I don't know, I'll have to see what I can do about it.
Now, after almost three months of waiting, I give you Chapter 9!
Chapter 9
Reinforcements
The tall figure, who Bruno had just realized was his brother, bent low on his knees, helping his little brother up from were he sat.
"I see you were coming to get us, were you?" Eric asked, standing his brother back on his feet in front of him.
Bruno couldn't speak. Shock and over-excitement had creeped into his little body, but most of all a reassurance of sorts. He knew everything would be alright now that his older brother was with him. He wanted to speak, but every time he tried, a croak came out of his mouth, so instead of verbally answering his brother, he shook his head and then threw his small arms around Eric's waist.
Eric carefully pulled him away long enough to crouch back down on his knees, returning his brothers hug. He held him, even though his shirt was slowly becoming drenched with tears. He rubbed his back, trying to settle him down. After a few minutes of this, he finally did, and Bruno pulled away from his brother, taking his hand as he stood back up.
"H-how did you know I was coming to get you?" Bruno asked, wiping tears from his face.
"Let's walk and I'll explain, we don't have much time. We have to get back to the others before something happens, I don't want to miss my oppurtunity at getting Riaze." Eric explained, pulling Bruno along beside him as they walked fast along the path. "I got a call from Stan. You remember the old man that was sort of old and talked about a Murkrow, when you were at his store?" Eric asked.
Bruno nodded. "Yeah, he's the one that Timmy said was off his rocker in the head. I remember." His heart skipped a beat at the mention of Timmy. He wondered if he was okay.
Eric chuckled softly to himself before saying, "Yes, well Timmy is wrong. Stan is a spy for The Resistance. He was telling Timmy something thru code that everything was alright... until about twenty minutes after you had left, three stranger had come into town dressed in black leather suites. He quickly made his way back to his store from running errands, and called and told me. I knew then that something was wrong, and knowing that you and Timmy were training the glade, I immediately called and told a few of the other people from The Resistance.
"Since I was in Hoenn, I took one of The Resistance's jets over here and met everyone else just outside of Jubilife. After one of the members reported seeing people on the backs of Pokemon flying over Jubilife City, we then knew that it was worse than any of us could have thought." Eric explained, still pulling Bruno behind him.
Bruno tried to process it through his little brian, but he kept coming back to the jet. He had said jet, hand't he? "You flew a jet over hear from Hoenn?" He asked. He had to make sure.
"Yep, sure did. I didn't fly it mind you, but I rode in it over hear." Eric verified.
"Yeah, but we left Jubilife City almost three hours ago. You couldn't of gotten here that fast from Hoenn." Bruno said. He wasn't sure if his brother was telling the truth.
"Ah, yes. You see, thanks to a kind old man named Crandal Williams, who has been kind enough to supply us with whatever The Resistance needs, I was able to take one of the fastest jets in the world to here. So, in less than three hours I fly over four hundred miles." Eric said, as he moved a branch from a large tree out of their way.
Bruno still wasn't sure he was telling the truth, but he took it for what it was and for the time being decided to believe him.
After all, Eric was his brother.
Finally after a long and rather fast walk, they could see figures standing behind a thick line of trees. As they got closer, Bruno realized that he didn't recognize hardly any of them. By now, all of them had turned their heads watching Eric and Bruno as they approached. As Eric walked forward, all of them seemed to move out of the way for him and his brother, smiling and greeting them as they past. Eric smiled back, saying hello to them, but all the while never stopping.
They came to an abrupt stop in front of three men, all relatively older than Eric.
"Ah, so is this him?" One of the men asked. He was tall and black. Taller than anyone else around them. When he spoke, the ground rumbled beneath them. He wore a thick cloak around himself, and had a thick beard and mustache that he kept in a fashionable manner.
Eric turned to the man and smiled. He extended his hand to the man and replied, "Yeah. This is Bruno, Baryl. He's my younger brother." He looked down at Bruno who stared at him, "Bruno, this is Baryl, Rael and Gunther. They're the other three leaders of The Resistance. Say hello to them when you get the chance."
Bruno nodded his head, looking at the other two men. The man named Rael, was also tall, like his brother and Baryl, but just shorter than them both by atleast a full three inches. He had long hair that hung from a pony tail, a beard and mustache in the same fashion as Baryl.
The other man, Gunther also had a beard and mustache, only his were long and braided. He looked older than the other two, and had graying black hair that hung down to his shoulders. He was rather big around the middle, but had strong muscular arms that seemed to make up for the belly.
"So, what have we missed? Has Riaze and the rest of the Crusaders showed up yet?" Eric asked, looking at the three other men.
Rael nodded before explaining. "Timmy is talking to him right now. We're just waiting for the right time to attack."
Eric nodded and turned. A boy, about the same age as Timmy stood ten yards away, a large object in his hands. Eric spoke as loud as he dared, making sure that the Crusaders out in the glade couldn't hear him.
"Gizmo!" He motioned with his finger for the boy to come to him. The boy turned, nodded in understanding and ran to were Timmy and Bruno stood with Rael, Baryl and Gunther.
"Let me see that." Eric demanded. Gizmo handed him the large black machine, which Eric put up to his eyes. He looked through it for a few moments before he handed the thing back to Gizmo. "You got something I can use to listen in on their conversation?" Eric asked.
"Yeah. Watch this." Gizmo replied, reaching into a small bag slung around his shoulder. He pulled out what looked like a small sattilite and pointed it into the glade. It beeped a few times, before the six guys heard voices talking. Bruno recognized Timmy's voice instantly.
"Every last one of you leather clad freaks. Do you understand?" They heard Timmy ask.
There was a long pause, before a whispering voice spoke up. "Fine, if it is to be this way, then it shall be. We have no choice but to take you back to H.Q., so that you may speak with Master."
"So you've said." Timmy replied, "But you see, I'm not going with you."
"And, why is that?" Riaze asked.
"Because after I kick all of your leather wearing asses, your going to be to soar to do anything but run away in fear." The members of The Resistance heard him say. They all laughed at this.
"We'll see about that." Riaze said. A few seconds later, a hundred loud pops could be heard from out in the glade. Eric didn't hesitate to motion to the men and what few women there were, that stood behind him. The three leaders, Gunther, Rael and Baryl all pulled different colored Pokeballs from their belts, enlarging them in their hands.
Eric crouched on one knee, turning to look at his three friends. "Go, I'll be there in a moment. I have to talk to Bruno about something." He recieved a nod from the three friends, all of who rushed into the glade, with eager and loyal men and women behind them, ready to give their lives in a blink of an eye for their couragous leaders.
"Alright, now listen to me. Under no circumstance are you to leave this area. If a Crusader comes for you then you run from him as fast as you can. Either you can run to me, or to one of the other men. Understand?" Eric asked, brushing his fingers through his younger brothers short cropped hair.
Tears slid from Bruno's eyes, as he wiped them away from the back of his hand. He knew there wasn't any logic in argueing with his older brother, so with a soft spoken understanding, Eric kissed him on the forehead and stood back up, taking his small hand into the palm of his. Bruno's hand was petite compared to Eric's. It felt comfortable; he knew that everything would be fine.
Eric dragged Bruno to a spot just behind a tree, and told him to wait there. From that vantage point, Bruno could see everything that was going on during the battle, safely away from danger. Eric smiled what looked like a weak and forced smile, and then ran forward into the glade.
Bruno watched, all the while with wide and intense eyes. He had expected to see a large scale battle taking place within the small confines of the glade, but to his amazement no one fought. Instead, two large lines had been formed, one on each side of the glade. On the side closest to him, stood The Resistance with their Pokemon at their sides, ready to give the command to start the battle with a whisper of a word. On the other side of the glade, stood the leather clad Black Crusaders, who looked to have been pushed back against the opposing tree line.
Silence hung thick in the air.
Three of the four leaders, Baryl, Rael and Gunther, stood in the front of the thin stretched line of men and women that composed The Resistance. The fourth leader, Eric took his spot standing next to his three friends, breathless and tired looking. It wasn't until then that Bruno noticed the deep wrinkles that seemed to have appeared within the days since he had said his goodbyes to his brother...
It seemed so long ago... but in truth it had only been a few meager days.
Bruno strained to look at Riaze, who stood in front of his lackies, still clad in his cloak. Carefully, without making to much noise, Bruno made his way from were he stood over to a small shaded piece of grass which lay under a large oak tree. Now, he was adjecent to the nearest member of the Resistance -- a small, gaunt old man who Bruno immediatly recognised as the old man from the shop in Jubilife City.
It wasn't long until Riaze walked forward into the clearing between the two lines of fighters. Eric took the initiative and walked forward, so that he stood next to Timmy. Soon after, Rael came walked forward to stand on Timmy's other side, a huge smile splayed across his face. Then, Gunther and Baryl joined them, taking their positions on either side of the other two men.
A smile slipped across the five mens faces, as Eric looked up into the hooded face of Riaze.
"At last, we meet again." Eric began, taking a few more steps forward, so that he was only inches from were Riaze stood, "It's nice to see that your doing so well Riaze. I see that you still have a loathing hatred for the sun."
A deep voice echoed from the hood that shrouded Riaze's face. "Ah. And I see that you still haven't learned how to not be such a smart ass... just like your father."
Eric's hands balled into fists at his sides.
"Oh, by the way... how is he? Not doing so well I suppose." Riaze said. A deep, horrible sounding laugh echoeing through the glade.
Eric's face quickly turned from a large smile, to a mask of pain and insultation.
"Why you son of a --" Eric began.
"Now, now Eric lets not get to harsh. We wouldn't want your brother to hear you saying such a bad thing, now would we?" Riaze interupted, a tone of laughter still hung on his voice.
"How do you know he's here?" Eric asked, his fists becoming tighter.
"It wasn't that hard to figure out. After all, we've been following him since he left home. Speaking of which, how's your grandmother? I expect she's still morning the death of her beloved son?"
"That's it! No more talking. Let's settle this like real Pokemon Masters! Shall we?" Eric asked, slipping his hand into his pant pocket. He pulled out a normal looking Pokeball; a standard red and white ball that fit easily within the palm of his hand.
"Very well. It shall be so." Riaze replied, as he reached into the left sleeve of his cloak and pulled out a deep purple colored Pokeball, with two small, light purple colored circles that lay on both sides of the top of the ball. Bruno didn't recognise it, but he knew it had to be much stronger than the normal Pokeballs that lay empty in his own pockets.
"Now gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to step back so as not to get hurt, Eric and I shall begin the battle." His voice was soft, as if he had become a nicer person that what he had been only seconds before.
The four men nodded their heads, as they turned and walked back to the front of the lines of the Resistance. "Have no worries Master Timmy, your time will come soon after Master Eric's. It should only take but a few minutes."
Timmy snarled something under his breath, but was quickly silenced by a large black hand on his shoulder. It felt as heavy as a bears paw. Looking up, Timmy realised that it belonged to Baryl. Staring him in the face, Baryl smiled, and shook his head. He tipped his head towards the battle, and the two waited patiently for it to commence.
"Alright, we've waited long enough for this, so come on out Empoleon. It's time to finish this freak off." Eric yelled, throwing his Pokeball into the air. A loud crack split through the silence as a white light shot out from the center of the ball. A tall mass of light formed between the two men, taking shape of a two legged creature. Bruno knew without a doubt that the Pokemon that belonged to his brother, had at one time been the little penguin Pokemon Prinplup, he had met the first day of Eric's journey.
Now, instead of barely coming up to the heighth of Eric's knees, it stood a good two feet taller than him. Although it was a tall Pokemon, most of it's heighth could be attested to the fact that it's three horns -- attached to it's golden beak, were a good foot and a half tall. It's fins, which in truth were more like arms, came to a thick point on both sides. They looked to be as thick as a wooden oar that would be used to paddle a small canoe through a stream or river.
Bruno marveled at the sight of it, until another Pokemon appeared, only this one didn't belong to his brother.
Riaze chuckled from inside his hood, as he tossed the purpled ball into the air. It made the same cracking noise as Eric's had, only it was louder and sparks shot out from the ball when it opened. But, thats were the similarities between the two balls stopped. Instead of a white light like Eric's ball had produced, Riaze's ball spilt out a thick dark, shadow that creeped across the sky, until it landed softly onto the ground, building up a large thick shape of what could only be a Pokemon.
When the ball had shut tight, and shot back to Riaze's waiting hand; zooming through the sky with a high pitched squel, the shadows melted away, leaving behind one of the biggest, meanest Pokemon Bruno had ever seen in his young life.
The thing was green, with a light blue colored diamand that seemed to stretch upright across its chest. Black marks adorned it's chest as well, including parts of it's legs. Spikes crested across it's back, and along the back of it's arms, making it look sinister and mean.
Bruno froze were he stood.
"If I remember correctly, Riaze, the person who's being challenged makes the first move. Besides, it would be rude of me if I didn't let such a lady like yourself go before me. My father would be ashamed if I wasn't curtious to a lady." Eric said.
"Ah, there's the smart comments. I was wondering when they would begin to show up." Riaze replied, "Tyranitar use Thunder Claw!" His voice boomed.
Everyone in the glade, and even the small boy who hid behind the giant oak tree froze stiff, watching as the first blow of the fight was dealt... only, it wasn't from Tyranitar.
In the few seconds it took Riaze to give the command to Tyranitar, Empoleon had jumped through the air, bringing a large fin down onto the waiting behemoth of a Pokemon. It wasn't a normal attack, however. The fin of Empoleon had collected energy, which produced a large ball of black lightning that crackled as it shot through it's opponent.
Empoleon jumped back in the seconds that followed, watching as Tyranitar staggered backwards. He didn't wait for Tyranitar to regain his composure. Instead, it blasted a large beam of ice from it's mouth, directly at Tyranitar's feet; freezing him were he stood.
"Oh by the way, when I told you that you could go first, I sorta lied." Eric said smiling as he watched Empoleon jump forward again to strike his frozen foe.
It wasn't until then that Bruno realised that Empoleon was fighting Tyranitar without any commands from Eric. His brother was using the same technique Timmy had been teaching him only days before.
Black lightning formed at the tips of Empoleon's fins, as he brought them down to slam across the ice that had frozen Tyranitar in place. Thousands of small shards of the stuff flew into the air, landing in the tall grass that surrounded them.
"Dodge him Tyranitar!" Riaze barked.
Tyranitar, who was now free did as he was told. As he spun around to face Empoleon, a bright light started to form at it's mouth, shining against his attacker. Empoleon knew what was coming, and with a quick lurch to his left, dodged the beam of light as it blew a crater the size of a large tree stump into the ground, sending soil raining through the air.
"Attack him head on with Thunder Claw! Don't give in." Riaze barked a new issue of orders.
The huge penguin Pokemon ran forward, just as Tyranitar met him in a clash of blows. Pure white, hot lightning formed on the tips of Tyranitars claws, crackling as it ate up the surrounding air. Empoleon instinctively jumped back, clasped both fins together. Two balls of black lightning formed at the tips of each fin, as he pulled them apart. Forced to seperate, the two balls fizzed and popped as they let go of each other.
"Get him!"
Tyranitar jumped forward, just as Empoleon took a defensive stance; digging it's claws into the loose soil. Bringing his two fins into a defensive X that formed across his chest, Empoleon waited as his opponent brought it's claws forward, directly into the middle of the X.
A giant ball of energy shot forth, surrounding the two Pokemon as they each pushed against each other. The ball -- the color of each Pokemon's attack -- blocked out anyone or anything that wasn't inside of it.
It snapped and popped louder and more frequently than any attack from Empoleon or Tyraniter, as it ate up the air around it.
The smell of burning ozone quickly filled the glade, forcing many of the men and women who inhabited it at that moment to pull their shirts over their noses. It was enough to stop the smell from burning their nasal cavities.
The ball of energy lasted for quite some time. All the while they audiance watched with amazement, to stunned to do anything; let alone fight each other.
Then, after minutes of the power struggle between the two Pokemon, the shield of energy slowly dissapated; shrinking until there was nothing left but the two Pokemon.
Both Empoleon and Tyaranitar lay sprawled out in the grass, unconsious.
Neither trainer had won. Nor had they lost, either. It was a stalemate, something that had never happened to the two men before. Now, there was only one way to settle the problem.
The two opposing sides: The Black Crusaders and the members of The Resistance, would fight each other until there was only one team left standing.
Before Eric could say anything, a deep voice boomed through the ozone filled glade.
"Attack!"