A Tale of Types and Triumphs
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Several weeks passed, and the Dragon Emperor's team trained hard, either in their balls or against the dangers of Selva Muerta. Astrum had chosen his ball, when he kept falling to violent poison attacks from pretty much every inhabitant of the Forest of Death that wanted to taste a golden Togekiss, and eventually, he just Teleported to Jess and her team, since they were in an altogether nicer place. So far, the training with Gelauros had gone well for Alex, Terra, Kalagon, and everyone else with an ice weakness. The entropic cold was not so painfully shocking anymore, and while things like Ice Beam would probably still do the same damage, they wouldn't stun anymore. While most of their training had hard limits at endangering their lives recklessly, there was, as usual, one exception.
Alex's currently not-possessed R-Phone case started beeping, as even without a Rotom, it could still tell time and set alarms, along with all the other basic functions of a smartphone. This particular alarm was for the temperature, and it had been going off for quite some time before Alex's prime consciousness actually noticed. He'd been so engrossed in journeying with Isamu and training the teammates actually traversing the jungle that he hadn't realized how far Gelauros had gone.
He tried moving a limb, only to find himself completely frozen, which was, medically, very not good for his continued survival. His first thought though, was his teammates enduring the frost with him. Sure enough, Terra's body had gone into hibernation, as had most of the others with ice weaknesses. He kept from panicking, but the worry was obvious as he reached for Blaze and suddenly found his mind sluggish. For whatever reason, it seemed noticing his peril had increased its effect on him all at once, and his team reacted as his desperation started rising.
He felt his clones ceasing to function and move and urged his Charizard to hurry. The sight Blaze came upon appeared to be an icy hill. The surrounding area was so cold, even Gel's body had eventually shut down and focused only on expelling his frosty power into the air, as he'd been doing for days now. Blaze tried to get his ice typed contemporary to notice him, but his roars failed. A Flamethrower managed to get a response at least, namely an ice beam that had become more energy than ice. Blaze dodged it easily and mocked his sleepy little brother.
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That got Gelauros to wake up though, and the Blizzard finally stopped as his blue eyes slowly widened, then shot open in realization and horror. He didn't move, terrified that he'd frozen his brothers as he had his mother, when he was young. He knew from traumatic experience that moving too much might break and irreparably damage their bodies. Immediately, Blaze used Heat Wave, which helped. The fact that each of them had been maintaining barriers against Gel's cold was probably what had saved their lives, though as things stood, they were pushing the edge of safe training.
Alex kept mentally downplaying their situation, even as Heat Wave, despite its power, did not completely thaw them. They were visible now, no longer buried in snow, and the natural power of the Sun itself was being used for Sunny Day, rather than the fiery orb that appeared in indoor battles. When outdoors, and during the daylight, the move could become much stronger, as it acted more like a fire-typed magnifying glass of an already existing and nearly infinite heat source. Blaze could take it further though, he had learned. Like the Articuno of Norstad, he had learned to incorporate the Light into his flames, and though it was his first attempt with Heat Wave, he focused his considerable power to make it into a newer, more advanced, and potentially more damaging move. Sun Wave.
Alex felt the minds of his teammates waking, and he urged them not to move, psychically holding them in place, as they tried to do so on instinct. Like a pair of hot pockets in a microwave, they needed to be 'cooked' long enough to not have an uncooked frozen bit in their middle. Then, he needed to use Heal Pulse. For a tense five minutes, Blaze continued to burn like the Sun, and when Alex felt their insides were all sufficiently warm and gooey again, a wave of Light infused psychic energy, as he took a page from his Charizard, pulsed through his team. One by one, he made sure their bodies, and cells, were functioning properly from their unintentional cryo-stasis, and then released the psychic hold on them. Within ten minutes, he'd gotten his clones functioning again, which was good, considering what he and Isamu were dealing with up on the northernmost coast of the megalopolis that was Rio, in Porto Nova. He'd had to cut his focus down to one, but now the Mind Plate's energy was flowing once again.
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For the first time in days, his actual body stopped floating and landed by his team. Those who'd been frozen seemed more worried about him, than the fact that they'd almost become an unintentional creepy ice sculpture display. "I'm sorry, guys…I was careless." He checked his phone then and nodded. "Seems like your power was starting to mess with the weather anyways, Gel. I think we're about as used to the cold as we can be. Go and gather the others…I need to cut down on the clones for a while, and I think it's about time for a…convocation on how the various Types of energy work." All but Terra left his side, and he patted the massive earth tortoise. "I'm sorry…I could've lost you guys, with my carelessness. Or permanently injured you. The scans say you're fine, but…" He sighed, heavily. "It was too close. I need to be better."
Terra nudged him with his hard head. "Things like this will happen, at our level. We have grown stronger. We can resist the freeze better than before. Your methods worked…even though we became perhaps…overconfident in the face of our brother's power. We survived." Alex smirked at the pride Terra felt in Gel's strength, even despite almost dying to it. He felt an apple, fresh from his starter's tree, fall toward his behatted head as it moved through the air, and he psychically caught it, pulling it to his hand. He munched quietly, but his mind had not shifted.
Terra was making him feel better, but he'd still failed his team. Kalagon especially, having this kind of potential damage to a growing body…he decided they would all be getting rest, for at least two days. He was done with the apple, having devoured it, by the time the team had gathered. He nodded at them, impressed by how much stronger everyone was looking, and he felt noticeably better as he reduced the number of clones. From their eyes, most of them seemed to be either worried for him, and their brothers, or annoyed that their training was stopping. Khan in particular was practically panting fire from his toothy maw, but his claws had cooled down, at least.
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"Now that most of you are here," Alex began, as his clone with Isamu bamfed over Po, Champ, Fulguron, and Gauss, "I wanted to get a rough estimate of how many teammates we have of each Type. This will determine who we add next, to finally fill out our roster to sixty non-Legendary Battlers." Gelauros stood alone, and with a wide area of space around him, as he naturally cooled the air in his vicinity.
Alex started counting then, and for his dual types, which was most of his team, he counted them twice. Overall, they had a very good spread if one wanted coverage, and when he considered the move pools of each partner, they were more than covered. "What I'm seeing so far…is a lack of Ice. Which is needed, and also rather common, in competitions. The only question that leaves…is who?"
Lux, now in his phone again, floated in front of him. Alex read the words, and smirked. "So. Chonkley has a new son, and Rick Astley wants a good Trainer for him. Interesting. Walrein is Water and Ice, and he could cover for Pruina. I like it. Now we'd need just one more, which would bring us to a solid four." He glanced around, but nobody offered any species. It was Terra, who spoke first. "Use your clones in Paldea. The fighters are done at Fury Falls. Send that one to the Ice Mountain. You'll find a partner there if you descend the peak."
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Alex nodded in agreement, as his starter was correct. Sneasel, Cetoddle, Cubchu, Swinub, there were plenty of valid candidates he could run into. Quietly, and hidden from his team, Alex had the clone in question use his R Phone case to look up what Glaseado's residents had for shiny variations, and one in particular caught his eye immediately. The clone fed his party a sandwich with a Klawf stick, and some of the salty mystical herbs Florian had told him to grab, if he saw them. Apparently, they were more common than ever, and it was actually very helpful for local Rangers and local Paldean Trainers if those herbs on the road or in the wilds were gathered before some overly territorial Pokémon got them. Team Star had actually been the ones handling those Pokémon that did find those herbs, and become Titan sized as a result. Beating them shrank them down to Alpha size. Most were caught and distributed to a team member afterwards. That was probably why ninety nine percent of Naranuva Academy's students were also in Team Star. Everyone wanted Alpha sized Pokémon.
"Aside from Ice…Fairy also sticks out. As powerful, and special, as Astrum is, we can't leave it all solely to him, and the Fairy Type is also quite useful in competitions. The only problem is…" He had Lux enlarge, so the gathered Pokémon could see the list of known fairy types. Very quickly, they understood. "None of them really match…our…" He stopped, on the Galarian Form of Weezing, and his team began to chuckle. "Vibe." Alex finished, smirking wide. "Right, so I'll bamf to Galar, and try to find a Weezing, or a strong Koffing with the right personality. That'll raise our Poison power, too, and he'll only have to be wary of Steel Types. We do need more Poison, though…hmm. I'll talk to Tony, when we next see him. He and Maria have plenty of Nidoran Eggs." Just then, his phone beeped, with a call. It was Eric, probably with bad news. He looked at Terra. "Start teaching them about the Grass Type, and how best to wield it. Saur and Arbor too." The Torterra, Venusaur, and Sceptile set about their task, and very quickly, Arbor became the more popular explainer, mostly because the two oldest starters tended to ramble, about the nature of growing things, like dew on the budding leaf, or wind on an open hill. They also tended to speak very slowly, by comparison. Eventually, Saur and Terra just ended up speaking to each other, while Arbor confidently handled explaining the nature of the Grass Type to the others.
For his part, Alex answered his phone with a smirk. "Brother. What's wrong now?"
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Eric looked haggard, as if he hadn't slept. Rolling out the Rotom Replicators and dealing with the aftermath of that, was becoming a full-time job. Thankfully, it was a job Tao had already created a government organization specifically to handle, but they were still being implemented, and there were still instances and problems to deal with. Mostly, it was either some thug attacking a Replicator, and being hurt by powerful electric and ghost moves, or a cultural issue. Not every culture viewed burgers as 'suitable food' but Alex reasoned, correctly, that if say, Indius, had solved world hunger they'd all be having rather simple curry, or some other local dish he was unaware of. But, it was the Dragon Empire that had solved the problem, and thus, the world got burgers.
It was, in every way, a ClusterMuk. But the world was fed, and the people finally had an option to avoid starvation. For free. Food prices had initially skyrocketed, but as more people got home Replicators, they fell quickly, leaving much egg on the face of food companies. While expensive to produce with a Rotom, many people already had one in their phone and teaching them how to run a Replicator was quite easy, as the intelligent little sparks caught on fast, and had a blast doing so. Indeed, Rotom had almost become considered holy in some places, usually remote places that had never had a surplus of anything, let alone food.
"Well," Eric started, "Aside from a dangerous drop in your biorhythm, which seems to have normalized, the weather. Your Aurorus has managed to create a massive thunderstorm over the rainforest, and the forecast is predicting Rio will be hit by a rather intense tropical storm as a result. I take it since you finally answered, he's stopped, so you may want to deal with that."
Alex simply nodded. "Shruikan can handle it. He's been playing in the storms forming around Gel for weeks now." Despite his own ice weakness, the proud dragon claimed that attacks didn't make him so much as flinch anymore. He talked big, but his control over type energy backed up his words. Now, that control would save Rio from storm damage. Alex mentally explained to him how storms formed and worked, and within maybe thirty minutes, the black dragon was driving the ones over the jungle out over the megacity to the east, and then out to sea with temperature-controlled air currents of his own making.
The rest of the team had since moved on to how water moves worked. It was actually James Pond who was explaining, given his eloquence, accent, and intelligence. "Water, is the foundation of life. It exists in most living things, which is why many Pokémon can use Water Moves. The trick to controlling Water is controlling its flow. Once you figure out how to do that, you can make your attacks faster, or more condensed as needed." Someone asked about ice, and Bubble O7 replied, "Turning Water to Ice is actually a matter of controlling heat, which brings us nicely into Fire…"
Alex closed his eyes, focusing on his Paldean clone on Glaseado Peak as the team discussed the nature of flame with Blaze. His Charizard knew what he was talking about, and they didn't really need his insight, for this part of their training.
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Paldea's Highest Peak - Paldea Region
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Alex Redwood took in a deep lungful of frozen air at the highest peak in Europa, outside the Mediterra Mountains of course. He was alone at the top of Paldea, and as he exhaled, the snow under his stupidly large feet formed into a passable pair of sharp ice skis. He leaned forward then, and let gravity do the rest. Very quickly, much quicker than the last time he'd gone skiing at the age of twelve, he approached a dangerous top speed. He raised his hands and sliced the air with his airbending, propelling himself even faster, as he sailed out over a river carving into the mountain.
He had no fear though, since this was a clone body. In fact, the rush of adrenaline was practically addictive. As he hurtled down the mountain at a pace that would probably kill anyone else, he went soaring off a perfect incline and waved at the Pokémon watching him sail through the air below, who murmured quietly to each other, though none of them made an effort to stop his seemingly suicidal descent. He tasted salt in the air, briefly, before gravity started pulling him back towards the snow. He gestured with a hand then as he landed hard but felt nothing, seeing a glint in the snow, and pulled an Ice Stone into his palm.
He smirked, as he psychically killed his momentum, and started skiing at a leisurely pace looping side to side, the proper way, as he made his way towards a massive herd of Cetoddle and Cetitan lounging around the frigid beach on Glaseado's northern base. It seemed the onset of spring was when their species gathered in massive numbers, or perhaps it was his meal's power at work. Whatever the reason, as he skidded to a hard stop on his ice skis and pocketed the stone, he gave a friendly wave to the few Cetoddle who noticed him.
Adorable as they were, he didn't try catching them, as white and pink was not really his style. He was after something specific. The toddling cetaceans found it very funny that he could speak Pokémon, and a crowd of them was gathering around, the more they asked for tickles, or a berry. He did note the nearby Cetitan, but the gentle giants, while very much watching him, soon were able to realize he was no threat. Just another Trainer, probably looking for one of their black skinned family members. After speaking with some of the older Cetoddle, Alex learned that the herd, and species in general, apparently didn't care for the darker toned members of their line. Black Titans, they called them, which funnily enough only made Alex more eager to train one.
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He hiked back and forth down the coast, from the beach up to the salt sprayed snowy cliffs, and sure enough, with time and patience, he found what he was looking for, long after the Cetoddle stopped finding him interesting. His feet were sore, his leg clothing, despite being special, was very much soaked, and he was starting to shiver, as his cold, wet state was feeding back to his prime body, but he hadn't given up, and his persistence was rewarded. His target was massive for a Cetoddle, at the very least bigger than usual, which meant he promised to live up to the moniker his species had given him. He was staring determinedly out at the ocean's horizon from the edge of an icy cliff and looked like he'd been in a battle recently.
"Hello there." Two large, adorable eyes ringed in a bright orange that contrasted his dark grayish skin looked over the human, and blinked, as he realized he could understand the human perfectly. "Looks like you've had a Battle recently, my friend." Alex knew he was looking at the loser of that contest.
The Cetoddle nodded, sadly, as the consequences of his loss set in. "It was…Big Chief's son. He does that a lot…fight me…usually he has his friends help…but this time was…different. We Battled for a female, and I…even alone, I lost to him."
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Alex nodded, sagely. "It's because he's gotten more Experience, from winning those other Battles. While you haven't had…any wins, I'm guessing." The Cetoddle nodded. Alex just smirked at him. "Well. I can help you, if you like. I happen to be pretty good at training Pokémon, or so my fellow Humans tell me. We have two paths before us, assuming you're up for it." The Cetoddle thought for a moment, and then agreed, as he realized the human knew what he was talking about. Even Pokémon understood that to become stronger, one had to win. Losses gave a different kind of experience, unfortunately, one that did not spur their growth.
"I can take you, in a Pokéball, to the south, and have you fight some Grass Types. There's quite a few Tropius herds around, and with a little effort, you could grow strong against them quickly. They're also quite a friendly species, as I hear it. Very close to the people of Medali, who make good culinary use of their fruits." The Cetoddle's eyes widened with recognition, and Alex guessed his nest was near the city, as his species appeared around that side of Glaseado as well. "Our other option is to leave Paldea entirely. Travel with me, and my team, and come back as a Cetitan they won't be able to match. It'll take longer, but I can guarantee you'll win, if we choose that path."
The Cetoddle thought it over for a minute, and then said, "I want to stay here. I never thought of fighting the Tropius. And if I can find the right rock…I'll be a Cetitan!"
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Alex's smirk grew, and he pulled the freezing stone, that was not helping his chilled state, from his pocket. "A stone like this, perhaps?" The Cetoddle's eyes grew wide, and he nodded excitedly. Alex held up a Luxury Ball then, already colored black and orange. "Hop inside this, my new friend, and I shall take us to Medali quite quickly."
The Cetoddle tilted his head, and Alex realized he was pretty young. The female in question must've been his first. "That…metal Apricorn will take us to Medali?"
Alex shook his head. "Not quite. This is…what Humans call a Pokéball. It's essentially a whole other world, just for you, that I can carry around in my pocket, or elsewhere. It's designed to keep Pokémon safe and comfortable, while they travel with their Trainer. Walking everywhere would get tiring." The Cetoddle nodded, clearly fascinated with the ball.
"And…this one is mine?"
Alex nodded. "It can be. Choosing to come with me is a big responsibility. It will change your life forever. In a good way, I hope."
Suddenly leery, the dark cetacean leaned away from the object slightly. "But…what if I don't want it to change…"
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Alex chuckled and held the ball out fully. "If you don't like it, or my team, I can always release you right back here."
That seemed to calm him, and the Cetoddle began to think, which Alex encouraged. He was young, but his species was quite smart, like Wailmer. Finally, he said, "You have…other Pokémon?"
Alex nodded. "Quite a few, actually. It's not like your herd, either. Every single one is a different species."
The Cetoddle's eyes widened in the cutest way again, even his sigh of exclamation was heart melting. "Every one!? How many do you have?"
Alex tilted his head. "Around sixty. Which is a lot, for most Humans, but uh, I plan on getting a lot more, over time."
"How many more?" The Cetoddle asked, eyes still wide.
"All of them." Alex said, chuckling and smirking.
"...All of what?" The Cetoddle asked again, his blubber now furrowing slightly between his giant eyes.
"All of the known Pokémon species. Not all at once, of course, but that is the goal."
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The Cetoddle let out what seemed like a held breath, as he laughed. "Silly Human! You can't catch all of us! You'd die before you did!" He kept laughing for a good thirty seconds, and Alex let him.
"It's been done before. There have been new species discovered since, but yea, there's already a pretty famous Trainer who caught them all, already. Excluding Legends, of course."
The Cetoddle looked surprised but then laughed heartily again. "Of course! No Human could catch a Legendary One!"
"Actually…" Alex said, further blowing his new young friend's mind, as he confirmed that he did in fact claim partnership to quite a few Legendary Pokémon by this point. Four was four more than most humans ever even had contact with. After that, he gladly booped the ball, confirmed that he liked it after being inside for a few minutes, and just like that, they were on to Medali's outskirts.
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There were Trainers about as Alex hopped out of the Flying Taxi, mostly younger academy students, who seemed to immediately recognize him. Ignoring them, he tossed his newest partner into the air, and he popped free with an adorable cry, and that signature sparkle. He toddled excitedly from foot to tiny stubby foot, and then Alex pressed an Ice Stone to his body. He grew in size three times before his shining body stopped, and he embodied his species name, as the titanic cetacean let out a loud howl.
The other Trainers took note of them now, cautiously staring their way, and the Cetitan, now dubbed Orcinus (or - see - nus) waved a flipper at them. That made them smile, as they waved back. Alex had him start watching TMs then, which thankfully still worked on his phone case without needing a Rotom.
Once Alex had loaded in the moves Orcinus would need, he left the comically large jet-black titan watching the much smaller screen with intense focus. Alex heard a cough behind him, the kind to get his attention, and turned, giving the group of students his iconic smirk. "Hello there!"
The group giggled and chuckled, and one whispered, "He said the thing!"
"How can I help you guys?" Alex continued, resisting a laugh of his own.
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"I have a Turtwig!" One of the youngsters shouted. He had plain features, brown hair and eyes, and his clothes matched his starter. The others laughed, and Alex got the feeling they weren't traveling with Turtwig kid, they'd just happened to meet him out here. He had awkward loner vibes, and Alex sympathized. With a toss, the aforementioned Turtwig came out of his standard Pokéball, and the kid gestured at Alex with his thumb as he stage whispered, "It's the Dragon Emperor!"
The tiny turtle's eyes widened, and he looked up at the towering human, as Alex examined him with a sharp eye. He frowned, slightly, and the two looked worried. "You uhh…you do water him, right? Their backs need to be kept moist. Or their growth will be stunted." The two looked panicked, and Alex cringed, as he realized how this must seem from an obvious Rookie's perspective, to have a Champion question his competence, in front of his peers. The smirk shifted to a smile, not large, but confident. "It's alright guys, it's easy to correct. Grass Types are very resilient. Uhh…here." One long arm reached behind his back, to his backpack, or a copy of it anyway. It was still bottomless, but the items within were not duplicated. Every clone had access, and could add to their stores, but they also drew from them.
"This is Protein. Give him some of this with his food, water his back regularly, and he'll be just fine." Alex handed the young Trainer the vitamins, and his eyes widened at the quality. The Scales did not skimp on their vitamins and had the same access as the State's military forces to lower prices or slight discounts, depending on the area.
"I was going to ask you for tips on raising him! You really are Psychic!" The boy seemed easily impressed, which amused his peers, and Alex.
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"Ahh, well, I didn't read your mind. I just saw his back was a bit dry. Before I was ever Psychic, I was a Turtwig Trainer. Just like you. Take care of him, and you'll go far." The youngsters started to ask more questions, but then, the lumbering titan that was Orcinus stomped up behind him. He didn't quite shake the ground just yet, low level as he was, but he did have height, and an almost menacing natural stare. At least until his eyes turned happy, and he greeted them, then nudged his Trainer. "Sorry guys, I'll answer all your questions next time. We need to train for the World Tournament."
One of the others, a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes that almost seemed red in the right light, inhaled with obvious excitement. "Are you really going to try to take on Ash Ketchum!? I'd heard you were training so many more Pokémon!"
Alex humored her, as he tightened his gloves, and noticed a shoelace was loose. He'd also noticed one of her friends, a nerdier or tech savvy sort, start recording without so much as asking, but that was what Alex expected of the R Phone generation at this point. "Y'know, I've met Ash. He's a genuinely good guy. And strong. He lives up to the hype. I saw his Charizard take on a Shadow Pokémon, a Legend no less, and win faster than I could." He omitted the fact that Charizard against Virizion was a terrible matchup for Virizion, and that she'd basically been berserk and barely able to aim her moves, just like her counterparts. He stood up and stretched, saying, "If I get to Ash, it will become a Battle of luck. He has lost before. If I can gain a solid lead early on and hold it, I might outlast his team. But only if we keep training!" He chuckled. "Come, Orcinus! Let's ask the locals to spar." His Cetitan let out a mighty roar, and stomped after his Trainer, who was letting his black and white robe with the symbol of the Dragon Empire on its back flare epically as he walked. Naturally, the video of a world leader going off to train yet another new catch caught fire quickly on the Pokénet.
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In about half a day, Orcinus had gained enough power to face his rival, by his own estimate. As the sun set, they tracked down his rival back where Alex had first found his species gathered. Orcinus' rival, now a Cetitan as well, was doing what seemed like a mating dance with a female Cetoddle. This enraged Orcinus, and he slid on his belly into his rival, letting out a challenging roar as he did so.
The Big Chief's son, as Orcinus called him, rolled back onto his feet, roared back. The two titanic cetaceans started circling each other then, as their vocalizing strove to overpower the other with sound, specifically, an Echoing Voice. Orcinus had started his first though, so it quickly rose over his rival, at which point the white Cetitan spun into the species unofficial signature move, Ice Spinner. Orcinus eyed his opponent, remembering how he'd lost a head-to-head Ice Spinner clash before. Instead of meeting the powerful ice attack, he used his new knowledge of type advantage, and the large pool of moves Alex had given him.
He leaned back on his powerful tail as the icy Beyblade came closer. A steely gray shine covered Orcinus' black body, and the following Heavy Slam sent the Big Chief's offspring flying. He tried to rise, but collapsed, fainted in a single blow. The disparity in their strength was now reversed, and even larger. Orcinus let out a victorious roar, and the members of his species who'd been watching the mating display, and then the battle, roared with him, but Alex, who was watching closely, frowned.
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The crowd, such as it was, was not with him. They acknowledged his victory, but did not cheer him or look happy about it. And as Orcinus stomped towards his 'prize', the female in question, she slid past him, to his fainted rival, and helped him to his feet. Orcinus watched with disbelief, then anger, and then sadness, as he realized she'd apparently made her choice. The defeated Cetitan lowered himself humbly, before Orcinus. "You are stronger. If you lead, we will follow."
Orcinus' large brow furrowed. He didn't want leadership. What he did want, no longer seemed to be considering him as a mate. "Forget it." Orcinus answered, with an angry rumble. "I want no part of this herd." He turned then and stomped over to Alex. The human frowned further as Orcinus said, "Recall me."
"Are you su-"
"RECALL ME!" Orcinus thundered, and Alex did so, sighing as his heartbroken friend disappeared in a flash of light.
Alex fished out a large Sitrus Berry then and approached the wounded Cetitan. "May your line be fruitful." He said, offering the berry before vanishing in a puff of psychic sparkles, simultaneously Teleporting Orcinus back to his main body. By this point in the day, the team was almost done discussing typing, with the final explanation being dragon energy. None of his other dragons quite had the gall or daring to take that role from Shruikan, which amused Alex quite a bit. Alex intended to let Orcinus out again, as he knew from personal experience not to let him stew in solitude over his rejection. What his new friend needed now, was some positive masculinity.
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The Metal Megamind
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Alex had never been to Rustboro City, but he did find it a bit odd. It didn't really look like a Japanese city, and his growing appreciation for architecture had him guessing most of these buildings were styled similarly to those in Europa, for whatever reason.
The flustered receptionist was levelheaded now, as she acknowledged his presence again. "Mr. Stone is ready for you, sir. Please make your way upstairs."
He thanked her, and started walking with purpose, causing murmurs among the people working on the floor between the reception desk and Steven Stone's office. It wasn't every day a world leader walked into one's place of work, let alone the man responsible in part for their free lunch. A large painted portrait of the first, and late, President Stone was on this level, looking older, but confident as he held a stone Alex was unfamiliar with. It was black and sparkling on the outside, but almost like a geode, and the exposed part was gold, and had a rainbow sheen over the star pattern within the remarkable stone. He also admired the skill of the painter, as the subtle changes to his vision were letting him see the masterful strokes that had created this painted memorial to a man of perhaps grayer morals that had, regardless, revolutionized modern technology. Devon had coined the term for Infinity Tech, and they'd also been the first to try to harness it, albeit with abhorrent methods that were realistically always doomed to failure.
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To Steven Stone's creditable morals though, when the Hoenn Champion and the Tamer of the Sea had come to him, a mentor figure of sorts to both of them, he'd made the horrific details of the Sea Mauville's power sources public and had apologized for the actions of his company. He'd also, rather boldly, vowed to continue developing the technology with humane methods, because it was worth it for humanity, and
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"Eye catching, isn't it?" A confident male voice came. Alex looked up to see the world-renowned handsome visage of Steven Stone. He'd added a well-kept short beard to his appearance, but his hairstyle hadn't changed in decades. Alex nodded, and Steven continued, "I'm sure you noticed the stone he's holding. We call it a Sync Stone. It's actually a much stronger version of lesser Sync Stones we found in the same area. Would you like to see it? It's in my office."
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/dixbwxp-cdbbda89-d75e-4da6-9803-d10eace8c23f.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl4Ynd4cC1jZGJiZGE4OS1kNzVlLTRkYTYtOTgwMy1kMTBlYWNlOGMyM2YuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.juHu7ukuzsueGsz-O6vAutmoThT9ZF7A0Z9L3nCbruI]
Alex nodded. "I was just on my way up. I'd love to see it."
The workers shared a knowing look as the two men ascended. The President had tried, with all of Japan's Champions, to get them to hold his father's treasured 'Ultimate Sync Stone' but none had been able to make it sparkle. Not one to let opportunity slip by, when the Dragon Emperor came calling with a mysterious package from the ruins of Rio that apparently belonged to the Stone family, he had another opportunity to present it to a powerful Trainer. The late President Stone had believed his find to be divine, as the energy it once gave off was the same as that measured from Arceus.
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In short order, Steven Stone had brought Alex into a vault absolutely overflowing with precious stones. Diamonds, rubies, gold, and more dazzled his eyes, but only for a moment. The crown jewel of this collection, one radiating a familiar if muted power, sat on a white and gold pillow at the back of the vault.
He felt the famous Trainer turned CEO watching him, as he approached it. The case folded away as he approached. "May I?" He asked, and Steven nodded. Alex carefully lifted the stone…but nothing happened. He turned it over, admiring the naturally formed beauty. "I'd love to know where your father even found something like this…"
Steven was quiet for a beat, and Alex heard the disappointment in his voice as he said, "A small, isolated Region in the southern islands of Japan. The Ferrum Region, I believe. The seabed around the Region's main city was teeming with them." Another pause, then, "I admit, I was hoping it would react to you…"
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Alex blinked and reached his senses out to the stone. "Oh. Uhh. If it's okay, Mr. Stone, I'd like to try something." He raised a neat eyebrow, and Alex elaborated. "It feels dormant, like a Plate shard out of power. I think…yea, I think some Draco Plate Energy would awaken it again." He muttered softly then, mostly to himself, "that formula has promise."
Steven Stone was quiet for a moment. They had, naturally, tried tapping it against an awakened Plate shard. He'd never considered that the type of Infinity Energy would matter. And one of the few people with access to a Draco Plate was before him. "Of course, Dragon Emperor. Go ahead. You'll forgive me if I uh, back up a skosh…"
Alex nodded and then held up the Ultimate Sync Stone. His right Salamence-headed gauntlet manifested around his arm then, and radiated blurple aura. He poked the stone, and once more Alex's intuition proved accurate. He blinked, as he sensed something else awaken. He heard Arceus in his head and nodded at his request of him.
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"Umm. Mr. Stone, I believe…your father may have left a message of sorts for you. Just grasp the stone and…yea." He did hear its contents, but he decided to forget the words, pushing them from his mind, as they weren't for him. Steven took the stone, and gasped. His eyes rolled back in his head, and Alex briefly hoped the man was okay.
A moment later, the man's eyes were normal again, and leaking tears. He wiped them away quickly, flushing red. "I'm sorry, Dragon Emperor. I wasn't expecting…I don't normally…cry like this in front of people."
Alex companionably patted his sharp suit's shoulder. "Just Alex, is fine." In a gentle tone he added, "There's no judgement here, Steven. I once got a similar message and had the same reaction. There's no shame in crying."
Steven nodded. "I always forget how forward thinking you Unovans are. Thank you, for this. Apparently…Arceus desires me to wield this stone. He also told my father where to find more. Including one for you, o' Slayer of Shadow." He chuckled lightly, composed himself with a small cough, and said, "Now then…you came here for an entirely unrelated reason, didn't you."
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"I did." Alex answered, sensing the CEO wanted to move on. "Atlas, if you'll join me?"
Steven gasped, as he saw the shiny Metang manifest beside Alex, and then smirked. "Ohh, that takes me back. Right, Metagross?" Another flash of light from Steven's waist brought out the living legend, and the massive platinum Metagross rumbled a greeting to Alex, before his eyes widened, as he saw Atlas.
Their Trainers watched with interest as the two started conversing rapidly. It was faster than Alex could properly hear though, and in binary, which he did not even remotely understand. He was more impressed at the terrifying speed with which the two could converse. Steven's Metagross started the conversation. "01001001 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110101 01101110 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110010 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110."
To which Atlas responded, "01000001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101110 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00101110."
Steven smiled at Alex. "It must be fascinating, being able to hear them speak."
Alex smirked at him as the two spoke even faster, and in longer bursts after what seemed like a greeting of some sort. "It's…Binary, to me, honestly. Anyways. We found something, in an abandoned hotel in Rio's ruins. Something that uhm, has your family's name and seal on it." He pulled out and enlarged the stasis capsule then, and Steven's eyes went wide.
"Holy Muk…this is…" He stared up at Alex. "You went into the Hotel Esqueleto? Willingly? And lived?" He gave Alex a once over, as if the man was properly taking a look at him for the first time. For Steven's part, he had never seen someone so strong be so…chill. And yet he recognized the strength, now that he looked. The fire in the eyes, the confidence in the casual stance. He wasn't all that different from Rikuya.
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Steven pressed his family ring, once his father's, into the sealed container's bottom. "My father said his grandfather was also supposed to have gotten a shiny Beldum for a Pokémon partner. It's a bit of a tradition in our family, but my great-grandfather never got his Beldum. He died when Rio was sacked, and we assumed his possessions were lost. I don't think anyone even knew he'd acquired one. We're lucky Beldum are so resilient. Any other typing and being in stasis this long might have killed them. The tech wasn't very good back then."
Just then, the Metagross and Metang nudged their Trainers. Atlas spoke directly to Alex's mind. "I have conversed with the elder. We should speak to the Beldum first. It will be…confused. And potentially violent." Suddenly, with a blink and a bamf, they were on the roof, and Atlas shielded the humans, as Metagross gently awakened the sleeping platinum Pokémon. With an enraged metallic cry, it roared to life, and aimed at the first thing it saw, which was Alex. Atlas's Reflect Screen was no joke though, and a significant number of levels separated the Beldum and Metang.
The Metagross took up its vision then, psychically forcing the mind within to calm, and speak with him. Atlas soon joined in, and soon, the three were chatting with bursts of binary so fast, Alex couldn't even hear the numbers anymore. "So, Atlas." Alex finally said after a solid five minutes, "Are they interested in joining us?" He glanced at Steven. "Assuming that's okay."
Steven shrugged, with a small smile. "The laws of the road are clear. Finders keepers. Unless what you find is a wallet, or something personal."
Alex gave him a look. "I'd say a shiny Beldum destined for the Stone family has a bit more value than a wallet." Steven just shrugged again, dropping the issue.
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Atlas acknowledged his request, and patiently, after another entire five minutes he said, "Agreement has been reached. We shall become a Metagross." With that, the three shiny examples of the Beldum line began harmonizing their voices, and Alex fished out the Rare Candies he'd been saving for this specific moment. Steven just watched, his eyes mostly on his Metagross. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a shiny Beldum came hurtling towards them eagerly, propelled by its psychic power. Atlas and Beldum greeted it and began communicating. After exactly sixty seconds, they turned as one to Alex, who was scanning the Beldum with his 'dex, and making sure they hadn't just accidentally summoned a shiny Beldum that someone was already training.
Alas, the Beldum was wild, and eager to form a Metagross. Apparently, it had spent its life sad, outcast among its group, as it had no other shiny Beldum to merge with. It also seemed to like the idea of being powerful. And it seemed eager to try anime, if Alex heard it correctly. It'd fit right in. Thus, Alex tossed the stasis Beldum the first Rare Candy, and both it and the wild Beldum became a Metang. Atlas ate the next one, and as his golden claws, brimming with Infinity Energy, met with the claws of his counterpart, the two Metang became a single being, with a mind that could match an Alakazam.
The freshly evolved Metagross roared loud enough to echo across all of Rustboro, and Steven examined Atlas with an expert's eye. "You took excellent care of your Metang. Their composition is quite strong." Atlas thanked Steven, and Steven smirked, running a hand along the smooth top of the metallic megamind. Each powerful spiked foot tapped the ground, as Steven gave each brain scritches.
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Alex hopped atop Atlas with psychic aid and smirked at Steven. "Only the finest Protein for my boys. Now then, if you'll excuse me Mr. Stone…we need to be returning to our World Tournament training."
Steven nodded. "Of course, Alex. I wish you luck…in fact…seeing your bond, and Atlas' evolution…it makes me yearn to try my own hand at the World Tournament, again." He let out a wistful sigh. His team was pretty long into retirement by this point, and the World Tournament was well under way already.
"I don't know if you'd win." Alex stated plainly, "We have some serious contenders this year. But I do know that Ash and all your fans would enjoy seeing you and Metagross in a Battle again. And I count myself among that number as well. I watched your matches all the time as a kid, though I eventually went with a Gallade for my main Psychic Type."
Steven glanced at his Metagross, who gave a cry of encouragement, and he smiled. "I may have to consider it, now. Metagross seems quite eager." He looked back at Alex. "I'll let you know if I find more of those stones. I have a feeling…they have great power within. I'll need your help to figure out how to draw it out."
"You have it." Alex said, with a nod. "Until next time, Hero of Hoenn."
As Atlas bamfed away, Steven looked back to his Metagross. "Haven't gone by that title in quite some time…we haven't needed to."
"Meta."
"Do you really want to compete again? Get the others back in shape?" Steven asked. "Whoa!" He shouted suddenly, as his suit jacket flared, and all six of his partners came out at once. In unison, they shouted at him, and had big grins on their faces, as if they'd been waiting for their Trainer to find his spark again for quite some time. He chuckled. "Alright guys…but first, we find those Ultimate Sync Stones. If we're going to get a rank in this Tournament worthy of our skill, we'll need that power." His team roared in agreement, and in short order, he was flying atop his silvery Metagross over Rustboro City for the first time in a long while, headed southwards, towards the Ferrum Region.
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The Final Faces
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Alex and Kalagon were soaring above the western mountains of the Dark Continent, testing his speed and power against the local Noivern, except after several days of doing so, the local Noivern had learned to avoid them out of fear. Kalagon was becoming a proper terror since growing into his final form, that also meant he had an attitude to match. Very few inhabitants of Selva Muerta had actually managed to challenge him so far, and he was growing more bored by the day. Like Shruikan, he was begging for Alex to take them to Norstad or Unova for the final days of their training.
"What arrre we even looking for, anyway…" Kalagon snarled in irritation. His Trainer's large frame was harder to fly with than he'd ever willingly admit, and he wanted to battle something. They'd been at it for some time now after a sweet and salty basil sandwich break, then, suddenly, Alex pointed. "There! That giant black dot, Kalagon." The Garchomp dove, and his eyes narrowed. "Rrreally? Camerupt?"
"Absolutely!" Alex shouted into the wind with a smirk. "He's practically tournament ready, large, and…" The Camerupt in question suddenly turned towards them as they approached, and the Numel around him fled in panic. "Oh…Muk. Kalagon. Dragon Dance and dodge!"
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Once he felt his Trainer grip tight to his burly neck and shoulders, Kalagon flared with blurple energy and barrel rolled effortlessly through the rain of erupting rocks launched at them from below. Kalagon landed with an Earthquake, which the angry looking Camerupt effortlessly stopped from affecting his person. The two Pokémon stared each other down, as Alex hopped off and got out of move range.
Flames erupted around them, as the Eruption attack landed, and the Camerupt formed them into a circular flame wall, entrapping the two outsiders. Kalagon was wholly unbothered by the flames and faced down his opponent with a pent up roar. The Camerupt roared back, and the two started moving towards each other. Alex let Kalagon take this one solo, and the dragon barely acknowledged him, but immediately launched into a move. They weren't in an official battle, so nobody needed to call them out, and taking turns based on speed wasn't a thing. It was just two powerful Pokémon who needed some exercise, ready to beat the Muk out of each other.
Kalagon launched first, a deadly, snarling, blurple blur. Unfortunately for him the black Camerupt had spent a lifetime going second. A Protect stopped the Dragon Claw, and with a simple raise of his head, a powerful Stone Edge sent Kalagon hurtling away with an angry snarl of surprise. An orb of orange energy formed in the volcano camel's mouth, condensed, and then began sparking with raw, familiar power.
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The Hyper Beam lanced out at Kalagon, but his Garchomp was already gone, into the earth, as the ground exploded in a line, but missed the subterranean dragon. Normally using dig against a famed Earthquake user like a ground type at this level was a bad thing, but Kalagon had time, thanks to Hyper Beam's toll. The Camerupt eyed the nonchalant human with his arms crossed, as the Hyper Beam exploding near him didn't so much as bother him, nor did the wall of burning rocks. Seeing he wasn't going to give commands, the Camerupt ignored him completely. Before the black furred Camerupt could capitalize on his opponent being underground, Kalagon struck twice, thanks to its exhaustion.
He came up under its jaw with Dig, and then used Dragon Hammer, which he had managed to master thanks to Dragon Tail, and Shruikan's instruction. The heavy flame camel wasn't sent flying by the powerful tail strike but rather kept his feet as he was forcibly slid through the ground. Now recovered, but damaged, he decided to try to end Kalagon. Fiery Infinity Energy flared up from the ground beneath him, and his form shone bright, solidifying as Mega Camerupt before them. The intelligent camel watched them expectantly.
Alex smirked and nodded at the black furred volcano camel. "Kalagon!" His Garchomp eyed him and then nodded in agreement. That Stone Edge had hit harder than he'd ever admit, but a crit was a crit. He was close to losing, unless he matched the Camerupt. The next moves would decide their match. With a flash of blurple light from his Trainer, Kalagon ascended to his own Mega Form, and let out a roar that shook the air and rang throughout the Dark Continent's western mountain chain.
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The Mega Camerupt looked at the pair, mostly Alex, with newfound respect. He roared in response to Kalagon, and fired off a powerful Earthquake. Alex's Garchomp sneered at it, until it rose out of the earth, like Terra's could. As somewhat of an Earthquake expert by this point, Alex's smirk widened. This Camerupt was legit, and his power was just under Terra and Hydrus. It seemed they'd found a naturally talented Earthquake user.
The team had been brainstorming a way to 'evolve' Earthquake, the way Blaze had with Sun Wave. Not with the Light, but as essentially the same move and power expenditure, with much bigger results. Lux had even downloaded a Richter Scale app to help measure their prowess. He and Arthur had really stepped up and into their roles as teachers, while simultaneously honing their own skills as well.
Kalagon sliced through his opponent's wave of earth in a flash of unnatural speed. In the space of half a second, the Mega Garchomp was on him. The Camerupt let out a roar of pain as the dragon's claws, limned with water, sliced into him. The Liquidation stunned him, and Kalagon masterfully followed that strike with a rising spin into a Stone Edge to the jaw that actually managed to knock his heavy opponent onto his side.
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With a heavy groan, the Camerupt lost his Mega Form. Kalagon roared his victory, and the nearby Numel herd started wondering aloud if his win meant Kalagon was going to eat them now. He stared at them for a long moment as he heard that, but eventually let his own Mega Form fade too. By that point, the Camerupt was slowly making his way to his feet again.
In short order, Alex had recruited him with his usual tactics, and dubbed him Eruptus, which was the name he preferred most. With yet another defense heavy Earthquake user, Alex and Kalagon returned to the camp to continue training. He contacted Tony then, and his Nidoking did, in fact, have a special Nidoran for him, one who sought power, and battle, unlike most of his other offspring. Once Alex brought him out, and saw that ultramarine blue color, he tried to think of the most historically favorable Ultramarine from the Imperium's less murderous eras of history, and dubbed him Calgar, after a famous Legion Commander of the Ultramarines who had advocated against the Imperium's reliance on slaves. Marneus Calgar had owned many, and yet he'd made them into ideal specimens of Man, many had even been uplifted to Astartes, and being kept as his slave was seen as a position of honor. He was also less controversial outside the Imperium, and was generally seen as a positive force. That is, of course, until he died, under mysterious circumstances, which people outside the Imperium also always brought up when recounting Marneus Calgar's achievements. Tony arrived with his offspring, intending to train him personally alongside the other ground types.
As Alex watched his team hard at work, mastering their moves, both offensive and defensive, he eyed his Deino currently in stasis. They couldn't speak telepathically thanks to the power of his dark typing, but the young dragon could hear and see around him, if he so wished. Alex levitated him up by his head, for a better view. "This is what our team looks like. This is how we train. Most of my friends have nicknames, and I have one for you, if you want."
The ball twitched in his psychic grip, and Alex let it fall back to his hand. "I'm sure you've had nicknames before, but since we'll be moving on from those past lives, I figured a new name is appropriate. A name fitting for the power you'll one day wield. Two shakes for yes, three for no. How do you feel about Ghidora?" The ball shook twice, and then Alex sensed the occupant fall asleep. "Alright then. Ghidora it is." He pocketed the ball, and then sent a clone to Galar.
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Motostoke City - Galar Region
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Alex had little trouble finding Rick Astley, as his hit song Never Gonna Give You Up, and Release You was still number one on Galar's music charts. This meant that he had quite a fan base at this point, and the crowd's murmurs only increased as Alex appeared. The two men shook hands, before Alex said, "I hope Chonkley is alright with this. I'll make sure his son becomes properly strong in no time."
Rick chuckled. "Actually, he was quite happy when he heard you wanted to train Chonkers. That's what we've been calling him, but he doesn't seem to care for that name."
"Well, I'll help him figure out what he wants his nickname to be. Shall we head to them?" Rick nodded, and then led Alex out into the Wild Area, which was where most of the crowd of normal folks stopped following them. On the eastern shores of Lake Axewell, the mighty Walrein known as Chonkley, Rick's starter, was teaching his young son how to use something called an 'Aorfquake'. It was essentially just a combination of Surf and Earthquake, but the results were impressive for one who was not ground typed.
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In short order, Alex gave him his usual greeting, and after a brief discussion, the young Spheal abandoned the nickname Chonkers, for Boreas, much to Chonkley's disappointment. Alex bid them farewell, and then he and the young Spheal went for a walk around the area. "So what is we looking for?" Boreas asked, as he rolled along to keep pace with Alex's long stride.
"A Weezing. Once we have him…we'll head back and you can all meet the team." Alex paused then, as a familiar, dank smell wafted through the air. Before they could follow it though, a wild Butterfree attacked them, and to Alex's ears, it seemed quite angry for some reason. "Boreas. Ice Beam." Having already watched several TMs, the young Spheal had also been taught a bunch by Rick and his father. He seemed to be quite good at learning new moves, and had promise as a special attacker with impressive chonkiness.
A perfectly aimed beam of ice smashed into the Butterfree, freezing it solid, and then fainting it as it smashed into the ground, and the ice broke apart. "Quick. With me!" Alex said, as he left the Butterfree, and ran after the dank scent. The scent turned out to be a Stunky, but the foul odor had also attracted a Galarian Weezing, who fed on the foul smelling air and released a delightful lemony scent as a result. There was hard evidence that the Galarian government had once genetically modified their Weezing population, but given that the more common form of Weezing had been so common and so strong during Galar's industrial revolution, something had needed to be done. To this day nobody knew exactly what their scientists had done, but the end result was a rather polite and dapper looking pollution eater dedicated to keeping the air clean and nature pristine.
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"Hello there." Alex said, as he and Boreas casually rolled up on the stink-munching Weezing.
The Weezing inhaled the foul scent like one slurped a noodle, and expelled a stream of pink, sparkling mist afterwards from his larger steam vent. He looked at the pair, then. "Hrmmhmm! Hello indeed! A fine day, to you gentlemen!" He started inhaling again, then realized it wasn't the Spheal who'd spoken. "Hold on a tic…"
Once again, Alex explained to the dapper smog eating monster how he'd come to be able to speak like a Pokémon. This was Boreas' first time hearing the explanation too, as Rick and his father had simply rolled with it like it was perfectly normal. "I say!" The Weezing vociferated with a wheeze, "What an astounding tale! I never thought when I woke this morning that I'd be meeting an Emperor!"
"I have more." Alex said, with a smirk. "If you'd like to hear them, you could come with me. I'm making a team of powerful Pokémon, dedicated to keeping the peace on Earth. The entire Earth, eventually."
"Well," The Weezing began, tilting his head to look up at the sky above them. "I cannot say I am overly fond of Battling, as you Humans call it, but Peace…I can think of no nobler task, than guarding Galar, nay, the World, from the horror and misery of war." He nodded then, at Alex. "If this be your goal, you shall have my assistance, my Lord."
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Alex waved a hand. "No need to be so formal. Alex will do fine. Do you have a name, sir?"
"You are the rightful monarch of your nation, my Lord Alex, therefore I will address you properly! Let it not be said that Winston C. Smogsworth is lacking manners!" The dapper Weezing bellowed, drawing looks from several nearby rookie Trainers.
"Do you prefer Winston, or Smogsworth?" Alex asked, with a smirk. He knew better than to fight against manners of this caliber.
"Smogsworth is how the locals know me, I see no reason to change that. I am at your service, my liege."
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In short order, Alex had Smogsworth and Boreas in their balls, briefly, before he and the other clones with new catches gathered back at their base camp. Thanks to the efforts of Terra and the other grass types, the damage Gel's ice had done to the surrounding plant life was already vanishing astonishingly quickly. Once everyone was gathered, he finally released most of his clones with a tired sigh. He was going to sleep well, soon and probably for eight hours.
"Boys," Alex said calmly, as he released the newest, and final catches on their team before the older members, "this is our team. Team, say hi." An incomprehensible noise erupted from almost fifty mouths as they all spoke at once. Orcinus and the others slowly returned the greeting. The newbies seemed surprised by how strong they all looked. His newest partners looked back at Alex, who said, "They're discussing the usage of Types. You've missed most of it, but your brother Lux here recorded it all, for you, and for those who weren't Paying attention. You know who you are. You'll all be having a review session later, over the parts I saw you spacing out for." Several of the gathered horde of species groaned, and it was mostly from the felines of the team. "No groans. You need to know this stuff. There are as many Battle styles as there are Trainers, and every single one we face is going to have tricks that we need to be able to understand, and counter, before they do too much damage." The felines still looked displeased, but the others begrudgingly nodded.
Then, as if planned, Shruikan suddenly shot down from the sky like a black blur, shaking the earth as he landed. Steam rose from his scales as the remnants of the rain he'd been flying through and controlling evaporated away. With a flare of his wings, those gathered briefly felt the power of his aura and he began his lesson, the final lesson on typed energy. Most of the new faces, like Eternape, Orcinus, and Chloros had not yet properly laid eyes on the only one of the top ten that could claim to be able to beat Arthur, who had become the bar by which the rest measured themselves very quickly, a role he was all too eager to keep. Shruikan had mostly battled him properly to prove a point. He and the psychic swordfighter actually got along pretty well, and Shruikan would always prefer to battle Blaze, especially when their eternal rematches did not favor him. He began speaking as he paced before the group.
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"Dragon Energy… is power."
Astrum visibly rolled his eyes and moved to perch on Alex's shoulder. Shruikan glared at him, until the golden flying fairy shrank from his fierce gaze. "It is the oldest Type, and the first that the Alpha Pokémon wielded, when he created everything. Using it, if you have the ability to, is not difficult. The difficulty is controlling that awesome power. Without control, a Dragon is little more than a rampaging beast. But with control? We are…mostly, unmatched. Resistant to the elemental Types and weak only to Ice, ourselves, and…Fairies…Dragon Energy naturally dominates the other Types, and can be used to block attacks from them, or weaken them. Blaze, if you would."
The lying Charizard raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and always willing to take a free shot at his rival, he inhaled deeply, and the others blinked, as a full power Fire Blast that had to have used most of his available power for the move roared towards Shruikan, who had a familiar smirk on his face. He let his aura shield flare hard enough to remain visible. Doing that usually meant the one being shielded was wasting more power than necessary, and Shruikan was naturally quite good at determining how much power he used. The blurple and yellow streaked aura shone brighter, and then turned a dark red, while the lightning went from yellow to bluish white. The Fire Blast slammed into him with a mighty burning roar, and Espeo raised a Barrier to keep the team safe. With a thunderous crack, the smoke from the explosion vanished outward from the focal point that was Shruikan, practically burning now with the power he'd usually use for Outrage. The team stared at him in awe. There wasn't even a scorch mark. Blaze spat embers, irritated. There was a reason he didn't bother with elemental moves against Shruikan. He was just showing off but also making a point.
"Dragon Energy can also be pushed to a higher forrrrm…it requires rage, and anger, and perfect focus, to not go wildly out of contrrrrol." He stared Terra down then in particular, and the grass tortoise's eyes widened as Shruikan kept that crimson energy burning, without tiring, or losing control, for a solid thirty seconds. This was what mastery of Outrage provided, and Terra quietly and simply nodded his armored head in recognition that Shruikan had won whatever disagreement they'd had between them. Shruikan let the aura fade then and spoke with finality. "Remember your resistances, as well as your weaknesses, and you will find Dragon to be a Type worth shielding with in most instances." The intense eyes shifted to the subtly staring ninja frog who flinched as he met the dragon's sharp gaze. "You may even find that using Dragon Energy to control other Types can help you with mastering a Move that's particularly difficult for you. As with the others…I am available for questions." He sat then, looking quite regal and proud of himself.
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"Actually, my friend," Alex said as he came up beside the large black dragon, "There is one more Type we must discuss. And one point I must correct you on. Light, is the oldest Type, and has existed before even Arceus. There are many kinds of Light, but by all accounts the Light was the first Type that appeared and exploded when Arceus first hatched into our Universe. It's why his…dimension, or home pocket plane, the Realm of Light, is so large, compared to our own."
Shruikan seemed irritated. "More of your…Human knowledge, is this?"
Alex nodded. "It's amazing what technology can read from the energy emanations in distant Space. After Light came the rest, with Dragon first among them, but it also caused the most chaos. At some point, presumably Arceus, formed the existing Types into a…pattern of coexistence that allowed for order and life to be brought forth, instead of pure elemental chaos. This is what our scientists have divined from the pattern and age of the emanations we can observe."
Shruikan snorted, forgoing chin scritches to lie on his forepaws, eyes closed. "Bloody Human Science…" He muttered, as Alex continued.
"I can't really claim to be an authority on the Light. Those of you who have experienced it, and wielded it, understand its…uniqueness. And it is rare. As far as I know, the original Arceus is the only truly Light Type Pokémon we know of. Except maybe Ultra Necrozma. I use it, because I've opened my bodily energy to the Universe, and at this point, I don't need to fully immerse myself to draw upon the power of Arceus's realm. Others, like Arthur, are born with it, in the form of Excalibur. He didn't just get Excalibur though, he had to learn to form his arms into swords, master Sacred Sword as a Move, and take it to a level high enough for it to become something greater. He trained constantly to reach that level. It's the same thing Blaze did with Sun Wave." Alex pondered for a moment then, as he thought out his next words carefully. "I don't expect you all to be able to use it, and it's not a mark against you if you can't. Everyone here has different strengths and weaknesses. We don't know the criteria the Light requires to answer us, but we do know that it has appeared by honing our Fighting Typed and Psychic Typed aspects. If you train hard enough in those areas, you should also be able to tap into the power of the Light."
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"But what about the Shadow?" Came a question, that made some of the war veterans shift uneasily at the mere memory of what it had done to the Crusader's Pokémon. Seeing hordes of Shadow Infused Pokémon had deeply upset quite a few of Alex's veteran team members. Khan, the asker, rose then, and stepped forward. "Surely, if Balance exists, Light must have existed alongside Shadow. So why do we not use it, as well?"
Anger was the first response, and a pulse of Aura from Alex stopped his top ten from attacking Khan. Every one of them was blazing with a shield of aura shining around them and readying an attack. "Stop! He's just a kid, guys. He doesn't know. He didn't experience it. Yet." Khan, who looked very much like a freaked-out cat with all the hostile glares coming his way, looked up at his Trainer for help, as Alex walked towards him, and gently patted his head. Slowly, everyone calmed down, though the frowns were universal now. "Because you're young, and because you haven't faced the Shadow yet, I'll forgive that suggestion, Khan. It's not a crime to have questions, your brothers are just…justifiably against the Shadow, in all its forms."
Khan shrank but rose again as Alex gently scratched behind his ears, eliciting a purr from the dark fire tiger. "But…we should discuss it. Pretending it doesn't exist won't help any of you when you face it. Know thy enemy."
Alex thought over his words, and his available knowledge for a solid thirty seconds before he began. "Shadow…is malice. Hatred. Rage, most of all. It's the unholy amalgamation of the negative emotions sentient beings possess. Darkness, the Dark Type, is what first existed along with the Light. The Shadow is something else entirely, but it has historically corrupted those with darkness within them more easily. For those who wield the Dark, that should be for obvious reasons. The scientists of Cipher managed to create this foul power in a more tangible and nearly permanent form by combining Dark Energy, Ghost Energy, and Poison Energy in the confines of a lab, in the Orre Region. Now, as I understand it, natural Shadow does also exist, but the kind we have dealt with most has been a byproduct of Cipher's research. It forces a Pokémon's body into a heightened state of aggression, twisting their very soul into a bitter shell of what they could be. There is no rest, for those infected with Shadow. It's like…a forced Mega Evolution, but a constant one, that never ends. There have been instances of individual Pokémon adapting to the Shadow or physically being changed by it beyond the usual aggression, but said Pokémon are not good examples to be like. Humans can be evil, but so too can Pokémon. You guys have as much capacity for evil as Humans do, you're just naturally drawn towards the Light and the good, because that's what ultimately is responsible for creating you. Mew's power comes from the Alpha. There were markers in its DNA for the capacity for the Light, but we didn't understand what they were until the Light Type was properly discovered."
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A new, feminine voice from above the gathered lads drew their attention as a whole. From the setting sun of the freshly cleared sky, came a Mewtwo, the same that Alex had awoken under the Desert Resort's ruins, in the lair of what was being dubbed 'Team Rainbow Plasma' whose rise had been so short lived it never actually got out from under the ground. "Does that mean that I would have the capacity to wield the Light as well?" She asked, landing softly before Alex, her tail swishing somewhat nervously, as more eyes, entirely male eyes, than she was used to dealing with stared at her all at once.
Alex got over his initial shock and replied, "I believe it does. With training, I have no doubt that you could wield the same power that Red's Mewtwo has. But I thought you were with the other two… Does this mean you're…?"
The genetically altered psychic Legend smirked at him in a manner that was rather familiar. She'd copied him well. "It does. I've made my decision, and I will find this Successor eventually, if I stick by your side. I find you worthy, Dragon Emperor."
Her smirk widened. "Train me."
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