Chapter 32 - Dragon Training, part 2
"Hah!" Khrista barked, throwing a sphere of glowing, blue and purple energy at a blue and black dog standing on two legs. The Lucario promptly jumped to one side, avoiding the attack and letting it hit a nearby boulder.
"There you go again," the Pokemon stated. "You've got to remember that you're not using Aura Sphere. Keep holding onto the energy beyond what an orb could handle, then release it as a beam."
The teen nodded. "I know, Caleb, I know. It's a reflex, I guess. I'm just a little nervous - I don't want this to explode in my face."
"Don't worry about that," Caleb responded. "The only moves that harm the user are Take Down, Double Edge, Brave Bird, and those other moves that cause a recoil of some sort."
"This could probably turn into a recoil move if I'm not too careful," Khrista remarked.
"I doubt it. This is a regular Dragon Pulse we're talking about, remember?" Caleb smirked. "Get back into the stance and try again."
Khrista released a sigh, then got back into a Lucario-like stance, her hands glowing bright purple as energy began to gather in the space between them. The teen's eyes narrowed in concentration as a purple sphere appeared and grew quickly. When it had reached the size of an Aura Sphere, the growth rate slowed, and Khrista's hands began to move to a new location: right in front of her chest, still holding the purple sphere on either side. After a moment, the sphere increased in size suddenly, then shrank as all the energy shot out at Caleb as a concentrated beam of Dragon power.
"There we go!" Caleb encouraged, moving quickly to dodge the Dragon Pulse. "It looks like you've got it."
Khrista grinned as her body relaxed, the attack slamming into a nearby wall and leaving a large dent in the rock. "It'll take a little bit more before I manage to master the move completely, though."
"I don't know about that," Rosa remarked from her position behind Khrista. "You mastered the other Dragon moves rather quickly after getting Twister down."
"Dragon Tail's never going to work, though," Khrista remarked, recalling the disappointed looks that had appeared on Hax's and Dreadfyl's faces.
Ray chuckled. "Like it ever would for you. With the stance you have on power and abilities, I doubt you even need it."
The teen nodded in agreement. "Yeah; I've got a large amount of other moves I can use instead - like Aura Sphere, or Whirlwind."
Caleb nodded. Looking at Rosa, he stated, "I must be going. Karen is expecting my return."
Rosa smiled slyly. "Go, then, you mustn't keep her waiting."
Caleb smirked, gave a quick bow, then dashed out of the cavern using Extremespeed.
Khrista let out a sigh and looked around the cavern, which was now empty except for her, Rosa, and Rayquaza. "Well, that's almost it. Looks like I've got only two Dragon moves left."
Ray frowned. "Two?" He then realized what his Trainer was referring to. "Oh, no. You are not going to learn Outrage."
Khrista eyed the Dragon-Type. "And why not?"
"I don't know if you're ready for it," the Hoenn legendary responded. "You remember the last time I used it, don't you?"
The brown-haired teen's blue eyes widened at the memory.
Ray nodded. "Exactly. And that's why I won't be teaching you Outrage. Draco Meteor, however, is another matter. Are you prepared to begin your training?"
Rosa looked startled. "Now? Are you serious, Ray? The day cycle is almost completed for today!"
Ray snorted. "Of course I'm serious! However, that doesn't mean we'll start working on the move right away." He looked over at Khrista. "Tonight, you are going to sleep with me and my brethren."
Khrista cocked her head to one side, frowning as she did so. "With you guys? Why not with the other humans?"
"In order for this to work properly, we have to fully reinstate the bond we have as Trainer and Pokemon," Ray explained. "So, you're going to sleep near me, rather than with Swamp and the others."
"All right, then," Khrista stated readily. "Rosa, do you the you could let the others know?"
Rosa nodded. "I'll be there and back before you know it!" She zoomed out of the cavern, a blast of wind following at the exact same speed.
Khrista grinned. "I can't wait to go for a ride on her," she remarked. "Or you, either. Shoot, the games never let you ride a Flying Pokemon properly."
Ray looked surprised. "They didn't allow you the experience of our speed?"
"Well, they did have a Ranger game that involved flight, but that was the only one. And it didn't let me ride you, either - it was just Staraptor and Latias, who I'm pretty certain wasn't flying at full speed." Khrista crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "And those experiences probably didn't come even close to what you guys can actually do."
Ray smirked. "I could give you some of that experience right now, if you want."
Khrista's eyes sparked. "Really? You'd let me on?"
"Why not? You're going to have to get used to it."
Khrista frowned momentarily, then realized where Ray was going with this. It hadn't occurred to her before, but Cyrus' transport thingy - whatever it may have been - had most likely been destroyed after she had come through, meaning that she probably wouldn't be able to go home after all this was said and done.
Khrista nodded after swallowing this knowledge. "Yeah; you're right. So, how're you going to let me on? Do I have to fly up there?"
Ray shook his head, then lowered it down to the ground. "Climb on."
Khrista smiled and, after some scrambling and searching for footholds and handholds (which was easy thanks to the Hoenn Legendary's scaly body), Khrista managed to situate herself on Ray head.
"Whenever you're ready!" she called out.
Rayquaza lifted his head slowly, so as to not throw off his Trainer. When he had reached his natural height, the Dragon Pokemon began to move forward. In this manner, they reached the central cavern of Mt. Coronet, where a large mass of Pokemon and Trainers were starting to group together.
From her perch above the crowd, Khrista quickly scanned the crowd, looking for anyone that might have been familiar. Ray didn't take note of this, and instead floated over to a section of the crowd that consisted of three other Rayquaza, each of them colored in a unique combination of colors that weren't seen in the games: the first was a cobalt shade with neon-green markings; the second was a light shade of spring green with white markings, and the third looked like someone had taken a pumpkin and spray-painted some of it black.
Khrista, upon catching sight of the colorings, wasn't sure what to make of them. The only colors she knew a Rayquaza could be were the normal shades of green, yellow, and red, and the more rare coloring, when black replaced the green. To see three Rayquaza with almost random patterns threw her off a little.
"Hey, guys," Ray greeted as he joined the group.
The three Rayquaza turned their heads, eyes instantly going for the teen sitting on their fellow Hoenn Dragon's head.
The cobalt-colored Rayquaza was the first to speak. "Ray, is that who I think it is?"
"It might be, Corza," Ray replied. "Khrista here is going to be with us for a little while longer, so she's going to spend the night here before they send her back."
" 'They' being the Professors," Khrista added.
Corza - who Khrista had now remembered was Joshua's Rayquaza - seemed somewhat surprised. "And when did you get here?"
"A few days ago. Alak and Gangrene were kind enough to supply an escape route, even if Alak was the only one who came down with me."
"I see, I had been wondering if those two were up to their old tricks." Corza smirked. "The last time they were out of my sight, they blew up Team Aqua's hidden stash of Master Balls."
Khrista's eyebrows arched up in surprise. "Plural? As far as I knew, there was only one Master Ball there."
"Oh, he had more than one," the orange Rayquaza stated. "Archie and Giovanni had rooms upon rooms of the Master Catcher. You Avatars didn't make a dent when you took one or more each. We blew the rest up when you guys were done collecting."
Khrista became interested. "Huh. How'd they get so many Master Balls, anyway?"
"A few usually escape from the explosions," Corza explained. "Then they're found, reverse-engineered, and the whole thing starts all over again." He eyed Khrista for a moment, then asked, "Have you seen him? My Trainer?"
Khrista nodded in confirmation. "Gangrene got me to see him, but then she broke down a wall in order to get me away from a bunch of Galactics that were coming in. They almost caught me, but Alak teleported me down here to keep me from Cyrus' clutches."
"Is it true, then?" the spring green Rayquaza inquired. "That you've obtained the abilities of all the Types?"
Khrista nodded again. "I've managed to master some of them, but there are a few left that I probably won't be able to get to until after." She motioned to her shirt, which was still the royal blue shade. "Right now, I'm working on the Dragon-Type."
The orange Rayquaza smirked. "Have you tried Draco Meteor yet?"
"I was going to teach her that tomorrow, Quetzal," Rayqyaza answered. "Rosa only just finished working with her on Dragon Pulse."
The light green Rayquaza looked intrigued. "A human with the powers of a Pokemon. Such a thing is...well, as rare as they come."
"You can thank the Lake Sprits for that one, from what I've heard," Khrista replied. "So, what other Legendaries are hanging out around here?"
"Not many," Corza replied. "When Cyrus gained control, it was sudden. Instant, even. Many Pokemon in the PC Box System were transported into that building of his, but some managed to escape. Only a small amount of those who managed to get away were Legendaries. Sirius here was among them." The cobalt dragon nodded to the spring green Rayquaza, who bowed his head.
Khrista became concerned. "If only a small amount escaped, then the rest are being held in Cyrus' tower, right? We can rescue them?"
"We're not sure," Quetzal answered. "The Ketchum boy gained a certain...quality from the Red Chain that he used on those they captured."
"He drains them of their spirit," Sirus explained grimly.
Khrista paled. "Oh, no."
She recalled what had taken place not long after she had arrived - the confrontation with "Dark Giratina," and what had happened to him.
"They can be saved, though," the brown-haired teen stated. "Ray rescued Giratina not long after I came here. He was Confused after an Outrage attack, but he managed to knock him out. In fact, I think I saw some sort of red dust fly off the Legendary and disperse."
The Dragons looked at each other.
"Red dust?" Ray repeated. "As in, Red Chain dust?"
"I think so. Giratina returned to normal and fled instantly, so I couldn't really get a good look."
Corza cocked his head slightly. "Hmmm...interesting. Does anyone else know about this?"
"The Pokemon that were there - my team, and Mewtwo, and Mew - I mean, Chaos and Aurora. The Lake Spirits probably remember it, too." Khrista let out a yawn, no doubt tired from the day's events.
Quetzal, upon taking note of the yawn, stated, "Before we send you off to rest, I wish to know something."
Khrista's gaze moved to the Halloween-themed Hoenn Legendary. "What is it?"
"I've been getting the feeling that my Trainer is here, but...changed, somehow. Have you seen the girl who calls herself Mist?"
Khrista blinked in surprise at the question, then shook her head. "I've heard of her and have spoken with her, but I haven't actually seen her face to face. So I don't know if your Trainer has changed in any way or not." She frowned slightly. "Joshua said that Mist was her code name. How come you guys know her by it down here?"
"It was always what she called herself," Quetzal replied. "Is that not her real name?"
"I don't think so."
"Joshua feels different, as well," Corza spoke up. "Have you seen him?"
"Yeah...but it didn't look like he had changed or anything..."
"Hmmm..."
Khrista let out another yawn while Corza gained what looked like a "lost in thought" expression. The action was not lost on the other two, however, and Sirius motioned for Ray to lower his head.
A moment later, Ray was lowering his head towards the cave floor.
As Khrista slid off Ray's head, she was surprised to find herself standing in a large nest of some sort.
"Our sleeping place," Ray explained. "There should be more than enough room for all of us."
"Oh." Khrista blinked. "OK, then." She gave a tired smile up to her Dragon/Flying-Type, who then started to lie down himself, curling around his Trainer. When Ray had curled up like a snake, leaving a circle open to the cave ceiling, Khrista moved to curl up herself across he circle from Ray's head.
Khrista let out a sigh of contentment when she found that Ray was so warm. She could feel the Dragon energy radiating off him, and in her present state, it felt so good.
I can't wait to experience this outside as an actual Trainer when all this is over, the teen thought as she closed her eyes.
I like to experiment with Pokemon colorings when it comes to the Shiny Pokemon. I mean, they can't just have that one special coloring for themselves that sets them apart - what about even rarer, odder colorings that could exist somewhere in the world?