"Statements"
'Thoughts'
Side Notes
Charizard X soared up to the sky and reveled in the new power of the Mega Evolved form in all its blazing glory. From the high skies, the mighty dragon released a breathtaking roar. Both hunters and their Pokemon stood in awe as the earth beneath them trembled when the champion's ace finally landed.
Hunter J went from flabbergasted to irate in a matter of seconds. "Grrrrr, you weren't even supposed be here. I'll make sure to crush you like dirt." Salamence took the hint and burst forth a ground shaking Dragon Pulse. Charizard flew off while the attack chased after it. The onslaught tore through large chunks of land and trees as it continued to trail the fast paced Fire/Dragon type. Rinto and Gallade followed suit with a series of far reaching Psycho Cuts, although Charizard's speed meant the closest hits they could land were a few passing grazes.
Even though Alain appreciated his Pokemon's show of strength, he couldn't risk the collateral damage that would most certainly proceed if this continuous volley of attacks dragged on. "Charizard, there are too many innocent Pokemon in the vicinity! We have to keep this battle close ranged!"
Charizard responded to its master's command by abruptly ending its course of evasion and piloting around the oncoming attacks, swooping over to its foes in the process. Its fists started to surge with yellow sparks until the move known as 'Thunder Punch' was produced. Gallade and Salamence kept on guard to see who it would attack first, only for both to get blitzed with electric powered knuckles.
Rinto's eyes widened at the sudden attack. 'That speed! Tch, there's really nothing we can do. Not unless...' His mind lingered towards a certain memory of his.
"J, do you think he will be arriving soon?" Rinto asked urgently.
"Are you talking about..." Hunter J paused. Rinto gave a firm nod to clear her suspicions. "There was a deal set in place between him and Team Scythe. It just depends on whether he'll take it or not."
Rinto took a deep breath. "Then we may have to place our bets on his arrival. All we can do at the moment is stall."
Hunter J didn't cherish the idea of having to stall for backup, but in the back of her mind, she knew they wouldn't fare much better otherwise. Gallade and Salamence got back to their feet, which Charizard responded to with a growl(not the move).
"Gallade, use Close Combat!" Rinto ordered.
Alain acted in accordance and sent his Charizard off to counter. "Dodge the attack and redress them."
Charizard keenly swayed through the combination of punches and kicks that Gallade tried to connect before grabbing the Blade Pokemon and tossing it away. Gallade must've flown off at least a few hundred feet, passing through numerous branches before finally being caught by a tree trunk.
There series of events gained a concerned, "No!" from its trainer. Gallade attempted to use the tree it landed on to leverage its body upwards, but failed to do so properly as its body dropped back. J and her Salamence took this chance to catch Charizard off guard with a Hyper Beam.
"Block it," Alain solemnly said.
Charizard crossed its arms and used Dragon Claw to deflect the Hyper Beam with ease.
"Now attack it with a piece of the floor beneath you!" Alain continued
Charizard heaved a chunk of the ground and soared off into the sky before instantly flinging the piece in its opponent's direction from above. Salamence took the full weight of the rushing mass of earth, leaving a large dust cloud to surround it upon impact.
"Salamence!" J cried. The clearing dust left a barely standing Pseudo Legendary in full view. Its eyes were half closed and its legs trembled at the weight of its own body. Out of pure desperation, it forced its tail to emit the bright green light of Dragon Tail and howled off a sharp cry. Alain felt pity for the Pokemon, but waved it from his subconscious and focused on his task. He picked up the pace and shared a mutual nod with Charizard before exclaiming, "Dragon Claw!"
Alain was confident that Salamence would be down for the count. Dragon Tail, despite being super effective, certainly lacked the offensive power to defeat his Mega Charizard. Nevertheless, Salamence still readied itself to strike with Dragon Tail, regardless of the fact that it meant getting hit with Dragon Claw, as well. J pleaded for Salamence to dodge, but it refused to back down. Charizard got closer with every passing millisecond, a sight that was reflected upon the eyes of Salamence. Strangely enough, it took only a split second for that sight to change. Because in place of what was once a rushing Charizard, was the outline of Gallade.
Having used Teleport, Gallade gave itself the chance to reach Salamence before the enemy could. The Fighting/Psychic type took the impact of Charizard's Dragon Claw in place of its partner, resulting in it getting crushed to the ground. Salamence brushed past its surprise to strike with the Dragon Tail it'd been setting up. Charizard, who was still caught up in the shock of Gallade's Teleport, had no time to counter the super effective attack.
Charizard was sent airborne before crashing hard into the dirt. Charizard felt more irritation than pain as it cast itself up. Although his Pokemon was just hit with a super effective move, Alain's concerns drifted elsewhere. He sensed something was off. Charizard revved up another Dragon Claw and began to fly into Salamence's direction, but was startlingly stopped midway by its trainer.
"Charizard! Below you!" Alain cried. Charizard looked back to its trainer before noticing the ground shaking beneath its feet - from it, emerged Latios. Unfortunately, Charizard could do nothing in its stupefied state as the ascending Legendary began to engulf itself in a blue light.
Alain stood horrified at the sight of his loyal companion being helplessly consumed by the sudden Dragon Rush. "NO!"
Charizard's descending figure was enveloped by a cloud of smoke as it reverted to its base state. Its body tumbled across the dirt until finally reaching a stationary face down position. Its eyes couldn't be seen from his angle, but her clearly knew his partner had fainted. Alain finally reached his Charizard's unconscious body and laid his hand on its shoulder while he knelt down next to it.
"I'm sorry, Charizard." The mysteries grew even further when Alain heard the sound of a dropping body from behind him. He turned his head and found a severely scathed Virizion. The questions that arose in his mind were answered by the deep voice of a man.
"Your arrival was a surprise, but a welcome one," Hunter J stated.
"I've no interest in prolonging this. I've held up my end of the deal, so my debt's been settled," Tobias answered.
Rinto, who'd been crouched next to the body of his Gallade, returned his Pokemon and spoke up. "Rather light work considering we dealt most of the damage. The debt you owe Team Scythe is far too large to simply be paid off by some minor assistance against a single feeble Legendary."
The younger trainer's voice began to raise by the second. Despite the conviction he'd established, it only took a single glare from Tobias and his Latios to shatter it all. Hunter J looked in amusement of the situation. Her young colleague made a habit of verbally challenging authority outside of Team Scythe's actual leader, so seeing him shut down like that was satisfying.
Alain snapped out of his daze and confronted Tobias. "You were the trainer who battled Cynthia in the Sinnoh League. The Legend Tamer, Tobias. Why have you aligned with Team Scythe?"
Tobias felt thorns prick his skin when Alain mentioned that sour memory. "Do not mistake me for a common grunt. I'd merely repaid a favor from long ago."
"A favor? What are you talking about?!" The calm and collected tone Alain tried to maintain was fading, in place of it came borderline roaring.
"Let's just say my former moniker has finally lived up to its true meaning," answered Tobias.
Alain processed what his enemy said and arrived at a gut wrenching conclusion. "You can't serious."
Tobias' face twisted into a devious grin. "And would you like to test that out?"
J and Rinto bear witness to the aura of fright surrounding the Kalos Champion. Rinto could almost sympathize with him, those same daggers were being pointed at him only moments ago. Alain took a single gulp to remediate his concentration on the Legend Tamer.
Alain threw a single Poke ball, directing his focus on the unfazed Latios. "Bisharp, Guillotine!"
"Sharp!" It called out.
His Bisharp swiftly formed the light turquoise blades of Guillotine with Latios as its target. Tobias merely smirked and threw a Poke ball of his own. The shape of Darkrai materialized and made quick work of Bisharp with a single Dark Void, putting it to sleep.
"Bisharp!" Alain cried out. He returned it and reached in for another Poke ball only to find himself surrounded by a pitch black orb. When it finally disappeared, Alain fell back as a deep slumber consumed him. Darkrai could sense Latios shooting off a spiteful glare in its direction, but ignored it.
J called out to Tobias. "We'll be taking our leave, I suggest you do the same. The International Police would surely seek out the Kalos Champion once they've figured out he's failed the mission."
In place of a response from the man clad in red, his Latios simply shot a suppressed Luster Purge on the ground between the two trainers, with only enough power to create layers of smoke. When the space around Rinto and J had finally unclouded, Tobias was gone.
"Guess we better wrap up our mission." Rinto walked over to the unconscious Virizion and lightly tapped its forehead with a Great ball. Hunter J decided against feeling annoyance with Rinto catching Virizion, opting instead to feel relief with their success despite intervention from the Kalos Champion.
"Wait," J stated, earning a pause from Rinto. She pointed at Alain, and they both made a subconscious agreement, a hostage. But before they could make their move, they heard the sound of a helicopter whirring.
Its side door opened in midair to reveal Looker, who had come over to rescue his comrade. "Alain!"
They could see other agents, presumably from the International Police, trying to hold him back, this effort was clearly his idea. He managed to break free as the helicopter came to a quick stop right next to the fallen Kalos Champion.
Hunter J was all but annoyed. "Tch, so many of you just crawling from the dirt. Salamence, get the job done."
Salamence got itself ready to face the fools who would dare challenge its master. By this point, Looker had managed to throw Alain into the helicopter, but not without borrowing a Poke ball from his ally. The helicopter began to ascend as Looker stood against the two Team Scythe agents.
Their loss of a major hostage in the form of the Kalos Champion was unpreferable, but it seemed like they were en route to securing another one in his place.
"I may not be much of a battler, but I know I can at least take you on as you are now, it's my duty as a part of the International Police," Looker declared.
Rinto had no Pokemon left, but J still had Salamence along with a few more.
"Drapion, Ariados, go!" Hunter J threw 2 more Poke balls out to reveal both part Poison type Pokemon. Partnered with the still conscious Salamence, and they were proving to still be very much a threat
Looker had only managed to secure a single Pokemon from Alain, but that didn't disturb him. In fact, the handicap seemed to have boosted his determination.
After collecting his courage, he started the battle. "Go, Unfezant!"
Delphox and Professor Cerise went off to get some lunch, while Chloe and Serena walked went around the city to find Ash in the hopes that it could soothe their nerves.
They passed by many people bonding with the native Pokemon. It didn't quite dawn on them that they were both foreigners in Sinnoh until now. Chloe's Eevee absolutely adored the sight of Jubilife, letting its eyes sparkle at every flashy sight that entered its vision.
Chloe couldn't help feel jealous of her Pokemon's enthusiasm, she certainly didn't have it. "My legs are killing me, do you think we'll be there soon?"
"Don't worry, the map says it'll only take 10 minutes," Serena cheerfully responded.
"Oh great, the map," Chloe muttered under her breath, still bitter from when her father had gotten them lost.
"Sorry, I hadn't caught that last part?"
"Nothing."
Chloe looked over and found a nice array of food stands all over the place. She found a food truck called "Electivire Express" in which the truck's namesake was found using its cord tails to prepare all sorts of complicated delicacies. Her father and Delphox were out getting food, but she couldn't help still feel hungry. Considering it'd take ten minutes to meet up with Ash and then another 10 minutes to get back to the hospital, she figured she may as well get something light to calm her stomach.
Chloe opened her mouth to share her suggestion. "Hey Serena, how about we get some foo-"
She stopped midsentence after noticing a very excited Serena watching a clip of an interview on one of the public video screens. The person being interviewed was a lady- wait, no, not just any lady, it was Johanna.
"I didn't know you liked her, too," Chloe piped up.
"Of course! Any coordinator has to know of Johanna," Serena replied.
"Is that so?" Chloe remarked.
"Yep, but I didn't know you were a fan, are you a coordinator?"
"No, not me."
That was a bit strange, most of Johanna's fans were aspiring coordinators. "A performer?"
Chloe started to recoil a bit. "Missed another mark on that one."
Serena gave up on suggesting and decided to ask the obvious question. "Wait, then why do you like her?"
"I'm just a friend of her daughter," Chloe stated honestly.
"Oh I see." It took Serena a few seconds to realize what that meant. She tried her best to catch her tone, but still couldn't help but let some of the shock leak into her voice. "You're friends with Dawn?!"
People turned their heads at the girl that just yelled, causing Serena to withdraw and blush.
"Wait wha-" Chloe immediately remembered Dawn was pretty popular among the contest community, "Oh right, well yeah. The four of us had a really wild experience some time ago."
Serena assumed that Ash and Goh were the other two. With all this knowledge, she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of Dawn. First, she'd travelled with Ash through his Sinnoh League journey, then she met back with him and went on another crazy adventure with the boy.
"Well, that must've been quite the experience." Moments after she said that, they heard the sound of a loud bang nearby. The two shared a concerned glance before nodding and running off to the source of what they assumed to have been a dangerous explosion. Surprisingly, none of the locals could seem more bothered. Surely they would've heard a noise that loud, so why weren't they the slightest bit disturbed by it?
They could hear some commotion going down, only growing louder as they ran. The pair turned a corner and ran into some steel fencing. They winced before opening their eyes and finding the origin of the loud noise.
Chloe smiled. "Hey, that's Ash!"
"It is. Battles would be expected in a battlefield, so I guess that's why the locals weren't too bothered," Serena cheerily replied, that's when she looked across the battlefield and found a trainer in purple, "But who's that?"
They ran into an interesting sight, indeed. Ash had been battling with Sirfetch'd, who'd currently been stood atop its leak before proceeding to slide away from the Pokemon they believed to be Drapion, presumably belonging to the other trainer. The battle raged on right in front of their very eyes. They observed Ash's opponent go through some kind of a mental struggle, only for his Drapion to comfort it. The battle only intensified from that point onwards.
Serena was starting to get pretty anxious. She'd seen plenty of Ash's action packed battles, so this wasn't an unfamiliar sight, but not Chloe. Chloe was enthralled by the battle. Battles were nothing new for her, but most were rather straightforward.
This...this was special.
Serena felt awkward just standing there, so she started to walk over to the entrance of the steel fence to get a closer look. "I guess we should greet hi-"
The tug on her arm caused her to stop and nearly trip over. "Hey wha-"
"Hold on, you might interrupt them," Chloe firmly stated, not once breaking her gaze from the battle. Much like its trainer, Eevee was star struck by what it was witnessing, even managing to earn a light cheer from the small Pokemon.
'She seems to be really focused, guess I better not bother her,' Serena thought.
The battle finally ended with the combination move called "Toxic Missiles", and Chloe seemed kind of disappointed that it was over, not to mention Ash lost. The raven haired boy shared a short discussion with the trainer he called "Paul", before the trainer in purple left. Ash took a moment to reflect before excitedly leaving with his trusty Pikachu. By that point, Chloe and Serena were long gone.
"You sure you don't wanna greet him? You two haven't talked in a while," Serena told her companion.
"Yeah, we'd just get caught up in some sappy reunion, and I've got way too much energy for that right now." Chloe twirled in a lively fashion then bent over and picked up Eevee. "You had fun watching that battle, too, right Eevee?"
"Eevee!" It excitedly called, causing her trainer to chuckle.
"Its pretty strange to see you like this Chloe. I haven't known you for long, but I never took you for such a lively person, no offense," Serena commented.
"I'm usually not like this, but that battle got my spirits going, and I wasn't even in it."
"You think it'll keep going if we had a battle?"
Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. "W-what?"
"You heard me. Chloe Cerise, I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle!"
Darkrai was involved in the Midsummer episodes, which kind off messes up the fanfic's consistency. But since the episodes had a pretty nice ending for Darkrai and Cresselia, I'll try to keep any references to the matter as vague as possible to let you form your own personal headcanons(like multiple legendaries/mythicals).
Next chapter, Chloe vs Serena.