[A/N]Just another little bit that came to me before bed last night. What would happen if Ash and Rallen switched places? Awkwardness? Yes. Insanity? You bet. Hilarity? Hmmm… "GO, TORGALLUP! USE DEADENDER!" If that's not enough… just read ahead. ^_^
Just so everyone is forewarned, this story will be told from both Rallen's and Ash's POVs at for the beginning of the story, but will switch to a standard omnipotent narrative in each particular world as needed from then on. In addition, you will see both Ash AND Rallen calling out attacks from the Pokemon AND Spectrobes in their employ, each respectively and after events unfold.. The only thing wrong with this fic will be an increase in foulness of language between the characters of Spectrobes and Pokemon. With that said, enjoy. ^_^ [A/N]
POKEMON X SPECTROBES EPISDOE 0: SOULS CROSSING BOARDERS
POKE X ROBES: UNIVERSAL TUNING
_
~RALLEN POV~
~RALLEN'S STAR LOG:
Space Age: 3450, April 17th, 3:35PM Kollin Standard Time
Current Location: Hakaba Star System: Ruins of Planet Nox~
-This is Nanairo Planetary Patrol officer Rallen. My partner, Jeena, and I have landed on the outskirts of the ruins of planet Nox in the distant Hakaba Star System. We departed from Planet Kollin in the Nanairo System at 5:30PM KST on April 10th to patrol, and had found no trace of any Krawl of any variety in any of our fly-by sweeps; at least, not until today.
Anyone who's never been to the far reaches of out space cannot possibly know how absolutely breathtaking… and yet, absolutely BORING space can be.
Sure, the first few months is always different; a new experience brings new faces, new sights to see, new terrain to explore, new jobs to do. But what happens when going into space to sit around in a cruiser all day and do NOTHING while waiting for SOMETHING to come up on the radar becomes no more than routine? It gets BORING, that's what.
Sure, I'm always hoping that more Portals will open up and lead us to new worlds, but it's likely to NEVER happen again.
I've been to Ice Planet Hyoga in the Fubuki System so many times that my body's become accustomed to the frigid temperatures of a planet existing in a system with no present sun. The scientists of Kollin have been attempting to create a gravitational disruptor that would allow us to drag Hyoga from the Fubuki system into Nanairo to thaw it out; the next plan of action would be to find a way to close the portal leading there so no one could ever go there again. Progress on that plan has been slow moving ever since it started, so patrol is so far my only option.
In four, simple words: "I. DON'T. LIKE. IT."
It's peaceful here, yes, but it's too damn peaceful; the idea of ANYTHING coming up to investigate seems so damn foreign nowadays that I'm almost ready to resign myself to office duty for the rest of my life.
This is exactly the reason why I was excited to find a strange energy signal on Planet Nox… I actually don't know how to work the cruiser's systems any further than piloting it like a maniac. Jeena found the energy signal on Nox; I just drove the ship through the portal.
As it is, traversing the once dangerous ruins of this gouged-out planet is little more than a skip through the park. There's no danger, no thrill in it anymore. It was always more fun when the Krawl were around; there was always something to get in my way and pose some form of resistance. Now, with Krux gone, Jado, Gelberus and Gronos destroyed, and Maja in full human form serving as Captain for another patrol squad… It's just not natural, I guess…
Ah. There we go, approaching the inner sanctum of the ruins now… I'll report in again IF there's something to report on… BIG IF that one…
Rallen out.-
I pressed a button on my armor, turning off the built in audio recorder.
'One more useless log done…' I thought. At the time, I couldn't wrap my head around why Commander Grant wanted me to record those stupid logs anyway.
A beeping sound rang out from the video receiver on my communicator, so I powered it on. Instantly, a small green square shot to life in the air in front of my face, bearing the image of my partner, Jeena.
"Rallen, come in; report. What do you see there? My readings show you should be standing right next to whatever's causing the energy spike," Jeena said. I took a look around, making note of everything around. Nothing seemed out of place.
"Nothing, Jeena," I said, a hint of my boredom showing through in my tone, "ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY NOTHING to be seen that wasn't already here the last dozen times we've been here. Whatever it is, it doesn't want to be seen… or else it was a prank left behind by some trouble-making cadets the last time Commander Grant sanctioned a field trip to this wasteland." Jeena sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in contemplation.
I carefully watched Jeena's face, reading every thought that ran through her head, as if she were an open book. Over the last few years, we'd gotten to know each other very well, so there were subtle things about each of us that we picked up on, but no one else could figure out. Like Jeena pinching her nose; to most people, it would be seen as a sign of frustration, a way for her to quietly vent her anger at my uninterested tone of voice.
However, Jeena didn't know just how closely I'd been watching her. That may sound kind of… stalker-like, but it's far tamer than that. For instance, the faint traces of red and pink on her cheeks, her shimmering pink hair stuck to her brow with freshly wiped sweat, and the rasping, almost panting nature of her breathing told me she'd been up to… "Lady Business" while I was out. Even today I know better than to call her on it; the last thing we need while out in the middle of gods-forsaken nowhere is to have an argument; and the last thing I need is piss her off to the point that she turns the ship around and leaves me stranded.
But still, that didn't stop me from carefully examining her appearance while she sat there; blue eyes shut tight, pink eyebrows bent backwards in a mixture of worry and residual pleasure. Her nostrils flared in frustration. Her sweet red lips pursed in thought… almost puckered, really. Looking as far down as I could confirmed my suspicions from earlier; I had missed the absence of her normal white vest, and I only now caught the absence of her wrist-mounted scanner, which normally NEVER left her right wrist. Her shirt underneath was creased slightly towards the slight swell of her breasts… I closed my eyes.
'Damn it, Jeena…' I thought to myself, 'Why the hell can't you ever work up the courage to tell me?' I shook my head, not realizing she'd snapped out of her thoughts.
"What's wrong, Rallen? Are you feeling sick? I can come out and administer First Aide if you need it…" she suggested. I jumped, not expecting he voice.
"N-No, Jeena… nothing's wrong. Everything's just peachy…" I said. I opened my eyes in time to see her nod her head sadly.
"Alright…" She replied. For a while, neither of us said anything.
"R-Rallen?" she said, breaking the painful silence.
"Yeah?" I asked, a bit concerned about her worried tone and the fact that she only EVER stuttered when she wasn't sure how to approach something. I looked at her image in the communicator, worry setting in further. Her expression was becoming pained, mixed with her previous anxiety and worry, and … she was averting her gaze. She was forcing herself NOT to look me in the eyes. Now I was scared.
"What is it, Jeena?"
. . .
"I… it's nothing. It can wait until you're back in the cruiser," she said, her voice almost cracking as she spoke. I winced; she'd never sounded like this before.
"No, Jeena," I said, now terrified, "it can't wait. I can tell by the sound of your voice that it's deathly important, that you've been waiting for a long time to tell me something, but have been forcing yourself to hold back. It can't be so important that you'd start to say it, and then dismiss it immediately! What's wrong?" She jumped in her seat, sending the previously unseen body of my first Spectrobe, Komainu, hurtling from his place on her lap onto the floor, painfully waking him from a peaceful sleep. Instead of saying anything, or even looking me in the eyes, she turned away and turned off the communication link.
"Jeena? JEENA, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME NOW!" I shouted. cursing in my head as my free hand slammed down on the communicator's off button. The small, green Plexiglas screen almost broke off. I could tell it would still work, but only if I used it sparingly and got it repaired quickly.
I shook my head in frustration and turned on my heels to leave the sanctuary when a tremor rocked the ground. I turned around and saw a large stone arch rising out of a pit in the ground. Once the arch stopped moving, it sparked with energy, then, as if on cue, activated a portal before my eyes.
I couldn't believe it; A Portal.
After all this time waiting, I couldn't believe it; a FREAKING PORTAL OPENED UP IN FRONT OF MY EYES. My brain couldn't comprehend it, but something told me I should either contact Jeena, or else … just investigate the portal immediately.
IT was only a few seconds later that I registered the distinct call of our transport Spectrobe, Pegatinum. I whipped around just in time to see Jeena jump off Pegatinum's back, only to see her eyes light up at the sight of the portal. She was forcing herself to find something ELSE to look at. I shook my head slowly and growled under my breath. I watched her approach the portal. I couldn't take it anymore.
Spinning on my heels as she passed, I grabbed her wrist and spun her around, pulling her in to hold her tight.
"R-Rallen? What are you… Stop, we can't!" she said, struggling. I tightened my grip, all but burying my face in her shoulder.
"Jeena, just stop, alright?" I said, pulling away to look her in the eyes. She averted her gaze again. I pushed away, but grabbed her shoulders, my head slumping to look at the ground. Jeena was about to ask what was wrong when she looked past my shoulders to see a small dark spot on the ground under my eyes.
"What… is wrong here?" I asked through gentle sobs, "We know each other… so much better than this… why is it so hard… to talk to each other when we need to?" my grip loosened and I slumped to the ground on my knees. I couldn't see what happened, but moments later, I felt her arms around my shoulders, both our bodies rocked by sobs.
We stayed this way for several minutes before we both let go. She was, surprisingly, the first to calm down. I had more of a tendency to ride on my emotions than she did… that always struck me as rather odd.
After a few more minutes of silence, Jeena took a deep breath and whispered something. I couldn't hear her clearly, so I asked her to repeat herself. This kept up several times before I rephrased and asked her to speak up.
"R-Rallen…" she started, only to suddenly grab my shoulders hard and pull. My head jerked up.
"Jeena, what's with the sudden burst of aggression? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" I asked, before I saw her face: Worry and fear written all over it, tears pouring from her eyes. It was only then that I noticed something else was off… I couldn't feel my legs below the knees.
"Wh-what?" I thought aloud, before turning my head. Soon, I shared the same look as Jeena: the Portal that had opened up in the stone arch before had now spread out, gaining easily four times its previous size… and had spread to cover my legs up to my knees. I froze for a moment… and then jumped up and started running.
Jeena gripped my right shoulder with one hand and my right hand in the other as we sprinted as fast as our legs could manage. We made it to the entrance of the ruins and almost made it to the streets when I felt a tingle in my left leg. Suddenly, with a weak gasp, I felt my legs go entirely numb and fell to my hands and knees, unable to go on.
Jeena felt me go down and tried to help me up, but the portal had already hit my hands, and I could feel it creeping into my body. It was only a matter of time until it hit my heart and lungs and I'd pass out… or worse…
"RALEN, NO!" Jeena shouted, trying to get me up. She crouched down and helped me onto her shoulders, but with the numbness in my legs, it was impossible to go much further. It was only a matter of time until Jeena had to set me down.
"If there's… anything you want to say… now is the best time, Jeena," I said weakly. I watched as she collapsed into tears. It was only then that I noticed the presence of another cruiser on the planet's surface.
Off the horizon, I noticed a short head of cropped silver hair. Jeena must have alerted the NPP from the cruiser. They arrived just in time to see me up to my neck in the portal, reaching one hand out to Jeena. They started pulling her away, and the last thing I saw before the lights went out was Jeena's tear-streaked face, sadness and fear taking complete hold as she reached a single hand out to take mine…
_
~ASH POV~
This was it.
I'd tracked the various leaders of the many anti-Pokémon leagues all the way up to the top of Mount Coronet in the Sinnoh Region, where Cyrus had once again managed to forge the Red Chain to try and restrain the power of Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that I'd already captured the Legendary Ghost and had it with me. Under no circumstances was I bringing him out unless I had no other choice.
However, that seemed to be EXACTLY what the other Team Leaders were planning on. They just kept coming, one after the other, with a full team of Pokémon. When I beat one full team, I tried to heal my own, but was left with little time as another would jump right in and continue the battle, allowing the other to do so. This went on until I'd exhausted an entire team of six… and had only one other ready, strapped to a band on my back: My team of legendary Pokémon, each sealed and stored in special "Team Balls", created special by Professor Oak, to house entire groups of, at most, three Pokemon at a time.
The first to step back up, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket from the Kanto Region, stepped up with a newly healed team, but reeled a bit when I threw out the first of my six Team Balls, containing a two-man team of Ho-Oh and Lugia. He stumbled back a few steps, shocked as the two Legendary beasts rose from the depths of the same Pokéball, and seemed concerned for the safety of his ENTIRE team.
"Lugia, use Drowning Deluge to soak them down! Ho-Oh, use Sacred Flare to light them right up!" I shouted, watching with an almost frightening level of morbid delight as my Legendary Duo tore through Giovanni's entire six-man team in mere SECONDS using moves I'd helped them obtain through weeks of endless training.
Ho-Oh's "Sacred Flare" attack had once been called "Sacred Fire", and was, before its evolution, a powerful explosion of blue and purple flames. Now, at its core, it was still the same, but instead of a simple explosion of fire, Ho-Oh was able to aim his beak at any and EVERY foe he saw and instantaneously light them on fire with a deep-burning flame that would seep into their bodies and explode, resulting in a one-hit knock-out.
Meanwhile, Lugia's "Drowning Deluge" wasn't as much an evolution as a combination of two moves that Lugia had since learned to use simultaneously: Aeroblast and Hydro Cannon, which had both been evolved to their own special upgraded forms: Aeroburst, a destructive storm whipped up by a single flap of Lugia's mighty wings, and Aqua Destroyer, a powerful, all-encompassing blast of high-pressure and high-temperature water that scalded foes for a one-hit-knock-out. When used at the same time, these two attacks could be EXTREMELY deadly. I'd witnessed Trainers running left and right to get the Pokemon to a Center in time to save their allies from going under, often with positive results.
However, not all of them were so lucky. A word to the wise for anyone planning to fight me would be this: EVOLVE AND CONQUER. You won't be able to stand against me with a Rattata, no matter how strong it is; it'll end up like little Jimmy Long's did… BURIED.
On the downside, though, this great power comes with an equally great cost: both Ho-Oh and Lugia have to rest for a really long time between uses of these attacks… and they can only use them twice before I have to restore their energy to be able to do it again. That was why I'd planned to have them return for the next leader and send out a different group.
That didn't happen, however. As soon as Giovanni's team was rendered hospital ready, another Leader jumped in: N, the green-haired loser from all the way out in Unova. It was sad to see he'd gotten back into evil again… even IF Cyrus had MADE him do it through use of a chip in the boy's head.
That, however, didn't stop N from leaping into the fray and sending out his own team, and commanding them all to use their strongest attacks. Ho-Oh and Lugia couldn't handle it and fainted after the first volley hit. I called them back and pulled out another ball. I hoped this would put a scare into N and mess up that chip in his brain. Tossing out my second Team Ball, I smiled a bit as my old friend Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres erupted from the ball and glared down N and his team. I didn't even grace myself with a second thought; this had to end NOW.
"Alright, all three of you, use Triple Triad and knock them out of the park!" I commanded. With little more than a Pokemon's version of a human's nod, they each let loose a combination of Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Pump, resulting in a three-colored beam of energy that swept across N's entire team and accidentally striking the boy in the chest. Before the next leader jumped in to battle me again, I heard a sickening "crunch" as N's skull slammed into the pavement. I could only hope that blow to the head knocked that infernal chip out of his brain.
After a quick shake of my head, I saw it wasn't another leader, but Tabitha, the higher lackey of Team Magma's leader, Maxie, who'd stepped up and fired out a six-unit team. I'd never understood Tabitha… mostly for the sole reason that he was a GUY with a GIRL'S name. That had always struck me as more than a LITTLE odd. Nevertheless, I didn't despair as I scanned over his team for the seventh time in four consecutive hours; two Camerupts, two Mightyenas, a Crobat, and a Golbat. Go figure; apparently this is one guy who doesn't like to change too much.
I shook my head again, only to snap back to attention when all three of my Legendaries screamed in pain. I looked up to see all three birds crashing to the ground with large gaps in the feathers of their wings. That didn't make much sense to me, as Zapdos and Moltres were made of lightning and fire, respectively; how ANYTHING could have torn feathers from a fire bird and a thunder bird and gotten away with as little damage as Tabitha's Pokémon had had to be a mutated Pokemon.
Regardless, I couldn't battle with my three birds grounded. I returned the three to their Team ball and pulled out a third, summoning the Legendary Dog Trio: before Tabitha's distraught and terrified eyes rose the intimidating forms of Entei, the Flame Hound, Raikou, the Lightning Hound, and Suicune, the Aqua Hound. Tabitha's poor Pokemon didn't stand a chance.
"ALRIGHT; USE ESSENCE SPARK!" I shouted. Immediately, all three assumed a battle stance as their bodies transformed, losing their corporeal forms and becoming literally the element the represented. Entei became a dog-shaped living flame that torched all in his wake; Raikou became a walking thunderbolt that seemed to be sending paralyzing electric shocks through the ground into Tabitha's team; Suicune became a sentient torrent of water that simply towered over both its companions. With that, this battle was over.
I didn't even need to issue a command for this one; the newly transformed visages of the three legendary Hounds had been enough to scare away not only Tabitha's Pokemon, which all took off running down the side of the mountain in a sheer drop, but Tabitha AND Maxie as well, who both turned tail and tucked into a pair of rolling human balls as they rolled down the side of the mountain to safety. Giovanni stepped back up, having revived his team from their earlier defeat. Once again, a Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Honchkrow, and Kangaskhan appeared before my Legendaries… and once again, they were doomed to fail.
"Raikou, use Phantom Bolt. Entei, use Hellfire Cannon. Suicune, use Deepsea Trench," I said. I watched as the three, in forms they'd obtained by training against each other for months, unleashed the greatest power they'd ever reached under my care:
A trio of instant finishing blows.
Raikou simply walked over, rising onto its hind legs and placing its front paws, which now resembled human hands, onto the Honchkrow, unleashing a ghostly white blast of pure electric current. If the sudden lack of any feathers on the bird Pokemon's body and the hint of black smoke coming from its beak were any hint, this one would need far more than a simple Full Restore to put it back on its feet. Giovanni looked at the bird in shock.
Suicune "flowed", for lack of a better term, toward the Kangaskhan and wrapped the creature in a dome of water, holding it there despite all of its struggling and gasping for air, until the beast passed out and floated still. I knew Suicune hadn't killed its opponent… it would still be alright if Giovanni was willing to perform CPR on it himself. I smiled at the thought.
Entei stalked over to both of its targets and grounded itself in place as a set of thick-looking claws folded out of the backs of its legs, anchoring it down. It looked at both its targets and seemed to sigh in sadness. It then reared its head back and prepared what at first seemed like a standard Flamethrower attack. However, the fire that erupted from Entei's mouth and bathed both his foes wasn't red, orange, yellow, or white. It wasn't even BLUE… it had not color, and you could see through it. The best way to describe it was…
GHOST FIRE.
You could tell it was there just from the smell of burning flesh and scorched armor. As soon as both hit the ground, torched to a near-dead crisp, Entei's rear leg claws folded back into place, and the flames stopped flowing. I watched Giovanni recall each of his Pokemon into their balls and take off into the caves that lead into the mountain's interior. About two seconds later, the sound of the man screaming in fear tore through the caves, and I knew he'd either succumbed to fright of super-powered Pokémon… or some big, burly Pokémon had gotten him. I had no opportunity to go find out, though. I was immediately set upon by Shelly of Team Aqua who, after taking one look at my three Legendaries, thought better and took off running down the mountain full throttle. That left Cyrus, Ghetsis, The true leader of Team Plasma, and Archie, the boss of Team Aqua. Ghetsis and Archie nodded to each other, the elder man allowing the younger to take the lead.
Archie tossed out a Crobat, Sharpedo and Mightyena combination. I shook my head and returned my Hounds to their Team Ball; I'd noticed them panting hard after that last trio of attacks. Instead, this time I threw out a team I knew was going to shake the Aqua Leader to his core: Out from the small ball erupted the forms of Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza, the Weather Trio.
Archie backed off several feet as, without even so much as a word from me, Groudon use Fissure, Rayquaza use Sky Attack, and Kyogre used Sheer Cold to immediately knock out the Pirate-like Leader's Pokémon in one blow. Archie immediately grabbed his downed Pokémon and followed his lackey down the mountain's rough exterior. That left Ghetsis and Cyrus… I was liking my odds of keeping Giratina in his Team Ball less and less.
As Ghetsis launched out his team, consisting of Cofagrigus, Bouffalant, Seismitoad, Bisharp, Eelektross, and Hydreigon, I also launched my own team from the next to last of my usable teams. Ghetsis, like those before him, staggered back a few steps when he found himself standing before Zekrom, the Thunder Dragon, Reshiram, the Flame Dragon, and Kyurem, the Ice Dragon. The three dragons stared down at their would-be assailants, all six of whom bowed aside to leave their master at the illtempered mercies of the dragons. Ghetsis issued commands, but his Pokémon refused to do as ordered. This was what I needed.
"Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem," I said in a hushed tone, "USE ROAR." With that, all three dragons burst out in a simultaneous, deafening roar that not only sent Ghetsis' Pokémon running scared, but also sent the elderly man tumbling off balance… and off the mountainside. This now left me against Cyrus… and I suddenly started liking my odds. Cyrus, having paid me no mind at all until this point, turned as Ghetsis fell off the mountain with a scream of terror. He looked up to behold the size and power of the three dragons and scoffed.
"What can these three do? You don't even have the power of the Creation Trio, do you? I can tell!" Cyrus said monotonously, "You know how? It's simple: I can use this Red Chain to sense the powers of the Trio and Giratina… And I can't sense ANY of them on you. It's probably for the best, then. I'll end this here where my allies could not." I watched as Cyrus, the blue-eyed, blue-haired, nihilistic leader of Team Galactic, tossed out his signature team of five: Weavile, Honchkrow, Houndoom, Crobat, and Gyarados. I shook my head. None of them would do him any good.
"I'd watch what you say and think, Cyrus," I said, as monotonously as he, "Because these three dragons are smarter than you think. And right now, they're telling me they're going to flat out destroy your team and leave you with nothing. Your plan failed before you started… but if you wish to continue, I won't stop you. Far from it…" At this point, feeling my second wind hit me full force, I took a deep breath and felt my original vigour returning as I continued, "Because I intend to defeat you and stop this ridiculous madness!" With that, the three dragons stood ready. Cyrus simply laughed.
"How can you expect to defeat me with JUST three dragons? I HAVE FIVE POKÉMON! I AHAVE TWO MORE THAN YOU DO!" Cyrus said. I shook my head.
"Numbers have nothing to do with this, Cyrus," I said, chuckling a bit at his confused look before continuing, "The difference is in POWER. These three Dragons are the three Legendary Dragons of the Unova Region, and are referred to as the Tao Trio for a reason. Let's show them why, guys!"All three Dragons gave off a deafening roar in agreement, to which Cyrus simply shrugged and slapped his left ear several times.
"Please don't do that again… I already fear deafness from that last roar," he said. I shook my head and nodded to Kyurem.
"Let's do this. KYUREM, RESHIRAM, SOULSIMMILATION!" I shouted, watching seconds later as a pair of white pillars erupted around the two dragons. As soon as they cleared, they revealed only one remaining; Kyurem stood where it had before, only now it looked like he'd fused with Reshiram. Where it'd been a simple grayish-silver color before, it was now pure white like Reshiram, had Reshiram's left arm, and tail, and a wing off its left arm that looked like Reshiram's feathered ones coming off its elbows. It stood taller, looking more regal than before, and now had a single yellow horn on its head, right between its yellow eyes. On one side of the horn was a single mane of white, while the other side had a set of icy constructs that resembled its original armor. It gave a blood-curdling roar and awaited command.
"KYUREM, USE FREEZEFLARE FUSION!" I shouted, watching as the towering dragon unleashed a single torrent of ice that solidified around Cyrus' entire team, and then exploded with high-intensity white flame. Cyrus' entire party fainted immediately. He shrugged as if nothing mattered, took out five Max Revives from his pocket and gave them to his team in turn, bringing them back from their unconscious bliss. They saw the two dragons and immediately wanted to run away. Cyrus leveled a death glare at the five that immediately set them back on my three. I shook my head.
"They're going to turn on you if you force them to continue this fight!" I said as Reshiram and Kyurem split back into their original bodies. Kyurem looked like it was just fine; Reshiram looked slightly tired. The fusion and subsequent attack must have drained it.
"KYUREM, ZEKROM, USE SOULSIMMILATION!" I shouted, watching as this time, a pair of black pillar obscured my partners from view. When the dropped, Kyurem had once again changed; instead of its previous grey/silver, it now sported a white underside with black flesh on top. It's right arm and wing were gone, replaced by Zekrom's, while also sporting Zekrom's tail, coupled with a set of cables plugged from the tail into its main body. The left side of its head sported one of Zekrom's two black horns, while the rest of its head sported ice armor and a yellow horn to match its yellow eyes. One more bloodcurdling roar signaled that it was ready for battle.
"KYUREM, USE FREEZEBOLT FUSION!" I shouted, watching as once again, Kyurem drowned and forze Cyrus' entire team in a bath of pure ice, only to watch the ice crack and explode when the Pokémon within were simultaneously electrocuted by a single stream of billion-volt-level electric current. Now seeming annoyed, Cyrus pulled out five more Max Revives to heal his team. I clicked my teeth in annoyance and watched as Kyurem and Zekrom returned to their bodies, both now looking about as tired as Reshiram.
"No worries guys; As soon as you do me one more little favor, I'll let you sleep as long as you like. Sound good?" I asked. All three looked at me happily and nodded. I nodded back.
"Alright guys, let's do this! RESHIRAM, USE BLAST FUSILADE! ZEKROM, USE CRASH FUSILADE! KYUREM, USE FLASH FUSILADE! TAKE THEM ALL DOWN!" I shouted.
The first to act was Zekrom, taking to the skies and unleashing its two most powerful attacks at once: in one move, it unleashed Bolt Strike and Fusion Bolt at the same time, crashing into the epicenter of Cyrus' revived team and unleashing a cyclone of electricity. As Zekrom left the area, I watched as Kyurem followed suit using two moves I'd helped it create for itself: Crystal Fusion and Absolute Zero Shard. The first resembled Zekrom's Fusion Bolt, only instead of a charge, it used a strange combination of the powers it gained from its previous combinations with Reshiram and Zekrom to create a large, crystalline slab of ice that dropped and flattened Cyrus' team, flash-freezing them in a flash of white light afterward.
Finally, it was Reshiram's turn to light them up, and so it did, combining its trademark Fusion Flare and Blue Flare attacks into one massive detonation of all-mighty flame that incinerated everything in its wake. When Cyrus looked up, He took a step back; his Pokémon barely looked like Pokémon anymore; they looked like someone had stuffed them into an oven and locked it shut before setting it to 500 degrees and leaving it overnight. Only five badly charred Pokémon remained. Still, Cyrus appeared undaunted. He pulled ANOTHER FIVE Max Revives from his pockets, along with a Full Heal spray for the burns.
I turned to my three dragons and nodded with a smile, returning them to their Team Ball to sleep. I was left with only one more usable team: the one I didn't want to use. I didn't have a choice now. As Cyrus' team rose once more, losing their fear of the three dragons when they failed to see them present, I tossed out my last Team Ball, unleashing the three Legendary Dragons of Sinnoh: Dialga, the Time Dragon, Palkia, the Dimension Dragon, and Giratina the Phantom Dragon.
As soon as Giratina formed, I watched Cyrus' face twist into an expression of demonic fury: his mouth curled open into a wicked snarl, showing fang-like canines, while his blue eyes bent back in righteous rage and seemed to turn a shade between purple and red…
"YOU… YOU HAD GIRATINA ALL THIS TIME? MY RED CHAIN PLAN WON'T WORK NOW!" He shouted, and, as I watched his face contort further, he seemed to manifest a sort of dark-purple aura that spread onto his Pokémon like evil fire. As soon as it touched them, they screamed in pain, but soon lowered their heads to the ground. When they looked up, their eyes had half-closed, and were now a mixture of black and purple. Looking from them to Cyrus, I knew I had only one more chance at this: a single all-or-nothing attack. I just hoped nothing would happen to mess this up…
Turning to my Pokémon, I shouted, "PALKIA, USE SPATIAL REND! DIALGA, USE ROAR OF TIME! GIRATINA, USE SHADOW FORCE!" I watched as the three Pokémon gathered the energy they needed for the attacks to work, and then unleashed them all at once.
What happened, you may ask? The phenomenon that occurred when those three attacks found their mark and intermingled can NEVER hope to be explained by ANY scientific professional. All I can remember, before I blacked out from over exposure to cosmic forces beyond my control, was watching some weird hole made entirely of light open up at the point of impact, then the feeling of being pulled into that hole by an unknown force… and then everything goes dark.
~NARATOR~
As Rallen and Ash tumbled through the strange portals, they opened their eyes just long enough as they passed by. A shared look of confusion was all they could share before the feeling of being pulled returned, and both found themselves sailing off in the direction the other had come.
Rallen barely had any mental clarity left before he blacked out again, but managed one sentence:
"STAY AWAY FROM JEENA!"
Ash, in a similar position, only had the mental capacity for one statement:
"STOP CYRUS AT ALL COSTS!"
There was a blinding flash of light, and then…
-NANAIRO SYSTEM, PLANET KOLLIN, NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
NPP HEADQUARTERS, CRUISER DOCK
6:30PM-
Jeena sat in the captain's seat of the star cruiser's bridge, holding onto Komainu for dear life, silently thanking whatever gods existed that she still had this little piece of Rallen left. Komainu knew something had happened to his master, but couldn't understand why suddenly he felt half of himself… changing.
It had only been a few hours since Commander Grant had instructed Aldous to take the helm of the cruiser and bring Jeena back to Kollin. The entire rider back, Jeena had been completely unresponsive; no matter what Aldous asked her, she maintained a distant, blank stare with eyebrows curled back in horrified disbelief. Aldous knew from Grant's report that she'd suffered massive trauma and was exhibiting symptoms similar to shell-shock. She couldn't take any more input of any kind, her mind was less than a hair's breadth from snapping… and the only one who could fix it was gone, sucked through an inter-dimensional portal to know knew where.
Having had her face buried in the crown of Komainu's head, Jeena looked up, leveling her gaze with Komainu's sad eyes. She couldn't bear the expression, and was about to start another fit of hysteric tears when a flash of white light lit up the cabin. Jeena looked up for less than a second when the flash began, and looked away just in time for it to end. When she did look up again, what she saw shocked her:
A young man with short, black bed-head hair held back in a white hat, wearing a light white/blue jacket and black jeans with red sneakers and black gloves was lying on the floor of the cruiser, breathing erratically.
Frenzied and out of sorts, Jeena got up and scrambled around the cabin, trying not only to calm down, but also to figure out what to do with the mysterious boy that had just… appeared out of nowhere. She started looking for the Advanced NPP Handbook and sifted through, but when she found nothing, she hurled the book across the ship, spinning in place over and over again while trying to calm a madly twitching left eye.
Panic and hysteria finally getting the better of her, she started pulling at her pink hair and shouted, "THE DAMN MANUAL DOESN'T COVER PEOPLE APPEARING OUT OF NOWHERE? WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?" and with that, all the frustration of the day finally caught up with her, and, exhausted beyond reason, she did the only thing her body knew to do:
She collapsed.
-NANAIRO: PLANET KOLLIN, SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
SINNOH REGION: HEARTHOME CITY POKÉMON CENTER
9:30PM-
"I hope he's OK… I hope they find Ash soon…"
"I know, Dawn. Right now we can't do much more than this."
"I… I know… I just wish I knew where he was…"
"Don't worry. I'm sure he just found a nice safe crevice in the caves to hide in when that space/time anomaly went down on Spear Pillar…"
"I hope you're right Brock… I really hope you're right…"
"Oh, look! He's waking up!"
Rallen's eyes slowly opened, his red orbs registering an unknown location… and his back registered the sensation of an EXTREMELY stiff mattress underneath him. He tried to get up, but felt two pairs of hands push him back down. He could feel them on his stomach… one of them must have taken off his … jacket?
"WHERE AM I?" he shouted, bolting into a sitting position before bending at the waist from intense pain in his ribs.
'HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?* I CAN'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT!' Rallen thought. He opened his eyes to look at the two people in the room with him
His first hint that something was WAY off was the absence of Jeena ANYWHERE. He'd figured after he'd shouted she'd have heard and come running… not only that, but the people around him were wearing clothing he'd NEVER seen anywhere, not even in the Kaio System.
Rallen did the only thing he could and laid back down, allowing himself the opportunity to turn his analyzing eyes on the two in the room. The girl present was in a strange outfit that seemed to combine a one-piece dress with a skirt. The majority of the outfit was black, with a little white up toward the neck and pink…and had no sleeves. Her feet were covered in black socks that ended at her knees and a pair of mid-shin pink boots with straps on the feet.
Over her navy-blue hair - Rallen didn't argue that it couldn't POSSIBLY be her natural color, simply because JEENA'S HAIR WAS PINK – was a white cloth cap with a strange design, set in pink thread, which looked like a pair of circles cut off on two edges and joined together with another smaller circle inside them. Looking down to her face, Rallen barely registered the presence of two small objects that looked like gold pins holding her hair together in a ring behind her head. The sclera around her deep, azure-blue eyes was blurry and red, and by the way her pupils looked, he could tell she'd been crying recently. He could tell as well from the somewhat subtle lines in her facial muscles that she wasn't currently channeling ANY of her innate determination or drive. The only thing he could see: performer in street clothes.
Meanwhile, a simple glance at the boy with her told Rallen a different story all together; this guy was a professional at something, but his rough appearance couldn't dictate what exactly. The boy was wearing a black-necked orange vest with black, cloth pockets over a green, open-collar t-shirt, with pale khaki pants that ended JUST above a pair of white sneakers. The boy's hands seemed slightly calloused; he must have been good with his hands. However, it was the boy's face that set off a signal to lower Rallen's guard.
Beneath the boy's mop of unruly brown hair, was a pair of slightly slanted, but tightly closed eyes bent upward with his mouth in a seemingly perpetual smile. Rallen nodded in his pillow and sighed.
"Alright, I get it. I'm not well; I need bed rest for a bit, right?" Rallen asked, nodding again when the boy nodded in agreement.
"If that's the case, maybe you two could help me out. I don't know WHERE I am. What is this place?" Rallen asked. The boy nodded again.
"I figured as much when we got you undressed for the nurses. You're in a Pokémon center in Hearthome City, in the Sinnoh Region. It's…" the boy stopped quickly to check a rather primitive-looking device on his wrist, which Rallen remembered from history books was called "wristwatch", before looking back up and saying, "9:37 in the evening. And before I answer your obvious next question, I'd better introduce myself and my friend. My name's Brock, the dismissed leader of the Pewter City Pokémon Gym. This here is Dawn, a good friend and Pokémon Coordinator. Unlike my position, which includes mostly harmless battles, she works more in the department of performance instead."
Rallen nodded, and when he saw Brock's mouth open, he decided to preempt the question.
"Before you ask," Rallen said, "My name is Rallen, Commander-General for the Nanairo Planetary Patrol, or NPP. I was on active field duty with my partner Jeena when we picked up a strange energy reading on the distant planet Fons and went to investigate. The last thing I remember was being sucked into a big… bright white light, and then nothing." Rallen could tell from Dawn's newfound look of fear that she thought he was nuts. Brock, however, looked like he was seriously thinking about the possibility.
"Nanairo… Can't say I've ever heard of it. But, in any case, I'd better explain how you came to be in that bed," Brock said, pulling up a chair next to Rallen.
"Last night, our other friend Ash, an expert Pokémon Trainer, went up Mount Coronet, a large mountain range that sits roughly in the center of the region and takes up a good fourth of its overall span. Ash had been called up there months ago to do battle with -"
"Wait, hang on," Rallen said, "You keep mentioning "Poky-man". I don't know anything about that. What are these… "Poky-man?" The twin looks of confusion and worry he received from BOTH Brock AND Dawn, he could tell he was treading uncharted waters.
"You… you're serious?" Dawn asked with a hint of fear in her voice. She obviously STILL had him pegged as a psychopath… or, at the very least, she thought he was clinically insane.
Brock shook his head.
"I figured something about you wasn't right," the brunette said, leaning back in his chair, "your clothes resemble combat armor more than clothing, and I've never seen that kind of material ANYWHERE in my life. Not only that, but your armor's left wrist has a socket that looks like an elongated hexagon, with grooves in it, as if something has been in that socket for a LONG time and cause a fair deal of wear and tear. For all that to be the case, coupled with your claim to be part of this… "Nanairo Planetary Patrol" thing, and yet have NO IDEA what Pokémon are… you're really not from here, ANYWHERE NEAR HERE, are you?"
-NANAIRO SYSTEM, PLANET KOLLIN, NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
NPP HEADQUARTERS, INFIRMARY
10:45PM-
Ash awoke to the sound of beeping and a LOT of unnatural pinging sounds. Looking around, he found a long needle in his arm, and, following its path, found it connected to a large machine with fluctuating red, yellow, and green lines. He realized he was in a hospital and couldn't do anything about it. So instead of sitting up, he simply raised his free arm and touched his stomach. He winced at a slight bit of pain and resigned to resting up.
At least, he was resigned to resting up until a girl with bright pink hair walked into the room and brightened up a bit at the sight of him.
"Good evening, how are you feeling?" she asked, approaching the bed and pulling up a chair. Ash blinked a few times, finding himself drawn to her light blue eyes. They almost reminded him of the color of the ocean when he was out surfing on Kyogre's back.
"I… I'm feeling alright, I suppose…" Ash said, choosing to turn his attention to the girl's odd choice of clothing. That was saying something, too; out of ALL the girls he'd ever been around, THIS one had the STRANGEST tastes he'd ever seen.
Overtop of a hip-length dress consisting of alternating blue-and-white vertical strips of cloth was a grey vest. Underneath the gentle swell of her dress' skirt-like bottom emerged the color and form of a pair of skin-tight black tights that went all the way down her legs into her silver boots. On her left wrist was a strange-looking device that looked like a pair of large circles centered on a large orange screen. The entire thing reminded him of the outside of a Pokedex.
"So, uh… who can I thank for getting me here?" Ash asked. The girl slapped herself on the forehead and groaned.
"Why is it that I ALWAYS seem to forget to introduce myself?" she asked herself aloud, "My name's Jeena, Commander-General of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol. You're currently in a medical care facility on the planet Kollin, which is also the NPP's home base. You gave us quite the scare earlier!" Ash's confused expression told her she needed to elaborate.
"Several hours ago, my Partner Rallen and I were investigating a strange energy spike on a distant planet when a large portal opened up and swallowed him…" At this point, Jeena stopped abruptly and broke down in soft sobs. Ash reached his needled arm over to pat her on the shoulder. It was obvious, even to Ash, the eternally love-blind, when someone close by was missing someone really close to them.
After a few minutes Jeena calmed down and nodded in thanks before looking back to Ash and continuing, "As I was saying, A giant Portal opened up and swallowed him up. I spent a few hours searching for him and was at my wit's end when you suddenly dropped out of thin-air onto the floor of my Star Cruiser… And don't worry about introducing yourself. We checked for any ID before admitting you, Mr. Ash Ketchum. I have to admit; even around here your name is an odd one…" Ash nodded.
"I'd ask how I got here, but that'd be a moot point now, huh?" Ash asked, chuckling. His eyes suddenly widened, almost comically, and he looked at Jeena with a worried look on his face.
"My belts, with all the little balls on them… where did they go?" he asked.
Jeena gave him a concerned look and replied, "You weren't found with any… all we found on your were your clothes, which are being repaired and washed, as well as your ID… though I have to ask where you got such a strange piece of ID from… What exactly is a … "Poky-man" Trainer? Are you trained in aiding the obese in day-to-day activities?" Jeena asked.
Ash gave her a strange, almost strangled look.
"In any case, the nature of these… "Poky-men" is irrelevant. You'll be in a bit of a different position now. I received word from my superiors that you're being enlisted, albeit temporarily, as soon as you're able to walk, to help us track down my partner. So I hope you're feeling at one-hundred-percent soon… Because you've got a MASSIVE crash course on NPP Training and … Spectrobe Training to do once you're back on your feet," Jeena said. Ash looked at her like she was crazy.
"Speck… robes? What's a Speckrobe?" Ash asked. Now it was Jeena's turn to look at him like he'd lost his mind.
"You honestly don't know about the Krawl… and the fact that you've temporarily been appointed Spectrobe Master of the Universe?" Jeena asked. Ash's mouth slammed into his collarbone, and…
Across the universe, a pair of terrified screams pierced through the deepest reaches of space. And deep within those same deep reaches, a quartet of figures stood in front a man with cropped blue hair, who wore a long, flowing cloak with a slanted letter "G" on the left breast.
_THE END FOR NOW_
As I said, just a little idea I had. ^_^ Let me know what you think.
*Any Linkin Park fans out there will know this reference. ^_-