Something that's a bit hard for me to reconcile is when a chapter's length is vastly different compared to ones in the rest of the story. I know that however long a chapter/scene takes is however long it takes, but it still feels weird when I'm averaging 4k+ or so a chapter and then I get something that's essentially sub 2k. Could I have gone and tried to extend this chapter out? Possibly. But it being short and to the point felt right.
The call had come in the middle of the night. An incessant, angry beeping that had him blearily trying to place why the melody was so important. It took a pillow to the face for him to realize that it was Johto's Ace call, at a level that even he couldn't ignore. Angry faces at his door turned bewildered as he ran past them, his jacket flaring behind him as he shoved past the crowd of awakened trainers, Celèste and Caitlyn at his heels.
Thick droplets of water splashed onto his face the moment he exited the Center- an unnatural event that had him frowning. The clerk of Azalea's Ranger HQ could only gesture in stunned silence as he demanded where to go, an open room down the hall containing Azalea's Command.
The quartet of dressed Rangers looked up as he stormed in, staring for only a moment before concluding that he had a right to be there. "Northeast quadrant of Ilex Forest. Reports of rampaging beedrill, scyther, and pinsir suddenly shot up twelve minutes ago across the entire region. Eight minutes after that, the storm broke." What had to be the head of Azalea's unit circled the entirety of Ilex Forest with the back end of his pen. "Estimates say the entire forest is under its effects. I'm sure you've paid enough attention to the weather to know it isn't normal."
Alex nodded. Behind him, his sensors filled in, stuffing the items he'd left behind into his bag. "Where should I go?"
"Ilex HQ." Second in command; second highest badge in the room. "They'll have more information there."
"Does my Psychic have permission to learn the Teleport site?"
The Commander nodded. "I know the place."
A moment later, the three of them disappeared. The rain- and wind- here was worse. Thick sheets of water fell like a summer monsoon, slapping against everything with loud plats. A crack of thunder briefly illuminated the area, enough for him to gather his bearings and rush inside the large two story building. Without a word Celèste took the lead, guiding them to the strategy room.
"You're late." The central figure in the room glanced up from his map, small statuettes scattered all across the forest. "A lucario and a gardevoir?" The man's mouth turned into a thin line. "Head to 3A. We've heard reports of some kids with sub four badges in the area. And be careful," he quickly added. "That region's the heart of competing beedrill colonies. They're ferocious enough that even this kind of rain won't stop them."
3A. Alex stared up at the replica map pinned to the wall. He'd been there before, a few months back. A handful of smaller sensors had been set up in the area. Taking a few seconds to secure a pair of weather resistant goggles to his face, he gave a single nod before Caitlyn teleported them one more, the pounding rain once more crashing against them.
The trio ran for several minutes, Celèste at the forefront and adjusting their course every so often. It was only when they arrived at a dense part of the woods, the canopy above allowing only a sprinkle of rain though, that they finally stopped. Morgan and Umbral were called forth and brought up to speed, the duo ignoring the shivering pokémon around them.
This was a safe place- a haven for all of the area's inhabitants. The presence of a human, one who so readily called forth his pokémon, must have turned the terrifying moment to horrifying. Thunder suddenly screeched through the air repeatedly, each flash grimly lighting the faces of his team. Battles were raging to the southeast, be it against Trainer or wild mon.
"Celèste."
The lucario twitched at his call, her aura tails humming behind her. Another series of cracks came and went, along with the snapping crackles of a falling tree, before both she and Caitlyn rose from their trance. The information passed between the four quickly, all but Caitlyn running off to deal with the threat. He followed a moment after, Caitlyn sedately trailing after as she informed him of the situation. A quintet of kids, none older than seventeen, were a ten minute run deeper into the forest. Huddled in the hollowed roots of a tree, all around them were warring beedrill.
It was a worst case scenario if there ever was one.
Less than two minutes from their location, the remnants of battle could be seen. With the distant cracks of Thunder, smouldering wisps of Dark and Ghost aligned necrotic energy wafted from charred bark. Spider webbed dents and fissures within the trees and ground told tales of the bodies that had slammed into them, unmoving figures wreathed in shadows completing the stories. Underneath the roar of rain, he could hear the shrieks of projectiles rend through the air, imaginary wet squelches and cracks resounding wherever they ended. It could be worse, he supposed.
They could be within a cave.
Another flash of lighting arrived just in time, giving him enough light to brace himself against the trunk of the massive tree and lean closer to the opening below. "Hey!" Behind him he heard Caitlyn prepare herself for an assault. "Hey!" He shouted louder, fighting to be heard over the winds. "I know you kids are in there! Are you alright?!"
A faint, quivering 'Yes' was faintly heard.
"Just sit tight! My team's working on securing the area!" Psychedelic lights illuminated the tree, an angry buzzing making itself known. "No matter what, stay quiet, and stay in there!"
Another narrowly audible acknowledgment.
Alex whirled around, eyes dancing to take in the situation. Five beedrill, one more knocked beyond the tree line by a starburst of Magical Leaf. Caitlyn inched closer to her opponents, hands moving in wide, directing movements as she brought her power to bear. His mental orders were barely completed when the sensations of understanding came back through their mental link.
Twin bolts of lightning crackled down, almost blinding him were it not for a timely warning. That same instant, a sharpened wave of psychic energy cut through the rain, the beedrill in its path suffering the same fate. And to the last two, their bodies slammed into the ground, the Bug-Poisons feebly struggling to rise up, only for jagged chunks of earth outlined by a soft blue crushed their heads with an obscured crunch. Caitlyn waved her hands twice; once to bury the corpses under a small layer of dirt, the other to fire off the psychokinetic leaves she had gathered into the distance. Distaste lingering on her face for only a moment, the gardevoir turned to give him a small smile, looking for all the world as if the past few seconds hadn't occurred.
Alex gave her a small nod. The storm continued to rage on as they stood guard. It took another grouping of beedrill for Alex to realize how the poison bees were managing flight: Tailwind and Agility. The latter was of little concern, but the former...
Tailwind was one of those moves that needed either a gifted mon or an exceptional Trainer to teach. There was a handful of species that could learn it naturally, but the vast majority required outside assistance in learning how to manipulate the air and winds. For these beedrill to know the move- Alex desperately hoped that whoever was dealing with the instigators of this affair were properly prepared.
The violent emanations of another salvo of elemental attacks illuminated the trees in bursts as it tore through the air, one final explosion of a cold blue sphere of energy encapsulating a beedrill mid charge and turning it into a jagged sculpture of imprisoned time.
Alex frowned. Heart indeed. Almost a dozen beedrill and based on how Caitlyn had yet to drop her stance there was still more in the distance. With the same ease as their predecessors, three more fractured units of beedrill were dispatched, a fact that made Alex more and more on edge. By the time the rest of his team returned, Celèste's fur matted down by ichor, the frown had turned into a full scowl. "Report."
The three of them had encountered much the same deal. Groups of beedrill roaming around in groups of three to six, many of them bearing the lingering signs of adrenaline-turned-enhancements; moves beyond their normal skill set were used with abnormal precision and were it not for liberal usage of Drain Punch and Morgan applied Aqua Rings Celèste would have bore more than coagulated haemolymph.
From what Celèste could gather, the tree they were currently protecting was one that held great import to the beedrill colonies in the area. Come spring time, whoever secured it first would have the infrastructure for multiple hives to grow a brood that would double or even triple their numbers. Such an important location, it was only natural that- As one they all tensed, turning to face the source of the tearing trees.
In between the roaring wind and cracks of thunder, snapping branches and trunks echoed from the distance, the streaks of light and faint buzzing that caused the destruction slowly approaching. Another flash of lightning. Just inching past overlapping trees, Alex caught sight of a stinger thicker than any he'd seen before.
Celèste and Caitlyn tensed first, Morgan and Umbral doing the same a twitch later. The buzzing continued to rise in intensity, circling around the clearing and growing ever closer. Another flash sent his team stepping forward, attacks blazing forth in preparation.
He couldn't fault them. Five lance-like stingers and a body length longer than Celèste; the Beedrill encircling them, bludgeoning and piercing foes through wood and air, was no mere Aberration. One final crash, hidden behind the shadows of the trees, sounded out, the crackle of snapping branches unhindered by the rain and wind.
Measured breaths calmed his breathing. In that moment, his Mind and Soul linked up with his sensors. Countless half-aborted strategies and warnings passed through their connections in an instant, the information he knew about their foe forming the foundation of their plan. All that shattered when he felt the build up of energy beyond the trees. His hand flew to his X-gear, fingers flying over the buttons.
He stared unflinchingly at the alabaster white stinger poised not six inches from his face, taking note of the way imperceptible cracks in the quadruple reinforced panel of Protect spread. When the solidified energy exploded outwards and not a shard touched their aggressor- already on the other side of the clearing- he did not back away.
Celèste stepped forward, flame and electricity dancing from her paws.
"You'll need more than that," he remarked, pointing the device towards his open hand. Five stingers, the deadliest of which comprised of its entire abdomen; curved eyes that gave it almost 180 degree vision; and six wings that beat furiously- droplets of rain repelled by every stroke, only to join the rest of their brethren in a localized gale of wind propelling the beast forward. How this creature existed, grown beyond the standard expectations of any pokémon, was a question he desperately wanted the answer to. Farther off in the distance, lightning flashed. Here in this clearing, there was nobody but him and the five kids huddling below.
It was the best case scenario.
Alex tossed the ultra ball in his hand up and down, giving the Mega Beedrill a feral grin.
"Lock it down."