Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon but I do own my OCs
The thought of the police botching the investigation led to me staying up longer than I wanted. I eventually convinced myself there was too much information and too much publicity for them to fuck it up. Someone was going to come out unhappy at the minimum.
Latios woke me up a little earlier than usual for what I saw as conscious cuddling. The situation coming to a fever pitch had him more worried than ever. He was committed to staying calm in the presence of everyone else but longed for affection. Rubbing up against Jack or Rebecca was no longer enough to make him feel better. I felt honored he was willing to confide in me despite my past mishaps. Neither of us needed to say a word.
Training the following week was easier than normal as per my promise. Meteor Falls served as a place to explore as opposed to a battle arena. Repels kept all the wild Pokémon at bay as I took a different teammate into the depths of the cave every day. Sealeo got the most enjoyment out of anyone because of the giant waterfall and natural pool on the first level.
More serious trainers had made the trek to the falls in hopes of meeting some competition. The best part was not all of them were from Hoenn. We ended up getting good practice in against trainers from Unova who had Pokémon that I didn't have the chance to get data on before Ardos' goons trashed my Mauville apartment.
"Wrap it up with Flare Blitz!" the other trainer in her late teens called out.
"Dragon Pulse!"
Altaria's attack didn't faze her opponent as it churned ahead to deliver the final blow. I was equally in awe and terrified of a fire type who could slug its way to a win against a dragon.
"You got me. Congrats," I said while getting ready to heal Altaria.
"Thanks. Darmanitan is by far the strongest member of my team and you sent out Altaria first." She stared at the Dive Ball on my belt. "I think the battle would've been much different if you chose second."
"Sealeo would still have his work cut out for him. Even Aggron would have a tough time shrugging off even one attack."
"I don't follow. What is a Sealeo?"
"My water and ice type with Thick Fat for its ability. Aggron is a rock and steel type who is built like a tank."
She laughed. "Man, that would've been something else! It's a shame neither of us knew about each other's Pokémon. We can talk more on the way out."
On the way out, I learned she had earned eight badges in Unova but wanted a shot at the Hoenn League since it was closer than her home tournament on the calendar. I struggled to keep up with all the information she was throwing at me regarding her Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses. The trade-off was that she knew nothing about my team.
We swapped Pokédexes for a few minutes just to see a glimpse into each other's regions. It was more overwhelming to her than me seeing as she went pale whereas I felt a knot in my stomach. To travel across the ocean to compete in a tournament not knowing a single Pokémon from that region takes a lot of guts. The least I could do was be honest.
"There are so many recorded Pokémon on the books that it's impossible to keep track of who excels at what. I started keeping a personal mini Pokédex but stopped at Basculin," I said trying to take some pressure off.
"But I have to be prepared for everything other trainers will do before the tournament starts!" she replied.
"You can't," I retorted. "People can change their strategies at any given time even though the league provides a profile on every trainer participating. However, sticking to two rules will save you a lot of trouble."
"And what are those?"
I pointed to her belt. "Know your Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses."
"Oh brother," she said while rolling her eyes.
"You challenged me, a stranger, to a battle with the strongest Pokémon you have despite not knowing a thing about my Altaria. You banked on winning the battle in one or two physical attacks. If that's not the best example, then I don't know what is."
She looked at the ground. "Well I have been doing that to everyone I've come across since I got here two days ago. Alright, what's the second one?"
"Trust your gut. If I saw that… tiny gear looking…"
"Klink," she interrupted.
"Right! If I saw Klink for the first time, I assume it would be a steel type then plan accordingly. Will it immediately work out in your favor every time? No. What it can do is set you up for victory later."
"Getting to know some Pokémon from here would be nice beforehand though," she said after processing my advice.
I returned her Pokédex. "Focus on looking up fully evolved Pokémon first. You'd be hard pressed to find a trainer in the tournament who isn't using one."
My Pokédex was handed back to me. "Looks like we've reached the exit. Not to be rude, but I'd like to do some extra training on my own. I'll keep everything you said in mind."
"Best of luck."
The hike back home started uneventful then I started to become self-conscious. I talked a big game but deep down I dreaded the thought of going up against someone from Unova, Kalos, Alola, or Galar even with a league approved scouting report. Pool play would allow me to stumble once but there was no reprieve in the knockout rounds.
After dinner, I made the decision to continue where I had left off in my research starting with Krookodile. Six hours collecting data on fully evolved Pokémon and ones that could not evolve only got me to Cinccino; didn't help that Darmanitan had four different forms. I decided to switch gears before midnight to follow up on the raid.
Nothing conclusive came up but there were enough opinion pieces and speculation articles on a change of leadership. An interesting note in harder news articles was the number of clients spiked with the league in charge. Guess people were getting a fair deal for their money unlike during Maddie's tenure. The sound of the doorbell ringing furiously was a good indicator to log off. Pounding on the door incentivized me to go downstairs despite Jack being closer.
"My goodness! Are you alright?" he asked. A middle-aged man with high quality camping gear staggered in with small cuts and dry blood scattered about.
"Please help! It's coming after me and my Pokémon have fainted!" the man yelled.
Jack yanked him in before locking the door. He asked me to grab towels from the linen closet while he fetched the portable healing machine. Magneton took an interest into what was going on and followed me around. The hiker was shaken up mentally as I tried to coax some information out of him.
"Relax for a second. There are a lot of Pokémon here to help." He finished the last of his water then reclined on the stairs. "What's going on?"
"One minute I was observing the sunset after a nice hike, the next minute an Absol ambushed me. I had no idea it was there, and I didn't even know they could be on this side of Hoenn," he replied still shaking. "My Probopass knocked it out… or so I thought. We were setting up camp when it came back for more."
"Was it acting unusual?" Jack asked when he came back. The man was hysterical.
"Probopass has high physical defense yet Absol knocked it out by ramming into it twice! Does that qualify as unusual!?"
Jack and I looked at each other. "How did you get away?"
"Whiscash's Earthquake took the ground out from under it, but it still charged in. I think its attack turned out to be a critical hit. Mud Bomb blinded it then Whiscash slapped it into the small crater from Earthquake. He fainted from his injuries before I started running. I could hear it roaring and struggling to get out."
Very concerning on how Absol was so determined to finish the job. The fact that it was not dead came as a mixed bag. Was death really a side effect or was Machop's death a fluke? Did every Shadow Pokémon have different limits like their normal counterparts? Was there any hope to save a Shadow Pokémon? I still had a chance to catch it.
"You think it'll come here?" I asked.
"Look, I can go back out there and deal with it now that I know what I'm up against." The man struggled to stand. "Maybe not. I took a few tumbles along the way but didn't think a few cuts would keep me down."
"Might have a bigger problem than that. Can you take off your shoes?" Jack said. A nasty bruise was on the top of his feet along with swollen toes. "Better to dry it off before I put ice on it. I'll help you to the couch."
"I'll wait outside for a few minutes with Magneton in case our guest stops by. I'll try to catch it," I added.
The man looked concerned. "And if you fail? I mean it… that thing will get back up at some point."
"Putting it out of its misery sounds like next best option."
"No! There has got to be a better way! And what do you mean by misery?" the camper said. Jack turned away.
"This is not just you versus Absol anymore. Everyone in this house is now at risk. Fallarbor Town is at risk seeing as it could end up there in a matter of minutes if it wanted to. You've already damaged it so much that there's a good chance it could die from its injuries after I'm done with it."
Better to give him praise for weakening it and a more realistic answer than explain the whole Shadow Pokémon issue. Catching it would be a huge breakthrough since we could have someone study it. Not sure how the rest of the team would handle it going forward.
Magneton found my other Pokémon and convinced them to go back to sleep. Maybe it was for the best since their reaction times wouldn't be up to par. The more I thought about it, the more I felt Absol wasn't as big of a threat.
"Ready? Hope you don't mind a little extra work," I said gathering my things. Magneton nodded.
Our field of vision wasn't too great even with the outside light on. I figured keeping my back against the front door was the best position. There was enough of a gap from the field of vision to where Magneton could protect me if need be. We waited fifteen minutes before Absol staggered into view.
Between the awful condition of its fur to the labored breathing to the limping, the dark type had seen better days. It was continuously growling albeit quietly. The red eyes felt more piercing than usual. It stopped when Magneton started to float forward. Chucking a Dive Ball caused it to quickly move laterally. The pouncing stance afterward snapped me into a battle first mentality.
"Still have some fight in you, huh?" I rhetorically asked trying to hide my fear. "Magneton, Metal Sound!"
The frequency wave found its mark and Absol collapsed. I took out another Dive Ball for another try. It hit the side of the head yet didn't open. Did it just die in front of me from a non-damaging attack? My partner looked to me for orders.
"Hope Jack is ready to help me with this," I sighed. As I started to turn around, Absol shot up then rushed in. "Thunder!"
Electricity proved to be a more effective method of getting it to stop in its tracks. While it was shaking off the hit, I tossed a Great Ball at it; the dark type didn't get sucked in on impact. Absol paced around staring us down. A quick snarl preceded it charging in again.
"Use Thunder!" I called out. The attack knocked it down. "Stop! Now might be our best chance!"
Magneton stopped the stream and I wasted no time throwing another Great Ball. Absol was on its side fully conscious and the ball still failed. To make things worse, it started flailing around while howling. We stood there not knowing what to do until it haphazardly stood up. Another attack was on the way, but it dropped to its knees. I heard gargling but couldn't confirm if it was truly foaming at the mouth.
"Alright… use Thunder," I said holding back tears. Magneton waited a few seconds before doing it. I kept my head down for the whole ordeal. My partner put a magnet on my shoulder for support upon finishing. "Return."
It took a few hours for everything to get sorted out. At first, we thought about calling Nurse Joy. Calling someone from the league office seemed better seeing as they could do a more in-depth autopsy. The league representative came in on a Flygon from Rustboro; Jack did all the talking. Rebecca had woken up to help with the injured camper.
The rest of my team had stayed asleep during the ordeal which was a blessing. They all vowed to stand by me back in Sootopolis, but we were ignorant. I made it very clear to Magneton not to explain what happened right away. It was quarter to four in the morning when the dust settled. The housekeepers met me in the master bedroom.
"Looks like Devon's scientists are going to have their hands full," Jack sighed while getting me a towel from the master bathroom.
I wiped the dry sweat from my forehead. "Why not get it back to league headquarters?"
"Risk assessment. The body is more prone to falling apart or being picked at by wild Pokémon for that long of a journey without proper precautions. Rustboro City is closer."
"Are they equipped to handle this case?"
"They can revive fossils into living Pokémon. Analyzing a DNA sample of a newly deceased Pokémon sounds like a breeze. They took the balls you threw too. I was told a report would be coming in the mail."
Rebecca sat next to me on the bed. "I'm calling Nurse Joy in the morning too. She'll put out a notice for 'potentially aggressive Pokémon' around the area."
We had to walk around a metaphorical minefield. The public needed to know about Shadow Pokémon, but we knew better than to call them that. Ardos and crew would eventually change their tactics at some point if the attacks kept up. Then there was the ongoing investigation. I put my head in my hands.
"By the time they get destructive, any ball is useless. Kill or be killed." I threw the towel across the room. "I have strong Pokémon who can win against these things! How many will I have to kill? Just one so far and I barely kept it together! How are other people going to deal with this!?" Both housekeepers rubbed my back as I wept. Now I understood why Jack didn't want to continue his gym challenge.
"Doctor Ellis could not save every patient he treated. He exhausted all options with the time and resources he had. Not every result was positive," Rebecca softly said. "You did what you could."
Jack got the towel. "Do not be so hard on yourself for things you do not fully understand. Knowledge about the Shadow Pokémon, positive or negative, will be useful down the road. I refuse to believe any wild Pokémon is truly uncatchable." I snatched the towel out of his hands.
"Please leave. I just want to sleep," I groaned. They did so without another word.
Our training program changed drastically the following week. Wild Pokémon in the surrounding area showed zero backbone when any human passed through. They ran or hid at the drop of a hat, much to the dismay of eager trainers. Zangoose and Seviper packs actively avoided fighting each other instead of fighting for territory. I even saw two leaders discussing what seemed to be an alliance. It would've made for great video if a lackey didn't inform them of my presence.
Meteor Falls was also less active near the main pathways. Going deeper into the cave felt like a normal experience; there were no scared Pokémon. I didn't think it would be worth the effort to take Altaria or Salamence out every day then trek through a large area for basic training.
Film breakdowns proved to be a nice change of pace. I found myself cooped up in the study in my fluffy robe looking at older battles for hours. Hoenn League battles were archived on a sister site owned by the league. I had watched a few videos on third party sites, but the league site was superior in every way imaginable. One particular battle from last year caught my eye: Brandon's first round battle.
Maybe I could get more information on the guy Ardos trusted during that night in New Mauville's underground scene over a year ago. The only reason he got invited was because of the loss he suffered at Ever Grande City. I remembered our battle at Lostelle's and how he wanted to prevent me from making a miracle comeback.
Under the old tournament format, a trainer had to deal with single elimination four on four double battles in the early rounds. It took place on a legal field albeit away from the main setting and with little room for a crowd. Having a camera on each trainer and one on the action was good enough. There was an announcer for the viewers watching the stream, but the referee took care of everything else.
"Brandon, Sam, congratulations on making it here. You know the rules. Shake hands then wait for my signal to start," the referee said. They walked to their boxes then made their first two selections.
"Go Slaking! Go Swampert!" Brandon called out. I scowled for him using two Pokémon I already knew about.
Sam was oozing confidence. "Alakazam, Sableye, you're up!"
The field may as well have been a slaughterhouse with all the firepower out. Sableye was the odd one out as the only thing the species was good at was being annoying. It lacked the defense and speed to stick around for long. The ref got into position.
"Ready? Go!"
Brandon pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bracelet. "We'll start with a bang! Swampert will Mega Evolve and use Rain Dance! Slaking, get rid of that Alakazam first with Slash!"
Swampert became enveloped in a bright light before it grew larger. The massive Pokémon started summoning rain clouds that would drastically increase its speed thanks to Swift Swim. Despite taking time for the effect to kick in, it was a great opening move. Slaking charged forward with its right arm glowing looking for a brutal hit. The microphone picked up Sam saying something, but I couldn't confirm the words.
"Alright Sableye, Fake Out on Slaking!" The small Pokémon fearlessly delivered a slap that made the normal type flinch and stop in its tracks. "Excellent! Alakazam, take care of Swampert with Energy Ball!" The psychic type summoned a green ball of light next to its spoons and sent it across the field. Swampert just got done setting up only to be nailed with the attack. It went to the ground in a heap.
"Swampert is unable to battle!" Brandon, please make your next selection."
The look on his face was unsurprisingly one of shock. His combination had been completely shut down. I caught myself with my mouth open. Energy Ball? Really? The camera cut back to Sableye snickering then panned to Slaking lying down due to Truant. Sam stood emotionlessly with folded arms. Brandon finally snapped out of his trance.
"Go Raichu!" It didn't take a genius to see what was coming after the signal to restart had been given. "Zap that Sableye's grin off its face with Thunder!"
"Not so fast! Will-O-Wisp on Slaking!" My jaw dropped again. No way Sableye learned Will-O-Wisp on its own.
In a surprising turn of events, Sableye moved faster than normal to deliver a critical burn. I had to pause the battle and look up an explanation. Apparently, I wasn't the only one seeing as the first result was a reference to the battle. A breeder from Unova was well informed on what happened.
"Certain Pokémon bred a certain way can result in them having unique attacks and abilities. That right there was Prankster. Makes Sableye move faster when it's not trying to deal damage. Definitely beats Keen Eye or Stall if you ask me," I read out loud. "What!?"
Extra abilities as a concept weren't a surprise to me, but I didn't know all of them by memory. I took a detour to see what other Pokémon could have Prankster. As far as Hoenn was concerned, Mega Banette got it which made sense. Volbeat and Illumise also got it which had me laughing.
"Really? Those two weak bug types get a good ability? Back to the battle," I said once I calmed down.
Slaking went from the biggest threat on the field to being practically useless. Sableye cried out when the stream of electricity hit which resulted in an instant knockout.
"Alakazam, use Psychic on Slaking!" Sam quickly ordered. The psychic type had little trouble sending the Lazy Pokémon flying back. Burn damage took effect as the ref made a call.
"Sableye is unable to battle! Sam, make your next selection."
Zero hesitation. "Ludicolo, I choose you!"
Ugly matchup for Brandon seeing as Ludicolo thrived in the rain. Sam did a lot of homework for the battle. Every move had seemingly been calculated. I couldn't tell if Alakazam or Ludicolo was the bigger threat in the moment. One of the worst positions for a trainer to be in for sure. Brandon's only consolation was having a foreboding offensive presence.
"Raichu, Thunder on Ludicolo!"
Sam's cool aura cracked a little. "Quick! Use Leech Seed on Slaking!"
Ludicolo left no doubts about its ability as it zipped around the field to find a good spot to launch the seeds. Unfortunately, Slaking was agile enough to roll out of the way. Electricity came from above shortly afterward. The half grass typing saved it… or so I thought.
"Façade! Knock it out!" Brandon ordered. That wasn't used in our battle. It was a damn good ace in the hole too.
"Psychic!" Sam yelled hoping it would be enough to spare the Carefree Pokémon.
The flailing behemoth which had its power boosted from the burn could not be stopped. A pink ball of energy did some damage, but Ludicolo was battered until fainting. Slaking winced from the burn and went on its back due to Truant.
"Ludicolo is unable to battle! Sam, make your next selection." Brandon's confidence had jumped while Sam didn't appear to be too surprised.
"Probopass, you're up!" I finally saw what Sam was going for.
A fairly common doubles strategy that was taught in school was two on one pseudo stall. Give one Pokémon a status ailment then exclusively attack the other one. It was not a guaranteed win, but Brandon was in a tough spot.
Sam was sitting pretty with a strong Alakazam on offense and a heavily defensive Probopass. Raichu could realistically attack only one then get hit in return. There was a link at the bottom of the page to the post-match interview which I needed to look at as well. I already knew the outcome. It was just a matter of what the supposed miracle was.
"Begin!" the referee called out.
"Go after Probopass with Thunder!" Brandon yelled with a sense of urgency.
"Too easy! Probopass, use Protect! Alakazam, get ready to counterattack!" Sam shot back.
For a split second, I thought the attack was going to break the barrier. Probopass held steady and when Raichu ran out of juice, Alakazam went with Psychic for its move. It ended up being stronger than I expected since the electric type fainted. Slaking watched helplessly and roared in pain from the burn.
"Raichu is unable to battle! Brandon, make your next selection."
No matter how many double battles I had experienced, it always came as a shock to see how volatile they were. On paper, it went from a 3-2 lead to a 2-2 tie but was really a 2-2 deficit since Slaking was badly wounded. The thing was… I didn't see anything wrong with Brandon's moves. I was more concerned that I learned nothing about Raichu. Anyone with a brain cell could see Thunder was worth using.
"Dusknoir!"
The battle had shifted to the extremes on offense and defense. Both sides had a heavy hitter and a bulky wall. Rainfall subsided as the restart got underway.
"Alakazam, Shadow Ball on Dusknoir! Probopass, Sandstorm!" Sam called out with more excitement. A camera caught Brandon mouthing "fuck me" which I thought was hilarious.
"Slaking, get rid of that Alakazam with Façade!"
Getting Shadow Ball out quickly worked on two fronts. Dusknoir was in no position to dodge and likely couldn't due to how naturally slow it was. It also allowed Alakazam to deliver a heavy hit before Slaking pounded it into the muddy ground. The normal type looked like it was going to keel over any second. There was panic written on Brandon's face.
"Pain Split on Slaking!"
A glowing aura surrounded the ghost type then the light transferred to its partner. It didn't appear to make a big difference, but Slaking survived the buffeting sandstorm and burn damage. Truant kicked in faster than normal.
"Alakazam is unable to battle!" the referee stated, making the battle a two on one. Both battlers were sweating profusely.
"Come on Dusknoir, use Shadow Ball again!"
"Protect!"
Frustration mounted as Probopass survived another round without taking a hit. Dusknoir wasn't looking too good after the sandstorm pelted it with loose debris. Slaking was once again on the verge of fainting after residual damage.
"End this now, Slaking! Hammer Arm!" Brandon ordered with despair in his voice. "Follow up with Shadow Ball, Dusknoir!"
"Flash Cannon on Dusknoir!" Sam shot back.
In that moment, Probopass was a hair faster in getting off its attack. Dusknoir struggled to stay up before ultimately falling flat. Slaking dropped the hammer with so much force that Probopass got stuck in the muddy field. The burn injury and sandstorm combined was enough to finally make the fearsome Pokémon faint. Brandon sighed in relief expecting a tie and according to the rules, a rematch was mandatory.
You could slow down the video to see the exact moment his heart ripped in half when Probopass struggled out of the mud. It was wincing in pain although it was in condition to battle. Even the referee was in shock while delivering the final verdict.
"All four of Brandon's Pokémon are unable to battle. Sam wins!"
The aftermath was oddly calm. Everyone shook hands, healed their Pokémon, and waited for their exit interview; I skipped Sam's. Brandon made any analyst's job easy.
"Got put into a corner and never really got out. I couldn't tell who the bigger threat was at any given time," he started. "Didn't expect Sableye to be so fast otherwise I would've gone after Alakazam and its paper-thin defense first. Didn't expect Energy Ball either. Cared about preventing Ludicolo from abusing my rain more than taking out Alakazam. Probably shouldn't have used Plain Split the way I did. I think it's bullshit that Probopass got back up but that's what happened. Thank you and have a nice day," he said bluntly. I opened another tab for more analysis on the battle.
"There it is: Probopass had Sturdy. Not really a miracle like he made it out to be, but I doubt he thought of that in the heat of the moment. And Sam made it to the quarterfinals? So… this is what I'm going against. Fuck," I mumbled. Sealeo poked his head in. "Well hello there!"
My other Pokémon were waiting in the hallway looking concerned. Figured it was time to give them an explanation on why our training had more or less stalled. I ushered them in the study.
"I was hoping someone would get back to me by now, but that's not the case. The reason why things are the way they are is because we ran into a Shadow Absol a week ago. Now most of the wild Pokémon around here are scared. As for what happened to Absol… I had to kill it."
They all looked at the ground or to the side except for Magneton. Those with battle experience against one also tensed up. I wished Latios was present to translate, but he was flying around the region.
"Back when I told you all about what was going on, I didn't anticipate it this. Shadow Pokémon will not go down so easily. Catching them hasn't worked either. Ideally, I would like to avoid them at all costs, but even that's not a guarantee." I stopped talking so they would all look at me.
"What I can guarantee is that each one of you is strong enough to handle them in battle." I rubbed my forehead out of nervousness. "However, you may need to kill one at a moment's notice. Please do not hesitate when I give that order. I know it's an uncomfortable thought… which is why I want to know where you all stand on this."
Aggron immediately pounded his fists together with an unwavering look on his face. He had no qualms about cleaning up Ardos' mess. Magneton had no problem that night and didn't have a problem going forward. Sealeo accepted the responsibility with a stern nod. Ninetales and Linoone looked at each other then looked at me with confidence. Altaria gave me a blank stare.
"Good. You can go back to doing whatever you were doing before."
My attention span dropped sharply after they left. I ended up watching various Pokéathlon highlights without my brother as the focus. The stamina on the Pokémon had me thinking about calling Lucas for some drills. I thought against it since a new routine so close to the tournament could stress my team out.
Altaria tried to sneak in when she thought I was distracted. Her head was in, but her body was not; she sheepishly squirmed through the crack in the door. The blank expression from before was on her face. Eventually she waddled over to me and put her head in my lap; I gently rubbed it.
"You don't want to kill, do you?" She shook her head. "It's okay," I whispered.
Rejecting my initial request in front of everyone was something I didn't expect her to do. I'm glad she came to me first instead of me pulling her aside at a different time. If she was uncomfortable with learning Parish Song, she definitely was uncomfortable about taking a life. We sat together few minutes while I continued stroking her head. Her eyes grew heavier as did mine.
"How do you feel about flying with Winona again? I can see if she's free later this week." She quietly chirped in approval. "It's getting late. Come on."
When I got up, she gave me a beady-eyed look with her wings outstretched. I carried her to a spare room then tucked her in; she fell asleep almost instantly. I kissed the top of her head. Cooing could be heard on my way out.
Have a good day and I will see you next chapter :)
-W4f