Chapter 28: Strike me Down!

"Here, you eat up as well." Sapphire made sure to push some food towards Gible who began eating alongside Cobalt and Spirit. "I'm sure you're tired, so you can rest with us while we keep watch, and go on your way after we leave." Gible said nothing, but nodded his thanks and continued to eat. "So, while you guys were out doing whatever and I was waiting for y'all, the team got some more training in."

"Yeah?" Cobalt asked through a mouthful of food. "Anybody learn some new moves or whatever?"

"I think Spooks got Thunder Punch down with the help of Storm, so he has all three elemental punches. I also came up with a new combo move too, we have to make a name for it though, so you can help me come up with some stuff."

"We came up with a pretty good combo move too, though Gible probably was knocked out after the first hit, so it might've been overkill… Spirit totally got into it too, we were doing the whole back and forth callout thing—"

"Silence, Jackal!"

Sapphire snorted. "Well, at least you two are getting along better."

"Yeah, we had the classic heart-to-heart in a perilous situation episode, so now we're all hunky-dory."

"And it was all at the expense of Gible here." He chuckled as Gible nodded blandly, and began petting the shark. "Sorry 'bout that, Gible."

"The heathen attacked us first and attempted to eat us, I see no reason to apologize," Spirit huffed.

"That's true too, I suppose. Do Pokémon eat each other often?" All the Pokémon stared at him. "What? It's a valid question!"

"Sapph, I'm pretty sure most Pokédex entries talk about Pokémon eating each other, like the Pidgey line eating Caterpie when they're hungry… of course, Pokémon only eat other Pokémon when we can't find normal animals to eat, but still."

"Huh. Well, alright then. I wonder what some Pokémon taste like?" Gible narrowed his eyes and shifted away from him while Cobalt just snorted.

"Anyway, anything else happen while we were gone?"

"Eh, not much, really. Willow tried to find out more about the Grand Trial, turns out the guy who does it moves around a lot, but once you've completed all the Trials he finds you himself."

"Weird. And creepy."

"Yep. Another thing…" Sapphire removed his Z-Power Ring and showed his wrist, which had blackened and cracked skin.

"Holy crap, the hell is this?!"

"It's something I found on my own. Because I wasn't exactly injured by that avalanche I didn't need extensive care, or my ring removed, right? Anyway, while we were practicing with a Z-Move, pain shot through my wrist and I took off the bracelet to find this."

"What does it mean?" Spirit questioned with some concern audible.

"I used five Z-Moves at once to pull off Z-Cataclysm, Z-Moves use aura for power, so just using one or two Z-Moves can tire someone out for a good amount of time, because aura is the power of the soul. I guess this is just the consequence of using five at once."

"You aren't using any more than two Z-Moves a day from now on," Cobalt cut in.

"Alright, alright. I was thinking of making some kind of limit like that for myself anyway, or at least until my wrist heals. If it can heal. Anyway, Willow's been staying at the Aether House with Lillie at night and bringing me supplies during the day while I camped out here, waiting, but the guy still hasn't shown up."

"She's been staying at the Aether House? Is that a good idea?"

"Hm…" Sapphire sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know. The Aether House is just an orphanage funded and run by the Aether Foundation, and there are never any real Aether Employees there, but I still don't feel right leaving Willow in a place founded by Lusamine."

"You suspect her of evil-doings because of the Jackal's aura sensing capabilities, correct?"

"Yeah, her aura was all slimy and gross… that Faba guy too. When we first met I didn't look too deeply, and didn't notice because his aura almost seems normal."

"Why's that?"

"I think it's because he's so haughty that he believes he cannot be wrong, and that means his aura copied that."

"Huh. You can be so haughty that your soul copies your fakeness. Well, either way, I don't trust them." Cobalt and Spirit nodded, while Gible just continued to eat.

Once they were all finished Sapphire returned all his supplies to his bag, while Spirit happily allowed herself to return to her ball and Cobalt sighed as he lay down inside Sapphire's bag, zipping himself up. The boy chuckled at his Partner's actions, before turning to Gible. "So, guess you'll be hanging out here in Haina Desert, huh?"

"...Gi, gi ble."

"Zzt, Gible izz saying that he'd prefer not to stay anywhere near Haina Desert right now."

"Yeah, fair enough, I wouldn't either. So, how about this? Want to stay with me and my team until you find a place that you'd like to stay?" Gible looked at him suspiciously, before looking to Volt. The Rotom nodded happily, and Cobalt raised a thumbs up from where he lounged in Sapphire's bag, causing Gible to sigh and accept his proposal. "Alright! Welcome (temporarily) to the team!"

"How did you use parentheses while talking?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm just that awesome."

Cobalt snorted, and they began the trek out of the desert. Willow had gone back to town earlier than them, so now they just had to catch up. As they walked along Cobalt perked up, and tilted his head back. "By the way, Tapu Bulu wants to meet with you after we're done with something about the swallower of the sun and moon."

"…Yeah, even with us understanding each other perfectly I didn't understand half of that. The hell is the 'swallower of the sun and moon'?"

"Man, don't ask me." Sapphire snorted at his Pokémon's answer and kept walking.

"Well, I guess we'll find out eventually. Of course, I am a bit concerned considering that the Legendaries of Alola are the incarnations of the sun and moon, and I assume they are what's gonna be swallowed."

"Yeesh, I didn't want to piss off Tapu Bulu, don't even get me started on them."


Seeing as how it was near night when they exited the desert, they decided to sleep in the Tapu Village Pokémon Center. The night was calm and peaceful, as was the next morning, for a short while at least. Sapphire and Cobalt made their way towards the Aether House, aiming to meet with Willow and train their teams together until they saw some kind of commotion.

Willow and Hau were speaking to each other with determined looks on their faces while Lillie stood nearby, concerned. "Howdy, y'all, what's going on?"

"Team Skull stole some of the Aether Houses' Pokémon!" Hau began explaining as he waved his arms around, while Willow nodded.

"They waited until all of us Trainers were out of the building before they attempted anything."

Goblin muttered something from the opposite shoulder that Cobalt sat on, while the jackal scoffed. "Of course they did. Don't worry about who they are, just a team of thugs."

Sapphire scowled and crossed his arms. "Cowards. Do we know where they are? We can try and get them back before they do whatever they do with their stolen Pokémon."

"Team Skull stays mostly in a place called Po Town, across the water and to the north around the end of Route Sixteen."

"Crap, I don't have a Pokémon that could carry me across the water… I could try and switch a Pokémon out for Mimic and have them become a large-Water Type maybe…"

"There's no need, Acerola told us about someone on Route Fifteen who could register Ride Pokémon to our Pagers."

"Alright, then let's get going!"

"The thing is…" Hau shook his head, "They said that if we're gonna try and get Yungoos back, only you and Willow can go, but that's totally unfair!"

Sapphire scoffed. "Oh please. We've gotten stronger since the last time we fought Plumeria and I fought Noct. As long as me and Willow stick together they won't be able to take us down easily. Gible, you should probably stay here, I don't want to bring you into the middle of this." Gible shook his head, saying something back.

"He says he'd like to see if he can help, as thanks to me and Spirit for helping him get out of the illusion in Haina Desert."

"Alright, sounds good to me. Just make sure to stay back if things get too dangerous.

Lillie looked at them with worry before nodding. "Good luck, both of you."

"See ya, Lillie."

"Alright, stay safe, Lillie." They all nodded to each other and he and Willow the building's premises, going towards the beach that led to Route Fifteen. Upon reaching the beach they looked around for the person that Acerola had told Willow and Hau about and found an odd-looking man wearing white clothing with black spiked up hair staring out at the sea. The two Trainers looked at each other, but with no one else on the beach, they approached the man.

"Hm?" Hearing their approach the man turned to them and looked at them with half-closed eyes. "And what would two Trainers be doing out here on this lonely beach?"

"Excuse me, are you the man that Acerola knows, who can register some water Pokémon to our Pagers?"

"Yes, that would be me… tell me, what reason do you have for needing such Pokémon?"

"We're going after Team Skull."

The man turned his gaze from Willow to him and stared silently for several seconds. "Interesting… Do you all know the saying that 'eyes are the windows to the soul'? What things I can see within you, young ones… Very well." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin, holding it out towards them. "I will flip this coin. Heads? Or tails?"

Willow and he looked at each other in confusion. "Sir, this is rather important…" The man just quirked an eyebrow. Sapphire eventually sighed. "Alright, whatever, heads then!"

"Sapph, don't just accept a gamble like that out of nowhere!" Willow scolded, in her confident persona. "Besides, with how he's holding that coin, physics will determine that it'll land on tails. But that doesn't matter anyway, sir, we really-"

He suddenly spoke up, interrupting Willow while changing his answer. "Neither, actually." As the man smirked at him, he kept his gaze cool. "There's some kind of trick to this, right? This is some kinda test, and those aren't left up to luck."

Without any further words the man tossed the coin into the air, but it seemingly vanished midair. "My my… I had intended for my Skarmory to catch it midair and vanish with it. It seems that what I saw in your eyes was correct. You hold a facade of rowdiness, underneath which is your true intelligence…"

"How fast was that Skarmory, that we couldn't even see it?" Willow whispered.

"A loss is a loss. The Pokémon I am registering to your Pagers is Sharpedo, strong and fast enough to punch through any obstacles in your way. Some extra advice- I have seen several Team Skull Grunts out and about… I suggest watching your backs while you make your way towards their town."

"Because of course there are."

"We'll make do." Willow looked out at the water as two Sharpedo wearing harnesses approached, allowing the Trainers to get onto their backs. Putting on their Riding Gear would have taken too long, so they just rode atop the Pokémon in their normal outfits. Gible looked nervous at the water beneath them and hung onto Sapphire tightly. They began riding towards the north, bouncing along the choppy waves as the odd man watched them go. "We should strategize as we go. From what I can tell, Team Skull doesn't exactly have one Typing that they specialize in."

Sapphire nodded at her words. "That means we should go in with varied team composition. Luckily, there's a Pokémon Center on the next route that we can switch our teams around in. Of course, that simply means I'll have the hardest time choosing a team. I have the most variation, in both Typings and fighting styles."

Willow acknowledged him with a nod, "Then it seems we'll be relying heavily on your large team."

"Yo, Slowpoke, Water Gun!" Sapphire coughed as a blast of water slammed into his face. Two Team Skull Grunts were sitting on one of the small islands that littered the water Route, throwing gang signs at them. "Yo, you're off to our home base, right? You ain't getting there as long as we're here!"

"Chinchou, electrify them, Electro Ball!" Chinchou popped out of her ball and fired the sphere of electricity while still midair, before diving into the water. The Slowpoke and Skull Grunt yelped, while the other three out a Pokéball.

"Magikarp, make some moves, yo!" All three Trainers stared deadpan at the flopping fish before Chinchou blasted it with another Electro Ball to knock it out. "Yo, that's a bummer."

"What even was your plan?"

"Yo, don't look at me."

"We should keep moving," Willow interrupted. Their Sharpedo continued to swim forward, smashing through small rocks while Chinchou followed underwater.

The remainder of the route continued in this way, with multiple Grunts trying to halt their progress. "Damn, the heck is with all these Grunts?!"

"Is a singular Yungoos so important to them that they'd send out so many Grunts in an attempt to stall us in this way."

"Whatever, then we'll plow through an infinite number of Grunts to get to Po Town! Just watch us!" The Sharpedo underneath him seemed encouraged by his yell and blasted forward. Willow watched them go, before chuckling.

"Let's not get left behind, Cream, Sharpedo."

Right!

"Shar!"


"Tch, fall back, yo!" The Grunts recalled their Pokémon and ran, their feet thudding against the wooden walkways that were suspended above the patches of ruby flowers making up Ula'ula Meadow.

"You better run, or face the wrath of Team Solar!" Sapphire scoffed and returned Blast while Cream jumped back to Willow's side. "Come on Willow, let's keep-"

"Ah, it is you two!" Faba walked out of the mist that plagued the meadows, stroking his goatee. "Where might you two be off to?"

"Po Town, to face down Team Skull," Willow answered before he could come up with something, remembering his discussion with Cobalt.

Faba looked completely unsurprised, yet attempted to sound like he was, something that made Sapphire and Cobalt narrow their eyes. "Oh, is that so? You're facing off against those ruffians? Such awful thugs, tormenting Pokémon for no good reason…" The man shook his head in despair while Sapphire just narrowed his eyes. Faba continued to go on a tangent about his greatness, while Willow began to tap her foot impatiently, not even her politeness holding up in the face of so much haughtiness. "Anyway, do try and stay safe."

With that, he walked off, and the two Trainers continued to make their way through the meadow. Previously defeated Grunts that had run off kept coming back with more Pokémon and slowing them down even more, using the fog and flowers to hide. "There is some damn enemy spawner nearby, I just know it."

"Or they simply have a Grunt or higher-level fighter whose Pokémon can heal."

"That too." They recommenced their journey to Po Town, eventually reaching Route Sixteen. However, when they stepped out into the route they were greeted with raindrops splattering down on them. "Rain?"

"Ah, for some reason it seems to be eternally raining on Route Sixteen… Nobody knows why, and it's the reason a heavy fog always persists over Ula'ula meadow."

"Great, my Fire-Types will be weaker in this rain… We'll just have to work around that. We can try out that new move Storm and I came up with."

"Just make sure not to let your guard down, Grunts will be everywhere on this route," Willow responded. She was quickly proven right when another pair of grunts appeared, with an Alolan Rattata and Grimer.

"Speak of the devils and they shall appear. Willow! Double Battle Catchphrase!"

"Do we have-"

"Hemlock, I require your writing vines!"

"Um… Lycanroc, I require your earthly power?"

"Wha- Willow, that was a bit too on the nose…" Once the battle was finished they continued on, eventually seeing the town in the distance. Well, they would have, if a massive wall wasn't in the way. Outside the entrance to the town, two Grunts stood, staring at nothing in boredom. Willow looked to Sapphire who furrowed his brow and nodded back, serious.

The Grunts looked over as they approached, and the male raised an eyebrow. "Yo, what's up? You wanna join Team Skull, and get all corrupt?"

"Whoa, hold on, is that a Z-Power Ring? You want to laugh at the Island Challenge failures?! If you've come to make fun of us we'll make you go flying like you've got wings!"

"Dang, and I was going to offer you two lollipops if you let us in," Sapphire snorted as he threw his arm forward, letting his Partner run down it. "Cobalt!"

"Cream!"

"Pawniard!"

"Scraggy!"

Two Pokémon popped out of pokéballs while Cream and Cobalt darted forward. Paw Kars was a small red and black Pokémon covered in blades, while Scraggy was a yellow lizard-like Pokémon with loose, shedding skin that trailed behind it. "Twin Aura Sphere on Pawniard!"

"Magical Leaf!"

"Swords Dance!"

"Headbutt!" As Cobalt powered up two balls of aura and launched them towards Pawniard, but the Pokémon jumped to the side and began slicing through the leaves launched at Scraggy by whirling around and letting its blades cut through the plants. Scraggy then jumped forward and attempted to Headbutt Cream, only for Cobalt to dash between them and grabbed the lizard, slamming it into the ground with a flare of a Force Palm.

Thanks! Cream then unleashed a burst of noise as she used Disarming Voice, throwing both Pawniard and Scraggy back. They scrambled to their feet, but upon seeing that Cobalt had disappeared smirked at Cream. She simply smiled and pointed upwards, where her Cobalt was soaring downwards surrounded by fire.

"Hell Wheel!" When he crashed down onto Pawniard the Pokémon was barely able to handle the attack, until Cobalt kicked with his other leg and launched Pawniard into Scraggy and towards Cream. The Psychic-Type covered her paw in Dark-Type energy and unleashed a Sucker Punch that impacted with Scraggy's back and threw both enemy Pokémon to the earth, which finally knocked the two Pokémon out.

"Damn, yo, they're on a whole other level!" The Grunts returned their Pokémon, running into the town through a small metal door embedded in the large wall.

"Nicely done, you two."

"So, you ready?"

"I would hope so… it will be a hard fight, but if we utilize strategy well I believe we will have a chance."

"Heh, well, I'll leave that to you. Just point me at what you need me to break!" He smirked and pounded his fists together while Willow nodded at his words. Gible raised an eyebrow and Cobalt pat him on the shoulder.

"Just try and get used to this."

"Hey, you two. You aren't thinking of going in there, are you?" Both Trainers jumped around a new voice, and a man with deep bags under his eyes and wearing a police uniform walked up to them. "You sure you've thought this through?"

"Oh please, I never think things through. You've gotta act, trust and follow your gut and heart!"

"Is that why you drink from glow sticks?"

"They're nutritious."

"I ain't even gonna get involved in this conversation…"

"They are the opposite of nutritious."

"Either way, we're ready to take on, and take down Team Skull."

The man shrugged. "Well, I won't ask why. Everyone's got their own reasons for what they do. Like me. Well, if you fail, I'll make sure your remains get to your loved ones."

"I wouldn't expect us to fail so soon, Gramps!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't underestimate Team Solar."

They are rather tenacious.

"Sir, you're a Trainer, are you not? Why not assist us?" Sapphire raised an eyebrow at what Willow said, only to then notice the Z-Crystal hanging from the man's neck.

"Sure, I might. Let's just say I want to see how well you two manage on your own first."

"Well, prepare to be amazed. Come on, let's get Yungoos back!"

The man watched them run into the town, with the door shutting behind them. The first thing they realized was that the rain almost seemed to be falling harder within the town. The place was small, only a few houses to either side of the main road, which had a few trucks sitting broken down on it. There was also a Pokémon Center nearby, but there was no light shining through the windows. In fact, it seemed like nothing in the town had electricity.

"Creepy."

"So, how do we go about this?"

I sense some minds nearby, in hiding.

"Well, Team Skull were waiting outside their town all along the routes to slow us, correct? It's reasonable to assume they'd do the same here, within the town. Though why they wanted to slow us, I don't know. Perhaps to tire us? But they could still have a high chance of defeating us had we been in top form…"

"Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi! Enough of that! No doubting ourselves!"

Willow smiled while the two Pokémon nodded, "Right, of course. Well, if more Team Skull Grunts are waiting to slow us and weaken us…" her voice trailed off and she began smiling. "Then one of us could sneak around to try and find Yungoos…"

"While the other plays the distraction," Sapphire finished with a smirk.

"Exactly."

"Well well, it looks like we found the perfect role for me. Go, once the action starts sneak past and begin looking for Yungoos."

"Alright. Stay safe."

"You too."

"Stay determined," Cobalt advised Cream, who nodded back at the Pokémon she looked up to as an older brother.

You too!

Willow made to walk away before she looked back at him with a conflicted expression. She placed her hand over his mouth then leaned forward and kissed her hand, leaving it to be the only separator between their lips.

She leaned back and smiled through her luminescent blush. "F-For luck." She then ran to a hiding place while Sapphire stared at nothing, Cobalt snickering on his shoulder. Sapphire suddenly climbed onto a nearby truck, causing Cobalt to yelp as it shifted under them, the metal holding it together slightly rusting and broken.

"ALRIGHT, TEAM SKULL! I'VE COME FOR YUNGOOS, STRIKE ME DOWN! IF YOU DARE!"

"Well, that's one way to make a distraction."

A couple of Grunts jumped out of hiding places in shock at his sudden screaming, before deciding to just go along with it and attack. "Yo, you made a mistake comin' here!"

The rain splattering down on Sapphire didn't bother him at all, and he simply grinned wildly as he pointed his finger to the sky. "IF THAT'S WHAT YOU TRULY BELIEVE, THEN SEE IF YOU STILL THINK THAT ONCE YOU'VE HAD YOUR BUTTS KICKED BY THE MAN WHO WAS JUST KISSED BY HIS FUTURE GIRLFRIEND!"

Willow groaned from her hiding place and buried her face in her hands as she blushed even harder.

"COME FORTH, AND WREAK HAVOC!" He tossed four Pokéballs and his Rotomdex into the air, releasing all of his Pokémon bar Chinchou, who had nowhere to swim. Blast, Metang, Puffball, and Aegis appeared, while Volt exited the Rotomdex while high in the air, and Sapphire pointed to the sky. "VOLT, UNLEASH OUR NEWEST MOVE! RAIJIN NO NAMIDA!"

Volt unleashed a blast of electricity into the sky, and while nothing happened for several seconds as the Grunts sent out their Pokémon, everyone suddenly felt a tingle suddenly go down their spines. The rain falling from the sky was now tinted yellow and supercharged with electricity, while lightning flashed across the sky. "Bear witness to a new weather condition, Team Skull!" Cobalt, caught up with Sapphire's yelling, grinned. "This is… Thunderstorm!"

Team Skull and their Pokémon visibly cringed as the electrified rain splattered on them, letting Sapphire's various Pokémon get in several hits during the beginning of the battle. "Yo, why ain't your Pokémon affected by this?!"

Metang tapped a small device that was located above his translator. Upon further inspection, each of Sapphire's Pokémon had one, including Sapphire himself hanging around his neck. Of course, Gible didn't have one since his Ground-Typing gave him immunity to the electricity. "I purchased a bunch of Cell Batteries for cheap when me and Storm first came up with this move… and it looks like they work perfectly!"

"Wait, you didn't test to see if these batteries would protect us?" Blast asked nervously.

"Nah. I mean, if they could take an attack from Volt and Storm, I'm sure they could handle some electrified rain."

"…You do remember that I'm weak to Electricity and if this didn't work I'd be in serious trouble?"

"He most likely forgot about such a fact. I calculate a 97% chance he did so."

"Shut it! Puffball, Swift!" As Sapphire and his team distracted the Grunts, Willow made her way along the side of the town. The houses were all empty, so she made her way directly to the large mansion towards the end of the closed-in town. Cream made sure to put up a psychic barrier around them, so the electrified rain wouldn't hit them.

An explosion shook the ground and she looked back to see a pillar of fire rising in the distance, and shook her head. If he kept distracting them with such flashy attacks the entire town might go down by the time he finished. Movement drew her eye and she threw a Pokéball forward to let out the Pokémon inside as a beam of psychic energy flew towards her. "Midnight, I require your assistance!"

Her Lycanroc jumped from his ball and blocked with his arms before he landed on the ground and snarled menacingly at the Drowzee and its Trainer. The Grunt smirked at her, "Bonjour, yo, I'm a Grunt hailing from Kalos!"

Willow simply chuckled and placed a hand on her hip. "Un compatriote français? Salutations, mais j'ai peur de devoir passer à travers toi."

The Grunt grinned back. "J'adorerais te voir essayer!" Midnight suddenly surged forward and clawed at Drowzee, who countered by unleashing a Confusion attack. Midnight was tossed back and he fell to all fours, digging trenches in the gravel path to stop himself. Drowzee readied themself for more attacks, flinching slightly as the charged rain continued to pour, while Midnight just ignored it thanks to his Rock-Typing.

"Midnight, Éclate Griffe!" Midnight's claws suddenly grew slightly larger, longer, and sharper, before the werewolf tore forward and began slashing at Drowzee. The Psychic-Type fell back and belched Poison Gas in an attempt to get Midnight to back off. Instead, Midnight completely ignored the poison and dove through it, slamming his paws into the ground to send pillars of rocks up into the air.

"Éboulement!" The rocks flying high into the air were suddenly pulled back down forcibly, crushing Drowzee. The Grunt scowled and returned his Pokémon, backing away.

"Tu es plus difficile que je ne le pensais…"

"Maintenant, mettez-vous de côté, s'il vous plaît." Willow smiled and returned Midnight, hurrying past the Grunt.

Was there really any reason to have that whole battle in French?

"It's not like there are any other Kalosians around." Willow continued to sneak through the town, the ground shaking again as Sapphire's Pokémon let off some powerful attack as she heard him screaming in the distance.

"ZANKOKU NA TENSHI NO TĒZE! WE SHINE BRIGHTER THAN THE STARS THAT BATHE THIS GALAXY! ANGEL'S RECKONING!"

"What is he screaming about now…?" She ignored that, having finally reached the mansion. It didn't look any worse off from the other houses in the town, except for some scaffolding and a broken wall on the upper floor. The main gate to the shady house was sealed shut, so Willow made her way to the side and crawled through a small muddy hole underneath a hedge.

She found herself by a broken and empty pool, besides some rainwater and scum at the bottom of it. She crept through the yard of the mansion, seeing several Grunts running into the mansion with wounded Pokémon. Well, Sapphire and Team Solar are certainly doing a number on them, Cream drily noted.

Willow nodded along, before creeping towards a broken window. She looked through it, checking for any Grunts, before pushing it up and crawling through. The room was empty save for a few broken beds, and she crept along to the door at the other end, peeking through. She saw that the inside of the house was trashed, but not as bad as she thought it'd be.

The walls were splotched with paint here and there and boxes lay around in random places, but one side of the mansion did seem a bit more trashed with tables and chairs broken and blocking a hallway. She looked up and saw a stairway leading to a second floor, one side covered with a broken chandelier. She bit her lip, knowing that none of her Pokémon would be useful for masking her presence like Spooks could for Sapphire, but, seeing as no Grunts were in sight, she quickly opened the door and snuck forward, crouching as fast as she could towards the stairs.

She began climbing, Cream jumping up after her before she heard floorboards creak as someone approached. She froze, unsure what to do, and saw a Grunt run down towards the stairs from the upper floor. She looked around for anything that could conceal her presence but seeing nothing she just steeled herself and prepared for battle, Cream copying her. Neither of them noticed as the Pokémon hidden within her shadow flashed its eyes, and the shadows around them lengthened until they covered the Trainer and her Partner, and the Grunt didn't even notice them as she jumped down the stairs and ran outside.

"Wha…" Willow blinked and looked at the Grunt as they ran outside, before turning to Cream who was just as confused. "I guess she was so focused on getting out there to fight Sapph that she didn't even notice us?"

Maybe? Who knows?

They continued to the second floor, looking around. "Yo, all those Pokémon are still in the storage room, yeah?"

Willow quickly hid behind a box and watched as two Grunts discussing something exited a nearby room. "Yeah, yo, Guzma's got that Yungoos with him in his room, but all the other Pokémon are still there."

"Good, me and the others worked our asses off for a lotta them! Hell, I even bagged some of 'em Shinies myself!"

"Yo, seriously?!"

"Yeah! 'pparently, whoever we're selling to wanted some Shiny horse, but when we couldn't grab it, Guzma had us goin' all around the islands to grab and steal whatever Shinies we could grab! Tch! They're pretty strong, some of 'em at least, why do we gotta get rid of all of 'em?"

"It's like ya said! 'Cause apparently we'll be loaded and set for life with this batch!" The Grunts wandered away, and Willow crept forward. It looked like even with most of the Grunts being tasked with slowing them down, there was still a skeleton crew at the mansion. But, what they had been talking about interested her… She knew that Team Skull were thugs who stole Pokémon, but she assumed they used most of the ones they stole… why were they selling so many 'strong ones' as that Grunt said?

She paused, before turning. There weren't that many rooms on the second floor, and presumably not that many on the bottom floor. Sapphire could probably hold out for a while longer distracting the Grunts… "Cream, let's find that storeroom."

Right!


Guzma scowled as Noct slept on the small couch in his room, snoring away like the lazy bum he was. Whatever… He could hear the explosions in the distance, so those two Trainers were probably on their way. Yungoos, being guarded by a Grunt, hissed nervously.

The door opened and he made to yell at whatever Grunt was coming to disturb him, only to blink as he realized it was one of the Trainers. He processed the information, before chuckling for several moments. "Well, one's a distraction, and the other came right here… Well played, girlie!"

The girl simply glared at him, the Meowstic by her side glaring as well. "So, you're Guzma."

"Hell yeah I am, the big bad boss that beats you down and beats you down and never lets up! Big bad Guzma!"

"Hmph. I'm here for Yungoos."

He began laughing after twitching at her casual dismissal, "Man, you really came all this way for a little Pokémon like that?! You people need to learn to mind your own business and watch your own Pokémon! That's pretty messed up!" The girl simply continued to stare him down, grabbing a Pokéball from her belt. "You know what you do with a machine that's messed up? You give it a good smack! Hey, sometimes they just get smashed, but what can you do? NOCT!"

His underling yawned and got off the couch, looking towards him and then the girl. "…Tch. Where's Sapphire?"

"Unfortunately, your opponent is me. I hope you're ready."

"Really? Why are you saying that? Even if you somehow beat me, Guzma is right here… Man, whatever…" Noct got off his ass and stretched. "Y'know, most of my Pokémon are too big to fight in here… what a pain." He sighed, grabbing an Ultra Ball. "Vesuvius, ready yourself for battle."

Noct's Coalossal appeared from its ball, heating up the room immensely as its furnace-like body glowed brightly. It roared at the girlie, and she simply stared back without flinching, causing him to scoff. "Orion, I require your assistance." A Dartrix popped out of one of the girl's Pokéballs, and Guzma began laughing.

"Man, what kinda idiot are you? You're at a complete disadvantage here!"

"Typing doesn't matter if you can't hit your opponent." The Coalossal surged forward and the girl's Pokémon shot out of the way with incredible speed, flapping about the room. Noct's Pokémon smashed through the wall of his room and into the second floor of the building, but Guzma didn't care all that much. After all, they'd be leaving soon anyway…

The Dartrix sped out of the room so it could get some more maneuverability in the larger room, with the girlie running after them and Noct following lazily. He sat back in his chair, grabbing a Buginium and spinning it in the air as Yungoos hissed weakly next to his Grunt. "Oh quiet down. I don't care for a weakling like you…"

"Orion, Razor Leaf!" Orion swopped down and unleashed a flurry of feathers from his wings, each glowing with Grass-Type energy. Vesuvius roared and glowed, firing a jet of flame from its mouth and incinerating the attack. Orion scowled and sped past the Pokémon, easily dodging it as it tried to grasp him. The large Pokémon had a clear advantage in power and Typing, but if it couldn't hit him then he'd win.

"Tar Shot." Black blobs shot out of Vesuvius' mouth, and Orion smirked as best he could with a beak as he easily dodged them. "Rapid-fire mode."

"Rapid wha-" The tar flying from Vesuvius' mouth suddenly multiplied, and Orion yelped as he ducked under a shot before another nailed him square in the breast. "That's cheating, no rapid-fire tauroscrap!"

"Orion, Tar Shot slows you while also making you more vulnerable to fire, stay on the defensive and find a way to get that tar off!" Vesuvius stomped forward and launched several of the coal chunks sticking out of its back at him, and Orion quickly used Shadow Sneak, vanishing into the shadows around him. He made his way into Vesuvius' shadow, but the Pokémon was seemingly expecting him as they suddenly turned and tried to crush him while using Heat Crash.

Orion simply snickered, knowing that most Pokémon would expect a sneak attack after seeing an opponent use Shadow Sneak, and used Feather Dance. The feathers that flew from his breast carried with them the tar that slowed him, allowing him to duck between Vesuvius' legs just barely in time to dodge the Heat Crash, all while lessening the Pokémon's future attacks.

The Heat Crash proved too much for the wooden floor, and the Pokémon quickly crashed to the floor below, all while Orion charged up a wing with Grass-Type energy to unleash a Leaf Blade. "Orion, wait!" Surprised, he flapped his wings to slow and ascend away from the Pokémon, but Vesuvius suddenly rolled around and unleashed a gout of Flamethrower up at him.

He flew away and felt the edges of his wings get clipped by the fire, but managed to fight through the pain and get away from the main blast. "Damn, surprised me… guess even a Pokémon that large can be fast sometimes."

"Orion, it won't work very well in here, but attempt to use Synthesis while your opponent is trapped on the lower floor!"

He nodded, landing on a banister and attempting to restore some energy. He was inside, during a rainstorm, so it was likely the closest you could get to no sunlight at all besides it being nighttime or deep inside a cave, but he at least got a little energy back. Several blobs of tar suddenly flew towards him, and he quickly lifted off from the railing to shoot into the air, avoiding the blobs easily. "Eat leaves!"

He launched another Razor Leaf attack, but they were simply burnt up by another Flamethrower attack. However, while the flames blocked everyone's sight he ducked into a Shadow Sneak attack, coming out of the shadows right beneath Vesuvius to unleash a double Leaf Blade. The Pokémon snarled in pain and he grinned as he tried to flee, before Orion suddenly found his wings stuck to Vesuvius.

He blinked in shock when he realized that the Pokémon's entire body was covered by a thinner but just as sticky tar, making it harder to see against the black coloration of the Pokémon. Vesuvius suddenly unleashed another Flamethrower before he could attempt to escape through a Shadow Sneak, and he let out a screech of pain.

"Orion!" He snarled and flapped as hard as he could, unleashing an Ominous Wind that managed to get some of the tar from his wings, but not all of it. Another Flamethrower washed over him and he managed to break free with his pained spasms before he crashed back into a wall. He fell to the ground and stumbled to his talons, waving his wings to try and regain his balance.

Vesuvius roared and prepared to attack, and he winced. Two super effective attacks one after another were enough to do some serious damage to him. The Rowlet evolutionary line wasn't exactly built to take so much punishment, they were fast and light, not strong and hardy. He looked up to see Willow looking down at him from the second floor in worry before he narrowed his eyes and stood straight.

"Not yet! I won't fall yet!" He felt a surge of power and saw the ground extend away from him. He was evolving! Light shone off of his body, and once it was finished he found that he was at least three feet taller than he had been as a Dartrix, and considering he had been as tall as Willow's shoulder he was probably around seven feet now. His wings had changed to a primarily light green color, with browner and darker green colors surrounding his face like a hood.

"Orion! You're a Decidueye now!" He brushed his body off and narrowed his gaze at Vesuvius, who huffed and began sprinting towards him.

"Enough of that." Orion plucked an arrow from his wings, drew back, and fired it from his wing-bow within a single second. He soared through the air, before flying up to avoid Vesuvius, and instead dive straight down to slam into its shadow. The Pokémon paid it no mind until the edge of his shadow neared the arrow and it was suddenly pulled back. "Spirit Shackle," he explained with a chuckle. "Your shadow is stapled into place… good luck moving, bud."

He shot into the air with heightened speed as Vesuvius tried to attack with a Flamethrower, faster than he'd ever been before. He drew several more arrows and launched them at Vesuvius, these ones aimed at his body. The Pokémon grunted as each impacted and attempted to use Smack Down and Rock Blast, but he simply did several midair rolls and dodged them as they crashed through the mansion's walls and ceiling.

"Alright, let's finish this up…" He did a loop, before diving down straight for the Rock-Type.

"Vesuvius, Burn Up!" It roared at him and began glowing brightly, but he ignored that and continued to soar down at full speed. Right before they crashed into each other he vanished, and the Burn Up dissipated without having hit anything. Anticipating that he might attack from behind Vesuvius turned, only to find that the Spirit Shackle trapping their shadow was gone. As they stumbled in shock, they turned to find him soaring up from his shadow, unleashing a Leaf Storm powerful enough to send Vesuvius into the air and through the second-floor balcony.

"And that's that." The Trainer who sent out the Pokémon scoffed and returned the Pokémon, grabbing another ball.

"Well, maybe you might be as interesting as Sapphire… Powerhouse, ready yourself for battle. Don't hold back like Vesuvius was, we'll be leaving the mansion soon, so it doesn't matter if we bring the place down around us." Willow, Cream, and Orion cursed to themselves with varying degrees of offense. That Pokémon was holding back so it wouldn't destroy the place?

Out of the ball came a massive yellow Pokémon, which Willow identified as an 'Electivire' as she muttered to herself. It roared and lightning exploded from the wires coming from its back, so Orion prepared another Spirit Shackle arrow. As an Electric-Type, it likely had more ranged attacks than Vesuvius had, even if it was more geared for physical strength. Willow motioned Cream forward to help him, and grabbed another Pokéball-

However, before the battle could begin, the side of the mansion exploded as a lightning bolt crashed into it, along with a familiar voice. "RAIJIN NO IKARI!" Everyone shielded their eyes, and once they could see again they witnessed Sapphire standing in the hole, with his sweater sleeves wrapped around his neck to act as a cape while he stood with his arms folded over his chest as his sunglasses reflected the lightning crashing in the distance. Cobalt and Gible stood on each of his shoulders, their arms crossed and imitating him with the slowly worsening storm barely an inconvenience for the three. "Noct… we meet again."

"I see you're still being a dramatic SOB."

"Hmph! As much as I'd like to test myself against you… we don't have time for that. Where is Guzma?!"

"Stop yelling, christ…" Noct dug some wax out of his ears, but unlike when his Pokémon had fought Willow's he looked more invested, a savage grin slowly growing. "If you want to get to the big G, fight through me first."

Sapphire smirked and the ground rumbled before Aegis burst through the wall next to him and slammed into Powerhouse. The Electivire grunted and dug its feet into the ground, using its powerful arms and wires to try and grab the Bastiodon. Powerhouse was still losing ground though, and surprise shone in its eyes. "Willow, I'm sure you know this with how much you study battling, but aside from negating electricity, what is the other purpose of Cell Batteries?"

Willow's eyes widened. "They power up your Pokémon the more charged they are!"

"Correct!"

"Damnit, Powerhouse, Giga Impact!" The Electric-Type roared and pulled its arms back, slamming them into Aegis at full force and sending powerful shockwaves through the room. Aegis' progress was slowed, however, it wasn't enough to stop the Shield Pokémon.

Lightning once again struck the ground and Sapphire pointed upwards as thunder crashed. "Now, Aegis! With the full might of the ancient world- Counter!" Aegis' body glowed red, and his eyes flashed, before double the impact was transferred into Powerhouse, tossing him clear across the house and through several rooms. When the dust died down, Powerhouse was struggling to their feet, before a Spirit Shackle slammed into their chest, knocking them out.

Noct growled and recalled his Pokémon as he narrowed his eyes at Sapphire. "Starting a battle with buffs is cheating."

"See, Noct, there's something you don't understand… I'm all for fair fights… but against you and Guzma, our Pokémon aren't up to par, so we'll take every advantage we can. Including completely ignoring their Trainers." Noct's eyebrow raised and he stepped back to grab another Pokéball, only to trip when he realized a Spirit Shackle was inside his shadow. His eyes widened, and he looked up to see Cobalt descending from above to deliver a kick that knocked him out.

"Man, I was really holding back there, and even then he was knocked out in one blow. You humans are fragile."

"That's just how we humans are, we gotta have you guys fight for us." Cobalt jumped back onto his shoulder and both of them grinned at each other before Willow walked up to him and grabbed the fried Cell Battery hanging from his neck.

"What's this?"

"Ah… well, I kind of overestimated how much of a charge these things could hold, so for the last quarter of my battle outside I was being shocked like they were." Willow narrowed her eyes at him, and Sapphire laughed sheepishly. "Sorry."

"...Fine, but you'll be taking better precautions if you do this in the future!"

"Yes, dear…" Cream giggled at their byplay as Cobalt chuckled, while Orion just shook his head. "Now… Let's go take down Guzma."


Chapter done. The French battle was fun to write, and I also looked up the French names for Pokémon attacks in the Canadian and French versions of the games. Other than that, Sapphire randomly screaming in his native language for attacks is fun to write since it usually involves me looking up mythology to base the names on.

The attack that causes the thunderstorm, Raijin No Namida, I originally called Susanoo-no-Mikoto's Tears due to the God's mythology about how he was born, but since his crying actually caused rivers to wither I changed it to Raijin No Namida so it could be Thunder God's Tears, due to the attack causing Electrified Rain to fall. Speaking of, what do you guys think of the Electrified Rain, or Thunderstorm, weather condition? It was something I thought up a while back, and since Po Town is eternally raining I thought it'd be cool to introduce it then. Coming up with attacks is pretty fun, especially Raijin No Ikari and Raijin No Namida, haha.

Now then- Sapphire and Willow aren't up to the level of Noct or Guzma. I mean, that's just obvious… people who have been training Pokémon for… what, how old is Guzma? I think it's stated somewhere he's close to Kukui in age, so he's in his late 20s? Whatever, point is, he's been training for a lot longer, Noct as well, though he's only in his late teens, and Sapphire and Willow should really have no chance against them. So, Vesuvius holding back to not wreck the mansion and Aegis' attack buff are the sole reasons they won those battles, while the Guzma battle will be a bit tougher and require their teamwork. But, that's for the next Chapter.

Omake Name: I got lost.

How do you even accomplish something like that?

()()()

Giratina 'swam' through the 'air' of the Distortion World, coiling around various chunks of land floating into the abyss and past a waterfall that fell into nothing. He felt a sudden change in his world and turned towards the direction he felt the disturbance from.

He moved through the void and eventually found a small island with a pool of water in the center, and a human boy sitting on the edge of the island. He swam around the island and stopped several meters from the boy, letting his massive size be used as intimidation. "HUMAN!" His booming voice was a partial effect of how silent his world was, and how large he was. "YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE! WHY HAVE YOU ENTERED MY DOMAIN?"

"Oh, hey, you're… Giratina, right?" The boy simply scratched his head. "Yeah, I got lost while I was going to the bathroom."

"YOU ENTERED THE DISTORTION WORLD WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REACH A BATHROOM?"

"No one has ever said that Sapphire Chaser was a clever boy. So, want to play Uno?"

"I- SURE, WHY NOT?"

They played a quick match of Uno.

"Well, that was a thing. I've got to get back home now. See ya."

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO RETURN TO YOUR HOME?"

"Nope. I assume that I'll just wander around and eventually find my way back."

"YOU VERY WELL MIGHT." He opened a portal into the real world and waved a tentacle towards it. "BUT THIS WILL LIKELY SAVE SOME TIME."

"Sweet, thanks. Want to come with? I think there's some cake in the fridge or whatever. You can have some, if you want."

"SURE. MIGHT AS WELL."

Cobalt exited Sapphire's room to see the front door open, and walked outside to see Sapphire sitting on the porch eating a slice of cake, while Giratina sat in the road, practically taking up the entirety of it, eating his own slice, which was comically small when compared to his gigantic size. "…Sapphire what the hell did you do?"

"Went to the Distortion World."

"You went to the Distortion World."

"BY ACCIDENT."

"By the Creator…"

"Want some cake?"

"No, I- Is that even enough cake for Giratina?"

"NO, BUT THE TASTE IS STILL PLEASANT."

"I'll make sure to get some baking supplies next time you come by and make a bigger cake then."

"Sapphire, Giratina is not going to visit us. And we are not making a Giratina sized cake."

"ACTUALLY, THIS WAS RATHER PLEASANT. I MIGHT DO THIS AGAIN IN THE FUTURE."

"Oh by the- we aren't making that cake though, that would be impossible."

"Oh please. Bake the unbakeable, cook the uncookable, bro, bro, pass the flour!"

"I hate you."

()()()

So, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.

Sapphire:

-Riolu, Cobalt

-Torracat, Claws

-Midday_Lycanroc, Chrysant

-Vikavolt, Storm

-Gengar, Spooks

-Noibat, Blast

-Talonflame, Inferno

-Seadra, Wave

-Rotom, Volt

-Eevee, Puffball

-Rapidash, Spirit

-Ivysaur, Hemlock

-Chinchou

-Ditto, Mimic

-Bastiodon, Aegis

-Metang

Willow:

-Meowstic, Cream

-Decidueye, Orion

-Slowking, Emperor

-Alolan_Muk, Abaddon

-Murkrow, Karasu

-Leafeon

-Midnight_Lycanroc, Midnight

-? ? ?

See y'all next time.