[Pokémon] To Be a Hero

[y stri]

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Spoiler:

coming soon!

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​

N's story is really interesting, isn't it? So I decided to build on that story with more legendaries involved and a different motive. And this time, I'm using the cast of Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver.

And to continue the (unintentional in N's case) Death Note . . . analogy, Lyra is called L in this story.

This is random, but this is also my project for NaNoWriMo. And I started late, so . . . yeah.

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Chapter One: The Hero and the Ghosts​

Kanto and Johto are such beautiful places. They are lovely regions that are inhabited by even lovelier creatures that collectively go by the name of Pokémon. These Pokémon are friends and companions to us humans, and I can't imagine a life without them. Yes, the bond humans and Pokémon share is what truly makes Kanto and Johto beautiful.

But yet . . . there is much ugliness in the region. There's too much conflict, too much strife. Kanto is fighting with Johto. They are on the verge of war. A war would be disastrous. It needs to be stopped before this can happen. Kanto and Johto need to be unified.

And how can this happen, you ask? The legendary Pokémon, the deities of our region, can help. A hero needs to collect the legendaries who reside in the two regions. With those gods in tow, the hero could make the people of the regions do anything.

Such as unifying the two regions.

I am that hero.

I am L.

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"The world is a terrible place right now, isn't it? But you can make it right."

Those were the words Giovanni Cosca, my guardian, would often say to me. But Giovanni wasn't just my guardian. Two other children, Kris Fiera and Silver Cosca — his son — lived in his large mansion. Giovanni was a rich businessman and therefore owned a mansion that had plenty of room for himself and three young adults, but instead of living in Goldenrod City like many rich people, he chose to live in the more traditional Ecruteak City instead.

Our time was spent training to be the hero. I, of course, already knew that I would be the hero. Kris and Silver's main roles were to be as helpful to our cause as possible. If anything happened to me, one of them would become the hero in my place.

This — the fact that I was the star, so to speak, of Giovanni's careful planning and they were relegated to supporting roles — made them quite bitter, and Kris and Silver acted rather rude and annoying around me (Kris was slightly more kindhearted). Despite this, they were completely devoted to our cause. They were not as devoted as me, though. Our cause was my life.

In order to reach our goal of unifying Kanto and Johto by capturing all the legendary Pokémon of our regions, all three of us had been provided with Pokémon of our own. Kris had been given Cyndaquil, Silver had gotten Totodile, and I had received Chikorita. Kris and Silver had ridiculed me for the feminine appearance of my Pokémon, who was, by the way, in fact male.

"Ha!" Kris had snorted. "You got a Chikorita? That thing looks so girly! It's probably really wimpy, huh, Silver?"

"Yeah," Silver had replied. "I mean, you're already L and all that. Dad probably gave you that Chikorita to make us a little more equal. I mean, we have good Pokémon, and you have . . . that thing. You're the hero, and we're . . . supposed to help you."

I had frowned. "Yes," I said, "you two are supposed to help me. And you're doing a terrible job, seeing as you two do nothing but ridicule me all day."

I had turned to leave when Kris put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, we're just messing with you. All Pokémon, no matter what they look like, can be extremely strong. Right, Silver?" She elbowed Silver in the stomach.

"Of course!" Silver exclaimed. The remark had come out of his mouth like an exhalation, seeing as Kris had elbowed him in the stomach right before he had spoken. He hunched over and glared at the blue-haired girl. "We're really sorry for making fun of your Chikorita."

"Thank you," I had said rather formally, walking off with Chikorita trailing behind me.

But that was quite a long time ago. Chikorita had since then evolved into a Bayleef. In fact, he had evolved just a month ago. We had trained some more, and late the previous day, as I was heading to my room to sleep, Giovanni had called me into his study.

"L, your Pokémon has evolved recently, and I think it is time for you to go after the first and closest Legendary Pokémon: Ho-oh."

I had stood there for several minutes in disbelief, my face pale and my mouth gaping. "Y-you really mean it?" I hadn't been prone to stuttering, and I wasn't about to start it, but I was so astonished, I couldn't help but stutter. It didn't take long for me to let it sink in and regain my composure. "Of course, we will be ready tomorrow."

"Now, wait," Giovanni said. "You already know this, L, but it seems better to go over it now. Legendary Pokémon are proud, but they will let you capture them if you put up a good fight. I trust you have a sufficient amount of Poké Balls, but . . ." He searched his suit pockets and pulled out a purple-and white Poké Ball, which he held out to me. "If you run out of Poké Balls, use this Master Ball. It will catch any Pokémon without fail."

"Even Legendaries?" I inquired, taking the Master Ball from him.

"Even Legendaries," Giovanni confirmed.

I stared down at the small, but powerful, sphere. "Where . . . Where did you get something like this?"

He smiled, but his smile seemed a little uneasy. "I know some people."

I nodded. "I'm going to get some rest. Then I will set out for Bell Tower tomorrow."

"Best of luck, L!" Giovanni called as I left his office.

And that is how I came to be leaving the mansion, which I had rarely done in the eighteen years of my life that I could remember. Of course, I wasn't leaving permanently, but my journey to Bell Tower was the longest journey I had ever taken.

I looked at the city determinedly, a map in my hands and Bayleef at my side. Being such an old and traditional city, Ecruteak City was full of old-fashioned buildings and wide cobblestone roads, which made riding in cars uncomfortable. The buildings were not tall and extremely close together, so the city sprawled out for quite a bit. Of course, this was nothing compared to the sprawl of Goldenrod City.

I stepped out of the gates enclosing Giovanni's mansion and into the rest of the city, poring over the map. "Now let's see . . ." I said to Bayleef. "Bell Tower is on the other side of the city . . . past the Burned Tower . . . oh, I see. So the shortest route would be . . .

"Miss, watch out!" someone cried.

Thinking it was directed at me; I looked around and found that the person had been speaking to me. I had stepped out into the road and a car was coming straight at me. I hurried to get across before it hit me, but it seemed too late. I would probably be only halfway across the road before the car hit. However, it turned out that I did not need to run. A blue glow surrounded me, and I was lifted off the ground and began floating towards the other side of the road. I touched down, and Bayleef was carried across the road in a similar fashion.

Unless I had spontaneously developed psychic powers, which I highly doubted, someone had helped me across the road. "Thank you," I said loudly to nobody in particular.

"You're welcome," a voice said. A young man who was about my age stepped out from behind a building. He had blond hair and purple eyes, which was rather odd, but not as odd as Silver's cherry-red hair or Kris' blue hair. "I think that it would have been a really nasty accident if you had gotten hit. Thank you, Haunter."

The purple ghost materialized behind Bayleef and me and leered down at us. I stared at silently in shock, and Bayleef screeched and jumped a few feet back. "Th — thank you," I managed to get out. I had stuttered twice in twenty-four hours. I hoped it didn't become a habit.

The young man laughed. "Oh, don't worry about Haunter. He just loves scaring people for fun. Now, since I saved your life, could you do me a little favor?"

"Uh . . . Of course." I was rather nervous. What if something happened to me? I was the hero, and what would happen if Kanto and Johto lost its hero? Kris or Silver would take over, sure, but I felt slightly selfish. I would be angry if I couldn't even complete my first task as a hero.

The young man led me down several streets, making small talk. "My name's Mortimer Paxton, but I'd appreciate it if you called me Morty," he informed me. "So, what's your name?"

I stiffened. My name was a sensitive subject. For safety's sake, I had been going by an alias my entire life: L. So, I responded, "I do not feel comfortable giving strangers —"

"Even strangers that saved your life?" Morty interjected. I glared at him.

"I am not comfortable with giving strangers my name," I continued, "so please call me L."

"Oh, all right . . . L," Morty said. We approached a rather small house. Propped up against the wall was a sign that read: "See your Future for 350 Yen!" "Here it is," he said. "My house."

We walked inside, and Morty led me to a kitchen table.

"You see," he explained, "I am seeing people's futures because I need the money for . . . something important. So it would be wonderful if you gave me 350 yen, and I will see your future in return."

Looking around the room, it seemed that Morty did need the money. The small kitchen was sparsely furnished, and instead of chairs, a few cushions off a nearby couch were placed around the table. So I pulled the money out of my pocket, gave it to him, and said, "All right. But you don't have to tell me my future." I didn't want him to be astonished or even angry if he looked into my future and saw me capturing a Legendary Pokémon.

However, Morty wouldn't hear it. "No, I have to tell you your future! After all, you paid me the required fee . . ."

I shook my head. "It's not worth going to the trouble of telling me my future. Besides, I have other things to do, and they're very urgent. And besides, you already saved my life."

"I insist!" Morty exclaimed. "The favor I asked of you was to pay me to see your future!"

I sighed deeply. The argument was going nowhere and doing nothing but wasting valuable time. War between the two regions could break out any day. I needed to capture the Legendaries quickly. "Well, since you seem so assertive about it, I will do it."

Morty grinned. "Great! Take a seat and focus on something. If you think about one thing enough, I will be able to see your future in relation to that one object or event."

I will think of becoming the hero . . . I decided, taking a seat. But a question was preying on my mind. Would I be able to complete my first task successfully and capture Ho-oh? Or would it kill me? It hadn't occurred to me that a Bayleef was inadequate defense against the Legendary. It's Fire and Flying typing would give it a strategic advantage against my Grass-type Bayleef. And that wasn't even factoring in the fact that as a Legendary, Ho-oh would be far more powerful than any regular Pokémon. Maybe I should have asked Silver if I could borrow his Totodile . . .

"Are you ready?" With a jolt, I realized that I was still sitting on the cushion. I nodded, and Morty said, "All right. Let's start then." He put his hand on my head and shut his eyes. "Sorry if this seems a bit odd to you, but we need to establish a psychic connection. Now, Gastly!"

A dozen of the spherical ghosts suddenly revealed themselves. They began producing black smoke, which filled the small room until it was hazy and dark. One of the ghosts spit a Will-o'-Wisp at a candle on the table, dimly illuminating everything with an eerie indigo hue.

"Do the smoke and candle help establish a psychic connection?" I asked uneasily. The room was unnerving me.

"No, it just helps create ambiance," Morty replied.

I was a bit annoyed, but the swirling purple smoke made me feel tired. Focus, I told myself. I wanted to know if I was able to catch Ho-oh and go on to become the hero and unify Kanto and Johto.

"All right," muttered Morty, "you will go to the top of Bell Tower and — WHAT?!" he screeched suddenly.

In an instant, he had removed his hand from my head, the Gastly had stopped producing smoke, and the candle flame had sputtered and died. And Morty, who had been kind and friendly to me up until now, glared sullenly at me.

"What's wrong?" I inquired softly. "What did you see?"

Morty frowned petulantly. "I saw you going to the top of Bell Tower, fighting Ho-oh, and . . . capturing it!"

I was overjoyed that I would be able to complete my first task, but I didn't understand why Morty seemed so angry about it. "So . . . what's the matter with that?"

"The reason I'm raising money by seeing people's futures is so I can save up enough money to buy a Master Ball and capture Ho-oh! Why do you need Ho-oh? Are you planning to use that majestic creature to do . . . something?" he exclaimed.

I was livid. As I have previously stated, my goal of unifying Kanto and Johto was my life, and I thought of it highly. Morty spoke of it like I was forcing Ho-oh to do slave labor. "Why do you need Ho-oh?" I echoed. "Do you need it to help save the region? Are you going to use it to prevent the war?"

"You're going to use Ho-oh to stop the war?" Morty asked.

I immediately covered my mouth with my hands. Giovanni had instructed me to keep my task secret until I had captured my first Legendary. Then, he would let our intentions be known. But I had let it slip out prematurely! I quickly took up my usual emotionless expression and monotone voice. "Yes, I am. And what are you to do about it?"

"I can keep you here," he replied simply. "Ghosts! See to it that L here is trapped."

Scores of ghosts materialized out of thin air. It seemed that they inhabited every inch of Morty's home. The ghosts melted into the floor and ceiling, but there were no aesthetic changes to the room. The room probably had not even changed at all.

"Very impressive," I commented, "but I fail to see how I am trapped here." I walked to the door, but as soon as my hand reached out to grasp the knob, the entire door disappeared. I tried to open the door again, but once again, the door just faded away.

"Don't underestimate the power of ghosts," Morty said. "Now, I really must leave. Don't mess anything up, okay?" He opened the door to go outside. I lunged after him, but rammed into a barrier that he could pass through. I tried the windows, but they didn't open and the glass seemed to be indestructible.

I slumped to the floor, defeated. How was I supposed to get out of the room? There seemed to be no answer. But there had to be. I was the hero. Heroes found ways to get out of situations like mine. So I paced the room, trying to find something to use to solve my predicament.

I came up with nothing. There were ghosts in the room, but they were all commanded by the person who trapped me. My Bayleef was outside . . .

And then I realized that Bayleef could help. I ran up to the nearest window and tapped on it, hoping the ghosts had not made it soundproof. "Bayleef!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Come here!"

He must have managed to hear me, as he came bounding towards the window. The yellow dinosaur leaped through it, shattering the glass and dislodging the Gastly residing in it. The ghost snarled at us and summoned all the other ghosts in the room. They came out of their hiding places and surrounded us, threatening to smother Bayleef and me with their poisonous gases.

"Being part Poison-types," I whispered to Bayleef, "they have an advantage over you, so you will have to fight cautiously. Use the new move you have learned."

Bayleef swung his head in a circle, releasing a flurry of sharp leaves from the buds on his neck. The leaves continued to spiral even as they flew at the ghosts, creating a whirlwind of leaves. Some of the Gastly were sucked into the whirlwind, and others had their gases blown away. The ghosts caught in the whirlwind appeared disoriented when the attack dissipated.

"Use Leaf Tornado again," I commanded.

Bayleef attacked again with similar results. This time, the ghosts regrouped after the attack and combined to make a massive Gengar, which quickly slashed at Bayleef, knocking him into the table."

"I think Leaf Tornado will still work this time," I told him as he got up and shook himself. "Try it again and see if it works."

Leaf Tornado didn't work. The leaves ricocheted off the Gengar and were heading towards us.

"Duck!" I screamed, taking refuge under the table. However, Bayleef could not fit under the low table. "Shield yourself using Light Screen!" I yelled.

It was not a moment too soon. The leaves glided over the table. Some of them struck it, leaving the sharp-edged leaves embedded in the wood. Bayleef was safe, as well. The Light Screen absorbed all the leaves that had come into contact with it.

We had survived, but what were we supposed to do? We couldn't stay under the table or behind a shield. The Gengar seemed ready to attack again. Once again, I looked around the room, searching for something I could possibly use. My eyes rested on the broken window. Sunlight was streaming through it. The Gengar looked shadowy and dark. If Bayleef stood in the light and fired a powered-up SolarBeam at the massive ghost, it might be defeated.

"Bayleef," I whispered, hoping the ghost's large ears wouldn't be able to detect the sound. "Get into the light and use SolarBeam. If Gengar attacks, use Synthesis instead."

He crept into the shaft of sunlight, absorbing light with his leaf. The Gengar noticed him and began lumbering towards the window. It raised its claws to slash Bayleef again, and I watched on with horror. The powerful Shadow Claw attack had the potential to kill Bayleef. I was about to look away when I felt the room bathed in heat. Bayleef had finished charging the SolarBeam in time and had fired it at the shadowy Gengar. The light began to eat away at its body, and the ghost became unstable as several of the Gastly making up its body began to fly away, only to be hit by the concentrated ray of sunlight.

When the attack ended, the ghosts sunk into the floor, leaving little spots of shadows all over the ground. The table was on fire from being in close proximity to the ray of heat. The walls were scorched, and the broken glass from the window had been melted into lumps. Several cushions had ignited, as well.

The door creaked open, and Morty walked in. "I told you not to mess anything up! I . . . I'll put this out later. But first, I have to apologize. I'm sorry for trapping you here and being angry at you because you'll be the one to catch Ho-oh. And if you're going to use it to stop the war between Kanto and Johto, then you deserve it more than I do." He sighed. "And besides, if I saw it in the future, it's definitely going to happen. But . . ." Morty looked around the room. "You defeated all my ghosts with a Bayleef? Wow." He walked to the sink to get some water to put out the fires.

I nodded, a little aggravated that he implied that all Bayleefs were weak. "Yes. As a friend of mine once said, 'All Pokémon, no matter what they look like, can be extremely strong.' But I am impressed that your Gastly can fuse to create a Gengar."

"Thank you," he replied, throwing water at the table and cushions. "It took a lot of training to get them to move in a coordinated manner. But I'll make it up to you. I can come with you to Bell Tower and help in any way I can. Besides, I want to see Ho-oh in real life."

I smiled a little at his last remark. "All right, you can accompany me," I said. "It will be helpful if I had someone to help me. Your ghosts could be a great help, as I won't be able to last long against Ho-oh with just a Bayleef."

"They would be a great help," Morty replied, glancing at the shadow-spotted floor, "but they've all fainted. I have to take them to the Pokémon Center first."

I looked over at my Bayleef. He was covered in wounds from jumping through the window and being slashed by Gengar. "I need to take my Bayleef to the Pokémon Center, as well. By the way, I apologize for ruining your house."

"It's fine," Morty said. "I'm going to see Ho-oh, so that makes up for it. But I don't have much money to fix this . . . Never mind. Let's go to the Pokémon Center."

"I'll send for some people to fix your house," I offered. Giovanni was rich, and I was sure he would lend some money to me so I could hire people to fix Morty's house. "I could even send for people to build you a new house."

"Oh, you don't need to go to all that trouble!" he exclaimed quickly. "Fixing my house will be good enough."

"But you saved my life and I ruined your house!" I laughed. "Getting you a new house would make me feel better."

Morty was silent for a while. "All right, fine. I'll take your offer."

We walked to the Pokémon Center to get my Bayleef and some of Morty's ghost Pokémon healed. When that was done, I opened my map. "Let's see, the fastest route is —"

"You don't need that," Morty interrupted. "Just follow me. I know the fastest way like the back of my hand."

We set off across the city, heading towards Bell Tower and the first Legendary Pokémon.

---

I know, I start too many stories. And this one isn't even original! But I'll try to make this interesting. I do like Lyra/Morty, by the way.

My computer isn't saving, so I'll have to put part of the second chapter here.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I gasped slightly when Haunter floated in front of us and towards the other end of the room. Based on Morty's orders, the Pokémon had just spotted the second Guardian.

I spotted it a second after Haunter did. A black blur sped towards us, but Haunter quickly reached out and grabbed it. However, as it had forgotten to turn invisible, the Guardian had been expecting the attack and had time to act. It raised a sharp claw and slashed downwards, releasing dark energy. The Night Slash would have connected with Haunter's face, but it saw the attack coming and faded away.

"Oh no," I said, "the Guardian is an Dark-type, as well! Now we both have disadvantages against this Pokémon."

"Cheer up," replied Morty, who had managed to retain the smile on his face despite the bad news. "That Pokémon didn't hit my Haunter! After all, my ghosts can turn invisible. As long as they don't show themselves, we could win!"

"But what about my Bayleef, and even Silver's Totodile for that matter?" I asked. "They're not agile and cannot disappear, so the Guardian may kill or injure them! I don't want to return an injured Pokémon to Silver. He would never forgive me."

"Calm down, L," Morty said. "You have that healing machine, remember? This isn't an official Pokémon battle against a Trainer, so it wouldn't be cheating if we used your machine during the battle. I think we may need it. And besides, I saw you capturing Ho-oh in my vision! Whatever I see happens, remember?"

Feeling consoled, I said, "Now what is that Pokémon?" I tried to think of any Pokémon that was of the Ice and Dark types. "Could it be a Sneasel? That's the only common Pokémon here with that type combination, and I think it's also the only Pokémon existing that has that type combination. Besides, the Guardian has claws."

"No," said Morty. "I caught a glimpse of the Guardian when it used Night Slash and missed. Its claws got stuck in the ice. The Guardian isn't a Sneasel, it's a Weavile, which is the evolution of Sneasel."

I smiled. "It doesn't matter if the Guardian is a Sneasel or a Weavile, then. It will just be slightly stronger. We can defeat it, can't we?"

"Of course we can," Morty replied. "Come on out, everyone!" He tossed his five other Poké Balls to the ground, releasing his Lampent and four Gastly. "Now, attack that Weavile with your strongest attacks," he commanded his ghosts. "And stay invisible. That part is extremely important. Otherwise, it will quickly attack you, and we'll lose for sure. Even if it hits, try to stay invisible. Understood?" The ghosts nodded and disappeared. "Oh, and Lampent, stay close to me," Morty said. "You're pretty much the deciding factor of this battle."

I looked on, feeling useless. Morty had taken command with his Pokémon and I had been standing around idly. "I'll try to help too," I offered. "My Pokémon can still use long-distance attacks, so they don't have to venture onto the ice." After all, Totodile could use Hydro Pump and Ice Beam, and Bayleef knew SolarBeam, Leaf Tornado, and Razor Leaf. However, Hydro Pump was the only move that was not disadvantageous against Weavile. Then, I realized my Pokémon would be more useful for support, just as Morty's Haunter had been good for support in the previous battle against Pidgeot. "Bayleef, set up a Reflect around this square of unfrozen floor," I said. "Add a Light Screen, too, just in case that Weavile knows any special attacks."

We might have had limited mobility as a disadvantage, but we could have Bayleef shield us. Those walls of defense could fall if they were hit hard enough, but I could order Bayleef to put them up again. Besides, the Weavile would probably be preoccupied with fighting the ghosts.

"Good thinking!" Morty exclaimed. "Now, that Weavile won't get to us easily!"

That Weavile must have been extremely proud, as it immediately tried to rush us and slash the barrer. However, a Shadow Ball came out of nowhere and stopped it. It roared in fury, slashing out at the ghost that had fired it. However, the ghost had already teleported away. Then, another Shadow Ball struck it. A Flame Burst almost hit Weavile, but it moved at the last second and the fireball hit a column, instead. The ice melted on contact, leaving a big puddle under the column.

"See?" Morty said to me, a smug look on his face. "No need to worry, am I right?"

I glared back. "Well, I'm going to be useful. Those Shadow Balls didn't look like they did much, and your prized Lampent completely missed its mark. Totodile, Hydro Pump!"

The jet of water moved swiftly, but Weavile was swifter. It nimbly dodged the beam, flipped in midair, and shot shards of ice at our shield all in one moment.

Morty turned to me. "Now, what were you saying about completely missing its mark?"

"You — wait, we shouldn't be fighting each other, we should be fighting the Guardian!" I pointed out. "Sorry for shouting at you. I just can't stand being teased."

"Yeah, well, you're fun to tease." Morty smirked. "It's funny because you try to act emotionless, but you keep getting flustered. Sorry," he added quickly, noticing my frown.

"You're just like those ghosts of yours," I sighed. "Always messing with people. But we can't chat anymore. We have to fight! That Ice Shard weakened our shield. We'll have to knock Weavile out before it can break the shield, or we're dead. I doubt Bayleef can put up a Reflect fast enough if Weavile is right nearby."

Morty nodded, turning back to the battlefield. "All right, then. Let's get serious. New strategy!" he called to his ghosts. "Hold Weavile in place so Lampent can get a hit in!"

Immobilizing Weavile hadn't worked the first time, and the ghosts had learned that. Two of them used Curse and Spite to hold it in place so Lampent could fire a Flame Burst, which hit its target directly. However, the fireball exploded when it hit, damaging the ghosts immobilizing the Weavile. To add to that, the Gastly that had used Curse immediately fainted, dropping its invisibility. Weavile looked at it and seemed to figure out what was going on. It lunged to the side, hitting the other Gastly with Night Slash.

Morty recalled the two Pokémon. "Well, I wasn't expecting that to happen," he said, handing the Poké Balls to me. I quickly put them through the machine and returned them so he could return the ghosts to the battlefield. "At least it hasn't figured out that Lampent's with us."

My eyes widened. Weavile was making another attempt to rush our shield.

"Did you ever stop and think about the fact that Weavile can hear us?!" I cried. "Now, it's going to attack our Reflect shield, and those ghosts are too slow!"

"It will be stopped by a Flame Burst to the face," Morty said confidently.

"A Flame Burst? This close to us? What if it hits my Pokémon? What if it hits us?!" I threw my hands up in exasperation. "I . . . apologize. I try not to show much emotion, but you're making it hard for me to even do that!"

"All right, then. You think of something." I couldn't tell if Morty was being honest or sarcastic.

"I will," I replied curtly. "Charge up Hydro Pump," I said without even looking at Totodile, "but don't release it until Weavile comes close to attack."

The black weasel was coming close. It raised a claw, preparing to attack . . .

"Now!" I yelled.

Totodile released the pressurized water as Weavile slashed our shield. The Guardian was propelled back towards a Shadow Ball which was coming at it from the other direction. Weavile howled in pain and fell to the ground. However, it pulled itself up.

"It's down, but not out," Morty observed.

Weavile made another rush. Ghosts tried to fire Shadow Balls at it, but this time, it used its claws to deflect the attacks. Some ghosts were struck by their own attacks and promptly knocked out.

"Isn't it odd how Ghost-types are weak to their own type?" I asked while healing the Pokémon.

"Yes," Morty agreed, sending them out again. "Ghosts are tricky types of Pokémon to use, but if you use them right, you'll be a great trainer. Now let's defeat this Guardian and get one step closer to Ho-oh!"

Once again, Weavile neared the barrier. Totodile fired a Hydro Pump without my command, but it hit thin air. The Weavile had leaped in an attempt to get inside the fence Bayleef had created. It hadn't occurred to me that Reflect did not protect us from above. I crouched down, bracing myself for the pain that was sure to come . . .

. . . when a Fire Blast knocked Weavile off course. I looked at the spot where Lampent was presumably floating, my eyes shining.

"Th — thank you!" I cried, not even noticing nor caring that I had stuttered for the third time that day. It didn't matter, after all. Lampent had just saved our lives.

"See, what did I tell you?" Morty asked. "If Weavile came near, it would get a Fire Blast to the face."

"You said it would be hit by a Flame Burst," I corrected.

"Oh, whatever. Wait, that thing's still fighting? How is that even possible?"

Morty was right. The Weavile had gotten up again, and it was attempting to break our barrier again. I was correct in my assumption that the Weavile was proud and would not want to be defeated by the likes of us. However, it was definitely dazed and burned. Some of its fur had been singed off, and red patches showed through on its exposed skin.

"It won't take much to knock it down," Morty commented.

"Did you already take a picture of it?" I inquired sarcastically.

"Of course I did!" he replied. "And since it looks so hilarious now, I'll take another picture of it!" Morty took out his camera and snapped a picture of Weavile, who had just been hit by a Shadow Ball.

I rolled my eyes. "How about one more Hydro Pump for good measure?" I asked Totodile. "Bayleef's preoccupied right now, so . . ."

Once again, Totodile dealt the final blow to the weakened Guardian. The water slammed the Weavile into the opposing wall, and it lay there and did not get up.

"Now that that's over," Morty said, surveying the room, "how do you think we're going to get out of this room?"

I looked around the room, as well. Some of the ice had melted from Lampent's fire attacks, but I didn't think melting all of the ice was a good idea.

"Well, let's wait here and think for a while," I said. "The Guardian is out cold, and it can take a long time for Pokémon to recuperate by themselves." I glanced at the dark shape on the opposite wall. "Or maybe it's even dead. I'd go over there and check, but we have no idea how we could go over there."