Ghastly Adventures: Teardrop 3.3 (ch. 17) (Patreon)

There aren't really words to describe a gyarados in action. The waters surged around him as he swam forward with shocking speed, causing the platforms to flip over in his wake as he parted the arena. My stomach was doing flips inside of me because that same ice cold dread filled me as when Mimikyu lost it against Onix. Only Gyarados wasn't aiming to attack a pokemon. He was a thing that had been unleashed in Misty's direction, and she locked up.

It was the kind of instinctual fear that you couldn't reason with.

In the end, it wasn't Misty that reacted. Squirtle erupted from his pokeball and appeared between them in a flash of red light. He looked up at the incarnate of mindless rage with a defiant expression on his face, “Squirtle!”

That shocked Misty out of her terrified stupor. I saw that she was trembling ever so slightly, even as she tried to focus on the match and not what was heading right for her. “S-Squirtle, use Water Gun!” She ordered as Gyarados’ attention shifted to the small turtle pokemon.

“This is too much. Way too much. That pokemon is one of his Aces,” Marnie hissed, looking a hair's breadth from getting involved. A Gym leader's personal team. Their strongest. Which he unleashed in the direction of a trainer that didn't have a single badge to her name.

Unfair. Unreasonable. This wasn't a battle. Weiss was trying to crush Misty and I was about to call it an attempt of murder because I don't think Weiss could command the pokemon at all. He simply stood there, his arms crossed with a deep frown on his face.

Gyarados used Thrash, and the waves erupted into a chaotic mess as if a sudden storm had appeared. They went lax, almost lazy, to towering tidal waves that began to sweep over each other. Squirtle had no hope of remaining on the platform as they were swept up in the waves, some breaking as the waves came down on them. Squirtle dove into the water while Misty clung to the platform like a life raft, because in that moment, that's exactly what it was.

To Squirtle's immense credit, and to Misty's, they still tried to battle. Squirtle fought against the waves, closing in on Gyarados, but the difference in power wasn't something that could be closed with willpower alone. Squirtle struck Gyarados was a rapid spin, but the attack all but bounced off his scales. Then the lower half of Gyarados began to emerge, taking what had to be a metric ton of water up with it -- an Aqua Tail.

“Stop the match!” I shouted, starting to run forward, but Brawly grabbed hold of me. He was right to, I knew -- the waves weren't the kind you could swim through. It just left the three of us watching helplessly as the Aqua Tail rose up-

“Squirtle, return!” I heard Misty call out in the loud roar of hundreds of gallons of water hitting the at the same time. Through the mist, I saw a flash of red as Misty was finally thrown off of the platform. My heart felt through the pit that opened up in my stomach as she vanished a second later.

Gyarados struck the water with his Aqua Tail and the only thing I could compare it to was a bomb going off. Of videos of militaries setting nukes off beneath the ocean as the ocean upheaval itself at the point of impact. The tide swept forward and the three of us were struck by it with physical force. Brawly maintained his hold on me while planting his feet against the tide with Marnie managing to get by thanks to Pangoro.

For a long second, there was just water rushing over me until Trevenant broke out of his pokeball to protect me and Brawly. I had no idea how long we were under for, but it felt like a solid minute, but it was probably only a few seconds at most. Then the tide began to pull back in towards the ocean, nearly taking us with it. It was another ten seconds before we were left standing on a ruined beach and, to my immense horror, I didn't see Misty at all.

Then she did, Squirtle and Starime carrying her to the shore as Misty hacked up a lung's worth of water, pale as death itself.

“This match is over,” Weiss stated, his voice cold as ice. Gyarados seemed to disagree because he immediately began charging for all of us when we rushed to Misty's side. My hand dipped down to my waist, ready to start this fight when Gyarados vanished in a flash of red.

“What! The FUCK! Was that!?” I shouted at him as he used a Lapras to carry him back to the shore.

Weiss seemed unimpressed with me, “That was a battle, child. She is a Water Type trainer that fears the king of the seas. A battle is more than knowing your opponents Pokemon. It is knowing their trainer -- their strengths and weaknesses. That is how you win. That is how you live. War is always closer than you know. I saw it. My sons saw it. You very likely will too.” He said, unruffled by our glares and scowls.

“That is the purpose of the Gym circuit,” he said, tucking his hands into his sleeves. “To prepare you for war. It is not for mere idle entertainment or for fun. It is to test your mettle, to force you to grow and adapt for the day you will be called to fight. So you can survive.”

I wanted to wipe that look right off of his face. We all did. But, one simple thing held us back-- that Gyarados. If we attacked him, then he would be free to defend himself, a justified butt-kicking or not. And we would lose. I could make all the plans in the world, and I wouldn't have anything to counter that monster.

Misty looked shaken while me and Brawly helped her up. Marnie, however, took her badge and threw it at Weiss. It bounced off his chest and fell into the damp sand. Without so much as another word, the four of us headed to the Pokemon Center.

He could dress it up like a life lesson all he wanted. He could justify it to himself however he liked.

But he only did that to Misty. He didn't use one of his strongest pokemon against Brawly or Marnie. Only Misty.

He was a piece of garbage that was full of crap.

…

“I can't believe that he did that. How is he even a Gym Leader?” Marnie scowled, pacing back and forth in the lobby of a small hospital. Misty was getting checked out while her pokemon were all perfectly okay.

I was in the process of looking that up on one of the terminals. “He’s a war veteran,” I said, combing through the records. Both he and Misty’s grandpa. Both wars were with Johto, and almost on the dot, they were separated by twenty years. The last war, the one Flint fought in, was over Mt. Silver, but the one before that had been over Dragonite. Or, rather, Kanto trying to get their hands on a breeding colony, the Blackthorns getting involved as they seemed to think that the Dragonite evolution line belonged to them. Which in turn turned a dispute into a full scale war.

The war forty years ago lasted a year. The one twenty years ago, like Flint said, lasted about six months.

“So?” Marnie snapped at me. It was the first time I saw her angry.

“So, connections go a long way. He apparently distinguished himself well in both wars,” I said, looking at a photo of a younger Weiss and Misty’s grandpa, who was named Mizu, both standing on the heads of their much smaller Gyarados. They were war heroes, defending the coastline from invasion. “Don't get mad at me,” I said when I saw Marnie throwing a glare my way. “The dude is a grade A prick. What he did to Misty is outside of his norm, though. That was personal.”

Brawly looked between us, leaning against the wall. He was clearly chewing on something, but he only said it when I caught his gaze. “Master Bruno was the same way. When he wanted you to succeed… it was like he hated you. He was harsher, crueler, and sometimes it was like he wanted to kill you, but it was tough love. Emphasis on tough,” he sighed, rubbing away the memory of some bruises.

My lips thinned -- that could very well be the case. But there was a difference between being hard on someone and taking their kneecaps out with a bat. Because that’s what Weiss did. Any confidence that Misty had as a trainer was gone and the only way I couldn’t see Weiss not realizing that. It had been 100% intentional.

“You might be right… but I don’t care what his reasons were. That was vile,” I said, and Brawly nodded at that. We were in agreement there.

Marnie opened her mouth to say something, but a doctor stepped forward, drawing our attention. He held up a hand, staving off any questions. “Your friend is quite alright. I would like her to stay the night for observation, just to be sure, but provided that there are no complications, she should be perfectly fine.” That was a reassurance, I thought. An image flashed of the Aqua Tail, and I fought off a frown -- was this a case of Pokemon humanity being more durable or…?

“Can we see her?” Marnie asked, making the doctor adjust his glasses.

“I'm afraid that shevrequested no visitors for the time being,” he said, and that told me all I needed to hear.

I nodded, not really surprised. “Alright. We’ll just crash at the Pokemon Center for the night,” I said, and Brawly glanced my way.

“What about your Gym challenge?” He asked and, to that, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Fuck that guy,” I said and I saw a grimace flicker over the Doctor’s face. Oh, I'm sure the guy was an onion. He had layers and whatever. Maybe, deep down, he was a decent guy. I just had no intentions of digging that deep down because the outermost layer was a total prick. “I'll do without it.”

Marnie seemed to approve of my answer at least. “Everything he said was wrong. That's not what a Gym battle is for,” she muttered under her breath, but was still heard. To that, I didn't comment as I looked at the terminal screen. It might not be what they were in Galar, but it seemed Johto and Kanto had a history that was written in blood. “What are we going to do about Misty? She's going to be crushed,” she continued, louder as she looked to me.

I pursed my lips, considering our options. In the end, you couldn't make someone sad feel happy. And with something like this…? “We help her beat him,” I said, closing the windows to start pulling up new ones -- terrain maps, research papers done on Gyarados, and information about Weiss. The pokemon that he called his Ace team.

“... I like the sound of it, but I'm not sure what we can really do about that monster. Even if the four of us teamed up, I wouldn't put the odds in our favor,” Brawly admitted, and he was probably right there. Maybe we had a chance, but the only way we'd win is if the plan worked perfectly and Weiss didn't react. As he spoke, I brought up a pokeradar of sorts.

Given that a stampede of pokemon shared a lot of similarities with a natural disaster, the Rangers kept an eye on them. And in the case of Gyarados, pokemon known for pulling up and wrecking everything in a fit of rage, they tagged them to track. That way, they would get an early warning in case they ever came near a settlement. And given that gyarados evolved from magikarp, they were put on a warning list too. Even if no one took them seriously.

“Don't worry about a thing. I have a plan,” I reassured them with a smile before I started printing.

I knew just the thing to rebuild Misty’s crushed confidence.

…

Misty took longer than I expected, as it was around two in the morning, but all the same, I did catch her walking out of the hospital. Her bag was on her shoulders, her face downcast and sad. It was for that reason she didn't see me as I sat on the bike rack. “Going somewhere?”

Misty just about jumped out of her skin at the sound of my voice. Her wide eyed gaze snapped to me, and instantly the shocked expression crumpled into regret. “Right. I forgot that you don't need to sleep,” she sighed, grabbing the straps to her backpack.

“Bit late for a walk if you aren't me. Especially considering that you didn't get much sleep last night,” I remarked lightly.

Misty's lips thinned and her grip tightened. “I’m… I don't think…” I'm sure that she had been repeating what she was trying to say in her head this entire time, but it was harder to say the words out loud. “I'm going home. This was-...” she cut herself off, not quite willing to call it a mistake, but I understood why she felt that way.

“I get it. Honestly, I thought we were going to walk right over him. Never saw him pulling something like that in a million years,” I admitted, stepping forward. “But, before you call it quits… follow me. I want to show you something,” I told her and Misty looked conflicted. She didn't want to give up. I knew that much. It was just hard to believe that when you take a loss like that right out the gate.

Surge would have been a better loss. It wouldn't have been so personal or overwhelming. He wouldn't have thrown what amounted to a natural disaster at her and expect her to take it on the chin like a good little soldier.

She hesitated to follow me at first, but she did after a moment. Proving that she hadn't given up. Wordlessly, almost soundless, Misty followed me out of the village and through one of the back paths around the village. She didn't ask any questions and, I completely prepared myself for a silent trip. Then, without prompting, she spoke. “Sorry.”

“Not sure what you have to apologize for,” I told her with a shrug, glad that she was talking.

“For losing. I… I really thought that I would win,” Misty sighed.

“If he hadn't been a colossal piece of shit, then you would have,” I told her, believing it. The dirt path was one that was well walked through a loose forest that clung to the rolling hills. “Misty -- if he threw that Gyarados at any of us, we would have lost just as bad. He sent it after you because he's a bitter prick shaking his fist at how the times have changed, and he took that out on you. You don't have anything to be sorry for.”

I did my research on him. I had plenty of free time -- Weiss had been a Gym Leader for more than fifty years, becoming one when he was just fifteen. Back then, Halun village had been Halun town and Cerulean city was Cerulean town. Weiss and Misty’s grandpa had been rivals, but as time progressed, Misty’s grandpa became The Water Type trainer, and then Gym Leader. And people flocked to the strongest trainers, and that included the people of Halun town.

However, after the second war, Weiss seemed to have become the bastard that he was today. He went from almost neck and neck with the Cerulean gym in terms of challenges, to a slow decline, all the way down to less than a hundred a year, until a few years ago when Misty’s sisters took over.

I'm not clear what exactly had him so sour, but I also didn't really care. I just needed to know what to expect from him. Like he said -- you had to know your enemy.

“He used to be nice,” Misty muttered mournfully. “He used to be Uncle Weiss. I was too young for it, but he had a big fight with my parents after Grandpa died. I never saw him again after that. I was excited to meet him -- I was going to surprise him, but as soon as he looked at me…”

God, what a prick.

“Well, you might get your chance to make him eat his words,” I said as we arrived at our destination based on the low roar of rushing water. We left the thin forest to overlook a long slope that led to a cove underneath a large waterfall. Misty stared out in confusion, not sure what she was supposed to be looking for, so I continued. “He called you a scared little girl,” I said and she winced.

“Thats-”

“That was my first encounter with a gyarados, so I get why anyone would be afraid,” I admitted, cutting her off. And I did understand. The rage that gyarados had was enough to destroy the whole world if he had the power to do it. As pixels on a screen, they were an interesting pokemon, but their history was a bloody one. For thousands of years, gyarados had been wiping cities off the map. Breaking the backs of entire civilizations.

Honestly, it puts everything into perspective. I couldn't imagine the power of a Legendary pokemon.

“But, there are a lot of misconceptions about them. Like, did you know that gyarados can fly?” I asked her as we made our way down to the cove. Misty hesitated before she shook her head.

“Are you sure?” She asked, and in response, I pulled out the stack of papers that I got yelled at for printing off. I used too much paper. I passed it to her, and I didn't fail to notice how her lips thinned at the photo on the front page.

“Yup. The Professors have no idea how some of them can. Or, if they do, they're keeping it under wraps,” I said, reaching the water at the cove that gently rippled from where the waterfall fell a good four hundred feet. “They also say that when a gyarados becomes a gyarados, their brain chemistry changes. They become beasts that can only feel rage. But you want to know a secret?” I asked her, coming to a stop.

Misty stood on the beach, clinching the stack of papers with white knuckles. Slowly, she nodded.

“That's not true in the slightest. And I think you know that already,” I told her. There was a long pregnant pause between us before Misty broke up.

“My Grandpa's gyarados,” she confessed. The source of her trauma regarding them. “He… he used to be the sweetest pokemon in the whole world. Everyone called him a gentle giant. I know he fought in the war, but… I used to think that was impossible. I couldn't imagine him hurting anyone,” she confessed. And that was part of why Cerulean town became Cerulean city. The allure of a Gyarados protector.

Misty sighed, “But that changed after Grandpa died. Now he's just as angry as any other gyarados.”

“Not angry. Mourning,” I corrected, making Misty look at me oddly. “Pokemon are people, in their own way. They each have their little quirks, but so do people. They understand a lot more than any give them credit for… so, I want you to picture someone. Someone weak. Someone that society had deemed worthless and pathetic. They're abused for it -- physically and emotionally, and they're helpless to make it stop. They internalize it. They resent it. Then they resent the world and everyone in it.”

Misty was giving me an odd look, but I continued. “Then one day, they snap. They rage. All of that anger comes pouring out of them, and they evolve into something that holds a terrible power. Power that can strike back at the world that hurt it. So, they do because why wouldn't they?”

“Wait, are you- that's how magikarp evolve?” Misty asked, doubtful and suspicious. I wasn't surprised to see that she didn't know. And I had a suspicion why.

“It's one way they can,” I told her. I scratched my head at it for a few minutes when I tried to find something solid about their evolutions to see if my theory had any legs to stand on. However, according to the internet, how a magikarp evolves was a complete mystery. And after seeing the power of that gyarados, I understood why.

If you told the public that if you abused this one pokemon enough, it would evolve into one of the most feared pokemon of them all. People, despite the danger, would do it intentionally. Like Team Rocket did at the Lake of Rage. Or, worse, they would start doing it to pokemon in general in the hopes of triggering an evolution for something like a pikachu.

“There's another way?” Misty questioned, and despite her reservations, I saw her interest and curiosity.

“Fulfillment,” I answered easily and with a smile. “The way that your Grandpa raised his gyarados, I reckon,” I added, and now I saw it. The drive entered her eyes again, vanquishing the defeat in them.

“How?” Misty asked, and my smile widened before I pointed at the waterfall.

“There's an old legend about dragons. To be a dragon is to rule -- it is to be almighty. Some dragons are born dragons. They're born powerful. But, it's possible to become a dragon according to the legends and in that legend, a lowly carp fish yearned to fly. To be strong. It was challenged one day to swim up a waterfall with the promise that should it reach it, they would become a mighty dragon. And when it did, the carp did indeed become a dragon. One that had earned its strength.” Misty knew where I was going with this even before I finished.

She bit her lip, looking up at the waterfall. “Is that really true?” She asked, and I could tell that she wanted it to be. She just needed a little something before taking that leap of faith. “Why don't more people know about it then?”

“Because everyone would purposely befriend a magikarp for the sake of having a gyarados in their back pocket,” I reasoned and… fair enough. I understood why that secret stayed a secret. You tell everyone the right way, then everyone and their mother will go out and catch one of the point blank strongest pokemon you can catch easily. You tell everyone the wrong way, the criminals will go out of their way to do it.

But, if you keep it all under wraps, then you only have to deal with stragglers. The one off. And, in most cases, When a gyarados evolves, the first thing they do is kill their trainer. The second is to kill any eyewitnesses. That made it pretty easy to keep it a secret. From there, you did what you could to mitigate any damages by clamping down hard on pokemon abuse.

Misty looked out into the cove just in time to see a fin surface briefly before dipping back down. The cove was a popular spot for various pokemon as a lot of them rather enjoyed the sensation of a waterfall pounding down on their scales. Magikarp was one of them. She was at war with herself -- her desires and her fears. Then she clenched her jaw. “I'll do it. I'll show that jerk the right way to raise a gyarados and I'll stuff every word he said right down his throat!”

Spite. There was a motivation I could approve of.

“That's what I wanted to hear. There’s a school of them in the area. Ask around if one wants to be trained by you to start things off on the right foot. From there… you have to support ‘em. Give ‘em what they need to reach the top, and I promise you, it'll work,” I said, handing Misty a backpack I had been carrying. My old one. In it, was a rebreather and some fins to help her swim.

Misty took the bag and the advice graciously, smiling to herself. It was a welcomed change. “Blair?”

“Hm?” I said, getting ready to leave her to it. My part was done. It was all up to her now.

“Thank you. I'll pay you back one day. I promise,” She swore, sounding like she meant it. I just waved her off as I started heading back up the hill.

“There's nothing to pay back. I'd be a shifty friend if I left you down in the dumps like that,” I dismissed, walking away. I felt her gaze on my back as I continued up the hill, at least until I heard a splash as she dove right in. She had her pokemon with her, so I wasn't worried.

And neither were Brawly or Marnie, I found, when I saw them standing in the forest, overlooking the cove. Marnie leaned against a tree, her arms crossed. “Well?”

“Her head is in the game,” I confirmed and Marnie let out a quiet breath of relief.

Brawly gave me a small smile, “That's good. How long do you think it'll take her?” He asked, not having any doubts thst she'd manage it.

To that, I shrugged. “No idea. A week? Two? She's a good trainer, but something like this is hard to judge.”

“If it's any longer than two weeks, we’ll miss the Maiden festival,” Marnie pointed out. And that was true. The plan had been to go there, kick our feet up for a bit until the festival, and there, I could meet the Ghastly I wanted to join my team. I had even talked Brawly into capturing him for me until I got my stable rights situation set up.

Ghastly was only going to be there for the day to mess with tourists and to keep the legend of the Maiden alive. If I missed him, then I'd have to wait a year and that Ghastly had been strong. Ash had been a fresh trainer, but Ghastly wiped him and Team Rocket with barely an effort. If it wasn't for the sun rising…

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Misty had surfaced and she was floating next to a magikarp, petting his orange scales as his tail wagged like a dog's in the water. A small snort of amusement escaped me -- that had been fast.

“Maybe,” I admitted. “But this is more important.”