The Pokemon Master
The Pokemon Master
Wooooooo chapter 40!
Sashi: Congratulations! *hugs*
*Hugs back* thanks ^ ^
Sashi: Let's hope to make this the best chapter!
Well I'll certainly try...
Sashi: Yay ^ ^
Also, thank you all for all the reviews I've gotten... I was happy when I passed 100, but I never guessed I would ever pass 200!
Sashi: Whoa... Congratulations again! *hugs again*
Thanks ^ ^
"Thanks for all the hospitality, Nurse Joy..." Sashi said, taking a short bow.
"It was my pleasure..." Joy replied with a wide grin.
"I'm sure it was..." Sashi chuckled.
"Good luck on your journey..." Joy said before Sashi had turned around.
"Thanks, I'm sure I'll need it..."
With that, Sashi left the Pokemon Center, and was greeted by her friends who were waiting outside.
"Ready to get to the 7th Gym?" Eevy asked.
"Yes..." Sashi smiled.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Brian asked, and started walking, soon followed by the rest of the group.
It looked like another fine day as the sun was shining and a slight breeze blew through the sky while they passed through a forest.
"Mmmmmm... it's nice and cool in here..." Sashi said, slightly moaning.
"It's going to be a lot more cooler if you continue walking in that direction..." came a voice from somewhere close. Everybody stopped as they tried to find out who spoke and where the voice came from. After a few more seconds of looking around, they finally spotted a boy sitting on a branch, eyes closed, hands behind his head, leaning against the tree, as if being asleep.
"What did you say?" Sashi asked.
The boy opened his eyes, and looked down.
"You're a Trainer, right?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"All Trainer's are supposed to know that from on here the weather will change drastically... You'll encounter the coldest wind you've ever felt, the toughest blizzards you've ever seen..."
"Yes, we know that... It says so in this Pokemon gui-" Brian began.
"But you don't look prepared for any of it..." the boy interrupted.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at yourself..." the boy said, and everybody did so.
"Yeah? So?" Sashi replied.
"You'll freeze to death wearing that..." the boy said.
"Oh..."
"A good Trainer would have known that..." the boy then said.
"What?!" Sashi replied, a slight growl in her throat. "Are you saying I'm not a good Trainer?!"
"Your words..." the boy replied, grinning.
"Well why don't you come down here and I'll show you something I'm good at!" Sashi growled, folding her hands into fists.
"Alright, have it your way..." the boy replied, sat up, ready to jump down. He pushed himself forwards, trying to make his body fall down from the branch, but all of a sudden his pants got stuck to a twig, catching him - and everybody else - by surprise.
"Whoa!" he gasped, waving his arms wildly as he was hanging upside down. Everybody looked up confused as the boy tried to free himself for several seconds, before the branch finally snapped.
"Uh-oh!" the boy cried, as he fell down and hit the ground hard a second later.
"Owwwwwww, that's gotta hurt!" Brian said.
The boy pulled himself free from the branch, and then slowly got up, rubbing his head.
"Stupid stupid STUPID!" he mumbled silently to himself.
"You okay?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay..." the boy replied.
"Well in a second you WON'T be!" Sashi growled, ready to hit his face with her fist as she approached him.
"Whoa calm down!" Cath said, stepping between the two and holding Sashi back.
"Yeah... I'm not interested in a physical battle... I don't intend to hurt you..."
"Well I do!" Sashi replied.
"Calm down, Sashi..." Cath said.
Sashi kept on struggling for a few more seconds, before finally calming down slightly.
"Oh alright..." Sashi grumbled.
"Now," Cath said, turning her attention to the boy behind her, "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to pick a fight with her?"
"I didn't pick a fight... And my name is-"
"Leon!" came Eevy's voice, and everybody now turned their attention to her.
"Yeah... that..." Leon said.
You know this loser?" Sashi asked confused.
"Hey!"
"Well not personally... I once read an interview about him in a magazine... He's Lance's kid brother..."
"Lance?" Sashi asked confused.
"You mean 'Elite Four' Lance?!" Brian gasped, and Eevy nodded.
"Yes... that's my brother..." Leon nodded as well.
"The interview also said that he didn't have any friends... The reason why everyone was so nice to him was because of his well known brother..."
"Oh..." Sashi said.
"Yeah, I would be nice to the brother of someone as strong as Lance too..." Brian chuckled.
"Is he really that strong?" Kyra asked.
"The strongest of the Elite Four..." Brian nodded.
"You really don't have any true friends?" Sashi asked.
Leon shook his head once.
"That's so sad..." Sashi said. Now that she knew this, she couldn't blame him for the things he's said.
"Meh... I've learned to live with it..." Leon replied.
"How can you live without friendship?" Sashi asked.
"Just like any other human, only then without friends..."
"Then you should find some..." Sashi replied.
"Yeah right.. who'd want to be my friend?"
"I would..." Sashi said, and Leon looked up.
"Why?"
"To help you get started..." Sashi smiled.
Leon continued to look at Sashi, before he shook his head all of a sudden.
"I didn't come here to become friends with you!"
"Then why did you come here?" Sashi asked confused.
"To test you..."
"Test me?"
"I'm the younger brother of the strongest Elite Four... He tests Trainers if they're worthy to become the champion, so I should at least do something similar..." Leon said.
"Test me for what?"
"Knowledge of how to treat your Pokemon..." Leon replied.
"I know well enough how to treat my Pokemon!" Sashi said, slightly starting to feel angry again. Who was he to tell her she couldn't treat her Pokemon?
"We'll see about that..." Leon said, and looked down at Espeon. "Is this true? Does your Trainer treat you good enough? Do you feel happy alongside of her?" he asked her. Espeon wasn't sure what to do now. Should she talk? Would he understand her? That couldn't be true, right?
"Sashi, tell him I do..." Espeon said, and just as Sashi was about to repeat what her Pokemon had said, Leon spoke.
"What about the other Pokemon? Do they feel the same way?" Leon said, and both Sashi's and Espeon's jaw dropped.
"You... You can understand her?" Sashi asked.
"I can.."
"But.. how?!"
"I'll explain later..." Leon said, and turned his attention back to Espeon. "Well, do they?"
"Of course they do!" Espeon said. "Sashi is a wonderful Trainer, and I wouldn't want to be Trained by anyone else in the world!"
As soon as Espeon had said this, Leon smiled.
"I see... Well now that I know how strongly they trust you, let's see if they can use that strength in battle..." Leon said, and grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. "I choose you, Blaze!" Leon called, and threw the Pokeball into the air. It opened, and bright light came out, landing on the ground, forming into the shape of a Blaziken. He opened his eyes as soon as he realized he was called out, and held up his claws, flames bursting to life on each one.
"A Blaziken!" Sashi gasped.
"Yes... Let's see you defeat him!" Leon smiled.
"I will!" Sashi said, and grabbed a Pokeball off her belt. "Dragonair! Go!" Sashi called, and threw Dragonair's Pokeball up. It opened, and soon the snake-like Dragon type appeared.
"Mmmm... Good choice, since Fire or Fighting attacks won't hurt Dragon types that much..." Leon said.
"He's right!" Brian smiled, as did Sashi.
"Dragonair! Surf Attack!" she called, and Dragonair raised her head high, before pushing it down and opening her mouth, where water soon started to pour from.
"Dodge!" Leon calmly said, and Blaze jumped out of the way from the beam of water. "And use Sky uppercut!"
"Huh?" Sashi gasped as Blaze suddenly jumped forwards, holding his arm behind his back. "Dragonair! Dodge!" Sashi called, and by just an inch, Dragonair dodged Blaze's claw. Sashi sighed in relief, and then looked up at Leon. "Didn't you just say Fighting attacks didn't hurt Dragon types that much?" Sashi asked confused.
"I did..." Leon nodded.
"Then why did you-" Sashi began.
"Sky uppercut!" Leon suddenly interrupted.
"What?" Sashi said, as she turned her attention back to Blaze, who was punching his arm upwards as Dragonair was trying to avoid the attack. At the third try she failed.
"Dragonair!" Sashi gasped, as Dragonair flew through the air hard, before crashing into the ground. "No!"
"Let this be a lesson to you... Always keep your mind on the battle... don't let other things distract you..." Leon said.
Sashi ran over to where Dragonair had landed, and knelt down.
"You okay Dragonair?" she asked.
Dragonair raised her head, and nodded.
"I'm a little hurt from when I hit the ground, and a bit from the attack, but other than that, I'm fine..." she said.
"I'm glad to hear that..." Sashi smiled, and looked up again. "Thanks..."
"For what?" Leon replied.
"Helping me..."
"Think as you like..." Leon said, shaking his head slowly. "Blaze! Use Blaze Kick!" he added, as Blaze started running towards Sashi and Dragonair, before jumping up in the sky, and reaching out his paw, where flames had started to burn.
"Huh?" Sashi gasped as she realized where Blaze was and what he was doing.
"Sashi! Look out!" Eevy cried, and just as Blaze's paw was about to collide, Dragonair wrapped herself around Sashi, and pulled her out of the attack's way.
"What?!" Leon gasped, and even more when suddenly a powerful beam of water hit Blaze in the chest. Blaze cried out in pain as the attack was super effective on him. "How could you have countered that attack in such small time?" he asked.
"Anything is possible when danger approaches my friend!" Dragonair said, getting up, locking her eyes with Leon.
"Friend? Don't you mean 'Trainer'?" he asked.
"No..." Dragonair said, shaking her head slowly.
"I see..." Leon said, smiling. "Now let's continue!"
"Dragonair! Use Thunder Wave!" Sashi called, and Dragonair's horn began to spark with electricity.
"Don't let yourself get paralyzed! Dodge and use Blaze Kick again!" Leon called, as Dragonair shot out the electricity she was building at her horn. Unfortunately, it missed its target, as Blaze took a step sideways, before jumping into the sky again.
"Good..." Sashi smiled.
"'Good'?" Leon asked confused, as Blaze approached its target.
"Use Slam!" Sashi called, and when Blaze was in striking distance, Dragonair swiftly turned her body around, letting her tail fly. It hit Blaze in the head hard, and he was knocked down.
"Blaze!" Leon gasped.
"Now use Thunderbolt!" Sashi called, and again, Dragonair's horn began to spark with electricity, but this time it was much bigger, and much faster as well. Before Leon knew it, Blaze was hit by it, making him scream out in pain.
"Blaze!" Leon gasped as his Pokemon was electrocuted. After a few seconds Dragonair stopped her attack, and Blaze was released. He then laid there for a few seconds, not moving. "Blaze..." Leon said softly, and grabbed for his Pokeball.
"Is he okay?" Sashi asked.
"Why do you care?" Leon asked, curious.
"Well I'm just worried in case I hurt him too much..." Sashi replied.
Leon looked at Sashi, and then slowly smiled.
"Yeah, he's okay..." he then said, looking down at his Blaziken. "He just needs a long rest, that's all..." he added, and aimed Blaze's Pokeball at him. "Return!" And Blaze did. When Leon looked back at Sashi, he saw her kneeling down, slowly petting Dragonair's head.
"Good work Dragonair!" Sashi smiled.
"Thanks!" could Leon hear her say.
"You do realize that it's not over yet, right?" he said.
Sashi looked up, and nodded.
"Of course... So pick your next Pokemon.."
"Alright..." Leon said, and reached for his belt. When he had grabbed a Pokeball, he took it off, and threw it up in the sky. "Go, Shadow!" he called, and the ball opened. A few seconds later, a small Pokemon with a leaf sticking out of its head appeared, kneeled down on the ground. The Sneasel looked up with a grin on his face, and got on his feet.
"A Sneasel..." Sashi said. "You've given all your Pokemon nicknames, haven't you?"
"I have..." Leon nodded.
"Cool.." Sashi smiled.
"Shadow! Ice Beam attack!" Leon called without giving any warning, and soon Shadow was blowing an ice cold wind out of his mouth.
"Dragonair! Dodge!" Sashi called, and Dragonair did an attempt to duck out of the way from the sheer cold beam. She failed. Well, 'half'.. Dragonair's head was able to avoid the beam, but her tail wasn't. Her tail now frozen, Dragonair was haltered instantly by the piece of ice stuck at her body.
"No!" Sashi gasped.
"Good, now finish her!" Leon called. "Shadow Ball!"
Shadow suddenly held his claws together, and a dark ball of energy appeared. With no time to get up after falling down, Dragonair was hit full on by the attack, which caused a small explosion. A second later, Dragonair came flying out of the smoke, and landed head-on on the ground, her with ice covered tail next, smashing down, hereby breaking the ice.
"Dragonair..."
"Good work, Shadow..." Leon said, petting Shadow's head. Sashi ran over to Dragonair, and slowly knelt down.
"You tried your best... Return!" she said, and called the Dragon type back. She got up, and looked at Leon. "Nice moves..."
"Thanks..." Leon nodded.
"But I'm not done yet!" she added, and grabbed a second Pokeball. "Go, Ninetales!"
The Pokeball opened, and the evolution of Vulpix appeared, her red eyes focused on her opponent.
"So... Now you're trying to defeat me in type-advantage?" Leon smiled.
"Yeah, so?"
"Nothing... Let's see if your Ninetales has the power to defeat my Shadow!"
"I'm sure she has, considering she's a Fire type..." Sashi replied. "Use Flamethrower!" Sashi called, and Ninetales opened her mouth wide. A second later, a beam of fire appeared, and was shot at Shadow.
"Dodge!" Leon called, and just in time, Shadow jumped out of the way.
"Darn!" Sashi cursed.
"He may be in a disadvantage, but that doesn't mean he'll go down without a fight..." Leon smiled.
"I could have expected that..." Sashi said. "If long distance attacks won't do, then let's try others..." she thought. "Quick Attack!"
Ninetales then jumped forwards fast, gaining speed every second.
"Shadow! Ice beam attack!" Leon called, and Shadow shot a beam of fire at the approaching Ninetales. She just changed course to the right a little, dodging the attack. That's when Shadow shot several more beams, all too missing their target. Ninetales didn't. She collided with Shadow, her head buried in his stomach.
"Shadow!" Leon gasped, as Ninetales removed her head.
"Quick! Use Confuse Ray!" Sashi called, and Ninetales' eyes glowed bright, just like Shadow's a few seconds later.
"No!" Leon gasped. "Shadow! Hit that Ninetales with your Crush Claw!"
Shadow looked at Ninetales, as he raised his right claw.
"Look out, Ninetales!" Sashi called, and Ninetales took a few steps backwards, as Shadow slashed his claw down, but not anywhere close to Ninetales, even if she stayed where she was. He hit the ground hard, and created a small hole.
"Darn! It missed!" Leon cursed.
"Now use Will-O-Wisp!" Sashi called, and Ninetales' eyes glowed again as she raised her head.
"Uh-oh!" Leon said. "Dodge that, Shadow!" he called, but Shadow didn't listen. Ninetales then shot a ball of blue fire at Shadow, and successfully hit. Immediately Shadow's body got covered in flames, which occasionally took away a little of his energy.
"Shadow!" Leon gasped.
"And finish it off with a Flamethrower!" Sashi called. Now that Shadow was unable to tell up from down, a long distance attack should work. And it did. The flames hit Shadow full-on. He cried out in Pain, and when Ninetales stopped her attack, he fell down to the ground, not getting up after.
"Awwwww..." Leon sighed.
"Yeah!" Sashi cheered, punching an arm into the air.
"I should have known Shadow would lose against a Fire type, but you can't blame me for trying..."
"I know... He fought well..." Sashi nodded.
"He sure did..." he replied, and grabbed a Pokeball. "Shadow! Return!" he said, and Shadow did. He put his Pokeball back on his belt, and grabbed another. "Go, Zero!" Leon called, and threw the Pokeball into the air. It opened, and bright light came out, landing on the ground, forming into the shape of a Scyther. Zero opened his eyes, and got to his feet. That's when everybody noticed something different about Zero; he appeared to have the arms and the tail of a Sceptile.
"Your Scyther..." Sashi said.
"My best friend and the first Pokemon I ever had..." Leon said.
"He looks strong..." Sashi said.
"He is... I can feel it..." Espeon replied.
"Nevertheless, I have to at least try... Ninetales! You know what to do! Will-O-Wisp attack!" Sashi called, and Ninetales raised her head, before spewing out a blue ball of fire, which flew over to Zero. Leon smiled.
"Like that'll happen to us again... Zero! Dodge!" Leon called, and Zero swiftly jumped out of the way, the ball of fire disappearing into the woods around them. But while this happened, and while Zero was still in the air, Ninetales had moved, using a Quick Attack, and caught him in mid-air. This pushed all the air out of Zero.
"What?" Leon gasped, as Ninetales landed on the ground.
"All right!" Sashi cheered.
"You never gave the order for a Quick Attack..." Leon said.
"I know..." Ninetales answered for Sashi. "I just knew Sashi wanted me to do this..."
"I see the Pokemon know you well.." Leon said to Sashi.
"As do I know them.." Sashi smiled.
"Then continue!" Leon said.
"Right!" Sashi nodded.
The battle lasted for another 10 minutes, as Sashi and Leon seemed to be evenly matched. Sashi had almost managed to take out Zero, but Leon called him back just as Sashi called for an attack. It seemed he was wrong about the type disadvantage he mentioned earlier, and as Leon mentioned; him being wrong didn't happen a lot. But this didn't stop him; he called out Flare - a Typhlosion - who then beat Ninetales. After calling her back, she called out Gardevoir, to give her a chance to battle Flare, but he seemed too strong for her to handle. Or so everyone thought. As Flare was using an attack to finish Gardevoir off, she managed to use her Return Attack. This attack had powered up a bit since her battle with Timmy al those weeks ago, and it may not do that much damage, but because Ninetales had weakened Flare's energy, it was enough to take him down. That didn't mean Flare's attack was stopped. It hit Gardevoir just as she hit him, and both attacks took each other down. Sashi and Leon called bother their Pokemon back, and Sashi looked down at what she had left. It were Espeon and Yen, but since Yen's level wasn't high enough to battle tough Pokemon such as Leon's, Espeon was all she could use.
"Espeon's the only one I have left..." Sashi said.
"What about that fifth Pokeball?" Leon asked curiously.
"He isn't strong enough to battle against strong Pokemon yet..." Sashi answered.
"I see... And how strong is your Espeon?"
"She's the strongest I have..."
Leon nodded once.
"What say we both use our strongest Pokemon, and the one who takes the other out first is the winner?" Leon said.
"Huh? Why? Don't you have any more Pokemon?"
"I do..."
"Then why-" Sashi began.
"Because I feel like doing it..." Leon replied.
Sashi didn't reply. What was Leon doing? Was he trying to give Sashi a chance for victory? She decided to not ask any other questions, and to just take the opportunity while it presented itself.
"And who is your strongest Pokemon?" she asked.
"That would be Zero..."
"And you're planning on using him?" Sashi asked, and Leon nodded. "But that's not fair.. Zero's already been in a fight, and has been hurt by my Ninetales..."
"Don't worry... I'll just restore his health with a Full Restore, if you're willing to give me the chance to do that..."
"Of course I will... As much as I want to win, it's no use battling an opponent who is to weak to fight back..." Sashi said.
"Thanks..." Leon smiled, and grabbed Zero's Pokeball. "Help me out, one more time!" he called, and threw Zero's Pokeball into the air. And once again, Zero stood in front of Leon. His body was covered with scratches and bruises, a result of the battle against Ninetales. Leon then reached into his backpack, and took out the thing he needed. Leon sprayed the Full Restore over Zero's body, and soon all the scratches and bruises disappeared. Zero smiled as he felt his strength reappear, as Leon put the Full Restore back, and got up.
"Now are you ready to see who will be the winner?"
"I'm always ready!" Sashi smiled, and looked down. "Are you?" she said to Espeon.
"I'll give my best!" Espeon replied, and walked towards the Scyther on the battle field. He was smiling at her.
"Espeon! Quick Attack!" Sashi called, and Espeon jumped forwards with an amazing speed.
"Zero! Silver Wind!" Leon called, and Zero slowly flew up a little, his wings glowing a gray color while doing this. Just as Espeon got close enough to leap up, Zero slashed his wings, and silver colored winds were shot at Espeon. Unable to dodge the upcoming attack, Espeon was hit hard. It sent her flying through the air, as everyone gasped.
"Espeon!" Sashi and Umbreon gasped. Sashi ran forwards, and caught Espeon in mid air. "Are you okay?" Sashi asked. Espeon slowly opened her eyes, and smiled.
"Of course I am..."
"Are you still able to fight?"
"Of course I am..." she repeated.
"Okay," Sashi said, and slowly put Espeon down on the ground, "Then use Psychic!"
Espeon lowered her head a little, and suddenly, her eyes glowed a familiar color.
"Zero! Dodge that!" Leon called, but he couldn't. It seemed Espeon had used her Psychic attack to cover the whole area, so there was no place where he would be safe. But the attack didn't last long; the attack on Espeon had taken her energy down a lot, and using a powerful attack such as Psychic would take away even more. Espeon gasped as she felt pain, so she stopped the attack. Zero sighed in relief as he felt the energy around him disappear.
"Espeon!" Sashi gasped as she saw her break the attack in order to stay on her feet.
"I'm okay!" Espeon said.
"Okay..." Sashi said. "Then use Return!"
"Right!" Espeon smiled.
"Return?" Leon said, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I see... Zero! Dodge that!"
And as Espeon sped up, Zero took a step sideways, making Espeon run past him. That's when Espeon hit the breaks, and used a Quick Attack. But Zero dodged that one too.
"You think we'll fall for that trick again?" Leon grinned, but his grin faded when Espeon used a Psybeam from the red ruby on her forehead. "Zero-!" Leon began, but it happened too fast for him to tell Zero to dodge. Zero was hit in the head by the Psybeam, and was sent a few feet back, while Espeon landed on the ground.
"Good job, Espeon!" Sashi said with a smile, which faded a second later.
"Zero!" Leon called, and after he shook his head a couple of times, he looked back to his Trainer, and nodded slowly. Leon smiled. "You'll need more than that to take him down!"
"He's right..." Sashi thought. Espeon was breathing in air fast now. At this rate, it wouldn't take long before Zero would take her down. "Espeon..." Sashi said.
"What now? A Psybeam? Or maybe another Psychic?" Espeon asked, turning her head slightly.
"Neither..." Sashi replied softly.
Espeon looked back confused. "Quick Attack then?"
Sashi just shook her head.
"Return?"
Once again, Sashi shook her head.
"Sashi... I don't know anything else... Which attack do you want me to use?"
"None..." Sashi said, kneeling down next to her.
"What?" Leon asked confused, but Espeon even more.
"I don't want you to injure yourself unnecessarily..."
"Unnecessarily? That's not true! I'm fine!" Espeon said.
"For now... That Silver Wind took your energy down quite a bit, and I saw what happened during the Psychic attack.... At this rate you won't last..."
"I see..." Espeon replied.
"I'm sorry, Leon... I surrender..." Sashi said.
Instead of replying surprised, Leon just smiled.
"Don't be... A good Trainer knows when to quit, and that winning isn't everything..." he said, and reached for Zero's Pokeball. "Great work, Zero... Return!" he said, and Zero did. "That was quite a match..."
"You think so?" Sashi asked, getting up.
"Yeah... And I'm happy to inform you you passed the test..."
"But... I surrendered..." Sashi replied.
"This test wasn't about winning... remember I said I was testing you on how you were treating your Pokemon?" Leon said, and Sashi nodded. "Well, you've not only shown me that you care about your Pokemon, but also that they care about you... And that's something a good Trainer should have if they're planning on challenging my brother..."
Sashi smiled. "I see..."
"So congratulations..." Leon nodded.
"Thanks!"
"So I guess now's the time for me to start explaining about myself..." Leon said, sitting down on the cold grass.
"Okay..." Sashi said, as she and the others did the same.
"Okay... For most of my life, I've lived in the shadows of my brother, as he clearly outdid me in almost everything... Everyone seemed to like Lance more than me, just because he's the leader of the Elite Four... No one would ever call me by my real name... they called me things like 'Lance's kid brother', 'Lance Junior', or my all time favorite 'Miny Lance'... As I've said before, I don't have any real friends... the only friend I had was Zero, which who I used to play with in our backyard... I guess Zero and I were such good friends because he also didn't have any friends, because of the way he looks... From that point, I started to get used to my life the way it was, until one day when I was 8 years old, and ran away with Zero and his little sister Nova - who was still a Treecko back then - to seek training from the legendary Steven... By the time I was 12 my training was complete, and along with Zero and Nova I started my journey not only to become a Pokemon Master, but also to gain the respect of my brother... I failed at that, and the jealousy I felt towards my brother soon turned into anger, and in that anger I made a stupid mistake... I joined an evil organization called "Cipher". During that time I participated in a project called 'the Shadow Pokemon project', and I also volunteered to become part of it myself, to see what would happen if you put pure Shadow Crystals in humans... That changed me forever, and it not only gave me speed, agility, good reflexes and strength, but it also took over my mind and clouded my heart with darkness..." Leon said, and sighed softly. "I would have been lost, if it weren't for my brother, who battled me in the hope to bring me back from the darkness... The battle ended in a tie, but it was enough to do the job... I was back to normal... well, as normal as I could be with those crystals in my body... Removing them was impossible, because it turned out that if you remove the Shadow Crystals, the carrier would die... Now having the crystals in my body isn't that bad of a thing... like I said before, it gave me speed, agility and good reflexes, as well as the ability to understand Pokemon language, but the worse thing about these gifts is that it might take over my mind again if I use it without precaution... That's why I try to use it only on rare occasions...When I turned 18, I defeated the Elite Four, including my brother, got the three sets of badges and became the champion of the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Pokemon League... Some people say I'm a true Pokemon master, but others still call me Miny Lance... But I guess I'll always remain that..." he said with a chuckle.
The group was silent.
"So... that's my story..."
"I see..." Sashi said.
"Still want to be my friend, now that you know about my life?"
"Leon..." Sashi said, surprising him she called him that instead of the nicknames, "Look at me... You think my life is easy, living like this?"
"No, I guess not, but you haven't done any of the horrible things I did..."
"But that doesn't mean that I've done nothing but good things... As a matter of fact, we've all done something bad in our lives..." Sashi said, nodding at her friends. "For example, Eevy here attacked me once, but that was just because she thought I was a wild Pokemon..." Sashi chuckled. "And Brian here... I'm sure you've heard what happened with team Aqua?" Sashi asked, and Leon nodded, "Well in order for us to defeat Team Aqua, he had to kill his childhood friend, who was in our way... Cath used to be a member of Team Rocket, and Kyra of Team Magma..."
"I see..." Leon said this time.
"So don't think we'll hate you for what you've done or how you've acted... it's how you act now that matters..."
"Thanks..."
"So... now that I've passed the test... What should I do next?"
"Just continue your journey just like you did before... Just be sure to dress warm when you get to the next town..."
"Okay, we will... But... what about you?"
"Mmmm?"
"What will you do? Will you come with us?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline..."
"Why?"
"As much as I want to travel with the new friends I made, I kinda feel more comfortable when I'm alone..."
"I used to feel that same way, but that all changed when I started hanging out with Eevy..."
"Thanks, but no thanks..." Leon said. "I know you're just trying to help, but as I see it; just like you found your friends on your own, I think I should do the same..."
Sashi nodded once, and then smiled.
"I see... Well, I wish you good luck on whatever you will do..."
"I think I'm going to wait for the next challenger... Besides, then I'll finally be able to reach another one of my goals..."
"Which is that?"
"To have defeated a 1000 trainers..." Leon replied.
"A 1000?!" Sashi gasped.
"Yeah... Before our battle I had lost once, had a tie once - against my brother - and had defeated 998 Trainers... You were my 999th..."
"Wow..." Sashi chuckled, and then got up. "Well then I hope you win..."
"Thanks..." Leon smiled, and watched as the others also got up. "Perhaps until next time!" he said, waving his arm.
"Bye!"
And with that they left Leon, to continue their journey towards the 7th Gym...
To be continued...
*slowly shows his face* Is it safe to come out?
Sashi: Ehhh... Why wouldn't it be?
*points at readers*
Sashi: What about them?
Well this chapter took me the longest I've ever taken to write a chapter...
Sashi: And?
The readers might have gotten impatient...
Sashi: Nat, we all know you're having trouble with coming up with ideas... *turns to readers* Right? � �
Well, yeah... But still...
Sashi: Don't worry... if they try to do anything, I'll stop them ^ ^
*Smiles* thanks...
Sashi: Just be happy that you passed the 40 chapters again
Oh yeah! ^ ^
Wooooooo chapter 40!
Sashi: Congratulations! *hugs*
*Hugs back* thanks ^ ^
Sashi: Let's hope to make this the best chapter!
Well I'll certainly try...
Sashi: Yay ^ ^
Also, thank you all for all the reviews I've gotten... I was happy when I passed 100, but I never guessed I would ever pass 200!
Sashi: Whoa... Congratulations again! *hugs again*
Thanks ^ ^
"Thanks for all the hospitality, Nurse Joy..." Sashi said, taking a short bow.
"It was my pleasure..." Joy replied with a wide grin.
"I'm sure it was..." Sashi chuckled.
"Good luck on your journey..." Joy said before Sashi had turned around.
"Thanks, I'm sure I'll need it..."
With that, Sashi left the Pokemon Center, and was greeted by her friends who were waiting outside.
"Ready to get to the 7th Gym?" Eevy asked.
"Yes..." Sashi smiled.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Brian asked, and started walking, soon followed by the rest of the group.
It looked like another fine day as the sun was shining and a slight breeze blew through the sky while they passed through a forest.
"Mmmmmm... it's nice and cool in here..." Sashi said, slightly moaning.
"It's going to be a lot more cooler if you continue walking in that direction..." came a voice from somewhere close. Everybody stopped as they tried to find out who spoke and where the voice came from. After a few more seconds of looking around, they finally spotted a boy sitting on a branch, eyes closed, hands behind his head, leaning against the tree, as if being asleep.
"What did you say?" Sashi asked.
The boy opened his eyes, and looked down.
"You're a Trainer, right?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"All Trainer's are supposed to know that from on here the weather will change drastically... You'll encounter the coldest wind you've ever felt, the toughest blizzards you've ever seen..."
"Yes, we know that... It says so in this Pokemon gui-" Brian began.
"But you don't look prepared for any of it..." the boy interrupted.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at yourself..." the boy said, and everybody did so.
"Yeah? So?" Sashi replied.
"You'll freeze to death wearing that..." the boy said.
"Oh..."
"A good Trainer would have known that..." the boy then said.
"What?!" Sashi replied, a slight growl in her throat. "Are you saying I'm not a good Trainer?!"
"Your words..." the boy replied, grinning.
"Well why don't you come down here and I'll show you something I'm good at!" Sashi growled, folding her hands into fists.
"Alright, have it your way..." the boy replied, sat up, ready to jump down. He pushed himself forwards, trying to make his body fall down from the branch, but all of a sudden his pants got stuck to a twig, catching him - and everybody else - by surprise.
"Whoa!" he gasped, waving his arms wildly as he was hanging upside down. Everybody looked up confused as the boy tried to free himself for several seconds, before the branch finally snapped.
"Uh-oh!" the boy cried, as he fell down and hit the ground hard a second later.
"Owwwwwww, that's gotta hurt!" Brian said.
The boy pulled himself free from the branch, and then slowly got up, rubbing his head.
"Stupid stupid STUPID!" he mumbled silently to himself.
"You okay?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay..." the boy replied.
"Well in a second you WON'T be!" Sashi growled, ready to hit his face with her fist as she approached him.
"Whoa calm down!" Cath said, stepping between the two and holding Sashi back.
"Yeah... I'm not interested in a physical battle... I don't intend to hurt you..."
"Well I do!" Sashi replied.
"Calm down, Sashi..." Cath said.
Sashi kept on struggling for a few more seconds, before finally calming down slightly.
"Oh alright..." Sashi grumbled.
"Now," Cath said, turning her attention to the boy behind her, "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to pick a fight with her?"
"I didn't pick a fight... And my name is-"
"Leon!" came Eevy's voice, and everybody now turned their attention to her.
"Yeah... that..." Leon said.
You know this loser?" Sashi asked confused.
"Hey!"
"Well not personally... I once read an interview about him in a magazine... He's Lance's kid brother..."
"Lance?" Sashi asked confused.
"You mean 'Elite Four' Lance?!" Brian gasped, and Eevy nodded.
"Yes... that's my brother..." Leon nodded as well.
"The interview also said that he didn't have any friends... The reason why everyone was so nice to him was because of his well known brother..."
"Oh..." Sashi said.
"Yeah, I would be nice to the brother of someone as strong as Lance too..." Brian chuckled.
"Is he really that strong?" Kyra asked.
"The strongest of the Elite Four..." Brian nodded.
"You really don't have any true friends?" Sashi asked.
Leon shook his head once.
"That's so sad..." Sashi said. Now that she knew this, she couldn't blame him for the things he's said.
"Meh... I've learned to live with it..." Leon replied.
"How can you live without friendship?" Sashi asked.
"Just like any other human, only then without friends..."
"Then you should find some..." Sashi replied.
"Yeah right.. who'd want to be my friend?"
"I would..." Sashi said, and Leon looked up.
"Why?"
"To help you get started..." Sashi smiled.
Leon continued to look at Sashi, before he shook his head all of a sudden.
"I didn't come here to become friends with you!"
"Then why did you come here?" Sashi asked confused.
"To test you..."
"Test me?"
"I'm the younger brother of the strongest Elite Four... He tests Trainers if they're worthy to become the champion, so I should at least do something similar..." Leon said.
"Test me for what?"
"Knowledge of how to treat your Pokemon..." Leon replied.
"I know well enough how to treat my Pokemon!" Sashi said, slightly starting to feel angry again. Who was he to tell her she couldn't treat her Pokemon?
"We'll see about that..." Leon said, and looked down at Espeon. "Is this true? Does your Trainer treat you good enough? Do you feel happy alongside of her?" he asked her. Espeon wasn't sure what to do now. Should she talk? Would he understand her? That couldn't be true, right?
"Sashi, tell him I do..." Espeon said, and just as Sashi was about to repeat what her Pokemon had said, Leon spoke.
"What about the other Pokemon? Do they feel the same way?" Leon said, and both Sashi's and Espeon's jaw dropped.
"You... You can understand her?" Sashi asked.
"I can.."
"But.. how?!"
"I'll explain later..." Leon said, and turned his attention back to Espeon. "Well, do they?"
"Of course they do!" Espeon said. "Sashi is a wonderful Trainer, and I wouldn't want to be Trained by anyone else in the world!"
As soon as Espeon had said this, Leon smiled.
"I see... Well now that I know how strongly they trust you, let's see if they can use that strength in battle..." Leon said, and grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. "I choose you, Blaze!" Leon called, and threw the Pokeball into the air. It opened, and bright light came out, landing on the ground, forming into the shape of a Blaziken. He opened his eyes as soon as he realized he was called out, and held up his claws, flames bursting to life on each one.
"A Blaziken!" Sashi gasped.
"Yes... Let's see you defeat him!" Leon smiled.
"I will!" Sashi said, and grabbed a Pokeball off her belt. "Dragonair! Go!" Sashi called, and threw Dragonair's Pokeball up. It opened, and soon the snake-like Dragon type appeared.
"Mmmm... Good choice, since Fire or Fighting attacks won't hurt Dragon types that much..." Leon said.
"He's right!" Brian smiled, as did Sashi.
"Dragonair! Surf Attack!" she called, and Dragonair raised her head high, before pushing it down and opening her mouth, where water soon started to pour from.
"Dodge!" Leon calmly said, and Blaze jumped out of the way from the beam of water. "And use Sky uppercut!"
"Huh?" Sashi gasped as Blaze suddenly jumped forwards, holding his arm behind his back. "Dragonair! Dodge!" Sashi called, and by just an inch, Dragonair dodged Blaze's claw. Sashi sighed in relief, and then looked up at Leon. "Didn't you just say Fighting attacks didn't hurt Dragon types that much?" Sashi asked confused.
"I did..." Leon nodded.
"Then why did you-" Sashi began.
"Sky uppercut!" Leon suddenly interrupted.
"What?" Sashi said, as she turned her attention back to Blaze, who was punching his arm upwards as Dragonair was trying to avoid the attack. At the third try she failed.
"Dragonair!" Sashi gasped, as Dragonair flew through the air hard, before crashing into the ground. "No!"
"Let this be a lesson to you... Always keep your mind on the battle... don't let other things distract you..." Leon said.
Sashi ran over to where Dragonair had landed, and knelt down.
"You okay Dragonair?" she asked.
Dragonair raised her head, and nodded.
"I'm a little hurt from when I hit the ground, and a bit from the attack, but other than that, I'm fine..." she said.
"I'm glad to hear that..." Sashi smiled, and looked up again. "Thanks..."
"For what?" Leon replied.
"Helping me..."
"Think as you like..." Leon said, shaking his head slowly. "Blaze! Use Blaze Kick!" he added, as Blaze started running towards Sashi and Dragonair, before jumping up in the sky, and reaching out his paw, where flames had started to burn.
"Huh?" Sashi gasped as she realized where Blaze was and what he was doing.
"Sashi! Look out!" Eevy cried, and just as Blaze's paw was about to collide, Dragonair wrapped herself around Sashi, and pulled her out of the attack's way.
"What?!" Leon gasped, and even more when suddenly a powerful beam of water hit Blaze in the chest. Blaze cried out in pain as the attack was super effective on him. "How could you have countered that attack in such small time?" he asked.
"Anything is possible when danger approaches my friend!" Dragonair said, getting up, locking her eyes with Leon.
"Friend? Don't you mean 'Trainer'?" he asked.
"No..." Dragonair said, shaking her head slowly.
"I see..." Leon said, smiling. "Now let's continue!"
"Dragonair! Use Thunder Wave!" Sashi called, and Dragonair's horn began to spark with electricity.
"Don't let yourself get paralyzed! Dodge and use Blaze Kick again!" Leon called, as Dragonair shot out the electricity she was building at her horn. Unfortunately, it missed its target, as Blaze took a step sideways, before jumping into the sky again.
"Good..." Sashi smiled.
"'Good'?" Leon asked confused, as Blaze approached its target.
"Use Slam!" Sashi called, and when Blaze was in striking distance, Dragonair swiftly turned her body around, letting her tail fly. It hit Blaze in the head hard, and he was knocked down.
"Blaze!" Leon gasped.
"Now use Thunderbolt!" Sashi called, and again, Dragonair's horn began to spark with electricity, but this time it was much bigger, and much faster as well. Before Leon knew it, Blaze was hit by it, making him scream out in pain.
"Blaze!" Leon gasped as his Pokemon was electrocuted. After a few seconds Dragonair stopped her attack, and Blaze was released. He then laid there for a few seconds, not moving. "Blaze..." Leon said softly, and grabbed for his Pokeball.
"Is he okay?" Sashi asked.
"Why do you care?" Leon asked, curious.
"Well I'm just worried in case I hurt him too much..." Sashi replied.
Leon looked at Sashi, and then slowly smiled.
"Yeah, he's okay..." he then said, looking down at his Blaziken. "He just needs a long rest, that's all..." he added, and aimed Blaze's Pokeball at him. "Return!" And Blaze did. When Leon looked back at Sashi, he saw her kneeling down, slowly petting Dragonair's head.
"Good work Dragonair!" Sashi smiled.
"Thanks!" could Leon hear her say.
"You do realize that it's not over yet, right?" he said.
Sashi looked up, and nodded.
"Of course... So pick your next Pokemon.."
"Alright..." Leon said, and reached for his belt. When he had grabbed a Pokeball, he took it off, and threw it up in the sky. "Go, Shadow!" he called, and the ball opened. A few seconds later, a small Pokemon with a leaf sticking out of its head appeared, kneeled down on the ground. The Sneasel looked up with a grin on his face, and got on his feet.
"A Sneasel..." Sashi said. "You've given all your Pokemon nicknames, haven't you?"
"I have..." Leon nodded.
"Cool.." Sashi smiled.
"Shadow! Ice Beam attack!" Leon called without giving any warning, and soon Shadow was blowing an ice cold wind out of his mouth.
"Dragonair! Dodge!" Sashi called, and Dragonair did an attempt to duck out of the way from the sheer cold beam. She failed. Well, 'half'.. Dragonair's head was able to avoid the beam, but her tail wasn't. Her tail now frozen, Dragonair was haltered instantly by the piece of ice stuck at her body.
"No!" Sashi gasped.
"Good, now finish her!" Leon called. "Shadow Ball!"
Shadow suddenly held his claws together, and a dark ball of energy appeared. With no time to get up after falling down, Dragonair was hit full on by the attack, which caused a small explosion. A second later, Dragonair came flying out of the smoke, and landed head-on on the ground, her with ice covered tail next, smashing down, hereby breaking the ice.
"Dragonair..."
"Good work, Shadow..." Leon said, petting Shadow's head. Sashi ran over to Dragonair, and slowly knelt down.
"You tried your best... Return!" she said, and called the Dragon type back. She got up, and looked at Leon. "Nice moves..."
"Thanks..." Leon nodded.
"But I'm not done yet!" she added, and grabbed a second Pokeball. "Go, Ninetales!"
The Pokeball opened, and the evolution of Vulpix appeared, her red eyes focused on her opponent.
"So... Now you're trying to defeat me in type-advantage?" Leon smiled.
"Yeah, so?"
"Nothing... Let's see if your Ninetales has the power to defeat my Shadow!"
"I'm sure she has, considering she's a Fire type..." Sashi replied. "Use Flamethrower!" Sashi called, and Ninetales opened her mouth wide. A second later, a beam of fire appeared, and was shot at Shadow.
"Dodge!" Leon called, and just in time, Shadow jumped out of the way.
"Darn!" Sashi cursed.
"He may be in a disadvantage, but that doesn't mean he'll go down without a fight..." Leon smiled.
"I could have expected that..." Sashi said. "If long distance attacks won't do, then let's try others..." she thought. "Quick Attack!"
Ninetales then jumped forwards fast, gaining speed every second.
"Shadow! Ice beam attack!" Leon called, and Shadow shot a beam of fire at the approaching Ninetales. She just changed course to the right a little, dodging the attack. That's when Shadow shot several more beams, all too missing their target. Ninetales didn't. She collided with Shadow, her head buried in his stomach.
"Shadow!" Leon gasped, as Ninetales removed her head.
"Quick! Use Confuse Ray!" Sashi called, and Ninetales' eyes glowed bright, just like Shadow's a few seconds later.
"No!" Leon gasped. "Shadow! Hit that Ninetales with your Crush Claw!"
Shadow looked at Ninetales, as he raised his right claw.
"Look out, Ninetales!" Sashi called, and Ninetales took a few steps backwards, as Shadow slashed his claw down, but not anywhere close to Ninetales, even if she stayed where she was. He hit the ground hard, and created a small hole.
"Darn! It missed!" Leon cursed.
"Now use Will-O-Wisp!" Sashi called, and Ninetales' eyes glowed again as she raised her head.
"Uh-oh!" Leon said. "Dodge that, Shadow!" he called, but Shadow didn't listen. Ninetales then shot a ball of blue fire at Shadow, and successfully hit. Immediately Shadow's body got covered in flames, which occasionally took away a little of his energy.
"Shadow!" Leon gasped.
"And finish it off with a Flamethrower!" Sashi called. Now that Shadow was unable to tell up from down, a long distance attack should work. And it did. The flames hit Shadow full-on. He cried out in Pain, and when Ninetales stopped her attack, he fell down to the ground, not getting up after.
"Awwwww..." Leon sighed.
"Yeah!" Sashi cheered, punching an arm into the air.
"I should have known Shadow would lose against a Fire type, but you can't blame me for trying..."
"I know... He fought well..." Sashi nodded.
"He sure did..." he replied, and grabbed a Pokeball. "Shadow! Return!" he said, and Shadow did. He put his Pokeball back on his belt, and grabbed another. "Go, Zero!" Leon called, and threw the Pokeball into the air. It opened, and bright light came out, landing on the ground, forming into the shape of a Scyther. Zero opened his eyes, and got to his feet. That's when everybody noticed something different about Zero; he appeared to have the arms and the tail of a Sceptile.
"Your Scyther..." Sashi said.
"My best friend and the first Pokemon I ever had..." Leon said.
"He looks strong..." Sashi said.
"He is... I can feel it..." Espeon replied.
"Nevertheless, I have to at least try... Ninetales! You know what to do! Will-O-Wisp attack!" Sashi called, and Ninetales raised her head, before spewing out a blue ball of fire, which flew over to Zero. Leon smiled.
"Like that'll happen to us again... Zero! Dodge!" Leon called, and Zero swiftly jumped out of the way, the ball of fire disappearing into the woods around them. But while this happened, and while Zero was still in the air, Ninetales had moved, using a Quick Attack, and caught him in mid-air. This pushed all the air out of Zero.
"What?" Leon gasped, as Ninetales landed on the ground.
"All right!" Sashi cheered.
"You never gave the order for a Quick Attack..." Leon said.
"I know..." Ninetales answered for Sashi. "I just knew Sashi wanted me to do this..."
"I see the Pokemon know you well.." Leon said to Sashi.
"As do I know them.." Sashi smiled.
"Then continue!" Leon said.
"Right!" Sashi nodded.
The battle lasted for another 10 minutes, as Sashi and Leon seemed to be evenly matched. Sashi had almost managed to take out Zero, but Leon called him back just as Sashi called for an attack. It seemed he was wrong about the type disadvantage he mentioned earlier, and as Leon mentioned; him being wrong didn't happen a lot. But this didn't stop him; he called out Flare - a Typhlosion - who then beat Ninetales. After calling her back, she called out Gardevoir, to give her a chance to battle Flare, but he seemed too strong for her to handle. Or so everyone thought. As Flare was using an attack to finish Gardevoir off, she managed to use her Return Attack. This attack had powered up a bit since her battle with Timmy al those weeks ago, and it may not do that much damage, but because Ninetales had weakened Flare's energy, it was enough to take him down. That didn't mean Flare's attack was stopped. It hit Gardevoir just as she hit him, and both attacks took each other down. Sashi and Leon called bother their Pokemon back, and Sashi looked down at what she had left. It were Espeon and Yen, but since Yen's level wasn't high enough to battle tough Pokemon such as Leon's, Espeon was all she could use.
"Espeon's the only one I have left..." Sashi said.
"What about that fifth Pokeball?" Leon asked curiously.
"He isn't strong enough to battle against strong Pokemon yet..." Sashi answered.
"I see... And how strong is your Espeon?"
"She's the strongest I have..."
Leon nodded once.
"What say we both use our strongest Pokemon, and the one who takes the other out first is the winner?" Leon said.
"Huh? Why? Don't you have any more Pokemon?"
"I do..."
"Then why-" Sashi began.
"Because I feel like doing it..." Leon replied.
Sashi didn't reply. What was Leon doing? Was he trying to give Sashi a chance for victory? She decided to not ask any other questions, and to just take the opportunity while it presented itself.
"And who is your strongest Pokemon?" she asked.
"That would be Zero..."
"And you're planning on using him?" Sashi asked, and Leon nodded. "But that's not fair.. Zero's already been in a fight, and has been hurt by my Ninetales..."
"Don't worry... I'll just restore his health with a Full Restore, if you're willing to give me the chance to do that..."
"Of course I will... As much as I want to win, it's no use battling an opponent who is to weak to fight back..." Sashi said.
"Thanks..." Leon smiled, and grabbed Zero's Pokeball. "Help me out, one more time!" he called, and threw Zero's Pokeball into the air. And once again, Zero stood in front of Leon. His body was covered with scratches and bruises, a result of the battle against Ninetales. Leon then reached into his backpack, and took out the thing he needed. Leon sprayed the Full Restore over Zero's body, and soon all the scratches and bruises disappeared. Zero smiled as he felt his strength reappear, as Leon put the Full Restore back, and got up.
"Now are you ready to see who will be the winner?"
"I'm always ready!" Sashi smiled, and looked down. "Are you?" she said to Espeon.
"I'll give my best!" Espeon replied, and walked towards the Scyther on the battle field. He was smiling at her.
"Espeon! Quick Attack!" Sashi called, and Espeon jumped forwards with an amazing speed.
"Zero! Silver Wind!" Leon called, and Zero slowly flew up a little, his wings glowing a gray color while doing this. Just as Espeon got close enough to leap up, Zero slashed his wings, and silver colored winds were shot at Espeon. Unable to dodge the upcoming attack, Espeon was hit hard. It sent her flying through the air, as everyone gasped.
"Espeon!" Sashi and Umbreon gasped. Sashi ran forwards, and caught Espeon in mid air. "Are you okay?" Sashi asked. Espeon slowly opened her eyes, and smiled.
"Of course I am..."
"Are you still able to fight?"
"Of course I am..." she repeated.
"Okay," Sashi said, and slowly put Espeon down on the ground, "Then use Psychic!"
Espeon lowered her head a little, and suddenly, her eyes glowed a familiar color.
"Zero! Dodge that!" Leon called, but he couldn't. It seemed Espeon had used her Psychic attack to cover the whole area, so there was no place where he would be safe. But the attack didn't last long; the attack on Espeon had taken her energy down a lot, and using a powerful attack such as Psychic would take away even more. Espeon gasped as she felt pain, so she stopped the attack. Zero sighed in relief as he felt the energy around him disappear.
"Espeon!" Sashi gasped as she saw her break the attack in order to stay on her feet.
"I'm okay!" Espeon said.
"Okay..." Sashi said. "Then use Return!"
"Right!" Espeon smiled.
"Return?" Leon said, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I see... Zero! Dodge that!"
And as Espeon sped up, Zero took a step sideways, making Espeon run past him. That's when Espeon hit the breaks, and used a Quick Attack. But Zero dodged that one too.
"You think we'll fall for that trick again?" Leon grinned, but his grin faded when Espeon used a Psybeam from the red ruby on her forehead. "Zero-!" Leon began, but it happened too fast for him to tell Zero to dodge. Zero was hit in the head by the Psybeam, and was sent a few feet back, while Espeon landed on the ground.
"Good job, Espeon!" Sashi said with a smile, which faded a second later.
"Zero!" Leon called, and after he shook his head a couple of times, he looked back to his Trainer, and nodded slowly. Leon smiled. "You'll need more than that to take him down!"
"He's right..." Sashi thought. Espeon was breathing in air fast now. At this rate, it wouldn't take long before Zero would take her down. "Espeon..." Sashi said.
"What now? A Psybeam? Or maybe another Psychic?" Espeon asked, turning her head slightly.
"Neither..." Sashi replied softly.
Espeon looked back confused. "Quick Attack then?"
Sashi just shook her head.
"Return?"
Once again, Sashi shook her head.
"Sashi... I don't know anything else... Which attack do you want me to use?"
"None..." Sashi said, kneeling down next to her.
"What?" Leon asked confused, but Espeon even more.
"I don't want you to injure yourself unnecessarily..."
"Unnecessarily? That's not true! I'm fine!" Espeon said.
"For now... That Silver Wind took your energy down quite a bit, and I saw what happened during the Psychic attack.... At this rate you won't last..."
"I see..." Espeon replied.
"I'm sorry, Leon... I surrender..." Sashi said.
Instead of replying surprised, Leon just smiled.
"Don't be... A good Trainer knows when to quit, and that winning isn't everything..." he said, and reached for Zero's Pokeball. "Great work, Zero... Return!" he said, and Zero did. "That was quite a match..."
"You think so?" Sashi asked, getting up.
"Yeah... And I'm happy to inform you you passed the test..."
"But... I surrendered..." Sashi replied.
"This test wasn't about winning... remember I said I was testing you on how you were treating your Pokemon?" Leon said, and Sashi nodded. "Well, you've not only shown me that you care about your Pokemon, but also that they care about you... And that's something a good Trainer should have if they're planning on challenging my brother..."
Sashi smiled. "I see..."
"So congratulations..." Leon nodded.
"Thanks!"
"So I guess now's the time for me to start explaining about myself..." Leon said, sitting down on the cold grass.
"Okay..." Sashi said, as she and the others did the same.
"Okay... For most of my life, I've lived in the shadows of my brother, as he clearly outdid me in almost everything... Everyone seemed to like Lance more than me, just because he's the leader of the Elite Four... No one would ever call me by my real name... they called me things like 'Lance's kid brother', 'Lance Junior', or my all time favorite 'Miny Lance'... As I've said before, I don't have any real friends... the only friend I had was Zero, which who I used to play with in our backyard... I guess Zero and I were such good friends because he also didn't have any friends, because of the way he looks... From that point, I started to get used to my life the way it was, until one day when I was 8 years old, and ran away with Zero and his little sister Nova - who was still a Treecko back then - to seek training from the legendary Steven... By the time I was 12 my training was complete, and along with Zero and Nova I started my journey not only to become a Pokemon Master, but also to gain the respect of my brother... I failed at that, and the jealousy I felt towards my brother soon turned into anger, and in that anger I made a stupid mistake... I joined an evil organization called "Cipher". During that time I participated in a project called 'the Shadow Pokemon project', and I also volunteered to become part of it myself, to see what would happen if you put pure Shadow Crystals in humans... That changed me forever, and it not only gave me speed, agility, good reflexes and strength, but it also took over my mind and clouded my heart with darkness..." Leon said, and sighed softly. "I would have been lost, if it weren't for my brother, who battled me in the hope to bring me back from the darkness... The battle ended in a tie, but it was enough to do the job... I was back to normal... well, as normal as I could be with those crystals in my body... Removing them was impossible, because it turned out that if you remove the Shadow Crystals, the carrier would die... Now having the crystals in my body isn't that bad of a thing... like I said before, it gave me speed, agility and good reflexes, as well as the ability to understand Pokemon language, but the worse thing about these gifts is that it might take over my mind again if I use it without precaution... That's why I try to use it only on rare occasions...When I turned 18, I defeated the Elite Four, including my brother, got the three sets of badges and became the champion of the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Pokemon League... Some people say I'm a true Pokemon master, but others still call me Miny Lance... But I guess I'll always remain that..." he said with a chuckle.
The group was silent.
"So... that's my story..."
"I see..." Sashi said.
"Still want to be my friend, now that you know about my life?"
"Leon..." Sashi said, surprising him she called him that instead of the nicknames, "Look at me... You think my life is easy, living like this?"
"No, I guess not, but you haven't done any of the horrible things I did..."
"But that doesn't mean that I've done nothing but good things... As a matter of fact, we've all done something bad in our lives..." Sashi said, nodding at her friends. "For example, Eevy here attacked me once, but that was just because she thought I was a wild Pokemon..." Sashi chuckled. "And Brian here... I'm sure you've heard what happened with team Aqua?" Sashi asked, and Leon nodded, "Well in order for us to defeat Team Aqua, he had to kill his childhood friend, who was in our way... Cath used to be a member of Team Rocket, and Kyra of Team Magma..."
"I see..." Leon said this time.
"So don't think we'll hate you for what you've done or how you've acted... it's how you act now that matters..."
"Thanks..."
"So... now that I've passed the test... What should I do next?"
"Just continue your journey just like you did before... Just be sure to dress warm when you get to the next town..."
"Okay, we will... But... what about you?"
"Mmmm?"
"What will you do? Will you come with us?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline..."
"Why?"
"As much as I want to travel with the new friends I made, I kinda feel more comfortable when I'm alone..."
"I used to feel that same way, but that all changed when I started hanging out with Eevy..."
"Thanks, but no thanks..." Leon said. "I know you're just trying to help, but as I see it; just like you found your friends on your own, I think I should do the same..."
Sashi nodded once, and then smiled.
"I see... Well, I wish you good luck on whatever you will do..."
"I think I'm going to wait for the next challenger... Besides, then I'll finally be able to reach another one of my goals..."
"Which is that?"
"To have defeated a 1000 trainers..." Leon replied.
"A 1000?!" Sashi gasped.
"Yeah... Before our battle I had lost once, had a tie once - against my brother - and had defeated 998 Trainers... You were my 999th..."
"Wow..." Sashi chuckled, and then got up. "Well then I hope you win..."
"Thanks..." Leon smiled, and watched as the others also got up. "Perhaps until next time!" he said, waving his arm.
"Bye!"
And with that they left Leon, to continue their journey towards the 7th Gym...
To be continued...
*slowly shows his face* Is it safe to come out?
Sashi: Ehhh... Why wouldn't it be?
*points at readers*
Sashi: What about them?
Well this chapter took me the longest I've ever taken to write a chapter...
Sashi: And?
The readers might have gotten impatient...
Sashi: Nat, we all know you're having trouble with coming up with ideas... *turns to readers* Right? � �
Well, yeah... But still...
Sashi: Don't worry... if they try to do anything, I'll stop them ^ ^
*Smiles* thanks...
Sashi: Just be happy that you passed the 40 chapters again
Oh yeah! ^ ^