in his body directly to his stomach, which made everyone watch closely.
"Heeee," Heatmor grunted while pushing his hands together in front of his chest. Snivy and Empoleon watched their determined friend and waited for his success.
"Owen, it's not going to work. Delphox, return," Serena stated as she pulled out the fire type's Pokeball. Before she could zap Delphox into the spherical device, Serena's eyes caught sight of a small circle of fire appear around Heatmor's feet. (The ring is a few inches out and is only burning the grass, JFYI)
"HEEEEE!" Heatmor roared as the ring of fire began to rise before eventually covering Heatmor's body. The flames were immediately sucked into Heatmor's stomach, and a bright orange light appeared, causing everyone to gasp. "MOOOORRRRR!" Heatmor roared before slamming his left fist against the ground. Suddenly, a column of fire appeared around Delphox and scorched the unfamiliar Pokemon. Once the attack ceased, Delphox bowed respectfully to Heatmor, and so did Serena. Heatmor beamed before bowing back along with Owen.
"He did it," Fate muttered. "He actually did it." Snivy and Empoleon ran over to Heatmor and began rejoicing with the fire type before stopping when they heard Owen speak to Serena.
"Thank you so much for the help, Serena," Owen said to the woman. "And thank you too, Delphox." Serena and her Pokemon smiled at the teens words before nodding.
"We're happy to have helped. Make sure to continue practicing the Pledge attacks until your Pokemon have mastered them. Good luck with your travels!" the woman shouted as she began to walk away.
"It was nice meeting you!" the group of four shouted in unison. With that, they turned back to the Pokemon Center and began walking while the sun was setting. Heatmor, Snivy, and Empoleon all celebrated their accomplishment and cheered before running after Owen. Heatmor slowed down, however, and looked up at the night sky with a straight face.
"If I can defy nature, I can conquer my fears!"
With that, Heatmor ran after his teammates and trainer while beaming. He had proved another doubter wrong…. and he'd do it again.
There ya have it, folks! Heatmor defied all odds and learned Fire Pledge! And in the process of doing so, an elderly Serena (from the anime) appeared with the Kalos starters. Next chapter, Owen will focus on training with another one of his Pokemon while meeting a powerful trainer who will assist him in his training. Till next time, peace out.
Next Chapter: The Sky Warrior