What's up, everyone? This chapter will be about Owen's team learning to get along, so (for those of you who like to skim, like myself) the only important part is at the end of the chapter, which has a bit of foreshadowing. Anyways, Owen caught a Hawlucha last chapter and he's going to be a bit of a problem, but not for long. Now the group is in Shalour City and Owen's gym battle will take place next chapter. So, let's get this started!
midnightrebellion86: That definitely could be an interesting situation. I'll consider using that later
Guest: Thanks, and he was originally going to be caught in Chapter 28, but it just seemed like the perfect time to have him join in 22, especially because there might be another capture in this arc *wink *wink
Emboar-Man (guest): Hawlucha will certainly be one of the stronger members of the team (potentially a powerhouse, I'm still kind of deciding on that at the moment), and Tyrunt will definitely be passionate
MCMXCV: Thank ya, kind sir. And Hawlucha doesn't really fit Brooklyn well, though it could've been a pretty interesting addition. And Hawlucha won't act as Eddy's Pokemon, though there will be one or two that will have a similar role to Dedenne in the anime. Hopefully I can keep writing (in my opinion) well and have each chapter be interesting, because this region has been the most fun to write so far (with Unova being the worst)
Owen's team
Frogadier, (m), level 26, Pound, Lick, Round, Quick Attack, Water Pulse*, Smokescreen*
Charizard, (m), level 70, Flamethrower, Dragon Claw, Seismic Toss, Blast Burn, Aerial Ace*, ?*
Butterfree, (f), level 34, Tackle, Silver Wind, Psybeam, Gust, Poison Powder*, Sleep Powder*
Pikachu, (m), level 23, Thundershock, Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Nuzzle, Electro Ball*, Double Team*
Tyrunt, (m), level 24, Tackle, Stomp, Stealth Rock, Bite
Hawlucha, (m), level 30, Wing Attack, Karate Chop, Flying Press, Aerial Ace
The sun slowly rose over the water in Shalour City as Owen, Brooklyn, Cindy, and Eddy all sat on the sand in front of the ocean. They had arrived in the relaxed city the day before, and Owen was gearing up to challenge the gym leader for his third badge. He decided against it, however, as he needed to train more with his Pokemon. Given the new additions and the lack of battle time for some of the members, Owen knew today was the perfect day for training.
"Are you sure about training this early? Why not wait until noon?" Brooklyn quizzed as Owen cracked his back and yawned.
"Even though I want to, it'll help everyone get used to battling conditions at any time," Owen answered as he stood up. The response caught everyone by surprise, as Owen didn't come off as the most intelligent of people. In fact, he was pretty dumb. When it came to Pokemon, though, his IQ seemed to double.
"That's actually really smart," Cindy opined. "But don't you think that you're pushing it a little? I mean, it's not like anyone is that experienced, with the exception of Charizard."
"True, but how else are they going to grow? That's what I've done with all of my Pokemon. You know, my Heatmor actually used to train by himself all through the night, and he was one of the strongest Pokemon I've had," Owen informed the twelve year old as he grabbed the six Pokeballs off his belt.
"It's true. Heatmor was arguably his strongest Pokemon in Unova. I wish Krookodile didn't get hurt during the league, otherwise you totally would've won it," Eddy told Owen as he vividly remembered watching the gruesome injury.
"I don't know about me winning, but thanks. Now come on out!" the fifteen year old shouted as he tossed all six Pokeballs in the air. The group of Kalos Pokemon landed on the sand in front of the water and groggily looked around at their surroundings while Charizard let out a large roar, waking them up immediately.
"Pika," Pikachu muttered under his breath as he and the others looked at Owen and waited for his explanation as to why they were up so early.
"Listen up, everyone. We have our third gym battle coming up tomorrow, and I want to make sure we're prepared. Frogadier, Pikachu, Butterfree, I think you remember that workout we had after Viola beat us," the Pallet Town native assumed. The three Pokemon groaned at the memory of their bootcamp-like workout, but Tyrunt and Hawlucha didn't seem intimidated by the mentioning of the workout.
In fact, Tyrunt seemed determined to prove his trainer's doubts wrong. Hawlucha, on the other hand, didn't look interested in the idea of training. Everyone else looked disheartened by the fire in Owen's eyes, but they knew he was only trying to help them become stronger. While Hawlucha crossed his arms and turned his head away from the others, Eddy walked over to the short Pokemon and smiled. Hawlucha noticed the enthusiastic child and scowled before turning away, which only made Eddy laugh.
"You know what? I'm going to start training for the contest! Let's go, everyone!" Brooklyn shouted as she tossed her three Pokeballs forward. Fennekin, Smeargle, and Amaura materialized in front of her, and they had the same reactions as Owen's Pokemon.
"Let's start out with some stretching." Owen began to go through his usual stretching routine while his Pokemon all did the same, with Tyrunt trying the hardest. The rock and dragon type drew stares from the five other Pokemon who were his teammates, but he wasn't aware of the attention. Pikachu and Butterfree laughed at the enthusiasm of their new teammate while Frogadier pushed himself to work as hard as Tyrunt. Hawlucha simply scoffed at the prehistoric Pokemon, receiving dirty looks from the others, though he wasn't fazed by their distaste.
"Boy, Tyrunt is really trying hard," Cindy whispered to Eddy as they walked over to Owen and Charizard.
"It's probably because Tyrunt wants to prove his worth to the others," Eddy predicted as Owen turned to watch the young (in terms of being revived) Pokemon's max effort warmups, something he hadn't seen in any of his Pokemon before.
"Haha. Hey, Tyrunt, you might want to tone it down a little. I don't think you'll have enough energy for the actual practice," Owen told his Pokemon, who simply shook his head in response as he began to run gassers. The other Pokemon followed suit and after a few minutes of running, they were about ready to collapse. As he turned to run back to Owen, Tyrunt fell and landed face first in the sand, causing Hawlucha to laugh. Tyrunt shot up from the ground and charged at Hawlucha angrily, but the fighting type easily dodged the attempted - and reckless - attack.
"Owen, look!" Brooklyn shouted as she turned away from her training to see Tyrunt and Hawlucha charging towards each other. Owen looked up from his longest tenured Kalos Pokemon, and he gasped before running towards his other two.
"Guys, stop it!" Neither Pokemon listened, and Tyrunt opened his huge jaws in an attempt to bite his egotistical teammate. Hawlucha quickly threw his glowing red leg into Tyrunt's chin, knocking the dinosaur onto his back. Hawlucha then sprung up into the air and descended while his body was covered in a thin white coat of light. "Pikachu, stop Hawlucha with Electro Ball!" Owen commanded while pointing at Hawlucha. Pikachu ran forwards and generated a ball of electricity on the tip of his tail, which he whipped towards Hawlucha. The fighting and flying type crashed into the super effective attack, and he was blown backwards.
Owen finally reached Tyrunt's side and helped the young Pokemon to his feet, and he was rubbing his mouth with his stubby arms. Once Hawlucha got back up, the two locked eyes and attempted to charge at each other again, but Charizard flew in-between them, stopping both Pokemon from attacking. Angrily, Owen glared at both of his Pokemon before crossing his arms over his chest.
"What the heck was all of that about?" Cindy asked Owen, who shrugged and then waited for his feuding Pokemon to respond. Neither did, and Tyrunt hung his head in shame while Hawlucha rolled his eyes and began to walk away.
"Hawlucha, where do you think you're going?" Owen interrogated rhetorically. Hawlucha turned around and locked eyes with Owen, but the teen didn't back down. Hawlucha realized how serious Owen was, so he began to explain what had happened.
"So they fought because Hawlucha laughed at Tyrunt when he fell?" Brooklyn asked aloud, prompting Hawlucha and Tyrunt to nod. "Even though it was wrong of Hawlucha to do that, I think Tyrunt might have overreacted a little bit," the blonde told Owen while her Pokemon seemed to agree.
"Agreed," Eddy stated. Tyrunt looked at the two trainers that had sided with Hawlucha, and he began to stomp on the ground angrily. Owen and his five other Pokemon looked at each other before the fifteen year old sigh and put both of his hands against his face.
"Okay. Charizard, I want you to take those three," Owen started, pointing at Frogadier, Pikachu, and Butterfree, "and help Brooklyn train for her contest." The four Pokemon nodded and began distancing themselves from their trainer while conversing with Brooklyn and her Pokemon about the incident. "You two," Owen started once again as he looked at Hawlucha and Tyrunt, "are going to work this out. I expect everyone to get along, and I'm not afraid to release either of you. I've done it before," Owen warned the two as he recalled the time he released Krookodile in Icirrus City.
"Runt?" Tyrunt gasped in shock as he stared up at the tall teen. He then looked over at Hawlucha and saw that the powerful Pokemon had turned his head away from Owen in an act of rebellion.
"Hawlucha, stop acting like a martyr." The bipedal hawk slowly turned his head back to Owen, and he looked over at Tyrunt. Scowls spread across both of their faces, but Litleo snapped them out of their stare-down. "Now, I want you to apologize to Tyrunt for laughing at him." Owen watched as Hawlucha reluctantly turned to Tyrunt and extended his right hand, but the rock type refused to shake his hand. Hawlucha quickly turned to face Owen and began complaining about Tyrunt, but the trainer raised his hand to silence the venting animal.
"Lucha," the hawk cursed under his breath.
"You can go, Haw-" Owen was cut off by Hawlucha walking towards the stairs to their left, and he sat down on the edge of the drop while looking out at the ocean. Tyrunt began to walk away, too, but he was stopped by Owen grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.
"Ty? Runt-Runt-Tyrunt!" the prehistoric predator shouted at Owen, who had a stern look on his face, quieting the Pokemon immediately.
"Look, Tyrunt, I know you're pissed that Hawlucha made fun of you, but I need you to listen to me." Tyrunt slowly looked up at his trainer as Owen waved for Eddy and Cindy to leave them alone, and they were standing by themselves. "I totally understand why you're mad, but you can't let him get to you. Hawlucha's only being standoffish because he's new and doesn't know any of you, so don't take it personally."
"..." Tyrunt looked away and towards the water as the sound of crashing waves eased his anger.
"Good. Now, I know you're energetic, but you've gotta calm down a little bit. You're going to be battling tomorrow, but I want to know if I can trust you to keep your emotions in check, so can you do that?" Owen inquired, hoping the Pokemon would say yes. Surprisingly, Tyrunt nodded his head and began to talk, prompting Owen to take out his Pokedex and use the translator app.
"I'll try, but I might get really pumped up," the robotic voice of the Pokedex said, and Tyrunt smiled. Owen smiled back and patted the Pokemon on his head before the two walked over to the others.
"Is everything okay? Why isn't Hawlucha with you?" Brooklyn asked in concern as she and the Pokemon looked around for Hawlucha before spotting him sitting by himself.
"Everything's fine, and Hawlucha's over at the cliff. How's your training going?"
"Pretty well, actually. How about you?"
"Yeah, Owen, are you ready for your gym battle tomorrow?" Cindy and Eddy asked in unison. Owen turned to glance at Hawlucha before he looked at his other Pokemon, and he nodded with a large grin.
"Yup! Even though we didn't really practice, I think we solved some issues," he answered, looking over at Hawlucha.
That ends the anticlimactic chapter of this arc, and now we can move on to Owen's gym battle with Korrina! Going back to this chapter, the group's relationships were shown off a bit, and so were the personalities of Tyrunt and Hawlucha. Till next time, peace out.
1) Who do you think Owen will use - along with Tyrunt - against Korrina? (Charizard will not be battling, sadly)
2) Which of Owen's Pokemon is your favorite at the moment? (I'll be asking this every two gym battles as a way of tracking character development)
Next Chapter: The Power of Aura: Owen faces off with Korrina and her powerful fighting types in an all out brawl! With Mega Evolution on Korrina's side, will Owen be able to come out on top? Or will he fall at the might of the mysterious technique?
Shalour Arc Chapters
Chapter 25: Mastering Mega Evolution!
Chapter 26: Straying from the Pack
Chapter 27: Go Go Gogoat
Chapter 28: Forming an Alliance
Chapter 29: Mega Destruction