Ch. 46

Things to Come

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

"Okay guys, let's move!" Catherine shouted over to her team as she grabbed an officer by his armpits while Kricketune wrapped its appendages around the policeman's feet as best as he could while Luka, Floatzel, Graveler, and Ursaring carried two officers on their shoulders and followed their trainer.

Transporting injured personnel while dodging any stray attacks that hurtled their way was no easy feat and many a time Kricketune had to forcibly spin to change positions with the former heiress to deflect attacks coming her way, but by some miracle they got to the makeshift medical station relatively intact. Catherine and her team set down the police officers on any available beds and Catherine, seeing that the battle was still raging on, turned to her team.

"Luka, Floatzel, Kricketune, heal them before going back out there and bringing in any other wounded. Graveler, Ursaring, you guys are with me," Catherine ordered her team and Luka, despite not being happy with the demand, reluctantly let Catherine go outside without her, but not before shooting Graveler and Ursaring a pleading look causing them to look at the former heiress and nod.

Scanning the area, Catherine saw a downed civilian and when she and her teammates attempted to help her, Graveler let out a cry of pain as an unseen attack broke a large chunk of his earthen body and sent him stumbling back. Ursaring let out a confused, angry roar when she felt herself being lifted up into the air by her leg and was slammed down onto the asphalt chin-first causing a sickening crack to echo throughout the street causing the grizzly bear to let out a hiss of pain while Catherine futilely scanned left and right for their attacker to no avail.

Seeing a blur appear at her side, Catherine wound her fist back and sent a wild haymaker at her mystery foe, but it seemingly mocked the former heiress by easily sidestepping her punch and brought its own fist back for an attack.

"Gah!" Catherine screamed as she felt a hard punch collide with her gut causing her to cough up blood and go flying back onto the hood of a car where she lay still as her attacker, a giant, brown bug with spiky pincers, approached it helpless opponent.

Biting down on her lip so hard that she drew blood and clenching her fists so tightly that they turned white when she felt the pincers grab her leg and break the skin, she waited for her leg to be broken in half just like in the many articles she read about this particular bug. However, the agonizing pressure on her leg suddenly left as an inhuman scream rang out and a soft thud could be barely heard by the former heiress causing the girl to reluctantly open her eyes and found Ursaring standing over the broken, unmoving husk of her attacker.

"Thanks…for…the…help," Catherine weakly breathed out causing Ursaring to nod and with tender care, picked up Catherine bridal style and began walking to the makeshift medical station when they were joined by Graveler who had filled in the missing parts of his body with asphalt causing Catherine to sigh in relief when she saw that her partner was fine as the rock pokemon placed the civilian in his arms carefully.

"Let…go; I…want…to…help," Catherine protested in a tone barely above a whisper as she feebly struggled in Ursaring's grip which only caused the grizzly bear to tighten her grip on the small girl in her arms while Graveler parried and deflected any stray attacks heading their way with some difficulty considering he was carrying someone while Catherine switched to troll tactics in order to make Ursaring let her go by blowing air in the grizzly bear's face.

Ursaring knew that she could just give her friend what she wanted, but thought this wasn't the best idea considering that Luka would probably make a rug out of her if the former heiress was harmed any further and didn't want to see the girl hurt herself. Rolling her eyes when she felt another puff of air make contact with her face, Ursaring gently, yet firmly, covered Catherine's mouth with her paw and wouldn't remove it no matter how many times the former heiress licked it. After a few moments, Catherine finally settled down and relaxed herself in the grizzly bear's grip causing Ursaring to remove her paw from the girl's mouth causing the former heiress to blow a puff of air in the bear's face one last time causing Ursaring's brow to twitch irritably.

Catherine weakly smiled back with blood caked teeth before letting out a small, pained cough just as Graveler stopped a van sized boulder in mid-flight and slowly lowered it to the ground allowing Ursaring to safely step into the sick bay and place Catherine on a bed of vines while Graveler did the same for the civilian after parrying an energy blast headed his way.

"(Finished yet?)" Ursaring questioned Luka, Floatzel, and Kricketune who after a brief moment of silence healing another officer, they nodded in response and upon turning around, Luka rushed to Catherine's bedside and held her hand with her paw while the girl just grinned exhaustedly in turn.

"Go…out…there…and…help; I'll…be…fine," the former heiress assured the jackal pokemon who bowed her head and tightened her grip on the girl's hand before giving a slow nod in response to what the former heiress said and released her hand.

"(We have a job to do so let's get it done,)" Luka shouted to her team as she ran outside into the thick of battle with her team in tow while Catherine frowned and if she had the strength to do so, would have punched herself in the head with all her might seeing her friends go out and fight while she should have been doing the same.

Pov shift

"(RAAAAHHH!)" Maris roared angrily like a raging volcano as she raised her fist coated with her magenta aura and slammed it down onto the ground causing a massive shockwave to rocket towards the army of pokemon like a tidal wave while her allies remained unharmed.

Delia, seizing the opportunity, rushed in and grabbed a Staraptor that was injured during the fight and handed the avian over to Dragonite who took the bird to the makeshift medical station while Hydreigon and Druddigon fired in the general direction of their enemies. Maris, Delia, and her teammates would repeat this process; one of them would create a shockwave to beat back the army (who was acting more like an unruly, out of control mob in Delia's opinion), the others would lay down cover fire, and one of them would rush in to rescue the civilian, police officer, or police officer's pokemon.

Together with police officers, their pokemon who weren't hurt, Ash, his friends, and the many brave civilians willing to fight, they were pushing them back. Seeing Druddigon produce a shockwave, Maris rushed in and grabbed a little girl and handed her off to Lopunny who sped off to the sick bay before returning for another go. Maris was seeing that their strategy was working…and a small part of her hated it. She wanted to enjoy the euphoric feeling of combat to take her mind off of her relationship issues, but fortunately, her desire to help people proved to be vastly stronger than her desire for a good fight.

Seeing that most of the mob of pokemon were falling back and dragging their downed comrades back into the woods, she withheld from slamming her fist down onto the road and simply watched them go.

"(You traitor…siding with the humans over your own kind!)" a shrew like pokemon with claws like Zangoose's except longer and brown barbs that extended down onto its back shouted at Maris accusingly and taking this in stride, Maris shrugged and folded her arms.

"(I didn't side with the humans…I sided with the beings who were being attacked by fucking assholes who generalize an entire species,)" Maris calmly fired back causing the shrew-like pokemon to weakly growl at the martial arts pokemon and shamble away from her while Maris, taking advantage of this reprieve in the battle, healed her wounds with aura before turning back to her allies who rushed up to her.

"(Where's Catherine?)" Maris inquired worriedly as Luka knelt down next to Maris and began running her aura coated paws over Maris's body which gradually caused some of the injuries the martial arts pokemon suffered to seal up.

"(She got hurt pretty bad during a rescue attempt so Ursaring put her in the sick bay,)" Luka responded causing Maris to clench her fists tightly, angered that another one of her friends was hurt, but took a deep breathe to calm herself and fired up her magenta aura that took on a dark, demonic shade which caused her eyes to turn blank.

"(Let's end this,)" Maris stated in a calm, icy tone as she didn't even wait for her friend's responses and ran in the direction of the last battle going on causing Delia, Lopunny, and Luka to exchange glances with one another before sprinting to catch up to the martial arts pokemon with their teams in tow.

Slowly, but surely, Maris, Luka, Delia, and Lopunny managed to run ahead of everyone else and seeing that they were approaching the last remaining troops of the pokemon being fended off and driven off by Cynthia, her task force, Cilia, her pokemon, and a woman with an eccentric hair style and flamboyant dress, Maris picked up the pace.

Jumping over the people and pokemon fending off Mienshao's army, she wound her fist back and coated it with dark magenta aura and smashed it against the biggest thing in the mob which so happened to be an unfortunate Gyarados. Hearing a gut-wrenching crack didn't perturb the martial arts pokemon who kept a blank expression on her face as the mighty sea serpent crashed to the ground and unintentionally squashed some of its allies underneath it.

Before the army could get over their initial shock, Maris wrapped her whips around the second thing she saw, a helpless Golduck, and forcefully tugged on the whips causing the duck to be reeled it in like a fish. Maris, as calm as a samurai, brought her foot up and snapped it forward causing her foot to connect with Golduck's beak causing another crack that caused Cynthia and the others to cringe, but the martial arts pokemon ignored it and promptly used the unconscious duck with the broken beak as a devastating flail.

Maris's improvised weapon tore through the army like paper before she threw the duck into a crowd of Roselia's and fired off a destructive blast of energy that overwhelmed them like a wave while turning to engage other members of the army consisting of some sort of red bug with pincers for hands, a bird with a crest with an orange tint, and a Floatzel with a scar running down its chest to its leg.

They all struck in unison, hoping to overtake Maris through sheer numbers, but Maris, keeping cool, stepped to the side and hooked her arms underneath the red bug's arm and using her hips for momentum, twisted her body and harshly tossed the red bug into its allies. Giving them no room for a reprieve when they hit the ground, Maris fired off a volley of concentrated energy blasts of aura and chi at her helpless foes who cried out in pain from the assault, but the red bug, despite Maris's focused barrage, managed to roll off to the side and charged at the martial arts pokemon.

Seeing this, Maris focused her fire solely on the red bug with the pincers who attempted to ram through the barrage, but was quickly shot down when it attempted to do so and could only cover its face with its arms to mitigate the damage. Luck was on the red bug's side as Floatzel, appearing like a blur, tried to tackle Maris while covered in a cyclone of water and although Maris jumped over it and stomped down on the back of the weasel's head which created a small crater, it succeeded in breaking off Maris's attack.

Jumping to the side and simultaneously throwing a roundhouse kick into the red bug's but when it attempted to hit her with a wild, powerful punch, the insect felt its eyes bulge of its sockets from the hard blow before it brutally fell back head first onto the ground. Before Maris could do anything further, Staraptor drove off her off with pecks, wing strikes, and slashes from its talons while the martial arts pokemon fended them off by passing them her guard or batting them away all while waiting for an opportunity to counter attack.

Maris mentally chastised herself when she felt something crash into her from the side and just like Dragonite, twisted her body away from the tackle causing Floatzel to cry out as his face dragged along the ground uncontrollably giving Staraptor the chance to whack Maris in the face with its wings. Maris, using the momentum from the strike, spun underneath another blow heading toward her face and smashed her fist onto the back of Staraptor's neck eliciting a hiss from the avian who staggered forward from the blow as the insect charged in with its pincers poised to strike.

Seeing as she wouldn't be able to dodge in time, Maris grabbed Staraptor in a chokehold and brought the avian in front of her like a shield just as the red bug slashed at her with its pincers and too late to stop a blow already in motion, the avian yelled painfully as the slash broke its skin and drew blood.

Not letting the red bug process what had just happened, she threw out a front kick to the insect's face causing it to grunt and fall back onto the ground while Maris heard Floatzel charging at her causing her to throw Staraptor aside and just as Floatzel lowered its shoulders, Maris spun around while placing one paw on Floatzel's head and another on its wrist.

Forcefully keeping the weasel down on the ground, she straightened his arm out and with the same blank expression as when she started the battle, smashed her knee down onto Floatzel's elbow causing the weasel to howl in agony while the martial arts pokemon heard the flapping of wings from behind her. Wrapping her whips around Floatzel's torso, she twisted her body around and threw the mustelid like an athlete competing in the hammer toss causing the red bug to catch its ally only to stumble back some ways from the sheer force of Maris's throw.

Staraptor struck out with its wings causing Maris to bring up her arms to her head to block, but this was only a distraction as the avian brought up its talons and raked them down Maris's chest causing the martial arts pokemon to hiss and headbutt the bird to gain some space. She would get no reprieve as she had to duck under a stab from Scizor and seeing as she was behind the pincer pokemon, she wrapped her arms around the insect's waist and leaned back.

Scizor groaned when the back of its head yet again hit the road while Maris seeing Staraptor fast approaching, punt kicked the bug like a soccer ball towards the bird that flew underneath its ally which inadvertently allowed Scizor to collide with a street lamp shoulder first and painfully landing on the ground neck first. Letting the bird get close, Maris jumped over the avian and brought her paw up to her face summoning stones that struck Staraptor like missiles causing the bird to unceremoniously crash to the ground beak first where it tumbled around violently before laying still on the street.

Scizor's eyes groggily fluttered open and widened in shock as Maris, coming down for a landing from her jump, smashed her foot down onto Scizor's face causing chunks of the exoskeleton to break off and for purple blood to ooze down onto the street. Ignoring that Scizor was attempting to clutch its face with its pincers, Maris grabbed the bug by its neck and brought it close to her face while letting her dark magenta aura to ignite for added intimidation.

"(Take your friends and leave,)" Maris ordered the insect in a deathly calm tone while making sure her blank, zombie like eyes were piercing directly into Scizor's soul and seeing the smooth flowing, demonic aura the martial arts pokemon was exuding, Scizor hastily nodded at Maris's order.

Releasing her grip on Scizor's neck, the bug hit the road back first which elicited a cry from the bug, but just like Maris ordered hurriedly scooped up its allies in each arm and bolted for the woods. Seeing the rest of the army retreating back into the forest, Maris took a deep breathe in and let it back out causing her aura to ebb away and for her eyes to return to normal and seeing more officers that were wounded in the fight, ran over to help them.

Pov shift

Hearing the roars and cracks of battle finally cease, Maya regarded Mienshao and his cohorts with a cold, calculated stare and put her hands on her hips while her Haxorus warily gazed at Mienshao while the martial arts pokemon coolly stared back at her.

"(Nearly killing Dmitri and brutalizing his friends wasn't enough? You had to kill countless civilians that you knew would jump in to help the police officers without a second thought and slaughtered upholders of the law who were just looking out for their city?)" Maya's Haxorus inquired of Mienshao with restrained rage in her tone and in response to the dragon's statement, the martial arts pokemon shrugged nonchalantly as if he was asked what he wanted to eat.

"(All necessary means to take if it means my legendary pokemon aren't under threat anymore and my brethren can sleep peacefully at night,)" Mienshao replied coolly while Haxorus's eyes briefly flashed a bloody crimson before going back to normal and the dragon, unamused by this answer, clenched her fists tightly.

"(I thought your talk with Sparkplug might have made you more open-minded about pokemon trainers,)" Maya's Haxorus shot back with ire while Mienshao studied the dragon briefly before giving yet another casual shrug in response.

"(I know now that not all pokemon trainers are barbarians; that's why I said most pokemon trainers even though the more fitting term for them is gladiators. I may not have served under a gladiator like you, but I've seen plenty of pokemon who have mental trauma and physical injuries that would make you think twice about being under the employ of a human,)" Mienshao retorted while Maya's Haxorus took a moment to calm herself before looking back at the martial arts pokemon with a calm expression like he was giving her.

"(That doesn't excuse what you've done here,)" Haxorus shot back with held back wrath while keeping her body posture calm and relaxed while Mienshao sighed, rubbed his forehead, and stared back at the axe jaw pokemon with narrowed eyes.

"(What Sparkplug said about her pet human being great doesn't excuse what her trainer's species has done to mine either. I wanted coexistence at one point, but seeing more and more of my brethren harmed convinced me that humans are beyond reasoning and diplomacy so if striking fear into their hearts makes them leave us alone then I will gladly do so!)" Mienshao shouted passionately and his cohorts, even the noblest among them like Beartic and Eelektross, yelled in approval for what the martial arts pokemon said causing Maya's Haxorus to turn to Maya with a sad, heavy look.

Burying her face in her palm and shaking her head slowly, Maya lifted her face up and gave a slow, hesitant nod back to the axe jaw pokemon who solemnly nodded back and stepped toward the forward team causing Swampert, Hydreigon, and Charizard to follow her while still keeping Mienshao and his cohorts boxed in.

"(I'm sorry Mienshao, but it's clear to me that if I let you and your friends live, then there's no length that you won't go to in order to do what you think is right,)" Haxorus regrettably informed the martial arts pokemon who looked down at the ground with a solemn look before nodding in approval for what the dragon said and placed his paws behind his head and getting down onto his knees.

"(Sorry, I can't let you do that,)" Langston's Espeon called out with her trainer by her side and members of the SWAT Team supporting her along with Cynthia's task force in tow.

Maya's Haxorus, Swampert, Hydreigon, Charizard, and Jet's Dragonite, Sceptile, Druddigon, Nidoqueen kept their attention on the forward team while Swanna and Unfezant diverted their gazes to the police force along with their trainers.

"Look, I get it; you guys are just doing your jobs and want to see justice being done, but this isn't the first time Mienshao and his friends have done something like this. They tried to blow up metropolis like Castelia City that's similar in size to Hearthome and their actions today have shown complete disregard for life regardless of whether its pokemon or human," Maya reasoned with the police force in calm, yet forceful tone while Langston shook his head and stepped forward to address the dragoness.

"You're not in charge here and I ought to revoke your trainer's license along with Dmitri and his hooligan friends which I will do if you execute those pokemon," Langston retorted gruffly as Espeon's head gem glowed in response to his trainer's words, ready to do battle if needed, along with the rest of the SWAT team's pokemon consisting of Growlithes, Electrikes, and the occasional Arcanines and Manectrics.

"Then I guess you'd better get to revoking it then," Jet replied simply as he put a supporting hand on his wife's shoulder while Swanna and Unfezant stepped in front of their trainers, prepared to fight the police's pokemon, before Cynthia stepped in the middle with her hands raised.

"Officer Langston, under normal circumstances I would allow you to take these pokemon into custody and have them sent off to a rehabilitation center, but considering what they've done, what they could have done, these aren't normal circumstances," Cynthia reasoned with the lawman who grunted from what the champion said and taking his silence as a cue to continue, she did.

"What they did today is a declaration of war and as such they are no longer criminals that the police can take in. As of now they are prisoners of war and I will personally oversee their imprisonment," Cynthia stated resolutely causing both sides of the stand-off to stare at one another curiously before Maya and Langston looked one another in the eye and nodded tersely before letting the champion and her task force through.

Carefully maneuvering through the crowd of pokemon guarding the forward team that caused Hearthome so much harm, Cynthia's Lucario focused his aura and forcefully conjured cuffs which he placed on Mienshao and his ally's waist, pinning their arms down. Garchomp and Gastrodon followed suit as the dragon, summoning stones from the ground contorted the slabs of earth into shackles which she placed on the forward team's ankles except for Eelektross for which she put a heavy weight down onto the electric eel's tail.

Gastrodon, melting some of the ground around her into mud, lifted the soft material and promptly hardened it into cuffs which she placed over the previous cuffs her teammates made and Milotic did the same with restraints made of ice causing an uncomfortable moan to be heard from the forward team's mouth from the weight of the restraints.

"Good work you guys; let's take them in. Clara, Frederick, you guys release your teams and keep an eye on them just in case they try anything funny," Cynthia ordered softly causing her two comrades to send out their pokemon with Frederick's team consisting of a Rapidash, Mightyena, Bastiodon, Gliscor, Crobat, and Noctowl while Clara's team was made up of a Magnezone, Aerodactyl, Staraptor, Girafarig, Houndoom, and Hippowdon.

Clara and Frederick's team surrounded the pokemon from Unova in a square formation, leaving no room for escape, and were joined by Cynthia's Roserade, Gastrodon, and Spiritomb who brought up the rear while Garchomp, Milotic, and Lucario were out in front. Beginning to walk outside of the stadium turned into a makeshift shelter, the champion turned her head to Maya who regarded the blonde with a wary gaze causing the champion to stare respectfully back at the dragoness.

"If Mienshao and his comrades escape from me, don't let them live," Cynthia requested of the dragoness whose eyes briefly diverted from the champion to glare hatefully at the forward team before nodding in response as the blonde extended her hand to the Unova native who gripped it in her hand and gave it a firm shake before breaking it off.

Watching the champion walk out of the stadium with her prisoners, Jet and Maya turned to Langston's SWAT team and regarded them coolly before deciding to speak.

"Officer Langston, can you please not take Delia, Dmitri, Catherine, and their pokemon in for questioning? They're exhausted as is and frankly even though they suspected Dmitri might have been attacked during the tournament, they didn't expect something like this to happen," Jet appealed to the lawman causing Langston to run a hand through his hair, look down at Espeon who gazed back at him blankly, before reluctantly nodding in response.

"I guess if it weren't for them, we could have lost a lot more lives than we did if they weren't there to help. I still do want to know how exactly this happened, but I'll let the kids rest before I question them…with a little bit more open-mindedness," Langston responded awkwardly causing Jet and Maya to softly chuckle, hearing about Dmitri's interrogation from their daughter, while the old officer cracked a small grin and rubbed the back of his head.

Later

"The people of Hearthome will not be demoralized by such a tragedy and just like before, we will work together to get through this which is why the Tag Team Tournament will continue in a few days to show that whoever did this that they have not won," Fantina, gym leader of the city, stated over the television in a firm tone before the news feed switched over to Cynthia who had a frown marring her face.

"What happened earlier in Hearthome was not the work of humans like Team Galactic or Team Rocket…but rather it was orchestrated by the beings whom we've claimed to be friends and partners with," Cynthia started in a stern, level tone while Dmitri watched on expectantly along with many others in the sick bay.

"I'm not excusing what they did, but their reasons, however misguided, weren't unfounded. Its humans who abuse and treat themselves as being above pokemon, pokemon trainers who capture pokemon from the wild without taking into consideration for what they want, and those who abandon them for being weak that force the pokemon who attacked Hearthome to take such drastic action," Cynthia continued with her tone rising into one of anger before taking a moment to calm herself before speaking into the microphone once more.

"The second attack on Hearthome was a tragedy, but it's also a wake up call. Effective immediately, all police officers are required to train with the gym leaders in order to better defend against similar threats in the future and it's now mandatory for pokemon trainers in the Sinnoh region to go through yearly evaluations to see if they're taking proper care of their partners," Cynthia finished calmly as she, along with the task force who accompanied her, to walk off the podium without turning to address any of the reporters dying for answers.

"Widespread effects…not limited…to Unova," Dmitri sputtered out before letting out a small cough causing Haxorus to kneel down next to his bed and put a straw in his mouth allowing the battle ace to drink much needed water.

"(Tell me about it; trainers going through yearly evaluations and police officers training with gym leaders will be a good thing,)" Haxorus replied as Dmitri took his mouth off of the straw and lay back in his bed before tentative footsteps approached them causing Dmitri to look up and find Maris walking toward them causing Haxorus, Sparkplug, and Kiera to narrow their eyes at the martial arts pokemon while Zangoose and Samurott just stared blankly at her.

"(Um…hey guys; do you mind…if I hang out here for a while?)" Maris timidly asked the group while rubbing the back of her head as the suspicious gaze Sparkplug, Kiera, and Haxorus were giving her made her think this wasn't the best time to talk before Dmitri put a hand on Sparkplug's paw causing the lioness to gaze at him with narrowed eyes before snarling under her breathe and staring at the wall angrily as if it had wronged her in some way.

Hesitantly, Kiera and Haxorus broke off their stares as well and just looked at the ground awkwardly as Maris, sensing the tense atmosphere, grabbed a chair and slowly set it down next to Dmitri's bed where both the battle ace and his strongest pokemon avoided eye contact with each other for a little while before Maris spoke up.

"(Dmitri…I'm sorry for what I said; you didn't deserve to get yelled at just because I was mad at Catherine and Luka,)" Maris humbly stated as she put her paw over Dmitri's hand causing the battle ace to look at her paw and then up at her face before giving her a small, tired grin.

"I was…angry at you…before, but…not anymore," Dmitri tiredly got out causing the martial arts pokemon to let a slight smile come to her face and tighten her grip on Dmitri's hand as she looked down contemplatively before looking up at Dmitri with a serious, focused gaze.

"(Dmitri…I meditated a lot on the principles I grew up on and how it shaped me into who I was and I'll admit…that Luka was right about what I could have become if I let them guide me any further. I still hold Lance accountable for your father's death and I don't forgive him for that or how he treated him, but I won't go after him in revenge,)" Maris begrudgingly admitted to her boyfriend causing a frown to appear on Dmitri's face, taking in the information he had been given, before letting out a sigh and giving a hesitant nod at what Maris said.

"I'm not…happy with…that Maris...but at…least you're…growing up," Dmitri responded seriously while Maris, expecting this, nodded sadly as she heard the slight disappointment in his tone.

"(Zangoose won't be able to come with us anymore,)" Sparkplug cut in bluntly causing Maris to raise a brow in confusion before it made sense when she saw the cat ferret's shoulder heavily bandaged like a mummy.

"(Damn, that flipping sucks; you held your own out there so it's a shame to see you go,)" Maris remarked while leaning back in her chair while the cat ferret could only give a sheepish smile back toward the martial arts pokemon.

"(Thank you for your praise Maris and I will miss you guys too, but you don't need to worry about my shoulder. After a few months of therapy I'll be back on the field,)" Zangoose assured Maris who cracked a wry smile causing Zangoose to tilt her head and regard the martial arts pokemon in confusion.

"(The therapist needs a therapist,)" Maris pointed out with her smile getting bigger while Dmitri, Sparkplug, Kiera, Haxorus, and Samurott chuckled under their breath while Zangoose snarled and leaned back in her bed with a blush on her face.

"(Oh, be quiet; I'm quite aware of the irony of my predicament!)" Zangoose irritably barked at Maris who triumphantly grinned back at the cat ferret like she had won first place in a competition causing Zangoose to groan and roll her eyes as she looked to her patient who gazed back at her.

"(Dmitri, thank you for defending me back there; I'd rather have an injured shoulder than be impaled on an icicle,)" Zangoose gratefully stated to the battle ace who nodded at her with a warm smile as he, with some effort, managed to get upright on his bed with Maris and Haxorus supporting him.

"It's what…any good…friend would…do," Dmitri replied humbly while Zangoose, unsatisfied with this answer, shook her head at this before narrowing her eyes at the battle ace which instantly killed any happiness in the atmosphere.

"(Dmitri, think about it; if all the pokemon that are coming after you guys are as strong as Mienshao and his buddies…)" Zangoose trailed off solemnly, not wanting to think about such a thing, while Maris, Sparkplug, Kiera, Haxorus, and Samurott lowered their heads to the ground in grim contemplation.

"(Then he's as good as dead if they manage to isolate Dmitri from his friends again,)" Haxorus finished distessedly as if even he could be defeated by these pokemon, then Sparkplug, Kiera, Samurott, and yes, even Maris didn't stand a chance against them.