Yeah, it was pretty fun to write.
BACK-To-BACK UPDAETZ? ZOMGZ.
Edit: ...this feels too short. Shoot, I may have left out some stuff. I'll edit later.
Chapter 24- Eleven
“What’s up? You seem tense,” the onyx-haired trainer called out as she unrolled her sleeping bag.
“Ah, just have some sort of weird deja-vu like feeling, that’s all. It’s probably nothing,” Crystal shrugged, gulping down her better judgment though hastily allowed Lt. Yena out for his nightly patrol. She paused as she was slipping her backpack off her shoulder as well as removing her utility belt and placing them at the head of her sleeping pack; the sleek, evolved form of the Poochyena almost made her think that the sergeant had abandoned her. He himself appeared to be attempting to get used to the change, pacing around left and right on graceful long legs.
“…you know, it’s funny. I don’t even quite remember becoming as such until I was released earlier today…” he muttered more to himself than to his trainer as he absently gazed around in an attempt to distinguish just how much he had actually grown.
“Deja-vu, eh? What, is your little Sergeant Pup all gone and you don’t like it?” Kiyo teased mockingly.
“Ah, well, it wasn’t the deja-vu, but I guess it is kinda weird seeing him so…big and stuff.”
“Intimidating?”
“A little.”
“That’s a Mightyena and its ability for ya…hahaha.” Stretching about, the fire trainer finally settled into her makeshift bed. Umbree was set as her night vigilante, as with so many other nights from the past. His crimson eyes gazed up at Crystal, as though…amused? “Well, at any rate, don’t lose any sleep over it. Evolution can be a little difficult to get used to, especially when the trainer’s used to Pokemon that are a fourth of their height.”
“I guess…Gale seems to have adapted fine to her new form, but I’m having a hard time seeing little Breeze under that mess of feathers…if it wasn’t for her sarcastic beak…” the gifted one frowned somewhat, glancing up to a stubborn dying oak. The Pidgeotto had easily situated herself upon a sturdy branch, abruptly pulled her head under her wing, and fallen fast to the unconscious realm upon one claw.
“Well, she must have had time to adapt. That, and she probably evolved when she was conscious. It’s a rare thing for Pokemon to evolve when unconscious. It’s probably harder on lil Lu’ there because he can’t remember a thing, right?”
“Yeah…” Granted, the idea of evolution got ‘Mewster’ thinking, which lead to her pondering the only other Pokemon she knew the evolved form of- Torchic. Gazing over to Kara, she saw that the brunette and her Combusken had set up camp silently on their own and were prepared to crash without so much of a ‘good night’ to their companions. “Hey, Kara?”
“Hmmm?” she rolled over lazily and somewhat irritably, obviously wishing for sleep to claim her rapidly.
“How did your Combusken take to evolution?”
“I dunno. She hopped around uncontrollably for a bit from her new legs, but other than that there isn’t much to report. Why?” she slurred.
“Ah, just wondering how Flare will take becoming a Combusken, that’s all.”
“Uh huh. Well, if you don’t have any more weird questions, I’m gonna fall asleep now. G’night.” With that, she grumpily turned over, facing away from the group, and fell silent.
“Mmmmm, it is sort of late,” Kiyo yawned. “Catch some sleep, and don’t let this whole evolution deal get to ya too much. You’ll learn to appreciate evolution later, I’m sure…”
“Alright…”
“Night.”
“Good night, Kiyo. Don’t let the Spinaraks bite.”
“Got it covered,” she countered, thumbing vaguely over to where Blaze had situated himself on the edge of her sleeping bag.
The scene faded to near quiescence. The only sounds that came from the area were that of the nocturnal predators hanging about and the gentle cracks from both the campfire and Blaze’s tail. Crystal turned to face the Mightyena whom had finally sat down. His sleek sable back was to her, and yet she knew he felt his trainer’s eyes upon him. He always knew.
“Hikara.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you…having a predicament falling asleep?”
“A little bit. Why?”
“…heh. It’s nothing much, I suppose…” the large canine paused. I wonder…what expression he’s wearing right now.
“Tell me anyways?”
“…I guess…I just wanted to say, thank you.”
“Hmm?”
“Well…somehow, and it was even I was taken down by the enemy…somehow you managed to help me reach one of my goals, to evolve. Here I was, thinking that it’d take until we had obtained our third badge, never mind the second, to get me to a high enough level to do so, and yet, here I sit in front of you proudly…and to myself. I have things I always thought were limited to my parental units- more black fur than gray, something of a…menacing snout, if one were to refer to it as such.” His words halted momentarily, as he rose up one of the large paws. She imagined deep red eyes gazing them over thoughtfully, in disbelief. “It still befuddles me greatly…hah. I suppose, what I’m getting at…” Finally, he tilted his head to the side, giving something of a wolfy smirk as his crimson eyes gleamed with one emotion he had yet to show to Crystal- kindness. “…I guess you mustn’t be a half-bad trainer to get me to part of my dream, Hikara.” At that, she couldn’t help but crack a large, stupid grin.
“Aw, Serge, er, Lieutenant…” Speedily she removed herself from the insolated bundles of her bed and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. He staggered back, caught off guard by the gesture. “Haha, thank you! I know how much that means, coming from you, given you used to call me stuff like ‘trainer scum’ most of the time.”
“Ah, er, well, yes. It’s strictly on professional terms I say this, Hikara…” he muttered, averting his gaze sheepishly.
“Aw, don’t even try to say that, Mr. Biggintuff! You can’t fool me, you…!” Without stopping to think of possible consequences whilst caught in her giggle fit, she hastily brought her hand up to his smooth ivory head and ran her fingers through the soft hair. A low, dangerous growl emitted from the depths of his throat caused her to withdraw and gasp, alarmed and slightly frightened. “Huh?!”
The growl died, though the cold military personality was back. He averted his gaze from hers. “…My apologies. However, I ask you refrain from that. It makes me feel too much like a domestic pet for my liking,” he barked softly.
“Ah, yeah, uh, of course. Sorry, I just assumed, and I, uh, got carried away…”
“…hahaha. Some things never do change with you, do they? Well, I’m off to patrol the borders of the vicinity. You may rest easily knowing that.”
“…okay. Good night, Lieutenant Yena…” the blonde muttered near silently, before allowing herself to slink back to her makeshift mattress. Overwhelmed with thoughts of the day, such as finding Gale and her Mightyena admitting that she wasn’t too bad, sleep overcame her in a hurry and caused her eyelids to flutter with dreams.
“Hey, Crystal! Crystal! Wake up- we got a problem!” The sudden call from Kiyo caused the girl to nearly jump. Drowsily, she forced her eyes open, and tried to focus. Bright, warm sunlight poured down upon the scene, and it took her a moment to allow her aquamarine eyes to adjust in order to see the angered girl holding some sort of cloth bundle.
“Huh?”
“It’s Team Missile. Dammit, we have followers, and somehow they were able to sneak past our Pokemon.”
“What?!” At the sound of the team and getting so close to their base, her eyes daren’t droop another inch.
“Yeah! I was really ticked off myself! Get a load of this!” As though the bundle didn’t matter to her, the irate fire trainer chucked it at the gifted one. Catching it, though still shook up, she quickly noticed a letter poking through the folds. Curiously, she opened it and noted handwriting that didn’t belong to either Kara nor Kiyo. “There’s no way any of us wrote that, unless you really changed your handwriting over night and wanted to play a cruel joke on us!” Fingers thrust themselves frustratedly through short black hair; likewise, Kara paced a few feet before turning around, making a small rut in the ground.
“No…did you actually read what it said?”
“I was too furious to. It’s Missile stationary used for death threats to big people, that’s all I needed to see. That and it wasn’t in our handwriting. Why? What are the scumbags threatening this time? Death to me and Kara for our bad status with the team if you don’t turn yourself in?”
“No…not at…all…” Crystal trailed off, her mouth moving as she read the mysterious letter.
Crystal,
Even in the situation that I am in now, even with my high up position against my will, I do wish to fight for you. Always know that. So, with this letter comes a warning; Kinshayti is sick of her peon’s mess-ups, and as soon as you’re spotted in Noontide, she will come after you personally. I suggest you go into Noontide, win your battle against the gym leader as quickly as possible, and move out. You should be safe within Nagushi Cave for a while, as it’s a difficult terrain to move around in, as I’ve said before. After that, well…that’s all the advice I can offer for a while. I hope that I’ll be able to give you more information personally one of these days, but the chances are slim of such. I apologize, but I can’t draw too much attention to myself, otherwise they’ll punish me for treason.
I must keep this short, though there is so much I truly wish to say here that normally cannot be said. After you read this letter, have Flare burn it for you. I’m sorry to ask that of you, but as I said before, this was a very dangerous move on my part to even get close enough to deliver this letter and avoid any other Missile contacts. But know this; even though I wear the garb of your enemy, I will remain your ally, as much as possible. This goes for Kara and Kiyo as well. We have so much in common, you and I…and I hope one day, you’ll be able to vanquish Team Missile so that you could possibly realize as such.
Oh, and happy birthday. It is your birthday, right? That’s what it said on your records in the R&D file I snuck a peek at. Then again, these records could be wrong, so I have no idea. At any rate, I don’t need these. I figured you would enjoy them more. Don’t let Team Missile rob you of your happiness, even in the smallest things.
Your friend,
K
“Well, Miss-I-Was-Silent-For-A-Few-Minutes?” Kiyo hovered over to her impatiently.
“I have…I think we have an ally on Team Missile.”
“What? Lemme see that-” Without waiting for Crystal to hand it peacefully over, it was snatched from her hand. The mismatching eyes scanned back and forth rapidly, and somewhat of a frown was placed onto her face as she progressed. “…for a guy that has little time to write a letter, he sure wrote a lot. I have to wonder what essay this guy would write you if he had the chance, supposedly. I sense some sort of epic love story novel…”
“Do you have any idea who ‘K’ could be?”
“…nothing comes into mind, really. There are several K-named people that aren’t peons that could receive death for treason easily. Of course it can’t be Kinshayti, I know that much,” the Dustren scowled, the letter nearly crumbling under her mighty fist.
“Hey, lemme read that when you’re done,” Kara noted, gazing up from her trail momentarily.
“…hey wait. What’s the date?” Crystal pondered, finally realizing something from the letter.
“February fourth. Why? …waiiiit. What’s this, about it-”
“I can’t believe it slipped my mind,” the blonde noted. She plopped down from her kneeled stance.
“It’s my birthday today.”
“How in the legendaries’ name could you forget your own birthday?!” Kara exclaimed.
“You never so much as mentioned a peep of that to me,” Kiyo agreed.
“I…guess I got so caught up in travelling and training and all these crazy events that I forgot. …Wow, I’m…eleven.”
“Well, damn. We’re gonna have to do something special today then,” the fire trainer whistled.
“Let’s get a special dinner at Noontide when we arrive! On us, of course,” Kara eagerly grabbed Kiyo’s shoulder, shaking it lightly. The eldest appeared a bit more conservative about the thought, still clearly upset about the letter in the first place
“No,” Mewster immediately stated.
“No? The heck's wrong with you, not wanting to celebrate your own birthday?”
“It’s like K said in the letter; we should try and move through the city as soon as possible. If we hang around any more than is necessary…”
“Kinshayti can kiss my Pokemon’s flames in her face for all I care,” the eldest scoffed. “I’ve had several encounters with her before. I know what to do against her without worry. You need to relax and get all of this Team Missile stuff off the brain. Besides, this guy could just be a Missile that does want to hurt us and hurry into the cave so we can get caught in a trap or something.”
“I doubt that. It’s something…a feeling. He wouldn’t have written this letter, left it here, and then not bother to try to capture us. Besides, if he got past Umbree, he must not be all bad.”
“…touché, little one. Have you been studying psychology or something while I was off freeing Kara’s parents?”
“Thank you so much for that, still!” Kara’s free hand locked on Kiyo’s free shoulder, lightly shaking her in appreciation.
“Enough already!” she barked, pushing the hands off.
“Ah, no,” Crystal sheepishly grinned. “I guess I just try and relate to Pokemon’s sense of intuition about people, that’s all…”
“Still, something does smell a little fishy anyways. What was the present?”
“I’m checking.” Carefully, she unraveled the contents of the blanket to find several glittering booster packs. Her eyes widened, noting how they were from the tournament. “Boosters!”
“I want them! Come on, you already got a whole box of those things earlier from the tournament.”
“Exactly that! These are the prize boosters from the tournament!”
“And that matters how?” Kiyo waved her hand, as though inviting Crystal to explain further.
“Everyone in the tournament opened up their packs of cards right away, except for the under-cover Missile who called himself ‘Haku’. I think that guy was K. Does Haku ring a bell, Kiyo?”
“…vaguely, but I haven’t heard that name in a while, so I can’t associate it to any face right away. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Come on, Crystal, share the love!”
“Give the girl a break, it’s her birthday present, even if it is from a Missile.”
“Haku…K…” the youngest wondered, staring at the packs in her lap.
Still with that letter burned in her mind and burned literally, shortly after she opened up her card packs, the blonde found her mind endlessly adrift. At first, she merely wondered why she had forgotten her birthday, and why this guy wanted to help her out so much as to risk his life. However, the thought of her birthday and presents got her thinking, and she suddenly paused in her tiresome strides as they inched closer to Noontide.
“Mom!” she exclaimed. “She’ll be wanting to hear from me today, surely!”
“Oh, great. The parental unit. I suppose you’ll be wanting to borrow my gear so you can call her, given that this thing is a piece of-”
“Come on, Kiyo! Enough of stealing my Pokegear!” Crystal cut her off. Kiyo weakly held it out of her grabbing range teasingly.
“Hahaha, why? It’s so amusing to see your expression when I do it!” With a fake pout, she unclipped her device from her jacket and handed both the ‘gears over.
“Well, it’s not funny.”
“I think it’s only a little funny myself, Kiyo,” Kara chided.
“Meh, meh. You guys just don’t have any fun, do you!”
“Alright, I’m going to put it on speaker and get on the phone now…” Crystal hushed, glaring lightly at her traveling companions as though to say ‘now shut up or else’. The fine piece of technology unlatched its speaker device as well as the mouthpiece, and the tone rang. Without even waiting for the normal two rings, her mother rushed to pick up the phone, near panic and worry in her voice.
“Hello?!”
“Hi Ma…”
After that, the preteen forced herself away from the phone, ignoring all of the scolding she was receiving for not calling her for such a long time. Mismatched eyes rolled as the onyx-haired trainer smirked, and Kara pet Crystal’s shoulder sympathetically.
“…and have you any idea how much I’ve been worried sick about you? I heard the news that Team Missile was at Apollo Bridge, and in Zenith, and I knew you were headed straight through those areas, and I thought for sure-”
“I’m fine, Mom…”
“I realize that, but it’s so dangerous out there in the world, and you know how I worry about you!” At that, the pink-banged trainer heard a faint voice in the background.
“Hey, you never worried that much about me or Onii-chan when we were traveling!”
“Kira?!” Mewster exclaimed excitedly, and her comrades perked up at the sound of one of her siblings.
“Oh, yes. She came home for a vacation visit yesterday, and she was upset that you weren’t here. But, Crystal…”
“Is Onii-chan there too?!”
“No, he couldn’t make it. You know him- always busy, always late…” At that, the new trainer’s heart sunk. It had been nearly a year and a half since she had seen her eldest brother.
“Yeah, I guess…can I talk to Kira?”
“I’m not done yet!”
“I know, Mom…”
“What, I can’t even say happy birthday to my own child?”
“Hahaha, well, you were kinda rambling on about how you were worrying…”
“Well, I created you, so you should be happy about that much and call your mother more often!”
“Now we’re getting a little too detailed for my eavesdropping liking,” Kiyo noted, gazing slowly away, a soft blush forming on her cheeks. Kara, likewise, scratched the right side of her face with an awkward smile upon her face.
“Who’s that in the background? What did they say?”
“Ah, it was just Kiyo, and she was saying-” a hand quickly covered her mouth as the mentor hushed up the student, aiming her voice at the mouthpiece.
“I was just saying how I looked forward to your hospitality when we visited there next, Mrs. Hikara!” she lied between her teeth, forcing a fake smile, as though Crystal’s mother would see that as well.
“Oh…hello, Kiyo,” the voice responded uncertainly, though, as her daughter predicted, she acted kindly back. “How’s the journey been treating you and Crystal?”
“Ah, fine. Little hinge here and there, but for the most part we’re unharmed.”
“Well, that’s good to hear, at any rate. Could I talk to my daughter again?”
“I’m right here, Mom…” the blonde glared up as she finally pried the black-haired trainer’s hand off her jaw to hastily speak.
“Okay. I’m going to need you to tell me where you are in the area so I can send Kira out there with your presents. I’ll let you talk to her now, alright?”
“Okay!” There was a pause, and the sound of rustling as the phone was passed along.
“Hello!” Her high-pitched voice was of true sugar. Crystal nearly forgot how sweet it actually was.
“Kira! It’s been so long since I’ve heard your voice!”
“I know! I’m sorry, it’s just been utter chaos up at the High Council. A batch of four trainers came through recently, and I nearly thought I wouldn’t be able to make it home. I’m just sorta said that Onii-chan and you aren’t here for your birthday or Wizar’s.”
“I know, but trust me, if I told you half of the adventure I was on right now, it’d be mind-boggling. Be sure to say ‘happy birthday’ for Wiz’ tomorrow, too!”
“Sure, but…well, maybe you can fill me in when I get there. Where are you at?”
“Uh, well, to be honest, could you hold off on the presents for a bit?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Well, uh, we’re…we’re about to do a heavy training regimen, my companions and I, and then I was going to battle the third gym leader and bust through Nagushi Cave as fast as we can,” Crystal sighed. She never liked lying, even if some of it was the truth. She did not want to stick around in Nagushi Cave, after hearing so many horror stories come true from Kiyo and Kara. And she didn’t want to stick around in Noontide for too long either.
“Oh, so you’re near Noontide? I could just run and deliver it and stuff-”
“Are you on speaker, Kira?” the youngest Hikara interjected rapidly.
“No, why?”
“Please don’t tell Ma or anyone else this? Just between us?”
“Last time you said that, it was something pretty-”
“I understand that. Please, I don’t want them worrying. Please?”
“…I guess.”
“Okay. The reason why I really can’t have you deliver the presents?”
“Yes?”
“Team Missile is after me. An admin is going to be tailing me herself if I let myself get seen around Noontide and stick around for too long, and if you were to come, you’d draw a lot of attention, and you might get thrown in the middle of it, and I really don’t want that to happen.” There was a long pause, and some babbling from Cyranea in the background.
“I’m fine, Mum…” Kira’s voice was muffled, and the gifted one knew that couldn’t be good. Kira always looked hale and hearty. “Okay, I understand. Just let me know soon when you’re ready to get them, yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably contact you on the way to…” At that, the new trainer paused, turning to Kiyo. “What’s after Nagushi Cave?”
“Twilitsong, remember? Where you caught Dragola.”
“Ah, yeah. Twilitsong…” Saying the name resurfaced semi-old memories that seemed to be from ages ago. Crystal could remember being trapped so clearly in that cage, so helpless without her Pokemon, then falling into the lake to later be helped by the one that made her substitute starter. It brought chills up her spine at the thought.
“You’d better call. You have my Pokegear number, right?”
“Uh, funny long story behind that actually!” she chuckled nervously, but in her shame Kiyo snatched her Pokegear. “Hey, Kiyo! Come on! I was talking!”
“Kiyo?” Kira pondered curiously, as though having heard the name before.
“Yo,” the fire trainer coolly responded, shoving her spare hand into her pocket.
“So, you’re the infamous Kiyo Dustren that went missing for a few years and took Kanto and Johto by storm like your brothers?”
“This is she. And you’re Kira Hikara, the leader of the Beghta Region’s Pokemon League, fourth trainer of the High Council, sister to both Mewster and Ryouo?”
“You’ve pried a lot outta my baby sister, haven’t you?”
“Kira, I can hear you!” Crystal retorted at the name ‘baby’.
“Well, it’s true!”
“Anyways, Kira…mind throwing your number at me so I can put it into my Gear instead? Crystal’s gear is fried.”
“Aw, what happened?”
“Water damage, we think. I have not the faintest.”
“Weird. Silph ware doesn’t typically break like that. Well, in that case, alright. I’ll keep yours too, if an emergency comes up.”
“Sweet.”
“What is it?” After being asked, the fire trainer swiftly gave out the code, and likewise the Hikara sibling followed suit. “Okay, I’ve added you.”
“I’ll add you when I get off.”
“Hey, and um, Kiyo…?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let them get her, you hear?”
“Ha, wouldn’t dream of letting Team Missile get what they want, ever.”
“Good, because I would have to seriously hurt you if you let harm come to my sister.”
“Hahaha, let’s hope you never have to take up that promise, then! I don’t think I’m that good to fend off an older Hikara member…”
“Kiyo…” the younger sweated, insulted.
“You’re just starting out, Crystal. You couldn’t beat Kiyo for a long time, even if she was going easy on you. Trust me when I say that.” Kira’s comment threw the blonde for a loop.
“Huh?”
“Well, I shan’t eat up any more of your minutes! Hang tough, and good luck with getting your third badge soon!
“Oh, of course! Hope to see you soon, Kira! Say ‘hi’ to Wizar and Machoke and Worki and Asa and Freefall and all your Pokemon for me!”
“Will do! Say ‘hi’ to Breeze for me!”
“She actually evolved. She’s Gale now,” the preteen beamed.
“Wow! That’s cool! I’ll definitely want to see her then. Anyways, gotta run! Later!”
“Bye! Oh, and if you hear from Onii-chan…” However, there was a distinctive ‘click’ on the phone, and it immediately began to retract the speaker set. Crystal heaved a heavy breath as she handed the device over to its owner.
“Asa? Freefall?”
“Her Aereon. She’s such a sweet but timid fluffy friend. I’ve known her since she was hatched. And Freefall’s her Pidgeot-”
“An Aereon?” Kara interrogated. “I’ve never heard of one.”
“I’ve only seen one, myself. How’d she get her hands on the Cloud Stone needed to evolve it?”
“Good question. I never really bothered to ask, but she probably could have gotten it from Dad, more than likely…”
“Well, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s clear out to Noontide and see if we can’t take out the gym leader, Breaker.”
“Breaker?”
“Yeah, that’s his nickname, evidently. Supposedly he likes Pokemon that can freely break rocks or something of the like, hence the weird name. Or it could be for other purposes. I heard he was in a band too, with my brother Kaien. Of course, Kai went to who-knows-where for training or something, so I think the band has been on hiatus since.”
“Band?”
“Yeah. Chaos Overdrive, I think it was?”
“Their symbol is Kadabra’s star with a Confusion aura around it. Shoot, that’s where I heard your brother’s name from,” Kara almost automatically stated. At this, the eldest rose up an eyebrow.
“Like the band, do we?”
“Yeah, I have a lot of their songs on my music player,” she sheepishly beamed.
“Uh huh. Well, don’t get too caught off of asking the guy for his autograph when you beat him and stuff, yeah? I heard from my brother he’s a bit of a jerk.”
“I don’t care what you say. Anyone that can play the guitar like that is gold in my books.”
“Guys, can we just concentrate on getting there and getting out and not arguing about tastes in music?” Crystal apathetically and dryly gazed at them.
“Aren’t we pushy today, Ms. Eleven?”
“Sorry, but I don’t feel like meeting Kinshayti ever again. From a Missile or not, I’m taking that letter seriously, and I just want to get as far away from Nagushi as quickly as possible.”
“Touchy…” Kiyo muttered, rolling her eyes. “Well, let’s do what the little princess wants. After all, it is her birthday…”
“Ha, ha, ha. Hilarious.”
“I think you’ve been hanging around Kiyo for too long. You’re starting to get reaaaaaally sarcastic, Crystal…” the brunette warned.
“No, I’m just upset right now that I can’t enjoy my birthday because of Kinshayti or the gym leader and I can’t even get my presents.”
“Uh huh. Well, I guess I’d be bitter about that myself, so I won’t say anything. Let’s go- the city’s over this hill.”
“Breaker, if you lose again, I swear to the legendaries you aren’t getting a single song out of me for a long time!” A boisterous voice called from the audience as Crystal stepped up to the trainer’s square. With butterflies in her stomach anticipating the match against the gym leader, she tried to discern what the best strategy would be against him given the mental notes she took during Kara’s match. Slowly, she watched the fluffy crimson red haired trainer yell something indiscernible to the rowdy crowd and come up to his battling station. His contacts unnerved the female greatly- one was demonic red, the other completely white except for his pupil.
“Well, isn’t this amusing…Crystal Hikara, yeah?” he noted in a tenor voice.
“Huh? How’d you know my-”
“Oh, come on. If Team Missile’s after you and they want you so badly for whatever, other trainers are definitely going to learn your name quickly. I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting a battle so soon against you. This should be fun.”
“Uh, sure…”
“Let’s get the music playing. Three Pokemon each, single battle, no time limit. Fine by you?”
“Yeah…”
“Alright then. Hit it, Rhyhorn!” Chucking out the red and white orb, Breaker reached behind his back and pulled out his electric guitar. Fan girls screamed wildly, but Crystal knew all the better what this meant for her. He wasn’t taking any chances, according to the last battle Kara shared with him.
“Well, two can play at that game…” she muttered, her hand automatically finding itself on her grass-type’s Pokeball. “Alright, Flora! Let’s see your moves!” Holding out the sphere, the little weed popped out, and Breaker frowned.
“What be rappin’, mah Homey-C?”
“We’re getting our third badge, and this time, it’s all yours,” Crystal responded shortly in the different language.
“What, and you be all open about throwin’ da lingo ‘round dese foos?”
“If I can’t understand what orders he’s using, I’m not giving him an advantage on letting him here mine.”
“Shizzle. He be usin’ dat crazy rock tool for battle?”
“Yeah.”
“I have to ask Crystal…just what are you doing?” Breaker’s comment caught the female off guard.
“Hmm? Oh, I was, ah, just talking to my Pokemon, that’s all.”
“Well, you have a different way of doing it, I’ll say…” he shook his head, nodding towards the referee.
“Round one! Flora versus Rhyhorn! Begin!”
As soon as the words were thrown, Breaker’s fingers slid into action, fretting along the guitar neck madly. The sound echoed on the speakers throughout the stadium, though the noise was semi-washed out by the cheers. Likewise, the Rhyhorn began to move forward, charging towards the Oddish.
“Flora, as soon as it comes close, Absorb!”
“Shizzle!” she cried, and stood her ground. As soon as the rock creature was near enough, though, the guitar screamed high notes, causing Crystal to grasp ahold of her ears. Rhyhorn viciously whipped his head to the side, and sparks began to glow near the back of his throat.
“Flamethrower! Watch out for it, Flora!” However, Crystal couldn’t even hear her own words over the musical instrument and the cheers, so she merely hoped that the grass Pokemon could. Indeed, it seemed as such; using her nimble feet and her leaves, she brushed them up against the ramming Pokemon. Green energy flew from the opponent to the weed rapidly, and soon the flames died out along with their Pokemon. The strumming paused for a moment as the gym leader stared down at his defeated ground type.
“…shoot. Rhyhorn, come back.” Gritting his teeth, he quickly removed his next Pokeball and chucked it out. The light formed the figure of what appeared to be…
“What is that?” Crystal interrogated in English, gazing at the brown and red creature.
“I didn’t use it last match against your friend- there was no need to, really. However, I’m surprised you don’t know what a Baltoy looks like, especially since your brother has a Claydol, right?”
“Oh, that’s a Baltoy? I never got to see it- he evolved it early on before I even got to see it.” However, Crystal’s mind was racing, trying to remember what she could about Kronos. Shoot, shoot, what type was he, what type was he…? I’m figuring ground, but wasn’t there…oh!
“…Can I switch?”
“Make it fast,” he nodded.
“Alright, Flora, nice job. I’ll hold onto you for a bit until I need you again, okay? This thing could be nasty.”
“Fine by me, Homey-C, but you just go an’ let me know if you want me to go all up in dis top’s grill, aight?”
“Sure,” she nodded, hoping she understood the basic gist of what she was saying as she recalled her. Placing the capsule back onto her belt, she slowly unlatched another, hoping she was in the green. “Alright, front and center, Lieutenant Yena!” The proud Mightyena soon made his appearance to many cheers.
“Awaiting orders, Hikara.”
“10-4.”
“What, communicating so openly in public?” Crimson eyes darted back uncertainly.
“This guy’s using a guitar to order his Pokemon, so I can’t understand what he’s saying. Might as well make the playing field even…”
“Affirmative. I’ll keep a sharp ear out for your commands.”
“Round two! Lieutenant Yena versus Baltoy! Begin!”
“Alright, see if a Bite doesn’t work!” As a response to her order, the music began to give Crystal the image of circles. Similarly, the top began spinning around, casting mud around everywhere, including into the dark-type’s eyes. He painfully wiped at them, hissing foul things the opponent’s way. “Come on! Go! It’s to the right of you!” the gifted one screeched.
“I can’t see a blasted thing…!”
“Trust me! To your right! Right!” Trying to peek an eye open, the wolf soon turned to the right and launched forward with jaws at the ready. However, nothing but air greeted his teeth as the creature veered out of the way and slammed into Lt. Yena whilst spinning.
“The music’s disrupting me! I can’t hear the stupid thing!” he growled painfully.
“Keep at it! It’s to your left now!” Again, a failed strike. “This isn’t working…”
“I realize that, Hikara!”
The girl was forced to think as she watched her poor Pokemon get more dirt and muck in his eyes, not to mention continuously spinning around and around the Mightyena. Using vision isn’t going to do anything here…wait, that’s…
“Lieutenant, use Odor Sleuth to lock onto the Baltoy’s scent and use that to guide your Bite attack!” Surprised by the order, the dark type cautiously twitched his nose, attempting not to breathe in dust. He stood still for a moment, before lashing out to his side and taking the ground-psychic type into his jaws. The spinning stopped, and he somewhat annoyedly threw the fainted top onto the ground. A larger frown found itself on Breaker’s face as he withdrew it without a word.
“Breaker! What are you doing! Come on! You big Meowth!” the same female bellowed from the stands.
“Working on it, Brooke!” he angrily called back, and at the sound of the female’s name, several femmes in the stadium sobbed hysterically. Completely ignoring it, he tossed out his last Pokeball, and Crystal gulped. However, much to her delight, it wasn’t the Pikachu he used to amplify his music even more with, but a greenish-winged, yellow bug-looking Pokemon. Of course, the gym leader seemed fairly confident in himself. “Time to take the music to a new level. I have yet to lose a match using Swiftstream.”
“Allowed to switch?”
“Be my guest.”
“Lieutenant Yena, you’re off duty until further notice, yeah?”
“10-4, Hikara.”
“Alright then…” Vibrava…I remember Kira telling me that it was part dragon type. Without a second thought, she held out the Onyx Pokeball facing the field. “Dragola!” At that, Breaker didn’t wait for her or the referee, but started plucking at the thickest string repeatedly, but switching back and forth between the same note at two different octaves. Cheers flew around the area madly, and Crystal could nearly hear Kara screaming as well. Dragola appeared, though was highly confused by all the noise, and turned to her trainer questioningly. Covering her own ears, the blonde couldn’t even issue her command as chords began to play.
“Round three-!” was all that could be heard from the MC, and at that, the Vibrava closed his eyes as the guitar paused for four beats. However, the instrument began to create music once again. It screamed out several notes intensely. Swiftstream flew into the sky, buzzing around rampantly and aiming what seemed to be blue and gold flames at the blue serpent.
“DRAGOLA! EVADE THAT ATTACK!” the challenger hoarsely screamed over the music, and using Extremespeed, she vanished from where the attack would have landed. Upset at this, the gym leader frowned, but quickly reached up to his shirt for a moment where there was a loud clicking sound. The music continued right after that, but joining along were lyrics sung gracefully by Breaker:
“When you look you see right through me, cut the rope and fell to my knees, born and broken every single time…”
Now it was near impossible for Crystal to order her Pokemon, given his voice overpowered her own as well as his rock.
“DRAGOLA!” she attempted, but she could not amplify her words enough. Her little Dratini simply kept up with the commands to dodge the attack.
“Always keep me under finger, that’s the spot where you went to me, but I see some type of pleasure in my mind…”
Sweating, she wondered just what she could do to counteract all of the noise. Desperately, she glared up into the audience to where Kiyo was sitting. Of course, the female had her own hands over her ears, yet was watching the match intently. Mismatching metallic eyes caught ahold of blue ones, but they darted to the little dragon. She took her hand off her ear for one second, merely twirling her finger around a few times.
“…Twister?” Crystal pondered lightly. It was the only thing the fire trainer could have meant by that.
“Yeahhh, here comes the water, it comes to wash away the sins of you and I, this time you’ll seeeee…”
Several voices joined into the chorus, and the Vibrava flew in dangerously close to Dragola. Seeing how she could only sign things out now, Crystal waved her arms like mad to her Pokemon, feeling like a doofus as she did so. However, the plan worked, and her dragon gazed back at her for a split second. That was all the challenger needed- she made a circular pattern with her finger, and Dragola knew immediately what to do. Breaker hadn’t seen it, thankfully, and thus was unprepared as rocks and debris floated around rampantly. The air collided roughly with Swiftstream, sending him flying back. The gym leader snarled his lyrics quicker, getting to the second chorus as rapidly as possible.
“Yeaaaaah, here comes the water, it comes to wash away the sins of you and I, this time you’ll seeeeee, like holy water, it only burns you faster than you’d ever dry this time with meeeeee…”
The music quieted for a moment, and Crystal took the opportunity as best she could to command her Pokemon.
“Twister! Keep up with it and then finish it with Extremespeed…!”
That was all she could afford as the music picked up into the guitar solo. Now he and his Pokemon meant business. The evolution of Trapinch fluttered out of the first windstorm, eyes narrowed as it let out a high pitched Screech, causing poor Dragola to withdraw from her attack. Dangerous teeth showed themselves in an attempt to latch onto the Dratini, but she was again too quick for the Crunch attack and wrapped her body around the Vibrava tightly as she whipped up another cyclone. The creature screeched to the sound of the music terribly, and many spectators were forced to clamp their ears. Breaker merely tried to sing louder, as though to comfort his Pokemon:
“When you look you see right through me, cut the rope and fell to my knees! Born and blooded every single…TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME! Yeaaaaaaaah, here comes the water, it comes to wash away the sins of you and I, this time you’ll seeeee…”
Swiftstream finally unraveled himself from the Wrap attack, and allowed the Dratini to land roughly onto the ground. Flames began to show at the tip of his mandible, but Dragola was ready and disappeared.
“Like holy water, it only burns you faster than you’d ever dry, this time with meeeeeeeeee…”
The serpentine reappeared above the scene, floating mystically for a moment, before shooting down at Extremespeed at the bug. Breaker could only finish up his song abruptly as there was a mighty crash into the earth. Silence fell, except for the ringing in Crystal’s ears.
The dust cleared, showing rock shrapnel everywhere on the two competitors and burn marks on Dragola.
“Both Pokemon are unable to battle! Because challenger Crystal has two Pokemon in reserve, the battle goes to challenger Crystal Hikara!”
Cheers and wails emitted from the crowd, and the blonde sighed thankfully. Breaker appeared upset, as well, throwing his instrument onto his back once more and recalling the Pokemon from the mess, just as his opponent did.
“Well, I’m in a world of trouble after this, I tell you that much…” the gym leader paced over, switching off his microphone and thumbing behind him where there was a very upset Brooke flailing her arms around wildly.
“Is she your girlfriend or something?”
“My band’s lyricist,” he stated firmly, grumbling. “I’ve been writing songs for a while, but there’s not much me and my band can do without our bassist.”
“Is that Kaien?” At that, he seemed surprised.
“You know about J-Man?”
“I’m traveling with his sister, Kiyo?” At that, he nodded.
“Ah, well, tell Kiyo to get in touch with that little-” she winced at the demeaning profanities he used. “Totally got us into a heap of trouble when he left! Granted, I’d still have the gym to run, but I’m getting the urge to go on tour of the Johto Region. Oh, and uh…” he quickly reached into his hole-filled blue-jeans pocket and pulled out a brown badge with five precious stones engraved in it, as well as what appeared to be a compact flashlight. “The Gem Badge, and Flash gear. You’ll need both to get through Nagushi Cave. Good match.”
“Thanks…but I have a quick question?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s your normal eye color?”
“My normal…oh, the contacts.” Without a second hesitation, he lightly pushed one of the creepy contacts to the side to reveal a colorful rainbow hazel in his iris. “Hazel.”
“Why do you wear the contacts?”
“To intimidate the opponent for a bit. All in the battle strategy.”
“Yeah, well…” Crystal muttered something, though she waved to Kara and Kiyo rapidly. “I didn’t think that was quite fair, not to be able to get my orders out because of all your music. I think you should save it for the stage. I have to go now.”
“Sure, but all’s fair when it comes to the gym leader’s rules of the battle. Remember that.”
“I wi-” her words failed her as she caught sight of a familiar foe in the crowd. He smirked, and muttered something into what appeared to be a walkie-talkie. She could clearly lip-read what he said.
“Ms. Kinshayti? She’s done with her battle. She’s headed towards the west to Nagushi Cave.”
“I have to go!” Crystal suddenly lost her breath, and turned tail without a second word to the leader. He pondered something, confused, before he gazed up to the crowd. Chris Johnson was no longer there.
And Team Missile prolly donked the turnout. You know, lotta people being forced to stay in Zenith and the like, which is the most populated city in the Beghta Region. Something tells me that they're not letting the kiddies go there, and so they probably didn't have too many Jr/Srs in attending the tourney (less they're journeying).