The Quest for the Legends (version ILCOE)

[Lily]

Oh this was very interesting.

One thing I loved about this chapter were your descriptions of the Pokemon when they were getting first introduced. And the Gyarados part...As long as you don't powerplay or anything with it as that is a LV 20 Pokemon for pete's sake, I'm extremely curious about its behavior. When the battle part came, it was clever of the girl to oppose every move Mark made, that made it much more interesting.

The main focus for me right now it the Lake of Purity, Suicune and that odd Gyarados. Honestly, I love the mystery put behind this fic as well as the plotline which has not been revealed yet. The only thing I had trouble seeing were short sentences, compared to your other sentences. Big difference to me. o_O; But otherwise, great job as always.

^_^

 

[Dragonfree]

Heh, Gyarados is powerful, yes, but I love to emphasize his extreme weakness to electricity. Well, as you're about to see...





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RATING

Violence: Pok?mon battles of the more violent kind.

Gore: Some blood, yeah. No guts, though.

Sexuality: None...

Profanity: None.

Other: Nothing special I can remember.
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Chapter 6: The Mammal, the Monster and the Mental Change

Mark walked silently with his Pok?mon towards the city. He was still afraid of what he held in his Pok?ball, attached to his own belt.

This Gyarados was strange. Too strange. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. Yet, Gyarados was more likely to be dangerous to him if he attempted to release him. Mark was stuck in an odd situation ? and perhaps a serious one at that, if the sea monster would wreck something. He found it absurd that a few minutes earlier, he had been thinking ?It can barely hurt, can it?? Of course it could hurt. It was a Gyarados. What if he went berserk at the Pok?mon center or something?

?Uh, Mark?? Charmander asked carefully.

?What?? Mark replied, snapping out of his thoughts.

?We?re here,? the lizard pointed out.

?Oh,? said Mark stupidly, looking around. They were in front of the Pok?mon Center again; it looked somehow safer in the dark with the fluorescent lighting of the roof, made to help trainers find it.

Stepping inside to be greeted by the warmth, Mark noticed that there were still quite a few trainers sitting in the red sofas, tapping their feet or just staring into the air in a kind of a trance while their Pok?mon got healed. Mark imagined how it must be to wait anxiously for the nurse to try to heal a severely injured Pok?mon, not knowing if it would live or die? he would never, ever let Charmander get hurt so much again. He would rather give up.

He walked with Charmander on his heels across the room, and to the desk, where the red-haired nurse was currently standing, waiting for more patients.

?Good evening. You?re out late,? she said in her trademark soft voice.

?Hi, I?d like to have my three Pok?mon treated overnight,? Mark said.

?I don?t think that?s necessary?? Charmander began, but Mark just picked him up and put him on the desk, looking him in the eyes.

?That Potion was just temporary,? he explained. ?You?re still worn-out after the battle and the cuts haven?t fully healed; it would be better if you stayed here for the night. You?d have to be inside your Pok?ball, anyway, since I doubt the hotel would allow a Pok?mon with a flame on its tail to sleep in one of their rooms.?

Charmander shrugged. ?Well, guess it?s best, then. See you tomorrow.?

Mark nodded, touched his lizard lightly with the Pok?ball and he was dissolved into red energy and sucked into the ball. Plucking the two other occupied spheres from his Pok?ball belt, he handed them to the nurse.

?Come back tomorrow for them,? she said, smiling. Mark felt alone as he walked out of the Pok?mon Center.

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He came to the hotel. A few of its windows were still illuminated from the inside, but most were dark. All the Pok?mon trainers the hotel was usually full of were either at the Pok?mon center, out trying to catch nocturnal Pok?mon or they had gone to bed already, hoping to start the next day early.

Mark entered quietly, going up the stairs to his room. Just like it had been odd when Charmander first went into his Pok?ball, it was odd when he was being treated at the Pok?mon Center.

Mark sighed, and couldn?t wait to retrieve his partners next day.

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?Here are your Pok?mon. Eevee is still inside, sleeping. I have a concern about your Gyarados, though??

Mark was in the Cleanwater city Pok?mon Center after a breakfast at the hotel, getting his Pok?mon back. It was rather early in the morning, and currently Mark was the only trainer there.

?What is it?? Mark asked, worried. Had Gyarados attacked somebody? Wrecked the healing machine?

?He suffers from severe lack of nutrition,? the nurse explained. ?What have you been feeding him, anyway??

?Nothing,? said Mark truthfully. ?I just got him.?

?I figured that had to be it,? said Nurse Joy, nodding thoughtfully. ?Your other Pok?mon aren?t underfed at all, so it seemed sort of odd that you would starve him.?

?What can I do about it?? asked Mark concernedly. Maybe that was why Gyarados wanted to get out of the lake? Just to eat? No, he had talked about getting out of Suicune?s reach?

?I fed him very nicely,? said the nurse, smiling. ?After eating, he even said ? in English, mind you; that?s quite some Pok?mon you got! ? that I was the second-nicest human in the world, after you.? She giggled.

?Huh? After me?? Mark was puzzled; he hadn?t thought Gyarados liked him so much just because he brought him to a Pok?mon Center.

?Yes. You must have earned his respect very well; most Gyarados are quite overwhelmed by their power when they evolve and are some of the most arrogant, impolite Pok?mon you?ll ever see ? he isn?t like that at all.?

?Well, that?s good,? Mark said, brightening up. To think of it? Gyarados would actually obey and be his strongest Pok?mon?

?Anyway, shouldn?t we wake Eevee?? the nurse suggested, gesturing for him to follow her. They walked into the room at the back; it was all dark blue and seemed cold, very unlike the warm, fluffy pink and red of the waiting room. In a cardboard box with blankets in standing on a table, Mark saw the furred creature he had found the day before, fast asleep and content, with his thick tail wrapped around his body.

?Eevee,? Nurse Joy said sweetly, ?time to wake up.?

She gently reached down and touched the Pok?mon?s fur carefully. Eevee stirred, licked her hand friendly and then opened his gleaming brown eyes. He noticed Mark with an expression of curiosity and, unless Mark was very much mistaken, some level of gratefulness.

?Remember me?? asked Mark slowly, offering his hand. Eevee carefully reached up with his nose, sniffing his fingers, then stroked his head up to his hand. Mark started scratching him behind his ear; Eevee gave a soft ?vee? and then started licking his hand too. Mark looked up at Nurse Joy; she was smiling.

?He?s really friendly and trusting; he will probably be a good Pok?mon for you if he wants that. I haven?t mentioned it; perhaps you should explain the situation now.?

?OK?? Mark started nervously, withdrawing his hand as to keep Eevee unbiased. ?Erm? Eevee, do you have a home??

The Pok?mon?s ears dropped as he shook his head sadly.

?Would you like me to? take you with me??

Eevee instantly nodded excitedly.

?And? um? I?m a Pok?mon trainer, you see??

?Vii?? asked the small Pok?mon, tilting his head.

?Don?t you know what a Pok?mon trainer is??

Eevee shook his head and looked up at Mark curiously.

?That?s a person who? er, keeps Pok?mon inside little balls, like these.? Mark removed Charmander and Sandshrew?s Pok?balls from his belt and showed them to Eevee, minimized.

?See, then you can make them inflate, like this??

Mark pressed the buttons and the spheres instantly maximized into battle-size. Eevee started, taking a small jump backwards inside the box. Mark laughed.

?There?s nothing to be afraid of. Come on, the balls won?t bite.?

Eevee carefully touched the cold, metallic surface of Charmander?s ball with the tip of his nose. He shivered, apparently still finding that thing a bit creepy, but with a small nod he confirmed his acceptance of the Pok?balls.

?Okay, now, don?t be scared?? Mark carefully dropped the balls into Eevee?s box; they both opened and the two Pok?mon formed in red light beside Eevee before the balls bounced right back into Mark?s palms.

This was something Eevee clearly found a lot harder to accept, which was no more than Mark had expected; his eyes widened from the shock of seeing two Pok?mon materialize from thin air right beside him. Eevee pressed himself against the wall of the box, moaning nervously as he covered his eyes with his long ears. Charmander and Sandshrew looked confusedly around; Charmander soon realized what was going on, carefully bent down to Eevee?s level and cautiously lifted one of his ears from his face. A terrified eye half-opened, then shut again as the Pok?mon forced its ear back down. Sandshrew curiously poked Eevee?s thick, soft mane; Charmander started to pat Eevee?s back reassuringly.

?It?s all right,? Mark said quietly, now placing his hand carefully on the scared Pok?mon?s head. ?Look.? He brushed Eevee?s ears away, and pointed both Pok?balls at the Pok?mon they belonged to; Charmander and Sandshrew both dissolved into red light as they shot back into the balls.

?Now,? Mark began explaining as Eevee started to calm down, ?a Pok?mon trainer carries Pok?mon in balls like these, and when he sees a Pok?mon or another trainer, he uses his Pok?mon to battle.?

Eevee looked expectantly up at him, waiting to hear more.

?He sends out his Pok?mon from the balls ? only one at a time ? and they battle the other Pok?mon or trainer?s Pok?mon. If his Pok?mon are getting too hurt, he will recall them back into the ball. A Pok?mon trainer will always heal his Pok?mon as soon as possible when they are hurt, and make sure they get plenty of food and never suffer permanent injuries.?

Mark had never in his life thought about what Pok?mon training actually was ? yet now, he was telling it to an innocent, young Pok?mon that hadn?t had a mother for long enough to learn about these things. It felt odd.

?Then?? Mark?s voice was trembling for some reason, ?? the trainer? well, usually? becomes really close to the Pok?mon ? a type of friend who takes really good care of them and loves them like his own siblings... and usually, the Pok?mon will feel like that too??

Eevee?s shiny, big eyes still looked happily up at Mark?s deep green ones; he took a deep breath before asking the final question.

?So? will you? do you want me to train you? Don?t think about what I want, just what you want. Do you want to be released back into the wild where you can continue your life, or do you want to? come with me and I?ll be your trainer??

Hot pulse throbbed in Mark?s neck with every beat of his heart; they sounded unnaturally loud now as the boy and the Pok?mon stared deep into each other?s eyes; nothing could be read from either?s expression.

?Veee!? Eevee finally said happily, nodding and placing his forepaws in Mark?s hands. He picked the Pok?mon carefully up, unable to believe he actually had an Eevee now. The fluffy Pok?mon emitted some sort of a purr, digging his nose into Mark?s face.

?Eevee?? Mark started in a muffled voice because of the fur covering his mouth, ?if you?re going to be my Pok?mon, you need to go into a Pok?ball.?

?Vee?? the Pok?mon questioned. Not having very good control of Pok?mon?s complicated language due to young age, he managed to get his meaning across, but not word for word.

?Yes, see, sometimes I can?t carry you with me otherwise. Pok?balls are nice, just like a luxury room with everything you need, you?ll even feel all dreamy and comfortable, and when you?re sent out, you?ll be refreshed, just like you were sleeping.? Mark knew this in fact because that time he had discussed Pok?mon rights with a Vulpix in a Pok?monish test, one of the things they had talked about was whether it was right to capture Pok?mon in Pok?balls, and Vulpix, who was pro-Pok?balls, had described to him what Pok?balls were like.

?Vui,? said Eevee skeptically, glancing at the Pok?balls Mark had replaced at his belt. Finally he looked up at Mark, seemingly still a bit scared of the balls. Mark took one of his empty balls and touched Eevee lightly with it; the Pok?mon dissolved into red light and was drawn into the ball.

Mark waited a few seconds; the ball stood quite still in his hand, meaning that at least Eevee wasn?t trying to break out of it.

He dropped the ball into the box again; a beam of red energy burst out of it and took shape into Eevee. He looked quickly around, realized that he was back in the box and then accepted the Pok?ball with a small nod.

?Great,? said Mark, still not believing what was happening. Him, with an Eevee!

?Will you come into the Pok?ball now, then?? he asked upon realization that Eevee was waiting for him to say something else. The Pok?mon thought a bit, but then nodded, smiling. Mark recalled Eevee into the Pok?ball, convinced that he was the luckiest person alive.

?Erm? thanks, Nurse Joy,? Mark muttered, not sure what to say. She just smiled. ?It?s Eevee who?s going to come with you, thank him.?

?Wow,? he just breathed.

?So, where are you headed now?? asked Nurse Joy kindly.

?The Gym,? Mark said, still staring at the Pok?ball in his hand.

?Good luck, then. You?ll need it,? were Nurse Joy?s warning words before Mark left the building.

Absent-mindedly, he walked out of the Pok?mon Center, noticing that he was getting used to having his Pok?mon inside Pok?balls. The sun was shining now; the stormy clouds from the day before had drifted away overnight and now the sky was clear.

 

[Dragonfree]

He wandered around a bit, looking for the Pok?mon Gym, but once he found it, he was surprised he hadn?t figured that huge yellow building with the glass dome roof he could always see behind the other houses had to be the Gym.

The door was odd; it was round and shaped like a Pok?ball lying on the side. The button that would normally maximize the ball said ?PRESS?. When Mark nervously pushed it with his hand, the two halves of the door separated and moved to the sides with a rumbling noise. Mark carefully stepped inside; he heard the door slide back into place behind him.

Now there was no turning back. He took a deep breath and walked forward, through a second gateway; the entrance room was just empty for whatever reason.

He was on a Pok?mon battle arena, that was certain, and an overwhelmingly huge one at that. The glass dome was three times as high as the ceiling in a regular house, and the room had all the features a standard battle arena had to have; a large pool on the right side that was obviously intended for Water Pok?mon, and the way the floor was marked had a very clear meaning. Just ahead of him was the red-painted box he was supposed to stand in. He nervously took his place; a trainer stood up from a bench at the other end and stepped into the box at his end. Mark found his clothes very odd: a cap that seemed too big for his head, a jacket and shorts, all bright neon green.

?Hey, you have to battle me first, Rick will only take on the best of the best,? the boy called in an extremely monotone, boring, politician-like voice.

?I wasn?t going anywhere!? Mark shouted back. The trainer ignored it.

?Three on three, ready, go, Articuno.?

The boy hurled forward a black and red Pok?ball with as much power as he could; it burst open in mid-air, releasing Mark?s second favorite Pok?mon, and bounced back to the trainer.

A smooth, peaceful-sounding cry of ?a-ar? emitted from the magnificent, parrot-like icy blue bird as it circled the middle of its own half of the arena, dragging a darker blue, wavy tail feather after its body. Swooping gracefully down every now and then but pulling up again, the Legendary Pok?mon loyally awaited its trainer?s orders. It pained Mark to think that the Pok?ball had brainwashed his second favorite Pok?mon like that ? thankfully just a clone.

Mark hesitated, but then decided that sending out Charmander would be worth the risk. He blindly reached for the Pok?ball and threw it forward. The ball popped open upon impact with the floor and sent out the lizard.

?Mander!? he growled, assuming a battle stance and glaring at the Articuno, focusing. Mark could figure out what was going through his Pok?mon?s head; the last time he had been put up against a Pok?mon he was supposed to have an advantage over, he had lost. He wasn?t going to go down a second time.

?Charmander, be ready to dodge!?

The lizard nodded, still concentrating on his opponent.

?Articuno, Powder Snow,? said the junior trainer in his monotone voice.

The Legendary bird?s eyes closed as it glowed white; the room cooled gradually as every flap of its wings and every wave of the long tail feather started emitting flurries of snow which flew straight at Charmander. Mark shivered as the cold wind blew in his face. Even before he opened his mouth to issue a command, Charmander seemed to read his mind and breathed a tongue of flames at the snow, melting and boiling it instantly and leaving Charmander unharmed.

The junior trainer swore loudly, still in the monotone voice, and then ordered: ?Articuno, Gust.?

Instantly, the magnificent bird started flapping its wings in Charmander?s direction instead of up and down, and also faster and faster. In a remarkably short time, a strong gust of wind powered up and sent both Mark and Charmander flying into the wall.

?Sorry,? said the junior trainer, not sounding it. ?Peck!?

The Articuno clone immediately dived down with a cry of ?Aaaarti!?, heading straight towards Charmander. Mark had no time to think, but luckily Charmander spat out a blast of flames by instinct just as the bird was about to hit him. For a second Articuno was on fire, and unfortunately that was the exact second when its beak smashed into Charmander?s belly so that he was thrown harshly backwards; but when the flames died, the Legendary bird crashed clumsily on the ground.

Stretching out both of its wings, Articuno?s icy feathers were clearly dripping with water as it withered in pain; Charmander stood heavily up and despite hating to do this to a Pok?mon he loved so much, Mark made a final command:

?Finish it with another Ember!?

Articuno was helplessly trying to take off, but failing. Charmander fired another cloud of flames which enveloped the Legendary Pok?mon; when it cleared, Articuno lay in a pool of water on the floor, defeated.

The junior trainer grumpily recalled the half-melted bird.

?Go, finish off that overgrown salamander.?

He threw forward another Pok?ball, black with glowing red stripes like the previous one. Out of it came spiky-feathered Legendary bird that Mark recognized immediately as Zapdos.

It opened its long beak as the pitch-black and shocking yellow thunderbird ascended through the air, letting out an electrical cry of ?Dooos!?

?Charmander, quick, uh??

Mark didn?t have the time to make an order; Zapdos fiercely flapped its wings without a command and released a bolt of lightning which shot down and hit Charmander. He screamed in pain, then went stiff and fell down to the floor like a stone statue.

?Charmander! Are you all right?? asked Mark worriedly. Since there was no response, he was forced to recall his Pok?mon and wait until he would be able to heal him.

?Go, Sandshrew!? Mark did this without much thought; Sandshrew seemed like the obvious one since he was a Ground Pok?mon and therefore immune to Electric attacks, but immediately after the yellowish brown armadillo materialized on the floor, he realized how foolish a decision it had been; Sandshrew wouldn?t be able to harm Zapdos either unless it came near enough for him to scratch it.

?Drill peck,? said the junior trainer dully. Immediately, the thunderbird let out another cry towards Sandshrew as it prepared to dive.

?Sandshrew, Defense curl!? Mark ordered quickly, that being just about the only thing he could do. The armadillo Pok?mon locked tightly up in a knot in an amazingly short time; Mark quickly looked up to watch Zapdos again. The spiky bird now started spinning like a drill in mid-air and then dove towards Sandshrew at high speed, jabbing him with its beak. The curled-up Sandshrew rolled like a soccer ball from the impact; Mark automatically blocked the path with his foot. Immediately, the armadillo uncurled, seemingly unharmed, and focused on Zapdos again, although, as Mark couldn?t help noticing, with a complete lack of determination.

Zapdos swooped down again without an order. Likewise, Sandshrew curled up without Mark having the time to say anything. This time, though, Sandshrew rolled himself powerfully out of the way. Zapdos barely avoided crashing, pulled up and was clearly getting ticked off by now. With yet another electrified ?Do-o-os?, the thunderbird started zooming back and forth near the ceiling, gaining speed as it went and soon turning into a blurred streak of yellow and black before it lunged down at Sandshrew again. The armadillo Pok?mon didn?t have time to curl up again, and being stabbed with Zapdos? long, spear-like beak in his vulnerable white underbelly was too much. Letting out a piercing cry, Sandshrew was thrown a bit backwards, but then collapsed, his chest bleeding disturbingly much.

?Oh God,? Mark muttered, still unable to do anything about it but just recall the Pok?mon and hope he would be all right. Now it was facing the next problem.

Mark automatically grabbed Eevee?s Pok?ball, but hesitated. Eevee was so young, and had immediately started to trust him out of childish innocence. How could he let Eevee get as badly injured as Charmander and Sandshrew?

He couldn?t.

His hand moved to Gyarados? ball, plucked it off his Pok?ball belt, and threw it at the pool, biting his lip. Sending out a Gyarados against an Electric Pok?mon? He had to be going crazy.

Gyarados took shape out of the red light as Mark?s Pok?ball bounced back into his hand. An intimidating roar sounded from the sea monster, visibly unnerving even the Legendary Pok?mon.

?Thunderbolt,? said the junior trainer, smirking. Zapdos prepared to do the same thing as on Charmander, but the most that happened were a few sparks that shot between its wing feathers.

?Dos!? growled the Legendary with a hint of annoyance, attempting to charge up electricity again. Mark?s mind raced. Zapdos was probably tired after the battle with Sandshrew; did Gyarados perhaps have a chance?

?Dragon rage!? Mark roared. Gyarados raised his head and, letting out another ear-splitting roar, he fired a jet of crimson red, dark flames from his mouth.

The blast hit Zapdos powerfully. The bird stayed in the air for a second, stiff; then with a weak ?dos?? it fell to the floor. A smile broke out on Mark?s face; Dragon rage was a very, very powerful attack at this stage of his journey, because it always hurt exactly as much, completely independent on the user?s strength or any kind of weaknesses and resistances. That meant that the attack?s outcome depended purely on the victim?s ability to endure pain ? a weak, inexperienced Pok?mon, such as most of the ones he was facing now, would therefore fall unconscious from being subjected to it once. He was just remembering this now ? some of Mrs. Grodski?s classes appeared to have sunk in after all.

He grinned. He would sweep this Gym?s floors with Legendaries, all on account of Gyarados? Dragon rage attack.

?Zapdos, return,? said the junior trainer dully, holding the Pok?ball forward and recalling the battered bird. ?Go? Moltres??

From the junior trainer?s expression and even duller tone in these words, he was also well aware of how powerful Dragon rage was against such low-leveled Pok?mon. He threw the Pok?ball with less enthusiasm than before; the golden phoenix that was the third and last of the Legendary birds of Kanto burst out of it in a flash of red light.

?Mooool!? the swan-like bird cried, smoothly ascending into the air and leaving a trail of flames behind from its fiery wings and tail. When it was just slightly below the ceiling, the bird shook its head powerfully, the fire that rested atop its head blazing up and adding to the powerful image of the Legendary. Moltres flapped its flaming wings slowly, focusing on Gyarados with keen eyes, ready to take an order.

?Another Dragon rage!? Mark called, slightly nervously; what if it wouldn?t work? Gyarados immediately released a blast of crimson fire from his mouth again, but with the grace of only a Legendary, the phoenix dived down, evading the attack with ease.

?Oh man,? Mark murmured, gritting his teeth. ?That thing can dodge.?

?Glow,? said the junior trainer. Mark scanned through his head, not remembering any attack called that, as he watched Moltres start to glow bright white. Suddenly something clunked into place, and Mark realized that this was the preparation for a Sky attack.

?Gyarados ? Dragon rage!? he commanded desperately, hoping that the sea monster would be quick enough to get the hit in. Unfortunately, just as Gyarados started forming the dragon flames in his throat, Moltres? glowing swan shape shot towards the huge monster at amazing speed, its beak stabbing Gyarados right where two plates of his deep blue armor met; the exact place where he was vulnerable.

With a terrible roar, the sea monster screwed his eyes shut, flailing around in pain with the no longer glowing Moltres still stuck with its beak between two enormous plates of armor. Interestingly enough, Gyarados? size was such that he managed to splash enough water at the phoenix to almost put out its fire. A high-pitched screech was heard from the Legendary bird as it tried to flutter away while Gyarados retained his balance.

?And now, quickly, another Dragon rage!? Mark blurted out.

Being wet clearly slowed Moltres down considerably, since as the bird tried to fly out of the way, Gyarados managed to fire yet another blast of crimson flames, hitting this time. Moltres fell unconscious in mid-air and dropped limply to the ground.

?Wow,? Mark muttered to himself as the junior trainer resentfully recalled his last Pok?mon. ?That?s got to be the only time in history a battle was won on account of Splash.?

The junior trainer took a small thing that looked like a car key out of his pocket, pressing a button on it. The Pok?ball-shaped door on the other end of the arena slid open with a rumbling noise. The trainer pointed lousily over his shoulder with his thumb and then walked up to the bench again, sitting grumpily down with crossed arms. Mark nervously walked towards the door, but then stopped.

?Can I go back? I need to heal my Pok?mon,? he asked the trainer, feeling a sting of guilt for having almost forgotten how injured Charmander and Sandshrew were.

?You don?t need to, there?s a nurse just beyond the door,? the junior trainer muttered, still sulking.

Mark walked through the round doorway; it immediately closed after him. As the junior trainer had said, a blond-haired woman in a white uniform waited just by the entrance, clutching a Pocket Healer in her hands.

?Good morning,? she said politely with a small bow. ?Would you like me to heal your Pok?mon??

?Er, yeah? thank you,? Mark said, carefully handing her the Pok?balls. She gave a tiny nod, placing one ball at a time into the Pocket Healer and pressing the heal button.

?Done,? she said, smiling, as she handed the balls back to Mark. He thanked her and then went on to the battle arena, which was identical to the previous one. This time around, however, the trainer wore red clothes with white linings on them, had bushy, purple hair, and was already standing in his square, grinning broadly with a scary glare of enthusiasm.

?Three on three,? he said in a loud, clear voice with a British accent, holding one of those black and red Pok?balls. ?Go, Raikou!?

The Pok?ball released a huge tiger-like Pok?mon, yellow in color. Its unnaturally long claws and fangs combined with the fact that its face was all hidden made it look scary; a black triangular plate covered the forehead and nose, four metallic-looking whiskers spread out from the front of its muzzle, and creamy white tufts of fur handled the sides of the head.

Mark had never been that much of a Raikou fan compared to the other Legendaries, but he found a certain grace in the way the tiger?s muscles tightened under the black-striped skin and the absolute determination in its red eyes, the only visible parts of the face. Unsurely, he grabbed hold of Sandshrew?s ball. Raikou was very well capable of using Crunch and other non-Electric attacks, and Sandshrew didn?t know any Ground attacks.

But it wasn?t like Charmander or Eevee would do much better, and letting Gyarados get beat at the first Pok?mon that was sent out would be suicide. He made his decision.

?Sandshrew, go!? he shouted, throwing forward the Pok?ball. As it bounced off the ground, it released the armadillo Pok?mon in a flash of red. Sandshrew didn?t appear to be a fan of Raikou either; his eyes opened very wide at the sight of the tiger and then he curled tightly up into a ball, which appeared to be his ideal solution to whatever problems he was facing.

?Raikou, Calm mind!? shouted the junior trainer. The tiger closed its eyes and bowed its head in deep concentration, revealing the then started glowing with a faint lavender aura. After a few seconds of waiting, Raikou raised its head again, its eyes open.

?This won?t do, Sandshrew, Raikou will just use some stat boosters!? Mark said impatiently to the scaly sphere that was supposed to be his Pok?mon, poking it with his toe. Sandshrew slowly uncurled, but this was the chance the junior trainer was waiting for; he quickly gave Raikou another order:

?Crunch, now!?

The tiger leapt at Sandshrew before he had the sense to curl up again, and with a roar, it locked its jaws around Sandshrew?s body. The armadillo Pok?mon?s arms helplessly flailed around in mid-air; he gave a squeak when Raikou started squeezing its jaws together. A few drops of blood fell to the ground.

?No? Sandshrew, come back,? Mark said limply, holding up the Pok?ball so that Sandshrew was absorbed into it. Perhaps Pok?mon battling wasn?t the right sport for him?

?Go, er? Charmander.?

Mark still didn?t want to send out Eevee, although he wasn?t sure why he was more ready to let Charmander get hurt.

The little lizard came out of the ball in a red beam of light, and clearly didn?t like Raikou that much either.

?I?m supposed to battle that?? he whispered in disbelief, flicking his big eyes quickly back at Mark.

?Sorry, Charmander, we have to,? Mark answered with a pained expression. ?Just do your best.?

Charmander nodded slowly and said in an odd voice: ?Yes. I will.?

Immediately after Charmander finished that sentence, the junior trainer gave Raikou a new command:

?Raikou, Spark!?

The thunder tiger started sparkling with electricity and jumped towards the much smaller Fire Pok?mon. Charmander leapt to the side with surprising agility and then grabbed hold of Raikou?s jagged, metallic tail. Snarling oddly in a way that wasn?t very much like him, Charmander spat a bit of fire at the tail end. The reactions were immediate; a painful howl came from the Legendary?s mouth at first as its body stiffened, then it started sprinting over the arena in an attempt to shake Charmander off. The lizard held on as well as he could, occasionally breathing flames on the tail end again in order to keep it hot. Mark could see that it was slowly melting.

Finally, Charmander fell off, bouncing once off the floor before landing on his side, seemingly unconscious. The junior trainer desperately tried to tell Raikou to stop running around in circles, but the Pok?mon ignored it, putting higher priority on cooling down its tail than finishing the battle. For a few seconds, Mark was worried about Charmander as he didn?t move, but then the small Pok?mon stood up with difficulty, looking dizzy and breathing very hard. He started walking towards Mark.

?I? have a headache?? he said weakly, then dropped back on four legs, panting uncontrollably as sweat sprouted on his skin.

Slowly, the little Pok?mon started emitting a bright white glow. Mark and the junior trainer both watched, stunned; even Raikou stopped running and turned its head sharply to watch.

?You weren?t going to evolve until later, remember?? Mark said, remembering what they had discussed at the restaurant the previous day. On second thought, that was a stupid thing to say; obviously Charmander had to remember it, but he was in no state to resist the evolution.

Charmander?s now pure white shape was steadily growing larger and bulkier. A small horn grew out of the back of the Pok?mon?s head. His muzzle lengthened. Then the growth came to a halt. For a second, the shape was just there emitting a bright aura; then the glow faded revealing a crimson red Charmeleon; bigger, more muscular and dragon-like, but otherwise somewhat similar to Charmander.

A more adult-shaped eye looked at Mark. A weak, deep ?Char?? came from the evolved Pok?mon, but then his legs collapsed under him and he lay limply on the ground, fainted.

Shaking, Mark held forward a Pok?ball. ?R-return,? he stammered, his freshly-evolved friend disappearing into a beam of red energy.

 

[Lily]

o_o;

Yay Charmander evolved into a Charmeleon! *anticipates Charizard* 8D

It seems funny, how Mark now has an Eevee, and a very strong Gyarados in his possession now, yet he isn't using Eevee. The battles were effectively described, you could picture it, and I enjoyed reading them. It was my favorite part in fact, your writing style for it was awesome. I also liked the monotone voice the junior trainer had, you have to love the originality there. XD Kind of reminds me what gym battles are like.

I'm still confused about Gyarados' behavior. It says Mark is the nicest person in the world, and it speaks english...oh wow. Just before it kind of lost sanity back at lake Purity, and I'm wondering what happened to it with Suicune and all. Only real problem I nitpicked were dialogues, some capitilization errors after one finished talking, but none too big. Otherwise, I'm extremely curious with the whole story behind the Gyarados.

Great job. ^_^

 

[Dragonfree]

Nope, not using Eevee... as he says, perhaps Pok?mon battling isn't the right sport for him. He doesn't like seeing things get hurt, least of all na?ve little cuties like Eevee. Maybe later, though.

I like that junior trainer too. He's had the annoying monotone voice since the first version of the fic, which is saying something (as there are very few things kept exactly intact from then). Heh, I'd be speaking very monotonely (is that a word) too if I did nothing but order Legendary clones around all day.

And I assure you that Gyarados is very interesting. Actually, probably the most interesting character who's been introduced so far. One of my personal faves, too... still, doesn't beat *shuts up* XD

Glad you like my battles.



OK, chapter seven. As a side note, I actually proofread this chapter again before posting it here.





-------
RATING

Violence: None.

Gore: None.

Sexuality: There's one part which has two possible meanings. One is a wee bit naughty, the other is the original intended, clean meaning. I kept it worded like that because I found it kind of funny. XD

Profanity: None.

Other: Nothing.
-------



Chapter 7: Charmeleon?s Trainer

Mark was stunned by Charmander?s evolution itself, but no less the fact that even though they had decided to postpone the evolution to a better time, neither of them had been able to do anything to stop it. It also wouldn?t stop bothering him what Charmander was like just before the evolution; he had looked so sickly, sweating like that, and had a headache. And how he acted when he battled Raikou ? it wasn?t normal. Not like him.

Nevertheless, as he reminded himself, he was still in a battle, and two out of the three Pok?mon he could use for the battle had fainted, one of the possibilities left being really young, and the other one extremely vulnerable to the opponent?s attacks. He tried to think, but felt he was absolutely unable to concentrate while still worrying about whether Charmeleon was still the same person as before or not.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them again.

?I forfeit.?

?What?? the junior trainer questioned, apparently finding this absolutely unheard of.

?I give up,? said Mark a bit louder. ?I?m going to lose the battle anyway.?

?You?ll have to battle both of us again,? the junior trainer pointed out.

?Can I just have a quick one-on-one with the guy before you or something?? Mark called back. The junior trainer, not really disliking the idea, shrugged and picked up a car key thing like the other junior trainer had possessed, pointing it at the door Mark came through so that it opened.

?Thanks,? he said, before jerking around and running through the door.

The junior trainer in the first room noticed him and apparently had had cases of people rushing through his arena in the wrong direction before, because without words he picked up a key and opened the front door for Mark, who threw a yell of ?thanks? over his shoulder before exiting. He was in such a hurry that he didn?t notice the girl he crashed into in the doorway.

Both of them fell over, landing harshly on the ground.

?Ow,? Mark groaned, standing heavily up. So did the girl. He was about to say sorry for running into her, but then recognized her as the blue-haired girl whose Skarmory had given Charmander a beating at the Lake of Purity.

She was still wearing the same clothes, but three other things were different about her. Firstly, her hair was done differently; now two locks fell down on either side of her face outside the ponytails, which also no longer stuck into the air like that, but rather just a little to the sides. Secondly, she had a necklace. Thirdly, her Pok?balls were missing.

Mark stared at her waist for a few seconds, seeing no trace of the battered Pok?ball belt that used to be there. He saw her right eyebrow rise higher on her forehead, before she realized what he had been staring at. She gave a faint smile.

?My Pok?ball belt was getting old, and in the mart this morning I saw these Pok?ball necklaces and couldn?t resist buying one,? she explained, pointing at what Mark had taken for red orbs on the necklace when they were actually real, minimized Pok?balls. ?It?s more convenient against thieves, anyway,? the girl added.

?New hairdo?? Mark asked. The girl blushed.

?Look, whatever first impression might be forming in your head, I swear, I don?t usually change random things in my appearance like that. Normally people have a hard time convincing me to change my clothes.? She sighed. ?My name?s May, by the way. Yours??

?Mark,? he said. Apologetically, he added: ?Sorry for bumping into you like that.?

?Nah, it?s okay, I have plenty of time. How is your Charmander doing, anyway??

?He? just evolved,? said Mark faintly.

?Oh. I see.? May looked at him for a second, then asked in a different tone: ?How did you get him, anyway? You from Kanto??

?No, Sailance,? Mark answered.

?Sailance? Sorry, I?m not into Ouen place names ? I?m from Johto, you see. Originally came here to get myself a low-leveled Skarmory, my favorite Pok?mon.?

Mark nodded; the next city to the south, Alumine, was famous for having the biggest Skarmory nesting ground in the world just outside it. Then his brain told him there was something wrong with this statement combined with what he already knew.

?Wait ? did you get a Caterpie as your first Pok?mon??

May sighed deeply. ?No,? she said. ?Professor Elm gave me a Cyndaquil. I actually picked her just because she was female, and females are so valuable ? I seriously have no idea what I was thinking, because I hate Cyndaquil. She didn?t exactly like me that much either. Then, while I was training just north of Cleanwater, I found this guy and battled him. He had a funny-looking Pikachu, and I used Cyndaquil against him. Basically, she was losing, but then suddenly she evolved in the middle of the battle and beat his weird Pikachu. Well, I like Quilava ? don?t ask me why I like Quilava but hate Cyndaquil ? but as a person, I don?t think she will ever like me. Then, completely unexpectedly, the boy wanted to trade his Charmander for my Quilava, said it was level 15. So I thought, yeah, why not? And I actually gave that stupid little git my Quilava,? she spat the words ?stupid little git? very pronouncedly, ?for a Charmander I had never seen that then turned out to be level five. And I got so angry (and stupid, mind you) that I actually tossed Charmander?s ball away and went to try and find that boy, who had of course just gone away with my Quilava. That?s actually the reason why I?m still here in Ouen, I?m trying to find that guy and get my Quilava back but I think I?m taking part in the league too since I?m here anyway. But I?m a bit worried about the Charmander, because either he?s there somewhere in his Pok?ball, or he got out of it and?? Her eyes darted around as if she was wondering how to word what she was going to say, but finally just finished it with three words: ?Well, it rained.?

She suddenly looked at Mark. ?What?s wrong? You?re so pale.?

?Wha? er, no, it?s nothing,? said Mark quickly. ?Sorry.?

May?s right eyebrow ascended again, indicating that she didn?t really believe him, but she said nothing. There was an awkward silence.

?Well, I sorta need to challenge Rick, so? see you around,? she finally said, turning back to the Gym. Mark?s eyes flicked to the Pok?mon center further down the street, and he nodded. ?Yeah, I have to go too.?

May shot a quick look at him. ?Well, bye then, Mark.?

?Bye,? he replied. As May stepped into the gym, Mark broke into a run again, hurrying even more to the Pok?mon Center.

Charmander belonged to May. There was no question about that; she had received him in a trade. But then again, she had thrown him away like a piece of garbage, just because he wasn?t high-leveled enough for her almightiness, and she had agreed to a trade which opposed the Agreement ? trades were never supposed to happen without consulting the Pok?mon first.

Although she did seem to regret having thrown Charmander away.

All the same, thought Mark, calming a bit down, I?m his trainer now. Now that part of the Agreement protects me, not her.

He slowed down as he reached the automatic door to the Pok?mon Center. It opened, and he walked hastily inside.

?Nurse Joy?? he panted, ringing the bell and experiencing a d?j? vu flashback from last night. A few seconds passed, Mark?s heart pounding against his chest; then the nurse came out of the back room.

?What can I do for you this time?? she asked warmly.

?It?s? it?s my Charmander? I mean Charmeleon??

?What about him?? she questioned.

?He evolved, and he seems so different, he couldn?t stop it because he was so weak when it happened, I?m worried ?? Mark took a deep breath while Nurse Joy?s face turned grave; he just handed her Charmeleon?s Pok?ball.

?Come with me,? said Nurse Joy, taking the ball and gesturing for him to follow her into the blue back room.

?Before I start treating him, I?d like to talk to you,? said the nurse, looking deep into his eyes. ?No matter how different he might seem after the evolution, he?s still the same Pok?mon. Pok?mon evolution is like growing up; when you?re a kid you have certain ideas about the world, but when you become a teenager they might change a bit ? or a lot. For Pok?mon who just evolved, it?s the exact same thing except that it happened all of a sudden rather than gradually as it would in a human?s case. If he had enough respect for you as a Charmander, he will still be ready to battle for you no matter what happens. He could be very different, or he could be pretty much the same ? but there will definitely be a change. Your Pok?mon is no longer a child, and you need to realize that. Treat him with care, and don?t give him a reason to dislike you. A reason for him to dislike you is not necessarily what would be a reason for you to dislike him; he?s basically a moody teenager whose limits should not be pushed. Do you understand??

Mark felt sick, but nodded.

?Good. This might take some time, so please wait in the waiting room.?

Mark walked into the fluffy waiting room with a knot in his stomach. He wondered who had the stupid idea of making the waiting room pink and red; these colors were absolutely inappropriate and way too happy. The gloom of the back room would?ve been much better.

He was also not too fond of this Nurse Joy. Mark didn?t want a moody teenager whose limits should not be pushed; he just wanted his friend back. The last thing he?d ever care about would be whether he would still obey.

He flung himself into one of the sofas and for half an hour or so, he sat there with a blank expression, staring at an ad for Kantonian Airways. A red-haired boy who seemed to fit very well with all the fluffy pinkness decided to try to be funny by waving his hand in front of Mark?s face. He hated himself for smiling at it; it wasn?t funny at all.

Finally, Nurse Joy came out of the back room, holding Charmeleon?s Pok?ball. Mark immediately sprang up, running towards the desk.

?He seems fine physically,? said the red-headed nurse. ?You judge the mental part.?

With a small bow, she handed Mark the Pok?ball. He accepted it and walked out of the Pok?mon Center.

He stopped beside the building, hesitated, but then dropped the Pok?ball to the ground. Charmeleon materialized from red energy as Mark caught the ball again.

For a few seconds, they just looked into each other?s eyes. Mark had never noticed how awkwardly small Charmeleon had been as a Charmander; even now, evolved, he was smaller than an average Charmeleon.

?Hi,? said Charmeleon finally in a low voice. Mark suddenly felt a lot better.

?Hi.? Mark paused, leaning against the wall and staring into the air. ?Sorry we didn?t get to postpone your evolution as we intended.?

?It?s okay,? said Charmeleon, leaning up to the wall too and likewise not looking at Mark. ?It felt quite amazing, actually.?

?What was it like?? Mark asked, this being one of the things he had often wondered about although his voice wasn?t up to showing interest of any kind at the moment.

?Everything just disappeared in a bright white light, first I thought I was dying? then I felt the power that was always hidden somewhere in my body burst out, I felt like? like I was melting. I had a kind of a vision of a Charmeleon walking towards me, pulling me away and taking my place? a twinge of pain at this point for some reason, I think... but immediately afterwards, I felt so much wiser and older. Then the white light faded, I saw you, but I was very weak after the evolution and lost consciousness??

He hesitated.

?You know, it?s weird ? when I think back at my Charmanderhood, it feels so? childish.?

Suddenly he looked straight at Mark, meeting his eyes.

?It?s strange? why did I just want you to train me back there? Why wasn?t I suspicious of you for a single moment? Not that I am now,? he added quickly, ?but? I mean, what if you had been a bad trainer and abused me or something? It was a stupid thing to do, just accepting you as my trainer immediately because you told me you saved my life. Don?t take me wrong, I mean? of course you are trustworthy, but what did I know then? You could?ve been somebody? bad.?

Mark had no answer to that. Charmeleon didn?t appear to be expecting one, either; it was more like he was thinking out loud.

?Well, I was lucky. Really lucky.? Charmeleon smiled faintly at Mark and then turned away again.

?Do you feel like doing some more junior trainer wiping??

They grinned at each other; both knew the answer.

?Come on,? Mark said, holding Charmeleon?s Pok?ball forward. The red beam shot out of it, dissolving the Pok?mon.

Mark hesitated for a moment. He had been in a rather hopeless situation earlier, mainly because his Pok?mon?s attacks were kind of weak compared to the ones the Legendaries knew. The only one with a halfway decent attack was Gyarados.

He remembered when he had seen the TMs and HMs at the Pok?mart. He thought for a bit. Flamethrower was a TM. Earthquake was a TM. Return was a TM.

One good TM for each of his Pok?mon except Gyarados would probably give him the edge.

Mark walked decisively towards the market. He went back to the shelf he remembered as containing the Technical and Hidden Machines. Just ten years ago, Hidden Machines were really rare items. Now, you could buy them at Pok?mon markets for around the same price as a TM ? admittedly one-use only versions.

He browsed through the selection of CD covers. Each of them had a photo of a Pok?mon performing the attack it contained, the TM or HM number, and the attack?s name. He found TM35 for Flamethrower, TM26 for Earthquake and TM27 for Return; they were more expensive than the Potions and Pok?balls, but still relatively cheap. He made carefully sure to himself that these attacks would definitely work well; then he went to the counter to pay the punk dude.

After he got outside again, he let Charmeleon out.

?Charmeleon,? he said in a formal tone, ?are you willing to accept this Flamethrower as your first Technical Machine move??

The Pok?mon grinned. ?I do,? he then said seriously.

?Good,? said Mark. He opened the CD cover carefully; even though he thought he knew how to use a TM, he checked the instructions with the disc carefully just to make sure. He then took it, and touched Charmeleon?s head gently with it.

The CD?s vibrant red slowly drained away from it, leaving it dull gray and useless and enveloping the Pok?mon with a fiery glow. Charmeleon closed his eyes; the glow slowly sank into his skin.

It was done.

?Do you feel any wiser?? Mark questioned, not sure how exactly it was supposed to work.

?Sure do,? said the Pok?mon with a smile.

?Great. You can go back into your ball, then.?

Mark held forward the Pok?ball; Charmeleon was drained into it as a beam of red light from the button hit him. He took out the second ball.

?Sandshrew, go!?

Mark?s Ground Pok?mon appeared, curling into a scaly ball before even seeing whether he was in battle or not. Mark laughed.

?Oh, come on, you aren?t going to get hurt, I?m just going to teach you a TM.?

Sandshrew uncurled in an instant, looking unsurely up at his trainer. Mark felt a twinge of guilt; Sandshrew didn?t trust him. Of course he didn?t. Mark wouldn?t trust somebody who kept letting him get injured, either.

?I?m? sorry about it all, you know,? he said in a low voice. ?I didn?t mean to get you hurt so much.?

?Shrew,? the Pok?mon said unhappily.

?Well? would you forgive me if I made sure you never lost a battle again??

Sandshrew didn?t answer.

?At least, I?ve got a TM for you. You know what that is, right??

The armadillo Pok?mon nodded faintly.

?Yeah, and it?s Earthquake. That?s a very, very powerful attack. You?re going to do great with it.?

Sandshrew had apparently heard of this devastating attack sometime among the Sandshrew he grew up with; he just nodded, quite a bit more confidently than he had ever looked before.

?So?? Mark took out the second CD cover, opened it and picked up the disc, ?stand still and concentrate.?

Sandshrew closed his eyes; Mark touched him with the CD, orangeish brown this time, and like before, the color faded from the disc and instead started circling Sandshrew in the form of energy. It then seeped through his hide. The armadillo shook himself powerfully, then looked back up at Mark with his beady black eyes, perhaps a bit less hopelessly than before.

?We?ll beat those junior trainers now, right?? Mark said meaningfully.

?Sand,? said the Pok?mon, nodding.

?Good,? said Mark, smiling, as he recalled the armadillo Pok?mon.

Next off, it was Eevee. Mark took a deep breath.

?Go.? The small brown furball emerged, looking curiously around and eying Mark intensely.

?Eevee, you don?t know what a TM is, do you??

Eevee shook his head.

?Well?? Mark found it so awkward to be explaining so many things to Eevee; why did he have to go through all this but not anybody else?

?See,? he finally began, ?Pok?mon know moves. You know that, right??

The Pok?mon nodded.

?Yeah? and TMs? or Technical Machines? can be used to teach a Pok?mon a move that it couldn?t learn otherwise.?

?Vi?? the small Pok?mon questioned.

?Well, see ? I take this disc,? he removed the Return TM from the cover, ?and when I touch you with it, your cells will react to it and then a complicated process starts, and basically, after it you?ll be able to focus your power in a ? er ? new way.?

Eevee nodded nervously.

?OK, then?? Mark took the disc and lightly made it touch Eevee?s head. The Pok?mon let out a small sound, but didn?t move. His eyes closed; white orbs of energy drained from the disc and started circling Eevee slowly. They went faster and faster, and finally faded into Eevee?s fur. He shivered, opened his eyes and moaned a little.

?Are you okay?? asked Mark concernedly. Eevee nodded a bit, shook himself vigorously and appeared to feel better afterwards.

?Now, uh? do you trust me??

Eevee nodded.

?Then focus on it very carefully,? Mark said, not sure how to explain the attack. Eevee screwed his eyes carefully shut, concentrating.

Slowly, a pinkish aura started emitting from Eevee. He let out a soft squeal of curiosity, probably feeling energy building up in his body.

?Great!? Mark cheered. ?This attack is called Return. You basically do that, and then tackle the opponent. Okay??

Eevee nodded nervously, the pink glow fading.

?Ready to go to the Gym?? Mark asked carefully.

?Vee,? said Eevee decisively, nodding.

Mark was still not sure whether it would be right to use Eevee in battle.

 

[Lily]

Oh another nice chapter! XD Two chapters in a day w00t.

It was rather formal when Mark found out May was the one who abandoned Charmander. I was like, wtf why would she do that? o_O; What I'm wondering is what'll happen when she finds out that the Charmander was found by Mark and now evolved into a Charmelon. Hah, what a quaint moment. Oh, the personality change in Charmander isn't what you would call 'obvious' but it does feel different now. Honestly, I thought Charmeleon would rebuke Mark, but it seems they are in agreement now. XD

The technical machines were well set out. It went along perfectly, flamethrower for Charmeleon, return for Eevee, and earthquake for Sandshrew. However, isn't flamethrower a tad bit strong? Especially if they only went up to the first gym so far, plus the fact Charmeleon evolved already. x_X But return is an excellent move for Eevee, I'm eager to see how it will be used in battle.

Now the gym battle awaits! ^_^

 

[Dragonfree]

May is kinda like me - she does a lot of things she ends up regretting. ^^; She also tends to be very ambitious and kinda mean when that reaches its peak (you'll see more of that later, heh).

You'll also see more of how Charmeleon has changed later. Yeah, he does feel slightly different, but still similar; that's the effect I wanted. Glad I got that about right.

Flamethrower, as I think of it, is mainly a longer-range Ember that deals out more pain to an opponent but takes more energy to perform. Basically, when I work PPs into it too, it's longer preparation, more power, longer range and more energy-consuming. Overall, it's not *that* much better than Ember. But yeah, you're kinda right, with him having evolved and all. Be happy, though, that it's not like the original; there, Charmander evolved at the Lake of Purity. ^_^;;; Well, there I also put "Then he trained all his Pok?mon to level 15." XD

Yep, the Gym battle awaits for tomorrow. With another interesting twist, I might add...

 

[Dragonfree]

OK, an extra...




---EXTRA IV---

The Full Story

May watched intensely as Metapod went stiff and fell to the ground with a clunk. The Pok?mon?s eyes closed heavily. The cocoon started rocking to the sides, and suddenly a large tear split through its shell. Blinding white light shone out of it. A crumpled, glowing shape squeezed itself through the rip. The bright light faded. On top of the green, lifeless shed was a small, dark blue creature. Slowly, it spread out the great, silky white wings that were folded around its body. A few flaps dried them; then the Pok?mon took gracefully off into the air.

?Free,? sounded the Butterfree?s cry.

May was pleased; finally after all this training with a braindead, immobile cocoon, it had evolved into something of worth. Not the most statistically powerful Pok?mon out there ? Butterfree were very fragile, and it was more the exception than the rule if it survived a single blow ? but very adept at strategically disarming its opponent with poisonous powders.

?Like flying, Butterfree?? she asked fondly. This Pok?mon would bring her many a victory. Her freshly caught Skarmory would, too. Unlike Cyndaquil. May had picked her first Pok?mon only for being a very valuable female starter. But Cyndaquil was, and had always been, a very unattractive Pok?mon to her. A hedgehog/anteater cross was the first thing that came to mind when she saw it for the first time. That long snout, squinted eyes, tiny legs?

May had therefore, much to her own dismay, never been able to appreciate her starter, despite being female. Of course, Pok?mon tended to pick up their trainer?s feelings towards them very quickly, and Cyndaquil had soon grown to despise her too. It was a no-win situation.

?Hey! You there! Girl!? called a voice. May turned around. It was a boy of around twelve or thirteen, a little older than her, wearing red shorts with a lot of pockets and a black T-shirt. Long, fiery red hair surrounded his face, falling a bit into his big, gray eyes.

?What?? she asked.

?Could you battle me??

May shrugged. She held up Butterfree?s Pok?ball lazily, recalling the butterfly Pok?mon. ?One on one??

?Go!? the boy said, throwing forward an odd, black and red type of Pok?ball that May had never seen before. It opened to reveal some kind of a Pikachu.

Yet, the Pikachu didn?t look right. The yellow, mouse-like body was familiar, just as the long ears ? but not the blue, shiny balls that tipped them. Its claws also looked greatly extended from what she would have labeled as a normal Pikachu, and also shiny blue. Its tail was not the lightning-bolt shape it was supposed to be, but rather a jagged, black thread, ending in a blue triangle.

?Pika,? it hissed in a deep-toned, menacing voice that could at the very most belong to a Pikachu with a very bad case of cold. Suddenly, bright blue waves of electricity started streaming between the balls on its ears.

May knew her types. Electric attacks would be very effective on both Butterfree and Skarmory. She couldn?t risk that, even if that meant sending her starter out.

?Cyndaquil, I choose you!? The Pok?ball burst open, sending forward a beam of red energy that formed into May?s first Pok?mon.

On Cyndaquil?s shiny black back, flames sprouted out as she resentfully cried out her name. She didn?t like battling for May very much, but she still did. Probably she had some loyalty gene in there.

The boy smirked. ?Shock Charge!?

May, despite having studied carefully up on Pok?mon attacks, had no idea what Shock Charge was supposed to be, except that it obviously was an Electric attack.

The strange Pikachu got down on all fours with another menacing hiss and leapt towards Cyndaquil. She was caught in the middle of the electric current between its ears and froze with a pained scream of ?QUIIIIL!? The Pikachu stood back up, grinning so that two vampire-like fangs glinted in its mouth. Cyndaquil?s flames died down in an instant as she fell down on her back, unable to move.

?Darn it!? May drove her foot into the grass, biting her lip. Shock Charge seemingly paralyzed the target.

?Slam!? said the boy.

The Pikachu nodded, wrapped its odd, thread-like tail around Cyndaquil?s immobile body, and slammed her between two rocks a few times, seemingly enjoying it.

Suddenly, it let out a cry of pain, releasing Cyndaquil as she started glowing bright white. The boy stared wide-eyed at what was happening, but May wasn?t moved. She had expected it.

Cyndaquil?s shape changed, her head becoming more distinguished from her body and turning into more of a triangle shape as it grew ears. Her stubby legs lengthened into fully-fledged paws. Her overall outline became more elegant and less chubby, just as her whole shape went larger. Finally, the glow subsided, replaced with an evolved Pok?mon.

?Quilava!? she announced as flames flared up on her head and backside, looking at May with newly-opened eyes. The girl found a certain feeling of trust for this Pok?mon.

?Quilava, Ember!? she commanded, clenching her fist. Quilava spewed a blast of brightly-colored flames at the unsuspecting Pikachu, leaving it scorched on the ground.

May looked triumphantly at the boy. Without words, he recalled the Pikachu back into its Pok?ball. He seemed to be about to leave when he suddenly asked: ?Hey, I have a Charmander. Want to trade it for your Quilava??

 

[Lily]

First; extra was interesting, as in the whole story behind May trading the Quilava for the Charmander. And wow, she shouldn't have traded her Quilava for the Charmander, although the female part stil strikes me funny. XD...Only main problem was the end, when the battle was finishing. I thought myself it was a tad bit rushed, since well, the beginning seemed to be well described. But otherwise, it's an awesome extra.

Second, my first FF of the week. *does the dance* ^_^

 

[Dragonfree]

*comes back down from reading*

Ah, I'd better refresh and see if somebody replied. Huh? Where did it go? AHH! WHERE DID THE THREAD GO! - Oh... what's it doing there at the top...? HOLY! :o

That pretty much sums it all up. ^_^;;;;



Heh, I know why the end of the battle was rushed, and what's worse, it's a really stupid reason - when I write a chapter, I hate having just one paragraph or something on the final page, so I make a special effort fitting it on the previous page in such a situation. It's exactly two pages in Word like this, and only like one more sentence would fit. When I saw I was nearing the end of the page, I therefore tried to finish the battle as quickly as possible. x_X I know, I know, I shouldn't do that. I just do.

 

[Dragonfree]

-------
RATING

Violence: Pok?mon battles in the more violent end, but not that violent, though.

Gore: None.

Sexuality: None.

Profanity: None that I remember.

Other: Well... involves cloning and hints of Pok?mon abuse.
-------




Chapter 8: The Master of the Clones

?Do you mind if we just have a one-on-one??

Mark pronounced this question nervously to the junior trainer wearing all the neon green. He was still clearly in a very bad mood, but nodded curtly.

?Go, Arcanine.?

A huge creature burst out of the Pok?ball. Its overall shape was rather dog-like, but the gleaming orange fur with jet-black stripes looked more like a tiger. It shook back its cream-colored mane, letting out an ear-splitting roar as it swished a bushy tail. Its huge black claws dug into the floor as it snarled towards Mark.

?Uh? is Arcanine a Legendary?? Mark asked, confused.

?It isn?t, but it was considered one in ancient times,? said the junior trainer simply. ?Let?s just get this over with.?

Mark hesitated, but then took out Gyarados?s ball. It was better to be safe than sorry.

?Go!? he yelled. The sea monster formed into the pool, letting out an even louder roar. Even the Arcanine appeared to flinch for a second, but then it started growling again.

?Dragon Rage,? Mark just said.

Gyarados threw his head forward, blasting out dark flames. The Arcanine leapt skillfully out of the way and countered by leaning down low for a second and then leaping at Gyarados at incredible, unavoidable speed. The sea serpent roared in pain, darting forward and grabbing Arcanine?s tail in his mouth. The giant canine froze for a second; then it swung around and fired a great jet of fire from its mouth into Gyarados?s face. He retaliated with another blast of dragon flames, which enveloped the Arcanine. The great dog howled in pain, turned to Gyarados again and attempted to release another cloud of flames, failing. Then with a final yelp, it lost its balance and its whole majestic shape dropped down to the floor, defeated.

?Arcanine, return,? said the trainer, the dog Pok?mon dissolving into red energy and being sucked into the Pok?ball. ?Go on.?

Mark nodded, walking across the arena to the nurse. She bowed slightly as she took his Pok?balls and put them into the Pocket Healer, one by one. Mark thanked her and walked through the now open door to the purple-haired trainer.

?You back?? he asked enthusiastically. ?Great! Go, Raikou!?

Mark grinned. ?Go, Sandshrew!?

The armadillo Pok?mon didn?t curl up upon entering the battle this time. His eyes fixed on Raikou, he awaited the order he knew he would get?

?Earthquake!?

The junior trainer?s eyes widened in surprise as Sandshrew rose to his hind legs. Slamming back into the ground, the small Pok?mon made the floor ripple like liquid. The attack was unavoidable; Raikou jumped over one wave but landed just as the next one struck. As the floor rippled under the Legendary?s paws, it shivered and released some electric sparks.

Sandshrew rose up for the second time, preparing to perform the attack again, but the junior trainer quickly countered:

?Raikou, Crunch!?

Immediately, the tiger leapt forward, grabbing Sandshrew in its mouth like the other time and starting to squeeze.

?Scratch!? Mark ordered desperately. The small Pok?mon dug its claws into Raikou?s jaw, and the tiger released him with a painful roar. Sandshrew looked rather weak and battered as he stood on his hind legs again, preparing for a final Earthquake. Smashing his paws into the ground, the floor rippled and Raikou, with a weak ?Raiii?, lost its balance and collapsed.

?Shrew,? said the armadillo wearily, yet with a tint of pride. He had worked hard enough for now; Mark recalled him.

?Go, Entei!? yelled the trainer, hurling forward the black and red ball. A reddish-brown, bulky, lion-like Pok?mon burst out of the Pok?ball with a deep, loud roar. A star shape surrounded its face, yellow at the top, white at the bottom and red at the sides. A grayish-white cloak that reminded Mark of a cloud or smoke kept changing its form on the Pok?mon?s back. It was Mark?s favorite out of the Legendary Beasts of Johto.

He observed Entei while he thought about which Pok?mon to choose. Entei?s eyes looked back at him, painfully robotically. Mark bit his lip; he was growing to despise that Rick person before even seeing him, just for doing that to Legendary Pok?mon. Even if they were clones, it was wrong...

?Go, Gyarados!? he said, throwing the ball that held the sea monster. Gyarados formed with his usual opening roar. Entei started roaring back at him. For a few seconds the battle was a roaring contest between the two Pok?mon; then Entei?s trainer shouted: ?Sunny Day!?

The lion lifted its head towards the dome roof and closed its eyes in deep concentration. The sun appeared to get clearer and hotter.

?Dragon Rage!? Mark commanded. The trainer gasped; Gyarados formed crimson flames deep in his throat and fired them at the lion. Entei leapt to the side, dodging the attack easily.

?Entei, Flamethrower!? roared the junior trainer. The Legendary inhaled deeply and sent a cloud of flames towards the sea monster. Gyarados quickly countered with another Dragon Rage. Mark knew dragon flames were stronger than normal flames, but seeing as Entei was a Fire Pok?mon, he wasn?t sure Gyarados would claim victory now.

He watched worriedly. The blasts still just met in the middle where the flames mixed and formed a huge orb of fire. The two Pok?mon did their best to keep up the attack, and neither appeared to be stronger than the other.

But Gyarados was much higher-leveled than his opponent, and after a few seconds, Entei had to breathe. This gave Gyarados the chance to engulf the lion in dragon flames. Another deep roar like the one Entei had started the battle with sounded; when the fire cleared, Entei lay on the ground, defeated.

?Return,? said the junior trainer disappointedly. ?Go, Suicune!?

Mark held his breath as the Legendary he had seen the night before at the Lake of Purity appeared out of the ball. The slender blue body was the exact same, as was the unique crystal on its head and the white, rippling ribbons. But the expression was not. Even though he had only seen Suicune at a distance, he was positive that the eyes hadn?t been so robotically blank.

Gyarados?s eyes were however very filled with emotion. He stared at the Legendary with a mix of despise and anger.

?Why?? he growled. Suicune, of course, was a brainwashed clone and therefore showed no reactions except assuming a fighting stance. The purple-haired trainer stared at Gyarados, puzzled.

?It? it can talk?? he asked, for the first time getting distracted from the battle. Gyarados paid no attention to this comment; he just closed his eyes hatefully in concentration.

What happened now was amazing. The dark blue of Gyarados? armor faded into gray. When he had turned completely grayscale, he suddenly opened his eyes with an ear-splitting roar, and two narrow, bright red beams of energy shot from his eyeballs at Suicune. The Legendary staggered backwards, looking to be in serious pain, started to sweat uncontrollably and finally fell unconscious to the floor with a weak ?Cune??

The junior trainer?s jaw dropped.

?What the heck was that?? he breathed in disbelief.

?I? I don?t know,? said Mark, just as stunned. Gyarados turned his back at the Legendary and Mark sensed he wasn?t wishing to talk about reasons for anything.

?Well? looks like you won,? said the trainer, staring at the fallen Beast. A pool of water was forming around the place where Suicune lay.

The trainer took out one of those keys and opened the door as Mark recalled Gyarados.

?Go on.?

Mark nodded and approached the door as the trainer recalled Suicune. The nurse near the doorway healed his Pok?mon for him, and he walked in.

This arena looked identical to the other two, but the trainer there was a little boy wearing a very awkward, formal-looking suit. He ran his fingers slowly through his blond hair.

?Hi,? he greeted dryly. ?You here for a battle? I?m warning you ? it won?t be easy. Two on two.?

The boy took a minimized Pok?ball from inside his suit, maximized it and threw it forward.

?Go, Ho-oh!?

What came out of the Pok?ball was absolutely huge. It was a gigantic, crimson bird, almost three times as tall as the boy. It stood on big, pitch-black talons and had peculiar, mask-like markings around its eyes. The Pok?mon opened its crooked beak and let out a majestic, fierce cry. Then suddenly, it pointed its head upwards, the golden, crown-like crest on its head swaying back, and stretched out its broad, colorful wings, taking off into the air.

Mark considered his options, knowing that he was doing exceptionally well against this Gym just because he knew so much about the Legendaries. Ho-oh was a Fire Pok?mon, but capable of using very varied attacks. It would be a risk, but Mark plucked Gyarados? ball off the Pok?ball belt.

?GO!? he shouted. The sea monster emerged into the pool with his usual opening roar.

?Dragon Rage!? Mark ordered quickly, not wanting to risk an Electric attack making contact with Gyarados.

?Sunny Day,? said the boy calmly. Ho-oh closed its eyes and took a fiery glow as the sunlight shining through the dome intensified greatly. Mark shielded his eyes from the light with his hand. Gyarados breathed out a blast of crimson flames at the rainbow-colored bird and Ho-oh screeched in pain.

?And now, Solarbeam!? commanded the boy. Ho-oh obeyed, forming an orb of sunlight in its beak and firing a white-hot beam of light at Gyarados. He roared as the beam struck him, leaving a burn mark on one of the segments of his body. He countered with another Dragon Rage, which turned out to be too much even for the Legendary; Ho-oh let out a weak cry and then landed exhaustedly on the floor.

?Return,? said the trainer disappointedly. ?Lugia, do it!?

Mark felt his stomach twitch upon hearing the name of his favorite Pok?mon of all; he felt both excited to see it and very pained to know that he?d just see a clone. The red and black Pok?ball opened in mid-air, releasing the Pok?mon it held.

If Ho-oh was huge, Mark didn?t know what Lugia was. The bright white draconic creature stood on powerful legs, stretching its somewhat hand-like, feathered wings out to a wingspan of what looked like almost six meters. Combined with the long neck, the Pok?mon itself was probably over five meters tall. Growing back from the eyes were the two black spikes that Mark had always loved the most about this Legendary.

?Gyarados, Dragon Rage!? Mark ordered quickly. Gyarados wouldn?t last long, especially not after having been hit with that Solarbeam previously, but at least he?d be able to dish out some damage with the most powerful attack in his whole team.

?Lugia, Psychic!?

Lugia started glowing with a bright blue aura as Gyarados charged dragon flames in his mouth. The sea monster unleashed the attack a moment before the Legendary; Lugia got hit hard by the flames, but then fired a blue blast of psychic energy at Gyarados. He roared in pain and collapsed weakly.

?Return,? Mark muttered. He considered his possibilities. Despite what some people thought, Lugia was a Psychic Pok?mon rather than a Water or Dragon one, so Charmeleon wouldn?t be at a disadvantage. With it this sunny, the lizard should win.

Mark grabbed the Pok?ball with his hand.

?Go, Charmeleon!?

Mark?s evolved Pok?mon came out. He appeared to flinch slightly at the sight of Lugia?s size, but quickly came back to his senses.

?Flamethrower!? Mark blurted out.

?Hyper Beam!? the trainer said, gritting his teeth.

Lugia started charging a white orb of energy in its mouth.

?No, wait, Charmeleon??

Lugia threw its head backwards before firing the beam.

?DODGE!!!?

Charmeleon jumped swiftly out of the way, just before a bright white beam smashed into the floor just where he had been. Some of the floor seemed to melt.

?Flamethrower, now!? Mark ordered. Lugia was worn-out after using all of its energy in a Hyper Beam and couldn?t counter when Charmeleon breathed a tongue of flames towards it. With a loud cry of pain, Lugia collapsed.

?NO!? shouted the boy. He recalled Lugia disdainfully.

?Go on, then,? he muttered, opening the door. Mark went through it and was a bit nervous when the nurse healed his Pok?mon. The previous match had been a close call.

 

[Dragonfree]

This arena was also identical to the previous ones. The trainer wore a lab coat and glasses and had long, black hair.

?You?re going down,? he said confidently. ?One on one. Go, Mewtwo?!?

?Mew? what?? Mark questioned. The Pok?ball opened to reveal a strange Pok?mon.

It was a light purplish blue all over. Its head was somewhat catlike with two horns pointing straight upwards in place of ears, but the overall shape was slightly humanoid. The whole body was so unnaturally thin, though, that Mark wondered if it had ever eaten a single morsel. He could count the ribs under the furred skin, and the long arms and legs had three bony fingers or toes each. Its eyes were small, white and had no pupils. Finally, absolutely contrasting with the weakish appearance of its body, it had a very long, muscular, dark blue tail ending in a round shape.

It suddenly dawned on to Mark what it was. It was Rick?s experimental super-clone, but he had in fact ?cheated? ? he had made a super-clone of a super-clone. Super-clone?.

?Go, Gyarados,? Mark said nervously, sensing that this would be a difficult battle. The blue sea monster emerged from the Pok?ball into the pool. Gyarados let out his battle roar.

?What is my task?? said Mewtwo??s voice weakly inside Mark?s head. He couldn?t help feeling horribly sorry for it.

?Fight,? the scientist ordered. He didn?t need to say anything else. Mewtwo? started glowing bright blue as the same glow took over Gyarados? shape.

?Gyarados, Dragon Rage!? Mark commanded desperately, but Gyarados couldn?t do anything that wasn?t Mewtwo??s will now. Slowly, he rose up into the air, drawing closer to the ceiling.

?No,? said the weak telepathic voice as Mewtwo??s glow started fading and Gyarados got lowered back towards the pool. ?I? don?t? want?? Mark saw the clone?s body starting to sweat, like it was making a great effort.

?Fight,? the scientist growled again. It was like Mewtwo? was zapped with electricity or something; its body went stiff for a second, but then it started glowing blue again. At that very moment, Gyarados unleashed a blast of crimson fire which enveloped Mewtwo?. A telepathic scream of pain could be heard; then the clone was left dazed and dropped down, fainted. Mark felt a twinge of guilt.

?Return,? muttered the scientist. ?Face Rick, kid,? he then said, reaching into his pocket and taking out the key to the Pok?ball door. It opened slowly.

Mark went through the door and got his Pok?mon healed, noticing that this arena was about double the size of the previous four. But the Gym Leader was nowhere to be seen.

?Rick went to the basement,? the nurse explained. ?You?ll just wait here, won?t you? I need to go now.?

Mark nodded, and the nurse hurried out through a side door.

Mark sat down on a bench. The basement? Where was the basement? What was Rick doing there?

He stood up, walking backwards from the wall and looking if he saw a door somewhere. His foot slipped and he was sent flying into the pool.

Mark?s first thought was that he?d have to change his clothes. The second thought was that this pool was stupidly deep. The third was ?What?s that hole in the wall doing there?? The fourth was that he?d better get out of the pool.

He swam to the bank and climbed up. He looked around, and seeing no signs of Rick, he sent Gyarados out into the pool.

The sea monster looked around, seeing no opponent, and turned back to Mark.

?Could you swim down there and see what this hole in the wall is for?? Mark requested. Gyarados just nodded and dived down. Mark saw him disappear through the hole. After a few minutes, during which Mark wondered why he was being so nosy, the monster returned.

?It?s very interesting, actually,? Gyarados stated. ?It?s a pretty long tunnel, but it ends where you go a bit up, and it?s got steps up, like you can empty the pool and then walk the whole way. There?s a red room there, I couldn?t go in so I didn?t see much.?

?A red room?? Mark questioned blankly. ?Emptying the pool??

?Yeah, you can probably empty it somehow. Try the light switches over there.? Gyarados jerked his head towards the wall, which had six switches on it in two columns of three.

Mark walked over there, not sure why he was doing this but driven on by curiosity.

The switches weren?t marked. He pressed the first one and the lights went out. He quickly pressed it again, but nothing happened. He tried it again a few times, but then tried the second switch. The boxes the trainers were supposed to stand in got illuminated. Nothing happened when he pressed it again, either. He tried the third one and Gyarados got lit up too. He growled, screwing his eyes shut.

?I don?t like this light,? he said.

?Sorry, I can?t turn anything off here,? Mark apologized, attempting to press this button again. The fourth switch, to Mark?s great relief, put the lights back to normal. Pressing the fifth one, he wasn?t really expecting anything interesting to happen, but with a great noise, a drain opened at the bottom of the pool and the water level started lowering.

?You?d better recall me before it empties,? Gyarados commented. Mark nodded, holding forward the Pok?ball as it dissolved Gyarados into red energy. The pool took a bit of time to empty, but it was way too deep for Mark to get to the bottom.

He hopelessly tried the sixth switch, and small handles appeared out of the wall of the pool, forming a ladder.

Mark shrugged and went down, wondering what Rick would do if he came back. He nervously entered the tunnel and walked through it. It was rather long, but in the end he came to another, short staircase. He climbed up, ending in, as Gyarados had said, a room lit by red lights. A see-through door led to another red room; it was open.

He curiously went in, but then heard voices. He quickly ducked behind a low wall. Through the red glass on top of it, he watched two scientists walk into the room, which he now had the time to examine.

It was full of glass tanks containing a brown liquid. Inside them floated Pok?mon embryos, some very Pok?mon-like, others just creepy, shapeless forms at the early stages. Each tank had a small screen and a keyboard on it. Odd, pyramid-shaped devices of different sizes were lined along the walls. Mark realized he was in Rick?s cloning lab.

One of the scientists walked to a tank containing what looked somewhat like a Caterpie. The other one walked to one that was farther away so Mark didn?t see what was in it.

?Hey, Peter,? the nearer one called, ?I think it?s ready.?

The Peter guy came and peered at the caterpillar.

?Yeah, looks pretty good,? he agreed. ?I?ve got to tend to mine, though.? He walked back to his tank, and the one with the Caterpie did something on the computer and then the brown liquid started flowing out. The Caterpie was left in the tank and slowly opened an eye.

?Cater?? it squeaked. ?Cater? two!? Mark suddenly understood what was going on ? they were making more super-clones, ones that Rick didn?t have a license for. He hardly dared to breathe.

The scientist pressed a button and the tank opened with a low hiss. He picked up the Catertwo, smiling.

?What a beauty!? he said proudly. Peter came holding a Pikachu super-clone ? it had blue balls on its ears, blue pawpads, long blue claws and a threadlike, jagged tail with a blue triangle at the end. It looked menacingly at Catertwo and hissed, baring its sharp fangs.

?Mine?s pretty good too,? Peter said. The other one examined the Pikatwo.

?Well, nothing beats Rick?s. You know, the one he gave to Taylor,? he commented.

?Ah, well, that doesn?t count,? said Peter. ?Rick?s the master.?

?Yeah, but seriously?? said the other one, lowering his voice, ?I?ve got to say, Rick?s spoiling the kid. If my little brother came to me and said the Charmander he got as a starter was too weak and he wanted a clone instead, I?d tell him to shut up and clone one himself. But nooo, of course Rick just gives him the best clone we?ve ever made, and I heard he?s going to give him even more! And then Taylor lost his Charmander and got some level 14 Quilava out of nowhere, just to keep it in the ball all day without training it at all! Not very responsible, is he? And I mean, what?s Rick thinking, giving him super-clones? Anybody at all can see them! This is madness, somebody will catch him one day if he keeps this up...?

The scientist stopped abruptly upon seeing a blond-haired, handsome man of around twenty-five enter from a side room, who Mark assumed was Rick.

?Hey, Peter, Jimmy, do you know who was playing around with the switches?? he asked worriedly.

?Well, nobody entered, at least,? said Jimmy. ?We?d have noticed.?

?That?s good. Let?s just hope it was some random kid who left.? Rick smiled faintly, but walked back to the room. In the doorway, he turned around again.

?Oh? Lee says Mewtwo? is resisting the Clone Ball again. We?ve got to make a new model of the ball.?

The two scientists nodded.

?Let?s go evolve these beauties, now,? said Peter happily and they walked over to the pyramid-shaped machines near the walls, which presumably could somehow evolve Pok?mon. Mark saw his chance to escape. He quickly glanced at the door he came through, but the entrance room was filling with water again; Mark assumed that Rick was refilling the pool. He looked around the room and eyed a staircase leading further down. Not seeing any other possible exit, he crawled silently towards it.

It led to a long corridor containing nothing but posters on the walls with ideas of new super-clones. Mark took a quick look at each of them, but didn?t have the time to read any properly. At the end of the corridor there was a ladder; Mark climbed up and hit his head on something hard. He discovered it was a trapdoor. Lifting it carefully up and climbing through, he discovered he was in the seemingly empty entrance room to the Gym itself.

He shivered, remembering that his clothes were still wet, and rushed to the hotel, thinking about this experience.

 

[Dragonfree]

Just for fun, I made an Ouen Map (WARNING: Possible spoilers).



-------
RATING

Violence: More Dragonfree-style battles.

Gore: None.

Profanity: One "****"...

Sexuality: None.

Other: Again, hints of Pok?mon abuse. Oh, and although it's not exactly a part of the rating - there is a point where you are going to get extremely wrong ideas about this fic, but they are absolutely wrong, as you'll see by the end of the chapter, so don't leave in the middle, OK?
-------




Chapter 9: Mew?s Escape

The old woman by the counter looked dully up as Mark walked past, but showed a great deal more interest upon noticing that his clothes were dripping with water.

?Why are you so wet?? she asked suspiciously.

?Fell in a pool,? Mark muttered absent-mindedly without looking at her. She didn?t get anything else out of him before he disappeared up the stairs.

Mark felt like he had an overdose of mysteries for one day as he took his wet clothes off. May rightfully owned Charmeleon. Should he talk to Charmeleon about it, or just forget it and hope she would never find out? And to think that the guy who had originally received Charmander was the brother of Cleanwater City?s Gym leader! And Rick was making more super-clones? he was abusing Mewtwo?? and Gyarados clearly had some serious issues with Suicune and used some weird mega attack of doom! This was so complicated!

Mark took on his blue jeans and white Pok?ball T-shirt, sat down on the bed and sighed.

Why me? I just wanted a Pok?mon journey, not a headache like this!

After sitting there and staring into the air for a couple of minutes, he stood up. He was just going to get that badge, and then he could think about the other stuff. Better get the Gym over with.

And punish Rick in a battle for doing this to the Legendary Pok?mon.

Mark felt oddly confident now that he felt like he had to do this. He walked determinedly out towards the Gym.

Rick shall pay.

The first junior trainer didn?t seem to be there when Mark came. A note on the door told challengers to go right through, with the key taped to the note. Mark pressed the button and it slid out of the way. The other three junior trainers weren?t there either. He went straight through all of their arenas.

The young, blond-haired man from the lab was there, however. And so was May. He was hatefully handing her a coin-like object.

?Hi,? she said as she walked past Mark on the way out. He quickly whispered: ?Wait for me at the Pok?mon Center, I seriously need to have a word with you. It?s about your Quilava.?

She looked puzzled, but nodded and walked outside.

?Hello,? Rick said dryly. ?Another challenger??

Mark nodded, turning to the Gym Leader.

?How many Pok?mon do you have?? Rick asked.

?Four,? said Mark.

?Four on four it is, then,? said Rick. ?I choose??

He reached down to his Pok?ball belt, with six Clone Balls attached to it, took one and maximized it. He grinned.

??Articuno.? Rick threw the ball powerfully forward. It popped open in mid-air, releasing a second Articuno clone. This one seemed all the more aggressive; it glared at Mark with ruby red eyes, scratching the air with its talons as if to show its power.

?Go, Charmeleon!?

The red lizard emerged from bright red light.

?Flamethrower,? Mark ordered.

?Ice Beam!? Rick countered quickly. Charmeleon?s blast of fire met with an elegant beam of ice crystals from the sky blue bird. Where they met, water started showering down into the pool.

?Come on, Charmeleon,? Mark muttered, clenching his fist. The lizard looked back at him and then suddenly, without warning, stopped breathing flames and leapt out of the way. Articuno?s Ice Beam smashed into the ground as Charmeleon fired another Flamethrower from directly below the bird. The flames enveloped the Legendary and Articuno fell, its wings on fire, into the pool, where the flames went out. Rick recalled the Pok?mon, his face expressionless. He replaced the Clone Ball on his belt.

?The battle isn?t over yet,? he said coldly.

Rick paused for a second, but finally took another ball off his Pok?ball belt.

?Ho-oh, show him not to mess with Legendaries,? he growled.

Rick sent out a Ho-oh, even larger than the one the junior trainer had. It flapped its multicolored wings and took off.

?Earthquake.? Rick?s voice was icy; he clearly did not like losing the first round.

?Charmeleon, return!? Mark shouted, knowing it was the wisest thing to do. ?Gyarados, go!?

Ho-oh slammed into the ground just as Gyarados materialized in the pool, but being in the water, the sea monster was not affected.

?Dragon Rage!? Mark roared. Gyarados released a blast of dragon flames at the giant bird. It screeched, trying to retain its balance. The blue dragon blasted more crimson fire at the Legendary, and it gave up with a final cry, landing gracefully on the floor and spreading out its wings before collapsing.

Rick gritted his teeth, recalling Ho-oh.

?Raikou, show him!? he snarled, tossing the third Clone Ball into the arena. ?Bring that thing down with a Thunderbolt!?

The tiger-like Pok?mon leapt out of the Pok?ball in mid-air, roaring. Electricity crackled in its fur, and before Mark had the sense to do anything, a blast of lightning was fired at Gyarados. He roared in pain and then fell down motionless. Mark seemed to remember reading that Gyarados were extremely vulnerable to electricity as he recalled the sea monster.

Mark nervously took out Sandshrew?s ball.

?Go! Earthquake!? he said quickly as he threw the Pok?ball. Sandshrew posed in mid-air and came down hard on the ground, causing the floor to ripple. Earthquake was an amazingly complicated attack; a human who got caught in the waves of the ground would merely feel a small tickle, but for the Legendary Beast of Thunder on the other side of the arena, it was in fact very devastating, disrupting the delicate balance between the positively and negatively charged ions in the Electric Pok?mon?s body. Raikou growled, trembling a bit.

?Another Earthquake!? Mark commanded. Sandshrew rose to his hind legs, preparing to perform the attack again.

?Quick attack!? Rick hissed. Raikou leant back and then leapt forward at undetectable speed, striking Sandshrew hard. He lost his balance, and the tiger then attempted to sink its fangs into the little Pok?mon?s body, but Sandshrew acted quickly on his own accord, and stung the Legendary?s paw with one of his claws, injecting poison through it into the tiger?s blood. It howled in pain, staggering backwards, and then Sandshrew had the chance to unleash a second Earthquake attack. Raikou weakly let out some small sparks and then fainted.

Rick swore loudly, recalling the tiger.

?Very well? go, Mew!?

Out of the ball came a light pink, furred little creature. The hind legs were much longer than the tiny front paws; its long, threadlike tail ended in an oval shape. Big, stubby ears rested on a catlike head with two big, sapphire blue eyes.

The previous Legendary clones had had absolutely emotionless eyes, like robots made to do what they were told, save for Mewtwo?. But Mew was different. The eyes seemed somehow faded, half-closed, and above all horribly sad. The Pok?mon looked limp.

?Surf,? Rick hissed. Mew?s weary eyes glowed deep blue and the water in the pool started rising in a great wave which crashed upon Sandshrew with terrible force, but flowed neatly past Mark on both sides. Slowly the water drained back into the pool, and Sandshrew was left soaked and shivering.

?Shrew?? he said weakly before losing consciousness.

Mark hesitated. His determination from before was fading, and he only had Eevee left.

Oh, come on, maybe I?m being overprotective, he thought. Jeesh, I?m turning into Mom?

?Go, Eevee!? he yelled, throwing the ball. The little brown creature materialized and looked at Mew with his big brown eyes.

?Eevee, Return,? Mark said anxiously. Eevee looked at Mew for a second, but then turned back to Mark.

?Ee? vee,? he said. It took a bit of time for Mark to realize that this was the first clearly understandable thing that Eevee said. He was saying that he didn?t want to attack Mew because it was so sad.

?Oh, Eevee, please, there?s nothing we can do about that!? Mark said desperately. Eevee just shook his head.

?Vee?? he said, stepping a bit forward towards the Legendary.

?Thunderbolt!? Rick spat. Mew didn?t react to it at all, and was instead watching Eevee.

?Darn it, Psychic! Something! Attack, you stupid thing!?

?Mew?? said the Pok?mon weakly. Eevee tilted his head curiously and walked farther up to the pink creature. He carefully laid a paw on its shoulder.

?Eevee?? he asked. Slowly, he started glowing with a pink aura ? the positive energy that Return was made of. Suddenly, Mew?s eyes opened wide. Then it dropped down, unconscious.

Eevee jumped away with a shriek, clearly very confused about what had happened. He carefully poked the pink Pok?mon?s body; it didn?t move.

Rick turned very pale. He slowly took out the Clone Ball, recalled the Mew into it and started muttering to the ball.

?You? there?s a curse on you? I?ve lost every single battle I?ve used you in? this is all one of your devilish little tricks? you?re going to bring me down??

Suddenly, Rick turned to Mark.

?Catch,? he said, throwing the ball at him. Mark caught it.

?Huh?? he asked, confused, staring at the orb in his hands.

?Take it away! The devil, just take it!?

?What the??

?Don?t you want it?? Rick asked in a tempting voice. Mark looked open-mouthed at the ball. He was almost going to say no, he couldn?t accept something like this, but then he remembered the sad expression on Mew throughout the battle. He couldn?t leave it here.

??Yes.?

Rick?s eyes glinted.

?Good boy. Your badge.?

He walked firmly up to Mark and dropped a small silver coin into his hand. Mark examined it. It had an eye engraved in the middle, but it was surrounded by a raindrop, a bolt of lightning, a flame and a leaf. The back of it said ?Element Badge?. Mark pinned it to his T-shirt.

?Leave,? Rick said icily. Mark just went through the side door, pocketing Mew?s Clone Ball. The feeling was odd, and not at all what he had imagined it would be to win a badge.

He would have to go to the Pok?mon Center and get Mew healed, but of course he couldn?t hand Nurse Joy a Clone Ball. She?d think he had stolen it.

What he was therefore going to do first was a so-called ?inter-Pok?ball transfer?. It could be done at any Pok?mon Center using the trading machine. It was basically exactly like trading, except that both of the Pok?balls were owned by the same person and one of them was empty. Afterwards, the Pok?ball the Pok?mon used to be in would be unusable unless one went and got it recharged for a fee, which was only slightly cheaper than buying a new ball so along with having to waste another Pok?ball to put the Pok?mon in, it usually didn?t pay off. Therefore, trainers rarely did the transfer unless they had a very special reason to.

But Mark did, and therefore he walked up to the trading machine in the corner of the Pok?mon Center. He placed Mew?s Clone Ball under one of the tubes after making sure nobody was watching, and then one of his normal Pok?balls at the other end. He set the machine to inter-Pok?ball transfer mode, and the two balls got sucked up into the metallic tubes. The great screen in the middle of it showed Mew?s silhouette traveling across the screen, and Mark did his best to stand in the way so nobody could see it. Finally, both balls dropped down again.

He picked up the Clone Ball, minimized it and put it in his pocket. He didn?t know why he felt the need to keep an unusable brainwashing Pok?ball, but he just did. Then he took a deep breath and picked up the other Pok?ball, now holding Mew.

He walked over to Nurse Joy, trying to look normal, and gave her the Pok?balls.

?Mostly just exhausted,? he said. The nurse nodded, placing the Pok?balls on a tray and putting it into the full-size equivalent of a Pocket Healer. After a few beeps were heard, she took them out again and handed them to Mark.

?We hope to see you again,? she said, smiling.

Mark nodded. Just then, May noticed him and walked up to him. He remembered what he had said to her before the battle, and cursed silently. He didn?t feel like going into these explanations now, but then again they would be better over with.

?What about my Quilava?? she asked, getting straight to the point.

?Well, it?s a long story,? Mark began, ?and I? can?t really tell it around all these people.?

?Well, I?m going fishing for Pok?mon at the Lake of Purity. Why don?t you just join me and we?ll discuss that on the way??

?Sure,? said Mark, shrugging. They walked out of the Pok?mon Center and headed towards the road.

-------

?You?re telling me Rick is making more super-clones??

?Yeah.?

?And that the lying little idiot with my Quilava is his brother??

Mark nodded. ?And the strange Pikachu he had, it was actually a Pikatwo, a Pikachu super-clone.?

?Well, I?ll be ****ed,? she just said.

Mark was still pondering over whether to tell her about Charmeleon, but decided not to. They were now at the Lake, and May was about to cast out the line.

Suddenly, Mark caught a glimpse of something light blue.

?What was that??

?What?? May questioned.

?I think I saw? never mind.?

?No, what?? asked May eagerly.

?I think there was a Dratini there,? Mark said, still staring at the same spot.

?Rubbish,? said May, while she was glaringly obviously looking around for it too.

?Over there!?

May threw the rod forward. A small creature dove back under the surface.

?Darn it!? she hissed.

?Hey, I saw it first!? Mark said.

?So what??

?Then I?m the one who tries to catch it!?

?That?s not in any official rules!?

?Draa??

A small head poked out of the surface. It was pale blue with cute frills at the sides, two adorable eyes watching the two kids argue with interest, and a white muzzle.

Mark and May both took out Pok?balls. May threw it first, but missed by far and the Pok?ball sank into the water. Mark accidentally dropped his because he was hurrying so much, and it rolled into the water, where it started sinking too. The Dratini dove down again. Mark could see his Pok?ball come to a halt when it reached the bottom. After a few suspenseful seconds, the Dratini swam forward to examine it, poked a little too far, and was dissolved into red energy that was drawn into the ball.

Mark stared at it for a second, and then prepared to jump in.

?Mark, you are being an absolute idiot,? May said clearly and pronouncedly, grabbing the back of his T-shirt. ?Do you think you can just dive in there? You may see the bottom, but this is the second-deepest lake in all of Ouen, for crying out loud.?

It wasn?t exactly because of her that Mark decided to rethink this plan. It was more because he already got his other clothes wet. But at the very least, he calmed down.

?Now, look here,? May started. ?I?ve got a magnet, and I?ve got a fishing rod. We can use them to get that Dratini out of the water. But both of them are mine, and it was just luck that Dratini went into your Pok?ball and not mine. So??

?You?re going to take my Dratini?? Mark asked loudly. ?How about no??

?You have no choice,? she said, smirking as she drew a small magnet out of her pocket and attached it to the end of the line. She carefully lowered it down while Mark gritted his teeth.

?Larvii,? came a little voice. Mark gaped.

The owner of the voice was a small, green Pok?mon with a triangular-shaped head. It had a small mouth, red eyes with black markings just below them, a red diamond shape on its belly and an odd, bundle-like tail.

?Is everything full of almost-Legendary Pok?mon here today??

May wheeled around, releasing the rod.

?Whoa! That?s a Larvitar!?

?Oh, really?? said Mark sarcastically, grabbing the rod while he had the chance and reeling in the Pok?ball quickly. Meanwhile, May threw one of her Pok?balls at the Larvitar. Mark didn?t bother seeing it wobble; he just hurried away so she wouldn?t try to take Dratini too. Judging from May?s cry of ?YESSS!!?, she had caught it.

Mark was now starting to think about Mew again. He felt a need to talk to it, but the hotel room was the only safe place to do so.

 

[Dragonfree]

He ran down the road back to Cleanwater, rushed into the hotel and saw the TV on, not paying much attention to it.

?And finally, today, around two thousand captive-bred Dratini, Larvitar and Bagon were released into the wild all around the world.?

Mark abruptly stopped to listen.

?This is a part of a project to help these highly endangered species survive. In fact, they aren?t as strong as many people think, and this misunderstanding has sprouted from the fact that they used to be so rare that only the best of trainers would ever be able to capture them, ultimately making the result Pok?mon?s full potential released. Less experienced trainers are not likely to manage to evolve them to their final forms and at the very least unable to unleash their full power, according to experts. More on this later.?

?Well, that explains it,? Mark muttered to himself. Suddenly his capture wasn?t as significant, but it still felt as great. The part about only strong trainers being able to make these Pok?mon strong made him wonder. Was he one? Was May one? Would he have to face one sometime?

He remembered what he was at the hotel for, went up the stairs to his room, closed the door carefully, sat down on the bed and took Mew?s Pok?ball slowly out.

?Go? Mew.? Mark dropped the ball down, the two halves separated and a sphere of red energy from within took shape into the pinkish-white, catlike creature.

Mark sat completely still. After Mew had stared at him for a while, the Pok?mon sat down beside him, wrapping its long tail around him in what appeared to be a greeting of some sort.

?What happened?? asked the Legendary quietly without looking at him, calmly like it was merely asking about the time.

?Well, which parts do you know?? Mark replied, shrugging.

?Three years in darkness, always exhausted, like a puppet, only occasionally thinking clearly, but having no choice but to let my consciousness drift away for a momentary ease of pain??

Mew?s deep, sapphire blue eyes looked into Mark?s.

?Now, I am here, once again blessed with freedom.?

It took a bit of time for this to sink in.

?Wait ? you?re not a clone??

?No,? said Mew simply. ?Had I known no life outside of being forced into obedience and fighting mindlessly all day long, I would have accepted it. Like the others. Their minds know nothing else. Those will only fight back who know there is something worth fighting for.?

?What about Mewtwo??? Mark asked quietly.

?He is powerful? that allows him to think clearer? they have been strengthening the Clone Ball, but it?s too late once he has felt himself being robbed of his free will and thought? I can sense his sorrow at this very moment??

Mark was quiet for a long while, but then muttered: ?That?s so? sad.?

Mew nodded slowly. ?Sad indeed, but there is no way for us to help. I am very fortunate, which brings us back to the original question.?

?Rick gave your Pok?ball to me, muttering something about there being a curse on you.? Mark paused, then added: ?Why??

?He does not realize our feelings. I have fought back; I have weakened my attacks as I could and done my best not to give him the pleasure of winning. So far I have succeeded??

There was a short silence. The Legendary Pok?mon sighed deeply. ?We shall see what destiny has in store for him.?

?What will you do now?? Mark asked quietly.

?I will go home. I used to reside deep inside Rainbow Woods before he came.?

Mark stood slowly up and opened the balcony door. No words were necessary. Mew just nodded, looked at him with those bright blue eyes, and flew outside.

?Maybe I?ll see you? you-know-where,? Mark called. Mew gave a small nod, then shot up towards the sky.

-------

On the street below, a bearded man wearing a brown hat and a trench coat jerked his head upwards.

?Did you see that?? he whispered to the Pok?mon beside him. It nodded slowly.

?And did you see the boy??

Another nod. The man?s gaze flickered a bit.

?And did you hear what he said??

He didn?t wait for an answer. A weird smile spread across his face.

 

[Dragonfree]

Is nobody reading anymore? :(

Anyway, this is the longest and to my opinion best chapter yet.




-------
RATING

Violence: Pok?mon battles, more violent than the ones you've been seeing here so far.

Gore: A bit, but nothing very serious.

Sexuality: None.

Profanity: One "****", yet again...

Other: Lots of threatening and thought about death. And semi-religious stuff that I hope my readers don't have too much against...
-------




Chapter 10: The Mew Hunter

Mark went down the stairs slowly. He felt incredible after talking to Mew. Much to his dismay, he met the one person he wasn?t interested in meeting at the stairway as she came walking from the other corridor. She didn?t say anything to him and they just walked down the stairs, ignoring each other very ironically.

They both returned the keys, acting like the other wasn?t there, and both walked out the same road towards Rainbow Woods, the forest that grew between Cleanwater City and Alumine.

Oh darn, Mark thought. Mew isn?t about to come anywhere near when she?s here...

They just walked for a long while as the tall trees surrounded them in all directions.

?Why are you always following me?? yelled Mark finally in frustration.

?Just because we?re walking along the same road at the same time doesn?t mean I?m following you, you know,? said May, glancing at him.

?But why are you walking just here at the exact same time as I am, refusing to even look at me?? Mark argued.

?You have big issues with me, I see,? said May, raising her eyebrow. ?Look, I?m not one to start a conversation. I don?t talk to people who don?t want to talk to me, so I usually just answer when I?m asked. Because you didn?t seem very keen on talking to me, I decided not to annoy you by talking. Do you have problems with that??

Mark blushed. ?Eh? did you catch that Larvitar?? he asked to change the subject.

?Yeah, and I noticed you took off with Dratini.?

Darn it! Mark hissed to himself.

?So, you going to take Dratini back or something?? he asked defensively.

?Nah,? said May. ?I?ve got Larvitar. I think I am the better one out, anyway.?

Mark angrily took out Dratini?s ball and pointed his Pok?dex at it.

?Dratini ? dragon Pok?mon. This Pok?mon sheds its skin to keep control of the massive amounts of life energy it has. So rare it was said to be a myth.?

He checked the stats. ?Male, level 15,? he muttered.

?So is Larvitar,? May replied. ?Hey, maybe we could, you know, battle them out.?

She got that battle glint in her eyes again.

?Fair enough,? Mark answered after a moment of thought. ?Go!?

He sent out the slender, snake-like dragon on the ground. May threw forward the Pok?ball containing the green creature from earlier. It gritted its teeth and waved the long horn on its head like a sword.

?Dratini, Wrap!? Mark called out. The little dragon obeyed, slithering forward to wrap his long body around Larvitar and starting to squeeze as hard as he could.

?Bite!? May ordered quickly, and Larvitar locked its small but powerful jaws around Dratini?s body. The dragon released him with a small cry of pain.

?Twister!? Mark shouted. The dragon started glowing turquoise, stood up on the end of its tail and started spinning around, faster and faster. Finally, he released a greenish-blue whirlwind that shot at Larvitar.

?Sandstorm!? May hissed. Larvitar raised a paw into the air, its red eyes glowing intensely golden, and a stream of sand materialized out of nowhere behind it and met the whirlwind. Mark clenched his fist; May?s face was expressionless until she, with a triumphant smile, saw that the whirlwind, now also a wheel of sand, started moving back towards Dratini. One thing sat in Mark?s head: Dragons were weak to their own attacks.

The whirlwind engulfed Dratini. The small Pok?mon screamed as he was bombarded by the wheel of sand along with the dragon power contained in the whirlwind. He was whipped into the air and came down unconscious.

?Return,? Mark grumbled. He looked hatefully at May as he attached the Pok?ball to his belt again. She sighed.

?Look, we don?t need to start some rivalry about this. I beat you, but that?s no big deal. I hate it when people hate me. Let?s just be friends, okay??

She held forward her hand. Mark hesitated, but then shook it.

?Hey, there?s a caf? at the forest?s edge, just before we get out of it. If you have money for yourself, we can eat there,? May offered.

?Sure,? Mark replied.

They ventured through the forest, now without the tense atmosphere, and Mark felt a lot better to know that she wasn?t plotting to steal Dratini or anything. They came across a few weak wild Pok?mon too, but just took turns beating them instead of trying to catch them, subconsciously trying to avoid another Dratini situation. Finally, they reached the caf?. It was a pleasantly green, very small-looking wooden house with red decorations, dug a little into the ground so it seemed even smaller. A faded, red sign above the door said ?Rainbow caf?.

?I?ve got to admit, this looks miniscule,? said Mark, staring at the house.

?Come on, I ate here on the way from Alumine to Cleanwater, it isn?t as small as it looks,? said May, dragging him down the small stairs leading to the door.

She was right. Somehow magically, it was much bigger on the inside than outside. Small, red, round tables were positioned very randomly all around the floor, with anything from one to five matching red chairs around them. People sat here and there, most of them deep in either conversation or thought.

The kids sat down at a table near the door and ordered some grilled toast. They didn?t talk much while they ate, but May was sure taking her time as she appeared to eat unnaturally slowly; after Mark had finished, she had only eaten half of hers. Mark tried to make her speed up a little bit using sign language, but she just gave him strange looks and mentioned ?enjoying the food?.

After eating, they paid and were about to stand up when Mark noticed that his Pok?ball belt had no Pok?balls on it anymore.

?Wha? did you take my Pok?balls?? he asked, scanning the floor for any traces of them.

?Of course not,? said May offended. ?I?m not a hypocrite.?

?What happened to them?? asked Mark hysterically, looking under the chairs and everything.

?Mark, Pok?balls don?t fall off by themselves,? said May seriously.

?You mean??

?Somebody stole them, yes. Not me, but somebody.?

Mark looked frantically around. ?Who??

May put up a thoughtful expression. ?Maybe that weird guy in the trench coat. He sat down just behind you, didn?t order anything and then after a while hurried out of the door, turning left.?

?That means? to Alumine,? Mark breathed. He grabbed May?s arm.

?What are we waiting for? Let?s go after him!?

He sprinted towards the city. May just sighed and walked, letting him shake her off.

-------

Trench coat, trench coat?

Mark came to the city?s edge, panting, and looked around. Alumine was medium-sized, but rather dirty and not an extremely pleasant place to live; most of the buildings were just blocks of concrete painted in some disgusting color that was thankfully starting to fall off. One building stood out, and was at the end of the main street Mark was entering; it was the famous Alumine Gym, constructed out of Skarmory feathers and shaped like one end of a vertical eye-shape sticking up from the ground, with the doors as the pupil. It reflected the sunlight off a million steel surfaces, all facing in slightly different directions. Mark had heard that the Gym Leader there used the sunlight to help him win battles, thanks to the opponent having a hard time seeing around.

A tall, bearded man, most of his face hidden in shadow beneath a brown hat and, indeed, wearing a trench coat, entered an extremely ugly, sickeningly yellow, large building just to Mark?s right. It took a second for him to realize that this was the man he was looking for. He was about to follow him when he heard May?s voice.

?Hey,? she said. ?Wasn?t that him??

?Yeah,? Mark replied. ?You coming with me??

She stared blankly at him. ?What, you?re just going to knock on his door and say ?Hey, you stole my Pok?mon, can I have them back???

?Well, yeah, pretty much,? said Mark simply.

?You?re crazy,? May sighed, shaking her head.

?So what?? Mark snapped. ?If you?re not coming, fine.?

He walked firmly towards the yellow building and knocked on the door. The trench coat guy answered it, of course not wearing the coat anymore. He stared at Mark for a second, then shoved him inside and closed the door.

?You!? the man spoke in a hoarse, quiet voice. His eyes were black and extremely open, and a dark full beard covered much of his face.

?Here? I?ve been? you didn?t have? must? get??

On second thought, he also seemed a little bit crazy.

?WHERE IS IT?? he suddenly bellowed, grabbing Mark?s arm firmly. Okay, maybe quite a bit crazy.

?Where is what?? asked Mark, puzzled.

?You-know-where!? he hissed.

More like ?an absolute madman who should?ve been locked in long ago?.

?What?? Mark questioned, even more confused.

?You know very well what I?m talking about! My life! My dedication! Where is ?you-know-where???

Suddenly, it dawned on to Mark what he was talking about.

?You mean? Mew??

?What else could I mean?? the guy snarled. ?Look, I have spent my entire life searching for Mew! I MUST FIND IT!?

?Uh,? said Mark, backing away, ?why didn?t you just give up on it long ago?? He immediately thought this was a stupid question.

The man took a few deep breaths, looking a lot less mad afterwards.

?I?ll tell you the whole story? doesn?t matter? we have plenty of time?

You can call me the Mew Hunter for convenience. I started my Pok?mon journey around your age? I lived in Johto then. I got a Totodile as my first Pok?mon? chose it for the jaws, mind you? I?ve always been a lot for sharp things? but by then I was already fascinated by the one Pok?mon that possessed the genes of them all.?

He didn?t explain what he meant, but he didn?t need to; Mark knew he was referring to Mew.

?I wanted to find it and claim it as mine? but of course, such a thing required a lot of preparation? I got a Sandshrew and a Sneasel, and managed to dig up a Kabuto fossil and get it resurrected? I evolved Totodile, Sandshrew and Kabuto, and with these four Pok?mon, I started an unofficial Gym of Pok?mon with sharp claws or fangs, just for the profits. We are in the Gym right now.?

Mark looked around; that sounded sensible. The floor was marked as a Pok?mon arena and the ceiling was very high. Two large windows with six panes each were on the wall to the left, and the light filtering through them seemed to be the only light source in the arena.

?I also studied Pok?balls. After earning the money to buy a Master Ball, I used my knowledge to make some modifications to it? I made it so that the Pok?mon inside it would be unable to escape a certain distance away from the ball itself. I was going to use it on Mew. And once I had made it, I closed the Gym and headed out to search for the ancestor of all Pok?mon?

But I had competition. Rick, from the Cleanwater City Gym, was also heading towards the same goal. He had a Pok?ball that would capture anything and put it under total control, weakening its mind to obey everything it was told. A disgusting idea? I knew that it must not be done to Mew? I was going to earn Mew?s trust, just like I had done with my other Pok?mon? but he was going to use Mew as a slave. I could not let that happen. I was determined to find Mew first.

And one day, I finally stumbled upon Mew, sleeping in the shadow of a tree. But Rick was there too. We threw our balls at the same time? from my studies, I knew that if a Pok?mon was hit with two balls at once, it would be torn apart and killed unless it collected all of itself into one ball? the impact of the two balls would wake it up, and I was confident that Mew would choose me? who would choose total slavery over a temporary limitation of freedom?

But Mew chose Rick? to this very day the thought has haunted me, why did Mew prefer Rick?s control? I have never found out why??

The man?s voice had slowly reverted to the mad, desperate one throughout the last few sentences.

?I went through a long period of depression, but finally I decided to reopen my Gym, caught two new Pok?mon and forgot about Mew. But today, I saw Mew again? I saw it fly out of a window? and you were addressing it, stating that you two supposedly would meet ?you-know-where?.?

He paused, and then spat out in a totally different voice: ?Now, I?d like you to tell me where that place is.?

Mark didn?t like idea of telling this person anything about where to find Mew. The Mew Hunter didn?t sound like he was lying when he talked about ?earning Mew?s trust? rather than forcing it to do anything, but he wouldn?t be surprised if he a somewhat twisted definition of earning somebody?s trust.

?No,? he therefore answered. ?I?m not telling you.?

?I?m afraid you mistook that for a question!? the man barked. ?Speak, or things will get nasty.?

?No,? said Mark firmly.

The man got a very sickening glint in his eyes.

?Really?? he said slowly, glaring at Mark with the kind of a smile Mark had only seen on villains in movies. Mark noticed his hand slowly picking a Pok?ball from his belt.

?You know, my friend here is amazingly convincing. Want to meet him??

Mark?s eyes darted towards the door as he thought of making a run for it.

?Well, you?re meeting him whether you like it or not,? the man hissed, hurling the Pok?ball powerfully towards Mark. Something big and green came out of it, dove straight at Mark at amazing speed and knocked him down. He felt his head hit the wall hard. A sharp pain seared through his head as his vision blacked out for a second; when it came back, he was met with a not-so-pleasant sight.

The thing that had hit him was a Pok?mon commonly associated with horror films, blood and stereotypical evil. It was somewhat like a light green, bipedal mantis with a reptilian head, but most importantly, two long, wickedly sharp blades attached to its arms. As sickening as it was, Mark found one of them positioned a centimeter or so from his throat.

The Scyther held him firmly down so that he couldn?t have moved even if he hadn?t been stiff from the sheer shock of having his life so suddenly put on the edge of a knife. He felt his heart pumping like crazy, every vein throbbing like it was about to burst. To crown it all, his stomach apparently fancied being empty at the moment. Seeing what was about to happen, the Pok?mon turned Mark?s head slightly to the left before he threw up.

?Aw, you don?t like his reasoning?? the man asked in a mocking tone. ?Well, too bad. Feel like talking now??

?No,? Mark choked up, sounding a lot braver than he felt.

?I?ll give you two five minutes to be alone,? said the man, checking his watch. ?Talk then or?? He ran his finger quickly over his throat, then turned around towards a side door and slammed it shut.

Mark was left in the arena with the bug Pok?mon, not sure whether the five minutes were meant for him to think about it or just to discomfort him even more. A few seconds convinced him that it was the latter.

His horrified gaze ran over to the Pok?mon. His stomach twitched just from looking at it again. The beast?s eyes were completely colorless; the socket was shaped like a skewed rectangle, and the whites were pearly and veinless, disrupted only by the jet-black slits that were the pupils. It was staring straight at his face, completely expressionlessly.

Mark wondered what would happen if he just told the guy that Mew was at some random place and got released. He could just go and tell the police and get the Mew Hunter arrested. But while the man was clearly mad, he didn?t seem stupid at all. Hadn?t he thought of that? Mark whirred through the last things the man had said, and realized that he had never actually said Mark would be released if he did tell of Mew?s location. He got a horrible sinking feeling. Was this the end, whatever he did?

He started imagining what it was like to be killed. Was there life after death? What kind of a feeling would it be? Would it happen right away? The good thing was that he knew Scyther took very much care in sharpening their scythes so their cuts were virtually painless? from his point of view, it wouldn?t be that bad a death?

Oh, come on, he thought bitterly to himself. You don?t want to get your **** throat cut by a mad Scyther!

The Scyther isn?t mad, said the perfectionist voice in his head. His trainer is.

Yeah, but it?s the same thing, Pok?mon do what their trainers say?

Do they?

You mean? negotiating with a Scyther? You crazy?

Maybe, but it can?t hurt, can it? You have nothing to lose.

Oh man. First sign of insanity: staging an imaginary conversation with oneself.

But then again, there was a point in that. He had nothing to lose.

?Eh?? Mark said hesitatingly, immediately regretting it. But the Scyther decided to answer nevertheless.

?You scared??

Mark didn?t find any longing to answer that question.

?Death is not to be feared, for it is the only thing that we all have in common.?

Seeing the confused look on Mark?s face, the bug added: ?It?s an old Scyther saying. It means: why fear death of all things, when it?s the exact one thing we can be positive will happen to us all sooner or later??

If that was supposed to be comforting, it was failing miserably.

 

[Dragonfree]

?You hate that guy, right?? Mark asked weakly.

?What would you know?? Scyther replied.

?But? you wouldn?t actually??

?Why not?? asked Scyther calmly.

?Well? you wouldn?t feel good, would you?? Mark suggested. Scyther smiled faintly.

?Trying to appeal to my conscience, now are you? But tell me one thing, human: is it your honest belief that Scyther have a conscience??

?Eh, well, yeah, I liked to think so, at least,? Mark said awkwardly.

?Of course we have a conscience,? Scyther said bitterly. ?And all the emotions you can feel to go with it. But if you knew that, you should also be able to realize that being a predator leaves you with a choice of permanently blocking out everything called ?pity for a victim?, or starving to death.?

?Will you get anything out of killing me?? Mark tried another approach.

?No, but I?m not the only Pok?mon here. Take Kabutops. His scythes aren?t as sharp as mine, I?ll admit, he doesn?t think too much about the maintenance??

Mark quickly changed the subject to the first thing he could think of.

?Eh? you wouldn?t want blood on your nice, clean scythes, would you?? he said out of the blue.

Scyther sighed. ?Look, this is getting ridiculous now and I have the feeling that you aren?t about to say a single logical thing from now on, so why bother? I?m not the one who decides what happens here. You were given five minutes as a chance to think over your situation, and you?ve been wasting them talking to me. While I do appreciate a chat, I feel it?s my duty to inform you that you?re not buying yourself a single minute of additional life.?

Mark decided to follow the Pok?mon?s advice; funnily enough, he had managed to forget about the scythe threatening him while they talked, but now he was starting to feel uncomfortable again.

Then suddenly, a wonderful though struck him like lightning. He felt warmth spread around his whole body. He wheeled through it in his head a few times, yes, it appeared to work?

The side door opened and the Mew Hunter came back in.

?So,? he said slowly, walking up to Mark, ?are you going to speak out??

?No,? said Mark, his heart beating like crazy. Despite having found a plan that should work, all of his courage had flown out of the window during the last five minutes and wasn?t about to return.

?You want to die, kid?? the Mew Hunter snarled.

?No,? Mark answered quietly.

?Well, newsflash: there?s no alternative!? growled the Mew Hunter. ?Telling me or not??

??not.? Mark?s voice was trembling. This was it. Either he was right, or he was wrong and then his life would end right here.

The man went white for a split second. ?OK, then,? he said in an odd tone. ?It will be quick??

Mark closed his eyes, but Scyther?s scythe did not move. He smiled; he had been right. The Mew Hunter didn?t want to lose him so easily.

?You were never going to kill me, were you?? Mark asked, feeling oddly secure.

?Well, let me tell you one thing? you are never going out of here, never? until you tell me where Mew is??

?You stole my Pok?mon, right? Can I have them back?? Mark decided that he could think of a way to escape later; it was time for what he originally came for.

The man took out what Mark recognized as his Pok?balls out of his pocket.

?You want them?? he asked. ?Win them from me? in a battle.? He smiled slyly.

?Sure,? Mark answered, although he couldn?t figure out why the man would want a battle right now.

?Scyther, come,? said the Mew Hunter. The Pok?mon released Mark and stood up as Mark also did so, but Scyther just stood there by Mark?s side.

?Rob,? he said calmly, ?I can do a bit of empty threatening for you, but I will not aid you in kidnapping or taking hostages.?

The Mew Hunter went white.

?Get over here! Now!?

?No,? said Scyther, not moving.

?TRAITOR!? the Mew Hunter bellowed.

?Rob, please,? Scyther said. Was there a hint of sadness in his eyes? ?Is Mew really worth wasting your life for??

The Mew Hunter hesitated, unmistakably looking a bit sad too, but then said: ?I?m sorry, Scyther? but Mew is my life. Either you?re with me, or with him.?

?Then I?m with him,? said Scyther, stepping nearer to Mark, ?for the Rob I used to know.?

Mark was very confused by this; there was true pain in Scyther?s voice, but who could miss such a man?

?Uh, my Pok?mon? So I can battle?? Mark asked hesitatingly.

The Mew Hunter glared nastily at Scyther and then looked back at Mark. ?Looks like you have one already. In fact? a match for all the others.?

?What, this is going to be a? five on one?? Mark asked in disbelief. ?But??

?Go, Kabutops!? the Mew Hunter snarled, sending out a brown, bony Pok?mon with a flat, triangular-shaped head, two small eyes and blades on its arms, similar to Scyther?s.

?Kabu?? asked the Pok?mon, turning back to its trainer with a confused expression.

?Scyther has betrayed us,? he growled.

?I?m not fighting him, he?s my friend,? Kabutops protested.

?Kabutops, let?s just? get this over with,? said Scyther with a horrible, suicidal kind of expression.

?Ska-a-a!?

Everybody looked up. A Skarmory had just been sent out of a Pok?ball high up near the ceiling. Mark?s heart took a leap as he saw the grid covering the end of the ventilation pipe up there in the corner fall down with a lot of noise, revealing a blue-haired girl?s head. She jumped onto Skarmory?s back and flew down. Mark had never imagined he?d ever be so happy to see her.

?How about no?? she said coldly, recalling the steel vulture. ?I?ve got five Pok?mon. I take this one,? she removed one Pok?ball from her necklace and put it in her pocket, ?and now there are four left. With him,? she pointed at Scyther, ?this is a fair five-on-five. OK then, go, Butterfree!?

She sent out her giant butterfly. It soared in the air, facing Kabutops. The Mew Hunter seemed in a shock at first, but then just seemed to accept these conditions.

?Kabutops, Slash.?

?Sleep Powder!? May snarled. Butterfree flapped its wings, releasing a cloud of greenish spores as Kabutops leapt upwards, its blades raised. Inhaling the powder, the fossil Pok?mon seemed to get drowsy, and as Butterfree flew a bit higher up, Kabutops fell asleep in mid-air and crashed back into the floor.

?Finish it with a Giga drain!? May commanded. The sleeping Kabutops took a deep green glow and small green orbs of energy started ripping lose from its body, the Pok?mon twitching violently with each one. The orbs circled Butterfree until all of Kabutops?s glow had faded; then they sank into the butterfly?s body.

?Kabutops, return,? said the Mew Hunter, his voice trembling. ?Sneasel, go! Tear its wings to shreds!?

Mark suddenly realized why the Mew Hunter had wanted a battle in the first place ? his plan had originally been to injure Mark?s Pok?mon enough to make him tell of Mew?s location in exchange for him not hurting them more.

A small, catlike creature with big eyes, a blood red feather-like thing in place of its left ear and two long, sharp claws on each front paw came out of the Pok?ball.

?Snee!? it screeched, starting to run across the room. The Sneasel actually ran a short way up the wall before leaping with great agility towards the butterfly Pok?mon, stabbing its claws into its wings and dragging it to the ground. As they were about to crash, Sneasel ripped itself loose and managed to jump up on Butterfree?s back. It wasn?t really necessary; Butterfree would?ve been out cold upon crashing either way, its wings in a very bad condition. Butterfree twitched a bit, like a fly that was about to die.

?Return,? said May calmly, ignoring her Pok?mon?s state. ?Skarmory, go and use a Steel Wing.?

The metallic vulture burst out of the Pok?ball and swooped down towards Sneasel?s shape. The agile little cat dodged it and attempted to slash at Skarmory?s steel feathers, but no avail; it didn?t even leave a scratch.

?Icy Wind!? ordered the Mew Hunter. Some of the muscles in his face twitched.

The Sneasel jumped up, spreading out its arms, and opened its mouth to release a powerful gust of cold wind, hail and snow. Skarmory wasn?t particularly hurt, but clearly slowed down a bit, allowing Sneasel to dart to another place and release another blast of icy wind.

?Drill Peck!? May ordered hastily. Skarmory flew up and started spinning, swooping down at the cat. The Sneasel just leapt out of the way with ease, but Skarmory turned and kept gaining speed. Finally, its sharp beak stabbed into Sneasel?s back. The cat let out a horrible screech, but then fell forward, blood gushing out of the wound.

?Come back,? said the Mew Hunter. ?Feraligatr, show that bird not to mess with us.?

He sent out a huge, bulky, bipedal blue alligator. It had red spikes on its hunched back and a very powerful-looking yellow lower jaw.

?Fer-al!? it cried, showing all of its long fangs.

?Drill Peck,? May ordered. Skarmory dove down again, spinning.

?Crunch,? said the Mew Hunter evilly. His Feraligatr opened its mouth, and locked its jaws around Skarmory?s body when it came near enough. After a few seconds of war between the steel and the jaws, Skarmory?s body started crumbling together. The vulture screeched, and sensing that this could very easily kill it, May quickly recalled her Pok?mon.

?Pikachu, Thunderbolt!? May said determinedly, throwing forward her third Pok?ball. A yellow, bipedal rodent with two long, black-tipped ears and red spots on its cheeks came out of the ball. Its cheeks started sparkling with electricity and then it released a bolt of lightning that shot at the blue alligator. It was too slow to dodge, but as most slow Pok?mon, it made up for the lack of speed with more endurance. While it did roar in pain and stagger backwards slightly, it didn?t look too weakened afterwards.

?Earthquake,? said the Mew Hunter, clenching his fist. The alligator lifted one foot off the floor and then stomped it down powerfully, making the floor ripple in waves like when Sandshrew used the attack. Pikachu attempted to jump up and avoid it, but ended up getting caught anyway. Releasing a flurry of electric sparks, the rodent dropped limply down, unconscious.

?Pikachu, come back,? said May, biting her lip. ?Lapras, now my faith is in you!?

She sent out a very big, blue, sea turtle-like Pok?mon with a bumpy shell and kind-looking eyes.

?Sing,? May ordered. Lapras started singing a sweet melody, and Feraligatr?s eyes slowly got drowsy.

?Slash!? commanded the Mew Hunter quickly. It was still too late; Feraligatr?s eyelids sank downwards and finally it collapsed, fast asleep.

?Body Slam,? said May calmly. Lapras started paddling forward to finish Feraligatr off, and knowing that leaving it in was pointless, the Mew Hunter took out the Pok?ball and recalled the alligator. He then hesitated a bit, first grabbing one Pok?ball like out of instinct, but then deciding on another.

?Go, Sandslash.?

Mark wondered why he had made this choice; Sandslash was very weak to Water attacks.

?Surf,? May smirked. Lapras spewed water into the air, which came down on the floor and flooded in a huge wave towards Sandslash, soaking it and leaving it fainted. Easy one.

The Mew Hunter smiled evilly. ?Fangcat, go wild.?

Out of the Pok?ball came another Pok?mon commonly associated with horror movies; it was a pretty big, slender, cream-colored feline ? with two enormous, bloody fangs hanging down from its mouth.

It fixed its hungry eyes on Lapras and then leapt forward with a roar, sinking its fangs deep into the turtle?s neck. Lapras let out a high-pitched wail; all the color drained from May?s face as she recalled her Pok?mon.

?Is Fangcat going to be willing to attack you?? Mark whispered to Scyther.

?Her?? Scyther snorted. ?She?d attack anything that?s not Rob. She?d be overjoyed about being allowed to kill in this battle if she was able to express any emotion other than bloodlust and hate.?

?But you have to battle her,? Mark said, his eyes wide.

?Of course I have to,? said Scyther simply, walking forward. ?I know what I?m doing.?

?Fangcat, punish him!? the Mew Hunter roared.

?Fffffang!? Fangcat hissed, her eyes fixed on Scyther. He watched her closely too.

Suddenly, Scyther darted upwards. Fangcat leapt amazingly high after him, but he just flew even higher. Fangcat turned around in the air, knowing that Scyther was about to try to attack her from the back as she fell. When he dove down to slash at her, a well-aimed strike resulted in one of her fangs running Scyther?s body through.

He was stiff for a split second, his eyes wide, but then he raised both of his scythes and started slashing like mad. She was unconscious, cut and bloody all over when they landed on the floor, her fang still entering his upper body at the front and coming out at the back. He was breathing rapidly.

?Fangcat, return!? the Mew Hunter said, white as a sheet of paper, as he held forward a Pok?ball. The feline was absorbed into red energy and disappeared. Scyther was left lying alone on the floor. He then started muttering something Mark recognized as the saying he had mentioned to Mark earlier:

?Death is not to be feared? for it is the only thing? that we all? have? in common??

Scyther closed his eyes. The Mew Hunter took out a Pok?ball, wide-eyed, but it just somehow melted away into thin air. Mark?s heart was beating; Pok?balls didn?t do that unless?

May walked slowly towards the motionless mantis, observing him for a few seconds. Finally, she bent down and poked his shiny green armor. She quickly pulled her hand back.

?He?s dead,? she clarified after a moment?s pause. It didn?t surprise Mark. The Mew Hunter just stared at the lifeless Pok?mon on the floor.

??no,? he then whispered. ?No! NO!?

?Oh yes,? said May mercilessly, stepping away from the body. ?That bloody beast of yours killed him, on your own orders.?

The Mew Hunter dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. ?Scyther?no??

Mark was amazed at how quickly his whole attitude changed; just a few minutes ago, he had been the madman who seemed to want nothing more than see something killed, but now he looked completely broken down.

Mark hadn?t exactly known Scyther for a very long or pleasant time, but couldn?t help feeling horrible.

For ten seconds or so, everything was silent except from the Mew Hunter?s sobbing. Then, all of a sudden, the big window farther away on the wall was shattered to pieces. Even the Mew Hunter looked up to see what was happening.

In through the window flew a small, pink, catlike creature with big, sad, sapphire blue eyes.

?It is such a shame,? said Mew gravely, not to anybody in particular, levitating two meters or so above Scyther?s body, ?when the young die??

The Legendary Pok?mon?s big eyes turned to the Mew Hunter.

?Especially when one knows that when it comes right down to it? it?s one?s own fault.? There was a brief silence.

?Your life was meant to be longer,? said the Legendary Pok?mon then sadly to the lifeless body on the floor. The beautiful eyes closed, and Mew was enveloped in a reddish-pink aura. So was Scyther?s body.

The big hole in the middle of his upper body closed. The blood on the floor disappeared. The glow faded, first on Scyther, then on Mew.

Scyther?s eyes opened.

He blinked a few times and then slowly stood up.

?I?m? back...? Scyther whispered, looking around. Mark realized that he had just witnessed a miracle ? an example of the incredible power of the Legendary Pok?mon?

?I won the battle,? said the Mew Hunter suddenly. ?Scyther died.?

?Hey, that?s not fair!? Mark protested. ?Fangcat fainted first!?

?But Scyther died,? the Mew Hunter hissed.

?Looks pretty darn alive to me now,? Mark replied. The mantis was seemingly talking to Mew.

?But he was??

?Hey, OK, let?s assume you won,? May interrupted. ?Then we?ll give in and tell you where Mew is: over there. Now give Mark his Pok?mon so we can leave.?

The Mew Hunter jerked his head in Mew?s direction, like he was first now realizing that it was Mew and not something else.

?I will change my whereabouts now,? said Mew, turning to him. ?I shall travel? and you shall not find me.?

The Mew Hunter grabbed a Pok?ball, but Mew?s eyes just glowed a deep purple, its shape started to flicker and then it disappeared in a flash of violet.

?I will find you? I will?? he muttered, staring at the place where Mew used to be. Then he seemed to snap out of his trance, fixed his gaze on Scyther and reached for his Pok?ball.

?But? Scyther?s Pok?ball melted!? he realized as his hand found only air.

?Yes,? said Scyther slowly. ?Mew told me? I?m not yours anymore??

The Mew Hunter?s eyes widened.

?Rob, we could go back and live our old life. But are you ready to give up on Mew for that??

?I have to go? I have to find Mew? I?m sorry,? said the Mew Hunter.

?Then? I wish you the best of luck,? said Scyther sorrowfully before taking off and flying out of the window to freedom.

The Mew Hunter stared after him.

?Um? my Pok?mon?? Mark asked carefully.

?Sure?? said the Mew Hunter absent-mindedly, handing him his Pok?balls like he had no idea what he was doing. Mark quietly attached them back to his belt and the kids hurried out of the building before the Mew Hunter realized where they were.

-------

?Wow,? May said on the way to the Alumine Pok?mon Center. ?That was some adventure??

?Where were you the whole time, by the way?? Mark asked curiously.

?Well, when the guy took you inside and you didn?t come out again, I got a bit suspicious so I walked around the house a bit and found the end of that ventilation pipe. Then I got into it and ended up at your end, and watched and heard everything. I didn?t want to come down sooner because I didn?t think it would be smart to give Scyther a reason to? erm, change the plan??

?Why didn?t you just call the police?? Mark asked.

?Well?? May bit her lip, ?you could say I?m? not much for the way they do things.?

Mark decided not to question her further about that. ?I feel a bit sorry for that man, though. He?s totally brainwashed.?

May nodded. ?But Mew is at least going to travel around now. Oh, we?re here.?

The familiar, red, dome-shaped roof of the Pok?mon Center towered over them. A sign outside it informed them that the Pok?mon Center had free rooms for all Pok?mon trainers.

?Wait!?

Scyther walked through a crowd of people who automatically split to the sides, giving him a clear path.

?What?s your name?? he asked Mark out of the blue.

?Mark,? he replied, not sure what Scyther wanted.

?Mark, can I come with you??

?What?? Mark stared at the mantis.

?You wouldn?t understand, it?s complicated, but I have nothing to live for in the wild. Rob?s Mew-obsession has taken over him. It?s either you? or wasting the life that Mew gave me another chance at.?

Mark nodded.

?One condition, though,? said Scyther worriedly. ?This may sound strange, but? don?t report him to the police. I?ve known him for three years, and usually he is a wonderful person and friend. Trust me, you?ve only seen the one truly bad side of him. He doesn?t deserve jail.?

Mark nodded again.

?Got a spare Pok?ball?? Scyther questioned. Mark took out the last one that had come with his Pok?ball belt, and tapped Scyther with it. He was dissolved into red light and sucked into the ball. It immediately pinged; Scyther showed no resistance against it.

It was quite an interesting Pok?mon team Mark was going to have now. An abandoned Charmeleon, a baby Eevee who didn?t know what Pok?mon training was, a Sandshrew who had just gained his very first bit of confidence, a starved, weird Gyarados, a Dratini who was bred in captivity and then released, and a depressed Scyther.

May just stared.

 

[Lily]

Ah sorry for not revieweing earlier.

Very interesting chapters...I was about to suggest not to powerplay Mew, since having a Mew of all pokemon in the beginning would be considered a bit awkward. Excellent emotions between the Mew hunter and the Scyther, very effective in the tone you used. And wow, a Scyther just came to Mark, although Mew giving him another chance at life surprised me a little, but an interesting play in the story. I loved that part. XD

Otherwise, I do feel sorry for the Mew hunter too, wonder if he's going to succeed...probably not. I like the ending, the way you described his team, it makes it sound non perfect and not too powerful. Overall, excellent chapter. I loved it, and had a great time reading it.

^_^

 

[Dragonfree]

You'll learn why Mew said Scyther's life was meant to be longer later, as well as more about the Mew Hunter, but here comes chapter eleven. It's short...




-------
RATING

Violence: None.

Gore: None.

Sexuality: None.

Profanity: None.

Other: A bit of creepiness, but nothing that matters.
-------



Chapter 11: The Lizard and the Mantis

Mark was starting to feel uncomfortable again when they waited for their Pok?mon to be healed. Nurse Joy had informed May that thankfully, her Pok?mon would recover.

This Pok?mon Center, like the one in Cleanwater City, had a pink furry carpet and red couches scattered around randomly. As Mark sat motionlessly in one, he drifted into sleep.

The dream was just a very short flash of scythes, eyes with slits for pupils, green reptilian heads, forty centimeter-long blood-covered fangs, death and a bit more blood. Then he snapped back awake, breathing rapidly.

Mark calmed down upon realizing that he was in the Pok?mon Center. May was just bringing his Pok?mon back.

?Thanks,? he mumbled, attaching them to his belt. ?Hey, I think I?m going outside for a bit? I guess I could use some fresh air, and maybe I?ll introduce Scyther properly to my Pok?mon.?

She nodded, and Mark stood up, walking outside. The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon in the far west. The air was comfortably cool, although it couldn?t exactly be called fresh.

?Go, Charmeleon, Sandshrew, Eevee, Dratini.?

The four Pok?mon materialized on the ground and cried out their names. Gyarados couldn?t be let out on land, but Mark just hoped he didn?t mind.

?Um? did you know that you were stolen?? Mark asked.

?Yes, we know the whole story,? said Charmeleon. ?But we?re back with you now, so does that really matter??

?Well, you see? I?ve gotten a new Pok?mon??

Mark felt one of his Pok?balls wobble a bit; then the two halves separated. A beam of red shot out of it and took shape into Scyther right next to Mark. As the mantis Pok?mon formed, the four smaller ones backed away.

?Mark?? asked Charmeleon hesitatingly, ?isn?t that the thief?s Scyther??

?Yeah,? Mark said. ?He joined us.?

Charmeleon stared at him for a second, but then asked: ?Erm? what the heck happened to your common sense??

?What?? Mark asked, confused.

?Well, isn?t it obvious?? Charmeleon snapped. ?You?re opening the door wide to a Pok?mon that was going to kill you just half an hour ago!?

?He wasn?t going to!? Mark objected. ?He even refused to battle for the Mew Hunter!?

?Who says that isn?t a part of the plan too?? said Charmeleon, eying Scyther suspiciously.

?I??

?I can?t force you to trust me,? said Scyther just, ?and really, I can?t blame you for not trusting me. I?m not used to being trusted.?

?Oh, come on,? said Mark annoyed, ?just give us your word that you aren?t going to hurt anybody.?

?I don?t make promises,? said the mantis calmly. ?Not to you, not to somebody who won?t believe it anyway, and not to anybody else. Breaking a promise is painful, and the only way to avoid the pain is not to make the promise.?

Mark was starting to feel a bit more skeptical about Scyther?s company now, but he didn?t want to admit defeat right away.

?See?? Charmeleon snorted. ?At least he has the decency not to go behind his words ? by not giving any words to go behind!?

?Let Mark decide,? said Scyther expressionlessly. ?He?s heard both sides of the argument, and it?s him who we?re trying to affect. Let him be the judge.?

?Guys,? Mark said decisively towards his Pok?mon, ?I want all of you to come over here and accept Scyther as one of you.?

The mantis offered his right scythe for a handshake, but Mark?s four much smaller Pok?mon just flinched, apart from Charmeleon, who glared at Mark like he couldn?t believe this. Nobody moved, until finally ? much to Mark?s surprise ? Sandshrew walked nervously forward. He glanced anxiously at the raised scythe, but decided not to come near it so he just nodded and sat down.

?Great. Anybody else?? Mark asked, smiling.

He was even more surprised when Eevee tilted his head and approached the giant bug. He even raised his right front paw to touch the top of Scyther?s blade. He smiled faintly, moving his arm slightly. Eevee jumped, but showed no signs of regret when he took place beside Mark.

Dratini then slithered forward. His black, beady eyes looked curiously up at the bug?s reptilian head, and what could only be a cute little smile appeared on his face. Scyther nodded slowly, and the dragon crawled to Eevee?s side.

Now only Charmeleon was left, and he showed no signs of being about to come over. He just gave Scyther a nasty glare, folded his arms and then turned his back firmly towards the rest of the Pok?mon, flicking his tail flame.

?Fine,? said Scyther matter-of-factly. ?We?ll have it your way, then??

And he also crossed his bladed arms and turned his back towards Charmeleon in the exact same manner.

?Oh, come on,? Mark sighed, but the two Pok?mon didn?t move.

?Mark!?

May came out of the Pok?mon Center and eyed Scyther and Charmeleon curiously before turning to Mark.

?Hey, there?s supposedly a decent, cheap restaurant in town called The Gamesharked Skarmory. I?ve been given directions, and I?m going there now. Are you coming??

?Yeah, sure,? Mark said, recalling his Pok?mon and trying to act like there was nothing wrong. He was thankful that May wasn?t the type of person to ask questions.

-------

After the meal, May told Mark that it would be best to get rooms at the Pok?mon Center because it was free. Mark noticed that she seemed to be obsessed with everything being cheap, but didn?t mention that. They just walked back to the Pok?mon Center and checked in.

Once Mark was alone in his room, he undressed, put on his pajamas and, after a bit of thought, sent out his five Pok?mon small enough to fit in the room. He noticed Charmeleon starting to growl at Scyther, but interrupted quickly:

?Hey, now we?re just going to sleep, all right? No arguing, insulting, attacking, or anything of the sort.?

Scyther and Charmeleon nodded, and lay down on the floor with the other Pok?mon. Mark made carefully sure that they weren?t going to do anything before closing his eyes.

Scyther suddenly leapt at him, his scythes raised. Mark gasped, only to discover that the mantis was lying peacefully on the floor, fast asleep.

?Stupid dream,? he muttered, turning around.

Fangcat snuck up on Charmeleon and prepared to sink her fangs into his unsuspecting body; he was turned around with his arms folded and didn?t see her?

Mark woke with a start, finding that this was also a dream.

?Darn it,? he mumbled. He dug his face into his fluffy pillow. Suddenly, he had no face and was throwing a black and red Pok?ball at Mew?

Knowing in the dream that it was a dream, he broke out of it by forcing his eyes open. He screwed them shut again, staring at the blackness on the back of his eyelids. Two bright yellow eyes opened in the dark and he woke up yet again, his heart stinging uncomfortably.

He waited, and waited. Mew started laughing manically, threatening to kill Eevee. Mewtwo? lay dead in a pool of blood on the floor, but the Mew Hunter was trying to resurrect him by muttering old sayings. Mark ordered Scyther to kill May because she was trying to steal Charmeleon.

Mark knew it was all a stupid dream, but let it all happen in his head without waking up. It was somehow relieving to let all of this day?s happenings mix up into something insane.

-------

A young man stared out of the window at the stars. His gray eyes reflected their light.

?Emotions?? he muttered out of the blue. ?Strong ones? fighting to keep them inside? interesting??

He blinked.

-------

Charmeleon lay on the floor, pretending to be asleep. Mark wasn?t mumbling in his sleep anymore; he had most likely fallen into deep sleep.

Mark is being stupid, he thought grimly. Does he have any idea what a Scyther could do in the night? Especially one who can break out of Pok?balls by himself?

And that bug is acting all arrogant, trying to be the wise one, trying to look good? but I see right through him? if Mark doesn?t want to believe me, fine?

I?ll show that overgrown mantis one day? I?ll show him?

With a grin, he closed his eyes. He dreamt not the happenings of this day, but a plan for the future.

 

[oni flygon]

Well the week is over... *unstickies*

 

[Dragonfree]

Not my best chapter, but meh.



-------
RATING

Violence: Pok?mon battles as I write them...

Gore: None.

Sexuality: None.

Profanity: None.

Other: Nothing special.
-------



Chapter 12: Let There Be Light

Mark woke up the next morning, feeling like he hadn?t slept at all. He didn?t remember much of his dreams, except that they had all included some sort of a tweaked version of something that had happened the day before. Except the ones with the yellow eyes, he wasn?t sure where that came from.

He blinked, staring at the ceiling as he still lay in the bed. What would he do today?

Mark smiled at his own stupidity when he realized the obvious: he hadn?t challenged the official Pok?mon Gym of Alumine yet.

He sat up and blinked some more. His Pok?mon were still asleep. He got dressed quietly and recalled them without waking them up.

After breakfast, he headed straight towards the magnificent, shiny building. He had heard that the Gym Leader used shine to his advantage, and suddenly started getting a bit nervous. He had been battling the previous Gym Leader yesterday! This was a whole new one, most likely with considerably stronger Pok?mon.

He was pretty confident that the Gym Leader had to possess at least one Skarmory. Living in this town, it seemed absolutely absurd for a Gym Leader not to have one, especially seeing as the Gym was constructed out of their feathers.

And Steel types like Skarmory were resistant to? a lot of things, if Mark remembered correctly. Most physical moves, at the very least, and a lot of special ones too. But they were definitely weak to Fire, meaning Charmeleon would be at an advantage.

Eevee, however, would be toast. He could only perform Return and probably Tackle, Tail Whip and stuff like that. Nothing that would ever harm a Steel-type to any extent.

Sandshrew would have a very hard time against a Skarmory, too; his Earthquake would not affect a bird Pok?mon, and aside from that he could only scratch and use Poison Sting, which Mark believed was completely ineffective on Steel Pok?mon.

Gyarados and Dratini?s dragon flames wouldn?t harm a Skarmory much either; Steel was the only type that resisted Dragon moves. As far as Mark knew, Gyarados didn?t know any Water attacks. Maybe some Normal ones, but definitely not Water ones. Not Dratini either.

And Scyther ? well, Mark didn?t know much about his strength exactly?

He whipped out his Kyogre-colored Pok?dex and pointed it at the mantis?s Pok?ball.

?Scyther ? mantis Pok?mon. Scyther is a highly dangerous Pok?mon due to the sharp scythes it uses for hunting. It has been overhunted ever since the discovery of its Steel-type evolution, Scizor, and their numbers are decreasing rapidly,? said the electronic voice. Mark selected the option to view the Pok?mon?s stats.

His jaw dropped.

Level 42? he thought. That?s insane! The rest of my Pok?mon are just somewhere around level 20!

But level 42 or not, Scyther in general weren?t very fond of attacks that didn?t involve their scythes in some way or another. However sharp they might be, they would never be able to leave as much as a scratch on a Skarmory?s feathers.

Mark stopped in his tracks. He was lucky he hadn?t just wandered right into the Gym without thinking it through! The battle would essentially be one on however many Pok?mon the Gym Leader might have.

This required some preparation. The first thing that popped into his head was Eevee, but of course, he couldn?t evolve him now?

Or am I just being overprotective again?

Mark sighed and took out Eevee?s Pok?ball, sending him out. Somehow, he felt like Eevee looked older, but then again, he was probably just imagining it.

?Vee?? he asked, looking at Mark. His voice was now getting clearer and not as squeaky and baby-like. Mark was certainly not imagining that. Was Eevee? growing up?

?Hey, Eevee?? Mark wondered how to begin.

?Yes?? asked the Pok?mon.

?Have you? have you ever thought about evolution?? Mark decided just to get to the point.

?Evolution?? Eevee tilted his head a bit, like he wasn?t sure what he meant.

?Yeah, like Charmander evolved and now he?s a Charmeleon.?

?Oh,? Eevee realized, ?you mean like growing up??

?Guess it can be called that,? said Mark, shrugging.

?But doesn?t that just happen when you?re old?? Eevee questioned.

?No,? Mark explained, ?evolution can happen in many different ways. It?s often the equivalent of some part of growing up, because a lot of physical maturing takes place at once during the process of evolution, but it doesn?t happen depending on age. Some Pok?mon evolve when they have gained a certain amount of battle experience, sometimes evolution is triggered through strong emotions, for some Pok?mon going through the compression that happens during a trade causes them to evolve, and some ? like you, Eevee ? can evolve when exposed to certain materials.?

?Will I become a Flareon, then, like mommy was?? the Pok?mon asked curiously.

?Well,? said Mark, not sure how to say it, ?you can become one of five Pok?mon, or choose to stay as you are.?

?What can I evolve into other than Flareon?? Eevee asked.

?Well, you can become a Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon or Umbreon too. Vaporeon is a Water Pok?mon that relies on endurance and special attacking power and can dissolve into water? Jolteon focuses on speed and Electric attacks and can fire the spikes on its body at opponents? Flareon is a Fire Pok?mon and its strategy is built on physical strength and resistance to elemental attacks? Espeon is adept at using its Psychic powers quickly and effectively? Umbreon centers around toughness and defensive abilities and is a Dark type. And, of course, you can also just be an Eevee.?

?I don?t know,? Eevee answered insecurely. ?Will I change, like when Charmander evolved??

?Change? Of course you will change, into a different Pok?mon??

?No, I mean? inside.?

Mark felt a twinge of pain in his stomach. ?Hopefully not? if we wait, then? never mind, you?re not ready,? he just mumbled and recalled Eevee. How could he have forgotten that? If anybody was too young to evolve without changing very much in personality, it was Eevee.

He?d just have to hope the Gym Leader?s team didn?t consist of many Skarmory.

Mark sighed and walked towards the Gym. The bright sunlight reflecting off the million feathers blinded him. When he came to the half-circle shaped door, he opened it and went inside.

It was pitch-black.

?Um? hello?? he called into the darkness.

?Hello,? answered a calm, deep male voice. ?A challenger, eh??

?Yeah,? Mark said nervously.

?Then let the light flow??

Suddenly, vertical rifts of light appeared high above. They widened gradually and the sunshine found its way inside, revealing what was going on; a pale-skinned, bulky man with steel gray, spiky hair and pitch-black sunglasses wearing some kind of a silvery outfit stood on the opposite side of the room near a horizontal row of switches. When the man had assured himself that Mark had seen him, he turned another switch on. Suddenly, Mark was absolutely blinded as a ring of huge, bright projectors on the walls lit up. He winced, covering his eyes with his arms.

The man laughed. ?My name is Christopher and I am the Gym Leader of Alumine. This is my Gym, and in my Gym, you play by my rules. I want light, then I?ll have light.?

Mark nodded.

?Secondly,? Christopher continued, ?we will use two Pok?mon each in this battle.?

Mark blindly reached for Charmeleon?s ball.

?Go, Steelix!? shouted Christopher.

?Charmeleon!? Mark yelled, throwing the ball into what he presumed was the arena. Peering out of the small rift between his eyelids, he could make out his Fire Pok?mon cowering from the light.

?Char?? he growled.

?Steelix, Earthquake!? ordered the Gym Leader. Mark realized what he was doing; he was using attacks that didn?t depend on the user seeing the opponent.

?Jump!? Mark ordered desperately as the massive shape of the iron snake raised its tail. Charmeleon did what was even better; he jumped onto Steelix?s tail and hung on to it while the iron snake sent ripples around the floor.

?Flamethrower!? Mark blurted out quickly.

?Slam!? Christopher countered.

The shape of Steelix?s tail was slammed towards the floor, but Charmeleon jumped off in time and breathed out a long tongue of brightly-colored flames. Steelix roared in pain.

?Iron Tail,? said Christopher, seemingly a bit worried. But when the iron snake?s tail was lifted upwards, it cast a shadow at Charmeleon, and he aimed carefully before sending a blast of flames straight at Steelix?s flat metal head. The massive snake flailed around in pain, roaring, and Charmeleon grabbed the opportunity to attack again with another Flamethrower.

The gigantic shape collapsed with a roar. Mark could make out a flash of red light that dissolved the iron snake.

?Very well?? Christopher grumbled. ?Go? Scizor.?

Mark was surprised. Either the Gym Leader didn?t have a Skarmory at all, or he would rather send out a Pok?mon that was much weaker to Fire attacks. Mark knew that Scizor, the evolved form of Scyther, had dark red armor, three spikes sticking out of its small head, two thin, transparent wings that it couldn?t fly with, and pincers on its arms. The shadowy shape that Christopher sent out seemed to match that description ? except that while Mark couldn?t see it very well due to the light, it was certainly not red. It seemed more greenish.

?Double Team!? Christopher commanded hastily.

?Scizor!? hissed the Pok?mon, and suddenly there were three of them standing there. Mark had no idea which was the real one. Neither did Charmeleon.

?Flamethrower the one on the left!? Mark shouted worriedly. The lizard spewed out a blast of fire, which melted the Scizor copy upon contact.

?Double Team two more times!? Christopher said harshly. Each of the two that were left split into three, bringing the total up to six. Then all six split too, and eighteen Scizor surrounded Charmeleon.

?Uh?? Mark wasn?t sure what he could do now. Charmeleon wouldn?t have the energy to melt seventeen copies, especially when they could duplicate themselves again at any point.

?Metal Claw!? Christopher barked. His bug Pok?mon all jumped at Charmeleon with their pincers raised as they turned a steel gray color, and grabbed his arms, tail, feet or horn. He roared in pain; Mark knew that only one of them had actually stricken, but it had stricken hard.

?And now, Slash!?

The Scizor all opened their pincers wide before slashing at the lizard. Charmeleon retaliated by melting another copy, but the rest slashed again.

?Return,? Mark said, holding the Pok?ball forward. Charmeleon was getting too weak.

He thought about who to send out next. The Scizor copies were still there, so they would be hard to beat whatever he did. But Scizor couldn?t fly, and Earthquake would hit anything that wasn?t flying?

Suddenly, the door to the Gym opened behind Mark and May stepped inside. She was blinded by the light and raised her hand to shield her eyes, noticed Mark and waved with her other hand, smiling. She leant up to the wall to watch the battle, however she was going to see anything properly.

Mark remembered that he was still battling and reached for Sandshrew?s ball, but before he managed to pluck it off his belt, he felt Scyther?s ball start to wobble. The mantis burst out in a flash of red light.

?Scyther, what do you think you?re doing?? Mark yelled angrily. ?This counts as sending you out!?

?That?s the point,? Scyther growled. ?That pathetic life form you are currently facing is a Scizor.?

?What do you mean??

?That my pride as a Scyther is at stake.?

Mark remembered the story he had been told when he was little about how Ash Ketchum?s Pikachu had battled Lt. Surge?s Raichu ? and won ? for the sake of all unevolved Pikachu out there and showing that evolution wasn?t everything. Was this something similar? It could also have something to do with the fact that, at least according to the Pok?dex, Scyther had been decreasing in numbers ever since Scizor was discovered.

Mark didn?t get the chance to ask. Scyther?s shadowed shape was already standing firmly on the ground, surrounded by copies of his evolved form. If he was blinded by the light, he wasn?t showing it.

Suddenly, Scyther darted forward towards the first Scizor he saw. His scythe immediately chopped it in half and it dissolved. He did the same with all the others at amazing speed, until finally one turned out to be solid. The scythe didn?t put a scratch in the Scizor?s metallic armor, but it was knocked backwards. Scyther started slashing more intensely with both of his scythes, the Scizor narrowly blocking them with its pincers. Then suddenly, the green mantis leapt over the armored bug and slashed at its back. Mark couldn?t see clearly what happened, but it appeared that Scyther had cut Scizor?s wing off as it fell to the ground with a clatter.

The Scizor let out a cry of pain, collapsing, and Christopher, apparently afraid of what this could result in, raised a hand and said: ?I give in.?

He pressed a button; the projectors were turned off, and Mark realized what was so unusual about the Scizor; it was a moss green color and slightly sparkly. Also known as a Shiny.

Mark stared open-mouthed at it. Shiny Pok?mon were incredibly rare. They didn?t differ from normal Pok?mon in power, but a genetic mutation caused various parts of their bodies to be colored differently from the usual and give off a slight sparkle. Most trainers would die to own one; Mark didn?t like them that much, but just the thought of the recognition would still be enough to make him take a lot of risks.

Christopher grinned; he seemed to enjoy the attention. Mark?s gaze darted towards May, and instantly knew that she was one of the trainers who would die to have a shiny Pok?mon; she wasn?t staring at the Scizor in awe, but rather straight into the air, her face red with envy.

Suddenly, Scyther, who had been glaring at the Scizor with a gaze that could kill, started attacking it again, even though the Shiny had already been defeated. He slashed mindlessly, despite knowing that it wasn?t hurting Scizor?s metallic armor, with an expression of uttermost loathing.

?Scyther ? Scyther ? what do you think you?re doing ? you?re breaking the Agreement!? Mark cried out in an attempt to catch the mantis?s attention, but no avail. Christopher just quickly got out a Pok?ball and recalled his Pok?mon. Mark did the same, stunned; Scyther kept trying to slash even as he got dissolved into red energy.

?Your badge,? said Christopher grudgingly. Mark walked up to him and the Gym Leader dropped a coin similar to the Element Badge into his palm. He muttered some thanks and took the badge, walking to the place where May was standing as she went towards her place on the arena. This coin seemed to be made of steel and had an extremely smooth, shiny surface. Mark turned it around; the back had ?Shining Badge? engraved into it.

Just then, Christopher turned the projectors on again to battle May.

?Go, Skarmory!? she commanded, sending out her steel vulture.

?Go, Steelix!? the Gym Leader ordered, apparently having put his massive iron snake into a Pocket Healer while Mark?s mind was focused on something else.

?Swift,? May said, smirking. Mark knew it was a clever move in the situation; it couldn?t possibly miss. Her Skarmory released a flurry of feathers from its body, and indeed all of them shot straight at Steelix as though guided by an invisible force. But the snake?s armor was too thick to be harmed by the attack at all; the feathers bounced right off it, and Steelix didn?t even seem to notice.

?Iron Tail,? said Christopher. His Pok?mon swung its tail upwards, knocking the vulture down. May recalled it without words.

?Lapras, do it! Surf!?

She sent out her big, turtle-like Pok?mon and it shot a stream of water from its mouth into the air. It formed into a huge wave which crashed towards the Steelix. This it clearly noticed; it roared in pain, flailing around, and finally collapsed onto the floor.

?Return,? said Christopher and drew another Pok?ball. ?Skarmory, win this!?

Apparently, he did have a Skarmory. He had probably just wanted to save it for later or something. His steel vulture was considerably bigger than May?s, and circled Lapras like an injured prey that was about to die.

?Skarmory, plan E.?

His Skarmory, with a high-pitched cry of ?Ska-a-a!?, rocketed up towards the wall on one side. It didn?t stop, but rather smashed into it. As the walls swayed dangerously, the steel feathers started raining down upon the arena. The trainers automatically stepped back to avoid them, but Lapras couldn?t leave the arena and got heavily cut. Skarmory didn?t wait for an order and instantly did it again. The battle got more fast-paced, both trainers yelling out commands at the same time, Skarmory smashing the ceiling again and again, and Lapras firing icy beams. Finally, May ended up as the victor.

Christopher was clearly a lot happier to hand her the same badge he had presented to Mark earlier than him. Mark couldn?t really blame him; after all, he wouldn?t have been too happy either if his Pok?mon?s wing had been cut off.

Seeing that May was walking towards the door, Mark just went outside, relieved to be in normal light again.

Scyther?s behaviour while battling Scizor still gave him the creeps.