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

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everyone! Writing has been on hold for the last three months or so but the next couple of weeks should mean a couple of chapters (I hope so anyway!).

The plotting of the story has been taking place in the back of my mind, however, so I think you'll all be very pleased when the next few chapters emerge - things really begin to happen.

Seeyas shortly!

[Karania]

LOoking forward to the next chapter!

[mr_pikachu]

Whew! Finally caught up!

Very interesting chapter! A Weedle beating a Dragonite... classic! And I love that Furret! An Pithir the Trampoline! Gotta love it!

Though I AM a bit upset. I had a great idea for my fic, but before I could use it, you used a part of my idea... oh well. It'll still be in there, but I'm disappointed that now it has been looked into a bit.

I would have loved more description about Aerodactyl's evolution, though. For some reason I just couldn't get a clear picture into my head. But to cheer you up, I want you to know that that was the first time that has happened to me during this fic. (And yes, I know I've used the word "that" three times in one sentence!)

Well, I can't wait for the next chapter! I'll look forward to it!

[Gavin Luper]

Karania: I'm working on it, so there won't be lnog to wait.

Mr Pikachu: Hello!

Wow, three 'thats' in one sentence! Full on! Thankyou for reading my fic, have you replied to it before? I don't remember seeing you around in this topic.

It's good that you liked most of the chapter - and the entire story - but what idea did you have that i already had used??

Anyway, congrats on catching up (it's hard work!!) and i hopw you do continue to read on!

[Chris 2.1]

Well, i look forward to it! Sounds like things twist...twist like a twinkie...*dubious glare* I'll bet my pipe, my hat and my trenchcoat, thankyou...

*smoke bomb*

Shiny runs off into the night...

[mr_pikachu]

Well, I would have told you, except it would have ruined the surprises for my fic! I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself!

And no, I haven't replied to this fic before that last one. I've been trying to catch up over a vast expanse of time, but I decided that it wouldn't be prudent to reply at the end of your writing with something midway through, so I waited. (Okay, I sounded like the Pokemon R/S Trick Master earlier, now I sound like Dana Carvey imitating George Bush Sr.!) Anyway, it's a great fic, so keep on plugging away! I'm enjoying it thoroughly!

[Karania]

Hope to see the next chapter soon. Take your time, there's no hurry. Though I am anxious to see it!

[GeneChildMewtwo]

I guess there won't be too much of a wait for the next chapter from here. I'm looking forward to it too.

Also, I hope my last post wasn't... too over-anylizing or anything. I often compare things to the Pokemon Games since I consider them the "truth" of the Pokemon world, however I hope you don't think I expected you to follow them absolutely 100%. I really like what you've done, I just have a habit of over-anylizing everything... but I understand what you mean since if everything was exactly as it should be then nothing would be a surprise, and in real life nothing is ever 100% constant either.

[Gavin Luper]

Shiny Marill: Not really twisting, just devloping! You'll see soon enough!

Mr Pikachu: Alright then, I'll wait. I'm very glad you like this so much, I love it myself (no bias there at ALL).

Karania: Thanks. I am taking my time with it, and it's coming along nice and steadily. A few things happen in this chapter, it's not just the average fillery one (though I can't remember any fillers in LTL before anyway).

GCM: nope, not long to wait. It's progressing nicely.

Everyone: Chapter 38 is about 1000 words long so far, which, in short terms, means that it's about a third/quarter way through by my usual writing standards.

Cheers!

[Chris 2.1]

At Spp, the maximum for a post is 10,000! Here, it's 50,000. I think thats' unfair....because fanfics (even MINE :-1) wont fit! I have to slice it up into gentle chunks...*grr*

anyway, looking forward to Chappie 38!

[Karania]

Good to hear. Though you are killing me with the suspense!

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everyone.

Chapter 38 is still at the same point but the following chapters are starting to take shape also. I've started writing parts of chapters 39 and 40 already.

Chapter 38 should be up, time permitting, anytime after Wednesday this coming week. So look out for it!

[Powarun]

Okay, thank you for making me aware that I should check the story out soon. Maybe I should reread it, and see if Gavin did any foreshadowing.

[Gavin Luper]

Powarun: There's an idea. Rereading could help answer a lot of questions.

As for the chapter, it's half-way through. I may even be able to post it today!

[Gavin Luper]

*YAWN*

Nearly finished the chapter ... expect it tomorrow (30-4).

Cheers.

[Gavin Luper]

I did it! It's about four days late, its title has again changed but luckily this chapter is hideously long (by my standards) so as usual it gets broken up!

Have fun guys, this hopefully has been worth the wait!
-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 38 – Tyler versus Hiro versus Kristal.


Hiro held the golden medallion in his hand, waiting patiently as Lance threaded the silky ribbon through it and then tied a knot. “There you are,” Lance said with a look of satisfaction, as though he had never tied a knot before. “You’re officially a Johto League Champion. That medallion’s recognised by leagues across the world.”

“I still don’t believe it,” said Hiro, holding the medal and tilting it so as to read the engraved words. “That I won, I mean. Not to rub it in or anything!” he added earnestly.

Lance looked impassive. “It was probably about time I lost, to be completely honest. The last person – before this year’s comps anyway – who defeated me was some Drake guy … and that was three years ago. Since then, I’ve had it pretty easy. Except the other day,” he added to himself.

He continued. “I was talking to my son before the match – he said I should be careful, but when I showed him your line-up for the last four matches, he agreed you didn’t stand a chance.”

Hiro sniffed.

“But you did,” said Lance quietly. “And how you did it I will never know. Your Weedle was the most talented pokemon I have ever seen. And it probably always will be – because although a Dragonite can use Hyper Beams and rage attacks, and it looks pretty amazing, a Weedle who can Mirror Coat and do acrobatic routines is by far the more talented one, because it can push past it’s boundaries. Dragons are meant to know great attacks. Bugs aren’t.”

Before Hiro could work out what Lance had meant by that – whether he was saying it in a disappointed, angry, proud or joyful way – the Dragon Master had swished his cape and begun walking briskly across the tiny tiled room.

“Where are we going?” asked Hiro.

“Don’t you know – oh, you wouldn’t, I suppose,” Lance gestured for Hiro to follow him before continuing. “Before the Stadium was built, there was a valley here. And beneath the valley, underground, is a system of caves and tunnels. The oldest of these are where we take the champions.”

Lance was now going very quickly. He had gone through the first two rooms, which just looked like basements, and was now descending some stairs which were uneven and dusty, but looked hardly worn at all.

“To do what?” Hiro quavered.

Lance chuckled. “We have to assess you.”

*********

“I hear that their nightly rates are something like 200 bucks,” moaned Gavin.

“I hear that they have really strict rules on noise and visitors,” nodded Darius slowly.

“I hear that we’re only going to stay there for one night, so it doesn’t really matter does it?” demanded Lisa, seizing them both by the wrist and dragging the boys through the revolving glass doors of the Silver Slumber Hotel. It was a four-storey building which looked very costly but at the same time very luxurious. The sign in the front gardens boasted two pools, spa and sauna, a gymnasium and tennis courts, along with a restaurant.

“Oooh, posh,” ooohed Gavin as they entered. Darius grinned.

“The check-in desk is just over there. I’ve stayed here before,” he added, pointing to a mahogany desk across the vast expanse of tiled foyer. Lisa crossed the foyer determinedly, still holding the boys by the wrist.

Darius shook his wrist free. “I have to use the toilet. Be right back.” He moved off.

The ground floor of the hotel was simple but still gave the impression. Lisa glanced at it out of the corner of her golden-brown eyes; marble columns with burgundy seating around them, a small pool with plants and fish, potted palms and ferns, a water fountain and two lifts. Golden, red and emerald colour tinsel was draped liberally throughout the room, and a massive Christmas tree stood in the centre of the foyer, complete with lights and presents.

“Good afternoon. Welcome to the Silver Slumber Hotel. Can I help you?” A blonde-haired woman in scarlet clothes and a black opal necklace leaned over the counter. Her hands were dripping with jewellery and her lipstick was too red to look human.

Lisa took a few steps toward the counter, and looked her up and down before responding. “My friend -” she let go of Gavin’s wrist and gestured to him “and I would like a double room for one night please.”

“Would you be with a parent or guardian?” the receptionist asked briskly.

“No,” said Lisa quickly. “Just us thanks.”

“How old are you?” she said, more inquisitively.

“Depends,” Gavin butted in. “Is it cheaper if we’re under twelve? Cause I’m eleven.”

The receptionist looked at Gavin’s tall frame. “I think not. Under sixteens are not allowed in here unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.”

Gavin brightened. “Oh well that’s alright then, I’m nearly sixteen really. Fifteen and ten months.”

“You look eleven to me,” the receptionist said dryly. “What’s your name boy?”

“Gavin Thomas Luper.”

Lisa s******ed. “You never told me your middle name.”

But the receptionist had leaned back a bit, and a frown had taken over her expression. As if a reflex action, she grabbed hold of a nearby pen and quickly scrawled something down. “Mr Luper, unless you have a parent or adult guardian, you are not permitted to spend a night at the Silver Slumber Hotel.”

“No need to get all narky,” sooked Gavin, wandering off to see the Christmas tree. He took a Moon Ball off his belt and released Natu to sulk to.

Lisa was feeling distressed. “We really need somewhere to stay tonight, miss. We already tried the other hotels in town; they’re full up because of the League Battles recently. All we ask is for one night.”

“Unless you have a parent or adult guardian, you are not permitted to spend a night at the Silver Slumber Hotel,” the woman repeated robotically. Lisa was agitated by her constant tone of voice.

“If you’d just listen to what we -”

“Unless you have a parent or adult guardian, you are not per –”

“Oh my God, shut the hell up,” Lisa cried. “Listen, Tiffany,” she said, reading the woman’s name badge. “In case you haven’t noticed, that rule is absolutely pointless because most trainers are under sixteen anyway and this is where they come to battle. If you had an iota of sense in that little blonde featherhead, you would allow us into your bloody hotel for one teeny little night because we are RESPONSIBLE TEENAGERS AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE LOUD AND CAUSE ANY TROUBLE!”

“I told you, missy, unless you have a parent –”

“OH MY GOD STOP IT ALREADY.”

“Security,” said Tiffany into her desk phone.

“Excuse me Miss Rutherford,” Darius strolled up from behind Lisa and leaned over the counter calmly. “I’m sorry, my friend forgot to mention she’s under the care of me and my father at the moment.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You know, Lance Hudson?”

Tiffany’s expression changed, though it was obvious she was trying not to show it. She began stuttering away pointlessly. After about five minutes, Darius had got Lisa and Gavin a double room at half price.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned, handing the key to Lisa, who gazed at him open-mouthed.

*********

The cave was very vast; the roof was littered with uneven stalactites and was quite low, but there seemed to be no walls to bound the cavern. Evidently it had been modernised to a degree – a huge computer apparatus was near the entrance, a sink and basin were opposite it, and the room was filled with many statues and glass cases which contained photographs, trophies and other odds and ends.

“This is one of the deepest-down caverns in Silver City,” Lance said to Hiro, as they entered down the staircase. Hiro gazed around in awe, but Lance took no time to familiarise him with the room.

“All you have to do is place your pokeballs in this machine,” he explained, gesticulating to a large part of the computer apparatus. “It will register your team of six as the winning team against me on this particular date.”

Hiro handed three pokeballs to Lance then placed the other three in the sockets in the machine himself. Lance looked at them, rearranged them for some reason, then pressed a green button – glass cases clamped over the spheres and the one light bulb in the room went out. The computer screen blinked on.

Heracross zoomed onto the screen. His stats appeared on a readout on the screen. Lance nodded, pressed a blue button, and the level 44 Heracross became registered; a blue shimmer shot from Heracross’ pokeball through a tube into the computer.

The same followed with the rest of Hiro’s team – Level 47 Magneton, Level 49 Dewgong, Level 57 Typhlosion, Level 39 Furret …

When Weedle appeared on the screen, Lance cursed aloud. He seemed to be choking on the concept, and turned to Hiro, who grinned.

Weedle – Level 81.

“No wonder Draco didn’t make it. Your Weedle was so experienced! And it’s defence and speed are astronomical!”

Hiro was feeling smug, but he tried not to show it. “Not really astronomical, we just trained hard I spose …”

Lance was laughing to himself as he pressed the blue button for the last time, and Weedle became registered. Then a picture of Hiro – taken at the beginning of the league ceremonies – appeared, with all his statistics.

“Impressive,” Lance said. “Seventy-two pokemon in total. Well done.”

The registration was finished. “Congratulations. Any pokemon league database across the world will now recognise you as a champion of the Johto League. The medal also proves that. As does this …” The computer spewed out eight pages from what must have been a printer. Lance produced a stapler from a drawer and clipped it all together, then handed it to Hiro. “Your database info. You can keep the hard copy.”

“Thanks,” muttered Hiro.

Lance muttered something in Latin, and the lights came back on. He then casually strolled to the sink and poured himself a glass of water. Hiro stood there for a minute, retrieving his pokeballs, then, as Lance seemed to be ignoring him, he spoke.

“So that’s it then?” he said quietly.

“Hmmm?” Lance bubbled.

“I’m finished the league. Don’t you have any further instructions for me?”

Lance swallowed. “Well, not really. You’re in control of your own life. Go do whatever.”

“No, there must be a next step or something. Isn’t there something harder?”

“You’ve beaten the Champion of a major league.” Lance paused. Hiro coughed loudly, as though he hadn’t yet come to that realisation. 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.”

“But aren’t they scattered everywhere? It would take ages to find each of them. And to know whether they had beaten you or not.”

An evil grin appeared on Lance’s face. “A true Master would have the passion to seek them.”

And Hiro shut up. There was a very long pause, then Lance spoke again. “This room isn’t actually an enclosed one, by the way.” He pointed to the dark space near the computer apparatus where the wall would have been. “I know it looks like endless pitch black, but if you keep going, you’ll emerge into the outside. If you are going to begin your next journey, begin it there.”

With that, the Dragon Master swished his cape, and began going up the stairs again. Hiro called out to him.

“I’m going to take that challenge.”

Lance stopped in his tracks, and seemed to acknowledge what Hiro had said, then disappeared up the stairs without a word. Somehow, Hiro felt that everything between them had been satisfactorily finalised.

*********

“Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!” squealed Lisa, jumping up and down on the queen size bed in her hotel room. Elekid and Aipom were doing likewise, quite enjoying it too. Fiskmire and Dratini had gone with Gavin to the pool and Lisa and her two pokemon had the room to themselves.

It was a very clean and spacious apartment – fully self contained with an ensuite, kitchenette and vast lounge room. There was a balcony, which overlooked the entire city and hazy mountain range too.

A knock on the door brought Lisa back to reality. She took one last, cushiony, springy step and landed on the carpet, running for the door. Gavin had a key, so it must have been Darius. Once Lisa got to the door, however, she decided to be safety conscious (‘Play it safe’ said a very annoying voice in her head). She looked through the little eyehole and saw a medium-height brown haired woman, whose hair was messed up and she looked on the verge of breaking down.

Lisa clipped the chain on the door and opened it a fraction. “Hello?” She said innocently.

The woman caught her eye, and seemed to be trying to regain some of her composure. “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.”

Lisa could hear something clattering and crashing in her bedroom and knew Aipom was up to something, or Elekid, but suddenly her mind clicked. “Not … not Eusine?”

The worn-looking woman at the door looked overcome with relief. “Yes. Please let me see Gavin. You have no idea how hard it was to find him.”

That ran through Lisa’s head very quickly; how had this woman tracked Gavin down? After all, he’d been travelling with her for two months, and didn’t have parents. His only guardian was Eusine …

“What’s happened to Eusine?” Lisa asked seriously, and pre-empted the woman’s refusal to tell her. “I know Eusine, we’ve met before and he … entrusted me with something.”

The woman almost collapsed, but again tried to regain her composure. “He was killed,” she said simply, and her voice was much much stronger than Lisa had expected it to be. Lisa felt her entire body go into shock – not because she was deeply emotionally affected by this, but she honestly had not seen or felt it coming. And also, she knew that her friend Gavin would be devastated.

The woman spoke. “Please … please let me speak to Gavin Luper.”

Lisa’s mouth was opening and closing, for lack of anything better to do. Slowly, she recovered from the shock. “He’s not here right now,” she said, gulping shallow breaths of air. “but I can show you where he is … he’s at the pool.”

As soon as the words had passed Lisa’s lips, the woman swung her handbag up higher and ran frantically down the bright hallway towards the stairs. Lisa didn’t even bother to point out that there were lifts just around the corner.

“Let’s go see Gavin,” Lisa said softly to Aipom and Elekid. They were already scrambling out through the gap in the doorway, towards the lifts. Lisa ducked inside and grabbed her pokegear, just in case anyone called. Then she raced after her two pokemon.

The lift reached the ground floor not long after the woman had fully descended the staircase. Lisa, Aipom and Elekid sprinted across the lobby and out the side door, which led down a winding path through a tropical jungle-like enclosure. The pool was at the end of this trail, and Lisa could see the woman just ahead of them. She called out for her to wait once or twice, but the brown-haired woman ignored her.

The gate of the pool was open when Lisa reached it, so she simply ran through. Gavin was underwater – Lisa could see his red boardies through the glittering surface of the water. All the pokemon seemed to have been playing harmoniously; Fiskmire had made friends with Lanturn and Dratini had evidently befriended Staryu to an extent (he was coiled around one of the starfish’s spikes and was dipping in and out of the water). Natu was nowhere to be seen, or Girafury.

“Gavin Luper!” the woman yelled at a very high pitch, as he surfaced up above the water. He shook his black hair off (like a dog, thought Lisa) and then caught sight of the woman.

“Melanie!” he burst out, looking stunned. “Mel … why are you here?”

“Gavin, I have to tell you something. It’s important, and serious.”

Gavin hauled himself out of the cerulean-tinged water with tanned arms, and ran up to Mel. She muttered something in his ear and began walking with him back up along the path which wound through the gardens. Lisa decided not to try to listen in, as it would obviously be a very private conversation. Instead, she dangled her legs in the water, choosing to wait until Gavin returned, however long that may be.

“Have a swim guys, there’s no hurry to go anywhere,” she said quietly.

Seconds later, she heard a strangled cry from Gavin and Mel’s direction – she had evidently broken the news to him. Lisa had never heard a man cry, but it sounded like Gavin was choking on his sobs, choking on the shock and instant grief.

Lisa lowered her head, like a sign of respect for Gavin.

[Gavin Luper]

*********

“KRISTAL! No way!” Hiro yelled.

He had followed the cavern as Lance had instructed him, and after a solid ten minutes of walking, he had emerged into broad daylight. He was in a steep and rugged mountain valley, not too far from Silver City. And the first thing he saw was Kristal and Tyler, both waiting around on a ledge on the side of the mountain cave from where he had just emerged.

“Good morning young Hiro Ferguson. Didn’t expect you to actually beat Lance.” Tyler’s crimson hair was more jagged than ever, as was his tone of voice.

“Shut up Tyler,” moaned Kristal. “Congratulations Hiro,” she added, though the voice sounded strained.

Hiro was feeling and looking confused. “How did you guys know that I won?”

“We watched the battle,” said Kristal quickly and sharply. “And why else would you be out here at the cave front? This is where all the champions come … well, except Tyler.” She threw a very happy look at him, and he scowled.

“All three of us made it to fight Lance – we were the only three.” Kristal announced, looking pleased. Her aquamarine hair was tied in the usual way, and she still had her pokegear like a necklace on her neck. It seemed that no time had passed at all since she and Hiro had split their paths in November. She was being much nicer toward him now, though still a bit frosty. “Tyler failed, though it was very very close.” She paused. “And to think, us three trainers from New Bark who left only six months ago … we made it this far.”

“Tyler wasn’t from New Bark,” Hiro pointed out with a twisted smile.

“Well he got a pokemon from Professor Elm, that’s my point,” replied Kristal, dangerously calmly and slowly.

“He stole it,” spat Hiro, loud enough for both the others to hear.

“DID NOT!” yelled Tyler, and Kris intervened between the two, who had both lunged at each other. She was holding a Great Ball, and her face was struggling between anger and excitement. “Now let’s start again.” She stepped back. “Let’s get off on a better foot than ‘NO WAY!’”

The boy settled himself down and made a conscious effort to talk in a very calm manner. “Hello Kristal,” said Hiro coolly. Tyler lurked behind, looking sulky

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

All the expressions changed. Kris was grinning her head off, knowing in her own mind that, according to the battles they had had with Lance, she was the strongest trainer of them all. Tyler was looking interested and even a bit over-confident. Hiro wasn’t sure whether he wanted to have another high-pressure battle immediately after the last one.

“Come on, guys, there’s plenty of room here,” urged Kris, taking a few steps back from the two boys. The area they were on was grassed, with few rocks, and the only danger that could befall the battlers was the steep slope about fifteen metres to the side, which slid all the way down to a ridge in the mountain valley. Beyond the ridge was pure mist, obscuring anything deeper down.

“Alright then,” Hiro agreed slowly. “But …”

“I don’t follow how this is supposed to work,” said Tyler, shaking his wild auburn mane. “You can’t have a battle with three people.”

“Oh yes you can,” Kris said. “It happened at the Whirlpool Cup on Red Rock Island. Lisa told me about it, didn’t she tell you Hiro?”

Hiro shook his head, then looked confused. “How’d you know she was with me?”

“I watched the match,” Kris smiled. “I saw her there, in the front row, cheering you on like mad. I presumed she must have been travelling with you again or something.”

Hiro was going to point out that she had helped him, but he didn’t want Tyler to know that, so he stayed silent. Tyler, however, did no such thing. “This Lisa … this is the one who works at the pokemon centre in Ecruteak City? The one who made Hiro win our battle that time in Goldenrod?”

“This isn’t meant to be a discussion about Lisa. This is a three-way battle. How does two-on-two-on-two sound for everyone?” There were nods from the two boys as Kris took charge. “Alright, let the mayhem begin!”

There were three balls thrown out from each angle, as every trainer took a dozen paces backwards to allow room for the makeshift battlefield. From the light emerged Venomoth, Feraligator and Crobat.

“This is going to be an absolute disaster,” giggled Kris to herself. But she sobered almost instantly. “Chompy, use Light Screen first then Safeguard from Crobat!”

Tyler had called out his orders a moment before he realised Kris had completely pre-empted his moves. “Double Acid attack and Confuse Ray!”

Hiro waited until the other two had begun their strategies. He analysed them quickly and decided on his moves. “Veno, use Leech Seed on Chompy and poisonpowder on Crobat!”

“Why is everyone aiming stuff at Crobat?” spat Tyler, but the other two didn’t hear him.

It was as though all three pokemon had been patiently waiting, eyeing each other off fiercely, until all their masters had given out the commands, then, once Hiro had spoken his last order, everything happened at once. Chompy, Kris’ Feraligator, crossed his scaly arms in an intimidating stance, and within seconds light was being made into a solid shield around him, strengthening for a few moments, then maintaining a stable state. At the other end of the triangular battlefield, Venomoth had taken to the air and was zooming across the sky, bombing Chompy with a small brownish seed, which easily pierced the light screen and tsunkked into his back, releasing vines and beginning to sap the creature’s energy. Venomoth quickly flew up and back in the direction of Crobat.

The purple Golbat evolution was struggling a bit, unlike the others had been. Originally, he had been waiting for the right moment to attack, when the other two were off-guard, but Chompy had quickly shielded itself and Venomoth was too far away. As Venomoth circled back toward Crobat, the bat spat out a lump of purplish acid directly at Veno’s face. The poisonmoth flinched back slightly, evading the clump of acid but not seeing the second one that was also incoming. Crobat’s second acid attack hit it on the wing, burning at the poisonous scales.

Chompy was having a leisurely time at the other end of the field. The three trainers had all been very quiet, as they were experienced enough to let their pokemon do what they had to without overloading them with commands. Chompy was satisfied with the Light Screen now, and was swiftly constructing a veil of stars to protect against dangerous status attacks like Poisonpowder and confuse ray. The other two seemed not to be worrying themselves too much with him, although the Leech Seed was slowly sapping at Chompy’s strength, and through a magical bond, Venomoth was becoming steadily stronger.

Kristal could see this even from her vantage point. “Rapid spin!”

Chompy was not as small and energetic as he had been as a Totodile, but he was still able to perform the technique with much skill. Venomoth and Crobat were having a much more conflicting time together, firing off Acids and poisonpowders constantly.

Hiro intervened quickly. “Psybeam attack, Veno, don’t hold back! Counter anything else with Tackle!”

Tyler seemed to be the most impassive of all three of them; even Kris had seemed more concerned about Chompy than he was about Crobat. The bat had been drained and poisoned repeatedly, but still Tyler had an arrogant smirk. “Crobat,” he drawled. “Attack with Solarbeam!”

Venomoth had psybeamed the bat by now, and Hiro suddenly realised that there was another battler whom they had almost ignored. “Veno, psybeam Chompy too!” Instantaneously, Venomoth let out a great stream of purple circles of psychic power, energy from within the deepest parts of the soul, and therefore almost unblockable. Hiro watched intently, waiting for Chompy to be injured. The Psybeam had only just begun penetrating the light screen when Tyler ordered Crobat to use Toxic on both fighters, before he could collect enough energy for Solarbeam, and it was then that Hiro learned how difficult it was to have a three-way battle; you couldn’t stand back and admire the exchange of attacks, like he had been doing for quite a while as a more experienced trainer. There was only time to command, check up on, and then listen out for both other trainer’s pokemon who might be coming in to attack.

Venomoth’s psybeam had hit Chompy, who reeled back slightly when hit, but there was no chance of confusion due to the safeguard. Crobat had dive-bombed Venomoth with a huge stream of poison, then began aiming for Chompy. “Come back!” called Tyler suddenly, seeing the veil of stars whirling around the Feraligator, just waiting to deflect anything. Crobat pulled back and rose up toward the sun to collect energy for the solarbeam.

Kris had really been biding her time, standing back and watching as the two rivals went to battle, almost forgetting her. But now they had remembered and were starting up the attacks. Kristal Williams went into battle action. “Chompy, Water gun and follow up with Ice Beam,” she cried calmly but sharply. “Slash if either of them get too close!”

Chompy began walking away from his light screen – it had faded considerably now – and he emerged out of it, quite close to where Venomoth was now using a Psychic attack at Crobat, on Hiro’s command. The brownish-purple bat had amassed a lot of energy in his jaws now, and looked ready to fire. Even with the type advantage, it would be a danger to Venomoth, who had already been weakened by acid attacks. Crobat paused, then fired a beam of solar energy directly at Chompy, instead of Venomoth. The gator reeled back once more, injured greatly, but still a long way from out. In response, he let out a jet of water, striking Crobat in the eyes and knocking it to the ground for a moment. The beam of ice was only a fraction later, but it split in mid-air, and forked into two beams – one for each adversary. Venomoth was iced up, and dropped to the ground with a thud. One down. On the other hand, Crobat was not frozen but was injured greatly. Just as Hiro was recalling Venomoth back into his pokeball and began calling out a new fighter, Tyler plunged a hand into his pocket and threw a small golden sphere at Crobat. It landed at the bat’s feet, and the bat zoomed down and gulped the object into its mouth.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Hiro.

“No fair!” bellowed Kristal. “That was a Gold Berry. You can’t use any items unless we agree on it before the battle, Tyler!”

The crimson-haired boy was smug, and Hiro and Kris both felt an intense dislike for him like they had at the beginning of their journey. “Nobody said that we couldn’t use items,” he said with an irritating smirk at Kris. “Well, Crobat, start powering up for another solarbeam!” Kris was furious, but abruptly remembered that she still had some items in her pocket – a berry or two, a devolution spray … aha! Her hand clasped over the small but powerful bomb in her pocket – not a bomb of destruction, but one of intrigue.

“If you used items, it’s only fair that I do,” said Kris, noting that Crobat was gathering energy. She didn’t order Feraligator to do anything; he was in no immediate danger because of her bomb. Kris withdrew the black, orange-sized sphere, and threw it in an arc over the field, where it exploded in a burst of rainbow colours – red, green, yellow, blue, purple, orange, indigo. Each ribbon of light seeped through the battlers, who had stopped in their tracks, baffled, then seeped out of them again and formed back together in the centre of the field, as a dense black ball.

“WHAT’D YOU JUST DO!?” roared Tyler, in bewilderment and fear.

Hiro didn’t make any outbursts, but he looked at Kristal nervously. She was pleased at their reactions. “You know what a Special Guard item does. Well, this is like a really big version of that, the Hyperelemental Bomb.”

“Great name,” remarked Hiro under his breath.

“It prevents any special attacks being used for the entire remainder of the round. It’s not common,” she added, feeling a bit smug. “Lance gave it to me.”

“But that’s not f-” began Tyler.

“Oh, I think it is,” said Kris. “You broke the rules Tyler, and they remain broken. Now, I think it’s time we returned to the battle. CHOMPY, DISABLE AND SLASH!” She smiled – had she not used that item, it was likely that Crobat would Solarbeam Chompy again, knocking him out for the match.

Hiro slipped back into battle mode also, and threw out Charcoal’s pokeball. The Typhlosion appeared quickly, and tried to light up his back-fire. It took awhile, but finally worked – the Hyperelemental Bomb had not affected him because he was not on the field at the time. Hiro slowly realised that, until the other two were knocked out, Typhlosion had a major advantage. He had to make use of it.

As Chompy charged at the fresh Charcoal and the worn Crobat, almost any orders Tyler and Hiro gave went out the window. All three pokemon became entangled in a kind of brawl. Crobat was now the weakest of all three pokemon, and the poisonpowder from Venomoth earlier on finally took it’s toll; the bat was trying to bite at Chompy when his eyes crossed and he dropped to the ground, being recalled quickly.

“Golem, go!” shouted Tyler, and the rock pokemon appeared without delay, bursting into the scene. Kris immediately wished she was still able to use Water Gun – then Golem would be easily defeated – but she had prevented this.

Charcoal was Flamethrowering everything in close range, and now he realised the advantage was being lost. Chompy seemed to be the easiest to eliminate, so he fired off a volley of Swift Attacks, which caught the gator in the ribs and shoved him to the ground. Golem then got in on the act, tossing multitudes of rocks at Chompy and Char. Finally Chompy fell for good, tumbling to the ground after receiving a heavy boulder in the solar plexus. Kristal looked on for one subdued second, then returned him, throwing out her best bet.

“MISDREAVUS! SHADOW BALL!”

The final round had promised to be an absolutely massive showdown between Golem and Typhlosion, and Typhlosion and Misdreavus. However, everything happened very quickly. Char was using Fire Spin to protect himself, as he was weak to Golem’s rock and ground attacks, and Golem was resistant to anything he threw against him. So, the obvious happened; Golem began pounding Char with rocks and injuring him, and the fire spin was the best form of defence Charcoal could muster.

Again, it seemed that Kris’ chosen fighter was being neglected, but that was soon forgotten when she pounded Golem with two massive Shadow Balls, great black orbs which sparked with what looked like lavender bolts of electricity. Golem was thrown back a good way, and ended the attacks on the worn-out Char. Charcoal stopped the firespin, then began a Quick Attack on Golem, who was very slow to get up and recover. Although the Typhlosion was not as small and nimble as it had been in the days of Cyndaquil, the attack was very quick and although didn’t really take much strength off Golem, it knocked him over again.

“Psywave, Missy!” called Kris.

“Golem, use Earthquake!”

“Use those coals, Char!” called Hiro, remembering that when the going got tough, Charcoal could produce hot, burning coals from inside him, which were like a Pin Missile at 1000 degrees.

The earth began to slowly rumble, as Misdreavus flitted her way through the air, knowing her small black body would not be affected, as she was not touching the ground. She released wobbly waves of psychic energy, which connected with Golem’s head and seemed to drain him of a huge portion of his power, and looked to be confusing him. Still, the shockwaves had been sent through the ground already, and an earthquake was brewing. Char had meanwhile summoned the coals within him and fired them out in all directions like a berserk Beedrill. Golem was hit thrice, and even Tyler and Hiro had to step and dodge the dangerous coals.

But Misdreavus was the worst off of the lot. Dozens of fiery bullets ripped into her, and she did not have the predisposition to make herself completely permeable, as a ghost. She went reeling through to the ground, struck down but not fainted. And that was when the major blow hit all three fighters.

The earthquake shook the entire area. Kristal abandoned her spot near the cliff edge in fear of being thrown off, and ran to join Hiro and Tyler, who were clutching at the ground, crouched down. Golem was being thrown about violently by his own deed, and Typhlosion was moaning on the ground, like Misdreavus was, as rocks began tumbling onto them from nowhere. The earth gave one final, huge tremor, and righted itself. The trainers all stood and all realised that every single fighter was almost out of the match. One more attack and they would be finished.

“Misdreavus, get up and use one big Faint Attack on Golem!” Kris cried. She would rather have the final round with Hiro, who she didn’t really get along with, than Tyler, whom she hated.

“Char, Swift at Golem!”

Tyler cursed. “STOP PICKING ON GOLEM! DEFENSE CURL!”

Misdreavus picked herself up, and dusted her front of with invisible hands, then disappeared into thin air. Char conjured up half a dozen golden-white stars in his paws, and released them in a stream of power at Golem. The stars hit and connected with Golem’s head. The last star struck him as Misdreavus appeared directly before the rocky pokemon, and with all the dark energy it could muster, shot an arrow of blackness at Golem’s centre. The darkness seemed to seep into the boulder and drain the energy from him.

Golem was fainted.

“WE BEAT TYLER!” cheered and jeered Hiro and Kris in a total feeling of euphoria. Not once during their entire training had they been able to defeat the crimson-haired boy, who teased them for not having enough pokemon, being too far behind, being too wimpy, being too young – and they had defeated him together. Hiro caught Kris’ eye, and she gave him a small grin; the first since they had split paths.

Golem was recalled. Tyler didn’t know what to say, for her had not thought he would be the first to be beaten, at least until the last attacks had been ordered. He stood there, silent, as the other two cheered and jeered and smiled and laughed in his face. Had he been more sensible, he would have realised they were throwing back in his face what he had hurled at them so often before, but he didn’t.

“**** you,” he said at last, in a savage tone. “**** you both.”

With that bitter taste left in the mouths of Hiro and Kris, Tyler released a Fearow, jumped onto it’s back, and flew off into the mountains, giving his rivals a middle finger on the way. Gladly, neither Kris nor Hiro saw him again for many long years to come.

“Sook.”

“Spoilsport.”

They both laughed. Kristal turned to Hiro. “Should we keep battling?”

“If you want to,” said Hiro. “But they look pretty worn. And it won’t be nearly as much fun without Tyler here to laugh at.”

Kristal nodded and recalled Misdreavus, and Hiro did the same to Charcoal. The two former friends looked at each other from across the field, and then Kristal began awkwardly. “Hiro, I know this has been a long time coming, but I really am sorry for that stupid fight we had back in Olivine. I shouldn’t have been so picky about that stupid Voltorb anyway.”

“It was really my fault,” said Hiro, going red. “If I hadn’t tried to trade my Krabby so persistently in the first place, it wouldn’t have all begun and got so out of hand.”

They walked to each other, and shook hands. Then Hiro asked the big question. “Where are you going now?”

“After the league ceremony tomorrow?” Kris asked, and he nodded. “Well, I don’t know. I do want my own gym one day, but not yet, I’m too young to settle in one place yet. Maybe I’ll do a different league.”

“I’d be honoured if you came with me,” said Hiro. “I’m headed off to seek out anyone else who beat Lance before you and me. He said something about Drake – from the Orange Islands. I think I’m headed there. Could you keep me company, like old times?”

“Old times as in two months ago?” Kris asked and they both grinned. “Hiro, I’d be the honoured one. Of course I’ll come.”

The two friends held hands as they walked slowly to find a way from the mountain valley back to Silver City. Up in a cool cavern about twenty metres above, Lance Hudson watched them. “I knew I could count on those two.”

*********

Melanie came wandering back to the pool much later on. Lisa was still there, sitting in the cool water of the hotel’s pool. It was a warm, humid night, though the sun had set hours ago, but it was perfect for the pool. The pokemon were mostly still in the pool also, but were no longer playing loudly but more slowly and subdued.

Mel sat down very slowly on the edge of the pool, where the paving met the water. “Lisa, Gavin’s gone,” she said quietly, but loudly enough for Lisa to hear. The girl shook her sleek mane of ebony hair and walked over to Mel slowly, very subdued.

“What do you mean, he’s gone?”

“Well, he left,” Melanie said with awkwardness. She seemed to have calmed down a lot since that afternoon. “He ran away. Poor boy, he didn’t take it well at all, first he broke down, then he seemed to recover slightly, but when I told him where Eusine’s body was found, and that the funeral had already been, and he seemed to lose it completely. He just ran down Chester Lane and disappeared into the night.”

Lisa’s mouth was doing the fish thing again. “What, he’s just gone? What am I supposed to do? Just go back to Ecruteak without him? What about his pokemon? This is ridiculous!”

“I’m sorry,” said Mel, brushing her frizzy brown hair back, and getting worked up again, like she had been when she arrived at Lisa’s apartment. “Look, Lisa, I think he’s headed for Ecruteak anyway. For some strange reason, he wants to return to the place where Eusine died. Maybe go back home, and look for him.”

“What about Lanturn and Staryu?” demanded Lisa angrily.

“Take them with you I suppose. Oh, I don’t know … what’ll I do?” Mel said, as though she were suffering from this. “I have to go Lisa, oooh no … dammit … I really gotta go … bye now!”

And with that, the flustered woman sprinted back up the path to the hotel foyer, mumbling to herself and almost colliding with someone who was coming down to the pool.

Lisa sat on the poolside, feeling her head spin. She was alone now, Gavin had been her companion, now he was simply gone. It didn’t seem fair that she was stuck by herself in a strange town with hardly any money. She’d never handle the trip back to Ecruteak well. Unlike other friends she had – Charmaine, Marina, Anna … (Lisa paused her thoughts and sniffed) – Lisa couldn’t really handle herself very well – alone – in the wild.

I need a travel companion, thought Lisa. A new friend.

Suddenly, she felt a cool hand on her bare shoulder. Darius slipped into seating position beside her, dangling his legs into the water. He was wearing only boardies and a towel. “Hi Lisa. Wanna swim?” he asked her.

A smile curved up Lisa’s face, one that spread schemingly into her small dimples and bright golden eyes. Maybe she didn’t have to look far.

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

Next up on Lisa the Legend

Christmas! That’s right, it’s Christmas time! That means urgent shopping …

“It’s Christmas eve!” giggled Marina hopelessly, while Lisa stared at her watch in despair. “And you’re telling me you haven’t bought a single present yet?”

… not to mention all the presents …

Lisa was tearing open the beautifully wrapped package from Gavin, when Aipom finally awoke. It was probably Bulbasaur who did it, by standing on his tail, but all the same, Aipom awoke in the same hyperactive mood, and began swinging wildly from the top of the Christmas tree, snatching Lisa’s gift.

… and of course, the usual catastrophic attack at Lisa’s place.

There were still many people in the garden, for the second time in a week or so. Lisa gazed around, tapping her fingers on the table and waiting until Darius came back to the table. She was watching the guests at the party, when suddenly a blanket seemed to be thrown over them, smothering out all sound. That was when the explosion happened.

Chapter 39 – Christmas Crush.

[totodilelover]

Hey, this is a really great chapter. The length is really good and the description of the battle is amazing. You are a really good writer. There is lot's of good writer's here and you are one of them. Keep writing. I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Gavin Luper]

totodilelover: Hi! I'm going to go with logical reasoning here and say that you were referring to chapter 37 right? Because i posted Chapter 38 about 5 minutes before your post and I thought "that cannot be humanly possible". So yeah, read 38 if you want to!

I'm a really good writer? Thankyou! Do you write on these forums?

Seeya round!

[mistysakura]

Shouldn't have read the preview for next chapter... *curses herself*

Anyway, I just stopped to read this for a while. Now I should go back to my quest of finding a better phrase than 'good chapter'.

I really liked the battel in that chapter... sure shows Tyler!
And by the way, *remembers rule against advertising*

[Chris 2.1]

very nice chapter. Gavin's gone...will he appear again? Darius steps in, I hope he has a 'Gavin Thomas Luper' costume to make Lisa feel better. What Pogeys does he have? is Bulbasaur his? hmm...i should read more/better/something.

dont mind me, i'm a wee bit tipsy from last night..

[ZeldaFan20]

I can sympathize with Gavin, I know what it's like to lose a family member.

On the bright side, that two-on two-on two battle with Tyler, Kris, and Hiro was very intense. I can only hope that the next chapter will be just as good.

[totodilelover]

LoL yea, I was talking about chapter 37. I just finished reading the other chapter's and they were just as good. Every chapter you are very descriptive. You must take a long time and put a lot of thought into your chapter's to make them so great. I can't wait to read more. Keep it up!

[Gavin Luper]

Mistysakura: Hi!! Thanks for reading and replying too! Did you like the battle then? For a change, I found it quite easy to write.

Cheers!

Shiny Marill: Thanks. Yes, Gavin is gone, stupid little runaway boy. Although if you think about it he has literally no family left in the world, so you can imagine how he might be feeling. Whether he comes back or not is something you should be able to answer.

Darius steps in. He has a Dragonair that we know of already, and a couple others.

Zeldafan: Exactly, poor him. And he's lost his entire family.

Was the battle as intense as I hoped it to be? I did try my best (which is not too great) to make it a high-scale fight, but only the reader can determine that. The next chapter might be as good, I think it will as I have already made a good start on it.

totodilelover: That's a relief. I thought you must have been a speedreader. Thanks for reading, I hope you keep reading in future!

To tell the truth, it gets easier and easier to write chapters if you are continuing the same storyline, you just kind of slip into the mood and begin writing. Therefore, I can write chapters more quickly.

Chapter 39 up later this week!

[GeneChildMewtwo]

It was worth the wait! ^_^

The battle between Hiro, Kristal and Tyler was interesting. The battle itself was well written, and the two friends finally triumphing over their arrogant rival was a nice thing to see.

It's interesting to see that Lisa was afraid to be alone again. It makes sense. If I had travelled with a friend for such a long way and had been with them for that long the thought of being alone again would be hard to accept. It's nice to see that in a character, it makes them feel more real.

Luckily, it seems that Lisa will have a new compainion for a while.

I hope things turn around for Gavin soon... He's got it really rough. And now that his only other family member is gone... He's completely alone.

This chapter had really great character development, especially with Lisa and Gavin. I can't wait to see what awaits them (and now Darius too?) in the next chapter.

[Powarun]

I will join the crowd (for once) and say, that this fic was worth the wait. Two chapters in a row, now that was a present. I thought you would make something happen to Hiro because Lance was mad or stuff. Read on, write on

[Gavin Luper]

Gene Child Mewtwo: Hi! That's great that it was a good read.

I simply could not let Tyler win, he really is a loser. Maybe if my story centred around Hiro and Kristal I would have them lose to him and spend the rest of their lives trying to beat him, but ... the story is around Lisa, really.

Good character development? You have no idea how great that sounds to me.

Seeya round!

Powarun: Hey. Good reading hey? That was just one chapter, by the way, split into two parts so it would be postable.

Chapter 39 coming soon!

[Hyperness is a Good Thing]

Yay......new character...*sort off*

How niiiiiice......=)

Poor Gavin, he must feel totally awful.....he even forgot his Pokemon.

I liked the three way battle, well described and great to know tht Hiro and Kris are friends again.

[Master Kirby]

Wow! When you write, you really write. I had been so busy with school, I hadn't noticed a new chapter. Then I looked, and there was a whole new page filled up! I like long chapters.

That was an interesting battle. I liked how Kristal used that Hyperelemental Bomb. That was a surprise. I am glad Hiro and Kris are friends again. She sounds like she is just as strong a trainer as Hiro. Maybe they can both fight the people who beat Lance.

I hope Gavin left his pokeballs, then Staryu wouldn't have to carry Lanturn back to ecruteak.

I wonder if Gavin will be able see Lisa open his present?

[Gavin Luper]

Hyperness: Hey! Yeah, as far as I'm concerned if you leave your pokemon behind in a foreign town, then you're either a really bad person or you're under really bad circumstances (Gavin is the latter).

Hiro and Kris' friendship rebuilding is good for me too, it was stupid that they weren't friends.

Kirby: Hey!! It's good that you like long chapters, sometimes I just get really carried away with what I'm writing! I'm like that too - sometimes I come to TPM and suddenly there's new chapters everywhere.

The Hyperelemental Bomb just kinda burst from nowhere, but it was an interesting invention.

As for Kris, she is a very strong trainer, but unlike Hiro she evens her pokemon's development out rather than charging ahead with some and leaving the others behind in the dust.

Good question, you'll find out soon!

Cheers!

[Chris 2.1]

I know what Kris means - in Crystal, i trained everyone to the same level (Once one member got to level 39, i raised everyone else to 39 too), but when i got to the E4, the stronger, or more used i should say, levelled up quicker and faster. Electabuzz is about 8 levels ahead of Foretress! Even spookier, i was playing as the gir character....0__0;;

Gav, how long was that last chapter? If you ever plan on posting at Serebii, their post length is about 1,000 to TPM's 5,000! or it could be 10,000 to 50,000...i forget :-p you cant post squat there...

[Gavin Luper]

Shiny Marill: Yeah, that's exactly it.

As for the chapter, I think it was just over 7000 words. Lol no I never plan on posting at *shudder* Serebii.

[Andrew]

Hey Gavin! Told you I don't figure things out unless they're spelled out for me! lol.

Well yay for Hiro, I would've never thought he could've won with Weedle but he did! I still have to congratulate you on the great battle with it, truely original.

Damn LTL (Lisa the Leech) Its not like she's EVER paid for anything herself and she always gets a free ride. What's the bet she gets piggybacked around everywhere.

Tiffany is a stupid stupid lady. She should've negotiated but Lisa was pretty pushy. Good thing for Darius then eh?

Heh! Furret! Lv 39! You may be weak but we love you forever! And you're bouncearific! BOUNCY BOUNCY! Hee! Great scene change to Aipom, Elekid and Lisa! Poor Gavin but... that's really sad...

Icky Leech Seed, thunking into Feraligator's back, what about his Spine? Will he have back problems later in life? But the 3 way battle was done excellently, loved it! And they beat Tyler! That was excellent! Nice to see they're friends again.. its nice...

Its a shame to see Gavin run off with no goodbye and NO POKEMON!? WTF is wrong with that boy. So what happened to Natu and Girafury cause we know Ditto is now in the care of Jean and Wes. Lol... care...

But its an interesting chapter, I love it how you rely more on character development than on battles. Great work dude!

[Powarun]

What do you think I am stupid? I knew it was one part but I decided to post what I thought about the second chapter now. It was of good legth, saddening, and you better but Gavin back in to this. Shakes hand, or if you don't I don't care it is just unusual to kick your self out.

[Wizzy]

Few, I've finally cought up with the storey!

I must say its really good!

I really like the new kiddy, the son of lance
Nice idea!

And I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Gavin Luper]

Oz: hey! I'd reply to your huge reply bit by bit, but i really don't have the energy at this point. To do quick summary, Tiffany is stupid, Hooray for Darius, YAY FURRET IS CRAP, Poor Gavin, Feraligator visits his chiropractor twice a month now, poor gavin again ... and WHAT ON EARTH makes you think Wes and Jean have got full possession of Ditto? I mean, I hope they don't keep it ... poor thing

Keep on reading!

Powarun: Nup. I was not insulting your intelligence. Just checking.

Wizzy: You finally caught up? Congrats! I remember when I caught up to a really huge fic ... Love and Sacrifice ... I was SO worn out, so i bet you are too!

Hope to see you around!

Cheers! C39 out soon!

[Karania]

really good. Sorry about being so late to reply, but I had a lot of things happening in my life. Keep it up! I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

[ZeldaFan20]

Wow! So many good things are happening to me this week! Can you imagine that my birthday is THIS Friday?! For some reason, though, I get more nervous the older I get. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way....

[Gavin Luper]

Happy Birthday for Friday.

Chapter 39 is still not ery far ahead but hopefully i'll finish it soon. Look for it in the next couple of weeks! (I'll be very busy for the next fortnight).

[ZeldaFan20]

Hey, thanks a lot! It's been eight weeks since my B-day and I've only gotten a few "congrats."

Don't worry about that, I'm in no hurry----although, I think many of your other subscribers think differently .