"Kurotori, Drill Peck!"
As her Corvisquire swooped forward, Yume could only watch as he slammed his beak into the approaching Ultra Beast, which turned its head in his direction before smashing Kurotori into a nearby tree with its muscular hand. About to curl up into a ball at the prospect of dying now that she had no other Pokémon left, Yume was almost going to make her piece when a familiar voice rang out. "Flare Blitz!"
Before she could place who that voice belonged to, Yume could only watch as a pillar of flame shot itself right at the insectoid Ultra Beast, fading away to reveal an Arcanine. As Yume smiled upon learning who had come to rescue her, the Arcanine blinked twice when he realized his powerful attack didn't seem to faze the Ultra Beast one bit, and was soon thrown back by another mighty punch.
"Yume, here! Quickly!" the same voice whispered again, this time specifically addressing her. Hoping the Ultra Beast didn't hear that, Yume quickly recalled Kurotori before heading in its direction, weaving in and out of the trees as the Ultra Beast disappeared from her sight. Finally reaching a small clearing a short distance away, Yume saw Ririka there, currently tending to her Arcanine Fuoco as everyone else kept their guard up.
"That was close! Glad you could make it." Ririka breathed a sigh of relief now that everyone was safe and sound. While Yume didn't know the forest as well as some of her friends did, Ririka guided her back here by phone, somehow managing to give out precise instructions despite the spotty and unreliable signal. The dense forest made for an excellent place to hide, especially with eldritch abominations on the loose.
What was supposed to be a normal camping trip had quickly turned into a desperate battle for survival overnight. The idea of spending a few nights together in the forest had been jointly proposed by Ririka and Kanade several days ago, who knew some of the most scenic spots to relax and hang out there. After a fun-filled first day of activities, everyone was looking forward to more tomorrow when they all received an emergency notification on their phones in the dead of night, quickly shifting the mood.
"Great. Now we're stuck in an alien-invasion-slash-zombie-apocalypse. And right in the middle of the forest to boot." Mirei remarked back then. All their parents had been evacuated by rescue teams according to messages they sent shortly afterwards, but this meant the teens were left stranded in the forest. With no way of telling the outside world exactly where they were, their only hope now was to wait until help somehow arrived.
Remaining in place was clearly the least risky option, but Ririka decided that someone should try to get out of the forest and find some help. After all, it was only a matter of time until an Ultra Beast stumbled upon their camping spot and wreaked havoc there, so better to be proactive rather than reactive. At least, that was how Ririka justified it.
As Yume was the best battler out of the group, her friends unanimously volunteered her to be the one who would go and get help. While she protested that she was unfamiliar with the forest's layout, Yume's rebuttals were swiftly countered by Ririka, who offered to provide directions via phone. Besides, she added, Kurotori was originally from the forest, so Yume could count on him to guide her.
Waving goodbye to her friends, Yume had only begun walking for several minutes when she encountered an Ultra Beast, its brutish red muscles instantly intimidating her. Even with her full team out, only Kurotori had managed to survive the initial barrage of punches, and he had already fainted by the time Ririka mounted her rescue.
"Yume, you're back! Want some breakfast?" Satsuki smiled as she offered some scrambled Eggs and sausages on a plate. Seeing the meal in front of her, it was then that Yume realized morning had arrived. The past few hours had passed by in such a blur of chaos that Yume took no notice of the time, even when she set off to find help at the crack of dawn, only noting that it was now somehow brighting.
Sitting down next to her friends, Yume dug into her meal, the warm food filling her stomach back up. The savoury taste in her mouth reassured Yume that she could still have some peace despite the hectic situation she was thrown into, and helped her to relieve some of the fatigue and exhaustion brought on by how nervous she felt.
"I really hope that Ultra Beast Ririka-chan fought back there doesn't find us." Kanade commented, seemingly ignorant of the fact Yume was the one who initially encountered it. "I mean, it wiped out poor Fuoco quite quickly! Imagine how screwed we'd be if another one managed to sneak up on us here! Like that would happen. Wait, why are you looking at me all funny? Guys…?"
As Kanade uneasily turned her head, she came face-to-body with a white Ultra Beast, its tentacles drooping down from a semi-transparent dome. Kanade's entire body froze from the shock of seeing such a dangerous creature so close to her, but it was the high-pitched scream she shrieked out next which caught its attention, causing it to spew acidic poison in her direction.
"Kanade-chan!" Immediately tackling her friend to the ground, Ririka was somehow spared from the Ultra Beasts wrath as well, though half of her grey cardigan was burnt off in the scuffle. Without a second thought, their friends sent out their Pokémon to fight off the Ultra Beast, but it either dodged their attacks or took them head-on with little trouble, all while spraying out poisonous acid in their direction.
"Gah! At this rate, we'll be lucky if we somehow get out of this unharmed!" Motomu shouted while hiding behind a tree to avoid being hit by the Ultra Beast's attacks. Unfortunately for him, a few shots of acid were all it took to melt down his tree, though Motomu managed to escape before it came crashing down.
Even though their Pokémon significantly outnumbered the Ultra Beast, Yume was feeling less certain this advantage counted for anything. With the Ultra Beast's venomous attacks managing to knock their Pokémon unconscious with only a few direct hits, the situation was becoming more and more desperate. As the forest around them was being destroyed by missed poison shots, it seemed that any chance of successfully escaping was rapidly decreasing.
Since all of Yume's Pokémon had been defeated by that insectoid Ultra Beast from earlier, she now had to rely on her friends for protection, and even they were starting to falter against such an overwhelming opponent. One by one, Yume saw her friends quickly recall their fainted Pokémon before trying to flee, only to get obstructed by plant debris.
Eventually, the Ultra Beast moved forward to the point where the distance between it and Yume was only a few meters. Now backed into a dead end and separated from her friends, Yume wondered if this was the end for her when she felt something move around in her bag. Taking a quick look inside, a blur burst out as Yume did so, revealing that Kurotori had somehow broken out of his Pokéball.
Swiftly weaving around the attacks thrown his way, Kurotori flew towards the Ultra Beast and landed a few close-ranged hits on it. However, closing the gap also meant that Kurotori would easily get hit by any of the Ultra Beast's attacks, and Yume's worst fears came true when he got hit with a faceful of sludge.
"Kurotori, no!" Yume exclaimed, extremely worried about Kurotori's condition. Having barely rested at all, any attack would surely take Kurotori out of the fight, especially one as powerful as the Ultra Beast's. About to reach into her bag for Kurotori's Pokéball to recall him, Yume was shocked when Kurotori's body began shining with a bluish-white glow right as the attack hit.
Squinting from the bright light, the most obvious thing Yume saw was Kurotori's body increasing in size, growing to become even larger than her. Once the glow faded, deep blue metal coating akin to plate armor covered most of his body and wings, with only his eyes remaining red.
Now evolved into a Corviknight, Kurotori used his enlarged body to wrestle the Ultra Beast to the ground before using his glimmering wings to slash it. Despite the Ultra Beast's best attempts to counterattack, Kurotori merely shrugged off all the poison being thrown his way, any liquid simply sliding off his armor.
"Liquidation!" A new voice called out. Immediately sure that it didn't belong to one of her friends, Yume watched as an Araquanid burst out of the forest and helped to subdue the Ultra Beast with a water-drenched claw. Looking to see who had come to their aid, Yume was pleased to see that it was the Gym Leader of Perto City, along with her green-bowed girlfriend as backup.
"Your parents told me you were camping in the forest, so they asked me to get you out once the situation got far worse." the Gym Leader explained to all of them. "It's a miracle that none of you were severely injured during this time, and props to you for staying in the same location for so long. That made finding all of you much easier."
"The pleasure's all ours, Ms. Gym Leader." Kanade replied, acting as the group's representative. "If it wasn't for you arriving in time, I think all of us would've been in real trouble back there! And the way you defeated the Ultra Beast with your Araquanid just now was so cool!"
As the Gym Leader's girlfriend helped to capture the incapacitated Ultra Beast with a strange-looking Pokéball, Yume was thankful that help had come right as they needed it the most. Though Kurotori's evolution had saved her in the moment, Yume knew she had to get stronger if she didn't want to be stuck in similar situations again.
Little by little, Yume Kohinata was becoming less timid.
"Cinccino, Tail Slap!"
The pavement in front of her literally vanishing before her eyes, Mamiko tried her best to contain the Guzzlord she was fighting in this street, not wanting it to devour any more of the city she was fighting so hard to protect. As her Cinccino rushed forward to attack the gargantuan Ultra Beast with its tail, Mamiko then called out to her Wigglytuff, who was currently providing support from the air. "Dazzling Gleam!"
Quickly deflating itself to descend, Mamiko's Wigglytuff sent a shower of sparkles downwards, bombarding the Guzzlord from above. Momentarily stunned from the super-effective attack, the Guzzlord soon found itself the recipient of a High Jump Kick barrage from Mamiko's Lopunny, whom she had Mega Evolved beforehand.
Those enhanced strikes were too much for the Guzzlord to handle on top of all the damage it had taken, and it was soon captured by a Beast Ball Mamiko threw out. With the destructive Ultra Beast safely contained, Mamiko was thankful the League provided these special Pokéballs. If it wasn't for them, then this battle would have certainly taken much longer.
Healing her team with the Full Restores she carried, Mamiko continued to patrol the city, looking out for any signs of more Ultra Beasts. Despite how barren the streets were, Mamiko still felt there was something amiss, and her suspicions were proven correct when she heard sounds similar to multiple jet engines above her.
Looking up, Mamiko saw a swarm of Celesteela flying above the city, heading to seemingly nowhere in particular. Telling her Linoone to use a Flamethrower and get their attention, Mamiko quickly sent out the rest of her team as the horde of Ultra Beasts trained their arm-rocket-cannons on her and began blasting away.
While it was her duty to protect this city and its inhabitants from the Ultra Beasts, Mamiko was starting to think luring such a large group of Celesteela here would not bode well for her. Even as her Pokémon fought the horde quite effectively, Mamiko could see they were beginning to get exhausted from battling so much.
Her attention being divided between the many battles going on, Mamiko was so distracted that she soon found herself on the blasting end of a Celesteela's arm-rocket-cannon. Flinching for a moment as it charged up, Mamiko was about to get out of the way when she received an unexpected reprieve.
"Blizzard!"
"Blaze Kick!"
"High Jump Kick!"
As a chilling wave of frosty air blasted the Celesteela from the side, the Ultra Beast was soon launched back by two powerful kicks, each flowing with elemental energy. Though she already knew who had come to her rescue, Mamiko turned around to confirm her suspicions, and was soon greeted by three familiar faces.
"Izumi? Tomoe? Touka? But how?" While Mamiko was certainly pleased to see her friends, she wouldn't have expected them to suddenly show up here in Octiva. Pondering how they could have met up and got here this quickly, Mamiko then saw that all the Celesteela her Pokémon were fighting were now defeated, courtesy of her friends' Pokémon.
"Izumi heard that Octiva was suddenly swarmed by Ultra Beasts, and she asked if we could help deal with the crisis here. Since we all knew you would definitely be called on to protect the region, we couldn't just leave you alone." Tomoe explained. "After Touka and I both said yes, Izumi called in a lot of favours to get us all chain-Teleported into Minant City in a flash. Man, that sure takes a toll on your body."
"Another reason I wanted to come here was to check on my younger siblings." Izumi clarified. "They're supposed to be in Termezzo Town along with their friends, but I'm worried they won't be able to handle so many Ultra Beasts on their own. This is one of the largest Ultra Beast outbreaks on record, so I would most likely be asked to help out sooner or later."
"Alright, then. Now that we've got everything out of the way, it's time to get down to business." Touka dramatically thrust the ladle she always carried with her. "Seeing as all this chaos won't magically disappear, we'd better give Mamiko a hand here. Once all this is done and dusted, let's get a meal together. It's been too long since we've last done that."
"Girls…" Mamiko was touched by the lengths her friends went to help her out. While she would always consider them some of her closest companions, she would have never expected them to travel halfway across the world just to rescue her. "How can I ever thank you for all this?"
"Well, for starters, you can pay for the first-class meal we're having tonight." Izumi teased with a wink. Readying her double-bladed naginata, Izumi stared down a literal wall of Stakataka heading towards them. "Just kidding. We'll split the bill evenly. Though whoever gets all their Pokémon knocked out first pays the remainder."
As Mamiko healed her Pokémon back up, she was infinitely grateful her friends decided to help her out here. When she first went to Kalos, Mamiko would never have imagined the women she roomed with there would remain so close with her even after they parted ways. Despite having their own dreams and goals to pursue, the four of them were inseparable in spirit.
"Azusa-chan, on your left!"
Dodging a shot of poison squirted in her direction, Azusa Sasaki barely had time to recover before another Naganadel joined the first one, this time accompanied by several Poipole. As all her Pokémon were spread thin assisting the other Trainers from Rikka, Azusa was left on her own to command the defense of Eigve City from afar. Unfortunately, the Ultra Beasts had now closed the distance and burst through the 'safe' zone.
While her senpai Mirai Sezaki was also in the city, she was currently in the Battle Institute proper, coordinating the deployment of Rikka's Trainers to different areas in the region, where they would assist local Trainers in fighting Ultra Beasts. As the other members of Rikka's executives were either busy helping Mirai or leading teams of their own somewhere else, the Gym Leader had entrusted Azusa with safeguarding the city.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Amika-chan!" Azusa yelled back at Amika Nase, her girlfriend and teammate. As Amika adjusted her hair, Azusa saw she brought reinforcements along in the form of their other teammates Taichi Matoba and Shiho Togawa. Now that their entire team was here, Azusa was about to tell them what to do next when she saw an unlikely guest standing by their side.
"Serina?! What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be evacuated!" Azusa could only stare in disbelief as Serina Hiiragi appeared from behind her teammates. Azusa hadn't seen Serina since they parted ways yesterday, but why she was here in such a dire situation only made everything more confusing.
"Yo, Sasaki. Did you miss me?" Serina smirked at Azusa. Flabbergasted at how no one told her about this earlier, Azusa was at a loss for words until Shiho offered an explanation. Time wasn't on their side, and they still had Ultra Beasts to fight.
"We found her fighting an Ultra Beast with her Pokémon when we were coming here." Shiho recounted, adjusting her glasses. "While we had to eventually rescue her, Miss Hiiragi was surprisingly able to hold her own against the Ultra Beast she encountered. Considering how familiar you two are with each other, we decided to bring her to you after Nase recognized who she was. "
"Aren't all of you putting a little too much responsibility on Azusa's shoulders here?" Taichi questioned, running his hand through his spiky black hair. "I mean, I get that she's our squad leader, but don't you think we should've brought her back to the Gym? That's naturally the safer option, and we even passed by on the way."
"Don't worry about that too much, Taichi. I'm confident Serina should be able to handle herself fine here, right?" As Azusa reassured her teammate, she shot an optimistic look at Serina, who responded with a deadpan face. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyways, we've been chit-chatting here for a bit too long, so let's get this show back on the road! Say it with me: WE LOVE?"
"MUSIC!" Serina was slightly shocked at how energetically everyone responded.
"WE ARE?"
"RIKKA!" Unable to stop the enthusiasm from spreading, Serina joined in as well, half-heartedly thrusting her hand in the air as she repeated after everyone. As the motley quintet turned their attention back to the growing swarm of Poipole and Naganadel, Azusa licked her lips.
For her, these battles were certainly going to be exciting.
"Mochi, no!"
Her Goomy ducking and weaving around the skeletal body of the colorful Ultra Beast, Tamako Kitashirakawa was now left worried about him. Ever since the warning came to stay inside last night, Tamako had obeyed it out of concern for her own safety. However, Mochi had other ideas.
Breaking out of his Pokéball and slipping outside when she wasn't looking, Mochi's disappearance forced Tamako to search for him amidst all the chaos going on. Afraid of being unable to make it back if she went alone, Tamako had enlisted the help of her boyfriend Mochizou Ooji, her friends Midori Tokiwa and Kanna Makino, and Dela Mochimazzui.
With all shops in the Usagiyama shopping street they lived in now shut down, Tamako and her friends scoured the barren walkway for any signs of Mochi, only to find him singlehandedly (without any hands) challenging three Ultra Beasts at once. Knowing that Mochi had a habit of picking a fight with other Pokémon, Tamako didn't want him to get in over his head here, especially against the dangerous Ultra Beasts.
It was because of that same danger that Tamako was hesitant to get closer for fear of getting hurt herself, so the only thing she could do now was hope Mochi could spot her from this distance. Unfortunately, it seemed he was too occupied with battling the Ultra Beasts to pay attention to anything else, and Tamako doubted she could throw Mochi's Pokéball from this far away.
Wishing the Ultra Beasts would eventually get disinterested with challenging Mochi and eventually go away, Tamako hid with her friends around the corner when she heard a new voice echo through the empty street. "Shadow Claw!"
Before her mind could process what was going on, Tamako saw a blur of red, black, and pink blitz across the walkway, knocking the Ultra Beasts down with a single strike. Slowing down, the myriad colors revealed themselves to be a pink-haired girl wearing red-rimmed glasses, who held a Shiny Aegislash by the hilt in her right hand. Scooping up Mochi with her free hand, the girl retreated before any of the Ultra Beasts' attacks could hit her.
"Aurora Veil!" Two voices belonging to a young man and woman rang out. Barriers slammed the Ultra Beasts from their front and back, restricting their limited movement even further. As the frigid shields continued to squash the trio of Ultra Beasts, Tamako could see they were being cast by a Cryogonal and a Frosmoth.
"Thanks, guys. Chandelure, Shadow Ball!" a young man's voice exclaimed in gratitude. From above, three spectral spheres smashed into the Ultra Beasts, pressing them down with surprising force. The previously lively Ultra Beasts were now barely keeping themselves upright, which left them wide open.
"Alright! Beast Balls, go!" Tamako saw three blue Pokéballs with yellow rings around them being thrown down, capturing the Ultra Beasts in one fell swoop. As the Pokéballs resoundingly clicked shut one after the other, Tamako was left confused as to what happened when the pink-haired girl from earlier reappeared, still holding Mochi in both her hands.
"Akihito, this Goomy seems like it's a captured Pokémon." the girl spoke to a sandy-haired young man, causing Mochi to squirm around in her hands. "Should we look around for its Trainer? It shouldn't have wandered very far from them."
"Um, excuse me, that's my Goomy you're holding there! Thanks for resuing him!" Tamako rushed out on impulse, shocking Mochi's rescuers. As Tamako's friends hurried out after her, she then realized she forgot to introduce herself. "Ah, sorry for blurting that out so suddenly! I'm Tamako, he's my boyfriend Mochizou, while they're my friends Kanna and Midori. The Sirfetch'd on my head is Dela."
"Nice to meet you, Tamako." the pink-haired girl shook Tamako's hand, allowing Mochi to slither over onto Tamako's shoulder. "I'm Mirai and he's my boyfriend Akihito. Those two over there are Mitsuki and her older brother Hiroomi. We're a team that specializes in dealing with Ultra Beasts like these."
"Wow, the way you worked together back there was amazing. I don't think Tamako would've got Mochi back if it wasn't for you rescuing him." Midori was impressed at how quickly Mirai and her friends defeated the Ultra Beasts. "For some reason, seeing that in action reminded me of the time we got back a mascot suit with the help of two other girls."
"Huh. Sounds like an interesting adventure you went on there." Hiroomi commented. "Meanwhile, we're always stuck dealing with Ultra Beasts, even when there aren't outbreaks as humongous as this one. The last time we were asked to help defend a town from Ultra Beasts, we also did it with the help of two girls who were in town that day. Coincidence?"
"Well, maybe. But what's not a coincidence is that there's a beauty in glasses standing right over here." As Akihito looked in her direction, his remark made Tamako realize she forgot to take off her glasses when she hurried out to chase Mochi down. Upon seeing someone else gaze at Tamako like that, Mochizou couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking about there!" Mochizou exclaimed, but he then felt bad about how he took someone else's comment too seriously. "Sorry about that. I got a bit worked up back there. I've had a crush on Tamako since I was a kid, so I can get protective of her at times."
"See, Akihito? Even the guy you just met knows you're a pervert when it comes to bespectacled ladies." Mitsuki spat, irritated at the extent Akihito was damaging their reputation by simply existing. "Apologies for my friend's depraved behaviour. I'll make sure you'll get suitable compensation in the form of him being mutilated."
"No leering at Tamako. She is too pure for that." Kanna added in deadpan, causing Tamako to blush in embarrassment. While she would never have expected to meet new people in this sort of situation, Tamako was still grateful for this opportunity nonetheless. Since she also wanted to thank them for saving Mochi from the Ultra Beasts, Tamako decided to do the one thing she knew best.
"Um, if you've got time, why don't you stop over at my house for some mochi?"
"Agggh! Someone help me, please! I beg you!"
Running for dear life from a slender bug-like Ultra Beast in the dead of night, Shuichi was now pushing his body past its limits. After getting frozen two days earlier and beaten up by Kumiko yesterday, Shuichi was tired beyond measure, but he pushed himself to keep going. There weren't many motivators stronger than an eldritch abomination hell-bent on following you.
Not wanting to bother Kumiko further once he recovered from all the punishment she inflicted, Shuichi flew from Relude Town to the nearby Dacap Town and stayed the night in its Pokémon Center. While he still wanted to challenge the Gym at Ubmedi City, Shuichi decided he would wait until tomorrow to go back there. Everything that happened over the past two days had been too much for him to handle.
However, right when his eyelids were about to snap shut from exhaustion, they quickly snapped back open again upon hearing the sound of an emergency notification coming from his phone. Startled from the tone, Shuichi's eyes widened as he quickly scanned the message, frightened at what he read. Whatever deity had cursed him to suffer through misfortune after misfortune was clearly having a laugh at his expense right now.
Deciding to head somewhere safer, Shuichi left the Pokémon Center and was about to fly somewhere else when he somehow caught the attention of an Ultra Beast, which began chasing him with its slender legs. Though he was a fair distance away from it, the speed the Ultra Beast moved at was much faster compared to how quickly Shuichi could run, and the distance between them soon closed.
About to reach for his Pokéballs and send his Pokémon out to fight, Shuichi's right hand ached as the aftershocks from being frozen reared their ugly head again. Pausing due to the pain, Shuichi stopped in his tracks, which was all the Ultra Beast needed to catch up. Coming to the realization he was now extremely screwed, Shuichi prepared for the worst when a familiar voice rang out through the night.
"Mach Punch!" Right as the Ultra Beast was about to attack Shuichi, a speedy strike socked it from the side, causing its delicate body to be launched away. Having a vague idea of who came to his rescue, Shuichi turned to see a Breloom in front of two people, the taller of whom Shuichi couldn't miss even if he tried.
"Hazuki? What are you doing here?" After their date at the amusement park a few days ago, Shuichi had kept in touch with her via text message, but he would never have expected to meet her again so soon. While he had a good idea of Hazuki's personality based on their interactions with each other, Shuichi was surprised she had attacked the Ultra Beast so unflinchingly, especially when they were so dangerous.
"Me and Midori happened to be in town, and it just so happens I saw you running away from that Pheromosa." Hazuki explained with a blush, shocking Shuichi with the fact that she knew the Ultra Beast's name. Just where had she been? "Since I knew its defenses were really weak, I reasoned Staccato could take it out with a single attack."
"I can't thank you enough for that! You really saved my life back there!" Even as a faint tinge of red crept up his face, Shuichi couldn't hold back his gratitude towards Hazuki. Still, there was one thing about this situation Shuichi found odd. "Wait. You said that Ultra Beast was a Pheromosa. How do you know what it's called? Did you see one before?"
"Well, I helped fight off some Ultra Beasts with Midori, two friends, and other Trainers when a much smaller outbreak happened in Termezzo Town three days ago. That's when I learnt what Ultra Beasts were. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing though…" Hazuki admitted, then she took a look at Shuichi's body. "Wow. You look really beat up. What happened? Did you get attacked by another Ultra Beast?"
"No, a friend got really angry and beat me up earlier today. Given what happened to make her so upset, I kind of deserve it." Shuichi thought back to how he couldn't help Kousaka and Kumiko at Ubmedi City, causing the former to be kidnapped and his childhood friend's heart to be broken. Seeing Kumiko look and act so depressed, Shuichi felt guilty at how powerless he was to help her through such a tough time.
"That's mean! If I see them one day, then I'll make sure to give them a good old kick in the butt!" Hazuki slammed a fist into her open palm, the dramatic gesture causing Shuichi to laugh even after everything he had been through. With Shuichi giving her a positively charming smile, Hazuki's face got even more flustered, but she composed herself enough to offer him her hand. "Come on. Let's get to a safer place, shall we? Midori knows just the spot. We can even swap stories once we get there!"
"Sure. Then I'll be in your care." As Shuichi readily intertwined his own hand with Hazuki's, the sudden warmth he felt from her made him thankful there was someone who wholeheartedly trusted him. Despite everything bad which happened to him over the past few days, the ray of sunshine known as Hazuki Katou managed to make everything about Shuichi's life better in just a few short minutes.
Maybe that small crush he was beginning to have on her wasn't so small after all.
Akiko Oumae was worried. Both about herself, and her two daughters.
Right when they received the emergency notification, Mamiko had immediately left home to go help defend Minant City as part of her duty as that city's Gym Leader. If that didn't make Akiko afraid enough, she discovered that Kumiko had mysteriously disappeared right after she spent the entire night worrying about Mamiko.
With both her daughters gone without prior notice, Akiko was now at her wits' end, and that was even without her caring about what was going on outside. Being stuck in the house with so much to worry about did Akiko no favours, and she soon decided to go out to get some fresh air in their lawn outside, inadvertently forgetting the reason why that was a bad idea in her stupor of stress.
Relaxing in a lawn chair as she looked around at the surrounding neighbourhood, Akiko's moment of peace and tranquility was suddenly cut short when all the lights she saw abruptly went out. About to go back and check if that was the case in her home as well, Akiko heard a crackle of electricity behind her. Turning to see what that was all about, she was then greeted by three tangles of wires bundled together below glowing 'heads'.
Her mind already on edge from worrying about her daughters, Akiko froze in her tracks as she failed to process what was going on. Still hoping both her daughters were alright wherever they were, Akiko took no notice of her own situation up until one of the wire tangles raised up a bunch of wires and began channeling electricity through them. Unable to scream in her state of shock, Akiko thought this was the end for her when she heard a voice. "Needle Arm!"
Out of nowhere, a Cacturne sprang out and smashed the three wire tangles with its thorny arm, knocking them all back simultaneously. At the same time, three Pokéballs sailed through the air before snapping shut around the wire tangles, revealing to Akiko that they were indeed Pokémon. Once the Pokéballs snapped shut with a 'click', Akiko was confused as to who went out of their way to rescue her when she saw them.
Wearing a navy blue sailor fuku with a white ribbon and highlights, a teenage girl stood in front of Akiko along with her Cacturne. Her soft brown hair and deep blue eyes radiated a graceful and mysterious aura, managing to subconsciously calm Akiko down after that brief moment of chaos. Once she regained her composure, Akiko managed to say a few words.
"Th… thank you." she murmured in gratitude, to which the teenage girl simply smiled in response. While Akiko was entranced by the girl's appearance, she was still confused as to why the girl was here in the first place. Strangers rarely came into Relude Town, which meant this girl either knew or was looking for someone here. As the girl had somehow ended up at the Oumaes' house on the edge of town, Akiko assumed the latter. "May I have your name please?"
"I'm Mayu. Mayu Kuroe." After she gave Akiko a polite curtsy with a smile, Mayu took a photo out of her bag. Showing it to Akiko, the older woman's eyes widened at its contents as Mayu asked the question she travelled all the way here to get an answer for.
"I'm looking for the girl in this photo. Her name is Kumiko Oumae. Do you know her?"
"Miss Asuka, you have to hear this! It's from Natsuki!"
As a member of the League Staff came running up to Asuka, the Elite Four member quickly pressed the phone she was handed to her ear. Though she just finished dealing with all the Ultra Beasts on her side of League headquarters, Asuka knew there wasn't a single moment to waste in a crisis like this.
"Asuka, you won't believe who I just saw at HTT HQ! It's-"
As Asuka intently listened to the rest of what Natsuki had to say, her eyebrows furrowed together before she heard the sound of some loud crashes coming from the other end. Natsuki's voice abruptly being cut off shortly afterwards, Asuka was sure what she had to do next. Sending out her Tropius, Asuka turned to face the League staff who gave her the phone, waiting patiently for Asuka to give it back.
"I'll be heading over to assist the raid at Houkago Records' headquarters. Once she gets a break from her combat nursing duties, tell Kaori to go there as well. With who we're going to be fighting there, it's going to be an uphill battle. Especially considering how that person feels about Kaori…"
A/N: I think you all know what I'm hinting to at the end there...
For those of you who haven't heard of her, Mayu Kuroe's a new character from the third-year Eupho novels. Her outfit here is based on the novel version of Kitauji's winter uniform. I'm not spoiling Mayu role in canon, but I've got quite a few plans for her here. Shiho and Taichi are from the Rikka novels, and are first-years in the trombone section just like Azusa and Amika. As for everyone else, I hope you enjoyed all the cameos and unexpected (re)appearances!
