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 Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 11:27 pm
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Cheap Shot
A Team Rocket grunt has been camping out on Route 1, right outside of Pallet Town lately. They've been ambushing new trainers just stepping out of Pallet Town, challenging them to a battle, and taking their Pokemon by force after beating them. Or, they can pay a fee and go by unharmed. Regardless they can't be allowed to do this. Go to Route 1 and beat that grunt and give the stolen Pokemon back to their rightful trainers.
Objective:
---Beat the Rocket Grunt and get the Pokemon back.
Opposition:
---Wild Pokemon in the area probably, like Rattata and Pidgey.
---The Rocket Grunt, they have two Pokemon, a Koffing and Ekans.
Pokemon:
---You may catch a wild Pokemon or snag one from the grunt.
Rewards:
---3x Snag Coins and varies from there.
~*~
"Good morning," I heard Keiko say in almost a singsongy voice as I entered the main lobby. I didn't sleep well last night, so I wasn't nearly as cheery in my response. "...mornin'."
"Are you okay? You sound like you're still tired..." she asked, clearly worried about me.
"I'll be alright," I told her. "I just need a few minutes to wake up more."
"Okay, she shrugged, before taking a bite from her plate. "There's breakfast in the kitchen. Not sure who made it, though," she offered after swallowing, too polite to talk with her mouth full.
I nodded and headed that way, seeing the bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and other such foods laid out once I got there. After sniffing them to make sure that none of them were made from Pokemon parts (a big pet peeve of mine), I made a plate and headed back to the lobby to set it down next to Keiko's. Instead of eating, however, I kept walking. I took a folder from a nearby locker before sitting down at the table, and ate as I perused its contents.
'What's that?" Keiko asked, taking interest in the papers I was reading.
"Missions," I told her, flipping a page or two as I passed over some missions that were currently out of my league due to the freshly-caught state of what pokemon I had. "Ones that Sub feels are too easy for the whole team to take down."
I stopped as I said this, with a mixture of egg, bacon, and gravy in my mouth. A mission had caught my eye, and made my blood boil. "Spawn camping? Really?" I huffed. Deciding to go with this mission, I set it aside and put the rest away in its folder, planning on putting it back in the locker when I was done eating.
"Spawn what?" Keiko asked, before grabbing the sheet of paper I'd left out and reading it. "I don't get how some people can be so mean," she added with a bit of a pout.
"Just the world we live in I guess," I muttered, sighing with my mouth closed.
"Well, it's just one person, so you should be able to handle it," she said, grabbing the folder for herself.
I finished my meal quickly and left the lobby, hunting down the team's Claydol so I could catch a ride to Pallet Town.
~*~
My stay in Pallet Town was short lived, as I 'landed' short of the entrance to Route 1 and could hear someone shouting in that direction. It wasn't long before I found someone dressed in a Team Rocket uniform heckling some ten-year-old girl.
"Okay, kid," the obvious grunt said, pretty calm despite the yelling I heard a few short moments ago. "You lose, so I get your Pokemon."
"I'm not giving you Squirtie!" the girl said, clearly confused and maybe even a little scared. I'm not all that good at reading people, honestly.
"Who said anything about give?!" the grunt laughed. "I'm -taking- it! And don't think my buddy Koffing, here, will let you keep it from me!"
"P-pokemon can't hurt humans!" the girl yelled, unfortunately mistaken about that.
"How about we test that theory," the grunt retorted with a malicious grin, one that vaguely reminded me of a certain musclebound psychopath.
"Or you could bugger off!" I roared, releasing my Ralts from its Pokeball.
"Who are you?" the grunt huffed. "Get out of here before my Pokemon make mince meat out of you!"
"Team Snagem sends its regards. Use Disarming Voice!" I responded, causing my Ralts to release its hauntingly beautiful cry to the grunt's Koffing - with surprisingly limited effects!
"Heheheh. And that's why I love rookies. Dunno what's effective or not! Hit it with a Smog, Koff!" the grunt ordered. Unfortunately, he knew more about Fairy-types than I did, as my Ralts took significant damage from Koffing's attack - more than I thought a weak move like that was capable of.
I pushed my glasses against my face in rage, not about to let this random douchebag insult my intelligence of all things. "Fine. But I know for a fact that Poison-type Pokemon like that Koffing can't handle Psychic-type attacks. Hit it with your Confusion attack!"
My Ralts stared at the ball of gas, focusing its fledgling psychic abilities into a warped and twisted ray of Celestial Chi that not only damaged the Poison Gas Pokemon - it also confused it. The Koffing decided it wasn't nearly close enough to the ground at this point and dove right in - knocking itself out in the process.
"Bah, friggin' smarty-pants," the Rocket grunt grumbled. "I ain't done! Come on out, Ethan!"
As the Ekans was released from its Pokeball, the grunt smirked. "This one's fresh. Let's see your baby doll take him on."
"Fine. Use another Confusion, Ralts," I told it. It was happy to comply, although the grunt was quick to respond with a Poison Sting that... unfortunately scored a critical hit.
"Gotcha!" the grunt cheered. Knowing my back was against the wall, I decided to discard what I learned at the Striaton Gym for the moment and fall back to my old habit of battling defensively.
"Okay, use Double Team, and keep moving afterward. Dodge as much as you have strength," I told my Ralts. It cooed in agreement, and soon enough the Ekans was swarmed with psychokinetic copies of Ralts.
"Friggin' cheatin'..." the grunt muttered to himself. "Poison Sting!", he added, causing the Ekans to spit kind of a fang of whatever chi went into Poison-type moves. Fortunately, it missed this time.
"Okay, -now- use Confusion," I told my Ralts, which seemed to emit a twisted Psychic-type beam from each copy, although somehow I could tell that only the 'real' Ralts was emitting enough energy to hurt the Ekans.
"Come on, keep trying!" the grunt roared, apparently feeling backed into a corner himself. Unfortunately, I could tell that the 'real' Ralts had been struck this time, and its body became coated with a kind of purple energy - it had been Poisoned.
I cursed under my breath, wishing I had an item that could cure poison. "Just keep trying, Ralts," I told it, hoping against hope that I would come out on top of this battle. Fortunately, the tides turned, and this Confusion wracked the Ekan's mind, leaving it Confused as well.
"Oh, no, you don't!" the grunt cursed, whipping a Persim Berry out of some pouch on his belt and force-feeding it to his Ekans. "I'm not letting Ethan fall to that same trap.
"Ra la!" My Ralts shouted, emiting one last Celestial beam. This one was too much to handle, and the Ekans passed out, unable to battle further.
"Oh, COME ON!" the grunt shouted. "Who brings a friggin' PSYCHIC to a Poison battle anyway!? That's not fa-"
The grunt never saw my fist coming. "Like I'm about to argue fairness with a friggin' spawn camper," I huffed.
"Spawn what?" the girl I'd almost forgotten was there asked.
"Nevermind. Release your Squirtle for a moment," I told her, taking a Revive from my duffle bag. Wasn't hard to determine what her Pokemon was from its nickname, given the region we were here.
Her Squirtle cheered happily once its fighting power was restored, and the girl smiled her thanks as well. "Thank you," she said before recalling her Squirtle. "I don't want to think what would have happened if you hadn't come along."
"He would have stolen your only Pokemon and you wouldn't be able to catch any others, not having a Pokemon to weaken a wild one with." I almost continued, detailing how she'd be unable to take the region's Gym Challenge, but I decided that was enough detail. "Anyway, have you been able to train your Squirtle any before getting ran over by that... person?" I asked, resisting the urge to curse.
"No, he pretty much ran up on me as I entered the route," she admitted.
Yup, spawn camper, I thought, realizing that I didn't really know where I heard that term before, myself. Probably during my Academy days? Oh, well. "Come on, I'll walk you to Viridian City. If your Squirtle has any problems with the wild Pokemon of the route, I'll help you out. Got any Pokeballs?"
"Yeah, Professor Oak gave me a few," she told me.
"Good," I replied simply.
~*~
We actually spent much of the time in the Route talking, with me telling her of my school days, my original starter, and my time in my short-lived Unova badge run, naturally leaving out the shady details like losing to the Striaton Gym Leaders my first time through, my year-long coma, and trying as much as I could to not talk about Snagem at all.
As we closed in on Viridian City, my charge got distracted by a Pidgey that flew in front of us, landing on a ledge. As the girl awed at the Pidgey's 'prettiness', I started to reach for my Academy Pokedex. However, realizing it wasn't there, I went for my SNAG instead. "Let your Squirtle out of its ball."
"Why?" the girl asked, probably thinking I sensed another Rocket Grunt.
"Because I'm going to show you how to catch a Pokemon," I told her.
As she released her Squirtle, I looked up its information in my SNAG. "Okay, because Squirtle is a Water-type, Water-type moves do more damage than other type moves when Squirtle uses them. It's kind of like a same-type attack bonus. So hi- ...her Water Gun will do the most damage for now."
"Okay. Use Water Gun, Squirtie," the girl said. The Squirtle happily puked a stream of water at the Pidgey, causing it to flap its wings to get away. It mostly dodged the attack, although its wings were a bit drenched for its trouble.
"Try it again," I told her. "It can't dodge every attack."
"Okay, try again, Squirtie," she replied. The Squirtle was successful in its use of Water Gun this time, but the unhappy Pidgey responded with a Gust that hit rather hard, if the distance Squirtle was flung was any indication.
"Seems like this Pidgey is pretty strong. It's good to try to catch Pokemon that have more strength than the ones you have, after factoring out type advantages and/or disadvantages."
"Keep going, Squirtie!" the girl cheered, apparently taking my advice to heart.
The Squirtle was once again accurate in its attack, but this time it got hit a little too hard - a result from the Pidgey's tackle. It had a hard time getting back up, which left its trainer worried.
"Squirtie!" the girl cried, running over to her Pokemon to make sure the Water-type was okay.
"Go ahead and call her back," I told her, reaching for my Fletchling's ball.
"But-"
"Trust me," I told her, releasing the Flying-type. "Okay, start out with Agility to get an edge."
The Fletchling responded by seemingly darting all over the place, getting that little bit faster every time it changed direction. The Pidgey tried to respond with an attack, but Fletchling darted past it, only to change course again and collide into it with a Tackle.
"Go ahead and use a Pokeball," I told the new trainer. "It should be close to fainting."
Despite her obvious nervousness, she complied, and we both watched the ball rock with bated breath.
I almost went deaf when she screeched with joy once the ball stopped rocking. She continued cheering at top volume about her first victorious capture. It was annoying, but I couldn't blame her. I was very happy, myself, when I first held Sunny's ball...
~*~
Upon reaching Viridian City, my charge thanked me once again for my help, and I led her to the city's Pokemon Center where both of our Pokemon could be healed up - as Ralts had fainted from the poisoning by now. As she left northward after that, I made my way to the city's police station, where I reported the Rocket grunt's actions and gave the cops directions as to where he could be found. I hit him pretty hard, but I couldn't be sure he'd still be there when they found him, so once they left to pursue the suspect, I contacted GRAY and had him Claydolport me back to HQ, all the while wistfully hoping that my Ralts would learn Teleport soon.
~*~
MISSION COMPLETE!
Objective: Successfully protected a new trainer from the theivery of a Rocket Grunt, even helped her catch her first Pokemon and led her to the next city and its Pokemon Center.
Opposition: Fought a Rocket Grunt and his Koffing and Ekans, weakened a Pidgey so the new trainer could capture it.
Pokemon: Received a Bulbasaur egg from the trainer's mentor.
Sub-Approved Reward: 3x Snag Coins and 3 EVs for Rala.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:59 am
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Energy War
Fire and electricity are two forms of energy widely used through out the world. In Virbank City of Unova they burn gas at the Virbank Complex to supply power. Because of the burning of gas and the production of electricity, two species of Pokemon have made the Virbank Complex their home, Magby and Elekid. For whatever reason these two groups of Pokemon have formed a rivalry in the area and are constantly fighting. Their fighting has made it dangerous for the local workers and now they are asking someone to come in and calm them down.
Go to Virbank Complex and get the Elekid and Magby gangs to stop their fighting. Be careful as they are sure to attack you as well. Furthermore some of the local wild Pokemon are on edge from all the fighting and might be hostile as well.
Objective:
---Get the Elekid and Magby to calm down.
Opposition:
---Wild Elekid and Magby, many of them. You may also encounter Magnemite, Pidove, Patrat, Growlithe, and Koffing.
Pokemon:
---You may catch one wild Pokemon.
Rewards:
---3x Snag Coins and varies from there.
~*~
Keiko woke up a bit earlier than I did, but since we didn't share a room yet, I was unaware until after I woke up. She spent some time in the lobby, had some breakfast, and looked around the otherwise empty lobby until she heard me enter.
"Good morning," I heard Keiko say in almost a singsongy voice as I entered the main lobby. I didn't sleep well last night, so I wasn't nearly as cheery in my response. "...mornin'."
"Are you okay? You sound like you're still tired..." she asked, clearly worried about me.
"I'll be alright," I told her. "I just need a few minutes to wake up more."
"Okay, she shrugged, before taking a bite from her plate. "There's breakfast in the kitchen. Not sure who made it, though," she offered after swallowing, too polite to talk with her mouth full.
I nodded and headed that way, seeing the bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and other such foods laid out once I got there. After sniffing them, I made a plate and headed back to the lobby to set it down next to Keiko's. Instead of eating, however, I kept walking. I took a folder from a nearby locker before sitting down at the table, and ate as I perused its contents.
'What's that?" Keiko asked, taking interest in the papers I was reading.
"Missions," I told her, flipping a page or two as I passed over some missions that were currently out of my league due to the freshly-caught state of what pokemon I had. "Ones that Sub feels are too easy for the whole team to take down."
I stopped as I said this, with a mixture of egg, bacon, and gravy in my mouth. A mission had caught my eye, and made my blood boil. "Spawn camping? Really?" I huffed. Deciding to go with this mission, I set it aside and put the rest away in its folder, planning on putting it back in the locker when I was done eating.
"Spawn what?" Keiko asked, before grabbing the sheet of paper I'd left out and reading it. "I don't get how some people can be so mean," she added with a bit of a pout.
"Just the world we live in I guess," I muttered, sighing with my mouth closed.
"Well, it's just one person, so you should be able to handle it," she said, grabbing the folder for herself.
As I hurriedly ate in preparation to leave for the Kanto region, Keiko paged through the folder as well, although she waited until I was gone before she took a page out and studied it. Deciding it was the mission for her, she called for GRAY to transport her to Virbank City.
~*~
"Okay, okay!" Keiko groaned, trying to get GRAY to stop picking on her after she appeared at the Virbank City Pokemon Center thanks to the team Claydol's Teleport. Part sighing, part huffing, she put her SNAG in her purse before leaving, moving around town in search of Virbank City.
Before she got there, though, she came upon a horrifying sight - a Magby trying to attack a little boy, who was clearly too young to be a Trainer.
"Hey, hey, no!" Keiko shouted, trying to get the Magby's attention as she released Natalia from her Pokeball. "Use Night Shade!"
Natalia flapped her wings as if summoning an Ominous Wind spell, but the move did nothing more than frighten the wild Magby, who then ran off, leaving its target behind. Keiko was quick to run up to the boy, giving him a hand to help him up. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm better now," the boy retorted, getting up with Keiko's help. "Those things are all over the place. They're a nuisance! I mean, usually they just attack each other, but even that causes problems."
"Where's the Virbank Complex?" Keiko asked. "That's where the wild pokemon are causing the most trouble, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's up that way," the boy said, pointing northward. "And you're right, they are going crazy out there Thanks, by the way," he added before running off. Towards his home, Keiko assumed.
"Good job," she told Natalia before returning the bird to her Pokeball. With that, she made her way northward, although it took some time before she found the place, as it was practically on the outskirts of the city.
"Excuse me," Keiko said to one of the workers near the entrance. "Are there any Pokemon around her causing trouble?"
"Yeah, there are Magby and Elekid all over the place," the worker replied. "Why do you-"
At that point, a large clanging could be heard as a sheet of metal popped out of one of the pipes, a Magby and an Elekid riding the sheet to the ground where they resumed their fight with each other.
Seeing this, Keiko released Natalia immediately. "Okay, use Night Shade on them!"
Natalia flapped its wings again, causing Ghost-type energy to coalesce on the two baby Pokemon. While Magby seemed to be affected by the move, Elekid thumped its chest proudly before jumping high and landing into Natalia Thunderpunch-first.
This, of course, caused Natalia to crash into the ground, although Keiko quickly scooped her up. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"T-tu..." Natalia weakly cooed, sparks crawling around her body as a result of Paralysis.
"Come on, I have to get you to the Pokemon Center," Keiko said before running off with Natalia in her arms.
"That was pathetic," one of the workers huffed, although Keiko was out of earshot already.
Some time later, Keiko picked up Natalia after the Pokemon Center Nurse healed her completely. "I'm sorry," Keiko said sadly to Natalia. "I guess we don't have what it takes to do this mission."
Natalia cooed reassuringly at Keiko, and a memory came to her of when I talked to her and Aluette about friendships with Pokemon improving during times of hardship. "You're right," Keiko replied with a smile as she wiped a tear away. "I can't give up that easily. You certainly aren't."
"Natu!" Natalia chirped pridefully. With that, the pair left the Pokemon Center for the Virbank Complex.
This time, however, they got lost, somehow ending up in Route 20. Instead of turning back, however, they found Elekid, Magby, and the occasional wild Pokemon lined up against rocks and trees, apparently having Fainted.
"What's going on?" Keiko asked, more to herself than to any of the Pokemon as she didn't understand Pokespeak. As Keiko looked around, an Audino climbed out of a patch of tall grass, looking as though it'd just woken up from a nap. The wild Audino comes up to a Fainted Pidove and starts inspecting it as though playing doctor. Before long, however, it takes a step back and creates a ball of pink energy that slowly grows, eventually firing it off as a Heal Pulse to the Pidove who then flies off weakly.
"What is that?" Keiko whispered, pulling her SNAG out of her purse and activating its Pokedex feature.
Audino, the Hearing Pokemon
Its auditory sense is astounding. It has a radarlike ability to understand its surroundings through slight sounds. Using the feelers on its ears, it can tell how someone is feeling or when an egg might hatch.
"No!" the Audino shouted, apparently alerted to Keiko's presence due to the volume of her SNAG. "Au di di, no!"
"I'm sorry," Keiko said, "We didn't mean to-"
Natalia stepped forward and chirped, interrupting Keiko in the process. "No!" the Audino huffed, stretching its arms out as if trying to protect the hurt Pokemon around it. Natalia responded to this not with more Pokespeak, but with Night Shade.
"Natalia, stop!" Keiko shouted to no avail. Fed up with this, Keiko pulled out her SNAG.
By this time, I'd come back from my mission in the Kanto region and was in HQ when Keiko called me. "Hey."
"Terashi, Natalia's attacking a wild Pokemon that's only trying to heal those that have Fainted. I can't get her to stop." Keiko told me.
I sighed at this. "Maybe she wants you to catch it. Are you sure this wild Pokemon didn't challenge you?"
"I don't think so," she responded. "It looks like it was just trying to keep us from messing with the hurt Pokemon."
I smirked a bit, although Keiko couldn't see it. " Keiko, the strength of a Pokemon is partially dependent of the bond between it and its Trainer. This means that Natu has to be able to trust you before you can unlock that potential.
"You're saying Natalia doesn't trust me?" Keiko asked, clearly saddened by that prospect.
"Not at all," I reassured her. "I'm saying that the trust between you and your Pokemon has to go both ways. I'm sure Natalia knows what she's doing, but if you don't trust her, she might not be able to win on her own."
"Okay," Keiko agreed, feeling better about herself.
"One more thing. Natalia will be more confident in the moves she uses if you tell her what move to use. This confidence will make those moves a little bit stronger. Sometimes, the bond between you and your pokemon can mean the difference between victory and defeat."
"Thank you, Terashi," Keiko said, sighing in relief as she hung up and put her SNAG back in her purse. Unfortunately, while we were talking, Natalia was left to fend to herself. So, as Keiko put away her SNAG, Natalia fell back, on the verge of fainting.
"Oh, no," Keiko gasped, bending down to hold her Pokemon. But as she reached for her, a wave of pink energy enveloped the Natu, and Natalia jumped back on her feet... or talons or whatever.
"Audi, audi, no," the Audino chirped, as though it were disappointed.
"So you were challenging me," Keiko growled, standing up as Natalia flexed her wings in defiance. "Let's do this, then. Natalia, use Night Shade!"
Natalia flapped her wings, pushing Ghost-type energy toward the Audino that coalesced around it, dealing a bit of damage while working on the Audino's nerves.
Displeased, the Audino runs up to Natalia and Doubleslaps it on the beak, hitting a few times, and missing some.
"Try Leer," Keiko told Natalia, causing the Flying-type to glare menacingly at the Audino. The Audino tried using Refresh to restore its Defense stat, but that move only works on status effects, so the move had no effect on it.
"Now, use Peck!" Keiko shouted. Natalia flew away for a bit, only to lunge beak-first at the Audino, turning its body mid-flight so as to put a 'spin' on the move.
The collision caused Audino to get pushed back significantly, colliding with a tree before landing belly-first on the ground. It pushed itself up a bit after that, trying to get up. But Keiko's last Pokeball collided with it before it could push itself on the ground, and it ended up trapped inside the ball.
Keiko hugged Natalia when the ball pinged, indicating a successful capture. "Thank you," she told the bird, "I shouldn't have doubted you."
Natalia cooed in response before Keiko let her go so she could pick up the ball. After a bit more walking, she found her way to the Pokemon center so Natalia and Audino could be fully rested before Keiko made her way back to the Virbank Complex.
"Back again?" one of the workers jeered. "You just don't quit, huh?"
"I came to help, and that's what I'm going to do," Keiko responded.
"Well, you missed the most of it," a second worker spoke up. "There was a massive battle not too long ago. Magby and Elekid everywhere."
"That explains what I found in Route 20," Keiko remarked. "Where are those two from earlier?" Keiko asked.
"Down that way," the first worker told her. "Good luck."
Keiko ignored their jeers and headed further north. It took some time, but eventually she came upon the Maby and Elekid from earlier as they continued their fight with each other.
"Stop it!" Keiko yelled, drawing both Pokemon's attentions to her. "Your fighting is just causing trouble for everyone."
The Elekid smirked maliciously and thumped its chest, electricity sparking through its paws.
"Not this time," Keiko growled as she released her Audino.
The three Pokemon began chattering amongst themselves, apparently having an argument. From the way it looked, it seemed like Magby and Elekid were trying to defend their position from Audino, who was giving the two accusing stares and shouts.
Keiko sighed, wondering how she was supposed to complete the mission as she couldn't understand what these three Pokemon were saying. The sound of a Claydol teleporting in and out of existence caught her attention, causing her to look away. "Terashi?"
"Just checking up on you," I told her. "I kinda thought you'd be done with this one by now."
"I don't think I can finish it," Keiko confessed. "I don't know how to get them to stop attacking each other. My Audino looks like she... er, it's trying to talk to them, but I can't tell what they're saying."
She's trying to talk them out of fighting each other, a voice echoed in my mind as Rala released herself from her Pokeball. I looked around to find the source with no luck. "Ra la," Rala spoke up, causing me to glance down at her.
"That's you talking to me, isn't it?" I asked, suspecting that we'd finally grown enough of a bond that she can project her thoughts onto me.
You... you can hear me, Master? Rala thought, looking up at me with a curious look before shouting "Rala!" and giving as big a grin as she could.
"Apparently. So, you're saying they're having an argument?" I asked Rala.
The Magby and Elekid say that they've been fighting for days over the fire and electricity this place makes. They say most of them have fallen already. The Audino is trying to tell them that there's enough energy for everyone, and that they should get along.
As I heard Rala 'say' this, I noticed that the Audino, the Magby, and the Elekid have stopped arguing. "Your little turf war is getting humans and other Pokemon hurt. If this keeps up, you'll end up driving the humans away, and there won't be any fire or electricity to fight over because it the residents of this city that are generating them," I explained, hoping that these wild Pokemon could understand human language, although Rala began translating in Pokespeak just in case.
"So, if you and your friends don't get along, then before you know it, there won't be anything left to fight over. So spread the word to your friends and start sharing," I explained, with Rala continuing to translate for me. The Magby and Elekid looked guiltily toward each other and shook hands before wandering off. Keiko's Audino cheered, glad that the problem was resolved, and hugged Rala for her help. The frail Psychic-type wasn't expecting that, but she let it happen as Audino wasn't hugging all that hard.
Keiko ended up hugging me as well. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "I couldn't have done this without you."
"You could have if you had spent more time training Natalia," I told her. "We're going to Training Room when we get back, so you can work on your bond with Natalia."
Keiko didn't mind being told what to do just this once, as she was relieved to have completed this mission at all. "Okay. I could use some help with that, I guess. Although I'm starting to think I shouldn't have caught Audino. I mean, she... or it, could have healed all the Magby and Elekid so they could talk with these two."
"Don't worry," I told her. "They'll recover on their own, eventually. We just have to hope that these two keep their end and the fighting stops."
I started to bring out my SNAG when Rala 'spoke' up. Um... Master? Is it okay if I take you and your friend home instead? I want to work on my Teleport ability.
"Are you sure?" I asked her aloud, not sure if she could read my thoughts or not yet. "You haven't had a lot of practice with the move, yet."
That's why I want to try. Please? she asked, looking as cute as she could muster at me.
I sighed, and dropped my SNAG back in my bag. "Alright," I told her. A moment later, Keiko and I found ourselves at the entrance to Mt Silver along with Rala and Keiko's Audino. It wasn't HQ, but I was impressed that Rala got us this far.
~*~
MISSION COMPLETE!
Objective: Get the wild Magby and Elekid to stop fighting over the fire and electricity generated by Virbank Complex - COMPLETE!
Opposition: Fought two Magbys, an Elekid, and an Audino.
Pokemon: Keiko caught the Audino.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:11 pm
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Sparring Partner Wanted
The Fighting Dojo in Saffron City is having a bit of a problem. They have a group of young Tyrogue they've been attempting to train but one specific Tyrogue seems to refuse to participate. They usually have each of the Hitmons spar with a Tyrogue and teach it its way of fighting so that it may evolve into a master of its art, like its self. Unfortunately this one Tyrogue refuses to spar with any of the Hitmons and simply stands behind and watches. The dojo is asking for any trainer to come to the dojo and try to get this Tyrogue active, maybe use your own Fighting type to teach it how to fight its self. Who knows, maybe it will bond with you and wish to join your team.
Objective:
---Get the lone Tyrogue to fight.
Opposition:
---You may have to fight with some of the other Tyrogue in order to show the loner Tyrogue that you aren't weak.
Pokemon:
---None, the loner Tyrogue might join you though.
Rewards:
---2x Snag Coins and varies from there.
~*~
After finding a mission that peaked her interest, Keiko managed to talk GRAY into having Claydol Teleport her to Saffron City's Pokemon Center, from which she made the trek to the city's Fighting Dojo uneventfully, though she couldn't help but stop to notice the Silph Co. building, remembering that my father worked there. She had meant to talk to him about his conclusion about the validity of the birth certificate she'd carried on her for years, but decided against it. It was his interferenced that allowed her to date me to begin with. Besides that, bothering him at work wasn't a very good idea. To make things worse, she didn't know if my father even knew that we were together, let alone that she became a hybrid. After deciding that not enough good would come of it, she passed by the Silph Co. building and continued making her way to the Fighting Dojo.
She was welcomed at the door by an attendant, who bowed humbly before her before speaking. "What can I help you with, Miss?"
Keiko wasted no time getting to the point. "You guys have a Tyrogue that won't fight, right? I was sent to help you with that," she fibbed slightly, as she came here of her own volition.
"Oh, you're from that group," the attendant blurted out, bowing again as an apology. "Please, follow me."
Keiko followed the attendant into the dojo, but was asked to wait next to the door while he fetched the sensei of the dojo. Keiko looked around while she waited - there were a lot of people around - only a few students taking a lesson from who she assumed was the sensei, and many others training themselves and their Pokemon, though there were too many Tyrogues for all of them to have a Trainer. This was expected, since the misson briefing stated that the dojo trained Tyrogues and helped them evolve. As she recalled that fact, Keiko noticed a Tyrogue that had seperated itself from the group. Likely, it was the mission target.
Keiko forgot that she was to remain there and wait for the sensei and walked up to the Tyrogue. "Why aren't you training with your friends?" she asked calmly, trying to come across as friendly to the small Pokemon.
The Tyrogue wasn't impressed. (Tch. What do you care? Man, this is boring.)
"I guess if you've seen the same Pokemon fight over and over again, it can get dull after a while," Keiko frowned, sitting beside him.
(Tell me about - wait, you can understand me?) the Tyrogue asked, giving Keiko a bewildered look.
"Yeah," Keiko answered with a smile. "I just became a hybrid, so it surprised me that I found out that I could. I thought I was going crazy because I kept hearing voices!" Keiko explained, laughing a bit at her own misunderstanding.
The Tyrogue snickered a bit with Keiko, but was interrupted from commenting when a shadow covered the two of them. "Sorry to keep you waiting," the dojo's sensei said, standing in front of them.
Keiko got up immediately, bowing a bit to him. "Sorry, sir,"
"Don't worry about it," the sensei said. "Can you understand what that Tyrogue is saying? I recall hearing that Hybrids can do that."
Keiko nodded at this. "Yeah, I can."
"May I ask something of you then? Please convince him to train with the others," the sensei asked with another bow. "This dojo takes it upon itself to help young Tyrogue improve their fighting abilities and help them evolve. It's become a point of pride for our dojo."
Keiko thought about that for a moment. "Do use any Pokemon other than the Hitmon line? Fighting-type Pokemon that have a second type?"
The sensei seemed confused at Keiko's questioning. "Well... some of the students have Machokes, and I have a Machamp, but..."
"Yeah, that won't work," Keiko sighed. At that point, she let Hera out of her ball, the Heracross stretching out upon her release. This caught the attention of nearly all of the students in the one-room building. "If he sees something other than a single-type Fighting Pokemon, it may inspire him."
"I see.." the sensei said, nodding at Keiko's proposition. "In that case, I will be your opponent."
"Sensei!" one of the students shouted, only to get a stern look from the sensei.
"No. This fight will show Tyrogue the pride of this dojo. I take that responsibility unto myself," he shouted at the student before turning to Keiko. "Honored Guest, I will not hold back in this fight. If your Heracross faints, please use your other Pokemon against me, even if they have a type advantage against me."
Tyrogue rolled his eyes at this, but Keiko nodded. "Okay!" she said energetically.
The sensei of the dojo called out a Hitmonchan that pounded its fists together and glared at Hera, sizing her up. Hera wasn't fazed by this, however. "Alright! Hitmonchan! Open up with Comet Punch!"
Hitmonchan began throwing punches at Hera, emphasizing on speed over power. "Hera, go low and dodge," Keiko asks. Hera leans blow the swift punches, showing her back to her enemy.
"Rookie mistake," the sensei sighed. "Hitmonchan, Seismic Toss!"
Hitmonchan stopped punching and leaned over Hera, grabbing her body with his arms. Keiko only smiled at this. "Now, Hera! Megahorn!"
The way Hitmonchan was holding Hera, her horn was between her legs. When Hera used Megahorn, she bucked upward, which lifted Hitmonchan into the air despite the hold it had on her. This caught Tyrogue's attention. "Okay, now use Pin Missile"
'Tch! Hitmonchan, use Detect!" the sensei said in a panic, not expecting this turn of events. Hitmonchan used Detect to dodge the Bug-type energy spikes being launched at it. It's speed was greater than Hera's so he was able to escape Hera's move unscathed as he fell back to the ground. "Use gravity as your aide! Mega Punch!" the sensei shouted.
"Hera, use Counter!" Keiko shouted, starting to get into to fight. The sensei realized Keiko's tactic at this point, but also knew that, thanks to the command he just gave, that there was no way to dodge it. Hera covered her face with her arms, letting Hitmonchan punch her, only to use her arms to throw Hitmonchan back.
"Okay! Use Close Combat while HItmonchan is off-guard!" Keiko ourdered. Heracross obeyed, lunging at Hitmonchan and striking it with a flurry of blows, pouring as much Fighting-type energy as she could muster into each strike. Hitmonchan couldn't take very much of this, and crashed into the ground, fainting on the spot.
The sensei of the dojo recalled HItmonchan, then bowed to Keiko again. "I underestimated you, Honored Guest. Your Heracross is strong indeed."
"You want to call another Pokemon out? I'm kind of getting into this," Keiko asked, feeling energetic from the excitement of that last match.
"There isn't much point in that," the sensei responded, looking over to Tryogue. Keiko followed his eyes to find the small Fighting-type walking away from the arena. In panic, Keiko ran up to him. "Hey, what's wrong? You looked like you were enjoying the fight a minute ago."
(It was interesting, at first,) Tyrogue sighed. (But that Bug-type ended up using a predictable tactic to end the fight. I'm tired of watching Fighting-types fight.)
"Oh... I guess that makes sense, considering you were raised in a place like this..." Keiko replied, frowning a bit. Then inspiration struck her and she smiled, letting Deadra out of her ball. "This Goomy doesn't have any Fighting-type moves. Would you like to see what she's capable of?"
Deadra smiled at Tyrogue and moved forward to wrap him in a hug. Tyrogue panicked, however, and jumped back. (Hey, what's the big idea?) he asked.
"My match with the sensei was to get you motivated to fight. But if you're so strong that your evolved couterparts don't pose a challenge, then surely Deadra won't be a threat. But she's got moves that no Fighting-type can use, so it should at least be interesting, right?" Keiko asked with a smile.
(That's not it at all!) Tyrogue shouted, Deadra stopping him from explaining himself by using Tackle on him. Tyrogue was quick to get out from in under him, but didn't attack, looking at Deadra in shock instead.
"Come on. You act like you've never been in a battle before? Were you watching everyone else fight because you're afraid of getting hurt?" Keiko asked, getting the gist of the situation by now.
Keiko's words angered Tyrogue, despite the truth they held. Not wanting the other Hitmons to see him as a weakling, Tyrogue swallowed his fear and gathered Fighting-type energy into his fist, launching a Mach Punch at Deadra that connected, pushing the small Dragon-type back.
"Oh, you can fight after all?" Keiko said mockingly, smiling at Tyrogue. "Go ahead and go all out, then. You, too, Deadra! Give Tyrogue a taste of your Dragon Breath!"
Deadra spewed vapors of Dragon-type energy at Tyrogue, who barely managed to dodge by running around. In a panic, Tyrogue leaped over Deadra's breath attack, only realizing once in the air that he was set to launch a counter-offensive. Gathering Fighting-type energy into his feet, he launched himself mid-air at Deadra, his Hi-Jump Kick landing squarely between her eyes.
This attack had more power power to it than Mach Punch, and while that move pushed her back a bit, Hi Jump Kick launched her back, causing her to land close to Keiko.
"I guess you're pretty strong, when it comes down to it," Keiko said sincerely, though it still sounded like she was mocking Tyrogue a bit. "Alright, Deadra! Finish him with Body Slam!"
Deadra obliged, leaping into the air to crush Tyrogue with her body. Seeing this reminded Tyrogue of Hera's match against Hitmonchan, and he covered his face, taking inspiration from that fight. When Deadra landed on him, he used the Fighting-type energy he had been charging up as a means to brace himself, using Counter to push Deadra off of him. He then pressed the advantage, leaping up and grabbing Deadra while she was airborne and using Seismic Toss to slam her into the ground. When he landed, he fell back into a stance to prepare himself for another attack, only to find Deadra fainted in front of him.
Instead of worrying or being angry, Tyrogue was surprised to see Keiko happy. "Good job! I bet you're surprised that you won that, huh?" she said happily, recalling Deadra so she can rest.
Tyrogue was speechless, but was even more surprised to hear the students of the dojo and their Pokemon clapping in celebration of his victory.
"I'm a bit surprised, though," Keiko said, walking up to Tyrogue. "You ended up using the same old moves you see every day to take Deadra down.'
(Seeing and doing are two entirely different things!) Tyrogue shouted, using that line to defend himself.
Keiko only winked at him, though. "Exactly."
While Tyrogue realized the implications of what he just said, the sensei of the dojo walked up to him. "Now that you have seen the power that you are capable of, I would ask you again to join your brothers in training."
Tyrogue looked up to the Sensei as he spoke, then shook his head. Knowing the sensei couldn't understand him, he simply pointed to Keiko in response. "I guess he wants to see what other types can do. Even if he just now learned his own strength, he's still watched you guys fight for a long time." Keiko explained.
"Experience is a noble thing for the young to quest for. I entrust his training with you then, if you would be so kind," the sensei said reluctantly, bowing to Keiko respectfully. Keiko smiled and nodded, then threw a Heal Ball at Tyrogue. Though he did a good job of dodging Deadra's attacks, he was still worn out from that fight, and didn't have much fighting experience to begin with, so he wasn't able to resist the ball and got caught as a result.
"Thank you for having me," Keiko smiled, bowing to the sensei and his students alike. "I promise to take good care of Tyrogue."
As Keiko walked out of the Dojo, she looked at the ball she caught Tyrogue with. "I think Tyrian would be a good name for you," she said to herself, putting the ball away and having GRAY send Claydol to teleport her back to HQ.
~*~
MISSION COMPLETE!
Objective: Get the lone Tyrogue to fight.
Oppostion: Fought the dojo's sensei to show Tyrogue what other types could do, fought Tyrogue to show him the difference between watching and participating.
Pokemon: Caught Tyrogue.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:26 pm
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Psychic Master Mission Stage 1
See With Your Mind
The mind, some call it the most powerful part of the body, the center of all bodily functions. However, for some, the mind does more than just sending commands to the rest of the body, for Psychic Pokemon, and gifted people, the mind is much more powerful, an engine that can harness unseen forces. The highly developed minds of Psychic Pokemon not only give them vast intelligence, but also allow them to harness Psychic-type energy in ways which defy reality, such as moving objects without physically touching them, or transporting themselves from one area to another in the blink of an eye. That said, Psychic Pokemon aren't the only ones who are gifted with such power, there are some humans who are born with these same gifts, and then, there are those who can unlock their hidden potential, we call them Channelers. Alternatively, there are those who are blessed with the power of a Psychic Pokemon, combining their strengths into one, a hybrid. Now then, why don't we begin your journey towards unlocking your own hidden potential?
Mirage Island, a fabled place said to be located east of Pacifidlog Town, an island which is said to appear and disappear at random, leaving no trace of it. Very few have ever set foot on the island, some even say it's just a myth, but I have information that it exists, and you are going to want to find it. The island was once home to a prestigious school for gifted children to learn and harness their psychic powers. The school was led by a powerful Psychic Channeler named Maya, twin sister to an equally powerful Ghost Channeler who taught a school on Mt. Pyre. However, hundreds of years ago after a great calamity, both teachers died, yet their spirits live on, as Maya's powers were so great that she continued to defy reality as she still dwells on Mirage Island, waiting to teach anyone who can find the island.
Your task is a simple one, find Mirage Island and Maya's school on said island. While it may sound simple it is anything but. The island is said to only appear at random, however, this is not completely true. Rumor has it that one can find the island through other means. You will need a Moon Stone from Meteor Falls, one that must come from the falls, why do you ask? The Psychic-type energy at meteor falls is particularly powerful, the Moon Stones there having absorbed this strong energy. With a Moon Stone from Meteor Falls, you will be able to reveal the island by having your most trusted Psychic Pokemon (the Pokemon you plan on channeling with or become hybrid of) use Hidden Power on the stone where the Psychic-type energy is most powerful on Route 130, the stone will release its contained Psychic-type energy and reveal the island to you. That said, your Pokemon won't be able to do it alone, they will require your own energy to unlock the stone, only with a strong mind and synced mind will you succeed. Wonder why the island is hidden? Because of the weak defenseless Wynaut that live on the island, it's said that they passively use Safeguard on their surroundings, hiding the island and making a utopia for themselves. This is why Maya built her school on the island, the perfect test for those who wish to learn, to prove their own abilities.
Once on the island you must find the school, which is also hidden, invisible. If you can find one of the illusive Wynaut on the island, perhaps with the help of your own Pokemon you will be able to convince the Pokemon to help you find the school, as the Pokemon are loyal to Maya, they will only help those they also deem worthy, and pure of mind. Careful though, the Wynaut, while weak, are extremely elusive, and tricky, they will attempt to trap your Pokemon in a vain Encore, or force you to attack them and send your attacks right back at you. Furthermore they work in groups with their telepathy and are very wise, do not be deceived by their appearance.
Once you get a Wynaut to show you the way to the school, it will reveal its self to you once you near it. The school is a beautiful open marble structure with many pillars and floors that ascend high into the sky, a tower of marble, that despite its age has defied the weathering of time. Once you enter you will need your Psychic Pokemon to help lead you through a maze of invisible walls, which at the end you will find the item to summon forth your master, the Betyl Stone, a stone of great Psychic-type energy, carved from a meteorite. Be warned however, you can not teleport out of the maze, and nothing can penetrate nor shatter the walls, so if you get lost within it, you may die a slow death.
Once you get the Betyl Stone summon forth the spirit of Maya and ask that she train you. If she decide you and your Pokemon are worthy of her teachings, the Betyl Stone is yours and you will undergo further training with your new master, the stone allowing you to enter Mirage Island and the school at will.
Objective:
---Head to Meteor Falls and find yourself a Moon Stone.
---With Moon Stone in hand travel to Route 130, and with your Psychic Pokemon's aid, find the location where the Psychic-type energy is strongest, and with the use of Hidden Power on the Moon Stone, Mirage Island will reveal its self to you.
---On the island find a Wynaut and convince it you lead you to Maya's school.
---Finally, with your Pokemon's help, find your way through the invisible maze at the base of her school, and obtain the Betyl Stone to summon forth Maya and convince her to train you.
Opposition:
---Meteor Falls is filled with several wild Pokemon which will attack you, such as Solrock, Lunatone, Zubat, Golbat, and Bagon on land, and Magikarp, Goldeen, Barboach, and Whiscash in the water.
---Route 130 also contains wild Pokemon in the water such as Tentacool, Wingull, Pelipper, Magikarp, Wailmer, and Sharpedo.
---The only Pokemon on Mirage Island are Wynaut, and while they may not attack you directly, they may try to hinder you greatly with moves like Encore, and of course Mirror Coat and Counter.
Pokemon:
---You may capture one Psychic Pokemon.
Rewards:
---The Betyl Stone, which is required to call upon your future teacher, Maya.
---The stone will also fill you with a surge of energy allowing you to unlock a new move or Channeling ability.
---The ability to take on the next master mission.
---The rest varies based on story.
~*~
I wasted no time leaving the Pokemon Center in Fallabor Town. Rala didn't know how to get to Fallabor Town since she'd never been there, so Claydoll took me here instead. Once outside, I let Rala out of her ball and gave her a few minutes to let her memorize the area before making my way west to Meteor Falls, not wanting to waste any time. Unfortunately, I had to get through Route 114 to get there.
After a bit of uneventful trekking, we got about halfway through the route when I noticed something. "This route seems kind empty. Trainers are one thing, but you'd think we'd run across some wild Pokemon by now." I sighed. I was somewhat grateful of this, as I had a lot going through my mind at the time. I didn't think about it anymore after that and continued making my way to the other side of the route.
By the time we made it to Meteor Falls, I couldn't help but sense that something was up. Where were all the up and coming trainers catching Pokemon to help with their future gym battles? Where were the elderly people looking to relax in such a secluded location? There were a few more wild Pokemon around, but not as much as there should have been. When I looked to Rala to ask her if she felt something out of the ordinary, she looked as though she were focusing on something heavily. I clapped her shoulder with my hand to help her calm down, but this only startled her a bit. In an instant, as if a blanket had been pulled from my eyes, people and pokemon alike appeared out of thin air. The place was actually a bit crowded, now that I looked at it.
"I'm sorry, Master," Rala confessed, looking a bit sad. "I know you're going through a lot with what Mistress said, so I thought you'd want to just focus on the mission instead of worrying about being constantly challenged all the time."
I shook my head with a smirk and ruffled Rala's hair a bit. "Don't worry about it. Fighting whatever gets in our way is part of the mission. Besides, I could use a distraction every now and then. I do appreciate what you were trying to do, but you're just going to wear yourself out doing that, and I'm going to have to rely on you once we find this Moon Stone. Besides, you can give me a little more credit than that, yeah?"
Rala nodded and smiled, then we both let it drop, continuing on our way with all the people and Pokemon around us. That said, though, it still wasn't going to be easy to find a small rock in a crowded place like this. Especially when we weren't the only ones looking. I found this out near a dead ended tunnel, where one young trainer was trying to force her Pokemon to evolve by throwing rocks at them. "Come on, one of these has to be a Moon Stone!" she growled. The Pokemon she was trying to evolve was a Nidorina, and could take that kind of punishment - and didn't seem to mind - but it wasn't very fair for her trainer to treat her like that, either. I didn't know what their situation was, but I felt like I should at least step in before something really regrettable happened.
I stepped in by catching one of the rocks that didn't even come close to the shape of an actual Moon Stone. It was a bit painful to do so, as the girl had quite the throwing arm, but it had the effect I intended, catching the girl's attention. "You're not going to get anywhere like that,' I warned her. "Throwing random rocks at your partner isn't going to accomplish anything."
"What do you know?" the girl snapped, looking as though she'd been crying recently. Despite that, her face was scrunched up in rage, which was contrasted by her cutesy attire. The sight of it made me a bit uneasy, but I stood my ground. "You don't get it. I -HAVE- to get Nida stronger! We're going to show that smug brat of a gym leader not to mess with us if it's the last thing we do!"
Okay, so this girl's been through a lot, lately. I got that, but pitching a fit wasn't going to solve anything. Still, I had to approach this calmly and logically or I was going to make this worse. "Evolution isn't guaranteed to make your Nidorina stronger. You have to work at it to get better. Practice-"
"Don't give me that 'practice makes perfect' crap! That's all I ever hear out of people!" the girl shrieked, a look of unrelenting rage stretching out her face. "We don't have time to waste on random, meaningless battles! We gotta get strong as soon as possible!" Sighing, I dropped the rock I caught. "It doesn't work like that," I tried to explain to her, but she wasn't having any of it. "Who cares how it works, so long as it works!?" she yelled. "Don't try to tell me how to do this. It's not like you'd know, anyway!"
As much as I was trying to stay calm and help this random stranger out, that last quip struck home a bit deeper than I realized. Without thinking, I turned my tie around, displaying the badges I'd earned up until now. This caught her attention, but she dug her hole too deep and wasn't about to fall into it. "Don't think you can lecture me just because you have some badges. Nida, show this punk we mean business! Double Kick!"
I managed to let Samurai out of his ball before her Nidorina could attack me directly, and the attack was deflected with Samurai's Protect. When Nidorina backed off. Samurai shifted into a battle pose, ready to fight without knowing what started it. It was probably for the best that he thought that this was just another friendly battle.
"Show her what we mean, Samurai. Razor Shell." I ordered. I knew it wouldn't be super-effective since Nidorina was still only a Poison-type, but it was Samurai's signature move. Nevertheless, Nidorina took it like a champ. It was clear that she was a strong Pokemon.
"Punish him with Poison Fang!" the girl yelled, pointing at me. Fortunately, her Nidorina knew better and focused on Samurai, leaping up and bearing down on him with her fangs. She managed to latch on to his shoulder, the poison from her attack damaging Samurai. How he didn't get badly poisonsed from it was beyond me, but I wasn't about to look a blessing in its disguise. Nevertheless, Samurai didn't take it too well, and started charging up Fighting-type energy. His typical response to a move striking him. "Use Water Pulse to push your enemy back," I ordered. This took Samurai by surprise. It had been a while since I stopped him from using Revenge, but there was a good reason for it this time. Nidorina resisted Fighting-type moves, and while I wasn't out for its life, I had no intention of taking this battle lightly. Samurai relented, encasing Nida in water and pushing her back. The Nidorina tried to attack, but was unable to escape her prison.
"That's not fair!" the girl shouted. She wasn't wrong, but I was treating her better than some would, all things considered. Before I could say anything, though, Nidorina used Shock Wave of her own volition, bursting the bubble she was trapped in and literally shocking Samurai. The super-effective, undodgable Electric-type move sent him reeling, which made me wonder if Water Pulse was destroyed by the move itself or from Samurai being unable to focus on it from the powerful bolt of electricity he took. Nevertheless, Nida was on her paws again, staring the shuddering Dewott down.
"Wha... when did you learn THAT move?" her trainer asked, completely blown away by it. I couldn't help but smirk at that. "She's stronger than you think. All she needs now is a trainer that believes in her. As she is."
It took her a minute to answer that. "Screw you!" she shouted, but she only looked angry for a second, memories of her fight with a nearby gym battle flashing in her mind again. "Is... that really...? I mean... I was kind of worried near the end there..."
She continued on like that for a bit, her Nidorina stomping the ground to get her attention and staring into her eyes. I didn't quite catch all of it because I was distracted with the sensation of Psychic-type energy nearby. When the girl turned to thank me for something (I wasn't sure of what because not paying attention), she saw me staring at the pile of rocks she was digging through. I had a Moon Stone in my hand, but it wasn't just a Moon Stone. It was radiating Psychic-type energy - it was what I needed to continue my mission. I started to pocket it when I noticed a rock that looked similar. Picking it up, I realized that it was also a Moon Stone. It also had Psychic-type energy in it, but not quite as much as the first stone.
I lightly tossed the second stone to the girl, and her eyes lit up when she saw it in her hands. "You might want to have a conversation with your Nidor... with Nida, before using that. make sure it's what she wants, too. You're not alone in your journey - your Pokemon are a vital part of it in more ways than one."
She was too caught up in thought to argue that point, and merely thanked me in a dull tone, as if it was an afterthought. She then turned to her Nidorina and patted its head, careful to avoid the Poison-type's horns. Confident that she knew what she was doing at that point, I made my way out of the dead-ended tunnel and headed for the cave's nearest exit. Another call to GRAY and after a bit of snarky discussion from the AI, I found myself in Pacifldog Town, with Rala still by my side.
"With that done, we can make our way to..." I started to say, before the realization hit me that Mirage Island was surrounded by water. The Hoverboard didn't work on non-solid objects for very long; nowhere near long enough for what we needed. As I contemplated on how to traverse the waters in search of Mirage Island, Rala and I were being watched. My musings were cut short by a foreign sense of curiosity, and once I realized this, I looked around to find the culprit and soon found a Starmie with half its body submerged. It was angled in such a way that it looked like it was looking up at us, its gem shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
"I think he likes you, Master," Rala spoke up, looking just as curious about the Starmie as it... he was about me. "All the more reason, then," I nodded, taking a step back and letting Sauron out of his ball. I knew Starmie had just as much advantage against Sauron as he did against the Starmie due to typing, but between Mega Drain and Sauron's various status moves, I was certain he'd be able to pull through and get Starmie to where I needed him to be to catch him. The Starmie responded by leaping out of the water and landing behind us, not wanting his friends beneath the waves to be affected by their battle. I could respect that.
"Alright, Sauron, use Sunny Day to start out with. Let's not take any chances with this fight," I insisted. Sauron nodded, focusing Grass-type energy in his flower that emitted as a bright orb. The orb was then launched into the sky, clearing out the sky above us so that the sun's shine seemed brighter, and the air around us grew warmer. Starmie elected to raise a Light Screen to protect against Sauron's attacks.
"Not bad," I thought aloud. "Sauron, follow through with Razor Leaf for now," I ordered. Since Razor Leaf used Sauron's physical strength, it would bypass the Starmie's Light Screen. Starmie responded by firing an Ice Beam into the cloud of leaves, trying to weaken Sauron's attack. Since Starmie was aiming at Sauron's attack instead of him, Sauron had a slightly easier time getting out of the way of the beam, though his Razor Leaf's damage was reduced as a result.
"Amp it up. Use Petal Blizzard, Sauron," I ordered, wanting to see how Starmie would react to a stronger physical move. Surprisingly, instead of launching another ranged move to try to counteract Sauron's attack, he tried entering the leaf storm and using Rapid Spin in the opposite direction that Petal Blizzard was spinning, to rob Sauron's attack of its momentum.
"Interesting, but that does leave you open. Double-Edge, Sauron." Nodding, Sauron lunged at Starmie as it's Rapid Spin started slowing down, smashing Starmie in his gem with a full-frontal attack that also damaged Sauron, but not as much. Starmie wasn't out for the count though, and decided to attack Sauron directly with another Ice Beam.
We were ready for this, though. "Solarbeam, now," I demanded. Thanks to Sunny Day, Sauron could get a Solarbeam ready to impact Starmie's Ice beam, and thanks to the warm environment, Starmie couldn't keep up it's attack as much as Sauron could, and Starmie wound up getting caught up in the Solarbeam, leaving it on the sand, weakened. Thanks to his Light Screen, he avoided fainting
Before he could use Recover to get back into the fight, I had Sauron cover him in Sleep Powder before tossing a Great Ball at him. When the ball pinged to designate a successful catch, I patted Sauron's head before recalling him. Restoring Starmie's energy was easily done, but I didn't have a means of undoing the Sleep status outside of letting him fight something. I elected to visit Pacifdlog's Pokemon Center instead.
With Starmie fully restored, we moved back to the eastern side of the town. Starmie positioned himself in such a way that I could ride on his back, and we began surfing through Route 131 with the enhanced Moon Stone in my free hand. Since there wasn't enough room on Starmie's back for Rala to ride as well, my focus was split between finding the part of Route 131 that contained the most Psychic-type energy and not falling into the water. Fortunately, Starmie could also sense the energy in the route, and had no problem surfing to its location. Once he stopped, he let out a Psychic that covered a small area, revealing a small island.
"Interesting as that is, I doubt I have enough power between what few Psychic-types I have on me to reveal the whole island that way," I muttered to myself as I disembarked from Starmie's back and recalled him. Rala let herself out, and looked forward. The Psychic-type energy before us was almost palpable.
"You know what to do, right, Master?"Rala asked. I nodded, and held the enriched Moonstone out in front of me. Rala used Hidden Power on the stone, but nothing happened. Rala looked up at me tentatively. "Master, it won't work if your mind isn't clear," she warned.
I nodded, let go of the Moon Stone, and sat down crosslegged. Keiko had been in my thoughts ever since she left. If I didn't stop thinking about her, I wouldn't be able to complete my mission. So, i meditated, focusing on clearing my mind. Every time I thought of Keiko, I would force myself to let that thought go.
A few hours later, Rala gave me a worried look. "Master?"
"It's no use," I growled, my eyes watering up. "Every time I think my mind is clear, she pops right back into my head, and I remember what she said when she left." At the time, I just felt numb, but now, I was forcing myself not to react emotionally, and after a few hours of focusing on clearing my mind, my efforts were on not mourning our lost relationship.
Feeling pity, Rala sat beside me, held my hand, and focused her Psychic energy. After a moment, Keiko's snarling hybrid face was gone from my mind, as were the memories of the times we had when she was human. Instead, what I saw was hybrid Keiko with me, smiling and happy. No hateful words, no anger. Just love. This calmed me down, and after a few more tears shed, I didn't feel my emotions fighting to break free of my control any longer. Once I was completely calm, I opened my eyes and looked at Rala. I understood then. Rala used Future Sight. It was super-effective.
"It's not going to be like this forever, Master," Rala said calmly. She was wise enough to not say anything else, and instead just sat there and smiled at me. Feeling at peace, I cleared my mind and focused on the Moon Stone in my hand. Rala placed hers on the stone and used Hidden Power. With the power of both of our minds, the energy in the stone reacted, creating a beam of light that shone straight up for a moment, then fell forward, stopping at an angle. When the air shimmered around the beam at a certain spot, I knew we had found what we were looking for.
I took my hand off of the stone to pat Rala's shoulder, showing my gratitude to the Gardevoir before standing up and moving toward the otherwise invisible tower. Now that I knew where it was, the fact that I couldn't see it didn't play a factor. We passed through the Safeguard barrier and onto the island itself. As soon as I had passed through the barrier, the lush landscape of Mirage Island greeted me. Almost immediately, I could sense the presence of a large quantity of Psychic-type Pokemon. The resulting energy was so overwhelming that I didn't need to try to sense them, despite not having an artifact. My mind didn't falter, however - the pressure wasn't that intense... yet.
"Be careful," I warned Rala as we started moving forward. "According to the briefing, the Wynaut here aren't to be trifled with. We need to be on our guard." Rala nodded to this, but I almost immediately ignored my own advice as I heard a very familiar voice screaming out in pain.
"Keiko!" I roared, running off to find the source. Despite my feelings toward her, I couldn't just let her get hurt if there was something I could do about it. We could process our feelings toward each other afterward, for all I cared. But despite all that, no matter where I ran, no matter where I thought her voice was coming from, I couldn't find her.
Despite being caught off guard when I first bolted, Rala managed to catch up to me. Some deep part of me wondered how she was fast enough to do that considering the usual speed that Gardevoirs possessed, but I had far more pressing concerns on my mind to bother thinking about that now. "Master, why are you running? Mistress isn't here."
"You can't hear her screaming?" I asked, looking around in a futile attempt to locate the source of her voice. When she heard that, Rala started looking very worried.
"Master, remember what the briefing said about the Wynaut?" Rala spoke up.
"You think they're mimicking her?" I asked, starting to get agitated that Rala was stopping me from rescuing Keiko.
"Mistress's energy isn't here. Her energy isn't even in this region. Can't you sense that?"
Worried that Rala may have a point, I forced myself to calm down and drown out the screaming I heard. Once my mind was focused, I discovered that I couldn't sense any Normal-type energy for several feet - more than enough to encompass all of Mirage Island.
"Not bad," a voice spoke up nearby. I was a bit surprised to find that the voice came from a Wynaut. Usually, a Psychic-type pokemon needed a strong bond with a Trainer to be able to communicate with them. But then, these Wynaut have been protecting this island with Safeguard for decades, if not centuries. Rala was an early bloomer when it came to telepathic communication, and could thus communicate with just about any human that way. What's to say this Wynaut didn't have that in common with her. But if that was the case, who did he bond with initially? Maya?
"For a human with that kind of potential, you sure get distracted easily," the Wynaut taunted me.
He was reading my mind, that much was certain. I couldn't help feeling angry at what he was implying, but I pushed those emotions down. I wouldn't get tricked into a fight that easily. "I know she's not here, and how I feel about her is none of your business."
"Oh, you know, do you?" the Wynaut smirked. "Tried sensing her energy? You know, my buddies and I have been protecting this island for a really long time. What's to say we can't obfuscate more than just visibility? She could be behind that bush for all you know. But if you hate her, you hate her. Guess there's no point in looking."
As the Wynaut walked away indignantly, Rala clenched her fists. "Leave Mistress out of this!" she bellowed before lunging at Wynaut with a Fire Punch. Of course, Wynaut saw this coming, and had a Counter ready before her attack could connect, despite her surprising speed. Rala was knocked back, but she was up again almost immediately. I could feel the Psychic-type energy building up in her, and knew what she was trying to do. Before she could unleash her Psychic attack into Wynaut's waiting Mirror Coat, though, I recalled her. "I'm looking for the school that Maya founded on this island," I insisted.
"Alright, alright, ruin my fun, why don't you?" the Wynaut huffed, dropping the Mirror Coat it had readied. "Since you're being a fairly decent sport about us reading your mind and stuff, I'll help you out. Just don't come crying to me if you get lost for all eternity in that maze of hers. Oh, wait. You won't be able to."
Wynaut guffawed at its joke for a while, but didn't stop walking. It took us a while to get there, surprislingly, and as we walked, I took the opportunity to look around. "This place is surprisingly empty. I thought there were a large number of Wynaut keeping this island hidden."
"I don't know if you've noticed, pal, but we've got a LOT of ground to cover. Can't really afford to bring everybody in once spot. I'd rather that Rayquaza find out that part of the island got visible because we were slacking. Yes he's a legendary Pokemon, no he isn't here, yes he keeps tabs on us anyway, and yeah let's keep your Starmie's little trick a secret between us," the Wynaut explained, leaving me wondering what the purpose of language was right about now. As a result, I kept my mouth shut and focused as hard as I could on moving ahead.
"Here ya go," the Wynaut spoke up again, as we walked up to Maya's school. I turned to thank him, but he was already gone. I let out a ragged sigh at that point, hoping I could keep my thoughts to myself from that point forward, and let Rala back out of her ball.
"Sorry, Master,' Rala apolgoized, looking defeated. "I shouldn't have done that."
"I would have if you didn't," I admitted, patting her shoulder. "So don't worry about it. We've got more pressing concerns at the moment." With that, Rala's gaze turned to the school. With a nod from her, the two of us entered. The interior of the school wasn't necessarily dark, but it looked empty aside from a glowing object on the other side of the room. Proof that I needed to stay focused to get through. The headache that had slowly been building since we set foot on the island didn't help matters.
"Are you sure about this, Master?" Rala, who could no doubt sense the walls in the room, asked. "What if we really do get lost in there?"
Before responding, I cleared my mind and focused on my center. From there, I could look through my link to Rala. With that, I could sense the walls of Psychic-type energy that filled the majority of the room, with a little bit of space between the entrance and the first wall. However, the further the walls were from us, the smaller the gaps were. The furthest walls seemed like they extended from one physical wall to the other with no openings. Trying to plot my course before passing beyond the first wall was impossible. "It is a pretty daunting task. But there are good reasons to utilize my talent as a trainer. Dangerous as the task before us is, we can succeed if we work together."
Rala nodded, and I could feel her fear waning. Together, we passed the first wall and entered the maze in earnest. As I thought, the walls closest to us seemed to wane, making the openings in them easier to sense. The further we went in, though, the more the walls we'd already passed seemed to close. Which meant that the more we tried to work through this puzzle, the harder it would become to trace our steps. Maya must have been skilled indeed to bend energy to work this way, moving in relation to the proximity of humans, or maybe Pokemon. Or maybe the walls weren't moving at all, and it was how we perceived them that was being meddled with. Either way, it was impressive. At this point, getting out at all was just as important as finding out which exit led to the Betyl stone that was waiting for me. However, getting out was apparently not the only problem I had to contend with.
"Look who it is," I heard, causing me to drop my focus and open my eyes. My vision confirmed what I thought I had heard - the voice of a Cipher grunt Specifically, one of the grunts that had met me and Keiko on Unova's Route 3 just over three years ago. "You look like you got a lot more Pokemon on you this time, punk. Should be easy enough to lift them off you. Just like last time. Shame your little girlfriend isn't here. We-"
The illusion of the Cipher grunt dissipated as my fist went through it - and bounced off a wall of psychic energy. The connection to the wall was pretty painful, but the pain passed quickly, and my hand didn't look injured.
"Master, I'm worried," Rala spoke up, looking afraid. "You keep seeing and hearing things, and this maze is getting harder to navigate by the minute."
"You've got to have a thicker skin than that, Rala," I told her. "No doubt any master missions we go on after this will be a lot tougher. I just wish I knew where that illusion came from. The Wynaut don't enter this building, and-"
In that instant, I felt something pinging against my mind, and my body turned immediately to face the source. The Betyl Stone. Was it manipulating my mind to improve the difficulty of the test? More importantly, could I reverse-engineer that, somehow? "Rala, I need to borrow your power."
"Master, you don't have your artifact yet," Rala tried to explain, worried that I was losing my mind to the maze's power.
"Don't worry about that," I told her, before focusing my mind as hard as I could. It took a bit of feeling around in my head for where I felt the Betyl Stone ping against it, but I found eventually, and soon enough, I could push through that to form a mental connection to the artifact. Sure enough, I felt a wellspring of power pour into my mind from the stone, and knew I had to act fast before that power overwhelmed my consciousness. I grasped Rala's shoulders and tried linking to her mind. Then, I cast my mental gaze outward, to the walls of the maze. Whenever I sensed an opening, I sent energy through it, creating a little waypoint which I was able to piggy back, making it seem as though my mind was at that point. The shape of the walls matched this, and by repeating this process multiple times, I had the maze almost completely mapped out.
"Follow me, and try to keep up," I told Rala. With that, I let go and ran off toward the nearest opening while keeping my eyes shut. I was afraid that I'd lose my concentration at any moment and held on my mental map of the maze for dear life while ordering my body to run from one opening to the other. When my body couldn't find any more walls to follow, I opened my eyes and promptly refused to believe what I saw.
In different parts of the maze (which I couldn't see with my eyes open) and saw myself, mutliple times over. The other mes were still holding their eyes shut, holding that same focus that I clung to for dear life. More importantly, the only thing at the far wall was the doorway we entered through. Before I could turn to see if the Betyl Stone was on our side of the maze, however, I saw the other mes pop out of existance.
"Master, that was amazing!" Rala nearly shouted, as if excited by what we had just went through. "How did you-"
"I'll explain later," I blurted out, turning and walking toward the pedestal that the Betyl Stone rested on. I picked it up, and almost immediately felt the energy of the maze's walls dissipate. Weirdly enough, I heard clapping after the fact. I turned to Rala, only to see the image of a woman clapping behind her. To my surprise, Rala turned when I looked behind her and gasped in surprise. She must have saw the woman as well.
"Good job!" the woman said enthusiastically. "It's been a while since I saw anybody pass through my maze unscathed, much less powered through it like that. But then, most of my students get their first channeling ability from me. You're quite the exception."
"I take it you're Maya," I said, pocketing the Betyl Stone as I said that. Which meant that Rala and I weren't looking at another illusion, but rather the ghost of the woman that I was to learn the art of Psychic Channeling from.
"Sure am. Kinda surprised with how you dealt with that Illusion I sent you, by the way," she admitted.
"The Cipher grunt," I growled, clenching my fist. Everything happened so fast afterward that I didn't have much time to process how I felt about that whole affair.
"That's the one! Now, why did I send you that illusion? There's got to be a reason, right? I can tell you right now that it I didn't do it to get your attention," she asked with a wink.
That question left me thinking for a while. I couldn't think of a reason for quite some time. Not until I processed how I felt about the illusion. "Because it was holding me back," I finally admitted with a ragged sigh. "The Pokemon I lost... I was afraid of losing the Pokemon I have now. No... that I would lose them no matter what. That's what's been keeping me from training them, despite Keiko practically begging me to do so."
"That's right," Maya nodded. "You won't learn everything that I have to teach you if you keep holding back like that."
"Right," I sighed, kneeling before the ghost of Maya. "I promise to give every lesson you lay down before me everything I've got."
"Not what I was looking for, but that works," Maya shrugged. "That said, though, you're dismissed for the time being. It'll be awhile before I can get another lesson together. And before you ask, I'm bound to the school, not to the Betyl Stone. So you don't have to worry about me popping up and ruining your privacy. I will contact you through it when I'm ready to teach you again, though."
I nodded and patted Rala on the shoulder. With a smile, she started following me toward the school's exit. "Don't forget to look into the Betyl Stone, by the way. You'll find there quite a bit more you can do now that you have it on you!" Maya called out. I turned to thank her, but she had dissipated by then.
I walked up to the doorway leading out into Mirage Island proper, but stopped before exiting the school. I took out the Betyl Stone and immediately discovered two things. The first was that it didn't take near as much effort as before to link my mind to it, which wasn't a surprised. The second was that the energy in the stone was far greater than the energy that flooded into my mind. Creating those energy clones of myself was dangerous work like that - I was lucky to still have my wits about me. Not wanting to test my luck again, I decided to put off trying Double Team again. At least, I thought it was Double Team. That made the most sense. Besides, she had more powerful moves to work with than that. I could just as easily catch another Psychic-type to use for that.
With that thought tucked away, I focused, through my connection to the Betyl Stone, on Brunor. As I did so, I held the stone in my left hand, and extended my right hand out. It was surprisingly easy to manipulate Brunor's energy through the stone, and soon I held a sword of Psychic-type energy in my right hand - emulating Brunor's Psycho Cut to do so. With a smirk, I stepped outside, and tried the same thing with Yuki. When my mind connected to Yuki through the Betyl Stone, I could feel something weird pulsing through the bottom of my feet, lifing me up. I used this weird electrokinetic levitation to explore the full exterior of the school before slowly levitating back to the ground. Excited and interested, I put the Betyl Stone in my pocket - I'd get some string to hang it around my neck later - and looked over at Rala, who was speechless at my new abilities. "Guess there's a reason to give this Psychic Channeling thing a shot, huh?" I said jokingly at Rala, who giggled at herself. As Rala prepared to Teleport us back to HQ, my thoughts drifted to Keiko again. If I truly wanted to be ready for Maya's next lesson, I'd have to deal with my feelings about my ex-girlfriend at some point.
~*~
MISSION COMPLETE!
Objective: Successfully retrieved the Betyl Stone from Maya's School on Mirage Island.
Opposition: Fought a younger trainer for posession of an enriched Moon Stone, outwitted a mischeivous Wynaut, and dealt with Ter's subconscous feelings. May have cheated to pass Maya's maze, but she's cool with it (and so is Sub)
Pokemon: Caught a Starmie
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