Pokeumans Chapter 10.5

Leaving the whole scene, I quickly retreated to my room, where I filled Starr and Mike out on the details. It was all so sudden and shocking. We stayed up most of the night and talked about it before retreating to our beds. The whole night, I was unable to sleep. I was worried…truly worried. Mr. X wanted to get rid of the Energy Channelers. That's why when my kidnapping wasn't successful, he sent Mindy to frame me. That's why he sent the loved ones of our friends to the nearest Pokéxtinction base, it was his chance to lure me in and capture me. But…if he wanted to get rid of me so badly…why didn't he stay and fight during our confrontation? It was all very strange. I tossed and turned in bed for hours, until I got up and started watching TV before passing out sometime at around 4AM.

I was awoken to Mike gently shaking me. Groggily, I rubbed my eyes (before remembering about my paw spikes) and sat up. Starr was beside the door.

"Brandon, uh, the commander wants to speak with you," he said.

I yawned as I got up from the couch and slowly walked to the door. The Escavalier was waiting at the entrance. I looked at Starr, who nodded and gestured with her head. I looked at Commander Cuczcoff, who beckoned me with his lance arm.

"Come Brandon, I need your assistance."

I followed him down the hallways, still tired and groggy.

I walked past my Hippopotas Buddy, Cameron, who was delivering the morning mail.

"Hi Lucario Friend!" he said happily.

I could only manage to wave because I was so tired.

We made it all the way to the PRT dorms, and finally into the command center. Reggie, Amy, Darren, the big four, Ina (Cameron's friend) and other PRT members were all standing there surrounding the control desk in the center. I remember someone putting a cup of coffee in my paw and telling me to drink it. I took a sip and was suddenly jolted awake by the bitter taste.

"Good to know that you are awake," stated the commander, "It is time for our plan of action." He pressed a button and a large map of the Earth appeared. "We've been picking up strange energy waves lately all around the world. Based on what we were able to gather from the remains of the Gemstone Files, we are certain that the Dimensional Gems have reached their full maturity."

Everyone was silent, including me.

"We do know Mr. X does plan on collecting them. Already the energy waves we have been picking up have been diminishing. The Gemstone Files were taken because there was only one piece of the puzzle he was missing…how to locate them."

I could only stare at him. I felt like I was still dreaming. The Escavalier picked up a wrinkly shred of the paper and placed it in front of me. Everyone in the room peered down to read the words.

Call upon the Energy Channelers for assistance in locating the gems. They have to ability to locate them, wherever they are.

I gasped before looking around. No one seemed surprised in the slightest.

"It is okay; Asula explained the situation to me from the infirmary this morning. While she is recovering, I have been appointed the temporary leader of the base. Now, Brandon you are the only Energy Channeler in this base, maybe one of the only ones left in the world. We cannot locate the Dimensional Gems in time to stop Mr. X, so we must ask for your help. You will have to leave the safety of this base and travel long distances to find these gems before it is too late."

So much information to process and everyone was staring at me. I could only stare back. I knew I had to do something, even if I didn't want to, I had to do this. Besides, this would be my chance to see the outside world again, and I could do my part the get back at Mr. X for framing me. I really had no choice.

"So Brandon, will you take on this most difficult task?"

I stared him directly into his eyes, and I felt the connection of our gazes.

"I'm ready."

Reggie gave me a slow, assuring nod, Amy and Darren both cheered, and the big four (Lizzie, Samantha, Curtis and Wallace), along with everyone else started clapping.

Suddenly, my stomach growled loudly. Everyone looked on a laughed.

"I'm sorry I had to interrupt your morning Brandon, but you should head down for breakfast. But…you should inform your friends of your journey. Spend the rest of the day saying your goodbyes, and meet me back here at 3 o' clock sharp."

I nodded, and smiled as I walked through the doors and to the mess hall, wondering how the journey will go.

---

"YOU'RE GOING WHAT?!"

Starr and Mike's jaws had dropped as low as they could go. I told them about my upcoming journey, and how I was going to be temporarily leaving the base.

"Are you serious?!" shouted Starr.

I nodded, "They need me. To help find the Dimensional Gems. My Energy Channeling powers can help locate them before Mr. X can."

Mike shook his Munchlax head, his skin tone a weird combination of orange and dark blue-green. "First you want to challenge the Elite Four, then you want to challenge a Pokéxtinction base, and now you want to leave to find these stupid gems?!"

Starr sighed, "What time will you be going?"

I looked at the clock, "In about eight hours. I'll be gone at least three days."

Starr shook her head too, "Brandon, as your friend I want to know that I'm worried, but I'm not going to try and stop you. If this is your last day before your trip, we should all do something together."

Mike looked at her, then at me, then back at his pancakes. I put my arm on his shoulder,

"Come on man, cheer up. You lived without me for so long, and you can survive a few more days without me."

Mike grumped, "You're the only one I'd call my best friend here…"

I smiled and gave him a noogie, "Well, eight hours is still enough time to do anything we want. How about we all see a movie?"

My two friends smiled at me, and we all laughed as we continued to eat our delicious meal.

Afterwards, Mike transformed into an Abra and teleported up back to our room. The movies didn't open until nine, so we had a few minutes before we could head out. I flopped onto the couch, feeling its cool leather exterior before grabbing the remote and turning to the Pokéuman News Network, where Larry Belowhich the Loudred was shouting the news.

"Our top story today, Asula is currently hospitalized after an accident in her office caused an explosion."

I sighed; Commander Cuczcoff did warn him not to spill the beans on what really happened.

"However in her absence, our PRT commander Sarmen Cuczcoff will take on her role as headmaster. Reports are saying that Pokéxtinction activity has grown in the past few weeks, and we have confirmed that a couple of PRT members will be sent out later today to investigate."

Starr watched with interest, "He means a couple of PRT members and you," she said. I sighed and nodded.

I drooped lower on the couch. "All of this stuff is happening to me right now. I'm like this big hero, but I'm not."

Starr sat next to me and put her arm on my shoulder, "Look, I know how much craziness you've gotten into, but be glad about it! I mean, most Pokéumans live pretty ordinary lives, and I bet most would be pretty excited to have the adventure you're having."

I smiled, "Yeah, I guess, and I'm glad I have such great friends to share it with."

We hugged as Mike jumped over the couch and landed in-between us.
"HEY! Don't I get any love?!"

I hugged his squishy, pink body. "Yeah, you give me that warm feeling of watching someone else's shame every single day."

We all laughed before we went onto the base's online schedule program and checked for movie times. We decided to see "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," and we headed out. It was the perfect movie for us. Starr liked the idea of love, while Mike enjoyed the cool video game action sequences. As we watched the movie, I looked to my left and right, seeing Mike's and Starr's laughing faces, and I sighed. This mission was very dangerous, and the chances of me getting caught were critically high. I didn't want to know what would happen to them if I were caught.

Afterwards, we walked out, after Mike belched after eating half of a large bag of popcorn, we hit the arcade. Mike and I shot zombies in House of the Dead 4, Starr and I and slashed fruit on Fruit Ninja, we rolled it out in Skee-Ball and we all failed on Guitar Hero.

After a while, we were bored and we were on our way to the room. As we were talking about the plans for the trip, we heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Brandon, I was just looking for you."

I turned my head around to see a familiar shiny Azelf floating in front of me. It was Tyler.

"Oh hey Tyler, what are you doing out here by yourself?" I asked, "And where's Austin?"

Tyler was panting, "Yeah, he wanted you to meet him in the gym before lunch started."

Starr and Mike both looked at me with confusion. Even I was confused as to what was going on.

"You know, we'll head back, and meet us at lunch if it takes you long," said Mike.

I nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea, see you guys later."

Starr and Mike both left, leaving me to follow Tyler to the Gym. A few minutes of twisting halls and never ending doors, we made it to the gym. As we walked inside, Austin the shiny, bipedal Umbreon was standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed. A bunch of big rocks were on the ground surrounding his feet.  Tyler quietly drifted to the bleachers.

"H-Hey Austin, what's going on-?"

He held his paw up and shushed me. "I heard you were going on a dangerous mission, and I feel like you need to be as prepared as you can be. Now, come over here and watch."

He shut his eyes and put his paws together.

"PSYCHIC!"

I curiously stepped over as Austin opened his eyes and began to glow. He raised his paw in the air, psychically lifting the boulders off of the ground.  He shifted his paw to the left and threw the rock into the bleachers, knocking out Scott the Electabuzz, who conveniently happened to be there. I chuckled as Milton and Nat ran away.

"A Lucario can naturally learn Psychic, and I want to make sure you're ready for anything," he said, "But as you know you must give up one move."

I nodded, amazed by that splendor of psychic power. Aura Sphere and Iron Tail are both very important moves to me and I had just learned Rock Slide. That just left Force Palm. I knew which attack I had to give up and I nodded at Austin, signifying my readiness.

"Good, now, you must channel the energy, let it flow through your body, but instead of charging it and firing it like an Aura Sphere, ease it gently, let it act like a third arm, allowing it to pick up an object within reach. It's all about using the power of your mind to control the energy. Now, try picking up the boulder in front of you."

I took a deep breath. I shut my eyes and concentrated. I felt the familiar warmth of energy flow into my veins, but I started to feel it build up, so I used my mind to ease it down. I lifted my paws up, and using my mind to control it, I let the energy flow, lifting up the boulder several inches before accidentally dropping it to the ground.  

Austin nodded, "Pretty good. Focus more; use the power of your mind."

I squeezed my eyes shut again and strained my brain as hard as I could. The energy of my mind was able to flow easily out of my head, pick up the boulder and hurl it to the other end of the gym, narrowly missing the weight area. I gulped; I had meant to throw it towards the dirt track, a good 15 feet away from the weights. Austin and Tyler both looked at me and started to snicker.

"Pretty good, but you lack control," said the shiny Azelf.

"Don't let it bother you to much," said Austin, "It's a pretty hard move to master, but with practice, you'll get it down."

I nodded, glancing at the clock. It was lunchtime.

"Ah, it's lunchtime, don't worry, I'll let Tyler handle this," said Austin.

Tyler floated over to me. "Stand perfectly still."

I did what I was told and stood perfectly still. Tyler used his tail appendages to surround me, then I saw a flash of light, and suddenly I was standing in the cafeteria. I looked around, Tyler and Austin didn't follow me. I looked around for Starr and Mike, and found them waving at me with three trays of sub sandwiches.

"Three hours left, what else to you wanna do?" I asked sitting down and taking a bite of my turkey sub. The two of them shrugged. I suddenly felt a familiar presence in my sensors before a small body tackled me, sending me to the floor.

"MASTER!!!"

Starr and Mike laughed as I looked at the bright pair of red eyes staring me in the face.  

"Hi Master! Wanna train today?!"

I looked at Starr and Mike, and the sadly nodded at me. I had totally forgotten to tell him.

"Um, AB…I'm…leaving for a few days…."

The smile vanished from his face. "Y-You're leaving? A-Again?"

I sadly nodded, "Yeah, and it'll be for longer this time."

Tears started welling up in his big puppy eyes and he started to sniffle. He rushed into my chest and started squeezing me tightly, he felt like a vice grip.

"Please…don't go…" he whimpered.

I hugged him, "Come on AB, I still have a few hours, I'll train you until then."

AB sniffled for a moment, but then returned to his little puppy grin. "Okay Master, how about all three of you come to the training grounds after lunch, and we can have a double battle!"

Starr looked at the Riolu and smiled, "Sure AB; that would seem fun!"

"Uhh…." Mike stuttered.

"Yay! It's official! Me shall see you all there!" AB shouted happily and dashed into the lunch crowd.  

"You sure picked up a charmer," said Starr watching him disappear.

"I know," I sighed. I shot a look at Mike, "Why did you say 'uhhh' before?"

"First of all, I said 'Uhh….' not 'uhhh.' Besides, I haven't battled officially in like, a month. I usually stay on the sidelines."

Starr laughed, "Last time he battled, he got mad so he turned into a Groudon and nearly left a crater in the Training Grounds, and Asula was in his business about it since then. He gets very competitive."

I laughed once again ad gave Mike a noogie. "Your misadventures always make me laugh, they should make a comedy film about you."

Mike just grumbled.

Later, we finished lunch and we headed out to the training grounds, provided Mike teleported us with his Abra form. We stepped inside and AB  was standing in one of the fields all by himself.

"Master! You battle with me! We'll have a two on two!"

Starr and Mike stood on the opposite side of the field. AB and I looked at each other and nodded. Mike suddenly morphed into a Moltres, only he was as small as a Staraptor. He was also white in color, but with orange skin tones. While looking at his semi-awesome form, I realized Mike and I had never battled before. The four of us looked at each other as a Fearow we asked to be our referee stood in the center.

"This battle will commence in 3…2…1…GO!"

"FIRE SPIN!" Mike shot a spiral of fire out of his beak. The flames surrounded me, burning me all over.

"Master!" AB shouted, before glaring at Mike.

"Quick Attack!" he shouted while dashing madly. He flew like a rocket and literally knocked Mike out of the sky. I smiled with pride; a week ago he couldn't even destroy a simple wood dummy. I was too busy admiring AB t to realize Starr was charging at me.

"DARK PULSE!"

She fired the dark ray at me, causing me to flinch horribly. As I flinched, I felt my muscles get lighter and my body become more nimble. Meanwhile, Mike had recovered and was back in the air. The flames on his body were growing.

"AIR SLASH!"

Mike swiped his wings and sent a slice of air at AB. Using my increased Speed due to my Steadfast ability, I dashed over and threw myself in front of AB, taking the attack for him. AB ran forward and hit Mike with a Quick Attack, after jumping over another Dark Pulse Attack.

AB dashed forward towards Starr and slammed her with a Force Palm attack. She quickly shook it off.

"BONE RUSH!" Starr conjured her bone and started striking me with it. I endured as best as I could, but I could feel my strength drain. As I felt the energy start to come back, I willed myself not to be revived. I wanted to battle on my own, without any energy to revitalize me. It was time to unleash my new attack!

"PSYCHIC!" I used my mind and grabbed Mike. I meant to throw him to the ground, but for some reason he flew into Starr, knocking them both to the ground and shattering her bone. Don't get me wrong, it was a good thing, but I had no control over my Psychic attack, the same way as it was with my Aura Sphere until recently.

Mike and Starr were both on the ground. "W-When did you learn Psychic?" Mike groaned.

Starr pushed Mike's bird butt off of her and fired an Aura Sphere at me. I crossed my arms and braced the attack. The energy wanted to restore my health, but I willed it not to. I wanted to see how much I could handle.

"Force Palm!" AB called and it Starr, paralyzing her. Starr was unable to move so Mike shot a Flamethrower at me. I had already battled one of the strongest Fire Types in the base so I was able to endure the attack pretty well.

"Rock Slide!" I cried and sent the rocks tumbling down on Mike and Starr. Starr shook them off but it was too much for Mike to handle, who promptly collapsed on the ground, returning to his Ditto form.

AB used Double Team, creating many copies of himself. Starr smiled.

"Sorry Bear, AURA SPHERE!"

Before I could react, the Sphere slammed into AB, sending him to the ground with swirls in his eyes. He was out too, leaving just me and Starr.

While the Fearow dragged the two downed battlers off of the battlefield, Starr and I glared at each other with competitive spirit.

"Aura Sphere only; first one to fall loses," I said.

"Agreed," she breathed.

We both stood perfectly still on opposite sides of the field, knowing fully we couldn't dodge an Aura Sphere if we tried.

"AURA SPHERE!"

Both of us fired our spheres at the exact same time, blasting both of us. Both of us groaned, but we were still on our footpaws.

"AURA SPHERE!"

We both were able to endure eight Aura Sphere attacks, the energy was crying to rejuvenate me, but I resisted it as much as I could. Finally, it was the ninth one.

"AURA SPHERE!"

We both fired our spheres, each shouting as they made contact. We both looked at each other, before Starr collapsed. I panted, resisting the urge to pass out as well, and carried her to the benches before I sat down on the seat and slowly faded out.

"Brandon….wake up…..c'mon…..wake up…."

I slowly opened my eyelids, and I saw Mike's pink face staring at me as well as Starr's and AB's.

"Hey Brandon, it's you know who," he said pointing at the doorway.

It was Commander Cuczcoff standing in the doorway. He nodded his head at me, and then beckoned with his lance. I looked up at the clock. It was 2:45; it was finally time to go.

Starr, Mike and AB all followed me to the command center. Once we got there, I slowly walked up to the commander.

"Brandon, I have decided who will accompany you on this journey, someone you should be very comfortable with."

I looked forward as Reggie walked before me, smiling and nodding.

"I have seen you two together; and I know you two will make a good pair."

I sighed in relief, if I was going to be paired with anyone, Reggie was the perfect person. He was kind and he's helped me out so much.

Reggie and I walked up to each other and we shook each other's hands. "I'm glad to be doing this with someone like you Brandon," said the Grovyle.

Commander Cuczcoff took out another piece of wrinkly paper and set it down.

"Remember, you're looking for the café in New York City. It's a big place, and it'll be hard to find it. We have informants in Central Park that may be able to help you. Oh, and we scanned the paper for more hints, and one big important clue came up.

The commander took the paper that said:"Look for Pam Kéoun's Café in New York City. It holds the location to some of the legendary Dimensional Gems" and put it under a scanner. The computer scanned the paper, and some blue words appeared at the bottom of the paper.

"Code Phrase: Order the X Marks the Spot special without the X."

The Escavalier printed out a copy and handed it to Reggie.

"We have some gadgets for you," said Mr. Galasin, who came out from the shadows. He gave me my humanizing ring that I had given to Asula for safe keeping. He also gave Reggie his.

"We also thought you might like this," he said handing me something amazing.

It was a brand new iPhone 4S. I stared at the amazing gift presented to me.

"If you look, we have installed a new app, the Minion Tracker App. It can detect voluntary Pokéxtinctionists from up to a mile away. It cannot trace brainwashed people though so you two must be careful no one sees you in your Pokémon forms," said Mr. Galasin.  

I nodded. He also presented me with a red backpack.

"This is a special backpack. It can store an almost unlimited amout of items, it also has a special printer than can print out tickets, receipts, ID anything you need. It also is equipped with an anti-theft device and Pokéxtinction frequency jammers. It should come in handy."

I took the backpack and put it on. It was a comfortable fit.

"Now, for your transportation. Follow me."
Mr. Galasin and the Commander took us to a door, which was an elevator. We went down several feet before the door opened and we were in a chrome colored tunnel that seemed to extend forever. To my surprise, Cameron, John, Josh, Austin, Tyler, Nathan, Kyle, Sakato and all of my friends were waiting for me.

"Hey guys!" I said, running up to them.

"We heard you were leaving for a dangerous mission, and decided to send you off," said John.

"We shall stand guard and wait eagerly for your return," said Nathan.

Kyle simply stared at me with his purple eyes and tails before nodding and giving me a silent grin.

I high-fived Josh and hugged Jenny, who was there too. And then Sakato.

The Vaporeon simply looked at me before saying, "Good luck friend."

I hugged the guy, he was such a recluse when I first met him and I was proud to have him call me a friend.

I walked over to Cameron, who was beaming proudly at me.

"Come back safe Lucario Friend!" he said. "I'm sad you're leaving like this…" His face suddenly flashed a face of pure anger, but he quickly shook it off and continued smiling.

"I'll be back, don't worry Hippopotas Buddy," I said, hugging his hippoy body. I then walked over to my two best roommates and my little clinger.

Mike and I nodded and each other and he gave me a big thumbs-up. I gave him a noogie before walking over to AB.

I crouched down to the little Riolu and gave him a hug. "I-I'm gonna miss you!" he cried.

I rubbed his head, "AB, you'll be okay, and I'll come back. Just…don't get into too much trouble.

Finally, I got to Starr. I smiled at her before she gave me a big hug.

"Come back safe," she said.

I looked at her deeply in the eyes. "I will I promise."

The Commander gave Reggie a leather wallet, and told us it had enough money for gas and anything else that we needed.

"And now," said Mr. Galasin, "your ride."

The floor opened up and a car rose from within. It was a shiny, brand new, red '94 Camaro. It was in new condition, it shined brilliantly and the windows were view proof, no one could see us inside. It was even equipped with GPS.

"Ah it's been a while since I've driven her," said Reggie, "It'll be nice to get behind the wheel again."

I stared at this amazing car with wide open eyes. "You drive?" I asked.

He flicked a driver's license at me before I could even finish. The photo depicted a young man with brown hair, olive skin, green eyes and was wearing a green T-shirt and a maroon overcoat. He still retained his cool, calm and collected face.

"You ready for this?" he said.

I nodded, "I'm ready."

Reggie and I both put on our humanizing rings, me becoming my old self and Reggie becoming the boy in the picture. He was cooler than I thought.
He grabbed the keys and unlocked the doors. I opened the passenger seat door and climbed inside. I took one last look at my friends, who were smiling and waving, before slowly closing the car door. Reggie put the key in the ignition, turning the engine on, and started driving down the long tunnel. My heart was pounding at a mile a minute and I was truly excited and anxious as to what was going to happen. I turned around to see my friends as tiny dots before we sped up a ramp to the surface, where we were on a road in the middle of the woods. I took one last look before turning around, the car speeding towards New York City.