The Great NSM Pokemon Adventure!

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 45: Team Maqua

After the victory celebration, Korbin took Maxie and Archie to the meeting room and sat them down.

"It's your turn," he said to them. "Did you get the dynamite?"

"Yes," Maxie told him.

"We have our forces in position at the Mountain Pass," Archie explained.

"Perfect," Korbin said. "I want you two to make sure that those four do NOT get any more badges. I don't need them and the rest of their gang getting in our way again."

"Again, sir?" Maxie asked.

"I thought this was a 'major victory,'" Archie said.

"Sometimes it's good to lie to boost morale," Korbin explained. "Those brats took down the Team Rocket executives like they were nothing. And their friends got rid of all of the stationed grunts. They're a major problem, so I need you two to deal with it, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the two of them said in unison. "Team Maqua is ready!"

"Team...Maqua?" Korbin asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah," Archie said. "We figured since we were working together now, we might as well put our names together."

"I see," Korbin said, uninterested. "I'm taking my leave." As he stepped out the door, he turned to them and said, "By the way, I'll be in my room, preparing for our final phase, so tell everyone not to disturb me."

"I will," Maxie said.

Korbin nodded and headed out the door. He came back a split second later and said, "Also, five more minutes on the name should do."

...MEANWHILE...

About a half hour later, Marty and the others reached Roundhouse Town. They looked around the little town, but no one was there except for the nurse at the Pokemon Shack.

Roz walked over to her. "Where is everybody?"

"In the Dojo," Nurse Joy said. "They're taking a class. You should go sit in on it!"

"Thanks," Marty said. "We'll do that."

Roz's face flushed. "I don't think we have time for that."

"Of course we have time!" Marty said back. "It's not even noon yet!" So the four of them went into the Dojo to sit in on Raymond's class.

...MEANWHILE...

"We're in position," the Aqua admin said.

"Perfect," Archie said through the Radio. "When they pass through, blow it to smithereens."

"Yes, sir," the admin said.

"I'm counting on you Shelley," Archie reminded her. "Don't let me down."

"I won't."

...MEANWHILE...

Raymond's class on Battle Link had just concluded. The other fighters left, and only Marty and the others were left in the dojo, along with Raymond.

"Ah," he said. "You guys came to my class earlier."

"Yes," Marty confirmed.

"It was really cool!" Nebu said.

"I wanna learn it!" Jordan cried.

"It looks like it'd be awesome to use in a real battle," Roz thought out loud.

"It is," Raymond said. "Did one of you come to challenge me?" he asked them.

"No," Marty told him. "Our friend has already won your badge, I think."

"Oh, you guys must know Stepney!" Raymond said with excitement. "Yes, I've battled him. It was an exceptionally good battle. He mastered Battle Link during our battle as well. He and his Roserade totally thrashed me at the end."

"Stepney knows Battle Link?" Nebu asked, amazed.

"Yes," Raymond said. "Now if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!"

"We'll try it out when we get to Treeview Town," Roz told them. "We need to keep going. I want to be in and out of there as soon as we can."

"She's right," Marty agreed. "There's still a few days before the tournament, and we're making great time. We could almost just spend a day in Treeview doing nothing but training. Then we could move on."

"That's true," Nebu agreed.

"In any case," Jordan said, "Let's get going!"

"Well," Raymond said, "It was nice meeting you guys."

"Same," Roz said, smiling. "See you!" The four of them walked away from Roundhouse Town and headed for the Mountain Pass just outside the town.

...MEANWHILE...

"I'm getting impatient!" the former Team Magma admin, Tabitha, said to Shelley. "When are those brats getting here?"

"Quiet!" Shelley said, looking through some binoculars. "They're on their way."

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and the others reached the Mountain Pass after only ten minutes of walking.

"We're almost there!" Marty said.

"Treeview Town is just through this pass," Roz told them. "Let's go quickly." They walked through the pass at a semi brisk pace. When they got to the end, a voice called out.

"Where do you think you're going?" it asked.

"Who's there?" Jordan asked back. He squinted into the darkness of the cave, but saw no one.

"Behind you," she said. They all turned around to see the Aqua admin Shelley standing there with the Magma admin, Tabitha. Shelley was smirking at them on the outside of the cave. In her hand was a small joystick with a red button on the top.

"Team Aqua and Magma!" Jordan said, shocked.

"Actually, we go by Team Maqua now," Tabitha explained.

"What're you doing here?!" Nebu cried.

"Making sure you guys miss the tournament!" she got ready to push the button.

"She's gonna close the entrance!" Marty cried.

Roz, in a panic, looked around to see what they should do. Just then, the only possible idea came to her.

"Jordan!" Roz said. "Run!"

"Why me?" Jordan asked, surprised.

"You're the one that has the Gym Battle!" Roz reminded him. "You have to get out!"

"She's right!" Nebu shouted.

"What about you guys?" Jordan asked, worried.

"We'll be fine!" Marty said, smiling to show Jordan that they would be fine.

"Why can't you run with me?" he asked.

"If one of us gets out, the people behind them would get crushed under the rocks!" Roz explained. "It makes more sense to stay here for a while then to die trying to get out! Now go!" Jordan nodded and ran for the exit.

"Oh, no you don't!" Shelley shouted. She pushed the button on the joystick, and the inside of the cave began to rumble. Jordan got through the exit just as a large boulder came crashing down. He ran down the road, away from the Maqua admins. He looked back to see Marty, Nebu, and Roz one more time before the last rock closed the exit off completely.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 46: Warnings

Jordan continued to run. He didn't know where Treeview Town was, just that it had to be on the road somewhere. He kept running and running until he came across a small village surrounded by trees. He looked around the village, but there were only four small houses. There was no Gym, like there should've been, and there wasn't even a Pokemon Center.

"I don't think this is Treeview Town," Jordan muttered to himself.

"You're right," said an all too familiar voice from nowhere. Korbin stepped out of a portal behind Jordan. Jordan spun around to meet him.

"You know," he said, "you do this so many times, it's impossible to be scared by you."

"The point isn't to frighten," Korbin told him. "I merely have a quick mode of travel. It sure beats walking, after all."

"What do you want?" Jordan asked him, getting slightly irritated.

"First off," he said, "I want to know how you got out of the Mountain Pass."

"It was simple," Jordan bluffed. "Those 'Maqua' idiots didn't even chase after me."

Korbin raised an eyebrow at this. "What about your friends?"

"They're trapped," Jordan admitted, "but it won't take long for them to get out. They can just go back to the entrance and climb around."

Korbin laughed. "Fool. Don't you think we would've sealed the entrance off, too?"

"They can bust out," Jordan said. "Roz's Charizard knows Rock Smash."

Korbin, also becoming slightly irritated, said, "They still won't make it in time for the tournament."

"Whatever you want to believe," Jordan said with a confident smirk on his face.

"In any case," Korbin said, "I'm primarily here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Jordan asked.

"Yes," Korbin confirmed. "Since I still think of you as a 'friend,' I'm here to warn you. Get out of Terrari while you still can. By the final match of the tournament, all the necessary preparations will take place to finally destroy Terrari. I don't want to see all of you get destroyed along with this region." The compassion in his voice led Jordan to believe that he was telling the truth.

"I'll think about it," Jordan assured him.

Korbin made a portal and began to step through it. He turned around to Jordan and said, "By the way, you passed Treeview Town a while ago." He stepped through the portal and it closed behind him. Jordan turned around and walked back the way he came.

...MEANWHILE...

"Charizard, use Rock Smash!" Charizard began to smash its hard head against a the rocks blocking their way. A big rock broke, but a bunch of smaller rocks took its place.

"Go, Lucario!" Marty called. Lucario smashed the rocks with punches and kicks infused with aura.

"Scolipede, Rollout!" Nebu ordered. The ultimate form of Venipede curled into a ball and launched itself into the rocks in a high speed roll. Between the three attacks, the exit was opened again to find Shelley and Tabitha locked in battle with two other Trainers.

"Venusaur, Solarbeam!" Taylor called. Her Venusaur loosed a huge beam of energy at Shelley's and Tabitha's Pokemon, defeating them both.

"Taylor!" Marty called out.

"Hey!" she said back. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," he told her. "It didn't take much for us to get out."

"Well, we're glad you guys are okay," Gregory said. He had not been battling with Taylor and Atticus.

"Where's Jordan?" Taylor asked.

"He got out in time, and should be to Treeview Town by now," Marty said.

"Is the entrance blocked, too?" Atticus asked them, withdrawing his Farfetch'd.

"Yes," Roz answered.

"We'll take care of that," Taylor said. "We're heading back to Maron City."

"You guys got all of the badges?" Nebu asked them.

"Yup!" Atticus said, grinning. They all opened their badge cases to show that they did, in fact, have all eight badges.

"That's pretty impressive," Marty said, smiling. "Good luck, guys!"

As they were about to part ways again, Korbin appeared from a portal in between the two groups.

"Hello," he said plainly.

"Korbin!" Atticus growled.

"Why are you here?" Nebu asked.

"To warn you," he said. "Get out of Terrari while you still can. My plan will be complete by the final battle of the tournament. I don't want you guys to get hurt. You need to go home and forget about this region." He said this with the same compassion that he had used on Jordan.

The response, this time from Marty, was quite different. "No chance."

Korbin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Marty explained, "I'm not leaving and letting you have your way with this region."

"I'm with him," Roz said confidently. "We will stop you, no matter what." Charizard snorted fire out of its nose behind her.

"Fine," Korbin said. "Don't blame me when you all die a horribly painful death." He opened a portal, grabbed the admins, and stepped through it without another word.

They all stood there for a moment, thinking about what Korbin had said to them.

"I'm not leaving!" Gregory declared. "No way!"

"None of us are," Atticus said sternly.

"Why would we go this far just to quit now?" Taylor asked rhetorically.

"Thanks, guys," Marty said.

"No problem!" Taylor smiled back. "We'll see you at the tournament!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Nebu smiled. The two groups went their separate ways. Marty, Nebu, and Roz ran to Treeview Town to look for Jordan.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 47: Collest. Treehouse. EVER.

Jordan walked back down the road in his search for Treeview Town. As he walked, he passed by a sign that he had completely missed when he had run from the Mountain Pass before. He stopped to read it. It said,

Treeview Town down this road.

Jordan facepalmed himself as he walked down the road.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty, Nebu, and Roz walked down the road. This was the first time they had been together, just the three of them, since they had left Ecruteak City. That had been over a year ago. Now they were in Terrari, almost ready to go to the tournament, and were the target of every criminal team in the world.

It had been a pretty successful year.

"I wonder how our parents are doing," Marty said to Nebu.

"Mine are still probably adventuring somewhere," Nebu muttered. Nebu's entire family had always been great Pokemon Trainers. Her parents left when her brother and sister were able to take care of her, and they left when she was able to take care of herself. Roz had taken her in when her siblings left.

"Well," Roz said, putting her arm around their shoulders, "wherever they are, I'm sure they think of you."

"Yeah," Nebu said with a sigh. "Whatever you say."

"Hey," Roz said, "Don't be like that! Cheer up! We always seem to have bad things that happen to us, but we don't give up! You're definitely no exception! And who knows? Maybe they'll see you in the tournament!"

"It IS going to be televised," Marty added.

"If they REALLY cared, they'd came to Terrari and watch in the stands," Nebu said, looking down at the ground. Marty and Roz glanced at each other, worried. They were desperate to change the subject, but didn't know what to do. Just then, they came to the sign.

"Here we are," Marty said, smiling.

"I bet Jordan's already there," Roz thought.

"He'll be happy to see us, I'm sure," Nebu said, perking up a little bit. They walked down the road on the way to Treeview Town.

...MEANWHILE...

Jordan had gotten to the end of the road to find a massive tree. It looked to be an extremely ancient tree, and there was no way any tree would grow that much here. The region had only been around for about five years, anyway. There was a door-shaped cut in the side of the tree facing the road. Jordan walked up to it and touched around it. The cut in the tree acted as an actual door and opened up to reveal an elevator. Jordan gasped in awe and stepped into the elevator. The door closed behind him and the elevator went up.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty, Roz, and Nebu reached the end of the road and found the same tree that Jordan had just come across.

"This tree is HUGE!" Nebu exclaimed, feeling better.

"Treeview Town must be IN the tree!" Roz guessed.

"Well," Marty said, "it makes sense."

"I wonder if this cut in the tree is some kind of door," Nebu guessed. She touched around it, but nothing happened.

"How're we supposed to get up there?" Roz wondered. "This tree is WAY too big to climb."

Just then, three ropes came down from the tree. They had large discs on the bottoms for people to stand on.

"Should we get on these?" Nebu asked.

"I don't see why not," Roz said back. They each stepped on a rope and waited. Nothing happened at first, but then the ropes shot up into the tree. The three of them each screamed a little bit because of the speed of the ascent. They shot through the leaves of the tree, causing some to fall down to the ground.

...MEANWHILE...

Jordan had just gotten off the elevator in Treeview Town, when he heard a strange noise. He looked over to his left and saw three ropes on spinning wheels, reeling something in. He got close to the ropes when all of a sudden, Marty, Nebu, and Roz shot up from under the leaves, flew into the air, and landed on top of Jordan.

"Jordan!" the three of them exclaimed.

"You guys!" he exclaimed right back. "How did you get out of the Mountain Pass?"

"Are you kidding?" Roz asked him rhetorically. "Charizard's a monster~"

"So is Lucario~" Marty sang with Roz.

"And Scolipede~" Nebu sang, completing the chord. When they finished, Jordan clapped.

"This is why we're part of a sheet music forum," he stated.

They took a look around. They seemed to be in a small room which contained the rope mechanisms and the elevator. There was a small doorway leading into the town.

"Shall we?" Marty asked them.

"We shall." Nebu answered, smiling. They walked through the doorway and got their first glimpse of Treeview Town.

It was incredible. There were houses and shops and buildings scattered all over, and there was a zip line to and from each one of them. The branches were worked in with the designs of the town so they wouldn't be a nuisance. The most amazing aspect of Treeview Town, however, was the roof. All the branches and leaves had been cut off in a bowl shape around the top of the tree, allowing sunlight to get in. To combat inclement weather, a glass dome was carefully placed over top of the town. The tree looked completely normal from the outside, however. They guessed it had to be a special type of one-way glass.

"This place is amazing!" Nebu shouted.

"I want to live here," Marty stated in awe.

"If we could stay longer, I would be the first to say yes," Roz said.

"Well before we get too attached," Jordan said. "We should get to the Gym." The rest of them nodded their heads and zip lined over to the Treeview Town Gym.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 48: Nice to See You Again

Marty, Nebu, Roz, and Jordan jumped off the zip line leading to the Gym. Everyone landed cleanly except Marty, who landed flat on his face. The others laughed and helped him up. They walked inside the gym and found the ref standing there, just like always.

"Which of you is here to face our Gym Leader?" he asked.

"I am," Jordan said confidently.

"Good," the ref said, nodding. "This way to the arena." He led them to the arena. The arena in Treeview Gym looked more like a jungle. There were trees and vines everywhere, and grass covered the floor. The Gym Leader was nowhere to be found.

"Where is the Gym Leader?" Jordan asked the ref.

"I'm not sure," the ref said. "I will go fetch him." He ran to the other side of the arena and disappeared for a few minutes.

"So," Marty said. "This is quite obviously a Grass Gym. What's your strategy, Jordan?"

"I'm definitely going to start with Chandelure," Jordan told him.

After a few minutes, the ref came back and said, "The Gym Leader is here now." He walked over to his position. When he got to his position, the Gym Leader came out. All four of them gasped.

"What's wrong?" Jerry said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You?!" Jordan shouted in disbelief.

"Me?" Jerry said back quizzically.

"You're the Gym Leader?" Marty asked.

"Yeah," he said back. "Surprise!"

They were all in shock. They had suspected he was hiding something when Nik had been talking to him. Marty also had suspicions of him when he told him about Dudesworth's stone quarry, but he brushed them aside back then. Now Jerry was standing before Jordan as the Treeview Town Gym Leader.

"Are you ready?" he asked Jordan.

"Oh, yeah," Jordan said. "I've been waiting for this."

The ref did his usual speech and the battle began.

"Go, Jumpluff!" Jerry ordered. The blue ball with cotton puffs around it sprang into action.

"Chandelure!" Jordan called. A big chandelier Pokemon came out. It sported some powerful looking blue flames.

"Chandelure versus Jumpluff!" the ref stated. "Begin!"

"Chandelure!" Jordan called. "Will-o'-Wisp!" Chandelure conjured up a ghostly blue fire and shot it towards Jumpluff.

"Dodge and use Cotton Spore!" Jerry ordered. Jumpluff got out of the way of Chandelure's Will-o'-Wisp and covered it in heavy tufts of cotton, slowing it down.

"Chandelure, Flamethrower!" Chandelure shot a stream of fire at Jumpluff. It was a direct hit, and Jumpluff fell to the ground.

"Jumpluff is unable to battle!" the ref decided. "Chandelure wins!"

"Way to go, Jordan!" Nebu cheered. Jordan smiled back at her.

"Wow!" Jerry said. "You've sure improved. But this is only the beginning! Go, Ludicolo!" The evolved form of Lombre came out and started dancing around erratically.

"Chandelure versus Ludicolo!" the ref announced. "Begin!"

"Chandelure, Will-o'-Wisp!" Jordan called, hoping it would hit this time.

"Not a chance!" Jerry said. "Ludicolo, Hydro Pump!" Ludicolo let loose a huge blast of water, instantly putting out the Will-o'-Wisp and making Chandelure faint on the spot.

"Chandelure is unable to battle!" said the ref. "Ludicolo wins!" Ludicolo began dancing around happily.

"I choose..." Jordan said, trailing off. He had no idea what Pokemon to pick.

"Jordan!" Nebu called out. "Fight fire with fire!"

Suddenly the idea came to him. "Thanks, Nebu! I choose Meganium!" Chikorita's evolved form came out as instructed and got ready to battle.

"Meganium versus Ludicolo!" the ref declared. "Begin!"

"Ludicolo!" Jerry shouted. "Use Solarbeam!" Ludicolo began charging a Solarbeam.

"Fight fire with fire!" Jordan repeated. "Meganium, Solarbeam!" Meganium began charging its own Solarbeam. The two Pokemon stood there for a time, charging large amounts of energy.

Eventually, both Trainers decided it was time to stop wasting time. "Go!" they both shouted. Two large Solarbeams were loosed on opposite sides of the battlefield. The collision caused an explosion which got rid of all the overgrowth on the arena, making it clean. When all the smoke and debris cleared, however, one Pokemon was left standing.

"Ludicolo is unable to battle!" the ref judged. "Meganium wins!"

"Nice job!" Jerry said, still smiling. "But I'm not giving up so easily! Go, Abomasnow!" The large evolved form of Snover came out onto the field.

"Meganium versus Abomasnow!" the ref declared. "Begin!"

"Meganium, Body Slam!" Jordan said, hoping to get a good hit. Meganium began to charge head-on into Abomasnow.

"Abomasnow, Blizzard!" Jerry shouted. Abomasnow let loose a huge blast of snow and cold air, slowing Meganium down.

"Keep going!" Jordan said. "Don't stop!" Meganium kept charging at Abomasnow, continuing to slow down.

"Full throttle!" Jerry told Abomasnow. Abomasnow reared back and strengthened its Blizzard attack to a large beam of Ice energy. Meganium was lost inside the beam. The attack continued for a few more seconds until Abomasnow suddenly stopped. Meganium had made a direct hit on it. However, it didn't have enough speed to injure it, so the attack was ineffective. Meganium, unable to take any more, fainted right in front of Abomasnow.

"Meganium is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Abomasnow wins!" Abomasnow stood there devoid of emotion while Jerry chuckled a little.

Jordan growled and sent out his next Pokemon. "Go, Gardevoir!" One of Ralts' two ultimate forms emerged.

"Gardevoir versus Abomasnow! Begin!"

"Abomasnow, Blizzard!" Jerry called out, hoping to get another fast KO. Abomasnow started charging up another Blizzard, but slower this time.

"Gardevoir, Hypnosis!" Jordan said right after Jerry called out his attack. Gardevoir locked Abomasnow in a powerful Hypnosis, causing it to fall asleep.

Jordan, not missing a beat, said, "Now use Dream Eater!" Gardevoir focused some Psychic energy and Abomasnow began to glow with a sinister pink aura. It looked to be in pain while Gardevoir began to look stronger and stronger. Eventually, Abomasnow stopped having fits in its sleep and fell unconscious.

"Abomasnow is unable to battle!" the ref said. "Gardevoir wins!"

Jerry withdrew Abomasnow and sent out his next Pokemon. "Go, Leafeon!" Eevee's Grass-type evolution came out.

"Gardevoir versus Leafeon!" the ref said. "Begin!"

"Gardevoir, Psychic!" Jordan ordered. Gardevoir used an extremely powerful Psychic attack on Leafeon, which fainted rather quickly. Everyone, including Jordan, gasped.

"Leafeon is...unable to...battle?" the ref stuttered. "Gardevoir wins?"

Jerry laughed. "Poor Leafeon. It's still training. I'm sure it will be a force to be reckoned with eventually, though. Now this is my last Pokemon! Go, Torterra!" He threw out his last Poke Ball, and Turtwig's final form busted into the fray. It had an entire tree growing on its back.

"Gardevoir versus Torterra!" the ref stated. "Begin!"

"Gardevoir, Psychic!" Jordan ordered, hoping to get a quick KO once again.

"Torterra, Energy Ball!" Jerry shouted. Torterra created a green ball of energy at Gardevoir. The two attacks collided, but Torterra easily overcame Gardevoir's Psychic. The Energy Ball hit Gardevoir head on and sent it flying. It found its footing and levitated softly to the ground.

"Hypnosis!" Jordan cried. Gardevoir began trying to put Torterra into a hypnotic trance.

"Torterra!" Jerry yelled. "Don't let it ensnare you! Use Earthquake to finish it!" Torterra stomped the ground, and it began to shake. Gardevoir was injured severely by the shock waves and fainted.

"Gardevoir is unable to battle!" the ref said. "Torterra wins!" Jerry jumped up and down in celebration.

Jordan was running out of ideas. "Go, Spinda!" he called. The dizzy little bear came out, ready to go.

"Spinda versus Torterra! Begin!"

"Spinda, Psybeam!" Jordan called.

Jerry just laughed. "Solarbeam!" he shouted. Torterra instantly shot out a full power Solarbeam at Spinda's Psybeam, instantly knocking it out.

"Spinda is unable to battle! Torterra wins!" the ref shouted, not amazed in the slightest.

"How in the-" Marty stuttered.

"It just launched a full power Solarbeam like it was nothing!" Roz said in disbelief.

"That's impossible!" Nebu shouted.

"Wait," Jordan said, thinking. "That would only be possible if you used-"

"Battle Link," Jerry finished. "Yes, I used it. Better learn fast!"

Jordan thought about it for a moment. Out of the two of his remaining Pokemon, which one did he want to establish a link with? The answer was obvious immediately. "Go, Cinccino!" Jordan's first and strongest Pokemon entered the battle.

"Cinccino versus Torterra!" the ref declared one more time. "Begin!"

"Torterra!" Jerry shouted. "Let's end this quickly with a Solarbeam!" Torterra instantly shot out a Solarbeam.

Time slowed down for Jordan and Cinccino just like it did for Stepney and Roserade. Cinccino looked back at Jordan expectantly.

"Ready?" Jordan asked it, smiling. Cinccino voiced back its happy agreement and time resumed as normal. The Solarbeam continued to shoot out towards Cinccino at a fast pace.

"Cinccino, Battle Link," Jordan said. Something clicked between Cinccino and Jordan just then. Their thoughts synced together into one harmonious thought of victory. Jordan moved a little to the left, and Cinccino instantly followed the motion and dodged quickly to the left. The Solarbeam went off target and made a hole in the wall. Cinccino ran up and attacked Torterra with a barrage of random attacks.

"Torterra, Leaf Storm!" Jerry ordered, not one to crack under pressure. Torterra conjured up a huge pile of leaves and shot them all towards Cinccino.

"Now Giga Impact," Jordan said calmly. Cinccino ran through the Leaf Storm, glowing with white energy. Every leaf it touched was stopped and destroyed by the power of the attack. Cinccino finally broke through the attack and slammed into Torterra with all its power. Torterra went sailing through the air and crashed into the wall, fainted.

"Torterra is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Cinccino wins! The victor is Jordan from Sootopolis City!"

Jordan jumped up and down in happiness, and Cinccino did the exact same. Jerry withdrew Torterra and walked over to him.

"Great job!" he said. "You definitely earned the Tree Badge!" he handed the obviously tree-shaped badge to Jordan, who happily accepted it.

"Thanks," Jordan said. "That was an AMAZING battle."

"I'd like to say the same thing," Jerry told him, "but that would be repetitive." They all laughed at his joke for a moment until he said. "You guys should come with me, though. I have a gift for you guys since you made it so far." The four of them followed Jerry to the back of the Gym, where their surprise awaited them.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 49: It's All in the Cards

Jerry led Jordan and the others into a strange room behind the Gym's arena. It was very dimly lit, save for a few torches emitting an eerie blue flame. Everything about this room seemed to scream, "occult." A strange chill filled the air when they walked in.

"So," Nebu said nervously, "what's this surprise that you have planned for us?"

"Well," Jerry said, "I have this strange hobby. I like to do Tarot card readings for people. I can tell them their future through these cards." He pulled out a deck of cards that seemed to resemble normal playing cards. "You will each get a reading done for coming so far."

"This sounds pretty cool!" Marty said, excited. "May I start?"

Jerry smiled. "Of course," he said. He walked over to the table and sat down. He began to shuffle his deck of cards and eventually drew one. He looked down at a book that was lying on the table.

"Let's see," he muttered. "Marty. Your card is the Nine of Wands. With great preparation and constant vigilance, you will be able to take the lead and maintain control of a large situation ahead of you."

"Sounds interesting," Marty replied.

"Next," Jub motioned toward the others. This time Nebu stepped up.

"My turn!" she said, eager to have her fortune read.

"All right," Jerry said, drawing another card and checking his book. "Nebu. Your card is the Page of Wands. This card represents news or information; this will be good or bad depending on how you treat the situation. I'm not entirely sure but you may be visited by someone from your past?"

Nebu seemed lost in thought. "Someone from my past? Who could that be?"

...MEANWHILE...

In the FoG base, Kelsey and Eric stood guard outside Korbin's room while he prepared for the next phase of the plan. They paced past the door, looking very professional to anyone who walked by. Further inspection, however, would show that they were extremely frantic about the current situation.

"What are we going to do?" Eric asked nervously.

"The only thing we can do at this point is wait," Kelsey told him. "When we get out of here, we have to go find our Pokemon and get the hell out of here. I don't think either of us asked for this. We have to get out of this situation while we can."

"You're right," Eric agreed. "We have to-" Suddenly, Eric was cut off by something ominous coming from Korbin's room. A strange blackness was seeping out the bottom of the door, and the temperature had significantly dropped, instantly sending chills down the spines of Kelsey and Eric.

"He's getting ready to start!" Eric cried. "What'll we do?!"

"Calm down!" Kelsey scolded him. "Even though this looks bad, he shouldn't be able to do anything for a few days. This gives us some more time to get out of here."

...MEANWHILE...

Roz had stepped up to have her fortune read. Jerry shuffled the deck again and drew another card off the top of the deck.

"Roz," he said. "Your card is the Five of Swords. Something from the past will return to you, but I must warn you: at the end of the day, disaster will have taken its toll and take it away again."

Roz gulped. She didn't know exactly what this meant at all, and the puzzled look on Jerry's face wasn't helping at all. She nodded her head and stepped back.

"Finally, Jordan," Jerry said. "You can come up here now. And you can let go of Nebu's hand."

Jordan looked puzzled. He looked down at his hand, and sure enough, he was holding Nebu's hand in his. He didn't remember taking her hand at all. He drew back his hand and his face turned a bright red. As he walked up, Nebu's face turned a similar shade of red.

"Let's see...one more card..." Jerry shuffled the deck another time and picked one at complete random. He looked at his book and smirked a little. "Jordan, you got the Page of Cups. A friend of yours will come closer; Eh, I'll temporarily give up on the vagueness and tell you exactly what it means! Key terms according to this little white book include 'messenger of love', and 'emotional communication.' I think you get the picture!"

Nebu's face turned even brighter red. "LET ME SEE THAT BOOK," she ordered sternly. She jumped at the table and snatched the book from Jerry's hands.

"No!" Jerry cried. "Give it back, please!" The two of them argued over the book. In the ensuing scuffle, four cards fell to the floor. Jerry stopped and looked at the cards. All of a sudden, his eyes grew wide.

"What the-?" He stuttered. "All major arcana?"

Marty, Nebu, Jordan and Roz looked at the cards lying on the ground in front of them. The cards read, "THE DEVIL", "THE WORLD", "JUDGEMENT", and "DEATH".

"What does this mean?" Marty asked Jerry. "What's a major arcana?"

Jerry didn't take his eyes off the cards. "The Tarot cards are split into Major and minor arcana," he explained. "Minor is split into four suits: cups, swords, pentacles, and wands. There are 22 Major Arcana. Basically, they might be considered even more powerful and meaningful than the other 56."

"So what do these cards mean together?" Roz asked him.

"I'm not sure, since I'm still new to this," Jerry admitted, "but I'm going to guess that something really bad is about to happen?"

"How informative," Jordan said sarcastically.

"Sorry I can't be of much more help than that," Jerry said to them.

"It's no problem," Marty assured him. "Whatever the problem is, we'll take care of it. Thanks for the present, Jerry."

"No problem," Jerry said, smiling again. "I'm glad you guys have made it this far. You've only got one more Gym to face, and about a week until the tournament deadline. You're making great time!"

"Thanks!" Nebu said, grinning wide.

"We should really be going," Roz reminded everyone.

"Right," Jordan agreed. "Thanks for the battle, Jerry!"

"No problem!" he said back. "I'll see you guys at the tournament!" He led them out of the Gym and watched them zip line back to the elevator to the ground.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 50: Frivolously Frivolous Frivolity

Marty, Nebu, Roz, and Jordan got off the elevator that had got them to Treeview Town, now with seven badges in their possession. Jordan held up his newly earned badge in the light and admired it while they walked towards FrivVille.

"Now we all have one badge," Jordan noted. "Put them all together and we're almost ready to go to the tournament!"

"I'm so excited for it," Marty said. "I can't wait to see everyone."

"We should be careful, though," Roz reminded them. "Korbin threatened that his plan would be finished by the end of the tournament."

"If that happens, Terrari will be destroyed," Nebu added. "What'll we do then?"

"The only thing we can do is fight back," Marty said. "The seven of us can fight Korbin."

"Don't forget about us!" someone shouted behind them. They looked behind to see Taylor, Atticus, and Gregory trekking down the path behind them. The four of them stopped to let them catch up.

"Taylor!" Marty greeted. "What're you doing back here so soon? I thought you were on your way back to Maron City for the tournament."

"Well," Taylor began, "We were going to head back, but Atticus just REALLY wanted to go back to see the Gym Leader again." She shot a slight death glare at Atticus.

"I can't help it!" Atticus groaned. "He's just so frivolously frivolous in all his frivolously frivolous frivolity!"

"He's also been abusing the word, 'frivolous' way too much," Gregory said, stating the obvious.

"We also figured we'd catch up with you guys and see what you were up to," Taylor told them.

"Well, you're welcome to join us," Nebu smiled.

"I think we're pretty close to FrivVille," Jordan said.

"Oh, sweet frivolity!" Atticus mused. "I'm coming, my dear Francois!"

...MEANWHILE...

Korbin sat in the middle of his room and meditated on the Distortion World. He knew every nook and cranny of that old place. He used to live there, after all. He had been in the Distortion World for as long as he could remember. He remembered his guardian, Giratina, telling him that only the bravery of his mother saved him. It never told him what his mother saved him from, or what happened to his parents, but he tried not to think about it much. Now was an especially bad time to be thinking about it. He should've been concentrating on the task at hand. He took a few deep breaths and began to open a portal. This portal had to be much larger than the ones he usually made, so he had to concentrate much harder. After a few minutes of intense concentration, the floor underneath him was covered by the same black energy Korbin used in his portals. It began to slowly expand until it covered the entire floor. The temperature in the room began to decrease dramatically. The black energy began to creep up the walls and quickly covered the rest of the room. The portal was complete. The plan could continue.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and the others finally reached FrivVille. Only one word could describe this town. It was the most sacred of all words, only to be used for the finer things in life. That word was frivolous. All the buildings were extremely tall and ornate. They all stood in awe at the buildings for a good while.

"Wow," Roz said. "This is just so..."

"Awesome?" Marty tried to finish.

"No," Roz said, furrowing her brow.

"Amazing?" Nebu attempted.

"No," Roz said again, still searching for the word.

"Frivolous?" Atticus asked.

"That's it," Roz said, nodding her head. "This town is just so frivolous."

"Our last Gym Battle will take place here," Marty stated. "I'll try to make it a good one."

"Shall we go then?" Nebu asked him.

"We shall," Marty said back with a smile. The seven of them walked toward the FrivVille Gym, mentally preparing themselves for the frivolously frivolous frivolity that was sure to follow. Frivolous.

TO BE CONTINUED...FRIVOLOUSLY.

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 51: Totes a Frivolously Frivolous Battle

Atticus led the others to the FrivVille Gym as if he had done it a million other times. The building was just as ornate as the others in the city, but inside it was quite normal. The only room inside the building was the arena. It was extremely large, much larger than any other Gym's arena, and the celling was at least ten stories high, which made it perfect for Flying-type Pokemon. At the other end of the arena, three Trainers stood waiting for the challengers.

"Hello," said the man in the middle. He wore a very nice suit and had a mature air about him.

"Welcome to the FrivVille Gym!" said the younger girl on the left of the man in the suit.

"Which of you are the challengers?" asked the older girl on the right. She looked quite a bit like her younger sister.

"I'm the challenger," Marty answered. "Which one of you is the Gym Leader?"

"Maybe you didn't hear me," said the girl. "I said challengers, not challenger. You need two more people to fight alongside you."

Marty was taken aback by this, as were the others. None of them were counting on this.

"We only needed one person to fight," Taylor said. "Why has it become three now?"

"Because I love Triple Battles," the man said. "They're so...frivolous."

"Mashi," Marty said. "That's you, isn't it?"

"Nice to see you, K-NiGhT," he said. "Or should I say Marty? But my name is now Francois. It's more frivolous."

"Let me guess, the two here with you are Ruto and Saria?" Marty asked.

"That's right," the older girl, Ruto,  said with a smile.

"Now please pick your two partners," Saria demanded.

Marty looked back at the others. "Is it okay if I pick you, Taylor?"

"No problem," Taylor said, smiling. "I'm ready to go!"

"How about you, Nebu?" Marty asked.

"I'd love to," Nebu answered.

"I see you've picked your partners," Francois said. "I guess we can begin."

"Don't we need a ref?" Nebu asked.

"Refs aren't frivolous enough for my Gym," Francois told her. "I believe we are mature enough to handle such decisions on our own, don't you?"

Behind them, Atticus squealed in delight.

"Hello, Atticus," Francois said. "Long time, no see."

Atticus was so excited that he fainted.

"Let's get this frivolous small talk over with and get the battle started," Marty said to Francois.

"Agreed," Francois said. "Let's begin. The main battle will be between you and me. Ruto and Saria are merely here for training before the tournament. Because of this, they will be using one Pokemon each. Your partners may only use one Pokemon as a result. You and I, however, have our entire teams at our disposal. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready for a while," Marty answered.

"Then let's begin." Francois, Ruto, and Saria each readied a Poke Ball. On the other side of the arena, Marty, Taylor, and Nebu all readied their Pokemon for battle as well.

"Go, Psyduck!" Ruto called.

"I choose you, Lopunny!" Saria shouted.

"Come out, Drifblim!" Nebu ordered.

"Get ready, Granbull!" Taylor advised.

"Go, Braviary!" Marty called out.

"Let's begin, Magikarp," Francois said.

Six Pokemon launched onto the arena. Five of them looked rather intimidating. Then there was Francois' Magikarp, which flailed about the arena. Marty's jaw hit the floor. What kind of game was Francois playing? Marty decided to be cautious.

"Braviary, use Drill Peck!" Marty called. Braviary shot towards Magikarp like a spinning bullet and pecked it into submission. The Magikarp easily fainted.

Francois looked genuinely shocked. "My poor Pokemon!" he cried. "Avenge him, Magikarp!" Just as soon as one Magikarp left the battle, another entered.

"What the heck is your deal?" Marty asked him. "What's up with the Magikarp?"

"Magikarp are the strongest Pokemon in existence!" Mashi said, looking completely serious. "You got lucky last time! It won't happen again."

FOUR MAGIKARP LATER...

Marty had easily dispatched five Magikarp sent out by Francois, while Nebu and Taylor were continuing their battle with Ruto and Saria. They all seemed to be evenly matched. The only totally one-sided battle was the one that mattered.

"This is unacceptable!" Francois said, beginning to unravel. "Go, Magikarp!" A sixth Magikarp entered the battle. Only this time, the Magikarp didn't flop around on the ground. It floated in the air.

"What the-" Marty stuttered.

"What is that?" Taylor wondered.

"Do it, Magikarp," Francois said with an evil grin. Just then, the arena began to shake.

"What's happening?!" Nebu asked, scared.

"Magikarp!" Francois shouted. "Make destruction rain from the heavens!" Suddenly, meteors and fire fell from the ceiling of the Gym and onto the arena floor, hitting every Pokemon except for Magikarp. The other five Pokemon fainted instantly, knocking everybody but Francois and Marty out of the battle.

"That's insane!" Nebu shouted. "He just took everyone out like they were nothing!"

"He didn't do anything like that when I battled him!" Taylor said.

"That's not even a real Pokemon move!" Jordan interjected.

"That's because I invented it frivolously!" Francois said maniacally. "I only use it in certain frivolous cases! Be prepared to lose, Marty!"

"We'll see!" Marty replied.

"I'll even make it easier on you," Francois said. "You can send as many Pokemon as you want to at me. Isn't that just frivolous?" He laughed maniacally.

"You asked for it!" Marty said. "Come out, everyone!" Feraligatr, Simisage, Manectric, and Arcanine all exploded onto the field. "Rush that Magikarp!" All four of them charged towards the Magikarp, ready to strike it down.

"Make destruction rain from the heavens!" Francois ordered again. The same attack fell upon Marty's Pokemon once more, making them all faint instantly. Francois laughed maniacally.

"Do you see now?" he asked. "This is what a Magikarp can do! Now you've lost!"

"Not quite," Marty said. "I've still got one more Pokemon."

"Fine!" Francois shouted. "Send it out! It will just meet the same fate as the others."

"Francois," Ruto interrupted, "This has to stop."

"Stop?" Francois asked, perplexed. "You fool!" He turned to slap her, but Saria got in the way.

"No you," she said.

Francois growled with rage. "Hurry up and finish this!"

"Lucario, go!" Marty called. Lucario came out onto the battlefield with an extremely relaxed composure.

"It's over!" Francois shouted. "Make destruction rain from the heavens!" The same move appeared above them. The meteors and fire began to rain down. Suddenly, time slowed down for Marty and Lucario, like it had done for the others when they were about to learn Battle Link.

"Ready, Lucario?" Marty asked.

Lucario shook its head as if to say yes.

"Then let's go! Battle Link!" Just then, time sped up again. The frivolous attack rained down on Lucario. When it cleared, Lucario was gone.

"It's over!" Francois cackled.

"Nope," Marty said. "Look above you."

Francois looked up to see Lucario standing on the celling. It was readying an attack.

"That's impossible!" Francois shouted.

"You let your power blind you, Francois," Marty said. "That's what led to your defeat. Aura Sphere!" Lucario shot down from the ceiling and was instantly in front of Magikarp. It loosed the ball of aura straight in its face, which caused the super powerful Magikarp to faint instantly.

Everyone cheered except for Francois, who looked as if he were waking up from a nightmare. "Goodness," he said. "That battle was quite frivolous. So frivolous, in fact, that I don't really remember most of it. Oh, well. I can see that you are the winner. You may take the Frivolous Badge!" Francois handed an ornate looking badge to Marty.

"We have all eight badges!" Marty shouted.

"We can go to the tournament!" Jordan squealed.

"Finally!" Roz cheered.

"Congratulations, you guys!" Gregory said to them. "You earned it for sure!"

"Thanks, Gregory," Marty said. "And thank you for the excellent battle, Francois."

"No problem," Francois said back with a smile. "I'll see you in a week at the tournament."

"Good-bye, Francois!" Atticus squealed. "It was good to see you again!"

"Same to you, friend," Francois replied. Ruto and Saria waved to them as they walked out the door. Francois took out his Pokenav and dialed a number.

"Did you battle him?"

"Yes, I did."

"And...?"

"I assure you, Jari, you will not find a better candidate if you look for the next ten years."

"Perfect. Thank you, Francois."

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 52: The Resistance

Marty and the others left the FrivVille Gym and walked toward the Pokemon Center, where they would stay for the night.

"Now we have all the badges!" Jordan exclaimed.

"We can relax here for a whole week," Nebu stated.

"We should probably do some training," Roz pointed out.

"We'll work out a schedule later," Marty said sarcastically. "For now, let's get to the Pokemon Center." So they walked back to the Pokemon Center as the sun set behind them.

...MEANWHILE...

Underneath a building in FrivVille, five people sat around a meeting table. A map of the Terrari Region was projected onto the table from the ceiling. Scores of blinking red dots were scattered around the region, mostly concentrated in or around FrivVille.

"As you can see," said the man at the head of the table, "many of the Trainers that will be participating in the tournament are located here in FrivVille. We have to make our decision rather quickly. Do we let the tournament continue as scheduled and deal with the problem there? Or do we assemble what troops we currently have and strike while we have the perfect oppurtunity?"

"Francois's report shows that the boy he battled shows great potential," said the woman to his right. "If his friends had the same potential as him, we could have a great driving force by the tournament."

"So what're you driving at, Mae?" the man asked.

"Well, Jari," she continued. "I move that we find this Marty, see if we can get him to use this power, and then we can try to get rid of the FoG threat before the tournament even starts."

"And if that fails?" Jari questioned.

"Then we can see if his friends wield the same power," Mae explained. "We could use it during the tournament to stop Korbin once and  for all. Eventually, Korbin will break. I move for this plan." She looked around the table. "All in favor?" she asked. Five hands went up in the air.

"Motion approved," Jari stated. "Let's go find the boy."

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and the others had reached the Pokemon Center, and were sitting down for a meal.

"So," Gregory began, "Earlier today you guys were talking about how you were going to stand up to Korbin."

"That's right," Marty affirmed.

"How do you plan to take on the FoG,  on top of Teams Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic and Plasma?" Taylor inquired.

"That's...a really good question," Nebu answered gloomily.

"Even if we get Matt, Stepney, and Davy back, we'll still only have ten of us against all of them," Jordan noted.

"We'll need hundreds of people if we want to take all of them on," Roz stated. "Where will we find that many people on such a short notice?"

"Well," Atticus suggested, "if we do it at the tournament, we'll have quite a few Trainers at our disposal. We can work on recruiting them there."

"That's a good idea," Marty said. He quickly finished his plate and took it to the dishwasher belt. "I'm gonna head to bed early," he said. "That battle took a lot out of me."

"Are you sure you're tired?" Taylor asked him. "I have a place I want to show you."

"Tonight?" Marty asked her.

"Yeah," Taylor said. "This way I won't forget! Please?" The look in her eyes made Marty break for some reason.

"All right," Marty said with a sigh.

"Yay!" Taylor squealed with delight. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her out of the Pokemon Center.

"Where are we going?" Marty called after her.

"You'll see!" she replied. "I found this place earlier today and I wanted to check it out while it was open. The owner is really nice, and he introduced me to the band that plays there, since he's part of it. Apparently it's really popular around here!"

"This sounds really nice," Marty said, smiling. "What is this place like?"

"See for yourself!" Taylor exclaimed. "We're here!"

...MEANWHILE...

In the basement of the building in FrivVille, Mae stood over the projected map of Terrari. She was getting tired of looking down at it, so she adjusted it with her hand to the board on the wall.

"Better," she mused. She looked at the dots around FrivVille and furrowed her brow. Just then, Jari came in the room.

"You know," he said, "you COULD take a break if you wanted."

Mae ignored him. "Look at this," she said. She pointed to two dots walking in the direction of the building they were in. "These two are heading right for us."

"Do you think our target is one of them?" Jari asked her.

"I think it wouldn't hurt to check," Mae replied.

"I'll call Francois and get a visual description of him," Jari said. "You go upstairs and check out those two heading here."

"Yes, sir!" Mae shouted. She walked out of the room swiftly.

...MEANWHILE...

"Marowakz? What kind of club name is Marowakz?" Marty asked.

"Trust me," Taylor said, "There are WAY worse names out there. And what's wrong with Marowak? I happen to have one, myself."

"I didn't say there was anything wrong," Marty explained. "I was just commenting that it was a rather strange name for a club. That's it."

"Sure," Taylor said sarcastically. "Let's just go inside."

...MEANWHILE...

Mae walked up the stairs after taking a map of FrivVille with the tracking dots on it. She zoomed in on the building she was in, a club called Marowakz. The two dots that they had been tracking were walking inside the building. Seeing them move inside made Mae speed up a little bit.

...MEANWHILE...

Marowakz was quite impressive. It looked like any normal dance club, but the decorations were all made of bone. Even the drummer in the back was drumming with a pair of bones. The band was nothing to sneeze at, either. They played rather nicely. They made each song seem familiar, even if someone had never heard it before. There was a Flaaffy dancing on stage next to the singer. When they finished their song, Taylor made eye contact with someone standing backstage and waved at him. The guy waved back, hopped up and said, "FSM is gonna take a short break. We'll be back in a little bit, don't worry!" A couple of people groaned around the stage. He jumped off the stage and walked over to where Marty and Taylor were standing.

"Hey!" he said to Taylor. "You made it!"

"I did promise," Taylor reminded him. "Remember?"

"Of course!" he said with a smile. He turned to Marty. "Who's your friend?" he asked.

"This is Marty," Taylor said. "He's a good friend of mine." She turned to Marty. "Marty, this is Jake. He owns this club and he also plays in the band. I met him earlier today when I got here."

"Nice to meet you, Jake," Marty said pleasantly.

"Same to you," Jake said back. He looked Marty over for a few seconds, and then he turned to Taylor. "So, this is your boy...friend?"

"No!" Taylor shouted. "He's not my-"

"I'm not her boyfriend," Marty said.

"Hmm..." Jake grunted disapprovingly. "You two look perfect for each other." The two of them blushed, and Jake picked up on it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make it so awkward. Why don't I introduce you guys to the rest of the band?" He walked them over to the stage. There were three others sitting on the edge of the stage waiting to start back up.

"Hey, Jake!" said one of the guys. "Why'd we stop?"

"That set was going so well!" the girl complained.

"Guys," Jake said. "These are my friends, Marty and Taylor."

"Nice to meet you," said the girl. She smiled at Taylor and mouthed, "Girl power!"

"That's Caroline," Jake said. "She plays the saxophone and sings in our band." He looked over at the other two boys. "Those two are Otso and Marcus. They both play piano exceptionally, but Otso also sings and plays guitar."

"Nice to meet you!" Marty said enthusiastically.

"Isn't it?!" Otso said just as enthusiastically.

Marty was taken aback. "What?"

"I'm joking," Otso assured him. He made a funny face. Marty and Taylor laughed at him.

Taylor turned to Marcus. "Nice to meet you too, Marcus," she said kindly.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Well," Otso said, "Now that the introductions are over, can we start back up? It looks like people are getting bored."

"Sounds like a plan," Jake said. "Good to see you, Taylor! And it was very nice meeting you, Marty."

"Thanks," Marty said back. "It was nice meeting you, as well." The two of them walked back to where they were while the band got back up and started playing again.

...MEANWHILE...

Mae had gotten up to the ground floor and noticed the band had just gotten done with a break. There were two people walking away from the stage, one wearing a white hoodie and one wearing a black hoodie. She zoomed in on her map to the point where the only thing that was visible was Marowakz. The two dots were moving away from the stage in the exact same position as the two she had spotted. She got out her Pokenav and called Jari.

"What was the visual on Marty? I've spotted the two trainers," she asked.

"Male, about age 17. Short, brown hair, light skin, black hoodie."

"Then I've found him," Mae affirmed. She started walking at her brisk pace to the two of them.

...MEANWHILE...

"So," Taylor said. "What do you want to do now?"

"I'm good with going back to the Pokemon Center," Marty said. "I'm kinda tired."

"That sounds nice," Taylor said. "I'm ready to go, too." As they headed for the door, a taller woman with black hair cut them off.

"You," she said, pointing at Marty. "Come with me."

"Who are you?" Marty asked.

"That isn't important," the woman said. "Please follow me." She started walking towards a door across the room, and Marty followed with Taylor close behind. The woman opened the door and motioned for them to go through. There was a large staircase through the door leading down underground quite a ways. They walked for what seemed like an eternity before Taylor finally broke the silence.

"So, why are we following you?" she asked the woman.

"Because we need your boyfriend's talents," she replied sternly.

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" Taylor cried. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?" Marty looked away and blushed.

"That's not important," the woman said. "What's important is that we get you guys to fight for us."

"'Us?'" Marty questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"The Resistance," she said. "We are banding together to stop Korbin and the FoG before they destroy Terrari."

"That's just what we needed!" Taylor said enthusiastically to Marty. "We should tell the others!"

"There are more of you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Marty answered. "There are ten of us here in FrivVille, and three more that we could call."

The woman stopped. "How much do you all know about the Battle Link technique?"

"I think we could all use it," Marty guessed. "I think only three of us have done it before, though."

"Perfect!" she said, clearly happy. "You should call them as soon you can."

"I will, uh..." Marty stopped. "What's your name again?"

"You can call me Mae," she said. "I'm second in command here, under Jari."

"Okay, Mae," Marty said, memorizing. "Good too meet you."

"Likewise," Mae said flatly. "Let's get you to the commander."

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 53: PokeCross

Mae had led Marty and Taylor into a small meeting room. She took a small tablet out of her pocket and swiped her hand on it. The display disappeared and reappeared on the table in front of them. Marty and Taylor stared in awe.

"That's pretty cool," Marty admitted.

"Thanks," Mae said, smiling a little bit. "It took our tech guys a while to develop, but it's pretty useful. Now could you take a look at this map for me?" The three of them looked down at the table to see a large map of Terrari. There were a bunch of blinking red dots all around. There were quite a few in FrivVille, and some were back in Maron City. There were three dots flying into Maron City from somewhere, as well.

"What are these dots?" Taylor asked.

"These dots represent Trainers that are planning to participate in the tournament next week," Mae explained. "It's how we were able to track you down."

Marty studied the map carefully. He noticed a few dots in one town that he wasn't sure they had visited. "What town is this?" he asked.

"It's called EVille," said a voice coming in through the door. "And it's where we suspect the FoG base is located." A young man with a buzz cut stepped into a meeting room. Three other guys followed behind him.

"Commander Jari!" Mae said, snapping to attention.

"Relax, Mae," Jari ordered. "I see you found the boy."

"Yes, sir," Mae affirmed. She turned to Marty and Taylor. "Marty, Taylor, this is Commander Jari. He's the leader of the Resistance."

"Nice to meet you," Marty said calmly.

"Likewise," Jari said back. "Behind me here are the other three members of our council. We have Concerto, our head of surveillance."

"Hello," said Concerto. He seemed rather pleasant. He had a somewhat jovial air about him, even in such a serious setting.

"Next to him is Mobo, our head of intelligence," Jari continued.

"It's a good thing we found you," Mobo said. "The Resistance could really use your help."

"And finally we have Sabin, our technology expert," Jari said, completing the introductions.

"Do you like my technology?" Sabin asked. "It's the latest and greatest thing in my country."

"Nice to meet all of you," Taylor said pleasantly.

"So," Marty began. "You guys keep saying that you need my, 'talents' or you could, 'use my help.' What exactly do you want from me?"

"We want you and your friends to learn an experimental product of Battle Link that we've developed to aid in the fight against Korbin," Sabin explained.

"An experimental product?" Taylor asked. "What do you mean?"

"He means we've managed to take Battle Link even farther," Mobo said. "We call it Project PokeCross."

"What does this 'PokeCross' do?" Marty asked.

"It's not entirely clear," Mae admitted. "We've only had one successful use of the technique in a laboratory setting. From what we gathered with that one success, it seems to, uh..."

"Well?" Marty asked. "What does it do?"

"Forgive me," Mae said. "It's rather abstract. I don't expect either of you to believe this."

"We can handle it," Taylor assured her. "Tell us, please."

"Okay," Mae said. "Basically, PokeCross merges the linked Pokemon with the Trainer, making them into one entity."

Marty and Taylor both stared at her for a moment. "Really?" Marty asked her.

"Yes," Mae sighed. "I told you it would be hard to believe."

"It's not that I don't believe it," Marty said. "It's just rather difficult to wrap my head around this."

"It is difficult to comprehend at first," Jari agreed. "Maybe it'd be better just to show you. Follow me." He walked out the door, and the others followed. They walked down a long hallway until they reached a door that read, "Laboratory". It was a quaint room, with white walls and computer screens. There they found a familiar face waiting for them.

"Hello, Marty," said the Champion,  Mike. "It's been a while."

"Mike!" Marty said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm helping the Resistance perfect the PokeCross technique," Mike explained. "I think I've finally got it down."

"That's great!" Taylor exclaimed. "You should teach us!"

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Mike asked. "Let's get started-" He stopped and looked around the room. "Say, weren't you with a bunch of other people last time we spoke? Where are they?" He looked at Marty and Taylor. "Oh," he said. "I see you two are travelling together. Pardon me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Taylor asked, expecting what was about to happen.

"I just assumed that you two were...together," Mike said, blushing. "Forgive me for assuming."

"No problem," Taylor said in a huff.

"Anyway, Mike," Jari said, interrupting the conversation, "What more have you learned about the technique?"

"I haven't just learned," Mike said. "I've finished perfecting the technique."

"You've perfected it so soon?" Mae questioned. "How?"

"It was actually very simple," Mike explained. "So simple, in fact, that literally anybody who learned Battle Link could master the technique with a little time."

"That's amazing!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Would you care to give us a demonstration?" Jari asked Mike.

"Of course," Mike agreed. "You'll need to stand back." He got out a Poke Ball. "Volcarona!" he called. The large Bug Pokemon emerged. Mike turned to the others. "You're going to slap yourselves when you find out how simple this is," he said to them. "Battle Link!" He established a Battle Link with Volcarona.

What Mike did next was so simple that no one could've figured it out if they had wanted to. He walked up to Volcarona and touched it with his hand. Suddenly, Mike and Volcarona both began to glow with a bright white light, just like a Pokemon would if it was evolving. Then, Volcarona seemed to merge into Mike. There was an explosion of light which temporarily blinded everyone. When it was all clear, everyone looked to find Mike and Volcarona. Mike was standing right where he was before he had started the technique, but he looked quite different. For starters, he had wings that looked exactly like Volcarona's coming out of his back. On top of that, he was now wearing the armor of a samurai, and his hair had grown quite long. He had red horns coming out of the top of his head. He looked extremely menacing, no two ways about it.

"This," he said, "is the perfected version of PokeCross."

"Wow," Taylor said, gaping in awe.

"That's amazing," Marty admitted. "When do we get to learn?"

"We'll start tomorrow," Mike said. "You should call your friends and get them here so they can learn as well."

"I'll get on that," Marty told him. He turned to Taylor. "Can you call the others at the Pokemon Center while I try to get ahold of Davy and the others?"

"Sure," Taylor agreed. They both took out their Pokenavs and dialed numbers.

...MEANWHILE...

The others at the Pokemon Center were worried sick. Marty and Taylor had been gone for hours, and they still weren't back yet.

"I hope they're okay," Nebu said.

"I'm sure they're fine," Roz assured everyone. "Marty can take care of himself, and I'm sure Taylor can, as well. We just have to be patient." As they sat and worried for a few more minutes, Gregory's Pokenav rang. He got it out and checked it.

"It's Taylor!" he exclaimed. He answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Gregory, it's Taylor. I don't have a whole lot of time to talk so I want you to listen."

"Taylor, where are you guys?"

"We're at Marowakz. Well, sorta. Just come over here and I'll show you what I'm talking about." With that, Taylor hung up the phone.

"Well?" Atticus asked Gregory.

Gregory stood up. "We're going to Marowakz."

...MEANWHILE...

"You said Club Marowakz in FrivVille, right?" Davy asked.

"That's right," Marty said. "How long will it take you to get here?"

"Oh, about thirty minutes," Davy guessed.

"Great. Get here as soon as you can."

...THIRTY MINUTES LATER...

The others had made it to the Resistance base, where they had all been brought up to speed on recent events.

"You will all begin training on Battle Link and PokeCross in the morning," Mae instructed. "On Saturday, the Resistance is staging its assault on EVille. That gives you all five days to learn and master PokeCross. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Everyone said together.

"Good," Mae said, pleased. "Now go get some rest."

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 54: Cross-Training

Mike led Marty and the others to the designated training area. It wasn't anything impressive, just a normal arena.

"Pretty bland," Roz noted spitefully. She had been rather irritated ever since she came to the base and saw Mike again. Everyone was still curious to know what had happened between them to make Roz so cold towards him.

Mike paid no attention. "This isn't the real training field," he told them. "We have this fake arena set up to protect the people in-training." He walked over to the middle of the arena and motioned for everyone to follow him. They all stood inside the circle. All of a sudden, Mike shifted his foot around in an odd pattern and the circle they were standing in started to move down like an elevator. As they went down, Marty began to wonder how far underground they were. They had gone down so many stairs since they had arrived. When they reached the bottom, they were astounded. There must have been a hundred arenas in the room. The white walls and ceiling made the room feel like it went on forever, and it easily could have. The ceiling was extremely high to allow for aerial combat. It was the perfect place for high intensity training.

"This is amazing!" Matt exclaimed. "I can't believe we'll be training here!"

"Believe it," Mike said. "You'll be staying here for the next few days. You haven't much time to learn the technique, and most of you haven't even learned Battle Link, yet."

"How are we going to get caught up?" Davy asked him.

"Battle Link is extremely simple," Mike assured him. "At this point, it should just be a matter of which Pokemon you want to link with. You should choose now." Everyone decided on the Pokemon they would link with. Matt chose Sceptile, Davy decided on Blastoise after some thought, Gregory went with his trusty Zangoose, and Atticus immediately chose Farfetch'd. Nebu picked Drifblim, Roz had already decided on Charizard, and Taylor called for Venusaur.

"Good," Mike said. "Now you guys go battle with each other. I'm going to take Marty, Stepney, and Jordan and start them on PokeCross." So the others went off on their own to train. Marty, Stepney, and Jordan were left with Mike.

"So how do we start?" Stepney asked him.

"First, I'll show you how to do the technique," Mike explained. "Then I will have you practice on your own. Before we start, do you have any questions?"

"Yes," Marty said. "What are the benefits of using this technique?"

"Well," Mike began, "you don't have to waste time giving out orders to your Pokemon. The reaction time is instant. On top of that, the power of moves is greatly increased. It also enables any type of Pokemon to engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"Pretty nifty," Jordan noted. "How do we start?"

"Call your Pokemon out," Mike requested. Lucario, Roserade, and Cinccino emerged.

"Now what?" Marty asked.

Mike sighed. "You have to be more patient."

"Sorry," Marty said sheepishly. "I'm just so excited!"

"Good," Mike said.

...MEANWHILE...

"They've started training," Mae reported.

"Good," Jari said. "Go down there and assist Mike. We want them ready for the EVille invasion."

"Yes, sir," Mae addressed. "I'll head down there right away." She left the meeting room and headed for the training facility.

...MEANWHILE...

"That's the basic fundamental of PokeCross," Mike finished. "You just have to touch the Pokemon while in a high state of Battle Link."

"That's it?" Stepney asked.

"That's it," Mike told him.

"That seems really easy," Jordan observed.

"It takes a lot more concentration than you would think," Mike said. "Why don't you try it and find out?"

"Okay," Jordan said. "Cinccino, Battle Link." Jordan and Cinccino established a link and walked up to each other at the same time. They both raised their right hands and touched them together. Everyone stared at them for a little while, but nothing happened.

"See what I mean?" Mike asked him. "Even with a Battle Link, it's not quite enough. You also have to link on an emotional level as well as thought for the technique to work."

"This is difficult," Jordan said. "But I'll keep working! Cinccino and I will get this down!"

"Good," Mike said, pleased. "You two better get to work, too."

"Yes, sir!" Marty and Stepney said in unison.

...MEANWHILE...

In the FoG base, Kelsey and Eric were being relieved of their duties by two other members of the FoG under them.

"Kelsey and Eric," he said. "I'm here to relieve you for now. Korbin has left you in charge of the base's operations while he's focusing on the plan."

"Perfect," Kelsey said, trying to hide a huge grin. "Thank you." The two of them walked off to the mess hall, where all of the other forces had been amassed. Ghestis was at the stage giving a speech.

"We shall take this no longer!" Ghestis shouted. "Korbin plans to get rid of us as soon as his plan is set in motion! We must overthrow the FoG before it is too late!" Team Plasma members in the audience roared with cheers and applause. Ghestis continued. "We must start by getting everyone to back us up! Who else will stand with us?" There were a few scattered claps here and there, but they died out quickly.

"What's going on?" Eric asked Kelsey.

"It looks like Ghestis is trying to stage a mutiny," Kelsey observed.

"What do we do?" Eric asked.

"We can help with that," said a voice behind them. They turned around to see Nik and Blue Flower coming up behind them.

"What do you have in mind, Nik?" Kelsey asked him.

"I think I can talk Ghestis out of his mutiny," Nik said. "If it doesn't work, I could at least get him to wait a few days. In that time, Korbin should be almost finished with the first part of his plan. We'll rally the FoG along with the other teams and have everyone fight Team Plasma."

"What good will that do?" Eric asked.

"Don't you see?" Blue Flower asked him. "In the chaos, you two can grab your Pokemon and we can all get out of here."

"You'd help us like that?" Kelsey asked.

"Of course," Nik answered. "We're all in the same boat. I'll go talk to Ghestis." Nik walked up to the edge of the stage and waited for Ghestis to finish his speech.

"I really misjudged them," Eric said. "They're truly good guys, after all."

...THREE DAYS LATER...

"I'm proud of all of you," Mae said. In the three days they had been training, all ten of them had mastered PokeCross. They all looked impressive, with each of them taking on characteristics of the Pokemon they had crossed with.

"Thanks, Mae," Marty said. He had crossed with Lucario rather quickly, being the first person to master the technique.

"We owe you big time," Roz said, flapping her newly found Charizard wings.

"Which is why you're helping us infiltrate the FoG base," Mae said. "Today."

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 55: Taking the Fight to Them

"What do you mean we're infiltrating the FoG base?" Marty asked Mae.

"It means we're going to set out and fight Korbin before he finishes his plan, whatever it is," Mae answered.

"We're not ready!" Nebu interjected.

"Please," Mae snorted. "You all mastered PokeCross in less than two days. You've proven in this last day that your combat skills are far above average, and your abilities are top notch. We're staging this invasion today, end of story."

"Is that the only reason you called us all here?" Roz asked angrily. "So you could just use us as your pawns?"

"We chose you all because of your ability," Mae said. "And Mike vouched for all of you. Especially you, Roz." Roz glared at Mike, who averted her gaze.

"All right," Davy said. "Let's just do this, shall we? What's the plan?"

"Jari will tell you everything," Mae assured him. "Follow me."

...MEANWHILE...

"I've had enough of this!" Ghestis shouted.

"Please, Ghestis," Nik pleaded. "Remember why you're here! I know Korbin wouldn't betray you like that!"

"Enough!" Ghestis roared. "I am normally a very patient man, Nik, but I will not stand here and wait any longer! I am going to take down this menace that is the FoG!" He stormed out of the room to assemble his forces. Kelsey and Eric rushed in to meet Nik.

"I can't stop him anymore," Nik said glumly. "Sorry, guys."

"It's no problem!" Kelsey said. "We have more important things to worry about! Korbin is almost finished awakening Giratina, and we still haven't found our Pokemon. Get Blue Flower ready to go. Once Ghestis strikes, we'll be ready to get out of here as soon as we can!"

...MEANWHILE...

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Jari asked. "You are to make five groups. Each group will handle a specific team. If we divide each team, it will be easier to get to Korbin."

"We'll decide who will pair up when we get over there," Mike assured them.

"We already have several battalions of regular Trainers allocated to your squads," Mae said. "They're mainly for back-up, since you will probably be able to take care of it all yourselves."

"Is everyone clear?" Jari asked them.

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison.

"Let's move out then," Jari said.

...MEANWHILE...

Korbin walked through the Distortion World in search of Giratina. He searched and searched, but he could not seem to find his former guardian. Frustrated from the constant walking, he decided to jump off of a ledge. He fell for a long while, but managed to land safely on another broken piece of land.

"Giratina?" Korbin called. "Where are you?" Suddenly, two red eyes shone through the darkness.

"Perfect," Korbin smiled. "I need your help, Giratina."

...MEANWHILE...

"Team Plasma!" Ghestis shouted with a crazed look in his eye. "Today we take over this operation in the name of our lord, N!" At the mention of this name, loud cheers and applause erupted all through the base. "Let's go!" Team Plasma sent out all of their Pokemon and began to fight with the other teams.

...MEANWHILE...

Nik and Blue Flower met Kelsey and Eric at the storage room.

"Did you get them?" Nik asked Kelsey.

"Sure did!" Kelsey said with a huge grin on his face. "All we had to do was throw out all of the Pokemon until we found them."

"It got really crowded in there," Eric admitted, "but we called back all of our Pokemon, found their Poke Balls, and got the heck out of there."

"Perfect," Blue Flower said. "Let's hurry and get out of here."

Just then, an announcement came on through the PA system that ran through the entire base. "Attention all personnel! Please report to the mess hall ASAP! Team Plasma has revolted and should be treated as the enemy."

"We have to get out, now!" Eric shouted. "They've started!" The four of them began to run all the way up the base. They had hardly been running for ten seconds when another announcement came on, this time accompanied by lights and sirens.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" shouted the FoG member behind the PA system. "This is not a drill! There is a large force of unknown Trainers at the main entrance following ten Trainers who seem to be dressed as different Pokemon! Any personnel not fighting in the mess hall report to the entrance right away!"

"What's going on?" Nik asked.

"This wasn't part of the plan!" Kelsey shouted. "We've gotta go!"

...MEANWHILE...

Marty was running through the main entrance with the others. He called up Concerto on his headset. "We're in!" he shouted into the headset. "Have you got a map of the base yet?"

"Sure do!" Concerto said. "Korbin's room is on the bottom floor of the base. Get your partner and get down there, now!"

"Thanks, Concerto!" Marty said. He looked at his friends and chose a partner to come with him. "Davy!" he shouted. "Come with me! We're heading straight to Korbin!"

"Let's go!" Davy shouted with determination.

"The rest of you choose a partner and get going!" Marty shouted. "Mae, please take care of Taylor for me!"

"Yes, sir!" Mae shouted. She had crossed with her Samurott on the way to the base.

"Move out!" Marty shouted. All twelve of them disappeared with a blinding speed, off on their separate missions. The rest of the troops began to storm the mess hall, where the main battle was taking place.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 56: Battles and Betrayals

Marty and Davy raced down the many hallways of the FoG base using the map Concerto had sent to them through the heads-up display they had received from Sabin. As they were watching the maps they didn't notice the four people that were running in the opposite direction. They bumped into the two at the front, losing their focus and the PokeCross.

"Ow!" Marty shouted. "Watch where you're going!" He looked up at them to find Kelsey and Eric lying on the floor, dazed. Nik and Blue Flower were behind them.

"You!" Davy shouted at Nik and Blue Flower. "You traitors!"

"We can explain later," Nik told them sincerely. "Right now the four of us are trying to get out of here."

"Not until you explain to us why you betrayed us at Iceburg City!" Marty demanded.

"I'm sorry," Blue Flower said quietly. "We don't have the time right now."

"Yeah!" Eric said, getting up. "We're trying to run away, here!"

"Suffice it to say that we are officially on your side," Kelsey told them. With that, the four of them continued running the way Marty and Davy had come.

"That was odd," Marty said.

"For sure," Davy agreed. "We have to keep moving." The two of them raced down to meet Korbin.

...MEANWHILE...

All of the Teams were assembled in the mess hall along with the entire resistance. Team Plasma members had seemingly gone insane and was attacking all the other teams.

Mae saw what was going on. "This works in our favor!" she shouted to the others. "We don't have to concentrate on splitting up and taking just one team at a time!"

"What incredible luck!" Atticus exclaimed.

"Let's do this!" Taylor yelled. The ten of them charged into the fray.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and Davy were just about to reach Korbin's room when Marty decided that now would OBVIOUSLY be the perfect time for small talk.

"So," he said. "Why did you pick Bisharp as your cross Pokemon? I thought you were going with Blastoise."

"I thought so too," Davy said. "But the rest of my Pokemon seemed to be unable to link with me for some reason. Bisharp was the only Pokemon with which I was able to complete Battle Link."

"That's odd," Marty said. He looked around and noticed that the air seemed colder. There was some sort of black matter seeping out of the door at the end of the hallway.

"We're here," Davy said. "Are you ready?"

"I think the better question is, are you ready?" Marty said back.

"Always the smart-alec," Davy said with a sigh. "Let's go." They forced the door opened and gasped at what they found.

...MEANWHILE...

"Matt! Stepney!" Taylor called. "Come here! I want to try something!"

Matt and Stepney rushed over to her. "What's up?" Stepney asked her.

"Let's make a triple Solarbeam!" Taylor suggested. "I think it'll be really cool!"

"That would be awesome!" Matt exclaimed. "Let's do it!" They stood together and held out their hands.

"Triple Solarbeam!" they screamed in unison. The three of them loosed Solarbeams out of their hands, which was pretty cool considering no other humans alive could do that. They took out Team Rocket in its entirety. The executives and Giovanni ran out of the base.

On the other side of the mess hall, Jordan was busy fighting all of Team Maqua by himself. Just when he was about to be swamped by a bunch of enemy Pokemon, a voice called out behind him. "Get down!" Jordan ducked just in time to see Atticus and Gregory slash at the enemy Pokemon, knocking most of them out.

"Thanks, guys!" Jordan said to them.

"No problem!" Atticus said, twirling his leek sword around. "Let's hurry up and finish this!" He ran at the enemies with his sword at the ready.

"You may want to get out of the way!" Jordan warned. All of a sudden, a powerful white aura surrounded Jordan. He crouched down to get ready to run at the enemies. "Giga Impact," he said calmly. Jordan disappeared and reappeared right in front of Team Maqua's forces. There was a bright flash of light, and when it was over, most all of Team Maqua's forces were lying on the floor unconscious. The rest of them ran screaming out of the mess hall, just like Team Rocket.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and Davy opened the door to Korbin's room to find Korbin sitting cross-legged on the floor, deeply concentrated on something.

"He's meditating," Davy observed. "Now's our chance to strike!"

"Wait!" Marty said. "It can't be that easy. It has to be some sort of trap."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Davy asked. "I want Korbin brought down now, and I'm sick of waiting!"

"Why are you so bent on getting revenge on Korbin?" Marty asked. "What has he ever done to you?"

"It's not anything he did to me," Davy admitted. "It's not even him. I want to take down Giratina. Not just Giratina, but all of the legendary Pokemon."

Marty thought back to the time in Pallet Town when Davy was angered by the mention of legendary Pokemon. "Why do legendary Pokemon make you so angry?"

"Because," Davy said. "My father died because of them."

...MEANWHILE...

"Can't we just talk this out?" Mike asked Roz. They were both flying around the mess hall, raining fire down on Team Galactic, Team Plasma, and FoG members.

"No!" Roz shouted. "You can just go and-"

"Don't finish that," Mike interrupted, "I just wanted to let you know that leaving you was an extremely tough decision for me. I've regretted it for a while."

"Stop it!" Roz shouted at him. "Just leave me alone!" She launched a huge Flamethrower back at him, which he caught with his hands. They both stopped in midair.

"Please," Mike said. "I need you to see how sorry I am."

"Then show me!" Roz screamed. "Just show me how sorry you are!" Suddenly, an angry Honchkrow snuck up on Roz's blind spot, looking to kill. Just before it prepared to attack, Mike was instantly on it. He grabbed it by the neck and erupted in a tornado of fire. When he had stopped, the Honchkrow was knocked out in Mike's hand. He let it down softly to the ground. The rest of the Teams were so shocked that they all left the base, never to be seen on Terrari again.

"This," Mike said, "is how sorry I am."

Roz gasped as tears began to well up in her eyes. She flew down to the ground to meet him. "Oh, Mike," she said, her voice breaking. "I forgive you." She leaped into his arms and they hugged for a while.

...MEANWHILE...

"Legendary Pokemon killed your father?" Marty restated. "What do you mean?"

"My father was part of an experiment many years ago to create the world's strongest Pokemon," Davy told him. "The end result was Mewtwo."

"Your father created Mewtwo?" Marty asked, shocked.

"Yes," Davy said. "Mewtwo went on a rampage after it was created and killed all of the researchers, including my father. There was a huge fire all over Cinnabar Island, and the only thing that burned down was the mansion where they had created Mewtwo."

"Davy," Marty said empathetically. "I had no idea-"

"No, you didn't," Davy said bitterly. "But this is no time to dwell on the past!" He started running at Korbin.

"Davy, no!" Marty shouted. He ran after Davy. When they reached Korbin, they were sucked a portal that appeared in front of his body. They emerged from the other side to find out that they were in the Distortion World.

"Ack!" Marty said. "This is the Distortion World?"

"Yes," Davy said. "I remember my friend from Sinnoh describing it to me. This is definitely it."

"That means Korbin has to be here somewhere," Marty observed. "I bet he's at the bottom!"

"One way to find out," Davy said with a smirk on his face.

"Let's do it!" Marty said, knowing exactly what Davy was implying. They jumped off the cliff they were standing and flew down the Distortion World, on their way to the bottom.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 57: This Place About to Blow

Roz and Mike caught up with the others in the now empty FoG base.

"Woo!" Nebu cheered. "That was something else! PokeCross is officially AWESOME!"

"I'll say!" Jordan agreed. "We did it!"

"Now all that's left is to go down to Korbin's room and help Marty and Davy finish this," Mike said. "Come on!" They all took off at full speed to get to the bottom of the base.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and Davy had finally landed at the bottom of the Distortion World. Or at least, it SEEMED to be the bottom. There was no more land between them and the endless void below except for this large patch.

"We're here," Marty stated.

"Yes," Davy agreed, "but where's Korbin?"

Just then, Korbin's voice rang out through the Distortion World. "You don't see me? What a shame. I can see you perfectly."

"Where are you?" Marty asked. "Show yourself!"

"With pleasure," Korbin said smugly. He suddenly appeared in front of Marty and Davy without the use of one of his portals.

"He didn't use a portal!" Davy exclaimed. "How?"

"Isn't it great?" Korbin asked them rhetorically. "I can be wherever I want here, whenever I want."

"Korbin!" Marty shouted. "We won't let you awaken Giratina!"

"Oh, you won't?" Korbin said. He chuckled. "Well, unfortunately, it's too late! Giratina has awoken from its slumber here in the Distortion World! It's only a matter of time before it emerges and destroys Terrari!"

"We won't let that happen!" Davy shouted.

"Ah, Davy," Korbin said. "I see you've learned that god-forsaken PokeCross technique. Fitting that you chose your Dark-type Pokemon."

"I didn't choose it," Davy said. "It was the only one that would link with me."

"Funny how that works, isn't it?" Korbin asked, laughing now.

"Quit screwing with me!" Davy shouted. He lunged straight at Korbin, aiming to kill. Korbin merely teleported out of the way.

"Wherever I want, whenever I want," he restated. "You really should listen more."

"Wait a minute," Marty said. "How do you know about the PokeCross technique?"

"That is none of your concern," Korbin told him. "But I do know more than those who, 'invented' it. For example, I can make new links for Trainers, and even take away the links between a Trainer and their Pokemon. Care for a demonstration?"

"I don't believe you," Davy said. As soon as he finished, Korbin was instantly in front of him. He simply put his index fingers on the sides of Davy's temples and closed his eyes. A split second later, Davy's link with Bisharp gave out, and they were separated.

"Davy!" Marty cried.

Davy struggled to his feet. "Bisharp, Battle Link!" he ordered. Bisharp looked at him, utterly confused.

Korbin laughed. "Battle Link is a move, is it not? If your Pokemon can't use it, you can't link with it, let alone use PokeCross with it!"

"He's using Move Delter techniques!" Marty shouted. "What'll we do?"

"We can't do anything!" Davy shouted back. "Just don't let him get you!" As soon as Davy finished talking, Korbin was in front of Marty and began to grab for him.

...MEANWHILE...

Mike's group reached Korbin's room in record time. They forced open the door to find Korbin sitting in the room, just as Marty and Davy had.

"They're not here," Mae said. "What did Korbin do to them?"

"I can feel them here!" Nebu said. "They're alright!"

"It's time to end this!" Mike shouted. "Everyone, all together!"

"Yes, sir!" they all said together. Everyone prepared their strongest non-physical attack and loosed it all at once on Korbin.

...MEANWHILE...

Korbin almost got his hands on Marty when he suddenly stopped and doubled over in pain. "Aaaahh!" he screamed. "What's happening?!"

"Something's injured him!" Davy shouted.

"How?" Marty wondered.

...MEANWHILE...

Everyone stopped their attacks to see Korbin writhing in pain on the floor, now awake. "Aaaahh!" he screamed. "What's happening?"

"We've woken him up!" Matt exclaimed.

"Now what'll happen?" Stepney asked.

"Let's wait and see," Mae said sadistically.

Korbin forced his eyes open and saw everyone standing in front of him. "You fools!" he screamed. "Do you know what you've done? My consciousness is unable to handle being in two places at once! You've ruined everything!"

...MEANWHILE...

"You fools!" Korbin screamed. "Do you know what you've done? My consciousness is unable to handle being in two places at once! You've ruined everything!"

"They've done something to seriously damage Korbin!" Marty said. Just as he said this, the entire Distortion World began to shake. They both looked up to see the portal back to the real world beginning to close.

"We'll never make it in time!" Davy shouted. "I'm not fast enough without PokeCross!"

"Take my hand!" Marty demanded. "We can make it!" Davy recalled Bisharp, took Marty's hand and they leapt up through the Distortion World, back the way they came. They looked down to see Korbin disappear into nothing.

"Do you think he's gone?" Davy asked.

"I don't think that was even the real Korbin," Marty admitted. They kept going and reached the portal just before it closed behind them.

...MEANWHILE...

The entire FoG base was shaking from the shock waves being emitted through Korbin's portal. As it was just about to close, Marty and Davy managed to stumble through.

"They're alive!" Gregory shouted.

"Are you guys okay?" Taylor asked.

"We're fine," Marty said. "Where's Korbin?"

"Look behind you," Roz said. They looked behind them to see Korbin lying on the ground unconscious.

"Is he okay?" Davy asked.

"Not sure," Nebu said, "but I don't think any of us want to stay and find out."

"She's right," Atticus said. "Let's get out of here." So all twelve of them rushed out of the base as quickly as they could. They passed all the many floors of barracks until they reached the entrance again. They busted through the door and back out into EVille.

"I've got our extraction team ready to go," Mae said. "Let's get back to FrivVille."

"Not yet," Marty said. "If I know Korbin like I think I know Korbin, then he survived that...whatever it was that we did to him. We have to send him a message. We have to show him that his threats are meaningless to us now."

"What are you planning?" Davy asked him.

"You'll see," Marty said. "Just get back to FrivVille." The extraction team arrived with their large planes to carry the troops back to base. Everyone went back to FrivVille except Marty. Or so he thought. Taylor stayed in the shadows of the forest behind him. Marty, not noticing her, began to float up high above EVille. He raised his hands up above his head and began to concentrate. Eventually a small amount of aura began to show from his hands. This aura grew bigger and brighter until it was a huge inferno of energy.

"This is for all the people you hurt, Korbin," Marty said. "Aura Storm!" He thrust his hands down towards EVille and let all the aura he had stored loose. It raced toward the base. When it made contact, it quickly obliterated everything in its path.

...MEANWHILE...

Korbin, struggling to stay conscious, felt the overwhelming aura approaching him quickly. He closed his eyes and waited for his death to come. This was surely the end.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty let everything he had go in this attack. He wanted to let the world see what he had done for it. He let the attack grow bigger and bigger until it enveloped the entire town of EVille, and the entirety of the base beneath it. He kept going until all of his energy gave out. When it finally did, he sank into the huge crater he had made, and closed his eyes. There was nothing left of EVille but a bunch of dirt.

...MEANWHILE...

Korbin kept waiting for death to come, but it didn't. Instead, he opened his eyes to find himself in the Distortion World. He found that he could move around again, and quickly got back on his feet. He looked around.

"Thanks," he said plainly.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty laid in the EVille crater and admired his handiwork when Taylor came down to greet him.

"That was pretty impressive," she said to him.

"Thanks," he said weakly.

"You really shouldn't burn yourself out like that, though," she scolded.

"Sorry about that," he said to her.

"You really worried me," she said.

"Sorry again," he said back.

"Hey," Taylor said. "You know how everyone's been assuming that we're a couple?"

Marty got back up on his feet. "Yeah?"

"And you know how I've always denied it?" she continued.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to deny it anymore."

"Okay." She ran into his arms and they hugged for a very long time.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 58: Old Friends and New

Kelsey, Eric, Nik, and Blue Flower walked to FrivVille so they could meet up with the Resistance and thank them for their efforts. They were almost to FrivVille, when suddenly there was a bright flash of light behind them.

"Woah!" Eric shouted! "What is that?"

"It's destroying the base!" Nik shouted.

"What about the Pokemon in the storage room?" Blue Flower wondered.

"We don't have to worry about that," Kelsey said, smiling. "It's taken care of!"

"What do you mean?" Nik asked.

"We let all of the Pokemon go," Eric said. "We did it because we figured their Trainers didn't want them back, and they deserved better than to be stuck in a storage room forever. Or be obliterated by whatever is doing that."

"Also, we figured it'd make it easier to find our Pokemon," Kelsey admitted. "But Korbin tried to trick us by not putting our Pokemon with all those others. He thought he would outsmart us by putting them in a pile with the rest of the Pokemon, but he didn't count for us being that smart, apparently!"

"Well, that must've been an ordeal," Nik said. "Let's hurry and get back to FrivVille." So the four of them made their way to FrivVille.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty was walking with Taylor on the road back to FrivVille. The clear night sky made the stars shine brightly. Marty felt like he was walking on air. He had meant to ask Taylor out for the longest time, but always chickened out. Now she had been the one to say something, and he didn't even have to bribe her or anything.

"Hey," he said to her, smiling. "Will you hold my hand?"

She looked at him for a sec, confused. "What?"

"It's okay if you don't want to," Marty said, taking his hand back.

"No," she said. "I'm sorry, I was spacing off. I'd love to take your hand." She reached over and grabbed his hand. They walked together slowly, trying to prolong this newfound feeling for as long as they could.

"What were you thinking about?" Marty asked her after a while.

"It was nothing," Taylor said, blushing.

"Come on," Marty said, poking her. "You can tell me!"

"No!" she said. "It's nothing, really."

"If you insist," Marty said. They had hardly walked ten feet when he started poking her again. "Come on! Tell me!"

Taylor laughed really hard. "No!"

Marty tried his best to make a grumpy face. "Fine!" he said in a huff. They walked together for another long while, until they reached FrivVille.

"We're here," Taylor said.

"Yeah," Marty said. "Let's get back to Marowakz."

...MEANWHILE...

The others had gotten back into the base after seeing the Aura Storm that destroyed EVille.

"I can't believe Marty did that," Jordan said, still in awe.

"Korbin is definitely finished now," Atticus remarked.

"For sure," Gregory added for emphasis.

They sat there trying to process what they had all seen when the door opened up and four people stepped in, being led by Jari.

"Everyone," Jari said, "these four escaped from the FoG base and wish to speak with you."

"If you don't mind, that is," Nik said.

"Nik!" Nebu cried. She ran over to him and gave him a big hug. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," Nik said to her, smiling. "Do you guys have any coffee around here?"

"I'll go see what I can find," Jari told him. "It seems you all have some catching up to do." He stepped out to find some coffee for Nik.

"So what happened?" Roz asked. "Why did you betray us?"

"Korbin tempted the both of us with lifting the curses on our cities," Blue Flower explained.

"Yes," Nik confirmed, "and we were foolish enough to believe him. Can you ever forgive us?"

"Of course," Nebu said, smiling. "We ARE coffee buddies, after all."

"So what's the story with those two?" Jordan asked, looking at Kelsey and Eric.

"We were only in the FoG to get back our Pokemon that Korbin stole from us," Kelsey admitted.

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "It took a while, but today gave us the perfect oppurtunity to find them and escape! So thanks for that."

"No problem," Mae said with a smirk.

The door opened behind them and Marty stepped in holding Taylor's hand. "What'd we miss?" he asked.

"Well, Nik and Blue Flower are innocent," Stepney said.

"And apparently Kelsey and Eric are our friends now," Davy added.

"The more important question here is, 'What did WE miss?'" Nebu asked, noticing Marty and Taylor holding hands.

"Oh," Marty said blushing. "We're kinda...uh...going out now?"

Nebu squealed. "Oh my gawd that is so cute! I knew it all along!"

"We all knew they would end up together eventually," Roz admitted.

"Well, what about you?" Marty said, noticing that she and Mike were holding hands as well.

"Oh," Roz blushed. "We're going out, too."

"So," Jordan said. "We've got all of the badges, we've taken down all the criminal teams in the world, and there's still two days before the tournament. What should we do now?"

"I don't know about you," Taylor said, "but I could use a good nap."

"Same here," Marty said, yawning.

"Well, I have to head back to Maron City and prepare for the tournament," Mike said. "I'll see you all there!"

"We better go too," Nik said to Blue Flower. "All the Gym Leaders are required to be at the tournament." Everyone said good-bye to Mike and the others as they walked out the door.

"Let's go rest," Roz said to them. So they all went to the barracks, found an empty bed, and crashed into them, getting a well-deserved rest before the tournament.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[K-NiGhT]

Chapter 59: The Tournament Begins

It had been two days since the EVille invasion. Marty and the others were heading for Maron City, as today was the day the tournament began.

"Are you guys ready?" Marty asked.

"Yeah!" was the unanimous answer from everyone.

"I wonder who all made it," Taylor wondered.

"We'll find out when we get there, I guess," Gregory assured her.

"When we DO get there," Roz said, "let's agree not to use PokeCross on anyone who we don't think knows it unless they do it first."

"Sounds good to me!" Stepney said.
Everyone else agreed with this idea.

"Good," Roz said happily. "Let's get going. We're already almost to Hidavel City. We should be to Maron within the hour." So they kept walking and discussing what they would do during the tournament.

...MEANWHILE...

"Please," Korbin said. "Let me go. I just need this chance to break you free." He waited for a minute before speaking again. "Thank you. You won't regret it." He opened a portal and stepped out of the Distortion World, fully recovered.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and the others had finally reached Maron City. It looked a lot more festive this time around, as the tournament was almost ready to start. Just then, a loudspeaker could be heard around the city. "ATTENTION ALL TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANTS! REGISTRATION CLOSES IN THIRTY MINUTES! IF YOU HAVEN'T REGISTERED YET, PLEASE DO SO AT THIS TIME!"

"We better hurry!" Atticus cried. They ran to the building where the tournament was going to be held. There were a few friendly faces waiting there for them. All the Terrari Gym Leaders sat at the registration table.

"Hey, everyone!" Jordan shouted happily.

"Hello," said Forrest. "Good to see you all again."

"Are you all in charge of registration?" Nebu asked.

"Actually," Nik said, "that would fall on my shoulders." He went on as the other Gym Leaders walked off. "So I take it all twelve of you will be participating?" They all nodded their heads. "Good. Because of protocol, however, I need to see your badges." Everyone flashed their eight badges except for Kelsey and Eric.

"Where are your badges?" Nik asked them.

"We have these," Kelsey said, pulling something out of his pocket, while Eric did the same. In their hands they held a single badge. However, this badge had a picture of all eight other badges.

"Those are Terrari League Aptitude badges!" Nik exclaimed. "How did you get those?"

"Uh..." Kelsey said, staring at him for a moment.

"Oh," Nik said. "I get it. In any case, you all are registered. You need to all report to the main square in about a half hour. That's where the rules of the preliminary rounds will be announced. If you all make it past the preliminaries, the other Gym Leaders and I have a surprise waiting for you. So do your best!"

"We won't disappoint you!" Nebu assured him.

"I know!" Nik replied. "Hey, by the way, Nebu, do you want to go get some coffee later?"

"That sounds great!" Nebu said happily.

"You can all come!" Nik said, excited.

"Sounds good," Jordan said with a deadpan tone.

"We really should get going," Gregory reminded them. They all started walking off.

"Good luck, everyone!" Nik called after them. "I know you'll do great!" As they disappeared from view, a lone figure appeared from nowhere. His face and body were completely wrapped up, so no one could see his face.

"I'm here to register," he said, holding up another Terrari League Aptitude badge.

"Great!" Nik said. "Looks like you're the last one to register. What can I put down for your name."

"All you need to put is 'K,'" he said as he started walking toward the square without another word.

...MEANWHILE...

Marty and the others reached the square. They were amazed when they saw everyone that was in attendance.

"Wow!" Matt exclaimed. "There must be almost a thousand people here!"

"902, to be exact," said someone behind them. Mike came out through the crowd to greet them.

"Hey!" Roz said with a smile. She walked over and gave him a hug.

"Good to see you all made it on time," he said to them. "What took you so long?"

"We walked," Marty said.

"Didn't you know that you could fly if you used PokeCross?" Mike asked them all.

"We're not all Flying-type," Taylor reminded him.

"You don't have to be," Mike told her. "Try it out sometime."

"Anyway," Marty said, "will you be participating in the preliminaries?"

"Nope," Mike said. "Me and the other Elite Four get an automatic pass into the top 32."

"Lucky," Stepney muttered.

"I suppose," Mike said. "But I could also use the extra experience. It kind of puts the five of us at a bit of a disadvantage, when you think about it."

"I suppose that's true," Marty admitted, "but you're still the Champion."

Mike laughed. "Yes, I suppose that gives me a bit of an excuse. Well, good luck to you all. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you all later." He turned and walked towards the middle of the square, where a stage had been set up. All the Trainers made conversation until someone ran onstage and grabbed the microphone.

"Please stop your frivolous conversations so we may commence this tournament!" Francois said through the microphone. Atticus squealed and proceeded to faint, along with a couple other people in the crowd.

"Yes, hi," Francois said. "Anyway, we would like to start the preliminaries, since we have so many people here today! Here to explain the rules is the Gym Leader of Treeview Town, Jerry!" Jerry walked onstage to a couple cheers scattered here and there, accompanied by thunderous applause from the hands of 902 Trainers.

"Thank you, everyone!" Jerry said into the microphone. "I congratulate all of you on your achievement today! I'm here to tell you some good news, and some bad news. Which do you want first?"

"GOOD NEWS!" the crowd roared.

"Okay," Jerry said. "If you haven't heard by now, the FoG base was invaded the other day by some brave people that are here today. They successfully stopped Korbin's plans for the time being, and deserve our thanks. Give a round of applause for the Resistance!" Roars came from the audience from 901 people. One lone person stood silent.

"Now for the bad news," Jerry said, frowning. "In regards to this tournament, we did not expect this many of you to actually show up. Because of this, we're making a huge cut today. Only the top 27 competitors will be able to advance to the next round. That means 874 of you will be going home today."

There were gasps from the crowd, and numerous complaints were shouted.

"Now, now," Jerry said, trying to calm everyone down. "This is merely incentive to get you all to do your best! And obviously the cream of the crop will get picked, so good luck to you all!" He looked over at Marty's group and winked at them. All eyes turned to the twelve of them, and it was pretty obvious that they had just been made a target by every other person in the square that was participating.

"He's screwed us over!" Kelsey whisper-shouted to everyone.

"He's just trying to make us work for our spots," Marty said, not taking his eyes off Jerry.

"Anyway," Jerry continued, "the preliminary round is going to be very straightforward. It's a free-for-all between all of you! It'll be a grand battle spanning the entire city! But there's one catch."

"WHAT'S THE CATCH?!" shouted someone in the back of the crowd.

"The catch," Jerry said, "is that you may not give your Pokemon any orders." A large collective gasp came from the crowd.

Marty smiled. "That's how we always train!"

"Yeah, it is!" Matt exclaimed.

"Do you think he planned it like that?" Nebu wondered.

"Who cares!" Stepney shouted. "We've got this in the bag now!"

"Now that we've got the rules out of the way, we can get started!" Jerry shouted excitedly. "Let the preliminaries BEGIN!"

TO BE CONTINUED...