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themurphyzone · 5 years

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Absolutely Disastrous Ch 15

Ch 15: Show Your Fighting Spirit! Enter the Champion of Hoenn!

Due to BuzzNav’s latest report on the projected cost of repairs for the Rustboro Gym, Veronica and Milo agreed to battle on the beach instead so the Dewford Gym would be safe from the crossfire.

“I usually do single battles with two Pokémon per side,” Veronica called. “Is that okay with you?”

“Fine with me!” Milo said.

Veronica tossed her Poké Ball. “Then let the battle begin! Show us your fighting spirit, Meditite!”

A blue and white Pokémon popped out, briefly stretching in a yoga pose before bowing politely to Milo. Milo bowed back, and Meditite was pleased at her gesture being returned.

“Diogee, let’s start with Bite attack!” Milo ordered.

“Detect, then follow up with Meditate!” Veronica yelled.

Meditite’s eyes flashed red, and she disappeared as Diogee’s jaws clamped down on empty air. Diogee scuffed the sand with his claws while Meditite reappeared several feet away. Meditite closed her eyes, curling and raising her hands in a basic meditation position.

“Over there!” Milo pointed in Meditite’s direction. “Cut attack!”

“Duck behind a sand dune and keep meditating!” Veronica yelled.

Meditite broke her concentration briefly and ducked behind a large sand dune. Cut slammed into the thick soil, stirring up sandy clouds and bits of driftwood but leaving Meditite unharmed.

“Try Cut again!”

“Ready, Meditite?” Veronica called.

Meditite nodded, vanishing before Cut connected. Then she appeared next to Diogee, her legs spread in a firm stance as he coolly sized him up.

Milo pumped his fist in the air. “Meditite’s in range! Use Bite!”

Diogee charged at Meditite, his mouth wide open and ready to clamp down on her head. Meditite raised her arms, her palms facing outward.

“Force Palm now!”

A shock wave exploded from Meditite’s palms just as Diogee reached her, blasting the Dark-type into the ocean. The tides washed over Diogee as he struggled to his feet, but Meditite never gave him the chance to recover. Since Confusion didn’t affect Dark-types, Veronica instructed Meditite to control the water around Diogee’s paws to decrease his mobility instead. Once Diogee was sufficiently trapped and more focused on freeing himself, Meditite blasted him with another Force Palm.

Diogee tried to gather enough energy for Razor Wind, but slumped to the ground, too exhausted to build it up.

“Diogee is unable to battle!” Melissa crowed. “Meditite is the winner!”

“You did great, boy,” Milo said, giving Diogee a Sitrus Berry to eat while he recuperated on the sidelines. Diogee nudged his hand, and Milo laughed. “I’ll try, but you know she’s always been a strong trainer.”

“Diogee’s amazing as ever, Milo!” Veronica called. “Can’t wait to see who else you have!”

“Thanks!” Milo exclaimed. “Marshtomp, come out!”

The Poké Ball flew backward and hit the rock next to Zack, who yelped from the realization that the device had been inches from his face. Marshtomp dug his front limbs into the sand to signify that he was ready.

“Mud Bomb!” Milo shouted.

A mud glob appeared in Marshtomp’s arms, and he hurled it at Meditite, who deflected it with Confusion. The mud sailed into the ocean instead.

Then Meditite turned Confusion onto Marshtomp. A mysterious blue power lit up her eyes, the aura surrounding Marshtomp as he clutched his head and tried to fight her off.

“Go ahead and release Marshtomp!” Veronica yelled.

Marshtomp flew into a sand dune. When he came out, he stumbled dizzily and fired a Water Gun at the ocean.

“Aim a Mud Bomb at Meditite!” Milo called.

Marshtomp created a Mud Bomb, but it sailed away from the sandy field instead.

Veronica grinned. “Perfect, he’s confused! Get in close with a double Force Palm!”

Meditite aimed one Force Palm in Marshtomp’s shoulder and another on his stomach. The shock wave snapped him out of confusion, but his limbs were locked in place.

“Try to shake off the paralysis!” Milo yelled.

But it only took one more Force Palm-Confusion combo to bring Marshtomp down. Milo recalled Marshtomp as Melissa announced the end of the battle and declared Veronica the winner.

“That was a great battle, Veronica,” Milo said. “Your Meditite is really strong!”

“Thanks, Milo!” Veronica said. “You’re not half-bad yourself. I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to beat me soon. You’ve just gotta work on it more. And maybe not use a Dark-type against a Fighting-type.”

Milo laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Veronica’s phone buzzed, and she rolled her eyes. “That’s my other occupation calling. Gotta deliver a vegetarian pizza to some people at Sea Mauville. Weird place to have a pizza party, but hey, money’s money. In the meantime, why don’t you go train in Granite Cave? Just keep heading north and you’ll see it! Who knows? You might meet some cool Pokémon in there.”

She whistled, summoning a Dodrio whose three heads continued to squabble as she mounted it.

“By the way, I’m a huge fan of your work,” Veronica said to Zack, who blushed and looked away. “Chop, chop, chop, chop away at my heart, I can feel it falling-”

Her singing faded into the distance as Dodrio sped away, leaving large sand clouds in its wake.

“What was that about?” Milo asked.

Zack’s laugh was strained. “Oh, she was just singing ‘We’re Going to the Safari Zone’! You know, the prequel to ‘I’m Going to the Safari Zone’!”

Melissa glanced at him. “I have no idea what you heard, but what she sang was more general pop song dedicated to reining in tweenagers and middle-aged women’s hearts than a random tune someone makes up for a laugh.”

“Ah...you know, we should really run by the Center. Milo’s Pokémon took quite the beating today!” Zack exclaimed hastily.

Diogee wasn’t happy about his 24-hour ban from battles. During Nurse Joy’s examination, she’d discovered that his mouth was more sensitive than normal due to Meditite’s Force Palm. She reassured Milo that point-blank Force Palms were one of Veronica’s favorite tactics and that the resulting shock wave caused mild soreness in some Pokémon.

She proposed a soft food diet and a 24-hour ban from excessive activity, and Milo accepted it. He didn’t mind putting off the rematch.

Then they headed north, ignoring all the taunts from the potion festivals and big laundry groups in town. True to Veronica’s word, Granite Cave sat on the northern edge of the island. Signposts surrounded the entrance, containing descriptions for what kinds of Pokémon could be found inside, several warnings to trainers, and a promotional poster for a new Stumbleberry Swoobat movie.

They decided to deliver the letter to Orton before focusing on training. Melissa wanted to train Poochyena more, while Zack wanted to work on an appeal with Whismur.

Milo provided headlamps for everyone, including a special one for Diogee that accommodated his horn. He also moved several flashlights and battery packs to the front of his backpack for easy access in case the headlamps broke.

They entered the cave, and Milo was almost bowled over by a hiker screaming about darkness and stalactites.

“TURN BACK!” he screamed. “NEVER AGAIN! THE DARKNESS WILL CONSUME US ALL!” The hiker continued his hysterics on the beach, prompting an annoyed Corphish to knock him unconscious with Crabhammer.

While the cave wasn’t narrow enough to trigger Zack’s claustro-avoidant tendencies, the headlamps only provided enough light for a ten-foot radius. Everything else was shrouded in pitch black, making it impossible to discern where a passageway began.

“ECHO!” Milo shouted.

Echo! Echo! Macadamia! Echo!

Milo shrugged. “Well, I tried. Though I should really get my echo fixed.”

“Try what exactly?” Zack asked.

“Spontaneously develop echolocation,” Milo said. “Maybe you have to get bitten by radioactive Zubat first though.”

Melissa shuddered. “Let’s not. And besides, remember how we tried to fix your echo when we were eight? Lavaridge Elliot still hasn’t forgiven us for accidentally slathering him in sour cream.”

Before Zack could ask for more details, Diogee shoved Milo to the ground, narrowly avoiding several fast-moving rock projectiles. Unfortunately, the fall broke Milo’s headlamp and left their field of visibility slightly dimmer.

“Someone’s trying to use Rock Tomb on us,” Melissa said as she released Poochyena. “Keep your ears peeled, okay?”

Poochyena growled, crouching in front of Melissa protectively.

Diogee tensed, but Milo shook a finger at him. “No battling, Diogee. We’ll let Poochyena handle this.”

Diogee huffed in frustration.

“Yeah, I know. But you still have another 23 hours, so just hold tight,” Milo said as he grabbed a flashlight from his backpack. He kept the beam away from the ceiling to avoid disturbing a flock of Zubat.

The rock projectiles came flying at them again, and everybody dropped to the ground. Poochyena bared his teeth, sparks jumping out as he charged a Thunder Fang.

Then the ground under Poochyena trembled, and a large, armored head emerged and rammed into his stomach. Poochyena howled, biting down on his attacker, but his fangs were too small to penetrate the iron plates.

“That’s an Aron!” Melissa exclaimed. “Steel and Rock-type with sky-high defense! I’ve always wanted one of those!”

Mr. Chase had always refused her requests for an Aron though. He was already horrified by Melissa’s tendencies to hang around Graveler, Machop, and Milo.

“This’ll be our training time, Poochyena! Use Swagger!”

A red aura surrounded Poochyena, and he glared ferociously at Aron. Aron refused to be intimidated though, and tunneled through the ground to avoid Poochyena’s gaze. Then Aron slammed into Poochyena’s stomach again.

“Melissa, maybe you should switch to Combusken,” Zack suggested.

Melissa gritted her teeth. “No, Poochyena can do this!”

Poochyena whimpered, baring his fangs stubbornly at Aron. Sparks flew from his mouth as he jumped onto Aron’s back, then it was replaced by bright burning flames.

“Fire Fang, great job!” Melissa called. “Hang on for a little longer!”

Poochyena pressed his Fire Fang against the iron plates, and Aron wailed as she tried to buck Poochyena off. When Poochyena finally let go, Aron was breathing heavily. A fire sprung up around her armored body, even though Poochyena didn’t land another Fire Fang.

“Okay, I think Aron’s weakened enough!” Melissa raised a Poké Ball in triumph. “Welcome to the-”

A weak jolt of electricity struck her hand. Startled, Melissa dropped her Poké Ball.

“Are you okay?” Milo asked. He checked her hand in case she needed burn ointment, but the skin was smooth and unmarked.

“Don’t worry,” Melissa said. “You know how they have those slides at playgrounds with the metal bolt inside and it zaps you when you touch it? It just felt like that. I’m alright, I was just—for lack of a better word—shocked. Poochyena, use Fire Fang on whoever did that!”

A barrage of shimmering leaves struck Poochyena, and the Dark-type collapsed.

“Take a rest, okay?” Melissa said as she recalled Poochyena.

“The sign didn’t mention anything about Electric-types,” Zack said.

“Maybe it’s a Nosepass,” Milo suggested. “They have electromagnetic capabilities. Dr. Magnezone used one as a guide to help him traverse the Ionic Mountains in the Magneto Rising arc.”

Zack picked up a glossy leaf from the attack that knocked Poochyena out. “Then how do you explain the Grass-type move?”

Milo had no answer for that. He carefully approached Aron with a bottle of Burn Heal, but a telekinetic power forced his hand to drop it. Then a ballerina-like Pokémon blocked his path.

Kirlia, the Emotion Pokémon. The cheerful spirit of its Trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy, Melissa’s Pokédex said. This Kirlia is male and can evolve if exposed to a Dawn Stone. Moves include Teleport, Shock Wave, Magical Leaf, and Confusion.

“That explains the shock and leaves,” Zack said.

“I just wanted to be sure,” Melissa admitted. “Kirlia don’t naturally live in caves.”

Kirlia spread his arms, refusing to budge. His legs trembled rapidly despite his bravery.

“I just wanna treat Aron’s burn,” Milo said, holding up the Burn Heal. “If you’ll let me do this, we promise to leave you alone afterward.”

Kirlia regarded him with suspicion, but finally stepped aside and allowed Milo to spray the medicine on Aron. The burn subsided, and Aron blinked in surprise as Melissa approached and fed her an Oran Berry. Kirlia didn’t look too happy about Melissa’s proximity to Aron though.

“Sorry about that, Aron,” Melissa said as she patted the iron plates on Aron’s back. “I didn’t expect that Fire Fang either.”

All of Aron’s previous animosity vanished, and she curiously poked around in Melissa’s bag for more berries. Kirlia said something in Pokémon language that Aron clearly didn’t like, and soon the two were snapping at each other.

“Do you know what they’re saying?” Milo asked Diogee.

Diogee rolled a Poké Ball to Melissa and dropped another one in front of Milo. When Milo tried to pick it up, Diogee snatched it away.

“Diogee says Aron wants to go with Melissa but Kirlia doesn’t want his friend to leave,” Milo translated.

“I thought he just wanted to play fetch,” Zack remarked.

“I wouldn’t mind having you on the team, Aron,” Melissa said. Aron looked up hopefully. “But you should probably talk it over with Kirlia first.”

Aron rolled her eyes, trodding over to the Poké Ball that Melissa dropped earlier. She tapped it with a stubby leg and allowed herself to be sucked inside, and the Poké Ball clicked for a successful capture. Aron didn’t resist at all.

Kirlia could only stare in disbelief. Then he stomped his foot and gave every angry non-verbal gesture imaginable before shoving a Poké Ball into Milo’s hands and ordering him to throw it. Instead, Milo gently tapped the Poké Ball against Kirlia’s head.

Kirlia looked rather surprised at the gesture as he vanished in a burst of red light. The Poké Ball wobbled violently, and it took a full minute before they heard the click.

Under normal circumstances, Milo would’ve celebrated adding new Pokémon to his team, but something just felt off.

But he was still hopeful that he and Kirlia could be friends.

Turned out Aron and Kirlia had seen Orton Mahlson, though they both hid behind a large rock as he passed them.

“Do you mind leading us to him? If you know where he went, I mean,” Melissa asked.

Aron had extensive knowledge of the tunnels underneath Granite Cave. With Marshtomp’s help, they cleared a passage wide enough for everyone to squeeze through. Kirlia stayed near the back, glaring at Aron as she acted as a guide for the humans.

Aron’s tunneling led them to a large, expansive room with sunlight filtering in through cracks in the ceiling, and for once everyone could see without the use of a headlamp.

They crawled out of the hole that Aron made, surprising a man in an odd silver suit. His light brown hair was half-hidden by a gray steampunk styled hat, and one shoe was futuristic and sleek while the other resembled a sandal from ancient times. Although he was missing the giant magnet prop he wore on his right hand for the show, he still wore the iconic robot-like backpack.

Milo was instantly starstruck. “Hi, Orton Mahlson, sir! My name’s Milo Murphy and I’m a really huge fan of your show and your work as Champion! These are my friends Melissa Chase and Zack Underwood! And my Absol, Diogee! Oh, and we just caught the Aron and Kirlia!”

“Whoa, you look a lot older than you do on TV,” Zack said.

Orton raised an eyebrow. “And you kids tunneled all the way here to tell me that? I’m not here to give autographs or shelfies or however you kids commemorate meeting celebrities these days. You’ll have to wait for the next sci-fi convention when my agent’s present.”

“Well, not exactly,” Milo said. “But if you’re offering-”

Melissa elbowed Milo. “We met your dad, Orville Mahlson, after we stopped Team Magma from stealing important data from his company. He wanted us to deliver this letter to you. Oh, and he mentioned you’d be in Granite Cave, and we befriended this Aron and Kirlia who saw you walk by and agreed to help us find you. Please don’t file restraining orders for stalking against us.”

She handed Orville’s letter over. Orton’s mouth twitched in amusement as he ripped open the envelope, took one look at the paper inside, and laughed so hard that he overbalanced from the weight of his backpack and fell to the ground.

The letter fluttered out of his grip and landed on Milo’s shoes.

Dear Orton,

Hi!

Love, Dad

“We stumbled through a cave without natural light for this?” Melissa complained.

Milo couldn’t help but laugh too. “You have to admit, it’s pretty funny after you get over the shock.”

“You guys got an Aron and Kirlia now. It wasn’t entirely pointless,” Zack said.

Orton finally stopped laughing, wiping a tear from his eye as he stood up. “I’m so sorry about that, kids,” he said, though he still sounded like he was going to have another bout of laughter. “My old man’s a jokester. It’s not the first time he’s pulled something like this.”

“He could’ve texted you,” Melissa replied, making it clear she didn’t find the situation all that funny.

“I suppose, but he likes to have fun,” Orton admitted. “Tell you what, since you went through all that trouble for a delivery, why don’t I make it worth your while? Do kids still like ancient paintings?”

“We sure do!” Milo exclaimed.

“Excellent!” Orton said. “Painting’s on the far wall! If you’ll follow me!”

A massive, ancient painting had been etched onto the smooth stone wall. The left side depicted an enormous behemoth whose presence triggered volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, leaving desolate, parched earth in its wake. Its gaping maw shot columns of fire into the sky.

The right side displayed an oceanic leviathan capable of stirring up devastating thunderstorms and tsunamis. Swirling vortexes of water swallowed entire islands, leaving nothing but churning, murky waves behind.

Orton allowed everyone time to look over the painting before he spoke. “This is where I come for inspiration. As I’m sure you’re aware, I draw inspiration from old myths and legends. For example, the character Roserade Verde was inspired by local stories from the woodcutters around Ilex Forest, who say there’s a presence called the Voice of the Forest. There’s a shrine supposedly hidden somewhere deep in those woods.”

“So are you planning to use this painting somehow in the future?” Milo asked.

Orton chuckled. “I’m not going to answer that. Some of you become rather huffy about spoilers. But there’s another a reason I’m here. I’ve been helping my old man find proof that the Legendary Pokémon said to have created Hoenn have another form. A form that wields such incomprehensible power and devastating strength. Energy that is supposedly similar to Mega Evolution, yet not quite the same. To think that such a terrible and awe-inspiring battle could’ve happened in recorded history...it’s all quite fascinating.”

Orton took a breath, ready to gush more about ancient legends, but heavy footprints echoed from the corridor. Kirlia and Aron tensed, and Diogee whined about having to stay put if there was a battle.

“Just my luck running into you three again,” someone said from the corridor. “As if my current co-workers aren’t enough of a headache already.”

“It’s John!” Zack gasped when they recognized the Aqua member who obscured his hair and eyes with a large blue bandana, then frowned. “Okay, that sounded a lot more frightening in my head.”

“Yeah, he just doesn’t have a terrifying name,” Melissa agreed.

“He should change it to like, the Blue Scourge or something,” Milo said.

John ignored them as he shoved past Orton and examined the painting.

“Um, I’m kinda out of the loop here,” Orton said.

“He threatened an old lady to reveal something about paintings, and we kicked his coworkers’ butts in a Pokémon battle,” Melissa supplied.

“How does he even see with that bandana?” Milo asked.

Zack shrugged. “I just assume it’s see-through.”

“Everybody shut up,” John growled. “It’s obvious you all can’t recognize what’s happening even when the entire story is right in front of you.”

“Entire story?” Orton echoed.

John glared at him, and Orton withered slightly. “For a Champion, you’re the densest moron I’ve ever met. And I work for a dense moron too, so that’s saying something. It’s your duty to protect every inhabitant of your region through knowledge. And instead, you’re just eating up the attention, focusing on silly, trivial things that may be here today but will fade away in time.”

“Hey, don’t call him those things!” Milo protested.

John’s head swiveled around, his lips pursing into a thin white line. Diogee growled and pushed Milo behind him. “Call off your mutt,” John said. “I’m not wasting my time with a pointless battle.”

“Down, Diogee,” Milo whispered, gently pushing on his shoulders until he finally backed off.

“By the way, there’s a third aspect you’re forgetting,” John called over his shoulder as he departed from the room.

“That guy’s real cheery,” Melissa muttered.

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who’s ever had trouble with Brawly and his Makuhita. He’s not really that formidable in ORAS, but in Gen 3 you don’t want his Makuhita getting in all those Bulk Ups and demolishing your team with Vital Throw. Plus, if you inflict a status condition on it, it has the Guts ability which will make it even stronger.

Meditate raises Attack, which in turn would raise the power of Force Palm. Force Palm also has a 30% chance of paralysis, which unfortunately happened to Marshtomp. Meditite also has the Pure Power ability, which doubles its Attack.

Kirlia’s Pokedex entry is the Firered/Leafgreen and X description. I really love the Ralts line.

Aron family is another Gen 3 favorite as well!

The gang meeting Orton in person is pretty much a modified version of Sara, Melissa, and Zack meeting Orton in Missing Milo.

Orton’s outfit in this story is basically a silver colored version of the Dr. Zone outfit, and with a magnet instead of a gift box.

In ORAS, the paintings in Granite Cave depend on the version you play. Omega Ruby has Groudon, Alpha Sapphire has Kyogre. Here they’re side by side.

#milo murphy's law #oras au #absolutely disastrous #melissa chase #zack underwood #diogee #pokemon

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