Chapter 2: Fighting Ire with Flyer
Let's see how Team Go-Getters gets out of this one, shall we?
Snivels, and the other Pokémon that had been accompanying him, didn't stop running until they were as far away from Einar's tent as they could possibly be.
"We've gotta warn the others," panted Amber. "Who knows what'll happen if Einar manages to get ahold of Verne. Or the other contest Pokémon, for that matter."
As much as Snivels knew how right the Charmeleon was, that wasn't the only problem they had. One quick head count was all it took for him to realize that someone was missing. "Where's Crackers?"
Amber panicked when she, too, realized that the Sobble was absent. "Did anyone see him leave the tent?!"
Everyone else shook their heads "no."
"We've gotta go back and find him," Snivels said, worry etched onto his Servine facial features.
Kickin' Hawk shook his head sadly. "If we do, Einar will be expecting it. Chances are, he's already gotten backup."
"We're not leaving a fellow Go-Getter behind!" Amber declared.
"No one said we were," Snivels said calmly. He then addressed the entire group. "Everyone fan out, look for the other members, but stay within eyesight of each other." He pointed to his own two eyes for emphasis.
They didn't need anyone else being captured by Einar.
Crackers ended up being held in one of the wooden crates where the other stolen, sedated Pokémon were kept. The Sobble wisely refused the food Einar gave him, even his favorite snack. He knew the sedative Einar used on the other stolen Pokémon was hidden in the food, in some manner or form. Einar's two Lycanroc stalked in the shadows, keeping an eye on the crates while at the same time waiting for their master's signal to strike.
Einar himself had gone back to hosting the contest.
"A big thank you to all of our contestants and their Pokémon's performances. Now, it's time for the judges to go off in private, and, well, judge."
The three judges sitting at a table behind the performance arena stood up and took their leave.
"Remember, only half of the contestants move on to the battle portion of the contest," added Einar. "Good luck to you all!"
Verne shifted a little on his talons. Hiccup noticed his friend's anxiety and patted the Noivern's hide comforting. All the other contestants had practiced their routines over and over until they reached perfection. They could only hope their impromptu act would be enough for them to advance.
After a few, long, agonizing moments, the judges returned with the results.
Many of the acts that didn't make it through were performed by the more common-found Pokémon, which Hiccup found odd since some of their performances were rather dazzling. He lost track of who had gotten in until Einar stated that there was only one left.
"The final spot goes to..." Einar paused for dramatic effect. Finally, he gestured in the direction of a certain trainer. "Hiccup and his Noivern!"
Verne squawked in surprise before puffing out his chest and holding his head high. Hiccup let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Two of Einar's human assistants escorted all of the eliminated contestants out of the tent. Verne and Hiccup watched them leave, slightly suspicious over why the more common yet obviously well-trained Pokémon had been eliminated.
"And here's where we take a quick break," announced Einar. "Judges will determine the matchups for the battle portion, so be ready!"
Einar's Lycanroc had been watching the results, the Midnight Form sneering eagerly. The Midday Form remained stoic, for such a facial expression did not suit her well.
Crackers could hear everything going on through the wood of his crate. He knew he had to get out. But how? The only way out was up, where the lid of the crate was slightly off.
It was a long shot, but it was the only chance he had.
Slowly, but surely, Crackers began to climb up the walls of the crate.
Sadly, it was hard to focus when the Sobble was afraid of being caught. Any slight sound or movement, and he feared that Einar or one of the Lycanroc was heading his way, to make sure he couldn't escape. And just like that, he'd climb right back down to the bottom of the crate, and he'd have to start over.
But a Go-Getter never gives up.
So, he kept trying.
And with each attempt, his fear of being caught faded away, bit by bit.
Elsewhere, on the bluff, poor Toothless was bored out of his mind. Oh, how he wanted to join Hiccup at the fair. But he'd been explicitly ordered to stay out of the fairgrounds, to avoid causing a mass panic.
The Night Fury watched, uninterested, as Quicks started playing tag with the other dragonets. He'd join in, but being stung by an adolescent Speed Stinger wasn't very high on his to-do list.
"You okay, tough guy?" Ebony asked as she lay down next to him.
Toothless snorted. "I'm fine."
The female Night Fury let out a sigh before nuzzling him comfortingly. "I know how much your rider means to you. Maybe he'll make it up to you later."
"I certainly hope so," Toothless rumbled. He continued to watch the younger dragons play around. Quicks' game of tag, the young Boneknappers fighting over a dragon rib bone they found somewhere, Geyser the adolescent Scauldron playing in the water with his Seadra colleague, and Chomper the Gible going on an imaginary adventure.
Ebony caught Toothless's gaze and gave him a dragon smile. "Do you want dragonets?"
"Yes," Toothless admitted. "But not now."
"Someday, then," Ebony said, mostly to herself.
Toothless nodded in confirmation.
Dragonets could wait. At the moment, they had more pressing matters to deal with.
As per Snivels's suggestion, Amber, Kickin' Hawk, Trommel and Flare all fanned out to cover a wider area as they searched for the other team members. Since they didn't want to risk being captured by Einar and his men, they each made sure they could still see one another. If they split up any further, there was a chance someone would snatch a member without the others noticing until it was too late.
"Find anything?" Snivels called out.
Amber shook her head. "No sign of the others. Or Crackers."
Their conversation didn't go unnoticed. Some of Einar's henchmen who were patrolling the fairgrounds saw and heard them, clear as day.
"Talking Pokémon!"
The incompetent henchman's shout alerted Snivels and the rest of the group to their presence.
For the second time that day, they beat a hasty retreat.
Adhesive was probably lucky there was no rule forbidding him from bringing his phone on missions.
Or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.
"Probably should have thought about the lack of WiFi out here."
The only things he could do without WiFi was send text messages, make phone calls, and play songs off of his music app. Most of the games he'd downloaded were useless without any network connection, except for some of the swap puzzle apps, which he hardly played that often.
"Need help picking a song?"
Adhesive jumped a little, but relaxed when he realized it was Brandyn. "I take it you're familiar with the technology of the future?"
Brandyn shrugged. "I visited Ultra Megalopolis with Drageist a few times while in training." He held out his hand, and Adhesive plopped his phone into the teenager's palm.
Ahead of them, Heather was walking with her Pokémon. "Do you think Brandyn actually likes me? As in, like, romantic attraction?"
"It's possible," Ninjark replied. "Maybe he knows more about you than we think. Maybe he even knows you better than you know yourself."
Heather looked over her shoulder at Brandyn, the Greninja's words echoing through her head.
Paying no attention to the group ahead of him, Brandyn scanned through the list of song artists on Adhesive's music app. "Imagine Dragons, maybe. Rick Astley, not into it. Weird Al?" He gave the Poipole a skeptical look. "How old are you?"
Adhesive's response was a sheepish grin.
Brandyn shook his head and resumed browsing through the songs. He stopped when the name of a particular singer caught his eye.
"Clara Nightingale."
Adhesive chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I love Clara Nightingale."
Brandyn looked up at the Poipole. "I love Clara Nightingale, too."
The two exchanged smiles before Brandyn set the song to play. Then the duo began to sing along.
"Don't you stop, dancing to the music!"
Snivels didn't expect to run into Astrid while trying to avoid himself and the others being captured.
And he ran into her quite literally.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Astrid asked.
Snivels didn't stop to ask how she wasn't fazed by him bumping into her. There was a much bigger problem they had to deal with. "Einar's the one behind the Pokémon thefts! He runs the contest, and steals the contestants' partners when no one's looking!"
Blaze looked at her trainer expectantly. "Battle time?"
Astrid nodded in confirmation.
"Battle time."
Speaking of battle, Verne and Hiccup were participating in the battle portion of the contest at that very moment.
The trainer and Noivern duo easily beat every opponent they'd been pitted against, and soon reached the match that would decide the winner of the contest.
Einar stood in the middle of the arena, but not in dead center or else he'd be hit with the attacks of both Pokémon during the battle. "Trainers ready?" After receiving a nod from both Hiccup and his opponent, he stepped back to give the Pokémon more room. "Let the battle begin!"
"Stop!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden protest, even Verne. The rest of Team Go-Getters (still excluding the dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon) had gathered in record time and were entering the tent at an alarming rate. Snivels, the one who had cried out, pointed at Einar. "That man has been stealing the contestants' Pokémon!"
Hiccup and Verne looked at Einar, who was sneering.
"I'd say he's wrong," Einar said. "But that wouldn't be true. Though, for the record, not all of the Pokémon I store in those crates in the back were stolen from trainers. It's not every day you find a wild Riolu that can use Aura Sphere. Or a Swablu that's yellow instead of blue." He turned to Hiccup. "Since you caught me, how about a deal? If your Noivern defeats my Lycanroc, I'll let all of the Pokémon go free."
That sounded a lot better than the "deal" he attempted to make earlier to buy Verne off of Hiccup. (Looking back at it now, it made total sense why Einar had made the offer in the first place.) Then again, Einar hadn't said what would happen if Verne lost.
Seeing no other choice, Hiccup nodded. "Deal."
No sooner after the agreement had been made, several armor-clad men came out of nowhere, grabbing and restraining the rest of Team Go-Getters. The other trainers and their Pokemon made a break for the exits, most of them managing to escape before they could get caught, too.
Verne and Hiccup shot Einar twin glares, but the man merely shrugged. "It's to prevent cheating." He then snapped his fingers, and Midnight Lycanroc leapt out of the shadows, landing in front of his trainer. "We'll make the first move. Use Stone Edge, now!"
Midnight Lycanroc stomped one of its front paws on the ground, and several pointed light blue rock pillars to appear out of the ground and rushed towards Verne. Hiccup barely had enough time to order Verne to fly up into the air and dodge the super effective attack.
"Nice dodge," Hiccup complimented. Verne squawked at him in thanks. "Now, let's try a Boomburst."
Verne squawked in agreement. The inside of his ears glowed white before he fired a blast of powerful white sound waves from them at Midnight Lycanroc. Now, because Lycanroc was a Rock-type, Normal-type moves didn't have much effect. But that doesn't mean that Midnight Lycanroc didn't have to cover his ears from the sheer force of the loud noise.
"Lycanroc, use Rock Tomb!"
Straining against the loud noise of the Boomburst, Midnight Lycanroc howled, and multiple gray rocks outlined in white energy formed around his head before heading straight for Verne.
"Try using Hurricane," Brandyn suggested. "It has a chance of confusing the opponent if it hits."
Hiccup thought for a minute before deciding to give it a shot. "You heard him, Verne. Hurricane!"
Verne flew up higher into the air, flapping his wings and creating a powerful cyclone of wind. The Hurricane gradually got larger and larger, blowing back the rocks from Rock Tomb. Midnight Lycanroc was able to dodge the rocks from his own attack, but ended up getting sucked into the cyclone. Even a sturdy Rock-type had trouble fighting against the winds. After what seemed like forever, the Hurricane dispersed, and Midnight Lycanroc tumbled to the ground.
"Get up and use Crunch!" Einar shouted.
Midnight Lycanroc stood up, but his eyes were rather glassy and he was looking all around as if he had no idea where he was.
Snivels noticed. "The Hurricane worked! His Lycanroc is confused!"
Einar had also noticed, but he didn't seem as fazed as the team expected him to be. He snapped his fingers, and another Lycanroc, this one Midday Form, leapt out of nowhere. Midday Lycanroc's teeth were glowing white as she bit down hard on Midnight Lycanroc. Her werewolf-esque counterpart blinked, his eyes no longer glassy, before letting out a howl. Both Wolf Pokémon then glared at Verne and snarled.
Heather's eyes went wide with shock. "He has another one?!"
Infuriated, Astrid struggled against the firm hold of Einar's henchmen. "Only a coward would use a second Pokémon!" she shouted angrily.
"I said I'd let the Pokémon go if he defeated my Lycanroc," Einar said calmly. A sneer then curled his lips. "I never said I only had one."
Astrid hated to admit it, but Einar was right. "Lycanroc," like all other Pokémon names, was both singular and plural, so the number Einar had with him had been ambiguous up until that point.
Even so, Verne now had to defeat two Lycanroc all by himself. That wasn't a fair fight.
Einar didn't care about that. "Both of you, use Stone Edge!"
Midnight and Midday Lycanroc raised their paws to unleash a dual attack, but before they could, light-blue crescents of aura rained down on them. The two Lycanroc flinched, and everyone else looked up to find the Zubat Einar had presented at the start of the contest flying directly above the battlefield. The birdcage the Bat Pokemon had been kept in was lying on the ground, the door having been popped wide open. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Zubat was the one who used Air Slash on the two Wolf Pokémon.
The Zubat lowered himself so he was flying level with Verne. The two flying Pokémon nodded at each other then shifted their attention back to the Lycanroc.
Struggling against the muscular henchman that had his arms pinned behind his back, Brandyn shouted to Hiccup, "Hurry, give Zubat a command!"
Hiccup looked at the older boy over his shoulder, then back at the Zubat. "Let's see...what other moves do you know?"
As if to answer his question, the Zubat was illuminated by a shadowy aura that extended to, and surrounded, the two Lycanroc, who froze in place.
Mean Look.
Verne quickly swooped in, his wings glowing white before taking the appearance of a sort of metal. Vern flew straight at the two Lycanroc, striking both in the belly with his Steel Wing.
But Einar wasn't done yet. "Counter!"
Midnight Lycanroc's blood-red eyes shot open, his paw glowing orange with a green outline. He reared back and punched Verne right in the face with Counter. Luckily, Verne recovered quickly, flying up out of the Lycanroc's reach.
"Accelerock!"
Midday Lycanroc surrounded himself with a white aura and leaped into the air after the Zubat with high speed. The Bat Pokemon countered the move by opening his mouth, his fangs glowing a sickly purple, and biting down with all his might. The Wolf Pokémon took the brunt of the Poison Fang and landed gracefully on the ground, a small group of purple bubbles appearing around her head.
Einar grit his teeth at the sight of one of his Lycanroc being poisoned, but he didn't bother to acknowledge the Pokémon's condition. "Use Crunch, both of you!"
Only Midnight Lycanroc was able to execute the move, as Midday Lycanroc was still struggling under the effect of the poison. Midnight Lycanroc aimed for Verne, but the Noivern smirked at him before flying up and revealing the Zubat, his fangs still glowing purple. The two Pokémon bit each other, with the Zubat's same-type attack bonus (or STAB) Poison Fang dominating Midnight Lycanroc's Crunch. Midnight Lycanroc crashed to the ground, afflicted with the same purple bubbles as Midday Lycanroc.
Now they were both poisoned.
"Alright, let's finish this," Hiccup said, mostly to himself. The next thing he said was more out loud. "Zubat, you use Dual Wingbeat, and Verne, use Dragon Pulse!"
Both Pokémon nodded before launching their respective attacks. The Zubat's wings glowed a light blue, and he dove straight for the two Lycanroc. Verne opened his mouth, a ball of multicolored energy forming in it, and fired a multicolored dragon-shaped beam of energy at Midnight Lycanroc.
Unexpectedly, Verne's Dragon Pulse melded with the Zubat's Dual Wingbeat, the multicolored energy outlining the Bat Pokémon's wings and leaving rainbow streaks behind him as he soared through the air.
There wasn't any time for either Lycanroc to dodge the attack. They each took a hit square on the head - one wing for one foe.
Adhesive cheered as the attacks landed on the Wolf Pokémon. "How do you like that Dual Pulse?"
"Wait," Snivels spoke up. "Perhaps Dragon Wingbeat would be a better name."
Einar's eyes flashed with anger as both Lycanroc tumbled over each other on the ground. "Get up!"
The two Wolf Pokémon strained to do as he commanded, but ended up falling back into the dirt. Einar reached somewhere behind him and pulled out a wooden bludgeon that looked like it had been used before. "I said get up, now!" He slammed the bludgeon against the palm of his free hand repeatedly, and the two Lycanroc looked back at him, their eyes filled with fear and sorrow.
The eyes of Pokémon who had been beaten before.
Who were used to it.
Who knew what was coming.
Who couldn't fight back.
Einar raised the bludgeon high, ready to strike the backs of the Wolf Pokémon when an invisible force suddenly knocked the weapon right out of his hand.
A Sobble materialized in front of the man, a burlap sack sitting precariously on his back. He reached his mouth into the sack, pulled out a cracker, and swallowed it in one gulp.
Hiccup stared wide-eyed at the not-very-timid Sobble. "Crackers?"
The Sobble nodded in confirmation, dropping the sack and charging at Einar. Before the man could blink, Crackers nailed him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
Einar fell onto his back, with Crackers sitting on top and glaring at him. Which was not a normal look on a Sobble.
"Do they deserve to be abused?" Crackers's voice displayed none of the nervousness it usually had. When Einar didn't respond, Crackers asked more firmly, "Do we deserve to be abused?"
Einar shook his head, squeaking out, "No."
Crackers narrowed his eyes at the man. "But you deserve what's coming." He then jumped down, allowing Einar to get up. The man came face-to-face with two snarling Lycanroc, who lunged at him with their teeth and claws.
Einar rolled away, but the two Wolf Pokémon followed. Midnight Lycanroc's fangs closed on his master's right arm, and the man let out a pained yell. He punched the Lycanroc in the face, forcing him to recoil, but the Midday Lycanroc bit him in the same place.
Einar somehow managed to pull himself free and ran for the exit, shouting, "This isn't over!"
As much as Hiccup hated to admit it, he believed him.
All of the Pokémon Einar had captured and put in the wooden crates were released, some of them finding their trainers right away and reuniting with them. Others who had been held for a lot longer, or didn't have any trainer at all, stayed where they were in case someone came by to pick them up.
The Pokémon that didn't have owners were the Riolu that could use Aura Sphere, and the Shiny Swablu, the ones Einar had mentioned earlier when the team had confronted him. Brandyn volunteered to look after and train them, like the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon at the Resistance had done with him.
Crackers stood silently as he watched Brandyn bond with the otherwise ownerless Pokémon. Part of him was glad to have gotten over his fears, but the rest was mortified.
Einar was still out there somewhere.
Crackers was soon joined by Snivels. "You okay?"
Knowing the Servine was talking to him, Crackers gave him a curt nod. "No. But I will be."
Snivels chuckled. "Well, you've certainly become more confident."
"And I'm proud of it," Crackers said. Then, slowly but surely, he smiled. Which looked rather good on him.
Nearby, Verne was conversing with the Zubat. "I you my gratitude. You were a great help. And don't worry, we'll get you back to your family."
The Zubat shook his head. "I don't have a family. Not that I know of. I hatched alone. I have no one."
"Well, we can't have that," Verne said. "You can stay with us, if you want to. You can even stay with my family. We'll take good care of you, like you're one of our own. That's a promise."
The Zubat's response to that was a quick flight up onto Verne's head. "I'd like that very much."
Hiccup had witnessed the whole thing, and although he had no clue what the Pokémon were saying whatsoever he could tell from their actions that it was something good.
"I said it once," Snivels said with a smile. "And I'll say it again. Half-blood Pokémon are just as good as purebreds!"
Verne responded to his friend's statement with a croon.
Brandyn, meanwhile, approached a nervous-looking Heather. "You still up for getting a drink later? I know one place in the Ice Caves that serves the best hot cocoa."
Heather shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, why not?"
"As long as it means we can head back," Adhesive stated, poking at his phone screen. "I've still got some binge-watching to do!"
Astrid and Blaze simultaneously facepalmed.
Hiccup reflected on the events of that day as he sat in his room at the Ice Caves. Crackers had been lucky to escape and confront Einar before anything serious could have happened to him or his friends.
Speaking of which, the Pokémon thief didn't end up getting very far before he was caught by the Resistance. Hiccup didn't know all of the details yet of what had happened, but at least they could rest easy knowing that Einar wouldn't be causing any more trouble.
As Verne promised, the Zubat was being well cared for by him and Wavern alongside their biological children. According to Snivels, they'd named him Fang. It was easy to tell how much they already cared about the little Bat Pokémon - Verne and Wavern went the extra mile to find food that Fang liked and allowed him to rest on their heads when he was tired, and the three Noibat invited him to join in their game of flying tag.
Hiccup could tell, the Zubat was going to fight right in with the rest of the team.
The impatient warble and nuzzling of a particular Night Fury snapped him out of his reverie. Hiccup chuckled as he stroked Toothless's muzzle. "Don't worry, bud. The next mission we go on, you and all the other dragons are coming with us, no matter what."
That brought a smile to Toothless's face.
The bond between trainer and Pokémon is a powerful thing, even when those who don't believe in that strength try to break it. You know you can always count on your partners and friends, and they know they can always count on you.
I'm not entirely sure when Einar will appear again, but he will be making a return appearance at some point.
Also, the singers and bands Brandyn mentioned while searching on Adhesive's phone (with the exception of Clara Nightingale, since she's not a real person) are just a few of the artists whose songs I listen to.
One last thing. If you like HtTYD and Pokémon crossovers, go check out NightFuryRider98's story, "Trainers of Berk." I hate to admit it isn't as good as How to Become a Trainer, but I'm happy to know that my stories are inspiring other writers on this site.
Reviews are appreciated.
