Igneel's evolution was one of the last things I needed to happen before I had to set off for a supply run. His evolution increased his appetite by a massive amount. His evolution put him in the upper echelons of my team strength-wise. Right now, there was no clear way to tell who the strongest member of my team was.
Kisame had a type advantage against Broly and Igneel. Ino managed to beat Kisame half the time. Quicksilver could defeat Ino more and more as time went on. Quicksilver would lose against Broly or Igneel though. There was no single member of the team who could defeat every other member.
With our stores of food running out at a rapid pace, I took off on Quicksilver with Broly and in his Pokeball. The rest of the team continued training in the forest. We went straight to Fuchsia. Quicksilver's increased speed was almost unnoticeable when he had me as a passenger on board. He had to hold back with me on his back. I felt his frustration at that. It contrasted with his joy at getting to spend time with me without anyone near.
That was one of the drawbacks of having a large team. I couldn't spend as much time with each individual member as I would otherwise want to. It was lucky that my teammates had matured as the team grew. They understood the situation.
We got to Fuchsia and I dismounted before returning Quicksilver to his ball. I ignored all the looks I was getting and went straight to the nearest department store. I knew I looked the part of a wild child. Three months in the wild wouldn't leave anyone looking like a supermodel. The tools that this world had invented to make surviving in the wild easier were the only things preventing me from looking worse.
The department store was empty this time of day, which was better for me. The looks were starting to get a bit uncomfortable. I went to the pokesupplies section and grabbed new bags of pokefood. I took as much as I could. My team was growing, and I didn't plan on returning for another three months at the very least.
I also grabbed some more rare candies. Their effect on my pokemon's growth was difficult to tell but it couldn't hurt. After that, it was straight to the TM section. With the money Oak gave me, I had enough for one of the strongest pokemon moves. The TMs for those moves were quite expensive. Blast burn, blizzard, fissure, thunder, hyper beam, and Giga Impact. Those were the ones this store had.
I had to choose between Hyperbeam and Giga impact. The other moves couldn't be used by every member of my team. I had been considering it for a while, so I didn't waste time picking up the TM for Giga impact. Most members of my team were physical attackers. Those who were more special attackers like Kisame and Ino were in the minority.
Funds were a limiting factor for the time being. I had some ideas on how to fix that, but they wouldn't be viable for some time yet. I was at the checkout counter, about to pay for my purchases when Ino teleported in. She shocked both the cashier and me. I connected my mind to hers and what I saw made me see red.
She grabbed onto me and teleported to the clearing. I didn't have time to take stock of my situation. I released Broly and Quicksilver and had Ino connect me to the entire team.
I hadn't been lazing about for the past three months. My own training was more mental than physical, but the results shone through in a situation like this. Connected to my team, I could see through their eyes and swap views like a pro.
THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER- The Pokemon Hunter
I walked across the zone with an ever-increasing sense of frustration. The trees were repetitive and annoying. The ground, uneven. The worst part was that I couldn't teleport there. Psycho had never been to the area and there was no way to get there through him. If I flew, I risked alerting my prey. Yes, My prey. Donnell Oak. One of his pokemon at least. The little bugger had a Milotic. He was part of what was wrong with the pokemon league system.
Nepotism. Was there any wonder that the people who succeeded came from families with strong ties to the league? Just look at the Champion, Lance. A strong trainer, even I can't deny that. But is it surprising that he grew to be so strong when he was the heir to one of the oldest pokemon clans in the world? He started his journey with two Dratini and a Dragonair when most people were lucky to start with a Pidgey.
My quarry was much the same. The son of the former champion, Samuel Oak. A trainer for less than a year and he already had a Charizard, a Gardevoir, a Larvitar, and a Milotic. It still surprised me that the public allowed these people to get away with rigging the system like this.
I finally crossed into the clearing and spotted the pokemon in question. I couldn't see but that was even better. I'd defeat them and wait for Daddy's boy to show up with the pokeballs. I paid attention to the position of the pokemon. The Charizard was with the Larvitar over to the side. The Gardevoir and the Milotic seemed to be in deep conversation.
I picked up two of the pokeballs from my belt and decided on how to play it. I released Pyro and it didn't take him more than a second to rush the kid's Charizard with a dragon rush. The other pokemon in the clearing remained frozen in shock while I released psycho. He teleported in front of the Gardevoir before blasting her with a shadow ball.
That left me with my mission and a baby pokemon. I walked in and released Ampharos. He'd refused a name for the years that I'd known him. "Thunder" I shouted. The water type stood no chance against the most powerful electric type move on the planet.
I turned around to release Cyro to take care of the Larvitar. Seeing Ampharos get sent through the forest from the corner of my eyes was the last thing I expected. It forced me to turn around again. The silver sheen on the water type's tail told me exactly what it did. Iron tail into the ground to channel away the electricity?
It was a known tactic. It didn't work often because of how fast electric-type moves travelled. Ampharos came rushing out of the forest to continue his battle with a wild smile on his face. "Agility" I ordered. The Water-type was most likely going to be stationary on the ground, so it wouldn't be a match.
Ampharos dodged the water guns sent his way with contemptuous ease. He was about to crash into the fish when a variable I hadn't expected came into the equation. The Larvitar slammed into him with a tackle that had me wincing in solidarity. I'd forgotten about the rock type because of my shock.
I gritted my teeth and sent out Cyro. This was getting annoying. "Hydro pump on the Larvitar" I commanded. The blast of water sent the Larvitar into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness. Finally.
Ampharos had space to focus on the water type and sent thunderbolt after thunderbolt. It took three attempts to get through but the Milotic fell. "Electroweb" I ordered. The Milotic was tricky. Keeping it down would be difficult.
The web of electricity surrounded the downed water type. A blast of fire flew across my vision, setting the tree to my right alight. I looked up at the battle going o above me. Oak's Charizard was strong but inexperienced. It was already flagging behind Pyro.
I turned my attention toward the battle between the psychic types. Psycho was struggling against the Gardevoir. I felt my heart skip a beat as a blast of rainbow-coloured energy threw him backward.
The psychic type didn't bother continuing its battle. It teleported away. I wasn't here for it, so I didn't stress myself. I turned to watch Pyro deliver another hyperbeam to the Charizard. It crashed into the floor. The next thing I saw was Pyro tackled out of the sky by a fucking Pidgeot.
I turned around and came face to face with the trainer I came for. He had a weird rock type by his side and then things turned around.
POV CHANGE- Donnell Oak
Fucking poacher. I could tell he was after Kisame. She was the only one he'd restrained after all. Watching what he did to my pokemon made me feel nothing but anger. I started issuing orders.
"Quicksilver, take that Charizard out of the fucking sky. It's strong but it isn't a skilled flyer. Push it down and use your vacuum moves to deny it fire-type moves." I watched my speedster smash into the Charizard. It went down with an earth-shattering crash.
"Broly, take out the Ampharos." He moulded the ground around him into a ramp and went sailing towards the Ampharos. That battle was as good as over.
I turned towards Ino to give her orders when I noticed that she had slumped over. She was exhausted, of course. She teleported dozens of kilometers to get to me and then teleported the same distance back. Fuck. I returned her to her ball. She'd done enough. We'd take it from here.
The Lapras spat out a water gun at me. I scrambled off my feet into a dive. The attack missed but the next one wouldn't. Broly and Quicksilver were too far away to help. I was all on my own. I tucked my body in when a tree got in the way of the attack. Wait. What?
I wasn't hallucinating. One of the trees in the clearing jumped in the way of the attack. A Trevenant. A fucking Trevenant. I'd been training in the same clearing as a ghost type all this while. How didn't Oak notice this when he came over?
The Trevenant replied to the Lapras' attack with a solar beam that had me covering my eyes. The attack breached its protect and sent it further into the forest. The Ghost type turned to me and said something in pokespeak that I somehow understood to mean, 'I've got this'
I nodded. I didn't have much of a choice at that. I reached out through my aura to my pokemon. Ino's absence made this my only viable means of communication. Surprisingly, neither Igneel nor Kenpachi were unconscious.
I increased the flow of aura towards them. It was something I could do with some measure of reliability now. Igneel stood up with a ferocious roar. Kenpachi's rise was less dramatic but no less soothing to my soul. He came running toward me and I grabbed him in a hug. It was a short hug though.
We had a poacher to fuck up. His Alakazam teleported back to him, and I ordered Igneel to rush it. His body glowed in a purple aura, and he flew across the clearing towards the psychic type. It managed to teleport in time. They started a game of tag at that. With Igneel rushing at it and the Alakazam barely managing to teleport out of the way in time.
I looked towards Broly's battle with the Ampharos. The beatdown was glorious. Broly held nothing back. All his close combat training and experience were channelled into this pokemon. It was clearly a long-range fighter. Broly gave it no time to charge up any electric-type moves. It was only a matter of time before it was knocked out. I didn't have the time for that though. Kisame was in pain and stopping that pain was all I cared about. "Stone axe" I commanded through our bond.
Broly didn't hesitate to carry out my orders. He twirled in the air and brought down both of his axe hands on the Ampharos' head. Its skull wasn't much of a shield. The axe went through its skull and into its brain. It died before it hit the floor, and Kisame regained her freedom.
A scream of pain echoed through the forest. I traced its origin to the skies above and looked up. Quicksilver's vacuum control had robbed the Charizard of its fire-type moves. Now, it was making up for that by attempting to bully my bird out of the air with its bulk.
I screamed at Quicksilver to flee but it was too little too late. The poacher had seen his Ampharos' death and he desired revenge. The bastard released a pokemon in the skies next to my fleeing bird. The red light formed into a figure that sent my heart into my throat. My screams for Quicksilver to flee became even more frantic. My voice went hoarse but I kept at it. It was all for naught though. The Gengar surrounded his form with a cloud of poison and I felt pain beyond pain.
I thought I knew pain. I was wrong. I felt something in me give out. I felt it when Quicksilver died. I felt the gaping chasm where I once fed aura into. His absence was as pronounced as the sun shining above me.
It was a new kind of pain. A kind I resolved I would never feel again. The kind of pain that turned into anger. A lot of anger. The rest of my team had seen Quicksilver fall, and their anger fed into and enhanced mine. We created a continuous feedback loop with our collective anger seeking a crescendo.
Kenpachi glowed in bright light. He evolved, and instead of joy, I felt anger. He had to grow up, to evolve. Before he was even ready. All because this selfish bastard wanted what wasn't his to take. I released Ino and fed as much aura as I could into her.
Her tired form came alive and I started issuing orders through the mental bond we shared. I started by telling Ino to teleport after the Alakazam. It wasn't a pokemon used for battle and that showed. Ino was far superior and would finish it in no time.
Next, I ordered Igneel to take down that Charizard. The beast was part of the reason Quicksilver died. My breath hitched at the thought. It might have beaten Igneel before but my Dragon was all fired up.
For my last orders, I spoke out loud. I had to. "Broly, Kisame, come with me. We have a ghost to kill". Kisame let out a roar of anger and the lake, almost a kilometre away came alive at her roar. Broly was quieter in his anger, but it was there.
We moved as one. Kisame sent a hydro pump towards the Gengar that just finished recollecting itself. It dispersed again. The lake rose and wrapped itself around my sea snake. She floated beside Broly and me in her improvised Water prison.
The Gengar recollected itself and Broly blasted it with a signal beam the next second. It rushed towards us in a half-formed cloud of gas. Kisame sent some of the water from her prison crashing towards it. It went down at that but quickly reformed. Broly's stone axe dispersed it again
It tried to wrap around Broly to poison him. A fireball came crashing down on Broly's form and I knew Igneel had finished his battle. The Gengar's cloud exploded, leaving Broly unharmed. It tried to flee. Perhaps it saw its fate coming. Kenpachi herded it back towards us with a barrage of rock throws.
My team surrounded the ghost type slowly and steadily. I had no idea how to kill a ghost, but we'd manage it today. At least I thought we would. The roar that came from the Poacher's direction drew my attention and what I saw almost made me piss myself in fear.
The bastard had a Dragonite. A very large Dragonite. The bolt of red that returned the Gengar to its Pokeball was ignored. The terror I felt at the Dragonite's presence cleared away the anger that clouded my mind.
This one was going to be a tough fight. The good news was that the Trevenant came out of the forest a few seconds later. It stood right beside my team. I'd address that later. The poacher seemed to be grinding his teeth and then he whistled.
His Alakazam appeared at his side. Ino wasn't far behind, but the Alakazam, trainer, and Dragonite were gone in an instant. Ino tried to track the teleportation, but it was too far for her to follow.
I felt a hand grab me and then I appeared elsewhere. Staring at me were the dead, soulless eyes of one of my first friends. His grey feathers had darkened, and lines of black ran through his body. Quicksilver was dead and gone. The few embers of anger that remained ignited anew. I felt my anger rise in time with that of my pokemon.
Ino had brought them over and their anger joined mine. Our connection created a continuous feedback loop of vexation. We built off each other and intensified our experiences. We had lost a friend and we felt the loss, the abandonment, the loneliness. We mourned together. Sat before the body of our friend. Our partner.
POV SWITCH -The Pokemon Hunter.
That bastard had cost me most of my team. Pyro, Cyro, and Ampharos were dead. I almost even lost Ecto. The bastard had taken away a Lapras. A fucking Lapras. Pyro was replaceable. Infiltrating the Charicific valley was difficult, but not beyond my abilities.
Cyro was the real loss. Lapras were not just illegal to capture, but well guarded. The only sanctuary I knew of was patrolled by an entire squad of ace trainers. A challenge like that was well beyond me. Even with Draco on my side.
I walked around the base I'd chosen for myself in frustration. Fucking Oak. The spoilt bastard had taken so much from me already. I wouldn't forget though. I wouldn't forgive. I would kill his team. Use the Rock type's skull as a goblet. I would make him watch as I killed his snake and used her skin as a fucking pelt.
That would have to wait though. My team was diminished. All I had was Draco and Psycho. I should have released Draco earlier. Even alone, he had a good chance of taking out the boy's entire team. If I had released him with the rest, the boy would be dead beneath my feet.
I languished in my thoughts till a knock on the door interrupted my thought process. Probably one of the annoying neighbours again. They never got the hint that I wasn't interested in attending any cookouts or picnics or whatever inane events their vapid minds would come up with.
I resolved to ignore them when another series of knocks robbed me of that choice. They seemed to be particularly tenacious today. I tried to close my eyes again but they knocked again. I marched to the door in annoyance to give them a piece of my mind when I opened it and found something I didn't expect.
The same woman from a few days ago with a group of men behind her. "May we come in?" She asked with a painfully smug tone. I hated her already. I stepped aside to allow her entry while picking Psycho's ball off of my belt.
She and her goons walked into my apartment and I finally focused on what they were wearing. Black bodysuits with a red R on them. She sat down and spoke again. "There's no need for the Pokeball, Robert, May I call you Robert?" It was impossible for me to keep the surprise off my face. I'd gone to great troubles to hide away that part of my history. How the fuck did she know my name?
I ached to wipe the smugness off her smile. "What do you want?" I finally managed to grind it out. "We're all friends here. One conversation, Robert. A single conversation with the boss. No tricks, no escapes. Hear what the boss has to say and if you don't like it, we leave."
I had no real choice. She spoke a big game of being friendly but there was no way she didn't see the trap she had me in. With knowledge of my identity, there was nothing I could refuse her. "Fine" I replied.
She gestured to one of the goons behind her and he produced a laptop that he opened. The same shadowy figure with a bright background greeted me. "Hello, Robert. Please accept my condolences for your loss" How did they know? Was Oak one of them? Did he inform them?
"No, Donnell Oak does not form part of my organization. I had a promising agent watch the battle between the two of you. He had high praise for both your skills. Unfortunately, a majority of your team has been lost to you." His voice was smooth and I felt myself hanging on to his every word.
"This is where my organization comes in. We can help you find new pokemon for your team"
I laughed at that. "What can you offer me that I can not claim for my own?"
"Good question. Have you heard of the other regions?" Other regions? Was he speaking of Hoenn and the Orange Archipelago? The Islands might talk a great deal about their independence but they might as well be part of Indigo.
"No, I don't speak of Hoenn or the Archipelago. There are entirely new unexplored regions. The league has kept knowledge of the discovery of these regions to a select few but nothing is hidden from my organization. These regions pose an opportunity for you. If you join my organization, then you will form part of the first expedition we will be making to one of these regions."
I understood his unspoken offer. New regions meant new pokemon. I'd get the opportunity to claim rare and powerful Pokemon to replace those Oak stole from me. An offer I can't refuse indeed.
"I accept your offer. I'll join your organization." I had no real choice here. The carrot was too tempting and their unspoken stick too dangerous.
The shadowy figure spoke again. "Welcome to Team Rocket, Admin Archer. June has a Pokeball containing a Charizard claimed from the Valley just for you. She will also leave you with a phone that I will use to contact you when the time comes."
Admin huh? Sounds nice. The way it went with my chosen name sounded exquisite. The lady, June I guess her name was, gave me what I needed and then left with her goons in tow.
I wanted to go to bed but I felt too antsy. Might as well welcome my new pokemon. I released Psycho and had him teleport me to the usual training grounds we used.
Next, I released Draco. "We have to welcome a new member. It's a dragon so you'll have you it who's boss" Draco nodded and folded his hands across his chest. He was ready.
I released the Charizard. It must have been very irate because it let out a roar of challenge the moment it appeared. Draco matched its roar.
The Charizard rushed at Draco with a dragon rush. Draco caught it and threw it back the way it came. It didn't stay down for long and got up with a mighty flamethrower. Draco ignored the attack and used his tail to knock the fire dragon into a tree.
The Charizard came back out and caught a dragon breath to the face for its troubles. It fell and stood up again only to be knocked back to the ground by a kick from Draco. So that's how he wanted to play this. I settled in on the tree I was leaning against to enjoy the show.
The Charizard flew into the air. It seemed to be attempting to gain aerial superiority. A total waste of time. Draco flew up even faster and knocked it back to the ground. He sent a dragon pulse into its body when the Charizard tried to stand again.
The Charizard still didn't get the memo. It fired off a hyper beam straight at Draco's flying form. He huffed and dove straight through the beam with the tell-tale glow of Giga Impact surrounding him. He drove the Charizard deeper into the ground with his dive.
He got off its form and started walking towards me when a roar went through the forest. The Charizard stood up again with blue fire on its tail. Good, this one had blaze. It rushed at Draco again but Draco sent a Dragon rage straight at it. It went down and Draco put a single leg above its form.
I knew it understood when it stopped trying to get up. I walked on over. "Welcome to the team, Pyro".