The command sent the brigade charging into Team Magma's headquarters at top speed. Their surroundings seemed to assist Tabitha in recovering from his embarrassment, sending him instead into a fit of laughter.
"They barely changed a friggin' lil' thing."
Ahead of them laid a hallway without a side door in sight. The only possible path to continue on was a flight of stairs leading downwards. The noted path wasn't long, and without any sign of a blockade, it was only moments before everyone was racing down steps.
Dusk continued pounding down stairs. Since he was in the lead, the team was relying on him to not stop. "You know the layout of this place?"
"Any Magma worth his salt better know it," Tabitha shot back.
"I stand believing that if I knew the layout of the building, it wouldn't be in one piece," Archie noted, having overheard the conversation.
Tabitha touched down on the last of the steps. "All right, a point to Archie. Anyway, they must have used a Psychic Pokémon or something to transport it down here."
Along with most by now, Silver was also at the bottom of the staircase. He looked down the next road they needed to travel with a snarl. "We'll ask them to share their secrets later. We got company."
Another turn, another hallway. Right was the only way to go after descending from the steps, which forced them to traverse down one more close-fitting path. Unusually, the next path was even shorter than the first one they had just traversed. It led to an expansive room, spoiled only by a group of Aqua thugs lingering inside of it.
Of course, there was only one way through. Before anybody continued, Tabitha looked towards his crew. "All right, ladies, this is what you came along for. Give us a free ride right past them!"
"Yes sir!" most agreed in unison.
When everyone got to the room, a team of twenty grunts stood on the opposite side, smirking with their arms folded. A quarter of them stood in front of the room's only exit, which was directly across from where the team entered from. They were all equipped with typical Aqua grunt gear, but remained almost unfazed when they found Archie in their pile of enemies.
"If it ain't the old boss!" a male grunt cockily yelled. "We were wasting ah'r time undah you, chief. Magma's got it all."
"That much, I'd have to agree with," Tabitha stated. "Unfortunately-"
Archie took one step forward and used his uniquely gruff voice to cut his Admin off. "Unfortunately, we don't have time to deal with the likes of you. It's your managers that we need to speak to."
"Tha'z good, 'cause I think they're lookin' for you, too!"
"Enough." The past leader of Aqua gave a stern look to one of his own. "Sullivan, get us through."
"At once!" an older voice replied from underneath his Magma hood. "Golem, go!"
The Rock-type popped out of the sphere that Sullivan had launched. There was a harmless quake is it landed on the ground, but the event was overshadowed by a familiar female voice ringing from beyond the Aqua grunts.
"Why, that's rather rash. You haven't tried asking them to move politely out of your way yet, have you?"
It was almost predictable that both Brendan's and Gold's hands would turn red from how hard they balled their hands into fists. "This will be the best part of the entire night, Alexia," the former called out. "I've never wanted to take somebody out quite as badly as you."
The opposing side opened a bit, allowing Alexia to walk through. There was no differences in her appearance from the last time they had all seen her, barring a wide smile. "Brendan, that is such an honor! You're so sweet."
Tabitha grabbed a Pokéball. "Are we waiting for an invitation? Let's make like a credit card and charge it!"
Everyone attempted to do that, but their plans were abruptly interrupted. Alexia reached her hand behind her back, where she had been hiding a remote control. With a single press of a button, a portion of the floor gave in, permanently creating a gaping hole.
The plan wasn't foolproof - she had pressed the button two seconds too late, allowing many to escape the nasty pitfall trap. However, she seemed more than satisfied hearing the screams of those that were caught up in it: Dusk, May, Roark, Gold, and Tabitha. All five were guilty of gasps and yells out of sheer surprise, masked slightly by the sound of Alexia laughing.
Brendan recognized too many of those cries. He turned around and bolted for the trap; peering down, however, proved to be a waste of effort with thanks given to pitch blackness. "Gold, Dusk! May!"
"Quit yelling," snapped Silver, "We're heading downstairs anyway. We'll meet them down there the easy way."
Archie stepped up, his arms folded snug. "If they're not dead already, they'll be fine. I say that not only because of Tabitha, but Dusk, as well. We have our own concerns, I'd say."
It was only Dawn's head that was turned toward the broken floor. That didn't mean she wasn't anxious as she stared at it. "If they're not dead already...? Way to cheer a girl up..."
Latias floated down from the ceiling. If Archie wasn't going to cheer Dawn up, she was. She tried rubbing her head into Dawn's neck, which earned her a couple giggles and not much else.
Given a fresh reminder that their enemies had legendary power on their side, Alexia huffed, "Oh, right. You. I forgot about you. Wait until you see how we're getting rid of you. Mm..." Her gaze shifted to Archie. "So, big boy, how about a deal? All of your men against all of mine, and we'll take our fight somewhere more...private."
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," he replied without missing a beat. He looked side to side to see that none of the Magma grunts had gotten caught in the trap, lending even more power to his words. "I've seen the way your men fight...and I'm honestly not impressed. Half of this team will be more than enough to destroy every single one of your own."
She licked her lips. "I see. So you know, that's one part obnoxious, and one part hot..." Turning to her team, she demanded clearly, "Let as many through as they want. Just make sure to clean up the blood when you're through with them."
The sea parted, leaving two lines of blue- and white-clothed men on either side of the doorway. Dawn needed to give a strong pat on Brendan's shoulder to get him moving, but it was barely any time after that until nearly everyone was racing for the same pathway that Alexia had bolted for. All that were left behind were the agreed count of nine Magma soldiers, all of them already releasing their Pokémon for assistance.
-OAM-
Dusk gave a long, pained moan. "Tabitha, I like you so far, but a warning that she might do that would have really been appreciated."
"That was hardly planned, kid."
The fall wasn't fun, and landing was even worse. Pressure was felt through every inch of their bodies, though it was all more irritating than serious.
As Brendan had already observed, they were once again surrounded by the fear-inducing dark. The only thing they could make out was a very thin puddle of water that they had landed on. It didn't help them at all - now not only were they in pain, their clothes were soaked, too.
Gradually peeling himself off of the uncomfortable fall-breaker, Dusk asked, "All right, so who's actually down here?"
"I'm here, in at least one piece..." Gold whined, gripping his own back as he tried to get off the ground.
The only Gym Leader climbed to his shaky feet. "Aren't we lucky sons of people?"
"Oww..." the only female around groaned.
Umbreon followed the sound of May's voice. He found her body still limply lying in the quarter-inch-deep water. "Are you all right, May? No amnesia or anything, right?"
She laughed, despite it hurting to do so. Her friend's touch gave her enough confidence to sit up.
"That must be everyone," the leader stated. "We need to figure out how to-"
He was interrupted by something he didn't mind so much; an adorable-sounding sneeze. "A-chu!" That was followed by a sigh. "...Pika pi."
"Water up the nose?" Dusk asked with a steady smirk.
"Chaa," was the slightly stuffy reply.
Roark finally stood confidently on his feet, somewhat altering the direction of where his voice came from. "Well, if the fluff ball's down here, I can finally find out what it feels like to be on the right side of him. You know, instead of him screwing me over all the time."
Wizard took great pride in being the only member of Team Missile that could almost see better in the dark than with sunlight. Looking around, he found that they were surrounded on three sides by the same thing that was underneath them: cement. There was a few slow leaks through-out every wall, answering the question where the water had come from. Naturally, the most exciting part was the fourth wall, which contained a very usable passageway. It was only three feet tall and as many feet wide, but it remained one of their two escape routes.
"Pika! Pikaa pi!"
"Sounds like P found a way out," Gold chimed in.
"Umbreon?" May fumbled with her bag until she found the zipper to it. "I have Blaziken, and even Pelipper. If it's any easier, we could ride on them to go back up."
Dusk walked over to where he had heard Wizard scamper off to. When he stopped, he turned around to face his team, even though he couldn't see any of them. "I'm way too curious to see where this leads. I want to know where they want us to go. If any of you like May's idea better, I'd say so now."
"Ha. Yeah, right." Roark spat in the water. "I've learned my lesson. I'm sticking with this kid."
"I ain't going nowhere!" Gold exclaimed. "A sp'lunking expedition with heavy D and DJ P? Rock on!"
"I'll do anything you say, Umbreon," May said sincerely.
"Anything?" a verily interested Roark inquired. He was fittingly ignored.
"Majority sways me," the final member, Tabitha, agreed. "Three hicks can't be wrong, eh?"
Their trip began. Aside from Wizard, the Twinleaf Trainer was first, making it his responsibility to feel around for the dimensions of the tunnel. Upon alerting his makeshift crew of the claustrophobic conditions, they all either squatted or crawled their way into the darkness. Secretly not trusting any of the remaining options, May was more than happy to allow all of the men to go first, leaving her rear in the back of it all.
All of their hopes were on Wizard.
-OAM-
"Like they needed to give us any more of a reason to drown every single one of them," Brendan angrily muttered.
Though Dawn was technically higher on the list than he was, the Trainer from Hoenn couldn't help himself from wanting to take control of the team. There was revenge to be dealt, and he so desperately wanted to be holding the cards.
He was the first to be charging down the stairs that they had come across at the end of the hallway. A sharp u-turn at the base of the set of five-stairs led to a duplicate set; one more u-turn after that led to another flight of stairs that was triple the length. Still bubbling with hatred, Brendan wasted no time in beginning the descent. By the time he noticed that Alexia was standing at the foot of the staircase, it was too late to warn the majority of the team that she had the same remote control in her hands.
Another button press. Instantly, a chunk of the railing separated from the rest. With no bond connecting the two, the detached steps began falling straight to the floor, bringing anyone on them along for the ride.
Startled gasps echoed with a tinny sound. Dawn was an exception. She gave a girlish "Eeek!" for a full second - that was how long it took her to realize she wasn't falling. Upon looking up, her eyes were left to observe that her numbed hand was trapped inside the hold of Latios' claws.
The rest, naturally, weren't as fortunate. After crashing on the ground with a loud bang, the startled group of Brendan, Silver, Archie, and all of the Magma grunts looked onward to Alexia as she laughed.
"Brendan, more and more of your team keeps falling for me! I'm truly flattered, but it's beginning to be a bit too much."
Latios gently lowered a silent, but grateful Dawn to the floor. The act of saving her best friend earned him an ecstatic squeal from his dragon partner.
"Why are you doing this?" Archie asked crossly, hiding his sudden burst of adrenaline well. "It'll cost you time and money to fix your base. Within three minutes, you've made this sector useless."
"Oh, wait until we get ten minutes in, dear!" For once, she stopped laughing. "As for why we're doing it, it's more than simple. We were told not to underestimate you. We were told to eliminate you. And we were told that no price was too big to do that. We'll blow up the entire base if it means getting rid of you."
"Good," Silver said, jumping into the conversation. "It's good to know that you're all as insane as I thought you were."
Alexia ran a hand through her blond locks. "Insane, dedicated...Doesn't it all mean the same thing?"
Starting to get over the trip his enemy had sent him on, Brendan felt as though he could confidently crack his knuckles. "I'd say it's just about time I shut that trap of yours once and for all."
"Oh, but...It's so crowded in here." Alexia looked around. Since the stairs were totally unusable now, it was just four walls with a convenient door placed behind her. "Won't you follow me?" she asked cutely, slowly walking backwards.
She opened the door a crack, letting her slim body slip through it. Her giggling was heard by all the entire time.
Brendan clenched his fist. "This is such a painfully obvious trap."
"But, of course, you are still going to blindly waltz in there," Silver stated.
"But, of course, I am," he replied using a mocking tone. As soon as he set one hand on the doorknob, an inhuman caw caught him off-guard.
He spun around to face the team, and out of all of them, he wouldn't have guessed that Latias was going to be the angriest one. Latios was looking at her with a form of neutrality, then turned to Brendan and did the one thing to pump him up. The movement that excited him enough to put a smile on his face.
A nod.
"...All right," he said after a moment's pause. Afterwards, he turned back around and entered through the door, followed quite quickly by the Eons.
The room was enough to surprise Brendan, along with the Magmas that soon poured in after him. For the first time, it was a large room that they found themselves in. The dozen hanging lighting fixtures that were attached to the ceiling lit up every detail on the walls that were built from pure rock. Being surrounded by stone created an earthy atmosphere, giving the Coordinator a similar feeling to when he was in Roark's Gym.
Unlike Roark's Gym, however, there were benches on two sides of the room. The objective for them was obvious: allowing spectators to enjoy the battle that took place in the arena. Sections in the middle of the floor were covered in white paint, creating a design that resembled the official Pokémon League's own battle arenas. Alexia stood in the Trainer box furthest away from Brendan; granted that even the size of the ring was accurate, she was quite a distance away. The room would undoubtedly echo, however, meaning that he wasn't free from Alexia's voice.
"Well? How do you like it, hm?"
Brendan looked past his opponent. Behind her stood a door, somewhat hidden in the shadows of the temple-like structure built around it. Four stone pillars held up a ceiling. All that the flashy design told Brendan was that beyond that door was something they probably don't want him to see. That made going through Alexia all the more rewarding. "You put quite a bit of time into this. Pointless, considering you people fight like barbarians, but I appreciate the effort."
Alexia frowned as Brendan walked closer to his own Trainer box. Not because of the two legendary dragons that were on either side of him, but due more to his words being so cruel. "That's so mean, Brendan!""
"Yeah, let's talk about mean." He stopped walking now that he was in the desired spot. "You almost killed me in Lavaridge, you destroyed my hometown, and you've rigged your base with rejected action movie traps. But even above all that, you've been bugging me for weeks about having a single battle with you." He threw his arms into the air. "Well, here I am. I did, however, bring a little help with me."
On that cue, Latias and Latios dove towards the arena. They kept on Brendan's side of the field, though the female seemed more than anxious to start attacking the other side.
"But they don't count, right?"
Dawn was still in the other room. She had waited until all of the Magmas had gotten out first before leaving, which had taken longer than she had been expecting. As she took one step outside the door frame, she looked back to see the last member of this team showing no interest in following her. "Silver?"
It wasn't uncommon that the red-head ignored the girl, but it was what his eyes were on that worried the girl.
Behind where the stairs had fallen, on the far back side of the room, was an almost unnoticeable grey object. Silver had noticed it, however, and after taking this long to contemplate some thoughts, he walked swiftly over to it.
"Silver, the battle-"
Mustering surprisingly little strength, Silver tore the object straight off the ground. For the short time that he had been holding onto it, Dawn realized that it was a cover for a vent. "Do what you want," he told her sharply.
With that vague warning given, the athletic and apparently daring young adult jumped into the hole he had just created.
Dawn looked through the open doorway. The battle still hadn't begun yet, but she saw that Alexia was holding onto a couple Pokéballs. Then her head shifted toward the unexpected escape route. "He can't yell at me. I'm doing what he told me to."
And with that vague warning given, she followed him.
Inside the room through the ignored door, Brendan had a competitive smirk on his face. "So? I'm more than interested to see how you're going to fight Yin and Yang here."
Arming her seductive tone, she readily replied, "Haven't you ever heard to be careful what you wish for, Brendan?"
Unleashing the Pokéballs in her hand, two Pokémon followed their appearance up with a shriek of their own names. A Scizor stood directly opposite of Latias, while her Lanturn was across from Latios. One of them made Brendan drop his frown and the other turned it into a snarl.
"Where on Hoenn does your Pokémon supply come from?!"
"Oh. What's that? Stalling?" Alexia giggled, "Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
Brendan had heard the rumors that the Eon dragons could eventually overtake jets moving at top speed. Pushing him to cringe, he found out the hard way that not even a record like that was enough to dodge the attack. By the time he blinked, Scizor wailed a claw into Latias' head, then seamlessly bolted over to repeat the process to her partner.
He began to realize just how obnoxious he was walking into the battle. Scizor could not only wall hits from the Eons all day, but dish out that painful Bullet Punch while it was at it. He was scared to ask what that Lanturn had in store for him. If there was to be any hope of winning the match and possibly impressing the Magmas that were on the sidelines, he couldn't waste all of his time worrying. "Awright. Dragon Pulse, both of you!"
The legendary dragons fired their attacks at the Pokémon that stood across from them. However, Alexia had a different idea. "Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
As fast as the name would imply, Scizor took off to launch a second physical attack, but this time, it wasn't aimed at Brendan. The steel-coated insect barreled toward Lanturn, finishing in a pose of holding its fist out in front of the fish's face. This resulted in the obvious: the Dragon Pulse aimed at Scizor missed, while the one heading for Lanturn was taken in stride by its partner.
"Zorrr..." it hummed as it brushed one claw off with the other.
"I'm afraid that this one has a very special purpose," the Trainer explained. "Taking hits wouldn't help me out very much."
"Of course it wouldn't," Brendan agreed rhetorically. Though one part of him was happy that he knew what to aim for, the other part knew that he'd have to get by a Steel-type that was faster than lightning to get to it. He still didn't have many ideas, and Alexia was about to make it worse.
"Lanturn, Water Pulse!"
That's when Brendan's eyebrows furrowed in befuddlement.
Sure enough, the aquatic ring was formed and pushed toward Latias. Apart from the favorable typing, the red-colored Eon's natural ability to take most special attacks without pain made the move more of a refreshing bath than an assault of any kind. Latias blinked before shaking her body in an attempt to dry herself.
"Uh...Was that mis-click?" the male Trainer wondered.
The Aqua Admin brought a finger to her lips and held it across them horizontally. "There's that sense of humor again...But for your information, there's quite a sound theory behind it. You wouldn't understand it right now, but I'm sure you will soon."
"Allow me to hold my breath." With his focus truly getting into the battle, Brendan pointed towards the main enemy as he called out his attacks. "That bug needs to be squashed! Latias, hold it down with Psychic so Latios can use Luster Purge!"
Considering that Psychic-type moves weren't any less effective against Scizor than Dragon-types, nobody could remark on the switch-up. To the secret surprise of Brendan, it actually turned out even better. Despite resisting it, Latias was able to do as she was commanded and make the durable insect sit down for a second with Psychic. That gave Latios just enough time to make his eyes glow a pure white, followed by an energy stream straight from his mouth. The same-colored beam collided with its target, pushing the Pokémon to the floor.
"And we're the barbarians?" Alexia scoffed, "You're the one that's attempting to pound through a Steel-type with a bunch of moves that it resists."
Brendan set his hands on his hips. "Hey, considering I'm winging what attacks these two know, I'd say I'm not doing too bad."
"Scizor, get up. Lanturn, Water Pulse!" she demanded with an increasingly irritated voice.
As the bulky bug climbed to its feet, its partner let loose with another water-based attack. This one was sent careening toward the opposite Eon who received it with just about as much pain as the other had. He shivered only because it was moderately cold, then resumed his battle position, no worse off than a little drenched.
For the second time, the Hoenn Trainer was left in the dark about that selection. "What's the point...?"
Alexia aimed her finger toward Latias. "Scizor, go! Bullet Punch! And make this one hurt."
After any warning like that, and whether Brendan wanted him to or not, Latios was going to stand in between his closest friend and the attack. However, due to that infuriating speed dilemma, he could barely set off before he heard a sound he never wanted to hear.
Scizor was already standing in front of her, its arm having made contact a full second ago. The attack had been aimed straight at her chest, and she felt it. Howling in distress, she backed away a couple feet before making an unplanned landing.
Brendan ran for Latias, hoping to find out what had been damaged. He also knew that Latios would need no instruction in the meantime.
When Scizor turned around, he was greeted by the blue- and white-colored dragon standing directly behind him. Teeth were showing and a claw was raised, but he was startled for a second upon hearing a command.
"Lanturn, another Water Pulse!"
The remaining Trainer gave a quick analyses of the situation. Latios was hovering two inches from the face of Scizor, while both Latias and Brendan were on the opposite side of that. To him, this meant that Alexia had given them an easy out.
"Latios, fly straight up!" he called out.
Even if he were capable of speech, Latios wouldn't be able to put into words how much he wanted to avenge Latias. Though frustrating to him, the nod that he had given Brendan in the other room meant that he would trust him for the battle. That and not much else was what convinced him to drop the Dragon Claw attempt in favor of retreating vertically.
Alexia growled. "You fool!"
To which Brendan laughed, "Looking in a mirror?"
With no Latios in the way, the Water Pulse continued moving until it hit something; of course, the next thing in line was Scizor. It was too late for a Bullet Punch command to be called, leaving the metallic Bug-type low and wet.
After that, Scizor looked entirely stunned. It didn't move, no matter what command it was given. It was when it began punching the ground continuously that the pieces came together for Brendan.
"It's confused...That's why you spent so much time hitting the two? Trying to confuse them?"
She gave no reply, aside from a snarl that he could see clear across the stadium.
Brendan didn't care about that. Instead, he looked up to see what Latios was doing; his eyes ended up moving just a little farther up, though. He looked back down at the immobile Scizor, then back up only to see that one of the hanging lighting fixtures was directly in line with the enemy Pokémon. "Latios, give that light up there a chop, would you?"
It was an unexpected command in Latios' eyes, but one that he was a bit more confident in than the last. Flying up even closer to the ceiling, he found the thin string that contained all of the wires inside of it. Without hesitation, the Dragon Claw that he was set to use before ripped straight through the cords.
With a quick evasive jump backwards, Brendan was able to fully enjoy watching the light smash into Scizor's head. Still, there was no reason to be done with it. "Latias, I know you're okay. Now use Psychic and send Scizor there flying straight up to meet your friend!"
She was still on the ground, and she was still in pain. Despite that, she realized that she had more than enough strength to do as she was commanded. The second Psychic attack was used, but rather than keeping the Pokémon pinned, she used her mind to launch him straight into the air.
"Finish that thing off, Latios!"
After this long of a battle, the dragon was happy to oblige. He charged up a Dragon Pulse and sent it roaring towards Scizor as the bug flew up to him. The intense blast pushed Scizor back into the wall.
The completely spontaneous combo ended when Scizor fell all the way down, smashing head-first into the ground.
"Raa tio!" Latios cried in victory.
"No, no," Brendan cut in. "It's, 'K.O.!'"
Slightly interrupting the moment, a red beam traveled straight across the battlefield, finally nicking Scizor and recalling it into a Pokéball. At the same time, the other red Pokémon pulled herself together and hovered softly off the ground.
Brendan couldn't think of a reason not to smile. Not only did he just cost Team Aqua ten dollars to replace that light, he had finished off one of the most threatening Pokémon he could think of. After a relieving sigh, he first heard a reason to not smile, and then saw it.
"Alexia? Are you...crying?"
"The boss..." Sniffling, she rubbed her arm clear across her eyes to catch some of the tears. She remained looking sad for an Admin, but still glared at Brendan. "The boss said that I wouldn't need anything else. That stupid Scizor was supposed to take care of the both of them."
"...I..." Brendan muttered, truly not knowing what to say. "It...got a few hits in?..."
It was luck that an outside source came to save Brendan from his verbal inefficiencies. From the stands that had been purely silent until now, Archie stood up and faced the opposing side of the field. "Alexia, I know your boss better than you do. I've forgotten how long we've been enemies."
"So what?!" she snapped, now looking at her ex-boss.
As always, Archie remained completely immune to the anger. "Outside, you mentioned that your boss wants us eliminated. However, he spoke nothing about you being the one to eliminate us. Or am I mistaken?"
Her thoughts, and body, froze.
Archie continued, "Accept the facts, Alexia. Your boss is a greedy and insane man. He told you that you could never lose with the sole intention of you never winning. If anyone is going to beat us this day, he would never let it be an underling whose name he's probably forgotten by now."
"You...You..." Alexia blinked back tears. Soon after she felt confident she was done crying, her face turned extremely sour. "Shut up! You don't even know what you're talking about!" Jerking to Brendan, she continued yelling, "This battle isn't even over yet! I know how to beat you! Lanturn, Thunder Wave!"
The Electric-type aquatic Pokémon built up the correct amount of lightning for a Thunder Wave attack. It sent the paralysis-inducing ball hurling towards Latias.
The Trainer thought almost nothing of it until the attack was halfway to his Pokémon. It was then that his eyes widened. "Latios, intercept that attack, now!"
Being Latias' whipping boy wasn't something he usually needed to be told to do. With an unanimous polling, Latios dove to hover in front of his other.
Latias couldn't even protest. Her eyes widened when a six-foot wall suddenly appeared between her and something she greatly feared. Even under those circumstances, she wanted to take the attack simply so Latios wouldn't need to, but didn't have time to voice her opinion. By the time she could, the numbing bolt was already surging through Latios' body.
Just like the opposite Eon, he was no longer able to remain online when struck by paralysis. His ability to hover gave out, dropping him to the ground while also rendering most of his other abilities useless.
An incapacitated partner led up to a dangerously angry Latias. That, however, wasn't the only reason she was upset. Alexia was the most controlling of her during the time she spent as a double agent; above that, she still thought of the Admin as someone led by Team Magma -the men in red suits- her eternal nemesis.
All of her unfathomable hatred was materialized in the form of a Mist Ball. Using strength reserves she was never aware that she had, Latias let her signature move fly straight into Lanturn.
Alexia was nearly deafened by the wind that blew into her ear as Lanturn was blasted right past her. The Water-type never stopped until it met with one of the four stone pillars in the background, creating a small dent in it before falling to the floor.
The room fell uncomfortably silent. Alexia knew she had no capabilities of winning. Brendan found a Full Heal that was lying inside of his backpack and jammed the needle into Latios. All the Magmas stood up, preparing to continue their mission after the refreshing rest, while the female dragon joyfully chirped when she realized that she was the first thing her friend had seen when he opened his eyes.
Still squatting, Brendan looked across the field to Alexia. His eyes shifted to Latios, though he wasn't paid attention to. One sigh later, he stood up and made an unsure trail over to Alexia.
The two of them were almost equal in height; in spite of that, there were a couple differences. One had just lost a crucial battle, while the other won. One's vision was blocked by tears, where as the other's remained perfectly clear.
"And what do you want?" she scowled, doing her best to look at her opponent.
Brendan's eyes turned to the floor for a moment. After rubbing them with his fingers, they returned to Alexia. "I'm about to do something that I've done time and time again, and have regretted almost every single time."
"That being?" she replied in a rude tone.
"Alexia, this is hard enough as it is. You being a prick isn't making it easier." After one more heave of air, he held his hand out in front of him. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to expect it, but he remained offering a handshake. "Go get in the elevator and get out of here."
"What?" she instantly shot back. It didn't appear that her intentions were to accept his gesture, or even sound grateful for the verbal offer.
"You really piss me off, Alexia. You really do. That's why I want you on the surface. Safe and alive." Thinking about the first two of his sentences, he realized that she's never going to shake his hand. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and continued explaining, "This little game down here is almost done. And when you're not looking to kill me and my friends...I think you and I would be good as rivals."
She wasn't speechless, but her train of thought wasn't operating correctly, so her mouth stayed shut anyway.
As hard as he tried not to, Brendan still smirked. "I can't stand the sight of you. Get out of it already, would you?"
After traveling around with what could be described as an emotional team for so long, it was odd for Brendan to see this woman barely react to his kindness. Still, it was good enough for him to watch Alexia shift around to recall Lanturn, then walk past him without a word. Past the Eons, past the Magmas, until she finally disappeared into the room with the broken stairs. Everything without speaking a word.
"Something else, that girl," Brendan stated as Alexia shut the door behind herself. Turning to much more important matters, he continued walking towards the spruced up door, and the main prize of winning that battle. "Latias, Latios. Dawn, Sil-Uh."
It had never hit him before, but he only now noticed a distinct lack of blue hair in his audience. Likewise, Silver wasn't to be seen either.
"Ah, c'mon..."
With a growl of frustration, Brendan stomped towards the door. The somewhat confused teams of Eon and Magma were forced to follow him, despite not being rallied very well.