FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The arrival of the Coast Guard was a blessing to the many passengers aboard the S.S Julia. A patrol boat had seen the flare sent up by Captain Raven and come to investigate, where they boarded and learned the events of the day from the Captain himself, before proceeding to notify the Vermillion Police and perform a full sweep of the ship to search for any remaining gangsters that might be hiding. More boats would arrive later to join the search, detaining the criminals and taking away as many as possible while leaving the rest for the police.

By morning, the ship pulled into the port of Vermillion City, with the police waiting for them. They had closed off a small part of the docks for the ship, boarding and performing another sweep through it to see if the Coast Guard had missed anything, and taking statements from the passengers, sailors and captain. Among those were Mark and Randy, the latter whom told them how he had missed the false announcement that Captain Raven was forced to give, only to find later two thugs that were breaking into rooms to steal valuables.

When Mark became aware something was amiss, he had run to the bridge to investigate, where he found more thugs along with their boss, who stunned Mark and detained him. But Captain Raven helped him to escape, allowing Mark to find the ship’s crew, free them and, with their help and Randy’s, stop the heist of the Julia. Randy told his part of the story as well, how he had been in the dining hall with the other passengers when everything started up to when Mark showed up and teamed up with him.

The last of the criminals were taken away, along with First Mate William, who had been confirmed to have been a collaborator on the heist, and so the passengers of the S.S Julia could finally disembark. Mark and Randy, after being thanked by the Captain and crew for their help, bid goodbye and descended the gangplank with the rest, where they headed into Vermillion City.

Mark’s new journey was about to begin.

As they ventured into the city, Mark glanced over at Randy, and said, “Well, I suppose this is where we part ways; you’ve got your way to go, I’ve got mine.”

“I guess,” Randy began, grimacing.

“What’s the matter?”

“To be honest, man,” began Randy. “That convention I’m going to? It’s not for a while yet.”

“How long?” Mark asked.

“A week,” replied Randy. “And it’s in Saffron City, the center-most city in Kanto so it’s pretty easy to get to from just about anywhere, plus it’s going on for about three days so I’ve got a lot of time to kill before it.”

Mark eyed him quizzically, tilting his head as he asked, “Why’d you come to Kanto so early if the convention’s not for a whole week?”

“I wanted to explore the region for a while; maybe go on a few battles,” Randy replied.

Mark shrugged. “I suppose that makes sense,” he returned. “What’s the problem then?”

“After seeing you in action last night I thought maybe it’d be more fun if I went along with you,” he began. “I want to see you battle against the trainers of the region.” He patted his knapsack. “Make good footage to put on my camcorder if you want some memories to bring back to Hoenn with you.”

Mark’s face fell into a flat expression. ‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’ He wondered to himself, before looking back at Randy, considering the proposal. ‘Well, one thing’s for certain, hanging out with this guy certainly won’t be boring. But is it strange to travel with a trainer you’re on a journey to surpass and eventually re-challenge?’ He put a hand to his chin, entering a thinking posture –mostly to hide his grimace. ‘Then again, I didn’t plan on doing that for a while yet, and it’s not like he has to stay with me throughout the entire trip; just until that convention of his.’

He shrugged again, deciding there was really no harm in it. “Why the hell not?” He asked, smiling at Randy. “Alright, sure; you can come with me for a while.”

“Sweet!” Randy exclaimed. “Now... where are we going first?”

“To bed,” Mark returned, not noticing the weird look Randy gave him. “First, I’m going to go get Tanker back, and then find somewhere to sleep, ‘cuz I am dog-tired.” He emphasized the point by fighting back a yawn and rubbing his eyes. “Aside from that sun-nap on the ship I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours so my first priority is to remedy that.”

As if Mark’s words were a cue, Randy, even full of energy as he normally was, suddenly noticed just how exhausted he himself felt, with heavy eyelids and dragging feet included. “Now that you mention it,” Randy remarked, until a yawn forced itself to the surface and cut him off before he could say anymore. The timing of the yawn made him chuckle light-heartedly before he concluded with. “Okay, bed first, and then we head out...”

“My thoughts exactly...”

Finding a motel was fortunately quite easy for the trainers; on their way to the Pokémon center, they passed a small one with a sign up to indicate vacancy, and took note of its location before proceeding a few more doors down the block and locating the red-roofed building.

They took their Pokémon to the counter to get them healed from their battles back on the S.S Julia –they would have used the ship’s onboard center, but in all of the chaos it had been shut down for the duration of the journey to Kanto. While they waited, Mark proceeded to the computer terminal, contacting the storage service and requesting they send Tanker back to him. Once the transporter machine spat out the Poké Ball containing the Steelix, Mark took the ball and looked at it.

“Sorry to keep you waiting big fella,” he said, hoping Tanker wasn’t mad at him, before he shrank the ball down and placed it back into his vest where the others would soon rejoin him. “Welcome back,” he whispered as he let his vest fall closed again, patting over his contained Pokémon gingerly.

“You really don’t like to be separated from your Pokémon that much, huh?” Randy asked.

“Ever since I caught all of these guys they’ve never left my side,” Mark replied. “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t made time for at least one of them. Spar with Vitesse, play fetch or jog with Fang, swim with Siren, go flying on Palm Tree, or take Tanker up Mt. Chimney where he can find some of those minerals he loves to devour. All of them have something they love to do, and I am happy to join them.”

“Yeah?” Randy asked, smiling. “Me too, actually; you’ve noticed I usually have Cairo with me but we both play with Thorn and Shadow too. Heck sometimes we play baseball together; Thorn makes a damn good batter.”

An image of a Sceptile holding a baseball bat flashed across Mark’s mind, taking note of the rather short, thin arms they possessed before he quirked an eyebrow at Randy. “He can swing a bat with those little arms?”

“Wha-Oh. No, actually; he holds it in his mouth,” replied Randy. “Gives him a wider arc to swing too thanks to his height.”

“That can’t be good for his neck,” Mark bade.

Randy shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to bother him.”

“Okay,” Mark returned as they heard the nurse calling from the front, letting them know their Pokémon were ready and headed to collect them. “And what about Cairo and Shadow?”

“Shadow’s pretty good at the bat too, but he’s also a good pitcher, while Cairo can zero in on the ball after it’s been hit and he’s off like a shot after it,” he replied before letting out a laugh. “I should form my own baseball team.” Mark nodded again as they left the Pokémon Center. “So... sparring with Vitesse; you mean you actually fight her?”

“Well not seriously, of course; if she actually went all out against me I doubt I’d actually stand a chance against her,” Mark replied. “I guess you could say that since I have no other fighting-types for her to practice against, I stand in for it.” He went on to tell Randy about how, ever since Vitesse was a Combusken, he had actually taught her the techniques he’d learned in martial arts himself, and how they had started becoming her attacks. “She incorporates a lot of the moves I taught her into her attacks, including that flying sideways kick you saw her use on Magnezone.”

“Ah, so that’s where she learned to do that,” Randy said, nodding in satisfaction.

“Of course, accidents do happen,” Mark stated, reaching down and lifting up his shirt a little to show a scar on his flank, where something with three long claws had seemingly tried to spill his innards.

“Ho-damn!” Randy exclaimed as he halted mid-step, prompting Mark to stop, where the former knelt down to look closer at the scar. “Vitesse did that to you?”

“It was an accident, back when she was a Combusken,” Mark replied. “She had swiped at me instinctively to block a roundhouse kick I was trying out, but it went astray and then this happened.” He lowered his shirt again. “I haven’t seen her look so horrified in the entire time I’ve had her; I had to grab and hold her and keep telling her it was okay to keep her from running away in guilt.”

“Aw, poor girl,” Randy bade as he stood back up. “I bet you two were a lot more careful after that.”

“Naturally, but we didn’t have to be for long,” Mark said as the resumed their walk, now approaching the motel they had seen before. “It wasn’t long after that she evolved, and then she had fists instead of claws; made it a lot safer for both of us.”

“What about the claws on her feet?”

“Never had any incidents there,” Mark replied. “Of course when she’s trying to deliver a kick I usually make a point not to be standing where she’s swinging her leg.”

“Good point.”

Approaching the office, they stepped inside, and proceeded to the front desk where they met with the desk manager and rented a couple of rooms for themselves. Unfortunately checkout time was only six hours away, but the desk manager was fortunately generous, telling them he’d let them keep the rooms until the afternoon if they needed the extra sleep, for which they thanked him graciously. Their conversations continued as they made their way to the other side of the building where their rooms were, talking about a few more things before they bid goodnight to each other and entered their respective rooms.

Mark closed the door behind him, locking the deadbolt and the chain latch before he dropped his knapsack onto the floor, sighing blissfully as his eyes fell upon the bed in the room. He couldn’t remember the last time he was ever this tired; the events over the last day had been draining to say the least, and now even though it was nearly sunrise, that bed was all that he wanted at that moment...

Dragging his feet over to it, he slowly pulled off of his vest, unknowingly touching a Poké Ball in the process, which expanded as a result. As Mark set the vest down on the floor and dropped onto the bed, he was too exhausted to even hear the Poké Ball opening and letting out its inhabitant. Coal emerged from the ball, letting out a growl as he tasted fresh air again, and peered about the room, looking for his trainer.

He croaked curiously when he found Mark laying facedown on the bed in the room. Stepping closer he jumped up onto the bed, tilting his head as he studied his trainer’s face; his eyes were already shut and his breathing was relaxed. Though he had only been lying there a few seconds Mark had already drifted off too much to notice Coal’s presence. Eventually, Coal just shrugged, crawling over to Mark and laying down next to him, curling up into a ball and draping his tail flame over the back of his neck where it wouldn’t cause the bed to catch on fire. In his groggy state, Mark rolled over onto his side and absently pulled Coal closer to him, drawn to the warmth of the Charmeleon as he finally fell asleep...

~~~~~

Shortly into the afternoon, Mark and Randy checked out of their rooms and prepared to depart for Pallet Town; Randy assessed that if they headed straight west, they would reach it within a few hours, as long as they stayed along the coast. Since it was where Red and Blue both lived it seemed like a good place to start looking for them. Before heading out, Mark let his Pokémon out of their balls to get them fed, and to smooth things over with Tanker if the Steelix was upset at all, but he seemed to hold no grudge against Mark for storing him.

He recalled all of his Pokémon later except for Palm Tree, needing his ability to fly in order to make the journey, rather than walk along the coast –even if it was a fairly direct route to Pallet Town it was still a fair distance away, and they would get there much faster by air.

Palm Tree rumbled happily as he waited on Mark and Randy, soaking up the sunlight and spreading his leaf-wings wide as he inhaled a breath of sea air. From Randy’s held Poké Ball emerged a Salamence –a mighty Dragon-type Pokémon referred to as a Pseudo-Legendary –a Pokémon powerful enough to almost reach legendary status, but falling just shy of it. Mark recalled this Salamence was nicknamed Skyclaw; a large, female Salamence of incredible power from what he remembered. She had been the Pokémon that had defeated Tanker and Siren when they had battled. Although Mark knew Thorn was technically Randy’s strongest Pokémon, Skyclaw was definitely a close second, if not Cairo.

Mark studied the Salamence carefully, looking her over and feeling like she had grown a bit since the last time he had seen her. She had always been bigger than her trainer of course, but now if she were to stand up on her hind legs for him to hug her, he’d never get his arms halfway around her body. “Well, your dragon certainly looks healthy,” Mark commented. “You’ve kept up training her since we battled, I wager.”

“Not much by way of training, but she’s been in plenty of battles,” Randy replied, petting Skyclaw’s neck. “Got her time to shine against over two dozen different Pokémon in about six matches.”

“Impressive,” Mark complimented. “You know I’ve never actually had a Dragon-type; what was it like, raising her?”

“Well she may come across as some tough girl,” Randy replied, petting Skyclaw’s neck. “But underneath, she’s a big softy.”

The Salamence turned her gaze to Randy, narrowing her eyes before she opened her mouth and clamped her jaws around his top of his head, eliciting a surprised yelp from Randy who instinctively brought up his hands to grab her jaws. “Okay, okay! I take it back!” He bellowed. “You’re not a softy, alright?!”

Mark and Palm Tree both eyed Randy quizzically as Skyclaw lifted her jaws from Randy’s skull. “...Is it normal for her to do that?” Mark asked.

“She can be a bit... sensitive,” Randy replied, eyeing Skyclaw warily in case she tried to bite him again. “She doesn’t do it to hurt; just make a point –no pun intended.”

“For your sake, I hope not,” muttered the blond trainer as he stepped over to Palm Tree’s side and climbed onto the Tropius, making himself comfortable on the large, leaf-covered hump of the dinosauresque Pokémon, draping his legs around the sides of his neck and making sure he was in a position he wouldn’t hinder with Palm Tree’s wings.

Randy followed suite, touching Skyclaw’s shoulder to make sure it was alright with her before he climbed onto her back, using her for support as he swung his legs over and landed on her shoulders, placing his hands on her neck to secure himself as they prepared to fly off. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the accessory around Palm Tree’s neck; a seed, attached to a string and worn like a necklace beneath the banana-like fruit growing from beneath his chin.

“Is that a Miracle Seed he’s wearing?” Randy asked. “I don’t remember seeing that on him when we last met.”

“I didn’t have it then,” Mark replied. “I gave it to him about a month after I left the league. Tropius’ are strongest when they fight in direct sunlight, but since there are some battles we have to fight indoors –like at the league or in a gym battle, I figured it would come in handy.

“A good idea,” Randy replied. “I used to do that for Thorn before I found his Mega Stone. Anyway, shall we get going?”

“Right,” Mark replied, patting Palm Tree’s side. “Let’s fly, boy.”

Palm Tree hissed in reply, opening his wings to their fullest and breaking into a gentle trot as he flapped twice, attaining liftoff and rising up into the air. Mark felt the wind begin to rush around him as they accelerated, enjoying the cooling breeze on such a warm day as they ascended high above Vermillion City, the buildings below shrinking away from him by the second.

Randy and Skyclaw were quick to follow, the dragon bounding forward and spreading her wings wide, taking flight and swiftly catching up to Mark and Palm Tree as they angled themselves westward to leave the city airspace, passing over the gigantic bay that Vermillion City was built next to, with the sun over their heads to cast their shadows on the water below.

As they flew, Mark took in his surroundings. To the south, he saw the land extending outward into a peninsula, many miles away from where they were currently, which formed the southernmost regional landmass of Kanto itself. From what Mark remembered of the map he had read some time ago, that was also where Fuschia City was located, surrounded by the forested hills that bordered the safari zone... or what used to be the Safari Zone. He had heard it had closed years back, though never why or what became of the land.

To the west was a bridge that stretched from the peninsula all the way back to the mainland, reaching a faraway shore on the northern end of the bay. On the far horizon across the mainland stretch, he saw a lone mountain rising up from the earth; though it was dwarfed by the marvelous splendor of Mt. Silver to the west and the ranges that extended from it to the north, creating the Kanto/Johto and Kalos border, this stone behemoth was still a sight to behold, and supposedly a place full of mystery.

Mark smiled as he admired the balanced nature of Kanto –a fine divide between wilderness and civilization, with so many things to explore. “I think I’m going to like it here,” he said as they passed over the bridge, and carried on towards Pallet Town. “I wonder what Red’s hometown will be like?”

If only he could have known what awaited him...

When Mark and Randy flew into the vicinity of Pallet Town, they nearly choked on the smell of ash permeating the atmosphere there, forcing both of them to cover their mouths with their shirts to keep from inhaling the ash still falling from the air. At first they wondered if there was a fire in town, but there was far too much of the ash to have been an ordinary housefire; even the biggest of mansions wouldn’t burn enough to cause what they were flying through.

When Palm Tree began to cough from inhaling too much of the ash, Mark called out to Randy, urging him that they had to land, and they made a beeline straight for the shore, landing in the trees and hurriedly recalling their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, giving Palm Tree and Skyclaw reprieve from the choking ash.

“This is like the ash fall near Lava ridge Town,” Mark stated. “But it’s way thicker than even that; what the hell’s causing all of this?”

“I don’t know, but we better get to town and get indoors before we suffocate out here,” Randy suggested, pulling his shirt tightly over his nose and coughing. “Pallet shouldn’t be much farther ahead,” urged Randy, taking the lead and keeping the coast in sight as they continued west, moving as briskly as he could with one hand holding up his shirt and the other holding onto his knapsack.

With Mark in hot pursuit the two of them ran through the trees, leaping over fallen logs and routes as they hurried desperately to get to Pallet Town. Though both of them were still confused by the ash falling all around them, they could not worry about it now. It had just been so sudden, though; one shift and of the wind, and suddenly they were being buffeted by flakes of choking, hot ash and the stench of smoke, and no matter where they looked they could not determine the source.

Mark covered his eyes with his arm as he felt the sting of some ash particles in one of them, and under the shadow of his forearm, he saw something ahead; rectangular forms, rising up from the ashes and narrowing into angular tops. Houses! They were almost there.

Mark knew Randy had seen the houses too when he saw his pace increase, and so he too had to sprint after him to catch up, following him as he hopped the fence into the backyard of one of the houses and ran up to the back door, with the other trainer following suite.

Randy reached the door, pounding on it with his fist. “Hello? Anybody home?” He called.

They waited, but no one answered. Mark walked around the side of the house, trying to find a car or something to show whether or not there was anyone home, but under the blanket of ash he could not even find a driveway, or even a street for that matter! The whole town –every house, every road, every sidewalk was utterly buried under the ash, plants were dead and choked by the lack of sunlight to feed them, and there was not a car in sight.

‘This can’t have only just started; for this much ash to accumulate would take months!’ He thought, and then turned to Randy. “Forget it; there’s no one here,” he called. “The whole town’s empty.”

“How can you tell?” Randy asked.

“See for yourself,” Mark replied, waving his hand towards the front yard of the street. “There’s nothing here but ash and empty houses. This place is abandoned.”

Randy stepped back from the door, staring at it for another moment as thought hoping someone would answer to prove Mark wrong, but no one would come. Eventually, he gave up, rejoining Mark and following him out to the front of the house, walking out onto the street where they both gained a better view of the block.

“Shit... this place is deserted,” Randy commented.

Kneeling down, Mark clawed at the ash with his hand, pulling up some of it. A few clumps scattered at the swipe of his fingers, while the rest, more recent, billowed all over, and forced him to turn his head away. What surprised him was how deep it was; he could have sunk his entire hand into the stuff before finding the pavement underneath.

“This sure as hell didn’t happen overnight,” Mark commented, confirming his earlier theory. “That ash fall we flew into on the way here has been going on for a long time now –we just got caught in the middle of the next one when it hit. But where is it all coming from? I don’t smell any smoke or see any wildfires.”

“Me neither.”

“Hey!”

The two spun in the direction of the voice, peering through the ash to see a figure moving towards them, hobbling on a cane as they emerged from the falling ash to reveal a human form covered head-to-toe by a hooded cloak, a face mask, goggles and gloves for their hands, making their way across the street towards the two.

“What in heaven’s name are you two doing out here?” The man demanded in a somewhat muffled and raspy but clearly male voice.-

“W-We’re sorry, sir,” Mark began. “We came here looking for someone...”

“Looking? Here?” The man replied with a scoff. “Besides myself there’s no one to meet here in Pallet Town. Not anymore.” He shook his head. “Never mind. We shouldn’t stay out here while the ash is falling.”

“We can leave, if you think we should,” Mark informed. “if you could just point us the way out.”

“Not a good idea; the air will become much harder to breath as this ash keeps falling,” the man replied. “Come with me to my lab; we can take shelter there until the ash stops falling.” He turned away from them, beckoning them to follow as he started to walk away. “This way; quickly now.”

The two stared after the man, sharing a brief glance with each other until they both felt a sudden burning sensation in their throats; the ash was getting so thick, their improvised shirt-filters were no longer sufficient. Whoever this man was, he didn’t seem dangerous; certainly not mobile enough to even be of threat to them, and they weren’t exactly in a position to turn away from free shelter.

Eventually, they followed after the man, sprinting through the ash to catch up to him and trudging onward through the not-quite-abandoned Pallet Town.

Even though the man had said ‘lab’, Mark and Randy had not expected what they were led to; on the outside it seemed like a fairly ordinary house with an attached windmill, but on the inside, they felt like they had stepped through a portal into the future, entering a room filled with state-of-the-art, high-end science equipment, countless volumes of books lining shelves in the middle of the room, a recovery machine like those found in the Pokémon Centers, and an entire corner packed full of filing cabinets at the back behind a table.

The lights flicked on upon their entry, allowing the two to see the room within, and stare in awe at the setup. “Damn... for a guy who lives in a deserted town, he’s got some high-end stuff.” Randy commented.

“Tell me about it,” Mark agreed, turning to their host as he finished removing the last of his protective clothing, finally uncovering him enough for the two to see.

As expected, the men was in his senior years, at least in his mid-sixties, with a head of gray hair and a wrinkled face, with black eyes and surprisingly tan skin for a man of his years. He had a square face, down to when his jaw line angled inward to his chin, and under the protective clothes he’d wore, he was dressed in a red shirt and light brown pants, which he pulled a lab coat over before reaching for his cane again.

“Wait a minute,” Randy said.

“Doesn’t he look familiar?” Mark asked.

The man hummed at them as he heard them speaking, tilting his head slightly. “Have we met before?” He asked.

“Not directly, but I know I’ve seen you somewhere,” Mark replied, thinking back to where he might’ve recognized the man from. And then it hit him. “Aha! Now I remember!” He snapped his fingers. “You’re Professor Oak, right?”

“Oh yeah! That’s where I saw him before; that joint project he did with Professor Elm two years ago!” Randy exclaimed. “It was all the rage back in Hoenn!”

“Well, I confess you two have me at a loss,” Oak commented, letting out a slight laugh. “You know who I am but I have no idea who you are.”

“This is Randy,” Mark introduced his companion, and then himself. “And I’m Mark.”

“Apologies for my earlier behavior; I was concerned for your well-being,” Oak stated. “But now that I know you aren’t actually from Kanto, I suppose it’s not surprising you weren’t aware of the state of this area.”

Mark’s smile faded. “About that,” he began. “What exactly is happening here; why is the whole town blanketed in ash? We didn’t see any fires on our way in.”

“I’m afraid that the ashes aren’t coming from any ordinary fire,” Oak informed, beckoning them to follow as he walked over to a nearby window and stared out into the ash fall beyond with a saddened expression. “This unfortunate calamity is being caused by the volcano on Cinnabar Island.”

“I thought that volcano was dormant?” Randy asked.

“Until a year ago, it was,” Oak replied. “The last time it erupted was almost a decade ago, when it destroyed the island and the town that was built there. But not long after it returned to its dormancy, and we thought it was over. But then, last summer, it suddenly went off again. There was not even a tremor or billowing smoke to give any sort of warning it was about to go; everyone in town awoke to this deafening explosion heard even from here, and sure enough, the volcano was erupting again.”

“It blew up just like that?” Mark asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” replied Oak. “I’m surprised you boys don’t know about it; I would assume it would have aired on the news in all of the regions.”

“I haven’t watched television in a long time,” Randy asked.

“Me neither,” Mark replied. “Summer of last year I would’ve probably been out travelling. Hoenn may not be too far from Kanto but far enough I’d never have seen the Cinnabar Volcano going off out in the country.”

Oak sighed. “Well, unfortunately, that’s all I know about it so far.”

“Is the town deserted because of the ash fall?” Mark asked.

“Yes,” Oak replied. “It became such a hazard, everyone was forced to evacuate, even the Pokémon who lived in the area.”

“Then why are you still here, Professor?” Randy asked, quizzically.

“I still hope to find out exactly what happened; to find out what caused this catastrophe,” Oak replied. “Everyone insists it’s a natural occurrence, but...” He grimaced. “Something about this whole ordeal just doesn’t feel natural; like there’s more going on.” He put up his hand before either of them could say anything. “And yes, I know; the ramblings of an old man.”

“I... wasn’t going to say that,” Mark replied. “I was going to ask, have you found anything to support this theory?”

Oak actually smiled slightly as Mark asked that. “Not yet, but I have a few more things yet to try,” he said. “I’m surprised you don’t think I’m just being paranoid; even my own grandson does.”

“I’m no geologist professor, but even I know for a fact that it’s extremely rare for a volcano to erupt without warning,” replied Mark. “There’s almost always a sign it’s going to happen, even if that clue was hidden beneath the waves around the island.”

Oak nodded. “Too true,” he agreed. “Now, you mentioned earlier you were in Pallet looking for someone? Or something?”

“Someone,” Mark confirmed. “We were actually here looking for your grandson, ironically. And for Red as well.”

“Ah,” Oak replied. “Well, Blue you can find in Viridian City; he moved there after the town was evacuated.”

“And Red?”

“He... might be a little harder,” Oak admitted. “Red and his mother moved to Pewter City, but you see, Red is almost never there.”

Mark tilted his head curiously. “Why not?” He asked.

“He’s been travelling constantly for years now, looking for a Legendary Pokémon called Mew,” replied Oak. “He wants to be the first trainer to find and capture one.”

Randy suddenly burst out laughing at the mention of Mew. “Are you kidding me? Mew?” He asked. “The Legendary ‘ancestor’ of all Pokémon? Come on, Professor, that thing’s just a myth. The origins of Pokémon are as unknown as the origins of humanity.”

Much to Mark’s surprise, Randy’s outburst did not seem to bother Professor Oak at all. In fact, he was still smiling, as though he knew something they didn’t. “You may be surprised,” he commented, and Randy stopped laughing. “It’s not my place to say what it is, but let’s just say that Red carries with him the most definitive proof of Mew’s existence that has ever been found.”

Those words sparked Mark’s curiosity; what could the professor have meant by that? Did Red carry a fossilized piece of Mew? Or some discarded appendage? Actually, Mark did not even know what Mew looked like; he’d only heard stories about it from his mother, and a few artist’s interpretations, but never anything definitive. Science had never been able to determine precisely what it was or where it might have inhabited; the only clues to its existence having been small pieces turned up by archaeology and biological research on Pokémon themselves.

If Mew existed, it was the most elusive Pokémon to have ever lived. Red was either very certain or madly obsessed to be searching for something like that.

“Anyway,” Oak continued. “You two should wait here until the ash fall at least lightens, and you might want to clean up while you wait.” He waved his arm towards their legs, and they looked down at themselves to see they were covered in ash and soot from being outside.

“Oh geez,” Mark grunted.

“Well, we’re just a mess, aren’t we?” Randy asked, rhetorically.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any fancy laundry facilities here,” Oak began. “But there’s a washroom over by the windmill access door; you can use the shower in there to try and wash out the ash. I trust you have a change of clothes, both of you?”

“A traveller is always prepared,” Mark replied. “Thank you, professor.”

“My pleasure. If you need anything else, I’ll be working here in the lab.” He adjusted his coat. “Speaking of which, I better get back to it. Oh!” He pointed past the two. “On the wall back there are some facemasks; don’t go outside without them –using shirts for filters only works for so long.”

“Right.”

After spending part of the day at Professor Oak’s lab, Mark and Randy departed from Pallet Town, bidding goodbye to Oak and wishing him luck with his research, and heading north on the road to Viridian City. As they passed over the first low rise, Mark turned to look back towards the south, staring off in the direction of Cinnabar Island, seen from the plume of smoke rising from its gaping mouth and climbing high into the sky, but only barely visible on account of the next oncoming ash fall, deep in thought as he stared at the peak.

‘Now I wonder if I’ll ever be able to look at Mt. Chimney the same way again,’ he thought to himself before he resumed walking, hurriedly catching up to Randy as they carried on.

Once they were clear of the ash fall area, Mark let Vitesse out of her ball so that she could walk with them, preferring to have her at his side rather than confined in a ball. After this, he shrugged off his backpack to retrieve his bingo book from it, and began to look over the information the book had on Blue to begin planning his strategy for when he faced him, starting with finding out what kind of Pokémon he could expect to see from the Viridian Gym Leader.

Noticing Mark’s sudden silence, Randy glanced over at him, finding him with his nose in that book. “What’cha reading?” He asked.

“It’s a bingo book I made of all the trainers I’ll be facing on my journey,” Mark replied, flipping a page. “I’m looking up some information on Blue to help plan a strategy when I face him.”

“Ah, thinking ahead then?” Randy asked. “Kind of like the tricky maneuvers Shadow performs in battle.”

Mark only nodded, although he wasn’t sure how similar his tactical approach was to Randy’s trickery; sure both were technically opening strategies –which is just what he was postulating, but Mark preferred to open with a display of his Pokémon’s specialties, rather than using his Pokémon as traps or hidden surprises the enemy might already expect if they know enough about the team he’s bringing with him. Or at least, that’s how Mark felt about it.

Although who was he to talk? Randy had beaten him for just that reason; he didn’t know what to expect. It was actually because of him that Mark adopted this new approach to battle.

Going back to his study on Blue, he checked the listed Pokémon that he was recorded to use the most often. His signature Blastoise, along with an Arcanine, an Alakazam, a Rhydon, a Gyarados and a Machamp; his entire selection seemed focused on heavy hitters. ‘A Power team, mostly physical too; I might be able to use that.’ He thought.

Against the Physical Attackers, Vitesse or Tanker would be ideal; even with type disadvantages against them, such as Rhydon’s Ground-type and Tanker’s Steel-type, his Pokémon being of effective typing against them as well would prove to be the balancing act. Beyond that, Tanker’s defense was so strong he’d be able to withstand physical attacks even from Rhydon or Machamp, and Vitesse was more than fast enough to outmaneuver them, especially if she Mega Evolved.

He had some concerns, though... what if it turned out Tanker was the better choice to Mega Evolve? Mark had never actually used Mega Steelix in battle; he knew thanks to Professor Sycamore’s tests that Tanker’s metal body would become virtually indestructible in mega form, but it also made him so much heavier that he became slower; against a speedy Fire-type like Arcanine or a distance Water-type like Blastoise, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

‘Okay... Tanker; even if he’s weak against them, can take on Gyarados, Machamp and Rhydon thanks to his defense. Otherwise, I should send Vitesse against Gyarados; her Thunderpunch and speed would make short work of it. Siren against Alakazam; her high Special Defense should let her withstand those Psychic attacks at a distance. Vitesse or Palm Tree, depending on their statuses at the time, will take on Machamp, and Fang will be backup for them and Siren.’ He nodded to himself, and as he wandered onward, began to form his opening strategies he would bring to the battle against Blue.

Viridian City.

The western-most city of Kanto was not the largest of cities, paling in comparison to metropolis’ like Celadon and Saffron. In fact, among the places labelled ‘city’ it was actually the very smallest, built in a roundabout fashion on the southern edge of the Viridian Forest that stretched out almost all the way to the northern mountains and the heel of Mt. Moon to the North-East.

Aside from being the home of a Pokémon Gym, Viridian City had nothing truly stand-out about it. It was a simple place but rich with history; it was the last stop for many trainers who were on their way to the Pokémon League, both as where they receive their eighth badge and before they took the western road towards the Indigo Plateau. But in the darker parts of that history circulated rumours that the Viridian Gym, prior to being taken over by Blue Oak, was run by a high-ranking member of Team Rocket years ago. This rumour was not yet confirmed, as the only one who might know for certain would have been the last trainer who battled them, but nobody knew for certain who that trainer was.

“Alright, girl,” Mark said to Vitesse. “Our first challenge is here in this city. You as ready for this as I am?”

“Cha!” The Blaziken returned with vigour, pumping her arms and meeting her trainer’s gaze, letting Mark see the anticipation ablaze in her eyes.

“Wow, she sounds excited,” Randy commented.

“Out of all my Pokémon, Vitesse was the most excited to begin this journey,” Mark replied. “The call of battle just comes to her, like most Fighting-types.”

Randy nodded, shrugging his knapsack from his shoulders and bringing it around before he dug into the top and lifted out a video camera. “I better just make sure the batteries in this are still good, and then I’ll be ready to record your match with Blue.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of bringing a camcorder with me when I came out here,” Mark commented. “Or at least a journal or something –just something to bring home, share with my mom and recap.”

“Well, luckily, you got me coming along,” Randy replied with a smug grin, but softened his expression shortly after. “Making a copy of the footage will be easy; I got you covered.”

“Thanks, man,” Mark returned graciously, feeling a little better about bringing Randy along with him for this journey –at least for now, until they parted ways.

“Now, let’s find that gym and get some video,” Randy urged, walking ahead of Mark as he began to search the streets for any sign of the gym.

Mark chuckled, amused by how Randy suddenly seemed more eager for this battle than even he was, and it was him who would be challenging Blue, not Randy. He looked at Vitesse briefly, before he began to walk ahead, followed promptly by the Blaziken.

After a short search and a couple of stops to ask directions, the three eventually found their way to the Viridian Gym, finding themselves standing before the gym. To Mark, the gym’s design seemed rather odd; from the ground-up, it was built with marble bricks forming the base and around the door, but above this its walls took on a deep bronze colour that seemed to reflect the sun beaming down from above. The roof was where it most stood out; one half of the roof actually rose higher than the other, a wall cutting between them to support the upper portion, but both sides had rounding roofs to direct rain and snow off of the sides.

Mark tilted his head at the unusual layout of the Gym, grimacing as he studying its architecture. “I wonder who designed this place.” He said.

“Whoever did was a little off balance, I’d say,” returned Randy.

“Agreed,” Mark returned with a sigh as he once more looked at Vitesse, their eyes meeting briefly before they both nodded at the same time and stepped forward together, pushing open the doors and stepping into the gym, light spilling through the now opened door to fill the inside of the Gym as they entered.

With Randy bringing up the rear and shutting the doors behind them, they found the inside of the gym was unlit except for light spilling in from the skylights above, revealing the battlefield in the very center, covered in sand and gravel from one end to the other. Mark had heard the gym had once specialized in Ground-types with its old leader; Blue must not have changed much since he had taken over the position.

Much to Mark’s dismay, though, the gym seemed empty; there was no sign of Blue anywhere. “Okay, the door was unlocked... but where’s Blue?” Mark asked.

“Maybe he stepped out for a snack,” suggested Randy.

“And left the gym wide open for just anyone to walk in?” Mark returned. “Seems kind of like a dumbass move.”

“Chik-ik,” Vitesse clucked, tapping Mark on the shoulder to get his attention before pointing with one hand off to the left.

Following her talon, Mark saw, way off in the corner, a bench against the far well. As his eyes began to adjust to the lighting, he saw a figure lying prone on one of the benches, motionlessly stretched out across it with their arms tucked behind their head. A young man in a green jacket with a black undershirt and blue jeans with brown shoes, had spiky brown hair and the tanned skin of a traveller, with a belt of Poké Balls visibly peeking out from under his jacket as he lay snoring across the bench.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mark mumbled.

“Is that... Blue?” Randy asked.

“Yep,” Mark replied.

“Why the hell is he sleeping?”

“No idea,” Mark replied. He stood staring in disbelief at the young man before, with a sigh, he decided to awaken the Gym Leader.

Stepping up to the bench, he knelt down next to the sleeping Gym Leader, lifting up his hand and tapping on his shoulder repeatedly. “Good morning merry sunshine,” he said.

Blue mumbled slightly, his eyes opening halfway before falling shut again, humming slightly as he forced one open, staring up at Mark’s annoyed blue eyes as he slowly roused himself from his slumber.

At the sight of Mark, Blue suddenly seemed to jolt awake, sitting up so abruptly he nearly butted heads with the Hoenn trainer if not for how quickly Mark pulled away to avoid such a collision. “Ah! Was I asleep?” Blue asked.

“Yeah,” Mark and Randy returned, simultaneously.

“Sorry about that,” Blue replied, standing up from the bench and letting out a yawn. “Been a real slow week; haven’t had anybody come by for a while now; guess I got bored.” He rotated his head a little to loosen up his neck, before he added. “Not like there’s a trainer in Kanto who can beat me anyway.”

‘Don’t be so modest,’ Mark thought chidingly with an arched eyebrow. “Ooookay,” he said.

Blue turned to them again after messing with his hair for a moment, and then his gaze fell to Mark and Randy’s feet, and then asked, “you guys didn’t happen to come from Pallet, did you?”

“We did,” Mark replied, looking down. “How’d you –oh...”

Their pants were still covered in ash from them trudging through it all the way out of Pallet town.

“Well there go my spare clothes,” Mark stated with a chuckle.

“Eh, ash comes out easily, right?” Randy asked.

“I think so, yeah.”

Blue tilted his head. “What were you guys even doing in Pallet to begin with? Didn’t you know the whole town was abandoned because of Cinnabar’s last eruption?”

“We didn’t, until after we ran into your grandpa,” Randy replied.

At that, Blue seemed to become more attentive, looking at Randy for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. “So he’s still out there?” He asked, shaking his head. “When is he just going to accept it was just a natural occurrence?”

“You don’t share his belief that it isn’t?” Mark inquired.

“Of course not,” Blue replied. “Volcanoes erupt sometimes; the Cinnabar Volcano blew its top nine years ago, and then it went off again summer last year; it wasn’t dormant yet. Case closed. But my gramps always wants to look deeper into things; just doesn’t believe the most obvious explanation is sometimes the right one.”

“He’s a scientist; isn’t it their job to always see a bigger picture than the rest of us?” Randy asked rhetorically.

Blue shrugged. “He wants to waste his life out in that ghost town I can’t stop him,” he said. “Anyway, so what were you doing out there? Even before the eruption Pallet was a backwater so you couldn’t have been there for anything major.”

“Actually,” Mark began, deciding to get straight to the point. “I was there looking for you, Blue.”

Blue tilted his head. “Come again?”

“You see, I’ve come over here from the Hoenn Region on a brand new journey,” Mark explained. “I’m out to challenge the top trainers in all of the Regions, and I chose to start my journey in Kanto. You were among the top three, so that’s why I’m here.”

“So you’re here to challenge me to a battle, huh?” Blue asked, studying Mark closely as though sizing him up. After a brief silence, Blue turned his head away, elevating his nose. “Nah.”

Mark frowned. “Why not?”

“I don’t just battle anyone who walks into my gym,” Blue replied. “I’m far too busy to take on some tourist.”

“Says the guy who we found sleeping in his own Pokémon Gym during open hours?” Randy asked incredulously, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow. He received a dirty look from Blue in retaliation, to which he replied. “Hey, no judging man, but your schedule obviously can’t be that packed if you can take a nap.”

“Okay so maybe I’m not busy,” Blue admitted with an annoyed tone, tucking his arms behind his head and once more turning his nose up. “But other than official Gym battles I only battle with trainers who at least have a name for themselves.”

“How about a former Hoenn Champion?” Mark asked.

That seemed to catch Blue’s ear; he lowered his gaze to look at Mark, a curious look in his eyes. “You’re telling me that you’re an Ex-Champion?” He asked.

Mark nodded. “I am, and I have a witness with me to vouch for it,” he said, gesturing to Randy.

Randy nodded to Blue. “He speaks the truth, man; I battled him at the League personally.”

Blue glanced at Randy again, though only for a second, before his eyes shifted back to Mark, arms dropping back to his sides as he hummed with consideration. Eventually, his expressionless face stretched out to a grin, and Mark knew Blue was intrigued.

“Alright then,” he said. “If you’re a former Champ, then I suppose you’re worth a battle. I’ll accept your challenge.” He gestured to the battle area stretched out before them. “Right here in this Gym should work.”

“Agreed,” Mark returned, turning to look back at Vitesse who had been standing quietly at the back of the group thus far. They nodded to each other, and with that, Mark made his way over to the challenger’s side of the area, feeling his heart beginning to increase in tempo as his excitement began to rise.

He was about to have his first battle in the Kanto Region! How he’d waited for this... he’d now get to see just what it was like battling a trainer from a completely different place. Kanto was one of the first places Pokémon had ever been discovered, and one of the earliest regions settled by humans to study them. Here, the world of badges and leagues had begun, decades before Mark’s time at least, and it was said that some of the greatest trainers in history had come from the Kanto Region, and that included the three Mark was there for, along with others that pre-dated them.

Now it was his turn to find out just how good the trainers of Kanto were.

Off to the side, Mark noticed Randy setting up his camera at the edge of the battlefield, deploying a tripod mount for it and placing it on top before he switched on the camera, and let it begin recording the battle. “And, action,” he muttered with a mild chuckle. “Always wanted to say that.”

“Alright,” Blue began as he took his position, plucking a Poké Ball from his belt and expanding it in his hand with a touch of the button. “Since you’re the challenger, I’ll pick first.”

“Go ahead,” Mark replied.

“Go, Rhydon!” Blue called as he tossed the ball forward, releasing the Pokémon inside.

From its confines emerged the Pokémon; a large, gray, bipedal creature in the likeness of a dinosaur and a rhinoceros, with a rugged body, a cream-coloured underbelly of armour-like, slate scales, protrusions rising from its head and spikes ridges jutting out from its cheeks. It had red eyes, glaring out from behind a round, drill-like protruding from the tip of its muzzle over the nostrils. A powerful gray tail swept over the ground behind it, kicking up a cloud of dust as it growled in a feral manner upon its emergence.

‘Starting with a heavy Pokémon, just as I hoped he would,’ Mark thought. ‘Ground/Rock-type Rhydon. A Pokémon focused purely on strength and defense.’ He reached into his vest. ‘Ideally, Siren or Palm Tree could work here, but Rhydon might be able to take down Palm with a Rock-type move, and I should save Siren for dealing with Blue’s Special Attackers, so I’ll pit one immovable force against another.’

“Go, Tanker!” Mark called as he cast his chosen Pokémon forth.

Out of the ball the Steelix materialized, rising to his full height and casting a shadow from the skylights over the Rhydon, who remained steadfast even as their red eyes met, both of them growling loudly with anticipation.

“You’re pitting a Steel-type against a Ground-type?” Blue asked. “Any beginner knows a Water would be best.”

“I’m not so foolish as to believe you haven’t thought of something like that before,” Mark returned. “I’m well aware Rhydon is among many Pokémon who can learn certain Electric-type moves through Technical Machine. Besides, Rhydon’s a Rock-type as well, and Steelix is also a Ground-type himself, so we’re even.”

“Thinking ahead, eh?” Blue asked, nodding in approval. “Well, no matter; it’s lucky for you I didn’t teach Rhydon any Fire-type moves, but I won’t need ‘em!” He pointed at Tanker. “Rhydon, Drill Run!”

Rhydon jumped, and in midair, began to spin like a giant top, as it arched in Tanker’s direction, gliding over the ground at him like a missile, tearing through the sandy floor.

“Iron Defense!” Mark called to Tanker.

Tanker, acting quickly, coiled himself up on the floor, positioning his head to take the hit as his body seemed to gleam brightly, his metallic bodily sections becoming shinier and grinding noisily together as they expanded, waiting as Rhydon plunged towards him.

An ear-splitting screech filled the entire building as Rhydon spiralled into Tanker, forcing both trainers, and the spectating Randy to cover their ears, as well as Vitesse, who was standing behind Mark as she waited her turn. The noise was so sharp it made Mark have to clench his eyes, his teeth gritting sharply as he struggled to block out the sound as the two Pokémon clashed. Finally, Rhydon’s momentum lessened enough that Tanker was able counter attack, raising his head high and pushing Rhydon away, sending it into a backflip that it just barely managed to pull out of to land on its feet.

Mark acted fast, hoping Tanker’s hearing was still better than his at that moment. “Now, Iron Head!”

Complying with Mark’s command, Tanker rushed forward, charging Rhydon as fast as he could move his massive, megaton body and swinging his head at Rhydon. Blue tried to call out a command to Rhydon, but he was too slow, and the Pokémon was stricken by the wrecking ball of force generated by Tanker swinging his massive head, smashing into Rhydon and sending it skidding across the floor in a plume of dust as high as the ceiling.

When the dust cleared, Rhydon was back on its feet, battered but still standing. “Rhydon, Earthquake!” Blue called.

“Tanker, Earthquake!” Mark called almost in unison to his Steelix.

At almost the exact same time, the two Pokémon unleashed their attacks, causing a massive ripple through the ground towards one another that made half of the floor seem to move like water rather than the solids they should have been, the sandy floor in the middle rising up like a tsunami as the two attacks met halfway, and then the very center of the ring exploded, sending rocks and dirt scattering all over the room, even shattering the windows above.

“Rhydon, get in and use Horn Drill!” Blue called.

Even with Tanker’s superior defense, he’d never survive a direct hit from Horn Drill. Thinking fast as Rhydon charged across the room, he issued his next command to Tanker. “Use Rock Tomb!”

Tanker reared back and roared deafeningly towards the ceiling as giant boulders materialized above him and began to fall towards Rhydon, showering it with massive stones meant to impede its charge. But they proved futile; Rhydon’s spinning horn was splitting the stones like eggshells, destroying them utterly and not even slowing Rhydon in the slightest.

Mark could only do the next thing that came to mind, and called to Tanker. “Dig, hurry!”

Tanker arched away from Rhydon, diving through the air and plunging face-first into the floor, crashing through and disappearing length by length beneath the surface, and not a moment too soon as Rhydon closed in on him, arriving a second too late as its target was now gone.

“You can’t get away that easily!” Blue declared. “Rhydon, use Earthquake again to flush him out!”

Rhydon compliantly grunted, and raised its foot to stomp the ground, bringing it down with such force the entire building seemed to groan in protest. For battles like this, the arena was often built upon a separate foundation to make sure attacks like Earthquake wouldn’t collapse the whole structure, but Rhydon’s Earthquake was so powerful that even the well-made Viridian Gym seemed at risk to its force.

Not to mention Tanker. He exploded from the ground halfway across the arena, several scratches in his armour plating where stone and dirt had dug into his body. Despite his incredible defense, the attack had done significant harm, stunning him for the brief moment Blue needed for his next move.

“Alright, Rhydon; Rock Polish, and then Horn Drill again!”

As instructed, Rhydon used Rock Polish, its body seemingly smoothed over by an unknown force and taking on a brighter, shinier appearance, like it had just been scrubbed with a fresh coat of wax. When its body had been sufficiently altered by Rock Polish, it carried on its second command, the horn on its snout beginning to spin at high velocity again, generating a shower of sparks as it spun up until it was fast enough for the attack.

With that, Rhydon charged, nearly twice as fast as before, closing in on Tanker like a runaway truck. Mark called for the still stunned Steelix to get out of the way, but he was only just barely coming out of the daze caused by being caught in the Earthquake. He tried to move, but Rhydon was faster, pouncing at Tanker and driving its horn directly into Tanker’s body. The Steelix roared in agony as the Rhydon bored into him, sending white-hot pain through his entire body, and leaving a deep impression in the spot where the horn had landed.

“Shit; Tanker, come back!” Mark called, raising Tanker’s Poké Ball and quickly using the recall function before too much damage could be done.

Tanker dematerialized and was drawn back into the Poké Ball, letting Rhydon drop to the ground now that its target was gone, and leaving Mark feeling perturbed and a little bothered by what had just happened. ‘I wasn’t ready for Horn Drill,’ thought Mark.

“I have to hand it to you,” Blue began as Rhydon returned to its starting position. “That Steelix was tough. I raised my Rhydon specifically to take on heavyweight Pokémon like Steelix, yet with that Defense Curl, he took Drill Run without even flinching.”

“Tanker’s got a really dense body,” Mark replied. “Virtually no Physical attack can take him down, but that Horn Drill... apparently that was the exception.”

“It may be really hard to hit with,” Blue stated. “But, when it lands, it takes them down without fail, so you need to be faster than your target.”

Mark narrowed his eyes. ‘I see. Rock Polish, plus Horn Drill... Steelix are tough but not fast; anything not fast enough to get out of Rhydon’s way would get smashed, no matter how strong their armour is. A high defense usually trumps Speed, but even the strongest wall will collapse under enough cannon fire, and Rhyhorn may as well be a Howitzer.’

_ _ “Alright, I’m going to stick with Rhydon,” Blue stated. “Let’s see what you’ve got next for me, Ex-Champ.”

“You might be surprised,” Mark returned as he considered his next move. ‘I wanted to save Siren for taking on Blue’s Arcanine or Alakazam; use her Special Defense and healing to outlast them.’

He looked over his shoulder. ‘Vitesse could take Rhydon pretty easily... but I should save her as my trump card for now. So, Siren it is then.’

“Go, Siren!” Mark called, casting Siren’s Poké Ball forth and calling her out for battle. The Milotic elicited a long, high-pitched cry as she materialized into being, curling up on her tail as she rose high over the floor, her ruby eyes finding her opponent and narrowing.

“A Water-type,” Blue stated. “The obvious choice, but I was prepared for that!”

“We’ll see about that,” Mark returned.

“Alright then, the next battle is on!” Blue called. “Rhydon; Thunderbolt!”

“Disarming Voice!” Mark called.

Rhydon’s horn crackled with electricity, but Siren was quicker, letting out a high-pitched, yet somehow alluring screech at the Rhydon, visibly distorting the air in front of her mouth as her voice struck the Rhydon nigh instantaneously, stumbling it and making it lose its aim, sending the Thunderbolt off trajectory and causing it to miss Siren completely.

“Now, Water Pulse!” Mark called.

Siren reared back her head, a sphere of condensed water forming in front of her mouth, before with a sharp cry, she launched the orb towards Rhydon. Still dazed by Disarming Voice, Rhydon failed to even try to move in time, taking the attack straight to its face and being knocked senseless by the Water-type attack.

It let out a weak, pained roar as it fell back, dropping to the sand with a dull crash and becoming still and silent...

“Rhydon!” Blue called out, but the beastly Pokémon didn’t respond to his trainer, remaining conclusively sprawled out on the floor. With a scowl, Blue picked up Rhydon’s Poké Ball and recalled it back to its confines, letting out a sigh. “Seems your sea serpent there was just a smidge faster than Rhydon, and with the damage Rhydon took against your Steelix, that was all the difference.”

“Sometimes the smallest difference is all it takes,” Mark commented. Now the battle was even again, and Blue had to choose his next Pokémon.

“Alright, time to get serious!” Blue declared, choosing his next Poké Ball. “Go, Alakazam!” He bellowed as he cast the ball forth, releasing the Pokémon within.

The resident of the ball was a yellow, bipedal vulpine with an almost humanoid structure to its body, with a long, thin muzzle, two ear-like spikes protruding from the back of its head and additional ones from each cheek, covered in fur. From the sides of its muzzle, a long mustache grew, each length of the mustache almost as long as Mark’s forearm, and over its skeletal-like upper-torso was an armour-like section, covering its torso, shoulders and forearms with matching ones around its legs. In its two three-fingered hands, it carried silver spoons which were floating above its palms as it floated over the floor in a meditative pose, with its legs crossed and arms held out.

‘Been a while since I battled an Alakazam,’ thought Mark_. ‘I’ll keep Siren out for now; Alakazam doesn’t learn a lot of Physical Attacks, and even if it did, it’s not exactly a power puncher, so she should be able to handle it.’_ “Siren, Aqua Ring!” Mark called.

The Milotic became enshrouded by a veil of water at Mark’s command, coating her body from nose to tail in a healing liquid. With that, he ordered her to use her next attack, which was Disarming Voice again, unleashing the same cry that had stumbled Rhydon before.

“Light Screen!” Blue called.

Alakazam crossed the spoons clutched in its hands in front of it as a transparent wall with a rainbow sheen materialized in front of it, blocking Siren’s oncoming attack from reaching it. With that, it Counter-Attacked without Blue even vocally issuing a command, firing a Psybeam back at Siren; a bolt filled with a rainbow of colours lanced across the gym floor, striking Siren directly. She reeled, but stayed upright, eliciting as deep a growl as she could make. However the marks left by Blue’s attack were not only minimal, they were already disappearing under the healing effects of Aqua Ring.

“Another defender, huh?” Blue asked. “And this one heals itself... okay then.” He looked at Alakazam, the Psychic-type glancing over its shoulder and nodding back to him, before Alakazam returned to its previous pose, sitting cross-legged and hovering off of the ground, becoming still.

Mark watched for only a second of wondering what Alakazam was up to before making his next move. “Siren, Water Pulse!”

Conjuring another condensed sphere of water, Siren blasted Alakazam with the projectile just as it returned to a regular pose. Bracing itself, Alakazam took the attack head-on, dousing his body with water and visibly shaking it, but it stood its ground defiantly, glaring back at Siren and attacking with another Psybeam. This time, though, the attack was even stronger; Siren recoiled from the attack with a pained cry, skidding across the floor slightly and tensing from the impact.

“Siren! Are you okay?” Mark asked.

She opened her eyes, and nodded back to Mark before facing Alakazam again. Mark narrowed his eyes with suspicion, glaring deeply at the Alakazam across from them. ‘It must’ve used Calm Mind; that’s what it was doing when it went into that pose... but I didn’t hear Blue issue that command or either of the Psybeams Alakazam’s been using. Is it actually acting all on its own without its trainer?’

He had no time to worry about it, though; Alakazam was attacking again, this time using another attack entirely, conjuring countless rugged shapes all around itself, made up of Psychic energy, which raced across the room towards Siren. She maneuvered out of the way of some of them, but the rest found their mark, making her cringe with pain as she was bombarded by the projectiles; Alakazam had used Psyshock, once more without hearing the command from its own trainer; Psyshock was a very unique Psychic attack in that even though it was cast from afar, it function as a Physical move; Blue had figured out Siren’s weakness!

“Siren, Recover!” Mark ordered.

In response, her body glowed a bright white, healing energies combined with the healing waters of Aqua Ring mixing together to revitalize the Milotic, restoring her to near perfect health. She rose up on her tail again, glaring defiantly at Alakazam, and at Mark’s command, attacked with another Water Pulse. Alakazam fired back with Psybeam, the two attacks colliding in midair, but Psybeam proved to be the stronger, breaching through Water Pulse and striking Siren again, having the same results as earlier. Fortunate it was that Siren had healed herself, reducing the damage of the attack...

But then he saw Siren behaving strangely. She was waving side-to-side, the ribbon-like appendages growing from her head swaying about with her teeter-tottering movement. “Siren?” Mark asked, trying to get her attention.

He gawked when he saw her plunge her head into the sand, creating a small dust plume around her skull. She did this several more times, seemingly trying to dive beneath the surface of the ground, but she couldn’t use Dig, yet she was behaving as though she were on the surface of water, and...

The realization struck him like a sack of hammers. ‘Oh shit!’ He screamed in his mind. ‘That Psybeam must’ve confused her!’

“Well done, Alakazam!” Blue called. “Now, finish this off with Psyshock!”

Once more, Alakazam conjured those psionic projectiles, bombarding Siren with them and only worsening her condition, because now the reminder that she was under attack had sent her into a frenzy; she fired Water Pulses in random directions, unable to heed Mark’s call for her to use Recover again, and Aqua Ring wasn’t working quickly enough for the damage she had taken. Alakazam seized the opportunity to fire one more Psybeam, and that was it.

Siren fell, collapsing to the floor with a pained cry, and laying in a mess of coils and sand as she drifted out of consciousness. Mark ran out to the field, approaching Siren and kneeling down next to her, confirming that she was out.

‘Dammit! Both of my defenders; how’s that possible?!’ Mark thought in disbelief. ‘Rhyhorn I get, but Alakazam doesn’t have a one-hit knockout move like Horn Drill, and yet Siren still couldn’t beat it! Now not only am I out two Pokémon, I have no defenders left to deal with his speedsters!’

Mark stood up, looking at Blue. “How the hell were you issuing orders to Alakazam without speaking anyway?” He asked.

“Because of Mind Reader,” replied Blue. “Alakazam’s been using it on me since the very start of this battle. See, it’s a little trick I learned battling Sabrina back in Saffron; she never speaks an order to her Psychic-type Pokémon, because they’re telepathically linked to her so they know what she wants them to do the moment she thinks it, allowing Pokémon to react much quicker. I figured out how she did this, and so Alakazam and I learned how to do it ourselves, so my opponent never knows what I’m going to do until I’m already doing it.”

‘Alakazam’s linked to Blue’s thought pattern?’ Mark thought, visibly startled by this. He’d never seen such a tactic before; Hoenn’s own Psychic-type Gym run by the twins Tate and Liza didn’t use such a strategy with their Pokémon –if anything they only communicated with each other, knowing what plans each of them had in mind in order to work in perfect unison, but Blue had taken it even further and was mind-liked directly to his Pokémon, letting him issue orders by just a thought, saving precious seconds from barking out orders.

First Rhydon had beaten Tanker’s seemingly insurmountable defense, and now Alakazam had defeated Siren under the same circumstances, overwhelming her defenses or bypassing them completely until the results of the battle were set in stone.

‘This is the first trainer of the three I came to Kanto in order to battle, and he’s as tough as Steven,’ Mark thought. ‘Kanto’s trainers are worthy of their reputation. I knew this journey wasn’t going to be easy... Hell I was counting on that, but I hope I didn’t get in over my head either. I have to think this through... come up with a new strategy.’

“What’s wrong; losing your nerve?” Blue called.

“Just a moment,” Mark replied. “Things haven’t gone according to plan so far.”

“Well hurry up,” Blue urged, crossing his arms. “I haven’t got all day.”

Ignoring him, Mark returned to his thinking, replaying the battle in his head repeatedly, trying to find something he could use to decide his next move. ‘Let’s see; he’s got one of his distance fighters out -Alakazam are fast, and their Psychic powers are really strong, but they’re like glass cannons –they hit hard but break easily.

‘Blue boosted Alakazam’s Special Defense to deal with a distance fighter like Siren; he’s entirely focused on fighting his opponents from afar, so I need to find a way to get in close; one clean hit might actually be all that it takes. Trick is, though, Alakazam is quick to respond to Blue’s thoughts, so as soon as one of my Pokémon try to rush in, Blue will respond accordingly to keep them away. Psychic types are most vulnerable to Dark-types, but I bet he’s taught Alakazam Focus Blast or Signal Beam just for that; I bring out Fang, Blue will spring that trap right when I can’t stop it.

_ ‘And then there are his attacks –at least the ones I’ve seen... Light Screen, Calm Mind, Psyshock for Physical Damage, Psy_Beam for Special Damage; a very balanced move pool. It also knows Mind Reader, which it’s only using on its own trainer to keep in touch with him. As long as Blue sees what I’m going to do, so will...’

_ _ He gasped sharply as his mind flashed back briefly to his battle with Randy, between Coal and Velox, and then it finally hit him. He knew what to do. “Got it!” He exclaimed, reaching hurriedly into his vest and pulling out his next Pokémon. “Here goes!”

“Ready to finally continue?” Blue mockingly asked Mark with a smug grin.

“Damn straight, and this time I know just how to do it!” Mark retorted, drawing back his arm and throwing the chosen Poké Ball forward. “Go get ‘im!”

The ball opened, and from its confines emerged Coal, letting out a fierce growl as he somersaulted through the air until he touched down on both feet, blowing smoke from his nostrils as he took his place, growling again when he saw Alakazam.

Blue froze, eyes widening at the Charmeleon standing before him. “What... a Charmeleon?” He asked, staring at it with some shock as though seeing it had triggered something in him. Alakazam flinched, looking back over its shoulder with a questioning look for its trainer.

‘He’s distracted?’ Mark wondered, before shaking his head. ‘Bad idea in the middle of a battle; now’s my chance!’ “Coal! Flame Burst!”

Coal inhaled sharply, and spat a fireball towards Alakazam while its head was turned away. Alakazam panicked, putting up its arms defensively as it failed to perceive its trainers reaction in time, suffering a direct hit from the fireball. Fortunately, its Calm Mind and Light Screen were still active, but the attack still made it skid a little, not to mention leaving it sweating from the heat and following shower of Embers.

“Alakazam, use Recover!” Blue ordered.

“Coal, close the distance!” Mark instructed.

As Alakazam followed the directions to heal itself, Coal went sprinting forward, kicking up sand with every step as he made a beeline straight for Alakazam, tail raised high and arms tucked in like a charging raptor to increase his agility. He saw Blue point at Coal, and when he saw the psychic projectiles of Psyshock materializing again, he knew what was coming.

“Coal, strafe!”

As the psychic projectiles bombarded Coal, the Charmeleon changed direction, turning on a dime and was off again after a short skid, running in a wide arc around Alakazam, who repeatedly cast a flurry of Psyshocks to attack Coal with, but not a single one found its target; Coal banked, ducked, dodged, even jumped and turned himself sideways to avoid a pair of projectiles that would have otherwise hit. One glanced off of his horn, the other passed under his leg, before both flew off into the wall behind Mark.

“Wow, little guy’s faster than I thought,” Randy commented, keeping his video camera fixed upon the action. “Moves like a Mankey on a sugar high.”

When he was close enough, Mark issued the next part of his plan. “Coal, Smokescreen!”

Coal breathed in as he skidded to a stop, belching a big cloud of smoke from his open maw and blanketing Alakazam and Blue with black fog, obscuring their vision and making both cough hoarsely for a moment until it started to settle as Blue, expecting an attack at any moment, ordered Alakazam to use Calm Mind again, increasing his psychic powers and defenses further as he expected an attack to come at any second.

And then, Blue saw it; a dark silhouette in the smoke. Coal was about to attack again, he was sure of it. Alakazam turned in the same direction, bringing up his spoons and firing another Psybeam into the cloud, directly at the silhouette.

The beam found its mark.

But did nothing, because it was not Coal who emerged from the smoke.

Fang let out a fierce growl as he exploded from the cloud, startling Alakazam before he landed and pounced on him, clamping his jaws around Alakazam’s arm and tackling him to the ground, biting the armoured portion of his arm hard while his paws held Alakazam down on the floor.

“What the heck?!” Blue demanded, and looked up as he saw the smoke starting to clear, noticing immediately that Coal was nowhere to be seen. “You switched behind the cover of the smoke?”

“I did,” Mark replied.

Blue growled angrily, before calling out. “Alakazam, come on; shake him off!”

Alakazam struggled furiously with Fang, but it was futile; the Mightyena was just as big as they Psychic-type, but he was much stronger and heavier, keeping it pinned down as Fang repeatedly used a Crunch attack on Alakazam’s arm, each bite more painful than the last.

“Focus Blast with your free hand!” Blue called.

“Fang, jump away!” Mark called upon hearing Blue’s order, finally having the moment he was waiting for.

As ordered, Fang let go of Alakazam, and jumped off of him in the nick of time as a yellow sphere was conjured into Alakazam’s left hand, which it attempted to hit Fang with, but the Mightyena got out of the way just in time to avoid the attack, which strayed off to strike the ground nearby with a huge explosion marking its landing.

“Now, use Torment!” Mark called out.

Fang turned to Alakazam, his eyes glowing a bright red as he let out a howl, while Alakazam was suddenly surrounded by an aura that seemed to match the colour of Fang’s eyes; Alakazam cringed, grabbing its stomach as if in pain for a few seconds, but when the aura subsided, he shook his head, clearing it and stood back up to its full height, looking a little perturbed but otherwise unharmed.

“Ha, it did nothing to him!” Blue jeered, and pointed at Fang again. “Focus Blast!”

Alakazam cupped its hands at its side, the two spoons in its grasp floating freely as an orb of yellow energy appeared between its paws, swirling and pulsing. But just as suddenly, it vanished, and Alakazam grabbed at its chest again, that red aura pulsating from its body once more even though Fang hadn’t moved or used the attack again.

“Alakazam? What’s wrong?” Blue demanded.

“Now Fang, Crunch!”

The Mightyena launched himself at Alakazam again as the Psychic-type tried to use Focus Blast one more time, only for it to fail again, and this time Fang’s jaws found their way to Alakazam, biting hard onto the shoulder and once more dragging it to the ground under its weight as the Alakazam cried out in agony, struggling to get out from underneath Fang, but this time the Mightyena was not letting him go, his jaws progressively biting harder and harder until the armour-like torso of Alakazam actually began to cave under their pressure.

“Alakazam, come back!” Blue reluctantly called, using Alakazam’s Poké Ball to bring him back into the safety of its confines and away from Fang, who relaxed now that his opponent was gone from the battlefield. “I don’t get it; why didn’t Focus Blast work again? Alakazam’s always been able to cast it more than once.”

“Because Torment is a Dark-type move that stops an opponent hit with it from using the same attack twice,” Mark explained. “I knew you were too smart to risk teaching Alakazam only Psychic-type moves in the event it had to fight a Dark-type like Fang; I didn’t know what the attack was going to be, but as soon as I saw you use it, I had Fang use Torment to stop you from using it a second time, which would force you to choose a different attack entirely.

“I also only saw you use Status moves or anything to bolster Alakazam,” Mark continued. “The only two offensive attacks you used against Siren were Psybeam and Psyshock, and the same against Coal, but you never used anything else. That led me to suspect you only taught Alakazam Psychic-type moves didn’t you?”

“Yeah...” Blue admitted. “Yeah, I did... and so when you locked out Focus Blast, you left me completely defenseless. I still could’ve used Reflect but you were too close, and I was too focused on a quick finish so I didn’t even think of it in time.” He chuckled. “Blinding me and Alakazam with Smokescreen, switching out your Charmeleon for a Mightyena, and then closing in for the kill; I’m not easily impressed but that was pretty sneaky of you.”

Randy was actually snickering over where he was watching the battle. “Bastard after my own heart,” he muttered.

“Though, I have to ask,” Mark began. “You hesitated when you saw Coal; why?”

“What do you mean hesitated?” Blue asked.

“As soon as you saw Coal, I saw you freeze up for a few seconds; Alakazam looked a little worried too,” Mark explained. “So what was up with that? You feeling alright.”

Blue scowled deeply. “Mind your own damn business, pal!” He snapped. “I just remembered something when I saw your Charmeleon; you got lucky!” He reached for his next Poké Ball, brandishing it like a weapon and fixing Mark with a deep glare. “This battle isn’t over yet; so I’m down two Pokémon, but I got four left, and they’re ready to walk all over you!”

“We’ll see about that,” Mark retorted, with loud bark of confirmation from Fang.

With fire in their eyes and in their hearts, the two trainers stared each other down for a long drawn out moment, and in that moment, they knew, as did the spectating Randy, that the real battle was about to begin...