Chapter 16 – R
…..
A/N:
I actually don't know what to say here lol
I think it's been 5 years since I last updated this story? Some of you probably thought I was dead. I mean, the last update was November 30, 2019, basically right before the global pandemic…
I've been busy (obviously). I was starting a company and didn't really have much headspace for anything else. But after a while, I just didn't have the creative juices for this story, you know? Like, you want to write, and you feel guilty about it, especially when some of you kept DM'ing me months after the last update. But I've found that, unless I'm really feeling it, forcing myself to write just produces bad writing. And I don't even want to post for the sake of posting.
When I first started writing Road to Champion, I wrote the first 10K words in like a couple of hours. It was like a burst of energy within me. I had the story so clearly pictured in my head, and I had to get it out. After a few of them, each chapter kind of became harder and harder to write. Honestly, reading reviews and DMs kept me going a lot longer than I ever had written before. I mean, this thing has like 300K words. It's a monster haha, and I'm super proud of the product (even if I think some of my earlier writing back in 2014 was a little cringe now…
But I got that writing bug again. And a couple of months ago, I started re-reading the story and immersing myself back in Ethan's journey and thinking about everything I've planned for him and this story. And I don't want to leave this thing dead, at least not without a more thoughtful conclusion. So, I'm back at it.
Without further ado, read on.
…..
Ethan leaned back in his chair, rubbing the side of his head.
"Got a bit of a headache?" said the trainer sitting next to him.
If only from absolute boredom. Ethan planted his forehead against the chill glass of the truck window. "Something like that."
Three months had passed since Team Rocket had launched their insurgency in Johto. Once the League had taken back Ecruteak, the terrorist organization had cemented their hold in key cities: Goldenrod, Olivine, and Violet. Cianwood remained besieged, unwilling to fall but unable to break free without support. Blackthorne had successfully repelled the initial assault, but Rocket scouts were constantly harassing League supply lines and forces in the mountains surrounding the city, making it difficult for the city to do anything but hold its own territory. Mahogany, Ecruteak, Azalea, and the other major cities had been mostly cleared.
As the League pushed from Ecruteak to liberate Olivine, they discovered the small towns that Team Rocket had smashed through and plundered in their wake. Fields had been razed, homes were destroyed, pokemon were taken, and scores of injured and displaced people had been left to die. Thus, the League began an emergency supply operation to support the towns that could still return to self-sufficiency. The towns that had been utterly ruined were evacuated, the vast majority of the refugees taking shelter in now over-crowded Ecruteak.
The League then discovered another problem: roving bands of Team Rocket forces were still scattered around the countryside. They attacked towns, raided supply trucks, set fires to forests, and harassed the League any possible way that they could. So, Ethan and other trainers had been tasked with protecting supply trucks as the League grappled with the challenge of mounting a counterassault on Olivine while being forced to spread their forces thin to protect their supply lines and non-combatants. As soon as the war had started, Ethan had volunteered himself and his team to fight Team Rocket in any capacity. Although he was young, he was certainly a capable trainer that could more than handle the average Team Rocket trainer. So he had mostly been relegated to the area around Ecruteak to protect supply lines, an assignment that left him mostly bored and itching for something a bit more active.
Their current supply run of food and medicine was relatively large: six fully loaded trucks, and two smaller armored vehicles. He and five other trainers rode in said vehicles on either end of the convoy. The rest of his original squad had been retasked for the time being where their skillsets were better suited. So far, on the dozen or so supply runs he had been on, nothing had happened yet. Still, he had heard stories and seen reports of other convoys being attacked by Team Rocket. The pokemon were taken, the humans either injured or dead.
"You think anything's going to happen today?" said Cliff, the trainer next to him. He had just joined the war effort as a volunteer. He was in his mid-twenties and had been a trainer for roughly for four years, though he had only ever gotten 4 Gym badges in his attempts at the circuit. Despite the age gap, Cliff felt…green compared to Ethan.
"Who knows? Nothing's happened to a convoy I've been on yet." Ethan's eyes flickered towards Espy, who sat in the seat opposite of him. The armored trucks had 4 seats that faced each other in rows of 2, and one seat up front for the driver. Another trainer named Stephen was sitting across for him. He was a decently experienced trainer, having participated in the competitive scene some years ago before eventually stopping to get a job and raise a family. Now, he was being recalled back for the war effort. If he was at all anxious like Cliff, it was a feeling he kept to himself.
Ethan concentrated his thoughts. Anything?
Nothing detected. Espy's eyes remained closed, though the glowing orbs easily shone through her eyelids. Next to her, Stephen shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was clear he hadn't spent much time around psychics. Ethan smiled faintly.
"Hard to see anything out of this truck," said Cliff nervously, peeking through the frosted windows.
"That's what Espy's for." Ethan jerked his thumb at the Alakazam. "She'll be able to detect anything hostile that's nearby. There's also Sarah's Pidgeot that's flying overhead. If something's coming, we should be able to see it before we're hit." Ethan didn't mention the fact that he also had Loki lurking in the shadow of the truck as it drove.
"If you say so." Cliff settled back into his seat. His eyes shifted towards Espy. "Do you communicate with it telepathically?"
"Yeah."
"What's it like talking to a psychic pokemon?"
Like this. Espy projected her voice loud enough for everyone in the vehicle to hear. Stephen flinched, and Cliff blinked rapidly. "Oh, wow. That's kinda cool."
Ethan smiled, closing his eyes. "It is."
After about a minute, Ethan felt a yellow pang of alarm from Espy. We are not alone! Through some unconscious sense, he looked to their left, a small hillside shrouded with trees at its top.
A house-sized boulder was sailing through the sky straight for their truck.
Ethan flinched, but before the rock could land, the projectile became shrouded in blue light and floated above their heads before crashing somewhere to the right, shaking the truck with its impact. Cliff and Stephen's heads jerked towards the sound, but Ethan was staring at the hill. We're under attack! Tell the others!
A group of Rhyhorn burst through the trees, announcing their presence with long, deep roars before charging down the hill. Ethan could also see their trainers behind them: a group of at least 7 black-clad Rockets releasing their pokemon as their Rhyhorn bore down on their convoy.
"Stop the truck!" The driver hit the brakes, and they jolted to a screeching halt. Ethan flung the door open and immediately released his entire team in a quick flourish. He could hear shouting behind him as the rest of the convoy stopped to defend the trucks. "Espy, stop the Rhyhorn! Zeus, blast the line of Rockets up there with Thunderbolt! Dancer, shield the supply trucks! Tsunami, hit the hill with an Ice Beam to slow them down! Agni, Loki, get out there and attack!"
Agni whuffed and darted forward, easily zipping past the oncoming Rhyhorn and razing the Rockets' ranks with a powerful Flamethrower that obscured the top of the hill. Zeus joined in, blasting the conflagration with lightning. Espy raised her hands, and the thundering herd of Rhyhorn suddenly lifted into the air, their murderous charge now useless as they pawed at nothing but empty space. Tsunami was next, covering the entire hillside in shining frost and ice—now anyone that attempted to descend the hill would quickly slip and slide across the ice.
From the top of the hill, the Rockets' pokemon had already been released, and they made their presence known as they slowly descended towards the League forces down the hill covered in ice. Two Magneton levitated above the fire at the top of the hill and began to blast at Agni, forcing him to cut off his attack and leap back to avoid blistering bolts of electricity. Above them, Loki moved to help but was abruptly intercepted by another Gengar mid-flight. The two ghosts grappled and spun around in the sky, plumes of purple smoke trailing behind them.
Flash. Ethan cried out in pain as blinding light filled his vision. He stumbled back, and he could smell ozone in the air as he tried to rub away the spots in his eyes. He heard whirring and the crackle of lightning, and a loud yelp that sounded like some sort of dog. Ethan opened his eyes. A yellow blur of light was racing along the edge of the road, raining Thunderbolts on Espy's and Dancer's shields. Zeus was steadfastly blasting its path with his own Thunderbolts, though the Jolteon—for it could be nothing else—was too quick to be hit. Tsunami curled up protectively in their psychic bubble, but not before launching a powerful Dragon Pulse at the Jolteon that ripped up the ground in a cacophonous explosion just behind it. The lightning dog growled and disappeared with unnerving speed again.
To the right! Ethan's head snapped to the side. Two Rockets had made their way down the hill, alongside their pokemon: an Exeggutor and a Scyther. "Tsunami, blast the Exeggutor with a Dragon Pulse! Zeus, Thunderbolt on Scyther! Dancer, watch the Jolteon!"
Tsunami slithered forward, launching her attack just as the Exeggutor released its own attack, a shining, green sphere of energy that collided with her Dragon Pulse in a dazzling array of light. Scyther hissed and blurred forward, dodging Zeus's Thunderbolt and slashing at Espy's shield. Then the bug disappeared before the psychic could retaliate.
Ethan's mind raced. "Tsunami, cover them in water! Zeus, zap the water!" Tsunami cried out and spewed a torrent of water from her mouth, flooding the terrain in front of her and soaking the Rockets and their pokemon. Zeus clapped his hands and blasted the water with his lightning. The men screamed in pain as thousands of volts of electricity easily flowed through the water and through them. Exeggutor lurched forward, stunned, and Scyther reappeared, crashing into the water-soaked ground, where it laid twitching. Tsunami blasted the Exeggutor off its feet with a single Dragon Pulse.
Beside them, Dancer fired Dazzling Gleams after the Jolteon, who dodged the attacks with ease and retaliated with its own, raking her shields with lightning. Espy's eyes flashed, and an invisible barrier appeared right in the electric type's path. Jolteon slowed down to pivot directions, and Dancer raised her hands, shrouded in blue light. Instantly, the electric type collapsed to the ground, unable to resist the incredible gravitational force that now pinned it. Before they could do anything else, a sphere of shadowy energy struck the Jolteon and blasted it more than a dozen meters away.
Loki swooped down from the sky, cackling as it carried its limp, erstwhile opponent with one claw and attacking with the other. Then the ghost unceremoniously dumped the enemy Gengar on the ground next to the form of the Jolteon.
Farther up the hill, Agni was still dueling with the two Magnetons, who dodged his gouts of fire and fired back with their own attacks. One of the Rockets behind them pointed towards the convoy, and one of the Magnetons swiveled towards the trucks and fired off a shining beam of gray light. Ethan felt alarm from his friend again, and the Alakazam quickly focused her shields and halted the Flash Cannon attack with a powerful barrier.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. The Rhyhorn dropped the ground, no longer borne aloft by Espy's kinesis. After a moment of disorientation, they charged at the trucks. "Guys, stop the Rhyhorn!"
Tsunami blasted one Rhyhorn with a torrent of scalding hot water, wearing the rock type easily and halting it in its tracks. Loki fired off a Power Ball between two Rhyhorn, and the resulting explosion was so forceful that it completely flipped both over in either direction. Dancer stopped another Rhyhorn with Gravity, failing to actually damage the creature but certainly preventing it and its huge bulk from moving under the huge, local gravitational forces that pressed on it. Ethan jerked his head towards the last Rhyhorn, who charged at them unmolested. One more!
Whoosh. A solid column of water slammed into the Rhyhorn's side and blasted it far away from the convoy. "I got him!" yelled Cliff from two trucks away. A heavily breathing Blastoise stood next to him, winded but clearly still able to dish out serious damage. "Just worry about the rest of them!" Ethan waved his thanks and resumed his attention on the battle ahead of him.
Once the Rhyhorn had been stopped, the Rockets' surprise advantage had been neutralized. Ethan and the rest of the trainers quickly mopped up the remaining enemy Pokemon and subdued their trainers within minutes. Their pokemon were powerful, boosted by their likely unnatural evolutions, but they were inexperienced, as were their trainers. All in all, they rounded up six Rockets and had them grouped up next to a truck under the watchful eye of Zeus when their reinforcements finally arrived half an hour was surprised to see Adrian among the newly arrived group of trainers.
His older cousin thumped him on the shoulder. "Thank Arceus you're all right," said Adrian, his tone playful but his eyes betraying his internal concern. "How's your team? And the rest of the convoy guard?"
"Good, and mostly fine." One of the other trainers had been injured by some debris from an explosion, and he was now being treated by a medic and their Chansey. Most of the injuries belonged to their pokemon, the most injured sitting inside their pokeballs until they could return to the city's pokemon center. "Honestly, I'm surprised we merit an Ace showing up here. The League was that worried?"
It was mostly jokingly said, but Ethan had barely seen his cousin in the last couple of months. Ace trainers were deployed in the hottest conflict zones around Johto, mostly around Goldenrod, Olivine, and Violet. These veteran trainers were in short supply, hence why the League had been heavily recruiting volunteer trainers for lighter responsibilities, like supply line security.
"I was in town, and I couldn't exactly wait there once I heard your convoy had been attacked by Team Rocket." Adrian scanned the scene behind Ethan, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I see you kept the supply trucks safe. I call that a successful mission."
"Not my first run," replied Ethan, folding his arms. "I know a lot of people are counting on these supplies."
"They definitely are." Adrian's smile disappeared. "And it'll soon be someone else's responsibility. You're needed elsewhere."
Ethan perked up. "Where am I going?"
"First place? Ecruteak. After that? It's going to require an explanation."
—
Ecruteak was first established as a trading post. It was a natural one, sitting between 3 different regions of Johto—the western coast, the southern forests, and the eastern mountains. At that time, anyone who wanted to travel from one part of Johto to another without having to trek through wilderness had to pass through Ecruteak. Eventually, the town attracted a religious crowd as well, specifically those who worshipped Lugia and Ho-Oh. Many of its denizens were transient, just passing through on their way to bigger places. As a result, the town never built up a strong police/defense force. It was just an old, sleepy, traditional town for traveling trainers, devotees, and shopkeepers.
In the last couple of months, Ecruteak had transformed into a League forward operating base. It was now garrisoned with around 1000 volunteer trainers, a militia commanded by the several dozen League and Ace trainers that were ready to fight at a moment's notice. The roads leading in and out of town were patrolled heavily up to 5 miles away from Ecruteak. Earthen barriers and ditches had been quickly erected by teams of Pokemon in a square around the city, routing all traffic through 3 gates in the west, south, and east. The Gym had been converted into a League command center and was humming with activity night and day.
It was there where Ethan awaited his cousin after having been summoned back to the city. He was sitting in a small conference room, twiddling his thumbs while his cousin was in a meeting. Out of boredom, he had released Espy, who was levitating the table while Ethan absentmindedly nudged it with his foot and slowly rotated it. The door clicked, and he turned to greet Adrian, only to see a surprised Alice and Sophia standing in the doorway. "Looks like we're getting the band back together," he commented drily as the table behind him slowly lowered to the floor.
"I heard Yasneem was reassigned south of Ecruteak," said Alice, closing the door behind her while Sophia silently took her seat closest to the door. "Can't say I'll miss her."
Ethan smiled faintly. "Yeah."
"I heard your convoy was attacked this morning. Are you and your Pokemon all right?"
"Yeah, we're good." Ethan rubbed a big bruise on his arm that he had gotten from the truck slamming its brakes at the start of the battle. "Most of these Team Rocket guys are using barely evolved Pokemon that aren't great at battling. They're strong, but not that coordinated or experienced."
Alice shook her head. "Well, I'm ready to do something. They've just had me on sentry duty for the last few weeks. First couple of days was kind of tense, but after that it's just been boring as hell. Team Rocket's only attacking convoys right now."
Ethan smiled. "My luck." He turned to Sophia, who had managed to blend in the background as well as a pale, blue-haired woman could in a beige conference room. "How've you been, Sophia?"
"I have been well." Her eyes were glued to the floor, as if she were talking to the chair in front of her. "The League has occasionally assigned me to rescue missions, as my dragons make assisting in those efforts much easier. However, I am occasionally reminded that many people do not find it easy to work alongside me." Sophia hesitated. "Should we have the opportunity, I am looking forward to working in a team with the two of you again."
The door behind Ethan clicked, and he turned around in his chair to see Adrian entering the room. "Looks like you're going to get that opportunity," said his older cousin as he walked to the head of the table. His hands produced a small flash drive, and soon the projector on the ceiling lit up and beamed a somewhat grainy image of a map on the whiteboard at the back of the room. Ethan squinted and after several seconds realized that it was an overhead map of the area around Ecruteak.
"Thanks to your efforts a few months ago, the League has successfully regained control of Ecruteak and the surrounding regions, though some cells of Team Rocket agents continue to make raids into our territory." Adrian pulled out a marker and began drawing short lines on the whiteboard. "We suspect most of these cells are using the caves between Ecruteak and Mahogany to launch their attacks from. And, as Ethan has experienced, Team Rocket has been attacking towns up and down the route to Olivine on our western front."
Adrian grimaced. "With Olivine under Rocket control and Cianwood under siege, it's made life very difficult for the League and for the people of Johto. Team Rocket has seized Johto's most important port cities–40% of imports came through the Olivine port alone before the invasion. Prices of essentials like food and fuel are incredibly high across the region, and the League has had to step in and provide emergency aid to the cities that we still control. As long as Team Rocket owns the ports in Olivine, Goldenrod, and Violet City and effective control of Cianwood, we're locked out of resupplies from the outside world. That's why taking back Olivine is our number one priority."
Adrian drew a circle in the middle of the route between Ecruteak and Olivine. "In order to eventually launch efforts to take back the port, we need to establish a forward operating base closer to the city. We've determined that Spruce Town is the best position. It sits on a naturally elevated position relative to Olivine, and nearby ranches and farms will make it easier to resupply than running convoys from Ecruteak."
Ethan raised his hand. "The same Spruce Town that I fought Team Rocket in several months ago?"
"Coincidentally, it is," replied Adrian, smiling faintly. "You're going to get the chance to take it back. The League is sending a company of Ace trainers and volunteer trainers, but Team Rocket has had a few months to build up their defenses. We've had reports of buried Electrodes exploding on some of our scouts out there, and their Magnetons make it difficult for any aerial observation. A full frontal assault will result in casualties, so we need to weaken their position before the regulars can arrive. That's where our team comes in."
Adrian pushed a button on the control screen, and the projector flickered into an aerial image of a town, presumably Spruce Town. He wiped the board clean before he began to make more lines. Ethan studied the map intently. Spruce Town was a small town, but it was fairly dense. Most residents and businesses resided in a cluster on top of a hill. The businesses and the town hall were situated around a circular plaza in the center of the town, and people lived along stretches of road radiating out of the plaza in all directions. The entrance to Spruce Town was a windy road with a moderate grade, passing through a forest of spruce trees before opening up to the first buildings and open space. His mind was briefly filled with images of desperate fighting from a rooftop in the center plaza, and the Rhydon nearly killing him before Espy saved him.
"The Electrode land mines are going to be a problem, but the League has ways of dealing with them." Adrian indicated the plains adjacent to the forested entrance to the town, where he had made several X marks in black ink. "Our primary mission is to disable a much more difficult problem for the League." Adrian made a dot in the center plaza. "Team Rocket has a jamming tower in the plaza. Until that's down, we can't use our phones or radios within a several mile radius. Between that and their defenses, it'll be an extraordinarily difficult assault. But a small team can insert into the town and destroy the tower. Once that happens, the League regulars can move in and take back Spruce Town."
"Why can't Ethan and his Alakazam just teleport into the plaza and destroy the tower?" asked Alice, her eyes flicking towards Espy in the corner of the room.
Adrian cleared his throat. "Good question. Our psychics have determined that Team Rocket is using a number of ghost pokemon to patrol the plaza. Their energy disrupts psychics and makes it impossible to teleport in and out of there. We can teleport our team to the edge of the town inside of their defenses, but after that we're doing it the hard way."
Ethan raised his hand again. "Espy can take us in, but even 4 of us are going to be pretty noticeable if Team Rocket will be looking out for anything out of the ordinary."
"That's why we're not all going in." Adrian marked an area just south of the town. "There's a hill here that has a good view of the town. Since we can't teleport in and out, we're going to need a very quick extraction. Sophia's dragons will be able to provide that, so she'll be waiting here. Once we destroy that tower, all hell will break loose, and we'll need to get out before we're surrounded. Alice will remain with her while you and I sneak through town."
"Just the two of us in a town surrounded by Team Rocket?" Ethan frowned.
"I know it's a tall order," replied Adrian, his expression equally dour. "But I'll be there with you, and I know your skills. And frankly, to say the League is stretched thin right now would be an incredible understatement. I'm basically one of a dozen Ace trainers assigned to an entire theater here. This is the mission, and this is what we've got. But I'm confident that we can succeed."
"Do we know how many Team Rocket are stationed there?"
"Based on the limited information our scouts were able to deduce, probably somewhere between 50 to 100 trainers. It's a small town, so it can't really sustain a big garrison on its own without any supply lines. Team Rocket has been taking towns and basically holding them like small fortresses. They're not really designed to hold the territory. We think they're slowing us down with these holdouts and raids while they're really building up their defenses in the cities they're holding. We got lucky with Ecruteak. But the fights to take back Olivine, Violet, and eventually Goldenrod are going to be successively harder. That's why it's important we act fast and succeed here. The longer it takes, the more difficult it's going to be."
Alice looked at Ethan. "I don't like the idea of leaving you two alone in a town full of Team Rocket agents, but we'll be nearby." She frowned. "But we won't be able to communicate, right?"
His cousin nodded. "That's right. Once we destroy the jamming tower, we'll be able to signal you to extract us. I'll have a flare gun to use in an emergency, but that will absolutely get the attention of Team Rocket agents nearby. Ideally, we sneak in, hit the tower, and just fly out on my Pidgeot and join the regulars. But we have to be prepared for the worst."
"When is this to take place?" said Sophia from behind, startling Ethan a bit.
"We leave town in 5 days." Adrian turned off the projector, and everyone blinked their eyes a bit as they readjusted to the light again. "We're on lockdown 24 hours before, and once we leave, we're on the clock. The League company will be waiting for us to take down the tower before they begin the assault. They'll launch their attack once we're done and I've signaled them. If we fail or if Team Rocket finds them before we finish our mission, they'll have to take their chances. But we will absolutely lose people."
His cousin looked at him solemnly. "So take a beat and rest for the next few days. After that, we're taking the fight to Team Rocket."
Ethan's mind flickered with spots of red and black. He glanced towards Espy, who was meditating in the corner. Her eyes were riveted to the whiteboard where the map had been.
We will be ready.
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Ethan's version of rest was, naturally, training.
Just outside of Ecruteak's southern gate, his team was gathered in small groups atop a grassy knoll. Dancer and Agni stood next to each other–across from them were Tsunami and Zeus. Father away, Loki faced Espy, who gazed dispassionately at the ghost's giggling form. Ares stood alone next to Ethan and was absentmindedly munching on an Oran berry. His team stood on edge, tension thick in the air.
"Begin!"
Zeus wasted no time, windmilling his arms and whirring loudly before raining a volley of blistering thunderbolts right at Dancer and Agni. Dancer conjured a pink barrier just in time for the lighting to crash into the energy field, the fairy wincing at the sudden brightness. Agni leapt from behind her and breathed a plume of flame large enough to consume a small house, but Tsunami was ready, spewing a torrent of scalding water that met the fire and doused it almost immediately. The Arcanine sprinted across the field to avoid Tsunami's powerful Scald attack, searing the ground right behind him and leaving steaming fissures in its wake. The torrent of water suddenly dropped and drenched the earth just feet from the Milotic, like a hose of water that had been suddenly turned off. Dancer's fingers glowed blue from behind her barrier as she applied an intense gravity field on both Tsunami and Zeus, pinning them in place. Seeing an opportunity, Agni raced around from behind and shot bolts of fire at the pair. Zeus roared and produced a yellow barrier of light–the fire phased through the Light Screen and dulled to barely more than embers.
Tsunami crooned and began spewing clouds of mist into the air, quickening enveloping the pair and covering their half of the field in a dense haze. Agni leapt back next to Dancer, wary of the sudden drop in visibility. There were a moment of silence as the pair looked on at the mist, trying to determine their next move. Ethan held his tongue—he wanted to see what they would do when he wasn't there to oversee their every move.
Crack. A bolt of lightning shot out of the mist and arced right towards their position, smacking into their Barries and nearly blinding them.
Crack. Crack. Crack. A volley of electric attacks suddenly began to pummel Dancer's shields, straining them to their absolute limit as the fairy struggled to keep up her defenses against the onslaught. Agni roared and, not knowing what else to do, breathed a wall of flame into the mist and bathed the field in fire. Ethan covered his face as the intense heat reached all the way across to him, so powerful was the Arcane's desperate Heat Wave. The flames dissipated the mist easily and crashed into Tsunami's Aqua Ring, turning to steam. Zeus stood behind her as the fire battered away at her protective sphere of water. He clapped his hands and released another Shock Wave, which shot into the air before honing in on its target. This time, his attack found Agni and blasted the fire dog, who yelped as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through his body.
With a break in the fire, Tsunami fired off a volley of Water Pulses and pressed their advantage. The dense balls of water slammed into Dancer's weakened barriers and broke them, knocking the fairy off her feet and a dozen meters across the grass as the rest of Tsunami's attack smashed into her.
Before anyone else could react, Dancer leapt onto the ground and whipped a shimmering sphere of pink light at her opponents. Zeus roared and clapped his hands ahead of him, zapping the incoming Moonblast, which exploded and covered the center of the field in a thick cloud of dust and smoke. Another pink sphere shot through the smoke and caught Zeus in the chest, exploding in a sparkle of pink and purple light and sending the electric type flying. A red figure blurred out from the smoke and across the grass and slammed right through Tsunami's Aqua Ring and into her body, knocking both them to the ground. The Milotic whipped her tail at Agni, who jumped out of the way and tried to bite her neck, just missing and clamping his blazing fangs on her midsection instead. Tsunami roared and spewed a scalding torrent of water into Agni, who held on with both fang and claw bravely as hundreds of pounds of pressure rained on him.
WHRRRR. Zeus screeched and angrily charged at the pair, not wanting to risk attacking both of them with his lightning. He reared back and slammed a sparking fist into Agni's muzzle, knocking the Arcanine off his partner. Zeus cast his arms back and summoned a cloak of electricity around himself. He reared back and—
—collapsed onto the ground, suddenly immobile as the local gravity around him caused his body to weight several more times than normal. Agni recovered and fired at Zeus, just as Tsunami spewed another torrent of water and stopped the fire from reaching the Electabuzz. The fire dog leapt back and bounded towards Dancer's position, who released the gravity field and sat on the ground, winded and shaking a bit.
Across the field, Loki cackled as he wasted no time casting a violet storm of ghostly energy all around himself and Espy. The Alakazam's instinctive barrier held back the energy, but the force field sizzled and sparked as it held back the Ominous Wind that was now pervading the battlefield. Loki conjured a Shadow Ball in each palm and spun around, whipping both spheres at Espy. Her eyes flashed, and two beams of psychic energy scythed out from her spoons and pierced the shadow balls, destroying them before they could reach her. Her form began to shine blue, and suddenly a dozen identical Alakazams appeared all around Loki. The ghost frowned and immediately leapt at the closest one, slashing through her skin with a powerful Shadow Claw and destroying the clone. Behind the ghost, Espy closed her palm, and Loki froze in place, imprisoned by her psychic grip. The Gengar squirmed in place but couldn't move anymore. Espy's spoon levitated in the air in front of her and ejected a bright beam of shimmering energy straight through the ghost, who exploded in a cloud of dark purple smoke. After a few moments, Espy turned around and strengthened her barrier just in time for a reformed Loki to slash at the shield. Grinning wickedly, the Gengar flew away before the psychic could retaliate.
Good prediction, Espy. Ethan wasn't sure if Espy was paying attention to his thoughts, but figured she heard him anyways. Her vast mind could juggle multiple actions and thoughts simultaneously, and that ability allowed her to run simulations on the battlefield and nearly predict what her opponent was going to do next. It wasn't as powerful as, say, a Metagross, whose computational power was renowned—on top of its raw physical strength—but it certainly gave Espy an edge in lieu of bodily strength.
The Alakazam's eyes glowed and she levitated two of her spoons in front of her, both of which began to shine bright blue. The metal pieces shot into the purplish haze and straight at Loki, who raced into the air just as beams of psychic energy exploded from her foci and into the air. The spoons split into different directions, firing Psybeams at the ghost independently as Espy closed her eyes. Her last spoon glowed behind her and slowly disappeared into the haze.
The Gengar growled and flew in a wide, parabolic arc through the sky, dodging the beams of blue light that threatened to destroy his body instantly if any of them landed. He aimed his body squarely at the Alakazam and wrapped his claws in dark, purplish energy. The tempo of her attacks seemed intensify and soon lances of psychic energy began to lap at the ground just behind Loki. The ghost barely kept ahead of her attacks and was absolutely zooming across the filed at Espy. Within seconds, Loki was upon her and raked his claws through her shield, tearing through it with ease. He whipped his other claw at Espy.
CLANG. An aurora of blue light surrounded the Gengar, imprisoning him and preventing him from even twitching. Espy's third spoon rotated out from behind him, capturing him in her Future Sight attack. The rest of her spoons returned in front of her. Loki's eyes widened furiously as he struggled to break out of the prison, but his strength alone couldn't break her grip on him. Espy opened her eyes and she blasted the ghost with a powerful Psychic, just as the Gengar screamed and detonated his body with an earth-shattering Explosion.
Boom. Ethan raised his arms instinctively as Gengar self-immolated and unleashed a cacophonous blast that lifted Espy and her barrier sphere into the air. The Alakazam barely caught herself as she skidded across the ground like a thrown pokeball, deadening the impact with her telekinesis. She finally rolled to a stop and laid there, shaking.
His ears ringing a bit, Ethan lowered his arms and looked on at the absolute scar that Loki's Explosion had left on the land. The crater was probably more than 3 meters deep and a couple dozen meters wide, thinning out from the center of impact. Fissures ran through the earth from where he had detonated, which were smoking and leaving heat waves in the air. I don't recall teaching Loki that particular move, actually. Although the ghost had certainly become used to destroying his body, he hadn't ever done so in such a spectacular way. Maybe he picked that trick up from the other Gengar from when we trained with Morty that day?
Espy was picking herself up, still stunned from the close-range explosion. Ghostly tendrils of energy danced around her body, probably disrupting her thoughts. A small purple figure emerged from the smoke, levitating several meters in front of Espy. Loki breathed heavily as he landed on the ground, not even bothering to keep himself afloat as he had to recover from the sheer amount of energy he had released. The ghost, if anything, looked impressed that the Alakazam was still standing after what was probably his final gambit in their battle.
In recent months, his team was fighting fewer and fewer staged, pitched battles where they rotated out in single battles with opponents and more and more group battles where the battlefield and opponents changed fluidly. Some of his team naturally worked together well, but he was keen on improving their synergy.
Dancer and Agni were a strong pair of offense and defense. The fire type was incredibly fast and could dodge most attacks that came his way. Electric and psychic attacks could still catch him, and for that Dancer was adept at creating barriers to block energy-based attacks. She also had a variety of other tools at her disposal: Gravity for pinning opponents and stopping projectiles, Misty Terrain for preventing status afflictions and dulling draconic energy, and hopefully eventually healing abilities. Whereas the fairy tended to sit in one place and fight, Agni was all hit-and-run. The Arcanine could flank their opponent and attack them from multiple directions, distracting them and keeping pressure off Dancer. If he needed to recover, he could retreat behind her barrier. Still, he had the tendency to rush his opponents. While the Arcanine could certainly be deadly up close, a more skilled opponent in close quarters combat could defeat him. He needed to learn to stay at range more and wear down his opponent before closing in for the kill.
Zeus and Tsunami were an unlikely pair and certainly not the most friendly to each other at time, but they covered each other's weaknesses. Zeus was a natural lighting rod and drew electric attacks to himself, covering Tsunami's greatest weakness. He tended to have the lowest flexibility on the team, acting as an almost pure offensive player on the team. He could blast targets at range with Thunderbolts, carve out an area around himself with a strong Discharge, or get in close with his unrelenting close quarters attacks. Meanwhile, Tsunami could protect and heal herself with her Aqua Ring and provide cover fire for Zeus to close in on his opponents. There were some other interesting combinations Ethan wanted to try, but he needed for them to work together more before he attempted that.
The most important prep they needed to do was for Espy to get used to fighting ghosts. Fortunately, that was a role Loki didn't mind playing at all. Loki's Ominous Wind attack would simulate the conditions they'd be fighting under very well–her teleportation would be limited, and she'd be attacked from multiple angles. The problem with ghosts was that she had significant disadvantages and had only a few tools at her disposal to deal with them. Her barriers, normally very strong, could only barely hold up to a couple of Shadow Balls. Cloning herself could distract a ghost, in addition to flashing and blinding them, but it was a temporary maneuver. Her Future Sight was a neat trick, but wouldn't help against multiple opponents. Unless Ethan could figure out something, Espy would have to be paired with someone like Dancer, whose non-psychic energy based shields could hold up ghost attacks much better.
He looked down at Ares, who had finished his berry and was watching the battles with some interest. The Larvitar, in time, would be helpful for dealing with ghosts, but he'd be a ton heavier and at least more than several months away from being able to fulfill that role. Tyranitar were monstrously destructive and incredibly durable creatures. They were native to the mountains of Mt. Silver, which itself was home to very naturally powerful pokemon. They weren't terribly fast, so running into one wasn't usually a death sentence out in the wilderness, but fighting one could be–especially if it was a mother defending her pups. Their dark typing bore some natural resistance to ghost and psychic energies. A strong, physically and specially defensive tank would be a helpful addition to his team, which was lacking in that department save for Milotic. In due time.
10 minutes later, his team lay strewn around the field, mostly exhausted. "All right, everyone, let's take a break." Ethan reached into his backpack and pulled out a handful of plump Oran berries. He tossed one to Zeus, whose hand snapped into the air and caught the projectile with ease. "Zeus, you did good keeping up the pressure on your opponents. I like that you remembered to cover your battle buddy. In the next exercise, I want to work on some combinations I've been thinking of for you and Tsunami." The Electabuzz nodded and began to munch on the berry.
With that, he walked over to the Milotic and handed the Oran berry to her. "Tsunami, nice work with the mist cloud. They probably had you until you did that. But remember that visibility issue goes both ways. Luckily Zeus had something that could still work in that situation." The water type accepted his feedback somewhat graciously, taking the fruit calmly from his hand while her tail flicked through the air behind her.
"Dancer, Agni." The Arcanine perked up at his words, shifting his body as Dancer nearly fell onto the ground while she was laying against him. "You put up a good fight. Agni, you need to be more patient and wait for better opportunities to strike. Zeus was down—you probably could have focused on him instead of trying to deal with Milotic up close. You gave him the time to recover and help his teammate." The fire dog whined and submitted on the ground, ashamed. Ethan patted his back and fed him the Oran Berry, letting him gnaw on the berry and his hand a bit before he retracted the limb. "Dancer, you did a good job covering for Agni." Dancer squeaked tiredly and accepted the berry from him.
Ethan turned to Espy and Loki, who were both floating in the air patiently behind him. Just underneath the Gengar, Ares curiously reached out towards the ghost, who growled and floated a little bit higher out of the Larvitar's reach. "Loki, that was some quick thinking with the Explosion. But honestly? You were playing around with her too much. You could have started the fight off much stronger with an Inferno or kept hitting her at range. She didn't really have an answer for your attacks while you were suppressing her with your Ominous Wind. In a real fight, that could waste precious time while your friends need your help. You need to focus more." Loki stuck his tongue out at Ethan, who waited several seconds until Loki rolled his eyes and retracted, taking the Oran berry from the boy's open palm. Ethan looked at Espy. "I assume you already know what I'm going to say."
It is understood. I will meditate upon the battle. The Alakazam closed her eyes, glowing light blue. Ethan tossed her the last Oran berry and it was quickly enveloped in blue light, levitating slowly to her.
"All in all, today was a good day. We'll tackle this again tomorrow with different groups." Ethan lowered his hands. "I'll head to the store to grab some supplies while you all rest."
"Arceus, this is what you call taking a break?"
Ethan whipped his head around to see Alice walking up behind him. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came to him. It honestly felt a bit weird to hear anyone else but Espy talk back to him after being along for a while. "Anyone else would have thought you were seriously battling Team Rocket or something the way your team was going at each other."
His brain finally began to work again. "I Iet the watch commander know before I went out here." Ethan raised his hands. "We won't train the day before the mission. But they need to be ready."
"I know, I know." She stopped next to him, looking at the ruined field and whistling. "Now you've got me thinking I should step up training a bit more."
He shrugged. "You could also train with us. It might give them some variety in their opponents."
"It's a date. More battling." Alice rolled her eyes.
Ethan chuckled. "My version of having fun." He shifted his feet a bit. "If you're not doing anything right now, do you want to head to the store with me? I need to restock. Think I'm out of Oran berries too."
"Sure."
The walk back to town felt quiet after the intense battles minutes before. Ethan was still thinking about it, running mini simulations in his head about what different members of his team could have done differently. He looked at Alice and tried to banish those thoughts from his head. "So what have you been up to today?"
"A little bit of training too. I actually just finished and was walking back when I heard all of the explosions." She laughed. "And earlier I got lunch at the League mess hall and talked to my brother for a bit."
"You have a brother? Older or younger?"
"Older." Alice looked up at the clear blue sky, the sun barely past the center as the day turned into the afternoon. "He's stationed in Blackthorn. He's not much of a career trainer like me, but everyone's got to contribute to the war somehow."
"What did he do before the war?" Ethan absentmindedly kicked a rock along the way.
"Computer tech." She sighed. "He's not much of a fighter. So honestly I'm a bit worried about him. I just hope the League presence there is pretty strong and he won't have to go to the front lines."
"Have you heard anything at all from your parents?"
"No." She slowed down, and Ethan found himself almost stopping to let her catch back up. "I hope they're all right. It's been tough even getting information about how the war's going down in the south. But I can't control that, so I'm focusing on what I can control." She sighed, clenching her fists. "But when the League goes to take back Goldenrod, I'm coming no matter what."
"I'm sorry about that." A twang of worry gnawed at the back of his head as he mentally imagined Team Rocket showing up in New Bark Town, far out of the way as his little hometown was. "But we took back Ecruteak. We can take back Goldenrod too."
She looked at him, smiling a bit. "Yeah. Thanks."
Soon, the town was in sight. They passed by a patrol along the way, who quickly checked their IDs before allowing them to continue forward. "What about your family Ethan?" asked Alice. "Do you have any siblings?"
"Nope. It's just me and my mom at home." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You know Adrian, of course. Basically my brother, though I actually hadn't seem him a lot in recent years before I started my trainer journey."
"I'm surprised your mom was cool with you leaving home and being alone."
Ethan shrugged. "I'm from a small town. Everyone pretty much knows each other, and she keeps herself pretty busy. Besides, I was always adventurous when I was younger. I think she knew I was going to leave at some point."
Alice shook her head. "Wish it was that easy with my parents. They pretty much didn't let me out of their sight until I was at least 10. And then it was like a several month long debate for me to start my trainer journey."
"How long have you been a trainer now?"
"2ish years. You?"
Ethan thought about it. "…like around a year? Honestly, I lost track of time recently."
"Wow." She smiled. "I can't believe your team's advanced that much in a year. I mean, with the way you train and battle constantly, I'm only a little bit surprised."
"Well, I got a little bit lucky with them," he said, smiling back, thinking about his friends. "No problems. They're all pretty motivated, too."
"Lucky. My Exeggutor was a pain to train. He's honestly kind of lazy most of the time." She looked up into the sky. "Sometimes, I wish I had stuck with doing Contests. I think some of my team would have preferred that."
"How long did you do the Contests for again?"
She counted on her fingers. "Since I was six, so…5 years?"
Ethan's eyes widened. "Wow, that's like…half a decade."
"I think it's literally half a decade."
"Yeah, you're right. But wow, that was long. Do ever you miss it?"
Alice stopped for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "Sometimes?" They slowly began to resume walking. "It was fun, don't get me wrong. But I think my parents wanted me to do Contests more than I actually did, in the end. They probably thought that it was safer for me."
Ethan's mind flashed back to the last couple of months, filled with desperate fighting and long, tiring days. "I mean, I think they're right about that."
"That's true. But back then, I always wondered what it would be like to really be out in the world. Not just flying from city to city for a Contest and then leaving after a few days. Outside of Contests, I basically spent my whole life in Goldenrod. I just wanted to get out of the city and…I don't know, be my own person?" She shrugged. "It's hard to describe. But I kind of like being out here and no one knowing who I am and who I used to be. Free to just…be whoever I want to be, you know?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "People knew about you? Were you that famous in the Contests?"
"I mean, a little bit. Also because of my dad and his company."
"What did he do?"
Alice looked at him. "He build the Johto-Kanto Connector."
Ethan stopped. "WHAT? Your dad owns the company that build the Connector? Don't they like build half of all of the trains and stuff in Johto?"
"I think more than half, actually," replied Alice, and Ethan noticed she seemed a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell that part," he said sheepishly. "But, wow, he's a pretty important person then. I mean, did your family live up in some penthouse in Goldenrod?"
"…sometimes. I mean, there were a few we kind of rotated between. He had to travel a lot for his job, so we'd stay in one house or condo depending on where he needed to be for big projects." She raised her hands. "We didn't always come with him, so sometimes he'd be gone for months. It was me, my mom, and my brother before he left to study computer science."
"It's okay, we don't have to talk about it." His eyes flickered towards her. "But, you're like, rich?"
"I mean, we're comfortable."
"Hmmmmmm." Ethan grinned. "That was like the most obvious "yes" I've ever heard."
Alice flicked a finger straight in the air at him. "Yeah, my family's rich. But I don't know, I never really liked telling people about my dad and his company. It was like all people knew me about. Even I was in the Contests. I haven't actually talked about my family in months to anyone, actually. Except for my brother, of course."
"Yeah, we don't have to. I was just curious."
"I know." Now they were in back in Ecruteak proper now, the road filling with League trainers and city residents as they navigated their way to the store. Within minutes, they had reached the Pokemart. "Well, I've got to go back to the south gate for sentry duty for a bit. I'll see you tomorrow? Or the next day?"
"Yeah, maybe we can train together sometime?" Ethan offered.
She smiled. "Sure. That'd be fun. Bye!"
He waved her off and entered the store. Now what did he need again? Berries for the team, I need some batteries for the flashlight and radio, I think we're out of Paralyze Heals…
—
It was dark when Ethan opened his eyes.
He sat up, covering his face with his hand as he turned on the desk lamp. He wiped the sweat from his neck. For a moment, he just sat there, staring at the wall.
Do your dreams disturb you again?
Ethan looked over at Espy, a dark figure in the corner in the room save for her trademark blue glowing eyes. Ethan nodded, letting himself collapse back onto the bed.
"Yeah," he whispered. His tiny was room was adjacent to several others, so he didn't want to wake anyone else this late. He didn't look at the clock, but he was sure that no else would be up right now except for the guards. "The cave again."
Do you wish for me to prevent you from dreaming?
Ethan frowned. You can do that? Wait, I don't remember you learning Dream Eater.
Pulses of orange and blue flickered in his mind. Not all of my abilities are so formal. But I can push your mind while you dream so the dark times in the caves do not cloud your subconsciousness.
He rubbed his eyes. "Wait, does that mean you can influence my thoughts when I'm not even awake? Have you ever done that before?"
I would never intrude with your permission. She seemed almost annoyed. But when you dream so loudly, it is difficult for me not to notice, even when I myself am resting.
Ah sorry. Didn't know my nightmares had a volume setting.
It is all right. She paused. But do you wish for me to stop them?
Ethan sighed. "I'm not sure if that actually solves the issue. In fact, it'd probably make them worse later." He puts his face in his hands. "I just can't help it. Sometimes, I dream that I'm trapped inside that Muk, barely able to breathe. I'm suffocating, and then, boom, I'm awake. I can't ever really put it outside of my thoughts."
He was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes, it hits me in the middle of the day too. Like, I'm walking, and then I see or hear or smell something that reminds me of that moment." He snapped his fingers. "And I'm right back in that moment in the cave again. Helpless. Basically waiting for them to kill me. And I don't know what I can do about it."
The trauma stays with you. It will probably never leave you. But we are here, and I will never let them take you again. Her eyes flashed, and a single pulse of dark red echoed across his mind.
"Thanks Espy." His eyes flickered towards the window, where he could see the moon high in the sky. "And we're going back into the thick of it tomorrow. Just the 4 of us. Do you think we're ready?" He sighed. "Sometimes I don't know if everything we do will make us ready enough."
I believe you told the human that not all variables are within your control. Perhaps you should heed your own words.
He looked back at the Alakazam. When did you get so wise?
It is borrowed wisdom. After all, this in particular originated from you.
"Fair enough," said Ethan, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Well, I feel better. I'm going to attempt to go back to sleep.
Good night, my friend.
"Good night Espy."
…..
And that's a wrap for this chapter.
As always, your feedback is very much appreciated and will help me improve my writing. I read every review, DM, and random comment about this story on the Internet. I think after such a long hiatus, I'm ready to get back in the ring and start updating again. I know a lot of you were big fans and I'm really sorry to have taken this long. There's probably people that loved TRTC and won't ever come back, which is kind of sad to think about. While I can't promise a schedule, I promise that the writing bug has come back and I want to tackle this again (at least until the Rocket War arc is over, I've literally outlined the whole thing already).
See you all again! Thanks for reading :)