Fidelity
Chapter 2: First Day on the Job
AN: Well, two months seems like enough time to make this haha...
In all seriousness though, I'm sorry for taking so long in writing this chapter. Like, I know I said that it would take a while next chapter, but not THIS much! Ever since college started, I was just getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter, which combined with my job, took up a lot of my time. Hell I was lucky that I was able to update any other story. Hopefully with things calming down a little, I can find more time to write more.
Enough of my personal problems however! Now to reply to the reviews:
"Mh hmm..." Grace mumbled as she read through the letter that her daughter had handed her.
After returning home after receiving her starter and pokédex, she had received a letter from Trevor, instructed to give to her mother. Serena did as she was told, and Grace was currently reading through the letter. Serena was currently twiddling with her fingers, as her chespin, Marisso, was playing around with Rhyhorn outside.
"I see..." Grace mumbled.
"M-Mom...?" Serena asked.
"...I knew this day would come," Grace sighed. "Personally I wished it hadn't come this soon, but I can't do much about it."
"Huh?"
Grace went over to the closet, before taking out a pink bag with black decals on it and handing it to Serena.
"What's this...?" Serena asked.
"I packed all the essentials you need for your journey," Grace said. "I even packed a change of clothes for you."
"Really!?" Serena gasped.
Grace placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, kneeling eye-to-eye to her.
"Serena, it's a big world out there," Grace said. "Personally I don't want you to go out on this big journey until you at least gotten over your fears of...practically everything."
"M-Mom..." Serena mumbled.
"But I guess now that fate brought you this, there's no use in worrying," Grace said.
"So...you'll let me go out on my journey?" Serena asked.
"If I didn't want to, then I wouldn't have packed your things already," Grace replied. "Just do your best. Never give up. And remember; you can do this. There's nothing to fear but fear itself."
"I'll make you proud, Mom!" Serena exclaimed.
"That's my girl!" Grace smiled.
Serena rushed out to Marisso, who was riding on top of Rhyhorn's head. Rhyhorn looked up, causing Marisso to roll off his head and onto the ground, and roared at Serena.
"Looks like Rhyhorn wants to give you a good sendoff," Grace chuckled.
Serena giggled as she knelt down and petted Rhyhorn on the head.
"Thanks Rhyhorn," Serena said, making the Ground-type grunt happily.
"Now, remember, always keep in contact; and contact me whenever you reach a new town," Grace said.
"Will do Mom," Serena said, before picking up Marisso and rushing off.
"Good luck Serena!" Grace yelled. "And remember!"
"Go for broke!" Serena called back. "Bye Mom!"
As Serena raced to the Vaniville Gate, she saw Shauna waiting up for her there, carrying her fennekin, Kinniekins, in her arms.
"Ready?" Shauna asked.
"Uh huh!" Serena nodded enthusiastically.
Grinning madly, the two girls rushed through the gate and sprinted through Route 1. Grace saw the two off, a whimsical smile on her face.
"Do your best, Serena," Grace said to herself. "Your dad and I will be proud of you, no matter what."
"You're pretty good."
Froakie looked up from his meal to see Calem addressing him. He and his trainer were currently at the Santalune City pokécenter, having reached there by twilight and deciding to rest there for the time being.
"You were able to go through the entire forest unscathed," Calem commented. "You even managed to learn a few new moves."
"-Thanks,-" Froakie responded with a croak, despite knowing that Calem couldn't understand him.
Froakie glanced at Blaziken's pearly red pokéball, and pointed to it curiously.
"-Why isn't he out to eat?-" Froakie asked.
"Hm?" Calem muttered, before noticing Froakie pointing to Blaziken's Cherish Ball. "If you're worried about Blaziken, then no need. He's trained enough to be able to go a while without any food. He'll let me know if he needs any food."
Froakie stared at Blaziken's pokéball curiously, before shrugging it off. Blaziken was a vehemently powerful Pokémon after all; being able to go a few more hours without food would be a trivial tasked.
As Froakie continued to eat, Calem reached for his bag, before taking out a laptop and opening it up. From there, he began to type a few things, gaining his frog's attention once more.
"Hm? Don't worry about it," Calem commented as he had his eyes glued to the screen.
Froakie decided to listen to Calem, and instead decided to focus on Calem's strange bracelet with the peculiarly interesting stone in it.
The stone was strange; it had a rather hypnotizing luster in it. Froakie wondered what the stone was, and what purpose it had. He remembered Calem using it to track down two other stones.
What were they called? Heracronite and Pinsirite? He never knew that a heracross and a pinsir had stones named after them. Was there a stone named after his species, perhaps? A 'Greninjanite', since he would eventually evolve into a greninja?
What were the purpose of all these stones? According to Calem's ramblings during the forest, he was searching for other stones; like that 'Scizorite' he muttered was located near here; which could only mean that the stone is specifically for the scizor line. Just how many more stones were there? What was Calem collecting them for anyways?
...It's no use. Froakie couldn't wrap his mind around it. He figured he would get answers eventually by being with Calem. For now, he would just focus on getting stronger; to reach the demonic levels of Blaziken.
"? Is everything alright?" Calem asked, noticing Froakie's pondering face.
Froakie looked up, before shaking his head. Calem glanced at Froakie, before dismissing it. Calem finished his sandwich, which was Froakie's cue to finish his meal.
"C'mon," Calem said to Froakie as he got up, closed his laptop and put it back into his bag. "We're heading out."
"-To where?-" Froakie asked.
Calem glanced through the window, looking to the east side of town.
"Route 22," Calem said. "The signal's located there."
Froakie glanced up at Calem curiously. The boy had an unreadable expression; something that slightly irritated Froakie, since it meant that he couldn't figure out what his master was thinking of. As the two headed out, the windows rumbled slightly for a moment, before settling down.
Calem exited the pokécenter, before glancing towards the east, noticing a figure flying into the twilight. Staring at the direction for a moment, Calem walked towards Route 22, Froakie jumping onto his shoulder as he left.
"Corphish, Crabhammer!"
A reddish crustacean-like Pokémon reeled his claw up, making it glow bright blue, before smashing it towards a fletchling, who avoided it, leaving Corphish to smash his pincer into the ground, causing a massive indent into it.
Serena and Shauna had regrouped with Tierno and Trevor at Route 2, a half an hour before nightfall, and made their way to the Santalune Forest. Tierno had asked if either of them knew how to catch a Pokémon. Unsurprisingly, the two girls were clueless on capturing Pokémon, prompting Tierno to give them a demonstration.
At the same time, a fletchling emerged from the grass, soaring through the air gracefully, catching the gang's attention. Seeing the fletchling's beautiful dance in the air with awe, Tierno decided that the small bird would make for a great addition to his future dance team; a Pokémon capable of such a majestic dance in the skies. It would also double as a demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon. It was killing two fletchlings with one rock. Well, at least catching this one instead of killing it.
"Wow, Tierno, your corphish packs quite the punch," Shauna commented as Kinniekins watched eagerly.
"That's because Tierno's Corphish's ability is 'Adaptability'," Trevor explained from the side. "It amplifies the user's STAB to frightening levels, raising it from a 1.5 boost to double."
"Uh...what does 'STAB' mean?" Serena asked as she held Marisso.
"'Same Type Attack Bonus'," Trevor went on as Corphish shot a stream of bubbles at Fletchling. "When a Pokémon uses an attacking move that shares the same type as it, like Corphish using Crabhammer, the move gets a 1.5 boost in power. Adaptability further enhances the STAB boost to times two."
"As expected from you Trevs," Tierno commented. "Although I'd like it you didn't take their attention from the demonstration."
"Ah! Sorry," Trevor quickly apologized.
"We're sorry..." Serena and Shauna mumbled.
"It's alright," Tierno said. "Corphish, Knock Off!"
As Fletchling went for a dive attack, Corphish readied his pincer and smacked down upon Fletchling, making the bird bounce off the ground it was smashed into.
"Now, Crabhammer!"
Corphish's pincer glowed blue once more as Fletchling was disorientated from the Knock Off, and smashed the attack into the bird, sending it crashing into a nearby tree.
"Like that, you weaken the Pokémon you want to capture," Tierno explained while taking out a pokéball. "And at the right moment, you throw a pokéball at it. Like this!"
Tierno hurled the pokéball in his hand at the bird. It hit Fletchling, opened up, and shot a red beam at the bird, sucking the Pokémon into it in a stream of energy before closing up and trapping it in there, while falling to the ground.
"And now I pray," Tierno said.
"Pray?" Shauna asked, bewildered.
The ball shook three times, before it flashed briefly, signaling that Fletchling had been captured.
"There we go," Tierno said. "And that's how you catch a Pokémon."
"Amazing," Serena commented.
"Wait, why did he need to pray?" Shauna was still bugged about his last phrase.
"Here," Tierno said, handing the girls each ten pokéballs. "These are some pokéballs you two can use to catch a Pokémon for yourselves."
"Wow, really?" Shauna asked. "You sure about giving us this many?"
"It's alright," Tierno smiled.
"So, why did you decide to capture that fletchling?" Serena asked, somewhat disapprovingly, considering her rather 'negative' view on the bird due to one particular fletchling she knew.
"Did you SEE how that fletchling soared through the air in such a mystifying dance?!" Tierno suddenly yelled, causing the two girls to jump in surprise. "The grace it had when soaring through the air like a hot knife through butter was exquisite! I just HAD to add it to my team!"
"I see..." Serena said.
"Well since you're done gawking over that," Shauna said. "We should get going."
"Yeah..." Serena muttered shakily. "Let's just go already."
Serena looked around. The vast forest was home to several kinds of Bug-type Pokémon. Ranging from caterpie to weedle to the native scatterbug, they made up the majority of the forest's population. That alone made her shudder furiously. She was able to keep her calm by distracting herself with Tierno's demonstration, but with that coming to an end, she had no distractions to sway her attention from the bug-infested forest.
"-Are you okay?-" Marisso asked.
"Right, you didn't like this place," Shauna said. "You were pretty afraid of bugs."
"C-Can we just please go already?" Serena stuttered.
"Don't worry, Seré!" Shauna assured her. "We'll protect you! Kinniekins here will make quick work of those pesky Bug-types!"
"-Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem,-" Kinniekins replied.
"-Hey I can protect her too!-" Marisso puffed his cheeks, offended that they seemingly thought that he couldn't protect his own trainer.
"I-I guess..." Serena muttered.
"Although we should move quickly," Trevor advised.
"Huh? Why's that?" Shauna asked.
"Well I mean, since Serena doesn't like Bug-types, then we shouldn't be sticking around here for long," Trevor explained. "I mean, sure there're first-stage Bug-types like weedle, caterpie, and scatterbug, but then again that can be said about their final-stage evolutions; most likely protecting their young."
"Their...final...stage...?" Serena asked, starting to pale.
"Well there're the beedrills, a specie you and Shauna are well aware of," Trevor began to go on. "They're extremely territorial and respond viciously to those who disturb their colonies, much like how you and Shauna did earlier today; which would be very bad since they're very fast and highly aggressive. Most likely they'll attack anyone who disturbs their colonies with their large venomous stingers on their forelegs and abdomen, and they're said to take the victims of their attacks back to its nest for food."
"Uh...Trevs..." Shauna tried to interrupt, noticing Serena steadily paling.
"Oh and there are also the butterfrees," Trevor went on, failing to hear Shauna. "...Which have poisonous powders covering their wings that fall off continuously as they fly, meaning that they'll cover anything under its flight path with said poisonous powder; even worse since they tend to travel up to six miles from its nest to gather honey so it has a wide range to release its powders."
"Trevs, I think you should stop–," Tierno said, realizing that Serena was completely pale.
"And then there're the vivillons," Trevor went on oblivious to Serena. "While they're passive in nature, they will respond aggressively like beedrills should their nests be disturbed or under attack. They're capable of boosting their offense with Quiver Dance, which makes their Hurricane attacks all the more devastating; combined with their innate ability, 'Compound Eyes', which increases the accuracy of their moves; surely we wouldn't stand a chance should they decide to attack us. Which is why we should move as quickly as–."
"TREVOR!" Shauna yelled.
"Huh?" Trevor asked, before finally registering Serena, who was now completely consumed with her entomophobia. "O–Oh..."
Unable to contain her fear, Serena screamed as she suddenly bulleted down the guided path, sprinting to the nearest exit and out of the dreaded forest, leaving the others in her dust.
"-Serena wait!-" Marisso yelled as he curled up into a ball and rolled after her in an impressive speed.
Shauna gave Trevor an angry glare before smacking him on his head.
"Way to go, genius!" Shauna growled. "You fueled Seré's phobias!"
"B-But I didn't mean to–!" Trevor stammered.
"Oh, whatever!" Shauna dismissed angrily, scooping Kinniekins in her arms and running after Serena. "Seré wait!"
"...Ya know you could've just said that it was getting dark," Tierno pointed out.
"I-I guess..." Trevor said, ashamed.
"Well...on the bright side, they know how to catch Pokémon, at least," Tierno laughed awkwardly. "And Marisso knows how to use Rollout, so...I guess that's a positive."
"But I–"
"Let's just go Trevs."
Meanwhile, at Route 22, Calem and Froakie were exploring the eerily vacant route; usually full of young trainers and roller-skaters.
"-This place is empty...-" Froakie muttered, somewhat unnerved by the emptiness of the route.
Calem said nothing, focused more on the task at hand. He lifted up his bracelet, where the stone began to glow slightly.
"So it's here," Calem said to himself as he looked around, continuing to survey the area.
Froakie jumped off Calem's shoulder and landed on the ground, surveying the area as well. Even the wildlife in this route weren't present, unnerving him even more.
Suddenly some tall grass began to shake, startling the frog and shifting him into a fighting stance. At the same time, the stone on Calem's bracelet began to shine brilliantly as well. Calem quickly noticed it, and got ready for whatever would assault them from the grass.
From the grass, a bipedal, primarily green insectoid creature shot out from it and lunged for Froakie, who jumped out of the way. The creature landed, brandishing its blade-like forearms, sporting a murderous glare. Around its neck was a necklace with a strange red and black stone hanging from it. Simultaneously, Calem's bracelet stone began to glow violently.
"Bingo," Calem smirked. "We found our target."
"-The hell do you guys want?-" the creature asked menacingly. "-LEAVE! This place isn't safe for weaklings like yourselves!-"
Something snapped in Froakie as he glared at the creature menacingly. Amused, Calem decided to scan the Pokémon with his pokédex.
"Scyther, the mantis Pokémon," it read. "It slashes through grass with its sharp scythes, moving too fast for the human eye to track."
Noticing Froakie's enraged expression, Calem smirked in amusement.
"Oh? This outta be interesting," Calem commented. "I'm guessing you want to fight."
Froakie nodded as he glared at Scyther. Scyther leered down upon the frog, before taking a fighting stance, and then proceeding to lunge at Froakie. Froakie jumped, avoiding the attack and shot a stream of bubbles at Scyther. Scyther treated the attack with some annoyance, before lunging for Froakie.
"Duck, then ram into his legs," Calem commanded.
Froakie did as commanded, ducking to avoid a horizontal slash, before ramming into Scyther's leg, causing the mantis to trip and fall. As the mantis got up, Froakie jumped over him and began to fall onto him. Having none of that, Scyther rolled out of the way and slammed one of his blades at the frog as he fell, sending him into the fence that surrounded the route.
"Roll to the side, then grab his head."
Froakie rolled to the side like commanded, as he yet again avoided a slash that bisected a part of the fence, before lunging and grabbing his head.
"Bubble."
Froakie then sprayed bubbles at Scyther's head, while keeping onto it.
"-Gah! Get off me!-" Scyther snarled as he tried to get the frog off of him.
To no avail, Scyther couldn't pry him off, so he decided to ram his head, and Froakie, into the fence.
"-Gueh...!-" Froakie gagged as he fell off.
Unable to move, Scyther lifted his blade up high, ready to slice the frog in half. Calem was about to send out Blaziken to save him, but something else bulleted past him and beat him to the punch. As Scyther brought his blade down, it was caught between two spiky pincers.
"-The hell?-" Scyther muttered.
Protecting Froakie out of nowhere was a bipedal beetle-like Pokémon with a wide, dull brown body and a large pair of gray, spiky pincers on top of its head.
"A pinsir...?" Calem muttered to himself.
"You there! What do you think you're doing?!"
Everyone glanced to the direction of the new voice to see a new person; a woman with short, round blonde hair wearing a white blouse, green pants with white cuffs, brown boots with green laces and a green bracelet, carrying a camera with the strap around her neck.
Calem recognized this woman. The Santalune City Gym Leader, Viola. A Bug-type expert, and a professional photographer.
"This place was under evacuation!" Viola yelled angrily as she approached Calem. "No one is supposed to be in here!"
Calem narrowed his eyes at the woman, before glancing back at the pinsir.
"Is this pinsir yours?" Calem asked.
"Yes, and if it wasn't for her, then your froakie would've been a goner," she said sternly.
Calem stared at the pinsir that had stopped Scyther, before scanning her with the pokédex.
"Pinsir, the stag beetle Pokémon," it read. "It swings its long antlers wildly to attack. During cold periods, it hides deep in forests."
"Hm...This one looks quite strong..." Calem mumbled to himself. "Perhaps..."
"Hey, are you listening to me?" Viola asked.
"Sorry about that ma'am," Calem said. "If I may ask, why is this place closed off?"
"There's been a recent attack of a savage wild Pokémon, seemingly from Victory Road," she explained. "So I evacuated everyone and came to investigate myself."
"Is that so..." Calem said as he looked up to the sky.
That would explain why the town, and this route, was so barren.
"Anyways, you need to get out of here," Viola said. "That Pokémon could come back any moment now. And looking at your battle with that scyther, you should better get out of here."
"Nonsense, I can handle myself," Calem scoffed.
"Oh sure," Viola rolled her eyes. "Drop the tough boy act. We both know you aren't gonna last much longer."
...What?
"Are you implying that I'm weak?" Calem asked darkly.
"Well, you couldn't do much to that scyther with your froakie," Viola commented. "So I doubt you can do much to a wild Pokémon from Victory Road."
Calem's eyes grew dark, something in him snapped in anger.
"Is that so..." Calem repeated with increasing venom.
Calem took out the Cherish Ball and released Blaziken, who landed onto the ground. Viola and the two bugs looked surprised at the fire titan in front of them.
"Very well then!" Calem growled. "Then I'll take down this savage Pokémon!"
"-Ah, I see,-" Froakie muttered. "-He's pretty prideful.-"
"O-Okay there, no need to get so worked up..." Viola said uneasily, somewhat startled by his sudden spark of anger.
Blaziken suddenly looked up to the sky, and took a fighting stance.
"? Is it an enemy?" Calem asked, noticing Blaziken's sudden shift.
They all looked up to the sky, as something dove down towards their position.
Serena was panting as the group reached Santalune City.
"We...we made it to the next city..." Serena gasped for air.
"Geez, Seré, why d'you have to run that fast...?" Shauna asked.
"I'm sorry..." Serena mumbled.
"No, I should be the one apologizing," Trevor sighed. "I shouldn't have instigated your entomophobia."
"It's alright, you didn't do it on purpose..." Serena said weakly.
"So where are we?" Shauna asked.
"We reached Santalune City," Tierno replied. "We should definitely rest here."
"Yeah," Shauna said as she looked up towards the sky that was growing darker. "It's almost becoming nightfall."
Relieved that they were going to get some rest, Marisso fell on his bottom, gasping for breath.
"I'm sorry, Marisso," Serena mumbled to her Grass-type.
"-It's alright...-" Marisso said weakly.
"For now, let's just get to the pokécenter," Tierno suggested. "It's almost getting dark, anyways."
"Agreed," Trevor said. "Although..."
Trevor looked around. The town seemed to be rather vacant, even though it's not even that dark. All the houses seemed to be closed; not even a single person could be seen.
"Strange," Trevor said. "Santalune City is a relatively active place. Not as much as Lumiose, but it's still a fairly active town. Finding it this deserted, at a relative time like this is strange."
"True..." Tierno agreed. "For now, let's just head to the pokécenter. Maybe we can find some information there."
The group started for the pokécenter, but a huge explosion rang through the town, stopping them.
"What was that?!" Shauna gasped.
"!? Over there!" Trevor pointed to the east of town, where a trail of smoke rose into the distance.
"What the...? That's Route 22," Tierno said.
"What could've happened...?" Serena wondered timidly.
"...Should we check it out?" Tierno asked.
"While it's hardly the best idea, it would definitely give us some answers to this town's ghost status," Trevor pointed out.
"Wait, we're going there?!" Serena yelped.
"I'm in!" Shauna declared excitedly. "That's definitely got something interesting written all over it!"
"Shauna!" Serena whined.
"Don't worry, Seré," Shauna assured her friend. "We'll just take a look and see. If it gets too dangerous, then we'll high-tail it out of there, okay? We'll even look from afar."
"I-I guess that's...fine then..." Serena reluctantly agreed.
With everyone in an agreement, they all raced for Route 22 to see what that explosion was about, where they reached said destination within a few minutes. Exiting the gate, they all cautiously entered the route, Tierno scanning the area to see any anomaly.
"Nothing out of the ordinary so far..." Tierno said, before his eyes caught a glimpse of someone. "Wait, look!"
Tierno pointed forward, where everyone else followed the direction to see a familiar blue-cladded trainer with his frog on his shoulder, and his Fire-type bipedal avian Pokémon, accompanied by an unfamiliar woman and her stag beetle Pokémon.
"Calem?!" Serena gasped.
The boy whirled his head behind him, shocked to see the four rookie trainers here. He was about to say something, until he sensed the enemy coming.
"DUCK!" Calem yelled.
"Huh–?" Serena asked, stopping as Shauna suddenly grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, narrowly avoiding an azure laser that was shot at their direction. "W-What...?"
They all looked up to see a large, three-headed, draconic Pokémon with six thin black wings on its back, stalking over the route with a predacious gleam in its eyes. It was adorned with several scars all over its body.
"W-W-W-What is th-that...?!" Serena paled, shaking uncontrollably.
"A hydreigon?!" Trevor gasped, scanning the monster with his pokédex.
"Hydreigon, the brutal Pokémon," it read. "The heads on their arms do not have brains. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything."
"But those are only found in Victory Road! What's it doing here?" Trevor asked.
Before anyone could make a response, a scythe lunged out from the bushes and attacked Hydreigon, trying to cleave the main head.
"-You!-" the hydreigon snarled. "-I've had enough of your meddling bullshit!-"
Hydreigon grabbed Scyther by the blade, and hurled him back to the ground.
"Intercept him!" Calem commanded.
As Hydreigon charged up fire into its mouth, Blaziken charged at the beast with a roundhouse kick, sending it back and allowing for Scyther to recover.
"-Don't charge in recklessly,-" Blaziken chastised Scyther. "-It's obviously strong enough to withstand getting cleaved by your attack.-"
"-Tch! I already know that!-" Scyther hissed back as he got up.
The two jumped back as Hydreigon charged at them with a snarl, lunging at them to sink its fangs into them. Blaziken parried its attack and jumped back, while Scyther met the fangs with his blade.
"-This is the end of this stupid feud!-" Scyther growled. "-We settle this here and now!-"
"-I couldn't agree more!-" Hydreigon hissed back as he hurled Scyther to the ground and spewed fire at him.
Scyther disappeared before the fires could consume the mantis, and suddenly reappeared above Hydreigon and dropped down for a vertical slice on its back. Hissing in pain, Hydreigon faced Scyther, but was shot from behind by Blaziken's Flamethrower, scorching it heavily. Blue sparks coursed all over Blaziken's body, as the Fire-type slammed the ground, creating a jagged stone to shield him from Hydreigon's Flamethrower.
"It would seem that this hydreigon and that scyther have a grudge," Calem explained to the rookies as Blaziken and Scyther were fighting Hydreigon. "The dragon came down from its usual habitat just to challenge the mantis."
"And due to the massive destruction they cause, we had to close off the route, and everyone is to head back to their homes and not leave at night," the woman explained. "Speaking of which, what are you four doing here?"
"We saw an explosion, and decided to check it out," Tierno explained cautiously. "We weren't aware of the current situation at hand."
"...You four all look like new faces, so I can't blame you for not knowing," the woman said. "Either way, you all have to leave now. It's too dangerous."
"R-Right," Trevor said. "C'mon, let's leave this to them and–."
A horrible screech emanated through the route, piercing everyone's ears. The hydreigon, now agitated, blasted both Blaziken and Scyther with Dragon Pulses from the two sub heads, and proceeded to blast the group with a Dragon Pulse, separating them in one explosion.
"Agh!" Serena yelped, crashing to the side with Marisso.
"Serena!" Shauna shrieked.
Serena looked up, realizing that the explosion had separated her from her friends, and looked up to see the hydreigon, eyes locked onto her.
"-I've had it to HERE with all you nuisances getting in my way!-" Hydreigon roared. "-I'll kill all of you if you continue this shit!-"
Hydreigon charged at Serena and Marisso, swatting Scyther and Blaziken as they tried to get in the way.
"-STARTING WITH YOU!-" Hydreigon snarled.
As Serena screamed in fear, Marisso shot several Pin Missiles in hope of stopping the dragon. To his horror, Hydreigon shrugged off the Pin Missiles and continued to charge at them.
"SERENA!" Shauna cried.
Before anyone could react, Calem suddenly sprinted for the girl, scooping her and Marisso up in his arms and rolling out of the way of the dragon.
"BLAZIKEN!" Calem growled.
As Hydreigon flew back into the air, Blaziken was already above him, his foot ready for a heel drop with a Stone Edge prepped and accompanied by it. Blaziken brought down his foot and the Stone Edge down upon Hydreigon, smashing its head and slamming it to the ground. Serena looked up to see Calem, who had just saved her from death by dragon.
"C-Calem..." Serena couldn't find the proper words due to her shock at the whole situation.
"You idiot," Calem scolded harshly. "You're in the middle of a battle between savage Pokémon; one whom has no qualms in killing off any outsiders."
"I-I..." Serena mumbled, looking ready to cry again.
"...However...your chespin was brave to try and defend you," Calem commented. "And I can't truly blame you for stiffening in fear. You are new to this, so demanding you to steel up is foolish of me."
"Eh...?" Serena asked, surprised at the kinder tone.
"I'm just glad you're alright," Calem muttered. "I won't allow any needless deaths on my watch."
"Calem..."
Shifting his attention back to the battle, Hydreigon was slowly getting back up.
"-Stupid...pieces of shit...-" Hydreigon hissed. "-All of you...getting in my way...-"
"Tch, he's still not done," Calem grumbled. "Viola!"
"Don't leave me out of this!" Viola yelled. "Pinsir, Quick Attack! Smash it back to the ground!"
Pinsir bulleted towards the recovering hydreigon at a blinding speed, tackling the dragon. As it flinched from the attack, Pinsir got close to the dragon's belly, ensnaring its body between her two large pincers, before hurling it into a brutal German suplex. Pinsir jumped back, as Scyther lunged at Hydreigon, slashing it with an X-Scissor, leaving a nasty X-shaped scar on its chest. Hydreigon coughed up bile, as it struggled to get back up. As it got back up, it shot a spiteful glare at Scyther, who charged at him. Hydreigon shot two Dragon Pulses at the mantis, making him jump over them to avoid it, only to be left wide open for Hydreigon to launch a nasty Flamethrower at the bug, scorching it.
Scyther screamed in pain as he fell, scorched by the fire as Hydreigon got back up. As Scyther tried to recover, Hydreigon used its two sub heads to grab Scyther's arms, lifting the bug up. The mantis had a look of fear as Hydreigon reeled its jaw towards his head.
"-Now die!-" Hydreigon snarled as he was about to rip Scyther's head off and eat it.
Before it could do so, Blaziken intervened, getting in between them, and smashed his fist into its gut. Hydreigon gagged in pain, releasing Scyther from its grip, before Blaziken grabbed ahold of the dragon by the neck, releasing intense heat from his claw and burning the dragon.
"Brave Bird," Calem commanded chillingly.
Blaziken surged himself with a fiery aura, as two wings of fire formed from behind. Blaziken then skyrocketed up into the sky, carrying Hydreigon with him, before hurling the dragon back to the ground.
"We're finished here," Calem growled. "High Jump Kick!"
Blaziken reeled his foot and went in for a dive kick, falling in like a meteor towards Hydreigon, who was still flying back to the ground. Hydreigon crashed into the ground, bouncing off of it due to the collision, only to get smashed in the gut by Blaziken's High Jump Kick, slamming it into the ground and causing another explosion of dust. Everyone had to shield themselves from the explosion, as dust blanketed the route. Once it cleared, Blaziken was left standing above Hydreigon, who was unconscious from the attack.
"Wow..." Tierno could only gape at the destruction Blaziken caused. "So that's what you meant when you were describing his blaziken Shauna..."
"Yeah...that thing is a monster..." Shauna could only say, equally dumbfound at Blaziken.
Trevor could only nod dumbly. Serena, on the other hand was still getting her thoughts in check. She almost died, had it not been for Calem saving her. Again. This was the second time she had faced death; on the same day, no less. And this was the second time she was saved by Calem and his powerful Blaziken. The poor girl couldn't even find the strength in her legs to get back up.
"Seré?" Shauna asked, holding out a hand. "Are you alright?"
Serena glanced to her friend, before accepting the hand and getting back up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Serena assured Shauna.
"Now then," Calem said, glancing to the hydreigon. "What to do with you..."
"-Way ahead of you,-" Scyther growled as he stepped forward, preparing his scythe blade.
"-Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you trying to kill him?!-" Pinsir freaked out, getting in his way.
"-No, I'm gonna give him a hug,-" Scyther shot back sarcastically. "-Yes I'm gonna kill him! This fucker's been terrorizing the area! And more importantly, he's been pissing me off!-"
"-Well yeah he was terrorizing the place, but isn't killing him a bit too extreme...?-" Pinsir asked.
"-Killing him will make sure that he won't terrorize shit anymore!-" Scyther growled. "-Now get the hell out of my way!-"
Scyther pushed Pinsir back and headed over to Hydreigon, intent on finishing the dragon off. But before he could even bring his scythe up, however, Blaziken grabbed him by the arm, stopping him.
"-Oh don't tell me you're against this too,-" Scyther hissed.
"I don't think killing off the hydreigon is going to solve anything," Calem intervened. "If anything, killing him off would more than likely attract more into the vicinity; either to take revenge for their fallen comrade, or to find the one who killed him to test their own strength."
"Wait, killing?" Serena asked, the fear in her voice standing out. "We aren't going to kill him...right...?"
"Of course not," Calem shot back. "I'm not exactly cold-hearted."
"Then how do you propose we deal with this hydreigon?" Viola asked. "While I'm certainly against killing a wild Pokémon, this one has proven to be a handful; I highly doubt it'll simply learn from this."
Calem stared at Viola, then at the hydreigon. The boy then took out a pokéball and tossed it at the hydreigon. The ball hit the behemoth, sucking it into it with a red laser. The ball dropped to the ground, shook three times, and flashed briefly, indicating a successful capture. Everyone sans Blaziken just looked at Calem with a dumbstruck face, as the boy casually strolled over and picked up the ball.
"There," Calem said. "That should take care of things."
"Y-You just caught it...?" Serena asked.
"Of course," Calem replied. "If it's under someone's control, then Santalune shouldn't have to worry about it attacking the city again."
While Serena did understand the logic in that, she suddenly paled. Now Calem had another monstrosity under his control! Maybe reaching up to his level was only wishful thinking now...
"You're gonna keep it?" Shauna asked.
Calem glanced at Shauna, then the ball, then strangely towards Froakie.
"No," Calem replied, much to Serena's shock and relief. "I'd rather not have two Dark-types on my team, considering that Fairy-types are rather common in Kalos."
"Two Dark-types?" Shauna asked in confusion.
"He must be referring to Froakie," Trevor informed Shauna. "Froakie's final evolution, Greninja, is a Water/Dark-type."
"Besides, I already have plans for a pseudo-legendary to add," Calem remarked as he put the dragon's pokéball away. "And I know someone who's more suited for the job of taking care of Hydreigon."
"Well...so now what?" Tierno decided to ask. "I mean, with the hydreigon caught, now what?"
Before anyone could say anything, Scyther growled, getting the humans' attention, while pointing his scythe at Calem.
"-You and I still have a battle to continue,-" Scyther growled. "-Now!-"
"-You insolent...-" Blaziken grumbled as he was about to ignite his arm to burn the bug.
"Oh? You want to continue?" Calem asked, an amused smirk making its way onto his face. "Alright then."
Blaziken glanced at Calem, who gestured him to let go of Scyther. Blaziken complied, releasing the mantis from his grip, allowing the Bug-type to get ready. As Froakie was about to get ready to resume their earlier battle, Scyther stopped him.
"-No,-" Scyther said. "-Not you. Him.-"
Scyther pointed to Blaziken.
"-I want to fight him,-" Scyther said.
Froakie looked outraged, while Blaziken merely raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms against his chest.
"-What the–?! We were in the middle of a battle!-" Froakie yelled. "-We still need to–!-"
"Very well," Calem interrupted Froakie. "If that's what you want, then so be it."
"-Wha–?! Calem!?-" Froakie gasped.
"No objections, Froakie," Calem said sternly. "If Scyther wants to fight Blaziken, then so be it."
Froakie looked angry, but sighed dejectedly, before returning to his master's side.
"You're gonna fight it?" Serena asked Calem.
"But of course," Calem said. "I was originally planning to capture him and add him into my team, after all. However..."
Scyther leered at Calem, who leered back with a rather whimsical smile. Everyone else backed away from then, knowing full well that a battle was about to break loose, and they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
"I have no need for weaklings on my team," Calem scoffed. "So try not to bore me."
Scyther would have been enraged at the human's condescending words, had he had enough time to do so, but at the second Calem finished his sentence, Scyther had to jump out of the way to avoid Blaziken suddenly striking at him from behind. Scyther landed back on his feet, whereas Blaziken charged at the mantis. Scyther tried to slash down Blaziken as he approached, but the Fire-type simply parried the attack as he struck, before bringing his other arm in for a jab at Scyther's jaw. The bug flew back, as Blaziken landed on his feet, blue sparks surrounding him once more.
"Ah...Speed Boost...!" Serena exclaimed, remembering the ability from Blaziken's fight against the horde of beedrills from before.
"-Damn it!-" Scyther hissed as he ran towards Blaziken.
Scyther got right in front of Blaziken and unleahsed a flurry of slashes, all which Blaziken was able to block thanks to his boosted speed. Scyther clicked his tongue, before backing up and jumping towards him while performing a rolling slash. Blaziken raised his arms in defense, shielding himself from the attack. Blaziken then ignited the cuffs on his arms, releasing fire from them and warding Scyther off of him.
"What's the matter?" Calem taunted. "Surely you're better than that?"
Scyther landed back on his feet, angered by Calem's taunting, lunged at Blaziken in a roaring rage. As Blaziken was about to strike, Scyther disappeared, avoiding Blaziken's attack completely.
"He disappeared?" Serena asked.
"Oh, so he's scouting with Aerial Ace," Calem commented. "Blaziken."
The Fire-type nodded, and released a spread of embers that surrounded him. Blaziken closed his eyes, focusing on the embers surrounding him. The sound of a faint singeing registered to Blaziken, as the Fire-type whirled around, parrying Scyther's Aerial Ace as it came from behind. Blaziken noticed how Scyther's face was slightly singed.
"-What?!-" Scyther gasped.
"-Fool,-" Blaziken grumbled as he grabbed Scyther by the head and hurled him over his shoulder.
Scyther was hurled onto the ground, before the mantis hastily flew back to the ground to avoid being stepped on by Blaziken's burning foot. Scyther got back on his feet, panting in exhaustion. It would seem that immediately fighting the Fire-type elite right after dealing with Hydreigon was indeed taxing on him. Blaziken, meanwhile, didn't even have a scratch on him, as he let the Speed Boost accumulate. Hissing in anger, Scyther lunged for Blaziken, furiously slashing at the Fire-type in aggression. Blaziken parried all of Scyther's attacks. Frustrated, Scyther tried to slam his blade at Blaziken, only for him to catch it in his hands.
"-You're too consumed in your own rage,-" Blaziken chastised. "-It's easy to predict you now.-"
"-What did you say!?-" Sycther hissed.
"-Exactly what I said,-" Blaziken retorted. "-You don't know how to control your anger. And that is why you cannot win.-"
Before Scyther could make for a retort, Blaziken threw the mantis over him and onto the ground.
"-Know your place,-" Blaziken growled as he readied his foot.
As the mantis bounced off the ground, Blaziken unleashed a flurry of rapid kicks, hitting the bug so fast, that it kept Scyther in the air. Once the flurry ended, Blaziken smashed his other foot into Scyther, sending the mantis straight through a tree and destroying a part of the fence. The bug was completely out cold as he slid down to the ground. Confirming that Scyther could no longer fight, Calem took out another pokéball and hurled it at Scyther like he did to Hydreigon. The ball hit Scyther, where it proceeded to drag him into it via a red laser, and dropped to the ground. The ball shook three times, before flashing, signaling a successful capture.
"He caught it...!" Trevor said as Calem went over to pick up Scyther's pokéball.
"And with this, the Scizorite..." Calem muttered to himself, before taking out his pokédex to scan Scyther. "...Adamant...Technician...Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor and Defog...Pretty rare move to have...Not bad..."
"So...now he has that blaziken, Froakie, a hydreigon and a scyther?" Shauna gaped.
"That's...quite the formidable team," Tierno commented.
"No...Like I said before, I'm not keeping the hydreigon," Calem stated. "I know someone else who can take care of it better than me. However...Scyther, I will keep."
"I see..." Serena muttered, slightly shuddering at the mention of the mantis.
Calem glanced down to Serena, who was still on the ground, unable to get back up. The boy then kneeled down and offered her a hand.
"You alright?" Calem asked.
"Huh? Uh...Y-Yeah..." Serena mumbled, accepting the hand and getting back up, where a prolong silence filled the space between them.
"So, how was your first day as a trainer, rookie?" Calem decided to break the ice.
"Huh? Oh, it's...going well..." Serena mumbled, tucking the brim of her hat over her eyes.
"Managed to catch anything?" Calem inquired.
"N-No..." Serena murmured in a dejected tone. "I-I'm sorry..."
Calem studied Serena's expression with a questioning gaze, as the girl did her best to avoid eye contact. Her expression was full of timid nervousness and shame; like she felt ashamed that she 'supposedly' failed to meet his expectations or something. He glanced down to Marisso, who was giving Calem a disapproving glare. Only a day had passed, yet the chespin was already defending his trainer; the two already have a rather impressive bond. The Grass-type having tried (yet futilely) to defend her from Hydreigon was a testament enough.
"Raise your head," Calem said, causing Serena to do so out of confusion. "Look, I don't see why you feel the need to apologize to me."
"B-But..." Serena mumbled timidly.
"You just started out as a trainer today," Calem said in a stern tone. "You shouldn't be worried or ashamed that you couldn't catch anything on the first day. You're starting out after all."
"I-I see..." Serena replied.
"Wow, he's not acting like a jerk..." Shauna whispered to Tierno.
"I guess it's because it's Serena..." Tierno shrugged, not sure how to respond to Shauna.
"If you still wanna become stronger and train," Calem suggested. "Then I suggest you try and challenge a gym."
"Huh? Gym?" Serena asked.
"Santalune City has an official Pokémon Gym," Tierno explained. "Beat the gym leader, and you can get a Pokémon League Gym Badge. Collect all eight of them, and you can challenge the Pokemon League."
"And the gym leader happens to be me," Viola made herself known, offering a hand to Serena. "The name's Viola; Santalune Gym Leader and professional photographer."
"Oh, uh, hello, Ms. Viola," Serena greeted softly, accepting the handshake.
"Were you alright?" Viola asked. "That must've been terrifying for you."
"N-No, I'm alright, thank you..." Serena replied.
"If you're still keen on that rematch," Calem said. "Then training and challenging gyms is a great way to get stronger."
"Stronger..." Serena quietly said, before nodding. "...Yeah, that sounds like a nice idea."
"Although, challenging the Santalune Gym with only Chespin isn't the best idea," Calem said.
"Huh? Why's that?" Shauna asked.
"Well, each gym specializes in a specific type," Trevor explained. "And Santalune's gym focuses on Bug-types."
Serena visibly stiffened at the mention of 'Bug-types', something Calem noted.
"And you only have Marisso," Tierno mentioned. "A Grass-type like him is weak to Bug-types."
Marisso shifted uncomfortably, looking somewhat guilty.
"So if anything, bringing something that can deal with Bug-types would be recommended," Trevor said. "Like Tierno's Fletchling, or Shauna's Kinniekins."
"So a Fire-type or Flying-type," Serena said. "Got it."
"It's already dark, though," Calem pointed out, looking up to the darkened skies. "So if you plan to catch something, then I suggest that you do it tomorrow."
"Yeah, you have a point," Serena agreed. "Alright."
With that, Calem headed back to the city, with everyone else in tow. As Calem headed through the gate, Viola went up to him.
"Hey, nice work out there," Viola said. "On behalf of Santalune City, I'd like to thank you for dealing with that giant pest."
Calem simply nodded in response.
"You mind if I take a picture?" Viola asked, holding up her camera enthusiastically.
"...I'd rather you not," Calem muttered in a somewhat sour tone. "It's...personal..."
Viola noted the sour tone in Calem's request, and decided against taking a picture. He must really not like being caught on camera.
"Alright then," Viola said, respecting Calem's request.
"Thank you," Calem nodded as he left.
Back at the pokécenter, the group decided to stay for the night, with Tierno and Trevor taking one room, while Shauna and Serena took another room.
"So, Seré," Shauna asked. "What kind of Pokémon are you gonna try and catch?"
"I don't know," Serena said. "Maybe something cute...hopefully something that can help me against a...Bug-type..."
The honey blonde girl couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of a Bug-type.
"I'm sure you can get something neat," Shauna encouraged her friend.
"I hope so..." Serena mumbled.
"C'mon, it's getting late," Shauna advised as she crashed onto her bed. "Let's turn in for the night."
"Right," Serena replied, noticing the time being very late. "Goodnight Shauna."
"Night, Seré~," Shauna yawned as she drifted into a deep sleep.
Now by herself, Serena returned to her bed, releasing Marisso onto the bed.
"Are you alright, Marisso?" Serena asked, petting the Grass-type on his head. "Today was one heck of a day, huh."
"-Yeah,-" Marisso smiled.
"Sorry we couldn't get in much training today though..." Serena mumbled apologetically. "If only I wasn't afraid of Bug-types..."
"-No no no! It's not your fault!-" Marisso shook his head vigorously. "-If anything, it was that strange coconut-headed boy's fault for scaring you.-"
"But tomorrow we're gonna go catch our very first Pokémon!" Serena declared. "Let's do our best!"
"-Uh huh!-" Marisso squealed, pumping his fist encouragingly.
Looking forward to the next day, Serena recalled Marisso to let him go to sleep, while the girl reclined into her own bed. Just what kind of Pokémon should she go for? A Fire-type like what Trevor suggested? She didn't recall seeing any Fire-types around here though. And while there were bountiful fletchlings, Serena would rather avoid those, considering her rather bitter opinion of those due to a certain fletchling back home. What else was there to get?
"...Maybe backtracking and actually looking through the last route might help," Serena mumbled before falling asleep, preparing for tomorrow.
"Hm? Hello?"
"Sycamore, it's me," Calem replied on his line of the PC.
"Oh, Calem!" the man on the other line exclaimed rather jovially. "I was expecting to hear from you sooner."
"Some complications came in the way," Calem explained.
"Is that so," Sycamore hummed. "For something to actually delay you...it must have been something formidable."
"About that," Calem said, showing Hydreigon's pokéball. "I'm giving this to you."
"Hm?" Sycamore mumbled as Calem placed the ball onto the platform, where the PC scanned it, before the ball disappeared. "A hydreigon...! Did you already infiltrate Victory Road?"
"No, a stray happened to enter the area," Calem explained. "I subdued it and captured it."
"Hm...A hydreigon roaming into Route 22...that's a rare occurrence," Sycamore commented. "But wouldn't you want to keep this hydreigon? You and I both know that hydreigons are powerful pseudo-legendary Pokémon, even in spite of its massive Fairy-type weakness."
"It would compound the Dark-typing in my team," Calem shrugged. "And I'm planning on getting another pseudo-legendary."
"Compound the Dark-typing?"
In response, Calem released Froakie to show to the Professor.
"So you chose Froakie!" Sycamore exclaimed. "An excellent choice! And? Who chose the other two?"
"Fennekin was chosen by Shauna Lumina," Calem explained. "While Chespin was chosen by Serena Yvonne."
"I see..." Sycamore contemplated. "So how are the new dex wielders?"
"Average at best," Calem assessed. "Those two together struggled against Froakie. Although..."
"Although...?" Sycamore asked.
"...The girl...Serena..." Calem muttered. "...She has potential."
"Oh? Is someone interested in a fair lady?" Sycamore asked teasingly.
Calem simply gave the older man a disbelieving and venomous glare at the accusation.
"Kidding, kidding," Syamore laughed, holding up his hands. "So how long until you reach here?"
"Approximately two days at most," Calem reported.
"Alright," Sycamore nodded. "I'll see you then."
Nodding in response, Calem hung up the connection. Froakie glanced up to Calem, wondering about the newest additions to the team. Calem glanced down to the frog, who was pointing to the pokéball clipped onto his belt.
"If you're curious, only Scyther's joining the team," Calem read his expression, leading to the frog looking confused. "The hydreigon is going to be under the professor's care. Now c'mon, let's go find a room for the night."
Froakie looked slightly shocked, and now concerned as he followed Calem upstairs. From his rather brief memories of the professor, he was a rather jovial, friendly and passive person. Could such a person really handle something as violent as a hydreigon?
Calem noticed the frog's expression. Clearly the frog was concerned of Sycamore's well-being. Understandable, since Calem had just sent a brutal three-headed dragon that was clearly bloodthirsty over to him for the man to deal with.
Calem simply snorted in amusement. The poor dragon stood no chance.
Hydreigon found himself being freed from his pokéball, and in a completely unfamiliar setting. A laboratory of some sorts, it would seem. He was surprised he could even fit in the place. In front of him was a tall man with wavy black hair and gray eyes, wearing a blue collared shirt and black pants. The man was sporting a rather jovial smile.
"Hello there," the man greeted himself. "Welcome to my laboratory."
Hydreigon casted a confused glance at the man, as he introduced himself.
"I am Augustine Sycamore, the Kalos region's very own Pokémon Professor," he said. "As you know, this world of ours is widely inhabited by Pokémon."
"These mysterious creatures can be found in every corner of our world..." Sycamore went on. "Some run across the plains, others fly through the skies, and others yet swim in deep oceans...We live together with these Pokémon, lending our strength to one another to live and prosper."
The dragon looked confused. What the hell is this person and what the hell is he preaching about?
"With that in mind," Sycamore got to the point. "The boy who had caught you has entrusted your care with me. So I hope you and I can live together, lending our strengths to one another to live and prosper."
Oh so that's how it is. The boy thought he wasn't worthy enough, so he handed him over to this flamboyant meat stick?!
...Oh someone was going to die. Probably this meat jerky in front of him. Even though he did nothing wrong, Hydreigon was pretty angry right now, and someone needed to become an outlet.
Hydreigon let out a savage and blood-curdling roar and lunged at the man. The man, not even looking fazed at all, released a Pokémon that appeared behind the dragon. The Pokémon grabbed Hydreigon by the neck before he could reach the man.
"-The hell?!-" Hydreigon choked.
The dragon glanced behind him, and began to cower in fear of his captor as the captor's sharp red eyes glared at him with a sickeningly sadistic smile.
"Now, now," Sycamore said with a smile. "Let's get along now. I'm sure we can be friends."
It was at this moment Hydreigon knew...he fucked up.
To be continued
AN: Now to those of you who are aware of me and are familiar of my previous stories, then you should know that I tend to alter the original plot and upgrade several characters to become formidable forces; like the CoYS/PoYS gym battles. Here, it'll be no difference, and since XY (in my opinion) was underwhelming in terms of plot-relevant battles due to the advent of the crazily buffed EXP share, then you should see what I'm planning to do. Starting off with Professor Sycamore, who easily subdues poor Hydreigon here with a smile. Meanwhile, poor Serena is still stuck in the crossfire still unable to do anything. No worries though, she'll get a new member next chapter, and it's not like she'll stay the damsel in distress forever.
And once again I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. Hopefully this won't happen again, and I'll get to publishing more much faster.
And just to keep track of who has what:
Serena: Marisso (Chespin)
Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther
Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin)
Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling
Trevor: Flabébé
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time, and Happy Halloween (even though it's not Halloween yet at the time I publish this)!