LFL: Book 2, Chapter 4

Graveler turned over in it's sleep. It was having a restless night. The sight of the dead Pidgeotto yesterday had unnerved it. And then there was that man-Scyther......Well, it had been had been an eventful day.

"Hoo-Hoo! Hoo-Hoo!" Something was making strange noises outside the tent. "Gravel?" It got up and, stepping around the sleeping Mark and Joe, walked outside. "Hoo-Hoo! Hoo-Hoo!" Graveler looked around. There was a strange one-footed owl perched on a branch. It was making the hooting.

"Gravel! Er Gravel Graveler!!" Graveler shouted at the owl. "Hoo-Hoo??" It tilted it's head at Graveler, and swooped down and landed in front of the living rock. "Gravel!" It swung it's heavy fist at the nuisance, knocking it against a tree. "Hoo!" The small owl screeched, and fluttered just above Graveler's head. "Gravel! Grave! Er!" It leapt up and tried to grab the bird, but missed. "Gravel..." it muttered in defeat, and went back inside the tent.

Meanwhile........ In the nearby farming village..... A small boy was feeding his Growlith.......

He whistled, calling the puppy pokémon from the shadows. "Here Growlith, come here boy!" He patted his knees. The pokémon was nowhere. He walked out into the shed, where the Growlith often slept. Growlith was there, alright. There, in many pieces. There was something else there, as well. It looked like a cross between a Scyther and a human. It was eating the Growlith. Several other Scythers were there too, and they were eating the raw flesh.

The man-Scyther looked up at the boy, blood dripping off of his peak shaped mouth. It's red eyes glared, warning the boy not to come any closer. He started to back away. They monster came ever closer, it's blood red eyes islands in an endless dark-green sea. It's upper arms shot out from behind it's back, blades gleaming in the dim candle light. It hissed sending shivers up and down the boy's back.

He started to run, but the Scythers had closed the shed door. He clawed against in, attempting to rip it open. The beast drew closer, and slid it's blade down the boys back. He froze, unable to move. He was breathing heavily, his whole body shaking. Finally he collapsed, under the sheer terror of the experience.
The pack of feral Scythers gathered around the body, waiting for their leader to finish the job, and give them a heartier meal..............

Back at Mark and Joe's camp site...... Morning was slowly approaching........Driving off the one footed owl......

Joe got up and stretched, taking in the morning rays. Mark was just beginning to wake up. It would be a long journey to the huge house, and they needed to get started. Mark got up out of the tent, and flexed his hands. He could almost feel his left hand. It had been paralyzed ever since the.........accident.

Graveler was already awake. It looked as if it was stalking something. Leaves rustled nearby. Graveler tensed up. It just might be the Man-Scyther. Graveler slowly crept up on the bush that the sound had come from. A figure stepped out. Well, it was human, and that was a start. It also seemed short, like a child.....

Suddenly, four more figures walked out of the bush, three more people, a Primeape, and a Charmeleon. The youngest one, called out to Graveler, "Wow! A wild Graveler! Their rare in these parts! I gotta catch it!!" He reached for one of the two pokéballs at his waist. "Bellsprout, go!" He flung out the ball, reveling a small, plant pokémon.

Graveler grinned. Even though he was still a officially a "wild" pokémon, he was bound to Mark, meaning that he could not be caught. Not only that, but the Bellsprout was at a low level. Graveler used to smash these thing for fun at the Pewter City Gym.

"Bellsprout, use Vine Whip!" The young trainer commanded. The weed pulled back a vine and snapped it in Graveler's face. The huge rock shook it off, and leapt into the air. one of the older boys shouted at the younger one, "Kev, watch out, it's doing Rock Throw!"

Half way though the Rock Throw, Graveler pulled back, and slammed into to the Bellsprout, knocking against a rock. This was fun! "Poor Bellsprout, Return!" The young trainer recalled the plant-poison pokémon. "Squirtle, G-" His older brother put his hand on Kevin's shoulder, "Whoa, I don't think you really want to do that. That things OBVIOUSLY not wild. It's WAY too powerful. You don't want to lose another pokémon, do you?"

The older one looked around. "I don't see any trainers around. Must've gotten lost." He addressed Graveler. "Well, uhhhh, hello Graveler. My name's Chris, and this is my brother Kevin and my friends Marian and Robert, and that's Charm," he said pointing to the cranky Charmeleon. "We were traveling from Cerulean, and got lost. Know where your trainer is? We could use some help....." Robert crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Do you have any idea how stupid you look, talking to a Graveler?"

Graveler ran off into the dense forest, leaving a trail of broken sticks and crushed leaves. "Well, at least it'll be easy to follow...." Chris said and started off, trying to catch up to Graveler, his friends, brother, and pokémon following in hot pursuit. "Do we really have to meet it's trainer?" Marian complained, "I mean, I've met more people this week then I have my entire life!"

Meanwhile, back at the camp Graveler was returning............

Graveler stormed into camp, and dove into the tent. Mark just stared at the great rock pokémon. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered to save you at all......" Graveler started to mutter something that Mark couldn't understand. He only guessed at what he was saying. "Don't give me any of your lip, you dang boulder. Just let me guess, you saw something and it sacred the pebbles out of you?" "Gravel. Grav. Ler. Er. Graveler. Grav." "Still not going to saw, eh? Just get out off there, before I sic Dugtrio on you."

Suddenly, from out of the dense forest, on the exact path, came six figures. Chris' group. Worlds were about to collide...........


EPILOGUE: Back in the small farming village, a man was about to look in his shed. He opened the door, and inside were two corpses. His son, and the boy's Growlith. Both dead, ripped open, in a huge bloody mess. It was a disgusting site. In the back of the shed, there was a huge gaping hole, that looked as if it had been ripped open the same way his son had..........

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PROLOGUE:

In a cave, far away from the forest where Mark and Joe where about to meat Chris' group, two blind men stared into space, seeing nothing, yet seeing all......
One of them finally broke the silence with a scream.
"No! They can not interfere! They will destroy that which we have worked so hard to accomplish!" He paced around the small cave. The other once again lifted the veil of silence that had fallen between the two ancients. "They must be stopped. This 'Chris' had his group are needed for another purpose. Their time is not now. If they somehow drive Mark away from his destiny............We will all be doomed."
The other walked over to a multi-leveled chess set the was in to corner. "Then, perhaps, it is finally time for US to interfere." He picked up a small, six handed piece with blades on it's hands, and placed it next to a grouping of other pieces.
"God forgive me for what I have done." and then the cave sunk again into silence......

LFL, Book 2: Chapter 5.

Mark clenched his good hand and thrust it out to Chris, who was in front of the other group. "Who are you? By what right do you intrude here?!" "Prime!" The hulking pig-monkey raged out from behind his trainer, willing to protect him to the death. Chris put his hand the huge pokémon's shoulder. "Whoa. We don't want any unnecessary fighting, do we?" "Ape..." He sighed and moved back.

Chris took a step forward. "Sorry about that, it appears we got off on the wrong foot!" He dropped his hands to the side. "My name is Chris! And that is Marian," he said, pointing to the black cloaked girl behind him, "And that's Robert," he said pointing to the taller boy, "And this is my younger brother Kevin! We were in the process of going on a pokémon journey, when Robert's car broke down. I was wondering if you could help us find our way back to Cerulean, as Charm here got us lost!"

Mark, Joe and Graveler just stared at this very fast talking person. "OK, and why should we care? We were on our way to Cerulean, too. We, also, have no idea as to where we are, only that we are in this forest, and there is a very big house back there." Mark finally said.

"Well, we knew THAT!" Chris muttered, "Right, Robert? Robert? Robert!" But Robert had ran across over to the other side of the clearing, and was talking with Joe. "Joe! My God, I bet it's been three years since the last time we met, huh?" Joe seamed to agree, "Yeah, I guess...... doesn't seam like it's been that long ago........"

"Chris, Marian, Kevin! I want you to meet my brother Joe!" He shouted over to the others. "It's been THREE YEARS since the last time we were together!" He called over them, beckoning them to come over. "Come on, you guys! He doesn't bite!" When the other five, Chris, Marian, Kevin, Primeape, and Charm, came over, he introduced them to Joe. "Joe these are my friends. We've been traveling around for about three weeks now."

Mark stamped his foot. "Ahem. If this touching family moment is over, the sun's starting to go down. If we want to make it to Cerulean before tomorrow night, we're going to have to move, first thing in the morning." He looked over to Chris, "I guess you guys can stay with us. For the time being. But when I say you go, you go. Got it? Good." Robert bent down to Joe, "Kind of an over bering little guy, isn't he?" Joe just rolled his eyes and looked away.....

Later that night........

Joe, Mark and Graveler were staying in one tent. Chris, Robert, and Kevin were staying in another. Marian and Charm were in yet another. Primeape opted to stay outside, to be on watch.

Mark and Joe were talking. "OK, Joe, so what's the deal with you and your brother. You never mentioned him, and now that your back together, you act like you never want to see him. What's up?" Joe sighed, and just kept looking at the tent side. "I never mentioned him because of our childhood. He was such a.....perfect trainer, mom and dad thought that I would be like that too. Dad gave me his pokémon, Slowpoke, in hopes that I would be able to do it. It was a very humiliating experience, have the only pokémon that's more useful as a paperweight then as a fighter."

Joe continued his story, never looking away from the side of the tent. "On my first day, I actually managed to catch a pokémon. Mankey. I was very excited. Later that day, when I got home, I found that Robert had left. He returned for my father's birthday three years ago. That was the last time I saw him." He sighed, "It seamed that no matter how good I was, I was always living in Robert's shadow. When he left, I thought that I could really make mom and dad proud of me. They just pushed me harder. When Brock left the Gym, and you took over, they made me compete, in order to get the same badge Robert had. And then........well you know the rest."

Mark patted the young Scyther that was crawling around on his lap. "Huh. Well, I guess that pretty much explains it....."
Meanwhile, in the next tent over...........

The huge Primeape was snoring outside the tent. "Will you wake up?! Your supposed to be on watch!!" Chris said, and chucked a rock at the sleeping beast. "Prime!!" It snorted, and settled back down, now fully awake.
Robert stretched. All the commotion had woke him up. "So, Chris? Why aren't you in the same tent as Marian? You two were getting pretty cozy there........" Chris glared daggers at him. Robert jerked back, "Whoa! If looks could kill........." He said, with a grin. "We'd all be dead from your ugly mug!" Chris answered. "Well, there's no need to get all uppity about it........" Robert replied.

"Now it's my turn to ask you one." Chris said, "Why didn't you tell me about Joe being your brother? When I first mentioned him, you just said he was 'some guy'."

*NOTE. See "The Second Legend: Chapter 1" for details*

"Well, it's kind of strange, really.........." Robert turned away from Chris, "You see, our parents always liked him better. They really didn't care if I left or not. Dad also gave him HIS pokémon, a Slowpoke. He just gave me a pokéball and told me to go at it. I caught a Weedle," He said, patting the head of the Beedrill that was next to him, "Then they got mad at me, asking why I didn't get a better pokémon."

Kevin, who was laying next to Chris, stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. "I kept trying and trying to please them, but I never could. I tried SIX DIFFERENT TIMES to beat Brock, but failed each time. Tanguela was crushed. Nidorina was slammed against the wall. Beedrill was swatted down. Time after time. Finally on my seventh attempt, I managed to win. It was a fierce battle, but I came out on top."

He sighed, and seamed to look into the distance. "They asked why it took so long. By then, Joe was old enough to begin training. Dad gave him Slowpoke. I was so frustrated, I left. I only came back once, for Dad's birthday. They yelled at me, asking why I never called, or visited, you know, things like that. Later that day, I left, vowing never to return. I never have. I never will."

He turned around, looking Chris straight in the eye. "I'm not mad at Joe. He didn't do anything. He just brings back a lot of.......memories. I guess that's what you'd call them. I hope he's not mad at me for leaving, or anything like that." He slammed his fit down to the floor of the tent. "Why can't we just be together, without any of these thing interfering???!!!! I hate it!"

Chris laid his hand on Krabby, who he let out of his ball. " I don't know what to say. I have no idea what to say in a situation like this. I just.........I just hope you and Joe can be like brothers......" He searched for the word, "should. I guess."

Robert looked at the sleeping Kevin. "Why don't you and Kev get along OK? He doesn't seam to be too bad of a kid." Chris smiled. "We have a very special 'love-hate' relationship. We love to hate each other."

Meanwhile, in the next tent over............

"Charm. Charm. Charm." The lizard was snoring very loudly, keeping Marian awake. She shook her gloved hand at the next tent. "Chris, if I ever get my hands on you, for sticking me with this stupid lizard........."

Suddenly, a many armed shadow appeared on the tent wall, radiated only by Marian's slight blue glow, that shown off her hands, a manifestation of her powers. It turned and looked at the tent. It raised one of it's hands, and slashed down the side, leaving a wide gash, ripping it open. Charm woke up and roared. Upon seeing just what had woke her up, she turned and ran out the gash. The creature grabbed her in one of it's short, stubby arms. Marian threw off her gloves, lighting up the whole clearing. She would not run she had been trained to fight things like this since she was born.

The strange blue light lit up the whole camp, waking everyone else up. The creature backed up, snarling. Chris and Robert ran out of their tent, quickly followed by Kevin. Soon, Mark, Joe, and Graveler ran up. Primeape soon followed. They all saw the menace that Marian was fighting.

It was the Man-Scyther.

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PROLOGUE: In a cave, far away from the action in the forest, two old, blind men stared into space, seeing nothing, yet seeing all.........

One of them finally broke the silence the had once again engulfed the cave. He was sitting at a multi-leveled chess board.

"The pieces are now in place. It is time for one of us to make a move. Who will strike first? It's your choice."

LFL Book 2: Chapter 6.

"Haunter, Gastly, now!" Marian placed her hands together, creating a soft, yet very strong, blue light. The two ghosts formed out of that light.

The Man-Scyther screeched at her, and brought it's huge blade down, just barely missing her. "I'm not afraid of you." She said calmly. "Gastly, use Confuse Ray! Haunter, Night Shade!"

The small, round ghost shot forth a purple light, that engulfed the Man-Scyther, making it confused. I looked around, not exactly knowing what to do, and slashed out at Gastly. Gastly turned transparent, and avoided being cut. Haunter use the Night Shade attack, knocking back the Man-Scyther, stunning it.

"Haunter, another Night Shade! Gastly, swoop in for a lick!" As Haunter shot forward another burst of ghostly energy, Gastly flew in and quickly licked the massive bug-man. The Man-Scyther seamed to be weakening greatly. It started to collapse.

Marian ran from the area, recalling the two Ghosts, while the monster started to tumble. It fell to the ground, laying in a heap. When the dust from it's great fall, the whole group just stared in awe at the monstrous beast, now laying as if it was dead. Marian had a smug look on her face. "That was nothing. Phantom was WAY harder to beat." She walked over to the fallen beast, checking to see if it was really dead.

She bent over it, checking for a pulse. "It's still alive!" She said with a gasp.

"PRIME!!!" The huge pokémon screamed at the top of it's lungs. It ran and dove into Marian, knocking her away from the body. Just then, the monsters eyes fluttered open, and rose it's blade.

Right.

Into.

Primeape.

"APE!!!!!!!!!!" The pig-monkey roared, and tumbled forward. It collapsed in a bloody heap, right where the Man-Scyther had been two seconds before.
"Primeape!" Chris cried and ran over to his fallen friend. "No, Primeape! I can save you!" He removed his black gloves, reveling a light green glow, similar to Marian's. "It's time to see if Marian's teaching helped out." Tears were streaming down his cheeks, as he placed his hands over Primeape's wound, and closed his eyes. The powerful green light grew even more intense, as he tried to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, the others were having problems of their own. The Man-Scyther had called over a pack of wild Scythers. "Everyone call out all your pokémon! Were going to need all the help we can get!" Mark commanded, immediately taking control. He flung out two pokéballs, containing Onix and Dugtrio. The young Scyther was too weak right now to battle.

Robert grasped at the balls at his belt. "Go Tanguela, Nidorina, Beedrill!" The trio of pokémon came flying out of their balls, ready for battle. "Go Bellsprout! Come on Squirtle!" Kevin followed suit, calling out his pokémon. Marian again called her ghosts. The only one to hesitate was Joe. Last time he had called out one of his own pokémon was at........Pewter Gym.

Joe fell back as a wave of nausea hit him, just like a sludge-hammer blow to the chest. He steadied himself against a rock. Pewter.......

It always came back to there, didn't it? It was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. HE had broken Mark's arm and leg. HE had paralyzed Mark's hand. HE had caused Mark to go blind in one eye. HE had blown up Pewter Gym. It was HIS fault Mark was now without a license. That was a sin nothing could atone for. He could never pay enough penance for it.

Now was not the time for regrets. He shook off the wave of nausea that had hit him. Now was the time for battle. He flung out his balls. "Go Mankey, Slowpoke, Venusaur!" Now the odds were even.

Suddenly a shout from the deep forest called the battle to a stand-still. "Go Scyther, Pinser! It's time to push the battle in OUR favor!" Two pokéball flew from where the voice had come from. They formed into the chosen pokémon.

The Man-Scyther tilted it's head towards the deeper part of the forest. It hissed one word. "Jer-r-r-um......"

Jerium King leapt down from the foliage, ready to face the attacker. "Yes! It's time for us to become one again." The beast shrieked at him, "No-o-o-o!! I will-l-l-l- ne-e-e-v-v-ver j-j-j-jo-o-o-o-in with y-y-y-ooooo." It looked up at him with insect eyes. Jerium grimaced. "You are pure evil. Every part of me that I hate. It would be so easy to squash you right now. But, I need your power. We must become one. Again."

Meanwhile, with Chris and Primeape....

"Come on, old buddy. We've been through worse then this. Not off the top of my head, can I remember any, but I know we have!!" He was transferring all of his energy into healing Primeape.

Robert screamed at him, "Watch out, INCOMING!!". A Scyther was being knocked over him, followed by an angry Nidorina. Chris ducked, covering the wounded pig-monkey.

"a-a-a-ape...." He said weakly. His eyes rolled up, and he let out a choked cough. Chris was burning with anger. "No! I will NOT let you die Primeape! You will live through this! I will deal the death blow to the monster myself! And you'll help me do it!" Chris' anger was manifesting itself into an even brighter green glow. His eye's were glowing with the power. His whole body radiated it. This massive amount of energy was being used to heal his friend.

The world was moving in slow motion for him. He was in the eye of a hurricane. A living hurricane, of bodies, both pokémon and human, and Human-Pokémon. Chris let out a choke. The huge amounts of energy were threatening to kill him, and Primeape was still in bad condition. Green smoke came out from his mouth. He was literally burning from the inside out.

He manage to choke out one word: "Marian........."

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to face Chris. Green energy was burning off of him, and dissipating into the air. His muscles were tense, almost breaking his bones. He fell to the ground, and thrust out a hand. It was fuming with green energy, smoke coming off it. He let a scream, and sat up. A bright green pillar of green energy shot from his mouth, shooting high in the sky.

"No!!" She cried. "He hasn't been trained to take that kind of power! His body is rebelling against him!" She ran towards him. In a few moments she was at his side. Primeape lay on the ground, struggling for life, not giving into the forces that would take him off the earth. His trainer fought with the same strength.

Meanwhile, in the fight.........

Jerium swung out with a high roundhouse kick, designed to hit the Man-Scyther right in the jaw. The monster blocked it, and socked Jerium in gut. Jerium doubled over, and the beast slammed a heavy fist down on his back. It got ready to take off, and finish the fight where it had an advantage, in the air, when it felt a tugging to it's leg. It looked down. Kevin, Bellsprout, and Squirtle were holding it down.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Kevin commanded. The Tiny Turtle sucked in air, and blasted out with a strong surge of water, hitting the bug-beast in it's beak-like face. It screeched, and struck down with a powerful blow, knocking Kevin back into a rock with a fury that knew no bounds. Kevin looked up. Then the world got dark......

"Venusaur!!" The huge plant-dinosaur struck the Man-Scyther with a Vine Whip, leaving a red mark, but not doing much damage. It hissed, and pounced on the Plant-Poison. "Venu!!" It roared, struck out with more Vine Whips, but to no avail. The beast slashed it's huge flower, throwing foliage all over the place.

"R-R-R-R-R-ROAR-R-R-R-R!!!!" Onix slammed against the Man-Scyther, sending it flying back. It caught itself right before it would have rammed against a sturdy tree. It's wings hummed, and it screeched. Drool was dripping off it's beak, as it swooped over to combat it's new foe. Joe's Venusaur was pretty banged up. It slunk over to a shady spot. Without it's flower, it could not take in sunlight. It would be useless in this fight.

The Man-Scyther shot forward, attempting to Slash Onix, but it dodged. The great rock snake reared up and attempted to use Rock Throw. As the huge rock type came tumbling down, the monster once again dodged, and flew up out of Onix's reach. It shrieked, calling over the pack of Scythers. They swarmed around the rock snake, ready to at least attempt a strike. Onix seamed to grin. This would be a good fight.........

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