Chapter 50: Pokemon Rise
"Tropius," weakly gurgled out of the dying pokemon I was riding the back of 100 feet in the air above the Gord Woods where I had ironically caught him about a year ago, right on the shore of Gord Lake with Skorupi's aid. Is this where me and Tropius met and also where we were destined to die?
"Hang in there, buddy, my home's just a little further," I purred as affectionately as I could in one of my OG teammate's ears, noticing while doing so that Tropius' right ear had been severed clean off by one of Dodrio's beaks during his Drill Peck attack, and I hadn't even noticed since the huge laceration across the back of his neck had leaked out so much blood over my hands that the red around the side of his neck just blended right in with the red everywhere else, including soaking into my pants and shoes.
"I don't know where you think you're going but the ride's over, Adam," my twisted brother, Evan, called out about 25 feet behind me, riding aboard his Dodrio which looked slightly frazzled from whatever damage my Gengar and Emolga had done to it back behind Mt. Roland. It pained me immensely to abandon two of my strongest pokemon to fate after, especially after just losing Passimian as well, but I was in a rush to escape with Tropius back home to Lunaris Town in an attempt to use Mom and Dad to reach Evan since they always had more of a connection with him than I did. At this point, I wasn't sure if my Tropius, Lapras, Emolga, Gengar, and Drapion were enough of a match for his Dodrio, Mr. Mime, Mega Steelix, and whatever last pokemon he still had hiding in reserve. We both had fought dirty and killed each other's members in not just Passimian, but also in Intelleon and Frosmoth, so in a way I couldn't even be totally immune to understanding Evan's need for revenge for his honor. I guess it ran in the family.
"What happened to 'em?" I asked Evan in as strong, steady voice as I could. Don't show weakness.
"I told you, they were insects in my way, so they needed to be swatted. They died easily, they were shit battlers just like their owner."
"So where's your Mr. Mime?"
"Shut the fuck up."
Tropius had retained his pace of flying south at about 30 mph above the many green luscious treetops of Gord Woods even with his terrifying natural predator in Dodrio looming right behind him who had already attacked up close once before with devastating results. Another attack would at the very least knock my pokemon out for sure, if not outright kill him at the severity me and Evan were throwing attacks out at each other.
My brother's overt reaction, knowing him for as many years as I had, told me that there was more to his story about my Gengar and Emolga being dead than he was admitting. He was trying to shake me because his Mr. Mime was likely still struggling back there against the both of them to allow Evan to close in on me while undefended. Smart bastards.
"Tropius, Fly closer to the treeline, we can't keep this up so high up," I whispered to Tropius, praying his one ear would hear it and be subtle enough with his altitude change to not draw Evan's attention too fast. "Evan! You've lost 2 mons and with how much damage you've done to Tropius, he's out of commission, man, so I've lost 2 mons too! How about we call it a draw and just talk it out from the ground like 2 rational brothers, huh?"
"Dodrio, Giga Impact!" Evan replied without missing a beat.
Less than a second. Evan and his Dodrio had been 30 feet away. Then, they were right up alongside me and Tropius, like a bullet, and Dodrio rammed 1 - 2 - 3 heads, beak-first, right into Tropius' right side, piercing deep and long and drawing one loud scream of anguish from my grass and flying type. I was sent flying through the air just above the very tops of the trees since Tropius' dying effort had succeeded in getting us safely closer to the cushions of the treetops and branches incase of an aerial attack like this.
But I did not land safely on the top of a tree after being launched off my pokemon, shockingly. I was sent spiraling down 50 feet of open air to what with my luck would only be my death until I found myself wet and dark and cold and unable to breath and oh, underwater. I had landed in the center of Gord Lake.
I fumbled with one of the pokeballs on my belt underwater, a jet of red energy streamed out, and Lapras manifested beneath me, rising above so that I was pushed out of the water whilst riding atop her protective coating shell back, coughing and hacking water out of my mouth but grateful to still be alive and have team members at my side.
"Lapras, Evan killed Passimian and he just murdered Tropius too. I don't know where Tropius' body went, I went flying into the lake and couldn't see, I'm sorry, it all happened so fast!" I felt the need to apologize. The look of sadness in Lapras' eyes for her fallen comrades was clear but the determination in her eyes that came next was even clearer.
"Damn, when the hell you catch a pokemon like Lapras?" Evan jeered, still riding his Dodrio high above the lake with a gleeful look in his eye that I had survived the fall so his rage with me wouldn't be cut short. "Your dumbass shoulda been whipping out pokemon like that from the beginning, not weak crap like Tropius or Passimian!"
Little did Evan know that despite Lapras being perhaps the rarest pokemon on my team and thus in his eyes most valuable, she was also undoubtedly the second weakest on my team in terms of battling performance, second only to Tropius who had mostly just been my way of flying around more so than a reliable fighter at gyms. But Lapras had the ice type advantage against his flier Dodrio so that was definitely a step up from my position in mid-air with Tropius against him.
Just as I was getting ready to start unleashing a hellstorm of ice moves on Evan's pokemon with my brother aboard it, the three missing members of Gengar, Emolga, and Mr. Mime each made their return, each one joining their master's side. All of them had some bruises and scuffles, a clear indication they had been firing off attacks at each other for quite a while before rejoining the group. Maybe Gengar or Emolga sensed Tropius' death and prioritized rushing back to check on me, I don't know, but it was encouraging to not be alone.
"Evan, I got a proposition."
"I don't care."
"I know, and I'm going to say it anyway. No more cheap tricks. No more attacking the trainer instead of the pokemon. No more multiple pokemon ganging up on single mons. One on one at a time. You can freely switch mons to gain positioning or momentum. Fair legal battle rules from here on out. Once one of us is out of mons, then we decide where to go from there." I was 100% certain he was going to laugh in my face.
"I agree to those terms," Evan said in the most calm voice he had all night. "But if one pokemon happens to throw out a move that happens to hit just a little too hard that the enemy pokemon doesn't get up, oh well."
"I guess I don't have much choice but to oblige by your insane standards at this point, huh, Evan?" I couldn't help but give a little smile despite the insane events leading up to this moment for days. And Evan smiled back, in a way that reminded me of him being a real older brother and not a member of a criminal syndicate ravenous and desperate to make a name for himself by any means necessary.
Lapras had swum us both to the shore and I'd descended off of her, sinking my feet in the familiar sand where not too far away I had buried 3 pokeballs belonging to my old members. My first pokemon, Togepi, who had hatched from the egg my parents used as their last attempt to kick me out of their house and do something with my life. Spearow, who had died defending me from a Team Anonymous grunt's Arbok and who I'm sure would've made an amazing member of my team going off his track record before the day I had overconfidently waltzed into Peltagrow Gym and expected to earn a badge after battling for a few weeks. And Emolga's original pokeball, that I had symbolically buried as well after she had left me at Gord Lake after that traumatizing night I lost nearly my entire team. There was something beautiful about that to me.
"Dodrio, bring me down," Evan ordered, descending himself down to the shores of Gord Lake ominously until Dodrio landed securely on both taloned feet in the sand about 100 yards away from us. Mr. Mime remained levitating like a freaky doll beside my brother's head.
"Alright, well you had the upper hand with your team in the air, let's see if you can keep up the pressure down on solid ground," I chided Evan, typical Hunter family style. "I'm gonna stick with Lapras since we got the Gord Lake right here."
"My Dodrio's anxious to tear apart the rest of your team and I have to give my mon what it wants, right? Since you're such a goody-two-shoes, know-it-all Pokemon expert, I'm sure you'd agree that whatever makes our mons happy is what's best for them overall." Evan sneered sarcastically.
"Whatever, I'm ready to kick your asswhen you're ready," I said dismissively, recalling with two pokeballs still attached to my belt both Emolga and Gengar with confidence my brother would honor our agreement. And he did, proceeding to recall his Mr. Mime back to its pokeball in suit.
"No more running away, bro," Evan mocked me whilst raising his right hand and pointing it at my Lapras, directing his Dodrio to prepare an attack.
"Lapras - Ice Beam!" I fired off before my brother could unleash an up close assault of more of those dangerous Drill Pecks that had doomed my Tropius to the great sleep.
"Fly!" Evan fired back, and Dodrio shot straight up in the air, the glassy ice blue stream of energy narrowly avoiding Dodrio's two ascending feet as it sailed eventually collided with a cherry tree, completely engulfing it in ice. Dodrio's three heads peered down from the sky in interest at the cherry tree that now resembled a small iceberg amongst the multiple trees and bushes of the Good Woods thanks to Lapras. Yeah, don't underestimate my girl.
Lapras continued her onslaught of Ice Beam after Ice Beam, craning her neck from side to side in her attempts to land a hit on the evasive Dodrio, gliding back and forth high in the sky and dodging every beam without much effort.
"We can keep this up all day, Evan, you think my freshly rested Lapras doesn't have enough energy to wear out your bird after he's already fought so much?" I taunted moreso than asked, knowing full well the main point was to agitate.
"Dodrio, get up close!" Evan responded without missing a beat, unblinking, confident seeming. Did he have a plan or was he bluffing? Either way, time to take advantage with Dodrio drawing closer.
With uncanny speed, Dodrio whizzed like a bullet from about 100 feet in the air right up close in Lapras' personal space, as she remained beached just out of the water of Gord Lake, nestled into the gray sand.
"Lapras, use Attract while Dodrio's close!" I cried.
"Kick all that sand up and in the air around that Lapras!" Evan retorted.
Lapras focused for a few seconds with her eyes shut, then a giant pink heart sprang from her forehead before honing in on Dodrio with amazing efficiency. While Lapras had been focusing on her attack, Dodrio had been flying in circles around Lapras with that incredible, aggressive speed while using those strong legs to kick up the sand as ordered by Evan - creating a dust cloud of sand and dirt in poor Lapras' eyes that blinded her. All for the giant pink Attract attack to bounce right off of Dodrio. I had never noticed but with a quick crane of my neck, I confirmed that Evan's Dodrio was actually a girl and I had always just assumed it was a male pokemon. Meaning I just gave off a free attack for my brother and he took full advantage.
"Dodrio, fly in there while she can't see and Drill Peck, I want to see blood!" Evan ordered sternly. Dodrio made a quick 180 soaring over Gord Lake, took aim directly for the center of the sand cloud she had kicked up moments ago, and unleashed a flurry of several Drill Pecks to the coughing Lapras.
But even through the coughing and hacking and lack of sight, Lapras somehow managed the dexterity and reflexes to wrap both both her front flippers around Dodrio's body, who was flailing and flapping and kicking and screeching in response to the sudden grabbing.
"Ice Beam right in it's neck, that should knock it out!" I took advantage of Lapras' sudden shining underdog moment getting the literal upper hand, or should I say fin, on Dodrio.
"Use Steel Wing, use wings as a shield for that Ice Beam!" Evan replied instantly.
Dodrio's wings both were formed with a metallic coat of iron and she covered her face with both wings as Lapras released her grip on Dodrio's body to unleash an Ice Beam strong enough to one-hit-knockout Dodrio right into Dodrio's face. Dodrio backed away quickly, the whole time fending off a devastating and super effective Ice Beam with her steel move in a defensive, clever way. Some of the effects and damage of the Ice Beam broke through the edges of Dodrio's Steel Wing, most notably Dodrio's left foot getting frozen from a tendril of Ice Beam energy bouncing off the Steel Wing.
Dodrio took back to the air once she put enough distance between her and Lapras' Ice Beam, who was also a bit worse for wear after taking several hits now and firing off so much special energy on a target who was dodging almost every ice move.
"Lapras, get back in the water where you're in your element," I said, thinking it was dumb of me to get her out in the first place and realizing that was a rookie mistake that just made my Lapras more vulnerable. Ugh, focus, stupid.
"Dodrio, circle your prey and wait for an opening!" Evan called, and his pokemon obeyed, making wide loops around Gord Lake and the surrounding beach.
Alright, so his Dodrio had Fly, Drill Peck, Steel Wing, and Giga Impact for a moveslot. He was able to use that Giga Impact freely once before because he knew his Dodrio outclassed by Tropius enough that it would kill him even with the side effect of Giga Impact making a pokemon freeze for a few long seconds afterwards, leaving them wide open for retaliation. Maybe if I could goad him into using Giga Impact again my Lapras could get a chance to land one of her Ice Beams because she really couldn't keep this up much longer.
"Lapras, return!" I recalled Lapras to her pokeball, and sent out Emolga. Time to start battling to win. "Emolga, get back in the battlefield and let's settle this!"
"Hmm," Evan thought out loud. "I'd love to just murk this little piece of shit pokemon that's caused me so much headache with my Steelix, but I really don't think this beach is big enough to contain his size, so, just to prove to you that my pokemon could beat yours even despite type advantage, watch my Dodrio wear Emolga out just as quickly as we did Lapras. I ain't scared. Dodrio, Fly right into Emolga and show her what a real flying pokemon can do."
"Emolga, Acrobatics through the air to keep away from Dodrio, don't take no damage!"
Dodrio and Emolga danced and weaved through the open air directly above the center of Gord Lake, Dodrio intently trying to knock Emolga back with a good kick or flap of a wing, but Emolga's speed and Acrobatics was enough to dodge all of Dodrio's dips and lunges. Dodrio's frozen left foot, although Evan's pride would never admit it, was probably helping Emolga keep up with Dodrio, who at peak, should almost always be able to naturally outspeed even the fastest Emolga. Nice job, Lapras.
"Emolga, try to land a Thunder and wrap this up! This is taking too long, man!" I said.
Without needing any assistance from Evan, Dodrio once again darted through the air with ease, being practically a football field stadium's distance away by the time Emolga's powerful Thunder was conjured and fired down upon by the gray clouds above, firing into nothing and cracking with a CRACKOW into Gord Lake and likely killing quite a few weak wild water pokemon living there.
"Double Team," I said in as low a voice as I could, afraid to even move my lips so neither Evan nor his far away Dodrio caught what was about to happen. Emolga used Double Team effortlessly, retaining a still image of her hovering in the air that to the far away Dodrio was indecipherable from the real deal. The real Emolga meanwhile had darted into the tallest branches of a nearby Honey Tree at the edge of the Gord Woods and the beaches of Gord Lake, observing from about 150 feet away from her fake Emolga conjured by the Double Team.
With the ferocity that Dodrio seemed to be coming in toward the fake Emolga, it seemed that either Evan or the Dodrio had decided upon herself to at last use a normal attack, the only move in her arsenal that wasn't resisted by my Emolga's typing. Which meant Dodrio was flying at about 60 miles per hour with her 3 heads aimed like deadly arrowheads, ready to practically kill Emolga with a 150 base power Giga Impact.
But Dodrio just sailed right through Emolga, a gift left behind by my whispered Double Team. A great look of befuddlement was briefly on all three of Dodrio's angry faces as she sailed right through her intangible opponent, but that look was also soon replaced as Emolga had sprouted from the treetops, unprompted by me, found herself flying directly above Dodrio as she was frozen for a brief second or two after using her Giga Impact and feeling that same sickly feeling one gets when one's foot misses that stair when descending a staircase in the dark. Confusion, surprise.
The real Emolga used Iron Tail on the back of one of Dodrio's heads, landing with a satisfying THUNK against thick skull, and Evan, Emolga, and I watched in near slow motion as his normally lightning-fast Dodrio dropped straight down to the waters of Gord Lake below. The sound of the splash sounded painful, but I knew Evan's Dodrio was no slouch and she would likely emerge out of the water in a few briefs seconds, especially with that water likely melting the ice around Dodrio's foot.
"Thunder right into Gord Lake!" I cried triumphantly.
A blackened sky, a quick gathering of gray clouds, a flash of lightning, a loud crack through the air, and Gord Lake quickly flashed bright like firecrackers as Emolga finally managed to land a Thunder into Dodrio, via submerging her and punishing every pokemon in the lake by doing so. But sometimes you got to get brutal to win. And Dodrio's unconscious, charred, but still alive body floating up to the surface of the water was confirmation that I just may be able to handle my rage-filled brother and his array of hard-hitting beasts.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I can't believe last time I updated this Gen 8 mons had just dropped. I know this sounds crazy, but I did want to put off this ending just a littttttle bit longer cause I always knew I needed Dodrio, Mr Mime, Mega Steelix, and some new gen pokemon to really up the ante and cause quite a unique battlefield/stir as I finally get ready to finish this damn story that I think I've been writing for like 10 years now on and off haha. I get so much nostalgia just re-reading some chapters, I see so many hints of ideas of greater lore, other backstories, lots of fun avenues I was setting up, definitely a bit of mirroring of my own life experiences in some of these chapters. I'm super proud of this story, there's obviously lots of parts I'd like to edit or clean up or refine as I go over this at random times in my life, but it's a monument to myself to show I can finish what I started. Eventually.