Spencer awoke to the feeling of cold metal on his cheek. His eyes slowly opened and through the darkness he barely made out the gleam of Arachoin as it crawled back off his head. After groggily coming to his senses, he suddenly realized the reason he had Arachoin out and why it had woken him up.

"You wake up the others," he whispered as he threw open the sleeping bag and put on a jacket, grabbing Croagunk's Pokéball and hurrying outside within seconds. He smiled to himself, having gone over the signal to fight with Oliver just before they went to bed.

In the moonlight he saw two figures, presuming them to be Vortex Grunts sneaking through the camp, their silhouettes barely visible thanks to the stray embers of the campfire. They were sneaking their way towards Pam's tent, whispering to one another.

"I don't get it," one of them, a female, complained in a hushed tone. "Why do we have to sneak around? Can't we just take it by force?"

"Nah, that won't work," the other, a male, replied. "The trainers who took down Cole haven't reached Arryline yet. They might be in the area."

"Big whoop, Cole's team is barely admin-level. I think he only made admin in the first place because he did Erwin's taxes one time."

"We're a criminal organization! Why are we paying taxes in the first place?"

*CRACK*

A flash of light erupted through the camp as a bolt of electricity struck the inert campfire, setting it ablaze.

"What in the-" the black-haired female grunt began, shielding her eyes.

"GO, CROAGUNK!"

"GO, NIDORAN!"

The dry-skinned amphibian and the purple prickly Poison Pokémon leapt out and glared at the two grunts, Nidoran bristling and Croagunk making a fighting stance. Out from the shadows walked Moira, her hair unkempt, and Spencer stepped out into the open as well, facing the disoriented and freaked out grunts.

"Great work Joltik!" Oliver shouted from the sidelines as Joltik, who had just set used Electro Ball on the fire pit. The tiny spider leaped away from the fire and crouched in a defensive stance just in front of Oliver.

"It- it's them! Let's book it!" The male redheaded grunt shouted, preparing to run before the female grabbed his arm.

"No way, we can take them," the female objected, confidently. "I've been hoping to put my Pokémon through its paces now that it's got Breakthrough." She pulled a Pokéball from her belt and threw it. "Go, Gigalith!"

The Pokéball erupted in a flash of light, the dark, multi-legged mountain towering above the grunts' opponents.

Oliver gritted his teeth. "Careful, Moira. If that thing is hopped up on Breakthrough, who knows what it can do!"

"Way ahead o' ye," Moira nodded.

The male grunt sighed, reluctantly grabbing one of his own Pokémon. "As if I have a choice…" he said, defeatedly. "Go, Tallocat!"

He threw the ball and out from it emerged a dark brownish-green, bushy-furred catlike Pokémon. Its long, messy fur had light green stripes running throughout. Its whiskers were long, with velvety, cylindrical heads on them. Its tail, which also had that head, was much thinner and less fuzzy than the rest of it.


TALLOCAT

Reed Pokémon

Grass/Water

It was commonly domesticated, but its popularity has largely waned. Wild Tallocat are largely inactive as a result, instead using their reedlike tails to camouflage themselves in marshland and catch smaller Pokémon unawares. Despite being rather slow, its reflexes are surprisingly sharp.


Oliver looked over the field, at the Pokémon that were present, and formulated a plan.

"Moira. Croagunk is the only one here with a type advantage against Gigalith, but both of Tallocat's types can tear apart a Ground-type. But it's weak to both Bug and Poison. Let's focus on that and let Spencer deal with the big guy."

"Sounds good."

And with that, a flurry of commands were all issued at once.

"Croagunk, use Low Kick!"

"Gigalith, use Protect!"

"Joltik, use Bug Bite on Tallocat!"

"Tallocat, use Razor Leaf!"

"Nidoran! Take the leaves yerself and use Poison Sting!'

And all at once the assembled ensemble of Pokémon launched into action.

Croagunk slid towards Gigalith and swung its foot into Gigalith's foot, which glowed blue and didn't budge. Tallocat's whiskers, on their own accord, swung around and flicked back into place, launching a pair of razor-sharp curved leaves directly at the amphibian.

Nidoran leapt in between them and the leaves, and while those leaves did cut Nidoran, they were shredded to bits on Nidoran's pointy body. Joltik leapt over him and dive-bombed Tallocat, biting down on the feline. Feline's thick fur repelled Joltik's tiny fangs, more distracted than anything else. Meanwhile, Nidoran had gotten its bearings and fired a purple spike. The cat, however, sensed the spike approach and rolled out of the way, throwing Joltik off its back and dodging the Poison Sting.

Oliver glared. Tallocat was a fairly durable Pokémon and Joltik wouldn't be able to put much of a dent in it, even with the type advantage. He was hoping Nidoran would be able to poison it and make it a matter of waiting it out, but that didn't seem to work.

The female grunt smiled, seeing that Joltik had landed near Gigalith and Criagunk was still recovering from its failed attack.

"Gigalith, use Eruption!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Gigalith's eyes glowed red and red cracks began to appear all over it.

Oliver's eyes widened. "Joltik, get out of the way!"

But before Joltik could react, an explosion of molten rock shot from Gigalith's top, raining around the campsite. Joltik was struck head-on, knocking it out instantly. Croagunk was also hit, and though it was singed, it was still standing. Oliver grimaced, quickly withdrawing Joltik, and looked out at some nearby brush that had caught fire, thanking his lucky stars they were in an area with relatively little foliage. Suddenly he did a double take and realized that a couple of their tents had also caught fire, though again, to his relief, his own was untouched.

Pam and Scarlet emerged from their respective tents, Cassandra quickly joining the two. "I was trying to stay in the tent like you guys said but everything's on fire! What the heck happened?!" Pam panicked.

Scarlet was about to say something when Moira threw a Pokéball at Scarlet. "Here, ye can borrow Drizzile, deal with the fires, will ya?" she said quickly, not waiting for Scarlet to respond before ordering Nidoran to attempt Poison Sting again. The redhead was about to comply when Cassandra dashed forward to take on Gigalith.

"N-no! Cassandra! What are you doing! Get back-" Scarlet looked back at the growing fires, then sighed, bringing Drizzile out. "I'll deal with her later…"

Gigalith's attention was now diverted away from the injured Croagunk towards the Absol that had just entered the fray and used Night Slash, which nicked the rock slightly but didn't do much otherwise.

"Now's your chance! Go for another Low Kick!" Spencer cried, with Croagunk responding immediately, sweeping underneath it again and knocking its leg aside, sending it crashing to the ground.

Meanwhile, Nidoran took aim at Tallocat and fired off another sting, which actually hit this time, but only managed to get lodged in the thick fur.

"Use Bubblebeam!" the male grunt ordered, and Tallocat took a deep breath and blew, an array of bubbles shooting towards Nidoran , the densely-packed water bursting as it struck the Poison-Type, leaving it woozy and having a difficult time standing.

Pam was watching this and grimanced. She was told to stay in her tent earlier, as the grunts were here to steal her Fossil Pokémon, and might end up in harm's way if the grunts got desperate. But since the tent was burning (even after Drizzile put it out, it was basically unusable), that wasn't really an option, so she decided to join the fight anyway. Reaching for her belt, she pulled a Pokéball out and threw it. "Go, Spearow! Use Wing Attack on Tallocat!"

The angry, sharp-beaked bird flew into the air and dive-bombed Tallocat, slicing with its wing, knocking it back. Tallocat hit back with another Bubblebeam, with Spearow maneuvering through the air in a ribbon of feathers as it frantically dodged the watery projectiles.

Oliver pulled a Pokéball out and looked down at it. Karrablast , he thought. You can be really rough… but we can't afford to hold back, so you know what? I'll let you cut loose. "Go, Karrablast!'

The blue pincer Pokémon jumped out, immediately overwhelmed by its surroundings. However, it suddenly began to twitch, and despite Oliver shouting for it to use X-Scissor on Tallocat, it immediately turned to face the giant Gigalith, which was getting to its feet, shrugging off assaults from Cassandra's Night Slash and Psycho Cut with relative ease.

After a moment, Karrablast made a beeline for the Gigalith.

"No, wait, Karrablast, what are you-"

The bug didn't listen, flipping around into the air and slicing its pincers at the rock-type.

Oliver was just about to recall Karrablast and bring Lyote out when a loud growl pierced his ears, as Gigalith recoiled in pain from Karrablast's attack. There were clear slice marks in its rocky exterior where the pincers had slashed at it. Gigalith tried to turn to face the bug, but left itself open for a combined assault from Croagunk and Cassandra. One Brick Break and Night Slash at the damaged area, and Gigalith let loose a low growl before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

Spencer watched in shock as the massive Rock-type fainted, and was recalled by its trainer, who was just as dumbfounded as he was if her wide eyes and pale face were any indication.

I don't believe it… that thing was a fully-evolved, highly-armored Rock-type… and that Karrablast broke through like it was nothing! What is that thing?

Unless…

Spencer glared as the two grunts shared a disturbed look. Tallocat, meanwhile, was thrown off-balance as the ground shook under the weight of the fallen titan, leaving itself wide open for Spearow's next attack, finally managing to land a decent hit. In addition, the wing collided with the spike Nidoran had launched earlier, driving it further in. Tallocat stumbled as the spike pierced its skin, the poison slowing its movements.

Before Pam could order another move, a blue glow erupted in the corner of her vision. She turned and found Moira staring at the same glow, which was enveloping Nidoran.

Moira gasped. "No way! Is he-"

The glow grew to a blinding light and dissipated, revealing Nidoran to have grown larger, spikier, and angrier. Nidoran had evolved into Nidorino.

Moira grinned. "Nidorino, use Horn Attack!"

Nidorino charged forward, more quickly than it did as a Nidoran and jabbed its horn into Tallocat, easily breaking through the fur coat and landing a critical blow. Tallocat stumbled around, struggled to stay standing, and collapsed. Tallocat was down for the count.

The grunts looked at each other again, even more freaked out. They were backing away slowly when all of a sudden…

"W-wait, Karrablast! What are you-"

The blue bug-type was making a beeline directly for the female Vortex grunt. Karrablast jumped towards her with its pincers prepared to strike, malice in its eyes.

Oliver went white as a sheet as the grunt's shriek filled the night. Oh sweet merciful Arceus! That's the attack that weakened Gigalith! If it were to hit a human...

The grunt dove out of the way just in time to avoid being sliced to ribbons. Karrablast landed roughly, than turned back to face the quivering woman.

"Oliver! What are ye doing?! Call it back!" Moira shouted, snapping Oliver out of his shock.

"R-right!"

As soon as it had regained its footing, Karrablast leaped up to attack her once again before being overcome by red light and pulled back into its Pokéball, held by a shaking Oliver.

The two grunts turned tail and ran at top speed. However, they hadn't gotten far when blaring sirens and blue-and-red flashing lights appeared on the horizon. Two police cars drove up at alarming speed and slammed on the brakes, a few blue-uniformed officers coming out, accompanied by a Koffing, a Porygon, a Magneton, and a dark-blue male Meowstic.

Both grunts put their hands in the air as the officers got close.

"I told you so," the male turned to the other grunt, who didn't respond, as she was already being shoved into a police car.


A few minutes later, another couple police cars showed up at Spencer's request to give them a ride to Arryline, since their camping gear was destroyed. The cops were originally called by Scarlet, the plan being that once the grunts were preoccupied with fighting the others, Scarlet would discreetly call the police. The goal hadn't been to defeat the Vortex grunts; just keep them there long enough that the police could handle the rest.

So Oliver, Moira, and Scarlet were in one car while Spencer and Pam took the other. The Pokémon that were usually let out of their Pokéballs were inside, resting.

"Thank you so much for cooperating," Spencer said sincerely. "Sorry to get you wrapped up in all this."

"It's fine! It's fine," Pam said, from the seat next to him. "I'm glad you were able to stop those guys. I heard rumors that people were stealing fossils but didn't know if it was true or not. I feel safer now that they're dealt with though."

"There's a lot more of them out there, though," Spencer pointed out.

"Still, I can focus more on the Gym Challenge now that I know you guys can handle them."

They rode in silence for a few minutes as Arryline came into view, the lights of the famous Arryline Airport shining brightly among the otherwise darkened skyline.

"So… that Karrablast sure was something," Pam spoke up, breaking the silence. "That little guy did more damage to that Gigalith than any of our Pokémon combined! Where'd he find that thing?"

"Yeah…" Spencer said absently, glaring out the window at the other car. "I wonder…"


"Oliver, it- it wasn't your fault," Moira stammered, patting Oliver on the shoulder.

"But it was my Pokémon," Oliver said quietly, staring at the floor of the car and shaking. "My own Pokémon almost killed a person. I knew Karrablast was rowdy and violent, but I never thought…"

"That's right, you didn't know it would happen, so you shouldn't blame yourself," Scarlet added. "It's not like you told Karrablast to go after them."

"Yeah…" Oliver sniffed. "I guess so."

"Look, we know it was an accident, ye don't have tae worry," Moira said reassuringly.

"Thanks guys," Oliver said. "But I haven't been able to wrangle Karrablast no matter what I do. I'm beginning to wonder… is Karrablast a lost cause?"

They rode in silence for a bit, unknowingly parallel to the passengers in the other car, a soft sniffle coming from Oliver every so often.

"Hey, Oliver, I have a question," Scarlet began. "Where was Ralts? I didn't see her?"

"Neither did I," Moira said, before glaring accusingly at him. "Oliver, I swear tae Arceus, if ye benched Ralts to make the fight 'fair' or whatever-"

"It wasn't that!" Oliver said, waving his arms furiously. "I was just letting Ralts sleep. I didn't want to wake her in the middle of the night. Joltik was a light sleeper and he was already awake-"

"Okay, I believe you," Moira said, backing off, a guilty look on her face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that, I- I really have to work on that," she added. "Sorry."

Oliver chuckled nervously. "Y-you don't have to apologize. This has been a rough night for all of us."


They weren't the only ones in the Pokémon Center that late at night. The center was open 24/7 because people did often need their services at that hour. Even still, it might as well have been empty compared to how packed a Center usually would be.

Oliver was focused on Crobatman and Fletchling , with Moira reading over his shoulder, while Scarlet was quietly and gently scolding Cassandra for running off. All the other Pokémon in the battle that were injured were currently being treated.

And that included Karrablast.

Spencer paced, thinking about the night's events. There's no way Karrablast could be that powerful. There's only one reason I can think of, but there's no possible way it could be true, could it?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the intercom dinged.

Mr. Spencer Bradley? You are requested at the front desk.

Spencer turned to face the group, smiling at Scarlet who had raised an eyebrow. Oliver was too engrossed in his comic book to notice what was going on. The junior detective walked up to the front desk towards the pensive-looking pink-haired nurse.

"Well? Is it Karrablast?"

She nodded, handing a folder to Spencer. "I compared it to the papers the police gave us yesterday. It-it looks like your hunch was right."

Spencer picked up the folder and leafed through it, a troubled look on his face. So it is true. But how is that possible? Something isn't right here, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

He walked up to Oliver, waiting for a bit before clearing his throat. Oliver looked up. "Oh, Spencer! What's up?"

Spencer took a breath, trying to find the right words. "Oliver… when did you catch that Karrablast of yours?"

"A day or two before the opening ceremonies of the Gym Challenge." He tilted his head slightly. "Why? Is this about the incident?"

"It is. And you caught it in the wild?"

Oliver nodded. Spencer looked him in the eyes and didn't seem to notice any dishonesty or nervousness, just confusion.

"Scarlet, is that right?"

"Yeah. It was a huge fiasco, the thing made off with our food and fought hard before he finally nabbed it. Why? What's going on?"

Spencer sighed as Oliver and Moira both looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

"Oliver… there were traces of Breakthrough in its bloodstream."


So, uh... heh heh… it's been a while.

Between the launch of my YouTube channel (RV Maika), final exams, and the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, a lot has happened. But in addition to that, I had pretty much the entire Arryline arc planned out... except for the resolution of this battle, and I kept putting off writing it for a while.

In addition to that, it's really disheartening that my years-old Undertale fic keeps getting traffic while this one gets pretty much ignored, but that's a selfish reason for not keeping up with this.

I'm really, really sorry for not updating for so long. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things.