Chapter 18: VS. Mamoswine! *pokemonelite2000 image removed*
Once Dawn made it through to the other side of the relatively small portion of Coronet, a shady man walked up to her. He looked as if he was frightened.
Dawn made a disgruntled face as the man approached her and said, stammering, "D-d-don't s-s-say anything. J-just t-t-take it!"
He handed her a large brown stone and ran off quickly, screaming.
Dawn chuckled a bit and said, "Ah, okay. I guess I'll see what Prof. Rowan knows about this thing."
She walked across a long, almost unstable, bridge, looking to her right. A magnificent waterfall was there.
Dawn smiled, slowing her pace, "Amazi-!" She yelped and screamed dramatically.
Her foot had fallen through a wooden board on the bridge. Not too long afterwards, her other foot fell through the hole and now she was hanging onto her life, literally, as she held on to the bridged with both hands.
"If only I can reach into my bag and call out Aves!"
Suddenly, her fingers began slipping until she reached the point where she began hurling down towards the rushing waters.
-----
A young man watched Dawn fall, from small mountain peak above. He clicked his tongue and rubbed his fist on his lavender blazer and uttered quietly, "Hm, she's sure to die."
From a pocket inside his suit, he quickly brought out an Ultra Ball and tossed it downward, towards the rapids, "Mamoswine, release!"
The black Pokeball lined with yellow markings, burst open, releasing a large, brown mammoth looking Pokemon with a massive pig snout. The tusk on either side of his face were long, shifting downward. Around it's eyes were menacing black markings and surrounding the markings was an aqua blue mask.
Mamoswine began diving torwards the waters after Dawn.
Dawn, meanwhile, was still falling from the bridge, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her bag descended as well, a few feet above her head.
"Blizzard!"
Mamoswine inhaled deeply, "Manmuuu!" It then exhaled just as deep, releasing a Blizzard from it's large snout. The ice managed to freeze the entire waterfall, solid.
Once Dawn collided with the frozen rapids, she slid a few feet downwards, before running into a boulder, back first, "Oh..." She sighed as she stood up but slipped and fell.
The young man from before was now walking on the ice, with ease. His face was covered by a masquerade mask. Mamoswine stood by his side and roared.
"Heh, are you OK?" He extended his hand to help the girl up. If Dawn would've noticed, a decal was pressed onto the young man's suit: N.T.R.
Dawn nodded as she took the young man's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up, "Thank you, but who are -"
The young man placed his index finger on her lips and said, "Shhh," he removed his finger from her lips, "My name is Xavier. However, I am better known as X, so, please call me by nickname."
Dawn nodded, getting goosebumps from when X placed his finger to her lips.
X chuckled a bit as he turned his back toward Dawn, "For saving your life, you owe me nothing." He turned his head nad looked back at her, "OK?"
Dawn nodded, her jaw on the ground.
"Good." X returned his Mamoswine as he placed the Pokeball back into his pocket, "Now, I must be on my way." He nodded at Dawn before he descended Mt. Coronet, out of Dawn's view.
Dawn could only watch.
-----
Upon entering the large city of Hearthome, Dawn went into the Pokemon Center to get her Pokemon healed. While she waited, Dawn sat on a love seat, still thinking over how the shady young man, X, saved her life, "Hm."
She began to reenact the situation in her head, "There was something on his blazer. Three letters. Ah! What were those letters?" Dawn slammed her palm to her forehead, trying to remember.
Eventually, Nurse Joy returned to the lobby with each of Dawn's Pokemon.
Dawn thanked the Nurse and proceeded to exit the lobby...
...until
"Excuse me..."
Dawn turned to face whomever spoke to her.
There, stood a short young woman, around the age of 17. Her blonde hair was tied in a crimson rubberband, and she was dressed in an orange tanktop and short blue jean shorts. ON her shoulder was a sleeping Glameow, "Would you happen to have seen a Buneary? I lost her when I returned here to Hearthome."
Dawn began to think back to when she entered Hearthome City...
...
...
As Dawn entered Hearthome City, still in shock of her life being saved by X, she noticed a well groomed Buneary, nibbling on a berry nearby.
Thinking it was a wild Pokemon, Dawn overlooked it until a tall, fat man came out of a nearby house, fuming at the site of his home grown berries being eaten by a wild Pokemon.
"Do you know how much time it takes to perfectly plant those berries!?!?!?"
The Buneary tilted its head up at the man before hopping off towards the city limits.
Dawn watched and chuckled a bit at how mad the man had gotten.
"You think this is funny!?!? Get outta here!!!"
Immediately Dawn began to run towards the city, ignoring the crazed Berry Master...
...
...
Dawn nodded her head at the woman, "Yes, it seemed to be headed torwards the Contest Hall. I was just about to go there now. I'm Dawn by the way."
The woman nodded, shaking Dawn's hand, "Bebe. I run the Pokemon Storage System. A lady down at the Contest Hall lost her Buneary. I was helping her to find it. I guess the Buneary went back to her. Could you go check?"
Dawn agreed and left for the Contest Hall.
-----
As Dawn stepped inside the slide doors, she noticed the large lobby full of trainers, preparing to take part in Contests. Looking around, Dawn noticed a tall woman hugging a Buneary tightly. The woman had dark blue, spherical hairdo and was dressed in a white blouse and a red sun dress. The Buneary in her arms pointed to Dawn, causing the woman to walk over to her, "Excuse me, but did you find my Buneary?"
Dawn shrugged and said, "Eh, somewhat. It's so cute!"
The woman smiled and said, "Oh thank you! I would have gave these to my son, but he doesn't like Contests." She reached into her back handed Dawn a Poffin Case, a Glitter Powder Accessory, and a Dress.
Dawn marveled at her new items and thanked the woman, "Thank you so much!"
The woman nodded her head and said, "Oh! Diamond!" She called out to her son who had just came from the bathroom.
Diamond grinned as he ran over to his Mom," Yeah, Mom?" He looked to Pearl and then groaned, "Ah, you again. I swear, you follow me everywhere."
Pearl placed her hands on her hips and said, "Um! Excuse me! Are you forgetting the mission!!??"
They both folded their arms and looked elsewhere.
Diamond's mother chuckled and said, "Oh such good friends. Just like your father once was."
Diamond sighed and said, "Please don't mention father."
-----
Dawn eventually signed up for Contests, receiving her Contest Pass. She then decided to categorize each of her Pokemon for a suited Contest type:
Pyra: Beauty Contests
Aves: Tough Contests
Queen: Cute Contests
Boom Boom: Cool Contests
Tater: Smart Contests
Peep, in Dawn's opinion, was not Contest material. However, the Drifloon did not mind.
-----
After defeating 4 of the Normal Rank Contests, it was time for Dawn to participate the Smart Normal Rank Contest with Tater. Each of her Pokemon each wore their newly won ribbons proudly on the sidelines, as Dawn and Tater took the stage, proceeding with the Visual Judgement.
Tater had huge DJ head phones on its head and began to recite the Pokerap that it had learn from a radio.
The crowd applauded Dawn and Tater respectively.
Among those in the crowd were Diamond and his Mother, "She's actually good , Mom."
His mother nodded as Dawn signaled Tater to begin dancing.
-----
Meanwhile...
On the roof of the Hall, stood X, several men and women in burnt orange winter clothing, and a tall slender woman dressed in a purple dress. Her hair was lower-back length and her face was fully covered with a mask.
X stared up at the woman and said, "Uranus, let's begin."
The woman nodded and said, "Of course. Being the new Gym Leader here, people think of me as weak. Hm, well that changes today." She looked to her grunts,"Neo Team Rocket! Fantina, codename Uranus, has declared operation 'Double-Cross' a go!"
The Neo Team Rocket grunts nodded their heads as the roof of the Contest Hall burst open.
The crowd below looked up as the entire fleet jumped through the opening in the ceiling.
Dawn looked up towards the city. All she could see were black shadowy figures since the sun limited her sight.
However, it didn't limit Diamond's sight, "Neo Team Rocket!"
END
(Next: Chapter 19: VS. Froslass!)
Author's Note: Fantina was once a member of Team Galaxy, which is why her code name is Uranus.