Over the next several days, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville spent most of their free time researching all the possibilities for the object the Tyranitar was guarding. Of course, they didn't find anything worthwhile or fitting the description, and Harry knew that he had a major clue; it felt incredibly annoying to know that he'd forgotten something, only to forget what he'd forgotten. In the end, they decided to put it out of their minds for the time being, but one thing was for sure – whatever the Tyranitar was guarding, it had to be something incredibly valuable.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron spent their time either trying to catch-up with their studies or train for Glade. They still were forced to wake up early in the mornings, and, while Harry was slowly getting used to it, it took a good number of shoves and finger-jabs to rouse Ron from his sleep. While it was certainly annoying to give up an hour of rest, Harry was happy to say that his hard work and dedicated determination was slowly paying off. Even Ron was managing to stay awake longer during their morning runs.
Along with this, Harry paid Hagrid visits every Friday and Saturday, consistently bringing Ron, Hermione and Neville with him. Ron liked the giant man as much as Harry did, and Neville's affection for Hagrid was slowly growing visit by visit. At first Hermione had been hesitant to approach the gamekeeper, but after finding out that Hagrid was more of a gentle giant she had no problems whatsoever.
As far as classes were concerned, Harry was having an okay time. McGonagall had set them an essay on plant-pokémon symbiosis, while Sprout had given them their first written assignment on the properties of Cheri berries, something which had them (and a grudging Hermione) ask Neville to hand over his essay for reference. Harry was starting to pay a bit more attention to Flitwick's class ever since the flames-inside-bubbles technique, and he found out that Pokémon Coordinating wasn't so bad, after all. It just required a bit of imagination, although Harry was still leaning towards a career in pokémon battling.
After twenty minutes filled with whines and complaints, Professor Quirrel had finally relented to having a practical session, much to general appreciation. The stuttering professor had agreed to having two people demonstrate a mock battle during the last class before Halloween. Everybody groaned a bit at that; it meant that there would be a slim chance for every one of them to be chosen, but something was better than nothing, after all.
Harry didn't even know what was currently going on in History. Go figure.
The only class he wished he couldn't attend, however, was Potions. He absolutely loathed having to see Snape, and the feeling was mutual, but the worst part of it was that he couldn't do anything about it. Snape, on the other hand, seemed to love having to mentally humiliate and torture the Gryffindors, particularly Harry and Neville, by randomly docking points and hissing snidely whenever they did the smallest of mistakes. He all the more hated Potions because it was one of the few classes wherein the Slytherins and the Gryffindors were together, and seeing Draco Malfoy's sodding face along with Snape's was something Harry truly wasn't looking forward to.
Something that Harry was looking forward to, however, was the Glade season, and the best part was that they were playing against their everlasting nemesis: Slytherin.
According to Oliver, Slytherin had truly crushed them over the past few years, and this was something that the entire team was striving to change. The Glade captain was close to tears and on his knees by the time he was done relaying his strategies, begging his teammates to secure a win this year. This got the rest of them so fired up that they, and their pokémon, practiced for the next few weeks so vigorously that they still had enough fuel left in the tank afterwards.
There was just something about Gryffindor versus Slytherin that sent everyone ticking like a time bomb. The enmity between the Slytherins and Gryffindors had multiplied a hundredfold, and while there was nearly always a Prefect tailing them, a scuffle was inevitable whenever a Slytherin and a Gryffindor crossed paths. So far there had been more that a dozen broken noses, ten kicks in the groin, half a dozen broken nails and an equal number of broken bones.
Harry knew they were training harder than ever. Gryffindor would win. They would not fail each other. Of that they were certain.
XxXxX
"W-W-Welcome, c-c-c-class," Quirrel stuttered as always, wringing his hands nervously as the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins piled in. "A-As I p-p-promised, we will b-be having a sh-sh-short m-mock battle towa-wa-wards the end of th-th-the c-class. Before that, howev-v-ver, w-we shall f-fo-focus on a small surprise test I have f-for you all on the ru-rules and p-p-procedures of an off-f-fficial p-p-pokémon b-battle."
Everyone groaned a little at that, but they figured that it was a small price to pay for the bit fun that would happen later. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Ron paling slightly before changing spots with Neville, so that the redhead was sitting next to Hermione. The girl didn't say anything, but Harry swore that he saw the corners of her mouth twitch.
The test went quite well, Harry mused as he handed the his answer sheet over to the Parvati Patil, who had been asked to collect them by Quirrel. While it was true that Harry was abysmal at written examinations, he found out that it didn't apply for Pokémon Battling. He'd beaten Hermione several times, much to the girl's annoyance and frustration, and was little more than a prodigy at the subject. The answers came to Harry so naturally that he hardly had to study for the class.
"N-Now th-that that is out of the w-w-way," Quirrel said after grading the sheets, "let us b-begin with our f-f-f-first p-practical c-c-c-class. The students who w-w-will b-be ch-ch-chosen will b-be th-th-the ones wh-who will have acquired the h-highest results on t-todays t-t-test." At that, most of the students groaned in disbelief and disappointment; they'd all hastily answered their test so that the mock battle would begin quickly, but right now Quirrel had pulled a fast one on them. Ron looked a little sure of himself – he'd "referenced" Hermione's answer sheet, after all – while Neville gave a sigh of resignation. Hermione sat up straighter and glanced quickly at Harry, who couldn't keep the elated grin from his face; he might as well just walk towards the battlefield next to the classroom, so easy had the test been.
"...and th-th-they are M-Mr Pot-t-ter and Mrs G-G-Granger!" Quirrel exclaimed. The students, particularly the Slytherins, glared at the pair of Gryffindors – if looks could kill, Harry would be dead right on the spot. "P-P-Please make y-your w-w-way onto th-th-the b-b-b-b-b-battlefield." The man tittered nervously as Hermione and Harry complied eagerly.
Harry and Hermione walked to the respective trainer boxes while Quirrel marched up to the halfway position along the field. The students leaned over their desks in anticipation; while the weren't happy that were weren't chosen, they were still eager to view a live battle.
"Th-this will b-be a one-on-one battle," Quirrel declared. "There w-w-will be a t-ten minute time limit." The battle instructor set the timer on a stopwatch he'd fished out of his pocket. "No items a-a-are a-l-l-lowed. Release y-your p-p-pokémon."
"Hedwig, go!" Harry called out as he tossed the pokeball. There was a burst of white light and the pokeball shot back into Harry's waiting hand as Hedwig appeared on the field, spreading her wings snappily. The grass quill pokémon hooted eagerly before twisting her head around so that her eyes faced Harry, who winced slightly; he was never going to get used to that.
Hermione chewed her lower lip nervously before tossing her own pokeball. "Inkay, t-take the field!" she said. The revolving pokémon burst out, floated in the air and trilled in delight before twirling around in happiness at being let out.
Quirrel pressed the start button on the timer. "Begin!"
"Reflect!" Hermione said. Inkay nodded, the yellow spots on her 'hat' blinking as a wondrous wall of light was put up in front of her before going transparent.
Harry frowned. Reflect reduced the damage taken by physical attacks by absorbing it, but it would wear off after exactly five hits. He just needed Hedwig to deliver them fast enough so that it wouldn't prove to be a hindrance. "Double Team!" Hedwig hooted, spreading her wings once again and a split-second a dozen illusory copies appeared out of thin air. "To the air!" he shouted, and all thirteen Rowlet flew skywards, circling a cautious Inkay.
"Leafage!" All thirteen Hedwigs flapped their wings, causing innumerable leaves to shoot towards Inkay from all around the dark/psychic-type. There was no way to dodge all of them since she didn't know which one was real, so Inkay simply braced herself. Most of them disappearing due to being fired by clones, and while some of them were absorbed by Reflect, a few of them managed to pelt Inkay and make her squeal in discomfort.
That's one. "Now Tackle!"
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Take it!" she ordered. Harry cocked an eyebrow; there was obviously an idea formulating in her mind...
Inkay did just as she was ordered. The Reflect screen shimmered as Hedwig struck it, absorbing some of the brunt of the attack, but the Rowlet still managed to tackle the levitating Inkay. Inkay reeled back a bit, grimacing in pain but didn't miss her trainer's order. "Constrict!"
Harry barely had time to react as Inkay's feelers quickly elongated and wrapped around Hedwig's body, holding her right into place. The Rowlet shrieked and wriggled, trying to get free, but Inkay just tightened her grip on her prisoner.
Hermione smirked. "Now, use Psywave!"
Inkay crooned just as her eyes glowed blue. A second later, a semi-circular wave of psionic energy shot outwards, slamming into Hedwig head-on. The Rowlet gasped in pain and began to repeatedly Peck Inkay to let her go, until the Reflect disappeared and the mollusc began to feel the full force of the attacks.
Inkay immediately let Hedwig go, the Rowlet flapping her wings to get away from her ex-captor immediately. Hermione opened her mouth to call out another Reflect, but Harry interrupted her before she'd even started. "Confuse Ray!"
A beam of red-and-black energy shot out from between Hedwig's eyes and struck Inkay right in the middle of her forehead. The revolving pokémon squeaked and began to spin erratically, her eyes unfocused. Then she began slapping herself in the face while making weird, feminine noises.
"Inkay!" Hermione gasped, losing her composure for the first time. "Inkay, focus on my voice! S-Stay calm, okay—"
"Don't let them, Hedwig!" Harry grinned. While he felt a little bad about hurting his friend's pokémon, he pushed it aside since she'd hurt his own friend – Hedwig – not moments before. "Haze so that they don't see you coming, then Leafage and Peck!"
And so the onslaught began. A stream of pale smoke was exhaled out of Hedwig's beak, filling the battlefield and preventing Inkay and Hermione from seeing their opponents. Harry was smirking as he saw Hermione flinch whenever sharp leaves struck Inkay from random directions, or when Hedwig finally made an appearance, only to jab a confused Inkay with her beak before disappearing once more in the smoke. He was also pleased to see Inkay's spins slow down as the psychic-type was slowly, but steadily, moving closer and closer to the ground with each successful hit. At this rate Harry and Hedwig were going to wi—
Tringnringringringringringring!
Harry and Hermione both looked curiously in Quirrel's direction. The professor's silhouette was getting clearer and clearer as the smoke was wing blown away by a gentle breeze until it finally cleared away, showing the man standing next to a proud and haughty Dodrio. The three-headed bird was watching every small movement the students made until Quirrel recalled it with a nervous smile.
"A m-m-most impressive dis-p-p-play," he stammered. "Although th-th-the t-time was u-up, it w-w-was clear th-th-that Mr P-P-Potter and his fiery R-Rowlet w-would've won th-that b-battle. Ms G-G-Granger's Inkay put up quite th-th-the resistance, b-b-but Mr P-P-Potter's Rowlet proved t-to b-be too m-m-much.
"Please give a-a-a r-round of applause t-to Mr P-Potter and M-M-Ms Granger," he said, to which the students clapped till their hands were stinging. The bell rang, and Quirrel laughed nervously. "Th-that's all f-f-for t-today, c-c-c-class. And I w-wish y-you a h-happy H-H-H-H-H-H-Hallow-w-w-w-ween."
XxXxX
"Cracking battle," Ron congratulated as he and the rest of the "Gryffindor Four", as they were called, walked along the corridor that led to the Great Hall. He clapped Harry on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze while Cyndaquil climbed onto Ron's head. "If there was just a few more seconds, Inkay would've been done for!"
Harry felt oddly uncomfortable; next to him, Hermione glared at Ron frostily before glancing straight ahead. "Uh, Hermione battled well too," he blustered.
"You needn't pity me, Harry," she snapped. "I lost and it was very well my own fault."
Harry frowned. "You were pretty well too, Hermione. Don't forget, if that Reflect didn't wear off and if Hedwig didn't use Confuse Ray, the battle would've been in your favour."
Neville sighed as he picked up Turtwig. "Let's not think about it," he said. "Let's focus on the feast, yeah?"
Ron plucked Cyndaquil off his forehead and placed him on the shoulder, the fire-type squeaking as he curled up next to Ron's neck, warming his trainer slightly. "Yeah! I can't wait to see the stuff they've prepared for us!" he exclaimed ecstatically, breaking into a run when he saw the entrance to the Great Hall not ten feet away from him. "Quickly, you guys!"
Harry nodded, a smile forming on his face. Originally he'd been dreading this day, for it had been when his parents had died...but after realising that it wouldn't do to mope around the castle, and after figuring out that he wasn't one to do that anyway, he decided to just enjoy the feast. They were celebrating something completely different, after all. It wasn't like Halloween symbolised his parents death.
When he was just about to step into the hall, he realised that Hermione was behind them. "Aren't you coming, Hermione?"
"Uh..." She looked downwards. "You three go ahead. I'll be back in a few minutes...I just need to bring Inkay and Hedwig back from the infirmary. Nurse Pomfrey told us that they'd be healed in some time, and it's been well over an hour. I'll catch up with you in some time."
Harry blinked. He opened his mouth to agree, but Ron beat him to it. "Okay!" the redhead yelled boisterously. "Don't expect us to save food for ya then!"
Hermione simply scowled as Ron dragged Neville and Harry into the Great Hall.
XxXxX
Hogwarts has really outdone everything else, Harry mused as he looked around. The staff had really done everything to make it fit the theme. The lights had been replaced by Litwick and Lampent, while a myriad of ghost-type pokémon, specifically Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, swarmed the air, occasionally dropping treats and chocolate goodies to random students. The tables were laden with food and jack-o-lanterns, from which students would pick out candies and all sorts of tooth-rotting delicacies. The room was now an expanse of jokes and laughter; even the glares sent from the Gryffindor table to the Slytherin's and vice versa were kept to a minimum today.
When the clock struck the hour, Dumbledore rose from his throne, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Without further ado," he said, "let the feast begin!"
There was an eye-blinding flash as the empty spots on the tables were filled with plates and bowls of food. The smell hit Harry like a monster truck, and it sent him hyper-salivating. Without sparing just one look at each other, Harry and Ron dug in, Neville right behind them as Dean engaged the first-years in a gripping ghost story.
Ron's Cyndaquil was busy munching on a cracker while Trevor the Palpitoad was chugging down glass after glass of grape juice. Turtwig simply stared at his trainer, slightly amused by Neville's hunger; since Turtwig as a species relied only on soil and photosynthesis for nutrition, it was slightly odd to see humans go after food like a ravenous pack of Mightyena.
However, mere minutes into the feast, things began to go horribly wrong. Harry was the first among many to hear hurried footfalls grow louder and louder, the sound of which sent heads turning. Everyone watched as Professor Quirinus Quirrel raced into the hall, his feet more than blurs as he charged towards the staff table. It would've been comical if it wasn't for his horror-stricken face. His jumpiness was magnified a hundredfold and his turban was loose at the end.
"Bewear!" Quirrel shrieked, gripping the staff table like it was a lifeline. "There are B-B-B-Bewear in the s-s-school, Headmaster, four of them, and they're m-mad!" His eyes flitted and he added feebly, "Thought you should know."
Quirrel dropped like a sack of rocks. There was silence for two seconds. Four. Five.
Chaos ensued.
Screams filled the air and students rose from their seats, determined to run helter-skelter. But before anybody could move even half a step further, Dumbledore spoke. "Silence!" he roared, taking the entire school by surprise.
"Thank you," the headmaster said in a clipped voice once the noise died down. He turned towards the rest of the staff, who had already got to their feet, although Harry noticed that Snape looked rather reluctant. "Minerva, come with me. Severus, search the dungeons. Filius, Pomona, Hagrid – go together." Dumbledore turned to face the students. "Everyone is to remain in the Great Hall for now. Prefects, can I count on you to look after the students while the staff and I are away?"
A few of the older students murmured their assent.
"Good. No one is to panic – the Bewear will be detained shortly and we will resume what is left of the feast." With a flourish of his cloak, Dumbledore exited the hall, most of the staff following him. Harry briefly saw Hagrid's beetle-black eyes flash dangerously as the giant cracked his knuckles, loyally tailing the headmaster.
As soon as the hall was devoid of the teachers, murmurs split the air, causing the prefects to walk about and demand silence, but in vain. Ron looked at Harry and Neville in confusion, a chicken leg held limply in his hand. "How the heck did Bewear get in here?" he asked. "I bet they're doing a good job of roaming the castle."
And something clicked in Harry's mind. "Hermione."
"Huh?" uttered Neville.
"Hermione," he reiterated, the sense of dread growing in his body. "She went to get Hedwig and Inkay, remember? She's still wandering around the castle!"
Ron frowned. "So...what do we do?"
"We need to go find her!"
Neville shifted in his seat. "Maybe we can tell one of the prefects?" he suggested.
"We could, but they'll probably just tell us to shut up and keep calm while the professors search for them," Harry countered, already knowing how the minds of adults worked. They rarely liked to see anything out of control, and, what with several encounters with the student authority, Harry already knew that the prefects would just shut them down.
Harry sat there deep in concentration, going through the multiple possibilities as to what they could do. They could just sit and hope that the professors would save Hermione, or ignore the whole thing, but there was one recurring choice that kept flashing through Harry's mind: they had to go save Hermione themselves. While he wasn't eager to face certain death, he knew that his friends would place themselves in danger if he was in Hermione's place; the memory of Ron taking the blame in McGonagall's office was still fresh in his mind.
When Harry relayed his plan, Ron's face twisted in horror. "Are you barmy?" he exclaimed.
"We can't just leave her!" Harry shot back. "Neville's with me, right Neville?"
Neville flinched at the sound of his name. "Buh-buh-bobba-buh," he stuttered.
Harry sighed. "Forget it. You two can stay back if you want to. I'm not leaving her to the mercy of a Bewear."
"And we aren't letting you go alone," Ron replied, ignoring the squawk of protest from Neville. "If you're going to get yourself into this madness, we're in it with you. What's the plan?"
Harry smiled grimly. "We just have to get to Hermione before the Bewear do and warn her. Then you, Ron, can send a distress message to Percy and the professors will rescue us. Got it?"
Ron gulped, a bit uncertain. "Okay..."
"G-Guys..." Neville said with an uncertain smile, "don't you think that this is a bit – risky?"
But Harry had had enough; he stood up abruptly from his spot, Ron just half a step behind him. Without glancing back, Ron said, "Gryffindors don't leave their friends behind," and, with that parting shot, the two of them skulked towards the doors, just as Percy Weasley turned his head in the other direction.
Neville whimpered. If there was one thing true about what people said about him, it would be that he was cowardly. And Neville never denied this fact; on the contrary, he accepted this piece of his personality with a bitter taste in his mouth, much to the elders at Longbottom Manor's displeasure. But while he was a coward, he wasn't one to leave his friends behind. And he was going to prove it to everyone.
Without a second thought, he slithered his way towards his friends.
XxXxX
Getting out of the Great Hall was easy; all they did was wait for the Slytherin Prefect pacing the width of the doors to turn in the other direction, and then they were out. The Slytherin must've been as bored as she looked, because the sixth-year didn't even acknowledge the sound of the doors opening in the slightest. They didn't have to worry about everyone else, for the rest of the students were busy gobbling down their food while engaging each other in gossip while the rest of the prefects and the Head-persons were too much into manning their own spots to notice the three boys slipping out.
The hallway was quiet. The overhead lights were dim and there was an eeriness around them that made the trio of Gryffindors feel like they were in a horror movie that was actually scary, playing the scene right before the killer reveals themselves. Harry was first in line, followed by Ron and a whimpering Neville clutching the back of Ron's shirt. He had a terrified expression on his face, and although he was trying to brave it up, his face looked like he was trying to force something out of his rear end.
"Send out your pokémon," Harry said abruptly, causing Neville to start in surprise. "We don't want to be defenceless if a Bewear jumps us."
"Alright," Ron agreed, tapping the release button on his lone pokeball while Neville did the same. Cyndaquil, Trevor the Palpitoad and Turtwig appeared with flashes of and a "Cyn!", "Pal!" and "Turtwig!" respectively. Ron's pokémon scuttled over to his shoulder, while Neville scooped up the grass-type reptile in his arms; Turtwig wasn't very fast and he didn't want his friend to fall behind, unlike Trevor, who could actually keep up.
"Oi, what about you?" Ron asked Harry when the bespectacled boy told them to continue.
"Hermione went to get Hedwig and Inkay, remember?" he reminded grimly. "Which is all the more why we have to find her quickly."
They were on the second floor when they began to hear the faint sounds of steady booms. Harry narrowed his eyes and picked up speed, bracing himself for what was ahead of them. Ron and Neville must've understood as well, because Ron scowled and Neville whimpered again. As they turned down the corridor, they saw the furry backside and thick, pink-furred tail of a very large bear forcing its way into the girl's bathroom, the actions of which elicited a familiar scream.
"There it is!" Ron shouted, Cyndaquil leaping off his chest to perform a front-flip and land on the tiled floor before uncurling to a halt. "Attack!"
"V-Vine Whip!" Neville stuttered. Turtwig grunted, leaping from Neville's arms and onto the ground just as two, thick vines sprouted from under his shell of super-hardened soil and shot off towards the Bewear. The tentacles smacked it on its gradually disappearing neck, but the simply bounced off the Bewear. Hermione screamed again.
"That's it," Ron growled. He rolled up his sleeves as he was going to thrash the living daylights out of the Bewear himself. "Cyndaquil, use Ember! Distract it!"
"Turtwig, keep using Vine Whip!" Neville ordered. "Trevor, Bubble Beam!"
"Cyn, Cynda!"
"Pal, Palpi-Pal Toad!"
"Tur!"
The three set off their respective attacks, Turtwig's vines repeatedly ricocheting off Bewear's back and Trevor's bubbles popping explosively while Cyndaquil kept firing continuous blankets of flames. Surprisingly, it was Cyndaquil's attacks that sent the massive fighting-type twitching and occasionally bellowing in rage. Harry briefly wondered whether Glade training had finally paid off, but then he remembered that one of Bewear's abilities was Fluffy, which doubled the damage taken by fire-type moves.
When it finally got clear and turned towards them, Harry's heart stopped. The Bewear was nothing like he'd expected it to look. It was somewhat...cute, in a way, but it's strength was not to be denied. Its four limbs were filled with muscle and they were thrice as thick as Harry. Its face was innocent, but something about it sent shivers down Harry's spine. It stood eight feet tall, with a thirst for battle.
But that wasn't what made Harry's heart stop. His eyes were wide as he saw it swinging its left arm wildly, while its right arm was dragging Hermione, its great paw wrapped around her lower thigh. She scrambled on her hands, trying to find something to hold onto, but the Bewear's strength was too much for the eleven-year-old girl.
"Leech Seed!" Neville was saying. He had a look of utmost calm and determination that had Harry surprised. The leaves on his pokémon's head glowed green before he began spitting a battery of yellowish green seeds at the Bewear, like a machine gun. Some of them managed to land on the massive bear, sticking to its fur and spreading thin tendrils around it. The Bewear twitched as the parasitic seeds rooted into its flesh, sapping its energy with every passing moment.
"Cyndaquil, Ember!" Ron ordered. The redhead had picked up on the fact that Bewear's ability was Fluffy and was commanding his pokémon to use fire-type attacks as quickly as he could.
The Bewear bellowed, then it whipped its right hand at the boys and let go of its grip on Hermione. The girl shrieked as she hurtled through the air like she'd been blasted out of a cannon. Ron threw his hands up to grab her by the legs, but her foot kicked him in the face and caused him to land on his back while she kept speeding ahead through the air. Harry had already jumped and he braced himself for the impact that would come when the girl would slam into him.
"Turt!" Turtwig grunted, his vines moving from around Bewear's wrists to wrap around Hermione's leg, slowing her down. Still, it wasn't enough; she crashed headfirst into a waiting Harry, who felt the wind knock out of him while there was the simultaneous crack of his bones. He was sure he'd broken a rib or two.
They tumbled to the ground, Harry hissing his pain as his head hit the tiles; it felt like someone had split the back of his skull open with an awl, but he didn't loose his grip on Hermione. It was only when they met a halt that he let go of her, allowing the girl to roll away and shakily push herself to three of her limbs (her right hand was holding her aching skull).
She looked at Harry, skin white as paper and eyes wide in shock. "Wh-Wha—"
"Hedwig," was all that Harry wheezed, standing on his ankles while his two arms were wrapped around his torso, gingerly tightening his grasp, and he gasped in pain from the slight squeeze. His breathing was ragged and harsh, while his midsection was throbbing in pain every few seconds, sending pulses of agony through his body. He directed two fingers to the place where it was hurting the most and gave it the briefest of touches before determining that he had truly broken a couple of ribs.
Hermione nodded, reading for Hedwig's pokeball on her belt while tears streamed unceremoniously down her face. She was sobbing uncontrollably, but was slowly gaining control of her emotions. She handed over Hedwig's pokeball to Harry, who snatched it out of her hands and tapped the release button, sending out his starter pokémon.
"Row, Rowlet!" Hedwig chirped, spreading her wings elegantly. Her head turned back a hundred-and-eighty degrees, and then her wide eyes widened further at the injured body of her trainer. Then she glanced back and glared at the assailant...who looked more than ten times her size and a hundred times her weight.
"Hedwig, use Double Team!" Harry hissed, ignoring the throbs of pain from his midsection as well as on the back of his head. The Rowlet chirped, concentrating for the briefest of seconds before a dozen clones of herself formed in an outward semicircle in front of Harry. "Leafage!"
As the Hedwigs sped towards the lumbering Bewear, Harry turned to Hermione. "Hermione, send out Inkay," he commanded, and he was visibly shocked when she shakily shook her head.
"N-No," she stammered, still shaking her head. "I – I'm a b-bad trainer, Ha-Harry, y-you saw what h-happened in Professor Qu-Qu-Quirrel's class, I c-can't—"
"Hermione!" he hissed, slapping her head between his hands, effectively shutting her up. "We need all the help we can, or else we're going to die." She flinched at the last word, but Harry ignored it. "You need to send Inkay out, alright?"
Hermione nodded. "O-Okay."
She detached Inkay's pokeball from her waist and released the squid-like pokémon. "Inkay, Psywave!" Inkay complied, the white appendages on either side of her head rising in the air as she emanated a burst of psychic energy concentrated in a wave headed straight for Bewear. Cyndaquil and Turtwig, sensing the attack heading straight in the direction, scurried back, while Bewear roared as the energy detonated powerfully the second it collided with its body. The creature stumbled back several feet, and although it righted itself the second before it was going to fall down, it did look dazed.
"What...?" was all that came out of Harry's mouth.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Psywave is an attack that varies in intensity. The stronger the foe, the greater the damage."
The rest of the Gryffindors' pokémon, taking heart from the Psywave, attacked with newfound vigour. Cyndaquil kept circling Bewear and blasting it with continuous embers. Turtwig kept using Withdraw to boost his defences whenever Bewear attacked him, and although he was getting more and more tired his Leech Seeds were doing a good job at wearing Bewear down and transferring the absorbed energy to Turtwig. Hedwig kept getting in close and using Leafage after Leafage while flying out of her opponent's range while Inkay kept attacking with Psywave.
The Bewear bellowed in frustration. It raised its powerful arms, which glowed white before it swung the powerful limbs just as Hedwig came in for another Peck attack. Hedwig screeched as she was struck by the powerful Hammer Arm, which knocked her out instantly and sent her flying towards the wall, which she slammed into with a thud. The owl-like pokémon's eye rolled into the back of her head as she slumped to the floor just as Harry recalled her with a look of utter shock and terror.
Neville's Palpitoad kept firing Bubble Beam after Bubble Beam, Cyndaquil kept torching Bewear, while Turtwig lashed the behemoth with his powerful vines. Inkay floated from place to place, occasionally firing Psywaves when she saw an opening.
"Be...wear!" the massive Bewear screamed, swinging its arm downwards and driving the Hammer Arm into Turtwig's back. The turtle's eyes snapped open for the briefest of seconds before snapping shut.
"Turtwig, no!" Neville screamed, rushing towards his fallen pokémon. He pulled his friend close to his chest, then looked up, but immediately wished he had try when he saw Bewear looming over him, bringing its paws together to generate a sparking sphere of orange-red energy. The boy shut his eyes as Bewear thrust its paws forward, launching the Focus Blast at Neville—
"INKAY!"
Neville watched, frozen in terror and admiration as Inkay drifted in front of him and took the brunt of the attack, although the shockwave generated from the explosion was enough to knock Neville sideways and Turtwig out of his trainer's grasp. Ron snatched Turtwig out of the air, but the same couldn't be said for Ron; the chubby-faced boy let out a hiss of pain as he slammed into the wall. At the same there was a loud snap, and then he slid to the floor, unconscious.
Inkay was barely tethered to the realm of consciousness. She was struggling to stay afloat and it took every ounce of her fading willpower to stay awake. Hermione, grasping this knowledge, decided to turn the tables with a decisive move. "Foul Play!" she yelled.
"Kay!" The revolving pokémon was consumed in an aura of translucent black before she rushed at Bewear and crashed into the looming normal-type with such strength that Harry could feel the shockwave from several meters away. The Bewear's eyes snapped wide open for seconds that felt like aeons. The force of the attack knocked it back a couple meters; then it stumbled, wobbling like an unbalanced bottle of wine, before falling to the ground with an almighty thud.
Inkay herself was no better. The blue pokémon whined before she fell to the ground, out cold – the Foul Play attack had taken nearly all of her strength and she was out of it.
"Good job, guys..." wheezed Harry, huffing and puffing as he fell to all fours. His body was aching horribly and he felt like someone had punched him in his gut with a metal arm. And was it his imagination or was the back of his head wet?
He must've momentarily passed out, because there were a lot more people in the corridor.
People were shouting all around him. His vision was hazy, but he could make out most of the blurry silhouettes – Professors Sprout and Flitwick and Ron were kneeling next to an unconscious Neville, their faces grim and unnaturally pale, along with a pokémon that looked like a green sauropod with pink, triangular petals around its neck – Meganium, Hermione had once told him – and a Gogoat. Dumbledore was overseeing the proceedings with his Oranguru, and he'd lost the twinkle in his eyes. Quirinus Quirrel looked as if he'd met a serial killer specifically out for his blood as he inspected the unconscious Bewear, whose great belly rose and fell with harsh breaths.
The loudest voices belonged to the heads of houses whose rivalry was known far and wide. McGonagall's and Snape's shouting match made Ron's and Hermione's look like two old ladies exchanging pleasantries.
"Potter and his crew need to be expelled for their insubordination—" Snape was bellowing.
McGonagall was screaming, "How dare you, Severus, these students could've gotten killed—"
"Precisely my point—"
"ENOUGH!"
All sounds and movements ceased the second Dumbledore's word left his mouth. Gone was the kind old man with the grandfatherly air around him; in his place stood the current Grand Champion of Omnis, Headmaster of Hogwarts and the one who had led the Legion of Light into battle against the Dark Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Then Filius broke the silence, "Headmaster," he squeaked tentatively, "Mr Longbottom and Mr Potter need to be tended to immediately."
"Quite," Dumbledore said crisply. "Pomona, can I trust you to take young Harry and Neville to the hospital wing safely?"
Sprout nodded. "You can, Albus." She released a tall, treelike creature that made Harry think for a second that it was a Trevenant, before realising that it wasn't. Its bark-like body wasn't segmented, and it had several rotund heads circling the top of the trunk. What looked like green hair was actually thick, long leaves and its stocky legs had feet with two claws.
"Exeggutor," Sprout said in a commanding tone, "use..."
But, before Harry could hear anything else, his vision flickered and then went black.
XxXxX
Harry woke up to the feeling of something sharp nipping at his ear. Coughing and spluttering, he bolted upright, only to groan and clutch his forehead as a splitting headache made itself known. He was surprised to feel the back of his head wrapped in bandages, as well as around the lower part of his torso. Then he turned his head and stared right into the curious, black eyes of Hedwig.
"Hey there, girl," he croaked, a bit surprised at the fact that his throat was parched. Hedwig hooted happily and nuzzled into his face while he stroked her back. He looked at his surroundings and realised he was in the hospital wing. On the bed to his right, Neville was fast asleep, his arm in a cast and sling while Turtwig rested on his chest.
"Finally decided to wake up, have you, Mr Potter?" a voice said.
Harry, still petting Hedwig, turned to see Nurse Pomfrey bustling towards with her Blissey by her side. In her hand was a goblet, containing a viscous, purple liquid, smoke rising from the contents, which she set aside on Harry's table. "How are you feeling?" she asked absently while stirring the healing potion.
"Fine aside from the massive migraine," he mumbled, still clutching the side of his head with one hand. "What happened? How long was I out?"
Pomfrey pursed her lips. "You were out for approximately six hours. As for what happened..." She suddenly glared at him, causing Harry to flinch involuntarily. "The four of you decided to declare your stupidity to the school by going in search for a high-level Bewear on your own! Do you realise the seriousness of your actions? It was a wonder the four of you weren't killed!"
Harry winced, but didn't say anything; he knew that interrupting a woman during her rant would only antagonise her and prolong her lecture.
"In any case, you've received enough punishment as it is," she continued. "Apart from the minor bleeding on the back of your skull, you also had three broken ribs and a case of internal bleeding. However, Blissey was able to fix that with next to no difficulty," she said, jerking her head in the Blissey's direction. The large, pink pokémon chittered happily.
"And the rest?" Harry probed. "What about Ron, and Hermione and Neville?"
"Mr Weasley and Ms Granger were relatively unharmed, save for a few mild bruises here and there. The same cannot be said for Mr Longbottom," she said with a scowl. "He had a compound fracture sticking out of his right arm, bruises all up and down both his sides. He lost a considerable amount of blood, but the blood restoratives are working, and although the break was bad but clean, and it's already knitting. He'll be fine, but he'll need to keep the cast on for around a week before he can use it to its full extent." She picked up the smoking goblet and handed it over to Harry. "Drink. All of it."
Harry looked at it uncertainly and took a whiff of the smoke, which was odourless. Taking it as a good sign, he gulped down the contents in one go and recoiled from the taste – it wasn't unpleasant, but rather cloyingly sweet, very unlike the medicines Harry had grown used to back in the Surrey region.
Pomfrey snatched the goblet from Harry's hand, which had already gotten limp. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.
XxXxX
Sorry for the long wait, but my internet connection had gone down, as luck would have it. I also want to say that updates will be slow - say, once in two weeks, because I just got my results for the semester exams and even though I'm happy I need to work harder. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I've changed my educational stream from Science to Arts midway, so I have to put in double the effort.
Review responses:
AngelFaux: Thank you for the kind words! Also, fossil pokémon aren't exactly that rare, considering that you could get so many of them in Kalos. Plus you can get rare pokémon via breeders.
Daniel Jensen: Thank you for the compliment. And, yes, I am accepting OCs. You can send them via PMs or reviews.
Guest: Not all Slytherins will be like Draco or Flint, and I agree that the stereotype is annoying. As for Harry being so mean, he's been bullied so badly in his youth that he just won't ignore it anymore. He's going to retaliate with all that pent-up energy stored for eleven years.
DZ2: Morelull is an AMAZING choice! I'll be using it quickly so that you can't, haha.
Also, I'm waiting for your update! Do that soon!
Sakura Lisel: According to Pokémon in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, everything has some amount of aura/energies. When a trainer with an aura wavelength interacts with a pokémon with the same, that's how pokémon choose the trainer. I know it's a crude explanation, but you'll have to deal with it.
Pokémon can hear and see everything that is going outside the pokeball when the pokeball is enlarged, as seen in the anime.
Surrey is more or less similar to Orre, but just a hundred times worse. If you provide unfavourable conditions and convince an animal that this place isn't a favourable habitat for it, said animal will move away from the territory. The same can be said for pokémon.
I hope this helps.
I'd like it if you tell me how my writing skills are, but I can't force my decision on you. Still, it'd be nice.Thanks for sticking around! Until next time have a good one.