《Pokemon - Vastia (Hiatus)》


 Chapter 1 : Wandering Traveller

    A tall 17-years old man enter Springville, a small town with nothing much to show other than the mass amount of flowers that grow here around the year.  His short gray hair trail through the cold winter wind as his sharp black eyes lock into the entrance of a building, a lab to be specific.  The Spring Lab, a simple name, that belongs to Professor Almond.  There seems to be a noisy crowd gathered there, as it seems, few young ones have reached the age of 10 and are now set out for their adventures.


    This gives the man a nostalgic feeling as he remembers the day he set off with his first Pokemon into the eventful world.  But that feeling soon turns into pain as he stares at the empty ground which he has stopped upon, where his home used to be. Absorbing in his moments, he didn''t move until he was rammed on the side.  Although he was rammed, he stood as still as a tree and the one rammed him fall on her butt.


    "Ow!  Watch where you are standing!"  The rammer complained.


    The men simply turn his head to the rude person, who appear to be a kid who just got his first Pokemon from Prof. Almond.


    "W-What do you want?" The kid staggered.  Guess it couldn''t help, since she is talking to a sharp-eyed and towering 17-years old who is wearing a long black and silver trench coat.


    "Look where you are going when you run, kid." He said before turning back his attention to the clear ground.


    "You, you should be watching where you are standing!"


    But she was perfectly ignored by the man as he continues to look on at the field with a distant look.


    "Hey! Listen to me!" The kid screamed and manage to get the man''s attention back to her.


    "Move along kid, you shouldn''t bring troubles to yourself when there is no reason to."


    "Are you saying I''m being foolish?"


    "Exactly."


    "What?!  You, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle, if you lost then apologize to me!"  The kid yelled.


    Upon closer inspection the kid is a short girl about 150 cm tall, who have a long brown hair and huge blue eyes, wearing a light blue jacket and knee high blue jeans,  which reminded the man of someone he knows, who always have this instinct of using Pokemon battle for every single conflict.


    "You heard me?" She stares into the man''s eyes.


    "... I refuse, I''m not into bullying kids."  The man replied coldly before return his gaze to the field before him.


    "Stop calling me a kid!  My name''s Lucy, Lucy Almond." The kid, Lucy, said to the man.


    "... So you''re the daughter of that Professor."  The man knows the professor since they are doing a project together.  But as far as he knows, he has never met or even heard about this person before... Then again, he doesn''t exactly have people to talk to and the Professor isn''t exactly the person who would share this kind of info...


    "Now, aren''t you afraid?  To battle the daughter of the professor."  She boasted as if she have done something great and brought the man out of his thoughts.


    "Of course not, to be scared of someone who boasts upon their parent''s abilities, what am I, a child?"  The man mocked.


    "Just wait... What''s your name?"


    "Bastion."


    "Alright, Bastion, you are going down.  A one on one duel here and now." Lucy declared.


    "....*sigh* sure.  Just don''t cry when you lose."


    "Say that while you can. Go, Totodile!" she once again yelled as she throws her Pokeball and sent out a Totodile.


    "...Go, Growlithe." Bastion also throws his Pokeball.


    "Ha, sent a fire type against my water type, you really are too arrogant or stupid for your own good.  Water gun!" She yelled her command and Totodile begin to shoot a small jet of water at Growlithe.


    "Dodge that and double team." Bastion calmly ordered.  Growlithe easily dodge the water gun and begin to separate until the field is filled with its clones.


    "Chi... use water gun again and blow them away!" Lucy ordered and Totodile then begins to shoot water gun in a circle.


    "Dig."  He said calmly as the rest of the clones get destroyed by the water gun.


    By the time Totodile was done and Lucy realize Bastion''s plan, it was too late.  The ground under Totodile opens, reviewing Growlithe who then headbutt Totodile in the stomach.  The impact cause Totodile to fly back a bit.


    "Double Kick and then fire spin."


    Hear the familiar command, Growlithe charge forward and kick the recovering Totodile, launching it once again.  Then it runs to the spot where Totodile is going to land and launch it into the air and follow it with a small fire vortex fired from its mouth.


    "Time to finish this, crunch and iron tail."


    And with this final command, Growlithe jump into the small fire vortex.  Because the fire blocking its sight, Totodile was defenseless against the sudden attack.  Its back was deeply latched to Growlithe''s mouth, and Growthlite positioned Totodile in front of it before releasing its hold and do a front flip.  Its tail shines before smacking Totodile back into the field in high speed.


    With the speed it is going, Totodile land with a small explosion of dirt... By the time it was cleared Totodile have fainted.  It doesn''t take much to know who win this one-sided battle.  With that, Growthlithe landed gracefully beside Bastion.


    "Good job, do you want to get back to the Pokeball?"  Bastion asked Growthlithe and it nodded before taking a deep yawn.  Bastion then retrieves Growlithe back into the Pokeball before turns to Lucy, who is now holding her Totodile.


    After she returns her Totodile into her Pokemon, Lucy turn and look at Bastion and mutter one word, "How?"


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    "Because he has a lot more experience than you, Lucy.  Didn''t I tell you to not get in trouble?"  A  cold voice comes from a woman who is like an older version of Lucy walks into view, she wears a lab coat and she tied her hair into a bun, her eyes states no feelings.


    "M-Prof. Almond!  I...I..." Lucy cries out in surprise.


    Nodding slightly, she turns to Bastion, "You too, don''t go around beating beginners."


    "She asked for it, it will only be rude of me to not give it... Although I didn''t...  More importantly, how is the research going?"


    "How about we went in and talk about it, you too Lucy, your Totodile needs some rest."


    "Yes..."  Lucy suddenly loses all of her energy.


    "Then follow me,"  Prof.Almond said emotionlessly as she walks towards her lab followed by Bastion who also held no expression and Lucy who is on the verge of tears.


    Sitting down on a chair after he entered the lab, Bastion looks around and found that it is just as he remembered.  Machines put neatly in a line, bookshelves filled with books Bastion can barely read on the side, no decoration or any unnecessary objects, and just the overall feeling of a lab.


    "... Prof.Almond."  Lucy said weakly.


    "Let me see the Totodile, I will heal it up.  In the meantime why don''t you go upstairs?"  Prof.Almond simply stated.


    "...  S-Sorry!"  Lucy suddenly bows down to Prof.Almond with tears leaking out of her eyes as she extends her hand and gives the Pokeball containing Totodile to Prof.Almond.


    "What for?"  Her eyes didn''t even bother to look at the teary eyed Lucy.


    "F-for losing." Lucy''s voice cracked.


    "You can''t help it, based on the experiences of your two, the outcome is decided as soon as the match begin."


    "... Am I really this weak?" Lucy asked with a shaky voice.


    "You are not weak as a beginner, however, you are very weak in comparison to Bastion."  She said without much interest as she put a Pokeball into a machine.


    With this, Lucy burst fully into tears and rush out the lab.  looking at her retreating figure Bastion feels bad for the girl.  But he knew if he said anything it will only make it worse, after all being sympathy by the one completely crushing you in battle will only be thought as humiliation.


    "... So she is your daughter.  So you are cold even towards her huh."  Bastion commented after Lucy''s figure disappear from the door.


    Ignoring Bastion''s remark, Prof.Almond handed him a letter.


    "This is the research result as of now, how is it on your side?"


    "Nothing worth mentioning, it is the usual black marking."


    "Is that so... Very well, I have received another reading.  It is at the Fragilia Cave, you know where it is.  I will upload the info into your Pokedex."  She said as she begins to type into a complex looking machine with a hologram of the map floating above it.


    "Fragilia Cave..."


    "The reading is quite big this time, so I expect there will be some new findings."


    "Alright, then I''ll be off."  Bastion said as he stands up from his spot and took his leave.


    As he walks pass the door, a small figure he just saw not long ago run pass him and to the Professor, ignoring it.


    After a few minutes of walking, he reached his next destination, a small graveyard.  In front of him lay 8 tombs and names which he knows...


    "I have come to visit again, mom and dad..."  He said sadly with a small smile as he slowly lay down the green roses in front of the tombstones.


    "Is it going well on the other side?  I hope they are all getting along.  Ah me?  I''m doing quite well, and soon my job will be done."


    Then he turns to the other 6 tombstone behind the 2, "Metagross, please keep the peace between them like you always do OK?  Don''t worry I will be seeing you after I finish my work here..."


    After talking for a while, Bastion trim the grass and sweep the grave.  "It is the time for me to leave now, take care alright?"


    After saying his farewell, Bastion begins to leave the town... Until he was stopped by a girl who seems to be waiting for him.


    "What do you want?"


    "Let me go with you!"


    "I refuse.  Now get on with your adventure."  Bastion stated before walking around Lucy.  But the second he walk pass her, his left-hand sleeve was grabbed.


    "No, I won''t take no for an answer."


    "Then tell me why you want to go."


    "..."


    "The reason you want to travel with me, a stranger you''d only meet today."  Bastion stares at the silent Lucy who has her head lowered.


    "..."


    "No reason?"


    "... *sniff* Waaahhh!"


    "What?!  Come on, why are you crying?"  Bastion, unable to comprehend Lucy''s action, asked with a troubled face as passersby start to look at their direction.


    And soon a crowd begin to gather as they watch what they think to be a man bullying a young girl.  "What a terrible person...""To make a girl cry...""Should we called the police..."  Comments such as those were murmured.


    "Why do I have such a rotten luck, alright come on, we are leaving ."  Bastion said with a deep sigh.


    "...sniff" Promise?"


    "Depends on you, if you don''t drag me down then do as you wish."


    "Ok, where are we going?" Lucy instantly stops and asked with a smile.


    After staring at her for a while, Bastion reluctantly says,  "We are going to the Fragilia Cave."

 Chapter 2 : The Legendary Youngster

    Walking down route 1, the rarely seen flat route north of Springville to reach Vinesburg.  Bastion was annoyed, very annoyed in fact, as an angry Lucy caught up to him.


    "Why did you leave me behind?!" She screams.


    "Because you are slowing me down."


    "But there is so much to see, how can we just pass so much interesting things by?"  Lucy asked, apparently amazed by the apathy Bastion is showing.


    "I am not here to play around, I have a job to do.  If you want to do sightseeing then do it yourself."


    "But it feels like a waste to not- I mean I''m sorry!"  She was trying to persuade Bastion until she receives an evil look from him, and she swears that she sees a dark aura around him.


    "Do what you will, but do not expect me to slow down for you.  After all, you are the one asking to come along."


    "I''m sorry."  She apologizes again.


    After taking a deep sigh Bastion and Lucy continue walking in silence.  After a couple of minutes of walking, they come across a boy who is wearing a yellow T-shirt with a white stripe in the middle, blue shorts, and a blue hat that is backward.


    "Hey you, let''s battle!"  The boy suddenly calls out to them.


    "I refuse." "I accept."


    They both said at the same time.  After an awkward silence, Bastion continues to walk down the route ignoring both the boy and Lucy.


    "He''s pretty cold huh, but enough of that.  The name''s Joey." The youngster, Joey, said proudly.


    "I''m Lucy, although this might be sudden but let''s settle this quickly.  I need to catch up to him."  Lucy pulls out her Pokeball after introduce herself.


    "Alright, go Rattata!"


    "Let''s take him down Totodile!"


    "Let me tell you something, my Rattata is in the top percent of all Rattatas!  So be careful!"  Joey boasted.


    "Cut the talk, Water gun!"


    "Ha dig!"


    Totodile then proceeds to shoot a stream of water at Rattata who dodge it by digging underground.


    "Chi again?  Totodile be careful, checking underground movements!"


    After a few seconds after this, a slight movement under its feet was felt by Totodile, and proceeds that are Totodile successfully dodged the attack.


    "Water gun!"


    Taking the moment chance, Totodile shoots a stream of water and launched Rattata across the field.  Although it is launched quite far and with quite a lot of force it manages to land on its feet.


    "Good Rattata, let''s go."


    After hearing the command, Rattata instantly begins to run at high speed at Totodile.


    "Water gun again!"


    Totodile which stabilized on the ground shoots out a stream of water once again.


    "Dodge it Rattata!  Show them what top percent means!"


    By moving slightly to the side, Rattata dodges the shot.


    "Bite!"


    "Sucker Punch!"


    As the two get into melee range, Totodile jumps up and dive down with its mouth wide open at the same time Rattata use its hind legs as a launch pad and launch itself into the air with its front right foot glowing.


    When the two about to crash into each other, Totodile begin to bring down its mouth down on Rattata only to find it is no longer there.  The next moment its eyes widened as it stomachs sunk in by the force of Rattata''s punch.  Totodile shoots into the sky.


    "That''s it, Pursuit!"


    After Rattata landed, it immediate chase after the Totodile that is flying in low attitude.  Soon the Rattata is upon Totodile, ready to smack it down.


    "Now!  Scratch!"


    Recover midair Totodile did a turn and scratch Rattata''s face, causing it to be surprised.


    "Wha-"  Joey yelled before he was interrupted by Lucy, "Bite, and follow it with Water Gun!"


    Totodile bites down on Rattata and stomps down on the ground, skipping along the ground.  Using the momentum Totodile turn 180 degrees and throw Rattata into a tree, and then shoot a pressured stream of water into it, crushing Rattata between the water and the tree.


    By the time Totodile stopped, Rattata has fallen on the ground, fainted.


    "Rattata!"  Joey runs towards Rattata before return it into a Pokemon.


    "Good job Totodile!  Let''s rest alright?"  Lucy also runs towards Totodile before complemented it and also return it to its Pokeball to rest.


    "Darn, I lost."  Joey murmured to himself.


    "It is a good fight, your Rattata is top tier."


    "Of course it is!"  Joey''s eyes sparkle at the compliment.  "Please let me get your phone number so we can have a rematch!"


    But before Joey''s word reaches her, Lucy has already begun dashing after Bastion.


    ---------- Line Break ----------


    After Bastion leaves Lucy with the random kid, he marches onward in silence.  Other than the occasional Pidgey and Pidove, which he ignored, that pop out there is no events.


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    Enjoying the peace and quiet, he marches on until he found another person  who is blocking the road.  By the looks of it, she is battling a Honedge with a Marill.  By the looks of it, it will take a while before someone can emerge victorious from the struggle.


    Bastion keeps advancing while counting his steps, he stopped when he counted to 30, thirty steps.  They are taking too long, Bastion thought as he sends out Growlithe.


    "Growlithe, let''s finish this in one shot,  Flamethrower."


    Growlithe steady itself into the ground before send a giant torrent of to the Honedge from its mouth.  Honedge, unable to react in time, takes the whole attack unprepared.  After few seconds of constant burning, the Honedge falls to the ground, either fainted or too fatigued to even float.


    Ignoring the astonished girl and her Marill Bastion continue down his merry way after returning Growlithe back to the Pokeball.


    "Um, thank you."  The girl said to Bastion after returning Marill to the Pokeball and throw one at Honedge.  The small ball sucks in the Honedge, and after three shakes it is caught.


    "Don''t worry about it."  Bastion simply waved his hand without turning around.


    Then the girl run beside Bastion, "Are you going to Vinesburg?"


    "Yes."


    "Then do you mind if I accompany you?"


    "Suit yourself."  Bastion simply said after he looks at her, a teen around his age with silky long brown hair, droopy black eyes, about 160 cm in height, and wearing a white one piece dress with a pink ribbon tied in front of her chest.  If it was Bastion 2 years ago, he''d be all over her, but him as he is now  held no interest in her.


    "Ah, excuse me for the late introduction.  My name is Bell, Bell Wellstain."


    "Bastion, Bastion Lastavas."


    "Then please let me thank you again, Bastion."


    "There is no need, I only did it out of my convenience."


    "Is that so?  But still, it didn''t change the fact you help me if you don''t mind why don''t you stay in my house for the night?"  She said as she looks at the now setting sun.


    Before he can reply, someone come to a halt beside him.


    "Ha...ha...  You really didn''t wait for me."


    "Of course, I keep my words."


    "Oh, is this your acquaintance?"  Bell asked as she gestures towards Lucy.


    "... you can say that."


    "I''m Bell Wellstain, it is nice to meet you."


    "Lucy Almond, same.  Also, Bastion, Totodile and me won the battle!"  She exclaimed.


    "Oh, good for you,"  Bastion replied in a very uninterested manner.


    "What''s with the lackluster reply?  Oh well, is she someone you know?"


    "No, we only meet minutes ago."


    "Yes, he helps me catching a Honedge."


    "What?  Who?  Him?"  Lucy stared at Bell in incredulity while pointing at Bastion, who slightly nodded in return.


    Before Lucy can make any more rude remarks Bastion cut in, "I did it because they are blocking the road."


    "... Figures, I know you aren''t so kind to help someone without a reason."  Lucy muttered.


    "In the end, he still helped me, so please let me repay the favor."


    "There is no reason to deny it, you mind Lucy sleep there as well?"


    "Not as all, the more the merrier right?"


    "What are you all talking about?"  Lucy asked in confusion.


    "We are sleeping at her house for the night, that''s all.  Well, it seems like we are here, Vinesburg."


    In front of the trio is a small town that is no bigger than Springville, but unlike Springville, there are fields upon fields of Grepa Berries, a sweet and sour fruit.  The sweet smell of finely brewed wine entered their nose.


    "Vinesburg is a small town that specialized in wines and winery, this place alone supplies the Grepa Wines for the whole Nioc region,"  Bell explained as she leads them into the town.


    "I wonder how it tastes like..."


    "I''m sorry to say, but the legal age of drinking is 17 and above."


    "What!  Why?"


    "I don''t know, but it is the rules.  But that aside, do you want to try some Grepa juice?"  Seeing Lucy''s dejected face, Bell asked.


    "Then let''s go!... Is that alright Bastion?"


    "Do as you wish, we are resting here for the night, do as you wish before morning comes,"  Bastion said before walking towards to what seems to be a winery.


    "Ah, my house is on the far East side of the town."


    "Alright."


    "He''s so responsive as always."  Lucy''s voice dripped with sarcasm.


    "We should go as well.  You haven''t visited this town yet right?"


    "No."


    "Then let us go around sightseeing since we still have a little time before sunsets."

 Chapter 3 : A Great Night Stroll

    Standing at the front counter of the Winery, an old wooden building with barrels of wines stacking up in the storage to age, Bastion was almost in a good mood as he takes a sip of Bulk Red Grepa Wine directly from the bottle he bought from the winery.  The aroma of the Grepa berry swarms his nose as he tastes the sweet and bitter liquor.


    After the sip, he glances at the two cloaked figures in the back corner of the store, one with a red cloak and other with black, both of them a slightly shorter than Bastion and hiding their faces under their hood.  Those two, the reason why Bastion is not in a good mood, have been following him after he split up with Bell and Lucy, that he is sure of.  However, he couldn''t think a reason why they decide to do it.


    After thinking about it for a few minutes Bastion walks out the winery thinking it is too annoying to think about.  And just like he thought those two follow him into the barren street under the moonlight of the full moon.


    Continuing walking while taking a few sips of wine Bastion continue his walk until he reaches an empty field with few bushes, no houses nor any sight of people nearby that can interrupt him.


    "You should come out now if you want to stalk someone does a better job at it."  Bastion suddenly called out.


    "So you saw through us huh."  The two hooded figure walks out to the open and the Black Cloak said with a robotic voice.


    "When?" The Red Cloak asked in the same voice, it seems that they are using a voice changer of some kind.


    "After I turn around the first time before I entered the winery.  So what do you want with me?"    Bastion replied nonchalantly.


    "We want you to join us and our cause."  The Black Cloak answered.


    "I refuse."


    "Who do you think you are?  You have no choice but to join!"  The Red Cloak suddenly burst out.


    "I don''t have to join anything, now get out of here and stop stalking me, it''s too creepy."  Bastion immediately returns the hostility.


    "You-"


    "You have met our lord before, right?"  The Black Cloak asked before the Red Cloak can further the hostility.


    "You lord?"


    "Lord Yveltal, the one who grants destructions, the one who will cleanse the world of its sins.  The one who will return this world to its former beauty."  The Red Cloak said while spread his arms widely to the side.


    As soon as that name enter Bastion''s ears, the air around the Bastion chilled extremely.  Even the two who stands meters away from Bastion can feel the breeze from him.


    "Yveltal you said, I was about to let you go since it is too much trouble for me.  But now, why don''t we have a little talk?"  Bastion said with a broad evil smile, his eyes is the ones of a hungry predator that look upon its prey.


    "W-What''s up with him?"  The Red Cloak asked as they both take a step back from the sudden change in Bastion.


    "Growthlithe, let''s end this quick."  Bastion whispered as he sent out Growlithe.


    When Growlithe saw the state of Bastion, its losses it usually laziness and gets serious.


    "Come, Houndoom."Come, Zweilous."


    The Red Cloak sent out Houndoom and the other sent out Zweilous.


    "I guess it is inevitable."  The Black Cloak muttered.


    "This is good, I wanted to beat him up."


    "Agility."


    Ignoring the two, Bastion gives the order.  Growlithe''s body relaxed under the chill night.


    "How annoying, Bite." "You too Zweilous, Bite."


    The two charge forward, Houndoom to Growlithe''s left and Zweilous to its right.  And all of them bite down into Growlithe.


    "Tank it."


    Obeying Bastion''s order, Growlithe completely ignore the two as it continues to relax.   The three heads bite into it, although not enough to move it from its spot it manages to force its body to tense up.


    "Ha, what are you, an idiot?"  The Red Cloak taunted.


    The only thing answering the taunt is the giant grin on Bastion''s face.  In the next few moments, both Houndoom and Zweilous was shaken off Growlithe by its massive strength and retreated few meters back.


    "What?!"


    "...! This is not good, we need to finish this fast!"  The Black Cloak burst out as the Red one look at it in confusion.


    "Reversal."


    Not a second after hearing the order, Growlithe charges forth at a ridiculous speed.  Before the two can even react, Growlithe have reached them and standing on its hind leg, bending its back.  Using its head as a hammer, it swans its head into the Houndoom''s back.  With this hit, Houndoom''s back bent in an unnatural way as it sunk into the ground from the force of the hit, knocking it out.


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    "Dragon Breath!"  The Black Cloak yelled and the two heads of Zweilous breath out purple gust from their mouth into Growlithe which was dodged.  But it did manage to force it back a few steps.


    "H-How?"  The words leak out from the dumbfounded Red Cloak.


    "His Growlithe have Justified.  Meaning when it is hit with a Dark-type move it powers up."


    "So he takes the damage in exchange for power?!"


    "Yes, and not only that, agility it uses to boost its speed.  Along with Reversal, a fighting type move which becomes more powerful as it takes more damage..."


    "What is with is?  Are they monsters!?"  The Red Cloak exclaimed.  Thinking about both the trainer who are willing to order this and the Pokemon who listen to this kind of command.


    "Who kno-"  The Black Cloak is interrupted by the Zweilous that got sent flying across the field because of Growlithe.  It finally comes to a stop after skipping across the ground for a few feets, knocking it out.  It seems that while they are talking, Zweilous were getting pummeled by Growlithe.


    Returning both of their Pokemon into their Pokeball, the duo turns and make a run for it only to stop by a torrent of fire.


    "Give up, you have no chance to escape."  Bastion said as he began marching towards them.


    "What do you want from us?"


    "Just a few questions."


    "Only a few questions?"


    "Yes, now first, what is your group and how are they related to Yveltal?"


    "Like we would tell-" The Red Cloak yelled and was interrupted by a stream of fire landed near him.


    "You have two choices either answer or suffer then answer."


    "Why kind of choices is that?!"  The Red Cloak screamed.


    "Very well, I will comply."


    "But-"


    "We still have much to do, even if we don''t tell him, he will manage to get it somehow."


    "..."


    "We are the Cultists from the Cult of Yveltal.  We believe in that the world as it is now is rotten,  infested with peoples who are selfish, willing to hurt or even kill others just to satisfy themselves.  And Yveltal, the destroyer, will one day come and put an end to everything there is to this world and give it a new beginning.  The world that is once again freed from pests, the world without sins."  The Black Cloak said honestly.


    "What is your plan?"


    "That I don''t know, we are only cultists within the cult.  It will be impossible for them to tell us the plan, they only tell us what to do."


    "I see, how about your base?"


    "Not the faintest idea, we were told what to do from letters."


    "I that so, I guess puppet won''t have much information after all.  You can leave now."  Bastion muttered to himself before waving his hand, dismiss them.


    "That''s it?"  Black Cloak asked in wonder, he thinks that at least he would want them to show their faces at least.


    The truth is Bastion don''t care about it.  There is no reason to learn someone''s face or name if you have no interest nor care in it.  He will just forget it a day later anyways.


    "You hear me, just don''t stalk me anymore.  Oh, and go tell you higher up.  If they get in my way, they will be disposed of."


    "... Alright, let''s go."  The Black Cloak said as he turns and runs away with the Red Cloak by his side.


    "You remember this, I will have my revenge." The Red Cloak yelled when he reached the edge of the field.


    "Well then, that was a waste of time, come back and rest Growlithe.  You have done well."  Bastion said as he returns Bastion into the Pokeball after give him a pet to the head, rub some potions, and some wine.


    "Now then, time to go."  Bastion said as he looks at the moon which now hang quite high in the sky and begin walking under the starry night occasionally taking a sip of wine and humming.  Obviously in a good mood.


    "Then let us go around sightseeing since we still have a little time before sunsets."

 Chapter 4 : Sword Follower

    Taking another sip of the wine, Bastion continues to walk towards the East side from the empty field looking for the house Bell mentioned. Shortly after he enter what seems to be a fairly loose residential area, small wooden houses line up on both side with a very large patch of front yard from each other. A flying Honedge and four figures can be seen on the horizon.


    "Toto, use bite!" "Marill, Water Gun!"


    Totodile then jumped after Marill shoots its stream of water. Honedge swiftly dodges the stream of water as well as the bite from totodile by moving ever so slightly, presenting an unusual speed. And shortly after dodge, it tackles the totodile sending it back from where it is coming from, right into Marill and sent them both flying.


    "Toto!" "Marill!"


    "Those idiots... Did they really let it set up? And this late at night too." Bastion complained as he shakes his head in disappointment and sent out growlithe. After leaving the Pokeball, growlithe give him an annoyed look as it yawns.


    "Sorry, but one last thing to deal with for the night. Flamethrower."


    After what seems to be a sigh from Growlithe, it shoots a giant torrent of fire at high speed swallowing Honedge whole. Honedge, in turn, charges out of it from the side with its body shine in a white light. After a few seconds, the light dies down and shows many chars across its body. Less than a second after, it redirects itself and rushing towards Bastion, ignoring the Growlithe.


    "Ho, Endure? Interesting. Heat Wave." Bastion, somewhat impressed, said to himself as he watches the Honedge closing in on him.


    After sending the last bit of flame, Growlithe breath in deeply and exhale a burst of superheating air in a wave at Honedge. Waving around the attacks like a bee, Honedge reaches within 15 meters from Bastion.


    "Hold Growlithe." Bastion said after Deciding to take matters into his own hand, he throws the wine bottle at the flying sword. Honedge, not bothered by the sudden flying object, pierce right through the bottle and its body soak of Grepa wine.


    Now less than 10 meters away from Bastion, the Honedge aim straight for his head, planning to take him out in one hit. With a wide smile, Bastion reaches into his coat and pull out a ringed dagger. Holding it in a reverse grip or commonly know as the ice pick grip with the edge out, his index finger through the ring to fix the dagger to Bastion''s hand, and fix his stance as his heart races, pumping adrenaline within his body. Time seems to slow down as he extends his hand forward and clashes blade with Honedge. The sudden contact between the two blade cause a few sparks to fly, and when the sparks reach Honedge it burst into a fire from the wine Bastion throw beforehand. Slowly Bastion bends his arm and lure Honedge closer to his face, and when the blade is no less few inches from his face with the smell of burning alcohol. Taking a step to the side and turn to the left side while using his other hand to support the dagger hand to hold Honedge in place. Then he swings his arm and sent the flaming Honedge flying down the path. This exchange takes less than a minute.  Shortly after, the flame dies down and Honedge drops to the ground. Looking at the unmoving sword Bastion takes a deep breath and calms his body.


    Using his left-hand Bastion retreats his dagger back in his coat and Growlithe, who gives him the "why did you even call me out" look back into the Pokeball.


    "Bastion!" Two persons behind him screamed as they approach him.


    Turning around to face the two, "You two idiots! What in the world did you do to cause that thing to get so out of control and set up for battle?"


    "...We take it to a move tutor to teach it Endure. After that it shows us Autotomize, acting like a gear and all, which I thought is just a harmless act." Lucy answered in a low voice, but then abruptly ask, "That aside, what is that with the knife?!"


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "I would like to know as well." Bell follow up beside Lucy.


    "I learn it a few years back when I only have Growlithe who is only a newborn. In order to help train him, I fight the weak wild Pokemon and weaken them before let it finish them off." Bastion simply stated.


    "Doesn''t it break the rule of Pokemon battle?"


    "What rule? There is no rule in wild encounter now is there? Rather than care about the minor details, can''t you two do something about that?" Bastion asked after brush Lucy off and pointed at the fainted Honedge.


    "I think I will release it tomorrow, I doubt it will ever listen to me. After all, Pokemon who wish for their freedom or hate humans is definitely not unheard of." Bell replied and then begin moving towards Honedge.


    "Alright then, let''s leave."


    "We can''t yet," Bell called out to Bastion before he leaves.


    "Why not?" Bastion asked with an awfully annoyed look on his face.


    "Because the damages need to be reported."


    ----- Line Break-----


    Leaning against a tree in someone''s backyard is a very aggravated Bastion with bloodshot eyes as Bell and Lucy speak with the officers who come to the scene.  Of course, wasting time there is not the only thing that gets on his nerves or the fact that they manage to leave cuts and damages all over the neighborhood. The main reason is that the police assumed he was the one who did the damage and immediately tried to arrest him.  At the time if Bell and Lucy haven''t interjected the police, Bastion will punch the lights out of him, police officer or not.  In the time they tried to calculate all the damages, Honedge has forced its way out of the Pokeball and for some reason stayed submissive, but still refused to return to the Pokeball, while staring at Bastion.


    "What do you want?" Bastion asked in a straightforward manner.  The only response is it float slowly towards him and lay flat in front of him, seemingly to be paying respect to him.


    "Is that so, respecting the strong is good, but it seems you are here to do more than that."  Bastion continued with a somewhat impressed face.  As far as Bastion can see, this Honedge is one who is quite proud, to bow down to him must be quite a hard thing for it to do and so there must be more to it.


    Understanding what he means, Honedge unsheathes itself and point its handle at Bastion.


    "You want to join me?"  Bastion asked with somewhat of a smile.  A basic nod was his answer.


    "If so then be prepared to be trained and disciplined like no other.  I will tell you now, I''m not your average trainer.  I demand, no, accept only the best of the best out of you."


    With this small speech, Honedge again sheathes itself and float by Baston''s side, not disturbed by it whatsoever.


    "Very well."  Bastion said with a small smile on his face.


    "So, I assume you are going to be taking care of it from now on?"  Bell asked from the side after the interaction between the two are finished, apparently done with the paper works, and handed Bastion a Pokeball.


    "Seems so.  Now rests up and prepare for tomorrow."  Bastion took the Pokeball from Bell''s hand and return Honedge.


    "Yes, please enter then."  Bell basically walk to the door about few meters away from Bastion and opens it.  Without questioning much, Bastion entered the house.


    "Lucy?"  Bell call out to the Lucy, who looks like to be thinking something very seriously.


    "...Oh, yeah, I''m coming."  Lucy instantly changed back into her usual self and enter the house after Bastion.