FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ _ A fateful Encounter in the Eterna Forest

After a week of hard training, Ryan had decided to challenge Roark to a gym battle, and was able to win the Coal Badge easily with his new and incredibly strong Charizard. Now, our heroes set to leave the Orebugh City and head for their next destination, the Eterna City, where Jake and Ryan seeked out their second gym battle. However, in order to get there, the gang had to pass through the Eterna Forest, rumored to be one of the creepiest places in Sinnoh.

...

Having said goodbye to the gym leader Roark, Jake and Ryan processed to head for the North of Orebugh City as they decided to take Route 204. The road was peaceful and quiet, combined with the fresh, slightly cold morning air, making the group feel very relaxed.

"Hey Ryan, that was awesome, you know...the way you won that battle against Roark. Can you help Typhlosion learn some new fire-type moves or cool tricks to use in our next gym battle. I heard that Eterna Gym leader is specialized in grass-type. It's a good thing we both have at least 1 fire-type pokemon huh?" Jake chattered.

"Sure, as long as we remember not to underestimate our opponents. Gym leader isn't just something for show." Ryan replied, "And I'm not in the mood for training right now, sorry."

"So am I. By the way, where does this road lead to?"

"This is Route 204" Ryan said, "If I remember correctly, it will lead us to Floaroma Town. I think we could stop there for some lunch and rest."

"Speaking of lunch... I haven't had anything for breakfast." Jake gruntted and rubbed his belly. He then stopped and checked his backpack, "Let see if I have something to eat...Ahah, chocolate!"

Jake happily pulled out a chocolate bar from his backpack. Lucario's mouth immediately started to water as he took a swiff of the delecious treat. It had been a while since the last time he got to eat chocolate.

"You want some to, Lucario?" Jake asked, then before Lucario could even answer, he cracked the chocolate bar and gave the pokemon half of it, "Here you go."

"No, I don't want it, you...you're hungry, so eat it all." Lucario tried to refuse, but a certain tail had betrayed its master as it wagged happily. Jake laughed as he noticed that and stroke the pup's head lovingly, "Said someone with a wagging tail and drooling muzzle. C'mon, you want this, don't ya?"

Blushing, Lucario finally admitted his defeat as he nodded timidly and took the piece of chocolate from Jake, his tail was still wagging the whole time. The aura pokemon sniffed his treat, enjoying the fragant smell again. However, just when he was about to stuff the piece of chocolate into his mouth, something suddenly swooped down and snatched it from Lucario's paw.

"What's the..." the aura pokemon growled, "Who did that?"

"Over there!" Ryan shouted, pointing at a pokemon, a bird pokemon that was holding Lucario's chocolate in its beak.

"After him!" Lucario said angrily and started chasing after the thief. When it came to Jake and chocolate, no one messed with him. Jake and Ryan had to choice but to follow. However, when the gang finally managed to find the pokemon, it had already finished munching the chocolate. Ryan quickly opened his pokedex, "That's a Starly."

Starly, the Starling Pokemon. Starly normally travels in a flock, but when alone, it is hard to notice.

"You thief, get down here!" Lucario growled, "No one stole my chocolate and get away with it!"

"So what do you gonna do, mutt?" Starly taunted, "Come up here and catch me? Hah, I don't think so. Or maybe you want to give me another piece of that chocolate?"

"Damn...damn it!" the aura pokemon gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to beat the fucking hell out of that Starly thief, Lucario painfully realized that he couldn't do anything. He was stronger, sure, but he couldn't fly, and that made a huge disadvantage against flying-type.

"That Starly seems pretty interesting, arrogant and overconfident." Ryan muttered, tapping his chin, "Say, do you want to capture it, Jake?"

"Not that I don't want to, but none of my pokemon can fly, how am I going to catch him...wait, this one is a male, right?"

"The white spot on its forehead is pretty big, so yeah...it's a male. Let me and Charizard get him for ya." Ryan grinned, already holding Charizard's pokeball in his hand.

"But if you catch him, then he should be yours, why giving him to me?" Jake asked, pointing at himself.

"Well, I think that each of us should have at least 1 flying-type pokemon, but Charizard alone is enough for me. We are friends, so don't trouble yourself about this." Ryan replied and tossed Charizard's pokeball onto the ground, releasing the fire pokemon.

"You see that Starly. He stole Lucario's chocolate, so I want you to bring him here." Ryan ordered with a quiet yet menacing voice.

The cocky expression on Starly's face vanished instantly as he realized Charizard was coming for him. Things soon turned into an aerial battle as Charizard pursuited Starly, who was trying to get away.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Starly frantically.

"Technically speaking, I have nothing against you, but my trainer had ordered me to catch you, so I have no other choice. Beside, I don't like the way you stole other people's food. Now, be a good boy and surrender yourself, or I will have to do it the hard way." Charizard replied, somewhat mockingly.

"In your dream! Take this!" Starly shouted and suddenly turned around to face Charizard. His wings then glowed white as he flied toward Charizard, attemping to hit the flame pokemon with one of them.

"He can use wing attack? Interesting. Charizard, you use wing attack too!" Ryan shouted. Charizard gave a curt nod. His wings then started to glow white as he charged at Starly. Soon, the two aerial attacks collided. Using the same move, but the differences in power was clear.

"Now! Capture him, Jake!" Ryan said as he notice the starling pokemon, falling down like a stone. Not wasting any time, Jake pulled out an empty pokeball and threw it at Starly. The ball opened and converted Startly into a reddish energy form before sucking him inside. Jake and Ryan watched in silence as the ball shook back and forth rapidly, but sighed in relief after it finally settled down with a 'ping', implying that Starly was successfully captured.

"You did great, Charizard." Ryan said, tapping Charizard's shoulder as the flame pokemon landed next to him, then picked up the pokeball and tossed it to Jake, "I didn't think he would put up quite a struggle. You should be careful with him at first."

"Okay. Thanks a bunch, Ryan." said Jake when he suddenly noticed Lucario, who was looking intently at him, or more correctly, at the pokeball in his hand. It didn't take long for Jake to realize what Lucario was schelming, "You're waiting for me to let Starly out, so you can get him back for stealing your chocolate, aren't ya? Sorry pup, not gonna happen. Like I said before, I don't want to witness a fight between teammates."

"But..." Lucario protested, but Jake stopped the pokemon by putting a finger on his lips, "No but...I will buy you chocolate later, as for now, I want you to try getting alone with Starly. That's an _orde_r, as your trainer, and as your mate, understood? "

"Fine..." Lucario huffed, "But remember: I'm doing this just for you."

(30 minutes later)

As the gang reached the end of Route 204, Floaroma Town finally appeared before their eyes. Immediately, they were captured by the peaceful, yet magnificent town.

"Look at all that flowers. I can smell them all the way from here..." Jake exclaimed as he took a whiff of the flowers, "Mmm, how refreshing!"

"Well thay call it 'the town of vivid and scented flowers', right?" Ryan chuckled, "But I gotta admit: This place is truly beautiful, and it makes me feel really relaxed too. Let grab something for lunch, and find a place to rest a little...Hmm, I wonder if there's any Pokemon Center in this town."

"Jake, I smell something delicious..." Lucario said with a watering mouth, grabbing the trainer's wrist, "This way."

"Hey wait...Ah!" Jake called but Lucario didn't listen, so he had no choice but to follow the pup. Curious, Ryan and Charizard also followed them. The gang kept walking and walking until Lucario finally stopped in front of a small building, appearently looked like a candy store.

As the group walked inside, they were greeted by a pretty, green-haired young lady, "Good morning. My name is Frosythia. What can I do for you?"

"No...Uhm, it's kinda embarassing to admit, but I just followed my Lucario all the way here. He said he smelled something delicious." Jake said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Indeed..." Frosythia chuckled, "I bet he smelled the poffins I've just made."

"Poffins?" Jake asked, looking at Frosythia, then at Ryan, as if he was waiting for either one of them to give him an explaination, but Ryan only shrugged, implying that he too, knew nothing about this 'poffins' stuff.

"Poffins are special treats for pokemon, made from many different kinds of berry. They are usually used in a contest, to power up your pokemon, depend on the category you are in, but sometimes, they could be fed to pokemon as snacks. In general, they look like this." Forsythia explained. She then brought out a dish of poffins and showed it to the group (at first Jake thought they were cookies, but when he looked more carefully, the poffins were a little smaller, and much more colorful than normal cookies).

"You want some of these poffins for lunch, Lucario?" Jake asked, and was answered by an eager nod from the pokemon, "Alright. I'd like to buy some of these poffins for my pokemon.Uhm, is it okay for me to let them out here, Frosythia?"

"Well of course, please go ahead. There are all kinds of poffin here, so your pokemon can pick whichever one they like." Frosythia smiled.

After having paid for the poffins and said goodbye to Frosythia, Jake and Ryan processed to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, there wasn't any Pokemon Center in town, so they all agreed to settle in a local park. Like any other part of Floaroma Town, the park was also filled with flowers, as well as various kinds of plant and tree, making it perfect for camping. The group had just finished with lunch when a sudden shout caught their attention.

"Hey, a Lucario!"

"What the...who said that?" Jake asked in confusion, looking around to find the source of the strange shout, which was soon revealed to be coming from two figures that were running towards them. Jake and Ryan tried to get a better view of whoever that were approaching, but not until the figures had finally stopped right in front of them: A pair of kids. They looked almost identical with spiky brown hair and blue eyes. They were both having a mixed expression of excitement and exertion on their faces. The only differences would be their clothings, as one of them was wearing a white t-shirt, grey jeans and shoes, while the other was wearing a blue polo shirt, trousers and sneakers.

"Is this your Lucario?" the boy in white t-shirt asked.

"Wow, and a Charizard, and...all of these cool pokemon are yours?" yet another question, this time from the other boy.

"Whoa, take it easy, guys!" Jake said loudly, trying to calm the over-excited twin, "At least let us speak, okay? Now, who are you again?"

"My name is Kai, and this is my younger brother Rio." The boy in white t-shirt, now Kai, introduced.

"I'm Rio. Are you pokemon trainers?" Rio asked, not taking his eyes off Lucario and Charizard.

"Well yes. I'm Jake, and this is my buddy Ryan. About the pokemon here, Lucario, Luxray, Typhlosion and Starly are mine; Charizard and Monferno are Ryan's."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ryan. So, I assume that you two are also trainers?"

"Yup, but we're both beginners, so each of us only have one pokemon. To tell the true, I've always dreamed of having a Lucario, so I really couldn't help it when I saw yours. I mean, just look at him...so cool!" Rio chattered, literally jumping up and down. Both Jake and Lucario blushed a little when they heard the boy's compliment.

"Ignore him." Kai shrugged, shaking his head, "But anyway, it's still amazing that you have a Lucario. Even in Sinnoh, Lucario is still a very rare pokemon. How can you manage to catch him?"

"It's a very long story. Are you sure that you won't get bored or fall asleep?" asked Jake. The twin replied him by nodding, "Alright, here I go..."

Taking a deep breath, Jake began to tell the twin about the first day he met Lucario, how he saved the pup from his abusive trainer, and how they became good friends through the journey.

"That's amazing." Kai muttered as Jake finished telling the story.

"Yeah...I can believe there're asshole like that guy (he meant Lucario's previous trainer) among us trainers. What a disgrace." Rio snorted.

"Don't worry, I've already taught him a lesson." Jake grinned.

"Well if I were there, that bastard would get more than just a lesson!" Rio exclaimed, though Jake highly doubted it, considering he was nothing more than just a kid.

"Anyway, your Lucario must be very strong, do you want to battle us?" Kai said.

"Both you and Rio?" Jake asked.

"Yup, it would be the coolest tag battle ever. C'mon, please?" Rio pleaded with big, sparky eyes. Jake chuckled, the twin were still children after all, how could he refuse them, "What do ya say, Ryan?"

"Sure, a little warm up won't hurt anyone, let's go." Ryan shrugged.

"Alright, in this tag battle, we each can use only one pokemon. Trainers will give out commands one after another. The first team whose both pokemon are unable to battle lose. Ready?" Ryan explained the rules. The other three nodded.

"Let's battle. Come out now, Ponyta!" Kai shouted as he threw a pokeball onto the ground. From a redddish flash of light came the fire horse pokemon.

"You too, Croconaw!" Rio said and followed his brother's suit as he threw another pokeball to the ground, revealing the big jaw pokemon.

"Check that out. Two new pokemon!" Jake said excitedly, then took out his pokedex.

Ponyta, the Fire Horse Pokemon. Its mane is made of intense flames.

Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokemon, and the envolved form of Totodile. It opens its mouth wide and attacks, and if it lose its teeth, they regrow quickly.

"Hmm, should I use Charizard? No, it would be too much for them." Ryan thought, "Alright Monferno, you're up."

"Don't forget 'bout us. Fight with me, Lucario!" Jake declared.

"Everyone ready? Then let the battle...begin!"

"I will go first. Croconaw, attack Monferno with water gun!" Rio ordered. Crocomaw opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of water at Monferno.

"Monferno, dodge it quickly!" Ryan shouted. Monferno jumped into the air, easily avoided the water stream fired at him.

"Now, flame wheel!" Kai said. Ponyta's mane grew bigger and then wrapped itself around the pokemon as it charged at Monferno.

"Lucario, intercept that attack with bone rush!" Jake shouted. Lucario nodded and charged forward as a bone-like, green energy staff formed in his paws. He jumped between Ponyta and Monferno, then used his energy staff to block the fire horse pokemon and bounced it back to the ground.

"Now you're wild open. Crocomaw use water gun again!" Rio said with a smirk. As respond to its master's order, Croconaw shot another stream of water at Lucario, who was completely helpless as he had nowhere to hide in the middle of the air. The attack hit its target, sending Lucario flying backwards as he slammed into a tree before falling to the ground.

"Why you?" Ryan gritted his teeh, "Monferno, flamethrower!"

Things started getting hot as Monferno obeyed his master and fired an intense stream of flame at Croconaw.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Rio mocked, "Croconaw, same old water gun, let's go!". And yet another stream of water was shot from the big jaw pokemon. The two streams collidede, one fire, the other water, and the result was unthinkable, at least to Rio.

The water vaporized into a curtain of steam, thus blocking Croconow's vision. Ryan smirked, he had intentionally ordered Monferno to use flamethrower because he knew Croconaw would counter it with water gun, and the result would be this. Now Monferno had the upper hand.

"Use match punch, but this time, concentrate your power and speed into one single punch!" Ryan shouted. Monferno nodded and quickly disappeared into the vapor, charging forwards Croconaw.

"Oh no you don't! Ponyta, protect Croconaw with flame wheel again!" Kai shouted. Once again, the fire horse pokemon was engulfed in the fierce flame of his mane as he charged at Monferno.

"Forgetting someone?" Jake shouted, "You made a big mistake, giving Lucario time to recover. Now, attack Ponyta. Take him down with aura sphere!"

"One aura sphere, ready to serve!" Lucario growled, his paws joined together with a blue energy sphere between them. Not wasting any time, he fired the sphere at Ponyta, who was still running towards Monferno, thus was unable to stop itself on time. The aura pokemon grinned as he enjoy the sight of his aura sphere devastated Ponyta.

"Thanks Jake! Continue your attack, Monferno!" Ryan exclaimed. Croconaw panicked as it couldn't see the approaching oppoent, but before Croconaw had the chance to do anything, a figure suddenly appeared before its eyes, and dealt a blow right into its midsection.

When the steam finally faded away, everyone could see Monferno standing next to an unconscious Croconaw.

"We...we lost!" Rio muttered, falling on his knees. Jake thought the boy was sulking over his defeat, but he instantly stood up with sparky eyes, "But it really was the coolest tag battle ever! Your Lucario is amazing!"

"T-thanks..." Jake replied awkwardly. He wasn't very used to this kind of reaction and compliment, but nevertheless, it was fun to hear somebody raise Lucario in such an exaggarating way.

"Jeez, that same reaction again, he never change, my hopeless little brother..." Kai smiled and shrugged, "But that was quite a battle. You two make a great team, but next time we won't lose."

"We always are a great team, right?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, and we will take on any challenges!" Jake declared, then stretched out his hand as he offered the twin a hand shake, "I hope we will meet again one day."

They shook each other's hand, smiling in content.

(A few hours later)

Saying goodbye to the magnificent Floaroma Town as well as the energetic twin Kai and Rio, the group continued their journey. They were now walking along Route 205.

"The road is getting more and more rocky, which means we're getting close to Eterna Forest." Ryan said while reading his guide book, "Hey Jake, can you Luxray out? We're going to need his help."

"For what?"

"According to my guide book, Eterna Forest is always enveloped in chilly air. Further more, thick stands of tree have turned the forest into a huge natural maze, and also prevented the sunlight from reaching the ground, so it's very easy to get lost there..." Ryan explained.

"Okay I get it, you want Luxray to use his X-ray vision, right?" Jake shrugged.

"You're catching up pretty fast." Ryan grinned.

"Sure, whatever. Luxray, I need you!" Jake declared and tossed a pokeball to the ground. It quickly opened, revealing the electric pokemon, "Use your eyesight to guide us through the forest, okay?"

Just like Ryan had said ealier, Eterna Forest was extremely cold and dark, almost like the forest had coated itself in a thick curtain of darkness, but it made you feel insecure and scared, as if there was a monster hidding behind the trees, ready to come out and attack you anytime...dark, mysterious and creepy.

Jake, Ryan, Lucario and Charizard walked in silence as they tried to concentrate only on the road and not to lose each other's sight, led by Luxray, who was busy using his vision to check for any hidden threats.

They walked for about thirty minutes, before Luxray spotted something and broke the silence, "Hey guys, I just saw someone walking ahead of us, and looks like that person is alone. Do you think we should catch up with him?"

"Alone? Dude, he must have some guts...walking into Eterna Forest alone. I think we should help him." Ryan exclaimed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Jake said.

It took the group about ten minutes to catch up with the person Luxray saw.

"Hey there!" Jake shouted, trying to get that person's attention. It worked, as he stopped walking and turned around, "Huh? Who was that?"

As the group stopped, they finally have a much closer look at that person. A guy who was about the same age as Jake...may be a couple of months older as he was a little taller and more muscular than the trainer. He had short goldish hair and blue eyes. His outfits consisted of a blue headband, a light grey shirt, a navy blue jacket, black jeans and a pair of white shoes. Jake hated to admit this, but he found the guy extremely handsome and attractive, in a manly way.

"Err...what do you want?" the guy asked shyly, but he seemed to be wary of the group's sudden approach. (Honestly, who wouldn't?)

"Don't worry, we had no bad intentions." Ryan said, panting slightly after a hard run, "We just think that it ain't safe to walk alone in this forest, so we come to see if you need helps."

The guy was still looking at Jake and Ryan cautiously, searching for any sight of dishonesty, but after having studied the group carefully, he finally sighed in relief, "That was very nice of you, trying to help me. Thanks, but I'm fine."

"You're welcome. By the way, what's your name?" Jake asked.

"Name's Jaden. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Jaden...Sounds familiar." Ryan thought, staring at Jaden, "And his voice...That's it: He was the one I heard back at Oreburgh City - The trainer who has a Latios...Wait a minute! Jaden, Latios...No way!"

"You mean to tell me that you're Jaden, the Champion of Hoenn?" Ryan asked.

(Fun fact: Jaden is actually a recurring character. He appeared in one of my other series. Since I have written three stories about him, I won't waste my time with his background here. If you want to know more about him, here's the link: https://www.sofurry.com/view/525793)

"Champion? He is a Champion?" Jake asked, shocked at the fact that Jaden, despite being just a little older than him, had already accomplished something that huge.

"Yes! I remember watching his final battle with that Kevin guy...His pokemon were so cool, and the way he battled...It was so inspiring. From that moment, I have decided to become a pokemon master, just like him, but I could have never dreamed of being able to actually meet him here! Wow!!!" Ryan chattered, his eyes gleaming wih joy. Jake was surprised to see Ryan getting this excited, as he had always been calm and collected. He must be a really big fan of this Jaden guy.

"That's embarassing, eheheh!" Jaden said awkwardly, "But to tell the truth, I'm no longer a champion. I surrendered the championship two months ago. Now I'm just a normal trainer like you guys."

"What? But why? You're on top of your game!" Ryan asked loudly, obviously very shocked.

"Well after becoming champion, I took a short vacation with my pokemon. During that time, I happened to read many books about the Sinnoh region, and I realized there were still many things to learn, many wonderful places to travel and many magnificent pokemon to meet...so I decided to come here, looking for new challenges." Jaden explained, smiling.

"What about your pokemon? Are they still with you?" Jake asked.

"Nah, I want to have a fresh start, so I leave all...Well, most of them at Hoenn. I entrusted them to the Elite Four, so I'm sure they will be well treated and heathy, plus they need to train too."

"Almost, so you still keep one or two of them?" yet another question from Jake.

"Of course. I can't come here empty-handed. I need a starter pokemon. Beside, I could never let this one pokemon go." Jaden grinned.

"Let me guess...Latios, isn't it?" Ryan asked, and Jaden answered by a quick nod, "Can I see him, please?"

"Sure, why not?" Jaden said, and took out a pokeball, "Ready? Okay, come out now, Latios!"

Jake and Ryan gulfed as the pokeball hit the ground and opened with a 'ding', releasing a crimson energy beam which soon materialized into a figure - A blue and white pokemon with the shape of a jet, two wings but small arms and almost no legs. (Indeed, he was floating in the air instead of standing)

"Magnificent! So this is a legendary pokemon." Jake exclaimed in awe, quickly took out his pokedex.

Latios, the Eon Pokemon. Latios is highly intelligent and can fly faster than a jet by tucking in its wings.

"This is my ace, Latios. Latios, I want you to meet Jake and Ryan, as well as Lucario and Charizard."

"Isn't he the coolest!" Ryan said, "Anyway, have you caught any new pokemon?"

"Yup, only a Turwig, but he's quite stubborn, and it will take a bit of time until he fully obey my commands. Neverheless, I managed to win a gym battle, along side Latios of course." Jaden said and showed the group his Coal Badge.

"Amazing...Your Latios must be incredibly strong. Hey, can you battle me and Lucario?"

"Hey, no fair! I want to battle him too. Let me and Charizard handle it!"

"Easy now. If you want to battle that badly, then how about Latios taking on _both_Lucario and Charizard at the same time?" Jaden said, chuckling.

"Two on one?" Ryan asked, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Let's do it!"

"Shall I make the first move? Nah, you two can have it." Jaden said.

"Don't mind if I do!" Ryan shouted, "Alright Charizard, let warm this up with flamethrower!". Immediately, the flame pokemon spread his wings and shot an reddish orange stream of fire at Latios.

"Latios, dodge it!" Jaden ordered. The Eon pokemon obliged as he simply soared into the sky, easily avoiding Charizard's fire. But when the flame pokemon brought his head up, Latios was nowhere in sight.

"Charizard, behind you!" Ryan shouted. Charizard frantically turned around, and was shocked to see Latios floating in front of him, smirking and looking at him mockingly. If Jaden had used that chance to attack, Charizard would have been a goner now.

"How about this? Luario, use aura sphere!" Jake commanded. Lucario, already having the usual blue energy ball between his paws, fired the attack at Latios.

"What a move! I think we will grab some of that aura sphere. Latios, use psychic! Let Charizard have it!"

Latios' eyes glowed and his body was soon covered in a blue aura. Then something weird happened, as Lucario's energey ball was stopped in the middle of the air. Then as if it had a mind of its own, the energy sphere suddenly changed its direction as it headed straigth for Charizard now.

"He used psychic to take control of aura sphere and redirect it? Charizard, doge it and then use wing attack!" Ryan shouted. Charizard gritted his teeth in anger. He flied to the sky, his wings glowing white as he charged at Latios.

"Let's make it a double attack! Lucario, use metal claw!" Jake ordered. Lucario obliged as six glowing claws emerges from the back of his paws. He then jumped to the air, attemping to slash Latios.

"Very good! However, you are still too slow." Jaden smirked.

Once again, Jake and Ryan had the jaws dropped in shock. Before either Lucario's or Charizard's attack got even close to Latios, the Eon pokemon had disappeared again. Unfortunately for Lucario and Charizard, they were both too late to call off their attacks now.

The aura pokemon winced as he felt one of Chrizard's wings hit his midsection, sending a sharp pain over his body, but at the same time, his claws hit Charizard, leaving three long cuts on the flame pokemon's forehead. The collision's impact also sent both pokemon flying backwards and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"Lucario!"

"Charizard, no!"

"Well that was unexpected. I'm sorry, let call off the battle." Jaden said, looking nervous as Latios had unintentionally hurt Lucario and Charizard.

"No, not yet..." Charizard stammered, trying to get on his feet.

"I still can fight." Lucario stated, getting on his feet as well.

"Your fighting spirit is admirable, but you should know when to give up." Latios said, looking sternly at both his opponents.

"Sorry guys, but I'm ending this right now. Latios, giga impact!"

Latios' body became surrounded by an orange energy sphere, but the color quickly turned into purple, and orange energy streaks started spiralling around the orb. The Eon pokemon then flied into Charizard, who tried to dodge but couldn't do a thing as the extremely fast assault knocked him out. But Latios hadn't done yet, as he quickly changed the target to Lucario, making the aura pokemon suffer the same fate as Charizard.

Jake and Ryan stayed frozen in place, utterly shocked at how easily they were defeated, but quickly snapped and ran over to check on Lucario and Charizard.

"Hey Latios." Jaden whispered as the Eon pokemon floated next to him, "I think you overdid that giga impact. Lucario and Charizard seemed to be seriously hurt now."

"Don't worry, I know a weakling when I see one, and those two aren't. To be honest, I'm surprised that they can keep up that long. Hmm, those trainers...Jake and Ryan, they will become your formidable opponents one day." Latios replied. Jaden nodded and walked to the other trainers, who were still checking on their pokemon.

"That was quite a battle, and you really have two amazing pokemon there. I can see great potentials in both of you. Here, I want you to have this." Jaden said. He took out two round stones and two black, fingerless gloves, then gave them to Jake and Ryan, "When the Elite Four knew I was coming to Sinnoh, they gave me these, but I never wanted to use them. Those stones are extremely rare, and they will gain your pokemon a new power - The power of evolution. However, you must promise to only use them for emergency."

"What exactly are these stones?" Jake asked, looking at the stone in his hand. It had a dark blue color, and the surface looked shiny as if someone had spent hours polishing it.

"And how are we supposed to use them?" Ryan added. His stone looked exactly like Jake's, the only difference being the color: Crimson instead of blue.

"That..." Jaden grinned, "You will have to figure out yourself, but remember this: You have to always wear those gloves."

Before either Jake or Ryan could ask for anything else, Jaden climbed onto Latios' back, "This is where we part, but don't worry, I will see you two again, in the Sinnoh League."

The mysterious champion and his Eon pokemon quickly disappeared into the sky.

...

"Hey Jaden, was it really a good idea to give them the mega stones and gloves?" Latios asked.

"Only time can answer us," Jaden smiled, gently stroking the feathers on Latios' head, "But my instinct told me that was a right decision. Beside, I sensed something special about those four. Jake and Lucario, Ryan and Charizard...Somehow, they really resembled us. Don't you think so too, my love?"

(To be continued)