Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Burning Spirit! ❯ Crossing the First Threshold ( Chapter 2 )

It was called Mt. Coronet.

 

It was the highest peak in the entire region, the center piece in a long line of mountains that divided Sinnoh's east from west. And now it loomed high in the sky over Riley Brennen, who stared up at its distant peak with determination.

 

Riley was a man on a mission. Far to the west was Canalave City, which housed Byron, the steel-type wielding gym leader. And right now, Riley's ambition was to defeat Byron in a man-to-man pokemon battle. After a brief stop in Hearthrome City to supply himself with food, items and heal his pokemon, he had set off again.

 

But now Riley stood still, unable to move forward. His only pokemon, a mankey, had recently fallen in a tie battle against another fighting pokemon. Riley wasn't comfortable with having come so close to losing. If he had only been able to tie then, how could he expect to face Byron, an accomplished gym leader? He could see it now; his own stunning loss and embarrassing return home to Trish, the lovely girl who had put him up to this.

 

His thoughts turned to Trish. He could picture her with that beautiful figure, silky hair, and those sexy eyes that drove him crazy. She was the one who said that he couldn't beat Byron, the one he'd set off to prove wrong. No, he couldn't return now halfway, and he definitely couldn't return without victory!

 

He charged forward, prepared for any challenge he could face. This mountain was nothing! How could he have let himself lose confidence? There was no such thing as defeat for Riley Brennen! He would charge ahead with fiery hot strength, and show his might!

 

* * *

 

Riley, who was inspired and ablaze, was a total mismatch for the scene around him; a gray sky loomed above, casting a dull light over the harsh, rocky surface of the mountain. But Riley pressed on, undeterred. The path upward grew more and more steep, but Riley was still a natural athlete; he climbed, jumped and ran higher and higher, hardly stopping to rest.

 

It was then that Riley spotted a pokemon up ahead. Riley stopped to observe it as it jumped up and down, swinging its arms into the air in a frenzy while screeching and yelling for no apparent reason. It was white, with a body shaped like a sloth but on its hind legs. A small red tuft of hair grew from the top of its head.

 

“VIGOROTH! VIGOROTH!” it screeched, pounding its chest.

 

Riley blinked, then crept forward. He knew that Byron used 3 pokemon, so in order to battle him in a fair fight Riley was already aware that he would need to capture 2 more pokemon before he reached Canalave City. He had only recently purchased empty pokeballs in Hearthrome city. If all went well, he could make use of one here.

 

Vigoroth continued to up and down, stomping on a large boulder it had perched itself on. It was restless by nature; studies had shown its heartbeat went at ten times the pace of a normal human's. Unless it stayed in constant motion, it could not sleep at night.

 

“Mankey, attack!” Riley called, tossing the pig-monkey's pokeball up at vigoroth. With a shower of light the raging brawler appeared, hands raised in defense and feet hopping back and forth.

 

Vigoroth eyed it briefly then leapt high into the air, screaming loudly as it dropped down onto its opponent. Mankey watched it with an angry glare, then launched into the air after it, striking with a sharp karate chop. Vigoroth yelped, but quickly retaliated with a downward slash that sent mankey straight down into a boulder.

 

Vigoroth landed in front of it, swinging its arms at random and with no apparent reason. Mankey pushed itself to its feet; its arms hung loose at its side, but its breathing was harsh and heavy while it shook with rage. With a crazed screech it leapt forward very suddenly, pummeling the vigoroth with punch after punch. Taken completely by surprise, vigoroth flew backward and slid along the ground, full of momentum.

 

Mankey was far from finished. Its `thrash' attack lasted for some time and involved a long pursuit of attacks; with more rage-induced yells it launched after vigoroth, scratching and kicking its downed opponent, curled feebly into a ball.

 

Finally the attacks ceased; mankey's limbs drooped and it began to lose balance, its energy temporarily used up. It was then that vigoroth stood, towering over his shorter. With an energized howl it began to glow; a yellow aura burst from it, filling it with energy. The attack `endure' had helped it survive mankey's thrashing. Now, `reversal' would let it release power relative to how much damage it had taken.

 

Mankey had no defense prepared. Vigoroth swung its arm wildly, the long limb striking mankey like a whip. Yellow energy exploded from the blow and mankey was sent twirling into the air, screeching with reawakened rage.

 

Vigoroth grinned, watching it fly into the air, limbs flying helplessly. Riley's gaze turned to the vigoroth, briefly, then back to mankey, who was falling back down. As vigoroth pulled back, preparing to use the attack `focus punch,' Riley realized now was the time to attack!

 

“MANKEY! Retaliate now! Use `revenge'!”

 

Slowly its enraged yells grew louder and louder as it fell closer and closer to the earth. Vigoroth watched it intently, a powerful energy building in its fist. But mankey came flying straight down like a missile, filled with rage and striking head-on with a mighty punch that threw vigoroth down onto the ground, limbs sprawled out.

 

Riley saw his opportunity! He leapt up the mountain, reaching into his recently purchased backpack and pulled out from it an empty pokeball which he threw at the fallen pokemon. It hit dead on, and the vigoroth was quickly sucked in as a mass of energy. It had no energy left to fight; with a successful `ding!' the lock mechanism closed, and vigoroth was Riley's to keep.

 

* * *

 

Riley woke up the next morning feeling very cold.

 

He had continued his ascent until nightfall and had decided to sleep in a shallow cavern he found along the side of the mountain. He wasn't sure how close he was to the summit, but he felt like it couldn't be much farther off. It was getting chilly.

 

He ate very, very briefly and then pressed forward, awkwardly climbing from rock to rock. The ascent was growing steadily steeper; eventually it became practically vertical. Donning a parka and gloves he had bought in Hearthrome, Riley clambered on and pulled himself up, bit by bit.

 

The cold winds grew stronger and stronger. Snow and ice began to appear in the crevices between rocks, making each step higher a little harder then the last. Riley almost lost his grip once or twice to the harsh gusts, nearly falling to his death. With a shiver he pushed on, his eyes never leaving the mountain peak.

 

Finally, finally, he reached the peak. With a groan he was barely able to lift himself up. Finally, some flat ground to rest on. The highest point was still ahead, but clearly visible now.

 

Riley tried to sit and rest but the cold was unbearable; with another shiver he stumbled forward, limbs aching. The path ahead became almost invisible, engulfed in harsh snowfall and bitter cold. In the corner of his eye Riley saw something move in the blizzard; its head was well camouflaged, but its green limbs gave it away. It was still unrecognizable through the storm.

 

Riley stood, frozen, as he faced this pokemon. Slowly, his hand moved to his belt, as if it had a will of its own, and he released his new vigoroth in a shower of light. This was his first time releasing it since its capture.

 

“Vigoroth!” Riley yelled over the winds, while pointing at his target, “Slash it!”

 

Vigoroth looked back at Riley, confused. It was fresh from the wild, not used to a commanding voice.

 

Riley glared at it. “Come on, go! Slash it! I haven't got all day!”

 

It shrugged, then began speeding forward, limbs flying about hysterically. The cold didn't seem to impede on vigoroth at all. Riley edged closer, trying to get a look at the situation through the blizzard, when suddenly vigoroth came screaming back, hitting Riley in the face and both of them toppling backward into the deep snow.

 

Riley quickly raised himself, glancing over his wounded vigoroth. It seemed a bit shaken by that last attack… whatever it was. Riley was able to get onto his feet as a figure emerged from the blizzard; it was massive, in a vaguely human shape but far more round. Its body had thick, white fur and deep green limbs. It bellowed at Riley and stomped a foot into the ground ferociously.

 

This was the legendary “ice monster,” the “abominable snowman,” the pokemon known by specie as abomasnow.

 

Hail and snow blew about in thick, cascading layers, circling around Riley and his opponent as if alive. Riley was too stunned to utter a command, and before he knew it abomasnow raised an arm, slamming it into Riley and sending the teenaged trainer soaring back across the mountain with a shocked gasp.

 

Riley landed in a soft pillow of snow, clutching his stomach in pain. He might have broken a rib. Abomasnow trudged forward, apparently having not seen vigoroth tucked neatly into the deep snow. Riley saw the energetic sloth pokemon rise out of the snow from behind abomasnow, jumping up and down anxiously.

 

“VIGOROTH!” Riley yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to direct the sound, “Jump on it! Use `hammer arm'!”

 

Abomasnow stopped, confused as to Riley's yelling, when suddenly it felt vigoroth leap onto its back. With an enraged yell it spun around, but the sloth clung tight, howling loudly and raising an arm, then smashing it down onto the ice monster's skull.

 

Abomasnow stumbled forward but did not fall. Its feet had roots it grew into the ground to stay stationary in strong winds. It grabbed vigoroth with both arms and threw it forward over its head, sending vigoroth into the snow.

 

It raised its arms into the air, and with an ear-piercing howl the winds suddenly grew even faster. Vigoroth leaned forward, running against the airstream but was unable to approach. Suddenly the wind's speed increased dramatically, briefly, throwing vigoroth back in a blast of snow and hail-filled air. This was the mighty technique known as `blizzard'.

 

Riley was able to catch his pokemon as it soared in the air, but found that vigoroth was shivering so much he bounced right out of Riley's arms and into the snow. For a moment the idea of escaping flashed through Riley's mind; but immediately he cast this thought away. He was Riley Brennen! He was no coward! He would face down this foe with everything and win! This was no more than a test on his path to the gym leader Byron!

 

Riley stared forward, determined, and released mankey with another burst of light. Abomasnow seemed unfazed by this new addition; it trudged forward, groaning in anger.

 

At Riley's command, vigoroth and mankey bounded forward, but were quickly thrown back along with Riley by another massive blizzard attack. Riley hit the ground a few feet back and groaned in pain, clutching his still tender stomach. He then realized his head was hanging off the edge of the mountain's summit.

 

A glance down gave revealed a long, long fall.

 

Vigoroth slowly got to its feet again, breathing heavily. It looked back at Riley, its new trainer, feeling ill-prepared to continue fighting. Riley ignored it.

 

“Vigoroth, use focus punch! Mankey, charge in with revenge!”

 

Mankey, filled with anger, leapt forward while vigoroth hung back, energy building in its fist. Abomasnow was still tired from sending out blizzards so often, so it was unable to defend it self as mankey took a jump into the air, swinging all its weight into a massive punch that hit the abominable snowman's face. It stumbled back, but before mankey had even landed from the air it abomasnow smashed it back, swinging its arm with wild power using the `wood hammer' technique.

 

As mankey went flying back, vigoroth charged forward below it. Wood hammer was a move that sapped a great deal of strength to use; abomasnow had taken the bait. Focus punch connected with an explosion of energy!

 

Abomasnow stumbled, teetered, and then fell onto its back. It remained motionless. With a sneer Riley pulled out an empty pokeball, throwing it at the unconscious abominable snowman.

 

It suddenly changed momentum in midair, just before hitting abomasnow. A powerful, chilling blast of wind sent it flying back at Riley's feet, encased in ice.

 

Riley gasped. Another abomasnow appeared from the storm, even bigger than the last, standing behind his fallen comrade. And at his feet were a dozen small snover; smaller round pokemon whose bottoms were brown like earth and would ultimately evolve into the larger abomasnow.

 

Vigoroth tried to leap back, but to no avail; a massive, collective `icy wind' attack swept it high off its feet, engulfing it in snow and ice and throwing it far back, almost toppling off the side of the mountain if Riley wasn't able to quickly pull it back into its pokeball as it flew past the edge. Mankey and Riley took a step back as the winds atop the summit grew more and more mighty.