"HORRORS UPON HORRORS, ED-BOYS AND COMPANY!" Rolf cried as he ran over to the others while they were playing Basketball.
"What's up, Rolfy-Boy?" Chris asked as he had summoned Junk Synchron to keep score for the game.
"MAGICAL MACHINE GAMMA-GIRL! SHE HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED!"
"OH NO!" Ed cried as he shot up and began running off. "ED IS COMING FOR YOU, LITTLE ONE!"
"Oh dear, what happened?!" Double-D asked in worry as the Eds all began following Rolf.
"Rolf does not know! I only saw Gamma-Girl lying on the ground, her eyes as black as Papa's night beans!"
"What's up, you guys?" Flash asked as he caught sight of what was going on and followed after the others.
"It's Gamma! She's in trouble!" Ben said. Soon, the gang arrived to find Gamma laying on the ground, her eyes empty and black and surrounded by Yu-Gi-Oh cards. She was being held by Sunset while Applebloom was also there, watching.
"Guys, what happened here?!"
"That's what I want to know!" Sunset said in panic while holding Gamma close.
"M-Me neither. This strange kid who looked like Eldritch showed up this morning and challenged her to a 'duel,'" Applebloom tried to explain to them. "He told her to meet him here during lunch break. I had a bad feeling, so I came to check. I don't know what happened but I'm assuming she-"
"Lost? Yes, she did, and she paid the price for it," Came a voice that radiated smooth and cold calculating cunning. "I was hoping to find a competent opponent but was sadly disappointed. Quite a shame."
"Oh, crud..." Chris said, recognizing who the source of the voice was.
"WHO ARE YOU?! ARE YOU A DISCIPLE OF EVIL TIM?!" Ed asked, pointing angrily.
"And what did you do to Gamma, fiend?!" Double-D asked, ready to draw the new lightsaber he had made with help from Enrico while Flash readied his hand over his Ultimatrix.
"Whatever it is, you better undo it… NOW!" Sunset demanded angrily.
"You would deny me the spoils of my victory? No chance. If you want to change her fate, you will have to duel me for it."
The boy then smirked as he pulled back his hood and everyone's eyes widened in recognition at the familiar purple skin and dark magenta hair.
"E-Eldritch... no, this is a new personality..."
"Correct. I am Sagacious, the favorite prodigy of Tzeentch. And defeating me will be no easy task," the newly identified Sagacious spoke up, a smirk on his lip.
"Well, looks like Crydius took my advice..." Ben chuckled.
"Tzeentch, the Architect of Fate? The God of Deceit and Lies?!" Rolf asked, his brow furrowing. "AWAY WITH YOUR MANIPULATIVE DOOHICKEYs!"
"Easy there, Rolf!" Rina said, holding back the Son of a Shepard.
"So, how are we gonna settle this, hmm?" Eddy asked as he pulled out a pair of large Blue Fin Tunas. "Are we gonna kick each other's asses or...?"
"Oh no, nothing quite so boorish. I had a different game in mind," Sagacious said with a shake of his head before manifesting a Yu-Gi-Oh card. "I challenge one of you to a classic game of Duel Monsters. If you win, I will renounce my victory over dear Gamma."
"So, uh, who's gonna volunteer?" Ben asked. "Because even with those books, I am still not good at Yu-Gi-Oh bullcrap."
"I'll do it. Gamma is my kid, after all," Sunset said, her eyes narrowing at Sagacious dangerously, who simply smirked in amusement.
"Perfect! Allow me to set the rules then; 4000 Life Points. No time limits, no extra deck, and no Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link summoning nonsense. Agreed?"
"Sounds fair to me," Chris said, nodding his head.
"My Manifestation ability will allow us both to build a deck with any cards we can think of. So, use whatever cards and playstyle you are most comfortable with." Sagacious said, finishing off his rules listing.
"Alright, fine, I accept your challenge. But no tricks or foul play, and no banned cards! The moment I win, you turn Gamma back to normal or so help me-!"
"Huh, so Sunset actually plays this game..." Applebloom, the Eds, Rolf, and Flash all thought.
"Sweet! I should challenge her later to see how she stacks up," Chris thought to himself.
"Excellent! It's a deal. Then please, build your deck. And by all means..." Sagacious summoned his cards with an evil grin. "Make sure to hold nothing back, for this game is far more important than you can possibly fathom. Let's Duel!"
"IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DROP THE BASS!" Ben said, putting on shades and striking a pose along with his fellow Eds, Rolf, and Flash, who also wore similar shades.
Chris stared unamused at Ben. "It's 'duel'. The final word in that phrase is 'duel'."
With that out of the way, let's see what tactics Crydius and Sunset will employ in this duel, starting with the former.
"As the challenger, I'll go first. I set two cards facedown. And then, I'll set one monster in facedown defense position. And that will be all. Your move, Ms. Shimmer."
"It doesn't get much more defensive than that!" Ben said.
Sunset looked deep in thought before making her move. " I summon Fire King Avatar Kirin in Attack Position! And I equip it with Horn of the Unicorn, increasing its Attack and Defense by 700 points!"
"Ooooh!" Ed said with awe.
"My Kirin will attack your face down!" Sunset said as her monster did just that, however, the grin on Sagacious' face showed that he anticipated that.
"Alas! You've attacked my Dark Resonator! This monster's effect allows it to survive one attack each turn, meaning your attack was pointless. But since I'd hate to see your turn go to waste, I'll take this opportunity to activate one of my face-downs!"
Sagacious then flipped over one of the facedown cards. "I activate Destiny Board! This gives me the first of five spirit messages! And from now on, at the end of each turn, I gain another! And once I have all five, I automatically win this duel!"
"Oh, dear! He had her played from the start!" Double-D gasped.
"My turn's not over yet!" Sunset pointed out as Sagacious grinned.
"Indeed, it isn't, which is why I can activate my second facedown as well: Sentence of Doom! By sending it to the graveyard, I can replace it with one more Spirit Message from my deck."
Sunset's mind was running millions of thoughts a second as she made her next move. "I play Fire King Island and use its first effect! By destroying one monster in my hand, I can add one Fire King from my deck to my hand. And with that, I end my turn!"
"Bringing me one message closer to victory." Sagacious grinned wickedly as 'D' 'E' and 'H' manifested above him. "My turn now, Ms. Shimmer."
"Oh man, now what?" Flash wondered.
"I draw. And first up, I sacrifice Dark Resonator to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des, who will attack and destroy your Kirin!"
"Damn!" Eddy cursed.
"Oh, and fun fact: As long as Ha Des is on the field, any effect of monsters destroyed by my Fiend-Type Monsters are negated! Meaning Kirin's effect doesn't activate!"
"He's countering everything in Sunset's deck!" Ben exclaimed and those were Sunset's exact thoughts as well.
"And that's enough for a single turn, I'd say. Go ahead Ms. Shimmer, it's your tu-"
Sagacious was interrupted when Sunset became surrounded by brilliant flames like those of the sun. Ed held out a bag of popcorn and the heat from the flames popped all the kennels inside, which he then opened up to share with his friends.
"I didn't want to use this so early on, but I guess I've got no choice now," Sunset said dangerously. "I draw. And the effect of one of my monsters in the graveyard activates, allowing me to special summon Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys to the field!"
"Whoa!" Ed asked with stars in his eyes.
"And when summoned this way, her second effect activates, which destroys all spell and trap cards on the field! So, all your Spirit Messages are toast!"
"She did it! Yeah!" Flash cheered.
"You fool! This effect destroys all spell and trap cards, including yours! And when Fire King Island is destroyed, so are all monsters you control!" Sagacious snapped. "So, your Phoenix goes back to the graveyard, leaving you completely exposed!"
"Oh, she'll be back. And with her gone, I can now play this!" Sunset smirked. "I activate Onslaught of the Fire Kings! Which I can only do if I control no monsters while you have at least one. This card lets me special summon one Fire Attribute Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast Monster from my deck... And I choose FIRE KING HIGH AVATAR GARUNIX!"
Garunix attacked Ha Des, destroying him as Sunset grinned, knowing she had Sagacious on the ropes.
"Now, because I summoned him using Onslaught of the Fire Kings, Garunix is destroyed at the end of my turn."
Sagacious frowned. "Not that it matters, because when I draw and start my turn, his own effect activates, special summoning him to the field, meaning-"
"GARUNIX IS BACK!" Sunset cheered as Garunix reappeared once more but Sagacious still had one more trick up his sleeve.
"It's too early to cry victory, Ms. Shimmer. I activate Dark Spirit's Mastery. By discarding one card, I can add either one Destiny Board or one Level Eight Fiend Monster to my hand. And I choose the latter!"
"Rolf's brain is befuddled by all these card plays!" Rolf said, rubbing his scalp.
"And now, with three Fiend Monsters in my graveyard, I can banish them all to special summon my dreaded Dark Necrofear! And she will attack Garunix!"
"What?! Garunix was far more powerful than Dark Necrofear! You just destroyed your own monster!"
However, Sunset realized Garunix had vanished and then reappeared by Sagacious' side.
"Exactly, because when I end my turn, her effect activates," He began to explain. "Now her dark spirit returns from the graveyard to take revenge on my enemies, giving me control over one of my opponent's monsters! In short, your oversized chicken is mine now!"
"Sagacious has turned the tables!" Double-D exclaimed.
"What a weasel!" Eddy scowled.
"The little dickens!" Ed laughed.
"Nice try! But in case you forgot: Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys was sent to the graveyard by a card effect last turn!" Sunset retorted.
"Which means what, exactly?" Ben asked.
"Which means: After I draw, she is special summoned by her effect. And she destroys Dark Necrofear, who is now treated as an Equip Spell Card!"
"And so, you get your Garunix back. Oh curses, foiled again," Sagacious said but his smirk told him he wasn't all that upset.
"He doesn't seem all that peeved," Eddy said.
Sunset made her turn again. "First up, I'm setting a card face down, as well as summoning Fire King Avatar Barong in Attack Position! And now that I have Garunix back, he, Barong, and Nephthys will all attack you directly!"
"I activate the effect of Battle Fader from my hand!" Sagacious countered. "When I'm attacked directly, I can summon it to the field and the Battle Phase immediately ends!"
"Fine, I end my turn. But you're only delaying the inevitable," Sunset smirked. "You only get to draw a single card now. There's no way to come back with this from a single card."
Sagacious merely giggled wickedly in response. "Oh, you are painfully mistaken, Ms. Shimmer. I draw and activate the second effect of Dark Spirit's Mastery!"
"Uh-Oh, this ain't good..." Ben muttered.
"When it's in my graveyard, I can banish it to put all Destiny Board and Spirit Message cards in the graveyard back into my deck. And then, I get to draw the same number of cards afterward! Which, as I'm sure you remember, lets me draw three more cards! And I don't know about you, Ms. Shimmer, but I feel like this duel has gone on for long enough!"
"Not good, not good, not good...!" Double-D panicked as he realized Sagacious' play.
"I sacrifice Battle Fader to summon Summoned Skull! And then I use Monster Reborn to bring back Dark Necrofear! And then I shuffle the three monsters I banished in order to summon her back into my deck to special summon Curse Necrofear! And finally, I activate the effect of a monster in my hand; Sacrificing all these monsters to summon... MY MIGHTY EMPEROR MAJU GARZETT!"
"Holy Toledo!" Eddy exclaimed as Sagacious summoned the mighty monster. Sunset's eyes gaped in horror as she realized Sagacious had played her. With one swift move, Sagacious defeated Sunset and her monsters with ease, winning the duel.
"SUNSET!" Flash and Double-D screamed as they ran to their girlfriend to make sure she was alright.
"My win. But Good Game, Ms. Shimmer. Well played," Sagacious praised.
Sunset managed to get up rather fast. "I-I lost?! No! I-I can't have lost! What about-?!"
"It's okay Mother Unit Beta. You can't win them all," Gamma said, alive and well.
"GAMMA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Ed cheered, picking up the Magical Android in a hug.
"B-But how?!" Double-D flustered as Ben hummed.
"I had a feeling that Sagacious wasn't telling the whole truth on what happened to Gamma. Then again, he IS the disciple of Tzeentch."
"Swindler! Rolf should have known!" Rolf scowled.
"Oh, thank god... I thought this was gonna be something terrible..." Chris sighed in relief. "Then it would have been my fault..."
"I think I need to go soak my head..." Flash groaned, rubbing his head as he helped Sunset to her feet. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah... not exactly happy I didn't have all the details... and not exactly pleased with this trolling little turd."
Sagacious rolled his eyes. "What did you think we were even betting? Souls?"
"No, but I have another game we can play!" Ben said as Ed pulled out a table from his jacket because apparently, he was storing one in there. "It's a little fun activity called Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth-Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker!"
Sagacious grinned. "I like what you're saying, Uncle Ben! Alright then, let's play!"
"Oh! Oh! I know how to play this game!" Ed excitedly said.
"I like the sound of this. Let me try. Go easy since I'm a beginner and show me the ropes, baby!" Eddy said as he and Ed joined in.
After an epic round of Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth-Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker that ended in, much to everyone's surprise, Eddy's victory, Sagacious returned to his parents.
"Looks like the ol' Brains over Brawn didn't work as well as expected, hmm?" Tempest teased with a smirk. "Your favorite didn't do much better than mine."
"Hush, Tempest."
Sagacious grinned. "You wound me, Mother. Despite the detour I had with my uncles, the plan worked perfectly! While we were dueling, I wormed my way into Ms. Shimmer's thoughts and eventually accessed her mind. It was not easy being subtle, and I worried she may notice my efforts, as her gift is very similar to my Mindreader Ability, but fortunately, the game distracted her enough. She remains blissfully unaware of my little invasion."
Crydius smirked. "That's my boy. And? What have you learned?"
"EVERYTHING!"
Unbeknownst to them, Ben was spying on them with Clairvoyance via his Psionics Element and hummed in displeasure. He was not so great at it, but he could catch glimpses of what Sagacious was talking about.
"What does Crydius even want to know about Sunset? Seems kinda fishy to me..."
Just as Sagacious was about to continue speaking, he felt something strike him at the back of the head, knocking him down to the ground, to the surprise of his parents.
As he got up, he tried to find who or what was responsible for that strike but saw nothing.
He tried to sense the metaphysical traces but found none.
Confusing, most confusing indeed.
"So, let me see if I'm remembering this correctly. The way your powers work is by focusing your mind on the Pokémon you want to Mega Evolve into, while also having their respective Mega Stone on your person. Is that right?" Chris asked as he and May walked through the forest near Azeasany.
May nodded her head yes as she brought up her Mega Bracelet.
"Pretty much. Only, in order for it to work though, I have to have its Mega Stone on my person at least once before I can do it. For instance, back when I was in Hoenn, I tried turning into Mega Lopunny, but nothing happened."
"Then I assume you got your hands on a Lopunnite and it worked afterward, correct?" Chris asked.
"Yep. Although even though I pretty much have access to all current Mega Evolutions, there's one that I'm not even sure I can do, that being Rayquaza since it doesn't have a corresponding Stone."
"Hmm," Chris hummed in response.
"Oh, before I forget, I wanted to give you something. Here," Chris said as he pulled out an item and handed it to May.
The item was a white wristband with a red highlight at the top and a blue highlight on the bottom, and what looked like a touch screen on it. Opposite of the screen was what could best be described as a stylized red M.
"Oh, a Dynamax Band, neat," May said as she put the wristband on her right wrist. "Thanks, Chris. I really appreciate it."
"Anything for you my special little Mayflower," Chris said as he pulled May in for a kiss on the cheek, causing her to giggle.
"Are you in love with me?"
"Maybe. Who's asking?" Chris said as he smirked at her, causing her to giggle more.
"Ah, you, sir, are quite the charmer. And yes, before you ask, I love you too. And, again, yes, it's in the romantic sense. I mean that first date of ours was already enough to tip me off that you had feelings for me."
As the two continued their walk, they soon heard sniffling and what sounded like someone crying nearby.
The two went to investigate, and after they pushed the leaves of a bush, May gasped as she and Chris stared in shock at what was hidden within the foliage.
It was a Fennekin, and it was practically covered in cuts and bruises, some of which were bleeding, leaving no doubt in their minds that someone or something made an attempt at killing this poor creature.
"Oh fuck. We need to get this thing some help, stat!" Chris said as he put on his Duel Disk and summoned Ambulanceroid.
After carefully lifting the Fennekin into the living medical van, Chris and May immediately started patching the Fennekin up as best as they could while Ambulanceroid started driving back to Azeasany.
Once they got there, Chris and May started running towards the nurse's office, with Chris kicking the door open and letting May dash in.
"Is Doctor Zeigler here?!" May cried out, prompting Mr. Ludwig to walk up to her.
"I'm afraid she iz unavailable at zis moment, but I can help. Now, vhat seems to be ze problem?" Ludwig asked.
"Me and my boyfriend, Chris here..."
"Hey," Chris said as he walked up beside her.
"... we were walking through the forest a while ago when we heard someone crying. We went to investigate and found this Fennekin in a bush. Please, you have to do SOMETHING!" said May as she handed the Fennekin over to Ludwig.
"Hmm. Didn't think we'd ever have to use ze machine provided to us by ze Joy family but, well first time for everything. Don't worry miss, zis creature here is in good hands."
With that, Ludwig took the Fennekin into a nearby room as May looked down sadly. Chris then proceeded to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Despite how psychotic Dr. Ludwig can be sometimes... actually, scratch that, ALL the time, he's got an incredible track record when it comes to patients under his care."
Even though what Chris said did make her somewhat feel better, she still couldn't shake the feeling that the Fennekin might not make it.
A few minutes that felt like hours later, Ludwig came out of the room holding a clipboard. May got up from her seat as he approached them.
"Is the Fennekin going to be okay, doc?" she asked as Chris got up and held her hand.
Medic looked at the paper on his clipboard for what felt like hours before he gave his response.
"Well, she will make it. Had you found her even a second later, she would have perished."
May and Chris looked at each other with smiles on their faces at the good news, before Chris squinted his eyes in confusion for a brief moment as he turned back to Ludwig.
"Wait, she? Did you manage to figure that out by, you know..." Chris said before darting down to his crotch for a split second, wordlessly telling what he was thinking.
"Ah heh. Well, no, heh, it was more like... you know vhat, I think it might be best if I just show you," Ludwig said as he took Chris and May to see the Fennekin.
When they got there, the Fennekin was sitting on a bed covered in bandages, her eyes watery and red from her crying. Even as they approached, they could see a few tears fall every now and then as Chris sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, you doing okay?"
After the Fennekin sniffled, her response was not what Chris and May were expecting.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you," the Fennekin said, not in her usual tongue, but in pure English.
To say that Chris and May had looks of shock upon hearing the Fennekin speak would be one hell of an understatement, especially since the top of Chris's head flipped open like a lid as a clear sign that his mind was officially blown. Once the flames died down and Chris closed his head back up, that was when he and May made their shock known.
"YOU CAN TALK?!" They both said so loud and hard that the Fennekin was nearly pushed back.
"Ya, it's true," Ludwig said as he walked over to a nearby board and lightbox. On the latter were some x-rays, while the former had other notes regarding Fennekin's body.
"But I thought Team Rocket's Meowth was the only Pokémon in the world that could speak human tongue, save for some that can speak through telepathy," Chris said in astonishment as Ludwig turned on the lightbox.
"Zat may be true, but it would seem zat our fox friend here was put through similar experimentation. Surprisingly though, she can still battle like normal."
"Excuse me, what?" May asked in surprise.
"It's true. Even though she speaks fluent English, ze Fennekin is still capable of fighting on ze same level as her fellow Fox Pokémon."
Chris and May stared in awe at the Fennekin, only to notice that she still looked sad.
"Hey, something on your mind?" Chris asked as he tried to wipe away some of Fennekin's tears, only for her to reel back and scream in response.
"Get away from me!" she cried out as she tried to backstep, only to fall like a newborn deer after about one or two steps.
Chris pulled his hand back as he and May looked at each other. Fennekin then sighed as she calmed down.
"Sorry. I thought you were trying to hurt me. You're... you're probably wondering how I ended up in the forest, right?"
Both Chris and May nodded their heads yes in response as Fennekin took a deep breath.
"Alright, I'll tell you. Ever since I hatched from my egg, I've only ever experienced nothing but torture. Scientists would poke and prod me with needles, force me to do painful tests. I felt like I was going to die. I didn't know what they were doing messing with me like that for, so I did what any sensible sentient creature would do and ran. Or at least... I tried to."
*20 years earlier*
In an underground facility, the Fennekin ran through the halls as alarms blared and scientists and security guards chased after her. She eventually managed to find a storage room full of cages containing the other Pokémon and found the button that opened them all.
The ensuing chaos was enough for Fennekin to slip by unnoticed, but it only worked for so long until she was found by the one of the guard's Incineroar, Decidueye, and Scolipede.
"Oh no," was all she could let out before the three let loose an onslaught of attacks.
Fennekin dodged a claw swipe from Incineroar and countered an arrow with a small fireball on Decidueye. However, despite being weak to fire attacks, the Arrow Quill Pokémon was barely affected by it as it readied another arrow.
With no other choice but to run, Fennekin dashed out the first chance she got. However, she soon reached a dead end and was soon cornered by her assailants.
"I thought I was done for. Those three Pokémon were part of some of the tests I'd be made to do, usually as my punishers if I failed, and they each took sadistic pleasure in making me hurt."
"I guess there must have been an Abra nearby who saw that I was about to get hurt so it teleported me away to safety or something because after I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a forest," Fennekin explained.
"But there's more to it than just that."
In an open part of the forest, Fennekin appeared from within a flash of light, her eyes shut as she braced for an impact that would never come.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw trees and grass instead of steel and tile. She felt a soft breeze as she loosened up her form and fell onto her back, just taking a moment to lie on the ground for a bit.
After some time, she got back up and started wandering around.
What followed was a montage of Fennekin making a small home for herself, gathering berries as well as whatever else was edible, and interacting with the local wildlife. It was kind of nice, actually.
This went on for years, until one day, disaster struck.
Fennekin returned to find her home destroyed, and the perpetrator responsible for it shook her to her core.
Standing before her was a young man with shiny versions of Incineroar, Decidueye, and Scolipede. By pure chance, it was like her tormentors managed to track her down.
Suddenly, the man turned towards her and started walking menacingly towards her, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing?" he said as he squatted down to get a better look at Fennekin.
"You'll make a nice chew toy for my boys. Gentlemen, have fun."
And with a snap of his fingers, his Pokémon went to town on Fennekin as she just stood there, frozen in fear and unable to do anything.
"After that and once he recalled his Pokémon, as he was laughing at me for being weak, I shot an Ember in the guy's face and blinded him. That gave me the chance to hobble away as fast as I could before I finally collapsed in the bush that you two found me in."
Once Fennekin finished, Chris and May looked at each other as Fennekin's eyes began to water again.
"Oh, you poor kid," May said towards the Fox Pokémon.
This caused Fennekin's sadness to go away and get quickly replaced by anger.
"Kid?! Lady, I'll have you know that just because I'm stuck at the Basic Stage of my evolution line does NOT make me a child!" Fennekin called out in annoyance.
"Ha! You just got verbally wrecked by a Pokémon, and an early-stage one at that!" Chris said before he started laughing, only to get smacked in the back of the head by May.
This caused Fennekin to giggle, the broken tension being very much needed in this situation. Ludwig then got their attention by clearing his throat.
"Zere is one more thing I should mention. I found zhis vhen I was wrapping ze Fennekin in bandages."
Ludwig handed Chris what looked to be an Everstone, a special rock that prevented a Pokémon from evolving whilst holding it.
"Huh, guess this must have been how those scientist creeps kept you from getting too powerful to escape. Welp looks like you won't be needing this anymore," Chris said before tossing the Everstone out of the window, conking another student.
"Don't those things have other uses outside of preventing a Pokémon from evolving?" May asked.
"Well, yeah, but as I said before tossing it, not like Fennekin here is going to need it."
"Hmm? Why's that?" Fennekin asked as she turned towards Chris.
"Because we are going to be your caretakers."
"Chris!" May cried.
"I know, I know, I should have told you beforehand. But I mean, come on, you and I both know you weren't going to say no to something like this anyways. Oh, speaking of, do you have any Poké Balls on you? I want to make sure no asshole trainers try to take her from us."
Fennekin could not believe what she was hearing.
"You're... you're joking, right?"
Fennekin couldn't believe it, was this guy serious? There was no way it was going to be THAT easy. Right?
"Ah, found a Friend Ball we could use," May said as she pulled the aforementioned ball from her bag and handed it to Chris.
"Perfect. Now, whenever you're ready, just tap the button in the center here."
Chris then put the ball in front of Fennekin, who eyed it cautiously.
This has to be a joke, and if it is then it's probably got to be the shittiest joke she's ever heard. These two were probably just as bad, if not WORSE than the scientists who ran tests on her, and the trainer who used her as a punching bag.
Their rescuing her was probably just a means to get her to lower her guard, then when the time was right, BAM! Instantly dead, just like that.
Although then again, the phrase 'third time's the charm' exists for a reason. She'll take her chances with these humans, but the very second that she suspects they'll do something to her, she'll be having BBQ for dinner.
So, with renewed resolve, she hit the button and let herself get captured.
The Friend Ball shook three times before giving the confirmation ding that indicates a Pokémon has been captured.
Once that was done, Chris then let the Fennekin out of the ball and back onto the bed.
"Now, if you're going to be with us, you're gonna need a proper name. Because part of me feels like constantly repeating Fennekin over and over when referring to you is going to get old FAST. Hmm, how about, Serena? In reference to the Performer from Kalos."
Fennekin thought the name over for a bit, before nodding her head in agreement.
"Alright, I can dig it. Serena, it is then," Serena said.
"Nice. So, Ludwig, when can we expect Serena here to be discharged from your service?" Chris asked as he walked up to the not-so-good doctor.
"Right now, actually. Now remember, if you ever need to see me because you broke a finger, I'd be happy to saw your arm off to make it feel better," Ludwig said with a sadistic grin as he pulled out his signature bonesaw.
Chris, May, and Serena stared at the mad doc in concern before Chris picked up Serena and placed her on his head before leaving.
Hopefully neither they nor one of their friends ever have to see that medical nutcase ever again, if they can help it.
I'm pretty sure this is the final chapter until we get to the first major arc of the story. Now me and Chris can start working together again!