***AUTHORESS NOTES***

I am sooooooo excited about the RCA's!!!

Yeah, sure, I'm not expecting to win, but this is the most involved I've
been in awhile. 

I just want to say thanks to Soccerpixie, Carmella Lindquist and Twisted
Alyx for reviewing! And thanks to Twisted Alyx for introducing me to a
nice little tutorial that will (hopefully) make this battle scene the
greatest of the lot!

Here's part 40.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 40: Monumental


     "I hate wearing hats!" I exclaimed with a pout as I tugged at the
black baseball cap that sat resting on my light brown curls. "And I hate
wearing sunscreen!"

     "Well, do you WANT to get sunburn?" Vicky asked me, adjusting her
pink visor. 

     "No, I usually tan though!" I objected.

     "Have you gotten a burn this season?" asked Zach.

     "No... Of course not! It's the middle of spring, I don't expect to
go tanning in the middle of spring! And it's when I go tanning that I
get my initial burn and then I tan," I explained.

     "See? Then you would burn, especially with how bright the sun is,"
pointed out Vicky.

     I stuck out my bottom lip. "You're right. But the sunscreen still
makes me feel sticky and I hate the hat."

     "You look gothic," commented Sam. "You're wearing all black. I'm
not sure why, it's probably 100° out there, but whatever floats your
boat."

     "Jenn!" called somebody behind me. I turned around to see Steven
and another guy running up to me. "What are you doing here?"

     "I guess I'm supposed to save the world," I said nonchalantly.
"Archie of Team Aqua gave me this and told me to defeat Groudon. Go
figure."

     I held out my red orb to the two and Wallace looked amazed. "Come
with me. I can get you all in."

     "Okay... thanks..." I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I couldn't
believe I was doing this! I mean, I know I've saved a small suburban
town before, but the whole world? Isn't that a little bit extreme?

     Wallace went ahead of us and spoke to the man guarding the
entrance. He moved aside and Wallace motioned for us to come along. We
walked to the doorway.

     "I can't go any father than here. You all must go on your own. With
the red orb." WHAT?! But he knew what was going on, he had power, he
knew what he was doing... I didn't. Or at least I didn't think I did.

     I took one cautioned step into the cave where no one in Sootopolis
had ever gone. I bit my lip. "You're going to be fine," whispered Sam. I
nodded unsurely. What if I wasn't going to be?

     We started travelling on, but once we went through the second
doorway, everything became pitch black. I couldn't even see my hand in
front of my face. Suddenly we had light. I looked at my group. Nathan
had a match and was starting to lead us through the cave.

     Around fifteen minutes later, it got lighter and damper and the
match was put out. It was also a lot colder and I was shivering. That
sunscreen wasn't being put to work now! And i was suddenly grateful for
that hat (it was keeping my head warm).

     I started to space out then and I only snapped back to reality once
my friends had stopped moving and I bumped into Vicky.

We were standing in front of Groudon.

     With a trembling hand, I reached into my bag and searched for the
red orb.

But it wasn't there.

     I felt so panicky and I was already picturing the lecture I would
get from Steven, Wallace, Archie, my parents... I was still searching
around and my hand finally rested on it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

     My hand was shaking as I held it out. The orb started to glow
eerily and suddenly, the gigantic Pokemon's eyes shot open. I thought
Vicky was going to pass out. Her eyes got really wide and she got really
pale. Zach looked like he was about to cough up a hairball.

     Groudon started thrashing around to show us that he had a lot of
power that we didn't. My life was flashing before my eyes. Wait, didn't
that stuff happen before you died? Oh my God, my life is ending... I
wanted my mommy! It took all the strength I had not to cry.

     "Okay, now how are we supposed to defeat it?" I asked Nathan. "It
looks mad. I don't supposed a tranquilizing gun would work."

     "It could work," Nathan said, considering the idea. "Do you even
have a tranquilizer gun?"

     I scoffed. "Of course not! Where in the heck would I get a
tranquilizer gun?"

    He raised his eyebrows. "What DO you have?"

     "My Pokemon and a trick gun... And that's it," I said lamely.

     "I bet you can battle Groudon and beat it!" he exclaimed.

     "Um, what?!" I yelled. "As if!"

     "Well, what else could you do? Just try it and we're all here to
catch your back if you need our help," encouraged Nathan.

     Exhaling a deep breath, I released Gully. The Pelipper hovered
above the rocky ground. I bit my lip again and pinched my hands, like I
always do when I'm nervous.

     Compared to the Groudon, my little pelican looked so fragile and I
briefly wondered if Gully would be up to it. I pictured Gully's life
flashing in front of it's wide eyes, but I shook the mental image off. I
had faith in my little birdie. I just hoped I was right in having faith
in it.

     "Um... I guess use surf, Gully," I said with an anxiety filled
voice. Nathan, Vicky, Zach and Sam were all awaiting each of my moves
and that didn't help one bit.

     A torrent of water flew at the ancient Pokemon and made it back up
a few steps. I pinched my hand again as I realized it didn't do much
damage.

     Groudon threw a fire ball at my little pelican. "Move out of the
way, Gully!" I cried in horror. The Pelipper flew out of the way.

     "Use your ice beam," I demanded. But the narrow beam of frostiness
narrowly passed the giant. I blinked for a minute. Things were getting
worse.

     Another ice beam that wasn't supplied by Gully hit Groudon in the
head. I glanced over at my friends. Nathan's Walrein (formerly the
Sealeo that KOed Wally's Altaria at the Weather Institute) was looking
quite pleased with itself.

     "Thank you," I told Nathan with a giant grin. I thought for a
minute, and then whispered something to him. I had an idea. The ice beam
from Walrein had done a nice amount of damage. I hadn't even remembered
that Groudon was a ground type. So why not use the ice type part of
Walrein and Gully's ice type moves?

     Groudon shot out a fire ball that brought me back to reality.
"Dodge it, Gully!" I cried. But it was too late. The inferno enveloped
Gully and ashes covered it's gleaming feathers. Gully seemed very
weakened by the attack.

     Yet another ice beam was fired at the ground type. I looked over. A
Milotic had been released, courtesy of Vicky. 

      I signaled to the two. The three Pokemon shot rays of ice that
merged and hit Groudon dead on. Though Gully was now considerably weaker
than it's fellow Pokemon, it was enough to almost knock out the Pokemon.

     I was now getting more confident, even though Groudon was hurling
another ball of fire at the trio. Before any of us could utter a word,
Milotic let out a torrent of water and doused the fire. Steam rose up
from the scene of the crime.

     "Sheer cold!" commanded Nathan. I was hoping with all my might that
it would hit and the ancient Pokemon would be defeated. This battle was
very stressful and tiring.

But it missed.

     Instinctively, the trio let out a jet of water that pushed Groudon
back, just as it let out a hyper beam. A powerful explosion filled the
air and I coughed because of the smoke.

     All four were wary, but Groudon was the first to fall.

     "We did it! We did it!" I screeched. Nathan hugged me. 

     "I am so proud of you. I knew you could do it!" he exclaimed. 

     "Thank you. I never could've done it without you," I told him. I
turned my head to Vicky. "You too."

     "It was no big deal," she said casually. But it was to me.

It was the single greatest moment of my fourteen years.

*~Jennee~*

Only YOU can prevent forest fires.