Pokémon Radiant Sun
Another quick update? What is this devilry!?
Nope! I'm keepin the updates a-coming!
Yeah, so 2021 is already a steaming pile of horror and bullshit. Not sure I expected much else. But I can still hold onto some hope that things'll get better.
In the meantime, we've reached the climactic final showdown of this Act!
Shoutout to those who reviewed since the last update, which includes BraviaryScout, Oragonking, Madame Rodoshe, Joey and SonicIKE. Thanks for the support and the feedback!
Roran's battle theme will be "The Sanctified Mind [Extended]" from the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Soundtrack (uploaded by Lord Nazo on YouTube.)
Enjoy.
Chapter 118: Showtime!
Many Years Ago…
Malie City Police Department
"Damn it!" Jackal hissed, holding his head in his hands. Gretel made a move to console the man, but he waved her away. For now, he needed to think. And there wasn't much time for it.
After Roran fled the AFPSO Endless, Jackal quickly took Ashton to safety and organized a quick police crackdown on the ship, taking down every member of the Ruby Raiders and gaining control of the vessel and rescuing the hostages aboard the Endless.
Unfortunately, the fact that Roran was in fact the leader of the Ruby Raiders had sent the leadership in Alola panicking senselessly. The Police Commander sighed as he leaned back in his chair, wishing that his cup of cold coffee was something a lot stronger.
"Those poor people...They'll probably never recover from what Roran did to them. And for that matter, I don't think Ash will either." Jackal muttered sadly to himself, thinking back to the state that the teen had been in. Lusamine, Hina and Mohn had been trying to comfort the teen, but it was clear that Ashton was traumatized by the scene that had played out within the depths of the Endless.
Seeing your best friend get eaten alive by your lifelong mentor would do that to you, unfortunately. And Jackal didn't have time to help Ashton through this. He had an island to protect, and a murderous businessman to stop.
"And those jackasses in the Alolan Regional Council aren't making things any better. That Ano bastard being a particular pain in my ass...ugh. How can they wait for more evidence to come out? And trying to paint me like the bad guy for doing my damn job? Bastards." Jackal sighed as Gretel crossed her arms, nodding in agreement. She had never liked them herself, even before she had heard about how awful Ano had been to Ashton.
"I'll deal with the fallout later. Those cowards can make their excuses. I know what I saw and the evidence doesn't lie." Jackal hissed as he ran his hand over his head. The only good news is that thanks to the evidence left behind, Jackal had a very clear idea of where things were headed.
The Highborn Production plant. Another property owned by Roran, it was situated at the edge of Malie Cape, sitting regally at the edge of a cliff. Apparently while the place seemed to be an incredibly profitable warehouse and production house during the day, Roran had routine dealings there with his Ruby Raiders once everyone had gone home.
And it was where he had been planning to go tonight, before Ashton had interrupted him and forced him to flee.
Jackal was incredibly worried about the boy in question.
Especially when said boy suddenly kicked in Jackal's door, much to his surprise, followed by a flustered Mohn and a very cranky Lusamine. Hina was practically being dragged into the office as she was frantically trying to keep Ashton out.
"Commander Jack. Please tell me we have a lead." Ashton said in a tone of voice that genuinely made the Police Commander stand up and look the boy in the eyes. It was an expression of absolute determination. Of strength and resolve, one that promised a swift act of justice for those wronged. And it was a look Jackal had never seen on Ashton before.
Because while his face was set with resolve, his eyes were a maelstrom of colors, showing the turmoil within Ashton's mind. Hurt, betrayal, shock, grief, and an overwhelming anger at the man who had taken countless lives, including that of his closest friend.
"Kid...Get out of my office. Let the adults handle this." Jackal growled at the boy, who bared his teeth not unlike Damien did when angry.
"Not a chance. Whatever you're planning with Roran, I want in. After what he did...After all of the lies, I deserve the chance to put him down!" Ashton practically snarled with anger as he turned his attention to Mohn, yanking his arm out of his grasp.
"Told you he'd get snippy." Lusamine gently chided her husband, who looked abashed for a moment before a stern expression appeared on his face. Lusamine then turned her gaze to Jackal, who she noticed looked absolutely exhausted. Considering how the past 24 hours had gone, she would have been amazed if the man had been able to sleep. Especially considering who it was that had betrayed them all.
Lusamine herself had been crying the past night, as did Mohn. Roran had been a dear friend to them. A comrade against the forces of evil and a mentor to Ashton. Someone who genuinely wanted to usher his region into a new era of prosperity.
With the Ula'ula Island Kahuna himself being a secret villain the entire time, it threatened to throw Alola itself into chaos. Roran was easily the most influential of the Kahuna and held an incredible amount of political power. While Hala may have been the strongest, Roran had proven with his Ruby Raider scheme that he was far more dangerous and cunning.
And now...All that was left was to find the man and make him pay. Which was why Lusamine wasn't really much for stopping Ashton from barging into Jackal's office and demanding they hunt him down. Hina and Mohn had their reservations, of course.
"I know that Roran's probably going to that Highborn Plant sometime tonight! And he doesn't know that we know that! We can all band together and stop him from whatever he's planning!" Ashton shouted as Jackal sighed, shaking his head.
"No. I've already learned my lesson bringing a civilian into matters like this. Officer Nanu is already organizing a team to take down Roran, and we'll bring him in the proper way. Especially since the Council has been crying out for blood and is trying to find a scapegoat in this mess since Roran was the driving force behind many of the changes Alola is going through…" Jackal explained, leaving out the fact that they were focusing mostly on him, since it was he and Ashton who had discovered what Roran was hiding. Ano Aupuni was the loudest of the voices calling for his resignation, but they didn't need to worry about that.
"See! Just let the officers handle this! It's why they're here! Please, Ash, think this all through." Hina pleaded with her friend, who's eyes darkened into crimson, hate gleaming in them.
"No. Not a chance! Not after what he did to Tommy! He's a liar and a monster! We have to stop him before more people die!" Ashton barked out, causing Hina to flinch and let go of the furious teen. Ashton realized his mistake a moment later and crossed his arms, sighing angrily as he started to rein in his emotions.
"Sorry, Hina...I shouldn't have yelled at you. None of this is your fault." Ash muttered as he decided to take a seat across from Commander Jack. Hina nodded after a moment before she spoke again.
"I'm just worried...We all want to get some answers from Roran, and finding out about everything he did was shocking, but...He's dangerous, Ash. You've done enough. Let the police handle it." Hina said quietly to the boy, who simply shut his eyes.
"Unfortunately, the police might not be able to handle it." Lusamine remarked, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "Right now the police are trying to handle the mess on the Endless and Jackal's only got a squad of twenty officers handy to take into the Highborn Production Plant. Having a few extra experienced hands would help you greatly."
"No. Involving untrained civilians would not only be career suicide for myself, but I'm not going to needlessly put you in harm's way. Not after what happened with Ash. I'm honestly shocked you're not trying to talk him down, Lusa. I expected better of you." Jackal remarked icily, earning a scoff from Lusamine.
If Jackal was hoping for a quick resolution to this conversation, then he was in for a rough evening, as things continued in this matter for nearly half an hour. Hina and Mohn were very opposed to having any involvement with bringing Roran to justice, while Lusamine and Ashton wanted justice. In the end, all that came of trying to hear everyone out was a headache.
"We need to stop him!" Ashton yelled, standing up out of his seat and glaring at Mohn, who was startled by the fury in the boy's eyes.
"Ash it's too dangerous! You barely made it out of the Endless alive! Who knows what Roran could have done if he hadn't fled!" Mohn shot back, doing nothing to abate the storm of anger within Ashton.
Finally, Jackal had enough of all of this and whistled loudly, catching everyone's attention..
"Calm down! I'm trying to think, damn it, and you idiots arguing doesn't help matters." Jackal said to the agitated group, placing his hands down on the desk and standing up. After a few moments, he bent his head down to think. After even longer, he raised his head and sighed. "Alright. Here's how we're doing this. You lot join our crew. Hang back, let us do our job. You support us as needed. If any of you step out of line, Gretel will bring you back to the Pokémon Center and you'll never hear the end of it from me."
"Oh boy...this won't end well." Mohn muttered under his breath as Hina looked at each of them with worry. Lusamine nodded in satisfaction, going to an at-ease position.
"Excellent. With any luck, we can bring him in without too much trouble and end this mess. He'll learn the price for betrayal." Lusamine said firmly as she clenched her fists, looking over at the resolute expression on Ashton's face. The teen looked haunted, his bloodshot eyes still red with tears, but she also knew that he was strong. And that he deserved to be part of the team to bring the traitorous Kahuna to justice. He deserved answers as much as everyone else.
Lusamine would forever regret her decision that night.
Present
Ula'ula Island Cipher Base
Magma Basin
"Seriously though…" Roran said as he calmed down, grinning maliciously at the group assembled in front of him. "You idiots get on my nerves, but it feels fitting. Ash's little brat, Lusa, and Wes' little protégé all banding together in one last ditch effort to stop me. What a wonderful cast to stand alongside me."
"I'm looking forward to killing you again." Aria remarked blandly, causing Roran to smile wider at the remark.
"Likewise. I've got a few deadlier poisons that'll make dying more painful this time." Roran supplied as he giggled, though he was cut off when Sun noticed who was behind the former Kahuna. It was the prone form of Hau, chained to the ground and gagged. His head was caked in dried blood.
"Hau! Are you okay!?" Sun called to his best friend, who was still lying on the ground in the center of the glowing runes and remained unresponsive. Roran grinned sinisterly, gesturing to the boy in question.
"He can't hear you. He's asleep...And soon he'll sleep forever. The Ritual of the Lost God is nearing completion. If Borlath had another two hours or so, he'd probably have been successful in shutting down the building's life support system and killing us all." Roran admitted, shrugging his shoulders but gasping in pain, forgetting his left shoulder had been completely obliterated by MissingNo. "But the Pokémon League did my work for me and kept him busy long enough for me to finish the preparations."
"Sun! What are you DOING there!? I told you to stay out of this! You promised me!" Ashton shouted down at the boy, who flinched at the harshness in his father's tone. He could see the tears of genuine fear that flowed down his father's face. He was terrified. Someone as strong as him, with all the power of Cipher behind him, was absolutely and utterly terrified of this encounter ever taking place.
"I had to do something! Hau was taken prisoner by this psycho and I thought you were dead! Roran's going to destroy Alola!" Sun shouted back as Ashton seemed to realize just how bad the situation is.
"Y-you...You're with Roran right now. Oh god…" Ashton whispered, his voice thick with horror as his eyes turned black with horror at realizing just how bad the situation was. Roran grinned up at the Cipher Master, a small laugh escaping him.
"I sense some deep irony in this somewhere, but I can't be bothered to care. I'm just in too good of a mood now!" Roran laughed as he put his hands on his hips, shaking his head with mirth.
"Damn it! I...I...NO!" Ashton suddenly screamed, slamming his hands down on the desk before suddenly clutching his head. "No, no, no! Sun...Sun...you promised me. You promised that you'd stay safe!"
"Dad?" Sun said quietly, watching as his father seemed to have some kind of fit on the monitor. Roran seemed interested as well, his smile fading away as he watched Ashton completely break down.
"Huh. I always wondered what would be the final straw for him. Turns out this is it." Roran remarked casually, smiling after a moment. "Excellent. I thought it was going to be the League destroying his company, but this works too."
"How did you even get them to do that?" Sun demanded, which made Roran smirk. With a flourish, he pulled out a small remote and muted the screen that Ashton was on so that the man's screams of dismay and fear were silenced.
"It was simple. Chairman Rose simply needed a nudge in the right direction. He's a selfish man who cares about his own schemes more than the other regions well-being. Galar above all others, and all that. Anyways, I slipped a remote tracker onto Borlath's jacket one day and handed the receiver to Rose when I gave him my business card at that League meeting I crashed." Roran explained, grinning after a few moments. "Of course, I may have had some of my contacts within the League myself helping nudge the Chairman and the Champions in the right direction. They're really not as noble as you people think they are."
"Of course you would think that." Lusamine remarked, but Roran simply shrugged.
"I mean, when the same group of people have remained in power for so long, why would they ever want to give it up? Nearly all of them have lost at least three times in the past decade or so yet they've only relinquished that title, temporarily, once or twice." Roran continued, his smile becoming a scowl. "Ashton isn't wrong when he says they're corrupt. Manipulating the young Trainers that defeat them into accepting special side-jobs for the sake of the government or convincing them to step down the next time a crisis rears its ugly head...I was foolish to think that establishing a League here would change anything. They're just as broken as the rest of our sorry little world is. So I'll be looking forward to crushing them myself in the future."
"He's not entirely wrong...Iris was a nice enough girl, but when Neo Team Plasma showed up she was totally worthless. And when Nimbasa froze, she ran away." Aria remarked, crossing her arms. "But that doesn't justify any of this and it's not going to stop us from killing you. Or making you submit. Honestly, you're kind of a prick, so I don't think you'll give us an option here."
"I was hoping I could reason with you a little. Oh well. It's honestly nice not having to pretend to give a damn. Even back then, I had to constantly defuse tensions and weave my web of influence. It's astounding how easy people are to manipulate. Even before I became a Kahuna, I've always had a knack for twisting people around my fingers, you see." Roran said to the trio, his smile becoming smug. Aria cut him off, stepping forward.
"Are you seriously going to start monologuing? Way to villain it up, asshole. You already had the volcano doom fortress. You gonna get a spinning chair and a kitten next?" Aria asked sarcastically, earning an annoyed glare from the former Kahuna.
"Because fuck you. I've had to hide for years...YEARS!" Roran shouted, bursting out into laughter as he swept his cape aside, revealing that he was holding a white and jagged-looking sword. To Sun's horror, it looked as if it was made of bones. Human bones. Black and red runes were etched into the side of it, glowing a harsh orange color every few moments.
"I'm going to revel in this...because there's nothing Ashton can do to stop me. There's nothing you can do to stop me. I. Win. Simple as that." Roran said matter-of-factly, though his voice changed somewhat as he said those words, becoming lighter and adding the slightest hint of an accent to his words. "Soon enough, I'll be able to unleash the powers hidden within the very ground. The flames and the blood have awoken the ancient energies that slumber beneath Alola. Using the same ritual that the ancient kings of old used to become Tapu to combat the Ultra Beasts, I too shall rise as a god. But thanks to the massive body count from my attack on Malie, I'll be strong enough to crush anything that gets in my way."
"Except for the part where we stop you. It's three-on-one, and you're not looking too good." Aria pointed out, with Roran's smile fading at that.
"You're not entirely wrong. MissingNo's appearance was something I never could have calculated. You people somehow getting into my base and bypassing all of the security was something I never could have prepared for. And you discovered my persona of the Fossil Man…" Roran grit his teeth in anger, since the last of those things was the worst offense in his eyes.
"Maybe it's the universe telling you to give it up?" Aria suggested, which simply earned her a deadpan look from Roran.
"Shadow Heatran...Turn up the heat, and suffocate them." Roran calmly instructed the Shadow Pokémon perched twenty feet in front of him. Heatran let out a shriek of fury before it's eyes flashed red and a wave of hot air washed over the entire room. Roran snapped his fingers and Thanatos summoned a Protect to shield him from the heat that now filled the room, but that meant nothing to the other Trainers who were now struggling to breathe.
"D-Damn it! S-Sophie, use...Thunderbolt!" Aria gasped as her vision swam and she fell to all fours. Sophie panted from the heat, firing off a Thunderbolt at Shadow Heatran that struck it directly. However, it only lasted for a few moments before the Jolteon was too weak to continue the attack and collapsed onto the ground. Lusamine's Bewear had already dropped alongside her Trainer and Sun, and Roran simply watched all of this with an amused smile. He looked back at the monitor Ashton was on, with the man now watching the scene through his fingers with absolute horror on his face. Roran unmuted the monitor, speaking to all of them.
"You know, I had to watch you all make fools out of my forces. You must have thought that storming in here unexpectedly with a group of your best Trainers would be the end of me." Roran said lightly as his enemies withered before the sheer power of Shadow Heatran's heat. "Well, needless to say that's not true. I pride myself on my backup plans, after all. Ashton, if I don't kill you, your own spiraling sanity will."
"Roran! Stop this! Damn it...Come on! There has to be something I can do!" Ashton yelled desperately, tapping away at his keyboard with fear in his jet-black eyes. Roran looked up at the monitor with a wide grin at Ashton's pleading face, enjoying every moment of this.
"Nope! I may have a lot of training devices in this room, but right now this is all me. You're useless, Ash. And I'm gonna make you watch as your little boy melts!" Roran cackled with delight.
As for the Aether team, Lusamine and Aria were languidly thinking of some way out of this situation. Sun's vision swam as he fought for every breath in the painfully hot air. The boy collapsed onto his stomach, feeling a bit foolish for wearing three layers of clothing despite the fact that he was going into a volcano…
"Wait a minute!" Sun realized as he shut his eyes, putting every bit of strength he had into moving his hand.
Sun weakly reached inside of his shirt and tapped the center of the experimental vest that Colress had given him. The one that was normally able to counteract the heat of Alola. He prayed that it would do the same thing for him here.
As the boy pressed the button, he felt the vest Colress had given him shudder to life and felt cooling relief after a few moments, allowing him to look up and see what was happening. Lusamine and Aria were still struggling under the waves of heat Heatran was giving off while Thanatos shielded Roran with a Protect. Sun staggered to his feet, panting from the heat despite the protection his vest gave him. He knew it wouldn't last him forever.
"Clever...Just like dear old dad." Roran breathed softly, scowling in anger at the boy standing defiantly in his way. Roran then suddenly let out a primal scream of pain, throwing aside his hands as orange light suddenly burst out from his eyes, wracking his body with tremors.
Sun quickly called out Brago and Alastor, the two of them being his only Pokémon that could resist the heat. Even then Brago and Alastor winced in pain at the heat coming off of Shadow Heatran. Roran then fell to his knees, screaming as the Curse of Abundance took effect and his eyes exploded with horrific light, his body convulsing as the powers of the Tapu ran wild.
"We've got to stop him. Now's our only chance!" Sun said to the two Pokémon beside him, glancing at his sides and seeing Lusamine and Aria were nearly unconscious from the heat being directed at them. Meanwhile, Ashton was almost hysterical with fear right now.
"SUN!" Ashton shouted helplessly, tears dripping from his white eyes as he slammed down on the table. Roran slowly got to his feet, looking back at Ashton with glowing eyes of insanity.
"Not much you can do from your hidey hole, Ash. You shouldn't have been such a coward. Too scared to come back to Alola! Running away from the memories. I may be a monster through and through, but at least I have the balls to face myself. You never could. And now you'll pay the price….and go through your worst nightmare. Your biggest demon, tearing apart your precious little boy. While you watch helplessly! How delicious!" Roran laughed with glee as Heatran bellowed furiously, causing lines of red red to suddenly begin spreading along the walls of the room.
"DON'T DO IT! DAMN IT, RORAN! HE'S JUST A CHILD!" Ashton screamed, pleading with the man that had once been his teacher. His mentor. His friend. Someone he had trusted beyond a shadow of doubt, but had been the cause of so much suffering.
Now nothing more than a demon wearing the face of a human. Someone willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to achieve more power, driven to insanity by the wrath of the very gods he worshipped. Roran simply laughed at Ashton's plea, glancing back at him for a moment before turning back towards the man's child.
"Bzzzt! Sun! I'm sensing abnormal readings within the volcano! Heatran's getting ready to make this thing blow!" Rotom Dex warned the boy, who nodded grimly as he glared down Roran with bright red eyes.
"He's got to finish the Ritual before then...And I'm not letting him do that." Sun said with a determined glare as Roran grinned at the boy, a hungry gleam in his eyes that made Sun shudder despite himself.
"Fine then. I'll give a fighting chance, boy! No one would begrudge me a chance to play with my food a little before I eat it. This time, when I murder you, it'll stick." Roran said as his smile faded, the man taking the fight before him seriously. Brago crouched low and braced himself while Alastor held out his hands, electricity crackling along his fingers.
"DON'T DO IT! I'M BEGGING YOU, RORAN! KILL ME INSTEAD! DON'T TAKE SUN!" Ashton screamed as Roran casually looked up at the screen, distaste on his lips as he regarded his old friend, now bitter enemy, one final time.
"I'm gonna make it slow and painful, Ashton. You think Tommy was messy? Compared to that, this will be a bloodbath. One final feast before I ascend and become a Tapu. Goodbye, Ashton...and just remember that this is all your fault." Roran said with a cruel grin as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small remote. Ashton had a split second to let out another scream of despair before the screen cut off, severing the connection. Roran slowly turned to Sun, grinning madly at the boy.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Sun shouted at the former Kahuna, who rolled his eyes at the boy's anger from within the barrier Thanatos had created.
"So rude. I tried to teach him to be better. Shall we move on to the show?" Roran asked the boy as Sun scowled at the former Kahuna, Alastor and Brago both prepared to fight for their lives.
"S-sun...Kick...his ass…" Aria breathed as she collapsed onto the ground. Lusamine looked at Sun with a pained expression, nodding to the boy.
"First thing's first...I need to even the playing field. And then, we'll make this jerk pay for everything he's done and save my friend!" Sun said to his team, even as Roran levelled his bone-sword at Sun and raised his Z-Ring high into the air, invoking the power of Radiance and causing it to fill the room.
"Now then…" Roran hissed as brilliant light exploded out from his wrist, even as Heatran roared in front of the madman as he channeled the power of the Tapu, the Curse of Abundance burning within him. The power of the Ritual of the Lost God continued to fill the air with a crimson glow, creating an otherworldly ambiance as Hau's body began floating in the air behind the former Kahuna, with orange bands of energy swirling through the room.
"Let's see which of us shines brighter on the center stage! Ashton Aupuni's little brat...Or the messiah of Alola, soon to become the God of Madness!" Roran roared as his Radiance burned white hot with Thanatos the Claydol floating beside him. As the horrible blinding light filled the room, Sun and his team braced themselves for the fight of their lives.
Roran slashed his sword to the side and let out a scream of insane laughter, bloodlust burning within his orange eyes as he stared down the child. "I'M GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE!"
Meanwhile…
Plumeria ducked behind a metal table as gunfire erupted around them, with one of the Bone Brothers throwing themselves down beside her. Shouting was mixed with the gunfire as Guzma battled the Cipher Peons, with Goliath tanking many of the gunshots that bounced off of his powerful armor-like carapace.
"Give it a minute...Hold tight…" Guzma muttered over the gunfire. Even if the Golisopod couldn't hear his Trainer, it knew what Guzma was doing. Sometimes the best option was stalling out your opponent until they tired out, and then going in for the kill. And in the case of the Cipher Peons that were attacking them?
Click! Click! Click!
The squad of soldiers glanced down at their weapons in surprise and horror before Guzma strode out confidently from behind Goliath, stepping into a Shadow Sneak and reappearing behind one of the Peons, kicking him hard enough in the back of the leg and dislocating the man's kneecap, punching him in the neck for good measure to send him to the ground.
As the three Peons whirled around, Plumeria made her move, sending out her Salazzle to attack their Pokémon, unleashing a Flamethrower in their direction before they could even think about attacking Guzma. For good measure, she called out her Golbat and yelled, "Acrobatics!"
The Golbat cried out, glowing white and soaring forward to smash into the crowd of Pokémon as the Bone Brothers ordered their Pokémon to attack as well. Meanwhile Guzma was shaking his head at the three remaining Cipher Peons.
"Looks like you ran out of ammo. Oldest trick in the book." Guzma remarked smugly as the two men rushed him, only for him to easily duck under their swings and deliver a dropkick to each of them. Guzma kipped-up, landing on his feet with a huff before glaring down the group of Cipher Peons that were scrambling to their feet. "Holy shit, did you guys get combat training on Opposite Day?"
"Kill this asshole!" one of the Cipher Peons yelled out, stepping back to reload his weapon, only to see it yanked out of his hands by a string of web from Guzma's Ariados. Guzma stepped forward to rip the man's helmet off, headbutting him in the face and cracking his nose open.
The Boss of Team Skull spun around, kicking back one of the other Peons to the ground while Goliath swatted one of them with his claw, knocking him forty feet down the hall before he tumbled to a halt. Guzma disarmed the remaining Peon, kicked him in between the legs in order to distract him for long enough to steal his helmet and chunk it to the side of the room, and then promptly delivered a brutal DDT to the remaining Peon, knocking him out cold as his forehead connected with the ground. Guzma hopped to his feet, crossing his arms again.
"Pathetic. Give me a challenge, damn it. Or else I'm gonna get more pissed!" Guzma barked, looking back towards the rest of Team Skull.
"Mega Evolve!" came an unfamiliar shout, drawing the attention of Team Skull down the hallway, where they saw blinding light erupt outwards. As the light settled, a woman clad in silver and red armor grinned at them from behind what Guzma recognized as an Ampharos, except with a white flowing mane of hair behind it that glowed with power.
"Mega Evolution...and a Mega Ampharos. Shit." Guzma muttered as the Pokémon in question let out a cry, electricity surging through its body. The Team Skull Boss also realized that the woman's armor was different than the usual Cipher Peons, which meant that she was more important that them.
"THUNDER!" the Cipher Captain shouted at his Mega Ampharos, which softly cooed as electricity surged around it before bursting forward, surging towards Guzma. Goliath swiftly moved in front of Guzma right before the attack struck it.
"Goliath!" Guzma yelled out as he hit the ground, watching his partner get electrocuted. Normally Guzma wouldn't be bothered by this, since Goliath was just as tough as he was and a mediocre Thunder wouldn't do shit to either of them. But with Goliath still not fully recovered from the battle against Umbral Rhyperior, and having been fighting most of the day?
"THUNDER AGAIN!"
Once again the attack struck Guzma's Partner, and the Golisopod hissed softly in pain as electricity surged through its body. Guzma hopped to his feet, scowling at the Cipher Captain before she called, "Dragon Pulse!"
Mega Ampharos cried out as it unleashed a pulsating beam of energy that ripped through the hallway, smashing into Goliath and forcing the Golisopod back a step.
"Ariados! Get behind her and-" Guzma began to say, only for the man to see a shadow suddenly appear behind the Cipher Captain. With her totally focused on Guzma, she didn't see the cloaked figure slowly creeping behind her, a blade drawn and ready to-
Guzma's eyes widened as the woman dropped to the ground with a gurgle of pain, as a result of a blade suddenly getting rammed through her neck. The Mega Ampharos turned around, letting out a cry of dismay, only for a bright beam of pink light to smash into it. The Mega Ampharos crashed onto the ground hard, reverting back to its normal state as it fainted from a single attack.
"Well...that was a thing." One of the Bone Brothers remarked with wide eyes, seeing the figure lower their sword and look down at the Sylveon sitting smugly on the ground.
"That was boring. Did you need to kill her though?" the Sylveon asked, in perfectly understandable English, as the figure grabbed the Captain's Mega Ring and the Ampharosite, much like Faba had done earlier with another Captain before standing upright.
"Yes. This leader of theirs is trying to destroy the island. Best to eliminate all threats…" the figure replied in a male voice, his voice shaking slightly as he gripped his blade tightly. The Sylveon frowned and wrapped her feelers around his wrist. The man sighed, relaxing slightly before he looked towards where Team Skull was at.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Guzma asked the cloaked man, who looked at Guzma for a few moments before responding.
"I am a shadow. Nothing more, nothing le-" the figure began to say, but he was cut off by the man who had asked him the question in the first place.
"Bullshit. Take off that hood, this isn't a cheap horror movie." Guzma retorted, causing the figure to regard him for a moment before shrugging, throwing back his hood and revealing a man with spiky gray hair and tired golden eyes. "That's better. I hate that cloak and dagger shit."
Wes looked at Team Skull dully before sighing, shaking his head. "What are you people even doing here? Team Skull has no business with Cipher while Aria and everyone else combs through this place to deal with Roran."
"That bastard killed one of my Grunts and kidnapped even more. I'm not leaving until I've found those kids, rescued them, and then kicked Roran's teeth down his throat." Guzma responded harshly, causing Wes to shut his eyes and put a finger to his chin.
"Wait a minute, aren't you that Snagger guy? Wes?" Plumeria asked, recognizing the man after a few moments. Guzma and the Bone Brothers looked at the Admin in surprise, confused as to how she recognized the man who had helped them. "I remember him from some of the Tournaments he used to run a few years ago. I watched them on TV way back."
"Always nice to have a fan, I guess." Wes remarked, surprised that he had been recognized. He had figured that most of Team Skull consisted of kids who couldn't tie their shoes.
"What the hell are you doing in Alola?" Plumeria asked the former Snagger.
"Wes. Wes, Wes, Wes…" Guzma muttered, trying to remember where he had heard the name before. After a few moments a particularly vivid memory came to him and he remembered. "Plumes, do you mean the guy who basically fought Cipher by himself for like, a decade straight?" Guzma asked, looking at the former Snagger with surprise as Plumeria nodded. "I remember that guy. That shit was badass. The hell are you doing here in this shithole? Trying to deal with Cipher's BS still?"
"Long story short, yeah. While an associate of mine tags along with the group that has some of my former friends, I'm combing this place for more secrets and for any hostages Roran may have taken." Wes explained as he flicked some of the blood off of his sword. "If you're doing the same thing, then...Come with me. Based on past experience, the holding cells for any Cipher prisoners are going to be on the middle level of the facility. So the next floor down. There's strength in numbers."
"Can we trust him?" Plumeria asked, glancing at Guzma, who stared down the Snagger for several seconds. Wes stared right back at the Boss of Team Skull, unwavering under the man's intense gaze.
"If it helps us find Bone Unit 71 faster, then whatever." Guzma shrugged, digging into his pocket and tossing a Sitrus Berry at Goliath, who promptly caught it in midair and devoured it. The Golisopod rose to his feet after a few moments and Guzma began walking towards Wes, hands in his pockets and slouching. "Just don't be stupid and we'll have no problems. And if you betray us, I'll rip your head off and feed it to my Snom."
"I have no idea what a Snom is, nor do I care." Wes remarked as he walked away, Eve the Sylveon moving alongside him.
"Oh yeah, you're gonna be a delight to deal with, I can tell already." Guzma snarked back, earning a roll of the eyes from Wes and Plumeria.
Meanwhile, Guzma smirked at the thought of dishing out even more pain to the bastards who hurt Team Skull. And while he wasn't a very trusting man, Guzma respected strength above all else. So he'd trust Wes for a little while.
Especially because Guzma knew that with any luck, he'd either get to meet the Cipher Admin at the root of all of this, or find Bone Unit 71.
And the Boss of Team Skull liked his odds.
Meanwhile…
Magma Basin
While unnerved by the horrifying declaration, Sun adjusted his hat and pointed forward, his eyes flashing red with anger at Roran before they settled on gray. Sun would need a clear mind to survive the upcoming battle, especially when he was already at a disadvantage.
On top of that, he didn't have very many items with him at the moment, since the strike team he was on had dedicated medics and healers. To carry extra supplies with them would have been pointless. None of them were expecting to get separated like this. At best, Sun had a few potions and maybe a Revive or two tucked away in his cargo pants pockets, and he didn't think Aria and Lusamine had even that on them.
(Play "The Sanctified Mind [Extended])
"Brago, use Flame Burst! Alastor, use Stealth Rock!" Sun barked out as Roran laughed, deadly intent burning within his eyes as he pointed his sword at Sun. Sun noticed Rotom Dex playing some kind of electronic music in the background that sounded eerie yet intense at the same time.
"Thanatos, keep steady. Heatran will handle the child." Roran ordered his Claydol, which continued to hold up the Protect around it as Shadow Heatran stomped forward.
Brago blasted the Legendary with Flame Burst while Alastor threw out his hands and caused several glittering rocks to appear around him. Within moments they flashed and rapidly grew into large jagged boulders that then scattered themselves all around the battlefield.
Roran smirked at this development, taking a step forward as Heatran's body glowed bright red. Sun recognized this as Ability as Flash Fire, and knew that using any more Fire-type moves was pointless on such an opponent. Brago's attack had only made Shadow Heatran stronger.
"Flamethrower on the Geodude!" Roran called out as Shadow Heatran shrieked in fury, releasing a deadly blast of white-hot flames from its mouth. Alastor responded before Sun could even issue a command, throwing out a Thundershock on the ground directly beneath it to blast itself into the air to dodge the attack.
"Alastor's really clever, huh?" Sun thought to himself as his Geodude righted itself in midair, throwing a second Thunder Shock at Shadow Heatran, which barely phased the Legendary.
"Impressive dodge. Iron Head, Heatran!" Roran remarked with a grin, even as Sun issued out several quick commands in succession.
"Defense Curl into Rollout, Alastor! Brago, tank the hit and use Revenge!" Sun yelled out, knowing that this move was a gamble. Asking Brago to take a hit from a Legendary Pokémon was incredibly risky, but this was a fight to the death, and the reward outweighed the risk.
"Gutsy! I like that! Put down that puppy!" Roran laughed as Shadow Heatran scuttled forward, its head glowing white as Brago rushed forward to meet it. The Lava Dome Pokémon crashed into the Arcanine hard enough for Brago to go flying backwards with a howl of pain, though he managed to land on all fours, albeit with a pained look of anger in his eyes. The Arcanine glowed a harsh red color before bounding forward, crashing head-first into Heatran with Revenge and causing the Legendary to stagger backwards with a snarl of agony, causing Roran to blink in surprise.
While Brago kept Shadow Heatran busy, Alastor held its arms against its head, his body glowing a faint white color as he increased his Defense. He then tucked himself into a ball and went speeding towards Heatran, smashing into the Shadow Pokémon with considerable force, though not enough to do any serious damage.
The Lava Dome Pokémon snarled softly, even as the oppressive heat in the room rose and Alastor moved away from Heatran. Sun knew that he needed to take this thing down, and quickly, if he wanted to stop Roran and keep him from killing not only Hau, but Aria and Lusamine. But he knew that it'd be incredibly tough. This was a Legendary Pokémon, and Roran Rubinara was a ruthlessly-skilled Pokémon Trainer with decades of experience over him.
"Shadow Heatran, use Ancient Power!" Roran said as the Shadow Pokémon snarled, slamming down its front legs and causing several glowing boulders to erupt from the ground and flying towards the Arcanine in front of Sun.
"Dodge by leaping back, and then use Helping Hand! Alastor, keep using Rollout!" Sun called out to his two Pokémon. Brago managed to barely dodge the Ancient Power and sent an energy bolt of power towards the speeding form of Alastor, who crashed into Heatran with much more force, causing the Shadow Pokémon to skid softly across the floor. Roran watched all of this with amusement, his glowing orange eyes taking in the sight of his mortal enemy's son battling back a Legendary.
"Don't worry, Sun! I've got your back!" Rotom Dex cried out from above Sun, flipping to the appropriate Pokédex entry since there was a brief lull in the action.
"Heatran. The Lava Dome Pokémon. It digs in with its cross-shaped feet to crawl on ceilings and walls. Boiling blood, like magma, circulates through its body. It makes its dwelling place in volcanic caves. Warning! Shadow Pokémon detected!" Rotom Dex warned Sun as the boy adjusted his hat, gritting his teeth as Roran laughed.
"This is the one that I saw all those months ago...The one who's presence caused me to fear Shadow Pokémon." Brago growled, crouching low with a pained expression of fury. "Never again. I will protect my family, and everyone else!"
"Family?" Alastor scoffed as he came to a stop by Sun, crossing his arms as he floated off of the ground. "My own family is nothing more than a memory, thanks to your family. And I refuse to be subjugated like you idiots. This is merely working together towards mutual survival."
"We'll hash this out later. We need a plan to either take down that Heatran, or neutralize it. I'm open to any options, because until we find a way to get everyone else out, you two are all I've got." Sun explained as Roran simply waited for him, amusement clear on his face.
"By all means, Sun, take your time. Not like I've got a Ritual that's just a few minutes away from being completed." Roran remarked as Shadow Heatran roared in response.
Brago grunted in response. "I don't know. His team is strong, and it'd take all of us working together to bring down that beast. We've grown stronger since defeating Dawson, but that monster's skill is far greater than that of the other human we battled that wielded the might of Articuno."
"You...you all battled an Articuno? And won?" Alastor remarked as he looked to Sun and Brago, genuine surprise in his eyes. The might of the Legendary Birds was known even amongst the Wilds of Alola.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, Roran is leagues beyond Dawson in terms of skill. We'll have to be even more crafty than him to get through this before Miss Lusamine and Aria die from the heat...And I won't last forever either." Sun muttered, not noticing that the Alolan Geodude was now looking away with a thoughtful expression.
"I can't take much more damage. That attack hurt a lot, and while I'm determined not to lose, I also don't like our chances much." Brago admitted with a sigh, causing Sun to look back towards Roran as the madman glanced back at the bound form of Hau, who was beginning to stir.
"Fine then. I think I have an idea." Sun and Brago turned to Alastor, who looked annoyed at the moment, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say. "There's something we can do to turn this thing around. Rather easily, actually."
"And that would be?" Sun asked Alastor, who looked at him dully.
"Despite his skill, the other human is old and weak. He needs that shield to protect himself from the heat, just like you do...Simply remove the shield." Alastor pointed out, causing Sun to actually look at Roran, who was indeed still within the Protect that Thanatos had summoned around him.
"And if he's using Protect to shield himself from the heat, I can maybe do the same." Sun continued, causing Alastor to grunt in agreement.
"He's planned this out well, but he's still insane. You humans really aren't all that bright when it comes down to it. Now...can we finally deal with him?" Alastor asked as they turned to face Roran, who noticed that Sun's Pokémon were now preparing themselves to attack.
"Ooh, got everything sorted out? Fantastic! Now then, let's get on to the next part of the show!" Roran said as Heatran suddenly scuttled towards Sun, hissing softly. "Shadow Rush!"
"Brago, use Revenge! Alastor, Brick Break!" Sun called out, with both Pokémon rushed forward to meet Shadow Heatran as it scuttled towards them, darkness billowing out around it. Brago met the Legendary head-on, causing more blood to drip down the canine's head as he collided with the formidable armor of Heatran again. Alastor struck the Lava Dome Pokémon from the side with Brick Break, moving out of the way as Heatran released a pulse of fire and knocked Brago backwards.
"It's strong...Very strong. No wonder I feared its mere aura so long ago." Brago panted, shaking slightly from the pain as the feral Legendary snarled in rage. Roran simply watched with amusement, a cold smile on his face all the while.
"Well-played, boy. Earth Power-!" Roran began to say before a sudden alarm cut him off.
"WARNING! WARNING! MAGMA BASIN SECURITY COMPROMISED! MAGMA SECURITY COMPROMISED!" the automated message system shouted out, drowning out what would have been a move that defeated Sun's two Pokémon.
"I thought Ashton basically crippled the system? How'd he get it operational again?" Roran wondered aloud, completely distracted by this sudden development.
Sun capitalized on that by digging into his bag and pulling out a Sitrus Berry and throwing it at Brago. The Arcanine caught it in his mouth, and Sun marveled at the fact that his throw hadn't been horrible. Roran noticed this and shook his head in mock disappointment, pulling out a canister from within his cloak.
"Such a shame, Sun. Even though it's totally allowed, using items in battle is frowned upon by most Trainers. Then again, considering your father's stance on battling, I'm not surprised he never touched upon this with you." Roran said loudly with a smile, tapping the canister and causing a faint red light to appear on it. "Thankfully, I've got no such reservations. And this grenade has your name on it."
The madman grinned as he snapped his fingers, causing Thanatos to drop the barrier right as Roran hurled the grenade straight at the boy, with the Protect surrounding him a mere second after dropping. Sun's eyes widened in surprise and horror as the explosive soared through the air, heading right for him.
Before a metal wall suddenly sprang up out of the ground, and the grenade connected with the wall and exploded violently. Brago flinched at the sound and looked at his Trainer with concern, though he was relieved to see that he was okay and that the wall had saved him from the explosion that had passed harmlessly around the barrier.
And surprised that a certain Geodude was nowhere to be seen.
"W-what?" Sun said quietly as the metal barricade creaked in front of him, showing clear damage from taking a direct grenade explosion. Sun knew that this place was a training room of sorts, but he wasn't expecting something like that to happen. His unspoken question was answered with an angry sigh from Roran.
"Ash, why must you continue to show your ass? Such a sad, desperate act." Roran said with a cold smile as Shadow Heatran scuttled backwards, reeling from the damage it has taken so far. Sun straightened up as several of the metal barricades in the room rose up beside him, offering him plenty of cover and currently hiding from view.
"Dad must be trying to help me out by hacking into the training area…!" Sun realized as he adjusted his hat, glancing from the side of the barricade at the bleeding and beaten form of Brago, who had endured several direct hits from the Legendary. The canine was struggling to keep standing, and Sun knew he couldn't take much more of this.
"I...won't give in..." Brago panted as he shakily rose to his feet, with Roran grinning maliciously as his Shadow Heatran snarled in fury.
"Alright, new plan." Sun hid behind the barrier and held out his three remaining three Poké Balls and speaking down to them. "Oliver, use Protect the second you come outside and cover yourself, Penny, and Finn." Sun then raised his voice and yelled, "Brago, use Flame Charge! Raise your speed and dodge its attacks!"
"That won't work, boy!" Roran called back, but Sun hoped the man didn't see him call out his team. Oliver quickly threw up a Protect, shielding himself, Finn and Penny from the heat. He then took in the current situation.
"What a mess...So what's the plan?" Oliver asked Sun, who sighed and shook his head.
"Honestly? Making it up as I go. Brago and Alastor are the only ones who can handle this heat and it's strong enough to make Aria and Miss Lusamine's Pokémon collapse." Sun admitted as he turned his attention to the fight, where Shadow Heatran roared again, flames whirling around its body.
"Brago, you ready?" Sun called to the Arcanine, who growled softly as he crouched low, ready to pounce. Even as badly hurt as he was, he'd never give in.
"We can't do anything behind this barrier. This heat...I can feel it seeping in despite the Protect. How powerful is that creature? And can Trainer stop him?" Penny wondered aloud as Finn repeatedly punched his fists together.
"Don't worry. He's got this…" Finn muttered, looking towards Sun as his Trainer and Brago battled in vain against the Shadow Legendary. "You got this, buddy. Get him!"
Unfortunately, the battle wasn't going very well. Despite increasing Brago's speed with Flame Charge, Brago couldn't take down a Legendary that he was so badly matched up against on his own, and was tiring quickly. This became a point of frustration with Sun's team as they watched helplessly as Brago's movements became more sluggish.
"I hate being so useless!" Oliver hooted out, his eyes bright with anger as Penny and Finn simply watched the scene playing out before them silently. Roran heard the remark and laughed at the owl's frustration.
"Must suck knowing your crazy plan to stop me is about to go down the…" Roran paused for a moment, confused.
"Brago! Use Flame Burst!" Sun called to his Arcanine, who forced himself upright and unleashed the fire attack at Heatran, who simply charged through it and absorbed the attack with Flash Fire as Roran barked out the order for a Flamethrower. Brago managed to dodge the attack with his speed, but only just barely as a result of his waning strength.
Sun cursed himself for momentarily forgetting about Heatran's Ability, as he wasn't used to having such a main part of Brago's moveset be rendered useless by an opponent. Thankfully, his lapse was answered by Roran's own lapse in concentration, as his expression turned to confusion as he put a hand on his chin.
"Wait a moment. Something's not right here...Wait, where's the Geodude?" Roran remarked realizing that the Pokémon had seemingly vanished on them. Sun grinned then, and Roran's eyebrows raised at the sudden gesture of confidence.
Roran whirled around and gasped as a speeding rock barreled towards him from the behind, bouncing off of the ground and hurtling towards them. Roran recognized the move as Rollout, and knew that a move like that would make quick work of the Protect he was hiding behind. Unfortunately for him, the Alolan Geodude had already gotten too close for him to do anything about it.
"Alastor was hiding! He snuck away and made sure Roran was distracted before attacking! And if he hits that shield directly…" Sun thought as Alastor soared through the air, much to the horror of Roran. Sun had been attempting to wear down Shadow Heatran enough to go after Roran and his shield. Alastor was smart enough to bypass the Legendary completely and go for a sneak attack while the Cipher Admin was distracted.
"Son of a bit-!" Roran shouted before Alastor slammed harshly into the barrier from behind, causing the entire thing to flicker and fade as a surprised Thanatos whirled around in shock. Roran swayed on his feet at the sudden rush of heat that was washing over him now. Roran struggled to breathe, falling to the ground on his hands and knees after several seconds and knew that he had to make a quick decision.
"Nice shot!" Sun cheered before pointing at Shadow Heatran. "Brago, use Revenge now! While Roran's distracted!"
Brago grinned at the command and bounded forward, glowing a harsh red color and battering back the Shadow Heatran, who faltered without its Trainer issuing commands. Thanatos tried to use another Protect, but Alastor pelted it with Rock Throws which made using the move impossible.
Protect was a move that required concentration at its core. It's probability of failure increased with each successive use, and if an attack struck it the barrier would fade away. And while Pokémon skilled with the move could theoretically absorb more damage and more attacks than most normal Pokémon could with the attack, it required that Pokémon focusing on the moves striking the barrier be forcing every bit of power into the barrier to stop said attacks. Hence why Alastor's sneak attack worked to perfection, as Thanatos and Roran hadn't been expecting it in the slightest.
Meanwhile, Roran was on the verge of collapse. Unlike Lusamine and Aria, he was considerably older than both women and not in the best of health. Years of drugs and abusing the power of Radiance as of late had put his body through absolute hell. His vision blurred and his head felt heavy, and to his annoyance, he knew that there was only one way he could get out of this. And he didn't like it one bit.
"HEATRAN! CUT THE HEAT!" Roran shouted as he collapsed onto his stomach, even as Thanatos finally blasted Alastor across the room towards Sun with a Psychic. The Geodude crashed onto the ground senseless, causing Sun to run over to the Geodude, though he was surprised when Alastor shakily rose back into the air.
"Get...away from me!" Alastor grunted as he shakily floated into the air again. Sun wondered how that was possible until he thought about it.
"Of course...Sturdy. It allows him to tank a move that would normally one-hit KO him. I've got to remember that." Sun thought before he returned his attention to Roran struggling to get up.
Without using the drugs, he was a relatively weak old man who couldn't handle something like deadly temperatures for very long.
Shadow Heatran relaxed slightly as the sweltering heat wave within the room vanished, giving everyone a reprieve. Now the battle would be a bit more fair.
"Clever little rat…!" Roran gasped as Heatran snarled in response, with the former Kahuna slowly rising to his feet. Sun would've capitalized on this, but he was eager to level the playing field and turned to the remainder of his team that was being shielded by Oliver still.
"Oliver, drop the barrier! Finn, use Rain Dance!" Sun shouted as Oliver released his barrier and dove at Thanatos, who launched an Ancient Power at the owl who dodged it by soaring higher into the air.
This allowed Alastor a chance to slam into the Clay Doll Pokémon with another Rollout, knocking it backwards through the air, Alastor rebounded off of Thanatos and rolled even faster towards Roran, who threw himself to the side just in time to avoid what would be a fatal attack.
Alastor didn't seem to mind missing the Cipher Admin, because he simply veered towards Shadow Heatran, slamming into its side with the Rollout and knocking over the Legendary and leaving it helpless on its back.
"About time you did something good!" Oliver cried out as the Alolan Geodude floated to a stop near Sun, eying the dazed Heatran with a determined glare. Finn fired off a misty ball of energy into the chamber and caused a downfall of rain to suddenly pour down all around him, causing the temperature of the room to plummet even further.
Sun sighed with relief as the rain drenched them all and as Roran scowled in annoyance and tried to get up. Likewise, Heatran struggled to get to its feet, and Sun realized that this was his chance.
"Scald! Razor Leaf! Double Brick Break! Revenge!" Sun quickly barked out, with his team leaping into action as they surrounded the battered Legendary while his Trainer was recovering. "All-out attack!"
Oliver pelted the Legendary with Razor Leaf as Finn sprayed the Lava Dome Pokémon with boiling hot water. Meanwhile, Alastor and Penny moved in, striking Shadow Heatran repeatedly with Brick Break and dealing even more super-effective damage to the Legendary. Brago then sealed the deal by rushing forward, striking at Shadow Heatran and sending it soaring across the room with Revenge.
"That's how we do it! Wooo!" Rotom Dex cheered as Heatran flipped through the air, landing heavily on its feet. For a few moments, the Shadow Pokémon simply glared at them as it shuddered. And then…
Heatran let out a snarl of agony before it finally collapsed onto the ground, fainting after the onslaught of attacks from Sun's team, much to the absolute shock of Roran Rubinara as the madman struggled to get to his feet.
"Damn it...What a farce…" Roran snarled as Thanatos teleported to his side, helping the Cipher Admin to his feet as he tried to shake off what had happened to him, his shoulder in particular hurting especially badly.
All the while, Aria and Lusamine were recovering, thanks to the cooling rain that was now falling down around them and that Heatran was no longer filling the room with Heat. Sophie the JoltEon recovered first, firing off a Shadow Ball that blasted away Thanatos even as it floated high above Roran to attack Sun's team with a Hyper Beam.
"Not bad…" Roran panted, wiping sweat off of his forehead as a dark grin spread across his face. "You're definitely a hell of a lot quicker on the draw than I could have imagined. What a waste of talent."
Roran then returned Heatran, grinning now at the boy as badly-injured Thanatos floated forward with a pain groan, though he did call back out the unconscious Shadow Pokémon and healed it with a Max Revive.
Sun scowled at the cheap move, but Roran continued speaking, ignoring the Stealth Rock that struck Shadow Heatran a few moments later. "However, it was ultimately pointless. Just like your father's efforts tonight, I might add. Meaningless gestures before...before the God of Madness takes his rightful place in this world."
"As much as I might look like he did when he was younger, I'm NOT Ashton Aupuni. I'm Sunshine Smiles. And I'm going to make you pay for what you've done!" Sun shouted to Roran, who simply smiled at the boy as he flipped the bone-sword in his grip. Aria slowly pushed herself upright as Lusamine rolled onto her back, sighing deeply with relief as her Bewear got to its feet. Lusamine then sat up, shakily rising as her Pokémon prepared themselves for her command.
"Too true, Sun. I'll remember that. Thanatos!" Roran barked as the Claydol teleported back to his side. It hadn't fully recovered from the nearly-crippling damage that MissingNo had dealt it, and the Clay Doll Pokémon had taken a beating already.
Lusamine called out Fiaro, her late-husband's Ninetales, and thrust out a hand, her expression becoming fierce. "Fiaro, use Dig! Hammer Arm, Bewear, and then throw it!" Lusamine called out with the authority of a former Pokémon League Champion. Her Pokémon leapt into action, rushing forward as Roran issued his own commands.
"Magma Storm! Psychic!" Roran shouted as he grinned manically, with Thanatos teleporting back to him and using its powers to manipulate the storm of flames and magma now erupting from Shadow Heatran, who was screaming in fury as Bewear charged through the flames, picking up Shadow Heatran and punching it hard enough with Hammer Arm to send it hurtling across the room like a pebble across the room.
"Holy crap…" Sun whispered at the sheer power of Lusamine's Bewear. The Aether President caught this and offered Sun a fond smile.
"You've done a fantastic job Sun...Now let's bring this monster down together." Lusamine said as she focused her attention on the battle, where Fiaro had burst out of the ground and hit the falling form of Shadow Heatran, sending it flying back into the air.
"Sophie, Thunderbolt!" Aria shouted as the attack surged forward, striking Shadow Heatran even as it tumbled through the air. Roran scowled and snapped his fingers, causing Thanatos to teleport in front of them with glowing eyes.
"Psychic!" Roran called as Shadow Heatran crashed onto the ground, with Thanatos ensnaring each of them in a harsh glowing light, crushing their bodies with its power. Almost immediately, Sun's entire team launched a wave of attacks at the Claydol, which simply teleported away. Lusamine and Aria dropped to the ground, shaking in pain while Sun had to catch his breath. He was concerned by how badly the two women were affected, but he didn't have time to speculate on why that was. Lusamine shakily got to her feet, calling out her Milotic.
"You'll pay for that!" Oliver shrieked, throwing a wave of Razor Leaf at Roran, who was surprised by the sudden move. So much so that Thanatos couldn't throw up a Protect in time, only blocking some of the attack and allowing a few of the leaves to tear through Roran's cloak. Blood spattered the ground, causing the madman to cry out in pain.
"Perhaps a change of strategy is in order. Too many variables…" Roran muttered as several attacks were launched at his barrier. Roran drew out a syringe and allowed the barrier to dissipate, calling out, "Magma Storm! Psychic!"
"Sophie, return! Elise, come out! Use Water Pulse!" Aria called as Lusamine ordered her Milotic to use Hydro Pump. Despite this, the Psychic-augmented Magma Storm whirled wildly around the room and smashed into Milotic, causing the Tender Pokémon to scream in pain as the flames tore at her. She then aimed her Hydro Pump right through the flames and struck Shadow Heatran directly, sending it skidding backwards with a roar. That roar intensified as a small Swanna appeared in a flash of light and took flight, firing off a powerful Water Pulse that hit Thanatos, who had appeared in front of Shadow Heatran with a Protect to shield the Legendary. Not that it helped, since Shadow Heatran collapsed once again as a result of the damage the trio had dealt to it.
"Not bad! But you shouldn't count me out just yet!" Roran cackled as the flames whirled around the room, with the madman jamming a syringe into his arm. His entire body twitched violently as the fast-acting drugs flowed through his body. With a hiss he threw the syringe to the ground and grabbed his sword off of the ground, pressing another Max Revive to Heatran while grinning widely.
"He's stopped playing around...Now the real battle begins!" Lusamine warned them before she yelled to her Bewear, "Smash into the ground to get airborne, then use Brutal Swing on Claydol!"
Bewear let out a cry and charged forward, drawing back one of its fists and punching the ground hard enough to cause the entire room to shake. Bewear suddenly flew into the air with a cry, soaring towards Thanatos, who teleported out of the way to dodge what would have been a battle-ending attack. Fiaro shot a Flamethrower at the Claydol, which it dodged with another Teleport.
"Whoa…" Sun and Finn whispered at the same time, causing the boy to look at the Poliwrath with a grin. "Let's get in there!"
"We're ready!" Penny called out, with Sun's assembled team bracing themselves to jump back into the battle. Sun nodded and returned Brago, allowing him to recover from holding his own while Sun figured out a game plan. Sun turned his attention back to the fight, where Aria and Lusamine were doing battle with Roran's Claydol and Heatran, with the madman in question laughing all the while.
After a few moments, he teleported from within the flames and suddenly reappeared besides Aria, slashing at her with his bone-sword. The Snagger leapt back to dodge, swinging her hand and causing a jet-black blade to spring out of the Snag Machine. Sun hadn't even seen her retrieve her fallen blade, so he assumed she had done it while he was distracted.
"Magma Storm! Don't let them interfere!" Roran barked as he began to exchange blows with Aria, who dodged a slash and delivered a swift kick to the madman's head, sending him stumbling backwards. A deadly smile leapt to his face as he rushed forward, swinging the blade downwards and connecting with Aria's blade as she raised her hand to stop the attack. The force of the blow sent Aria to one knee, sparks flying through the air as the bone-sword connected with steel.
Meanwhile, Heatran was spewing flames in their direction, forcing Oliver to throw up a Protect to shield Sun at the last moment. Bewear shielded Lusamine from the flames with its own body while Milotic sprayed water on the flames, but headway against Shadow Heatran was slow. Fiaro dove into the attack to stop Roran, only to be suddenly buried by a Rock Tomb and then hit with a Rock Slide.
"I might be high as a kite, but I can still use Thanatos to tell my team what to do. In this case, have Heatran bury your little Ninetales alive!" Roran cackled as Lusamine shook with anger and fear at the fate of her late-husband's Ninetales.
"Fiaro!" Lusamine screamed over the roar of flames and Roran's laughter, even as he Alastor and Finn ferociously attacked the Legendary, causing it to snarl in pain as the electricity and water struck it and causing it to lash back with a Flamethrower, which they both barely dodged.
"Shit, he's strong!" Aria hissed as she blocked the strikes of Roran to the best of her abilities. However, Aria was definitely not a swordswoman and wasn't using something meant for such a fight, so Roran was quickly overpowering her.
At least until her Swanna fired off an Ice Beam at their feet, causing Roran and Aria to tumble to the ground. Aria grinned, fighting back a shiver as she pressed herself against the ice and pushed, sliding towards Roran and twisting her body enough so that she could kick him in the face. Roran barely flinched, as a result of the drugs surging through his system at the moment. The madman stabbed his sword into the ice and pulled himself upright, scowling as he glared at the Swanna soaring overhead, glaring at him.
"Stone Edge! Psychic!" Roran barked as Elise the Swanna let out a screech, suddenly getting smacked in midair by a glowing pillar. Thanatos teleported behind the Swanna and struck her from behind with Psychic.
"Water Pulse on Claydol! Then use Roost!" Aria called as Roran suddenly pulled on his sword and slid forward on the ice, violently kicking Aria in the face and sending her head crashing against the ice. Sun and Lusamine attempted to intervene again, only for a wall of flames to leap into existence at the roar of Shadow Heatran.
Elise tumbled through the air before firing off another Water Pulse at Thanatos, which finally made the Claydol fall to the ground and faint. For all of ten seconds, before Roran threw a Max Revive at Thanatos to restore him to full health and reawaken him.
Roran was rewarded for his efforts by getting punched in the face by Aria before getting kicked in the hip, causing him to fall onto the ice as Aria stumbled backwards. Thanatos tried to intervene, but Elise interrupted with Brave Bird, colliding into the Claydol with a screech, even as recoil damage struck the White Bird Pokémon.
"I killed you once! I'll kill you again!" Roran bellowed as Thanatos was blasted away by the strong Flying-type attack. Elise winced in pain and swooped down, smashing into Roran as he tried to stab at Aria and knocked away the man's sword. As if to compound the madman's issues, another alarm began to blare, confusing the drugged man further.
"WARNING! WARNING! EMERGENCY FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM TRIGGERED IN THE MAGMA BASIN. ALL PERSONNEL ARE ADVISED-D-D-D-D…"
With a loud click, water suddenly began to spray from the ceiling, adding even more water onto the already soaked floors. Sun looked up at the ceiling in surprise, curious as to why this room even had a water-suppression system. He also wondered if it was his father who triggered this as well, in order to help him.
"At least this means I don't have to keep using Rain Dance again and again. I was expecting that to clear away any moment now, but I guess so long as that's going, I don't need to worry about it." Sun thought as the flames in front of them began to slowly die down, despite the best efforts of Heatran.
"You know, in retrospect, having them build a sprinkler system inside of a room used mostly for something like this wasn't my smartest plan...Or maybe it did make sense." Roran thought about it for a moment, his drugged state causing him to go-off track, which was great for Aria before she suddenly slugged the man in the stomach, causing him to bowl over as a spray of blood erupted from his mouth. Roran then was blasted backwards across the ice by a burst of water from a battered Elise, who landed next to Aria and chirped softly.
"Nice work!" Aria called to her bird, who chirped happily in response, only for a Stone Edge to suddenly smash into her chest and sent her hurtling into the air. Aria gasped and turned her attention to Roran, who was slowly rising to his feet as Thanatos appeared by his side.
"Holy shit, this guy just doesn't quit. At least I had the personal motivation to hate Amber. You're just annoying!" Aria whined, getting to her feet. "Water Pulse on Heatran!"
Elise shot off another Water Pulse at the Shadow Heatran, which struck the Legendary and caused it to faint, which annoyed Roran further. He did address the topic, however, much to their surprise.
"Well, considering the Champions dropped a fucking building on her, I seriously doubt you'll be seeing Amber again, despite what Ashton says. She can't have escaped that unscathed." Roran remarked, clutching his stomach with a hiss of pain before Thanatos teleported beside him, using Psychic to return the bone-sword to Roran's hand.
"Not that it'll matter within the next five minutes, anyway. Now then...Where were we?" Roran asked coyly before he suddenly reached into his cloak, pulling out an object that resembled the grenade that Roran had used earlier, except that it was shaped differently. The madman hurled the device towards the assembled group before turning away. Oliver instinctively threw up a Protect, but that didn't stop the blinding flash that erupted from what they all suddenly realized was a flashbang.
"My eyes!" Finn yelped, falling to the ground along with many of the other Pokémon, even the older and more experienced ones. Aria fell to the ground, clutching her eyes while Sun huddled into a ball, gasping in pain and surprise. Oliver kept the shield up out of pure will, even if he couldn't see anything. Sun heard a scream of pain from a short distance away, one that sounded like it was from Lusamine.
As the glare in his eyes began to slowly subside, Sun forced his eyes open just enough to see Roran's Claydol knock out Bewear and send Milotic hurtling across the room, which allowed Roran to punch Lusamine in the stomach and then throw her onto the ground.
"Miss Lusamine!" Sun cried out as the Aether President crashed onto the ground, stunned as Roran advanced on her with his bone-sword. "Drop the shield and help her!"
"Don't worry." Roran whispered to Lusamine, grinning monstrously as he drew back his hand to thrust it into Lusamine's heart. The woman weakly managed to open one of her eyes a fraction of the way open, seeing Roran poised to kill her. "I'll make sure Gladion and Lillie know that you screamed as you died!"
"IMMA GETCHA!"
Roran's head whirled around just in time for a Dartrix to suddenly crash into him, Oliver, frantically pecking at him and tearing at his face with his beak and claws with screeches of anger while Roran swore loudly. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Sun would have laughed. Instead, he focused on trying to get up, shouting to Aria and yelled, "Hit his team!"
"Right! Elise, if you can see it, then use Water Pulse on Claydol!" Aria called to her Swanna, which was shaking her head back and forth before taking aim and firing a Water Pulse at Thanatos, who was about to attack Oliver. Instead the Claydol teleported and reappeared in the air, firing off a Psybeam that the White Bird Pokémon swooped low to dodge. It then blasted Thanatos with another water attack, sending it reeling backwards before teleporting away, reappearing in front of Roran and striking Oliver with Psychic. The Dartrix froze in place before Roran let out a snarl, lunging forward and violently slashing the owl with his sword.
"OLIVER!" Sun screamed as the bird tumbled to the ground, bleeding heavily with a screech of pain. Sun made a move to return the bird, but Thanatos turned its Psychic onto him instead, causing the boy to scream in agony for several moments before Penny slammed into the Claydol with a cry of fury, hitting it hard enough with Brick Break to send the Clay Doll Pokémon spinning backwards.
"Get away from him!" Penny shouted as she fired off an Echoed Voice at Roran, who nimbly dodged the attack and reached into his cloak, drawing a syringe that he prepared to throw at the bird, only for a blade quill to suddenly bisect the syringe and splash its contents all over the ground.
Roran glanced at the bleeding form of Oliver, who was glaring at the madman with loathing before he let out a screech of pain, trying to fling off the blood dripping down onto his precious feathers. This distracted Roran long enough for Penny to blast him with Echoed Voice, which hurled the Cipher Admin backwards and sent him sprawling onto the ground. With that, Penny quickly flew over to the Dartrix, who was badly cut open by Roran's attack.
"Are you okay!? Please be okay...please…" Penny said worriedly, trying to look at the wound better as Oliver panted from the pain he was in. The Dartrix then noticed something and gasped in horror.
"Behind you!" Oliver cried out, causing Penny to look at the floating form of Thanatos as it prepared to fire off a Hyper Beam at them. Penny stood protectively in front of Oliver, glaring down the signature Pokémon of Roran with anger burning in her eyes, as if daring it to attack Oliver again while she was there to stop it.
Thanatos hesitated for just a moment due to Penny's fury, and that was just enough time for Finn to surprise the Claydol with a Submission from behind, knocking it to the ground. Alastor had also seemingly recovered from the flashbang earlier, throwing rocks at the Claydol with an expression of annoyance on his face.
"Help Oliver! I've got this!" Finn called to Penny as he continued to pummel Thanatos with his powerful fists. The Claydol was stunned, crying out in pain as it tried to avoid the attacks pelting it from all sides. Penny nodded and turned her attention to her bleeding friend.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked, concern evident in her voice, though she seemed a little calmer now. The Dartrix nodded, shutting his eyes and as he began to glow bright green. Penny recognized the move as one that allowed a Pokémon to use the power of the sun to heal. Synthesis.
"I-I'll be alright! Focus on him! H-help Sun! Be...be safe!" Oliver hooted weakly, trying to stem the flow of blood. The trembling form of Sun slowly began to get back up, looking at the stunned form of Roran, who was quickly recovering as Lusamine stumbled to her feet, pointing a hand at Roran. Sun looked at Oliver with concern, though he could tell the bird was already trying to contain the damage of what would have otherwise been a fatal injury.
"Something's weird about that sword. Actually, something is weird about everything this jerk does." Sun muttered as he slowly got to his feet, even as Aria and Lusamine recovered and began to attack.
"Ice Beam, Milotic!" Lusamine shouted, as the serpentine Pokémon rushed forward. Roran thrust out a hand and Claydol appeared at his side, repelling the attack with a Psychic that struck both Milotic and Lusamine, sending them both crashing to the ground. Roran flashed a deadly smile, at least until a Water Pulse struck Thanatos and the Claydol finally crashed onto the ground and fainted, courtesy of Elise the Swanna.
"Thanatos!" Roran yelled out, reaching into his cloak and plucking a Max Revive from within it, throwing it at Thanatos. However, something struck it in midair, causing the medicinal stone to explode into a dozen useless pieces.
"What!? No! That was my last Max Revive! How…" Roran trailed off as he tried to make sense of what happened in his drugged state, instead turning towards Sun. The boy was currently healing his Dartrix with a Super Potion, with the Dartrix looking very smugly at the Cipher Admin with his wing outstretched before beginning to preen the blood away. Once again, Oliver had gotten the better of him.
"I'm...damn it." Roran snarled softly, grabbing something from within his cloak and biting into it, quickly eating it. Sun finally recognized it as the Ho'ōla Berry, the incredibly rare healing berry that the Fossil Man had shown him weeks ago. Roran finished off the berry, sighing as he closed his eyes and shuddered before opening them again as his eyes regained awareness, the drug's effects slowly vanishing from his bloodstream.
"Well played, all of you. I've been experimenting on my team to make them more resilient, and yet you still manage to knock them out and outplay me. You deserve to share the stage with me, but there can only be one star." Roran said with a grin, returning Thanatos (though not before taking a moment to heal it with a Revive) and calling out his Cloyster, using another Revive on the unconscious Shadow Heatran. Stealth Rock activated and struck Cloyster, which served to only annoy the Bivalve Pokémon. "It's a shame that those experimental flashbangs are so puny. The end product was supposed to make humans and Pokémon permanently blind, and I was hoping to get them to their true potential. Oh well."
"Get ready! Let's hit him with everything we've got!" Sun yelled out as his team prepared themselves to attack. Even Oliver, who had finished healing himself and was covered with his own dried blood, was prepared to destroy the man who had dared to go against all of them.
"Of course, Sun. By all means, take the stage and show this washed up hack who's boss." Lusamine said to the boy with a smile as she turned towards Roran, who grit his teeth in fury at the insult.
"MAGMA STORM!" Roran roared as Shadow Heatran shakily rose to its feet, releasing a massive wave of flames at everything in the room while Cloyster shielded him from the flames. Sun's team quickly huddled behind a Protect that Oliver threw up, but Elise and Milotic were battered by the attack, which made the Tender Pokémon faint.
"Elise, fly above and use Water Pulse on Heatran!" Aria called out, though Roran was quick to retaliate by shouting, "Shadow Fire!"
Elise launched her Water Pulse, which hit Shadow Heatran directly, only for a shadowy fireball to smash into her and knock her out of the air. She hit the ground with a harsh crunch and fainted on impact.
"Daruk, help us out!" Aria called as she returned her Swanna and called out her Darmanitan, which scowled and slammed its fists together. Lusamine returned her Milotic, calling out her Lilligant with an annoyed expression. Roran simply grinned and gestured outwards.
"Three-on-one and even now you can't put me down. You'll wear yourselves out soon enough, and your lives will be mine. And keep in mind…" Roran thrust out his hand, allowing his Radiance to shine forth as light burst from his Z-Ring and his eyes. Cloyster's eyes began to glow as well.
"I was chosen to lead Alola to a brighter future. And that means...My star...SHINES THE BRIGHTEST!" Roran bellowed as Closter grinned above them, charging up an Ice Beam and firing it off. However, all three Trainers noticed that the attack in question was considerably more powerful than what the Cloyster had been using just yesterday, as the attack in question struck Daruk and Finn, who happened to be the closest to Roran. Both Pokémon cried out in pain, even as ice rapidly spread across the area at a rate that would have taken three Cloyster to accomplish.
"Watch out! He's using Radiance to boost his Pokémon's attacks!" Aria called to her allies, which Lusamine sighed at. The Aether President wiped her soaked hair out of her face, glaring at the still-operating sprinkler system overhead.
"Seriously...What's next? Can he fly too?" Lusamine deadpanned, shaking her head. In response, Cloyster appeared above them, crying out before it suddenly dropped down on the ground and began to glow.
"Oh shit! That's Self-Destruct!" Aria shouted, throwing herself to the ground. Lusamine called for Lilligant to use Protect, which it did. Sun, however…
"Thunder Shock! Razor Leaf! Triple-team Brick Break! Swarm it!" Sun shouted unexpectedly, causing Roran to blink in surprise as Cloyster began to glow.
"What on earth is that boy trying to pull? His Pokémon being so close to Cloyster would mean that they'd all be knocked out for sure by Self-Destruct." Roran wondered aloud, though it quickly became apparent when he realized that Cloyster wasn't exploding.
"Why isn't it exploding!?" Roran demanded as the Bivalve Pokémon slowly stopped glowing, much to its own confusion before getting struck with a Thunder Shock, causing it to cry out in pain. The Razor Leaf striking it didn't help matters, as well as the three Pokémon hitting it with repeated Brick Breaks. Finn followed it up with a Submission, leaping into the air and grabbing two of Cloyster's spikes. It then rolled through the air and violently slammed down the Cloyster, knocking it out much to Roran's surprise.
Sun caught Roran's surprised expression and grinned as Finn flexed, laughing even as the recoil damage surged through him. It was then that Roran understood, and what he understood made him furious.
"Of course. That Poliwrath has the Damp Ability. Which makes all explosion-based attacks completely useless. He knew that and acted before anyone else, ganging up on Cloyster before I could even process what was going on." Roran murmured, drawing Cloyster's Poké Ball and returning it. He then called it out again and used another Revive on it, which just annoyed all of them more.
"We've got to deal with his items. We can't keep this up forever." Aria muttered as Roran's Cloyster shakily floated back up into the air, getting hit by Stealth Rock yet again.
"Let's try that again. Flamethrower! Hydro Pump!" Roran barked as he poured more power into his Radiance, causing the torrent of water unleashed by Cloyster to become something akin to Hydro Cannon, the strongest Water-type move known.
"Protect!" Lusamine called to her Lilligant, which leapt in front of the attack and created a barrier that blocked the water attack. As the barrier faded, the Flamethrower blasted past it and hit the Lilligant head-on, though the attack still soared towards Lusamine.
"Finn, block it with Psychic! Oliver, Razor Leaf! Echoed Voice! Thunder Shock!" Sun called out as his team unleashed their wave of attacks. Finn struggled to contain the power of Heatran's Flamethrower as it rushed towards Lusamine, but managed to divert it to the side of the room where it smashed harmlessly against a wall. Cloyster threw up a Protect, stopping the attacks in its tracks as it groaned at the strain of doing so.
"Wear you down, little by little. I wonder if I should indulge and have one last snack before I become a Tapu?" Roran wondered aloud, a sick grin on his face as his eyes drifted to Sun. The boy shivered at the hungry gleam in Roran's eyes. "The younger ones always did-"
An explosion of flames from a pile of rubble near Roran cut him off, surprising the man. Everyone turned their eyes towards the battered Ninetales that leapt out of the rocks and promptly aimed a Shadow Ball at Roran that his Cloyster teleported in front of him to tank.
"Fiaro!" Lusamine called out joyfully to her Ninetales, which grinned at her before leaping down from the stone pillar to avoid a Hydro Pump from Cloyster. In response it lashed out with an Energy Ball before leaping back towards Lusamine, who bent down to hug Mohn's Partner tightly.
"Thank goodness...Now then, what to do here?" Lusamine mused as Aria sent her Darmanitan to attack Roran's Pokémon, which distracted him momentarily.
"We really just need to take care of his items and his teleporting thing." Sun remarked, earning a look from Lusamine. "We're wearing down his team and that's the only reason he's making headway against us. He has items and we don't, and he's skilled enough to wear us down."
Lusamine grimaced, acknowledging that point. "True. And I can tell that Aria's worn out from dealing with that heat wave from earlier. I'm not feeling well either, but I'm trying to just focus on dealing with Roran." Sun nodded, assuming as much, though it did nothing to abate his concern for the two women.
"It's a shame we can't just blow him up." Alastor sighed, looking more annoyed than anything else.
"With Finn out, we can't even risk using that trick. It's what saved us earlier from Roran trying to kill us with Self-Destruct." Sun remarked, though he did hang his head after a moment. "But if you get the chance, Alastor...Do it."
"Sun! Are you serious?" Lusamine asked with clear shock on her face. Sun looked back up at her with familiar bright-red eyes of hatred as he turned them towards Roran.
"He killed me. Killed my friends. He's hurt a lot of people. And he's the catalyst for all of this...The reason my father's so scared of Alola. The reason he didn't want me to become a Pokémon Trainer. His overwhelming fear of the world is all...because...of Roran!" Sun practically spat, gritting his teeth. Lusamine faltered, unsure of what exactly to do. She never expected to run into this problem with Sun. Lusamine opened her mouth to speak, but Sun cut her off by saying, "And now's not the time to pull punches. He's literally trying to kill us, Hau, and everyone in Alola. We need to focus on at least beating him for now. Even if it's in a way that's not exactly fair, we've got to take him down!"
"Let's see if we can deal with his item situation! Zzzt!" Rotom Dex chimed in, also very concerned about Sun's fury towards Roran. To their surprise, Penny chimed in with an amused look.
"Since you all hate the man so much, why don't you set him on fire? That'll probably get rid of the item problem, wouldn't it?" Penny remarked, looking towards the madman in question. Roran had just reached into his cloak and had thrown another grenade, though this one was able to create a flame that burned cold, as a fierce chill sudden crept into the room as the icy flames forced Aria and Daruk back.
"That is...brilliant. Ruthless and cunning! I like it." Alastor remarked, clear approval in his eyes. Oliver's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but said nothing.
"Getting rid of that cloak would probably be the only thing we need to do. He keeps all of his berries, drugs and weapons inside of it." Sun remarked, grinning at Penny's idea. "Good work, Penny. It's just what we needed."
"Someone has to come up with good ideas around here." Penny said dryly, smiling at her Trainer's praise while Finn and Oliver rolled their eyes. Lusamine was also smiling, turning her gaze towards Roran.
"Let's get Fiaro close and then set that monster alight, shall we?" Lusamine said as pointed forward, her smile becoming a grin. "Lilligant, use Petal Dance! Fiaro, use Dig to get close to Roran. Then set his cloak on fire with Will-o-Wisp!"
Lilligant and Fiaro nodded, hurrying towards Roran as Cloyster knocked back Daruk with an Radiance-boosted Hydro Pump and then an Icicle Crash, sending the powerful Darmanitan to the ground. While this happened, Sun called to his Pokémon, "Swarm them! Razor Leaf, Echoed Voice, Scald and Rock Throw!"
Sun's team rushed forward, which caught Roran's attention. The madman's grinned and snapped his fingers, causing Cloyster to teleport overhead and release an Ice Beam upon Sun's team.
"Oliver, Protect Charge!" Sun called to his Starter. Oliver swooped right into the attack with Protect, causing ice to form on the shield as it flew right at Cloyster. The Bivalve Pokémon's eyes widened in surprise and it teleported away, causing Oliver to keep going and crash into the ceiling, shattering the shield and sending shards of ice everywhere. The Cloyster retaliated by firing off an Ice Beam at Lusamine's Lilligant, knocking it out while the Bivalve Pokémon tanked the Petal Dance striking it.
And all of that served as a great distraction for Fiaro the Ninetales to slowly emerge from the ground behind Roran, who was focusing on dealing with Sun's attacking team. While weaker than his own, Roran was done underestimating children.
Fiaro opened his mouth and fired off a stream of ghostly purple flames right at Roran's back. Needless to say, the former Kahuna was surprised by the sudden sensation of his cloak becoming engulfed in flames.
"Aargh! No! What the hell!?" Roran snarled as he frantically clutched as his cloak, the flames spreading onto his sleeves and pants. Roran quickly managed to throw off the burning garment with a yell, frantically patting himself down as flames continued to burn away at him. At least until Cloyster doused him with water. Roran stared down at the cloak on the ground, turned to look at Lusamine and Sun, and then looked back at his cloak.
"Clever...very clever." Roran breathed as he regarded the burning cloak before his eyes widened and he threw himself to the ground in time to avoid being hit by an explosion going off within the cloak a few feet away, completely destroying it and the items within it.
"Looks like you're all out of items to abuse…" Aria said breathlessly as she got to her feet and brushed off the icicles that had appeared on her shirt, smiling at the look of surprise and anger in the eyes of the former Kahuna. Roran scowled as plucked another Poké Ball from his belt, scooping up a Revive that had fallen on the ground and stuffing it into his pocket.
"Guess it wasn't such a good idea to keep so much stuff on you." Sun remarked with a grin as Roran shot the boy a look of fury before snapping his fingers, his anger vanishing within moments. Cloyster teleported to his side as Roran placed a hand against it, vanishing with the Bivalve Pokémon as it reappeared above Sun, Lusamine and Aria.
"Shadow Rampardos, use Shadow Break!" Roran bellowed as a streak of light struck the ground beside the trio of Trainers, forming into a large dinosaur Pokémon that roared with fury before its shadowy aura began to flare. It then swung its tail, smacking into Daruk and Aria and sending them both flying across the room, smashing into the far wall and landing in a crumpled heap on the ground.
"ARIA!" Sun screamed as the Shadow Rampardos roared, eyeing the both with wild anger in its eyes. Stealth Rock activated, pelting the massive Pokémon, though it seemed to do nothing to the beast.
The Shadow Pokémon turned to face Sun, lowering its head, only for Finn to suddenly leap onto the Head Butt Pokémon and begin striking it over and over again with Brick Breaks. Alastor threw a rock at the massive Shadow Pokémon, only for it to throw off the Poliwrath and charge at the Alolan Geodude.
"Rollout to dodge!" Sun shouted to Alastor, who curled into a ball and rolled away, leading the Shadow Rampardos away. Meanwhile, a Cloyster teleported above them with a grin, firing off an Ice Beam that struck Fiaro and froze Finn's legs, while also ensnaring Lusamine in the ice
"Excellent! Now, end them with Hydro Pump! Shadow Break, Rampardos!" Roran shouted from across the room, though he was suddenly distracted by a blast of flames that narrowly missed him. Roran looked to his left and saw Daruk standing in front of Aria with hate in his eyes.
"You wanna go!?" Daruk bellowed, releasing a Fire Blast towards Roran, who called out, "Protect!"
Cloyster teleported in front of Roran to block the flames, but that was just the distraction Lusamine needed to free herself and Finn. "Flamethrower!" Lusamine called to her Ninetales, which helped to melt the ice as Finn pounded away at the ice with his fists. Within moments, they were freed from the ice, which was ideal because the Shadow Rampardos had caught up to Alastor and had smashed him into the ground with his tail, knocking him out.
"Alastor!" Sun called out, running towards the Alolan Geodude. The Shadow Rampardos rounded on him, only for Penny to land in front of her Trainer, flaring her wings. Shadow Rampardos roared at the Toucannon, who simply smirked.
"Now!" Penny chirped, with Oliver releasing a wave of spinning leaves upon the back of the Shadow Pokémon. Shadow Rampardos roared in pain, throwing its head back.
"Dig!" Lusamine shouted out, joining Sun as her Ninetales erupted from the ground underneath Shadow Rampardos, knocking it into the air and causing it to crash down hard on the ground. Sun decided to take the chance.
"Leaf Drive, Oliver! Finn, get airborne and hit it with your strongest Brick Break! Penny, use Brick Break too!" Sun called to his Pokémon as he walked over to Alastor, using his only Revive to bring the Alolan Geodude back to consciousness. Sun looked up in time to see Finn blast the ground with Water Gun, flipping into the air and doing several front flips before striking a pose in , Penny shot towards Shadow Rampardos as it stirred, smashing into its side with her glowing beak while Oliver drove into its back with his Leafage and Pluck combination attack.
This left Shadow Rampardos relatively defenseless against Finn, who let out a shout as he hurtled downwards with his fist drawn back, glowing a harsh white color. Roran's attention snapped back to his Shadow Pokémon in time for him to see it get punched in the face with a hellacious impact by Sun's Poliwrath, which caused the mighty beast to collapse onto the ground as a shockwave of pure force erupted across the room.
"Gotcha!" Oliver hooted triumphantly as the Shadow Rampardos groaned weakly from the ground, completely exhausted and beaten down by the various Pokémon involved. Finn flipped once again in midair before landing lightly on the ground, striking a pose as he did so. Sun couldn't help the grin on his face, especially after seeing just how much stronger Finn was now that he had become a Poliwrath.
"Good teamwork everyone!" Sun called to his team as he healed Alastor with a Super Potion, though his eyes quickly moved to where the Cipher Admin stood. Roran opened his mouth to issue a command to his Cloyster, only for a glowing Poké Ball to suddenly whirl through the air and strike the Rampardos in the head, sucking it into the device.
Roran's head turned to the limping form of Aria, who was holding out her Snag Machine with one hand and wiping the blood off of her forehead with the other. Not that it helped, considering her arms and hair were slick with crimson as a result of the attack she had taken. The ball on the ground shook three times before letting out a loud click, and with a hand gesture the Snag Ball flew into Aria's outstretched hand.
"Snag...c-confirmed." Aria spat as she limped towards Roran, holding her chest with a pained scowl as she used her Darmanitan to hold her up. Roran looked back and forth between the three Trainers he was facing, gritting his teeth in anger.
"Shit, shit, shit...Not good." Roran hissed as he watched Aria pocketed his Shadow Pokémon, leaving him with just Thanatos, Cloyster, Umbral Torkoal, Arctizolt, Shadow Archeops, Shadow Cofagrigus and Shadow Heatran. And with his cloak burned and his healing supplies literally up in flames, he was running low on options.
"I underestimated the boy and wanted him to preform for me. I stalled for time, to enjoy every last moment of this, and now I may have squandered my chances for an easy win. Well...It's not too late to destroy them all at once!" Roran thought to himself as he sent out Umbral Torkoal and his Arctizolt. After Stealth Rock slammed into the two of them, the Cloyster floated over to Roran as he called out, "Magma Storm! Overheat! Thunderbolt!"
Flames poured out of Umbral Torkoal and Shadow Heatran, washing over the ground as Arctizolt shuddered at the fire whirling around the room, smashing into several of the Pokémon in front of them. Penny actually blasted Oliver away with Echoed Voice just in time for him to avoid the hit, but she was knocked out as a result. Lusamine's Lilligant was knocked out by the Thunderbolt just as Aria's Darmanitan was overwhelmed by the flames and was knocked out as well.
"Dimitri! Hyper Beam!" Aria yelled out as she returned her Darmanitan and called out a Tyranitar, much to everyone's surprise. The Armor Pokémon appeared in a flash of light and opened its mouth, forming a sphere of raw energy within its maw. It then fired off the attack at the group of assembled Pokémon with a mighty roar. Arcizolt surprised them all by leaping in front of Roran, causing it to explode violently and fill the area with smoke.
"It's incredible how such a monster can inspire such bravery in his Pokémon...Just a testament to what a master manipulator Roran can be." Lusamine remarked dryly as the smoke began to clear. "Flamethrower!"
Fiaro opened his mouth and fired off a blast of flames into the smoke, only for the attack to be blocked by a torrent of water from Cloyster as the Bivalve Pokémon appeared out of nowhere, firing off an Ice Beam that created a massive wall in front of them all.
"Shit. Why's he doing that for?" Aria asked before she held out a hand. "Dimitri, smash it with Giga Impact!"
The Tyranitar growled and glowed bright white before charging at the wall of ice ahead of them, a wicked red aura appearing around him as he smashed through the ice with ease. He was then quickly blasted by a Hydro Pump, sending him crashing to the ground. Behind the ice, now visible, was Roran holding out his Z-Ring with Thanatos floating behind him.
"Well played, all of you. But I believe it's time you all observe why it's me who will become a god, and why in just a matter of moments...You all will kneel." Roran spoke with supreme confidence as he returned his Arctizolt, clipping the belt to his waist before he thrust out his hands.
"You're running out of Pokémon and option Roran." Lusamine pointed out as she began to take several steps forward, Fiaro padding alongside her. Sun and Aria did the same with their Pokémon, causing Roran to scowl in annoyance.
"No." Roran said with a tone of finality. "No more games. No more theatrics. I will not be denied my destiny. I'll crush you with the full might of my power! As the Chosen One, I will show you what it means to stand before the light of Alola!" Roran screamed as he held his Z-Ring aloft, with the light of Roran's Radiance shining brighter than it had ever before. Thanatos floated serenely above Roran as the blinding light ripped through the room, stunning everyone present as Roran's shout echoed outwards for all to hear. With a cry, Roran quickly struck a series of sharp movements, ending with him kneeling on the ground and placing a palm against the floor as Z-Power enveloped both him and his Claydol.
"Thanatos! Channel Earth Power...and use GUARDIAN OF THE GREATS!" Roran screamed as he invoked his Radiance, the sacred power entrusted to him by Tapu Bulu. A power he would use to destroy Alola and everything it stood for.
The entire mountain began to shake.
"W-w-what's going on!?" Aria asked as she fell to one knee, already badly hurt from Shadow Rampardos earlier. Sun held onto Finn for support while Lusamine barely held her ground, glaring at Roran as the madman laughed maniacally, slowly rising to his feet as Thanatos' entire body glowed white behind Roran.
The group watched on in horror as Thanatos' body suddenly morphed into a ball of light that surrounded Roran, who held out his arms and closed his eyes. Suddenly, chunks of stone from the ceiling, wall and floor broke off and floated towards the former Kahuna, who smiled serenely...and began to float into the air.
"What…what is this?" Aria wondered aloud, before shaking her head. "Doesn't matter. Dimitri, use Dark Pulse!"
The Tyranitar opened his mouth to fired the attack, releasing a criss-crossing beam of darkness at the former Kahuna as floating rocks began to circle the madman, even as the glowing from his Z-Ring and the Z-Power flowing from him went into each of the fragments of Thanatos that floated around him. More and more chunks of rock ripped themselves out of the area, and soon there were dozens of boulders floating around Roran. The Dark Pulse smashed against the rocks, but did little else except crack them somewhat.
The Cipher Admin then made a gesture with his arms, and every single one of the boulder froze in midair and zoomed towards him, creating a large blocky sphere of rocks. Then, after several moments, the glowing fragments of Thanatos' body flew into the large boulder that housed the former Kahuna, sending shockwaves of glowing light through the sphere.
And that was when they heard Roran's laughter.
The rocks began to shudder in midair, and then morphed, slowly morphing like clay as something beyond their understanding sculpted the harsh rock into something more concrete. Sun, Lusamine and Aria watched on in horror as the large mound of boulders slowly began to shift into a stone that statue loomed above them all.
The black titan of rock was about forty feet tall and spherical in shape, resembling an angular helmet of sorts with glowing threads of light weaving around the shape of it. Fragments of Thanatos were embedded in the outside of the sphere, glowing brown and white at regular intervals. Five glowing chunks of Thanatos floated around the massive figure, as if waiting for a command.
"This...is it. The end." The voice of Roran Rubinara groaned from within the titan, called upon by the man who had been bestowed the power of the Guardian Deities to lead Alola to a brighter future…
Now his final act before becoming a Tapu, and in doing so condemn Alola to a future of destruction and death, would be to invoke his Radiance one final time to crush those who opposed him. All in the twisted visage of the very Guardian Deities of Alola that he aspired to become.
Roran let out a shout from within the head that floated in front of them, the mountain began to shake again. With an incredibly loud cracking sound, more stone ripped itself from the walls as glowing fragments of Thanatos soared into the chunks of rock, causing them to quickly take shape.
Soon enough, the five remaining fragments of Thanatos had sculpted the rock into three glowing hands that, while crude, were still large enough to crush any of them with ease. These hands floated in front of the head that Roran had sealed himself inside of, while two long pillars of stone floated behind the head, resembling roughly-hewn swords.
"What...is this?" Lusamine whispered, fear in her eyes as the massive guardian loomed over them, its hands and swords floating gently in the air beside it.
"The power...of the Tapu…" Aria said with awe in her voice, clenching her fists and taking in the sight of the behemoth in front of her. Sun snapped out of surprise and turned to the device floating beside him.
"Rotom, what the heck is going on?" Sun demanded as the Rotom Dex watched the scene playing out before him with surprise and confusion.
"Sun...I have absolutely no idea. The sheer power coming off of him...It's unlike anything I've ever seen..." Rotom trailed off, seemingly unsure of whether it wanted to finish the statement or not.
Roran's laughter suddenly echoed out from the massive titan that stood before them, an example of the might that the so-called "God of Madness" had brought to bear. Light shined through the cracks in the golem, even as each fragment of Thanatos flared with Z-Power and the automaton flexed its stone hands
"Now then. It seems as if we've reached the end of our play. THE...GRAND...FINALE!" Roran boomed as he seemingly merged with Thanatos, using the power of Radiance to enact some kind of immensely powerful Z-Move. Lusamine and Aria stepped protectively in front of Sun, bracing themselves for a new chapter in the deadly showdown.
NEXT TIME: Roran unleashes his true power! Also, Lusamine shows her trump card, Alastor schemes, and Borlath sends a message. The end of the Act is upon us!
Man these chapters are long. But fun. The final battle with Roran reaches its climax!
Q & A
From: Joey
1) What will happen to the Dream Park now that Roran got ousted as the Fossil Man? Will another, less evil Fossil Man take over the reigns?
2) Speaking of fossils, is Cara Liss aware of the Fossil Man's true identity?
3) How does Roran feel about Alola getting a Pokemon League? I'd imagine he'd probably be glad since that was one of the things he wanted all those years ago.
1. ...Have you been reading my notes?
2. Nope. She just knew him as the Fossil Man, as did much of the world. Keep in mind that the Fossil Man regularly correspond with President Stone and Lysandre Labs, as a result of his influence in the Fossil Revival market. Even in hiding, Roran was wealthy and had influence.
3. He was fully supportive of it at first, thinking it would be a massive boon for Alola and help take some of the power away from the Councils. Now, he sees the Leagues as a threat to his goals and is so far gone that he doesn't care about it any further than that.
That's all for now, folks. Next chapter will be the final chapter within this Act! Stay tuned, because it's gonna be wild.
In the meantime, please be sure to drop a review in the section below and leave me your thoughts! Also, favorite and/or follow the story if you haven't already to stay updated with the story. I also answer questions in the review section, and I have a Discord dedicated to RS that anyone can join.
Thanks for everything. Let's make 2021 our year. Through sheer determination, if nothing else.
Take care and stay awesome.
Until next time, FlygonNick out!
