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Call Back 2: Godot

Fanfics are fragile, fickle things. Their plots change with the shifting of the tides.

There is only one thing that remains constant in this non-canon world...

The bitter darkness of Max not owning Pokemon.

… How am I supposed to choose one of these guys? So good ;_;

Chapter 47: Pkmn Commander Arthur Would Like to Battle!

Vanna

I spent far too long in Helix's shrine, just sitting there and holding myself. Was I really that affected, even after all this time? I regretted things now, but back then I had wanted every moment of what I'd had with Arthur. Now it was the same. I could feel myself being drawn in again, even though I knew that it would only end poorly. What the hell, body? What the actual hell.

Eventually, I gathered my composure enough to get up and begin the trek back up to the top of Maxilla, the Minccino in the shrine running up to me and brushing the dirt off my knees as I stood. I giggled and leaned down to pat it on the head, and it purred for a moment, then went over to the Solrock to shine its head a bit. It had been sitting still so long dust had started to collect on it, silly thing.

The slope up to the Radio Tower was slight enough that the walk was no real effort, and I had plenty of energy to struggle with myself. I honestly wasn't sure what I'd do if I was presented with the choice of Arthur or Axel, and I wanted to just avoid the decision entirely, my companions none the wiser to my dilemma.

So of course the first thing I saw when I got to the square was a crowd gathered in a circle around both men, Axel shaking and bright red in the face. That had happened... quickly. I pushed my way through the crowd, looking for my friends until I heard some familiar voices.

"Ebble dweb dweb. Dweb ebble ebb ebble dweb webble."

"Amber really brought you along, huh? Well, I suppose I could stand to learn a new language, why not?" Medici cleared his throat, slinging his guitar across his back. "Ebb dwebb blebble?"

"DWEB!" Cavendish crossed its pinsers and turned away, seemingly offended.

"Got it. 'Blebble' is bad. Won't make that mistake again."

"Hey! Hey, what's going on?" I rushed over to my friends, Amber turning and sighing, clearly fed up with the entire situation already. "Axel punched Professor Redwood's grandson and now they're having a Pokemon battle. I'm sure you know why."

"Oh no... oh come on, really? Not like this..." I stamped my foot on the ground, this wasn't going right at all! "Why did this have to happen now?"

"I would hazard a guess from your style of dress and the angle that your knees are making that it's happening now because you've spent a good deal of time inside both of these young men's hearts and minds, miss... Vanna, is it?" No way. It wasn't actually him, was it? And this was the first thing he observed about me? I felt like dying on the spot.

I bit my lip and turned, and lo and behold it was in fact, the Professor Redwood. The genius scientist and author whose work I adored. And he was calling me a tease. Seriously looking for a place to lie down and bleed out over here. "Yes... hi, you're... wow you're him, aren't you?"

"'Him' is a general pronoun that can be used to describe anyone with a large amount of testosterone and a functional organ swinging between their legs, miss." He arched an eyebrow. "But yes, I understand your insinuation and I am, in fact, 'him'." He extended a hand. "Douglass Redwood. My grandson has told me all about you, Ms. Albrite."

"You..." I turned bright red and shrunk backwards. This whole situation was making me understand just what Gardevoir went through every day... it wasn't often I wanted everyone in the world to ignore me. "You can't believe everything he says. He tends to exaggerate things."

"I understand where you're coming from saying that, miss, but my grandson actually has an incredibly irksome habit of only reporting the cold hard truth. Inherited that from me, I think. I say irksome because the stories he tells often sound so outlandish that you want to disbelieve them, yet they really happened. He's a lucky one that way."

"That's... nngh..." A referee was being selected from the crowd. The match was beginning soon. Something to distract from me, thank goodness. There was one thing I needed to do first, though. "This is awkward, I know, all things considered but..." I bit my lip, then reached into my bag and pulled out a book. "Could you sign this for me? I'm... a fan."

The professor rolled his eyes a bit and took the book from my hands, then paused, looking at the cover. "Drowned Rattatas of Highbank? Really now? I don't run into fans of this one often."

I nodded vigorously. "I love it, sir. The way you can talk about abnormal typings for Pokemon while presenting it all in such a creepy way... it was like a suspense novel, but with science."

He smiled at that, then flipped open the cover and scrawled across the front page. "To Vanna: may the hearts you break never come back to haunt you." He snickered and handed the tome back to me. "Now then, I want to watch my grandson win a Pokemon battle, so shush."

"Axel's strong. Don't count your chickens before..."

"Shush means 'stop talking', if you weren't aware."

I bit my lip then turned to watch the square, knots twisting in my stomach as my eyes darted back and forth between the two combatants.

"First one to have three Pokemon KO'd loses, got it? Let's get started," Axel growled... he actually growled it, too. I'd never seen him so upset. "I'm looking forward to this."

"Yeah, this should be fun, kid." Arthur winked, tossing a Pokeball playfully into the air. "Now let's go! Get out there, Champers!"

I'd heard that name before, though I could have guessed that it was a Machamp long before it burst out of its ball, just based on its name. Before I could wonder why I knew that name, Qwill jumped off of Axel's shoulder and tackled the Pokemon, nuzzling into its neck. The Machamp grinned broadly and took the Cyndaquil in one hand, juggling it back and forth playfully.

"What the... well that's unexpected." Arthur laughed. "Is that the first one you're sending out, then, Axel?"

"Qwill became friends with that Pokemon when we'd visit the professor. I didn't realize it was yours." Axel whistled and Qwill came back to him. "I won't make you fight him, buddy, don't worry. Head into your Pokeball for now." Qwill barked and collapsed into red light, and Axel pulled a ball from his belt and tossed it. "Shelligan! Let's go!" The Squirtle burst out of the ball with an acrobatic flip, grandstanding and hand-standing to whip the crowd into a frenzy. He saluted the Machamp... it made sense that they'd know each other, and with a blow of the whistle the battle began.

Shelligan, ever the showman, immediately dug into the ground to start throwing particles into the air, going for the old standby of surprise lightning that had taken out my poor Xatu. Champers, seeing this, just... stood there, arms folded across its chest, arcing an eyebrow in what could only be described as 'that trademark Redwood smirk'.

"Any time you're ready, kid," Arthur called to Axel. "These people came for a battle, not to watch your Squirtle make mud pies."

Axel yelled out to Shelligan, who began skidding along the ground and kicking dust up into the air, spinning rapid circles around the Machamp in order to disguise its position. He let out a cry from the front of the beast, then skidding along behind it before launching itself, trying to trick it into putting its guard up from the front.

What neither of them realized was... well... Machamps have No Guard.

Champers turned rapidly and took the shell directly to the face, but grimaced and grabbed Shelligan with one of its hands. With a heave, it launched the Squirtle up into the air, its limbs flailing around and trying to redirect itself desperately. The Machamp prepared four punches, one thunder, one ice, one fire, on dynamic, and closed all four fists onto Shelligan like a pincer, causing him to cry out loudly. It's softer parts were still protected by its shell, though, and using the Machamp's palms for friction it spun rapidly, heating up to the point where Champers had to release him.

Shelligan darted backwards and threw out an Ice Beam using its cold breath, which Machamp stood and weathered easily. The Superpower Pokemon charged forward, but Shelligan may as well have used Fly with how high it ricocheted skyward off the tower to escape, entering the cloud it had prepared. It launched itself down and smashed into the ridge on the top of Champers' head, bringing down a massive Thunder attack with it.

The Machamp immediately responded by crushing the Squirtle with its quad-attack again, this time finishing the job by tossing Shelligan to the ground, the poor thing skidding across the dirt like a rock skipped across the water.

"Shelligan! Get up, come on! GET UP!" Axel yelled. The Squirtle flipped over to its stomach and tried to lift itself on wobbling limbs, but ultimately collapsed. Axel gulped, starting at Arthur with fire burning behind his sockets, and returned Shelligan.

"The actual hell is that thing?" Amber breathed. "I've seen some monstrous Pokemon but this one... well, it's not monstrous at all. It's just really, really strong."

"My grandson isn't an ordinary Pokemon trainer." Cue the trademark Redwood smirk, this time from the Professor. "He's a commander for Salvout's Pokemon infantry. It's his job to push Pokemon to their absolute limit." He laughed. "Axel is a fine trainer and I know he'll go far, but I'm not sure how much training in Cliffkiln will really help him in the long run. It's a big world outside of the backwoods."

I started feeling uneasy, my stomach churning. I remembered seeing Arthur in uniform the first time we'd met, when he'd challenged my gym a few months back. The contrasting black and red had looked so dashing on him... and there's something undeniably attractive about those that stand ready to defend our country in times of need. He'd even helped sandbag the coastal city of Wailoch the week prior, when the dams were threatening to overflow...

"Inigo? Inigo come on, why are you doing this?" I shook my head to clear the fantasy from my mind, looking towards the Treecko that was staring at the ground, refusing to go forward to fight Champers. I could see Axel was struggling with himself, doing his best not to yell at his Pokemon for suddenly disobeying at such a crucial time. I bit my lip, praying he wouldn't cave... I didn't want to see an ugly side to Axel, even if there was one. He closed his eyes, growled and pulled another Pokeball from his belt, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Fine... you can sit this one out while you stew over... whatever it is you're angry about. QWILL! LET'S GO!"

The Cyndaquil let out a fighting cry as it burst from its ball, then turned back to Axel and whined a bit. "Sorry, buddy, I know you didn't want to. But I don't have a choice right now." Qwill rocked back and forth on his hind legs a bit, and it crossed its front paws in a little begging stance. Axel forced a smile and leaned down, patting it on the head. "Just think of it as play, ok? You'll still be friends afterwards, I'm sure." Qwill nodded his head and turned towards Champers, letting out a playful bark before the referee blew the whistle.

"It's not dodging, and it's massive strong at close quarters, so let's make it come to US Qwill!" Axel pointed at Champers. "Stay out of range and hit it with a Fire Blast Barrage!"

I spend most of my time seeing Qwill as this adorable ball of fuzz that's constantly attached to Axel's shoulder, so it's easy for me to forget, even having seen it, just how strong he is. Within a second of being issued the command the fire raged on its back and tore from its mouth, causing the crowd to shrink away as the air began to cook. Champers let out a loud yell, tanking the searing heat, looking back towards Arthur.

"Well, looks like it found our weakness, eh? Guess we're giving up then." The Machamp punched itself in the head, and Arthur laughed that hearty, deep laugh of his. "Of course I'm not serious, go get him!"

The Machamp flexed its muscles and charged across the square, but Qwill was already downing a can of AMPharos energy drink. Like something out of a ninja anime he disappeared, only to reappear standing in front of Arthur. He let out another plume of fire that struck the Machamp squarely in the back, discombobulating it and causing it to stumble. With No Guard, it couldn't dodge as Qwill laid in two more Fire Blasts, then quickly darted away before it could reach him, laying down a trail of fire in his wake so that Champers had to burn its feet just to move around.

It flailed around with all four arms, desperately lunging at the ground where Qwills' image was, but ultimately doing nothing but making fist marks in the plaza. One of its punches lodged it in the ground completely, and in the time it took to unlodge itself Qwill had opened up with a devastating Hyper Beam, launched Champers from the ground and flipping it onto its back.

Arthur just grinned, enjoying the challenge. "Champers!" he yelled, pointing to the sky. "BREAK OUT THE PURSE!"

What.

The Machamp nodded and flipped up to its feet, then proudly displayed a large purple handbag, reaching into it and pulling out smooth stone. "Rock Throw! Get it!" Arthur yelled, and as Qwill shot another column of flame, the Machamp sent the rock flying and struck him square in the head, causing the fire to be cut short and Qwill to slide across the square.

He righted himself and tried to dart away again, but the Machamp... it honestly couldn't miss. Every move Qwill tried to make to flank the muscled Pokemon was interrupted by a well-placed stone, one of them knocking him off balance just enough to allow Champers to close the gap and grab onto it with a fiendishly strong grip.

"Don't let go! Take it down!" Arthur yelled, and the Machamp obeyed, holding Qwill down with one hand and beginning to slam it into the ground with Dynamic Punches. Qwill sheathed himself in flame, and the Machamp yelled out as its arm began to blacken from burns, but continued pounding away, poor Qwill starting to hurt itself in the confusion.

Axel clasped the Pokeball on his belt, struggling with calling Qwill back or not, then shouted in desperation. "Qwill! Take it down with you! SOLAR FLARE!"

Qwill cried out and began to glow bright red, and some of the onlookers actually began to flee. "QWIIIIIIILL!" he screamed, before erupting in a massive column of flame at least 30 feet high, the Machamp completely consumed by the blast. Burnt and entirely spent, Champers fell backwards and collapsed, but the sheer force of the move Qwill had used caused him to whimper and crumple as well.

Axel bit his lip and nodded. "Good job, buddy. Return." A beam shot out from his Pokeball, absorbing the Cyndaquil within.

Arthur laughed. "Solar Flare my ass, you straight up taught that thing self-destruct, didn't you? Not bad, kid, not bad." He walked up to Champers and tapped his Pokeball gently on the Pokemon's head, returning him as well. "One to two. Hope you saved the best for last, kid."

"So do I..." Axel said, looking over towards Inigo. The Treecko sat on the ground with his arms crossed, blatantly refusing to even look at Axel. I prayed that this was just a temporary thing... I could hardly bare to watch the two of them at odds. Arthur tossed a Pokeball playfully into the air, then let it drop from his hand. "Go! MY SWORD!"

The Honedge was actually named 'my sword'? The poor thing. Seeing a living sword moving on its own was enough to get Inigo's attention, thank goodness, and he walked slowly onto the square, staring it down... taking care never to look at Axel, of course. This wasn't for him.

"I'll take what I can get I suppose..." Axel muttered. "Let's Ini-go, yeah?" The attempt at a joke didn't soften the Treecko's expression... would've been more shocking if it had.

At the sound of the whistle, the Honedge began dancing around... Gallant later said it was 'showboating and gallivanting about'... upping its strength with a Sword Dance. Axel called out to Inigo for him to charge forward and take the thing down quickly... he'd realized that Honedge, like Machamp, also had No Guard to block. Inigo, however, began to dart around evasively, lashing out with a quick leaf cutter from a distance every so often, the grass attacks bouncing near harmlessly off the swords metal exterior.

"Inigo, you need to head in before it powers up to much! Just take it down!" Axel yelled. "Listen to me, ok?" But still nothing. The Honedge finished its dance and lashed out with an Air Cutter, striking Inigo with near impossible accuracy, breaking his balance. Inigo responded with one of his own, an impressive display of strength that left a momentary dent before the ghost Pokemon straightened itself out.

"INIGO! COME ON! STOP WASTING TIME!" Axel stomped his foot on the ground, clenching his teeth to keep from lashing out further. His face was actually turning red. It frightened me a little. Axel had always seemed like a rock in a storm to me, had been for over a month... it was silly of me to think that he wouldn't have a breaking point period, but this was almost too hard to watch. Another yell from Axel and Inigo finally relented, if only to get him to shut up, charging forward boldly and cutting crosswise with his blades.

A metallic clang shot through the air and the Honedge cried out loudly, and Axel let out a cry of encouragement to Inigo. But before the Treecko could move, the Honedge dug into the ground with the tip of its blade and suddenly heaved, the earth splintering open underneath the Pokemon's feet.

He'd taught it fissure. That magnificent bastard.

My knees shook along with the ground as Inigo was consumed by the earth, the split then snapping shut on top of the Pokemon. An instant knock out... the Treecko didn't even have time to cry out in anger. Axel stared for a moment, hands trembling, his mouth hung slack and open as he processed the loss. "R... return..." he whispered.

Arthur smirked, the crowd cheering for him as he took a bow and returned the Honedge. "You're not bad, kid." He crossed the square and offered a firm hand to Axel. "I'm sure that could have easily gone differently if you'd played it better. Or had been able to."

Axel stared at the hand for a moment. "I need to get these guys to the center." He whistled and returned Dragonette to her Pokeball, then immediately walking off and down the slope. Amber called out for him, apologizing to Arthur as she ran to catch up.

He walked over to me once they were gone. Of course he did. Embraced his grandfather the professor first, of course, but then... right over to me. "So uh... you have time to think about my offer?"

It's all I'd been thinking about, but I wasn't any closer to a decision. Why I even considered it a decision I had to make instead of something to just refuse was beyond me, but there it was.

"I was actually traveling to take Xatu to Jinford... see where she was born. Are you headed that way?" Why was I asking? Don't you remember what happened last time, Vanna?

"The old man and I are headed to Highbank, but after that I don't know. I'll be happy to escort you there, at least. We can catch up, eh?" he winked, sliding his hands around my waist.

I turned a deep shade of scarlet, but was able to pull away after much too much hesitation. "I'll see you there, Arthur. I will. But I feel like leaving now would make things a lot worse with... them." I said, nodding down the slope. I was half afraid Axel would have a stroke if one more thing happened to set him off today.

Arthur sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Well, we'll be heading out tonight, so I'll see you in a few days then, yeah? Stay beautiful, sweetheart."

"I'm not... nnh!" He kissed me again. I couldn't help but press back. He tasted way too good.

"You are for now, Vanna," he whispered as he pulled away. The professor gave me a polite wave, and then they were gone, his velvet lips still haunting my mouth.

"Well... this is awkward." I actually jumped. I'd forgotten Medici and Gardevoir were still there. "So uh yeah... I'm gonna go to the center too and see if I can heal this up a bit more... also keep the guys company." He pointed to his chest, then took Gardevoir by the hand. "Madane, it has been a most prestigious pleasure as always, and I thank you for the most wondrous of days."

Gardevoir giggled. Medici's Gallant impression wasn't half bad. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah? I mean, unless your trainer decides to wander off to catch up with this new Casanova of hers, in which case..." His eyes flicked over to me for a moment, but they were pleading more than accusing. I almost wish they'd been the latter. "In which case, it's been nice knowing you."

He bent down and kissed her on the hand, and she stood for a moment, lower lip trembling before she pulled his head against her for a quick embrace. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was the most physical contact I'd ever seen her initiate with anyone, ever. I felt proud and guilty at the same time, the emotions warring inside me like Salvoutians and Ginleans.

It was going to be a long night.

Author's Note

So rereading this story, I've noticed a few things about the characters that are at odds with how I'm viewing them now. The first and most important of these that I need to address concerns Vanna's age. Three years ago, I wrote in an author's note that she was 17, therefore making her the youngest of the travelling group.

I find this really, really stupid now, especially considering her character, her history, and her role in the story. I've never canonically given her age in story, so I think I can salvage this pretty easily. Currently, I'm thinking of her as 23, which makes her about two years older than Axel and three years older than Vanna. She should essentially be the Brock to Axel's Ash, if Ash and Brock were both of age and had incredible underlying sexual tension.

Which... I mean, y'know. I suppose we never had it confirmed that that wasn't the case in the anime.

While on the subject of ages, another character's needs worth mentioning: Shelligan. I have him saying, in story no less, that his trainer was killed when he was just one. That makes him at most 4 years old now, which I don't like: he should be more experienced and a bit wiser than most of the party, heck, there's a reason Medici and Inigo both respect him despite how they dwarf him on the power scale. To the end, I think I'm going to ret-con his stories about being only one when Barnum died as embellishments for distracting his opponents during battle, and that is real age is something closer to eight.

I think that's it. This is another chapter that I thought was going to have more in it and then got pretty lengthy. I'm hoping to wrap up with Maxilla next chapter, and then... things will happen! Mystical, magical things. And stuff.

Viva la feminism?