Backlash

-"This is just getting tedious,"- Charizard murmured as he fell through the sky having lost all his energy. He watched his Blast Burn shield his trainer from the subzero current of air. A smirk formed on his lips before he miserably crashed into tattered ground.

"Sorry for my recklessness, Charizard," Red solemnly apologized.

The Blizzard dissipated to reveal Dragonite's falling body along with Lance's loose form. Pidgeot made a break for their bodies. Pidgeot let Lance fall onto his back before coming around to snag Dragonite by his arms.

Red positioned Lance's limp, cold body into a sitting position. The man still had some life in him but barely. "Into those woods!" Red led Pidgeot into a slow descent into an area of the forest far from the battle.

Lugia dropped down closer to catch Red with an Aeroblast.

-"He's down! Let's go!"- Pikachu yelled. His Thunder Bolt was joined by Nidoking's Ice Beam. The Bolt Beam combination caught Lugia by surprise, halting his chase after the retreating trainer.

-"Come back to us, Gabite,"- Vaporeon said having used up a Wish on her fallen comrade. She stood there as to guard his body till the Wish took full effect.

Lugia brought its wings forward summoning a second gale of harsh wind. The Blizzard tore through the trees to reach Pikachu and Nidoking. The two stood their ground as the bone chilling wind slowed down their movement.

-"This fight seems impossible to win,"- Nidoking bitterly said. He felt his body become stiff.

Pikachu tried to block the stinging air with his arms. –"I think we're freezing!"- he urgently yelled back. Ice slowly formed on his furry body that started from the bottom and made its way to the top.

Nidoking smashed his fist together to break some of the ice. New ice formed in its place as the Blizzard continued to freeze him. He let out a faint snarl before becoming encased in the ice. The Blizzard died down once both Pokemon were completely frozen.

-"Pikachu! Nidoking!"- Vaporeon wailed disconcerted.

Leer lurched forward onto Lugia's sturdy neck. The hail continued to fall and pelted the injured Aura Guardian.

My body can't take more of this, Leer irritably admitted. At his command, he released the snow storm to allow the sunrays to light up the place once more. I can take all the aura from Lugia, but that alone won't save my physical body. He rubbed his throbbing right shoulder feeling it get hot. Feeling relieved from the hail, Leer set his attention once more one taking out Red.

Vaporeon watched in shock as Leer turned around. –"Don't forget about me!"- she shouted running after the legendary bird.

The frills around her head flapped as she brought her mouth forward to fire a Shadow Ball. She was told by her trainer the types of attack that dealt super effective damage beforehand. She fired a few more Shadow Balls with a single Ice Beam to follow up.

All super effective attacks were aimed at Lugia's head. The Shadow Balls exploded on contact while the Ice Beam froze the bottom jaw of the massive being. Pain sent Lugia into a fit of incoherent shouting. Rearing its massive head back, Leer lost his balance and fell onto his back.

Gritting his teeth as pain shot up Leer's back, Leer swiftly pulled himself back up. "Even his weakest one can be a nuisance," Leer said exasperated. He ordered Lugia to destroy the forest below him as to catch Red in the chaos but a figure shot past his eyesight.

Pidgeot cast a large shadow over the staggered Leer as he flew over him. Red's serious stare met with Leer's confused look. Leer's eyes widened when Pidgeot extended his dagger-like talons.

"Sandstorm!" he hastily shouted.

Pidgeot dove down to catch Leer but a vicious sandstorm brewed around the master of weather. Sand particles flew into poor Pidgeot's eyes.

-"I can't see that guy,"- Pidgeot said. He opened his wings to fly away from the sudden sandstorm. The sandstorm encompassed half an acre of land but safely away from Lance's unconscious body.

"Let's go back," Red finally said seeing his Pidgeot won't be able to pick off Leer in this abnormal weather conditions.

-"I got you friends!"- Gabite shouted as he melted away the icy prisons of his teammates.

-"Glad to see your safe, Red,"- Vaporeon said elated when her trainer arrived.

Red smiled back at his enthusiastic Pokemon. Glad to see morale won't be failing anytime soon. Facing such a powerful, mythical opponent and still having the hope of winning seems very important, Red realized.

-"You're hat is gone,"- Vaporeon said finding it funny for her trainer to not have a hat.

-"Th-thank y-you,"- Nidoking uncontrollably shivered after being frozen for a few solid minutes.

-"It was no biggie,"- Gabite saluted Nidoking.

Red bent low as to administer some potions on his tired Charizard. "I have the second phase of the plan ready guys! Gather around," he ordered.

-"If that plan requires me to do another Blast Burn, I'm sure I'm going to sustain some serious damage to my body,"- Charizard mumbled to himself.

Why did I resort to a sandstorm? Leer asked himself bewildered. The sand scraped against his bare skin, irritating the wounds. I saw the Pidgeot out to get me and I just panicked! What's going on? Am I losing my composure? The correct response in such situation is to attack directly like with a Psychic. I instead cowardly protected myself. Rubbing the sand out of his eyes, he devised a better plan to deal with Red.

The Sandstorm seized, dropping more than a thousand pounds of sand onto the deserted forest, ruining its ecosystem for future use. Recollecting himself, Leer set his attention on Red's team who gathered up in wide, open space.

He even lowered his guard seeing that I'm on the defensive! Leer wallowed in his thoughts. Frustration stressed his mind feeling ugly emotions. No! Compose yourself…

Lugia relinquished his power to Leer and used it to fire a devastating Aeroblast. Larger than any blast before, the Aeroblast annihilated the woodland that stood directly in its path. Tearing up the land it reached for Red's group.

-"We can't escape in time!"- Nidoking yelled distraught. Without warning, Nidoking lumbered to take the blast head on. He launched Rock Slides that were decimated in a matter of seconds. His next course of action was battling it with his Ice Beam.

He wasn't alone as a second Ice Beam accompanied with a furious Dragon Rage helped Nidoking fight back. All three managed to match the blast in strength but their power was weakening. Nidoking came up with a rash decision. He began to monetarily erase his memory for the special defense buff it came with.

Vaporeon paused to witness the harsh red glow around Nidoking. –"No don't go in!"- she pleaded sensing the Thrash technique was going to be involved.

Nidoking glanced back at her with wild, berserker eyes that have forgotten who his teammates are. He ignored her and focused at the advancing energy. He recklessly charged into the storm to challenge its strength.

-"Nidoking!"- Gabite acted surprise. He chased after him with Vaporeon close behind.

Nidoking took the brute force of the attack and stood his ground firmly. The wind tore at his body as he tried to sponge up the energy. His Special defense boost wasn't enough to handle the entire Aeroblast. He finally lost all his energy to stand and was thrown backwards. He landed on top of Gabite and Vaporeon knocking them out cold. He too lost conscious before hitting the ground.

Three Pokemon lost that moment but it wasn't in vain as the Aeroblast did break apart from Nidoking's hasty actions. Still, having lost half of his Pokemon didn't encourage the rest for a possible victory.

Red silently walked over to his Pokemon. His head shot back to the Lugia floating in the same place having yet to act on their vulnerable state.

"Pikachu! Pidgeot! The plan is still a go! Fly now!"

Red retrieved his three fainted Pokemon, vowing he wasn't going to fail them. Placing them onto his belt he approached his Charizard placing a glowing hand on his shoulder.

"Sending his Pokemon in by themselves," Leer noted the rodent riding the bird of prey. "Is he trying to mock me?"

Lugia's bright blue eyes kept up with their movement as they flew closer. Almost as if the being was sentient, Lugia's pupils grew wide after witnessing Pidgeot disappear along with its passenger.

"Psychic," Leer said in a hushed tone.

Rearing its head, Lugia's eyes flashed in bright blue. Psychic passed through thin air as Pidgeot swiftly maneuver around the attack. The smaller feathered friend looped around the bigger bird almost in a taunting matter.

-"There's no way you're going to catch us!"- Pikachu jeered, firing a Thunder bolt directly onto the massive target.

-"Brrr,"- Pidgeot shuddered, feeling her spine tingle as the electric type mouse charged up another Thunder Bolt on his back.

Leer steered his Lugia higher to be above but the swifter Pidgeot caught up to deliver another devastating blow. Lugia has begun to show signs of weakness which only Leer noticed as the drop in strength has begun in Lugia's spirit.

This plan of wearing down Lugia is working, Leer thought dismayed. It's too soon for me to go down now.

Lugia seem as a voracious creature when it opened its maw in the general direction of its foe. Cold, icy air blasted from its mouth with a wide range that it caught Pidgeot within its freezing temperatures. The Icy Wind lacked in destructive power but it managed to achieve what Leer sought for.

"Psychic again!"

Pidgeot was considerably slowed down by the Icy Wind and now was an easier target for a mind crushing Psychic. Crushed between unseen forces, Pikachu and Pidgeot wailed in pain. As if hundreds of pounds were drop onto their small bodies, the Psychic was on a whole another level of a non-legendary Pokemon's Psychic.

"This is a true Thunder attack," Leer proclaimed as a single rain cloud formed high above. A lightning bolt dropped down to strike down Pidgeot out of the sky. The Thunder managed to take out Pikachu who resisted the attack. Both Pokemon plummeted over a mile before crashing onto bare dirt with a cringe worthy thud.

Leer took a moment to observe the fallen attacker as if waiting for them to get back up but no signs of consciousness were witnessed.

"Psychic."

Not given a target, Lugia knew exactly who to aim at. The Psychic nearly caught Charizard but he managed to escape the deadly blow with the help of Red telling him beforehand. Feeling much better than before, Charizard gracefully flew circles around the attempted Psychics.

An Icy Wind was used to thwart their speedy movement but with Charizard being a fire-type, he wasn't affected by it. The Charizard dove in to breathe out a Flamethrower directed at Leer. A cloud of sand lifted from the ground to once again to hide Leer in its sand veil.

"Pull back," Red shouted.

Charizard flew to the edge of the Sandstorm as an Ice Beam whipped by his head. He floated in the air as Red thought up of a new approach.

Leer endured the whirling sand that felt like hot iron on his skin. He maintained his focus of Red and Charizard's aura. He noticed the boy reached from his back to pull out something.

Is he planning to return his Pokemon who are unconscious below us? Leer asked himself. If they are…

Red made his move by charging head first towards Lugia. Leer had his Pokemon slave prepare with an Aeroblast. Leer waited to the last second when the attacking Pokemon dove straight down.

He was going for his Pokemon! Leer predicted ordering his steed to fire directly below them to catch Red off guard. Lugia's jaws unhinged as its stored up Aeroblast unraveled from it. The blast didn't make it past a few feet before is dissipated.

"What?" Leer incredulously shouted.

Not only did the Aeroblast disappear but the sandstorm around completely stopped. The disappearance of all these things became clear when Leer saw a single red Pokeball drag Lugia into a capsule before falling back down.

He took advantage that I couldn't see in the Sandstorm and threw the nonliving Pokeball directly at Lugia. I paid too much to attention to the Charizard then to the actual trainer, Leer lamented as he accelerated downwards.

Leer calmed himself and drew out a Pokeball. He sent out his Crobat who he immediately grabbed onto to seize his descent. He watched the glowing Pokeball rattle as it continued to fall and land a few feet away from Red on the ground retrieving his fainted Pokemon.

"I can't let him have it," Leer vehemently said, grabbing a second Pokeball. "Feraligatr, destroy that Pokeball to free Lugia and kill the trainer along with his Charizard!" He summoned his trusty water-type in between Red and the Pokeball.

-"Will do,"- Feraligatr appeared with his devious smirk. He spun around to see the Pokeball was struggling to capture the legendary Pokemon. He was ready to crack it open with a glowing fist but Charizard intervened.

Feraligatr turned back to clash with Red's Pokemon. His glowing fist vanished once Charizard caught it with a metal claw. They clasped hands together to turn it into a battle of raw strength. Feraligatr grip weakened allowing for Charizard to put on the pressure.

-"If you win, don't get too excited,"- Feraligatr remarked, eyes locked with his opponent. –"I have gotten the chance to heal and that black Charizard sure packed a punch with those claws."-

-"You're giving excuses now,"- Charizard said clearly annoyed. –"I defeated Charizard in a fair fight. I can do so much worse than what he could."- Charizard tightened his grip as to not let his foe escape.

-"Oh those incredibly hot flames,"- Feraligatr remembered how it decimated his Surf. –"Sorry but I don't got time to play around."- He spat water into Charizard face, releasing him.

-"Not today!"- Charizard struck Feraligatr with his Wing Attack to knock him farther from the Pokeball.

Feraligatr smoothly rolled back unto his feet like a trained fighter. Wiping some drool from his jaw he encased himself in an Aqua Jet before throwing himself at Charizard. To his surprise, Charizard took him head on did one of the most outrageous Feraligatr has seen in a battle. Charizard hugged him while he was still engulfed in water.

-"Are you mad?"- Feraligatr bellowed.

Charizard cringed under the water but he kept a tight hold on the slimy fellow.

Feraligatr smirked. –"Fine, but my Aqua Jet is not going anywhere until you fall down,"- he proclaimed. –"You can't even attack me while in such pain. How did scenario worked out in your head?"-

-"I'm not alone,"- Charizard replied between clenched teeth.

Feraligatr received a massive blow directly to the back of his head. A weak point that he hated to be hit in which ended his torrent of water. Released from Charizard's embrace, he fell onto his back to see it was the simple boy who landed the hit on him. A glowing fist revealed all to him.

-"A-ura,"- was his last word.

Charizard lifted a wing to cover Red from purple projectile. The icky substance exploded all over his wing. The dragon flung his wing back to get rid some of the sludge and used Flame burst for better chance to land a hit on the Crobat.

A single flame landed on Crobat's right large wing. The entire thing went ablaze causing the bat to panic. The Crobat had the will to at least slowly descent in case he actually fainted and dropped his trainer a few stories down.

Leer dropped down a few meters above ground and aloud his Pokemon to drop into his arms. He put out the fire but the burns sealed his fate. With one last screech, Crobat fainted.

"It's all over, Leer" Red approached the defenseless man with his Charizard.

The large fire type lumbered a few steps before collapsing on to the ground. Face twisted in pain, Charizard writhed on the ground.

"Crobat's poison at least even up things," Leer calmly said. He watched Red return Charizard as to stop his pain. "Do you really think a Pokeball is going to stop the ruler of the sea?"

"Why not? It's a Pokemon so it was bound to work since if you haven't already caught. You would have done the same thing but you had a full party thus it would have been sent to a PC," Red figured.

"Don't underestimate Lugia."

A crack sound froze Red in his tracks. He turned back just in time to see a red beam shoot in the sky. Lugia materialized and let out a cry of freedom towards the sky. Then it drop down onto the ground like dead weight.

Red kept his composure as the ground shook from Lugia's massive weight. "Seems it has wasted all of its remaining energy trying to escape the Pokeball," Red pointed out to Leer sounding please things turn out for the better.

"No Matter," Leer remarked as he gestured to the tired being. At his silent command, Lugia trilled as sad tune before glowing bright white.

"What did you do?" Red's head snapped back to Leer who seemed calm as ever.

"I simply had it use Recover to replenish its health," he blatantly said. "It will take a while but Lugia will return to full health."

Red cursed under his breath. He swung his backpack off his shoulder to savagely rummage through its messy contents.

Where is that Master Ball? I swear I didn't take it out before these whole crazy events, Red rattled his head for the elusive item's location. He dumped all of his stuff onto the ground as to give him a better perspective on what stuff he carried. Burn heals, potions, regular Pokeballs, and necessities for traveling spilled onto dry ground. He searched the pile for anything that resembled a purple ball but found none.

"I guess this will have to do," he compromised with getting a regular Pokeball. He tried to sidestep but still managed to get caught.

"I can't let you do that," Leer hissed into Red's ear as he grabbed the boy's right arm and forcefully wrapped his left arm around the hero's neck.

"It won't-be long," Red struggled to talk. He squirmed to no avail.

"No one will get here in time," Leer doted on Red's last words. "A Pallet is not going to ruin a scheme again." He tightened his grip.

Red finally decided to kick Leer in the shin. He was immediately released and he spun around to punch the slightly taller adult. The right hook punch was stopped with a glowing hand.

"Aura Enhance to strengthen your defenses," Red acknowledged the technique. "Who taught you all these Aura techniques?" He backed away.

"My ancestors taught me," he blandly replied. "What I want to know is who taught you?"

"A friend," Red answered in the same blunt tone as Leer used.

A curious look Leer gave Red but dwelled on it further. He scratched a minor itch on his right shoulder. "Must we deal with this as savages?"

"What are you talking about? You're the savage who believes killing will make this world better!" Red retorted.

"Then you don't intend to settle this as a savage?" Leer asked again.

"Of course not!"

Leer's lips formed a minuscule smirk that Red nearly didn't catch it. "Now, that's your first mistake."