Thread: Bulbagarden!

And it's WAR!!!!!!!!!!! I kinda liked this chapter. I thought it was kinda funny with Tyler, when he said it was the best day of his life despite the shooting. I can't wait to see what happened to Feli and Arron.

So parallel universes exist?

So sorry it's taken so long to get the next chapter out. It's been a busy month and this chapter is very long and rather complex. So, I apologize. Expect it by the end of this week.

I look foward to seeing it! Especially since you said it was long and complex.

I had 11 pages of notes on it before starting, if that gives anyone an idea of how long this is.

Could there be a brief description about what happened so far for us lazy folk who were late to the party...pleeaase?

Cause I read the first chapter which was all sweet and cheesy and then I read the latest one which was so much more sinister I shat my pants.

You could, y'know, read the parts in between :P

Any ideas of when the next chapter's coming?

As soon as Ryuu finishes it.

I've finally finished reading this! And it's awesome and cool how you involved people, even though I feel bad for YeOldJacob... Poor Nelson...

Good job Jabbers, Ryu and Feli on the story, it's going great so far!

Chapter 25: Smogon

By Ryuutakeshi and Feliciano


ADVISORY

This chapter deals with very mature content and themes. Some parts may be disturbing to pregnant women, those with weak stomachs or heart conditions, and Ryuu's mother. Reader discretion is advised.



Aaron



Once, in my biology class, someone asked what it was that separated humans from wild Pokemon. What is it that makes us dominant? What allows us to tame their hearts? And what stops us from falling into the savagery and wild energy of a Pokemon?

No one had an answer. Frankly, it’s not a question I’d ever thought much about until then and after a couple days after that class, I stopped thinking about it. Now, after tonight’s hellish venture… I’m starting to think about it again.

Feli and I were leading a small team to attack the Prince’s forces at Smogon University. We had turned off our radios to avoid detection from anyone nearby. With any luck, we would be able to ambush them before any alarm could be sounded.

The war had caused quite the panic in Bulbagarden and cars were literally left parked in the middle of the street. Our team had set itself up behind one of those cars, just a block from the university gates. Feli and I stood several yards away under one of the rare working street lamps.

Feli had crossed her arms in front of her chest and was frowning at the small ragtag team Jabber had given us. A gun was holstered at her hip. “They won’t be enough.

I sighed and shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. But we’ll have to manage.”

Feli’s response was strangely flat, as though she wasn’t even speaking to me, “Manage? Every single one of them could get killed in there!”

“I know,” I said softly. “Anyone of us can. Me. You. But we have no options. We need to take them out.”

From what we could tell, the enemy was holed up in the library near the front gate. They had a clear view of the streets nearby, as well as an excellent position to cover the gates themselves. Feli’s concerns were understandable.

Feli unholstered her gun and checked the cartridge. “I only have a few bullets,” she said sourly.

Her tone caused a small drop in my mood. I was trying to maintain a calm demeanor but her iciness penetrated me like a knife. “Well, something tells me guns will only do so much this time. All of us have Pokemon with us.” I looked at our team and continued, “And we have Ms. Blackjack, who knows the campus pretty well. So we aren't completely hopeless.” It wasn’t much admittedly. In fact, I doubted Ms. Blackjack would be any help at all. But it was worth a shot.

Feli only snorted and reholstered her gun. “What are we looking for in here, anyway?” she asked.

I explained to her the intel I had been given before going out of radio communication, that the soldiers were barricaded in the library.

“I thought all the books in there were confiscated.”

She raised a good point. Still, I didn’t think the enemy was there for research. The library was in a tactical position. I told her so.

“Who knows?” Feli said grumpily. She peeked out from behind one of the cars. “One person with a sniper rifle could do this much more efficiently.” She sighed, “Jabber’s sending us all in to get slaughtered.”

This was odd for Feli to say. I’d never known her to look at a situation so tactically. I laid a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe... Maybe not. You forget that if we're careful, we could sneak in without being seen.” I paused for a second. “It might even be a good idea to set the library on fire first...”

She reeled on me, “if there are still books in there, then burning them would be a waste!”

I took a step back. “Feli… what’s wrong?” Her tone was cold, no hint of the warmth I remembered.

She was silent for a while, and then said, “What's right? That’s the shorter answer."

I held her close to me. Her head only came up to my chest. Softly, I said “I know you hate this. I hate it too. This war separated us for a whole freaking year. But if we don't do this, this war won't end. So long as the Prince has people supporting him, he's got power.”

Her fury hit my like a truck. “I will NOT have anyone else dying for this. No one but the Prince and his admins!” There was a fire in her eyes, but it was cold. Hating.

“So you want to do this alone? Feli, you're a strong person. A great battler. But not even you can take this many men on alone.”

Her response was quiet, but firm. “There are only two men in there that I'd need to take out. Admins Watto and Wiggly.”

I paused a good while before responding. “I don't want you to do this alone Feli. I've spent a whole year away from you. Watching you walk to your death was not what I wanted to happen when we reunited.” I leaned down to give her a kiss, but she turned away.

She looked at the road beneath us for a while before breathing deeply and taking my hand in hers. “Do you really think I’d let myself get taken out?”

The softness in her voice made me smile and I squeezed her hand as I said, “I know you wouldn't go down without a fight, but do I think you can do this on your own? No. Because I would come with you no matter what.”

Her voice was just above a whisper. “Enough people have already died for this. For me. I won't have you be another name on the list.”

I looked deep into her eyes. “And I won't have us separated again. If you're going in there, I'm going in there. And we're taking backup.”

There was a long pause. Finally, Feli took her hand from mine and tapped her shoulder. Her Joltik came crawling down. “Aki,” she said. “I'm going to drop you by one of the outer walls. I want you to make your way into the library and scout around. If there are any books or documents there, let us know when you get back. Otherwise, we'll set Jack loose on the place.” Her eyes turned to me. “Happy?”

I nodded. “A good plan.” More silence. “Where did he come from?” I asked, gesturing at the Joltik.

She watched it crawl back up her arm. “Found him at the zoo. Scared the living shit out of me. Couldn’t get him off, so I figured I might as well keep him. I don't have a Poke Ball for him yet, though.”

“I see… well, go through with your plan. I’ll talk to the guys and let them know what’s going on.”

Feli silently crept down the road. I watched her go.

“What happened to you?” I whispered.



Feli



I didn’t even think about Aaron. All I could focus on was the mission. The drive to kill the Prince. That was my goal. That was what I had to think about.

There were a couple guards walking down the road. They must have been a perimeter patrol. I avoided them and arrived at the gate. The library was only about 50 yards from where I sat. I tapped my arm again and Aki crawled out of my hair. I pointed at the library.

He buzzed a little and speedily moved across the grass and into the building. I watched and waited for his return. Waiting. Always waiting.



Aaron



I got back to the team at the van. “Hey guys.”

Our team consisted of Ms. Blackjack, Marcus, Annabelle (I guess Jabber had a death wish for her), Jack, and Simon. By no means was it a capable or impressive force. It was a teacher and some students. It was desperate.

Ms. Blackjack looked at me and said hello.

I sat down and sighed, “Okay, here’s the plan.” I explained to them what Feli was going to do and if we could we were going to let Jack go crazy blowing stuff up.

Jack’s mood brightened, his smile going from ear to ear. “Really?!”

I nodded. “Yep. Basically, set it alight, blow it up, whatever you have to. We need to get those guys out of there.”

Marcus looked somewhat relieved and murmured, “as long as I don't have to go too far in…”

Annabelle’s bitchiness kicked in. “Don’t be such a wimp!” she spat.

My eyes narrowed. “Hey now,” I said warningly. “There’s no need for that.” My glare rested on Annabelle and then on Marcus. “We’re still going to need to fight them regardless. This is just to even the playing field.”

Marcus winced. Simon piped up, “Why doesn’t she just start things off by having her Joltik use Thunder on the building?”

It was Ms. Blackjack who answered this time. “Joltik cannot learn Thunder until it evolves.”

“But it’s at a high enough level to know Bug Buzz!” Annabelle whined. “Why hasn’t it evolved yet?”

Ms. Blackjack could only shrug. “Perhaps it just did not want to.”

The debate could have gone on for a while longer if not for Jack. “This is all well and good, but the most important reason it doesn’t know Thunder is because if it did, I wouldn’t get to blow things up! And that,” he said looking at everyone, “is just tragic.

Annabelle bitchingly rolled her bitchy eyes. “You’re a freak, Jack.”

I held up my hands. “Guys, guys! Hold on. Using Thunder on the building would not be nearly as effective. And Bug Buzz would do nothing. We're going to go in and use fire. Fire, guys. Got it?”

Jack’s grin could have broken records. “Yes SIR!”

Finally we were getting somewhere. “Good. Okay, so, assuming we do get the clear to blow it up, we're going to be dealing with some pissed off soldiers. They probably have guns. Anyone got any steel Pokemon?”

Ms. Blackjack spoke first. “I have a Mawile.”

“Good,” I said. “Steel types will be able to take the bullets pretty well. I’ve got a Bisharp and I know Simon has a Magneton.”

Jack could not stop grinning. “I don’t have any Pokemon, but I don’t need any. Just give me some sand and gunpowder, and I have that place blown up in a second.”

“Who are you, Captain Kirlik?” Feli was back.

I just kind of stared at Jack. “Um… sure… gotcha.” Thank God Feli was back. “What’s the report?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “Aki didn’t think there was anything important in there, but I still want to try to scout the place before we blow it up.”

I started getting nervous again. “That’d be pretty hard without being able to actually look inside.”

“I’ll go in.”

There it was. That’s what her plan was. Unacceptable. I stood quickly. “What? What’re you going to do, waltz right into the library and say hi to them?”

Her smirk had finally returned. “In a manner of speaking.”

Her smirk had never frightened me so much. “Do I even want to know?” I asked.

Feli gave me all of her Pokeballs. “No, probably not. Now take these and time me up.”

My eyes widened. “No… you’re not seriously suggesting that are you?”

All she could do was shrug. “I’ll have Aki with me. Oh! You’ll need to take this too.” Feli placed the gun in my hand.

All I could do was frown. I hated this plan. It was reckless, stupid, and it put her in way too much danger. But still… “Fine. I'll go along with it.”

Feli looked down. I wasn’t sure what she was doing. Maybe she just didn’t want to look me in the eye. Then suddenly she grabbed the collar of her shirt and ripped it off, revealing a more than generous amount of cleavage.

My eyes shot up. “Was that really necessary?”

“Wiggy and Watto are, aside from Cy Royal, probably the least stable of the admins. Anything I can do to, ah, convince them not to rough me up too much is an advantage.”

She said it so calmly. Like it wasn’t a big deal. My mind momentarily flashed back to Christmas together and I briefly reflected on how so self-conscious she had been then. Seemed like such a long time ago.

At any rate, she did make a good point. I nodded at her and started to tie her up. I whispered into her ear, “hehe, been a year since I last did this.”

For once her smile reminded me of the old Feli. Her eyes were full of the passion and love we had for each other. She chuckled. “Quiet you.”

“I missed you.” My fingers finally formed the final knot and Feli was tied up in the street before me. “There we go.”

I saw her testing the knots for their strength. She shook her head. “We can tell each other how much we missed each other later on.”

“Got it” I helped her to her feet. “Alright, so who's delivering you and how will we know what option to take?

Feli nodded at me and said I was delivering her. “You can come in when you hear the fighting start.”

Did I mention I hated this plan?

I turned to the team and told them we’d be back soon. Simon assured me they’d be waiting.

I took Feli to the gates of Smogon University. The library was in plain view, but the shadows of night would mask us so long as we were still. I looked at my girlfriend and asked, “What should I do?”

She said, “Hide. Find a window if you have to see what’s going on. When you hear a fight starting, send the signal to come in.”

There was still one part of the plan that needed resolving. “How will they know you’re here?”

“I’ll manage that.”

I really despised this plan.

I gave her a kiss on her soft lips. “I love you Feli.”

Her kiss was quicker than mine. “I love you too. Now get going before someone sees you.”

I only nodded and set her on the ground. I started running down the street parallel to the University wall.

Oh God, I effing hated this plan.



Feli



I lay on the sidewalk outside the gate.

I knew I could be discovered here by one of the guards, but I was too impatient to wait for that. I started squirming and shouting into the night, making all the noise I could. I struggled to get out of the ropes. I had to hand it to Aaron. When he tied a girl up he did a good job.

The gate opened and two men stood there, staring at me. I struggled some more and arched my back, making the rip in my shirt even more apparent.

Like the gullible imbeciles they were, the men took me into the library. This was too easy.



Aaron



I saw them take my girlfriend into the library. I had to watch as they carried her, tied up like the spoils of a hunt. I shook my head. Feli had seriously gone overboard on this.

A stone wall ran around the campus boundary. It was high, but not so high that I couldn’t reach it with a little help. I released Biff, my Scrafty, from his pokeball and shushed him. He cocked his head quizzically at me.

I whispered, “Give me a leg up.” Nodding, Biff held out his hands and I stepped into them. Using his vast strength, my Pokemon tossed me into the air and I grabbed the edge of the wall. Hauling myself over it I recalled Scrafty to his Pokeball, thanking him with a silent smile.

A small grove of trees had been planted at this edge of the campus and I crept from tree to tree until I was right underneath a window to the library. If anyone had seen me, they didn’t make it known. I silently cursed Feli for going through all that risk when we could have just done this in the first place.

I pulled out my phone and texted Jack back at base.

GET UR TNT RDY



Feli



I had been taken directly to the Prince’s Admins, two guys named Wiggly and Watto. I’m not sure how much ass they had to kiss to get to their position since they looked pretty incompetent to me. Maybe in order to be an Admin for the Prince you have to be fucking insane.

Wiggly’s voice sounded oddly high pitched when he spoke. “Oh good god, you found some fucking prostitute. Look at her. That outfit is just disgusting.”

I hope that gives you insight into what kind of guy he is.

Watto looked me over. I could tell he didn’t mind the ripped shirt. “Isn’t this the leader fo that rebel group the bossman wanted us to find?” he asked.

Wiggly’s eyes stared into mine. I suddenly felt the need for a shower. “Forget what I said,” he murmured quietly. “She’s not a prostitute, she’s just a rebel bitch. Yeah, this is her.”

Watto’s grin revealed a need for a good dentist. Hell, even a bad one. “So what should we do with her?”

I have never seen a more repulsive face than the one Wiggly used when he thought. “Well, she’s the rebel leader. What better way to dishearten a rebellion than public humiliation?”

If it was possible for a grin to get wider, Watto’s did. He chuckled, “I wonder what kind of humiliation the bossman would let us get away with…” his voice trailed off. He was staring at my chest again and I realized that part of my shirt had actually fallen off, revealing a full cup of my bra.

I glared at him and said coldly, “If you so much as glance at me one more time I swear to God I will rip your dick off.”

Wiggly’s hand connected with my face and sent me sliding across the floor. “Shut it you!” he roared. “You’re our prisoner now. And a criminal. We can do anything we want and get away with it.” Now he was grinning too.

I spat at his feet. “So what are you going to do- rape me in the town square? How cliché.” I felt Aki moving down my pant leg and inside I smiled. He was going to chew the ropes apart. Perfect timing. How stupid of these guys to not even check me for concealed Pokemon.

“Hadn’t thought of that,” Watto chuckled.

Wiggly put a hand on his shoulder, “It’s never a good idea to give your enemies ideas, young lady,” he said to me. “Personally, I find that particular one disgusting and vulgar. However,” he paused and smirked, “I’m not one to humiliate anyways. So I’ll let Watto take care of it.”

A small part of me wondered if maybe this was a bad idea.



Aaron



This was a fucking bad idea.

I had watched the whole thing from the window and while I couldn’t hear any of it, I got the gist of the conversation. I muttered, “Arceus damn it Feli, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I also hoped Jack had a bomb in the works. It was going to get rough soon.



Feli



That Watto creep would not stop grinning. It was like that smile was carved into his face. He slowly walked towards me and while outwards I maintained a stony silence, I was panicking inside. Aki needed to free those ropes around my legs now!

Watto’s hand moved towards my chest and I spat into his eye. He snarled at me and ripped the rest of my shirt off, revealing a very pissed off Joltik who had crawled back into it. Aki jumped at the Admin and wrapped him in an electroweb. Screaming, Watto fell to the floor, his body twitching.

I kicked myself onto my feet and the ropes came off. Aki had done his job. Pointing at Wiggly I cried, “Electroweb!” The other Admin fell too.

Things were looking slightly better.



Aaron



Goddammit!

I sent out Victor, my Houndoom and pointed skyward. “Flamethrower. Now!” A pillar of flame erupted from his mouth and set the sky alight. The team should be able to see that clearly.

Sure enough, the gates unlocked and our squad came running towards me. Inside I could hear the sounds of struggle. We didn’t have much time.



Feli



I pointed at the door. “Cover it!” A new electroweb covered the door, shocking the guards who ran through it.

I walked over to Watto and kicked him hard in the stomach. My rubber shoes grounded me from being shocked.

Wiggly ground in pain and I kicked him too, this time in the crotch. “That’s for calling me a whore.”

I was strangely enjoying this…



Aaron



Jack came over to me and I yelled, probably louder than I should have, “If you’ve got something that goes boom, use it. We need a way in!” I looked at everyone. “All Pokemon should be out now!” My team erupted from their Pokeballs.

Jack took his makeshift explosive and placed it at the rear of the library. I commanded Victor to detonate it and with a small firestream, he did just that. The explosion knocked us all back, but in its wake there was a large hole in the library wall. Flames danced on the edges of the splintered boards that made up the exterior.

With my Bisharp leading the way we ran into the library. Feli, standing there shirtless and uncaring, saw us and held out her hand. “Give me the gun,” she said calmly.

I hesitantly placed it in her hand and began giving orders. “Marcus! Take that wing. Victor! Smoke them out! Burn this place to the ground!”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Feli pull the hammer back and direct the gun at one of the admins. I shouted, “Feli! Don’t!”

Her voice was cold. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.” She kicked the admin. “Listen up, you pathetic excuse for a bubblegum wad. You’re going to tell me everything that the Prince plans to do, when he’s going to do it, and HOW he’s going to do it, or so help me I’ll find out if a round of bullets can pierce that thick skull of yours.”

The admin whimpered, “No… I can’t tell you. Please… help! Someone!”

Feli responded by pressing the gun barrel to his head. “No one’s around to help you,” she said icily. “Now talk!”

Sounds of sizzling wood grew from the chaos around us. I looked at the door and saw the Prince’s guards breaking through the electrified webbing. Marcus edged close to me. “Maybe now isn’t the best time…”

“Let’s just grab these guys and go!” I shouted. I directed Alanna and Biff to pick them up. Around us, Victor’s inferno raged, incinerating the wooden shelves and ceiling.

Feli grabbed one of her pokeballs from my belt and tossed it. “Kit, help burn this hole to hell!” A Ninetails appeared and let out a jet of fire from its mouth.

“Well team, we’ve got some prisoners, we stopped the Princes’ soldiers… not bad for a night’s work,” I shouted over the roar.

Feli held up the gun again and glared at the two Admins. “We should get what they know out of them and get rid of them. They’re a liability.”

“No,” I said. “We need to get them back to the main base. I don’t know if the Prince cares about these two, but they could be used for hostages.”

“To negotiate what exactly?” she shot back. “It’s not like the guys were the cream of the crop.”

“Regardless,” I said sternly, “This library is burning around us and the Prince will see that. So we need to leave no matter what.”

Feli took a deep breath, but the smoke that was filling the room only made her cough. Choking, she said, as loud as she could, “Move out, everyone!”

We all fled into the night, leaving the cries of the trapped soldiers burning behind us.



Feli



Aaron gave me his coat to cover myself with while we walked back to base. I was grateful for it. It bothered me a bit having Jack sneaking glances at my prominent chest, covered only by my bra.

We all walked in silence for a while, until Aaron muttered something. “What?” I asked.

He looked at me. “What happened to you?” he asked.

My eyes fell to the ground. “What do you mean?”

“You’re… different. More serious. You weren’t at all opposed to baring your skin to the enemy and you threatened to blow that asshole’s head in. That’s not the Feli I used to know.

I sighed. “In case you haven’t noticed, Aaron, I’ve been leading a war for the past year.”

We were trailing far behind the others now. Aaron stuck his hands in his pockets. “I know… but… I’ve been fighting too. But you… you’re still you, but you’re different.”

I just couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much. “A year is a long time. A lot of things have changed. Some things… aren’t around anymore. And they’re gone for no good reason.”

Aaron put a hand on my shoulder. “What happened Feli? What happened while we were apart? What’s missing?” He was silent, waiting for an answer I didn’t want to give. “It’s got something to do with me, doesn’t it?”

I could only shake my head. “No, Aaron… you… aren’t the reason I’m like this.” I took a deep breath. “I know I’m different. I know that this wasn’t exactly what you expected to come home to, but… people have died because of me. I couldn’t do anything about it… not even avenge them. See what the Prince is willing to do…” I gagged at the thought of Nelson’s charred corpse.

Aaron stopped walking. He just stood there in the empty street. Quietly, he spoke. “It’s my fault.”

“How could it be?”

Our eyes met for the first time in what felt like ages. “I should have stayed with you. I was going to. I didn’t want to leave. But Dan pulled me along and I had not choice but to go with.”

“Don’t be stupid,” I snapped. “You had to go.”

“No, I didn’t!” He started walking towards me. “I accomplished nothing useful this last year. Nothing. I would have been better off here, with you.”

I snapped. It was too much. I had no other option. “How Aaron? How could things have turned out differently if you stayed? You were safe out there! In here… you could have gotten killed!” I gripped his shoulders. “If you were here, it could have been you who took that Fire Blast… you who would have been a charred, ashen heap on the ground… still smoking even though you didn’t look human anymore!”

There was a long silence before, “Who was it?”

Oh shit! I realized what I had told him, despite all my attempts to cover it. I looked away and whispered, so softly even I could barely hear, “Nelson…”

Aaron’s response was painfully predictable. “I’m sorry.”

I snorted. “’Sorry’ isn’t going to do shit.”

There was more silence, and then Aaron said, with an unfamiliar firmness to his voice, “You’re right. It’s not.”

He walked away.

I stood there, silent. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t anything.

I felt empty.

No… there was something else.

I felt alone.

A single tear fell down my face, but I quickly brushed it away and, with an agonizing effort, began to follow after Aaron.



Aaron



I realized something that night. Feli had fallen to the savage side in the past year. Hardship, loneliness, and love had changed her. She was still human, but the energy and wildness of a Pokemon was taking her over.

Were humans and Pokemon really so similar? Were we always to walk that razor’s edge between savagery and civility?

Whatever the case, I now had a new reason to hate the Prince. It was his war that had changed my girlfriend into who she was now. He would suffer for the pain he had dealt her.

Damn you Prince. Damn you.



/////////////////

NEXT TIME:Let's end this. The final battle begins in "Endgame: Part One."

Jabber, might want to change the formatting a bit. Copy pasting from my e-mail looks weird.

Yeah, I agree. Didn't know if that was intentional, because the e-mail looked like that, too. I'll shorten the spacing.

intriguing. Despite my not really understanding the backstory much it was a good chapter.

Jack gets to blow something up! BEST CHAPTER EVER!

Though one must wonder why Jabber sent his little brother on a raid if the plan didn't already specifically call for explosives and/or fire.

And I think we can all agree. Prince is a dick, even if he does have a Freudian Excuse.