A Pokémon Story
by Griffinheart and Mir567

Conway pushed his glasses up as the sunlight that glimmered through the trees reflected off them. Then, he sighed. It had been weeks he last saw Dawn, or anyone he knew. He was now heading towards Sunnyshore City, to look at the mysteriously shaped rock. Once again, he sighed. Walking on a bit more, he noticed a munchlax. “Munchlax. The Big Eater Pokemon. It hides food under its long body hair. However, it forgets it has hidden the food.” chuckling, he thought, That’s the precise pokemon the rock is supposed to look like. Suddenly, the trees went away, and he came to a clearing where another path met his. A man walked down it. Conway assumed he was friendly because of his very nice brown vest, so he quickened his pace to meet up with him. Finally, he caught up with the stranger.

“Hi,” the man gruffly murmured.
“Hello. I’m Con-Oh my gosh! You’re Steven!” Conway shouted. Seven grabbed his arm and pulled him into the trees on the side of the path.

“Please don’t say that so loud,” Steven whispered. “Ever since I gave up my job to Wallace, so I could look for rare rocks, people have treated me different. They’ve been calling me names like quitter, loser, and lately, rock freak. I even have to wear my rock searching clothes instead of my suit because someone might recognize me. So I came to Sinnoh, where less people know me. Right now, I’m going to Sunnyshore City to check out that rock.”

Conway’s eyes were tearing up. “ I think that those people are horrible, making fun of a champion for following their dreams. I also am going to see that rock. If you would let me accompany you, I would feel so honored.”

Steven agreed, and they continued on their way through the forest, talking about rocks, vests, and pokemon.
Meanwhile, a mile or two ahead of them, Paul continued to abusively train his pokemon. They were off the path in the forest by a low moving river. Over the path was a wooden bridge. “Come on, losers! If we’re going to beat Volkner you’ll have to do better than that!” he ordered angrily. The pokemon shouted their names in reply, and Torterra used Frenzy Plant. One of the vines from Torterra’s Frenzy Plant accidentally hit Paul, who got slammed into the river. He didn’t know how to swim, and his clothes were weighing him down. I should of listened to Reggie when he told me to take swimming lessons, he thought, but my pokemon should save me.
On the riverbank, the pokemon ran around frantically. None of them knew how to swim. Weaville thought of freezing the water, but decided that it would just make it worst. Torterra tentatively stuck a leg in the water, but quickly took it out. “Torr…”

Paul started to panic because nobody was saving him and he really needed to breath. He tried to get to the surface, but found he couldn’t move. Slowly, he started to sink down. Isn’t your life supposed to flash before your eyes when you die? Paul thought. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a splash and blonde hair…
Barry was feeling down after losing to Volkner, so he let it out by running through the forest, while crying. He ran head-on into a tree and fell to the ground. “I’m going to fine you $1,000 for existing!” he announced to it, rubbing his head. Sitting for a little longer, Barry stopped crying, wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, and realized where he was. Wow, he thought, I almost made it to the bridge. Out of nowhere, he heard a person shouting, loud enough to hear, but not to understand. Curiosity got the better of him, so he went to go investigate. Running, he arrived just in time to see someone fly through the air and land in the water. After twenty seconds, Barry wondered why the person hadn’t come up for air yet. Then he noticed the pokemon running around on the riverbank. I’d recognize that team anywhere, he thought, It’s …

“Paul!” Barry screamed. He took off his scarf and bag, threw them on the bridge, then dived off the side. Right before he hit the water, he thought, Crap. I can’t swim.
Steven and Conway, both more cheerful than they were moments ago, continued on their way, laughing and joking loudly.

“Is that a bridge I see up ahead?” Conway asked, who had finally stopped laughing at Steven’s last joke.

“Yep, it sure is. We’re almost there now,” Steven replied. When he finished talking, they both heard a splash.

A person with shockingly yellow hair ran over to the bridge, stood there for a few seconds, and screamed “Paul!” After that, he threw some things on the wooden ground and jumped into the water. Astounded, Steven and Conway hurried to the bridge.

“Help! Can’t! Swim!” the blonde boy yelled, going underwater after every word. His right hand was grasped around somebody’s arm.

“What do we do?” Steven asked, clearly panicking.

“No need to worry,” Conway replied, taking out a pokeball with one hand and pushing up his shiny glasses with the other. “Come forth, Slowking,” Slowking appeared onto the bridge. “Use physic to get the person out of the water.”

Slowking started to glow, then Barry and Paul floated out of the river and fell on the wood with a thud, soaking wet. Barry coughed heavily, while trying to get his breath back. Paul just laid there, unconscious.
Steven looked like he was having a panic attack. "What do I do? I came here to get away from it all, and there’s a kid who might die! He might already be dead? Wha-?"
Conway slapped him, hard. “Get a hold of yourself! You have to know CPR, champion!” he returned Slowking.
Steven finally brought himself together. Champion… If I can handle the arduous path to become a champion, I can save this kid. He put on his “serious” face and started CPR on Paul.

Barry, who had finally recovered but was a little shaky, mumbled “You saved me,” to Conway. Then he noticed Paul who was still unconscious. Completely ignoring Steven, who was in the process of saving Paul’s life, he yelled, ”Oh my god! Paul!” He tried to stand up, but stumbled, so he decided to crawl. “No! This is all my fault! He’s going to die! No!” Barry fell to the ground, crying, (for the second time that day). Conway rolled his eyes, and was about to say something, but stopped when he heard coughing. He ran over to Paul’s side while Steven backed off and Barry finally managed to stand up, leaning over Paul.
The first thing Paul thought when he regained consciousness was, Am I dead? Then he noticed he was breathing heavily. Do people still breath when they die? He slowly opened his eyes to see a boy with soaking wet blonde hair, who seemed to be crying, right in front of his face. What the…? His eyes rolled back into his head, and he fainted, hearing a soft-
“Paul!”
“You scared him, umm, what’s your name?” Steven asked Barry.
“B-Ba-Barry,” he stammered, upset that he had scared his idol.
Conway noticed Paul’s pokemon standing at the edge of the bridge. “Maybe if he wakes up with his pokemon, he won’t faint,” he wondered out loud. Steven liked his idea, so they told Paul’s pokemon what to do (and Barry to stay out of the way). The pokemon, eager to help their trainer, complied.
When Paul awoke again, he thought, Well, that didn’t go so good. At least I’m still alive. Then he felt something nudge his hand. Once again, he slowly opened his eyes to see-
“Torterra?” Paul muttered, his voice gravelly. He looked around and noticed all his pokemon surrounding him. It was a better sight to wake up to than a weird creepy blonde kid. He sat up, felt a bit dizzy, and returned his pokemon wordlessly. Looking around, Paul noticed the blonde guy and two people that looked familiar. They rushed over to him.

“Hi! I'm Bar-” the boy with glasses and a green vest put his hand over the blonde boy’s mouth.
“He’s Barry. I’m Conway, but you should know that,” Conway stated.
“Really? Why?” Paul asked.
“I battled against you in the tag battle competition,” Conway replied.
Paul realized who he was. “Oh, right. You were partnered with that annoying girl, and I was with that pathetic loser Ash. We beat you.”
“For your information, that annoying girl has a name and it’s Dawn!”
Paul decided to ignore him and the blonde kid, who looked like he was going to explode, so instead he focused his attention on the third person. Suddenly, it came to him. “I know who you are. You’re that rock-freak deserter Steven,” Paul exclaimed.
“Watch your mouth kid, I just saved your life,” Steven replied.
“I had everything under control. I didn’t need your help,” Paul knew he was lying, but didn’t want to admit his weakness.
“Under control? You were unconscious, with another kid drowning trying to save you!”
“Whatever. At least I didn’t give up and quit,”

Barry and Conway were frozen, mesmerized by the argument, looking back and forth from Steven to Paul. Paul got up and wobbled a bit.
“Wha-I-You-But-” Steven stuttered.
Paul smirked with his arms crossed.
“Listen up, little boy, I did quit or give up, I retired. I’m still the best there is in Hoenn, and I can beat you using only my feet,” Steven remarked, angrily.
“Fine, then I challenge you to a battle,” Paul announced.
“I accept that challenge. Bring it on!”
Finally, Conway snapped out of his dumbstruck daze and tried to bring peace to the group. “Paul, I don’t know what you’re so mad about, but I don’t advise you to have a battle. You almost died!”
“I don’t have to listen to you,” Paul snapped back.
Having been defeated, Conway agreed to referee. Barry was to sit on the sideline and watch while regaining his strength. He did so with a glazed look on his face. My role model is going to battle right in front of me. Life is good.
Steven calmed down. Letting my emotions go out of control would be bad. Besides, I can beat this kid easily. “I choose you, Aggron,” Steven called out with a voice of steely calm.
“Magmortar, stand by for battle.” There’s no way that I can lose to this rock-freak; this battle will end very fast. Paul’s face remained a mask of annoyance. A strong breeze billowed through the clearing ruffling Barry’s already disarrayed hair as he sat on the sideline watching his idol and the amazing trainer in awe of seeing Paul battle.

Conway took a stance between the two battlers and proclaimed, “This will be a three-on-three battle with substitutions allowed. If there are no objections, let the battle begin.” A beam of sunlight caught on his glasses giving him an eerie appearance. He had an inkling on who the victor of this battle will soon be.
“Magmortar, return. Torterra, stand by for battle.”
Steven raised an eyebrow at his opponent’s action. He grinned and plainly stated, “Smarter, but type advantage won’t help you. Aggron, attack with Double-Edge!” With a mighty roar, the armored colossus charged Torterra, the ground shaking with every step.. Torterra grunted as the impact of the attack knocked it to the side. Panting, the pokemon regained its balance.
Paul smirked. “Your Aggron had to take quite a bit of damage from that attack. Still think you’re ahead of me? Suck weak attacks won’t do a thing to my pokemon.” A sudden queasy nausea took Paul by surprise. Gah! No, I can’t get sick in the middle of the battle… Just when Paul was about to order Torterra to attack, the referee’s amused chuckles caught his ear.

“Oh Paul, you really are clueless aren’t you? Aggron is the ‘Iron Armor’ pokemon. It has the ability Rock Head that protects it from recoil damage from moves like Double-Edge,” Conway stated while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose matter-of-factly.
“Why you…” Paul growled narrowing his eyes in distaste at Conway. Returning his attention to the battle, he called out, “Now Torterra, Frenzy Plant!” Thick vines erupted from the earth surrounding Steven’s armored pokemon. A hazy fog crept from the edge of Paul’s line of vision, clouding his eyes.
Smirking smugly, Steven called to his Aggron, “Slice those vines to pieces with Metal Claw.” With a metallic glint, chunks of vine rained down littering the ground at Aggron’s feet. “Now, follow up with a direct Double-Edge!” Once again, the earth trembled at each of the iron-eater’s weighty footfalls, and again Torterra took the hit head on, but this time, Paul’s Torterra collapsed to the ground knocked out.
Grinding his teeth, Paul returned Torterra to its pokeball as Conway announced, “Torterra is unable to battle! The winner is Aggron.” Steven chuckled softly and also recalled his pokemon from the field. The joint calls of the rock-freak and Paul brought Barry’s attention back to the battle as the two sent out their next pokemon. Wow, Paul was easily beaten by that rock-freak. The guy must be really strong, Barry thought wide-eyed. He glanced at Paul with his Ursaring then at Steven and his Skarmory. Paul just has to win this round.
“Ursaring, now, Hammer Arm!” Paul commanded with an intense ferocity. Skarmory dodged the attack with ease and released a mocking cackle that only intensified Paul’s anger.

“Skarmory! Steel Wing!” called Steven and with a whoosh of air, his pokemon ascended to the heavens with lightning speed. Frantically, Paul ordered his Ursaring to block the attack just as the opponent Skarmory wheeled around and headed strait for his pokemon. Ursaring took the hit directly and flew backwards with the force of the blow landing heavily on top of his master knocked out. Grunting under the weight of his Ursaring, Paul’s returned it to its pokeball and called out his last pokemon. With yet another smirk, Steven followed suit and switched out Skarmory for Metagross.
Confusion flickered about Barry’s mind. Wow, Paul really is losing. This Steven must be hiding something… but then again, I think Paul knows what it is… Gathering up his courage, he asked, “Hey Steven, why do you keep switching out your pokemon?”

Steven grinned and replied vaguely, “Oh, just to prove something.” Barry accepted his words and quieted to mull over the rock-freak’s answer.
Paul’s heartbeat quickened. He was going to lose again. The nausea had worsened and his mind had become hazy. His fingernails dug deeply into the sweating palms of his hands. A faint sound caught his attention over the chattering static. Just barely loud enough to hear came the voice of Steven calling, “Now Metagross! Let’s finish this with Psychic!” Paul saw a faint glow envelop his Magmortar. He saw his pokemon fall to the ground knocked-out. He saw Conway’s mouth move to silent words announcing the end of the battle. He saw the cloudless sky. He saw Steven, Conway, and Barry gasp. He felt the cold earth underneath his body. Darkness enveloped him.

----------------------------------

If you have a story that you would like to be published in the next zine, please pm me (Clover) through the forum!