[Pokémon] Psychic Poker

Part 20: Twenty
*WHOOSH!* Lionel unleashed a shockwave of cold, which was powerful enough to knock everyone off their feet.
...they didn't get back up.

"Too easy. You really should've doubted yourselves some more." Lionel said, cackling slightly.

Aww man. Jasper thought to himself. He felt fine, actually. Though the room was a little colder.

Don't move a muscle, Jasper. Whisper said telepathically. Secretly, he had commanded Jasper to slowly take cover behind Xian while she stood behind Mobius. The ice wave hardly affected them, but they pretended to be downed as a ruse.

"Ugh. I'm talking to myself again." Lionel turned and left.
The two meowstic waited a minute and a half before standing up.

Jasper rubbed his head, and then tried tapping Xian. "Uh, hello? Are you… okay?"
He didn't move. A thin layer of frost was forming over his body. "What's wrong with them?"

Whisper poked Mobius, who also didn't move. "I… I think they're frozen." she said casually, with a bored expression.

"Frozen!? What!?" Jasper rudely started tapping Xian some more, which obviously didn't work. "What do we do?"

Whisper opened her mouth to say something, and after some delay, started with "Well… you got some of those… berries?" she started waving her hand around as if asking for an answer.

"Aspear berries." Jasper put his hand forward and started scrounging through his pocket dimension, but turned up nothing useful. "I don't have any berries, just cotton candy. And Makan somehow stole my entire stash of cotton candy."

"Looks like we'll just have to find that Lionel fellow and stop him ourselves." Whisper said, and started to walk in the direction that Lionel went.

"Woah woah wait!" Jasper ran in front of his sister. "He froze everyone in one second! How are we supposed to stop him!?"

Whisper shrugged, tearing up slightly. "I… I don't know."

Jasper slowly facepalmed as Whisper continued walking.

Ever since I was eight, i've never lost. Does that mean that i'll win against this? I don't know, and I don't care. Lionel is too dangerous to leave alone.

Jasper followed. Reluctantly. Why did I volunteer for this? This is the second worst day of my life.

As both of the Meowstic went to face off…

Mobius' talon twitched.
As his eyes opened.
Easily.

"This isn't over yet."

-----
Still frozen. Still icy. And still cold. Whisper didn't seem to mind, though.

Jasper, on the other hand, was shivering a lot. He didn't even bother opening his mouth to communicate. How are you dealing with this cold!? It's terrible!

Whisper glanced at Jasper, then just kept looking forward. I don't feel that much. I haven't been feeling anything for a long time.

Jasper rolled his eyes. You're so boring. Why are such an ice queen?

What? What's an ice queen? A froslass?

Forget it. They've been walking for about 4 minutes and the ice hallway looked the same as before. When I asked you about that Derek character you apparently forgot about him.

Oh, I remembered him alright. I just didn't want to talk about it.

So you do have feelings!

Whisper gave a subtle shake of her head. You should stop trying to mess with my personal life.

"Look at you idiots. Just walking and assuming that you'll beat me!" Lionel's voice echoed through the cave. "You better watch your step!" The standard dark-cave-light-radius of 6-feet faded. It was now pitch black in the cave.

"Stand behind me." Whisper grabbed Jasper's hand as he stood behind her. She stood still, and closed her eyes.

What're you doing!? Jasper thought, panicked.

Hold on. I'm dilating my eyes, I got better night vision than you. Whisper responded.

…

"You're dilating your eyes and you got better night vision than that little brat of yours, huh!?" Lionel's voice boomed. "I know what you're thinking, you imbeciles! You think I got my position by just throwing out a bunch of angry pokemon?"

Whisper sighed angrily. Do we have to-

Jasper smiled, a little giddy. Yeah, you gotta do it! I didn't make you spend 5 months in that one class for nothing!

"Hey! What're you morons talking about!?"

Bien.

Haha! Je pensais que tu avais oublié toutes ces leçons de français!

Whisper looked a little angry. She could hardly remember what meant what, since she could hardly care less about a second language, despite being really smart apparently. Je doute sérieusement que cela aide.

Lionel didn't say anything else.

The two reached a dead end.
Jasper squinted. All he saw was some icy walls. "I… I think I see something stuck in that ice, sis."

They weren't sure what it was. "I have no idea what it is. It just looks like a potato to me."

"Doesn't matter!" All the lights(whatever they are) turned on, and Lionel appeared behind them. "There will be no more interruptions in my project. As soon as I deal with you."

Jasper stepped back. "Woah! What is the matter with you?"

"Clearly he's brain damaged and needs to get a checkup, since he's got some delusions of grandeur." Whisper said.

"Shut up!" Lionel unleashed his ice attack again, but this time it trapped Whisper in a giant block of ice. Jasper somehow wasn't affected.

Jasper gasped. "SIS!" then he turned to Lionel. "You monster!" He hit Lionel with a Toxic before he could do anything else.
You're going down! You hear me!?

"Damn… that hurts. A bit." Lionel turned and started running away.

Jasper went down on all fours and sprinted after Lionel. "Get back here!"

"Grrrrr!" Lionel growled. "What's it gonna take to get rid of you brats!?" He turned and tried his Sheer Cold attack on Jasper again, but it still missed. He continued running away.

"Stop running away you coward!" Jasper was catching up to Lionel. Either the poison or Jasper is gonna take him down.

Lionel tried a Surf. But the persistent meowstic teleported through the attack. "How are you dodging everything? You are nothing but a weakling!"

"I'm- coming for you!" Jasper leaped onto Lionel and sank his teeth into his side.

"Arrrrrrrrgggg-hhhhhhh!!!!!" Lionel started to slow down, and Jasper still wouldn't let go. The poison; the bleeding… he felt so much pain. Eventually, Lionel slowed down to a walk… and collapsed on the floor.

Jasper stood up and coughed a few times. He sat down against a wall, tired. His thoughts felt blank.

Lionel could hardly move. He was bleeding, and the poison and slowly making it's way through his body. "Ugh… damnit, kid. How'd you… beat me."

"I… I don't know." Jasper stood up. "And I don't care. I just want to go home." And with that, he slowly walked back to the room Whisper was at.

-----
The place was significantly colder than usual. Jasper sighed as he walked to where Whisper was. Still stuck in a block of ice.

It's over. I can finally go home.
He put both his hands together and closed his eyes. Psychic power was welling up from within him, and he shattered the block of ice Whisper was in. She fell out and landed on the floor, dazed.

"Sis! Are you okay?" Jasper ran up to Whisper, who wasn't standing up. He knelt beside her and lifted her body up a little.

"I… it's so… cold…" Whisper was shivering profusely, and she had a panicked face.

Jasper's smile waned, and a few tears started to gather in his eyes. "It's all over. We're… we're going home."

Whisper was crying a little bit too. "Jas… per. I don't… think… I can make it."

"What? No! B-but-"

"Don't. It hurts…"

He was at a loss for words. He had never felt so sad before. Tears were streaming down his face, freezing as they fell off.

"I'm… s o r r y." Whisper slowly closed her eyes.

"No… it's not… it can't… be…" Jasper cried. "Please… don't leave me! Sis! Please…!"

…

With a shaded figure, watching from a distance.

Saving game… please do not turn off the power…
Game Successfully Saved.

Part 21: Raz Grey
The ending? wasn't necessarily a good ending. There hardly is one. A while ago, I defeated Pheobe of the Elite Four. After a friend, Brendan defeated Steven Stone, we were just lost after that. Nothing to do, and he's taken off and hasn't come back. For years.

-----
Mobius? talon twitched.
As his eyes opened.
Easily.

This isn?t over yet. Because that's all you got. Mobius stood up after only two minutes of being frozen. The others, however, didn't seem to be doing too good. Ice was forming on their bodies after the attack. Mobius normally would've tried waking them up, but he assumed that there was no way that they were gonna be standing anytime soon.

Hmm? Where'd those kids go? I saw that girl hiding behind me and her brother taking cover behind someone else, so they probably evaded getting hit.
Mobius sighed. Those kids were going to get themselves killed. He ran forward and took flight in the direction that Lionel likely went.
?Oof!? Mobius bumped into something that suddenly appeared in front of him. ?What? Who's there?? He adjusted his hat? and noticed an angry looking Pyroar in front of him.

He was growling a lot. ?Grrrrrrr??

?Er, yeah buddy. Can you try speaking in a language I understand, like Unown or something? But then again, Unown is a writ-?

?Grar!? The pyroar leaped at Mobius, mistaking him for an easy target. He simply took off his fedora and smacked the pyroar with it, which was surprisingly effective.

The pyroar was sent to the side from the attack, barely missing the swellow.
?You gotta be a little faster than that if you want to beat me.? Mobius said smugly, putting his fedora back on.

*ROAR!* The pyroar tried a flamethrower, but Mobius dodged and hit him with a Steel Wing. ?C'mon, buddy. I'm the master of dodging right now. Don't mess around.?

As a last resort, the pyroar overheated, making the room extremely hot, melting any nearby ice. Mobius was still able to counteract, he simply turned around and flew several yards away until the pyroar cooled off. ?Listen! Are you deaf or are you dumb!? Just let me pass, because I've fought others just like you!? Mobius shouted, clearly ticked off.

Without waiting for another pointless attack Mobius darted forward and leaped, placing his talon on the pyroar's face. In only a second, he somersaulted while attempting to deal as much damage as possible.
When he landed, the pyroar was sprawled on the ground, unmoving.

Mobius? angered expression was soon replaced with a half-bored, half-sad look. He just looked at the ground and shook his head.
I'm sorry. Crap.

But he didn't waste any time. He simply walked past the pyroar's body after finishing his thought, as proceeded.
This? is a little more than what I'm used to. But I just have to save those kids and I'll be all good.

But first, Mobius pulled out a phone and dialed Slade. ?Hello??

?Slade, I'm gonna need you to come back to Cellalight.?

?Oh come on, man!? Slade said in a clearly frustrated tone. ?Do you know how long it took me to swim to that island??

Mobius chuckled a bit, but straightened himself out quickly. ?Fourteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds. You told me because you felt the need to record the time and mention it to me.?

?Yeah, because I was the handyman back in Hoenn!?

?Okay whatever, just come back!?

?No way man, I'm getting Jade to do it!? Slade hung up.

Mobius sighed again. Hard. Oh well, Jade could probably get to the island faster, anyway.

He took flight once again, but within two minutes, something was in his way again. But not really, since it wasn't exactly blocking him.

Lionel. Someone who can be described as the worst person when it comes to contingency plans.
Because he was dead. Dee. Ee. Ay. Dee. Mobius looked around Lionel's body some more. Some sort of poison, Jasper?s Toxic, probably. And a bite wound? A very harsh one, too.
Hm. Where'd those kids go?

It wasn't much further until he found what he was looking for at the end of the road. Jasper, and what appeared to be Whisper, who was either unconscious or? no.
What happened? Am I too late?

Jasper was crying. Mobius didn't have to see his face or hear his voice to know that.
He walked forward, until Jasper heard him walking.

?Wha, w-whos there?? He said, terrified.

Mobius walked forward so that Jasper could see him. ?Calm down. It's me.?

The kid sniffled, turned his face to his sister, and just closed his eyes. ?W-What do you want n? now. Are? are you just gonna tell me? it'll be okay? Huh??

?No.? Mobius shook his head. ?It's not okay.?

?Why? Why?? Jasper said to nobody in particular. A lot of tears were streaming down his face, but not enough, not ever enough, Mobius thought.

After that, the two said nothing, and did nothing. The swellow had been all over, and seen a lot of things in his life. He'd seen this sort of thing before, too.

A time that felt like an eternity passed, until Mobius finally decided to talk. ?Kid, Jasper. We should go. You can't stay here forever.?

Without saying anything, Jasper stood up, wiped a few tears off his face which were replaced easily? and climbed on Mobius.

Mobius stalled. But he still took off. As fast as he wanted. Out of the horrible place, past the officers who were now unfrozen, past Jade and Slade who were helping the officers, and away back to where they came from.

--3 Days Later--
?That kid? he's just alone now. I don't know how, but he's still able to manage on his own.? Mobius said sadly. He was sitting in a chair, in a fancy house.
He was speaking to three people. Jade, Slade, and Frost.

?Wow. That's? terrible.? Slade commented.

Mobius took his hat off. ?Yeah, it is. I miss the good old days, where we just wanted to evolve, while stopping the forces of Team Aqua and Magma from ruining Hoenn.?

?We're grown up now, Raz. We shouldn't just steal the fun from all the other kids.? Frost said. ?It's fine for me, doing the occasional fight with Steven is pretty nice.?

Jade scoffed ?Naw, that's lame. What else do you do in your spare time??

Frost kept silent for a few seconds, then said ?...Editting a wiki.?

?What's with the delay?? Jade asked.

?Forget it, lady.? Frost said, avoiding the question. ?Anyways, Mobius. Thanks for visiting. It does actually get pretty boring here.?

?Sure, but it wasn't nice to swim while carrying 4 people to an island,? Alex said a bit angrily. ?-then swim back to the town!?

Mobius chuckled. ?Heh, you needed some exercise anyway. Cutting lawns isn't great for your back.?

?Of course it is!?

?Whatever you say.?

Jade leaned forward. ?Say, Mobius. Did you ever come back to that island??

?I did, actually. The next day I went back to see if there was anything else there, but there was? nothing, and no one there.?

?No one? Of course there's no one, the island is aban-?

?That's not it. The pyroar I attacked, Lionel, and Whisper. The Shadow Pokemon that were in the place. They were all gone.?

--60 Hours Ago--
A small, green quadrupedal Pokemon was limping forward. Up to the body of a female meowstic.
?I'm sorry?? a quiet and slightly squeaky voice said. ?But this is the only way.?
A strange light surrounded the stranger, and the room was enveloped in a bright light.

I still see some formatting problems here and there, but it's much better than the last few chapters there.

Lionel and Jasper's battle there were a couple instances where you could give a bit more detail, like one part you put "Lionel tried a Surf" and have description of water waves (perhaps there was a water source in the cave? I apologize for missing that). Otherwise, I do like the description of Lionel being weaker when poisoned. I take it Sheer Cold hit Whisper and why she thought she wasn't going to make it? Still though, ouch.

I admit because it's been some weeks since I last read this I don't remember an appearance by Pyroar. Also seems the mention of Hoenn is getting more significant there, hm...

So Mobius and Jasper left Whisper on the island (before being taken away?)? I would have thought Jasper might want to try to save or bury her, even if Mobius did say nothing's okay. I do wonder what's going to happen after Whisper and everyone else being taken away now.