"Vel? Can I come in?"
Griff knocked on the door of his daughter's bedroom. There are things that they need to talk about.
The door swung open due to Rena's use of her psychic powers. His daughter is sitting on her bed and her eyes are a little puffy.
Her quarrel with Vance earlier today must have affected her even more than what he had initially thought.
Griff sat down beside his daughter and decided to go straight to the point. Vel always prefer to handle things in a straightforward manner.
"Vance told me everything. It lines up with what I had found out on my side too, I can see why you were so worried."
"Oh."
His words got Vel's brief attention before she returned to staring at nothing. Griff gave a mental sigh before he wrapped his arms around his daughter and pulled her into a hug.
"Did Vance and Mum send you here? To talk me out of it? To let me stay at home because I cannot travel due to my condition?"
Griff shook his head.
"No. I gave Vance a stern talking to. He shouldn't have approached the topic the way he did, that was insensitive of him. We all know how much you hated to be reminded of your sickness. But Vel, you can't blame him. Vance truly cares for you."
"I know." Vel choked out. "But that makes it hurt even more. He just don't understand why it is necessary. He never tried to see things from my point of view and it hurts. I know he wants what is best for me, but he doesn't realise what he thinks is best is not what I need."
Griff patted Vel's back in a comforting manner.
"In all honesty, I never wanted you to get involved in politics. You already have too many on your plate as it is. It is why I never showed you the more complicated dealings our farm has with our clients. I had always thought that Vance will be the one who will succeed the farm so I trained him in politics and the likes, teaching him everything I know. I never got to show you how influential our family is, so you didn't know about the power our family wield. It is my fault as well. If you had known just how influential we are, things might not have progressed in this manner."
"We are only four people, Dad."
"The Elite Four are also four people." Griff answered. "And how influential are they?"
Vel kept quiet. Griff had gotten her stumped and she knew it.
"Vel, we are influential, I cannot stress this enough. Anything that we want to know, all it takes is a single word from us or a snap of our fingers and we will know right away. We can mess with the League by purposely tweaking the prices for anything pokemon related and they will feel the effects instantly. The Government do have some sway over us, but we have a farm full of pokemons that over 90% of the entire region relies on for its military strength. The pokemons on our farm are like a private army in itself. Like the other families that has been here since Hoenn's founding, we are given certain privileges due to the contributions that we had made to Hoenn for generations. I had wanted to make my displeasure to the League known for dragging you into their political games without our knowledge, but since you want to get involved, I decided to let it rest and let them off with a warning. I had met Lucas. He had promised to not let you get involved in anything that you are unwilling to get involved in and to keep you as safe as possible while you are on duty. We had come to an understanding. Well, he had come to understand me. I am very persuasive."
Vel sat up immediately.
"You met the President?! And you convinced him?!"
"I told you that we are influential, Vel, I just never got to show you how much. That's why you didn't know about the true extent of our family's influence. You got yourself worried over nothing."
Griff allow some time for his words to sink in before continuing.
"I had discussed this with your Mum and Vance. They are very reluctant, but we decided to let you do what you think is best provided this is what you really want to do. You are right, you are no longer a child and we cannot protect you forever. However, there are a few conditions that we want you to accept before we let you go and try to save the world."
"Ok." Vel nodded her head slowly. "I'm listening."
"Firstly, you need more pokemons on your team since your new job is dangerous in nature even if you are not doing the bulk of the dangerous stuffs. I am not talking about any random pokemons. I need you to have pokemons on your team that are capable of protecting you even a war appears out of nowhere. I am referring to pokemons like Kratos, Toothless, and Snap. I also need you to have smaller size pokemons that can not only match them in power, but also able to follow you around even when you enter buildings."
"I already have Rena, Kel-"
"I am not saying that they are incapable or that they are not doing their job." Griff cut Vel off before she misinterpreted what he is trying to say. "It is just that the moment you enter a building, all the stronger members of your team are always in their pokeballs or forced to stay outside since they are so big in size. How can they protect you if they aren't there to do so? I need you to get at least one or two pokemons that can grow to be on the same level as your powerhouses that can follow you around anywhere. Three or four more if you think you can handle it. This arrangement will allow us to have a peace of mind."
"Dad, I really don't think I am able to handle more pokemons on my team." Vel sighed out. "I already have my hands full with my current team and I really don't know if I can give enough attention to all of them if I have more."
"Norman has way more than you and he is doing fine. I only had six pokemons on my team." Griff started to recount his earlier days as he held Vel in his arms. "I was stubborn back then, even more so than Vance is now. I wanted to have the strongest six pokemons and show the world that it is possible to be the strongest trainer with only the minimum of six pokemons. My team were crazy strong, but sometimes you need quantity more than you need quality. Drake had always told me that me being insistent on having only six pokemons will bite me in the ass someday but I didn't listen. He was right, it was a very bitter pill to swallow when I realised how right he was but the realisation came too late. If only I had more pokemons on my team, maybe some of them wouldn't have died since we would have more firepower. The only reason we were destroyed is because we were severely outnumbered, not because we were weak. Their deaths were partly my fault, Vel, because I was stubborn on not having more pokemons on my team even when I knew that ACE missions are dangerous. I had known that I needed more members on my team but I decided otherwise. My pokemons paid the price for my mistakes. I don't want the same thing to happen to you. I don't want you to go through what I did. Can you understand my reasoning here?"
Vel can only nod mutely.
"I myself will find a pokemon that is able to ferry you through the seas. If you want to follow your dream and help to save the world in your own way, then I will need you to have one such pokemon on your team."
"I already have Bigblue."
"Their species can swim, but they either stay in their swamps or they mostly stay near the coastal areas and rarely venture far out into the sea. Their species are not one that can swim for long distances that span across regions. That is why they are unique to Hoenn, because they are unable to travel to another region with their own power. If you do become a part of the international team that you are proposing to set up, then you will have to travel through the seas very often. We don't want to lose you to a shipwreck. If a shipwreck does happen, I want to ensure that you at least have one pokemon that is able to bring you to safety. You need a better suited water type that is built for travelling through the seas. It will take a while since the pokemon I have in mind is a little hard to acquire, but I expect it to arrive within a month or two at the maximum. If all goes well, maybe a week or two."
"…I can accept that."
"If you need help in finding pokemons that I just told you to find, then tell us. We will help. Selecting pokemons to be a part of your team is a sacred process, Vel, I don't want to just shove pokemons to you that you are uncomfortable in handling. However, like I just said, we are always here to help. Lastly…"
Griff gently put his hands on his daughter's shoulders and look at her in the eyes.
"Remember, we are family. If something is troubling you, tell us. I don't want a repeat of something like this again, you hear me? If something as big as this happens to you without our knowledge, I want you to tell us immediately. Many things could have been avoided if you have just told us from the get-go. Top-secret stuffs don't mean anything to us Veras, your Mum and I are already involved in many top-secret affairs due to the nature of our family's business, we just never got around to telling you and Vance. You can just share the League's secrets with us since we already knew most of them anyway. Thankfully, you are smart, and you not only found a way to keep even the President at bay, you found a way to potentially save the world from a disaster. But you are also extremely lucky, Vel. A favourable outcome like this might not happen the next time. I want you to tell us if something like that does happen again, ok? Promise me this."
"I'm… I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't want to worry everyone, I…"
"I know. I know." Griff calmed his daughter down as he hugged her close to him again. "Everyone makes mistakes, it is how we grow. Just remember to apologise to your Mum and Vance, alright? What they did may not be totally correct, but you are in the wrong as well with the way you handled things. You also need to apologise to them."
"I will. And Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. You are a cool Dad, you know that?"
Griff gave a smug grin. At least his daughter has better eyes than his son.
"Of course I am cool. Where else do you think you get your coolness from?"
My proposal was accepted. Wallace and Steven had succeeded.
The President had conveyed my plan to the various world's leaders and they are all agreeable to it. Wallace and the President are now trying to organise a face-to-face meeting with the world's leaders to discuss with them the details of my plan to prevent the prophecy from coming true. They are also going to use the opportunity to hash out the framework for the change that is to come. Steven had told me not to worry too much because my plan is the best plan anyone had come up with to date.
However, he had also told me that it might take a while for the international task force that I had planned in mind to be set up. The Thirteen Pillars of every region are busy people and they all have their own duties. He had told me that it might take months before things can be finalised even if the world's leaders are agreeable with my plan. That is also after factoring in all the logistic and administrative issues that we are able to foresee.
This leaves me with a few months to get the pokemons that Dad had asked me to add into my team and also to train them. Just what pokemon should I get that fits the bill?
I have a range of pokemons to select from the farm and I am planning to select at least another member to join my team from there. Roxanne had informed me that Brawly had a few fighting types available to be given away and had asked me if I am interested. I had replied that I am fine with it as long as firstly, that pokemon isn't a machamp since Toothless will roast any machamps on sight, and secondly, only if I feel that it is able to fit into my team. I will be going to Dewford the day after tomorrow to meet Brawly. Vance had offered a ride with his gallade's Teleport to save time.
On a side note, Vance is retiring from ACE. He will be out of there before the month is up.
This came as a shock to everyone, but Vance had explained that ACE had took up too much of his time and that he has too little time to spend with us and Flannery as a result. Someone has to takeover the family's business and Dad did initially groom Vance for that role. Dad had trained me as well, but I am usually too sick to properly help out during my childhood years and skipped out too many of these training sessions. When my health got better to the point that my family doesn't have to be constantly worried about my health, I had started on my journey. I didn't have as much training as Vance had and I wouldn't have time for any since I will be involved in international affairs soon.
Vance had said that he doesn't mind taking over the family's business. Despite his love for ACE, he had known from the start that it wouldn't be a permanent arrangement when he first joined. He had joined because of passion, but that passion is eating into too much of his free time and personal life. He needs a break from it like what Norman did. He had volunteered to be a part of the reserve force, a force that is made up of ex-ACE operatives who are also volunteers that will be called out of retirement to serve the League in the case of emergencies. It is a force that the League had tapped into during the Magma and Aqua crisis.
Personally, I think my outburst was the final push for Vance to decide to do what he did. I don't know the exact reason, but I have a nagging feeling that I am partly responsible for his actions and I don't know how to react to it.
I feel guilty, even if I don't know what I am feeling guilty for.
Currently, my team and I are touring the farm to see if there is any pokemon out here that we are all agreeable on to add into our team. They are all very excited, much to my surprise. Rena had reprimanded me once again that I shouldn't be worried about not being able to show them enough care and concern with more pokemons joining my team since that is the furthest thing from their minds now. My battle-hungry trio is especially eager since we all know that I will be choosing another member based on their combat abilities. They are volunteering to test out the abilities of whatever pokemon that caught my eye.
I had decided to first add a poison type to my team, considering how good my team is at using the move 'Toxic' and also how Jacky had nearly stopped me in my conference if it wasn't for Kel and Rena. I had called him to ask for any recommendations that he might have and told him the list of poison type pokemons that my farm has on hand right now that I am able to take. He had heavily recommended a species to me during our conversation after taking my body's condition into consideration. It is a species he used that had nearly crushed my entire team.
Our team walked into the area where our farm houses the nidoran species and their parents. This is where I had come to play with the nidorans many times when I was younger. The nidoqueens here had took a liking to me and the nidokings don't see an issue with me coming over. Their species has been here with my family since a few generations back and they are all very welcoming of us.
However, I have no time to train a nidoran from scratch considering that I only have a few months to get it up to par with the rest of my team. I already have my hands full with trying to train a baby pokemon like Joy. I need an evolved pokemon to relieve me of my workload.
We are on a time limit.
The Queen of the nest, a huge nidoqueen, mothered me the moment I entered. We are very familiar with each other since I had been visiting ever since I was young. I had also given Kratos an absolute order to not assert his dominance here. I don't need him to go around challenging every nidoking in this area and make my life even more difficult than it is right now.
I got straight to the point and told the Queen the reason for my visit. The Queen seemed surprised, but she did inform me through Rena that there is a nidoqueen here who is always restless and looks forward to travelling beyond the farm. That got my attention immediately.
And so, here we are, with said nidoqueen staring at us as we stared back at her while the rest of the nest look at us as if they are watching a movie. The Queen seems very amused at this turn of events.
Rena had volunteered to talk to the nidoqueen on my behalf and after a long conversation, she walked back to me to tell me the results.
'The caretaker had informed me that she is willing to take this chance to go and see the world. She has the same dream as us, Mistress. Personally, I like her. She can help me in keeping the brutes in line. However, she will only go with us if we can defeat her in battle. She wants proof of our strength.'
That is doable.
I turned around to face my team.
"So, who wants to-"
Toothless gave a deafening roar and immediately flew to land in between me and the nidoqueen. I can see Rena giving a roll of her eyes. Kratos and Snap look displeased at how Toothless managed to react faster than them, but they didn't do anything else.
Rena erected walls of Reflect and Light Screen as Lily rose the rocks to shield the onlookers from potential harm. The nidokings and nidoqueens all hid their young behind them, only allowing them to take a peek from where they are hiding behind their parents.
The nidoqueen that Toothless is facing shot poison barbs at him as Toothless burned it down with a Flamethrower. The nidoqueen followed up with a Body Slam but Toothless flew up to avoid any physical contact with her, knowing that the nidoqueen might have the Poison Point ability.
I watched silently from a distance away as I assessed the nidoqueen. For an untrained evolved pokemon, this nidoqueen is actually pretty skilled. She is still a little rough around the edges and her movepool is limited, but that is to be expected from an untrained pokemon. That can be rectified the moment me and my team provide her the proper guidance. The evolved form of the nidoran species are known to boast strong offensive and defensive capabilities while being extremely versatile with the range of moves they are able to learn and use. This is the reason why they are popular among Kanto trainers. However, the nidokings are known for their stronger offensive capabilities while nidoqueens possess a better defence than their male counterparts. Other than that, there isn't much of a difference between the different genders when it comes to combat.
This nidoqueen can fulfil the criteria that Dad had me agree with if I want to be a part of the international force.
It wasn't long before Toothless put the nidoqueen down with a Fire Blast. The nidoqueen had put up a nice fight, but she doesn't have the same experience as Toothless had. She will in time, if she truly wants to follow us on our journey.
I took out a bottle of potion and walked up to the fallen nidoqueen, who is now struggling to get up.
"The one that you just faced in battle is Toothless, one of the strongest members on my team. We had faced a nidoking in battle before and he had taken Toothless down. There is a chance that you can grow to be as strong as that nidoking too, if you want to travel with us."
I knelt down and sprayed the potion on the nidoqueen's wounds. I now have her full attention.
"My dream is to travel the world, although we are getting a little sidetracked since we are now officially involved in trying to save the world at the same time as well. For that end, I need stronger pokemons that can potentially grow strong enough to stand above others in battle since we may get ourselves in dangerous situations. I know you have a desire to both travel and to get stronger from what I was told. I can offer you both and I will do my best to try and take care of you as your trainer. This is the same promise that I had given to every member of my team when they joined me."
Toothless gave a grunt of agreement from where he is standing behind me. I took out an empty pokeball and held it in front of the nidoqueen.
"If you are agreeable, then you will be a part of our family. Our family will grow bigger and I am not totally sure if I can really take care of so many pokemons at the same time, but my team had faith that I can do it, so I will try. If you want to try travelling with us, we will be your new family. What do you say?"
The nidoqueen looked at the pokeball before staring back at me. After what seemed like a long while, she gave a nod of approval and poke at the release button with a single claw, allowing the pokeball to suck her in. This is the first pokemon that I had captured through a battle.
Nidoqueen is also the first comrade that I will be recruiting into my team in an effort to help me save the world. There will be more. At the very least, I will be getting myself a fighting type even if I have no idea what Brawly has in mind for me.
I will find out when I visit him.
'So who do you think we will be given away to? I hope that we can all get ourselves a good trainer like Brawly.'
'Brawly had said that he will be introducing us to an Elite level trainer today. However, she will only pick one of us and the rest of us will be given away to others.'
'Oooh, I wonder if that trainer will pick me?'
Pangoro sat in a silent corner as mienfoo, meditite, and tyrogue are discussing about what is going to happen today in another corner along with other fighting types that are lazing around in the huge room that they are in. They are all excited at the prospect of being able to meet another trainer. Brawly had high praises for this particular trainer and it only serves to raise their spirits more.
Well, not for him.
Brawly had always gave out fighting type pokemons to those who needs it, especially to novice trainers who are starting out on their journey. Pangoro himself had just recently evolved and he was too skilled as a pancham to be given to novice trainers, so he had been rotting here in this gym for Arceus-knows-how-many-moons already.
For some reason, nobody had chosen him to be their companion. Nobody said it, but he knew that it is largely because of the violent temperament of his species. Not just any trainer can handle him, they need to know what they are doing. He was abandoned when he was a pancham and then given to Brawly because his previous trainer does not have what it takes to handle him. He didn't blame his previous trainer; he knew that he was difficult to handle and that they just aren't suited for each other. His previous trainer just isn't ready yet to handle him. At least his previous trainer has the brains and also a sense of responsibility to find someone who knows what they are doing. In the end, his previous trainer found Brawly and handed him off to the gym leader, who will take care of him until a suitable trainer for him comes along. If pangoro had stayed with his previous trainer despite how ill-suited they are for each other, the outcome for the both of them might have ended in a disaster.
Brawly had also admitted that from what he knew about the preference of the Elite trainer that will be visiting today, it is likely that she will want to train a relatively untrained pokemon from scratch. All of her pokemons were trained from scratch and it is unlikely that she will be changing her mind when it comes to how she trains her pokemon.
That also means that he will continue to rot here in this gym. He can already feel the mold growing on him from how long he had been staying here. He is fine with Brawly since he is kind enough to take care of him while he waited for a trainer to take him in, but it is so boring here.
"Oh Steven! You are here as well?"
Pangoro turned his attention to the person that just entered the room. Brawly seems to know him. From the looks of it, this is not the trainer that they are expecting even if he looks like a skilled trainer.
"Haha, yeah. I heard from Vel's brother that they both will be coming to visit today. I have something to give her from both me and the President. She needs all the help that she can get. It is a token of appreciation from me as well."
"I heard her brother is strong."
"He is. We had a big argument and an even bigger fight when he found out how Vel was dragged into the League's affairs. We made up in the end, but he almost took out half of my team before that. The both of us weren't totally serious in our fight, but there's no mistaking that he is a very strong trainer."
"HALF of your team?"
"Yeah, that's how strong he is. He is Wallace's second-in-command in ACE although he is quitting soon. He is almost at the level of the Thirteen Pillars. Give it another year or two and he could be at the level of a gym leader."
Brawly whistled.
"I'm impressed. I thought that Vel is talented, but what you told me about her brother gave me a bigger surprise."
If even Brawly says that he is impressed, then whoever they are talking about must be impressive.
"So, the prophecy that Wallace told us about… is it true?"
"It is. We are all helping to stop it. Every member of the Thirteen Pillars across the regions are helping to stop it. Vel gave us the plan, we just have to implement it and hope that it works. It is the best plan that anyone had thought up so far."
"She had grown so much, eh?"
"She did."
Now that sounded like something that pangoro shouldn't know about if he wants to steer clear of troublesome issues. He will just erase it from his mind and pretend that he never heard anything. Prophecy? Really?
Stupid psychics and their vision. Thank Arceus that he isn't born as a psychic.
The door creaked open and two humans entered. A male and a female, although the female is obviously a lot younger than the male.
"Steven? Is that you?"
"It's me." The blue-haired man confirmed with a nod of his head at the female's question and waved a hello at the male trainer that entered. "Go and pick out your desired fighting type first, I can wait. I am not in a rush for time."
Brawly gave a big smile as he gestured to the large number of fighting types gathered in the room.
"Surprised at what you see?"
The female trainer with a rodent perched on her shoulder gave a nod.
"I wasn't expecting so many. I am a little spoiled for choice."
"By coincidence, most of them here are fairly untrained and new. I know you have a habit of training your pokemons up from scratch. I usually have a few other trained evolved fighting types to give to advanced or Elite trainers but the only one I have today is the pangoro sitting at the far end over there. He has been here for a long while and no one has chosen him yet."
"He is the only evolved pokemon here?"
"Yeah. No one has what it takes yet to get him to listen to them. Their species can get very violent if you don't earn their respect. They are largely physical fighters and excel in close-range combat. Not so much at long-range, but no pangoro worth their salt will get themselves involved in such a battle. They will somehow find a way to turn the long-range battle into a close-range one."
Damn right. He is a pangoro and no damn way will he get himself defeated because he got himself in a long-range combat. He will turn it into a close-range one no matter the method used.
"So, made a decision already?" The male that came in together with the female trainer asked her.
"Yup. Brawly, do you mind if I release my entire team?"
"Sure, go ahead."
The presence of the pokemons that the female trainer called out had grabbed the attention of every single fighting type in the room immediately. Pangoro can't help but give himself a mental slap.
He should know better than to judge someone by their appearance. This female trainer is a lot more skilled than she looks. The pokemons that follow her are strong.
'Oooooooh. Dewford! I haven't been here in a looooooong time! Hey, Bigblue, Flamel, remember the time that we were here?'
'Of course we do, Dolly. What did Vel call us out for?'
'Vel had decided on which fighting type she wants to try adding into our team!' The rodent squeaked from his trainer's shoulder. 'I still have no idea who she has in mind though.'
The trainer walked forward into the room as her pokemons parted the crowd for her. A big and bulky rock lizard snapped at any fighting types that got too close and none of them have the courage to stand up to such a powerful creature.
Even pangoro have no confidence that he can take the rock lizard down if it comes down to a fight between the two of them. He can feel it, the gap between him and the rock lizard is just that big right now.
This female trainer had definitely earned her title as an Elite trainer through her own strength.
The female trainer continues to walk forward. Every step she took gave him a little bit of hope, hope that he hadn't felt in a long while since he had given up on waiting for a trainer many moons ago.
She is walking up to him. She is ignoring the rest of the younger fighting types and is walking straight up to him.
It is like a dream come true, except that he is not dreaming right now.
"Vel, are you sure you want the pangoro? Not that I am doubting your decision, but their species is hard to handle. He is also a case of abandoned pokemon since his previous trainer was incapable of taming him and passed him off to me. Pokemons like these are usually harder to handle since you have to restore their trust in humans on top of training them." Brawly asked in concern from where he is.
"I have experience in handling pokemon like him." The female trainer named Vel said as she gently tapped her knuckle at the hide of the rock lizard beside her.
'Hah! Take that, Rocky! Even Vel said that you were being difficult when you were a larvitar!'
'Shut up, Fuzzy. Don't make me eat you.'
'Watch it, Rocky. I can still run circles around you and you know it. Do you want another beatdown from the awesome Fuzzy?'
"And if pangoro being an abandoned pokemon is what you are worried about, remember, Dolly was one too. Don't worry, I think I can handle him. Besides, I really don't have the time to train a new pokemon from scratch. Because of that, I am looking for strong evolved pokemon to add into my team. Pangoro here fits the bill." Vel added as a ghost materialised from her shadow.
'Yeah, that guy was a total jerk.' The ghost said as she nodded her head in agreement at her trainer's words. The ghost then turns to pangoro. 'You were abandoned like me? Don't worry, Vel here takes very good care of us.'
"Well, I have no complaints if you are so confident. You are strong, Vel. Go on, convince the pangoro to join you. He has been staying at my gym for too long, it is time for him to go out and see the world."
The rock lizard gave him a condescending look.
'Har? This guy?' The rock lizard then turns to his trainer. 'Vel, please reconsider your option. Remember the one we fought at Ever Grande? I knocked him out in a few hits. His kind ain't strong enough to bring a good fight. They are weak.'
Pangoro's eye twitched. He knows that he definitely isn't as skilled as this rock type, but he isn't weak.
"You know I can't understand what you are talking about, Kratos." The female trainer said as she put her hands on her hip and look up at her pokemon who is so much bigger than her (How did she even command the respect of such a powerful pokemon?). "But it seems that you have an issue with him. What is it?"
'Of course I have an issue! If even a trained member of their kind cannot even put up a good fight to take me down, why are we adding them into our team if the criteria we are using to look for our new teammates are strong pokemons? You really should consider someone else.'
That's it. No one insults him like that and get away with it. He may not be the strongest, but he does have his own pride as well.
Pangoro roared and punched the rock lizard with a Bullet Punch, sending him flying to the opposite end of the room from the unexpected blow. He wants a fight? A fight is what he will be getting. He had always preferred to talk with his fists anyway.
A plant-like pokemon had pulled the female trainer away to safety as the rest of her pokemons stood defensively in front of her. The female trainer seems unfazed at this development.
"Let them be, I don't know what Kratos just said, but he probably went too far. Let's see what Kratos and the pangoro will do for now. Rena, protect the onlookers with Reflect and Light Screen. Things will get destructive if Kratos is involved."
The rest of the fighting types in the room had also scattered upon the sudden attack. Brawly just looked upon the scene with a curious look but he didn't take any action. The other two humans in the room don't seem to be bothered by it as well.
'Oh ho, so you know how to throw a punch.'
The rock lizard named Kratos walked out of the smoke with a savage grin. Pangoro merely punched his fists together before dashing in to engage his new opponent in battle.
The lizard caught his punch and slashed at him with a Dragon Claw. Pangoro defended himself with his fists before throwing the lizard away with a Vital Throw. The lizard merely flipped in midair before landing safely back on the ground.
'Not too bad, but it is just that, not too bad. You are still not worthy of my time.'
'Kratos, just shut up and battle.' A fire horse chided. 'You weren't worthy of our time too back then.'
A round of laughter rose from the team of pokemons that the lizard is a part of.
'Kel, was Kratos that weak?'
'He was, Joy. He didn't even know what Double Team was. You should see his face when he saw Double Team for the first time.'
'How can anyone not know Double Team? Isn't that like a basic move?'
'Exactly.'
The rock lizard turned back to face his teammates with a scowl on his face.
'You stupid lowly peasants, don't make me eat you guys.'
'You can try, I will roast you alive.' A fire lizard shot back. 'Or I can drop you with Sky Drop again.'
Pangoro took this chance and hit the lizard upwards with a Sky Uppercut the moment it was distracted and leapt after his opponent. It is his fault for getting himself distracted.
'Hmm…taking any opportunity you see. Heh, I am starting to approve of you already as a fellow dark type.'
The lizard fought back with a Thunder Punch and the force of it threw pangoro down into the ground. Pangoro had never felt a Thunder Punch on that level before. It felt like he got hit by a combination of Focus Punch and Thunder.
This lizard is so damn strong.
The rock lizard looks like he is about to fire another attack and pangoro braced himself for a world of pain, but a command from its trainer stopped the lizard.
"Kratos, enough."
The lizard gave a lazy yawn as he landed back down onto the floor of the room, shaking it slightly from the impact of its own weight.
'Eh, I guess you are alright. That Sky Uppercut actually hurts.' The lizard commented as he rubbed his lower jaw with his claws where Pangoro had just punched earlier. 'Maybe you can really give me a much-needed fight in the future when you got yourself trained by Vel. She knows what she is doing when it comes to dark types and I need a fighting type on the team as a sparring partner to keep me in shape.'
Pangoro tried to stand back up as he panted for breath, only to fail and fall back on his back. What? That's it? One hit is all it took to defeat him? Is he that weak, or is the lizard just that strong?
The rock lizard turned around and lumbered back to his trainer. He stood beside her as he pointed a single claw at pangoro's downed form.
'Hey Vel, I changed my mind. Take him in, the fighting type there can actually put up a fight.'
'You uncouth brute, Mistress is our trainer. Don't be rude.'
'At least the fight that guy put up back there was a better fight that you put up when you first joined. You got toyed by Fuzzy.'
'Oooohhhhh. BURN! Anyone got a burn heal?'
'Hey! I'm awesome! Remember the Super Duper Omega Fuzzy Wuzzy Punch?'
'You want a fight, Toothless? Come on! You and me, right now!'
A bipedal blue reptile jumped up and knocked the fire and rock lizards on their head with her paws that sent them crashing onto the floor.
'Quiet, the both of you. Unless you want a dose of my poison?'
'Damn it, Ness. Not the head!'
'Then keep quiet. At least Snap learns quickly unlike you two. The both of you are really stupid.'
'I can't believe Vel got us another Rena. A Rena that isn't a psychic. Gosh, what is this world coming to? Any idea, Kratos?'
'An end. That's what it is coming to. Isn't that what Vel is trying to prevent?'
Pangoro stared at their interaction in a confused manner as he lay on the floor in exhaustion. Wasn't the rock lizard threatening to eat them up a moment ago? There's no doubt he is the strongest in the team and he is being made fun of by the entire team on top of getting himself manhandled by another reptile?
'Ignore them. This happens all the time.' A psychic feline walks up to him from where he lay on the ground. A white feline followed as a small pink pokemon jumped from its back and landed on his broad chest. The pink pokemon struggled to climb its way through his furry chest but eventually made its way to stand face-to-face with him by standing on his chin, finally enabling it to look at him at eye level.
'Hi! I am Joy!'
Pangoro stared at the little pink thing. This thing has to be a baby with how small it is. He has no idea on how to handle a baby.
'Uh… Hi.' Pangoro said lamely. 'I am pangoro.'
'Is that your name or the name for your kind?'
'The latter.'
'Latter? What does that mean?'
'He means the second mentioned, Joy.'
'Oh! A new word!'
'Yes, it is for you.' The white feline said patiently as Joy did a weird little dance on where she is standing on him. Pangoro doesn't even dare to sit upright now, this baby might break if it so much as fall from his body. It is just so small.
Pangoro turned his head around, only to be greeted by the emerald green eyes of the female trainer.
When had she snuck up to him without him realising it?!
"You know, that was a good fight that you put up earlier. Kratos is the strongest on the team and you actually made him feel pain with your punches alone. Not everyone can do that."
'Pangoro, just join! It will be fun! Vel is nice!'
Pangoro look back at Joy as she began to pull at his cheek in curiosity. Well, he will like a rematch with the rock lizard someday when he got stronger. Excluding the baby, every single pokemon on the trainer's team (Her name is Vel, right?) looks stronger than him, even the little rodent that just joined Joy in dancing on his chest. If she can make them this strong, what about him if he does join her? How strong can he get under her command?
'Hey.' He said in his gruff voice as he turned to the psychic feline. 'Is there like a… um… what do the humans call it? Application form? To join you guys? You guys do an interview or something?'
The psychic feline smirked.
'Welcome to the team, pangoro. I think we will get along just fine.'
I only wanted to get another two more pokemons into my team. I wasn't expecting to get another two more on top of the two I just got.
"So this was how the President found out about things he shouldn't know?"
"Caught us all by surprise too. We weren't expecting him to use a pokemon of all things to poke his nose everywhere."
According to Steven, the President, Steven, and Wallace had a 'heart-to-heart' talk on how they should cooperate with each other to protect Hoenn after they presented my idea to him. They decided to let bygones be bygones and try to learn how to work with each other for real this time. To show his sincerity, the President showed them the one and only pokemon that he secretly possessed. It was how he managed to find out about all the top-secret League stuffs that the Government shouldn't have any business knowing.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: Porygon-Z
Definitely caught us all by surprise there.
The President's porygon-Z floated a short distance in midair as it stared at me, like it is dissecting me with those yellow eyes of his. After the President found out that I don't have a normal type on my team, he decided that as a show of apology, support, and also his gratitude for me in helping Hoenn averting a potential war, the President had decided to ask Steven for a favour to help deliver his porygon-Z to me personally. The President also attached a letter to porygon-Z's pokeball, explaining the reason on why he is giving his pokemon to me. He stated that he hopes that porygon-Z's powers can keep me safe while I am helping the PWL as a member of the proposed international task force. He had also mentioned since now that both Hoenn Champions and him had come into an understanding, there is no need for porygon-Z to stay by his side any longer to spy on both of them and asked me to take good care of his pokemon. He has full trust in me that I will use porygon-Z's ability wisely and that having his pokemon join my team will be a great help to me when I enter the international task force later on.
The President is probably right at the last part. Porygon-Z's ability is truly one of a kind. The international task force may really need its unique ability to carry out their operations sometime in the future.
Porygons are a new species of pokemon that only appeared in recent years. Not just anyone can get their hands on them. It is a manmade pokemon that was created by scientists in an attempt to make a breakthrough in the area of space exploration. It doesn't even need to breathe and it has the ability to revert itself entirely back to program data, allowing it to freely enter and exit the cyberspace.
The President's porygon-Z had hacked into the League's database using its abilities to read any and all data in the cyberspace. That was how the President knew about things he shouldn't know. He could have also used his porygon-Z to tap into phone calls and surveillance cameras without anyone the wiser.
The realisation actually made me break out in cold sweat. The President sure is one crafty fellow.
The other pokemon I received was from Steven. He had realised that I don't have a steel type on my team and decided to give me one after Vance told him how worried he was for me.
I received a scizor from him.
I had wanted to refuse the offer but my attempt was quickly shot down by the combined efforts of Vance, Steven, and even Brawly. Vance was especially adamant on me taking the scizor as according to him, having more pokemons on my team as strong as the scizor species will increase my chances of survival if things really do go to shit when I am travelling around the world helping to put a stop to the prophecy.
The scizor accepted me rather quickly, which Steven explained that he had told the scizor that he will be giving him away to me before he came here. The scizor has a blank expression on his face and I really cannot tell what he is thinking, but at least he did not decide to cut me into pieces at first sight.
My team is enthusiastic at having more members joining them. Ness had fitted into the team within a day and it looks like pangoro will as well with how he is interacting with them right now at the side of the large room in Dewford gym. I'm not so sure with the remaining two pokemons. I will need to come up with proper names for them when we get back home later. I will also have to start our training proper and get the four new pokemons and Joy up to par as soon as possible. My role in the international task force may be a supportive one, but there's no harm in getting stronger. Things might really go haywire and I may need to help and provide some combat support too. Like Vance said, what we are doing is a lot like what Hoenn's ACE does.
A big change in our lives is coming soon. We will need to prepare for it.
AN: Actually, many of the pokemons here are not what I had in mind initially. Most of them are added when I am halfway into writing this chapter as I concurrently check on the kinds of pokemon Vel has not yet included into her team. These pokemons all possess typings that her team does not have yet. Nidoqueen was added because the only other good option for poison type is a roserade or a gengar imo, considering what I wrote about Vel's body and how hazardous poison types can be. I took out gengar since it will just be a Macky v2.0. I don't really like the roserade species in general so I took it out as well. Nidoqueens are versatile, so I decided to get Vel a nidoqueen.
As for pangoro, I had initially played around with the idea of Vel getting a Lucario or a mienshao. However, Lucario is really overused in the FF community. I really wanted to give Vel a mienshao, but after comparing it to a pangoro, I felt that it is more amusing to write a little girl like Vel commanding a hulking pangoro instead of a small mienshao. It just amuses me for some reason. The other reason is because a pangoro is what I wanted to give Vel initially many months ago, but I decided to put him aside in favour of Joy.
Porygon-Z is there because its existence has been my intended explanation all along on why the President knows about things that he shouldn't know. Vel lacks a normal type and among all the normal types I see, porygon-Z actually sounded like the best fit for her. So there it is.
As for scizor, it is there because Vel lacks a bug and steel type. I know some of you are looking forward to Vel having a scizor on the team too. I also think that scizor will make a good bodyguard for Vel considering how little weaknesses it has thanks to its dual typing. The only true weakness scizor has are fire type techniques, making it an extremely good battler as well.
As much as I like to keep the theme of this story to travelling in general, the reality of the situation that Vel has gotten herself into makes it necessary for her to have some really strong pokemon species in her team to help her in her endeavour. I don't want to give her overly strong pokemon to stay true to the theme of this story so there are some that I avoided, like Lucario and kommo-o, just to name a few. That leaves only a few pokemon left for me to choose and I have to consider the personality I want to give them that makes them unique, their species characteristics, and their fighting power. The four choices that I have made is a result of all these factors on top of many more reasons that I will not go into detail here.
Personally, I like the idea of having a porygon-Z since I don't think anyone has wrote about it before. I even have a really suitable nickname for it too. The only pokemon left now is the one Griff is going to give her. Honestly, it is not that hard to guess what that pokemon is. There is only one pokemon that fits the description of what Griff said.
But since I am feeling a little evil today, I decided to keep you guys in suspense about that mystery pokemon for now. Muahaha.
As usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Runner-up in the 528th Ever Grande Conference
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Cleffa (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (?), male
14) Porygon-Z (?), genderless
15) Scizor (?), male