It's been three weeks since Eric and his Pokemon had entered the forest at the base of Mt. Moon and now he's continuing with his journey to Pewter City. Eric's Pokemon are now around peak advanced level for both combat skills and battle insight, Eric has also retamed his Butterfree and it also is peak advanced level. As Eric continued to walk through the forest with Latias in his shadow and Dratini on his shoulders, he came across a town that he didn't remember being on the map that he briefly saw while in Cerulean City and that wasn't mapped on his PokeGear's map either. So he decided to look around the town to see if it had a Pokemon Center.
Eric and his Pokemon walked for about half an hour till he found a building that looked like it was undergoing renovations and then he noticed the sign in front of it reading "Pokemon Center is closed for renovations. All Pokemon Center amenities, jobs, and logging have been temporarily moved to City Hall." Now Eric knew why he couldn't find the Pokemon Center and now he also knew where to go in order to pick up a job or to get a place to stay for the night. So Eric decided to head towards the City Hall building so he could pick up a job and acquire some more supplies.
When Eric stepped foot into City Hall three Police officers stepped in front of him and demanded to know who he was, where he came from, and what his business was in their town. To which Eric then pulled out his trainer ID.
Eric: My name is Eric Johnson, I'm from the town of Floral, and I'm here to resupply on food and other necessities, as well as take on a few jobs before continuing on my way to Pewter City.
Officer 1: Ok, but if we find out you're lying I will personally stick your head on a spike.
Officer 2: Don't mind him he's just a brute that should've retired years ago.
Officer 3: He's also upset due to both his eldest son and daughter have gone missing. On top of that his brother and sister-in-law in Hoenn died and there has been no news on if his niece is ok or even alive.
On hearing this Eric's eyes widened because he knew the one officer but felt he should ask to confirm.
Eric: Y-your name w-ouldn't happen to be James would it?
The first Officer looked at Eric with an inquiring look.
Officer 1: I am and who are you? I would've remembered you if we had met before.
James looked like he was preparing for a fight.
Eric: Ashley used to talk about you when we were younger. She always said that she had an uncle in Kanto and that he was an officer.
James then looked at Eric with surprise on his face and anger.
James: So you're the kid she was traveling with when she went missing!
James then moved with a speed Eric wasn't expecting and punched Eric in the gut.
James: Where is my niece you bastard?
Before Eric could recover from the punch to his gut, James started to punch him more and when the other two officers tried to pull him off of Eric James then kicked Eric in the face knocking Eric unconscious. Eric came to a few hours later in what could only be described as a makeshift hospital bed. When Eric looked around to see where he was he noticed that James was in the room as well, but he was also in a makeshift hospital bed covered in hundreds of bite marks and what looked like large burns on his arms and legs as well. Eric also noticed that his Pokemon were asleep either on him or near him. Dratini was curled up asleep on his chest, Butterfree perched on the end of the bed and Latias was sleeping next to him.
When Eric tried to sit up he was met by an excruciating headache, and pain that shot up his arms and back. this also caused Dratini to slide and fall off of Eric.
Eric: God damnit!
As Eric spoke he accidentally woke his Pokemon and James. Eric's Pokemon cried with joy that he woke up and they rushed up to him. Butterfree hovered next to him, Dratini tried to wrap around him in a hug, and Latias was floating next to him giving him an actual hug.
Eric: Ok Ok. I'm up. how long was I out?
Latias: You were unconscious for 3 hours.
James: You still haven't answered me asshole! Where! Is! My! Niece?!
Eric sat there for a few moments trying to think of what to say to him when the other two officers walked in.
Officer 2: so you think the old man is up or still unconscious from the kids Pokemon?
Officer 3: my bet is he's up and heard your bullshit.
James: Your damn right I'm up and heard everything! Now will one of you tell me why that bastard isn't in cuffs on his way to jail right now?!
Officer 2: Sir! It's more likely that you'll be the one in cuffs on your way to jail!
Officer 3: Due to the way you acted towards this young man.
Eric: No he had every right to beat the crap out of me.
To everyone's surprise Eric spoke up in defense of James, and continued to explain why he thought this.
Eric: So you see I'm partially at fault for why she's not here next to either of us. It was all because I let my guard down and was knocked out before I could do anything to stop it.
Both the Officers were stunned at his explanation of why he defended James' actions, and were even more stunned to hear James apologize to Eric for what he did.
Officer 3: By Arceus! I never thought I would see the day that James would apologize!
Officer 2: He's never apologized for anything even when he was wrong!
James then shot both the Officers a look that said to shout up and leave before he got up from the bed and kicked the seven shades of shit out of them.
James: So Eric you don't know anything about where my niece is or who took her?
Eric: Well I have a few ideas as to who might of taken her but I have no idea as to how she's doing or where she is now.
James: Ok, and who do you think has her?
Eric: my best guess would be a woman named Claire and a young man named Jason.
As Eric listed the two names He noticed that James seemed to be more alert and pissed.
Eric: What's on your mind James?
James didn't respond for three minutes until whatever thoughts were running through his mind vanished.
James: W-what? I was thinking a person who went by that name who came through here about six days ago. In fact it was right around the time both my kids went missing.
Eric's eyes widened, and thought it might be the person that may have abducted Ashley and murdered Laura. Eric then thought better of it cause if it was the same person she would've changed her appearance so no one would recognize her, but he felt like he should ask what the woman looked like anyway.
Eric: What did this woman look like?
James thought for a few moments.
James: she looked like a Nurse Joy except her hair wasn't pulled up, and she had green eyes.
Eric was stunned, for the description matched Claire exactly, and more surprising is that she evidently didn't think of changing how she looked at all.
Eric: That's her alright! and something tells me she's not alone either!
Eric and the officers talked about where Claire could be and where she hid Ashley, as well as if she was also responsible for a large group of kidnappings in the area. They talked like this for 3 hours, before Eric decided it was time to head out and see if he could get a match set up at the local Gym
Eric: Well I should have Nurse Joy check my Pokemon to make sure they're ok and healthy. Also I want to see if I could schedule a match with the local Gym leader.
James: Well consider your match set and scheduled for tomorrow morning Eric, and know that I won't go easy on you.
Eric's jaw dropped wide open.
Eric: You're the Gym leader?!
James just nodded his head and chuckled in amusement at Eric's reaction to this information.
Eric: O-ok tomorrow morning it is then.
Eric then walked out of the room and went to find Nurse Joy so he could have his Pokemon looked at.
A few hours later after he had Nurse Joy examine his Pokemon, Eric picked up a task for both clearing out Pokemon and gathering oran berries from the local orchard. Both of these tasks he completed an additional two hours after Nurse Joy completed her examination of Eric's Pokemon individually. (which is why it took hours instead of a few minutes, cause each Pokemon has to be examined differently due to both typing and species.) For completing both tasks Eric earned 65,000 Pokedollars bringing his total balance to 160,875 Pokedollars. Now Eric is trying to find the black market so he can sell some of the Pokemon he caught, but during this search he noticed there were team rocket members out in the open in broad daylight. Eric decided to walk up to one of the rocket members and ask them for directions to the black market, and to Eric's surprise the rocket member told him where to go and instead of trying to steal his Pokemon he asked for one of the ones he was going to sell instead. Eric gave the Rocket member a Pinser. Eric the visited the black market and sold the Pokemon he caught and was able to sell them for a bit more the usual so he now has 250,000 Pokedollars in his account or at least he would've if he didn't purchase a Pokemon that was for sale. The Pokemon that Eric purchased was a Larvitar. (Larvitar: is a small, green reptilian Pokémon with rocky skin. It has a blunt spike on top of its head, a short, rounded snout, and triangular, black markings below and on the upper corners of its red eyes. Red scales cover its diamond-shaped belly, and there are several small diamond-shaped holes in its body. Its short arms lack fingers, while its feet have a single toenail each. It has a tail with a conical center surrounded by a ring of plate-like scales, causing it to resemble a tunnel-boring machine. Except the difference between Eric's Larvitar and a normal one was that it's normally green skin was actually black, and had silver marking below and on the upper part of its eyes instead of red, and the red scales on its belly are a deep blood red instead of being a bright shade of red). Now Eric is on his way to a small inn to rent a room for the next few days until he continues on his way, normally he would've just taken a room at the Pokemon Center but that's closed. Once Eric got to a nearby inn Eric rented a one person room and headed right to it. After Eric entered his room he let out his Pokemon and the newly bought Larvitar, for Eric planned on letting the Larvitar decide on wether or not it wanted to stay with them.
Eric: Hello Larvitar. You must be confused as to why I've let you out of your pokeball without a single challenger in sight. Well the thing is I want to see if you wanted to officially join my team or if you wanted me to release you into the wild.
As Eric spoke to the Larvitar it too was looking at him inquisitively and when it heard the part about being released it cried out and ran towards Latias and tried to latch onto her. Eric then grabbed the Larvitar and asked Latias to translate what the Larvitar was saying and why it was trying to latch onto her.
Latias rolled her eyes and responded via telepathy that the Larvitar didn't want to leave and that it wanted to be close to one of its own.
Eric: What do you mean one of its own?
Again Latias rolled her eyes and responded via telepathy that the Larvitar was referring to both itself and her being shadow type Pokemon.
Eric's eyes widened when Latias confirmed that the Larvitar was a shadow Pokemon.
Eric then whispered now I have two shadow Pokemon.
Eric then spent the next three hours explaining what type of training regiment the Larvitar was going to have. Then after words Eric turned off the lights and went to bed for he knew that his next gym battle was going to be a rough one.Eric woke up early the next morning to prepare for the battle ahead and to find out just what his new Pokemon could do.
Eric: Ok Larvitar. Show me what you can do and don't worry about Dratini she can handle herself.
And with that order Larvitar charged at Dratini and push what looked like ghost energy in to it's claws and tried to slash at Dratini, but as Eric stated Dratini handled the attack with eas. Larvitar not a moment after Dratini dodged his attack turned and used stealth rock causing Dratini to get caught in the middle of a bunch of floating translucent rocks that were moving around her trying to hit her. Eric was pleased to see that Larvitar knew some decent strategies but lacked refinement in his technique and timing in executing his plans/ attacks.
Eric: ok that's enough for now. I'm very happy to see you're already decently skilled in both tactics and attack power.
Larvitar looked at Eric and beamed with joy at the praise that Eric give him and began run towards Eric.
Eric smiled at Larvitar's antics and hugged him. Eric had his Pokemon train lightly so they wouldn't be tired for their gym match the Eric also received a note saying that the match was set for 10 in the morning. Eric also trained along side his Pokemon in both physical combat and in mental resistance by having Latias use psychic type mental attacks to try and knock him down a peg or two. This training continued until an hour before they had to leave for the gym. About a half hour later Eric and his Pokemon arrived at the Gym which Eric was surprised to see was made out of both stone and metal, along with an engraving that said Moon City Gym.
Eric walk up to the doors and opened them. When he did so one of the officers he met the day before welcomed him and show him to the gyms battle field for his match.
James: Aw! Welcome Eric to my gym and I see you're ready to begin this dance of ours.
Eric chuckled to him self and looked at his Dratini who was also looking at him and nodded. Dratini then slid down Eric's back and entered the arena. James then stepped forward and tossed out a pokeball and a Lairon came out. When both Pokemon were in position the officer that brought Eric to the arena then said: this is an official 3 on 3 Pokemon battle between the gym leader James of Moon City and the Challenger Eric of Floral. Seeing as both participants are ready for battle, let the match begin!
An with that proclamation Eric yelled for Dratini to blind Lairon with a few short burst of Dragon Breath. As Dratini began to use her Dragon Breath James' Lairon dug and disappeared from sight before Dratini's attacks could do anything to it. Both Eric and Dratini had looks of uneasyness on their faces, but they didn't outwardly react to Lairon being out of view. As the seconds passed Eric began to use his Aura to try and sence were the Lairon was and what it was doing. The reason as to why Eric is able to use his Aura now is that when Lucario pushed what little life force and Aura he had left into Eric. It forced Eric's own Aura to emerge and become useable, and the fact that ever since then Eric has been training in the use of Aura again like he had growing up, has enabled Eric to on occasion use Aura vision like a Lucario, but it is draining on him since he hasn't perfected it's use. So as Eric managed to use his Aura vision he saw that Lairon had hollowed out a large area underneath Dratini and was just about to warn her what was happening when Lairon shattered the last remaining pillar of rock that was holding the area up causing a large cave in that dragged Dratini into it. James started to laugh at Eric's sudden realization that Dratini was at the mercy of his Lairon , but then noticed that Eric's expression wasn't that of shock or despair but was one of amusement and excitement.
James: So what's so amusing to you BOY!
Eric then started to laugh.
Eric: hahaha. Hold on a moment.
Just as Eric finished his sentence a bright flash of purple and blue flame engulfed the pit that Lairon made. The moment these flames appeared two loud cries of pain rang out from the pit one Eric recognized as Dratini and the other Eric figured that it must have been Lairon. As the flames faded so too did the cries of pain but the sound of two being moving around and fighting could still be heard.
James: Well now! This is something unexpected from someone who has barely even begun the journey.
Eric: Well, this is technically my second gym battle, but it's the first one I'm having here in Kanto.
James looked sad at the mention of Eric's first gym battle due to it being in Silver Falls. Eric too was saddened at the memory for he knew that it was the last time he'd ever set foot in that town and never see it again. Meanwhile Dratini and Lairon were still going at it. Dratini seamed to be at at disadvantage against Lairon but this quickly was proven to be wrong when Dratini used a Quick Attack to avoid Lairon and cause it to ram its head into a pillar of rock that didn't collapse when it caused the cave in. This caused Lairon to ram the pillar and become buried in rubble and deal Lairon a lot of damage and once Lairon managed to get out from underneath the rubble it collapsed unconscious. James returned Lairon to its Pokeball and just as re was about to release his next Pokemon when the officer officiating the mach suggested that they replace the field before continuing the match. Before the officer could tell James to send out his next Pokemon, James sent out a Bronzong. Eric to returned Dratini to his side and tossed out a pokeball.
Eric: All right time to really show me what your capable of Larvitar!
When Larvitar appeared both the Bronzong and James seemed to be intrigued by Eric's choice to return his Dratini in favor of another that seemed to be inexperienced. But as soon as the officer said begin, Larvitar became incaporial and sped across the arena and unleashed ghost type attacks at Bronzong at such an alarming rate that James yelled for his Bronzong to erect a strong barrier all around it and to use Psywave to push back at the onslaught. This hardly did anything to the overwhelming amount of attacks from Larvitar. Apon realizing that this wasn't going to work Bronzong teleported away and reappeared right behind Larvitar. As Bronzong reappeared its "left arm" glowed brightly showing that Bronzong was using Metal Claw, or Steel Wing either way when it connected with Larvitar the effects were the same Larvitar was flung across the arena into the wall knocking it out. Eric then returned Larvitar to it Pokeball.
Eric: you did well Larvitar but now it's time show what you can do.
Eric then pointed his finger at Bronzong and a bolt of black and red sprang out of his shadow and morphed into his Latias.
Eric: Now the fun begins!
As Latias appeared in front of Bronzong, she released a pulse of purple and black energy at it causing Bronzong tone flung back several feet. Apon seeing this James was stunned for he heard of the stories that revolved around a pair of Pokemon just like the one in front of him.
James: H-how is that possible? I thought they were a myth or had gone extinct!
Eric just chuckled and yelled: Nows your time Latias! Bring Bronzong down, but do it smart.
Latias looked back at Eric and nodded then she disappeared from sight. Both James and his Bronzong looked around to try and find Latias but couldn't and just when they thought they were safe Latias reappeared, eyes glowing bright blue and she unleashed a powerful Dragon Breath. Bronzong let out a ear piercing Screech in hope of forcing Latias to relent and back off stunned from both the pain of the loud Screech and how close to she was to the source of it. But to Brinzong's surprise not only did Latias not back down, she infact doubled down on the attack causing the Dragon Breath to slowly change from the normal purple and blue flame to a white and pail blue flame. As Bronzong slowly and painfully burn it managed to teleport itself out of the attack and tried to use recover to try and stay in the fight a little longer and deal some revenge damage to the Pokemon that hurt it. As Bronzong was just about to fully recover, Latias slammed into Bronzong's back preventing Bronzong from recovering. After Latias have slammed into Bronzong she had a few minor injuries such as a few shallow cuts that bled and slight disorientation as a result of smacking a steel type with her head. Once both Pokemon came to their senses they unleashed powerful attacks at each other. Latias was using Dragon Breath, and Bronzong was using Psybeam. Both attacks nullified each other and cause a large explosion that kicked up a lot of dirt and debris make visibility limited to only a few feet. At least it was for the trainers and Eric, and the only reason why Eric wasn't using Aura vision is because he was feeling a bit weak after doing so not that long ago. Even in the dust filled air Latias and Bronzong were still fighting as if their lives depended on it and every so often white and blue flames along with Psybeams would come flying out of the dust few several minutes until everything went silent. The silence went of for six minutes before the officer over seeing the match let out his Pigioto and had it blow away the dust to see the result. As the dust was blown away the first thing everyone saw was that the arena was scorched, broken, and bits of rock were floating from traces all of the psychic energy in some areas. Then as the last of the dust dispersed both Bronzong and Latias lay on the ground unconscious.
Officer: both Bronzong and Latias are unable to battle! Trainers, send out your last Pokemon.
both James and Eric returned their Pokemon. Dratini re-entered the arena soon after and James tossed out his last Pokeball releasing a Mawile.
Without a moments hesitation the Mawile started to use both Double Team and Iron Defense making multiple illusions of itself and increasing its defenses. Eric while seeing this decided to have Dratini do something similar.
Eric: Dratini! Use Dragon Dance and double team!
After Dratini did this she was only a blur of blue moving around the battle field. And similarly there were now multiple copies of Mawile in the arena. Now normally people would think that this would result in one of the trainers returning their Pokemon and admitting defeat, but neither did and in fact both Eric and James smiled at this.
James: Now the fun begins.
Eric laughed and agreed with him saying: This is definitely going to be fun.
And then all at once the blurred images of Dratini and the multiple images of Mawile darted towards each other in hopes of hitting the correct image and "get the upper hand in the battle".
Will Eric win his second gym battle? Will Eric ever see Ashley again? For the answers to these questions and more tune in next time.