Lisa the Legend - Chapter 52 up!!
Chapter 19 - Sacred Suicune.
Pidgeys shrieked in the tall oak trees which bordered the long, gravel road to Moo Moo Farm. Lisa and Gavin trailed wearily behind Aipom, who raced in front, squealing almost as often as the wild Pidgeys. The December morning was dawning bright and warm, and Lisa was sweltering in the rising heat of summer. Her bag weighed heavily on her bag and she reminded herself to buy a new one. Inside, something was jingling and clanging.
“ Are we there yet?” Gavin complained stupidly.
“ Does it look like it?” Lisa snapped, without turning to face him. The path had worn on for over two weeks now since Olivine and for the first time on her journey Lisa realised how lucky she had been to hitch a ride with Suicune on her first day. She had saved herself a LOT of time instead of walking endlessly.
As they arrived on the crest of a hill, Lisa heard some rustling in the bushes – not a common rustling that signified a weak wild pokemon, but a continuous rustling accompanied by a deep growl.
“ Oy, listen,” she muttered to Gavin, who stopped immediately. The growling grew still louder, until, in a flash of ultramarine, a creature bounded out from the bushes alongside the oaks. Lisa gaped, but her previous experiences with legendaries had taught her not to idle. Gavin gaped also, and Aipom halted in it’s tracks.
Suicune prowled menacingly on the path, teeth bared and saliva dripping continuously from it’s fangs. Lisa moved her hands to her belt and quickly sent out Dratini, who floated in awe for a moment before landing on the ground, more tense than usual. Suicune looked up at Lisa for the fourth time in it’s life, and the girl willed it to stay still, not to pelt away and escape like last time. And somehow, it worked, and Suicune accepted the challenge of the tiny Dragon, however, Lisa thought she noticed it’s eyes dart swiftly towards Gavin and linger on him for a moment, before turning back to the fight.
“ Ice Beam!” Lisa ordered at once. Gavin and Aipom both took a quick sidestep to avoid any inaccurate attacks. Dratini powered up, and fired an azure beam from it’s mouth directly at Suicune’s head – no orb of energy this time, just a beam. Suicune stood and bore the brunt of the beam, barely moving except to shake it’s head. But it inwardly gasped, although kept the same menacing look on it’s face. This girl … she had improved since last time … maybe improved a bit too much; that beam actually hurt a little …
“ Full Power Thunderbolt!” Lisa cried, and Suicune saw danger at once. While Ice Beam he was resistant against, a Thunderbolt could really hurt, especially since Lisa’s improvement. Taking a human or Dratini’s view. Lisa ceased fire at once.
“ Hang on Dratini,” she muttered sadly. “ He’s gone…”
Recalling Dratini, Lisa travelled over the hill and into a vast valley in subdued silence. Her flicker of hope had been extinguished immediately. Gavin, however, seemed to think it amazing how Suicune had simply endured the attack before calmly disappearing.
“ Seriously, Leese, that was hell cool. The way he just let you attack him … whoa! And he didn’t even strike back or anything. I wonder why he appeared anyway? I’ll have to tell Uncle Eusine that we’ve seen him twice since Goldenrod.”
For some reason, seeing Suicune again seemed to awaken Lisa from a sort of haze. The past few weeks since the ferry had landed them in Olivine and then they had trekked through the land had been fruitless attempts for legendary recognition – no pokemon had been seen except common ones which Lisa would rather give to Wes and Jean than catch for herself.
After about half an hour of silence, Lisa spotted something up ahead, gleaming in the sunlight. Gavin spoke first, however.
“ Look up there, Lisa, a lake!”
“ Is it a lake, though?”
“ Dunno … looks like it comes from the mountain … maybe a stream?”
“ River – it’s quite wide.”
“ OK – hey I don’t think there’s a bridge.”
“ Oh … we’ll just surf …”
“ Damn … I just got used to NOT swimming around everywhere.”
“ Grow up.”
However, as they came to the river, both were surprised. Aipom raced forwards, and as they arrived in a cluster at the water’s edge, they noticed a tiny hut a few hundred metres west, where a bridge arced over the water, which indeed was very wide. Lisa thought maybe it was just one long lake, until she remembered they had seen water gushing into it from up in the tall, purple-capped mountains. Gavin and Lisa followed Aipom to the hut, where Lisa was shocked suddenly by a familiar figure.
“ Lisa?” cried a girl’s voice from the door, as they approached.
“ Huh? Kris!” Lisa cried, shocked as she noticed her good friend Kristal Williams from way back in Goldenrod.
Gavin looked on as the two greeted and reunited before him. Kris looked a couple of years younger than himself – maybe she was 13 – and she had aqua hair separated into two parts. Her pokegear hung in a similar fashion to Lisa’s, like a necklace. Gavin soon gave up on waiting, and cried; “ OK, OK, Introduce us!”
Lisa laughed. “ Sorry ‘bout that. Kris, meet Gavin; Gavin, this is Kris.”
Kris held up a petite hand and waved in a way that Gavin thought only a girl would – she held her hand firm and twinkled her fingers along in a smooth ripple. Gavin nodded and muttered hello, as Lisa began chatting a top speed to her friend.
“ It’s been so long … a month anyway … where’s Hiro?”
“ He … left. I wanted to go to Olivine, he wanted to go to Mahogany, so we separated.”
“ Oh right. So have you spoken to him?”
“ We kinda left on bad terms,” Kris muttered, her mouth set in a grim line. “ I didn’t get his number.”
“ Oh,” Lisa said, quite subdued. “ So – how’s your pokemon? They’ve probably all changed by now.”
“ Great, I got a Jigglypuff just the other day.”
“ Great!”
“ And Ledyba evolved too.”
“ What about Chompy?”
“ Not yet – how about your pokemon? I see Aipom is fine.”
“ Oh yeah, he’s great, a little pesky, but fine I got some new ones too!”
While the girls chatted, they gradually walked from the hut towards the long, regal bridge. Gavin stared dejectedly after them as Lisa released Quagsire and Dratini into the river and Elekid and Vulpix to walk beside the river, and a Totodile emerged from one of Kris’ pokeballs. “ I’ll just wait here then?” he questioned, throwing down his backpack against the side of the wooden hut and sitting down on the overgrown grass which ran from the edge of the bushes to the glimmering cerulean water’s edge. One thing that struck Gavin most about the river was the clarity, and from this came the possibility of seeing wild pokemon without them being disturbed. Crawling closer to the water while Lisa and Kris admired each other’s pokemon, Gavin noticed that it wasn’t an average river. It was more like a canal of some form – the bank was an upper edging, which the water came almost level with. The edge of the canal beneath the water sloped immeasurably steeply down, Gavin guessed about four metres by the looks of certain distorted shapes of the sandy floor.
Apart from the occasional Krabby, the canal floor was littered with Totodiles of various shapes and sizes, all playing about underwater in their quiet world. Gavin watched them, his curiousity growing with each moment, as they chased, ran, hid, jumped, skipped and frolicked. The water magnified the sun’s light, it seemed, but not the heat, which would have made an ideal habitat.
Gavin checked for the girls, and found them bickering about a TV show while Quagsire, Dratini and Totodile looked on, either puzzled or amused expressions on their faces. Gavin stripped off his shirt, throwing it in the direction of his backpack and the hut, and slipped easily into the water, rippling it ever so slightly. The water was cool and soothing on his tired muscles, after walking fruitlessly until now. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs to bursting point, and ducked his head under the surface with a small splash.
His shorts clung to his legs, hindering him in his swim, but Gavin was too curious. The Totodile below seemed so – undisturbed, as if they were completely cut off from any form of civilisation.
Gavin reminded himself they probably WERE.
He dived down deeper, finding that the river was not only clear but quite calm, and serene. The Totodiles were much closer now, only a few metres away, to his right, and he was almost level with them, when a thought jolted him. What if the Totodile had never seen a human before? What if they swam away when he arrived, abandoning their home?
All these very fair thoughts raced through Gavin’s head in a split second, and he promptly sought a solution. He so much wanted to watch the creatures; underwater they were much clearer than the wavering, distorted figures he had glimpsed from above. A sudden fleck of green to Gavin’s left indicated a large clump of Salvao bushes – long and snaky, the reedy plants waved around in the water, and Gavin quickly ducked for cover beneath them, hiding behind it’s thick threads.
However, the Totodile’s hadn’t seen him. They suddenly, after a moment, pricked their ears as though something could be heard, and swam off in a cluster, about fifteen of them acting as one. Gavin seized the opportunity and let himself rise upwards to the surface, his head breaking through after a few seconds, for a breath of air. It was like the breath of a Meganium over deadened lawn; Gavin’s previously almost deflated lungs were regenerated with new oxygen, and he was ready for another dive. He hurriedly ducked his head under and began pursuing the school of Totodile.
In the few moments it had taken Gavin to take a breath, the Totodiles had swam out of sight, which Gavin inferred must have been a long way away because the water was so clear he could see for ages. He quickly swam after them, when suddenly his head slammed into a solid, hard wall of some sort, and he fell down.
‘ What?’ he thought inwardly, rubbing his head and looking up. Before him lay the usual river floor he had been swimming along, but for some reason, Gavin found it impossible to get past. The reason was abruptly made apparent, as Suicune crept slowly out of a cleft in the rock wall to Gavin’s right. It’s cobalt fur was glowing seemingly brighter than ever underwater, and it’s mouth was set in a grim line, which Gavin would have previously thought impossible. However, Gavin’s attention was taken by his lungs deciding to empty at that point. He struggled suddenly, trying to swim for the surface, but suddenly, after his lungs were ready to burst, Suicune opened it’s mouth and a jet of lilac energy issued from within it’s jaws. The beam rushed at Gavin, and hit him at once.
Moments later, Gavin found himself incased in an enormous air bubble. Inside the bubble, the sounds of the quiet underwater world were muffled and he was in his silent world. Suicune remained unfazed outside the bubble, and Gavin yelled out at it “ Oy, what are YOU doing here?!”. Gavin hadn’t really expected an answer, but all that happened was that the sound of his own voice merely echoed around the air bubble, until it had been repeated so many times it faded out. However, Suicune grinned menacingly as usual, and Gavin heard words in his head. An odd sensation washed over him, he was hearing the words, but somehow no voice, just the words were played back to him inside his own head. //Human – I have arrived – to help you//
“ What?” Gavin burst out again, hearing the words rebound of the bubble walls and watch them wobble and quiver slightly. Suicune calmly floated in the cool outside water and a radiance emerged from it’s eyes, greater than it’s aurora fur. The azure light was blinding Gavin, and he turned away slightly to view it on an angle, but Suicune seemed undisturbed. //Take this, keep it. It will help you// Gavin wondered what the legendary pokemon was on about, but watched carefully through squinted eyes at the transformation occurring. At first, he thought Suicune was evolving, as the light washed over his body, filling the clear water with azure light. The all the light seemed to form into droplets, beads of power, of energy. Gavin watched in awe, and the droplets all ran down Suicune’s body, and merged with each other, tricking down into the water, which they stained blue. All the blue beads of light now came together, and shaped themselves into a spherical form. Gavin was shaking slightly, despite trying to keep calm and stand still. Suicune watched, completely calm, as the blue shone and turned amazingly into some form of ball – pokeball? The ball was half golden, half indigo. Gavin thought it was a horrible combination, but somehow it managed to shine and look impressive still. Suicune nudged the ball, which was drifting in the water before it’s face, and the ball slowly floated forward and touched the bubble, pressing insistently on the edge. There was a soft ‘pop’ sound, and the ball broke through the bubble, and the water somehow remained outside as the bubble closed back over. Gavin felt the pokeball – it was half smooth, and half rough, but both halves were sparkling in the light. Gavin opened it, and his stomach fell suddenly as the pokeball revealed nothing at all. Empty. But as soon as the ball opened, the bubble popped, and Suicune cried //Keep it!//. Gavin closed it and pocketed it, before he rose upwards. Suicune thought out a final //Good Luck, Human//, before evaporating into the water.
Gavin floated swiftly upwards, until …
“ Lisa!!” Gavin yelled, his head breaking abruptly through the surface. “ You’ll never guess what …”
He looked around, and Lisa and Kris had both vacated the grassed area around the hut. For a moment he thought he saw them on the bridge, for there were a couple of people there, but as he watched, a few others joined those people, so he decided they couldn’t be Lisa and Kris.
The bridge was a about fifty metres away, so Gavin thought he must have floated a fair way. He hauled himself over the edge of the river, and sprawled out, exhausted, on the lawn. Deciding to wait until Lisa and Kris returned from wherever they might be, he pulled the empty pokeball out of his pocket and turned it around slowly in his hands. Suicune’s process of creating it had seemed so – magical – how could it be such a dud, apart from it’s look? It was such a let down, after watching it appear from Suicune’s tears – were they even tears, or were they just … power?
Maybe he could just try it again. It couldn’t hurt, surely? Gavin pulled himself to a sitting position and felt his breakfast slosh around in his stomach. He took the blue/gold ball, and threw it up into the air. A freak gust of wind blew past at that moment, and blew it over to the edge of the bushes and trees which rose everywhere, halting at an invisible line for the neat grass to grow. The ball landed, and a faint popping sound emitted, although again, nothing appeared. Gavin’s stomach fell a little more. It really was a dud. A sudden thud just beyond the beginning of the trees caught Gavin’s attention. The leaves rustled heavily, and suddenly a branch snapped off a tree just visible through the shade given by other trees. Gavin stood up abruptly, and approached the trees near the edge of the hut, pushing past the thickset shrubbery and into the dingy forest. Through all the undergrowth there was a rough path of destruction about a metre or so wide. Pitiful plants and bushed were trampled down into the forest floor, and Gavin felt suddenly as though - he thought this was very typical - there was somebody watching him.
To Gavin’s right, from the direction of the back of the wooden hut which backed onto the forest area, Gavin was sure he saw a flash of light – his first thought was a camera, but then he thought maybe it had been a pokemon’s beam? He averted course to investigate. Suddenly a growl sounded out from his left this time, as he made his way along a very under-used path. He suddenly came to a clearing, where pools of dappled sunlight fell on the ground, and everything was suddenly made clear.
A Raichu was laying on the ground, it’s eyes crossed, looking injured and confused. It was laying very close to the fallen branch, which was spread across the clearing. Gavin realised what had happened – Raichu had been in the tree when the branch fell off and had been virtually knocked out. It used the last of it’s strength to pointlessly use thundershock, or a similar attack. Gavin ran over the details in his mind, and everything fitted, but it seemed like such an anticlimax. He had expected there to be something interesting – maybe something mysterious, even. Disappointed, he about-faced and trudged back to the grassed area beyond the line of shrubbery. Another flash suddenly radiated from the grassed area, and Gavin sprinted back down the path of destruction until he emerged back into the light of the outside world. His special pokeball was laying on the ground, and he picked it up. The source of the second flash was suddenly made apparent.
Lisa and Kris were battling on the grassed lawn. Kris’ Chompy was glowing brightly, as a white light washed over it’s body. It grew taller, and wider. Lisa stood back, recalling her Elekid. The evolution process finished, and before the girls stood a Croconaw. Gavin took that time to clear his throat, and they noticed him.
“ Gavin, there you are,” Lisa said. “ Oy, guess what. If I win this, Kris is coming with us to Moo Moo Farm.”
He smiled. “ What if you don’t?”
Kris grinned light-heartedly. “ I’ll come anyway.”
Gavin nodded, interested, and watched as the girls sent out their last pokemon. Kris took a little longer, as she was rejoicing over her Totodile’s evolution. Finally, Lisa’s Vulpix appeared for it’s first trainer battle, and Lisa wondered if the training she had given it against wild pokemon had been enough.
Kris sent out her Jigglypuff, the bouncy, fluffy, inflatable pink pokemon. It squeaked out various syllables of it’s name and poked out it’s tongue at Vulpix. The crimson fox looked offended, and it waved it’s six tails in a way of showing how distinguished it was. Lisa quickly ordered a Flame Wheel, as well as a wish of luck, as Vulpix had been in few trainer battles before. Vulpix nodded, Kris ordered Jigglypuff’s attack, Jigglypuff nodded, and Gavin smiled as he settled down on the grass to watch the fight.
Vulpix, being the more agile of the two, took command and attacked first. Flames whooshed out of it’s mouth in a circular formation, spiralling at Jigglypuff in a scarlet pulsating form of energy and fire. Jigglypuff had seemingly been idling, but now it’s inactive appearance was revealed. It had been waiting to dodge Vulpix’s attack. It did so almost perfectly, leaping up above the spiralling fire and only just singeing it’s rubbery feet. It landed well away from the wheel of flame, which quickly burned out. Jigglypuff and Kris looked smug and pleased, Lisa and Vulpix (and Gavin too) appeared agitated. Vulpix shot out a burst of enraged embers, which caught Jigglypuff off-guard.
“ Oy, that’s not nice!” Kris protested.
“ Sorry about that!” Lisa cried, but she was actually pleased to have got an attack in.
“ It’s alright. Jigglypuff, use Rollout!”
“ Try agility, then Quick Attack!” yelled Lisa in desperation. Rollout might manage to take out her Vulpix after a couple of turns – she needed it not to hit.
Vulpix purred softly, and readied it’s body for any abrupt movement at any flinch or attempt at attack from Jigglypuff. The crimson fox waited, as Jigglypuff curled into a rubbery orb, and came careering down the grassy slope towards it. Vulpix stayed still until Jigglypuff had nearly careered into her, then leapt up and actually soared over the top of the pink pokemon. Landing on the grass, Vulpix saw the back of Jigglypuff and charged at it with all the strength it could muster. The Quick attack hit accurately, and Jigglypuff, who was slowing down after the exhausting Rollout, slammed into the ground.
“ Sing it to sleep, Jiggly!”
“ Perfect, Vulpix! Now use Safeguard before the song takes effect!”
Lisa’s Vulpix got the pre-emptive strike, and Vulpix breathed out a short stream of golden mist, which began orbiting the air around it’s head. Jigglypuff began singing a sweet-sounding song moments later, but luckily it had no effect.
“ Ember! Finish it off!” shouted Lisa.
Kris was looking in despair, and throughout her earning of her five badges, no battle had been this intense. And she was beginning to realise that Vulpix was at a much higher level. “ Jiggly, use Doubleslap!”
The Jigglypuff tensed it’s tiny hands, waiting for the Fire Fox to get within range of it’s powerful slaps. Vulpix, however, was at an advantage yet again, as it’s ranged attack meant it didn’t need to come in contact with Jigglypuff. The orange embers burst out in a stream of hot sparks, which rained down on Jigglypuff fiercely. The sparks burned it, and the pokemon shrivelled up into an unconscious heap.
Kris looked sadly at her Jigglypuff, and Lisa smiled. “ You won it this time!” Kris said, not sounding at all sad OR happy. “ I guess I’m coming with you to Moo Moo Farm!”
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Suicune sprinted across the vast plains near Ecruteak. He entered the outskirts, and quickly became invisible again, as an extra precaution, although the inky blackness of night-time was acting as a shield. He raced into the Burned tower, and automatically fell down the hole in the first storey’s floor – but did so purposely. His speed was incredible – he had made the voyage easily in a few hours.
//About time// Entei greeted, it’s face hardly visible in the darkness of the basement, lit only by a flame fixed onto a bracket in the wall. Suicune made itself appear, and nodded to the tall, wide form of Entei, standing erect in the centre of the basement, and Raikou, pacing slowly in the corner.
//Did you -// began Raikou, it’s yellow fur sparking slightly with static electricity.
//Yes// Suicune informed, and the other two breathed deeply.
//All done, then? They didn’t work anything out, did they? Suicune?// enquired Entei, now curling up by the flickering vermilion flames which he conjured into the air. //You DID take all the precautions? Invisibility?//
//I’m fine, I did all that. I’ll check again in a few days// Suicune told them. //Don’t worry Entei, he should be safe for a while//
All three sat down together, in silence, and then, as though magic, invisibility fell over them, hiding them all from view. Atop the Tin Tower, a majestic phoenix heard Suicune’s last words in his head. // … should be safe for a while// The phoenix nodded to itself, and gazed slowly out to the stars, which barely lighted the night.
Originally Posted by mr_pikachu
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