Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
Victory Road
Flashing their badges to the guards along the way the group quickly makes it to the entrance to the dark tunnel known as Victory road. Victory road: a grueling, confusing test of a Pokemon trainers mind since it was first dug. As they approach the pitch black entrance they hear a familiar voice off to the left of them.
"How long's it been? A year? You're looking even better then when I last saw you dudes." The group looks over to see David leaning against the rocky wall of Victory road, his trusty Charizard standing by his side. Vecransyh grins largely as he sees his friend,
"Hey David! Long time no see!" David returns his Charizard to its ball as he walks over to them,
"How've you guys been?" Kazamaru scratches his head,
"After I got my ass handed to me by Misty I went and did some soul searching for a year and now I'm headed to the Pokemon league with these three." He makes a motion towards Drake, Vecransyh and Latias. David meets eyes with Drake when he's motioned to,
"Oh yeah! The fishy dude. Wussup? How's the G F been since I last saw you?" Drake smiles as he looks over to Latias who returns his smile.
"Never better. What's new with you?" David shrugs as he kicks a small rock with his bare foot.
"Eh, nothing really; explorin' the world, raisin' some Pokemon. The average life of a teenager nowadays." Drake grins,
"Totally. So, you headed to Victory road?" David cracks his neck and stretches his arms with a yawn.
"I was actually going to try and climb it but going through it with you guys might be a delightful brain teaser." Xylina giggles as she remembers the boy from the rock tunnel who loved Pokemon. David hears her laugh and directs his attention to the ghost floating in front of him, "Hey bro, you evolved you're Misdreavus!" Xylina floats behind Vecransyh and wraps her arms around his neck in a playful hug,
"I just evolved a couple days ago!" David blinks as he hears the melodious voice of the ghost.
"And you taught her to talk! Wish I knew that was possible I'd have someone to talk to when I'm bored." Kazamaru looks into the darkness of the cave next to them,
"All righty, lets go!" The six walk into the cave and immediately find it illuminated by torches lining the walls. The torches look like they are made of solid gold and are carved to look like Charizards with the tail being the torch flame. The scene in front of them is no less then a mind-fuck. There are buttons, boulders, and mounds of dirt, trails and other variously random things. David scans the room before looking off into the distance at a faint glow near the halfway mark of the cave,
"Check it, There's a Pokemon center at the halfway point now. That's new." Kaza stares at David hearing his observation.
"Have you been here before?" David shakes his head,
"Nah but I've studied it in my spare time and I've asked almost every trainer that's gone through this place for tips." Vecransyh looks over to David with a surprised and mostly relieved look,
"So does that mean that you can help us get through this maze?" David says nothing and walks away off to the right. Xylina tilts her head,
"Did you say something wrong?" Vecransyh shrugs,
"I don't..." Suddenly from the direction that David walked to is a large explosion. David soon walks back over to them with a confident smirk on his face,
"Done. The first half of the cave is the easiest anyway. Only 1 puzzle." David points to a large mountain of stone sliding down revealing a winding path visible to lead right to the Pokemon center. The other five look at David in disbelief, "What? All it was was pushing a boulder onto a button that makes the mountain go down making the path." The path to the Pokemon center however could not have been more dangerous as it was filled with trainers and extremely powerful wild Pokemon. Reaching the center is no easy task but after a few hours of straight fighting they all make it to the Pokemon center, "You guys can chill here but I'm going on ahead. Peace!" With that he dashes deeper into the cave disappearing through a large hole in the wall. Kazamaru sighs,
"There goes our ticket to a cakewalk through Victory road..." Vecransyh pats him on the back,
"Don't worry, I'm sure Drake, Latias and I can handle it." Kazamaru nods with a reassured smile and then scowls. "WAIT A MINUTE!!" An hour later the group's Pokemon have been restored to full health and each of them has checked into a room for the night. Vecransyh flops down onto his bed bouncing slightly from the springs,
"This is so awesome I can't believe I'm going to fight in the Pokemon league!!" Xylina floats over to him and floats near the bed giving him a soft smile,
"Well believe it because it's happening." Vecransyh turns on his side and looks into Xylina's eyes.
"And it's all thanks to you and all my other Pokemon." Xylina blushes lightly as she looks into the eyes of her trainer,
"Remember the day we met?" Vecransyh smiles as he recalls the night in the park,
"Of course. I was in the park and you appeared. We talked for a little while and you became part of my team." She floats over to him and lays close to his body on the bed,
"The truth is that I didn't exactly had a good life before I met you. My days were filled with nothing but trainers hurting me and trying to capture me and nights were filled with trying to fall asleep at night while feeling the pain from the attacks..." Vecransyh looks sadly at Xylina,
"Xylina..."
"But that night... I sensed something different about you. You had a certain gentleness that I had never seen before." Xylina blushes a deep red, "And... when I fell asleep in your arms... it was the first time I felt safe... that I didn't have to worry about being hurt anymore..." Vecransyh sees the tears start to form in Xylina's eyes and he lays a hand on her cheek softly wiping a tear from her eye. Without saying anything he wraps his arms around her and holds her close. Still looking into her eyes except now their faces are much closer together,
"I'm glad that I could take you away from all of your sadness and fear." Xylina notices that Vecransyh is blushing lightly as well and reaches out softly touching his cheek,
"You don't know how happy I am that you took me away from that life." Vecransyh smiles lightly as he lays a soft kiss on her forehead,
"Sleep well, princess of the night." Xylina blushes heavily at the nickname and closes her eyes with her arms around her trainer and a smile on her face. Xylina closes her eyes as she hears Vecransyh's breathing become steady as he falls asleep,
"Good night, love."
The next day the group has finishes a good number of the puzzles in Victory road. Vecransyh and Kazamaru lead as Drake, Latias and Xylina walk next to each other a little farther behind. Xylina lets out a sigh as she walks next to Drake, who turns his head to look at the ghost,
"Guy trouble?" Xylina turns to him with a slight blush and nods, "So is it one of those 'lets just be friends' scenarios or is it the 'I love all my Pokemon and I'm clueless about your feelings for me' scenario?"
"The second one..."
"I see. Well, you have 3 options. You can let him go and be a quitter. You wait and see if he starts to develop feelings for you. Or you can show him how you feel. The second one is kind of risky though because he could get feelings for another girl." Xylina turns her head towards him.
"So I should tell him how I feel?" Drake nods, "Thank you Drake I knew you'd know what to say." With that she floats up to join Vecransyh and Kaza as they try to figure out a sliding puzzle. Drake takes Latias' hand in his,
"Ah, young love." Meanwhile up ahead Vec and Kaza are trying to figure out a 4x4 sliding puzzle. Kaza groans as he slides the numbered pieces around,
"This is impossible!!!!" Xylina floats up to him and studies the puzzle,
"No it's not, watch." Kaza moves out of the way as the ghost floats over and begins moving the pieces around. The numbers quickly fall into their correct slots as Xylina works. "These are really pretty simple of course... I suck at 5x5 and more. What you do is do the top line first then the second line then get the four left panels, meaning 9, 10, 13 and 14, to be in their correct place then the last three should just take one or two moves to..." Xylina moves the panel numbered '15' into the correct spot and the wall opens into another passage. "Finish the puzzle!" Kazamaru stares at the ghost then at the new passage,
"Wow." Vecransyh pats her on the back and gives her a happy smile,
"Nice one Xylina! Hey Drake! Latias! It's open!" Drake grins as he and Latias walk up to them and they all continue down the trail. In the next corridor Drake notices a branch in two directions,
"This cave echoes pretty well so me, Kaza and Latias will go left and Xylina and Vec should go right. Holler if you guys find anything." Just before they are lost from sight Xylina and Drake make eye contact and she mouths 'thank you'. A little while down the corridor Kazamaru spots something sticking out of the wall with a plaque above it,
"I think I found something... lets see... 'If only are one you can only concede while two in your midst will let you proceed.' It's just a button." Kazamaru reaches out and pushes the stone lever. There is a silence for a short while before Kazamaru sighs,
"No good..." Latias shakes her head,
"It's a riddle..." Kazamaru jumps when he hears the female voice behind him and turns towards Latias.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about everything so far. This tunnel branches into two separate paths. At the end of this one are a button and a plaque reading that if there is one you must concede and concede means to quit. While having two means to proceed; so, if I'm right there should be a button and plaque the same as this one in the other tunnel." Kazamaru smiles,
"I've never heard you speak before you have such a beautiful voice." Latias rolls her eyes,
"Sorry, I'm taken." Meanwhile in the other tunnel Xylina is riding piggy-back on Vecransyh's back while they walk down the torch-lit tunnel. When they reach the end they see a plaque engraved into the wall with a stone button below it. Xylina floats off of Vecransyh's back and floats over to the button and plaque reading it aloud,
"'If only are one you can only concede while two in your midst will let you proceed.'. Sounds like a riddle." Vecransyh ponders the words rolling them around in his mind,
"This cave branches off in two directions and it mentions in the riddle that you need two to proceed so maybe both the buttons have to be pressed?" Vecransyh walks over and pushes the button just as Kazamaru pushes the button on the other side. There is a silence for a moment then a rumble fills the cave along with the sound of heavy stone moving. Vecransyh grins as he begins walking back down the tunnel,
"Sounds like the path is open! Let's go!" Vecransyh stops after only a second when he doesn't feel Xylina following him. He turns to see the ghost still floating at the back of the cave with a flush of red on her face. Vecransyh walks back over to her and tilts his head, "Your face is flushed... are you sick?" Xylina shakes her head,
"No, that's not it... I just wanted to tell you something before we continue."
"Sure, what's up?"
She floats over to him and pushes him up against the wall of the tunnel putting her hands on his shoulders, "Xylina...?" The ghost looks into the eyes of her trainer still blushing red,
"I need to do this now before I lose my nerve..." Vecransyh looks puzzled,
"Do wha--" His sentence is cut off as Xylina presses her lips against his. Vecransyh's eyes go wide as she kisses him but they slowly close as he puts his arms around her. A minute later the two of them break the kiss and look into each other's eyes.
"I didn't know you felt this way about me Xylina." The ghost softly smiles through her blushing face.
"I have for a long time, Ever since you first held me in your arms." The moment is suddenly shattered by Kazamaru's voice coming from the crossroad.
"WHAT?! DID YOU TWO DIE OR SOMETHING?! COME ON WE'RE ALMOST OUT OF THIS PLACE!!" Vecransyh and Xylina have another quick kiss before walking together back down the tunnel to rejoin Kaza and the others, "Geez, took you guys long enough. What were you guys doing back there anyway?" Vecransyh and Xylina glance at each other. Xylina finally speaks,
"I had to get something off my chest. Nothing big just a good chat." Kazamaru chuckles and Drake meets eyes with Xylina and gives a light smile,
"Not like you have anything on your chest anyway. All right! Let's get out of this cave! Onward!" Kazamaru leads as the other four follow him. Drake and Vecransyh walk ahead as Latias and Xylina walk a little ways behind them. Latias walks next to Xylina who has an odd look on her happy face,
"Spill it. What happened in that cave?"
"I pinned him to the wall and kissed him; was the only thing I could think of at the time." Latias giggles.
"That's the same thing I did to Drake. At first he kinda looked shocked but then he started to enjoy it."
"Same here." The two girls smile and giggle as Vec and Drake walks ahead of them. Vecransyh hears the girls giggling behind him and looks over his shoulder,
"They're giggling..." Vec looks at Drake, "They're talking about me."
"That's what two girls do when they both have someone. They swap stories and... techniques." Vecransyh gives Drake a shocked look,
"WHAT?!" Drake laughs and pats Vec on the head,
"Just kidding. Got a good look on your face after that one. If I can give you any advice it's to take things slow and let things develop as they are. Seems to be working in your favor already lover boy." Vecransyh groans,
"Don't call me that..." Drake laughs,
"No problem, Vec." Vec looks ahead to Kazamaru to see him strolling confidently through the torch-lit cave,
"Are we to the next puzzle yet Kaza?" Kazamaru waves his hand back at Vecransyh without looking at him,
"Just this reeeeeeeeeeally long stretch of cave so far, nothing new." Vecransyh tosses a pokeball and in a few seconds Haunter is floating next to him,
"Fancy a stroll bud?"
"Totally. Pokeballs are nice and all but nothing beats the real feel of a cold dark cave... I could deal without these torches though but whatever." Haunter looks ahead of him and sees the spiky-haired boy strolling happily along, "Well, well, looks like Kaza is back, time to go to work." Haunter floats up behind Kazamaru and stays close behind him before laying a hand on his shoulder,
"What's up Vec?" Kaza turns around and sees no one close behind him, "That was weird..." When Kazamaru turns around his eyes immediately lock onto haunter's evil red eyes,
"GRRRAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kazamaru's face turns white and he begins running down the tunnel screaming. Haunter floats back over to Vecransyh and lets out a dark cackle,
"You've gotten better since the time you tried to scare me." Haunter shows a bladed grin,
"Xylina has been giving me lessons on how to get the best scares. I'm done for now though so I'm going to go back to sleep. Wake me up when you're in another cave." Vecransyh looks puzzled,
"You're done already?"
"Well I hate the light and since the end of the tunnel is right there," Haunter points at a growing arch of light. "I'd like to return to my ball." Vecransyh returns his haunter to its ball as he grins.
"Next stop the Pokemon league!" The four quickly reach the end of the tunnel and find Kazamaru in a fetal position, "Err... Kaza?" Kazamaru regains himself and stands up brushing off his pants,
"We're here at last and it couldn't have been better timing because the league tournament begins tomorrow." Vecransyh looks up the large city full of people awaiting the start of the Pokemon league tournament and his face glows,
"I'm happy." Xylina latches herself to his back with her arms secured around his neck,
"Then lets go! I can't wait to win the tourney for you Vecy." Kazamaru grins,
"Vecy? Hehe." Vecransyh ignores him and grins still looking up at the stadium,
"Then let's get registered and find where we'll be staying for the tourney." The group quickly finds their way to the stadium and to the registration area. Vecransyh and Kazamaru sign up for the lightweight division while Drake signs up for the Heavyweight division for the Ultima league Kanto badge. After reserving 3 hotel rooms and eating dinner the five meet in the lobby of the hotel. Kazamaru stares angrily at Vecransyh,
"Tell my why me and you had to sign up for the lightweight division when we're more then strong enough for the heavyweight!?" Vecransyh lets out a sigh and tips up Xylina's hat as her head is resting on his shoulder,
"Umm... lets see, Drake and David, that enough reason for you?" Kazamaru scratches his head,
"Okay, okay, I see your point. Getting my face beaten into the dirt by Drake again won't really help my self esteem will it." Drake laughs and spins a pokeball on his finger,
"Who knows, maybe some day you'll beat me." Kazamaru grins,
"Maybe someday but before that day comes I have to win this tournament. Or at least come in second or third." Drake looks curious,
"Oh yeah, I forgot to find out what the prizes were for the lightweight division." Vecransyh looks excitedly at Drake,
"3rd place is a master ball, 2nd place is some rare Pokemon and 1st place wasn't released so I'm guessing that it's something really sweet!" Drake looks a little shocked in the order of the prizes.
"Wow, for a master ball to be beaten by a rare Pokemon that prize must have serious power." Suddenly there is a familiar voice behind them,
"To bad that all three of the prizes are going to be ours." The five turn to see Dorian, Salina and Jyro, "Been a while kiddies." Vecransyh grins,
"Hey guys. Long time no see!" Salina nods as she gives Vecransyh a light smile,
"Likewise. I see you got yourself a Mismagius, quite a powerful ghost-type." Xylina smiles at the compliment,
"Hi, my name is Xylina. I believe I've seen you before during that gym battle with Misty but I don't think we were properly introduced." The three trainers stare at the ghost in absolute shock for a few moments before Salina speaks,
"She... spoke!" Drake sighs,
"All Pokemon can learn to speak. It just takes patience and time. My name is Drake by the way and this is my girlfriend Latias." The three of them blink but dismiss it as being a mere coincidence in name,
"My name is Salina," She points to Dorian then to Jyro, "This is Dorian and Jyro." Dorian shakes Drake's hand,
"I've heard a lot about you Drake. Seems you've made quite a name for yourself." Drake shrugs,
"I've tried to fly under the radar so I don't have a hoard of girls chasing me everywhere I go." Dorian laughs,
"I'd prefer that, hehe." The group's swap a few stories over what they did during the past year and head up to their individual rooms. Vecransyh lay in his dark room excited about the next day where he would start his Pokemon league challenge. Curled up against him is Xylina already asleep with a happy smile on her face dreaming of winning the championship for her love and trainer,
"Tomorrow... it begins."
"How long's it been? A year? You're looking even better then when I last saw you dudes." The group looks over to see David leaning against the rocky wall of Victory road, his trusty Charizard standing by his side. Vecransyh grins largely as he sees his friend,
"Hey David! Long time no see!" David returns his Charizard to its ball as he walks over to them,
"How've you guys been?" Kazamaru scratches his head,
"After I got my ass handed to me by Misty I went and did some soul searching for a year and now I'm headed to the Pokemon league with these three." He makes a motion towards Drake, Vecransyh and Latias. David meets eyes with Drake when he's motioned to,
"Oh yeah! The fishy dude. Wussup? How's the G F been since I last saw you?" Drake smiles as he looks over to Latias who returns his smile.
"Never better. What's new with you?" David shrugs as he kicks a small rock with his bare foot.
"Eh, nothing really; explorin' the world, raisin' some Pokemon. The average life of a teenager nowadays." Drake grins,
"Totally. So, you headed to Victory road?" David cracks his neck and stretches his arms with a yawn.
"I was actually going to try and climb it but going through it with you guys might be a delightful brain teaser." Xylina giggles as she remembers the boy from the rock tunnel who loved Pokemon. David hears her laugh and directs his attention to the ghost floating in front of him, "Hey bro, you evolved you're Misdreavus!" Xylina floats behind Vecransyh and wraps her arms around his neck in a playful hug,
"I just evolved a couple days ago!" David blinks as he hears the melodious voice of the ghost.
"And you taught her to talk! Wish I knew that was possible I'd have someone to talk to when I'm bored." Kazamaru looks into the darkness of the cave next to them,
"All righty, lets go!" The six walk into the cave and immediately find it illuminated by torches lining the walls. The torches look like they are made of solid gold and are carved to look like Charizards with the tail being the torch flame. The scene in front of them is no less then a mind-fuck. There are buttons, boulders, and mounds of dirt, trails and other variously random things. David scans the room before looking off into the distance at a faint glow near the halfway mark of the cave,
"Check it, There's a Pokemon center at the halfway point now. That's new." Kaza stares at David hearing his observation.
"Have you been here before?" David shakes his head,
"Nah but I've studied it in my spare time and I've asked almost every trainer that's gone through this place for tips." Vecransyh looks over to David with a surprised and mostly relieved look,
"So does that mean that you can help us get through this maze?" David says nothing and walks away off to the right. Xylina tilts her head,
"Did you say something wrong?" Vecransyh shrugs,
"I don't..." Suddenly from the direction that David walked to is a large explosion. David soon walks back over to them with a confident smirk on his face,
"Done. The first half of the cave is the easiest anyway. Only 1 puzzle." David points to a large mountain of stone sliding down revealing a winding path visible to lead right to the Pokemon center. The other five look at David in disbelief, "What? All it was was pushing a boulder onto a button that makes the mountain go down making the path." The path to the Pokemon center however could not have been more dangerous as it was filled with trainers and extremely powerful wild Pokemon. Reaching the center is no easy task but after a few hours of straight fighting they all make it to the Pokemon center, "You guys can chill here but I'm going on ahead. Peace!" With that he dashes deeper into the cave disappearing through a large hole in the wall. Kazamaru sighs,
"There goes our ticket to a cakewalk through Victory road..." Vecransyh pats him on the back,
"Don't worry, I'm sure Drake, Latias and I can handle it." Kazamaru nods with a reassured smile and then scowls. "WAIT A MINUTE!!" An hour later the group's Pokemon have been restored to full health and each of them has checked into a room for the night. Vecransyh flops down onto his bed bouncing slightly from the springs,
"This is so awesome I can't believe I'm going to fight in the Pokemon league!!" Xylina floats over to him and floats near the bed giving him a soft smile,
"Well believe it because it's happening." Vecransyh turns on his side and looks into Xylina's eyes.
"And it's all thanks to you and all my other Pokemon." Xylina blushes lightly as she looks into the eyes of her trainer,
"Remember the day we met?" Vecransyh smiles as he recalls the night in the park,
"Of course. I was in the park and you appeared. We talked for a little while and you became part of my team." She floats over to him and lays close to his body on the bed,
"The truth is that I didn't exactly had a good life before I met you. My days were filled with nothing but trainers hurting me and trying to capture me and nights were filled with trying to fall asleep at night while feeling the pain from the attacks..." Vecransyh looks sadly at Xylina,
"Xylina..."
"But that night... I sensed something different about you. You had a certain gentleness that I had never seen before." Xylina blushes a deep red, "And... when I fell asleep in your arms... it was the first time I felt safe... that I didn't have to worry about being hurt anymore..." Vecransyh sees the tears start to form in Xylina's eyes and he lays a hand on her cheek softly wiping a tear from her eye. Without saying anything he wraps his arms around her and holds her close. Still looking into her eyes except now their faces are much closer together,
"I'm glad that I could take you away from all of your sadness and fear." Xylina notices that Vecransyh is blushing lightly as well and reaches out softly touching his cheek,
"You don't know how happy I am that you took me away from that life." Vecransyh smiles lightly as he lays a soft kiss on her forehead,
"Sleep well, princess of the night." Xylina blushes heavily at the nickname and closes her eyes with her arms around her trainer and a smile on her face. Xylina closes her eyes as she hears Vecransyh's breathing become steady as he falls asleep,
"Good night, love."
The next day the group has finishes a good number of the puzzles in Victory road. Vecransyh and Kazamaru lead as Drake, Latias and Xylina walk next to each other a little farther behind. Xylina lets out a sigh as she walks next to Drake, who turns his head to look at the ghost,
"Guy trouble?" Xylina turns to him with a slight blush and nods, "So is it one of those 'lets just be friends' scenarios or is it the 'I love all my Pokemon and I'm clueless about your feelings for me' scenario?"
"The second one..."
"I see. Well, you have 3 options. You can let him go and be a quitter. You wait and see if he starts to develop feelings for you. Or you can show him how you feel. The second one is kind of risky though because he could get feelings for another girl." Xylina turns her head towards him.
"So I should tell him how I feel?" Drake nods, "Thank you Drake I knew you'd know what to say." With that she floats up to join Vecransyh and Kaza as they try to figure out a sliding puzzle. Drake takes Latias' hand in his,
"Ah, young love." Meanwhile up ahead Vec and Kaza are trying to figure out a 4x4 sliding puzzle. Kaza groans as he slides the numbered pieces around,
"This is impossible!!!!" Xylina floats up to him and studies the puzzle,
"No it's not, watch." Kaza moves out of the way as the ghost floats over and begins moving the pieces around. The numbers quickly fall into their correct slots as Xylina works. "These are really pretty simple of course... I suck at 5x5 and more. What you do is do the top line first then the second line then get the four left panels, meaning 9, 10, 13 and 14, to be in their correct place then the last three should just take one or two moves to..." Xylina moves the panel numbered '15' into the correct spot and the wall opens into another passage. "Finish the puzzle!" Kazamaru stares at the ghost then at the new passage,
"Wow." Vecransyh pats her on the back and gives her a happy smile,
"Nice one Xylina! Hey Drake! Latias! It's open!" Drake grins as he and Latias walk up to them and they all continue down the trail. In the next corridor Drake notices a branch in two directions,
"This cave echoes pretty well so me, Kaza and Latias will go left and Xylina and Vec should go right. Holler if you guys find anything." Just before they are lost from sight Xylina and Drake make eye contact and she mouths 'thank you'. A little while down the corridor Kazamaru spots something sticking out of the wall with a plaque above it,
"I think I found something... lets see... 'If only are one you can only concede while two in your midst will let you proceed.' It's just a button." Kazamaru reaches out and pushes the stone lever. There is a silence for a short while before Kazamaru sighs,
"No good..." Latias shakes her head,
"It's a riddle..." Kazamaru jumps when he hears the female voice behind him and turns towards Latias.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about everything so far. This tunnel branches into two separate paths. At the end of this one are a button and a plaque reading that if there is one you must concede and concede means to quit. While having two means to proceed; so, if I'm right there should be a button and plaque the same as this one in the other tunnel." Kazamaru smiles,
"I've never heard you speak before you have such a beautiful voice." Latias rolls her eyes,
"Sorry, I'm taken." Meanwhile in the other tunnel Xylina is riding piggy-back on Vecransyh's back while they walk down the torch-lit tunnel. When they reach the end they see a plaque engraved into the wall with a stone button below it. Xylina floats off of Vecransyh's back and floats over to the button and plaque reading it aloud,
"'If only are one you can only concede while two in your midst will let you proceed.'. Sounds like a riddle." Vecransyh ponders the words rolling them around in his mind,
"This cave branches off in two directions and it mentions in the riddle that you need two to proceed so maybe both the buttons have to be pressed?" Vecransyh walks over and pushes the button just as Kazamaru pushes the button on the other side. There is a silence for a moment then a rumble fills the cave along with the sound of heavy stone moving. Vecransyh grins as he begins walking back down the tunnel,
"Sounds like the path is open! Let's go!" Vecransyh stops after only a second when he doesn't feel Xylina following him. He turns to see the ghost still floating at the back of the cave with a flush of red on her face. Vecransyh walks back over to her and tilts his head, "Your face is flushed... are you sick?" Xylina shakes her head,
"No, that's not it... I just wanted to tell you something before we continue."
"Sure, what's up?"
She floats over to him and pushes him up against the wall of the tunnel putting her hands on his shoulders, "Xylina...?" The ghost looks into the eyes of her trainer still blushing red,
"I need to do this now before I lose my nerve..." Vecransyh looks puzzled,
"Do wha--" His sentence is cut off as Xylina presses her lips against his. Vecransyh's eyes go wide as she kisses him but they slowly close as he puts his arms around her. A minute later the two of them break the kiss and look into each other's eyes.
"I didn't know you felt this way about me Xylina." The ghost softly smiles through her blushing face.
"I have for a long time, Ever since you first held me in your arms." The moment is suddenly shattered by Kazamaru's voice coming from the crossroad.
"WHAT?! DID YOU TWO DIE OR SOMETHING?! COME ON WE'RE ALMOST OUT OF THIS PLACE!!" Vecransyh and Xylina have another quick kiss before walking together back down the tunnel to rejoin Kaza and the others, "Geez, took you guys long enough. What were you guys doing back there anyway?" Vecransyh and Xylina glance at each other. Xylina finally speaks,
"I had to get something off my chest. Nothing big just a good chat." Kazamaru chuckles and Drake meets eyes with Xylina and gives a light smile,
"Not like you have anything on your chest anyway. All right! Let's get out of this cave! Onward!" Kazamaru leads as the other four follow him. Drake and Vecransyh walk ahead as Latias and Xylina walk a little ways behind them. Latias walks next to Xylina who has an odd look on her happy face,
"Spill it. What happened in that cave?"
"I pinned him to the wall and kissed him; was the only thing I could think of at the time." Latias giggles.
"That's the same thing I did to Drake. At first he kinda looked shocked but then he started to enjoy it."
"Same here." The two girls smile and giggle as Vec and Drake walks ahead of them. Vecransyh hears the girls giggling behind him and looks over his shoulder,
"They're giggling..." Vec looks at Drake, "They're talking about me."
"That's what two girls do when they both have someone. They swap stories and... techniques." Vecransyh gives Drake a shocked look,
"WHAT?!" Drake laughs and pats Vec on the head,
"Just kidding. Got a good look on your face after that one. If I can give you any advice it's to take things slow and let things develop as they are. Seems to be working in your favor already lover boy." Vecransyh groans,
"Don't call me that..." Drake laughs,
"No problem, Vec." Vec looks ahead to Kazamaru to see him strolling confidently through the torch-lit cave,
"Are we to the next puzzle yet Kaza?" Kazamaru waves his hand back at Vecransyh without looking at him,
"Just this reeeeeeeeeeally long stretch of cave so far, nothing new." Vecransyh tosses a pokeball and in a few seconds Haunter is floating next to him,
"Fancy a stroll bud?"
"Totally. Pokeballs are nice and all but nothing beats the real feel of a cold dark cave... I could deal without these torches though but whatever." Haunter looks ahead of him and sees the spiky-haired boy strolling happily along, "Well, well, looks like Kaza is back, time to go to work." Haunter floats up behind Kazamaru and stays close behind him before laying a hand on his shoulder,
"What's up Vec?" Kaza turns around and sees no one close behind him, "That was weird..." When Kazamaru turns around his eyes immediately lock onto haunter's evil red eyes,
"GRRRAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kazamaru's face turns white and he begins running down the tunnel screaming. Haunter floats back over to Vecransyh and lets out a dark cackle,
"You've gotten better since the time you tried to scare me." Haunter shows a bladed grin,
"Xylina has been giving me lessons on how to get the best scares. I'm done for now though so I'm going to go back to sleep. Wake me up when you're in another cave." Vecransyh looks puzzled,
"You're done already?"
"Well I hate the light and since the end of the tunnel is right there," Haunter points at a growing arch of light. "I'd like to return to my ball." Vecransyh returns his haunter to its ball as he grins.
"Next stop the Pokemon league!" The four quickly reach the end of the tunnel and find Kazamaru in a fetal position, "Err... Kaza?" Kazamaru regains himself and stands up brushing off his pants,
"We're here at last and it couldn't have been better timing because the league tournament begins tomorrow." Vecransyh looks up the large city full of people awaiting the start of the Pokemon league tournament and his face glows,
"I'm happy." Xylina latches herself to his back with her arms secured around his neck,
"Then lets go! I can't wait to win the tourney for you Vecy." Kazamaru grins,
"Vecy? Hehe." Vecransyh ignores him and grins still looking up at the stadium,
"Then let's get registered and find where we'll be staying for the tourney." The group quickly finds their way to the stadium and to the registration area. Vecransyh and Kazamaru sign up for the lightweight division while Drake signs up for the Heavyweight division for the Ultima league Kanto badge. After reserving 3 hotel rooms and eating dinner the five meet in the lobby of the hotel. Kazamaru stares angrily at Vecransyh,
"Tell my why me and you had to sign up for the lightweight division when we're more then strong enough for the heavyweight!?" Vecransyh lets out a sigh and tips up Xylina's hat as her head is resting on his shoulder,
"Umm... lets see, Drake and David, that enough reason for you?" Kazamaru scratches his head,
"Okay, okay, I see your point. Getting my face beaten into the dirt by Drake again won't really help my self esteem will it." Drake laughs and spins a pokeball on his finger,
"Who knows, maybe some day you'll beat me." Kazamaru grins,
"Maybe someday but before that day comes I have to win this tournament. Or at least come in second or third." Drake looks curious,
"Oh yeah, I forgot to find out what the prizes were for the lightweight division." Vecransyh looks excitedly at Drake,
"3rd place is a master ball, 2nd place is some rare Pokemon and 1st place wasn't released so I'm guessing that it's something really sweet!" Drake looks a little shocked in the order of the prizes.
"Wow, for a master ball to be beaten by a rare Pokemon that prize must have serious power." Suddenly there is a familiar voice behind them,
"To bad that all three of the prizes are going to be ours." The five turn to see Dorian, Salina and Jyro, "Been a while kiddies." Vecransyh grins,
"Hey guys. Long time no see!" Salina nods as she gives Vecransyh a light smile,
"Likewise. I see you got yourself a Mismagius, quite a powerful ghost-type." Xylina smiles at the compliment,
"Hi, my name is Xylina. I believe I've seen you before during that gym battle with Misty but I don't think we were properly introduced." The three trainers stare at the ghost in absolute shock for a few moments before Salina speaks,
"She... spoke!" Drake sighs,
"All Pokemon can learn to speak. It just takes patience and time. My name is Drake by the way and this is my girlfriend Latias." The three of them blink but dismiss it as being a mere coincidence in name,
"My name is Salina," She points to Dorian then to Jyro, "This is Dorian and Jyro." Dorian shakes Drake's hand,
"I've heard a lot about you Drake. Seems you've made quite a name for yourself." Drake shrugs,
"I've tried to fly under the radar so I don't have a hoard of girls chasing me everywhere I go." Dorian laughs,
"I'd prefer that, hehe." The group's swap a few stories over what they did during the past year and head up to their individual rooms. Vecransyh lay in his dark room excited about the next day where he would start his Pokemon league challenge. Curled up against him is Xylina already asleep with a happy smile on her face dreaming of winning the championship for her love and trainer,
"Tomorrow... it begins."