Notes: Inspired by a fic I read in which Hilbert and Hilda were subway bosses.
Monsters
(this subway car never stops.)
.
Champions of the battle subway. The title is unfamiliar, but he tests it on his tongue and finds it to be to his satisfaction. He can tell by Rosa's ecstatic smile that she is feeling the same way as Ingo and Emmet's last Pokemon fall to the ground and the subway screeches to a stop back at Nimbasa after a day of nothing but battling. Forty-nine battles and they're still undefeated.
"Congratulations," Ingo says, "but you're not done yet."
Rosa frowns, calling back her Serperior into its Poke ball. "What do you mean?"
Ingo and Emmet only exchange a knowing smile before stepping out of the train car and vanishing into the crowded subway station. Nate wants to call after them, ask just where do they think they're going, but before he can get out a word, the doors slide shut and the subway picks up speed until it is continuing on its path once again.
.
As soon as the train glides into the darkness, a pair of shadowy figures emerge into their compartment. Nate doesn't recognize them at first, but then light from one of the windows flickers across their faces, though only for a second, and—
He has heard the legends about the two champions of Unova who disappeared after taking down Team Plasma and saving the world. Sure, he knows their names, but he never expected to be standing right in front of them as he and Rosa are right now.
His childhood friend lets out a strangled gasp, and he can only do the same. "A-aren't you...?"
"I'd prefer if we skipped the introductions." The boy's voice is rough and hoarse, as if he hasn't used it for a while. At the sound of it, Rosa falls silent at once and stares at him in shock, maybe even awe. He has rumpled brown hair under a cap and his face is gaunt, pale like that of a ghost. He grins and tilts his cap at them, and Nate is startled when his eyes flash red in the darkness, with a gleam he is not sure he understands.
Meanwhile, his partner, a brunette with a high ponytail under a cap, looks painfully bored, like they have done nothing but ride on this very subway line for years. Which, Nate thinks, is probably true. But she drops her emotionless mask for a moment to smirk with a hint of sadism, and when her hands go to the Poke balls at her waist, Nate catches sight of her nails, sharpened to deadly points.
So this was what Ingo and Emmet were trying to warn them about when they first stepped on this subway car. Nate thinks he ought to be scared, but he isn't. He and Rosa can't possibly lose, after all the battles they've won. They are invincible.
Instead, he puts on a confident smirk and prepares to throw his own Poke ball. Beside him, Rosa does the same.
Without speaking, the battle starts.
.
They do not go easy on him and Rosa, nor do they fight with mercy. They are monsters, fighting alongside each other with the easy familiarity and confidence that can only come from battling together for years. They are like a hurricane that sweeps across the land and leaves only destruction behind. They call orders to their Pokemon in quiet and deadly voices, and in their eyes is a cruel and hungry glint that can only mean one thing.
Nate and Rosa are their new prey.
And the worst thing is, he knows that he is already dead from the moment the first commands are spoken.
.
The battle lasts all night. In the morning, only two dead bodies remain in the subway car.