Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 58: The Story of Maya
Okay, so after an extended leave of absence, I am back. At first, I had writer's block, but that ended quickly, for I am now fifteen chapters ahead. The problem is, I REALLY REALLY hate typing. I've actually thought about paying someone to type this for me, but nah.. So these next few chapters will kind of feel rushed and more fast paced than previous chapters, but that's because I am ready to post Pokemon Virus Version's second half already. I have a few Pokemon captures that you guys probably won't see coming, but that's the point: to keep you guys off guard. So with that out of the way, please enjoy what is the beginning of the end of Virus Version's first half.
Mawile's POV
Just barely on my feet, and breathing heavily from exhaustion, Skarmory and I were staring each other down. Drowning out the insults 24 was attacking me with, one hundred percent of my attention was now on Skarmory.
"Skarmory, no more holding back!" I said. "It's time I strike back!"
"Is that so?"
"Huh?" That was the voice of Skarmory. "Skarmory, you're talking?"
"Yes, and it's about time the 'old Maya''- Leader Maya- showed up." Skarmory said.
So Skarmory was waiting for the stronger me all along... "Just so you know, I'll beat the crap out of you if that's what it'll take to rescue you." Skarmory- my friend Skarmory-was met with the smile on my face. While Skarmory- my enemy Skarmory- was met with the hatred in my eyes.
"Let's finish this, old friend." Skarmory was ready for the battle that could change his future.
"Skarmory!" 24 called out to Skarmory.
"Mawile!" Chapel called out to me.
Those were our cues.
"Alright! Time for me to strike back!" I cried as I instinctively cloaked myself in the aura of Iron Head, charging head on toward Skarmory.
"Looks like the runt's still got some fight in it." 24 smirked, teasing me as he finally gave Skarmory a command. "Charge with Double Team!"
Skarmory was then cloaked in Brave Bird's aura and made exact clones of himself as they all started charging back at me.
"Double Team?!" Kashius said out loud. "If 24's trying to deceive Mawile, she'll be operating at a disadvantage!"
"Hmmm." Chapel was trying to quickly think of a counter to Skarmory's Double Team. "Think...Think!"
Er...Even I was having trouble thinking of a counter attack. Come on, I gotta use something I've seen in the past. What would Seth or Chikorita do? That grass type...Wait a minute! A grass type! Not A grass type. THE grass type! Not Terra the Torterra, but that spoiled snob that Seth's girlfriend had. I saw it on television one time, when it battled a Jigglypuff named Pinky (Chapter 48). Seth's girlfriend once commanded that snob Snivy to use a spinning Vine Whip, nicknamed the 'Dancing Leaf'. Maybe if I used the Dancing Leaf by improvising with my maw, I could strike all the clones at the same time while attacking with Iron Head.
"Okay, here goes!" I said as I started to spin my body, still cloaked in the aura of Iron Head.
"What the?" 24 said confused.
"What is Mawile doing?" Kashius asked.
"That's the Dancing Leaf technique from Yumi's Bonitaville Contest!" Chapel answered correctly. A smile was on her face as my surprise attack could be a major momentum shifter in this battle.
"Kaa!" Rather than charging one by one, all the clones charged at me at the same time.
"What?" 24 watched every single clone disappear once struck by my spinning Iron Head.
By the time my Iron Head attack was finished, all but one Skarmory remained. And the one that remained was on the ground after being damaged by Iron Head.
"Mawile! Finish him quickly, before he can get up!" Chapel yelled.
It was time to truly reunite with my old pal. That's what I thought to myself as I began to once again charge at Skarmory with Iron Head. And right there, was my opponent -my friend- staring at me without moving an inch as he gave me a welcoming smile. He knew that he once again failed to 'dethrone' Dark Cave's leader in me, but he also knew that losing now would lead to more opportunities to try again.
Upon head to head impact, Skarmory was knocked back. On the ground, he was unconscious and heavily breathing. I was still breathing heavily myself, but I was just barely standing. Nevertheless, I used what strength I had left to turn to Chapel, who was still holding my downed new friend in Eevee. Is there any way Chapel could take Skarmory with her?
Chapel's POV
Mawile was looking at me and pointing at the downed Skarmory as 24 looked on, not taking any further action for some reason.
"Maw." Mawile cried.
"Huh? What is it?" I asked.
No reply...All Mawile did was slowly walk to me and grab an empty pokeball from my belt. She pointed the pokeball at Skarmory.
"You want me to catch Skarmory?" I asked.
Mawile noded.
"But how?" Kashius asked. "Skarmory already belongs to 24."
"That's true, but..." I knew exactly what I had to do. The Snag Machine that Yumi obtained back in Violet City(Chapter 18), I had at one time taken it to Commander 10 in order to prevent him from crushing Yumi's mind(Chapter 23). Of course, Seth refused to accept the idea of actually GIVING something to Neo Snagem, so I just kept the Snag Machine to myself since then. And as I took it out and put it on my arm-
"What the?" 24 said suprised. "Where did you get that?!"
"Oh, so you know about this?" I said as I looked at the Snag Machine "I've never used this thing before, but I know how it works. Mawile!" I called for Mawile to hand me back my pokeball, and I wasted no time going for the capture. "Pokeball, go!"
There it was. The pokeball hit Skarmory, and it was as if a hand reached out and grabbed him, forcing him into the pokeball. The pokeball fell to the ground, and clicked shut after just one roll.
"Is that it?" Kashius asked a question that would come without an answer as Mawile walked up to the pokeball and grabbed it, holding her friend in Skarmory close to her. Those two must've shared a deep chemistry...
"Maw Mawile." Mawile gave me a smile, but my mind was elsewhere. Ursaring and Rapidash were both down and paralyzed. Kashius and I respectively held Chime and Eevee in our arms. They were both done in by Venasaur, who was defeated earlier, with the bald man who was merely a spectator at this point.
"How can this be..." The bald man muttereed. "A commander of Team Neo Snagem, defeated by a mere girl..."
"Defeated?" What the? 24 was grinning. "You may have snagged Skarmory, but at what point did I, Commander 24, admit defeat?" 24 crossed his arms, asking this question to not only the bald man, but to all of us as well.
"Well if you have more pokemon, then why don't you just send them to battle already?" I asked as Mawile handed me Skarmory's pokeball. I konw I just caught Skarmory, but now wasn't the time to be celebrating my party's new addition. Not with the situation at hand, that is.
"Hmm." Rather than send out another pokemon, all 24 did was take out a blue Nintendo 3DS gaming system from his pocket, while keeping that grin on his face.
"Come oonn! We're waaiiting!" I was becoming impatient.
"Send out your pokemon!" Kashius was just as ready as I.
"I never said I had any more pokemon either. Well, at least not in reality." 24's grin started to turn into a sinister smirk, spreading a he powered his Nintendo 3DS on. "No, but what I DO have is something much more amusing, and much more destructive to those who oppose me."
"Wha-what are you doing?" The bald man asked.
"This battle is far from game over." 24 said as he then turned his attention to his Nintendo 3DS screen. "What I have in my hands right now will give me what I call 'Home Field Advantage'. To be honest, it was an ace in the hole I was saving for the 'friendly competition', That Commander 04...I'll admit it, I'm pretty sick of Yuna always beating the crap out of me at my own games. I mean, I know she's never lost at anything but COME ON! I'M supposed to be the best gamer."
"Are you done rambling?" I asked.
"As a matter of fact I am. How about I show what power I possess?" 24 asked as he took out a chord I didn't seem to recognize. "With this Action Replay, or Powersave, my power is limitless! Luckily, I already have everything I need on my cartridge." Removed from the Powersave device was Pokemon Y Version, and 24 was preparing himself as he inserted the cartridge into his 3DS.
"You...You're a hacker!" I exclaimed.
"No...I'm much worse..." 24's sinister smirk became 'devilish' as he then started emitting a familiar dark aura. "...I am a hacker, who has recently been gifted this unique, dark power."
My eyes shot wide open as 24's 3DS now started emitting the dark aura, but THIS aura started to spread at an alarming rate.
"I've got a bad feeling about this!" The dark aura was fast approaching out Pokemon, and I couldn't let them get infected. "Ursaring! Chime!" I had recalled the first two of my three pokemon. Without word, I recalled my grey furred Eevee as well.
"Gasp!" Mawile wasn't my pokemon. What was I going to do? "Mawile!" Mawile, who was right beside me, was taking cover right behind my leg. And now that left just me, Kashius, Rapidash, and a Missingno who had been silent since allowing Mawile to battle her friend in Skarmory.
I already knew Rapidash was a wild pokemon (Chapter 51), so...
"Let's hope we make it out of this game alive..." I said as the dark aura had surrounded us, with the exception of Mawile, who was making constant adjustments to take cover behind me.
The dark aura grew darker and darker, until we could no longer see the Dominion of Shadows...
Mawile's POV
Opening my eyes, everybody that was just here was gone. Everybody except for me and the bald man, who proceeded to retreat without word. Looking around, all I saw was a strange blue device emitting that dark aura. The device that Chapel called 'the Nintendo 3DS' was a few feet away from me, where 24 was standing when everyone was still here. The dark aura surrounding the 3DS had calmed quite a bit, prompting me to walk up to and grab the device. I tilted my head, confused by this complicated device. Two screens? A bunch of buttons? And on the top screen-
"You!" It was Chapel, Rapidash, Kashius, and Missingno. Do they know that I can see them? Let's see what they are up to.
Chapel's POV
With all of my pokemon down for the count, it was only me, Missingno, and a Kashius who just caught Rapidash using a pokeball I gave him. Where were we?
"Welcome to my playground!" It was the voice of 24. "In my playground, you'll be playing my game by my rules."
We were looking around to find 24. Surrounding us were many buildings. But unlike the city in Virtual Oblivion, this city was filled with people going about. And there was a Pokemon Center behind us.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"And where's 24" Kashius added.
"You guys are in a game I like to call 'Pokemon Y Version', hacked and modified entirely in my favor." 24 answered.
"We're in 24's Nintendo 3DS..." I whispered to myself as my eyes narrowed.
"BINGO! I didn't expect you of all people to know that before asking a quadrillion questions. I guess you also realize that you're trapped here."
"Not again!" I sighed. "I've already had enough of Virtual Oblivion!"
"Tell us how to get out!" Missingno said ,"Wherever you are!"
"Now why would I want to do that? So you can escape, and one day save the entire world from Neo Snagem?" 24 answered ,"Ending the Virus Version of our world will also end you, Missingno."
"I..." Missingno began to sadden. "I know that..."
"You know what? It's not like any of you guys would stand a chance against me anyway, so I'll let you in on what you need to do in order to escape," 24 started ,"Make you way to Prism Tower, if you dare. There I'll be waiting to destroy you in battle. Well, even if you DON'T face me, you'll be destroyed anyway."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Because I haven't gotten around to charging my 3DS system, so the batteries will run out and the system will power down at any minute now. And when the system powers down, so will all of you! Hahah!"
And with that, 24's voice was gone. And these people who were just going about...they weren't paying attention to 24's voice at all, it seemed.
"I die no matter what happens..." Missingno said to himself in a low voice. "No matter what happens, my death is certain. I had already accepted my future, but having a different future told to me by someone else..."
"24 had explained to us why he didn't want us returning to the real world, and yet he basically just invited us for a showdown. Why would he do that?"
"He said it himself," I said ,"He's hacked this game to stack the odds completely in his favor. He knows what he's doing, and seems pretty confident that it'll be game over for us." I then looked up into the sky. "I've heard stories about Prism Tower. Stories about how it is the epicenter of one of the world's largest cities. I've also met a girl by the name of Pheobe who once said she was from this city; the city of Lumiose." I then turned to Kashius and a Missingno who's head was down. "I know where Prism Tower is. Follow me."
Location: Dominion of Shadows - Main Square
Seth's POV
Having parted ways with a Kashius Kleigh who began to pursue a roaming Rapidash, it was only Rose, Chikorita, and I as we headed through the rioting streets and straight for the Neo Snagem Headquarters that houses the Commanders of Neo Snagem.
"Brother, you DO realize all this chaos is your fault, right?" Rose's recurring fear of strangers kept her closer to me than usual. She was right beside me, and she was looking at the ground.
"So what if I am?" I asked my younger sister as both she AND Chikorita gave me a glare.
"How could you say something like that?" Rose asked me while remaining calm. "When Chapel and Yumi were with you, you never got yourself into THIS much trouble. It appears you may need them more than they need you. You need to learn the difference between right and wrong."
"Chico!" Chikorita seemed to be agreeing with my younger sister.
"This all happened because you killed a person..." Rose added.
Of course, Rose was referring to the man who was asserting the name of Neo Snagem while dehumanizing Kashius and the rest of the Johto Region's Restoration Committee (Chapter 51).
"I thought you of all people would be able to relate to me about Neo Snagem ruining your life, Rose." I said.
"Huh?" Rose said confused.
"I won't stop until Neo Snagem is destroyed. And as far as Neo Snagem is concerned, I don't care about the man I killed. I don't care about Yumi, or Chapel. I don't even care about myself. All I care about right now are Zero and Atticus." I explained.
"It is as if I do not know you anymore, Brother..." Rose whispered.
"With these dark powers of mine, I- no, Seifer will destroy anyone who stands in my way, including the man we approach right now..." I said.
"A man?" Rose, Chikorita and I were nearing Neo Snagem's Dominion of Shadows Base, where a red hooded man stood, staring me down.
"You're the guy who used the dark aura to kill one of our own, right?" The man asked.
"By 'one of our own', would you happen to be referring to Team Neo Snagem?" Rose asked.
"Hm." The man nodded. "All this fighting and chaos...I believe it shall end once you are served justice!" The man was readying a Pokeball, and as a result, Rose, Chikorita, and I all braced ourselves.
"Justice huh...So I take it you're the hero and I'm the villain." I said flatly.
"That's correct. A Neo Snagem Comander like me shouldn't dare lose to a nobody like you!" The man yelled as he sent out what appeared to be a masked, red bird standing on it's two legs.
"Hmph!" The pokemon posed.
"What the?" I said confused in reaction to the pokemon I've never seen before.
"Hawlucha..." Rose answered as she then pointed toward Hawlucha's trainer. "And I believe he goes by the name of Commander 20, the 20th ranked commander in Team Neo Snagem."
"Huh?" 20 was looking at Rose as if he recognized her. "Is that you, 26? How long has it been? About a year since you betrayed us, if I remember."
Rose began to clench her fist, but still managed to keep her cool. "...I have a name now, and it is not 26! I am Rose..."
"Well, Rose, unfortunately you have no future with that name. Not only will I capture the killer, I'll capture you too. And then, as Commander 26, you will be a prisoner of Neo Snagem's dominion. But enough of that, right now we must deal with the situation at hand. You both will be served justice!" 20 exclaimed.
"Haaww!" Both 20 and Hawlucha posed, ready for battle.
"Oh, and while we're talking about justice, what's a superhero without his lovely adoring fans? I hope you two don't mind an audience to keep us company." 20 pointed to the four women I just noticed were here at the scene. But these weren't JUST four women, these were the Kimono Sisters that Naoko once said she was looking for. Oh, and how I know that: Naoko told Wes, who told Chapel in National Park, who told me just before we arrived in the city that used to be Ecruteak. But why were they here?
Location: Neo Snagem's Dominion of Shadows Base
Zero's POV
"So, 00, why send the Kimono Sisters with 20?" It was only 10 and I, looking outside a room window as the streets of what used to be Ecruteak raged on.
"Let's be honest, we already know a Commander ranked as low as 20 won't stand a chance against my younger bro- I mean, the killer." I explained. "Once 20 is eliminated, the Kimono Girls will serve as royal escorts, leading the killer to us, where he'll be served justice."
"Ah, clever. Against Commanders as powerful as us, the killer has no chance." Of course, 10's face was always covered by that dark cloak of his, but I could feel a satisfied look coming from him. He and I both wish to serve justice to my younger brother, and make everything within the Neo Snagem organization right again.
To Be Continued...
So as you guys can see, I tried something different this chapter, with Mawile being the central character. Now, there are only a couple of chapters left before we at last get to see Seth in action. His character development arc isn't too far away...