Chapter 6: Save It For A Rainy Day
by poper466I was gonna do another special episode for Vulcan but considering we’re still pretty early into this story and Cinder just had hers I’ll save it for later. Anyway, here’s another somewhat slow chapter, hopefully, it doesn’t just feel like filler.
January 24th, 7:00 am
Team Echoes’ Base – Joseph’s Room
Coast Continent
Joseph awoke to the sound of rain hitting the leaves outside, ‘It’s still raining?’ He thought, ‘I know it was raining last night, but I thought it would’ve blown over by now.’
Joseph jumped off of his bed and stretched before hearing a knock on his door. He approached the door and opened it, on the other side, Slippy was sitting there, smiling radiantly.
“Good morning, buddy!” Slippy bubbled.
“Morning Slippy!” Joseph replied, “What’s got you feeling all cheery this morning?”
“It’s a rainy day! We don’t have to do any guild work!”
“Oh, that’s cool!”
“So you wanna go on a walk?”
“Uh maybe? I don’t know if I’d enjoy that.”
“What’s wrong? You afraid you’re gonna get your fur wet or something?”
“Sort of, I’m also somewhat afraid of catching a cold.”
“A cold what? A cold raindrop in your eye?”
“No, a cold, it’s when you get all sick, and you feel terrible.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Is it a human thing?”
“I guess so, I would’ve expected it to be a thing here too, though.”
“Well, I don’t think it is, so come on! Let’s go on a walk in the rain!”
“Wh- Hey! Stop pushing me!”
Slippy pushed Joseph out of his room and to Sammy’s door, Slippy knocked on the door and Sammy emerged from his room.
“You actually managed to get him?” Sammy asked, “I’m surprised.”
“I didn’t consent to this!” Joseph protested.
“C’mon! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it! Let the rain wash your stress away!” Slippy chirped.
“He’s got a point, the rain is great for washing your stress away.” Sammy pointed out.
“Is it really worth it, though? I’m gonna get soaked!” Joseph squealed.
“Oh, stop being such a baby, there isn’t a single Pokémon in this world who hasn’t had their fur soaked at least once in their life, and besides electric type Pokémon like having their fur soaked as odd as that sounds.”
“Yeah because their instincts make them! I don’t have electric type instincts!”
“Look, it’s either you get soaked because of the rain or you get soaked in a dungeon, so come on, let’s do this.”
“Nuh-uh, I won’t need to get soaked if I’m careful!”
Slippy looked at Sammy with a devious look on his face, and Sammy instantly knew what was up, “You won’t eh?” Slippy said.
“Nope! I won’t get soaked if I’m car-” Joseph reiterated before getting blasted by Sammy and Slippy’s dual Water Gun combo, “Ack! Why did you do that!?”
“Oops, looks like you weren’t careful enough, now you’re soaked, sorry bud.”
Joseph sighed, “I’d shock you if I knew how, not because I’m uncomfortable, but because you two sprayed me without warning.”
“But you’re not uncomfortable right?” Sammy asked.
“Not really… It kinda feels nice, actually.”
“See!? Didn’t we tell you you’d be fine?”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t trust you!”
“Do you trust us now?”
“I guess…”
“Good, then let’s get going.”
January 24th, 7:10 am
Sunset Square – Outskirts
Coast Continent
The three left the base and began their little stroll, the rain was pouring, but the wind wasn’t too crazy. The clouds were dark, like really dark, a thunderstorm was definitely imminent, but Joseph didn’t mind, after all, what was the lightning going to knock the power out at the base?
“The clouds are getting pretty dark.” Joseph said.
“Yeah… Hopefully, if there’s any lightning, you’re the only one who gets struck.” Slippy whimpered.
“Wh- Why me!?”
“Because it feels refreshing.” A voice said from behind.
Joseph turned around to see Razor approaching him, “How’s it going, kid?”
“It’s going pretty good, how are you doing?”
“I’m doing fine, although I’ve been a little stressed lately because of the whole egg situation.”
“Is it doing alright?”
“Yeah, but I’m still a little anxious about becoming a father.”
“Oh, well that’s to be expected, parenting is stressful and hard from what I’ve heard.”
“Would’ve been nice to know that before I decided to become a father.”
“Your parents never told you!?”
“I never met them, they abandoned my egg…”
“That’s- I’m so sorry to hear that…”
“It’s alright, it’s pretty common for Pokémon to abandon their eggs where I’m from.”
“That doesn’t make it ok!”
“Well, that’s just the way it is where I’m from.”
“Well, I’m glad you were able to survive and continue the bloodline, I guess.”
“Yeah, I am too, I can’t imagine what I’d do if I was still living in Sinnoh’s wilds.”
“What brings you out here mister?” Sammy asked.
“Oh, I just wanted to take a walk in the rain, that’s all.”
“Oh yeah, you said getting struck by lightning is refreshing, is that actually true? Joseph asked.
“Yup! Us electric types love it and unless another Pokémon caused it, it doesn’t even hurt!”
“That is… really weird…”
“Eh, it’s not as weird as water types being able to breathe underwater, or fire types being able to swim in lava.”
“There’s no way that that’s a thing!”
“Well, I can confirm the first one’s true, but I’ll have to ask Cinder about that second one.” Slippy confirmed.
“Jeez, this world is weird…”
“Says you mister weirdo,” Razor ribbed, “you aren’t even charging electricity!”
“Well yeah because I don’t know how!”
“Here, let me show you.” Razor said as he walked over to Joseph.
He grabbed the tip of Joseph’s tail when Joseph began to protest, “Hey! Don’t touch that! I don’t like how that feels!”
“Calm down! I’m just trying to teach you something!”
“Why do you have to touch my tail to teach me how to charge electricity!?”
“Because the easiest way for Shinx to charge electricity is to do this,” Razor said as he moved the tip of Joseph’s tail back and forth, causing the muscles in his tail to extend and contract.
Joseph felt the electricity begin to flow through his body, which made him infinitely more uncomfortable than any of the sensations his tail was giving off, “This feeling… I don’t like it!” He said.
“Well duh it’s because you don’t have a lot of electricity charged up, here, let me help you with that.” Razor said.
Razor began moving Joseph’s tail a bit faster, generating more electricity while simultaneously making Joseph even more uncomfortable, “This isn’t helping! The electricity is only making me feel more uncomfortable, and having you move my tail around isn’t exactly helping either!”
“Huh, that’s strange… I can understand the whole tail thing, but why is the electricity making you feel uncomfortable?”
“Probably because my brain recognizes that my body was never meant to generate electricity!”
“Nonsense! You just gotta get used to it!”
Razor continued moving Joseph’s tail around, when suddenly a massive bolt of lightning struck Joseph, causing the rest of the group to jump back as Joseph was sprawled out across the ground.
“Oh, my Arceus!” Sammy shrieked.
“He’s fine,” Razor assured Sammy, “he was just knocked over by the force of the shock, that’s all!”
“Ugh… I feel like I just got hit by a truck while also having a heart attack at the same time… What just happened?” Joseph groaned.
“You got struck by lightning, it’s probably because you were charging electricity in the rain.”
“Why were you making me charge electricity in the rain, then!?”
“Because in a moment you’re gonna feel like a god, once you absorb all that electricity, that is.”
“You’re joking, right? I’m not really about to absorb all that electricity, right?”
But before Razor could answer, Joseph really did absorb the electricity from the lightning bolt, taking his slight discomfort from the small amount of electricity he charged himself and ramping it up tenfold! He felt like he was going to explode, his heart was beating rapidly as electricity flowed through every fiber of his being.
“Oh god, you weren’t kidding! I feel like I’m gonna explode!” Joseph exulted.
Razor chuckled, “Told you that you’d get used to it.” He said.
“This somehow feels absolutely amazing and absolutely terrible, it’s like I’m on like 20 cups of coffee and like 400 different energy drinks all at once!”
“Yeah because you effectively are, you might want to get rid of all that electricity before you have a heart attack.”
“Wait WHAT!? BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF IT!”
“Don’t freak out, I can teach you.”
“Do it quickly before my heart explodes!”
“Ok! Ok! Just imagine yourself becoming a ball of electricity, then jump at me as if you were using Tackle or Quick Attack.”
Joseph did as instructed, he imagined himself as a giant ball of electricity reminiscent of some of the electric attacks he had seen various video game characters perform, and he lunged at Razor, as he lunged he was engulfed by the giant ball of electricity he had imagined.
Joseph slammed into Razor at full force, knocking him back a little, “Nice shot kid!” Razor praised.
“How did I just do that!?” Joseph asked.
“Because I taught you how! That was Spark, an electric move that would’ve taken you a long time to figure out on your own, if you want to use it you’re gonna need to charge up electricity first.”
“Cool! I can finally use an electric move!”
“Not to interrupt you two, but who exactly are you?” Sammy asked.
“Oh, that would be Razor.” A voice called out from behind.
“Cloak! Glad you could make it!” Razor chirped.
Sammy and Joseph turned around to see Cloak walking up to them, holding an umbrella, “C’mon, did you seriously think I’d miss out on walking in the rain with you.”
“Well considering our egg is supposed to hatch today yes, yes I did expect you to miss this walk.”
“Wait, your egg is supposed to hatch today!? Then why are you out on a walk!? You should be with the egg!” Joseph blurted.
“Oh hush, it’s not supposed to hatch until around 7 pm.”
“Well, you should still probably be there, you know, in case it hatches early or something.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Well, on another note, where’d you get that umbrella from?”
“Oh, this?” Cloak said as she spun the umbrella, flinging raindrops at the rest of the group, “I got it from Christian, I insisted it was absolutely necessary for what Razor and I were doing here.”
“What are you doing here?” Sammy asked.
“We’re on our honeymoon, but we were also sent to help Joseph and Cinder figure out what’s going on here.”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on here’.”
“We were told about some threat that’s supposed to be bringing this world to its knees, but we weren’t told what it was, we’re supposed to find out what that is, so we can relay that info to the IDPK or whatever. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“I might know a little, basically there’s this weird purple goo eating away at the land, thankfully it seems that it can’t leave the Crag Continent for the time being.”
“THAT IS MASSIVELY CONCERNING!”
“Well it could be worse, it could’ve been some evil creature or person or Pokémon or something” Razor stuttered.
“Yeah about that…” Joseph interjected, “The goo is sentient.”
“IT’S WHAT!?” The couple both shrieked in unison.
“Yup… The Guildmaster sent Skarmory and Corviknight to go scout out the scene, but when they got there Corviknight was shot down by a monster that formed out of the goo.” Sammy explained
“Is he alright!?” Cloak asked.
“Nope, the goo also consumes Pokémon, so once he was shot down he landed in the goo and was consumed too.”
“Bloody hell, that sounds terrifying!”
“I know! Rory and I were face to face with the stuff… well, according to her anyway.”
“What do you mean ‘according to her’? You were there!”
“I also fell off a cliff, hit my head, got amnesia, and somehow drifted halfway across the entire world.”
“Oh… I guess that makes sense then… I’m sorry to hear that…”
“It’s fine, I’m using it as an opportunity to reinvent myself.”
“That’s actually kind of inspiring, you go, little dude!” Razor cheered.
Sammy laughed, “Thank you.”
“Aren’t we supposed to be on a walk?” Slippy asked. He had grown a little frustrated by the fact that they had been stopped for so long, as he didn’t want the rain to end before the end of the walk.
“Oh, right, I almost forgot, shall we continue to talk while we walk?” Joseph suggested.
“Of course!” The couple replied.
The walk continued and so did the conversations, eventually Joseph asked the couple, “So what were you two planning on naming the baby once it hatches?”
Razor and Cloak both looked at each other and shrugged, “We haven’t thought of that yet.” Razor replied.
“You haven’t? Isn’t that like the first thing parents think of when they’re having a kid?”
“We wouldn’t know,” Cloak replied, “our parents abandoned us.”
“Jeez, you too? That sucks.”
“Eh, it wasn’t that bad, we got to meet our trainer because of it.”
“True, and if it weren’t for him, I’m guessing you two would’ve never met.”
“Nope! Galar is extremely far away from Sinnoh, so there was no chance of us meeting without some outside help.”
“Are we making up words?” Slippy asked, “Because I love to use the word ‘blubber’ because it sounds fake.”
“They’re not making up words Slippy, those are places in another dimension.” Joseph answered.
“How do you know that?”
“Because for one they told me, and for two those are fictional places in a video game I played.”
“Oh… That’s why it sounds like they’re spitting gibberish.”
“I prefer the term gobbledygook personally.” Cloak chuckled.
Joseph cleared his throat, “Getting back on topic, I think you guys should come up with names for your kid before it hatches.”
“That’s a great idea, there’s just one small problem: we’re terrible at naming things.”
“I could help you, well, if you wanted me to anyway.”
“Just don’t come up with anything stupid, I don’t want our little one to get bullied.”
“I won’t! I swear!”
“Alright,” Razor said, “Try to come up with something heroic sounding, I want our kid to sound strong for when they inevitably get into a fight!”
“There’s no guarantee that our kid’s gonna get into a fight!” Cloak countered.
“Well, they will if they’re anything like us, that’s for sure.”
“Fair point… Try not to come up with anything that sounds too dorky, though…”
Joseph thought for a moment but then realized he was missing a key piece of information, “Hey, is your baby gonna be a boy or a girl?” He asked.
“We don’t know,” The couple responded, “we can’t know until the egg hatches.”
“Great… I forgot we don’t have the technology to determine that here… Oh well…”
Joseph just decided to think of two names, one boy’s name, and one girl’s name. The boy’s name was pretty easy as Joseph already had something in mind, but the girl’s name, oh boy did he have a hard time thinking of something that sounded nice…
Finally, he decided on two names and shot them the couple’s way, “Ok, I thought of two names, if it’s a boy then you should name him Blair, but if it’s a girl you should name her Blaze.”
Cloak rolled her eyes, “Blaze? Really? That’s all you could come up with for a girl?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry… I struggled to come up with anything that felt unique for a girl… But the name I came up with for a boy’s pretty good, right?”
“Yeah! I like it! It’s a perfect name for a future hero!” Razor praised.
“You don’t really think our little one’s gonna become a hero, do you?” Cloak asked.
“Hey, you never know, they could.”
“Maybe they’d end up with a ribbon, y’know, like the ones you’ve gotten over the years.”
“That’d be awesome! I’d love to collect ribbons with our kid! It’d be a great way to bond!”
“Or a nice way to get bullied.”
“Hey! You take that back! My ribbons are cool! You’re just jealous you only have one!”
“Yeah, I have one too many.”
“You’re such a kid!”
The couple bantered a bit more as the group continued to walk down to the beach, once they arrived at the beach they spotted Lanturn and Nail, chilling and watching the raindrops hit the ocean. The group all sat down next to Lanturn and began watching the raindrops as well.
Lanturn turned to face the group, “Sup dudes!” He greeted, “You guys out on a stroll in the rain or somethin’?”
“Yeah, we decided we needed to blow off some steam, and walking in the rain’s the perfect way to do that.” Sammy said.
“What about you love birds? You getting your last bit of peace in before the egg hatches?”
“Yeah, something like that…” Cloak said as her mind drifted off a bit.
“That’s cool, Nail and I were just cooling down after a sparring session, after all, I gotta keep my guard up if I wanna be worthy of running the guild.”
Cloak instantly recognized Nail’s name and glanced over at him, she then glanced back at Razor who was staring right back at her, “You don’t think that’s him, right?” Cloak whispered.
“Dude, it has to be! What other tall freaky Pokémon with giant claws do you see running around!?” Razor whispered back.
The two walked over to Nail and introduced themselves, just in case this wasn’t who they thought it was, “Uh, hello, my name is Razor and this is Cloak, What’s your name?” Razor asked awkwardly.
“I’ve heard your voice before.” Nail replied.
“That’s a strange name… I don’t think I’ve met an ‘I’ve heard your voice before’ before…”
“No, that’s not my name! I’m saying I’ve heard your voice somewhere before!”
“Oh… Well, where did you hear it?”
“A place called Hisui, you probably haven’t heard of it before though…”
Razor turned to Cloak and whispered, “That’s him alright! We just need to get him to recognize us, quick, say something in Galarian speak.”
“You’re such a goofball! Alright, I’ll do it.” Cloak whispered back before clearing her throat, “What do you think of my brolly? It’s massively helpful for keeping dry in the rain, I’d be gutted without it.”
“It’s pretty neat.” Nail responded before the realization kicked in, “WAIT, IT’S YOU TWO!” He blurted before scooping the both of them up in a hug, “I missed you guys so much!”
The three members of Team Echoes were confused, “They know each other?” Joseph asked.
“Why are you asking me? I just met those two, how would I know that they already know Nail?” Sammy shot back.
“Fair point, Slippy, did you know anything about this?”
“Nope! The same thing goes for me, I didn’t know who Cloak and Razor were before we went on this walk.”
Lanturn floated up to Nail and the couple, “You know these dudes?” He asked.
“Yeah, they’re my friends from home, well sort of anyway, it’s kinda hard to explain.” Nail said.
“We’re from another world entirely, a friend of ours sent us here for our honeymoon.” Cloak explained.
“How are you going to get back to them, though?” Lantern questioned.
“He gave us a device that lets us return to him at any time.”
“Oh that’s cool! Are you two gonna leave after your egg hatches?”
“Uh, no, we have other matters to attend to.” Razor answered.
“Oh, ok, that sounds strange, but I won’t pry.”
Lanturn floated back over to Team Echoes, but before he could say anything Nail and Razor got into a fighting position, “You ready to spar?” Razor asked.
“I’ve been ready since the day I went missing.” Nail replied.
The two charged at each other, Razor readying a Wild Charge as he sprinted, while Nail prepared a Dire Claw. Razor’s attack hit Nail right in the chest, knocking him off his feet, as Nail fell he dug his claws into Razor’s sides, causing him to wince a bit as the poison from his claws seeped into the wounds.
“Not bad,” Razor yawned, the poison putting him on the verge of passing out, “but I know I can do better!”
Razor charged up his electricity for another Wild Charge, causing the drowsiness the poison caused to fade away instantly, he then lunged at Nail again, striking him in the chest once more.
“Twice in a row, really?” Nail asked as he dashed toward Razor and stuck him with a Quick Attack, “You got any new tricks, old timer?”
“Hey! I’m not that old!” Razor replied, “But in case you’re wondering…” Razor paused as a pair of fangs made up of psychic energy grabbed Nail’s arm, the fangs slammed him onto the ground and chomped his arm for good measure, “Yes I do have some new tricks, thanks for asking.” Razor ribbed.
“Yowch! Finally, an attack that hurts! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to fight an opponent that can actually phase me!” Nail shouted as he jumped back to his feet.
A ring of swords appeared around Nail, boosting his strength and causing Razor to roll his eyes, “Really? Swords Dance? That’s unfair!”
“Well, just because you don’t get a good move for boosting your strength doesn’t mean nobody else is allowed to.”
“Whatever, I’ll take you out without any cheap strength-boosting moves.”
The two ran at each other for one last attack each, Nail threw a flurry of punches and kicks at Razor, while Razor met all of Nail’s attacks with a Play Rough. After the two finally stopped hitting each other, Nail fell to his knees and Razor fell to his side, causing Cloak to run to their side, “Oh my! Are you two ok!?” Cloak shrieked.
The two laughed for a moment before Nail said, “I guess we got a bit carried away, huh.”
“You could say that.” Razor laughed.
Nail shakily stood back up and pulled out two Full Restores, “Thank Arceus I still have a few of these.” He said as he tossed one to Razor.
“Oh nice! Bottoms up!”
The two drank the Full Restores and healed back up to perfect health, alleviating Cloak’s concerns, “Phew, I was worried you were gonna be all beat up for our egg hatching.” She sighed.
“I kinda was too, I didn’t mean to overdo things there.” Razor chuckled.
“You over did it? Then why were you so beat up? I’m the one who gave you all those injuries in the first place!” Nail exclaimed.
“Well yeah, but you do realize Wild Charge hurts me too, right? Besides, I had every opportunity to call it off before we got hurt too badly.”
“Fair, I guess we should have called it off then.”
“Nah, it turned out fine in the end, so it doesn’t really matter, besides, it’s more fun this way.”
“Normally I’d agree with you, but after accidentally almost killing someone I think I’ve changed my mind, I think it’s more fun if we don’t beat each other until we collapse.”
“You almost killed someone!?” Cloak and Razor blurted in unison.
Lanturn floated back over to the trio, “Yep, he was in the Palm Wood Forest dungeon, but since he didn’t know what a Mystery Dungeon was he was a little scared, he ended up attacking a poor ol’ Cyndaquil who had also gotten lost, he mistook her for a feral Pokémon and ended up injuring her pretty badly, but once I found them and explained the situation he ended up rushing us back to town, so I could treat her wounds.” He explained.
“Phew… I thought he had gone rogue for a moment.” Razor said with a sigh.
“I told you it was an accident!” Nail shouted.
“I know, but normally it’s very hard to accidentally kill someone!”
“I guess that’s fair…” Nail sighed.
Team Echoes was just sitting there awkwardly watching this all unfold, before Nail turned his attention toward them, “Hey, I haven’t seen you guys around the guild lately, what gives?” He asked.
“Oh, we got our own place,” Sammy said, “you can thank Joseph for that.”
“Really!? You’ve only been here for four days, and you already found a good place to live!? That’s crazy! I still haven’t even found somewhere after months of searching!”
Then Joseph had an idea, “You wanna come over?” He asked.
“I’d be down for that,” Nail said before turning to Cloak and Razor, “You two wanna come too? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”
“Sure, I mean, we’ve got time.” Razor answered before turning to Joseph and asking, “Is it alright if we tag along?”
“Sure, just try not to wreck the place.” Joseph ribbed.
“I won’t, I promise!”
“Chill out, I was just kidding!”
“I-I knew that!”
“You’re still feeling guilty for trashing Christian’s room that one time, aren’t you?” Cloak asked.
“That never happened! I swear!”
“I see… You’re still trying to hide it, too!”
“Let’s just get moving!” Razor said as he blushed like a tomato under his fur.
January 24th, 9:00 am
Team Echoes’ Base
Coast Continent
Sammy, Slippy, and Joseph returned to the base along with Nail, Cloak, and Razor. The lounge was surprisingly empty, not a single soul was in the lounge, but that didn’t seem to bother Nail too much, “Woah! This place is sick!” He exulted, “How did you find this?”
“I used Secret Power on the tree.” Joseph answered.
“Cool! So you guys are building a secret base!” Razor bubbled, “Reminds me of the time I went to Hoenn.”
“This is super cool! Maybe Razor and I should find a place like this and use Secret Power.” Cloak suggested.
“Just keep in mind you have to supply all the furniture yourself… Well, except for the beds, those came with the place for some reason.” Joseph warned.
“I’m sure we could figure something out.”
Suddenly, the group heard the sound of a door opening, shortly after Cinder walked into the lounge from Specter’s room, “Woah! It’s a party in here!” She exclaimed.
Joseph laughed, “I invited some friends over, I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine! I’ve always wanted to invite company over, it’s just I’ve never had my own place before, so I’ve never really been able to…”
“Well cheer up, you’ve got a place now, and you’ve got company over right now!” Cloak said, “Dream come true, right?”
“Yeah, I guess… Well, on another note, how’ve you guys been?”
“We’ve been great! Arboliva said our egg’s supposed to hatch later today, so we’re just waiting until then.”
“That’s great! What about you Nail, how are things with you?”
“Things are absolutely amazing!” Nail exulted, “I got to meet back up with Cloak and Razor!”
“Wait, you’ve met them before!?”
“Yup, they’re my best friends! Well, my best friends that aren’t from Hisui anyway.”
“WOW, that’s so nice of you.” Razor ribbed.
“I didn’t mean it like that, I just thought I’d point that out.”
“I’m a little confused…” Cinder said, “If you three know each other, then is the human Nail was looking for the same one that sent you here?”
“Yup! Nail was looking for Christian, but he somehow ended up here in the process.” Cloak answered.
“Wait, you guys FOUND Christian!?” Nail blurted.
“Sort of… Basically, we were pulled into some space-time rift thingie and when we arrived on the other side we were greeted by Christian in some place called Kitakami, he said he was there on some business from a group known as the Interdimensional Peacekeepers, apparently, they gave him access to a device that can bring any Pokémon he had caught back to him as long as he knows where they are.”
“That sounds a little confusing.”
“It is, he wasn’t given a very good explanation of how the device actually works, but hey that’s the IDPK for you. He was bummed when he found out that he couldn’t bring you with him.”
“But where was he in the time between!?”
“Well, first he took a trip to Paldea, then he found a rift that led him to another world, one where time had stopped entirely and the fabric of space and time had become mostly unraveled, once there he met a Grovyle, the two of them tried to make it back to that world’s past but in the process Christian got amnesia, he also was turned into a Shinx due to the whole fabric of space and time thing.”
“Wait, he got what!? How does that even work!?”
“Don’t worry, he’s back to normal now, basically in certain dimensions humans don’t exist, in those dimensions humans are transformed into other beings, so, in this case, he was turned into a Shinx, however, once the humans return to a world where humans do exist they revert to normal.”
“Wait, something’s not adding up if he had amnesia then how did he remember you guys when he used that device?”
“Because while he was still a Shinx we met up with Jirachi and wished for his memories back.” Cinder said.
“Oh, I guess that makes sense… Wait, why do you know that!?”
“Because our stories line up! I met Christian after he became a Shinx!”
“So you mean to tell me we’ve been looking for the same person this whole time!?”
“I guess! I didn’t know it either until just a few minutes ago!”
“I guess it was fate then, we were always meant to meet, I just wish we would’ve met on a better note.”
“Wait, you’re not saying-” Razor said before cutting himself off.
“Yes, Cinder is the Cyndaquil I almost killed.”
“To be fair, though, he only did that because I beat him in a fight.”
“Wait, she beat you!?”
“Yup, she countered everything I threw at her until, eventually, she grew enraged and knocked me down.” Nail explained, “I only almost killed her because of a cheap last trick I pulled.”
“And Nail has never stepped foot in a Mystery Dungeon ever since.” Cinder added.
“Really!? Those places are awesome! They’re like a mosh pit!”
Nail shivered, “Yeah, a constantly shifting mosh pit from hell that is.”
“Look, they’re not that bad as long as you’re used to weird time-space stuff and constantly fighting things, which considering you’re from Hisui, aka the land where time doesn’t work correctly and wild Pokémon gang up on you, I’d say you’re pretty used to it all.”
“I guess you’ve got a point there…”
“I still don’t blame him though… You’re not supposed to go into dungeons on your own because if you do, you’re vulnerable to getting rushed down or lost or something.” Cinder explained, “I’ve also heard rumors that if you’re in a dungeon when it shifts, you become one of them.”
“One of what?” Cloak asked.
“One of the ferals.”
“R-really!?” Nail quavered.
“Yup, but dungeons don’t shift until around midnight, so I wouldn’t worry about it, besides, it’s just a stupid myth, I doubt it’s actually real.”
“Phew… You had me pretty worried for a moment there.”
“Something that isn’t a myth however are monster houses, monster houses are rooms with amazing loot, but a ton of feral Pokémon appear as soon as you enter them, usually you want to have a couple of orbs just in case you end up in one.”
“And if you don’t have any orbs?”
“You either want to use a move that hits every enemy in a room, like Blizzard, or you want to run away before you get knocked out.”
“What happens if you get knocked out in a dungeon?” Cloak asked.
“You lose some of the items and Poké you were carrying, and you get kicked out, there are some exceptions though, some dungeons don’t take any of your items and Poké while others take all of it, leaving you with an empty bag and an empty wallet.”
“What is Poké?” Razor asked.
“You know, that stuff you slipped into my bag along with that note?” Joseph said, breaking the awkward silence he had been giving the group.
“Yeah? What about it?”
“That was Poké: this world’s money.”
“Oh, good! I was worried that it was like a bomb or something.” Cloak said before letting out a sigh of relief.
“Nope, it was not a bomb, it was super convenient though.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that!” Razor exclaimed, “I’m glad I could give you something that was of use to you.”
“Thanks, I mean fixing the watch was payment enough, but I appreciate the Poké nonetheless.”
“Don’t mention it, kid.”
“Hey, Cinder! You coming back here or what?” Vulcan called out from Specter’s room.
“Uh yeah, just give me a sec!” Cinder responded.
“We already gave you like a whole bunch of seconds, just come back here already!” Specter shouted impatiently.
“Alright! Alright! I’m coming!”
Cinder walked back into Specter’s room before peeping her head back out and asking, “You guys coming?”
“I guess… I mean, you never asked us to, though.” Nail said.
The group followed Cinder into the room, only to see Specter, Rory, Vulcan, and Tiny, all gathered around the round table playing a game of UNO, Cinder took her spot at the table and rejoined the game.
“What is going on here?” Nail asked.
“We’re playing some weird card game that Cinder had in her bag.” Rory answered.
“IS THAT UNO!?” Joseph blurted.
“Yup!” Cinder chirped, “From what I’ve heard it’s a card game humans play, it begs the question though, how did it end up with the Kecleon brothers back home?”
“Well, considering there was a Space Time Distortion the day after you got those cards, it’s not hard to tell how they got there.” Razor said.
“I guess… Wait, how’d you know about that?”
“Christian told me about it at the IDPK headquarters, normally humans can’t understand Pokémon, but there’s a device that allows them to there.”
“That sounds cool! I’d love to have a conversation with Christian!” Nail marveled.
“He promised us once we’re done what we’re doing here, he’d be able to talk to us every day from here on out, so you’ll definitely get your opportunity.”
“Sounds great! So what are you guys here to do anyway?”
“We’re here to assist the human.” Cloak answered
“Human? But there aren’t any humans here.”
Joseph turned to Cloak and exclaimed, “I have a name you know!”
“I know I was just trying to reveal your ruse.”
“Wait… CRAP!”
“He’s a human?” Nail asked.
“Yup, the IDPK made Christian send him here, he’s supposed to save the world from some evil or something.”
Nail laughed, “You’re joking, right? I mean, don’t get me wrong, the kid’s got potential but, there’s no way he’s some human turned Pokémon hero.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Joseph, I know we’ve already told you this, but the fate of the world is in your hands.”
“I mean, I was already suspecting that he could’ve been a human based on what Cinder had told me about humans, but I didn’t expect to actually see a human transformed into a Pokémon.”
“Y-you’re not gonna h-hurt me, are you?” Joseph squeaked.
“Arceus no! Why would you even think that for one moment I would hurt you?” Nail said.
“Because of the legends in this world! They say that all humans are evil and want to destroy the world!”
“Well, is that your goal?”
“No! I just wanna go home! I miss my mom and my grandparents! I didn’t sign up for any of this!”
“Calm down kid! I’m not gonna hurt you unless you intend on hurting others, alright?”
Joseph nodded his head quickly.
“Good, glad we could come to an agreement.”
“You’re not gonna tell anyone else, are you?”
“Nope, not a soul.”
“Can we like shake on it or something? Last time, someone said they wouldn’t tell anyone about this, they ended up telling basically everyone.”
“Hey! I only told the ones I knew we could trust!” Cinder yelled.
“Well, my point was you weren’t supposed to tell anyone!”
“I mean sure I’ll shake on it if you’re alright with getting poisoned because I can’t exactly turn off the poison on my claws.” Nail said.
“I’m good! I’d rather not get poisoned!”
“I mean, considering you’re a Pokémon now, you’re definitely going to get poisoned sooner or later, so you might wanna just bite the bullet and shake my hand.”
“There’s no guarantee that I’ll get poisoned!”
“Keep telling yourself that, bud.”
“Didn’t we go through this earlier with the whole ‘I’m not gonna get soaked’ thing?” Slippy asked.
“But that’s different! It’s not like if I make one wrong move, I’m gonna get poisoned or something.”
That gave Slippy an idea, he gave Nail the same devious look that he had given Sammy earlier and Nail understood instantly, “He’s right, he’s probably not gonna get poisoned unless he’s attacked by something poisonous.” Nail said as he walked by Joseph, just barely grazing him as he passed by, this action left a small amount of purple liquid on Joseph’s side.
“Finally someone understands! Thank you!” Joseph chirped, completely unaware that he had literally just been poisoned.
Suddenly, Joseph’s whole world began to spin, he fell to the floor as nausea overtook him, “W-what’s going on?” He rasped, “Why am I so nauseous?”
“OH! My bad! My claws dripped a bit of poison on you when I passed by.” Nail said as he rushed over to Joseph, “Hold on, I’ve got some Pecha Berries in my bag here, you’re gonna be fine!”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it down, I feel like I’m gonna vomit any moment now!” Joseph fretted.
Nail used this opportunity to shake Joseph’s paw, before shoving a Pecha Berry in his mouth, instantly causing the nausea he was feeling to fade away.
“Thanks… But why did you shake my hand before giving it to me?”
“Because you were poisoned already, I couldn’t poison you again if you were already poisoned, besides, we shook on it now, right?”
“I guess… You didn’t do that on purpose, did you?”
“Uh…”
“HE’S ONTO US!” Slippy shouted.
“YOU LITTLE-“
“EEP!”
Slippy ran out of Specter’s room, causing Joseph to huff, “YOU GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE TWERP!” He shouted as he ran after Slippy, charging electricity with his tail as he ran.
Cinder just ignored them and looked at Nail, Cloak, and Razor, “You want in on next round?” She asked.
January 24th, 12:00 pm
Team Echoes’ Base
Coast Continent
Many hours, UNO games, and shocks later, Nail had an idea, “Hey, what if we had a sparring tournament?” He suggested.
“I like that idea!” Cinder exclaimed, “Let’s do it!”
“But it’s still raining… I don’t wanna get all wet…” Specter whined.
“We can just use my room as an arena!” Rory exulted.
“But won’t we make a mess?”
“My room’s literally a dojo, it was meant to house fights! Besides, I can just move everything out of the way.”
“Ok I guess… Don’t complain if we make a mess, though, because I already warned you!” Specter said.
The group left Specter’s room, on their way to Rory’s room they told Joseph to stop shocking Slippy and follow them.
Once they had all arrived in Rory’s room, Razor spoke up, “Alright, are we doing single battles or double battles?”
This question confused everyone, well except for Cloak and Joseph, “You do realize that nobody here knows what a double battle is, right?” Cloak asked.
“Crap… I hadn’t thought of that… Well, for the uninitiated, a double battle sees 2 teams of 2 Pokémon teaming up to defeat one another.”
“That sounds fun! Let’s do that!” Cinder chirped.
“Uh, alright, so who’s teaming up with who then?”
“Crud… I didn’t think about that…”
“Let’s just draw straws, or names or something…” Specter said.
“Alright, I’ll be right back… I gotta go get some paper.” Cinder said as she left the room.
A few minutes passed and Cinder returned with the paper, “Alright everyone write your name down on the paper, then when we’re all done we’ll ball it up and throw it somewhere in the room that way nobody can cheat.”
“But we can still see who threw what ball.” Sammy pointed out.
“Then we’ll all close our eyes.”
“There’s also another problem, there are 11 of us, which means we can’t evenly divide the teams.”
“I’ll just sit out.” Tiny said, “I would just end up being dead weight in my current state anyway.”
“How ’bout you be the ref, then?” Razor suggested, “That way, everyone is involved in some way.”
“I’d love to! That’d be great!”
“Alright, well now that that’s settled, let’s get to it!”
Everybody wrote their names down on a piece of paper, some taking less time than others, “Uh, I kinda don’t know how to write with paws.” Joseph admitted.
Razor walked over to him and pulled out a jar of ink, “Just dip your claws in the ink, then you can use your claw as if it were a feather and write.”
“I have CLAWS!?”
“You should unless you got declawed or something. You can draw them by trying to stretch out your toes.”
Joseph did as instructed, but since his brain still registered his front paws as hands, he ended up drawing the claws on his back feet, he quickly realized his mistake and after letting out a disappointed sigh he drew the correct set of claws and used them to write his name, “Weirdly I think I like writing with my claws more than writing with a pencil he said.”
“Cool, can we just get on with this already?” Specter sassed.
“Ok, jeez, you don’t gotta be so rude.”
Everybody balled up their papers, and after Cinder gave them the signal, they all threw them, then each Pokémon collected one of the pieces of paper, and once everyone had one they uncrumpled them and read the names before realizing a couple of flaws with this system, “Ok I got Nail.” Cinder announced.
“Huh? But I got Cloak, what do we do now?”
“Uh, let’s just put half of the paper balls to the side and try this again? I didn’t really think this through…”
“Yeah… I was thinking we should have drawn the names from like a bowl or something.” Specter said, “I haven’t even read mine yet because I realized this doesn’t make sense beforehand.”
“Well, go ahead and read it, why not?”
Specter uncrumpled his paper ball and was immediately confused, “There’s no name, it’s just a drawing of some straws.”
Slippy laughed, “You got mine! Figures too because I got yours.”
“Alright well let’s try this again… Half of you go put your papers over there.” Cinder said as she desperately tried to restore order to this mess of a system.
Once half of the group set their paper balls on the side, Cinder gave the signal for the group to throw the balls once more and finally the teams were properly made, “Alright now go stand with your partner, Tiny will decide who’s facing who.”
Joseph read his paper, ‘Rory’s my teammate huh, wait, since when could she write in human script!?’ He thought to himself. He walked over to Rory and asked her about the paper, “Since when could you write in human script?”
“Oh, I just learned today actually, Specter and Cinder spent like 2 hours teaching me, apparently I’m a fast learner according to them.” Rory responded.
A few moments later, Tiny announced that she had made the bracket for the tournament, “Alright! I used an extra piece of paper that Cinder brought to actually make a bracket for this thing, come check it out, so you know who you’re fighting!”
“Alright, let’s go.” Rory said.
Joseph and Rory checked the bracket, they were going to be fighting Slippy and Specter first, ‘I guess they were fated to be teammates then.’ Joseph mused.
Everyone got into position for round one before noticing another problem, “We have nobody to fight.” Nail addressed.
“You’ll fight whoever wins the fight between Team Joseph and Team Slippy.” Tiny clarified.
“Gotcha.”
“Now with that out of the way… LET THIS MESS OF A TOURNAMENT BEGIN!”
Joseph looked at Rory and gave her a determined nod before the two rushed toward their opponents, they were quickly stopped by a flurry of stars and snowflakes.
“Ok, we’re gonna need a plan.” Rory said.
“How about you try to reflect their attacks with your Vacuum Wave, so we can get in closer.” Joseph suggested.
“That’ll only work against Slippy’s Powder Snow, Specter’s Swift is unaffected by my Vacuum Wave, if only we had a way to stop him from using Swift.”
“You still know Quick Attack, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Get in close with Quick Attack, it’ll force Specter to use more close-range moves.”
“Right.”
Rory did as Joseph told her to do, she rushed in with a Quick Attack and hit Specter, turning his attention away from Joseph and causing him to switch to closer-range moves, this allowed Joseph to charge up some electricity and leap at Slippy with Spark.
“OUCH!” Slippy wailed, “Specter, get him away from me!”
“On it, just give me a sec!” Specter shouted back.
Rory was still right up in Specter’s face, which made it a little hard for him to deal with Joseph, but he had a plan, he started wagging his tail around.
This action distracted Rory, ‘What’s he doing?’ She asked herself.
The tail wagging continued for a few seconds before Specter’s tail turned a shiny silver color and slammed straight into Rory’s belly, knocking the wind out of her, he then shot a barrage of stars toward Joseph.
Joseph looked up to see all the stars flying towards him, ‘Crap, what do I do now?’ He asked himself. But then he had an idea, ‘I know! I’ll pick Slippy up and use him as a shield!’
So that’s exactly what Joseph did, he used Secret Power which became Strength, he then used the strength gained from the move to pick Slippy up and hold him in front of himself. Joseph’s plan worked perfectly, as he blocked all the stars that Specter shot at him.
“Hey! Friendly fire! FRIENDLY FIRE!” Slippy shouted.
“What do you mean- HOLY CRAP!” Specter screamed once he noticed his teammate was being held up by Joseph.
Joseph had one more trick up his sleeve, he threw Slippy straight at Specter, knocking him over.
“Team Slippy is unable to battle!” Tiny declared, “Team Joseph wins!”
Joseph stood up on his back legs, putting his forelegs on his hips, he then laughed with a toothy grin on his face, and shortly after this little gesture, he fell back down, catching himself just before he hit the floor.
“Nice job!” Rory complimented.
“Thanks! I couldn’t have done it without you.” Joseph responded.
Joseph looked over at Slippy and Specter, when he did this he noticed that Slippy was cowering and crying, “I’m sorry we lost! It’s all my fault! Don’t hurt me, please!”
“I’m not gonna hurt you, dude! Calm down!” Specter shouted.
Slippy sniffed, “You’re not?”
“No! What do you take me for? A monster?”
“N-no, I was just worried because my papa would always… Never mind…”
“Well, regardless, you did pretty well! We only lost because we couldn’t have anticipated what they were going to throw at us, and to that, I say well played!”
“Uh thanks,” Joseph said, “I wasn’t really anticipating throwing Slippy at you either, I just kinda came up with the idea on a whim.”
“I’ll let it slide because it was cool,” Rory said, “What I wasn’t anticipating was the fact that Joseph used an electric attack despite not being able to produce even a tiny shock yesterday.”
“Oh yeah, Razor taught me how to do that on our walk. It still feels weird having electricity flow through my whole body though…”
“Oh, well that sucks, hopefully you get used to it with time.”
“Ahem, It’s time for round two!” Tiny announced, “Everybody, come check out the updated bracket!”
Rory looked at the bracket, “Let’s see… We already know we’re facing Nail and Sammy next… Cloak and Razor are getting a break, and there’s a thing at the bottom, it says that Vulcan and Cinder are facing Specter and Slippy?”
“That’s the loser’s bracket,” Joseph explained, “The winner of that match gets to stay in the tournament while the loser, well, loses.”
“Oh ok… This whole thing is still a bit messy though…”
“Yeah, but it’s kinda because we’ve got a weird amount of Pokémon, there’s not much that could really be done about it.”
“Yeah, I guess… Wait, shouldn’t we heal up before the next fight?”
“There’s Oran Berries for everyone next to the bracket.” Tiny said,
Everybody grabbed an Oran Berry and regained their health, once they finished their Oran Berries, they got into position for their next battles.
“You ready little man?” Nail asked Sammy.
“Uh, maybe? I don’t really want to hurt Rory, though…” Sammy replied.
“Tch, then I’ll take care of her for you, you just focus on star tail over there.”
“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?” Joseph yelled.
“You heard me!”
“Joseph calm down! He’s trying to get into your head!” Rory shouted.
“Nah, screw that, IT’S SHOWTIME!” Raged Joseph as he charged up his electricity.
“Let round 2… BEGIN!” Tiny declared.
Joseph shot toward Nail with a Spark, but unfortunately, he was too slow as Nail had already dashed away with a Quick Attack, Nail reappeared right beside Joseph and kicked him in his flank.
‘H-he’s fast!’ Joseph thought.
Nail went for another Quick Attack, but he was stopped by Rory’s own Quick Attack.
“Clever,” Nail remarked before hitting Rory with a Dire Claw, “but foolish all the same!”
Rory attempted to strike back with another Quick Attack but for some reason, she was having trouble moving, “Urgh, what’s going on?”
Nail laughed as he disappeared with another Quick Attack, but instead of hitting Rory, he appeared on the floor next to her, lying on his side. “Aw, is someone suffering from paralysis? That’s tough, guess this will be an easy win too.” He taunted.
“Paralysis!? How did you-” Rory shouted before the paralysis cut her off.
“My Dire Claw is like Tri Attack, except instead of burning and freezing my opponent, it can poison them, make them drowsy, or just fully put them to sleep, oh yeah, and it can paralyze my opponent too.”
“That move does way too much!”
“Nah, I think normal moves just don’t do enough, anyway I’m just gonna leave you here while I deal with star tail, see ya!”
Nail began to walk away when he was hit by Joseph’s Spark, “Not so fast!” Joseph shouted.
“Ugh, let’s just get this over with.” Nail groaned.
Nail attempted to use Quick Attack to get another cheap shot in on Joseph, but he was stopped by paralysis.
Joseph laughed hysterically, “That’s karma for you!” He exulted.
“Ugh, I hope you get covered in mud tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I hope you stub your toe in the morning!”
“Just shut up and help me!” Rory shouted.
“O-oh right!”
Joseph ran over to Rory and produced a Cheri Berry from his bag, Rory ate it and regained her mobility, “Right now, where were we?” She asked before getting blasted by a stream of water.
“You guys forget I exist?” Sammy quipped.
“Nope, I was just gonna save dealing with you for later,” Joseph shot back, “but if you insist, I’ll take you out right here right now!”
Joseph ran toward Sammy, preparing a Spark in the process, meanwhile, Rory was waiting for the perfect moment to shoot a Vacuum Wave at Sammy.
But Sammy just stood there, he was fully aware that he was about to be attacked head-on, yet he stood there, motionless with his eyes closed. Joseph was right in front of him when suddenly his eyes shot open, and he slashed Joseph with the shell on his stomach.
“Hmph, pathetic…” Sammy huffed.
Rory gasped as she lost her concentration, ‘That was so cool! I almost feel bad for Joseph, Sammy just destroyed him!’ She marveled, ‘Gosh, Sammy’s so cool!’
Joseph got up quickly and hit Sammy with a Double Kick before looking back at Rory, “I could use a little help here!” He shouted.
“Give me a sec!” Rory replied.
Sammy chuckled, “No one’s gonna save you from this!” He shouted, he held his shell in his left hand as he drew a blade made out of water with his right.
“Oh shoot…” Joseph muttered.
Sammy slashed at Joseph relentlessly as Joseph frantically dodged his swipes, all the while Rory tried to regain her concentration. Eventually, she just gave up and shot a Vacuum Wave at Sammy without aiming properly, somehow this attack hit him, knocking the blade and his shell out of his hands. Upon noticing this Joseph rushed at Sammy again only to be met by another Aqua Cutter blade straight to his face.
“Urgh,” Joseph grunted, “Just let me hit you!”
“Only when you have mastered the blade may you hit me.” Sammy responded.
“The only thing I need to master is kicking your butt!”
Joseph decided to change his approach when suddenly he realized his Tera Scarf was glowing, a few moments later he was engulfed by crystals just like Rory was when her Tera Scarf activated the day prior, he then emerged from the crystals with a giant crown of crystal flowers on his head.
“Huh, this is neat.” Joseph said.
Just like last time, everybody paused to look at Joseph when this happened, “What the heck!?” Specter blurted, “What’s going on over there!?”
Joseph started laughing maniacally, “Your slashes won’t even phase me now, Sammy!”
“We’ll see about that!” Sammy shouted.
Sammy ran up to Joseph and swung at him with an Aqua Cutter, only to watch as most of his blade was absorbed by Joseph before it even slashed him.
“Woah, that felt weird but oddly refreshing! Can I have some more, please?” Joseph asked.
This obviously caught Sammy completely off guard, “What the heck!? What happened to my blade!?” He squeaked.
“I absorbed it! I’m a grass type right now, so it’s only natural that I’d absorb water, although it begs the question, can I photosynthesize like this?”
“Who cares!? Even if you’re a dumb plant now I’m gonna cut you down!”
Sammy rushed at Joseph again while Joseph harnessed the crystal’s energy, once he had gathered enough of it, he let it loose in the form of a green beam that he fired straight at Sammy, it hit him dead on and exploded into a mess of sparkles and leaves, which disappeared shortly afterward.
“One down!” Joseph called out.
“Great! Taking Nail out should be easy now that he’s paralyzed and on his own.” Rory noted.
“Heh, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Huh?”
Rory looked over to see Nail pulling out a Full Restore and drinking it.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
Nail rushed over to Joseph and with one clean Dire Claw, he shattered the crystals that had enveloped him causing a beautiful explosion of crystal shards and glitter everywhere.
“One down!” Nail mocked.
“Well played… But I’m not gonna let you get away with that!”
Nail rushed at Rory and slashed at her with his claws, however, Rory dodged just in time using Detect, she then punished his blunder by hitting him with a point-blank Vacuum Wave.
“Aw, ain’t that cute.” Nail snickered, “Now here’s a real attack!”
Nail threw out a flurry of punches and kicks, Rory panicked and tried to use Detect again, but Nail’s Close Combat was too fast for her to dodge after already having dodged his previous attack, she took a bunch of blows to the torso and face before collapsing.
“Team Joseph is unable to battle Team Nail wins!” Tiny declared.
“Ouch…” Joseph groaned.
Vulcan walked over to Joseph and handed him an Oran Berry, “Cheer up, you’ve still got a chance, well if you can beat Cinder and me in the loser’s bracket that is.” He said.
“Thanks for the encouraging words, bud…”
Joseph ate the Oran Berry and got up, “Well, at least we put up a hell of a fight I guess…”
“Yeah… I’m still a bit bummed we lost though… I definitely need some better close-range moves…” Rory said.
“Well, at least we’re figuring that out here and not like against an actual threat.”
“Arceus forbid that ever happens.”
“You said it.”
“Alright everyone, get into position for round 3!” Tiny commanded.
Everybody did as instructed and Tiny was prepared to give the signal to begin when Specter and Slippy had a question, “What about us? What do we do now?” Slippy asked.
“You guys can come over and watch with me if you’d like.”
“I’m good.” Specter said, “Not that I don’t want to watch you guys fight or anything, it’s just I wanna see what’s going on at the guild right now.”
“Oh, well ok, see you later then!” Tiny waved, “Now where were we? Oh yeah, LET ROUND 3 BEGIN!”
Joseph prepared to sprint at Vulcan when he noticed that Cinder and Vulcan had turned to each other and begun to huddle, ‘Are they discussing their plan?’ He asked himself before noticing, ‘Wait, why do I care? This is free time I could be planning with Rory!’ So he turned to Rory and got her attention by clearing his throat.
“Is something up?” Rory asked.
“I think they’re strategizing, and I think we should do the same.” Joseph explained
“Oh, I gotcha, so what do you think we should do against them?”
“Well if we get up close we run the risk of getting burned which is a death sentence for me considering all of my attacks are physical, so what I was thinking is we should try to avoid burns and try to force them to use their close-range attacks.”
“That could work, but we don’t know what moves Vulcan knows, what do we do about that?”
“We could try putting him in different situations and see how he deals with them, I guess, that’s the only easy way I can think of to make him use his other moves.”
“Well, it’s worth a shot.”
Cinder and Vulcan broke their huddle and started to approach Joseph and Rory, “That’s our cue, let’s rock!” Joseph burst.
Joseph and Rory broke their huddle as well, and Joseph began rushing at Vulcan while Rory hung back to attack from range. Vulcan paused right in front of Joseph as a weird purple aura overtook him, moments later the aura disappeared and reappeared around Joseph, this weird power caused Joseph to flinch before it slammed him into the ground.
“Nice Extrasensory bro!” Cinder chirped.
“Thanks, now get your attack in while he’s still flinching!” Vulcan replied.
Cinder shot a Fire Blast straight at Joseph while he was still on the floor, but he was saved by Rory’s Vacuum Wave blasting the Fire Blast away.
“You’re no fun!” Cinder shouted.
“Well, you’re being cheap!” Rory shot back, “At least let him get his bearings before you fry him!”
Joseph got up only to be surrounded by a ring of fire, “Nuh-uh, you stay right where you are, mister!” Vulcan shouted.
The flames were just barely able to reach Joseph, causing him to cower in the middle of the circle, desperately hoping the flames would die out.
“I’ve got you, don’t worry!” Rory yelled as she tried to break a hole in the ring of fire with her Vacuum Wave, however her attack just bounced right off, “Crap! I don’t got you!”
Joseph was curled up in a ball in the middle of the ring of fire when it finally died out, but since he was still balled up, he didn’t have time to dodge Cinder’s Fire Blast, he took it head on and collapsed instantly.
Cinder laughed, “Already? You didn’t even get to see our special move!”
Vulcan rolled his eyes, “I guess we’ll just have to use it on her then…”
Rory didn’t like the sound of this “special move” so she decided to delay her opponents from using it, she ran in with a Quick Attack and hit Vulcan on his left side, “HEY! That’s a low blow! I couldn’t see you coming! My left eye doesn’t work!” Vulcan shouted.
“Sounds like an excuse.” Rory sassed.
“That’s it! Cinder, PREPARE THE SIBLING SINGE SPIN!”
“I thought you’d never ask!” Cinder bubbled.
Vulcan laid down on his back and waited for Cinder to jump on top of him, once the two were in place they began to flare up their flames and roll toward Rory as fast as they could, leaving a trail of flames behind them.
‘What the heck is that?’ Rory asked herself before using Detect to dodge their attack, but they rolled back toward her and smacked into her at full speed, causing her to collapse beside Joseph.
“Team Joseph is once again unable to battle, making Team Cinder the victors of the loser’s bracket!”
“Ugh… Good game guys…” Joseph groaned.
“Good game dude!” Vulcan replied.
“Wait, what happens now? We’ve already fought Razor and Cloak, are we gonna fight them again, or are we just gonna say they win?” Cinder asked.
“Well, you can fight them, or you could just chicken out.” Tiny answered.
“Or we could just give you the win.” Cloak suggested.
“But why would you do that?”
“Because it’s getting close to 7:00, and we need to go check up on our egg.”
“Oh, ok, then let’s just call it there. Good game everyone!”
“Good game.” Everyone echoed.
The room sat in silence afterward until eventually, Slippy broke it, “So what now?” He asked.
“Well, we’re gonna head to the guild and wait for our egg to hatch.” Cloak announced.
“Ooh! Can we come!?” Cinder asked.
“Unfortunately, no.”
“What!? But why not!?”
“Arboliva said that having too many Pokémon around an egg when it hatches stresses the baby out.”
“Oh…”
“It’s alright though, you guys could go on a walk while you wait to see the baby.”
“Isn’t it still raining, though?”
“Yes, unfortunately… But I brought extra brollies if you want one.”
“Brollies? What are those?”
“She means umbrellas, it’s a Galarian thing.” Razor said as he rolled his eyes.
“You mean those things humans made to shield themselves from the rain?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a couple in my bag here if you want one.” Cloak said.
“I’ll take one!”
Cinder walked over to Cloak and rummaged through her bag for a moment before pulling out a red umbrella, she then zipped the bag back up, but in the process, one of Cloak’s tails got caught in the zipper causing her to wince a bit.
“Oops! I’m sorry, let me help you with that!” Cinder squeaked.
“DON’T” Cloak boomed, causing Cinder to jump back.
Cloak unzipped the bag and freed her tail before letting out a sigh, “Phew, we almost had to play curse roulette.”
“What!?”
“If you would’ve pulled my tail, it would’ve cursed you.”
“Why would you do that to me, though!? I thought we were friends!”
“I can’t control it! I don’t wanna curse anyone! It’s a curse in itself!”
“That sucks! Why are you forced to curse anyone who pulls on your tails?”
“Because my ancestors were jerks who hated anyone who so much as touched them, they used to guide humans through the mountains just to get rid of them,”
“WOW OK!”
“Yep… I still wanna slap them if I ever go to Alola.”
“Wait wouldn’t they be dead though?”
“I bet there’d still be one or two of them, we Ninetales live for 1,000 years after all…” Cloak explained before sighing, “Yet another curse I’m stuck with…” She muttered.
“Wait, if that’s true, then how old are you!?”
“I’m only 20 years old, I’m not ancient or anything… yet…”
“Wait, I’m older than you!”
“You are!? Then why haven’t you evolved yet!?”
“Because I refused to, I didn’t need to or anything and I like being a Cyndaquil.”
“But wouldn’t you like to be stronger?”
“Actually I’ve heard in this world evolution is completely optional.” Razor explained, “Usually, the Pokémon of this world only evolve if they feel the need to, for example, I heard a Machop talking about how he wanted to evolve into a Machamp so he could grow extra arms.”
“Oh well, in that case, just stay a cute little Cyndaquil then, if it’s what makes you happy then stick with it.” Cloak said.
“THANK YOU! Finally, someone understands!” Cinder exclaimed.
“Well, on that note, I think we should get going. See you all later!” Razor waved.
“See ya!” Everyone said.
The couple left the base, leaving Nail and Team Echoes to figure out how to spend the rest of their day off.
“So Joseph, you wanna go back out on another walk?” Cinder asked, “I wanna try this thing out, but I don’t wanna walk alone.”
“Sure, I’ll go on another walk!” Joseph answered.
“Alright, let’s get going then.”
January 24th, 6:48 pm
Team Echoes’ Base – Outside
Coast Continent
Joseph climbed down the vine and exited the base, while Cinder lingered near the entrance.
“You coming?” Joseph asked.
“Not until I figure out how to get this thing working!” Cinder squeaked, “I hate getting wet!”
“Well, it’s bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, so I suggest you pick the lesser of the two evils.”
“Ugh… Fine…”
Cinder climbed down the vine, wincing as each raindrop hit her.
“OK, I’M DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE OPEN IT, THIS HURTS!” Cinder screamed.
“Ok! Ok!” Joseph fretted frantically.
Joseph took the umbrella and opened it before handing it back to Cinder.
“Phew… Sorry for yelling at you like that, it’s just when cold water hits my flame spots it hurts, like a lot, like a lot a lot.” Cinder explained.
“I can tell…” Joseph sighed.
Cinder rolled her eyes under her eyelids before quickly changing the subject, “This is so weird, I learned to fear the rain my whole life, but now I can just pull this thing out, and now it’s as if the rain never started, well except I can still hear it, but you get the point.”
“The sound of rain is very soothing, though, especially when you have an umbrella.”
“Is that why I feel so calm right now?”
“Probably.”
“I hope so, it’d be nice to finally relieve some stress for once.”
“You said it.”
Joseph and Cinder walked down to the beach again, once they got there they saw Malachite sitting all alone. Malachite looked over her shoulder and spotted the pair, “Oh, hello, you two!” She bubbled.
“Why are you just sitting out here all alone?” Cinder asked.
“Oh, uh, I usually look out at the waves when I feel stressed out, but it started raining, so now I’m just sitting in the rain.”
“Oh… Ok…” Cinder said, ‘I have a feeling there’s more to this than that.’ Cinder thought as she looked over at Joseph.
“You think it’s because of her brother?” Joseph whispered.
“Uh, it could be, but given his attitude toward her, she could just not care.” Cinder whispered back.
Joseph decided to bite the bullet and ask her about her brother, “I heard your brother got arrested yesterday, you’re not upset about that, are you?”
“Oh, not at all, he deserved it! I’m just glad someone finally put him in his place. I’m just a little stressed out because I still haven’t found anyone else to form a team with.”
“I get that, I always had a hard time making friends until a couple of days ago, now it feels like I’m allergic to loneliness.”
Malachite giggled, “Got any tips on how to contract that allergy?”
“Wash ashore somewhere very far away from your home, worked like a charm for me.”
“I don’t know if I could do that.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t actually recommend doing that either. It feels terrible.”
“I bet it does…” Malachite sighed before quickly changing the topic, “Oh, I almost forgot! I read this thing yesterday that said, in ancient times, the world was saved by a Snivy and a Shinx with green eyes.”
“Really? That’s cool!”
“I know right!?” Malachite chirped, “That got me thinking, though, your eyes are green too, does that mean you’re going to be a hero or something?”
“Eh, probably not, I mean I’m just your average Joe, I couldn’t save the world even if I tried.”
“Well, you don’t have to save the world,” Malachite said as she walked up to Joseph and enveloped him in a big hug, “because you’re already my hero.”
Joseph was blushing under his fur, “E-excuse me!?”
“Lanturn told me yesterday that you and your team arrested my brother.”
“And you’re sure you’re not mad about it!?”
“Not at all! He tried to kill me! Multiple times actually! I hope Pyrite rots in his cell!”
“Uh, ok then, you’re welcome, I guess.”
“Thank you, this world has no place for criminals like him.”
“Well, I wouldn’t entirely agree with you on that one.”
“Why not, you got like a criminal record or something?”
“Well, no, I don’t personally, but my friend Specter used to be part of the Coin Case gang with your brother, he was betrayed by them so he helped us raid their base.”
“That’s still inexcusable! He’s a criminal! He should be in jail!”
“Well, he only joined them because he thought the only place he could fit in was the criminal underworld.”
“Why did he assume that!? Anyone can make friends if they try hard enough.”
“Well yeah, any normal Pokémon can make friends, but unfortunately he bears the burden of partial humanity.”
“Oh! Uh, yeah, I understand now.”
“Yeah, he’s had a rough life, all because of some stupid legend or whatever.”
“I mean, have you read the stories about humans? They’re heartless killing machines! I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them or their offspring, either!”
“Specter’s actually pretty chill, though.” Cinder said, “I mean, he’s a little edgy, but he’s still pretty chill.”
“He hasn’t killed anyone yet, has he?”
“No, I haven’t, but thanks for asking.” a voice called out from behind Joseph and Cinder.
The pair turned around to see Specter walking toward them. He was absolutely drenched from the rain, he looked like a cat after a bath.
“Eep!” Malachite squeaked.
“Where’d you come from?” Cinder asked.
“I came from the guild.” Specter answered, “Chandelure and Delphox made me do a supply run for them, and then I found out that the warp panels at the guild aren’t active on rainy days, even though the one at our base is.”
“Oh, well, that sucks.”
“Wait, what’s that you got there?”
“Oh, it’s an umbrella, it’s basically a rain shield, Cloak gave it to me.”
“I should’ve asked her for one on the way out…” Specter groaned.
Malachite was cowering behind Joseph, “H-he’s not gonna hurt me, is he?” She muttered.
Specter saw Malachite cowering behind Joseph, “Hey, you’re Pyrite’s brother, right?” He asked.
“H-how did you know that?”
“Because I may have accidentally saved your life.”
“Y-you did?”
“Yep, he asked me for a Blast Seed one time, he said it was for an upcoming heist, I knew he was lying because I always eavesdropped on our boss to find out about stuff like that, so I decided to prank him, I gave him a Sleep Seed instead, and then I found out he was trying to use it to kill you. If I hadn’t pranked him you would’ve probably died.”
“Oh, that’s why he ate that Sleep Seed! I thought he just grabbed the wrong one! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
“I don’t understand, though, why would you save me? I thought humans were supposed to be evil.”
“And I thought all Zorua were backstabbing connivers.”
“… Fair point…”
“By the way, that book on my ancestor is highly inaccurate.”
“It is?”
“Absolutely! I mean, they didn’t even get her name right, for crying out loud!”
“She was a girl!?”
“Was she not in the story!?”
“No, why?”
“Girl, follow me, I’ll show you the real version of the story.”
“Uh, ok?”
Specter led Malachite back to the base, leaving Joseph and Cinder on the beach.
Cinder yawned, “Well it’s getting pretty late, you wanna start heading back now?”
“One sec.” Joseph said.
Joseph started charging electricity rapidly until eventually he was struck by another bolt of lightning.
“OH MY GOODNESS, JOSEPH! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?” Cinder screamed.
“WOOOOOOO! YEAH!” Joseph whooped.
“Huh!? It didn’t hurt you!? How!?”
“I have no idea!”
“How’d you even do that!?”
“Razor taught me! He also said I gotta get rid of this electricity before my heart explodes.”
“Wait REALLY!?”
“Yep! But it’s ok! He also taught me how to use Spark!”
“Oh thank goodness…”
Joseph used Spark on a nearby palm tree, causing it to explode into a cluster of splinters and setting its leaves ablaze.
“GOOD ARCEUS! JOSEPH! YOU JUST DESTROYED THAT TREE!”
“Impressive right?”
“Yeah, but like dude! You can’t just go around smiting trees like that!”
“I won’t! It was just the one!”
Cinder groaned, “You better not! Because I’m not gonna defend you from Mother Nature’s wrath!”
“She’d understand, I only took the tree down because I needed to get rid of all this excess electricity and I didn’t feel like putting you in a coma.”
“Let’s just get going before-“
Cinder was cut off by another bolt of lightning, “Ok, that one wasn’t me!” Joseph shouted.
“We should get going then!” Cinder shouted.
“You should probably close the umbrella first.”
“What!? Why!?”
“Because it’s basically a giant lightning rod! If you keep it open, it’s gonna get you shocked!”
“But my flame spots! Even if we run home from here, I’d be in agonizing pain!”
“Then we’ll just have to cover them then. Here, take my scarf and tie it around your waist, then tie yours under your arms.”
“Ok!”
Cinder awkwardly tied the scarves around herself to cover her flame spots, then she closed the umbrella and began running home, and Joseph followed suit.
January 24th, 9:00 pm
Team Echoes’ Base
Coast Continent
“Ok… I think… We’re good…” Cinder rasped as she regained her breath.
“Awesome, can you dry us off now? I don’t wanna go to bed all sopping wet.” Joseph responded as he reclaimed his scarf.
“I thought you electric types liked being soaked in rain, though.”
“I mean, I do, as strange as that sounds, but I don’t think I’d be comfortable sleeping like this.”
“I guess that’s fair… Get over here but make sure you’re not too close to the flames.”
Joseph got close to Cinder’s flame spots and let her flames dry him off, “Thanks, now I’ma head off to bed, goodnight!”
“‘Night!”
Joseph entered his room and jumped onto his bed when suddenly he heard sounds from underneath it.
“Uh, Rory, are you under there?” Joseph asked.
Rory peered her head out from under the bed, “Yup! I decided I’d rather sleep in here from now on!”
“Really!? Why!?”
“Because I tried to make my room a dojo and a bedroom, but then I realized that means I have to clean it up before I go to sleep, and I also realized I really dislike sleeping in a room all alone.”
“You’re not used to sleeping all on your own?”
“Nope… I used to sleep in a room with Sammy back in the Crag Continent, but then the whole thing with the slime happened.”
“Why’d you choose my room then? Sammy’s room is right over there.”
“Well, it’s because of the whole crush thing, I feel more comfortable in here because if I accidentally say something about that it’s no big deal, but in there, it’s the end of the world.”
“Oh, I see… Alright then, just don’t make any noise.”
“I didn’t make any last time, did I?”
“No, but, I’m saying this just in case you decided you wanted to start snoring loudly or something.”
“I won’t.”
“Alright, good night then.”
“Good night.”
And there we have it, a nice walk in the rain, and a couple of other things here and there. Also no I’m not doing boss bios for the tournament bc that would be like 3000 words on its own
Also also, there were a couple of reviews, but there’s only one left because most of them were just guest reviews attempting to harass me (Like legitimately nothing they said was valid criticism), I’m not gonna respond to them as they’re just trolls, so yeah, on to the only remaining review I guess. (Oh yeah I forgot to mention I deleted those troll replies.)
To the one guest review that said this was neat: Thank you for thinking this little thing was neat, hopefully, you enjoy the rest of this little thing as much as I enjoy writing it because oh man I’ve got some stuff planned.
Sorry if that was a little awkward, that was my first time actually replying to a review so hopefully as time goes on I’ll get better at it.
Anyway, that’s it for this chapter! Next time: A cautionary tale passed down for generations. See you guys then!
0 Comments