Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
Stratos
Kazamaru wakes up the next day a little into the afternoon and finds everyone on the front deck in and around the pool. Drifblim is floating around above everyone, Roze is sunbathing while Ren sleeps next to her on the deck; Swampert is waiting by the pool as if she's waiting for something to happen to it, Drake and Vecransyh are in the pool having a splash fight along with Gengar, Xylina, Vecransyh's newly evolved Banette and Dusclopse. Rotom has possessed the radio on the deck and is playing random songs and Latias is also sunbathing in a red bikini with what looks like a large black smudge on her stomach from a distance. Kaza decides to walk over to Latias,
"What's that black thing?" Latias shields her eyes from the sun with her arm and looks up at him. She sits up and slides her hands under Stratos' and lifts him up to look at Kazamaru,
"The egg hatched last night, this is Stratos." Kaza tilts his head,
"So... what is he?" Latias sets the tiny Pokemon down and pats him on the head,
"Well, we're pretty sure he's a Riolu, the pre-evolution of a Lucario but we're gonna take him to a Pokemon center to check his DNA when we get to shore." The tiny Riolu tilts his head as he looks up at the towering Kazamaru,
"Who's this mommy?" Stratos looks frightened before Latias scoops him up again and holds him out to Kazamaru,
"This is your uncle Kaza. Say 'hi' to him." A bright smile appears on the puppy's face and he raises his arm into a wave,
"Hi uncle Kaza!" Kaza smiles lightly,
"Oh my god he's the cutest thing I've ever seen. So what's up with his fur?"
"I don't think anything's wrong with it. Some of it can catch light while almost all of it stays pitch-black." Kaza takes his Nephew into his own hands and examines him,
"He looks like the night sky; so cool." Stratos holds his arms out,
"Uncle Kaza I wanna hug you!" Kaza holds him a little closer and the Riolu hugs him tightly around the neck with a powerful grip. Kaza gags,
"Okay! Time to let go!" Stratos lets him go and Kaza hands him back to Latias, "He's got an incredible grip. He's going to be really strong when he evolves." Latias smiles,
"Well, he's still a baby so we're not going to do any training with him yet. Drake is designing a special pokeball for him right now but he's going to be walking with us. The ball is just a precaution for if anyone tries to catch him." Kazamaru nods,
"Yeah, his fur color hasn't been recorded in any of the studies of baby Pokemon yet so he's one of a kind." Latias smiles,
"Yep and they'll have to go through me and Drake before they can get to him." Stratos looks up at his mother,
"But mommy I can fight too!" To the shock of both of them the tiny Riolu begins forming an Aura Sphere in his hands and throws it forwards into the horizon, "See mommy?!" Latias watches the attack zip away and then she looks back down at Stratos before Kaza speaks,
"Isn't Aura Sphere only used by Lucario?" Latias nods,
"Yeah but there's maybe two more that can use it in all of the ones discovered so far. Riolu can't know it though." Stratos grins happily at his mother as she sets him on her stomach,
"That's cause I'm super strong!" Latias dismisses the abnormality and pats him on the head,
"Yes you are, Stratos." Stratos then teeters a bit and falls asleep. Kaza lets out a small laugh,
"I think he used a little too much of his own energy to do that." Latias giggles and she runs her fingers through Stratos' fur as he sleeps,
"I suppose he could do a little training every once in a little while. But no battles till he evolves." Kazamaru grins,
"He can use Aggron as a punching bag. That big lug wouldn't take any damage from a baby."
"Yes, because a one day old baby Riolu being able to use Aura Sphere is totally natural." Kaza scratches his head,
"Good point." His vision goes back to Stratos curled up as he sleeps, "I hope he keeps the fur color after his evolution." Latias smiles softly,
"Well, I believe he should but who knows with off color Pokemon right?" Kaza smiles,
"Right." Arcanine appears from behind a corner and runs towards the pool leaping and making a huge explosion of water that washes over the entire deck leaving the pool close to empty. Drake sighs as he looks at the wet, fluffy dog,
"What did I tell you about cannon balls?" Arcanine barks happily and Swampert begins releasing large quantities of water into the pool refilling it as if she was waiting for this to happen.
Two days pass before Latias agrees to let Kaza have Stratos train on his Aggron. Everyone is on the back deck where there is a Pokemon battle area. Stratos stands a little ahead of his father as he looks around the arena,
"Wow! This place is cool!" Kaza, who is standing on the opposite side, takes Aggron's pokeball off of his belt and tosses the pokeball releasing the triceratops in a flash of light and a shimmer of sparkles. Stratos, standing close to the towering Pokemon looks up until he falls on his backside looking slightly afraid, "M-mom!!!" Latias reassures him,
"Don't worry Stratos; you get to train on him." Stratos had come to understand the concept of battle as he had watched a few battles in this same area. Kaza yells to his Aggron,
"He's just training so no fighting back." Aggron looks back at him,
"So I'm a punching bag?" Kaza scratches his head,
"Don't worry; once he evolves you get to have a real battle with him." Aggron nods and turns to look back at the tiny puppy that is punching away at his gut and steadily begins striking in a combo fashion as he uses the plate to ascend to Aggron's head. Stratos stops when he stands on Aggron's nose and the Plated-Pokemon goes cross-eyed when he tries to look at him,
"So. Had enough little guy?" Stratos grins,
"Nope! I'm gonna get super strong!" Stratos leaps down and begins striking again. After a few minutes of this Stratos begins to become stronger and Aggron begins feeling some of his attacks. He shrugs it off and uses Iron defense a few times to nullify the strikes. Stratos continues punching and kicking away at the steel body of the Pokemon before leaping back looking a little worn-out as he drops to his hands and knees. Aggron grins,
"Done?" Stratos stands and brushes off his shoulder as he smiles at the huge Pokemon,
"Not till I beat you!" Aggron smiles lightly at the threat but then feels incredibly weakened as Stratos raises his arms and both of them glow red. The red glows switch places and Stratos grins as he runs up to Aggron and lands a Force Palm in his gut. The attack is incredible powerful and Aggron shudders as it wracks his whole body,
"What did you do?! I had full defenses!!" Stratos grins as he taps his chest making a metallic ding sound,
"I know so I took it from you!" Aggron then groans and falls over forward unconscious as everyone looks on in disbelief. Stratos jumps on top of Aggron's head and waves to his parents, "Mommy! Daddy! I beat him! Look, look, look!" Kaza, in disbelief, returns Aggron to his ball. Stratos, now standing on nothing falls towards the deck and stops himself with a slight gust of wind and aura. The five walk over to him and Latias speaks,
"What did you do?!" Stratos giggles,
"I beat him!" Stratos then begins to glow a bright white and becomes taller and as the light recedes he now has the form of a Lucario silhouette without the four dreadlocks or the chest spike. He's about half the size of a normal Lucario though because of his young age. His hands now have spikes but they are the same shade of black as his fur and deny all light from touching them. The spikes are a point slightly upwards as they look like small 3-D scythes. Stratos has a puzzled look on his face when he doesn't have to look as far up to see everyone's face, "Mommy? Did you all get shorter?" Latias smiles at her child,
"No dear, you got taller. You're a Lucario now, you evolved." Stratos looks overjoyed at the news,
"Really?! Yay!!!" Vecransyh smiles as he watches the three hug,
"Little guy has some serious power in him eh?" Kaza nods,
"Yeah but he only won because Aggron wasn't allowed to attack him. Now that he's a Lucario they can have a rematch... but not for a few days. Since there's no Pokemon center on this ship it'll take a few days for Aggron to recover." Vecransyh looks at him with a puzzled expression,
"How do you think he removed Aggron's defense boost?"
"He said he switched it with his but I don't know of any attack that does that... when we get to shore let's ask Nurse Joy at the Pokemon center in Canalave."
Two days later Aggron is standing across from Stratos with a serious expression on his face,
"Okay little guy. This time I'm not holding back!" Stratos strikes the battle pose of many Lucario and gives a light smirk,
"I'll make you proud Daddy!" Drake, who is leaning on a wall on his side of the field, smiles lightly,
"Just do your best son." Stratos runs toward Aggron but is instantly intercepted by a fist that covers his entire torso. Stratos yelps in pain as he flies backwards and comes skidding to a stop in front of Drake and Latias. Stratos stands up and takes a deep breathe after having the wind knocked out of him so thoroughly. Latias looks at him with concern,
"You okay Stratos? Maybe we should call off the fight." Stratos shakes his head,
"Nah, this is just getting fun!" Stratos rushes Aggron and jumps over the incoming fist landing a spinning upward kick to his lowered head sending him crashing over backwards. Aggron stands up and smiles,
"Looks like a challenge. Okay, bring it." Aggron and Stratos rush each other and begin trading lightning-fast blows as each side cheers for their Pokemon. Aggron lands a Focus Punch on Stratos in the gut sending him flying backwards as before, "Hehe, steel type. You're finished." Stratos hops back onto his feet,
"I was just about to say the same thing to you!" Stratos becomes enshrouded in a brown aura and he smirks. On the sidelines everyone looks at him in disbelief. Xylina shakes her head as she watches Stratos rush Aggron,
"That's...!" Vecransyh nods,
"Superpower." Stratos dodges another punch and lands an earthshaking blow into Aggron's gut making him roar in pain. He recovers from the hit and begins charging his metal burst in his fist,
"Little punk! Take this!!" Stratos looks up when he hears the threat and receives an incredible powerful metal burst to his upper torso. Stratos is sent flying backwards and slams into the wall behind Drake making an indent. He then falls unconscious because metal burst is such a good move it's not even funny. Aggron takes a knee as he breathes heavily not feeling the full effect of the Superpower attack, "Beat him..." Kaza walks over to his Aggron and pats him on the shoulder,
"Take a rest big guy." He then returns Aggron to his pokeball and walks over to Drake and Latias along with Vecransyh and Xylina, "Is he okay?" Latias turns and smiles as Drake pries his son out of the wall,
"Yeah, he's fine. Just a little banged up." Kaza lets out a sigh of relief,
"Good." Stratos wakes up a few hours later in a bed with a cold rag on his forehead,
"Oh boy... Mommy? Daddy?" Stratos looks around the room and sees Latias reading a book in a chair near the bed, "Hi Mommy." She looks up at him,
"Hello Stratos. You took quite a punch there." Stratos moves his paw to his torso and cringes in pain, "Don't worry, you'll be fine in a few days. Just get some rest and you'll be back to your old self in no time." Stratos smiles as he lays his paws to his sides,
"Okay mommy. Sooo... did I win the battle?" Latias smiles softly,
"Almost; you did really well for your first time though and your opponent was much older and stronger then you were." Stratos smiles as he falls back into dream land. Latias returns to her reading, (How is he able to use Superpower? And what did he use to switch stats with Aggron? Maybe Red knows...) Meanwhile, Drake is standing at the very point of the ship, his cape floating carelessly in the breeze as he runs the battle over in his mind, (Stratos has enough power to take down an Aggron that's much more skilled then he is. I can't wait to get to a Pokemon center and have him checked out. They'll probably be able to tell us his move set too.) Red approaches Drake and leans against the rail looking up at the stars,
"Nice night."
"Yeah..."
"I saw your battle earlier. Pretty impressive Lucario you've got. But how can he use Superpower?" Drake shakes his head at the question,
"I don't know. When he was still a Riolu he used an attack that nullified Aggron's defense boost he got from his attack and added it to himself." Drake turns to look at the champion, "Do you know what that was?" Red thinks for a moment,
"Was there this weird red glow around both of them?" Drake nods, "Hmm... yeah, it's called Heart Swap but until now it's only been used by one Pokemon." Drake gives him a questionable look, "It could only be used by Manaphy. Same with superpower for the Regis until Absol from Sinnoh were suddenly able to learn it from tutors a few years ago. You should take him to a Pokemon center first thing to see what else he can do and what kind of DNA he has to be able to do all of that." Drake nods,
"Yeah, we were already going to do that. Thanks for clearing up the attack Red." Red smiles,
"No prob. Just promise me that you'll never let him fall into the hands of team Galactic." Drake raises an eyebrow,
"Who?"
"Team Galactic. They're like team rocket from Kanto but they're a little more bent on universal conquest and will do anything to obtain it although... the members are a little stupid and only the admins have a clue what's going on. One of the grunts would most likely tell you anything you asked if you were to ask them about it. Makes ya wonder how they're still organized." Drake grins,
"I'm not to worried about them. Sounds like they can't hold a candle to any of us."
"Not the grunts." Back in his room Vecransyh is looking around at the decorative walls,
"Well that was sure an interesting battle today." Xylina, who is lying on the bed next to him, lets out a soft yawn,
"Yep, wonder what else he can do?"
"We won't know till we get to Canalave." A few minutes later Drake walks into his room after saying goodbye to Red. He walks up to Latias and she looks up at him only to get a surprise kiss. She blinks as she regains herself,
"What's up, love?" Drake yawns and sits on the edge of the bed smiling lightly,
"I spoke with Red and it turns out that the attack Stratos used a few days ago was Heart Swap." Latias tilts her head as she looks over at their sleeping son,
"Are you sure? I thought heart swap had a different effect then just switching stat changes." Drake shrugs,
"It must just do stats because he's not a Manaphy." Latias lets out a sigh of relief,
"Good. I don't want the ship to go through a massive body exchange." Drake scratches his head as he looks at Latias,
"Someone else having my body? Ugh... don't even want to think about that. It's not gender specific so you could switch with a guy." Drake lets out a laugh when he sees Latias' horrified expression, "Not like it'll happen though." Drake turns to his sleeping son and runs his hand over his cheek prompting his to wake up and look at him sleepily,
"Hi... Daddy." Drake smiles lightly,
"Even though you've evolved you're still a baby." Stratos giggles,
"But I'm still strong!"
"That you are. Now go back to sleep son." Stratos nods and he closes his eyes falling asleep immediately.
The next and final two days of the cruise go off without a hitch and soon the ship docks in Canalave city. Vecransyh walks down the stairs put up to the side up to the ship first with Xylina hanging on his back. Vecransyh takes a deep breath as he stands on the cement ground of the city,
"Finally we're here!" The rest of the group walks down the stairs and they wave to Red as he disappears from view back onto the ship. The group heads west for a block then turn to the right heading up towards the bridge across the port. Stratos is riding on Drake with his legs draped over his shoulders as he looks around at the city with curiosity. Ahead of them is a large building with an orange roof and across the port is the Pokemart and Pokemon center. Kaza looks up at the gym as they pass it with a slight flinch,
"So... we're doing the gyms in order right...?" Drake turns to him,
"Sure unless you want to start at this one." Kaza looks a little frightened as he shakes his head quickly,
"No! No... let's just do them in order." Drake shrugs as the group heads to the Pokemon center. Shortly after entering and talking to the attendant at the front desk nurse Joy walks out of the back room area and walks over to them immediately spotting Stratos riding on Drake,
"My, what a fantastic coat of fur on that Lucario!" Stratos giggles,
"Yay! I'm as pretty as mommy!" The nurse looks over to Latias who makes a motion like she's holding an egg and the nurse understands. Drake hoists him off of his shoulders and sets him onto the floor in front of the nurse. She kneels down examining the star-like shimmers on his fur as it catches the light,
"We'd like you to take a look at him and run a blood test along with giving us a brain scan for his move set." The nurse stands up and hoists the Lucario up into her arms,
"Okay. I'll be done in about ten minutes." Drake nods,
"Thank you nurse." The group heads to the Pokemart to stock up on supplies for their journey through Sinnoh. Vecransyh heads through the door first,
"It'll be cool once we know more about what Stratos is." A man in a green bellhop uniform walks up to them and raises a hand to stop them,
"Pardon me but might you all be Vecransyh, Kazamaru, Drake, Latias and Xylina?" The five nod, "Well a package has arrived for each of you." The bellhop distributes an envelope to each of them and the five look down and open them up. Vecransyh pulls out a key with a small wooden card on the end as do the other four,
"A key...?" Vecransyh looks up but the bellhop is gone. The group goes about their business buying food and such before heading back to the Pokemon center. Upon entering they encounter a stunned-looking nurse Joy and a happy looking Stratos standing next to her. Drake raises an eyebrow as he sees her expression,
"So I take it you ran the tests?" The nurse looks around and leads Drake and Latias into the back room. Vecransyh, Xylina and Kazamaru all sit on the waiting bench as they wait for the nurse and their two friends and 'nephew'. Meanwhile, in the back room, Latias and Drake are looking at the nurse with stunned expressions. Drake speaks,
"Are you serious?!" The nurse nods as she pats the young Lucario on the head,
"Here is a list of his attacks from the brain scan. I've never seen anything like this before." Drake and Latias take the clipboard from the nurse and look at it. Latias gasps,
"There's just no way..."
"He may not know how to use them yet but this is his full move set for his entire life. Have you finished looking at the sheet?" Latias hands it back to her as the two nod. The nurse walks over to a trash can and takes out a lighter, "In the wrong hands this Pokemon could be incredibly dangerous. Only put him into battle as a trump card." She then sets the test results on fire and drops them into the can, "It'll be fine to have him out in public just don't draw to much attention to him." Latias and Drake both thank her and walk out of the room to find Vec, Xylina and Kaza sitting on benches. Kaza stands up as he sees them,
"So what's up with Stratos?" Drake shrugs,
"He has a few abnormal attacks but as far as Lucario go he's fairly normal." The nurse joins them in the lobby and before they set out Drake turns to her, "Do you know where these keys go to?" Joy takes the key from Drake and examines it,
"This is a key to one of the rooms in the hotel north of the city... where did you get these? The reservation times on the cards are in your names but the reservation was made fifty years ago." Kaza looks at her oddly,
"Guess we were expected." The group then heads north of the city and each of them finds the room that their key fits the door for. After settling in, the hours pass and eventually everyone drifts off to sleep. A short while into the night a lone figure floats into their rooms and releases a darkness that seeps into their bodies as they sleep,
"Pleasant dreams." He then leaves the last room with an evil cackle and waits for the fun to begin.
"What's that black thing?" Latias shields her eyes from the sun with her arm and looks up at him. She sits up and slides her hands under Stratos' and lifts him up to look at Kazamaru,
"The egg hatched last night, this is Stratos." Kaza tilts his head,
"So... what is he?" Latias sets the tiny Pokemon down and pats him on the head,
"Well, we're pretty sure he's a Riolu, the pre-evolution of a Lucario but we're gonna take him to a Pokemon center to check his DNA when we get to shore." The tiny Riolu tilts his head as he looks up at the towering Kazamaru,
"Who's this mommy?" Stratos looks frightened before Latias scoops him up again and holds him out to Kazamaru,
"This is your uncle Kaza. Say 'hi' to him." A bright smile appears on the puppy's face and he raises his arm into a wave,
"Hi uncle Kaza!" Kaza smiles lightly,
"Oh my god he's the cutest thing I've ever seen. So what's up with his fur?"
"I don't think anything's wrong with it. Some of it can catch light while almost all of it stays pitch-black." Kaza takes his Nephew into his own hands and examines him,
"He looks like the night sky; so cool." Stratos holds his arms out,
"Uncle Kaza I wanna hug you!" Kaza holds him a little closer and the Riolu hugs him tightly around the neck with a powerful grip. Kaza gags,
"Okay! Time to let go!" Stratos lets him go and Kaza hands him back to Latias, "He's got an incredible grip. He's going to be really strong when he evolves." Latias smiles,
"Well, he's still a baby so we're not going to do any training with him yet. Drake is designing a special pokeball for him right now but he's going to be walking with us. The ball is just a precaution for if anyone tries to catch him." Kazamaru nods,
"Yeah, his fur color hasn't been recorded in any of the studies of baby Pokemon yet so he's one of a kind." Latias smiles,
"Yep and they'll have to go through me and Drake before they can get to him." Stratos looks up at his mother,
"But mommy I can fight too!" To the shock of both of them the tiny Riolu begins forming an Aura Sphere in his hands and throws it forwards into the horizon, "See mommy?!" Latias watches the attack zip away and then she looks back down at Stratos before Kaza speaks,
"Isn't Aura Sphere only used by Lucario?" Latias nods,
"Yeah but there's maybe two more that can use it in all of the ones discovered so far. Riolu can't know it though." Stratos grins happily at his mother as she sets him on her stomach,
"That's cause I'm super strong!" Latias dismisses the abnormality and pats him on the head,
"Yes you are, Stratos." Stratos then teeters a bit and falls asleep. Kaza lets out a small laugh,
"I think he used a little too much of his own energy to do that." Latias giggles and she runs her fingers through Stratos' fur as he sleeps,
"I suppose he could do a little training every once in a little while. But no battles till he evolves." Kazamaru grins,
"He can use Aggron as a punching bag. That big lug wouldn't take any damage from a baby."
"Yes, because a one day old baby Riolu being able to use Aura Sphere is totally natural." Kaza scratches his head,
"Good point." His vision goes back to Stratos curled up as he sleeps, "I hope he keeps the fur color after his evolution." Latias smiles softly,
"Well, I believe he should but who knows with off color Pokemon right?" Kaza smiles,
"Right." Arcanine appears from behind a corner and runs towards the pool leaping and making a huge explosion of water that washes over the entire deck leaving the pool close to empty. Drake sighs as he looks at the wet, fluffy dog,
"What did I tell you about cannon balls?" Arcanine barks happily and Swampert begins releasing large quantities of water into the pool refilling it as if she was waiting for this to happen.
Two days pass before Latias agrees to let Kaza have Stratos train on his Aggron. Everyone is on the back deck where there is a Pokemon battle area. Stratos stands a little ahead of his father as he looks around the arena,
"Wow! This place is cool!" Kaza, who is standing on the opposite side, takes Aggron's pokeball off of his belt and tosses the pokeball releasing the triceratops in a flash of light and a shimmer of sparkles. Stratos, standing close to the towering Pokemon looks up until he falls on his backside looking slightly afraid, "M-mom!!!" Latias reassures him,
"Don't worry Stratos; you get to train on him." Stratos had come to understand the concept of battle as he had watched a few battles in this same area. Kaza yells to his Aggron,
"He's just training so no fighting back." Aggron looks back at him,
"So I'm a punching bag?" Kaza scratches his head,
"Don't worry; once he evolves you get to have a real battle with him." Aggron nods and turns to look back at the tiny puppy that is punching away at his gut and steadily begins striking in a combo fashion as he uses the plate to ascend to Aggron's head. Stratos stops when he stands on Aggron's nose and the Plated-Pokemon goes cross-eyed when he tries to look at him,
"So. Had enough little guy?" Stratos grins,
"Nope! I'm gonna get super strong!" Stratos leaps down and begins striking again. After a few minutes of this Stratos begins to become stronger and Aggron begins feeling some of his attacks. He shrugs it off and uses Iron defense a few times to nullify the strikes. Stratos continues punching and kicking away at the steel body of the Pokemon before leaping back looking a little worn-out as he drops to his hands and knees. Aggron grins,
"Done?" Stratos stands and brushes off his shoulder as he smiles at the huge Pokemon,
"Not till I beat you!" Aggron smiles lightly at the threat but then feels incredibly weakened as Stratos raises his arms and both of them glow red. The red glows switch places and Stratos grins as he runs up to Aggron and lands a Force Palm in his gut. The attack is incredible powerful and Aggron shudders as it wracks his whole body,
"What did you do?! I had full defenses!!" Stratos grins as he taps his chest making a metallic ding sound,
"I know so I took it from you!" Aggron then groans and falls over forward unconscious as everyone looks on in disbelief. Stratos jumps on top of Aggron's head and waves to his parents, "Mommy! Daddy! I beat him! Look, look, look!" Kaza, in disbelief, returns Aggron to his ball. Stratos, now standing on nothing falls towards the deck and stops himself with a slight gust of wind and aura. The five walk over to him and Latias speaks,
"What did you do?!" Stratos giggles,
"I beat him!" Stratos then begins to glow a bright white and becomes taller and as the light recedes he now has the form of a Lucario silhouette without the four dreadlocks or the chest spike. He's about half the size of a normal Lucario though because of his young age. His hands now have spikes but they are the same shade of black as his fur and deny all light from touching them. The spikes are a point slightly upwards as they look like small 3-D scythes. Stratos has a puzzled look on his face when he doesn't have to look as far up to see everyone's face, "Mommy? Did you all get shorter?" Latias smiles at her child,
"No dear, you got taller. You're a Lucario now, you evolved." Stratos looks overjoyed at the news,
"Really?! Yay!!!" Vecransyh smiles as he watches the three hug,
"Little guy has some serious power in him eh?" Kaza nods,
"Yeah but he only won because Aggron wasn't allowed to attack him. Now that he's a Lucario they can have a rematch... but not for a few days. Since there's no Pokemon center on this ship it'll take a few days for Aggron to recover." Vecransyh looks at him with a puzzled expression,
"How do you think he removed Aggron's defense boost?"
"He said he switched it with his but I don't know of any attack that does that... when we get to shore let's ask Nurse Joy at the Pokemon center in Canalave."
Two days later Aggron is standing across from Stratos with a serious expression on his face,
"Okay little guy. This time I'm not holding back!" Stratos strikes the battle pose of many Lucario and gives a light smirk,
"I'll make you proud Daddy!" Drake, who is leaning on a wall on his side of the field, smiles lightly,
"Just do your best son." Stratos runs toward Aggron but is instantly intercepted by a fist that covers his entire torso. Stratos yelps in pain as he flies backwards and comes skidding to a stop in front of Drake and Latias. Stratos stands up and takes a deep breathe after having the wind knocked out of him so thoroughly. Latias looks at him with concern,
"You okay Stratos? Maybe we should call off the fight." Stratos shakes his head,
"Nah, this is just getting fun!" Stratos rushes Aggron and jumps over the incoming fist landing a spinning upward kick to his lowered head sending him crashing over backwards. Aggron stands up and smiles,
"Looks like a challenge. Okay, bring it." Aggron and Stratos rush each other and begin trading lightning-fast blows as each side cheers for their Pokemon. Aggron lands a Focus Punch on Stratos in the gut sending him flying backwards as before, "Hehe, steel type. You're finished." Stratos hops back onto his feet,
"I was just about to say the same thing to you!" Stratos becomes enshrouded in a brown aura and he smirks. On the sidelines everyone looks at him in disbelief. Xylina shakes her head as she watches Stratos rush Aggron,
"That's...!" Vecransyh nods,
"Superpower." Stratos dodges another punch and lands an earthshaking blow into Aggron's gut making him roar in pain. He recovers from the hit and begins charging his metal burst in his fist,
"Little punk! Take this!!" Stratos looks up when he hears the threat and receives an incredible powerful metal burst to his upper torso. Stratos is sent flying backwards and slams into the wall behind Drake making an indent. He then falls unconscious because metal burst is such a good move it's not even funny. Aggron takes a knee as he breathes heavily not feeling the full effect of the Superpower attack, "Beat him..." Kaza walks over to his Aggron and pats him on the shoulder,
"Take a rest big guy." He then returns Aggron to his pokeball and walks over to Drake and Latias along with Vecransyh and Xylina, "Is he okay?" Latias turns and smiles as Drake pries his son out of the wall,
"Yeah, he's fine. Just a little banged up." Kaza lets out a sigh of relief,
"Good." Stratos wakes up a few hours later in a bed with a cold rag on his forehead,
"Oh boy... Mommy? Daddy?" Stratos looks around the room and sees Latias reading a book in a chair near the bed, "Hi Mommy." She looks up at him,
"Hello Stratos. You took quite a punch there." Stratos moves his paw to his torso and cringes in pain, "Don't worry, you'll be fine in a few days. Just get some rest and you'll be back to your old self in no time." Stratos smiles as he lays his paws to his sides,
"Okay mommy. Sooo... did I win the battle?" Latias smiles softly,
"Almost; you did really well for your first time though and your opponent was much older and stronger then you were." Stratos smiles as he falls back into dream land. Latias returns to her reading, (How is he able to use Superpower? And what did he use to switch stats with Aggron? Maybe Red knows...) Meanwhile, Drake is standing at the very point of the ship, his cape floating carelessly in the breeze as he runs the battle over in his mind, (Stratos has enough power to take down an Aggron that's much more skilled then he is. I can't wait to get to a Pokemon center and have him checked out. They'll probably be able to tell us his move set too.) Red approaches Drake and leans against the rail looking up at the stars,
"Nice night."
"Yeah..."
"I saw your battle earlier. Pretty impressive Lucario you've got. But how can he use Superpower?" Drake shakes his head at the question,
"I don't know. When he was still a Riolu he used an attack that nullified Aggron's defense boost he got from his attack and added it to himself." Drake turns to look at the champion, "Do you know what that was?" Red thinks for a moment,
"Was there this weird red glow around both of them?" Drake nods, "Hmm... yeah, it's called Heart Swap but until now it's only been used by one Pokemon." Drake gives him a questionable look, "It could only be used by Manaphy. Same with superpower for the Regis until Absol from Sinnoh were suddenly able to learn it from tutors a few years ago. You should take him to a Pokemon center first thing to see what else he can do and what kind of DNA he has to be able to do all of that." Drake nods,
"Yeah, we were already going to do that. Thanks for clearing up the attack Red." Red smiles,
"No prob. Just promise me that you'll never let him fall into the hands of team Galactic." Drake raises an eyebrow,
"Who?"
"Team Galactic. They're like team rocket from Kanto but they're a little more bent on universal conquest and will do anything to obtain it although... the members are a little stupid and only the admins have a clue what's going on. One of the grunts would most likely tell you anything you asked if you were to ask them about it. Makes ya wonder how they're still organized." Drake grins,
"I'm not to worried about them. Sounds like they can't hold a candle to any of us."
"Not the grunts." Back in his room Vecransyh is looking around at the decorative walls,
"Well that was sure an interesting battle today." Xylina, who is lying on the bed next to him, lets out a soft yawn,
"Yep, wonder what else he can do?"
"We won't know till we get to Canalave." A few minutes later Drake walks into his room after saying goodbye to Red. He walks up to Latias and she looks up at him only to get a surprise kiss. She blinks as she regains herself,
"What's up, love?" Drake yawns and sits on the edge of the bed smiling lightly,
"I spoke with Red and it turns out that the attack Stratos used a few days ago was Heart Swap." Latias tilts her head as she looks over at their sleeping son,
"Are you sure? I thought heart swap had a different effect then just switching stat changes." Drake shrugs,
"It must just do stats because he's not a Manaphy." Latias lets out a sigh of relief,
"Good. I don't want the ship to go through a massive body exchange." Drake scratches his head as he looks at Latias,
"Someone else having my body? Ugh... don't even want to think about that. It's not gender specific so you could switch with a guy." Drake lets out a laugh when he sees Latias' horrified expression, "Not like it'll happen though." Drake turns to his sleeping son and runs his hand over his cheek prompting his to wake up and look at him sleepily,
"Hi... Daddy." Drake smiles lightly,
"Even though you've evolved you're still a baby." Stratos giggles,
"But I'm still strong!"
"That you are. Now go back to sleep son." Stratos nods and he closes his eyes falling asleep immediately.
The next and final two days of the cruise go off without a hitch and soon the ship docks in Canalave city. Vecransyh walks down the stairs put up to the side up to the ship first with Xylina hanging on his back. Vecransyh takes a deep breath as he stands on the cement ground of the city,
"Finally we're here!" The rest of the group walks down the stairs and they wave to Red as he disappears from view back onto the ship. The group heads west for a block then turn to the right heading up towards the bridge across the port. Stratos is riding on Drake with his legs draped over his shoulders as he looks around at the city with curiosity. Ahead of them is a large building with an orange roof and across the port is the Pokemart and Pokemon center. Kaza looks up at the gym as they pass it with a slight flinch,
"So... we're doing the gyms in order right...?" Drake turns to him,
"Sure unless you want to start at this one." Kaza looks a little frightened as he shakes his head quickly,
"No! No... let's just do them in order." Drake shrugs as the group heads to the Pokemon center. Shortly after entering and talking to the attendant at the front desk nurse Joy walks out of the back room area and walks over to them immediately spotting Stratos riding on Drake,
"My, what a fantastic coat of fur on that Lucario!" Stratos giggles,
"Yay! I'm as pretty as mommy!" The nurse looks over to Latias who makes a motion like she's holding an egg and the nurse understands. Drake hoists him off of his shoulders and sets him onto the floor in front of the nurse. She kneels down examining the star-like shimmers on his fur as it catches the light,
"We'd like you to take a look at him and run a blood test along with giving us a brain scan for his move set." The nurse stands up and hoists the Lucario up into her arms,
"Okay. I'll be done in about ten minutes." Drake nods,
"Thank you nurse." The group heads to the Pokemart to stock up on supplies for their journey through Sinnoh. Vecransyh heads through the door first,
"It'll be cool once we know more about what Stratos is." A man in a green bellhop uniform walks up to them and raises a hand to stop them,
"Pardon me but might you all be Vecransyh, Kazamaru, Drake, Latias and Xylina?" The five nod, "Well a package has arrived for each of you." The bellhop distributes an envelope to each of them and the five look down and open them up. Vecransyh pulls out a key with a small wooden card on the end as do the other four,
"A key...?" Vecransyh looks up but the bellhop is gone. The group goes about their business buying food and such before heading back to the Pokemon center. Upon entering they encounter a stunned-looking nurse Joy and a happy looking Stratos standing next to her. Drake raises an eyebrow as he sees her expression,
"So I take it you ran the tests?" The nurse looks around and leads Drake and Latias into the back room. Vecransyh, Xylina and Kazamaru all sit on the waiting bench as they wait for the nurse and their two friends and 'nephew'. Meanwhile, in the back room, Latias and Drake are looking at the nurse with stunned expressions. Drake speaks,
"Are you serious?!" The nurse nods as she pats the young Lucario on the head,
"Here is a list of his attacks from the brain scan. I've never seen anything like this before." Drake and Latias take the clipboard from the nurse and look at it. Latias gasps,
"There's just no way..."
"He may not know how to use them yet but this is his full move set for his entire life. Have you finished looking at the sheet?" Latias hands it back to her as the two nod. The nurse walks over to a trash can and takes out a lighter, "In the wrong hands this Pokemon could be incredibly dangerous. Only put him into battle as a trump card." She then sets the test results on fire and drops them into the can, "It'll be fine to have him out in public just don't draw to much attention to him." Latias and Drake both thank her and walk out of the room to find Vec, Xylina and Kaza sitting on benches. Kaza stands up as he sees them,
"So what's up with Stratos?" Drake shrugs,
"He has a few abnormal attacks but as far as Lucario go he's fairly normal." The nurse joins them in the lobby and before they set out Drake turns to her, "Do you know where these keys go to?" Joy takes the key from Drake and examines it,
"This is a key to one of the rooms in the hotel north of the city... where did you get these? The reservation times on the cards are in your names but the reservation was made fifty years ago." Kaza looks at her oddly,
"Guess we were expected." The group then heads north of the city and each of them finds the room that their key fits the door for. After settling in, the hours pass and eventually everyone drifts off to sleep. A short while into the night a lone figure floats into their rooms and releases a darkness that seeps into their bodies as they sleep,
"Pleasant dreams." He then leaves the last room with an evil cackle and waits for the fun to begin.