610A/N: For those readers who employ the FFN Mobile App, please note that the app does not usually play nice with symbols. Things such as 'plus', 'minus', 'arrows' and the like, it all just gets deleted. That's why I have to type out the actual words to tell you this. If I typed the little cross symbol we all recognize as 'plus', it would almost certainly poof out of existence. This is sort of relevant as I use 'plus' and 'minus' symbols after the Potential Rating for 'mons in this story.
Symbols and the like are all perfectly visible of course if you are reading via the website or over on QQ.
Chapter 21
Blackthorn City
"That's alright, Junior. You can return now."
The young piglet sags bonelessly into the dirt as the Pokéball recalls him, absolutely tuckered out beyond belief. A piteous little whine sounds in defeat as he disappears and despite the loss I applaud his effort.
As a boundless ball of fluff and zoomy energy, he made the opponent work for that win.
Noctowl: Lv. 25
Nature: Lax
Potential: D+
After coming down from the high of my victory for the Rising Badge -thankfully with no mandatory sidequests to the Dragon Den like in the games-, I decided to finish my time in Blackthorn with a day or two at the local battle courts.
Not for anything big, mind you. I was hoping for some more 'low to the ground' style matches where I could focus on the weaker members of my party. Swinub especially.
It has been a challenge, I'll tell you that.
There's really only three types of trainers who exist in Blackthorn.
1) People who are here to challenge the Gym themselves. Almost all of them at the eighth Badge level -per Johtonian tradition- and who are carrying parties whose strength level reflects that.
These individuals have been giving me a wide berth. As much as Lori was just tickled pink by the relaunch of my public persona over the Net, most others have decided to avert their eyes, turn off the 'battle everyone they see' instincts, and shelve me firmly into the 'Do Not Fuck With' category.
Even if you ignore Grundy's appearance at the end, both Vlad and Ma Ma demonstrated what they can do against seventh/eighth Badge level Pokémon and no one wants to be on the receiving end of a party wipe.
Not that they know those aren't the team members I'm interested in training right now.
2) Local trainers who idolize the Blackthorns, Dragon-types, and really everything else that goes along with that. I'm sure you can imagine the groupies and fanboys the so-called 'Strongest type' attracts. Quite the prideful bunch when it comes to the reputation of their city.
To these people, I am not just someone to steer clear of. I am persona non grata. Achievement unlocked I suppose. It'd be one thing if I simply defeated Clair. If I had won a hard fought victory through strength, wit, determination, and all that wonderfully cliché shonen trope jazz.
We all know that's not how it went down though. I didn't beat Clair, I embarrassed her. From my initial showing up with only five badges to the thing with Altaria to the- well, we won't ramble on about it. Suffice to say, these people don't like me.
I've tweaked them right on the nose of their oh so precious 'pride'.
Which really only leaves our final group for those I can take a casual low-stakes step into the ring with.
3) Other.
Obviously the most diverse -if not smallest- of the factions.
Hikers from the nearby mountains. The odd traveling gentlemen or two. There was even a pair of old geriatrics here not too long ago. Folks who were just stretching the ol' bones after retiring here, in Johto's most isolated of all cities.
Most of them Simon and K. Rool can dance with without issue. For Junior though, it's been more of a struggle. He's really been having to 'punch up', even when I only field him against the weakest opponents I can find.
Just goes to reiterate the point I guess. Even in the 'Other' category, there's just not a lot of 'low level' trainers in this city. We might have better luck farming experience off of Geodudes in the wild.
I reclip Swinub's Pokéball to my waist and shake the old doctor's hand, thanking him for his time. No money changes hands as this was just a quick 1 vs. 1 and the Noctowl was the lowest level thing he had.
It's fine. Junior won some and he lost some over the last two days. A healthy win/loss ratio is good for his growth.
"Okay…what do you want?" I finally address the onlooker. An ornately dressed courier of some kind who had been patiently awaiting the match to end.
The slim man shuffles closer in his robe, performs a small little quarter-bow, and then hands off a very crisp expensive little greeting card.
'The Blackthorn Clan cordially invites you…' My eyes carefully scan over the letter, "In three days?!" I balk. "At six in the evening?" I heartily laugh as I hand it back to him. "No. No thank you. Please express my gratitude for the invite, but I'm good. Tell them if they wanted to ask me about 'you know what' -trust me they'll know what it means- then they should have come to see me themselves. If they wanna talk now, they're gonna have to track me down on their own time. I got my own schedule to keep."
The messenger's mouth hangs a little open at the rejection. I don't think this has ever happened to him before. People don't exactly…blow off…The Blackthorns. Especially not since Lance took the throne.
Funny.
Well, enough about that.
Time to start heading south. Places to be. Things to do.
Route 45
Shiny Graveler! Shiny Graveler! Holy shit, shiny Graveler!
Ma Ma pummels the poor Lv. 27 into the side of the mountain and admittedly I do feel a little bad about this whole thing.
Its orange-rust coloring camouflaged it magnificently with the sunset-hued cliff it had been napping alongside. I can only imagine how many trainers may have unwittingly strolled right past it. Dismissing it as just another chunk of arid sandstone.
That special boy can't hide from me though. Not with those three lines of magical text floating over his head. Kind of a dead giveaway, I'm sure you'd agree.
Ex-Snowboarder Brad. The bane of Pokémon Hide-and-Seekers everywhere.
More importantly, I must confess that this is a very special moment for me. This isn't just a shiny that I can auction off to the masses for a year's worth of grocery bills you see. 'And I do plan to get every Poké dollar's worth.'
It's revenge!
Let me take you back to one Christmas morning when I was but a wee little lad. The Google search engine has barely gotten off the ground, gasoline was a 'buck-fifty' a gallon -not that I knew that- and I have just unwrapped the newly released Pokémon Crystal. A game that I could not even play without first borrowing my brother's green Game Boy Color.
I don't know what springs to the forefront of the mind when an average fan reflects on their nostalgia of Generation II…but for me it's the Red Gyarados. Has there ever been a more iconic sprite in the handheld games? For some players it was the only shiny they ever saw. Others may have had to wait years or were playing entirely different generations before they encountered another.
Not me though. Nuh-uh.
For my second shiny I only had to wait about two hours.
A Graveler.
Which promptly self-destructed on its first turn and blew up in my face.
Child-me was running around in that patch of grass for hours in the aftermath.
I didn't know what the shiny odds were. Hell, I didn't even have an understanding of what a shiny Pokémon was. It being more than 20 years ago, I bet you couldn't even find the odds online. As referenced earlier, Google was the age of a toddler.
All I had was a foolish child's determination that if I stayed in that patch of grass long enough, if I ran back and forth long enough…then I would find that brownish-gold Graveler again and use him right next to my super-cool Red Gyarados.
Ma Ma deposits the unconscious Rock-type at my feet and claps the dust off her paws.
"You're gonna be worth a lot of money my friend."
I'd say that I'm sorry…but I'm really really not.
Dark Cave
Let's get a poll going. Which do you think is the more unimaginatively named? Kanto's "Rock Tunnel" or Johto's "Dark Cave"?
I swing my lantern around as something catches my eye in the periphery….hmm…probably just another Zubat.
'I could conceivably imagine a cave that isn't 'dark', but I have difficulty doing the same for a tunnel that is totally devoid of 'rocks'. Any natural tunnels at least. Man-made would potentially be a different story.' There's a splash in the distance. Some Magikarp or Goldeen making noise from the undermountain lake. 'I suppose that means Johto is ever so slightly in the lead for the 'descriptive' department doesn't it? Wait- Does that mean they win or they lose with the poll? Let me start again-'
Ma Ma raises an arm to signal us to stop. Standard procedure every time we're traversing somewhere dark and spooky. Ursaring in the front, Gligar -correction, Gliscor- floating behind us in the back. We had to deviate a little bit from that process back when traversing the 'Ice Path' since Vlad couldn't stand the cold aura that place seemed to exude but this is generally how we do things.
Actually, we've technically improved the security recently since Simon is now in my shadow as well.
You can never be too safe.
"What is it Ma Ma?" The queen grizzly cranes her neck up, sniffing twice at the air before leading us off the main trail for a small detour beyond a corner. A little side path that's partially blocked off by a fence of stalagmites. Following her lead, I bring the light over to illuminate the shadowy nook and…yep.
I sigh out a disappointed breath. My expression immediately turning down.
That's a body.
I'm no forensics guy so I can't say how long he's been here. The cave's admittedly pretty chilly but I don't think that should have any significant preservation effect. Though then again, as I just said, I really don't have any idea what I'm talking about.
Except for the one obvious head wound -blunt trauma by the looks of it-, all his flesh is still intact. Cold and grey that it is.
He's dressed kind of like the "Super Nerd" archetype from the games. You remember those guys? Long black hair? Glasses? Half the time their party was always full of Magnemites or Grimers? You don't remember?
Sighing again, I very gently lifted one side of his jacket to get a look at his waistline and...yeah…it's a belt full of empty Pokéballs. No way to know if he released them himself right at the end or…if something else happened.
'Damn it. Aren't people supposed to regularly patrol for shit like this? Where's Russel? Some 'Doorman of Dark Cave' he turned out to be. No…no…I shouldn't think like that. People can't be everywhere.'
Backpack at his side is pretty well torn into. Signs of a wild Teddiursa probably digging into it. Although…looking a bit more closely, I think it may have already been looted beforehand. Stripped clean by someone who found him before us.
There's a busted TM case with only a single white disk left inside. One with a noticeable crack along its side making the thing worthless even for resale value.
No. 54: False Swipe.
Damn if there's not a morbid joke in there somewhere about that.
Well…not much we can do for him here. Best to just get back to civilization and file a report to the League about it. Hopefully the rangers will be able to figure out who he is and get him to the right place. If it were me, I know I wouldn't want to be left here. Not alone and in the dark.
Rising back to my feet, I mutter a simple prayer for the body and gesture for Ma Ma to lead us back to the main trail.
Should only be a few more hours until we're out of this dreary place and back in the sunlight. Which, if my team and I have been navigating correctly, should be the exit for Route 31 rather than 46.
A very bright and colorful place that's full of Black Apricorn trees, Hoppips coasting peacefully along a light breeze, and even enjoys the occasional Poliwag bouncing around in a pond.
A place with plenty of lighthearted memories.
And one very very bad one.
~A Tale of Two Trainers~
-A Children's Story, Final piece
Dominoes knock larger dominoes. Cascading failures rapidly accelerating to their final irrevocable end state.
"I'm telling you! Just trust me on this!" Ashley stands at the opposite end of their usual battleground in Route 31, her Victreebel already deployed and the two of them loosening themselves up in pre-battle stretches. "One good match to shake the fog loose and he'll be right as rain! You'll see!"
Eric seems less sure. Real worry on his face as he turns over the Net Ball in his hand. "What do you think Brad?" He offers the question my way. "You're better with this kind of stuff. You think he'll snap out of it?"
One hand rests idly over Nidorino's head as I shrug apologetically. "Don't ask me, man." I lift a berry from the bag next to me and hand it off to the Gligar at my shoulder. "You've known your Pokémon way longer than I have. Nurse Joy said he was physically fine. If there's something more going on, you're probably going to need to hunt down some sort of specialist."
"Okay…" Eric mutters with a frown, accepting the non-answer for the moment. "If this doesn't work then." he nods to himself, making a decision.
"Hellllooo, ladies, we're waiting over here." Ashley good naturedly teases from the other side of the field. "I'm telling you Eric, he'll be fine." she assures with a much softer voice. "So let's do this thing!"
Quagsire is deposited onto center field and Ashley jumps straight into action. "Alright! Let's get him warmed up by starting off easy Victreebel!" The exuberant girl punches her fist out. "Lower those defenses! Sap him with Acid!"
"Victreeee!
"Evade it Quagsire! Dodge left and go into Dig!"
Only the giant salamander Pokémon doesn't respond. It stands motionless in the field, letting the acidic spray wash over him with nary a flinch. Not a single outward reaction that the fight had even started.
Ashley and Victreebel…pause.
Even as a tiny Wooper in their very first battle so many years ago, their rival's never just…ignored…an order before. It just…it doesn't happen. Not to them.
The female trainer's brow furrows in concern while Eric nervously takes a half-step forward. "Quagsire…?"
The Water-type lazily lolls his head around to Victreebel's direction, black eyes soulless of any high functioning thought…
…and then he screams.
There were many firsts in the Indigo Region that day.
Grundy the Alpha Nidorino instinctively used Endure for the first and only time in its life.
Bradley learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of a panicked Gligar's use of Strength. A bruising terrible pain that broke his shoulder…but did also save his life by getting him off the ground.
And Violet City -who was the closest population center to where the incident occurred, an event which was attributed Two Stars on the League's disaster scale- learned what it means when a Champion level Pokémon somehow forgets the natural barriers that exist in its brain. The unconscious limiters that protect not just others, but itself. The biological safety nets we all possess and unknowingly rely on that prevent a living organism from unleashing everything it has in a single stroke.
…
…
In evenings to come, when his mood was somber and alcohol was swirling in his cup,
Bradley would attempt to name the move he witnessed that day.
Upheaval. Cataclysm. Magnitude 30.
Self-destruct-squared-but-its-Ground-type.
None of it seemed to come close.
Party Status:
Junior (Swinub): Lv. 17
Nature: Jolly
Potential: A-
K. Rool (Krokorok): Lv. 35
Nature: Impish
Potential: A-
Simon (Golett): Lv. 38
Nature: Docile
Potential: S
Vlad (Gliscor): Lv. 55
Nature: Adamant
Potential: A+
Ma Ma (Ursaring): Lv. 59
Nature: Serious
Potential: A
Grundy (Nidoking): Lv. 70
Nature: Bold
Potential: B
Quagsire: Lv. ? ?