Re: Lisa the Legend - Chapter 52 up!!
Genna: Cool, that's a lot easier!
Lol don't worry about having doubts, everything will become clear eventually and this chapter will help clear something up!
Cheers!
Nice and new!
Chapter 32!
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Chapter 32 – Tin Tower Terror.
Lisa’s phone rang at about eight o’clock that night. She excused herself from the kitchen table, at which sat Gavin, Wes, Jean and her parents. Tom and Miki were visiting more rarely than before, as the wedding was gradually nearing. At that particular time they were at the arcade in the city centre, perusing invitation notepads and making final decisions on the décor for the reception.
In the lounge, Lisa pulled up her pokegear phone, pressed the side button and replied. “ Hello?”
“Is that Lisa?” A long-forgotten voice spoke through the receiver and it was a few seconds before Lisa’s mind clicked into action and she recalled the boy.
“Hiro?”
“Hi Lisa! I know I haven’t contacted you in ages, and I know we’ve never really been close friends, but I need you to do something for me!” He said quickly.
Lisa lowered herself down onto the cobalt lounge, telling herself not to step blindly into any agreement she may regret. “It depends what it is, Hiro. I’m not really sure if I can fulfil it, but go ahead.”
It was something major from the tone of his voice. “Listen, I made it to the Johto League,” his reply came all in a rush. “I earned eight badges and my Pokemon are all very advanced. But –”
“That’s great!” Lisa said.
“But something’s gone seriously wrong. One of my badges … turns out it was a hoax. A fake badge, fake gym, fake gym leader, fake victory, fake everything! I’m ready to battle my last opponent, but now I’m not allowed to go any further into the league until I get another badge.”
“That’s horrible!!” Lisa decided not to talk about the entire league situation, as it would take far too long for Hiro to explain about it if she appeared interested. “ You should go get a badge, then.”
“That’s the problem. The contract all trainers sign once they make it to the league states that –” Lisa heard a crackling of paper at the other end “‘once you set foot at Mount Silver you may not leave unless you (a) Win the league, (b) Lose the league, or (c) Decide to forfeit’. I can’t get a badge, Lisa, – if I do, I’ll forfeit the entire tournament.”
Things seemed to be getting more complicated. Lisa sighed. “So, Hiro, you need me to get a badge for you?”
“If you don’t mind … that would be great. Lisa, this would help me to achieve my dream. I’ll completely understand if you refuse, as this is our first chat in ages. But if you say yes, then I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“Forever?”
“For a while, anyway.”
Lisa was not so sure anymore. Hiro had explained his problem and it was up to her whether she would assist an old friend in need or not. Morally, she knew she should. Otherwise, she was uncertain. Suddenly, she remembered her Fog Badge up in her room, on her dresser. Her voice shaking with trepidation, she spoke through the receiver. “What badges do you need, exactly?”
Hiro’s reply was full of hope. “Well, I didn’t earn the Storm badge or the Bolt Badge – oh, or the Fog Badge!”
Lisa’s heart leapt into her throat. Did she really need the Fog Badge for herself? She LIVED in the city, anytime she wanted to now she could rechallenge Morty. As for Hiro, his entire dreams, his lifelong goals, depended on her response. And her means of transport … Lisa reminded herself to ring the Car Insurance Company.
“Hiro, I’m coming to Mount Silver. I have a badge for you.”
*
Nurse Joy was still chasing Sandshrew down the winding forest paths of the lakeside woods north of Ecruteak, Issechu-gun still in her arms. Nurse Joy had lost sight of Sandshrew a moment before, but could feel its presence nearby, as well as something massive – the Tin Tower, rising up over the entire county. She knew it was very close by.
The furious girl who had lost her sanity briefly at the hands of her ‘sick’ pokemon was now feeling perfectly sane and a little less than terrified. She had heard of stories in the past of people being killed behind the Tin Tower at these early morning hours, when the sun had yet to rise. Serial Killings, murders, odd disappearances always seemed to occur behind the tower which she could now see spiralling up towards the starry black sky. The very air around her suddenly seemed heavy with death and mystery, the curly ferns and plants on the ground suddenly seeming like deadly snakes of evil rising up at her, the innocent calls of Hoothoots suddenly sounding like the shriek of horror.
Naturally, Joy panicked. Issechu was rigid in her arms, and she dropped him with a thud. Her heart pounded, and she suddenly felt sure something was nearby her, closing in. Issechu’s icy wings flapped wildly as it hovered around her flushed face. Joy stared wide-eyed around her, the tall dark trees – Pines, oaks, elms – all rising up and blotting out the streetlights of nearby lakeside estates and screening out the bright, cheering lights of the lake’s marina just a few kilometres away. And she feared that something terrible was going to happen.
Her fears were not unfounded.
A high-pitched shriek reverberated into her ears, followed by the pelting of heavy quick-paced footsteps. Joy grabbed Issechu with tensed hands and sprinted towards a bush near a pine tree, ducking behind it for a moment, then peering out in fright. From the lower angle, she could see the wide back wall of the Tin Tower shrouded partially by trees nearly as tall as it. And abruptly, the source of the frightening commotion was apparent.
A man screamed into the clearing, panting and sweating. He dropped to the ground in a heap of exhaustion, and even in the dim moonlight Joy could make out beads of sweat and blood on his forehead. Although she had been trained as a Pokemon Nurse only, her healing instincts quickly took over, and she dumped the cold Issechu in the bush, racing out unprotected into the clearing where the man lay.
He was breathing unevenly, and looked like death. His face was ghost-white, his eyes wide with terror, and he looked like he hadn’t had nourishment in weeks. Joy placed her cool hand on his cheek, and immediately withdrew it, blood covering her palm. She shied back, but remembered to be a good nurse, and returned to the man, helping him up. He spoke at once, as another high-pitched shriek pierced the cold night air. “Ugh … tell them what it is!” he urged, as Joy’s eyes bulged with astonishment. The man licked his coarse lips and spoke again. “The legend, it’s here, now. It came!!!! It’s my turn!” Joy had no idea what he was speaking of, and began dragging him to the safety of her bush. Her skin was prickling and her vague sixth sense told her again that something horrible was about to happen. With much difficulty she helped the man to his feet, where he tried to run away from her. He was so weak that he collapsed on the ground.
Issechu had risen with its tiny wings out of the bush now and had hovered over to the man’s body. The man was still alive, but his forehead was bleeding still and Joy now noticed a large gash in his arm. She tried to tend to it, but he pushed her back with sheathed strength born purely of terror.
“Leave me!” he screamed. “ It came!! Tell … it ca – tell them …”
Tears of horror and rage were pouring down his cheeks now, but for some reason this made him look stronger. Joy stood at a distance of about two metres and spoke down to the man, confused as she was. “ Who are you? What has ‘come’?” Her voice was calmer than she felt, and she took confidence in that.
He was now crouched down on his knees, and as he answered Joy heard distinctly the high-pitched shriek again, and a sudden shattering noise which resembled a tonne of glass breaking all at once.
“Eusine,” he said softly. “My name is Eusine Luper.” Then his panic seemed to rush back all at once. “It’s coming! – leave me!”
Joy wanted to help the man, but whatever was ‘coming’ didn’t seem exactly like a pleasant thing to meet up with. She edged back, but Issechu remained hovering with the man. “Come here, Issechu,” Joy urged fretfully, now having totally forgotten the Sandshrew she came to find. “We’ll just hide over in the bush, come on.” The bug remained steadfast, and just as Joy strode over, trembling, to retrieve it and hide in the bush, there was an ear-piercing racket and a violet arrow of light shot out of nowhere, streaking through the point Joy had been standing at only a second before. Amazed and shaken, she dropped to the ground, fainting as though a pokemon herself. The man barely took notice of this, and Issechu’s gaze remained fixed to the point of the purple beam’s origin.
A huge black beast bounded out of nowhere and landed with earthshaking power on the sand, making Eusine shake uncontrollably. He bowed his bleeding head, while Issechu made a buzzing noise. The beast, without vocalising in any form, suddenly formed a wide green orb within its jaws. The sphere grew rapidly, and within seconds was the size of a fairly small Snorlax, which filled the jaws of the beast.
The beam was fired as Issechu flapped it’s wings heavily and sent out a vapour of icy gas, which enveloped itself, Joy and Eusine. The sapphire coloured mist was so thick it obscured them for a second, and the luminous jet of green light fired from the Black Beast split through the air fruitlessly.
Issechu, Joy and Eusine reappeared over the other side of the wide clearing, but the beast had pre-empted this, and already turned and fired of a much thinner beam of violet, the same of which he had aimed earlier at Joy. This had an arrow-shaped head, and was dead-on target. But this time, Issechu still had something up it’s clumsy sleeve, and breathed out a glowing jet of cerulean hue, which shaped itself into a circle around Eusine (who was still sobbing away), the unconscious Joy, and it’s own orange self. The icy barrier did its job, and the purple beam hit it, shattered it painlessly, but did not linger to affect the victims any more.
It was now, as Issechu was feeling faint itself, that Joy began to stir. Her face was pushed into the muddy ground, and she moved it upwards to see Eusine still there; alive, but only just. The beast did not see her, but instead decided to rid itself of Issechu, and fired off an intense beam of blackness, intertwined with the darkest possible shade of violet, which collided with Issechu momentarily. It had put up an excellent fight for a small pokemon, and now dropped to the ground beside Joy as the beam collided with it, fainted.
Joy knew well enough to stay silent and still. Eusine was slowly standing up, looking as if he would have rather died on the spot without falling at the hands of the Black Beast. His eyes narrowed, and a bright yellow bead of light appeared on his forehead, before a pencil-thin beam of light shot out at the beast and hit it in the eye. The beast was barely affected, and indeed smiled.
“Your time is up,” it spoke in human language, before forming three orbs the size of cricket balls in its mouth. The beast shot them all out at once, and the golden-white orbs wheeled over to the injured Eusine, hissing like the ocean retreating from the beach, only more angrily. Joy looked up at the moment of impact to see the man’s body silhouetted against the intense glare from the spheres. And caught full view of the horror. The orbs connected with his body, one through his arm, one through his head, and one through his heart. They tore through his body like it was made of air, and he screamed one last, anguished roar before the orbs sliced him to death.
Joy shrieked in shock, fear and terror, as Eusine’s body dropped to the ground.
Dead.
His face was a deathly grey, his eyes open but unseeing. Warm blood was spurting out onto Joy’s clothes, but she didn’t – she couldn’t – notice.
The beast barely looked affected – there was no trace of triumph and power in its eyes, yet no hint of remorse or shock existed – or, if they did, they lingered for an indistinguishable second. Then the Beast turned to Joy, its eyes glinting with crimson anger. A witness must die. A beam, one of the small, purple variety, arrowed out from his mouth to the ground where Joy lay. She screamed, as death plunged towards her, and ducked down. Moments later she felt something spear her shoulder, and screamed again. Then a light, floating sensation overcame her, and the blackness closed in.
Lunanine’s eyes flashed fiercely. Joy was gone.
*
The next morning, the Walters’ household was alive with last-minute rushing. Lisa and Gavin were both racing throughout the house packing final items in their backpacks, before departing to Mt Silver. Hiro’s call had inspired Gavin too to go to the league and meet him, as well as accompany Lisa.
The ebony-haired girl placed the glittering Fog Badge into her pocket, and set her mouth in a determined line. She had fought for it. She had won it. And now she was giving it away. Strangely enough, it no longer mattered.
“Gavin, come ON!” she yelled down the staircase. She ducked back into her room to retrieve her backpack, which was bulging – her Mum had insisted on packing for Lisa this time. After hoisting the bag upon her back, the fourteen year old stepped out onto the balcony. There stood, mucking around pointlessly, Aipom, Fiskmire, Dratini and Elekid. Lisa realised her pokemon party had diminished since she earned her Fog Badge – Magneton disappeared and Issechu returned to Joy at the centre …
Joy at the centre!!
Lisa had completely forgotten to mention to Joy that she was going away for a couple of weeks. Her job there might be crucial, owing to Joy’s poor Nursing Skills. Joy had the instinct, but not the ability. Lisa began to feel very stupid.
She rushed down the stairs in a flurry, accidentally clotheslining Wes on the way down the stairs. She barely noticed, and reached the kitchen as Gavin was speaking to her parents.
Lisa’s mother held a large bouquet of multicoloured flowers in her hands, while she filled a vase with water and jammed the flowers in, before racing out to yell at the kids. Gavin was talking to Lisa’s Dad, who was refusing a hundred-dollar note that Gavin was waving before him.
“I insist … you’ve been so hospitable towards me!” Gavin muttered, his tone of voice out of character. “Just take the money, really, it’ll show my appreciation.
“You’re very welcome, Gavin, but money doesn’t –”
“GAVIN! WE HAVE TO GO!” screamed Lisa, careering into the table.
“Well, well, somebody’s hyper,” grinned Dad.
“I haven’t told Joy that I’m leaving yet! She might need me,” Lisa wailed to Dad.
Before the dark-haired father could reply, Lisa’s mother walked back into the kitchen, and picked up her flowers. The scent and the image, not to mention Mum’s natural instinct, calmed everyone down at once. Lisa’s Mum looked up. “Oh, Lisa, I forgot to tell you ... Charmaine rang while you were up north.”
Lisa was stunned as she recalled another friend who she hadn’t spoken to yet. “Oh, I’ll have to ring her back. Right after I call Joy.”
Mum held up a calming hand and spoke in a soothing manner. “You go off to Mount Silver. Don’t worry. I’ll give Charmaine your phone number; she’ll ring you later. And I’ll stop in at the centre to tell Joy personally, don’t worry. Just be back in a few days, alright? It’s only a week until Christmas.”
Lisa’s mind immediately relaxed, then tensed again. Christmas! Of course … it was Thursday the 19th today … only about a week to go. It appeared nobody in the house had noticed, what with Lisa’s trips, and her parents arriving home, and Tom and Miki’s wedding preparations, nobody had even given a thought to Christmas. Or had they?
There was a shriek from the lounge room. “MUM! Wes keeps messing up my tinsel!”
“She’s putting it on wrong, it looks all spasticated like that!” Wes’ voice hollered back.
Lisa and Gavin turned the corner and peered into the lounge. In front of the huge front window, Jean and Wes had set up the Christmas tree, tinsel draped over at odd angles. Lisa suddenly noticed Gavin’s ditto was also helping.
“Aren’t you taking Ditto, Gavin?” Lisa asked.
“I let Wes have him while we’re away,” replied her friend. “Ditto likes him anyway.”
This was most likely the cause of the increased arguments between Wes and Jean recently. Jean pouted and looked sternly at Lisa. “If you don’t catch a Pokemon for me while you’re away, you’re dead.”
Coming from the tiny Jean, this would have seemed hilarious to any stranger. But Lisa knew Jean was a tough little kid, and while Lisa was a lot stronger, Jean sure could do enough damage. And besides, she really did want a pokemon.
“Sure,” replied Lisa.
“OK, bye then!” cried Jean, happily for a change. Wes echoed her, and Gavin spoke to Lisa.
“Ready to go now, then?”
“Mm hmm,” she said.
Then there was the custom hugs and kisses amongst the family, and left-handed handshakes and hugs between Gavin and Lisa’s parents.
“Take good care of her,” said Lisa’s Dad, firmly and unsmiling, to Gavin.
“I will.”
Lisa snorted. “As if, Dad. I take care of him most of the time. He couldn’t fend for himself if his life depended on it. I have to feed him half the time,” she grinned, gesturing to Gavin’s arm, which was now out of it’s cast but still very weak. Something had happened to it when Gavin teleported, and it had healed back to usual.
Gavin ignored her. They said final farewells for the trip (and Mum burst into tears of pride in her daughter), and then walked outside to where a very small, very cheap but otherwise identical buggy was parked. When the company heard of the broken buggy of Kris’, they arrived early in the morning and surveyed what Lisa had left – an unmistakeable mechanical part – and provided a three-day free buggy hire. This solar-powered buggy was supposedly much stronger that the last, and would take them to Mt Silver in a couple of days. Lisa couldn’t wait to see Hiro again – and to see him battle. She could have sent him the badge via post, but this was the excuse she needed to begin journeying again.
Gavin leapt into the driver’s seat, then leapt back into the passenger’s seat as Lisa slapped him playfully. Aipom appeared from nowhere as he often did, and leapt onto Gavin’s head, wrapping around it tightly and messing up Gavin’s jet black hair.
“Aipom, the living turban,” smirked Gavin, pushing the monkey off his head. Aipom then took up a hanging position on the black bar at the rear end of the buggy. Gavin placed his and Lisa’s backpacks at his feet. Lisa then honked the horn loudly, and started the motor, waving to her parents, and her siblings, as she cruised away from her home and down the street, to Silver City.
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Next up on Lisa the Legend
Lisa just loves being on the open road, nice and free, taking a break from her mother … or not ...
“Mum I’m fourteen; nearly fifteen! I can drive without crashing!” Lisa protested, while the buggy swerved violently off the side of the road.
But overall, the trip to Mt Silver is going along well.
The sun suddenly slipped away and Lisa realised they had driven into the shadow of the Ice Path almost directly before them.
Of course, something would just have to happen to knock them off track.
The rumbling was becoming ever-louder, and Lisa began to feel apprehension build up like a toxin in her stomach. The stalactites and stalagmites began to tremble, and one near Elekid shattered.
Chapter 33 – Icy Inferno.
Originally Posted by mr_pikachu
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