BONE CLAN CAMP, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, EARLY MORNING.
From the top of a nearby armory shelf, I watch Branna and Frost as they sleep. It was an odd turn of events, that Frost would join us. I wondered, The green one has found her partner, she has. What will she do now, what now? I continue to watch them for a half hour, before Sepullen subtlety appears behind me. We sit in silence for a moment, until he speaks.
"I can tell she is uncomfortable."
I ask, "Who?"
"Frost, she is panting in her sleep from the heat."
"Indeed, she does look uncomfortable," I say. "But can we do anything about it?"
He asks, "What do you mean?"
"You cannot expect her to train on little sleep."
"Hmm." He sighs, "I suppose."
"What is to be done?"
"Well," he says. "I don't do magic very often, but I can."
His eyes glow a bright orange color and the temperature suddenly the rooms temperature drops. Frost's breathing slows down and her face changes to a more comfortable look.
"Why did you let her go, but not the rest of her team?" I ask.
He answers, "I said before, I need allies. Besides, she is willing to change herself for the better. I can't say the same for the rest of them, though I have my eye on Revenge."
"Why him?" I ask.
He tells me, "Just wait and see."
We watch them for a while longer, before I ask, "Who did Nova put on wake up duty, this morning?"
"Hmm," he thinks. "If I remember correctly, he asked Rodium to."
I sigh, "That loudmouth should be around anytime now."
As if on cue, the Empoleon bursts through the front of the tent.
"TIME TO WAKE UP, FROST AND BRANNA!"
He sees me and the Relic Master above them.
"TIME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP TOO, VENOMITUS AND RELIC MASTER SEPULLEN!"
As soon as his yelling is over, Frost jumps up and freezes him in place.
"Sheesh," she sighs. "I don't care if I'm on your side now, that wake up rivals what I've heard about the Loudred from Poales."
Branna slowly uncoils herself and opens her eyes.
"Good morning, everyone," She says pleasantly.
I smile to her, "Morning, Branna. It is a wonderful day today."
She looks over at Rodium, "Why is…?"
Frost crosses her arms, "He was going to give me a concussion."
I extend my claws and use my Fury Swipes on the ice. It falls from around him onto the ground.
"I just woke up and have already been attacked twice," He comments.
"I must remind you all that Nova wants all of you at morning roll call," Sepullen says.
I jump off the shelf, "Let us get to it then."
We arrive at the center of the camp just in time to see a the Luxray in armor made from bones, standing on a short hill. Next to him was a Marowak in the same style of armor as him. I recognized a few others in the crowd, such as Rook the Bisharp, Aubadia the Solrock, Satelon the Lunatone, Varian the Lucario, and numerous Unown.
With a loud voice, Nova says, "Time for morning announcements!"
The countless other Bone Clan members stood straight at his voice.
"First off," He says. "We have a few guests that will be staying with us until tomorrow night! Until then, you will treat them with utmost respect!"
He looks around, then continues, "Remember, when they leave, Blade will be going with them for a short time! So on your various daily ventures, try to pick up as much medicinal equipment as possible, as he won't be able to heal you after then!"
The crowd nods their heads.
"Lastly!" he yells. "The Relic Master and Relic Keeper will be unavailable for most of the day, so if anyone has questions for research and the like, then feel free to come to I, Varian, or Clyde! On that note, Felicia is still in recovery, so please, stay away from her tent unless you are assigned to care for her!"
I notice next to me, that Frost is doing her best to stay floating and to ignore the heat. Her struggle is stopped when Sepullen's orange light envelope her to keep her afloat. She turns her head to look at him. He nods to her, then continues looking forward.
"For now, disperse!" Nova shouts. "And may Zapdos give you the energy to produce!"
Branna comments, "That is an invigorating mantra."
"But not the most creative one." Frost adds.
As the Bone Clan members went to different locations, Sepullen turns to us.
"I will take you all to a less populated area to train, before a do, I have made you all items that will help you in combat."
Beside him, he makes a necklace with a blue and white rock on it appear.
"Here." He gives it to Frost. "This is the NeverMeltIce. It protects you from all fire damage and powers up your ice attacks. Also, as a bonus, you will no longer feel fatigued from the heat."
He releases his psychic grip on her, making her fall down on the sand. She gets up after he hands her the NeverMeltIce.
"How do you feel?" He asks her.
"I feel… perfect." She responds.
Sepullen adds, "Despite the strengthening and lack of feeling for the heat, your ice abilities still don't work in the desert. This will have to be fixed."
Next appears a strange looking glass that looks like it would only fit on one eye. He floats it over to Branna. She grabs it with a vine and looks at it strangely.
She says to him, "It looks cool, but what is it for?"
"It is an interesting piece of equipment really," He says."It's a combination between the popular Scope Lens, Safety Goggles, X-ray Specs and the Zoom Lens. It's called the Scout Lens."
She puts it over her right eye to find it fits perfectly. A startled look forms on her face when it turns on.
"I can see all of your weak points. Even yours Sepullen."
This didn't concern the Claydol in the slightest.
He turns to me and says, "In battle, the only attacks you can do are closed ranged, like Fury Swipes for instance. That kind of thing wouldn't cut it on someone like Rodium, who has thick metal armor."
He makes a clear yellow stone with a purple and blue helix appear. I new what this stone was, but what shocked me was that it was significantly cracked in one side.
"Is that…?"
He nods, "Yes, it is your lost Sablenite from fifteen years or so ago."
"I thought you destroyed it," I say.
He shakes his head, "No, I just stole it."
I give him a look.
"Only because I thought you were going to try to interfere with me."
"Fair enough," I sigh.
"With all said and done, we depart."
ION DESERT, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MID MORNING
Branna, Frost, and I fall down onto the sand, while Sepullen appears patiently above the ground. I pick myself up and think, Unnatural the sand, it is, indeed unnatural. The and was an odd silver color that reflected the sun from every direction.
Frost speaks my thoughts aloud, "What is with the sand?"
"There is a high level of various metals mixed in with it, due to Steel City's high production rate."
"Interesting," she comments.
"Before you start your training, I will have a one on one with each of you to test your skills. I will start with you, Venomitus."
"Alright, let us begin then."
"Step back, Frost, Branna, you could get hurt if caught in the middle of the fight."
Frost crosses her arms, "Come on, I don't go down easily."
"We will test that later, but right now distractions would be an annoyance."
She sighs as her and Branna go backwards. Sepullens eyes glow as he readies to attack. I draw my claws out, readying Fury Swipes. We stay still for several moments trying to anticipate the other's movements. After seconds of staring each other down, he Teleports in front of my face and Slashes at me. I narrowly dodge him by jumping and flipping over him. After landing behind him, I rapidly strike him with my claws. Proceeding my barrage, I use Power Gem to knock him forward. He lands on the ground, digging into it slightly.
He picks himself up and comments, "Good attack, spawn, but it looks like I'm not going to be easy on you anymore."
"That battle just started, though," I hear Frost say.
"From the get go I was going to go easy, but looks like I can't."
He Teleports behind me and I immediately turn with my claws out. He catches me off guard when my claws bounce right off a Rapid Spin. Using the momentum from his previous attack, he continues spinning and uses Slash. Despite being a particularly weak attack, the Slash cut clean through my skin. When he retreats, I see a familiar black steam coming out of my wounds. They slowly close up and heal.
As soon as they heal, I try to run toward him and use Foul Play, but he Teleports behind me and Slams me into the sand. I expect him to continue attacking me, but he just floats in place, waiting for me to get up. A thought occurs to me, Teleport, he can, but I will be nearly as powerful, if I do…
I grab hold of the Mega Stone on my neck and project my energy into it. The stone shines a bright white and envelopes my form. The energy gathered suddenly burst outward. Sepullen turns sideways slightly to avoid the sand that gets kicked up.
"I'm glad you took the hint, now you might actually be a challenge."
I grin and rush forward. As soon as I get within range, I extend my claws again. As I slash at him, his arms extend into blades. He Slashes back, countering every single one of my strikes. Our contact lasts for only a second, when he starts using Rapid Spin. I quickly blast him backwards with Power Gem. He stops spinning and recomposes himself a distance away. Without wasting a second, he rushes forward at me. I prepare to intercept him, but midway through his rush, he closes the distance with Teleport.
Catching me off guard once more, he uses his Rapid Spin/Slash combo. I am unable to do anything, as he rotates around me in the opposite direction of his spinning to increase his damage. Trying to stop his attack, I reach out with my claws, but the speed of his attack cracks my hand backwards and breaks my wrist. He suddenly stops and Slams me into the air. Before I land, he Teleports in front of me and Slashes me higher.
Teleporting once more, he appears above me and charges what appears to be a Solar Beam. He releases it, pushing me downward and into the ground. I make a small crater on impact. My Mega Evolution dissipates as I lay there. Sepullen come close to the ground and looks at me.
"You are significantly faster then most Sableye, I'll give you that, but your durability could use work."
I grunt, "I thought this was training, not a beatdown."
"It is training, I just was testing your limit."
I try to move, but my energy is low. Frost comes over to me and uses her magic to heal me.
Sepullen says to Frost, "I bet after seeing that, you might not feel as confident as before."
She snorts, "Oh please. He is a Relic collector from an organization that does exploration. Me and Branna have been on task or rescue teams for the past twenty-four years."
She sees Branna holding an apple with her vine. As soon as she starts to take a bite, Frost takes it from her.
"Stop eating so much. Even healthy stuff can be unhealthy if you eat too much."
Branna stares at the apple hungrily, but says nothing.
"Anyways, who's next?"
"You are, Frost."
She smiles, "Even from the get go, don't go easy even a little."
He laughs, "I always love a good challenge. Are you sure you want to go all out?"
"There's no other way to do it, is there?"
"Then so be it. BEGIN."
He immediately starts with his Rapid Spin/Slash combo. I am surprised to see Frost unmoving. She looks intently at him as he rushes forward. He closes in on her and she still doesn't move. To Sepullens surprise, on the moment of impact, she sticks one hand out and stops his blade mid motion. She then proceeds to grab the blade and swings him to the side. He hits the ground with the impact being close to me and Branna.
While he isn't looking, Frost floats down to the ground and picks up a hand full of sand. Sepullen gets up off the ground and Teleports behind the froslass. He tries to bring his blades together to cut her from both sides, but she quickly throws the sand behind her and into his eyes. He recoils and tries to Rapid Spin the sand out of his eyes, but is knocked to the ground once more from Frost punching him downwards.
Upon hitting the ground, he Teleports above her and launches a Solar Beam downwards. We are all surprised when Frost disappears. The Solar Beam hits the ground, turning the sand to glass. When Frost does not reappear, Sepullen looks around.
"I believe our friend may have forfeited."
"I don't forfeit."
Frost suddenly appears out of a small portal behind Sepullen. Before he realizes it, she extends her hands into Metal Claws and slashes him rapidly. He Teleports a distance backward and looks at her.
"How do you know Phantom Force or Metal Claw? Froslass don't learn those naturally," Sepullen asks, astonished.
She smirks, "We don't learn it artificially either. You can learn practically anything if you train hard enough."
"I should have known you have pushed yourself too far, I can see the scars on your face."
Frost frowns, "Oh, those? They weren't from training, but rather that spawn dragging his claws down my face."
"Oh, well I think I'm quite tired. You have worn me out, so while I recover, why don't you spar among one another."
WINDELL FOREST, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, NOON
"I'm surprised to see you out this late in the day," the Raichu comments.
"I've grown to like the day, actually," The figure responds.
In a nearby tree, a Ninetales sits silently.
"Tomorrow night will be when our guests arrive."
Cryptia yells up to her, "Vally, why don't you come talk to us?"
"I still don't trust the shadow."
"Come on, don't be like that. He's been our friend for a while now."
The figure adds, "Yeah, I'm sure I'm a nice guy. Just ask anyone else."
"Everyone else wants to kill you."
"That's beside the point and I'm sure not everyone wants to kill me."
Valientrus responds, "Yes, the people who don't want you dead want you to join their army."
The figure goes quiet.
Jude, the Raichu, speaks up, "Please try to get along at least, Valientrus."
"Fine," She sighs.
The Ninetales come down from the tree.
Jude comments, "Good, now give him a hug."
The figure puts up his hands, "No thank you, hugs aren't really my thing."
Valientrus nods, "Agreed."
Cryptia perks up her head, "Guys get down, someone's coming."
They hide in various points in the surrounding forest. Moments later, a Skuntank and a Crobat make their way into the clearing. They stop and look around.
"Uh, chief? What are we looking for?" the Crobat asks.
The Skuntank turns to him, "The Relic Master said to keep patrolling the surrounding area of the mountain until he gets back. We're not looking for anything in particular, numskull."
"Don't you think it's kinda weird though, Chief?"
He grunts, "What do you mean?"
"Well, Relic Master Sepullen always goes out, but he knows no one comes near the mountain."
"Chaw-haw, I'm sure it's nothing."
After they wandered away, Team Life Energy came out of their hiding spots.
Cryptia comments, "Well, that was strange."
"Yeah, I thought we'd seen the last of them," Jude adds.
The figure thinks aloud, "I guess we'll have to see for ourselves what the Relic Master is up to."
ION DESERT, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, NOON
"Well," Sepullen says. "I have recovered my energy, so I will be battling you Branna."
The Serperior asks, "Shouldn't we, um, eat first?"
"Oh, that's right. I have forgotten that you people actually have to eat."
Branna's face brightens.
"But after the battle."
"Oh," she says.
"I want to see how you use the Scout Lens to your advantage."
"What does that have to do with not eating?"
"Well, you obviously can't move as fast when you've eaten."
"That makes sense."
"When Venomitus and Frost step back, we can begin."
Frost and I give them space, as they prepare to battle. Sepullen floats a distance away from Branna.
She calls to him, "Whenever you're ready, Sepullen!"
Without a word, he rushes toward her, this time not doing any sort of move. I notice Branna stick her vines into the ground. Sepullen continues flying toward her, when a Frenzy Plant burst out of the ground. He crashes into it and falls backward slightly. He does not hit the ground, but instead Teleports above Branna. She pulls her vines up, then Digs into the ground.
The Claydol laughs, "Doesn't she know that ground type moves don't effect me."
Branna bursts out from underneath him and grabs him with a vine. She then goes back underground, dragging him with her. Midway underground, she let's go of him. Resurfacing, Branna looks around.
Frost asks me, "Do you think he's done in?"
"I doubt it."
Sepullen appears behind Branna and Slams into her. She doesn't fall, but instead digs underground. Several seconds later, roots from her Frenzy Plant come out of the ground and strike at him. He dodges each of them with Teleport, until one of them wraps itself around him. It pulls him down as more roots take him over. His hands turn to blades and Slash downwards. He succeeds to cut the majority of the roots and uses Rapid Spin to free from the rest. Branna comes out of the ground, panting.
"I'm sorry... Sepullen... I threw... everything I had."
He shakes his head, "Nonsense, the battle just started."
"But… my energy…"
"Push yourself, Branna. You'll never be stronger unless you push yourself."
"I can't…"
Sepullen rushes forward with his Rapid Spin/Slash combo. Branna immediately blocks it by Coiling herself.
"You can."
He continues on the offensive by spinning and slashing against her Coil. Branna winced in pain, but endured for several seconds. She yelped as her Coil failed and her body started being cut rapidly.
Sepullen's voice range out in her mind, "FIGHT BACK!"
As he continues cutting her, she starts absorbing sunlight.
"There you go."
She endures his attack, until finally her energy is at her maximum. The Solar Beam releases froward and blasts him backward. Sepullen stops in mid air and looks back at Branna. She stares at him for a moment, until she passes out onto the sand.
"We have a lot of work to do."
BONE CLAN CAMP, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, AFTERNOON
"Frost, you should get some rest like the others."
"With all due respect, Nova, I'm fine."
Clyde interjects, "Address him by his title, Froslass!"
The Luxray smiles, "No need for that, Clyde. Sometimes I would like not to talk to someone so formerly."
Frost, Nova, Clyde, and Varian all sit in Nova's den with Felicia sleeping silently behind them.
"That aside," Nova says. "I was told that you wanted to see me. What for?"
"Well, I may be roaming around now, but I acknowledge that I was previously on a wanted team."
The Luxray perks his head up, "Yes, you were. So what of it?"
"I was wondering what I might do to gain your trust if possible."
Nova looks back at Varian, and they both chuckle.
"Nothing, Frost, is required of you. We know a lot of people; Team Gold, Relic Master Sepullen, Branna. They all seem to trust you, so who am I to judge?"
Varian chimes in, "Yeah, we wouldn't have been selected by Zapdos to lead this clan, had we not the mind to make the right judgements."
Frost looks at them, astonished.
"Thank you."
The Lucario smiles, "Don't sweat it, but remember, we will hold you to that. An agreement of mutual trust cannot be one sided."
"Of course, Varian."
"With that," Nova says. "We must get going. I will see you all again tonight at evening announcements."
Frost waved, "See you then."
She floated outside and sighed, then vanished.
?
"I told you not to come here."
"You know that I only want to know the truth."
"There is no truth to be sought."
"Then what about the girl."
"What girl?"
"YOU KNOW THE ONE, FELICIA!"
"Calm yourself, I don't know what you speak of, and you know that I value knowledge."
"ROSELYN, I'M TALKING ABOUT ROSELYN."
"What about her?"
"Don't play games, what is inside her?"
"I will tell you eventually, Frost, but not now."
Well, that was a fun chapter to write. I am aware that it didn't advance the plot too much, but I have some things planned for the next couple of chapters.
CREDITS: Pokemon belongs to GAMEFREAK Inc. The Bone Clan characters, Team Fade, Branna, Frost, Rook, and Venomitus all belong to me. Sepullen, Satelon, Aubadia, and the Unown Army belong to RodiumTech. Last, but not least, Roselyn belongs to EonTheZoarark.
That reminds me. Anyone who happens to pick up this story is free to submit however many OC's they want, but remember, I will only accept those that are relevant to the plot.
-Vein Locke