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Thread: Chronicles of Unova (PG-15)

  1. #221
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    I'm now caught up on all the chapters except 20, and I can say with certainty now that Paula is my favorite character, followed closely by Cheren. You need to put more instances where Cheren and Bianca are together since it can make for quite an interesting relationship (even though we just had an instance like this in Twist Mountain).

    My main complaint is that you're trying to blend in game mechanics into the story where they don't fit in. It almost always feels awkward when you fit game mechanics into a piece of literature like this. I think it would greatly improve the flow of the story and the writing quality if you tried to find the real-world applications of some of the abilities and stats of pokemon so it doesn't sound so much like a video game. The problem with some of the battle scenes is that they seem too much like in-game battles, where there are very rigid mechanics. This usually doesn't end up being the case, however, since the battles themselves seem realistic; it's just the game mechanics that you sprinkle in that are the problem.

    Other than that, I only have a few other complaints:

    1. You still don't seem to understand that when you're making a quote that continues with narration afterward, you have to use a comma, even if it's the end of a clause or sentence. The exception is if the quote ends in a question mark or exclamation point. For example:

    "A boulder must have crushed it while we were trying to escape, so Paula just spent the last day out with me as we made our way through the caves.” he continued.

    The quote here should end in a comma since the entire sentence, including the quote and the narration, doesn't end there, as there is still narration after it. It should read like this:

    "A boulder must have crushed it while we were trying to escape, so Paula just spent the last day out with me as we made our way through the caves,” he continued.

    Even though the sentence in the quote ends there, the entire sentence doesn't. If the quote ends in a question mark or an exclamation point, you just leave it alone. If it were up to me to make punctuation, I would have made a question mark and exclamation point with commas at the bottom instead of periods, like they did with semicolons. However, I don't make up the grammar rules, so we just have to stick with this.

    2. You seem to be overusing your italics. Generally speaking, italics shouldn't be used in narration at all. They should only be used during dialogue to stress certain parts of characters' speech, or when using foreign terms like "ad infinitum".

    3. Sometimes, when you describe attacks in battles as being absolutely crushing or something like that. Basically, you use a strong modifying word to try and make the description more powerful. The problem here is that the description is a bit general, even with the modification. It would be better if you used the technique of "showing, not telling" where you relay what's actually happening rather than blatantly describing the outcome. Describe the motions made to execute the attack, describe what the attack physically looks like, and describe the specific physical effect it has on the enemy rather than just using a general adjective to try and relay the intensity.

    (I'm not completely up to date, so don't sue me if you've learned or improved on any of these points)

    Other than that, I'm loving the story. Despite being a journey fic, it has a certain amount of unpredictability that makes it satisfying. The amazing characters (especially Paula!) make the story pleasant to read, but the great writing quality is what really completes it for me. Go ahead and add me to the PM list, 'cause I'll be looking out for more chapters.

    ^ Click this for good times ^


  2. #222
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    No offense, as I surmise this is a touchy subject for you, but I think it is safe to assume based on your story about your personal life that your concept of a “normal” relationship between two teenage boys is extraordinarily abnormal. They say “write about what you know,” and the hard truth of the matter is that teenage boys good-naturedly rib each other and flip each other **** all the time.
    I could have sworn he had a goatee; clearly his lack of slight facial stubble in official canon being at odds with an insignificant throw-away comment is an earth-shattering piece of heresy to you though. A thousand and one pardons, of course.
    Umm… so look, hey, I’ve got this really sweet piece of property in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you; it’s got a bridge on it and everything! Some local kids even spray painted “gullible” on the bottom part – no extra charge!
    Okay, stuff like that should never be necessary in a review or review reply. Saying that people's view on relationships is 'abnormal' just in itself is a borderline at best but the other two I randomly pulled has no place here. You do not need to reply sarcastically to a point raised about you incorrectly describing the appearance of a canon character (which frankly is pretty important - say you said Harry Potter's scar was in the shape of a dagger. That's incorrect unless you are writing him as OOC, and even then, physical appearances of characters is a fairly well-grounded point), nor insinuate that others are gullible or whatnot. Comments should be about the review itself, (or with reviews about the story), not the writer of said review.

    That and things like this:
    4. No offense, but I think after the prologue and the first little bit of the first chapter, you were trying to find things to not like. If I may be as blunt as you were, some of your comments are a bit pedantic and imply you were reading way too far in between the lines. I appreciate the nuggets of wisdom that were there, but don’t be offended if I sift through some of the rest.
    suggest to me that you're indicating that you feel that the review was meant to be flaming or purposefully negative in nature, which even if the latter was the case doesn't necessarily make it less valid in the end given it's all backed up by various examples and explanations. From the fanfic rules too:
    Writers must respect reviewers
    (...)
    –reviewers go out of their way to help writers along and assist them so that they become better; they do not mean to insult or sound mean, so please do not accuse them of this
    –reviews are not flames and should not be interpreted as such
    This seems to be what you are doing in those quotes to me. In future replies please do not make such comments.

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  3. #223
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    OMG THIS IS FANTASTIC CAN I BE ON THE PM LIST PLZ OPPS CAPS LOCK OK well i have just had a 2 day long reading marathon on your fan fic
    Good things
    *Abouslotly love it
    *Great Charectors and back stories
    *Great in-story realtionships
    *Pokemon battle scences have improved throughout
    Bad things
    Sometimes grammar and spelling
    Pokemon evo at similar times like in a gym battle or vs team plasma
    There's not more to read
    To improve:
    More diference in evo's
    Gym battle suprizes
    More team plasma as a whole team/cult

    Fav Charectors
    1st Paula
    2nd Cheren
    3rd Bianca
    4th Munchlax
    5th David

    Please keep going with this

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  4. #224
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    Chronicles of Unova

    Chapter 21: Setting the Stage
    Part 1 of 2

    Brycen was calm…

    Seated in reflective meditation on the steps to his porch, he was nearly asleep in his unbroken silence. Glaceon lay next to him, peacefully sleeping at his trainer’s side; the state of mind Brycen sought came with ease to the small Ice-type. The winter frost blanketing the town began to crackle softly as the cool morning sun crested the horizon; dawn had come, and it was time to fight.

    “Steel yourself, Glaceon; another challenge awaits.” Brycen murmured.

    A city block away, David, Bianca and Cheren were sleepily approaching the in-house Gym. Their excitement and anxiety over the forthcoming battles had been the catalyst to drag them out of bed, but the cold was making them even more tired than the early hour would normally have. David was the most rested of the group.

    “Remind me…” Bianca started to say, cutting herself off with a yawn. “What was Brycen’s reason for wanting to battle this early again?” she asked. Bianca’s yawn spread and Cheren mimicked the gesture as well before answering.

    “He said something about the mind being ‘sharpest’ at this time of day…” he grumbled in an annoyed tone. “Seems to me like that would be midday, but whatever…” he continued.

    “Come on, guys, we had to get up earlier than this when we were in school.” David chided. “It’s only a few days until the winter solstice; just imagine if it was summer right now. Dawn would be even earlier during summer.” he continued. Cheren started to respond, but decided against it; he shivered with the morning cold and lowered his head.

    “So have either of you put any thought into how you’re going to battle?” Bianca asked to break the tension; Cheren was the first to respond.

    “Aerodactyl…” he muttered disinterestedly. “Baton Pass, Stealth Rock, Rock Slide, good game…” he continued. Bianca cocked her eyebrow in surprise.

    “That’s the same way you beat Skyla though, Cheren; don’t you want to try a new strategy?” she asked inquisitively; Cheren rubbed his eyes and sniffled with the cold.

    “No, not really…” he continued to mutter under his breath. “I can probably win with that strategy; why would I risk not winning just to do something different for the sake of doing something different?” he asked.

    “Because you’re only using Aerodactyl!” Bianca replied naturally. “You’re just using Umbreon as a setup wall, and you hardly even seem to use poor Gus anymore.” she continued. “Don’t you think you should use all of your Pokémon equally?” David continued her logic before Cheren could answer.

    “Besides, Cheren, Aerodactyl was in no danger against Skyla’s Flying-types; you knew it was safe to try that strategy against her. Brycen’s Ice-types will be weak against Rock-type attacks just like Skyla’s Flying-types were, but Brycen’s Ice-types will have just as much of a type advantage against Aerodactyl as a Flying-type as Aerodactyl would against them as Ice-types.” he explained. Cheren rolled his eyes and sighed.

    “Aerodactyl as a species are known for their Speed; it’s far and away their highest stat. With Baton Passed Work Ups from Umbreon and his naturally high speed, Aerodactyl is virtually unstoppable if we successfully set up the Baton Pass chain.” Cheren answered indignantly. “It’s called a sweeper; weren’t you guys paying attention during Professor Juniper’s lectures?” he continued. David scoffed at Cheren’s flippant reply.

    “Actually, I think they’re known for being extinct more-so than being fast, but whatever…” he murmured under his breath.

    “I guess if it helps you win, Cheren… still seems like you should give your other Pokémon a chance though.” Bianca said; without missing a beat, Cheren replied systematically.

    “Duly noted, taken into consideration, not acted upon.” he said; that was the end of that.

    “I think you’ve got a point, Bianca.” David said, letting Cheren be. “We should try and use all of our Pokémon evenly if we can help it. I haven’t used Munchlax very much lately it seems like; I should try using him for Fire Punch today…” he mused. David laid a hand over the three Pokéballs which hung from his hip and felt to make sure they were all still there; he found Munchlax’s and unhooked it.

    Releasing the playful tike from the ball, Munchlax landed beside them and energetically raised his paws above his head, shouting a joyful cry. He had considerable energy given the early hour; not something David had expected given his species’ sluggish nature. Something seemed odd…

    “You seem… chipper…” he commented to his Pokémon as they walked. “Want to help me against Brycen today, Munchlax?” he asked. Munchlax shouted happily again, but with determination in his tone to signal an affirmative response. David grinned and nodded, petting the Pokémon’s scalp incitingly.

    “I think I’ll still lead with Paula, but Munchlax can be my wallbreaker tank if we run into any heavy opposition.” he mused conversationally to his friends, turning his gaze away from his Pokémon and back towards them. Cheren nodded in agreement with his strategy and Bianca smiled; they had reached the Gym by now and Brycen had spotted them.

    “Challengers…” he muttered distantly in greeting. He seemed even more stoic and serious than he had the day before; the gravity of their impending battles showed in his face.

    “Morning, Brycen. Sleep well?” Bianca asked to be polite. Brycen closed his eyes as he rose from his seat and shook his head.

    “I did not sleep; I spent the night in meditation.” he answered matter-of-factly. “My eyes sting, but my mind is sharper and more rested for it than it would have been after sleep.” Bianca was caught off guard by his answer.

    “Oh, uhh… wow… okay…” she muttered. She shot a furtive glance at the ground around her, trying to lose Brycen’s piercing gaze. After a moment, he turned towards Dragonspiral Tower in the distance and grunted.

    “I sensed a strange aura coming from the tower. I could not describe or pinpoint it, but it set me ill-at-ease. I opted to stay here rather than go indoors.” he explained. David and Cheren turned to look at the tower also, but had nothing verbal to offer to the situation. The three trainers stared at the ancient tower for several seconds of silent reflection, but the quiet was broken shortly by a shout from the distance.

    “Hey! Hold on!” a man’s voice cried. The four of them turned to look down the road and saw Cedric Juniper bounding towards them. His trademark grin was spread uncontrollably from ear to ear, and his arm was outstretched towards them.

    “Oh yeah, I forgot he said he wanted to come…” Bianca murmured.

    “Great… this guy…” Cheren appended coldly.

    Cedric ran towards them and slowed as he neared the house. He caught his breath shortly and took in a big lungful of the cold morning air.

    “Didn’t miss anything, did I?” he asked. David, Bianca and Cheren all nodded “no” and he burst out laughing.

    Top shelf!” he shouted. “You must be the famous Brycen then I take it; nice to meet you. I’m Cedric Juniper, a Pokémon researcher.” he continued. He outstretched a hand towards Brycen to shake, but Brycen took it only tentatively.

    “I have heard of your work, Professor. It is, ahh… nice… to make your acquaintance as well…” Brycen replied cautiously. “You are a friend of the challengers I take it?” he asked; Cedric nodded.

    “You bet! Better watch yourself, Mr. Gym Leader; David here is the best trainer around!” he responded excitedly and in a voice much too loud for the quiet morning. Brycen winced and shot him a curious glance.

    “…quite.” he mused.

    “Cedric, you’ve never seen me battle, have you?” David asked with some surprise. “You, uhh… you’ve never seen any of us battle.” he continued. Cedric pondered the thought for a moment and then began to laugh heartily again upon realizing David was right.

    “Bwahaha, I suppose I haven’t, come to think of it.” he said, scratching his chin sheepishly. “I’m sure I’m right though; no doubt about it.” he continued. David was a bit off-put by the compliment, but accepted it.

    “Well then, now that we’re all here, shall we go inside?” Brycen asked, trying to keep them focused. The other four all nodded in unison, the trainers among them with a sudden gleam of determination in their eyes. Brycen sighed and nodded at their answer, and walked down from the stoop.

    “Come. We will use the back entrance.” he murmured. “No sense in trying to manage the slide if we already know I am going to accept your challenges.” he continued. The group nodded again and began following him through the hidden cave beside the house he had led them out from the night before. As the small city began to awake to the rising sun, the trainers retreated into the darkness of the cave for their impending battles…

    * * *

    Inside the Gym, the glittering crystals and shards of ice which hung from the ceiling and protruded from the walls illuminated the otherwise dark cave. A portion of the cave in the back where Brycen had been seated when they had first entered the day before was open and had a decent sized courtyard to battle on. There were a few scattered electrical lights to light portions of the cave, but by and large, the cavern was illuminated by that light reflecting off of the various crystalline surfaces and magnifying; it was a beautiful and epic backdrop to hold their battles, but it also offered many tactical vantage points. It was obviously carefully designed, and it showed.

    “Who will battle first?” Brycen asked, not turning to look at the intended audience of his question as he approached his own side of the field. The three trainers remained awkwardly silent as they each waited for someone else to speak; none of them particularly wanted to go first.

    “You can take this one first if you want, Cheren.” David offered after a few seconds of silence. Cheren sighed and declined however.

    “Thanks, but I’ll go when I’m more awake…” he muttered. “Bianca’s never had the first battle; why don’t we let her do it?” he continued. He and David turned to face their friend, but a worried look spread across her face as she caught their gazes.

    “Me? No no no, I can’t go first.” she said quickly and nervously. “I’m not nearly as good as you two. I’ve gotten used to watching you guys battle first so I can see the Gym Leader’s strategy; I need any advantage I can get.” Before anyone else could speak, Cedric spoke up from behind them.

    “That just leaves David then.” he said excitedly. “Come on, David, you go first! Show ‘em what you can do!” David chuckled awkwardly at Cedric’s unfounded insistence that he was the best; he shook his head and approached the challenger’s box.

    “Okay, whatever. I’ll go first again I guess…” he muttered. He and Brycen each drew a Pokéball and prepared to begin their match.

    “You’ll notice I don’t have a judge.” Brycen shouted across the field before beginning. “Obviously we will use the League Standard three Pokémon, and whoever loses all their Pokémon first loses. I use the honor system; we don’t need one of the League’s pompous, elitist boons out here to tell us when a Pokémon has fainted. It’s not rocket science to determine that.” he continued.

    “No problem with me.” David shouted back.

    “I like this guy…” Cheren whispered to Bianca, remembering his affair with the Mistralton City Gym’s judge.

    “Ready?” Brycen shouted.

    “Ready!” David replied. With that, the battle was underway.

    Brycen silently drew and released his opening Pokéball. He threw it with a rigid, segmented motion and struck up the same calm, balanced pose he had made the day before when it landed on the field. A Vanillish floated out from the ball and began swaying side to side in the air. It stared David down, but maintained its goofy expression; in a way, this was actually unsettling, like staring at a doll’s soulless, vacant eyes. It put David ill-at-ease.

    “U-uhh, okay… P-Paula, go.” he stammered, throwing her Pokéball onto the field. As the ball hit the cold stone ground, her silhouette rose from within it and grew in size. She brought her arms up and spun as she rematerialized; holding them out to her sides as she finished her entrance, she glared back at her opponent both soothingly and commandingly. Months of practice had helped her hone that look.

    “Erm… master? What exactly is this Pokémon I am battling?” she asked telepathically as she surveyed her surroundings.

    “It’s called a Vanillish, Paula. It’s a pure Ice-type.” David responded calmly. She turned to face him for a brief instant and cocked her eyelid at him.

    “A ‘Vanillish,’ master?” she asked skeptically. “Like the word ‘vanilla?’ Is this even a real thi-” she tried to continue, but David cut her off.

    “We all know what it looks like, Paula. No need to rehash that joke.” he said sternly. He sighed before continuing.

    “Way to represent the West, James…” he muttered; wasting no time, Brycen called for his first attack.

    “Vanillish, use Ice Beam.” he issued commandingly. Taking in a deep breath of air, the Icy Snow Pokémon blew the concentrated beam of Ice-type energy towards its opponent with pinpoint accuracy. Startled by its speed, Paula had to react purely on instinct; she managed to Teleport away just an instant before the warning shot had struck where she had previously been, but it forced her mind back into focus. Brycen was not about to give them any leeway or easy punches.

    “You okay?” David asked just as she reappeared across the room.

    “Yes, master; my apologies for being careless. How shall we proceed?” she responded. With Brycen’s opening warning shot behind them, David was ready to go on the offensive.

    “Focus Blast!” David shouted out loud. With her mind back on the fight, Paula began charging the energy for the attack and took aim. The Vanillish turned to face her after her Teleport and floated perfectly still. It swayed side-to-side a bit, but took no action to try and dodge. She loosed the blast and it flew cleanly towards the Ice-type Pokémon, but as it hurdled towards it, the Vanillish spun around an axis parallel to the ground, intersecting the top of its head. Maintaining its foolish grin, the powerful Focus Blast sailed below it harmlessly; Paula had been played.

    “Wow, it’s nimble!” Bianca commented from behind them. Cheren smirked at the agility Brycen’s Pokémon had shown; though neither Pokémon had taken any damage yet, Brycen certainly seemed to be the more in-control of the two.

    “Good. Now Taunt, Vanillish.” Brycen commanded, closing his eyes in meditation. The Vanillish came out of its spin as the Focus Blast impacted against the ground below and behind it. Its grin spread even larger and its eyes rose towards the ceiling. It began to laugh and stick its tongue out at Paula; as its laughter got louder, it began spinning around the room like an old-time cartoon character. Paula’s snow-white face flushed red for an instant as the sight struck her eyes and the chortling, ridiculing sounds struck her ears.

    “You horrible child, you have not won this yet!” she fumed to herself. David heard her comment in his mind and realized what Brycen was trying to do.

    “Paula wait, it’s a Taunt attack. He’s trying to get you riled up; don’t fall for it.” he replied quickly and reassuringly; Paula wasn’t holding up to it well though.

    “Well it is working, master!” she snapped back uncharacteristically angrily. “Now come here, you rapscallion; I will teach you how to conduct yourself in battle.” she continued. Before David could stop her or call for a different command, she began charging power for another Focus Blast.

    “Wait, no! Paula, stop!” David shouted, but it was too late. Paula had fallen for the Taunt and was going on the offensive; if Brycen could outmaneuver her, it would be all over.

    Paula generated the power for the attack surprisingly quickly; fueled by embarrassed anger and spite at her opponent’s antics, she summoned the attack and held it firmly above her head with both hands. She screamed and flung it towards the Vanillish savagely, but in her anger, the attack went wild and didn’t strike anywhere near the target. Having failed again, the Vanillish continued applying its Taunt.

    “Undisciplined as I expected…” Brycen murmured. “You cannot even maintain your focus through something so childish as this? Vanillish, continue to dodge until you see an opening; I have faith in your own judgment.” he continued. Brycen sat down and continued to meditate, removing himself completely from the fight.

    Meanwhile, Paula was still seething from the Vanillish’s continuing laughter and taunting. Flustered at having missed her second Focus Blast, her face flushed red again and she growled in annoyance and anger. David tried to calm her, but it was no use.

    “Paula, stop! Calm down! Listen to me, you’re walking into a trap!” he tried to explain telepathically. “Calm down and let’s assess the situation; we’ve got to-” he continued, but Paula cut him off.

    “I cannot stop it, master! I feel the urge to attack!” she said both angrily and in a panicked voice. She seemed to recognize that something was wrong, but she couldn’t stop herself.

    “Right, that’s because Taunt is an attack! It’s not just being annoying, it’s designed to do that!” David explained. “You’ve got to fight it; will yourself back into control!” he continued in desperation. Paula was too far gone now though; she screamed wildly and began attacking again.

    You cretin, come back here!” she exclaimed. She generated a very tiny Focus Blast almost instantaneously and shot it towards her opponent like a gunshot; fast as it was, the Vanillish still managed to escape.

    In her rage, she continued generating small Focus Blasts that she could make very quickly and aim more easily; it was akin to Aura Sphere in a way, but none of them managed to strike Brycen’s Pokémon regardless. With each miss, the Vanillish ramped up the speed and continued sailing around the room, chortling horribly to itself at her failure. The sound of the Focus Blasts peppering the walls was like slow machine gun fire, sending small clouds of dust and ice shards spraying around the room. For each shot she loosed in angry abandon, she was opening herself up more and more to a counterattack; before one came however, she managed a lucky shot.

    ENOUGH!” she shouted. She ceased her bombardment of Focus Blasts and threw her arms to her sides in anger. Just like when she had been battling N’s Ferroseed in Chargestone Cave, Paula began levitating off of the ground and glowed bright white. Her eyes glazed over and her expression turned stern. The horn protruding through her chest began to shimmer in a multitude of colors, and a pinkish aura started to glow from her silhouette. She brought her arms together and formed a triangle with her slender fingers in front of the horn; concentrating and taking aim, she shot forth a piercing, crushing blast of psychic energy. Paula’s blast of Psychic struck the Vanillish and sent it sailing to the ground in pain; she continued pummeling it even after it hit the ground.

    “Paula, you’ve got it, stop!” David shouted, realizing the tremendous damage she was dealing. Paula was continuing the attack however and seemed completely removed from reality at this point.

    “Not so funny now, is it, you ne’er-do-‘ell?” she growled in spite. The Vanillish was down and taking her continuing blast of Psychic badly. After nearly ten solid seconds of her unrelenting attack, Paula finally stopped and lowered her arms; her eyes returned to normal and she floated back down to the ground. Brycen’s Pokémon seemed utterly defeated, but Brycen himself still seemed calm and distant. Paula slowly and ominously approached the Vanillish’s seemingly defeated body to inspect it, but Brycen was still laying his trap. As Paula drew near, Brycen whispered something so softly that she could barely hear.

    Frost Breath.

    The nearly-defeated Vanillish quickly snapped open its eyes. Paula gasped as she realized the trick, but she didn’t have time to defend herself. The Vanillish took in a breath of air and blew an all-consuming wave of ice particles and freezing wind at the Gardevoir. At such close range, the attack struck nearly every point on her body, doing crushing damage and landing a critical strike. Paula fell over on her back from the force of the attack and struggled to regain her chokehold on the round; time was running out though. A single attack could bring either of the remaining Pokémon down; they struggled to get one out before the other could as their trainers rushed to call commands.

    “No! Quick, use Psychic!” David shouted.

    “Vanillish, Ice Beam!” Brycen fiercely barked back.

    The Pokémon were only a few feet apart from each other; they both managed to attack at the same instant, Paula shooting a concentrated beam of Psychic and Vanillish a concentrated beam of ice. The opposing forces met in midair between them and sent an explosive cloud of smoke, dust and ice out at all sides, blanketing the battlefield. The trainers heard two bodies hit the ground, and then all was quiet.

    “Paula?! Paula?!” David stammered in a panic telepathically. No response came and it felt as though her mind had gone quiet for an instant. The smoke from the explosion finally cleared and revealed both Pokémon seemingly defeated on the ground opposite one another. Both trainers held their breath as they waited for any sign of movement.

    “…m-master?” a weak voice queried.

    “Paula! You’re still okay!” David replied jubilantly. Her body began to stir and she grasped her head. She sat up, but was too weak to stand. No such movement came from Brycen’s Vanillish; the Gym Leader recalled his Pokémon and rose from his seat.

    “Well done, challenger.” he announced stoically. “The first round goes to you. Is your Gardevoir fit to continue?” he asked. David turned his gaze from Brycen back to Paula and asked her the same question telepathically.

    “Are you, Paula? That was one hell of a frenzy you went in to, and then that Frost Breath looked pretty bad. You can stop if you want to.” he offered. It was woozy and ginger, but Paula gently rose from where she had fallen and reassumed a fighting pose.

    “I can still fight. Thank you, master, but I shall continue.” she answered. David grinned at her determination and nodded back at Brycen. The score was 0-1 to David, and though his opening Pokémon had taken significant damage, he was off to a good start; it was time for Round 2.

    “Very well.” Brycen said coldly. He drew his second Pokéball and released it onto the field.

    “Cryogonal.” he announced plainly. The massive, monstrous snowflake floated forebodingly up out of the Pokéball and screeched in warning at the tired Gardevoir. There was a metallic quality to its cry that made it sound almost otherworldly; its appearance was in keeping with this as well. Frozen chains dangled from its mouth and its radiant eyes glared piercingly across the room; while Vanillish’s appearance had simply been unsettling, this Pokémon was downright fearsome and scary. Paula swallowed nervously and caught her breath before the round started.

    “Don’t worry, Paula, it’ll be easier to beat than it looks.” David whispered telepathically. “We just need to get off a clean hit with Focus Blast since it is weak to Fighting, so we’ll jus-” he tried to continue, but Brycen shouted a command before he could finish.

    “Ice Shard, Cryogonal.” he muttered disinterestedly. Before either of them could react, the Cryogonal flash-froze the moisture in the air in front of its chains and sent the sharp projectile sailing at blinding speed across the room. It struck Paula squarely before she could even recognize what had happened. In her weakened state, the priority attack had managed to get a clean hit and finished what Vanillish had started. Paula’s legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground gracefully; she was out like a light.

    “…Paula?” David stammered in disbelief as he realized what had happened. Brycen sighed and sat back down to continue his meditation. The Cryogonal floated unassumingly, waiting patiently for its next opponent. The second round had ended before it could even start.

    “Ouch… that smarts.” Cedric commented to Cheren and Bianca with a wince as David worriedly recalled his Pokémon. “I have to hand it to Brycen, that was a pretty clean revenge kill, but those two seem pretty close, and that had to have been startling for David.” he continued.

    “Closer than you can imagine…” Cheren mused quietly.

    David reattached Paula’s Pokéball to the holster as he finished recalling her to it. He was shaken up over her quick defeat; it was the first time she had taken any serious damage since she had evolved. It was strange and unsettling feeling her mind in such a weakened state, but he knew she would be fine after some rest. In the meantime, the Gym Battle raged on and he had to focus if he didn’t want her defeat to go in vain. He drew Munchlax’s Pokéball and prepared for the third round.

    “You’ll pay for that, Brycen.” he shouted confidently. There was no anger or spite in his voice, but there was a newfound drive and determination around the edges. Brycen simply grunted without opening his eyes or standing.

    “We’ll see about that, challenger…” he muttered. David grit his teeth and threw Munchlax’s Pokéball; with it came the start of the third round.

    * * *

    The sun had crested the horizon by now and reflected on the water around Dragonspiral Tower. The ancient structure rose from the depths of a freshwater lake, flanked by the moors surrounding Icirrus City. It stood silently about a tenth of a mile away from the shoreline, with no way in or out, and nothing connecting it to the shore. The only way to even reach the tower would be by boat, as no bridge of any sort connected to it. As the oldest thing in all of Unova, the sprawling tower had seen hundreds of thousands of sunrises just like the one that morning. Aged and worn from the elements and the water lapping against its stone sides, the tower seemed impervious to any sort of damage or decay; Team Plasma was about to put that theory to the test however…

    “Just look at it, my son… the regality of it all…” Ghetsis murmured, N at his side. “Dragonspiral Tower is the birthplace of Zekrom and Reshiram; thousands of years old and still standing tall and proud. So too will your reign over Unova in a thousand years, and that reign starts today.” he continued. N’s small smile grew larger as the thought filled his mind. Not breaking his gaze at the tower, N grinned and spoke back to his father.

    “I don’t care so much about ruling Unova, father. I have only one decree I want to see passed; when the Pokémon of the world are free to make their own decisions, I will have fulfilled all I need to do.” he whispered stoically. There was a soothing airiness to his voice; though N didn’t see it, his father’s smile contorted wickedly.

    “Of course, N; your ambitions are as pure as the snow which lies around us. But, do not dismiss leadership so readily. There will always be more problems for us to tend to once all of the Pokémon are free.” he said aloud. “There will always be more to be gained for Team Plasma from this.” he continued in his mind.

    The two turned away from the tower and surveyed the forest around them. N’s personal task force stood mulling around the shoreline a short distance away, waiting for new instructions. Ghetsis saw them and began to speak again.

    “We shall brief the men as soon as your captains return with the Dark Stone. What did you say their names were again?” he asked.

    “Lennon and McCartney, father.” N replied with a smile. “You met them once in Driftveil City; don’t you remember?” he asked. Ghetsis shook his head and lowered his eyes.

    “I do not.” he said matter-of-factly. “When do you suppose they will be arriving?”

    “It should be soon, I would think. They are coming all the way from Nacrene City though.” N responded. “It will probably be… speak of the devil, here they come now!” he continued. From the tree-line to the south, Lennon and McCartney stealthily approached the small camp. They seemed furtive and nervous, checking behind themselves every few seconds for pursuers. The pair approached N and Ghetsis and bowed respectfully.

    “Milord…” they murmured in unison to N.

    “Agents Lennon and McCartney, I assume you come with good news?” N asked magnanimously. The pair rose and grinned devilishly.

    “Only the best…” Lennon replied. From beneath his cloak, he retrieved a small object. It was the stone he and McCartney had stolen from the museum; the charcoal colored sphere filled Lennon’s palm and seemed to absorb light from the air around it. N’s eyes lit up upon seeing it, and Ghetsis gasped; N took the stone from him with both hands and stared at it intently.

    “The Dark Stone… by Arceus, you two did it.” Ghetsis stammered in awe. Lennon and McCartney shot each other a look and grinned.

    “For Team Plasma, sir.” McCartney quipped back.

    “Agents, this… this is phenomenal work…” N said after inspecting the stone in fascination. “This seemingly insignificant object represents the final stepping stone on our righteous path to freeing the world’s Pokémon. With it, our path is clear, and our success guaranteed. I thank you, and all of Team Plasma thanks you; come, let us inform the others.” he continued. Lennon and McCartney shot each other proud glances again before following N and Ghetsis towards the rest of the unit.

    Seeing their leaders approaching, the other agents of N’s task force collected themselves and stood in rows at attention. There were six of them all told, not counting Lennon and McCartney. N and Ghetsis took up positions before them with the shoreline to their backs; Lennon and McCartney went to go stand among their peers, but N motioned for them to wait. They looked at each other in confusion, but took up positions to Ghetsis’ right, opposite N. Ghetsis began to speak.

    Noble agents of Team Plasma…” he began in a booming voice after surveying the troops. “You six, along with Agents Lennon and McCartney, represent the absolute best and brightest Team Plasma has to offer. It is for this reason that you have been selected for my son’s private task force.” he continued. “Your missions thus far have been simple, and many of you, perhaps, have begun to ask yourselves why this special operations unit was even assembled. That question is answered today.” he said after an ominous pause.

    “My son, your lord N, holds in his hands the key to unlocking his own destiny, and in turn, the destiny of all of Unova.” Ghetsis continued to explain. He motioned for N to step forward and hold up the dark object he held, before continuing after a pause. “This object you see before you was once known as the ‘Dark Stone.’ This is… Zekrom.” he said slowly.

    A murmur ran throughout the small crowd. Ghetsis smiled at the effect his words had had on the agents. After a moment’s pause to let them process the information, he turned to N and stepped back a pace.

    “I’m sure many of you would appreciate an explanation of what my father has just said.” N started to say, beginning his own speech. “All will be explained shortly, but there is a matter of bookkeeping we must attend to first. Agents Lennon and McCartney, please step forward.” he continued. Lennon and McCartney still stood facing their fellow agents, and turned in surprise upon hearing their names. They sheepishly and nervously turned their backs and approached N, not sure what he meant by a “matter of bookkeeping,” but stood at attention in anticipation for whatever he had to say.

    “These men are the ones who brought us the Dark Stone. Their courageous actions and service to Team Plasma, not just recently but throughout their tenure, are the reason why we are able to have assembled here today. My father and I have been discussing the matter for some time and now, at the shores of the legendary Dragonspiral Tower, we act upon it.” he bellowed proudly. “For outstanding service, both before and as a part of this unit, I am proud to award them both the rank of captains of the task force. May they lead you into battle valiantly.” he continued. Lennon and McCartney felt their jaws drop.

    All six of their comrades burst into applause in congratulations for their new commanders. Lennon and McCartney could feel their bodies go numb and their minds go blank. They had gone from being petty thieves for the organization, being defeated by children and forced into backwoods jails, to being captains in N’s personal special operations unit. The feeling was almost too much to comprehend, and they were at a loss for words. N pulled two small pins, each in the shape of double bars, a metallic silver in color, from his trouser pocket and pinned them on their tunics. Lennon tried to stammer something in thanks, but N held a finger to his lips with a smile as the applause died down; their sentiment was understood, and N allowed them a moment to take it all in. Ghetsis stepped forward again to continue speaking.

    “Yes yes, quite good and all that… Very well, back to the business at hand…” he began, silencing the crowd. “As I was saying, this object is known as the ‘Dark Stone.’ It is all that remains of the body of Zekrom after he was sealed away in Relic Castle millennia ago. Through a, erm… special source I have come in contact with, we learned on good authority that the stone remained there along with a ‘Light Stone’ containing Reshiram, undisturbed for thousands of years. It was eventually discovered and removed by the Gym Leader of Nacrene City and her husband, the both of them wretched Pokémon trainers.” he continued; boos and jeers rang throughout the crowd at his final two words.

    “The stone sat in their museum for several years as nothing more than a spectacle for doe-eyed tourists to gawk at. They had no idea of what significance this object holds, and so, like so many Pokémon before it which we have liberated from sinful trainers, Captains Lennon and McCartney liberated the stone and have brought it to us.” he explained, making a sweeping gesture towards the newly promoted men as he spoke. The boos turned to cheers again as Ghetsis drew near to the conclusion of his story.

    “Here, at the birthplace of the Dragons, your lord N shall reawaken Zekrom from his ancient slumber and begin his reign over the Unova region. With this newfound power, the people of Unova will bow to our will and release their Pokémon in droves without the need for a fight, and soon, the world will follow suit.” Ghetsis said ominously, reaching the zenith of his speech. “These are the events we have been working towards since Team Plasma’s creation, and they happen… TODAY!” he concluded, raising his fist into the air. The crowd shouted a cry in unison to signal their affirmation.

    For Plasma!” they cried as a collective.

    “And for Pokémon everywhere!” N and Ghetsis responded together. The small group went back to attention and snapped their heels together loudly. Ghetsis looked them over sternly with a proud smile spread across his face. The time had come to culminate their plans.

    “Prepare the explosives…” he commanded quietly.

    * * *

    [Continued Below]

    New signature under construction.
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  5. #225
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    Chronicles of Unova

    Chapter 21: Setting the Stage
    Part 2 of 2

    Energy from the Pokéball David had thrown seeped out and materialized itself into Munchlax’s stout, determined form. As the ball closed again, Munchlax curled his paws into fists and raised them into the air; his eyes burned with excitement in anticipation of the match and he shouted a determined cry. The overabundance of energy David had noticed earlier was still just as present now as it had been before; Munchlax seemed uncharacteristically eager to battle, like there was a newly invigorated fighting spirit welled up inside him. Though he didn’t know the cause, it was welcomed if it meant an easier time defeating Brycen.

    “Don’t let David hear this, but it’s probably a good thing he had to switch Paula out for Munchlax.” Cheren whispered to Bianca and Cedric.

    “How do you figure?” Bianca asked curiously; Cedric smiled to himself, knowing where Cheren was going.

    “Cryogonal are known for their extraordinarily high Special Defense stat; despite bad defensive typing on Cryogonal’s part, Paula would have been hard-pressed to break that wall of defense, even with Focus Blast. Their physical Defense on the other hand is actually very poor though; Munchlax’s Fire Punch will burn through that thing like a hot knife through butter.” Cheren explained. Cedric chuckled at Cheren’s knowledge.

    “Exactly right, Cheren; Aurea taught you well.” he said politely. Cheren smiled back at the professor’s rare compliment. Back on the field, the trainers were calling their first commands.

    “Stay away from it, Cryogonal; strike from afar.” Brycen commanded, knowing the danger. “Wait for your chance, then Frost Breath.” he explained. The Cryogonal emitted another piercing, alien-sounding cry in acknowledgement and held its ground, waiting for Munchlax to strike. Confident in his Pokémon’s abilities and type matchup, David went on the attack.

    “Fire Punch, Munchlax. End this quick.” he said sternly. Munchlax curled his paws into fists and shot them to his sides, enflaming them as his elbows fully extended. Prepared to strike, he knelt over and began charging towards the massive snowflake opposite him. He drew near and primed the blow.

    “Hold… hold…” Brycen murmured. “…NOW!” he shouted. Just as Munchlax drew within striking distance, the Cryogonal took in a deep breath and blasted a freezing wave of Frost Breath at his opponent. The strong winds struck every point on his body and sent him tumbling back; he sloughed off the hit thanks to his naturally high defenses and bulk, made even easier by his Thick Fat ability to resist the Ice-type attack, but the force alone sent Munchlax tumbling backwards and the Cryogonal sailing across the room. Brycen’s plan had done decent damage to his opponent, but more importantly, had prevented Munchlax from striking; Munchlax had to be physically close to his opponent to land a Fire Punch, or any of his attacks for that matter, but any time he got close, Cryogonal could simply escape with Frost Breath. It was a cunning plan.

    “Bwahaha! Brilliant!” Cedric exclaimed upon realizing Brycen’s tactic. “Absolutely brilliant…” he mused. Cheren and Bianca shot him a startled and confused glance at the outcry; he proceeded to explain.

    “You kids understand why Brycen did that, don’t you?” he asked. They shook their heads “no” in response.

    “Really? Well then allow me to give a technical explanation if I may. Sir Isaac Newton famously postulated three general laws of motion, the third of which explains Brycen’s strategy.” he began. “The law colloquially states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or more specifically, the summation of forces from A acting on B is equal to the negation of the summation of forces from B acting on A (∑F[ab] = -∑F[ba]). When Brycen’s Cryogonal uses Frost Breath on Munchlax, the force from the gust pushes Munchlax backwards and keeps him out of striking distance, but it also pushes Cryogonal the opposite direction with equal magnitude, furthering the distance between them.” he continued. “This allows Cryogonal to always stay sufficiently far away from Munchlax’s striking range; furthermore, since Cryogonal has Levitate and can’t brace against the ground to deaden some of the force, it gets pushed even farther than a grounded Pokémon would be.” he concluded. Cheren wore a fascinated look on his face, much the opposite of Bianca.

    “I see now. That is clever.” Cheren mused. “What a sophisticated way of getting around Cryogonal’s poor physical Defense.” From in front of them, David coughed angrily.

    “I can hear you bastards you know.” he said with half-hearted joking venom. Cedric laughed to himself and raised his hands.

    “Terribly sorry, old dog; got carried away.” he said, blushing slightly. “Carry on.” David turned his attention back to the battle as Munchlax rose to his feet.

    “You okay, buddy?” he called out to his Pokémon. Munchlax’s movements were strained, having taken the Frost Blast dead on, but he caught his breath and called back out to his trainer resiliently. His Thick Fat ability would allow him to take quite a few Ice-type attacks before he’d be in any serious trouble; David decided to put that theory to the test.

    “Try and just push through it, Munchlax; use your weight to your advantage. Fire Punch again!” he shouted. Munchlax grinned with determination and dramatically enflamed his fists again, but the Cryogonal took in a deep breath in preparation for the command it knew its trainer was about to give. Brycen returned to his meditation, knowing his Pokémon had the situation under control.

    “Hardly even worth the effort…” he muttered. Brycen closed his eyes and fell into thought.

    Munchlax sped towards his opponent as fast as his stout legs would carry him. Just as air drag finally balanced the force from Cryogonal’s first Frost Breath, the Crystallizing Pokémon exhaled its second attack and sped back up again. Munchlax dug in with the small claws on his feet, trying to bear his weight down, but it was to no avail. His focus was diverted to keeping himself upright and his paws became extinguished; with the fire out, he found himself fighting an uphill fight and eventually was overcome. He had sustained respectable damage by now and tumbled over onto his back; the Cryogonal sailed backwards, well outside his striking range. Things were looking bleak for David.

    “Munchlax, you can do-” David started to say reassuringly, but Brycen cut him off before he could finish.

    “Give it up, boy, you’ve been outplayed. You don’t have the fortitude, neither mental nor physical, to stand up to us. My Cryogonal is a perfectly balanced wall of defense.” he spat confidently. He began to laugh under his breath, and David turned flush. Anger welled up inside him and he scanned his mind for a plan.

    “Munchlax can keep pushing through those Frost Breaths all day long; we just need a way to overcome the force itself…” he thought to himself. “Think, David, think… maybe something Cedric said can help; remember Newton’s Laws. The first was… erm… objects preserve velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. No, that won’t help… The second was… the second… force equals mass times acceleration. Force is mass times acceleration… more mass means less acceleration…” he thought. “Same force, more mass, less acceleration. But how could we get more mass? There’s got to be-” he continued to ponder, but a faint, feminine voice stopped his train of thought before it could reach its destination.

    “Master…” Paula said faintly from within her Pokéball. “It is his time; he has waited a long time for this. You know what to do.” David had his plan.

    “Munchlax, catch!” David shouted. He pulled a Poffin from his bag and tossed it to his Pokémon as he rose. Munchlax was focused on the battle and still had his peculiar energy to him, but the sweet treat was too much for the Big Eater Pokémon to ignore; David was going to use the source of that energy to his advantage.

    “S’good, huh?” David called. Munchlax engulfed the tiny bread and savored the morsel appreciatively. He grinned at David in thanks, turning his back momentarily on the Cryogonal. “You like that, don’t you, Munchlax? You like me, right?” he asked. A “yes” would be necessary for Munchlax to do what David needed him to do, and one came. “It’s been a long time since I caught you in Pinwheel Forest; we’ve been through a lot, pal. I know why you’ve got that shine to you this morning; I know you’re almost there. We need more mass, Munchlax; this is your time.” he continued. Munchlax grinned sheepishly and closed his eyes.

    The sweet taste of the Poffin filled Munchlax’s mouth. Warm memories of adventures with his trainer filled Munchlax’s mind. These things combined to create a powerful force that filled every muscle in Munchlax’s body, spurring his evolution. Munchlax’s grin grew wider and he burst into a bright white light.

    The light was brilliant and illuminated the crystals and icicles that hung around the cave in every hue and saturation of the spectrum. Blue rings grew and wrapped around him from within his center, beginning to encase him and scan his form. The mass the pair needed in order to win began to appear; Munchlax’s hefty but small body started growing larger and larger, several times its original size. His proportions became more exaggerated and his face more squat; the light began to pulsate as he started to reform. The light and the rings started to strobe as his evolution neared its zenith; the cave became a wash in colors until suddenly the light burst, revealing the stout, immovable form of a powerful Snorlax, seated where Munchlax had been. Munchlax had at long last evolved into Snorlax.

    Snorlax lifted his head and smiled at his trainer. David shot a cheeky grin at his newly evolved Pokémon, signaling approval. He motioned towards Brycen and Cryogonal, the former still locked in meditation and the latter glaring unwaveringly in anticipation of another attack. Brycen stirred from his half-slumber and spoke.

    “Evolution will not help you. You’ve grown in size, nothing more.” he chided aloofly. David scoffed and curled his lip.

    “Size and power, arrogant one; size was all we needed though.” he quipped back. “Snorlax, use another Fire Punch and end this if you please.” Snorlax growled happily and rose to execute the command.

    Snorlax began charging slowly and ominously towards Brycen’s Cryogonal. His paws reignited equally slowly and he curled them into fists. The Crystallizing Pokémon took in a nervous breath of air for a third Frost Breath, but it did little to deter Snorlax. As the newly evolved Pokémon drew within striking range, Cryogonal released the Frost Breath and began to fly back; Snorlax had considerably increased his bulk after his evolution though and was not toppled by the attack. He maintained his slow charge, taking the attack but receiving little damage; the fight was in the bag.

    “More power, Cryogonal.” Brycen said, his voice starting to waver upon seeing the strategy fail. Cryogonal was already starting to run out of air however; the iron-clad defense was beginning to show cracks. Snorlax chuckled at his impending success.

    Cryogonal continued sailing backwards as it pushed itself off of Snorlax. The cavern was only so big however and the snowflake eventually reached a wall. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Cryogonal had nowhere to flee and no stronger attack to fall back on. Pinned against the ice, Snorlax eventually reached his target and let the Fire Punch fly. It struck home, instantly crushing the opposing Pokémon’s weak physical Defense. Cryogonal shrieked one final instance of its piercing cry and then collapsed to the ground; Round 3 had gone to David.

    “Go Snorlax!” David shouted excitedly and proudly. Snorlax turned away from his defeated foe and grinned at his trainer sluggishly. The giant bounded back across the room to his trainer, shaking the cave with each step. He embraced his trainer in an overpowering hold upon reaching him, leaving David accidentally gasping for air.

    “Hmm… not bad…” Brycen murmured as he recalled his Pokémon. “You’ve backed me into a corner I suppose, but no matter. Now you fight my strongest Pokémon.” He silently drew Glaceon’s Pokéball and threw it onto the field.

    The Fresh Snow Pokémon sprang from the ball with a cheeky grin on its face right from the start. It hunched over into a defensive stance, staring Snorlax down confidently. The small Pokémon would have been intimidating to an adversary of a less exaggerated size difference, but compared to the newly evolved powerhouse that was David’s Snorlax, the sight was actually a rather laughable one; it was time for David to go on the offensive again.

    “Glaceon, Blizzard!” Brycen commanded, standing and finally paying the battle his undivided attention. Glaceon barked in acknowledgement and summoned the storm, but it did little against Snorlax. The snow Glaceon generated whipped all around and the wind howled like a ghost, but Snorlax stood against it, hardly breaking a sweat. His already impressive defensive bulk had grown even more resilient with evolution, and his Special Defenses were even better than his physical ones. With Thick Fat softening even more of the blow, Brycen quickly realized he had to try a different approach.

    “Blast! Glaceon, we need to go physical; Quick Attack!” he bellowed gruffly, starting to show some signs of worry. Glaceon ceased the Blizzard and tucked his head in to charge, but Snorlax’s grin simply grew just slightly more. Glaceon disappeared in a blur and launched itself at Snorlax to strike at his weaker physical Defenses, but in a final act of defiance, Snorlax tightened his stomach muscles and watched humorously as Glaceon bounced off of his elastic hide a second later. The dazed Pokémon staggered and fell to the ground in confusion; Snorlax had his opportunity to strike back.

    “Body Slam, Snorlax!” David said with a mischievous cackle. Snorlax rose from his sitting position and stood up, towering over the Glaceon. Before it could even comprehend what was happening, Snorlax raised his hands above his head and belly-flopped straight down, crushing Glaceon beneath his weight. David heard a muffled “yipe!” as Snorlax landed, but it was of no defense. Snorlax rose a moment later to inspect the damage.

    “Glaceon, no!” Brycen cried, his voice noticeably cracking in panic. His fortitude was starting to break as his last Pokémon went down. Glaceon stirred slightly as Snorlax rose, but the all-encompassing attack had simply been too strong. In just one hit, Snorlax’s newly rediscovered raw power had defeated Brycen’s eldest Pokémon; David had won the battle.

    David shouted triumphantly in praise for his powerhouse Pokémon. Snorlax scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly at the easy victory. David ran up and embraced as much of Snorlax’s bulky body as his wingspan would allow; Snorlax gingerly held his trainer back and smiled.

    “Crackerjack show, David!” Cedric shouted.

    “Great job, sweetie!” Bianca parroted. Cheren was stoically silent, no emotion on his face, but he was inwardly proud of his friend as well. It had been a strategic, intellectual battle, but David had pulled it out in the end.

    “Hmm… good effort, Glaceon; thank you. Return.” Brycen murmured mournfully. He recalled his Pokémon to its ball and sighed. “Defeat still comes every now and again I suppose…” he mused under his breath. He sighed again and approached David’s side of the field.

    “Great match, Brycen!” David said with a grin as Brycen approached him. Brycen returned the gesture, warming his cold, stern look just slightly, and nodded in agreement.

    “It was, young challenger. You showed mental and physical fortitude which outlasted and outmaneuvered our own; for this, you have earned the Freeze Badge. Accept it proudly.” he replied. Brycen drew a small object from beneath his cloak and handed it to David; the badge gleamed like one of the many crystals surrounding them in the low light, shaped in the form of three aciculate icicles, like an arrowhead. David took the badge and displayed it proudly to his newly evolved Snorlax. The Sleeping Pokémon grunted in cheerful acknowledgement of the token; though he had taken decent damage, he was proud for having played his role. It had been a trying fight.

    “Very well then; who shall be next?” Brycen asked after giving David and Snorlax a moment of private celebration. Cheren and Bianca shot each other a look, both hoping the other would opt to go.

    “You’re up, Bianca.” Cheren murmured, still sounding sleepy. Bianca swallowed nervously but didn’t argue.

    “I, uh… uh, okay…” she stammered. She shivered and drew a Pokéball, approaching the challenger’s box to begin her own battle. It was one down, and two more to go…

    * * *

    Many dark storm clouds were forming overhead. None of them threatened rain, but crackling thunder rang from within them and lit up the mid-morning sky over the tower. The sight would have been an unnerving one to most people, the ancient, sturdy, mysterious tower painted on a backdrop that was literally the very image of dark, foreboding power, but to Ghetsis, it was a sight he had waited a long time to finally see. The charges were set and the agents were back at the shore; it was almost show time.

    “Father, explain to me again why we must use explosives to enter the tower?” N asked, a look of longing on his face as he turned his gaze from the majestic tower to his guardian. Ghetsis smiled faintly and put his arm over his son’s shoulder.

    “Because, my boy, there is no entrance anywhere into the tower. We must blast open a hole in one of the walls so we may enter.” he replied. There was a casual air to his tone as if detonating C4 charges to enter a building was standard practice for him. N seemed unconvinced.

    “But father, we are using so many. What if we accidentally destroy the tower? Couldn’t we suffice with less?” he continued to ask. Ghetsis’ smile turned sour and he chuckled faintly beneath his breath.

    “N, my son, you can never use too much force.” he said almost venomously. “Captain Lennon! On my mark!” he shouted. Lennon caught his gaze and nodded in determination.

    “Awaiting orders, sir!” he barked back. He and the other members of the task force were hunkered behind sandbags for protection, despite being just over a tenth of a mile from the tower’s outer walls; N and Ghetsis stood at the shoreline, watching the tower and leading from the front.

    “Steady… steady…” Ghetsis bellowed. “…FIRE!”

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!


    The explosion was instant and ear-shattering. It rang throughout the surrounding forests and sent wild Pidove into the air from their homes in trees. A swirling cloud of fire momentarily engulfed a section of the tower near the water’s surface, and when it cleared, a gaping hole had appeared into the tower’s depths as if by magic. There was no sign of the ancient stones that had been there; they had simply vanished in the explosion, sent into the air or the water. A wicked smile spread across Ghetsis’ lips at the sight of the destruction; he pressed his hands together and rubbed.

    “Excellent…” he murmured. He hunched over slightly and squinted his one good eye.

    “Alright men, let’s get the bridge in place; move, move, move!” N shouted, approaching the task force and taking charge. The eight of them quickly began preparing the mobile retractable bridge as so to reach the tower without the need for further use of the boats; Ghetsis stayed behind and wandered off to the tree line momentarily. He looked around to make sure no errant non-Plasma eyes were watching and began to speak in a hushed tone.

    “Have you located the boy?” he asked the air; strangely, the air managed a reply.

    Indeed, Lord Ghetsis. We are monitoring them now.” came a dark voice.

    “Good. Reveal yourselves to them and alert them of N’s challenge; he wants the boy here to see this…” Ghetsis continued; the amorphous spirit Ghetsis was speaking to replied a second time.

    As you wish, my Lord…” a slightly different voice said. A sliding noise like a portal closing sounded and Ghetsis smiled. He returned to where N’s task force was preparing the bridge and snuck up behind his son.

    “The Hero of Truth is being notified.” he whispered. N smiled faintly and nodded a single time.

    “Thank you, father. I appreciate you respecting my wishes on this matter.” he said plainly back. Ghetsis nodded his head and stepped aside.

    “Soon, David… very soon…” N murmured under his breath. He folded his arms and looked back up at the tower; the inky black thunderclouds were still gathering overhead.

    “This will be one for the history books…” N continued.

    * * *

    “Evade, Glaceon, evade!” Brycen shouted, but the feral, insane cry of Aerodactyl’s screeching overpowered his voice. Cheren had managed to set up with ease against Brycen’s Cryogonal and pass the boosts on to Aerodactyl; as predicted, the rest of the match had basically been a sweep.

    “Rock Slide, Aerodactyl.” Cheren said almost disinterestedly. Aerodactyl tore a bundle of frozen rocks from the cave walls around himself and flung them with unimaginable power towards Brycen’s Glaceon. Nimble as it was, it was weakened and couldn’t dodge in time; Glaceon took the Rock-type attack harshly and fell due to the type disadvantage. Cheren had won his battle.

    “Well… I guess Cheren can run the same strategy and still win…” David muttered conversationally to Bianca. He thinned his lips and slanted them, folding his arms in mild disappointment; Bianca cupped her hand to her cheek and frowned.

    “Cheren doesn’t seem very interested in battling today. I wonder what’s got him so down…” she mused. Cheren accepted his own Freeze Badge from Brycen and returned to his friends, the last to battle and the last to win against Brycen that day. They were now seven out of eight badges along their way to entering the Pokémon League Championships; it seemed like nothing could stop them now.

    “Tol’ja I could do it…” Cheren quipped with a smile as he approached David and Bianca. His friends shot him a sarcastic, disapproving look and chuckled along with him.

    “It was impressive the first time; it was less so the second.” Bianca jabbed, playing lightheartedly at her friend. “I’m just glad I managed to win somehow. Considering he’s weak to Ice, Axew really pulled it out for me; he’s getting really stron-” she tried to continue, but as she finished her statement, a loud, bassy “thud!” sound rang throughout the cave.

    “Goodness, what was that?!” Cedric said, jumping a bit in surprise. The ground shook very slightly a second later as if an earthquake had passed. It was all quite peculiar.

    “It sounded like a cannon or a gunshot from in here.” Cheren commented. “Is there a firing range around here or something, Brycen?” he asked; the Gym Leader didn’t reply. After a few seconds’ pause with no answer, Cheren asked again. “Brycen?” Still nothing.

    The group turned to look at the Gym Leader to see why he was so quiet. A worried look was plastered on his face and his eyes were darting all around the room. His muscles were all locked and his wasn’t moving, but his eyes flitted around nervously. David decided to try his own luck at catching the Gym Leader’s attention.

    “Brycen, is something wrong?” he asked. Brycen stirred from his thoughts and shook his head to wake himself from it, putting his hand to his temple gingerly as if he had been lightheaded. He sighed and responded.

    “Oh, umm, no, sorry, nothing’s wrong. No, Cheren, there aren’t any firing ranges in Icirrus City.” he answered. He cleared his throat and took a step closer to the group; he still seemed apprehensive about something though.

    “I wonder what it could have been then. It was so peculiar…” Bianca mused. “We even felt it shake the cave, and we’re pretty deep back in here.” she continued. Brycen began muttering to himself.

    No… no, you can’t reach me in here…” he said in a hushed whisper. It was almost so quiet that nobody noticed.

    “Maybe it was an earthquake.” Cedric offered as an explanation. “It felt like it was coming from the north.” he continued.

    I can sense you here… drawing closer…” Brycen continued, barely audible.

    “The north you say?” David asked. “Maybe it was something at Dragonspiral Tow-” he tried to continue, but before he could finish his statement, Brycen ran into the middle of the group’s circle and started shouting.

    WHO ARE YOU?!” he shouted in a panic. “I KNOW YOU’RE THERE! WHY DON’T YOU SHOW YOURSELVES?!

    “Brycen, what the Hell?!” David stammered. There was a wild, crazed look in Brycen’s eyes and they darted all about the room nervously. “What are you talking about, who are you-” he continued, but he was again cut off. From the ether around them came a mysterious, warbling voice, disembodied from any physical object in the world.

    “…Impressive, Gym Leader of Icirrus City. We, the Shadow Triad, are beings of shadows, and not easily noticed.” said the voice. As it finished its statement, the cave grew dark and the air grew even colder. Three dark portals like the ones that had appeared in Chargestone Cave materialized in a triangle on the ground around them; from their depths, the sinister members of the Shadow Triad appeared, still hidden behind their masks and long white hair. Their sudden appearance startled everyone but Brycen.

    “The Shadow Triad?! What are they doing here?!” Cheren stammered in shock; the one opposite David in the triangle began to speak.

    “Our mission was to speak only with David, but so be it. Ghetsis has a message for you: come to Dragonspiral Tower.” he said. The one who had yet to speak continued his partner’s statement.

    “It is there that our lord N waits for you… now, our mission is complete.” he explained. With that, as quickly as they had appeared, they once again vanished. It took a few seconds for their words to sink in; as everyone slowly became aware of the warning, a sense of urgency fell upon the group.

    ‘Come to Dragonspiral Tower?’” David parroted. “What could be– …oh no.” His eyes grew wide as he realized what was happening; he took off running for the exit to the Gym, leaving the others behind in his wake. He burst outside back into the sunlight and staggered to see as his eyes readjusted.

    Off in the distance, the ancient tower loomed over the treetops like a warning flare in the night sky. Thought it was not even noon yet and the city itself was perfectly illuminated by the morning sun, the sky over the tower was completely black with fearsome storm clouds. Thunder crackled in the distance and lightning fell from the sky; the heavens looked nearly ready to tear themselves asunder. David felt like a stone had hit his stomach as his fears were confirmed; the others ran out from the cave just a moment later.

    “David, what’s going on? What’s happening?” Bianca shouted nervously. There was fear in her eyes as the gravity of the situation became more and more apparent to her. Before David could reply, a massive, wicked bolt of lightning dropped and struck the top of the tower squarely. The ensuing thunder was deafening.

    “That lightning strike just now, it wasn’t natural.” David stammered in a panic; he turned and grasped Bianca’s shoulders tightly with both hands. “It’s N! He must have been telling the truth; he’s trying to summon Zekrom!” Bianca gasped at the news.

    “What?!” she shrieked. “We have to stop him!”

    “Come on!” Cheren shouted, taking off to the north. David and Bianca followed after him immediately.

    “Hey, wait a minute! Hold on!” Cedric shouted, trying to keep pace as he took off behind them. “Someone’s trying to summon Zekrom? Who’s N?” he asked. David turned over his shoulder and slowed a bit, but didn’t stop moving.

    “We’ll explain on the way, Professor. We have to go, now!” he answered. Cedric swallowed nervously and nodded, catching up to David and keeping pace. Brycen followed after them too, understanding the gravity of the situation and intent on trying to stop the Shadow Triad for whatever involvement they might have in all this.

    As the five trainers sprinted out of the city towards the timeworn structure, another bolt of lightning struck the top of the tower and once again illuminated the sky. N and Team Plasma were ascending through the tower’s winding passages, nearing the summit where they would awaken Zekrom. It had been many years in preparation, but Ghetsis’ plan was finally coming to fruition. Zekrom was already beginning to stir from his ancient slumber, as the electrifying thunderstorm was proof of. David didn’t know how he was supposed to react or what he needed to do; all he knew was that it was a mistake to have not believed N, and that he needed to keep running. The city to his back and the northern moors to his front, he put Munchlax’s evolution and his seventh Gym victory out of his mind momentarily and thought only of stopping N. Time was growing short, and there was much to be done…

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  6. #226
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    To be honest, my thoughts of this chapter went like the following. Though then again, it's probably like all the other chapters. "Huh." "Yeah." "I guess." "Woah, woah..." "Yay!" "You jerk." "Huh?" "What?!" "Wah... ;_;" "Ooh!" "Yes!" "Wait what?" "Oh yeah..." "Gee..." That summarizes my thoughts of the chapter.

    ...In more common words, the beginning was good, and were you lampshading (mentioning in-story) that the trio doesn't use most of their Pokemon that often? I don't remember the last time Bianca ever used Axew. Ironic David says that and doesn't use Galvantula at all. It's not like he could've done much, plus it made way for the evolution.

    You're making that Vanillish seem a lot stronger than it usually is. It made me think back to when I played the game I knocked that ice cream cone to the ground. Either that, or David's Pokemon are really weak, Brycen's are really strong, or both simultaneously integrated showing how you've ChaosBlizzified everything. And yes, you can use any user name as an adjective. Does his Vanillish even know Taunt though? I guess Paula so much in her Victorian ettiquette that she can't take Taunting.

    “You kids understand why Brycen did that, don’t you?” he asked. They shook their heads “no” in response.

    “Really? Well then allow me to give a technical explanation if I may. Sir Isaac Newton famously postulated three general laws of motion, the third of which explains Brycen’s strategy.” he began. “The law colloquially states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or more specifically, the summation of forces from A acting on B is equal to the negation of the summation of forces from B acting on A (∑F[ab] = -∑F[ba]). When Brycen’s Cryogonal uses Frost Breath on Munchlax, the force from the gust pushes Munchlax backwards and keeps him out of striking distance, but it also pushes Cryogonal the opposite direction with equal magnitude, furthering the distance between them.” he continued. “This allows Cryogonal to always stay sufficiently far away from Munchlax’s striking range; furthermore, since Cryogonal has Levitate and can’t brace against the ground to deaden some of the force, it gets pushed even farther than a grounded Pokémon would be.” he concluded. Cheren wore a fascinated look on his face, much the opposite of Bianca.
    ...I'm sorry, I'm not smart enough to grasp the true form of how to picture that in my head. I'm really sure that Brycen is an actor, not a physician and valedictorian. Though maybe he is. It just seemed like a pull out of nowhere. You're tearing this video game apart piece by piece, and replacing it with real-life physics. And it works. And Cedric just happens to know all of that immediately? Someone doesn't give much time for his daughter...

    It took me a minute to remember that Team Plasma did blow up that tower. It's just they never signaled it in the game, similar to Diamond and Pearl. They probably will signal it in the third game like Platinum did with the Galactic Bomb. I still don't get why those bumbling bozos are still actually respected in the Plasma community, but whatever floats your hair back.

    Overall, the chapter went in one direction, then another, and then many directions at once. It's great to see that two-thirds of your signature matches up to the fic now. Though, I'll have to wonder how David will deal with feeding an enormous fat monster... Speaking of which, does Snorlax have the Thick Fat ability?
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  7. #227
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    Awww! Beaten to the punch!

    I was going to review, and then I looked at the time and it was "Get off of work" time, and now I'm back and poop. Second. ):

    Anyways, to answer Hilijix,

    A.) Yes, Vanillish can Taunt.
    B.) Snorlax's best ability is Thick Fat.

    And I find the portrayal of the Pokemon as very realistic. The battle scenes have gotten so much better. The Pokemon are all moving, not standing still, and Taunt causes the Pokemon to get aggressive. If you pay attention, aggressiveness causes a lot of misses, since you start to basically thrash. You forego preparation for power, and that causes a lot of misfires.

    So, it is tough to knock out opponents when you can't hit them.

    But shoot, Hilijix makes a good point; feeding the giant vacuum.O__O

    Anyways, this was a pretty good chapter. Worth the wait, although I'm not going to call it my favorite. But it's very good set-up for the next chapter, and come on. Battle scene galore. Who doesn't like that?

    1.) Very good battle scene. It took me a few read-throughs to understand what exactly Cedric was applauding Brycen for, but when I saw it, it was actually quite clever. I love how these battles are set-up to resemble how they actually would be in real-life. It's so interesting!

    2.) What's up with Cheren? He's really. Snooty lately. Well, it makes sense following the Twist Mountain chapter. I can't wait to see him get taken down after his Curse-Baton Pass-Aero strategy doesn't pull off. He's got a little bit of setting up to do before the end of the story.

    3.) I really like your Team Plasma set up. Lennon and McCartney are really genuine characters; I like that. You can see they are actually good guys with short tempers, and are just trying to do what they think is right. And then you have N, who is still naive, but your naivety tone is just right. It's not too much or forced or anything. And then Ghetsis, who is almost blunt on his disinterest. I like how it actually shows in a way that is not too "in your face" or out of character. It's just a nice set up.

    4.) The blowing up apart and the actual setting in of fear in everyone when they realize what's happening was nicely written. I could really fear everyone's apprehension and fear. Very nice job.

    All in all, pretty good chapter. I don't have anything major to say, since the main focus of this chapter was battle and set everyone off to the Dragonspiral Tower. It did just that and it did it well. Good job!

    ...

    I'm sorry, I'm sleepy, hahaha. I did like the chapter (enough to read over about 3 times). There's not a lot to write about since, yeah, it's a somewhat uneventful chapter? It was good though. I liked it. Can't wait to read moooorre!

    (StriatonRadio will update soon, I promise. (: )

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  8. #228
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    You know, at this point in the game, I feel like we missed a very good opportunity to do something uniquie.

    I went back into the first pages and couldn't find it, but at one point, you made a comment about cutting short all non-David gym battles unless someone loses. Granted, by doing that, you bog down the rest of the team, but you missed a chance to go into your own characters and went straight for the canon plot ofwinningand moving on instead. Ot truthfully felt almost like a cop-out, for "let's just keep the story going's sake", and I don't like that.

    What do I mean? You spent an antire section on Paula dealing with Taunt. A Move that prevents Pokemon from using non-attack moves.

    Cheren's entire strategy involved setting up Work-Up, and you had a golden opportunity to completely unhinge him, send him into simoultaneous "Told'ja so's" and his "What is being strong enough" rants from the games by trapping Umbreon into a Taunt, preventing him from being able to set Aerodactyl up. Vanillish and Cryogonal take Umbreon down, Cryo then has a chance of dealing with Aerodactyl by type advantage, and Glaceon cleans up. Or at the very least, Cheren has to actually win by using his book-smarts, or David's strategy of wingin; it that he so lo ves to tease with, and not, going back to Chapter 1, Epic Aeroblasting everything.

    In my notes, I don't see any opportunity for a siumilar flat on his face failure, short of the Elite 4 or possibly Drayden, since you're going weith the Black version of the game, in that Drsyden will know how to deal with an Aerodactyl, but ti doesn't deal with the futility of relying solely on stats and walls. (Or that could be my battle style talking, in that I'm more fond of widdling the opponent while you set up, so that he has to rebuil while you're still uilding) Truthfully, I want to walk in there right now, challenge him to a battle, Snatch his Work Ups and Taunt him with my own Umbreon, and watch him drown in his inability to react to changes in strategy.

    Hopefully, I haven't offended or gone against your desires in the story, just throwing that out there. And knowing you, there;ll be a trump card out there somewhere. We do still have to deal with ol' Spook Lizard, I haven;t forgotten about him.
    Last edited by Glover; 16th December 2011 at 10:11 PM.
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  9. #229
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    Hi guys; here's the upcoming schedule as it stands. I've begun work on the next chapter and I'm hoping to have it up Sunday or Monday. The chapter after that will be out on the 25th. Following Chapter 23, I will be on a short hiatus. This break will be spent re-writing updated versions of the Prologue, and chapters 1-6. The old Prologue will be overwritten with the new one, but Chapters 1-6 will remain unchanged aside from being hidden behind spoiler tags. I will make new posts for the new versions of the chapters, and link them instead of the old version in the OP's chapter list. I hope this process will take approximately two weeks, ending just in time for school to start back up again.

    I have just one more announcement and then I'm going to respond to a few comments. For all intents and purposes, this change has already taken effect, but following Chapter 23, I will not be posting chapters every Sunday. It will still be approximately weekly, but Sundays will no longer have any significance to this thread. Next semester I am taking 1.5x the number of classes I was taking this last semester, and the content of the classes is only going to get harder. It was a struggle to get chapters done in just a single week sometimes, and I know it is only going to get harder. Sometimes it will be more than a week, sometimes it will actually be less than a week, but it will always still be approximately one week between chapters. I just don't want to hold myself to the "every Sunday" rule anymore, because it just isn't still realistic. There were several chapters that were written on Friday afternoon, immediately proofed that night in their entirety, proofed once Saturday morning, once again Saturday evening, and then posted (which requires another proof) on Sunday. I'd rather not try and keep that up.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    I don't remember the last time Bianca ever used Axew.
    The end of Twist Mountain. She's been almost exclusively using Axew since she caught him.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    Ironic David says that and doesn't use Galvantula at all. It's not like he could've done much, plus it made way for the evolution.
    This, plus he used Joltik/Galvantula a lot in the Mistralton Valley.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    Does his Vanillish even know Taunt though?
    Brycen's Vanillish knows Acid Armor, Astonish, Mirror Shot and Frost Breath. Vanillish as a species however learn Taunt at Level 22.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    I guess Paula so much in her Victorian ettiquette that she can't take Taunting.
    I like watching well-defined characters act uncharacteristic.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    ...I'm sorry, I'm not smart enough to grasp the true form of how to picture that in my head. I'm really sure that Brycen is an actor, not a physician and valedictorian. Though maybe he is. It just seemed like a pull out of nowhere.
    A "physician" is a doctor; a "physicist" is someone who studies physics. Regardless though, he's assumed to have trained with his Cryogonal long enough to develop strategies with/for it to compensate for its weaknesses. I got the idea for it from here.

    "Pokémon often disobey Newton's Third Law: Attacks, such as Hyper Beam, that blast the target backwards do nothing of the sort to the user. This is especially notable with flying or levitating Pokémon; they can't even brace themselves against the ground."

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    And Cedric just happens to know all of that immediately? Someone doesn't give much time for his daughter...
    Well... he is a Pokemon professor.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    It took me a minute to remember that Team Plasma did blow up that tower. It's just they never signaled it in the game, similar to Diamond and Pearl. They probably will signal it in the third game like Platinum did with the Galactic Bomb.
    The player feels the earthquake generated by the detonation of the Galactic Bomb in Diamond and Pearl. I never played Platinum, so I can't speak to how Platinum handled it, but you definitely felt it and were instantly made aware of it in the original Diamond and Pearl.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    I still don't get why those bumbling bozos are still actually respected in the Plasma community, but whatever floats your hair back.
    Who?

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    It's great to see that two-thirds of your signature matches up to the fic now.
    Actually, it is 8/9ths now, up from 7/9ths. The only inaccuracy now is Haxorus, as he is currently an Axew. Everything else is correct though, and the only inaccuracy before this chapter was Munchlax.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilijix View Post
    Speaking of which, does Snorlax have the Thick Fat ability?
    Yes.

    Quote Originally Posted by NACHOE! View Post
    2.) What's up with Cheren? He's really. Snooty lately. Well, it makes sense following the Twist Mountain chapter.
    Exactly; Twist Mountain.

    I don't want to give away spoilers just yet, but I recognize the fact that the group has been doing a lot of winning and not a lot of losing. We're only just now starting to get to the difficult high-leveled portion of the game; while all three characters are destined for greatness (as is evident by the fact that they're important enough to have a story written about in the first place), they are not unbeatable, as their interaction with Alder on Route 5 is evidence of. Again, I don't want to give away spoilers, but consider for a moment the fact that neither David nor Cheren have any moves on their teams that are Super Effective against Dragons, while Bianca has two.

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  10. #230
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    I find that we never see Biancas Battles with a new crobat and an axew

    A snorlax this was timed really well for an evo

    I found the gardervoir taunt very funny

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  11. #231

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    *gasp* Well, after days of reading, I've finally caught up and read every chapter!

    I'm not fantastic at reviews, so I'll keep what I need to say short and sweet - I LOVE this fan fic, I love how you've portrayed the characters and how you've really fleshed out Bianca and Cheren's personalities. At the moment, Paula is my favourite character. She's so damn adorable; her sense of humour and funny moments (ie. the hiccups and snowballs) make me giggle. Your creativity knows no bounds, I mean, the whole thing with Brycen and Giratina is just...wow.

    Anyway, would you be able to add me to the PM list? I can't wait to hear more from you. :]

  12. #232
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    Chronicles of Unova

    Chapter 22: Dragonspiral Tower
    Part 1 of 2

    From the tree line to the south, David, Bianca and Cheren dashed towards the shore of the lake, Cedric and Brycen following close behind. The once placid water was now beginning to grow choppy as white swells rose and fell from the surface; the snowfall that had been blanketing the moors for the last several weeks had momentarily abated, but cold, ominous winds still blew from the electrical storm above. It was only just then early afternoon; many of the townsfolk back in Icirrus City were just starting to return from their various lunch hours. Nevertheless, the skies over the tower were dark like midnight, and the few spots where the sunlight pierced the clouds were a bloody peach color in hue. Slow, biting winds blew the lighter patches of snow from the trees, and there wasn’t a sign of wild Pokémon anywhere to be seen; the entirety of the lake and all of the surrounding area seemed to recognize intuitively the danger N and Team Plasma were about to wrought.

    The first thing David noticed when the tower came into sight was the hole left behind from the explosion. At least one question was now answered: what was the source of the tremor they had felt and heard at Brycen’s Gym? Unfortunately, it, in combination with the black, conveyer belt-looking bridge which was adorned with Team Plasma’s crest and led from the shore towards the hole, only confirmed his suspicions about N’s involvement in the disturbance. The others noticed it too and came to the same realization David had without the need for mutual verbal confirmation. The five of them slowed momentarily as they all tried to come to grips with the fact that this was all really happening.

    “I guess he really was telling the truth…” Bianca stammered, nearly in a whisper. Her shoulders were slack and her arms hung lifelessly at her sides. Fear gripped every muscle in her body; fear both of the power she had been led to believe Zekrom possessed, but also simply fear of all the unknowns about the dragon she hadn’t yet been told. She looked away from the tower and down towards her feet; the situation seemed hopeless and yet it had hardly even begun.

    David was silent. He heard his love’s frightened words, he saw the sky tearing itself apart above him, and he could feel the cold air lightly bristling with electricity all around him, but he was paralyzed and silent despite these things. David felt regret and fear for many things all at once; regret for not having taken N more seriously until now, fear for what might happen if he succeeded, regret that he might have to break his promise to Bianca, and fear for himself that her nightmare may come true. Most importantly however, he felt regret for the actions he was taking at that very moment. He had always been the unofficial leader of their group; N had tested him and identified him as the Hero of Truth. Yet despite all this, in the hour of need when push was coming to shove, he stood before the tower, glass-eyed and slack-jawed, uncertain of how to even proceed. He felt his mind scream to take action, to move into the tower, to stop N somehow, someway, but his body remained defiantly still. He couldn’t even bring himself to say a single word of comfort to Bianca, frightened as she was. It was a sickening feeling.

    From behind him, he heard Cheren sigh. “Yep, I suppose he was.” he muttered in response to Bianca’s statement. “Now the question changes though: are we going to keep letting him do whatever the Hell he wants, or are we going to go up there and stop him?” he asked. Cheren’s sudden outburst of determination startled David from his stupor; he turned over his shoulder and stared at his friend in vacant surprise. Cheren stared back expectantly.

    Well?!” Cheren continued. “You’re the Hero of Truth, David. N chose you, not us. Are we going in there or what?” he asked. David blinked a couple of times, swallowed, and nodded his head. Confidence slowly began to swell through him from Cheren’s reassurance. He sighed to calm himself and then curled his fingers into fists.

    “Yeah… yeah, we are…” he whispered reassuringly. “Thanks, Cheren; I needed that.” he said to his friend. Cheren’s stern frown lifted into a grin for a moment; he closed his eyes and nodded back.

    “Don’t mention it. We might like to flip each other shit sometimes, but when push comes to shove, we’ll all have each others’ backs. I’m not that callow.” he murmured in response. “Now come on; they left that bridge out, so N obviously wants you to be there for Zekrom’s reawakening.” he continued. The three trainers locked gazes and confirmed their mutual intent; the group continued running towards Team Plasma’s bridge to enter Dragonspiral Tower.

    Inside the first floor, lighting was scarce and the layout was simple. A large reflecting pool filled the northwestern corner of the room, and a path wound around from the southern entrance Team Plasma had created to a stairwell in the northeast, presumably leading to a higher floor. There was virtually nothing else adorning the circular room; it appeared to be nothing more than an ancient receiving area for the higher floors. Nevertheless, Cedric seemed amazed.

    “By Arceus, this is amazing…” he murmured. “Do you kids realize we are the first humans to set foot in here in literally thousands of years? This tower is almost as old as Unova itself!” he continued. Brycen silently took note of Cedric’s statement and inspected the architecture around him, but David, Bianca and Cheren immediately started heading off for the staircase.

    “That’s great, Cedric, but we need to hurry, remember?” David called over his shoulder.

    “Besides, technically we’re the second humans, since Team Plasma came in here before us.” Cheren retorted. Cedric’s eyes opened wide for an instant as he processed David’s statement.

    “Oh! Right! Terribly sorry; got carried away I suppose. Dragonspiral Tower is the reason I came to Icirrus in the first place after all.” he answered quickly. Cedric took off after the boys, Bianca and Brycen bringing up the rear. They ran to the staircase and bounded up, leaving the empty first floor behind.

    I’m coming for you, N.” David thought to himself. He grit his teeth and continued running.

    * * *

    The ten Team Plasma members were making good time; they had already crested the staircase onto the fourth floor out of seven. Their head start over David and his friends was considerable, though traps and puzzles on the lower floors had slowed their large party down a bit. N and Ghetsis led the group through Dragonspiral Tower’s narrow, winding hallways, with the newly promoted Lennon and McCartney leading the other six agents of the task force to bring up the rear. The second and third floors had been tight and difficult, but the fourth floor had a somewhat spacious plateau at its center that was perfect for an ambush spot. N held no reservations in his mind that David wouldn’t come to try and stop him, but he was confident in his divine, predestined abilities to summon Zekrom unopposed as the Hero of Ideals; he wanted David there to see, because he wanted an informed adversary to oppose him. His father was not quite so certain of N’s abilities however; Ghetsis knew he had to maintain appearances and not directly go against his son’s wishes in front of him, lest he defy the king, but Ghetsis knew he had to at least slow David’s pursuit somehow, even if he didn’t let on what he was doing to N. He wasn’t about to let this ambush spot go to waste…

    “N, my son, there is a reason why you are the king of Team Plasma and I, your father, am merely but one of its sages.” Ghetsis said, stopping and putting his hands on his knees. “I am but an old man, and I grow weary from this climbing. I must rest a moment, but I do not wish to impede our journey. Perhaps I should-” he continued, but N smiled and cut him off before he could finish.

    “Think nothing of it, father! We can stop and rest as long as you need.” he said cheerfully, putting a loving hand on his father’s back. Pleasant as it was, this was the opposite reaction Ghetsis had hoped for; he kept it hidden, but he cursed under his breath.

    “Oh, no no, N, my boy, I can’t let you do that for me.” he started to say quickly. “I mustn’t anchor your glorious ascent. You go on ahead, and I will stay behind with the task force.” he explained. “We will catch up before you know it.” he continued. N frowned.

    “But father, are you certain you will be alright?” he asked. There was distinct worry in his tone.

    “Positively.” Ghetsis replied with an insincere smile. “I feel stronger already. You go on to the next floor, and we will catch up. Go, my boy; your destiny awaits!” N nodded and headed for the exit; Lennon and McCartney watched curiously as their leader left without them.

    Ghetsis continued bracing against his knees, watching N walk out of sight. As he rounded the corner, Ghetsis waited a short, few-second grace period and then rose quickly, straightening his cloak as he moved. His expression turned stern and he motioned for the agents to gather around him quickly. They obeyed his order, but they were surprised by his sudden spurt of strength. Had it all been an act?

    “Alright, you gits, listen up. I need four volunteers.” he said angrily in a hushed voice. “I’ve got a mission for you lot to do and I don’t want any lip about orders having to come from N, understand? My son is naďve and still very childlike; he wants the Hero of Truth here to witness Zekrom’s glorious reawakening. You are going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” he explained; the agents’ eyes opened wide.

    “But sir, wouldn’t obeying you directly defy Lord N if that is the case?” the agent with the Liepard asked cautiously. Ghetsis shot him a look that could have pierced steel.

    “What did I just say about not flipping me any lip?” he growled. “Do it, Goddamn it; the Hero of Truth and his friends are not to make it past this floor, do I make myself clear?” he continued. The group nodded nervously but accepted the command; four of them stayed behind while the other four, Lennon and McCartney among them, stayed with Ghetsis. Ghetsis glared and nodded back. He surveyed the room quickly before bounding up the stairs after N; the guards found defensive positions among the stone columns of the ancient plateau and began to wait. The trap was set, and David was walking straight towards it…

    * * *

    David, Bianca, Cheren, Brycen and Cedric had reached the third floor and were nearing completion of its puzzle to reach the next floor. They were completely unaware of the danger that lay one layer up, thinking only of the danger that would be awakened at the top. Cedric was speaking in a conversational tone.

    “And so he wants to reawaken Zekrom in order to do that?!” he asked, summarizing the story David had just finished telling him about N. “How on earth would reawakening Zekrom make people want to release their Pokémon? Why does he even think he can control Zekrom?” he continued. David was helping Bianca jump over a ledge across the room; he called out in response.

    “I don’t know, man, he’s crazy; that’s the point.” he shouted. “It’ll probably come in the form of some sort of ultimatum; do this or I’ll destroy the region.” he continued. Cedric seemed deeply disturbed by this news.

    “This is much worse than I first though…” he mused. “The Dragons are not forces to be trifled with; I highly doubt he will actually be able to quell its savage heart, especially if Reshiram is somehow also reawakened.” The five of them had regrouped now after clearing the room and proceeded up the next stairwell to the fourth floor; Cheren continued the conversation.

    “The fact that nature is responding so violently to N’s presence here should tell you he at least knows somewhat what he’s doing.” Cheren commented as they rounded the corner into the next floor. Before anyone else could say more though, a sneering, seductive female voice interrupted them.

    “Oh, don’t worry.” she cooed. “Lord N knows exactly… what he’s doing…”

    As the group entered the small arena-like plateau of the fourth floor, the woman who had spoken and her three Plasma comrades stepped out of the shadows and surrounded the adventurers menacingly. They wore chilling sneers and were drawing closer slowly and ominously. Though they were being surrounded, it was five against four, even though Cedric couldn’t battle. They had been expecting to meet some sort of opposition; the Pokémon trainers among them quickly reached for Pokéballs to defend themselves with.

    “Should have known N would leave behind a few of his lackeys to try and slow us down.” David snarled, reaching for Galvantula’s Pokéball. “Where are those two losers we keep running into with the Boldore and Trubbish?” he asked. A man behind him stepped forward and glared at him angrily.

    Captains Lennon and McCartney have gone ahead with Lord N and Lord Ghetsis.” he replied with equal venom. “Not that you’ll ever see them again; you lot won’t make it through us.” David laughed at his brazen remark.

    “Is that a threat?” he asked condescendingly. “I guess you don’t remember how Chargestone Cave ended.”

    “You can tell me in five minutes when we beat your asses back down to the first floor.” the agent replied. There was a moment of tense silence, and then eight Pokéballs flew into the air in unison.

    “Go, Duosion!” the man who had been arguing with David shouted. The amorphous Mitosis Pokémon drifted from the ball and stared at David expectantly, but it had been an easy victory for Munchlax last time. David released Galvantula to grapple with the foe; seeing the menacing spider sent a chill through the Psychic-type Pokémon’s body.

    The guard opposite Bianca also threw a Pokéball, catching her by surprise. It was a ruthless-looking Scrafty, the evolved form of the Scraggy David had fought in Chargestone Cave. Bianca moved away timidly at first, forgetting what to do, but quickly calmed herself and drew Pachirisu’s Pokéball as her senses came back to her. A sinister grin spread over both trainer and Pokémon’s faces at the sight of the cutesy squirrel, but Pachirisu simply grinned back at their overconfidence and bristled with electricity as she waited for a command from her trainer.

    The woman operative who had spoken when they had first entered was nearest to Cheren; she released her Maractus, which Cheren responded to in turn with Gus. The two desert-native Pokémon shot each other empty, soulless gazes from behind their sunken, unchanging eyes. Though neither were Dark-types, there was a sinister air to the battle that was about to come.

    The final quadrant of the fight would be between Brycen and the man who had spoken out at Ghetsis a short time prior. The Plasma agent slowly released his Liepard, cautious to see how Brycen would counter; Brycen in turn responded with his Vanillish, every bit as much of a devious trickster as the Cruel Pokémon opposite him. Cedric was without Pokémon or any battling experience; it would be an even four-on-four. With all eight Pokémon prepared to fight, the first commands began to fly.

    “Galvantula, Signal Beam!” David commanded. Galvantula’s feelers that hung near his fangs began to glow as he charged the iridescent attack. Sensing the impending blast, the Plasma agent called for his Duosion to use Light Screen to try and block it. The wall of light and the beam of light came into existence just milliseconds between one another; Galvantula’s Signal Beam hit low and was blocked by the Light Screen as the upper portions were still materializing. While Duosion was protected from the potentially devastating attack for the time being, all of its focus was being directed to keeping the Light Screen strong; managing to strike back would be difficult.

    The sneering agent battling Bianca called for his Scrafty to launch into a Hi Jump Kick attack. The Hoodlum Pokémon sprang up high and brought the blade of his right foot out to strike, but Pachirisu was too nimble for him. Bianca timed her opening strike perfectly and called for a Quick Attack to knock it off kilter; Pachirisu vanished in a blur and struck the overly confident Pokémon right in its sternum. The attack itself did minimal damage, but it imbalanced the Scrafty’s fall and sent it smashing to the ground on its back. It took massive recoil damage from the crash landing and struggled to rise, grasping at its back in pain. Pachirisu landed and was ready to strike back in earnest; she began building the electricity for a bolt of Charge Beam.

    “Maractus, use Sucker Punch!” the female agent ordered. The Maractus sized up its opponent and looked for an opening, but there wasn’t one yet. For Sucker Punch to work, Gus would have to be striking back; quite the opposite however, Gus simply floated before them, glaring from behind his menacing, blood-red eyes. Cheren stood with his arms folded, a sneer on his lips. He whispered something softly and Gus’ grin began to spread. Dark, billowing smoke poured from within his casket and began to surround him: Nasty Plot; the Plasma agent gasped as she realized his plan.

    “Taunt, Liepard.” the final Plasma agent commanded calmly. In the same instant however, Brycen called for the same attack from his Vanillish. As if they were looking in a mirror, the two Pokémon moved in lock-step and stuck their tongues out at one another. Their antics grew from there, both growing angrier with the other as the seconds passed, but they both quickly succumbed to the effect of the mutual Taunts. Though Vanillish understood the attack and knew how to cope, both Pokémon were now forced into only using attacking moves. This was good for Vanillish however; he was the superior attacking force, and Liepard would be hard pressed to battle effectively with his ability to use status changing moves taken from him. Brycen closed his eyes and smiled smugly.

    Time was running out for the Duosion. His Light Screen was beginning to falter under Galvantula’s continuing onslaught; one good hit from that Signal Beam and he would be done for. A Bug-type attack against a Psychic-type like him would do crushing damage; he needed some sort of a plan. As the Light Screen faded, his partner agent called for a last ditch attempt at Future Sight. Duosion focused and foresaw the attack, but he was surprised by what he saw. Immediately, he was pummeled by Galvantula’s powerful Signal Beam and fell to the ground in pain; it was short lived however, as he promptly gave up the ghost to fight. David had won his portion of the battle.

    Pachirisu’s Charge Beam flew like an arrow towards the downed Scrafty. It was a thin, straight bolt, crackling with ensnared electricity. Scrafty saw it coming but couldn’t get out of the way in time; he was still struggling with the crushing pain from missing his Hi Jump Kick. The attack struck and damage him, but not to the point of defeat; the Pokémon was tough and wasn’t about to let himself get defeated by a little girl. However, the surplus electricity from the attack invigorated Pachirisu and boosted her Special Attacking capability. The Scrafty angrily struggled to his feet and moved in for another strike, but Pachirisu gave him no such chance. She fired off two more quick, successive Charge Beams, each more powerful than the first, and brought the Hoodlum Pokémon to his knees. Enraged but outmatched, the Scrafty fell on his face and moved no more; Bianca too had won.

    Realizing Cheren’s decision to opt for boosting his Special Attacking capability rather than immediately attack, the agent with the Maractus called out in terror. “Maractus, it’s no good; switch tactics, quick! Needle Arm!” she cried, but it was too late. The assumption that Cheren would lead by attacking proved to be fatal; Gus was now too powerful to withstand thanks to the Nasty Plot boost. The Maractus leapt to attack with Needle Arm, but Gus was already generating a supercharged Shadow Ball at Cheren’s command. He launched the amorphous bundle of shadows at the opposing Pokémon as it leapt to strike with its own attack, catching it squarely in midair. The shadows overcame the small Cactus Pokémon and sent it flailing to the ground in defeat; three down, one to go.

    Enraged and without an alternate attacking option, the Liepard leapt at Vanillish, claws bared to strike with Fury Swipes. It hissed and screeched as it flew through its arc, but Vanillish was better trained and faster. It floated out of the way late enough into the attack that the Liepard couldn’t change trajectory, and blasted a freezing wind of Frost Breath at it from behind. The attack struck home and dealt crushing damage to the falling Liepard. Between its poor defenses and the well aimed strike, the Liepard fell and didn’t try to rise. Brycen sighed and folded his arms; he made a comment under his breath about a “lack of discipline” before returning his Vanillish to its Pokéball.

    With all four of the agents defeated, their path to the next floor was clear. Inspecting that his friends had been victorious too, David shot the guard with the Duosion who had snapped at him a condescending nod and smirk before running for the stairs to catch up with N. The others followed behind him shortly, not wasting further time with the guards as they recalled their defeated Pokémon. Cheren was the last to leave the floor, bringing up the rear behind Cedric and Brycen, but there was something on his mind that he had wanted resolved for a long time. He slowed and looked down in thought, pondering whether or not he should ask it; deciding to take a quick moment to get it resolved, he doubled back towards the plateau and approached the agent he had just defeated.

    “Hey you; Plasma.” he said sternly to the woman as she cradled her defeated Maractus in her arms. She looked up at him with a mixture of sadness and fear for her Maractus and contempt and rage towards him. “What’s your name?” Cheren asked; the woman snarled at him defiantly.

    “The Hell is it to you, brat?” she snapped. “Haven’t you spread enough destruction for one day?” Cheren’s eyes shut partially into a glare and he took a step towards her angrily; he wasn’t about to stand for any attitude.

    “You know what? We just kicked your sorry asses and you’re in no position to defend yourself right now, so how about you not act like a bitch and cooperate, eh?” he asked commandingly. “What is your name? I have a question for you.” he continued slowly; the woman turned her gaze away from him and back down to the defeated Pokémon in her arms.

    Bite me…” she murmured venomously; Cheren sighed.

    “Fine; screw your drama, I don’t care. Since you won’t answer me, your name is ‘Bob’ now.” Cheren spat. “Tell me, Bob, there’s something about you people I’ve never been able to understand. You say you want to liberate the world’s Pokémon and that trainers are evil, right? You think Pokémon battles are like cockfighting and that they just bring undue harm to the combatants? Then why, pray tell, do you guys use Pokémon yourselves? You have Pokémon, kept in Pokéballs, and you battle us just like any other trainers. How do you reconcile such hypocrisy?” he asked. Before he could defend himself, the woman leapt from her knees and slapped Cheren’s face in one fluid motion. There was uncontrollable rage in her eyes; she held her Maractus against her chest with her free hand and breathed heavily.

    You shut the FUCK up, you monster!” she screamed. “We are not hypocrites! We are NOT like you! Pokémon trainers enslave their Pokémon against their will and force them into battles; our Pokémon fight with us, not for us, and they do so because they believe in our cause just as much as we do!” she explained. “Pokémon have control over the very elements of nature; they are divine, supernatural beings and are superior to humans in every conceivable way. The Pokémon members of Team Plasma grace us with their skills when force is required for an op’, but they do it because they want to, not because we make them.” she continued. The Maractus began to stir as she finished her speech; it awoke from its injuries but was obviously still pained by them. The agent broke down and began to sob uncontrollably at the sight of her Pokémon in such a state; she was worked up and emotional from lashing out so violently at Cheren and could no longer contain herself. She slumped back down to the ground while embracing her Pokémon, too wracked with guilt even for words. Cheren felt a tug at his heart; he blindly watched the events, his cheek still stinging from her strike.

    “Maractus…” she sobbed. “I’m so so-o-o-orry…” The Pokémon moaned again in pain and held its trainer back; Cheren felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

    “I’m, um… I’m sorry, ma’am…” he murmured. The woman continued to sob.

    GET OUT!!!” she shrieked. She squeezed her wounded Pokémon tighter and rolled away in a defeated mess. Cheren looked around and saw the other agents glaring at him spitefully, each of them trying to tend to their own Pokémon as well. Cheren sighed and headed for the stairs mournfully. He had never empathized with Team Plasma before, but he was starting to wonder if maybe they weren’t so mindless after all…

    * * *

    N walked alone through the fifth floor of the tower. A cheerful grin was spread across his face, and there was a childlike spring to his step. In his arms, he cradled the Dark Stone against his body, coddling it as if it were a child. N had befriended scores of Pokémon in his life; he understood interactions with them orders of magnitude more than interactions with his own species. Yet the prospect of finally meeting Zekrom, the Pokémon he had been told stories about all his life, and finally having a Legendary best friend was a wondrous new possibility. He began to speak to himself quietly.

    “It won’t be long now, Zekrom. We’ll be at the top very soon, and then you and I will finally get to meet face to face.” he murmured to the stone. “I wonder what you will be like…” he pondered. “Will you be playful like Zorua is? Nurturing like Darmanitan was? Adventurous like Woobat? What kinds of games will we play? I hope you and I can be friends; best friends…” he continued. N’s mind drifted off into a daydream, imagining all the new adventures he and Zekrom might undertake. “I can’t wait to introduce you to Anthea and Concordia…” he appended. N’s uncontrollable smile turned into a grin.

    As he rounded the stairs to the sixth floor, he heard a shout from behind him. “N! Wait up!” Ghetsis shouted. N turned over his shoulder in surprise as his peaceful, tranquil solidarity was interrupted. He smiled though upon recognizing his father’s voice.

    “Father! You look so much better!” he said cheerily. “That rest really did you good.” As he said this though, N realized that half of the task force he had left with his father appeared to be missing; his smile faded a bit upon realizing this.

    “What?” Ghetsis stammered, catching his breath as he ran up. “Oh, right, yes, it did. Thank you, my son; I feel much better.” he appended as he remembered his lie. N cocked his eyebrow and began to question his father politely.

    “Where are the other agents, father? There are only four with you.” N asked levelly. He did not assume the worst, but he couldn’t think of any other reason besides the obvious.

    “They, um… oh, they should be along… erm… shortly.” Ghetsis answered, realizing he had forgotten to account for that glitch in his plan; N’s smile flipped distinctly into a frown.

    “Oh father, you didn’t…” he cooed disappointedly; Ghetsis drew back nervously, still trying to keep up the ruse.

    “Didn’t what, N?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

    “Don’t lie to me, father, you know how I hate that.” N said, turning away in shame. “You left them behind to try and stop David, didn’t you? You don’t want him here to see.” Ghetsis sighed and put his arm on N’s shoulder.

    “I am sorry I lied, my son.” he lied. “We have trained and taught you all your life to be a great Hero who could fulfill the prophecy, but you can still be… erm… naďve, at times.” he continued. N shook free of his father’s grasp and continued walking, not signaling one way or the other if he wanted the five of them to follow.

    “I appreciate your counsel, father, but I am the King of Team Plasma, and my word supersedes your own. David will not, and yet cannot, stop me, and it is my will that he be here to witness Zekrom’s resurrection. You are not to interfere with his ascent, do you understand?” N commanded. Ghetsis’ face contorted angrily for a moment, but N didn’t see it.

    “But N!” he started to protest, but N cut him short.

    Father…” he said tersely. “…please.” he appended. Ghetsis seethed with anger, unbeknownst to N, but bowed his head and submitted.

    “As you wish, milord…” he grumbled with subtle venom. N turned towards his father and smiled. He nodded his head and continued up the stairs and out of sight. When he had gone, Ghetsis spat angrily at the floor and turned to the remaining members of the task force.

    “Those buffoons have failed.” he whispered. “They should have caught up by now if they had stopped the Hero of Truth. Worthless vagrants…” he continued. He turned towards Lennon and put a hand to his collar.

    “Listen carefully, boy; you four stop them at any cost. They are not to interfere with Zekrom’s rise; if they do, our whole organization dies today and all our work is lost, got it?” he commanded. “When we get to the next floor, you four stay behind and N and I will continue to the seventh floor to summon Zekrom. Keep the noise down; we can’t let N catch on.” he continued. Lennon was apprehensive; his allegiance was to N, not Ghetsis or Team Plasma after everything he and McCartney had been through earlier in the year with them. Ghetsis picked up on his hesitation and grabbed him roughly by the collar with both hands.

    Do as you are told, damn you!” he growled in rage. Lennon swallowed nervously and nodded his head. Ghetsis released him and huffed, straightening his own cloak as he backed away.

    Father, are you coming?” N shouted from above them. Ghetsis turned towards the stairs and shouted back.

    “Yes, N; be right there!” he cried. He motioned for the agents to follow him and then began heading after N. Lennon and McCartney shot each other a worried look, but went to work executing Ghetsis’ command; David wouldn’t be making it past them without a fight…

    * * *

    [Continued Below]

    New signature under construction.
    No longer doing DWF trades.

  13. #233
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    Chronicles of Unova

    Chapter 22: Dragonspiral Tower
    Part 2 of 2

    Time was running out. Their battle with the Plasma agents had slowed David and his friends down too much, and they could hear the violent thunderstorm outside growing stronger, even through the thick, stone walls encasing them. While they were drawing near to the top themselves, they feared N had already beaten them to the punch; it was a race after all, not a marathon.

    The group crested the entrance to the sixth floor and began sprinting around the upside-down U-shaped path the room followed. A plateau like the one on the fourth floor fleshed out the bend in the U, but it was obscured from sight by the tower’s central column from where David and his friends were; it was there that Lennon and McCartney waited with the other two remaining agents, lurking deep in the shadows for a chance to strike. Their bodies were tense and their minds razor focused as the sounds of the trainers’ footsteps drew louder; Lennon took a peek around the corner and then made a motion to the others.

    “Three.” he mouthed. “Two… one… go.

    On their Captain’s command, the agents moved from cover and filled the small arena, blocking the adventurers’ path. David slowed in surprise upon seeing them, his pulse quickening and his breathing growing shallow.

    “You!” he shouted with both anger and shock as he recognized Lennon. The Plasma Captain sneered and folded his arms at David’s surprise.

    ‘ello, poppit…” Lennon said slowly. “Did’ja miss me?” he asked. David reached for a Pokéball out of instinct, his rage already beginning to boil, but Lennon matched his action in lock-step, drawing his Boldore’s Pokéball as well.

    “You didn’t think we’d just let you walk up and try to stop Lord N, did you?” he asked insincerely. David scoffed before he could say more though.

    “Well, let’s see…” he started. “Somebody sent the Shadow Triad to tell us to come here, and then you left that bridge out for us. Yeah, I kind of did think you wanted us here.” he mused. “Guess the honeymoon’s over…” he continued mockingly.

    “Lord N is a bit more… charitable, than Lord Ghetsis.” Lennon answered. “Sorry to turn you away, but this is as far as you go. We doing this the easy way or the hard way?” he asked menacingly. David laughed at Lennon’s bravado.

    “We already beat your buddies downstairs. What makes you think this’ll go any different?” he sneered back; the remaining agents primed their Pokéballs and struck unified defensive positions.

    Providence.” Lennon whispered; they moved as a group and released their Pokémon to battle.

    “Go, Boldore!” Lennon shouted angrily. The Ore Pokémon fell from the ball in midair and smashed against the sturdy floor of the tower. His dark-blue surface had a shine to it, and he seemed peculiarly more powerful than last they had fought. David released Paula to try and topple the wall of defensive might, but she was still injured from her earlier battle against Brycen. She had had several hours in her Pokéball to recuperate, but she still showed at least some signs of fatigue. She was David’s best shot at beating him, but he was still worried.

    “Are you okay to battle, Paula?” he asked telepathically; Paula turned briefly and shot him a smile.

    “The question is not whether I am alright, master. I think you are overestimating the strength of our opponent.” she mused sweetly. “When has Team Plasma ever proven to be a challenge? I could beat this oaf with both sides of my brain tied behind my back.” she continued. David laughed at her zeal.

    “One more time, Gus!” Cheren cried as he released his Cofagrigus. He joined David in the arena and stood to oppose McCartney. The co-captain released his own Pokéball, revealing the massive new form of a Garbodor; his Trubbish had evidently evolved since they had last seen it. Cheren remembered their first battle against the pair and how that very same Pokémon had almost bested his Eevee; it was time for a little payback…

    The other two agents moved from behind their captains to battle Bianca and Brycen. The one nearest the former released his imposing, sinister-looking Gurdurr with a wicked laugh, and the one battling the latter set his Unfezant, having evolved since Chargestone Cave, into the open air of the spacious room. Bianca called on her powerhouse Axew to defend her, and Brycen, having a type advantage, released Cryogonal. With Cedric looking on from behind them in both terror and amazement, the eight combatants sized each other up and issued their opening commands.

    “Paula, use Focus Blast!” David shouted. The Fighting-type attack would have a type advantage against Lennon’s Rock-type Pokémon, but knowing this, Lennon was prepared.

    “Iron Defense…” he murmured through a confident smile. His Boldore’s body stiffened and became still; a metallic sheen slowly washed over its surface just as the Focus Blast hit. The slow creep of armor faded and Boldore reanimated, but he appeared to have taken no damage, despite the powerful blow hitting its mark squarely. Now he was ready to go on the offensive.

    “…and now Rock Blast.” Lennon continued. The Ore Pokémon took in a deep breath in preparation, and then shot a hailstorm of tiny, sharp projectiles from the crevasse on its face. Paula gasped at the incoming flurry and Teleported away, but she reappeared an instant later and the Boldore adjusted its aim. Paula could only hide for so long…

    “Same way as before, Gus; Nasty Plot.” Cheren explained calmly. Black, hazy smoke began to pour from the seam in the Coffin Pokémon’s body, stimulating his mind and raising his Special Attacking capabilities, but McCartney’s Garbodor grinned fearsomely at the pollution Gus was emanating.

    “Clear Smog, Garbodor!” McCartney commanded. The Garbodor bellowed a booming, monstrous cry in approval of the order and began spewing his own cloud of smoke. Unlike Gus’ however, this smog was a clear, hazy white, and it moved towards the floating sarcophagus at a rapid pace. The smokes mixed and became one, but the Garbodor’s eventually overpowered Gus’ own. The Clear Smog attack had a three-fold effect; it not only undid the stat boost Gus’ Nasty Plot had given him, but it slowly began blinding and suffocating the ancient Pokémon, preventing him from attacking and doing steady, gradual damage. In one fell swoop, McCartney had halted Cheren’s strategy and put him on the defensive; now he was ready to attack in earnest. He ordered his Garbodor to use a Sludge Bomb attack; Gus was helpless to defend himself, still blinded by the smoke.

    “Same strategy as usual, Cryogonal. Frost Breath when you see your chance…” Brycen murmured disinterestedly. Before the Crystallizing Pokémon could even respond however, the Plasma agent was already going on the attack.

    “Quick Attack, Unfezant!” the man cried confidently. The proud bird spread its massive wingspan took off into the air, moving at a blinding speed. The Ice-type Frost Breath attack would deal crushing damage to the Flying-type Unfezant if it hit, and the strategy of pushing it back would surely work against the light bird, given that Cryogonal was over five times heavier than it, but that all assumed Cryogonal could actually hit the Unfezant before it managed to strike first; Quick Attack solved that problem for the Plasma agent. Before Cryogonal could prepare the counterattack, the Unfezant had already launched itself towards it, struck powerfully, and flown away to prepare for a second pass; Cryogonal screeched in pain, his low physical defenses not allowing him to withstand the attack very well, and reeled back in shock. Before he could shake it off however, the Unfezant came back in for a second strike. It was unrelenting, and Brycen’s impervious strategy had suddenly encountered a scenario it couldn’t beat. Brycen gasped as he realized that he was losing.

    “Alright! Great job, Unfezant! Keep it up!” The Plasma agent shouted. The Unfezant cooed and turned for a third attack.

    “No! Cryogonal! Offensive, offensive!” Brycen stammered. “Ice Beam! End this now!” he cried. Cryogonal acted on instinct and prepared the beam, but it was possibly already too late…

    The final fourth of the battle was also underway. Bianca called for Axew to use Dragon Dance, but her opponents simply watched and waited, shooting her menacing, smug glares. The tiny Dragon-type had been Bianca’s primary Pokémon since she had captured it; he was the powerhouse of Bianca’s team, so if anyone could win this for her, it would be Axew. He snorted and stomped his short legs to the slowly increasing rhythm of the ancient pattern. Red and black energy swirled around him as he powered up, and he began working himself into a frenzy. As the dance explosively burst to a conclusion, Bianca called for him to use a Dual Chop attack. Axew leapt at his opponent, full of vigor and strength after his chant, but the Gurdurr slowly moved into position. As Axew drew near, he grabbed the base of his girder and swung it with all his might at the diminutive dragon; the steel beam struck cleanly and sent Axew sailing across the room like a bullet. The sound of the rod smashing against Axew’s skull rang like a frying pan falling on a hard floor; Bianca winced and screamed as she saw Axew take the blow: Low Sweep.

    “Oh my God, Axew! No!” she shrieked. Axew slammed into the stone wall of the tower and slid to the ground in near defeat. He rose woozily and held his head, nearly tumbling over out of dizziness, but was determined to not give up the fight; none of their fights were going well at this point though…

    Back across the field, Paula was still Teleporting wildly to try and avoid the Boldore’s continuing onslaught of Rock Blasts. Every time she Teleported, the Boldore slowly adjusted its aim to shoot towards her new position, forcing her to make another quick jump to safety. Paula was staying safe from the incoming fire, but she didn’t have a chance to strike back; this was about to change in Lennon’s favor however.

    Paula reappeared from one of her Teleports and readjusted herself to her new spatial coordinates. The Boldore slowly turned and prepared to fire, forcing the Gardevoir to make another quick jump, but just before she could make it, an unseen force materialized and struck her to the ground. David gasped in surprise at the mysterious attack; its origin quickly became apparent to him however.

    “Oh you bastard; really?!” he exclaimed; somewhere below him, the Duosion smiled.

    Lennon’s Boldore didn’t question his stroke of luck. Taking aim, he fired off a volley of rock shards towards the downed Gardevoir, striking her and taking what precious stamina remained. She had started the battle still partially wounded from her earlier Gym Battle, and the Future Sight and Rock Blast had done significant damage on their own. Paula was down and in no position to attack back; she wasn’t out yet, but the battle was looking increasingly grim.

    Gus was still blinded by the Clear Smog attack and was unable to breathe. He was defenseless as the Garbodor launched its Sludge Bomb, unable to see the attack to dodge. The bundle of dirty grime struck Gus squarely and sent him falling from the air harshly. He fell over on his back and smashed against the stone floor resoundingly. The Garbodor bellowed proudly at his command on the battle; McCartney’s powerful Pokémon had yet to even take damage, and Gus was almost defeated. Gus struggled to rise and defend himself, but Garbodor was moving in for a finishing blow.

    Cryogonal was having equal amounts of luck hitting the speeding Unfezant with an Ice Beam. The bird was just too fast, and Cryogonal was trying to hit it with a very thin, pinpoint attack. What was more, the Unfezant was continuing to strike at his weak physical defenses with Quick Attacks, which were not only slowly chipping away at his stamina, but were also destroying his focus and throwing his aiming off kilter. Despite all the bulk that Cryogonal had, the Gym Leader’s strategy was beginning to fail in the face of such impressive speed; the Plasma agent wore a mile-wide smile out of pride for his magnificent bird.

    While her friends were all admittedly losing, perhaps the direst battle of all was Bianca’s. Axew had taken an utterly crushing blow to the head from the Gurdurr’s Low Sweep attack, and had yet to deal any return damage of his own. Axew rose and used another Dragon Dance at his trainer’s command to try and get his mind clear, but while he was plenty worked up by now, having boosted twice with the ancient chant, the Gurdurr stood before him, sneering maliciously in anticipation of the coming painful defeat he was about to dish out. Axew flung himself at the Muscular Pokémon again to use Dual Chop, but it was in vain.

    Axew managed to land the first strike of the Dual Chop, dealing very impressive damage thanks to the two boosts from Dragon Dance he had received, but as he turned his neck to strike with his other tusk, the Gurdurr reached out with his massive, meaty hand and grabbed Axew by the neck. Holding his girder over his shoulder with one hand and the small dragon with the other, the Gurdurr’s stern glare slowly curled into a menacing smile; he laughed before dealing his finishing blow.

    “Axew, no!” Bianca screamed. The Gurdurr raised Axew as high as he could and then threw him to the ground fiercely, using a crushing Counter attack. Axew yelped as he struck the stone, and a plume of dust and dirt blew up into the air around him. Axew struggled to lift his head, unwilling to accept defeat, but the two blows had been too much; he was down for the count.

    Things were looking grim for the prospects of stopping N. Paula lay defenseless at the mercy of the imposing Boldore, McCartney’s Garbodor was moving in to deal a finishing strike to Cheren’s blinded and battered Cofagrigus, Brycen’s Frost Breath-based defensive strategy had failed in the face of Unfezant’s blinding speed, and Axew lay nearly defeated at the feet of the spiteful Gurdurr. Not a single one of them were in a position to win, and their situations all seemed hopeless; N was about to summon Zekrom unopposed, and he didn’t even realize that the battles were going on just beneath his feet.

    Axew struggled to rise. He could only barely lift his neck up off the floor as he tried to fight through the pain of the twin attacks. Beside him, seeing blindly and hearing deafly in his battery-induced stupor, he saw his friends in much a similar predicament; he saw Lennon’s Boldore strike Paula with the Rock Blast just after taking Future Sight, he saw McCartney’s Garbodor hurl his Sludge Bomb into Gus, and he saw Brycen’s Cryogonal hopelessly spraying a blast of Ice Beam into the air, fruitlessly lashing out at the racing Unfezant. The Tusk Pokémon felt his heart sink as he too had to admit defeat.

    Axew!” he heard in a haze from behind him. His ears were ringing and he could barely make out the sound. “Axew… do it… don’t give…” the voice continued; it was the reassuring sound of his trainer, trying to encourage him even as he lay in defeat.

    “Ahh… ax?” he stammered weakly, crawling onto his side to look at her. Though his vision was blurry, he could still make her silhouette out as clear as day; there was fear in her eyes and she wore a worried frown. The look was almost too much to bear.

    “You can do it! Come on! Don’t give up!” she repeated. Axew heard the words and internalized them, but his muscles wouldn’t cooperate. He tried to rise, but his limbs shook when he put pressure on them.

    “Ax… ew… ax… ew…” he panted. He wouldn’t give up; he couldn’t give up. He had to keep fighting for his trainer.

    “Ax… ew… aaax… eeew…

    The Gurdurr folded his arms and looked down at the battered Pokémon before him with contempt. It was a pitiful show; he considered squashing it, but both he and his Plasma partner wanted to see how long it would go on. There was maliciousness in both of their eyes as the worm of a dragon tried to keep up the fight.

    “Aaax… eeew… aaaxx… eeeww…

    Axew rose and woozily stood. He began performing a third Dragon Dance, repeating the pattern he knew by heart just to give himself some kind of constant. He needed something to anchor his mind; to keep his focus from drifting away.

    “Ax-ew, Ax-ew, Ax-ew, Ax-ew!” he chanted. He was beginning to grow loud in his cries. Bianca watched in humble awe as her battered warrior continued to fight.

    Ax-ew, Ax-ew, Ax-ew, Ax-ew!!!” he screamed. The other Pokémon stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the distraction. He was flailing his arms and growing extremely worked up. His power was surging and the cloud of red and black energy that surrounded him was growing into a veritable storm. The cocky grin on the Gurdurr’s face was starting to shrink ever-so slightly.

    Ax-ew, Ax-ew, Ax-ew… AAAAAAX… EEEEEEW!!!” he shrieked. The utterly frantic Dragon Dance reached a head and his flailing movements spasmed out of control. In a final act of strength and desperation, Axew spread his arms and widened his stance, screaming with all his might… and began to change.

    “Axew…” Bianca whispered. “You’re… you’re evolving…” she stammered in a mystified voice.

    Axew’s tiny body began to glow bright white. His muscles tensed and he became completely rigid. A pulsating sphere of blue light expanded from his core and formed three thin rings. The rings wrapped around his body as if scanning him, bringing about the change. His body began to pulsate and filled the room in light; the other Pokémon had all stopped their own battles now and watched as Axew evolved, distracted by his outburst a moment earlier. The rings ensnared him and the light pulsated; it filled the room with a strobe of wild energy and raw strength. As the period of the pattern shrunk exponentially, Axew’s small body began to change and grow. When the process drew near to completion, Axew’s form melted away into nothing more than a wisp of light. The wisp flashed, blinding anyone who dared look straight at it, and then burst into the emboldened form of a virile new dragon; in his moment of desperation, Axew had evolved into Fraxure.

    Fraxure stood silently, his arms curled before him and his eyes shut tight. As the energy dissipated and the lights all faded away, he slowly reopened his eyes and took a commanding step forward. He reevaluated his environment, taking it all in, and then flung his arms to his sides and screamed. His roar filled the cavernous room and sent a shiver down the Gurdurr’s terrible spine.

    FRAAAAAAX–URRRRRRE!

    Without warning or prompt from his trainer, the newly evolved Fraxure leapt into action immediately. Moving with tremendous speed and tremendous strength, he rushed towards the dumbstruck Gurdurr and slashed with his sharp new tusks. His tusks had grown around three times longer after evolving, and while they were simply hard before, they were now razor sharp as well. The Dual Chop, bolstered by three Dragon Dances and the massive increase in strength that came from evolving, finished off the sadistic Gurdurr posthaste; Fraxure wasn’t stopping there however. Coming to the aide of his imperiled friends, Fraxure moved swiftly from the defeated remains of the Gurdurr and leapt towards the startled Unfezant. All six other Pokémon had been distracted by his pained cries and frenzied evolution; they had stopped momentarily to watch, and were now caught off-guard as he turned on them. Lashing out before the Unfezant could defend itself, Fraxure raked the ornate bird with his tusks and sent it plummeting to the ground in instant defeat; Brycen’s Cryogonal stared blankly as his battle was won for him.

    As Bianca’s Fraxure began falling back to the ground, he roared again and straightened his body out. Landing powerfully, he sent a carefully directed Earthquake attack towards Boldore and Garbodor, using the speed from his fall to strengthen it. Paula and Gus inevitably took a bit of the attack, but the brunt of the strike fell to Lennon and McCartney’s Pokémon. Being Rock and Poison types respectively, they were both weak to the devastating Ground-type attack; thanks to his many Dragon Dance boosts, Garbodor fell to it instantly, and Boldore held on only thanks to his Sturdy ability. Fraxure landed, screamed a third time in rage at Boldore’s insolence for surviving the hit, and lunged towards the Ore Pokémon with fire in his eyes. Boldore was severely wounded and lacked the motor skills to escape even if he wasn’t; a light tap from Fraxure’s red-and-steel colored tusks was all it took to bring the golem down. Fraxure continued his virile roars even as the final Pokémon was felled; Bianca looked on in amazement.

    “Holy crap…” Lennon whispered.

    “What the Hell? Why does this shit always happen to us?” McCartney muttered in spiteful disbelief.

    In a daze, the Plasma agents recalled their defeated Pokémon, stupefied at having been so soundly defeated following such a solid start. Fraxure sneered commandingly and calmed down, returning to Bianca proudly; his trainer was just as startled by the outburst as the Plasma agents had been, having not managed to say a word since he evolved. Her friends drew around her as well, offering congratulations and thanks for the assist.

    “Damn, Bianca! Where did that come from?” David asked in proud shock. A wide grin was spread across his face; he put his arm around her shoulder and looked down at Fraxure magnanimously.

    “I… don’t know…” she stammered. “I always knew he was strong, but… wow…” she continued. From within their minds, Paula began to speak.

    “He says it was to defend you, Ms. Bianca.” she murmured softly. Her voice was strained, but she was still very much there. “A very noble thing, if I may say; seems you have a proper paladin at your side.” Bianca blushed and smiled at the stocky dragon.

    The sweet moment was cut short by a noise from above them. A mighty “crash!” sounded and made everyone who heard it jump. The noise sounded like lightning striking through a wall; they all instantly remember why they were there and what they were actually fighting about.

    “Oh no; N!” David shouted. He instantly released Bianca’s shoulder and began dashing towards the stairs; Lennon saw him and moved instinctively, trying to stop him by force, but David juked him and slipped past. The others followed suit a moment later after recalling their Pokémon.

    [Author’s Note: For an enhanced experience, listen to this until the next section break.]

    David dashed up the stairs to the seventh floor. The stairwell was in the southwestern portion of the room; though columns blocked his view of the rest of the room to his left, he could see foggy daylight streaming in from outside. He swallowed nervously and approached the central forum.

    Time seemed to slow as David made the short trek towards the light. Each breath and each step seemed to take minutes to complete; fear gripped him as he finally caught up to N. He could see that the northern portion of the roof had collapsed somehow, presumably the noise he had heard before; he could see dark, foreboding gray clouds outside, with lightning crackling through them. He feared that he was too late.

    Stepping out from between the patch of columns and into the light, David saw what he had most feared to see. Standing under the gaping hole in the ceiling, with a divine halo of afternoon light shining down on him, N stood, his flowing hair whipping in the wind, in awe of a massive black dragon. Zekrom seethed impatiently.

    The dragon had seemingly appeared from nowhere, but stood commandingly, breathing heavily and staring at N from behind fearsome, menacing red eyes. It had rows of sharp, dagger-like teeth lining its large mouth, and a raptor-like head with a plume tipped in neon blue. Its body and neck were almost humanoid, sporting dark black-and-gray armor plating along its breast plates and broad, muscular shoulders. Its wings, arms, legs and tail were what truly made it look powerful and dragon-like however. Its arms were massive and muscular, bowing out into fan-like webbed paws. Its legs were equally toned, bending very sharply at the knees into wide, pillar-like feet. Its wings spread high above its broad shoulders, webbed like its hands and straight like those of a jet. The most defining, curious feature of the beast however was its tail; a stubby, brittle appendage stuck out a short bit from behind its hips, but then reverse-funneled into a massive electrical turbine, ending in a sharp, defined point. Electricity bristled from the turbine and charged the air around it, bathing the surroundings in a neon blue light; sensing David’s stealthy approach, the dragon growled fearsomely to alert N.

    “What do you think, David? How do you like the powerful form of the Pokémon who appears before and fights beside the Hero that will lead the way to a new world?” he asked. The noise startled David as he hadn’t realized that N knew he was there. N did not turn his gaze away from the dragon to look at David as he spoke; David did the same and stared at Zekrom in disbelief as he replied.

    “You’re insane, N…” he murmured in shock. “You’re a fucking lunatic!” he screamed. David grit his teeth and clenched his fists; he ran from his hiding spot and dashed towards N, spinning him around and grasping him by the collar. “What the fuck were you thinking, you psychopath?! How could you actually summon that thing?! You’re going to destroy the region, N; you have no idea what that monster is capable of!” N simply smiled and slacked under David’s grip.

    “‘That thing,’ ‘that monster,’ is my new friend, David, and so are you.” he said calmly; David’s eyes opened wide and he shook N in rage.

    “Don’t you get it, you stupid fool? That monster is a killing machine! It was created for one purpose: destruction of the Unova region and to kill Reshiram!” he shouted. “You don’t play in traffic, you don’t stick your fingers in electrical sockets, and you don’t summon ancient thunder gods because you want a Goddamn FRIEND!!!” he bellowed. N’s small smile grew in size at David’s remarks; he tried to fight it, but N broke out in a volley of uncontrollable laughter at David’s anger. David was dumbstruck by N’s response; he released him, watching as N caught his breath and wiped his eyes.

    “Oh David, you are so naďve…” he mused. David felt his jaw drop at N’s remark.

    I’M THE NAĎVE ONE?!” he stammered. N chuckled again before continuing.

    “David, let me pose you a rhetorical question…” N began. “Suppose you had the Light Stone in your hands right now, and Zekrom and I weren’t here. Would you actually know how to summon Reshiram from it? You would have every tool you need, but would you even know what to do?” he asked. David wore a vacant look upon his face.

    “…what the Hell is ‘the Light Stone?’” he asked after a moment’s pause. N laughed again and had to brace against his knees to catch his breath.

    “Exactly.” he responded. “You have no idea.”

    “I was raised to do one thing in this life, David; I was born to be the Hero of Ideals.” N explained. “Everything about my upbringing was structured to lead me to this moment, here and now. My isolation from humans, my constant interaction with Pokémon, virtually all of my schooling, it was all training me to be able to befriend Zekrom and reawaken him here and now. Surely if I was able to reawaken Zekrom from his slumber, I understand just how powerful he is. I know exactly what I am doing, and I owe it all to my father.” he continued. As he finished his statement, Ghetsis slowly approached from behind one of the columns. He walked towards N and put his arm around his son’s shoulder. As he passed Zekrom, a wicked grin spread across his face.

    “We trained you and instilled in you the legends of the prophecy, N, but you were always meant to be the Hero; it is in your soul.” he commented proudly; father and son stared at David with content, sinister grins.

    A commotion came from behind David as Ghetsis made his statement. The eight agents of N’s task force came bounding up the stairs, and behind them followed Cheren, Bianca, Cedric and Brycen. The agents wore wild, confused looks on their faces, and seemed to be terrified that the others had broken through.

    “Lord Ghetsis, a thousand pardons!” one of them stammered. “We tried, sir, but they broke through!” he continued. N turned towards his father and shot him a disapproving stare.

    “Father…” he said disappointedly. Ghetsis pursed his lips and scowled.

    “No matter; what is done is done. Now begins the final stage of Team Plasma’s journey.” N began forebodingly, backing away towards Zekrom as he spoke. “Zekrom and I will travel the region, defeating the eight Gym Leaders and earning our right to enter the Pokémon League Championships. We will defeat the Champion and be recognized as the greatest might in all the land, and when none shall stand to oppose us, when all have been smote, we will declare an end to Pokémon battles and an end to humanity’s dominance over Pokémon. All shall hear and obey, or the Unova region will suffer the consequences…” he continued. Zekrom roared in affirmation with N’s statement; the whole tower shook with the strength of his cry. Zekrom bowed and let N up on his back; with his new friend securely between his wings, the indestructible dragon took off and flew away into the light. David and his friends ran to the edge and saw as the pair escaped into the moors.

    For everyone but David and Ghetsis, N’s speech had been their first time seeing Zekrom in person. While stupor and awe were universal, everyone who saw him had a radically different first reaction. For Bianca, the sight of the imposing dragon had been a terrifying one; suddenly, the legends and myths she had heard about him since first meeting N had a tangible, physical being they attached to. She feared not only for herself, but for David’s sake, as the Hero of Truth as well. For Cheren, seeing Zekrom had actually been an emboldening experience. The raw power of the ancient Dragon-type had been humbling, but it also made it seem less ethereal and more mortal. Cheren still secretly felt as though he could be the Hero of Truth if push came to shove, and that if David somehow failed, he could perhaps succeed; seeing just what he was up against made that prospect seem all the more possible. For Lennon and McCartney, the sight which they had long awaited and dreamt of was actually a rather bittersweet one. After the Hell Team Plasma had put them through earlier in the year, their allegiance was to N and to N’s cause, more so than the bureaucracy of Ghetsis’ organization. Hearing N talk of “destruction” and “consequences” made them worry however that perhaps power was already going to his head in his naivety.

    As N and Zekrom disappeared into the storm, Ghetsis’ smiled and began to laugh. He turned towards David and shot him a sneer.

    “Well ‘Hero,’ it has been quite a pleasure, but I’m afraid we must now take our leave.” he mused. “Agents; to me!” he cried; in a sudden motion, he threw a small purple pellet on the ground at his feet and disappeared into a cloud of like-colored smoke.

    For Plasma!” the agents cried from behind them; they all drew smoke balls like the one Ghetsis had used and disappeared into them as well. When the smoke cleared a moment later, the eight of them and Ghetsis were nowhere to be found.

    Silence filled the empty crypt after Ghetsis disappeared. Quiet as it was however, David’s mind could not be at rest, for questions lingered on. As the storm slowly receded and the winter sun began to set over the horizon, David looked out over the northern moors and longed for the simple journey his childhood had promised. Gone were the days where he and his friends could be “normal” trainers, venturing through the region and just collecting badges in the hopes that they might enter the League Championships. Sensing his turbulent thoughts, his friends stayed back and allowed him his time to look at the forests in peace.

    “‘Normal’ trainers do not have talking Pokémon, master.” Paula commented softly. Her voice jerked David from his thoughts and awoke him from his daydream. He turned in surprise and saw her gingerly approaching from behind him. She was limping and seemed obviously pained, but she still carried herself with unmatched grace and poise. She walked to his side and looked out at the moors alongside him. David smiled at her unwavering support and empathy.

    “I guess he wasn’t lying, Paula… he really did reawaken Zekrom somehow…” David mused in his mind; he sighed before continuing. “I don’t know what I’m going to do though. I don’t have a clue how to summon Reshiram, or if I could even control it. What if I fail? What if I can’t stop N now that he has Zekrom?” he asked. Paula smiled and closed her eyes.

    “When I was a child, before I was sent to Professor Juniper, my mother told me something that has always stuck with me.” Paula answered. “She said that ‘What-if land is the truly worthless venture,’ master. I think that is rather poignant advice.” she appended.

    The pair continued watching the sun set into the darkening winter sky. After a few silent minutes, they began to descend back down through the winding tower…

    * * *

    A short time later, as the group was leaving the entrance to the tower and somberly returning to the city, a man darted from the tree line to the south and ran towards them on the bridge. Though his arrival was an unexpected one, they all recognized him immediately.

    “Alder?” David asked in surprise. “Is that you? What are you doing here?” Alder sprinted towards them and staggered to catch his breath; his face appeared pained and he wore a frightened look.

    “David! Those violent flashes of lightning that shot from the tower; what happened here? Was that your doing?” he stammered. David sighed and recanted N’s tale; when he finished, Alder grew somber and stern.

    “And then he got on its back and flew away.” David said, drawing near to the end of his explanation. “If I really am the Hero of Truth, then I need to find a way to summon Reshiram to battle him with, but I don’t know how. I don’t know what to do…” he finished. Alder put a hand to his chin and fell into though.

    “Brycen, Cedric, is this all true? Have you two got any ideas?” he asked after a moment of thought. The older adults both confirmed David’s story, but had no further advice.

    “I’m only just learning of all this myself today as well.” Cedric mused. “First time I’ve ever been sad to be in the same boat as you, Alder.” he appended; Alder smiled at the joke.

    “I’m afraid I have no real advice to give of my own, David. My travels have brought me to the far corners of the region and back again several times, but while I know of the Dragons’ history and of the legend of the prophecy, I know nothing about how their reawakening actually works…” he began to explain. David’s shoulders slacked at the news; if anyone could help, he had figured it would be the Champion. “However…” Alder continued, “I may know someone who does.”

    “You speak of Drayden, don’t you, Alder?” Brycen murmured quietly from the back. Alder smiled and nodded his head.

    “Aye, Brycen, I do.” he answered. “The next town to the east is Opelucid City, and its mayor is one of the most renowned and knowledgeable Dragon-type specialists and trainers of the modern day. His name is Drayden; if anyone knows about Zekrom and Reshiram, he would know.” he continued. David felt his pulse quicken at the possibility of an actionable solution.

    “We need to go there anyway, David.” Cheren commented. “Drayden is also Opelucid City’s Gym Leader. We have to battle him to get our last badge.” he continued. Alder nodded at Cheren to confirm, and then turned back to David and continued to speak.

    “These are trying times to be certain, my friend. This man N has just unleashed an unspeakable force unto the world. There is of course the slim possibility that one of the Gym Leaders might stop him, or that I will manage to best him when he comes to challenge me for my title, but more likely than not, someone will need to fulfill the prophecy and stand against him with Reshiram if we hope to withstand Zekrom’s legendary might. I see no reason why it can’t be you.” he explained. “My advice would be to seek counsel with Drayden in Opelucid City. I will head there at once; will you join me?” he asked. David turned to his friends for confirmation, but they both nodded in agreement.

    “We’ll be there.” David replied commandingly. Alder returned David’s grin and drew a Pokéball from beneath his cloak.

    “Then I shall leave at once. Meet me at Shopping Mall Nine when you are ready.” he continued. With that, Alder released his Druddigon and took to the skies on its back. He waved as he went, but quickly disappeared over the treetops…

    Later that night as he lay in bed at the Icirrus City Pokémon Center, David thought back on the plethora of weighty things that had occurred that day. Simply to go in chronological order, Munchlax had evolved, they had all earned their Freeze Badges, Bianca’s Axew had evolved, and most importantly, N had actually managed to reawaken Zekrom. Alder had put it lightly when he had said that N had unleashed an unspeakable force unto the world; N had gone virtually overnight from being a creep and an annoyance who showed up at random times to being not only a legitimate threat, but perhaps the most dangerous threat the world had seen in thousands of years. Alder’s advice to seek counsel with Drayden had given him some solace, but there was still the matter of actually doing battle with N and Zekrom at some point that remained an unknown.

    Unwilling nor wanting to continue harping on the threat, David remembered Paula’s advice from earlier that day. N had become a dangerous problem to be sure, but he was still not undefeatable. They had a solid plan of action to take, and a number of potential solutions. There was of course the obvious one as a last resort, but it was the least desirable. Finally allowing sleep to wash over him as he tried to recuperate from the arduous day, David let his mind at last wander to other things; though N was still there in the back recesses of his thoughts, the holidays were right around the bend and offered a much more pleasant avenue of thought. David closed his eyes, and fell soundly into sleep…
    Last edited by ChaosBlizzard; 31st December 2011 at 8:45 AM.

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  14. #234
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    I reserve this place for Edit
    I am First

    Edit:
    My Favorite chapter so far
    I can't see any spelling or grammar mistakes and i found the storyline faultless
    Team plasma as a whole cult is good to see as we got to see a quadtropple batle? and how the intract with their new captains, N and Ghetis
    Lennon and Mcartny have grown stronger which is good to see
    as soon as Axew was about to faint i knew it would evolve but really that onsluat was INTENSE
    That is something to work on suprising evo's

    Overall An amazing chapter
    Last edited by Tepig 5000; 21st December 2011 at 6:14 PM.

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  15. #235
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    Jul 2011
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    That almost counts as a first review, but I'll be charitable and let you have it anyway.

    Anywho.

    you might want to watch using italics to emphasize the results of the attacks in the Dragonspiral Tower scene.

    Threw this, shot them, it all got rather monotonous.

    The second glaring thing I saw was that you completely dropped N's character in here right up until David reached the top of the tower. I realize he's shaltered, but in all his other sections, he was sheltered and mature. Here, he just felt like he was six.

    “She said that ‘What-if land is the truth worthless venture,
    I get the feeling somethign was left out, because I don't get it.

    Good for Lennon and McCartney, they did well in their battle right up untilk Faraxure, who really can be a tough opponent. Boldore has really coem along, and Trubbish was excitedly much better than fodder as well. Good use for clear Smog, too.

    [Author’s Note: For an enhanced experience, listen to this until the next section break.]
    Shame on you! I though NACHOEI had broken you of Author's Notes in the middle of chapters like that! [/tease]

    You've doen something impressive with the other grunts, too. I feel bad for them, they have heart, even in that little scene. That's one thing I hope to take awa from reading this, is Grunts with soul. Good on you.

    That ought to teach Cheren a thign or two as well. Serves him right.

    “You don’t play in traffic, you don’t stick your fingers in electrical sockets, and you don’t summon ancient thunder gods because you want a Goddamn FRIEND!!!”
    Favorite David line.
    Long ago, existed a simpler time. A time of fun, a time of innocence, when trainers battled for the sake of the battle through their hearts, not through numbers.
    If deep in your heart, you yearn for the simpler fights, then contact Feralninja or Dracoburn and stop by the Non Competetive Trainer's hangout. You might even earn a badge or two.

    I like to write:

    Updated: World Turns: On hiatus for vacation
    Til Death
    Tempest: Completed, open for revisions

        Spoiler:- Breeding stuff:

  16. #236
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    “You don’t play in traffic, you don’t stick your fingers in electrical sockets, and you don’t summon ancient thunder gods because you want a Goddamn FRIEND!!!”

    I gotta say its also my fav David line

    Banner beware of darkness to felly


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    Thanks thaBlob

    Q:Whats the same about an eagle and a mole
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  17. #237
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    Chronicles of Unova

    Chapter 23: Bianca's Bianco Natale

    Twas the day before Christmas and all through the town,
    The clean, fresh, white snow was falling gently around.
    Icirrus City was blanketed in white,
    The moors and the forests looked a beautiful sight.

    The holiday that year would see plenty of snow,
    Bianca was delighted, her face all aglow.
    “This Christmas will be our first away from home,
    A gorgeous White Christmas will make us feel less alone.”

    The trainers decided they would take a week off,
    From Christmas to New Year’s would be nothing but sloth.
    Though Zekrom’s ascension was still fresh in their minds,
    Even N wanted to take off at least a little bit of time.

    David and friends rested at the Pokémon Center,
    Their battlers playing games themed ‘round December.
    The rest and the calm was simply the best,
    But Bianca had an idea that she wanted to test…

    “So Cheren, have you thought about Christmas presents yet?
    Or David? You’re cooking up something awesome I bet!
    We have so many new friends now this year,
    Our Pokémon should get something too, the sweet dears.”

    The boys glanced at each other without turning their heads,
    “We’re doing presents this year?” Cheren said.
    “We’ve got little money and we’re traveling light,
    It would be impractical; our budget’s too tight.”

    “No presents on Christmas? That just will not do!
    I’ve got a solution though.” Bianca continued.
    “A Secret Santa, like some businesses practice,
    It’ll be inexpensive and won’t overburden or tax us.

    We’ll put all our names here inside of my hat,
    And the name that you draw gets a present like that.
    One thing per person, so it won’t be that heavy,
    And the Pokémon can play too so everyone gets something spiffy!”

    David and Cheren agreed to the plan,
    And called over the Pokémon with some money in hand.
    They wrote down their names and stuffed the cards in her cap;
    Bianca shuffled them and they each drew a scrap.

    They each drew a name to give a present to,
    And they kept it a secret so no one knew who.
    David went last and a card he did cull,
    But to his surprise, it was Bianca’s name that he pulled.

    He smiled at his luck like the wings of a Pidove,
    This was his chance to impress his sweet love.
    David would find the perfect present,
    It would be even better than the plump Christmas pheasant.

    “Alright, everybody has now pulled a name?
    Then into the city, anything is fair game!
    We’ll go with our Pokémon and help them buy gifts.”
    Bianca said, lifting Pachirisu with a kiss.

    David and Snorlax, Galvantula and Paula,
    Headed into the snow, each with several dollars.
    Bianca and Cheren headed out too,
    Going their separate ways to find something new.

    Later they’d return with the things they had bought,
    To exchange them ‘round the tree with the warmest of thoughts.
    But for the time being, David’s thoughts were elsewhere;
    Maybe a new hat for her golden blonde hair?

    * * *

    David and his Pokémon walked down the streets,
    Looking in store windows at the holiday treats.
    Last-minute shoppers gave Galvantula worried stares,
    But the EleSpider Pokémon kind of didn’t really care.

    The Pokémon were looking for presents as well,
    David wasn’t the only one about to make a sell.
    Paula in particular seemed lost in thought,
    She kept looking at David, her brow stern and taut.

    “What should I get Bianca?” David asked his Gardevoir.
    He needed something special; he had set a high bar.
    “You’re a girl; what would be something you’d want?”
    He asked, as they continued their snowy, light jaunt.

    “Dresses, jewelry, dinner for two,
    Those are all things that I suppose you could do.
    But they are just stereotypes; not very romantic, master.
    You will want something that will really blast her.

    A gift from the heart is what I would suggest,
    For a relationship like yours, that is always the best.
    Show her you love her by making it unique,
    Do that and to her it really will speak.”

    The windows of shops were all filled up with gifts,
    To help Christmas Eve shoppers and their spirits to lift.
    But to David’s empty eyes they looked all but bare,
    He couldn’t think of anything; it just wasn’t fair!

    “Yeah, no kidding, Paula, thanks for the tip,
    If I didn’t already know that, you’d be a real pip.
    Obviously it has to be something from the heart,
    But I can’t think of anything; I’m having a brain fart.”

    Paula laughed at David’s crude joke,
    Her eyes lit up and his arm she did poke.
    “Maybe your gift isn’t something you’ll buy,”
    She continued, “You’ll find it if you look inside.

    David sighed, she was just spewing holiday existentialism,
    You think this one won’t rhyme, but I wouldn’t cause a schism.
    “So whose name did you get?” he asked in conversation,
    She laughed; “I can’t say yet. Can you stand the anticipation?”

    The quartette continued window shopping for a while,
    Snorlax and Galvantula eventually found something their style.
    David never found what he had been looking for,
    There had been some extravagant things, but for them he was too poor.

    When finally the night came and they had to go home,
    David sighed again and let out a groan.
    “I never found a present, but now something else is on my mind.”
    “What is it, master?” Paula asked to be kind.

    David slowed and he looked all around,
    He wore a quizzical look and he stared at the ground.
    He turned to face Paula, taking his sweet time.
    “Paula, why has everything we’ve been saying all day rhyme?”

    Paula, don’t answer that; don’t break the fourth wall,
    It might be a throwaway chapter but we’ve got fans after all.
    You’re asking too many questions, David, now get back to the story,
    Or I’ll have an Englishman drive up and hit you with his lorry.

    “You wouldn’t do that, I’m the player character.”
    Just then, a drunk driver showed up; he’d been having bitters.
    “Wait! Stop!” David shouted, “Just keep him at bay!
    I just have one last thing that I want to say.”

    Alright, say your piece and then be on your way,
    David smiled and said what he needed to say.
    “Orange orange orange orange orange orange orange orange orange orange!
    Door hinge, door hinge, door hinge, door hinge, door door!

    Now run along home, David, stop being absurd,
    And don’t you dare think about flipping me the bird.
    I know all your tricks; I’m the writer, after all,
    Now go find the present you didn’t buy at the mall.

    David was mad but he shuffled along,
    Paula giggled behind him knowing he was headstrong.
    They returned to the Pokémon Center after rounding the bend,
    And with that I’ll bring this little section to an end…

    * * *

    Later that night they all gathered ‘round the fire,
    To exchange their gifts and to dream and conspire.
    Everyone seemed to have found a nice gift,
    All except David; he felt awkward and stiff.

    “Is everyone ready?” Bianca asked, entering the room,
    The sight of her suddenly made David swoon.
    She was dressed in a tight-fitting, red little sweater,
    Her eyes lit by the fire, making them look even better.

    David shuffled rather uncomfortably,
    He felt even worse seeing her so full of glee.
    If she didn’t get something, she might think her name wasn’t pulled;
    Seeing her dressed that way, he wanted to give her the world.

    David and Cheren and all the Pokémon,
    Affirmed her statement, their little presents drawn.
    She sat and put Pachirisu into her lap;
    She had been in Bianca’s chair, put down for a nap.

    “Who wants to go first?” Bianca asked excitedly,
    “I think Snorlax does,” David answered, going to the tree.
    “Snorlax drew your name, Cheren, and he’s very excited.”
    He went to Cheren’s chair and laid it beside it.

    The object was jagged, covered in tape and wrapping paper,
    What in the world it could be was a mysterious caper.
    Cheren wore a look of revulsion and fright;
    Snorlax was beaming and looked quite a sight.

    “What the Hell is it?” Cheren asked worriedly.
    “Open it and find out.” David snickered mockingly.
    Carefully removing the object from its case,
    A blankly confused look spread over Cheren’s face.

    Some Popsicle sticks and a big wad of glue,
    Glitter and tassels and a bunch of staples too.
    Whatever it was, it was really a sight,
    David chuckled at Cheren’s Christmas plight.

    “Do you like it, Cheren? Snorlax made it himself,
    He loves you, so it was homemade with stuff off the shelf.”
    Snorlax bellowed and went for a hug,
    Cheren’s eyes popped like those of a bug.

    “It’s, uh… great, really, I like it a lot,
    Thank you, Snorlax.” Cheren said, inspecting what he’d got.
    Snorlax smiled, he was still just a kid,
    He was very proud of himself for what he did.

    The Christmas cheer and the spirit of gift,
    Bianca did love and her spirits it did lift.
    “Me next, me next!” cried Bianca,
    She rose and approached David’s Galvantula.

    The spider was surprised he was the one she had picked,
    He stared at her vacantly, his feelers darting quick.
    “Galvantula, I know that we had a rocky start,
    I want to make it up to you from the bottom of my heart.

    When you first evolved, I was afraid of your sight,
    I didn’t want to touch you, but I’m going to make it right.”
    Bianca sighed and extended her hand,
    It quivered and shook, not quite going to plan.

    She was nervous and scared, but Galvantula held still,
    She reached out and touched him through sheer force of will.
    His short yellow fur bristled at the touch,
    Bianca giggled, not expecting it such.

    “Eek! Heehee!” she yelped with a grin on her face,
    “I did it, I did it! I’m still rooted in place!”
    Galvantula purred at her soft, dainty touch,
    She had broken her fear and it didn’t take much.

    It was a small, little token, but it meant quite a lot,
    Galvantula was happy with the gift she hadn’t bought.
    Bianca plopped down, her heart beating fast,
    Her grin was enormous now that her turn had passed.

    “Okay, who’s next?” she asked with a sigh,
    Cheren stood up and he then answered “I.”
    He went to the tree and collected a small box,
    He gave it to Paula; “Don’t worry, it isn’t socks.”

    Being a Psychic, she already knew what it was,
    That didn’t suppress her startled look though, because…
    “Oh my goodness, Mr. Cheren, a real pearl necklace?!
    How ever did you afford this? It is just my taste!”

    Cheren smiled and sat, closing his eyes,
    “Wow, and it even is the perfect size!”
    David was amazed at the extravagance of the gift,
    He turned towards Cheren with a quizzical lift.

    “I saw it in a window and noticed the price,
    Someone else had bought it first but the relationship was no dice.
    Because it was a return, I could buy it real cheap,
    High-quality item but the price wasn’t steep.”

    Paula found the clasp and laid the jewels ‘round her neck,
    She spun around the room to her whimsy’s call and beck.
    “Oh thank you, Mr. Cheren, they’re absolutely pristine,
    Wearing these makes me feel just like a queen!”

    Cheren smiled and nodded without leaving his chair,
    Paula danced over and embraced him without a care.
    He blushed at her gesture but held his friend back,
    The pair separated and the celebration got back on track.

    The presents were less elaborate after Cheren was done,
    The Pokémon exchanged things amongst themselves for fun.
    Crobat got Fraxure a Dragon Gem he’d found,
    Fraxure got Umbreon some black coffee, finely ground.

    Gus and Aerodactyl had pulled each others’ names,
    The long-separated friends happy to be united again.
    Aerodactyl got the prince an ankh fit for a king,
    And Gus got him a Giratina voodoo doll they could poke and de-wing.

    Umbreon got Pachirisu a pretty pink bow,
    And from Pachirisu to Snorlax a Sitrus Berry was bestowed.
    From one vampire to another, a jar of blood from Galvantula to Crobat,
    Don’t ask where he got it from; it’s questionably legal at that.

    Now only one person had yet to go,
    David aside, as he had nothing to show.
    Paula stood up and she turned to her friends,
    “Sorry to say, but I believe I am where this ends.

    I pulled Master David’s name out from the cap,
    So here is your present.” she said with a snap.
    “It is not worth money and it might be ho-hum,
    But for what it is worth, I wrote you this poem.”

    David smiled as he realized her intent,
    She danced as she read, moving like a serpent.
    The words flowed from her mind like a whisper and a kiss,
    And it went a little something similar to this.

    “My name is Paula and I am a Gardevoir,
    With my mind I can Teleport wherever you are.
    My powers are great and many battles have I won,
    But there is one force that drives me; one force and only one.

    While I may have the power, he is my strategist,
    To better myself and fight harder, he is the catalyst.
    Team Plasma might say that ‘he does too much to strain her,’
    But the one I love best is David, my trainer.

    He helps me to battle and helps me to win,
    To not recognize that would be a terrible sin.
    Some people might say that he is a ‘Stu,’
    To those people I respectfully say S.T.F.U.

    He is rough ‘round the edges and frequently brash,
    But when he leads me through battle, our success is a smash.
    I know that he loves me and there is nothing he would not do,
    And if you want more from us, stay tuned for Part 2!”


    At the end of her performance, David rose and applauded,
    He threw a rose from the table; she reached out and caught it.
    He embraced his sweet Pokémon for her beautiful show,
    “Thank you, Paula, that meant more than you know.”

    With the festivities over and everyone having gone,
    Bianca rose from her seat and said with a yawn:
    “It’s getting late, friends, and we’ve all now had a turn,
    Someone put out the fire so Saint Nicholas won’t get burned.”

    David looked at her skeptically; had she forgotten herself?
    She returned his gaze though and smiled wryly like an elf.
    Without saying another word, she walked from the room,
    And left David standing in what felt like a tomb.

    “She knows what you did, master, or rather did not do,
    ‘But it is quite alright’ she says and she has a message for you.
    She wants you to follow her and go upstairs,”
    Paula said, fiddling playfully with her hair.

    David turned and looked at her in vacant surprise,
    Staring confusedly at Paula’s big red eyes.
    “Go on; your love is awaiting you, master,
    Dash away, dash away, dash away faster!”

    The meaning behind Paula’s words then sunk in,
    As he realized Bianca’s intentions, his lips curled to a grin.
    Paula faintly laughed as David finally understood,
    He dashed after Bianca as fast as he could…

    * * *

    The bright moon outside shown down on the snow,
    Illuminating the moors; setting the trees all aglow.
    Bianca would have her White Christmas that year,
    Her mind was at ease and she had no fear.

    She stood by the window, her back to the glass,
    Her silhouette in shadows like the Ghost of Christmas Past.
    The room was in darkness, only lit by the moon,
    Everything was quiet; Saint Nicholas would arrive soon.

    David walked up from the first floor to the second,
    As he approached his temporary bedroom, Bianca’s voice beckoned.
    His heart was beating fast as he went for the door;
    The poor thing nearly stopped when he saw what was in store.

    “Merry Christmas, David; wasn’t that so much fun?
    Everyone got something nice; it was collectively a ton!
    Everyone except one person; do you know who it is?
    I’ll give you a hint: she’s about to give you a kiss.”

    Bianca walked from the window and took off her hat,
    She fell to his arms and tossed it onto the mat.
    The young couple kissed by the winter moonlight,
    But David sighed; it just didn’t feel right.

    “I’m sorry, Bianca, I know who you mean,
    I drew your name but your gift has yet to be seen.
    I wanted to get you something perfect, my love,
    Nothing less would do; it had to fit like a glove.

    But my standards weren’t met, so no gift ‘neath your tree,
    For my ignorance now you must pay the fee.”
    David looked away; his knees, they felt weak,
    But Bianca laid her smooth hand aside of his cheek.

    “You haven’t failed yet, love, so please don’t yet fear,
    There was only one thing that I wanted this year.
    The thing that I want is something only you can do,
    Because that one thing I want this Christmas is that I want you.

    David’s heart began to beat without rest,
    As Bianca laid his hand across her sweater-covered chest.
    Young love blossomed and gave in to temptation,
    Therefore, I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.

    Bianca’s Bianco Natale outside,
    Had summoned the sight of a miniature sleigh-ride.
    The sleigh was adorned with little silver bells;
    The driver’s Speed stat was up, but his Special Attack stat had fell.

    The carriage was drawn by eight little Stantler,
    Sawsbuck and Rapidash running full canter.
    Most miraculous of all though, and inexplicable it seemed,
    The sleight was flying, held up without strings.

    But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
    “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
    Unless you are Jewish, in which case please don’t sue,
    Happy Hanukkah to you folks, and Happy Holidays too.

    New signature under construction.
    No longer doing DWF trades.

  18. #238
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    I dislike Poetry, truly I do,
    changing syllables to rhyme is painful, monotonous too.

    Therefore, this si where I will cease making this review rhyme, and simply tell you that I applaud you for putting the effort into making a Unova Night Before Christmas. Wave my finger at you for implications int he final line since I tend to not read slashy stuff, (personal taste, nothing more) and leave the floor open for a proper review. First Post, but not the best review of this. But then, how do you review something like this, that was made for fun of the reader and hopefully the author as well?

    Merry Christmas!
    Long ago, existed a simpler time. A time of fun, a time of innocence, when trainers battled for the sake of the battle through their hearts, not through numbers.
    If deep in your heart, you yearn for the simpler fights, then contact Feralninja or Dracoburn and stop by the Non Competetive Trainer's hangout. You might even earn a badge or two.

    I like to write:

    Updated: World Turns: On hiatus for vacation
    Til Death
    Tempest: Completed, open for revisions

        Spoiler:- Breeding stuff:

  19. #239
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    Updating the early chapters is going well. I think I've made the ones I've done work on so far significantly better. That should be up around the end of next week. Two things I'd like to mention about that by the way.

    1. I would ask readers to remember that the prologue and chapters 1-7 were all written literally within the span of a week. It was the end of my summer break before college and I didn't have anything else to do; I was literally writing, proofing and pushing out a chapter every single day. In hind sight, very little attention to detail was paid to any one chapter. Please just remember that when reading the originals; "fixed" versions will be coming soon.

    2. When I post the updated chapters, I will also be putting up upcoming chapter titles in the OP's chapter index for every remaining chapter in Part 1, the first 8 chapters of Part 2, and a special surprise that I hope you all will enjoy. Stay tuned.

    Now just going to respond to a few comments...

    Quote Originally Posted by Tepig 5000 View Post
    I reserve this place for Edit
    I am First
    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    That almost counts as a first review, but I'll be charitable and let you have it anyway.
    I like how you guys actually care who gets the first response. I mean, I get the joke, but it's just very surreal actually producing something that people say that in response to. I'm going to have to make a post of my own right after one of the chapters calling first for myself.

    Relevant comic is relevant.

    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    you might want to watch using italics to emphasize the results of the attacks in the Dragonspiral Tower scene.
    Italicize ALL the things!

    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    The second glaring thing I saw was that you completely dropped N's character in here right up until David reached the top of the tower. I realize he's shaltered, but in all his other sections, he was sheltered and mature. Here, he just felt like he was six.
    Well... yeah. That's what N's character is. He's still a child at heart because of his upbringing, as the scene in the castle at the end of the game displays. He wants Zekrom (or Reshiram) both for the power they command in order to free the world's Pokemon, but also because he wants a friend like a six-year-old wants the neighbor kid to be his friend. I'll tone it down in future chapters though I guess.

    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    I get the feeling somethign was left out, because I don't get it.
    Crap, that was actually a typo. I'll fix that as soon as I post this.

    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    I dislike Poetry, truly I do,
    changing syllables to rhyme is painful, monotonous too.
    Where's your holiday spirit, man? Have you no shame?
    Horrible takes on classic poems is Christmas' best game.
    The rhymes are childish and the quality is poor,
    But it's a holiday tradition; each year we need more!

    kekeke...

    Quote Originally Posted by Glover View Post
    Wave my finger at you for implications int he final line since I tend to not read slashy stuff, (personal taste, nothing more) and leave the floor open for a proper review.
    Any "implications" you wish to draw from the conclusion between David and Bianca is purely at your own discretion. I only stand behind what is implicitly stated, and aside from touching the outside of a very thick, horrible holiday sweater, it is nothing they haven't done before. I very intentionally did not go into any specifics for just this reason. Short version: It's a Christmas chapter for crying out loud; what exactly do you think is going to happen?

    By the way, as far as that whole "and leave the floor open for a proper review" thing goes... *crickets chirping*


    New signature under construction.
    No longer doing DWF trades.

  20. #240
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChaosBlizzard View Post
    When I post the updated chapters, I will also be putting up upcoming chapter titles in the OP's chapter index for every remaining chapter in Part 1, the first 8 chapters of Part 2, and a special surprise that I hope you all will enjoy. Stay tuned.
    You know, reading responses from Outlook's preview screen loses a certain flare... o_O


    Well... yeah. That's what N's character is. He's still a child at heart because of his upbringing, as the scene in the castle at the end of the game displays. He wants Zekrom (or Reshiram) both for the power they command in order to free the world's Pokemon, but also because he wants a friend like a six-year-old wants the neighbor kid to be his friend. I'll tone it down in future chapters though I guess.
    I think my point was misconstruid. It's not that he isn't a kid, it's that that short section on it's own felt wrong when compared to how you've already protrayed him is all. Once we got to the end, we'd leveld backout and it felt like Your N again, it was just that one section.

    O think of N more as someone's who's getting their first Cell phone, or Driver's License maybe since you're prtraying them as physically older, that one snippet was where it fell flat.


    Where's your holiday spirit, man? Have you no shame?
    Horrible takes on classic poems is Christmas' best game.
    The rhymes are childish and the quality is poor,
    But it's a holiday tradition; each year we need more!
    I do have some spirit, that you can't blame,
    But after bringing joy to the kiddies for two weekends, I left it on the train...

    http://itm.org/events/polar.htm <<That really is what I'm referring to, by the way.




    Short version: It's a Christmas chapter for crying out loud; what exactly do you think is going to happen?
    "Mistletoe, and possibly a long passionate kiss there-under"
    Long ago, existed a simpler time. A time of fun, a time of innocence, when trainers battled for the sake of the battle through their hearts, not through numbers.
    If deep in your heart, you yearn for the simpler fights, then contact Feralninja or Dracoburn and stop by the Non Competetive Trainer's hangout. You might even earn a badge or two.

    I like to write:

    Updated: World Turns: On hiatus for vacation
    Til Death
    Tempest: Completed, open for revisions

        Spoiler:- Breeding stuff:

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