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

[Karania]

Aw, man! No new chapter. Oh, well I bet you're working it over to make it good. I'm anxiously awaiting the finished product.

[Gavin Luper]

Sorry. I know, my definition of a second is very scary. It might be up today; my stockpile of chapters is running out so I'll just see how I go.

If not today, Sunday for sure!

[Karania]

Looking forward to seeing it, and reading it of course!

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 36 – The League Final.


Hiro’s reflexes were quick, and the red and white ball had been thrown from his tense fist almost before the bell rang. He had thrown it a good distance, and it landed a quarter-way across the dusty field. Exploding into the arena came a dark, greenish-black Heracross.

Lisa recognised it from the Bug Catching Contest, but it looked much more fierce now. And taller.

The response from Lance came with a dark smirk; he twisted his wrist and tossed the pokeball into the air, it popped open after a couple of seconds and a glimmer of whiteness streaked up into the open-roofed stadium, before slithering back to the ground. There were oohs and aaahs from the crowd, and Lisa cringed. It didn’t look like Heracross would be able to pull this off.

The Gyarados was blue but its scales looked like steel, and Lisa stared at them as though she knew they were harder than diamond.

“Heracross – start with Quick attack,” cried Hiro, leaning forward anxiously at his Heracross, dwarfed by the massive Gyarados. It really did look hopeless, but Hiro was determined. Lisa watched eagerly.

“Gyarados, evasive flight!” called Lance calmly, his eyes and voice steady.

Heracross had the advantage at first – he raced out towards the centre of the field where the serpentine form of Gyarados lay, and launched its horn out to scrape the side of Gyarados’ scales. The big blue creature was slow to react, but once it understood its commands, it was quick off the mark. Heracross had clanged its horn against his opponent twice, with a metallic clink, before Gyarados had flown up.

The huge form of Gyarados rose into the air and hovered about two feet above Heracross, who was totally useless, unable to reach his enemy for any physical attack. It was a fairly actionless moment – Gyarados just hovered there, while Hiro looked confused and Lance’s face remained still.

“More like evasive float,” observed Lisa, and Gavin nodded.

The commentator had been dribbling away for awhile, but Lisa hardly noticed the noise. She was trying to listen to what Hiro was saying to Heracross. But it was obvious within moments. Heracross’ eyes lit up crimson, and he stared into the evil eyes of Gyarados, who blinked back, nonplussed. Evidently the leer hadn’t worked.

Lance spoke finally. “Hydro Pump.”

“Get away from it Heracross!” screamed Hiro. “Use dig!!”

Lisa had to bite her tongue to stop herself from yelling out. Hiro was digging himself into a defeat, but, unlike his battle against Tyler back in Goldenrod, this time she couldn’t help out.

It was over very quickly. Heracross was adept in its digging skills, and had soon used its sharp claws to burrow a fair way underground to escape the blast of water. A few clumps of earth hit Gyarados with no effect whatsoever. The serpent then responded by belching out a massive stream of water from its mouth, gushing across the field and beneath it to where Heracross was digging underground. The tunnel filled up almost instantly, and Heracross came bursting through the earth, covered in dirt and swirling grey mineral mud, panting and looking half-dead. Gyarados stopped the attack on Lance’s command, while Hiro quickly recalled Heracross, very disappointed.

“AND HIRO FERGUSON RETURNS HIS HERACROSS AFTER A VERY QUICK VICTORY BY LANCE’S BEST OPENER, GYARADOS!” boomed the commentator; obviously the volume of the microphone had not yet been lowered. Half the stadium was covering their ears, the other half were already deafened (Lisa among them). “WHO WILL THE CHALLENGER CHOOSE NEXT?”

Hiro threw the ball out without much deliberation. “I should have done this from the start.” Lisa could see him mouthing to himself as she dried herself a bit. Being in the front row seats, Gavin, herself and the boy beside her had copped a lot of the rebounding Hydro pump.

A Magneton appeared from the ball, looking very shiny and powerful. “Magneton, Thunderbolt!” yelled Hiro urgently.

Lance remained perfectly calm and still, as though he was observing a rookie trainer make his first commands against a wild Caterpie. “Look out, Gyarados. Dig if you need to.”

Lisa watched, expecting Magneton to power up for a moment, and she watched Gyarados dive underground swiftly, thinking that Hiro was again going to lose. But she had obviously underestimated Magneton. It zoomed down the hole immediately, firing off thunderbolts everywhere, on Gyarados’ tail as though the serpent was a refrigerator. There was a sudden almightly blast of yellow from somewhere underground, and Gyarados came flying upwards through the soil, a deadweight.

The crowd ooohed, Hiro and Lance were silent, and even the commentator seemed to have nothing to say – well, for a moment. “ACCORDING TO THE INFRA-RED UNDERGROUND CAMERAS, GYARADOS HAS JUST BEEN DEFEATED BY A THUNDER ATTACK, FOLLOWED BY A SPEED STAR!” he boomed. “HIRO’S MAGNETON WINS ROUND ONE!”

Then came about fifteen seconds of cheering, allowing Magneton to show off, then a hushed silence came over the crowd, which was still growing with many late arrivals, having only just heard the news of “Lance has a challenger!”

Lance reacted quickly and calmly, and Lisa stared from her vantage point. What does it take to break him, she thought. How much does it take to push him over the edge?

The Charizard whipped out of the ball dangerously. The boy beside Lisa made a sudden movement, as though he was stunned by the choice. She turned to look at him, but he jerked his head back to the action.

“Fire Blast,” Lance’s clear voice wafted across the arena, amplified by the microphone on his collar. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Lisa realised that Gyarados had been Lance’s starter – the pokemon to test the opponent’s strength. Charizard would be able to handle Magneton with ease, surely?

“Magnetic Field, then attack with Thunder!” bellowed Hiro instinctively. He didn’t realise how incredibly clever his idea had been.

Charizard flapped its wings hard to propel itself skyward. Just to show off, Lisa thought with disgust, until the commentator pointed out that flight would give Charizard greater mobility. Magneton fired up quickly, a soft static glow appearing around it, slowly emanating outwards. And then, very gradually, the iron filings packed in the battlefield began to unearth themselves. The audience was silent as the iron zipped through the air, faster and faster, sticking onto Magneton’s body. The commentator was going off on a tangent about how the mineral field had been made up, but did comment that the iron filings might act as some sort of shield for Magneton.

Charizard warmed up and spat the fireball at Magneton, and at the same moment Magneton had collected a heavy layer of iron and its magnets spun around somehow. Instantly, the filings were repelled and collided with the burst of flames, screening Magneton into safety. The metal dropped to the ground, burning red. Quickly, Magneton’s magnets glowed bright yellow and split the air with three Thunder attacks. Two of them hit the airborne Charizard, hopefully injuring it considerably.

And now, while the crowd cheered and Lisa clapped louder than ever, Hiro’s plan was formulated. It would, hopefully, be an easy pattern – attract metal, repel it and make a shield, then thunder. Plan, defend, attack.

“Magneton, repeat thac exat – blaaaah … that exact method!” yelled Hiro, his voice amplified by the microphone.

Lance was looking very interested in the battle now, and he was not a Champion for no reason, Lisa decided. She looked through her binoculars at him, and saw that he was playing with a chain on his neck. Nervousness? She wasn’t sure. But a smiled broke out over Lance’s face and Lisa realised he now had a plan.

“Nice try, Hiro,” Lance’s voice was magnified around the stadium. “But you have a long way to go yet! Charizard, flamethrower the ground as much as possible!”

“Yeah whatever,” spat Hiro. “Magneton, repeat it now!!”

Magneton created that same magnetic field, and it began to grow again, a huge hemisphere of magnetism. But Charizard was quicker than it this time, and for a very scary moment Lisa realised it had not been working as hard as it could, not to its full capacity. This time, it breathed a steady stream of flame directly at the ground within the electrostatic orb. The sand and average dirt was not affected, but the iron began to glow red, and then the plan was clear.

“LANCE’S CHARIZARD USES FLAMETHROWER TO HEAT UP THE IRON FILINGS!”

“Bastard, you can’t do that!” Hiro said to himself more than to Lance, then cringed as he realised his voice had been amplified throughout the stadium. Lance smiled anyway.

The filings, still burning red-hot, zipped through the air and latched onto Magneton, burning it all over. An eerie call screamed out of it, (and if you have ever heard a Magneton screaming you will know that it was a dreadful sound; a dull, echoing, hollow drone of pain) and Magneton descended to the ground, but not before launching a final, vengeful Thunder at Charizard – and the lizard must have been becoming complacent, because all three beams struck, each stronger than the last one, fuelled by Magneton’s burning. And with another shriek, Charizard dropped heavily to the ground, having been thundered five times and defeated.

“Both competitors are unable to fight any further!” the commentator’s voice came quieter now, and Gavin unplugged his ears (“What’d I miss?”). “Because Lance has lost two pokemon to Hiro’s one, a field change is in order!”

There was no talk between the battlers, just the dull beeping sound that accompanied the red jet of light. Then Hiro and Lance stepped back, and allowed the field to change over. It sank away from view slowly, leaving a gaping hole. It would be replaced after the five-minute break.

“Good battle, eh?” said the boy next to Lisa.

“Yeah, definitely,” Lisa agreed whole-heartedly. “I’ve never seen the field used to such an advantage. Except water I spose.”

“Once my Dragonair iced a whole water battlefield up,” admitted the boy, who grinned and Lisa saw two pronounced dimples. “It was really funny, the Mantine we were fighting got its tail stuck in the ice, we had to chip it out for hours.”

Lisa listened attentively. “You’re kidding, you have a Dragonair? How’d you get hold of one? You a gambler or something?”

“Nup. My dad had three, so he gave me a spare …”

“Three dra-?” Lisa’s jaw dropped. She jerked her head at Lance out of the field. “He’s your dad?”

“Yeah. Don’t look so surprised. He’s not a celebrity or anything.”

“You’re so lucky, I only got Aipom from my parents!” Lisa said, as Aipom yanked her ponytail angrily. The boy laughed. “So I spose you’re going for Lance then, in the match I mean?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “Dad’s always winning, I think he needs to lose sometimes. He lost three times this year already, which is really good for his ego.” The dimples winked at Lisa again. “One of the girls who beat him was really cool – she used a Ledyba to beat Charizard. It was fantastic!”

Gavin nudged Lisa sharply in the ribs. “Oy Lisa, look over there! Is that who I th-”

“Sssh Gavin I’m talking!” she said, and went back to flirting with the guy. “Do you like dragon pokemon then? Because –”

“Your name’s Lisa?”

“Yes,” she said. “Lisa Walters. And while we’re on the subject, you are …?”

“Darius Hudson,” he told her, fiddling with a little chain on his neck. Lisa looked at it closely, and realised it matched exactly with Lance’s. It was silver and thin, and hung down low beneath Darius’ shirt.

“Is that the same one as your Dad’s?”

“How’d you know about that?” asked Darius, pulling the necklace up until it surfaced just below his neck. “Yeah, it is. I have Dragonair on the end. It’s this new technology they’ve invented.” On the very end of the chain was an indigo-coloured Dragonair, curled up in coils.

“That’s cool,” remarked Lisa.

“It’s like a personalised Pokeball. The Dragonair charm on the end is the pokeball where its kept, and the position its in shows you what its doing inside its home.” He gestured to the coiled up Dragonair. “He’s sleeping at the moment.”

“I t-” began Lisa, but at that moment there was a huge whirring and the new playing field emerged. It rose up and locked into place, and Lisa thought it was the most interesting field she had ever seen. A man-made mountain was in the centre, rising about twenty metres or so, capped with clean snow. A very wide pool of ice surrounded it not unlike a moat, and there were small patches where the water was on the surface instead of the ice. Snow blanketed the remainder of the field.

“Gentlemen, please step up to the trainer’s box.”

“BEGIN ROUND THREE ON THE ICE FIELD!” the volume was back up again, but somehow everyone’s ears had adjusted – either that, or they were too intent on the battle now to see notice how loud the commentator was.

Hiro had washed his face and freshened up, and already had a Friend Ball in hand. Lance, on the other hand, looked as calm as ever but had his hand in his pocket, as though trying to make up his mind which ball to pull out.

“I SAID BEGIN!”

With two flashes and two well-aimed throws, a Dewgong splashed into the ring-shaped pool, while Aerodactyl emerged onto the summit of the mountain. Hiro broke into a grin, while Lance actually showed some emotion and cringed. It looked like an easy loss for him. But, for some reason, he did not recall the flying fossil straightaway, as Lisa knew she would have. Instead, he mouthed something to himself, then spoke “Aerodactyl, Ancient Power!”

“Ice Beam, Dewgong!”

Swooping down to the ground, Aerodactyl snapped his teeth at Dewgong’s head as he went past, just to show he meant business, before taking back to the sky, circling around and around the spire of the hill. Dewgong was much more sensible and much less cocky. He flipped a long slippery tail and delved underwater, knowing that he would be safe there for at least a few minutes. Quickly, the sealion set its concentration to forming an orb of ice in its mouth.

Aerodactyl had paused, waiting for Dewgong to resurface before it made the attack. But it waited one minute. Then two. And although the tension did not break for the pokemon and their trainers, it lapsed into boredom for the crowd. Underneath the water, a small light was forming, and once Lance saw it he knew immediately what he had to do.

“Don’t hesitate Aerodactyl, do it now! Ancient Power!”

It responded with glowing golden and exploding in a burst of bright light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up on Lisa the Legend

What exactly is Aerodactyl doing?

“I told you so,” Lisa said smugly to Gavin, who squirmed in his chair, but she looked amazed all the same. Darius gave them an amused sidelong glance, but turned back to see his father’s fight.

Whatever the case, the battle must go on.

“Throw snowballs at him!” cried Hiro. His pokemon emerged from the water and quickly headed for the ample fields of snow.

Does Hiro still have the upper hand or not?

“Damn this is embarrassing – and dangerous,” muttered Hiro through clenched teeth. Fifty feet in front of him, Furret was bouncing around, just barely evading the dripping fangs ready to slice into it.

Chapter 37 – Secrets on the Ice Field.

[AquaBabe727]

Whoo! REALLY nice chapter Gavin! I loved every word of it--no complaints here. The battles tactics were great, the descriptions were great, the dialogue was great! I thought it was funny the way Lisa took a liking to that guy and completely brushed off Gavin...I feel sorry for him tho...=(
Ah well, it was cool anyway. I like the little dragonair charm idea! Nice! I really can't wait for the next chapter! ^_^

[Gavin Luper]

You really think that chapter was good Genna? I didn't. Still don't really, although I do really like the charm idea as well. Lol yeah Lisa is a bit of a cow but hey she's allowed to be!

Sorry I haven't been replying - or even reading - RIR lately. I really am getting around to it and I will catch up! Cheers!

[Shadow Djinn]

wow..i spent 2 afternoons reading this and its AWESOME. Descriptive and everything...its great.

[Hyperness is a Good Thing]

Niiiiiiice chapter, good fight! And Lance has a son..with who I wonder?

I like the battling techniques and all that.....^_^

[PancaKe]

Cool chapter. Great battle detail but does this Darius dude have anything to do wit Lisa and Gav?

^_^;;

cool.

~Mist

[100FangCroconaw]

Nice.Who knew that Hiro would get this far?

[Chris 2.1]

a very fluent chapter, although the ice feild seems somewhat obscuring. I like this, as its cool seeing Hiro's Pokemon that we havent seen before!

I take it the battle lasts a few chapters, as we're only just scratching the surface. The charm is intriguing, but confusing!

[Karania]

Great chapter! You didn't let me down. Don't be so hard on yourself you're doing great! By the way I think it would be cool if after the battle Darius introduces his new friends to his father. Oh, and what about Lisa's Dratini? I guess we'll find out.

[ZeldaFan20]

Definitely a great chapter!! I really like the battle with Lance! I wonder how the second half of the battle will turn out.

So, Lance has a kid? Cool!

[Master Kirby]

I thought that was a great idea to have Magneton fly down the hole with Gyarados. It is not often you see a bug catcher fighting the elite 4. Hiro must have trained hard.

I wonder if Lisa is going to get out her dratini any time soon? Maybe Darius could giver her some tips on training dragons.

I am looking forward to the next chapter.

Snowballs!

[Gavin Luper]

Hey everyone, how are yous all? Good I hope. Chapter 37 is coming, but very slowly, due to that fact that I have had LITERALLY no time to write in the last week or two. MY LIFE IS HECTIC!!

Anyway, it won't be up tomorrow unless a miracle takes place. Which is possible.

Darktemplar: Wow, thanks, you're obviously a very dedicated reader to do that ... It took me weeks to catch up to a fic as big as this. I hope you keep reading in future!

Hyperness: I can't tell you who Darius' mother is, but why does it really matter?? It's good that you like the battle techniques because there is a lot more where they came from.

Tara: Hello. Darius is kinda introduced for a reason ... in fact, more than one ... in fact, if I go any further I'll end up spilling out what is going to happen in the next chapters. Basically, yeah he does have something to do with them!



100Fangy: Definitely not me! To be honest, after the few chapters in Goldenrod I forgot all about Hiro until that chapter where Kristal returned. Then that sparked off the idea that Hiro actually managed to come all this way. How he did it ... you will find out later!

SM: Fluent? Thankyou. Yeah, Hiro has a lot more where these ones are coming from! The battles runs into the next chapter of course, but as for it's total length I'm not entirely sure!

As for the charm, sorry it wasn't clear enough.

Karania: So you really liked it then? Good. I know I know, I'm stressing out way too much but I really have the urge to write all this. Two things are stopping me; 1) lack of time and 2) the battle is blocking up my writing for the rest.

Funny you should ask about Dratini, you'll see soon enough!

Zeldafan: Yeps Lance has a kid, I'm still thinking things over about all this though ... after the battle with Lance everything begns to pull together really really tightly. Imagine the whole novel of LTL as a rubber band - for the first 35 chapters it expands, then the last chapters it will shrink back incredibly quickly.

Kirby: Yeah, it would have been a great idea if Hiro hadn't dug himself into a hole though. What if Magneton got flooded and couldn't get up?

Hiro isn't really a bug catcher, he's just the average trainer who specialises slightly more in bug types.

You and Karania must be on the same wavelength with the dratini thing. As I said before, you'll see!

YAYYY! Snowballs = coool!

Seeya!

[Andrew]

Hee! Heracross got so beaten ^^ I was surprised Hiro used such basic battling techniques such as leer and quick attack. Surprising really. Ha! Hera got beat ^^;

Magneton really kicked *** against Gyarados didn't it! And against Charizard, its Magnetic Field attack was rather good ^^ Ha for Hiro swearing at Lance! Go you!

Ha! Lisa was classic with the jaw dropping. Aipom only pulling her hair, I was expecting some more types of physical abuse. Darius's pokeball is intreaguing. I wonder what would happen if he dropped it down the drain...

Anywho the ice field, what a nice description! I hope Dewgong pulls off a win, Aerodactal seems quite adapt though. A nice short battling chappie, I can't really talk much about the characters cause it was about the battle but I hope the rightful person wins!

Good work and PLEASE reply to EBTV ^^;

[Karania]

Really looking forward to knowing what will happen next. I really want to see exactly where Lisa's Dratini fits into all of this.

[GeneChildMewtwo]

I like the battle so far, and can't wait to see how it continues. I wonder if Hiro can make it all the way? Only time (and your next chapter) will tell it seems.

Hopefully things calm down a little for you soon, I would imagine that whatever is happening is probably stressful...

I'll be waiting for the next chapter, although don't rush yourself. ^_^

[Gavin Luper]

Oz: Hi! I know, Heracross was actually really crap! Haha Hiro! I know it sounds dumb, but sometimes that basic attacks are the best. Quick attack is, anyway.

Yeah go Magneton! I liked the magnetic field thing, very original for a change of my usual stuff. Yay, Hiro is good.

Oh, you think Aipom is just pulling her hair. Oh no my friend, it gets much much worse than that! Lol well if Darius dropped it down the drain ... i dunno.

Yeah, the next chapter or two will be almost all battling so the characters don't get much limelight. Dewgong has the advantage, but ... well, things change.

Karania: Yeps, Dratini does slot in here fairly conveniently.

Gene Child Mewtwo: It's good that you, and most of everyone else, does like the battle, because I really don't like it much myself.

Thanks, I hope things settle down for me too. Holidays are a month away, but I'm already looking forward to a break!

I'll try to write the chapter today guys!

[Karania]

Oh boy! A new chapter is always good! Looking forward to reading it!

[Master Kirby]

Wow!

I didn't realize its almost been a whole week since the last post.

I'm guessing you have a lot of things to do. We'll wait for the next chapter.

[Gavin Luper]

Yes, I've been flattened by hecticness (i don't think that's a word) lately. But things are starting to settle down and holidays are coming closer.

I have been trying to work on chapter 37 alongside yet another non-poke thing that probably won't be posted. It's coming along very well, about 1500 words from memory.

It's just a matter of waiting. After chapter 38 I should go at a much quicker pace.

[Gavin Luper]

Whoa. I can't believe it but I finished the chapter over the weekend, and it is LONG ... well above 6000 words anyway. I hope the quality is as impressive as the quantity - it was a struggle to write!

I also changed the name but I'm sure you guys can live with that!

Cheers!

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

Chapter 37 – More than a Battle.


“Aerodactyls don’t evolve,” stated Gavin, staring at the huge illuminated creature perched up on the small mountain. “Maybe that’s just how Ancient Power works …?”

The faces of Lance, Hiro and everyone in the stadium proved his statement wrong.

Lisa exchanged confused glances with him. “Well … I spose we didn’t think Girafarig evolved, then it turned into Girafury. And the same thing again with Fiskmire. It probably is evolving.”

“That’s different,” said Gavin sternly, staring at the scene with a look of confusion. “If we had have taken the time, we would’ve found that they DO actually evolve. The pokedexes all say so, it’s just very rare. But Aerodactyls DO NOT EVOLVE.”

“Whatever,” muttered Lisa. The transformation was almost complete – the light had subsided now, and the shape of the new creature was made apparent.

“WHOA.”

‘Whoa’ described the creature very well. It was like Aerodactyl had been mixed with a Steelix during the transformation; it was big and shiny and silver and strong. Its teeth were only slightly bigger, but infinitely more deadly looking. Danger lurked about the pointed fangs.

“IT’S A … THING!” declared the commentator. “AERODACTYL HAS EVOLVED … FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GLOBAL HISTORY!”

“I told you so,” Lisa said smugly to Gavin, who squirmed in his chair, but she looked amazed all the same.

“Well maybe the scientists still knew,” said Gavin dully. “Maybe they just kept it a universal secret.” Darius gave him an amused look, but turned back to see his father.

Lance looked just as surprised as anyone else in the grandstand. Lisa took a sidelong glance at him but his amazement soon faded into strategy, his face as emotionless as before. Hiro’s amazement also faded – into concern. His Dewgong had had a clear advantage at first, but with the evolution, the tables might have turned.

“Where’s Dewgong anyway?” muttered Lisa to Darius. He responded by pointing to a patch beneath the ice. Lisa looked just in time to see not a beam of blue, but a massive column of crystalline icicles burst out from beneath the snow. Like a solid pillar, it shot up into the air; then, like a gas, it enveloped the Aerodactyl evolution with stunning speed and accuracy. There was a squeal from the inside the icy cloud, then the sparkly-Aerodactyl came bursting out, its wings iced up but otherwise looking unharmed. It plummeted into the side of the mountain with another squawk, and the ice broke off its wings, melting to the icy floor.

“Gong gong gong!” Dewgong burst out happily from the water. It was greeted with a blast of rocks, sliding down the mountainside that the Aerodactyl-thing was slamming into. The Rock Slide was successful in creating an avalanche of boulders and stones towards the ring-shaped pool. Dewgong looked up to see them, and goggled at the sight.

“No, Dewgong, don’t just watch them, RUN AWAY!” urged Hiro anxiously. With a confused look, Dewgong flopped back underwater, and out of sight. Very shortly after, the Fossil Creature gave up with the rock slide and instead swooped down with a light splash – into the water to follow it’s enemy.

Lisa watched with bated breath – never had she seen a rock pokemon dive into water; not purposely, anyway. Aipom yanked her long hair again, giving her an intense desire to get a haircut.

Dewgong surfaced again.

“Get out, get out!” yelled Hiro. Dewgong obediently thrust its heavy body out of the water and began sliding along the ground as though it were having the time of its life. Only seconds after, the fossil shattered through the ice sheeting and rose into the air, water streaming from its crystalline form. And then the beam formed at its mouth, a hyper beam. The fossil was looking even more enraged now; it’s prey kept dodging it.

Lisa covered her mouth and the crowd held its breath again. The white orb grew in the mouth of the fossil as it flew wildly and swiftly, catching up to its prey slowly. Darius was whispering something to himself. Gavin was looking half at the battle and half at somewhere else, halfway up the grandstand.

“Aurora beam!” roared Hiro, as a last ditch effort. The Hyper Beam was formed now, and almost fired.

Dewgong heard him, and looked up to the creature above him.
The Fossil roared and released the white beam at the still-sliding Dewgong.
Dewgong looked stunned.
The beam raced at it.
Dewgong realised the beam was not aimed at where he was now, but where he would be in a moment.
The beam raced further.
Dewgong stopped gliding.
The beam pierced the ice pointlessly.
Dewgong watched as …
… the fossil exhausted itself …
… then he sent out his own beam of rainbow light from the spike on his head, washing over the Fossil and blinding it.

“GO DEWGONG!” yelled Lisa, accompanied by a few hundred others.

“That was cool,” stated Gavin.

Hiro was looking on, tears almost clouding his vision, but he blinked them away, cheering louder than anyone. “Dewgong, secure this! Headbutt!”

And then the sealion, filled with a rush of adrenaline, launched himself into the air using his tail as a spring, thrusting the spike on his head at the slightly less rocky underbelly of his opponent. The attack struck perfectly, and a small gash opened, a trickle of blood oozing out before the fossil dropped to the ice, cracking it.

“HIRO FERGUSON WINS ROUND THREE OF THE MATCH!”

Amidst the cheering, Lisa saw Lance’s smug face waver again. Halfway there, and Hiro had only lost one pokemon to his three. Surely her would be getting concerned by now? Lisa knew she would be downright panicky if she was in his position; the Champion of the Elite Four could not afford to lose to anyone who had as little experience as Hiro.

“Return!” The voice was sharp and Lisa sensed that maybe, beneath the steely nerves, Lance WAS panicking. “GO!”

Before the commentator could ramble on too much, Lance had thrown out his pokeball to face Dewgong. The reaction from the crowd was as could be expected – not many had seen a real-life Dragonair. Lisa knew even her Dratini was an incredibly rare find.

The indigo serpent plopped neatly into the water and the pokeball reeled back to Lance’s hand. He clenched it shut tightly. Dewgong looked determined but exhausted, and Hiro quickly recalled him.

He’s a very smart battler, thought Lisa, stronger and smarter than when I first met him. He knows when to save his pokemon and when to let it go. But he used to be so fiery.

“Charcoal, do your best!”

What a name, thought Lisa. But she said nothing.

Hiro could have told himself in an instant that the field was against him, but as long as Charcoal stayed well away from where the snow met the ice, everything should work out. His fresh-looking Typhlosion stepped out of its pokeball, looking experienced and dignified, as though it knew everything that was coming and was ready to accept the challenge.

“DRAGON RAGE!”
“DRAGON RAGE!”

The attacks went by the same name but were both incredibly different from each other. Charcoal inhaled with a steely gaze of steadiness – it was not a look of anger or a look of determinedness, both of which Lisa would have expected – it was simply an air of “This is what I have to do, I’m going to do it and I’m going to do it well.”

A column of flames flared out at the loop of icy whiteness (which Lisa thought looked a lot like a very thick stream of toothpaste). The vermilion flames shot through the loop and both attacks hit where they were supposed to. Charcoal reeled back in pain and Dragonair gave a slight squeal. But neither seemed too injured. As for the trainers, they were both looking determined to win.

“Thunderwave!” called Lance, throwing his head back as he commanded his soldier to do his will.
“Char, listen up. You have to be really careful. Stay well away from the ice.” Hiro said, not giving any direct attack command but looked concerned all the same. The flames on Charcoal’s back were heating the snow, creating water. It was becoming mush, wet, slippery mush.

“If his Typhlosion falls into the water, Hiro has effectively lost,” said Gavin slowly. He was speaking to Lisa, but Darius broke in.

“I think either way he’s going to lose this round. Not to sound biased, but Dad’s dragons are really strong. The first couple of fights were really just warm-ups.”

Gavin scowled at him, and muttered something that he didn’t wish Darius to hear.

On the Ice Field, Dragonair had speared the air with a few sharp shocks of blue electricity. As yet, they had not hit the bulky form of Charcoal, who was trying to dodge and be nimble, but the result was inevitable. A bolt finally struck him, and Dragonair maintained the connection of electricity for a good few seconds before Lance ordered it to halt. When it did so, Char was frozen in mid-step – except for the flames on its back, which still roared wildly, occasionally letting off tiny sparks which never reached the ground.

“Wrap attack!”

Hiro knew he was doomed now – the paralysis had well and truly set slithered towards its target. Helplessly, he watched as Dragonair Hydro Pumped the fire on Charcoal’s back in and there was no breaking it now. He could not fight back now. Helplessly, he watched as Dragonair’s thin body entwined itself around his pokemon, and the Typhlosion did not move, although odd strangled screams came from its mouth. Helplessly, he watched as Dragonair clung tightly to the firebeast, then with strength that was not purely physical, the dragon hauled its prey across the snow to the ice and water. It was a lost cause.

But a fire in Charcoal’s eyes, that Hiro did not see, said otherwise. It said that there was still a chance for a win. Slowly, Char began to search within itself for that little hidden chamber – that chamber he had only ever had to use twice before in his life. The little section within him that had the extra ammunition. Not just will power. A bit more.

Dragonair had hauled Charcoal almost to the ice now. The stiff Typhlosion was trying to make himself heavier, but of course that didn’t really do much, so he called upon that little reservoir of strength and protection. Just as Dragonair turned to look at him with gloating pools of eyes, Char squeezed his entire body as best he could – and then he found that little chamber. Hot, glowing, burning red coals came flying out his mouth, from somewhere deep down. They were red-hot bullets, coals shooting out at his enemy, the last defence mechanism that Typhlosion had left. One hit Dragonair in the eye, others struck him elsewhere. The crowd ‘ooohed’ again.

A smile flickered across Hiro’s face. Perhaps some hope remained, after all.

*

“I told him and told him,” said Marina with a smile on her cherry lips. She picked up the tall, clear glass and sculled the remains of her apple juice. “But he wouldn’t listen, of course. He was very disappointed in himself.”

Miki Langston, soon to be Miki Walters, faced her at the table. The two were in the back garden of the Ecruteak Dance Theatre. It was a massive wooden building, very old but sturdy, and very beautiful. The garden was a delight in itself – there were lush green lawns everywhere, interspersed with trees of all kinds – mostly ones which offered much shade and required little maintainance. Miki had taken Marina through a dancing lesson that morning, and now they were relaxing under the shade of an Teak tree.

“Well, I’ve only known Gavin a short time, but that really seems like him,” Miki smiled, picking up the shallow china tray which held an exotic assortment of fruits. She offered it to Marina, who took a couple of grapes.

“Thanks Miki,” said Marina. “So do you take people through these routines very often or was I just an exception?”

Miki was halfway through an orange quarter. She was holding it in her mouth as she adjusted the clip in her sleek black hair. “Sorry,” she muttered at last, taking the orange out. “No, we always do things like that. Although we don’t treat our customers to fruit and juice every time. That’s just a perk of being a friend of Lisa’s.”

“Thank you very much,” Marina said for the millionth time. Miki smiled to herself but ignored her otherwise. “When is Lisa coming back, by the way?”

“Well, any day now I think,” said Miki. “She’ll have to come home soon, Christmas is only a couple of days away, and I suppose you can’t wait forever.”

“Well, I was just coming to see Anna’s memorial,” Marina said with the tiniest of sniffles. “and we arranged to meet over Christmas anyway. So I can wait. It would be great to catch up again. Could you please pass the apple juice?”

Miki complied by passing the half-full carafe to her newfound friend.

“Thanks. I’m not taking up your time, am I?” asked Marina. “Like, you don’t need to be back at work do you?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ve finished for the day – Tom’s taking me out to finalise plans for the catering. The wedding’s only a couple of months away.”

“Oh, of course. Where are you going to have it held?”

“The ceremony will be at St Lucia’s Church near the lake. The reception is actually going to be here – right in this garden. It’s like a fairyland at night. The only problem is making sure that that stupid gym isn’t operating during the reception.” Miki jerked her head to the ugly stone building just beyond the green hedge that bordered the dance Theatre.

“MIKI! I’m here,” called Tom, approaching from the side door.

Miki smiled to Marina. “Looks like I have to go now. Thanks for coming. I’ll show you to the door.”

[Gavin Luper]

Part 2 of Chapter 37:

*

“Damn this is embarrassing – and dangerous,” muttered Hiro through clenched teeth. Fifty feet in front of him, Furret was bouncing around, just barely evading the dripping fangs ready to slice into it.

The battle had gone well, but perhaps not quite well enough. After Char managed to summon his inner strength, he overpowered Dragonair and won that battle, meaning a field change had been in order. However, there had been some sort of technical difficulty and the Ice Field could not be moved. So the last two rounds would be played on the Ice Field.

Lance sent out next one of his best fighters – Pythir, the dangerous evolution of Arbok. It had used a very effective Acid attack to burn Char and then wrapped him up, squeezing the fighting spirit out of the firebeast. Hiro had lost a third fighter. He only had three left, but Lance only had two.

Then disaster struck – Hiro accidentally threw out the wrong pokeball – he had meant to reuse Dewgong but had released his Furret, who he didn’t think was completely sane. Now Furret was bouncing around in glee at having been used for the first time in ages – and Pythir was ready to strike.

“Use Agility!” cried Hiro. The Pythir – a long, purple and black python – was drooling and rearing up at the bouncing Furret, making occasional snaps at the furry thing with fangs that were the size of baseball bats.

The result was that Furret began bouncing faster and more haphazardly. Worst of all, it seemed to be having the time of its life and didn’t mind that it could be bitten by a snake that was ten times bigger than it.

“Acid!”

Pythir hissed angrily and spat a blob of acid at the bouncy Furret, who simply began bouncing in the opposite direction, and tried to go up the side of the hill. Pythir tried to follow it, slithering uphill, still spitting out blobs of gooey green acid. Furret saw that it was going to catch up. ‘Oh goody,’ it thought in it’s crazy, tiny mind. ‘That nice snakey creature is coming to say hello! Wheee!’

As Furret thought ‘wheee’, it ricocheted off a rocky outcrop of the hill and smashed with its full force into Pythir’s head. Hiro looked on with near-amazement. Furret – that stupid thing that he wished he had never caught – was boncing up and down on Pythir’s head like it were on a trampoline.

“REEEE!” cheered Furret.

Lisa, Gavin, Darius and the rest of the three thousand spectators cheered Furret on, and it gained huge confidence. Enough so that it began slamming into the stunned snake harder than ever. Until Pythir was really looking injured, and spaced out. In fact, it’s eyes were goggling and Pythir looked like it may have received concussion! Surely it couldn’t withstand the attacks from the Incredible Bouncing Furret for much longer?

“Pythir, come back!” screamed Lance, and Lisa saw the raw emotion on his face. Concern. Fear for his pokemon’s safety. Shock of his near-losing, and of how Hiro had just let Furret attack Pythir mercilessly, untikl he almost got brain-damage. The scarlet light sucked Pythir back to safety, and Lance immediately gave Pythir’s pokeball to the medic who was on standby. The medic took the ball and rushed off down below the stadium.

“I didn’t want to do this,” said Lance softly into the microphone. He took hold of the chain around his neck, and pulled it up until a tiny silver charm emerged. He held it between finger and thumb, and pressed it. “Revelum Dragonite,” Lance said, and the charm glowed orange, then white, and then it exploded it a burst of brightness.

A Dragonite the colour of rose-gold appeared on the snow. It was bright and shiny and spectacular, but, from her position in the front row of the grandstand, Lisa saw that it had the same glint in its eye as Charcoal had had; not arrogant, not angry, not overly determined, just ready to go.

“See? That’s how the charm works,” hissed Darius in Lisa’s ear.

She nodded, dazed. It certainly was a good hands-free alternative to a pokeball. The way of the new millenium.

Furret was looking blissfully happy. “Re re?” he said loudly, scampering down the hill and running to greet a new concussion victim. Or so he thought; Dragonite’s odd antennae glowed yellow and sent out a Spark of electricity at the rubbery Furret. The furry squirrel creature squealed with joy as it was electrocuted, then rolled down the face of the mountain, slipping neatly into the ring-shaped pool.

“Up! Get up!” Hiro yelled, searching around for a way for Furret to attack from a safe distance. His eyes fell on the patch of snowfields. “Throw snowballs at him!” cried Hiro. His pokemon emerged from the water and quickly headed for the ample fields of snow, scampering with a grin on its face.

“Draco, Ice POWER!”

Lisa blinked. Dragonite had a nickname? Then why did Lance call him Dragonite before?

Dragonite – or Draco – acted swiftly. With barely a beat of his razor-sharp wings, he raised up into the air, gliding majestically to the top of the small mountain. Feet firmly planted on the snow summit, Draco stared a long way away, into space. For a moment, all was still, except the tiny Furret, who seemed to be making a snowman instead of snowballs. But the snowman has a small body and a massive head teetering on the edge.

“Furret, stop playing. I mean it – make snowballs and pelt Dragonite with them!”

The message travelled through the squirrel’s brain slowly, but when it arrived, the stupid creature complied. It began making a very small stash of snowballs.

But soon all eyes turned to the golden Dragonite. His eyes were not vacant anymore – they were filled with light the colour of snow mixed with the periwinkle-blue sky. And while everybody watched the rare creature, the Ice field began to shake slightly. The snow atop the summit of the mountain shook, some fell off and slid a short distance. Draco lifted his goldy-orange arms up high, and then, with the sound of thunder, every inch of ice or snow on the field rose into the air. The Ice shattered into small pieces, the snow clumped together and the snowman crumbled. The snow and ice rose up to the height of the mountain, hovering over the large pool and rocky ground left behind, in the middle of which stood a very cheerful-looking Furret.

“Uh oh,” whispered Hiro.
“Re re!” smiled Furret.
“Now,” ordered Lance.
“Draooo!” roared Draco.

The tonne or so of frozen water dropped suddenly, and thumped down across the entire field, flattening Furret instantly and creating a cyclone of snow. The snow tornado whirled across the field, picking Furret up somehow in its travels and knocking it around. Then, as soon as everything had begun, it stopped. The results were obvious; A Dragonite towering on the mountaintop, a Furret flattened into the snow, its tail sticking out to indicate where it was.

“Damn,” remarked Hiro simply, returning Furret to his pokeball. He knew it wouldn’t last long. But it had actually knocked out Pythir! At least it did have some purpose.

“HIRO FERGUSON, THE CHALLENGER OF THE DAY, HAS WORN LANCE DOWN TO JUST ONE FINAL POKEMON. HOWEVER, NOW HIS POKEMON ONLY NUMBER TWO – CAN HE MANAGE TO MAKE THE DISTANCE AND BECOME A CHAMPION HIMSELF?”

For the first time during the battle, Hiro actually saw the goal up ahead. It was so very very close – within his grasp. His pokemon had performed exceptionally well, and only had to defeat this Dragonite. Dewgong and his final choice. But Hiro was unsure if they could pull it off – this Dragonite looked stronger than any of the others. Why couldn’t it be another Gyarados?

“Go Dewgong! Ice Beam!” cried Hiro.

“Gong!” Dewgong leapt from the ball and slid across the sheets of ice, straight into the pool.

“Perfect,” said Lance quickly, obvious in the swing of battle mode. “Steel Beam attack!”

Lisa erupted into giggles and Gavin snorted and took his eyes away from the binoculars in amusement. “Steel beam,” gasped Lisa between laughs, but Darius did not even smile. In fact, he looked angry.

Dragonite acted quicker than ever, throwing back his head and emitting a beam of silver light, directly into the pool. But instead of acting like light, it seemed to become solid once it hit the water. And Lisa’s eyes widened. A solid steel beam was forming as the light from the beam somehow condensed. And it was forcing the water out of the pool.

Neither Lisa nor Gavin were laughing now. There was a clunk as the steel beam hit the bottom of the pool – which must have been very deep. So this was a physical attack AND a special attack. Very dangerous; Draco was trying to hit Dewgong with one of the beams and knock it out without having to go near it.

A few more Steel Beams were fired off – they didn’t seem so funny now at all. A volley of Ice Beams were being shot from Dewgong from beneath the surface – three hit, causing a lot of damage. But Draco kepy Steel beaming, and within minutes there was a sickening clunk from far below. Lisa deducted the worst, and she was right. A few moments later and Dewgong’s body floated to the top of the water; It had fainted.

“Return,” spat Hiro. Draco was too strong. He was finished. Surely. Taking his final pokeball, Hiro’s gaze lingered on it. My first capture, he thought with a hint of nostalgia. Here goes, then.

With the knowledge of the laughter to come, Hiro reinforced his will, and threw out the ball.

“I choose you … Weedle!”

Lance did not laugh. Hiro did not laugh. Three thousand others did - hysterically.

Lisa, in the front row, allowed only a small giggle; she was thinking. Why would he send out a Weedle? Unless he had had it for a long time and it was really strong – but how strong could a Weedle be? Suddenly, a memory that she had not intended to keep flashed back at her. It was not very important, but she recalled that back in Goldenrod, Hiro had only four pokemon. One was Cyndaquil – Charcoal. One was Heracross. One was his Venonat, now a Venomoth. And Kris had made mention that his other pokemon was a bug. His Weedle – they’d been together for quite some time, then.

“Draco, Tail Whip,” said Lance. He was not laughing, but was slightly amused. He knew that Hiro was a good battler, and surely had a good reason for sending out a tiny little bug against one of the strongest pokemon in the world.

Draco soared to the ground, which was covered still in snow (which was slowly melting under the lights) and landed about ten feet from Weedle.

“Reflect!”

The rose-gold coloured tail rose and came crashing down towards the bug (which was big for it’s specie, about 1 foot and a half). Before it struck, a hemisphere of shimmering light appeared as a safety bubble over Weedle. The tail struck it with massive crushing force, then reflected off the barrier and hit Draco in his face. The reflect stayed intact.

“WOO GO WEEDLE!”
“WEEDLE RULES!”
“I LIKE BUGS! I LIKE BUGS!”

Common cries from the crowd were heard, Lisa’s being the first one.

Lance was looking on in disbelief. Weedles did not learn reflect. They couldn’t. But that one had.

“Weedle, Double Poison Sting attack!” screamed Hiro.

“The hell?” Lance actually said it aloud, breaking his calm and all-knowing front. Weedle couldn’t do that without evolving! IT COULDN’T! “Draco defend your- … self.”

He finished the sentence slowly and with a sense of shock. Weedle had squeaked out a few syllables of its name before leaping up through the air, practically defying gravity, and curling into a ‘U’ shape as it charged through the air at the unseeing Draco. The head and tail barbs both struck Draco’s left leg, causing more than a scratch; blood had been drawn.

Weedle tried the same manoeuvre again, and was grazed by the sharp tail of Draco. The dragon was hurt not – although it might not have been a major injury, it did sting, and the effects of Dewgong’s earlier Ice Beams were really starting to take their toll.

Lance couldn’t comprehend it but he had to; this Weedle was strong.

“Thunder, Draco!”

The antennae sparked with built-up static electricity for a split second, then they formed a star of lightning bolts, all shooting out in different directions. The Reflect was actually still standing, though it had been left behind when Weedle attacked with Poison Sting, so Weedle was a good five metres away, right in the path of two incoming shocks.

Then the amazing bug did something nobody – except Hiro and one other spectator – could have seen coming. He dug his front barb into the ground, and used it as a pivot to lauch himself into the air. And as it looked like he would land, Weedle dug his tail spike into the snow, and launched off again. The result was a very talented set of cartwheels, dodging every single thunderbolt. Weedle finally stopped his routine – safely behind the reflect, which was starting to look a bit weaker. One of the electric bolts had hit it during the acrobatic display.

Draco and Lance were both obviously getting annoyed now.

“Draco, use Hydro Pump, then follow it up with outrage!”
“Weedle, try a Pin Missile attack and safeguard!”

Amidst the dribbling of the commentator, the rose-gold Dragonite barely inhaled for long before it gushed out astonishing amounts of clean, clear water. Most of it was on-target, and struck the weakening reflect. Hiro was proud that it had lasted for so long. The water splashed off harmlessly, but Draco took another breath and intensified the jet of water. The reflect shattered, and the tail end of the attack struck Weedle.

But the bug was tougher than it looked, and with a surge of adrenaline, Lisa in the grandstand began to think that maybe the battle wasn’t such an obvious victory for Lance. Weedle was doing the unthinkable – putting up a fight – and he seemed to be able to hold his own against Draco.

While Draco began glowering with the onset of his Outrage attack, Weedle focused and from his front barb on his head shot two small, pointy, thin barbs, like the needles of a cactus, or maybe slightly wider. The two barbs struck Draco in the side, sticking in tightly and stinging it like hell. The dragon forgot about his commands for the first time in many years – the poison was stinging, itching and infecting him. It was spreading through his body already, and while he tried to crazily pull the spikes out, Weedle fired another two, injecting them into his wing.

“Ruuu!!!!” bellowed Draco in agony, forgetting about the first two barbs and trying to pull out the two which were lodged in his sensitive wings.

“WEEE!” cried Weedle, firing off another two barbs, striking Draco in the chest. This time he seemed to frantic to notice – his wings were throbbing and the poison from all three hits was spreading around his system now – the more frantic he got, the faster it pumped around. Soon it would be injuring him, making him sick.

Draco began firing out random but powerful attacks – Ice beams being the favourite, as they were easy and quick enough, followed by the very accurate Thunderwaves. Weedle was hit by the tip of an ice beam, and then got bombarded with a surprisingly accurate bubblebeam. The battle was fierce, but was taking its toll on both fighters.

“Duuuuuuuulllll!” squeaked Weedle, remembering it’s orders finally and projecting a veil of stars into the air before it. The golden stars – not unlike a Swift attack chasing itself – hovered just above Weedle’s head, shielding it as best it could. Weedle was incredibly lucky – no sooner had it set the defense up than a stray thunderwave came streaking at it. The stars of the safeguard, shining radiently, leapt up to block the attack as though they had a mind of their own. The electricity was deflected.

The crowd were mostly on their feet now, screaming and barracking for whoever they wanted to win – mostly it was Weedle.

“Forget the outrage! Solarbeam instead!”

Hiro waited for the right moment, until Draco had collected sunlight and had the greenish-white orb in his hands, then, spurred on by the screaming crowd and the rush pumping throughout his body, he yelled out. “WEEDLE, USE MIRROR COAT!”

Smiling very faintly, Weedle nodded at his trainer with a determined “wee”, then proceeded to respond. His segmented body took on a reflective metallic lustre, very similar to a mirror. Lance tried to retract his orders, but the Solarbeam was too strong for Draco to handle anyway – it burst out of his hands and shot with stunning velocity at Weedle. The Mirror Coat did not protect Weedle from the strike; he was knocked off his feet and thrown back onto the snow, which was well and truly melting away.

Then the Mirror Coat kicked in.

Dazzling crystals sprayed out from the metallic lustre which coated Weedle – they spun in a formation not unlike a double-helix shape, then, although the ill and injured Dragonite tried to escape by flight, the crystalline formation caught up to him, tearing into him with extreme force – double the damage of the Solarbeam.

Draco was swaying now – dizzy and failing. Hiro had regained the upper hand in the fight – if Weedle could maintain the stance he WOULD win the entire match – CHAMPION HIRO!

“Weedle …” Hiro searched for an attack to use. Weedle was looking weak – the

“Hyper Beam,” yelled Lance. “Full Power, give it everything you’ve got!”

Draco responded quickly as usual – though he was worn and looked droopy – forming the last orb of light in his jaws. Hiro was rapidly searching for a technique – and then the day he caught Weedle – outside Cherrygrove City – came flooding back.

“Weedle, String Shot attack!” cried Hiro urgently.

“Weeedllle!”

And with a final act of determination, Weedle opened its mouth and released the long, ample, sticky thread at Draco, who was standing barely two metres away. Weedle aimed first for the mouth, and after a moment had stuck the jaws of his opponent together. Then, seeing that the Hyper Beam could form no longer, Weedle set about destroying any other chance Draco had to win – the webby thread quickly bound his wings together, preventing any flight from the winged giant, then the string aimed at his feet bound the large feet to the ground. Weedle looked up, shaking in pain from the blast of the Solarbeam, then sprinted as only a Weedle can, with full force behind it, leaping up and tackling Draco in the ribs. The giant moaned through webbed teeth, shook dangerously, and fell the the ground.

Defeated at last.

“WEEDLE! YOU WON! YOU DID IT!” Hiro screamed wildly, as the crowd erupted hugely into a cheering and screaming mob. Hiro could hardly hear himself screaming as he raced to the centre of the field, scooping Weedle up and hugging him tightly. The unconscious form of Draco was forgotten amidst the screaming and cheering and clapping. Lisa yelled herself hoarse, while Gavin and Darius preferred to be a slight bit more civilised.

“HIRO FERGUSON, A TRAINER OF HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IN NEW BARK TOWN HARDLY FOUR MONTHS AGO BECOMES THE CHAMPION! LANCE HUDSON HAS BEEN DEFEATED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1999!”

“YAYYYY HIRO!” cried Lisa.

Lance stood back, half grinning to see the rise of such a brilliant trainer – only four months to defeat him, what talent! He turned slightly to the body of Draco, and clasped the charm on his necklace.

“RETRAHERE!” He said softly, and Draco dissolved into the depths of the charm.

Hiro’s vision was misted with tears as people came running out from nowhere to hand him something – a huge golden trophy, prizes and recognition. His goal had been reached. He had achieved it all at last.

Hiro was finally a champion.

*

Different place, different time, very different atmosphere.

“Tell me now,” a voice demanded, sharper than a scythe.

The room was so cold, dark, dreary – the very aura of the place was of evil. The final spears of dusklight failed to penetrate the tiny, barred windows, which were clothed in layers of dust. There was barely any light in the entire building, save for a tiny candle on the desk.

Another voice gasped back. “I already said, I DON’T KNOW.”

The first voice fell to a dangerous low-pitch. The man who accompanied it looked murderous – something which was not unusual at all. The man was tall, well-built and had very dark eyes. He held another man up against a wall, glaring at him with loathing he had never been able to control.

“You tell me everything you know, or you die,” said the first man, the dark man, triggering his captive’s memory with a dagger.

Shallow breaths accompanied the voice. “Alright. This is all I know.

“I saw them … together … this week, about Monday I think. I had just analysed the … you-know-what … and I was in the town. I already knew about Lucas by then, so I was wary. I knew you had someone on the project before her, and I wondered who. As I was wondering, I saw him in the middle of town, walking along with some friends as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Then I worked it out, so I tried to … clear things up at the lab …”

The Dark Man’s voice broke in scathingly. “You were not trying to clear things up … I know exactly why you went back. You took them … you BURNED them, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t … of course I didn’t … I never …”

“You stole them, burned them, then tried to escape –”

“I wouldn’t! Sir … I wouldn’t do that … I didn’t. The documents are still here, everything is still here, I’ll show you!” The man plunged a hand down into his pockets, searched around for a minute, then pulled out a pokeball. He threw it out before his boss could react, and the figure that emerged was interesting to the Dark Man. A Murkrow, with an entire file tucked beneath its wing.

The Dark Man turned his face back to his captive. “So, you didn’t take them at all, eh? Explain that then.”

“Sir … boss … I took them to save them from the fires. I never meant to steal them for good.”

“You did so. Give them here.”

The captive man jerked his head and ordered Murkrow to hand over the file, which was full and rather lumpy. The black bird complied reluctantly. The Dark Man took the file, tucked it beneath his arm, and smiled, his white teeth shining in the flickering candle light.

“Tell me everything else. Don’t lie again.”

The victim complied quickly, spilling out everything, and then, when he was finished and all the secrets were squeezed out of him, the Dark Man smiled viciously again.

“You didn’t tell me the truth the first time.”

“Please, let me go … I’ll be good, loyal … never again …”

Dark eyes smiled. “Yes. Never again will you decieve me …” The victim’s eyes were brimmed with tears of relief, but just for a yoctosecond. Then – “Yes, never again …” repeated the Dark Man, his hand clutching the dagger with vengence.

“You lying, betraying, backstabbing bastard!”

The Dark Man gripped the silver dagger, thrusting it into the stomach of his victim. It slit open with sickening screams from the victim man, who looked ready to throw up. But instead, his stomach never got the chance. The Dark Man was stabbing it wildly, with sadistic pleasure only a madman would know, as the acids spilled out onto the floor. The eyes of the victim popped out of his head, the dark man began to stab wherever he could – the side, the crook of his arm, the cheek, the eyeballs, the lungs, the heart. Warm, crimson blood flowed onto the floor, spattering and staining the cement. The dark man sliced the heart of his victim one more time with that mental glint in his eye and that sickening, ugly evil in his own heart. Then he gripped the bloodstained dagger, wrenching it from the corpse of the man who had once been doing his will, and turned to the Murkrow. But it was gone, taken flight to some unknown refuge minutes ago. The file remained. The Dark Man picked it up, staining it with the blood and fluids on his hands.

Then he gave a hollow, piercing, deadly laugh, filled with nothing but hatred and a sick, sick mind. His heart was blackened with fury and ugliness, his soul blemished by the blood of another man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up on Lisa the Legend

After all this time, Hiro’s won the Johto League … well, he’s defeated the champion anyway. What’s left to come?

Lance looked at him curiously, but continued anyway, sitting down beside a large statue of a very ancient trainer. “There are some others … a very few others … who have defeated me before. They are scattered across the world. If you want a further challenge, seek them, Hiro.”

Around the corner comes a strike that Gavin’s psychic powers could not foresee.

“I need to speak to Gavin Luper,” she said crisply. Lisa stared at her in confusion.

“Why?” she asked, keeping the door open only a fraction.

“Something’s happened to his Uncle.”

And Hiro has just one more hurdle to leap before he can really become a master.

“Hello Kristal,” said Hiro coolly. Tyler lurked behind, looking sulky.

“Hello Hiro,” said Kristal, almost as coolly. But she couldn’t hold it in any further. “Oh, come on! All three of us are here together … let’s have a battle then!

Chapter 38 – Typhlosion versus Golem versus Misdreavus.

[Chris 2.1]

amazing. i'm speechless. It was a stunning match, with the aero evo, Weedle, Dewgong, Furret....that Arbo-evo...it was a thrill to read, recreating the events in your mind.

Furret was cool! My Silver cart has a level 100 furret...he rox! With theif and thunderbolt he is unstoppable! Except against Machamp...^^;;;

Weedle kicked butt! I thought he might have evolved during the battle, but that was a very well played move!

[Powarun]

Go Weedle, that was awsome but during the whole thing I was reminded at the fact that Dragonite could learn slame. The bouncing furret was great, Hiro gave his pokemon a lot of skills, not attacks and the defence was awsome, thank you for making this fic and Hiro winning

[Master Kirby]

Yay Weedle! That was great! I would never have expected Hiro to finish off a Dragonite with a weedle. That Furret reminds me of Aipom. They should play together some time. That would be hilarious.

That was certainly one sick, twisted man. If he comes after Lisa or Gavin, they are going to be in a load of trouble. What where those files? Is team Rocket working on some secret project?

[AquaBabe727]

Hey Gavin! I've been kinda absent for the past few days; sorry bout that! But wow, good job on that last chapter! You've got a knack for writing strategy, it really makes the story come alive. I liked furret! Crazy weasel things are always fun. ^_^ And I liked the mental picture you painted of Lance's dragonite; it sounded very cool. But I think your best plot twist was having Hiro's tiny little weedle defeat Draco--that was just really inspired! I'm glad Hiro won--I was beginning to have my doubts. ^_^'
And that last little bit at the end with the guy slaughtering the guy...very visual, pretty gory. But a good job on that. *evil laugh*

Anyways, great job on that; I'm glad you're picking up the pace again! Bye!

[Andrew]

OMG How damn hillarious! This was an wonder to read! With the totally underused approach and of all things a Weedle! Lol! Excellent, simply excellent! Its sure better than a Politoed!

Furret was a blast! I'd love to see more of it in the future! It was great! And its endless energy was wonderful! It took down the Arbok evolution AND made a snowman. DId I mention I love this furret

But Dewgong was also excellent! I was expecting the steel beam to impale it or something It sure was good. And Darius seemed.. I dunno...

But a Weedle as his last pokemon I was so laughing! It was hillarious! And then it won with all those kickass moves! How'd it do that? But well ENTERTAINMENT ++++ I didn't want Hiro to win, but the sheer likeability of his team had me wanting him to win in the end!

And the last part... ooh..my... slaugtering... I saw Final Destination 2 and Snatch yesterday so I'm feeling desensitized to it all. But that Murkrow! Fly my pretty! FLY! The dark man... I have a feeling he's against Team Rocket... or Entei... or just out to kill Lisa YET AGAIN! But that was well done too.. sobering...

Great work Gav!

[ZeldaFan20]

Now THESE are great chapters!! Who would 've thought that a Dragonite could be beaten by a tiny Weedle?!

As for that last part, does anyone besides me have some guess as to who that "Dark Man" is? Well, I can't wait for the next chapter: I wonder how Gavin will react......

[GeneChildMewtwo]

That battle was great! I'm really suprised that Hiro was able to defeat Lance's Dragonite with a Weedle. It was exciting, and kept me glued to the monitor to read what Hiro's Weedle could possibly do against a massive (especially comapared to Weedle) Dragonite. Although I wonder how Hiro was able to teach his Weedle moves in a way that the National (or at least Johto/Kanto, or maybe World) Champion was unaware of. Hiro's really proven himself, and now he moves on to the next challenege. Although I'm interested in who the others who defeated Lance are... It just so happens that 1999 was three years before 2002, and isn't that when you started writing this fic? Or am I reading into things a bit too much...?


It's a little odd that Lance would have a Arbok evolution, but it fits since the Johto/Kanto region dragons are snake-like for their first two forms. It's also nice to see someone who isn't a Team Rocket member using something from the Ekans line, since that almost never occurs in the game or anime.

I really liked Hiro's crazy Furret.
Hyperactive + Cute = Win. ^_^
It did really well to take out Lance's Pythir so quickly, although I wish we could have seen Pythir in action a bit longer...

What will happen to Gavin when he finds out what happened to his uncle?
(Just wondering, but Eusine is Gavin's uncle, right? Does that mean that Gavin is just now going to find out what happened to him? I can't quite remember if Gavin knows about that...)

And that scene with the "Dark Man" at the end was described very well, although a tad disturbing. I can tell that he has some problems, but also some sort of agenda that will undoubtedly bring him into future parts of the story.... Another person after Lisa and Gavin?

Back to waiting for the next chapter. Keep up the good work!

[Karania]

Good chapter! The bouncing Furret was very funny. I wonder where Lisa's Dratini starts to fit in. Oh, well it'll probably be revealed in the next chapter.

[Hyperness is a Good Thing]

Wheeeeeeeeeee...I like the bouncy Furret!!!!

Great battle, nice to see a strong, really really strong bug Pokemon for once.......^^

That was a really cool battle.......chun chun.

[100FangCroconaw]

Go Weedle!Bouncy Furret, Bouncy Furret.^_^.Nice chapter, Who knew that Furret would actually come in Handy?Also, I remember Fiskmire, Tentacraw, That Aerodactyl evo, Girafury and Pythir but I can't remembder the other ones.What were they?

[Gavin Luper]

Shiny Marill: Thankyou! Thank goodness it was good to read then, it took so so so so long to write.

I like Furret too, all bouncy and soft and squishy. And Weedle deserves 'Most Valuable Player', if you ask me - he really showed how strong bugs could be.

Powarun: Yep, Draco could have used Slam for sure - he didn't but it definitely is a physical possibility. You've realised the point I was trying to make!; anyone can learn attacks, but it's the skills and the feelings that really count in the end. Weedle won without using anything more spectacular than a Safeguard.

Master Kirby: I loved writing the last part of the battle - Weedle's fight just rammed itself into the computer instantly and constantly, it flowed perfectly, as far as writing goes.

That last part of the chapter was kind of abstract, but again, it wrote itself really. That para where the man actually kills the guy made me feel a bit ill as I wrote it, it was the most disgusting thing I can ever recall writing. Never again ... well, not quite ...

Genna: Hello!! That's alright, I've not been keeping an eye on any of my favourite fics (yours and EBTV) for a few weeks now - if I don't catch up soon, it will be in a couple of weeks time when the holidays begin.

Story come alive? That makes me feel like I actually have some sort of talent lol!

It seems everybody loved Furret - maybe I should bring him back one day? Who knows? Oh, and would you believe I wasn't really sure myself if Hiro was going to win or not until Weedle used Mirror Coat - then I thought 'Nah, he has to ...'

Visual ... gory ... yucky! Ugh.

Cheers!

Oz: Thankyou! Hey what do you mean a totally underused approach, I don't follow? Yeah, Politoed was really quite crap. But anyhoo, I knew you would like Furret. Ah, it'll be a champion snowman builder before long!

Dewgong was a real champ if you ask me - sensible and very cool, not to mention he does all those great moves! What about Darius, btw?

All I can really say is ... YAYYYY WEEDLE!

Oh, No, Lisa's attempted assassinations are far too boring these days ... it's something different.

Zeldafan: Thank you ... yeah, Weedle's victory did kinda come out of nowhere, but I loved writing it anyway.

I'm sure you have your theories about the last part, and unfortunately for me, they are probably correct.

GeneChildMewtwo: Hi. The point I was trying to make in that battle was that sometimes things aren't always as they should be - Aerodactyl never has evolved before, but it did then. Weedle should not stand a chance against Draco, but he did. The world of the story is not one that can be easily calculated or scripted, if you get my drift.

Oh btw, you're probably reading into this way too much.

Yes. I threw in some different pokes in the chapter. I always do, because I hate the game and hate the anime, both of which are the most cliche, mindless things in the world.

Eusine Luper is Gavin's uncle - or was ... you'll find more about that soon.

A tad disturbing - I agree whole-heartedly.

Next chapter will be a week or two away still.

Karania: Thanks! I like Furret, it's great that he was such a hit with you guys. Lisa's Dratini - he's hanging around somewhere! Not everything will be in the next chapter, but definitely in the next ten or fifteen.

Hyperness: You like Furret too, eh? What a surprise!

I agree, bugs are always seen as pathetic, this little guy proved them wrong.

100FangCroconaw: Yeah, considering Furret's weirdness, you'd think she would be utterly useless, but there you go.

I think you're referring to my made-up pokes? Read back and see! You've missed two or three.

Everyone: C38 coming soon ... or evenutally ...

[The_Missing_Link]

Now this is why I love reading this fic. It's so intruiging and just keeps me interested every single second of the way

Like I said, damn good chapter. Kinda predicted that Hiro would win, but not with those type of Pokemon. I'm assuming Weedle could use those moves due to being with Hiro for the longest time. Can't wait for more

[Powarun]

Well I am reading too into it. How cool this thing is. I wish I could see a Weedle use Mirror coat. Why can't the games be this way?

[PancaKe]

I'm very amazed. Teaches me to alwasy read this. That Weedle comeback was unpredicted by my half. It would be so good if weedles were really like that. ^_^ But they're not so we just have to make it up . Also the last bit with the folders and backstabbing was actually very dark and mysterious... bum ba bum... ^_^

But it was an excellent chapter i seriously reckon u write really good battle scenes cuz lyk, that was really good. I could just SEE it happening as I read. It takes a thousand words to paint a picture, in your case, six thousand.

~Mist

[ZeldaFan20]

I know! It reminds me of the Orange League episode where Pikachu takes a stand against that huge Dragonite!! I mean, talk about "close!"

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everybody! Sorry, I'd give individual replies but hey ... I'm worn out. There are only four more school days until I'm on holidays, so then I can really start churning out the chapters!

Cheers!