New World Blues: Ch 7

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-The Dragon King-

-New World Blues: Ch 7-

Dear Professor Rowan

I tracked down the two trainers you told me about, and I can confirm the rumors are true, one of them managed to catch two different Fairy types. His name is Casey Ranger and I can't tell you why or how he managed it because I genuinely don't have a clue. He has no experience as a trainer and is less qualified in every single way than the Ace trainers you've recruited to help you track Fairies down before.

But somehow he succeeded where they, Lucas, I, and even you failed.

I don't even know what to say about that. But nothing about Fairies tends to make sense, so him managing to catch them kind of does make it make sense? It's weird.

Attached to this email are the scans and notes of both of his Pokemon. I'm aware that Ralts are incredibly Human shy, on top of being rare, so that data will interest you. Hatenna, on the other hand, you'll need to call your contacts at the League, because I KNOW those aren't native to Sinnoh. Well, we didn't think they were native to Sinnoh, anyway.

What regions have which species is a mess that I'm not going to wade into, frankly. It always devolves into politicians at each other's throats and eco groups making themselves as much of a pain as possible.

I was just a baby during it, but I assume you remember back when Kanto managed to get ahold of a Dratini egg, and started breeding them? Breaking the Blackthorn clan's "monopoly" on Dragonite? Johto threw a total fit, and it almost led to a repeat of the Brother's war- something only averted when Kanto's missing champion swept both regions, took the crown of champion for both, and then disappeared- leaving both their governments in disarray. 

Sinnoh lacks the historic rivalry with Galar that Kanto has always had with Johto, not to mention Galar is both one of the furthest regions away from us, and also much more concerned with Kalos at any given time. So war isn't much of a concern- not that it should ever be, it's been almost 40 years since the Kanto-Jhoto Brother's war, and I seriously doubt anyone would want to break the golden age of trade and science that we're currently in thanks to world wide peace.

But I could see difficulties popping up with the Galarians if they think Sinnoh intentionally poached the Hatterene line for breeding purposes.

I know I'm getting off track, but the thought of finally having consistent Fairy samples to study has my brain thinking in circles about bigger picture things.

Marcus Cross is the trainer with a Bagon- now a Shelgon, since he triggered an early evolution, but I'll come back to that.

He's a decent battler, but isn't really anything special worth your time or your sponsorship. His most stand out features are his ego and HORRIBLE attitude. He might just be the rudest person I've ever met in my life.

Attached are the scans and measurements of his Bagon before evolution. He made me pay him a Pokeball to get these, so I'm writing it down as a lab expense.

The final file I've attached to this email is something I really want you to take a look at. It's the TE readings around both Marcus and Casey that my Pokédex recorded when I was near them today.

I know I'm not your longest serving lab trainer, but I've never seen anything like this before, especially not from trainers with only one and two Pokémon respectively.

These readings seem more like the ambient TE you would see around an Ace Trainer with a full monotype team.

Bagon managed to force an early evolution because Mark is putting out Dragon energy like he has dozens of S grade dragon evolution stones in his pockets, and Casey is the same Fairy with Fairy TE! (Yes I know those kinds of stones don't exist, it's hyperbole.)

This is so far past "overdosing" that it's not even funny, and I'm worried for their health and mental states.

Since your assignment made me miss the _ contest, and it's not going to be held again for several months, I'm going to keep an eye on these two. Both for my own curiosity, and because I know you would ask me too anyway.

You owe me big for this, so you better come and watch one of my contests when you have the free time.

-Dawn Berlitz, lab trainer.

-The Dragon King-

Ah crap, Ralts Ralts Ralts, what did Ralts's stat chart look like? Mark used to be obsessed with this stuff as a kid, but remembering that far back was hard to do on command. He knew Ralts had shit stats, but what it did have was specked into its specials and (surprisingly) speed, if he was remembering correctly.

There was a decent chance he wasn't remembering correctly, but there was a perfect solution to that. 

Brute force past the problem.

"NOW!"

Ralts startled at Mark's sudden shout, and Shelgon sprung into action, doing exactly what Mark had whispered to the Pokeball before throwing it.

"Start charging and at the signal use a full power Dragon Breath. We'll wipe him out before he can even react."

A torrent of blue flames rushed across the field, easily outperforming any Dragon Breath Shelgon had managed before evolving.

The wave of dragon fire washed over Ralts with a rush of fiery death! And it… fizzled out on contact?

Mark's brow furrowed as he watched Ralts' ambient Fairy TE neutralize the Dragon TE like a base would an acid.

"Oh for fuck's sake, they got retconneed into that stupid Fairy type, didn't they? And Dragon's completely ineffective against it, instead of just being not very? Now I'm remembering why I never bothered finishing X and Y."

That meant no STAB bonus for Shelgon, (if that even existed here) but that was fine- they had done more with less.

"But what the fuck are Fairies weak against? Fairys? Fairies? Fareyes?" 

Mark asked in the way that only someone who refused to play anything after the Black and White sequels could- it wasn't his fault all the 3D games were shit, the ones he played as a kid were obviously the best.

He scratched his chin and snapped his fingers, as if trying to magic the answer into existence.

"It was Steel and something. Steel and Electric? Was it Water? No, it was Electric, I'm pretty sure."

Meanwhile on the field, Shelgon didn't wait for Mark to finish musing (not that Mark wanted him to), and immediately followed up with Ember.

"Ralts, Light Screen."

"Ral!" 

The feeling pokemon raised his stubby little arms and a pink glass-like barrier shimmered into existence, just in time to catch the Ember.

Most of the small flaming bullets exploded harmlessly against the barrier, only causing small cracks, and the few that managed to punch through were weakened considerably. Add in the fact that Ralts was small enough for most of them to miss, and Ember was just about as effective as the previous attack.

In layman's terms: it didn't do jack shit.

"Get physical and smash through it!" Mark commanded. "Bite!"

"Ralts, jump to the side and use Growl."

Light Screen was geared specifically to defend against the blasts of pure TE that comprised special moves, but breaking through it still slowed Shelgon down enough for Ralts to Growl and hop away.

"Equalize with Leer, and don't let up. Chase him down!"

Shelgon's eyes glinted red, and the air around his face seemed to darken. Ralts stumbled in fright as the small wave of normal TE rolled over him, spiking his panic and lowering his defense. 

Before he could recover his footing. Shelgon slammed into him with a Headbut that sent the little psychic skipping across the ground like a stone.

"Nice hit! Keep it going!"

"Disarming Voice."

Shelgon made a running jump towards fallen Pokemon, intent on crushing him under his bulk, but that plan went incredibly wrong as Ralts tilted his head back and cried out.

A visible pink sound wave rippled out, slamming into Shelgon with enough force to overcome his bulk and knock him back mid-leap.

"Shelgon!" Mark called out in shock as he watched his partner crash into the ground with enough force to crater the dirt. "What the fuck was that, Casey!? It hit harder than Cranados did!"

Casey didn't answer, he just continued staring creepily out at the field, like he had been the entire match.

"Whatever, keep your damned secrets, I don't need 'em! It's probably some Fairy type bullshit, anyway."

"Bullshit is a funny way to describe your single largest weakness. It would be healthier for you to fear properly." Casey spoke for the first time since the match started, that wasn't a direct order to Ralts.

His voice sounded off, almost like he was shaking small chimes behind his back when he spoke.

"There's nothing for me to fear, I know my boy's not gonna go down to some wimpy ass pink attack! Look at him! He's already ready for more!"

Marcus grinned wolfishly as Shelgon forced himself to his feet, looking royally ticked off.

A hairline fracture had reopened from the Gym fight, and small wisps of steam were coming off of the part of Shelgon's shell that had taken the brunt of the attack, but it hadn't been a knockout blow. Shelgon were notorious bruisers who could shrug off crippling damage, so Mark was being accurate, if arrogant about it.

"Light Screen, then Calm Mind."

"Stop him! Ramming speed!"

Shelgon crashed through the transparent barrier like a wrecking ball, but once again he was too slow to prevent Ralts from getting off a status move- and the Screen had kept Ember from being able to interrupt it as well.

Mark had to begrudgingly admit to himself that Casey was apparently a much better trainer than he'd been giving him credit for. But that didn't mean he was going to lose here!

"Disarming Voice."

"Protect! Block it and then return fire!"

The attack crashed against Protect, as it flickered into existence, and washed over the green dome like a wave of water.

Protect dropped, and the Fairy only had a second to register Shelgon's smug "mine's better" face, before he was drowned in a barrage of fire.

Ralts yelped in pain as the Ember exploded on contact, but managed to to throw up Light Screen, rendering the rest of the attack nearly harmless- said Light Screen shattered as a Dragon crashed through it yet again with full speed Tackle.

"Flatten."

Shelgon went wide eyed as Ralts dropped to the ground to slide under him.

"Psybeam."

And shot a pink laser beam straight into Shelgon's belly, dragging it down his shell as he passed over.

The dragon howled as the beam tried to filet him, but that was only the beginning. Ralts danced to his feet with a clear view of Slegon's back, and-

"Disarming Voice."

-Sent the dragon tumbling to his side with another Fairy attack. The Fiary TE hissed and bubbled against Shelgon's natural Dragon TE, and ate away at it like an acid, doing far more damage than the move normally should. It was Super Effective.

"Shit, this fucker hits hard. Shelgon, play it safe and throw down some Leers, we need to turn the next lucky hit into a one shot KO."

But Shelgon didn't do that, instead he roared as he pulled himself off of the ground and launched himself like a cannonball at Ralts.

"Back off and circle around, twenty paces clockwise."

"Shelgon, no! Fall back!"

"Jump."

Shelgon ignored Mark, and instead bulldozed towards Ralts, then under Ralts as he jumped, and right into the large rock that Casey had directed him into without him even realizing it. 

But the rock he hit didn't slow him down at all, like they were expecting, instead it exploded as Shelgon bulldozed through it.

That was way too much oomph to be a Headbut.

"YEAH! New move! At least I think? Let's go! Hit 'em with it and end it now! Take Down!"

"Psybeam, sweep his legs."

A pinkish-purple beam swiped horizontally across the field, and the proud Dragon was toppled to the ground yet again.

"Calm Mind."

"What the fuck are you doing!? We can't let him keep stacking those! Get up and use Bite!"

The crowd at the windows of the Pokecenter grew as the fight continued, and people were naturally drawn over to the commotion.

Shelgon roared and lunged at Ralts with a Bite.

"Disarming Voice and dash away."

"Don't fucking let it! Push through!"

Ralts let out another cry of weeping bells that felt like it drilled into Shelgon's ears and started boiling him from the inside out, but he forced his way through the attack. Massive fangs of pure Dark energy grew out of his mouth and clamped down on the fairy before he could escape again.

"RAAAAA!"

Ralts let out a cry of pain, but Shelgon didn't have an ounce of mercy. Now that he finally had the stupid psychic bastard, he started viciously trashing him back and forth, slamming him into the ground repeatedly.

"Yeah! That's right, mess him up! Super effective dark attack!" Mark laughed, completely confident and equally as completely unaware that Ralts' dual Fairy type removed that weakness.

Roark had been horrified when Bagon did a similar thing to his Geodude, but Casey was just smiling. Smiling and staring ahead with wide unblinking eyes.

"Draining Kiss."

Mark didn't recognize the move name, which is how he immediately knew it was trouble.

"Toss it away!"

But Shelgon refused to give up his advantage, and Ralts was able to latch onto Shelgon's face and give him a light peck on the cheek.

"ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

The people inside the Pokecenter flinched away as Shelgon let out a howl of agony. Fairy energy flooded into him like molten magma, then twisted like a knife, and was sucked back out, taking as much as it could with it.

Shelgon collapsed to his knees as his legs gave out under him, and cracks reopened all along the side of his shell.

Ralts skittered away, now glowing with a light pink aura that healed his injuries until he was better than he was at the start of the fight.

"Shit! Use Dragon Breath at the ground, make a smoke screen and fall back to regroup!"

Mark's words echoed distantly in Shelgon's mind, like someone shouting at him from underwater. Every inch of his body was screaming in agony, and the world around him faded away as his vision filled with red, red, red. All that existed at that moment in time was him, and the prey escaping him.

"SHELGON!"

The Dragon lurched to his feet, and drunkenly rushed forwards. His legs were on fire as he forced them to gallop faster and faster, picking up as much speed as possible.

His eyes gleamed as Normal TE pumped through his form, wrapping around his legs and pushing him ever faster. No more games, he would end this with one shot, one Take Down.

"Ralts, Confusion."

Pain exploded behind Shelgon's eyes as his vision rended in two.

But he kept going, using the pain as fuel to keep moving. 

"Confusion."

Shelgon stumbled at the second hit, but refused to let himself fall. Ralts was so close, he was right there!

"Confusion! Quickly!" Casey shouted with the only emotion he'd displayed all match.

A third attack hit him, and it was simply too much for his battered body. One of Shelgon's legs gave out and he crashed to the ground, carving a trench in the dirt that stopped just short of Ralts.

This time, the Dragon did not rise again.

Mark stared at Shelgon with a blank expression, and muffled clapping from behind the Pokecenter window slowly worked its way into the back of his head like a rusty sewing needle.

He'd been defeated, and it hadn't even been close. That stupid stupid fairy type that was just sitting there without so much as a single scratch, after having humiliated him.

Across the field, whatever zen state that Casey had slipped into, disappeared as Mark withdrew Shelgon, and the battle ended. He blinked his eyes for the first time since the match began, once again turning them purple.

"Oh my goodness! Ralts! Are you alright!?"

Casey started rushing to his poor Pokemon who had been beaten so roughly, but a steel toed boot came down between them, blocking his path.

"M-Mark! Hey, i-it was just a battle, no hard f-feelings, right?"

The Fairy trainer backed away, as Marcus marched over, towering over him.

"Listen here, friend. There's two things you need to know." Mark jabbed a finger into Casey's chest, and the shorter boy shrank as he looked up at Mark's burning eyes. 

"First off, this doesn't mean shit in the long run. I'm still going to be the one to beat Cynthia- not you."

"W-Wait-"

"Second, all you did today was give me a list of problems to fix. That's it- you accomplished nothing for yourself beyond a short term win."

"That's not-"

"And third, the next time I see you, you better be ready."

Casey jumped a little as his back hit the wall of the Pokecenter, and Mark's metal glove came down next to his head, pinning him in place.

"Because I'm going to fucking destroy your team to get even for this."

Casey's shaking died down, and he looked up at Mark curiously.

"…Like a rival?"

"Like the worst kind of rival." Mark corrected. "The one who jumps you at the end of Mt Moon, after your team's half dead from drowning in grunts, and then kicks your teeth in and takes your money."

For a brief, brief, second burning red met searing pink. Then they blinked and their eyes returned to normal.

Casey met Mark's challenge with a wide smile.

"I look forward to it, rival." 

"Don't patronize me, kid." Mark snorted and marched away. "You're only making your life harder in the future."

Casey watched Mark stomp off around the corner, smiling all the while.

He had a rival! He was a totally legit trainer now! Everyone knew that all the best trainers had rivals! He'd even won his first battle!

The sudden realization had him freezing in place, before scooping Ralts up and jumping into the air.

"We did it! Ralts! We won!"

"Raaal!

He spun around with Ralts in celebration, and he could feel Hatenna's Pokeball wiggling on his belt, eager to join in on the fun.

"Oh this is grand! We'll have to celebrate tomorrow! Maybe we can go out and get some ice cream? What do you think about that?"

"Ralts!"

"Good! You can get as much as you want, and whatever flavor you want! Same for you, Hatenna."

Casey hugged his giggling Ralts tight, and started skipping off. 

He made it halfway back to his hotel room before something about what Mark said clicked in his head.

"…Wait. Wasn't that three things?"

-The Dragon King-

-One Hour Later-

…

..

.

Mark sat alone in the dim hallways of the Pokecenter. The sun had long since gone down, and everything but the center's main lobby had been closed up- hence the lack of proper lights. Shelgon was apparently having a bad reaction to the Fairy TE still in his system, and Joy wanted to keep him overnight, not just to keep an eye on him, but also make sure the cracks in his shell from the Gym fight healed properly after being reopened.

They wouldn't be able to leave town for several days, until Shelgon was fully healed.

He'd been in this word for a full fucking month and he was right back where he started, stuck in the goddamned Pokemon Center.

BANG

Mark slammed his fist so hard into the metal armrest of the chair that he dented it. Pain raced up his arm, but he ignored it- it only fed fuel to his anger.

What the Hell was he even doing?! Running around playing rockstar? Spending money on capes? What was he, a teenager!? He'd burnt through three quarters of his winnings in a single day, like some drunk college student!

"Get your fucking head in the game, Mark!" He snarled as he pushed himself to his feet and started pacing.

He was a soldier, he'd survived in the military. Not only did he get into officer school, he clawed his way through to graduation!

He wasn't a genius, not even close, Hell he was barely above average intelligence, but he consistently kept up with people twice as smart as him by being cunning and being fucking mean when he had to be!

He beat people twice as smart as him. And if he couldn't, then he grabbed them by their ankle and dragged them down into the mud, where their brains didn't mean shit in a fist fight.

But here he was, in candy land, where Ash Ketchup regularly takes down wannabe gods with the power of friendship and believing in the heart of the cards- and he fucking LOST!

He got his shit kicked in, TWICE! Looking back, he couldn't even call that win against Roark a victory, Shelgon's evolution had just been pure luck! They had been screwed before that happened.

His pacing took him to a large map of Sinnoh embedded in the hallway wall. An entire region, full of Ace Trainers, monstrous Pokemon that kept the wilds from being colonized, conspiracies that could destroy the entire world, and people half his age who could stomp him like a bug.

And he hadn't even managed to get past the weakest city.

"No more games. I'm gonna take this whole fucking world by storm!"

The map's plastic cover shattered as his fist crashed into it, cracks racing out in all directions. The largest one cut the reflection of his face in half, which stared back at him with two miscolored eyes- one a chilling icy blue, the other a burning crimson red.

"And no one will be able to stop me."

-Chapter End-

-Arc: New World Blues: End-

Yeah, Mark lost the rival fight. There's definitely ways he could have won, it wasn't an impossible battle, but it just didn't pan out. The type disadvantage, stacked with Shelgon's shit movepool, stacked with Shelgon's habit of not following orders when he doesn't feel like it, stacked with the fact Mark went in underestimating Casey and Ralts just was too many things against Mark.

But if I had to point to the single biggest culprit it would be Shelgon's move pool. They've been crutching hard on Dragon Breath so far this fic, which was completely ineffective, then Light Screen made Ember useless, and getting close just meant Draining Kiss was in range- not to mention Ralts is't actually weak to Dark moves anymore thanks to the Fairy typing, so Bite was only doing average damage.

But, let's be honest, as funny as the last chapter was, Mark needed the loss to kick him back into gear.

*Sips Hot CHocolate*

On another note, I'm debating how much I want to bring up Mark's backstory on Earth, with the war and apocalypse and all that. I have to do it to at least a small extent, even if only because let's be real- at least a third of his character can probably be traced back to unresolved issues that he's been "just man up" throughing for forever. 

(It's waaaay cheaper than therapy, let me tell you.)

But I also really don't want to make it a frequent point that pulls away from the reason you're reading this fic- the fact it's a Pokémon story.

Besides, Mark's the type of guy to push down trauma and pretend it never happened, even if it's unhealthy in the long run. So he's not exactly the character to spend his days reminiscing and crying over what he's lost all the time- just ignore it and move on. You're gonna let some imaginary thoughts hurt you? What are you, weak?

"We don't have time for an emotionally scarring backstory, Mark."

"Yeah, well maybe I should give you an emotionally scarring front story."

—--

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*Sips Hot Chocolate*

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