Pokemon Revolution: Advent Phoenix (Rated T)

[Oathblivion]

Usually I don't post in between reviews, but now I will! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! *throws confetti* I noticed a day or so ago while re-reading PR:J, but I forgot. Anyway, it's good to know that some old faces will return (for more than just a cameo?). Lorca was always my favorite...

Ahem, here's to hoping you get to feeling better. Living in an area completely engulfed by trees isn't fun in Spring. -Oath

[Diddy]

Just saw the birthdays at the bottom of the page...

Happy 17th Birthday!!!

But this post is also about the continuoation of this fic. That ninja dude was a surprise, I thought he was just there for a history of the sword but it turns out he wants a piece of travis' piece. he got some nice moves, but he aint our travis is he. hope to see him soon.

Also, Travis completely failing in his first battle vs matthew, nice touch. a part of that I liked is Crescents reaction afterwards, not many people would of picked up on that when writing, so i'll give you a clap for some good writing on your part.

Another thing, I remember reading that you were a fan of pokemon revelation cross of fates I think it is, well I checked it out and its really good, kudos for turning me onto that. advantage is ive got a whole fic to read, disadvantage, theres no more of it.

well, be seeing ya soon.

[MerlockVonBaron]

Happy B-day, Eon. Now, i'm getting old.

[Venastois]

hey, happy birthday, man. now you can see R rated movies, nice. and for the returning character? my guess is.....Nate and his girl. yeah, that would be my best guess.

and have fun on your birthday, and get well soon.

[MistyLover]

hey, happy birthday, man. now you can see R rated movies, nice. and for the returning character? my guess is.....Nate and his girl. yeah, that would be my best guess.

and have fun on your birthday, and get well soon.

I hate Nate so much I wish he never makes an appearance with a lousy attitude. (HE may have changed because I only read twelve chapters of the prequal and will continue to read more.)

Since when did teenagers care about the ratings? I dont.

[Kazekage]

Happy over B-day man.

Hows Chapter three going. Oh and I have a question

The Ninja guy isn't raquaza's wielder is he?

[Venastois]

it was supposed to my semi-sarcastic. i know no-one cares, not even the people at the registers who hand you the tickets. I see R rated stuff all the time, but now that EonOne is seventeen, it's legal now. that's it.

on topic:

    Spoiler:- Nate's Attitude:

Show Spoiler

 
Nate goes through a huge change, and is infact one of my favorite characters now. He is very pensive, and has found more appealing goals than just ruining Travis' life.
 

by the way EonMasterOne, whatever happened to Nate's team? i know about hitmonlee, but what about croconaw and onix? and whoever else he had...?

[Kazekage]

Yeah The whole pokemon thing kinda went off-course with the whole war situation.

I hope Shiro and the gang comeback soon. And Marco Lukas whatever. I think keeping his blackthorn name was a sign that he will be going to the dragons den and getting a dartini/Bagon/fakemon

[ultimate_pokemaster]

I have been reading PR:J when the last episodes going to be started in a few chapters.Advent Phoenix is nice although I dont undestand why Travis didnt tell Angel to Attack.And xXSaberXx's fic is finally done after a loooooong time.
Even though I am not yet 16, I still watch R rated movies.

[Venastois]

    Spoiler:- Reason why Travis didn't order Angel to attack::

Show Spoiler

 
He Choked.
 

simple as that. ^^

[EonMaster One]

Hello, all – EM1 here.

Okay, so...holy freaking hell...I started writing and thought that this chapter was going to be a short one. It ended up being the longest chapter I’ve ever written thus far – in excess of twenty-eight pages. So...yeah, definitely a three-poster, this one.

WARNING: Travis will probably want to make you hit him in this chapter because of being in that emo funk again...but don't waste your energy. Someone's going to do it for you.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon. But I do own a couple in this particular series, as they are my own creation. I took the liberty (with the help of some of you, of course) of expanding the Pokédex just a little bit. That’s why Prof. Birch mentions something about there being 525 Pokémon. After the additions, that’s just about what you get. I’ll credit the creator of the Fan Pokémon name-by-name at the end of each chapter in which one is introduced.

With that said, on to Chapter 3!

Chapter 3: Blue Streak

May 18, PA 2013 – Route 102, Hoenn

Katrina’s eyes opened slowly to the flaming colors of a spring sunrise. She sat up, stretching and uttering an almighty yawn. She climbed out of her green sleeping bag and trudged slowly over to the pond near which they had camped, in order to wash up and change. She approached the clean-looking pond of water and lowered her hands into it, feeling the cool of the water washing over them. She gathered a bit of it into her hands and slapped it onto her face. She then wiped her dripping wet face with a towel, drying it off and resurfacing from the cloth with a sigh.

This was their second day out of Oldale Town, on their way to Petalburg City, the location of the first Pokémon Gym out of eight whose badges were required to enter the Emerald League in Evergrande City this August. This was a new journey for them...and yet...

They had run into someone from his past – someone who had not been their ally.


It had been a long time since she had seen him that flustered. But, now that she was older, she understood the burden that he carried. That sword was their greatest blessing – and yet, it was their greatest curse. Metaphorically speaking, it truly was double-edged. As much as it pained him, he had to wield that sword – it was who he was. He didn’t need anybody to tell him that to understand. One could look into his eyes and comprehend it. At least, she could. She didn’t really know about anyone else. He always told her that she was the only one that truly understood him. She was the only one that had been there – in body and in spirit – throughout the entire journey. That’s what he always told her.

Were those just words?

No.

He didn’t just say words. He always...always...spoke his heart. That’s what she loved about him. Even with his mind in the state that it was in, you didn’t have to dig under a whole lot of garbage to know what he was thinking or feeling. Of course she worried about him when he wasn’t at his best – when he was stressed out or frustrated, like he’d been a couple of days ago – but it was better for her that he was the way he was. She’d rather worry because she knew something was wrong than be worried and have to guess at it.

She pulled her shirt over her body and turned, beginning the short walk back to the campsite, where he was most certainly awake by now. This late spring morning was cool, but rather humid. Her feet in their sandals were cold from the morning dew that had accumulated on the grasses of this pathway. She looked around her in this forest path. There were small, bright red creatures slithering down trees here and there. She closed her eyes for a second, attempting to jar her memory. Giving up after a few moments, she pulled out her pink Pokédex and simply pointed it at the creature. Her new Pokédex had a scanner function on it, where information could be gathered about a Pokémon just by pointing at it.

The Pokédex took a snapshot of the red, insect-like creature to save on her database and revealed it to be a Wurmple, the most common Bug-type native to Hoenn. Smiling, Katrina now remembered. She’d heard that Wurmple had two possible evolutionary paths, and that which one it took was essentially up to chance. At the right experience level (which, as it is for the majority of Bug-types, was fairly early), it could evolve into a Silcoon, which would evolve in short order to the aesthetically pleasing Beautifly, who was known for its appearance and its potentially tide-turning ability to absorb energy from an opponent. It could also, however, with theoretically equal chance, evolve into a Cascoon, which then turned into a Dustox, which could, if trained correctly, unleash some rather nasty Psychic-type attacks such as Confusion. She went for her belt – she’d try to catch one...

...Until she realized that her only Pokémon – her Umbreon, Crescent – was not only out of his Pokéball as he was regularly, but currently sleeping back at the camp...wait a second, what was that four-legged shadow walking toward her?

“Crescent?” Katrina called into a slight distance. “Is that you?”

A yawn reverberated back from the foggy light of the forest. Three seconds later, the Moonlight Pokémon came into view.

“<I woke up and realized you weren’t around,>” Crescent said, blinking his crimson eyes sleepily. “<I figured you weren’t around to stretch your legs, so I decided I’d do a little of the same. You headed back to camp?>”

“Yeah,” Katrina said. Then, just remembering what she’d wanted to do, she added, “Good timing, though. I was just looking for you.”

She looked to her left and saw no Wurmple at all.

“Oh...” she groaned in disappointment. “It’s gone.”

“<What’s gone?>” Crescent asked, looking a bit confused.

“Eh...nothing...” Katrina sighed. “C’mon, let’s go back to camp.”

The quiet snoring of a sleeping boy was the only thing that could be heard at the campsite, more than half a mile away. Curled up beside him was a lavender Espeon, deep in sleep next to this boy, who was stretched out in a blue sleeping bag.

A few feet away from them, on the other side of the remains of a campfire, was a pile of possessions – a couple of bags and a sword.

She would have to be quick, but as quiet as possible. There was always the chance that he could wake in the process of her doing this. The other thing that worried her...

Next to the boy’s sleeping bag was another sleeping bag...a green one – and this one was empty. Whoever had occupied this sleeping bag had left and could return and catch her in the act in very short order. She had to be quick. She’d heard about this sword...she’d been silently tailing the pair since Oldale Town, waiting for a chance to make their move. Last night, the Umbreon had stayed up extremely late, making her goal impossible. Today, though, that Umbreon was gone and there was no one to stop her.

She sidled around the ash and wood that had last night been a blazing campfire, making her way slowly to the sword, which was resting in its white scabbard and sitting on top of the pair of one-strap backpacks. She slowly lowered her hands, partially covered by fingerless gloves that extended into a black sleeve that ran all the way up her forearm and then her slender upper arm, revealing only the shoulder. Her fingers were no more than a foot away from touching the legendary weapon...nine inches...six inches...three...

She had it in her grasp. The Legendary and revered Godfire sword – forged in the flames of Ho-oh, the Phoenix. This was a true sacred artifact – not the cult idols that her religion had told her to honor.

She felt a hot light hit her face. Her silver eyes narrowed by an extreme amount as she looked left – a staff whose charm was in the staff of a crescent moon, in the center of which was glowing a white-hot orb...was pointing directly at her face.

“Drop the sword,” a female voice said in a dangerous whisper behind her. “Now.”

With a quick pivot and flick of her wrist, she knocked the staff away from her face and immediately jumped back. Looking up, she got a good look at her assailant’s entire body. The girl standing before her had pink hair and looked to be even younger than she was.

“Are you deaf?” Katrina said, enraged that someone would have the gall to attempt to steal the Sacred Flame while Travis was sleeping and while she was away. “I said, drop it.”

“I knew someone would try to interfere,” the mysterious girl said. Katrina got a good look at her. She couldn’t get a good measure of her years – possibly a decade and a half or more, but she could have possibly passed for younger. She was wearing black fingerless, sleeved gloves that seemed to be detached from her actual outfit, which was essentially a scarlet color and consisted of a very tight tank-like upper garment that tied around the neck instead of having shoulder straps, as well as a tight pair of scarlet pants that appeared to be about the length of girls’ capri pants. These both matched her blood-red hair, which was slightly longer than shoulder length and tied back with a white, makeshift headband that appeared to be nothing more than bandage material wrapped twice around the girl’s forehead. The last noticing feature was that near her right temple, which was where the majority of her fringe hung over her headband, the hair was a silver-white to match her irises.

“...and you still tried it,” Katrina added. “Doesn’t sound too smart to me. Now...drop the sword – or I’ll make you drop it.”

“Stay out of my way,” the girl said blankly. “I don’t want to hurt an innocent girl.”

“I’m not as ‘innocent’ as you think,” Katrina said, brandishing her rod and pointing it directly at the other girl’s head from a distance, her patience finally at an end. “Thordengata!”

An electric-blue bolt of lightning made a beeline from Katrina’s staff straight toward the scarlet-haired girl, who threw the sword down on the ground and jumped high into the air. Katrina was taken aback at the height of her leap, which had to have been ten feet at the very least. It became very clear to her that this girl, whoever she was, was no amateur. However, she had made a very amateur mistake.

“You cannot strike a shadow,” the girl said in nearly a drone.

“It’s a good thing lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, then, isn’t it?” Katrina responded harshly, raising her rod up into the air and pointing the glowing core straight at the girl. “Thordengata!”

Another sizzling thunderbolt zipped out of her staff and shot up into the air, right where the girl was hanging with no time to dodge. With no expression on her face whatsoever, she performed about ten hand signals in quick succession and a lightning bolt shot out of her extended hands, met Katrina’s at the last second, and canceled it out with a small shockwave. Flipping backward in mid-air, the mysterious girl landed on her unshod feet, skidding to a stop.

Katrina had seen more than the average person as far as the supernatural was concerned, but even that experience was not enough to prevent the other girl’s maneuver from catching her off guard just slightly.

“What was that?” she muttered. “I’ve never seen that one before. Might have to pull out some of my new tricks...”

“This power I have...” the girl droned. “Most are not blessed with it.”

“Join the club,” Katrina replied scathingly. Pointing her staff at the mysterious girl, she shouted, “Elbaflir!”

A red-hot ball of flame shot forth from her staff and bulleted toward the red-haired girl, who again countered with a variety of hand signals – producing a blue-colored fireball of her own. The two spheres of flame melded together momentarily and then dissipated, leaving no sign of their former presence.

“Elbaflir–Akvr!” Katrina shouted. This time, five of the same fireballs blasted forth from the core of her rod in very quick succession. The mysterious girl, knowing that she had no time to use the same art five times to counter (which was, of course, what Katrina had been counting on), decided to jump – high in the air and slightly toward Katrina. In mid-air (and in mid-somersault) she yanked out from behind her two diamond-shaped knives with hoops for their handles – ninja kunai. With one sweep of her hand, she sent both – each eight inches long – shooting straight at Katrina. With a relatively quick move of her own out of necessity, Katrina leapt sideways and watched the two knives smash into the ground. A second later, the girl landed and grabbed onto the knives. Katrina saw her for a brief second before she disappeared. Hearing a slight movement behind her, Katrina turned around. The girl was there, in mid-air, prepared to strike with her kunai. She swung once, and Katrina barely blocked. Suddenly gaining a new appreciation for the girl’s fighting style, she thought, She’s been taught to fight as a kunoichi – I can’t believe there are some still around!

She didn’t have much time to dwell on this thought, though – the girl aimed yet another strike at her face that she had to block. Then a third. And then a fourth. The girl did all this while rotating in different directions and yet not allowing either of her feet to touch the dirt. However, she hesitated on the fifth, allowing Katrina to counterattack.

“Take this!” the pink-haired girl shouted, swinging her rod, which was glowing white, into the face of this kunoichi. There was an explosion upon contact, sending the scarlet-haired girl flying backwards. She hit the ground and bounced off rather painfully, bouncing and skidding until she went into an uncontrollable roll and somehow then got her feet back under her and skidded to a stop. She got up – she still had a kunai in each hand – and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, grimacing.

“I was too slow...” she said in a lamenting drone. “Next time...”

She stood and performed, as well, a variety of hand signals, and disappeared in a rush of leaves that seemed to come out of nowhere, leaving the sword and a confused Katrina.

Defusing the rod in her hand, the pink-haired Aurillian descendant muttered, “Who in the world? What’s with everyone trying to take a shot at us nowadays?”

“Hmm...” there was a groaning behind her. She whirled around. The blue-haired boy that had been sleeping was now sitting up in his sleeping bag, stretching his arms wide. Briskly walking over to the sword, she laid it on the bags as it had been just in time to see Travis open his eyes and look at her.

“Now you wake up,” she muttered so that Travis couldn’t hear her.

“Morning,” he sighed, blinking hard in an attempt to get his eyes to focus a bit better than they were doing. “You’re up before me again. What’s going on?”

She could have told him – but, as she’d already fought off the threat, there was no point. Plus, she would much rather spend a day with the new, less serious and more fun Travis than the guarded and slightly paranoid one of two years ago. Moreover, she’d much rather be on a journey with the Pokémon Trainer than with the Swordbearer. So, there was no point telling him.

Instead, she replied with a smile and a brisk clip to her voice, “Nothing new.”

In about an hour, they were on the road again, headed west to Petalburg City, the site of the first Hoenn Gym. On this heavily forested pathway, they had seen – mostly from a distance – several wild Pokémon that they scanned into their Pokédex. Strangely enough, their new Pokédexes were now the topic of their conversation.

“It’s really cool that, whenever you look up the data of that Pokémon next time, it’ll show that Pokémon the exact way you first saw it,” Katrina commented, referencing the scanner feature on their Pokédexes. “Like, that Wurmple on the tree...”

“Why didn’t you catch it?” Travis asked. “A Beautifly would suit you, I think. Pretty but dangerous.”

Katrina smiled. “Well, Crescent got there late.”

“<Not everyone wakes up at the crack of dawn, Katrina,>” Crescent sighed. “<Even Angel slept in this morning. Granted, it was only until quarter after seven, but...>”

“<Yeah, whatever...>” Angel sighed. “<Urgh...this is irritating! We need to find something I can warm up on. I’m getting bored!>”

“<You’ll get your shot,>” Crescent replied. Ever since Angel lost to Matt’s Combusken two days ago, she had been raring for opponents to fight and win. However, the case was that either they simply hadn’t run into anything, or that Travis was attempting to keep Angel safe by not battling. The very thought of the second option upset Angel quite a bit – if he was doing that, it was defeating the purpose, wasn’t it?

“<Easy for you to say! You’ve beaten a Zigzagoon, that floating lily pad thing...>” Angel muttered. True enough, Crescent and Katrina had battled a wild Zigzagoon just a few minutes ago and had beaten it handily. Katrina thought for a moment about catching it, but then decided against it. She had only brought five extra Pokéballs with her and she wasn’t going to waste them, frankly, on a Pokémon that, according to what she’d heard, could be found virtually anywhere.

“<It’s called a Lotad, Angel. A Lotad.>” Crescent found himself, not for the first time, having to tutor Angel on the names of other species of Pokémon that couldn’t be found in Johto.

“<Yeah, a Lotad – whatever,>” Angel said a bit snippily. “<I just want to fight something.>”

“<Looks like you might get your chance,>” Crescent replied. Angel looked in front of her. Doing a double take, she then decided to make her way out in front of Travis’ ankles.

“Hey, what’s that?” Katrina commented. What she, Angel, and Travis were looking at in the road was a Pokémon they had neither seen nor heard of. It was a dark brown, pika-like creature with large ears and a large tail with an even larger, golden flame on that tail. That golden flame was a good match for the creature’s saffron eyes.

“Haven’t seen this one before,” Travis assented. Then, pointing his scanner at the creature, he exclaimed, “This must be one of the new species that Professor Birch was talking about!!”

Startled at Travis’ shout, the creature turned its head toward him, jumped, yelping in surprise, and shot a couple of golden streaks of light from its mouth. Travis jumped toward the left just as those streaks of light hit where he was and exploded into what looked like extremely hot fireworks.

“Whoa!” Travis yelled. “Easy!”

“She’s so cute!” Katrina squealed. Travis looked at her, sweatdropping and appearing to be very confused.

“‘She’?” Travis repeated.

“You weren’t paying attention?” Katrina replied. “Our scanners can identify the gender of an individual Pokémon, too.”

“Well – doesn’t matter,” Travis said. “I’m gonna take a wild guess here and say that this...Pyrika? Is that how it’s pronounced?...this PIE-ree-kuh...is a Fire-type. If I throw Champ into the fire, it could get ugly. I’ve only got one option. Angel, let’s go.”

“<Sure thing,>” Angel replied, stepping out in front of Travis. “<Just don’t zone out on me this time, ‘kay?>”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Travis responded. His wording was ironic, as he’d just had a nightmare early that morning about completely freezing up in an important match at the Emerald Tournament. That had been what had awakened him, as a matter of fact...

“<Watch it!>” Angel yelled, dodging left. Travis, seeing another streak of golden light like the last one, jumped to the right.

“<Pay attention!>” Crescent groaned loudly, having the desired effect – Travis turned back toward the Pyrika and his eyes narrowed.

“Angel, start off with a Quick Attack!” he shouted enthusiastically. Angel turned and looked at him.

“<Quick Attack? What’s that?>” she asked. Everyone face-faulted on the spot. Smiling, she added, “<Sorry, just had to do that for the reaction.>”

She took off toward the Pyrika, who had already started out on a Tackle attack. The two Pokémon made contact a couple of inches off the ground, bounced off each other, and slid to a stop on their respective sides.

“<Be careful! You’re gonna get yourself hurt fooling around like that!>” Crescent shouted warningly.

“<I know what I’m doing,>” Angel spat back.

The Pyrika came hard and fast toward Angel, smashing into her with deceptive force. The lavender Sun Pokémon fell to the ground but immediately rolled to her feet, staring down the coney-like Fire-type Pokémon. Pyrika squealed and shot forth a golden jet of light in a high arc. She had missed Angel badly with her attack – that was the good news. The bad news, though, was the fact that she had missed Angel badly with her attack...and that the exploding jet of saffron light was headed straight for Travis’ head.

Adroitly, Travis fell into a side roll and dodged to the right just as the streak of light exploded right where his head would have been. Pulling out his Pokédex in one move, he muttered, “What the heck is that attack, anyways?! Fireworks – an explosive Fire attack that also blinds the target, lowering accuracy. That’s bad – Angel, use Confusion!”

“<Fine – let’s go!>” Angel shouted. Her gem-like eyes glowed white and a shockwave emanated from the circular jewel on her forehead. This shockwave then proceeded to smash rather mercilessly into Pyrika, who appeared to not have seen it coming. The small mouse hare Pokémon looked straight up at Angel as soon as her own backward momentum had stopped. She raised her mouth straight at Angel and shot forth a cloud of black smoke. This cloud was a lot bigger than they had anticipated, and it engulfed not only Pyrika and Angel, but Travis, Katrina, and Crescent as well.

“<The heck?!>” Crescent shouted. Travis could see Crescent’s rings glowing yellow from where he was standing – but that’s about all he could see.

“Crap – this is a Smokescreen! How am I supposed to hit...” Travis groaned. Angel, meanwhile, was looking to and fro in this thick layer of Stygian smoke. A brown blur entered the cloud from her left, and she turned that way only to be bowled over by Pyrika’s Tackle. Then again, at the speed she’d been moving, that could very well have been a Quick Attack. Either way, it didn’t feel good. Then, the Espeon heard a yell from somewhere semi-distant. “Angel...now would be a good time for a Swift!”

She looked straight ahead of her. The gem core on her head glowed white and began to shoot forth small, star-shaped formations of Megacite – the pure energy that powers attacks such as Mega Punch and Hyper Beam – into the cloud. She shot for a few more seconds. Then, realizing that she was probably failing to hit anything, she stopped. Five seconds later, a creature with a dark brown body came rushing through the cloud and into her very small field of vision. She saw it in her periphery and jumped just as Pyrika would have hit her from the left a second time. However, a straight line of star-shaped energy charges had been chasing Pyrika. She turned around and then felt a burning pain on her back and on the back of her head...

She’d been hit with her own attack. She let out a yelp and rolled over. Now staring down the dark cloud of Smokescreen again, she used Confusion without being ordered, with the hope that the shockwave would blow away a bit of the smoke. Her attack worked, but what she saw behind the veil of black was horrifying.

“ANGEL!” Travis, who could also see what was going on now, shouted immediately. “Fire a Swift attack now or get out of there!!”

Pyrika shot forth the Fireworks attack again – a golden streak of flaming light from her mouth. Angel, heeding Travis’ words, opted for the first choice, firing a star-shaped beam directly at Pyrika’s attack. The two met midway and clashed for supremacy, each momentarily giving up a small bit of ground to the other. Although Angel was holding her ground, it was obvious that she was the more fatigued of the two. Sweat dripped down her lavender face as she attempted to hold her position, which was hard enough. That’s not to mention the fact that she wanted to win outright. A draw was unacceptable. Apparently, Pyrika was thinking the same thing, as another pulse of golden light traveled through the original one, adding more power and finally pushing Angel over the edge.

Her energy to hold the Swift attack gave out and the beam of golden light smashed into her and exploded into a fireworks-like light display, knocking her to the ground. She attempted to stagger to her feet.


“<No...>” she groaned, struggling to stay conscious. “<Can’t...lose...again...>”

She sank to the ground, her energy spent.

“Damn it,” Travis sighed, running over to pick up the Espeon. “Why am I so off...?”

“Mind if I take a shot?” Katrina piped up.

“No – go ahead,” Travis commented, walking over to a large rock next to a tree and seating himself upon it, stroking Angel’s messed-up fur back into place.

“Alright...” Katrina sighed. This would be her chance. She only had one Pokémon, and she could definitely use a second. This Pyrika was pretty powerful, and therefore, would make a fine addition to her team. “Crescent, let’s go!”

Crescent sighed and advanced past Katrina’s ankles into the battle zone. Pyrika stared at him for a moment, understood what his presence meant, and lowered herself into a battle-ready position for a second time.

“<You won’t get lucky twice,>” Crescent growled. He, unlike Angel, had been winning all of his battles, and justifiably felt very sure of himself.

“Quick Attack, Crescent!” Katrina shouted, pointing at the target. Crescent kicked off the ground and became a sable missile, smashing into Pyrika with incredible force and bouncing off again. Landing at his original position, he watched as Pyrika rolled to her feet, her saffron eyes flashing. She opened her mouth and let loose a jet of light, which smashed into Crescent before he could react and promptly exploded, blowing him backwards. Crescent showed a bit of toughness by keeping his feet yet absorbing the full force of Pyrika’s attack. There were a couple of scorch marks on the Umbreon’s face, but that was a moot point as they were pretty much invisible with his pitch-black coat of fur. He looked up, his red eyes narrowing – just to witness a brown blur of fur coming straight at him.

Crescent rolled out of the way and allowed Pyrika, who was using a Quick Attack of her own, to sail straight past him. Pyrika, however, was not to be tricked; she stopped directly in front of Katrina without losing a bit of speed, bounded off in the other direction, and promptly pounded Crescent for all she was worth. Crescent and Pyrika both rolled to their feet simultaneously.

“<She’s good,>” Crescent commented.

“Crescent, use Sand-Attack!” Katrina shouted. Crescent ran straight at Pyrika, who stood her ground and braced for contact. Just as he was about to reach her, however, Crescent changed direction rather quickly, kicking up a copious amount of dust directly into Pyrika’s face. The coney-like Fire-type Pokémon yelped and hiccoughed with the irritation of the dust entering her throat and her eyes. Travis looked up at that point – he had a feeling what was coming next.

“<Hyper Beam?>” Crescent asked, waiting for the call. Katrina, though, shook her head.

“We don’t want to kill her,” she commented. “Instead...use Shadow Ball!”

“<Works for me,>” Crescent commented. Inhaling, he conjured a large ball of energy, the core of which was white, which faded to violet, which then faded to black at its edges. It swelled slightly as black sparks began to crackle and surround it, almost as if Crescent was summoning lightning from hell itself. He fired this ball at Pyrika, who was still shaking dust out of her eyes. With a yelp, Pyrika received the attack as it bowled her over, leaving her on the ground and barely conscious. The golden flame from her prominent, chestnut tail died down to a flicker in her fatigue.

“Should’ve known...” Travis muttered with a sigh.

Katrina pulled a Pokéball off her belt and enlarged it. She reared her hand back and prepared to throw, but took one look at Travis, who was sitting on the rock and attempting to comfort Angel, who had just come to. The Espeon, watching from Travis’ lap, had seen the very end of the battle. When her eyes met with those of Crescent, she managed to deliver him a weak smile. Travis, right then, noticed that Katrina was hesitating. She had the ball out but seemed to be refusing to throw it.

What was she waiting for?

If it had been a Zigzagoon, she probably would have been able to wait about five or ten minutes and she probably would have found another one. But Pyrika didn’t just stray into your path six to ten times every hour – they were extremely rare, and if Katrina let this one escape, there would be a very good chance she would never see another one...let alone a wild one...for a long time. Yet, Katrina didn’t seem to want to throw the ball.

Meanwhile, she stood there with the ball in her hand. It seemed as if she was mere seconds away from releasing it...but something was holding her back. She continued to look at his eyes from where she was standing. That fire that he always had in his eyes when she saw him battle in his first journey – it just didn’t seem to be there anymore. For some reason, it just didn’t seem like his heart was in it. Perhaps she had come to a rather dangerous point in her relationship with him, but she felt nowadays like she didn’t need this as much as he did.

Did she even want to have success as a Trainer here in Hoenn?

There was that small part of her that was still a competitor. But if she somehow got into the tournament without him...which seemed almost bound to happen, the way things were going now...it just wouldn’t feel right.

She wondered what was going so wrong with him lately. He hadn’t won a single battle since he’d set foot in Hoenn. She didn’t want to believe it herself, let alone say it to him, but...maybe the fact was that his mind simply wasn’t ready for a journey. Maybe, as she had thought for a short time, it would never be.

The scars formed from the knives of his dark history ran deep...deep as rivers that drowned you in liquid despair – drowned you before sending you to the surface, half the person you once were.

Half the person he once was...but, at the same time, it wasn’t true.

He had become a better and (if possible) more likable person in the two years since the war ended. He wasn’t quite so serious all the time. He still had issues with his temper from time to time. Whenever he got upset with someone, it was hard to calm him down – especially if they said or did anything that reminded him of the war. Not even the hardiest of men could stay the same after witnessing what he had witnessed, fighting what he had fought...

...and he had been no man. He had been a boy, barely thirteen. A boy with dreams and aspirations for the future. Aspirations that stood the chance of never being fulfilled with him in his present state.

The doctors had told her...the doctors had told everyone...by the time his body healed enough to do any long-term traveling, he would be sixteen. Perhaps it was Travis’ determination to get here more quickly that pushed his body to heal itself. But, if the scars on the mind and the heart don’t heal as quickly as the body, then...

“What’s wrong?” Travis’ voice snapped her out of her twisted musing. She gasped slightly when she realized that he was standing right next to him, with his hand on her shoulder. “You earned it – go on.”

Katrina didn’t respond.


“Go on,” Travis said more firmly this time. “If you’re so worried about catching her in front of me, I’ll turn around.”

Katrina watched as Travis went around behind her and turned his back to her and to Pyrika. Something seemed different about him. She slowly turned around, facing away from him and toward Pyrika. She slowly raised the Pokéball in the air and then threw it at Pyrika, who was starting to struggle to her feet. The ball tapped her on the forehead, hovered away for a second, and then opened, ingesting her in the form of bright red light. The red-and-white sphere hit the ground with a tap. Then, whirring, it shook once...

Twice...

Three times...

And then stopped. She walked over slowly to pick up the ball containing her new Pokémon. Now she and Travis had two each. In that category, she and Travis were doing rather well. Speaking of Travis, Katrina now heard a voice behind her.

“Good job,” he said. There was a strange kind of color to his voice – he didn’t sound bitter or jealous, but he definitely wasn’t himself. He turned around back toward her, smiling. “You pulled that one off just right.”

Normally, out of gratitude or at least out of courtesy, Katrina would have thanked him for such a compliment. Today, though, he seemed just a bit cold and distant. She sighed.

“C’mon,” she said. “I looked at the Navigator earlier, and it says that there’s a good place to set up a campsite just past this forest. We’ll stop and have lunch there.”

It was about an hour after this that Katrina finished the last of her sandwich. It had to have been one of the most painful meals that Katrina had been forced to endure in a long while. Travis said nothing to her. He was silent and almost lethargic. Never in their entire two years of being together had Travis and Katrina been face-to-face without saying a word to each other. Presently, Travis wasn’t even sitting across from her. He was in the distance, sitting alone at the very top of the hill, staring out at the sky. She had seen him this contemplative before, but he wasn’t quite so depressed. Not even Angel could snap him out of it. In fact, it seemed like Travis’ depression was worse every time Angel was around. There was tension there. Everyone could feel it – especially Katrina. For her, it was getting harder and harder for her to take.

Groaning, Katrina stood and walked over to where Travis was sitting. She stopped directly on his left. It disturbed her barely when she realized that it took him five seconds to register her presence. He looked like his mind was somewhere else at the moment.

“Something’s up with you,” Katrina didn’t just say – she gave a firm, peremptory statement. “What’s wrong?”

“We might be on the same side for now...” Travis sighed. “But...if we both make it to the Emerald League...”

“When,” Katrina said firmly. “There’s no ‘if’.”

“Speak for yourself,” Travis said bitterly. “At the rate I’m going...”

“You’re just rusty – that’s all,” Katrina said, looking across the skyline as well. “Not to mention you’re going up against Pokémon you’ve never seen before. Hoenn’s a completely different world than what we’re used to. Heck, even the government system is different.”

“Hoenn has a king, right?” Travis asked. He’d heard something about that.

“Yeah – Hoenn’s ruled by a royal family,” Katrina said. “Even has its own knights...”

“I wonder how those knights are...” Travis mused. “I guess it depends on the king, right?”

“I guess so...but you’d hope that, regardless of what the king’s like, a real knight would be strong and virtuous,” Katrina said, a significant smile flickering across her lips like a candle in the wind. “Speaking of kings...”

Travis looked up at her. She stretched and sat down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Doesn’t this place remind you of King’s Mound?” she asked.

“King’s Mound?” Travis repeated. Katrina sighed in exasperation, shifting herself over Travis’ leg and into his lap. She leaned into his chest, looking up at him.

“Okay, now I know something’s wrong with you,” she said. “I know you remember where King’s Mound is.”

Travis sighed and his mind went back a couple of years. King’s Mound was on the road from Goldenrod to Ecruteak. It was a hilly grassland known for its beautiful scenic views. More importantly, though...it was the first place that Travis and Katrina had traveled together as a couple. It had been two years...but a long two years, and Travis hardly remembered the place until Katrina brought it back to the front of his mind. For the first time in a day or two, a smile crossed his lips.

“You told me we’d be together forever,” he said nostalgically. “Back then, I thought you were just saying that, but now...”

Katrina looked up at him hopefully.

“Now you actually believe me?” she asked.

“Forever’s a long time,” Travis sighed. “But you’ve been putting up with me for almost two years, so I guess that’s a start.”

Katrina looked up at him. “You’re not as much of a burden as you think you are.”

“I know – I’m worse,” Travis commented with a bitter smile.

“You’re too hard on yourself,” Katrina sighed. “You’ve just gotten here, and you should still be recovering, anyway.”

“Am I not?” Travis muttered. He looked over the field with a resigned sort of smile on his face. Katrina responded with a heavy sigh.

“You’re being a downer,” Katrina commented, looking up at him. “Looks like you need some cheering up.”

“I’m not a d–“ Travis didn’t get to finish his statement, as Katrina laid a kiss on his lips.

“Yes, you are,” Katrina said with a teasing tone in her voice. “You’re depressing.”

She kissed him again.


“Hey!!” Travis’ eyes switched focus from his girlfriend to the bottom of the hill. There, a young boy stood at the bottom of the hill, pointing up at the two teen trainers with his left index finger. “You two are Trainers, aren’t you?!”

“Weren’t we rudely interrupted that time, too?” Katrina asked – although she already knew the answer. Travis saw an opportunity and whispered into Katrina’s ear.

“I’ll take him this time,” he said. Katrina stood up and allowed Travis to do the same. Travis slowly descended the hill and, as his steps took him lower, his eyes got a better look at the challenger. He might have been twelve...might have been. But he was...well, a shrimp. Whereas Travis was just over five and a half feet tall, this kid was a head and a half shorter – five feet tall, at a generously high estimate. He wore a bright red cap, which was fitted on his head backwards. Out from under this cap came messy, black hair that sat upon his eyebrows, which sat in turn upon dark, brown eyes. Under this head was a rather skinny neck. Under this neck was a chest that was covered by a white t-shirt. Below this shirt were a pair of khaki shorts that stopped right above knee level, exposing ashy, scabbed knees and extremely skinny shins.

“My name’s Brian and I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!” the boy shouted. “I just caught a new Pokémon, and I’m looking to try him out!”

“That’s a coincidence,” Travis said, taking a ball off of his belt and enlarging it. “Same here.”

“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine!” Brian shouted, jumping back and running to the foot of a neighboring hill. Travis took two steps back, placing himself at the foot of the hill on which he and Katrina had stopped to have lunch.

“Alright – Champ, let’s go!” Travis yelled, throwing the ball into the air. It burst open, shooting forth an extremely bright, white light toward the ground. This amorphous light took form and faded to reveal a green, gecko-like creature with a bright red belly and a prominent, dark green tail.

“<First-round pick ready to rock!>” Champ shouted, performing a flip for show and imitating a martial-arts stance.

“A Treecko? My brother got a Treecko when he left two years ago,” Brian commented. “I still think we can take you, though. Porcuspine!”

Brian slung his Pokéball into the air. It rose to about ten feet from the ground and dropped, bursting open and shooting forth a white light of its own. This light shrank substantially until it formed into a hedgehog-like creature – brown and barely a foot off of the ground, it that.

“Porcuspine?” Travis muttered, taking out his Pokédex. “Normal-type known for its defense. Lack of speed...we’ll just have to outpace them.”

“Porcuspine’s defense is near impenetrable!!” Brian exclaimed.

“Can you keep up, with Champ, though?” Travis asked. “Use Pound attack!”

The Treecko planted one foot on the ground and took off toward Porcuspine. He closed the distance between them in four steps and on the fifth, he stopped and pivoted on his foot, bringing his tail around to make contact with the Hedgehog Pokémon’s flank. With less than two seconds to react, Porcuspine was far too slow. He took the hit full-force, flying a substantial distance because of his lack of size. Porcuspine hit the ground and rolled to his feet. Squeaking loudly, he scuttled forward, apparently angry enough to blow smoke out of his nostrils.

“Good shot!” Travis shouted.

“<Home team: one; other guys: zip!!>” Champ exclaimed enthusiastically. “<Want some more?>”


“Crap...” Brian muttered. “Porcuspine, use Tackle attack!”

Porcuspine scuttled along the ground again, its many spines standing on end, and rushed Champ. Champ, having the speed advantage, dodges left just as Porcuspine gets there. Porcuspine changed direction and rushed the green Wood Gecko again. Champ dodged a second time by performing a rather fancy flip out of Porcuspine’s path. This, however, caused Champ to stay in the air a second too long, which resulted in Porcuspine catching up with him and delivering a sharp blow to the Treecko, knocking him backward. Getting his feet under him, he skidded to a stop only to be hit a second time by Porcuspine, who was still moving. Champ hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop at Travis’ feet. Staggering to his feet, Champ looked up at Porcuspine with a fire in his eyes.

“<Time-out...>” Champ grunted. “<That didn’t feel good at all...>”

“Not this time,” Travis groaned. “Champ, try another Pound!”

For a second time, Champ took several quick strides toward Porcuspine and began to pivot on his back foot.

“Defense Curl, now!” Brian shouted. As hedgehogs are known to do, Porcuspine curled up into a ball and caused all of the hundreds of little spines on his tiny, brown body to stand erect. As Champ smashed his tail into the minuscule Normal-type, these spines took the full force of the blow, thereby protecting Porcuspine from much of the damage he would have sustained. But it also had another effect.

“<Ouch!>” Champ groaned, favoring his tail. “<Hey, what the heck?!>”

“What happened?!” Travis shouted in shock and worry. He then recounted those last ten seconds in his mind. “Those spines...damn it!”

To add to Travis’ problems, the adrenaline rush that Champ had been feeling for most of his first battle had worn off, and the puncture wounds from the repeated Tackle attacks became very noticeable to him. Champ fell to one knee, in obvious pain and also appearing to be very tired.

“Finish him off!” Brian shouted. “Pin Missile!”

Travis’ eyes went wide. Despite Porcuspine being a Normal-type, Pin Missile, he remembered, was classified as a Bug-type attack. Bug-type moves tended to do very well against pure Grass-types like a Treecko. To make matters worse, Champ couldn’t move – they were screwed.

Champ took the majority of the spines that Porcuspine had fired from his back to his own, bright red belly. Completely out of energy and severely wounded, he teetered backward on his heels and then hit the ground with a thud and a slight kick-up of dust. Katrina, having witnessed the battle from the top of the hill, sighed morosely.

“Good job, Porcuspine!” Brian exclaimed, pumping his fist while the small Hedgehog Pokémon squeaked in celebration. “Hey, you put up a good fight, but it looks like Porcuspine and I outlasted you!”

Travis didn’t bother to say anything, or to even look at Brian as he returned his Pokémon and left. Travis returned Champ to his ball and sighed. Katrina was descending down the hill, but he didn’t hear her or pay any attention to her words of encouragement. Only one thing stood out in his mind –

He had lost, again – and, what was worse, he had lost to a boy that was very obviously a rookie. In fact, Travis wasn’t even sure the boy had been old enough to get his Trainer’s License and participate in the Emerald League.

[Kazekage]

I'll review later

gotta go read

[EonMaster One]

~~~ *** ~~~

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” he muttered to himself. “If someone had told me I was going to be this bad at it, I wouldn’t have bothered becoming a Trainer. Even when I put up a fight, I wind up with absolutely nothing. Maybe what Matt said about me was right...I’m all washed up – a has-been. I should’ve accepted the truth...I knew I wouldn’t be the same once the war was over, but a part of me still tried holding on. Now, I’m paying for being so...unrealistic.”

“What are you mumbling about, Travis?” Katrina’s voice snapped Travis back to reality. It was only at that point that Travis realized that he’d been walking around in a daze for quite a while. They had since packed their things and were back on Route 102. They were crossing through another wooded area that was actually very bright due to the filtering sunlight that was shining in through the trees. Travis saw on several trees the royal-blue flying type known by species as Taillow. However, he wasn’t about to push his luck and try to capture one – what luck, anyways? He hadn’t had a lick of it since he’d arrived nearly a week ago.

“Nothing,” Travis lied. I shouldn’t have been so greedy, that’s it. I had my life, I had peace, I had her...and it wasn’t good enough for me. I had to try to be Champion. That’s what’s going on. This must be my punishment for being greedy.

<You didn’t give up on your dream – that’s not greedy,> another voice – a female voice – sounded in his head. Travis looked around and then down to find Angel looking up at him with her gem-like eyes. Again, he had forgotten that she could read his mind.

I didn’t accept reality. That is, he thought.

<Good grief,> even in Travis’ head, Angel’s voice now sounded exasperated. <Seems like we’ve told you a thousand times since we’ve been here. You’re way–>

“...too hard on myself. How can you say that?” Travis thought – or, he thought that he’d thought...and when I say ‘thought’, I mean ‘thought silently’. Apparently, as it’d gotten Katrina’s attention, he had either thought really loud – or there was something that Katrina wasn’t telling him.

“Because you are,” Katrina responded for Angel. “You put too much pressure on yourself nowadays. This was supposed to be a fun journey – we were supposed to enjoy it, remember?”

“Easy for you to say,” Travis spat a bit more harshly than he would have liked. “Your family doesn’t expect so much of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katrina asked, raising her voice.

“No matter how much I try to come off as this average joe, the fact still is that my grandfather was a Pokémon Champion,” Travis said, not meeting Katrina’s eye. “I’ve got a lot to live up to – especially now that he’s gone...”

“You’re not your grandfather,” Katrina said. “You have a totally different path to follow, and you have to follow your heart and do what you think is right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Travis exclaimed. “Are you saying I’m not meant to become Champion? That I’m just wasting my time here? That’s completely fine. I’ll just go back to Littleroot and catch the next ship home if that’s the case. And you can stay here if you want, since you’re actually doing well.”

“What?” Katrina gasped. “I only came out here because of you!”

“Obviously, I’m not worth all that!” Travis shouted. “Don’t worry about me. You’ve still got a shot, but let’s face it – that war ruined my life and any chance I ever had of even being a good Trainer, let alone Champion.”

“You know what?” Katrina said, her voice now deathly quiet. “Maybe you’re right. Only people with a winner’s mentality make good Champions – and you don’t have that.”

Travis, stung to the heart by her words, turned his back on her. The hard look faded from Katrina’s face as she realized that she might have made a mistake.

“Mentality only makes a difference when you have talent,” he said, starting to walk away. “I don’t have that – so ‘mentality’...that’s pretty much a moot point.”

“<Wait!>” Angel started after him, but Katrina stopped her.

“Don’t,” she said morosely. “He doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now.”

“<What’s wrong with you?!>” Angel lashed out at Katrina, her gem-like eyes watering. “<You know better than anyone what he’s been through, and still...>”

“I know...” Katrina sighed. “I’ve just got this thing about people who give up. He’s got no reason to give up; he has a history as a winner. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“<You don’t know? Well, fine – let me tell you!>” Angel shouted. “<You might have visited just about every day after it happened, but you weren’t there during the night – you didn’t hear him tossing and turning in bed, screaming and shouting to the darkness!>”

“But I know it happened!” Katrina retorted. “He told me. He tells me everything!”

“<So how could you set your mouth to lecture him about ‘mentality’, then?!>” Angel shouted. “<His ‘mind’ was shattered to pieces during that war. You know that as well as I do.>”

Angel turned her head toward the direction in which Travis had run off.

“<Angel!>” Crescent cried out.

Without turning around, Angel responded. “<I’m sorry...but someone has to be there for him if neither of you will.>”

Katrina stood still as the gravity of what she’d done hit her. For the first time in years, she was unsure of how he felt about her – could he forgive her after she’d said something like that?

He sat in a clearing, completely alone. He had circled around her and had moved ahead on Route 102.

Mentality...

How could she say anything to her about mentality? It’d been over two years since his mind had been right. That wasn’t even his fault. She should have tried fighting that enemy...

...but she had.

So what excuse could she give? It wasn’t ignorance. When someone wants to throw in the towel, you should respect their wishes and not force them to stay in and keep getting pounded – that’s how he felt. She could yell at him until she was blue in the face, for all he cared – he wasn’t going back to Johto, much less empty-handed. Back home, with only the nightmares and the bad memories of that place to accompany him? There was no way. He refused to do it. He was going to disavow Johto as his homeland – become an expatriate...and the only way to do that was to be a Champion.


But how could he become Champion without winning a single match?

How could he become Champion by losing to trainers less experienced than he was?

How could he become Champion without even the support of those he cared about?

The answer was – he couldn’t.

So, his only other option was to rot away here until starvation took him. No one would miss him – no one would weep for him. No one would mourn a shadow...

That was what he had become. A shadow...of his former self.

And he could not abandon the sword – the symbol of his lineage and the source of his power. Two days in Hoenn had taught him that. There were people who sought his sword here as well. If that young man or anyone else came for this sword, he wouldn’t be as merciful next time. He would blow them away with his full power – grant them, through the point of flaming steel, a one-way ticket to the hell he had gone through. He would never be able to close the wounds – all he could do was stop the bleeding...by spilling the blood of anyone who still wanted him to bleed. Ironic, but true.

He heard a sound behind him.

“Who’s there?!” he shouted, springing up to his feet and pulling out his sword all in one motion. He saw a nearby bush shake slightly. Out of it rolled a small, lavender, fox-like creature that Travis recognized. She was panting, and the eyelids that covered her gem-like eyes appeared heavy with fatigue.

“<I finally...found you,>” she sighed. “<Where have you been? It’s been...hours...>”

She stumbled forward, teetering dangerously. It appeared that she’d either been wounded or was very tired...or a little bit of both.

“<I’ve got no luck at all,>” she groaned, getting her feet under her. “<Just so happens, as I was trying to find you...a swarm of Dustox pops up out of nowhere. How many did I fight my way through – ten, twenty? I lost count, but I didn’t care.>”

“Angel...” Travis groaned weakly, kneeling out and extending his arms. “You’re hurt.”

“<You try fighting a dozen Dustox at the same time while they’re all trying to poison you,>” Angel said just as weakly. “<It’s not easy.>”

Travis caught her as she fell into his arms. Clutching her close to him, he asked, “Why?”

“<I’m still on your side,>” Angel said. “<I wasn’t sure about them at first, but I think...she just made a mistake. She’s looking for you – but she’s tied up.>”

“Tied up?” Travis repeated.

“<Don’t go anywhere,>” Angel replied. “<Just wait.>”

“How many times do I have to say this to you? I don’t have time for this!” Katrina shouted at a girl of about thirteen with brown hair and wearing a white blouse and a blue miniskirt. She looked rather like a schoolgirl. Crescent was snarling at her impatiently. Both of them had somewhere they wanted to be right now, and this girl was in the way.


“You’re a Trainer – you’re supposed to,” the brunette girl said snippily, flipping her hair snobbishly with her hand.

“Well, I’ve got something a little more important than you to deal with,” Katrina said, pulling a Pokéball off of her belt and enlarging it. “Now, look, Jadyn, or whatever your name is – move out of my way or I’ll make you.”

“Fine,” Jadyn replied, enlarging a Pokéball of her own. “Ziggy, let’s go!”

Jadyn threw her ball into the air. Out of it burst a striped, brown raccoon-like Pokémon, complete with the facial ‘mask’ – Zigzagoon, the most common Normal-type known to Hoenn.

“A Zigzagoon? That’s it? You’ll have to do better than that,” Katrina replied harshly. “Amber, go!”

She threw a Pokéball of her own into the air. It smacked against the ground and burst open to reveal a hare-like creature whose tail erupted into golden flames. This was none other than the Pyrika she’d caught earlier today. This Pokémon announced her presence on the field by shooting a golden streak of light from her mouth that promptly ascended several feet into the air and exploded in beautiful fireworks.

“Wha–“ Jadyn looked taken aback at first, but tried her best to keep on a good game face. “Doesn’t matter! Ziggy, use Headbutt!”

Ziggy took off in a straight line toward the Pyrika, the top of his head glowing a slight bit.

“Dodge and use Tackle!” Katrina yelled. Amber rolled to her left, barely avoiding the Zigzagoon’s quick blow. She responded with a weak body charge that knocked Ziggy a couple of feet backward. However, since Amber didn’t get any momentum behind the attack, Ziggy wasn’t damaged that terribly. The brown Tinyraccoon Pokémon and Amber stalked around in a circle, each looking for an opening.

“Headbutt, now!” Jadyn shouted.

“Dodge!” Katrina yelled in response. Amber was able to get out of the way out of the charging Normal-type Zigzagoon, who overextended himself badly and was careening straight for a tree. To Katrina’s great surprise, however, Ziggy was able to plant his feet on the tree and effectively ricochet off of it, coming back at an unguarded Amber at nearly double momentum. He smashed into her and knocked her to the ground rather forcefully.

“<Ouch! Anybody get the number of that truck?>” Amber spoke for the first time, staggering to her feet.

“<‘That truck’ is right behind you,>” Crescent warned. Amber turned around and jumped backward just as Ziggy skidded to a stop right where she would have been. Ziggy took off again, his head glowing white. Amber had barely landed before she was forced to roll sideways to avoid Ziggy’s head for a second time.

“<There’s a real truck around? Where?>” Amber shouted, looking around.

“<Geez...>” Crescent muttered to himself, groaning in exasperation. “<This is gonna be a long trip. My ditz radar’s going off.>”

“<What are you muttering about?>” Amber asked nonchalantly.

“<Hello – Battle!>” Crescent yelled. Amber turned around and let out a scream just as Ziggy came crashing into her, knocking her backward. “<Is your attention span always that short?!>”

“<Hey, that was a cheap shot!>” Amber groaned. Then, putting on a sad face just for show, she whined. “<That hurt...you’re gonna make me cwy...>”


“<Urgh...what in the blue hell?>” Crescent muttered in exasperation.

“Enough playing around!” Katrina shouted, probably more to Amber then to Jadyn. “Use Fireworks!”

“<One Zigzagoon, PWNED and well-done, coming right up!>” Amber shouted, firing a golden streak of light at Ziggy, who wasn’t ready for it by a long shot. It smashed into him and exploded, knocking him to the ground. As Zigzagoon are not necessarily known for their ability to take big hits, this was all that Ziggy could stand. His eyes reappeared as two giant swirls on his head, signifying that he was far away in dreamland by now.

Crescent smiled in approval and said, “<You might be a little...nuts, but you can fight.>”

“<Really? Thank you. Tee-hee!>” Amber giggled, blushing and running over to Crescent. You can imagine his surprise and embarrassment when she began to lick him on the cheek rather mercilessly.

“<Hey – cut that out – stop – no – Quit it! I’ve already got a girlfriend!>” Crescent groaned.

“<Really? Where is she?>” Amber asked with the air of a little child.

“<No idea...we’re looking for her and this guy....>” Crescent said.

“<Wait a second...I think I remember...the Espeon and the boy with the blue hair?>” Amber said enthusiastically. “<The Espeon’s the same one I beat up earlier, right?>”

“<You got lucky,>” Crescent said airily.

“<That’s not very nice,>” Amber pouted. “<You’re mean. I don’t like you anymore.>”

And she walked away from Crescent to continue fighting.

“<Fine – suit yourself,>” Crescent muttered. “<I know she’s going to have me wishing for death before this is all over...>”

“Oh, no...” Jadyn groaned in disapproval. “I wasn’t ready for that...fine, then – if that’s how you want to play...let’s go, Royal!”

She threw another ball into the air. The Pokémon that burst out of this one did indeed materialize in the air as the ball fell on its own back into Jadyn’s outstretched palm. Katrina could see it from here – a small, blue bird Pokémon by the name of Taillow.

“A flyer...” Katrina muttered. “Amber, use Fireworks!”

Amber reared back and shot a golden streak of light into the air. Upon Jadyn’s order, Royal barrel rolled in midair to avoid the beam of light and the subsequent explosion, all the while descending toward Amber’s position.

“You’re way too slow!” Jadyn taunted. “Royal, use Quick Attack!”

Royal became a blur and began to move so quickly that Katrina could not even see the blue of its feathers anymore.

“That’s too fast!” she exclaimed as she witnessed her Pyrika being bowled over by Royal, who had swooped in very close to the ground for an attack. Royal reappeared going behind Amber and cawed loudly.

“<That was...>” Amber squealed. “<...ouchy...>”

“Amber, use Fireworks again!” Katrina shouted. Amber turned around and shot a golden stream of flame at Royal, who took off into the air, thereby avoiding the attack. Unfortunately, the Fireworks attack was now bearing down on Crescent rather quickly, and the Umbreon was forced to hit the deck and roll out of the way.

“<Watch –>” Crescent yelled as he heard an explosion behind him. “<...where you’re aiming that!>”

“<Whoopsy...>” Amber piped up, wearing a sheepish grin on her face.

“<Urgh...I wish she’d told me to use Hyper Beam...>” Crescent muttered to himself.

“Amber, watch out!” Katrina shouted worriedly – but too late. She was hit again by the advancing Taillow and received a rather vicious wing across the face.

“<What are you doing?!>” Crescent shouted. “<She doesn’t need any more head shots!>”

“<I’m really...dizzy...>” Amber sighed dreamily before falling to the ground, knocked out.

“Good job, Royal!” Jadyn shouted. “Ha! Now, beat that!”

Katrina smiled smugly, returning Amber to her Pokéball. “You’ve been holding me up for the past five minutes – now, I’m tired of it. Crescent, finish them off.”

“<My pleasure,>” Crescent said. Then, muttering so Katrina couldn’t hear him, he added, “<As long as I don’t have to hear Amber talk for the rest of my natural life.>”

“Use Quick Attack!” Jadyn ordered. Royal proceeded to attempt to dive-bomb Crescent at this point – but his mistake was coming at the Umbreon in a straight line.

Katrina was through playing games. She had somewhere to be. Somewhere very important.

“Crescent,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Use Hyper Beam.”

Travis continued to rub together the two sticks he had found over a slightly larger pile of wood that he had gathered from various surrounding places. Night had fallen, and there was still no sign of Katrina and Crescent, so Travis decided to camp here in this clearing for the night. He still wasn’t very sure what he’d do. Part of him wanted to move on, on his own – he wouldn’t be slowing anyone down, then. But there was a part of him that did indeed give up. That part of him wanted to make the trek back to Littleroot Town, in hopes of finding a ship that would bear him back to Johto.

The sticks continued to grind away at each other with no sign of a flame.

“<Need more wood, Coach?>” Champ piped up.

“That’s okay,” Travis sighed. He tried a few more times before he realized that this was an exercise in futility. Throwing the sticks down onto the pile, he muttered morosely, “Story of my life.”

He leaned back a bit on his hands and sat there in a daze for a while. Suddenly, he felt a light and a flickering warmth on his face. He took a closer look at the wood pile. He, Angel, and Champ all put some distance between themselves and what was now basically a pillar of combustion worthy of a bonfire.


“What the heck?” he muttered, looking over his shoulder. Standing there and returning a Pokémon to the Pokéball in her hand...an Umbreon at her left ankle...there she was. She had come looking for him. He watched her as she silently trudged around him. Completely entranced...wondering what she was going to say...or do...

She turned toward him. The fire behind her set her beautiful silhouette aglow. Even from a distance, he could see her blue eyes shining.

Then she pounced.

Before Travis could even react, she had knocked him to the ground, pinned him, and straddled him all in the same motion. He felt a slight mark forming on his jaw where she’d just punched him. Her eyes narrowed as she lowered her own nose to his.

“You’re such a jerk,” she growled, smiling a smile that clearly told Travis that her intentions were not good. “We’ve been looking for you for hours. I was halfway back to Oldale before I realized that you’d given me the slip and doubled back the other way. I’ve been walking around this damn forest all evening. Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?”

Travis couldn’t think of anything. His mind was numb. On the one hand – he wasn’t completely complaining about this predicament...although, to be fair, it definitely wasn’t the most chaste or platonic position in which to be. But the question was, was it worth the pummeling he was about to receive?

She stared a hole straight into his brain for what seemed like hours. Travis’ face was in a permanent flinching motion, as he was waiting for a punch, a slap...something. He waited for what seemed like an eternity, until, slowly, she tilted her head...

...and kissed him.

“<Isn’t that sweet,>” a female voice sounded to the right of Crescent, who was to the right of Angel, who was to the right of a relaxing Champ. All three of the aforementioned Pokémon turned their heads to the right simultaneously.

“<ARGH!>” Crescent jumped about five feet in to the air. “<Amber, what the hell?! I thought you were in your ball!>”

“<Balls...they’re overrated,>” Amber said. “<...That’s why I’m glad I’m a girl.>”

All three of the other Pokémon felt their jaws drop to the ground with no control over them.

“<What?!>” Crescent groaned, “<That is so...not what the hell I was talking about!>”

“<Throw a flag!>” Champ piped in. “<Personal foul – unnecessary insanity!>”

Angel had a sweatdrop beside her head that was so large, the other two wouldn’t have been surprised if Magikarp were swimming in it.

“<You think I’m insane?>” Amber said, stalking around Angel and Crescent toward the Treecko, who craned his head around to see her coming. “<You think I’m cuckoo?....Huh, little Treecko?...How about I burn your little green derriere to a crisp? Then you’ll see how ‘insane’ I am!!>”

“<What’s a ‘derriere’? That’s not in my playbook,>” Champ muttered. Seeing Amber inhale, he realized what was going on and shouted, “<Oh, sh–>”

“<This is going to be very interesting,>” Crescent sighed. Shaking his head, he added, “<I can’t believe she actually said that...>”

“<She’s even worse than Cannon...>” Angel muttered. “<I thought he was a nutjob...>”


“<I’m not sure she’s a ‘nutjob’, Angel,>” Crescent said. “<Her diet could just have some very ‘special’ mushrooms...>”

“<Special...mushrooms?>” Angel choked, fighting down a laugh. “<I love you. Now, let’s break this up before one of us loses a teammate.>”

“<I guess we don’t have a choice...>” Crescent sighed, as Amber was now chasing Champ around the bonfire. Meanwhile, Katrina had allowed Travis off his back into a sitting position – and was now behind him, draped over his shoulder as they talked to each other.

“You know I love you, right?” she asked, pecking him on the cheek.

“Yeah,” Travis replied laconically.

“And that I’d never try to hurt you?” (She kissed him on the cheek again.)

“Yeah.”

“And that I’d never let you go that easily?”

“Yeah.”

“And that one-word answers get really irritating after two or three of them?”

“...”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah.”

She hugged him so tightly that he was nearly a victim of strangulation. He smiled again – because all was right in the world. Maybe not from Johto to the far reaches of Sinnoh...maybe not that world...but in their world, tonight, everything was back to how it should have been. So, the challenges would come...

Let them come.

Her voice and presence gave him strength to fight...even if some fights ended up being losing battles.

[EonMaster One]

~~~ *** ~~~

The young man’s eyes searched the skyline and found a cerulean horizon – a horizon that signaled that dawn was quickly approaching. He gazed down the darkened pathway. It was just as he thought – soldiers in foreboding-looking black armor were patrolling the streets. He began to move swiftly and quietly down the roads, hoping that he would not be seen. Then again – he had been trained for stealth at one point, so he was better at it than others.

Out of the corner of his golden-brown eyes, he caught a glimpse of something – a young woman was up before the sun as well. She looked like one of the ordinary townsfolk, out to take a brisk morning walk.

The young man heard a rattling and stopped cold in the shadow of one of the houses. He had kicked up a small stone in his movements – a rookie mistake. He swore mentally as he saw a man with a black helmet, a black chestplate, and shoulder pads turn around. This man was obviously light infantry – a common rank-and-file soldier. He was accompanied by another light infantryman whose hair was visible even under his helmet. The second soldier appeared to be older, as he had a full beard of brown flecked with auburn, whereas the other was clean-shaven and looked, in fact, like he could not grow facial hair if he tried.

“Hey, kid, what’re you looking at?” the older soldier spoke, as the young man predicted, in a gruff-sounding voice.

“I heard something,” the younger soldier replied. The young man in the shadows did his level best to keep even his breathing silent. Of course, with no reinforcements around, he could just shoot them – that was his normal way of doing things – but, he had somewhere to be and someone that he had to meet...very soon, and the bodies of two dead soldiers laying in the middle of the road at sunrise wouldn’t do much to help secrecy.

After about six seconds, the older soldier grunted, “Boy, you’re bein’ paranoid. You think someone’d dare try to ambush us? We’re the army of His Imperial Majesty. We hold all the power around here. And if someone does try something stupid, we just kill ‘em. Simple as that.”

It was all the young man in the shadows could do to keep from pouncing on them in that moment. He was calling himself ‘Imperial Majesty’...trying to set himself up as an Emperor. Kings are content, most of the time, to rule the land they inherited from whoever was last in line. Emperors, however, were an entirely different story. Emperors – true emperors – had no qualms about taking over neighboring nations and ruling them with an iron fist. This young man knew that the current king had that attitude – consolidate his own power and crush all opposition. This was exactly why there were guards in the streets of Petalburg City for no good reason except to intimidate the people. It was just a good thing that...with his current occupation, he had put ‘them’ off of his trail. If ‘they’ were still after him, then the King’s soldiers would be the least of his worries.

“Hey!” the young man heard yelling in the distance.

“You can’t do this!” he then heard the shriek of a young woman – was it that same young woman he’d seen leaving her home moments ago? Had she been captured?

“We’re the King’s soldiers. We can do whatever the hell we – want!” another voice joined the clamor and the young man heard a sound of contact. He couldn’t see anything from here, but his guess was that the young woman had just been struck. How dishonorable – men that call themselves knights attacking a woman before dawn...cowardly. If he had his way, they would all be dead.

But, alas, he had to wait...wait and hope that they didn’t kill her...because he had somewhere to go.

“Something’s going on over there – let’s move!” he heard the older infantryman shout.

“Right!” the younger footman replied, and both of them ran down the road and out of sight.

Amazed at his fortune, the young man moved from one shadow into the next, until he finally came upon an alleyway that led to a dead end between two buildings. There were about six feet between the buildings – he would have barely been able to stretch himself out between them and fit. He immediately ran into a man with a green hood over his head and covering his eyes.

“Hello,” the hooded man said.

“ ‘Sup,” the young man said lazily, massaging his neck in a nonchalant manner.

“What is more precious to you – rubies or sapphires?” the hooded man asked. The young man smiled and didn’t take this as an awkward question. He had seen it coming. He opened his mouth and gave a strange answer.

“Emeralds,” he said.


Instantly, as if he’d said some sort of secret password, the hooded man parted to let him past. As soon as he was in, the hooded youth, like a human gate, turned and barred the way again. The young man started down the alley. He took three steps, and then turned around.

“Good job, Cal – you’re getting the hang of this,” he said. Truth be told, the youth that was guarding the alleyway was a year younger than he. Technically, by the country’s laws, he was still a boy – but he had been assigned to this task and was doing a very good job of it. The young man turned and continued to walk down the alley. He reached the end of it and hung a right, opening a door there. Inside appeared to be a dilapidated living room. From the roof hung one light – and rather precariously, at that. The walls were cracked in places and from one of them hung a picture of a sunrise over mountains. At least, that’s what the young man thought that it had been at one time. Now, it was broken in two and severely faded. He stepped inside and down two stairs. Both of them creaked, alerting two men that were sitting at a table and appeared to be playing chess to his presence.

“Oh, you’re here,” one of them said. Both of them appeared to be wearing the same green hoods that the boy outside had been wearing. They both turned their chairs toward the young man, who plopped himself rather lazily on the broken-down sofa at the near side of the room. His bronze eyes studied both men intently for a few seconds before anyone spoke.

“So...back from your little scouting mission,” the second hooded man said. “How much trouble did you stir up this time?”

“Just a little,” the young man replied. Then, smirking, he added, “But the information I did get is well worth the trouble.”

The two hooded men now stared at this young man intently.

“And what’s that?” the first one asked.

“One of the other two is here in Hoenn,” the young man said.

For the calmness of his statement, you would have thought that someone had just dropped a bombshell in the dimly lit room. Both of the hooded men’s expressions changed instantly, as they knew exactly what this youth was talking about.

“You’re not lying to us, are you?” the second hooded man asked.

“Would I have a reason to?” the young man replied. “This is our shot.”

“Speaking of shooting...” the first hooded man said. “...how many people did you knock off in order to get this information?”

“None,” the young man said. “That’s not to say that I didn’t try, though. I fought him.”

“Someone brought it here?” the second hooded man asked incredulously.

“Yeah – you know the rules,” the young man said. “You can’t have two just pop up in the same nation – it’d upset the balance of power. It had to be brought here – either by the creator of the sword or by the wielder. In this case, it was the wielder.”

“And you fought him?” the first hooded man asked.

“Sure did,” the young man said. “I found it in the hands of a kid. He couldn’t have even been Cal’s age, actually. So...I tried to take it off of him. I thought he just happened to come upon it by chance and didn’t know what it was – one of my rare mistakes. It turns out, this kid...well, he’s no ordinary kid, that’s for sure.”


“You would have killed a boy to get it?” the first hooded man nearly exclaimed. “You’re more brutal than I thought!”

“Whatever needs to be done, right?” the young man said nonchalantly. “Yeah, I would have killed him...if I could have. But he knew what he was doing. Not only did he have it, but he knew how to use it – very well. When I realized that, I backed off and I had a better idea...getting it’s great, but getting that and the one using it...”

“Why him? Why can’t you just take it from him?” the second hooded man asked.

“There’s a couple of reasons for that,” the young man said. “First off, only one of them can truly unlock its power...second, it’d be one hell of a lot easier to protect it if it’s being protected by its rightful owner. If they fall into the wrong hands...or worse yet, if he chooses that side.”

“This kid’s that good?” the first hooded man asked.

“He’s damn good,” the young man replied. “I told you, he’s a freak. He already has perfect command of battojutsu. Few people nowadays do, much less at his age.”

“Battojutsu?” the first hooded man repeated.

“Fighting from the draw,” the young man explained. “To do that, you need a decent amount of speed. This kid has speed...on top of speed. He disappears when he attacks, which makes him a real ***** to try and fight off. I don’t look scratched up, but the truth is, I barely got away with my life. But the third thing....”

“Huh?” both hooded men chorused as the young man’s expression suddenly became serious.

“...His eyes...” the young man said in nearly a whisper. “He’s got the same look in his eyes a lot of people told me I had when I got here – only worse.”

“Worse?!” the first hooded man exclaimed as the other one gasped.

“When he looks at you,” the young man said, closing his own eyes. “It’s enough to freeze your blood over. If I hadn’t been so intent on getting the sword, I would have turned and run. Those eyes have seen things...indescribable things.”

He stood and drove his fists into the table that was between him and the two seated men. Leaning over it, he stared at them both, a wild look in his eyes.

“He looked...” the young man said. “...he looked like someone who had seen hell itself and was determined not to go back.”

As the youth backed away and slumped back onto the sofa, one of the hooded men commented, “Don’t you think you’re being a little bit dramatic?”

“No,” the young man said. “I knew something was off about him when I realized that he wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of me. He said that he wouldn’t show me any mercy. He had no qualms about killing. I could tell that by the way he fought...we can’t get that sword away from him. Not the way I tried to do. He’s too skilled.”

“What should we do about him, then?” the hooded man asked.

“We have to get him to join us – it’s the only way,” the young man replied. “And even that’s a little risky. If we don’t do it right, we could end up dead – or worse, pushing him away to the other side. If he joins on the other side...we have no chance.”


“You think he would?” the second hooded man asked.

“I don’t know anything about his moral position...” the young man replied. “But what concerns me more is his mental state. When I fought him, I saw just a tiny glimpse of desperation – insanity, you could even call it. In that state...there’s no telling what he could –“

The young man stopped midway through his sentence. The other two hooded men proceeded to ask them what was going on, until he quickly put a finger to his mouth and shushed them.

“Hello,” he heard a voice outside and knew instantly what it was. “What is more precious to you? Rubies or sapph–AARGH!”

A loud scream echoed in from the alley. The young man’s eyes went wide.

“Stay here!” he shouted to the other men, exiting and drawing his weapon. His eyes turned left immediately as he saw a horrific sight – a man with black armor plunging a bloodied sword in and out of a fallen body on the ground. His eyes flashing, he pointed his weapon and aimed. The soldier stopped making a pincushion out of the body and looked at him blankly –

BANG.

Lightning shot forth from the two barrels on the young man’s gun. It struck the soldier in the heart, and his smoking corpse fell limply on the top of the other body. The young man sprinted to where the two bodies lay and forcefully kicked the body of the soldier off of the other to find the body of the body of the boy who had greeted him a few minutes before. His entire outfit was matted and stained with blood, and his eyes were locked in a wide stare straight up into the sky...but these eyes did not see anything any longer. Lowering his hand onto the boy’s face, he veiled those eyes with their own lids and allowed his eternal sleep to be full.

“Rest in peace, kid,” he sighed. Then, standing up, he looked out toward the alleyway, his eyes hard and emotionless. He’d been looking for a good excuse to do this all day.



Again, he was in the shadows of the buildings of Petalburg. Things were a bit tougher this time around, however, as the sky was substantially lighter. He saw a soldier run into a nearby alley. How comical. This man, no doubt looking for his comrade, had made a wrong turn. Apparently, the soldier realized that as well and started out of the alley, right at the young man. The young man took off into the alley to confront the soldier head-on.

Two stabs, a shot, and a can of spray-paint later, the young man came out of the alley. The soldier, however remained there – dead and slumped against a wall with a word that had been spray-painted on his black armor in capital, white letters.

TRAITOR.

He walked through the streets, doing a rather good job of hiding his weapon (not like there were a lot of people around yet) until he reached a slightly wider alley, from which he heard screaming and clamor much like he’d heard nearly an hour ago when that young woman had been captured. Then he heard three words – all he needed to hear:

“Hold her down!”

He rushed into this alleyway to see a group of soldiers chaining a struggling young woman – the same one he’d seen taking her morning walk earlier that day – to a post in front of a wall. One of the lieutenants of this small band of six or seven reached a hand up to the young woman’s pale, white face and stroked it.

“Now, don’t you worry your little head, missy,” he said sinisterly. “You’re doing the King a favor – meetin’ the needs of his soldiers...so we won’t hurt you too badly.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” the soldier whirled around to see a young man leaning against the far wall, tapping a strange weapon on his shoulder. “Some passerby might feel sorry for the innocent lady and decide to do something about it.”

“Is that so?” the lieutenant took two steps toward the young man. “Tell me when he gets here.”

“Go to hell,” the young man said quickly. The lieutenant laughed.

“That’s a funny one, boy,” the soldier guffawed.

“I meant it literally,” the young man said, drawing his weapon. “Here – let me show you the way!”

BANG.

A bolt of lightning shot from the gun again, and the lieutenant fell in a heap – dead before he hit the ground.

“Lieutenant!” one of the soldiers ran over to his officer to check for a pulse...a pulse that wasn’t there. Realizing this, the soldier looked up and his eyes flashed. “You...impudent...ba–“

The rest of that statement was replaced by a death gurgle and a coughing up of blood. The other five soldiers all jumped backwards once they realized why – the young man was presently yanking the blade that protruded from his gun out of the soldier’s stomach. The issue with that was the fact that, a second ago, he’d been standing at least twenty yards away. He sidestepped the body and allowed it to fall upon the corpse of the other man whose life he had just ended. He shot a hard look at the other soldiers, who all looked like they were about to wet their pants.

“We’ve got to tell Fergus!” one of the soldiers shouted.

“Right!” another shouted, and all five took off full speed out of the alley, running in zigzags so that the young fighter could not get a clear shot.

“Damn it,” the young man muttered. “I’ll deal with them later.”

With a flick of his wrist, he managed to cut the ropes tying the young woman to the post without cutting the young woman herself. Once free, she examined both of her wrists, which were red and rubbed raw by the ropes the soldiers had used to tie her.

“Sorry you had to see that,” he said, turning away from the young woman. “But I guess seeing that won’t scar you half as much as what they were going to do to you...”

“What’s your name?” the young woman asked. “I want to know who saved me.”

“Can’t tell you that,” the youth replied briskly. “Then, I’d have to kill you.”


“Alright, well...thank you,” the young woman said, running out of the alley as quickly as her legs would take her. This left the young man alone in the alley with the two corpses, so he moved to an inside wall and pressed himself against it, so as to not make himself visible to anyone who happened to be walking down the main road. With the sky still not at full daytime light, anyone who passed that way would be fortunate indeed to even see the corpses of the two soldiers. While he stood there, he wondered inwardly if there were any other young women that had been tied to that post – any that he wasn’t around to save. Spurred on by this thought (great timing – he could have sworn that he heard a scream), he swept around the corner and out of the alley. It took about three steps out of the alley for it to register with the young man that his element of surprise was gone.

“So, I guess this solves that little mystery we had for a few weeks about some of our soldiers inexplicably turning up dead,” the young man turned to his right. Five soldiers – no doubt the five that had escaped him moments earlier – surrounded a taller man in full black armor who had a serrated sword to...

The young man’s heart sank. The young woman whom he had just rescued had been captured again and was now being used as a hostage, apparently. So, he had to play it cool – not like that was something new for him.

“Turning up dead? That sucks,” the young man said, lowering his weapon. “Apparently, someone has a problem with ‘His Imperial Brutality’.”

“Don’t you mock the King!” one of the soldiers said, brandishing a sword about two feet in length.

“Don’t charge,” the young man said lazily. “You’re going to wish you hadn’t.”

But the impulsive soldier didn’t listen. Running full speed at the young man, he reared back and swung his sword at him wildly. The youth moved at the last possible second, so quickly that it looked like he’d just...

“...disappeared...” the captain of the five muttered.

Make that four – as the one that had charged now had a blade coming through his heart from the back. The youth yanked it out so quickly that even the blood flew clean off and turned around toward the remaining infantryman and their captain as this one soldier, now behind him, slumped to the ground, dead.

“That’s five today,” the young man sighed. “So...why don’t you let go of the nice lady I just rescued ten minutes ago, before you dig an early grave for yourself and all the peons you’ve got left? I think I recognize you now – Fergus, was it?”

“Heh,” the captain, who had grizzled skin and a noticeable scar over his left eye, grunted. “So, the rumors are true. You talk about brutality...a boy hardly of age that kills indiscriminately with no fear and no conscience...Iceman.”

“Iceman? Damn, I’ve gotten pretty popular,” the young man commented. “I’ve got a problem with about half of your statement, though. First of all, I don’t kill indiscriminately. There’s only two groups of people that have been victims to this weapon. The first includes anyone that’s on the wrong side. The second...well, that’s none of your business. And the second...I don’t lack a conscience. I don’t kill beings with souls – but as far as I’m concerned, anyone that can put on that armor and wear it with their head up has sold their soul to you-know-who...that’s where you and I have a problem.”

“You’ve been a pain in our *** for half a year,” Fergus grunted. “Matter of fact...you’re up in the Top Ten of the King’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. Let me put it this way. With the money somebody could get for ruining their purity by killing you, they could buy themselves some more of it.”

“I’m being hunted – I won’t lie,” the young man said. “First you guys...now you’ve got bounty hunters on my ***...but isn’t it funny how all the ones that do manage to find me just seem to disappear from the face of the earth? Hell, it’s self-defense at that point, so I’m well within my rights as a citizen. Oh, that’s right – under the ‘New Regime’, there are so such things as ‘rights’ anymore. I forgot – sorry. Then, not to mention, ‘they’ have been tracking me ever since I escaped two years ago...”

“What are you yammering on about?” Fergus asked. “You’re lucky I’m deciding to humor you. You could be dead already.”

“I sort of doubt that,” the young man said, raising the barrel of his gun toward Fergus’ head.

“Yeah...bullet beats a sword, no doubt...but you still don’t want to do that,” the grizzled captain said. “Not unless you’re damn sure about your aim. Don’t want to hurt little missy here, do you?”

He yanked the young woman closer to him, putting her in a sort of one-armed stranglehold. The young man groaned and lowered his weapon. Suddenly, though, he saw something flashing along the high buildings to his right. It was a shadow...but no ordinary shadow. He recognized the way those shadows moved. They were here, too? The timing was about as bad as it could get...but he knew his own priorities.

Roaring, he turned and shot up toward that building. A fireball shot up in that direction from his gun, but missed its mark and continued to streak skyward like a rocket being propelled into space. He looked around and then toward Fergus and his gang. Fergus swung his sword at something behind him but appeared to have missed it. Roaring in frustration he threw the young woman to the ground.

“Get the hell outta here!” he shouted. The young woman did not need telling twice – she took off for her home as quickly as possible. At that point, Fergus let out an awful roar and the young man watched a fleck of blood fly up from his left shoulder. The young man saw Fergus yank what appeared to be a kunai-like knife from that shoulder. His worst fears were confirmed.

Half because he needed to, and half because this was his perfect chance to escape from under the noses of the soldiers, he broke in the other direction, down another alley different from the ones had he had walked earlier. He heard a shouting behind him and realized that Fergus and the troops were clearing off. He stopped at the end of this alleyway. Like the others, there was a bit of an open area here – like the urban version of a forest clearing. In front of him, there was a chainlink fence that went up some ten...twenty...thirty feet. He saw in the dim light a form perched upon this fence with knives in its hands. The two stared at each other for several seconds. He knew who this person belonged to, even if he couldn’t see the face. Hatred welled up inside him like a volcano ready to erupt.

And then it did.

Screaming violently, the young man raised his gun toward the fence and fired. A bolt of lightning shot from it. The form leapt from the height of the fence. It was now at least fifty feet in the air, silhouetted by the brightening sky to the point of nearly being impossible to see. It was performing strange hand signals. It took a knife from what appeared to be its side pocket and threw it – except the knife never came down. Instead, it was a ball of red flame. The youth rolled out of the way and looked to his left to see a kunai protruding from the ground. He heard another scream...

like the devil possessing the shadow...

...and looked up. He barely had time to block an attempted double stab from a pair of kunai, but he responded quickly enough, by slashing –

Nothing but air. The shadow had flipped behind him and he turned around, jumping backward just in time to avoid a very rough ‘X’ being carved into his chest. The shadow was way too quick for him, though. He fended off strike after strike after strike after strike from its kunai, until he was finally backed into a wall. With an ear-piercing shriek, the shadow pounced upon him one last time with one of its knives. The young man avoided having his jugular vein cut by mere inches as the knife pierced the top of the outfit into which he had changed recently. It consisted of a black, red-trimmed, trenchcoat-like garment that extended all the way down to his knees, as well as black pants. The knife had gotten in right at the collar of his jacket, so he was fortunate indeed. He heard panting below him and finally got a good look at who had been attacking him.

the beautiful shadow...

She was a girl – maybe about his own age. Her shoulder-length hair was a deep blood red, and was held in place slightly by a white bandage around her forehead, which threw into sharp relief the bangs on one side of her forehead, which were somehow an aged-looking silver-white color. There was a wildness seizing her silver eyes – a wildness that was, fortunately, becoming more and more tamed with each passing second. She had fingerless, black gloves on, which were attached to sleeves, which were in turn attached to absolutely nothing. Her outfit – blood-red and very tight – was an entity all on its own.

“You’re not...one of them?” the girl asked, stepping away. “Your weapon...is strange.”

“A rogue?” the young man muttered.

The eyes of each studied the other for a few silent moments. The young man silently battled within himself...she was beautiful, and she seemed to be so afraid...but she was one of them. One of his sworn enemies. He could tell. No one else on the planet fought like that anymore.

“I have no business with you,” the girl said, quickly yanking the knife out of the collar of his jacket and freeing him from the wall. She bounded up an opposite wall and on top of the fence, then leapt again and was out of sight.

“You’d better hope it stays that way,” the young man muttered, cocking his gun. “If we ever meet again, I’ll be the last thing you ever see. Runaway or not – I hate your kind, regardless.”

As he left the alley, wondering if the two men he had left at the shack were still even alive after this long rabbit trail, his heart felt something a bit different. For some strange reason, the world was darker, and yet brighter at the same time. Clearer, and yet foggier.

Something in his dark world had been shaken, and he couldn’t tell what it was. It scared him, to be completely honest, which was saying something significant. He was called ‘Iceman’ for a reason – he was said to have ice running through his veins, because he felt little and feared nothing...normally. Today, though...something was different. All of these meetings with people...something big was around the corner – and he had this strange feeling that he was to be a part of it.

---------------------------------------------------

Lots of stuff going on here, eh? The sh!t's going to hit the fan in the next chapter, though. For now, here's info on the Fakemon used in this chapter. There were two of them.

Porcuspine
Type: Normal
Height/Length: 0'9"
Weight: 10 lbs.
The word on Porcuspine: Normal-type that is becoming increasingly common around Hoenn. Definitely not known for being a speedster - but its defense is amazing.

Supplied by: Air Dragon


Pyrika
Type: Fire
Height/Length: 2'01"
Weight: 27 lbs.
The word on Pyrika: Very rare fire-type that has been recently discovered. In Hoenn, it is usually seen around Mt. Chimney, so the fact that Katrina happened upon one where she did was very lucky indeed. It is well-rounded in battle, and also uses the pesky Fireworks attack, which can also lower a target's accuracy if it makes contact.

Supplied by: Air Dragon

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, things to ask yourself for the next chapter:

- How do Travis and Katrina fare in their battles against the rookie gym leader, Stella?
- What is the true name of the youth known as the 'Iceman'?
- Who is the kunoichi that has been appearing in the area, and what are her motives?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter - and Amber's random personality. I'm going to have a lot of fun with that. ^_^

- EM1, out.

[Kazekage]

cwy

Should have been cry (unless you wanted that annoying baby accent on her )

Tinyraccoon

2 words I think.

Chapter I liked it, don't know why but I can't get the whole tropical rainforest setting out of my head after this chapter. Amber, I liked her, if only Cannon was here I wonder how the two would react to each other.

: ROFLPWNARAGE23432, balls classic
Amber: Balls HAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHA
BALLS

Travis: Just shut up about the balls already!

Amber: You can't tell me what to do.

*rolls on ground laughing his head off* BALLS!!!!!!!!!!

[ground tamer]

Yes you kept the Random personality in a certain pokemon alive! Amber is like the smaller version of Cannon (oh how i miss him so)

That was a very long chapter...it took me like an hour to read. I can't wait to read more of this masterpiece in progress

[xXPorygonXx]

Sweet! Champ the Treecko totally rocks! Another awesome chapter, EM1. Heh... Cannon reincarnated into Amber, that made my day. Although, she's a whole lot...um, 'randomer' than Cannon ever was. Poor Travis, losing...repeatedly to Trainers. Interesting... ninjas and knights. And a whole lot of interest in the 'Godfire'. Anyway, great chappie. I leave you with one final statement: BALLS! xXPorygonXx, out!

[Oathblivion]

o.o That was long. Are you trying to become the next SilvorMoon and write a full-length fic (about the size of PR:J) in 11 chapters? Anyway, I really liked this chapter even more than I thought I would (normally the opening few chapters of any literature are boring). Travis got beat up by his own girlfriend. Shiro and his off-color jokes got reincarnated in Amber, along with great humor from Crescent). And last but not least, some mystery guy just waylaid the Man in Petalburg.

Porcuspine scuttled along the ground again, its many spines standing on end, and rushed Champ. Champ, having the speed advantage, dodges left just as Porcuspine gets there.

I think you need "dodged" there instead of "dodges". Tense phasing. Ahem, now for a couple of highlights.

“<Urgh...I wish she’d told me to use Hyper Beam...>” Crescent muttered to himself.

and

“<Balls...they’re overrated,>” Amber said. “<...That’s why I’m glad I’m a girl.>”

All three of the other Pokémon felt their jaws drop to the ground with no control over them.

“<What?!>” Crescent groaned, “<That is so...not what the hell I was talking about!>”

“<Throw a flag!>” Champ piped in. “<Personal foul – unnecessary insanity!>”

Crude (and athletic) jokes. This fic is the best. -Oath

PS: Does Stella have a Miltank or a Snorlax? That'll determine it.

[MerlockVonBaron]

The one liners by Champ and Amber are sweet. Keep it up. hopefully no wars.

[Air Dragon]

“No matter how much I try to come off as this average joe, the fact still is that my grandfather was a Pokémon Champion,” Travis said, not meeting Katrina’s eye. “I’ve got a lot to live up to – especially now that he’s gone...”

“No matter how much I try to come off as this average Joe, the fact still is that my grandfather was a Pokémon Champion,” Travis said, not meeting Katrina’s eye. “I’ve got a lot to live up to – especially now that he’s gone...”

“<Watch –>” Crescent yelled as he heard an explosion behind him. “<...where you’re aiming that!>”

“<Whoopsy...>” Amber piped up, wearing a sheepish grin on her face.

“<Urgh...I wish she’d told me to use Hyper Beam...>” Crescent muttered to himself.

LOVE the randomage!

“<Balls...they’re overrated,>” Amber said. “<...That’s why I’m glad I’m a girl.>”

All three of the other Pokémon felt their jaws drop to the ground with no control over them.

“<What?!>” Crescent groaned, “<That is so...not what the hell I was talking about!>”

“<Throw a flag!>” Champ piped in. “<Personal foul – unnecessary insanity!>”

Angel had a sweatdrop beside her head that was so large, the other two wouldn’t have been surprised if Magikarp were swimming in it.

“<You think I’m insane?>” Amber said, stalking around Angel and Crescent toward the Treecko, who craned his head around to see her coming. “<You think I’m cuckoo?....Huh, little Treecko?...How about I burn your little green derriere to a crisp? Then you’ll see how ‘insane’ I am!!>”

These guys are good! They should get their own sitcom!

“<She’s even worse than Cannon...>” Angel muttered. “<I thought he was a nutjob...>”


“<I’m not sure she’s a ‘nutjob’, Angel,>” Crescent said. “<Her diet could just have some very ‘special’ mushrooms...>”

“<Special...mushrooms?>” Angel choked, fighting down a laugh. “<I love you. Now, let’s break this up before one of us loses a teammate.>”

Yeah, you do that...

a black helmet, a black chestplate

a black helmet, a black chest plate

Hope you enjoyed this chapter - and Amber's random personality. I'm going to have a lot of fun with that. ^_^

you know i did... go randomage!

L@er!