Lisa the Legend: Chapter 82 - Last Night on Earth now up! (24th June 2013)

[Gavin Luper]

Hooray! Replies!

Oz: Why hello there. Yes indeed, better late than never ... which is my excuse for not replying to EBTV yet. But I will! I promise! Just don't take Jimmy!



Yes yes, a very nice Inn, isn't it? Just everything you want for a dodgy murder ... I mean ... pokémon contest. And poor Paddy, he never did anything to you. Except plot to steal your shoes! And lmao again at Lisa=TV. But now that she has vented her emotions she should be back on track.

Notice Rachel's friends name?? Hint hint. Well, hardly a hint. You know.

As to the identity of the man ... all shall be revealed. Maybe. We'll see. Thanks for reading!

Master Kirby: Hello again! How are ya? Thanks for the read, and the reply of course. Yes, Lisa and Gavin are getting right into it now; there's going to be fewer filler chapters floating around (most of the first book was fillery). As for Gavin's arm, it was just sore; he injured it during his escape from the Union. Nothing major there, but I'm amazed you remembered it.

Your question about Gavin checking on Lisa will be answered next chapter. Oh, and "careering" IS a legitimate word and it was used in the right context, I've checked a few dictionaries.

Thanks for reading Kirby!

To everyone, chapter 51 is shaping up well. It seems that I've finally got over my writer's block, at least the worst of it.

But I want to ask something that's been bothering me - is everyone enjoying the pace of the fic lately? Since about Chapter 42, things have been happening at a rapid pace, with a lot going on in the background (literally a week has passed in the story but a year has passed in real life) so I want to ask all readers:

Is the story going too fast, or too slow? Should I put in more interesting semi-filler chapters like I used to to help develop the plot and characters, or should I go all out and finish purely the main plot with nothing else quickly?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated everyone! Thanks very much!

Cheers!

[mr_pikachu]

First of all, sorry about the over-criticism. I guess I pushed my luck just a little too much. I'll try to only mention the important stuff next time, instead of dwelling on every little thing. Again, sorry about that.

I think the pace is going fine, in respect to the chapters. It's true that very little time has passed, but we've gotten enough information and teasers to make up for it. I wish we could be going a bit faster in terms of real time, but I'd much rather wait several months for your very best effort than get a piece back much quicker that's even a little bit worse. Take your time, and make every chapter your best work.

btw, your question about "tyres" earlier... I've checked, and it's an alternate spelling of what I'm thinking of. But around here, at least, we drive on "tires". Seeing as the definition I found mentioned that it's "chiefly British", I suppose it's very likely that it's spelled that way in Australia. Sorry; I'd never seen it spelled that way before, so I thought it was a typo initially. It just goes to show that I should check before I criticize. Sorry, yet again.

[Chris 2.1]

Well sometimes it does seem a bit weird, the pace of the chapters. Say if you post a Chapter after 2 months, yet its a HUGE peice of text (I'm reffering to the 2-post-chappies) which covers only one night. That's the only strange part. When I say strange, I don't mean for it to be improved because it works well, it's just something I rarely see in Fiction.

[ZeldaFan20]

Okay, this is starting to get really spooky. The late-night kidnappings and angry moments happen often in this story, but all this about old documents, Lisa's "odd" meeting with that guy (who IS that anyway?)... Let me tell you, that particular scene gave me goosebumps!

I'll say this too; you've got more talent than me! Sure the grammar and spelling are still a bit raw, but you still have a great gift in writing. Keep up the good work!

[starjake]

Wow...
I just finished catching up tonite, and wow...
This is great, can't wait to read the next chappie!

BTW, in a couple of the chapters, some of the literary symbols (for example: " ' ? and the like) got all really goofy-looking (they turned into $^&*#, or something like that). Wuzzup with that?

Get the next chapter up SOON, PLEASE!!

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everyone!

Zeldafan: Hello there! Spooky hey? Well it's good to see I can create an atmosphere of sorts. The tension is coming to a head very soon, but there will be fewer kidnappings, they are getting tedious to write so frequently! But lots of action and mystery is ahead.

Thanks for the compliments! Haha ... I REALLY have to improve my grammar but yeah, I'm sure I'll learn sooner or later.

starjake: Hey! Thanks for reading - I imagine it was a job and a half to catch up with so much writing! It sounds like you were somehow impressed with all the "Wow"s hahaha. As for the strange symbols, a while back we had a mess-up on the forum with the text something or other, it went into unicode, so any chapters i posted during that time (chapters 46 and 47 i think) were affected. I'll fix them soon...

Cheers everyone! Chapter 51 is coming together nicely, up soon!

[Gavin Luper]

Still no chapter but I've been extremely busy. Just giving everyone a progress update, as well as what to expect in upcoming chapters. I'm working on different parts of Chapters 51, 52 and 53 all at once, which is confusing but satisfying to say the least. In the next few chapters there's going to be a whole bunch of new characters appearing out of the woodwork, and Chapter 52 sees a major event unfold. :tongue:

Hopefully what is coming will be a welcome turn of events for all readers. There's going to be a more interesting plot and some more questions will be answered - pokémon will again play a role and we may not have heard the last from Port Valeo and the Union there. And, by about chapter 65, the story will wind down to a close at long last, with the grand finale.

Any questions about upcoming chapters, please ask, I'd be happy to divulge some stuff!

Cheers!

[Leon-IH]

Wow, this is damn good - fine work.

Does anyone get blind drunk in the next chapters?

[Gavin Luper]

Cheers mate.

Hehehe ... not to your knowledge they don't. Although Tom's wedding in a later chapter opens up some VERY interesting possibilities for me lol.

Cheers!

[Dragon_Knight]

hey you! heh mod are you now... congrats!

this place sure changed a lot... well don't know if i'll be back, but all the best for the fic!

[Gavin Luper]

Wow! If that isn't the most unlikely person to appear back here I don't know who is! Hey DK! Haven't seen you round for at least a year. What's been happening?

Are you back for 'good' or what? Please explain.[/annoying voice]

And yeah, mod now You would've probably been modded if you were here though. you still in touch with Sooty at all? (random but who knows)

Anyway that's enough rambling. New chapter somewhere over the edge of the horizon, guys. Still hardly existant.

Cheers!

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 51 here at last! It's only a short one, but I had to do it. Otherwise Chapter 52 makes no sense!

Cheers!

-------------------------------------

Chapter 51 – The Dream.


Lisa’s sleep was filled with one main dream – a very strange dream that she had never had before in her life. It was also the most vivid she had ever had, for upon awakening she could recall everything she had dreamt, and could visualise everything in her head. Even more strangely, it was as if she had control over her movements and actions in the dream – yet at the same time she knew she was dreaming.

It began in her bedroom at night. She was at her desk, working on a pokédex entry for Lunanine. She was frustrated because something in her entry wasn’t working properly, though she couldn’t work out what it was. There was something missing in her information on the beast … and yet, she needed to hurry up, because Professor Westwood was expecting her entry by morning …

I don’t have to do a pokédex entry. That was months ago, her subconscious told her.

She stood up and slammed the file on Lunanine closed. She glanced around her room. There were two mattresses on the floor, though both were empty. She moved over to her own bed, aware that the clock on her bedside table said it was past midnight, but she found she was not tired at all. Instead, she focused her gaze on a strange box at the foot of her bed. It was made entirely of rosewood, but it was only the size of a loaf of bread. Lisa tentatively clutched the groove in the lid and pulled the box open.

She gasped – both in her dream and in her sleep. A person was emerging from the box as through freeing themselves from a prison; he struggled and writhed like a snake shedding its skin, until, somehow, the complete form of Gavin Luper had appeared. He had no scar.

Gavin?

He stood directly beside Lisa, motionless, standing with his weight balanced perfectly between two feet and his empty brown eyes staring straight ahead. It was as though he had no mind of his own. Lisa scrutinised him for a moment, but he did not move a muscle. A flash of light turned her attention back to the rosewood box. Another shape was emerging from the box, though this one was much smaller. It was a luminous object; a golden key encrusted with emeralds and garnets, giving off a shimmery, resplendent light. Lisa reached for it, but it hovered out of her grasp. Instantly annoyed, she went in for another grab, but this time the key fluttered up into the air, did a flip and ended its acrobatic display by hovering above her shoulder protectively. Lisa wanted to reach out and take hold of it but she had a feeling that would be futile.

Gavin’s stationary, scarless form still had not moved an inch as Lisa turned her attention to the strange box for the third time; something was emerging from it again, though in a less radiant display than before. It was a second box, with a far more forbidding appearance than the first one. It was smaller and rectangular, made of ebony and silver hinges. A silver crest had been worked into the box’s lid, giving it a striking, foreboding appearance. The box hovered over the rosewood box for a moment, as though begging Lisa to pick it up – so she did. Her hands closed around the wooden box and she felt something roll around inside.

This is really, really strange.

The rosewood box seemed not to have completed its mission, though. It did not appear to be willing to regurgitate any more disparate objects or people, but it now snapped itself shut and it too hovered through the air, suspending itself magically over her other shoulder.

All of a sudden, Gavin sprung to life, though his eyes retained their glazed look. Mechanically, he began to walk toward the closed door that led into the carpeted vestibule of the upstairs. He pulled the door open robotically and walked very slowly out into the hall, taking no notice of Lisa whatsoever.

Follow him.

Lisa stepped out into the hall to see Gavin descending the stairs methodically; she raced down after him at once, catching up quickly and maintaining a steady pace two steps behind him. It did not occur to her how odd she must look; a mesmerised boy followed by a girl holding a dark ebony box, with a shining key and a rosewood container bringing up the rear.

She kept her eyes on Gavin. He moved, zombie-like, from the base of the stairs toward the large open space that was the living room, adjacent to the kitchen and dining areas, apparently intent on reaching a particular destination. Lisa followed obediently, occasionally shooting glances around the deserted house. Finally, Gavin led her to the sliding door of the linen closet. She stared in uncertainty as he slid it open and walked straight through. She gaped and cast a glance around her, unsure of whether she should follow him into the strange closet.

There was something within her mind – or heart? – that was trying to tell her to do something. She needed to do something in the house. She glanced around wildly, looking for something that she was supposed to find or use: her gaze fell on the sofa, the bookshelf, the Christmas tree, the stereo – none of which would be of any strategic benefit, she deemed.

Her gaze fell on the evil-looking ebony box in her arms. She had not looked inside yet, but now she suddenly felt compelled to do so. Her small hand reached tentatively for the silver latch, but, just as she went to flick the box open, something like an electric spark surged through her from nowhere. Not now, it told her strictly. Not now. She relented, and turned to follow Gavin’s path into the linen closet only to hear a loud cry beside her.

A black-clothed woman stood directly beside her, holding a silver gun to her throat suddenly. Unable to struggle for fear of her own life, Lisa let her body go limp as the woman ordered her to her knees.

Help. Help!

All of a sudden, the rosewood box at Lisa’s left shoulder geared itself into life, thrusting itself through the air and colliding with the woman’s skull. She lurched backwards as the gun in her hand went spinning across the carpet. Lisa lunged for the gun but somehow it had disappeared.

The woman regained her footing quickly. She glared at Lisa with mixed fury and desperation. She looked vaguely familiar.

But I have never met her before.

For the first time, a sense of sound entered the odd dream, as the woman spoke slowly. “ Don’t you try to do anything now. Your life is at risk.” Suddenly she was a friend. “ Remember this: ‘when there is nowhere else to look, look behind you’.” Instantly, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Lisa alone in the hallway.

The key and box at her shoulders still, the ebony box still under her arm, she turned now to the linen closet and began to step into it. Her foot had only just passed over the threshold when the back wall of the closet simply vanished into thin air, opening up a strange new room.

Lisa entered the room silently. It was a cold, metallic place: stainless steel benches and floors that suggested a laboratory. An air conditioning vent lay dusty and still above a metal wall clock. However, the room was empty, and there were no doors whatsoever in the room. Concerned, Lisa spun on her heel to go back into the closet, but it had vanished; there was only a bare white wall behind her.

Where did Gavin go? What do I do?

As if in reply, the rosewood box at her shoulder leapt to life and propelled itself toward the bench, where it landed. For the fourth time, something was emerging from the box; like the first time, it was slithering out almost painfully; bushy aqua hair, petite, well-formed features, slender frame – Marina Frost emerged into the room.

Like Gavin, her eyes were unseeing, but she burst into action immediately. She strode across the room and picked up two sceptres. Handing one to Lisa without looking at her, Marina charged at a thick tapestry which had appeared when Lisa wasn’t looking. She swiped the gold sceptre at the tapestry; the yellow jewel on the end glowed as it tore the tapestry in two to reveal an old passageway.

Follow her.

Lisa pelted after Marina, who, like Gavin, was walking robotically. Lisa clutched her sapphire-encrusted sceptre as she followed Marina into the dark, empty passageway; the rosewood box flew through the air after her. Marina charged onwards, down the tunnel which seemed to have no distinct end.

Finally, Marina stopped at a plain wooden door that was set discreetly into the wood-panelled walls. She gestured her hand for Lisa to open it and this time made eye contact fully. Her eyes were still not right; they were golden in colour, but they suddenly held a goldmine of knowledge. Marina pointed at the door again, urging Lisa to open it. Her eyes communicated an urgent need to understand.

Open it.

Mystified, Lisa reached for the handle, pulled the door open, and gasped in utter horror at what she saw.

“ No more! Don’t – it wasn’t –”

“ Wrong answer! Tell me the truth, boy!”

Gavin Luper lay half-naked on the stone floor, yelling out in pain; a bulky man stood over him with a heavy wooden plank, before throwing it aside. Blood was pouring down Gavin’s back in rivulets, his entire body covered in deep gashes and bruises. He was twisted in an awful way; the bulky man pulled him back by the hair, so that his head and neck had to follow, and then slammed a fist into his throat, causing Gavin to go sprawling. His screams caught in his throat – as did his vomit – as he collapsed jaw-first on the stone ground.

Lisa screamed, soundlessly, paralysed with fear. But it was not over.

The man had moved over to Gavin’s sobbing, choking form. The boy was covered in blood, sweat, vomit, urine and tears. He was screaming in pain, trying to clutch at his back with his hands.

“ Get up and TALK, boy!” he roared, grabbing a fistful of hair and dragging the boy back to his knees. “ Tell me where they are and why you took them!”

Gavin coughed up blood and vomit. “ I don’t know –” his voice was scarcely present.

“ Wrong answer again!” the man gave a savage grin and drove his foot into Gavin’s solar plexus. He yelled out again in pain, choked, and retched, but nothing came out except blood.

He collapsed again on the wet stone floor, moaning in pure pain.

His captor did not beat him again; this time, he dragged him up again mercilessly and pulled a sharp metal tool from his pocket. He held his face an inch away from Gavin’s, his austere eyes locked with Gavin’s terrified, beaten ones. He held up the metal tool, which itself looked cruel and evil.

“ One more time.” His voice was of deathly neutrality. “ Where are they?”

Saliva and blood were oozing from Gavin’s mouth as he answered, pitifully, “ I don’t know, it wasn’t me –”

“ Third strike,” said the man cruelly. His left hand grasped tightly around Gavin’s neck, and his right pulled the sharp metal instrument up to Gavin’s face, and, in one swift, savage movement, sliced down Gavin’s face.

The most bloodcurdling, tortured scream erupted; one of agony; Lisa herself screamed, only this time, it made a sound; the stone room was spinning around her … she was leaving … leaving this sick place …

And then she awoke in bed, drenched in a cold sweat and feeling sick to her core. She had just seen Gavin being tortured; she had seen him at his most vulnerable, inches from death.

And, unless she was very much mistaken, she had just seen into the past.

[mr_pikachu]

Well, then... that was horrific... o_o;; No wonder Gavin's so different now. But why did Lisa need to see that? What did that lady mean? And exactly what was the purpose of that dream? Nice hook in this chapter, even though it was a short one.

I do think that the beginning could have been written a bit better, though. It just seemed too direct to me. Maybe you could add some description, or more subconscious thoughts, or something like that.

Also, there was one line I didn't understand at first.

A black-clothed woman stood directly beside her, holding a silver gun to her throat suddenly.

When I first saw this, I was under the impression that the lady was holding the gun to her own throat, about to commit suicide. That's not a big error, though, and it's easy to change.

The plot of this was interesting. Lisa's seeing into the past, finding mystical objects in dreams, and getting advice from familiar strangers. And it almost seems as if she's a little psychic, what with the nature of the dream. Hmm.

I think this could add even more depth to the already rich plot. Good job, and I'll see you next chapter!

[Gavin Luper]

mr_pikachu: Evil people aren't they? Why did Lisa need to see it? The question isn't why she needed to see it - it's how she saw it. But she needed to see it, that will be obvious soon. Poor Gavin though. I hate some of the things I do to him. The Dream was partly just that - a dream. But it was more. Trust me on this one - everything I've written in this story that seems half-baked or pointless or weird does have a purpose, I assure you.

It was written in a rush, the whole thing, but I wanted to post something at last, albeit a short one. I do go back to old chapters every now and then and add in bits - I nearly doubled chapter 5 once.

Hmm, a bit ambiguous, I will fix.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

[ZeldaFan20]

Good grief! Does this mean Lisa has Psychic powers too? Probably not, but the whole dream was very freaky; in fact, it might have told us that Gavin skipped a couple of things when he explained his disappearance to Lisa a while back (unless I'm mistaken again). This chapter was just in time for Halloween---it certainly was gruesome enough. Great work, buddy, you did it again!

[mistysakura]

Crud, that must have been absoloutely horrific. Poor, poor Gavin; I couldn't imagine going through that ever, and it's no wonder he changed. I don't know what to say...

Okay, new track. The whole dream was seriously freaky. The whole Marina and Gavin walking around mechanically thing I'm trying to dismiss as just a dream, but Marina's appearance seems to signify that it isn't. Pretty sure the box was randomness though. (Waiting until the inevitable day when this statement rebounds in my face.)

[PancaKe]

Hey Gav

That was really really cool

Theres nothing else really to say. There wasnt any of it i didnt like. The thing that got me the most was Gavin being tortured, i got a tinsy bit queasy, but that just shows ur talent (and my slightly weird stomach) ^.^

[Master Kirby]

That was certainly a mysterious dream. I'm sure that the different elements will be explained later. It's no wonder Gavin had become so quiet after returning. That was almost as scary for Lisa watching the beating as it was for Gavin.

Looking at the symbolism in the dream, I think there is a reason that Gavin and Marina were walking like robots. Its because they weren't Gavin and Marina, but just representations of them. I have a feeling that Raikou is the one putting the memories of Gavin's torture into Lisa's dream.

Her eyes were still not right; they were golden in colour, but they suddenly held a goldmine of knowledge.

She swiped the gold sceptre at the tapestry; the yellow jewel on the end glowed as it tore the tapestry in two to reveal an old passageway.

Raikou was probably taking the form of Marina to get Lisa to follow. Lisa also had a sapphire sceptor, shich probably symbolizes her connection with Suicune.

I wonder, maybe the Key and Ebony Box are what the man was talking about when he was beating Gavin.

That may have been a short chapter, but it definitely gave some things to think about. I wonder what Gavin's reaction would be if Lisa told him about the dream?

[Gavin Luper]

Hello everyone!

Zeldafan: To be honest, I think everyone has some sort of psychic power in them, it just depends on how much ... though that is neither here nor there. Is Lisa psychic? Maybe. I won't reveal anything like that yet, though you may be able to answer that yourself. And indeed, the dream shows that Gavin seems to have conveniently forgotten some facts.

Ada: Poor Gavin indeed. I don't know what more I can say. But thanks for reading - the dream was good to create, I enjoyed every bit of it (although the torture of Gavin made my stomach turn just a little bit). Oh, will the statement rebound and hit you in the face? It's me, what do you think?

Tara: Hey Tara! Thanks for reading - and you didn't find anything at all to get me to improve ... Was it that good? I thought it was awesome myself, but what do I know? The whole thing just rolled off the tongue, so to speak, once I started - and mystifying people with the dream was fun. Oh yeah, and we gotta do awards THIS WEEKEND.

Master Kirby: Very mysterious indeed. Everything will make sense one day, if not soon then much later, after you reread some things. Yes, this is the explanation behind Gavin's strange behavior. As for Gavin's reaction if Lisa told him - well ... do you think she's going to keep any more to herself after such a bizarre experience?

Cheers everyone! Chapter 52 looking good!

[Karania]

Phew..... Stupid schoolwork, I've been gone for gosh know how long. Anyways, good chapters. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you're going with this.

[Gavin Luper]

Cheers Karania!

I've been blocked for ages, so Chapter 52 is currently a hovering speck in my brain. Not a great deal of interest to anyone, least of all me at the moment. Firstly, I'm stuck in the middle of exam season for another two weeks, so I'll have virtually no time whatsoever to write until December starts. Secondly, I've run smack bang into a brick wall in the storyline, which I have to somehow find a way to deal with and pull the story back together. Since Chapter 39 I've made some big plot mistakes that hopefully I can repair imperceptibly. The problem is that, since then, I think the plot has literally run away from me and escaped my control, and I have to fix that too. And characters need a lot of work.

I'm talking too much, but if you understand where I'm coming from, then you'll understand it may be a few weeks before I get back on track.

Cheers!

[PancaKe]

^.^ I understand fully. Same thing happened to me when I was doing LVH.

The only thing is, I never realised the plotholes until i reread it after I was finishd. And I was not bothered to fix them up. As you all know very well lol.

[Karania]

glad to be back, take your time and we'll all wait paitently for the next installment whenever that is.

[Gavin Luper]

Announcements and Explanations

It's been a long time, it seems. Nearly six weeks since the last chapter and I honestly haven't even started the next one. What can I say? Well, I have two announcements to make, but don't worry, they are good - just a bit confusing for you guys.

Announcement #1. Book Three: Revelation will begin in Chapter 54. That's right - I mucked up. According to what I have posted, the third book began at Chapter 49 - but I've had to look back at my notes and rework everything because I missed something out. It didn't seem right to begin the book there. So, forget you ever heard the words "Book III: Revelation" - because it will be hitting your screens early next year. I apologise for the confusion, but it will work out better this way, I assure you.

What does this mean for you, the reader? Well, you have two chapters before this, the second book, ends. I hope to have them done by the end of this year, so we can move onwards. These last two chapters will be huge, so be ready for some mega stuff. After that, Book III will begin, with a renewed plot and a clearer journey. It'll be great!

Announcement #2. Something a little different, not really an announcement but I felt that it had to be commemorated. December 1 (last Wednesday) was Lisa the Legend's third birthday! Yep, over three years since I first posted! So, Happy 3rd Birthday Lisa!

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

As for the long wait for the next chapter, I can only apologise and hope that it comes along soon.

Stay tuned, I'll try to be quick.

Cheers!

[Karania]

looking forward to updates, and I hope you do well on your exams. Those tests can be killer.... However, my college footabll team is going to the semi-finals! Go Crusaders! That's gonna be a blast, according to what I'[ve heard they've never made it this far before. See ya around, and I keep an eye out for the new stuff.

[PancaKe]

^.^ Thats cool. Sometimes it takes me ages to come up with a chapter. Lol I am so bad. At least you let us know whats happening

and congrats on sticking with this for three years.

[Karania]

yup, I'm definately looking forward to the new stuff! Looking forward to the next chapter! hmmmmm....... let's see..... YAY! Two more exams and I'm home free for Christmas! YAHOO! See ya around for the new stuff~! over and out, ta ta, see ya later.

[Dragon_Knight]

hey!!! i'm reading eh... chapter 7ish.... gogogo me!

btw Pancake is mistdeedee????? (i'm guessing, there is only one author of LVH right? or is my memory going nuts again)

[Gavin Luper]

Tara: Grazie, signorina!

Karania: New stuff hopefully coming soon. Emphasis on the word HOPEFULLY.

DK: Welcome back once again! Only 44 chapters left to read! Wooo! And yeah, PancaKe = Mist ... she changed her name earlier this year just to confuse everyone. I think it was after she ate a great many pancakes (or something like that) ... her sig had a pancake stack and a jug of maple syrup in it for weeks...

Hopefully you enjoy reading this anyway, obviously it has so many things that need to be fixed, particularly in the chapters you've read, but hopefully it's acceptable anyway. In any case, I've begun a rewrite

Everyone: I've actually started the next chapter! Can it be true??????

^_^

Cheers!

[Dragon_Knight]

hey!!!! just updating u heh :p I'm at about page 40!! which is uh... chapter 50

and i just have to say, WOW! after about chapt 20ish, everything just picked up and it was like reading the work of a whole new person! its great, but annoyingly i seem to get that funny characters instead of punctuations still. any ideas?

[Gavin Luper]

Exactly one year ago, I had posted up to chapter 44. One year later, I'm up to chapter 51. That is really bad - in the space of an entire year I've written chapters 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51. That's all. Gah. I can't believe how slow it had been! Don't even get me started on chapter 52 - it's the most difficult chapter I've ever had to write and I'm losing heart that I'll ever get it done, at least up to my usual standard.

2004 was a pretty crappy year for me in a lot of ways, particularly with writing, though. So now I'm hoping and praying that 2005 will be an excellent year for Lisa the Legend. God willing, by the end of this year, I'll be finished - but I don't see that happening in a hurry.

Anyway, I thought I'd keep everyone up to date with what's going on with this fic: it's struggling, but it's not going to die, so don't worry. With any luck, Chapter 52 would be up in a few days ... but I can't promise anything, because, in terms of the plot and pace of the story, I've dug myself into a hole that isn't easy to get out of, and I have renewed writer's block, which makes it all doubly hard. So the chapter - which stands at about 2500 words, isn't progressing much yet.

DK: Thanks for reading, it's different after C20 hey? It was about then that I got an idea of what I was doing. Thanks again!

Everyone: I think just about everywhere in the world has had new year's by now, so, to all my readers, Happy New Year!!!

Cheers!

[Karania]

well looking forward to any new updates, and keep up the good work.

[Gavin Luper]

SURPRISE! I'M BACK BABY!

Yes, I'm alive! I held off making a usual 'I'm still alive' post in here because for the last two days I've sat down and written Chapter 52 - after three and a half months of block and getting nowhere, it took me just a few days to finish. So here it is - I hope it's up to standard!!

----------------------------------

Chapter 52 – Mount Fairfax.


Lisa awoke with both her hands clasped so tightly over her face that her fingernails had dug into her cheeks. Slowly, her mind still reeling, she removed her hands to find herself staring up at a white ceiling; she was in the Oakabella Room of the Fairfax Inn, where she had, only a few hours ago, collapsed in total exhaustion upon the bed.

Lisa doubted that her sleep had given her much rest at all, though - she still felt groggy, and judging from the low position of the sun shining through the window, it was still very early in the morning. However, her mind was not on her tired state – her brain was buzzing with what had just happened to her. Her sleep had begun as any sleep should; she had kicked off her shoes and fallen down onto the surprisingly springy mattress, closing her eyes and immediately slipping out of consciousness. But slowly a dream emerged – a dream that had, for the most part, been mysterious but uneventful, until Lisa opened a door in her dream and saw the last thing she could have expected. One of her closest friends, Gavin Luper, being brutally tortured at the hands of the organisation called the Union.

Lisa ducked into her backpack, which sat at the foot of the bed, and pulled out her water bottle. She gasped down a few mouthfuls gratefully, trying to cool herself down, for she had never felt more like she was overheating than now. The part of the dream that had involved Gavin had been chilling, to say the least, and yet Lisa was sure that the dream had been very much real – evidently, at some stage in the past. But she had no idea what it could all mean.

She ran a hand over her sweaty brow. This night had been one troubling, complicating experience after another. At last, morning had arrived – but what would it bring?

Lisa’s eyes fell on her pokégear as she placed her water bottle back in her bag. She stared at it for a moment, then suddenly she realised that there was something she could do to help fix the situation.

Quickly, the picked up the silver pokégear, placed it in her lap and turned it on. It felt good to hear the familiar ‘ping’ as the main screen blinked to life. Lisa chose the telephone directory and scrolled down until she came to the name of the one person she thought she could talk to about everything – and the person who could help her out the most.

She pressed the green button and waited. Surprisingly, the phone was in range – presumably because of the mountain. After a moment, there was a dull click and a familiar voice said, “ Hello?”

“ Tom. It’s me.” Lisa said softly.

“ Lisa?” Tom’s reply came back in an excited splutter. “ What – what’s up?”

Just hearing Tom’s voice – hearing a voice that she had, for so long, associated with the safety and security of her family and her home, did to Lisa what two days of fear, uncertainty and terror had not: she broke down and sobbed helplessly.

“ Are you alright, Leese?” Tom’s voice had taken on a strong but gentle tone; an older-brother tint that Lisa had never heard before.

Lisa rubbed tears from her cheek, but even that action brought another burst of tears on. Through her blubbering she somehow managed to mutter down the phone, “ I’m sorry Tom … I’m so pathetic!”

His voice came back, “ No, Lisa, you’re not – well, okay, you are a bit pathetic.” They both laughed; Tom very lightly and Lisa through a mist of tears that spilled onto her cheeks faster than she could wipe them up. Tom spoke again, “ Now, what’s wrong?”

At last Lisa stopped crying and held her pokégear close. “ Where do I start?”

She began with what had happened on Tuesday the previous week – the day she and Marina battled, the day she had seen Raikou and the day she was first notified about the trial in Valeo – and proceeded to tell everything that had happened right up to the dream she had just had.

After he recovered from the initial shock of learning how serious the situation was, Tom listened well and discussed the happenings with Lisa; he had been shocked to hear about the attack on their house in Greenmount, and almost as dumbfounded by Gavin’s tale; he admitted total surprise about the trial, and even lightly congratulated Lisa on keeping the court case a secret. When Lisa told him about the Union’s kidnap of Marina, he had become oddly quiet.

“ Are you still there?” Lisa asked, feeling drained, but glad that she was telling the truth about her experiences to someone; the reliving of some events was hard, and yet, the more Lisa pushed through, the better she began to feel, as though someone was slowly deflating a balloon of tension that had been within her forever.

“ I’m here,” Tom said after a moment. “ I’m just writing some of this down. It’s hard to keep up with everything as told by a bubbling fourteen-year-old.”

Lisa felt a smile flit briefly across her face. “ I’ll be fifteen in two weeks.”

“ Oh, that reminds me, I have to forget to get you a present,” Tom murmured. “ I’m sorry, keep going with what you were saying. It seems weird to be joking when we’re talking about something so serious.”

Lisa went on, glad that Tom believed her. After almost an hour of retelling of stories, she came to the end of her lamentation. “ When I woke up I just felt too – too unable to cope anymore – so I called you. I need some help with this.” Lisa had a feeling Tom was nodding at the other end of the phone; it was something that he tended to do during long phone calls.

“ Well … I think the dream you had could have been a vision. It’s not entirely uncommon for some people to have a psychic side to their persona. I don’t think it runs in our family though … I’ll find out what I can about it …” He paused. “ About the Union situation … obviously I can’t do anything right now. But I think you should come home very soon … as in, right away. Clearly you aren’t safe … I just can’t believe this. Honestly – you – attacked by people who used to be in Team Rocket … wow. I can’t get my head around this … but you should come home, definitely. How soon can you get here?”

“ That’s the problem,” Lisa said, taking a swig of water from her bottle; it was almost empty after the long talk. “ We don’t exactly have a mode of transport that’s quick – we were planning to win this contest to get a buggy and then drive home.”

“ Oh yeah … you mentioned that …” Tom said, and Lisa heard the flicking of paper at the other end of the phone. “ Well …” he hesitated, “ Okay, I think you should enter in the contest, make sure that you win the buggy, and drive back here ASAP. Once you’re safe home with me and Miki, we can call the police and sort this out properly … I’ll call them now and tell them you and Gavin are perfectly safe, so they can end the missing persons watch … okay?”

“ That would be good,” Lisa said softly. “ Yes, alright. We’ll come home as soon as we can.”

“ Good,” Tom said, sounding relieved that a course of action was being taken. “ I’ll let you go, then, but keep in touch. If anything more happens, anything at all, call the police straight away. I know you went to them already, but … this time, stay there. Don’t put yourself in danger again. That’s an order.”

Lisa laughed. “ Sure, boss.”

“ Take care,” Tom said.

“ I will. Bye.” Lisa pressed the red button on the side of her pokégear, ending the call. She glanced at the screen and sighed; fifty-three minutes would cost much more than she could afford. She would have to consider getting a job again to pay for her expenses. But, for the moment, she had more pressing concerns.

Outside, the sun had risen, putting an end to what had felt like an endless night. It was nearing seven o’clock now. With a wide yawn, Lisa slipped on her shoes and shuffled out into the corridor to find the dining room.

*

Breakfast was held in a surprisingly large and airy room at the back on the Inn; Lisa had a feeling that this was the room from which Paddy had emerged the previous night. It was a spectacular room: ten circular tables were comfortably housed in the room – covered in crisp, white tablecloths – among the thick carpets on the ground and antique-looking wall units; a small, dusty but still impressive chandelier was suspended from the ceiling, yet it was not in use at breakfast; instead, the massive room was lit by the sunlight that was flooding in through the fourth wall of the room, which was comprised completely of glass frames.

This was the first thing Lisa noticed as she entered the dining room, already occupied by a handful of people scattered over two tables. The far wall not only allowed golden morning sunlight into the room, it also offered a breathtaking view of the foothills of Mount Fairfax, a few hundred metres from the base of which was situated the Inn.

“ Oh … wow,” Lisa said aloud, at a loss of anything else to say. Her mind taken off breakfast, she drifted over to the window, where there were a few people with their faces almost pressed against the glass, in awe of the amazing view. Immediately below where she stood, the ground sloped away almost vertically into a lush green valley, before rising again to the peak of a tall hill.

“ Amazing, isn’t it?”

Lisa tore her gaze from the view and turned to see a boy with brown hair beside her.

“ Were you talking to me?” she said, not meaning to be rude.

A larrikin grin came over the boy’s face. “ No, I was talking to the glass window. We’re in the middle of a conversation here, do you mind?”

Lisa giggled. “ I’m sorry. And yeah, it is really amazing,” she added.

The boy studied her face for a moment, then said, “ Is your name … Lisa?”

Taken aback, Lisa nodded. “ How did you know that?”

“ My name’s Daniel,” the boy said, extending his hand; Lisa shook it politely. “ You were in the Whirlpool Cup tournament last year, weren’t you? I remember seeing you at the afterparty when that Marina girl won.”

“ Oh right …” Lisa murmured, not recognising him at all. “ Did you compete too?”

He shrugged dismissively. “ I was eliminated in the first round. My Poliwhirl had a nervous breakdown as soon as he got out onto the field. Marina beat me with her Golduck … it wasn’t exactly a League-class battle,” he grinned again.

“ And my Dratini being knocked out by it’s own attack was?” cried Lisa, and they both laughed.

Daniel turned out to be quite a fun companion, so once breakfast arrived, they found a table together close to the window and sat down to eat. Lisa noticed that there had been no sign of Gavin yet – knowing him, he would still be asleep. Lisa wasn’t sure she wanted to see Gavin in a great hurry anyway; their argument had not ended well last night.

“ So are you here by yourself?” Daniel asked, tucking into a plateful of tomatoes, bacon and eggs.

Lisa shook her head and rushed down a chipolata she had been eating; it was surprisingly tasty; despite the generally appearance of the Fairfax Inn, the food and the view had been extremely good. “ I’m here with my friend Gavin,” she explained. “ He should be here actually, he might still be asleep … it’s only seven-thirty, after all …”

Daniel smiled, but Lisa thought she saw his face droop slightly when she said she was with Gavin.

By eight o’clock, the breakfast dishes had been cleared away and people were becoming slightly restless; a few trainers had released their pokémon to prepare them for the contest; one particularly muscle-bound hiker was sparring excitedly with his Machop, which was interesting as the room was quite full of chattering trainers by this stage – and yet still there was no sign of Gavin.

Lisa pushed her chair out slightly, intending to go wake Gavin up, but at the same moment, a hush fell over the crowd of trainers milling about the dining hall.

“ What’s going on?” Lisa asked Daniel, who, like many others, was trying to see what was going on in the centre of the crowd of trainers and pokémon.

Daniel stood up and craned his neck to see. He choked back laughter.

“ The leprechaun’s here.”

It was Paddy. Suppressing a giggle, Lisa joined Daniel and together they peered over the shoulders of the crowd to see the tiny man who stood in a circle of trainers, ready to make an announcement. He was wearing an odd assortment of clothes, including a lime green bandana that would have resembled Lisa’s own scarlet one if it hadn’t been so oversized that it looked like a towel.

“ Ladies and Gentlemen, competitors and spectators, may I please have your attention,” Paddy said, in his heavy accent. “ The Inaugural Fairfax Mountain Contest will begin in just over two hours. I have come to give you instructions on the race –” (He found a wad of pink leaflets and gave them to a young girl to pass around) “ – as well as give you all an idea of what the contest involves …” He cleared his throat loudly, “ The contest, or race, as it were, will begin at noon. The aim is to reach the summit of this mountain as soon as possible – there is no time limit. Whoever reaches the mountain top first wins the grand prize, a new Solara Buggy in pristine condition along with extra items; second and third prizes will also be awarded.”

He paused for a moment; the silence in the dining room was almost deafening – everyone had their eyes and ears on Paddy. He continued. “ There are conditions to participation, though. All competitors will only be able to take three pokémon with them, as well as any other objects deemed necessary by them to take; you are encouraged to use your pokémon to your advantage. However, at no time may any competitor use his or her pokémon to teleport or fly in order to get ahead in the contest; this is considered unfair play and there will be several regulators placed along the way to police this.

“ In order to reach the top, which is approximately 1500 metres above base level, competitors must follow one of several paths up the mountain, and do whatever is necessary to continue their way through. There will be several – challenges – which must be met in order to succeed, and not all will reach the summit …”

He trailed off. A man in front of Lisa handed her the stack of pink leaflets; she took one and passed the pile on to Daniel.

Paddy was not quite finished. “ I have one more thing to say before the race begins in a few hours time,” he said to the group at large. There was an excited twinkle in his eye that Lisa couldn’t quite place. “ The mountain can be dangerous if you venture there alone, therefore, as a surprise, all competitors MUST pair up into teams of two to compete!”

There was a thick silence followed by an instant cacophony of chattering. Lisa turned to Daniel.

“ Did you know about this?”

His raised eyebrow suggested he did not.

“ Quiet down please, everyone!” Paddy cried over the noise, looking delighted that his bombshell had had such an effect. “ Until eleven o’clock I will be at the front desk waiting to take down team registrations. Only pairs will be eligible for participation.”

His final two words to the group dripped with excitement. “ Good luck.”

At once, the room became more like a rock concert than a dining room; Lisa couldn’t hear herself think over the level of noise that broke out. Across the room, people were grabbing partners and immediately rushing outside to register with Paddy.

“ Wanna register as a team?” Daniel said instantly.

“ Oh,” Lisa said, suddenly spying Gavin across the room; he had appeared in the open doorway and was negotiating his way past a group of five teenage girls all wearing pink and holding Skittys in their arms. She waved to him, and he came over.

“ I would, but I came here with my friend – this is Gavin Luper,” she added by way of introduction, as Gavin joined them by the table. He wore a new green shirt that Lisa hadn’t seen before, which fell over his jeans. At the belt of his jeans were his pokéballs and his camera. “ Gavin, this is Daniel.”

They shook hands jovially, Gavin rather rigidly. “ Nice to meet you,” he said to Daniel.

“ You too,” Daniel said. “ You were in the Whirlpool Cup too, weren’t you?”

Gavin paused. “ I was, yeah, I got runner up.”

“ Daniel competed at the same tournament as we did,” Lisa explained, seeing Gavin’s slightly confused expression. “ He’s in the contest too.”

“ Oh right,” Gavin shrugged dismissively. “ Hey, Lisa, all the people I saw in the hallway were talking about the contest, they said people have to sign up in pairs. Have you registered us yet?”

Lisa smiled apologetically to Daniel, who looked deflated. “ Not yet, let’s go do it now,” she said. “ Seeya at the contest, Daniel,” she added as they left.

“ What was all that about?” asked Gavin, once they were in the corridor, approaching the foyer.

“ He asked me to be his partner …” Lisa muttered, feeling bad.

“ Oh,” Gavin said.

They didn’t speak again until they reached the dingy foyer, which was packed with teams lining up at the front desk. Lisa shifted uncomfortably beside Gavin – she wanted to apologise for last night, but she wasn’t sure if Gavin wanted it brought up. After all, if the advice Tom had given her – that the dream could be a kind of vision – was correct, then Gavin’s imprisonment by the Union was very emotional for him.

After some deliberation she decided not to say anything, but at that moment, Gavin nudged her shoulder and said in a rush, “ Sorry I went off at you last night.”

“ I’m sorry too,” said Lisa, just as fast. “ Really I am.”

Gavin smiled. “ I had to say that. I didn’t mean what I said about you always making life harder for us.”

“ You were right,” she admitted. “ Everything could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t gone behind your back. If it helps, my brother’s called the police and told them you and me and Marina and my parents are all safe again. So they can call off the search for us.”

Gavin’s forehead uncreased. “ That’s good,” he said simply. “ So, we’re still going on to Dervine? I have this really strong feeling that the Union’s behind Professor Oak’s disappearance. The sooner we can get there, the better …”

“ Oh yeah … that was one more thing I needed to talk to you about,” Lisa said sheepishly.

Gavin rolled his eyes half-mockingly, half-serious. “ OK, get it over with,” he said.

*

More than a week had gone by since Professor Samuel Oak had fallen victim to an angry gang in the south forest of Dervine. The only way he had of knowing how much time had passed was by listening to the sound of the Noctowls every few hours that signified another night beginning outside the cave.

The weakened professor curled into a ball on the cold rock floor of his horrible prison. Every so often, maybe every two days, he would awaken to find a cluster of berries and a bowl of water near the sealed cave opening – a cruel taunt. The gang, whoever they were, had kept close to him over the week, but he still had no way of escape, no chance of freeing himself. When they had first captured him, he had screamed out for help for hours, but nobody had heard, not a soul. He knew he was becoming ill because headaches were beginning to plague him constantly: he was not getting enough nourishment to survive much longer.

On this particular morning (he decided it must be morning, for the calls of the night birds had diminished over the last few unrestful hours), Oak lay still in the tiny cave, reciting the names of the pokémon he was keeping for certain trainers and wondering if Rachel had people looking for him yet; he did this to keep his mind busy. Quite suddenly, an uncommon noise jolted him from his thoughts. It was not a loud noise, but unrecognisable amongst the usual wildlife: the footsteps of a human were approaching across the gravel outside.

Professor Oak pricked up his ears in curiosity – he had never been awake when his captors ‘visited’. He listened intently to the sound of not one but two pairs of feet approaching. The footsteps were accompanied by deep, complaining voices.

“ … a week. Tried to tell him not to, but that’s Luke for you, never listened to anyone he thought was inferior to him. He’d cut off his nose to spite his face, you know …”

“ He’ll be back, he’s too scared of Den.”

“ Heh heh. True that. Oy, gimme a hand with this.”

There was a cough and a gravelly grating sound. It was then that an idea entered Oak’s head; it was not the most inventive thing he had every thought of, but he could not stay here any longer. As the grating sound of a heavy boulder being moved away from the top of the cave echoed through the cave, he crawled into the foetal position, slowed his breathing down as much as possible and closed his eyes softly. A moment later, light flooded into the cramped cavern.

“ Doesn’t look good does he?”

“ The weaker he is, the less he’s gonna fight … c’mon, we have to wake him up and get him out of here.”

Oak did his best not to move his chest at all, but his heart was racing.

“ Is he –” The first voice jerked. “ Is he dead?”

“ What? He’s just sleeping, idiot.” A grating sound came once again.

Oak nearly jumped as he felt somebody touch his arm and raise it slightly. The man shook him gently at first, then vigorously. Oak remained motionless, holding his breath. The man pressed his fingers against the inside of his wrist, but too far down to detect a pulse.

“ What’re you doing to him?”

“ I’m finding his pulse, isn’t this how they do it?”

“ How should I know, dip****?”

“ He doesn’t have a pulse. He’s not breathing.”

“ Stop screwing around,” came the other man’s voice, although he sounded worried now.

“ He’s dead.”

“ ****.”

Oak remained still, very slowly sneaking a breath as the two men began to argue between themselves over what to do. He was amazed at his stroke of luck, that the man didn’t know how to check his pulse properly. All he needed to do was maintain the façade long enough.

“ Den is going to kill us!” hissed the man who checked Oak’s pulse.

“ Sterling’s gonna kill ALL of us,” replied the other man.

“ What’re we gonna do?”

“ Just pick him up like we were going to. I’ll take his feet, you take his arms, we’ll carry him to the drop-off point. They’re not going to pick him up from there for a few hours. We can act like we had no idea this happened, we’ll just pretend he died after we dropped him off.”

“ OK.”

Oak kept his eyes lightly shut as he felt his arms roughly pulled upwards, and moments later his legs were elevated by two strong hands, until he was suspended in the air.

“ C’mon.”

The two men began to carry him up the slope at the edge of the cave and into broad daylight, which, after so long in total darkness, burned Oak’s eyes without him even opening them. But he couldn’t complain. Thanks to a stroke of ingenuity, he was at last free from the cave and he had fooled the men. All he needed to do now was continue playing dead and think of some way to escape – and some way to find Lisa Walters.

[continued in next post]

[Gavin Luper]

[continued]

*

“ Let’s go, Team Lisa!” Lisa cried cheerfully, shouldering her backpack and striding forward along the dirt path that led to the base of Mount Fairfax.

“ Here’s an idea, how about we DON’T call ourselves that,” said Gavin drily, several paces behind her.

“ Ai pom,” agreed Aipom vehemently, scampering ahead.

Lisa grinned; it felt good to be walking in the wilderness once again. She focused on the road ahead; about two hundred metres away was a tall wooden sign with many signposts on it; it was here that the teams would have to choose their path for the race.

The Fairfax contest had just begun one minute ago – all around the three of them were other teams who were competing. Most of the teams were talking among each other, walking quickly but not running, so as to maintain their pace. Turning back to survey the group of competitors behind her, Lisa judged that her and Gavin were probably coming in the top ten so far, although the pack was right behind them. They would have to keep their wits about them if they were to win the Solara Buggy to return home – which Lisa had yet to persuade Gavin to do. He refused to go home when Professor Oak was still missing after they had come so far to find him; Lisa argued – somewhat contradicting herself – that it was none of their business what happened to Oak, and they should do what she had promised Tom. Gavin had ignored her.

“ Good luck, Lisa!”

The call came from her left; Lisa turned to see Daniel and a brown-skinned girl jogging together, passing them as they headed for the signpost.

“ You too Daniel!” she called back.

“ You too Daniel!” mimicked Gavin under his breath. Lisa shot him a poisonous look, and he smirked, content at having annoyed her.

A few moments later, they reached the signpost, and it was then that Lisa realised how massive their task was going to be: at least a dozen separate dirt tracks spidered up the mountain from the signposts, each of them promising to be difficult, but none was visible beyond a few metres, as every path was quickly swallowed up by a wall of rock or thick forest. Lisa looked upwards and saw the slow rise of the mountain before her. The peak was not visible, but it would clearly be a long contest.

“ Which path do you want to take?” asked Gavin, staring at the signposts; each path was given a number, but there was no description.

“ Whichever,” Lisa shrugged. “ Let’s choose quickly though, everyone’s passing us,” she added, as a middle-aged couple charged into the shade of path seven.

“ Pom! Pom ai pom!” called Aipom. He had run ahead and stood at the entrance to path eleven. Lisa and Gavin exchanged glances and surveyed the path, or what they could see of it. It seemed to be a fairly gentle slope, rising only gradually, and it too was well-shaded by thick foliage.

“ Why not?” said Lisa. Without further ado, they strode across to path eleven and began to journey upwards. After just a few minutes they were passed by two young boys, about ten years old, who were racing up the path into the dark unknown of the forested mountainside.

Gavin grinned at Lisa. “ How the hell did that happen?”

She laughed. “ They’ll tire out or get bored, they’re only kids.”

Sure enough, moments later they walked past the two boys, who were sitting on a rock comparing Pikachus. Lisa resisted the urge to snort with laughter until they were out of sight.

The path continued to rise more steeply as they marched onwards up the mountain, still waiting for any obstacles to face.

“ OK, out of all thirty-three teams, where do you think we stand at the moment?” Lisa asked presently, Aipom now happily perched upon her shoulder, pulling her hair affectionately.

Gavin appeared to be deep in thought about this. “ Well, we know we’re at least thirty-first. We’ve passed those Pikachu kids, and there’s no way we’re behind those obese twins.”

“ Oh, I forgot about them,” said Lisa, biting her lip and feeling sorry for the twins.

“ We’re probably in the top half,” Gavin said seriously. “ I don’t really know though, we haven’t had anything get in our way yet, so we’ve been moving quick.”

Another ten minutes went by. The forest had become even thicker but the ground had begun to level out slowly; Lisa thought they were probably on a wide ledge on the mountain side.

“ Should we get our pokémon out, so we’re ready for an obstacle?” she asked Gavin.

He nodded, scanning the dark forest on either side of the path as he pulled out three pokéballs. “ Girafury, Skarmory, Natu, go!” he called clearly. Three radiant bursts of white light from the pokéballs revealed Gavin’s three chosen pokémon for the race; Natu hovered and settled on Gavin’s shoulder like Aipom, while Skarmory and Girafury stood tall by their master’s side.

“ Vulpix, Fiskmire, go!” Lisa added. She launched two red and white balls into the air, which yielded her other two pokémon for the contest.

“ Vul!” cried Vulpix, flicking his tail, apparently thrilled to be outdoors. Fiskmire stretched and gave a sleepy grin; he had evidently been sleeping.

“ Come with us, guys, we need you to help us out,” Gavin instructed them all, and they obeyed diligently, Vulpix now taking the lead. Aipom slinked down from Lisa’s shoulder to sit on Fiskmire’s shoulders instead.

With the pokémon accompanying them it was more enjoyable, but the lack of any challenges was beginning to unsettle Lisa; had they perhaps taken a path that wasn’t part of the contest?

“ Can you hear that?” Gavin said suddenly.

“ What?” Lisa said, listening out for any uncommon sound; among the friendly chatter of Girafury and Fiskmire came a soft bubbling sound, not too far ahead. “ A stream?” she said uncertainly.

“ That’s what it sounds like,” Gavin said.

As it transpired, just two minutes later they came across a wide stream crossing their path. Its flow was quite strong, and there was no way for them to go around it.

“ Well, this is easy, we can just surf across on Fiskmire, right?” Lisa said, although she had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy.

“ Are you kidding?” Gavin said. “ The current is insanely fast. We’d be swept downstream is we tried surfing or swimming across.”

Lisa sat down on a flat rock near the edge of the stream. She considered the breadth of the stream for Girafury to leap over, but it was definitely more than ten metres to the opposite bank - far too risky.

“ Oh – of course!” Gavin said suddenly, looking up in amazement at all the extremely tall trees surrounding them. “ We can cut a tree down and use it as a bridge to cross the river.”

Now it was Lisa’s turn to scoff. “ Are you serious? How it that possible?”

Gavin gestured to Skarmory, who stood beside Fiskmire, sharpening his blades. “ Skar, hack this trees down for me as quick as you can,” he said impulsively, slapping his hand on a massive pine which was easily twenty metres high.

“ I can’t believe you’re going to do this,” Lisa gasped, as Skarmory began slicing at the tree’s trunk viciously with its razor-sharp scythes; already, amazingly, it was a quarter way through the tree. A sudden possibility occurred to Lisa. “ Uh, Gavin … what if the tree falls on us instead of over the stream?”

Gavin grinned mischievously. “ That’s not going to happen, because we’re going to push it in that direction.”

“ Ohhhhh no,” Lisa said.

Moments later, though, she found herself, along with Gavin, Girafury, Aipom, Natu, Vulpix and Fiskmire, leaning against the tree that Skarmory had almost cut through, pushing with all her might against the trunk so that it would not collapse on them.

“ Here it goes … push!” yelled Gavin, as an earsplitting crack resounded from the tree trunk; ever so slowly, it began to tip forwards, until very suddenly it moved faster, falling with multiple branches cracking and swishing through the air until the huge pine tree slammed with massive force onto the ground, shaking the earth and knocking all of them off their feet.

Nearby, there were several loud shrieks, which Lisa could just detect above the loud ringing in her ears caused by the tree falling. Evidently, some of the paths were quite close.

Gavin stood up and surveyed his work happily. “ There we go,” he said triumphantly. Lisa rose, along with the pokémon, to find the tree had fallen almost perfectly across the stream, locked into place by resting at the feet of several other trees.

“ I can’t believe we just did that,” she cried, staring at the torn-up stump remaining in the ground.

“ I know,” Gavin grinned widely, taking out his camera and snapping the makeshift bridge they had just formed in what seemed like record time. “ Let’s go across then, quickly.”

It was easier said than done – Natu, Vulpix and Aipom were no problem to get across, as the tree’s trunk was wide enough for them to stroll along. Fiskmire and Girafury had serious trouble crossing, however it was Lisa who was most afraid of going across.

“ How do I do it?” she said, flustered as she sat on the bare lower trunk.

“ Just push yourself forward and keep your legs locked around the trunk, you’ll be fine,” insisted Gavin.

Heart pumping, Lisa wrapped her legs tightly around the horizontal tree trunk and shimmied forward very slowly, aware that the water rushing beneath her could catch her and take her downstream instantly. Inch by inch she crawled, focused at Aipom at the other end, who was calling, “ Leeeeeeeeeeessaaaaa!”

“ You’re halfway there, just watch out for the branches,” Gavin urged.

Lisa moved onwards, the branches and pine needles scraping her legs viciously until finally, after what seemed like an eternity and a half, she felt firm rock ground beneath her feet, and dismounted the tree thankfully. She suddenly became aware of the dozens of harsh scratches on her legs.

“ Never again!” she declared loudly, as Gavin joined her and the pokémon a moment later.

“ What are you whinging about, you made it alive,” Gavin scoffed. “ Let’s go on then.”

Lisa took one more glance at the tree and the stream, then turned to follow Gavin and the pokémon.

*

“ Here comes another one!” Lisa yelled hoarsely.

The troupe of angry Bellsprouts had taken them by surprise. As Lisa and Gavin had negotiated a treacherous stairway of jagged rocks after emerging from the thick forest, the grass pokémon had leaped out from behind the rocks and barred their path vehemently with their vine whip. First attempting to be diplomatic, Lisa had offered them some muesli bar, only to receive a razor leaf to her torso; luckily, only her sleeves were damaged. Now they had resorted to more violent means, whipping them fiercely with vines.

“ Dodge it, Vulpix!” Lisa cried.

Vulpix ducked the incoming vine cleverly and sent a spray of fiery sparks at the attacking Bellsprout, blinding it for a moment before it caught on fire, burning it. It’s vines retracted and within seconds the creature had fainted. Mercifully, Fiskmire shot out a quick jet of water to stop the burning.

“ Well, that was fun,” said Gavin, looking over the five fainted Bellsprout before them.

“ Sure was,” Lisa grinned jokingly. “ Good job guys, thanks for fighting so well.” She stepped lightly up the last few rocks and emerged on flat land at last.

It was nearing four o’clock now. After crossing the stream earlier, they had found many challenges to keep them more than occupied – a confrontation with a fierce Snubbull, a patch of sheer ice that they eventually climbed after Skarmory and Vulpix chipped out footholds for them, several small tunnels, a series of slippery stepping stones across a stinking marsh and finally the fight with the Bellsprout. The peak was occasionally visible when they looked up; at other times there was a wall of grey rock that blocked both their path and their view.

“ Another tunnel,” Gavin said, gesturing at the dark opening in the mountain face before them.

“ Right,” said Lisa, digging into her pocket and extracting her Buzzball, which they had already used a few times when they found themselves in dark places. “ Illuminate,” Lisa said. The red ball in her hand enlarged at once, before sending out a tiny globule – a golden pearl of light which orbited the ball so fast it looked like a ring of light. Armed with the makeshift torch, Lisa led the way into the tunnel.

Unlike the others they had been in, this tunnel had no visible end upon entry. The light from the Buzzball lit up a large sphere around them, but they could not see any walls around them, nor was there any visible ceiling.

“ It’s huge,” Lisa said. Her voice echoed at once, sending strange distortions rebounding all around them.

“ Pom,” Aipom breathed.

Gavin hesitated near the entrance. “ Should we keep going on? What if we get lost?”

“ It’s where our path led us, we’ll be fine,” Lisa said confidently, holding out the Buzzball before her. “ Come on.”

*

There seemed to be total silence in the woodland. Professor Oak slowly opened one eye and took in his surroundings: he had been dumped (rather roughly) in a small clearing of a sparse forest. Two large backpacks and a smaller bag had been left beside him. Footprints led away from the clearing into the woods; from what Oak had heard, the men had left to find something they had buried. He had not heard of them for more than two minutes, and that, he deemed, was long enough to wait; he might not get a chance like this again.

He unfurled his weak body and crawled over to one of the large backpacks; he unzipped one eagerly and, after rummaging around, found a box filled to bursting with peanuts and chocolates and crisps. He allowed himself two enormous fistfuls of food, the first real sustenance in many days, before grabbing a bottle of water from the outside of the backpack and taking a long, refreshing swig. Revived, he placed the bottle back, intending to leave.

It was at that moment that he heard two voices again.

“ … next time. OK?”

“ Leave me alone. I will. Now let’s swap it and get the hell outta here. Stupid Rockets.”

“ They’re not Rockets anymore, idiot, we’re all a Union.”

“ Yeah, sure, that’s what they tell us. But everyone knows it’s the ex-Rockets running the show still. ‘Equal responsibility’ my arse.”

“ Don’t say anything bad about them. It’s not safe.”

Oak had frozen, his feet rooted to the spot. The men – his captors – were back already, though they could not see him until they rose over the crest they were climbing. Any second now, they would take a few more steps and see him kneeling beside their backpacks – alive. There was no time to run, for they would see him and catch him at once; similarly, there was no time to play dead, as he had moved from where he had been left.

Instinctively, Oak plunged his hand into the still open backpack, searching for something to protect himself with – a pokémon of any kind. His hand closed on something cold. He nearly recoiled realising what he had in his hand.

“ WHAT THE –”

The two men had appeared in the clearing, one of them carrying a large black bag. They had frozen on the spot, gaping in total shock. Oak stared from the backpack to his two captors in numbness.

“ Don’t move!” bellowed the larger of the two agents, pulling a black pistol from his belt and aiming it at Oak.

It was instinct only. Thinking only to save himself, Oak whipped the revolver out of the backpack and held it, with trembling hands, to his own temple. “ Don’t – don’t move, or I’ll do it!” he bellowed hoarsely, the gun firmly against his head.

He knew he had made the right move. The armed agent reluctantly lowered his gun, seeing what Oak could do. Before the man could make any further move, diplomatic or violent, Oak swung the revolver around, pointed it straight at the man and pulled the trigger; there were two loud bangs and the man was thrown back onto the ground as the bullets struck him. Shaking, Oak turned the gun to the second man – but he had completely disappeared from view – as had the black bag he was carrying.

Professor Oak shivered, still holding the silver revolver, staring at the body of the man he had shot. He timidly crept toward the body only to find that the bullets had struck him in the lower gut; he was still breathing, but he had fallen on a rock and hit his head, rendering him unconscious. There was blood splattered on his clothes. Feeling sick, Oak kicked the man’s gun away from his splayed hands and, hoping against hope that the second man was running away, not towards him.

An eerie silence hung over the glade. A lone Pidgey called out for food somewhere in a distant tree. Gathering his mind, Professor Oak gripped the weapon in his hand and strode out of the clearing and into the forest. At long last, he had escaped.

*

“ This sucks,” Gavin stated mildly.

“ Frr frroo,” noted Girafury.

“ Stop whining, guys, there’s got to be a way out soon,” Lisa said, without hope of her words holding true. She shivered and rubbed her arms to try to keep warm.

The tunnel had become a fully-fledged series of massive caves within the mountain, each one as dark and cold as the next. For nearly an hour, Lisa and Gavin had trudged through the unknown, negotiating dozens of twists, turns and dead ends, led only by the light of Lisa’s Buzzball. They had encountered several wild pokémon in the cave, but nothing that constituted a real contest challenge.

“ Hey – what’s that?” Lisa cried suddenly, her eyes falling on something immediately ahead, blocking their path.

“ It’s a rock. Don’t get excited or anything,” said Gavin sardonically.

“ It’s a huge rock. But there’s some things carved into it.”

The structure completely blocked the path, reaching to the walls of the cave; it was as though they had reached yet another dead end, but Lisa was sure this one had some trick to it. She held the Buzzball up to the rock surface and examined it: there were stone drawings followed by lines of strange symbols engraved into the rock, which looked ancient, followed by a single line of English, which was carved poorly, and quite possibly for the purposes of the race. It read: ‘Down, Left, Right, Up.’

Lisa exchanged glances with Gavin. “ That makes no sense,” she said, studying the symbols, to no avail.

“ Is it a puzzle?” asked Gavin, touching the stone pictures. They remained inert. “ I heard about a puzzle you could do once, in the Ruins of Alph … apparently this isn’t like that,” he explained.

Lisa tapped the rock with her hands, looking for some kind of crack that might be a clue to the symbols, but she found nothing of any use. “ Augh, this is stupid!” she cried, hitting the rock in frustration.

She had turned her back on the stone structure, intending to walk away and find another way through the tunnel when a dull scream reached her ears, although it sounded far away, as though it were coming through the walls of the cave itself.

She whirled around to face Gavin. “ What was that?”

The scream was still coming, more audible by the second. Oddly, though, it sounded not like someone afraid but someone on a rollercoaster.

In the blink of an eye, the rock wall beside Lisa shattered before her eyes, disintegrating into a pile of dust as, one-by-one, four people and a Seel shot out of a narrow tunnel and into the cavern beside Lisa, Gavin and their pokémon, spraying fragments of cold rock and what seemed like snow.

All four people were laughing; one of the boys was whooping with exhilaration.

“ That was awesome!”

The four of them – two boys and two girls – rose to their feet slowly, dusting themselves off. Lisa suddenly realised that the boy who had cried out with joy was none other than Daniel. The four teenagers slowly realised that they had arrived in a cave with two stunned people and six stunned pokémon staring at them.

There was a silence, then Daniel said, “ Lisa!”

Lisa’s wide eyes asked the question better than words could have.

“ Oh right …” Daniel suddenly looked sheepish. “ We were battling a Golbat before and found that some of the walls are hollow. If you knock them down with a pokémon’s attack or something they collapse. There’s tiny tunnels and ice slides everywhere. It’s awesome!”

He was speaking so loud he was almost yelling.

“ He seems mellow,” Gavin uttered under his breath. Lisa refused the urge to turn around and slap him.

“ That’s … different,” said Lisa to Daniel.

He grinned broadly. Meanwhile, his friends had stood up, and were tapping the walls of the cave excitedly.

“ How much further do you think it is to the top?” Lisa asked him.

He shrugged, still panting with exhilaration. “ It’s so cold up here that it must be close to the top now,” he said, watching his three friends tapping the wall and laughing. “ I think we’re close to first place, actually; we passed a lot of people on our way up here, and I know at least three teams have given up at the rope-climbing challenge.”

Lisa imagined the twins she had seen earlier and sighed. “ So why are you guys sliding down the mountain then?” she asked, suddenly realising.

Daniel leaned closer to her and said, in a hushed voice, “ We found a way out of the tunnel, and you end up in a dead end with all these stone symbols facing you, like these ones. So we’re sliding down to find a different path … I don’t think it’s much of a step backwards, really, do you?”

Lisa bit her tongue and smiled politely; clearly, Daniel didn’t want to win the race as badly as she and Gavin needed to. All of a sudden, though, a possibility dawned on her.

Abruptly, the girl who was Daniel’s partner called out, “ Seel, Aurora Beam!” and the ice-white pokémon guffawed and instantly sent forth a jet of rainbow light at a portion of the wall that his master had indicated. The beam struck the wall and crumbled it instantly, revealing a glittering tunnel of cerulean ice.

Daniel winked at Lisa. “ I’d better go then,” he said, as his friends were beginning to slide down the ice tunnel already. “ Good luck Lisa!” He jerked his head in Gavin’s direction. “ Bye Gavin.”

“ Bye Gavin!” Gavin mimicked again once Daniel had disappeared down the shimmering ice slide. He smirked at Lisa.

“ You’re such a baby,” she said. “ But I don’t care – I just had a brainwave.”

“ We’re not going to go backwards too, are we?” he moaned.

Lisa gritted her teeth. “ Hopefully not,” she smiled. “ Fiskmire, use Ice Beam on this rock, now!”

At once, Fiskmire leapt up and fired off an orb of azure hue; it plunged through the rock directly beside the carved symbols, and the cave wall crumbled to reveal not just a narrow ice tunnel, but a passage high enough to walk through comfortably, although it sloped down very quickly.

Gavin gaped, clearly impressed by what Lisa had just done.

“ Let’s go then,” she urged, grinning triumphantly and stepping over the rocky rubble into the dark passage, holding the Buzzball before her.

Aipom and Vulpix began to follow, along with the others. Gavin hesitated. “ How do you know where to go?”

“ I don’t know for sure,” Lisa told him. “ But, unless I’m very much mistaken, we have to follow this passage down, left, right and up.”

She patted the wall gratefully as they began their descent.

*

“ Look!” Lisa cried, jogging ahead of Gavin, who was beginning to lag behind after so much hiking.

It was seven o’clock; night had fallen, plunging them once more into dark. Their path had finally led them out of the mountain caves and back into the forest. This time, however, the trees were darker and sparser, and the ground was spattered with flakes of snow. Lisa knew they were very close to the summit now, and it would not be long before they reached the finish line. The past hour had seen them face several difficult challenges: an Ariados web and nest which they used Vulpix and Skarmory to get them though had been the first task; shortly after they were faced with a crafty Mr. Mime who had placed Barriers across a clearing – they had been forced to find a way through while the pokémon constantly created new blockades. Eventually, Gavin’s Natu used Foresight to see where Barriers were, and they finally made their way through. Shortly after, they had met with a young race regulator, who instructed them on their next task: they had had to run through an Exeggcutor grove, dodging egg bombs, and collect six Exeggcutes from among the grove. Lisa had escaped with only a bruised shoulder, while Fiskmire had to be returned to his ball after an egg bomb exploded on him. After this, they had been faced with a sheer cliff, laced with a massive golden rope net, which they had to use to climb up to the next ledge. However, the net was prone to breaking and reforming it’s bonds at any moment, which had forced speed and skill upon them; returning all their other pokémon except Natu and Aipom, they managed to clamber upwards after fifteen minutes.

Now, just ahead, Lisa could see a figure standing by a signpost at which three paths, including their own, joined together into one merged path, lit by dozens of upright burning torches; it was another regulator.

“ Hello,” Lisa panted, reaching the person beside the sign.

The woman smiled at them. “ Congratulations. You are the first team to pass by this point.”

Lisa turned to Gavin. He grinned. “ That’s great!”

The woman continued. “ If you follow this path,” she said, pointing along the merged track. “ You will eventually reach the summit. However, there are four ways to the summit, so you may be beaten by another team. Good luck.”

“ Thank you,” Lisa said, rubbing Aipom’s ear, “ Come on Gavin, we’re nearly there. We might win!” Suddenly Lisa realised, for the first time since beginning the race nearly eight hours ago, that there was a possibility they could walk away from the contest with a way home and other prizes.

She began to run, her backpack bouncing hard on her back, but she didn’t care. Gavin, too, was running, his eyes focused on the road ahead. Alongside them, the torches burned with vermilion flames. The end was very near now, surely it was just around the next bend …

“ Ouch!”

The female cry came from somewhere close, just ahead through the trees. Lisa looked to Gavin, but he continued jogging. Whatever had happened to the girl, they were about to reach her if they kept running.

“ Wait – that’s not fair – what the -” came a different voice, wafting through the trees before it was cut off. It was Daniel.

Lisa glanced at Gavin. “ What’s going on? You don’t think they’ve got into trouble, do you?”

He shrugged, but Lisa noticed his hand was remaining close to his belt. She surreptitiously took hold of the Buzzball and kept it in her hand – something didn’t feel right.

“ Here it is!” Gavin cried joyously.

They had turned the corner and stood facing a massive dirt plateau, ringed by a rock wall topped in snow. Aside from the flickering torches that cast an orange light on the flat summit, and a metal pole stuck into the ground in the centre of the area that said ‘Finish’ on it, the plateau was completely devoid of any evidence of life.

Lisa tightened her grip on the Buzzball. Something was definitely not right.

“ Do you really think we were first?” she said slowly, her mind drawing slowly to a conclusion. “ I mean … we took eight hours, and we were against some professional hikers … maybe something happened to them …” She gulped, unnerved by the fact that they were so totally alone.

“ Wasn’t Paddy supposed to meet us here?” Gavin interjected. “ And where’s the prizes and stuff?” Gavin said, whirling around slowly but finding nothing of note. The plateau was quite bare. The only way in or out of the clearing was by one of the four paths they could see leading to it, but these paths were all empty.

“ Daniel?” Lisa called apprehensively, her voice echoing eerily into the empty, starry night. There was no reply. “ Paddy?” Nothing.

BANG! The sound of a rifle shot pierced the silence, somewhere distant. Lisa and Gavin both jumped, slowly moving closer together until they were nearly touching. Gavin’s eyes were wide with uncertainty after the gunshot.

“ Should we –” began Gavin, but he silenced himself.

Lisa knew why he had stopped; staring down the path they had just come down, she saw the furthest torches suddenly stop burning. There was no smoke, the flames simply disappeared, apparently extinguishing themselves. A second later, the next closest torches followed suit. And the next.

Lisa heard each deafening beat of her heart. She felt the hairs on Gavin’s arm beside her prickle with fear.

The fourth set of torches died out. The leaves of the nearest trees began to rustle in the cold wind. The fifth pair of lights disappeared.

Lisa touched Gavin’s wrist and gripped it in fear, her other hand clutched protectively around the red Buzzball. They had unconsciously been taking backward steps, away from the disappearing light. Without warning, Lisa felt something hard behind her and jumped – they had backed themselves against the cold grey rock wall.

Every breath was shaky now; every exhalation procuced a puff of frigid mist. The sixth torches flickered and gave way. The leaves began to rustle too heavily to be purely a result of the wind.

The final two torches died, plunging them into sudden total darkness.

And then, materialising from thin air, appeared the last thing Lisa had expected; a massive creature that she had seen twice before in her life; a huge black behemoth, with massive jaws and legs like tree trunks, standing at ten feet high.

It was Lunanine. And he was angry.

[mr_pikachu]

Yes! I get the first reply! Woohoo! ^_^

So that's how the race ends, huh? I certainly hope this doesn't mean that the results are null and void, or our heroes will be in a real bind. Of course, it would appear that they have bigger problems now. Didn't Gavin say, about three years ago (), that every member of his family has been killed by Lunanine? Don't tell me his "final test" comes now? Well, whatever the case, this should be a big next chapter.

I loved your use of setting in this chapter. Everything was very, very well described. Even the darkness was done well, especially with the icy sense you gave everything. In fact, those parts may have been your best description of all. The whole challenge was good in and of itself, and Daniel was a unique, though somewhat undeveloped character. I hope you work with him more in the future, because he could provide an interesting contrast to Gavin's newfound cynicism.

I think a little more editing would have helped, though. I saw several spelling errors that I don't believe could have possibly been due to Australian English being different than how we write things in America. The differences were just too profound. I also saw a few slip-ups where you added letters needlessly, changing the form of the words on some occasions (such as "general" becoming "generally"). I also thought that some things in the race felt overlooked, such as the challenges that were only briefly mentioned, but that wasn't too big of a deal.

All in all, this was good. As always, I enjoyed reading this. The race was exciting enough to captivate my interest, and you pulled yet another cliffhanger. Despite the obvious annoyance factor inherent in those, you've got my attention. Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!

[PancaKe]

why does it take you so long? Theyre soo good, but i know it'll be like, july before we find out what happens next.

Personaly i reckon somethin is up with that daniel. He seems too.. .too friendly to be true, you know what i mean? But yeah, great chapter as usual. Was GAvin always that edgy or is it just me?

[Karania]

looks good, keep up the good work and continue when you can.

[Gavin Luper]

Brian: Thanks for reading, as always. I know this chapter seemed like I skimmed over a lot, which is true, and I included some things that probably weren't that captivating. I suppose I just wrote what I felt was necessary to move everything along in the right manner. I know this chapter was far from my best, and the structure wasn't great, but I'm ao desperate to move on to the next book, that I wrote it quickly. I still think it's good though - if I do say so myself ^^ I really can't wait to tie up book two and move on - it's been hugely difficult to write. But thanks for reading, and the remarks on the setting - cheers!

Tara: Hey. Thanks I know how long it takes me to write these things - if it's any consolation, I hope to have the next chapter up in a week or two.

Daniel? Gavin? Heh. This is just the beginning - I usually spend the last couple of chapters of my books putting in place things that will happen in the next book. Most things I put in have some meaning or other ... I think ...

Karania: thanks once again! With any luck, I'll be on a roll and start churning out chapters.

It's so good to be 'back' and writing again, after a quarter of a year without a new chapter. So happy. And everyone's still replying after so long - thanks so much.

Cheers!

[Karania]

as always, continue when you can. Looking forward to an update and dang it....... I just realizeed I have a Zoology test tomorrow. What a way to kill an evening....... *stomps off to go study*

[ZeldaFan20]

Wow, that last part almost made my hair stand on end: talk about suspense! I wonder what that overgrown...uh...whatever-it-is wants with them now?

I can't wait to see what happens next. Keep in touch.