Chapter 53: Red Riot
Author's Note: Hey, everyone! We've finally arrived at a chapter I've been looking forward to. While it was nice to write about Kirishima and Druddigon a bit more, I was more excited to showcase Amajiki and Nejire. Those two are some of my favorite characters in the show and I wanted to do them justice. This was another shorter chapter since it was mostly just set up for the eventual raid, but I hope you still find it interesting. Anyway, enjoy!
"We've got a situation! Two Villains with a Duraludon and Tyranitar have started a fight! Requesting back-up!" The police officer shouted into his device. The Duraludon roared loudly as it shot out a Steel Beam. The Tyranitar managed to avoid the attack, but the beam caused a lot of damage to the surrounding area. Similarly, an incoming Stone Edge slammed into one of the buildings, causing it to shake.
Suddenly, an Alola Raichu flew past the man, and before he knew it, a girl was standing right next to him. This was none other than Nejire Hado herself, also known as Nejirechan. She wore a turquoise skintight suit along with yellow gloves. She also styled her hair to have two swirling horns at the top. "Let's show them what we can do, Raichu!" She held up her hand, revealing a Z-Ring. Inside was a yellow Z-Crystal with a Raichu's tail as the symbol.
She posed her arms into the shape of a lightning bolt, causing yellow energy to flow from the Z-Ring into Raichu. "This is our Z-Power! Stoked Sparksurfer!" Raichu flew up high into the sky and charged up electricity before crashing down, smashing right into both Tyranitar and Duraludon with so much Electric Power that it nearly took both out with a single hit.
The attack also left both Pokemon paralyzed, allowing Nejire's partners to come in and finish the job. "Your turn, you two!" The girl shouted. Ochako and Tsuyu ran in with their Clefable and Greninja respectively, ready to end the battle.
"Use Water Shuriken!"
"Hit 'em with your Moonblast attack!"
Several Water Shurikens came flying at the two Villains before a massive Moonblast hit them, knocking both Pokemon out and ending the fight.
Once the police arrested the two, Nejire ran up to Ochako and Tsuyu to check on them. "Nice work, you guys! How'd it feel? Were you nervous?" The former let out a massive sigh of relief and pat Clefable on the head. "We just followed instructions." She said. Tsuyu nodded and laughed. "We handled that a lot faster than I was expecting."
Beside them was another woman. She wore a traditional red qipao along with black boots, white armguards, and a white headdress that looked like dragon claws. This was none other than Ryuko Tatsuma, also known as the Dragon Hero: Ryukyu. She was also the Hero that Nejire, and now Ochako and Tsuyu, were interning under.
"Nejire was right to bring you two along. Both of you are very skilled trainers, and your Pokemon are much stronger than I expected. I thought I'd have to step in, but you three handled it very well." She said, looking at both Clefable and Greninja before smiling. "As for you Nejire, you've gotten a lot better at controlling that Z-Move of yours."
"Ah, we've been practicing it! They gave us Big Three members Z-Rings, so I really wanna set a good example to the others." Nejire replied. Ryukyu nodded before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know, while you three are still students, I expect you all to still fight well. Nejire, you've already proved to me that you're more than capable, but Asui and Uraraka here have really surprised me today. I think you two are ready to take on the case."
"The case…?" Tsuyu asked. "Sir Nighteye, All Might's former sidekick, has requested a team-up" Ochako's eyes widened after hearing that. "Sir Nighteye? That's where Deku's interning…"
"Team-ups mean when agencies work together. It's not really common for more than two agencies to team up together, but you do see it in bigger cases." Nejire said.
"So why'd he request a team-up?" Tsuyu asked. Ryukyu squinted her eyes and shook her head. "They're currently investing the Shie Hassaikai, a notorious and potentially dangerous Villain Group. We've been asked to help in the investigation and round-up of those Villains. To make things worse, this might involve the League of Villains, so they're trying to get all the help they can get."
Meanwhile, Eijiro had gotten an internship at the agency that Tamaki was interning under, that is, after a lot of begging. He interned under Taishiro Toyomitsu, also known as the BMI Hero: Fat Gum. The Hero was a larger man and he wore a yellow jacket with red accents. He also wore black sweatpants with knee guards and yellow boots.
Currently, the three were on patrol. They didn't have their Pokemon out since they were in a pretty crowded area, but they were on alert. Eijiro walked beside Fat, while Tamaki walked a little behind them. His Hero Outfit consisted of a black bodysuit along with a white tunic and hood. He had a purpled visor that he used to cover his eyes with along with gold armguards.
"So the Hero Agencies in this area requested a team-up. They've requested specifically for trainers and Pokemon that specialize in combat, so you're a good fit, Red Riot!" Fat said, getting a big smile from Eijiro.
"Thank you so much, sir! I really appreciate you taking me in!" The two had massive extrovert energy that really made Tamaki uncomfortable. He hated walking in the large crowd as was but having to deal with these two just made it worse. "If only Mirio was here." He said.
"That's really the only thing you gotta work on, Tamaki. If you can put yourself out there more, you'd really be an outstanding Hero, even more than you already are!"
"That kind of pressure will just make things worse! Why are you always like this! I swear, you only picked me up to do this to me…" Tamaki said, making Eijiro a little nervous. "I-I think he's just trying to encourage you!"
"I can't exactly be as cheerful and optimistic as you or Mirio, Kirishima. That's not who I am." Tamaki retorted, much to Eijiro's confusion. "I don't think I'm really optimistic or anything. When there's a big fight, I can't really do much. I don't know if it's my training style or what, but my Pokemon and I always have a hard time catching up to everyone else. That's why I'm always so positive!"
Tamaki let out a sigh and pulled his hood further down. "That's called being optimistic, kid."
"Help! Someone stop them!" Suddenly, a man screamed out for help. "Really?! Now?!" Fat Gum shouted out. They saw four men running away with their Pokemon, a Carbink, Venomoth, Alolan Grimer, and a Haunter.
"Shit, we gotta hurry!" One of the men shouted out. Suddenly, Fat Gum ran right in front of them and through his Pokeball into the sky. "Come on out!" Snorlax emerged from the Pokeball and fell to the ground, releasing a Mega Punch as they ran right into him.
However, the Haunter was fine. It flew right past Snorlax, causing Fat to panic. "Damnit! Tamaki, Red Riot!" The man quickly followed behind but was shocked when he saw an arrow fly in. The arrow landed right on Haunter's shadow, and another quickly followed landing on his own. Suddenly, he couldn't move from the spot he was standing in, as if the arrow had pinned him down.
He turned and saw Tamaki, also known as Suneater, standing there alongside his Decidueye. "W-What the hell?!" Tamaki slammed his foot into the ground before stretching out his arm. "Finish them with Leaf Blade!" Decidueye stretched out its arms and formed two blades of green energy before dashing right into Haunter, knocking the Pokemon out.
"Even with a resisted attack, we did the job. Nice work, Decidueye." Tamaki said quietly. Eijiro only watched in shock as the whole thing unfolded. He had released Druddigon from his Pokeball, but they didn't even do anything. "That was amazing! You knocked Haunter out with a single hit! And you managed to trap them with Spirit Shackle so fast!"
"In terms of technique and strategy, Suneater and Decidueye are better than even a lot of Pros!" Fat said as he placed some handcuffs on the last Villain. "All he really needs to improve is his attitude." Suddenly, the crowd around them erupted, cheering.
"Nice one, Suneater!"
"You're so cool!"
"Suneater! That was awesome!"
Tamaki was frozen in fear from the attention but little did they know, there was someone in the crowd. "I… I need to save my friends!" The man said before pulling out a gun. Fat Gum saw this and tried to warn them, but it was too late. The bullet hit Decidueye, causing him to fall to the ground and scream in pain. "Decidueye!"
"Amajiki! Decidueye! Get down!" Eijiro and Druddigon jumped in front of them to protect them. Despite Fat and Snorlax's efforts though, the man shot another bullet, this time hitting Druddigon. However, his thick skin managed to prevent it from getting deep at all. In fact, they saw that it wasn't even… it wasn't even a bullet? No, this was some kind of dart, but the needle had barely even pierced Druddigon's skin. He removed it from himself before growling at the man that shot it.
"Decidueye! Are you okay?" The Pokemon cawed at Tamaki softly before slowly getting up, much to his surprise. "Oh, I guess it wasn't that bad."
The man dropped his gun in fear before running away, but they weren't about to let him escape. "We'll stop him!" Eijiro said before hopping on Druddigon and chasing him. "We'll stop him!" Tamaki shouted, holding up his Z-Ring. Inside was a green Z-Crystal with a simplified version of Decidueye's face on the front. "This is our… huh?" The Z-Crystal… wasn't working? Decidueye took a stance and was ready but… nothing? "H-How about Spirit Shackle? Just use Spirit Shackle!" Decidueye pulled out one of his feathers and aimed the arrow, but there was nothing. The normal ghostly energy that took over the arrow wasn't there.
"Wait! Red Riot! Calm down!" Fat Gum said. "Tamaki! I'll leave you in charge here! Snorlax and I are gonna follow them! The other Heroes will be here soon!" He shouted before running off, but Tamaki needed to let him know what was happening. "We're fine, but we can't use our moves!" Fat suddenly stopped and turned back to him. "Do they have a Disable user on their team?!"
Back with the Eijiro and the Villain, they found the man to be surprisingly fast. It did help that they were running through narrow alleyways, a type of place that Druddigon seemed to struggle navigating, but the man himself was also just quite good at running away.
"If you're gonna try to help your friends, at least see it through to the end!" Eijiro shouted. The man looked back in confusion while continuing to run. "Why the hell are you mad about that?!"
"You shot a Hero's Pokemon then ran away! That's not the honorable thing to do at all!"
Eventually, they ran into a dead end. There were other people around, but Druddigon got close and cornered the man. "Just surrender, asshole!" Eijiro shouted, but he and Druddigon were suddenly caught off guard when the man began crying. "This is so unfair…" He said, collapsing to the ground.
"I want to save my leader, you jerk! But… But I'm too scared! It took too much courage to even shoot that thing!" He said. Eijiro got off of Druddigon's back and pat the man on the back. "No, by crying, you're showing how scared you are. Maybe you should just stop… y'know, committing crimes, dude."
The young student helped the man up and let out a sigh. "You good?" The man didn't respond though, continuing to let the tears fall out of his eyes. "I wanna be strong too… I wanna be a strong trainer, but I can only do that if I stick around other strong trainers…"
"Yeah, I get you man, but-"
"If I stick with my friends, I can feel stronger." The Villain said, secretly pulling out a strange Pokeball from his back pocket. "Someone who gets to be a Hero shouldn't be running your mouth, pretending to know how I feel."
Eijiro spotted the Pokeball and immediately jumped back. Druddigon saw this and stepped in front of his trainer as the man threw his Pokeball into the air. Out of it came a strange-looking Pokemon. This one was small, no bigger than a Pikachu, and was primarily purple. Its head was around the same size as the rest of its body, with three spikes sticking out of it. It had short hands and legs, but it didn't seem to need them as it floated effortlessly. It also had a tail, though it wasn't too long so it likely didn't use it for attacking.
"W-What is that thing?!" Eijiro had done a lot of studying when it came to Pokemon, but he had never seen anything like this. "Use Dragon Pulse, Poipole!" The Pokemon, Poipole, then suddenly let out a powerful blast of Dragon Energy right into Druddigon. The Dragon-Type tried to block the attack, but the super effective damage was too much and he recoiled back.
"Druddigon, go for Dragon Claw!" The Pokemon tried to go in for an attack, but another Dragon Pulse forced him to step back. Eijiro looked around and saw there were still several people around. He needed a way to beat this thing now or else things could get messy.
"Hit him with a Venoshock!" The Pokemon let out a flurry of Poison attacks, and while Druddigon was able to endure the hit, he was starting to take some serious damage. He looked to his trainer for orders, but all he saw was a scared boy who didn't know what to do. Even if he had other Pokemon on him, without a way to get close, there was no way for him to fight back.
"You're getting cocky, kid! Who're you to try and tell me how to live my life!" The Villain shouted. "My leader back there says it's the end of the era of Heroes! Now, it'll be time for us who lived in the dark to rise! Man, my blood is pumping!" He laughed while Poipole went for another Dragon Pulse.
Eijiro watched as the Dragon Pulse came towards him and Druddigon, completely stunned and confused. He didn't know what to do. Druddigon's strong defenses usually let him tank hits and get up close, but this was the first time he was stuck.
That's when he remembered the words from his teachers. All things considered, his fighting style was far from bad. It worked incredibly well, and the only way he'd be able to really fight back now was to outlive his opponent. "Druddigon! Take the hit!" Druddigon did as was told and took the hit, but he was starting to really feel the damage.
"This thing is still a Pokemon, so it has to have a limit! Stand strong until we find an opening!" Druddigon looked back at his trainer and smiled. He turned back to the Villain and Poipole as he roared, taking a Venoshock. This was their plan. By putting all of their mind and effort into their defense, Druddigon could last just long enough to find some kind of opening. "Become an unbreakable wall!"
After several more attacks, they saw Poipole float down slightly, letting out a heavy sigh as it took a moment before preparing another attack. "Now!" Eijiro shouted, realizing this was their opportunity. "Hit them with everything we've got! Outrage!" Druddigon began glowing red with anger before running up to his opponent. Before Poipole could even react, Druddigon grabbed it by the head and slammed it into the ground before raising his claw. His claw began glowing blue as he prepared a Dragon Claw, slamming it into the strange Pokemon, knocking it out.
The others watched in complete awe as Druddigon got out of its outraged state. He was confused from the effects of the move, but Eijiro was able to calm him down quickly. "So strong…" One of the bystanders said. "That kid's Pokemon took that thing down in an instant."
Druddigon was clearly exhausted, but Eijiro was incredibly proud. "Good job, buddy!" He said. However, the two were surprised to find the man crying again. "D-Don't come near me!" He shouted, falling to the ground once again. "I-I just wanna be left alone! I'm just a pathetic guy who wants power!"
Eijiro let out a deep sigh as he walked over to the man. "Listen, man, I can't do that. You shot Amajiki and put these people in danger. I understand how you feel, and I do really mean that." He held out his hand to help the man up. The man stared at him for a while before taking it.
"I used to be just like-"
"You've got nothin' to do with me!" The man shouted, pulling hard, causing Eijiro to fall to the ground. Druddigon saw this and rushed to help his trainer, allowing the man to run away. "Smell ya' later, loser!" The man said.
However, as the man continued running, Snorlax and Fat Gum appeared. "Sorry, we're late!" Fat shouted as Snorlax grabbed the man. "When fighting Villains, they win if they harm someone, get away, and complete their mission! All we've gotta do is arrest them without any casualties. That's the basic goal of a Hero. Keep that in mind, Red Riot." He said.
The bystanders walked up to the two of them and smiled. "You, kid! You're awesome!"
"You had Druddigon stop that Pokemon from attacking us, huh?" One of them said. "I'm a Hero fanatic, and I know that when fighting unknown Pokemon, normal Heroes get scared and run for help. You and your Druddigon saved us!"
Fat smiled and ruffled Eijiro's hair. "What a sick debut. I wish I was like you when I first hit the scene. You sure gave us a big hand back there. You'll be a great Hero someday. I'm sure of it." Eijiro smiled and gave a small bow. "Thank you, sir!"
"Kid, what's your Hero name?" One of the men asked. Eijiro turned to him and smiled. "I'm Red Riot!"
"Red Riot and his Druddigon, huh? We won't forget you!" The boy's eyes widened as he saw the group of civilians cheering for him. He felt a tear form in his eye, but he quickly wiped it away and bowed down. "Thank you so much!"
Suddenly, he remembered himself. Just a year ago, he watched others. He distinctly remembered the figure of a girl with pink hair and a Nidorina rushing past him. He looked at his Druddigon and a huge overwhelming realization hit him. "Have we…" He whispered to himself before smiling. He turned back to the civilians and bowed down once more. "Thank you so much!"
The two returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs and brought the man back to the authorities. There, Fat and Eijiro gave all of the information they had about the man and his strange Pokemon. The authorities took the blue Pokeball from the man and kept it in a sealed container, intending to study it later.
"I've never seen a Pokemon like it. There are no records about anything like it either. This is truly a strange thing…" The police officer said. "Well, regardless, it doesn't seem too strong. No stronger than a regular Pokemon, at least. Still, you did well, Red Riot. I can't imagine it's easy going up against a completely unknown threat like this."
Eijiro turned to Amajiki and frowned at the sight of the man tending to his Decidueye. "Amajiki, are you sure Decidueye's okay?" The boy pulled his hood over his head and turned away. "I'm not entirely sure. He seems fine, but he can't use any of his moves. The point is though, you saved me. That makes you radiate like the sun."
The boy was naturally a little weirded out by his statement, but he just took it as Tamaki being awkward and weird. "Well, if you say so, but you're the one who introduced me to this agency so you're my sun… I guess?" Tamaki could only pull his hood down further in embarrassment. "That's what makes you a great Hero."
"We'll get your Decidueye and Druddigon checked into the nearest hospital. You should go with them. I need to get some work done here." Fat Gum said. "Make sure to call in with the agency too. They'll wanna hear directly from you guys."
Fat Gum walked away, but he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of dread take over him. He had been in the business for several years now. He thought he had seen it all, yet not only did he find a Pokemon he had never seen before, but it was also a Pokemon with no previous records of even existing. The fact that a low-level grunt owned it surely wasn't a good sign. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He said to himself.
