Pokémon: Storming Heaven's Gates

[Dark Sage]

Hello everyone.

“Pokémonese” was such a success, that I have decided to go further, and write a sequel, which you see before you.

But if you are looking for a trainer fic about a young trainer who challenges Gyms in order to win a League title, forget it. The story behind this fic is more complicated.

I’m using the Diamond and Pearl games as a base, using some of the mythology from that world. This story also features some of the legacy from the anime.

And I’m also introducing a new concept that I don’t believe has been used before. Here’s what I’m willing to divulge. While the heroes of this story will not challenge Gym Leaders, they will challenge special trainers called Guardians. I guarantee, you have never seen trainers quite like this.

One promise before we start. I will NOT use any Fakemon. Since the new games have introduced over a hundred new species, for a total of 493, I see no need to. This is good news for some readers, bad news for others. Personally, I had little luck thinking up Fakemon, so I won’t use them.

So… On with the story…



Call me Starbuck.

What?

Expecting Ishmael to give you the introduction? Sorry, but, unfortunately, he couldn’t make it. I’m filling in for him. We’ll get to why in a few minutes.

Trust me, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me, so we’ll have time to get acquainted.

Now…

When Gestalt perished all those years ago, most folks thought that they’d seen the last of psychotic Pokémon villains. And in a way, they were right. Mewtwo hasn’t shown his face in ages, Rayquaza hasn’t decided to go on a rampage, and even better, crime syndicates like Magma, Aqua, Galactic, and even Rocket died out quickly after his death.

You’d think a new golden age would start… Sadly, that was not the case…

A new problem arose… It’s hard to pinpoint when, exactly, but it probably started about fifteen years or so after Gestalt’s death.

Folks call it the Twisting.

Got your attention, didn’t I?

What was the cause? No one is sure. Some blame pollution and global warming. Some say natural selection gone wrong. Some crazy theorists say that Gestalt’s vengeful spirit is to blame, and this is his ultimate revenge. Even crazier theorists say it’s a sign of the apocalypse, and that it foretells eventual doom.

Regardless of the cause, it started out slowly, as problems often do. There were cases of Pokémon who were once quite friendly and docile acting somewhat mean. A child might have tried to hug a cuddly-looking Eevee, only for it to get nasty and scratch him across the face.

It quickly got worse. Pokémon were becoming more feral, and more violent than ever before. The instances of Pokémon-related deaths doubled, and then doubled again. Pokémon battles between trainers became fiercer, and sometimes a trainer couldn’t keep his Pokémon from striking the opposing trainer. Sometimes, the trainer was even struck by his own Pokémon.

It spread like wildfire. From the lowliest of Caterpie to the strongest of Dragonite, Pokémon were degenerating into a wild and dangerous state.

Of course, certain groups tried to find the cause. Nurse Joy’s family examined every Pokémon closely, looking at every possibility for the change in behavior. The Joys became more numerous, but none of them could offer an answer.

The Pokémon Rangers tried solving the problem too. Within a year, their numbers doubled, and they even became stronger. But for each layer of the mystery they uncovered, they found ten more underneath.

Some famous trainers and researchers stepped in. Professor Oak was among them, but he had grown frail in his old age. Eventually, Ash Ketchum and Oak’s grandson Gary – two trainers whose Pokémon seemed strangely unaffected by the Twisting – looked for a cause, traveling to sites of power in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. They compiled information for three years, but it seems it stopped at a dead end.

They weren’t the only ones. In faraway Orre, some compared the Twisting to Shadow Pokémon. The two renowned heroes who had fought the Shadows took this seriously. Wes came out of retirement, and Michael eventually got involved. Their Pokémon also seemed able to resist the Twisting, and Wes had a theory as to why – most of their Pokémon used to be Shadow Pokémon, and having experienced the touch of evil once had acted as an antibody. The two worked separately at first, and together later. But they soon found that this affliction clearly was not related to the Shadows. The Relic Stone could do nothing to cure the Twisting, nor could the Purify Chamber… And Michael tried until it was on the same setting he had used to cure Lugia. After their work ended in failure, Wes introduced a frightening possibility… Perhaps Pokémon had become feral because they wanted to.

The world had to adjust. Gone were the days of kids beginning their Pokémon Journeys at age ten. The age requirement became sixteen, old enough to handle the new dangers. And trainers have become tougher to match the toughness of their Pokémon. If you didn’t toughen yourself, you wouldn’t last long.

But hope still existed. Not all Pokémon were affected by the Twisting. Some isolated groups were still the same as always, and those raised by humans from birth were still tame, and could understand love. There was hope that if Pokémon could resist the Twisting, it could be purged from the existing Pokémon.

And, one other thing… One trainer who researched the problem did make one valuable discovery. He said he might actually have a theory about how to end the Twisting and restore the natural order. According to his theory, the answer lay in the enigmatic Legendary Pokémon. These powerful creatures seemed unaffected by the Twisting… And people said prayers of thanks for that, shuddering to think what would happen if Kyogre or Groudon – or Heavens forbid, both at once – lost its sanity and lashed out at the nearest city. This trainer left with a strong lead, almost certain that the answer was in his grasp…

But there’s a problem…

While he was investigating his theory five years ago, Ishmael Conrad disappeared.

He hasn’t been seen since, which is why he isn’t here to greet you.

Those of you who read about his adventures are likely feeling worried right about now. Well, you can just imagine how I must feel…

Ishmael Conrad is my father…

POKÉMON



STORMING HEAVEN’S GATES

A fanfic by Brian “Dark Sage” Corvello

PROLOGUE



Introductions Aside

“Carnivine, finish it off with Power Whip!” shouted the trainer.

The Pokémon in front of her – a Grass Type whose looks suggested that nature was inspired by Little Shop of Horrors – grinned a grin that was typical for a Carnivine, one that was mostly teeth and not very pleasant. It floated into the air, hovering over the Donphan in front of it.

Its two leafy arms lashed forward like long tendrils, entangling the hapless Ground Type. The Donphan gave a cry as Carnivine pulled. Cheers came from the spectators – and there were a lot of them.

“Looks like Sandra’s Pokémon has come out on top in this match-up,” said an amplified voice from above. “This is one ferocious flytrap!”

The owner of the Donphan couldn’t do much except watch as his Donphan was body-slammed by the Grass Type. Carnivine finally let go, and Donphan made one last gasp before collapsing.

“Donphan, return…” said the trainer.

Donphan transformed into light and was sucked into its pokeball.

“What are you feeding that thing, Sandra?” asked the trainer.

“Do I ask you how you train your Pokémon?” asked Sandra. “It’s down to him and your last one now.”

“Sandra’s got him there,” said the announcer. “Starbuck is down to his last Pokémon. He has only one more in reserve. Let’s hope he has a good one.”

“Oh, I got a good one…” said Starbuck, taking another pokeball. “It’s a real showstopper!

“Come on out… Dusknoir!”

He threw the pokeball, and with a low, chilling moan, a dark creature flew out. It was a phantom Pokémon clothed in some sort of shroud, with a single, glaring, eye.

The audience fell silent… And then cheered again.

“Amazing!” shouted the announcer. “Starbuck has unveiled a new Pokémon… A Dusknoir, likely the most powerful Ghost Pokémon in the book!”

“Well, except for Giratina,” said the other announcer.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Ted,” said the first announcer. “There’s no proof that Giratina even exists.”

Carnivine faced Dusknoir. The referee waved his flags.

“Battle!” he shouted.

“Go! Grass Knot!” shouted Sandra.

“Use Shadow Sneak!” ordered Starbuck.

The two Pokémon charged at each other… And then Dusknoir vanished in a blur of darkness.

“Carnivine?” said the Grass Pokémon.

It looked back and forth.

Dusknoir appeared behind its foe, and slashed with a shadowy claw. The Bug Catcher Pokémon cried out in pain.

But it didn’t forget its trainer’s orders. It balled up its tendril into a fist, and punched the Ghost hard. Dusknoir groaned.

Starbuck was a little worried. He knew about Grass Knot. It did more damage to heavier Pokémon, and for a Pokémon made of ectoplasm, Dusknoir was surprisingly heavy.

“Dusknoir, Shadow Punch,” he ordered.

Dusknoir lifted its fist, and it was enveloped by shadowy darkness. It threw a punch at its foe, and Carnivine toppled over, bouncing twice on the ground.

Carnivine frowned and floated off the ground, not at all happy with this development…

“Hate to do this, Starbuck,” said Sandra, “but I’m going home with the trophy this time. Carnivine, Crunch.”

Carnivine bore its teeth, and flew towards Dusknoir…

Then Dusknoir’s single eye glowed with fiery light, and Carnivine stopped in its tracks.

It held its head with its vines.

“Carnivine…” it groaned.

“That was a Confuse Ray!” shouted Sandra. “But… you didn’t say anything!”

“I’ve been training my more powerful Pokémon with a little trick,” said Starbuck. “Some of them have learned to use a countering move automatically whenever they’re threatened by an attack that would hurt them badly. This guy learned the trick quickly.

“Now to end this… Dusknoir… Night Shade!”

Dusknoir glowed with an aura of pure darkness. It shot the darkness at Carnivine, and the plant howled, before collapsing in a heap.

The referee waved his flag.

“Carnivine is unable to battle,” he said. “Winner of the Seedot Springs Mayfest Tournament… Starbuck Conrad!”

The crowd cheered.

“Thank you everyone,” said Starbuck. “Thank you… And by the way, I can assure you, Giratina does indeed exist… My mom saw it with her own eyes. But that’s a story I simply don’t have time for right now.”

The TV panned to a close-up of young Starbuck, a nineteen-year-old young man who might have gotten his looks from both his parents if he hadn’t taken such pains to change them. His long hair was chestnut-brown and tied in a ponytail that reached to his waist. His muscular frame was covered by a leather jacket and blue jeans, and he wore a golden Celtic cross around his neck – not due to any religious view, he just thought it looked nice.

He sighed… Another tournament won, another trophy to take up space…

* * * * * * * * * *

He checked his watch as he started to walk home. Two o’clock.

At least for this tournament, he didn’t have to go far. His mother’s off-season home was in Seedot Springs. Of course, his mother was now in their “real” home in Blueberry Cove, and he was planning to visit soon.

Maybe he would, as soon as…

His train of thought was interrupted as a small form leapt up and snatched the baseball cap off of his head.

He turned around in rage, and saw a small Pokémon with long ears and a cottontail hopping away with it.

“Give that back, you thieving rodent!” shouted Starbuck.

He started to chase the filching Buneary.

Why did this always happen when his pokemon were exhausted?

“You little thief!” he shouted. “When I get my hands on you…”

He almost was on top of it. He made a grab for it…

Unfortunately, the Buneary leapt up, and he fell on his face.

He watched as it hopped away.

“One of these days, I’m gonna make you into a purse!” he shouted. “You hear me? A purse!”

He hated that thing… Every time he got a new hat, that crazy Buneary was sure to swipe it. Where was it keeping them?

* * * * * * * * * *

He picked up his mail before going into the house. Two flyers, one bill, and a personal letter – no return address.

He stuffed it in his pocket. He’d look at it later.

He unlocked the door and walked inside.

“Dawn! Dusk!” he shouted. “I’m home!”

Two small, catlike Pokémon came running down the stairs. One had silvery fur, and one had dark fur.

An Espeon and Umbreon… A brother and a sister of strange origins.

It is very, very rare that a Pokémon twins are born, two Pokémon hatched from the same egg. A breeder would tell you it happens once in every one-hundred thousand cases. But that was the case with the two Eevee that would evolve into these two. Their parents were the rarest evolutions of Eevee. Their father was a Glaceon, and their mother was a Leafeon. An Eevee can only evolve into these forms if they are present at certain locations.

Starbuck got the egg as part of a deal, and it hatched quickly into a male and a female. After a few weeks of training, Starbuck was faced with a decision.

With an Eevee, it is usually a good idea to evolve it as soon as you are able. Starbuck easily obtained a Fire Stone, a Water Stone, and a Thunder Stone. Which two evolutions would he choose for his Pokémon, and which would he not have? When a Pokémon evolved, it was a one-way trip. It could never go back to what it once was…

Strangely, before he made the decision, it was made for him. He worked with them all day training, and to his surprise, as soon as the sun went down, the male evolved into an Umbreon. He was overjoyed, but tired. He fell asleep, and was awoken the next morning by the Umbreon tugging on his sleeve. He woke up, and saw the female in the morning light. It was evolving too, and it evolved into an Espeon.

He then gave them names. He named the Espeon Dawn, and the Umbreon Dusk.

He loved these two. And even better, unlike so many of the wild Pokémon he had caught, the Twisting seemed unable to touch their souls…

Right now, they were happy to see him, but he could tell they were also hungry.

“Okay, okay…” he said.

He quickly opened a closet which was devoted solely to Pokémon food. He filled two bowls and set them down.

As they ate, he clicked on the TV. A news report was starting.

“We repeat our top story,” said the female anchorman. “Officer Jenny of Starmie Beach has foiled a brazen robbery, in which a male and female Pokémon trainer attempted to make off with a set of Pokémon fossils that were being prepared for restoration. According to the owner, these fossils were the remains of the recently discovered Cranidos and Shieldon.

“The as-yet unidentified thieves are believed to be low-ranking members of the criminal syndicate known as Rocket Reborn, an organization that is believed to have been active for five years. However, it has recently become more prevalent in the Toreen underworld. As far as is known, their goals seem similar to the original Team Rocket – obtaining Pokémon through illicit means. Fortunately, the group’s mysterious leader has not yet come close to reaching the influence that the late mobster Giovanni once had.”

“Giovanni…” muttered Starbuck. “Man, whoever killed him did the world a big favor…”

The death of the leader of Team Rocket was one of the biggest mysteries of the Pokémon world. Some say it was an assassin from one of Team Rocket’s rival gangs. Others were almost certain that Jessie killed him as part of her final plan for revenge (a much more complicated story – suffice to say, both she and James were presumed dead as well, although Jessie’s final scheme was epic). All that was known that was Giovanni was found dead in his office, a bullet though his head. Both the murder weapon and any evidence was taken, and the killer stole any Pokémon he had with him at the time, including the Persian that was his constant companion.

“The two thieves are being held on ten-thousand dollars bond,” said the reporter. “More on this story as it develops.”

Starbuck wasn’t worried. It seemed that wannabe groups of thugs popped up all the time over the years. But none of them even reached Team Galactic’s power (although a few were as eccentric as Galactic), let alone Rocket. Every two years or so, you’d hear about the latest group… Team Light, Team Relic, Team Triad, Team Primordial, and even dumber names. None of them ever got very far.

The phone rang. He muted the TV.

“Y’ello?” he said answering it.

“Starbuck?” said the voice on the other end. “Glad I caught you…”

Starbuck frowned. Percival.

Percival Ambrose Fredericks the 3rd. If he hadn’t been born into a wealthy family, his name would have gotten him beaten up in school a lot. Percival had so much money, he spent it on the strangest projects. He claimed that it all would benefit mankind in some way, but a lot of the projects he funded were impractical or impossible.

For example, he financed a project once that would, if successful, alter a Pokémon’s Odor Sleuth ability to sniff out narcotics like some ordinary dogs could. He reasoned that Odor Sleuth was even better than a normal sense of smell, and a Pokémon could be trained to detect illegal substances well enough that no dealer could ever hide them. A few police agencies took enough interest for him to work on it, but it proved harder than he thought. While some Pokémon looked like dogs, they were different creatures entirely. The plan never reached fruition, and ended as most of his plans did, in failure.

“What do you want, Percy?” asked Starbuck.

“Percival,” replied the caller. “Starbuck, I want to make you an offer. I have something big in the works, and I need your help.”

“What now, Percy?” asked Starbuck. “It can’t be that big.”

“Oh, trust me, it is,” said Percival. “I can’t say much over the phone. But I want to give you a chance…”

He paused.

“…to pick up where your father left off…”

Starbuck stopped short.

“Got your attention, didn’t I?” asked Percival. “Meet me at my chateau in Blueberry Cove at seven o’clock tonight. I trust you can get here by then…”

Starbuck looked at his watch.

“Yeah, I can manage…” he said.

“Good…” replied Percival. “Uh, you aren’t allergic to shellfish, are you?”

“No, no, that’s fine…” said Starbuck.

He hung up.

Dad… he thought.

He paused.

He took his wallet out of his pocket and opened it, looking at a picture. There was a picture of himself when he was five years old, with his parents, along with his dad’s Ninetales and Snorlax.

Five years, and I don’t even know what happened to you… And now I can… Pick up where you left off?

He looked and saw Dawn and Dusk looking at him.

“Guys…” he said, “we’re going to Blueberry Cove!”

He held up two pokeballs. Dawn and Dusk leapt towards them, and they opened, sucking them in.

* * * * * * * * * *

Starbuck looked over himself.

Six pokeballs strapped to his belt…

Check.

Pokedex…

Check.

Backpack…

Check.

Empty pokeballs…

Check.

Potions and remedies…

Check.

He placed his helmet on his head, and leapt on his motorcycle and started it up.

With a roar, he sped down the road, heading for the exit from Seedot Springs.

He had no idea that the hat-stealing Buneary was stowed away in the seat compartment, chuckling softly.

I may not know what happened to you dad… thought Starbuck. You may be dead with your bones lying at the bottom of the sea… You may have been taken prisoner by someone who you crossed…

But this I promise…

Whatever happened…

I will know the truth!


Coming up next:

All stories have a beginning, as some folks say, and next chapter, this one begins. Starbuck learns a few things, and a snag threatens his plans before they can even begin. Chapter One, “Myth-Information”, is coming soon…

[Chris 2.1]

Hey DS, I read this chapter through. I did read some of pokemonese before this but I wasn't a fully fledged fan. Anyway.

It was a cool prologue. The way you introduced The Twisting was quite interesting, like something from a horror movie. You effectively established this mysterious thing at the beginning which was good. I hope to learn more about it soon. But there was a slight 'movie promo' feel to it which confused me somewhat.

Having Ishmael's son is what I would call a staple rule of sequels = it always features characters children :p But Starbuck seems like a mature young man (I forget how old he is?) but also one slightly disturbed by his father's dissapearence.

One thing I did notice, something that did spoil it for me: you seemed to go out of your way to make reference to almost everything thats ever happened in Pokemon. What with all the Team references, the numerous Legendary references, Pokemon Rangers, Shadow Pokemon, Wes, Michael....I don't know, it seemed like an encyclopedia of Pokemon which was a bit odd. Just how much can one person know about every different reigon? It did make it stand out as Pokemon Fanfiction (which is never a bad thing: after all, isn't that what this forum is for?) but at the same time seemed to tarnish the quality somewhat.

Either way, you have established this Percy character as an aspiring and powerful character. Evidently he has history with Starbuck, and I am intrigued by the next chapter.

I shall keep an eye out.

[Hinoryu]

I'm impressed.

A worldwide event causing every big player ever to investigate is interesting. And I give major points to the fact that Pokemon are finally actually being dangerous, and actually killing people. One of my biggest annoyances in the anime and games is that... Well, ferocious huge beasts are following the orders of a kid and not doing anything? Yeah, no.

However, I will say, it reminds me of the Pokemon Special manga, where the Elite Four sent pokemon on a rampage until Yellow stopped Lance. Considering that was my favorite storyline of any Pokemon work, ever, I'm getting the feeling I'll enjoy this. Even without the Elite Ecoterrorists.

[Shuppet Master]

*applauds*

I knew about this story from the get-go, but this introduction was pretty nifty. Having two Pokemon battle in a tournament, mentioning the ghost-dragon Giratina, and also having an Aipom-like Pokemon harass the main character and then stow away is pretty interesting. I can't say much(I got tired from being at a Yu-Gi-Oh sneak preview today), but I can say what I always do - KUTGW(Keep Up The Good Work).

[Inferno_Dragon]

I loved Pokemonese and I bet I will love this one too. I love how you are still using names from Literature and Mythology like you did in Pokemonese. The Twisting ... It is a nice plot. I really don't know what else to say but hopefully this Fanfic will be successful just like Pokemonese.

Keep up the good work, DS.

[Dark Sage]

Last chapter was just a prologue, so I thought I’d post the first chapter now. But don’t expect new chapters this often.

Here we go…



My name is Starbuck Conrad, son of Ishmael Conrad, the trainer known mostly for defeating Gestalt.

Five years ago, my dad left on an important mission. He had a lead on something that he thought would be the key to ending the Twisting, and purging it from the world.

Unfortunately, he never came back.

The worst part is, I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. If he’s alive, I don’t know if he’s staying where he is by choice, or if he’s the prisoner of some enemy…

But I intend to find out…

Even if his fate was tragic, I’m not scared. I’ve been given the chance to follow up… I will know the truth…

And now… I have an added incentive…

CHAPTER ONE



Myth-Information

As Starbuck sped down the highway, many things were on his mind…

Most notably, his father.

He remembered what had happened, five years ago. His dad said he had a big lead on a theory, relating to the Twisting. And he intended to act on it.

He left home with enough supplies for two months, and six of his strongest Pokémon: Manectric, Golem, Gardevoir, Machamp, Mightyena, and naturally, Ninetales.

Starbuck and his mother didn’t hear from him for two weeks, at which point they received a video call. The elder Conrad was excited. He said he was almost certain his theory was correct, and he could purge the world of the Twisting forever. He told his son and wife to wait for him, not saying where he was or what exactly he planned to do, or where he was going.

That was the last anyone ever saw of Ishmael Conrad…

Investigations were done, searches were made, but he seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth. Whatever happened to him, no-one knew.

Starbuck never gave up hope… He tried to make himself think that his dad was alive, and that wherever he was, he was there by choice, and not at the mercy of someone he had crossed.

That didn’t stop rumors, however. Many folks thought he was dead. One crazy rumor said that Gestalt had somehow survived, and had exacted revenge on his enemy by rebuilding that awful machine and using it on him.

Starbuck knew in his heart that it was impossible. Several witnesses had seen Gestalt melt into goo after he died. He couldn’t have recovered from THAT. As for his machine, the Regis had smashed it beyond repair, and all of Gestalt’s computer files had been deleted, the hard copies burned, and the computers themselves destroyed as well.

Which brought Starbuck back to the original question…

If Gestalt wasn’t behind his dad’s disappearance… Who or what was?

* * * * * * * * * *

The sun was setting as Starbuck’s motorcycle drove into Percival’s chateau in Blueberry Cove. It was an impressive mansion, the place where he’d like to live if he ever became this rich.

He looked up, and saw Francis at the door. He frowned.

He and Percival’s butler never got along. Francis was just plain rude to everyone who wasn’t in charge of signing his paycheck. The elderly manservant had been employed by Percival’s father, so Francis knew that he didn’t have to be polite to guests – Percival wouldn’t dare fire him for something like that.

Starbuck strode up to the door.

“Evening, Francis…” he growled.

Francis frowned and looked at his pocket watch.

“I’m five minutes early, pal,” said Starbuck. “You’ve got nothing to scold me about.”

“Indeed…” muttered Francis. “May I take your… helmet?”

“Think I’ll hold onto it,” replied Starbuck. “If you lost it, I might get hurt when I left…”

He glanced at Francis.

“Or was that the whole idea?”

The butler frowned.

“Mr. Fredericks is waiting in the study…” he said. “And frankly, I’ve never seen him more… Enthusiastic… He’s likely wasting money on some hair-brained scheme again.”

“It’s his money to waste,” said Starbuck, “and don’t you forget it, pal. You have no right to complain just because he’s not as tight as his father was.”

Francis growled.

“His father knew the value of a dollar…” he said with a frown.

“Maybe…” sighed Starbuck, “but according to Percy, he didn’t realize that he wouldn’t be able to take it with him…”

Starbuck walked past the butler, down a long hallway, towards the study.

He noticed something different when he went in. His host was looking over a large stone tablet mounted on a bookstand.

Percival looked up. He was a portly man around forty, with a moustache, and hair going prematurely grey. He was dressed as he always was, in fashionable clothes that likely cost more than the motorcycle Starbuck had parked out front.

“Ah, young Mr. Conrad,” he said. “You haven’t changed a bit…”

“Why don’t we cut to the chase, Percy,” replied Starbuck. “What have you found out about my dad?”

“Well, not much,” said Percival, “but come look at this… My excavators dug this up in the Spires a month ago…

“I believe you can read it…”

Starbuck looked at it.

The language was the common one, but the font was that of the Unown, the odd Pokémon whose twenty-eight body shapes could form letters. Some said that the Unown were divine messengers of some sort.

Ishmael read:

“Woe to thee, oh earth and sea, for the balance of nature slips, and a dark cloud starts to cover creation.

“If you are brave, and pure of heart, seek the tablets that are sixteen in number. Take them to the top of the world, unleash the energies of Time and Space, and climb the Heaven’s Stair…”

Ishmael paused. He looked at the last part.

“…to the Hall of Origin, where the Alpha Pokémon watches over his children from the loftiest of heights, and sheds tears as the darkness spreads…”

He looked at Percival. The older man chuckled.

“Arceus…” he said. “The God of Pokémon… The Alpha Pokemon. Some say he was born in the fires that created the universe… They say he then shaped the universe with his thousand arms. They say he created the first Pokémon out of clay and breathed life into them. They say…”

“I say he’s a power-hungry trainer’s pipe dream, Percy,” said Starbuck, with a frown.

“Oh?” asked Percival. “Your parents mounted an expedition to find him before you were born.”

“Which ended in complete failure,” added Starbuck.

He paused.

“My mom…” he said. “Legendary Pokémon are her hobby… She’s studied them all. Ever since she met Celebi, she’s followed every legend and every myth…”

“And met Giratina, too, I believe,” said Percival.

Starbuck nodded.

“Long story,” he replied.

“Well, Starbuck,” said Percival, “Arceus may not be as far away as you think…”

He picked up something from the coffee table that was wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped it, revealing a stone, rectangular tablet, colored orange, one foot long, and six inches wide.

“Behold…” said Percival. “The Flame Plate!”

Ishmael felt something shaking on his belt. He looked down, and saw one of his pokeballs wobbling. It was as if the Pokémon inside was getting excited.

“A Flame Plate?” asked Starbuck.

“THE Flame Plate,” replied Percival. “Only one exists… Let me explain… According to what our expert in this project discovered, Arceus, while possessing godlike powers, can be technically classified as a Normal Pokémon. Sure, he’s far stronger than any Snorlax or Slaking, but that’s what he is.

“Now, when Arceus was… born, however that happened, sixteen of these Plates were also created. Maybe they all were once part of the same big tablet, but that isn’t important. Each Plate corresponds to a different Pokémon Type. This one corresponds to the Fire Type.”

Ishmael looked at the pokeball again, the one that was shaking. It did indeed hold a Pokémon that was part-Fire.

“Now, by using these Plates, according to legend, Arceus can use a Plate to transform himself into the Type of Pokémon that corresponds to the Plate. He could use this one to transform himself into a Fire Pokemon. So, if he had all sixteen of them, he could literally be any Type of Pokémon that he wanted to be.”

“Wait…” said Starbuck. “If he’s the God of Pokémon, he likely knows a lot of different battle techniques… Maybe even ALL of them, along with a few that no other Pokémon knows… If he had all of these Plates, he could always have Type advantage, no matter what he was threatened by!”

“Exactly…” replied Percival. “And since he’s lived for countless eons, he also always has Level advantage. No Pokémon could possibly defeat him.

“But… For some unknown reason, Arceus cast all the Plates to Earth. No one knows why. He visits the mortal world only rarely, preferring to stay in this Hall of Origin. Some say this place is the Heaven for Pokémon.”

Ishmael rubbed his chin.

“If he rules Pokémon Heaven, who rules Pokémon Hell?” he asked.

Percival sighed.

“Likely, whoever created the Twisting does,” he replied. “But our expert thinks that finding all sixteen Plates is the key to finding Arceus…

He pointed to the larger tablet.

“…and this suggests that he might actually want to be found.

“Once they’re all placed at this spot the tablet mentions, this ‘top of the world’, something – we aren’t sure what yet – can be done to allow access to the Hall of Origin, where he waits.

“Starbuck… I want you to find these Plates. We had already mounted a project to find them, but unfortunately, our expert disappeared while looking for the Splash Plate in Darcaven Bay.”

Starbuck smirked.

“You’re asking the wrong Conrad, Percival,” he muttered. “Why don’t you try my mother? She’d jump at the chance.”

“Actually, we did…” replied Percival.

Starbuck looked at him.

“Your mother…” said Percival, “she was our expert… She’s the one who’s disappeared…”

* * * * * * * * * *

The next ten minutes were not at all pleasant for Percival. He hated motorcycles, and he really hated riding on them when the driver had no regard for the speed limit.

Starbuck pulled into his family home in the middle-class section of Blueberry Cove. Percival coughed as he stopped.

“Really, Mr. Conrad,” he said, “if I knew this was going to upset you this much…”

“What did you expect?” asked Starbuck, rushing up to the door. “My dad’s been missing for five years, and now you tell me that my mom is gone too?”

He started looking for his key…

Then he noticed that he didn’t need it. The door had been forced open.

He went inside.

“Mom?” he shouted.

He looked around.

“Good lord…” he said.

The house had been ransacked.

Percival came in and looked around.

“Well, I didn’t expect this…” he said, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. “Clearly someone was looking for something.”

Ishmael walked into the kitchen.

He saw a small pile of letters, that had been ripped open. He looked at one of them.

“Today’s mail…” he said. “Someone opened it… That’s a federal offense…

“Wait a second…”

He reached into his pocket and took out an envelope – that personal letter with no return address. He hadn’t opened it yet.

Well, he was opening it now.

He took out the letter and read the single word.

Shiftry

“Percy, come on,” he said. “We gotta go to the Pokémon Center.”

“What for?” he asked.

“Mom and I had a little agreement,” he said. “If one of us ever needed to send the other something important, we’d send it with one of our Pokémon, and the only information would be the Pokémon’s species.

“It would have to have been something really important for her to send me her Shiftry…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Percival rubbed his seat as the two of them rushed into the Blueberry Cove Pokémon Center.

“Really, Mr. Conrad,” he said, “if you don’t have to take me anywhere after this, I think I’ll have my chauffer pick me up…”

Starbuck went to the Pokémon storage system. He quickly typed in his password.

“ACCESS DENIED,” said the computer.

“Denied?” he said. “Joy! This computer won’t give me my Pokémon!”

Nurse Joy looked up, and came running.

“Oh, Starbuck,” she said. “I should have told you… Until further notice, you have to show your ID at a Center before we let you take Pokémon.”

“Show my ID?” shouted Starbuck. “Joy, it’s me! I’ve been coming to this Center for three years!”

“Yes, I know it’s you,” said Joy. “But you see, someone in Darcaven this morning tried to break into your storage by pretending to be you.”

Ishmael glared at her as he reached for his wallet.

“Did they catch this guy?” he asked. “Did he get anything?”

“Sadly, no,” said Joy. “And fortunately, no.”

Ishmael showed her his license, and she punched in a code. The screen came up.

“There it is,” he said.

In a flash of light, a pokeball appeared on the console.

Starbuck took it and gave it a toss. In a burst of light, the Wicked Pokémon appeared.

“Shiftry!” it chirped when it saw Starbuck.

“Nice to see you too,” said Starbuck.

He had known this Pokémon since he was a toddler. It was incredibly friendly, given its reputation. And it was one of his mother’s most powerful battlers.

Sure enough, a storage ball was tied around its neck. Ishmael took it.

It opened, and in another flash of light, a leather-bound book appeared in his hands. It was monogrammed with the letters LC.

His eyes opened wide.

“What is it?” asked Percival.

Ishmael opened it.

“Mom’s research journal,” he said. “It has all the information she’s ever gathered on Legendary Pokémon… Every myth, every folktale, every translation…”

He looked through it.

“Clearly, there’s valuable stuff in here…”

He opened to a page where a colored pencil sketch had been made. It was a majestic creature with four legs, silvery fur, and a face that was vaguely human-like. Around its torso was a golden ring surrounded by a second golden ring with spokes.

Under the picture was the word “Arceus”.

“So that’s what he looks like,” muttered Ishmael.

He paused for a few seconds.

“Percy, what’s your offer?” he asked.

“One thousand dollars for each Plate recovered,” he replied. “Plus an additional ten-thousand if you recover all of them…

“Plus, one-hundred thousand more, if you can find Arceus.”

“Begging your pardon…” said Starbuck. “On the extremely remote chance that I do manage to find Arceus, what in the world do you want me to do then? Ask him for a game of chess? Arceus is a god, Percy, I could never capture a Pokémon that powerful.”

“True…” said Percival. “Likely, not even a Master Ball could hold him, and even I’m not rich enough to procure or build one of them to try it. And playing chess with a deity might be something to avoid…

“But Starbuck, listen…

“Arceus is an ancient Pokémon. If the legends are correct, he was born in the creation of the universe. His knowledge may well be nearly infinite…

“I want to talk to him, Starbuck… I want to convince him to share some of his knowledge…

“And maybe, just maybe, he might have the answer that so many of us have been looking for…

“…how to end the Twisting. Make the Pokémon world safe again.

“Make humans and Pokémon live in harmony once more…”

Starbuck was quiet for a minute of two.

“Of course,” said Percival, “your expenses will all be paid. Just sign anything to my name. And every time I have a lead on a new Plate, I’ll contact you. I have researchers working on this everywhere.”

Starbuck looked at him.

“Darcaven Bay, huh?” he asked. “Okay, I’m in… But let me make one thing clear, Percy… My first priority is to find mom.

“And call me crazy, but I think she was kidnapped… By someone who either wants the Plates themselves, or someone who doesn’t want them recovered…”

* * * * * * * * * *

There was nothing like sleeping in your old bed again in your old room. Even the toys he used to have were still in this place, right down to a model airplane that he had never finished.

Still, Starbuck didn’t sleep for a long time. He spent a while looking over some of the newer entries in the journal that his mother had never shown him.

One large entry caught his eye…

“Dialga… Temporal Pokémon… Lord of Time, master of the flow…

“Palkia… Spatial Pokémon… Exemplar of Space, ruler of the dimensions…”

He looked back at the section on Arceus, which was rather small, unfortunately.

“To protect his treasures, the Alpha Pokémon entrusted each one with a Guardian. Each Guardian, or his descendant, would protect his charge until the Alpha Pokémon came for it, or a proven representative came.”

Starbuck’s eyes narrowed.

“Proven representative?” he pondered. “What does that mean?”

He continued to read the next page.

“Identities of the Guardians…”

Unfortunately, that was where the notes ended.

He scratched his chin. Apparently, mom was trying to find out about these Guardians, but her research hadn’t gotten that far.

He yawned. He reached for his bedside light.

“Please be okay, mom…” he muttered. “I don’t wanna lose you too…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Percival had seen him off with a “good luck” and a restatement of his promise to keep him informed of any news on the whereabouts of more Plates. After a light breakfast, Starbuck started the long ride towards the shore.

He thought about his destination… Darcaven Bay, or Dark Bay, as everyone except the local government called it these days.

This place had started out as a whaling town, to foretell its grim future. When the trade was outlawed, different seagoing businesses set up shop, mostly fishmongers and canneries.

But legit businesses were only the official businesses of Dark Bay these days… The real reasons people came to the town were for the prostitution and gambling.

It was no real secret that the mayor of Dark Bay had little real power. The crimelords truly ruled this town. The mayor likely was even controlled by one of them, although it was hard to tell which. Although several minor crime bosses had a stake, two of them had the most power: Jezebel, a woman who had united the prostitutes under her leadership, and a man named Seven, who ran the gambling rings. No one messed with them, and their relationship with each other was cloudy. Depending on who you were talking to, they were allies, rivals, lovers, or enemies.

The Officer Jenny who was assigned to Dark City was an honest cop, but she was the minority. Most cops were on the take from one of the two bosses. Rumor had it that both of them had ordered Jenny’s death, but she had survived so far. Maybe her family had more power than any crimelord.

These thoughts were on Starbuck’s mind when he drove into the bay city. It had taken him most of the day to get here, and his watch said three o’clock.

He pulled his motorcycle up to the town square, where a statue stood of a woman holding a Pokémon in her arms like an infant. This was an old statue, and no one could identify the Pokémon’s species. Looking closely at it, it was a cute, fairy-like creature with two tails and a hood over its eyes.

As he got off the motorcycle, two scantily dressed girls at the corner waved and smiled at him. He ignored them.

Where do I start? he thought. If mom’s still in this city, she could be anywhere…

His ears perked up. Someone was behind him. Looks of fear crossed the faces of the two hookers, and they quickly turned and ran.

“You looking for trouble, friend?” asked Starbuck. “If so, I suggest you find it elsewhere.”

He turned around, and saw two men that he didn’t expect. One of them was tall and thin, with a black goatee. The other one was short and squat, and wore glasses. Both of them were dressed in long, brown robes and hoods, similar to monks’ robes.

“I’m not looking for trouble, Mr. Conrad,” said the one with the goatee. “And I won’t start it… If you simply hand over the Flame Plate.”

Starbuck raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t even have the Flame Plate with him. Percival still had it. And Percival likely had it locked in his vault.

But maybe he wouldn’t tell this guy that just yet. If this guy knew about the Plates, maybe he knew something about his mother…

“And just what are you gonna do if I don’t hand it over?” he said with a sneer.

The monk frowned.

“You make this difficult…” he said.

He reached into his robe, and pulled out two pokeballs.

“Oh, you want a Pokémon battle huh?” asked Starbuck. “Fine… I’m game…”

“Then I challenge you to two-on-two!” replied the monk.

“Heh,” chuckled Starbuck. “You got it…”

“I’ll even show you my Pokémon…” replied the monk. “I choose… Machamp and Drifblim!”

He tossed the two pokeballs, and they burst open. One of the Pokémon that emerged was a hulking, muscular, five-foot-tall fighter with four arms. The other looked like a large, purple balloon with eyes, a patch on its face, and four stubby arms.

“You think I’m scared of your Fighter?” asked Starbuck with a laugh. “My dad has one that’s even bigger, and it gave me piggyback rides when I was a toddler!

“And I’ve got someone for your Ghost too…

“Dawn… Dusk… Go!”

He threw his two pokeballs, and both Dawn and Dusk leapt out.

“This’ll be easy…” he said. “Dawn… Get that Machamp with a Psychic attack! Dusk, blast that Drifblim with Dark Pulse!”

Dawn’s eyes glowed, and she shot a wave of mental energy at the burly Fighter. The Machamp groaned, and covered its head with its two right arms.

Meanwhile, Dusk, concentrated, and then fired a bolt of pure darkness from his eyes, striking the Blimp Pokémon. It made a gurgling sound, and was pushed back several feet.

The monk’s two Pokémon stared at the two Eeveelutions in anger…

“My turn…” said the monk. “Drifblim… Use Repulsion on Umbreon. Machamp… Use the same move on Espeon.”

“What?” said Starbuck. “Repulsion? What kind of a move is that?”

Both the Ghost and Fighter stared at their targets without blinking… All four Pokémon’s eyes flashed.

“Espeon…” said Dawn.

“Umbreon…” said Dusk.

“I don’t know what you just did,” I said, “but your Pokémon are going down! Dawn, Dusk, repeat the same moves.”

Dawn and Dusk looked at their foes…

…then they whimpered weakly.

Starbuck looked at his opponent.

“What did you do?” he demanded.

The monk chuckled.

“Repulsion is a special TM that only functions if a Pokémon has a partner,” he replied. “Once it is used, both the attacker and the target of the attack cannot attack each other again.

“So now… Drifblim is safe from your Umbreon, and Machamp is likewise from Espeon.”

Starbuck’s eyes opened wide.

This guy had played him for a sap… Now his best Pokémon couldn’t gain type advantage. In fact, they were at a big disadvantage.

And this guy wasn’t going to give him a chance to sort it out.

“Drifblim, attack Espeon with Ominous Wind!” ordered the monk. “Machamp, attack Umbreon with Karate Chop!”

Machamp roared, and slammed its hand into Dusk. The much smaller Pokémon screamed and fell backwards.

Drifblim’s eyes glowed, and a spooky, misty wind blasted from it. Dawn groaned in pain.

“Good going, Edmund,” said the other monk (the one with glasses) as he nervously looked around. “Now finish this quickly. We need to maintain a low profile.”

Now what? thought Starbuck. What next? If I lose this battle, what will I do? I don’t even have the Flame Plate… I was bluffing…. I have to try…

“Dawn, use Psychic again and target Drifblim,” he said. “Dusk, use Pursuit on Machamp.”

Again, Dawn fired the wave of mental energy, but it wasn’t nearly as effective against the Ghost Pokémon. Dusk shot a sharp blast of Dark energy at Machamp, but it barely tickled him.

“Drifblim, attack Espeon with Shadow Ball,” ordered the monk. “Machamp, use Seismic Toss on Umbreon.”

Dusk squeaked in fear as Machamp bore down on him. It grabbed the smaller Pokémon, and then spun around twice. It hurled him, throwing him into the statue. Umbreon winced in pain.

Drifblim shot a blob of shadowy energy, and Dawn screamed as darkness surrounded her and tried to suck the life out of her.

Well, this is it… thought Starbuck.

Then he heard a very noisy motorcycle behind him.

What the… he thought. Oh no… I know that sound…

The motorcycle – which was decorated with rat skulls and painted with flames – pulled into the square, and the rider leapt off of it, landing perfectly on her feet.

It was a woman who would stand out anywhere. She was tall, with curves, and long, dark, straight hair. Her clothing was rather trashy. She wore a black, leather halter top and mini-skirt, with knee-high boots and wristbands. She wore a studded belt with a knife in a sheath attached to it, along with six pokeballs. A tattoo of two swords crossed over a shield was on her left shoulder.

“Ho boy…” said Ishmael. “Shadow…”

The girl took two pokeballs off of her belt.

“No one beats up on Starbuck but me…” she scowled.

“Weavile! Gallade! Appear!”

She threw the pokeballs, and they burst open. The first revealed a dark, weasel-like Pokémon, with a red frill around its neck, and sharp claws. The second revealed a tall Pokémon, whose head resembled a helmet, with arms that resembled blades.

“Wait a minute!” shouted the monk. “I challenged Starbuck! This isn’t fair!”

“Yeah?” replied Shadow. “Well, tough rocks, pal. Gallade, attack Machamp with Psycho Cut. Weavile, attack that Drifblim with Night Slash.”

Galade’s arm glowed with brilliant energy. It made a swipe at the Fighter, and it screamed its name before falling to one knee.

Weavile’s claw glowed with pure darkness. It slashed at the Blimp Pokémon, and it made a much larger gurgling sound.

Shadow grinned.

“Wait for it…” she whispered.

“I’ll fix your Pokémon like I fixed Starbuck’s, girl!” shouted the monk. “Drifblim, use Repulsion on Weavile! Machamp, use the same move on Gallade!”

“Gallade, now!” shouted Shadow. “Use Criss-Cross!”

Both of Shadow’s Pokémon, faded into blurs…

Then they reappeared, having switched places. Machamp and Drifblim used their Repulsion attacks, but Shadow’s Pokémon seemed happy.

“What happened?” asked the monk.

“Criss-Cross is another move that useful in a two-on-two,” said Shadow. “When Gallade used it, he took the attack that was meant for his partner, and vice-versa. So now… Your two Pokémon are repelling the wrong enemies!”

The monk turned white.

“All right, Shadow!” shouted Starbuck. “You go, girl!”

“Gallade, Psycho Cut again!” shouted Shadow.

Gallade made another savage slash with its blade, and it was too much for the Fighter, it collapsed, falling on its back with a thud, and then vanished, retreating back to its pokeball.

“Weavile, Dark Pulse!”

Weavile’s eyes glowed, and it fired an intense blast of darkness at the Drifblim. It gurgled, and then collapsed, falling like a deflated balloon. It vanished, falling back to its pokeball.

Gallade apparently wasn’t satisfied. It walked over to the monk, and gave it a whack on the head with the blunt side of its blade.

The monk had had enough. He fell to the ground and didn’t move.

Starbuck looked at Shadow. He sighed.

Things had just gotten a lot more complicated…


Before I end, I’d like to say something for anyone playing D/P: In the game, Arceus is not immune to a Master Ball. In fact, I recommend you save it for him if you can go to the event that allows access to him. He’s too powerful to catch using normal methods. However, this is fiction, and things can be different here.

Coming up next:

We find out just who Shadow is, we find out who those monks are, and we continue the quest to find Starbuck’s mom. What has happened to the unsinkable Lisa LeBaron? Plus, we’ll see more of Starbuck’s team… And a sneak peak at who the sinister force is behind this. All this and more in Chapter Two, “The Big Splash”, coming soon.

[jkBAKURA]

Someone's a fan of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and there are few movies I can think of that would be more entertaining Pokemonified. (it's a word now!)

I was both impressed and disapointed when I read that there would be no Gym quest. You had such a fun knack for creating the leaders, but it looks like we have a similar treasure hunt in the works.

It probably takes more time and work then I realise to make a full Gym quest anyway.

At first glance, some of the names and situations are corny, but that was, and still is, the spirit of the anime. It's actually quite a balance between a tense, relatable real world, and the show world we're so familiar with.

I've never been one to leap into Pokemon fics. (I actually started reading Pokemoneese because I wanted to check out the story winning all the awards) but I can honestly say I'm hooked after Chapter One. Take your time, we all were patient for the first one, and this will probably be just as worth the wait.

[Hinoryu]

No pokemon's immune to normal methods, Brian. I caught Dialga with a Quick Ball after fifty-odd turns. I plan to use the Master Ball on Mesprit.

That aside, a collection quest for the Plates... Could be interesting. I'm going to withhold judgement for the moment, though. I do believe it'll be good, though. My only problem so far is I have a hard time taking the main character seriously. I keep misreading his name as the coffee shop. Hazard of living near Seattle, I suppose.

[Shuppet Master]

Brian told me about a character who used Gallade, and here she is. I like this character, using two of my favorite D/P Pokemon and countering that move.

Anyways, looks like we have an interesting quest on hand. Keep up the good work, Brian.

One note to those reading: If Wes's Umbreon had been fighting this creep, he could have used Taunt to stop Repulsion from working. Just a little game-mechanic point out.

EDIT: I got approval from Brian to list the fan-made Pokemon moves he created. In no way does that mean they are game-related.

Repulsion
Type: Dark
Category: Other
Power: ---
Accuracy: 100
PP: 10
Effect: A wicked glare that repels your opponent. It prevents the user or his opponent from attacking each other for several turns. However, if used in a double battle, this effect doesn't apply to your opponent's partner. If used in a one-vs-one match, the move fails(similar to Helping Hand). If used in a one-vs-one match, this move fails(like Helping Hand).

(I realized that I made a mistake in the effect and assumed it was an empowered Torment, but then I thought about it and went "oops." )

Criss-Cross
Type: Normal
Category: Other
Power: ----
Accuracy: ----
PP: 10
Effect: A zig-zag dance that switches the target of an opponent's move to your partner and, if the opponent's partner is using the same move on your partner, switches the target to the user.

EDIT: Forgot the types and PP. D'oh! :rolleye:

[Zcade0]

Awesome! Sequels are always good... well, for stories at least. Perhaps we'll be seeing more of the mutated Pokemon like Gestalt and the one guy (who's name escapes me at the moment...)'s F'arfetched... A reader in the last story brought that idea out that there could be more. Eh. This business with the plates sounds interesting. MUCH better than the crap the games put out. I mean, the type-changing effect is good, but they shouldn't put all the mystical sounding mumbo-jumbo on the plates unless they're going to use them for something epic. Epic is good.

I'd like to hear a bit more about Jessie's revenge... That would be quite an interesting story indeed.

Dark Pulse sounds almost exactly like Nevermore from Pokemonese, except I believe I recall the eyes glowed red...

One more note, anyone who uses Repulsion in a single battle is pretty stupid... (or incredibly low leveled and needs to heal their pokes a lot...).

[Dark Sage]

I'll address those comments.

Mutated Pokemon? Wait and see.

I'm being closemouthed as to what role the Plates actually play in this story. Let me just say they are important.

You will definately hear about Jessie's revenge. Her final stand against the heroes of the anime has set the stage for a major development in this story.

Dark Pulse is a real move in D/P.

I should have specified. Repulsion cannot be used in a one-on-one battle. Well, technically, it could, but it would have no effect. It's sort of like Helping Hand and Follow Me - it has no effect if the pokemon using it does not have a partner.

Keep reading.

[Zcade0]

I knew it was a real move, I have the game, I was just surprised at the similarity.

Ah. I have another question on the move,

Say a Torterra knew Earthquake (as many do), and it was in a double battle with a random flying pokemon on it's side and lets say a fire type and a water type on the other side. If the Torterra used Repulsion on the fire type, then used earthquake, would earthquake, being an arena move, hit the fire type? Or would it have no effect at all, similar to the flying type on Torterra's team?

Revenge... good...

[Shuppet Master]

I think Nevermore fires beams of darkness, while Dark Pulse shoots a wave of darkness from the body. Nevermore is similar to Giga Impact and other such moves - you use it and then recharge the next turn. (I might put up a thread listing all of Pokemonese fake moves.)

Also, I think the ruling for Repulsion is that the victim CANNOT use ANY moves which would hit the user. For example, if a Ninetales had this move(may be a all-purpose TM, I dunno - if a Machamp and Drifblim can learn it, it sounds like a TM-type move like Hidden Power) and used it on a Sandslash, the Sandslash couldn't use Dig or Slash against the Ninetales. Even if it had Earthquake, it couldn't use it because that would hit the user. But then, that ruling is up to Brian. Maybe it would work like Protect. *shrugs*

[Dark Sage]

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, I see something else.

I’ve been in Dark Bay for all of ten minutes, and I’ve already gotten into a fight. The worst part is, it was a fight I almost lost.

Almost, that is.

Right now, I’m starting to wonder whether the price for being rescued is going to be worse than the penalty would have been for being beaten.

Well, I’d best swallow my pride. My mom is missing, and I’d best do what it takes to save her. Even if I have to work with someone I don’t really like.

CHAPTER TWO



The Big Splash

Starbuck sighed as he watched Shadow recall her two Pokémon.

Saved by Shadow… This was embarrassing.

He often wondered why she dressed like this… The girl looked like a stripper. And if a magazine asked her to pose nude, she likely would say yes, so long as the money was right.

He’d like to say his record as a trainer was perfect. But in Pokémon battles against this babe, his record was about fifty-fifty.

Shadow was a girl who was not only a badass, she reveled in being one. She had been a loner all her life… Starbuck had never asked, but he assumed she was an orphan, who had been forced to fend for herself at an early age. If her appearance was any suggestion, she wasn’t very friendly – she only counted her Pokémon as friends, and if her Pokémon got violent because of the Twisting, she barely cared. It was to be expected. She wasn’t a very nice girl herself. Starbuck knew that well… He had battled her so many times…

Shadow was a bad girl, and she liked being one.

This was further emphasized by the fact that almost all of her Pokémon were Ghost, Dark, or Psychic. She liked Pokémon that were… strange.

“Shadow,” said Starbuck, “you always show up in the most unlikely of times…”

Shadow hooked her pokeballs to her belt.

“Yeah,” she said, “well, I didn’t come here to save YOU.”

“Heh, I knew you were gonna say that,” he replied. “We’ll get to why you’re here in a minute…”

He looked to where the short, squat monk was helping the tall, thin one, who was sitting down and rubbing the top of his head where Gallade had hit him.

“Was that really necessary?” he asked.

“No…” replied Starbuck, “but this is…”

He grabbed the monk by the collar.

“Brother Edmund!” gasped the smaller monk.

“Why did you attack me?” demanded Starbuck.

“Because you were looking for Arceus,” replied the monk.

“My mom was looking for Arceus,” said Starbuck. “What did you do to her?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “Unhand me…”

“Who are you?” shouted Starbuck.

The monk slowly undid his collar, revealing a wooden amulet, carved in the shape of the Greek letter for A.

Alpha.

“I am Brother Edmund,” he said. “This is Brother Guglimo. We are members of a small but proud order known as the Brotherhood of Alpha.”

Starbuck slowly released him.

“As in the Alpha Pokemon?” he asked. “Arceus has human worshippers?”

“In a way,” said Edmund. “And for four centuries, the members of our order have done all we could to ensure that the Alpha Pokémon remains safe and unmolested.”

He stood up.

“I have a question for you, Mr. Conrad… What would you do if you found the Alpha Pokémon? Would you honor him, for his glory… Or would you exploit him, for yours?”

Starbuck looked at him.

“Listen pal…” he said. “Finding Arceus is only a secondary goal. I’m trying to find my mother.”

Edmund looked at him closely.

“Then I wish you good luck with that goal…” he said. “Your mother was last seen at the old Darcaven Times building, where she was challenged to a Pokémon battle… a battle she clearly lost. Who her opponent was, I do not know.”

The monk glared at him. Then he and his partner started to walk away.

Starbuck turned to Shadow.

“You gonna tell me why you’re here now?” he asked.

“I wanted to find your mom to follow up on something,” she replied. “I went to her a month ago to sell some scrolls I found, and she mentioned something she had discovered. Something about a Legendary Dark Pokémon.”

“Legendary Dark Pokemon?” replied Starbuck.

He fished through his backpack until he found the journal.

“Wait a second, I saw a reference to that somewhere in here…”

He looked through the pages.

“Hmm, only a short paragraph,” he said. “No picture… Apparently it’s called Darkrai…

“New Moon Pokémon, ruler of the night… Inhabits the border between the waking world and the Realm of Dreams…

“Not much to go on…”

“Well, I’ll stick around for now,” said Shadow. “Maybe your mom has found out something else.”

Starbuck frowned as they walked back to their bikes.

“By the way, Shadow…” he said, “do you watch Pokémon Today?”

“Uh huh,” she replied.

“Then you do realize,” he continued, “that Leslie Nesman listen you as number three on her worst dressed trainers list, right?”

“Yes I do!” shouted Shadow. “And I am mad at her! You know why? Because Shadow is always the best at everything she does! I should have been number ONE on that worst dressed list!”

Starbuck rolled his eyes…

* * * * * * * * * *

Half an hour later, two motorcycles drove up to a large, condemned building.

A faded, worn sign on the front said “Darcaven Times”.

“This place has been closed for years,” said Shadow.

“Of course,” replied Starbuck, dismounting his bike. “Who reads newspapers anymore?”

As they walked towards the door, the seat compartment on Starbuck’s bike opened, and the Buneary poked its head out. It watched them curiously.

It hopped out and followed them.

They came to the only door they could access. It had been boarded up in the past, but the boards had apparently been torn down recently.

They walked down a hallway, up a stairway, and into a large office. Busted cubicles and the remains of desks and filing cabinets were all around. Paper was everywhere.

“I don’t see what your mom hoped to find in this mess,” said Shadow. “Wouldn’t anything valuable have been taken long ago?”

“My mom doesn’t do things that have no meaning,” replied Starbuck. “Sure, sometimes I don’t know the purpose of what she does, but she always has a reason.

“Let’s split up and try to cover more ground. If you find something, holler.”

Shadow nodded, and they walked in two directions.

Starbuck looked around at the doors. He opened a closet, but didn’t find anything but a broken printer.

His eyes fell on a door. The nameplate said “Editor”.

Might be the right place to look, he thought.

He walked to the door.

“STARBUCK!” screamed Shadow’s voice, in a tone that suggested she was in trouble.

“Nuts,” said Starbuck. “Now what?”

He ran in the direction of the scream, taking a pokeball off his belt in the process.

He came to a halt in the hallway…

A powerful, muscular thug was holding Shadow in a headlock… And he had a gun to her temple.

Starbuck’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll take that journal now, Mr. Conrad,” he said.

Starbuck stared at him.

And then he chuckled.

“Yeah, right,” he said. “You expect me to hand over something that valuable because Shadow is your hostage? I’ll give you ten bucks to keep her.”

“Starbuck…” gasped Shadow.

“I’m not kidding, Mr. Conrad!” shouted the thug.

Starbuck dropped the pokeball, and it opened. A powerful-looking and fierce-looking Blaziken rose up in front of him.

“Blaziken!” it growled.

The thug’s hand trembled a little.

“Seems I have you good…” said Starbuck. “If you shoot her, my Blaziken can hit you with no problem… If you point the gun at me, Shadow can reach the knife on her belt…”

The thug’s hand trembled again.

“Aw, heck with it,” said Starbuck. “Blaziken, roast them both.”

The thug shouted, and gave Shadow a shove, pushing her towards Starbuck. Then he turned and ran.

Shadow looked after him.

“Let’s…” started Starbuck.

“Ten bucks to keep her?!” shouted Shadow, hitting him with the palm of her hand.

“Hey, I saved you, didn’t I?” asked Starbuck. “I saw someone use that trick in an old movie…”

“Blaziken…” muttered the Blaziken, crossing its arms.

Starbuck reached down and picked up the gun, which the guy had dropped.

“And it looks like his threats were empty,” he said. “This isn’t even real.

“Let’s get him…”

They ran down the hallway, with Blaziken leading the way.

The Buneary hopped after them.

Starbuck put a lot of faith in this Blaziken. It was his true starter. And there was a story behind it.

After defeating Gestalt, his dad became the apprentice of a member of the Elite Four named Calamity Jane. Jane was a powerful trainer who specialized in Fighting Pokémon. Although she had an extensive collection of Pokémon, the one she was closest to was her own starter…

Starbuck had seen it. It was a female Blaziken, the biggest and most fearsome Blaziken in Toreen. Not a Pokémon you wanted to mess with.

But in a strange twist of fate, as Ishmael worked for Jane, his own starter, his Ninetales, and Jane’s Blaziken were apparently falling in love. Jane noticed this eventually, but she didn’t try to stop it. Like most experienced trainers, she knew that one good way a trainer could make her Pokémon have negative feelings towards her was to not allow it to choose its mate. It wasn’t like she objected anyway.

The relationship went on for several years, well until Ishmael himself married and Starbuck was born. Finally, this relationship was fruitful. Jane found her Blaziken holding an egg, which she assumed was the offspring of the two of them.

(With Pokémon eggs, it’s always assumed. No one could ever truly say they witnessed a Pokémon laying an egg; Pokémon eggs were always simply found in the parents’ possession. However they came into being, it always happened when no humans were watching.)

Jane gave the egg to Ishmael, but it took a very long time to hatch, so long that he wondered if it would at all. It eventually did, on the same day that Starbuck was turned fourteen. Ishmael took this as a sign. He gave the young Torchic to Starbuck to eventually serve as his own starter…

Sadly, three months later, Ishmael vanished.

Starbuck and Shadow threw open a door.

They walked onto a long catwalk. Below them was a large room, holding the rotting, rusted remains of printing presses.

Blaziken looked around.

“Blaziken,” it said, pointing.

“You can see him?” asked Starbuck.

“Blaziken,” it said, nodding.

Starbuck looked, and he did see a shadow behind one of the presses.

The thug, meanwhile was whispering into a cell phone.

“This is unexpected,” said a woman’s voice on the other end. “I didn’t expect Conrad’s brat to get involved so quickly… But now that he has…

“Scully, you know what to do. If you can beat him, fine… If not, be sure to tell him where his mother is.”

“You got it, boss-lady,” he replied.

He stepped out from behind the press.

The Buneary curled up in a corner, and watched curiously.

“Yo, Starbuck!” shouted the thug.

Starbuck could see the thug clearly now. He wore a black shirt and black jeans, and on the upper left of his shirt were two overlapping red R’s.

“What?” said Starbuck. “You’d best tell me where my mother is, before I…”

“Tell ya what,” said the thug. “If threatening her won’t get you to give up the journal, I’ll battle you for it… I’ll wager that against the journal.”

He pointed up. Starbuck looked up.

Hanging from a hook was a mesh bag, and inside it was something that looked sort of like the Flame Plate… Except that it was bright blue.

“That’s the Splash Plate,” said Scully. “You want it, right?”

Starbuck stared at him.

Then he felt one of his pokeballs wobbling.

The Pokémon inside it was part-Water. It was the real thing…

Well, fine… He could handle a Pokémon battle. And he wasn’t going to lose to some thug.

He held up Blaziken’s pokeball, and Blaziken retreated inside it.

“Okay…” muttered Starbuck. “You’re on… How many Pokémon?”

“Four,” replied Scully, holding up four fingers.

Starbuck grinned. He hadn’t healed Dawn and Dusk yet… Four was as much as he could manage.

“Shadow…” said Starbuck, “have a seat… I’ll deal with this guy on my own…”

Starbuck didn’t know that a camera behind him was following his every move…

* * * * * * * * * *

In an office in a large building, in a whole other city, a woman in a business suit with long, red hair was watching what was happening via a screen.

“This should be amusing,” she said with a small grin.

* * * * * * * * * *

“All right!” shouted Scully. “I choose… Onix!”

He threw his first pokeball, and a huge creature loomed over Starbuck, a giant, segmented snake made of rock.

“The bigger they are,” said Starbuck, “the louder the cry to their mommies when they get smacked. I choose… Ludicolo!”

He threw the pokeball, and the odd Water/Grass Pokémon leapt out, dancing as Ludicolo often do.

“HA, HA, HA!” laughed Scully. “A duckbilled pineapple wearing a sombrero. I’m so scared.”

“Oh, you think my Pokémon is funny, do you?” asked Starbuck. “Laugh at this… Ludicolo, Hydro Pump.”

Ludicolo started dancing even more vigorously. Then it threw its flippers forward, and shot a blast of high-pressure water, hitting Onix in the face. The bigger Pokémon sputtered in rage.

“Aw, shake it off!” shouted Scully. “Smash that thing with Stone Edge.”

Onix’s eyes glowed, and its stone skin shone and glistened. It lunged, and slammed into Ludicolo, sending the Carefree Pokémon tumbling backwards.

It picked itself up, and shook its head.

“Ludicolo, get it with Bullet Seed,” ordered Starbuck.



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



Ludicolo grinned, and then spat out a volley of seeds from its mouth like a machine gun. Onix groaned as its hide started to chip where the odd ammunition hit it.

“There’s a downside to having a Pokémon that big,” said Starbuck. “It’s a big target.”

“So you say,” replied Scully. “Onix, fry that pineapple with Dragonbreath!”

Onix took a deep breath, and then exhaled a cloud of burning purple vapor at the smaller Pokémon. Ludicolo shrieked as the powerful attack scorched its skin.

It panted for breath, as Onix grinned, smoke pouring from its jaws.

“Time to topple this Goliath,” said Starbuck. “Ludicolo, use Grass Knot.”

Ludicolo concentrated, and raised its right flipper. The appendage changed shape, transforming into a solid knob of plant matter.

It leapt into the air, and punched the huge Pokémon in the face. Onix roared, and then crashed to the ground.

It dematerialized, retreating back to its pokeball.

* * * * * * * * * *

The mysterious woman watched with interest.

“Fascinating,” she said. “Starbuck is clearly a powerful warrior. His mother might have been easy, but he’ll be a good deal harder…

“Well, good. This might be a worthy challenge… After all, the more I must fight for what I want, the more energy it will have when I get it…”

* * * * * * * * * *

“I choose, Staraptor!” shouted Scully.

He threw another pokeball, and a new Pokémon appeared. This one was a four-foot-tall bird of prey with a fifteen foot wingspan, with grey feathers and a red plume on its head.

“I should have guessed,” muttered Starbuck.

“Get that crazy pineapple!” ordered Scully. “Aerial Ace!”

Staraptor screeched, and slashed forward with its wings, slashing at Ludicolo with a blade of air. The Carefree Pokémon looked much less carefree as it toppled backwards.

Ludicolo angrily got up, and glared at the huge bird.

“Ludicolo, use Zen Headbutt!” ordered Starbuck.

“Ludicolo!” chirped the Pokémon, as it started to glow with pink energy.

The pink energy turned into flames, and Ludicolo flew at Staraptor head-first. Staraptor grunted as it was hit in the chest by the Psychic attack, but it didn’t seem hurt otherwise.

“Staraptor, use Brave Bird!” said Scully.

Staraptor screamed its name, and spread its wings. It started to glow with golden energy, and like a missile, it flew at Ludicolo, and hit the Grass/Water Type in the chest, beak first.

Ludicolo fell down, completely out. It turned to energy, retreating to its pokeball.

Crud, thought Shadow. That Staraptor not only had Type advantage, it likely had Level advantage too…

But if I know Starbuck… And I do…

“Heh, heh, heh, heh…” chuckled Starbuck.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Scully.

“Because…” replied Starbuck, “I was kind of hoping you’d send out a Flying Type to combat Ludicolo…

“I’ve got someone your Staraptor is gonna love…”

He threw a pokeball.

“I choose you! Luxray!”

In a burst of sparking energy, a Pokémon just as big as Staraptor leapt out. This one looked like a cross between a wolf and a great cat, with blue fur and a thick mane, sparking with electricity all over.

“Grrr…” growled. Scully. “Staraptor, use Quick Attack.”

“Luxray, use Thunderbolt,” said Starbuck.

Staraptor flew at Luxray, and slammed into it with its wings, but it couldn’t celebrate its first strike for long. Luxray quickly shook it off, and blasted a bolt of electricity at the bird. The Predator Pokémon screeched its name, and fell backwards from the shock.

“Get up!” shouted Scully. “You aren’t gonna let that do you in, are you?”

“Staraptor…” grumbled the Pokémon, getting up.

“Fine, now use Close Combat,” said Scully.

Staraptor threw itself at its foe, and plowed into Luxray with a barrage of talon swipes, wing buffets, and pecks, sending the Gleam Eyes Pokémon staggering backwards.

This guy is taking all sorts of risks, thought Starbuck. First he has it use Brave Bird, a move that, while powerful, hurts Staraptor too. Then he has it use Close Combat; again, powerful, but it makes it harder for Staraptor to defend itself. What is he up to?

“Luxray, use Thunder Fang,” he said.

Luxray grinned. It pounced, and gripped Staraptor by the leg with its teeth. Then both of them erupted in a burst of electricity, and Staraptor screamed.

Staraptor fell to the ground, its feathers singed. It vanished, and retreated to its pokeball.

“I’m not through yet, Conrad,” said Scully, choosing his third pokeball. “And I’ve got a guy for your Luxray to chew on…

“Come on out… Swampert!”

He threw the pokeball, and an even larger Pokémon appeared. It was the final form of the Water Pokémon most often given out to young trainers in Hoenn.

“So you broke out a Pokémon that’s part Ground,” said Starbuck. “My Luxray can still hurt it.”

“Let’s see how well it can with mud in its eyes,” said Scully. “Swampert, Mud Shot.”

Swampert lunged forward, and vomited a blast of mud at Luxray. Luxray screamed as it was covered with slippery, slimy filth.

Darn… thought Starbuck. How’d it get the drop on Luxray? It must have a Quick Claw…

Luxray growled. Its eyes started to flash…

Starbuck sighed. This was the Twisting at work. He wasn’t lucky to have all his Pokémon immune to it… Far from it. Once a Pokémon got angry, the darkness took over, and they degenerated into savages.

Starbuck was about to give a command, but he didn’t have to. Luxray lunged at the Mud Fish Pokémon, and delivered a savage Crunch to its arm.

Swampert growled, and shook its foe off.

“Swampert, Earthquake!” said Scully.

Swampert lifted its fist, and then struck the ground with a mighty blow. The whole building shook, and Luxray toppled over.

It let out a whine, and collapsed before vanishing, retreating to its pokeball.

“You did well, Luxray,” said Starbuck, putting away the pokeball. “Now take it easy…”

Starbuck quickly considered the two Pokémon he had left.

Blaziken was no good. Earthquake and Mud Shot would devastate it, and Swampert likely had a few Water moves too.

He had no choice…

“I choose you!” he shouted, throwing out his third pokeball.

In a flash of light, Donphan – the same one he had used against Sandra in that tournament – appeared.

“Ground versus Ground,” said Scully, with a chuckle. “This should be interesting…”

“Yeah?” replied Starbuck. “Well, your Pokémon isn’t the only one who knows how to use Earthquake.”

As he said that, Donphan reared up on its hind legs, and then slammed its forelegs to the ground, and the building shook again. Swampert groaned as the shockwave tore through it.

“My Swampert has a lot of tricks ready to use,” said Scully. “Donphan, use Water Pulse.”

Swampert opened its jowls, and shot a blast of water at the Armor Pokémon. Donphan sputtered as the blast hit it directly in the face.

It looked at Swampert with a mean glare.

I’ve gotta take this guy out quick, thought Starbuck.

“Donphan, use Giga Impact!” he shouted.

“Giga Impact?” exclaimed Shadow, getting up. “When did it learn that?”

Starbuck was too preoccupied to answer. Donphan glowed with bright, white energy…

Then it charged, glowing brighter. It struck Swampert directly in the gut with its forehead, sending out a sound like a thunderclap when it hit, throwing Swampert backwards into one of the broken printing presses.

Donphan panted for breath as everyone waited.

Both Starbuck and Shadow were worried. Giga Impact was a very powerful move, but it would render Donphan helpless for a minute or two.

Then, slowly, Swampert got up.

“SWAMPERT!” it roared in rage.

“Ooh, it’s mad now…” muttered Shadow.

Without any order from its master, Swampert blasted an Ice Beam from its maw, and Donphan screamed as it was hit by the blast of cold.

It shivered. It wasn’t out yet, but Swampert was powering up to finish it.

“Your Pokémon don’t know when to quit, do they?” asked Scully. “Swampert, Mud Shot.”

Swampert shot the blast of slimy mud again, and it was too much for Donphan. It collapsed in a puddle of slime, and then vanished, going back to its pokeball.

Starbuck closed his eyes, and took his last pokeball.

“Here’s someone you might remember…” he said.

He threw it, and Blaziken leapt out.

“Blaziken!” it exclaimed.

“Ha!” laughed Scully. “No prob…”

“Brick Break!” ordered Starbuck.

Before Scully could finish his command, Blaziken charged Swampert with amazing speed, and delivered four savage chops to the Mud Fish Pokémon’s torso. Swampert’s eyes bugged out, and then it fell over with a crash.

It vanished, and retreated back to its pokeball.

“You think you’re so clever, do you?” asked Scully, angrily. “Well, I still have one Pokémon…”

He took his last pokeball.

“I choose you! Kangaskhan!”

He threw the pokeball, and the hulking, muscular, Parent Pokemon appeared. As always for a Kangaskhan, it wasn’t alone, holding its young in its pouch, but it clearly meant business.

“I’ll have you know,” said Scully, “that my Kangaskhan is no pushover. It came in second in the Pokémon boxing competition for…”

Then he caught himself.

“…uh, the company I work for…” he muttered. “Whoa, almost gave it away there…”

“Please, keep going,” said Starbuck. “I’d love to know who you work for. In the meantime…

“Blaziken, Flamethrower!”

Blaziken opened its beak, and blasted a stream of flames at its opponent. Kangaskhan groaned, and shielded itself from them.

“Mach Punch!” ordered Scully.

Kangaskhan jumped towards the Blaze Pokemon, each jump causing the floor to tremble. It socked Blaziken in the chest, causing it to fall on its seat.

Blaziken threw itself up, landing on its feet.

“Sky Uppercut!” ordered Starbuck.

Blaziken crouched down, and shot upwards fist-first, spiraling around as it did so, clocking its foe on the way up. Kangaskhan screamed and fell over.

“I’ve had enough!” shouted Scully. “Kangaskhan, use Outrage!”

The infant in Kangaskhan’s pouch hid itself entirely inside the pouch, as Kangaskhan started to glow with a fiery, violet energy…

It punched Blaziken with a fiery fist, and Blaziken staggered backwards.

Outrage… thought Starbuck. A powerful, but risky move, for any Pokémon…

“Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!”

Blaziken leapt up, and kicked the Parent Pokémon with a fiery kick.

The Kangaskhan barely seemed to feel it. It continued the Outrage, striking Blaziken again.

“Blaziken…” groaned Blaziken.

No choice… thought Starbuck. I’ll have to use its most powerful move…

“Blaziken… Use Flare Blitz!”

Blaziken paused.

It flexed its muscles, and all of a sudden, flames erupted around it.

It charged at Kangaskhan, leaving a trail of flames in its wake, and then struck its foe, seemingly detonating in a fiery explosion as it hit. Scully braced himself as a virtual backdraft of heat wafted over the room.

Shadow stood up. Everyone looked at the plume of smoke…

As it cleared, Blaziken was there, still standing, panting for breath. Kangaskhan was unconscious, and covered from head to toe in soot.

In vanished into energy, retreating to its pokeball.

“Blaziken, return…” said Starbuck.

Blaziken glared at Scully, and then retreated to its pokeball itself.

Shadow smiled, and then walked up to Scully.

“Well, you lost, bub,” she said, grabbing him by the collar. “Now tell us where Starbuck’s mom is, or my own Pokémon are gonna have some fun with you…”

“Okay, okay…” gasped Scully. “She’s still in this city… C-Note Pete has her at his place… His… office...”

He grinned.

“But you won’t get her back! C-Note Pete is a much better trainer than I am! And you’ll pay when he beats you…”

He took another pokeball out of his pocket and it opened. An Abra appeared.

“Abra, get me out of here!” he shouted.

In a flash of light, both Abra and Scully vanished, Teleporting away.

Starbuck sighed.

He looked up. The Splash Plate was his at least…

And he knew where his mother was…

But he knew who C-Note Pete was too. He was the fence of Dark Bay. If you wanted to get a good price on stolen goods, you went to him. You wouldn’t get the full amount that they were truly worth, of course, but he was discreet. Whether he ultimately worked for Jezebel or Seven was debated. In the end, most of his detractors said that he dealt in goods for anyone with things to sell or money to buy them, and answered to one crook only: himself.

“Shadow…” said Starbuck, “start looking for a way to get that thing down… Then, we both have to get to the Pokémon Center to heal up…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In every city, you’d find a Pokémon Center with a Nurse Joy. And Dark Bay was no exception. In fact, in this city run by crime, the Pokémon Center was an oasis of sorts.

This was probably the only major business that was not owned by either of the two crime bosses. Both Jezebel and Seven had attempted to take over the Center in the past, only to find that this particular Nurse Joy was a much more powerful trainer than most Joys, with many more Pokémon other than Chansey. Pokémon on her team included a Snorlax and a Salamence, and she was willing to use them on anybody who dared threaten her or the Center.

Thus, the Pokémon Center existed as an unofficial third power center in the city, where trainers could still come to heal their Pokémon and rest on their journeys. In fact, if you weren’t a henchman or guest of one of the two bosses, this was likely the safest and cleanest place to stay in the city.

As his Pokémon were being tended to, Starbuck spoke to Percy over the video phone.

“Percy, success,” he said. “I’m sending you the Splash Plate right now.”

“Excellent work, Mr. Conrad,” he replied. “I haven’t found a lead yet on any others, but maybe once I have my boys study that one, I’ll figure out something.”

“Yeah, well…” said Starbuck. “Just remember to deposit the one grand into my account.”

“It will be there tomorrow morning,” replied Percy. “And good luck getting your mother back.”

“Chansey?” said a voice next to him.

Starbuck turned, and saw Chansey holding a milkshake.

“Thanks…” he said, taking it.

Chansey were lucky. They – along with Happiny and Blissey – were one of the few Pokémon species that were immune to the Twisting. Well, that wasn’t proven, but no-one had ever seen a Twisted member of the Chansey family. Some people thought that Chansey were simply too happy by nature to ever surrender to primal rage. Whatever the case, it made the Joys’ job much easier.

“So…” said Shadow, walking up and sipping her own milkshake. “We gonna go find this C-Note Pete?”

“Tomorrow morning…” replied Starbuck. “That’s when he has the least amount of business, according to sources.

“For a crook, he’s awfully easy to find information on…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In that other city, Scully was nervous.

He was in front of his boss, the young woman with red hair.

“He knows she’s with Pete?” she asked.

“Uh huh,” replied Scully.

“Mmm,” she replied. “So, Starbuck will come to get his mother, and fall into his last Pokémon battle… It may have cost us the Splash Plate, but no matter… What can be won can also be stolen…

“Leave, Scully.”

Scully knew better than to disobey. He was gone the next minute.

The woman picked up a cell phone and dialed a number.

“Pete?” she said into it. “How’s our guest?”

She paused.

“Good…” she replied. “Look… You’ll be getting an… unexpected guest sometime tomorrow… Here’s what I want you to do…”



Coming up next:

Shadow takes a turn, pitting her Pokémon against a new opponent’s as she and Starbuck make an attempt to save his mother from the villains’ clutches. And just who are these mysterious villains who have seized Lisa Conrad? We’ll find that out too, in Chapter Three, “The Pokémon Dare”.

[Shuppet Master]

Well, that primary goal of Starbuck's seems to have been a bit too easy to fulfill. I was expecting them to scour the entire planet to find Lisa.

That battle was pretty intense. When Starbuck threw out his Donphan, I thought it was over, because Donphan is weak to Swampert's water attacks. But luckily Swampert was knocked out with one attack and Scully's last Pokemon was bad type advantage versus Blaziken.

So the second Plate is found. I can't wait for the third. I also can't wait for this next chapter. Keep it coming! (Of course, those are ego-stroking statements and I don't expect you to pop out the next chapter ASAP. )

[Hinoryu]

Hm... It seemed a bit too easy, honestly, to get the Splash Plate. However, it's still a Pokemon fic, and RPG laws do tend to dictate the early quest items are fairly simple to get.

But this actually raised a question for me I meant to ask before. You've made references to Ash and Gary, from the anime, and Wes and Michael, of the games. Does this fic take place in the universe of the games or the anime? The battles so far seem turn-based enough to make me think the former, but the lack of people named after colors and the addition of Ash and Gary seem to point to the latter. Can you shed some light on this?

[Dark Sage]

Well, Hinoryu, this is mostly based on the anime, with the assumption that Orre and the personalities found there do exist in the world of the anime - I just assume just that Ash has never gone there. The Orre games were very RPG-based, so that isn't a very farfetched assumption.

Yes, the Splash Plate was obtained easily, but as you said, in RPG fashion, quest items are easy to get at the start. And consider this: Maybe the strange woman who was watching wanted Starbuck to take it. Try reading the chapter again with that in mind, and you might see differently.

[Chris 2.1]

Sorry for not replying in a while. I did think the last chapter was good, it opened up a new selection of ideas. I forgot Lisa would be Starbuck's mother. I wasn't expecting to hear about her so quickly, and I certainly wasn't expecting to find a plate so soon.

I do wonder, since there are 16 plates how original this will be kept. How varied the format can be. Whatever the case, 16 is a big number so watch out for repetition or repeating ideas.

I did re-read it as per your suggestion to another readers reply, but I'm still not quite sure how it would be an advantage letting Scully lose and subsequently lose the Splash Plate. Surely they couldn't predict just how Starbuck would react - what if he had killed Scully trying to learn the truth, would it still be worth it just so he could confront C-Note Pete?

Despite my questions I enjoyed it. You're beginning to put more description in battles but it still feels very in-game orientated (in that its attack - reaction - attack - reaction) and that does make the matches quite mechanic and predictable.

Shadow was an interesting character, too. Will she be the Lisa to Starbuck's Ishmael, or will she leave when she has found out what she wants? Keeping her there may strike too many paralellisms (sp?) to your last fic, so watch out: the last thing you need in a sequel is unoriginality.


See you next chapter!

[macrylinda]

Hm... It seemed a bit too easy, honestly, to get the Splash Plate. However, it's still a Pokemon fic, and RPG laws do tend to dictate the early quest items are fairly simple to get.

But this actually raised a question for me I meant to ask before. You've made references to Ash and Gary, from the anime, and Wes and Michael, of the games. Does this fic take place in the universe of the games or the anime? The battles so far seem turn-based enough to make me think the former, but the lack of people named after colors and the addition of Ash and Gary seem to point to the latter. Can you shed some light on this?

Well, Hinoryu, this is mostly based on the anime, with the assumption that Orre and the personalities found there do exist in the world of the anime - I just assume just that Ash has never gone there. The Orre games were very RPG-based, so that isn't a very farfetched assumption.

Yes, the Splash Plate was obtained easily, but as you said, in RPG fashion, quest items are easy to get at the start. And consider this: Maybe the strange woman who was watching wanted Starbuck to take it. Try reading the chapter again with that in mind, and you might see differently.

[PikaKnight]

I'm new, I just got my account today in fact! Just so I could comment on your awesome stories! I loved Pokemonese and I love SHG to! Keep up the great work!

P.S. Are you still taking character ideas from people?

[Zcade0]

the climactic attack vs. attack battles are usually saved for the bigger foes, though this did seem a bit rushed to me. It did seem awfully game-like, as Chris said. The storyline itself was quite good, though I'd think that an entire gang's worth of pokemon could take down a Snorlax and a Salamence.

Also, having the Center be the "third power" implies that it actually DOES something. Ah well, we probably won't be hearing to much about Dark Bay anyway after these next few chapters.

[Dark Sage]

Call me Shadow. I only share my real name with folks I like. When you fit the bill, maybe you’ll learn it.

Why am I in Dark City? Well, it started out with me trying to find someone who I often sell old books and scrolls to in order to make a few dollars to buy pokeballs and potions. Mrs. Conrad pays big for such stuff. I wanted an update on a Legendary Pokémon that interested me… A girl can dream, can’t she?

Anyway, one thing led to another, and now I’m trying to save her from this crook along with my rival, who happens to be her son. And it just got worse… Said crook won’t battle me unless I agree to a very dangerous contest…

Humph… I don’t know why I’m even here. I never liked playing the hero…

But then again…

That doesn’t mean I don’t know how…

CHAPTER TWO



The Pokémon Dare

Midnight fell on Dark Bay. That was when all honest folk – of which there weren’t many in this city – and all businesses not owned by the two mob bosses locked their doors tight. Only those who had business for Jezebel and Seven were on the streets. Anyone else who wandered outside at this hour had a death wish.

The Pokémon Center was relatively safe. As the staff and the small group of trainers slept inside, one of Nurse Joy’s Pokémon stood guard at the only entrance – an Exploud that was half-again the size of a typical specimen. If it saw trouble coming, it would let loose an Uproar that was guaranteed to wake up the whole building, and then fight on its own until its master arrived.

Still, a few creatures walked the streets. A few Pokémon found the city somewhat comfortable. Rattata and Raticate looked for food in back alleys, and Murkrow and Zubat perched on rooftops.

Wandering through the streets of the entertainment district (Seven’s domain) was the Buneary, somewhat confused and lost.

“Buneary?” it said, looking around. “Buneary…”

It looked towards an alley and saw two sets of eyes.

“Buneary?” it asked.

Two small Pokémon walked out. One was a male Meowth. The other was a female Glameow.

“Meowth,” said the first one. “Meowth-Meowth.”

“Buneary?” asked the Buneary.

The Glameow pointed.

“Glameow,” it said, waving its paw.

Buneary looked in that direction.

“Buneary…” it said, shaking its head.

The Meowth grinned.

“Meowth!” it snarled.

“Buneary!” scowled the Buneary.

Obviously, that last remark hadn’t been a very nice one…

The Meowth hissed, and bore its claws…

Buneary wasn’t going to take that…

It leapt into the air, and delivered a fierce kick to the Meowth’s jaw. The Scratch Cat Pokémon fell over, and was out before it could even gasp in surprise.

Buneary looked angrily at the Glameow. It shuddered, and then fled down the street.

“Buneary…” muttered the Pokémon, as it hopped away.

* * * * * * * * * *

Eight-thirty AM the next morning.

Two motorcycles approached a very old, very large stone building. It looked like a large Eighteenth Century-style bank.

In fact, that was exactly what it had been, long ago. The faded sign on the front said: “Darcaven City Bank”.

“Now, let me get this straight…” said Shadow, removing her helmet. “The biggest fence in town uses a bank as a base?”

Starbuck nodded.

“No legitimate banks left in Dark City,” he said. “Think about it… Would you trust your money with someone else in this town? This place held the finances for every whaling company when the trade was allowed, but when the city started to degenerate, it weakened and decayed. Eventually, Pete bought the place for a song.

“It’s where you go for hot goods now…”

“So, you think C-Note Pete is just going to let us waltz in?” asked Shadow, dismounting her bike.

“More than likely,” replied Starbuck. “That crook caved in too easily… He wants us here.

“Hopefully, mom is still in there. If she isn’t, I’ll be very, very, angry…”

He didn’t know how right he was. A surveillance camera was trained on Starbuck.

Watching him approach the building from an office inside was a man who seemed about forty. He had graying hair, and a large, bushy moustache. He wore a red plaid shirt, jeans, and a battered old cowboy hat.

He rubbed his chin.

He picked up an odd device, and walked out of the office, towards another room. He opened it; the door wasn’t locked, because the prisoner inside wouldn’t dare try to leave.

Sitting on a couch and reading a book was a woman who seemed to be about forty or so. She had short hair that was going prematurely gray, and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Her dress was simple: plain slacks, a white shirt, and a khaki jacket. She had a belt that held five pokeballs. (The Pokémon inside them had not been to a Center since they had been defeated in their last battle, and could only recover through natural rest. Not that using them would have helped their master much.)

“What is it, Pete?” she asked with a frown. “For the third time, if you want it, I don’t have it.”

“Naw, we know where it is,” replied Pete, “and once we have it, which we will in… oh, about an hour, we’re afraid we don’t need you as a bargaining chip any more…”

He held up the small device. The woman’s eyes widened in fear. She reached for her neck, where an iron collar had been locked on…

“So this is it?” she asked. “You’re just gonna kill me right here?”

“Afraid so…” said Pete. “It’s been fun, but keeping you here is costing us money, and we can’t have that…”

She trembled as his thumb inched towards a button…

Then he paused.

“Uhm… You know…” he said. “Maybe this is disobeying Jessica… But hey, it isn’t like you’re gonna rat on me…”

He picked up a remote on a desk and hit a button. A TV in the room flashed on, showing another surveillance video of the main hall.

“See…” he said. “I’m gonna take care of your son first… So why don’t you watch while I do that. Once he’s dead… I’ll come back for you.”

“Bastard…” she muttered.

He left the room. She felt like throwing her foot through the TV. But on some level, she didn’t want to.

Up until now, she had expected that she was going to die. She had given up all thoughts of rescue a while ago.

But as she watched the screen and saw Starbuck and Shadow walk into the large hall, a small spark of hope reignited…

* * * * * * * * * *

The inside of the bank was a great deal cleaner and much more well-maintained than the outside. The lobby, where customers would once speak to tellers and bankers, was free of dust and in moderately good repair. The marble pillars and brass lamps were still there, and the mosaic-style design on the floor, while faded, was still impressive.

The whole room was dominated by a huge mural of a group of sailors fighting a giant Wailord. The story behind this scene was well-known in this city. That Wailord had gone mad after eating something it shouldn’t, and started wrecking everything that passed through the shipping lanes. Eventually, a crew brought down the beast in a terrible battle. It was said that it took ten harpoons to the beast’s torso before it finally perished.

Underneath the mural was an ominous-looking screen, some sort of monitor. Whatever purpose it had, it was impossible to tell.

“No guards?” asked Shadow, looking around. “Odd… Wherever there’s a prisoner, there’s usually guards…”

“Don’t need any,” said a voice. “We’ve got an easier way to make sure a guest stays put.”

The two young trainers turned, and saw the mustachioed criminal in front of them.

“C-Note Pete, I assume?” asked Starbuck.

Pete nodded.

“I must say, this is a surprise…” said Pete. “The boss didn’t say there’d be a girl…

“Eh, no matter… I can handle two trainers, so long as I can set the rules…”

“And what makes you think you can?” asked Starbuck. “Who are you working for? Jezebel? Seven?”

“Neither,” replied Pete. “My boss is someone from another city, who has an interest in staking a claim here.

“Jezebel handles prostitution… Seven handles gambling… But Pokémon… That’s an area that my boss can handle.

“My boss sent me to deal with Jezebel and Seven because I’m not very threatening, at least when I don’t want to be. Heck, maybe I remind you of friendly old Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies.”

“There’s a big difference between you and him, Pete,” replied Starbuck. “He made his money the honest way.”

“Not all of us are lucky enough to discover a mother lode of oil on our property, Mr. Conrad,” replied Pete. “In this time, you do whatever it takes to stake your claim. You do what you can to achieve success.”

“Stuff it!” replied Starbuck. “Where’s my mom? If you’ve hurt her, so help me…”

“Calm down, she’s here…” replied Pete.

“Then tell me where, or I’ll…”

“Mr. Conrad…” said Pete, taking the strange device out of his pocket, “do you know how I managed to keep your mother here by myself with no guards?”

Starbuck paused. He didn’t like the look of that device.

“When your mother was brought here,” continued Pete, “someone put a collar around her neck. A remarkable piece of technology that my boss invented. This building is surrounded by a special infrared laser grid. If she passes through it… In other words, if she steps one foot out of this building…

“Boom. The explosives inside the collar blow her head off. I don’t even need to lock the door to her room…”

Starbuck clenched his fists.

“Oh, and by the way…” continued Pete. “The collar also explodes if I press this button here.”

“You monster…” muttered Starbuck.

“So what are you gonna do, Mr. Conrad?” asked Pete. “Even if you managed to get this thing away from me, only I know the code to deactivate it…”

He smirked at them.

“But… I might give that up… I’m willing to battle you for it, so long as each of you battle me one at a time and don’t gang up.”

Starbuck looked at Shadow. She nodded.

“All right, Pete,” said Starbuck. “I’m game…”

“Not yet…” said Pete. “I want to take care of your dame first.”

Shadow’s eyes opened wide.

“DAME?” she shouted. “Why I oughta…”

Pete grinned at Shadow.

“You’re on!” she shouted.

“I Pokémon Dare you,” replied Pete.

Shadow froze.

With those four words, the whole challenge had just changed dramatically…

The Pokémon Dare had started even before the Twisting had emerged, but only rarely. Mostly it happened in the army, among trainers who wanted to prove how tough they were. But with the Twisting, with so many Pokémon given to rage, it became more common, as trainers saw it as a way to let their Pokémon vent their anger.

The rules were quite simple. The winner was allowed to order his or her Pokémon, whatever one was in battle at the time, to make an attack on the opposing trainer.

This quickly turned brutal. The Jennys tried to stop this at first, but with incidents of Pokémon attacks becoming common, finding concrete proof of occurrences became harder and harder. Worse yet, some Jennys were starting to enjoy battles that included a Dare. Eventually, they decided that anyone who would make such a dumb challenge or accept it deserved what they got.

“Shadow…” said Starbuck. “This might not be a good idea…”

Pete held up the device.

“She either agrees to it, or your mom is history,” he replied.

“Put it down!” shouted Shadow. “I accept!”

“Then four Pokémon apiece…” said Pete. “Good luck… You’ll need it!”

He placed the device on his belt. Starbuck noticed something… The belt had eight pokeballs on it.

He frowned. He was indeed prepared for two battles in a row, even though this clearly violated a cardinal rule. Of course, he really hadn’t expected this guy to play fair.

The door to the bank inched open, and the Buneary poked its head in. It quietly crept in and hid behind a pillar. It stuck its head out from behind it and watched as the two trainers stared each other down.

“Let’s start things off with a bang…” said Shadow, taking a pokeball from her belt. “I choose my favorite… Go, Gallade!”

She hurled the pokeball, and the tall, slim, swordsman appeared, brandishing its blade-arms.

Its eyes narrowed as it looked at Pete.

“Well?” asked Shadow. “Are you gonna choose a Pokémon or what?”

Pete took a pokeball from his belt and looked at Gallade.

“My dear…” he said. “Like I said before, in this time, you take what you can get in life. You choose to ‘start with a bang’… But I’ll start slower…”

He threw the pokeball, and it burst open. A Persian leapt out, and growled at Gallade.

“Now, Gallade!” shouted Shadow.

Gallade glowed, and then blurred, creating five illusory copies of itself. Persian growled again.

Double Team… thought Starbuck. Not a bad strategy…

Pete grinned, as if nothing had happened.

“Interesting…” continued Pete, “an old move, perhaps, but a good one… And fortunately, one that can be dealt with easily.

“Persian, use Pay Day!”

Persian growled, and flicked its paw forward, sending a swarm of coins flying at the six Gallade. The real one covered its head, as the clones faded and vanished.

“Whoa…” said Starbuck. “That’s expensive ammunition…”

“This may not be my strongest Pokémon,” said Pete, “but it’s one of my favorites. Any time I need to do laundry but I’m short on quarters, I just need to battle someone.”

“Aw, have it your way!” replied Shadow. “Gallade, Psycho Cut!”

Gallade’s arms glowed, and it lunged at Persian. It swiped once, and the feline dodged. Twice, and it twisted out of the way. But the third time, it made a slash across its torso.

“Persian!” screamed the Classy Cat Pokémon.

“Still…” said Pete, “it has other uses besides giving me pocket change. Persian, use Nasty Plot.”

Oh… no… thought Starbuck.

Persian’s eyes glowed with a wicked light, and a dark aura surrounded it. Starbuck knew this move… It was juicing up its Special Attack power…

“Gallade, get it while it’s powering itself up!” shouted Shadow. “Use Slash!”

Gallade leapt at Persian with its right arm held high…

“Too late…” said Pete.

Electricity sparked from Persian, and a Thunderbolt shot from it, striking Gallade and throwing the Blade Pokemon backwards.

“Gallade,” it muttered, getting up.

“Heh, heh, heh…” said Pete. “Looks like your warrior just tried to take the proverbial knife to a gunfight.”

“Shut up…” muttered Shadow.

“The world of Pokémon is like that…” said Pete. “Surprises lurk around every corner. Most folks assume that Magikarp are the weakest and most pathetic Pokémon in existence, and in most cases they’re right. But most folks don’t realize that under certain conditions, a lowly Magikarp can evolve into a mighty Gyarados.”

“SHUT UP!” shouted Shadow.

Gallade had apparently gotten sick of it too. It leapt up, and delivered a savage slash to Persian’s side, sending the feline tumbling over.

“Persian…” it groaned, getting up.

For the first time, Pete looked a little worried.

“Use Power Gem,” he ordered.

The jewel on Persian’s forehead glowed, and then four gemstones appeared in front of it…

“Psycho Cut!” shouted Shadow.

Gallade charged at Persian, as the four gemstones shot at Gallade. But Gallade was ready. It lifted its two blades, and made four slashes, shattering the gems in mid-air.

“Persian…” said its foe.

Gallade’s blades glowed… Persian cowered in fear...

Gallade stopped. Its blades were crossed at Persian’s neck, poised to behead the feline.

“Persian…” it squeaked in horror.

“Okay, Gallade, that’s enough…” said Shadow with a smile.

Gallade made two slashes downward. The Classy Cat Pokémon screamed, and collapsed on its back.

C-Note Pete lifted an eyebrow as Persian turned to energy and fled back to its pokeball.

“So…” said Shadow. “Run out of dumb comparisons?”

“Okay, I’ll admit you are pretty good,” replied Pete. “But as the immortal Yogi Berra once said, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over!”

He threw another pokeball.

“Come on out… Honchkrow!”

The Pokémon that appeared this time was one that Starbuck was not familiar with. It seemed to be a big (three feet tall) black bird, with a strong, white-feathered chest, and a black plume on its head that was shaped like a wide brimmed hat.

He had to admit he was curious. He took out his PokéDex and turned it on.

”Honchkrow,” it said. ”The Big Boss Pokémon. The evolved form of Murkrow, it makes its Murkrow cronies bring it food. It idles its time away, grooming itself in its nest.

“Figures…” muttered Starbuck.

A Dark Pokemon… thought Shadow, as Honchkrow locked eyes with Gallade. Psycho Cut’s not gonna work on this one…

She paused. Honchkrow was obviously waiting for Gallade to make the first move. That could be bad…

“Gallade… Slash…” said Shadow.

Gallade raised its arm…

“Honchkrow, Shadow Wing,” said Pete.

“Huh?” said Shadow.

Gallade made a swipe at the large bird, striking it in the breast…

And then it was shocked as Honchkrow made a swipe of its own with its wing, cutting across Gallade’s chest. Gallade groaned, and clutched the scratch that it had made.

“A powerful Flying attack,” said Pete. “Basically, the harder you hit Honchkrow, the harder it can hit back.

“And it’s got more… Honchkrow… Night Slash.”

Honchkrow’s already beady eyes turned into dark orbs, and it hurled its wings forward, sending a blade of dark energy towards Gallade. Gallade shrieked, and toppled over.

It took one last gasp, and collapsed into light, flying back to its pokeball.

“One down,” said Pete. “Take a break, Honchkrow… Use Roost.”

Honchkrow lifted its wings, and it glowed with golden energy as its strength started to return.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Damn!” shouted Lisa, who was watching. “I could have told them that Persian was only a decoy…”

She looked at the door, which wasn’t locked. Pete was right… There was no sense in using any restraints so long as she didn’t find a way to remove the collar.

She considered going out there to lend some more visible support. She knew what Pete’s plan in this battle was…

But it was likely a bad idea. Going out there would give him a visible hostage.

So now what? Almost all of Shadow’s Pokémon were Dark, Ghost, or Psychic… That didn’t leave her many options against a Dark/Flying one like Honchkrow…

* * * * * * * * * *

Buneary trembled nervously at the sight of the powerful Flyer. But it didn’t flee. It would stay until it was discovered.

“Okay…” said Shadow, taking a new pokeball. “Watch out…

“I choose… Weavile!”

The pokeball burst open, and the sharp-clawed, Dark/Ice Type leapt out, glaring at Honchkrow.

“Heh, heh…” chuckled Pete. “Sending a Dark Pokémon against another Dark… Not the wisest choice.”

“Oh?” asked Shadow. “Weavile, use Icy Wind.”

The weasel exhaled a blast of chilled ice and frost, and Honchkrow screamed, shivering in the intense cold. It fell on one knee.

“Oh, get up!” shouted Pete. “You’re acting like it was a Blizzard!”

“Honchkrow…” muttered the Pokémon, getting up.

It flew at Weavile and its beak glowed. Weavile staggered under the assault of the Drill Peck as the Flyer’s beak stabbed into its face. Weavile fell on its behind.

Honchkrow didn’t even give it time to get up before it aimed another Drill Peck to its chest.


Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


“Ooh…” muttered Shadow. “Weavile… Use Beat Up!”

Weavile shoved the bird off of it, and leapt to its feet…

Its eyes glowed, and four of Shadow’s pokeballs – the ones that still had conscious Pokémon in them, glowed with a dark aura, and then, four shadowy shapes appeared behind Weavile…

Then Weavile socked it four times in rapid succession. It was hard to see, but only the first punch was actually ordinary. The second had a misty, foggy aura around it, the second had a shadowy, dark aura, the third had an aura of shining energy, and the last seemed to be wreathed in flames.

Honchkrow stumbled backwards. It turned towards Pete.

“Honchkrow…” it grumbled.

“Are you gonna take that?” asked Pete.

“Honchkrow!” it replied.

Starbuck didn’t have the ability to understand the language of Pokémon like his father did, but he was pretty sure that was a “no”.

“Drill Peck again!” shouted Pete.

Honchkrow lunged at Weavile, but its rage made it sloppy. Weavile simply sidestepped, and the Big Boss Pokémon fell flat on its face.

Starbuck rubbed his chin.

Hmm… he thought. Pete seems to have a problem… Likely the only two moves that Honchkrow has that can really hurt Weavile are Drill Peck and Shadow Wing… And Shadow Wing isn’t all that reliable.

And if Shadow is planning to use the move I think she is, that bird is in big trouble…

“Weavile…” said Shadow. “Use Metal Claw!”

Bingo… thought Starbuck.

Weavile bore its claws, and they shone with a glimmering sheen…

The Sharp Claw Pokémon leapt at the Flyer, and a flurry of slashes tore into the bird. Black and white feathers flew as cries came from the Honchkrow that Starbuck assumed were pleas for mercy.

Finally, Honchkrow collapsed, retreating back to its pokeball.

“Seems I’ve taken the lead…” said Shadow.

Pete glared at her…

He threw his third pokeball.

“Hitmonchan, go!” he shouted.

The pokeball burst open, and a more familiar Pokémon appeared – the man-sized Fighter wearing a tunic and boxing gloves. It glared at Weavile and put up its dukes.

Lovely… thought Starbuck. A Fighting Pokémon versus a Dark/Ice Pokémon… Could this get any more mismatched?

“I know that loser Scully told you that his Kangaskhan came in second in our organization’s boxing competition,” said Pete. “Well, guess what? This guy won that competition.”

“He’s about to lose his belt,” replied Shadow. “Weavile, use Dark Pulse.”

Weavile put its hands together, and an orb of blackness started to form in them.

“Hitmonchan, Bullet Punch!” shouted Pete.

“Hitmonchan…” snarled the Fighter.

It lunged at Weavile, and its gloves turned the color of steel. Before Weavile could react, it was walloped with an uppercut. It fell over, the Dark attack dissipating before it could begin.

“Bullet Punch?” asked Shadow.

“Not the strongest move,” said Pete, “but guaranteed to always beat the opponent to the punch, so to speak.”

“Beat this!” shouted Shadow. “Weavile, Night Slash!”

Weavile turned into a formless shadow, and rushed at Hitmonchan. The Fighter grunted as a dark claw swiped across its chest.

Weavile reformed behind the Fighter, and took some deep breaths…

It was surprised when Hitmonchan tapped it on the shoulder.

“Drain Punch!” shouted Pete.

Weavile screeched as Hitmonchan socked it in the gut, and the energy literally flowed out of Weavile and into Hitmonchan. The Punching Pokémon glowed with golden light.

“Fire Punch!” ordered Pete.

Hitmonchan’s gloves burned with flame, and it socked Weavile again, once with its left, and again with its right. It was too much for Weavile this time… It collapsed on its stomach, with perspiration flowing down its face.

“Weavile…” it moaned, weakly.

It turned to energy, and returned to its pokeball.

“Hitmonchan,” said the Fighter, with a big grin.

“Keep smiling like that,” said Shadow, taking her third pokeball.

She held it up, and it opened…

A shadowy, ghostly Pokémon with an evil smile appeared in front of her.

“Gengar!” it laughed.

“Gengar, wipe that smile off that thing’s face!” shouted Shadow. “Use Night Shade!”

“Gengar…” it said with a chuckle.

Its eyes were surrounded by pure darkness, and the darkness turned into a blast of ghostly energy. Hitmonchan tried to shield itself, but the powerful attack knocked it over.

“Hitmonchan…” it growled.

“Oh, now you’ve done it…” said Pete with a laugh. “You’ve made him mad!

“Hitmonchan, Thunderpunch.”

Hitmonchan’s gloves crackled with an aura of electricity. It charged towards the Ghost fist-first…

“Gengar, use a punch of your own…” said Shadow. “Sucker Punch!”

As Hitmonchan tried to hit Gengar, the Ghost replied by socking it in the stomach with a shadowy fist. Hitmonchan gasped and tumbled backwards.

It held its stomach, and tried to regain its breath.

“Wait for it, Gengar…” said Shadow, softly.

Hitmonchan looked at Gengar with a look of hate…

“Ice Punch!” ordered Pete.

Hitmonchan raised its fists again, and its gloves became shrouded in frosty mist.

“Just how many punches does this guy have?” asked Starbuck.

Pete didn’t answer. Hitmonchan, on the other hand, leapt at Gengar, and socked it with a frosty fist to the center.

“Payback!” shouted Shadow.

“Hitmonchan?” said Hitmonchan, its eyes opening wide.

Suddenly, a wave of Dark energy blasted from Gengar, throwing the Punching Pokémon across the room.

Starbuck smiled. He knew that strategy. Shadow had used it on his Pokémon several times. Payback was an okay move on its own, but its power doubled if the user’s opponent attacked first.

Somehow, it was good seeing it used on someone other than him.

Hitmonchan slowly got up.

“Oh no you don’t…” said Shadow. “Gengar, use Night Shade again!”

Gengar’s eyes glowed, and the blast of darkness hit Hitmonchan like a hammer. It was hurled ten feet, and sprawled on the floor.

Pete held up the pokeball, and Hitmonchan returned.

“So what are you gonna do, Pete?” asked Shadow. “You have only one Pokémon left, and I’ve got two…

“You know, when you challenged me to a Pokémon Dare, I was worried that I might lose… But you know, this isn’t so hard…”

Pete took his fourth pokeball, and threw it…

The Pokémon inside started to materialize. It was bigger than the previous ones… Five feet tall, and even wider than it was tall…

Shadow stepped back in fear when she actually saw it. It was made of metal, had a body shaped like a saucer with two glowing eyes, and four powerful, metal, clawed legs…

“Metagross!” it roared, in a metallic voice.

“I saved my best for last…” said Pete. “And now those worries you had of losing… I assure you… They were very well-founded…”

* * * * * * * * *

Lisa leapt off her couch in horror.

“No!” she shouted.

This was too much… No sane person would do this in a Pokémon Dare…

If Shadow lost… If she actually had to take a blow from a monster that powerful…

Then she realized… This had been Pete’s goal all along. He had lured Starbuck here with the intent to kill him.

Shadow was a bonus… She was being used to demoralize. If Starbuck had to fight him after Shadow was killed right in front of him…

She stared at the screen for a minute…

Then she closed her eyes and did the only thing she could do at that point…

She prayed…

* * * * * * * * *

Starbuck got up from his seat.

“Pete!” he shouted. “If you have any decency at all, you’ll end this at once!”

Pete looked at him. He shrugged.

“I don’t…” he said. “So no.”

He pointed.

“Get that Ghost!” he shouted. “Meteor Mash!”

The whole room darkened… Gengar squeaked in fear… The Buneary ducked behind the pillar and cowered in fright…

This is bad… thought Starbuck. A Ghost Pokémon is afraid?

Suddenly, a volley of blazing, hot meteors crashed from the ceiling. Some blasted craters in the lobby floor, but several of them hit the Gas Pokémon, causing screams of agony.

When the light came back, Gengar was on the floor, and it was out cold.

Shadow frowned as she recalled Gengar.

So now what? thought Starbuck. Metagross is resistant to Psychic attacks, and its Steel nature cancels out its vulnerability to Dark and Ghost attacks!

Even worse, it used Meteor Mash… That move can boost its own strength…

What’s Shadow gonna do?

“Well, missy,” said Pete, “we’re both down to one Pokémon each… I guess we’re down to the point in a conflict called… Sudden death!”

He laughed…

Then he stopped when he realized Shadow was also laughing.

“What?” he asked. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because your fly is down,” replied Shadow. “And also, I know something you don’t know…”

She took her last pokeball.

“I hope your Metagross is ready for a clash of the titans!” she shouted.

She threw the pokeball.

“I choose you!”

As the pokeball opened, a bonfire erupted in front of shadow. The Pokémon that appeared was just as intimidating as Metagross, but in a different way…

It was a little over five feet tall, but stout. Its thick torso was covered with orange and red streaks that suggested flames. Its feet were taloned, and its arms were stubby and ended in claws. It had protrusions on its shoulders that resembled flaming shoulder pads. Its face was human-like, but it had flames in place of hair.

The creature stepped forward, and as it walked, its footprints melted the stone floor.

“Buneary…” squeaked the Buneary, in awe.

“Magmortar!” roared the fiery Pokémon.

“What… the… Hell?” said Starbuck.

He not only didn’t know that Shadow had this Pokémon, it was a Pokémon he had never seen before.

He hit the button on his PokéDex.

”Magmortar,” it said. ”The Blast Pokémon. The evolved form of Magmar, it blasts fireballs of over 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit from the ends of its arms. It lives in volcanic craters.”

“Shadow,” shouted Starbuck, “when did you get that guy? It’s freakin’ awesome!”

“I’ve been training him for over a year,” replied Shadow. “Raised it from a Magby. I was gonna surprise you the next time we battled, but hey… The guy was getting restless.”

“People…” said Pete. “Need I remind you that we’re in the middle of a battle here?”

They glared at him.

“So you have a Fire Pokémon,” he said. “Big deal… I don’t care! My Pokémon can still smash it!”

“You don’t care?” asked Shadow. “Then why are you sweating so much?”

“I don’t sweat!” shouted Pete. “I perspire!”

He held his forehead.

I’m perspiring like a pig! he thought.

“Oh…” he muttered. “Metagross, use Flash Cannon!”

“Magmortar, use Flamethrower!” shouted Shadow.

Metagross glowed, and blast of sparking energy shot at Magmortar. At the same instant, Magmortar lifted its right claw, and a blast of white-hot flames shot from it like an actual flamethrower.

The two blasts collided halfway between each Pokémon, and both of them cringed as an explosion shook the lobby and both Shadow and Pete were thrown to the ground.

* * * * * * * * * *

Lisa was watching intently, thinking, maybe for a minute, that someone had heard her when she had prayed…

Unfortunately, when the two blasts collided, the whole building shook, and the picture on the television in front of her winked out, turning to a blue screen.

“No!” she shouted. “Come back!”

She collapsed on the couch.

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Good luck, Shadow…” she sobbed.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Magmortar…” snarled the Blast Pokémon.

“Metagross…” growled the Iron Leg Pokemon.

Oh, this is really bad… thought Starbuck. In a conflict between two Pokémon that are both this strong… The Twisting runs wild…

The Pokémon Dare may not matter… Whichever Pokémon wins this battle will probably tear all three of us to pieces!

Shadow leapt to her feet.

“Magmortar… Lava Plume!” she ordered.

Magmortar roared, and fire erupted from every pour. A blast of molten rock shot from its claws, and Metagross screamed in agony…

Metagross slowly picked itself up, and it was a mess. Scorch marks were all over its metal hide, and it even seemed to be melting in some places. That Lava Plume attack had clearly hurt it badly.

A look of panic appeared in C-Note Pete’s eyes…

“Metagross…” he ordered. “Use Hyper Beam!”

“Metagross…” it said. Its eyes glowed with pure light.

“Watch out Shadow!” shouted Starbuck. “What am I saying? Watch out Magmortar!”

A beam of pure energy shot from Metagross’s center towards the Blast Pokemon. Magmortar shielded itself with its arm, and staggered as the powerful beam seemed to consume it…

Metagross gasped for breath, its breathing sounding tinny and metallic.

“Metagross?” it said.

“Metagross!”

Magmortar was still standing, and it was not happy…

“Magmortar…” said Shadow, with a frown, “use Overheat…”

“METAGROSS!” screamed the Steel/Psychic Pokémon.

Magmortar erupted in flames again, and it thrust its claws forward, sending multiple waves of fire at its enemy. Metagross screamed as the flames plowed into it.

Finally, the Steel titan crashed, a blackened, burned husk. It retreated to its pokeball.

C-Note Pete cowered from the Fire Pokémon in front of him…

“You lose, Pete…” said Shadow, in a sullen voice. “You challenged me to a Dare in order to kill me… I might have been merciful if you hadn’t been so underhanded but…

“Magmortar…”

The Blast Pokémon pointed at Pete.

Then Pete’s eyes lit up. His eyes turned to the other four pokeballs on his belt.

This bitch forgets that I still have four Pokémon in reserve, he thought. And one of them is a Water Type! I’ll just let it loose, and then make a run for it… And maybe I’ll kill his mother on the way out…

He reached for the pokeball…

And then, he was startled, as all eight of them vanished.

“What?” he shouted. “They’re gone!”

“You weren’t thinking of not keeping your end of the bargain, were you Pete?” said a woman’s voice.

All of a sudden, Pete was even more afraid than he was a moment ago.

Then everyone noticed that the ominous screen below the mural had turned on. Someone was on the screen – they couldn’t see the person clearly – they only saw a shadowy shape.

“Boss!” he shouted. “Please… I tried… Have mercy!”

“Mercy?” said the strange woman. “After you disobey me? After you prove to not only fail at this job, but to even gain an audience with Seven or Jezebel?

“You’re a disgrace, Pete… You aren’t even worthy of the name C-Note any more…”

“Uh…” said Shadow.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Shadow?” asked the woman. “This was a Pokémon Dare, and he lost.”

Shadow shrugged.

She gave the order, and Magmortar roared. It blasted a Lava Plume at the fence, and he howled.

He toppled over, and the device – the bomb collar’s control’s – fell out of his hand.

Starbuck ran up and snatched it.

“He was going to activate it to spite us…” he gasped.

He turned to the screen.

“Who are you!” he demanded.

There was a short chuckle.

“I’ll let your mom tell you,” came the reply. “She might have heard Pete mention my name a few times.

“Well, Mr. Conrad… Your mother is safe… For the moment… But what will you do? If she leaves that building, she’ll die, and you don’t know the code to remove that collar…

“But tell you what… I’ll make it interesting… I’ll give you a sporting chance…

“My own mother’s starter Pokémon is the key.”

“Your own mother?” shouted Starbuck. “But who…”

There was no answer. The screen went dark.

“Terrific…” said Starbuck, looking at the controller.

He looked at Shadow, and noticed that Magmortar was still out of his pokeball – and it had calmed down considerably.

“How?” asked Starbuck. “A Pokémon that strong, a battle that intense… The Twisting should have…”

“Magmortar isn’t Twisted…” replied Shadow. “I raised it too well.”

She paused.

“When it was a newborn Magby it was the runt of the litter. I rescued it from a group of wild Houndour. Raised it with a baby bottle. The Twisting never took hold.”

“Who would have guessed…” said Starbuck with a chuckle. “Who would have guessed that Toreen’s biggest bad girl has a soft side…”

“Yeah…” growled Starbuck, “and if you tell anyone, I’ll deck you!”

“Buneary?” said the Pokémon that had been watching.

* * * * * * * * * *

“MOM!” shouted Starbuck.

He rushed into the room.

He paused for a minute, and then mother and son hugged each other.

“Thank God…” said the older woman.

They held each other for a minute.

“Did he hurt you?” asked Starbuck.

“Not physically…” she replied. “But as you can see…”

She pointed to the collar.


Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


“Where is he, anyway?”

“I he survives, he won’t for much longer unless he flees the city,” replied Starbuck. “Once Jezebel and Seven find out that his boss abandoned him, he’s nothing, and any property in this building is up for grabs.

“Mom…”

He held her by the shoulders.

“We can only save you, maybe, if you know who his boss is…”

Lisa Conrad took a handkerchief out of her pocket and mopped her brow with it.

“You don’t know?” asked Starbuck, in panic.

“Actually, I do…” replied Lisa.

“Then we have a chance…” replied Starbuck.

“But his boss is someone big…” replied Lisa. “Someone of mythic reputation…

“You see, Pete was a scout for Rocket Reborn, a group that seeks to emulate Team Rocket in some way…

“And whenever he spoke to his boss…”

She paused.

“…he called her Jessica…”

Starbuck and Shadow froze in fear.

“Ah heh, heh!” said Shadow, with a nervous chuckle. “Maybe… maybe it’s a different Jessica! I mean, hey… Jessica is a very popular name!”

Even she knew that it would be too much of a coincidence if that were true…

They all knew the story… It had been told to every Pokémon trainer…

* * * * * * * * * *

Ash Ketchum.

As a young boy, he traveled to the ends of the Earth, in his goal to become the world’s greatest Pokémon trainer. Did he succeed? Well, that’s a matter of opinion. He made several great accomplishments:

Top Sixteen in the Indigo League.

Top Eight in both the Johto League and the Hoenn League.

Orange Island Champion.

Offered a position as a Battle Frontier Brain (turned it down).

And in the process, he saw and did things that most mortals only dreamed of.

He made a great deal of friends and allies…

Unfortunately, he made a great deal of rivals and enemies as well.

Some of these enemies were dangerous…

…and then there were three goons who just didn’t know when to quit.

James and Jessie were, at most, wannabe villains. Even though they were teamed with a Meowth who was smarter than average and could speak a human language (or maybe because of this), they couldn’t do anything right. Team Rocket had better members than them (at least if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have lasted very long), and few members who were much worse. Still, they wanted to be good members. They tried several times to fulfill Team Rocket’s goals, by obtaining rare and powerful Pokémon through crime – and maybe it was obsession, but they never could resist trying to steal Ash’s Pikachu, which they knew from Day One was an exceptional specimen.

Ash beat them the first time… And the second time… And every time after. No matter what scheme they concocted, the three of them were handed a humiliating defeat. They never gave up, but whether this was tenacity or just plain stupidity was a matter of opinion. Ash likely thought it was stupidity. He was intimidated by them at first, but after a while, they became simply annoying, and their motto started to turn his stomach.

Ironically, the three of them were undone by a scheme that had nothing to do with Ash or any of his allies. They heard about a very rich businessman who had recently moved into Kanto. This man was apparently a trainer, who was known for treating his Pokémon like children.

They hatched an idea (or more likely, Meowth did) – if this guy had deep pockets, they could steal one of his Pokémon and ransom it.

They made the attempt, and at first it seemed to meet with success. Their target was easy to apprehend – it was a Delcatty. They made off with it, leaving a ransom note behind, demanding five million dollars.

They didn’t know that they had made the worst mistake of their lives.

Technically, the Delcatty did NOT belong to that rich man. It belonged to his daughter. It had been her playmate since before she was old enough to walk. When the poor girl found out, she became so forlorn, she wouldn’t talk to anyone or eat. She merely sat by the window, calling for her pet on occasion, and sobbing when it didn’t come.

To say her father was angry was an understatement. He went on public TV and made an announcement. He had twenty million dollars, four times what the kidnappers wanted. But he had no intention of giving it to them – he was going to give it to whomever brought the kidnappers to justice.

James and Jessie had really done it this time. They tried to call their boss for help, but got more bad news. A very nervous Giovanni told them that the girl’s father had far more political clout than even he had, and he wasn’t going to risk messing with him. From this point on, Team Rocket would deny any knowledge of their existence.

James was the voice of sanity – he suggested fleeing the country. They actually tried, and they were spotted with the Delcatty. They dropped it and fled, starting a chase.

The girl got her Pokémon back, but her father would not be satisfied until the thieves were apprehended. Eventually, the three criminals – now disowned by Team Rocket, and unable to call themselves by that name – were cornered in grocery store. There’d be no blasting off this time.

Jessie had two options at this point. Both of them had gotten a few other Pokémon through legal methods by that point, and Jessie had a Natu. It knew Teleport, and could transport a human with it, but if it did so, the strain was murderous, and it could never hope to transport more than one.

Jessie could either stay and be arrested… Or she could escape and leave James behind.

According to police who witnessed the scene as they moved in, Jessie kissed James deeply, and told him she’d avenge him. Then she vanished, leaving him to his fate. Meowth was luckier – he managed to squeeze through a garbage shoot in the confusion.

James was hauled away, and his ultimate fate is unknown. Some say that he didn’t survive prison. Others say that he was eventually released, and to this day lives in isolation. One traveler swore she saw him living in a small cottage in Snowpoint City in Sinnoh.

Whatever happened to Meowth is also unknown. Some say he joined a pack of wild Meowth and Persian, and to fit in with them, he never spoke the human language again. Maybe he eventually forgot how.

But this was not the last they saw of Jessie…

Ten months went by. The police searched for Jessie; since they had apprehended James without help, and members of law enforcement aren’t allowed to accept monetary awards offered for criminals, the twenty million dollar reward still stood for her capture. But no one knew where she went…

Finally, she showed up at an orphanage in Goldenrod City in Johto… holding a baby girl. Most everyone assumed Jessie’s relationship with James had become closer than simple partners, and this was the proof. She told the ones in charge that she couldn’t care for the child, because in a few weeks, she’d either be dead or in jail. She said that the baby’s name was Jessica, and begged them to take care of her.

The orphanage directors couldn’t refuse, but they did try to call the police. Unfortunately, Jessie was long gone by the time they got there.

A month passed, and during this time, Giovanni was murdered. The Jenny in charge of that case did say that Jessie would be sought for questioning in the case (Giovanni could deny it, but it was hardly a secret that Jessie was a member of Rocket), but no one at that time considered her a suspect. Despite all she had done, no one believed that Jessie could actually be capable of murder.

That changed a week later. Details of Jessie’s next move are sketchy, but they were aimed at one of Ash’s oldest allies, Misty. The Gym Leader went for an evening walk in the suburbs of Cerulean – and never came home. Her sisters later found her purse and her pokeballs scattered about. It was clear that Misty had gotten into a Pokémon battle that she had lost.

The next day, Ash received a call from her kidnapper, who was Jessie. The ex-Rocket told him to bring his six strongest Pokémon to the summit of Mt. Moon. She wanted one final battle with him, no holds barred, and if he refused, she would kill Misty.

Any other time, Ash might have thought this was just another Team Rocket scheme, but this time, he knew that Jessie was serious, and she would likely make good her threat. And he also had a feeling that this time, she wouldn’t be a pushover.

So Ash decided to bring his original team of Pokémon, his most powerful team. Along with Pikachu, he picked up Bulbasaur, called Squirtle back from the Squirtle Squad, and called Charizard back from Charific Valley. The Gang of Four hadn’t fought together since Ash had used them to defeat Brandon, but they remembered quickly, and were eager to help. Ash augmented the team by adding Snorlax and Heracross, and traveled to Mt. Moon post haste.

Jessie was waiting for him on the tallest cliffside, and she had Misty, tied up and gagged. Ash asked her why. She told him, quite simply, nothing mattered to her any more. She simply wanted to defeat him in her final Pokémon battle. Once she did, she could die happy.

Ash didn’t know what she meant by that, but the battle began anyway. And he was right… Jessie was not a pushover any longer. Somehow, she had obtained an arsenal of incredibly powerful Pokémon. One by one, the Pokémon on both sides fell…

Finally, Jessie was down to her final Pokémon, and it surprised everyone watching – it was Suicune, one of the three Legendary Beasts of Johto. How Jessie had recruited it, likely no-one will ever know. It made short work of Charizard, leaving Ash with his final Pokémon…

Fortunately, he had also saved his best for last.

The battle between Suicune and Pikachu was long and fierce, but slowly, Suicune began to tire, until finally, one mighty Volt Tackle finished it off.

Opinions are mixed as to what happened next. Some say that Jessie ran from Ash in fear, and then stumbled, falling off the cliffside. Others say it wasn’t an accident, saying she jumped, on purpose. Whichever one you believe, the result was the same. Jessie fell off the mountainside, presumably to her doom. Her body was never found, but even if she somehow survived, she was never seen again…

But she did leave something behind…

Jessie’s daughter grew up in the Goldenrod Orphanage, and it was clear she wasn’t a normal child. She could talk before she was two. She was reading before she was three, and read at the fifth grade level a year later. A test taken when she was eight revealed her IQ at 195. At age ten, the orphanage had to find private tutors, because she had mastered every lesson, and no teacher there could teach her the subjects she was able to take. So she learned calculus, chemistry, art, mythology, philosophy, foreign languages, and numerous other college-level subjects.

One would think that several couples would be eager to adopt this prodigy. But Jessica frightened every prospect that approached her. It was clear if you looked into her eyes – they seemed cold and lifeless, as if she lacked a soul. One tutor was said to say that Jessica’s eyes reflected Evil in the simplest sense.

Her peers saw it two. They at first teased Jessica; calling her “witch child” and “devil girl” were common, but one glance from those eyes, and they cowered from her.

One day, when Jessica was sixteen, a stray Meowth wandered in and walked up to Jessica. To everyone’s surprise, Jessica acted in a friendly manner for the first time, cuddling the Pokémon happily. The overseers hoped the Meowth might warm Jessica up, so even though pets were not allowed, they decided to let it stay, at least for a little while.

Two days later, Jessica and the Meowth were gone. No-one knew where they went. The authorities were alerted, of course, but they never found the teenager.

Jessica had not been seen since…

Five years before the present time, Rocket Reborn was founded…

And it seemed that the founder was none other than James and Jessie’s daughter. What her goals were in starting this new organization, it was impossible to tell…

* * * * * * * * * *

“Jessica…” muttered Starbuck. “Who knew…”

He paused.

“Wait a minute…” he said, looking at the collar around his mother’s neck. “She said her own mother’s starter Pokémon was the key…”

He looked at the device. Apparently the code was numeric.

Starbuck took out his PokéDex.

“Jessie’s starter was an Ekans, right?” he asked.

“Yeah…” replied Lisa.

An Ekans appeared on the PokéDex screen.

“Ekans is Pokémon #023,” he said. “And that was its number on the first PokéDex, so that number has never been different.”

He looked at Shadow, and then at his mother.

“It’s worth a shot…”

He held his breath. He punched in 023, and hit enter.

To his delight, the collar clicked, and fell off Lisa’s neck.

Lisa rubbed her throat.

“Let’s get to the Pokémon Center…” she muttered. “We have more to discuss, and my poor Pokémon need treatment.”

“Sure mom,” said Starbuck. “But… How were you beaten?”

“They wanted my journal,” she replied. “I had to send it to you to protect it, so I sent it with Shiftry. Unfortunately, that left me one Pokémon short, and I was attacked before I could prepare another one.”

“Yeah, well…” sighed Starbuck. “The journal and Shiftry are safe…”

* * * * * * * * * *

It was noon.

Nurse Joy was healing both Lisa’s and Shadow’s Pokémon, and Lisa was telling them all she knew over coffee.

“Rocket Reborn has different goals than the old Rocket,” she said. “They aren’t interested in merely stealing Pokémon.

“Jessica is trying to collect the Plates two, and I’m afraid she’s ahead of us. According to Pete, five Plates are already in their possession.”

“Uhm, correction…” replied Starbuck. “Four. We took the Splash Plate from them.”

“Good work,” replied Lisa. “But the Splash Plate may have been the last free one. They got it from the old ruin outside of town. I checked that place after they had been there, and found Pokémon bones that were likely centuries old. Whatever guarded it died a long time ago, leaving it unguarded.

“For the rest of the Plates that they don’t have, most likely, we’ll have to deal with the Guardians…”

There was silence for a minute.

“And who are they?” asked Shadow.

“Not sure…” replied Lisa. “But we may find out soon. I came here expecting only to find the Splash Plate, but the Insect Plate isn’t far from here either.

“About twenty miles off the coast of Dark Bay, there’s a large group of islands. One of them is named Sweetwater Island.

“That’s where the Insect Plate is. I’m sure of it.”

She paused.

“Well…” said Starbuck. “All we need to do is hire someone at the docks to take us there…

“How about you, Shadow? You coming?”

Shadow sighed.

“I risk being smashed by a Metagross to help save your mom…” she muttered. “I’m getting the feeling something very big is in the works…

“Call me crazy, but… I’m in. This might actually be fun…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Compared to most parts of Dark Bay, the docks were pretty well-maintained, and in good condition. Most imports – both legitimate and contraband – came to Dark Bay by boat, so both the crimelords made sure that the docks and the shipping lanes were in good order.

Wingull flew by or perched on posts as the three trainers walked down the docks.

“We’ll keep inconspicuous,” said Starbuck. “We don’t need a luxury liner.”

At one of the docks a large salvaging boat was moored, and a grizzled old sailor was mopping the deck.

“You there,” said Starbuck. “Do you transport passengers?”

“Aye,” replied the sailor. “I can take you anywhere so long as this boat has enough fuel to get there and back.”

“Good…” replied Starbuck. “We need you to take us to Sweetwater Island.”

“Ah heh, heh, heh!” laughed the sailor. “Sorry, not there…”

“But you said anywhere…” said Shadow.

“I said I could, which I can,” replied the sailor. “I didn’t say I would, and I won’t.”

“Is there a reason for this?” asked Starbuck.

The sailor sighed.

“Lad…” he said. “These docks are maintained by Seven’s money, and if we want to do business here, we have to follow some of Seven’s rules. He has a list of places that we aren’t allowed to take anyone to, unless they have his permission. I’m afraid Sweetwater is on that list.”

“Sir…” said Lisa, “we can pay you a great deal…”

He glared at her.

“All the money in the world won’t help me if I’m dead,” replied the sailor. “And if I double-cross Seven, I will be!”

“There has to be some solution…” replied Starbuck.

“Sure…” said the sailor. “You get Seven’s permission to go to Sweetwater, I’ll take you there. Until you do, scram!

“And no-one else here will take you there either, I assure you…”

He went back to his mopping.

The three trainers started to walk away.

“Now what?” asked Shadow.

Starbuck paused.

“Well…” he said. “The only way we’ll ever get to that island is with Seven’s consent…”

Shadow and his mother looked at him.

“Oh no!” shouted Shadow. “No way! I’m scared of mobsters!”

“Who isn’t?” asked Starbuck. “But we don’t seem to have a choice…”

“Starbuck…” said Lisa, putting her hand on his shoulder. “This is heavy. Seven is a dangerous man… If he wants someone dead, he just has to say it, and that person is lucky to last the night.

“Are you sure you want to take such a risk?”

“Do you know of any other way to get to Sweetwater?” asked Starbuck.

Lisa shook her head.

“Starbuck, there’s so much of your father in you…” she muttered. “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Six PM.

The Crazy Eights Club was an exclusive place, reserved for the upper crust of Dark Bay. Not many folks saw the inside of it, but according to rumor, it was a place where people with too much money, people on the wrong side of the law, and often both, could gamble with very high stakes. Almost anything could be wagered here…

And it was also Seven’s base of operations.

A seven-foot tall, hulking man in a business suit stood at the front door, to make sure no-one who wasn’t invited tried to get in. And he wasn’t amused when he saw two nineteen-year-olds and an older woman approach.

“You three are out of your territory, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Calm down,” said Starbuck. “We don’t want any trouble. You work for Seven, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “What’s it to you?”

“We have a message for him,” said Starbuck.

The doorman grinned. Clearly now he was amused. But Starbuck continued.

“Look, we just want to talk to him,” said Starbuck.

“Okay, I’ll bite…” said the doorman. “Assuming I find reason to tell him, why would he even think you three are worth his time?”

“Look, we need to get to Sweetwater Island,” said Starbuck, “and…”

The doorman stared at him, and Starbuck stopped.

“Sweetwater Island?” asked the doorman.

“That’s what I said,” replied Starbuck.

“You three are Pokémon trainers, I assume?”

“Yes.”

The doorman glared at him and rubbed his chin.

“I’ll give him the message…” said the doorman, “but I’m not gonna promise anything.”

He turned and opened the door.

“Wait!” shouted Starbuck. “How will we find you?”

“If the boss decides to talk to you,” replied the doorman, “we’ll find you!”

The door slammed shut.

Not knowing what else to do, the three of them turned and walked back towards the Center.

Behind them, the Buneary hopped after them.


Coming up next:

Meeting with the infamous gangster known as Seven will only be the starting point for the next leg. More challenges wait. Plus, we’ll see more of Jessica and more of Rocket Reborn’s upper ranks.

The title of the next chapter is a spoiler, so you’ll have to wait and see.

[Dark Sage]

THE ROCKET BLAST CONTEST

Well, now the truth is out… Team Rocket has been reincarnated as Rocket Reborn, their leader is Jessie’s daughter, and they’re the ones who kidnapped Lisa.

One has to wonder what their ultimate goals are, and what sort of villains are hiding on the way up this organization’s ladder. Well, for one of them, I don’t know…

Can you tell me?

I’m organizing a contest, and the winner will be able to create a unique user character – a high-ranking member of Rocket Reborn. This individual won’t be no grunt. In fact, he or she will be Jessica’s second most powerful trainer (or third, if you count Jessica herself).

So what do you have to do to win?

It all lies in anime history, dealing with the star, Ash Ketchum.

Now, Ash has traveled the world, seen more as a kid than most people do their whole lives. He’s saved the world several times, despite never getting recognition for it, and conquered many challenges.

Like all trainers, Ash keeps a PokeDex. Can you imagine what that device must be like by now?

Well… The number for “Pokémon Seen” is likely astronomical…

But… What about “Pokémon Owned”?

Here’s what I want you to do. Make a list of every Pokémon he has actually owned. It isn’t as hard as you may think. Use these guidelines:

1. List all Pokémon ever owned, including ones he has released.

2. Pokémon he has used that he borrowed from other trainers do not count. However, ones without trainers that joined him on a temporary basis do. No matter how briefly he had it, if it was legally his, include it.

3. If a Pokémon was caught at an early evolutionary form, and later evolved, include all evolutionary steps.

4. IM me with your answers. Do not clutter this board.

Whoever gets the most right wins. In the case of a tie, or more than one person getting a perfect score, I have a way to determine the winner.

The winner will get to design a high-ranking member of Rocket Reborn, who will appear numerous times in this fic. He can make the profile as detailed as he desires (including his or her team). I will send some guidelines, of course – a few Pokémon are not permitted, due to plot purposes.

So get cracking. This contest ends on midnight, July 5th.

[Zcade0]

The Wailord was, I assume, the guardian of the splash plate then?

great chapter! excellent battle, I thought the bank would fall down x)

[Shuppet Master]

I forgot to put in a review and Brian commented me on it, so here's my two cents.

The whole episode was really tense and scary, especially at the end. I liked the exposition on what happened to Jessie, James, and Meowth, especially since the last episode I watched had them (Spoiler:) drive a wedge between some water Pokemon over a bunch of berries.

Shadow's Magmortar was one awesome Pokemon to say the least.

This was a really great chapter, and I hope to see more.

[ssj4supernerd]

Hmm, I'm hooked, but I'm just wondering: Is Seven(the gangster) a reference to the gangster Clive had to battle in the City of Souls?

But about the contest: Do we have to make a list of the Pokemon he has until now(in the anime), or make a list about the pokemon you will think he'll have if he would appear in this story.

[Dark Sage]

My name is Lisa LeBaron-Conrad, wife of Ishmael Conrad. I still believe in all my heart that I’m not a widow yet. For a long time, I’ve been both a Pokémon trainer and a Pokémon researcher. I’m nowhere near the level of great minds like Professor Oak, but when I speak, trainers listen.

My specialty is Legendary Pokémon. I’ve formulated many theories over the years about Legendary Pokémon and the way they work. For example, I’m a supporter of a popular theory called the Rule of Threes. Legendary Pokémon seem to always come in triads. If you see two Legendaries, there’s likely a third member to go with them. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres… Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza… See two Legendaries, look for the third.

This was why I volunteered to be old Percival’s specialist in his project to collect Arceus’s Plates, and hopefully find Arceus.

But it went wrong… I was defeated by crooks who were also looking for the Plates. I was kidnapped… And if it weren’t for his son and his current partner… Well, I’d likely be dead with my brains spilled on the floor of that bank.

Does this make me want to give up this quest?

No. Not at all.

Why take such a risk? Because there’s so much at stake…

Not only might finding Arceus help cleanse the world of the Twisting…

But at long last… I might find my husband again…

CHAPTER FOUR



The Sting

It was six PM.

Lisa and Shadow were watching some old Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie on the Center’s TV. Starbuck had already seen it several times, so he was sitting at the Center’s computer, not doing much except wasting time. He had already tried to find information on Sweetwater Island on the internet.

When “Sweetwater” was typed into the search engine, all that came up was information about a cocktail that they served at some pricy nightclub in Kanto.

He sighed.

“You’ve got mail!” exclaimed the computer.

Starbuck’s eyes narrowed.

He looked at the message. The sender was named “777”. The message was titled “Open immediately.”

He didn’t know anyone with that screen name.

He paused. He sighed…

He really hoped that Nurse Joy’s computer had good protection from Trojans…

He clicked on the message.

He read the e-mail, and his eyes opened.

“Mom! Shadow!” he shouted. “Come here!”

His mother and Shadow walked up.

“What?” asked Shadow. “Looking up pornography?”

“I don’t do that, Shadow,” he replied. “We got results…”

They read the message.


Dear Mr. Conrad.

You are likely wondering how I got your e-mail address. Well, there are many ways to get such things these days if you know where to look.

I’ve decided to listen to your inquiry. If you are half the trainer your father was, you may be worth my time.

At eight AM tomorrow morning, go to the town square where you fought those two monks. Bring at least one cigarette. A young woman wearing a beret will be sitting on the bench. Ask her for a light.

We’ll take it from there.

- 7


“He doesn’t waste time…” muttered Shadow.

“If you’re half the trainer your father was?” asked Lisa. “Does he know your father?”

Starbuck looked at the screen.

“Maybe we’ll ask him…” he said.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ten PM that night.

In Blueberry Cove, the jewel of the Toreen crown, a tall skyscraper stood among the skyline.

This was the headquarters of Grasp Enterprises, a technology firm to the public. Its symbol was advertised plainly by a statue in the front promenade – a globe held in a vice-like device.

Grasp was, as already noted, a technology firm. They were invested in virtually everything, from children’s toys to high-tech computer software.

Most folks thought that the CEO of this company was a well-to-do man named Anthony Lorenzo…

The truth was, Lorenzo was a figurehead. A puppet, more or less.

Grasp was a front for Rocket Reborn, and Jessica was the true leader.

Right now, the aforementioned Anthony Lorenzo was somewhat upset. He trudged down the hallway on one of the upper floors of the building towards a very spacious corner office, and opened the door.

Inside, Jessica was sitting at her desk, typing something on a laptop. A larger-than-average Persian was curled up at her feet.

It looked up and growled a little when it saw Anthony.

“Why hello, Anthony,” said Jessica, sarcastically, “I’d be delighted to waste time speaking to you.”

“Jessica, you’re getting sloppy,” scolded the man. “You gave that kid all he needed to save his mother.

“Do you ever watch old spy movies, and see the scenes where the villain captures the hero, but instead of killing him right away, he waits… And that gives the hero all the time he needs to escape?”

“I don’t get out to movies much,” said Jessica.

“We can’t turn this into a good guy/bad guy routine,” said Anthony. “Having fun with Starbuck is something we can’t afford.”

Jessica sighed, and hit the save button.

“Anthony…” she said. “Starbuck and Shadow would not have abandoned Lisa. They’d have guarded her while trying to figure out how the device worked. And twenty-four hours, more or less, after that, the device would have required the code to be renewed. They wouldn’t have been able to do so. After it asked for the renewal code three times and not getting it, the collar would have shut down and become about as dangerous as a dime store necklace. Then Starbuck could have gotten her out of the bank and removed it with a pair of bolt cutters, a tool that every Pokémon Center has.”

Anthony looked at her.

“Well, that would have at least delayed them twenty-four hours!” he shouted.

The Persian growled again.

“You’re out of line, Anthony…” said Jessica, looking into his eyes. “You work for me, remember? I’m the one who signs your paycheck.”

“Maybe I should look into changing that!” he shouted. “I could run this place far better than you could!”

Then he stood back. He gulped.

Jessica was looking at him like a cat that had just cornered its dinner…

“Well…” she said, with an evil grin, “if that’s what you truly want, Anthony, you know what you have to do…”

Anthony started to sweat…

There was a rule for changing the leadership of Rocket Reborn. Anyone who wanted to take over merely had to defeat the current leader in a Pokémon battle.

It seemed like an easy way to reach the top… In theory…

However, Jessica had made that rule herself when she had founded the group five years ago. She was still the leader…

And there was another part of the rule. If the challenger lost, the defender could decide his punishment for having the audacity to make the challenge.

So far, everyone who had attempted this feat had not been seen again.

There were two schools of thought as to what Jessica did with would-be usurpers. Those who believed she could show mercy thought she executed them.

Those who thought she wasn’t capable of mercy thought that she had a dungeon somewhere, and that she locked them up, never letting them see the light of day again.

“Uh…” said Anthony, “on the other hand, forget I said anything…”

“I will, now scram!” replied Jessica. “I have work to do…”

The door swung shut behind Anthony as he ran through it.

“They always forget the first rule of power…” she muttered. “No matter how strong you are, there’s always someone else who’s stronger…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Eight o’clock the next morning.

Starbuck and Shadow had left their motorcycles at the Center and walked to the square on foot. Looking ahead, they saw their target. A young woman wearing a beret was indeed sitting on a park bench, apparently reading from a book.

“It isn’t too late to turn back,” warned Lisa, who was following behind them.

“One of her, and three of us,” said Shadow. “We seem to have the advantage.”

They slowly walked up to the woman as Starbuck took a cigarette from his pocket.

They didn’t realize that the Buneary was watching from a distance.

“Excuse me,” said Starbuck to the woman.

She looked at him.

“Can I trouble you for a light?”

She glared at him for a second. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette lighter. She flicked it on and lit the cig…

So now what? thought Starbuck.

“BUNEARY!” screamed the Pokémon who was watching.

Starbuck looked up, and saw the Buneary.

If he had possessed his father’s powers, his father’s Pokémonese if you will, he would have known that Buneary had just screamed a warning to look behind them. Unfortunately, Starbuck did not have this ability.

Before Starbuck, Shadow, or Lisa could do anything else, three men grabbed them from behind, and covered their mouths with something…

Chloroform!

As the three trainers started to lose consciousness, they each were thinking that they’d been had.

* * * * * * * * * *

Starbuck woke up, and held his head. He groaned.

He looked around. He was sitting in an easy chair, and his mother and Shadow were in two other chairs next to him, still asleep.

His first sensation was the smell of cigarette smoke. He looked around, and saw that he was in some sort of rec room, one belonging to a very well-off person.

In the middle of the room was a very fancy pool table. There was a dart board on the wall, a foosball table to the side…

A bar stocked with liquor was on the other side of the room.

He looked at his belt. His pokeballs were still there, surprisingly. But if Seven had them brought here, he likely could prepare for an attack by Pokémon.

He saw the exit to the room – two large oak doors.

He scratched his chin. If they weren’t locked, there were likely guards outside them.

“Mom? Shadow?” he said.

“Ooh…” said Shadow, holding her head. “Does your head hurt as much as mine?”

“Don’t worry,” said Lisa, holding her own head, “the headache will pass.”

“So where’s our host?” asked Shadow, angrily.

The two doors opened.

“Speak of the devil,” said Starbuck.

The first two men who entered were two hulking thugs, not unlike the one Starbuck had spoken to outside the Crazy Eights. It didn’t take a genius to realize they were bodyguards.

They stood aside as another man walked in…

He stood out. His clothing was old-fashioned but stylish, resembling that of the typical rich and successful gambler, with slacks, a vest, and a bow tie. He had a stylish haircut and a pencil-thin moustache.

He looked hard at the three trainers.

“Seven, I assume?” asked Starbuck.

The gangster nodded.

“You know, you could have just sent a car,” said Starbuck.

“I prefer a hands-on approach,” replied Seven.

“Phil, rack ‘em.”

Rack ‘em? thought Starbuck, getting nervous. What is he going to…

They one of the thugs started to rack the balls on the pool table. Starbuck breathed a sigh of relief.

“Starbuck Conrad…” said Seven. “Son of Ishmael Conrad…”

“Listen pal…” said Starbuck, getting up. “If you know where my dad is…”

“Calm down…” said Seven. “Your father came by here shortly before he disappeared, and offered to buy a journal I had found. I sold it to him… I don’t know why he even wanted it. It was some sea log belonging to some whaling ship’s captain… Nothing much except a curiosity, as far as I knew.”

The thug handed him a pool cue.

“No idea what he did with it, or where he went once he left Dark City. But while he was here, he fought off a pack of wild Sharpedo that were giving Jezebel and me trouble.”

He aimed the pool cue, and shot, breaking the balls. He paused.

“So, you three want to go to Sweetwater, huh… You must have a lot of spine…”

He aimed the pool cue again.

“I sent five of my men there last year. Admittedly, none of them were trainers… But only one of them made it back to the ship alive…

“And that one was delirious, and sick from poison. He died on the trip back, but not before babbling about dangerous Bug Pokémon that were on the island…”

He shot and sank two balls.

“Tell me… Do you know what a Pamtre Berry is?”

“Yeah…” said Starbuck. “It’s one of the rarest fruits that used to make Pokéblocks and Poffin.”

Seven sank another ball.

“One of the rarest, and also one of the driest,” said Seven.

He shot again, sinking two more balls.

“I found out about Sweetwater from another log, but it wasn’t a whaler’s log… It belonged to a pirate captain. The log said that Sweetwater was a virtual cornucopia of rare berries.

“I sent those five men to find Pamtre Berries. Like I said, they didn’t manage…”

“Why do you want Pamtre Berries?” asked Shadow.

Seven looked at her.

“I don’t have to tell you…” he muttered. “But I will anyway. Actually, I’ll show you.”

He took a pokeball out of his pocket and opened it.

The Pokémon that appeared looked similar to a Magikarp… However, its skin was grey, had ugly warts all over it, and its eyes were big and dull.

“Uh, interesting…” said Starbuck.

“You don’t have to lie to please me,” said Seven. “You likely think that Feebas here is the ugliest Pokémon you’ve ever seen. Well, that’s the whole point.

“Feebas is the ‘ugly duckling’ of the Pokémon world. It starts out as this ugly weakling, but it can evolve into a very powerful – and very beautiful – Pokémon called Milotic.”

“I battled a trainer who used a Milotic once…” said Shadow. “They are powerful… And they are beautiful…”

“You see, people, in order to make Feebas evolve, I have to make it think it’s beautiful. And to do that, I need to feed it dry food. If I had even a handful of Pamtre Berries I could do it.”

He tossed the cue to one of the thugs and he caught it.

“Here’s the deal…” he said. “I don’t know what you want to do on Sweetwater, and frankly I don’t care… But if I let you go there, you bring me back all the Pamtres you can carry.”

Starbuck looked at him.

“Fine…” he said. “But, uhm… Why do you want a Milotic anyway?”

Seven glared at him.

“I want to give one to someone…” he replied. “And that’s all you need to know.”

Starbuck smiled.

It seemed Seven was both a lover and a fighter…

* * * * * * * * * *

It was almost noon, as the three trainers walked down the docks again.

“Uh, Starbuck…” said Lisa. “What do we do if we get there, and that pirate’s log turns out to be wrong? What if there are no berries?”

“We get out of town as quickly as possible, and never come here again,” replied Starbuck. “And hope that Seven’s influence isn’t very powerful outside of Dark City.”

They went up to the salvaging ship, where the old sailor was talking on a cell phone.

“Uh huh,” he said. “Uh huh… Right…”

He put it away and looked at the three trainers.

“I don’t know how you guys did it,” he said, “but Seven practically insisted I take you to Sweetwater.

“Well, all aboard. Call me Wendell, by the way…”

“How long will it take to get there?” asked Lisa, as they boarded the ship.

“Bearing no trouble from the weather or wild Pokémon, about two hours,” he said. “Keep in mind, I don’t go there often. Not after what happened to the first guys who went there…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Lisa poured coffee out of a thermos as the small ship pulled farther away from the mainland. Shadow was sitting next to her, as Starbuck was looking ahead.

“Mrs. Conrad,” muttered Shadow. “How exactly do you deal with Legendary Pokémon? I mean, they’re tough guys and all…”

Lisa sipped her coffee.

“Well, Shadow…” she said, “there are five rules that define Legendaries… Aside from the fact that they’re ‘tough guys’.

“Number one, Legendaries cheat.”

“They cheat?” asked Shadow.

“They not only can do things that no other Pokémon can do,” replied Lisa, “but they can do things that people believe are impossible. Most guidelines and limits do not apply to them. Einstein said that time travel was impossible – he never met Celebi. When facing a Legendary, expect it to have powers you never dreamed of.

“Second, Legendaries are eternal. All of them are very old, while some, like Arceus, may have lived since time immemorial. They don’t age, and can’t die naturally. Unless they’re somehow killed, they might live forever.

“That leads to the third rule…

“Legendaries are immortal. It’s possible to defeat them, however unlikely, and it has been done in the past, but killing them is almost impossible. After all, they’ve all lived for thousands of years, and likely have made many enemies, but they’re still around. You simply can’t do away with a Legendary Pokémon like you could a normal Pokémon.

“That brings us to the fourth rule…

“Legendaries aren’t perfect. All of them have a weakness. They all have some Achilles heel that could, conceivably, be used to truly defeat them. Naturally, Type advantage applies to them, but all of them have other weaknesses, mythic ways to deal with them that set them apart. Some researchers study the legends surrounding them, trying to find the weaknesses of the Legendaries, hoping to find an easy way that a Legendary could be tamed.

“Finally, all Legendaries are historic. You simply can’t have that much power and do nothing with it. In legends, these Pokémon are credited with mighty feats and accomplishments, often ones that defined the world.”

“Like how Groudon raised the land masses,” said Shadow, “and Kyogre caused the rains that formed the oceans.”

“Exactly,” said Lisa.

She paused.

“So…” said Shadow. “What exactly are Legendaries? Are they gods?”

“Well, the term ‘god’ might define Arceus, and maybe a few others,” said Lisa, pouring more coffee, “but I think most of them can be defined as… nature spirits.”

“Nature spirits?” asked Shadow.

“Yes,” said Lisa. “Each of them is a spirit representing some part of nature.

“For instance, Articuno would be the spirit of the winter, Zapdos would be the spirit of the rain storm, Moltres would represent the summer sun…

“Suicune, Raikou, and Entei are their counterparts in that matter, but no-one ever said that one concept couldn’t have more than one spirit.

“But anyway…”

“Mom! Shadow!” shouted Starbuck.

They looked up.

The boat was heading into a fog bank.

“Don’t worry,” said Wendell. “There’s always a fog bank around Sweetwater. We’ll be there momentarily.”

As the ship entered the fog, Starbuck had a sense of impending doom…

* * * * * * * * * *

The fog gave way to bright sunlight, and the boat weighed anchor at an inlet near a lagoon that gave way to a dense forest.

In the center of the lagoon was a very old, wrecked ship, nearly falling apart.

“We already searched it,” said Wendell, as Starbuck looked at it. “There’s nothing in it.

“Anyway, Seven told me to wait for four hours. If you three aren’t back by then, I’m supposed to assume you’re dead and leave.

“By the way, he told me something else. If you don’t find any Pamtres, he told me to leave you here.”

“His confidence in us is very reassuring,” said Starbuck, sarcastically.

The three trainers leapt onto dry land, and looked at the forest in front of them.

“So what if we don’t find any?” asked Lisa.

“We beat him up, and take over his ship,” said Shadow. “That’s the flaw in his plan.”

“Just be prepared for anything…” said Starbuck.

They started to walk into the main island. Starbuck looked around as he often did when he was in the wild, keeping an eye out for wild Pokémon. You never knew when you’d come across a good catch.

There didn’t seem to be any Bug Pokémon right now, but he did see a lot of ordinary insects. There were lots of bees, hopping from the flowers, collecting pollen.

After walking for five minutes, they heard buzzing.

Loud buzzing.

Carefully, they walked towards what seemed to be a large clearing…

They walked out into true beauty.

Before them was a meadow full of flowering bushes. Seven’s information was right – this place was full of berries. Just looking around, they could see that there were not only bushes heavy with Pamtres, but also Spelons, Watmels, Durins, and Belues. This meadow was a Poffin baker’s paradise.

They looked up. In the middle of the meadow, there was a huge structure…

They were shocked. It was a giant beehive.

Then they saw that the whole meadow was swarming with Pokémon.

It was all the same species. They were cute little guys. Their bodies resembled three honeycombs with smiling faces, and two small wings.

“Guys…” said Starbuck, ominously. “It’s a hive of Combee…”

“Wow…” said Shadow, looking around. “They must make more honey than…”

“Look sharp, people…” warned Starbuck. “This may be dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” asked Shadow. “Combee? These guys are harmless! They’re even kinda cute…”

Lisa got the point, however.

“Combee may not be dangerous,” she said, removing her glasses, “but in colonies this big, they always have a leader…”

“Combee…” said one of the Combee.

The other Combee joined in.

“Combee, Combee, Combee, Combee, Combee….”

“What are they doing?” asked Shadow. “Singing?”

Starbuck pointed.

A much larger Pokémon had flown out of the hive…

It was a very intimidating figure. It was five feet tall (bigger than average for this species, Starbuck knew), humanoid in general outline, with the head of some bee or wasp, and clawed hands on its arms. It had no legs, its lower torso being composed of a multi-chambered honeycomb.

“It’s a Vespiquen…” muttered Starbuck.

The Combee started to buzz furiously. Starbuck was worried. Were these Pokémon angry?

“Hush,” said a female voice. “They do not fit the description.”

Starbuck looked around.

Then he realized that it had come from the Vespiquen.

“Did you speak?” he whispered.

“Yes, I did,” replied the Vespiquen. “I was given the gift of human speech when I accepted my duty.”

Starbuck hesitated. He noted a bit of anger in the voice.

“Look…” said Starbuck. “We don’t want any trouble. We came to inquire about the Insect Plate, and…”

“And you will not have it!” shouted the Vespiquen.

She glared at Starbuck.

“Listen closely, human…” she said. “One thousand years ago, this island was nothing more than a Combee colony, ruled by a Vespiquen. Then, Arceus came to the island. The Bug Pokémon here bowed at his feet.

“Arceus gave the Vespiquen the Insect Plate, granting her several powers not possessed by other Vespiquen, and christened her the Guardian of that Plate. He told her that she or her descendent would guard it until either he or someone who could prove himself as his representative came for it.

“When that Vespiquen died, a female Combee evolved, and became the new Guardian. That process repeated itself several times over the last millennia.

“I am the latest in that line. I am the Guardian now.”

“Is… that how Arceus chose all of his Guardians?” asked Lisa.

“Yes,” replied Vespiquen, “but now, we are all in danger…

“In the past two weeks, the guardians of the Draco Plate, Earth Plate, and Fist Plate were approached by humans claiming to represent Arceus. The humans deceived them with lies… And once their guard was down, the monsters struck, murdering the Guardians and their followers, burning their strongholds to the ground, and stealing the Plates…

“They attempted to do the same to the Guardian of the Sky Plate as well. But while he lost the Plate to the would-be killers, he escaped. He called forth a flock of Flying Pokémon, and sent a warning to every remaining Guardian, giving them information on the killers.”

“This is how Rocket Reborn got the Plates they have…” sighed Lisa. “And that’s why she said we ‘don’t fit the description’.”

“We aren’t with them!” protested Starbuck. “We want to get the Insect Plate the honest way… If there is an honest way, that is…”

Vespiquen looked at him closely.

“You wish to be Arceus’s representative, human?” she asked.

Starbuck paused. Did he? That might entail a great deal of responsibility…

“Well… Yes…” he finally replied.

“Only if I receive a sign from Arceus himself, can I accept your challenge…” replied Vespiquen crossing her arms.

As soon as she said that, the wind started to blow. The sky – which had been clear a minute ago, started to cloud up, until the sun was covered.

Then, a sunbeam broke through the clouds, falling on Starbuck…

“Heh, heh…” chuckled Shadow. “Well, it isn’t exactly the parting of the Red Sea, but…”

Vespiquen looked hard at Starbuck.

“I’m not certain if that qualifies… yet,” she said. “But… I will accept your challenge…”

“Challenge?” asked Starbuck. “What sort of challenge?”

Vespiquen raised her claw, and a pokeball appeared in it.

“You gotta be kidding me,” said Starbuck. “A Pokémon battle?”

“Isn’t that how trainers typically do things?” asked Vespiquen.

“But… You’re a trainer?” replied Starbuck.

“I am,” said Vespiquen. “Is that a problem? So are you.”

“But…” muttered Starbuck. “But I’m not a Pokémon… This is kinda…”

“If you can find a rule that says I cannot be both a Pokémon and a Pokémon trainer,” said Vespiquen, “I will forfeit and give you the Plate for free. But I assure you, you will not find one.”

“Uh, Starbuck, I think she’s right…” replied Lisa. “No one ever made a rule saying that a Pokémon couldn’t be a trainer…”

“All right, all right!” shouted Starbuck. “But it’s… weird… How many Pokémon?”

“Four apiece…” replied Vespiquen. “And I should tell you, to make up for the risk that Guardians must take in these battles, every battle with a Guardian is a Pokémon Dare.”

Starbuck glared at her.

“Risk?” he muttered. “What risk are you taking?”

“If you last long enough for me to reveal my fourth Pokémon,” replied Vespiquen, “you will find out.”

Starbuck paused.

“Uh, one more thing,” he said. “Assuming I win, can we have a few Pamtre Berries? We can pay for them… Uh, if money is good here, that is…”

Vespiquen looked at him.

She shrugged.

“There’s far too much fruit here for my Combee and I to eat ourselves anyway,” she said. “You may help yourself… But only if you win.

“This way…”

She turned and started to fly towards the center of the meadow. The humans and the Combee followed her.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Grasp building.

Jessica was in a gymnasium, dressed in a martial arts gi. She was practicing her moves on a practice dummy.

Again and again, she hit the dummy with her fists and feet, and it shivered under the blows.

A man walked in.

“Ms. Jessica,” he said. “The expedition you sent to get the Zap Plate has come back.”

Jessica gave the dummy another kick, and its head tore off.

“Send them in,” she said, grabbing a towel.

“You heard her,” said the aid. “Bring him in.”

Jessica looked puzzled, as two men came in, supporting a third one on his shoulders. The man they were supporting was burned and bruised, and obviously had more wounds under the bandages.

“Only one?” asked Jessica. “I sent five.”

“I’m the only one… who can still walk… Ms. Jessica…” he gasped.

“What happened?” she asked, picking up a water bottle.

The poor man panted.

“We tried the plan again…” he said. “But it didn’t work this time. The Guardian… He was prepared. He didn’t listen to us…

“He and his followers fled to some vault, and activated the fortress’s defenses…”

“Defenses?” asked Jessica.

“Some sort of ancient magic,” gasped the man. “The weapons you gave us… Worthless. They were made for Electric Pokémon, not enchanted constructs. We were lucky to escape with our lives.”

Jessica looked at him.

She crushed the water bottle in her hand.

“Get him out of here…” she muttered.

She sat down as the injured man was lead away.

“The Guardians are wising up,” she said. “And they’re stronger than I imagined. I’ll need to make another plan… I’ll need another way to get them…”

A light went on in her eyes.

“I’ll need to make a phone call!”



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



Vespiquen silently hovered a few feet over the ground as Starbuck considered his pokeballs. Behind her was a strange monument. It looked like an empty pedestal made of marble or some other white stone.

Starbuck looked at Vespiquen. This was too weird. He’d never faced a trainer who had feelers, wings, and antennae before…

She’s most likely gonna use Bug Pokémon, she thought. That’s pretty much a given… Strong Bug moves are few in number, but the ones that are available are pretty strong if used right…

And she’s the Guardian of the Insect Plate. I have a feeling she knows how to use them right.

I should have prepared better before I came here, damn it…

Bug moves are strong against Grass and Dark Pokémon, so Dusk and Ludicolo aren’t gonna work…

Ground moves don’t work so good against Bugs, and a lot of Bugs are also Flyers… But Donphan knows a few surprises.

“All right…” he said to the Guardian. “I’m ready…”

“Then prepare…” she replied. “We’ll soon see if that sunbeam was truly an omen from Arceus, or merely some strange weather pattern…

“Right now, I’m inclined to believe the latter.”

She raised her claw, and a pokeball appeared in it.

Starbuck threw his pokeball first.

“Blaziken, go!” he shouted.

Blaziken burst out of its pokeball, and assumed a fighting stance.

He went with a Pokémon that he knew would have Type advantage first, thought Vespiquen. Typical… And not the brightest idea.

She threw her own pokeball.

“Yanmega, go,” she said.

The pokeball burst open, and a large Bug Pokémon flew out.

Both Starbuck and Shadow raised an eyebrow. It looked like a very large – six feet long – and very vicious dragonfly, with a green, plated exoskeleton, and proportionately small wings. Its eyes were large and compound, like a fly’s.

“Yanmega?” said Shadow, pointing her PokéDex at the thing. “What the…”

”Yanmega,” it said. ”The Ogre Darner Pokémon. The evolved form of Yanma, by churning its wings, it creates shock waves that inflict critical internal injuries to foes.”

Starbuck flinched a little. He had seen Yanma before, and they were kind of cute. This thing was far from it. Of course, that was typical of most Pokémon; they were often born cute, but as they evolved into more powerful forms, their appearances got more monstrous. Both genders of Nidoran were far more cuddly and adorable than the ferocious Nidoking and Nidoqueen.

But he couldn’t worry about that now. This Pokémon may have been strange to him, but he had to beat it.

Best try the old-fashioned way first… he thought.

“Blaziken, use Flamethrower!” he shouted.

Blaziken glared at its foe, and its eyes turned fiery red. It exhaled a stream of flames from its beak…

Yanmega seemed to be expecting that. It dove out of the way at the last moment, and the blast flew over it.

“Darn!” shouted Starbuck. “Quick old Bug…”

“Soon to get quicker,” replied Vespiquen. “Unlike its former self, Yanmega has a powerful Ability called Speed Boost. That means that the longer it fights, the faster it gets. If you don’t defeat it quickly, it will soon be moving too fast for your Blaziken to see it, let alone hit it.

“But if you think Yanmega only has defensive abilities…

“Yanmega, Ancientpower.”

Yanmega hovered in the air, and its eyes glowed with a golden light. The ground started to rumble…

“Blaziken?” said Blaziken.

With a loud rumble, four boulders tore out of the ground, and flew towards Blaziken. It dodged the first two, and swatted the third away, but the fourth slammed into its stomach and knocked it over.

“Crud,” said Shadow. “Who’d have known that a Bug could know a Rock move?”

“Even worse,” replied Lisa, “that was Ancientpower. Using it is said to call upon the power of the Earth itself, and using that power can give the user a rush of energy, making it stronger.”

“Know what worries me?” asked Shadow. “If Vespiquen’s first Pokémon is this good, how good are her other three?”

Vespiquen chuckled.

Blaziken pulled itself up.

“Yanmega, Bug Buzz,” commanded its master.

Yanmega glared at Blaziken, and a hideous drone filled the air. Waves of sound so intense that they could almost see them plowed into Blaziken, and it staggered backwards.

“Flamethrower again!” shouted Starbuck.

Blaziken paused for a minute. It looked at Yanmega.

It blasted a stream of flames at the Bug…

Yanmega dove for cover again…

Then it was shocked, as a second, much more intense stream of flames hit it directly in the abdomen. It screeched and toppled to the ground.

“Yanmega…” it said, getting up.

“What?” said Vespiquen.

“A little strategy the two of us developed against opponents who dodge a lot,” replied Starbuck. “It shot a weak blast where Yanmega was, and then shot a blast at full force where it figured Yanmega would dodge. You’d be surprised how often it works.”

Vespiquen looked at Starbuck. It was hard to tell whether or not she was impressed, seeing as her eyes were compound and her mouth was made up of mandibles.

“Yanmega, Air Slash,” she commanded.

Yanmega beat its wings furiously, and a blade of pure air shot towards Blaziken. The Fighter screamed and staggered back…

It held its chest. Blood was dripping from a long cut across the chest.

“Blaziken…” said Starbuck. “Are you…”

“Blaziken…” growled Blaziken, holding up its hand.

“All right then,” replied Starbuck. “Go in for a Flare Blitz!”

Blaziken started to burn with fire. It sped towards Yanmega, a practical inferno…

“Yanmega…” squeaked the Bug in fear.

A burst of flame erupted where Blaziken hit Yanmega…

The next thing everybody saw, Blaziken was standing where they had hit, gasping for breath, and with smoke rising from its body. Yanmega was lying on the ground, burned and completely out.

“Blaziken…” muttered Blaziken.

“Looks like round one goes to me,” said Starbuck.

Yanmega vanished, retreating to its pokeball.

Vespiquen looked at Blaziken.

“You’re tired, Blaziken,” she said. “How much longer can you fight? I’d say not much longer, huh?”

“Blaziken!” shouted Blaziken.

“Talk about a dirty trick,” said Shadow. “She’s as much a Pokémon as he is… She not only can use psyche-out warfare on Starbuck, she can use it on his Pokémon!”

A second pokeball appeared in Vespiquen’s hand.

“I choose… Heracross!” she shouted.

The pokeball opened, and a large shape slowly emerged and took form…

The Pokémon that appeared was a rare one, but most trainers knew about it. The powerfully-built, humanoid stag beetle with thick armor and a single horn on its head. It glared at Blaziken.

Lovely… thought Starbuck. Heracross is – arguably – the most powerful Bug Pokémon known. This might be hard… There’s no way Blaziken can use another Flare Blitz…

“Blaziken, try Flamethrower again,” he said.

“Heracross, Brick Break,” ordered Vespiquen.

“Heracross,” replied the Bug.

Its next move was anything but subtle. It simply rushed at Blaziken. Blaziken blew its gout of flame, but Heracross simply plowed through it, and then delivered a mighty chop to his enemy’s torso.

For a second it seemed like Blaziken could take it, even though it clutched its stomach in pain…

Heracross looked at it. Then it simply gave it a small shove, and Blaziken collapsed.

Blaziken vanished, and retreated back to its pokeball.

So much for that, thought Starbuck, putting it away.

He considered his other three pokeballs.

That guy is part-Fighter, so Dawn might be able to take him down…

But…

If it’s truly powerful, it might know the dreaded Megahorn, the most powerful Bug move on the books. If that move hits Dawn, she’ll be taken out in one blow.

Best play it safe…

He threw another pokeball.

“Go, Luxray!” he shouted.

The pokeball opened, and the large Electric Pokémon leapt out, its coat sparking with energy.

“Interesting…” said Vespiquen. “Heracross, Take Down.”

“Luxray, Double Team!” shouted Starbuck.

Heracross lunged at its foe, but Luxray faded into a blur, and in the next minute, four copies of itself appeared, two to each side. Heracross lunged with its horn, but struck the wrong one, and fell on its stomach.

“Now, when it’s down!” shouted Starbuck. “Thunderbolt!”

“Luxray!” howled the Pokémon. Its clones vanished, and lighting bolts flashed from its mane. A bolt crashed from the heavens, striking Heracross. The Bug howled.

Heracross got to its feet, and shook its head. It looked at Luxray angrily.

“Heracross…” it said.

“Luxray…” replied its foe.

“What do you think they’re saying?” asked Shadow.

“I suppose it’s standard trash-talking,” said Lisa, with a sigh. “Oh, Ishmael used to be able to translate all the time… Having him around put a new edge on Pokémon battles…”

“Heracross, Megahorn!” shouted Vespiquen.

Bingo… thought Starbuck.

Heracross’s horn glowed, and it bent down. It charged at Luxray like a bull, causing the ground to tremble.

“Get out of the way, Luxray!” shouted Starbuck.

“Luxray…” growled Luxray.

Then Luxray did something that shocked everyone, including Vespiquen. Rather than even trying to dodge, it leapt up, and grabbed Heracross’s single horn in its jaws…

Then Heracross screamed as electricity shocked its whole body.

Starbuck’s jaw dropped. That was probably the most risky use of Thunder Fang he had ever seen.

Heracross was sitting on the ground rubbing its head. Luxray was glaring at it.

“Human,” said Vespiquen, “I realize that your Luxray is Twisted, but that move crossed the line into near insanity.”

Starbuck sighed.

“I know…” he said. “If I could cure him, I would… And if by some miracle I can get all the Plates, if they somehow can help me find Arceus, and if he somehow knows a way to cure the Twisting, then I’ll do it, by golly. I don’t like seeing my Pokémon consumed by rage any more than…

“Well, any more than you likely do…”

“My Pokémon are NOT Twisted,” replied Vespiquen. “The magical energy of this island shields them from it. And should a Pokémon move here, it would be cured within a year.”

Starbuck looked at her with a start.

“WHAT?” he shouted. “This island can cure the Twisting?”

“Don’t get excited yet, human,” replied Vespiquen. “If a Pokémon came here and were cured, it would have to stay here its whole life. The Twisting would reclaim it the instant it set foot off the island.

“That is how it is with every location where the Guardians wait. The Twisting is powerless on these hallowed grounds…

“At least it is… Until our work is done…

“For now…

“Heracross…”

Heracross leapt to its feet.

Its frontal horn started to glow again.

“Luxray?” said Luxray.

Heracross slammed its horn into Luxray, and Luxray screamed in pain as the Megahorn cut into it.

Luxray slowly got up, and stared at Heracross in anger.

“Charge Beam!” shouted Starbuck.

Luxray glowed with golden energy, and then a beam of pure electricity shot at Heracross, striking it in the chest. Heracross flew backwards, and flopped over on its back.

It turned to energy, and retreated to its pokeball.

“Hmm…” said Vespiquen. “Not bad… But you’re only half-done…”

She threw her third pokeball.

The Pokémon that appeared was just as big as Heracross, and just as bulky. It had grey armor, had mandibles that opened left-to-right instead of up and down, and two hinged horns on its head.

“Pinsir!” it roared.

“Good grief!” shouted Shadow. “Heracross AND Pinsir? She doesn’t fool around!”

“Pinsir, Swords Dance,” said Vespiquen.

“Pinsir…” said Pinsir, as its eyes glowed.

It raised its arms, and four phantom swords appeared around it. They flashed with energy, and it glowed, as its strength grew.

“Go on the offensive, Luxray!” shouted Starbuck. “Use Charge Beam again!”

Luxray glowed again, and fired another blast, hitting Pinsir in the abdomen. Pinsir groaned a little, but it didn’t react as much as Starbuck would have hoped.

“Pinsir, show Luxray your true might,” said Vespiquen. “Use Superpower.”

“Superpower?” asked Starbuck. “What in blazes…”

“Oh no…” said Lisa.

“Pinsir…” said Pinsir, putting its hands together.

Like something out of Dragonball Z, a ball of pure, blue energy appeared in Pinsir’s hands. He hurled it, and the ground cracked and the grass uprooted as it sped towards Luxray.

There was no time for Luxray to dodge. It screamed as it was hit by what seemed to be a blast of pure power.

“What the heck IS Superpower?” asked Shadow.

“The most powerful Fighting move known,” replied Lisa.

Luxray vanished, and retreated to its pokeball.

“And it explains why she had it use Swords Dance first. It’s powerful, but it weakens the user in every area.”

All right… thought Starbuck. I’m down to two Pokémon, she’s down to two Pokémon… Donphan, or Dawn…

He shivered.

Donphan was the best to use in this situation. He’d just have to pray like crazy that Vespiquen’s final Pokémon wasn’t a Drapion.

He threw the pokeball, and Donphan leapt out.

“A Ground Pokémon?” asked Vespiquen. “Not the best idea…”

“We’ll see…” said Starbuck. “Donphan, use Slam.”

“Pinsir?” said Pinsir.

Donphan charged at the huge Bug, and the ground trembled. It rammed into Pinsir’s torso with its forehead, and the Bug toppled over.

“Pinsir…” growled Pinsir, pulling itself up.

“Pinsir, use X-scissor,” said Vespiquen.

Pinsir’s claw glowed, and it lunged at Donphan. It made two slashed, forming an x-shaped scratch on Donphan’s hide.

Donphan growled. It seemed that the attack had done little more that make it pissed.

“Slam again,” said Starbuck.

Donphan charged again, and plowed into Pinsir again. Pinsir staggered backwards, and then fell over.

Pinsir got up again, and clearly it was now angry.

“Your Donphan is strong of body, but not in mind,” said Vespiquen. “Doesn’t it know any other moves?

“Pinsir, put it out of its misery with Guillotine.”

Pinsir started to concentrate, and its two horns started to glow…

“Here’s a good move,” said Starbuck. “Donphan, use Giga Impact!”

“Donphan…” growled Donphan.

Vespiquen’s compound eyes widened, and Donphan started to glow with golden flames…

“Pinsir, get out of the way!” she shouted.

But Vespiquen likely knew as well as Starbuck knew that Pinsir could not. Once a Pokémon started preparing a move as powerful as Guillotine, it could not do anything else. Basically, Pinsir was now a sitting duck.

Burning with fiery light, Donphan curled up into a ball, and sped towards Pinsir like a land-bound meteor. An explosion burst at the point of impact, and everyone could hear Pinsir screaming its name above the burst.

When the smoke cleared, Donphan was gasping for breath, and Pinsir was flat on its back, clearly unable to move or see anything except stars.

Vespiquen held up the pokeball, and Pinsir vanished.

“I must say, Starbuck, you are quite a warrior…” she said.

“Finally decided to use my name, huh?” asked Starbuck. “So… What’s your big, special fourth Pokémon? Scizor, perhaps? Everyone loves those… Or maybe you Guardians have access to Pokémon that haven’t been discovered yet, is that it?”

“Heh, heh, heh, heh…” chuckled Vespiquen.

“Is something funny?” asked Starbuck.

“Do you know what I love about humans, Starbuck?” she asked. “They’re so naïve… So clueless… They often can’t see the truth even when it’s right in front of their faces?

“You’ve already seen my best Pokémon, Starbuck… She’s been right in front of you all this time!”

Starbuck looked at Vespiquen, wondering what the Hell she was talking about…

Then, after about a minute, he realized what she meant…

“No way!” he shouted. “You can’t choose yourself!”

“Not only can I,” replied Vespiquen, “I must. That is a condition that all Guardians must agree to. We are allowed three Pokémon, and our opponents are allowed four. If our three Pokémon fall, we must fill the fourth slot ourselves.

“Being a Guardian comes with many privileges, but it comes with sacrifices as well…”

“This is why the match is a Pokémon Dare,” muttered Shadow. “If she has to fight herself, she’ll likely get hurt… It’s… Well, it’s only fair…”

“Now…” said Vespiquen, “I hope your Donphan is prepared…”

Donphan looked at Vespiquen.

Then he groaned. It looked like he was struggling to stand up.

“What?” said Shadow. “She didn’t do anything…”

“Now that she’s actually in battle, her Ability must have activated,” said Lisa. “It’s a powerful Ability called Pressure, which makes it hard for the opposing Pokémon to use its powers.”

“Don’t panic, Donphan!” shouted Starbuck. “She’s part Flier… Use a Rollout!”

Donphan rolled up into a ball again, and sped towards Vespiquen, moving at high speed…

“Defend Order!” shouted Vespiquen.

From out of nowhere, a swarm of bees dove into the meadow, and swarmed around Vespiquen, forming a practical barrier. As Donphan tried to lunge at Vespiquen, it was thrown backwards.

“Defend Order?” said Shadow. “I’ve never heard of that one…”

“Only Vespiquen know that move,” said Lisa. “They possess the power to command swarms of common bees for a variety purposes, including forming defensive walls.”

Starbuck started to sweat. This was too much. His Pokémon never had to bust through a swarm of bees before!

“Hesitating?” asked Vespiquen. “A fatal mistake…

“Toxic…”

She spit a blast of venom at Donphan, and Donphan screamed as the dangerous poison seeped into his veins.

Now Donphan was starting to sweat even more than its master was…

It’s poisoned… thought Starbuck. And if I know Toxic, it will just get worse…

“Time to go out with a bang, Donphan!” he shouted. “Go for another Giga Impact!”

“Huh?” asked Vespiquen.

Donphan erupted in golden flames again.

Vespiquen likely could have dodged the attack, but she was incredibly surprised by Starbuck’s decision. Even one Giga Impact could drain a Pokémon to near-exhaustion. A trainer would have to be nuts to think it would work twice in the same battle.

And being surprised, she was unprepared when the attack rammed into her.

Vespiquen fell to the ground, and skidded ten feet.

She sat up. She slowly floated off the ground.

“That hurt…” she said with a scowl.

She pointed at Donphan.

“Attack Order!” she shouted.

The bees started to swarm again, an then they shot at Donphan like a blast of bees. Donphan screamed loudly, as it was assaulted by a hundred stings.

Donphan groaned, and then collapsed.

Starbuck sighed as Donphan was pulled back to its pokeball.

“She has an Attack Order too?” asked Shadow.

Lisa nodded.

Starbuck paused as he palmed Dawn’s pokeball.

That Toxic of hers is a dangerous ability… he thought. I don’t know if I can…

His eyes opened.

Hey…

He grinned.

“Dawn, go!”

The pokeball opened, and Dawn leapt out.

She and Vespiquen stared at each other.

“Just wait for a minute,” said Starbuck.

Vespiquen chuckled.

“Heh,” she said. “That was a clever trick, Starbuck, but I’m on to you. I’m a Guardian, and I know a great deal about every Pokémon species.

“You obviously want me to use Toxic on your Espeon, because you know that if I did, its Synchronize Ability would leave me just as poisoned as it.”

“Well, it was worth a shot…” said Starbuck.

Vespiquen just glared at him.

“Heal Order,” she said.

The swarm of bees swarmed around her in a cloud, and she started to glow with energy.

“Another Vespiquen-only ability?” asked Shadow.

“Yeah…” replied Lisa. “Now she’s healing herself. This battle may be too close to call at this point…”

“Dawn, use Return!” shouted Starbuck.

A glimmer appeared in Dawn’s eyes, and it leapt at Vespiquen, butting her in the chest. Vespiquen was propelled backwards.

A very powerful Return, thought Vespiquen, holding her chest. Clearly, this Espeon has a great deal of faith in this trainer…

She pointed.

“Attack Order!”

Dawn covered her face with her paws as another blast of bees shot towards her. She groaned as the insects bit and stung at her skin.

Should I use it now? thought Starbuck.

He looked up at the sky. The strange cloud cover had broken, leaving the sun and a collection of fluffy clouds.

Best wait, and hope she doesn’t have something even worse.

“Swift attack,” he said.

Dawn concentrated, and a blast of sparking stars shot at the royal Bug. Vespiquen started to sweat under the attack.

Dawn panted for breath.

“The Pressure is getting to her,” said Lisa, shaking her head. “Fighting is tiring her out twice as quickly as it normally would. Starbuck has to end this fast.”

Vespiquen gestured again, demanding another Attack Order. Dawn screamed as she was stung again by the merciless swarm.

“Dawn, use Morning Sun,” said Starbuck.

“Huh?” said Vespiquen.

“Espeon…” said Dawn.

A beam of sunlight broke out of the clouds, and Dawn glowed with golden light, her tired muscles healed, and the welts from the bee stings started to fade.

Dawn looked at Vespiquen. Her eyes narrowed.

“Psychic!” shouted Starbuck.

“Defend Order!” shouted Vespiquen.

Dawn blasted a mighty bolt of mental energy at her foe. Again, Vespiquen summoned a swarm of insects to form a shield, but it wasn’t as formidable this time. The Psychic tore through the barrier, and Vespiquen was thrown backwards.

“That Defend Order didn’t seem nearly as formidable as the last,” said Shadow.

“Yes…” said Lisa. “You know… I think Vespiquen’s powers have a weakness, and I think I know what it is…

“You see, using her three most powerful maneuvers, Attack Order, Defend Order, and Heal Order all involve summoning a swarm of common bees to help her. But it’s a common fact that regular bees die after they sting, and they likely can’t survive after being used as a shield or spending their energy to heal her either.

“And there can’t be an infinite number of bees on this island! So her powers are basically limited to the number of bees she can call from the area she’s currently in.

“If a battle goes on long enough, the number of bees in each swarm will get smaller each time, the power of the effect will get weaker each time, until finally, she’ll have nothing left to use.”

Vespiquen was looking very worried. Her opponent’s ally had pinpointed her weakness exactly, and her opponent had clearly heard it.

But there was one thing she could do…

She put her claws together…

“Power Gem…” she said.

Four glowing gemstones appeared in mid-air…

“Dawn, Psybeam!” shouted Starbuck.

Vespiquen thrust her arms forward, and the four gems shot at Dawn. Dawn’s eyes glowed, and she fired four psychic blasts, hitting the gems and blasting them into dust.

Vespiquen backed up, looking frightened now…

“Psychic!” shouted Starbuck.

“Espeon!” screamed Dawn.

The most powerful blast yet shot at her foe, enveloping Vespiquen. The monarch screamed, and crashed to the ground.

Starbuck looked at his foe. Vespiquen was sprawled on the ground, groaning.

Four Combee flew around their queen, buzzing sadly. A fifth one carried a Oran Berry. It shoved it into her mouth.

Vespiquen slowly chewed.

“Vespiquen?” asked Starbuck.

Vespiquen sat up a little.

“No more…” she said, in a weak voice. “You are the victor. You and your allies are truly Arceus’s representatives.”

She pointed at the pedestal behind her.

In a sparkle of light, a new Plate appeared, standing on its edge. It looked similar to the other Plates, but was light green.

“Take it,” she said. “And take all the Berries you desire. I cannot help you find the other Plates, but now that you have won this battle, the other Guardians won’t refuse a challenge from any of the three of you.

“But spread the word… Sweetwater Island will no longer be safe. Not even to you. If you come here again, we likely will try to kill you.”

Starbuck was shocked at this last statement.

“What?” he asked. “Why?”

Vespiquen sighed.

“The Plates are what protects our strongholds from the Twisting,” she said. “Once it is taken, the curse will swoop down on this island with a vengeance to claim what has been denied it for so long. It will take me… It will take all my subjects. We will have no defense…”

Starbuck’s eyes opened in horror.

“No… But…” he muttered. “How long will you have?”

“Hours,” replied Vespiquen. “We won’t see another sunrise before madness claims us. The Twisting doesn’t like being denied, as it has been with this island.”

Starbuck bowed his head.

“Is there… Anything I can do?” he said.

“Only one thing…” said Vespiquen. “I believe now that the sunbeam was a true sign from Arceus. He believes in you.

“Find all the Plates. Search the ends of the world if you have to. Storm the gates of Heaven itself if that’s what it takes…

“But use what you have been given to end the madness…”

There was little more to say.

Starbuck sadly went to the pedestal, and lifted the Insect Plate off of its display.

“I’ll do my best…” he said.

“Mom… Shadow… Find a Pamtre bush…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Starbuck was tired and in no mood to deal with what he had a feeling was going to happen when he, Lisa, and Shadow got back to Wendell’s ship.

As Starbuck expected, when they got to the cove, Wendell had weighed the anchor, and the motor was running.

Like this is a surprise, he thought.

“You aren’t thinking of leaving without us, are you Wendell?” he asked, getting angry.

“Course not,” said Wendell. “But first thing’s first. Toss up the Pamtres so I can make sure you have them.”

Starbuck nodded to Shadow.

“I’d like to toss something else up if I may…” said Shadow.

She took a pokeball off her belt, and threw it up onto the deck of the ship…

Wendell’s eyes widened. He tried to make a dive for it, but Magmortar burst out of it, and then grabbed him by the throat.

“We kind of expected a double-cross, Wendell,” said Starbuck.

“Thought all our Pokémon would be exhausted, did you?” asked Shadow. “We have twelve that are still fresh and strong.”

“NO!” shouted Wendell. “Seven told me to do it! I’m just a lackey! Call it off!”

“Turn off your engine, land the anchor, and let us on board,” said Starbuck. “Or we’re gonna take your ship and leave you here. And once we’re out of Dark City, you can tell Seven we’re keeping the Berries because he tried to double-cross us. He can come here and get his Pamtres himself.”

Wendell gulped…

* * * * * * * * * *

The next few hours weren’t easy. On the boat ride home, Shadow, Lisa, Magmortar, and Lisa’s Shiftry kept an eye on Wendell to make sure he didn’t use any radios or cell phones. Once they were on the mainland, They quickly mounted their two motorcycles and got out of Dark City as fast as possible, heading for the Pokemon Center at the highway rest stop fifty miles away.

Again, Starbuck didn’t notice a passenger in his seat compartment. That Buneary didn’t seem ready to give up following him just yet.

So now we have three, thought Starbuck. And we know what getting the others is going to entail…

He sighed. He thought of Vespiquen, the former Guardian of the Insect Plate. He wondered what she and her Combee were going through right now. Had the Twisting already infected them? Or were they even now cowering in fear as the vile curse crept towards them?

I’ll keep my promise Vespiquen… he thought.

Even if, as you say, we have to storm the gates of Heaven, we’ll do what we must…

After all, if Arceus truly noticed us, there’s no turning back…


Coming up next:

Starbuck wants to collect all the Plates. Jessica wants to collect all the Plates. But there are some people who might be satisfied with only one Plate. Why? Maybe they have individual powers that can lead to strange things.

Coming up next, Starbuck meets a trainer who seeks his own way of dealing with the curse that holds the world of Pokémon, one that unfortunately conflicts with that of our heroes. Don’t miss “Competition”, coming soon.

[Hinoryu]

Hm. I don't think this chapter was as good as your last, honestly, but that could just be more bias. Talking Pokemon that aren't psychics just sort of bother me. Especially when they start turning out to be trainers, too. And Starbuck just seemed a bit too dense, when Vespiqueen mentioned the 'risk' meaning it was a Pokemon Dare, and Starbuck didn't get it.

On the other hand, Starbuck is aquiring the plate at the cost of an island's worth of Pokemon. If that's not the worst of what he'll have to go through to get a plate, the repercussions to him should be an interesting read.

Well, that's all I have to say. Keep writing.

[Shuppet Master]

I must admit that I'm biased towards this fic, guys. Call me names, but I feel like I have to step in and defend Brian from your criticism. I find this chapter very poigant and action-packed. I wasn't expecting the Guardians to be Pokemon who fight Pokemon battles, but then, Arceus IS a Pokemon, so it'd make sense for him to use Pokemon as Guardians and have them test those who want the Plates with Pokemon battles. I had a nagging feeling that the Guardians would be the final Pokemon that the trainer would fight, but I was still a bit awed. I was reading the fic out loud(luckily, I live with only a bunch of parakeets, so there was nobody to embarass myself around).

Starbuck meets a trainer who seeks his own way of dealing with the curse

I have a feeling I know who this trainer Starbuck is going up against is, but I won't say.

Since it's storming flood waters where I am, I'm going to end this before the Net goes down(due to storm conditions), but let me just put a jab to Chris 2.0, who has the same first name as my real name:

Chris-kun, I understand how you feel towards Brian not spewing out quality prose. If J.K. Rowling's final Harry Potter book(coming out soon) was written like Brian's chapter, I would have lost faith in her and never read any of her works again. I've been kind and patient to let her do her "magic"(pun intended) - but Brian is not Rowling, he isn't selling this story for mega-bucks(and couldn't, due to the fact it has elements of a copyrighted franchise and he'd get slammed by Nintendo's lawyers faster than a Scyther's Night Slash if he tried to sell this as fiction).

Give him some slack. If you want to debate this, PM me with some links to what you think is excellent Pokemon-fiction, we don't need to drag this thread on with endless debate when it's the home for the story. However, let me say to everyone that I am not Brian's "teacher's pet" or "champion." To prove this, I found "Shadow Realm P.I." to be my least favorite fic of his. (But then again, that might be bias of the setting, since I read only a chapter and the introduction of Paradox's Central Shadow Realm story and found the idea of Duel Monsters having human lives a bit crazy.)

Okay, I'll go now before the heavens get angry at me and drown my house in rain.

[Chris 2.1]

I'd hate to think I'm sounding vitriolic or rude when I reply. As a fellow writer I only aim to give my thoughts and opinions on Sage's work so that he can grow as a writer - it's what I'd want in my fic. All I want is to say "here's what I think" and do just that. I don't expect him to be a Rowling, but I also think if someone is to post something here, they need to take the rough with the smooth and should expect both praise and critiscism (sp?). I always point out what works and what didnt (and, in retrospect, forgot to include something I particularly enjoyed about the chapter) but if it offends you, DS, then I will stop.

[Dark Sage]

No, no, Chris. I'm not offended. I welcome your critisism. I welcome any critisicm, so long as it isn't flaming. I want this fic to be a good one, and I welcome anything that will help. So feel free to state anything you think might help improve. I was not offended by your post - in fact, I took it to heart. I will try to do better next time.

[Dark Sage]

Hi, everyone.

A reminder that today is the last day to get a spot in the Rocket Blast Contest. We're gonna have a tie-breaker anyway, so why not get in on it? Midnight tonight is the deadline.

Go to it!

[jkBAKURA]

Man, I really wish I knew more about the Diamond and Pearl world. I have to open another window to keep track of all of the Pokemon and Attacks, not to mention what the Plates do.

I love the Dawn/Dusk combonation though. Can you even get Twins in the real game?

Some little things come off as immature, but on the whole, I'm loving the sophistication and thought being put into this. It's one of your better works.

As for the contest, I'm not going to be in on it due to lack of inspiration. I just can't come up with anyone.

Keep up the good work DS.

and congrads in advance to the winners

[Dark Sage]

Wish I could help you Eric, but the D/P games are harder to find than a Muchlax is in the game!

Tell you what, any time you have questions about a D/P attack or other mechanic, just PM me.

As for what the Plates do, in the game, they are special hold items that only benefic Arceus (when he finally becomes accessable, which will happen in an event). He is a Normal Pokemon, but when he holds a Plate, his Type changes to the corresponding Type.

That's in the game. In this fic, they might have other powers...

No, you cannot get twins in the real game.

But anyway, stay tuned.

[Dark Sage]

Time's up!

Here are the answers: Pikachu, Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Raticate, Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Haunter, Primeape, Krabby, Kingler, Muk, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Lapras, Tauros (thirty of them), Heracross, Snorlax, Noctowl, Totodile, Beedrill, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Bayleaf, Larvitar, Treeko, Grovyle, Sceptile, Taillow, Swellow, Snorunt, Glalie, Phanpy, Donphan, Torkoal, Corphish, Starly, Staravia, Aipom, Turtwig.

Some included Seaking (which was not official) and others included Togepi (which he rightfully won, but chose to let Misty have because it wanted to be with her). I did not penalize for these two answers.

Unfortunately, this question was too easy. I have a feeling one or two of the folks who got perfect scores cheated by going on Wikipedia (a website that I have never trusted). Thus, this is what we are going to do:

If you got a perfect score (you know who you are), answer the following anime-based questions. Whoever gets them all right first, will be the winner. Simple as that. If no one gets them all right, whoever gets the highest number wins. If that happens to be a tie, whoever answered first will be the winner.

Here we go:

1. Ash’s advancement in the first season of the series and the hero’s advancement in the first generation of the video games (Red, Blue, and Yellow) had one major difference. Name it. (Note: The fact that Giovanni used James and Jessie as stand-ins when Ash won the Earth Badge isn’t it. That event still happened in correct juxtaposition to the game.)

2. Two of Ash’s Pokemon win the distinction of being the only non-Legendary Pokemon in the series to defeat a Legendary Pokemon in a battle. Name the two Pokemon, and which Legendary they each triumphed over.

3. Two-part question: What was the name of the scientist who invented the PokeDex? What particular Pokemon line was he studying when Ash and party met him?

4. What is Ash’s continual problem whenever he meets a new female protagonist?

5. Who was the first trainer that Ash met who also had a Pikachu (at the time of the episode)?

6. What is the only video game to date that Ash has appeared in? (Note: This question is not as easy as you may think.)

Hopefully, these will be more of a challenge. So get cracking. As usual, PM me the answers.

- DS

[Dark Sage]

Ever hear of a movie called Angels with Dirty Faces? It’s an old movie starring Humphrey Boggart. It starts out with two childhood friends that rob a railroad car. One gets caught, the other escapes. The one who is caught spends time in reform school, and them becomes a notorious gangster. The one who escapes becomes a priest. The movie is all about the priest trying to find some bit of goodness in the old friend he once knew.

Neither one of them are played by Bogie. He’s someone else in the movie.

Why do I mention this? Starbuck, his mother and I, are on a quest seeking out servants of Arceus. One might say that these special Pokémon, being servants of a god, are angels in mortal form.

But if this Pokémon is indeed an angel…

…it certainly has a dirty face. In more ways than one.

And I hope that my skill as a trainer is enough to clean up this mess.

CHAPTER NINE



Deep Down Below

Kitsune sighed as she surveyed the seaport, and the notorious island out off about a mile.

Her life was very complex. All she had wanted two years ago, when she had turned sweet sixteen, were the car keys, and a nice party…

She had never asked to become a mercenary assassin, but fate intervened.

According to family legend, something her own father didn’t tell her until her sixteenth birthday, her great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was one of the greatest practitioners of Ninjitsu that there was. He never actually married…

But he did have a son. The legend says that he was seduced by a kitsune spirit, a mischievous nature spirit in the form of a fox who had assumed the form of a woman. The spirit gave him the child to raise, and when the child came of age, his father taught him the family profession. It became a tradition, of a family with the blood of spirits.

It wasn’t until her own sixteenth birthday that Kitsune learned that her father was a practitioner of Ninjitsu. The profession wasn’t truly forced upon her, but she decided to honor her father’s wishes. Who was she to stand in the way of her family tradition?

Of course, some changes were made. There had always been a great many differences between the Kunoichi and the male Ninja. While the Kunoichi might well be quite capable in a fight, she was only supposed to do so if she was in danger of being caught. She specialized in using disguise, poison, and using her gender to her advantage. The usual strategy was to pose as prostitutes, entertainers, fortunetellers, and the like, so the victim wouldn’t know he was in danger until she slipped a dagger between his ribs.

Kitsune used such methods from time to time… But she also used more straightforward ones, to adjust to the modern times. Being a Pokémon trainer helped as well, as it was a form of combat that she had taken to easily.

And Rocket Reborn seemed a chance for a job opportunity that would be profitable for someone like her. Where else could an assassin who was trained with Pokémon succeed?

She looked towards a large tavern near the docks.

One part of any Ninja’s training was gathering information, so that was the right place to start.

* * * * * * * * * *

“So now what?” asked Shadow.

She, Starbuck, and Lisa were standing in a drainage ditch, in front of a very large grate. The entrance to the sewer was behind the grate, although you’d likely need a pair of jaws of life to remove it.

“How are we supposed to get in?” she asked. “Officer Jenny will throw our butts in jail if she catches us ripping open city property.”

“All taken care of, Shadow,” said Lisa, holding up a pokeball.

She flicked her wrist, and her Xatu emerged from the sphere.

“Xatu,” she said, “Teleport us to the other side of the grate.”

“Xatu,” it said. Its eyes glowed with golden energy.

The Pokémon and the three trainers vanished in a burst of light…

A second later, they were a hundred feet away, standing on a ledge above a drainage ditch, inside the sewer.

“How about some light?” asked Shadow.

Lisa took a flashlight out of her satchel, and shined it down the tunnel, down a long corridor of darkness.

“Must go on for miles,” muttered Shadow. “We could be down here wandering, looking for these ‘gnomes’ for years.”

“Don’t worry,” said Starbuck. “I brought someone who can help…”

His own pokeball opened, and a ghostly form took shape.

His Dusknoir appeared in front of him.

“What’d you bring him for?” asked Shadow, nervously. She had remembered, not too fondly, facing Starbuck’s Dusknoir in several of her battles against him.

“For several reasons,” said Starbuck. “One, if we’re going up against Ghost Pokémon, another Ghost is a potent weapon. Two, this guy can guide us through dark places more easily.

“Three, Dusknoir here can sense supernatural auras, and he’ll be able to detect any unusual Pokémon activity.

“Dusknoir… We’re looking for a community of Pokémon, possibly Ghost Pokémon. Can you detect any sizeable groups of Pokémon of that Type?”

Dusknoir held its chin and concentrated.

“Dusknoir,” it said, shaking its head.

“No Ghost Pokémon?” said Lisa.

“Well…” said Starbuck. “Can you detect any sizeable groups of Pokémon?”

“Dusknoir,” it said, nodding.

“Great,” said Starbuck. “Lead us to them.”

Dusknoir’s single eye glowed, and it started to float down the corridor. The three trainers followed it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Kitsune sighed.

Almost everyone in the roughneck bar she was in was as much as a mercenary as she was. Most of these folks couldn’t be trusted. But then, someone in her line of work wasn’t used to trusting others. She sipped from a cup of hot lemon tea (she was too young for the beer everyone else was drinking), while watching for an opportunity.

“Hey, missy,” said a voice.

She looked up, and saw a man about forty years old, bulky and muscular, wearing a sweater, jeans, and a wool hat. A typical-looking Chatot was perched on his shoulder.

“You seem out of place here,” he said. “Something tells me you’re looking for something.”

“I suppose you’re the font of information around this town?” asked Kitsune.

“Me?” replied man, sitting down. “No, I’m just a fisherman, really. But I keep my ears open, so I know things that some people shouldn’t…”

“Shouldn’t,” chirped the Chatot. “Things that shouldn’t be.”

Kitsune looked at the Pokémon. She knew that Chatot were able to mimic human speech, but that was certainly interesting.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” said the man. “My name is Hank, by the way.”

“So, Hank,” said Kitsune. “I’m basically looking for information, and then transport, to the Isle of the Cursed.”

“Looking to hunt for Ghost Pokémon, missy?” he asked.

“I’m more interested in the temple that some folks have reported at the center of the island,” said Kitsune.

Hank looked at her strangely.

“Yo, Lenny?” he said, shouting towards the barkeeper. “How about fixing up some of those special nachos of yours?”

He turned to Kitsune.

“I’ll tell you about the temple,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll even take you to the island if you want, for a price…

“But… If you want to go, I must insist on being paid in advance…”

* * * * * * * * * *

When you’re a Pokémon trainer, searching through dark caves for your quarry is a part of life.

But the three trainers didn’t like the place they were in now at all.

With Dusknoir guiding them, they were now up to their knees in stagnant water, wading through dark tunnels. The light from Lisa’s flashlight cast eerie shadows on the wall.

Even worse, Pokémon of the most undesirable sort scurried past them at times. Rattata and Raticate (two Pokémon that Shadow didn’t like in the least) popped up at random times. But they stayed away from the light.

“What an interesting smell you’ve discovered,” said Shadow, as the water started to get deeper.

“Look there!” shouted Lisa.

Everyone looked up ahead, as a small form darted across ahead of them.

They walked forward, and into a huge chamber, where dirty water poured into a large lake from pipes above.

“Dusknoir…” said the Ghost.

“I think we’re getting close…” said Lisa.

Dusknoir turned to a small alcove. In it, there was a small passageway, about four feet high and three wide, just small enough for them to crawl through.

“Dusknoir,” it said.

“And inconspicuous entrance,” said Starbuck. “Easy for a small Pokémon to come and go through… But one that would give most humans trouble…”

“And one that a fat human would find impossible,” added Lisa.

She pointed her flashlight into the tunnel.

“This isn’t going to be pleasant people,” she said.

“Like we’re gonna get any less dirty?” asked Shadow.

She got down and crawled into the entrance. Starbuck recalled Dusknoir to its pokeball, and followed. Lisa went behind, grumbling that she was getting too old for this.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hank drained the beer from his glass.

“You see, missy,” he said. “The Isle of the Cursed has never been exactly a picnic spot. Even before the Twisting, the Ghost Pokémon there were hostile to humans.

“But they were stronger than your average Ghost. So once in a while, a very brave trainer would go there to capture one of these superior specimens. Ever hear of Ishmael Conrad, the guy who deep-sixed Gestalt?”

Kitsune nodded.

“He got a Duskull there himself, but anyway…

“When the Twisting struck, only the bravest of the brave dared go there anymore. And then reports of the temple in the middle of the island surfaced.

“We only know about the outside of the temple. It has a strange message written above the entrance that anyone can read, no matter what his native language is.

“It reads as follows: ‘Let the three servants of the Master, whose names are Darkness, Destruction, and Death, lead the way’.”

“Death,” chirped the Chatot. “Temple brings only death…”

“He’s right,” said Hank. “We only know of the outside of the temple, because so far, anyone who has gone inside has never come out.

“As your elder, missy, I give you advice. You’re a young, beautiful girl. You have your whole life ahead of you. Think of your future. Don’t throw your life away over dreams of treasure or glory. Odds are, you’ll just perish in that cursed place.”

Kitsune sighed.

She had a little more information than he did about what was in that temple, actually… Jessica’s information wasn’t complete, but she wouldn’t be going in unprepared.

“I have to go there,” she said.

Hank sighed.

“Then I’ll gladly transport you,” he muttered. “But once again, I insist on payment in advance.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Starbuck had, at this point, realized that when you were chosen as the emissary of a god, even then there would be dirty work.

He and his two partners seemed to crawling through a very long pipe, which was slippery and full of slimy residue, which they really hoped was mud.

“See anything, Shadow?” asked Starbuck. “I figure with a name like yours, you can see in the dark.”

“Yeah, Starbuck,” said Shadow. “I can. I can see a whole lot of dark.”

They continued to crawl forward.

“Man…” muttered Shadow. “Forget showers. I’m gonna need a bath once this is…

“Starbuck!”

“What?” he shouted.

“I’m falling!” she screamed. “This pipe has a slant in it!”

Shadow tried to get a grip, but it was no use. The pipe was too slippery.

Starbuck lunged forward and grabbed her legs.

“I’ve got you!” he shouted.

Then they both started to slide forward.

“Now who’s got me?” he thought, panicking. “MOM!”

Lisa grabbed onto his legs, but even she couldn’t provide enough of an anchor. The three trainers all screamed as Shadow dragged them down, and they started to slide down the incline, into darkness.

After a few seconds, they fell out of the pipe, and landed with a splash into a lake of muddy water.

Lisa slowly sat up.

“Are we alive or dead?” she asked.

“Someone’s hands are on my…” shouted Shadow.

“Sorry…” said Starbuck.

Shadow sat up. She was covered in mud from head to toe. She didn’t know how this could get worse.

Then she realized how it could…

“Guys…” she muttered.

“Huh?” said Starbuck, wiping mud from his eyes.

Standing on the shore of the muddy lake, watching them, was a mob of small creatures, each one just over two feet high. They were humanoid and toad-like, with wrinkled, blue skin, pouches on their cheeks, and small claws.

“Croagunk,” said one of them.

“Croagunk,” said another.

“Okay…” said Starbuck, standing up. “You guys have us outnumbered…

“But we have you outsized…

“Croagunk, huh? You know, just looking at you folks, I see how you might be mistaken for gnomes…”

He pulled his PokéDex out of his belt, and was relieved to see that it wasn’t damaged. He pointed it at the creatures.

“Croagunk,” it said. “The Toxic Mouth Pokémon. Its cheeks hold poison sacs. It tries to catch its foes off guard to jab them with toxic fingers.”

“Poison Pokémon?” said Shadow. “Lovely…”

Starbuck pushed a button on the device.

“Croagunk are a hybrid of Poison and Fighting Pokémon,” it said.

“Is that so?” said Starbuck. “Getting past these guys should be no problem…”

He tossed a pokeball towards the shore. It opened, and Dawn leapt out.

“Espeon!” she hissed.

The Croagunk took one look, and then fled down the tunnel behind them.

Starbuck waded onto the shore, and picked up Dawn.

“They know better than to mess with a Psychic,” he said. “Let’s follow them and find the head honcho.”

Once on the shore, they found that the smell was even worse. Trash and residue were piled up everywhere in this cavernous area.

“I know these guys clean the sewer,” said Lisa, “but do they have to bring all the trash to their lair?”

“I guess so,” replied Starbuck.

They heard the small Pokémon ahead of them.

“Croagunk, Croagunk, Croagunk, Croagunk…” they were saying, almost as if they were chanting.

“What in the world?” asked Shadow.

They entered another large chamber, which was the messiest yet. It was as if this was a dumping ground for years worth of junk. And not all of it was stuff that you’d find in the sewers. There was a lot of strange objects. Lunch boxes, toys of all types, socks… In one corner there was a pile of metal objects. (Shadow looked closely – they were keys.)

At least thirty Croagunk were there. And in the center of the chamber, there was a throne of sorts, which seemed to also be made of junk. Sitting on it was a Pokémon that looked similar to a Croagunk, but taller, more muscular, and with more pronounced features.

“If I knew you were coming,” it said in a low, croaking tone, “I would have cleaned up!”

“What on Earth…” muttered Starbuck. He pointed the PokéDex.

“Toxicroak,” it said. “The evolved form of Croagunk. Its knuckle claws secrete a toxin so vile that even a scratch could prove fatal.”

“Is this the place I think it is?” asked Lisa.

Toxicroak nodded, and got up.

“It’s one of the places where lost things go to,” it said. “Ever lose something, never find it again, and wonder where it went? Those things have to go somewhere… This is one of those places…

“We look after the Toxic Plate, but we’re also in charge of looking through the things that wind up here. You see, many of Arceus’s belongings have been separated from him over the aeons, but not just anyone can use such artifacts. Eventually, these thieves either store their spoils, or throw them away.

“And should they ever be lost, perhaps we’ll get lucky, and they’ll come to us. Then Arceus would one day get his property back.”

“Have you ever gotten anything that belonged to him?” asked Starbuck.

“NO!” shouted the Toxicroak. “All we ever get are broken toys, useless appliances, misplaced keys… An 8-track cassette player appeared down here the other day, I think its owner lost it on purpose. Worst of all are socks. They never match! Why do humans always lose ONE sock? Why can’t they ever lose a pair?”

“Believe me, buddy,” said Starbuck, “it’s a mystery to us too.”

“I’d almost say that, of all of Arceus’s servants, I have the worst job,” said Toxicroak. “But I am the Guardian of the Toxic Plate as well.

“I know that you’ve triumphed over two Guardians already, so Arceus must have chose right, however…

“I’m bound by oath not to simply give you the Plate until you earned it.

“So who wants to battle?”

“I’ll be glad to,” said Starbuck. “I can…”

“Starbuck?” said Shadow. “A word?”

Starbuck looked at her.

“One minute,” he said to the Pokémon.

The three trainers got into a huddle.

“Starbuck, I want to get this done with, find the way out, and get cleaned up as soon as possible,” she said. “And I think I can get this battle done faster.”

“Are you sure?” asked Starbuck.

“Are you kidding?” asked Shadow. “This guy is half-Poison, and half-Fighting. And his Pokémon are all likely Poison too. My team has a Psychic on it, as well as a Ghost/Poison Type who knows Psychic. I’ll cream him in no time.”

Toxicroak was listening, and smirking slightly.

“Okay, Shadow,” said Starbuck, “but be careful. This is a Pokémon dare, you know. And you heard what the PokéDex said. Toxicroak’s poison is incredibly dangerous.”

“Well then…” said Lisa. “I’m just gonna have to be very careful.”

“Oh, I won’t poison her if she loses,” said Toxicroak. “I’m not a killer. I might knock her senseless with a Focus Blast, but she’ll live.”

Shadow looked at him. She gulped. She had seen Focus Blast used. It was the second most powerful Fighting move known, second only to Superpower.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said. “How many Pokémon?”

Toxicroak gestured, and three pokeballs appeared between its fingers.

“Four,” it said. “Let’s see if you last long enough to use all of them.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Hank’s fishing boat was a modest vessel. Kitsune studied it intently as he unloaded a few crates.

“It’s an easy ship to pilot, actually,” he said. “A four-year-old child could do it.”

Excellent, thought Kitsune.

“Anyway,” he said, walking over to her, “like I said, I need payment in advance. I don’t expect you to survive.”

A tear fell down Kitsune’s face.

“I appreciate you for doing this,” she said, sadly. “So thank you… I guess I won’t have a chance to tell you again…”

She reached out and hugged him.

“There, there,” he said. “It isn’t too late, you know… You can still…”

And then he felt two small pricks, and a burning sensation started to spread over him.

He let go of her and clutched his chest.

“What’s happening…” he said.

Then he collapsed.

Kitsune looked at her hand, where two iron fingernails were strapped onto her index and middle finger with leather bands. The neko-te, the favored weapon of the Kunoichi.

He’d wake up in six hours, with a bad headache. Someone would probably find him and take him to the hospital by then. The important part was, she didn’t have to pay him, and she’d have done her business and be out of Horsea Seaport before he or Officer Jenny came looking for her.

She quickly got on the boat and started it up.

* * * * * * * * * *

As Starbuck and Lisa watched from the sidelines, and the mob of Croagunk watched from the perimeter, Shadow and Toxicroak faced each other.

Toxicroak eyed Shadow, its cheek sacs slowly expanding and contracting.

“Let’s get this started, huh?” it said. “I’ll even show you my Pokémon first…”

It threw a pokeball.

“Come on out, Swalot!”

The pokeball opened, and a Pokémon emerged… Or rather oozed out. All of the trainers present had seen this one before. It looked similar to the more common Muk, but had a more solid form, with a diamond-shaped pattern around its body and odd-looking tendrils on its upper lip.

Shadow reached for one of her own pokeballs.

She knew that Gallade was likely her most powerful weapon in this battle… So she was going to save it for last.

“Houndoom, go!” she shouted.

She threw the pokeball, and the vicious hellhound leapt out, and gave a howl. It looked at Swalot and snarled. Swalot just gave it an odd look.

“Go!” shouted Shadow. “Hit it with Beat Up!”

Houndoom leapt at the ooze creature, and started pummeling it with its paws.

“This gives your Pokémon one shot for Houndoom, and one shot for each Pokémon I’ve got in reserve!”

Swalot grunted a little, but the pummeling wasn’t making much progress against its semi-liquid skin. Eventually, Swalot simply pushed Houndoom away.

“Let me show you a real attack,” said Toxicroak. “Swalot, use Gunk Shot.”

“Huh?” said Shadow.



Continued…