Pokemon Adventures: Soul Ch19 Will To Fight!

Chapter 19: Will to Fight!

Not a single word was said, and the silence haunted the battle field, like the calm before the brewing of a violent storm. The air was thick with both sides' conviction to win, unyielding in in the search for inevitable victory. I turned to glance at Spirit, "They don't have us beat yet...but we need to stop their defenses…" I said to her.

Spirit nodded in agreement, "I know how you work…how long do you need?"

I raised an eyebrow "What do you mean…?" I asked her.

"You always pull through in the end, you just need to think first…I'll buy us as much time as possible, Hellfire, Flora! On me!"

Flora and Hellfire quickly retreated from combat, to get closer to Spirit, "You both do exactly as I say! We need to buy Soul some time-" Spirit began.

"I follow no one but myself!" Hellfire growled angrily. "You do as she says, as long as I have your pokeball, you are a part of my team and you will follow command!" I barked at her. Hellfire growled, puffing smoke out from her mouth, but she inevitably nodded.

"One minute…Buy me one minute…" I said calmly. Spirit nodded, and stepped forward.

"You've got your time…and make haste, I am taking on not one, but two champions, and a minute may be all I can provide…" She said in a stern voice. Red and Gold stared at us confidently, with huge smiles on their faces.

"Oh, finally ready huh?" Gold asked, taunting us by gesturing us to come to him, "Let's see what your little battle strategy is!" he laughed. Red wore a puzzled expression on his face.

"Woah, she stepped forward, she doesn't plan on fighting us alone? Two minds are infinitely better than one alone…" He said.

"Don't worry," Spirit said clenching her fists, "I'm more than capable! Flora, use rest!" Spirit called out. Flora slouched over, and dropped to her knees, resting off all her damage!

"Vee! Psychic!" Red responded instantaneously, attempting to stop Flora's recovery. Vee leaped up into the air gracefully, as its eyes glowed.

"Hellfire! Sucker Punch!" Spirit responded. Hellfire got up and charged out savagely and pounced, aiming for Vee with blood lust in her eyes.

"Baton Pass!" Red said hastily. Vee and Politaro glowed, and a light flashed, switching the pokemon.

"Heh! To easy! Politaro, use Water Gun!" Gold cried out. The moment they switched I noticed Vee out of the corner of my eye.

"hmph…" I grunted, but I kept quiet. Spirit grinned, "Gotcha! Flora now!" Spirit yelled. Although Politaro and Hellfire were still midair, Hellfire started retreating. Flora stood up, and yanked Hellfire out of the air with her leech seed! Flora jumped off of the ground, and onto Hellfire's back, using her momentum to jump at Politaro.

I stared intensely at Vee, waiting for it to make a move. Vee started sprinting forward, "Vee! Light screen!" Red called out,

"Not so fast! Flora, use Giga Drain!" Spirit cried out. Vee acted too fast for Spirit's command. Vee jumped up, and as it was about to take the attack for Politaro, the Light Screen formed itself, and protected both pokemon from the brunt force of the attack.

Politaro caught Vee, and landed down softly. Flora soon followed, and was left temporarily exposed. "Vee! Psychic!" Red called out. Vee sprinted once more, eyes brimming with light. It focused its energy, readying for its attack.

"Hellfire! Sucker Punch!" I called out. Spirit glanced over to me and smiled, wearing an expression of confidence.

"Vee! Pull back, Baton Pass!" Red responded. I grinned, as both Politaro and Vee glowed once more. "Flora! Aim a leech seed at Vee!" I quickly responded. Flora shot out another 3 seeds at Vee right as it switched, hitting politaro straight on! "Hellfire, Time to eat!" I said coldly, pointing at Politaro as the seeds shot out vines to encase it. Red and Gold were completely caught off guard.

"Vee! Intercept!" Red tried to respond. "No way! Now it's our turn! Flora, Aim your sludge bomb at the ground!" Spirit called out. Flora squealed in excitement, as it scattered rounds of acid all over the field. Vee slipped on one of the huge puddles of sludge, and lost its balance.

"Politaro! Water gun-" Gold cried out, also trying to defend, but Politaro was too tied up to aim a decent shot at Hellfire. Hellfire jumped onto politaro, using its Crunch attack to gnaw down on him, savagely shaking her head side to side before launching Politaro in Flora's direction.

"Endgame! Flora, use Giga Drain!" Spirit called out. Flora threw more of her vines out at Politaro, absorbing energy with her Leech Seed, and then stealing even more energy from Politaro with the giga drain attack, completely re-vitalizing her energy.

Politaro fell to the floor, completely immobilized. "Dammit! How!?" Gold growled angrily, as he quickly retreated Politaro back into its ball.

"Soul! I knew you could do it!" Spirit cheered, running over to me and hugging me tightly. "Get off! The battle isn't over!" I said in a muffled voice, as Spirit squeezed me tightly in her bosom.

"How did you pull that off?" Gold asked in a frustrated tone. Spirit finally let go of me, and I regained my composure. I put on a straight face, and glared at the two confidently,

"All I needed was time to sit back and observe…The timing between your Baton Passes was very consistent, and the recharge before you could do it again was approximately three seconds. I knew by watching it, there was no way to pull off an attack that can hit you simultaneously, especially with Politaro's defenses.

However, There was one clear window, that opened the second Spirit used that combination to bait the pass. You guys could not switch mid switch! So the attack had to be done during the switch process, which takes 5 seconds to complete it, giving me more time to device an attack!"

Red and Gold looked at me in awe, and with respect. Gold sighed, and shrugged, "That logic was top notch, but you made one very big mistake…you left the wrong teammate alive!" He said in a worrisome tone.

Spirit stepped in, "Wait hold on! You said it yourself, one mind will never be greater than two, and I still have soul with me!" Spirit argued.

Gold nodded, "In most cases this is true, but there are a few exceptions in this world to that fact, and the primary example, is right next to me," he said, pointing at Red.

Spirit and I looked over at Red, whom was quiet for the whole time. He had a crazy smile on his face, and he began to laugh a low laugh. "You know…As a champion, I tend to hold back on my opponents, since they often don't know what a real battle is!"

Red clenched his fist and raised it, "The will to fight on…it boils in my very soul! And I only allow myself to use my real strength when the odds are against me…"

He raised his face, and glared me straight in the eye, "So, you wanted to see a champion?" he said with a smirk. In that instant, a huge aura burst from out of nowhere. Vee was surging with power, and its eyes were glowing brightly.

"Vee! Double Team!" Red called out. Vee roared, and images of itself began to spread uncontrollably about the field. "Spirit! Brace yourself!" I growled, Hellfire and Flora readied themselves for more combat.

"Vee, Pin Missile! Scatter!" Red called out. It seemed like thousands of arrows shot out from all over, "Hellfire! You can take that hit, he's Obviously aiming for Flora!" I said hastily. Hellfire doubled over to Flora's side, taking all the needles for her. Flora stumbled a little, but suddenly, Vee appeared right in front of Hellfire!

"Obviously," Red said in a calm voice, as Vee blasted Hellfire with a powerful Water Gun attack, sending her airborne. Hellfire whimpered in pain; "Flora! Watch out!" Spirit warned, but it was too late.

"Vee! Flamethrower!" red said relentlessly. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Vee blasted Flora with searing hot flames, burning her into the ground! "Spirit get her out of there!" I demanded. Spirit nodded, and called Flora out of the battle, retreating her to her pokeball. "Quickly, go to the poke center, she needs help!" I said angrily.

"But Soul, what about you!"

"Don't worry about me, just go!"

Spirit hesitated, but she soon sprinted out of Lake Acuity. At this very moment, my location became clear to me once more, and I began to notice that we were in an intense snowstorm…This whole time we been fighting in the ice cold wilderness of Lake Acuity, in the trenches of winters smite.

Hellfire was completely covered in snow, but it didn't stop her as she slowly arose from her rough landing. Vee was still brimming with energy, and Red stared over me, setting his tremendous pressure upon me. "The fight's over…" He said in a serious tone, as he looked down on me. I kneeled over to Hellfire's side, and touched her back. She was cold, barely keeping the heat up in her own body, despite being a fire type pokemon. Emperor walked over to me, and put his wing on my shoulder, trying to console me. I finally realized the jaws of ice cold defeat, and it ate away at me and my pride…

"Your pokemon are doing just fine! Their vitals are stable, recovery will be swift! Just come back down for them in the morning" Said the nurse, giving me a report on Hellfire and Flora. I nodded, but turned away from the nurse, "Not all the wounds will heal…" I said coldly, as I walked back into an empty hallway…

I headed back to my room, rented for me by Prof. Oak. He told me to stay in the center, just in case he needed me. I approached a doorway leading to the main stairwell. I walked up the steps silently, thinking about my battle with Red and Gold. Their movements as a team were flawless, and they naturally synced their minds for battle. Even after losing a team mate, the champions still had so much power…

I thought about it longer, and decided that it would have happened either way. Gold and Red were holding back their true strengths from the start. I continued up the steps, but I felt a tremendous amount of pressure befall upon me. I looked up, and red was at the top of the steps, leaning against the wall quietly.

He stared down at me, with his eyes peering into me like I was an open book that needed understanding. We stood there for several minutes, but the time seemed like hours. I resumed my steps, and prepared to walk by him.

"So that's it then…" He said in a calm voice. I stopped moving, but didn't turn to face him.

Red stood up straight. "No good game…no words or expression of gratitude-"

"You thank your daddy when he spanks you?" I growled.

"No but I learn the lessons he tries to teach me with that spanking!" he retorted.

I gritted my teeth in anger. "Well?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"How! Tell me how you got your pokemon to not only learn more than 4 moves, but to also learn moves most espeon can't!"

Red stood solemnly, "I have been a champion for almost seven years now. I have trained in almost every region, learned from almost every powerful trainer within each of those regions. I hav even trained for hours and hours in and out of each day honing my skills, and my partners skills, to perfection.

The ability to bond with my pokemon, and have them learn more than one attack came strictly from our hard work and training."

I snorted, "So with a little training you got your pokemon to be super natural?" I grunted.

"Don't dilute my words as if they mean nothing! Yes, my ability, my hard work, created this bond with my pokemon. It allowed us to be one, enabling my team the ability to re learn past moves they once knew, and still be able to use knew ones."

I finally turned to face him, "So you're pretty much saying you and your pokemon rival the powers of even Arceus?" I said.

Red shook his head, "No, I can still be beaten, my pokemon each have a limit of 8 moves that I can't seem to break. Knowing more attacks does not simply mean I always win. It's just the ability I as a trainer have that can be passed down to my pokemon…"

Red walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "They dubbed me "The Battler", beause out of the nine original pokedex holders, I was the strongest when it me to pure battle.

It's not just me who has acess to these kinds of special abilities. Every trainer has an untapped potential latent within them. A true trainer, one with great determination, will realize this strength from within them and eventually become champions. These kinds of trainers are rare."

I nodded, as I looked Red in the face. He's no different from any other trainer. He got good simply from working hard, and I could tell that from just looking at him now. I grinned and began to head back up the steps, "I'm glad my first loss in battle was to you…" I said half-heartedly.

"I will say this…" Red began, "I never use that ability against normal trainers…You utterly surprised the crap out of me. I decided to show you my true strength, not out of fear of loss, but out of respect."

His words struck me. Hearing them from the mouth of a long time champion gave me strength. I clenched my fist tightly, and turned back to red. I walked down the steps, and stood on an equal footing with him.

"I will realize and hone my own skill, and use that to teach my pokemon. You say it takes years of training…but I will master it in time to defeat you in the Champion's Banquet."

I held out my fist, waiting for Red to give me a pound. Red smirked, casually rubbing his nose. He held out his fist, and we bumped fists. We parted ways, as I walked up the stairs and he went down, both of us with newly found respect for the other.

I opened my room door, and stepped inside. Emperor, Huntress, Nightwing, and their newest teammate, Titan, sat on the floor conversing. Spirit was among them, sitting in front of Emperor, resting her back on his stomach.

They all glanced up at me as I entered the room. "SOUL!" Huntress cried out, as she charged at me, giving me a big hug with tears in her eyes.

"Alright, alright! I get it!" I muttered in an annoyed tone, trying to push Huntress off of me. She only seemed to squeeze tighter as I tried to get her off. Everyone laughed at the site of my struggle.

"You had an amazing Battle!" Emperor said.

"Yea, it was really good!" Spirit began, "That plan you had really got them by surprise! I'm so proud of you!" Spirit said, beaming at me.

I shook my head, "Aren't you even a little mad?" I asked her. Spirit put a finger on her chin, "Well no not really!" she said. She then smiled at me, "I did feel a little sad before, that's why everyone was consoling me on the ground...but you look like you found new strength, So I feel loads better!"

Spirit stood up, revealing that she was wearing a skin tight t-shirt, and only an underwear, as if she wanted me to admire all her womanly curves. She yawned loudly, and stared at me. "I thought you'd get mad at me for being a liability in the end…" she stammered, looking away from me as she held her arm.

I walked over to Spirit, and grabbed her hand, "No, you fought very well…you even bought me the time I needed to pull off that power play. You did more than pulled your weight, I couldn't have done well without-"

I stopped mid-sentence. Spirit was staring into my eyes, with her hand on her cheek. She was blushing uncontrollably, and love filled her eyes, as she admired me.

"Oh my, Soul! I didn't know you felt that way!" she said, almost in a trance. I pulled my arm away as fast as possible, "Woah! No I was just saying that-, I mean that you-, argh dammit never mind!" I said in a flustered turn, now blushing myself.

"Hey man, that's real bold of you, sneakin in a move like that!" Emperor laughed loudly, "Go on champ, and claim your prize!"

"Well I think that was very sweet of you Soul~" Huntress said in a lulled tone. She floated over to Spirit to console her, and they both giggled uncontrollably.

"No I wasn't tryna make a move on her!" I stammered, but no one was listening to me.

"I don't quite understand…Does the human boy wish to mate with the female?" Titan asked Nightwing, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Pretty much, the master has a mission tonight…he must have orders to smash!" Nightwing said, waving his wings around trying to explain the situation to Titan. The room burst into an uproar, there was laughing and giggling, as we all enjoyed each other's company.

There was an abrupt knock at the door, so I got up to answer it. It was one of the nurses, and she was holding a tray with two pokeballs on it. "Oh my! it sound's lively in here!" she said. She peered inside, and saw that Spirit was dressed so provocatively.

"Oh! I'm sorry for disturbing you!" The aid said, as she covered her mouth and glowed a bright red. Everyone in the room erupted in laughter, and I simply bowed my head. "Just give me the pokemon…" I mumbled, and I took Flora and Hellfire's pokeballs from the tray.

The aid ran off, as if she had just seen some crazy taboo, and I closed the door. I released Flora and Hellfire from their respective pokeballs. Flora ran at Spirit, and jumped into her arms. "Yes, yes Flora! I missed you too!" Spirit laughed.

Hellfire puffed some smoke from her nostrils, and walked into the corner of the room to lie down, away from everyone. Emperor started telling some stories about me and him from before we started our journey, back at Prof. Rowan's lab, so I took the opportunity to walk over to Hellfire.

There was more laughter from behind me, but I crouched over to touch Hellfire. She growled at me intensely.

"Hey, why the aggression!?" I demanded. She snorted, and laid her head back down. I placed my hand on one of her horns, but Hellfire pulled away.

"What are you playing at!" She growled.

"I am just concerned for your health! You are a part of my team and I like to make sure everyone on my team is ok…" I said coldly. Hellfire glared at me, "You humans think you are brilliant and loving. It was you're kind that ripped my child from this world in the first place," she snarled quietly, "I am only here because I am bound by that ball on your waist!

Her words angered me, "I fought that night, protected you from the law and the death penalty. I saved you from Syndicate." I said to her.

"Yea you did, for what? Oh because you wanted my strength! Don't act like you did me a personal favor, when you were only looking for personal gain!" She growled at me.

I stared down at a mirror, with the reflection of myself in Hellfire's eyes being clearly evident. The pain of loss is blinding, and can lead someone to say many hurtful things; I knew that far too well. I didn't get mad with Hellfire, but metaphorically I reached my hand out once more.

"I know that you are hurt, I lost my family too, at a very young age…My child hood wasn't the greatest either, constantly living in people's shadows, being the outcast…Your feelings of hate; I know them well. But look around you…"

I pointed at Spirit and the others, who were now all play-fighting and laughing, having loads of fun.

"This is our now, this is our future…We should fight for what we have…because we don't want to feel that pain of loss ever again…"

Hellfire sat up, staring at the group. "You want me to just forget my child?!" She growled at me angrily.

"No, never that, but I want you to fight with me to protect this new family of ours, so they don't learn the same pain that we know…We need the will to fight on..."

My words shocked even me, as I looked down at my hands. I began thinking about the parents I will never fully know, and how I refuse to let anyone else feel that same pain. And if it is in my power to stop such terrible things from befalling others, I will fight to prevent it at all costs. I reached out my arms, and hugged Hellfire tightly. She rested her head on my shoulder, and began to cry.

Spirit saw us in the corner of the room, and she smiled warmly, watching me bond with Hellfire. Spirit didn't want anyone else see us, so she drew the attention of the other pokemon to herself, by talking about her brothers and sisters at the orphanage.

While they were distracted, Hellfire and I cried in each others arms, something that we both should have done a long time ago; therefore letting go of our darkened pasts, and looking ahead to our bright future.