The Tale of Seven: The Summon of Sorrow

[Reno]

Terra smirked - this would be an interesting battle. both dragon types they were both strong against each other... and weak. "Heh.... Flygon sandstorm!" Near the ground, Flygon's wings rose and flapped hard a cloud of sand surrounding him as the attack rained down. Flygons were known as 'spirits of the desert' because they lived in desert areas... and because they could see clearly through sandstorms thanks to their eyes. No other creature except Vibrava and Luxray could.

Terra knew this well. He had used this trick a million times before. "Dragon pulse!"
"FLLLLY!" And high above the Salamence knowing, bursting out with an artful little corkscrew, came Flygon, easily getting above the other and shooting the powerful blue and white beam down at the other.

[Rikugurl]

"DOOOOOOOOOORR!" The dragon cried as it was hit the the powerful attack, falling right through the storm that he seemed to help make worse. The ground shook from impact, making Gunnar bite his lip. "Use Rain Dance to get rid of that sandstorm!" Sal quickly got up, recovering from his fall and did a little swoop low to the ground that brought rain clouds over the ceiling again. Rain started to fall hard over everyone and once more, Roxel pulled his fire chicken into his jacket to keep safe. The water disbursed the sand and it didn't take long for Sal to find his foe.

"Corkscrew around and use Dragon Breath!"

Sal flew up high and Sanyi practically squealed when the two dragons flew around in the sky, shooting attacks at one another and only missing by inches.
"Man... we should of got some popcorn." Roxel pouted as his attention finally was grabbed. His sister was SOOOO missing this!

[Reno]

"Dodge it and use dragon pulse again!" Terra ordered, the two dragon types getting awfully competitive up in the air. Salamence was faster, but Flygon was more maneuverable making them about equal when it came to dodging. But it couldn't last forever. "Dive Flygon and use silver wind!" Terra ordered, a new plan already in motion.

"Fllly!" The green dragon called, and suddenly went down in a straight shot for the water below before wings flapping and bright silver lights his the water making torrents raise up. He saw what his master was planning and with an artful flip, hovering right over the water. Another important difference between these two... was Salamence usually glided through the air but Flygon flew like an insect, wings always moving.

"Sandstorm again!" No sand rose with the powerful attack, being beaten down by the rain... but instead ice did. The ice from the hydro pump that Rampardos had frozen. "Dragon pulse full power!"
"Fllly... GON!" The dragon fired a powerful attack upwards... the ice that had been spinning around the dragon now curling around the beam, making it seem more formidable and less easy to dodge.

[Rikugurl]

"Ah!" Gunnar cried, seeing the amazing use of attacks. There was no way... he could truly think out of the box like this guy could! "Sal! Dodge it!" He ordered, only hoping his pokemon could. A roar came from above, the slightly beaten up dragon fleeing for it's life. Though he was quicker, this attack seemed near impossible to avoid! "SAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" It was hit again and crashed into the ceiling, making everyone wince who was watching. The strong pokemon was still in battle though... even if Gunnar was unsure. "USE HYDRO BEAM RIGHT BACK DOWN!"

Powerful jaws opened, shooting a strong gush of water down at the other dragon as he spiraled towards him. The water, mixed with ice and sand quickly turned to mud and rained down on Flygon. The mud was heavy and now dangerous with little pricks of ice, lacing the green dragon's body and wings. Gunnar knew this pokemon had to keep his wings going quickly to fly and if they were being weighed down. "Hit it with Steel Wing!" Like a shoulder cut, the blue and red dragon smashed into the green, bringing them both down into the grimy waters.

[Reno]

"FLLLLY?!" The dragon type cried as they flew down and suddenly they were underwater. Though it was grimy he still had perfect sight, using his tails and legs to kick Salamence away from him through thanks to the water he didn't go far. The larger dragon, now a bit baffled to be in this bad element, started to make his way to the surface...

And gained a bit of extra weight when something blue and slinky passed Flygon and, missing the up-turned Us of happy eyes, didn't see the mouth opening...

CHOMP!
But he sure did feel the teeth clamping down!

Terra eyes narrowed looking down at the rippling water, hardly seeing in all the dirt and grime where the two dragon types were. Luckily their wings were like a butterfree's or a pidgey's. They could fly wet; the leathery texture of them made it possible.

"Flygon...?" He called started to get worried when neither of them came up at first. Across the way he heard Gunnar calling as well.
"How?" Houndoom called from the doorway, his job done. Where had the Pokemon gone?

Suddenly though, with a burst of water like a geyser, Salemence came out with a screech - and on his tail... was Flygon.

[Rikugurl]

"Sal!?" Gunnar called as he too started to worry, watching the water closely. The dragon knew how to swim but if he got caught one something or injured his wing, he might have to call it so his poor pokemon didn't end up drowning. However, before he could hop over the bars, there was a burst from the water, the two dragons flying out in the hurry. Well... one flying out. The other had teeth sunk into the other's tail.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Roxel started to laugh, hysterically at that before falling backwards in the bleachers. What Gunnar nor Lucina knew was that this Flygon was quite bite happy when he was a Trapinch. When they were kids, they had been bitten a few times and no matter how much Moana or Ven smacked the pokemon and lectured it to stop the bad habit, it seemed like he still had it! It was a natural Bite attack!

Tears started flying in waterfalls from the wounded dragon, his tail wagging back and forth to pry the other off.

[Reno]

Tensai tried to be serious as he watched the two dragons. "Roxel... it's so not funneee-hahahahahaha!" The poor black-haired boy held his sides, unable to contain his laughter. Alright, so it was pretty comical! That poor Salemence. Even Sanyi couldn't hold in his chuckles.

"Hey! It's not funny what is he doing?!" Lucina demanded in a bad-tempered way, stomping her foot.

Terra sweatdropped a little watching the two - well one fly - around in circles. Well... that was ONE way to get out of the water. It looked like Flygon really liked this Salamence if he was already biting him! "Flygon let him go!" He ordered and for once the Flygon did as he asked, releasing his grip and fluttering back the trip through the air having dried his wings, laughing.
"Fly-fly-fly-fly!"

[Rikugurl]

After Flygon opened his jaws and flew away, the Salamence flipped around and hovered some, pulling his tail over his grey stomach to inspect the bite mark. "Meeence..." It whined some, making Gunnar growl. "Sal, snap out of it! Go after that thing with Dragon Breath!" He hated it when other pokemon made a laughing stock out of his... ESPECIALLY when it made Roxel laugh at him. He could remember a time when he had first battled the fire head boy with his Riolu and that stupid Melody made the little puppy chase her all around the field.

Sal was quick to response, flapping his wings hard to get on track and quickly reach the laughing dragon. His mouth opened, expelling an interesting flame towards the other. When Flygon dodged it, the dragon already knew what to do. Wings started to glow and his weight was put into his lean, smashing into the Flygon with all his might. Once again, the two rolled down in a spiral but an order was called before they ended up in the water. A gust of wind flew them apart before a powerful (and hurt) tail smashed into the Flygon's belly.

"Wow, no wonder Sanyi likes dragons! They never give up!"

[Reno]

"Yeah aren't they awesome?!" Sanyi praised, just seeming to glow in the heat of the battle. Even as Flygon was hit back again and again, the littler dragon continued to make a stand.

"Flygon catch his tail and use silver wind!"

"Flllllly!" In another strong bite the dragon caught his opponent's tail as it hit him and then fluttered his wings hard. He let go and there was no escape, the silver wind hitting the poor flying-dragon type hard and sending him up.

"Now dragon pulse!"
"FLLLY!" He flew up fast and hard, flipping up above the other and aimed right down at his back.

[Rikugurl]

"SAAAAAAAAAL!" The dragon roared as his tail was bitten again but this wasn't play time. He was hit with powdery scales and was thrown higher into the air. Quickly, the green dragon flew pass the other and called as a new order was being fulfilled. "Sal!, Turn and use Hydro Pump to get it away!" Gunnar was quick to call, seeing that this could be the end if he wasn't quick enough. The salamence rolled onto his back, his mouth opening and about to shoot out another gust of forceful water... but he was too slow. The dragon pulse hit him hard in his underbelly and he went sailing down towards the murky water below.

"UH! NO!" Gunnar growled before quickly grabbing Salvador's pokeball and recalled him before he could splash into the water.

There was sudden silence that was... easily broken 2.5 seconds later. "YES! YOU LOST GUNNAR!" WHACK. "OUCH!!"
What no one actually expected was Gunnar ignoring the huge riot behind him as he jumped over the bars and carefully crossed the broken arena. He wondered if this stadium got this damaged after every battle Terra did. Where was he getting the money to fix this!? He didn't know that the Pokemon in the greenhouse were willing to clean it all up. It was sort of a way for them to pay for the amazing home the Tellis family provided them.

By the time the young man reached the other side where Terra was standing, the flygon was at his side, peering down at Gunnar. Dark eyes looked up into gym leader's before his hand reached out, looking for a shake. "Thank you for this opportunity, Terra. I have learned a lot of valuable tricks and tips from this encounter. I will work on my weaknesses with my Pokemon and you will not be disappointed in our next battle."

[Reno]

And that was it as Salvador went down... an ego went up. "FLLLLY!" Flygon cheered flying through the air happily. He won again! He won again! Wait till he told his dad! He did a neat back flip and came fluttering down beside Terra, sitting on the bars with a content look.

"Don't get too full of yourself." Terra chastised the dragon, patting his long antennae. "You'll be worse than your father."
"Gooooon...."

However the brunette's focus was stolen when he saw the young trainer approaching him and smiled when he got the condolences. "I'm sure I won't be." He said, reaching out and shaking the other's hand. "You've got the markings of a great trainer in you."

From the bleachers steps rang as the four who had been watching were quick to get up and come running over, making the two look back. Lucina came to her brother's side a bit down-trodden at his loss but smiled. "You'll get him next time!" You had to lose sometimes right?

"That was SO cool." Tensai said with a big smile, holding his Eevee in his arms as they walked over but winced when his red-blonde haired friend stepped on his toes. "Ow! Well it was!"

[Rikugurl]

Gunnar gave a small smile when they shook hands. Even though he lost, he was rather proud of himself. He had some powerful pokemon at his young age and was able to knock out at least one of Terra's pokemon which many other hadn't been able to do. He would have to call his dad to let him know how the battle went; that it was one of his few losses but he that he wasn't too far off of really winning.
When their hands went free, Gunnar gave a small glare in Roxel's direction, knowing he had stepped on his admirer's toe. "Well, I have to get to the pokecenter to heal my pokemon." He walked pass Tensai and Sanyi, saying a soft thank you before a strong hand planted itself on Roxel's chest, pushing him over on his butt.

"H-HEY! OOOFF!" Roxel huffed before looking over his shoulder, seeing his rival gone out the front door. "You all saw that, right!?"
"Torchic! Chic! Chic!" The fire bird fluffed her feathers out as she hopped with anger but she calmed when Roxel wrapped his arms around her, getting back on his feet. At the same time, the side door of the stadium opened and everyone glanced back to see two absent young girls coming in. Instantly, Roxel was at his twin's side. "Oh man, Roxy! You should of seen it! Gunnar got his aaaa-butt kicked!" A large smile took over his whole face and he bounced, hearing his sister sigh with disappointment that she had missed it.

"Daddy, didn't I tell you to stop breaking kid's dreams?" The other girl chuckled as she looked up at her father who was still behind the bars of the area. She paused though when she walked up to him, looking over the ruined and water logged arena. "No wonder we felt all them rumbles. It must of been one hell of a battle...."

[Reno]

A chuckle made its way from Lucina’s throat as her brother brushed past Roxel, saying her goodbyes. She still had her battle afterall! She turned to Terra, about to inquire precisely about this when she heard it.

“Hmm… we’ll of course he lost.”
Green eyes narrowed, turning to face fake ones. “Excuse me?”
“Well. It was OBVIOUS that your brother’s ego would get the better of him. Guess evolving all your lame little Pokemon just isn’t enough huh?” Roxanne said, putting her hands on her hips, a little smug smile on her face.
“Tch, you think you know everything don’t you, barettes?”
“Yeah, I do know everything, ribbons!!”

The gym leader chuckled, watching the somewhat childish display and suddenly he recognized his opponents – if only from stories; because you know Terra and his friends had turned into such old guys and gals all they did all day when the phoned was talk about their children and he certain got an earful about the twins from Roxas, when he wasn’t asking him technical questions about Pokemon that is.

Those taunts… Roxanne ALWAYS wore barettes… and the girl who always bothered her wore ribbons and that’s how they insulted each other. He supposed… there were benefits to have rivals and bullies. He never did – he was the tough one. He WAS the bully. He knew, from all of Roxas and Axel’s complaints, about just what trouble the twins had with ‘these two smug little bastards’ that lived down-trial in Lavaridge City. The newly built Lavaridge had been built into two – the countryside and the cityside. Roxas and Axel lived in the countryside because of the large and wide spaces that allowed them to build their haven. In fact they nearly OWNED the entire countryside – though there were other places like a Camerupt farm… a ranch for Ponyta and of course the newly built Rescue Center.

As for the cityside, it was where the majority of people lived. The gym, the Pokemon Center, restaurants and shops, a modest little inn and the nice hot spring resort. Though still easily travelable, the roads were better maintained and the buildings closer together, making the warm town ever warmer. It was where those ‘snot-nosed little punks’ lived. Then of course they started their journey and Roxanne and Roxel hadn’t seen them for some time…

It seemed destiny saw it fit for them to cross paths again. How ironic it being the day they started their own journey, their rivals already so far ahead.

“Well, you’re both wrong.” Terra stepped into the feud before it could become a cat fight. “I know everything.” Now he was being smug; but hey it was close to the truth. “And what I do know is none of your, evolved Pokemon or not, is walking out of this gym with a badge in two decades if your acting like that!”

And that started the reaction Terra wanted. Both the girls challenged him and after having his Pokemon clear the stadium he was ready for it. Feeling proud, Lucina went first. Terra made his first – and only – choice. “Let’s go Torterra!”
“…. Uncle Terra!” The girl seemed quite discontented with his choice.
“What?”
“How could you chose him?!”
This baffled him even more as he looked at the large tortoise-like creature. “What’s wrong with Terra two?”
“Well… nothing but he’s yours gentlest Pokemon!” She crossed her arms. “And do you remember who my dads are – well no, scratch that. Do you remember who my daddy Axel is? Are you going easy on me just cause I’m a girl?”
The leader chuckled but shook his head in disbelief. “You’re so confident… try winning then!”
“I will!”
And in three strikes, Lucina struck out.

Her first mistake was calling for Hotaru. Though the pony was fast, he was unable to escape when Terra called a fatal move.
“Giga drain!”
The pony was wrapped up in glowing vines and energy sucked dry before being gently laid down.
His niece became a little uneasy, and her second choice was her cyndaquil, Kegan. She did better with him, but when she asked him to dig… it was over.
“Frenzy plant.”
And erupted right out of the ground was the squirming, struggling fire starter, before being flung across the arena and knocked unconscious.
And finally her third choice… was a Skarmory she named Hawk… and then when she found out it was a girl, she named it after her uncle Sora and called her Skye since she was a child of Roxas’ Skarmory and Sora’s Nimbus and the latter of the two birds missed her maser so terribly sometimes she wouldn’t even sing.
Now, talk about speed. This metallic bird was one of the fastest fliers known to this world and Torterra was no quick person. Lucina was finally able to get in some good few hits… until…
“Leaf storm.”
Skarmory was swept up in the storm and that was it for that battle. Terra had to admit he felt a little bad when he saw the girl slump in her ring, looking rather pathetic – and worse when Bonnie came running over and gave him a death glare.

But he had to forget about it quickly because it was Lucina’s turn and by then Gunnar had returned to be her cheering squad. He made another surprising choice – this time he battled with his old and lucky girl, Mightyena. It was the third shiny Lucina had ever seen and her shock was obvious.
But she didn’t let it phase her as she called her first Pokemon with confidence..... and then her second with uncertainty...... and then her third with hopelessness - which consequently, Sanyi once again interested. She chose a Dragonair named Saphira.

Safe to say, she lost.

“Alright, anyone else?” Terra asked as the down-trodden blonde walked from the stage glancing at the bleachers with a raised eyebrow. “Roxel?”
A quick shake of the head.
“Saaanyi…?”
“Um…. N-no?”
“…Tensai?”
“Ummm… who would you chose first?”
“….hmmm probably Houndoom.” The brunette grinned.
Orange eyes quickly landed on the devil dog by his side and swallowed hard. “Uh, then no thanks!”

The brunette blinked then chuckled, shaking his head and finally stepped off the stage, looking at the beaten and battered crew. He knocked them all down a few pegs – but losing battles would do that to you.

[Rikugurl]

The doors of the stadium opened and a small crew shuffled out, some heads hanging low. "Don't worry, love. My dad is truly horrible when it comes to matches. Sometimes he forgets that people actually have to win when a battle gets intense." The gym leader's daughter rubbed her girlfriend's back, trying to cheer her up. It seemed like he got this way when he was battling Gunnar. Even if he was her girlfriend's rival, she had to hand it to him... he was a great trainer and he was younger than her!

They all silently watched the more upset loser and her and her brother walked to the pokecenter together, seeing the cast glares from over her shoulder. There was a odd feeling looming around the larger group that this wasn't going to be the last time they saw those two.

"Oh hey!" Bonnie suddenly chirped, looking in the twins direction. "Didn't you guys get a new Pokemon at the Haven last night?"
"Oh! Right!" Roxel chuckled, who was standing by a curious Tensai. "I took of picture of them this morning!"
Melody suddenly squeezed herself from his arms and hopped onto his backpack, pulling some strings and digging into his bag. "Whoa!" It made the thing teen a bit unbalanced but she sudenly fell into his arms again, a little camera danging from her beak. "Haha! Thanks, Melody!" Everyone got a little closer, looking over the camera or Roxel's shoulder as Roxy started to tell them about last night.

There were sudden gasps and exclaims as the picture of the large black, red and grey pokemon came on the screen. "That's the mom!" Roxel explained, hearing Sanyi whine how he wished it was a dragon, before hitting an arrow on his camera which brought them to the next picture. Some cuter sounds were given at the sight of the baby. All except one. "Whoa! HEY!" The camera was snatched from Roxel's hand, a pair of tanner fingers now gripping it as deep eyes stared at it with a trance. Bonnie facial features were beyongd loving it. "B-bonne...? What's the matter?" Roxel blinked with confusion but the eldest of the party didn't say a peep.


The room seemed to rock back an forth, signifying that it was not planted into the ground. The sound of waves and sea birds calling overhead only made the fact more true. It was a little room, decorated in all sorts of interesting knickknacks. A lot of it glittered though everything was dull in some kind of way. Toys were missing pieces, stuffed animals more than loved. Some wooden chest lined the walls that held whatever wasn't on the floor. A wooden door opened and a tall woman walked in, heading to a small bed by a ship window. "Bonnie~ Time to wake up. We have something special for you." Her voice was mystical and gentle, her arms warm to the touch as she wrapped them around a small little girl.

The girl was carried out of the room, her clothes a bit ragged but after the girl yawned, a smile appeared, making it seem that she didn't care. Her young eyes squint as she was taken to the desk of the ship but she could clearly see a cage that once wasn't there before. The tanner woman placed the girl down before it and curious eyes stared inside to see a little grey fox with a black puffy collar and red trim. It started to growl at her, hiding way in the back. "Mama, it don't seem to like me none..." The little girls accent carried over to her mother who only gave her a soft smile as he leaned down. "She's just not use to you yet, daughter. She was from another trainer but she is yours now. Just spend some time with her and she will truly be yours."

"Ah, she's awake." A more handsome voice came from behind and the girl looked up, smiling happily. "Papa! This is truly mine?" A paler man came over, placing his hand on the crate. "She is, and a fine Pokemon at that. These are rare on Isshu and never even seen in Sinnoh. You, Bonnie, are going to be a very special girl when we land."
"But papa! I am already your special girl." The child giggled before looking back into the crate. "Thank you so much... what is it called?"
"It's called a...."


"Zorua..."

"Huh?" The small group blinked as Bonnie finally said something. They all sort of glanced at each other before looking at the girl with the camera.

[Reno]

"A new Pokemon?! And you guys didn't tell me!" Tensai sounded a bit offended, usually being the first to get an update about these things. Roxel usually had too much excitement to keep it quiet - he had no idea his friend had actually been busy getting into a fight with Gunnar.

"Well it was kind of sudden. Ours dads got the call just yesterday morning and after we cleared the fields, they had to rush off!" Roxanne was saying, "They're amazing though; a mom and a baby. Neither of my dads even knew what kind of Pokemon they are; I think daddy Roxas was planning on calling Uncle Terra though to see if he had any information in his library."

The gym didn't always have a library, actually - but Ven, who had made a lot of money from contests - decided to put it to good use. Knowing a few walls down and adding an extra room was no problem.... the bookcases and comfy chairs no real expense and the books, donated from all over were easy to stock it with. And the surprise and love on Terra's face when Ven removed his blindfold and revealed to him his first wedding anniversary gift... well the blonde would tell you it was priceless. Over the years it became quite the archive and when Ven wasn't around and he wasn't battling, their was a ninety-nine percent chance one found find the brunette there, reading and learning.

Tensai and Sanyi and Bonnie crowded around Roxel as he turned on his camera and showed them the first picture. "Wow, look at it! It... looks like your dad!" Tensai said, and suddenly Roxel and Roxanne giggled, seeing a bit of a resemblance in the sharp angles and the bushy, wacky hair.
"But it's a girl!"
"And your positive you're dad isn't?" Sanyi teased but sighed, "But still, it's no dragon."

The red-head shushed him before flipping to the next picture. And thats when Bonnie snatched up the camera... and stared. Now, perhaps this would of seemed strange to them all... is none of them had been through the same thing. They had all been young when they lost their parents, but the memories were still there, just buried somewhere.... and it just took the right little key to open that door that locked away their pasts. That was the trance Bonnie was in.

"Bonnie...?" Roxanne tried tentatively, reaching out and placing her hand on her shoulder, "Everything alright?"