Chapter Five: Beta Part Two: Power Struggle

Okay, the first thing to note is this chapter is long. The reason is because I don't like breaking up the fight scenes into multiple chapters. Also I dislike cliffhangers, but I use them to give myself some time and to get at least some uploads in. They usually don't happen, but there will be a split before a fighting chapter, so expect that. Enjoy.-also it was supposed to be up this morning, but i was an idiot and didn't add the chapter to the story after submitting the document. Oops.

Previously on The Adventures of Team Lunar Fire:

-"Who are you?"

"I am Nightmare. I'm a part of you. I'm like your conscience, but I'll usually tell you to blow sh!t up."

-"So, after the mission to the Alpha Dungeon, we've decided to send you to the Beta Dungeon to train."

-"What did Hoopa want at the Alpha Dungeon anyway?"

"Well, he had a tablet with him. It had a serpent like being on it."

"That was Zygarde. Those tablets are said to have pieces of his soul trapped inside. If Hoopa's collecting them, then there could be trouble."

-"I'll race you to the Dungeon. Last one there is a Bad Egg."

-"How did you beat us?!"

"We used Focus Energy Level Two"

-"Who beat all these enemies?"

"I don't know. But I sure wouldn't want to find out."

-"Who are these guys?"

"They call themselves Team Tuffstuff."

-"Oh, is the little girl gonna fight us?"

"I'll show you a fight."

"Oh, my dear Darkling. You have no idea what you're getting into."

The Adventures of Team Lunar Fire Chapter Five: Power Struggle

With Ivy and Cela

"Oh, it's on now!" Ivy shouted, leaping toward Cela, her fist cloaked in Floric (Grass) energy. Cela dodged, punching Ivy in the gut, her own fist cloaked in Floric energy. Ivy coughed, air being forced out of her lungs.

"You're good" she said to Cela, recovering. "But I'm better."

Ivy summoned Toxic energy into both her fists and punched Cela in the face hard. The Super Effective attacks sent Cela reeling back.

"Damn it!" she cursed to herself, rubbing her cheeks to try to dispel the stinging. "Those Toxic Punches really stung. She's not holding back, that's for sure. I'm going to have to use all of my skills if I'm going to beat her."

Cela lunged at Ivy, using both of her types, the Psyfloric energy glowing a weird pinkish color with green mixed in (not brown, like it would normally be, but different). She landed two punches on Ivy's body before the Ivysaur girl reverse bicycle kicked her, sending her into the wall.

"I have to admit." Cela said, wiping her mouth clean of drool and blood. "You've earned your title. But, I'm not going to be beaten so easily."

Cela once again lunged at Ivy, Psyfloric energy in her hands. Ivy summoned her own Radiating (Grass/Poison) energy to her hands, which radiated a strange sickly green color with purple mixed in.

"You're going down!" they both shouted simultaneously. They lunged at each other, throwing their punches.

Their fists collided, the energy emitted from them surging outwards in strange mixtures of green, pink and purple.

The two Grass types were thrown back, the force of their energy shoving them into a wall.

They stood up, both slightly shaky after their impact.

"This ends now." Ivy said, charging up an Energy Ball laced with Poison energy. "I'm not going to be beaten by you!"

"Nor will I!" Cela returned, charging up her own Energy Ball, laced with Psychic energy.

They fired their Energy Balls at each other, the two spheres of Floric energy speeding towards each other. They collided in midair, the resulting smoke engulfing the two fighters.

With Flare and Tyler

"You're my target!" Tyler shouted, running up to the opposing Fire type and using Karate Chop. Flare dodged it and threw her own Fire Punch.

The Fire Punch hit Tyler in the face. He stepped back a couple of steps from the impact, but quickly recovered.

"That one was good" he said, rubbing his jaw. "You won't get another shot like that."

"Trust me." Flare said, grinning as she called Fire into her fists. "I've got plenty more where that one came from."

"I should hope so." Tyler said, getting into a battle stance (most Fighting and Normal type attacks don't use energy due to being physical—the exceptions are Aura Sphere, Hyper Beam, Razor Wind, Hidden Power, Quick Attack, Extremespeed, and Secret Power—moves like Nature Power, Weather Ball, and Trump Card use energy from elsewhere, not from the user). "Because this would be a very boring fight if you didn't."

The two of them lunged at each other, trading heavy blows. Flare's Fire Punches landed on Tyler's face, some leaving small burn marks. Tyler's punches landed on Flare, causing welts.

Tyler pulled back his fist for a powerful Mega Punch. Flare pulled her own fist back for a powerful Fire Punch.

Their fists collided in midair, sending shockwaves out from their point of impact. They were thrown back from the impact. They simply, rather than being hurt, charged at each other once again.

Flare charged up a Flamethrower in her hands. Tyler did the same with an Aura Blast (beam version of Aura Sphere—In this fic, Pokémon aren't limited to their in-game movesets). They charged the balls of energy until they were the same size as beach balls.

Both fighters launched their beams Kamehameha style, the two resulting beams at least twice the size as the orbs they were fired from.

The beams collided in midair, creating a ball in the middle. The ball moved back and forth between the two fighters, just like in an episode of Dragon Ball Z.

"I won't let you be my superior!" Tyler shouted, grunting. "I will defeat you!"

"I will fight you" Flare said. "And I will win."

"This is where I gain my victory" Tyler said, smirking with confidence. "Taste the power of my Bulk Up!"

Tyler used Bulk Up. His muscles nearly doubled in size, increasing his power and defenses.

The massive ball in the center moved closer to Flare. Flare's eyes slightly widened as she realized her predicament.

"Fine." She said. "If that's how it's gonna be, then fine. I'll power myself up too."

Flare concentrated her energy, using Focus Energy. Her energy skyrocketed, though no physical change was clearly visible.

Tyler sucked in his breath. Focus Energy was the most powerful powerup technique, aside from Mega Evolution (which is a very rare occurrence—not many Pokémon, even among the ones that have the capability to, can unlock the enormous power that a Mega Evolution can bring). Easily more powerful than even Bulk Up. However Focus Energy didn't last as long, especially if the fighter using it didn't have much experience dealing with the energy draining effects that the move brought (consider it like Kaio-Ken). By example, if two equally powered and experienced fighters were to use Focus Energy and Bulk Up respectively, the one that used Focus Energy would fade faster, but would be stronger. Essentially, they would be equally matched; the outcome would be determined by whoever was more used to the power drainage.

The ball moved closer to Tyler again. Tyler quickly realized that this would get him nowhere.

The two of them simultaneously stopped shooting their energy blasts and charged at each other, summoning their respective energies to their hands.

With Char and Destiny

"You don't seem like much of a fighter." Char said, sizing Destiny up, the grin on his face less than pleasant.

"I'm not." Destiny said, unmoving. "But I will not stand for you guys hurting my friends. I'm not a fighter, but I will fight you to prevent that from happening."

"Pretty tough words." Char said, sneering. "But do you have the bite to back them up?"

Immediately after he said that, Char leapt towards Destiny, his mouth open wide and glowing with Dark energy (remember he's in human forme). He was actually using Bite (he had the Bite to back up his words).

He grabbed Destiny by her shoulders to immobilize her. He pulled his head back, about to use his attack on Destiny when he was hit by a combination of Rock Blast and Dark Pulse. He flew about five feet, letting go of Destiny, who shivered, feeling violated.

"Char!" Glide shouted at the Charmeleon from across the room. "Don't be a pervert! Just fight her!"

"Don't even think of touching my sister like that again!" Skyla shouted, her anger evident. "Or so help me Arceo, I will break your arms off, beat you to death with them, and shove them up your ass!"

Char, quickly realizing he shouldn't cross his leader or the Dark Type about to fight him, stood up and faced Destiny.

"Let's get this on, girl." He said, summoning Fire energy to his hands. Destiny summoned her own Psymagic energy to her hands.

Char once again leapt at Destiny, forming the energy in his hands into claws. Destiny used Barrier, Reflect, Safeguard, and Magic Coat on herself, raising her defenses and protecting her from status conditions.

Char landed five Fire Slashes (Fire type Slash) on her body. They left cuts on her that seemed to be a little singed.

Destiny fell to her knees in pain, cringing slightly. The cuts weren't very deep, but had Destiny not used the defensive moves she had, the cuts would've been much deeper, possibly even fatal.

"I'll admit" Char said, standing over her with a sinister grin and Fire in his eyes (and hands). "You've shown quick wit using those moves to prevent me from doing much damage to you. But your wit ends here."

"Don't count me out just yet." Destiny said, standing up with Psymagic energy in her hands. "I may be the weakest member of the team, but I can still fight."

"Let's see." Char said, grinning.

Destiny ran up to Char, pulling back for a punch. Char raised his hands to block accordingly. However, Destiny, instead of punching him, roundhouse kicked him in the side of his head.

Char's body was actually moved several feet by the force of the blow. He landed on the ground after hitting the wall with considerable force, considering that Destiny wasn't a very physically strong person (her strength was mostly in her ranged abilities).

"That one actually hurt." Char said, standing up and rubbing the side of his face. "But don't expect me to fall for that trick again."

"You won't beat me easily." Destiny said, energy in her hands. "Let's fight."

Destiny launched a powerful Psyball (Psychic version of Shadow Ball) at the Flame Pokémon, who dodged it, coming in close for a Fire Punch.

Destiny dodged the Fire Punch and punched Char in the gut, causing him to gasp slightly. Then she shot the remaining energy in her hand into Char's gut, causing him to be forced back a few feet where he landed on his feet.

"You have some speed, girl." Char said, calling more Fire to his fists. "But it's no match for mine."

"We'll see." Destiny said, getting into a fighting stance, energy in her hands. The two of them ran toward each other, both of them ready to deal some serious damage.

With Paul and Dana

"Are you ready to fight, Psychic?" Paul asked, sizing Dana up.

"Yep." Dana said, getting into her fighting stance. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"I'm not going easy on you just because you have less experience than me." Paul said.

"Good." Dana said. "Because when I kick your ass, I want it to be because I beat you."

"A bit cocky aren't we?" Paul asked. "That will be your undoing."

"We'll see." Dana said.

Both fighters summoned their respective energies to their hands (Psychic for Dana and Water for Paul). Once they had summoned enough, they fired powerful blasts at each other.

The blasts collided in the middle of the two of them, quickly dissipating as they quit firing them.

In reality, they were distractions, used to disguise the fact that they were running up and throwing Psychic infused punches and Water infused punches.

The Punches made heavy contact with skin, leaving marks of their contact. Dana and Paul continued throwing their punches at each other.

The power exhibited by their punches shook the room. The two fighters stopped punching each other, needing to regain energy.

"You're good." Paul said.

"You're good too." Dana said. "Almost as good as me."

"Cocky are we?" Paul said. "Well, I'll fix that."

"Bring it on." Dana said, standing in a fighting pose and calling Psychic energy to her hands.

"With pleasure" Paul said, summoning his Water energy to his fists.

The two were at it again. Both of them had a desire to win the battle. Their fists collided again and again, making small shockwaves.

"This is getting nowhere." Dana said. "Let's kick it up a notch."

"Yes" Paul said. "Let's."

They charged up powerful blasts once again. The energy contained in them was more powerful than anything they'd ever shot before

With Skyla and Glide

"Let's show them how to fight." Glide said, clenching his fists.

"Yes" Skyla said, clenching hers. "Let's."

Skyla's fists glowed black with her Dark energy. Glide summoned his own Terraric (Ground/Flying) energy, which glowed a strange mixture of whitish blue and brown.

"Hold on." Glide said, looking to his left. Skyla followed his gaze to see Char holding Destiny's shoulders and preparing to use his Bite attack.

Skyla and Glide simultaneously shot a Dark Pulse and a Rock Blast respectively at the Charmeleon.

"Char!" Glide shouted at the Charmeleon. "Don't be a pervert! Just fight her!"

"Don't even think of touching my sister like that again!" Skyla shouted, her anger evident. "Or so help me Arceo, I will break your arms off, beat you to death with them, and shove them up your ass!"

"Now where were we?" Glide said after they had sorted out that issue.

"We were about to beat the sh!t out of each other" Skyla said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Oh, that's right." Glide said. "Thank you for reminding me. Now, let's end this Darkling."

They charged at each other, Skyla pulling back for a Dark Punch and Glide pulling back for a Terraric Punch.

Their fists collided, the energy in them surging out in a shockwave; a shockwave greater than Flare and Tyler's match and Dana and Paul's match combined.

Neither fighter was letting up. They kept pouring energy into their fists, causing the shockwave to become even greater in size.

Even though the shockwave could detonate any second, the two fighters kept pushing their fists into the blast, each trying to gain an advantage.

The ground underneath them began to sink, making a crater that kept getting larger the longer they kept pushing at each other.

Sweat began to appear on their foreheads. They realized that they couldn't keep this up much longer.

They simultaneously stopped their punches, leaping out of the crater they were in. They faced each other, panting.

"I must admit, Darkling." Glide said, between pants. "You're much better than I expected."

"So are you." Skyla said, also panting.

"But now it's time we see who's the strongest. Glide said, once again charging at Skyla.

The two fighters locked hands, pushing with all their might as they pushed their respective energies through their hands to attack each other. They strained themselves, both to push more energy into their opponent and to also prevent their opponent's energy from hitting them.

They were thrown back by the huge amount of energy they had put out. Both of them flipped so they landed on their feet, one hand on the ground to balance themselves. They glared at each other, their anger levels high.

"All of that" Glide panted. "from a girl. Not even Ivy's that good."

"This guy" Skyla panted. "is the toughest opponent I've ever faced. I'll have to go all out if I want to beat him."

They pulled their energies into their hands, cupping them Kamehameha style. The energy became the size of a beach ball. But they extended the balls to the size of a tire.

"Take this and burn!" they both shouted simultaneously, releasing the energy balls as giant beams of pure energy.

The beams collided, causing the room to shake violently. The two fighters shouted in both pain and anger, their beams enlarging to twice their original size.

Eventually, however, they had exhausted their current energy supply and dropped to their knees.

"That" Glide said, catching his breath. "Was epic. But, this fight's over."

"Bring it on, Flyboy." Skyla said. "I can do this all day."

"But you don't have any more power to exhaust." Glide said, chuckling as he stood up. "Whereas I have a whole other forme to enter."

"What?!" Skyla exclaimed. "What other forme?"

"Prepare yourself, Darkling." Glide said, laughing. "Because you're about to face… my pokéforme."

With Ivy and Cela

When the smoke cleared from the resulting explosion, it revealed the two fighters throwing powerful, Super Effective punches and kicks, Psychic infused ones from Cela and Poison infused ones from Ivy. Neither fighter was showing any signs of giving up.

"This is bad." Cela thought to herself as she battled the Ivysaur. "I'm a legendary. I'm not supposed to be losing like this. How is she matching me?! I should be annihilating her. I'm stronger than Dialga. What is wrong with me?! Am I losing my power? Or are these guys the real deal? And what did that Gliscor mean when he said Skyla was the strongest? He seemed eager to fight her. Does she really have that much power hidden inside of her?"

"It ends now, Pixie!" Ivy said as she pulled back an incredibly powerful Poison Jab. Cela pulled back a Psyjab (the psychic version of Poison Jab). They threw their punches as hard as they could at each other.

Their intentions were to punch as well as block, but both of them missed their intended targets, instead hitting each other in the chest, actually piercing each other's chests.

They pulled back, clutching their chests in pain.

"What is this feeling I'm experiencing right now?" Cela said as she felt a burning sensation from her wound.

"Like the secondary effect of my Poison Jab?" Ivy taunted her opponent. "You've been Poisoned. Your power will slowly drain away and you'll be dead. That means that even if you beat me here, you still lose."

"Well, how's the secondary effect of my Psyjab treating you?" Cela said, chuckling despite her pain.

"What secondary effect?" Ivy asked, confused.

"My Psyjab attack has a secondary effect" Cela chuckled as she stood up, despite the pain of her Poisoning. "of causing you to experience the effects of your previous attack, despite your type or biology. Which means, you'll feel the effects of your Poison Jab in about three seconds."

Ivy clutched her wounded chest as she felt the burning sensation that Cela was referring to. She screamed in pain, never having been affected by the Poison condition (Poison types can't be poisoned except in special cases). The experience was new to her, even though she'd been affected by the Burn condition before (it's actually quite a different sensation).

"So" Ivy said, gritting her teeth through the pain. "We're both going to die."

"Not exactly." Cela said, standing up, the burning sensation gone (but not the wound). "My ability prevents me from being affected by a status condition for very long."

"What ability?" Ivy asked.

"Natural Cure." Cela said, grinning evilly. "Now your time is up."

"Ha" Ivy said, laughing. "Do you really think you've beaten me? Just because you poisoned me?"

"Yeah." Cela said. "This is the end for you."

"You're wrong." Ivy said, standing up. "This is just what I needed."

"Needed for what?" Cela asked, confused.

"My own ability" Ivy said, throwing her arms out to the side. Power flooded out of her body as her ability took over. Her aura became visible; its look green and leafy as well as fiery and unstable.

"What ability is that?!" Cela shouted, tensing up.

"My ability is Overgrow." Ivy said. "It powers up my own Grass type aura when I get weak and makes me twice as powerful. With that, your chances of winning just went out the window."

"Sh!t!" Cela thought to herself. "If I had trouble beating her before, how much trouble will I have beating her now?"

Cela charged up a Grass type attack to attack the now empowered Ivysaur in front of her. But before she could use it, Ivy punched her right in the face. The impact of the blow was too fast for Cela to even register before she hit a wall and sank to the ground. She looked up at Ivy as she tried to stand up, body shaking.

"She's fast too." She thought to herself. "But, if I'm right, she should still have the same amount of stamina she had before her ability activated. It must be because her wound hasn't healed. If that's the case, then I can beat her if I can land some hits. But, I'm going to have to access more power if I'm going to make this count."

"What's wrong, Pixie?" Ivy asked, picking Cela up bodily. "Can't get strong enough to hurt me?"

"I'm going to break you." Cela said, glaring at Ivy.

"I doubt it." Ivy said, throwing Cela against the wall.

"I will beat you." Cela said, standing up. "This I promise you."

"Prove it." Ivy said, standing still, her green aura visible.

"Fine" Cela said, standing firm. She held her arms out to her sides, her eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" Ivy asked, confused.

"I'm summoning power to aid me." Cela said.

"No matter how much power you summon" Ivy said, laughing. "It will never be enough to beat me."

"We'll see." Cela said. Power began to flow into her, from the outside, the grass the trees, the plants. Their power all flowed into her, making her stronger.

Ivy just smirked, fully confident that she could take on the Forest Guardian no matter how powerful she got.

The energy ceased flowing into Cela. At this point her body had a slight green glow to it.

"What did that accomplish?" Ivy scoffed. "You're glowing green. So what?"

"I'm now empowered by the forest near here." Cela said, her voice angry. "That's 'so what'."

"It won't be enough to stop me." Ivy said, lunging toward Cela with another Poison Jab. Cela dodged the blow and landed a powerful Psypunch on the area where Ivy had been wounded. Ivy cried out in pain, the wound burning again.

Cela threw the Ivysaur girl into the wall and punched her in the face five times, all of the punches infused with Psychic aura. She then dropped the Ivysaur girl onto the ground, said girl unconscious and her nose bleeding profusely and her face swollen.

"I've beaten you." Cela said. "Remember that."

Cela then dropped to the ground, fatigued. Drawing power from nature had taxed her body. She'd need to recover after this. She sank to the ground and fell into a sleep state, resting her tired body.

With Tyler and Flare

Their punches collided anew, sending more shockwaves throughout the room. The force they were now exhibiting shook the very room they were in.

Both fighters stopped, trying to recover energy to maintain their empowered state. They panted; the strain was slightly getting to them.

"This is going to be a good fight." Tyler said. "You're pretty good for a girl."

"I'm better than you think." Flare said. "Now, let's finish this."

"Yes." Tyler said. "Let's."

They charged once again. Flare threw a Fire Punch that landed right on Chopper's face. The Fighting type flinched from the blow, his face burned due to the secondary effect of the punch.

"It seems you've burned me." He said, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Flare asked, confused as to why a Burn would make someone laugh.

"Well" Tyler said, still chuckling. "I have this ability that seriously ups my power when I have a status condition."

Flare's eyes widened. She knew exactly what ability he was referring to: Guts. An ability that caused the user to become insanely powerful, sort of like the similarly named anime character. It was sort of like Blaze or Overgrow, but didn't take as long to activate if one played their cards right. That was why it was considered one of the most overpowered abilities in the world.

"You seem to know of it." Tyler said. "Yes, it's Guts. And with it I will defeat you."

"We'll see." Flare said. "I'm not giving up just yet."

"Oh you will." Tyler said, closing his eyes as energy began to pour from his body in addition to the power he gained from Bulk Up. Otherwise, no real physical changes were made to his body.

Flare sucked in air. She knew she would have a hard time beating him at this rate. She could hold out with Focus Energy, but even that wouldn't be enough to fully counter the power of Guts added onto Bulk Up. And she was still recovering from using Focus Energy Level Two earlier. Though it didn't really show in her fighting, she couldn't just use that powerup in a battle situation without facing some serious physical consequences.

"Now, Fire girl." Tyler said, sneering and banging his fists together. "Let's fight."

"Fine." Flare said. She ran forward with a Fire Punch ready. Tyler didn't dodge when she just punched him as hard as she could.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked. "Even with your Focus Energy boost? That's pathetic."

He punched Flare in the gut with enough force to cause her to cough up blood. The force of his punch sent her into the wall behind her, where she stayed for a second in an imprint in the shape of her body.

"Ow" Flare thought to herself. "that one hurt. I've definitely got to step it up if I want to beat him."

Flare landed on her feet, breathing heavily. She stood up, her knees shaking a little. She looked at Tyler, anger in her eyes.

"I won't let you beat me!" she shouted. "This is the day I beat you! Remember that! Now you will feel my power. Focus Energy… Level Two!"

Flare's power level skyrocketed as did her aura. Her body began to glow an orange color as did her eyes.

Tyler was a bit shocked. He knew Focus Energy had multiple levels, but he didn't expect someone as young as the Fire type girl in front of him to be able to enter them. This could be bad. Higher levels of powerup moves could be unpredictable as far as increase of power. If she had even so much as doubled her power, then he'd have a problem on his hands.

He charged up an Aura Sphere, ready to fire it when Flare appeared right in front of him, fire in her eyes.

"Did you think you could beat me?" she asked, her voice sounding almost insane. "With your pathetic power level?"

"Yes I do." Tyler said, not quite getting the hint. "You won't beat me just because your power has increased."

"Oh, I'm not going to beat you." Flare said, which confused Tyler. "I'm going to OBLITERATE you!"

Flare pulled back her fist, the Fire in it white. She grabbed Tyler by his shirt, lifting him up bodily.

"Now" she said, swinging her fist. "Taste my Fire."

The punch that Tyler received in his face sent him into the wall hard. Even with the boost from Bulk Up and Guts, he still felt the pain from the blow.

"Holy sh!t!" he thought to himself. "That's extremely powerful. It's more than a match for my Bulk Up and Guts. Who would've known that someone as young as her would be able to use the second level of Focus Energy? It would seem as though she's a good fighter. Probably better than me."

"What's wrong, Tyrogue?" Flare said, moving right in front of Tyler faster than he could register and punching him so hard in the gut that he coughed up blood. "Getting tired?"

"Go to hell, bitch." Tyler coughed.

"That's it!" Flare said. She pulled an enormous amount of Fire into her fist, making it seem like it was made of Fire. The force of the punch she gave Tyler was enough to send him through the wall. Tyler slumped down, unconscious.

"Man." Flare said, panting heavily. "That took a lot out of me. I've got to recover. A small nap wouldn't hurt."

Flare lay down on the ground, going to sleep to recover the stamina she used up in Focus Energy Level Two.

With Destiny and Char

"It's amazing." Char thought as he battled the Dark Empath. "This girl is keeping up with me. She looked so inexperienced and incapable of fighting, but she's managed to fight on par with me. Are all of the members of this team this good? Or is she the weakest member? Whatever she is, I've got to turn this battle around somehow."

The two of them exchanged blow after blow, neither gaining an advantage. Soon they stood at a distance from each other.

Char charged up a Flamethrower while Destiny charged up a Psychic. They fired their blasts at each other, meeting in the middle. The attacks canceled each other out, dissipating where they made contact.

Char ran up and tried to land a Fire Punch on Destiny's face, but Destiny used a close range Psychic on the Charmeleon boy, sending him ten feet back.

Char stood up, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Destiny asked, confused.

"I have this ability." Char said. "That ups my power by a lot when I'm close to being beaten."

"What is it?" Destiny asked, curious.

"It's called Blaze." Char said.

"Like the cat?" Destiny asked.

"Well, it involves Fire." Char said, thinking the question over. "But, whether or not, you're still going to lose when it's finished powering up."

Char's body started to glow a slight orange color, the color of Fire. His power seemed to reach new heights, becoming slightly chaotic like the Fire it resembled.

Destiny's eyes widened. She realized that the slight edge she might have gained previously was gone.

Char was in front of her faster than she could even see him move. He punched her across the face with enough force to cause her to hit the wall behind her.

"Ouch" she thought to herself. "That one hurt. His power has increased by a lot. Not even my defensive moves could block that. That shattered all of them. Now I'm going to have to fight for real."

Destiny stood up weakly, shaking from the blow she had received. She shook her head as if to clear it, calling for her energy.

Char just laughed.

"I have to give you credit, girl" he laughed, summoning his own energy. "You've managed to bring me down to this. That hasn't happened in a while. Good job. But, with this, any chance of winning you had has just gone out the window."

"This fight isn't over yet." Destiny said, summoning her energy. Char just laughed again as he walked up to her, punching her again. This time Destiny fell onto the ground, barely conscious.

"What's wrong, girl?" Char asked, bringing Fire to his fists. "Can't fight?"

"I won't let you beat me." Destiny said, standing up. "I have one more trick up my sleeve. Something my mother taught me how to do."

"Oh?" Char said, chuckling. "And what would that be?"

The next two words from Destiny's mouth sent an unknown shiver down Char's spine.

"Psych Up." Destiny said, her tone quiet, but serious.

Char tensed up. Psych Up was a near unpredictable move when it came to powerup moves. It caused the user to be just as powerful as the last person to attack them, making them an equal opponent. It could even match the unbridled power of Focus Energy. However, it was unpredictable due to the fact it copied the last person to hit the user.

Destiny's aura surged outward. Char shivered when he felt it. He clenched his eyes shut as it seemed to permeate his mind.

When he opened them again, he saw Destiny standing right in front of him, Psychic energy in her hands.

Without a word, Destiny punched Char as hard as she could in the face. Char never even saw it coming. His body was thrown across the room, knocking him unconscious as he hit the wall.

Destiny dropped to one knee as she began to breathe heavier from gaining so much power at once. Already it was dropping away as she released the effects of Psych Up. She cursed silently to herself. This shouldn't have drained her so much. She needed to work on that move for the future. But, right now she needed to rest her body. Yes, rest. That sounded so… nice.

With Dana and Paul

"You're pretty good for a girl." Paul said, panting.

"And you're pretty good for a Water Type." Dana said, also panting.

"Let's go all out for this next attack." Paul said. "You know, just to see who's stronger."

"Bring it on." Dana said, getting into a fighting pose.

"Fine then." Paul said. "Belly Drum."

Paul punched himself twice in the gut, causing him to cough in pain. However, his power level rose to an extreme level.

Dana bit her bottom lip. Could he really be this powerful? Belly Drum was one of the riskier powerup moves. It caused the user to gain an enormous stat boost, but it seriously cut their remaining stamina.

"That's it!" Dana thought to herself. "That's how I'll beat him! His health has to be dangerously low at this point, so if I hit him a few times, then he should go down. The only problem is that he's a lot more powerful now. If I'm not careful, then I might just lose this one."

Paul ran toward Dana with a Mega Punch powerful enough to break steel, but Dana dodged and hit the Poliwhirl boy with a powerful Psychic infused Punch that sent shockwaves through his body.

Paul retaliated with a punch that sent Dana into the wall. She reacted fast enough to dodge the next punch that the Poliwhirl boy threw and countered with another psychic punch that caused considerable damage to Paul.

Paul staggered back, reeling. After about fifteen seconds he collapsed, unconscious.

"Yeah" Dana said, pumping her fist weakly. "I did it."

Dana then collapsed to the ground, also unconscious, with a smile of victory on her face.

With Skyla and Glide

Glide's body began to undergo some serious physical changes. His clothes fused with his body as his skin turned purple. His feet shrank and became round with two toes pointing out in opposite directions. His legs changed shape, his thighs becoming smaller and his shins almost completely disappearing. A ling tail made out of round segments sprouted out from behind him. The end of it was a much larger segment than the rest, with two prongs sprouting out from it that seemed to be used to grab things and seemed strong, despite its size. His chest compressed to a strange, distorted size, becoming red. His upper chest morphed into what resembled football shoulder pads, their color purple. His arms became much thinner; as thick as his chest. His hands enlarged and became claws, similar to that of a Scizor's pokéforme. A strange combination of bat wings and a cape appeared behind him, sprouting from his upper shoulders (think Batman's but smaller). His head stretched itself out until it resembled some sort of vampire's, its color purple. Two large, purple ears sprouted off the top of his head, the outside purple and the inside red like his arms. His mouth widened as his teeth became more pointed, his eyeteeth becoming longer than the rest. His eyes became round, the pupils in the shape of reptilian eyes. Every part of his eye was yellow, seeming to glow. His transformation complete, he gave a cry of power.

His strength had increased by a lot, enough to eliminate any advantage Skyla might have gained in the fight prior.

"So" he said, his voice a little more raspy. "Do you still think you have a chance?"

"Yeah." Skyla said, not losing an ounce of confidence. "I do."

"Well then" Glide said, flying closer (in this forme flying is more efficient than walking) to her. "Let's change that."

Skyla threw a punch right in Glide's face. All it did, however, was little more than make him flinch.

"What was that?" Glide asked. "I didn't really feel it."

"Oh sh!t!" Skyla thought to herself as she slowly backed away from the Vampire Pokémon. "He's so much more powerful in this forme. I'm not even sure Focus Energy Level Two would help me here. I just might lose here."

Before Skyla could react any further, Glide grabbed her around the neck with one of his large claws. Skyla struggled in the grip of the enormous claw, but to almost no avail.

"C-can't breathe." Skyla thought hurriedly thought to herself as she tried to get some air. "If he keeps this up, then I'm going to die."

"What's wrong, Darkling?" Glide taunted as he continued to squeeze Skyla's neck. "Can't breathe? I thought Dark types could survive without air."

The only audible noises from Skyla's throat were choked coughs and wheezes as she struggled for air.

"Skyla" Nightmare said from inside Skyla's mind. "Please let me help here. You'll die if I don't."

"This is my fight." Skyla's inner mind said, her voice firm. "I'll win it by myself. I don't need your help."

"Fine." Nightmare said, standing down. "But both of our deaths are on your head."

"Whatever" Skyla's inner mind said.

"You won't beat me." Skyla said.

"Well, know this." Glide said. "After I'm finished with you, I'm going to take the rest of your team out one by one."

"Y-y-you won't." Skyla coughed. "I won't let you"

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Glide said, tightening his grip further. "And when I start, I think I'll take the leader out first. And then the Fire type. Followed by the Gardevoir girl."

At that instant, Skyla's eyes flashed red and some unknown power entered her.

She brought her arms up to her face, clenched into fists. She then threw them out to her sides in a motion that sent a shockwave throughout the room that caused Glide to release her.

He tried to attack the Darkling, but what he saw shocked him.

Skyla curled up into a ball, a black orb surrounding her immediately after. The orb shielded her from Glide's view.

Glide decided to attack by shooting a Rock Blast into the orb, but the blast was returned back to him, multiplied. He flew back about five feet from the impact.

"What was that?" he asked aloud. "That shot was powerful. More powerful than she should have been able to counter stronger than the original."

"Skyla." Destiny weakly said, regaining minor consciousness. "Don't give in to your hatred."

"This ends now!" Glide shouted, charging up an X-Scissor, his claws glowing red with energy. He attacked the orb, but once again, was thrown backwards from the force.

"Damn you, break!" he shouted, punching the orb with his clawed hand.

Then, completely unexpectedly, the orb shattered, once again throwing him back with the force of the orb shattering.

Glide looked up to see what had emerged from the orb and he started to back up in fear.

Outside of the dungeon

"Why are we here, Ace?" Maura asked as the two of them walked towards the entrance of the Beta Dungeon.

"We're here to give Team Lunar Fire something that will be beneficial to their journey." Ace said plainly.

"Oh." Maura said, realizing the answer. "Okay."

When they reached the entrance, they noticed another man standing in front of the entrance, dressed all in grey. When he saw Ace and Maura he waved.

"Hey, Ace" he said. "Maura. What brings you here to this Dungeon?"

"Hey, Chopper" Ace returned the greeting. "We're just here to give some things to an Exploration Team in the Dungeon."

"What a coincidence." Chopper said. "So am i? Let me guess: You just received their communicators, right?"

"Exactly." Ace said. "How'd you guess?"

"That's exactly why I'm here." Chopper said.

"You have an Exploration Team in there too?" Maura asked.

"Yeah." Chopper said proudly. "The guild I run has them as one of the teams."

"Cool." Ace said. "What's the name?"

"Team Tuffstuff." Chopper said, chuckling. "It took us forever to come up with it."

"My team is Team Lunar Fire." Ace said. "It's made up of my twins, Skyla and Destiny, Eon's daughter, Flare, May and Sapphire's clone, Dana, the four of them led by Cela."

"Nice." Chopper said. "Team Tuffstuff's comprised of my pupils Ivy, Char, Paul, and Tyler, with my pupil Glide as the leader."

"Cool." Ace said. "I'll bet they're tag teaming the dungeon right now."

"Maybe." Chopper said. "But I wonder how they're actually doing together."

With Skyla and Glide

The sight that stood in front of Glide was enough to give him chills. It resembled Skyla, but not really as much as normal.

Her skin had all turned black and her clothes fused with her skin, her skin having become shadowy. Her legs had become thinner, their shape more like stilts. What resembled a shadowy dress had appeared on her body. Her waist tightened, giving her a sort of hourglass figure. Her chest had become larger and rounder, her shoulders having done something similar. Her arms had thinned slightly at the upper arms and had become larger at the bicep area. Her five fingers had fused into three and had become much sharper, very similar to claws. Her red scarf had become much harder and had grown jagged, resembling the lower jaw of an enormous creature. Her grey hair had become as white as snow, standing up and moving like in a breeze. Her eyes had turned a mixture of cobalt and ice, their size now much larger. Her nose and ears had seemed to disappear, leaving only a mouth that had scarily pointed teeth. Her transformation complete, Skyla gave a roar of challenge and power.

"Wh-what are you?" Glide asked, thoroughly scared now.

"I am your worst nightmare." Skyla said, her voice now demonic. "I am Darkrai. I am Skyla Hunter."

"She's entered her pokéforme. No fair." Cela said quietly, having recovered slightly. "That guy's going to get it now."

"You've changed!" Glide said, taking in Skyla's new forme. "How did you become this powerful?!"

"I am a master of the Darkness." Skyla said. ""And now you will die."

"You can't beat me!" Glide shouted, charging up another X-Scissor. "I will kill you here and now."

He unleashed his attack, which struck Skyla square in the chest. Skyla, however, seemed completely unaffected, despite the super effectiveness on her (Bug on Dark).

"I'm still waiting for that kill." Skyla said.

"This is like that song Skyla loves" Destiny whispered to herself as the words of said song began to come to her head.

The fear I see when I look in your eyes.

Skyla walked closer to Glide. Glide's eyes were constricted, a sign of intense fear or panic. He threw a punch, which Skyla intercepted, crushing his hand.

Makes you believe that I'm one of a kind.

Glide began backing away from Skyla, whose aura had become visible, its color completely black.

The fear I leave in the back of your mind.

Skyla grabbed Glide by his throat, choking the life out of him. He struggled, but Skyla wasn't letting up. Not even Glide's pokéforme was enough to stand up to Skyla at this point.

Makes you believe I'm one of a kind.

Skyla grinned evilly as her eyes flashed red for a fraction of a second. Glide stopped struggling against her and began writhing in what seemed to be agony.

"Jeez, Skyla." Nightmare said, looking at what Skyla had done. "That was intense. I didn't think you had it in you."

Skyla turned her head towards the exit door. She sensed a strange energy signature a few rooms over. She quickly moved towards it, dropping Glide on the ground, unconscious.

Dungeon Entrance

"Quiet in here." Ace noted as he, Chopper, and Maura entered the Dungeon.

"The enemies must be in the next room." Chopper said, pointing to the door. The three of them entered the door, gasping at all of the fallen bodies.

"Who did this?" Chopper asked.

"I'm thinking your guys." Ace said, examining the bodies. "These have Water Type damage."

"Where were your guys?" Chopper asked.

"Probably showed up later." Ace said, standing up and walking over to the door on the other side of the room. He pushed it open, taking in the view of the inside.

With Skyla

"Of course a Darkrai is the one to stop my plans." Hoopa said, a tablet in his hand.

"I won't let you escape." Skyla said, stepping dangerously closer to Hoopa.

"It's not like you have a choice." Hoopa said. "Even though you've transformed, you have no chance of beating me."

"We'll see if you still think that" Skyla said, her claws glowing with Dark energy. "When I tear off your head."

"You'll never get the chance, Darkrai." Hoopa said, holding up one of his rings. "Farewell."

Skyla quickly shot a Dark Blast at Hoopa, but he disappeared before the blast could hit him.

"Dammit!" Skyla cursed under her breath. "He got away again"

"Well, you'd have kicked his ass." Nightmare said.

"I guess you're right." Skyla said. "Now help me shift back to human forme. I'm going to exhaust my power if I remain in this forme much longer."

"I don't know." Nightmare said. "You usually pass out. I guess one of your friends will know how. For now just try to relax."

With Ace, Chopper, and Maura

"It seems that our teams didn't meet on very friendly terms." Ace noted about how the teams were together.

"Who won?" Chopper asked.

"I'd say Team Lunar Fire." Ace said, examining the bodies. "There's a lot less injury on them than your team. Also Skyla's body's not here, so that could mean she's alive."

"That could make sense." Chopper said.

"Shh." Ace shushed his old friend. "I sense something upstairs. Come quietly."

Chopper and Mira followed Ace up the stairs of the Dungeon to see Skyla, still in pokéforme, standing and seemingly staring off into space.

"Skyla." Ace said cautiously. "Is that you?"

Skyla turned to see him, staring into his black-blue eyes with her icy cobalt ones. She ran over to him, embracing him.

"Dad!" she said. "I'm so glad you're here. Hoopa was here, but he got away."

"Hoopa attacked you guys downstairs?" Ace asked. At the mention of the name Hoopa, Chopper tensed up.

"Hoopa?!" he exclaimed. "He was here?!"

"Yeah" Skyla said. "But he didn't attack us. We just kicked the asses of those dickbags from Team Tuffstuff."

"That was my team." Chopper said. "Why did you fight them?"

"They were dickbags." Skyla said.

"They probably did something to Team Lunar Fire they didn't like." Ace said.

"Yeah, they did." Skyla said angrily. "They insulted us and underestimated us."

"I'm sure they did." Ace said, chuckling.

"Why are you still in that forme, Skyla?" Maura asked cheerily. "That must be draining your energy really fast."

"To be honest" Skyla said sheepishly. "I don't know how."

"I'll help you." Ace said, putting his hand on her forehead. "Just relax."

"Okay." Skyla said, taking a deep breath and exhaling, her eyes closed.

Ace shot a small burst of Dark energy into her head, knocking her out. When she went unconscious, she shifted back into human forme, falling into Ace's arms.

"How'd you do that?" Chopper asked.

"I used a concussive blast to knock her out." Ace said. "It didn't hurt her much, but it caused her to revert back to her human forme when it knocked her out."

"Cool." Chopper (and Maura) said.

"So, what are we gonna do with the team members?" Chopper asked.

"I'm taking Team Lunar Fire back to the Hall of Origins to heal." Ace said as they walked back to where the two Exploration Teams were. "You can do what you like with Team Tuffstuff. But I don't think it would be a good idea to bring them to the same location as Team Lunar Fire. I'm pretty sure that another fight would break out."

"I guess you're right." Chopper said.

"By the way" Ace said. "How are Conner and Mira? I haven't seen them in a while."

"They're doing fine." Chopper said. "Mira evolved and they've got two children."

"Nice." Ace said. "Well, it was good seeing you again Chopper."

"You too." Chopper said. "Say, do you mind Shadow Forcing us back to our base? I'd hate to have to carry all five of these guys back to base."

"Sure" Ace said, snapping his fingers. A portal of shadows appeared underneath Chopper and Team Tuffstuff, transporting them through the Distortion World to their base.

"So." Ace said to Cela, who he had just noticed was conscious. "How'd the training go?"

"We fought those guys." Cela said. "They were assholes."

"I figured." Ace said, chuckling a little.

"So, why are you here?" Cela asked.

"I'm here to give you these." Ace said, holding out the communicators. "They're for you guys to keep in touch with each other in case you get separated."

"Cool." Cela said weakly. "So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Well" Ace said. "I figured that you guys would want to go home and recover."

"I really would like that." Cela said, laying down and closing her eyes.

Ace laughed as he snapped his fingers and transported them all back to the Hall of Origins to heal.