From: "William Rendfeld" <warendfeld@aol.com> Subject: [PW!] Rustboro Fallout Date: Monday, March 22, 2004 9:52 PM Rustboro Fallout On Route 115, a small stretch of ground between Rustboro City and the famous Meteor Falls, a young woman silently attempts to explain to her slightly-younger boyfriend a plan which will, hopefully, aid both of them in the long run. "Alex, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ben asked the young woman before him. "It's sound, trust me," Alex replied. "You send out Nails and Aeros, and I'll send out Surtur and Daraxis to fight them. Hopefully, they'll win, and your Pokémon will be a little more receptive to listening to you." The young trainer sighed and said, "I hope you know what you're doing." "So do I," Alex replied. "But if this does work, it'll count as the rematch." "And if it doesn't?" Ben replied. "Then pray that Aerie and her dad are in good moods the next time I see them," Alex countered. Sitting nearby in the shade were three free-roaming Pokémon. Nadyra the Bayleef happily lay on the ground, her leaf stretched out into the sun so as to catch some light, while ShadowWarrior the Murkrow sat upon a rock next to an as-yet nameless Mawile. "Maw ile ile maw ile mawile mawile?" the large-jawed Steel-type asked the smaller, ebon-winged Dark-type. "I'm hoping that Surtur and Daraxis come through this okay," ShadowWarrior replied. "Still, we don't have much choice except to wait and see." Surtur, Alex's loyal Combusken companion, stood with her and Daraxis the Wartortle as Alex explained her plan to the two of them. As Ben readied his two Pokémon, Alex rose to her feet and called, "You ready?" "Yeah," Ben said half-heartedly, mostly out of concern for Alex. "For the record, I don't think this is a smart idea." "Tough love isn't always easy, Ben," Alex replied. "But sometimes it's necessary, and I think this is one of those times." "Fair enough," Ben replied. "Okay then, come on out guys." Ben opened the two Poké Balls in his hands, allowing an aggravated Nails the Aggron and a slumbering Aeros the Salamence to materialize on the ground. "AGGRON!" Nails bellowed as he was released before realizing that he was no longer within the Rustboro Gym. His eyes narrowing, the large Steel/Rock-type growled, then slowly turned to his trainer. Before Nails could begin to contemplate doing anything to Ben, however, Alex interrupted his thoughts with a cry of "Daraxis, Surf!" Within seconds, both 'saur and dragon were hit with a small-scale deluge of water. While the damage was negligible, both Pokémon did indeed react; Nails turned to face his two opponents, while Aeros shook a bit in his slumber. "<You seem to have some anger to work out,>" Surtur noted, his hands already wreathed in flame. "<Care to spar a bit?>" Nails reply was swift. "<Bring it, chicken boy! Blade took you down, so can I!>" Aeros simply yawned. With a small chickeny smirk, Surtur noted, "<That's the spirit. Let us begin.>" "Surtur, Sand Attack against Nails!" Alex ordered. "Daraxis, Withdraw!" "Nails, Mud...!" Ben began before Nails growled very audibly. "Never mind." Surtur turned off his flames, and simply ran towards the large Aggron before him as Daraxis Withdrew into his shell, boosting his defense. As Surtur ran circles around Nails, kicking up dust and sand as he went, the large Aggron attempted to slam his large Iron Tail down upon the smaller Combusken. However, the attack's own level of accuracy and the effects of Sand Attack, the blow missed. "Okay Surtur, keep it up!" Alex called. "Daraxis, it's time! Use Bite on Aeros!" As Surtur once more used his Sand Attack, Daraxis emerged from his shell and rushed towards the large sleeping dragon in front of him. The turtle quickly approached, opened his mouth (revealing a comically large set of sharp, pointy teeth in the process) and bit down. Needless to say, Aeros was not thrilled with his wakeup call. "SALA!" Aeros cried out, sharp pain coursing through him due to the attack. As Daraxis let go of the large dragon, Aeros looked to his diminutive opponent...and shrugged, not concerned. Nails, meanwhile, attempted slamming down with his tail once more, once again missing Surtur. "Okay, that's improving the odds a little," Alex noted. "Surtur, Rock Smash! Daraxis, Ice Beam!" Ben waited, not certain whether any orders he gave would be followed. Once more avoiding an Iron Tail from Nails, Surtur quickly jumped into the air, then off a rock before crashing down upon Nails's exposed chest area. The blow finally did some damage to the large Aggron, but infuriated him further. Daraxis, meanwhile, had little difficulty in firing off an Ice Beam. The icy blast hit Aeros hard, doing some damage but nothing serious. Nails, still a bit furious that he hadn't landed a single blow to the small Combusken before him, angrily snorted before swiping at Surtur with his Metal Claws. Surtur was barely able to dodge both. Aeros, meanwhile, slightly annoyed that the Wartortle before him had both awakened him from a good sleep and attacked him. However, right now he was more interested in slumbering than in fighting, so he took a breath, brought down his head, and drifted back to sleep. "Okay then, let's get a little more serious," Alex noted. "Surtur, Focus Energy! Daraxis, another Ice Beam!" Surtur assumed what he hoped was a safe distance from Nails, then closed his eyes and focused his senses, a light blue glow coming from his body. Daraxis, meanwhile, fired off a second Ice Beam and hit Aeros straight on. Nails, angered that the Combusken didn't seem to consider him much of a threat, charged the small chicken with a powerful Take Down attack, slamming into Surtur and knocking him skyward. Aeros, meanwhile, once more roused from his sleep, decided that perhaps he should give his opponent a fight. As Surtur rose to his feet, the Take Down attack having knocked the wind out of him, he panted slightly and smirked. "<Not bad,>" he replied. "<Now it's time you saw a trick I didn't have for your comrade.>" Aeros, meanwhile, spread his wings and leapt into the air as only a dragon could before slamming down into Daraxis and knocking the small turtle to the ground, his Dragon Claw resting against Daraxis's chest. "<Pinned ya,>" Aeros noted with a smile. "<Are you certain?>" Daraxis asked in reply. "<I would not celebrate a victory yet.>" The next few actions of Alexandria's Pokémon were swift and decisive. Surtur once more wreathed his claw-like limbs in flame, then charged towards Nails. The large Aggron wondered just what was going on as Alex gave the unnecessary but obligatory order of, "Surtur, Bakunetsu Fire Punch! Daraxis, Withdraw!" Upon hearing Alex's order, Surtur charged Nails, pressing both of his flaming limbs against the large Aggron's stomach. Within seconds, Nails began to feel the heat from Surtur's attack. Daraxis, meanwhile, Withdrew into his shell once more. Aeros, half expecting another Ice Beam, lifted up his claw and poked at Daraxis's shell. The poking was just enough leverage to allow Daraxis to emerge from his shell, tail up, then flip onto his belly and rise to his feet. As his head poked out of his shell, he fired off another Ice Beam. This one, surprisingly, froze Aeros solid, stopping the powerful dragon cold. Nails, meanwhile, was taking damage from Surtur's slow attack, his Steel armor weakening as Surtur kept up the heat. Despite his pain, however, Nails was able to knock Surtur away with a Metal Claw attack. Surtur, however, was expecting the blow, and simply rolled with the hit, letting the grasses break his fall. "Okay, let's finish this up!" Alex called. "Daraxis, Surf! Surtur, Rock Smash!" "Waaarrrrrr!" Daraxis cried out, a wave of water building up beneath him once more, before sending himself and the wave surging towards Nails, cooling his armor and drenching the large Aggron in the process. Surtur immediately followed it up with a Rock Smash attack, pounding into the large Aggron's head and finally knocking the behemoth unconscious. "Whoa," Ben noted with surprise. "I almost didn't..." "Ben?" Alex asked. She tossed the young trainer a Max Revive then said, "I think you'd best bring them around." "Right," Ben said with a nervous chuckle before kneeling down next to Nails and applying the Max Revive. Alex, meanwhile, knelt down next to Surtur and Daraxis and asked, "You two okay?" "<We're fine, thanks,>" Surtur replied. "<Nothing a brief visit to the Pokémon Center will not cure.>" "Tortle," Daraxis noted with a smile. "Glad to hear it," Alex responded happily. "You were great out there, by the way. I'm proud." Both Pokémon smiled a little, glad for both the praise and their victory. Before doing anything else, however, Alex turned to her Bayleef and asked, "Nadyra, could you get an Aspear Berry out of my bag and give it to Aeros?" "Bay?" Nadyra asked with a sweatdrop. Despite some panic, however, she carefully plucked the recommended Berry from a pouch on Alex's bag and walked over to the frozen Salamence, carefully placing it within his open maw. Almost instantaneously, the Berry began to thaw out the defeated Salamence, allowing him to once more move about. As he chewed and swallowed the berry, Aeros looked to Nadyra, then affectionately nuzzled her in thanks. In reply, Nadyra have a happy cry of "Bay!" and nuzzled back. Nails, meanwhile, grumbled a bit to himself; he'd lost, and horribly. "<Of all the things,>" he noted to himself. "<Do you wish to know why you lost?>" Surtur asked, gaining the large Aggron's attention. "<Because you forgot what role you now play. You are part of a team, not simply an individual. You have great strength, yes, but that must be tempered by other factors. That is many of us Pokémon have trainers; they nurture our strength, while aiding us in dealing with our weaknesses. There are far worse trainers out there than Ben, believe me.>" Nails gave the Combusken a hard look, then turned to his trainer. With a smirk, he turned to Surtur and said, "<You may have a point, Chicken Boy. But next time, your tail's mine.>" "<I look forward to it,>" Surtur replied. "Hey, Nails," Ben said, gently putting a hand to his Aggron's shoulder. "You put up a great fight. But maybe you should've used Mud Slap instead, huh?" Nails looked at his trainer, then with a light chuckle and a nod replied, "Ron." "Next time'll be different, though," Ben promised. "Ready to come back?" With a sidelong glance that said otherwise to Surtur, Nails nodded again, then was recalled to his Poké Ball. Aeros quickly followed. "Thanks, Alex," Ben noted with a smile, Mawile walking up to him. "Hopefully Nails'll be a little more willing to listen." "Ile," Mawile noted hopefully. "I hope so," Alex replied, her Pokémon gathered around her. "So, what say we...?" Alex's telepathy quickly sounded off a loud warning; something was coming. "Alex?" Ben asked. "Out of the way!" Alex cried out in panic, shoving Ben to the ground as a Metal Coat-clad Donphan rolled towards them, tearing through the ground and separating the two from her Pokémon. "Daraxis, Nadyra! Stop that thing!" Before Nadyra or Daraxis could lance out with any attacks, however, Daraxis found a long tentacle lashing out towards him. The tentacle ensnared him, and lifted the small turtle into the trees to its source; a large, Metal Coat-clad Tentacruel. Before Daraxis could try an escape attempt, however, he found what little energy he had left being drained from his body. He was quickly knocked unconscious by the Mega Drain, and fell to the ground. Nadyra barely caught him on her leaf before she was hit with a powerful Ice Beam attack, fired off by the same Tentacruel. "What's going on here?" Ben asked. "They're after me," Alex replied. "Head back, find the others." "What?" Ben asked in shock. "But Alex-!" "Go!" Alex called back. "I'll be fine!" Quickly thinking over his options as Surtur and ShadowWarrior attempted to deal with the attackers, Ben nodded, then rose to his feet and rushed off, Mawile quickly following behind. Surtur's fire-based attacks, meanwhile, did little damage to the large Tentacruel as ShadowWarrior attempted to blitz the Donphan with Fly. "I don't think we're faring too well!" the small Murkrow called to his partner. "<Then start praying for a miracle!>" Surtur shot back, seconds before dodging an Acid attack. As Alex recalled Nadyra and Daraxis to their Poké Balls, she quickly thought to herself, _What's going on here? I don't have a problem sensing Ground-types or Water-types, or even Poison-types. Why couldn't I sense...?_ Realizing the metallic sheen on their bodies, she thought, _Metal Coats, that's what's protecting them. But how did I sense them just in time like that?_ #I think I may know,# an odd voice replied. #I Increase people's natural abilities. Your telepathic enhancements are thanks to me.# Alex blinked, then asked, #Are you Eye?# Meanwhile, the battle wasn't going that smoothly. Surtur, weakened and weary from the battle he'd just fought, was quickly running out of steam, and thus had no real defense when he was hit by a Bubblebeam, knocking him out instantly. ShadowWarrior, meanwhile, had managed to weaken the Donphan and stop it from using Rollout. As the large elephant skidded to a halt, ShadowWarrior remained aloft, silently hoping to himself that the large pachyderm didn't know Sandstorm or some other Rock-type attack that could hit him in the air. Fortunately for ShadowWarrior, the Donphan did not know how to use Sandstorm. Unfortunately, he could use Hyper Beam. ShadowWarrior was quickly knocked unconscious as Alex recalled both him and Surtur, the two attacking Pokémon inching towards her. "This...is bad," Alex noted to herself. With a cry of "Tenta CRUEL!" the large Tentacruel seemingly jumped from the tree branches and landed before her, lancing out at her arms and legs with its tentacles and instantly ensnaring her. The Donphan, meanwhile, once again assumed its Rollout attack, revved itself up, and prepared to unleash another devastating attack, this time against Alex herself. As Alex braced herself against the blow, the fifth Poké Ball on her belt popped open and a familiar voice cried out telepathically, #You shall not harm Alexandria!# "Grospoliner!" Alex cried in reply as the small Beldum pounded into the weakened Donphan with its Take Down attack. The stunned pachyderm didn't put up a defense as the small Beldum hit it again and again, eventually knocking it unconscious. #So long as there is still fight in any one of us, we shall not let harm come to our trainer,# Grospoliner said. #It is our duty to her, as it is hers to us. And I shall not break it.# After that semi-dramatic bit of dialogue, something happened to the small Steel-type; he glowed a brilliant white. His rocket-like body split down the middle as his 'head' went from a semispherical shape to a disc-like shape. The one eye split into two, and just as he changed, Grospoliner picked up two new attacks, as well as the means to use them. When the glow faded, Grospoliner was no longer a Beldum; he was now a Metang. The newly-evolved Pokémon turned around, then pointed to the large Tentacruel with one of his new arms and declared, #Release Alexandria immediately!# The Tentacruel's response was to wrap a tentacle around Alex's waste and neck, and squeeze hard. Had Alex been receiving any oxygen, she would have been screaming in pain at that moment. Thankfully, however, that moment of pain did not last long as a bladed leaf, supplemented by several smaller Razor Leaves, flew towards the large Tentacruel, hitting it in the back and forcing it to release its hold on Alex. As it turned it found Ben and Mawile, along with reinforcements in the forms of Bob and Jeff Raiser, standing nearby. "Run or die, squid," Bob declared, his voice a deadly calm. "Take your choice." The Tentacruel narrowed his eyes, then picked up his companion in one tentacle and moved off towards the water. #Alexandria!# Grospoliner called in concern, holding his new Metal Claws up to Alex's shoulders as she gasped for air. #Are you alright?# "Yeah..." Alex replied. "I'm okay." With a grateful glance towards Ben, she said, "Nice timing." "They kinda bumped into me," Ben explained. "Now, what exactly happened?" Bob asked, his biological weapons now resting. As Alex rose to her feet with Grospoliner's aid, she explained, "Those two Pokémon just attacked out of the blue. If it wasn't for Eye Increasing my telepathic abilities, I wouldn't have sensed them in time." "Wait, why would someone be after you?" Jeff asked uneasily. "You aren't a criminal or something, are you?" Alex thought for a second, unsure of how to answer, before Grospoliner advised, #Alexandria, Aerie and Cue are already aware of your heritage, as are possibly Doppler and Mimic. Why not tell others? You can trust them.# With a slight smile, Alex replied, "You're right." She turned to the three boys before her and asked, "Can you keep a secret?" TBC? William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior, the Pokémon Resistance, and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points