Lisa the Legend: Chapter 82 - Last Night on Earth now up! (24th June 2013)

[Gavin Luper]

Here 'tis!

Lisa the Legend

Table of Contents


Lisa the Legend I: Legendaries. (Book 1 Synopsis)

Chapter 1 - Adventure in the Burned Tower.
Chapter 2 - Lisa's Quest Begins.
Chapter 3 - The Contest.
Chapter 4 - Friends and Rivals.
Chapter 5 - Inside the Radio Tower.
Chapter 6 - Recovery.
Chapter 7 - Journey for Cianwood.
Chapter 8 - Suicune's Return.
Chapter 9 - Battle on the Coral Reef.
Chapter 10 - Fighting the Ocean.
Chapter 11 - The Ungrateful Sailor.
Chapter 12 - Psychics.
Chapter 13 - The Colosseum.
Chapter 14 - The Water Washout.
Chapter 15 - Watered-Down Revenge.
Chapter 16 - Whirlpool Champion - Part I.
Chapter 17 - Whirlpool Champion - Part II.
Chapter 18 - Legendaries.
Chapter 19 - Sacred Suicune.
Chapter 20 - Animal Magnetism.

Lisa the Legend II: Night Falls. (Book 2 Synopsis - Part I ; Part II)

Chapter 21 - Diverse Destinies.
Chapter 22 - Ultimate Confrontation.
Chapter 23 - Repercussions.
Chapter 24 - Homeward Bound.
Chapter 25 - A Ghost of a Chance.
Chapter 26 - The Engagement.
Chapter 27 - Aquatics.
Chapter 28 - The Meetings and the Mystery. [EBTV Crossover I - Part 1.]
Chapter 29 - Showdown in Port Valeo. [EBTV Crossover I - Part 2.]
Chapter 30 - Juxtaposition.
Chapter 31 - Friends.
Chapter 32 - Tin Tower Terror.
Chapter 33 - Icy Inferno.
Chapter 34 - The Flight of the Phoenix.
Chapter 35 - Welcome to Mt. Silver.
Chapter 36 - The League Final.
Chapter 37 - More than a Battle.
Chapter 38 - Tyler versus Hiro versus Kristal.
Chapter 39 - Christmas Crush.
Chapter 40 - Missing.
Chapter 41 - Waterfalls and Warnings.
Chapter 42 - Invasion from the Inside.
Chapter 43 - Return to Port Valeo. [EBTV Crossover II - Part 1.]
Chapter 44 - Gavin's Tale.
Chapter 45 - The Court Case. [EBTV Crossover II - Part 2.]
Chapter 46 - Intuition.
Chapter 47 - Night Falls.
Chapter 48 - The Union.
Chapter 49 - Golden Horizons.
Chapter 50 - The Informant.
Chapter 51 - The Dream.
Chapter 52 - Mount Fairfax.
Chapter 53 - The Defector.
Chapter 54 - The Professor's Tale.
Chapter 55 - The Deceiver.
Chapter 56 - The First Battle.
Chapter 57 - The Beginning.
Chapter 58 - Behind the Glass.
Chapter 59 - Burnt Sunset.

Lisa the Legend III: Rogue. (Book 3 Synopsis)

Chapter 60 - Letters.
Chapter 61 - The Promise.
Chapter 62 - Union Supremacy.
Chapter 63 - Submission.
Chapter 64 - Heart of Ice.
Chapter 65 - Rogue.
Chapter 66 - Parity.
Chapter 67 - No Such Thing.
Chapter 68 - The Colosseum by Night.
Chapter 69 - The Awakening.
Chapter 70 - Island of Lost Souls.
Chapter 71 - Scars.
Chapter 72 - Lotus Lake.
Chapter 73 - The Sepulchre of Suicune.
Chapter 74 - The Diary.
Chapter 75 - Destiny Fulfilled.
Chapter 76 - Run Like Hell.
Chapter 77 - Council of War.
Chapter 78 - Underneath.
Chapter 79 - The Gathering.
Chapter 80 - The Midnight Armada.
Chapter 81 - Lance Hudson versus Joseph Sterling.

Lisa the Legend I: Legendaries.

Chapter 1 - Adventure in the Burned Tower.

"And a 12 year old boy reported sighting the mysterious pokémon Suicune today. The boy and his friend were training pokémon outside the Burned Tower. They are the third this week to report seeing the legendary pokémon. Police in Ecruteak are treating the reporting as possible but have declined any confirmation. In other news a man has pleaded not guilty to mistreating a Magmar at the ..."

Sitting at the bar stool at the kitchen bench, Lisa Walters craned her neck to the side to see the large television set in the carpeted lounge room. She munched on her cereal as she watched, interested. And at the same time, she murmured quietly to herself, "Could the legendary pokémon ... be so near?"

Tom, Lisa's older brother, entered the cramped kitchen, a scuffed grey backpack slung over his broad shoulders. Tom was meant to be babysitting Lisa and her younger siblings, Wesley and Jean, while their parents travelled around Kanto for two months, studying Omanyte fossils or something like that. Lisa didn't see the sense of it, but all the same, it brought in good money for the family. Lisa's parents had already got enough money from the job they began not three weeks ago that they had bought Lisa an Aipom - her very own pokémon!

"You kids are alright for today," Tom stated casually, casting an eye over the kitchen. "I'm going to the gym for some training."

Tom was a gym trainer at the Ecruteak Gym. Now that he was eighteen, he no longer lived at home; for several weeks, he had been sharing an apartment with his girlfriend Miki, on the other side of town. Since the children's parents left for Kanto, however, Tom had been staying at home until his younger siblings became accustomed to living without their parents, then he was required to check on them twice a day.

Lisa sighed as she finished her cereal and drained her glass of orange juice. Finally she turned to Tom and said, in a rather bitter voice, "OK then, have fun."

Her bitterness was as could be expected from a young, budding trainer who had a poor way of accepting defeat. Lisa had attempted to fight the gym trainers many times, but her Aipom was unable to leave even a scratch on the Ghost-type pokémon in the gym, no matter what attacks she used.

So why didn't she catch more pokémon? Lisa's parents were quite strict, and no matter how much Lisa pleaded, they were not going to let their fourteen-year-old daughter roam the cities and fields of Johto, a wide and vastly unexplored county. Although she greatly wished she could, her moral restraints drilled into her from birth seems to tug her back each time her mind wandered. But she often longed to roam the fields, forests and oceans of the country.

"Lisa, are you listening to me?" Tom broke into Lisa's thoughts.

"Sorry, Tom. Go on," Lisa said, standing up and clattering her bowl and glass into the sink, and absent-mindedly turning the taps on heavily. She rolled up her sleeves, brushed a tendril of shiny ebony hair from her eyes and plunged her hands into the warm water.

"I said could you take care of the kids today?" Tom said, impatiently. He was obviously itching to battle trainers at the Gym. "After you wash the dishes, of course."

"Sure," replied Lisa, vaguely at first before realising what she had just agreed to. "I'll look after 'em for you."

"Thanks, Leese," Tom said in a rushed voice. "Seeya at lunch time."

Tom raced through the kitchen, to the entrance in a blur. The front door slammed shut. The second Lisa heard Tom's car pull out of the drive, a thought fluttered into her mind. By the time she had washed two plates, an excited smile had spread across her face.

Drying her hands on a clean handtowel, Lisa tied her favourite red bandana onto her head and ran upstairs to her room, forgetting about the dishes. Her bedroom was a large, airy room, the source of light being a sliding door which led onto a balcony. Lisa ignored the beauty of her room, as her mind rejected the thought of babysitting her younger siblings.

"Wes! Jean!" Lisa bellowed, slipping her sneakers onto her feet. She took her pokégear from atop her unusually tidy desk and hung it around her neck, like a necklace. It was a substitute for a necklace she had lost a few days ago, and because it was so large and cumbersome, she had yet to use it. But now, for the first time, she both wanted and needed to.

Lisa had a plan.

*

Wesley, a cheeky, twelve-year-old boy, and Jean, an even cheekier ten-year-old girl stormed into Lisa’s bedroom.

“Yeah, what is it?” snapped Wesley in his husky, pre-adolescent voice. “Hurry up Lisa, an elite four battle is on TV now.”

Lisa ignored him. “Nanna’s coming to look after you today.”

“That old bat?” Jean laughed, picturing her ancient, wrinkly grandmother who lived in a elderly home on Tower Street. “Since when has she been looking after us?”

“Since now,” Lisa said firmly. “I’m going for a - walk.”

“Where to?” Wesley asked. “Come on, Leese, Koga could be on his last Pokemon by now!”

“ OK, OK,” Lisa said. “I’m going to the Burned Tower to do a little training with Aipo-”

“Ah-ma!” Jean called in a childish voice, her pale brown eyes alight at the thought that she would be able to get her older sister into trouble - one of her favourite pastimes. “I’m telling!”

“Who are you gonna tell?” Lisa demanded, feeling her temper rise slightly as she always did when Jean gave her grief, but she tried to look as smug as possible on the outside. She was sure her plan was watertight. “Nanna won’t mind at all, she'd love an excuse to come and visit you two. And Tom's busy at the gym until lunch time - he'd be more angry at you than me if you tried to call him at work to dob."

Jean paused for a moment. “I’ll ring Mum and Dad,” she answered finally, her eyes still bright.

Wesley nodded in agreement, then strained his ears to hear any noise from the Elite Four battle on the downstairs TV.

“One step ahead of ya,” Lisa said, once again making sure her chin was jutting forward confidently. “Right now they’re in Mt Moon: no mobile phone coverage. They’re probably knee deep in Omanyte by now, anyway.”

Jean's eyes lost their fiendish glow. She knew she was beaten, and it seemed that she had little support from Wesley - it did not seem that he much cared who watched over him, as long as his anticipated television viewing wasn't interrupted.

"It's not fair!" Jean spat childishly, and she tramped very loudly to her bedroom, whining under her breath about how much she hated listening to her grandmother's boring war stories. Wesley, meanwhile, made a hasty retreat to the lounge room to watch his programme.

Lisa watched them leave her room before turning to survey the view of Ecruteak City through the glass doors that led onto the balcony. In the distance, on a slight crest above the red roofs and fawn-barked trees that defined the city's western suburbs, nestled among a thicket of shadowy foliage, stood the dark ruins of the Burned Tower. The place had sprung into Lisa's mind quite unexpectedly as she washed the dishes - but where better to go for a day's training than at the place where, according to the news, there might be a chance of glimpsing the legendary pokémon Suicune?

Excitement flooded through Lisa at the thought. Most of her training sessions with Aipom had been mundane to say the least, merely half-hour visits to the nearby park, where they were occasionally lucky enough to battle a low-level Rattata or Caterpie. Lisa usually spent the time conversing with her Aipom, wondering if he could actually understand what she said or not. But the prospect of training at the Burned Tower was infinitely more exciting than anything she had done before. It offered, at the very least, encounters with different kinds of pokémon, and quite possibly a battle with an actual trainer. And, at best, it could result in Lisa seeing that notoriously elusive beast, Suicune.

"Alright!" she thought, excited by her prospects. "Nothing stands in my way now, except maybe getting Nanna to come …"

*

One hour later, Lisa was strolling up the windy gravel road that led to the Burned Tower. That tower has a really odd past, Lisa thought, as she threw Aipom’s pokéball up and down in her hands.

Almost 750 years ago, two towers had been built in Ecruteak City, to signify the importance of the bond between humans and pokémon in Johto. One tower was in the west, The Brass Tower, and one in the East, the Tin Tower. Two majestic, flying pokémon lived at the top of the towers. They were rarely ever seen by humans, and one was rumoured to be a glittery phoenix pokémon known only as “ Ho-oh”. Six centuries after the construction of the towers, the Brass Tower was caught in a blaze of fire that burned the tower and reduced it to almost rubble. The pokémon at the top had flown away, never seen again.

Lisa brought her mind back to the present day. She had finally reached the end of the road: behind her, Ecruteak City was spread out, an enormous patchwork of green parklands, red house roofs, straight, well-trafficked grey roads and, in the centre, a cluster of white and grey office buildings.

Lisa turned back to the structure before her: the Burned Tower. She was standing in the shadow of the building, and the day seemed suddenly colder than it had a moment ago. Lisa glanced down at the red-and-white pokéball in her hand.

“Alright, Aipom! Come out!”

She opened the ball in a flash of light. Aipom, a small, purple and cream-furred monkey, appeared in mid-air with an enthusiastic cry of "Ai!". He landed on the gravel quite clumsily, scraping his foot, but he confidently shook the injury off and climbed up Lisa's leg, establishing a perch on her right shoulder.

“That's better,” Lisa said quietly. “It was almost scary standing next to this tower alone."

Lisa glanced up the height of tower. Even though most of its levels had been destroyed by the inferno decades ago, it was still an imposing edifice. Even an Onix would probably be dwarfed by the tower, Lisa estimated. She felt like some form of bug in comparison. The bushes around the sides of the tower rustled suddenly. Lisa shivered. Her initial excitement at training here was beginning to wear off.

“Ai!” Aipom said impatiently, tugging at her hair and pointing toward the entrance.

Lisa steeled herself. “You’re right," she said, making her own interpretation as to Aipom's words. “Let’s just go in.”

The girl placed her hand on the splintered wooden door gingerly; it creaked open, revealing the insides of the tower. It looked extremely dark and dreary within.

“Um ... maybe we should go back out,” Lisa said slowly.

“Ai!” Aipom shook his head firmly.

Lisa regarded her companion curiously. He had a certain bravado and determination that she had often envied in her friends at school. Perhaps this would be a good time to learn a lesson from her pokémon.

“Alright,” Lisa said in her strongest voice. “ Let’s keep going.”

She pushed the door open fully, and they entered into the gloom within. After a minute or two of fossicking around, Lisa's fears ebbed. After all, there was nothing scary about the piles of debris, wooden planks, pieces of tarp and cloth and general litter that covered the floor of the Burned Tower.

“I hope we find a pokémon soon," Lisa said eagerly, as she negotiated her way past a collection of rotten planks. "Maybe we’ll see Suicune, the legendary pokémon ..." she added quietly. She knew it was a bit childish, but she couldn't help but hope to stumble across the water-type legendary while she was here.

Aipom scurrying behind her, Lisa finally made her way past the rotten boards and found herself behind a flimsy, ancient wall - she had entered an annexe of the tower's main chamber. And, just a few metres ahead, a bright light was apparently suspended in mid-air.

“Suicune?” Lisa said, without thinking; the annexe had an air of mystery about it.

There was a derisive chuckle somewhere ahead. “Nope,” a male voice said loudly. "Unless you think I’m legendary, too.”

A bald, portly man stepped out of the gloom. He had an unfortunately egg-shaped head, and his ugly red T-shirt did nothing to hide his enormous gut. “I’m a fire breather,” he said. “Name’s Ray.”

"Um - I'm Lisa,” Lisa said after a long pause, shaking hands with the man. She had imagined any trainer she might meet to be perhaps her age, maybe even someone she might make friends with, but she supposed she couldn't be too picky about who she battled. “Do you train Pokemon?”

“Sure do,” Ray boomed, producing two Great Balls from the pocket of his slacks. “I have a Charmeleon and a Koffing.”

“Cool," said Lisa, feeling it was probably proper battling etiquette in this kind of random encounter to offer some kind of initial compliment. "Would you like to battle me and Aipom with them, then? We came here to train.”

“Alrighty then,” Ray said, and without further ado he set down the torch he had been carrying on the blackened floorboards and threw one of the Great Balls to the ground. “I choose Koffing.”

“Go Aipom!” Lisa cried, quickly pointing out at the wood-panelled floor before her.

“Ai po!” Aipom leapt out to face Ray’s Koffing, which had appeared in a flash before them, a foul-looking, gormless thing, hovering in mid-air.

“Koffing – Tackle attack.”

“How pathetic,” Lisa said, without even thinking. “Oops … did I say that aloud?”

“Uh huh,” said Ray, with an annoyed look. “Um … you’d better tell your Aipom to do something, kid.”

“Huh?” Lisa said, turning her attention to the battle. Koffing, for all its weak looks, had slammed its entire mass against Aipom, and was recoiling to have a second shot.

“Aaah!” Lisa cried, annoyed at the loss of battle time. “Aipom, Doubleslap attack.”

“ Ai!” Aipom squealed.

Koffing, displaying a relentless battling ethic, had just launched into a third tackle when Aipom's tail swung around before him. Aipom cried out enthusiastically as he first blocked the offensive with his odd, hand-shaped tail, and then slapped Koffing into a spin.

“Now Swift!” Lisa cried, feeling the excitement of a new, unknown battle coursing through her.

“Pom!” Aipom cried, launching dozens of luminescent stars at Koffing, who fell onto the wooden floor with a thud, instantly defeated.

“Aah! Koffing!” Ray yelled, his belly wobbling as he jumped up and down in frustration. “Return!”

As Koffing was snuffled up into it’s pokeball, Lisa shot a broad grin at Aipom. “Great job!” she called to him, her voice ringing with the hitherto unexperienced feeling of victory. “We finally won a round!”

“ Ai pom!” echoed Aipom, dusting himself off nearby. His smile was even wider than usual.

“You’ve won the round, but you haven’t won the battle yet!” Ray called to Lisa. “Koffing was my weakest Pokemon – so now here’s my strongest. Go Charmeleon!”

Lisa cringed, her joy somewhat diminished, as the crimson lizard-like pokemon jumped onto the wooden floor and leered overbearingly at the comparatively small Aipom.

“Come on Aipom – use your Agility.”

“Pom!” Aipom cried, running swiftly in circles around Charmeleon, who quickly became confused.

“Charmeleon, close your eyes. Don’t try to watch it!” Ray ordered sharply. He suddenly seemed determined to win; perhaps he had taken Lisa for an easy win at first. If he had, he was now regretting it.

“Char!” Charmeleon said in a deep voice. The fire lizard closed its eyelids and soon got its sense back.

“Aipom, stop with the agility, and try Swift!” Lisa ordered, keen to maintain her lead.

“Pom!” Aipom skidded to a halt and launched another series of stars, which slammed into the unsuspecting Charmeleon.

“Mee!” Charmeleon cried in pain.

“Charmeleon, Flamethrower!” Ray cried. “Full power!”

“Char!” Charmeleon roared, opening its mouth and absorbing fire from the inner parts of its body. A huge fireball began to form within its jaws.

“Aipom – Quick attack!” Lisa commanded, flustered. If the flamethrower hit Aipom, the battle would probably be over.

Aipom sprinted on all fours at the powerful Charmeleon, slamming with considerable force into its weak belly just before the flames were launched. However, as Charmeleon tumbled over, it opened its mouth and the flamethrower poured out in a gush, bowling Aipom over, before an explosion of ash and smoke obscured the battle from the trainers’ view.

“Aipom!” Lisa cried. Aipom had been so good. Lisa couldn’t stand losing in anything, especially not a battle.

“Charmeleon!” Ray cried.

The smoke cleared, revealing a fainted Charmeleon, and – miraculously – a weak, but conscious, Aipom.

“Aipom - you're alright!" Lisa cried, relieved. Then a greater rush of elation shot through her. "Aipom - we won! We won a battle!”

“Ai!” Aipom cried, running up to Lisa and hugging her.

Ray recalled his Charmeleon and picked his torch up from the ground.

“You’re not a bad trainer,” he said slowly, as though struggling to congratulate her. “I hope you two win a lot more battles.”

His tone was unenthused at best, but Lisa appreciated his sportsmanship nonetheless. “Thanks Ray, good luck to you, too,” she called after the man as he walked out of the tower.

“Ta,” Ray called back, his sizeable stomach giving him some difficulty as he squeezed through the narrow gap between the annexe and the rest of the chamber. There was a temporary burst of light from outside that lit the tower up for a second, before the ancient door closed again and they were plunged into darkness again.

Lisa looked around and knew there was nothing more to be gained by training in here. “Well, Aipom, I don’t think there are any more pokémon or trainers in here,” she said, taking a few steps toward where the door was; something creaked beneath her foot. “Let’s go … oh!”

The section of floor beneath Lisa and Aipom suddenly gave way and disappeared beneath them. Lisa didn't have time to do anything; before she knew it, she was plummeting downward, pieces of rotten wood beside her and Aipom in their sudden descent. She screamed all the way down until, with a painful thud, they landed in what appeared to be the basement.

“Oww,” Lisa moaned, checking herself for injuries, but she had landed on her backside, and she was thankfully not in very much pain. She had not even begun to think of a way back upstairs, however, when something utterly astonishing caught her eye.

“Oh my God ... Aipom, look!”

Aipom and Lisa fixed their eyes on a mysterious glow coming from a platform only a few metres away. There were what appeared to be three strange pokémon there. One was yellow, one red and one blue; all three were staring at the source of this sudden intrusion. Lisa immediately recognised the blue pokémon from the news report earlier that morning, and she gasped in shock, surprise and awe.

“Suicune!” Lisa gasped. “It’s the three legendary pokémon!”

The three creatures stared at Lisa, giving her such an odd look that Lisa felt like her feet were rooted to the spot. Suddenly, the yellow creature dashed away to the left, and the red one to the right. Suicune looked right at Lisa for a moment, right into her golden-brown eyes, and then appeared to prepare himself to run away.

“No, Suicune!” Lisa called. The excitement and rarity of seeing the legendary pokémon had dawned on her, and she realised that this could be her only chance to ever do so. “ I can’t let you get away!"

Lisa stood up and leapt at Suicune, as Aipom ran slightly ahead of her. She managed to grab hold of Suicune's glowing aurora fur. “Aipom, come on!” Lisa yelled, pulling her feet off the ground and leaping onto Suicune’s back. A second later she noticed that Aipom had already joined her on the legendary pokémon's back ... And then, with speed Lisa had never witnessed before, Suicune bounded upward, through the hole in the floor, charging through the ancient wooden door of the Burned Tower and south – out of Ecruteak.