The Palto Adventures

Part 9: The Primordial Secret of the Fog Island Forest
( Guest starring FallingHawk as Hawk and Scizor7777 as Scizor)

It was morning, and Hawk nudged Kazuki to awaken him. He nearly fell off of Golduck.

“ Uh, how are you holding up, Golduck? “ Kazuki asked sleepily.

“ Duck! “ It quacked, signaling that it was doing fine.

Scizor was riding a few feet ahead. His Dratini’s scales were almost invisible against the choppy sea. He extended a finger to a small island, only a few hundred feet long and wide. It was covered in plants.

“ We have to stop there. “ Scizor yelled back.
“ The water around Fog Island is too hard to negotiate on a pokemon, and I’m not putting anyone at risk. We can make a raft. “

Kazuki immediately protested.

“ That’ll take too long. Golduck can handle it. “ He said.

Scizor shot Kazuki an angry glance, and Kazuki shut up. He tromped onto shore with a frown across his face. He sat underneath a pine tree.

“ Kazuki, don’t be such a brat. “ Hawk said.

Kazuki wanted to sit there and drown them out, but he knew that Scizor was nice enough to bring them out there, and being a “ brat “ would make getting in training harder. He got to his feet and recalled Golduck. Everyone worked on the raft. About an hour later, it was complete. They took off.

As they neared the rocky shore, which rose in to a hundred foot tall plateau, Kazuki and the group heard a blood-curdling roar cut through the sound of crashing waves. They all stop paddling and looked at each other, exchanging worried expressions.

“ What was that? “ Kazuki asked nervously.

“ I don’t know. “ Scizor replied.

Kazuki pulled the pokedex from his pocket and asked it to identify the voice. It buzzed and whirred.

< No available data. >

Kazuki slipped back in slowly. The scream was like nothing he’d ever heard, and ever wanted to hear again. He paddled again.

“ Look out! “ Scizor yelled.

A large, angry Lapras rushed from a small cave in the side of the island. It opened its mouth and spewed a thick Mist in all directions.

< Mist. > The pokedex said.
< This attack can help hide the opponent, giving it an advantage in battle. >

“ That’s why the island is covered in Fog! “ Hawk cried.

The Lapras was around them, but they couldn’t tell where. Scizor took out his Dratini’s pokeball.

“ Dratini, it’s time to fight! “ Scizor said, throwing the ball.

Dratini leapt into the water with so little as a ripple. It chirped pleasantly, and Kazuki was happy that he’d see it in battle. Scizor was a great trainer.

“ Twister! “ Scizor ordered.

The Dratini started to circle around, and as it did, a whirlpool began to form. The pokemon circled on the side and seemed to pull the whirlpool straight up out of the sea. It jumped out of the funnel and took cover as it roared towards the Lapras.

“ Lap! “ The pokemon cried angrily.

It fired a brilliant white Ice beam at the Twister, and it was totally frozen! It bobbed once or twice, and then sank to the ocean’s bottom.

“ Man, I forgot. These pokemon are really strong. “

“ Dratini, Thunder Wave! “ Scizor ordered.

“ Oh wow, I heard about that attack! “ Hawk said, happily.
“ It can paralyze the enemy and keep them there for a long time! “

“ Wrong. “ Kazuki said, folding his arms.
“ A Dratini’s Thunder Wave technique varies from a normal one, as it can actually induce a change in weather. “

“ What do you mean? “ Hawk asked.

“ Just watch. “

As Lapras circled the raft, Dratini followed as quickly as it could. Dratini’s eyes rolled back into its head. The Mist began to stir, and bright flashes brewed inside.

“ Lapraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! “ Lapras cried, firing a Watergun.

A bolt of blue-white electricity rolled down out of the Mist and coursed through the Watergun. It neighed in pain and splashed away.

“ Incredible! “ Hawk complemented.
“ That was a great example of varied attacks. I thought Thunder Wave just caused paralysis. That’s the kind of stuff I’m going work on.

The trainers returned their pokemon and pulled the raft on shore. The terrifying scream met their ears again, and this time, Scizor had an opinion.

“ It’s…familiar. “ He said slowly.

“ What kind of pokemon is it? “ Kazuki asked him.

“ If it is a pokemon…” Hawk added.

“It’s like the cry of pokemon I’ve heard, that’s since evolved. “
“ Never mind, let’s set up a camp. “

With that, they spent two hours preparing everything. A fire pit was dug, the three tents were set up, and a makeshift arena was created by Hawk in a clearing. He gloated for the rest of the day.

“ Okay…” Scizor said.
“ I have an idea for me and Kazuki to get in some training, but I’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s scout around a bit. I don’t like not knowing what that yell was. ”

They packed some food and went off into the woods. They had walked for some time, and Hawk suggested that they turn around, when they heard that unmistakable cry again.

“ Over there, its just a few yards away. “

They all peeked through some sword ferns, and nearly cried out at what they saw.

“ CARNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! “ The creature boomed.

It swung its long, bone-scythe through the air, cutting a redwood stump into small logs. They rained down after the bone-scythe was placed back at the creature’s side. It reached into a small hide satchel and whipped what looked like a knobby chunk of bone at the bushes. A pack of Pincer scuttled away, more frightened then anyone wanted to see a proud pokemon like Pincer.

“ What is that? “ Kazuki mouthed.

Hawk shrugged, pulling at his collar, and Scizor sat transfixed, eyes unblinking on the beast.

“ Carnalage! Gazer ze vood before ze Pinzir return. “ An old voice beckoned.

The pokemon responded to the name, and our heroes were surprised to see it pick up the wood, more like a human then a pokemon, and jog away into the brush.

“ Kazuki, it’s obvious that there’s someone else here on the island, and that pokemon is his. If we can figure out who he is, maybe he’ll let us train with that, that Carnalage. “ Scizor whispered.

“ Pokedex, analyze! “ Kazuki said quietly, turning the volume down.

< Carnalage (kar-nul-ij). > The pokedex said, the words searching appearing on the screen.

A picture of the pokemon they’d just seen zapped onto the screen. It had a big, white helmet like Marowak’s, but the horns jotted up higher on its head, and only the amber pupils poked threw the eyeholes. Another pair of horns protruded from each side of its helmet, pointing forward, and curving ever so slightly inward. The horns were natural though, and not part of the helmet. Below the head was drastically different from Marowak’s. It looked like a man’s physique. Muscles rippled all over his chest and his arms were big and sinewy. There were leopard skin wristbands just below his hands, and there were only three visible fingers, his thumb, and two, large phalange that basically made up all the “ missing “ fingers. A bone-scythe was draped at his side. At his hips, the pokemon wore a leopard skin loincloth. Tied securely to that was a satchel. Kazuki also realized that the pokemon had leopard skin ankle bands around his feet too, and there were no toes, just rounded skin, which became flat on the bottom. Finally, its tail lied limply at its left. The tail was long and thick, and the end had two, large spheres under the skin. It reminded Kazuki of a dinosaur he’d seen once.

< It is believed that long ago, the present-day Marowak had the ability to evolve, through the use of a rare item known as the Fossil Bone. Scientists believe that this evolutionary aid has since disappeared, and the Carnalage with it. It was believed to be a Ground/Dark type. It wasn’t until Professor Mollusk, a brilliant scientist who specialized in fossil pokemon journeyed to the mysterious Fog Island that a sighting of one was reported. The Professor claims he saw one, but contact with him has since been lost. Nothing can give truth to the allegation. >

“ Do you think that that’s Prof. Mollusk? Hawk asked.

“ No doubt in my mind. “ Kazuki nodded.
“ Let’s go talk to the Doctor…”

They creeped from their hiding place, but stopped when they heard Carnalage approaching again. They leapt in just as he entered the clearing. The pokemon raised his head and began to sniff the air. Kazuki bit his lip in fear. It put its head down and picked up a stray piece of wood that he’d forgotten and started to leave.

“ Phew…”

The pokemon stopped, did a tremendous back flip, and scooped Hawk up in his hand, slamming him against a tree. It sneered at Kazuki and Scizor, who sat stunned at his feet, and knocked both of them out of the fern with the head of his bone-scythe. It started to tighten its grip on Hawk’s neck. He opened his mouth to cry out, but his throat was being squeezed shut. Kazuki got to his feat and pulled a pokeball from his belt. Scizor stopped him.

“ Kazuki, I know you’re a good trainer, but let’s admit that my Scyther will have the advantage. It’s imperative that we rescue Hawk. “

Scyther buzzed through the brush, and Wing Attacked Carnalage. It let go of Hawk, who scrambled over to Scizor’s legs.

“ How…did…you…get…him…here…” He choked out.

“ I’ll explain later! “ He yelled.
“ Scyther, Slash! “

Scyther turned around, started flying toward Carnalage, and raised its scythe in anticipation. As it came down on Carnalage, he blocked the blow with his scythe. A battle involving two equally matched pokemon was rare.

“ Okay, I’ll have to use scythopathy…” Scizor muttered.

“ What? “ Kazuki thought to himself.

Scizor stared hard at Scyther, who’s face was in a state of anger. It changed immediately though, like it had been struck by an idea. It smirked, and let itself be pushed back, slowly weakening its attack. Kazuki realized that this was what Sandy had talked about.

“ The Scyther would occasionally glance at him, and he’d nod, and Scyther would attack. It was like he was psychic or something. “

“ Scythopathy…a psychic link with his Scyther! “ Kazuki said, stunned.

Scyther started to back up, and a smile creeped around the edge of Carnalage’s skull. He thought he was going to win. In a flash, Scyther released himself from the clashing scythes and started to spin like an out-of-control top. Kazuki recognized it as Sword Dance. Carnalage swung the scythe at Scyther with all his might, but it vibrated as it hit the green blur. Try as he might, he couldn’t force the weapon into the chartreuse tornado, and the scythe was flung into a large tree.

“ Stop zis vight now! “ The old man yelled.

Kazuki and Hawk turned to see the Professor running towards them, winded. He stopped in the clearing and rested himself on his knees. He talked in between his panting.

“ Who are you people? Vhy are you ‘ere? “ He said.

“ I’m sorry, I’m Kazuki and these are my friends Hawk, and Scizor. “
“ We came here to train for the Scorpio Cup Tournament. “

“ Carnalage, return! “ The professor rasped.

Carnalage picked up his bone-scythe and walked back to Mollusk’s side. He grimaced at Scyther as he settled near his master.

“ You are ‘ere to train? He said, puzzled.

“ Yes, we know that it’s dangerous, but the pokemon here are supposedly stronger then normal, and we wanted to be the best. “ Kazuki said, balling his hand into a fist.

“ Vell, I canno’ blame you. People ‘ave been trying to get ‘ere for decades. “
“ Come to ma home, and ve’ll arrange zomezing. “

In the cottage the Professor explained that he stopped contacting the pokemon league because he didn’t want people to look for him.

“ Ma last tranzmission informed zem to make thees a forbidden island, und they zeemed to zucceed… “ He started.

“ …But trainers have been trying to get here anyway. “ Scizor finished.

“ Yes, you are zee first to actually get on, everyvone else vas just too veak. “
“ Zo, vhat do you plan to do? “ He inquired.

Scizor looked at Kazuki and Hawk, then back at Prof. Mollusk.

“ At Hawk’s request, I think he should stay here and train with you and Carnalage. “

“ Okay. “ He said, nodding.

“ Kazuki and I will…”
“ Kazuki and I will train each others pokemon, on opposite sides of the island! “

“ What! “ Kazuki said, startled.
“ Are you serious?! “

Kazuki thought about it. His pokemon would greatly benefit from Scizor’s training, but how would he begin to help pokemon like Dratini and Meowth, and Scyther for that matter. He looked back up at Scizor, who was smiling.

“ Okay, let’s do it! “ He said, grabbing for Scizor’s hand.

Hawk was excited to train with the professor. He and the others were led out to the back of the house, where a large pen was erected. There was luscious grass growing all around.

“ Zis iz vhere I keep some ozher fozzil pokemon. “
“ Zhere! “ He pointed.

In the middle of the enclosure, a small, light green creature walked clumsily up to the gate and cooed at the professor, who pat the tops of its grass-covered head.

“ What is it? “ Kazuki, Hawk, and Scizor asked.

“ Give me your pokedex, und I vill update zhem. “ He said, grabbing at Kazuki’s pocket.

He slid a small chip out of a panel in the side and replaced it with one from his pocket. He turned it on, and pointed it at the pokemon, the screen came up immediately.

< Dinozy (die-noe-zee). > It said.

The picture showed a small pokemon, resembling a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its head was nearly larger then the rest of its body. A plume of grass was sticking out of the back, drooping depending on the amount. It had small, black, beady eyes, and one was covered by a dirty blotch. Its nose ran down the front of its face like it would never stop, and the nostrils were open unusually wide. It had a comically blunt tooth protruding from its mouth. Its forearms were almost non-existent, and the ends were covered in the dirty substance as well. The rest of the body ran pretty much horizontally, and its feet were big and heavy looking. This probabley explained its posture, which kept it close to the ground. To finish off the picture, a short tail jotted off its behind, and the tip looked exactly like a leafy bush.

< This pokemon is Grass/Rock type. Its nose helps it find stores of nutrients in the earth, that it eats through its feet. The blotches on its body show how much has been consumed, and when the pokemon is totally brown, it is capable of evolving. The bush on its tail is surprisingly hard, and in an emergency, can be eaten by Dinozy. >

“ You vill battle against zhese pokemon for now, Hawk. “ The professor said.

“ Right, if they are fossil pokemon, then they must be tough. “

“ Zcizor, you und Kazuki vill go do your zeparate training. Ve’ll meet ‘ere at 6:00. “ He said, pointing to a table, with places made up.

“ That gives us nine hours…” Kazuki said happily.

“ Go! “

Kazuki watched as Hawk leapt over the fence and sent out Charmander. The Dinozy tried to do a Tail Whip attack, but the Charmander blocked with his claws. Scizor took out his four pokeballs, and handed them to Kazuki, as he unclipped his balls, he replaced each with the new ones.

“ Okay, I have Meowth, Dratini, and what’s this? “ Kazuki said.

“ Oh, that’s my Eevee, but you’re forgetting Scyther. “

Kazuki couldn’t believe he was letting him train Scyther. It buzzed up to Scizor and acknowledged the plan. Scizor took out a strange metal vest from his backpack and handed placed it over Scizor. It stepped over to Kazuki’s side.

“ Okay, that’s a Metal Coat, it will help Scyther when he tries to improve his speed. “ He informed.

The professor walked over to Scizor.

“ What pokemon do you ‘ave? “ He asked.

Scizor checked each ball, and then asked Kazuki.

“ You’ve got Remoraid, Golduck, Kakuna, Chikorita, Sudowoodo, and Pichu. “
“ I’ll probabley use Sudowoodo in the tournament, because he’s strong against bug types, and Golduck would be a good choice, since he’s my strongest fighter, and last but not least, Kakuna.”

“ Well, I’m using Scyther, Meowth, and Dratini. “ Scizor said.
“ Feel free to train Eevee if you like, but I don’t expect results. “

“ Why? “ Kazuki asked.

“ Well, I caught him very recently, and he’s especially stubborn, more so then any other pokemon I’ve trained. It’s like he’s too busy trying special techniques instead of covering the basics. “ Scizor said, shaking his head.

“ Don’t worry, I’ll try and train everyone equally. “

And with that, Scizor turned his heels and took off into the woods, not once looking back. Kazuki thought about it, nine hours to train. He needed to get started.

“ Looks like you guys are officially mine! “ Kazuki said ecstatically.

Scyther started to shake and tremble. Kazuki immediately ran over to it, and saw the Metal Coat disappear into its body. It became invisible, and the light forming around it shielded it from view. Kazuki contemplated going after Scizor, but continued to watch, and to his surprise, when the light faded away, a new pokemon was in Scyther’s place.

< Scizor. > The pokedex said.

< Because of a Scyther’s natural speed, trainers often use Metal Coats of varying weight to increase their speed. When the trainer trusts another trainer enough to trade, and the Metal Coat is attached, the Scyther will evolve into Scizor. >

“ Oh, Scizor trusts me that much? “ Kazuki thought.

With four pokemon under his belt, and less then half a day ahead of him, Kazuki went out into the woods to train. He picked a spot and released Eevee and Dratini.

“ Okay, I’m gonna have you two spar for now. “ Kazuki instructed.
“ I’ll have Meowth do some solitary training. “

He walked a bit more, and the sounds of clashing attacks met his ears. He wasn’t used to the intense kind of training that Scizor was. He got to a tree and looked it over. It was very thick and the bark was tough. He released Meowth and told him what to do.

“ Chop down this tree. “ He said simply.

Meowth acknowledged by extending its claws. It purred as Kazuki pat his head, and started to hack away. Scizor and Kazuki walked down to the beach and stopped right at the end of the woods.

“ Okay, I want to teach you a Special Technique. “
“ Do you know a Special Technique yet? “

Scizor shook his head right and left.

“ Okay, we need an attack that takes advantage of your speed. Maybe if I taught you an attack that took awhile to charge, you could do so safely while dodging… “

So Kazuki set to work. It wasn’t easy, but Scizor cooperated well enough. First, he tried a steel attack that he dubbed Rust Attack. He intended it to greatly lower the speed of the opponent, giving Scizor the obvious advantage, but it lowered Scizor’s speed too much. Some time later, Kazuki had found one worth using.

“ Try the new one! “ Kazuki ordered.

Scizor’s wings started to beat back and forth, and electricity buzzed over its body. After crackling with energy, and gathering the coursing power, it divided it into each claw, and fired two, bright beams at Kazuki. Kazuki leapt out of the way, and scratched himself rolling out of the way. The attack hit a rock and split it in two. Kazuki wiped some sweat from his brow and walked over to Scizor.

“ How about, the Static Ray! “ Kazuki said triumphantly.

“ Scizor! “ The pokemon agreed.

Kazuki walked back over to Meowth, who was still cutting the tree down. As they rounded the bend, it head-butted the trunk, and it toppled over, shaking the ground. Meowth’s charm shattered in two and fell to the ground, just as Meowth fell backwards. He nearly passed out.

“ Oh, I worked you too hard! “ Kazuki said sincerely.
“ Your paws are covered in burns, you broke your charm, and your barely conscience. “

Kazuki instructed Scizor to get Dratini and Eevee, and he would collect some berries. Kazuki went off, and found some bushes right away. He asked the pokegear if they were edible.

< Ice Berry. > The pokegear said.
< This berry will cure a pokemon that has been burned. The juice is to be applied to a burn, while the rest of the berry is ingested. >

“ Okay, now I need some health-restorative berries. “

Kazuki walked a little farther and found a bush of small, green berries. They were plump and shiny. Kazuki assumed they were ripe.

< Berry. >
< This is the most common berry. It has mild health-restorative properties and can positively affect the mood of a pokemon. >

“ Great, I’ll snag a few and heal Scizor’s pokemon. “ Kazuki thought to himself.
“ Not too many. I don’t want to spoil dinner. “

He returned to find a battered Eevee and a bruised Dratini. They were happy to gobble down a few berries. Kazuki applied the Ice Berry to Meowth’s paw, and although he struggled, it went over fairly easy. At one point, Scizor gave his berries to the other pokemon, and flew off unsatisfied. Kazuki began to worry as six o’ clock approached.

“ Where do you think he is? “ Kazuki asked Scizor’s pokemon.
“ I know he can take care of himself, but it still worries me. “

Scizor returned not too long after, with three Gold Berries in his possession.

< Gold Berry. >
< This is a very rare berry. It has super strong health-restorative properties and will put any pokemon that ingests it in a good mood. Even savage Tyranitar have been calmed slightly by this berry. >

Scizor started to eat them all, but selflessly sliced one down the middle and gave it to the glum Meowth. It purred a thank you, but couldn’t get its mind off the broken charm. Kazuki sat down and had all the pokemon gather.

“ I want to tell you all a story, my dad told it to me, and I want you to here it. “

The pokemon, especially Meowth, listened intently.

“ Not too long ago, my neighbor back in the Sage Town had her house burned down in a fire. The only thing she had when she ran out was a golden Meowth Charm. Those charms are said to bring the bearer great luck she now considered it a curse, as she had just received it from her mother. One day, she tripped while walking down to the insurance office, and the char fell from her pocket. As she chased it, a car came speeding down the road and swerved to miss her, crashing into a wall. The police were right behind. They apprehended the criminals and paid the woman a big reward for helping stop them. Now that she had enough money to start her life over, she gave the charm to my dad, who landed a job he enjoyed going to everyday. Those are the best you know. He gave it to me, but nothing good has happened so far. Now I want you to have it, its not like I have a place for it on my forehead. “

Kazuki handed the charm to Meowth, and it cautiously placed it on his head. Eevee and Dratini smiled at this, and even Scizor looked up from his meal long enough to crack a smile.

“ Okay, let’s get to dinner. “ Kazuki said.

When Kazuki got back, Professor Mollusk and Hawk were patting a large brown pokemon with, green blotches, near the table. Kazuki got his pokedex out.

< Grasimimus (gras-im-ime-us). > The pokedex said.
< This is the evolved form of Dinozy. It has no mouth, and instead of eating, drags its tail through the dirt to absorb vitamins. With its large, powerful legs, this pokemon stomps and tramples opponents, then slows them down with projectile sap. >

“ How ‘re you doing vit your training? “ The Prof. asked.

“ Fine. Where’s Scizor? “

“ Over zhere. “ He gestured.

Scizor was walking up the path to the cabin, with Pichu in his arms, and the rest of Kazuki’s pokemon following suit. He smiled and waved at Kazuki. Pichu tried to struggle to get out of his arms, but Scizor restrained him. He leapt out of his grasp, however, when he stopped near Kazuki.

“ Hey, Pichu! “ Kazuki exclaimed.

The rest of Kazuki’s pokemon greeted him, and Scizor’s pokemon did the same to their trainer. They both agreed that they should train each other’s pokemon more often.

“ Let’s eat! “ Prof. Mollusk said.

They all sat down to a feast like none of them had ever seen. Professor Mollusk obviously didn’t spend all his time studying ancient pokemon, because the meal was delicious. There were two roasts, smothered in a berry sauce. Professor Mollusk waved away their praise.

“ Believe it or not, Carnalage made zee sauce. “ He laughed.

Carnalage, the menacing pokemon who was scarfing at the end of the table, actually blushed. They all laughed and finished the dinner, while trying to comment on how good it was with food in their mouths. When it was over, and everyone settled down for the night, Kazuki visited Scizor’s tent.

“ Hey Scizor, mind if I ask how training went? “ Kazuki whispered.

Scizor wiped his eyes and yawned.

“ Kazuki, it’s sort of late. “ He said, yawning again.
“ Do you think we could talk about it tomorrow on the way back? “

“ Alright. “

So Kazuki left. When he returned to the tent, and realized that Pichu’s pokeball was open, and Pichu was gone! He ran into the woods, whispering his name. He ran until the woods met the beach, and the moon lit up the ocean. On the beach, two figures were battling.

“ Pichu? “ Kazuki said.

It was Pichu, but it was doing an attack that Kazuki had never seen before. As a Kabuto advanced on it, Pichu released two, black bolts from its cheeks. The pokemon was knocked out, and flipped over like a dying bug.

“ That’s the Dark Energy attack. “ Scizor said.
“ I figured the little guy would need a really powerful technique. “

“ You, you taught him a dark attack? “ He asked.

“ Yeah, and then some…”
“ We’ll talk tomorrow. “

Scizor walked back in to the woods towards the camp, and Kazuki picked Pichu up. He figured he had gone looking for him and got lost. They walked back to the tent, and as they did, the wind howled. Across the water, the trainers slept, careful to be well rested for the Scorpio Cup…