Chapter 11: Supreme
August 30, Pallet Town – Route 1, Kanto, 9 am…
Y kept falling. Her sky suit was on fire, steadily burning as she plummeted towards the ground. She couldn't move her limbs and she was wavering in and out of consciousness as she saw the ground rapidly approaching.
Her Froakie popped out of its Pokéball and hopped onto its trainer's back. Y was going to crash into the ground and she would get killed by the impact. It had to create thick layers of mousse to save her life, but it didn't know where she was going to land. There were trees in the way as well, and Y would hit them as she fell. The Froakie began to create thick layers of mousse around the girl's body.
Just as an inch of mousse formed over the girl's body, she crashed into a tree, smashing through the thick branch. The Froakie quickly shot more and more mousse. Y kept crashing through the trees, and the Froakie began to struggle. It couldn't create the mousse fast enough to save its trainer's life…
Y screamed as another thick branch hit her, shattering her helmet. The Froakie pushed itself to its absolute maximum… and in a flash of light, evolved into Frogadier. The Frogadier took a split second to look at its evolved form and resumed shooting thick layers of mousse. With its evolution, it was able to shoot thicker and more durable layers of mousse, effectively encasing Y in a cocoon of protective layers.
Y's body smashed through a thick tree and crashed into the ground. The thick layers absorbed all of the impact, saving the girl's life. The girl grunted as she struggled to open her eyes.
'I… survived?'
Y focused on her sight and saw her Froakie standing in front of her, and it was no longer a Froakie.
"… You evolved…" she muttered in surprise. "… And saved me… … Thank you so much…"
The thick layers of mousse dissipated and Y was able to move her limbs, albeit very slowly. Y rolled onto her back. She struggled to sit up, but her body wouldn't cooperate. She had to keep fighting… the enemy had complete air superiority. She had to get back and fight… but her body just wouldn't listen.
With a grunt, Y fell back down and steadily lost consciousness. Her Frogadier surrounded her in another thick layer of mousse and stood on guard. It had to keep her safe until the other Dex Holders found her.
Meanwhile, X fought the enemy as hard as he could. He was quite angry right now, as he saw Y getting hit by the Hyper Beam. She was his closest friend, and he could do nothing except watch as she plummeted towards the ground. If she got hurt, he would never forgive himself for not doing anything to help her. If she got killed… X shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. Instead, he focused on his anger. His Pokémon were quite angry as well, and he used that to fight the enemy.
Unfortunately, a battle's outcome wasn't determined by anger alone. Despite being overwhelmed with rage, X's Pokémon steadily fell one by one to the Mega Sceptile. The initial Thunderbolt from Manectric had given it too much of a boost thanks to Lightningrod.
The Mega Charizard's Drought was still in effect in this part of the battlefield. The Mega Sceptile was taking advantage of it with rapid fire Solarbeam. The attacks were impossible to dodge due to the sheer size and speed of the beams, and they were impossible to withstand either due to the boosted power of the Mega Sceptile.
With the opposing air superiority fighters gone, the Mega Hunter's aerial Pokémon began to attack the Dex Holders on the ground. With their speed and agility, the birds were able to hit the Dex Holders' Pokémon from behind before they could react and succeed in dividing up their attention.
The Mega Hunter's Fire Pokémon concentrated their attacks into one powerful blast of fire. Ruby saw the attack coming directly towards him and quickly shoved Sapphire out of the way as he dove out of the way as well. The other Dex Holders managed to split as well, narrowly avoiding the stream of fire. But the group was now divided into two. The Mega Hunter's Dragons saw the opportunity and charged at one of the two groups while some of the other Pokémon attacked the other. The birds struck the stronger group and divided that group into two as well.
Gold ducked to narrowly avoid a Brave Bird from the shiny Swellow. The moment he looked up, the shiny Staraptor charged at him with Brave Bird as well, forcing him to block with his billiard cue. The attack still knocked him off his feet, leaving him vulnerable to the follow up Brave Bird from some of the other Flying type Pokémon of the enemy. His Typhlosion stepped in and forced a few back with Fire Blast, but that only left it and its trainer vulnerable to the Fire type attacks from the enemy.
The Mega Hunter's Fire type Pokémon all used Heat Wave, with the exception of Typhlosion that kept using Eruption. The huge wave of intense heat got boosted by the intense sunlight and covered every Dex Holder's Pokémon.
The Fire and Water type Pokémon of the Dex Holders did their best to shield their allies, as they had the best chance of withstanding the attack. Platinum's Empoleon attempted a Water Sport to reduce the effectiveness of the Fire type attacks, but the little squirts of water rapidly evaporated thanks to the Heat Wave.
The moment the Heat Wave stopped, the Mega Hunter's other Pokémon charged forward. The Dex Holders carefully fought back, ready to get back into cover should another Heat Wave burst come their way. But this meant that the Dex Holders couldn't be aggressive with their attacks, thus allowing the enemy's Pokémon to be much more aggressive.
Red glanced to the side and saw Sapphire pinned against the ground by the shiny Mega Salamence. The girl's Aggron tried to smash it out of the way, but it was knocked backwards by a point-blank range Flamethrower from that Mega Salamence. Red got his Poliwrath to hit it with Hydro Pump, pushing it off the girl before it could hit her with its claws.
He then glanced at the other side and saw Gold being attacked by the Swellow, Staraptor, Crobat, and Talonflame. Red got his Pikachu to use Thunderbolt to force the Flying type Pokémon back.
Then he saw Black and White cornered by Tyranitar and Garchomp. The two Unova Dex Holders couldn't even open their eyes, as the Tyranitar was directing its Sand Stream towards them. The Garchomp became quite invisible in the heavy sandstorm, and as a result, the two Unova Dex Holders' Pokémon were unable to even hit it.
Something popped out of the ground from directly behind Black. White saw that it was a Sandslash. She quickly got her Serperior to hit it with Leaf Storm, but the Sandslash had vanished in the sandstorm. Black suddenly let out a yell as his feet sank into the ground. White quickly grabbed his hands and tried her best to pull him out of the ground. The Sandslash popped out of the ground again and this time, swung its claws at her for a Crush Claw.
Red's Venusaur managed to knock it back with a Vine Whip just before the claws hit the girl in the chest. Red let out a short sigh of relief and looked back only to see Platinum being attacked by Absol, Weavile, and Hydreigon. The Espeon he had lent to the heiress wasn't able to do anything, and the girl's Pokémon were still weakened from their first encounter with the Garchomp.
To make things worse, Red didn't have any Pokémon to spare at this time. His Aerodactyl and Gyarados were defeated by the Mega Hunter's Flying Pokémon. His Pikachu was assisting Gold, Poliwrath was assisting Sapphire, and Venusaur was helping Black and White. And with Espeon staying with Platinum for now, Red didn't have any Pokémon.
The shiny Weavile charged forth with Ice Punch. The shiny Absol did the same with Night Slash, while the shiny Hydreigon kept the other Pokémon at bay with Dark Pulse. Platinum's Empoleon and Rapidash tried to counter the attacks, but were downed rather quickly. The Lopunny tried to defend with Focus Blast, but the attack missed and it too, was downed by the Weavile. The Weavile and Absol changed their target to Platinum and charged at her.
Red quickly grabbed Platinum by her wrist and pulled her out of harm's way. While practically holding her in an embrace, Red dodged the incoming attacks and retreated back towards the other Dex Holders. The Weavile and Absol soon lost interest and began to attack someone else.
"What do you think?" Red asked abruptly. Platinum looked up at him, wondering what he was talking about. "What should we do? How do we beat the enemy?"
Platinum looked around the battlefield. Most of the Dex Holders were scattered and separated. In fact, the only ones she could see were Gold, Sapphire, Black, and White. Everyone else was blocked from sight by fighting Pokémon, fire, and smoke. The enemy's Flying Pokémon had split the Dex Holders into smaller groups for isolated destruction.
"I – I do not think we can win," she mumbled eventually. "We have to pull back."
Red slowly nodded. He returned whatever Pokémon he could return and the heiress did the same. While still holding Platinum, he ran towards the other visible Dex Holders so that he could tell them to retreat as well. He got to Black and White first, who were still struggling against the Tyranitar and Garchomp. Red got his Venusaur to use Frenzy Plant in an effort to get the shiny Pokémon to back off. The attack missed the enemy Pokémon, but they did back off, allowing Red and Platinum to reach Black and White.
"We're pulling back," Red said to the two Unova Dex Holders. "We can't fight like this anymore. We have to retreat."
Black clenched his teeth, but nodded. White looked quite tired and a little frightened, even. She nodded as well and returned her Pokémon. Black reluctantly returned his Pokémon and grabbed White by her wrist and followed Red around the battlefield.
The four Dex Holders got to Gold first. By this time, the Mega Hunter's shiny Pokémon had moved on to attack someone else, leaving the goggled boy alone. Gold saw the others and quickly approached them.
"Any ideas?" he asked. "We're getting our asses handed to us."
"We're retreating," Red said.
"What? That's crap!" Gold yelled. "We can't just leave!"
"I know how you feel, but we have no choice," Red said with a sigh. "As Green would say, you have to know your limits. We can stay and fight as much as we're able to. But then what? We'll just end up like Y. That won't accomplish anything. We have to pull back."
"Shit…" Gold muttered angrily. "… What about the others? We can't just leave them."
"We'll tell them to retreat too. Now come, we have to save Sapphire and then find Y."
Gold returned his Pokémon except Typhlosion and had it use Blast Burn against the Mega Salamence. The Mega Salamence countered with Hydro Pump, pushing the Blast Burn back. Gold's Typhlosion tried its absolute best to push the blast forward. Now that the Mega Salamence was distracted, Red was able to pull Sapphire away from her worst nightmare. Seeing the girl still stunned, Red gave the order to her Blaziken to use Blast Burn at the Mega Salamence. He returned all of the girl's other Pokémon, and began to lead the group away from the battlefield. Gold saw Red and the others leave and after attacking the Mega Salamence one last time, quickly returned his Typhlosion and ran after his senior.
Red was about to call Green to let him know about retreating when Green called him first.
"Red, this battle's lost. Fall back!" came the Gym Leader's voice. He too, sounded quite upset.
"We're going up to Route 1," Red said. "We're going to find Y before it's too late."
"Understood. We're pulling back to Pallet Town. We'll keep the enemy off of you."
Red hung up and kept running. Once he was sufficiently far away, he glanced back at the battlefield. The enemy's shiny Pokémon were still attacking, and they were the ones mostly attacking. The other Dex Holders' Pokémon were struggling to defend. There was a huge explosion as the remaining Pokémon combined the ultimate attacks. The large blast seemed to disorient a lot of the shiny Pokémon, but not by enough.
Red sighed as he watched the battle. The enemy was so strong. How was this even possible? Who was this guy? A trainer this strong would've been spotted somewhere at some point, whether in an official Pokémon league, or something else.
"Um… senior?"
And why attack the Dex Holders? What could this guy possibly gain from this?
"Senior?"
Red snapped out of his thoughts and looked down. He could see Platinum looking up at him, waiting patiently.
"Hm?"
"Thank you for saving me, but could you please release me?" the girl asked after a polite bow.
Red looked down at his hands and noticed that he was still holding onto his junior. And he was clenching his hands rather angrily at the thought of having to retreat from a battle… He quickly released her and Platinum gently rubbed her wrist.
"Sorry." He cast a quick glance at her from head to toe. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Platinum smiled and shook her head. "Thank you for your concern. I am unscathed."
"Damn it," came Sapphire's voice from behind. The other Dex Holders looked back and saw the Hoenn Dex Holder pressing her hands against her temples. "Damn it…"
"What's wrong?" Red asked.
Sapphire looked at him with a tear falling from her eyes. "… I just… can't do anything against Salamence! … It's driving me crazy… I'm letting everyone down…"
"It's all right," Red said warmly. "We'll help you overcome your fears. Blue used to be terrified of bird Pokémon, you know. But she got over it eventually."
Sapphire lowered her head and wiped away the falling tear. "And Ruby… he's in danger right now. And I can't save him… He keeps putting himself in harm's way because I can't handle Salamence…"
Red walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know how you feel. But you can't berate yourself like this. Look, we'll retreat to safety and then we'll start helping you overcome your fears. When that time comes, think about how you're feeling right now. And use this feeling to overcome your fears as fast as you can. Until then, focus on the task at hand."
Sapphire slowly nodded and took a shuddering sigh to calm herself down. "… Okay… Thank you."
"What do we do now?" Gold asked.
"First, we find Y. Then we'll head to Viridian City so that we can use their Pokémon Center to get back to fighting shape," Red said. "Once we're ready, we'll head back to Pallet Town to help Green and the others. So let's get to it, people."
Sapphire began to sniff at the air. Y had a unique scent to her, as with all the other female Dex Holders. Something called perfume. Crystal didn't really use a whole lot, so her perfume scent was always a little faint. Platinum wore a lot more and the scent was different. The heiress wore a mix of strawberries and apple scented perfume, which stood out against the everyday odors of a city or a forest. White had her own perfume as well, which was different than what Crystal or Platinum wore. And Y also had her own unique perfume. It made sense, as the girls all came from different regions.
Sapphire soon caught the whiff of the 'Kalos perfume' in the air. "I think I can smell her."
"Good girl. Now go find her," Gold said.
Sapphire growled at him a little. "What am I, a pet?"
"Relax. You know I'm joking," Gold said defensively.
Platinum frowned as she watched the interaction. Sapphire was sniffing at the air like… an animal. She heard that the Hoenn Dex Holder had superior senses, but… did she have to be this blatantly obvious? People watching from far away would just think she had lost her mind or something. This was embarrassing. Platinum unconsciously took a couple of steps backwards, intending to be as far away from Sapphire as possible.
Sapphire didn't notice yet, as she was busy tracing the 'Kalos perfume'. She soon began to walk into the forest, and the other Dex Holders followed. White was about to follow Black into the forest when she noticed Platinum standing behind.
"Is something wrong, Lady Platinum?"
Platinum snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh. No. Nothing is wrong." She cast a glance at the battle still going on in Pallet Town – Route 1 area and with a sigh, entered the forest.
The Dex Holders kept low as they followed Sapphire. It was possible that the Mega Hunter's scouts were still around the area. Just in case, the Dex Holders had to stay out of sight.
Several minutes later, Sapphire spotted a large tree that had its largest branch snapped as if something smashed through it. She looked up and spotted more trees with their branches snapped.
"The broken branches form a pattern," Platinum said as she observed the branches.
"Like what?" Gold asked.
"The broken branches," the heiress said as she pointed up. "The broken branches trace the motion of a projectile in motion. Following the pattern would show us where Y landed. She would not have-"
"You can just follow me," Sapphire said from ahead, still sniffing at the air.
Platinum narrowed her eyes at being interrupted. She decided to let it slide. This wasn't the time to argue.
"I found her!" Sapphire suddenly said, trying to keep her voice down so that she wouldn't be heard by the enemy who may or may not be nearby.
Red and Gold came to her side first while Platinum and Black followed a little while later. The heiress went up towards her seniors and soon spotted Y. The Kalos girl was lying face up on the ground, being defended solely by her Froakie… Frogadier now, apparently. It seemed that the Frogadier had created a protective layer of foam to save its trainer's life, but the girl was unconscious. Her helmet was destroyed and she was bleeding a little from the side of her head. Her flight suit was badly damaged, with the exterior layer almost completely burnt up. Some of the interior layers remained intact, but the suit was burned quite badly in quite a few areas, burning up all the way to the girl's bare skin. The other parts of the suit were crimson as her blood had permeated the inner layers.
Red gently put his fingers on Y's neck to feel her pulse. He slowly nodded after a short while, indicating that she was still alive. Sapphire returned Y's Frogadier for her while Red carefully lifted the injured girl onto his arms.
As he did so, he felt something vibrating in his pocket. He carefully held Y above the ground with one arm and reached into his pocket with his other hand. He took out his Pokégear and gave it to Platinum. The heiress answered while Red properly lifted Y into his arms.
"Hello?" Platinum answered.
"Is this Platinum?" came Green's voice from the other side.
"Yes, senior. How can I help?"
"Tell Red that Pallet Town is lost."
"Senior Red… Pallet Town is lost," the heiress said with an alarmed look on her face.
"What?" Red muttered in shock.
Platinum held up the Pokégear next to her senior's ear and mouth so that he could answer the call.
"Green, what happened?"
"The enemy knows where we were going to take shelter," Green said. "He burned down the lab and our houses. I don't know how, but he hit the lab before we even got anywhere near."
"Damn it. So what now?"
"We're falling back to Johto. But for now, we have to stay low and avoid being spotted."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone is accounted for except Gold, Sapphire, Platinum, Black, White, and Y."
"They're all with me," Red said. "We found Y, and she's alive. She's unconscious, so we're taking her to the hospital."
"Good. Once you're able, get over to Violet City. We'll decide what to do there."
"All right."
Red signaled Platinum to hang up. The heiress hung up and temporarily put the Pokégear in her bag, as putting it back into her senior's pocket was quite weird.
"Okay people, listen up," Red said to the Dex Holders around him. "Pallet Town is gone. Green and the others are going to Johto to regroup. We're going to Viridian City. After we heal up and rest, we're going to Violet City to meet up with everyone else. So let's get going. Gold, Sapphire, you're in the front. Make sure to avoid running into the enemy. Black, White, you're in the back. Make sure nothing follows us. Platinum, you stay close to me. Now let's get moving!"
…
Meanwhile…
…
Peter looked around the scorched buildings of Pallet Town. On hindsight, burning the Dex Holders' hideouts prematurely was a mistake. The thick smoke created followed by a combination of the ultimate attacks created enough of a distraction for the Dex Holders to escape.
Now things would be problematic. The Dex Holders would adapt to the tactics used. They will find a way to counter the air superiority. They saw that the Flying type Pokémon were used to divide the Dex Holders into smaller groups. They would learn to counter it. They would train and prepare a group of Flying type Pokémon to directly challenge the air superiority and prevent the ground Pokémon from becoming split apart. The Dex Holders would train and learn to deal with the Dragon type's aggression. And the Fire type's ranged support. They will adapt quickly.
But it also applied the other way. There was a Dex Holder in Kalos right now who was not with the others. As always, Blue was the key. And it was time to use her.
Scouts would be scattered all over Kanto and Johto to keep track of the Dex Holders. Blue would be convinced to fight her former friends. The Dex Holders' friends would provide information about them, starting right now.
Peter walked over towards the remnants of Prof. Oak's laboratory. His shiny Dragonite was holding someone down: Prof. Oak himself. And next to him, the shiny Haxorus was holding someone else. A young lady, but identity unknown. She wasn't one of the Dex Holders. Who could this be?
"Who are you and what do you want with us?" the elderly professor asked.
Peter didn't answer his question. "You will tell me everything you know about the Dex Holders. And you will tell me whether you want to or not."
He took out an Ultra Ball from his bag and held it with both hands. He moved the ball closer towards the elderly professor. The Ultra Ball began to glow while the Pokémon inside did its work. The professor's eyes began to go blank as he watched the slug-like Pokémon inside. Its tentacles were moving in a hypnotic pattern, with its numerous eyes all glowing…
"Grandfather!" the young lady beside him cried out. "What's happening?"
"… Assimilation… successful…" the professor muttered in monotone.
Peter turned his attention to the young lady, now identified as Daisy, Green's older sister. But he stopped halfway as there was some troubling information.
These Dex Holders. Every single one of them had some extraordinary encounters with Legendary Pokémon. Some from mere encounters to cooperation, friendship, and even… temporary captures. Ruby and Sapphire were quite notable. … This was ill news indeed. And it must be countered. Again, Blue was key. She had captured three Legendary Pokémon at one point. Perhaps she could do so again.
Peter looked over at Daisy. "What do you know that he does not?"
"What did you do to him?" she demanded angrily.
"I did not hurt him," he answered honestly. "Now…"
He approached her while holding the Ultra Ball in his hands. This process took a significant amount of energy, and as such, should only be done once per day. But this was extraordinary. Daisy closed her eyes so that she wouldn't be able to see the Pokémon inside the Ultra Ball.
"Vision is irrelevant," Peter said.
Daisy began to struggle, but not for long. She soon went limp and she opened her eyes, which were now blank. "… Assimilation successful…"
… Daisy was not offering any new information. But at least she would provide a new leverage against Green and the other Dex Holders, if Blue was not enough.
The Kanto and Johto Dex Holders' homes were now known. Red and Green's homes were already burnt down. Blue lived in One Island, but based on her words in Kalos, she was trying to find a new place. Yellow lived in Viridian Forest. Gold in New Bark Town. Silver didn't have a home, but was the son of Giovanni, the Team Rocket leader. Crystal in Violet City.
With Pallet Town gone, the Dex Holders would likely fall back to Johto. And this was problematic. Fighting in Dex Holders' turf would not go well. The Dex Holders started in Kanto. Kanto and Johto were connected, and people of the regions quite liked the Dex Holders for their services. They had to be lured into an isolated region. Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, or Kalos. Kalos was preferable. Again, Blue may be the key.
Peter put the Ultra Ball away and returned all of his Pokémon except the Mega Salamence. He gave the orders to Prof. Oak and Daisy and hopped onto the Mega Salamence. The Dragon Pokémon roared and flew towards Kalos and more specifically, towards Blue.
The scouts now had a new set of orders. They were to be scattered across Kanto and Johto and attack any Dex Holder they could find. They were not scouting anymore. They were going to search and attack, with the main objective of capturing as many Dex Holders as possible.