Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 31: Nexus
AN: And we're back! Now we move back to the fat chapters with lots of action and elaborate violence in them just like you all like.
Tony Anderson: Thanks! Glad you liked it in spite of it being more tame than usual.
FantasyLover88: That flashback was some kind of depressing I'll give you that. That means I did my job. At least Drayden's okay.
TheDarkMaster4000: Glad to know what parts of the chapter you enjoyed the most.
RedPkmnMaster: Thanks! That is one option Nate has. And for your question; might as well make this an announcements of sorts.
Yes! Like I've mentioned in the past, once Pride of Your Soul is completed (finished with the main story), I will resume updating both Fidelity and Platinum Witch. I will most likely add epilogue/EX chapters like I did with Color of Your Soul, but those will be more infrequent. After Pride of Your Soul reaches its conclusion, Fidelity and Platinum Witch will resume with updates.
Jeck: Yeah, like I said before, last chapter was more of a breather chapter to better progress with the plot. Now we resume with the action.
"He never caught up."
Rosa muttered as she glanced at her Xtransceiver for the time. Nate had been gone for almost an hour, in spite of him saying that he would catch up to them. They were waiting at the gym for half an hour after they had eaten lunch, but he had never shown up. While they did trust the boy, the unannounced absence did little to quell their worry.
"Where did he go off to?" Cheren asked.
"Who knows...?" Bianca mumbled, before a terrifying thought came across her. "You don't think he went off after Team Plasma by himself, do you?"
That certainly sounded like something Nate would do, as it was not hard to imagine the boy doing such an independent action.
"That's it, I'm calling him," Rosa said as she went to her contacts and brought Nate up on speed dial.
As she was about to push the call button, a loud screech alarmed the group. They looked up to see Nate, with Brav carrying him with his talons as they both descended to the ground.
"Sorry, took longer than expected," Nate said as he landed and recalled Brav.
"Where were you?" Hugh asked.
"I had some prep work to do," Nate said offhandedly.
"Prep work?" Rosa asked incredulously.
"Don't worry about it," Nate replied curtly. "Now c'mon, time to get this over with."
Nate took the lead, walking past everyone and opening the doors to the gym. The inside resembled a large bog. The only footing they had consisted of wooden bridges that scattered across the giant pond, and giant lily pads floating in the water. A guide helped Cheren, Bianca and Yancy by leading them to a door, presumably leading to the podium at the battle arena, so that they did not have to go through the obstacles that the trio had to go through for their challenge.
The trio had to navigate their way through the gigantic bog by riding on the lily pads. On the way, they had to face gym trainers who, predictably, used rather powerful Water-type Pokémon. Fortunately, the kids had more than adequate answers to the onslaught of Water-types. After about half an hour of navigating through the water, they managed to reach the battle arena. Marlon was waiting at the middle of the large arena, with Cheren, Bianca and Yancy seated on the podiums besides the arena.
"Sup," Marlon greeted the trio as they stepped onto the battle arena. "I was waitin' for you guys to show up. So? Who's going up first?"
The three glanced each other, before Rosa stepped up. "I'll start us off."
"Alright," Marlon grinned as he readied a pokéball. "Let's see what you got!"
Nate and Hugh stepped back as Rosa sent out Ottavia, while Marlon sent out a carracosta.
"Ottavia, let's do this!" Rosa roared. "Hydro Pump!"
Ottavia roared as well, before spewing out a violent blast of water at Carracosta, immediately starting the battle.
"Scald!" Marlon yelled out, not yielding to Rosa's fighting spirit.
Carracosta spewed a blast of steaming hot water at the incoming Hydro Pump. The two Water-type attacks clashed into a stalemate, as steam began to form in the room from the constant clash of the cold Hydro Pump and boiling hot Scald. Ottavia lost track of Carracosta, who was hidden by the increasing amounts of steam, but kept at the Hydro Pump, not wishing to let her guard down.
"Shell Smash!" Marlon commanded with a smirk.
A bright light emanated from the steam, shocking Ottavia and making her stop her Hydro Pump, while Carracosta suddenly charged at Ottavia at an alarming speed, blasting through the steam.
"Crunch!"
"Razor Shell!"
Carracosta lunged for Ottavia with his jaws open, where Ottavia brought out one of her swords and swung it at the prehistoric turtle. Carracosta caught the blade in his mouth and stopped Ottavia during her swing. Ottavia put all her strength into her blade, but Carracosta would not so much as move an inch.
"Fling her around!" Marlon called out.
Carracosta obliged and lifted the sword up with Ottavia still holding onto it.
"-Wha–!?-" Ottavia blurted in shock, before Carracosta proceeded to slam her onto the floor. Carracosta then repeated the process, slamming Ottavia onto the ground several times. After the fifth time or so, Ottavia looked up to Carracosta glancing down upon her.
"Rock Slide!"
Carracosta jumped away from Ottavia while summoning a large rock slide to rain upon Ottavia. Ottavia quickly brought up her sword to shield herself from the rock slide. Carracosta dashed forward to Ottavia while she was busy defending herself, prepared to strike while she was down.
"Strike back!" Rosa commanded.
As Carracosta jumped for another Crunch. Ottavia reached for her other sword and swiped it across Carracosta's head. Like before, Carracosta caught the second blade strike with his mouth. However, Ottavia quickly brought her first blade up and slammed it against Carracosta's head. The force of the attack forced Carracosta to let go of the blade and back away, cradling his head in pain and allowing Ottavia to get back up.
"Now, Hydro Pump!" Rosa commanded.
As Carracosta staggered, Ottavia nailed the prehistoric turtle with a strong Hydro Pump, blasting him with the strong Water-type attack.
"Hey, not bad!" Marlon commented as Carracosta landed back on his feet. "But we ain't gonna down so easily! Rock Slide!"
"Don't let him! Megahorn!" Rosa yelled.
As Carracosta was about to summon another rock slide, Ottavia sprung forward and jabbed at the turtle's more vulnerable stomach with a quick Megahorn attack. Carracosta gagged as the horn threatened to stab through the stomach, before grabbing the horn to try and keep Ottavia still.
"Hydro Pump now!" Rosa quickly said.
Before Carracosta could throw Ottavia, she lifted Carracosta up, before nailing him once more with a Hydro Pump, this time at point blank range. The attack forced Carracosta to let go and be sent flying back into the air. Ottavia then followed up with yet another Hydro Pump at the airborne Carracosta.
"Scald!" Marlon quickly said.
Seeing the third Hydro Pump coming straight at him, Carracosta shot a Scald down towards it in retaliation. The colliding Water-type attacks caused more steam to cloud the field, while Carracosta was still airborne.
"Finish him off with Razor Shell!" Rosa ordered.
"Grab it again with Crunch!" Marlon yelled back.
Carracosta readied himself for the incoming strike from within the clouds of steam. The moment he saw the steam part from a bulleting object, Carracosta opened his mouth, before catching the flying seamitar that was sent straight for him. The flying seamitar cleared the steam that obscured Carracosta's vision, but to his shock, he only had the seamitar in his mouth; no Ottavia holding onto it.
Carracosta did not even have any time to search for Ottavia, as Ottavia revealed to have jumped over Carracosta with her other blade in hand. Before Carracosta could react, Ottavia roared as she slammed the blade across Carracosta with one, dual-gripped swing, slamming the turtle back onto the arena. Carracosta crashed onto the arena with a giant thud, while letting the seamitar in his mouth fly into the air. Ottavia landed back onto the ground, before hastily catching the other sword. The force of the strike was enough to knock Carracosta out cold, signifying her victory over Marlon's first Pokémon.
"Ah damn," Marlon muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "That was nice."
"That's one!" Rosa said as Ottavia returned to her side. "Nice job, Ottavia!"
"-Thanks!-" Ottavia barked back happily.
"Dude...you guys are really into this, huh," Marlon complimented as he recalled Carracosta. "If that's the first round, then the other two outta be real good as well. Aight, who's next?"
Rosa walked back over to Nate and Hugh, as the two glanced at each other.
"So who's next?" Rosa asked.
"I'll go," Hugh said as he stepped up, before glancing back to Nate. "Unless you wanna go."
"All yours," Nate conceded.
Hugh nodded in response, as he stepped forward to the arena where Rosa stood. Confirming Hugh as his next opponent, Marlon sent out his next Pokémon, a flying manta ray-like Pokémon. Hugh took out his pokédex and scanned the new creature.
"Mantine, the kite Pokémon. If it builds up enough speed swimming, it can fly over 300 feet out of the water from the surface of the ocean."
Hugh contemplated on his option, before sending out Serperior. The snake slithered onto the field, eyeing Mantine calculatingly.
"Swords Dance!" Hugh commanded.
"Air Slash!" Marlon yelled back.
Serperior summoned several swords of blue energy that danced around him, as Mantine whipped his wings and shot several blades of air at the snake. Serperior immediately slithered out of the way while the swords took the hit, before they all got absorbed into Serperior.
"Ice Beam!" Marlon commanded.
"Leaf Blade!" Hugh retaliated.
Mantine charged icy energy in his mouth, before shooting it at Serperior. Serperior's tail leaf glowed and became sharp as Serperior evaded the Ice Beam effortlessly, before slithering towards Mantine. Mantine flew to the air, where Serperior jumped after the manta ray. Serperior proved to me much faster than Mantine's escape, finding himself above Mantine in an instant, before bringing the Leaf Blade onto the manta ray and sending Mantine back to the ground in a similar fashion to what Ottavia did to Carracosta. Serperior then proceeded to drop down onto Mantine while spinning like a wheel with his Leaf Blade still active.
"Scald!" Marlon quickly yelled out.
Mantine spewed out boiling water at the descending Serperior. Serperior could not avoid the attack since he was in the middle of an attack, but powered through regardless and slammed the Leaf Blade onto Mantine. Mantine managed to withstand the strike and push Serperior off of him. As Serperior landed, he grunted in pain as he glanced at his tail. A burned mark was visible on it, and Serperior could not help but feel a lingering pain from it.
"Tch, he got burned by Scald..." Hugh deduced. "Alright then...you know what to do. Aqua Tail!"
Nodding, Serperior's tail got wrapped with a vortex of water, before the serpent slithered for Mantine once more.
"Using Aqua Tail to weaken the burn?" Marlon asked. "Clever...Mantine, Ice Beam!"
As Mantine got back up, Serperior was already above him and slammed the Aqua Tail on his head. Mantine took the attack with ease, before shooting an Ice Beam at Serperior, who could not escape it this time as he was stuck in the middle of hitting Mantine with the Aqua Tail. Serperior flew back from the Ice Beam and crashed onto the ground. Serperior grunted in pain, before getting back up.
"Swords Dance!" Hugh commanded once more.
Serperior glared at Mantine as more blue swords surrounded him in an attempt to further bolster his attack.
"Don't let him set up! Air Slash!" Marlon yelled out.
Mantine rose back to the air, before sending out waves upon waves of Air Slashes at Serperior, forcing Serperior to go on the defensive once more, and missing out on the second Swords Dance boost. Mantine did not let up his onslaught of Air Slashes, keeping Serperior moving and not giving him an opportunity to set up another Swords Dance. As Serperior moved to avoid the next Air Slash, he staggered from the pain from his burn, leaving him wide open to take the next few Air Slashes aimed for him.
"Serperior!" Hugh cried out as the snake was bombarded by Air Slashes.
Once the onslaught of Air Slashes ended, Serperior groaned in pain as he got back up. Clearly he felt the agony of the Air Slashes, but he was still capable of fighting. As Serperior growled at Mantine, a green aura began to surge around him, alarming both trainers on the field.
"Is that...That's Overgrow...!" Hugh mumbled, recognizing Serperior's ability. "Alright! Let's end this now! Leaf Blade!"
Serperior's tail leaf glowed a bright green and grew twice in size as the snake lunged for Mantine.
"Don't let 'em get it! Ice Beam!" Marlon urged Mantine.
Mantine proceeded to charge an Ice Beam to stop Serperior, but stopped halfway, finding himself immensely exhausted.
"Huh? What's wrong, Mantine?" Marlon asked, examining the mantine and finding something shocking. "What the–!?"
Vines had spread out of a seed that was attached to Mantine's back, sapping away at the manta ray's vitality. Before Marlon could react to that, Serperior had already closed the distance between them. Mantine tried to charge an Ice Beam, but it was too late, as Serperior brought the Overgrow-boosted Leaf Blade down upon Mantine. The force of the attack was too much for Mantine, taking him out and ending Serperior's battle.
"Phew," Hugh let out a sigh of relief. "That was close."
"Damn, ya got me there," Marlon said to Hugh as he recalled Mantine. "Ya got the Leech Seed on Mantine when ya went for Aqua Tail, right?"
"So you figured it out," Hugh mumbled as he tended to Serperior. "Yeah, that's right. I figured you would let your guard down if I used Aqua Tail instead of Leaf Blade."
"I should'a known that something was off when ya did that," Marlon muttered, before laughing it off. "Ah well! That was a damn good battle! Can't complain about that!"
"Thank you," Hugh said as he walked off the arena to let the last match occur. The boy patted his hand on Nate's shoulder as the boy in question stepped up onto the arena. Rosa gave Hugh some congratulations on his own battle, while giving Nate some cheer as he stepped up.
"So, yer my last opponent," Marlon commented as Nate stepped up in place of Hugh.
"Yeah," Nate muttered.
"Yer two friends showed off some real good battling," Marlon said. "I wonder if you can do the same."
"I'm not gonna fall behind those two," Nate scoffed. "Now c'mon. Let's get this over with."
Marlon merely smirked with excitement as he sent out his final Pokémon; the jellicent that was with him earlier. Nate narrowed his eyes; so he did save his best for last. He was wondering when it would show up, and now it decided to show up here.
"Oi," Nate called out to Marlon. "Is there any rules against item usage?"
"Huh?" Marlon asked. "No, not really. The only rules I know are that ya can't use any items to distract the opponent or try to hurt the opponent."
"Good," Nate said as he readied his Pokémon. "Now I just need the conditions to meet."
As Nate prepared his Pokémon, Yancy, Cheren and Bianca were watching from the podium.
"Man, they've come a long way, huh," Bianca said. "Rosa and Hugh are really strong."
"Indeed," Cheren replied with some pride in his tone. "Compared to how they were back in Aspertia, they've really grown as trainers. As expected of my students."
"Now all Nate has to do is win, and they beat their final gym," Yancy commented, her eyes never leaving Nate.
"But who's he gonna use though," Bianca wondered. "He did say that he was going to use Emboar...until he saw that the gym was a Water-type gym."
"It's not like he doesn't have any options," Cheren said. "I'm sure Electivire or Zorark would be the obvious choice here, considering that he's facing a jellicent."
"You don't think he's still gonna go with Bo, do you?" Yancy asked.
"Nate isn't a fool," Cheren replied. "He has better options. He isn't going to squander them for the sake of his own pride."
"Yeah," Bianca agreed. "I mean yeah sure, Rosa used Samurott, and Hugh used Serperior, so you'd think that obviously he has to go Emboar, but there's no way he's actually going to–."
"Bo, we're finishing this up!"
All three of their jaws dropped as Nate did the exact opposite of what they were expecting and, in fact, sent out Bo to fight Marlon's Jellicent.
"HE'S ACTUALLY GOING EMBOAR!?" Bianca gasped.
"WHY!?" Cheren yelled. "He has more effective answers to Jellicent! Why go Emboar here!? That's the worst possible matchup he could bring here!"
"He did promise Bo that he would use him in the final gym battle..." Yancy pointed out. "I guess, he really did mean it."
"I guess that's real sweet of him..." Bianca conceded. "But how's he gonna win this!? I mean Emboar's a Fire and Fighting type! Jellicent resists Fire and is immune to Fighting!"
"No...He knows what he's doing," Cheren muttered. "Nate isn't a fool. He must have some kind of plan up his sleeves."
"And besides, Nate always has some kind of plan, no matter how big the risk is," Yancy defended Nate, referencing to his Nimbasa Gym Battle, where he purposely used Luca as a sacrifice to let Yancy's Snor finish off Elesa's Pokémon with one decisive Earthquake.
"I suppose you're right," Bianca conceded, remembering the one gym battle she got to spectate back at Mistralton where Nate surprised Skyla with Vire's combination of Magnet Rise and Ice Punch to take out her gliscor. "But...even then...will it be enough to handle this kind of hurdle?"
"We'll just have to find out..." Cheren muttered as he saw Bo take a fighting stance.
"Nate..." Yancy mumbled, worried about her boyfriend. "You know what you're doing...right...?"
"Using an emboar against Jellicent!?" Marlon asked incredulously. "What guts ya got there! I LIKE IT! I'M GETTING PUMPED!"
Without warning, Jellicent charged a Shadow Ball and shot it at Bo. The Fire-type growled as he swatted the Shadow Ball with a swing of his arms.
"You ready?" Nate asked Bo. "We can only afford so many mistakes here. Whatever you do, don't get hit by the Water-type move until I say so."
"-Of course, Boss!-" Bo replied back with energy.
"Scald!" Marlon commanded, not wasting any time.
Jellicent spewed out boiling water at Bo, who stepped to the side to avoid the super effective attack.
"Don't let up!" Marlon called out, signaling Jellicent to keep the offense going.
Jellicent obliged and kept firing off Scalds in a similar fashion to Mantine's Air Slash barrage. To Marlon's surprise, Bo kept side-stepping his way out of Scald's range, masterfully avoiding them in spite of his large stature.
"Not bad!" Marlon said with a smirk. "This is just getting more exciting! Shadow Ball!"
Jellicent charged another Shadow Ball and fired it at Bo, before proceeding to fire off another Scald immediately afterwards.
"So that's your approach," Nate muttered. "Bo, Flare Blitz!"
Bo's body ignited in a huge burst of flames as he swatted the Shadow Ball, before punching the Scald that was heading straight for him behind the Shadow Ball, causing another explosion of steam to obscure everyone's vision. Jellicent looked around, trying to discern Bo in the midst of all the steam that arose as a result of the Scald. Loud stomping, which could only have come from Bo, alerted Jellicent of the pig's location, and the Water-type turned around to the direction of the stomping sound. A pair of green glowing eyes were visible in the steam, confirming Bo's hiding spot.
"-There he is,-" Jellicent muttered as he prepared to fie off another Scald.
"Wild Charge!" Nate yelled.
Bo snarled as his body was now covered in a surge of electricity as he charged at Jellicent through the steam. The jellyfish tried to float back, but found himself falling face flat on the ground instead.
"-AGH!?-" Jellicent yelped as he found himself falling face flat. "-What in the–?-"
Jellicent looked down to find his tentacles having been ensnared by several blades of grass, which caused him to fall onto his face.
"Grass Knot!?" Marlon gasped.
Before Jellicent even had the chance to free himself, Bo shot out of the steam and slammed into Jellicent while wrapped in electricity, ripping him out of the grass trap and sent flying from the full force of the Wild Charge. Jellicent crashed landed onto the ground in front of Marlon, as Bo stepped back slightly, electricity still coursing through his body and feeling the pain inflicted to himself for ramming into Jellcient so violently.
"Not bad," Marlon complimented as Jellicent got back up with a glare. "You certainly prepared for this battle."
Nate said nothing as Bo shook off the recoil pain from the Wild Charge. Jellicent then proceeded to produce a sitrus berry that was hidden somewhere from his body and ate it, replenishing some health.
"But we ain't gonna give up yet!" Marlon declared. "Recover!"
Nate's eyes widened as Jellicent's body began to glow a light green aura, and the wounds that he sustained began to slowly heal and disappear.
"Goddamn it," Nate muttered.
"You're gonna need something stronger than that if you wanna take out Jellicent," Marlon stated. "Now, Scald!"
Jellicent proceeded to go back into the offensive, shooting several Scalds at Bo, who had to jump back to avoid them all.
"Tch, how annoying," Nate muttered. "But we did manage to make him use up his Sitrus Berry. He'll just Recover if Jellicent withstands a hit. We need to take the jellicent out with one shot."
"We won't let you!" Marlon roared. "We still got one trick left!"
Nate and Bo stayed on guard, as Jellicent hovered above Marlon in response.
"Jellicent, time to end this in one big wave!" Marlon boomed. "Use Water Spout!"
"Oh SON OF A–!" Nate blurted. He was expecting something stronger than Scald, but definitely not Water Spout of all moves.
Jellicent floated up, before firing off a huge blast of water from his crown, which then proceeded to rain down upon Bo like a savage rainstorm.
"Now or never!" Nate yelled. "Flare Blitz!"
Roaring out in defiance, Bo ignited his body in a gulf of flame once more, before charging straight for Jellicent. The Water Spout rained down upon Bo and slammed upon him with a violent force. The impact from the Water Spout onto Bo's Flare Blitz caused steam to form yet again; this time even more thanks to the magnitude and size of the Water Spout.
"WHEW! That was one hell of a strike!" Marlon exclaimed, seeing the results of Jellicent's devastating Water Spout. "I gotta hand it to ya. That was intense! But it looks like that's it for ya."
"...You're right about that," Nate said all of a sudden, leaving Marlon confused, and sending some chills down his spine. "It looks like that's it for ya."
Before Marlon could question what Nate was talking about, Bo suddenly shot out from the steam cover once more, jumping right in front of Jellicent.
"WHAT THE–!?" Marlon blurted. How did Emboar survive Jellicent's Water Spout!? The Flare Blitz should not have been enough to shield and save him from the full force of the attack.
"Thanks for gathering all the right conditions for me," Nate said. "Finish this, Bo."
Like before, Jellicent did not have any time to charge anything to repel Bo, as Bo let out a savage war cry and slammed his fist into Jellicent's face. The force of the attack was so great that it sent Jellicent soaring, smacking Marlon with him in the process and sending them both careening into the pool of water behind them with one huge splash. Everyone else stared at them agape, as Nate leered towards where Marlon and Jellicent fell into, waiting to see if Jellicent somehow survived the blow. After a few moments, bubbles began to form in the water, before Marlon shot his head out and gasped for air, while Jellicent floated back up with unconscious eyes. That was enough to confirm that Jellicent was unable to battle, and that Bo was the victor.
"-ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!-" Bo boomed in victory, the energy in Bo's cry shaking the arena with him.
"He won!" Rosa cheered from behind Nate. "You guys did it!"
Nate let out a sigh of relief, as Bo rushed over to Nate in excitement.
"-We did it Boss!-" Bo exclaimed eagerly. "-We won!-"
"Yeah, that's right," Nate could not help but smile. "Good work out there, Bo. I knew you would make me proud."
Bo sported a huge grin on his face that refused to leave any time soon. Bo had overcome the Water-type and won the gym battle! Everyone doubted his abilities to do so when they learned of the opponent; Bo himself doubted his own abilities as well. But with Nate's planning, Bo was able to surpass the horrendous disadvantage and prevailed in the end!
Marlon jumped out of the water and back onto the arena while carrying Jellicent on his back, before approaching Nate.
"You totally rocked that!" Marlon exclaimed, not feeling any kind of resentment or bitterness from losing to Nate. "You're raising some wicked Pokémon. You got this trainer thing down!"
"Thanks," Nate said as the others decided to gather around them.
"But you gotta tell me," Marlon said. "How did your emboar withstand Water Spout? Like, I know Jellicent wasn't at full health, so it wasn't at full power, but even then, Emboar shouldn't have been able to withstand the attack, ya feel me?"
Everyone else looked at Nate expectantly, all of them being curious as well to how Bo was able to withstand such a devastating Water-type attack and perform the comeback of the century. Nate and Bo eyed each other, before revealing an item they were carrying. In Nate's hand was an empty, black cylinder, while in Bo's hand was a partially-eaten berry that resembled a blue orb of water cradled within a yellow growth.
"An X SpDef...and a passho berry...?" Bianca asked.
The X SpDef was part of the X-Item series, a set of battle items that increased a Pokémon's stats by one stage. The X SpDef, as the name implies, raises a Pokémon's special defense by one stage. The passho berry, on the other hand, was a berry that reduces the damage taken by a super effective Water-type attack by fifty percent. Against the obvious weakness of Water types, the berry was a great defensive tool for Bo.
"You used these two in conjunction to have Bo survive the Water Spout?" Hugh asked.
"Bingo," Nate said as he glanced to the Fire-type. "Knocking out Jellicent in one or two hits was simple enough. Having Bo survive whatever Water-type moves Jellicent knew beforehand was the problem."
"So you had Bo dodging all the Scalds to avoid having him use the passho berry," Rosa deduced. "But...when did you get the time to set up the X SpDef? And without Marlon noticing?"
"When Bo caused the steam cloud in the first exchange," Nate explained. "Bo made a lot of noise with his stomping in the steam, which masked the sound of me using the X SpDef."
To demonstrate, Nate took the X SpDef container and snapped the lid open. The container made a rather distinct clicking noise, which would have definitely alerted Marlon of its usage.
"So that covers our answers to your defenses," Cheren said. "Now how about the offense..."
They went through Bo's current move set going into the battle: Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, Grass Knot and one last move that Bo used at the final moment.
"Assurance," Nate revealed.
"You got rid of Hammer Arm," Rosa noted. "Hell, outside of Flare Blitz, his entire arsenal hits Jellicent super effectively."
"Yeah," Nate nodded. "Outside of the jellicent, I had no idea what Bo would be facing. So I changed his moves to specifically deal with Jellicent."
He did have a point, Rosa and Hugh conceded. While Jellicent was a horrible matchup for Bo, he had no idea what else Marlon had. And in hindsight, maybe Jellicent was the best matchup Bo could take; Carracosta was indeed weak to Fighting-type moves and even weaker to Grass Knot. But the moment he set up a Shell Smash, Carracosta would outpace Bo easily and rip through his defenses with Shell Smash-boosted Scalds and Rock Slides, while making it hard for Bo to catch him with Grass Knot. Mantine was also doubly weak to Wild Charge, but not only was he naturally faster than Bo, he had the aerial advantage, something Bo could not challenge. Mantine could easily overwhelm Bo with Air Slash and Scald while being perfectly safe in the air.
Jellicent on the other hand, while having no dual weakness to abuse, was neither naturally faster than Bo, nor had any means of bolstering his speed. This made Jellicent the best opponent for Bo out of the three options he had. So Nate simply prepared Bo for Jellicent in every way possible.
"Was that why you disappeared for an hour?" Rosa asked. "To prepare Bo for Jellicent specifically?"
Nate nodded in response, confirming Rosa's suspicions, before going into an explanation. "Flare Blitz was meant only to cover Bo and create the steam I needed to hide him. Wild Charge and Assurance were meant to take out Jellicent, while Grass Knot was a good way to trap him. Originally Wild Charge would have sufficed, but when Jellicent used Recover, I knew I had to go for Assurance."
"Huh? But isn't Assurance weaker than Wild Charge?" Yancy asked, confused.
"That is correct," Cheren answered Yancy, his teacher personality kicking in. "In normal circumstances, Wild Charge is a stronger move than Assurance. However, Assurance has a special effect that lets it become stronger than Wild Charge."
"Wait it did?" Rosa asked.
"You came this far, and don't know?" Hugh asked Rosa incredulously.
"Hey shut up! I never used the move!" Rosa defended herself indignantly.
"...Anyways," Cheren continued. "Assurance doubles in power if the user takes any damage when they use it. Something Nate deliberately set up with the last interaction."
"I wanted Bo to save the passho berry until I could confirm what Jellicent's full set was," Nate nodded. "When I saw the Water Spout, I knew that was my chance."
"You had Bo withstand the near full-power Water Spout with a combination of Flare Blitz, the X SpDef and passho berry," Bianca said.
"Assurance's effect also triggers if Bo inflicts damage upon himself, such as from the Flare Blitz recoil," Nate explained.
"And that's why you used it against Water Spout," Hugh put it all together. "One way or another, its power boost would trigger, and that would be enough to take out Jellicent."
"That's impressive..." Bianca said. "But...why did you do this much just to use Bo? Wouldn't Electivire or Zoroark have been a better choice overall?"
"Well of course," Nate agreed. "But...I did promise him after all. He wanted to take on the final gym after all the bullshit he went through in the past month. Who was I to deny him that chance? Doubly more impressive since it was against a Water-type and someone on Marlon's caliber."
Bo sported a huge, goofy grin on his face as Ottavia and Serperior gathered around him to congratulate their fellow starter Pokémon.
"Well, call it my own stubbornness or his stubbornness, but I wanted to see this one through," Nate muttered. "He was the first Pokémon I got when agreeing to this whole journey shit, and among the ones who joined me afterwards, he was the one who never doubted me. The least I can do is repay him for that faith."
"That's awesome dude!" Marlon complimented Nate. "You don't just look strong, you're strong fo' reals! Eh, I was swept away, too! I def don't feel bad losing to you guys!"
"Thanks," Nate said on behalf of his team.
"Oh yeah, yo," Marlon said as he rummaged through the pockets of his swim trunks. "I was so surprised that I forgot! I gotta give this to you guys!"
Marlon presented the trio with their own badge, which resembled a slender raindrop with wave patterns on it.
"That's the Wave Badge, the Unova region's new Gym Badge!" Marlon explained. "Pretty sweet, right? Now you got all eight Badges, so you can be tight with any Pokémon! Oh yeah, got a TM for y'all, too!"
Marlon rummaged through his other pocket and took out three blue discs for the trio. How they even fit in the tight swimsuit was up in the air. Whether they worked or not in spite of the poor conditions they were being stored in was another story.
"So Scald sometimes burns the target, 'K? Oh, and you can even use it when you're all frozen and chillin' and stuff!"
"Thanks," Nate nodded as they accepted the (wet) TM from Marlon.
"Anything for strong trainers like you!" Marlon grinned, clearly having taken a liking to the group. "Shoots! I'm off then! Hope it's useful!"
"Wait wha–?" Nate asked, before Marlon recalled Jellicent and did a rather impressive backflip back into the water behind him, before proceeding to swim off to Arceus knows where. The group just stared blankly with agape mouths as Marlon abandoned them in favor of swimming off to parts unknown.
"The fuck?" Nate finally uttered.
The group exited the pokécenter, having healed their Pokémon from Marlon's gym battle and now ready for the next destination.
"Alright then," Nate said, taking a bite out of an apple. "Now we go off to find Plasma, right?"
"Right," Cheren nodded. "Unless you need to make any last minute changes. I assume you would want a Fighting-type move on your emboar."
"Hmm, good point," Nate said as he sent out Bo.
"-Hm? What's up, Boss?-" Bo asked.
Without a word, Nate took out a reddish-brown TM, before smacking it on Bo's head and activating it. After a good twenty seconds, Nate took the TM off of Bo's head.
"There, you know Focus Blast now," Nate said. "When we get the chance, Brav's gonna teach you Superpower."
"-Uh...okay!-" Bo nodded.
"Well...I guess that fixes that..." Hugh muttered.
"Alright then," Rosa said. "Time to go take down Team Plasma!"
Before she could make another move, something shot out of the water near a nearby beach, before landing in front of the group from a somersault, splashing them with water in the process. The something turned out to be Marlon, much to their startled surprise.
"Sup yo!" Marlon greeted them.
"What the fuck bro," Nate merely muttered, before glancing at his apple to find that it was drenched in the water. "Ah goddamn it!"
"So what's this Team Plasma thing you're talking about?" Marlon asked as he approached them.
"Huh?" Rosa asked. "You...you don't know about Team Plasma?"
"Nope," Marlon replied. "When the ocean's your home, you don't worry about things like that. 'Cause the ocean accepts all rivers!"
"That's a...rather broad and idealistic view," Cheren muttered.
"So you think Team Plasma's bad then?" Marlon asked curiously.
"They're bad," Hugh said before anyone else could reply. "There's no arguing it. They are bad."
A heavy tension filled the air as Hugh scowled at the question. Considering what had happened recently, it was no wonder that Hugh's hatred for Team Plasma has been reignited.
"I get it," Marlon nodded, which surprised everyone due to his nonchalant answer. "They're bad, so you fight 'em."
"You're pretty nonchalant about this," Yancy noted.
"Team Plasma's not botherin' me," Marlon said. "They could be up to no good for reals, and... It's not my style to go around decidin' Team Plasma's bad without thinkin' 'bout it just 'cause everyone says so!"
Hugh was about to object to Marlon's nonchalant answer, but Nate stopped him as Marlon went on. "But, eh, you're havin' trouble, so I've got to help out! That's what I want to do!"
"Uh huh..." Nate muttered, still finding himself a bit skeptical. "And how do you plan to help us?"
"Ya know where this Team Plasma dudes are?" Marlon asked.
"Well according to our intel," Cheren said. "Their ship is most likely at Route 21 near the Seaside Cave. It wouldn't be farfetched to assume that they have the area guarded heavily. It would be hard to sneak onto the ship depending on how guarded the place is."
"Hmmm..." Marlon mused, placing a finger on his lip.
"If you got any ideas, we're open ears," Nate said.
"...Oh I got an idea," Marlon replied with a devious smile.
Near the Seaside Cave in a secluded area of Route 21, the Plasma Frigate was docked under the harsh sunlight of the route. Dozens upon dozens of Water-type Pokémon surrounded the frigate, keeping an eye on any unwanted parties that would dare try and attack Team Plasma. From afar, where the Water-type security did not see them, the group, led by Marlon, spotted the giant ship while riding their own Water-type Pokémon (or in Yancy's case, on Toge), with the exception of Marlon, who swam the whole way there.
"Oh yeah, that's heavily guarded," Nate said while he was riding Deo, who was standing on the water.
"They would notice us a mile away if we just went head in," Rosa muttered while riding on top of Ottavia.
"So... How do we get onto the ship?" Yancy asked.
"Right," Nate said as he turned to Marlon. "Whatever your idea is, now's the time to unveil it."
"Leave it to me, dudes!" Marlon assured them as he proceeded to dive into the water.
A few minutes has passed with no signs of Marlon surfacing back up, which made everyone start to worry a little.
"Is...Is he alright?" Hugh asked.
"...Is he dead?" Nate asked.
"Nate!" Yancy scolded him. "That's not a nice thing to assume!"
"His body would've floated back up if he was dead anyways," Cheren retorted.
"Cheren, I don't think that's the problem," Bianca commented from the side.
Before anyone could make any snarky remarks, a loud sound resonated throughout the route, catching everyone's attention to the Plasma Frigate. A giant whale had suddenly emerged from underneath the water and then proceeded to ram into the ship. As the Pokémon guarding the ship tried to fend off the whale, several other Water-type Pokémon had suddenly emerged and proceeded to attack them, escalating into one big war among Water-type Pokémon. The group simply stared at the sheer chaos in a moment of dumbfounded silence as to what just happened.
"I think that's our cue, by the way," Nate said as he motioned Deo to head for the ship.
Following Nate's cue, the others headed for the ship, going surprisingly unnoticed as the chaos Marlon's distraction provided took up the security's entire attention. They were able to make it onto the beach and to the side of the ship, having hid themselves among the pandemonium on the sea.
"Ok so we made it to the ship," Hugh said. "Now how do we get on?"
As if on command, a drawbridge suddenly shot out from the ship and landed perfectly in place in front of them. Marlon then proceeded to slide down the drawbridge and landed in front of them.
"Eh, this should do it!" Marlon said.
"So what the hell did you do, exactly?" Nate asked.
"I got Wailord to rally up his friends to cause a distraction," Marlon explained. "It looks like the Water-type Pokémon guarding the ship are their friends too, but they ain't respondin' or recognizin' them. So they're beating each other up to snap 'em out of whatever funk they're goin' through."
"Definitely must be Plasma's doing," Rosa muttered.
"The drawbridge was a nice touch though," Cheren commented. "How did you manage to get a drawbridge as large as this out without being spotted?"
"Oh that's easy," Marlon said.
"HEY GET BACK HERE!"
They looked up to see two enraged Team Plasma grunts running down the drawbridge, armed with their own Pokémon.
"I just barged in!" Marlon declared with a big grin.
"YOU DUMBASS!" Nate yelled as Deo lunged at them.
While picking off the two grunts was child's play, now a new problem presented itself: "Okay so what now? They would definitely have noticed that since you set off so many alarms with that stunt!" Nate growled at Marlon and his lack of concealment.
"Don't worry, I got another idea that'll totes work!" Marlon assured the group.
He only earned himself a rather skeptical gaze (or glare in Nate's case) for his offer. "Trust me on this! This'll totes get them off your backs!"
"Okay we'll bite," Hugh said. "What is it?"
"All you dudes gotta do is get on board and into the ship," Marlon said. "While I distract them."
"Distract them how?" Bianca asked.
"Oh, like this," Marlon said with a goofy smile, before somersaulting back onto the ship. "Hey dudes! Wanna rock!?"
A few moments later, several water-based explosions could be seen from below the ship, along with the terrified screams of the Team Plasma grunts on board. The group took a minute to recollect themselves from Marlon's rather audacious actions, before recalling their Pokémon and racing up the drawbridge aboard the frigate. They looked to see Marlon with his team of Carracosta, Mantine and Jellicent, along with what they could only assume to be a few wild Water-type Pokémon that presumably are friendly, taking on what looks to be roughly thirty grunts or so. In spite of the massive difference in numbers, Marlon looked to be having the time of his life. Conveniently, he had the grunts facing away from the entrance to inside the ship, although that was most likely on purpose.
"Okay this idea was better," Nate muttered as they all snuck into the frigate undetected.
Upon entering the frigate, they were greeted to a gate layered by several electric barriers, blocking them off from what appeared to be a warp panel. The room was slightly too narrow for them to simply fly over the barrier with their Flying-types, considering the size of them all, while the barrier itself was too big for them to sneak under.
"Oh great," Rosa muttered. "How're we gonna get through this?"
Nate glanced around and eyed a panel to the right. He went over and examined the panel, noticing the card slot to the right and a screen in the middle of it.
"Looks like we need a card key and password," Nate muttered.
"So we have to look for the card key?" Yancy asked.
"Can't we just destroy the damn thing?" Nate asked, reaching for his knife.
"Not a good idea," Cheren advised. "Knowing Plasma, who knows what kind of failsafe they thought of in case anything happened." Nate clicked his tongue in annoyance but conceded and put his knife away.
"So the best option would be to find the card key and the password," Bianca said.
"Huh? You guys!"
The group whipped around to see a Team Plasma grunt approaching behind them. Alarmed, everyone reached for their pokéballs, while Nate was about to lunge forward with one of his knives, before the grunt strangely held up his hands in panic.
"WAIT! STOP! It's alright!" the grunt squealed. "I'm a friend!"
They all stopped their actions at that sudden declaration, glancing at each other doubtfully. The grunt sighed, before taking off the face mask.
"It's me, Rook," the grunt said. "You helped me and the others out in Driftveil."
While Bianca and Cheren were still confused, the kids remembered their time at Driftveil and recognized Rook, the former Team Plasma member.
"Oh, it's you," Nate said, relaxing somewhat.
"You know him?" Cheren asked.
"He's part of the old Team Plasma," Yancy explained. "A group that defected from this Team Plasma to make amends for what they did two years ago. They're still loyal to N."
"Is that right," Cheren muttered.
"What're you doing here?" Rosa asked.
"Lord N visited us a few weeks back," Rook explained. "He explained that Team Plasma had started to make their move. Lord Rood had me infiltrate the Frigate in the guise of a turncoat to spy on them and see what they're planning."
"Really now," Nate said. That was rather smart of that Rood guy.
"What're you guys doing here?" Rook asked.
"We're trying to stop Team Plasma here," Nate explained. "I'm gonna assume you know what they're planning at this point?"
"Yeah," Rook nodded. "Once they finish their preparations here, they plan to head to the Giant Chasm to power up Kyurem and to freeze all of Unova."
"Alright, so that saves time explaining," Nate said, before he pointed to the gate. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get through this gate, would you?"
"Ah, leave that to me," Rook said as he walked over to the panel. Rook too out a card from his breast pocket and swiped it across the card keyhole. Upon recognizing the card key, a digital keyboard appeared from the screen. "While snooping around, I was able to find a card key and the password they use to keep the place locked." Rook then proceeded to type in the password: RESHIRAM; before inputting it in. The panel recognized the password and proceeded to unlock all the electric gates.
"Well that was convenient," Rosa commented, before a strong and loud tremor swept them up, making them all lose their balance. "WHAT THE–!?"
Marlon let out a laugh as he took out the last grunt's Pokémon with his army of Water-type Pokémon.
"What is this guy!?" one of the grunts yelped as his seviper got sent flying.
"C'mon dudes! Ya gotta do better than that!" Marlon bellowed. "I ain't even break a sweat!"
Jellicent, Mantine and Carracosta moved forward, daring any of them to make another move. The grunts all cowered back, unable to fight off Marlon anymore. Marlon then glanced over his shoulder to see that the fighting between the Water-type Pokémon in the sea had stopped.
"Good, looks like they're back to normal," Marlon said to himself, before facing the others. "Alright then, anyone up for round two!?"
And all of a sudden, a loud slicing noise rang throughout everyone's ears. Everyone looked confused as to what that sound was. Marlon's happy expression suddenly dropped to a more serious one as he backed off, spotting the perpetrator. To his shock, it was the legendary Virizion, who had felled Carracosta with a swift Leaf Blade. As Jellicent and Mantine whipped around to Virizion and their fallen comrade, Mantine was suddenly pelted by several sharp, jagged rocks, before being knocked out instantly. From behind the crowd was the perpetrator for the rocks; the legendary Terrakion. Accompanying each of them were identical men cladded in black, with the crowd of grunts making a pathway for a third man to walk in, with the legendary Cobalion by his side.
"The Shadow Triad...!" one of them gasped.
"Well...This can't be good," Marlon commented as Jellicent got in front of Marlon.
"Had enough fun?" the man asked in a flat tone. "You caused quite the ruckus. As expected of one of Unova's strongest gym leaders, I suppose."
"Woah dudes, those are some gnarly looking Pokémon," Marlon replied, eyeing the three Swords' crazed, blue eyes. "Dunno if they're supposed to look like that, though."
"Thanks to you, our stay here has been compromised," the man next to Virizion grumbled. "Although...I suppose we already rested enough here as it is."
"Colress," the third man said, speaking into a communicator. "We've wasted enough time here. Prepare the Frigate for takeoff."
Almost immediately after the command, the ship began to shake violently, catching Marlon off guard.
"Woah!?" Marlon blurted as he tried (and failed) to not lose his balance.
Virizion and Terrakion then proceeded to ram into the fallen Carracosta and Mantine respectively, throwing them off the ship and into the sea.
"As interesting as it may be," the man said as Cobalion growled. "We don't have time to entertain you."
Cobalion roared as he charged into Jellicent. The jellyfish shot a Scald at him, but Cobalion effortlessly powered through the attack, before slamming into Jellicent. The Water-type was sent flying, crashing into Marlon in the process, sending both of them offboard. Marlon and Jellicent both dropped into the ocean like rocks, before immediately resurfacing.
"What the...?" Marlon mumbled, before his eyes turned to the Frigate.
The wings of the Frigate expanded as the ship let out a violently loud noise, before it began to float up into the air before Marlon's very own eyes. The force of the ship suddenly rising from the water caused Marlon to be swept away by the waves, finding himself being washed up onto the beach. Marlon got back up and stared up to the sky, as the Plasma Frigate took off to its destination.
"...Woah..." Marlon found himself saying as he saw the flying ship.
Ein of the Shadow Triad kept staring down at the beach, making sure Marlon would not do anything funny to try and get back onto the ship. Once the ship was away from the beach, he relaxed ever so slightly, before regrouping with his brothers.
"We should arrive at the Giant Chasm within six hours," Drei reported.
"Noted," Ein nodded, before glancing at the crowd of defeated grunts. "All of you. Heal your Pokémon and get ready for your respective drop-offs. The next phase will commence once we reach the Giant Chasm."
"S-Sir, yessir!" they all saluted, before scrambling back to the decks.
The Shadow Triad recalled their legendary Pokémon as they saw the grunts off. Ein in particular, glanced over to the entrance that led to the electric gates.
Nate's expression paled as he made eye contact with the Shadow Triad. They just got their balance back and now Nate was confident that the Shadow Triad knew they were here.
"Fuck," Nate said.
"Nate...?" Rosa asked.
"Fuck, shit, fuck!" Nate swore as he stepped back. "Shadow Triad spotted us!"
"What?!" Hugh gasped.
The Shadow Triad was the last thing they needed right now. The situation always gets worse whenever they show up, as recent history would attest to.
"What do we do?!" Bianca panicked.
"Everyone into the panel!" Rook cried out, pointing to their only other escape option.
Wishing not to pick a fight with the Shadow Triad, everyone rushed for the warp panel, finding themselves being teleported to a whole new location. Everyone, except for Rook, who stayed back and reactivated the electric barrier.
"You've got some balls," Ein drawled from behind Rook, who shivered as he jumped to the side. "I'll commend you for your bravery into trying to keep us from going after them, traitor."
Rook reached for a pokéball but was stopped by Ein slamming his fist into the man's gut. Rook gagged as he fell to the floor. Ein grabbed the man, before rummaging through his pockets for the card key and deactivating the barrier. Drei and Zwei soon reached up to Ein, who tossed Rook's immobile body to Drei.
"Throw him off the ship," Ein ordered.
Drei nodded before heading back to the deck and hurling Rook offboard and to the sea below. Ein then glanced back to the portal, before heading over to it.
The group found themselves falling face flat into an unfamiliar, rather cold room.
"Ugh..." Nate muttered as they all got up. "Where the hell are we?"
They looked around to examine the room. The entire room was rather large, with a steel floor that let them slightly see through to everything underneath. In front of them stood a giant generator of some sort, and in front of the generator, was Zinzolin, who turned to see the group and their unwanted entrance, accompanied by a grunt.
"It's become rather lively," Zinzolin said, greeting the unexpected guests. "I would be right to assume whatever commotion that was going on was your doing, yes?"
The group glared at the man, but Zinzolin seemed unfazed by it all. "Well, since you've all went to such trouble to come here, I'll show you all something interesting."
Zinzolin stepped back as he revealed a square shaped hole that led to whatever was underneath the generator, waving a hand to it as if he was inviting them to see down the hole. "This...is the legendary Pokémon of ice. The third dragon; Kyurem!"
"Kyurem!?" Nate gasped, before he rushed forward and peered down to the hole. To his shock, it was in fact Kyurem, who was being kept inside a giant glass container of sorts. "Kyurem! KYUREM! IT'S ME! NATE! KYUREEEM!"
"It's no use, boy," Zinzolin chuckled as the others went over to the hole to see Kyurem. "The glass container is soundproof. No matter how much you scream, Kyurem will not hear you. I bet it doesn't even notice that you're up here."
"That's...Kyurem...?" Rosa gaped at the sight of the dragon. Even several feet below and trapped in a glass container, Rosa, along with the others, could not help but shudder at the sight of such a beast.
"The ice laser we shot at Opelucid City was created with Kyurem's power and our technology," Zinzolin explained. "Once we reach the Giant Chasm, Kyurem will regain more than enough energy to freeze all of Unova!"
"Like we'll let you!" Hugh growled as they all reached for their pokéballs.
Zinzolin let out a laugh, before snapping his fingers. The grunt immediately took out a device and pressed the button on it. Nate suddenly winced in pain as everyone's pokéballs suddenly stopped working.
"Wha–Shit!" Hugh yelled as he and the others tried in vain to activate their pokéballs.
"You lot should really learn," Zinzolin chuckled. "So long as we have Colress' machine, you can't send out your Pokémon to defy us."
Nate immediately got back up and lunged for the grunt with the machine, pinning him down.
"Then we'll just break the damn thing!" Nate growled as he took out one of his knives.
Before the boy could stab the machine, the Shadow Triad suddenly appeared in front of him, before proceeding to kick the boy off the grunt like a football. The machine fell out of Nate's hand, as Ein grabbed it.
"GUOGH!?" Nate gagged as he was sent flying off the grunt and smacking into the generator, before falling off and landing in front of the hole, his face staring directly down to Kyurem's container.
"NATE!" Rosa and Yancy cried. The other two Shadow Triads appeared before the group, forcing them to back off. Now they were stuck in the worst possible position.
"Your traitor friend was rather brave," Ein informed of the group as he fidgeted with the machine. "He reactivated the barrier to try and stop us. Unfortunately for him, that was nowhere near enough."
"What did you do to him?!" Hugh growled.
"Hm, you actually care for him?" Ein asked. "I thought you despised Team Plasma."
"I know who to direct my hatred at," Hugh snarled, glaring daggers at Ein.
"Whatever," Ein muttered. "We disposed of him. He won't be able to do much. Just like how you couldn't do anything back at Aspertia."
"YOU–!" Hugh hissed, fuming.
"Ah yes," Zinzolin said. "From what I know of, you had a purrloin stolen from you five years ago. And that's your motivation to go against us. But riddle me this. There are plenty of other purrloin out there. You could have simply gone out to whatever random route and catch another one. Why are you so fixated on that specific one that we stole?"
"Why? WHY!?" Hugh roared. "That's the ONLY purrloin in the world that my late grandfather caught for my little sister!"
"Ah, an individual's feelings..." Zinzolin mused. "To you, that's probably a matter of great importance. But from the perspective of others, it's nothing more than a trivial matter. Compare your small, insignificant feelings to the majesty of this ship, for example. This ship itself is a device that utilizes Kyurem's power. With this ship, this time! We will conquer Unova! Now compared to the might and threat this ship possesses, your 'feelings' are that of an ant. Insignificant to the face of the people, as they have other things to worry about."
"WHY YOU–!" Hugh snarled as he was about to lunge for Zinzolin but found himself with a fist implanted into his gut, courtesy of Ein. The boy gasped out whatever air was in his gut, before falling to unconsciousness.
"HUGH–!" Rosa cried out, before she fell victim to the same thing. Before Cheren or Bianca could react, they found themselves knocked out by the Shadow Triad as well. Yancy stepped back in terror as the Shadow Triad approached her, intending to do the same thing to her. Before they took another step, Nate suddenly lunged for Ein from behind. Nate snarled at Ein as he grabbed his other knife, killing intent radiating from him, but Ein managed to pry Nate off of him and slammed him into a wall.
"NATE!" Yancy cried out.
Nate roared as he tried to break himself free, but Ein's grip was too much for the boy to escape from.
"Struggling to the very end," Ein said. "You know, I kinda like you. That kind of determination and tenacity could have been very useful to Lord Ghetsis."
"Fuck you..." Nate hissed.
"But alas, I doubt you two would ever see eye to eye," Ein said. "Now then."
Nate was forced to watch as one of the other two Triads hit Yancy on the back of her neck, knocking her out instantly. Nate tried to break free once more, but Ein's fist silenced the boy, and his whole world faded to black.
"What do we do with them?" Zwei asked.
"I'll throw this one out," Ein said, gesturing to Nate. "You two lock the rest of them into one of the vacant bunkers."
Nodding in confirmation, Zwei and Drei gathered up the rest of the unconscious trainers, as Ein walked out the room with Nate in tow.
"In the end, they're all foolish," Zinzolin said. "But don't worry. We'll put Kyurem...and the DNA Splicers to good use."
On the deck, Ein stared down at the water below. It was rather dangerous to fall from such a height; life-threatening even. Snorting, Ein lifted Nate up, before holding him above the water and off the deck.
"Nothing personal, really," Ein said to the unconscious Nate. "But one way or another, you would have needed to go."
Ein let go, dropping Nate down to the waters below. The Shadow Triad headed back, not even bothering to check if Nate had died or not. If he did, then that's that. But if he somehow survived, then really, they could take care of him later. And with his friends in their clutches, forcing him to do their bidding would be child's play. The boy was much better off without gaining a semblance of caring for others. Then he would not be susceptible to being blackmailed with his friends' lives. Either way, there would be an answer. But now, the Shadow Triad had to prepare for Lord Ghetsis' next phase of his plan.
All for the glory of Lord Ghetsis.
"So that's what they are up to..."
Rook nodded as he glanced at the skies. He counted himself lucky that someone was conveniently down where Rook had fallen to catch and save him from certain demise. The man introduced himself as Marlon, and apparently, he was the one responsible for the big commotion that had occurred on the deck earlier as a distraction to let the others sneak onboard undetected. He had been thrown off the deck as well, and had seen Rook get thrown off as well, before coming to his rescue.
"I apologize for having my cover blown..." Rook apologized.
"Do not fret," Rood assured Rook. "If anything, you should be proud for having infiltrated their ranks for so long, and for helping Nate and the others. We are all relieved that you made it out alive."
"Thank you, Lord Rood," Rook said. "But...now what?"
"We shall head for the Giant Chasm at post haste," Rood declared. "While they may be against us now, they are still our former friends. We must not let them go astray and further the suffering of Pokémon. We must save them for Ghetsis' deception."
"Understood," Rook said, before cutting off the connection.
"So where you headed to now, dude?" Marlon asked.
"Do you happen to know where the Giant Chasm is?" Rook asked Marlon.
"The Giant Chasm?" Marlon asked. "Ah that's easy. You can get there through Route 23. I'll take ya to Humilau. That's the fastest way there."
"Thank you," Rook said to Marlon.
Onboard Marlon's wailord, they headed back to Humilau City so that Rook may head for the Giant Chasm as quickly as possible. Rook could not help but look to the skies, in the direction where the Plasma Frigate had flown off to, with a worried expression.
"Everyone...please be alright..." Rook murmured to himself.
Yancy found herself groggily opening her eyes, groaning in pain as she rubbed the back of her neck. She then looked around to see where she was. She was in what she assumed to be a barrack room. It was most likely a safe bet to assume that they were still on the Frigate, probably headed for the Giant Chasm. The others were in the room as well, but they were still knocked out. Yancy went over to Rosa and lightly tapped her cheek, trying to wake her up, but to no avail.
"No luck, huh..." Yancy mumbled. How long were they out? Last thing she remembered was Nate being choked by the Shadow Triad, before they rendered her unconscious. Who knows how much time had passed?
Yancy sent out Audi, who landed in front of her before glancing around the room confusedly.
"Can you try and see if you can wake up the others with Heal Pulse, maybe?" Yancy asked Audi.
Audi nodded, before going over to the closest person near her, which happened to be Hugh, and emitted a Heal Pulse. As Yancy thought about what to do now, she heard the door's lock being undone, and froze up. Was this another Team Plasma grunt? Was it the Shadow Triad? Either way, she was in no position to fend them off by herself, especially if they came in numbers. Yancy reached for Teddi's pokéball as she stepped back from the door, trying to calm herself down as she waited for whoever it was that was unlocking the door. Audi stopped her healing and got in front of Yancy, ready to protect her from whatever was coming.
After what seemed to be an eternity for Yancy, the door was finally unlocked and opened. Much to Yancy's shock and relief, it was a familiar face.
"M-Miss Weiss?" Yancy asked, recognizing the white-masked woman.
"You guys..." Weiss said as she entered the room. She was accompanied by what appeared to be a small, humanoid Pokémon with long auburn hair, tied into a swirl, while revealing two unconscious grunts behind her. "I knew it was you guys when I overheard prisoners."
"What're you doing here?" Yancy asked curiously as she gestured Audi to heal the others.
"Snuck onto the frigate," Weiss explained. "And from the looks of it, saving you guys as well."
"Thank you..." Yancy nodded as Audi finished healing Hugh and tried waking him up.
"So where's Nate?" Weiss asked as she looked around, not spotting the boy in question.
"The Shadow Triad threw him off board..." Yancy mumbled.
"They did?" Weiss asked, genuinely surprised. "That's rather careless of them. I would've assumed they would keep him captive at least."
Weiss noticed Yancy's concerned expression, most likely for Nate's wellbeing, before smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure Nate is okay," Weiss told Yancy.
"You are?"
"Of course. He's my little brother, even if we aren't related by blood. He's not the type to die so easily. He'll definitely come back for you guys."
"...Yeah..." Yancy smiled. Weiss was right. She needed to believe in Nate. He went through so many worse scenarios before; he would definitely come back for them. "Thank you, Miss Weiss."
"Anything for my future sister-in-law," Weiss giggled, making Yancy blush rather brilliantly.
It was there when she heard footsteps sounding off from down the iron hallway, with voices that sounded rather gruff.
"Cover your ears," Weiss told Yancy. While she was confused, she did as she was told, nonetheless.
As the footsteps grew closer, Weiss and her Pokémon darted out the room to face the two grunts.
"What the–?!" one of them yelled out.
"Meloetta!" Weiss called out.
The Pokémon, Meloetta, nodded, before letting out a rather soothing song, which rang through the two grunts ears, before promptly putting them asleep. Once she sang her song, Meloetta's form glowed, before her hair changed to a long, green hair.
"Thank you," Weiss said to Meloetta, who nodded back. "Now then."
Weiss took out another pokéball and sent out a shiny samurott. Yancy and Audi stepped back instinctively at the sight of the samurott; not only was it shiny, but its rather serious, hardened expression was a stark contrast to Ottavia.
"We don't have much time unfortunately," Weiss said. "Wake them up."
Shiny Samurott nodded, before spewing water at them all. The water was enough to instantly wake them up rather rudely, as they all shot up.
"Wha–!?" Rosa blurted, before she found herself drenched. "Aw, what the hell!"
"Where are we?" Hugh asked, before noticing Weiss and Shiny Samurott. "What in the world?"
"Hilda!" Bianca gasped. "And Samurott too! It's been a while!"
Shiny Samurott nodded in acknowledgement as they all got up. Then suddenly they all felt a strong tremor shake the ship.
"...Looks like we reached the Giant Chasm," Weiss said. "C'mon, we don't have much time."
"Indeed," Cheren nodded. "We need to stop them."
"But first," Weiss said. "I need to get somewhere."
"Huh? Where?" Bianca asked.
Weiss did not respond for a moment, before sighing. "It's important. Mostly to me, but this will definitely help us."
"Help us how...?" Rosa asked.
"...I think I know a way to get Colress on our side," Weiss said.
"WHAT!?" they all gasped.
"You serious!?" Hugh asked.
"There's something stowed away here that's keeping Colress allied with Plasma," Weiss explained. "If we can get that, then Colress will surely switch to our side."
The others glanced at each other rather skeptically. While they had no reason to not believe Weiss, believing that Colress, someone who had always been seen as an adversary and a high-ranking member of Team Plasma, would easily betray Team Plasma for them was another story.
"Please," Weiss said. "Trust me on this."
Weiss' plea made it harder to turn her down, in all honesty. Eventually, Rosa was the first one to cave. "Okay," she said.
"You sure about this?" Hugh asked, still distrustful of Colress.
"Look, if we can somehow perform a miracle and get Colress on our side, then by all means," Rosa reasoned with Hugh, before turning to Weiss. "Besides...she helped me out a lot throughout this journey. This is the least I can do."
"Rosa..." Weiss said, touched by the bun-haired girl's willingness to help her.
"Yeah that's right!" Bianca quickly joined in with a big smile. "We've listened to your more suicidal ideas! This one'll be a breeze!"
"Hey they weren't all that bad," Weiss retorted, although with a grateful smile.
"I'm surprised we made it through the castle in one piece," Cheren snarked, referring to Hilda's plan of getting into N's Castle two years ago. "We went this far down the rabbit hole, might as well stick with you."
They all turned to Hugh, who still looked unsure, most likely due to his wariness of Colress.
"Weiss," Hugh said. "Can you answer me this? Why do you care so much for Colress anyways? I figured you would despise all of Team Plasma."
"...I do, but Colress is an exception," Weiss replied. "When I was stuck as a part of Team Plasma for my childhood, he was the one who took me in and raised me. You could say he's like my father of sorts. He's a capable and caring person, in spite of his tendencies and cold logic. And while he's acting like he's working with them out of his own volition, I can assure you it's anything besides that. And I want to save him from that."
"...Alright then," Hugh conceded after a moment of thought. "Having him on our side would be good, anyways."
"Alright, so we're all in agreement," Yancy said.
"Everyone...thank you," Weiss said from the bottom of her heart. "Now c'mon. We don't have much time before Ghetsis makes his move."
Weiss left the room, with the rest of them in tow, to wherever it was that held the mystery item that could miraculously get Colress to join their cause.
'I already lost one father to you, Ghetsis...' Weiss mentally hissed. 'I'm not letting you take away a second one.
'Don't worry, Father...those shackles that keep you bound to this damn organization...they'll finally be broken free.'
Nate groaned in pain as he slowly woke up.
"Huh...?" Nate mumbled. "What...?"
"-Yo. So you woke up.-"
Nate glanced around. He realized that he was no longer on the frigate. Hell, he was not on land anymore, but on something. He looked to see a familiar creature carrying him on his back as he flew across the skies with his companion. A familiar legendary that resembled a tiger, and another familiar legendary that resembled a dragon.
"L-Landorus...?" Nate mumbled.
"-Long time no see kid,-" Landorus said to the boy. "-You gave us quite the spook when you suddenly came falling from the sky.-"
"You... saved me?" Nate asked.
"-We saw this giant ass ship flying through the skies,-" the dragon, Thundurus, explained. "-So we went after the ship and then to our luck, we find you being thrown off it.-"
"The ship...?" Nate asked, before he suddenly remembered everything that had happened. "Wait, the frigate! The others!"
"-Your friends are stuck there?-" Landorus asked Nate, who nodded in return. "-Hm, then looks like you gotta go save them, huh.-"
"-Isn't Tornadus with them too?-" Thundurus asked. "-Keh! Look at him, getting caught by those bastards again! Ah well, looks like we gotta go save him too.-"
"-You're just saying that so you can rub it in his face,-" Landorus sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Why are you here, anyways?" Nate asked.
"-Do you really think we'd stand by and let whatever those bastards are planning happen?-" Landorus asked incredulously. "-I'm not gonna let them turn our home into a giant Popsicle.-"
"-Besides, we have a score to settle with those bastards who used us,-" Thundurus growled, referring to the Shadow Triad.
"-This must be some sort of fate,-" Landorus said to Nate. "-Until those damn fools go down, consider us allies.-"
Regardless of whatever their motives were, having Landorus and Thundurus as allies was phenomenal. Especially now that he was alone. He needed as much help as he can get, and Nate could not have asked for better reinforcement than the other two Forces of Nature.
"Alright then," Nate nodded. "Consider this alliance official."
With their alliance having been finalized, Landorus and Thundurus soared through the skies after the Plasma Frigate.
Laying in front of him was a knife.
It was an ordinary knife. It looked as if it had seen some use, but it was an ordinary knife, nonetheless.
It laid in front of him, glimmering by the light that shined from above.
While he could not hear anything within his glass prison, he could most certainly see things.
And right in front of him was a knife. But while it was an ordinary knife, it was at the same time not just any ordinary knife.
For the ordinary knife in front of him was a knife he recognized.
The knife belonged to someone he could call a friend.
A friend he had thought to be dead.
Until when he saw the knife fall in front of him, and he looked up to see a face he had assumed to be dead until now.
"...So that's how it is..."
To be continued
AN: And the stage is set for Team Plasma's final plans. With everyone with their own agendas, we now officially move onto the last Team Plasma arc, and the penultimate final arc of the story. Which also means that PoYS is coming to a close. At this rate, I reckon at least three to four more chapters to finish up Team Plasma, and then one more chapter as the finale.
Also hopefully Nate's battle against Marlon was more reasonable with all the countermeasures and explanations given. He did say he would with with Bo after all.
Next chapter is gonna be the third visit to the Plasma Frigate, with a battle I'm sure you've all been waiting for.
And now, since they're all in a group now, guest rosters!
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Bo (Emboar) / Vire (Electivire) / Brav (Braviary) / Deo (Keldeo) / Zoro (Zoroark)
Rosa: Eve (?) / Ottavia (Samurott) / Nina (Arcanine) / Mandi (Mandibuzz) / Gustav (Amoonguss) / Geno (Genesect)
Hugh: Flygon / Serperior / Magmortar / Carracosta / Heracross / Tornadus-Therian
Yancy: Audi (Audino) / Teddi (Ursaring) / Snor (Snorlax) / Toge (Togekiss)
Guest:
Cheren: Serperior / Liepard / Unfezant / Gigalith / Jellicent / Haxorus
Bianca: Emboar / Stoutland / Musharna / Mienshao / Swanna / Chandelure
Weiss/Hilda: Samurott / Bisharp / Meloetta / Whimsicott / Latias / Regigigas
Okay! I'll catch you all next time with the third raid on the Plasma Frigate!