"How have you guys been enjoying the adventure so far?" the Emperor asked his sons as they neared Celadon City. The party had just decided that Jaghatai would take on the gym for the rainbow badge.
"It's been fun!" Magnus said. Jaghatai and several others nodded in agreement.
"It's been great getting to fight, even if it's not directly," Angron said.
"Why is that not surprising?" Fulgrim asked. "That's rhetorical, Angron."
"I figured that," Angron said. Several of the other Primarchs chuckled at this.
"It's been awhile since we've seen team melta," Roboute said. It made him slightly nervous that they hadn't been seen since Mount Moon.
"Maybe they've given up after they got owned by a plusle?" Lorgar asked.
"Hey, Rataskyr was also involved," Leman said defensively.
"That might make it worse," the Lion said. "Two small, cute looking pokemon just zapped them."
"Maybe it won't be Boneigh and Klyde?" Sanguinius asked. "There's got to be more than just the two of them on team melta, right?"
"Probably," Roboute said. "It's not likely that they completely call the shots themselves."
"Can we fly in a hot air balloon?" Corvus asked suddenly. Thinking about team melta had reminded him of how they had first dropped in.
"It would need to be a couple of hot air balloons," the Emperor said with a chuckle. "But I think that could be arranged, perhaps from Fuchsia to Vermillion."
"That'd be fun!" Corvus said.
"Could I fly around while we are up there?" Sanguinius asked right away.
"We haven't even arranged if that's something we can do," the Emperor said. "But, if we can make that possible, you can indeed fly around the balloons."
"Thanks!" Sanguinius said.
********************
They arrived in Celadon City, and headed directly to the travel office. they would be taking bicycles down to Fuchsia City, and the Emperor wanted to know if they had the adjusted bike ready for Valdor to use. Otherwise he was going to have to walk. They confirmed the bicycle situation was resolved, and headed towards the gym.
"Well, hello there," Klyde said, stepping out of an alleyway and into their path, Boneigh following behind him and cutting off the rest of the sidewalk, springing from a bush in the park.
"I see you've learned your lesson about dramatic entrances," Konrad said. He was somewhat disappointed in this, he wanted to use lickilicky to see if it was an even more powerful lick.
"We'll take what we can get," Boneigh said.
"Which of you is fighting, and which of us are you fighting?" Valdor asked, getting straight to the point.
"I'll be the one fighting today, and I choose to fight him," Klyde said, pointing to the Emperor.
"Very well," the Emperor said. "Let's make things interesting, I have three unevolved pokemon, I'll fight with them. You can use your highest level pokemon, but you only get the one."
"Deal," Klyde said. "Scyther."
"Litwick," the Emperor said. He also called out magikarp at his feet, it had almost become a habit. It was his intention to use magikarp last. There was a small chance that litwick would actually be decent against scyther, as there was a type advantage.
"Scorch!"
"Blinding scythe!"
The scyther was indeed a far higher level than litwick was. There was a small amount of damage, but not enough before it was struck with the blinding scythe. Litwick was sent sprawling, its light flickering dangerously low.
"Litwick return," the Emperor called. "Vanillite, triple spin."
Vanillite also had a type advantage, and was closer to evolving than litwick. Magikarp was his only other unevolved pokemon, farfetch'd having evolved in between Lavender Town and Saffron City. While he didn't want to use magikarp, he also knew it was on the cusp of evolving, and could do so at anytime.
"Swords dance!" And that was the downfall of vanillite. He had done something, like litwick before it, but the scyther was too strong. It looked like it was starting to melt as the Emperor recalled it. This left him with what he feared. Bending down he lifted magikarp.
"Magikarp, use tackle," the Emperor said, lobbing the fish pokemon towards the scyther. It smacked into the thorax of the scyther and began to aggressively writhe around for a moment before hitting the ground and bounced away from scyther.
"Let's make some sushi, scyther." The Primarchs huddled, watching the Emperor. Malcador and Valdor exchanged looks. This would be the first defeat to anyone not in the Imperial party. The Emperor had lost several times to the Lion, Sanguinius, Magnus, Horus, Corvus, Malcador, and once to Valdor.
However, this would not be a defeat for the Emperor. The scyther stepped towards the magikarp, raising its arms, ready to slice and dice, but it froze as magikarp was surrounded by the light of pokemon evolution. The Emperor looked at his gyarados, then turned towards team melta with a smug smile on his face.
"Gyarados, hyper beam," the Emperor said. Gyarados roared, then shot out a beam of what looked like light. Both members of team melta and scyther were shot away from the Imperial party.
"Team melta's firing off again!"
"That was certainly snatching victory from the jaws of defeat," Malcador said drily. The Emperor chuckled as he recalled gyarados. They continued on to the gym where Jaghatai would get them their rainbow badge.
********************
They approached the Celadon City gym, and were immediately struck by how much it looked like a flower shop. It made Fulgrim excited, but Konrad and Corvus were a bit more wary. Vulkan came to Corvus' rescue, sort of, he just dragged Corvus through the gym. Mortarion was turning towards Konrad to offer him a challenge to find all the poisonous plants that were likely hidden in the arrangements, when they found a man clearly peeping in one of the gym's windows. It was well known that the Celadon City gym was run exclusively by women. Seeing this rubbed Konrad wrong, and Mortarion knew better than to try and stop him. Angron had also spotted the "Peeping Tom" as the Emperor had said they were called, he made the first move.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Angron called over. Konrad used Angron's challenge as a distraction to get into a better position.
+Constantin, make sure they don't kill him+ the Emperor sent as he escorted the others into the gym. Alpharius discreetly set off a signal to the Celadon City police to come pick up the man. Valdor nodded his acknowledgement of the Emperor's instructions.
"Vulkan, slow down. I feel like I'm being punched by a perfumed fist," Corvus said. He was trying to free his wrist from Vulkan's vise like grip, but hadn't met with success yet.
"Isn't it so pretty?" Fulgrim asked Ferrus.
"I guess?" Ferrus said questioningly. He wasn't really into flowers.
"It's certainly more peaceful than other gyms we've been to," Malcador noted. He had a small private garden in the depths of the Palace. The Primarchs had been there a few times, but Leman had been banned for several months for digging holes in it. Leman had also been thinking about Malcador's garden and ducked his head.
The Lion vanished into the depths of the floral arrangements while Jaghatai got the rainbow badge. Leman ended up tracking him down on their way out. Meeting back up with Konrad, Angron, and Valdor. The two Primarchs looked rather pleased with themselves.
+Any trouble?+
+None, the police arrived in good time.+
********************
"Well, it could be worse," Valdor said. He was looking at the oversized, reinforced bicycle that he would be using to get to Fuchsia City. It stood out next to the others, which were normal bicycles.
"At least you don't have to walk," Jaghatai said. He was looking forward to seeing how fast he could go on the bicycle. The Primarchs had heard of manual bicycles, but had never gotten a chance to ride them. Angron was having issues balancing the bicycle, and it was causing him frustrations.
"Calm yourself, Angron," the Emperor said. "You have to center yourself before you can balance the bicycle." After a few more minutes Angron was able to balance and ride the bicycle himself.
"Alright, let's head out before it gets too late," the Emperor said. "Remember to stay together. Jaghatai, don't get too far ahead of us."
"Alright, Father," Jaghatai said, sounding disappointed. He did take point though.
********************
Their bicycle ride to Fuchsia was relatively uneventful. The biggest excitement was in the safari zone. They were approached by another teal haired officer who wanted their assistance in catching some pokemon poachers who were operating in the safari zone.
"They keep going after the kangaskhan for some reason," she said. She had revealed that she was the cousin of the officer they encountered in Lavender Town.
"We'll help," Jaghatai said. He wanted the kangaskhan to be free. They were parent pokemon, sort of like maiasaura from prehistoric times, so were never used for battles. It was part of why the safari zone existed, to give them a safe place to live.
It turned out to be a different cell of team melta who were trying to claim a large herd of kangaskhan. The Emperor allowed the Lion to ask a few questions of the other team melta members that they caught, trying to learn more about their organization.
"They only mentioned one other person," the Lion said after coming out of the holding room. "Georgiano."
"Interesting," the Emperor said. The officer thanked them for their assistance, and let them go on their way.
********************
While they had done what they could to avoid having to camp, but they had prepared for the possibility. The Emperor and the Primarchs had all brought the tents they had used on Pallern. Valdor had refused a tent, just as before, and stated he'd sleep outside. Malcador had his tent from the archeology dig, and a self-inflating portable bed that had been made by Tolreb. The Emperor had requested that Tolreb make it under Cawl's supervision, stating that Tolreb would be considered redeemed if it performed up to Malcador's standards. The camping bed he had used for the dig was too bulky to properly be used on the adventure.
The size and nature of the safari zone meant that they would have to camp one night. Malcador was hoping that at this point in the experience it would be the only night they'd have to camp. They found an area that was clearly meant as a campground for large groups. The Lion checked out the area, looking to see if he could tell who had been there before.
"I think the Galactic Scouts troop were here last night," he said finally.
"At least they're ahead of us," Roboute said. "Maybe we won't encounter them in Fuchsia."
"Hopefully they'll already be on their way to Vermillion," Angron said. He did want to hash it out with Aerathur, but didn't want to do it here. This was vacation, and he was both supposed to behave, and not get into fights. It also didn't feel like the honorable thing to fight someone else while they were on something like a vacation.
"Maybe," the Lion said. He didn't mind the rivalry with Surlaz, he viewed it as an opportunity for vengeance. He hadn't been allowed to retaliate against Surlaz after the incident at the art museum. Malcador had interrogated Surlaz and had turned him back to the custody of his parents, saying there was nothing for the Lion to gain that way.
"Do you need help setting up your tent, Uncle Malcador?" Magnus asked.
"No," Malcador said. "Tech-priest Tolreb said that I should be able to do it myself."
Everyone set up their tents, with the natural exception of Valdor. He had already studied the weather as best he could and determined that it wouldn't rain. The Emperor insisted that if it did surprise rain that Valdor could fit in his tent. A whirring sound came from Malcador's tent, which everyone quickly determined to be the self-inflating bed Tolreb had made.
"What do you think?" the Emperor asked a little after the sound stopped.
"Ask me in the morning," Malcador said. "But it passes preliminary tests."
"That's a good sign," the Emperor said. Tolreb had been very determined to do the best job he could so that the Omnissiah would relieve him of the shame from the holodeck incident. They settled in for the night. Valdor making sure the campfire they had made was out before going to sleep himself.
********************
Morning came, and they prepared to move on to Fuchsia City. Breaking camp went quickly, though there was a slightly awkward sound from Malcador's tent.
"Well?" the Emperor asked.
"Not quite a cloud, but serviceable," Malcador answered. "Certainly not a good idea long-term, but nearly perfect for a few nights."
"That will make Tolreb happy," the Emperor said. He knew the tech-priest had some big project he wanted to work on as his first solo project after being released from Cawl's direct supervision.
They arrived in a heavily forested area just outside of Fuchsia City proper, and in the center was what looked like a traditional Dragon Isle manor. They entered cautiously, trying to find out if this was the gym or something else. There didn't appear to be anyone.
"Anyone else thinking of the Dragon's Horde?" Magnus asked. There were a few nods, especially from those who had been in Malcador's group that time and had encountered the psychneuein.
"It's similar, but not hostile," Malcador said. "At least not yet."
"Why is there a wall here?" Mortarion asked as he walked into an invisible wall.
"Strange," the Lion said, reaching out one hand towards the wall. He could sense people, and possibly some pokemon, but he wasn't able to get a clear read of where they were, just that they were in the building.
"We just passed a branching hallway, maybe there's something that way?" Roboute asked.
"We certainly aren't getting anywhere this way," the Emperor said, turning the group around. They turned down the other hallway, going further into the maze-like building.
"This isn't Magna Crete," Malcador muttered more to himself than anyone else.
"No, it's not," Valdor said, quite happy with that fact. A wall section ahead of them moved, opening a new path for them to take, a moment later the floor in front of them dropped away, causing them to have to take the turn that had just opened.
"Now it's like Neo Cacao," Leman muttered. Malcador shuddered at that, starting to look distressed. The Emperor adjusted his positioning within the group to get closer to Malcador in case there were issues.
They came out into a large empty room, that was similar to the main rooms of the gyms they had been in before. There was a sudden large, puff of smoke, and the gym leader was standing in front of them.
"Who is the challenger?"
"I am," Mortarion answered. The gym leader laid out the rules of the match and they began. It was a long fight, but Mortarion endured and won their soul badge. The gym leader described a more direct way out of the gym that would put them directly into Fuschia City proper.
Reaching the travel office it was determined that they could indeed take modified hot air balloons across the bay to Vermillion City, but they wouldn't be able to leave until the next morning. It was an 8 hour flight to Vermillion from Fuchsia.
********************
"This is going to be great!" Corvus said. He was really looking forward to the hot air ballon ride. They would be taking three balloons across.
The Lion, Jaghatai, Leman, Magnus, Vulkan, and Corvus had chosen to ride with Malcador in one balloon. Fulgrim, Perturabo, Rogal, Ferrus, Roboute, and Lorgar were riding with Valdor in a larger balloon that was used for supplies of large groups. Konrad, Sanguinius, Angron, Mortarion, Horus, and Alpharius were with the Emperor in the last balloon.
"Wait until we get to travel height before flying, Sanguinius," the Emperor said. Sanguinius nodded, he didn't want to get separated and not have the ability to catch up. It was a long flight, and he wasn't able to do that himself.
The balloons all had small engines to assist with speed and steering. The wind was heading off the bay into Vermillion City, so they weren't using them just yet. Once at cruising height Sanguinius took off from his balloon. He flew around for a bit, swooping in and amongst the three balloons before landing back at the Emperor's side. He looked quite happy with himself. Then they all settled in to enjoy the rest of the flight.
********************
"How are we getting to Cinnabar Island?" Vulkan asked. It was the next city, and home of the fire gym, so he was getting very excited.
"There's a ship, the SS. Anne," the Emperor said. "It runs out to Cinnabar."
"Oh," Vulkan said.
"It'll be alright," Corvus said. "You might not get as seasick this time, and it won't be for as long as the trip on Oceanus."
"And you'll have the fire gym fight on the other side," Leman said. Vulkan managed to perk up for that.
"But first, there's the electric gym," Rogal said. He would be the challenger for that gym, going for type advantage as they didn't really have anyone dedicated to electric type pokemon.
"True," Vulkan said. They knew they'd have to go to the gym tomorrow as it was too late to go that day. The Primarchs were excited. They had just the three gyms left.
"Wait, how do we get back from Cinnabar Island to Viridian City?" Jaghatai asked.
"My understanding is there's a ferry to Pallet Town, then it's just a matter of going to Viridian again like we did in the beginning," the Emperor said. They didn't have enough water pokemon to surf, or enough bird pokemon to fly. Even combining the two wasn't really a good option.
"Walking again?" Malcador asked. He didn't really want to do that again.
"There is a bus service between the two," the Emperor said. "It's just recommended to walk at the beginning to have the most opportunities to get pokemon."
"Fair enough," Malcador replied.
********************
They arrived at the gym bright and early the next morning. They had to do this gym rather quickly so they could make it to the SS Anne before it cast off. It was open when they got there, but they didn't see the gym leader. There were other people visible, which made it less creepy than the Fuchsia City gym.
"Maybe the gym leader isn't here yet?" Leman asked. Most of the other people in the gym appeared to be other challengers, though there were a few trainers who ran the gym present. They joined the crowds looking around them, trying to find the gym leader.
"Maybe," Valdor said. Something seemed to be off about this. They entered a hallway that seemed to back onto the main gym arena, and not a staff only area. They noticed a large plus sign at one point down the hall, and a negative on the other.
"It looks like the directions you put a battery in," the Emperor said, standing against the far wall to see them both. "Leman, Valdor, you two have the smallest electric pokemon, can you try sending currents into both?"
"Sure!" Leman said "Rataskyr!"
"Plusle," Valdor called. He moved over to the plus sign, matching the pluses on plusle's cheecks. Leman moved to the negative sign, then looked to Valdor to be sure they struck at the same time.
"Thunderbolt," they called at the same time. The two electric type pokemon shot electrical bolts forward, and the hidden door in the wall opened, revealing the gym leader.
"My turn!" Rogal called, moving forward to issue his challenge. The fight was quick and intense, and Rogal came out of it with the thunder badge. As soon as he stepped out the door closed, hiding the gym leader again.
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