Chapter 20: Power of will
Dawn
Giant chasm
Outskirts, Forest area.
Dew, evaporating into mist by the sun's rays, rose into the air and obscured the surrounding area with a thick grey veil. Lack-2 pulled his jacket tighter around the body, he longed to rip off his mask and throw it to the floor, not only was it scratchy on his face, but it also hindered his vision. His seniors were advancing through the woods. Gold and Black were simply crashing through like hoodlums whilst he and Yellow lingered back, moving through the dense grass in a careful manner. There was a certain tension in the air but all of it vanished when Black sneezed.
"I TOLD you to wear a thicker coat, but do you listen?" the acting leader of the group admonished, he was the only one not wearing a mask, pulling his goggles off, he peered irritably at the offender.
"So-sorry" the teenager's teeth chattered, "didn't think it'd be this cold...Anyway, I'll warm right up after a good battle."
And suddenly a harsh din echoed around them. Lack-2 looked around and saw that they were surrounded by a group of people dressed in strange garb. Medieval knights and pirates. The gaps formed by the humans were filled with hissing, growling and snarling pokemon. His body heated up in rage and he found himself moving automatically, he hated criminals with a burning passion.
How ironic that he was one himself.
Wrath fuelled his actions as his apathetic mood did a complete turnover. Shrugging off his parka, he sent his dewott out and commanded the disciplined pokemon to use razor shell. Gripping the sharp scalchop, the otter flashed forward and swung the blade around, the edge of blade tore through human and pokemon skin and flesh, blood and multi colored fluid swept in an arc and splashed against tree barks and foliage.
"Hey..." his mentor began.
"Stay back!" the boy hissed, "Let me deal with these filth" he released his other pokemon, "Herdier, body slam, Ducklett, scald, GO!" The loyal dog charged forward and it was instantly covered and pressed down by a group of liepard, the felines sunk their sharp teeth into brown fur and the dog cried out in pain. From above, ducklett fired a stream of boiling water at them and the cats retreated, licking their burning wounds. Lack-2 tossed several berries to his partner and herdier yipped gratefully, the mammal charged and collided with a garbodor which promptly fainted on the spot. A snarl alerted the youth to his dewott.
"Aqua Jet!"
Cloaked in water, dewott disappeared and smashed into a krookodile, the monster was rendered inert by a vicious tackle to its belly. Cleaning it's scalchop on the grass; the discipline pokemon swung its whiskered head around and looked for a new target. Up above, ducklett continued to rain down boiling and salt tinged water, it was beginning to get fatigued as evidenced by its erratically flapping wings. Herdier sunk its canines into the hind leg of yet another liepard and the grunts, awed by the boy's ability to single handedly battle them all, retreated. In their place a sage came forward and Gold, sensing urgency, also stepped up.
"I told you to stay back! Don't butt into what I'm doing!" His student screeched and pinned him with a poisoned gaze. Yellow shuffled back in alarm.
"...Fair enough," the gold eyed trainer relented and put on a mask, "although if I see you in trouble, I'm pushing you aside to take your place."
"You don't have to do that." Lack-2 mumbled under his breath. He focused his attention on the newcomer, sporting a violet jacket and a long hat, Zinzolin strode forward and assessed his opponent through half lidded eyes. He raised his face and took the other members standing behind all wearing masks. An evil smirk crossed his face and he tossed out his first monster.
"Cyrogonal, use ice beam."
"Herdier, protect."
Alas, the ice beam was not aiming for the dog; the beam arced upwards and hit ducklett. Frost crept over delicate feathers and within moments the bird froze over, squawking and crashing to the thick undergrowth. Retrieving his frozen pokemon, the boy glared at the man. He was distinctly aware of his dewott prowling around, sharp eyes flicking back and forth between its master and the enemy. It was simply encircling Zinzolin and he knew it would not attack unless provoked.
"Giga impact" the loyal dog glowed with yellow light and its face morphed into a furious expression, howling, it charged at the floating ice crystal, dodging all of its attacks. With a bone breaking crunch, it collided, shattering Cyrogonal's body and ice chains. Thereafter it leapt to the ground and staggered, after taking a few steps backwards it lied down and panted. Seizing the chance, the sage let out a golbat; the vampire pokemon clamped down on the exhausted beast's neck and began sucking life force. Herdier twisted in pain and agony as the bite area began turning purple, he was poisoned. Fishing out a pokeball, the dog was recalled and golbat flapped its webbed wings and screeched. At once Lack-2 swayed, his head was turning violently and he wanted to throw up. The woods were stirring and he blinked his eyes in an effort to remain standing.
"Hydro pump" the boy announced, his words coming out in a drawl. Seeing no pokemon before him, the Plasma sage laughed.
"Lost your mind child? There is no pokemon before you! Accept defeat in a humble manner and release your pokemon!"
"That old dude's crazy" Black muttered and his seniors nodded.
The monster hiding in the shadows hesitated, if he used hydro pump, his master will also get caught...Nevertheless it complied with the odd command. Opening its mouth, it let loose a pressurized torrent of water, this jet stream caught Zinzolin on the back, thrust him forward into his frantically flapping golbat and finally into Lack-2. The three bodies were lifted off the ground and their propulsion was stopped by a particularly sturdy tree trunk. Lack-2's body ached so bad he wanted to pass out, nevertheless, he shoved the sage off him and grabbed the semi-comatose bat. Ordering the otter to use X-scissor, the Unova native twisted golbat's wings and only let up when he heard a satisfying snap. Getting up on shaky legs, he flung the offending bat to the ground. Zinzolin himself was lying in the mud as well, a large X was scarred onto his back, the clothes he wore were pigmenting into red.
"Whew, nice job there student!" Gold tried to diffuse the situation with a lighthearted comment. His underling's eyes were still smoldering with anger. The boy motioned for his beast to come closer and it was sprayed down with a potion. Job done, the beast was comfortably secured in a pokeball.
His rage only petered out when they entered the final cavern. The team leader tossed him a ball and he caught it in both hands.
"Another present, for doing a good job out there. Hopefully it reminds you of home." hearing this, the child peeked into the ball and a sardonic smile spread out on his face.
"Very funny, I look forward to the day I can turn you into a popsicle." shrugging, Lack-2 let out the fresh snow pokemon and it floated next to him in an airy manner. Vanillite truly resembled a Casteliacone. He wondered if it also tasted like one...Yuck; better banish that line of thought. The team advanced cautiously, it was getting colder and damper and he had no time to appreciate the beautiful layer of ice coating most surfaces. Everything was sparkling in the faint light thrown by holes situated in the tunnel's roofs. He noted the lack of wild pokemon in the surrounding space. Was Kyurem's presence so terrifying that it even chased away the local wildlife? He inhaled deeply, his vertigo had stopped but he was in no mood to battle. As they came across the entrance to the last chamber, a woman, wearing a high ponytail and wielding a whip marched out; she cracked her flexible weapon on the ice caked floor and took a fighting stance. Heart trembling, Lack-2 stood rooted to the spot, his russet irises swiveled to Gold and he was sure the adolescent was smiling underneath his mask. The smile did not falter when two other gym leaders came.
"Black, Lack-2 get inside the cavern when we create an opening," Claire's stern expression hardened into fury, "clean up everything inside and make sure Kyurem is ready for capturing once these three bite the...Whoa! Lady! Don't interrupt me when I'm talking!" The black haired man ducked low when the dragon tamer's whip aimed for his face. He hastily fixed the crooked mask back into place and jumped a few feet backwards. Black pulled Lack-2 behind him and shuffled to the side. Yellow on the other hand released all her pokemon and the creatures formed a loose ring around her. Seeing her choice of monsters, the youngest member of the team scrunched up his nose.
"How is she going to take those gym leaders on with such under-leveled pokemon?" He asked Black as he peered into the Pokedex, "Those levels barely go till the mid-thirties..."
"Shh...Just watch" the duo crouched a bit further away. The lone female member of the group had closed her eyes and clasped her hands to her chest. She glowed and her pokemon resonated with her, in an instant the levels of the beasts shot up, making past the eighties mark.
"...Arceus, she can do this?" Taken aback, Lack-2 poked the screen of his device to ensure that it was not malfunctioning and his senior's pokemon did indeed leap up in levels...Through sheer power of will. The image of a smirking Gold surfaced into his mind.
A screen of dust was thrown up as a violent battle commenced. Black, with Musha stuck on his head stared at the well-guarded entrance for an opening. None of the gym leaders looked like they were going to move from the place. Several dragons, electric types and avian pokemon were rampaging around the area, shaking the cavern with their cries and powers. A stray droplet of mud-brown blood splashed on Black's mask and he swallowed nervously. Out of nowhere, he saw Gold leap up and tackle the blonde haired gym leader to the ground. Pulling out his pool cue, he jammed it at the man's throat. The electric type gym leader coughed.
"GO!" The Johto native shouted and Black broke into a run. Lack-2 holding a hand over his mask followed suit and nearly stopped when a dragonite careered into the way, his senior however, showed no signs of slowing down and soon the peach furred dragon was slammed to the side of a rock face by a rolling golem. The megaton pokemon raked its steel hardened claws against the dragon and with an earsplitting shriek the dragon fainted. Its large body crashed to the floor.
Inside the cavern Lack-2 dove into the shadows once he saw the army of police officers and a snarling Kyurem. The older Unovian watched him with a disbelieving look on his face.
"Reshiram's sake" the boy bellowed despite the threat standing before him, "what are you doing Lack-2? Get up and fight!"
"NO! They are the police!" He still held his hands before his mask as if trying to protect himself from something, "I don't want to fight them...You battle them yourself!" He shrieked and curled up into a ball, trying to make his form appear smaller. Exhaling angrily, the brown haired teenager faced forward and nearly toppled over when Kyurem roared, it was pulling desperately against the chains binding it in place. The metallic links creaked with effort. Wasting neither time nor energy in trying to talk sense into these criminals, Looker sent out his trusty croagunk and ordered it to use sludge bomb. Two orbs of purple goo soared in the air and Black summoned emboar; sludge bomb hit the pokemon's beefy arms and began to eat away at the skin.
"Bo, flame-charge, go!"
Ignoring the searing pain, emboar charged forward with flames writhing around its huge body, it swatted the toxic mouth pokemon aside like a fly and went straight for Looker, the man jumped aside to avoid the charging boar and Bo ended punching Kyurem's head.
Silence. The team of police officers all stilled and locked their attention at Kyurem and emboar. Slowly, too slowly, the dragonoid raised its head and let loose another Glaciate, emboar, croagunk and a few police officers fainted on the spot. The sound of shattering metal rang hard in their ears and in a moment
Kyurem was free.
"PERFECT!" Black screeched and wiped frost from his hands, the mask on his face was starting to crack, "all I have to do now is chip away at its health and we can capture it! Yahoo! Another legendary!" Ignoring Looker who eyed him somewhat disturbingly, he ran to the colossal ice dragon, tossing a few pokeballs along the way. Out popped Brav, Tula and Costa. The electric spider scurried around and weaved a web, it intended to cover the dragon with it. Brav screamed and encircled above and Costa merely observed the dragon with aged eyes. Their trainer issued instructions and the partners all carried it out.
But, it was all for naught. The dragonoid shrugged off their powerful attacks like it was nothing. Braviary and carracosta were blown away by attacks whilst Kyurem picked the annoying spider off him and crushed it underfoot. Black screamed when he saw Tula's shattered exoskeleton mingled with appendages and bones, the insect was promptly recalled. In his bag and unbeknownst to the fretting, bawling trainer, the light stone was glowing. Emitting a pure white radiance.
"Black!" Gold's voice cut into the yowling, "where is Lack-2 and is everything o- HOLY MESPRIT!" The adolescent along with Yellow entered the cavern and stared at Kyurem in shock, the dragon was bearing down on them, its wrathful eyes glowing with hatred. It emitted another roar and several police members fled the spot on shaking legs.
"Get away from here" the acting leader of the criminal group urged the rest to leave, some of them obeyed, the others merely shuffled to the entrance to help their fallen comrades. Yellow's pokemon was preventing the ice beast from moving about too freely. The over powerful creatures, glowing with aura, bordered the dragon. Just as Gold called forth his Exbo, Black's bag ripped apart at the seams, pokeballs, the TM case, berries, healing items, a folded bicycle and his phone all spilled to the floor, a warm breeze flowed in the subzero cavern and Reshiram, in all its fiery glory appeared and breathed a stream of warm flames. The thieving trainers stared in awe and the Unova native yelled in joy. Gingerly, the pristine white dragon touched down and Black reached up his hands to stroke the thick creamy fur in a loving manner, he rubbed his cheek against the vast white pokemon and it growled softly. Resolve burning hotter than sacred flames. The trainer hopped onto Reshiram's back in one smooth move and commanded it into battle.
The turbo attached to Reshiram's tail whirred and ignited. A heat haze swept the area and the rime coating the walls melted into water and ran down in small rivulets. Wing's flapping, the dragon took to the air and Kyurem followed it with a greedy gaze. A trail of fire danced around the cavern and Black took out his Pokedex to see what the dragon's strongest move was.
"Blue flare!" making a sharp turn, the white dragon beat it wings to steady it in place. Opening its maw, it released a cascade of cobalt colored flames and the fire erupted into a pillar. The crackling inferno and roars of the ice dragon intermingled together to create a cacophony. Once the attack died down, instead of an energy drained Kyurem, the found a gleaming sphere.
"Wow" Yellow breathed, "it's another stone, except this one looks light blue, like ice." She spun around and enquired, "should we take it home with us?" Black leapt to the ground whilst Reshiram transformed back into the light stone.
"Yes we should!" he exclaimed excitedly and went over to examine the stone thoroughly. None of them noticed the shadow of a man falling into the entrance of the cave. The man grinned evilly and his pokemon commenced a sneak attack.
Something tickled the brown haired teen's nape and he glanced back, his mouth fell open and in that moment one of cofagrigus' shadowy hands wedged in this mouth and smothered him, the other three tentacles wrapped around his form and proceeded to drag him across the floor where the main body of the ghost, a golden sarcophagus, was opening. The boy, now sporting tears of pain in the corner of his eyes wriggled severely and managed to free his arm, he tried to get a hold on the floor but the friction caused his fingers to bleed. Gold sprung up and took hold of him and pulled with his might, Yellow commanded her pokemon to attack. As the beasts rushed, a menacing voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Assault me and the boy dies." To emphasize his point, the two seniors saw the boy thrashing desperately in the coffin pokemon's hold; he was still painstakingly being dragged to his doom. The shadow hand clogging his mouth was spreading across his face.
"What do...You want?" Gold did not relinquish his grip although his arms were tiring, if he let go, his junior would turn into a mindless zombie.
"The stone. Hand it over and we will call it even." Ghetsis stepped into the cave and raised his staff. Narrowing her eyes, the female trainer picked up the stone; it was icy cold to the touch. She walked stiffly to the man and gave it up.
"Release Black!" she demanded fiercely not budging an inch away from the green haired man.
"Fine...Cofagrigus...Imprison."
With a mighty tug, Gold tumbled as Black, now with tears streaming down his cheeks, was yanked away. Eyes wide with terror, the boy observed his astonished seniors get smaller and further away, the coffin opened and after the teenager was secured inside, it closed with a thud. A bright flash of light was emitted by the pokemon and muffled screams could be heard.
It was dark, he was curled up and floating in a warm cocoon. The cocoon burst and he was dragged into a world of bright lights and screaming people. He started sitting and thereafter attempting to walk on two stubby legs. As a child, he grew up watching dazzling pokemon battles and from the wonderful scenes shown on television, the seed of a grandiose dream was implanted in his head, he wanted to be the Unova pokemon league champion. Everyday he'd go to the library and do research and in the process he made two good friends. One was scholarly and upright, constantly scolding him for forgetting things and breaking promises. The other was a ditzy female, whose sole aim was to have fun and escape her father's overprotective tendencies. It was dark and he felt as if something important was being forcibly taken from him.
Cheren and Bianca
Yes, he missed them, on the day they were supposed to receive their Pokedex, he ended up not meeting them and instead ran after tepig, they do eventually meet up at Professor Juniper's library later and instead of starting his journey together like they were supposed to, he vanishes again...That was the last time they saw each other before he met White and joined the criminal organization. He made it a point to visit them at least once, alas once he made up his mind and stood in front of their houses...and he just couldn't see them...he was ashamed of his actions.
"I'm gonna be the champion of the Pokemon league" he remembers screaming this out to anyone listening or not, sometimes he'd climb a hill or a tree with his pokemon and scream it out to the world.
"I'M GONNA BE THE CHAMPION OF THE POKEMON LEAGUE"
"I'm gonna...Be the CHAMPION of the Pokemon league." Cofagrigus' lid was being pounded from the inside by the confined occupant. The coffin was forced open and Black slumped out. His seniors immediately ran for him and Ghetsis, together with his pokemon vanished from the scene.
"Black! BLACK!" the team commander cradled the boy in his arms, the mask had fallen apart and the boy's normally healthy complexion was ashen. His eyes, wide open, were absolutely bloodless, no warmth emanated from his body.
"...Ugh...I feel like a zombie..." shifting in his arms, the brown haired teenager got up and stared at this seniors who looked like their souls were about to fly away from their bodies. He smiled.
"What's up? You two look like you're seeing ghosts."
"You...you gave me a heart attack you moron!" the golden eyed trainer exclaimed and sighed in relief
"I suppose so...Man it was dark and horrible in there, I nearly died!" the ashen boy happily chirped, "Uh Gold? You might wanna get Lack-2 from the shadows, I think he fainted and is probably contracting hypothermia." The older man scrambled off, "and I need to get my pokemon back..." he tried to get up and as he did so, he fell back on the floor and passed out.
The next day, mid-afternoon
Kanto
Dex criminal's hideout.
Pearl, Diamond, Whi-2 and Sapphire gathered around the kitchen table and listened as Red lectured them on battle strategies. The man's eyes were alight with fervor as he related techniques.
"...And when your pokemon has a slower speed, it is always a good idea to reduce the opposing pokemon's speed to match your own, in that way you can even out the differences even if it is by a tiny bit. Another good tactic is to have your pokemon learn moves opposite to its typing, simply teaching them is not enough and they have to train themselves to become adept in a move they are not used to executing. This protects them being over powered if they encounter a pokemon with a type disadvantage." The blonde member of the little group was nodding and scribbling the notes down on a little pad. His best friend next to him was lazily stuffing a rice ball.
"I'm not really fond of using stat raising medicines during my battles, even though the effects of those drugs are said to be negligible, they might eventually cause some sorta side effects later in life...I think. Anyway, I don't like using them, my partners are strong enough." Pika gave a squeak and hopped off his head to snatch a poffin from Diamond. A while later, the doors slid open to reveal a lethargic looking Ruby. Instead of joining them, the teenager went to the refrigerator and started packing snacks and cans of soda in his arms.
"Ruby, don't wanna join us?" Saph enquired.
"No...Senior Silver and I are busy with work, didn't have breakfast yet so I came here to fetch something to eat, be seeing you later." Arms loaded with junk food, the exited the room with castform floating next him.
"Any tips when battling someone overwhelmingly strong?" Dia indolently questioned and Red looked at him.
"I suppose...If it's against another monster...You must have the will to stay alive. In any case, you fight to win and to have fun."
"I think...You'll be the only one having fun in a dire situation like that..." Whi-2 pointed out shyly.
The red eyed man chuckled and added: "Probably, anyway, for grass types, when opposed with a strong opponent, you have to plan your attacks according to your pokemon typing, for example, Saur is heavy and kinda slow, so I like using ingrain and frenzy plant. Not only can I sap my enemy's health, I can also use the wide area of frenzy plant to entrap the opposition. If one side misses, the tendrils come out from another. As for Green's charizard, it is fast and has high attack stats, therefore I have it dive into the thick of battle, blast burn hits hard and accurate...Hmm hydro cannon..."
"Is better than frenzy plant and blast burn" Blue interrupted his little lecture and sat down; she placed a sheaf of papers on the table and began rifling through it.
"Hey Blue" Red greeted genially, "you look busy."
"I am" she confirmed "trying to track down that N or whatever his name is. We need him."
"Someone who can talk to pokemon huh...I wonder what Pika thinks of me?"
A jolt of electricity had him yelping and jumping up in his seat.
"Hahaha, we all know what he thinks of you!" The brown haired female stated and winked.
The chatting around the table turned to mundane matters, the weather, pokemon contests and gym battles. Pearl was busy telling Dia off for having his cheeks covered with rice. Whi-2 placed Foongy on the table and was admiring the little bow on the pokemon's head. The noise levels in the kitchen swelled as the talking rose in volume. Laughter seeped out and Red mused when the Kyurem capturing team would return. In the meantime,
A loud explosion rocked the base.
A/N: Much thanks for the lovely reviews/crackpot theories. Things are getting pretty wild and I sincerely hope my story stirs more of the readers into reviewing. Virtual chocolate chip muffins for you. At Eevee: The story won't have any OC's in it, but Blue as a matchmaker? Sounds totally plausible. And I don't find your fascinations annoying, rather it's quite fun to read the speculations. Asdfgkxlqwerutooxbcnjsksn? Don't worry, I totally understand. At Silver: Your review made me chuckle not because it was totally ridiculous (although I have to admit, it is interesting) but because I just finished a short scene on his past and then you dropped this. So is he a clone raised by pokemon? Heh, read to find out. Once again, keep those theories rolling in! Oh yes, constructive criticism is also well appreciated