Ch.25
Realizations
Pokemon is the property of its respective owners
Karen sat patiently in the meeting room, playfully twiddling her thumbs and whistling a tune, as the other teachers talked and questioned one another about what this surprise meeting could be about. Stephanie stood up proudly with her head held high, daring anyone of these teachers to walk up to Karen and ask her to put her inside a pokeball; a challenge none of them wanted to do. Hope sat next to her and gave her a kind, gentle nod which the former champion returned with a quick hug which the psychiatrist didn't object to as he chuckled and gently pushed her off. Karen snickered and took stock of who was in the meeting room; teachers, counselors, principals of the separate areas, vice principals, security guards, and pretty much anyone under the sun who had anything to do with this school. Arceus, even the janitors were here!
"Do you know why the headmaster summoned us?" Karen whispered to Hope who shrugged and folded his arms.
"Beats me, I guess we'll find out…now," Hope stated bluntly as the headmaster, a shorty, potbellied man, walked into the room and stood at the podium with a firm, yet kind gaze.
"I would like to thank you all for taking time from your Saturdays to come here," the headmaster began as the people in the room exchanged glances with one another and waited for the headmaster to continue.
"It has come to my attention that a problem, a problem that some had thought was an isolated incident, but sadly, this isn't true. With Karen's son having departed on a journey along with other students who dropped out from our program and sought other methods of training, it's clear that our program isn't as prestigious as we would like it to be," the headmaster continued as the teachers eyed the man warily and their silence to the headmaster meant he could continue.
"So now, I am considering getting rid of the separate areas of the battle rookies, battle aces, and battle masters and letting the students mingle together as one whole student body," the headmaster finished somberly as some shouted in outrage at this plan while others seemed to not be bothered by this at all, believing it to be highly beneficial, while some could care less either way.
"Headmaster." Karen rolled her eyes, knowing that gruff, know-it-all voice. "Why should we care about some weakling students who can't live up to our standards anyway? If they can't handle the pressure and drop out, then it produces less stress on those who wasted their time teaching them."
"Lee, our school is meant to teach students of all skill levels and if they're dropping out of what's supposed to be the best system that hones their skills like no other school, then we have a problem," the headmaster retorted sternly as Lee narrowed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets.
"I agree headmaster, that's why we have the ranking system and separate areas for the different rankings. So that way the battle rookies only hang out with battle rookies and so on," Lee said casually as Karen was about to step up and speak her mind, but someone beat her to the punch.
"Headmaster, if I may speak?" Malakai asked politely as the potbellied man nodded and told the others to direct their attention to him.
"Headmaster, I know what is the problem. The rankings are fine, it gives the students pride knowing that their hard work has been awarded, but separating them from their friends? Friends whom they struggled with tooth and nail to get where they are? That isn't right and it's made more so by the fact they may never see each other again unless they sign up for P.E. which only allows battle rookies and aces to mingle together," Malakai stated firmly as the teachers began whispering amongst themselves while Lee snorted.
"That does-"
"One of my students, Delia Shiina, she was a…complicated girl. In my class, she's the quietest among us, barely making a sound unless spoken too, but her answers were short and blunt. The other students didn't really take a liking to her because of this and began bullying her and it came to a boiling point when Delia had defended herself from three girls who had attempted to attack her in the girl's bathroom. A girl who had witnessed the fight saw Delia get grabbed from behind, but she smashed the back of her head into the other girl's face causing her to let go and that was when Delia tackled another one into the sink causing it to shatter. The final girl tried to surrender, but Delia simply grabbed her head and smashed her face into the mirror which caused not only the glass to shatter, but cut up the final girl's face badly," Malakai said, completely cutting off Lee who grunted and folded his arms.
"I don't-"
"All of them were punished of course and it was a miracle that Delia wasn't expelled. The other students didn't bother her anymore, but that left her lonelier than ever in my class. When I discovered that she was sneaking out of the battle ace area and going to the battle rookie area to hang out with her friend and his Mienshao, I didn't report it. She would do this every time during lunch and I would occasionally check up on her; it was those rare times that I actually saw her smile, joke, and laugh and actually be herself," Malakai trucked on as Lee growled and stomped his feet while glaring at Delia's teacher.
"I see Malakai; you're saying that desegregating would allow students not to fear moving up a rank because then they wouldn't risk never seeing their friends again?" the headmaster questioned as the teacher slowly smirked and nodded.
"Yes headmaster; Delia didn't take the battle master test because she didn't want to get further separated from her friends and for the reason she told me is to help her friend improve. If Delia was a battle master, then she would be completely cut off from the rest of the student body. The battle master area has its own special classes and facilities, not allowing any sort of inter-class mingling, and the students are only allowed to leave the battle master area if it's of the utmost importance. How would this affect Delia who's already socially awkward and only has two friends in this school?" Malakai asked the crowd who looked to one another for an answer.
"Was Mrs. Shiina ready for the battle master test?" the headmaster inquired as Malakai nodded solemnly.
"Yes headmaster, she was more than ready to take the test, but as the reasons stated before, she chose not to take it."
"I bet you're just saying that to make her seem tougher than she is. I'd like to see how she would fare against battle masters!" Lee boasted confidently as Malakai glanced at him with a blank stare and folded his arms.
"Against those spoiled, lazy pretenders? She'd mop the floor with them," Malakai responded bluntly as Lee growled and stalked towards the shorter man and got right in his face.
"Say that again," Lee growled as Malakai narrowed his eyes at the taller man.
"Delia, against the laziest, most overrated, weakest ranking in the school, would easily defeat any of the so called best the Battle Academy has to offer," Malakai responded evenly as Lee wound his arm back in an attempt to strike the shorter man.
"Lee, enough!" the headmaster shouted irritably as Lee snorted and walked away to a corner in the room with a scowl on his face.
"Headmaster, if I may add on to what Malakai said. Dmitri, as some of you may know, trained under Marshal of the Elite Four for a time at my request and he got much stronger because of it. He should have been a battle ace along with Delia, but our school's way of shoving information down our student's throats, constantly drilling them into thinking that book taught tactics are absolute on the battlefield, and expecting them all meet the same standard as others hindered his and other's progress," Karen stated passionately as others in the room murmured to themselves until Stephanie's harsh gaze silenced them.
"I can back up what Karen is saying headmaster; Dmitri was a shy, quiet kid in my class and the others used to challenge him to battles because they said it was easy to beat him. The kid had so much potential, but expecting him to meet the high standards we set up in such a short time caused him to rush things and not properly take the time to grow stronger," Mr. Yamamoto backed up Karen who gave him a grateful nod in thanks.
"Headmaster, with all due respect, you're listening to the testimonies of a failed battle ace teacher, a former champion who's far past her prime, and a meathead. Surely you're not taking this seriously?" Lee reasoned rudely as Stephanie subtly moved one of her vines over to strangle him, an act that Karen wouldn't normally oppose, but this was a meeting and they had to look professional so she stopped her by petting the grass snake's back.
"Headmaster, I work directly with battle masters and let me tell you that what Malakai says is true. Students who have the potential to be champions or elite four members instead chose not to take their classes seriously and flaunt their egos about being the best of the best. Granted, not all of them are like this, but they're few out of the whole that take classes and training seriously," Karen said with disgust, not wanting to think about the days when she was stuck with those bratty students.
"Headmaster, separating the students based on skill and letting those who can't meet our standards drop out makes our school stronger. It weeds out the strong from the weak and what you're doing will jeopardize that," Lee shouted furiously as the headmaster glowered at the taller man who stubbornly stood his ground and glared back.
"Lee, may I ask you a question?" Hope said calmly as Lee looked at the psychiatrist with raised brows and nodded warily.
"You train fighting type pokemon correct?"
"That's right."
"Well, what if there was a test and the only way to pass it was for one of your pokemon to be able to fly? The other's participating in the test are a fire type specialist, a water type specialist, and a flying type specialist. You're only allowed to use pure typing; no dual types," Hope stated coolly as Lee furrowed his brow and snorted.
"That wouldn't be fair then; only the flying type specialist would pass while we would all fail," Lee muttered as Hope smirked and placed his hands on his knees.
"Do you see my point?" Hope questioned him as Lee snorted and shook his head.
"No, what you said has nothing to do with wanting to keep the separate areas," Lee retorted as Hope's smirk faded and turned into a frown.
"You don't see any relation to our situation at hand and the one I presented?" Hope questioned him as Lee stubbornly shook his head.
"Well, being presented with all these statements have made me come to a decision. The Battle Academy will no longer have separate areas; the students will be free interact with one another as they please," the headmaster stated as Karen and Hope shared a high five while Lee and others who supported his stance grumbled angrily among themselves.
"Now, that only leaves one other problem at hand; how do we fix our current teaching system?" the headmaster said out in the open as Malakai stood up to speak.
"Headmaster, I believe a more loose teaching style would be more beneficial and most of the teacher's here would agree. Instead of pressuring the children with the big, final test to determine their rankings, smaller tests of skill and strength should be taken throughout the school year which would more accurately determine a student's skill. In addition, instead of teaching our students outdated methods from a book, we should teach them actual things that we, the teachers, have learned throughout our experiences as champions, elite four members, gym leaders, or wandering trainers," Malakai suggested as the headmaster stroked his beard in contemplation before looking across the room.
"Very well, starting on Monday we will implement these teaching methods," the headmaster agreed as most of the teachers cheered in victory, but the ones like Lee stalked out of the room, angry with the result.
"Way to fulfill a stereotype Lee," Karen whispered to Hope who laughed lightly and put his hands in his coat pockets.
"Oh no Karen; Lee isn't hotheaded, stubborn, and relies on brute strength to win a battle. I believe he gives fighting specialists in the world a very good name," Hope muttered back with false sincerity causing Hope and Karen to chuckle a little louder this time causing Lee to look at them oddly, but thought nothing of it.
"Headmaster, one final word?" Karen voiced out as the headmaster nodded and gave her the floor.
"To all those who still think battle masters are the best students in this school, let me ask you this. Why do you think during the annual class battles, the only rare time when all the classes actually get together to face one another in pokemon battles, that the battle aces usually get first place and the battle masters barely get second?" Karen stated seriously as the teachers mused about this and turned to one another for answers.
After everyone was dismissed, Karen decided to take a stroll through a very familiar place outside of the school grounds along with Stephanie. Venipede and whirlipede eyed the duo curiously, but made no attempt to harm them as the duo suddenly felt the ground rumbling as two giant, purple looking pinwheels approached them. Stephanie slithered in front of Karen as she saw two scolipede uncurl and stand up to their full height as they regarded the duo curiously. Stephanie and the two scolipede regarded one another with wary, cautious looks until all three of them burst into laughter.
"(It's good to see you again Stephanie and I see you brought along Kit Kat this time,)" the male scolipede stated happily as the grass snake smirked and gently pushed Karen towards them.
"(Sorry about the whole trying to kill your son and all, it was just we were trying to protect our nest,)" the female scolipede apologized to them as Karen raised a brow while Stephanie rolled her eyes.
"How many times must I say I forgive you until it sticks?" Karen jokingly asked as the two scolipede boomed with laughter causing the venipede and whirlipede in the background to somewhat come out of the cover of the trees.
"(Well, what can we do for you o' great champion?)" the male scolipede bowed with mock politeness causing Karen to snicker and fold her arms.
"You mentioned last time I visited that you had a child that wanted to go see the world?" Karen inquired as the mated pair nodded and stepped to the side to reveal the many venipede and whirlipede hiding out in the trees.
"(Kiera, you can come out; it's okay, don't be shy,)" the parents urged their young as a gray, tire like pokemon rolled out of the trees causing Stephanie to observe the young pokemon intently.
With a closer look, Stephanie could see that it looked like a gray, spiky tire with what looked pointy barbs on the front and back causing the grass snake to snort. Although they seemed to be oozing with deadly poison, she could care less. Additional spikes were on the shell itself, probably for balance, as the grass snake couldn't wrap her head around how the darn thing could stay upright if they weren't there.
"Hello, you are the little one who wishes to see the world?" Karen asked as she knelt down next to the whirlipede and extended her hand, waiting for it to indicate that it was okay to pet it, and when it gently moved into her hand, Karen took that as a sign as she could stroke it.
Kiera seemed to grunt as Karen petted her, not minding the former champion's touch, as the scolipede pair and Stephanie watched on intently.
"(Well, isn't she a bundle of energy?)" Stephanie grunted sarcastically causing Karen to groan, but continued petting Kiera.
"Kiera, I have a son who's traveling through the Sinnoh region right now and you would make an excellent addition to his team. Would you like me to send you over to him?" Karen asked Kiera curiously as the Kiera's slitted pupils focused on her intently, never taking her eyes of the former champion.
After a tense moment, Kiera rocked back and forth slightly causing Karen to nod and stand up while taking a pokeball off her belt. Gently tapping Kiera's shell, the curlipede pokemon went in without a fight and after the pokeball rumbled a bit, it stopped causing a smile to tug at Karen's lips while Stephanie rolled her eyes. Turning to the mated pair, Karen and Stephanie gave a courteous bow, thanking them for this opportunity, as the two scolipede nodded in response and sauntered back into the forest with their other children in tow.
"(Well, I guess we'd better-)"
"(Stop, human!)" an angry voice telepathically shouted to Karen causing her to turn to the source of the voice with Stephanie slithering in front of her once again as she reared up to her full height and narrowed her eyes in focus.
The being who stepped out of the tree caused Stephanie to slightly widen her eyes in shock before returning to her cool gaze. Stephanie was never too fond of legendary pokemon in the first place.
"(Virizion, what are you doing here?)" Stephanie interrogated bluntly as the forest guardian shot her a death glare and walked up to the grass snake which didn't intimidate Stephanie in the slightest.
"(Show some respect child! I have only come here to liberate one of my brethren from this human-)"
"(That human's name is Karen and you will refer to her as such,)" Stephanie interjected causing Virizion to want nothing more than to crush this pokemon under his heel for her total lack of respect, but he hoped that this issue could be solved peacefully so he kept his cool.
"(Human-)" Virizion started, but Stephanie cut him off once again.
"(I have already told you to refer to her as Karen,)" Stephanie interrupted sternly as Virizion turned to face the grass snake once again with an angry scowl which would have sent even the most courageous pokemon running for the hills, but Stephanie remained rooted to the spot.
"(I don't care what you name your pet human, child! I also don't care to learn her name so I will refer to her as human!)" Virizion shouted furiously at Stephanie who glowered at the forest guardian and tensed up, ready for a fight.
"(Firstly, Karen is my best friend, my family, and she certainly isn't my pet! Secondly, if you don't care to call her by her name, then I'll call you shrub! Thirdly, my name isn't child, it's Stephanie!)" Stephanie retorted furiously as Virizion chuckled loudly, offending the proud grass snake.
"(Oh child, I pity you. Humans and pokemon can never be friends; whatever she's done to earn your trust just means she has an ulterior mot-)"
"(Oh child, I pity you. Karen has never betrayed me or any of my teammates trust and she's never thought of doing so. Your time being holed up in Pinwheel Forest has left you out of touch with the very beings you claim to be protecting and before you say anything else, Karen didn't capture any of her pokemon, her friends, her family. We all willingly went with her because we could tell that she had a good heart and it's not fair for you to lump all the bad humans you encountered with the good ones,)" Stephanie cut off as Virizion, stunned at this display, narrowed his eyes at Stephanie; enraged at the gall this pokemon had.
"Virizion, why did you come?" Karen inquired calmly as the forest guardian turned his focused gaze onto her which intimidated the former champion, but she held her ground and stared back at the forest guardian.
"(I saw you capture that young Whirlipede; tell me, what do you intend on doing with her?)" Virzion asked coolly as Karen looked to Stephanie who barely could contain a grin and mouthed "do it."
"I plan on eating her," Karen replied sarcastically causing Virizion to get a stunned expression on his face while Stephanie and Karen laughed at his reaction and it seemed that Kiera took a liking to this to as her pokeball rumbled a bit.
"(No, I won't let you! I will strike you down where you stand!)" Virizion shouted determinedly as he moved towards Karen aggressively, but Stephanie put a vine on the forest guardian's chest.
"(Since you clearly don't understand sarcasm, let me just say Karen was joking and this kind of proves my point that you spent too much time in your own little world…shrub,)" Stephanie stated plainly as Virizion opened his mouth to respond, but closed it; knowing the grass snake had a point.
"Virizion, Kiera wanted to experience the world and my son needs a new addition to his team. He will treat her well and Kiera will gain valuable strength, skill, and wisdom because of it," Karen responded firmly as she waited for Virizion's response for what seemed like an eternity before the forest guardian gestured to the pokeball holding Kiera.
Nodding, Karen released Kiera who seemed to widen her eyes just the slightest bit before returning to her impassive stare and regarded the forest guardian blankly.
"(Young one, is it true that you wish to experience the world and you believe that being with a trainer is the best way?)" Virizion asked Kiera who rocked back and forth causing the forest guardian to narrow his eyes at the dual type pokemon.
"(There are other ways to experience the world young one; you can travel with others of your kind or-)"
"(Shrub, she's made her decision and you must respect it,)" Stephanie defended the younger pokemon who blushed slightly, but returned to her blank demeanor once more.
"(I've heard enough out of you insolent child,)" Virizion growled dangerously as his body started glowing a bright green and formed a huge pillar of light to form on his head which resembled horn while Stephanie's tail started glowing a vibrant green and sharpened to a razor's edge.
"(I challenge you to a duel, child; the victor of this battle will decide Kiera's fate!)" Virizion proclaimed firmly as Stephanie narrowed her eyes and allowed the energy that surrounded her tail to dissipate; shocking the legendary pokemon as he wondered what the grass snake was up to.
"(No, as much as I'd like to defeat a legendary, it wouldn't be fair to do so if that means I unfairly decide someone else's fate without their input. Goodbye,)" Stephanie countered calmly as she turned her back to the forest guardian which caused her to look face to face with her trainer, mouthing the word run.
Stephanie ducked under Virizion's attempted sneak attack and slithered backwards, angrily narrowing her eyes at the legendary pokemon who returned the glare with one of his own. Stephanie, out of the corner of her eye, saw Karen remained rooted to the spot, a defiant gaze in her eyes, and urged Kiera to remain behind the trees which caused Kiera to just stare blankly at her in response. Stephanie, thoroughly pissed at the legendary pokemon's "honor and wisdom", quickly encased her tail in vibrant green light, sharpening it to a razor's edge once again. Virizion in turn once again covered himself in a bright green light causing the pillar of blinding light to form on his head once again.
As the two prepared to charge at one another, Karen rushed out into the open and extended her arms out with a stern, determined look on her face. Stephanie went wide in eyed in shock, angered and scared at her friend's bravery and foolishness, and Virizion decided to take advantage of this as the former champion began to speak.
"Virizion, stop, you-" Karen never got to finish as the forest guardian rushed forward and with expert precision, slashed downwards while the stunned woman and grass snake could only watch it happen.
Virizion, angered at not feeling more of his blade pierce the human's flesh, turned to the side and saw Kiera near the woman which angered and confused Virizion; why would she risk her life for a human? Karen was currently unconscious with a nasty, bloody gash starting from her shoulder all the way down to her stomach as crimson blood dripped down her body onto the ground causing blood to pool around her motionless form while Kiera rolled in front of the prone woman.
"(Kit Kat…)" Stephanie breathed out softly as tears rolled down her face and felt her lips quiver as she thought…no, Karen can't be dead!
"(Your pet human brought it upon herself for trying to decide a pokemon's fate,)" Virizion stated simply as Stephanie gritted her teeth and glowered darkly at the forest guardian as her body trembled uncontrollably.
"(Oh, and I assume that you think you know what's best for her and all pokemon?)" Stephanie challenged the forest guardian who nodded and smirked smugly.
"(Of course, I wouldn't be the guardian if I didn't know what was best for my people. I'm glad you see it my way,)" Virizion replied haughtily as Stephanie's pupils narrowed into slits, her body tensed up allowing the some of the veins on her body to become visible and pulse frantically, and the bright green aura that once surrounded her tail to become a dark, furious green.
Stephanie, faster than Kiera could perceive, seemingly teleported in front of Virizion and slashed at the forest guardian who brought up his sword of light in time to block it causing a shockwave to resonate throughout the area when the blades clashed. Trees were knocked over or were stripped of their foliage while Kiera brought up a green dome of energy around herself and the woman, just barely enduring the attack. Stephanie and Virizion grunted, both trying to push the other back, until Virizion redirected the blades downwards and struck out with a horizontal slash, hoping to take off his foe's head, but the grass snake gracefully weaved her head out of the way and slithered backwards.
Virizion charged at Stephanie with precise slashes and stabs, but his agile foe remained calm and maneuvered around the fatal blows like a graceful dancer as the fiery red aura that now surrounded Stephanie glowed brighter with each successful dodge. Stephanie parried a blow that would have cleaved a tree in half with a flick of her tail causing Virizion to awkwardly stumble to the side as the grass snake spun around and slashed at the forest guardian. Virizion let out a gasp as he leaned backwards to avoid the fatal strike, but it left a sizable cut on his chest causing him to grunt and block out the pain.
Stephanie breathed in and exhaled as she became larger and repeated the process once again which increased her already massive build. Unleashing her vines, Stephanie charged at Virizion once again causing the forest guardian to brace himself and parry a high speed blow that sent him skidding backwards causing the gravel underneath to fly in all directions. Stephanie broke off the attack and grabbed some of the loose gravel and flung it at Virizion who cut them all to pieces, but heard a swish noise to his right and turned to it only to realize a giant tree was going to fall down right on top of him. Jumping to the side, Virizion managed to avoid being crushed and scanned his surroundings for his foe and widened his eyes in shock as Stephanie was now bigger and imposing than before. Stephanie kept her angered, yet blank face as she shot a white ball into the sky causing the sun to shine even brighter and hotter than ever, but the two combatants remained unperturbed by the glare of the sun.
The grass snake then charged a beam of the sun's powerful energy into her mouth and managed to get it to full power instantaneously thanks to the sun's rays. Virizion tensed, awaiting the attack, but to his surprise, his foe swallowed the beam. Stephanie glowed with ethereal, green energy the likes of which casued Kiera to bow in respect while Virizion was awestruck at the power Stephanie's new form had. Virizion, not giving his foe a chance to do anything strange, charged at her, but howled in pain when Stephanie struck him with the back of her tail sending the forest guardian sailing to side as he knocked over any unfortunate trees that had the misfortune of being in his path. Stephanie extended her vines to the broken trees and caused them to glow a bright warm green slowly causing the trees to grow back to their former glory. Virizion, winded after the last attack, got up with a pained gasp and spat out some dirt that had gotten in his mouth and was about to turn around to face Stephanie once again until he felt Stephanie's tail slam him violently back on the ground.
Kiera watched as Stephanie's muscles bulged and coiled around Virizion's neck while wrapping her vines around the forest guardian's legs to prevent him from escaping and watched as the forest guardian tossed and turned violently in an attempt to break free, but Stephanie was too strong as she held a firm grip on the legendary pokemon. Kiera saw Virizion's struggles cease as the forest guardian's eyes went blank and the blood vessels seemed to become visible in the legendary pokemon's eyes as his once proud face was now one of terror as he tried to suck in oxygen to no avail causing Stephanie to take this chance to lean her face in and to talk to her opponent.
"(You want to know something?)" Stephanie snarled as she tightened her grip on Virizion's neck causing the forest guardian to gag and struggle weakly.
"(While you hid in Lala land, touting yourself as the strongest, I've been out here training like hell to get stronger and each and every day. And now, I realize that my training has paid off; after all I am stronger than you, a legendary pokemon, you a sword of justice, you the guardian of pokemon,)" Stephanie whispered eerily as she squeezed harder causing Virizion's eyes to bulge out of his sockets and to gasp violently.
"(They say a living being's most violent struggles are when they're near death; let's see if there's truth to that,)" Stephanie murmured softly as she now squeezed as hard as she could causing Virizion to hack loudly as the forest guardian struggled with all his might to break free; picking up his head and slamming Stephanie down onto the ground causing the grass snake to grunt, but nevertheless she held on.
Virizion flailed his legs and head in vain for a few tense moments until he stopped moving, but Stephanie showed no signs of letting go as she held firm onto his neck until another voice rang out throughout the area.
"(Dear Arceus, stop!)"a fearful, booming voice shouted desperately causing Stephanie to snarl, ignoring the voice, and continued wringing Virzion's neck for a good while until she became tired of it and tossed the limp body of Virizion to the side and slithered over to Karen where she wrapped her up in her vines.
The grass snake gave Karen the energy from her powered form to Karen who moaned at the energy flowing through her as Stephanie saw her wound seal itself which stopped the blood from flowing out of her body bringing Stephanie much relief.
"(Cobalion,)" Stephanie stated gruffly as she put the unconscious Karen on her back and wrapped her vines around her waist and formed a makeshift sling.
Kiera nudged the pokeball next to Stephanie who grunted and formed another vine to pick up the pokeball as she tapped it to Kiera's forehead. She went into the pokeball without a fuss causing Stephanie to clip it to Karen's belt while looking to Cobalion who tenderly placed a hoof on Virizion's back as the forest guardian lay limp on the ground causing Stephanie to bow her head briefly before making her way back to the school until Cobalion moved in front of her. The leader of the Swords of Justice shot her a glare that would cull many pokemon into submission, but Stephanie just seemed annoyed and stared back.
"(Why did you do harm Virizion chil-)"
"(Call me child one more time and I'll snap your neck,)" Stephanie growled as the leader of the Swords of Justice narrowed her eyes at the pokemon before her; first she harms one of her friends and now she has the gall to talk back to her?
Roughly pushing past Cobalion, Stephanie slithered back to the Battle Academy until Cobalion yet again blocked her path.
"(Young one, why have you harmed my friend?)" Cobalion questioned calmly, but Stephanie could still hear trace bits of anger in her voice.
"(He nearly killed my friend and unfairly tried to tell someone how to live their life,)" Stephanie answered impatiently as she tried to slither past Cobalion, but noble guardian impeded her causing Stephanie to snarl.
"(Excuse me, but my friend needs to get proper medical attention!)" Stephanie yelled irritably as the resolute guardian stood her ground causing the grass snake to groan in frustration.
"(That human is not your friend. Whatever she's told you-)"
"(Yeah yeah, I got the same schtick from Virizion and look where that got him. So if you don't mind,)" Stephanie said as calmly as she could manage right now which wasn't much to say the least.
"(So you attacked Virizion because of something he said? If that's the case then I'm sorry for what he may have said, but that doesn't give you the right to kill him,)" Cobalion boomed sternly as Stephanie shook her head incredulously at the leader of the swords of justice.
"(Are you fucking deaf or something? I killed Virizion because he nearly killed my friend and he left me no choice. So much for the honor and dignity of the Swords of Justice; he tried to get a cheap shot in on me!)" Stephanie roared furiously as she finally lost her patience as Cobalion shook her head sadly.
"(I'm sorry young one, but I can't believe what you said because huma-)"
"(I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Virizion; spending all that time hidden wherever you were has left you out of touch with the very beings you claim to be protecting,)" Stephanie interrupted rudely causing Cobalion to shake her head and eyed the grass snake with pity.
"(I knew a pokemon like you before; claiming that she befriended-)"
"(Yeah, I know how the legend goes Captain Obvious. You claimed you befriended a human, a human that you were too stupid to realize that he was manipulating you from the start and when you finally managed to pull your head out of your ass and realized what he was doing it was too late. The kingdoms launched their war against pokemon and from that day forward you and your crew of self-righteous bastards started your crusade against humanity,)" Stephanie cut off causing Cobalion to snort and glare indignantly at the floral serpent.
"(Cobalion, if you don't move, I will see to it that the pain inflicted upon Virizion will be brought upon you a hundred fold. MOVE NOW!)" Stephanie threatened viciously as the resolute guardian relented and stepped aside, allowing the floral serpent to pass.
Seeing her other swords of justice checking up on Virizion, Cobalion wiped away any stray tears and put on a strong face as she calmly walked up to Keldeo and asked of him Virizion's condition.
"(Cobalion, I'm sorry, but he…)" Keldeo choked out as Terrakion gently nuzzled him in an attempt to comfort him to no avail.
"(Cobalion, who did this?)" Terrakion asked sadly as Cobalion steeled her resolve, trying her best to fight back tears that were so close to being let out.
"(As you know, we trained the species of snivy and oshawott in swordplay and their ancestor's skills were passed down their bloodlines. It was an extremely powerful Serperior named Stephanie that killed Virizion and not only that; she was a human trained one. As you know, the pokemon under a human's tutelage gains unnatural growth in strength and skill; far above any naturally trained pokemon in the wild,)" Cobalion told the remaining two of the bunch causing Terrakion to narrow her eyes and for Keldeo to determinedly look at his leader and stepped forward.
"(Where is she now?)" Keldeo questioned hotly as Cobalion eyed him and gestured over to a hill causing the remaining two members of the Sword of Justice to follow their leader.
"(She's there in that human education building tending to her befriended human. We will make haste there and demand retribution,)" Cobalion stated firmly as her two friends nodded.
"(What kind of payment do you have in mind?)" Terrakion inquired as Cobalion's face grew hard and glared darkly down at the school.
"(She killed Virizion, our friend, so it's only fair if we kill that human of hers,)" Cobalion responded viciously as she jumped off the hill and sprinted towards the school with her two companions in tow.
Meanwhile…
Stephanie managed to reach the entrance to the school where her teammates were waiting as Rhyperior, as expected, held a hand to her mouth when she saw Karen, but Stephanie had no time for whatever insults she was going to say to her and quickly yanked Lucario towards her.
"(Heal now!)" Stephanie demanded hotly as Lucario didn't protest and put paw on his friend's wound causing Karen to wince at the cold touch, but relaxed when she felt the warm touch of aura as her wound disappeared.
"(She just needs rest; other than that she'll be fine,)" Lucario stated coolly causing Stephanie to breathe a sigh of relief as she saw the expectant gazes of her teammates.
"(We found a new teammate for Dmitri, Virizion tried to stop us with bullshit reasoning and aggression, I choked a bitch, and said bitches friends are coming here for revenge probably because I killed him,)" Stephanie told them the tersely as her teammates had mixed reactions.
Salamence, Lucario, and Electivire nodded their heads in approval, never being too fond of legendaries like Stephanie because they found them to be haughty and condescending as they knew that Stephanie would never do something so drastic unless her life or her friend's life was threatened while Rhyperior gave Stephanie a disappointing stare and shook her head; while thankful that she got Karen out alive, she didn't approve of killing another being. And Slowbro…was Slowbro as she tilted her head to the side and plopped down on the ground absentmindedly.
"(So what's the plan Friend Stephanie?)" Salamence questioned the de facto leader of their group causing the floral serpent to sigh and turn her head to him.
"(We lure them to the battle grounds in the battle ace area where I, Rhyperior, and Slowbro will do battle against the three of them,)" Stephanie responded hurriedly as she turned to her remaining teammates.
"(Lucario, take Karen and spread the word that the school grounds need to be evacuated; this battle is going to be intense and I'd rather not anyone not involved be caught in the crossfire. Electivire, you help with the evacuation and make the unruly ones follow Lucario's lead. Salamence, go greet our guests and direct them to where we'll be fighting,)" Stephanie ordered as her teammates nodded and went off to do their assigned tasks as Stephanie, Rhyperior, and Slowbro made their way to the battlefield.
"(Why the battle ace area?)" Rhyperior asked curiously as Stephanie smirked and got a nostalgic look on her face.
"(The battle master area is too fancy and fragile and plus it's a confined space. The battle ace area, however, looks like it's been bombed many times over, and it's a wide open space...and it may or may not be where Karen and I had one of our memorable battles,)" Stephanie replied simply as Rhyperior sighed and folded her arms.
"(You plan on using the terrain to your advantage, that's fine, but I will not kill my opponent like you did,)" Rhyperior spat with venom in her voice causing Stephanie to round on her and stare her down.
"(Rhyperior, I feel bad about it, but do you honestly think they'll care? Rhy, they're coming here to kill Karen to get retribution so put aside your flawed, self-righteous moral code and do what's necessary to protect your daughter and to protect my sister!)" Stephanie yelled impatiently at the elder pokemon who sighed in defeat and nodded in response.
"(Rhy, believe me, I'm against killing too, but sometimes you got to do it. Some people just never learn, no matter how many chances you give them like the Swords of Justice. They lived longer than you have and they must have seen humans and pokemon as friends and family. They simply deny it because they can't get over their obsolete views on the world,)" Stephanie stated as Rhyperior grunted and trudged forward with a solemn look.
"(I'm not saying you should go for the kill outright, but if they give you no other choice, you'd better not hesitate. Remember, it's your moral code or Karen; which is more important to you?)" Stephanie growled bitterly as Rhyperior slowed down her pace and wiped away some tears that were forming at her eyes.