Chapter 31

A New Kind of Master: Pokemon Master
Chapter 31: Another Storm Brews
Written by: MayumiPezKujo

Eric came to join me in the Burning Tower so we could battle the Rocket Grunt together. Galaxy got up off the ground and looked at the beetle Pokemon that attacked the Houndoom, seeming puzzled as to who it was. I was curious too, but Eric must have caught another Pokemon on his way here. "Galaxy, use Smog!" I commanded.

Galaxy obeyed and released the smog attack. "Stag, use Focus Punch!" Eric commanded. The beetle Pokemon sped forward and attacked the Houndoom. When the smog cleared, we found that the Houndoom was lying unconscious on the ground.

The grunt let out a sigh and returned his Pokemon to the ball. "I cannot believe he went down so easy." The grunt honestly sounded impressed. "No matter. You may have defeated Houndoom, but your not getting these Pokemon back."

The grunt made the machine pick up the case that contained GodZilla and Sudowoodo. "Rapid Spin!" Eric called, throwing Pine out of his Poke Ball. Pine instantly spun toward the case, causing it to drop and break, letting GodZilla and Sudowoodo free.

I saw the grunt grit his teeth and leave without saying a word. He was probably too disappointed to even bother wasting his time with us, knowing that he would only fail again. "You alright GodZilla?" I asked, patting her on the head. I then turned to Eric. "Thanks for helping us out there." I said.

"Just like the first time we met?" Eric seemed unsure about the statement that he just made, but I looked at him with curiosity. "I think I kind of remember." He said. "There was something familiar about you, but I couldn't quite think of it. When I saw that the Team Rocket grunts had a Croconaw and I saw you going after them, it seemed similar to something that had happened before."

He must have been talking about the time that Sage had gotten kidnapped by the demon and I was ready to go through hell to get him back. It was our first trip to Underland. "You remember?" I asked.

Eric slightly nodded. "Yeah. I remember. We met just like this, but at the beginning of the journey." He told me. "You were fight Wolfgang and his Raichu, and me and Ruby stepped in to help."

I smiled, glad that Eric's memory had come back to him. If not all of it, at least enough for him to remember that he knew me. "And who is that one?" I asked, focusing my attention on the beetle Pokemon.

"Oh, that is Stag." Eric introduced his new team member. "He is a Heracross that hatched out of the egg that we received on our way to Goldenrod."

I pulled out my Pokedex to get information on what a 'Heracross' was. "Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon. Though gentle and docile, Heracross posesses great strength and power, their favorite food is the fresh sap of leafy trees."

Stag was just like the Heracross in the picture, except he had a white diamond at the center of his stomach. He was playing with Pine and Galaxy was watching both of them with interest. "Ah," I said. "This is my Pichu…who doesn't' have a name yet." I said, introducing my new Pokemon.

There was the sound of a crash and both of us turned to see that Stag had fallen into a pile of broken down wooden boards that had been burnt up. I laughed a little at his cuteness and both of us returned our Pokemon. We left from the Burning Tower with Sudowoodo following us.

~~*~~

We walked to the Pokemon Center to find that Balthier was there, but Wolfgang was not. I walked up to him with curiosity. I thought that I wouldn't be seeing them before I had to go to Hanuel. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I had to bring you this." Balthier said, holding out a big feather that was rainbow colored. "You will be unable to meet with the legendary bird if you don't have this feather."

Eric and Axe both looked at it with interest. "Is that a rainbow wing?" Axe asked.

Balthier nodded. "That is correct." He said. "If you go to the top of Bell Tower, you should be able to meet with the bird there. I suggest you challenge the gym leader here first, since you are here already."

With that, Balthier walked away. Me and Eric entered the Pokemon Center with Sudowoodo and turned over our Pokemon and Sudowoodo to Nurse Joy. We both walked over to an empty booth and sat down. Axe jumped from my shoulder to sit at the other side of the table. "So, now we get to meet with the legendary bird, Ho-Oh." Axe said, amazement was in his voice.

"What are you trying to gain an audience with Ho-Oh for?" Eric asked. It was expected that he wouldn't know, since he wasn't with us when we learned about the rest of the journey from Balthier and Wolfgang.

"I need to return to my home for a little while in order to prepare things for the rest of the journey." I informed him. "We could easily use a path through Underland, but after the incident, it's too dangerous that way. We have to get there through the world hidden in the heavens, and that's only reachable if we have help from a mystical bird, like Ho-Oh."

Eric nodded with interest. "So this means that you will be going home?" He asked.

"Yeah, but only for a little while." I said. "I will have to come back here."

"That is great, though." Eric said. "This means that you will be able to return home. It would be great if I were able to come too, I'd like to see the planet that you came from."

Nurse Joy brought the Pokemon back out to us, and I looked at Eric. "You want to have a battle before we challenge the gym?" I asked.

"You're on." Eric said, taking his Pokemon.

I hadn't yet caught my Pichu in a ball. Me and Eric walked out to the route just outside of Ecruteak City and found a good place to have a our battle. Axe and Sudowoodo sat in a a patch of grass to watch our battle. Eric called his Heracross out to the stage first. Stag instantly seemed ready to battle. Since he was using his newly hatched Pokemon, I decided to do so with mine as well. I looked at Pichu, and quickly decided on a name for him. "Fireworks, looks like your up." I said. This would be the first time that I was able to battle with Fireworks since he hatched.

"Fireworks, use Quick Attack!" I commanded.

"Stag, use Brick Break!" Eric commanded.

Fireworks quickly dodged the attack that Stag attempted and attacked him with his Quick Attack. "Now use Mega Horn!" Eric commanded.

"Volt Tackle!" I commanded.

Fireworks started running forward and Stag readied his Mega Horn attack. The two attacks collided and Fireworks was knocked out. I was shocked. "That easy?" I asked.

"Yeah, remember, Pichu can't use electricity that well without attacking itself as well. On top of that, Volt Tackle has a counter damage to it." Axe said.

I brought Fireworks into a Poke Ball, officially catching him now. "Stag, return." Eric called him back, after Stag had attacked Eric with what I assumed was supposed to be a hug, but ended up more like an attack than anything.

This time I chose Cyanide to battle. "Cyanide, your up!" I called out my Eevee.

"Echo, I choose you!" Eric called, releasing his Golbat.

Since Eric won the last round, he got the first move this time. "Echo, use Wing Attack!" Eric commanded.

Echo flew forward and found the location of the Pokemon that he was supposed to be attacking. He used Wing Attack. "Cyanide, use Take Down!" I commanded. Cyanide jumped out of the way of the Air Slash attack and used Take Down on Echo.

"Now, Echo use Toxic!" Eric commanded. Echo seemed ready to try another Wing Attack, due to the fact that his first one had failed. He moved in forward to attack Cyanide. I saw that Echo still wasn't listening to Eric exactly. This time the attack landed. "Cyanide, use Bite!" I commanded.

Cyanide started to glow and his body began to change shape. When he was done evolving, he was an odd creature, but looked interesting. His ears were big and he had tufts of fur on either side of his face. His eyes were almost bug-like and his long tail split into two at the end. I pulled out my Pokedex to get information on his new form. "Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. It uses the fine hairs that cover its body to sense air currents and predict an opponent's movement." Cyanide's gem on his forehead was blue.

I then had to check for his new attacks. "Espeon's Moves: Confusion, Future Sight, Morning Sun, Shadow Ball."

"Alright, Cyanide!" I cheered, happy that he evolved. "Use Confusion!" I commanded.

He instantly obeyed my command and release strong waves of psychic energy in order to attack Echo with them. "Echo, use Crunch!" Eric commaned.

"Cyanide, dodge it, quick!" I commanded. Cyanide quickly jumped out of the way and avoided the attack. "Now use Future Sight!" I ordered.

Cyanide stood still for a moment and the blue gem on his forehead glowed and the wind blew really strong. A blue and orange ray of energy came out of nowhere and attacked Echo, rendering him unconscious. I smiled confidently at Cyanide's new found power and returned him to his ball. Eric returned Echo as well.

"Galaxy, your up!" I called out my Haunter.

"Pine, your turn!" Eric said, calling his Pineco out to the battlefield.

Both Pokemon stood ready, looking at each other. They both seemed confident in themselves to be able to win the battle. This time, since I won the last round, I got the first move. "Galaxy, use Shadow Ball!" I commanded.

Galaxy readied the Shadow Ball and shot it towards Pine. "Rapid Spin!" Eric commanded. Pine obeyed and used Rapid Spin on the Shadow Ball, only earning himself minimal damage and shooting the attack back at Galaxy.

As the attack collided with Galaxy, it began to rain and we both returned our Pokemon and headed back to the Pokemon Center. It was weird how the storm came so fast right then…I knew that something had to be up.