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| - After shooing Team Aqua away from the Oceanic Museum, Brendan had received a call from Steven with news that Aiden had flown into the city. Since he didn't want to have a string of nightmares like Mr. Briney said he would have, he thought it would be a good idea to see Aiden immediately. Steven organized plans for them to all meet at a small restaurant on the beach. If Mr. Briney was right about his nightmare being caused by a Pokémon, then Brendan wanted to put a stop to it personally. While he wasn't one for calling a Pokémon evil or trying to stop its natural way of living, this was one that would not fly with him. He was fully confident that his Pokémon would be able to take it down. Following Steven's directions, Brendan and May managed to make it to the hole-in-the-wall shack called the "Seashore House." They entered the small restaurant to find that there weren't very many customers. In fact, all of the customers seemed to be loitering around rather than buying food. They found Steven sitting down at a table for four across from a male who looked to be about the same age as him with spiked red hair, a blue polo, and khakis. Figuring that was Aiden, the pair walked over to the table and took seats at the two remaining chairs. "You must be Aiden." Brendan looked to the male and shook his hand. "I'm Brendan, nice to meet you." "I'm May," May said and shook his hand as well. "I'm Aiden, nice to meet you two," Aiden nodded and looked to Brendan. "So, Steven tells me that you had a strange nightmare last night." "Yeah, we're convinced that it was caused by some sort of Pokémon," Brendan answered. "Mr. Briney said that you know exactly what I'm talking about." "That I do," Aiden said. "When I was about your age, I used to take Pokémon battles very lightly. It seemed less of a competition and more of a chore for me. I was fully convinced that I was the second coming of Alder." "Sounds a lot like someone we know..." May mumbled to herself as she shot a glare at her traveling companion. "What do you mean?" Brendan asked Aiden, completely ignoring May's side comment. "What does that have to do with me?" "It may have absolutely nothing to do with you," Aiden shrugged. "But that's not up for me to decide. All you should know is that Darkrai sees a flaw in you and intends on changing it for your own good." "Darkrai?" "Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon," Aiden answered. "It is a legendary Pokémon species that was said to have originated far within the cold of my home region of Sinnoh." "From the Sinnoh Region?" Brendan asked in slight disbelief. "Why would a legendary Pokémon come all the way from the Sinnoh Region to haunt me?" "That is something I cannot answer," Aiden said bluntly. "Anyways, describe your dreams to me." "Well, I was on an island floating in the shadows," Brendan began. "All of the tress and grass were dead and there was a boulder a few feet away from me. There was some writing engraved on that bouder, too." "What did it say?" "Well, I don't remember exactly, but something along the lines of nightmares becoming reality," Brendan shrugged. "It was just some real trippy shit, man." "Definitely Darkrai," Aiden said softly. "So how do we stop this?" Brendan asked. "Darkrai will stop when it wants to," Aiden answered. "There's pretty much nothing we can do at the moment but offer comfort. Maybe if one day it decides to appear to you, you can confront it one-on-one. Until then, you will suffer until it wants you to." "Well then I'll be waiting," Brendan nodded. "If it's a battle it wants, then it's a battle it gets. I'll teach that thing not to mess with me!" "And that's the attitude I used to have," Aiden chuckled and shook his head. "It's definitely level-headedness that you lack." "I don't see how being confident in my abilities is a bad thing..." "It's not being confident that's detrimental," Aiden said. "It's being overconfident." "I doubt that." "Okay, how about we battle it out, then?" Aiden asked and stood up. He walked around and cleared a few tables out of the way to set up a small battlefield. "What do you say, one-on-one?" "I say you're on," Brendan nodded and stood across from Aiden. "Hey, you two be careful what you knock over!" The store's owner shouted from the counter. "You break it, you buy it!" "Pick your Pokémon wisely," Aiden told his opponent and pulled out a PokéBall. "I've already picked mine." "I have to warn you that Aiden is miles ahead of me in terms of battling abilities," Steven informed Brendan and stood up to watch the battle. "And you wiped the floor with him, too," May chuckled an stood up, as well. "That's no problem." Brendan took a deep breath. "'l'll show you that there's no error in my ways." "Then let's get this show on the road." Aiden sighed and sent his first PokéBall forward. At the same time, Brendan tensed his mind and threw his first PokéBall forward as well. From Brendan's PokéBall, Lairon appeared and roared as it crashed to the ground. On Aiden's side of the field, however, a hulking purple scorpion-like Pokémon appeared. A few people standing in the restaurant circled around the two to get a look at the battle. "I wonder what that is..." Brendan mumbled and pulled out his PokéDex. "Drapion, the the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon," his PokéDex started. "It takes great pride in its strength. Even though it can tear foes apart, it finishes them off with powerful poison." "Drapion, eh? Lairon, use Iron Head!" "Drapion, use Cross Poison!" Lairon charged its head up and Brendan pumped his fist when it appeared that his Pokémon was listening to him. However, it quickly turned its head back to Brendan and powered down its attack. It yawned loudly as Drapion slashed at it with the pincers on its head. The attack blasted Lairon a few meters back. "Lairon!" Brendan cried out when the attack's smoke cleared. "Listen to me!" "It appears you've got a powerful Pokémon," Aiden observed. "It's just too bad that it won't listen. Drapion, hit it with another Cross Poison!" "Lairon, listen to me and use Iron Head!" Brendan commanded his disobedient Pokémon. "Come on, get your head in this!" Lairon closed its eyes and took a nap on the battlefield. Drapion, feeling no mercy towards its opponent, threw its pincers soaked in poison straight at the Steel-type Pokémon. The attack was more powerful and punishing this time around. Lairon flew back but did not wake up. "Lairon, wake up!" "Brendan, this is practically embarrassing now," Aiden scolded. "Drapion, Giga Impact!" "Lairon, please protect yourself and use Iron Head! I'm begging you!" Drapion encased itself in a form of white energy. As the energy circled around it, it launched itself straight at Brendan's Pokémon. There was a large explosion as it made a powerful collision. Both trainers stood protectively as smoke blew everywhere over the battlefield. When the smoke cleared, Lairon and Drapion stood breathing heavily, unmoved. A brief stand-off ensued where neither Pokémon made a move. Brendan and Aiden remained silent in anticipation of Lairon's next move. However, Lairon was not given the chance to obey its trainers commands as it crashed to the floor, unable to battle. "How predictable..." May grumbled under her breath. "No!" Brendan growled and fell to his knees. He painfully slammed his first on the ground three times, one for each hit that Lairon took. He held Lairon's PokéBall up and called it back in a flash of bright red. "Come back, Lairon..." "You too, Drapion," Aiden sighed and called his Pokémon back. "That was a quick battle," Steven commented. "Almost as fast as mine." "So what is it we've seen here, Brendan?" Aiden asked and walked over to the young trainer. He put his hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You can only go as far as your mind allows you to. There comes a point in your training where you have to take a step back and look at the big picture. The big picture is that you're not as good of a trainer that you act like you are." "I'm a fantastic trainer." Brendan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "That battle we just had begs to differ." "You just faced off against my disobedient Lairon." Brendan stood up and crossed his arms. "There's nothing spectacular about that." "And you're wondering why Darkrai is after you," Aiden said and shook his head. "This is your downfall." "But..." Brendan sighed deeply. He took a few seconds to put his mind at ease before opening his mouth again. "So what now?" "There's no other advice I have for you other than to humble up," Aiden shrugged. "It's going to take a while before you even begin to realize how you can change, but I promise it will come to you." "I just want to be the very best." "And I can assure you that with the right amount of training and dedication, you can call yourself that." Being completely wiped out in a battle would take some getting used to for Brendan. Both times he lost he had been completely taken off guard by his opponent's attacking strategies. Powerful hits after powerful hits just dominated his Pokémon effortlessly. If he wanted to be a better trainer, he would have to take extra steps to get to connect with his Pokémon. "You're right," Brendan muttered and looked away. "I'm no good. I just happened to get lucky against two powerful gym leaders." "Let's not say that..." "Brendan, why don't we take a walk by the beach?" Steven suggested. "Maybe that would take your mind off things." The four trainers walked across the sandy shores of the Slateport Beach and looked out into the horizon. The evening sunset lined up perfectly with the waves of water in the distance and cast a powerful solar image on the water. Everything reflected into the clouds and sky to create a powerful pink light in the sky. With every step Brendan took, with every small wave that came crashing onto the shore, he imagined each command he gave to his Lairon. One after the other, Lairon disobeyed his trainer. At this point, Brendan didn't even know why he hadn't used Grovyle or Whismur. At least they were willing to listen to him! "I've never been to this part of the Hoenn Region," May commented and let the warm sand slip through her feet. "Such is the joy is being a Pokémon trainer." Steven breathed in the salty sea air. "The world is more than just your house, and that's a fabulous thing." "What's that over there?" May asked and pointed to a sparkling fish Pokémon flopping on the sand. The group ran over to the Pokémon to find that it had trouble getting back into the water. "I think it needs help..." "It looks like a Magikarp," Steven observed before noticing the shine. "But why is this one golden?" "It may just be some sort of deformation," Aiden said. "But I haven't heard of or seen any Pokémon colored differently in my life..." "Either way, I've heard Magikarp is utterly useless," May groaned. "Let's just send it back to the water and get it done with. I bet its family just thought it was another Pokémon with its color deformation." "Useless?" Brendan asked in disbelief. "I thought every Pokémon had a purpose." "Every Pokémon does have purpose, some just more than others," Aiden answered. "Well what makes this Magikarp different?" Brendan asked and watched the Pokémon struggle to flop its way back into the sea. "So what if it's colored differently? As long as it puts in effort, it'll go where it wants to." "That's a good attitude to have," Aiden responded. "Maybe just like you, Magikarp wants to be the best." "Maybe we're just two peas in a pod, then. Magikarp and I, aiming to be the best of our kind." "Maybe all Magikarp wants is a trainer, or a friend at least," May shrugged. "Someone to share its struggles with." "What if that trainer was me?" Brendan asked and pulled out an empty PokéBall. "Maybe I can show it its true potential." "Brendan, you can't be serious," May chuckled. "You don't intend to catch that thing, do you? Why would you waste your PokéBall on a Magikarp of all Pokémon?" "Aiden said I'm like this Magikarp. Who knows how far we can come? And besides, nothing bad can come out of helping this little guy out. He's a unique one, just like me." "I think it's a great idea," Aiden offered his opinion. "Magikarp can be ferocious if you raise it right," Steven winked at Brendan. "I'll promise you that." Brendan sighed and tapped the flopping Magikarp with its PokéBall. Before it was sucked into the vortex, he was absolutely sure the Pokémon cracked a tiny smile. Brendan's PokéBall fell to the soft sand and wiggled silently in place. After a few seconds, the PokéBall clicked and Magikarp was officially a member of Brendan's team. Brendan swore silently on himself that he would take every opportunity to fix his flaws. Being a Pokémon trainer meant having a great amount of responsibility and patience in terms of trianing. With Magikarp, he intended to teach himself diligence as a trainer. He was sure that he would be able to unlock Magikarp's true potential, as Magikarp would be able to unlock his.
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