Two Sides to Every Tale Ch.3
#3 of TS2ET
A Quick Battle and Return!
"So, how long have you been a trainer White?"
Rebecca flinched as her idol asked her the question. It had been about fifteen minutes since they had met, and for most of that, Rebecca had been watching G trade blows with his Lucario. "Umm, I only just became a trainer today," she said hesitantly, looking down in embarrassment. G looked at her and hummed.
"Really? What's your starter then?" he asked her, curious. Without a word, Rebecca took out her only occupied Pokeball and opened it, revealing a small, smug looking snake with legs. G started chuckling. "Well whatdyaknow?" he said, kneeling down to the Pokemon's level. "I have a Snivy too! Did you give it a name?"
Rebecca looked at her Snivy. "Umm, Jade, but well, we haven't really had much time to bond well...." she stated, lifting her arm up to put the Pokemon back in. G stood up.
"Hey, it's all right," he told her, taking her hand and lowering it. "I haven't had that much time with Dmitri yet either," he added, smiling. Rebecca looked at him, confused.
"Dmitri? Who's Dmitri?"
"My Snivy," G said, backing up a little bit. "Come on out then and give our friend a quick hello!" he commanded, throwing a Pokeball up in the air. In a burst of red light, a Snivy materialized on the ground, eyeing Jade warily. "Think of this as a friendly battle," he told Rebecca. "You go first."
Rebecca gulped and nodded. "Alright... Jade! Tackle him!" she ordered. Jade dashed off at her trainer's command, eyes locked onto Dmitri. G smirked as looked at the incoming Pokemon.
"Dmitri, dodge and counter with a tackle of your own!" he ordered. Dmitri braced himself as the other Snivy came in. At the last second, just as Jade was about to hit, Dmitri moved to the side. Jade and her trainer's eyes went wide in surprise as the Snivy was thrown off balance, only for Dmitri to slam into her side, sending her flying.
"Jade!" Rebecca cried out. G closed his eyes.
"A note about battles," he said. "It's not about what kind of attacks your Pokemon knows that wins, it's how you and your Pokemon use those moves that determine victory."
"I know! You say that all the time in your League interviews!" Rebecca shouted. "Jade, tackle again and don't stop moving!" The Snivy nodded as she rushed forward with a cry. Dmitri dodged it, but instead of falling off balance, Jade managed to get out of range and turn to face her opponent.
"Good! You're learning!" G shouted in glee. "Dmitri, growl and then tackle!" The Snivy nodded as he growled loudly, trying to intimidate his opponent before rushing in. Jade looked a little uneasy as Dmitri came in closer and closer.
"Jade! Run under him!" Rebecca ordered from her spot. G was silent as he processed what she had said, only to see her plan in action. Dmitri was about to collide with Jade when the female Snivy went and slid _under_his own Snivy, tripping up Dmitri. "Now tackle him!" And with that, Jade jumped up and slammed into Dmitri, knocking him out.
Rebecca stood there in surprise before jumping up and running to her Snivy in joy. "Jade, you did it!" she cried out, scooping the small Pokemon in her arms and hugging it. "I'm so proud of you!"
Smiling, G walked over and kneeled next to Dmitri. "You did good little one," he said, placing his hand over the Pokemon. "Let's get you back on your feet first of all." Rebecca and Jade stopped their cheering as they saw an unusual blue glow surround G's hand and extend to Dmitri. In seconds, the bruises disappeared and Dmitri woke up.
"Sni?" Dmitri asked, looking up at his trainer. "Sni-Snivy?" G smiled and nodded.
"Sure did," he told the diminutive Grass-type. Dmitri looked at his trainer, and then nodded.
"Sniv."
"Umm, what did you just do?" Rebecca asked hesitantly. G certainly didn't do this on T.V., but then again, it never mentioned him actually sparring with a Lucario either.
"I healed Dmitri a bit using Aura," G said getting up. "At his level, it's actually pretty easy. Using it on Lucian... well, it takes a bit more than a few seconds to mend a broken bone or reattach a muscle." Rebecca looked over at the Lucario, and it was then that she noticed something... odd.
"Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but, uhh, what happened to your Lucario?" she asked, pointing. G looked back and grimaced.
"We don't like to talk about it," he said flatly, as he and Lucian reached for the spot in question. Rebecca gulped.
"Umm, okay," she said, just as a cry of pain came through the trees. G stiffened, his head on a swivel.
"Lucian, watch the camp!" G commanded as he rushed off. The Lucario nodded as he stood watch of the gear his friend had left. Rebecca, confused, went to follow G, only to be stopped by the Lucario.
[Don't,] the Lucario told her. [G has this under control.] Rebecca just looked at him.
"You can talk?!"
[Yes, and you state the obvious,] Lucian said snarkily.
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G ran, his senses strained to find the disturbance. While there were others who were much better at Aura Sensing than he was, G was no slouch in that department, and for him, it was enough to finally find the source of the problem.
'Oh fuck no!' he thought to himself. 'A Shadow Pokemon?! Here? Shit, I thought Cipher was wiped out years ago!' G grimaced as he gathered Aura into his hand, and swiped it up his other arm; in less than a second from where his hand was, matte ebony armor grew out of his skin, only to be interrupted by bright yellow markings.
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"Alright kid, hand them over!" growled the black-clothed punk as his Pokemon, a purplish Lillipup, stood, waiting for the order to attack. A young boy stood opposite them, holding his Patrat close to him.
"No way! You cheated!" he cried out, trying to get away from the two in front of him. The punk grinned darkly as he advanced.
"Well, one way or another kid, my boss wants that Pokemon of yours," he said. "Now hand it over before someone really gets hurt!"
"Who, you?"
The two humans and their Pokemon turned their heads to look at the newcomer who just spoke, and the punk's reaction told the kid all he needed to know.
"Ah shit no! I didn't sign up to fight that guy!" the punk said, scared out of his wits. The kid just stared, looking at the newcomer. It was fairly tall, thin, and he hoped it was a friendly humanoid Pokemon. Although, the way the thing's head was designed and the yellow markings did seem familiar....
"Yeah, well, you should have thought of this particular eventuality before you grabbed a Shadow Pokemon and went out for grand theft Pokemon," the figure said as it casually walked towards them. "Now, recall your Pokemon, hand it over, and I'll make sure you only get a few years in prison."
The punk looked at the figure, scared. "Attack him!" he commanded his Lillipup as he turned to run away. The Lillipup growled fiercely before rushing ahead, clocked in a dark aura. The figure sighed as it formed a ball of crackling green energy and casually flung it at the Lillipup. The attack hit the small Pokemon head on and sent it flying several dozen feet, and when it landed, it was already out cold.
The figure sighed. "I've fought rocks tougher than this," he muttered before raising one foot....
....and reappearing right in front of the running punk, clothes lining him. The punk groaned in pain as the figure kneeled down. "Now," it said, "Where did you get the Shadow Pokemon?"
"Fuck... you!"
The figure tisked as the boy watched. "Wrong answer," he said before backhand slapping him, drawing a few lines of blood on the punk's face.
"Alright! I got them from a guy in Castelia! Told me to wait around on Route One till I met some guy named G!" the punk said, scared. The figure nodded.
"See? Was that so hard?" it asked. The punk looked at the thing in fear as it took his Pokeball and used it to recall the Lillipup. "Granted, you're still going to prison," it added. "But now you can rest in the knowledge that normal, innocent people will be unharmed by your idiocy."
The figure turned its head to look at the boy. "Hey kid, want some advice?" it asked. The boy nodded. "Stay in school, don't do drugs, and trust your heart, it will very rarely lead you astray. Now take care of that Patrat!" It stood up, punk in hand, and disappeared.
"....that was cool," the kid said to his Pokemon. The rodent nodded its head in agreement.
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Rebecca sat on a stump, looking at Lucian. "So... how long have you known G?" she asked. The Lucario closed his eyes and smiled.
[About three years,] he said to her. [And we've been travelling the world for most of that.]
"So, you're his first Pokemon then?" Rebecca asked innocently. Lucian shook his head.
[No,] he told her. [I am a friend along for the ride who happens to be a Pokemon. No, his first Pokemon was Sceptile.] Rebecca looked at him.
"Wait, isn't that a Hoenn Pokemon?" she asked, curious. Lucian nodded.
[He is. I think the reason he choose a Treeko in the first place was-]
"Sentimental reasons that I like to keep to myself for now." Rebecca and Lucian turned their heads to see G casually walking towards them, a Pokeball in hand. "By the way, Lucian, we have a new teammate. Just a fair warning, he's a bit shady."
Lucian's face hardened slightly as he nodded. [Understood,] he said, getting up. [So, we off to Accumula?] G nodded.
"Sure are," he said, looking at Rebecca. "So, White, want a few pointers on the way to Accumula? From one trainer to another?"
Rebecca all but fainted at the thought of receiving advice from her idol, and eagerly agreed.
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In Accumula, a single solitary human walked down the streets, head down, tea green hair billowing in wind. In an hour, Ghethis would begin turning the population of Unova in people eager to undo the atrocities of Pokemon training. Finally, his friends would be free. Finally, the world would make sense.
And that was when N saw them, or rather, him.
The brown hair. Horrid sense of clothes. The smirk. N knew that face anywhere.
G was finally back in Unova. And he had much to explain to N.