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Explorers of Fate chapter 22

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Chapter 22: Would the Real Carlos Please Stand Up?


    Carlos coughed, waving his arms to clear away the smoke. Spotting something red building up somewhere to his left, he quickly dodged just seconds before Jealousy’s Ember would’ve hit him. The Pikachu launched a Thundershock in retaliation, which the Charmeleon was quick to escape from.
    We’re not making any progress, Carlos realized. We’re just attacking and dodging! I’ve got to get a hit on her. But how?
    “Keep your eye on the battle, Carlos!” Jealousy shouted.
    Carlos snapped out his thoughts, narrowing escaping a Scratch aimed at his face. Carlos took his chance to use Quick Attack while her back was turned, only to be knocked off course by her sweeping tail. Another Ember hit the ground at his feet, making the Electric-type race away.
    “Running won’t save you forever!” Jealousy said. “Have a taste of my Dragon Rage!”
    A huge ball of fire erupted from her jaws, hitting Carlos head-on. The Pikachu yelped, crashing into a wall. Slumping to the ground, Carlos found he couldn’t move. He struggled desperately but could do nothing except watch as Jealousy walked toward him.
    I must still be weak from fighting Pyro, Carlos realized. Eating that Oran Berry may have restored my health but I’m still exhausted. I was probably only delaying the inevitable!
    Jealousy smiled, kneeling beside him. “Ready to give up yet?” she asked.
    “No way,” Carlos panted.
    “Guys like you are all the same. They just have to act like a hero. Well, guess what?” Jealousy chuckled darkly. “You’re never a true hero until after you die, Carlos.”
    /That saying has a bit of truth to it. Many people, Pokemon and human alike, are never really recognized for their acts until after they die. Even Carlos became a true hero after he disappeared both times. It’s terrible, actually. They spend their whole lives trying to make a difference and people only realize that after those people are dead. It’s sad./
    “I won’t die,” Carlos said.
    “Oh, you will.” Jealousy replied, morphing from a Charmeleon into a Pikachu. And not just any Pikachu. It was Carlos’ form. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll dump your body in the ocean so nobody will find it. If you had just given up, I would’ve let you go.”
    “I won’t die,” Carlos repeated.
    Jealousy ignored him, wrapping her hands around his throat. She began to squeeze, cutting off Carlos’ oxygen. The Pikachu’s body instantly went into survival mode, struggling under her grip to breathe. Thoughts raced through his head.
    I can’t die! I have to find the guy who was with me that night! I have to find out why I’m here! Carlos thought frantically.
    “Carlos!” a voice cried.
    “Huh?!” Jealousy turned toward the ladder, giving Carlos enough time to knock her off with his tail. “Ow! You little!” she growled.
    Carlos turned toward the ladder to see Sandra standing there, looking at the two Pikachu in shock. Jealousy smirked. The Eevee turned and glared at Carlos, her fur bristling. Before he could say anything, Sandra had pounced and landed on the Pikachu’s chest.
    “Who are you? And why are you attacking Carlos?” she demanded.
    “Sandra, it’s me!” Carlos cried.
    “Carlos? Then…?” The Eevee looked at Jealousy in confusion.
    “Don’t listen to her, Sandra! That’s Jealousy! She broke out of prison!” Jealousy said quickly, pointing at Carlos.
    “That’s not true! Yes, I broke out of prison but I’m no copycat. That’s Jealousy!” Carlos argued.
    “Huh?” Sandra whimpered. What’s going on? I can’t tell who’s real and who isn’t!
    Jealousy smirked and raised her arm, revealing a deep scratch. “See, Sandra? I’m the real Carlos!” she said firmly.
    “Wait! What?!” Carlos yelped.
    Sandra turned to Carlos, a Shadow Ball building up in her mouth. “I’m sorry, but the real Carlos went on a mission with us today. You’re not him.”
    “Yes, I am! Jealousy’s been posing as me for two and a half days, Sandra!” Carlos cried. “Please, you’ve got to believe me!”
    “That’s it, Sandra! Teach that copycat a lesson!” Jealousy cheered. “Kill him!”
    /That’s where Jealousy made her big mistake. An unspoken rule among Exploration Teams involves no killing. To kill is to be no better than criminals or the wild Pokemon that dwell within mystery dungeons. The moment she ordered me to kill Carlos, I knew who was who. She had no control over me anymore./
    Sandra suddenly turned, launching the Shadow Ball at Jealousy. Jealousy yelped, knowing her cover was blown. She transformed into a replica of Sandra, taking no damage from her attack. Jealousy glared at Sandra as she helped Carlos up.
    “Big mistake there, Jealousy,” Carlos said.
    “So what? That just means I have to silence both of you!” Jealousy growled.
    “Two? You mean three!” a voice cried.
    Jealousy screamed in pain as a Force Palm collided with her back. Lucar front-flipped over the fallen copycat and landed before his teammates, smiling at Carlos. The three members of Team Legend turned to face Jealousy, reunited at long last.
    “I missed you,” Lucar said.
    “And I’ve missed you. All of you!” Carlos replied.
    “Carlos, I’m sorry for what I said!” Sandra whimpered.
    “It’s okay. I probably would’ve done the same thing.” Carlos reassured. “Let’s take this thief down!”
    “Yeah!!” Lucar and Sandra cried.
    “So what if there are three of you now? I’ll still take you all down!” Jealousy shouted.
    “Just try it, Jealousy.” Carlos dared. “You’ll find that we’re not an easy bunch to defeat.”
    “Then try to defeat this form!” Jealousy cried, changing from a Ditto into a Combusken. “You’ll find I’m not easy to defeat, either.”
    “Shadow Ball!” Sandra cried.
    “Thundershock!” Carlos yelled.
    “Force Palm!” Lucar shouted.
    Jealousy smirked. “Protect!”
    Crossing her arms over her chest, a wall of blue light formed in front of her. All three attacks struck the shield, disintegrating instantly. Jealousy smirked again only seconds before she dove underground, using Dig.
    “Careful, guys! She’s planned this whole thing out!” Lucar warned.
    “I kno—AAAAH!!” Carlos screamed as Jealousy struck him from below, throwing him aside. The Pikachu struggled to his feet, coughing. “Ugh…”
    “Carlos!” Lucar cried, dashing toward the Combusken. “Take this! Force—”
    “Peck!” Jealousy cried, her beak glowing white as she attacked. Lucar crashed to the ground, whimpering in pain.
    “Guys!” Sandra cried, suddenly very afraid.
    Jealousy turned toward the Eevee. “Your turn, Sandra,” she said. “Double Kick!”
    Sandra yelped as one kick hit her chest while the second hit her head, sending the Normal-type skidding across the floor. The trio painfully regrouped, staring the Fire/Fighting-type down. Jealousy smirked but waited patiently for them to make a move. She didn’t want to spoil the fun, after all.
    “What do we do? She’s beating us!” Sandra cried.
    “She’s using our weaknesses against us. She picked the perfect form to attack us with.” Lucar said. “Dig to take out Carlos, Peck to deal with me, Double Kick to defeat Sandra, and Protect to stop our attacks from connecting. She’s got her strategy all rounded out. Now we just need to find a loophole. She’s got to have made a mistake somewhere. We just have to think.”
    “Hey, don’t you have an attack that can cut through Protect?” Carlos asked.
    “What?” Lucar suddenly realized what he meant. “Yes, I do! I nearly forgot! If we can shatter her Protect, she won’t have a defense anymore!”
    “Then we have a plan?” Carlos asked.
    “Kind of,” Lucar admitted. “Just give me a chance to use Feint and then we can figure it out from there.”
    “Good idea,” Carlos nodded. “Let’s do it. If she tries to hit us with an attack we’re weak against, try to dodge it and attack while she’s recovering.”
    “Right!” Sandra cried.
    “Let’s go, team!” Carlos ordered.
    Jealousy chuckled. “Coming for more? Well, here’s seconds!” she laughed.
    “Force Palm!” Lucar yelled, charging.
    “Idiot! Protect!” Jealousy growled.
    “You’re the idiot!” Lucar countered. “Feint!”
    “Huh?!” Jealousy yelped.
    The Combusken watched in terror as her barrier shattered, the blow crashing into her chest. Jealousy stumbled back a few steps, clutching her chest with her left hand. Lucar quickly backed up, not wanting to be hit with Peck. Sandra and Carlos moved in, ready to attack now that Jealousy was injured.
    “Shadow Ball!” Sandra cried.
    “Thundershock!” Carlos yelled.
    “Dig!” Jealousy gasped, burrowing underground and avoiding both attacks.
    “Watch it, Carlos! She’ll aim for you!” Lucar reminded.
    “I know!” Carlos barked, hopping around to prevent the Combusken from getting a lock on him.
    Jealousy suddenly struck…hitting Lucar! The blind Riolu yelped as pain exploded through his back and then through his side as Jealousy used Double Kick to pound him into the ground. Sandra leaped forward to help, only to be smacked aside by the Combusken’s right hand. The Eevee collided with Carlos, sending both Pokemon crashing to the ground.
    “You clever little punks!” Jealousy hissed. “You should learn not to attack those more powerful than you!”
    “You’re just mad because…because we’re beating you.” Lucar coughed, smirking.
    “Beating me? Not even close!” Jealousy shouted. Her beak began to glow. “Take this! Pe—”
    “Bubble!” a voice cried.
    “GAAAH!!” Jealousy leaped away from the Riolu, clutching her left shoulder.
    “Hey, copycat! Leave my friends alone!” Luv the Piplup shouted, jumping up from her perch on the ladder.
    “Darn it! Quit butting in!” Jealousy screamed.
    “No! Earthquake!” Luv cried, stomping the ground as hard as she could.
    Jealousy yelped, struggling to stay upright as tremors rocked the upper floor of the Guild. When they were over, Jealousy found herself being assaulted by more bubbles. Carlos took this chance to dash to Lucar’s side, helping the Riolu to his feet.
    “You okay, Lucar?” the Pikachu asked.
    “I think so, but I’m definitely going to feel that in the morning.” Lucar groaned.
    Luv quickly joined her three teammates, glaring at Jealousy. The four Pokemon faced the Phantom Thief, ready to fight. Jealousy whimpered, backing up a step. She had lost.
    /See what a little teamwork can do to turn things around? If Lucar hadn’t had Feint, we would’ve never landed a hit on her. If Luv hadn’t appeared when she did, Jealousy might’ve seriously injured Lucar. And if Jealousy hadn’t slipped up on talking to me, I might’ve lost my best friend…maybe forever./
    The rest of the Guild suddenly rushed up the stairs, surrounding Jealousy in seconds. Chatot looked at Carlos guiltily before turning his attention to the Combusken. He frowned, glaring at her.
    “Phantom Thief Jealousy, we ask that you surrender immediately.” Chatot said. “Team Heroes is already on their way to arrest you for the crimes you’ve committed.”
    “You really think you have me? Think again!” Jealousy laughed before burrowing into the ground.
    “Hey, hey, hey! Where’d she go?” Corphish asked.
    “She came here looking for treasure,” Carlos replied.
    “The treasure room! Quickly, everyone! We cannot let her escape with the Guild’s treasure!” Chatot cried.
    The entire Guild, led by Carlos and Team Legend, raced downstairs and into Wigglytuff’s room. Chatot quickly unlocked the door to the treasure room and everyone burst inside. A hole in the ceiling of the room showed how Jealousy got in. Carlos was the first to spot her.
    “Stop right there!” the Pikachu shouted.
    Jealousy, having taken on the disguise of a Pelipper, was shoving poke and jewels into her giant bill. Realizing she had been discovered, she shoved more treasure into her beak and flapped her wings. Managing to get airborne, she flapped toward her exit hole in a desperate effort to escape.
    “Oh no, you don’t!” Carlos growled, sparks shooting from his cheeks.
    Carlos unleashed a powerful blast of electricity, electrocuting the fleeing Water/Flying-type. Jealousy screamed, transforming back into a Ditto and dropping all the treasure she had grabbed. When Carlos stopped, Jealousy fell to the ground in a smoking heap. She was knocked out.
    “Wow! Your Thundershock’s gotten stronger, Carlos!” Sandra commented.
    “That’s because it isn’t Thundershock anymore.” Lucar said. “That was Thunderbolt!”
    “Congratulations, Team Legend! You’ve successfully defeated the real Phantom Thief Jealousy!” Chatot squawked. “Now, onto the issue of Carlos. We’re sincerely sorry for thinking you were—”
    “Carlos!!” Sandra cried.
    “No, I was trying to say—oh my goodness! Carlos!” Chatot yelped.
    The Pikachu had collapsed, unconscious from fighting both Pyro and Jealousy. While the rest of Team Legend and the Guild panicked, Wigglytuff walked back to his chair and picked up an Apple. Walking back, he hauled Carlos up and held the Apple up to him.
    “Wake up, friendly friend!” Wigglytuff said. “I can’t apologize if you’re asleep.”
    “G-G-Guildmaster! That’s one of your Perfect Apples!” Chatot stuttered.
    “I know, but friendly friend needs it more than I do right now.” Wigglytuff replied. “Wakey, wakey!”
    “Hmmm?” Carlos slowly opened his eyes. “What? ‘M tired.”
    “Eat up, friendly friend!” Wigglytuff encouraged.
    /What you’re about to hear next is probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened to us. And this wouldn’t be the only time it would happen. Carlos rarely remembers these brief episodes that Perfect Apples put him in. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I’ll leave for you to decide. But hey! At least Wigglytuff gets a fellow odd friend during this./
    Carlos took the Perfect apple in his hands, not recognizing it for what it really was at first. Taking a bite out of it, he chewed tiredly…only to blink in shock and jump to his feet. Fresh energy poured into his system and sparks shot from his cheeks, shoving away the tiredness from his body. He instantly devoured the rest of the Perfect Apple at a fast pace, acting as if it was the first piece of food he’d seen in a long time. Then again, it pretty much was.
    “Holy! Slow down or you’ll choke, Carlos!” Chimecho cried.
    Once the Perfect Apple was completely gone, Carlos grinned widely. “Wow! What was that?!” he asked.
    “That was one of Guildmaster Wigglytuff’s Perfect Apples,” Chatot replied.
    “Wow! That was great! Can I have more?” Carlos asked, talking so fast Chatot barely understood him.
    “Maybe you can have more Apples in a bit.” Chatot said. “Chimecho, would you mind fixing us a midnight snack?”
    “Sure!” Chimecho floated off to cook food for her friends.
    During the fifteen minutes it took for Chimecho to make food, Carlos was literally bouncing off the walls. Chatot explained that Perfect Apples give those who eat them almost unlimited energy and happiness. When they moved to the mess hall, Carlos joined Wigglytuff in his dance during their snack.
    “Carlos, calm down!” Lucar demanded.
    “But I don’t want to!” Carlos whined, continuing his dance. “You should join us!”
    “No thanks!” The Riolu sat down, rubbing his head. “Chatot, how long is he going to be like this? I think I prefer normal Carlos over this…hyper Carlos.”
    Sandra giggled. “Hyper Carlos! That’s funny!”
    “I guess it is,” Lucar admitted.
    “Well, I like him. He’s a lot like Guildmaster Wigglytuff now.” Luv commented.
    “We already have one Wigglytuff. We don’t need two!” Lucar cried.
    “He should be back to normal by tomorrow morning.” Chatot replied. “Since Wigglytuff eats these daily, you can see where he gets his attitude and energy from. It’s almost permanent in him now, not that it was any different before he started eating Perfect Apples. Carlos might not remember much of this, though.”
    “Awww!” Luv whined.
    “Let’s just enjoy it while it lasts, Luv.” Sandra said.
    “Okay,” Luv nodded.
    Lucar suddenly found himself dragged out of his seat by Carlos, who placed an Apple on his head. “Dance!” the Pikachu cried.
    “No,” Lucar replied.
    “Please!” Carlos begged. “Dancing’s really fun and the Apple’s delicious and Wigglytuff’s nice and—”
    “Carlos!” Lucar barked. “I swear that if you don’t stop right now, I’ll never let you have a Perfect Apple for as long as you live!”
    “But I like them!” Carlos whined.
    “I don’t care!” Lucar shouted. “Now stop!”
    “Sandra~!” Carlos wailed.
    “Leave me out of this, Carlos. I’m just watching,” the Eevee said.
    “Me, too!” Luv quickly added.
    “Awww!” Carlos cried.
    “Golly, guys! I’ve got bad news!” Bidoof reported, running in from the treasure room. “Jealousy’s gone!”
    “She must’ve escaped!” Chatot declared. “Was anything stolen?”
    “Nope! Everything’s still there!” Bidoof replied.
    “Guildmaster, what do we do now?” Sandra asked.
    “We go to sleep and get ready for the expedition!” Wigglytuff cried.
    “You’re not even worried that she might come back?!” Chatot demanded.
    “Of course I’m worried, Chatot, but she’s hurt.” Wigglytuff reminded. “She won’t be back anytime soon.”
    /We’ll be seeing Jealousy again in the future. Seems we’ll be seeing a lot of people again, right? Maybe we’re just that lucky…or unlucky. You can decide that. Jealousy is a wild card for us, though. You can never tell what her intentions are until it’s too late and if her intentions are bad…well, just pray they are never bad. You saw what happened to us. We got lucky. You might not./
    “The expedition is tomorrow? Awesome! I can’t wait!” Carlos cried, dancing around even more alongside Wigglytuff.
    After their snack, Carlos remained hyper for a few more hours before he finally fell asleep. Not long after, the rest of the Guild fell asleep as well. The night was peaceful…at least, it was in Treasure Town.

In an underground lake…

    Grovyle sighed in relief as he located his second Time Gear. Stepping forward, he snatched it from its rightful place at the center of the lake and fled as time slowed to a halt. Two down, three more to go before his mission was halfway complete.
    As he exited the cave, he dropped the Time Gear into his bag and look up at the moon. “Beautiful,” he muttered. “Soon, everything will be like this back there. I’ll make sure of it, and so will he.”
    The Grass-type kept moving until he sensed a familiar presence nearby. Recognizing its dark intentions, Grovyle ran as fast as he could away. Dark purple shapes with glittering eyes and sharp claws pursued him, laughing maniacally. Grovyle sent a Leaf Blade back at them, repelling them but not escaping them.
    “I have no choice,” he muttered, grabbing a Luminous Orb from his bag. “Activate!”
    Tossing it behind him, Grovyle dove into the ground as the path was lit with an intense white light. He waited underground until he was certain the dark presence had left, taking its followers with it.
    “That was too close,” Grovyle noted, dragging himself out of the dirt. “I can’t risk failing now. I just hope he’s having better luck than I am.”
    He looked back up at the moon and sighed. Loneliness had tugged at his heart since he arrived here, all alone and without his companions. He prayed he would find them soon.
    “Where are you…Carlos?” Grovyle asked himself.
    Receiving no answer, he fled into the darkness. He had three more Time Gears to locate and steal. And he didn’t have much time left to do it in.
Jealousy is defeated but escapes imprisonment! The events before the expedition are over at last! The expedition will be coming up next after a short break, guys. A short break for Team Legend, that is! I've written a lot in these past four months since I started this. I'm pooped! :faint:
I enjoyed writing about hyper Carlos! Will he return? Of course! I always make my favorite characters or moods of characters return! Only one question...should Lucar get a hyper mode, too? LOL!
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Unownace's avatar
...Ace should start calling those things "hash-apples". XD