Did you know that in English, the move Vengeance is called Retaliation?
Are you just going to ignore the fact that it took us like a month to update?
Yes, I am, and you're all going to deal with it!
On note of the actually story, though, I'm not too proud of this chapter. I don't think we're very good at fight scenes, but you can be the judge of that.
Disclaimer: We own nothing. Do we even need this in the Pokémon section?
Chapter 4: First Fight Against the Hunters
~Project Zenith Laboratory~
Zenith floated solemnly in an empty room towards the back of the lab. This was the only room that had never been used to create multiple clones, only one. Now though, the tank that had housed that one clone was destroyed, its glass pieces strewn all over the floor around it. Zenith never bothered to clean it up; he thought that it would serve as a reminder to him of his one failure.
The Uxie let out a long sigh. "Where did I go wrong? Perhaps the dark-type energy from 018 was too strong, but surely I would have foreseen that… It seems that, despite my intelligence, I still have much to learn."
Zenith extended his psychic awareness to cover the entire room, feeling its energy. Although it's one occupant had long since left, he could still feel traces of nothingness, a void of energy that could only belong to a dark-type.
Zenith felt a twinge of frustration as he thought of his failure and what it could bring about for his creations. "010, it's you, isn't it? The one that is-"
"Zenith?" A small voice called. Snapped out of his thoughts, the Uxie turned to see Ruxa standing in the doorway. "May I come in?"
Zenith smiled slightly as he beckoned the blind Pichu. "Of course you may. It may be for the better that you see this, anyway."
The Pichu sent out another small electric wave and began to move into the room. She stopped suddenly, biting back a cry of pain as she accidently stepped on a piece of glass. She pulled it out, though the wound left behind was thankfully small. She moved much more carefully the rest of the way to her creator.
"013. Feel the energy within this room." Zenith commanded.
Ruxa nodded. Being blind heightened her other senses considerably, and this meant she could feel the energy of others in a sort of sixth sense. She couldn't feel it as strongly as Zenith, but she could still feel the darkness left within the room.
Ruxa shivered slightly. "Was this the one who-?"
"Yes, I believe he was." Zenith answered.
"…Why did you bring me back?" Ruxa asked. "What makes me so important that that a second attempt was needed after the first was destroyed?"
Zenith smiled and chuckled slightly at the question. "I've seen the future. Future Sight may not see more than a few years ahead, and it may be vague, but it still gets its message across. Someday, you are going to play a role in stopping this threat to us."
"Threat?" Ruxa repeated, confused.
"I'm hoping that it is just one that poses a danger to us. Although, there are so many variables in this situation. The disappearance of so many clones has begun to worry me, as I have yet to locate them. I do not know what is going on, but I fear that it going to become very disastrous…"
Ruxa looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to look up at him. "We should tell the others, then. If you think that we are in danger, it will do no good to keep it a secret."
Zenith nodded. "You may be right. I have already told a select few, but it would likely be better to tell all of them. However, quite a few have already left the laboratory. We will have to wait until they get back before I can share my suspicions."
~Forest~
Arieva, the one closest to Ace, jumped back before his Leaf Blade could connect. "Ah! What in the name of Arceus are you doing? How'd you know we were clones?"
"Your attacks are much more powerful than any other Pokémon of your level. Besides that, there are two legendaries with you; one that is rarely seen, and another that should be sleeping for another several hundred years!" Ace answered.
Arieva growled and jumped forward, electricity lacing her teeth. She latched onto Ace's arm and discharged the electricity of her Thunder Fang. The Sceptile clenched his teeth to keep from crying out, then swung his arm towards a tree, crashing Arieva against it forcefully. The Jolteon let go and slid to the ground, stunned by the impact.
Before Ace could attack the downed clone again, Canon slammed into him with a Skull Bash and sent the Sceptile crashing into a different tree. Rage jumped forward and used Mega Kick on Canon, though, knocking him away. The Primeape ran after the Wartortle to continue the battle.
While Ace was picking himself up, Ella teleported directly in front of him, smiling cutely. Surprised by the action, he failed to notice the small Aura Sphere forming between Ella's paws before it suddenly grew in size and was hurled into his face. The attack blew the hunter straight through the tree and into another one behind it.
Ella turned and smiled at the clones that hadn't gone to help Canon fight Rage. "This isn't too hard. I think Zenith may have been over-"
"Look out!" Vienna suddenly cried. Ella turned just as a Dragon Pulse hit here and knocked her out of the air. Ace jumped back into the small clearing, a little bruised, but still full of energy.
"Dang, he's tough." Ella grunted, picking herself up. A small, white ball formed between her hands. "I hope this works…"
The Metronome attack burst outward, transforming into a jet of flames. Ace's eyes widened in shock, but he managed to jump out of the way at the last second.
"Aw, come on! The one time I get something effective with that move, and it misses!" Ella yelled in frustration.
"I think we've got bigger problems than that right now…" Sable said, his voice holding fear. Ella looked back at where her Flamethrower had hit: a tree that had now caught fire and was quickly spreading to the others.
Rush, thinking quickly, yelled at Vienna, "You! You're a water-type, put it out!"
"Um, right!" Vienna said, snapping back to reality. She used Water Gun, successfully putting out the small fire after several seconds before it could grow any further.
"New rule! No fire-type moves!" Ella shouted at Feyr, who along with Canon, Jia, and Arieva, was helping fight against Rage.
"I've already noticed, thanks!" She called back. Suddenly, Rage nailed her with a critical Mega Punch. The Houndour was sent flying before she crashed into the ground, unconscious.
"Feyr!" Arieva cried out. She glared daggers at Rage. "Now you're going to get it!"
The Jolteon's body erupted in the red aura of Retaliation, and she charged forward. She hit the Primeape dead on, sending him crashing to the ground. Rage displayed some considerable trouble in getting back up.
As he stood up, Rage's body was enveloped in a blue glow. Jia, whose ribbons were floating with the same energy, psychically threw the Primeape into another tree. Canon tucked inside his shell and used Rapid Spin, smashing him through the tree he was thrown against.
Ace's arm leaves glowed green again, and he swung the Leaf Blade towards Vienna. However, before the attack could connect, Sable jumped in the way and took the attack. The blade sliced across his chest, leaving a long, but thankfully, not lethal, gash. Sable let out a soundless gasp and collapsed.
"Sable!" Vienna cried. Glaring at Ace, she jumped into the air and slashed her claws downward in an Aerial Ace. The attack slashed across the Sceptile's stomach, drawing blood from the wound. Ace grunted loudly, but he managed to knock the Croconaw away with Pound.
"Why are they attacking us?" Shard asked Rush. Both were staying out of the fight; Rush because she was injured, and Shard because she was worried about the Tyrogue and didn't like fighting.
"They're hunters, kid." Rush answered. "They're Pokémon that are trained to hunt clones like you and me."
"You're a clone?" Shard asked.
"Yeah, it's why I'm female. Can't believe that you guys are cloned Pokémon too, though." Rush said.
"Uh huh! We're Zenith's clones! Daddy made us!" The Pachirisu chirped.
"Zenith? What a coincidence that I'd end up meeting and getting help from Project Zenith…" The Tyrogue trailed off.
"That's it! You made Rage angry! Now you get it!" Rage bellowed. He swung his arm, brutally batting Arieva away, then smashed it down in a Brick Break on top of Canon. Canon kept back his shout of pain, but when the arm was removed, there were several cracks running along his shell.
Jia used Psychic to knock the Primeape away from Canon, then turned to Ella. "This place is too crowded! We need more room!"
Focusing her power, Jia used Psychic to rip several trees from the ground and throw them back, making the small clearing much larger. However, she did take one of the trees and use it like a bat to hit and knock away Ace. When she tried it on Rage, the Primeape grabbed the tree and managed to hurl it out of the way.
Having more room to move around, Ella used Transform to turn into a Pidgeot, then used Air Slash, sending waves of sharp wind forward. The other clones jumped out of the way, but both hunters were struck by the attack and took serious damage.
Ace stopped, panting heavily, and turned to his battered companion. "There are too many, and we were ill-prepared. We need to retreat for now."
Rage glared at the Sceptile, but a look at the remaining conscious clones, most of which were still capable of fighting, convinced him to relent. "Fine. This isn't over! Rage will beat you next time!"
"You can try!" Jia taunted, smirking cockily. The Primeape glared at her, looking ready to attack again, but he just turned around and ran back into the forest with Ace.
Now that the hunters were gone, Vienna and Arieva tended to the unconscious forms of Feyr and Sable, and Jia floated over to Canon to check up on him.
"You okay?" Jia meant for it be sincere, but she couldn't keep her natural mocking tone completely out of the question.
Canon glared at her briefly, then looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take more than that to bring me down.
Jia eyed the cracks in his shell, frowning slightly. "That's a pretty nasty wound."
Canon shrugged. "It'll heal, and if it doesn't, we have medical equipment at the lab for this sort of stuff."
The Jirachi clone nodded and left, flying over to Ella, who had transformed back. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, we need to get back to the lab. Sable and Feyr should be okay, but it's always good to make sure." The Mew answered.
"What about her?" Jia asked, pointing to Rush, who was still being watched by Shard. "Can we trust her?"
"She was running away from those Pokémon, too. I don't think she wants to hurt us." Ella said. "Besides, she's a clone just like us, judging from her gender. Tyrogues are an all-male species, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they are." Jia confirmed. "Fine, we'll trust her for now. Besides, she's one Pokémon, she can't take us all. Let's just get back to the lab."
"Kay." Ella nodded, transforming back into a Pidgeot. Jia used Psychic to set the two unconscious clones onto Ella's back, who took off flying, back in the direction of the lab.
"We should hurry, before Zenith gets angry." Vienna said.
Jia rolled her eyes. "I could care less about the feelings of out "father", but we do need to get back. There are too many of us for me to teleport by myself, though, so let's get walking."
~Author's Note~
Yeah, no new characters in this chapter. Next one should see to the introduction of more of the hunters.
Sorry for the wait, by the way. We do tend to be easily distracted though, so we won't make any promises about the next update, since we won't be able to stick to it, most likely.
However, we can promise that the next update will be on Crescent Nightmare. Bye now!