EVERYONE: - Ongoing Lisa the Legend

[Gavin Luper]

Hi there. I don't know if anyone would remember me - I used to frequent these forums under the name "Shellshocker" until the crash back in 2001, and I haven't been around much since. Anyway, I'm back to post this fic of mine. (I might've posted an old version of it here about 2 years ago.) It starts out as a slightly more innocent fic before getting a bit more textured and action-packed as it progresses - I've been writing it for a pretty long time now over at another forum. Despite appearances, this isn't a trainer fic, in that it has nothing to do with a simplistic badge or pokedex quest.

I hope you guys enjoy reading this - I'll try to update regularly. Some feedback, especially constructive criticisms, would be very welcome.

Cheers!

Lisa the Legend I​

Chapter 1 - Adventure in the Burned Tower.


"And a 12 year old boy reported sighting the mysterious pokémon Suicune today. The boy and his friend were training pokémon outside the Burned Tower. They are the third this week to report seeing the legendary pokémon. Police in Ecruteak are treating the reporting as possible but have declined any confirmation. In other news a man has pleaded not guilty to mistreating a Magmar at the ..."

Sitting at the bar-stool at the kitchen bench, Lisa Walters craned her neck to the side to see the large television set in the carpeted lounge room. She munched on her cereal as she watched, interested. And at the same time, she murmured quietly to herself, "Could the legendary pokémon ... be so near?"

Tom, Lisa's older brother, entered the cramped kitchen, a scuffed grey backpack slung over his broad shoulders. Tom was meant to be babysitting Lisa and her younger siblings, Wesley and Jean, while their parents travelled around Kanto for two months, studying Omanyte fossils or something like that. Lisa didn't see the sense of it, but all the same, it brought in good money for the family. Lisa's parents had already got enough money from the job they began not three weeks ago that they had bought Lisa an Aipom - her very own pokémon!

"You kids are alright for today," Tom stated casually, casting an eye over the kitchen. "I'm going to the gym for some training."

Tom was a gym trainer at the Ecruteak Gym. Now that he was eighteen, he no longer lived at home; for several weeks, he had been sharing an apartment with his girlfriend Miki, on the other side of town. Since the children's parents left for Kanto, however, Tom had been staying at home until his younger siblings became accustomed to living without their parents, then he was required to check on them twice a day.

Lisa sighed as she finished her cereal and drained her glass of orange juice. Finally she turned to Tom and said, in a rather bitter voice, "OK then, have fun."

Her bitterness was as could be expected from a young, budding trainer who had a poor way of accepting defeat. Lisa had attempted to fight the gym trainers many times, but her Aipom was unable to leave even a scratch on the Ghost-type pokémon in the gym, no matter what attacks she used.

So why didn't she catch more pokémon? Lisa's parents were quite strict, and no matter how much Lisa pleaded, they were not going to let their fourteen-year-old daughter roam the cities and fields of Johto, a wide and vastly unexplored county. Although she greatly wished she could, her moral restraints drilled into her from birth seems to tug her back each time her mind wandered. But she often longed to roam the fields, forests and oceans of the country.

"Lisa, are you listening to me?" Tom broke into Lisa's thoughts.

"Sorry, Tom. Go on," Lisa said, standing up and clattering her bowl and glass into the sink, and absent-mindedly turning the taps on heavily. She rolled up her sleeves, brushed a tendril of shiny ebony hair from her eyes and plunged her hands into the warm water.

"I said could you take care of the kids today?" Tom said, impatiently. He was obviously itching to battle trainers at the Gym. "After you wash the dishes, of course."

"Sure," replied Lisa, vaguely at first before realising what she had just agreed to. "I'll look after 'em for you."

"Thanks, Leese," Tom said in a rushed voice. "Seeya at lunch time."

Tom raced through the kitchen, to the entrance in a blur. The front door slammed shut. The second Lisa heard Tom's car pull out of the drive, a thought fluttered into her mind. By the time she had washed two plates, an excited smile had spread across her face.

Drying her hands on a clean handtowel, Lisa tied her favourite red bandana onto her head and ran upstairs to her room, forgetting about the dishes. Her bedroom was a large, airy room, the source of light being a sliding door which led onto a balcony. Lisa ignored the beauty of her room, as her mind rejected the thought of babysitting her younger siblings.

"Wes! Jean!" Lisa bellowed, slipping her sneakers onto her feet. She took her pokégear from atop her unusually tidy desk and hung it around her neck, like a necklace. It was a substitute for a necklace she had lost a few days ago, and because it was so large and cumbersome, she had yet to use it. But now, for the first time, she both wanted and needed to.

Lisa had a plan.

*​

Wesley, a cheeky, twelve-year-old boy, and Jean, an even cheekier ten-year-old girl stormed into Lisa’s bedroom.

“Yeah, what is it?” snapped Wesley in his husky, pre-adolescent voice. “Hurry up Lisa, an elite four battle is on TV now.”

Lisa ignored him. “Nanna’s coming to look after you today.”

“That old bat?” Jean laughed, picturing her ancient, wrinkly grandmother who lived in a elderly home on Tower Street. “Since when has she been looking after us?”

“Since now,” Lisa said firmly. “I’m going for a - walk.”

“Where to?” Wesley asked. “Come on, Leese, Koga could be on his last Pokemon by now!”

“ OK, OK,” Lisa said. “I’m going to the Burned Tower to do a little training with Aipo-”

“Ah-ma!” Jean called in a childish voice, her pale brown eyes alight at the thought that she would be able to get her older sister into trouble - one of her favourite pastimes. “I’m telling!”

“Who are you gonna tell?” Lisa demanded, feeling her temper rise slightly as she always did when Jean gave her grief, but she tried to look as smug as possible on the outside. She was sure her plan was watertight. “Nanna won’t mind at all, she'd love an excuse to come and visit you two. And Tom's busy at the gym until lunch time - he'd be more angry at you than me if you tried to call him at work to dob."

Jean paused for a moment. “I’ll ring Mum and Dad,” she answered finally, her eyes still bright.

Wesley nodded in agreement, then strained his ears to hear any noise from the Elite Four battle on the downstairs TV.

“One step ahead of ya,” Lisa said, once again making sure her chin was jutting forward confidently. “Right now they’re in Mt Moon: no mobile phone coverage. They’re probably knee deep in Omanyte by now, anyway.”

Jean's eyes lost their fiendish glow. She knew she was beaten, and it seemed that she had little support from Wesley - it did not seem that he much cared who watched over him, as long as his anticipated television viewing wasn't interrupted.

"It's not fair!" Jean spat childishly, and she tramped very loudly to her bedroom, whining under her breath about how much she hated listening to her grandmother's boring war stories. Wesley, meanwhile, made a hasty retreat to the lounge room to watch his programme.

Lisa watched them leave her room before turning to survey the view of Ecruteak City through the glass doors that led onto the balcony. In the distance, on a slight crest above the red roofs and fawn-barked trees that defined the city's western suburbs, nestled among a thicket of shadowy foliage, stood the dark ruins of the Burned Tower. The place had sprung into Lisa's mind quite unexpectedly as she washed the dishes - but where better to go for a day's training than at the place where, according to the news, there might be a chance of glimpsing the legendary pokémon Suicune?

Excitement flooded through Lisa at the thought. Most of her training sessions with Aipom had been mundane to say the least, merely half-hour visits to the nearby park, where they were occasionally lucky enough to battle a low-level Rattata or Caterpie. Lisa usually spent the time conversing with her Aipom, wondering if he could actually understand what she said or not. But the prospect of training at the Burned Tower was infinitely more exciting than anything she had done before. It offered, at the very least, encounters with different kinds of pokémon, and quite possibly a battle with an actual trainer. And, at best, it could result in Lisa seeing that notoriously elusive beast, Suicune.

"Alright!" she thought, excited by her prospects. "Nothing stands in my way now, except maybe getting Nanna to come …"

*​

One hour later, Lisa was strolling up the windy gravel road that led to the Burned Tower. That tower has a really odd past, Lisa thought, as she threw Aipom’s pokeball up and down in her hands.

Almost 750 years ago, two towers had been built in Ecruteak City, to signify the importance of the bond between humans and pokémon in Johto. One tower was in the west, The Brass Tower, and one in the East, the Tin Tower. Two majestic, flying pokémon lived at the top of the towers. They were rarely ever seen by humans, and one was rumoured to be a glittery phoenix pokémon known only as “ Ho-oh”. Six centuries after the construction of the towers, the Brass Tower was caught in a blaze of fire that burned the tower and reduced it to almost rubble. The pokémon at the top had flown away, never seen again.

Lisa brought her mind back to the present day. She had finally reached the end of the road: behind her, Ecruteak City was spread out, an enormous patchwork of green parklands, red house roofs, straight, well-trafficked grey roads and, in the centre, a cluster of white and grey office buildings.

Lisa turned back to the structure before her: the Burned Tower. She was standing in the shadow of the building, and the day seemed suddenly colder than it had a moment ago. Lisa glanced down at the red-and-white pokéball in her hand.

“Alright, Aipom! Come out!”

She opened the ball in a flash of light. Aipom, a small, purple and cream-furred monkey, appeared in mid-air with an enthusiastic cry of "Ai!". He landed on the gravel quite clumsily, scraping his foot, but he confidently shook the injury off and climbed up Lisa's leg, establishing a perch on her right shoulder.

“That's better,” Lisa said quietly. “It was almost scary standing next to this tower alone."

Lisa glanced up the height of tower. Even though most of its levels had been destroyed by the inferno decades ago, it was still an imposing edifice. Even an Onix would probably be dwarfed by the tower, Lisa estimated. She felt like some form of bug in comparison. The bushes around the sides of the tower rustled suddenly. Lisa shivered. Her initial excitement at training here was beginning to wear off.

“Ai!” Aipom said impatiently, tugging at her hair and pointing toward the entrance.

Lisa steeled herself. “You’re right," she said, making her own interpretation as to Aipom's words. “Let’s just go in.”

The girl placed her hand on the splintered wooden door gingerly; it creaked open, revealing the insides of the tower. It looked extremely dark and dreary within.

“Um ... maybe we should go back out,” Lisa said slowly.

“Ai!” Aipom shook his head firmly.

Lisa regarded her companion curiously. He had a certain bravado and determination that she had often envied in her friends at school. Perhaps this would be a good time to learn a lesson from her pokémon.

“Alright,” Lisa said in her strongest voice. “ Let’s keep going.”

She pushed the door open fully, and they entered into the gloom within. After a minute or two of fossicking around, Lisa's fears ebbed. After all, there was nothing scary about the piles of debris, wooden planks, pieces of tarp and cloth and general litter that covered the floor of the Burned Tower.

“I hope we find a pokémon soon," Lisa said eagerly, as she negotiated her way past a collection of rotten planks. "Maybe we’ll see Suicune, the legendary pokémon ..." she added quietly. She knew it was a bit childish, but she couldn't help but hope to stumble across the water-type legendary while she was here.

Aipom scurrying behind her, Lisa finally made her way past the rotten boards and found herself behind a flimsy, ancient wall - she had entered an annexe of the tower's main chamber. And, just a few metres ahead, a bright light was apparently suspended in mid-air.

“Suicune?” Lisa said, without thinking; the annexe had an air of mystery about it.

There was a derisive chuckle somewhere ahead. “Nope,” a male voice said loudly. "Unless you think I’m legendary, too.”

A bald, portly man stepped out of the gloom. He had an unfortunately egg-shaped head, and his ugly red T-shirt did nothing to hide his enormous gut. “I’m a fire breather,” he said. “Name’s Ray.”

"Um - I'm Lisa,” Lisa said after a long pause, shaking hands with the man. She had imagined any trainer she might meet to be perhaps her age, maybe even someone she might make friends with, but she supposed she couldn't be too picky about who she battled. “Do you train Pokemon?”

“Sure do,” Ray boomed, producing two Great Balls from the pocket of his slacks. “I have a Charmeleon and a Koffing.”

“Cool," said Lisa, feeling it was probably proper battling etiquette in this kind of random encounter to offer some kind of initial compliment. "Would you like to battle me and Aipom with them, then? We came here to train.”

“Alrighty then,” Ray said, and without further ado he set down the torch he had been carrying on the blackened floorboards and threw one of the Great Balls to the ground. “I choose Koffing.”

“Go Aipom!” Lisa cried, quickly pointing out at the wood-panelled floor before her.

“Ai po!” Aipom leapt out to face Ray’s Koffing, which had appeared in a flash before them, a foul-looking, gormless thing, hovering in mid-air.

“Koffing – Tackle attack.”

“How pathetic,” Lisa said, without even thinking. “Oops … did I say that aloud?”

“Uh huh,” said Ray, with an annoyed look. “Um … you’d better tell your Aipom to do something, kid.”

“Huh?” Lisa said, turning her attention to the battle. Koffing, for all its weak looks, had slammed its entire mass against Aipom, and was recoiling to have a second shot.

“Aaah!” Lisa cried, annoyed at the loss of battle time. “Aipom, Doubleslap attack.”

“Ai!” Aipom squealed.

Koffing, displaying a relentless battling ethic, had just launched into a third tackle when Aipom's tail swung around before him. Aipom cried out enthusiastically as he first blocked the offensive with his odd, hand-shaped tail, and then slapped Koffing into a spin.

“Now Swift!” Lisa cried, feeling the excitement of a new, unknown battle coursing through her.

“Pom!” Aipom cried, launching dozens of luminescent stars at Koffing, who fell onto the wooden floor with a thud, instantly defeated.

“Aah! Koffing!” Ray yelled, his belly wobbling as he jumped up and down in frustration. “Return!”

As Koffing was snuffled up into it’s pokeball, Lisa shot a broad grin at Aipom. “Great job!” she called to him, her voice ringing with the hitherto unexperienced feeling of victory. “We finally won a round!”

“Ai pom!” echoed Aipom, dusting himself off nearby. His smile was even wider than usual.

“You’ve won the round, but you haven’t won the battle yet!” Ray called to Lisa. “Koffing was my weakest Pokemon – so now here’s my strongest. Go Charmeleon!”

Lisa cringed, her joy somewhat diminished, as the crimson lizard-like pokemon jumped onto the wooden floor and leered overbearingly at the comparatively small Aipom.

“Come on Aipom – use your Agility.”

“Pom!” Aipom cried, running swiftly in circles around Charmeleon, who quickly became confused.

“Charmeleon, close your eyes. Don’t try to watch it!” Ray ordered sharply. He suddenly seemed determined to win; perhaps he had taken Lisa for an easy win at first. If he had, he was now regretting it.

“Char!” Charmeleon said in a deep voice. The fire lizard closed its eyelids and soon got its sense back.

“Aipom, stop with the agility, and try Swift!” Lisa ordered, keen to maintain her lead.

“Pom!” Aipom skidded to a halt and launched another series of stars, which slammed into the unsuspecting Charmeleon.

“Mee!” Charmeleon cried in pain.

“Charmeleon, Flamethrower!” Ray cried. “Full power!”

“Char!” Charmeleon roared, opening its mouth and absorbing fire from the inner parts of its body. A huge fireball began to form within its jaws.

“Aipom – Quick attack!” Lisa commanded, flustered. If the flamethrower hit Aipom, the battle would probably be over.

Aipom sprinted on all fours at the powerful Charmeleon, slamming with considerable force into its weak belly just before the flames were launched. However, as Charmeleon tumbled over, it opened its mouth and the flamethrower poured out in a gush, bowling Aipom over, before an explosion of ash and smoke obscured the battle from the trainers’ view.

“Aipom!” Lisa cried. Aipom had been so good. Lisa couldn’t stand losing in anything, especially not a battle.

“Charmeleon!” Ray cried.

The smoke cleared, revealing a fainted Charmeleon, and – miraculously – a weak, but conscious, Aipom.

“Aipom - you're alright!" Lisa cried, relieved. Then a greater rush of elation shot through her. "Aipom - we won! We won a battle!”

“Ai!” Aipom cried, running up to Lisa and hugging her.

Ray recalled his Charmeleon and picked his torch up from the ground.

“You’re not a bad trainer,” he said slowly, as though struggling to congratulate her. “I hope you two win a lot more battles.”

His tone was unenthused at best, but Lisa appreciated his sportsmanship nonetheless. “Thanks Ray, good luck to you, too,” she called after the man as he walked out of the tower.

“Ta,” Ray called back, his sizeable stomach giving him some difficulty as he squeezed through the narrow gap between the annexe and the rest of the chamber. There was a temporary burst of light from outside that lit the tower up for a second, before the ancient door closed again and they were plunged into darkness again.

Lisa looked around and knew there was nothing more to be gained by training in here. “Well, Aipom, I don’t think there are any more pokémon or trainers in here,” she said, taking a few steps toward where the door was; something creaked beneath her foot. “Let’s go … oh!”

The section of floor beneath Lisa and Aipom suddenly gave way and disappeared beneath them. Lisa didn't have time to do anything; before she knew it, she was plummeting downward, pieces of rotten wood beside her and Aipom in their sudden descent. She screamed all the way down until, with a painful thud, they landed in what appeared to be the basement.

“Oww,” Lisa moaned, checking herself for injuries, but she had landed on her backside, and she was thankfully not in very much pain. She had not even begun to think of a way back upstairs, however, when something utterly astonishing caught her eye.

“Oh my God ... Aipom, look!”

Aipom and Lisa fixed their eyes on a mysterious glow coming from a platform only a few metres away. There were what appeared to be three strange pokémon there. One was yellow, one red and one blue; all three were staring at the source of this sudden intrusion. Lisa immediately recognised the blue pokémon from the news report earlier that morning, and she gasped in shock, surprise and awe.

“Suicune!” Lisa gasped. “It’s the three legendary pokémon!”

The three creatures stared at Lisa, giving her such an odd look that Lisa felt like her feet were rooted to the spot. Suddenly, the yellow creature dashed away to the left, and the red one to the right. Suicune looked right at Lisa for a moment, right into her golden-brown eyes, and then appeared to prepare himself to run away.

“No, Suicune!” Lisa called. The excitement and rarity of seeing the legendary pokémon had dawned on her, and she realised that this could be her only chance to ever do so. “I can’t let you get away!"

Lisa stood up and leapt at Suicune, as Aipom ran slightly ahead of her. She managed to grab hold of Suicune's glowing aurora fur. “Aipom, come on!” Lisa yelled, pulling her feet off the ground and leaping onto Suicune’s back. A second later she noticed that Aipom had already joined her on the legendary pokémon's back ... And then, with speed Lisa had never witnessed before, Suicune bounded upward, through the hole in the floor, charging through the ancient wooden door of the Burned Tower and south – out of Ecruteak.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Ooooh, interesting ending.

One thing though--Ray set a burning torch down on a wooden floor?

 

[Ino-Chan]

Nice.

 

[Gavin Luper]

Thanks guys for the replies. Here's chapter 2, it's a bit shorter.


Chapter 2 - Lisa's Quest Begins.


“ Aipom, hang on!” Lisa yelled, as the wind blew her bandana off and released her long black hair into her face, obscuring her eyes.

“ Ai!” Aipom called back, it’s tense tail holding onto Suicune for dear life.

Suicune was faster than any car on the Ecruteak Expressway. Lisa was sure that it never became tired at all, and it hadn’t stopped once in the whole hour Lisa had been on the mysterious creature’s back.

“ We must be half way to Azalea by now.” Lisa thought to herself. “ Well, at least I can say I’ve seen Suicune. This is pretty exciting I spose.”

Suicune raced along through the forest, not actually wanting to shake off his passengers. He needed them … he just needed to see what to do about them. His mouth was drying up after the hour-long pelt, and he veered away from the dense growth, and leapt into a nearby murky lake, and screeched to a halt. Lisa felt her body lurch forwards as she tumbled into the muck.

“ Ew!” she cried, wiping mud off of her clothes. “ This is gross.”

“ Ai.” Aipom nodded.

Suicune was at the shallower part of the lake, drinking extremely fast. All of a sudden, the brown water glowed and shimmered, and became crystal clear, and pure.

“ What.. was that?” Lisa wondered as her jaw dropped in awe.

“ Pom?” Aipom asked, watching as the water bubbled around him, turning from a deep, green-brown, to a pure, clear-blue hue.

“ This is really amazing.” Lisa said, slowly. “ Suicune has the ability to… cleanse water.” The 14 year old girl cupped her hands, let them slowly fill with the clear water, and drank gratefully. Aipom swam around playfully.

A few feet away from Lisa, where the water was still frothing, a tiny Pokemon appeared. It was a shiny blue colour and had no arms visible. Short grey spikes pointed from the sides of it’s oval head.

“ Woop?” It said in a squeaky voice.

“ Hey, that’s a Wooper.” Lisa told Aipom, who was glaring suspiciously at the newcomer.

Suicune was still drinking rapidly at the shore. Suddenly it looked up, and in the same instant Wooper used Water Gun, spraying the legendary; not damaging it in any way, if anything it was revitalising Suicune’s strength, but Suicune was still annoyed at an invader of it’s territory.

The Suicune opened it’s mouth and a silver orb appeared.

“ Uh oh.” Lisa said, wading over to Wooper and Aipom. “ It’s Ice Beam!”

“ Woop!”

Aipom was peering from behind Lisa’s shoulder, but Wooper was a very territorial Pokemon. It paddled over a few metres away from Suicune and let out another Water Gun. Suicune was even madder, and released a huge beam of Ice which engulfed Wooper in seconds. The tiny pokemon gave a frightened squeal, and sank into the lake.

“ Wooper!” Lisa yelled. “ Suicune! What were you thinking?”

Suicune was now in no mood to be told off. It glared up at Lisa before firing an Ice Beam that narrowly missed Lisa’s head. Then it began firing Ice beams every few seconds. One hit Wooper and knocked it out. Then, after one extremely inaccurate beam, Suicune leapt up into the air.

“ No, Suicune, don’t go!” Lisa yelled. In a last, desperate attempt to keep Suicune with her, Lisa threw a Pokeball at the legendary aurora Pokemon. The water type shrugged it off, and the pokeball fell down onto tiny Wooper, who turned red and dematerialised into the ball.

“ Hey…” Lisa said slowly, as the ball wobbled to and fro, and finally came to a halt, and rolled onto it’s inverse.

“ Ai?” Aipom said.

“ I … caught Wooper.” Lisa said, in a shaky voice that sounded nothing like her usual one. “ I caught another Pokemon!”

Lisa and Aipom jumped up and down, as Suicune’s aurora form glowed one last time, than dissolved into the lake.

“ Alright! What an easy catch!” Lisa said, reaching to pick up the pokeball, which was floating in the crystal lake. Lisa clipped the ball to her belt, made sure Aipom was on her shoulder, and began wading back to the shoreline. Then she turned back to where she last sighted Suicune, and realised he was gone. “ I’ll see you again, Suicune.” Lisa muttered to herself, barely conscious of what she was vowing. “ I didn’t know much about you before, and I still don’t. But I want to – I, I vow to find the secret of the you, and one day I WILL catch you, Suicune.”

“ Pom?” Aipom looked at Lisa strangely, and then began to laugh.

“ Quiet Aipom.” Lisa sighed, flicking playfully at it. “ You just ruined my dramatic moment.”

The two friends soon came to the shore.

“ We’d better go heal you guys at a Pokemon centre.” Lisa said, gleeful at having two Pokemon and vaguely reminding herself of a young male TV actor who once starred in a series ‘To Be a Master.’

Lisa flipped out her Pokegear and watched as the tiny screen said ‘Connecting to satellite’. Then a map appeared and Lisa discovered that she and Aipom were in fact only a few miles east of Goldenrod City: there would be a Pokemon Centre there. Equally importantly, from Goldenrod City she would be able to make contact with her brother, Tom, and let him know that she was no longer in Ecruteak City. She knew he would want her to come home - it was their parents' wish that she not train too far from home - but deep down she hoped that, somehow, she would be allowed to continue on her next journey. It was new and exciting: a real adventure.

“ Alright, Aipom!” Lisa cried enthusiastically. “ We’re off to Goldenrod!”

*

“ Aipom, Doubleslap!”

“ Ai! Ai! Ai!” Aipom yelled, using it’s tail to slap the opposing trainer’s Psyduck.

“ Psyduck – Water Gun.” Anna, the trainer of Psyduck, cried. “ Don’t relent.”

“ Aipom, block it with Swift.” Lisa called.

Psyduck prepared for a Water Gun, but as the Pokemon’s speed was pretty pathetic, Aipom’s attack got in first, and knocked Psyduck of it’s feet. The Psychic Pokemon slowly recovered, and spurted a blast of Water at Aipom, who swiftly dodged.

“ Now finish this with Tackle.” Lisa ordered.

“ Aipom!” Aipom cried, throwing it’s body straight at Psyduck and fainting it, winning Lisa’s second battle.

“ Lisa, you’re really strong for a new trainer.” Anna said as she recalled Psyduck.

“ Thanks, Anna.” Lisa replied. “ Aipom and I used to train with wild Pokemon near Ecruteak.”

“ Ecruteak? You’ve come a long way.” Anna said, brushing burgundy hair from her eyes. “ How many badges do you have?”

“ None.” Lisa said. “ I’m not really on that sort of quest.. I’m actually more of a…. um…. Legendary pokemon Researcher.”

At this, Anna laughed. “ Legendary Pokemon aren’t real.” She said in a rather snobbish voice.

“ Sure they are.” Lisa said. “ I’ve seen three.”

“ Whatever.” Anna said. “ Well, take my advice; you should just earn badges. It’s easier and a lot more fun.”

The girl walked off into the forest with her nose in the air.

“ WHAT A SNOB!” Lisa yelled. “ Well, then, I’ll do the opposite of what she said. I’m going to not only find out about Suicune, but about every Legendary Pokemon there is.”

*

Minutes later, Lisa came across a couple of trainers at a fork in the road. A young boy and girl, perhaps a couple of years younger than herself.

“ Excuse me!” the girl called to Lisa. “ Sorry, could you help us? Are we on the right track to Goldenrod?”

Lisa walked over to them. The girl had pale aqua hair, and wore pokegear around her neck, like Lisa. The boy wore black and gold clothing, and a cap to match. He had messy black hair, and also had pokegear around his wrist.

“ Nope.” Lisa said, looking at the way they had been going. “ The right way is the path I’m taking.”

“ Thanks!” the girl replied thankfully. “ Now if some of us knew how to read a simple map … not mentioning any names … HIRO!”

“ Sorry!” the boy said. “ Well, Kris, it’s not my fault the Pokegear’s wrong.”

“ It’s not wrong, you’re wrong!” Kris yelled.

“ Um.. hello?” Lisa said, not keen on witnessing an argument between two strangers.

Hiro and Kris turned to look at her. “ Oh, sorry,” Kris said, blushing slightly. “ We tend to lose our temper with each other sometimes, travelling together and all ..." She sighed. "I’m Kris, anyway, short for Kristal. Me and Hiro here are from New Bark Town.”

“ Lisa.” Lisa shook hands with Hiro and Kris. “ From Ecruteak.”

“ Lisa.” Kris began. “ Um ... would you like to come with us to Goldenrod? We’ll probably get lost again soon …”

“ Gee ... I’d like to,” Lisa began. “ But I’m kinda on my own quest right now … to find legendary Pokemon.”

Kris looked at Lisa, an inquiring look on her face, but she did not ridicule Lisa for her interests the way Anna had. Finally, she said, “ Lisa, I’ll tell ya what. Why don't we battle? If you beat me, then we go our separate ways. If I win, you come with us to Goldenrod - if you want to, of course. Fair or what?”

Lisa looked from Kris’ pleading face to Hiro’s; surely a couple of travelling companions would be a great addition to her quest?

“ Alright,” Lisa said. “ One on one.”

Kris took twenty paces back. Lisa did the same.

“ Let the battle begin!” Hiro called.

“ Chompy, go!” Kris yelled.

“ I choose Aipom.” Lisa yelled.

FLASH! Aipom and Totodile appeared at once. The deep blue Totodile had a berry hanging from it’s neck.

“ Chompy – Rage attack.” Kris called.

“ Aipom – Sand Attack.” Lisa commanded.

Chompy charged at Aipom, kicking up sand from the ground and leaving a small furrow in it’s wake. Just before the Rage attack hit, Aipom kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground. Chompy was unable to see, and the attack missed completely.

“ Good Job, Aipom, Now use Swift.”

“ Counter with Water Gun.”

Aipom shot out a stream of stars, which all slammed into Chompy’s Water Gun. Both Pokemon were hit with their own attack, as they collided and rebounded.

“ Chompy, Whirlpool!”

“ To---to---.” Chompy breathed out a stream of water, which formed into a Whirlpool as soon as it was out of Chompy’s mouth. Aipom was knocked out by the blast, and promptly fainted.

“ Aipom!” Lisa cried, preparing it’s pokeball. She felt torn between two emotions: sympathy for Aipom being knocked out, and disappointment at losing a battle. She always hated losing: for some reason, she always felt embarrassed after a loss, as if she had been shown up in front of people as incapable, as a weakling. “ Well - return.”

Aipom disappeared in a flash of light.

“ You’re really good Kris.” Lisa said, fiddling with her pokegear and not looking directly into Kris’ eyes.

“ Thanks Lisa.” Kris said. “ C’mon, we’re not that bad!" she said cheerfully, apparently taking Lisa's downcast face for lack of enthusiasm at having to join her and Hiro. " We’re off to Goldenrod, and that’s where you were headed anyway, right?"

“ Yeah.” Lisa said gloomily, her annoyance at losing still lingering over her.

“ Well, then, show us the way!” Kris cried, taking Lisa’s hand and speeding off down the road.

 

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The Contest.


“ Cheer up, Lisa,” Kris said, a few minutes later, as Lisa and Hiro followed her along the serene trail which supposedly led to Goldenrod City, “ we’ll still help you find legendary pokemon.”

“ Yeah,” Lisa said, slightly depressed. “ It’s not that I don’t want to travel with you guys … It’s just … well, I hate losing. Anything. Especially Pokemon battles.”

Aipom gnawed on her ear pointlessly.

Kris laughed. “ Lisa, surely you know you can’t always win.”

“ Yeah,” Hiro added. “ You’re just a rookie, and so are me and Kris. Each time you win, you get better. Each time you lose, you learn a little. Losing is a part of Pokemon. If a trainer never lost, they wouldn’t get as close to their Pokemon. And if a battle was never challenging, there would be no fun in Pokemon.”

Lisa blinked as she prised Aipom’s teeth from her poor ear. “ I can’t believe those words just came from your mouth!” she laughed. "You sound all wise and professional."

“ Uh … well, living near Professor Elm all the time we kinda learn this stuff,” Kris replied, answering for Hiro, who looked deflated after giving a knowledgeable speech and being laughed at for it. “ Take Hiro’s advice Lisa, it’s good.”

Lisa nodded: despite laughing at Hiro's short speech, she had a feeling he was right, and she resolved to remember his words of wisdom and take them with her on her quest.

The trio walked onward. As they forged their way along the gravel road through the woods, they all eagerly shared their stories. Hiro and Kris, it transpired, had been friends for most of their childhood, and were now on a journey together, having received their starting pokemon from Professor Elm in New Bark Town just weeks ago. They seemed like very close friends, and even though they tended to argue at the simplest things, they always seemed to make up instantly, and with good humour. Lisa found herself hoping she would find her own friend like this - someone she could travel and share her journey with.

Lisa, meanwhile, told the other two about her past, about how she had grown up in Ecruteak City and had just finished High School a couple of weeks ago. She was still unsure if she would return next year, for advanced studies, or get a job instead: she thought she was too young to decide on her future just yet. She also told Hiro and Kris about her parents and how they had given her Aipom; about her siblings, Tom, Wes and Jean; and about her best friends Tuscany and Charmaine. She had gone to school with Charmaine and the three of them had played basketball on the same team, forging a very strong friendship, especially over the last year. But with the end of the school year, they had not kept in touch quite as well as usual. Both Charmaine and Tuscany had been talking about taking their own separate trips - maybe backpacking over the summer or the following year. Lisa's envy of them being able to travel while her own parents wouldn't allow her to was partly the reason she had not been so inclined to stay in touch.

"But you're travelling, too, now," said Kris, with a grin, as Lisa explained about her old friends' plans. "That's gotta be better than nothing!"

"It is," said Lisa. "But when my parents find out, they'll make me come home ..."

Kris opened her mouth to reply, but before she said anything, Hiro cut her off.

“ C’mon! Goldenrod’s just up ahead, I think,” he cried suddenly, as they crested a low hill. “ Check your pokegear, Lisa.”

Lisa checked the satellite map, while Aipom ran on ahead and began conversing with some tree borne Pidgeys. “ We’re about ten minutes away from the Bug catching contest.” She read off the map.

“ Alright!” Hiro yelled excitedly. “ It’s a Thursday too, which means we can compete!”

Hiro ran up ahead to see more clearly over the hill.

“ What’s with him?” Lisa whispered to Kris.

“ He has a thing for bugs.” She whispered back, rolling her eyes slightly. “ He has two already. One is a Venonat, and his other one ...”

“ Look! There it is!” yelled Hiro excitedly. “ The Bug Catching Contest. And I can definitely see Goldenrod from here!”

At the mention of Goldenrod, the girls sped up, and finally joined Hiro at the hilltop. Below was an absolutely massive plain, although to the three new companions it seemed more like a valley. Their small party had barely infringed upon it’s boundaries. The bug catching contest was close by, a large collection of tents and a couple of buildings near acres and acres of greenery which was the national park.

“ Whoa!” Lisa breathed. “ Goldenrod isn’t really that far away.”

Beyond the Park was a huge, misty mass of buildings and skyscrapers, which stretched for a long way. Beyond it, Lisa could make out a thin, hazy stretch of blue – the ocean.

“ Goldenrod’s just beyond the national park,” added Kris, glancing around. “ And there’s a whole bunch of stalls and stuff near the gatehouse; today must be a special festival.”

Hiro started running again. “ I can’t wait!” he yelled, wind rushing through his hair and excitement surging through his body. “ I can see the crowds, cheering as I hold up my prize bug Pokemon.”

“ What’s so great about bugs?” Lisa asked, rolling her eyes slightly.

Kris sighed and slapped her own face. “ Now you’ve done it, Lisa.” She mouthed behind Hiro’s back.

Hiro stared at Lisa. “ What’s so great about bugs? Everything! They have some of the coolest attacks, and they’re so buggy. They hide in places and they’re small. Some, like my Venonat, can even use a form of Radar to track people down. And as for other bug pokemon…”

Hiro went on and on. Just when Lisa was trying to think of a way to tell him to shut up, without hurting the boy’s feelings about bug pokemon, a man appeared on the road and approached them calmly. Hiro silenced as he approached them, but Lisa could tell almost instantly he wasn’t a threat to them.

“ Will you three be entering the bug catching competition?” he asked, twirling a grey moustache the same colour as his hair.

“ I will!” Hiro yelled instantly.

“ I might as well.” Lisa said, thinking suddenly. “ I’ll be able to get more pokemon!”

“ I guess I’ll join you.” Kristal nodded slowly.

“ Well, meet me inside the east gatehouse of the National Park in ten minutes.” The man said. “ And don’t be even a minute late. We don’t allow any latecomers in once the contest has begun.”

The man walked back to the gatehouse and stalls. The girls, ignoring Hiro’s requests to go straight to the gatehouse in case the contest started early, began to browse the stalls.

“ There’s a pokemon healing centre.” Lisa said. “ We’ll have to go there to heal all our pokemon before the contest.”

“ Hey, look over here.” Kris called to Lisa. “ Pokegear repair shop.”

“ Uh, my Pokegear’s working alright.” Lisa said.

“ Yeah, but mine isn’t,” Kris grinned. “ Come on, let’s take it in. They might be able to fix it before the contest.”

“ Alright.” Lisa said, enjoying the downgraded shopping spree.

“ Wait!” Hiro yelled. “ The contest begins in eight minutes. What if they start eight minutes early?”

Lisa and Kris entered the store, which Lisa thought was an overrated tent.

“ Excuse me?” Kris said in a soft voice, waiting at the counter. The space behind the counter was vacated.

“ Hello?”

The girls waited about five minutes before a woman popped up. Her red hair was very frizzy and seemed to be shaped like a circle around her head.

“ Good morning, kids. Sorry about the wait. How may I help you?”

“ My Pokegear’s not working.” Kris said quickly, fumbling with the catch at the back of her pokegear. “ Ah, there we go.”

Kris pulled her pokegear off and handed it to the lady.

“ Hmm… this is a simple problem.” She said. “ I should be able to fix this in about two sec-”

There was a loud click, and the pokegear turned back on.

“ Just a slight problem with the wires at the back,” the woman said. “ That’ll be three hundred dollars.”

“ Um ... you must mean three dollars, right?” Kris said.

The lady blinked. “ Yes… right…”

Kris placed the money on the counter. “ Thanks for fixing my ‘gear.”

The girls came back onto the path and saw Hiro waiting grumpily on a bench. A Cyndaquil and Venonat were beside him. He was juggling another pokeball. “ I hate shopping.” Hiro fumed. “ You were in there for five minutes … there’s only another minute or two before the contest begins.”

“ It’s alright.” Kris said. “ We’re done. Although, we need to heal our pokemon. Chompy's tired and Aipom's pretty exhausted too.”

As if to emphasise her statement, Aipom dropped to the ground and rolled in the dirt as though it were in pain.

A bell echoed throughout the area. “ Could all competitors in the bug catching contest please make their way to the eastern gatehouse. The contest begins in one minute precisely.”

Hiro stared at Kris and Lisa with a smug look.

“ No time to heal pokemon!” he cried. “ Let’s go.”

“ But Aipom’s got barely any health!” Lisa protested, as the trio rushed into the gatehouse, Hiro in the lead.

A small crowd was gathered around a platform, where the man from outside was standing, a microphone to his mouth. “ Welcome, all trainers.” He boomed. “ As you should all know, today we have our three times consecutive champion here to tutor some bug catchers at the end of the contest. The better pokemon you get, the more likely you are to win a whole day with … Kipp Anderson!”

A tall, teenage boy entered the gatehouse from inside the park. He was fair-haired, good-looking, tanned and was extremely well-built, muscles bulging out of his shirt as he looked out at the small crowd. Lisa looked at him and rolled her eyes at the boy who seemed to love himself.

“ Hello, everybody.” Kipp said in a deep voice. “ Good morning, girls!”

A gathering of girls in the front row all screamed in a pathetic way.

“ He smiled at meeee!” One girl shrieked.

“ Well he WINKED at me.” Another girl cried.

Kipp heard all of this but looked completely unfazed; if anything, Lisa thought, the girl's cries seemed to inflate his ego further. Lisa and Kristal exchanged glances; what was so great about this guy? Hiro, meanwhile, looked downright sickened by Kipp's self-involvement.

“ Alright, now, pokeballs ready?” the Manager cried, reaching over to the doors. “ Please give all your pokeballs to Kipp and I, except the one you wish to use.”

All the trainers did so.

“ Now receive your twenty Park Balls.”

Every trainer received the green, odd pokeballs.

“ Now, let’s begin!”

The Manager opened the glass doors wide, and trainers spilled out into the vast, grassy national park. Hiro ran off immediately, to the path on the left, but Kris and Lisa stood together.

“ I’ll go right then.” Lisa said slowly.

“ That means I get to go straight forward.” Kris said, after a moment’s hesitation.

Suddenly the sound of a pokegear phone ringing penetrated the area.

“ Hello?” Lisa and Kris said in unison, both snatching up the pokegear.

“ It’s me!” Lisa yelled. “ Mine, I mean.”

Kris waved to Lisa silently as she tramped off through the knee-deep grass. “Yeah, hello?” Lisa asked, holding the pokegear close to her face.

“ Lisa, is that you?” Tom asked. He sounded panicky.

“ Of course it’s me, who else would answer my phone?” Lisa said, stopping herself from giggling in a childish way.

“ Lisa, where the hell are you?” Tom’s voice changed promptly from panicky to furious.

“ The National Park,” Lisa replied, struggling to keep her voice calm and steady.

“ LISA!” Tom thundered. “ You should know better. Running away from home, leaving the kids alone …”

“ OY!” Lisa cried. “ I did not run away. I had no choice.” She almost had herself convinced of this - but how could she have simply allowed Suicune to escape?

“ Oh, cut the crap.” Tom retorted. “ You left home and left Wes and Jean by themselves.”

“ I didn't mean to go this far away! Besides, Nanna’s there!” Lisa argued, her face growing hotter.

Tom lowered his voice. “ She doesn’t count. If the kids asked to go to the Burned Tower she’d probably let ‘em.”

Lisa smiled at the thought of her amusing, rather carefree old grandmother. “ What’s so bad about that?” Lisa cried. “ I’m on a pokemon journey, and lots of kids younger than me are, too.”

Tom snorted in disgust, and Lisa could picture his face as though he was standing there before her. “ A Journey? Lisa, you only have one pokemon, that pathetic little Aipom that’s never been able to beat a trainer.”

Lisa felt anger welling up inside her like a ball of hateful fire.

“ DON’T EVER INSULT AIPOM! EVER!”

There was such rage in her voice that it was several seconds before either of them spoke again. After a lengthy, awkward silence, Tom’s voice came through the pokegear.

“ Lisa…. If you really think you didn’t run away, then what did happen?”

Tom’s voice was calm and almost soothing now. Lisa felt the redness drain from her cheeks as she explained the entire tale, from when she first decided to leave the house to when she battled Kris. Tom listened patiently, sounding astonished when Lisa told of Suicune and the other legendary pokemon - but he believed her. As a trainer at Ecruteak's ghost type gym, he was more inclined to believe strange tales involving supernatural and unusual things.

“So … what is your quest.. or journey?” Tom asked, when Lisa had finished.

“ I want to find the secrets behind all the legendary pokemon, but especially Suicune,” Lisa calmly replied.

“ Lisa … I know I shouldn’t really be doing this, but ..." Tom seemed to be suffering some kind of internal stuggle - his voice was strangled.

"But what?" asked Lisa.

" Well - this is amazing, what's happened to you. And I always thought Mum and Dad were being too restrictive, they should've let you go on a pokemon journey like this ages ago ... there's kids a lot younger than you doing it, have been for years ..."

"I know," said Lisa, thinking of Hiro and Kris.

" So I’ll let you go along on your quest … on one condition.”

“ What’s that?” Lisa's heart had leapt up in her chest.

“ That you come back to Ecruteak two days before Mum and Dad are due back. That way you’ll be there to explain everything, and I won’t get the blame.”

Lisa nodded, then remembered that Tom couldn’t see her. “ Yeah, of course Tom, that sounds fair.” It was all she could do not to hug herself with glee.

“ Be careful, Lisa; stay attentive, but also have fun,” Tom said, nearly whispering his final words. “ Ring me tomorrow, and keep in touch, you know, every day or two. Good luck, Leese.”

*​

Lisa wandered around the park, oddly silent as she traipsed through the long overgrowth. Aipom ran alongside her, playfully calling out “ Lisa!” - the only English word he could speak.

Lisa suddenly found her path blocked by a Heracross, who had leapt out from the grass. “ It’s quite cute.” Lisa said to herself. “ But it’s not something I’d want.” She kept on walking, but the combination bug/fighting pokemon leapt out in front of her and blocked her way again.

“ Excuse me.” Lisa said, lightly, pushing past the bug.

“ Heracroo!” Heracross yelled.

“ Well, there’s no reason to get angry.” Lisa said, astonished at the Pokemon’s odd behaviour.

“ Ai, Aipom!” yelled Aipom.

A group of Heracross suddenly emerged from the grass, joining up with the first Heracross. Then they all ran to a tree and began headbutting it.

“ What’s their problem?” Lisa wondered aloud, confused.

Suddenly, dozens of Caterpie and Metapod began toppling out of the tree. Lisa realised at last what the Heracross were doing.

“ Stop that right now!” Lisa ordered.

“ AI!” Aipom agreed.

The Heracross ignored Lisa. She felt helpless. The Heracross were pokemon bullies, and they were injuring pathetic pokemon that couldn’t even attempt to stand up to them. They were knocking the littler bugs from their home.

“ Aipom, go!” Lisa yelled, feeling she had to at least try something.

One Heracross turned to fight, but suddenly a collection of Butterfree flew out from the highest boughs in the tree. They had been waiting for a distraction so they could take the Heracross off guard.

“ Alright, Butterfree!” called Lisa.

The Butterfrees all used Whirlwind, injuring the Heracross greatly and almost knocking them out. Then, with a final group Gust, the Heracross blew away; they were knocked out and had learned a lesson.

“ Now, Butterfree is mine.” Lisa said, choosing a huge butterfree. “ Go!”

Lisa tossed a ball at Butterfree, who unfortunately spotted the impending Park Ball, and created a gust that blew the ball backward, onto a sleeping Metapod. The Park Ball zapped open, and the cocoon Pokemon disappeared inside.

“ No!” Lisa cried, picking up Metapod’s Park Ball and opening it. Metapod appeared.

“ Sorry, Metapod, but I’m going to have to release you.” Lisa tossed Metapod up into the tree again, and prepared a new ball. Butterfree had its back to Lisa now. The girl picked up the ball, and tossed it. However, a freak breezy wind set the ball off course, and on course for a Caterpie.

“ Not again!” Lisa cried, as Caterpie was sucked into the ball and it latched closed. Lisa picked the ball up to release the bug, when suddenly a bell sounded.

“ BING, BONG. The Bug catching tournament is now officially over. The service attendants will now take you to the Western Gatehouse.”

Lisa couldn’t see any attendants nearby, so she threw Caterpie’s pokeball to release it. Just before the Park Ball hit the ground, an Abra teleported next to her, and caught it.

“ Thank you.” It gurgled, taking hold of Lisa’s hand. “ Now we will judge your pokemon.”

“ An Abra that can talk?” Lisa cried. “ What the ...”

But the next thing Lisa knew, she was in a gatehouse identical to the Eastern one; the Abra had teleported her back. All the Park Balls were being judged by the manager, who stood up on the platform. Abra released Lisa's hand and handed Caterpie up. Lisa met up with Kris and Hiro.

“ Hiro thinks he might win,” Kris whispered to Lisa.

After a few more minutes, the Manager stepped up to the platform. “ The winner of Thursday the 24th of October Bug Contest is …" He paused suspensefully. " Hiro Ferguson, from New Bark Town, with a Heracross! Runners up were Josh McMahon and Kristal Williams.”

Lisa applauded as her two friends received a Sun Stone and Gold Berry from the manager; she was not particularly fussed about not winning, and besides, with a small Caterpie, she hadn't had much chance.

Hiro and Kris came back; Kris looked elated at the berry for some reason, but Hiro didn’t look very happy.

“ What’s wrong, Hiro?” Lisa asked.

Hiro sighed. “ My prize is the rest of the day with that boring Kipp guy.”

Lisa and Kris couldn’t help but to laugh at him.

 

[Deus X. Machina]

Great job. It's a great fic.

 

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 4

Thanks for the reply, Riv. Here's the next chapter!


Chapter 4 - Friends and Rivals.


“ Here we are: Goldenrod City Centre.” Lisa said, as she weaved in between the citizens of Goldenrod. Hiro and Kris walked behind her, dodging other people, while trying to take in the breathtaking sights – Goldenrod City was a complete maze of skyscrapers and tall office buildings.

It was the day after the Bug Catching Contest; a Friday Morning. Lisa, Kris and Hiro had survived the lecture filled lesson with Kipp, and were recovering slowly. They slowly made their way to Goldenrod the previous evening and stopped off at an inn owned by a man with a Marill.

Lisa’s Aipom was on her shoulder, calling out playfully to every trainer who walked by, when Kris spoke up.

“ This is the centre.” Kris said, coming to a halt behind Lisa and Hiro. “ Finally we can heal our pokemon.”

They all stood facing a three-story building with a large pokeball atop the roof. The glass doors slid open as the small party of pokemon trainers entered. The Pokemon Centre was very busy, and Lisa was shocked to see two Nurse Joy’s at the counter. Assisting them were two Chanseys and a Blissey. Trainers filled the small building.

“ Whoa! This is so packed!” Lisa remarked, as she and her companions sat down on a chair … three to a seat, after handing their collective pokeballs to one of the Chanseys. They were extremely cramped.

“ What’s the big rush?” Kris asked a young boy next to her.

“ Haven’t you heard? Whitney, the gym leader, made her boyfriend a joint gym leader with her. In celebration, they’re giving away a Technical Machine to any trainer who can beat them.”

“ Everyone’s healing their pokemon to prepare for the fight.” A girl opposite Hiro told them. “ The queue outside the gym stretches all the way to the pokemart.”

Hiro gasped. “ I gotta go battle her.”

“ I think you’d probably win, Hiro.” Kris said slowly but sounded truthful. “ Your Cyndaquil is really strong.”

At that moment, a young trainer entered. He had fiery red hair and his attitude seemed to match from the moment he walked in, with a strong, confident step and a darkened face, and he refused to make eye contact with anybody.

“ I wonder who that guy -” Lisa began to Hiro and Kris, but they were staring at the ground which all of a sudden had become interesting to them.

“ What the prob?” Lisa asked curiously.

“ Quiet, Leese.” Hiro hissed. “ We’ll explain later.”

“ Alrighty then.” Lisa said, puzzled, and staring around the pokemon centre. Lisa shifted uncomfortably in the seat which she shared with both Hiro and Kris.

Nurse Joy walked up to the group at that moment and handed Hiro three pokeballs.

“ Pokemon fully healed.” She remarked, looking frazzled.

“ Thanks.” Hiro said.

“ You girls’ Pokemon will be a while longer.” Joy said. “ The machine just broke down.”

The boy who had just entered, with the red hair, looked up at that moment and saw Hiro’s black and yellow cap.

“ Well, well, well.” He said, in a mean, superior voice. “ Look what we have here. Two junior trainers who don’t have any badges.”

At this remark, Hiro looked up and directly into the boy’s eyes; something which the newcomer did not seem to enjoy. He turned away. Hiro grinned in a childish way.

“ So what are you here for, Tyler?” Hiro asked the redhead. “ Are they running gyms for freaks now?”

“ That’s funny, coming from a freak himself.” Tyler spat.

Kris looked up, and Lisa whispered in her ear.

“ Those two hate each other,” she explained. “ Tyler grew up in New Bark with us, and him and Hiro were like best friends. But then Tyler got a Pokemon from his dad a year before Hiro did, and they began arguing like this, until they finally couldn’t stand each other.”

Lisa nodded thoughtfully, remembering her best friend in Grade 4, Casey, had gradually become her enemy over a few years. “ Hmm … have they ever battled?”

“ Twice.” Kris said. “ Hiro lost both times. Tyler’s pokemon are just too strong.”

Lisa turned back to Tyler and Hiro, who were now having a heated argument.

“ Three Pokemon each.” Hiro spat at Tyler.

“ Sounds good,” Tyler said overconfidently. “ My Pokemon could use a little exercise… although I doubt you can provide much of a challenge.”

“ C’mon then!” Hiro yelled, wrenching a pokeball off his belt.

Nurse Joy came along at that moment. “ Pokemon Centres are NOT for battles!” she said shrilly. “ Outside, you two, now!”

Sullenly, Hiro trailed out of the centre via the side door, and onto the red pavement path where there was a small area of green lawn which looked almost designed to be battled on.

“ I’ll wait here.” Kris said. “ You go watch the battle, Lisa. I’ll wait here for our pokemon. Besides, I’ve seen them fight before. Nothing new there.”

Lisa nodded, and left Kris sighing. It wasn’t until Lisa left that she realised: Kris now had the chair all to herself.

She wandered outside, to see the two ex-friends facing each other on opposite ends of the lawn. Shutting the door behind her, she could no longer hear the hustle and bustle of the pokemon centre.

Hiro was holding a Pokeball. Tyler faced him, glaring at the young trainer.

“ I choose Heracross!” Hiro yelled, throwing the ball at the grass. Lisa perched herself on the wooden bench, prepared to witness a great battle.

“ Go … … Pokeball.” Tyler called, almost in a bored voice.

“ Why don’t you just say the pokemon’s Name?!” Hiro cried. Lisa sighed, and guessed that this was something Tyler did to infuriate Hiro.

Two pokemon materialised on the front lawn. A Heracross – Lisa had seen that in the National Park; and a very odd pokemon, which had flames on it’s back and all over it’s body.

“ What the …?” Hiro wondered, taking out a red electronic device.

“ Save your batteries, wimp.” Tyler sneered. “ My pokemon is a Magmar.”

Hiro slapped himself on the forehead. “ A fire type!” he cried. “ No fair.”

“ Who ever said battles were fair?” Tyler said impatiently.

“ Heracross – Horn Attack!” Hiro yelled in response.

“ Magmar – Smokescreen.” Tyler yawned.

Heracross charged at the flame pokemon, kicking up tiny bugs from the lawn as it ran, it’s horn, which was divided at the tip, protruding toward Magmar. At the last moment Magmar breathed out a stream of smoke that clouded up Heracross’ eyes and stopped it in it’s tracks.

Lisa could scarcely see through the black smog, but slowly it cleared, and the battle continued.

“ Heracross – recover and use Leer!” Hiro yelled.

“ Magmar – Ember.” Tyler called.

Before Heracross reacted to Hiro’s calls, Magmar had blasted it with a stream of boiling scarlet fire. The bug type was fell down immediately, it’s normally greenish body now charred black.

“ Return, Heracross.” Hiro growled. “ That was just pure luck, Tyler.”

“ Whatever Kid.” Tyler laughed. “ C’mon, choose a Pokemon.”

“ Venonat, go! Use Leech Life!” Hiro yelled. A Speed Ball flew down onto the turf, and sprang open. Hiro was making an obvious mistake. His battling techniques were falling due to his anger.

Lisa spotted this at once. “ Hiro – think about your attacks!” she called. “ Don’t let anger blind you!”

Hiro looked at her for a moment, and nodded slowly, trying to blot out Tyler’s taunts and jeers from across the lawns. “ Venonat – new plan. Use… Supersonic.”

“ Veno!” Venonat cried. It squinted it’s eyes almost shut, and supersonic waves emitted from it’s antennae. They slammed into Magmar’s head, making it sway around confused.

“ Magmar – Take Down!” cried Tyler.

However, Magmar was too confused to respond. It began to beat itself with it’s arms, until it fell over in a muddled heap of flames.

“ Gaah! Magmar – return..”

Hiro leapt up and down. “ Venonat, you did it! Great!”

Then he turned to Lisa, who was smiling with her friend. “ Thanks, Lisa. I couldn’t have won that round without you.”

“ No worries.” Lisa laughed.

“ Hmpf.” Tyler snapped, glaring at Lisa in annoyance. “ You might’ve had some luck just then, but you’ll need more than that to win. I choose Golbat.”

Hiro sneered. “ A Golbat, eh? Venonat, Tackle attack.”

“ Golbat – Take Down.”

Venonat leapt out, eager to prove how good it was to it’s loving trainer. The bug type slammed into the bat pokemon, and blocked the Take Down attack before it could get started.

“ Alright, Venonat!” Hiro called. “ Gee, Lisa, Venonat’s really getting strong.”

Venonat was extremely happy. It’s trainer was proud of it, and it felt great. Almost too great, actually, as though a bubble of joy was about to explode inside it …

“ Oy, what’s with Venonat?” Hiro wondered aloud. “ It keeps jumping up and… oh!”

Venonat began to shine with a blinding white light which washed over it’s entire being. The pokemon was hardly recognisable, as it’s body began to grow upwards, and change shape, as it’s molecular structure was magically rearranged.

“ Golbat, Bite it while it evolves!” Tyler called, not wanting to lose a moment of the battle time.

Golbat flew headfirst at Venonat. However, the newly evolved creature glowed with a browny-gold orb, and Golbat slammed into the protecting orb, throwing it onto the ground. Hiro grinned, glad that Tyler’s underhanded attack had backfired – in battles, trainers were generally fair enough to wait for a pokemon to finish evolving before attacking.

The new Venomoth took flight into the air, appearing refreshed from the evolution process. This new event was exactly what Hiro needed for another victory.

“ Alright, Venomoth.” Hiro cried, positively delighted at the bug’s evolution. “ Quick Attack!”

“ Moooth!” chimed Venomoth, flying through the air speedily and slamming into Golbat, knocking the poison type out.

“ Yeah!” Hiro cried. “ Alright, Venomoth!”

Lisa laughed along with Hiro as Tyler recalled his Golbat.

“ Last pokemon, Tyler.” Hiro crowed, almost leaping around in joy.

“ Well, you’re about to face my toughest Pokemon yet.” Tyler said with an evil grin. “ So, I choose … Golem!”

A huge rock pokemon appeared. It’s bouldered body was browny grey, and it appeared to be impermeable.

“ TACKLE!” yelled Tyler instantly.

Before Hiro’s Venomoth could react, it was crushed by the megaton pokemon, knocking it out. The bug flapped it’s wings weakly under the sheer mass of Golem, before passing out, after an incredibly profitable battle.

“ Aaah! Return, Venomoth!” Hiro cried. He recovered from the loss quickly as he chose his final pokemon. “ I choose Cyndaquil!”

Cyndaquil popped out of it’s pokeball, and immediately it’s fire on it’s back raised up in a warm heap.

“ Golem – rollout!” Tyler called.

“ Ember Cyndaquil!”

Before Cyndaquil could follow it’s master’s command, Golem curled in it’s battle-scarred limbs, and tucked it’s head in, creating a rocky sphere, before rolling across the dug up lawn. Cyndaquil watched with rising trepidation and shot out a blast of fire – it’s ember. However, the fire barely charred the rocky skin of Golem, and Cyndaquil ducked onto the grass as the greater pokemon squashed it into a defeat.

“ No way!” Hiro cried. “ I was winning … and Venonat evolved … no way.”

Tyler was recalling Golem. “ Bye bye baby … thanks for the exercise – and the fifth victory of mine today.” Tyler departed into the Pokemon Centre abruptly, and neither Lisa nor Hiro heard of him again that day. Hiro began to sulk over his third defeat by his enemy and rival, Tyler.

“ It’s alright, Hiro,” Lisa said kindly. “ Remember what you told me yesterday? Not to worry about losing, because you learn something. That’s true.”

Hiro looked up at her. “ What did I learn just then?”

Lisa pondered over this for a moment. “ That Tyler’s stronger.”

Hiro fell to the ground beside his flattened Cyndaquil, half laughing, half crying.

*

One hour later, Kris, Hiro and Lisa stood outside the Pokemon Centre. All their pokemon were now healed, and they were ready to go on their separate paths.

“ Well, we’re off to challenge Whitney.” Kris said.

Lisa sighed heavily. “ I’m off to the Radio Tower. I hear there’s some people there with knowledge about legendaries, so that’s where I’m headed.”

Each trainer looked into the others eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Then, finally, Lisa said; “ Guys, I know we only met yesterday, but you’re real friends. You helped me, and you taught me.”

Kris nodded slowly. “ Thanks Lisa. Ditto. I hope we’ll all meet up again sometime.”

“ I hope I’ll see you too,” said Lisa, as Hiro nodded at Kris’ suggestion.

There was a rapid exchanging of Pokegear Mobile Phone numbers, before Hiro was itching to move on.

“ G’bye, Lisa!” Kris called.

“ Yeah, maybe we’ll cross paths again soon,” Hiro called.
“ I hope so,” Lisa said sincerely. Finally, she said it: “ Goodbye.”

Lisa left the friends she had made, feeling as though a large part of her was just left behind with her friends. Lisa reached to her shoulder to pat Aipom … then suddenly, she knew what it was.

“ Kris! Wait!” she yelled, chasing after Hiro and Kris along the footpath. “ You have my pokeballs!”