Pokemon Adventures: Soul Ch22 Training Day!

Chapter 22: Training Day!

A few days later, after the battle with Candice…

"Have you forgotten who we are?" whispered a ghastly voice in the distance.

I turned around to find out where it came from, but there was only darkness.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" I bellowed with conviction.

And yet, the silence persisted. I sprinted into the darkness, trying to find the voice…or was I fleeing? I couldn't tell…

I woke up drenched in a cold-sweat. I looked over to my left, and I could see Spirit lying down next to me, sound asleep. I rose my hand to rub my face, as I hoped out of the bed. We were staying at one of the rooms in the Sunyshore Pokemon Center. We only stayed at Sunyshore because we were waiting for Volkner to return from his trip.

Three days prior to my arrival, I spoke to the receptionist at the Sunyshore City Gym. She told me that Volkner would be out of town for a few days, and that I could register to challenge him when he returned. Right before I got a chance to reply, Lana and her trusty T.V Man stumbled in and found me registering for a match.

"WOW! How lucky! Were you about to register for a Gym Battle with THE Volkner!?" she exclaimed happily, "It's been almost three months since Volkner has received a challenge! Trainers have been avoiding him do to his incredible strength!"

I nodded, "Yea…I swore I would only challenge the strongest of gym leaders in the Sinnoh League…and Volkner is the best of the best. It was only a matter of time before I had to face him" I said confidently, clutching my fist.

Spirit and Emperor, whom were standing near me, smiled with confidence.

"Yea! A real trainer can only get stronger, by battling trainers who are better than themselves!" Spirit said, in her usual upbeat voice.

Lana cheered, "Well then! You already know that I'm going to have this battle streamed live! I will phone the agency and let them know that this battle will be taking place in…?"

Lana looked over at the receptionist with a questioning glance.

The receptionist did some typing on her computer, and then turned to us, "In three days, 8 pm. That time slot is completely open, and Volkner would have had at least 3 hours of rest prior to the match!" she replied gleefully.

"It's decided!" Lana exclaimed happily, "Three days' time, at 8pm! This battle will be revolutionary! Your Pokemon League debut, if you should win, would be astronomical! See you in three!" Lana cried, as she began walking out.

Right before she left, she turned around and grabbed Spirit. She whispered some words into her ear, and handed her a parcel. Spirit nodded to everything, with a huge smile, almost as if she had huge stars in her eyes.

"Consider it done!" Spirit exclaimed happily.

"Will he do it…?" Lana asked in a very low voice, which I almost didn't hear.

"Leave it to me!" Spirit said happily.

Hmmm…I wonder what all that was about…Spirit wouldn't tell me when I asked her about her little "chat" with Lana, saying it was "nothing to worry about", I thought to myself, as I was hopping out of the shower and getting ready to leave.

I glanced at the digital clock on the dresser next to our bed, as it flashed five a.m. As I grabbed my bag, Emperor erupted from his pokeball with a puff of smoke. He stretched out his wings, yawning loudly, as if he were roaring away his weariness.

"Bout time you got up, lazy ass" I grunted.

Emperor shrugged, "Says the man who took his sweat ass time in the shower" he retorted.

I chuckled as I took out a piece of paper from my bag. I wrote a note on it for Spirit reading: "Out for training, will be back later…" I was about to put the paper on the desk, but I grew hesitant. I didn't want to dismiss Spirit, so I wrote on the paper that I would be training at the beach of Route 222.

We were looking out at the sea, focusing our breathing once more. Emperor and I were trying to synch our breathing, in hopes that we control that power I used against Candice. We have been working on synching up our psyche for the last few days, with little success. I began to get frustrated with my lack of progress in using the EX Skills, knowing that it was my only ticket for putting myself on the same level as the champions, like Red and Cynthia.

"Soul, Focus!" Emperor said angrily.

"I'm trying to focus!"

"No you're not. I can feel your frustration and discord from here, we aren't linking up at all!"

I took a deep breathe. I tried to loosen up my body, and relax my muscles. Emperor felt me calm down, and began to ease up. The wind was blowing gently around us, as the sun barely crept over the sea in front of us. Wingulls began to wake up, as their chirping flooded the early morning air. I began to lose my patience, wanting faster results.

"Dammit! This isn't working!" I growled, kicking up a cloud of sand.

Emperor sighed, scratching his head, "Well we don't really have instructions on how to make this work, and I have no better ideas"

We stood there silently, trying to come up with something to help our situation.

"Hey boys!" said a cheerful, young woman's voice.

Spirit just walked through the checkpoint to Route 222, and was running over to us, with her partner Flora, now a Roserade, by her side.

"Hmph," I grunted nonchalantly.

Emperor waved at them as they came over.

"Good morning, Spirit!" he said happily.

Spirit ran over to me, reaching into her pockets. She grabbed all of my other pokeballs and handed them over to me.

"I already fed them all, and bathed them! They're all fighting fit!" she said joyously.

I nodded, "Thank you…seems like you're not totally useless after all" I said with a smirk.

Spirit puffed out her cheeks, "Wow! Rude much!" she whined.

Emperor and I laughed, as we turned back to look at the sea. The sun has risen, and it was a marvelous scene, as the sun glistened over the see with radiance.

"This is fun and all…but our problem remains unchanged," I said with a serious tone, "we need solutions. How do we control that power I used against Candice?"

Emperor and I began to focus again, brainstorming ideas, when suddenly.

"Soul, look at me," whispered Spirit.

"I'm busy" I said dismissively

Spirit sighed, "Listen when I talk to you! Look at me!" she said, grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

"Wha-" I began to protest, but when I looked into Spirit's eyes, I couldn't say anything, like a moth attracted to a flame.

Her eyes were glowing a bright blue, as if she were peering into my very soul, and analyzing me.

When she felt satisfied, her eyes returned to normal, and she smiled at Emperor and me.

"You're right, that you have to be in sync, but it's different for every pokemon. You have to focus in a common emotion that you both strongly share. Try recalling an event that Emperor and you felt utterly in synch, and focus on that feeling."

Emperor and I just stared at Spirit, with dumbfounded expressions.

Spirit blinked twice, and began to feel uncomfortable, as if we were de-clothing her on the spot.

"Can you stop staring at me so hard…" she murmured in a low, modest voice.

"How did you know to-" I began, but Spirit cut me off, "Don't sweat the details! Just give it a shot and see if it works, kay?" she said in a soft voice.

I shrugged, and gave Emperor the nod. We walked back towards the sea, facing it with our new found resolve. Emperor and I closed our eyes, letting our consciousness attempt to become one.

In order for us to be truly in sync, I can't tell Emperor what to think about; I have to feel his thoughts through my own I thought to myself. I began to recall all of our trials throughout our journey, thinking about what it meant to me and how far we have come. The more I thought about it, the more it became clear that I would not have made it far without Emperor. Not only was he my first true partner, we've known each other since we were small. We've battled and evolved together, trained together, won together, and even recently, we lost together. Emperor isn't just my pokemon, in fact, he isn't my pokemon. He is my first real friend.

A deep rooted energy began to grow inside of my chest. I could feel it surging. As I opened my eyes, and turned to look at Emperor, I could see that he was brimming with bright white energy.

"You are my greatest ally, my greatest weapon, my most trusted commander," I said to Emperor in a serious tone.

Emperor nodded, "Do you remember the words you spoke to me, when we first left to go on this journey?" he asked.

I grinned, "From here on out, we will watch each other's backs. We will grow strong. Together, we'll take the league down, and anyone who gets in our way,"

Emperor grinned as he continued my statement, "I need a leader, someone to take command when I am not around; who can lead with an iron fist."

The energy was surging in both of our souls. We were completely synced, and our energy was bi fold the power that Titan and I briefly controlled in my match with Candice.

I raised my fist up at the sea, calling out to it:

"Your name is Emperor! The commander of our TEAM!"

Emperor opened up his mouth to unleash his EX Scald attack. Its tremendous power shot out over the sea, parting the waters in its massive wake. The blast was scalding hot, boiling the water around it as it rose. It stretched out over 20 meters, showing off a much more impressive blast radius than before. As his attack subsided, the waters crashed back down into the sea, still bubbling from the heat of Emperor's Scald.

"Impressive," I said placing a hand on my chin, "I think that was an almost perfect resonance."

I turned to Emperor, "How did it feel?"

Emperor moved his wings around, and he stretched out his body, "It seems that blast wore me out a bit," he began, "I believe I could do that shot again, or at least a couple more times. But that tremendous amount of energy that flows out of me is exhausting."

"Hmph," I grunted.

Figures there'd be a limit as to how many times I could use a move like that. The only reason Emperor feels he could do it again is because he has the best connection to me; our resonance is the strongest because of our bond.

Spirit and Flora came rushing towards us after our display of new power.

"WHOO! You did it Soul! I'm so proud of the both of you!" she exclaimed happily, hugging us both. The second she let go of us, Emperor fell to one knee.

Spirit and I went to his side immediately, "Woah there, are you okay?" Spirit asked in a worried tone.

Emperor steadily stood up, as he was clutching his head with his right wing.

"I just became dizzy for a few moments," he stammered, "I'm fine now, promise"

I shook my head, "We got it right this time, but we have to be careful with how often we use the EX Attacks."

Spirit nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, you guys have been training all morning. So how about we take it easy for now. Besides, rest is just as important as exercise, right?"

Emperor and I agreed reluctantly, "I suppose…by the sound of it, it seems you have something planned?" I asked her.

Spirit grinned, "As a matter of fact, I do!" she said, beaming at me.

Emperor and I looked at her blankly.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"Nuh-uh-uh! That's my secret! Follow me!" she said in a girlish tone.

Emperor snickered, "Whatever the missus wants~" he said in a mocking tone.

"Shut the hell up Emperor…" I growled back at him.

Emperor laughed me off, as we walked back towards Sunyshore City.