Chapter Fifty – Hurricane Adelina pt I
"Considering that my arm was kind of twisted to see you this morning, things are pretty great," Alexa smiled as she released Phoenix, Kayla and Layla from their Poké Balls, Kayla appearing from a yellow lightning bolt and Layla appearing from a burst of yellow flower petals. Troy smiled at the displays.
"Twisted?" Xavier questioned in a snicker.
"Keenan and Troy talked me into it," Alexa smirked as she glanced over at Troy, who sat on the bed next to Xavier with Michael just in front of him.
"You didn't have to accept my invite, y'know," Troy laughed. Perri dotingly stroked her son's bandaged head gently, touched to see him wide awake, talking slightly faster than before and joking around – she was happy to see him starting to return to his normal self again.
"By the way, about that clip on your head," Xavier began with a slightly kinder smile on his face. "Was it from Keith after all?"
"What?" Confused, Troy looked at Alexa again; somehow, the Gracidea hair clip was more noticeable to him. "I thought you bought that!"
"Nope, she found it – and a sister clip – in her pack yesterday when she tried to give me some water," Xavier explained.
"And, yes, they were a gift from Keith," Alexa confirmed bashfully. "He practically admitted it when he said it was an opportune moment – slipping it into my pack while I was changing back into my clothes..."
"So you ended up spending the night with him after all?" Troy asked with a smile that grew after Alexa nodded in response. "Sounds to me like neither of you have anything to resolve anymore." Xavier sat up and looked at Troy with euphoria; if he had a tail as a part of his anatomy, it would be wagging wildly.
"That's what I said yesterday!"
"Great minds think alike," Troy laughed.
"I'm, uh..." Troy and the present Pokémon faced Alexa curiously; she was smiling rather humbly as she felt herself starting to blush a little. "I'm starting to think you're right...I mean, that night was wonderful, but yesterday was so much fun as well."
"Oh, yeah? What did you do yesterday?" Ryder asked with interest.
"Spent the day at Humilau Water Gardens after getting to know Mum's new Nidoqueen, Roberta." Troy and the Pokémon were surprised.
"She has a new Pokémon? When did that happen?"
"The night Keith and I slept together; Dad told me that story – it's how he hurt his back."
"Aaaaaah... Well, it's great to know things are improving for ya, Lex."
"Thanks, Troy," Alexa said sweetly. "That means a lot."
"So...what are you up to today?" Xavier wondered.
"Keenan and I were going to meet Keith in Entree Forest to give Ava some training," Alexa explained, looking over at her indifferent Luxray. "She's a Pichu, so I thought it'd be a decent idea for her mentor to be an Electric type."
"Lux-Luxray?"
"Chutney's resting after he got hurt a couple days ago; that's why he can't do it. Think you can handle it in his place?" Kayla smiled gently.
"Luxray," she nodded confidently.
"Thanks, girl."
"Better get going then," Xavier said seriously. Confused, Alexa, Troy and the Pokémon faced him in confusion.
"Xavier?"
"Sounds like Adelina's been keeping a low profile since you brought me here," Xavier continued. "But I don't trust her to stay on her proverbial Naughty Step for much longer."
"I dunno..." Alexa started to look as conflicted as she felt. "I know that I haven't seen her for a couple of days now, but...I don't feel right leaving you so suddenly on a count of her."
"Don't make a big deal out of it," Xavier smiled comfortingly. "I have my Mom and Dad with me; I'm in wonderful paws and claws."
"Zorr-orr," Perri said lovingly as she stroked Xavier's cheek.
"I'll be fine. Really." Alexa sighed, but soon smiled warmly.
"Okay." She took a Poké Ball from her magenta Poké Ball belt. "I just need to change my roster first. Phoenix, I'm sending you back to Samphire Island for a proper rest if that's okay with you."
"Rhrrgh," Phoenix nodded as he smiled, almost in relief. Alexa chuckled.
"I know; you're still aching from that battle with Adelina." Phoenix nodded again. "Don't worry, you can get some rest on the island, implying that Lionel isn't acting up again," Alexa continued as she returned her wounded Charizard back to his Poké Ball. Jollie rolled her eyes in frustration at the thought of Lionel misbehaving once more.
"Luxray, Lux-Luxray."
"Yeah, Skywing would have contacted me by now if he was," Alexa laughed sheepishly. "Anyway, I'll be right back; I'm just going to get in touch with Grandpa and have Phoenix swapped for Pteros and Millie."
"AND Millie?" Ryder asked curiously.
"Why not?" Alexa shrugged. "And, Xavier, I promise I'll have a new Poké Ball for you by the time I see you again."
"Hey, there's no hurry," Xavier said casually. "I'm not cleared to be discharged yet, whatever that means."
"The nurses want to keep you here to make sure there's nothing else wrong with you," Troy explained.
"Ah. So, yeah; no rush."
"I'll be right back," Alexa said as she left the room. As she closed the door behind her, her Xtransceiver suddenly began to ring with a cheerful melody resembling that of a music box; she held up her wrist and saw that Keenan was calling her. To her bafflement, she accepted the call as she commenced her search for the Pokémon Centre video phones; Keenan's smiling face appeared on the centre screen. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's all good," Keenan nodded. He stood near the pond and occasionally glanced over at Keith, who sat near the edge of the pond as he fed a bottle of MooMoo milk to Ava, making sure she didn't choke on it. Darcy and Robbie lay nearby, almost falling asleep under the sun's warming rays, but Reese was chasing Iara around playfully. "Keith and I were wondering if it'd be a good idea to eat out for lunch. Considering that, y'know, we didn't think about how long we'd be out here an' all..."
"Good point. I don't have any objections to that," Alexa smiled. "I can get Xavier a new Poké Ball while we're out."
"How's he doing anyway?" Keith asked loudly, loud enough for Alexa to hear.
"He's not cleared for discharge yet, but he's talking a lot more normally now, so he seems to be doing okay," Alexa smiled happily. "Especially with his parents' company." Keith smiled at Alexa's response.
"That's great! What are you up to now?" Keenan asked as he noticed Alexa sitting down.
"I'm getting in touch with Grandpa to see if he'll take Phoenix back for a rest and send over Pteros and Millie over," Alexa replied. "Phoenix can't fly me to Entree Forest, so I need someone who can."
"Why not have Lupin or Shandra Teleport you here?" Keenan wondered.
"Because they haven't been to-" Suddenly, Alexa spotted a black and pale grey speck zooming towards Keenan, its winged body engulfed in streaks of white light. "BEHIND YOU!"
"Huh?!" Keith and Keenan looked at the attacking Beautifly in confusion that swiftly turned to terror. Keenan held his arms in front of his face to defend himself, unintentionally allowing Alexa to get a perfect view of the attacking Beautifly just before it crashed its head into Keenan's Xtransceiver; the force of the impact pushed Keenan to the ground and cracked the centre screen of the Xtransceiver, abruptly ending his call to Alexa. Beautifly hovered in place, giddy from the head-on collision, allowing Keith ample time to help Keenan off of the grass after putting Ava down safely. She, Darcy, Robbie, Reese and Iara watched with perplexity as Keenan brushed himself off.
"You all right?!"
"I-y-yeah," Keenan said shakily. He looked at his damaged Xtransceiver and sighed in frustration. "Damn..."
"Can you get a new one?" Keith asked worriedly.
"Yeah, but repairs are free. I just hope this one can be repaired..." Angry, Keenan glared at the giddy Beautifly. "What was that for?!" Beautifly quickly shook its head to snap it out of its fatigued state and scowled at the youth.
"BEAUUUTIFLY!"
"What did we do to you?!" Keenan asked demandingly.
"BEAUUU!" Beautifly zoomed towards Keenan again, but Keith ran over to him and leapt out of Beautifly's way with him. The boys landed on the grass on their shoulders, but recovered and stood up very quickly.
"She's not listening," Keenan groaned. "Iara, we need you!"
"Por!" Iara nodded as she glared furiously at the Beautifly. She opened her mouth and released a bolt of cyan blue energy that froze small particles of air around it as it zoomed towards Beautifly. Reese replicated Iara's Ice Beam attack, which also struck the Beautifly before she could react. However, much to everyone's astonishment, Beautifly hardly felt a thing and zoomed straight into both Reese and Iara with a swift and hard Aerial Ace attack. Reese and Iara managed to dodge, but Beautifly still struck Iara's tail, causing the little Vaporeon to yelp in agony.
"Iara!"
"Why didn't Beautifly feel that!?" Keith complained. Keenan turned to the bewildered Rapidash.
"Darcy, try a Flare Blitz!" he instructed. Darcy smirked as she immediately stood up.
"Robbie, do what you can to that thing!" Keith said quickly, keeping an eye on Reese as he attempted to attack Beautifly with a stream of steaming hot water; Iara copied Reese's attack, but the Beautifly expertly evaded both attacks.
"Saws!" Robbie nodded compliantly. He opened his mouth, causing a deep purple and black energy to spiral in front of his snout. At the same time, Darcy braced herself as her fiery mane, tail and fetlocks intensified, covering her completely in her own flames. Both Darcy's Flare Blitz attack and Robbie's Shadow Ball attack were about to initiate when something jumped out of the pond and fired a blast of water that was so large and so forceful that it not only struck both Darcy and Robbie, but it sent them flying towards the farthest side of the clearing! Keith and Keenan watched in horror as the two equine Pokémon skidded on the grass as the attack waned, leaving the pair of them soaked to the bone; Darcy's flames were reduced to mere embers and was very barely conscious.
"D-Darcy!" Not knowing what else to do, Keenan quickly returned Darcy to the safety of her Poké Ball. Keith, however, began to rush over to his Sawsbuck, who was struggling to stand back onto his feet. Reese and Iara hurried over towards Keith and Keenan.
"Robbie! Are you-"
"AAAGH!" All of a sudden, whatever jumped out of the pond to attack Robbie and Darcy leapt at Keenan and restrained him; a pink tentacle held both of his arms behind his back, another clenched his throat ever so slightly and three smaller tentacles held his legs together – the attacker and alleged abductor was a Jellicent. Hearing Keenan's cry, Keith, Robbie, Reese, Iara and Ava looked over at him in terror, especially as they saw the situation he was suddenly in.
"KEENAN!"
"POREON!" Iara was particularly distressed to see him in jeopardy. Before anyone could hurry to Keenan's aid, they all heard sinister chuckling as Adelina, wearing a tight and revealing black midi dress with decorative slits at the top of the forearms, at the elbows and above the chest area, revealing her cleavage and a pair of black leather high-heeled platform shoes. Keith seethed with intense rage as he spotted the smug Delcatty walking alongside her, wearing a black leather shoulder bag. Iara and Ava were intimidated by Adelina's arrival, but Reese and Robbie were more determined to help Keenan out of his predicament.
"Hello, Keith. Good to see you again, sweetheart."
Lily sat on the sofa with her eyes fixated on her novel while Hayden paced around the room slightly as he held his mobile phone to his ear.
"All right, yep, that's fine," he nodded. "All right, I'll talk to you soon," he said courteously as he hung up the phone. He sighed as he carelessly tossed his phone onto the coffee table. "Gulliver."
"Leaving you hanging?" Lily asked.
"Kind of; he called to tell me he's still considering his decision," he said crankily as he sat next to his wife. "I'm not sure if he's doing this to try and keep me on edge or if he's paranoid that I might think he's rejected my proposal if I don't hear from him for two days."
"Probably the latter," Lily said as she looked over at her disgruntled husband. "Try not to worry about it-"
"I'm not worried about it; I just can't get my head around this guy's mindset!" Hayden complained. "At the coffee shop, he had a large coffee, a flapjack, a muffin AND a piece of carrot cake! All in one sitting!"
"Was he stressed?" Lily asked with concern.
"A little self-righteous, perhaps, but I wouldn't say stressed," Hayden said with a raised eyebrow. "All I had was a decaff coffee and some poffins for Tidus, so sitting with a glutton felt awkward to me."
"Maybe he felt awkward around a sensible eater," Lily retorted playfully.
"Ha, touché," Hayden smirked. "Anyway-" Suddenly, Hayden's Xtransceiver emitted an upbeat pop tune as it picked up an incoming call. Hayden and Lily saw that Alexa was calling them as Hayden accepted it; to his and Lily's confusion, Alexa was incredibly livid.
"Dad, it's Adelina!" Hayden and Lily were perplexed at Alexa's bluntness.
"What's Adelina?" Lily asked.
"She's attacking Keenan and Keith, that's what's Adelina!" Alexa replied in a slight yell. "The Beautifly I saw attacking Keenan was hers; I've seen her before – the day Xavier got hurt!"
"Are you serious?!" Hayden asked in horror.
"Why would I make something like this up about my brother?!" Alexa asked furiously. "I need to go down there and help him!"
"Absolutely not!" Hayden firmly said in a heartbeat. "I am not letting you go through all of that again!"
"Go through what again?" asked a faint and very refined voice over the Xtransceiver. Alexa looked up from the Xtransceiver and looked ahead of her, carrying her scowl.
"I'll explain later, Skywing, have you found Pteros and Millie yet?!"
"Y-Yes, they're on their way as we speak," Skywing confirmed nervously.
"What did I just say?!" Hayden fumed.
"Hayden-"
"Alexa, you are not going to face Adelina again, not after what she did – and almost did – to Xavier, do you hear me?!"
"Loud and clear, but, if I don't, the same could happen to one of Keenan's Pokémon or to one of Keith's Pokémon – like Ava!" Hayden and Lily faced one another with a look of trepidation about them; Ava was still a baby Pokémon, making the thought of her suffering from Xavier's injury disturbed the parents greatly – especially as they came to the conclusion that Ava wouldn't even survive the injury. Hayden sighed submissively, confusing Lily; Alexa, however, used Hayden's silence as a chance to collect her two Poké Balls. "Thanks, Skywing."
"Lily, call Hailey and Harvey about this."
"R-Right," Lily complied as she immediately vacated the sofa to carry out Hayden's instruction, heading into her hotel bedroom to make the call in privacy.
"Alexa." Alexa returned her attention to her very stern-looking father; their expressions were a perfect match. "Your mother's calling your Aunt Hailey and Uncle Harvey about this. In the meantime, I'll only let you help your brother on one condition; your Pokémon are NOT to attack unless they absolutely have to. Have I made myself clear?" Despite Hayden's seemingly strict condition, Alexa instantly nodded.
"Transparent." Hayden sighed with relief, but he still wore a frown.
"Please be careful, Lexie..."
"Just hurry up; I'm not sure how much time I can buy," Alexa said seriously.
"We'll be as fast as we can," Hayden promised. Feeling very slightly reassured, Alexa nodded.
"Bye, Dad." Before Hayden could say anything else, Alexa hung up her call. Hayden hung up the communication entirely as he headed straight into the bedroom, where Lily was in the middle of conversing with both Harvey and Hailey with her Xtransceiver.
"Is this important, Lily? Brie and I are in the middle of rehearsal!" Hailey's crabby attitude quickly changed as she and Harvey saw Hayden looking at them from over Lily's shoulder, very slightly startling his wife in the process.
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Whoa...why so serious, bro?" Harvey asked with a nervous chuckle.
Alexa stormed into Xavier's recovery room, causing Layla to yelp with surprise as the door slammed open.
"Guys, we're going. Now."
"What's the rush?" Ryder asked.
"Adelina's the rush; she's attacking Keith and Keenan as we speak!" Alexa exclaimed furiously as she returned both Layla and Kayla back to their respective Poké Balls. It seemed that the more Alexa thought about the idea of Adelina ambushing Keenan, the angrier she became.
"Called it," Xavier whispered to himself.
"Are you kidding me?!" Troy asked in horror. Ryder snarled violently at him before Alexa could do the same.
"Why would she make something like this up about Keenan?!" he asked nastily.
"Dad's given me the go-ahead to help him, but I need to buy him, Aunt Hailey and Uncle Harvey time to get to Entree Forest to confront her in my place!" Alexa explained quickly as she took Ryder and Jollie's Poké Balls. "We're not going to battle her again if we can help it, okay?"
"Got it," Ryder nodded.
"Buneary!" Jollie said with determination just before she and Ryder were recalled into their Poké Balls. Placing the two Poké Balls back onto her Poké Ball belt, Alexa sighed with slight relief.
"It's always good to know I have support when I need it."
"Want me to help you?" Troy offered.
"No thanks, Troy, I can handle this," Alexa insisted. "Besides, Keith's there if I need help."
"But I can help you!"
"Against a Jellicent?!" Alexa asked frantically. Troy turned pale as he began to panic.
"J-Jell..."
"I'm sorry, Troy," Alexa said regretfully. "Just...j-just stay here, okay? I've gotta go," she said as she ran out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Troy managed to calm himself down, but he couldn't help but feel completely helpless, much to the concern of Perri, Michael and Xavier.
"You certainly look well," Adelina falsely complimented. "Did Alexa like the figurine you bought for her?"
"Don't you dare strike up a casual conversation with me," Keith said savagely. "Or ANY conversation for that matter."
"Oh, my...did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Keith couldn't help but watch as Keenan struggled to breathe with Dolores's grip on his throat.
"Let him go, Adelina; he has nothing to do with whatever beef you have with me! Hell, I didn't DO ANYTHING to you!"
"On the contrary...you're not the one I have the beef with," Adelina said snidely. Keith raised an eyebrow.
"Even so, you'd better let him go right now-"
"Or what, darling?" Adelina asked tauntingly. "You'll run to Mummy?" In the blink of an eye, Keith felt aghast, offended and livid in one torrential blow; he clenched both of his fists tightly, making his knuckles click, as he glared with demonic fury at Keenan's captor. "If I were you, darling, I wouldn't do anything stupid." Adelina shifted her eyes towards Keenan, who was keeping all of his efforts on breathing; Dolores's grip on him was so tight he felt there was no point in even trying to break free. "Just in case someone gets caught in the crossfire and gets a bruise or two."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't give YOU a bruise or two!" Keith demanded viciously. Despite Iara's protests, Reese and Robbie ran straight towards Adelina, Silvia and Huey, but Adelina quickly took her bag from Huey, allowing him to confront Robbie and slam his head into the Sawsbuck's throat. While Reese was distracted by Robbie's assault, Adelina released her Gothitelle from his Poké Ball.
"For what, darling?" Adelina asked innocently.
"ALEXA!" Keith answered in a furious roar. "You threatened her AND hospitalised her Zoroark! What's worse is your threat to reveal what little you knew about her history with Team Galactic jeopardised her ties with her family! You are NEVER going to be forgiven for that!"
"Quite frankly, poppet, I couldn't care less about what you think," Adelina shrugged. "What I do care about is making sure little Keenan is punished for meddling in affairs that are of no concern to him."
"...h-help..."
"POREON!" Iara shivered in fear as she watched Keenan coming close to suffocating.
"All he did was show his sister a stupid photograph; HOW IS THAT PUNISHABLE?!" Keith asked nastily. Robbie recovered from his assault and tried to buck Huey straight in the face; however, the Delcatty was far too nimble for the Sawsbuck to keep up with, much to his alarm.
"You do realise he and Alexa suspected me all this time, don't you?" Adelina asked with a raised eyebrow. Keith's eyes widened in horror; he did, in fact, recall witnessing a Xtransceiver discussion where it was confirmed that Adelina was lying about something that wasn't explained in his hidden presence. "So...what would you do with a little snoop?" Keith's anger quickly returned to him.
"Don't you fucking DARE!"
"I won't have to, darling," Adelina smirked. With a snap of her fingers, Huey and Francesca smirked. In an instant, Huey rapidly slapped, bit, slashed slammed Robbie in various places all over his body, the Sawsbuck crying out in immense agony with each strike. In the end, everyone heard a very loud crack swiftly followed by Robbie's agonised wail as Huey ended up breaking the Sawsbuck's hind leg, causing him to topple to the ground. However, one quick slap with his tail sent Robbie flying back to approximately where he ended up after Dolores's attack from the pond. Terrified, Keith watched Robbie straining to stand up, only to fail at every endeavor.
"ROBBIE!" Keith and Iara ran over to the wounded Robbie. Reese glared violently at Huey with a tear lingering in his eye, but Ava remained where she stood, visibly shivering with fright. "ROBBIE! A-Are you okay?!" he asked desperately.
"...S-Saw..." Robbie was in too much pain to answer coherently, much to Keith's dismay.
"If you're so intent on getting in my way, I'll have to make you suffer like Alexa did," Adelina said tauntingly. "Francesca, honey, you know exactly what to do."
"Gothitelle," Francesca nodded as she watched Reese rushing over to Huey with an icy fist reared behind him. Francesca held her hands together, almost in prayer, as she began to cackle with yellow static electricity; she held her arms out at Reese, aiming a large lightning bolt at the livid Buizel. However, much to everyone's bafflement, the electricity swerved away from Reese and headed straight at Ava, who not only took the electric attack, but came out completely unscathed after the attack ended. Adelina and Keith were particularly surprised at what had happened, but a child-like grin of delight promptly made its way to Adelina's face. While everything was calm, Reese hurried over to Ava to check on her health.
"Oh, my days! When did you get such a rare Pichu?!" Adelina asked with glee. Keith looked at her in confusion.
"Eh?"
"That was SO Pichu's secret ability!" Adelina squealed joyfully as she immediately searched her bag for a Luxury Ball. "And I am SO going to capture it." Horrified, Keith stood up and confronted her in protest.
"You can't!" he cried. "She-"
"Unless she already has a Poké Ball already, honey, I think you'll find that I can." Keith was mortified; Ava, in fact, didn't have a Poké Ball – he didn't capture her in the one her egg case came with! "Silvia?"
"BEAUU!" Silvia flew straight towards Ava.
"REESE, STOP HER!" Keith cried desperately. Adelina was highly amused as Reese leapt up at Silvia with an icy fist ready to strike her; before the Ice Punch could land, however, Silvia released an orange cloud of dust from her wings, causing Reese to fall to the floor, his movements severely restricted as static electricity danced all over his body occasionally. "REESE!"
"You needn't worry about your Pichu being affected by the Stun Spore," Adelina grinned sinisterly as the spores fell on top of Ava; Ava was confused as to why her movements weren't being restricted as Reeses's had become. "Electric types cannot be paralysed. But that's not my intent."
"Whuh—aagh!" All of a sudden, Keith found himself underneath Silvia's shower of muscle-numbing spores as she flew over him. "Urk...! Aaaagh...!" Keith's twitched violently as he collapsed onto his knees. Adelina laughed as he struggled to fight against the paralysis; Iara and Ava, however, were devastated.
"POREON!" Iara tried to hurry to Keith's aid, but accidentally ran into the last of Silvia's Stun Spore, making her suffer from the same paralysis, leaving Ava completely defenceless.
"PICHU!" Ava cried fearfully.
"It hurts, doesn't it? It would have been so much fun to see Daniel under that very same strain, but I guess you'll have to do," Adelina said meanly.
"...Keith...!" Keenan watched helplessly as Keith constantly succumbed to his paralysis, preventing him from standing up from the grass.
"All right, little Pichu..." Ava looked over at Adelina with dread. "You're MINE!" Adelina cackled as she tossed the Luxury Ball at the frightened Pichu.
"Ava, run...!" Instead of complying with Keith's plea, Ava covered her eyes out of fear. However, the Luxury Ball never touched her; as if by a stroke of luck, a large Aerodactyl landed on the grass just in front of Ava, causing the Luxury Ball to tap the flying Fossil Pokémon's knee and fall to the ground nearby. Startled by the Aerodactyl's appearance, Ava released a little burst of electricity before fleeing straight to Keith, who barely managed to hold onto her with one arm. Keith looked up at the girl on the Aerodactyl's back and smiled with intense relief as he recognised her long golden hair over her Safari Ball backpack. Keenan and Adelina also saw her, but they couldn't see her eyes as her head was lowered.
"...A-Alex...!" Adelina, however, was less than impressed and huffed snobbishly.
"You've got some nerve showing your face to me, young lady...especially after you—" Adelina suddenly silenced herself as Alexa raised her head to face her directly. Keith couldn't see why Alexa raising her head halted Adelina's sentence, but the look of pure hatred and deep anger was so malevolent that it even intimidated Adelina herself.
To be continued...