Chapter 22: Chapter 22
" Jesus Arceus Chist! " Zinnia exclaimed. Her head swiveled from left to right, body on edge as she patted herself down. Leaving a large sigh of relief, she muttered, " I'm still in one piece. "
" You've never been teleported before, have you? " Alain asked.
" Not even once! But it's so cool, we were just in Sootopolus and now we're in front of my house! " Zinnia said, gesturing to the wooden house behind her and Alain. " I'm so going to get a Pokemon and train it to be as good as him. "
" Yeah, it's cool and useful, but long-distance teleportation is extremely difficult. " Alain states, while Claydol makes a ' Tipping your hat ' motion to Zinnia. The door to the house opened and someone walked out.
" That's true... but it'll be so worth it! " Zinnia said. " Anyway, let's head inside. "
" I wasn't expecting you to bring company. " The person said.
" Grandma! " Zinnia exclaimed, rushing over and engulfing her grandmother in a hug.
" Hello dear, how is everything going? " Her grandmother asked, returning the hug.
" It... can be better. " Zinnia admitted, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
" There's a possibility Hoenn will be either buried or sunken. " Alain interjected.
"... Was it necessary to be blunt?! " Zinnia yelled, grabbing Alain by the collar. " Couldn't you... I don't know, maybe just ease into it. "
" We're on a time crunch! " Alain said annoyed, swatting her hands away. " Why should I have eased into it?! "
" To not make them into shock from learning they may die a horrible death! " Zinnia said.
" Ho ho, thank you dear but I'm quite alright. After all, I've already lived a nice life, so me dying won't affect me too much. It'll be far worse if any of you youngin's die instead. " Zinnia's grandmother states.
" Grandma... " Zinnia whispers, eyes wide as she glances at her grandmother.
" Don't give me that look Zinnia. It may not be today or tomorrow or even by the end of the year, but I know my time will come soon. " Her grandmother says with a smile.
" Anyway, I don't think you're here to learn that I've accepted that I'll die... " She chuckles. " So, why have you come here and what's the situation? Do you have a plan to stop Groudon and Kyogre? "
" ...Yes, we do but that's being handled by Atsumu. " Alain said.
" I see... then why are you here? " Zinnia's grandmother asks.
" We want to know how to summon Rayquaza. " Zinnia says.
" Hohooh... "Zinnia's grandmother chuckled. " Is that all? Well, fret not, Zinnia here already knows how to summon him. "
" You do?! " Alain yelled, turning towards her.
" I do?! " Zinnia exclaimed, pointing at herself.
" Yes, you do. You've been doing it ever since you were little. All you have to do now is pray. You have everything you need. " Her grandmother says.
" Pray... Oh, I get it! Quick let's go to Sky Pillar! " Zinnia said, grabbing Alain's wrist.
" Wait!! " Alain yelled, ripping his hand away from the shocked Zinnia.
" How will Rayquaza hear her pray?! " Alain asked, dumbfounded. " There's no way that Rayquaza will hear her, even if we are at Sky Pillar! "
" Hearing her voice or feelings, which do you think will reach Rayquaza? " Zinnia's grandmother asked.
"... What?! " Alain exclaimed.
" You're a lot more stubborn than I thought. " Zinnia comments. " Anyway... "
Grabbing Alain's hand, Zinnia commanded Claydol, who teleported to Sky Pillar, leaving a smiling granny behind.
...
" Excuse me Atsumu, but can you explain what your Decidueye is doing? " Wallace asks as he watches Decidueye fire another arrow at the rock amongst the barrage of attacks thrown out by the other Pokemon.
The arrow Decidueye fired was stopped by the dense energy field around the rock. However, instead of fizzling out like other attacks, the arrow stayed mid-air, outlasting all the other attacks before it shattered into pieces.
" It is peculiar. Decidueye has been constantly firing arrows, and isn't even exhausted, and yet... those arrows are doing the trick with far more efficiency. " Steven observed, glancing at the trainers telling their Pokemon to take a break from constant attacks.
" Is it necessary for me to right now? " Atsumu asked, glancing at them. " I mean... Groudon and Kyogre will arrive soon. "
" Yes they will, but they aren't here yet, " Wallace said, gesturing towards Atsumu.
" Come on, we need to pass time somehow. " Steven said. " Besides, we'll worry about the destruction when the two legendaries appear. "
" Well... that is true. " Atsumu mused. " Well, it's not too complicated. The arrow uses Giga Drain. "
" Giga Drain? " Wallace mutters. " Well, it is a move that absorbs energy directly from the target and sends it to the user. It can be used to heal injuries or replenish their strength to continue attacking. "
" But it's the arrow programmed to use Giga Drain. Decidueye isn't in direct contact with the arrow, so he wouldn't receive the energy being absorbed from the stone... Ohhhh!! " Steven exclaimed, snapping his fingers. " I got it! "
" You have? " Wallace asked, glancing at Steven.
" Yep. " Steven replied.
" That right, then what's the answer? " Atsumu asked.
" Decidueye was never meant to receive the energy in the first place. The arrow absorbs the energy and then sues the energy to increase its potency. If you used this in battle, it'd be incredibly effective against special attackers. The arrow is incredibly sturdy, which goes to show how strong you're Decidueye is, considering all arrows are its feathers. " Steven said.
" That is... brilliant! " Wallace said. " It's incredibly effective as it comes with a very low cost. "
" Exactly, in battle, it'd absorb energy and still be there to land on the opponent. But in this situation, the arrow is constantly absorbing energy till it breaks. " Steven said with a smile.
" Is he right? " Wallace asked, looking at Atsumu.
" Yeah, he is. " Atsumu said while Steven straightened his tie with pride.
" Simple yet incredibly effective, even without taking type match-ups into account. " Wallace muses.
" You are definitely a battle fanatic. " Steven said to Atsumu.
" Yeah... I am. " Atsumu admits.
" Wallace Sir! Sir! " A trainer called out, running up to Wallace.
" What is it? " Wallace asked.
" Groudon and Kyogre are within the 15-kilometer radius and are approaching rapidly. " The trainer said.
" Thank you. " Wallace said, walking towards the front while taking a megaphone.
" Everyone, lend me your ears! " Wallace said, gaining the attention of all the trainers in the area. " Groudon and Kyogre are approaching and will be here shortly. Magnificent work on attacking the stone, but we will be stopping immediately.
Rest, prepare your mind, you must be in your best condition for the ensuing fight! I will not tolerate anyone doing anything detrimental before our honored guests arrive! Am I clear? "
" Yes sir! " All trainers chorused.
" I can't hear you!! " Wallace said.
" Yes sir!! " All trainers yelled in unison.
" Good, now disperse. " Wallace said.
...
" And... we're back here... " Alain said. " This is not going to work. "
" Why are you so... un-optimistic! " Zinnia said before muttering, " That's the word. "
" It isn't," Alain said, hearing her. " It's pessimistic. But sure, let's see if we'll summon Rayquaza. "
" Just leave that to me. " Zinnia said, grinning.
" Cool. I'm going to stand here and watch... you fail. " Alain said, crossing his arms.
" That won't work. " Zinnia said.
" Why? " Alain asked, raising an eyebrow.
" Because we need to pray on top of the tower. " Zinnia said, pointing upward.
"... Why didn't you ask Claydol to teleport you directly to the top?! " Alain yelled, dumbfounded.
" Eh...I could've done that? " Zinnia asked, looking towards Claydol who nodded his head.
" Oh, I didn't know that. Can you teleport us to the roof? " Zinnia asked.
Claydol gave a sound of confirmation before teleporting both of them onto the roof. The wind brushed against him, Alain looked at the vast expansion he could see from the top. A vast sea stretching for miles, the never-ending blue sky, and the dichotomy between dark rain clouds and the sunlight that pierced through them.
" Guess we need to hurry. " Zinnia said, turning around and walking towards the center.
Placing her hands together, Zinnia took a deep breath before exhaling, her breath visible.
" With Jewel bright and borrowed might from the spirits of the departed... Through sacred rite, in thy great sight, my life as well I offer... "
" I summon thee, to aid this fight and save us from disaster... "
" Realise them upon this world! For this, I do summon thee! "
" Rayquaza!!! "
Seconds pass by, then it becomes a minute, then 2... but nothing happens.
" Eh? " Zinnia uttered, looking around in confusion.
" Uh... Rayquaza. Where are you? " Zinnia called out, looking around, before leaning off the edge.
" Please stop hiding! This isn't funny! I know you're really strong but we're not, so please show yourself and help us! " Zinnia pleaded.
" Called it. " Alain said, letting out a large sigh.
" No! No! It worked!! Rayquaza is just playing hard to get. That's it!! " Zinnia said, her eyes narrowing, chuckling. " I didn't fail! "
" No, you did. " Alain said.
" I didn't! " Zinnia snapped. " Rayquaza just needs to understand that this is no longer funny and stop hiding! "
" Why would Rayquaza need to stop hiding? If you had done the prayer right, he would have shown up and you wouldn't have failed. " Alain said.
" Shut up! " Zinnia said.
" If you had decided to slow down and actually try to understand what you need to do instead of rushing in like an idiot... " Alain said.
" I said shut up!! " Zinnia yelled.
"You wouldn't have failed so spectacularly! Look around Zinnia!! " Alain yelled, gesturing to the empty space around them. " Do see a legendary Pokemon anywhere in sight?! Cause I sure as he'll don't! "
" Will you just shut the fuck up?! " Zinnia yelled, releasing her Salamence who let out a roar.
Undeterred, Alain sent out his Charizard who responded with a roar of his own. Grabbing her keystone with a frustrated, angry, maddening face, Zinnia mega evolved her Salamence. Touching his keystone with a calm, collected, resolved face, Alain mega-evolved his Charizard.
" Salamence, use Double Edge!! " Zinnia yelled, spit flying from her mouth.
" Aerial ace. " Alain said.
Salamence dodged straight ahead, flying towards Charizard who flew towards him. As the two dragons were about to Clash, Charizard avoided the attack, turning mid-air, and flying straight above Salamence.
" Chase him down Salamence! " Zinnia commanded.
" Keep using Aerial Ace and hit him with Dragon Claws. " Alain commanded.
" Use Dragon Claw! Crush him! " Zinnia yelled.
Salamenced roared as he closed in, extending his arm to strike Charizard. Charizard saw this coming, dashing the strike and striking back towards the face. Salamence blocked, pushing away Chaizard's hand and attacking once again. Charizard dodged once again and sped off across the sky.
Salamence chased Charizard down, both moving at incredible speed, zipping through the air. Salamence was faster, able to close the distance easily and strike with a Dragon Claw but Charizard dodged every single time, flying higher and higher into the sky.
" Dragon Pulse!! " Zinnia yelled.
Charging a large quantity of Dragon-type aura in his mouth, Salamence fired a beam that took the form of a dragon and headed straight toward Charizard.
" Protect and dive straight through it with Flare Blitz! " Alain yelled.
A greenish-blue barrier surrounded Charizard before he erupted in flames and launched himself straight toward the Dragon Pulse headed his way. Ripping through the Dragon Pulse, Charizard appeared right in front of Salamence. Protect vanished and Charizard slammed right into Salamence, dragging him along as they plummeted toward the roof of Sky Pillar.
The ground broke into pieces, dust blown upward from the impact as Alain and Zinnia rushed toward the room's edge. Claydol floated directly above the impacted area, looking down at the two he needed to teleport to avoid causing damage to Sky Pillar. Charizard and Salamence stood opposing each other, glaring at each other with ferocious intensity.
" Double edge!! " Zinnia yelled.
"Substitute, Will-o-Wisp! " Alain commanded.
Breaking the ground with his take-off, Salamence charged...
Straight into a substitute created by Charizard who avoided the attack by flying above Salamence as he busted through the substitute and the Will-o-Wisp flame behind the Substitute.
" Dragon Pulse! " Alain said.
' No... ' Ziniia thought, her eyes widening as Charizard charged a point-blank Dragon Pulse while Salamence took Burn Damage. ' Stop... please...'
Charizard fired the Dragon Pulse, the ground shattered, and Salamence was blown away as part of the cliff was destroyed by the force.
As the dust settled, Salamence was revealed. Standing proud, Salamnece didn't back down as he stared at Charizard, waiting for the next command to execute. Charizard stared Salamence down, as Alain walked towards Zinnia and forced her to look at him.
" Are you done? " Alain asked, fed up with the lack of progress due to the impulsive dumbass who's...crying.
" Now what?! " Alain exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration before gesturing towards Zinnia. " Why are you crying!? "
Zinnia didn't answer, sitting down as she continued to cry, unable to stop the tears from flowing. Her shirt became drenched with tears while Alain sighed in frustration. Down below, Salamence returned to his normal form. Hearing Zinnia cry, he flew up to the roof and lay down beside her.
Charizard landed next to Alain in his normal form. Charizard tapped Alain's shoulder and pointed at Zinnia. Alain shrugged his shoulders in response so Charizard found a place to lie down to take a nap. Alain leaned off the side of the roof, staring at the heavy rain clouds with strong beams of sunlight piercing through in the distance.
' Wonder how he's doing? ' Alain thought, before shaking his head. ' What am thinking? He'll be fine. But if he was here, how would he go about doing things?
It's not like he does some absurd stuff, he just analyses things and comes to a conclusion... just faster than everyone else... '
Alain stopped leaning over the edge and took out a small notepad and pen.
' I don't believe the... prayer would work either way, but I don't have anything else to go off. ' Alain thought, clicking his tongue as he noted the thought down.
' But that prayer of hers, it mentioned a Jewel and we use it as an offering. Zinnia didn't think about it, but considering her actions... ' Alain glanced at the defeated girl hugging knees close to her chest with her head down. ' It makes sense. Always rushing in without taking a minute to think about the actual task, it'd probably work the first time if she wasn't so impatient! '
' No... No... ' Alain thought, taking a deep breath to calm down. ' It's fine, just keep calm.
We need that Jewel, but what can it be? I doubt her grandmother has it. Wait... her grandmother never said we had to pray atop Sky Pillar, Zinnia made that assumption and I followed along. It seemed right.
But what if we don't need to be here, Zinnia could pray anywhere and Rayquaza would show up if we had the Jewel.
But what could the Jewel be? '
" Can you stop writing?! It's so annoying! " Zinnia yelled out causing Alain to stop.
" Those are some bold words coming from someone who was crying a few minutes ago. " Alain said, making Zinnia flinch. " So tell me... "
" Why are you so fixated on completing tasks? It's unhealthy, especially when you're expecting everything to work out when you rush in without thinking. At that point, you're guaranteed failure. "
" Yeah... You're right. " Zinnia admits, her voice cracking. " I'm a failure. Can't do anything right even when the world is on the line here. My ancestors must be shaking their heads from the beyond. "
" Cause you don't think. " Alain said.
" I do think! " Zinnia snapped. " I always think but I keep failing! "
" And you think you're supposed to get it right on the first try every time? " Alain asked.
" I'm a descendant of the Draconid Tribe, a tribe who has been in Hoenn for eons and made contact with Rayquaza once! I should've been able to do everything on the first try! " Zinnia wailed.
" That's like saying your ancestors didn't fail even once to do something great. " Alain said, facing Zinnia. " You honestly think great people haven't failed before?! Bullshit! Everyone has failed at something before. Anyway, those who haven't experienced failure probably never even tried! Your ancestors definitely failed, so you failing isn't something to be ashamed of.
You what is, you making the same mistakes again and again! You make a mistake, you're first thought is to just fix it to prove you are capable when all its showing is that you aren't. "
Alain clicked his tongue in annoyance, grabbing his face before sighing heavily while Zinnia grits her teeth I'm frustration.
" Whatever! " Alain said, throwing his hands up. " Since your idea didn't work, it's now my turn to come up with an idea. "
" Like it'd work... " Zinnia muttered.
" You have a lot of sass for someone who just had a mental breakdown before. " Alain sassed, making Zinnia let out a little 'epp' from being found out.
" Anyway, what is this 'Jewel' in the prayer you said before? " Alain asked.
" It's just something given to Rayquaza in exchange for his help. " Zinnia said before her eyes widened.
" I am a dumbass!! " Zinnia groaned, slapping her forehead.
" At least you're aware. " Alain said. " Hey, you think we can use that rock? "
" You mean that floating rock with massive amounts of energy? " Zinnia asked to which Alain nodded." Well, it could work... "
" It's also the cause of the entire situation right now and Rayquaza has been said to have stopped Groudon and Kyogre fighting before. " Zinnia said.
" Guess we have our plan of action and it has a chance of success. See what happens when you take some time to think. " Alain said, closing his notepad.
" Yeah, Yeah... " Zinnia said, rolling her eyes as she got up.
" Also, thanks. " Zinnia said, rubbing the back of her neck while avoiding eye contact.
" As long you understand. " Alain said, as he returned Charizard his Pokeball.
" Really? Couldn't you have said ' No problem' or 'It's fine, don't worry about it'? " Zinnia asked.
" Why would I? You were a massive problem. " Alain said.
" ...Asshole. " Zinnia retorted before she sent a command to Claydol to teleport them to Sootopolus city.
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