Draco: Okay, enough messing around with the foreshadowing. The stage is set, let's have some fun.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.


Ultra Kingdom - Devastated Land: Incomparable Power

"What are you doing still asleep?"

Oichi forced herself to sit up at Okuni's intrusion into her tent, shaking her head once she was upright. "I wasn't... sleeping," she insisted. "I just... wasn't awake." She rubbed at her brow. "Had a bit of a weird dream last night."

Okuni narrowed her gaze. "Weird dream, or bad dream?"

"No, weird dream," Oichi assured her. "Evia was wearing my bikini."

The wanderer giggled. "So, weird dream, or...?"

The healer turned bright red. "No, weird dream," she insisted again.

She stumbled out of the tent to find the others starting to pack theirs up. In the weeks since their split-up experiment, they'd limited their camp to the rock garden Ranmaru had found - so as to benefit from the grove of berry trees on its other side - and though the Kartana hadn't come after them very frequently while they remained on the sand, Oichi had to admit she would be glad to leave. The once beautiful waveforms of the sand were now trod upon with so many footsteps, blade marks, and attack aftermaths that she couldn't help but hope it would be restored to its former beauty in time.

Ranmaru handed Oichi a meal. "Here," he prompted. "The Cosmog are ready to open the gate."

Oichi accepted the food gratefully. "I suspected," she admitted.

"This one's gonna make nine," Gracia sighed. "And we've still got two missing Warriors to go."

"Only one of whom I'm terribly concerned about finding," Okuni admitted under her breath.

"Hey," Masanori argued, "Kotarō might be an asshat, but he's still a Warlord! I'd rather have him in Ransei than fed to beasts."

With an awkward shuffle, Oichi kept her attention on her meal.

"It's Warriors like him who thrive in chaos," Mitsunari insisted. "If Ransei's still getting visitors like you mentioned..."

"...he'd at least be able to help send 'em back where they came from," Kiyomasa finished. "Yeah, point."

Once everything was packed up, the Cosmog started to open the gate. After a moment, Type: Full lowered his head towards Oichi, opening his RKS slot; the healer accepted the Fire-type disc, slipping it into the empty case and putting it back in the bag.

"Good call," she praised. "Get it out ahead of time. Unless we run into another Ghost, you'll be fine on the offense if we don't get the chance to change you again."

"Are you so confident that we'll not run into another Ghost?" Ranmaru asked.

Oichi shook her head. "Ghosts aren't very common, you know."

"But Bugs who are Fighters aren't very common either," Gracia reminded her, "and we've already run into two beasts who were both."

With a sigh, Oichi turned towards the slowly-brightening seam. "Well, if we do find another Ghost," she told them, "you guys can always say 'I told you so' once we're in the clear."

"Fair enough."

It didn't take too much longer for the Cosmog to throw the gate wide; Gracia caught them before they could hit the ground and led the jump in, followed quickly by Gothitelle. The others weren't too far behind; Ranmaru and Lucario, Masanori and Krookodile, Kiyomasa and Haxorus, Mitsunari and Bisharp, Okuni and Volcarona, and finally Oichi and Full.

+x+x+x+

The environment on the other side made the trod-upon rock garden look lovely.

Dark clouds shrouded the skies, immediately crushing any hopes that this place would be pleasant. The place looked like a kingdom had built a massive city around the throne, and something had tried to destroy it all; structures were in varying states of disrepair, ranging from 'a hole in the wall and a bit of rubble inside' to 'what do you mean this used to be building', and in the distance, Oichi could see a castle that was in progressively worse shape going from right to left. Strong walls extended around everything, albeit with several holes in it of a few different sizes and altitudes, and about the only thing that seemed to be undamaged was a wooden arch on a path that seemed to lead to the castle.

"So, uh..." Masanori nudged Oichi lightly in the side. "Remember that first time when we marched on Yaksha?"

"You mean when it was full of Umbra Hearts?" Oichi asked.

Kiyomasa nodded unpleasantly. "I'm kinda missing it, too, right now."

Mitsunari shuddered. "Yeah, I'll take a kingdom of Dark Knights over this any day."

Gracia whimpered, rubbing her hands together to get psychic power to drape them.

"Any suggestions, Lady Oichi?" Okuni asked.

Oichi took a deep breath. "Let's... start by going towards that castle," she insisted. "The right side looks more or less intact. We might even find soft beds in there, it would make a nice change of pace."

Ranmaru turned to her uncertainly - and reacted to something. "Look out-!"

Surprising even herself, Gracia was the one who moved to stop it fastest. The figure had only just landed behind Oichi before the Nixtormer was standing between it and her; she bashed its arm with one fist, causing its owner to stumble back and kneel. A black-furred figure charged out of the rubble towards Gothitelle, but Full intercepted it in mid-motion, pinning it to the ground beneath his claws.

It was a Zoroark.

Oichi turned around, drawing her rapier, to find Kotarō kneeling there, trying to get feeling back in his right hand.

"You-!?"

The Yakshan Warlord raised his gaze. "Oichi of Dragnor." His voice was rougher than normal, as though he'd gone some time without speaking and hadn't drank anything recently. "Whenever did you learn to hold a sword?"

"Kotarō of Yaksha..." Oichi held the tip of her rapier to his chin, prompting Gracia to step back to give her move room. "You just tried to kill me from behind."

"And you found your way to this Alphasaken disaster," Kotarō countered, "and dragged half of Ransei's junior Warlords after you."

A bitter smirk rose on the healer's lips. "Of course we'd find you first," she muttered. "Why did I even entertain the hope."

Lucario stepped up to Zoroark, and Full waited until he was near enough before pulling his claws off of the Illusion Fox Pokémon. Oichi stepped back, but kept her rapier trained on Kotarō as he got to his feet. The claws that gripped the backs of his knuckles were much longer than those that had struck Oichi once before, but the way they were secured meant that motions as simple as seizing his opposite shoulder to try and provoke some feeling back into it wasn't hindered in any way.

"To be honest," Kotarō insisted, "I'm quite pleased to see familiar faces. Newmoon knows how long I've been here, with nothing but Pokémon that won't accept my Link no matter how many specimens I make the offer to."

"You've been trying to Link with the beasts of this place?" Ranmaru asked.

"Ha..." A smirk rose on Kotarō's face. "Beasts, you say? An apt moniker. They rampage through the streets, devouring all they can get their fangs on, and yet they never seem to run out of meals." He beckoned to Zoroark with his head. "We've been at a disadvantage if we try to fight them - guerilla tactics is the only way we can best them. We'd have fled this place ages ago, were there anything on the other side of those walls."

"Nothing?!" Okuni exclaimed.

Kotarō shook his head. "A layer of clouds so thick that vision cannot penetrate - and an absence beneath my feet when I try to take a step into them. All that's kept me going is the hope that something else will appear that I can face in a more rewarding battle. And look who arrives..."

Oichi reached her blade further forward, touching the tip to his chest. "If you put those claws on anyone - if you make any movement that even suggests you're going to attack us - I will chain you in that castle and leave you behind when we go."

The smirk fell from Kotarō's face. "You can depart this place?"

"The same way we got here," Oichi confirmed. "Just give us a few weeks."

Kotarō closed his eyes. "If you can ascend Infinity for a fairy tale, I can easily endure a finite period for a promise."

An ominous thud from nearby drew everyone's attention; Oichi turned towards the sound, although she kept her buckler facing Kotarō, and everyone else drew their weapons as well. The Yakshan, however, only leaned his head back in exasperation.

"Ha..." He angled his gaze towards the sound. "I know the welfare of the guest is the task of the host," he reprimanded, "but you could really leave me to my own devices for all of ten minutes."

Oichi glared at him for a fraction of a second before turning her attention back to the approach. "You'd know all about improper hospitality, wouldn't you?" she accused.

"The beasts of this place have waited on us pincer and claw," Kotarō proclaimed, "and seem to think it rude to have a guest carry his own weapons. Thank Evia on my behalf for teaching me the value of carrying spares."

Something broke through a sizeable building - a beast that looked like it could eat castle furniture whole. Its body was black and broad, possessing a vaguely triangular figure; its tail ended in a shape like the head of a mace, and no one doubted it had similar destructive capabilities. Its fangs were bright gold, jagged but closing into a solid surface; on either side, a flexible length ending in sharp pincers emerged from within its maw, and the entrance to its throat seemed to be lined with spiked arrayed vertically. Its feet were flat and clawed, and atop its head were a pair of arms that ended in three fingers each and a pair of horns that looked like they could pierce brick.

When it saw the the gathering of Warriors, it roared, fierce enough to shake the city around them.

Oichi's eyes swirled purple. "A dark dragon!" she warned.

Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at the beast before it could approach, hitting it between the eyes. Ranmaru drew his zanbato in defense, and Oichi drew her rapier and buckler as Haxorus charged towards the beast, dragon mist blazing around his limbs. Gothitelle took several steps back to avoid being under threat - she knew she was of no use against a Dark-type - and Bisharp and Krookodile made to charge its flanks while Haxorus was still bombarding it with Outrage.

Then the beast charged forward - and dragon mist surged across its body as it did so. Haxorus was thrown aside, and Krookodile and Bisharp had no chance to react before it slammed into them, knocking them both down. Oichi barely had time to register how close it was to her now before one of the beast's pincers lunged towards her; she moved her blade and guard before it as she stumbled back, hoping she would be out of reach or else be able to stop the blow.

The pincer closed on her rapier, just barely not seizing Oichi as well - and the blade shattered.

Oichi released the rapier in a panic as the beast tried to correct its grip, the pincer closing on the weapon's hilt - and her buckler as well. Its other pincer lunged towards Ranmaru, closing on his zanbato and bending the blade; then both withdrew towards the beast's maw, and their bounties were delivered into its mouth, whereupon its fangs closed and the sound of metal being shredded echoed out of its maw.

When they opened, its mouth was empty, and it roared again. Full charged at the beast, circling around it before it had the chance to bite him and raking his claws down its side; Volcarona leapt at the other side, twisting into a Fiery Dance. Lucario made to charge its fore to try and keep its attention on him, and Bisharp was coming up on its back before it twisted around with a blaze of dragon mist; the Pokémon were all thrown aside, and Lucario was bashed by the mace of its tail, tumbling across the ground.

Ranmaru had drawn his wrist-blades and was securing them on his bracelets as Lucario righted himself. "I've heard of gluttonous Pokémon," he observed, "but this beast has an appetite to put them all to shame."

Knowing it would mean next to nothing in self-defense, he took a combative stance anyways, and closed his fists.

And a flash of light emerged from within the grasp of his right hand.

Everyone started when a powerful, prismatic light shone from beneath Lucario's pack, and the beast's attention was drawn to him now. Ranmaru barely had time to glance at his hand before the same light emerged from beneath his glove, both intensifying so much as to reduce all to silhouettes; a crystalline light wrapped around Lucario, blotting him out completely before starting to crack.

The dome shattered, and the light died down.

Lucario had changed - a powerful, threatening change that struck awe into all the Warriors there. His aura sensors had grown longer, more flexible, waving in their motion; the cream fur on his torso had expanded, giving him a high collar and draping his tail like a cape. The black marks upon his fur had expanded, linking all his body together, and on the borders between black fur and blue fur were flowing lines of shining aura. The spikes on his wrists had angled forward onto the backs of his hands, with second, shorter spikes on his forearms; similar paired spikes had appeared on his legs and feet, and two more spikes protruded forward from the rings upon his shoulders, parallel with the one upon his chest.

He opened his eyes, and they shone orange with constant aura.

For a brief moment, Lucario looked over himself, amazed at what had happened; then he turned his attention back to the beast before them, and howled, his cry echoing with a force that sent hair and garments flapping in the outward gale. He charged forward, and when the beast made to charge at him in return, he leapt clean over the opponent. The beast had no opportunity to react before he landed at its side, and his fists charged forward, slamming a bombardment of the most rapid punches into its body, each no more than a tenth of a second from the last.

His transformation provoked the others into resuming their attack as well; Bisharp came up on the beast's other side, and twisted around to land a Night Slash across its hide. Krookodile came up behind it and Crunched its tail before he could be struck, and Volcarona leapt before it and blazed into a Fiery Dance. When the beast tried to attack them again, they all leapt aside; Lucario landed atop the wreckage of a building and hurled an Aura Sphere into its maw, and the projectile blast against it tongue as Haxorus came up and began to bombard it with Outrage once again. Full charged up on its side and slammed his claws down across it, and as the beast roared in protest Lucario leapt upon it, landing between its horns.

Another Aura Sphere appeared between his paws, and he raised it over his head and slammed it down atop the beast's head.

With one agonizing roar, the beast's strength was exhausted; its body went limp, its arms hanging at its sides and the pincers collapsing onto the ground. Its teeth closed, not with the force of a bite but as a consequence of its body making keeping them open the difficulty, and Lucario leapt from atop it and hit the earth before it so hard as to crack the pavement beneath him. After a moment, a softer glow washed over his body; when it faded, the changes that had washed over him had vanished, and he glanced over himself in uncertainty.

Kotarō was the one who broke the silence. "What in the Alpha's name was that?"

"Holy Distortion that was so awesome!" Gracia shrieked.

Okuni turned to Ranmaru. "How did you do that?"

Ranmaru shook his head. "I have no idea," he proclaimed, his voice at a high pitch wrought of terror and relief, "but I don't think it could have been more fortunately timed."

"Let's take it as a blessing and leave it at that, for now," Oichi insisted. "Kotarō, have you been to that castle?" She pointed to the half-broken citadel.

"It's gate, at least," Kotarō replied, "but I've been unable to open it."

"Well, one Warrior and one Pokémon is only so much strength," Oichi observed. "Lead the way there, we'll see if we can't brute-force it." Then, drawing her staff from her back; "And if you give us anything resembling trouble, I'm going to bury you under one of these buildings."

Kotarō shook his head. "You offer me escape from this wretched place," he observed. "I've every reason not to anger you..."

He and Zoroark started to lead the way through the city. "...before that time comes."

Gracia came up to Oichi as she started to follow suit. "You should probably switch Full's disc," she suggested. "While we're not fighting any beasts."

"Good call," Oichi praised, seizing the bag full of discs; after a moment, she found the disc labelled RKS Fairy Memory Program.


Draco: Ultra Beasts and Mega Evolution and Fairy-types, oh my. Here's the battle info for the new Ultra Beast.

Guzzlord
-Range: 2
-Move: Dragon Rush
-Ability: Beast Boost | Tenacity