Thanks to Harsune for giving me the name for a group which she should recognize, and Snow Wolf98 (Runescape) for being the basis of their characters. Yes, I do have an actual Fan-Girl, and she even gets a cameo in a later chapter.
Disclaimers: I do not own Pokemon, but I do own the following OCs: Ganon, Laura, Alex, Maria, Moxis, Alicia. I also own this story, and scenes/locations not in the original movie.
Lateral Ganon
# # # Chapter Specific Notes # # #
'Italics bounded in quote marks are a public address system.'
Regular Italics are telepathy in Moxis, and thoughts in everyone else. This is generally consistant throughout the story.
Ganon, Laura, and Alex are all seventeen in this story.
Chapter 1: Splashdown
It was sweltering hot that day, even by Altomare's standards. The temperature was topping 28 degrees, but it was perfect weather for the Tour de Altomare which was scheduled to start in ten minutes.
The racers for the event were lined up in the starting grid in the main canal that cut through the centre of the city. Water chariots of every colour carried their racers, bobbing gently in the tide. Each racer had a water type Pokemon at the end of a leash, awaiting the orders to jet forwards and propel their masters, hopefully, to victory. Most of them were waiting patiently, but a few of the more hyperactive ones had trouble staying in the water. A Totodile owned by a trainer with black hair was leaping continuously, thoroughly pumped for the event, whilst elsewhere; a Swampert was splashing aimlessly with her arms, the waves splashing up into the face of a spiky silver haired rider in blue swimshorts. He shielded his eyes from the spray.
"Argh! Laura! Tell Maria to stop splashing me!" The boy groaned at a redhead next to him in a red wetsuit. She tugged at the Swampert's leash.
"Can you stop splashing him?" She asked kindly. The Pokemon looked up at her, before hunkering down in the water again. She smiled at him.
"You should have brought a spare pair of goggles." She told him, snapping down her own ones over her eyes. The boy sniggered.
"I wasn't expecting him eating them." He said, gesturing to the Quagsire he was holding onto. Even now, it was still chewing on the accessory. Laura smirked.
"Then next time train one rather than rent one."
"Oh come on! The only water types I have are Feraligatr and Blastoise, and they're both outside the size limit. Maria only got in by a whisper. Literally."
"He's going to choke." She warned, looking at the Quagsire making retching sounds. The Pokemon coughed up the goggles, and they sank down to the bottom of the canal. Ganon frowned.
"Well one way or another, I knew I wasn't going to get those back."
"Hmm…" Laura hummed absently, "Ganon?"
"Huh?" He answered, trying to stand back up on the rocking craft. Laura blew a lock of hair out of her face, and pointed at the bridge.
"Where's your cousin? I thought he'd have set up by now, but I can't see him."
"Excuse me… Excuse… Ow! That was my face! Dumbass! Excuse-" A jet black haired boy was trying to pick his way through to the front edge of the bridge opposite the race contenders. Unfortunately, about fifty others had the same idea. He noticed an opening near the front edge, and dashed through just in time, dragging a large case behind him. A girl that was about to push forwards scowled at him loathingly, and walked off. He put a thumb to his nose and waved his fingers at her childishly. He was stood next to a deeply tanned man in an orange shirt, who frowned at him through permanently squinted eyes, a Togepi in his arms.
"You shouldn't push through crowds like that. It's very selfish." Brock said to him. The boy shook his head, and started rifling through his pockets.
"It's not my fault they get in the way. I've got a permit saying I can push to the front because I'm recording the event. You don't mind if I stand here do you?" He finished, pulling out a laminated card from his pocket and holding it up.
Brock frowned at the newcomer, scrutinising the license closely. Alexander Darcy, Trainer, Photographer, and Palaeontologist. Brock cocked an eyebrow.
"A palaeontologist at your age?" He asked the seventeen-year old. Alex rolled his eyes, and put his license away.
"I get that all the time." He said, hauling up his case onto the edge of the bridge, and pulling out a camcorder and tripod. He set them up on the edge of the bridge, and looked through the eyepiece, "What's your name by the way?" Alex asked. Brock offered him a hand. Alex shook it without taking his face from the lens.
"My names Brock. Trainer and aspiring Breeder." He replied. Alex nodded appreciatively.
"A breeder? Nice. Do you travel with anyone? Because I can't really see you carrying a Togepi around all the time. Or the Pikachu for that matter."
"Oh no. I'm with these two kids, the one with the Togepi is a gym leader and the Pikachu belongs to an aspiring Master."
Alex shifted the camera once, and pulled away from it, apparently satisfied with its position.
"Another one. Well I'm sure he'll be following his dream." He whispered. Brock made a motion to the camera.
"May I?" He asked. Alex nodded.
"Just don't move it. It can record thermal as well, so don't break it."
Brock looked down the eyepiece. In it, he could see a magnified version of the contenders waiting for the match to begin. Smack bang in the centre of the frame was Ash and Misty, with Ganon and Laura just behind them towards the right side of the line. Brock looked up at Alex when he saw the last contender on the end of the line.
"Since when have Pokemon taken part in this?" He asked. Alex smirked.
"I can tell you've noticed Moxis."
A Lucario on the far end chariot sneezed. Ganon looked over at him
"Someone's talking about you, Moxis." He said. The Pokemon growled.
I'm fed up of gossipers. He replied, sitting on the edge of the pod and dangling his feet in the water. The Marill that would be pulling him along swam back to him, and he nuzzled her gently. She purred affectionately, and Laura smiled at the couple.
"Just like us." She said. Ganon blushed vividly.
"Why is a Lucario racing?" Brock asked. Alex put his case on one end, and sat on the end like a makeshift stool.
"My cousin and his girlfriend are training an additional Pokemon. Ganon owns the Lucario, Moxis, which is having agility trained, and Laura owns the Marill, Alicia, which is having her endurance trained. They can't win officially, but the organisers said it's okay as long as they don't block people." Alex looked at his watch, "Finally! It's about to start."
As if on cue, loudspeakers started blaring to the assembled crowds. The first bout of feedback quickly faded out. Alex pressed a button on his camcorder, and it started recording.
'Testing, Testing…Ladies and gentlemen, it's a beautiful day for Altomare's annual water chariot festival! And it looks like we've got a record turnout. We have-'
The announcer then started reading out a list of competitors, and their places of origin. Alex nodded along absently, yawning occasionally as he read though the list. Brock looked down at him.
"Why are you yawning so much?" He asked. Alex looked back up at him.
"I've just had a lot of work to get done recently. But the pay's good." He replied, ruffling his fringe with his hand.
'Katie Brown from Lilycove, Hoenn, with her Vaporeon. Laura Snow from Lutran, Kraith, with her Swampert. Ganon Darcy from Cemusem, Kraith, with a rented Quagsire.'
Alex cheered at the mention of his cousin, as did a few others nearby. He looked around to see a group of girls waving their novelty foam hands in the air, and he facepalmed.
"Brock. Can I come with you after this? That's the TackleGlomp Brigade, and I don't want to be anywhere near them when they find Ganon."
"Excuse me? TackleGlomp Brigade?"
"Fan-girls. I keep a loaded water-pistol on standby to keep them away." He said. Brock's eyebrows disappeared into his hair.
"But why are they-"
"Ganon's a Master not many people know about. The sponsors don't like him because he doesn't follow their rules, but he still has some fans. Unfortunately, that lot are the most hardcore. They all want to be Laura."
'Ash Ketchum from Pallet, Kanto, with his Totodile. Misty Waterflower from Cerulean, Kanto, with her Corsola. Ross Gerona, a local, with his Wailmer…'
Brock cheered for his friends, and Alex joined in so he didn't feel alone. Brock smiled at him.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
'Are you ready for the main event?' The tannoy called out. Pikachu jumped about excitedly, and Alex grabbed a handle to prepare to move his camera.
'Trainers, when you hear the Xatu, that will be your cue!'
He focused the camera in on the large green bird, with three smaller birds perched in a column on its head. Each one flicked open its wings as it cawed, from the top Natu, down to the Xatu.
"Nee!"
"Nee!"
"Nee!"
"Xatu!"
The racers surged forwards in a loose gaggle, and Alex spun the camera around back to the competitors. As it spun, the boom smacked Pikachu in the backside, and as he was already teetering on the edge, began to fall down into the path of the racers.
"SHIT!" Alex swore loudly, swiping down to try and catch the Pokemon by its tail, and missing. Pikachu squealed as it plummeted into the path, being swept up by one of the racers dashing past.
Ash almost lost his balance as something furry and yellow got caught on his face. It crawled to one side, and latched onto his shoulder, and he looked around to see what it was. Pikachu squeaked happily, and Ash smiled back.
"Alright! Hold on!" He said, before urging his Totodile onwards. The hyper-croc sped forwards, pulling him into pole position. Ganon gaped.
"What the hell?" He called out in disbelief. Laura and Maria surged past him into fourth, whilst several other trainers dashed past as well. Even Moxis and Alicia overtook him. He grimaced at the Quagsire.
"Can't you go any faster?" He shouted at the Quagsire. It turned to look at him with lazy eyes, and their gazes met. Ganon's furious red eyes, on the Pokemon's beady bored eyes. He came up with something to make it get moving.
"I've got a Venusaur with Giga-Drain if you don't hurry up." He said to the Pokemon. The Quagsire yelped, and surged forwards with a ridiculous speed, bustling past several other competitors and flinging them into the canal. Ganon smiled ecstatically.
"Now this is more like it!" He said. The Quagsire pulled him around the corner, and within seconds, he was closing in on the leading pack. He could see Laura trying to weave through the three competitors in the lead, but they were all neck-and-neck, and blocked off the entire canal. She looked over her shoulder, and noticed her boyfriend closing in, and she held back slightly.
"I can't get through them." She called across to him, still clinging onto Maria's leash. The Swampert seemed bored with the pace they were going at, and kept trying to pull her forwards away from him. Ganon studied the group ahead carefully, looking at the air above their heads for some reason.
"Can she swim backwards?" He asked her. Laura shook her head.
"Why?"
"If she could have sum backwards up to them, and then jetted out of the water with water gun, you could have gone over the top of them."
"That would have been cool but… left." She turned the corner quickly, and Ganon nearly crashed into her, pulling the Quagsire aside at the last second. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I need more warning for these." He said. She smirked.
"Any other ideas?" She asked. Ganon tilted his head.
"How deep are the canals?" He asked. Laura rolled her eyes.
"Don't tell me you're actually going to-"
"Okay." He said quickly, hunkering down onto the craft and grabbing the back of it with his free hand. He pulled on the leash for the Quagsire to speed up, until it was literally inches from Ash's Chariot. He braced himself.
"Dive!" He called out, taking a deep breath.
Ash looked quickly over his shoulder to see who had shouted, but was surprised to find no-one there. He almost fell off though as he felt something bumping underneath his chariot, and a second later, a Quagsire and another rider burst out from the canal in front of him, almost toppling him over. Ross stared at the rider.
"Man I've got to try that trick out one day." He said.
A Latios and Latias were watching the race from above, invisible to anyone looking at them. The Latios scowled as he saw Ganon's stunt underwater.
"He cheated." He said to his sister. The Latias didn't respond, "Sis?"
She looked up at him wearily, before looking back down at the racers.
"Fine. Deal with him." She replied dully. Latios swooped down.
Ganon cruised through the next canal section in first place, smiling at his little stunt. He'd probably have a sore spot on his head from hitting that other chariot, and keeping a floating object underwater was harder than it looked, but at least he would probably win if nothing unexpected happened. He growled as he saw the rest of the group catch up with him, and spurred the Quagsire on even faster. Latios flew over the front end of Ganon's leash and grabbed it, pulling him forwards. Ganon screamed as his chariot zoomed off down a wrong junction, and he looked back towards the way he should have gone. He could hear Laura shouting something.
"WATCH YOUR TEETH!"
Ganon wondered what she meant, and turned around to see where the Quagsire was going, just in time to…
CRUNCH
Get a face full of brick from a low bridge. The Quagsire was yanked backwards as Latios let go, and they both fell into the water, out of the race. He floated there for a few seconds, before noticing another chariot stop next to him. He didn't even need to look up.
"Hi Laura."
"I figured you'd need a lift back to the start." She said, kneeling down on her chariot. He smiled awkwardly.
"You didn't need to forfeit your place in the race for me." He said, treading water in the canal.
"Who said I didn't want to?" She asked him, helping him onto her chariot. The platform wobbled precariously as he stood up. He pulled the Quagsires Pokeball from the belt the race committee had given him, and returned the Pokemon.
"Maybe a good idea not to go for any speed records whilst I'm on." He said. Laura laughed, and manoeuvred the chariot back onto the main path of the course. Latios would have raised an eyebrow if he had any.
"No way!" Alex yelled as he saw Ganon's crash on the big screen erected for the main event. The TackleGlomp Brigade all oohed behind him, and Alex grimaced.
"Got to hate the groupies." He said, pointing the camera back down the main canal.
The Latias was watching as the Latios dragged Ganon off the main path, and her face fell as she saw Laura zoom back to help him.
It's not fair. She thought to herself. The Latios hovered back up besides her, and noticed her dejected look. He frowned, and they followed the frontrunners.
"Come on. What's up?" He asked. She shook her head bleakly, again not wanting to respond.
"Look. Stop being so down about everything. We came out to see the race so you could cheer up… remember?" He said, putting a claw on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.
"I know, I know…" She said despondently.
"So what's wrong?"
"It just… Loki… you kissed Bianca." She answered. Loki's eyes widened to dinner plate proportions.
"She kissed me!" He answered quickly. The Latias didn't look convinced.
"You kissed her back." She answered irritably. Loki started blushing profusely.
"But… just… it was only a peck on the cheek."
"Oh. So you were trying to attack her?!" She fumed. Loki started babbling too quickly to understand, and she shook her head.
"You're just unbelievable." She said angrily, swooping down among the racers.
Ash pulled ahead of Misty and Ross, and blocked them up in a narrow canal so they couldn't get past without doing that other boys unlucky trick. He smirked devilishly.
"Come on Totodile! You can win this!" He called. The crocodile quacked at him, and kept pulling enthusiastically. Ross growled in frustration, and pulled back on his leash. The Wailmer pushed forwards into the back of Ash's chariot, jolting it violently. He screamed and tried to counter, but he was too close to the next corner to stay upright and make the turn.
The angry Latias was flying almost next to him, and saw the Wailmer bump into his chariot. She scowled.
You big meanie. She thought. She jolted as Ash screamed almost in her ear, and gasped as she saw what was happening. She knew these waters well enough to know that he was about to be in a whole world of pain.
His chariot snagged on a sandbank under the surface, and the chariot pitched forwards, catapulting him off. He could see the hard brick wall rushing up to meet him, and he braced himself for the bone-crushing impact.
Latias flew up between Ash and the wall, blocking the impact with her own body. He gasped in astonishment as she caught him, and looked around frantically to try and see what he had landed on. Their gazes met briefly, and whilst Ash remained oblivious to her presence, she suddenly felt exhilarated and giddy. Less than a second after he had crashed into her, he fell off her into the water below. She watched the splash, still panting for breath, and Loki dashed in next to her. As usual, he was frowning.
"What did you do that for?" He asked her angrily. She didn't answer; the dizzy look still evident on her face. He waved a claw in front of her face, "Hello?"
She watched as Ash clambered back onto his chariot, and started riding off again.
Well it was unfair what that Wailmer did… he was trying hard and he wasn't really doing anything wrong… She thought to herself as she watched him turn the corner. She flew up above the canals, and started looking for him again. Loki followed, watching her carefully.
"What are you doing?" He asked, noticing her scanning the city below. She continued scanning.
"What we came out to do. Watching the race." She saw Ash at the end of the next street, and the feeling of elation came back. Now for a distraction, "Hey Loki. That guy cheated." She said, pointing to some random other competitor towards the back of the race. Loki growled, and dashed off in that direction, whilst the Latias sped off after Ash.
Ash was trying to spur on Totodile to even greater speeds, and the hyperactive midget met those demands, surging forwards consistently.
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu shouted out, tapping on Ash's shoulder and pointing ahead of them. Ash raised an eyebrow at the blue dog on a chariot as he caught up with it. He called over as he drew level.
"What kind of Pokemon are you?" He called over, curious. The Lucario huffed.
Now's not a good time. He answered, spurring the Marill on faster. The water mouse looked across at the Totodile, and they both glared at each other angrily. The fight was on. The Marill dashed forwards first, before the Totodile tried to overtake. She glared at him, and shot forwards again. Totodile yelped as something suddenly swept him out of the water.
Ash's eyebrow made an attempt for the high-jump world record as the leash tried to yank his arm from his socket. The chariot dashed forwards, throwing Moxis into the canal from the wave. The dog growled loudly after him as the human rounded the corner.
The Latias looked back at Ash hanging onto the end of the leash for dear life, and smiled cheekily. She was clinging to the other end of the leash just above the Totodile's collar, and was pulling him along at incredible speed. The Totodile had already made use of the lift to run on the water rather than swim. He was quacking in absolute delight. She turned the corner, revelling in the sensations coursing through her, almost knocking several other racers into the water. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.
'And it looks like the leaders are approaching their final turn, and heading for the home stretch. It's no surprise that last years champion, Ross and his Wailmer, are in the lead, but newcomer Misty and her Corsola are not going to make it easy for them. These two are neck and neck folks.'
"Yeah! Go Misty!" Brock shouted out. Alex trained his camera on them and whistled.
"Misty's the girl right?" He asked casually. Brock nodded, and Alex whistled, "Wouldn't want to meet her down a dark alley."
"You probably don't want to say that to her face, or she'll break a lot more than your camera." He warned. Alex blanched, and looked up at Brock, suddenly noticing one of his ears was very red. He left the topic immediately.
The Latias turned out into the home straight, rapidly closing in on the two frontrunners who were the only ones actually left.
'Wait a minute. It looks like Ash Ketchum and his Totodile were just shot out of a cannon!' She heard the announcer blare out. She swelled with pride, and flew straight past the boy that had knocked him off in the first place. Ash laughed behind her.
"What in the world has gotten into you Totodile?" He called. The croc just carried on quacking hysterically.
Loki was scared when he found that the Latias wasn't waiting for him when he got back into the sky. He scanned the rooftops quickly to make sure she simply wasn't hiding, before scanning the rivers. He spotted her almost immediately, and swore under his breath when he saw what she was doing.
"You can't do that!" He yelled down at her. She looked back up for a second, before dashing forwards again, "Lani!"
Alex was amazed when he saw Ash pelted along the course like he was on fire, but he knew enough about Totodiles that they certainly weren't weightless. His own one weighed an absolute ton despite being so tiny.
"There's no way he can do that." Alex protested as he hit a switch on his camera and looked through the viewfinder again. He pulled back immediately, and stared at the front of Ash's chariot. Nothing there, but… He looked through the eyepiece again, and the large blue V shape still hadn't budged from the end of that leash. He'd never known thermal imaging to play up like that.
Loki flew down directly above his sister, almost landing on her back, and grabbed her neck. She looked up in alarm, as he pulled her forwards even faster, pulling the Totodile off its feet from the surge.
"What are you doing?!"
"You're cheating!" He shouted down at her, pulling her and a chariot down the next available side canal. Ash screamed behind her, and she feared for her own safety as Loki tried to drag them under another bridge. She struggled against his grip, and managed to drag them both down another canal, but now they were pointing straight for a flight of stairs leading up from the waters edge over a bridge.
If I don't let go, I'll break his legs. She thought as they rapidly approached the steps. She released the Totodile's leash and was dragged upwards as Loki was now overcompensating, and the Totodile continued running up the stairs. The crocodile jumped up over a ledge at the top, stopping over the next canal along. They pedalled in thin air whilst anime gravity took its hold, and they plummeted straight down into the canal below. Loki hovered above the scene, tutting, whilst Lani watched the boy swim around under the bridge to where the chariot had crashed into the bottom step. He climbed up and pulled the chariot out of the water, inspecting it for damage, whilst the Totodile jumped up, and sat forlornly on the bottom step.
"Jeez… just a scratch. These things must be really strong." He muttered absently. Totodile quacked sadly, looking at its feet. Ash smiled at the crocodile reassuringly, and stroked the top of its head.
"It's okay Totodile, Everyone makes a wrong turn once in a while."
The Totodile jumped up, trying to hug its trainer with his stubby arms, and laughing like a duck. Ash laughed with him, "Okay! That's enough Totodile!"
Lani didn't notice a smile growing on her face as she watched the young trainer, until Loki coughed loudly at her and it disappeared.
"I saw that look." He said, causing her to blush crimson. She turned and flew off down the canal, stealing a glance back at Ash as she left. Loki sped off after her.
Alex turned off the camera as the Judges announced that Misty had won the by a whisker. Brock hugged the Togepi in joy, and Alex patted him on the back.
"You've got some awesome friends." He said. Brock nodded.
"Yeah, but Misty was the Leader of Cerulean City Gym, so if anyone's going to win a water Pokemon contest, it's her. We're meeting up at the café at the end of the bridge if you want to come along." He said. Alex nodded. He'd expected Ganon and Laura back at the same place.
"Sure. Meet you there then."
And that's the first chapter of the re-remake. Now you've spent that long reading it, it won't make any difference taking an extra minute to review.
Yes, I decided that prior to this, I made Lani (Latias) lovesick and slightly depressed.