He galloped up to the castle's entrance along with his knights. The castle, looming large on a hill in the center of Lumiose City, gave off an elegant, regal, but nonetheless intimidating flair that practically dared invaders to try breaking through its formidable defenses, and was so imposing it could be seen for miles around.
The man, however, was no foe. For he was a subject of the king of Kalos, Francois "AZ" IV. And he had bad news to bear.
Approaching the moat, he halted his men, pulled out a horn, and blew into it to signal his presence. The guards, perched along towers spaced along the castle parapet, looked down and, satisfied it was the king's special ambassador to the Novogradians, gave the order to lower the drawbridge and let him and his accompaniment in.
Stepping through the castle's grand hall, he approached the door to the king's throne room, guarded by two of the king's elite royal guards and their Aegislash partners.
"I am the king's special ambassador," he introduced himself.
One guard produced a piece of parchment from a side satchel. "Special ambassador... ah, Lord Cloud. Of course. The king is expecting you." He and the other guard opened up the doors to let lord Cloud in. He went in alone, leaving his accompaniment behind; this was a matter between him and the king alone.
He walked up the luxurious velvet carpet of the throne room, the sides of which were lined with grand stained glass windows depicting past royal families, as well as Xerneas and Yveltal. At the far end, AZ himself was at work at his desk, penning letters and orders to go out to his subjects, each of which was then meticulously sealed by his Floette.
Lord Cloud went up the steps and bowed. "My liege, I bring unfortunate news."
The king turned away from his work. "Ah, lord Cloud. I was beginning to wonder when you would return."
"Yes, of course, sorry for the delay. We had encountered a storm over the eastern mountains," Lord Cloud said.
The king got up from his seat, in the process making his imposing two-meter build known. "What is the news from Novograd?"
"As I said, unfortunate." Lord Cloud adjusted his stance. "The negotiations over the disputed territories have broken down, and they offer no concessions. I fear that hostilities may begin soon."
"As I expected," the king replied. "My family has known the Novogradian tsars for a long time, they are not people to make any concessions." He paced around his desk. "I have already begun sending out orders to all armies to prepare for conflict. I advise you to rouse your own men and Pokemon for battle as well."
Lord Cloud had feared it might come to this. His wife had given birth to twin daughters prior to his leaving for Novograd, and he was concerned of their safety growing up in such an environment. The Novogradians were proud of their vast army, matched only by Kalos's own, and they possessed many allies, as did Kalos. Such a war would be one of the bloodiest the world had yet seen. He knew there would be countless many innocent people and Pokemon killed. And he feared his estate, in Anistar City close to Kalos's fringes, would fall under siege quickly in the event of an incursion.
But, now it seemed there was little choice: he must return home to his waiting wife and children, rouse his men, and stand by for the fateful order. Despite his warrior upbringing - he had assisted his father with subjugating barbarians as a boy - he still believed in the importance of diplomacy as a means of avoiding bloody conflict, and to have failed to stave off a conflict with Kalos's greatest rival was nothing short of a grievous disappointment for him. Therefore, he only sent his men into battle as a last resort. Despite this, he always ensured they were well-trained, making them perhaps Kalos's most formidable army in spite of their lack of service. And now, all that training, and many men for whom this would be their first conflict, would be put to the test.
He wasted no time leaving the castle with his men. By sunset, he was home, rallying his soldiers for war while his wife and mistresses cared for the little girls.
Within days, the Great War, the Pokemon World's biggest, bloodiest, and ultimately final conflict, would begin.
Reimu's phone buzzed on the bedside table, rousing her from her sleep. Outside, the sun had just begun to break over the horizon.
"What was THAT dream all about?" she wondered. Minutes before, she dreamed that her, Hau and Yuyuko were all engaged in a malasada-eating contest (which Hau still won, despite his opponent being Yuyuko).
She shook it off, shut off the alarm, showered and got dressed for the day, then went downstairs to the continental breakfast. The night before, she had received a text from Lillie, asking her to meet her in front of the Big Blue Harbor Pokemon Center at 8 A.M. for some reason. Reimu decided to use the opportunity to return Nebby to her, as well as catch up with her after having parted ways with her yesterday morning. In particular, she was interested in whether Lillie had many any progress in unlocking the secrets of the Zygarde cube.
The breakfast was okay. Reimu was still getting used to some of the food on offer, such as yogurt and buttered toast. She also swore she had put on a couple pounds since coming to Alola, due to how she was eating better compared to her rather threadbare diet as a shrine maiden back home. She hoped most of it was muscle rather than fat...
Looking around as she ate her food, she noticed something peculiar: she noticed how many of the pictures that decorated the breakfast room depicted people piloting bizarre hovercraft. She also saw parents with children wearing novelty helmets whose visors appeared to only have white spots for eyes that shifted with the wearer's facial expressions, and which had many different designs on them.
She thought about why these peculiarities existed, before she remembered the strange lights that went out into the ocean which she had seen the night before. Perhaps it had something to do with that, she surmised. Perhaps she would go take a look after meeting up with Lillie to see what they were.
After finishing her meal, Reimu checked out of the inn and walked over to the Pokemon Center. As she stepped outside, she found that the Inn, which was parked on top of a bluff overlooking the marina, had a view of what looked to her to be the most bizarre road, going out into the sea and then back, and featuring loop-the-loops, twists and corkscrews. There were even several sections where parts of the road seemed to hang in midair. Reimu wondered just what kind of strange road this was supposed to be. Perhaps some exotic roller-coaster, like the one at the Hau'oli Harbor amusement park, or the ones she had been shown in pictures from the Ouside by Kourin.
Reimu decided to pay it no mind and continue to the Pokemon Center, which was about another five minute walk down the main promenade from the Anchor Inn and the Marina entrance, close to the main road that ran alongside the island's north end. The town itself featured a few high-rise hotels with glassy facades (not surprising, given how almost every major settlement Reimu had been in so far besides Iki Town had them), several shorter buildings and storefronts, and houses and neighborhoods scattered around the southern and western edges of town. What struck her the most, however, was a tall tower, the city's tallest, with a metal globe perched on top with various holographic banners and images proclaiming Big Blue Harbor "the Alolan Home of the G-Zero Grand Prix."
Perhaps that's what the road was for, Reimu thought.
Reimu soon made it to the Pokemon Center, and as expected, Lillie was patiently waiting for her out front. She mostly looked the same as before, although Reimu saw that she had notably ditched her wide-brimmed hat and replaced it with a smaller sun-hat. Standing at her side was a man in a grey lab coat, punching away at a small device on his arm.
"Hey, Lillie," Reimu called out while waving.
Lillie turned around to her. "Well, good morning!" she beamed. "I got you some tea to drink!" She held out a small paper cup with a drinking lid, through which steam wistfully floated into the brisk morning air.
Reimu held out her hand to get it. "Thank you." She took the cup and began sipping on it.
Reimu then turned to the scientist. "Who are you?" she asked.
He turned around. "Oh! Sorry, I was focused on my work." He turned off the device on his arm. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am professor Colress."
Reimu tilted her head. "Another Pokemon professor?"
"Well," he said, "not necessarily. Not like what you're used to thinking of. You probably won't be seeing me give out starter Pokemon to new trainers any time soon," he joked. "Instead, I have devoted my research to finding ways to draw out the potential of Pokemon."
Lillie turned to Reimu. "He lives here in Big Blue Harbor. After you gave me that Zygarde Cube, I went to him to help me figure out out to use it." She reached into her bag, and gently pulled out the artifact and showed it to Reimu. It was glowing slightly.
"When I started walking around with it, I got spooked when a green light shot out of the bush and into my bag. And it just kept happening, so after I got through with Kiawe I came down here and had Colress look at it. And, well, Sina and Dexio were exactly right: Zygarde Cells are attracted to it, and just zip right into it! Colress thinks that if I just walk around some more, I might get enough cells to form a whole Zygarde!"
"Interesting," Reimu said. She decided to look up Zygarde on her Rotom-Dex. What she saw was most interesting:
It could only be described as an otherworldly cobra, constantly ready to strike, and whose entire body was covered in green, black and white hexigonal scales, including its eyes, and whose "hood" more closely resembled a stylized royal collar. And unlike most Legendary Pokemon, there was actually fairly decent data and lore on it. It was listed as Dragon/Ground, and was posited as a mediator between Xerneas and Yveltal - indeed, a few years prior, it intervened in an incident where Team Flare attempted to revive both to unleash the Ultimate Weapon, only to be crushed by the Order Pokemon and driven into the clutches of the International Police by someone named "Calem" before Zygarde split apart and disappeared, but not before leaving behind the Zygarde Cube, the very artifact that Lillie now held in her hands. It even had some moves listed, although the list was limited to what was seen during the incident, including Dragon Pulse and a unique move that was nicknamed "Land's Wrath." Reading through what it was capable of, Reimu had little doubt in her mind that Lillie had a strong partner in her hands.
She put Rotom down, then looked at Colress. "So, draw the power from Pokemon, can you explain what that means?"
Colress looked down for a moment. Personally, he wondered whether he should reveal his time with Team Plasma with Reimu. After all, given everything Ghetsis had done, Colress looked back on his association with him, which he did out of desperation to obtain funding to research Mega Stones and Z-Crystals, with shame, and from what he'd been told, Reimu was a very tough individual with no tolerance for injustice. So, how best could he phrase what he did?
"I'm sure you know now how the bonds between trainer and Pokemon work to bring out the potential of both. And you may also be familiar with how Z-Crystals and Mega Stones -"
Reimu interjected, "Mega Stones? I keep hearing about those, but no one's given me a good explanation."
"Ah, yes," Colress replied. "Mega Evolution. It's a phenomenon associated with Mega Stones as well as what are called Key Stones. It's a very rare occurrence, and only a few Pokemon species and even fewer trainers are capable of unlocking its power. Specifically, if the trainer holds a Key Stone, and their Pokemon holds a Mega Stone that corresponds with their species, and also if the bonds between that trainer and their Pokemon are strong, then similar to using a Z-Move, energy will flow into the Pokemon and cause them to transform into a hidden and much more powerful form. We call these 'Mega Pokemon.'"
Reimu paused and thought. "I see," she said.
Colress continued, "anyway, these artifacts draw out the hidden power of Pokemon, so I'm researching in what other ways a Pokemon's power can be drawn out even more."
Reimu decided to challenge him on this; after all, Kiawe's words to her yesterday were still resonating with her.
"What's your motivation?" she asked. "Why do you want to see how far a Pokemon's power can go?"
Colress but his hands in his pocket. "As a boy, I was always fascinated by how people and Pokemon battled alongside one another, and how that energy translated to fierce battles. As I learned more, I found all there was to know about Z-Crystals and Mega Stones. In particular, I've always wanted to answer an age-old mystery: where did they come from? Why do they affect Pokemon in the ways that they do? If I can answer those questions, then perhaps all that we know about the potential of Pokemon would be turned on its head."
Reimu thought to herself again. Colress had a good point: items that just power up Pokemon in strange ways? Surely, they all had to come from somewhere. But where exactly?
"You make good points," Reimu told him.
"I appreciate it," he replied.
Reimu then turned around to Lillie. There was another point she had to get through.
"Oh, yes, Lillie," she said. "I have something very important to show you." She opened up her bag, and out popped Nebby onto the ground. "I found Nebby yesterday after an... ah... incident." She was hesitant to let Lillie on about the energy creatures she faced yesterday. "It was in extreme danger, so I brought it back to you."
But instead of relieved elation, Lillie gave Reimu a very confused look.
"What is it?" Reimu asked.
"Well, it's nice that you saved it, but I never lost Nebby."
Reimu stepped back. "Wha?"
"Let me show you," Lillie replied. She let Nebby out of the Pokeball that she held it in, and the two puffballs stared at each other for a few moments before Reimu's bopped Nebby with its pom-poms and then laughed at Nebby's misfortune.
"It must be another Cosmog," she said.
Reimu was stunned. Another Cosmog? Was it perhaps brought here the same way she was?
Colress looked down at them, "oh? Cosmogs? I've read about these strange creatures, but I've never seen one in person, let alone two at once."
Reimu decided to pull away the second Cosmog from tormenting Nebby, and held it in her hand.
"You better behave yourself," she smirked. The little Cosmog just pouted. But then Reimu shifted to a more serious tone. "You must be very scared, especially after yesterday. And you must be looking for a way back home."
The Cosmog nodded.
"Well, truthfully, I'm searching for a way home, too. Perhaps if I find it, I can lead you home too."
The Cosmog gave her an approving smile.
"So, how would you like to come along with me?" Reimu offered in a motherly voice.
The Cosmog wiggled around in its arms, waving it's pom-poms around and going "Pew! Pew!"
Reimu smiled. "Great! But, we're gonna have to give you a name to tell you apart from Nebby." She pondered a good name for it for a few seconds, before glancing at it again and realizing all the sparkles that it gave off in the glistening tropical sunlight. It was almost as if it were made of stardust...
"I know!" Reimu said with a lightbulb over her head. "How about 'Stardust?' Do you like that name?"
It stared at her for a second, before smiling and going "PEW!" Reimu took it as a yes.
"Alright then, Stardust it is!" She went to pull a spare Pokeball out of her bag. Realizing Team Skull might come after Stardust as well, she used a plain Pokeball so that Stardust wouldn't stand out. Stardust then went into the Pokeball without a fight, and it clicked, indicating that it was happy with its new master.
Of course, Rotom just HAD to come out of her bag and analyze the new "catch." It added Cosmog's entry to its database, decided it was Psychic-type, and its only moves were Splash and Teleport. Still, Stardust did have a lot of spunk, willing to pick fights against its own well being, which was probably how it wound up getting captured by those two creatures. And the way it rebounded from that ordeal was impressive. Reimu knew she was going to keep it on a very short leash, but Reimu was a disciplinarian, and she was confidant that she could whip respect into it.
She looked at Lillie. "I guess that makes two of us keeping Nebby in the bag." Lillie stifled a laugh. It was then that Reimu noticed Colress interacting with her Rotom-Dex, and wanted to see what was up.
"Interesting," Colress said. "It seems your Pokedex with a Rotom in it is very good at identifying unknown Pokemon." He turned to Reimu. "I actually personally know the woman who came up with the idea. She told me she once had a dream, where her Pokedex as a child interacted with her, like a fairy companion from a fantasy tale. When she woke up, she wanted to make it real, and decided that designing a Pokedex that a Rotom could inhabit was the best way to make it a reality."
Reimu decided to cut in. "So, what is Rotom, exactly?"
Colress, of course, answered. "Rotom is one of the more peculiar Pokemon. Essentially, it's a Ghost Pokemon made entirely out of plasma who loves to possess machines and electronics. For some reason, they show a particular preference for ovens, washing machines, fans, refrigerators, and even lawn mowers. Of course, they can be something very disruptive and cause outages and failures, so a lot of effort is put into mitigating their impact. Most Rotoms you see owned by trainers have permanently possessed something to keep them from spontaneously possess nearby objects at will. But the Rotom-Dex was designed to be the perfect vessel for it, right down to having eyespots and arms. It even gives them the ability to communicate with humans, although all those abilities come at the cost of being able to battle."
"Oh, so that's why it doesn't try to help me with battling," Reimu said snidely.
"Indeed. Despite this, she still sunk several years of her life into perfecting it, and now many trainers enjoy having a fairy companion, of sorts."
Reimu was still uncomfortable with people referring to Rotom as a "fairy companion." After all, she'd seen real fairies, how dumb, weak and childish they were, and how unpleasant it was for humans in general to hang around them. Perhaps if people in the Pokemon world knew the truth, they might think twice, but they don't, so she was just going to have to live with it.
She looked toward the road. "Well, I think this is all interesting, Dr. Colress, but if you don't mind, me and Lillie would like to get going and continue our Island Challenge. Perhaps we can talk again later?"
Colress nodded. "I suppose I should let you go. I was going to ask you if you could help me with something, but I do understand that you are probably more interested in finding a way home."
Reimu nodded, but was struck with curiosity: he needed her help with something? As much as she wanted to continue her challenge and her search, many years of helping others drove her to ask specifically what sort of help he needed.
"Well, what did you want help with?" She asked.
Colress looked off into the distance. Reimu looked in the same direction, and realized he was looking at the over-ocean track.
"Does it have to do with that?" she said, somewhat unamused. "Because I don't think I'm completely interested."
Lillie, on the other hand, begged to differ. "Oh, I think you might. Hau told me all about how you crushed Manine surfing, so I told Colress you might get a kick out of G-Zero Racing!"
Reimu cocked a brow at her. "G-Zero Racing?"
"Yeah! It's a high-speed, high-stakes, high-adrenaline sport that's popular the world over. I just love watching it on the TV, and I've even been to a couple of live races! Cars that float off the ground and go at post-Mach speeds! I just can't get enough of it!"
Sounds more like something Marisa would try her luck with, much less be a fan of, Reimu thought. Heck, the way Lillie was squeeing over it was mostly unlike her timid, reserved character, and was closer to how Marisa often behaved.
Reimu put her hand on Lillie's head. "Settle down there, that will do."
Lillie collected herself. "Oh, right. That was improper, wasn't it?"
After some more hounding from Lillie, Reimu finally caved and had Colress show them to his seaside estate. It was a blocky, futuristic-looking monstrosity surrounded by glass gardens, holo-screens, a fountain and even drones doing all the gardening. Inside the house was no less high-tech, with screens everywhere, a trendy helix staircase, a virtual fireplace and deluxe leather couch set, a completely automated kitchen, and even more drones (and one Beheeyem) doing housekeeping. The whole scene was reminiscent of the way Alice used her dolls to maintain her house.
Reimu looked around, absolutely amazed at everything she saw, and so did Lillie.
"Do you like it?" Colress asked. "I built this house with my own money and inventions. Most of what you see here was designed by me." Reimu didn't know how much money Colress had spent on this place, but it was easily more than she had so far seen in her life. And that was counting the fact that half the money she had ever had so far she earned in just the past few days.
"It's quite the place," she said. Really, words could not do the house justice. "But, why did you bring us here to your house?"
Colress led them to a door on the far side of the front room. "Because I want to show you what I have in the garage." He opened it up, and led the two girls inside.
Unlike the rest of the house, the garage was actually fairly standard, with a bare cement floor, tools strewn about, and off-white overhead lights. Even so, it still had tons of technology in it, including an overhead automated arm that could switch between tools at a whim to work on a variety of projects. The centerpiece of the garage was a shining, slick-white car with blue streaks, tricked out with two external power units, an aerodynamic cockpit, and curiously, no tires.
"What's this thing?" Reimu asked Colress.
"This is my little side-project," he said. "My main field of study is the power of Pokemon, but ever since I was a boy, I've also had an interest in high-speed racing. Of course, my research pushed that to the wayside, but I still wanted to create the perfect racing machine." He waved his arm, and the turntable underneath the craft spun it around until it faced Reimu. "I call it the Plasma Freeze. I spent three years perfecting it. It's equipped with the latest safety and boosting technology. It's also much sturdier than it may seem, because it is made of a new super-tough polymer and comes equipped with Gardevoir-source gravity wells. It looks, feels and drives like a feather, but in fact weighs 2105 kg, heavy enough to knock almost everything else off the track. I designed it as the perfect machine, the first one rated by the G-Zero engineering committee as A-A-A."
Reimu looked around it, how it shined and glistened in the light just above it. Truly, it was a work of art. But, the lack of tires still bugged her.
"Why does it have no tires?" she asked him. "Don't tell me it just hovers in the air."
Colress looked over his glasses frames and smiled. He then pulled out a remote, popping open the windshield and stepping into it before turning the key and starting it.
Suddenly, a blast of heat and steam blew out from under the machine, causing Reimu and Lillie to recoil back while a blue glow emanated from the underside, before, amazingly, the engines flared to life and the machine levitated up into the air.
Reimu stood with her jaw agape, then looked at the scientist in the cockpit, who in turn, cocked his head to look at her.
"Would you like for me to drive you to the track?" he offered.
Reimu couldn't come to a coherent answer. Sure, floating through the air was nothing new to her, but she hadn't yet seen anything in this world quite like the bleeding-edge piece of technology in front of her.
"Uhm, sure," she sputtered. She walked over to the passenger-side seat and climbed in.
Lillie walked toward the door. "I'll meet you guys at the track," she said, closing the door behind her. Colress then closed the windshield, turned the machine around, opened the garage door, and drove out onto the street and toward the racing track.
The ride was short, but very smooth. Cruising down the road at a cool 60 kph, the hovercraft avoided all bumps, potholes, and stray Pyukumuku whose spines could pop tires. The soundproof glass cancelled out most of the hubbub and noise outside, but the closer they got to the raceway, the more that the roar of the crowd that had gathered in the stands just beyond the entrance to the raceway penetrated the cockpit.
They pulled up to the racer entrance, where Colress popped open the windshield in order to talk to the race attendant.
"Checking in for the 12:00 race," he said.
The attendant responded, "oh, yes, Mr. Colress. I'll get you registered straight away." He produced a tablet, spent a few moments punching in some information, then turned back toward him. "Alright, here you go," he said, handing Colress a chip about the size of a CD. "Number 7, pull up to the left."
"Thank you," Colress replied as he did as instructed.
"Alright Reimu, let's show the world your racing face."
Reimu's voice came through the door to the changing room, "this thing is kinda warm and sweaty..."
"The race starts soon, so we need to get moving."
Slowly, the door opened, and out of the changing room, Reimu stepped out, dressed head-to-toe in the machine's matching blue-and-white racing suit and helmet.
Reimu flipped the sun-visor to see Colress better. "How do I look?"
Colress replied, "well, I did design it for a man, so I apologize if it does not fit optimally."
That did not matter to Reimu too much, since she was kind of a big girl, about 1.7 meters, so it wasn't like it was bagging off of her. The fact that the suit's size could be adjusted at will by Colress helped the suit fit better. All that mattered to Reimu was that they could finally be shown to the track and get this episode over with.
Minutes later, the two were on the track, and Colress showed her all the machine's controls and how driving along the course would work.
"So, if I fall or get knocked off the track, what then?" she asked.
"I wouldn't worry about that," Colress said to her. "This machine is sturdy enough and has advanced course-correction systems that will allow you to stay on the track. But, in the event that you do fall off the track and retire, you will be safely captured and brought to a waiting area until the race has concluded."
Somehow, that was cold comfort for Reimu, who still didn't fully trust that this sport was as safe and fun as he claimed. She was also still wondering how Lillie managed to rope her into this. Speaking of which, Lillie was clearly visible in the stands waving around a foam finger with Reimu's name on it, misspelled of course. But, she was here now, and the fans were screaming at the top of their lungs.
She had to make them absolutely and positively lose their minds from adrenaline poisoning.
As Colress walked away, her attention turned towards the other racers who were beginning to arrive. She had been positioned in middle place as her starting position, so she could see most of the racers around her as the announcer called out their names.
"And now, pulling up to the starting line and hailing from Jubelife City, #21 Volkner in the Bolt Luxray!" It was a yellow car shaped like a lightning bolt. There were others as well: one shaped like a water droplet, another supposedly made entirely out of discarded Metagross husks. One of them even had two cockpits! How did THAT work, she wondered?
After a few minutes, most of the racers had made it to the starting line, although the space next to Reimu's was conspicuously still empty. Perhaps that racer was just running a little late, she thought. She paid it no mind, and just focused on the track ahead, psyching herself up for the high-octane race ahead. But just as she was, that was when all the race queens began pouring onto the track carrying their flags and banners. Reimu stared and winced: how were THOSE outfits even legal? Many had leotards that exposed absolute cleavage, some had short tops and nothing but very thin thongs on the bottom, and others were basically only wearing bikinis. At least hers was comparatively modest: it was just a girl wearing glasses and a stereotypical "hot scientist" getup. So at least Colress had standards, unlike all the other racers.
After the 29 race queens finished their parade across the track, the announcer called out, "all the racers are primed an in position... what's this? One more racer is driving up to the starting line!"
Reimu turned around. Was it the late racer? As their car came up, dark, foreboding-sounding music began playing through the speakers. The machine that was driving up was large, imposing, painted in black and red and covered in tusks and spikes, the number 30 displayed prominently on the sides and front. Its corresponding race queen also paraded across the track, carrying a flag much larger and more threatening than all the others and the queen herself being a dark-skinned, raven-haired woman with face paint wearing an outfit based on a Haxorus, with shoes that looked like Haxorus feet to complete the part.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the force of darkness has arrived! The Black Dragon! The Tusks of Power!" The crowd went wild upon the machine pulling up to the starting line, right next to Reimu's own. The cockpit was heavily tinted, but Reimu could make out a pilot whose helmet completely obscured their face. Apparently, they noticed her as well, because they looked over to her, before focusing on the track ahead.
Within moments, all the machines had revved their engines, including Reimu's. The announcer called out to the audience, "Are you ready for racing?" The crowed screamed and chanted their collective approval, at which point the countdown began.
"3..."
Reimu clutched the control column, her palms covered in sweat.
"2..."
She steadied her nerves, took in a breath of air, and steeled herself.
"1..."
Her foot rested on the accelerator as the machine switched into racing mode. Then...
"GO!"
All at once, the holding gears instantly unlocked, sending the machines barreling down the straightaway at hundreds of kilometers per hour. As Reimu caught herself and refocused on the track, all of a sudden it went straight up into the air. Despite this, the craft stuck to the surface of the track as if the gravity shifted along with it, creating the strange sensation of feeling right-side up, even though she was literally shooting straight up.
Wrangling the throttles, she drifted straight toward the nearest dash pad, rocketing her up the track and onto the next segment: a snake whose gravity was such that you could be on any side and not fall off. She looked up, only to realize she was actually looking down. Fortunately, this was not an alien sensation for her: she often got turned upside-down while flying. What WAS alien was the gravity not behaving like she was upside-down, which threw off her balance as her craft shifted from side-to-side, and in her attempt to steady herself inadvertently got her first KO. As she looked to the side, she saw the machine spinning out and smoking, before a drone teleported in and grabbed it, pulling it to safety down below.
She focused back on the track, hitting one more boosting pad to try and get forward. Unfortunately, she was all the way back in 29th place, which was last place now that that guy was knocked out. Undeterred, she got to the end of the snake, which shook her off and back onto the track now shooting down below onto the recharge pads. Her machine had gotten a little mussed up on the snake, but the shield gauge filled right back up. Back on the surface and on the straightaway, she wondered how she was going to get ahead now that she was in the back, when, as she crossed the line and began her second lap...
"You've got boost power! Booster OK!"
Now was her chance! She hit the booster button, and in a moment, rocketed forward to the next racer. It was then that she got a devious idea: Colress had said that the machine was sturdy and strong. She had accidentally knocked out that last racer the last lap. Now, she was going to do it intentionally. Call it dirty fighting, but it was completely within the rules, and she was used to crushing fairies left and right, so what was really stopping her from doing it?
So, she got right up against the other racer, performed a sideswipe, and knocked the car straight off the course. Excellent, that's one piece of competition down. She went up to the next racer, not much farther up, and did the same thing. And she just kept doing this right up to the snake, boosting as needed to catch up to the other racers and knock them off. She got five KO's this way before hitting the snake.
On the snake, getting KO's was harder, since all the racers were twisting all around it making it harder to see them. Nonetheless, she focused on each racer in front of her, knocking them out as she became able to. At one point, someone tried to knock off another racer but failed, she she finished the job for them. And then she knocked off THAT person as well.
Pretty soon, she was closing up on the lead, right where the Black Dragon was. When she caught sight of it, Reimu saw yet another car flying off the track; no doubt the driver had the same idea she did, and would refuse to go down so easily. So, she did what she always did with tough-looking opponents: hang back for a bit, observe their patterns, then punish any shortcomings in strategy that she could see.
Said shortcomings were not so obvious, until they hit the recharge pads and could start boosting again. At that point, Reimu figured out that the Black Dragon, while it had a higher cruising speed, had a weaker booster than her ship, effectively neutralizing the other's advantage. So, this match was going to come down to a game of wits, and perhaps also serious guts.
At that point, there were no other racers left on the track, all of them having been slammed off the course by either of them, so there was no fear of any competition trying to sneak up past them to claim victory. So Reimu confidently sped up, until she was roughly alongside the Black Dragon outside of sideswipe range, and the two barreled down to the line to begin the last lap.
Hanging in the catwalks above said finish line was the Riolu, which had watched the entire race from its vantage point. It figured out that the white-and-blue machine was Reimu's and had been watching it closely. As the two vehicles neared the line, it could see a trapdoor opening up on top of the Black Dragon, out of which an Exploud crawled out. However, Reimu did not also notice this.
In G-Zero races, racers were allowed to bring along a Pokemon that could be used to try and disrupt the their rivals. Some examples of this included a Thunder Wave user to try and disrupt the vehicle's electrics, or perhaps an Ice Beam user to create a hazardous wall of icicles on the track. The Black Dragon's Exploud, in this case, was well-known for attempting to use Boomburst to disorient opponents and hopefully cause them to careen off the track.
The Riolu, however, was having none of it. It waited until the machines were close, then jumped off the catwalk, using its (still not fully developed) aura-sensing skills to time its drop onto the Plasma Freeze. It did so, just as the machines started the final lap, barely catching onto one of the Plasma Freeze's back fins. It managed to pull itself up to the top, where from there the Exploud faced it from atop the Black Dragon.
Exploud realized it had a foe, one that would try to keep it from doing its job. Exploud were not particularly known for their deductive reasoning skills, but this one knew enough that a small, quick Pokemon such as Riolu could attack it too quickly for it to charge up and unleash Boomburst, and especially because Riolu was a Fighting-type, it wanted to risk nothing, even if Riolu wasn't yet fully evolved. Fortunately for Exploud, it had the advantage of distance, something Riolu lacked, so all it needed to do was pelt Riolu with its ranged attacks and then, once it was clear, use Boomburst to seal the race for its trainer.
So it took to using Flamethrower to try and roast Riolu and perhaps overheat the other vehicle while it was at it, only to find that the flames simply blew off in the other direction due to the racer's high speeds, forcing it to pause for a few seconds while it figured out a better way to try and get rid of its foe. This was difficult, as trained Pokemon rarely acted outside of the direct orders of their trainer and so many were often unsure what to do if their trainer wasn't there to guide them. However, many of the more skilled ones were able to at least act on their trainer's will, and that was what Exploud was trying to do right now. It eventually came to the conclusion that Ice Beam wouldn't have the same problem, so it switched to using that move instead.
The first round of icy energy missed, going off into the ocean below. The second one grazed the Riolu, whose weak but innate aura sending ability enabled it to just barely avoid getting nailed by the attack, which struck the launchpad leading from the straight track to the snake. As the two vehicles hit it, their machines spun around wildly, almost causing their pilots to lose control before their course was corrected by one of the drones. The Plasma Freeze's spinning threw Riolu into the air, where it locked onto the Black Dragon, then landed onto it, this time with more grace than when it had dropped onto the Plasma Freeze.
Now that Riolu was able to close the distance and take the fight to within close quarters, Exploud began to panic, since the only physical move it had other than haphazard kicks and slaps was Crunch, which of course Riolu resisted. Regardless, it tried to push its higher battle experience as much as it could to give Riolu a much harder time trying to hit it, parrying attacks and retaliating with its own. It was a fight neither side was able to win, as they just kept nullifying each other's attacks.
By now, the Black Dragon's pilot was wondering why Exploud hadn't used Boomburst on the other racer yet, so they turned on the topside camera to get a good look above. Once they were able to see what Exploud's distraction was, all it took was a quick flick of the controls to rock the machine enough to cause the lightweight Riolu to fall of the machine's top.
Once Exploud was able to steady itself, it looked around and, satisfied that Riolu was no longer a threat, began to charge up the long-overdue winning Boomburst that would knock Reimu off the track. This happened just as they left the snake and entered the home stretch with the recharge pads, which both racers took full advantage off. All the Black Dragon had to do was use its high top speed to keep pace with the other racer, and that was all that needed to happen to clinch the race.
However, Riolu did not actually fall off the Black Dragon, but instead clung onto the side of the right engine. It hung there for several seconds before shimmying over to the other side, which had some handles it could use to climb up on top. Once it did, it found itself behind Exploud, who was charging up Boomburst, and the hatch to the cockpit off to the side. Moving faster than the eye could see, it used Feint to blow open the hatch, causing Exploud to turn to see what caused it.
It was the one opportunity Riolu needed to land a Force Palm on the unsuspecting Exploud from behind.
Immediately, Exploud recoiled from the super-effective attack, causing it to stumble and fall down the hatch into the cockpit, where it landed right in the pilot's lap, causing them to freak out and steer the Black Dragon straight into a railing. This didn't cause it to crash or retire, but it was a huge slowdown that it wasn't going to recover from in time to cross the finish line before Reimu did. Reimu, who was entirely ignorant of the fight, used her sudden good fortune to use up the last bit of boost she had to zoom past the finish line and into the welcoming cheers of the loudest and rowdiest crowd there ever was.
The Black Dragon's pilot didn't even bother to cross the finish line, instead conceding to second place. The pilot, from the cockpit, witnessed Reimu hopping out of her machine, being lifted up by the crowd, and paraded across the mob chanting her name while lights shone and confetti scattered everywhere.
She could not have been any less proud.
"You've never raced before in your life, and yet you still managed to come out on top!" The interview lady was all over Reimu and her victory, which was giving Reimu some serious Aya vibes. The fact that said interview lady looked very similar to the crow tengu definitely helped that impression.
"Let's just say I've been cruising on wind ever since I was a little girl." On one hand, she wanted to just tell the whole truth, but somehow maintaining an air of mystique felt more fun, and since she was from another dimension she could play it all the way to the hilt.
"And your strategy, it's just as vicious as the Black Dragon's! What do you have to say to all the racers sitting in the safe area because of you?"
Reimu made a fist, then said, "you see this? I've beaten up gods with my bare hands. Those racers were target practice in comparison, just like my opponents in Pokemon battles." The crowd oooh'd and awe'd in response to this boast. Reimu normally wasn't this arrogant or boastful, but c'mon, it was television. She could do what she wanted.
"I see," the reporter said. "Thank you for the interview." She turned toward the cameras. "That's it for today! Tune in tomorrow for more adrenaline-soaked racing action!"
Leaving the stage and making her way into the staging area, Lillie and Colress greeted her.
"You killed it out there!" Lillie squeed waving her foam finger around. "And that fight... you didn't tell me you had a Riolu! If it weren't for that..."
Reimu stopped her, saying "Riolu? What's that? I don't have a..."
"You there!" A voice came from behind, and all of them turned. It was the Black Dragon's pilot, still dressed head-to-toe in their racing suit.
Reimu put her arms to her sides and smirked. "Oh, hey. I guess you're here to congratulate me?"
"Of course!" they responded. They then removed their helmet, revealing a tan woman with bobbed, dark hair and red eyes.
Lillie's eyes widened. "Woah! Are you really?"
"Yup!" the other pilot responded.
Reimu was confused again. "Who are you?"
The woman chuckled. "Oh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I? The name's Zinnia. And this is my partner, Aster." Exploud ran up to Zinnia's side, bellowing the whole entire way. "And it looks like I get the privilege of meeting the one and only Reimu." She reached out and shook Reimu's hand.
Reimu shrugged. "Pleased to meet you." She pulled back, then asked, "so, you're the G-Zero champ, huh?"
"That's right!" Zinnia replied. "But it looks like I've met my match. I've never seen that kind of skill and cavalier personality since I started racing oh so many years ago." She turned around, and began reminiscing. "You remind me of May back in the day, that day when she hopped on top of Rayquaza and took off into space..."
Reimu cut her off, remembering that story from the museum. "Wait, you were involved in that incident?!"
Zinnia turned around, "oh ho ho, yes, that was one hell of a day. See, I used to be the lorekeeper of the Draconid clan, who worshipped Rayquaza and how it brought peace and stability to Hoenn. My ancestors had long predicted a meteor would strike Hoenn, and when that day came to pass, I did all I could to revive and awaken Rayquaza's true power; however, May proved herself a more worthy partner, especially after she crushed both Team Magma and Team Aqua's plots and bagged Groudon and Kyogre for herself. So she took off into space, busted the meteor, and then as it turned out Deoxys was inside and she bagged that too! So that makes her the lorekeeper now. Having fulfilled my purpose, I went searching for something new to do with my life, and that something was G-Zero racing!" She closed her eyes, then opened them again. "What about you? What kind of stories are you packing?"
Reimu thought about what sort of story would most impress Zinnia, then remembered the recent Lunarian incident. "Well, I guess I do have one. So one day, these machines come down to the surface..."
"...That was amazing!" Zinnia said wide-eyed. "You all went up to the moon and faced off against all these people?!"
Reimu replied, "yeah, I did most of the work, but the others took all the credit. At least Reisen had the whole thing about wanting to return home to protect the only family she had, but Sanae and especially Marisa mostly just raided all the bars and wine cellars in the Lunar Captital while Reisen was left alone with Clownpiece, Junko AND Hecatia at the same time. I was glad after it was all over, because a trip to the Dream World is worse than any drug trip, lemme tell you."
Lillie chimed in, "the way you describe things, Marisa sounds like a really unpleasant slacker."
Reimu turned to her. "That's only because, well, she really is." Everyone laughed.
Zinnia continued congratulating Reimu. "Also, the way your Riolu made an entrance back there and took out Exploud, I don't think I could've scripted that one better myself."
Reimu replied, "Why does everyone keep thinking I have a Riol-"
"Rio!" Something up in the rafters chirped, then clambered its way down the steel beams and hopped just in front of Reimu, looking up at her and staring her right in the eyes.
Reimu looked down, then knelt down to Riolu's level. "Oh. So, you must be the little guy that's been following me around since I got to this island?" Riolu nodded its head.
"Intresting," Colress commented. "This Riolu must sense something in you if that is the case."
The Riolu reached out a paw, and Reimu poked it with a finger. Riolu drew back its paw, then took a stance while it generated blue energy within that paw.
Reimu turned back and asked, "what's it doing?"
Colress stepped forward. "That is no ordinary Pokemon. You see, Riolu, and especially its evolution Lucario, are Pokemon who are very sensitive to the aura of living things. They can sense emotions, and have a degree of extrasensory perception. This one seems to have taken a particular liking to you, so it must sense something within you aura that causes it to deem you a worthy trainer."
Reimu thought about all this for a second before having a eureka moment. She turned around, saying, "well, now that you mention it, one of my other abilities is very similar, sensing and manipulating auras. It's an ability I almost never use, since my flying and youkai extermination powers provided by the shrine are more important, but," she looked at the Riolu once again, focusing her mind so that she could pick up its aura. It was easy to read, and its will was clear: it wanted her to be its trainer. While doing this, blue energy similarly built up in her own hand, just like the Riolu.
"Reimu! Your hand!" Lillie pointed out the energy emanating from Reimu's hand, which Reimu just stared at, the blue energy flickering like a flame in her palm before dissipating.
Zinnia crossed her arms and smiled. "Heh, looks like Riolu sensed a fellow aura-reader! No wonder it wants to be with you!"
Reimu looked back over at the Riolu. "You saved me in the race back there even though I'm not even your trainer. And you've been following me across this island."
The Riolu looked aside and kicked a small pebble, before looking back at Reimu.
Reimu removed a Timer Ball from her back, and waved it around in her hand. "Would you like to make it official? Come journey with me and grow together with me and all my other Pokemon?"
Riolu just stared at her for several seconds. Part of it still wasn't so sure yet if it wanted to be with a person like Reimu since, even though it followed her around the island and saved her in the race, she still intimidated her. And, it also felt like cheating to not test such a capable trainer in battle. But on the other hand, it had already started building a bond with her; to not accept her offer seemed mad.
So it stood there, blank-eyed for a while, before stepping forward with its decision.
"Rio rio!" it chirped.
Reimu stepped back while saying, "I take that as a yes." She threw the Timer Ball at Riolu at full force, snagging it, and the ball bounced on the ground. It clicked instantly.
Reimu went to pick the ball up and put in her bag. "Well now," she said, "that makes a full team of six." She had some other Pokemon as well, but mostly left all of them in the PC just in case. But this team, she felt, was the one that would get her through this Island Challenge.
She looked through the staging area and at the road, then to Lillie. "Well, Lillie, what do you say we head down to that Grass trial?"
Lillie smiled. "Sure... but you'll have to beat me!" She whipped out the Ride Pager, called Tauros, smashed through all the equipment, and down the road.
"Oh you sly little brat," Reimu playfully hissed as she called Charizard to fly her there in an instant.
As the two took off, Zinnia looked toward Colress. "Looks like you found a good test subject. But next time," she flipped her helmet back on, "you're gonna have to beat me yourself."
Colress looked down. "Challenge accepted." He walked out of the staging area toward the Plasma Freeze, then drove back to his house. Zinnia, now alone, decided to go grab a post-race drink and some fried fish for Aster.