Chapter 16: Blazing Spirits

"Stupid Sapphire… I can wake up early…" Willow crossed her arms and mumbled to herself, walking north towards Lush Jungle. After she'd woken up at nine-thirty and been teased relentlessly by Sapphire for not being able to wake earlier, they split up and went separate directions, Sapphire to conquer the Fire Trial, and herself the Grass.

It wasn't her fault! She was a night person, and Sapphire was a morning person!

In any case, she continued walking, with Cream relaxing on her shoulder as she did so. Unlike Shalour where weather depended on the season, it was always nice and hot in Alola so Cream was basking in the sunlight happily. She giggled at the sight, it almost seemed like Cream was a Fire-Type sometimes with how much she enjoyed the warm sun back home.

Her eyes were drawn back to the road and she witnessed two oddly dressed people observing a pair of Sudowoodo on the side of the road. Weren't they…? That's right, they were those Ultra Recon Squad people. If she remembered correctly, their names were Phyco and Soliera, odd names, but she wouldn't judge them for that. She'd met them a few times, but they were always speaking oddly, and about things she didn't understand. "Phyco, Soliera. It's nice to see you again."

They turned upon hearing her greeting and nodded calmly. "Ah, Willow of Alola. We were just studying these Sudowoodo. Fascinating how they mimic plants to avoid water, their natural weakness."

"Indeed. I've thought about capturing one, since knowing Sapphire, he'd easily be fooled by that…" She smiled as she thought about how the dramatic boy would react to finding that out.

"In any case, I wish for a battle!" Soliera suddenly interrupted, pulling out a pokéball. It was an odd one though, and Willow had never seen one like it. It was a deep blue, with grids of white going along it. Coming out of the button were four yellow grips, and Willow looked at it trying to remember if she'd ever heard of a pokéball like that.

"Oh? I'll happily oblige then. You'll be using the same Pokémon? Shall I use a different one then?"

"No, there is no need for me to use these odd Alolan Pokémon. So I shall be using one of ours."

"Very well." They stepped apart, and Soliera tossed the pokéball forward as she grabbed a pokéball of her own. "Grimer, I require your assistance." Her Poison-Dark Type popped out of its pokéball, splashing onto the ground and causing the grass underfoot to begin to die.

"Poipole, go!" Out of the ball came a Pokémon that Willow had never seen before. It was a small, purple, bipedal Pokémon, with small limbs that had no visible digits. Three spikes protruded from its head, one in the front and two on the side, with the two on the side having what looked to be needles protruding from them, and a third larger needle extending from the top of its head. Its small eyes and mouth glowed cyan, and it gave off a small cackle.

"Poipole? Rotom, analyze." Rotom flew from her bag and scanned the target. She rarely needed Rotom to scan an opponent's Pokémon, so this was yet another first.

"Zzt… Eh? No recordzz of this Pokémon are appearing in my database…"

"No records?"

"Poipole, use Signal Beam!" Poipole lowered its head and fired three flashing, sinister beams of Bug-Type energy, and Grimer spread its form out to dodge, creating holes in its body. After the beams passed through, Grimer reformed and lunged forward.

"Grimer, Crunch." Poipole screeched as Grimer lunged and bit down hard on its body, trying to whack at the Dark-Type to no avail. It was made of goo, after all, so physical attacks were next to useless.

"Grah! Poipole, Signal Beam again!"

"Disable!" The beams sputtered out before they could even be fired, and with one final bite, Poipole was out for the count. "Well done, Grimer. Return."

Poipole was returned silently by Soliera, and she sighed. "It is not Poipole that failed in this battle… it is I, as a Trainer, who failed." Soliera clenched a fist and stood straight. "I was able to understand Poipole better, but it seems my Pokémon battle skills leave much to be desired…"

As Soliera spoke, Phyco rubbed his chin and looked at her Z-Power Ring. "That ring… Its light feels somehow nostalgic."

"Do you think it is the same light our ancestors gazed upon, the light said to have come from the Blinding One?"

"Who can tell? Yet it is our duty as the Ultra Recon Squad to find that out." Seeing that they were no longer paying attention to her, Willow shrugged and moved on.

"I wonder what Sapphire is doing? Probably preparing for his Trial."

Halfway across the island, Sapphire was watching a Furret walk. "...He be walccing."

"How long shall he walcc?"

"As long as he need to walcc."

"That be a long walcc."

"But he will get there. For he walcc."

"The endless walcc."


As the sun set, Willow looked down and patted her newest Pokémon's pokéball. She'd found her scrounging for shiny objects along the road, and had put up a fierce battle. With her newest Pokémon, she would have an even higher chance at completing the Trial, and had already come up with several strategies involving the Pokémon, and would be able to come up with more after they had done some training.

She began walking forward, entering the Lush Jungle, overseen by Mallow. Said girl was waiting by the entrance, humming to herself and playing with a Morelull. She looked up as she approached and smiled, waving her over. "Alola! Nice to see you again! How's your cute friend?"

Willow twitched. "Lillie? She isn't on the Island Trial."

"No, no, Sapphire, the boy!"

"He's. Fine." Mallow giggled at her reaction, before spreading her arms wide.

"In any case… Welcome to the Lush Jungle, the Trial Grounds of yours truly, Mallow! Ready to get in some hot water? My Trial's ready for you, if you're ready for it!"

"I'm ready. Let's do it."

Mallow giggled and tapped her cheek, leaning forward. "I knew it the first time I saw you two… you both have chosen only the finest of ingredients for your teams, haven't you?"

"If that's how you'd like to describe it, then yes."

"Of course, of course! After all, you two were the ones who got your Sparkling Stones straight from Tapu Koko, right? Well, I totally get it! Alrighty, here in Lush Jungle, it's time for Mallow's Trial to begin!"

"What does your Trial involve?"

"Can you feel it? The breath of the jungle?"

Halfway across the island, Sapphire blurted out something about The Legend of Zelda.

"Yes, I can tell just what today's special should be… Mm-hm! My secret specialty: The Super Mallow Special! Your Trial will be to find three ingredients necessary for the dish for me! But be careful, some of the ingredients may be guarded by wild Pokémon."

"I see. Just what are the ingredients that I need?"

"A Few Pinap Berries, some Honey, and a Big Root. And here's your Forage Bag to hold them all in! Have fun finding the ingredients, I'll be getting the cauldron ready!

"Alright." She nodded resolutely and walked away, feeling Cream climb out of her bag and onto her shoulder. When they were far enough away from Mallow she sighed, rubbing her head. "I wish I could act normally around others like I can with Sapphire and Hau, but I just keep reverting to my serious persona I used back home."

Don't worry, Willow, Cream smiled, you'll get it someday. Besides, I think you were a tad angry at her for being so interested in Sapphire.

"What?! No, I wasn't!" She blushed and shook her head, causing Cream to shrug. They walked deeper into the forest, coming upon an area with several bushes and trees covered in different kinds of berries. "A-anyway, Pinap Berries…" She knew what they looked like, they had yellow and orange skin, and the average size was about an inch in diameter, with short and stocky green stems made of tough leaves.

She could see several berries matching the description of the one in her head, so she made her way over to the specific berries. She knelt and began looking through the bushes, picking one of the berries and rolling it between her fingers. "…no, some Pokémon already had their eyes on this tree." She stood and walked to another, exposing her eyes and sniffing it.

"This tree smells sweet. Pinap berries are spicy and sour. No Pokémon would want the berries from this tree, even though they are perfectly fine." She picked several, placing them in her Forage Bag. "That should be enough. Come on, let's look for the honey next. Would you mind sniffing it out?" Pokémon noses were much more sensitive than human ones after all.

Cream lifted her head and began sniffing. I smell sweet honey that way. She pointed towards where she sniffed the honey and telepathically spoke with her Trainer. Willow nodded in response and began walking in the direction indicated.

They walked for several minutes, brushing aside leaves and watching Pokémon scamper underfoot before Cream lifted her head and sniffed the air. "What is it? Are we close to the honey?"

Yes, but… I can smell something else? Smoke?

"Smoke?" That was odd. Why would there be smoke in the middle of the jungle? No Fire-Types were dumb enough to let a blaze go out of control if they were chasing prey.

"Null, Flamethrower." Willow screamed and crossed her arms as a wave of heat washed past her, thankfully not hitting her. She narrowed her eyes and dashed from the underbrush, to witness a blond boy wearing black clothing and a red hip bag commanding his odd-looking Pokémon to launch another wave of flames towards a larger than normal Lurantis.

"Slowpoke!" Her Water-Type burst from his pokéball and immediately used Trick Room. "Put out those flames!" Slowpoke began using Water Gun, spraying the flames that were beginning to spread. She locked her gaze onto the boy's Pokémon, having never seen it before. It wore an odd helmet that hid the entirety of its face and head, besides part of a grayish mane and its body was mainly colored black. It's two front legs ended in bird-like talons, and it's back two ended in dog-like paws, with an aquatic, fin-like tail. With all of the various body parts, it looked chimeric almost. "Rotom?"

Rotom carefully analyzed the Pokémon, before beeping and hiding behind her. "Zzt, there are no known recordzz of this Pokémon existing anywhere on earth!"

"What? What about its typing?"

"Zzt, analyzing… Typing is completely unknown! Not just unknown, it keepzz fluctuating between all known Typingzz!"

The Pokémon leaped away from a Petal Blizzard attack, turning its gaze to her. The boy did so as well and narrowed his gaze as he brushed aside some hair. "Damn, we attacked in the middle of a Trial? Whatever, the Grunts can finish capturing some Pokémon, and I'll take care of you."

"Grunts?" Slowpoke finished putting out the fire and sped in front of her, so she narrowed her eyes and motioned for Cream to jump forward as well. "Are you part of Team Skull? You don't look like a Grunt."

"If you're thinking I'm an Admin, I'm not. I'm more of an enforcer. Null, Leaf Blade." As he spoke he tossed a green-colored disk at apparently what was called Null, and a red disc popped out of Null's helmet, replaced by the green one. Null flashed and a green aura surrounded them. The aura quickly focused onto Null's mane, becoming a sword.

"Slowpoke, Reflect!" A shield was set up, but when the Leaf Blade slashed against it the shield cracked. Slowpoke flinched back in confusion at the power of the attack, as did Willow. "What? To do that much damage… it doesn't look especially strong, is it a Grass-Type and had STAB?

The Totem suddenly screeched and launched a Razor Leaf attack, which Null took easily. Null turned and whipped its tail, launching an Air Slash at Lurantis who blocked with Protect. The boy threw another disc forward, this one light blue, which replaced the green one and made Null glow the same color. Null bound forward and glowed as they used Aerial Ace, Lurantis' Protect falling just as they did so.

Lurantis hissed and crossed their arms to defend as Null made impact, and the Totem was tossed back from the attack. Lurantis chittered and rubbed their scythe-like arms together threateningly. "Cream, Exploding Spheres." Cream focused and launched her attack, causing Null to retreat to not get caught up in the psychic explosions. Unfortunately for the Pokémon, it backpedaled directly onto a Psychic Mine.

The Trainer boy growled and tossed yet another disc forward, this one a midnight black, and made Null glow the same color. Willow narrowed her eyes and watched as Null's mane turned black as it prepared a Night Slash. "Full Shield!" Cream set up her shields and the blade fell crashing down, sparking against the shield.

Cream and Null struggled for several seconds before the attack pierced the shields and sent Cream tumbling back. "Cream!" She caught her Pokémon and grabbed a pokéball from her belt, throwing it forward with a spin. "Murkrow, I require your assistance!" Her newest Pokémon popped out of the ball and circled the area, cawing at the chimera Pokémon. "Astonish!" Murkrow dove, stopping just inches from Null and letting out a much louder caw.

Null flinched back, and Slowpoke used Null's moment of distraction to hit the Pokémon with a massive wave courtesy of Surf. "Slowpoke, attempt Confusion!" As Null was attempting to get back up, the Psychic-Type Attack impacted but did nothing. "If that did nothing… then…"

Her eyes narrowed, and she clenched her fists. "Those discs… Can they change Null's Typing?"

The boy shrugged. "Maybe. I won't give up an advantage by confirming or denying that."

"Either way, it seems obvious. Psychic attacks were working fine earlier, but with that black disc now they aren't…"

"Zzt, maybe that'zz why it'zz named Null…"

"Yo, Gladion!" A couple of Grunts ran through the bushes, one of them waving to the boy that was apparently named Gladion. "We've got a buncha Grass-Types for new recruits! Let's go, before they give us the boot!"

"Always with the rapping…" Gladion scoffed and turned before a psychic explosion cut off their path. Slowpoke growled and Willow grabbed another pokéball, while Lurantis clicked and hissed, moving to cut off their escape. "You want to keep fighting? Your numbers advantage is nullified by these grunts, and Type: Null is still able to fight."

"Yo, you can't take down all of us, yo!" One of the grunts began doing their hand signs, or whatever those were, and the other one nodded.

"Yo, we've brought enough boys to capture a buncha Grass-Types, and we've got our Admin taking care of Paniola Ranch!"

"What?" She stepped forward and Null matched her, growling. "Why are you attacking a Ranch?"

"We gotta have a good assortment of Typings, yo! They got some good Fire-Types and Normal-Types over there! You ever try to beat a Miltank continuously using Rollout, yo?!"

"Well, I had a cousin who called one time to vent her frustrations about not beating some Gym Leader named Whitney, yo."

"Rotom, got that?"

"Eh?!" Both grunts we're slapped on the back of the head by a growling Gladion.

"Idiots!"

"Zzt, roger, calling Sapphire'zz Rotom!" Rotom's screen showed a ringing phone, before Sapphire's face appeared on the other end. "Connected!"

"Yo, Wils, what's up? I was just setting up camp for the night."

"Null," Gladion called, throwing the red disc at Type: Null. "Stop her! Flamethrower!" A wave of fire swept towards her, and Slowpoke formed a shield of water using Surf.

"Eh? Did you accidentally call while in the middle of a battle?" Sapphire poked at his own Rotom, tilting his head.

"Not exactly… remember when Team Skull was trying to capture all those Water-Types a few days ago? They're doing the same thing here in Lush Jungle."

"What?" Sapphire's Rotom shifted with him as he moved around, seemingly grabbing his stuff and recalling several Pokémon. Slowpoke created another wall of water to counter another blast of fire, and she winced as a lick of flame brushed her skin. "Hold on, I'll get there as fast as possible!"

"Don't, since it's a Trial location the Totem can help me keep it under control, and I'm sure Mallow is taking care of several Grunts herself. They're going after Paniola Ranch as well, so you need to get there and protect it! Slowpoke, Water Pulse!"

"Got it! Good luck, Wils!" The call ended and Rotom flew into her bag while she refocused on the battle.

"Grimer, Rowlet, I require your assistance!" She sent out her remaining Pokémon, and the Grunts backing up Gladion sent out their own. "Lurantis, are you alright with me commanding you?!"

"Lura." The Totem nodded and spread its scythe arms, while Rotom flew next to her to show her the Totem's moveset.

"Hmph. Let's go then. Null, Fire Blast!"

"Psychic Assault!"


Sapphire slipped his helmet on, making sure it was fastened tight, before tugging on his bag. "Secure?"

"Secure!"

He turned as the sound of hooves pounding against dirt reached his ears, and he beheld a Tauros slowing to a stop next to him. As much as he didn't like the bulls, he pushed past that to climb atop its back and fasten himself to the saddle. "Tauros, I need to get to Paniola Ranch as quick as possible. Can you do that?"

Tauros snorted and threw his head back, before turning and dashing in the direction of the Ranch. At least it wasn't the same bull as Melemele… With how fast Tauros was, what had been a full day's journey for him took much less time. Especially since Ride Tauros were bred to be faster and with much more endurance than normal Tauros.

"So what exactly is going on? I didn't hear much before you were returning everyone and putting everything back in your bag."

"Team Skull again. Just like they were going at that hidden beach, they're trying to capture a bunch more Pokémon again. But why? Are they just trying to get a bunch of Pokémon for their Grunts to use? They can't have that many, or be recruiting that many people so fast…"

"Does it matter? Team Skull are being bad, so it's our duty to punish them!"

Cobalt grinned and pounded his fists together, and he grinned back, before leaning forward to streamline himself to Tauros' back. "Yeah! Gun it, Tauros!" Tauros let out a moo, before running even faster. The wind whipped past his head, the few strands of dark hair that escaped his helmet fluttering back in the wind.

Eventually, they reached Paniola Ranch, and although there were no outward signs of trouble that could be seen for miles like a blazing wildfire or something similar, but the number of Grunts wandering around and trying to corral various Miltank, Tauros, Ponyta, and Rapidash was a certain sign you would only notice once you entered the Ranch itself.

A Grunt noticed the Tauros speeding into the ranch, but before they could warn anybody else Cobalt leaped from his bag, kicking his face and knocking the Grunt onto his back "Whoa!"

Tauros skid to a stop and Sapphire dismounted, his legs shaking slightly. "Thanks, Tauros, now get out of here so you don't get caught in the crossfire." Tauros nodded and sped off, and he turned back to the grunts that were turning towards him.

"Yo, a foolhardy Trainer is gonna try and beat us? You're making a big mistake, y—"

"Yeah, I'm cutting this off before you can start. Spooks, show them fear! Inferno, burn them up!" His Pokémon popped out of their balls as he tossed them into the air, and Inferno swept over the Grunts as they sent out their Pokémon, pelting them with flames. "Inferno, Sea of Fire!"

Inferno performed a loop to gain distance, and at the height of it scattered several weak ember attacks, which she then hit with a powerful gust attack. Fire required three key components. Heat, fuel, and an oxidizer, usually just being oxygen itself. Heat and fuel were easily provided. The oxidizer came in the form of the powerful blasts of wind Inferno unleashed, which turned the widespread small embers into a roaring inferno that swept across the various Grunt's Pokémon. Of course, the bird Pokémon was careful to not hit any humans, and once the flames died down all the opposing Pokémon were revealed to be knocked out.

"Y-Yo, that—!"

Several flames were still licking at the grass, so he made sure to snuff them out by walking over them while pulling his sunglasses down. "Yare yare, you Grunts aren't worth our time." He let his head tilt back so his glasses would glint, letting a toothy smirk settle onto his face. Spooks laughed viscously behind him and Inferno landed on his shoulder preening himself smugly. Cobalt copied his pose and crossed his arms, positioning himself in front of his Trainer, while the dying fires highlighted them all. "I'm going to be the best Trainer in Alola, so how about you get outta here?"

"…Yo, I'll admit, that's pretty cool, yo."

"Ha, right? We've been practicing that one!" He high-fived Cobalt. "Anyway… Chrysant, it's time to rock and roll! Blast, blow them away!" He sent out his two remaining Pokémon, patting Wave's ball. "Sorry Wave, but we still don't have a way for you to fight without water nearby. Blast, Chrysant, get ready, it's gonna be an onslaught of grunts, but even if they're just grunts, it'll still be a bunch of Pokémon! Quantity versus our quality!" His Pokémon voiced their assent, while Wave's ball wobbled to show she heard his apology.

Several more grunts sent out various Pokémon, Zubats, Drowzee, Slowpoke, Psyduck, Poliwag… actually, there were a lot of Water-Types. Several of which were from the operation that he, Willow, and Hau had stopped in Melemele. "What the heck is it with everyone having Types super effective against my own? And I just sent away Storm!"

"Zzt, should I come out and fight?"

"No, you're my trap card, stay hidden just in case we need you."

"Zzt, whoa, I'm an ace up your sleeve? Cool!"

As his Pokémon bound forward to battle with the Grunt's Pokémon, he saw several Grunts trying to lead away several different Ranch Pokémon. "Chrysant, stop them! Stone Edge to block their path!" Several pillars of rock shot up from the ground and caused the Grunts to yelp as they couldn't get past, while the Pokémon they were trying to capture tried to escape.

"Yo, come on! Just one Trainer and his Pokémon ain't enough to take down all of us!"

"Spooks, Shadow Ball!" The Grunt yelped and ran away as a Shadow Ball passed dangerously close to her face. He stepped back to observe the battlefield, trusting his Pokémon to make the right decisions in the battles they were in. After all, with how many opponents there were, he couldn't micromanage everything. "Blast, Supersonic!" He would still chime in of course, but only if it seemed like his Pokémon needed assistance.

He looked around, spotting a fleeing Grunt and grabbed the back of their shirt. "Hey, where are the people who take care of the ranch? What did you do to them?!"

The grunt looked very serious all of a sudden. "Hey, we may be thieves, but we don't kill people. They're just tied up in the ranch house."

"...Oh. Okay, cool."

"Sapphire, I think we've got a problem…"

"Cobalt?" He turned to see Cobalt settling into a battle stance, and another member of Team Skull walking over, tossing an Ultra ball up and down. He was dressed differently from the Grunts, which was the first sign that trouble was afoot. His attire consisted of torn, black jeans with a chain hooked to his belt loops, a white t-shirt with a poorly painted, dripping black skull, and a leather jacket with silver sleeves. The boy had dark skin and a muscular build, and stood a few inches taller than him, with black hair and bangs that dangled lazily in front of dark, bored eyes. "Ah great…"

"Yo." The boy stretched, looking from him to Cobalt and back. His eyes then darted towards his Pokémon, which were easily taking down the Team Skull Grunts, before he sighed. "Ugh… I wanted to nap while all these guys were doing their jobs, but you just had to come and interfere."

"Hey, if you want to keep napping, you can. I've learned by now that people dressed differently from the average Grunt are probably tough."

The boy snorted at his words before a yawn slipped from his mouth. "Whatever. If I have to kick your butt to get some more sleep, so be it. Although…" He scratched his cheek, tilting his head. "...You're that upstart who managed to beat one of Plumeria's Pokémon, aren't you… Hmph. Just my luck."

Sapphire shifted his feet, his eyes glancing towards his Pokémon. Spooks and Inferno noticed him facing off against the boy and flew over, taking their places in front of him protectively. "Plumeria? The girl with the Golbat, right? Don't tell me you're on her level…"

"Her? Eh, right below the boss, she's thought of as the toughest fighter on the team."

"Oh thank god…"

"But we're both Admins for Team Skull, and technically my Pokémon are stronger than hers, but since I'm so lazy the boss prefers her to me and usually sends her out for stuff."

"Oh god dang it!"

"Anyway… I guess we're fighting now. Jawbreaker, ready yourself for battle." Out of the pokéball emerged a massive Pokémon, easily fifteen feet tall, and when it landed on the ground the rock cracked and shattered. It snarled, and saliva dripped down from beneath large and vicious-looking fangs. Its body was a deep red, with small arms and thick legs with black claws, alongside a long tail that flicked back and forth. Atop its head were yellow spikes that looked almost similar to a crown.

"Uh… Rotom?"

"Zzt, Tyrantrum, the Despot Pokémon. Thankzz to the strength of its gargantuan jawzz, with which it could crush a car easily with, thizz Pokémon wazz invincible in the ancient world, and behaved azz a king."

"Just… perfect. Cobalt, Inferno, Spooks, get ready." The Tyrantrum, who was named Jawbreaker apparently, roared ferociously at them.

"...Hey, mind if I sit this one out?"

"Stay in there, coward!" He narrowed his gaze and snapped his wrist out so his Z-Crystals would glisten in his bracelet. "Alright, Admin of Team Skull! We'll be going all out, right from the start! I'm Sapphire Chaser, and I'm going to be the best Trainer ever!"

"...Damn, why do you have to be so dramatic? Just fight already."

"Wha- oh, screw it! Spooks, Dark Pulse! Inferno, Ember! Cobalt, let's do this!" He grabbed the Fightinium Z and slammed it into the slot at the top of his bracelet and closed his eyes to focus, feeling energy swell up within him. Memories of Cobalt flashed through his mind like a film reel, and he felt his bond with Cobalt become indestructible. The rush of energy reached its peak, and he opened his eyes to reveal a brown-red tint to them, just as there had been a grey one with the Normalium, before the energy began flowing from him to Cobalt.

His arms began once more moving instinctively, forming the X in front of his face, the Fightinium Z giving off a flash. This time, however, instead of forming a Z, his arms punched forward several times and wound up for one last big one. "Cobalt, All-Out Pummeling!"

"Suck it, loser!" As Spooks and Inferno distracted Tyrantrum, Cobalt glowed as a Z appeared over his body, before the same brown-red aura burst to life around him. He held his palms forward and formed an orb the same color as the aura around him, before rearing back and launching it forward. The orb became a spectral fist that slammed into Tyrantrum's chest, sending the large and heavy Pokémon skidding back. More fists slammed into it, alongside several spectral feet, pummeling the large Pokémon over and over again. Just when it seemed to have ended, Cobalt launched forward and delivered a devastating blow.

As Tyrantrum fell back, Sapphire pumped his arms and grinned. "Alright! No drawn-out battles this time, we finish it right away!" Tyrantrum then got back up and roared, and both Sapphire and Cobalt face-faulted. "Oh come on…"

"Jawbreaker…" Their opponent covered their mouth and hid a yawn, before shaking his head. "Uh, Head Smash." The massive Pokémon stomped forward, lowering their head and barreling directly into the winded Cobalt. The Fighting-Type cried out as he flew back and skid along the dirt before Spooks caught him and set him back down. Cobalt coughed slightly, rubbing his chest.

Tyrantrum continued to charge forward and slammed a foot down, causing several portals to open overhead, through which rocks fell. "HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!"

"Eh, beats me. Rock Slide is weird like that." Inferno flew down, avoiding several rocks with panicked chirps. She managed to dodge most of them but got unlucky as the last one was about to crash down onto her before it suddenly stopped midair. With a loud howl, Chrysant slammed her paw onto the ground, though not as impressively as Tyrantrum had done. But with that slam, the rocks that had crashed to the ground wobbled, before flying forward and crashing into Tyrantrum.

The large Pokémon didn't seem to be troubled by the rocks crashing into it, but Sapphire still grinned. "Nice going, Chrysant, you've learned Rock Throw! Now, use the rocks to crush the enemy inside a tomb!" The rocks flying forward changed direction, now heading up to smash down on top of Tyrantrum, attempting to trap the Pokémon.

The Pokémon snorted, waving its head and breaking through several, before charging forward once more. It spun and swung its tail down, glowing with purple energy. His three Pokémon dodged back to avoid the attack before Spooks cackled and used Night Shade, a curtain of darkness extending from his body and slamming into Tyrantrum.

"What's a move that you know…? Oh, yeah. Bulldoze." Tyrantrum began rampaging, slamming its feet down as it sped forward. Inferno sped to a safe distance and Spooks faded away, but the ground rumbling underfoot prevented Cobalt from finding his balance long enough to dodge and he was subsequently trampled underfoot.

"Cobalt!" As Tyrantrum lifted its foot to continue rampaging, Cobalt rolled out groaning in pain, Endure keeping him conscious. "Gah… uh…" He looked through the movesets of his Pokémon to try and find some ace in the hole he could use, and he stopped on Spooks' Curse. "Rotom, what does Curse do?"

"Zzt, when used by non-Ghost-Typezz the Pokémon become stronger and more durable but are slower, and when used by Ghost-Typezz the Pokémon become weaker, but the opponent izz cursed to slowly lose vitality."

"Spooks, use it, use it!" Spooks did so, and his body flashed while his eyes turned red, and Tyrantrum glowed while its movements slowed.

"What a bother…"

Tyrantrum stumbled as pain visibly wracked it for the first time in the battle before Cobalt leaped up and slammed a Force Palm into the back of Tyrantrum's head. The dinosaur stumbled, and Cobalt gripped its head spikes to slam another attack down. Tyrantrum tried to throw him off before Spooks barfed out a Smog attack that surrounded the large Pokémon before Inferno swooped in and breathed out an Incinerate attack that lit up the poison and detonated it. Cobalt quickly leaped away as the explosion went off, and the Tyrantrum fell backward. "Take that… Ugh, I need a soda and a nap…"

Tyrantrum shifted and began getting back up, Curse still sapping his strength. "You do know that I still have more Pokémon, yeah? It's boring, but I could keep fighting, even if you beat Jawbreaker… But I don't see that happening. Jawbreaker." The boy shifted his arm, and Sapphire's throat dried up when he saw a Z-Power Ring revealed on the boy's wrist as his sleeve pulled up.

"Oh crap, everyone, back!" All of his Pokémon, including those not fighting Tyrantrum and instead keeping the Grunts from escaping or capturing any more Pokémon, began backing away. Their opponent shifted his stance, a brown gem glinting as he crossed his arms, before he squatted and flexed, his energy flowing into Tyrantrum, a Z forming over the Pokémon before the same brown aura surrounded it.

"Continental Crush." The Pokémon roared, throwing its head back and suddenly all the rocks in the area began flying up, alongside massive chunks of the ground. They began fusing high above them, becoming a massive slab of rock that looked to be the size of a house.

"Move!" Inferno and Blast easily escaped the radius of the attack. Spooks phased through it and Chrysant dug underground to hide. Cobalt just looked up at the falling boulder and groaned.

"I hate my life."

"Endure!" the rock impacted and shook the earth, falling apart shortly after landing. Cobalt was left in a crater, knocked out but not harmed any further due to the last minute usage of Endure. Chrysant dug back up, looking slightly injured from being partially crushed while underground, and growled at Tyrantrum as it stomped over. "Chrysant, get yourself and Cobalt out of there!"

"Jawbreaker, Crunch." Chrysant waited a moment, before grabbing Cobalt by the neck with her jaws and jumped away just as Tyrantrum chomped down. She tossed her head and launched Cobalt towards him, and he lifted his Luxury Ball to return his unconscious Pokémon.

"Damn, everyone, return!" His Pokémon all made their way to him, Tyrantrum still fighting even with Curse having been active for what felt like several hours at that point. "Damn, damn…" His eyes observed the various ranch Pokémon around them, several watching with nervous looks before his eyes slid down to his bracelet and he growled as he removed the Fightinium and replaced it with the Normalium. "Chrysant… I need you to distract them for a few seconds."

Chrysant lowered her form, all normal playfulness was gone from her form. "I've got this, Sapphy."

He nodded, glossing over his internal translation of her barks and growls. "Spooks. You know Poison Explosion? We're upgrading it."

"I'm all ears, Sapph."

Tyrantrum stomped down, looking down at the tiny puppy looking back up at her massive opponent without fear. The Admin fighting them raised an eyebrow as grey energy surrounded Chrysant, and looked slightly alert for the first time. "Two Z-Moves in one battle? That's pretty tiring you know. Sometimes too much trouble than it's worth."

Chrysant nor Sapphire acknowledged his words. "Chrysant, use Breakneck Blitz!"

"Get ready, you big meanie!" Chrysant slammed into Tyrantrum as it braced itself with the speed and force of a truck, tossing the Pokémon back several feet. Before it could recover, several dozen pillars of rock shot out of the ground and began impacting with the Pokémon, Chrsaynt dodging over, under, and between, constantly harassing the bigger Pokémon.

"Jawbreaker, stomp them already!" Tyrantrum snarled and began biting down on the pillars around it, dark energy leaking from its jaws. It tossed its head wildly in rage, finally landing a hit on Chrysant and throwing her hard into the ground. The rock underfoot shattered, but while most Pokémon would have been knocked out, her ability Vital Spirit kicked in, and she managed to get back up. Another pillar of stone impacted with Tyrantrum, and in a rage, the Pokémon kicked her away, tossing her to Sapphire. She rolled to a stop and he knelt, picking her up, before looking at them with dark eyes. "Stop before the rest of your Pokémon are hurt. Maybe hand them over too, they're pretty tough."

"Ha." he let out a humorless laugh. "No. I suggest that you stop though. For the same reason."

"You still think you can even handle the rest of my Pokémon?"

"Not on my own. But… I've set the field. And I have some friends." As Sapphire huffed from exhaustion after using two Z-moves one after the other, the Admin finally noticed that the ground around Tyrantrum was covered in a thick fog of poison, and Inferno, alongside several dozen Ponyta and Rapidash were preparing Fire-Type attacks. "Go! Toxic Armageddon!" All of the Fire-Types unleashed their attacks, Embers, Fire Spins, Fire Blasts, all aimed towards the poison.

"Jawbreaker, move!" The flammable poison went off like several tons of dynamite. Tyrantrum was obscured by thick smoke, and once it faded, its unconscious form was revealed, laying on the ground. The Admin silently returned the Pokémon, a chuckle escaping from him. "And of course, now you have backup…" His eyes danced as he observed the various ranch Pokémon now backing up Sapphire's team. They were weak, certainly… but they were numerous enough that it wouldn't matter. Death by a thousand cuts, as it was. There was a bright light and Inferno was hidden from view, and a larger Pokémon with a sleeker body and deeper coloring replaced it.

"Inferno, you've evolved! Ha! Do you really want to face our blazing spirits now?!"

"Heh. Alright." The Admin returned the Tyrantrum, turning away from them as he began chuckling. "Metallica." A metal bird that looked similar to a massive raven was suddenly in front of the Admin, and he climbed on its back, smirking at him. "You. You interest me. We'll be fighting again, and you'd better give me a full fight."

"We have some ways to go before we can take on your whole team," Sapphire cautiously said.

"Hmph. You'd better train then. Strong trainers to test myself against… that's what I live for. My name is Noct. Be ready next time we meet." He turned away and the metal bird took off, while Sapphire scowled.

"What an emo name."


Noct is a stupid name and whoever named him is probably emo.

Wait a minute.

In other news, Furret be walccing. God, that was a thing. I don't even know why I wrote that segment. I think my brain just shut down while I was typing and I remembered that internet meme so my fingers moved on their own. Anyway, I've got another Omake for this chapter. I've been writing some random ideas that come to me, and the ones that I like and won't be long enough for a segment in an actual chapter or just amuse me enough I put in a doc for Omakes. I might put in some more in the future.

This one came to me when I was reading Luvdisc's Pokémon entry.

Omake Name: The blessing of a Luvdisc

It lives in warm seas. It is said that a couple finding this Pokémon will be blessed with eternal love.


"Zzt, Luvdisc, the Rendezvouzz Pokémon! It livezz in warm seazz and if left on itzz own, it becomezz despondent, leaving itself open to attack. It izz said that a couple finding thizz Pokémon will be blessed with eternal love."

Sapphire blinked and looked at the end of his fishing line, where Luvdisc nibbled at the bait. "Couples will be blessed with eternal love…?"

"Zzt, That look on your face izz making me nervouzz…"

"Rotom, call Willow! I want to invite her fishing!"

"Zzt… Roger…"

"This is going to go horribly wrong. I can tell already."

Ω • Ω • Ω

This is really fun," Willow smiled, reeling in a Magikarp. She fed it some food and giggled as its mouth nibbled at her fingers, finding that the sensation tickled her. "Bye-bye, Magikarp!"

The Pokémon happily swam away, and Sapphire sighed as he reeled in his own Magikarp. "Yep. Fun." He fed his as well, before releasing it. He cast out the line again, scratching his head. "There's a lotta Magikarp here."

"Yeah… still, that doesn't make fishing any less fun!" Willow hummed as she sent her line out again, before twitching. "Oh… uh, excuse me, but it seems I have to go and find a restroom…"

"Ah, yeah, uh… no problem. I'll wait here." After she left, he grumbled. "Still no Luvdisc."

"You know, I think the 'couples' being described by the Pokédex were people already dating."

"No, I'm sure it meant a couple of people as well! It has to."

"Yeah, alright…" Cobalt yawned and watched as Sapphire reeled in another catch.

"Seriously, there has to be another—" he paused as a Luvdisc appeared at the end of his line. There was silence for a few seconds, as they both observed the heart-shaped fish before Cobalt snickered.

"Heh, does this mean we're blessed with eternal love, Sapphy?"

"Hey, I'm—!" Willow blinked as she came back to witness Sapphire choking out Cobalt while Cobalt elbowed him in the gut multiple times. "Uhh…"


So yeah, I hope y'all enjoyed it. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.

Sapphire:

-Riolu, Cobalt

-Litten, Claws

-Rockruff, Chrysant

-Charjabug, Storm

-Haunter, Spooks

-Noibat, Blast

-Talonflame, Inferno

-Seadra, Wave

-Rotom

-Eevee, Puffball

Willow:

-Espurr, Cream

-Rowlet

-Slowbro

-Grimer

-Murkrow

See y'all next time.