Delta Emerald
Chapter Two: Primal Power
Zephyr let out and introduced a male Bagon named Razor, a female Roselia named Diva, a male Nuzleaf named Shinobu, and finally his ace, a shiny female Mightyena named Fang.
I let out Empress, Duke, and a new Pokémon, Queenie, I had caught a bit ago, Purity jumped down to join everyone.
We set bowls of Pokéfood on the floor. As our Pokémon ate, I messed around with the PokéDex learning more about them.
Aside from a female Eevee-Purity, I had a female Ralts-Empress who was apparently shiny, a male Poochyena-Duke, and a female Silcoon-Queenie, which I forgot to mention I caught in the Petalburg Woods before dealing with that Team Aqua Grunt.
When I was done, Zephyr turned to me, "So what's the plan?"
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Are you're going to battle Roxanne, the Rock Type Gym Leader here?" He asked.
"Rock Type, huh?" I murmured thoughtfully. "I don't really have an advantage with the team I have…"
"Maybe not, but I think you should level up all your Pokémon a little more either way." Zephyr mused, and then perked up, "There's a small beach just outside of the city on Route 115. It would be perfect for you and yours to battle me and mine."
"Fine. But you better not go easy on me just because you've been a trainer longer than me." I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Wasn't planning on it." Zephyr countered in a sing-song voice.
…
After some battles that I won't admit were rather difficult, Zephyr and I returned to the Pokémon Center briefly to heal our Pokémon again. During our training, both Duke and Queenie evolved into a Mightyena and a Beautifly respectively. Queenie and Empress luckily knew grass moves now, so we headed to the Gym.
I beat the three Gym Trainers, Josh, Tommy, and Mark easily. But the Gym Leader, Roxanne, was another story. We were both down to our last Pokémon, and I just barely managed to beat her. Thus, I gained my first Badge, which I pinned to my top left belt loop, above the bottom loops which held my team.
We had just walked out onto the street when there was a commotion. Zephyr suddenly grabbed me and pulled me back towards him, saving me from being ran over by the same Team Aqua Grunt from the forest.
"No, wait! Please!" Henry ran after him, "Please, give those back!"
I blinked, stunned for a moment, and then I pushed Zephyr away from me.
"Thanks." I said gruffly.
But Zephyr didn't say anything. I turned my head to look at him. He had a harden look on his face, and his body leaned forward as if to want to chase after them.
I sighed, "Let's go." I started running after them and heard Zephyr's steps right behind me.
…
After running into Henry just before Route 116, he begged us to help him, and pointed in the direction the Team Aqua Grunt ran.
We quickly made our way through the grass, battling Pokémon and beating Trainers who demanded battles.
Seriously though… Could they not tell we were in a hurry?
…
Eventually we came up to the entrance of a tunnel cave. An old man frantically paced back and forth.
"Hey, old man, you good?" I asked.
"Oh…oh no… No… What am I gonna to do?!" He wailed, "We were just out on our walk, my darlin' Peeko and I, when this thug dressed in blue attacked us! He took me Pokémon! Peekoooo!"
The old man collapsed to his knees.
"Hey, calm down, you'll give yourself a heart attack!" Zephyr said, kneeling down and patting the man on his shoulder. "It sounds like our goods thief and your Pokémon snatcher are the same guy. We're going after him, so we'll see if we can get your Peeko back. Just wait here!"
"Oh…oh, thank ye, thank ye!" He cried.
Zephyr stood and looked at me. I nodded, and we took off into the tunnel.
…
It took us a moment to adjust our eyes to the dimness. It also didn't help that the cave was hazy either.
"Stay close." Zephyr said quietly.
I rolled my eyes, and followed him, reaching up to Purity to pet her.
Further in we heard angry muttering and came upon the Grunt holding a large box and a small blue and white bird Pokémon in net.
"Useless!" He snapped at the Pokémon.
"Hey Bozo, remember me?" I sneered, and Purity growled.
"Gah! What are you going here?!" Diego yelped.
"I heard you have some things that don't belong to you." I said, crossing my arms.
"So, what? You gonna battle me for them?" He taunted.
"Nope. My team is exhausted." I shrugged and simply pointed my thumb at Zephyr, "But his isn't."
The Grunt face faulted, and even Zephyr sweat dropped a bit.
"Arghh!" Diego roared, jumping to his feet. "Come on then!"
He sent put his Poochyena and Zephyr sent out Razor.
The battle did not take long, and the Grunt was on his knees groaning.
"Ugh… Not cool man…" Diego muttered. "Boss Man told me this would be super easy to pull off… All I had to do was steal those parts from Devon. Hah! But then you went and took them back!"
He jumped up, leaving the box on the ground, and shoved passed us.
I snorted and then helped untangled the net from around Peeko, while Zephyr grabbed the box of Devon Goods, and we headed outside.
…
"Peeko! Oh, I am so glad to see ye!" The old man cooed before turning to us. "Me Peeko owes 'er life 'n freedom to you young'ins. I'm called Mr. Briney. Ye?"
"I'm Zephyr, and this is my friend and travel companion, Velrose." Zephyr said, shaking his hand.
"Well, I sincerely thank ye both! If ye ever need a hand with sailin' and getting' around by the sea, don't ye hesitate to come to me!" Mr. Briney said, "I live in a small cottage by the sea near the other side of Petalburg Woods."
"Thank you, we'll keep that in mind!"
Mr. Briney nodded, "Come along Peeko, time to start headin' home."
…
We made it back to Rustburo Town and once again healed our Pokémon at the Center, before looking for Henry. It didn't take long, as he was found in front of a large building pacing back and forth.
"Hey, you! Henry!" I called out, as we walked towards him.
"Oh, it's you again! Did you get my Devon Goods back?" He asked, worriedly.
"Yeah. They're right here." I said, thrusting a thumb in Zephyr's direction.
"You did! You got them back! You really are a great trainer!" Henry exclaimed.
"It was Zephyr who got them back this time, not me." I said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Well, thanks are in order either way. You can have this, young man, a Great Ball!" Henry said holding the blue ball out.
"Thanks…" Zephyr muttered, struggling to hold the box and take the ball.
I huffed and snatched the ball, yanking his backpack open and dropped it inside before closing it again.
"Thanks…" Zephyr grumbled again, unhappy about all the jostling.
"Don't mention it." I muttered.
Henry laughed nervously. "I need you both to come with me, please."
He grabbed my arm and dragged me with him. I sputtered and protested, while Zephyr just grinned at my struggling and followed us.
…
Henry brought us to the top floor of the large building. He let go and turned to face us, but I angrily hissed.
"Henry, if you value your life and your appendages, you will never touch me again." I glared feeling all puffed up like an angry Meowth.
"S-Sorry! I got too e-excited!" He stammered, "B-But this is the top floor of the Devon Corporation. The office of our great p-president. I can't tell you both how grateful I am for everything you've done for our company." He said, "Um…wait here for just a moment!"
Henry scurried further into the room. Murmurs and whispers were heard, and Zephyr and I looked at each other raising an eyebrow.
Henry came back over, "Our president would like to speak with you both." He said and ushered us further inside.
There behind a large deck sat a man with blue-grey hair and kind grey eyes. He clasped his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.
"Hello, there. My name is Joseph Stone, and I am the president of this company, the Devon Corporation." Mr. Stone smiled. "I just heard that we have quite a lot to thank the two of you for. You've helped out Henry, not once, but twice!"
"Well, we didn't have much of a choice…" I muttered.
Mr. Stone chuckled, "Seeing that you both are such reliable trainers, I have a favor I would like to ask of you."
Zephyr and I exchanged frowns.
"Now, now. I want you to know I am a president you can trust." He said, "I fully intend to reward you. Let me see your PokéNavs."
I handed him mine, then grabbed Zephyr's from his belt and handed his over as well.
Mr. Stone grabbed a USB plug, connected the PokéNavs to his computer, and downloaded something onto them.
"This new function is called the BuzzNav. It's a good function for any trainer to have while traveling. It will play the news for you." He pushed our PokéNavs closer to us. "And while normally everyone must pay a subscription, you two get it for free. Always."
I picked them both up and we thanked him.
"Now," He said, becoming all business. "I would like to ask you both to deliver this letter to my son, Steven Stone. He should still be on Dewford Island."
I reached out and grabbed the letter, juggling the two PokéNavs in my other arm.
"You'll have to cross the sea just outside of Petalburg on Route 104 to get to Dewford." Mr. Stone hummed thoughtfully, "I'll send a message to my good friend Mr. Briney, and ask him to take you two. He lives in a small sea shack on the beach. Go see him and ask for a ride. I'm counting on you two! Now please excuse me, I have much to do! Henry, will you see them out?"
"Yes, Mr. President, sir!" Henry saluted and began to quickly and physically usher us out. "Come, come! The president is a busy man, you see!"
I once again sputtered and hissed angrily, like an angry Meowth, while Zephyr just frowned.
…
Henry pushed us out of the building, said a quick farewell, and went back inside, shutting the door behind him.
"I TOLD him NOT to do that again!" I snarled.
"Yeah, well, what about this?" Zephyr asked, holding the box up higher. "They forgot to take this."
"They can have it back AFTER we deliver the letter, as punishment!" I spat, stuffing both PokéNavs and the letter into my messenger bag, and then stomped off towards Petalburg Woods.
"Hey, wait, you took my PokéNav too!" Zephyr yelled after me, following as quickly as he could.
"I'll give it back once we get to Mr. Briney's!" I snapped back.
…
We had to take the long way out of the forest because Zephyr couldn't jump down the ledges without risk of dropping the Devon Goods. So, by the time we made it out of the woods and to Mr. Briney's home it was just getting dark out.
I knocked on the door, but it swung open on its own revealing Mr. Briney chasing Peeko is circles around his table. Peeko seemed to have a fish in her mouth that she wasn't supposed to have.
"Um, Mr. Briney…?" Zephyr spoke.
"Hold on, laddie." Mr Briney said distractedly. "Peeko give that back or I won't be makin' yer favorite dinner!"
Peeko make some unhappy squawking noise and dropped the fish on Mr. Briney's face. He grabbed it and shook it at Peeko, who chirped in a way that sounded like it was laughing.
Mr. Briney sighed and turned to look at us. He brightened immediately.
"Oh, if it ain't ye two!" Mr. Briney exclaimed, "Velrose and Zephyr, who saved me dear Peeko here."
"Yeah, sorry to bother you so late, but we need your help." Zephyr said.
"Aye, we do owe ye for earlier." Mr. Briney said, "What do ye need from this old sailor?"
"A ride to Dewford." I said and showed him the letter. "Mr. Stone said he would call ahead and ask for your assistance on behalf of us."
"Ah, yes! He did, he did." Mr. Briney stroked his beard. "Well, ye've come to the right place…but it's too dark now to sail safely. Why don't we set sail in the early mornin'? Ye can stay for dinner and set up yer sleepin' bags over there."
"Thanks, that's really generous." Zephyr said.
"Thanks." I nodded.
While Mr. Briney was in the kitchen, Zephyr and I set up our sleeping bags and called out our Pokémon. I handed his PokéNav back to him, and we moved to the table while our Pokémon played together.
"Dewford Island has a Gym," Zephyr mentioned casually, leaning back in his chair. "And the Leader's name is Brawley."
I looked up from my PokéNav and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what typing is he?"
"His Pokémon are fighting types. Empress and Queenie would be your best bet." Zephyr said leaning forward slightly with his arms on the table.
"And Purity's and Duke's typings are weak against fighting." I mused, "Do you know what Pokémon he has?"
"I do, but I'm not telling you." He grinned slyly, pissing me off.
"Hmph! You're no help, you damn jerk." I snapped.
"Where's the fun in that?" He asked, his grin widening. But then he became serious, "Besides, I told you his Pokémon's type. If I told you everything, how would you grow your battling style? How would you react in emergency situations? This is part of me looking out for you."
I rolled my eyes in annoyance, but did not say anything, knowing he was right but refusing to acknowledge it.
At that moment Mr. Briney called for us to help set the table and grab food and drinks.
…
The next morning, we boarded Mr. Briney's boat and set sail. Zephyr, Purity, and I sat up on the bow. I sipped my Dr. Pelipper soda and enjoyed the breeze in my hair while Purity and Peeko played arond. Zephyr on the other hand sat with his head hanging over the edge of the boat. I snickered at his seasickness.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh some more…" He groaned, having heard me.
Mr. Briney laughed heartedly, "Don't sail much do ye, boy?"
"Not really a fan of water…" Zephyr muttered, and dry heaved again.
"Here." I said, handing him my soda, "There is still half left. Maybe it will help you."
"Thanks…" Zephyr said and gulped down the rest of it. He grinned weakly, "You know that was an indirect kiss, right?"
I turned bright red and punched Zephyr on the arm.
"Sh-Shut up!" I stammered angrily, "See if I help you again!"
Zephyr laughed so hard his stomach gurgled loudly, and with a green look to his face, he turned around and gagged over the side of the boat again.
"Serves you right!" I snapped, while Mr. Briney laughed jovially at us.
"All right now, we're almost there." Mr. Briney said, "Look ahead! Land, ho!"
I stood and placing a hand above my eyes to shade them. There in the distance was land all right.
"How long until we land?" I asked.
"About another half hour, er so." He answered.
Zephyr groaned loudly in protest.
…
Mr. Briney carefully pulled up to the dock shouting, "Ahoy! We've struck land ye two!"
He hopped off and tied the boat securely to the dock. Zephyr leaned forward falling face first onto the dock. I smirked jumping off and landing next to him.
"Mr. Briney, can we keep the box on the boat, so we don't have to carry it?" I asked, "It's too heavy for me to carry, and Zephyr's in no condition to do so."
"That's fine, lass." Mr. Briney nodded, "Might I suggest visiting the Gym Leader? He knows everything you'll need to know about the island."
"That's the plan." I said, kneeling down to poke Zephyr. "Come on, let's get to the Pokémon Center. Maybe Nurse Joy will have some medicine she can give you. I'm also hungry."
"I'm not…" Zephyr moaned, standing unsteadily.
I sighed and ducked under his arm to help him. Purity hopped from my head onto Zephyr's head and chattered happily.
"Ugh, Purity, please don't jostle my head…" Zephyr hiccupped.
"If you puke on me, I will drop you and leave you there." I threatened.
"I wooon't…" He gurgled.
…
"Feeling better now?" I asked as we and our Pokémon ate.
Nurse Joy luckily had some medicine to help Zephyr's nausea. Afterwards he was as hungry as I was.
"Yeah, much better!" Zephyr grinned. "Thanks for helping me!"
"Don't mention it." I said, finishing my hamburger.
"Time to head to the Gym, then." He grinned.
"You know it." I smirked back.
…
Beating Brawly was a breeze. I only needed to use Empress, who evolved into a Kirlia. However, the light switch on and off gimmick, and the trying to memorize the path and not trip over gym equipment was enough to irritate me. Destroying Brawly in battle helped though.
"So, the Granite Cave that Steven is in, is in the northwestern part of the island?" Zephyr asked as we walked.
"That's what Brawly said." I sighed. "I can't wait to get this errand over and done with."
"Yeah, but then we have to return the box…" Zephyr frowned.
"Ugh, don't remind me…" I groaned.
"We'll have to ask Mr. Briney to take us to Slateport afterwards." Zephyr said as we entered the cave.
"Does Slateport have a Gym too?" I asked.
"No, but it's a port city with a lot of stands to buy things from. There's a battle shack restaurant on the beach as well." He said, "Plus an Oceanic Museum and Pokémon Contest Spectacular Hall. There's lots to do. I think it would be wise if we stocked up on supplies and take a bit of a break while we're there. The next city is a bit far of a walk."
"That's fine. We can take a day to get supplies and relax." I said, looking forward to it. "I definitely want to go to the battle shack restaurant, and then relax on the beach."
"I want to check out the Contest Spectacular hall, and also get some things for my secret bases." Zephyr grinned.
"I have no idea what either of those things are." I raised an eye brow.
"Well, Contests are where Pokémon show off there moves in a more flashy and showy way than when they use their moves in battle." Zephyr explained, "Kinda like a pageant, but with five different categories. Beauty, Coolness, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness."
"Doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but you do you." I shrugged, "What about Secret Bases?"
"In certain trees, bushes, and mountain or cliff walls have a Pokémon use Secret Power and you'll have access to a hidden room." Zephyr said, "You can decorate it, use it for a place to stay the night, whatever you want to do with it. Like a base of operations!"
"Now that sounds interesting." I said, intrigued.
"I have several around Hoenn we'll use." Zephyr said, "Feel free to add to the decorations in any of them. My bases are now our bases."
"Thanks. I'll do that." I smirked, and Zephyr laughed nervously.
We heard a noise and from the tunnel walked into a large cavern. On the far wall was a mural of two large and powerful Pokémon. They were fighting a fierce battle against one another.
And in front of the mural was a man looking like he was in his early twenties. He had short powder blue hair, grey-blue eyes, and wore a black and purple suit with a red scarf tie, and silver accessories.
We approached him as he hummed thoughtfully.
"So back in ancient times their primal forms held this much power?" He crossed his arms, holding his chin with one hand. "These super ancient Pokémon… What terrible strength they must have had…" He frowned deeper, "But their forms here… They seem different from Mega Evolution."
I furrowed my brows. 'Mega Evolution? I've never heard of that.' I thought to myself.
The man sighed, "I supposed my questions won't be answered here today."
"Excuse me," Zephyr spoke, "Are you Steven Stone?"
The man's head turned slightly, regarding us carefully, before he turned around fully.
"And you are…?" He asked cautiously.
"Velrose. This is my Eevee, Purity. He's Zephyr." I answered bluntly.
The man narrowed his eyes slightly.
"We were sent by President Stone to find you and deliver a letter." Zephyr said quickly, trying to lower the tension.
I opened my bag and pulled out the slightly crumpled letter.
"Ah, I see… A pleasure then." He said, relaxing. "My apologies for being tense. Yes, I am Steven Stone. I'm interested in rare stones, and I travel here and there in search for them. Today my journey brought me here."
"Evolution Stones and the like?" I asked, curious, as I handed over the letter.
Steven nodded, smiling. "Thank you. That, and others." He said, "It must have been some trouble to have tracked me down. I'll give you these as a thanks and apology."
Steven pulled out two beautiful stones from his pocket.
Zephyr reached for the translucent stone that had a spot in the inside of the middle that glowed a soft yellow.
"Nice, a Shiny Stone! I can finally evolve Diva with this!" He said excitedly.
I nonchalantly took the translucent stone with a flickering flame inside. It felt warm to the touch.
"A fire stone." I mused, and slyly held it up to Purity, "What do you think?"
Purity gave it an unimpressed glare, and hopped off my shoulder and onto Zephyr's head.
"Relax. I know you don't want to evolve." I smirked, "We'll have to catch a fire type that needs this Stone to evolved."
Purity huffed, and stayed on top of Zephyr's head. I rolled my eyes, calling her sensitive, and put the Stone away in my bag.
Steven watched in amusement. He half turned, looking back at the mural.
"If you don't mind me asking…" He spoke, gaining our attention. "Do you feel anything in particular when you look at these Pokémon?"
Zephyr and I gazed at the Pokémon clashed in battle.
"Not really…" I murmured, narrowing my eyes, "But I do feel drawn more to the whale like Pokémon."
"Same, but to the other Pokémon." Zephyr said, absently reaching up to pet Purity.
"A Primal world, thousands of years in the distant past." Steven spoke thoughtfully, "Two Legendary Pokémon became the world's greatest threat. The horror brought on by these powers is obvious in this ancient artwork."
Neither Zephyr nor I said anything. Lost in our own thoughts. Steven turned to us again and smiled.
"But not all power is terrible." He continued and looked at Purity and then at the badges on my belt. "You both and your Pokémon are clearly capable as well. Especially you, Velrose, having two badges. I think you have what it takes to become Hoenn's Pokémon Champion."
I brightened, letting a rare genuine smile grace my features, not seeing Zephyr stare at me in awe.
"Right now, that is my most important goal." I said earnestly.
"As long as you keep up your training and winning more Gym Badges, I think you'll make it just fine." Steven smiled back, "I wish you all the luck. But now I must continue with my travels. Farewell for now."
Zephyr snapped out of his staring as Steven moved past us and quickly was out if sight.
"Uh…huh… He was pretty peculiar, wasn't he?" Zephyr said, finally slipping his Shiny Stone into his back pack.
"Yeah. I think he might be a big deal." I said thoughtfully.
"Maybe." Zephyr said, "But we should now focus on getting back to Mr. Briney. We have to go back to Rustburo and give them back the Devon Goods."
I made a face, "Do we have to?" I muttered.
"We'd be no better than that thieving Team Aqua guy if we didn't." Zephyr shrugged.
"Ugh! Fine!" I huffed.
Before we left the cavern completely, I looked over my shoulder at the whale like Pokémon again. I couldn't describe what it made me feel, but I was suddenly nervous for some reason… I squashed it down and continues walking.
…
"Ahoy! Looks like ye delivered yer letter safe n sound." Mr. Briney said as we approached him.
"Yeah, but now we gotta go back and give the Devon Corps their package back." I groaned.
"Oh, right. Speakin' about that there box ye got." Mr. Briney said, glancing over at it. "I got a radio message from President Stone. He has another favor ta ask of ye."
I looked at him with horror. "What…? What does he want now?" I whined.
"He asked that ye take the Devon Parts, n go deliver 'em to Captain Stern in Slateport at the Shipyard." Mr. Briney said. "I'll be sure to get ye there safely. Are ye both ready to go now?"
"Yeah, might as well." I said, hoping up to the bow of the bow.
Purity leapt off of Zephyr's head when groaned and slightly crumpled.
"Uh…before we go can I just grab some more motion sickness prevention meds from Nurse Joy" Zephyr asked already looking green.
I sighed loudly, and Mr. Briney laughed heartily, "Probably best ye do, lad."
End Chapter Two!
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I do not know what kind of uploading schedule I want to do yet. I am trying to decide between every week (Wednesday) or every other week (Wednesday). It's most likely going to be biweekly. I do not want to put pressure on myself or have any of you put pressure on me to update. I am also JUST getting back into writing. It has been a while, and I have mental health issues that get in the way of life as well. Emerald/Ruby/Sapphire/OR/AS are my favorite games, and I want to do right by them. But please understand if some updates take longer than others, or some chapters are shorter than others.
Also, I am terrible with writing battling scenes. I will most likely avoid most of them. But there will be a few important ones I will do my best to write though.
Thank you so much for reading!!!