The Assignment
#8 of Pokemon story
Finally things are starting to get interesting. I hope the upcoming chapters will entertain those who watch and read as I have much more planned ^^
The assignment.
Leo was just stepping out of his house in the village, He had packed the night before and was eager to set off on his own adventure following Max though for a completely different reason. Leo received a letter the day after Max had taken off and set sail, it was a letter from his mentor and in part CREATOR. His orders were clear that he had to keep an eye out on Max and if need be help him develop his still dormant abilities. With his backpack stuffed with the food and supplies he would need to catch up to Max he locked up the door when he was stopped by a furry hand clamping on his shoulder. "Bar's closed today...You'll have to wait till I come back from my business trip..." He muttered.
When he turned around he wasn't expecting what he was faced with. Now...LEO is a digimon hybrid, half human half digimon created on the whims of science, but what now stood before him was a Leomon that was twice his size, wielding a pair of steel claws on each hand, the scars that ran along his chest were a testament to his strength they even ran along his arms. "Smithy...It's been about a year since you've come to visit...I'm afraid to say it but your nephew's already went off on an adventure! I'm about to go catch up to him so if you have anything you want to give him...like you usually do then I'll pass it along."
Smithy examined Leo with a look of pity, and he held out his larger fist to hand Leo a small box. "Give that to the lad. I don't know what your...organization...wants with my nephew but I want to make one thing clear. If you harm him I will hunt you down and I WILL kill you. You of all people know just how Max can be."
Leo took the box handed to him and stuffed it in a free pocket while staring back at the larger feline in front of him, his fur bristling. "Sir with all due respect I've lived my whole life here. And I've been the one that's been keeping Max together and not going insane like his father did. You have my word that I'll protect your nephew, And I'll help him learn how to take care of himself."
With a nod the armored Leomon started to walk away, before lifting an arm and slicing a tree clean in two with the blades on his arm. "You'd better...But that's not what I meant." He turned back to Leo, an angry glare in his eyes. "I could care less about the humans...and I know you're the same way. but don't get my son involved in your war do you hear me?"
Leo looked at Smithy and growled, he lifted up his own arm and slammed it into a nearby tree as well, the tree splintered before tumbling down causing a few villagers to come out of their homes to see what was going on, only to spot an old fashioned stand off between the two digimen. Finally...After about a minute of silence Leo slung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking past the larger Leomon with a chuckle. "It's best not to say anything out in the open. I'll promise you this though...Max won't be involved. If anything I'm going simply to observe him and to help him achieve his own goal now if you don't mind...I have a boat to catch."
Everyone stared at the wreckage of the stare down. when Smithy realized the mess they both made he started to lift the logs up, carrying each one in a single arm and bringing them to a corner of the village. "Apologies for waking all of you. I'll cut this up and prepare some firewood for you all!"
Meanwhile in Cherry grove city, Max was feeding his Pokemon with what supplies he had left from home while his three tailed wolf companion Fang went off to go pick up fresh supplies from the market. "Alright you three...if what John said is true then the gym leader here is going to be a flying type user. Meaning sadly Bulbasaur...you may have to stay out of this fight." he noted the look of disappointment on the young Pokemon's face but it quickly changed to that of a yawn as it climbed on top of his head and took a nap. "Which leaves you both...Sentret I'll open you up first in the battle so that we can get a good read on what our opponent is going to do in the battle. After that we'll bring you in Larvitar! Your rock type nature will be key to winning this gym and it'll only work if you're willing to cooperate..." Sentret seemed to be as giddy as ever as it ran around both Max and Larvitar who didn't seem at all convinced it could trust Max. It scrutinized every motion Max made but eventually gave in and nodded. "Excellent! With this teamwork we'll be sure to earn our first badge and be on our way to the championship." he handed both Sentret and Larvitar a berry from his bag, a snack for them on the side of their meal and even handed one to Bulbasaur though either by accident or as a gag joke it chomped down on his hand as well, making him cringe and start shouting and flailing his arm in the air.
Fang came back with a few bags worth of groceries to see Max flailing about and trying to pry Bulbasaur off his hand. With a giggle he assisted Max and checked to see if he had any bite marks but it turned out to be non life threatening and it didn't leave any clear markings so he dismissed it. "Well...I got what we could afford with the money your friend gave you. We should be good for a few days. So you better win this gym battle! We need the money or we'll never make it past the week."
Once his hand was free from his Pokemon grasp he smirked at the sliminess and started rubbing it over Fang's head fur with a smile. "Don't worry...We'll win. While you were in the store we were coming up with a plan of attack. And besides...when did this become we? You're just following around and can leave and head back anytime you want!"
After wiping off his face of the drool, Fang perked his ears up and smirked at Max while starting to pack the food and supplies he'd bought into Max's backpack. "I told you on the boat didn't I? I said I want to observe you and see how this works out. So while I'm observing I'm going to help you out! We're a team and besides..." He was about to say more but stopped himself and splayed his ears back. "Never mind...just remember. I'm your friend! And it's more fun to travel with a friend!"
Max stared at him for a bit, then started grooming Fang's fur with a comb and smirked. "Yeah that is true I guess. Well then I'll win so that we can have safe and comfortable travels!" He put his backpack on and smiled as he placed Bulbasaur back on his head, then returned both Sentret and Larvitar into their balls for a short rest. "Well...they say you should start in the sprout tower before going to the gym itself...but I'm confident in each member of my team and that we can win this badge without the additional training!" With that he started marching through town while his Bulbasaur sunbathed on his head.
Swaying his three tails around, Fang tilted his head to the side as he followed behind. "Uhm...I never expected you to go to the sprout tower anyway...you said it yourself yesturday that it's not the battle experience that makes a pokemon stronger it's the journey. And you're the one leading the journey so you take whatever measures you think you have to."
The rest of their walk to the gym was uneventful. They both decided to keep to themselves, Bulbasaur snoozing on top of Max's head made Fang giggle a bit as he started recalling his own reasons for accompanying Max... Once they made it to the gym however, Fang decided to speak his mind. "Hey Max...you DID teach your Sentret that move I gave to you right?"
Max stepped to the doors of the gym, waited for them to open before he responded as he walked through the door. "Yeah I did...Thanks for that by the way! Sentret and I practiced the attack several times while you were getting our supplies I think we have a pretty solid chance of winning." He gave Fang a thumbs up as he looked over at Falkner standing at the opposite side of the gym platform. "Hey we've come to challenge you to a gym battle! You are...Falkner right? The leader specializing in bird Pokemon?"
The gym leader Falkner, had dark blue hair, which covered up his right eye with a Hoothoot perched upon his shoulder, pecking at his hair a bit, it was kind of a funny sight as the trainer kept telling his Pokemon to stop before finally turning his attention toward Max. "That would be me. Someones been doing their research it seems. Alright then this'll be a three on three match then. How's that sound?" He called for a ref to witness the battle so that there could be no foul play.
With a small nod, Max got into position on the opposite side of the field with his Bulbasaur still napping on his head till it heard the call of a three on three battle, at which it climbed off the boy's blonde head and looked eager to start off the battle for them. "Uhm...We already talked about this..." Max stared at his Bulbasaur before giving a sigh. "Very well we'll just wing it for now. I'll start off with my partner Bulbasaur!" As he made the declaration, the small plant Pokemon started scampering into the field where Falkner's hoothoot joined in the opposite direction.
Fang looked a bit worried, I mean they had their strategy already planned up their strategy against Falkner, John had even given them sound advice on defeating him. He couldn't do much though since he wasn't the trainer and sat down on the closest bench he could find, right next to him was Scavenger who showed up out of nowhere, scaring the pants out of Fang who's fur stood on end. "What the heck?! I thought you left to cash in that bounty!"
The orange and blue dragon smirked, patting the wolf pup and looking at the field as the referee started announcing the rules and rubbed his chin with one clawed hand. "Yeeah I already did that...But this boy had some sort of strange effect on me. He showed no fear against those rocket thugs you don't see that often. I can't explain it but I want to witness his growth as a person so I came to watch how he fares."
Fang decided not to comment any further, simply opting to pay attention to the battle that has already ensued. Bulbasaur was holding it's own surprisingly against the hoothoot. It constantly tried to wrap it's vines around the flying type but against the Hoothoot's speed it couldn't get a good grip. "Calm down Bulbasaur!" Max shouted, and smiled. "Don't just shoot your vines out everywhere...Let's take a page from John's book and work with that! Predict where the hoothoot will move to avoid your first vine and move the second accordingly!" His bulbasaur took a few deep breaths but nodded in compliance as it shot it's first vine out toward the Hoothoot then just as the bird Pokemon moved to avoid the vine he slipped his other in without the birds knowledge and wrapped it around it's leg. "Hah! There we go! Now reel it in and use stun spore!"
Falkner was kind of surprised when his Hoothoot was being pulled in and even worse, that it had been paralyzed and captured by this novice trainers grass type. "You turned a weakness into a strength, I'm impressed. Your Bulbasaur's not very fast but you used that to it's advantage with it's vines." He could only watch when the Bulbasaur tackled the now helpless Hoothoot, knocking it out with a critical hit. "Well then guess I should have taken you more seriously then." With that he called the hoothoot into it's ball before calling forth a Doduo. "Alright here we go. Let's see if you can make your bulbasaur's weakness it's strength here."
Max picked up his Bulbasaur and set it on his head. "I won't take the risk. I'm going to give all of my Pokemon a chance in this competition so..." He took out a poke ball and called out his Sentret who started scampering into the arena with a cute but fierce determination in it's eyes.
New bark town-
Leo finally made it off the dock and was about to head out of town, considering he had a lot of ground he'd have to cover if he was going to catch up with Max. What he didn't expect though was to encounter Jesse, He saw the young trainer and his nidoking walking along the streets of the small town, apparently looking pleased with themselves. "Hey!" Leo roared out to the pair, who although they were shocked to see him, were not intimidated by the tone of his voice. "Looks like I get a chance to have some fun right away after all...I hear you boys have been causing a ruckus out in the main lands...Mind explaining yourselves?"
As the lion was approaching, Jesse's eyes narrowed as if prepared for a confrontation. "Your organization spreads further than I had thought. How much do you exactly know? And am I going to have to beat it out of you?" His Nidoking moved ahead of him, ready to take on the lion. "You're an old friend Leo...and you gave me the power I have now. But if you're intent on getting in the way...well our friendship will just have to be set aside for now."
The lion hybrid didn't have much time to react before the ground type Pokemon lunged at him and sent him flying into the forest just outside of the town, the trainer and pokemon following suit. "Well...I didn't expect you to attack me...not before I had a chance to answer your questions. I know more than you think. I know the atrocities you've done to fellow trainers...And you seem to hold a misinterpretation of our organizations goals. Our goal isn't to destroy humanity. It's to have them accept our existence as hybrids." He growled, the attack doing more damage than he had anticipated but he sprang forward, locking his fists with Nidoking's, their attacks sending small shock waves through the air around them.
Jesse watched the two locked in battle, and once he saw an opportunity to strike, materialized a pair of chain scythes from out of thin air and ran between the two, Leo barely had enough time to react before his head was lobbed off by the attack. The lion didn't stand much of a chance to the pair as the trainer stared down at what he had wrought. "I wish things could have gone differently...Nidoking we're leaving..."
Just as the pair turned around and were about to leave, seemingly from magic, Leo sprang forth, body whole and all and he gave a good right hook into Nidoking's right cheek and another to Jesse's right, sending them flying into a pair of oak trees. "You ought to know better...You thought I didn't know you would go for my head."
Jesse crashed into the tree and tried to shake off the headache he was now suffering from it. He stared at Leo and was completely stunned. "I don't get it...I lopped off your head...that was no illusion you aren't the type of Hybrid that can manipulate space like that." He saw Leo's severed head on the ground, yet when he looked up he could see that the hybrid was still whole, head still attached.
Leo couldn't help but smirk but he smashed his own severed head into dust as he started to explain. "Poor Jesse...You know the different abilities a hybrid can possess...yet not how they function..." with that he opened his fist and showed three glowing orbs, each of varying size. "I am not an organic being like you...and yet...I'm not a complete digimon as I was the byproduct of science. I AM the first human made hybrid. And unlike the later models...I don't have just one core inside of me fueling my spirit but three. As long as one does not shatter it will heal the remaining two...In other words...Attacking my body is pointless unless you can shatter my souls...I have the same advantages of a real digimon in that I cannot die from such a mortal injury...I'll always return. I simply skipped the Digi egg process!"
Rubbing his temples, Jesse let out a groan. "So then what you're saying is any kind of fatal injury that would result in your death...because you're part digimon you'd simply revive from it...and because you have three times the number of cores a standard digimon has...deleting you is an even trickier process because they will always repair one another..." With some difficulty, Jesse got up and walked over to Nidoking. "We're retreating for now...Until we can figure out how to handle such a complex situation..." Nidoking snorted, a bit disappointing that they were leaving so soon after the battle started but he started charging up a hyper beam at Leo.
This caught Leo by surprise as he lifted his hands up to soften the blow of the attack. while it knocked him a good few feet from where he'd positioned himself, when the smoke cleared he saw a large hole in the middle of the ground and snorted. "Damn it...I let them get away...if I'd finished them here and now I could have saved Max a lot of hassle..." He stared at his hands, which were burnt pretty bad from the hyper beam but it's nothing time wouldn't cure. he made sure the box that Smithy had given to him was still intact before snorting. "It's going to be a dangerous trek...Smithy left this to me to hand to his nephew but now with Jesse after me...It'd be foolish to pursue Max now...I'll bring it to the poke mart in Cherry grove city...they'll deliver it to a town for me in advance so Max can pick it up...It's the only way I can protect him..."
Back at the gym-
Sentret was narrowly avoiding the Doduo's attacks, once or twice it suffered from the Pokemon's swift peck attacks and was tottering on the edge of defeat. Falkner smirked at Max's inexperience and started waving a hand. "You know if you want to spare yourself the embarrassment and go train some more...I won't stop you! Your Sentret doesn't seem to have ANY attacks that will be able to affect my bird Pokemon...least not much..."
Max glared at Falkner but he knew it wasn't right to base his anger on his opponent, in fact...the Gym leader was right. Max had to do something one way or another. "Oh that's right...Fang and I were discussing this just before we got into the Gym...Alright Sentret this will be your last attack! Charge toward that Doduo and hit it with that new attack we've been practicing. Sentret's eyes went wide, but in the end it knew Max's idea was better than just dodging this quick Pokemon's attacks so it ran headlong at the Doduo which came to meet it's charge and just when they were only a meter apart, Sentret discharged a surprising thunderbolt attack at the bird Pokemon. It was so unexpected both Falkner and Scav shouted their surprise when Doduo collapsed on the ground, Sentret following as it's last attack drained it of it's reserves.
The Ref looked at both pokemon, then nodded his decision. "The second battle has resulted in a draw! The challenger has two pokemon while the Gym leader Falkner has one remaining!"
Both trainers called their pokemon into their respective poke balls. Falkner smiling for once. "I didn't expect you to have such an ace up your sleeve...With Doduo's speed you wouldn't have been able to accurately target him for such an attack so you had to wait..built our confidence enough so that we'd make a mistake...You may be a rookie but you play with the experience of a master."
Max took out his last pokeball and grunted at the compliment. "I had a good master teach me...But I'm nowhere near the level of one." He smiled and called out his Larvitar who was eager to show it's stuff as it started flexing it's muscles. And just the same, Falkner would call out his own ace pokemon, a Pidgeot that soared above the battlefield. This was going to be a tricky battle indeed, but Max had every bit of confidence in Larvitar as he had with Bulbasaur and Sentret. As the two began duking it out. "Okay Larvitar! Let's start things off with a rock slide!"
What Max didn't see coming however was the fact that the Larvitar may have decided to fight for him, but it seemed to disregard his strategies. Sure it used rock slide just as Max had asked, hurtling boulders at the flying type with great strength but it also tried to get in close with it. "Hey hold on I didn't tell you to get in close yet!"
Falkner simply rolled his eyes as he watched the battle proceed. "I retract my statement about you being a master...I've overestimated you it seems. Pidgeot go ahead and use Whirlwind!" And it did, it flapped it's wings toward Larvitar, trapping it in a air storm that forced it back into it's poke ball, Bulbasaur taking it's place and caught off guard. "Now it's about time we even the playing field! Alright now go down with a Gust!"
Bulbasaur winced as it was sent tumbling to the edge of the arena, staggering to get up. "Bulbasaur! I didn't expect you to be brought out into the battle again...but conventional attacks won't work this time...Get in close and use a Leech seed!" It struggled to get up but it managed to shoot out a small seed that managed to make it's way into the bird Pokemon feathers, it didn't seem to recongnize this as a real threat though, as it swooped down and finished off the young grass type, knocking it unconscious.
"Bulbasaur is unable to battle! Both trainers are at one Pokemon each!" Hearing the announcement, Max cringed and called his Larvitar back out, hoping this time it would listen to him.
"Max...you were an impressive opponent! And one that if you put more training into your pokemon you could become a formidable opponent in the Pokemon league. I'm afraid it's over though." Falkner said, his voice sounding absolute.
Larvitar stared at his trainer for a moment, after hearing the words exchanged between the two of them, he took a deep breath and spoke to Max for the first time. "I made a mess of your plan. I'm following your lead so make the right choice kid!"
Max's eyes went wide, the only Pokemon he'd ever heard speak to him before was his Bulbasaur, and even then he thought he was hearing things. But nobody else seemed shocked by this new revelation so he assumed that they couldn't hear the voice. "Alright then...Larvitar use Sandstorm now!" With a nod, The rock type pokemon started stirring up their enviornment. Hindering the Pidgeot's movements as it was forced to land less the sandstorm tear it apart. "Alright now get in close, now that it's grounded hit it with a Rock slide!"
Falkner's eyes went wide by the change of venue, he'd never expected a sandstorm now of all times or that the Larvitar would suddenly begin to obey it's trainer. "Come on Pidgeot! Follow the silhouette of the Larvitar and hit it with a twister!" Just as the Pidgeot received it's command and was about to follow through, a tingling sensation flowed through it, Bulbasaur's leech seed had finally taken affect and started sapping it of it's strength, doubled over by the power of the sand storm it had difficulty concentrating and found the Larvitar closing up and slammed the poor avian with a large boulder, knocking it out of the sandstorm and into the arena wall, swirls appearing in it's eyes. "N-no way!" Falkner cried out.
The sandstorm dissipated and Larvitar stood proud, smirking as it winked at Max and the Ref declared his findings. "Pidgeot is unable to battle! The victory goes to Max and Larvitar!"
Max grinned as he walked over to Larvitar and picked him up. "Now I get why John said you would be a powerful alley...I hope that you'll trust my battle instincts in the future..." Larvitar gave him a small nod in confirmation as Max put him back into his ball and approached Falkner who was tending to his Pidgeot. "I agree with what you said. I do need to train them some more, the only reason I won was because of Larvitar's change of heart."
Falkner, sure that his partner was in no mortal danger called Pidgeot into it's ball and turned to Max with a smile, lifting up his hair so that he could look at Max with both his eyes. "Maybe. But I was wrong to insult your training style. You do have the skills of a master. You just need the Pokemon to match it. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on the Johto league championships to see how you do." He took out a case from his pocket containing a badge. "Here you go...this belongs to you...It's the Zephyr badge. With it you're one step closer to reaching the Johto league." He held his hand out and shook Max's hand, a sign that he finally came to respect the newbie trainer.
After which Fang walked over with Scav, his tails wagging in excitement. "Max that was the most exciting battle I've ever seen! I can't wait to see how you impress me and the world in the battles to come!"
Max laughed, looking at both of his friends, he didn't know why Scav was here but he'd give the dragon a chance to explain once they were out of the gym. "I owe the battle to the team work my Pokemon showed in battle. Once Larvitar started taking my lead...Things just clicked...I didn't go with the plan yet I knew exactly what I had to do to win!"
Falkner smiled at the group and nodded. "That's the mark of a master...you didn't need to think about it...your instincts told you EXACTLY what you needed to do. After going to the pokemon center, head to Azalea town. There your next challenge awaits!"
Max raised an eye ridge, before grinning. "Azalea town...Sounds good! thank you Falkner! Maybe we can battle again sometime!" He waved at the Gym leader before heading out with his friends. (Next chapter to be uploaded soon ^^ hope ya enjoy :3 )