“So can I use it?”“IIiii, don’t think so. I know they sometimes get destroyed if someone who hasn’t earned them tries?” Ash had lost his Z Crystal a few times in the anime… I’d have to call Hala and ask about that. But even so. “But I’d rather not risk it anyways. It was something bestowed on me, and I want to respect that.”“I understand.” He said but he wasn’t the calm older guy like usual. More like a teenager told he couldn’t play with the cool thing.
I smiled at him, and shrugged. “Maybe if you go to Alola they’ll let you try for one.”“Unlikely.” He said slumping and I nodded.
Yeeeah. It’s not like they wanted random people going to Alola just to get Z moves.
“It’s okay Lance. There is more than just this.” I slipped the Dragonium Z back into place, locking it in place, and looked at the Ice Rock. “We just discovered something unknown, and you just found out about something you didn’t know either. This world is vast, and there is always more to discover.”He nodded, smiling. “I feel many of those discoveries will come much quicker with your journey.”“Eh. Not just me. All of us.” I denied, thinking about Ash, he was definitely in the Orange Islands now, but was he still there? Was he in Johto now? I had no real way of knowing unless I ran into him.
“True. Perhaps someday all the secrets we keep so tightly will be released.”“It will. Secrets have a tendency of getting released eventually. Anyways. Pryce is sure taking his time. It’s cold.” I complained doing my best to stay away from the Ice Rock. I couldn’t just release Arcanine either. I didn’t want to accidently damage the thing.“Hmm. It’s not so bad.” He said fluffing his cape a bit and I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t wearing my cape. I hadn’t exactly planned on a journey into the depths of Mt. Silver. Jerk with his stupid super hero suit and cape that was definitely insulated for high atmosphere flight.
The jerk.
“Are we just going to move past that?” Lorelei asked, her voice a bit desperate and pleading at Lance. “These… Z Moves are completely overwhelming! If we had them it would change battling itself!”
“That’ll only happen with a good relationship with Alola.” I said, looking at her firmly. “Because otherwise you’ll be facing the Kahuna, who all have a full complement, all the Alolan trainers that also have Z moves, and of course the Tapu. Alola’s Four Legendaries that are very active, and don’t like people messing up their islands.”
“I didn’t mean we should invade the islands! But Lance, surely this isn’t something we can just… Pretend isn’t a thing! This changes everything! That move…”“Devestating Drake.” Lance said, and I noticed he’d paid particular attention to the name. “It was… Overwhelming.”“Z moves pull the energy from the underlying move.” I explained. “A Dragon Pulse and Dragon Claw would both create a Devastating Drake but the power would change depending on the move.”“That was stronger than a Hyper Beam!” Lorlei snapped, throwing her hands up.“Of course it was. Draco Meteor is only slightly weaker than Hyper Beam to begin with. Using it as a base for a Z move meant the move was far more powerful.”“So if you used it with a Hyper Beam it would be stronger?” Lorelei asked, and I shook my head.
“Well no, because that’s a Dragonium Z. I’d switch to Normalium Z for Hyper Beam. The only Normal type pokemon I have is Blissey, and I haven’t taught her Hyper Beam. She’s not really the best for Special Attack Moves. I could try it with Giga Impact…” I trailed off. Blissey wasn’t the norm for her species. Did she have 10 attack like normal? I kinda doubted it… Would her Breakneck Blitz be… Even more amazing?
I felt a smirk come to my face at the idea, but that was for later.
“It depends. Z moves are powerful but they’re still moves. Think of them like upgrading a base move into something more. So if a pokemon has a powerful move already, it’ll be even stronger. But if you use the Normalium Z with something like Tackle? Well you aren’t going to be hitting like a Hyper Beam.”
“I see. So it’s not as overpowering as it seems.”“Well it still is. There isn’t really any difference for someone using it on Hyper Beam, or Tackle. So obviously you’d use the more powerful move. It’s the flexibility that matters most. It doesn’t just boost offensive moves. Boosting or defbuff moves will also be changed. And there are Z Crystals for all Move types.” I explained ticking off my fingers as I went over what I knew.
“So you collected a Dragonium Z while in Alola.”“Yep! I even have a special one for Kommo-o, Jangmo-o’s Evolution.” I said smiling happily.
“Hm? Do they not use the same… Crystal?”“A Kommo-o can still use a Dragonium Z, but some pokemon have unique crystals as well! Kommonium Z lets a Kommo-o use Clangorous Soulblaze! It’s really strong, not just in offense, but it also buffs the Kommo-o. It’s the only unique Z Crystal I have.”
“I wonder if there is a Dragonite Z Crystal then?”“I don’t know. None that I heard when I was in Alola… That’d be cool.” Especially if I could Mega Evolve Dragonite too… Mega Dragonite WAS super duper fluffy. I could only imagine Lance's face if I showed up with a Mega Dragonite!
There was a sudden feeling, like a tone, in the air and I jerked up and suddenly Pryce was back, along with someone else I recognized.
“Professor Elm. Good to see you.” Lance greeted as the man wearing what looked like a rushed addition of cold weather gear shivered as he took in his location.
“Champion Lance, an honor to meet you again. When Gym Leader Pryce mentioned he had a discovery, I had to come.”“Well let’s get you up to speed.”“One moment.” Pryce grumbled, vanishing and then re-appearing a few more times bringing in more assistants, and equipment. Pryce was obviously annoyed at being stuck as the transport, but once they set up, the researchers started setting up a few devices. Including what I heard as they chattered, was a Teleport beacon.
Neat.
Once that was set up, more pokemon arrived and the quiet little cave was soon quite packed, but we didn’t leave.
The four of us were soon packed into a corner staying out of the way as the researchers and scientists went around taking scans, and looking things over.
And more importantly watching over everything to make sure no one got attacked by wild pokemon.
Pryce looked irritated, after being used as chauffeur for the whole thing, but he was the one that wanted to show off his teleport ability.
“So what was that before?” He asked, and I glanced away from where the scientists were pointing weird devices at the Ice Rock.
“What was what?”“Don’t play dumb.”“No idea.” I said, shrugging purposefully looking innocent, and I watched as his face shifted into a scowl.
“You’ll just allow her not to speak of it?”“We already had a long conversation about it actually.” Lorelei offered, and Pryce twitched glaring at all three of us as none of us seemed to care to fill Pryce in.
Heh.
That’s what he gets for being a jerk and teleporting away all the time!
Either way… Was this an Ice Rock? Something else?
I would just have to wait for the researchers and professors to test it out. Until then, I guess I was just on guard duty.
—--
The room shook and I looked up and sighed.
“Again?”“It seems they are not pleased with our presence.” Lance admitted. The noise of the researchers, and activity in general had caused more than a few pokemon in the area to get annoyed.
Noise echoed through these tunnels after all.
“I’ll go see what’s going on. You’d think the ice specialists would be able to handle it.”“No doubt they are handling it.” Lance offered, but didn’t move to stop me.
I headed back up the long tunnel and back into the Tyranitar room, which now had a barrier around the top. With a few lights set up.
Lorelei was standing at the top and I frowned at the light. “Is that wise? The lights are probably half the problem.”“They also indicate to pokemon what area is under human control. There will be some trouble at first until we mark the territory in the pokemons eyes.” She explained and I made a little sound of understanding as I looked around.
“Where’s the old man?”“He went to find out what angered the Tyranitar.”“The shaking was them?”“It was.”I shrugged, Lorelei didn’t seem concerned, and Pryce could handle himself. So I just waited up here instead of down with Lance. It was warmer up here anyways, not that anywhere in the cave was what I would call warm.
“Gonna need a million Hot Chocolates when I get home.”“Hmm, that sounds nice doesn’t it? The Islands are warm this time of year already, but Hot Chocolate…”“You’re from the Orange Islands.” I said remembering a bit of lore. Hadn’t they given her a weird name in the anime, instead of calling her Lorelei?
“That’s right? Indigo Native, more Kanto than Johto.”I shrugged. “It’s all the same.”“If only.” She said and I nodded, understanding what she meant. “I thought about visiting. I have a friend doing the challenge there now.”“Oh? Why didn’t you?”“Preparing for you mostly.” I said, and her glasses shined for a moment as she smirked.
“I see, that’s wise, but a gym challenge can be quite good for preparing yourself.”“Yeah that’s why I fought through all the Johto Gyms before the Conference.”“I heard about that. You made quite the wave… I suppose I should take your challenge seriously. Will you be coming for the fight soon?”“I don’t know. Before the conference for sure, but I’m preparing. I have a second team of Pokemon I’m training up.”“Well good luck to you, I look forward to it. I’ll have to come up with a way of defeating that Z Move of yours.”“Don’t rely on Protect. Z moves actually break through. You’ll block a good chunk of the hit, but you’ll still get hit.” I said, and she looked towards me at the reveal. “Is that so? You share that so openly?”“When I beat you. You’ll be at your best. You’ll be prepared, and you’ll know exactly what is happening. But still lose.”
My voice was the only sound in the cave for a while as she stared at me from my declaration before she started laughing.
“You would be a terror on the Ace Circuit. The scary part is, I think that’s actually possible for you. But don’t think the strength of your pokemon will be enough alone. I’ve already seen how you battle.”“Good. Beat me with something new so I can learn and grow even stronger. I’ll be furious if I sweep you all. I don’t exactly want to be the Champion after all.”“Heh. I’ll do just that. You’ll find your ascent stops with me.” She said just as confidently as I had been a moment before.
We grinned at each other, when finally Pryce returned, despite another rumble going through the cave.
“What was the problem?”“No problem. Tyranitar are in a…” He stops noticing me, and shakes it off. “In a conflict for territory. It seems the Queen has decided that our presence invading her space is not something she can deal with.”
“Ah, I hope everyone will be alright.”“They’ll be fine. This is common in high powered territories.” He waved me off and walked right past us without another word.
“Someones grumpy.”“Seems so. Now, I don’t suppose I could get a little time with that cutie of yours?”“Hm? Heh.” I released Vulpix who blinked looking around at the probably fairly familiar, in some ways, area as she looked around.
“Vul!” She ruffled up her fur but seemed quite pleased at the cold, taking a deep breath and releasing it as snowflakes.
“How cute. Hello.” Lorelei greeted kneeling down and soon Vulpix had an admirer, happily scratching at her chin and petting around her ears.
—--
Thankfully once the researchers got started, and confirmed something was up. Rangers showed up, to protect the area, and we could finally leave. We all got a teleport from a Ranger with a Kadabra, and we ended up back at the conference space.
“Ugh. I’m gonna go and get some food, and Hot chocolate, and then cuddle with my friends until I’m warm again.” I groaned, stretching up to the sky now that I could see it again.
“Indeed. Gible will be quite cross at the lack of training today.”“Oh, how’s he doing anyways?”“Quite good. He has made many rivals among the clans Dragons.”“That’s cute I wou-”“I believe that means are deal is complete.” Pryce interrupted, obviously not interested in listening to Lance and I talk about Dragons anymore.
I looked at him and nodded.
“I’ll get you an egg when there is one.”“Good.” He turned and once more released his Cloyster and then disappeared.
“What a nice guy.”
“He’s being surprisingly friendly today.” Lance admitted dryly, and I snorted.
“I’d hate to see him on a bad day then.”“You would. But that’s in the past. There is no need for Frostburn Pryce to make an appearance again.” Lance said, and I got the feeling the title was a bit more important than I understood.
“Well this was an interesting experience, not quite what I signed up for, but it certainly wasn’t boring.” Lorelei offered, as she gave Lance a firm nod, and then looked at me. “It seems I’ll need to collect a Battling Eevee soon.”“Glaceon are pretty cute.”She smirked, and then released a Cloyster. “Don’t tell Pryce.” She whispered cheekily, and then teleported away…
“Heh.” Lance chuffed realizing at the same I did that she’d purposefully kept quiet about her ability to teleport making Pryce do it.
“Serves him right. Well… I’ll smell you later Lance. Better train hard cause I’m coming for you!” I called out as I released Arcanine who instantly perked up realizing we weren’t at home, as I jumped on. “Home Arcanine!” I called out and disappeared in a flash laughing as she howled in excitement to be able to run.
—---
“So yeah, that’s all that happened.” I told Mama as I sipped hot chocolate. Marshmallows floating inside only made it all the better.
“Lulu.”“Well sorry you weren’t there.” I told Riolu who huffed. She’d also gotten hot chocolate and was sitting next to me on the couch, the two of us both covered in a blanket.
She hadn’t even been in a freezing cold cave all day!
But whatever.
“Well, I can’t sayI like the idea of giving that man an egg, but it’s your decision Vicky… And this Ice Rock. You really have a nose for this sort of thing don’t you?”“It just makes sense! Obviously it’s gotta be an Ice Rock!” I argued, and Mama gave me a look. The ‘You’re pulling weird shit out of your ass, but it works somehow.’ look.
I just smiled happily as she nodded.
“So we’ll start seeing Glaceon soon. Won’t that be something.”“The Eevee Market is going to explode.” I confirmed, and Mama hummed at that, then seemed to blink as she rose up and rushed to the phone…
Okay?
Either way I took another sip of coco, and sighed at the same moment Riolu did. Then we noticed each other and glared, but we didn’t fight, instead shifting to keep our chocolate close, enjoying the warmth and ignoring the other.
“Still don’t think we should give dogs chocolate.” I whispered. And Riolu yowled as she jerked her cup away from me.
“Vicky! Stop teasing Riolu!”
—--
“Let’s do it! Full power!” I roared out as I marched along, and my team all followed.
Well the baby team anyways. Elizabeth wasn’t out today, but just like me she did have different responsibilities sometimes. Couldn’t just train all day every day.
Blissey was overwatching us all, as we went on a forced march in circles around the pond that we had ended up making and my kids were all stumbling along.
Everyone was doing fairly well now.
Even Brave was woogling along the grass, still partially flattened, but she was moving much faster than she had been at the start.
Of course the poor kids didn’t realize Blissey was only using a little of her infinite Godly power on them at the moment.
Soon she’d ramp up the difficulty again.
Such was life facing a Goddess.
But despite the side issue with Pryce, training continued on, there was no stop on the road to the peak!
Actually.“Come on team! There is no stopping on the road to the peak!” I roared out. Heck yeah, that was a good line.
“Rioooo!”
It definitely seemed to energize Riolu which was good.
Jangmo-o stumbling after her. While Dratini was definitely his dragon rival, a bit of good friction had been building between Riolu and him. Both being Fighting Types, or future fighting types anyways.
Dratini slithered beside him, but he wasn’t interested in letting him race ahead.
Mimikyu, despite probably being the strongest of the babies, stayed in the middle of the pack. He never tried to push ahead, instead being around the others, but the gravity was still affecting him, so as long as he didn’t quit, I was willing to let it go. I flashed him a smile as I turned and watched.
And then Brave was in the rear, Gible of course was with Dragonite getting some training, but Brave was definitely the slowest of the baby team.
But she never gave up! She’d end up near the front eventually, just because she refused to give up.
“Come on Brave! You can do it! You’re the best! You never give up and push through it all! You’re the Bravest!” I roared out, and she woogled a bit and then pushed even more energy into her movement like breaking out into a sprint.
I turned. “Let’s all keep going! To the top! The strongest in the world! We can protect everyone! Go, everyone! And live the best life we can!” I shouted, cheering my friends on, when the light suddenly shifted. I blinked as I looked back, my stride stopping cold.
“GOooooooo!” Goomy was shouting, as she raced forward, actually rushing past Mimikyu, and then leaping her body glowing as she actually made it completely past Dratini!
She bounced, hitting the ground, and then leaping again, not stopping until even as Jangmo-o and Riolu’s stride was broken they turned to stare in surprise as she leapt right past both of them, her glow growing brighter and brighter!
“Goooooooo-SLIIIIIIG!” She cried out, as she exploded her body growing, her form shifting and turning as the power inside her reached out and took what was, and made it into what it was meant to be!
“Sliggooooooo!” She cried out as she practically fell forward, finally having reached the front of the pack, her body expanding and contracting not just from what just happened, but as she breathed deeply.
“Goomy… Sliggoo… Brave.” I whispered out shocked as everyone was staring in shock at what they were seeing.
I walked over and knelt down as she looked up, and I realized… Her eyes were blank, and yet… She didn’t seem to have any trouble looking at me.
“Brave… You did it. You evolved into Sliggoo!”
“Slig? Sliiig! Sliiggoooo!” She shouted, seemingly realizing it herself her shout caused tons of little cries to echo through the trees.
“Goom!?”“Goomy!?”“Goo! Goo!”Suddenly the Gravity disappeared, and I noticed why. Blissey had removed it as tons of Goomy started woogling across the field towards Brave.
“Goomy!”
I grinned as she was soon overwhelmed completely covered by her family as they greeted her in a great mass of hugs.
Yet, while I was grinning like a loon at Braves awkward affection, I noticed the others.
My dragon boys were looking at Brave, and for the first time, they didn’t just see a friend, but a real rival.
Jangmo-o was still, eyes locked on her, and Dratini was looking too, raised up and his fins spread.
I grinned even wider at that, the kick up their butts they might need, but this was Sliggoo’s time. It was her hard work that had earned her an evolution.