An aroma of rafflesia burns everybody's noses. Sia, in a blurry stupor, sits up to check out the two yellow heroes that came to her rescue. Snot drips from her nose as she rubs her swollen eyes. As SmokeScreen begins to dissipate, Sia looks over at Baron, who looks like he's meditating. She looks around at the other mons around. She recognizes Team Burning Thunder Splash, Team Roundabout, and Salsa in the crowd. Damn…I probably look like a total loser. Like a princess! A damsel in distress! While I sit here and bawl my eyes out. Ugh, everything hurts, Sia winces in her thoughts.
Sia grits her teeth, wheezing murmurs of discomfort within her struggle to breathe. The voices of the yellow heroes seem to echo across the entire town, but Sia couldn't hear them. She is more concerned with the two Mew and their prophetic words coming true, finding it difficult to believe. Street trash. The words rattle in her mind as she continues to sob.
"…Need some help?" A puddle of water gurgles.
Sia rolls her eyes. "Great, my tears are talking to me."
Courage's face emerges from the puddle. "…I don't think I'm made out of tears, brah! Or am I? Huh..."
"O-oh. You're that guy that took my rescue request. Hey." Sia's fur puffs a little.
"...Mhm. And hello."
Courage rises from his puddle, reforming into his usual Vaporeon shape. His usual meek expression melts into a frown as he checks Sia's injuries. All that throwing herself around nearly tore her in half, Courage thought.
"…Okay, let's see..." Said Courage as he crouches, letting his body melt into water from the bottom half. "…Climb aboard."
"Whuh?"
"…Trust me. It's standard rescue mission stuff, brah."
Sia does her best to wipe away tears or snot escaping her face, reluctantly stepping closer to the puddle. To her surprise, the Courage-puddle is warm, like the sea in the summer sun. Courage cautiously rises from the ground, adjusting for Sia on his back. Her smaller frame makes it easy for him to move around without much hassle. Sia lays her head on his back as she grooms her head fur. They make their way back to the front of the flats, away from the impending battle.
"Thanks…" Sia feels a tickle in her throat.
"Since y'all are actin' buck wild, it's about time we show y'all some manners," Flint's voice echoes.
Meira's tone booms, "Baron's barrier gives us free-range. Nothin' but a bunch of bad eggs spoilin' the dozen. I reckon the fun's over, boys."
Tuff readjusts his scarf. "Oh yeah? And just what are two country bumpkins gonna do?"
"I never liked you happy-go-lucky weirdoes." Said Buff, readjusting his scarf across his burns. "Neither of you are worth talking to, let alone fighting."
Flint and Meira turn to one another, nodding. A shadow glares from above the brothers at Team Harmony, almost mocking them. The brothers may be former rescue team members, but anyone willing to strike a friend, let alone one that's injured, is too far gone. As Team Harmony assume their battle stances, their scarves begin to illuminate fiercely.
"It's…that power, again. But why now?" Flint's body slowly envelopes in light. Little twigs caught in his fur begin to twist and turn around his body, across his legs and around his ears. An aura of pure flames seem to tower out of the fox mon's body.
Meira quickly breaks her tough composure. "Uhh…this ain't something new for you, Flint? Sure is for me!" Her roots dig into the earth involuntarily, and her cheek pouches spark wildly. Her energy nearly peaks as her entire body shoots off stray sparks.
Tuffen and Buffer step away, the display causing them to quiver. Whatever Flint and Meira are becoming, or have always been, is something otherworldly to the Rattata. However, quick as the light enveloped Team Harmony, it disappeared without a trace. The branches shrivel back into mere twigs in Flint's fur, the burning aura peters into normalcy. Meira's roots retract as a bolt of lightning crashes down, quickly absorbing into her body.
"W-what…happened?" Said Meira.
"I'm not too sure, but I reckon I could try and explain what I know later, mmk?" Flint gives a pensive look.
"Ha! See? You're both nothing but dirty cheaters! Only losers waste their full power when a fight's just started!" Buff laughes. Tuff joins in the cacophony.
Meira waggles a finger. "Ohh, we're nowhere near done, bucko. For Sia's sake, Team Harmony's taking you down!"
The world within the barrier became silent, the absence of movement making each breath tense. Without warning, Tuff and Buff launch themselves into the air, brandishing fangs and claws at their opponents with Shadow Claw and Bite. Flint hastily snatches a twig from his fur, setting it ablaze with iridescent flames before launching a counter attack of Ember. The brothers split away from one another, barely avoiding the flame. Everyone finds themselves facing their opponent head-on in close quarters combat.
Buff advances, slashing back and forth with ethereal energy at Flint, who dodges each swipe. Buff keeps on slashing until his paw grows tired, forcing him to stop. Flint saw his chance, turning around and lifting his tail high into the air, waggling it back and forth like a metronome. Buff falls for the Tail Whip, but gathers enough energy to revitalize Shadow Claw, slamming down towards his opponent. Flint swings back with an Iron Tail as the two engage in back and forth swipes against one another. Before long, the two distance themselves to catch their breaths. As Flint readies himself for more clashing, Buff flashes an incredibly rude gesture, a Taunt that made Flint drop his strategic style. Flint dashes forward headfirst with a sloppy bash, missing his target as fangs tear into his front leg.
Meira steps back, recoil from Tuff's Quick Attack throwing off her balance. Damn, maybe I shouldn't have trained so much today, Meira thought. Tuff's flurry of Quick Attacks continue to chip away at her as she focuses her energy. Suddenly, one Meira became two, five, even seven through Double Team. Tuff braces himself, but to his surprise, all of the Meira stand still like statues. Without a second thought, Tuff smashes into each Meira with more Quick Attack, destroying the illusions. Before he can bash the last two, both Meira suddenly smirk, causing Tuff to gasp. He slips and lands face-first in the tummy of the real Meira, who caught a hold of his scarf. Cheek pouches sparkling, Meira throws her head back before smashing against Tuff's face, knocking him away with a static-y Nuzzle.
Tuff scrapes against the barrier's floor, landing on his back. He tries to recover from the attack, but finds himself unable to move as iridescent sparks bounce from his body. Meira slowly approaches the trapped Rattata, stretching her body as she assumes a pose. In a blur, Tuff's body is thrown every which way, punches, kicks, and fangs rendering him to metaphorical dust. Meira knew Play Rough would tire her, but it's worth the hassle if it means her opponent would go down easier. She let her opponent stagger as she drops to fours and backflips, the smack of her heart-shaped tail knocking Tuff away with a Slam. With bated breath, she stands tall, proud of her own strength.
Flint isn't so lucky, dashing and thrashing to escape the grasp on his front leg. But enough thrashing throws Buff away, who spits away some yellow fur caught in his teeth. Flint growls, annoyed with the dirty move by Buff. Again, Flint pulls twigs from his fur, igniting Embers around himself. Flint focuses the energy in his flames as Buff advances closer to him, readying a Fury Swipes attack. Suddenly, Flint blasts a short-charge Psybeam from his mouth towards the ground, ricocheting towards Buff, who confidently stands in its range. What the dark type isn't aware of is the ricochet bouncing off the barrier back to Flint, who redirects the energy into the Embers. The flaming twigs are absorbed into the energy, creating a burst of fiery aura around Flint as he sprints forward with Flame Charge. With a powerful bash, Buff takes the full impact, his scarf singes to bits as he crashes into the barrier's floor.
Buff coughs, but manages to stand. He wasn't prepared for a physical attack from the fox. Buff shakes his head, eyes darting in every direction, losing sight of Flint. Even after the impact, Flint's enhanced Flame Charge let him keep his momentum as he outmaneuver the cornered foe. Focusing his energy as he sprints around the battlefield, the flaming aura absorbs into Flint's body. Learning from his mistake, Buff jumps forward with a Sucker Punch, but is blown back. Flint stopped his dash, and begin to yodel a long chorus, with each vocal burst taking its toll on Buff's body and hearing. Flint, noticing his opponent is down, cuts the song short. Flint rarely uses Round, knowing Meira would join in sooner or later. She couldn't resist a good yodel.
As the battle comes to a halt, Baron's energy dissipates, the victors standing by each other. Chuckling together, Flint and Meira touch a paw together, happy the battle went so well. Tuff, beaten to a pulp, limps over to his brother and pleads for him to get up. Buff, fur burnt and pointing eastward, struggles to stand.
"T-this…isn't over, you weenies!" Buff mumbles.
"Yeah! You'll see!" Tuff groans.
Baron came forth to the battlefield. "Good show, Team Harmony! Way to put those cheeky boys in their place!"
"Damn it…this isn't fair! Fine! This isn't the last time you'll see us, know that!" Buff gets up and turns towards the exit of Twiligleam city. Slowly, he and Tuff start limping away, but stop when a light envelops the both of them, slightly healing their wounds.
"Good or bad, I'll take this opportunity to heal you," Maybell the Audino chimes in. "You're on your own after this, unless you start being good mons again."
"Heh, whatever, chump," Buff's last words echo as he and Tuff run towards the city's exit.
Flint starts tending to his wound, licking his leg's pain away. Meira sits firmly on the ground as a root extends from her. She ruffles her fur, brushing away stray dirt. Flint, noticing Meira's somber expression, asks her if she is hurt.
"I'm just fine, Flint, no need to worry!" Meira fakes a smile. "You're one to talk with your leg like that. And have you seen those slashes in your fur?"
"Just worried is all, Meira. Normally, you're a bit more energetic after a good fight."
"Well…I reckon I was distracted a little. You mind explaining that whole thing, with our scarves and all that? Said you had something like that happen before?"
Flint grabs his scarf. "Yeah…I dunno if you remember, but when I was younger, I—"
But Flint is cut off by sounds of celebration and joy from the mons around them. Team Roundabout gives their applauds, while Team Burning Thunder Splash came forward to meet Team Harmony.
"Flint! That was awesome, bruh!" Racha exclaims. "Same for you, Meira!"
"Must be payoff for training with the best, uh-huh! Meira's nearly at the gym every day, so massive gains should be expected," Bolt sticks his chin out.
"…I doubt it's from that, cousin." Courage slinks in, Sia still atop his back. "…I'm sure Sia appreciates the help either way though."
Sia, despite the noise and ruckus around, has fallen asleep upon Courage's back. A few nudges woke her, as she carefully stepped down off of Courage. She lets out a soft yawn and a sniffle before asking what happened.
"Well, Tuff and Buff hightailed it outta town after Flint and I taught them a lesson!" Meira smiles.
"Huh. So they're really gone…" Sia stares at the ground. "All those crappy things they said, how could they think to say those things…"
Flint frowns. "Uhh, I'm sorry things went down the way they did."
"Yeah...so I guess this is it." Sia sits in front of Team Harmony, before suddenly reaching out to embrace them. "T-thanks, for everything. Most of all, being there for me."
Flint and Meira, surprised by the sudden hug, both place a paw onto Sia's sides, returning the gesture. After a couple moments of silence, Baron speaks up. "I say, are you certain you want to leave? Twiligleam's still got plenty to offer, you know."
"But I can't stay. I don't have a team and there's no way to do rescues on your own, at least not for me."
"Perhaps you won't have to do them on your own. What I mean is, Team Harmony is a team of two, and most teams tend to be groups of three, even four sometimes. Why not request to join their team?" Baron twirls his cane.
Sia turns back to face Team Harmony. "Well…if you two really want somebody like me…then…"
"Are you kidding?" Meira raises a brow. "Of course you can join our team, Sia! I already wanted to be friends with ya anyway, and this would be a good path to it!"
"Yeah! Since you already had a team name, I think for now, we can go by somethin' like…Team Harmonious Hope. Whaddya think?" Flint smiles.
"It's...nice." Sia sniffles. "Once I get better, I promise I'll do my best as part of your, uh, our team. Team Harmonious Hope." Sia gives a sincere smile.
"Aww, hush up, you got plenty of time to rest and do whatever you feel like doin', considering Flint and I already did our monthly missions." Said Meira.
Sia, exhausted and elated, finds herself chuckling. I really wanna open up to somebody. Anybody, willing to listen to me and treat me right, she thought. The crowds begin to shrink, most residents going back to their homes. All except the rescue teams, who slowly made their way into the lobby of the flats. Sia feels pins and needles in her legs as she tries to walk. Sia shakily places a paw on Courage's side, her face glowing a faint red.
"H-hey. Could you, uh…" Sia glances away.
"…Oh sure, brah!" Courage gives a meek smile as he lowers his body to the ground.
"Thanks."
Notes: I'm still pretty proud of the fight scenes in this chapter. I'm glad to come back and retcon some dropped plot points, too. Still, I wonder how Sia views Courage? She said she isn't a princess, but once you have a knight...
(Old Notes) And with that, the first arc of my fic concludes with a broken team and a new branch in Team Harmony. Hope things didn't get too confusing, especially regarding the fight scenes. Just to be clear, Flint and Meira's energy becoming iridescent isn't something that is usual. There's a small instance of it in an earlier chapter, but normally, their attacks would be no different from another mon's. And don't worry! Even though Sia's arc ends, she'll be appearing just as often as she did, as the next arc focuses on Team Harmony...or uh, Team Harmonious Hope, I guess. There's also that bit...with the eye...kinda mysterious!
There are little tidbits hinting at how the world works in this fic too, so I'm hoping to flesh those out within the upcoming arcs. I wouldn't exactly call it filler, but the next few chapters will likely be a bit less focused on big story, just more moments between the cast so far.
I'm actually thinking of expanding that little scene between Flint and Meira about tapping into that power into a sort of prequel fic starring those two exclusively! Fun fact: They were initially the only focused on characters before I decided to be more dynamic.