Ch 63. Back to Pallet

(Unedited)

With the Summer Solstice festival now at its end, Cinnabar island was quickly regressing to a peaceful town. Most of the tourists were leaving the island, giving some peace to the more elderly residents.

As the ships were filling up with people, Ares had finished his preparations to return to Palet Town.

He had already said his farewell to Jenny, who had made him promise they would stay in contact. With her number registered in his rotom phone, it would be a cinch to call her, if he wanted to.

Packing the last of his things, he set out to sea again, this time him and Lucario were the only ones on Lapras's back, making it a bit more spacious but also a lot more noticable that Jenny had left them.

Her absence brought a silence he didn't even know he had missed.

While the way towards Cinnabar Island had been anything but calm, the way back to Pallet was relatively peacefull. They had ocean currents that sped them along, as well as some travel companions as the water pokemon in the area were cozying up with Lapras, playing around when they wanted.

The next few days were mostly like that, up till the day Pallet Town finally came in sight. Ares had called in advance this time, his mom and the professor already standing on the beach to intercept him.

"Oi, Ares! We're over here."

Leaf yelled from the top of her lungs, waving her arms widely as her Blastoise called Blasty was pumping out loads of water in the air. She was always such a free spirit, she wouldn't know when to quit when she got excited.

Jumping on land, Ares returned Lapras to her pokeball, only to be gripped in an almost deadly hug from his mom.

"So, how did it go? Did my sweet boy win his badge?"

Leaf poked his cheek, her eyes scanning around him in the meantime, a bit disappointed he was alone. No one to make her a grandmother it seems.

"I won my badge. And please stop doing that. There is no one to bring home, nor do I want to. If you want one, ask Gary when he gets older."

Pushing her misbehaving hand away, Ares threw his bag in the jeep, taking a seat just behind the drivers seat. To avoid any probing eyes, Lucario was quick enough to take the seat besides him, effectively banishing his mom to the co-driver seat.

"Gary is still too young. I place all my bets on you. Now get on with it, mommy wants to get some little ones to take care of."

Leaf pouted as she dutifully took her seat, professor Oak quickly starting the car to return to the lab.

"It is good to hear of your victory, Ares. I have some wonderful news to share as well. Your Clefairy has evolved not too long after you left, becoming a great deal stronger with the High quality moon stone she had. It seems like she took you leaving her in my care a bit too hard."

Professor Oak laughed, handing his phone to Ares, the pictures no doubt on it.

Unlocking Professor Oak's phone, Ares scrolled through the pictures, a small recording of Clefairy's evolution highlighted in it.

The little shy pokemon was gone, as Clefable was showing a determined look towards the screen, giving a victory pose as if she knew Ares would see it.

Ares chuckled at her behavior, wondering how much she had changed in so little time.

Looking through the photo album, Ares saw pictures of his Krabby, now Kingler, as well as his Staryu now Starmie. Most of them were battle pictures, with Ash and Gary looking energetic as they were absorbed in their battle.

"The pokemon seem to be doing alright."

Ares muttered, handing the phone back.

"Oh yes, they are doing just great. Very energetic bunch. If I take my eyes of them once, they almost demolish the place in my absence."

Leaf elbowed professor Oak, a big smile on her face as she took over the subject.

"Oh yes, they are a joy to have. Now speaking of pokemon, it seems there is only one gym for you left to challenge. Are you up to the challenge to battle Giovanni? Most of the trainers just end up crying in defeat and throwing the match."

"While I'm not a hundred percent sure of victory, it doesn't hurt to try our best. I've got strong pokemon on my side."

Ares clenched his fist in determination. He wanted to win this battle no matter what.

"I guess we will need to make sure you are then. The professor and I have decided that the best way to up your game, is to give you a quick mock battle, to see if you are ready to face the challenge. ."

Leaf became pumped, smacking one fist into the palm of her hand.

"Then I will take you up on that offer."

Ares couldn't wait to battle her, as she was was a former league champion after all. It would surely be his toughest challenge yet.

.

.

.

Having cleared out all the pokemon in the direct surroundings of the pokemon lab, Leaf and Ares were now facing each other, each with a pokeball in the hand.

"Honey, don't hold back on me, as I won't. Let's do a three on three. Professor Oak will help you train the rest of your pokemon to get them into shape. Let's see if we can push some, if not all of them, over their limits."

Having gotten all of his pokemon, even the ones that had been resting with professor Oak while he was traveling, Ares wondered what pokemon he should start with. His mom was strong, just like the professor. If he was going to learn from this, he needed to get serious. He needed to get his main pokemon ready to fight the hardest battle yet.

"I'll start first, as a handicap and a way for you to strategize. Come on out, Ninetales."

Calling out her first pokemon, a beautifull Ninetales landed gracefully on her feet. Ninetales glanced at Ares with fondness, calling out joyously at her trainers son.

"Time to get the show rolling, Ninetales. We've got to get them into shape."

Leaf said, getting a firm nod in response as Ninetales got in the mood to battle.

Mom went with Ninetales, so my pokemon should be...

"Time to show our mettle!"

Calling out his own pokemon, Lapras appeared on the battlefield.

Lapras looked around to see her opponent, spotting Ninetales not that far away from her. Even from there, Lapras could feel the strenght Ninetales exuded. Ninetails was strong.

"Lapras, Rain dance."

Staring the battle with the first move, it slowly started to drizzle. The once clear sky was now a dark grey, as puddles of water were quickly forming on their battlefield.

"I've let you take the lead, so don't expect me to play nice. Time to crack down on them, Ninetales. You know what to do."

Ninetales swung her tails around, running around Lapras as after images began to appear, a testament to Ninetales's speed.

From all sides, Ninetales began to attack, sending multiple Energy Balls towards Lapras. They weren't fast, but it would be tough for Lapras to deal with them.

"Counter with Ice Shard."

Returning an attack of her own, Lapras launced mutiple ice shards at the Energy Balls. Unfortunately she was not capable of destroying all of them, weakinging the remaining few as they still came towards her.

In an effort to block the attack, Lapras used proctect, succesfully blocking the rest.

With only a few moves for Ninetales to use that were not weakened by the rain, Ares's chances were still good. He needed to be cautious, especially since his mom had a move that was strong against him.

"Lapras, use Hydro Pump."

"Let's counter it with Fire Blast."

Both pokemon fired of their strong attacks, colliding in the air. If it had been before the rain dance, Lapras would have surely lost in this confrontation. Now however, their attacks were equal in power, canceling each other out as steam burst out form the collision.

With the steam to block their sight, Leaf called out her orders without delay.

"Disable!"

Appearing in front of Lapras in an instant, Ninetales effectively stopped Lapras from using her strongest water attack.

"Always have a card behind your back, to block the opponent or escape a predicament yourself."

Leaf's voice sounded from behind the massive cloud of fog.

"Thanks mom. Let me put that to good use then. Lapras NOW!"

Lapras jumped into the air, Ninetales still close enough for Lapras to see her. Going down, one Lapras's fins hitting the ground hard, the earth rumbling from the point of contact. It was as if time stood still, both sides waiting to see what happened with batted breaths.

As if the ground was answering to Lapras's attack, a great fissure appeared in the ground, opening right below Ninetales and swallowed her up. As the fog disappeared, Leaf ran towards the fissure, her eyes searching for Ninetales.

Seeing her pokemon on the bottom, fainted from the fall, Leaf couldn't help but applaud at the sudden turn around. Who had ever imagined a Lapras to know the move Fissure?