DarkFoxKit: I see you've been playing Paper Mario lately, TM.
Traveling Master: Well it started with the Origami King on the switch, and yeah, it's pretty fun. But the more I played it, the more I thought of the one from the gamecube. Thousand Year Door. And after some tinkering, I now am able to play it on my computer!
DarkFoxKit: Don't yell that so loud, you might get in trouble.
Traveling Master: Trouble? Who am I gonna get in trouble with?
DarkFoxKit: With the legal police of Nintendo. Ah, but don't worry, I'm sure that they won't care about a Charmeleon playing the game on his computer.
Traveling Master: Oh crap, right. Computer? I didn't say that. I mean...regular gamecube...mario paper...yeah...legal...Lets get on with the story!
DarkFoxKit: Hmm? Is that sirens I hear outside?
Traveling Master: What?! Not again! Dust, initiate Alpha plan Delta!
Dust: *Dust was seen already carrying some suitcases* Already ahead of you!
Traveling Master: Okay DF, I'll be taking a...short vacation...bye!
DarkFoxKit: What… are you doing…? YOU BETTER GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!
Dust: Just run TM, RUUUUUUN! Also, enjoy the chapter everyone!
Chapter 29: The Quarter Finals Pt. 1
Dust laid asleep on his bed, having gotten back to the guild late last night. Before going to sleep he hoped that they would get enough sleep before the next day. Both Berry and Shab were still asleep as well, all tired from their late investigation with Emerald. The only one who was awake was Cliff, who had gotten up earlier. She tried waking up Dust, but no matter how much she shook him, he remained asleep. Cliff didn't know what to do, until a sudden knocking came on their door.
Cliff ran up to the door, having learned how to walk several days ago. She opened up the door, seeing her aunt Carrie and her best friend and cousin Chloe there.
"Hello there, Cliff," Carrie greeted.
"Auntie Carrie. Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Shab won't wake up," Cliff stated.
"I was wondering where they were," Carrie walked in, seeing all of Team Night Tide soundly asleep. "Cliff, I suggest you cover your ears, it's about to get real loud."
"Mommy's about to use Uproar, it's very loud," Chloe warned from Carrie's pouch.
Cliff nodded before going behind Carrie and used her stubs to cover the sides of her head. Chloe went back into Carrie's pouch, already preparing for what's coming next.
Carrie took a deep breath before shouting, "YOU BETTER GET YOUR TAILS UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU END UP DISQUALIFIED!"
The reaction was instantaneous. Berry let out a squeal as she let out a Water Pulse into Dust's face. Shab, at the same time, shot out an Ice Beam at Dust, freezing the water on him. Dust was shocked, confused, and cold all at the same time. He didn't know what to do, luckily for him Carrie walked up to him, made sure to hold him down and tapped the frozen parts on Dust, effectively breaking off the ice.
"W-what j-just happened?" Dust asked through his shivering teeth.
"I had just given you three a good wake up call, since you all decided to sleep in and almost miss the tournament!" Carrie reprimand. "Now you three need to head over to the stadium, especially if your team is up first in the quarter finals. If you fail to show up, it will count as a forfeit and you can bet it won't help your rank."
"Ah, crap!" Berry grabbed onto Shab with her antennae and jumped onto Dust's back.
Dust yelp as Berry pretty much almost body slammed his back, but he rushed out the door after stumbling around for a second to recover from the sudden weight.
Cliff waved goodbye to them, seeing them rush down the hallway, towards the exit.
"See, told you my Mommy can be loud," Chloe spoke up after poking her head out of Carrie's pouch.
"Wow, I want to be loud just like Auntie Carrie!" Cliff exclaimed excitedly.
"If you want to be loud, you have to really take a deep breath and let it loose with your voice. Maybe you can even be loud enough so Dust, Berry, and Shab can hear you cheering for them!" The little Kangaskhan smiled.
Dust was rushing outside, going through White Leaf Town, nearly running into every Pokemon there along the way.
"Sorry about drenching you and freezing you," Berry apologized while Dust was rushing.
"Y-yeah, it was purely out of reflex," Shab added.
"While it may have been an unpleasant way to wake up, I can assure you, that wasn't the worst way I've woken up before," Dust replied. "Let's just say my Mother has other methods that are much less preferable than how we woke up."
"Your mom still scares me," Berry shivered.
"She is a very scary lady," Shab agreed.
Dust finally made it into the stadium, however, as he was running through the crowd of Pokemon, they heard an announcement being made by Patricia.
"-on the other side of the arena, the team who will be battling these red hot Team Volcano, will be Team Night Tide!"
This caused Dust, Berry, and Shab to all scream, realizing if they were late, they were disqualified.
"Out of all the teams- why are we the first ones to battle!?" Shab yelled.
"Keep your mic on! We're coming!" Berry shouted.
They were running out of time, Dust didn't know if he should go towards the entrance where all the other contestants used to enter the arena or if he should go another direction. Having little time, he opted to go towards the nearest entrance, seeing that it led them to the first level of the audience. No going back now, Dust kept rushing towards the edge, he quickly surveyed the height of the wall from the ground, calculating in his head, seeing if it was low enough for him to jump off.
"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Dust shouted as he got closer and closer to the edge.
As soon as the spotlight came on to where Team Night Tide needed to be, Dust barely managed to land right in the spot they needed to be. The audience, who weren't confused to what just jumped over them, cheered at seeing Team Night Tide. Dust was sweating. Just barely made it in time!
"Oh gosh, that was too close," Berry grumbled.
"That leap you just did, Dust, would've made any Magikarp jealous," Shab complimented.
"While I'm grateful for the compliment, I would rather not have to do something like that again, especially if I'm having others on my back," Dust replied.
"Nice entrance, wanting to show off a bit before the battle starts? Though you look like you tired yourself out, not a good move," A Quilava from the other side of the arena commented.
To the right of the Quilava was a Larvesta, and to the left of the Quilava was a Fletchinder.
"Be a shame if they lost after doing such a performance," Larvesta commented. "Maybe they didn't think this fully through."
"Or, you know, maybe they were running late and got desperate," The Fletchinder snickered.
"Whatever their reason, don't underestimate them," Quilave warned. "You remember their match with Team Aura Force, underestimate them and they'll end up pulling a fast one over us."
"We won't fall like Team Aura Force did," The Fletchinder remarked with pride.
"Hmm… so they really are a team of Fire types," Berry noted.
"Yeah, and the fact they got this far despite their common weaknesses shows how tough they can be," Shab agreed.
"Well that's the Volcanic Ash Guild for ya, they are known for their Fire types, their missions consist of rescue, hunting for outlaws, and tackling dungeons that are more suited for their types," Dust added.
Berry slithered off of Dust. "Dust… you did bring the bag of items with us, didn't you?"
"Of course I did, it's right here," Dust said as he reached for his bag, only to end up grabbing empty air. He turned to where his bag was supposed to be, only to see that it was not there. "...Uh oh."
"Uh-oh indeed…" Berry groaned.
"Uh… we're… not in a good spot… are we…" The Feebas frowned.
"No, no we are not," The Goomy groaned.
"Looks like they don't have items either," Quilava noted. "Either they are that confident in this match, or complete nimrods… I honestly can't tell."
"Well their confidence or idiocy will be their undoing," The Larvesta hissed.
"I know you said we shouldn't underestimate them, but they are making it really hard not to," The Fletchinder snarked.
"It seems Team Night Tide accidentally left their items behind. Will they still be able to take on Team Volcano?" Patricia asked.
"Toss our bag away," Quilava suddenly said to the Fletchinder.
Both Larvesta and Fletchinder nodded as the Fletchinder picked up the bag around Quilava with his talons and tossed it out of the arena.
"Amazing, in a show of true sportsmonship, Team Volcano has decided to discard their items, wanting to fight on equal terms with Team Night Tide!" Patricia shouted into her mic. "We've got a real classic battle going on now!"
"Why? You had the advantage," Dust questioned.
"Exactly. It wouldn't be a fair fight. If we had to battle you, we rather it was a true victory. A victory because of a handicap isn't a victory that we would accept," The Quilava informed.
Dust wondered what kind of Guild Volcanic Ash was, what training they must go through, what challenges each member must have faced. But seeing the Quilava's conviction, he could feel the pride coming from the fire Pokemon. His heart was starting to race, not out of fear, but out of anticipation. This was the same feeling Dust had felt whenever he thought of facing Crimson, while nervous, he body was itching to fight. Dust was not expecting to have this same reaction with someone he only met a few moments ago, but he accepted the feeling, eager to face Team Volcano.
Berry shivered beside him, though Dust couldn't tell if she was shivering out of fear or excitement like he was. Shab looked nervous, but determined.
The Mawile raised up her hand. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Now! Formation Sun!" The Quilava ordered as flames erupted on his head and behind.
Larvesta looked up at the ceiling before letting out a small cry. There was a sudden artificial mini sun on the ceiling, beating its harsh light down on them. Berry and Shab really didn't like this heat. Fletchinder, as soon as the Sunny Day was set up, coated himself with flames and dived at them with Flame Charge.
Dust knew that Team Volcano would be very experienced, but he was still surprised by the sudden coordination of their attack. He quickly used Protect, forming the white barrier around him just as Fletchinder made contact. The attack harmlessly bounced off, but the Fletchinder recovered before Dust could make a counter move.
Something caught Dust's attention to the side and he saw the Quilava was using Flame Wheel as he was going straight for Berry.
"Berry, on your left!" Dust warned Berry.
Berry gasped but didn't have time to move due to her slower speed, the Quilava rammed into her. Berry hissed, but Shab was still on her head. Berry growled as she fought through the pain as best she could and use a Water Pulse attack at point blank range. The Sunny Day normally weakened water attacks, but because Quilava was right in front of Berry, the Water Pulse didn't have time to get weakened by the sun. There was steam when Berry made the ball of water on the fiery coated Quilava. Sbab used his own Water Pulse attack as well, hoping to help Berry get the Quilava off of her.
With steam covering the place, Quilava ceased his attack and jumped back. Although he was a bit wet, his flames on his head and behind were still burning strong. Berry slither out from the steam, her body a little burned, but nothing serious.
The Larvesta suddenly shot out a bright green beam at Dust, who had been distracted by Berry being attacked. Dust gasped as the beam slammed right into him, causing an explosion.
"Dust!" Berry cried out.
"Is he okay?" Shab asked in concern.
As the smoke cleared, they saw Dust was still standing, though his fur was all ruffled from the attack, and he was heavily breathing.
"Now that's what I call getting some extra Vitamin D!" Patricia exclaimed. "So far Team Volcano has been on the offense and have already dealt a heavy blow towards Team Night Tide's leader. Will they be able to withstand the fiery force of Team Volcano, or will the fire team burn this match to a crisp?!"
"Are you okay, Dust?" The Goomy asked in concern.
"I don't think we should be fighting these guys separately. They're too strong. In the wild, when facing against strong Pokemon, it's best to regroup and attack as one," Shab advised.
Dust didn't reply at first, only nodding as he regrouped with Berry and Shab. "Shab is right, this team isn't like the others we faced so far. If we want any chance of beating them, we best stick together."
Berry frowned as she looked at the Absol. "Should I get back on your back?"
"Yeah," Dust answered. "Don't worry… I still have enough strength to carry you and Shab."
The Goomy nodded before she quickly slithered up onto Dust's back.
"Heh, well, I have to say I'm impressed. Not a lot of Pokemon usually stay conscious after our first group attack," Quilava noted.
"Let's just say...we've been through a lot together," Dust replied.
"It shows," Quilava acknowledged. "Now show us what your team is made of!"
"That Sunny Day is making them stronger while weakening me and Shab," Berry whispered to Dust. "I can try to put up the rain to give us the advantage, but I feel like they'll just put the sun back up almost as quickly. Meaning we'll have to attack fast before they get the chance to once I set up the rain."
"So far only Larvesta used Sunny Day, and I'm guessing the others don't know the move," Dust whispered back.
"So our best bet is targeting the Larvesta?" Shab asked, which Dust nodded back to him. "They most likely would be expecting us to target him though."
"Come on, if you're not going to attack, then we will strike again!" Quilava called out, noticing their hesitation.
"If we're going to make a move, we better do it now," Berry stated.
"Right, here goes!" Dust began running towards Team Volcano.
"Heh, a head on collision then? An valiant effort, but a simple foolish one," Quilava remarked. "Formation Fire!"
Flames cloaked around the Quilava, Fletchinder, and Larvesta, all three using either Flame Wheel or Flame Charge on themselves.
At that point, Berry called up to the sky, or rather ceiling in this case. Clouds suddenly began to form over the artificial sun, covering it completely. Not long after that, the clouds began to pour out rain all over the area. Despite the sudden rain, Team Volcano continued emitting fire from their body as the rain caused steam to come off from the flames. Dust had hoped that the rain would have put out their fire, but he already assumed that a guild filled with only fire types would most likely have gone through rigorous training to cover their main weakness. Though the rain did weaken their fiery cloak.
"They have someone with Rain Dance," Larvesta noted.
"How irritating," Fletichnder grumbled.
"Stand your ground," Quilava stated. "When the opportunity arises, use Sunny Day."
"Roger," Larvesta nodded, already preparing to use the move once they had the chance to.
"We may not have any special formations or names, but we do have our special attack," Dust said to Berry and Shab while continuing his charge. "We probably only get one shot, so we better make it count."
Berry jumped from Dust's back and shot out a Water Pulse towards the Larvesta. The Rain Dance boosted the Water Pulse attack, making it stronger than normal. Dust and Shab combined the attack with their Ice Beam move.
"Block it!" Quilava shouted.
Fletchinder used Quick Attack to fly in front of the Larvesta, taking the combination attack himself. Fletchinder was thrown back a few feet, his body no longer cloaked in flames, and laid on the floor. Fletchinder hissed in pain as he pushed himself back up on his talons.
Seeing that Fletchinder managed to get back up, Quilava quickly ordered, "Formation Solar Eclipse."
Fletchinder nodded as he flew and landed on top of Larvesta.
"Are you able to pull this off?" Larvesta asked.
"Tch, we've been through worse, though it would help if you would eat less," Fletchinder answered with a smirk.
"You calling a girl fat?" Larvesta replied back with no real malice.
"What now?" Berry frowned when she landed back on Dust's back.
Berry didn't have to wait long to get an answer, for Fletchinder started flying in the air, while also carrying Larvesta with his talons. Dust was not expecting such a maneuver, though he should've known they would do something like that, recalling how Talon used to carry Tippi everywhere.
"You shouldn't be taking your eyes off the battlefield!" Quilava shouted as he charged at Dust while his body was covered in flames.
At the same time, Larvesta gave a shout to the ceiling, clearing the clouds immediately, bringing back the artificial sun, powering up Quilava's Flame Wheel. Berry and Shab reacted quickly and used their Water Pulse attack to try to stop it or slow it down. Sunny Day weakened their water attacks however, and the Flame Wheel was too powerful to be stopped, but they did weaken it a bit before he ran into Dust.
Dust hissed as he was being pushed back, but he managed to dig his claws onto the ground to stop himself and his passengers from falling to the ground. There was a bright light above them that was too bright to just be the sun. Dust's attention was on the immediate threat, however. Quilava smirked at him.
"Time for you to say goodnight, Absol," Quilava taunted.
There was a loud sound, like something big was just fired. Dust paled as he looked up, seeing the bright green beam heading right for him. Luckily for Dust, however, Berry had been paying attention to the opponents above them. Berry grabbed Shab with her antennae and tossed him off of her before she jumped right at the Solar Beam, taking a direct hit from it. An explosion soon followed after, covering most of the arena in smoke.
"Berry!" Both Dust and Shab shouted at the same time.
"It would seem your teammate sacrificed herself for you," Quilava noted. "Too bad though, that her sacrifice will be in vain."
Quilava started running towards Dust again, getting ready to use another Flame Wheel, when something came out of the smoke of the explosion earlier, glowing red. Quilava suddenly found himself on the floor, in pain, a bit wet, and feeling something slimy on top of his back. He let out surprised yelp as he was on the ground.
Berry was on top of the Quilava's back, her body was glowing red from the Solar Beam attack, though there wasn't a scratch on her body from the Solar Beam itself. She had just dropped down on the Quilava with a Body Slam after her body absorbed the powerful Grass attack.
"What happened to Berry?" Shab asked as he got on Dust's back.
"Sap Sipper, I completely forgot she had that ability," Dust remarked.
Shab looked at Berry with more admiration. "She always keeps on surprising me."
"You can say that again," Dust replied. "But we aren't out of this fight yet, while Berry is preoccupying Quilava, we need to take care of those two in the air."
"Leader!" Fletchinder called out in concern.
"Don't worry about me! You two handle the other two!" Quilava shouted.
Without anymore hesitation, Fletchinder flew down at Dust and Shab, his wings turning into steel while still carrying the Larvesta in his talons. At the same time the fire bug Pokemon started covering her body in flames as she started using Flame Charge. Dust decided to focus energy in his tail as he prepared to use Iron Tail. Waiting for the right moment, Dust watched as the two fire Pokemon were closing the distance between each other.
Dust then jumped forward, twisting his body to counter attack Fletchinder's Steel Wings with his own Iron Tail. At the same time Shab fired Water Pulse at Larvesta, though Sunny Day kept the flames burning, it did manage to weaken Larvesta's attack. The attacks collided, with Dust blocking Fletchinder's attack, but also receiving Larvesta's Flame Charge. Thankfully Shab's Water Pulse managed to weaken the damage, while also harming Larvesta.
Dust landed back, but the moment he touched the ground, his legs almost gave out. Shab then noticed that steam was coming off Dust's body.
"Dust, what's wrong?" Shab asked, already started to feel the Absol's body heat up.
Dust was breathing harder than before now. "I...think...I got burned…"
Before Shab could say anything else, Quilava came running near them, he was rolling on the ground, throwing Berry off of him. Berry hissed as she landed in front of Dust.
"You think you could stick on me and not expect this?" Quilava hissed. "I'm going to make sure none of you will be able to hit me and stop my Rollout combo!"
Suddenly, there are 10 Quilava surrounding them. Fletchinder flew up with Larvesta, knowing it was best to stay far away from Quilava when he was using his Rollout combo. Each Quilava then charged at Team Night Tide. Dust couldn't tell which one was the real one, so he used Protect around himself, Berry, and Shab just as the 10 Quilava made contact with his white barrier. They all bounced back, but now were all circling Dust.
"Guys, I won't be able to keep using Protect," Dust warned his teammates.
"How can we tell which one is the real one?" Shab asked as he watched the multiple Quilava around them.
Berry was trying to sense the real Quilava, but he was moving too fast, and there were too many Pokemon in the area for her to pick up on the Quilava.
"I have an idea," Dust said before wincing from the Burn. "I might be able to find the real one with Faint Attack. Only problem is that I'll most likely be taking on his Rollout Attack as soon as I do, so you two are gonna have to react fast."
"Try not to get too hurt out there, Dust…" Berry said in concern. I should've trained how to pinpoint a certain Pokemon's location.
Dust smiled as he looked back at Berry. "The fact that I'm still standing is pretty hard to believe, but I still got some energy left in me, don't worry, I'll be fine."
When Dust turned away though, his smile was replaced with a wincing pain. Though truth be told, I'm not sure how much longer I can last. Better make this count.
Knowing that Quilava would attack soon, Dust decided to wait until they made their move. The 10 Quilava continued picking up speed as they circled around Team Night Tide. Then suddenly they all turned straight towards them, faster than last time, though Dust was now prepared. The moment Quilave turned towards him, Dust charged forward, letting his body move on it's own as he used Faint Attack. Just as he thought, his attack led him towards one of the Quilava that was to the right of him. Dust braced for the impact, knowing that Quilava's Rollout attack had gained even more power than last time.
Dust felt pain in his chest when the Rollout attack hit him directly. He felt his body being flung off of the arena due to how fast and powerful the Rollout was when it hit him. In his mind, time seemed to have slowed down. The pain, his Burn, they were all numb all of a sudden. In fact, as far as Dust could remember, other than being close to death the last few times, this was likely his first time experiencing a true faint from an attack. Not a close to death one. Dust sort of expected it to feel the same, but he had been wrong. It felt similar, but very different. He could feel his consciousness starting to fade, but he also knew he was nowhere near death. He could hear the faint cries of Berry and Shab calling out in worry for him. He could see his mother in the stands as he was being flung out of the arena looking down at him. Dust closed his eyes, everything went black for him as his body hit the ground below.
As soon as Dust's body was on the ground, Patricia ran over to him to see if he could still fight. After a couple of seconds, she turned her attention to the audience. "Dust is unable to battle. He gave it his all, taking on so many brutal attacks, but it looks like that Rollout was too much for him. Things are starting to heat up, but even though Team Night Tide lost a member, Team Volcano still had suffered some damage. This still can be anyone's match!"
Quilava stopped his Rollout attack and chuckled. "Heh… yeah, well it doesn't look like we may have much of a competition after that. That Absol was your leader, wasn't he?"
Berry and Shab both frowned at that. Dust was indeed their leader, and he was also the strongest one out of the three of them.
"Look at those faces," Quilava chuckled as he closed his eyes. "Looks like I was right on the Poke with that one."
Fletchinder descended to the floor, putting Larvesta on the ground. "What's our next move, Leader?"
"We take them out quickly before they have a chance to retaliate," Quilava answered. "Now, Formation Blazing Sun!"
With the Sunny Day still up, all three members of Team Volcano cloaked themselves with flames, flames that grew stronger due to the sun. They all charged at Berry and Shab. Berry tried to move out of the way, but she was too slow without Dust. She also didn't have a move like Protect to stop the attack.
"I'm sorry, Berry… I know it may not do much, but… I can't let them burn your fragile and precious body while I'm still conscious," Shab suddenly said.
"What? What do you- SHAB!" Berry screamed when she looked back, seeing the Feebas had jumped in front of her, taking all three of Team Volcano's attacks head on.
The Feebas didn't last long after that. His body almost looked like it had been cooked well done style as he fell to the ground. Patricia didn't even need to check Shab, he was definitely in no condition to keep going.
Meanwhile, in the Audience, Al had been watching the whole fight. After seeing Shab go unconscious, he started sniffing the air as his stomach started rumbling.
"Heh, I could go for some fish sticks," Al joked, only to receive a blow to his head from both Brody and Grant.
"How disrespectful!" Grant snapped.
"You want everyone to know you're a complete Tepig, you glutton!?" Brody hissed.
"I was just joking! But speaking of Tepig, that doesn't sound too bad-" Al started, only to receive another blow to the head.
Since Shab was in such a bad shape, the medics were called onto the arena immediately. Berry was surprised to see Dr. Perfume himself came over. Dr. Perfume looked at Shab for a moment.
"Don't worry, he's in pretty rough shape, but he'll recover," Dr. Perfume reassured the Goomy.
Berry just gave a relieved nod as Dr. Perfume moved Shab onto a stretcher that two Audino were carrying. A couple of Chansey picked up Dust as well, putting him on a bigger stretcher. The medics then moved the two unconscious Pokemon away, leaving Berry the only member on Team Night Tide left in the arena.
"If it means anything, your team really did fight well," Quilave spoke up. "It's not often we face an opponent who has made it this far. But it's time to put this to an end."
"We're sorry, but this is the way it has to be," Larvesta apologized.
"We'll try to make this quick," Fletchinder stated.
"Now…" Quilava flared up his flames once more. "Once again, Formation Blazing Sun!"
The three Pokemon cloaked themselves in fire once more and began charging at the helpless Goomy. Time seemed to have slowed down for Berry as she could only watch the incoming three fireballs.
I can't dodge this. I can't block this either. I wouldn't be able to summon the Rain Dance in time before they reach me. Is this really it? Are we going to lose right here and now? Berry questioned herself. Dust needed to win this, didn't he? We've all fought so hard to make it this far. We couldn't even take out a single member of this team though? Dust… Shab… they both fell… I can't… I can't just let myself fall without fighting back. They both fought hard to protect me. I won't let their sacrifices be in vain!
Something sparked in Berry as the three fireballs got closer. Berry let out a cry before surrounding herself with water using a combination of Rain Dance and Water Pulse. The Rain Dance wasn't used over the arena, however, it formed a single cloud over Berry herself. The Water Pulse seemed to have turned into a large water dragon as it chomped down on the very surprised three members of Team Volcano. The Water Pulse had some of Berry's Dragon Breath in it as well.
Team Volcano were pushed back, their flames quickly extinguish, they were all also soaked from the attack. They quickly got back to their feet, looking at the Goomy in shock.
"W-what's happening to the Goomy?" Larvesta asked as she shivered.
"I don't know?!" Fletchinder replied.
Quilava didn't reply, but was only shocked. Despite the attack being water, it felt very familiar to Quilava. He looked up to where Igneel was, seeing that he was watching the match very intently. Quilava had only felt this sensation from the stronger members of their guild, so he was confused why a Goomy like Berry was able to produce such a powerful attack that felt so familiar.
"What should we do, leader!?" Fletchinder spoke up in a slight panic.
Berry spread out the cloud, covering the arena with rain. She then began to condense her Dragon Breath, but was also adding in her Water Pulse.
Quilava didn't answer Fletchinder, all he could do was watch in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Leader? Meteor!" Larvesta and Fletchinder shouted.
Berry shot out the attack, which turned into an even bigger, fiercer, more intimidating water dragon. The rain was making an already powerful water attack even more powerful. The water dragon came at them with the intense rage filled power that only one other Pokemon Quilava, Meteor, had felt in his lifetime. And that was what froze Meteor. The water dragon chomped down and drowned all three members of Team Volcano. Their bodies were easily swept away by the waves of water the water dragon left behind. They ended up hitting a wall, which was the stands that the audience were sitting in.
Berry breathed heavily, a part of her wanted to finish them off. It felt wild and uncontrollable, it wanted to finish off the threats that wanted to hurt her before. Despite the three of Team Volcano struggling to try to breathe, Berry grinned savagely, enjoying watching them squirm as they helplessly flail in the water. Berry started to create another Water Pulse with her Dragon Breath. She wanted to watch them drown, to become nothing more than soggy pieces of meat. They deserved this after all, they hurt her, they hurt her friends, they must be punished. She will not show them any mercy.
There were voices telling Berry to stop, the other three were in no condition to keep going, but they sounded like garble messes to the Goomy right now. All she wanted was to drown those three idiots and watch them squirm until the life disappeared from their eyes.
She was so focused on watching Team Volcano struggle that she didn't notice the shadow that was above her. Suddenly a figure landed hard in front of her, sending a shockwave and cutting off her attack. Everyone gasped as they saw the Hellfire himself as he stood in front of Berry. Despite being hit by her powerful attack, Igneel seemed hardly fazed, as he towered over Berry.
Exerting so much pressure, in a low voice, Igneel spoke, "Calm down, this isn't you."
Berry didn't know why, but despite all that heavy pressure, she felt a strange sense of comfort from the large and powerful Charizard before her. She should have been frightened, but she wasn't. Her sense of self started to return, she remembered her Pokemanity. The rain she had summoned slowed down to a stop, the clouds fading away. The wild water that had Team Volcano trapped under finally stopped, becoming shallow, and allowing the very drenched team to breathe again.
The Goomy felt very tired and woozy, her eyes slowly started to close, unable to stay conscious after three consecutive powerful attacks from her outburst. Before Berry lost consciousness, however, Igneel turned to the three members of Team Volcano. Berry noticed a rather large burn scar on the Charizard's back. She didn't have much time to think on the matter, however, as soon everything went black for her.
"...Be…" A voice called out, though barely heard. "...Ber…"
Berry shifted slightly at the noise, she could barely register it, her mind still dark from her previous battle. There was a moment of silence, when she felt something nudge her, clearing her mind a little at a time.
"...Berry…" The voice called out again, though Berry was able to hear this familiar voice.
As Berry focused more on the voice, and the continual nudging of her body, her mind was clearing up more and more. She felt exhausted, but that didn't stop her from opening her eyes. At first she had to squint from the sudden bright light, but soon her eyes adjusted and she started opening them wider. Things were a bit blurry, Berry spotted two figures by her, but as seconds went by those blurry images started to clear and she soon saw her two friends, Dust and Shab. She noticed the concerned looks on their face but then saw how quickly they changed to relief at seeing her open her eyes.
"Look, she's coming through!" Dust happily exclaimed.
"Oh thank Kyogre, I was worried she would never wake up," Shab commented.
Berry groaned, she felt a bit nauseous, and had a terrible headache. Her body felt really tired, and a little bit numb. "Ugh… did I… lose that badly…?"
"Lose? Actually, you did quite the opposite," Dust answered.
"What do you mean 'I did the opposite'? I feel like I was just pounded into dough back there… I had no way to win that battle…" Berry grumbled, seeing how the last thing she remembered before waking up was having Team Volcano ganging up on her.
"We're not sure, we were just told that our team won when we came to," Shab informed. "But you must've done something to win against those three, because you are just awesome like that."
"I don't know… maybe I had an outburst, but don't remember it…?" Berry asked, sounding unsure. "But I feel like I've been chewed up by a Bouffalant and spat back out. It feels more like I got beaten up than did an outburst."
"Hmm, well I did have the same thoughts, but lately you've been able to control those outbursts of yours," Dust remarked. "Though I supposed it was just you against Team Volcano, so maybe you ended up using a more powerful version of your outburst."
"How could there be a more powerful version? I feel like the 'first version' was strong enough," Berry groaned.
"We didn't see what happened, and nobody is telling us how you won, so… I guess we'll have to wait for more information to know for sure what happened," Shab spoke up.
"Well…" Talon spoke up as he hopped over to them. "We were watching it, but we thought it would be better if someone else told you exactly how you won."
Team Silkwing were the only other team left in the Normal Rank of the Unity Guild. They and Team Night Tide had lasted up to this point, which was quite impressive. Tippi had shown how well she could fight when she needed to, even though Butterfree weren't usually known for their fighting prowess. Ivy had been really good at being fast and agile, making it hard for the opponent to hit her, as well as confuse them on where she was.
"It was… quite the battle to watch…" Tippi timidly remarked.
At first Berry was glad to see Team Silkwing join them, but when she saw their concerned expression, she sensed that there was more to what happened between her and Team Volcano. And for some reason, the thought of it made her worried as well. A part of her didn't want to ask, but she needed to know what happened. "What… happened?"
"I think you should let him tell you," Ivy spoke up, pointing at another incoming Pokemon.
Dust, Shab, and Berry were surprised to see it was the Quilava of Team Volcano. However, he was limping, his fur looked sickly faded instead of the healthy dark blue and cream color it once was. He had some bandages around his head and torso.
"I see you're awake… good…" Quilava stated as he approached them.
Berry stared at the injured Quilava in shock. "W-what happened to you?"
"You don't remember?" Quilava asked as he chuckled a bit, only to wince from the sudden sharp pain. "Not surprised since you used… Anyways, let me guess, you feel exhausted as though you've been trampled by a Tauros?"
"Y-yeah…" The nervous Goomy confirmed.
"I figured," Quilava said. He looked away for a moment, deep in thought before returning to Berry. "Alright, I'll tell you what happened, but only on one condition."
"What's the condition?" Berry asked.
"I have a few questions I want to ask you, so once I'm done, no matter what those questions will be, you will answer them honestly. Agreed?" Quilava asked.
"O-okay," Berry answered, still nervous and unsure if she really wanted to know what had happened.
Seeing that Berry was ready and willing to comply with his conditions, Quilava began to explain what had transpired during their battle, starting off when Shab had just been knocked out. He explained how him and his teammates had the advantage over Berry and were preparing to deliver the final blow. Quilava paused for a moment, briefly shuddering at recalling what happened next before continuing. He explained how Berry started to exert a strong pressure as she started to use Rain Dance, but instead of being like before, this one was more centered around Berry. Her power continued to build up as she released a devastating water attack that took the form of a Dragon. When Quilava had mentioned that part, Dust saw how shaken up the fire Pokemon was, but then he noticed Berry was equally just as shaken. This was nothing like Berry's previous outburst.
Quilava continued, stating how shocked he was to see Berry using such a move. He explained how Berry used the attack three times, each one more powerful than the last. The first one is the reason why Quilava had bandages wrapped around his head and torso. But that wasn't the worst part, for after the first attack, Quilava stated that him and his team were already defeated, but that didn't stop Berry. He shared with the others the look Berry had, that he didn't see the Goomy that they were battling before, but he saw a wild Pokemon that didn't plan on holding back.
"That third and final attack of yours would've…," Quilava stopped himself, shuddering at the thought. "Luckily Igneel stopped you at the last second. I don't know how he did it, or if he said anything to you, but shortly after he came, you had ceased your attack. By then me and my teammates had gone unconscious. I was the first to have woken up, my teammates were still recovering. Oh… one more thing… my name is Meteor. You deserve to know my name at the very least."
Berry was quiet. She didn't know what to say. She was horrified when Meteor told her what had happened. Now that she thought back, she did remember having this feeling of bloodlust that she couldn't control. It terrified her, she never felt that way before, and it made her even more afraid of what she was, and what she could've done if someone didn't stop her.
"Now that I've explained what happened, I will ask my questions now," Meteor said.
"Give her a moment!" Dust shouted as he stepped in front of Meteor. "Can't you see she needs time to collect her thoughts?!"
Despite his pale fur, Meteor didn't back down, slightly giving off some flames that almost burned through the bandages. "You think I came here just to traumatize her? My teammates were almost…" Meteor started off but then looked at Berry. "Look, I came here because I had a feeling that your little gooey partner would not remember what had happened and that I had questions of my own. So don't go acting like you're the only one who almost lost his teammates!"
Dust looked like he was about to retort when Berry spoke up. "It's alright, Dust…" Berry looked at the Quilava. "What are your questions?"
Dust didn't want to step aside, but since Berry seemed okay with Meteor asking her his questions, Dust begrudgingly obliged.
"Thank you, Berry. I only have three questions for you, so I shouldn't take too much of your time," The Quilava took a deep breath before asking his first question. "First, concerning your...outburst, has anyone ever trained you or taught you to use your outburst?"
Berry sighed, it hurt to even shake her head. "No… not many even know… or… knew about my outbursts, until now I guess…"
"Hmm…," Meteor watched Berry closely before nodding. "Alright, second question. Who are your biological parents, specifically your father?"
Berry blinked before sighing. "I… don't know. I was raised by a family of Quagsire. They were the only parents I knew."
Meteor frowned at that, whether it was because he felt pity for Berry or perhaps he wasn't satisfied with the answer, though it might have been both.
"Final question… Have you ever met someone named…" Meteor paused for a moment, looking as though he was reluctant to even continue with his question. But after a couple seconds he sighed before continuing. "...Calcifer?"
Meteor said the name as though saying it was some sort of taboo.
Berry frowned as she looked at Dust and Shab for a moment. Both of them just shrugged, the name was not familiar at all to any of them.
"I'm afraid not, no," Berry answered. "Why do you ask?"
Again, Meteor seemed very reluctant to answer, but convinced himself to do so. "...Calcifer is...was a former member of my guild. He was reported to have died years ago, even though his body was never found. We all assumed he was dead, and we happily did so."
"Why? What did he do?" Dust asked.
"That is only the concern of my guild," Meteor answered. "The only reason I am even mentioning his name is because...Berry, you had done something very similar that I've only witnessed a few members have done from my guild. Something that no other Pokemon outside our guild should know. The fact that you were able to pull something like that during our battle made me wonder if Calcifer might be alive. While many of us would prefer if he wasn't, if by chance you do come across someone by that name, please notify the Volcanic Ash Guild."
"What Pokemon is Calcifer, if you don't mind me asking?" Dust questioned.
"A Charmeleon, but that was years ago. If he was alive, and I pray to Reshiram that he isn't, he'd most likely be a Charizard by now," Meteor explained.
At that, Berry and Dust thought the same thing; their minds immediately went to Al, the Charmeleon on Team Destruct, claiming to have amnesia. Nobody knew who Al was, or where he came from. A second thought occurred to them, one that made them worried. What if Al was lying about his amnesia the whole time and was using it as a cover up? How dangerous would Al be if he truly was Calcifer? And what Calcifer had done that would have the guild he come from wish him to be dead.
Having those thoughts, Dust decided to ask another question. "I know you said you can't go into much details about Calcifer, but was he dangerous?"
"Calcifer was powerful, but very emotionally unstable. He was unpredictable and everyone had to be careful when he was around," Meteor answered.
Berry frowned a little. "You seemed… familiar with my outburst. Do you know anything about it?"
Meteor remained silent for a while, contemplating on whether or not to answer Berry's question. After thinking over it, he nodded at Berry before answering. "If any other Pokemon had asked me, I wouldn't even bother talking with them. But since you're the first one who's ever used such a technique outside of the Volcanic Ash Guild… First, Team Silkwing, thank you for helping me to get to Team Night Tide, but I wish to speak with them privately."
"What? But it was getting to the good part!" Ivy complained.
"You are fine to stay, but I will take my leave then. I shouldn't even be talking about all this! So either you leave, or I leave," Meteor stated.
Talon saw that there would be no convincing Meteor otherwise, so he nodded. "We'll leave you be then. Will you be fine to make it back to your teammates on your own?"
"I know the way back, I'll be able to return on my own," Meteor answered. "Thank you."
Team Silkwing soon left, with Ivy still complaining about wanting to stay. After they had left, Meteor walked to the door, seeing if anyone else was coming. Seeing that no one was nearby, the Quilava closed the door and returned to Team Night Tide.
"Now before I continue, you must promise to keep this a secret. This is something that's supposed to be kept secret within the Volcanic Ash Guild. The only reason I'm even considering telling you this is because the danger and damage Berry can cause if she doesn't know the origin of her technique. So do you three promise as Crusaders to never share this with anyone?" Meteor asked, watching each member of Team Night Tide intently.
"We promise…" Dust said, a feeling of excitement coming to him to learn about something not many knew about, though it did frustrate him a little that he wasn't allowed to tell anyone else about it.
"We won't tell anyone about it, but I must know if it's a danger to Berry herself as well," Shab stated.
Berry just gave a melancholic nod.
Watching each member give their answer, Meteor gave a satisfying nod. "The Volcanic Ash Guild is one of the top guilds in these lands, our members are some of the strongest fire Pokemon among the Crusaders, but besides that not much else is known about our guild. The reason for that is because of our technique that we hold very secretive...Blazing Burst Mode."
"Blazing Burst Mode?" All three members of Team Night Tide said at the same time.
"As you most likely already know, when it comes to power, wild Pokemon are much stronger compared to civilized Pokemon. This is because they are more attuned with nature, with their instincts. They are able to draw upon the internal energy to bring about great strength. Our guild had developed the way for us to be able to tap into this energy that the wild Pokemon are able to use. It requires rigorous training, and only a few are able to truly achieve Blazing Burst Mode. Igneel is one of those few," Meteor explained.
"So what exactly does this Blazing Burst Mode do?" Dust inquired, wishing he had his notes with him so that he can write this all down.
"It varies amongst the users. Some are able to use it to enhance their physical capabilities, increasing their strengths and abilities. For others they would use all that energy for a devastating attack, just like Berry's outburst during our match. It's why I was so shocked, I recognized that pressure she gave off, that energy she was building up, and to see someone outside of my guild using our technique caused me to freeze. It's why I came here in the first place, to see if you knew anything more, but unfortunately you don't," Meteor explained.
"So what you're saying is that Berry somehow gained the ability to use a technique that is only known to your guild?" Shab asked.
Meteor nodded. "Which is why you need to be more careful now, Berry. Because while Blazing Burst Mode grants immense power to those who use it, it has a dangerous drawback, like a double edged sword."
"Wait… why am I able to use it at all?" Berry asked, sounding a little frightened and confused. "You said it took rigorous training, but I had no training in regards to this… technique, Distortion World, I didn't even know what it was."
"Something else about our guild is that there are two reason why we are only Fire types. One, only Fire types are capable of learning Blazing Burst Mode...Or at least I thought so until after our match. Which leads to our second reason, just like how moves can be passed down from parent to child, Blazing Burst Mode can only be passed down from those within the guild. Our genes are unique and are the only ones capable of receiving this technique. Igneel was born into the guild and was able to use our technique. Many who were born outside the guild have tried to master Blazing Burst Mode, but none have succeeded," Meteor finished.
"You think… maybe Berry's parents, or parent, might've been someone from the guild then?" Shab asked.
"Normally, no. One strict rule we have is that our members may only mate with other Fire types. Any who would even attempt to do so would be strictly kicked out of our guild, and that's if they are unable to use Blazing Burst Mode. Those who are able to are forbidden from leaving the guild, and so far no one has done such a thing...At least that's what I believed, but now I think otherwise. The only one who could possibly even leave the guild while knowing our technique is...Calcifer," Meteor said the name with disdain. "He's the only one that comes to mind as being your potential parent, Berry."
The room was silent for a moment.
"Even so…" Dust spoke up. "From what you told us, only Fire types seem capable of even using Blazing Burst Mode. Even if Berry's parent was someone from the Volcanic Ash Guild, she still shouldn't be able to use it, right? Especially since she didn't have any training regarding the technique itself."
"That is true," Meteor agreed. "Fire types naturally have an inner fire each and every one of us must bring out to even be able to attempt Blazing Burst Mode. Which is why our types are the easiest to make wild than other civilized Pokemon. The fact that Berry is able to use it without even training, however, makes me wonder… Berry, are you a wild Pokemon?"
"No?" Berry frowned. "I was hatched civilized."
"She's too delicate to be a wild Pokemon anyways," The Feebas added.
"If that were true, then what was that Goomy me and my team barely survived from earlier?" Meteor countered. "Look, I'm only sharing with you what I know and how they might relate to Berry. I also must warn you from using that technique. Without the proper training, you risk turning to your wild side. Tell me, do you remember feeling any bloodlust or any wild, irrational thoughts during our match?"
Berry frowned as she had bits and pieces of memories of what happened when she had her biggest outburst yet. She remembered a lot of water, she also remembered feeling the want, the desire to not just defeat, but kill the three who had threatened her. She also remembered a bigger Pokemon in front of her that soothed her enough to calm down. It was a large orange dragon-like Pokemon, who was likely Igneel since Meteor did tell her he was the one who stopped her. She also remembered seeing a large scar on the Pokemon's back.
"That Pokemon who stopped me… Igneel, was it…? I think… I saw a scar on his back… or am I remembering that wrong?" The Goomy questioned, mostly because she didn't really want to answer Meteor's question of how she felt when she lost herself.
Meteor sensed what Berry was feeling but didn't push further, instead opting to answer her question. "No, you are right. Most think that Igneel had received those burn scars from battling a powerful Pokemon. That is the story our guild has told. But in reality, the one who had given him those scars was none other than Calcifer."
"But, why would he do such a thing?" Dust asked, he couldn't even imagine the thought of him or someone else from the guild attacking a fellow member.
"Like I mentioned before, Calcifer was powerful, but very emotionally unstable. At first we couldn't believe it, despite Calcifer's dangerous nature, he was very close with Igneel. They had trained with each other, so to find out that Calcifer not only used Blazing Burst Mode on Igneel, but he also used a taboo move on him as well," Meteor explained, each word filled with anger.
"Taboo move? Is it something like one of the banned moves?" Dust asked.
"Not exactly, while not banned, to use this move brought heavy shame to any Fire type who even dared to use it," Meteor closed his eyes as he recalled that day, showing visible anger. "Burn Up is a Fire type attack that is already devastating on its own. The only drawback is that using it causes one to lose their inner fire and they are no longer Fire types."
Dust was very curious about this move, never before had he heard of an attack that can strip one of their type. "This move sounds very rare."
"There's a reason why we call it a taboo move, no one even knows how Calcifer came to learn that move, but he ended up using it while in Blazing Burst Mode on Igneel. It's how he had gotten those burn scars on his back," Meteor said. "Even though Fire types normally can't get burns. Just goes to show how devastating that move is."
The room was silent once more, there was a lot to take in for Team Night Tide, especially for Berry. The thought of this Calcifer potentially being her father caused her to worry, as well as how dangerous she was.
"I would suggest that Berry does some training with her Blazing Burst Mode, but… without a proper mentor, that would be difficult, especially since I doubt anybody would know how to train her particular Blazing Burst Mode. She isn't a Fire type, nor did she use a Fire move," Meteor continued with a sigh.
"Couldn't one of your members at least help her with the basic or something?" Dust asked.
Meteor shook his head. "That would be impossible. If anything, that would most likely put you in more danger. Like I mentioned before, our guild holds are secrets very dearly, and there are members who wouldn't exactly be thrilled to see an outsider using their technique. Honestly I'm surprised Igneel hadn't done anything to you. I was expecting him to attack you."
Berry shivered at the idea of having the Hellfire come after her after she used the 'Blazing Burst Mode', even if it was by accident, there was a reason why he was known as the Hellfire, he was reputed to not show others mercy.
Meteor let out a sigh. "I will say though… perhaps you should find Pokemon who can help you control your wild side, perhaps learn with another wild Pokemon who was trained to be civilized like that Feebas teammate of yours. Find a Pokemon who can help with your Dragon and Water attacks. Perhaps training your unique moves one at a time may just be what you need to keep yourself in control."
"...B-but what if I don't want to control it?" Berry asked, afraid of the thought of being able to use Blazing Burst Mode.
"Whether you choose to use it or not is up to you, but...I will say this. Leaving an open flame unattended will only cause the fire to spread, burning everything around it. Keeping it intact will help maintain the flame while also preventing it from harming others," Meteor advised. "Whether you like it or not, you have this power, and the fact of the matter is, if you don't learn to control it, you can… and you will lose control of yourself again. Being a Crusader is dangerous business, little Goomy, you are pretty much guaranteed to run into situations where you're put in a corner, and that will likely bring out that dangerous side of you again."
Berry deflated at that. As much as she hated the idea of even using any parts of that outburst, she couldn't deny that Meteor made a good point. If she wanted to not be a danger to those around her, she would have to learn to get control over this power, and she would prefer it would be sooner rather than later. She would never forgive herself if she hurt anyone because she couldn't control it.
"Meteor, what are you doing here?" An Audino frowned, she had come into the room while Berry had deflated. "You need to get back to the bed and rest! You're going to get yourself sick by walking around like that."
"Sorry, I was just concerned about Team Night Tide, it was a pretty intense battle we had, so I wanted to check up on them," Meteor said.
"Well that's our job, you should be resting! Now come along!" Audino said.
"Team Night Tide, it was a pleasure talking with you, and remember, be careful around fire, especially those who cause it, best let the Volcanic Ash Guild know, our specialty is fire related issues," Meteor said before waving goodbye.
Dust saw Meteor as he walked out the room when suddenly the Quilava stopped, something had caught his attention. From the look of it, Meteor seemed somewhat agitated, but it was quickly dropped when the Audino told him to keep moving along. Dust was curious as to what caused Meteor to suddenly stop, but he didn't have to wait long, for a familiar face had entered the room.
"Oh my sweet Berry, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Brody shouted as he rushed to Berry's side. "You fought so valiantly. But of course, we can't forget the noble sacrifice of Shab, he truly has done so much for you and this team."
While Dust was glad to see Brody, he was still confused why Meteor stopped and looked at his direction from earlier. Before he could say anything, Grant entered the room.
"You never cease to surprise me, Berry. Keep this up and we might have to have another rematch," Grant grinned, before noticing Berry's somber face. "Chin up, you acted like you lost the match."
Berry sighed. "It's not that, it's just… I lost control of myself. I could've really hurt… or killed Team Volcano back there…"
Grant nodded, fully aware of the battle. "Then there's a simple solution; train. Learn to better control your strength so that you know when to hold back. If you want, we can train together and I can teach you how to better use your strength. While it's good to be strong, it doesn't help if you can't control your own strength. You'll end up hurting yourself and others."
"Yeah… we got the same advice earlier," Dust chuckled.
"But I guess that wouldn't stop Berry from feeling like she's a monster." Shab frowned. "But you're not! You're far from a monster, Berry! A monster is someone who has no conscience, and would happily destroy everyone and everything around them with no regrets. You're more like the ocean. The ocean is beautiful when it's calm, and it hides many beautiful things. But it also has a dark side, it can be destructive when it's angry, and it also hides many dangerous secrets. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a part of nature."
Though Berry still didn't like what she did, Shab's comment did make her smile a little bit.
"I'm so proud," Brody whispered, shedding a tear.
Grant just groaned, hearing Brody. Dust and Berry looked at each other, both glad to have Brody and Grant there. Their company did help lighten the mood. But then a new thought came to mind, one that caused both Dust and Berry to frown. If both Brody and Grant were here, then that would mean that he was here too. And just as they thought that, the last member of Team Destruct walked in. Before, whenever they saw Al, Dust and Berry always greeted the Charmeleon with a warm smile, always enjoying his company. He always gave that cheerful smile, with not a single care in the world.
But now, as Al entered the room, Dust and Berry couldn't help but think of their previous conversation with Meteor and his warnings about Calcifer. As they watch Al get closer, questions started coming to their mind. Is Al really Calcifer? Was he lying about his amnesia the whole time and using it as a cover? And if so, how dangerous was Al, if he wasn't who he says he was?
"Look who finally decided to wake up!" Al greeted, but stopped when he saw Dust and Berry's cautious expressions. "Yikes, you guys look like I'm about to cause a fire or something."
"With your luck, you'd probably end up doing so," Grant remarked, which caused Al only to laugh.
Shab looked at Dust and Berry before he spoke to them. "Listen… I understand your skepticism, but the fact of the matter is, this is Al. The same Charmeleon we've all come to know and love in the Unity Guild. Whether he is who Meteor said or not shouldn't matter right now. As long as Al is Al, then that is who he is."
"...You're right, if Al truly wished to harm someone, he would've done it a long time ago," Dust agreed. "Plus, like Meteor said, there's a chance this Calcifer fella is actually dead, and even if he wasn't, he did say the Charmeleon lost his flames using Burn Up. We've personally witnessed Al using fire before, so I think it's safe to assume he isn't Calcifer."
"Besides…" Berry muttered. "He looks too young to be my biological father."
"Well if we knew his actual age, that might be a different case. There have been studies showing that Pokemon have mated at a very young age and had eggs of their own, so there is a chance, a very small chance he could in fact be your father," Dust said.
"Perhaps it's best not to think about that right now," Shab sighed.
"Hey! What are you three whispering back there? Is it interesting?" Al asked. "If you guys are talking about secrets I got a good one. So one time we were on this night mission, getting really dark. It was in the forest, lots of grass and bug Pokemon. Brody got sprayed with some weird pollen that apparently made him see hallucination, except we didn't know that. So imagine all our surprise when he walks up to Grant, and without warning, kiss-"
Brody and Grant quickly shut the Charmeleon's mouth with their hands.
"Shut it, Al!" Grant snapped, his face turning red.
"That is not something you should say to anyone, ever!" Brody shouted, his face also turning red.
Al tried to reply, but Grant and Brody held his mouth shut. Grant looked up, still blushing red. "We're heading out now. Our match is coming up soon, in case you wanted to come and watch."
"Berry, I'll be hoping to hear your cheer, along with all the other females in the stand," Brody added, who was also blushing.
Al just waved goodbye as his teammates dragged him away.
Berry and Dust just stared as Team Destruct dragged Al out of the medical room. Shab just raised an eyebrow.
"What an odd bunch, but I guess that's what makes them so lively," Dust noted.
"Could you imagine if one of them wasn't part of the team?" Shab brought up. "When it's the three of them, they somehow make it work out, but if one of them wasn't there, I can't even imagine how that team would function."
"I can see Brody mostly working in the kitchen, as for the others, I'm not sure," Dust commented before looking at Berry. "So are you feeling okay? We don't have to go watch the next match if you aren't feeling well."
"I feel horrible," Berry admitted. "Both physically and mentally. There's… a lot I need to process… I'm not sure if I'll even want to battle again when I'm done…"
Dust had a feeling this would be the case and it caused quite the dilemma. He had no desire to force Berry to do anything she didn't want to do, but at the same time, that would mean they would be struggling in their next match, or they might even have to forfeit. Dust was struggling between choosing his desire to obtain Gold Rank or supporting his friend.
"Perhaps we should watch the next match. It might help take your mind off of things," Shab suggested. "Besides, Emerald might also be looking for us. She might be able to find us easier in the stands where we can watch the match."
Berry let out a small sigh.
"Listen, Berry, as a wild Pokemon myself, I know how hard it can be to lose control to your instincts. But in my experience, the more you fight it, the harder it will become for you to control it," Shab informed. "There's no point in worrying what could've happened or what almost happened. What's done is done, and all you can do is move on and learn from it. Are you sure you really want to give up fighting? Give up being a Crusader because you're scared? Because that doesn't sound like the Berry I knew."
The Goomy frowned. She had wanted to be a Crusader for the longest time since Damp, her Quagsire mother, told her about them. She wanted to prove she could be a helpful Pokemon, a Pokemon others could admire and trust. She also liked rescuing Pokemon from what could've been a terrible fate otherwise, it made her feel nice and like she really belonged. She had been helping others since she started her Crusading career, and that included Pokemon like Dust from loneliness, and Mimi, who was now free from the mansion she had been stuck in for thousands of years. While Berry was afraid, she also realized she had done a lot of good as well. And right now, Dust needed her for this tournament.
Berry took a deep breath and let it out. "You're right, Shab. I don't know if I'll lose it again, but… I did promise to do my best as long as we're in this tournament. Thank you."
Dust smiled, seeing Berry feeling better, but then frowned when he thought about his earlier hesitation. Dust was so focused on his own goals that he couldn't think of anything to say that could've helped Berry feel better about herself. He was grateful for Shab's words, but couldn't help but feel guilty for not doing more.
Dust shook his head, seeing as he can't focus on negative thoughts now. "Well, like Shab had said, it would be best to take our mind off these things. Plus, I'm curious to see how Team Destruct will do, so far most of their matches have been pretty short, hopefully we'll see more of their abilities, maybe learn something from watching them too."
"Team Destruct is powerful, there's no doubt about that, and their teamwork is surprisingly very coordinated for a trio of Pokemon that usually fight with each other," Shab noted. "We may even have to battle them ourselves soon."
"Let's hope that if we do… I won't actually go into another outburst," Berry sighed. "Um… I'm a bit too sore to move… Dust, could you help me get on your back?"
"Of course," Dust answered as he walked up to Berry and crouched down. "Ready when you are."
Berry carefully slithered down before dropping herself onto Dust's back with a small PLOP. Shab hopped on onto Dust's back as well.
"Is your head alright enough for me to ride on, dear sweet Berry?" The Feebas asked.
Berry couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Yeah, go ahead, Shab."
"Alright, hopefully we don't miss the start of their match, I'm curious to see who they will be facing," Dust commented as he started heading towards the door with both Berry and Shab on top of him.
When Dust made it to the arena, he walked over to one of the empty stands. It was pretty far from the arena itself, but the stand was pretty high, so it was still easy to see. Berry slithered to one of the seats to sit down on herself. Shab decided to stay on the Goomy's head though.
"Looks like we made it just in time," Berry noted, seeing how Team Destruct was already in the arena.
"-And on the other side is the team that puts the ruth in ruthless, a team that believes in power and strength to overcome their opponents, we have the Silver Rank Team Crimson Raiders of the Unity Guild! Yes, both teams are from the same guild!" Patricia the Mawile announced with such energy that it made the crowd feel excited as well.
Dust couldn't believe what he heard, of all teams he wasn't expecting Team Crimson Raiders to be the ones to fight Team Destruct. "I was already curious before, but now this match had just gotten more interesting."
"I know we were pretty pumped to battle with Team Crimson Raiders before the tournament, but I hope Team Destruct pounds their faces in," Berry grumbled. "Especially Blizza's."
Dust nodded, and while he too agreed, he couldn't help but wonder how the two teams will fare against one another. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"I'd say whoever wins it's a win-win for us," Shab remarked. "After all, if Team Destruct loses, we get a crack at Team Crimson Raiders. If Team Destruct wins, then they gave a hard hit to Team Crimson Raiders for us."
"I like the way you think, Shab." Berry smiled while Shab began blushing again.
"Team Crimson Raiders, we've heard a lot of things about you," Grant spoke up. "We hear you're all pretty strong."
Then Grant eyed the flopping Magikarp that was on the side of Team Crimson Raiders. "So why do you have a Magikarp with you?"
"Let's just say we picked up a few things from watching the other guild members," Crimson grinned. "Besides, Team Night Tide had a Feebas on their team, and look at how well that's turned out for them so far."
"True, the Feebas had been surprisingly helpful. But unlike a Feebas, a Magikarp can only use Splash or Tackle, not really one for versatile uses like the Feebas," Grant pointed out.
"Grant, we shouldn't underestimate them, they managed to get this far, so I wouldn't be surprised if that Magikarp is a lot stronger than he seems," Brody advised.
"Oh? Didn't you notice how white the whiskers are on the Magikarp?" Crimson asked.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Brody asked while Grant frowned.
"If you're too ignorant to know, you'll be finding out later," Blizza spoke up. "Now enough of this boring talk! Let's get started already!"
"I'm with the dragon, I'm itching to get started too!" Al nodded.
"Looks like things are already heating up before the battle has even started. Are both teams ready?!" Patricia asked, both teams nodding in confirmation. "Then begin!"
Oragonking: DarkFoxKit: Thankfully I can still write, but I don't know how our schedule will look in the future.
Guest #1: DarkFoxKit: Yeah… unfortunately it is because someone is sick. I have a treatment scheduled, and it's likely to leave me very fatigued for a while.
FoxyKhai0209: Traveling Master: Thank you for your concerns, we been keeping track of it ever since it started. DF has been going through a lot, but it helps seeing all the support she's been getting from you and all the others.
Lonelyboi69: DarkFoxKit: It's been pretty rough on me, and I hope it will be over soon. But we're trying not to let that stop us from writing. I'm also happy to hear you really like Crusaders of Dusk. It's a good story that we put a lot of time and effort into as well.
Star Virgo: Traveling Master: We've been managing so far. The times we can write, we usually do our best, cause we enjoy writing this story, and we don't want to disappoint any of you either. It just depends on how things develop, but we'll continue trying to write. Thank you and glad to hear that you enjoy this story very much.
Star Libra: DarkFoxKit: There are surprisingly a lot of 'star' people reviewing on here. As for what's wrong… possible cancer, but thankfully it's only in stage 1, so it should be able to be treated fairly easily, even if it means I may never have children of my own.
Star Scorpio: Traveling Master: Well itch no more! Cause as the tournament progressing, things will get more and more intense!
Greatest Guy: DarkFoxKit: Dio is just a very enthusiastic reporter, but who knows, sometimes the one you least expect is the culprit, right?
Team Rocket for the win. XP
Chihiro: PUNish! That's a good one! I need to write that one down the next time someone needs to be punished~
Traveling Master: Stop feeding her ideas! She'll become too powerful! In puns! Also, Suicune, never thought about that. Not gonna lie. While in the game Suicune doesn't have a specific gender, as do most Legendary Pokemon, doesn't mean it's not possible story wise. So who knows, maybe you are right, just gotta wait and see.
Jewel moonstone: DarkFoxKit: Thank you. And hope you have better days yourself.
Star Sagittarius: DarkFoxKit: Hello, Star, again. Stuff happened, yeah. Someone captured Emerald, yeah. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Star Capricorn: Traveling Master: Welp, the only clue we got is that Emerald saw a pair of red eyes. I guess that narrows it down to *Looks at list of Pokemon with Red eyes* ...Yeah, I'm not gonna count that. So like you said, just gonna have to wait and see.
Jojo's Bizarre: DarkFoxKit: *Shakes head* I'm not even going to touch this one. TM, this is all yours. You made the reference, now you gotta pay the consequences for it.
Traveling Master: Love the analogy, that part always was wild in the show. Again, as I mentioned last time, if an idea comes up that works for the story, then we might through in another reference. Or we might not, just depends, but I will keep in mind some of your suggestion. Who knows, maybe Dust and Berry will run into Dialga who just happens to shout "Zu Warudo." XD
lonleyboi68: DarkFoxKit: We're still writing despite what happened, we only made the announcement in case we may not be able to write as much, or be able to update as much as we wanted.
Dust: Ha, ha, ha, as if I hadn't heard that pun to death already…
DarkFoxKit: You binge read my Child of Mew series? I have to commend you for that. Especially since early on, the grammar and spelling were a huge mess. I was also still figuring out how to use fanfiction at the time. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
Tuesday: Traveling Master: WE'VE GONE TOO FAR AT THIS POINT! WE CAN'T STOP NOW WITH TEAM ROCKET! JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR THEM LATER!
Guest #2: DarkFoxKit: I'm just hoping I can put all this behind me soon so I don't have to keep worrying about it. To be frank, the internet diagnosis is less stressful than the doctor's. But thank you.
Heh, who knows, maybe Dio was an inspiration from Giovanni, maybe not, it could just be a coincidence. :3
Traveling Master: Fair enough, don't want to accidentally spoil it for others on the chance that you might be right. But to help with your theory, remember, Berry did explain how Wooper and Quagsire's slime have toxins within them. So being raised and surrounded by Wooper and Quagsire for most of her life caused her slime to also have traces of poison within. Unless that was part of your theory, hmmmmm. Well, hope that helps, theories are fun, especially once we learn the truth and we see how close our theories actually were.
The Moonfox Collective: DarkFoxKit: We actually decided that's what the Lucernas Guild does at the last minute, to give Emerald a reason why she needed help finding her teammates, and why her guildmaster wasn't helping her or stopping the tournament. But yes, it was also kinda cool to see what Berry and Dust thought of the whole 'Power is Everything' line of thinking, which wouldn't surprise me is what a lot of guilds go by since they would only allow certain Pokemon into their guild, unlike Unity Guild which welcomes all Pokemon.
Heh, good that you don't have a clue, that means we're doing a good job keeping the real villain here vague. We don't want people figuring it out so soon after all.
Guest #3: DarkFoxKit: Thank you, I hope to get better soon too.
ChloeTheKitsune: Traveling Master: Well things are looking good for Emerald right now, can't make any promises, just gonna have to wait and see.
ArcherAmpharos: DarkFoxKit: I don't know if it's a good treatment, but it's been the only 'best' treatment I've been presented with. And let's just say if I take it, I won't ever have children of my own. But I guess I'd rather take that then get an early death… But still, I'm hoping it won't stop me from writing, because it is my passion, and I do want to keep updating these stories I've poured my heart and soul into for you guys to read and enjoy as well. And thank you.
Heh, Team Rocket and Team Ice Climbers was something we did for fun actually, especially since we based Team Rocket off of the Team Rocket trio in the anime, and wanted them to win for once. It was also nice bringing Eclipse back, and as for her reaction to Cliff… hehehehehe, let's just say Dust may see Giartina again very soon~ Also, I am a Paper Mario Thousand Year Door nerd. So yes, a lot of this tournament was actually inspired by Chapter 3 of TTYD.
Traveling Master: I actually finished that chapter recently, great chapter, love the game, still playing Thousand Year Door and loving every bit of it.
Star Aquarius: Traveling Master: That's a good theory, who knows, maybe Brody will sense that Emerald is in trouble. Just remember, both Emerald and Berry had trouble trying to sense where Icy was at some point. Maybe Emerald might be able to reach Brody, maybe not. Just gonna have to keep on reading and see what happens next.
Guest #4: DarkFoxKit: … No, the missing Pokemon has nothing to do with that alternate version of Dust.
Traveling Master: I think I mentioned back when we first showed that alternate version of Dust. So to explain, way before me and DarkFoxKit started working together on this story, I had many ideas for Dust. Some where he ended up in the human world, others where he was an immortal Absol. That alternate version of Dust was just one of the more...darker ideas I had for him. So nothing really related to the actually story that is going on right now.
RollingDisco: DarkFoxKit: Ah, yes, I remember that blue-eyed Pikachu. I think that Pikachu is what inspired the Alolan Raichu design, both having blue eyes and both are surfing electric mice. As for Emerald's green eyes… the person who sent me Emerald's bio says that it's a mutation, and apparently she has some kind of healing capabilities. They might have more, but we probably won't go into deep details about it since Emerald isn't our main character.
Traveling Master: Alright, I think that's about it. How are we looking, Dust?
Dust: Looks like we lost them, and I don't see any signs of DarkFoxKit, so I think we are in the clear.
Traveling Master: Great, now let's get back to Paper Mario!
DarkFoxKit: *Gleefully stalks them in the shadows* You can't escape from me and the story, boys~
*Both Traveling Master and Dust hug each other as we scream before the screen cuts out.*