Chapter 4
Bogran
Zero and Furno stared blankly at the seemingly random Marshtomp standing in the middle of the rooms. The Marshtomp, whose name was apparently Bogran, to his credit, stood didn't so much as twitch under the intense stares of the two original members of Team Dawn Breaker. Zero did notice a single bead of sweat running down his face.
"So…" the mud fish Pokémon said when the silence passed five minutes. "Um…I'm Bogran and you two are Zero and Furno…right?"
That seemed to snap Zero out of his stupor. "Y-Yeah. I mean, yes," Zero said, focusing fully on the water-ground type. "I'm Zero and this is Furno." He gestured to his friend who awkwardly waved.
"H-Hey."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, sirs!" Bogran said happily.
"'Sirs'?" Zero repeated.
Bogran sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Isn't that how I should address you two? You guys are like, the founders of the team. It wouldn't be right if I called you by your names!"
Furno leaned over and whispered in Zero's ears. "I like the way this guy thinks."
Zero rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and turned back to the Marshtomp. "You don't need to call us 'sir' or anything else. Just Zero and Furno."
"Killjoy," Furno muttered.
"Anyway," Zero said, sending a pointed look towards Furno, "what exactly are you here for?"
"Oh. Um…" Bogran shifted anxiously. "I was hoping to…you know…" His voice petered off to a whisper towards the end, making it unintelligible.
"Uh, what was that?" Zero asked. "I didn't hear you."
Bogran looked helplessly towards Quill, Weiss, Dusty, and Bella, silently asking for their help. "Don't look at us. You're the one that wanted this," Weiss said, getting a nod from Quill and Dusty. Bella didn't look to be paying attention.
Bogran made a low whining noise from the back of his throat. Giving the quartet another pleading look, which was promptly ignored, he turned back to Zero and Furno, the latter of whom were getting impatient.
"Out with it!" Furno snapped, ignoring the reproachful look Zero was giving him.
"Iwannajointeamdawnbreaker!" Bogran said hurriedly, speaking too fast to be understood.
"Uh, a little bit slower," Zero suggested.
Bogran nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I want to join your team. I want to join Team Dawn Breaker."
Zero blinked in surprise, having not expected such a request. "Y-You do?"
"Well, I want to join the resistance in general," Bogran admitted, "but these guys seemed nice enough when I met them," Bogran explained, gesturing to Quill, Weiss, and Dusty. "The Banette, on the other hand, was a little…weird."
If Bella took offense, she gave no indication. She just stared at the ceiling, seemingly not paying attention. Had it not been for a slight twitch of her arm at the mention of her name, Zero would have guessed she was in her own little world.
"Yeah, that's just Bella," Furno said dismissively.
"Right," Bogran said, sending the marionette Pokémon an apprehensive look. "A-Anyway, I thought that, maybe I could join them and help the resistance, but they said that they'd have to ask the leader of the team."
"I see," Zero said. While the Marshtomp wasn't the first to ask to join the team, that distinction belonged to Quill, Zero couldn't help but feel a little curious. "Why exactly do you want to join?"
"Well, like I said, everyone was pretty cool and…" Bogran began, but Zero cut him off.
"No, I mean why do you want to join the resistance?" Zero clarified.
"Oh! Well…it's a bit of a long story," Bogran said, suddenly becoming somber. "And it's not exactly…happy."
"I imagine not if you want to fight in the resistance," Weiss commented. "I do have to admit though, I find myself curious as to why you wish to join."
"Yeah, you never told us when we found you," Quill said. "You just said that you needed to speak to someone high up in the resistance."
Bogran's eyes fell to the floor and his fins seemed to droop. "Well, I guess it started back when I was a Mudkip. Growing up, I was always scared of the emperor. The village elders told ghost stories to the children about him and the horrible things he's done, always saying that, if you misbehaved, the emperor would come and 'snatch you up.'"
"Huh. It almost makes him seem like a fairy tale rather than a real entity," Weiss commented.
"More like a nightmare," Quill quipped.
"Guys," Zero said sharply.
"No, it's fine," Bogran assured. "In fact, it's like Weiss said. Back then, he was just a fairy tale. An urban legend like the Boogeyman. He wasn't real, and that's what the elders intended. They wanted the emperor to be nothing more than a myth, so that the children would be scared in their dreams, not in real life." Bogran chuckled in a nostalgic manner. His smiled soon diminished, however, and his entire demeanor read broken. "And that's how things were, for years. Until…they weren't."
"The emperor sent his soldiers to your village," Furno reasoned.
"Got it in one," Bogran said with a joyless smile. "My village was neutral, or as neutral as you can be in a time like this. Obviously, we weren't for the emperor, but we didn't actively support the resistance either. We were peaceful, and we wanted no part in any of the of the bloodshed that was taking place, but, in the end, it didn't matter. Because the emperor did what he always does; he conquered."
Bogran paused, turning his gaze upwards. He ran his large hands down his face, exhaling sharply as he did so. "Not that we fought back. Like I said, we were peaceful, no one really knew how to fight properly and those that tried were cut down by the soldiers. So, in the end, the soldiers took over and we became apart of the empire. That was a year ago."
"That's the emperor for you," Quill said grimly. "There's no limit to his cruelty. He takes whatever he wants, even random villages. He just wants to showcase his power."
"Well, capturing village wasn't exactly random," Bogran said, once more gaining the team's attention. "If I had to guess, it was a strategic move."
"How so?" Furno questioned.
Weiss frowned, her gaze narrowing as if she were just seeing Bogran for the first time. "What's that name of your village?"
Bogran turned towards Weiss, holding her gaze for several seconds in total silence before replying. "Muddleville."
"Muddleville?!" Weiss gasped. "You're from Muddleville?! The village right on the shore of Lake Abundance. That Muddleville?!"
"That's right," Bogran confirmed.
"Arceus," Quill said, resting his head in his hand. He looked as if he had just been told he would have to leave the resistance.
"Are you kidding me?" Furno demanded rather heatedly. He leaned out of seat, his eyes trained on the mud fish Pokémon. "Are you being serious? The emperor is in control of Muddleville?!"
"It's true," Bogran responded somberly.
"Um, I think I'm missing something here. Why's everyone reacting like this?" Zero asked, completely lost.
"Zero, Lake Abundance is an incredibly large lake that has several connecting tributaries," Weiss began to explain. "Those tributaries branch out to hundreds of rivers and streams that span over almost all of Lyore."
"Okay…" Zero said, not really understanding what Weiss was getting at.
Weiss rolled her eyes, muttering something unintelligible under her breath. "Zero. Those streams and rivers act as the water sources for countless villages and town and Muddleville is the only community near it."
"So, the emperor has control over the water," Zero realized.
"To an extent," Weiss said. "While they do have control of Muddleville, Lake Abundance is, as the name suggests, incredibly large. There's not much they can do such a large body, despite it being the source of most of Lyore's water."
"That's where you're wrong." Everyone turned back to the Marshtomp. Bogran stood stock still, his head bowed so no one could see his expression. "What a lot of people don't know is that the people of Muddleville maintain the tributaries of the lake. We clear out any obstructions or build ups that form at their entrances because, if one tributary is closed off, that's several places that go without water."
He raised his head, revealing a blank expression. "And that's just what the emperor wants to cause. He wants to dry out Lyore."
"Dry out…Lyore?" Dusty asked, blinking in surprise.
Bogran nodded solemnly. "About six months after Muddleville was taken over, the emperor ordered us to begin construction on a large dam. One that will block off all of the lake's tributaries."
"He wants to purposely block of the tributaries?!" Quill exclaimed. "That's…That's…"
"Genius," Weiss said. Everyone turned towards the red Absol, looks of confusion and incredulousness all around. "Oh, don't look at me like that," she said with an annoyed huff. "From a strategical sense, cutting off your opponents water supply practically guarantees a win." She then directed her attention to Bogran. "This would explain why you needed to talk to the higher ups."
"Yeah," Bogran said. "The resistance needed to know what the emperor was planning."
"So, you defied the emperor, escaped the soldiers occupying your village, and ran to the resistance," Furno said, impressed.
"Not exactly," Bogran denied.
"He was about to be executed when we encountered him," Dusty said bluntly.
Bogran shrugged. "They didn't like how rebellious I was. Or that I was actively trying to sabotage the dam," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"You were actively sabotaging the dam?" Quill said, whistling in appreciation. "You've got guts, I'll give you that."
"Well no one else was doing anything," Bogran said with another shrug.
"Even so, it was incredibly dangerous," Weiss scolded. "The soldiers are known to be ruthless to anyone who defies them."
"Yeah, I noticed that when they tried to execute me," Bogran said dryly. "If it helps, I had been sabotaging them since I evolved a couple months ago and they only recently caught me."
"You lasted two months without being caught?" Furno asked, slightly skeptical. "We're you working with other Pokémon?"
"Not exactly," Bogran said. "The Pokémon of Muddleville were, and still are, at least for the most part, peaceful. No one wanted to do anything to piss of the emperor and incur the wrath of the occupying soldiers. They just did what they were told without fuss."
"But not you," Zero said.
"No. At least, not now," Bogran confessed. "Back when I was a Mudkip, I was like everyone else; timid, shy, submissive. I did what I was told like a 'good boy'." Bogran pulled a face of disgust at the term. "Then I evolved and with the new form…"
"A new personality," Zero said, glancing at Furno from the corner of his eye.
Bogran nodded. "Yep. Unlike as a Mudkip, I became much more outgoing and rebellious. Not to mention I developed a desire to train and battle. Before I began to even think about sabotaging the dam, I felt…energetic, like I had eaten ten chesto berries but at all times. As an outlet, I began to train myself, becoming stronger than I ever was as a Mudkip. It wasn't long before the soldiers took note of me and forced me to work on the dam."
"I'm surprised they didn't try and recruit you," Furno commented.
"They tried, but I was adamant," Bogran explained. "As such, they put me to work in hopes that I would stop training and their little problem would disappear. I, of course, still trained myself, at night and out of sight."
"And when did you decide to be a saboteur?" Weiss asked.
"Shortly after I started working on the dam," Bogran answered. "I saw how the soldiers were treating the other villagers. How they worked us to near exhaustion, even the elderly. Their cruelty and the brutal manner they treated the entire village. I just couldn't take it anymore."
Bogran had to stop and take a deep breath. He slowly uncurled his fingers that had been formed into tight fists just moment ago, and continued to breathe slowly. "I started off small, diluting the concrete with water attacks or weakening the scaffolding. Then I moved to physically attacking the dam."
"And you weren't caught?" Zero asked, surprised.
"Nope," Bogran said, a glimmer of pride creeping over his expression. "I never got caught."
"Until you were," Dusty pointed out.
"Well, I wasn't caught in the way you think," Bogran said ambiguously.
"What do you mean by that?" Zero questioned.
"Well, after the soldiers couldn't find out who was messing with the dam, they gave an ultimatum. If the saboteur didn't come forward, they would start killing villagers."
Silence consumed the room at Bogran's horrifying statement. It was no secret to anyone in the resistance that the emperor's soldiers were cruel, but hearing how they were willing to kill innocent Pokémon was…
"That's horrendous!" Weiss exclaimed in disgust, a sentiment that was mirrored by the rest of the team.
"I knew the emperor was cruel, but this takes the cake," Quill snarled.
Furno remained silent, but the flames on the tip of his tail sparked ominously. Even Bella was giving a low, guttural growl, her once passive expression distorted into a furious glare.
"So that is how you were caught," Dusty spoke, his voice tight but steadily calm. "You surrendered in order to save the lives of your village."
"In a way…I did things a little more selfishly," Bogran said, looking slightly ashamed. "Instead of just coming forward, I attacked the dam. I made it obvious that it was me doing it, and when the soldiers moved in on me, I ran. I ran so far, but those soldiers were tenacious. I didn't want to die…I didn't…"
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to live," Weiss said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "You did nothing wrong."
"Not to mention you saved your village," Quill pointed out. "That was pretty selfless."
Bogran shook his head. "I didn't save them. They're still enslaved by the emperor. And that's why I want join the resistance." Bogran turned to face Zero, his jaw set and his orange eyes burning with fire. He walked forward so that he stood directly in front of the Riolu. "I have to do something to help my village. My family."
To everyone's shock, Bogran got down on his knees and bowed his head, his forehead touching the ground. "Please," he begged. "Let me join your team!"
Zero, for his part, was utterly stunned. There he was, sitting in the middle of his team's rooms with another Pokémon begging him to join. Between Bogran's story and the fact that he was on his knees, Zero saw that Bogran was indeed sincere in his desire without reading his emotions, but that wasn't what he was worried about. He already had five other members on the team and he was just getting used to being in charge of that many Pokémon. He wasn't sure if he could manage six.
"Bogran…" Zero spoke carefully, "I can see you're adamant about all this, but I'm not sure if I have the authority to let you join the resistance…"
"The tribunal gave me permission to join," Bogran interrupted, not lifting his head. "They said I could either join the training program or find a team that would accept me.
Zero bit his lip. Well there goes that, he thought. He was conflicted. He didn't want to turn Bogran away, but he didn't know if he was capable of handling another team member.
He looked down at the Marshtomp, the Pokémon that was baring his soul to the Riolu, and he knew. He knew he couldn't turn the Pokémon away.
"You can join."
Bogran's head snapped up. "What?" he asked, eyes wide with shock.
"You can join," Zero repeated. "Though I must warn you, Team Dawn Breaker is still relatively new. Chances are we won't be on the frontlines. We'll be doing an assortment of missions to nearby towns, cities, and mystery dungeons. We most likely won't be encountering any of the emperor's soldiers."
"Th-That's fine!" Bogran gasped, still in shock. "I'll do whatever! As long as I'm helping people and I have the chance to get stronger!"
"Then welcome to Team Dawn Breaker," Zero said, a small smile forming on his face.
Bogran stayed where he was, seemingly processing what Zero had just said. In the next second, he was on his feet, a loud cheer escaping his lips. "Thank you!" he cried. In the spur of the moment, he grabbed Zero off of the couch and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"You're welcome!" Zero chocked out, awkwardly patting the water-ground type's back.
"Oi! Shut up! We're tryin' ta sleep!"
The sudden voice from the wall caused Team Dawn Breaker to freeze. Bogran set Zero down and turned to the wall, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry!" he called, hoping to appease the ones on the other side of the wall.
They heard grumbling before silence was once more instilled. Bogran turned back to Zero, still smiling like a loon. "Thank you," he said yet again, though much quieter than before. "I won't let you down!"
Zero gave a short nod of assent before turning to the rest of the team. "Well, it's late, so let's get some rest."
"But what about tomorrow's mission?" Weiss asked before Zero could even move towards his room. "You and Furno have been given a break, but the rest of us still have to go out, so who's going to lead us?"
Zero sighed tiredly, the events of the past few days fully encompassing him. "To be honest, I'm way too tired to even begin to think about that. I would say do what you've been doing, but…" He gave his team, sans Bogran, pointed looks, earning sheepish ones in return. "Can I trust you guys to pull it together for at least one more mission?"
"Yes, sir!" Quill responded, though his cheeky smile didn't give Zero confidence.
"Right," Zero commented, too tired to really refuse. He yawned unabashedly and gave his team a bleary look. "Night all. See you tomorrow."
A chorus of 'night' answered Zero's call as the rest of the team, including Bogran, entered their rooms. All save for one Pokémon.
"Furno?" Zero asked, noticing his friend had remained where he was. "You going to bed?"
"In a minute," the Monferno called back. "I just…want stay for a bit. It's just…good to be back and I want to soak it in for a bit."
"Oh, okay," Zero said, seeing nothing wrong with that. "Just don't stay up too long."
Furno gave a short, dismissing wave, turning away from the former human. Zero watched his friend for a few more seconds before ducking into his room and closed the door behind him. Furno turned his head slightly, staring at Zero's closed door. He waited several seconds before getting up and walking over to where they kept their pack.
He rummaged through the pack for several seconds before pulling out a blue and yellow, acorn shaped fruit. With a sigh, he sank his teeth into the dry tasting berry, relishing in the spike of energy that washed away his tiredness.
-Resistance-
All too soon, Zero was roused from his slumber by an incessant knocking coming from the main door to their rooms. It had been so long since he slept in an actual bed. He didn't want to get up. He wanted to just curl back into his bed and go back to sleep, but the knocking persisted.
With a groan, Zero pulled himself out of his nice, warm, comforting bed and left his room. His body immediately protested the action. Soreness latched onto him like a blanket, eliciting painful jolts through his body with each movement, giving the Riolu even more reason to curl back up in his bed. Against his better judgement, he ignored his body's protests and entered the lounge.
At the same moment, Furno exited his room, looking just as tired and worn out as Zero felt. The fire-fighting type gave a grunt as a greeting, a hop, skip, and a jump from the typical jubilant greeting he usually gave. "Who's at the door?" Furno grumbled as a new wave of knocks echoed through their room. "Weren't we supposed to have today off?"
"We're supposed to," Zero said, barely withholding a yawn. Reluctantly, and with no small amount of annoyance, Zero dragged himself to their door and opened it, revealing someone Zero hadn't expected to see so soon. "Stride?"
The Greninja gave the former human a tired smile. His eyes had dark bruises around them and he was slouching as if his limbs were weighing him down. "Zero," he said. "Good to see you up."
"Not like we had a choice," Furno grumbled as he walked over.
"Well, eat a chesto berry because we've got training," Stride said.
"But didn't we get a break?" Zero asked, trying to keep his voice even, though inside he was screaming.
"You are excused from taking missions, but that doesn't mean that you should let your skills atrophy," Stride replied a little testily.
"But shouldn't we at least rest?" Zero persisted. "I mean, what good is training if your body doesn't get the chance to recover and heal?" he said, recalling one of the first things Monty told them.
"You had time to rest, now come on," Stride said shortly, his smile turning into an annoyed frown. He then turned sharply on his heel and marched down the hall. With twin groans, both Zero and Furno reluctantly left their rooms and hurried to catch up with their mentor.
Stride led the duo through the halls and down the many flights of stairs to the training center. The entire time, Stride didn't so much as glance back at Zero and Furno. The ninja Pokémon didn't even return the greetings that other members of the Latios Division gave as he walked past. He just marched forward, his gaze never faltering.
Slightly worried, Zero tried to engage him in conversation. "So…how did are things with Team Surge?"
As soon as the question left his mouth, Zero wanted to kick himself. Stride had been essentially kicked off his own team, at least temporarily, and Zero just asked how things were. That was the equivalent of pouring salt on an open wound. Thankfully for him, it appeared that Stride found his question at least slightly amusing as a dry chuckle escaped him.
"As well as you might expect," Stride commented. "They're all rather cross with me at the moment. I guess going against their wishes and going off on my own didn't exactly 'click' with them. They were all in agreement that I had to face punishment."
"I take it you didn't tell them about what we found," Zero said.
"No," Stride replied shortly, knowing exactly what Zero was referring to. "As I said, the less that know of what we found, the better."
Zero nodded, though Stride didn't see it. "So…who's running the team now?"
"Seth."
"Him? Seriously?" Furno asked. "Why not someone like Bolt? At least he's not a total jerk."
"Seth may be a 'jerk', as you call him, and, while I agree, he is my second in command," Stride said. "He may come off as crass and bitter, but he does have what it takes to lead the team. Bolt me be significantly kinder, but he lacks the same leadership qualities that Seth has."
"Hmph," Furno grunted. "Going back to the punishment thing, how come you're training us instead of working with Xion?"
"I start with her tomorrow," Stride answered. "The Tribunal wanted me to at least have a day of rest before they set me to work. Punishment or not."
"So, we were supposed to rest!" Furno stated, a look of triumph on his face.
"Yes, though as I said, it wouldn't do for our skills to atrophy when we don't have to actually work," Stride replied coolly.
Furno, for his part, just grumbled unintelligibly. His arms crossed over his chest, a scowl marring his face. Furno never scowled, even when he was tired. It was strange to see such differences in his friend, and slightly worrying. Zero knew that evolution tended to change a Pokémon's personality, but he still hoped that he would go back to how he was.
The rest of there trek was in silence, and not a comfortable one. Despite his seemingly willingness to talk, the Greninja felt sullen to Zero. Like he was in a bad mood but with no cause. It worried him almost as much as Furno's personality change did.
Eventually, the heavy tension gave way as the trio entered the training facility. As it was still rather early, there weren't that many Pokémon present save for a few fighting types that had practically taken over the weights and other workout equipment. Stride ignored all of this and walked purposefully towards the battle fields where Monty was shifting forms. Ironically, his current form was that of Regigigas, bringing up bad memories for the group.
Looking up at it, Zero noticed that there were several differences between Monty's form and the actual Regigigas, like how the colors of the gems on his chest as well as the arrangement of black lines on his body differed from the original. Monty's form also appeared to be slightly shorter than the actual legend. A sudden thought of the Ditto's reaction to getting a first-hand description of Regigigas, nearly sent Zero into a fit of giggles.
"Ah, Stride!" Monty called when he saw the Greninja. It was strange hearing such a soft and mellow voice coming from the currently colossal Pokémon, especially after hearing the legend's actual voice, was incredibly strange. Monty stomped towards the trio, his body shrinking with each step and his colors shifted. When he reached them, Monty was in the form of a Scizor.
"How are you? I heard about your little trip to the Ruins of Reminiscence," he said slyly as if telling a secret. "I don't suppose you've got any new transformations for me?"
"Maybe some other time," Stride said rather shortly. "Right now, I need you to help Furno. As you can see, he has gone through an evolution. He needs help controlling his power as well as any personality changes."
Furno blinked in surprise. "Huh?"
Monty frowned, suddenly becoming serious. "While I can help with control of his new physical attributes, I can't really do anything for any personality shift. You might want to talk to Dr. Kuren about that."
"That's fine," Stride said with a small nod. He then turned to Zero. "Come now, Zero. We have work to do."
"Wait! Just hold on a second!" Furno suddenly shouted. "You said that you would be training us, Stride!" Furno glared heatedly at the water-dark type, but Zero could see a hint of betrayal and hurt behind his mask of anger.
"Furno, you have just gone through an evolution," Stride said, speaking slowly as if talking to a child. "You have not had the chance to fully acclimate to you new form, or the power behind it. You need to learn how to control that before you can move on to serious training."
Furno frowned mutinously, but nodded just the same and walked over to Monty. The transformed Ditto led the Monferno to a corner of the field, shifting into an Infernape as they walked. With the duo gone, Stride turned back to Zero.
"Okay then. When we were heading back, you mentioned you had an idea of how to control the Silver Soul. What is it?" Stride practically demanded.
Slightly surprised by the question, Zero scrambled to gather his thoughts. "Um, well, I was thinking, sense Orion mentioned how aura was basically the power of the soul, I thought that by mastering aura manipulation, I could master it," he rambled.
"Hmm, that does make sense," Stride nodded. "In that case, we'll focus on strengthening your connection to your aura."
"Um…not to be rude or anything, but shouldn't Orion be helping me with this?" Zero asked, eyeing the ninja Pokémon carefully. "I mean, Lucario are supposed to be masters of aura manipulation…"
"There are other Lucario besides Orion," Stride replied shortly. "Besides, Orion left early this morning."
"Oh," Zero murmured, feeling a stab of guilt just thinking about Orion and how they lied to him.
"Regardless, as we don't have any Lucario on hand at the moment, so I will be helping you," Stride said, moving to stand on the opposite side of the chalk drawn field. "As I'm sure Orion no doubt has told you, aura is the force behind every technique that Pokémon can use, regardless of typing. It can also be used to strengthen the body far beyond of the normal capabilities of a Pokémon. That is what you will be doing."
The Greninja turned to face Zero, summoning twin blades of dark energy. "We are going to spar, but you will be forbidden from using any of your moves. Instead, you are to fend me off with normal attacks fueled by your aura."
"How do I do that?" Zero asked, feeling incredibly uneasy.
"Look inwards and grab hold of the power that fuels your moves without using the actual move!" Stride instructed.
That doesn't really help, Zero thought bitterly. Regardless, he tried to do as Stride instructed and closed his eyes. He looked inward and attempted to grab hold of his energy. When he had done so, he focused on trying to circulate it through his body. Immediately he felt energy coursing through him, making him stronger…
"No!"
Before Zero knew what was happening, a blinding pain blossomed across his stomach. His concentration broke as he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and coughing violently.
"That was Final Gambit," Stride snarled furiously, his glare causing the Riolu to flinch. "I though I forbid you from using that move!"
"Sorry!" Zero rasped out. "What you said to do was just so similar to Orion's instructions on how to use Final Gambit. I didn't know what else to do!"
"You were using fighting type energy," Stride growled. "Using aura requires you to use the energy before it develops a type. You have to reach deeper!"
"I don't know how!" Zero cried out desperately, but his cry fell upon deaf ears.
"Prepare yourself," Stride said before lunging at Zero.
With a yelp, Zero scrambled off the ground, just narrowly avoiding Stride's Night Slash. Stride didn't let up his assault, pursuing Zero as he attempted to flee. The Riolu did what he could to dodge, but Stride was just too fast. Soon, Zero was covered in several scratches and cuts, several of which were bleeding. He tried to reach within himself and grab hold of his aura, but he wasn't given the chance to focus.
Stride suddenly lashed out and kicked Zero hard enough to send him skidding across the field. "Come on!" Stride shouted. "Are you even trying?!"
Zero gasped violently, unable to respond. With a furious growl, Stride once more launched himself towards Zero, his blade poised to strike. Zero, who was just getting to his feet, looked up in time to see Stride lunging at him, his blade poised to pierce Zero's chest.
The former human was about to dodge, when he froze. Suddenly, Stride wasn't Stride. He was a Beedrill. A Beedrill with one of its stingers stretched out to pierce through Zero's heart.
Fear gripped Zero, constricting him like an Onix using bind. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He could only do one thing.
He screamed.