Hero's Path

[Glover]

Loving this. I'd love to use the NCTH connection and get in on it. If I csn draft well enough, maybe I cn tranfer Glover's Character devolpment back to my mainstream. It'll either be a spin-off, or a prequel though. I'm too far ahead of myself to smash it in...

Anyway, That's me... Now for you.

Firt page was good. I had to agree with Owl, the LotR connections were too heavy, this is your story, not Tolkien's. Glad to see that became nothing more than a few running gag type things. That said, the front part was fun, teaching Victini about human literiture.

Blazing Heart? I've never hea- oh. Okay... Fun characters.

I'm pretty sure that Gandalf screamed YOU SHALL NOT PASS, and not thou, at least in the movie. I'd have to double check that, and sadly, I'm a failure and was too busy reading thing like Last of the Mohicans to bother reading the LotR series.

Your fic is only the second I've read that deals with actual death in it. And the first hasn't been updated for a long time. It's still wearing on me, but it's written well.

I do like the dream sequence there at the end too.

One wonders who/what Magnus really is.

Beyond that, there were a few little typos hither and thither, but I didn't pull them out and can't seem to find them now. I await your return.

[Feralninja]

Firt page was good. I had to agree with Owl, the LotR connections were too heavy, this is your story, not Tolkien's.

To note... Hero's Path is my sandbox. Anything I can't normally do in an original fic will be done here. Expect LotR references, Shakespeare quotes (especially now that Magnus is back), classical music references and showtunes (a lull on that for the now, but more later), and tie-ins to my original fics.

Blazing Heart? I've never hea- oh. Okay... Fun characters.

See above.

I'm pretty sure that Gandalf screamed YOU SHALL NOT PASS, and not thou, at least in the movie.

In the original text, it was thou.

One wonders who/what Magnus really is.

You won't find THAT out until one of the very last chapters.

[Glover]

To note... Hero's Path is my sandbox.
See above.

And I wouldn't expect anything else. Fic is meant to be ownership-based. Just expressing readership opinions.

[MudkipFan]

I really like this, It's got some great description and a gripping story, I can't think of much to build it on other than improving your paragraphing (you do a line and then some spaces, granted, its a paragraph, but a very short one.) I'm awaiting the next chapter, hopefully it will be as good as the last.

[Feralninja]

Yes, after a semi-long hiatus, Hero's Path is back with a vengeance!

The morning sun fell gently on his exposed back. Cole held his arms at a slight angle above his head, breathing deeply. He flowed gracefully into the next motion of the tai chi form he and Kami had developed together, to help the Lucario focus his aura powers.

As Cole sliced through the air with his bare hands, his feet tracing patterns on the dew-saturated ground, he gazed down at Oak’s ranch below him. Even this early, pokemon were going about their business.

Cole held his left arm completely straight, his fingers pointing up at the sky. His right hand was cocked back behind his ear. Then, he quickly reversed the positions in one fluid motion. He was struck with how eerily similar it was to snapping a neck from behind. But of course, that had not been his intent in developing it…

As he finished the tai chi routine, he felt a few of his muscles ache from the five-mile run he had just completed. His bare chest was soaked with sweat, but it was a good sweat, an honest sweat. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, and started wondering about yoga.

Not those stupid classes that middle aged women took to be trendy and stay in shape. No, actual yoga, learned at the feet of a guru, to help open his mind, and come in closer contact with the spiritual presence Arceus, and his inner self. It might help him a great deal, but he had no time for it on his journey. When he returned to the Flare Gym though…

Cole shrugged and walked slowly down the hill. If the weather took a turn for the worse, like the weathermen predicted, then he and his pokemon were going to start watching the Lord of the Rings movies. They were all really looking forward to it.

Dragonair and Treebeard met him at the bottom of the slope. In the past few days, he had grown fairly close to the two rescued pokemon. He had offered to release them both into suitable habitats, but neither of them really wanted to. In fact, they had expressed interest in going to train at the Flare Gym with Cole’s other A-List pokemon.

A troop of baby Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander followed behind the Dragonair, who had proven to be very nurturing in her time at Oak’s lab. The Professor himself had remarked on how well she was suited to the care of young ones. Scathatch hoped that it would be enough to keep her pups out of trouble.

Cole smiled wanly at them, and walked through the sliding glass doors to the lab. Lisa, working at a computer terminal with a scattering of research papers, looked up with a smile. “How was the run?”

“All right,” Cole replied. “I’m a little out of practice.”

“You’ll get back up. You always do.”

Cole returned her smile automatically. “Any changes?”

Lisa shrugged. “Haven’t heard anything.”

Cole nodded and continued through the lab. Dragonair hissed over the tiles behind him, and Treebeard tried to keep his large fans out of the researchers' way. They moved past bank after bank of monitors and bookshelves. Locke, Lisa’s boyfriend, glanced up from the diagram of an Alakazam skeleton he was studying, and waved at Cole.

The young man merely nodded back, hastening towards the medical bay. Professor Oak was there, standing beside the pallets where Charizard and Masamune slept. The wounds on the Samurott were still easy to make out, though Charizard had some success in healing. The dragon was awake, and growled softly as Cole entered the antechamber.

The young man hastily pulled on rubber gloves and a pair of clean shoes, so as not to contaminate the wounds by contact. He walked slowly into the bay, and through a small forest of monitors, IV drips and medical benches.

He knelt beside Charizard and ran his hand slowly across the ridge where Charizard’s wings met his vertebrae. The pokemon made a sound almost like a contented purr, though it was considerably more gravely and intimidating than anything a feline pokemon could have mustered.

“How long?” Cole asked simply.

Oak shrugged. “My boy, Charizard could be released this very day. His condition stabilized last night. So long as he’s careful, I think we can let him out for some fresh air. No flying yet, or anything too taxing, of course. And I think it wise to keep him here on the ranch.”

Cole nodded, seeing the logic. “And Masamune?”

“Well, I’ve been in contact with Professor Juniper. She knows far more about the Samurott anatomy than I. And from what she tells me… it’s a miracle Masamune is still alive. The amount of poison he endured, and then the extended fight would have killed any lesser pokemon.”

Cole moved from Charizard’s side to Masamune’s. “I tried to tell him to come back. That he didn’t need to keep going.”

“He made his own choices,” the esteemed professor said softly, laying a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “He was very brave.”

Cole ran his hand along Masamune’s flank. Even in his comatose state, the shell swords on the Samurott’s leg were starting to grow back. Cole hoped that Masamune would get a chance to use them.

Oak cleared his throat. “I’ll give you some time alone. If you need anything, press the intercom button.”

A nod from Cole sent the professor away. He knelt by Masamune for a long time. Charizard slowly moved to a sitting position, and began stretching out his sore muscles. Cole couldn’t bring himself to look at the scars. Not yet.

After some time, the doors slid open. Scathatch, Thor, Maeve and Athena walked into the hospital room in single file. The two larger pokemon waited by the door, while Maeve and Athena went to sit by Charizard, talking with the big dragon.

“Masamune,” Cole whispered. “Come back soon. We all miss you.”

The Samurott convulsed, and Cole lurched back, falling onto the polished linoleum floor. The eye nearest to Cole flickered open. “I…”

Masamune growled as his entire body tensed. “Won’t…”

He heaved himself to his feet, and tossed his head back defiantly. “Give…”

The Samurott roared so loudly that the windowpanes shook. “Up!”

Cole collapsed into tears of joy. His friend, given up for dead, had returned to him. Tears ran down his face as he embraced Masamune’s neck, and his other pokemon pressed closer, all trying to welcome their companion back to the world of the living.

***

It did rain that evening. Cole and his six partners cloistered themselves in the hospital room, crowding around Lisa’s laptop and watching the Fellowship of the Ring DVD.

When the movie ended, with Boromir’s death, the breaking of the Fellowship and Sam and Frodo paddling down the river, Athena was wiping tears away.

“Can we watch the others?”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Cole replied. “It’s late, and I at least am tired.” Charizard echoed the sentiment by stretching his maw into a gaping yawn. Masamune and Scathatch huddled together. Now that the Samurott was conscious, nothing was going to separate the Zoroark from her mate.

Thor, Maeve, Athena and Cole exited the hospital room. Thor walked with the company to the edge of the ranch before turning back and galloping to the slumbering Rapidash and Ponyta, assimilating into the herd.

Cole let himself into Lisa’s house by way of his spare key, and crept quietly up the stairs. He changed into his sleeping clothes, which would double as the clothes for his morning run tomorrow, and slid into bed. Athena fell asleep in the crook of his arm, and Maeve breathed softly from the trundle bed, quickly falling asleep. Cole followed suit soon after.

***

The next morning, after his run, Cole relaxed on the ranch, and played with some of Professor Oak’s baby pokemon. All the little Charmanders idolized Charizard, and under different circumstances, the orange dragon would have been happy to let them climb all over him and use him as a living, breathing jungle gym, but since he was still in recovery, Cole had to warn them against it.

He sat with Masamune by one of the several ponds, pillowing his head in Scathatch’s mane. The Samurott slowly lowered himself into the water and sighed.

“I haven’t felt this good in ages.”

Cole smiled. “You haven’t had a proper swim since before Canalave.”

Masamune grinned back, then wrinkled his nose. “And you hadn’t had a proper bath.”

Cole kicked a spray of water at the aquatic pokemon. Masamune replied in kind by dousing Cole with a small stream of water. Beneath Cole, Scathatch chuckled. “Boys, boys. Play nice.”

Cole looked out at the wide-open fields of Oak’s Ranch and saw Thor galloping around the fields with Maeve on his back, playing with other pokemon. High in the sky above, Athena sat on the shoulders of a lazily drifting Jumpluff. Cole would have been more worried if he hadn’t seen the Victini leap two-story houses in a single bound, and besides, a small group of Hoppip and Skiploom were nearby, ready to catch her should she fall.

Cole sank back with a sigh. Everyone was safe. Happy and safe.

[Feralninja]

“They’re quite motivated,” Oak chuckled, as he watched the pokemon dragging blocks of limestone across the ranch. Cole nodded in reply and watched Masamune dragging a heavy sledge. The Samurott had jumped at the opportunity to undertake this task, thinking it would get his strength back up.

Professor Oak was building a new windmill on his ranch, one that would supply more power to his generators. It was built completely out of local materials, and the limestone vein nearby was being mined by many of the rock and ground types at the lab. Maeve was working with other pokemon to cut the stones into blocks. Masamune, along with Thor and Scathatch, were part of the teams that dragged the stones from the quarry site to the place where the windmill would be built, a half-mile away, next to the river. That way, the hydroelectric potential of the fast-flowing stream could be exploited. Charizard and Athena were with several other fire types, welding the steel support structure.

“I’m a little worried about Masamune,” Cole confessed. “He’s still not fully recovered.”

Oak grinned. “Cole, my boy, he feels he’s up to the challenge. And he seems to be doing all right. If things seem too daunting, I’ll set to work somewhere else.”

“It’s just that he’s working alone. Everyone else is in teams of two. Well, except for that Machamp over there…” Cole gestured to the human-esque fighting type in question, who would not even use a sledge like other pokemon; instead carrying the limestone blocks with it’s bare hands.

Oak stroked his chin. “It’s interesting. Torrent should only effect water type moves, but I think Masamune may indeed be using his ability right now. That’s what’s giving him this boost in power. I think we should analyze this further…”

The esteemed Professor turned and walked back to his laboratory, muttering all the while. Cole stood atop the hill for a while longer, watching Masamune at work.

Only once did the mighty water type falter. When he did stumble, Masamune gritted his teeth and stood back up. “I… will… work… harder!”

***

Progress on the windmill continued for some time. The size of the workforce, however, made the work go by quickly. Cole helped where he could, loading limestone onto sledges, supporting beams, even taking up the yoke and dragging the blocks several times.

He felt his muscles strengthening, even more than they had been in the work camp. There his body had been forced to cope with malnutrition, but here, with the proper food available, he was becoming strong with his pokemon.

Unlike a bodybuilder, who carefully shaped and toned specific muscles, Cole was a solid cord, a veritable sheath of sinews and tendons. The young man patted the shoulder of the Nidoking he had paired with as they hauled their sledge to the windmill site.

A pair of Machokes lifted the block and set it into place. Charizard strode over and welded a few metal bars into place. Cole slid over to his traveling companion. “Holding up all right? Feeling better?”

Charizard nodded twice. Cole carefully inspected the scars that ran up and down Charizard’s body. Many were years old, tokens of battles through their travels. Others were from the Omega War, and yet more were very recent, obtained in the struggle for liberation at the work camp and Mt. Pyre.

Cole rubbed his hand between Charizard’s shoulder blades down to where his wings met his spine. The dragon growled softly, his equivalent of a purr. “Have you tried flying yet?”

Charizard stiffened, and his growl dropped several octaves. Slowly, the dragon shook his head. He had suffered severe damage to his wing membrane in Maxie’s rock slide, but Oak had told them that Charizard should, theoretically, be able to fly again.

Cole wrapped an arm around Charizard’s neck, careful not to agitate any still-healing scars. “Hey, I’m not pointing any fingers. You fly when you’re ready, and not a moment sooner.”

Cole walked away, and Charizard sullenly flared his wings.

***

That night, Cole couldn’t sleep. His dreams were troubled. It wasn’t the one where he was running through a forest, no, that one hadn’t recurred. They were just fractured images of things he couldn’t make sense of.

Slowly, he got out of bed, careful not to disturb Athena, who slept in the crook of his arm. He pressed his forehead against the glass and gazed out into the backyard. Scathatch, Thor, Charizard, and Lisa’s pokemon were sleeping there, enjoying the warmth of early summer. Judging by the position of the stars, it was a little after midnight. Cole used his peripheral vision to glance at the clock on his nightstand. 1:17 a.m. was burning in red LED lights.

Cole slid the window open, allowing a slight breeze to play through the room. Maeve, curled up near his bed in a nest of blankets, opened her eyes. “Cole? What’s wrong?”

“Just having a little trouble sleeping. Nothing to worry about. I’ll be fine.” He rested his hands on the windowsill, his breath fogging the panes. “Ah, Maeve… where’s Masamune?”

“He stayed at the lab,” the Weavile replied. “After dinner. Said he wanted to do a little more work on the windmill. Did he not come back?”

Cole shook his head, making a little squeaking sound against the glass. “It doesn’t look like it. I think I’ll go take a little walk, go check on him.”

Maeve nodded and snuggled back under he blankets. “G’night, Cole.”

Cole reached down and scratched her behind her ear. “G’night Maeve. Sleep tight.”

***

Cole crested the hill near Oak’s Lab, and saw Masamune trudging towards the windmill, the harness to a sledge clamped tightly in his mouth. Three limestone blocks were piled on the wooden vehicle.

“I… will… work… harder.”

Cole watched for a few minutes. The water type’s coat was slick with sweat, but he didn’t seem tired. His stance was still powerful, and his eyes flickered with determination.

The young man strode down the hill and ducked under Masamune’s harness, taking the crossbar in both hands. Masamune glanced at him with one eye, nodded, and continued onward without saying a word.

“I… will… work… harder.”



Did you catch the Animal Farm nod?

[Blaziken10285]

“I… will… work… harder.”
That book is amazing. Great allusion.

[donotlookatdiagram]

Review game.

First off, forgive me if I'm confused. I haven't read League of Heroes, so I might not get something here or there.

First things first, you fixed this in the next chapter, but the fist chapter has two spaces between every paragraph. One space would suffice.

Cole was frantic. He had just gotten the call an hour ago. A surprise visit from Raj! The Champion was flying up from the Tower, and he was going to test Cole’s team! “Charizard, get yourself warmed up! This is going to be a heated battle! C’mon, get the A-List ready! Athena, head up to the top of the tower! Let’s go!”

I see we're already starting out with some action!

Ninetails,

It's Ninetales.

Athena, his Victini,

Oh, dear. OC with Victini. Usually is a red flag for Sueishness.

Thor his Zebstrika,

Should be:
Thor, his Zebstrika,

Mr. Socky.

Lulz. Nice contrasting imagery, with the name and Cole shuddering at it. Don't know what Pokemon it is yet.

Snowcone, Socky, Medusa,

This guy really likes unfitting nicknames, doesn't he?

and took an empty space on the dais.

You could just say platform. "Dias" is bordering on purple prose.

Other than those few mistakes, I really enjoyed the beginning. Looking forward to the rest!
Really, that's all I could find to nitpick here. I'll review the other chapters when I have more time.

[Feralninja]

Cole stood in front of the bathroom mirror, electric razor in hand. He had shaved off his facial hair, though he hardly ever let it go beyond a day or two’s growth. However, now he was considering allowing a small goatee to grow out.

He and his traveling companions had finished watching the Lord of the Rings movies last night, and Athena had remarked that Cole looked a lot like Aragorn, or at least the actor who played Aragorn. Cole ran a hand through his long hair, untrimmed since before he left the Flare Gym two months ago.

He tied it back with two pieces of black string, and glanced again at his reflection. He did look like Aragorn, but…

With three quick strokes of the razor, he shaved away the goatee. He didn’t like the itchiness. He turned on the water in the sink and washed his face, splashing cool water in his eyes to help him wake up.

Lisa called something from downstairs. Cole leaned out the door. “What was that?”

“Someone’s at the door! He says he knows you, and wants to talk!”

Cole dried his face. “Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.” Silently, he muttered all the various forms of torment he would inflict if it was someone asking for an autograph.

***

“Cole. It’s been a while.”

The young man froze as he turned the corner into the living room. A man in a white cloak sat in a chair, sipping coffee. He glanced up at Cole with sparkling blue eyes. “Ready to go?”

“Magnus? What are you doing here?”

Magnus took another drink. “Mmm, this coffee is lovely. I detect a hint of cinnamon, yes? I love cinnamon.” Magnus inhaled deeply, savoring the aroma. “To answer your question, Cole… it’s time to leave. You’ve recovered here, and that’s all well and good. But now it’s time to move on.”

“What? Magnus… what are you talking about?”

The old man sighed. “Cole, you’ve done everything you’ve needed to do here. New adventures await you. I’m here to escort you to the next Gate, near Mt. Moon.
“Though… I should mention you do have a choice. You can come with me now, and continue your quest. Or you remain here longer, and go wherever you please in your own time. And never reach the Edge of the World.”

Cole sank down into a chair opposite the old man. “How long do I have?”

Magnus closed his eyes. “I plan to leave in an hour, give or take.”

Cole’s hands clenched. “All right. I’ll be ready. Just… let me get my pack together. And say goodbye.”

He ran out to the backyard, and his pokemon were already standing at attention. “We heard Magnus come in,” Scathatch confessed.

Cole smiled and scratched her behind her ear. “Meet me at the lab in an hour. Say your goodbyes to any pokemon there, okay?”

The group turned and ran off. Cole walked slowly back into the house. “Lisa?”

His sister was in the kitchen. She stared out the window, not turning to look at him. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Lisa, I’m sorry, I wish I could stay longer…”

Lisa whirled and hugged him tightly. “Just stay safe.”

Cole hugged her back. “I will. I promise. I’ll call you as soon as I get back, I swear.”

Lisa nodded. “We’ll miss you. Everyone here will miss you.”

“I’ll visit more when this is all over.”

Lisa led him to the video phone. “You should call your pokemon back at the gym. Let them know what’s going on.”

Cole keyed in his phone number, and two faces filled the screen. Kami barked out a hello, and Treebeard the Shiftry saluted. He had sent Treebeard and Dragonair over not too long ago, and according to Kami, the two had fit in with the rest of the group famously.

“Hey guys!” Cole smiled.

Kami, ever an expert at reading faces, knew what Cole was going to say before the young man could formulate the words. “You’re leaving Pallet Town.”
“That easy to tell?”

The Lucario nodded. “It’s in your eyes. That look you get whenever you head out on a new adventure.”

“It may be a long time before I call you again…”

“I’ll let everyone know you said goodbye. If I can pass word along to Raj somehow…”

“Don’t do that!” Cole cried. “I mean… well, let him know I’m okay. But don’t tell him where I am or where I’m going. I can’t face that. I’m sorry, Kami.”

“It’s not me you should apologize to.”

“Have I ever told you you’re too smart for your own good?”

“At least seven times.”

“I’m going to miss you, Kami. Wish you were here.”

“Goodbye Cole. Come home soon, and safe.”

“Roger that, Kami.”

The feed went black as they disconnected. Cole stood at the terminal for a moment, took a deep breath, and strode up to his room. He pulled his pack out of the closet, and the riding saddle he used.

He tossed his two extra pairs of jeans in, and a pair of cargo shorts. Two thermal shirts, two t-shirts, some socks, underwear, an extra belt. He tied his bedroll to the bottom of the bag’s straps. Cole checked his medicine bag and berry pouch. He made sure his cooking implements were sharpened and clean. Then, he shrugged on his duster and prepared to leave.

The sunlight falling through his window made him pause. In the corner was the steel rod Sin had given him in the battle at the work camp. It had been with Cole when he came through the Gate, and Cole hadn’t touched it since. But somehow, he knew he had to bring this with him, if only as a gesture to the friends he had left behind, to know he hadn’t forgotten them. And besides, it might prove useful.

Cole hefted the bar in his right hand and twirled it experimentally. “I should probably name you. I know, so Freudian. But… huh. How about…”

He whirled around and flashed the steel rod out in front of him. “Anduril!” The sunlight caught on the blade, making it flash. Cole smiled. Maybe he wouldn’t let himself look like Aragorn, but he would carry the man’s signature. “Reforged is the blade that was broken! The crownless shall again be king!”

He went downstairs, and Lisa slid him a package over the kitchen table. “I got you something the other day. Open it.”

Cole did, sliding the box open with his fingertips. Inside was a sheet of dark gray cloth. Cole picked it up gingerly and allowed the shirt to unfold. He held it up to look at the design.

“Arceus, Lisa! How’d you find this?”

Lisa smiled. “Internet. I saw how much you all liked those movies…”

Cole ran his hand along the stitching on the shirt. “It’s amazing.” A bare white tree dominated the gray field, and seven stars arched over the tree at the very top.
“The seal of Gondor,” Cole muttered. “Arceus, everyone wants me to be the Strider today…”

Lisa hugged Cole one last time. “I’m going to miss you, little brother.”

***

Magnus met him and his pokemon at the edge of Pallet Town. “Ready to go? Everything all taken care of?”

Cole nodded, as did his teammates. He pulled out five pokeballs, and Athena climbed onto his shoulder. With a flash of light, the five larger pokemon vanished into the capsules. Magnus had a pokéball in hand, but quickly retracted it.

“Not going to fly?”

Cole shrugged. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to walk for a bit. It’s been a long time since I traveled this path.”

Magnus smiled. “I’m willing to bet it’s been even longer for me!”

And with that, the two men set off down the beaten trail of Route One, the song of Pidgey echoing through the trees.

***

Later that day, Professor Oak spotted a folded piece of paper on his desk. He picked it up and put on his reading glasses. A message was written there in several different colors of crayon, in a shaky, childlike hand.

“Dear Profesur Oak. Thank you for letting us play on yur ranch. It was a lot of fun. Love…” It was signed by all of Cole’s pokemon, each in the same hand, Maeve’s, most likely.

Oak beamed as he read the second half of the paper. Each name was written in different color. MaEvE was a deep purple, the biggest and centermost signature. AthEnA was an orange red, and in the top right. ThoR was opposite Athena, and in alternating yellow and black letters. MasAmuNE was in blue, just below Maeve’s name, and next to that was ScAtHAtcH in a dark black with a red underline. At the very bottom of the page, CHARiZARd was written in red, with the ‘z’ and one of the ‘r’s backwards.

Oak dug through the top drawer of his desk, picked out four thumbtacks, and put the note on a bulletin board near his desk. “Only until I can find a frame,” the professor muttered to himself.

As he locked up his lab, he saw a man staggering up the main street of Pallet Town. Oak called out to him, and the man turned slowly before limping over.
“The Firebrand,” the man gasped. “You must tell me, is the Firebrand here?”

Oak shook his head sadly. “You mean Cole? I’m sorry. You just missed him. He left earlier today.”

The man swore, and staggered past Oak. The Professor shouted after him. “Wait! Why not stay in Pallet Town for the night? You’re in no shape to go on!”

The man shook his head as he limped away. “No time! Have to catch up! If I go now, maybe I can reach him!”

Oak watched as the man disappeared into the twilight, slowly shaking his head.

***

Jasper grinned as he strode away from Oak’s Pokemon Lab. Well, it seemed as if fate had intervened on Cole’s behalf once again. But he would soon catch up to the Firebrand.

And then, he would have his vengeance.



Yes, Jasper and Magnus are back. Let the awesome ensue. The action will pick up next chapter, for sure.

[Feralninja]

Cole breathed in the warm air of Viridian Forest. He hadn’t been here in years, and the soft chrring of bug pokemon in the trees still had the same effect as when he had been a little kid, just setting out on his journey. It was a very pleasant sound, and he paused for a second to listen.

Magnus glanced at him and smiled. “Nostalgia?”

“Yeah. How did you tell?”

“When you’re my age, and you’ve been where I have, everywhere gives you a little nostalgia. I know the look.”

Athena squeaked as a flock of Butterfree lifted off from a nearby tree. “They’re so pretty!”

Magnus shaded his eyes; pushing away his silvery-gray locks as he did so. “That they are, some of the prettiest in the world.” Cole was once again reminded that Magnus could understand the speech of pokemon just as well as Cole could. Perhaps better than Cole could.

They continued down Viridian Forest’s wandering path for some time, admiring the flora and fauna. After several moments of relative quiet, a young man leapt up from the bushes near the side of the trail. “Hey! Trainers! We gotta have a battle! My first-class bug types will destroy you!”

Cole’s hand automatically snapped to his belt harness. Charizard could take this little Bug Catcher down, even if his “first-class bug type” was Gensect itself.

Magnus held up a hand. “Ah, Cole my lad, would you mind terribly if I took this myself? I haven’t had a battle like this in a long time.”

Cole smiled. “No, of course not. By all means, Magnus.”

The old man whipped out a pokéball in one fluid motion. “You first, young man.”

The Bug Catcher grinned. “The name’s Todd! And say hello to Beedrill!” He hurled the pokéball with all his might, and it exploded into the yellow and black creature. “We’ll take you down, old man!”

Magnus smiled wider. “Age is but a number, lad! Come, Feste! Curtain call!”

He threw out his pokéball, and a green and white blur shot forth. “Bubble, bubble toil and trouble!” The blur quickly reversed direction and came to hover before Magnus. “Fire burn and cauldron bubble!”

Cole laughed. “You would do something like this, Magnus!”

Athena tugged at Cole’s hair. “What is it? What’s going on?”

Cole smiled indulgently. “That’s a Chatot. They’re from the Sinnoh region. A lot of them can mimic human speech. It seems that Magnus has taught his Shakespeare, and named it after the Fool from Twelfth Night.”

Feste looped around several times, chattering away. “The master, the swabber, the boatswain and I, the gunner and his mate… did Mary, Margaret, Maryanne and Margarine, but none of us cared for Kate!”

Cole recognized the song as Stefano’s drunken ballad from The Tempest. Magnus obviously realized what was going on, and how dangerously close Feste was to getting to the bawdy part.

The old man shouted to Todd, “Let’s start the battle, shall we? You first!”

Todd pumped his fist. “Beedrill, Twin Needle!”

The insect swooped at Feste, it’s wings whirring. The Chatot dove out of the way of the first strike, only to be hit by the second. “Thine wicked ways shall not avail you!”

“Wing Attack, Feste!”

The Chatot moved with impressive speed, slashing at Beedrill with glowing wings. The red-eyed bug fell back for a moment. “Toxic, Beedrill!”

Beedrill spat a stream of purple venom, and Feste whirled up into the sky. The small Chatot came spiraling down in a combination of Sky Attack and Drill Peck. “Wrap this up, my little clown!” Magnus cheered. “Chatter!”

Feste landed just before Magnus, and opened his beak. In a booming squawk, Feste recited, “Caliban! You’ll be pinched for this!”

Beedrill was hit with the deafening sound waves, and fell to the ground. Cole waited several seconds before stepping forward. “Beedrill is unable to battle. Feste wins!”

Todd returned his pokemon and scuffed his feet. “No fun…”

Magnus shook his head. “No, lad. It was very fun.”

“Well, yeah. Because you won.”

“Maybe it wasn’t fun for you. But Feste and Beedrill both enjoyed themselves, I'm sure. I enjoyed myself, too. And I think that if you look deep inside you, you’ll realize it wasn’t as dismal as you think.”

Todd shrugged. “I guess… I’ve never seen a Chatot before, except on TV. That was… kinda cool.”

Magnus ruffled the boy’s hair. “See? It wasn’t all bad.”

Todd let a little smile play on his lips. “Yeah. I guess not.” He reached into his pocket. “Oh, yeah. Prize money. I don’t have a lot, so…”

“Keep it. I don’t need it.”

“But the rules…”

“Bollocks to the rules. Keep your money.”

Magnus set off down the trail, whistling in harmony with Feste as he went. Cole smiled and shrugged to Todd, and then followed after his older companion.

***

They arrived in Pewter City late that evening, the sun just sliding under the western horizon. Cole and Magnus parted ways at the pokemon center, each securing a private room where they could stretch out with some of their pokemon.

Masamune and Charizard stayed within their pokeballs for the interest of space, but Cole’s other four all popped out eagerly. Athena curled up in Cole’s arms and was quickly asleep. Scathatch curled around Maeve in the center floor rug, and used her illusionary powers to change their perception of the room into a large, starry field. Thor sighed with contentment, and sank down to a crouch before falling asleep himself.

Cole lay on his back, gazing up at the ‘stars’ for a while. “You got Drapius wrong,” the Firebrand remarked, pointing at the scorpion-like constellation that crept across the sky after the hero Orion. “See, the left pincer has too many stars, and the tail is angled awkwardly.”

Scathatch closed her eyes for a moment, and the stars shifted into proper position, a few winking out. “Any other critiques on my handiwork?” the Zoroark joked.

Cole was quiet for a time, scanning the sky. “Salamencus is missing a wing. Three stars over the bright one in a rough isosceles should do. Oh, and Cassiopeia simply isn’t there. It’s the crown, remember.”

Scathatch sighed. “Space cadet.” But the requisite stars appeared. An illusionary breeze blew across Cole’s face. “Sleep now.” Soon, the Zoroark herself was breathing deeper and slower, her eyes closed.

Cole ran his hand through Athena’s silky fur for a few minutes before allowing himself to drift out of conciousness.



Just to note, I have no idea where Feste came from. When I was first conceiving Magnus's character, a little after I decided to give him an Abra, the idea of giving him another mascot popped into my head. The result... Feste, probably one of my favorite minor characters ever.
Also... I love coming up with pokemon-ified constellations... (:

[Glover]

Feste was fun, but I really thinmk the highlight was using a Zoroark for a space projector.

[Feralninja]

Alternative title: How Cole Got His Groove Back


“I thought for sure they would be around here,” Magnus muttered as he scanned the trail ahead. Cole hung back a ways, running his hands through Scathatch’s fur. The Zoroark purred under his touch as he scratched behind her ears.

“It’s all right Magnus. We can just keep going.”

The old man turned and leaned on his walking stick made from carved elm. “I think a few battles will be just what you need to get back on your feet. Now, that man in the garden did say that they would be here today, right?”

Cole nodded. Magnus strode down the trail. “You know, it’s been years since I was last in a proper tournament.” He whistled a little tune.

The younger man sighed. “This is hardly a proper tournament. It’s just a bunch of trainers hanging out around Mount Moon for some battles.”

“There was an ad in pokemon center. That makes it official enough for me.”

Scathatch chuckled softly. “It’s such fun, this role reversal. You sound like a fussy old man, Cole.”

“I’m not fussy!” Cole protested.

Magnus grinned. “Scathatch is right! You are grumpy!”

“I’m not grumpy! I’m… guilty.”

Magnus grabbed Cole by the shoulders. “Look at me. You did all you could. Put it behind you. I gave you the choice, and you chose to continue. So carry on.”

Cole nodded, but in his heart he was not convinced. “All right, fine. I’ll go do this little tournament. Just don’t expect me to win…”

They walked another ten minutes, and found a large group of trainers sitting around in a large area carved by glacial melt in the canyon, millennia ago. Four battlefields had been drawn on the ground with white chalk.

Magnus raised a hand. “Oh! Are you the tournament people?”

A young woman looked up from a clipboard. “Yeah, that’s us! What’s up?”

“Is it too late to join up?”

The young woman (Cole tried not to notice that she was rather pretty) smiled. “No, totally cool! That brings us up to thirty two, so we don’t have to have a by in the quarter finals anymore! Perfect!”

She scribbled on her clipboard, and took down their names. She told something to Magnus, and then turned to Cole. “Okay, so you’re going to be the first match on that field over there. The battle style is one-on-one single elimination. You can only use one pokemon per match, but you can use different pokemon in each match-up, if you so choose. The matches start in half an hour, so get ready.”

Cole thanked her and made his way over to the field. He called out all of his pokemon and looked them over. He drew a lot of stares from the other trainers, since all of his pokemon were rather rare. Three of his team came from Unova, and pokemon from the far western region were hardly ever seen in Kanto.

Scathatch yawned widely, showing her teeth. “Can I sit out today? I just took a bath, and I don’t want to get all dirty again.” She shook out her mane. “Besides, everybody’s already seen me now. I can’t have fun with illusions.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “For now. But I may need to call you in.” The Zoroark playfully snapped at his fingers. The trainer then paused to consider. “Masamune, I still don’t want to tax you too much.”

Before the Samurott could protest, Cole held up a hand. “At least, not in the first battle. Okay? I’m going to see how tough our competition will be, then maybe I’ll send you in.”

“What about me?” Athena chirped from Cole’s shoulder.

The Firebrand lifted her off. “I don’t think it’s fair to use a legendary pokemon in a battle like this. Why don’t you and Scathatch cheer on the sidelines?”

Athena pouted, but brightened up when Cole bribed her with a Pecha Berry. She climbed up into the Zoroark’s mane, and peeped out there, as Scathatch went and curled up in the shadow of the cliffs.

“Hey there! Looks like you’re going up against me!”

A girl of about thirteen looked up at Cole. “Oh. Uh… hi. Nice to meet you.”

The girl stuck out her hand. “My name’s Katey. Nice to meet you.” Maeve drew up alongside Katey, and the girl scratched the Weavile behind her crest. The ice type purred and the girl smiled. “Are you going to use this one for our battle?”

Cole shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.” His eyes wandered across to the other battlefields. Magnus was going up against a Dragon Tamer from Blackthorn City, a pompous man with a rich silk cape.

“Ugh,” Katey groaned, following his gaze. “Victor. I hope your grandpa beats him up.”

“Magnus isn’t my grandfather…” Cole muttered. “But what’s so bad about Victor?”

“He’s a jerk,” Katey replied, as if it were obvious. “He’s been stalking Kendra for like, months.” Katey gestured to the pretty girl who was checking people in. “And since she’s my sister, Victor’s kinda been stalking me too. He thinks just cuz he uses dragon types he’s all cool and stuff.” Then she knelt down to look Maeve in the eyes. “But I bet you could take down all those big mean dragons, couldn’t you?”

Maeve stuck out her tongue with a grin. “Psh. Dragon types are posers.”

Charizard grumbled something, to which Maeve replied, “Ferocity and Analyt aren’t just dragon types. They’re Becca’s dragon types.”

Cole went stiff when he heard the name. He hadn’t thought about Becca for months, since he left her cabin behind at Twist Mountain. Any guilty feelings were soon pushed aside when Kendra signaled Katey, telling her to start the battle.

The girl skipped over to the other side of the field as Cole returned his pokemon, shuffling the balls in his hands. Katey jumped up and down a few times before shouting, “I’ll pick first. Let’s go Milotic!”

The elegant serpent coiled out onto the battlefield, gracefully shedding the coating of light from its pokéball. It trilled a few lines of a wordless tune. Cole separated one ball from the rest with his fingertips. “Showtime, Thor!”

The Zebstrika tossed his mane as he came into view, before turning his head to Cole. “Arceus, she’s just a child.”

“She’s our opponent, Thor. A battle’s a battle.”

“If we beat her, is she going to cry?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Geez Thor, she’s thirteen, not five.”

The Zebstrika kicked up some dirt with his hoof. “Fine. Let’s do it.”

“Milotic, Aqua Ring!” The water type sprayed a jet of water high into the air, and used dazzling speed to whip the water around itself, coating it’s body with moisture.

Cole folded his arms. “Thor, Agility. Let’s not take any chances.”

The electric type nodded as he relaxed his muscles. “Strike hard, strike fast.”

“Milotic!” Katey cried. “Hydro Pump!”

“Thor, get ready!”

The equine pokemon narrowed his eyes, watching as the serpentine beast bunched up. Then, as the powerful torrent of water burst forth, the Zebstrika darted out of the way, and Cole fell flat on his chest. The spray struck the cliff behind him with enough force to splinter the loose shale.

Cole rolled to his feet. “Quick! Use Thunderbolt!”

The Zebstrika’s mane flashed, and brilliant bolts of electricity shot from its body, striking the Milotic. Katey cried out, but the water type was able to shake off most of the damage. Thor’s special attacks, while not bad, were nothing to brag about, and Milotic obviously had a high special defense. Cole narrowed his eyes. “Don’t lose your momentum. Wild Charge!”

The residual electricity still clung to Thor’s body, and the Zebstrika used that to build up more charge as he rocketed towards Milotic. Katey hurriedly commanded it to use Surf.

A colossal wall of water rose up underneath the snake, headed directly for Thor. The equine slowed slightly, but Cole shook his head and roared, “Straight through it! Just keep pressing on!”

Thor nodded, and leapt up. If this didn’t work, he would be hit by the full force of the wave. But if it did, victory was secured. Thor slammed into Milotic with as much strength as his whipcord-tough body could muster, and there was a boom as the opposing forces collided.

The two shapes dropped to the ground. Milotic squirmed for a second, before going still. Thor stumbled, but remained on his feet. He tossed his head proudly. “Zebrrrrr!”

Katey stood in shocked silence. Then, slowly, she pulled out her pokéball, and Milotic disappeared in a flash of light. The two battlers stared at each other for an awkward moment, and then Cole smiled. “You fought very well. You should be proud.”

Katey rolled her eyes. “I’m out in the first round. No fun. Just my luck Kendra would put me up against the best fighter in the tournament.”

Cole led her off the battlefield so the next pair could have their match. “Now, you’re only saying that because I beat you!” The walked over to the battlefield Magnus and Victor fought on, the old man’s Druddigon, Hamlet, and the Dragon Tamer’s Dragonite lashing out at each other in a flurry of quick blows.

Magnus folded his arms. “Hamlet, I grow tired of this. Don’t you? End it quickly.”

The Druddigon used a powerful Dragon Claw to counteract the Dragonite’s Dragon Pulse. Victor tossed his cape back. “Dragonite, use Draco Meteor!”

The orange dragon gathered it’s energy into it’s claws, and prepared to launch a glowing orange orb upwards. Magnus gritted his teeth. “Hamlet, Outrage!”

Hamlet’s pupils dilated, and he began swinging out wildly, hacking at the Dragonite. Victor’s dragon cried out as the Druddigon knocked it unconscious. A referee held up a hand.

“Dragonite is unable to battle!”

Victor shook his head. “No. Impossible! How could I be defeated?”

Magnus quickly recalled his pokemon, before the Druddigon truly spiraled out of control. He walked over to Cole and winked. “Looks like we both one. See you in the finals?”

“Bet on it,” Cole replied.

They relaxed as the next battles took place. Magnus checked the match up chart, and Cole was a little jealous that the older man would be battling Kendra next. “Want to trade?” he asked.

Magnus laughed. “Tell you what. You can console the pretty girl when I beat her.”

Victor strode over to them, his chin held at a pompous angle. “You cheated, old man!”

Cole stood up, standing protectively in front of Magnus. “I watched the whole battle. Magnus didn’t cheat.”

“He used a Druddigon! That’s not a pokemon that’s ever in Kanto!”

“So? I fought Katey with a Zebstrika. You’re just a sore loser!”

“I trained in the Dragon’s Den! I am a dragon master! Your grandfather just happens to have a strong dragon type.”

Magnus heaved himself to his feet. “Oh, suddenly being from Blackthorn City makes you all powerful? Son, admit it, you lost in a fair fight. You only shame your order by pressing the issue.”

“I’ll get back at you for this!” Victor vowed, before stalking away.

Kendra rolled her eyes and walked over. “Sorry if he’s been bugging you. We’ve been trying to ditch him for weeks. Come on, our match is about to start.”

She led Magnus away. Cole’s field was still occupied, so he watched Magnus get set. Kendra called out her Nidoking, while Magnus’s hand lay at his belt for a moment, considering. Finally, he drew a pokéball from his robe, and tossed it out.

“Come, Ophelia!” A Kingdra appeared in a bright flash of light. The aquatic dragon’s horns curled back from its head in a most elaborate pattern, showing that it was very old and powerful indeed. The young man who would be Cole’s next opponent caught his eye, and the Firebrand was forced to turn away.

Cole reluctantly stepped up to his box. “Charizard, go!” The orange and yellow dragon growled as his pokéball burst open, and he flexed his claws eagerly. The young man introduced himself as Shane, and then called out his Blastoise.

The blue turtle roared, but Charizard did not flinch. The dragon merely roared back in reply, louder. Cole raised an eyebrow. “Type advantage won’t help here. Charizard, Heat Wave.”

The pulse of super-heated air Charizard shot from his maw made the Blastoise stagger. The turtle growled, and glanced at its trainer. Shane folded his arms. “Shell Smash.”

Blastoise glowed red, and the upper layer of its shell sloughed off. Cole chewed his lip. Now that the water type was faster, it would be a bigger threat. Its Torrent would kick in at any moment, too. He would have to exploit the drastically lowered defenses…

“Charizard, Focus Blast!”

Charizard concentrated for an instant, then released an orange and yellow orb, which flew at Blastoise. Shane snapped his fingers, and Blastoise retracted into his shell, quickly spinning out of the way. “Finish this! Hydro Pump!”

Blastoise came to his feet again, and the two cannons slid from the gaps in its shell. Twin pillars of water shot from Blastoise’s back, and Cole cried out. “Fly out of the way, Charizard!”

The dragon unfurled his wings, but after beating them once and wincing in pain, curled them back in. He instead crouched low to the ground, letting the Hydro Pump arch over his head. Then, as Blastoise adjusted his trajectory, Charizard clawed along on the ground until the water was spent.

“You… you can’t fly?” Cole gasped. “Charizard… why didn’t you say so?”

The fire type lowered his head in shame, and refused to meet Cole’s eyes. Shane glanced at the Firebrand. “Is something wrong? Should we stop the match?”

Charizard glared at Cole, and the young man easily understood. “No. Keep fighting. We’ll see this through.”

“All right… Blastoise, Hydro Pump again!”

“Charizard, Dragon Pulse!”

The blast of indigo energy hit the pressurized water. It seemed as though the forces were equal, but soon the strain began to show on Blastoise. The Dragon Pulse forced the Hydro Pump back, and hit Blastoise full on. The water type fell onto it’s back with a groan; the force of two attacks more than it could bear.

The referee held up a flag. “Blastoise is unable to battle! Charizard wins!”

Shane shrugged with a wry smile. “Nice battle man. I’ll be cheering for you, so don’t lose, got it?” Cole smiled in reply.

After Shane walked away, Cole went to Charizard’s side. “You can’t fly?” The dragon shook his head forlornly. “Is it because it hurts?” Charizard nodded, then shrugged. Cole ran his hand over the fire type’s spine and collarbone, feeling the joints.

“When you protected me from those rocks, you dislocated your shoulder, didn’t you? It got set to rights back at the lab, but you worked through it so long, it left a lasting mark. Oak warned me about possible minor fractures. It’ll be a little while before you can fly again…”

Charizard sighed, a small jet of flame shooting from his nostrils. Cole wrapped his arm around his partner’s neck. “Hey, don’t get so down. We’ll work through it. You needed the rest anyways. I’ll just ride on Thor for a while.”

Charizard begrudgingly returned to his pokéball, and Cole caught the last moments of Magnus’s battle. Ophelia deluged Nidoking with a final Surf, and the poison type’s latent ground affinity caused it to sink to its knees. Magnus would be moving on, too.

On the farthest field, a man with a Sableye dispatched an Alakazam. He came to Magnus and grinned. “Looks like you’re my next opponent, old man. Time for a little vengeance.”

Magnus reached behind his back, calling out his Abra, Newton. The small yellow creature appeared at Cole’s side, and teleported him away, out of the man’s sight.

Magnus then leaned against his walking stick. “Never thought I’d find you here…

“Jasper.”


Don't you hate when the crazed villain shows up everywhere? Just when things seem to be looking up?

[Blaziken10285]

Great fic. I love how you've developed Magnus. His Pokemon nicknaming skills are top class. Definitely looking forward to the battle. So I guess Cole still has a long way to go until he gets to the Edge of the World and Keldeo?

[Feralninja]

Magnus’s hand flashed, and he threw out a pokéball. “Macbeth! It is time to vanquish the darkness!”

There was another flash as the Ursaring appeared, and Feste the Chatot spread his wings on Magnus’s shoulder. “Something wicked this way comes!”

“Something wicked has arrived,” Magnus corrected. He tightened his grip on his staff. “Take your place, Jasper. I’ll end this quickly.”

Jasper strode to his box. “Brave words, old fool.” He tossed a Dusk Ball up twice, and then cast it out. “Mephistoles!” The Hydreigon appeared with a roar; it’s three heads leering down at Macbeth.

“Dragon Pulse,” Jasper spat.

“Slash!” Magnus cried.

Macbeth raced headlong into Mephistoles’s attack, taking the damage and plowing through it. Then, it’s claws opened rents on the Hydreigon’s hide. Macbeth roared in triumph, swaggering back to stand in front of Magnus.

Jasper folded his arms. “You dare stand before me, after what you’ve done? Just tell me where the Firebrand is!”

“Never!” Magnus growled. “Macbeth, Focus Blast!”

The Ursaring shot a glowing orb from his claws. Mephistoles swooped out of the way; it’s left mouth dangling in a foolish grin. Jasper tapped his boot. “What do you say we put some stakes on this battle? You win; I give you two days’ head start. I win; you tell me where you’ve hidden the Firebrand.”

Magnus thought for a second. Two days would certainly be enough time to reach the Gate, and once they passed through that, Jasper couldn’t possibly follow them. And even if he lost, he and Cole could just run. It was too tempting a prospect…

“All right. I accept.”

Jasper grinned wolfishly. “Mephistoles, Flamethrower.”

“Macbeth, Brick Break.”

Again, the Ursaring charged straight into the fires, battering them away with his glowing foreclaw. Then, he slammed both powerful arms down onto Mephistoles’s shoulders. “Follow with a Focus Blast, while he’s grounded!”

“Dragon Pulse, Mephistoles!”

The Focus Blast ripped through the indigo light, and slammed into Mephistoles’s main head. The dragon shrieked, using it’s two other heads to comfort the injured one. Jasper spit in disgust.

“Pathetic creature. Return.” The Hydreigon disappeared in a flash of red light. Magnus clenched his teeth at this callous disregard, and held out Macbeth’s pokéball. The bear disappeared.

Jasper clenched his fists. “I held my honor before, and it cost me my position! I won’t allow the Firebrand to slip away again! Rhyperior, go!” The giant stony behemoth appeared, and rushed at Magnus. The old man tried to run, even as other trainers rushed to help him. He tripped over his robe, and fell onto the ground. The Rhyperior barreled closer…

Two flashes of light shot from under his cloak. Hamlet grabbed the Rhyperior mid-charge, his clawed feet digging into the ground as his wings flapped to gain leverage. An Arcanine charged up a point-blank Fire Blast, something that would, at this range, be devastating even to a rock type.

Hamlet flung the Rhyperior down, using its momentum against it. The Arcanine stepped closer, fire dripping from its mouth. Magnus struggled to his feet. “No! Hamlet, Aslan, stand down! It’s acting under orders.” The two pokemon stepped back, still scowling at the fallen Rhyperior. Magnus turned to Jasper, his staff held out. “Return the beast. And be gone from this place.” Other trainers nearby chimed in, throwing out various threats about what would happen if Jasper did not leave.

The one-time Magma admin sighed, and after returning Rhyperior, stalked away. He cast a glance over his shoulder, and Aslan growled. Jasper spat, and continued walking.

Magnus sighed, and his shoulders slumped. Newton appeared next to him, with Cole in tow. “What happened back there?” Cole asked, supporting the older man.

“Jasper. He’s looking for you. I had to make sure you were safe.”

Cole bit his lip, and watched Jasper’s figure recede. “He’ll be back. As soon as this tournament is over, let’s hurry for the Gate.” Magnus nodded, and went to go sit down, waiting for his coming match.

Cole made quick work of his next opponent. Charizard again took the field, using his fire to expediently defeat the Gengar he was up against. After the ghost’s attempt to put Charizard to sleep failed, the dragon’s Heat Wave wrapped the battle up succinctly.

Cole was then fully able to watch Magnus’s Arcanine stumble and fall to the ground, unconscious. The trainer returned the victorious pokemon before Cole could make it out, but the silhouette revealed it to be not much larger than Maeve.

“Congrats, Cole!” Katey told him, as he moved to the next battle, against this mysterious trainer that had made such quick work of Magnus. “You made it all the way to the finals!”

Cole grinned. “Well, I told you I was good, right? No shame in losing to the ultimate victor. Make sure you and Kendra cheer for me, okay?”

Katey nodded, but folded her arms. “Just be careful. This guy is really good. Like, famous around here.”

Cole winked. “Well, I’m not exactly a weakling myself.” He took his place on his side of the battlefield, and nodded to the young man who stood across from him. Despite being a few years his junior, he wore the uniform of an Ace Trainer.

The young man smiled. “The name’s Joe. You ready?”

Cole nodded, and threw out his pokéball. Maeve appeared in a flash of brilliant light, flexing her claws. “You know it. Prepare to lose!”

Joe grinned. “No way! My pokemon are in the top percentage! Ratticate! Let’s go!”

Cole nodded. This was the pokemon that had defeated Magnus. The body shape and size matched. He would have to be careful… Then, he paused for a moment and started to put the facts together. A Ratticate… that was the ‘top percentage’…

“Joey? Arceus, I haven’t seen you in years!”

The Ace Trainer scowled. “I haven’t been called that in a long time.”

“We battled outside of Cherrygrove in Johto a few years back! My Cyndaquil against your Rattata! You were just starting out!”

Joe blinked. “Oh, yeah! I remember you! You’re the Firebrand!”

Cole winced, but smiled nonetheless. “Yeah, that’s me. So… for old times sake?”

Joe winked. “All right! Let’s get started!”

“Maeve, start things off with Poison Jab!”

The Weavile stiffened. “No way. Not after Masamune.” She shook her head fervently and crossed her arms. “I don’t want to use that move ever again.”

Cole swallowed, realizing his error. “Of course. I understand. Maeve, Ice Punch.”

The Weavile nodded, and jumped at Ratticate. Joe cracked his knuckles. “Hyper Fang!” The rodent charged at Maeve, and Cole snapped his fingers. Maeve feinted to the right, as Ratticate was about to make contact. As the opposing pokemon took the bait, Maeve slid to the right and drove her claw into Ratticate abdomen, jumping back a second after contact.

Ratticate gritted its teeth, and rolled back to Joe. “Iron Tail,” the Ace Trainer commanded. Ratticate chattered for a second, and then flicked its tail twice; bracing the muscles up and down it’s length, tensing it so that it took on the same durability as steel.

“Night Slash,” Cole murmured, and Maeve nodded. The dark type made the first strike, and Ratticate reeled. As Maeve drew close for a follow-up, the opponent dropped the act, and swung around, catching Maeve in the abdomen. She cried out and fell backwards.

Joe leaned in. “Crap, did we overdo it?”

Maeve stood slowly. “I can keep going. I’ll win this, for sure.”

Cole chewed his lip. “Want to use Swords Dance?”

“No,” Maeve said softly, retreating to their corner. “I probably can’t take one more hit, but neither can Ratticate. I’m going to end it now.”

“All right. Brick Break.”

Maeve’s claws glowed, and she charged at Joe’s pokemon. “Hyper Fang!” Joe shouted. Ratticate leapt at Maeve, it’s teeth glinting. Maeve used her left claw to block, and threw Ratticate to the ground. Then, as the right one came down for the final blow, Ratticate bunched up and clamped down on her shoulder. Maeve cried out, and slammed her claw into its flank.

“No! Stop!” Joey cried. “You’re hurting her! Ratticate, you have to stop!”

The pokemon broke off the contact, and limped back to stand before Joey. Cole started to run out to Maeve, but the referee held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but if you go, I’ll have to disqualify you for interfering!”

Cole shook his head. “Screw that.” He sprinted to Maeve’s side as she collapsed into his arms. Her shoulder was bleeding, and Cole pulled a roll of gauze out of his duster pocket. “Shh, easy. Let me fix that for you.” He poured some disinfectant on, and Maeve passed out.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered.

“Don’t be.”

The referee was silent for a moment before declaring Joe the victor. The Ace came to sit next to Cole. “Hey man, I’m sorry for Ratticate. We just… lost control.”

“It happens.” Cole didn’t even look up; he was too busy cleaning the wound. “We’ve hit some bumps in the road. Whatever.”

Joe shook his head. “No, really. You should be the winner, not me.”

This time, Cole looked up. “You won. Accept it. Learn from it. We will. Take pride in what you’ve done, don’t hold yourself back.” He returned Maeve to her pokéball, and whistled to Scathatch and Athena. The Zoroark vanished in a flash of red light, and Athena clambered up onto Cole’s shoulder.

Then, the Firebrand signaled to Magnus. “Let’s find the Gate.” He called out Thor, and mounted up. Magnus summoned his shiny Rapidash, Shadowfax, and the two galloped up the winding trail of Mount Moon.

Katey elbowed Kendra as their dust trail slowly blew away. “Cole was cute wasn’t he?”

“Sh-Shut up!”

***

They arrived at the Gate shortly before sundown. They recalled their pokemon, and Magnus laid a hand on the obsidian stone. A panoramic view of the valley stretched out below them. Cole could see all the way to Pewter City.

The old man turned to Cole. “So… is the old Cole back? No more brooding and dwelling on what can’t be changed?”

Cole sighed. “No. I think the old Cole is gone. He died in the work camp. I’m never going to get that innocence back. But I’ve learned that I have to live in the moment, be my own person. I can’t dwell on the past anymore.”

The Gate opened with a rush of air. A harsh white light enveloped the two travelers, drawing them on to their next destination. Cole closed his eyes and spread his arms wide.

When he opened them again, the world was still white, and the wind still wailed. He could barely make out Magnus beside him. The pleasant evening of Kanto had given way to something far more frigid and cold.

Magnus glanced up, drawing his robe around him. “Arceus.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“No. Look there.” Magnus pointed upwards, and Cole could vaguely make out a tall rock face, with a strange multicolored light shining from the top.

“Arceus.”



A/N: Well, Jasper is vanquished for now... But new conflicts are on the horizon...

[Feralninja]

“The world just never stays saved, does it?” Cole grumbled as he clawed his way up the icy, frigid slope of Mt. Coronet. Magnus bolted past, riding on his Arcanine, Aslan. The old man’s face was set in a grim line, and he seemed not to feel the cold.

Masamune’s pokéball burst open, and gestured for Cole to get onto his back. “This is work too hard for a mere human,” he growled, and used his shell swords to make handholds in the nearly sheer rock face.

Magnus glanced at Cole. “I thought you said Arceus had retreated to the Hall of Origin, and was not likely to return to this world?”

“I did. I thought that was the case. My friends and I barricaded all the trails up to Spear Pillar. Charizard and Maeve were there.” Cole leaned into Masamune’s neck. “I swear, when I find out who’s doing this, I’ll be facing fuc king murder charges.”

A few moments later, Masamune hauled himself up to the summit of the central mountain of Sinnoh. Cole called out Charizard, Scathatch and Thor for extra muscle. Magnus summoned his heaviest hitters: Aslan, Hamlet, Macbeth, along with a Pidgeot and Scizor Cole had not met.

The Firebrand did a quick tally; Magnus had far more than six pokemon on his person. He would certainly broach the subject with the old man later, but for now, he turned his attention to the central dais of the most sacred site in Sinnoh.

Arceus hovered several feet off the ground, the source of the many lights. He pranced about, but did not seem to be in any imminent danger. Cole motioned his pokemon to silence, and drew closer.

Two figures stood before Arceus, one certainly human, and the other a large, hulking pokemon that Cole identified as an Aggron. This was no easy feat, because the glow from Arceus reduced them to mere silhouettes. Neither made any move of aggression, but Cole did not drop his guard.

Arceus raised his head, and the lights around him brightened. Ah, you have arrived.

The figure before Arceus whirled around, and the Aggron growled. Charizard roared in return, but Arceus made a sound that could have passed for laughter. My friends, my friends, we are all at peace here. There are no enemies in My presence. He capered over to Magnus, and looped around the old man several times. Old One, it warms My being to see you well!

Three pinpricks of light descended from the pillars around Arceus, twirling around the deity before splitting off to each of the three humans. Cole laughed as the light drew nearer to him. “Azelf!”

The blue sprite smiled and twirled around Cole’s head. Athena waved at the other legendary, and the two greeted each other. Cole rubbed the area behind Azelf’s crest. The two had become friends in the Galactic Incident, and Cole had always paid special respect to the Being of Willpower any time the Lake Trio was invoked. Magnus was likewise greeted by Uxie, and Mesprit gravitated to the third figure.

“So, this is where you were bringing me?”

The figure stepped from the shadow left by Arceus’s absence, and into the softer light. Cole tried to keep his face impassive, but he feared that he still made a rather conspicuous gasp.

The young woman glanced at him before turning back to Mesprit. Cole schooled his face into impassiveness, but it wasn’t easy. Damn, damn, damn hormones. Damn it, damn it. But she’s hot, there’s no doubt about it!

Athena laughed from Cole’s shoulder, easily following his thoughts. One look at his face revealed the Firebrand’s mindset to Azelf, and the two diminutive legendary pokemon were trying their damndest not to break out into very rude laughter. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Athena chuckled.

The young woman inclined her head to them. “Thank you, Victini."

Ah, she can hear them too? Cole wondered.

Arceus turned to them. It is good that you have met at last, all of you. I feared that I would have to intervene in a way that would push My restrictions.

Magnus’s brow furrowed. “Arceus, why have you called us here?”

The deity tossed his head. The girl already knows. It is her quest.

“Talking in riddles gets us nowhere, my old friend, no matter how much You enjoy it.”

Arceus laughed again. Yes, I suppose. Defender of Legends, I do believe that your journey and hers are intertwined. Will you consent to help her?

“Tell me what must be done,” the Firebrand said with a bow.

In the land of Kanto, a malevolent force is rising. My eye is clouded, so even I cannot offer more than that. It is this girl’s destiny to end it, and she will need the help of you and the Old One.

Magnus glanced at his fingernails. “Age is but a number.”

Cole was slightly flabbergasted that Magnus would have the nerve to interrupt a god, but Arceus continued on regardless. There is yet time before the Darkness reaches its height, but she must stop it before that point. As I have said, she may need you.

The young woman folded her arms. “I don’t need him, or the old man either. We managed fine on our own before, my pokemon and I.”

The power of Darkness is great, Arceus warned, and your pride could mean your downfall. You are not invincible. Accept the aid I offer, and your chances of success increase a hundredfold. So, my girl, what is your answer?

The woman sighed. “If it is Your wish, I shall accept it. The Lake Spirits seem to like them well enough, I suppose.”

Arceus nodded slowly. Good, my Chosen. You are learning. Your journey has not been for naught. I am pushing My limits already, but I may offer you this…

Arceus reared back, and a glowing pinprick of light appeared in the air before the woman, slowly solidifying into a silvery-gray slab of light, thin stone.

“The Steel Plate,” Magnus gasped. Cole raised an eyebrow. He had collected what plates he could find a few years ago, before Arceus retreated. To have the god give one away… He had high faith in this girl.

When the time comes for you to make use of it, you will know.

Magnus stepped forward. “My lady, I am Magnus. Pleased to meet you, and proud to be of service.” He kissed her hand, and looked expectantly at Cole.

The Firebrand stepped forward. He held out his hand stiffly. “Cole. Cole Culain.”

The woman clasped his hand firmly. “Joan. Joan Dark.”

They broke off contact quickly, without looking each other in the eye. Cole was a little uncomfortable at being thrown into this new quest, and Joan was obviously not thrilled at having to share the duty.

Arceus trotted over to Cole. I have a gift for you, as well, young man. He hummed a song that struck Cole as vaguely familiar, though he knew he had never heard it before. A splitting pain burst through his mind, and he dropped to his knees.

Masamune helped him to his feet, and Scathatch gazed up at the deity. “What did you do to him?!”

Arceus tossed his mane. Cole has shown a penchant for losing his way, has he not? Straying from the path? I have made it so he will no longer want for guidance on this journey, this quest. He will know the location of the next Gate to pass through. Nothing more, nothing less.

Cole nodded and gestured for his pokemon to step back. “Truly, I’m all right.” Then, he fell forward, his hands over his eyes as his senses were overloaded with a psychic vision. “Snowpoint. I see Snowpoint City. Magnus, is there a Gate in Snowpoint?”

The old man thought for a second, then nodded. “Yes. In the lowest part of the Temple.”

Cole got to his feet slowly, and bowed to Arceus. “Are we to leave immediately? Something about Your manner shows me that time is of the essence.”

Arceus nodded. The sooner Joan reaches her destination, the better. I bid you fair travel. He turned his head to the sky, and cried out. A blinding light flashed, and shot up towards the stars.

When Cole could again see, Arceus was gone.

Magnus recalled his pokemon, and moved to the edge of Spear Pillar. “I don’t care what Arceus says. It’s late, and dark. We’d end up doing more harm than good traveling through the dark like this. Let’s just find an entrance to the cave and camp there for the night.”

***

“…And I’ve been traveling ever since,” Cole concluded, settling back against the warm bulk of Charizard. Joan raised an eyebrow from across the fire.

“You’re the Firebrand? From the Omega War?”

“Yeah… I don’t like to talk about it much. Were you in it?”

“N-No. I was… otherwise occupied at the time.”

Magnus nodded. “So, Miss Joan, how did you come to Spear Pillar?”

The young woman shrugged. “I… You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Please. I’ve been traveling with Cole. I have a fairy high threshold for insanity.” Magnus ignored the scowl Cole shot him.

“Well… for a while now, I’ve been hearing voices. In my head. Everyone thought I was mad. There were some tests done… they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. But eventually, the voices got louder. So I left home, caught myself a few pokemon, and wandered around from place to place for the past couple months, going where the voices told me.

“When I came to Sinnoh, I learned the voices were Mesprit and Arceus. The people at that church in Hearthome helped me out, gave me some supplies to hike up Mount Coronet. I reached Spear Pillar only a few minutes before you all showed up.”

Scathatch dropped her head into Cole’s lap. The young man scratched behind her ears, and the Zoroark turned her head slightly, allowing him a better angle. When Cole finished, she got up slowly, licked his cheek and put her mouth close to his ear.

“She’s hiding something.”

Cole nodded slowly, just enough that Scathatch would realize it, but no one else would. She was being very careful, knowing full well that the other two could understand her speech. Cole lowered his voice. “I know. Be careful.”

Scathatch padded away and curled up next to Masamune. Somewhere in the distance, a Zubat screeched. Magnus growled, picked up a pebble, and threw it into the darkness. A shriek betrayed that he had hit something.

“I swear,” the old man grumbled. “There are only three things that are infinite. The universe, the Tao, and the population of Zubats.” He picked up another rock, turned, and hurled it. This time, a Golbat swooped out of the darkness and came charging at their fire. Feste leapt off of Magnus’s shoulder, and battered the interloper with his wings.

“Foul witch Sycorax! Age and envy hath grown thee into a hoop!”

Joan laughed as the Golbat winged away. “Your Chatot knows Shakespeare!”

Magnus’s eyes shone. “My dear, you have only endeared yourself to me further. And I’m sure Feste agrees.”

“An honor, my lady! A blessing!”

“I love The Tempest,” Joan admitted. “And Twelfth Night too! Come here, Feste.” She held out her arm, and the Chatot happily leapt over the fire to come sit with her. She fed him a berry from her bag.

“Oh, easy now,” Magnus cautioned. “I can’t have him getting fat!”

Cole narrowed his eyes. “Magnus… are you a Taoist?”

“On Tuesdays,” the strange old man said, with a languid flick of his wrist. “On Mondays I’m Aristotelian, on Thursdays I’m a disciple of Basho. And on Sundays, I’m Aristophanian!”

“Aristophanes…” Cole muttered. “Sounds familiar. He was the guy who wrote those old comedies from two thousand years ago. The Birds, right? The one about that city in the sky?”

Magnus cursed under his breath. “I had hoped you wouldn’t know him. The name sounds impressive, doesn’t it?”

Joan laughed, which echoed through the cavern. “You know, I had my doubts before, but I think I’m going to like traveling with you guys!”




Joan is actually based of a real, historical figure... Let's see if you can figure it out. Shouldn't be too hard.

[Blaziken10285]

Joan is actually based of a real, historical figure... Let's see if you can figure it out. Shouldn't be too hard.

Joan of Ark the famous martyr maybe? This is getting better and better it seems.

[Glover]

I'm more interested in Aceus myself, and I love your telling. He's certainly a kind, though somewhat sarcastic being.

Cole has shown a penchant for losing his way, has he not? Straying from the path? I have made it so he will no longer want for guidance on this journey

Truthfully, this sounds more maleveolent though than it really should to my ears, that whole scene reminds me of the first time we see Galvatron "heel" to in the 1986 Transformers Movie.

[Feralninja]

“I’m getting to old for this,” Magnus grumbled. “Someone my age shouldn’t be slogging through these snowfields.”

“Magnus,” Cole cried. “You live up in the Sinjoh ruins! You should be used to this!”

Magnus cast Cole a dirty look and pulled his hat down. “All right, first off, that’s up in a valley in the mountains! The peaks keep out the chill! Second, this isn’t just a chill! This is a blizzard! Third… you’ve got a nice warm Charizard next to you, and a Samurott plowing the way!”

Joan laughed. “Magnus, you could come over behind Masamune too!”

“I have my pride, girl. I have my pride.”

Magnus continued slogging through the snow. Finally, he grumbled a long string of obscenities, called out Macbeth, and set the Ursaring to helping Masamune clear a path through the chest-high drifts. He strode through the path in front of Cole and Joan, who were sheltering under Charizard’s wings.

“Now let the record show,” Magnus declared, “that I am still going on my own power, for Macbeth is my pokemon, and his actions are reflected through me. My pride is intact.”

Cole and Joan laughed as Macbeth glanced over his broad, furry shoulder and rolled his eyes. The two bulky pokemon in front used their massive size to level a path for the trainers, and showed very little care for the gusting wind.

Despite Magnus’s claims, there was no blizzard. The blowing snow was cold, certainly, but there was nothing unseasonable or particularly dreadful about it. Such conditions were commonplace for this area of Sinnoh, the highlands in the foothills of Mount Coronet. After some time, Joan remarked that Masamune and Macbeth must be freezing.

Masamune was quick to assure her than he barely felt the bitter wind. While Cole doubted that, he knew Samurott had a high tolerance for cold, simply through evolution (the Darwinian kind, not the flashy form-change variety) to suit their environments. According to Professor Juniper, she had identified two schools of the Oshawott family, one freshwater, and one saltwater.

The freshwater school lived high in Unova’s mountains, near the frigid sources of its iconic rivers. The saltwater group lived off the coast, in a chain of islands that ringed Undella Bay. In both places, the water was very cold for most of the year, and the weather was often little better. Samurott had thick skin, and hardy muscles to cope. Masamune was in no danger of freezing.

Macbeth also waved away Joan’s concerns, but Cole could not understand the Ursaring's speech. Again, though, he wasn’t overly worried. Ursaring lived mostly in mountainous regions where the temperature could get very low. Macbeth had a dense fur coat, and a hide at least as thick as a Samurott’s. Their living snowplows were in no risk of frostbite.

Maeve gallivanted through the snow, happy to be once again back in her native land. She had been born near Lake Acuity, and that was perhaps a day’s travel away. Her arm was healing nicely, Cole had removed the bandage two days ago. The Weavile called out a greeting to a hazy pack of Abomansnow on a distant ridge, and then glanced at Cole. “It’s a good thing we didn’t bring Shiva along.”

Cole was forced to agree. The Sceptile would not have liked this, not one bit. And when their quest took them closer to the poles, and Keldeo, the cold would only get worse still. They passed some time in relative silence, the only noise being the soft grunts of Masamune and Macbeth, and the crackle of Charizard’s tail flame.

Joan pressed closer to the orange dragon’s body as they made their way over a wooden bridge. Magnus glanced over the rope railing and down into the gorge. “Well. Look at that.”

Cole peered over the edge. “What’s up?”

“See the way the water is frozen?” At Cole’s nod, the old man continued. “Well, there must have been a sudden surge for it to be all up in spikes and ridges like that. You can make out several back eddies even from way up here, see?”

Cole leaned over a little, making the bridge creak and sway. “Oh, please stop,” Joan moaned.

“Afraid of heights?”

“Not usually,” she confessed. “But on a rickety old bridge like this? Yeah, a little.”

Magnus swayed from side to side, making the bridge creak and wobble. “Madame, I assure you, this bridge is quite stable. Why, it’s maintained by Sinnoh’s Ranger Corps every ten years or so.”

Joan gulped, and pressed closer to Charizard. Magnus returned to gazing at the frozen river below. “Anyways, as I was saying, I believe there must have been a flash flood, and then a freak cold spell to make all this water freeze like that.” He shrugged. “Probably for the best. If this had been left unchecked, it would have decimated the valley…”

“A bit convenient, don’t you think?” Masamune asked Cole as they started on again. “Things like that don’t just happen, or if they do, it’s hardly often.”

Cole nodded. “I thought I saw some movement down there, but I may be imagining it. Whatever froze this thing, it happened weeks ago.” But he was convinced he saw a flash of red…

They forged on until the cloudy sky above was tinged with smoky orange. Magnus glanced at the surrounding tundra, and gritted his teeth. “We need to find some shelter, and soon. The temperature will drop dramatically when the sun sets, and I don’t think even our pokemon will be able to keep us warm. All we need is a ridge, something to get out of the wind…”

Athena, who had climbed up on Charizard’s head, scanned their surroundings. “It all looks flat, for miles and miles.”

Joan shivered, and Cole noted that her jacket was well suited to most autumn and spring climates, but was far too flimsy for the wintry weather of northern Sinnoh. And just think, it was barely summer up here!

An abnormality in the snow caught his eye. “Masamune, go look over there!” He swung up onto the Samurott’s back, and the blue behemoth surged through the snow, following Cole’s directive. “Magnus! Joan! Come look at this!”

Cole dragged his body through the snow, the cold already seeping into his bones. He leaned against the doorframe of the small wooden cabin nestled into a deep in the snow. “Please! Please, open up! My friends and I need to get out of the cold!”

The door creaked open, heat spilling out. A kindly old woman with a wizened, smiling face peeked out. “Why, you poor dears! Come in, come in!”

Cole, Joan and Magnus tumbled into the cabin, quickly recalling their pokemon. The woman let them sit in several comfortable armchairs around the hearth, and bask in the heat of her fireplace. “I was just making soup,” she said, and bustled into the next room. There was a clattering of kitchenware, and moments later, she was back with three bowls of soup and four mugs of tea. She sat in the chair opposite Joan, and allowed the travelers to eat in silence. Athena sipped from Cole’s bowl, her tongue lapping it up like a Meowth’s.

When they finished, the woman took their bowls away. Joan pulled two pokéballs out, and allowed them to drop to the ground. Cole winced, half-expecting her to call out her towering Aggron. When the white light cleared, a fluffy white Swablu sat on her head, and a Banette drifted next to her chair.

The old woman stopped dead when she saw the Banette, and visibly swallowed. The Banette followed her every move, and it was clearly putting their hostess off. “That’s enough, Eris,” Joan reprimanded. The Banette slumped, and folded her arms.

Cole reached out to pet her, but Joan cried out. “Be careful! Eris is special! Her ability is Cursed Body!” Cole quickly pulled his hand back. Joan sighed. “Usually it’s not a problem, because it’s activated by a special hormone in her body, but when she experiences a negative emotion, sometimes it comes out. Better safe than sorry.”

The old woman stared at them. Cole tried to remember if she had blinked this entire time. “What brings you three out here, in this weather?”

Magnus quickly improvised. “Well, you see Madame, we were traveling already. My sister in Snowpoint is ill, and we have to go help her. My grandchildren came along to make sure nothing happened to me along the way.”

“Why not just fly? Most trainers do now.”

Cole jumped in. “Uh… there was some stormy weather over Mount Coronet. We thought it better to try on foot, and we haven’t been able to lift off since.” What he didn’t want to say was Charizard couldn’t even lift off the ground right now, Magnus’s Pidgeot didn’t like cold weather, and Joan confessed she didn’t have a pokemon strong enough to carry her to Snowpoint.

“Ah.” The woman was quiet for a while. “So you’ll be leaving in the morning?”

“Yes, likely. Provided the wind dies a little.”

“I’ll leave you to sleep then. Good night.” She exited the room, leaving Cole and his companions alone with the fire. The Swablu on Joan’s head sang a tired little song, and Joan reached up to stroke its cotton-like wings. “Shh, Cirrus. Shh.”

Magnus flicked a lever on his armchair; making the footrest pop out and the upper part of the recliner lean back. “Ahh…” the old man sighed as he pillowed his head on his arms. Joan removed Cirrus from the top of her head, and cradled the little bird in her arms until it went to sleep. She hummed a lullaby, and lay out on the couch she had taken as a seat. Eris drifted to the opposite side; never taking her eyes off the door the old woman disappeared through.

Cole shifted his legs over the arm of the chair, his head resting against the padded back. Athena curled up in his lap, and was soon asleep. Cole watched the flickering embers of the fire die down, before his eyelids grew heavy.

***

The Firebrand leapt up, making Athena cry out. Morning sun was filtering through the curtains, but Cole was shivering. He grabbed his duster from the coat rack, and glanced around the cabin. The only sound was Joan’s soft breathing, and Cirrus’s tinny snores. Magnus slept like a statue, his chest barely rising and falling. Of their mysterious hostess, there was no sign.

Cole drifted into the kitchen, trying his damndest to be quiet. He opened one of the cabinets, hoping to find a bit of food. His stomach ached with hunger. But to his surprise, the cabinet was barren. He tried every other cupboard, and likewise, there was nothing. No food, no pots, no pans, no cutlery. There was no sign of the bowls they had used the night before.

He tried in vain to ignite the old gas stove. It merely clicked as it tried to light fuel that simply wasn’t there. Cole poked his head into the third and final room of the cabin. Aside from a plain, immaculately made bed, it was empty. Of the strange old woman, there was no sign.

With a strange sense of foreboding, he padded back to the parlor. Magnus was slowly rising. Cole moved quickly to his side and whispered, “Something’s wrong. The lady isn’t here. There’s no food. There’s… well, nothing at all.”

Magnus’s eyes narrowed. “There are no ashes.”

“What?”

“Look in the fireplace. After last night, there would be ashes. One of us would have heard if she came in to sweep them away, I’m sure of it. And look, the basket that held the firewood. It’s empty too.”

They quickly awakened Joan, and informed her of the strange occurrence. The young woman glanced around furtively. Eris mumbled something, but she shook her head. “Don’t be silly.”

Magnus strode over to the door and flung it open. Cole winced as the icy air poured in. The man from the Sinjoh ruins shook his head. “The only footprints in the snow are ours, and though they are mostly faded, they were clearly there. Our hostess is simply… gone.”

“You don’t think it was just a dream, do you?” Joan asked with a shudder.

Cole shook his head. “It would require some serious psychic power to induce it in all of us, with that kind of vivid imagery. It could have been an illusion, but even Scathatch has a hard time replicating multiple sensations at once. The kind of focus it would have taken to simulate the warmth of the fire, the texture and taste of the soup, and the caster itself would have to be incredible.” He started out the door, pulling his duster around him. “Either way, I think we should get out of here fast. I don’t want my mind messed with any more than it already has been.”

***

The Froslass stood atop the roof of the cabin, completely at ease with the frigid wind. The three strangers trudged through the snow beneath her. She inclined her head to try and catch a snatch of conversation, but the gale blew it away.

She turned and drifted down, floating over the ever-changing snowfields. Today, like every day, she would go down into the gorge and make sure the floodwaters stayed frozen. A Sisyphean task it might be, but if she did not do it, all of the pokemon living in the valley would die.

[Feralninja]

In honor of the holiday, I'm posting two chapters of Hero's Path this week. So... yay! Also, if you haven't already, make sure to check out A Journeymen Solstice Carol, a League of Heroes holiday special.


“It’s very beautiful,” Joan whispered as they hiked along Acuity Lakefront. The evening sun sparkled along the crystalline water. Despite the harsh temperature, the lake wasn’t frozen. Masamune splashed through the shallows, completely comfortable with the frigid water.

Charizard grumbled, shivering a little. Cole patted the dragon’s neck. “Why couldn’t the Gate be at Lake Valor?” He drew his duster tighter around him. “It’s summer! I don’t want to be cold!”

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Cole, just enjoy it! The worst of the wind has abated, and Snowpoint City is in a valley. There will be almost no chill there.” He chuckled. “That said, there is a Gate along the Valor Lakefront. I suppose Arceus just had bigger plans for us up here.”

“That’s just cruel and unusual punishment. I’ve never done anything but help Arceus. I hate having to walk through ankle-deep snow.”

“You’ll manage, I’m sure. This all builds character.”

Joan glanced at them. “Do you… want to keep going? The lake is nice, but I would prefer not to camp tonight. Let’s get to Snowpoint before the temperature drops.”

Magnus threw the folds of his cloak back, and thrust his walking stick out in front of him. “The lovely lady has a point! Let us continue!”

The two younger people huddled against Charizard’s warm flanks again, though Magnus was stubborn as ever. After another hour of walking, they arrived at the outer line of the city. Several boats bobbed in the harbor, and the loading equipment was shutting down for the day.

Magnus sighed as the sound of the wind died away. Charizard snorted a puff of smoke out his nostrils, making Athena cough. The old man turned to Cole. “Perhaps we should go to the pokemon center, and make sure no one is at risk of frostbite?”

Cole nodded. “I could go for some hot chocolate.”

They tramped through the town, eventually reaching the iconic building. The Temple loomed up in the background, but Cole forced that out of his mind. They would handle the Gate tomorrow. The glass doors slid open, and the heavenly feeling of central heating washed over the company.

Cole and Magnus strode up to the main desk, already bringing out their pokemon for treatment. “Joan?” Cole asked.

The young woman stood behind them, not moving from the doorframe. Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking. She hurriedly unclipped her pokéball holster and threw it to Cole. Then, as soon as he caught it, she turned and bolted.

Cole passed the harness to Magnus. “You handle things here, I’ll go find her.”

He dashed out the door, and hurried down the main byway of the city. The streets were freshly shoveled, so he couldn’t track her by her footprints. Anywhere that there was a light dusting of snow was so trampled by other peoples’ feet, it was impossible to track.

“Joan! Joan!”

The Firebrand saw a man leaning against a bar, smoking a cigarette. “Hey!” Cole said, sliding to a stop. “Hey, I’m looking for a woman.”

The man exhaled a puff of smoke, and then waved his hand dismissively. “Aren’t we all, brother?”

Cole grabbed the man’s collar and pinned him against the wall. “I don’t have time for games. She must have run right past you. Where did she go?”

“Listen man, I got no idea what you’re talking about.” The smoker struggled against Cole’s grip.

The young man leaned in closer. “There are only a few places anyone can run to in this town. Where. Did. She. Go?”

“Look, I don’t want any trouble Maybe I saw this chick, maybe I didn’t. What’s it to you? You should keep better track of your girlfriend.”

Cole dropped the man. “It’s not like that.”

The man stamped out his cigarette and drew a pokéball. “Oh yeah? Well, we’ll see.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Cole stalked away, his duster flaring. He stalked down to the docks. Joan had run this way initially, so perhaps she had continued in a straight line. Certainly, it was worth investigating. As Cole walked, he immediately regretted accosting that man. He hadn’t done anything wrong to Cole, so his reactions were wholly unwarranted.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was even close friends with Joan. If it were Becca, or Ammy, or any of his other female friends, then perhaps he would have had a reason to act so brashly. Why did he feel so protective of this girl, who he had only known for a week?

A lone figure leaned against the railing of the Snowpoint Dock, staring at the boats. Cole slowly made his way down the icy stairs. The evening sun glinted off the harbor waters, dazzling his eyes slightly. Cole leaned against the rail, and glanced at Joan, who was shivering.

She looked up when he draped his duster over her shoulders, leaving him in nothing but a t-shirt. “I’m not cold,” she muttered, and went to take the jacket off.

“Well, you’re shaking. Excuse me for being a gentleman.”

“Sorry. I just don’t do hospitals.”

Cole raised an eyebrow. “Why not? I’ve never had any problems with pokemon centers. The staff is always nice, and my pokemon don’t mind the attention, not a bit.”

“It’s not the center. It was… the smell. That antiseptic.” Joan stared down at her hands. “You probably think I’m crazy.”

“No, of course not.”

Joan didn’t speak for a while, and the two of them stared at the setting sun. “They put me in a hospital, back when I was a kid.”

“Oh?”

The young woman puffed out a breath of air, making a cloud of steam. “Yeah. When most kids were starting out on their journeys, I was put in a mental institution. Oh, don’t give me that look. I’m not some dangerous escaped patient. Okay, so I am an escaped patient. But I’m not insane, and I’m not dangerous.”

“You escaped…? Joan, I have so many questions right now, I don’t know where the hell to even start. I’m not sure if I should be calling the cops, or running for my life, or hiring a lawyer…”

“I’ll give you the abridged version then,” she replied, shifting in the duster. “You deserve at least that much. When I was little, I heard voices. Arceus and Mesprit, though naturally I didn’t know it at the time. But no one else seemed to understand that these voices in my head were actual entities communicating with me. It got worse as I got older, so when I was eleven, they brought me to a mental hospital. It was okay at first, just some psychoanalyst stuff. I had a nice enough room, and all the books and puzzles I could ask for.

“But as I got a little older, and none of the doctors were making any progress, the tests got more intense. There was this helmet thing they put on me, monitoring my brainwaves. They used psychic and ghost types to get inside my head, try and see my thoughts and memories and where all this stuff came from. I can remember one Alakazam particularly. He used all the finesse and subtlety of a bulldozer.

“A few months ago, the wall to my… well, I guess it was a cell at that point… exploded. Mesprit was there, and she led me out and hid me while the doctors tried to track me down. Like something out a damn movie, Houndoom trying to sniff me out and everything. I made my way across Hoenn, before all this war business began, and caught my first few pokemon. Then, I made my way to Sinnoh, and from there, to Spear Pillar.

“Cole, I have to admit, when I first saw you, and recognized you, I really thought everything was going to change. I mean, a real, true, genuine hero was backing me up! And this past week, it’s been a lot of fun. But walking into that center, and smelling that… it made something snap.

“Suddenly, I had to face it. What if this is all some freakish dream? What if I’m going to wake up on an operating table again, and all the doctors are going to be scribbling and muttering and I’m carted back off to my cell? Or worse, if this is all some psychic test, and I really am insane? How do I know you and Magnus and Mesprit and Arceus and all my pokemon aren’t real? What if it’s just some crazy dream?”

Her voice was gradually getting higher and more panicked. Cole grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around. “Joan, look at me! Look into my eyes! I’m not a dream! Damn it, look at me, Joan! Magnus and I are as real as can be, and you’re here, in Snowpoint City.” He slipped the duster off her shoulders a little. “This cold, this is real. And look.” He placed his hands on her neck, gingerly and carefully. “How do they feel?”

“Warm.”

“That warmth is real. Believe me.”

Joan trembled and collapsed against Cole. “I want to believe… I want to believe…”

“Then believe, damn it!”

Joan’s shaking subsided, and she pushed herself away. “Sorry… I… I feel like such a damsel right now.” She shook off the duster and tossed it back to Cole. “Come on, let’s get back. Magnus might be worrying about us.”

***

When they again walked through the sliding door, Magnus stood up from his spot in front of a television, which was playing a documentary on ancient Clefairy involvement in the foundation of the Tojoh civilization, a conspiracy theory that Cole never bought into.

As the old man started walking towards them, Maeve looked up from the National Geographic she was flipping through, grabbed the remote, and changed to the Pichu Brothers cartoon.

“Well, glad to see you back, mademoiselle.”

“I’m better now,” Joan assured him. “No need for your sarcasm, Magnus. And what’s with that look?”

He laughed. “Oh, you two just remind me of some people I knew a long time ago. Ah, young love. How beautiful it is.”

“Wha—?” Cole cried, and Joan pushed away from him. “I don’t… I mean… Magnus, what the hell are you talking about?”

Joan shook her head emphatically. “You think I’d settle for him?”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Magnus chuckled and walked away to the food counter, singing under his breath. “Honor, riches, marriage blessings, long continuance and increasing. Hourly joys be still upon you, now we sing our blessings on you…”

Joan and Cole glanced at each other, then turned away. Joan went to go check on her pokemon, while Cole sat down next to Maeve, the only one who did not need medical attention. If anything, the cold had only invigorated her and sped up the healing process of her arm. He stared at the animated Pichu running around the screen before raising an eyebrow at Maeve. “This stuff will rot your brain, you know.”

“Well, what else is on?”

Cole consulted the guide. “Oh, hey, V for Vendetta. I think you’ll like that one.”

***

“…And V was all ‘It is my very good honor to meet you, and you may call me V,’” Maeve gushed to Athena as they walked to the Temple. “And then, he used his sword to make a V in the wall. It’s like that other guy… uh…”

“Zorro,” Cole supplied.

“Yeah, him. But cooler.” The Weavile fell silent as they passed through the threshold of Snowpoint Temple. A guide standing nearby scurried over.

“Hello. Welcome to the Temple. Please, feel free to look around on this floor. If you would like a guided tour, one will be starting in about half an hour. Please do be careful, though. Our efforts to rebuild and restore the Temple after Regigigas’s attack in the Omega War are still very much underway.”

Cole glanced around at the various scaffoldings set up around the Temple. “Um… we’re actually not tourists. I’m here on business.” He started off to the stairs that led to the lower levels, Joan and Magnus in tow.

The worker jumped in front of him. “I’m afraid I can’t let you down there, sir. Firstly, the entirety of the lower levels has been closed to the public ever since Regigigas returned, and furthermore, many parts of the catacombs are at risk of collapsing. The wild pokemon have been restless, and at the moment are easily provoked. Not even workers are allowed down there at this point.”

Cole turned slowly. “I’m assuming you don’t know who I am.”

The guide shook his head. “Sir, truly, I’m sorry, I can’t allow you down there…”

The young man sighed, and dug deep in his pockets, finally procuring his Trainer Card. “Cole Culain. The Firebrand. The Defender of Legends.”

“Oh! Sir… I didn’t…”

“Look, I’ve been given sanctions by the Global League Confederacy to investigate any signs of strange activity brought about by legendary pokemon, so I think you have to let me go down there.”

“Right… of course…”

“And do not be alarmed if we don’t come up any time shortly. We can see ourselves out. Anything that happens down there, my associates and I can handle.”

“Uh… all right…”

Cole motioned to Magnus and Joan, and they started down the winding staircase. Joan drew up alongside him and chuckled. “Global League Confederacy? Is that a thing?”

“Hell if I know. Sure sounded pretentious though, right? And it served our purpose.” He shrugged, the leather of his duster making a satisfying noise as it slid.

They made their way carefully around a large crater in the next floor, which opened up to the floor below. Maeve peered down. “Looks like Regigigas was in a rush, huh?”

Cole nodded, and then glanced around. “I don’t see any of the pokemon that guy back there was talking about… do you?”

Athena sniffed the air. “I smell them around, but I can’t see them…”

There was a great rustling in the shadows, and a gigantic cloud of Golbat and Crobat swooped down on them. “Masamune, go!” Cole shouted, and the Samurott appeared with a roar.

Joan too threw a pokéball. “Maximus, take ‘em down!” Her Aggron appeared with a cry like grinding metal plates.

Cole hissed in a breath, but Magnus shook his head. “Don’t let it get to you. It’s just a name. How could she know?” Cole nodded, and the old man ran forward. “Hamlet, front and center!” The Druddigon roared as he emerged from his pokéball, lashing out with his wickedly sharp claws.

“Masamune, Ice Beam, let’s go!” Cole shouted over the clamor. “Maeve, Ice Punch! Athena, Fusion Bolt!”

The Victini and Weavile leapt at the swarming bat pokemon, jumping off walls to hit hard-to-reach targets. Athena’s telekinetically-boosted bounds were getting better and better, and Cole hoped soon she would reach the point of levitating flight. In the myths he’d studied, Victini seemed to be able to do that…

Masamune and Maximus roared in tandem, and the Aggron swept out a heavy arm, catching a Crobat as it veered away from Hamlet. He threw the purple beast down into the crater, where it disappeared. The Samurott shot a blast of icy white light from his maw, freezing enemies wherever he swept it.

Hamlet and Magnus were busy clearing a way to the next staircase, but the old man’s staff shot up. “Cole!”

At that moment, Athena dove to Cole’s side. “I sense something… something big.”

The floor rumbled as a colossal noise echoed up the stairs. “Magnus!” Joan shouted. “Get out of there!”

Hamlet grabbed his trainer and swept to the right. A large group of Graveler and Golem rolled up the stairs and directly at them. “Maximus! Hamlet!” Masamune barked. “Get the humans out of here! Athena, take care of Maeve! I’ll handle things here and follow up!”

Athena nodded, and caught the Weavile with a telekinetic force, before leaping down the wide crater. Maximus grabbed Joan in his left arm, and barreled towards Cole. “Wait!” the Firebrand shouted. “Masamune, I’m not leaving you!”

“It’s only for a moment, Cole! Trust me, I’ll be fine!”

Before Cole could protest, the Aggron swept him up and charged straight into the crater. Joan screamed as they dropped two floors straight down. Hamlet and Magnus dropped beside them, the Druddigon’s wings spread to increase drag.

Cole winced as they landed, the ground splintering beneath them. Maximus grunted, but seemed fairly unharmed. His rocky hide and metallically reinforced skeleton had held off most of the damage. Athena and Maeve drifted down as gently as feathers, and Cole immediately grabbed them out of the air, one in each arm.

“What’s going on up there? Where’s Masamune?”

“He’ll be down soon. He said.”

“But what’s happening?”

“I dunno.”

***

At that moment, Masamune roared, loud enough that Cole and his friends could hear it. Water surged around him as he prepared a Waterfall attack. He shot one final Ice Beam into the hordes of bat pokemon, and then sprang forward, water trailing behind him.

The Samurott charged through the advancing rock types, scattering them. He leapt down into the crater, aiming for the opposite side. He scrabbled against the rocky lower ledge, and as soon as he found the purchase he needed, he jumped down once again. He continued jumping from ledge to ledge, outcropping to outcropping; a trail of iridescent water flowing behind him.

Finally, he crashed down next to Cole and Maximus, with a triumphant roar. A cloud of Golbat had followed him down, and Masamune stepped forward. “Hold on now,” Cole muttered, and stepped in front of his valiant water type. “You’ve done your part.” With a flourish, he cast out his remaining three pokeballs. Charizard, Thor and Scathatch appeared in a brilliant flash of light.

“Charizard, Heat Wave! Scathatch, Night Daze! Thor, dash to the other side and use Discharge!”

The brilliant three-pronged attack hit the Golbat flock from all sides. Those that weren’t struck fled as fast as their wings could carry them. The unlucky ones that were hit fell to the ground, and limped away on their weak and spindly legs.

Athena cheered, and Cole saw a purple and red aura fade from around her body. So that was why everyone’s attacks did so well. He had never commanded Athena to use her ability, Victory Star, but obviously it had now just activated of it’s own accord.

Magnus turned around, tapping his staff against the old, worn stones. “Well then. Looks like we’ve reached the bottom. Shall we find this Gate?” He strode to the altar, and Joan followed him. Cole, however, remained locked in place.

“Something’s wrong. Where’s Regigigas? The guide said it returned.”

Magnus shrugged. “Not our problem. Probably snuck out to go wander the forest.”

“Something the size of Regigigas doesn’t simply sneak out.” Cole brushed off his duster. “Magnus, despite whatever crap I spouted up there, I am the Defender of Legends. If there’s something wrong with Regigigas, I need to try and fix it.”

The two other humans, who had already made it to the altar, turned back. “Cole…” Joan said. “You’ll… You’ll want to look at this.”

The Firebrand signaled to his pokemon, who hurried after him. He clambered up onto the altar, and looked where his friends were pointing. “Arceus… it can’t be.”

Magnus nodded solemnly. “I believe it is.”

Cole shook his head in disbelief. “No. It can’t be. It can’t be.” The empty carcass of Regigigas lay on it’s back, it’s vacant oculi staring up at the Temple ceiling. A large cavity had been carved where the lower half of its torso had once been, revealing its ribcage and the top section of its pelvis. The gargantuan creature’s left hand had rotted away, leaving a giant cluster of bones.

Joan pressed a hand to her mouth. “I didn’t even think the Regis could…”

“They were biomechanical,” Cole replied softly. “I suppose it was the ‘bio’ part that did this one in. After the Omega War, Regigigas had suffered some severe injuries. I was unconscious for some time afterwards, so I never found out if it got the care it needed.

“I suppose it was just transported back here and left to fend for itself. I know that on some species of pokemon, external wounds heal very quickly, but it can leave lasting internal damage. I think that here, this was the case. Arceus… I can’t believe Regigigas is… gone.”

“Here now,” Magnus said, leaping down to the body. “What’s this?” He leaned into the large cavity in the behemoth’s chest. Maeve hissed and looked away.

“Magnus, you shouldn’t do that!” Joan admonished. “Show respect!”

“No, look at this!” The old man held up a round object for them to see. “I think… I think it’s an egg!”

“So what?”

“Come here, look closer. See these markings on the shell? They’re a dead match for Regigigas’s pattern, albeit on a smaller scale.” He grinned. “Don’t you two see? This is a miracle! This Regigigas might have died, but sooner or later, a new one will be born from this very egg!”

Magnus began wrapping the egg in his cloak. “What are you doing?” Cole cried. “We can’t take that!”

“Why not?” Magnus shot back. “Better with the Defender of Legends than the next collector to sneak down here. Besides, when it hatches, you can be right there, and we can make sure our little fledgling brute goes somewhere safe.” The spry old man jumped back up to the altar. “Come now, Cole, shouldn’t we be moving on?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Joan moved along the wall, feeling for the pattern. “Don’t we need a riddle to open the Gate?”

“You can use the Gates?” Cole cried.

The young woman glared at him. “Obviously. How do you think I got from Hoenn to Sinnoh?” Cole mentally slapped himself. It should have been obvious. But he simply hadn’t put the pieces together.

Magnus glanced around. “All right, try this one on for size. How is a raven like a writing desk?”

Cole scowled. “Oh, come on, even the Mad Hatter couldn’t get that one! Magnus, think of one with an answer!”

“No, no!” Joan said. “I know this one! Poe wrote on both!”

There was a flash of light as a panel on the wall light up. A great gust of wind blew through the Temple, and the band of adventurers walked through the Gate.

***

Cole emerged into blinding sunlight. He blinked, trying to acclimate his eyes. Magnus emerged next to him, their pokemon in tow. The Firebrand slowly took in their surroundings. They seemed to be in the ruins of an ancient city, the stone walls of some archaic castle rising up around them.

“Joan? Joan? Magnus, where’s Joan?”

The old man shook out his hat. “I haven’t the foggiest. Apparently her destination was different from ours. Ah! Cole, I know where we are!”

“That’s wonderful, but Magnus, I thought we were supposed to help Joan. She must be around here somewhere…” He began to wheel around, and only then realized that something else was very wrong.

“Scathatch, Masamune was next to you when we came through the Gate, wasn’t he?”

“Yes…”

“Where is he now?”

“Cole, I thought perhaps you had returned him.”

The Firebrand shook his head. “No. No. This is bad. This is very, very bad.” He clambered up a ruined pillar, trying to see if Masamune was nearby.

“He was called to be with Joan,” Magnus intoned from below. “Cole, please, try to calm down. You have been granted a rare privilege.”

Cole slid down the pillar, recalling all his pokemon but Athena and Thor. “Screw privilege. When’s Arceus’s gift going to show me the next Gate? I want to find Masamune.”

Magnus grabbed Cole’s shoulders. “Cole. Look around you. Have you ever been anywhere like this?”

“N-No.”

“This is the lost land of Sidhe.” The way Magnus pronounced it, it sounded like Shee. “This is a place where almost no humans ever tread. Only highly ranked league officials come here, and even then only to make sure nothing too damaging has happened to the ecosystem. Cole, you might be the first human to stand in that spot for at least seven hundred years.”

The Firebrand was floored. “R-Really? That’s… kind of cool, I suppose.”

“Listen, boy. I’ve been here once before. I know the country a little. This is a large island, located in the great ocean between Unova and Tojoh. It’s far out of flying distance to either of those places, unless we wanted to push our pokemon to exhaustion every day, or found a highly favorable current. It’s a beautiful land, Cole, and there’s only two active Gates here. I can take you to the other, but it’s on the other side of the island. Please, try and enjoy it. Masamune is where he is most needed right now.” He turned and called out his shiny Rapidash, Shadowfax. “Saddle up.”

Cole leapt onto Thor’s back, and nodded. “The sooner we know where we’re going, the sooner we can get back to Masamune.”

[Dawn_Hero]

Hey! I'm excited to say I finally got to read through Chapter Five of your story, and I'm rather impressed by your writing style. You've definitely got a knack for it - I normally can't stand fics where Pokémon are able to talk to their trainers, but it didn't even bother me in this one. That alone says something - you did well with that.

Obviously, this won't all be praise however. As much as I actually find your writing to be incredibly well-done, there were some issues I noticed through-out the story that, if improved on, could make it reach a much higher potential.

To begin with, you have a major tendency to tell everything that happens in your story, rather than show it. It really struck me in this passage:

Cole kicked at one of the red fish that leapt at him. Masamune struck with his horn. Maeve switched between Brick Break, Poison Jab, X-Scissor and Ice Punch. Cole noted that she was only effect by Rough Skin about half the time she attacked. Still, it was weakening her…

What could have been an excellent battle scene turned into a list of attacks. Now, don't get me wrong, - my battle scenes suck as well. Every author tends to struggle with them quite a bit. However, listing is something that's best to be avoided. Someone's actually choosing to spend their time seeing the world through your character's eyes... Something tells me that that's not what he saw, eh? What I mean by "show, don't tell" is that instead of saying that "Maeve switched between Brick Break, Poison Jab, etc." actually show the reader through action that Maeve did so. A sentence like that could turn into something such as:

The swarm of Carvanha rushed towards Maeve, but the Weavile was not to be intimidated. With lightning-quick movement its claw slammed down with brutal intensity, instantly knocking out an unsuspecting opponent as its claws began to glow purple with poison and ferociously jabbed into the side of its second attacker.

Not my best example, but what I could quickly come up with to demonstrate my point. Though the scene itself sounded great and was written well from a dialogue stand-point, the way the scene itself took place actually made me not care or become immersed in it, much like reading a grocery list will not make me care about what I'm buying. Does that make sense?

Now, this goes in general for most of your fic - through out a lot of it you tend to simply tell the reader what happened rather than immerse them into the action, though that slightly changed in the second half of the chapter. For example, take a look at this scene (in keeping with the Carvanha tradition) :

Masamune rolled his eyes. “You probably expect my help.”

“And Maeve’s. Get ready, I see something from downstream. C’mon, Masamune, help me get Dragonair out of the river.”

With the Samurott’s help, Cole was able to move the injured dragon, and then stood in front of her, his fists balled. The surging river erupted into a school of about twenty Carvanhas.

This could really play with the reader's emotions if you played it out right. I like what you're trying to do here. However, again, this turned into a list. "Cole was able to move the injured dragon, and then stood in front of her," "The surging river erupted into a school of about twenty Carvanhas."

Again, try to show, not tell. Having a character move an injured Dragonair while Carvanha are making their way towards him is a powerful scene, but by simply listing it you lose that possibility. I'll try to give a quick example again to demonstrate the point.

Gingerly, Cole wrapped his hands underneath the injured Dragonair, who hissed feebly at him but was unable to defend itself from his touch. The blood trickling from its wounds felt almost as though it were staining his hands as Masamune got to the other side of the wounded creature, dipping its back into the water so that the Dragonair could be lifted onto it. Biting his lip, Cole gently began to lift up the creature from the water and slip it over Masamune, the resistance that had originally met his touch already gone due to a lack of energy to put up a fight. He frowned, wondering what the fate of the dragon would be as a churning noise was heard in the distance.

Far off he could see the fins and hear the chattering teeth of a horde of Carvanha, their predatory gaze focusing in on him and the injured creature as Masamune tried its best to retreat. Blood trailed behind the swarm of monsters from what Cole assumed had to have been their latest snack, and he quickly realized that if he didn't act in time more would follow. He supposed thoughts of what would happen to the dragon once they got it to safety would have to wait - first, they'd have to make sure it actually got there.

You can turn a sentence into a power-packed paragraph where you can even add some characterization to Cole - maybe he's really worried about the dragon and wants to make sure its treated so that it can live its normal life again. Or, maybe he wants to capture it and force it to be his Pokemon. (I really don't know much about Cole.) Either way, you can make his motives apparent to the reader through inner thoughts and his own actions by actually expanding those sentences to complete actions.

Also, on one final note... You describe the river as "surging" constantly. Just thought I'd bring that to your attention - more than once have I caught myself using the same adjective more than I realized.

The Weavile nodded brusquely, slashed at another Carvanha, and then jumped to Cole’s side. Cole quickly sprayed her with a Hyper Potion, and then surged further into the surging river. “Protect Dragonair!”

Well, that's about it as far as advice goes... Sorry, I tend to ramble a bit in my reviews. Hopefully it makes sense. Q_Q If not, feel free to let me know and I'll gladly clarify any points I made. Your story, its characters, and your writing actually are quite good - I enjoyed it, despite what the review may have sounded like. Your dialogue is perfect, and the way you show how your characters interact through it is great. You can really feel the bond Cole shares with his Pokemon, and that's really quite fun to read. When I get some extra spare time, I may very well stop by again to read more.