Chapter 2
Maxwell Matsuba waited at the pokémon center. It wasn't looking good for Crobat. Crobat was old and didn't spring back from things like he used to. He patted Camerupt's pokeball. Camerupt was old too, but far more likely to out-live him. With Crobat down, that left Camerupt and Archie. Maxwell didn't doubt his poochyena's spirit, but he himself was too old and too busy to be a proper trainer. His focus was on his research now, and Archie hadn't been given the time and attention that he needed.
He adjusted his glasses, noticing again the empty hole where his mega-stone should be. He sighed. He'd left the stone behind so Will would have use of Mega-Ampharos and to prevent Blue from confiscating it should negotiations fail.
Negotiations weren't going so well. John Blue was stubborn and bull-headed. He was crass and uncouth, a regular barbarian. He and Will would have gotten along famously if they weren't enemies. Blue was worse than Will, and he just might be...
Maxwell shivered. Fate was cruel indeed if, after all these years, it had thrown him again against Archie Aogiri.
He should have known, and he might have subconsciously. After all, there hadn't been any reason to let the case of mistaken identity stand. Maxwell had come on Will's behalf, not as Will himself!
Did Archie suspect him? He wasn't certain. The man John Blue had been aggressive with him early on, even before they knew each other's names. Maxwell admitted that he wouldn't have been well-disposed toward Blue even without their park encounter. It was his smugness and pirate's swagger and unconscious sense of domain, and even his rough, uneducated accent. All of that alone would have been enough to rouse his ire. The park episode hadn't helped.
What was worse was that Maxwell couldn't entirely fault the man for his pride. My God, the things he'd accomplished! Archie, the swaggering, devil-may-care environmental terrorist, the leader of Team Aqua, hell-bent on destroying civilization with water, had built a city. Not just a city, but a thriving city. This leader of ruffians had founded a city on the sea he loved, fought for it, protected it, and now it was one of the controlling forces of the continent. Archie! He already had trouble seeing the imposing, muscular pirate with the sharp smile as this old man with a cable-knit sweater and driftwood cane. He chuckled dryly. He had aged himself. It was foolish to think that his rival was immortal.
"Excuse me, Mr. Matsuba?" Nurse Joy interrupted his thoughts. He looked up at her and knew by her expression what was coming. "I'm going to have to keep your crobat overnight. It needs more time to rest."
He nodded. He dreaded the day that she would bring him worse news than that.
"Of course. What time should I come by to pick him up?"
She gave him a time, but added, "Crobat is too old for battle Mr. Matsuba. You should retire him."
"He and I are well aware of it. It isn't often," he added softly.
Nurse Joy made no other comment. He admired her professional manner of saying it. Others weren't so kind on the subject. He'd lied to her any way. He knew Crobat was too old, but Camerupt couldn't fight in a public space, or an inclosed one. It's fire moves and earthquakes were too destructive. Red Territory was still wild and battles, even wars, were common. He relied on Crobat to see him through when he couldn't use Camerupt, and he couldn't afford not to. Archie was too young, and he wasn't trained. His old mightyena had died years ago. Maxwell was a creature of habit, and Mightyena's death had left a mightyena-shaped hole in his routine. He'd caught Archie to replace him, and named him so he could have the pleasure of telling him to sit.
He wondered if John Blue's blood had boiled when he heard it.
If John Blue really was Archie, and the more he thought about it and examined his speech and mannerisms, not to mention that telling phrase, Primal Reversion, and his allude to titans colliding, the more likely it seemed, then he was imperiled as well. He had been Maxwell Matsuba for many years now. He'd acknowledged that it was a flimsy alias at best but, again, his habits took over. Other names didn't sit well with him. They weren't his, not really. This one was close enough and he was more than capable of stone-walling any curious border agents that were cognizant that the infamous Maxie Matsubusa could still be alive.
Archie hadn't recognized him. He couldn't have, or Maxwell would have known. Archie was as subtle as a tsunami in a bathtub, and "negotiations" had gotten heated enough that the hot-headed pirate would have used his leverage if he was aware that he had it. Once Archie saw Camerupt, though, it was more than likely he'd put two and two together. As much as he belittled his old rival, Archie was not near as stupid as he pretended to be. Maxwell didn't see how he had any other options though. In Archie's own words, "A challenge was a challenge." He'd be dead before he surrendered to Archie's bullying!
He left the pokémon center and headed to the Arena. It wasn't a long walk, as the Arena's very nature made a pokémon center a handy thing to have around. Maxwell had seem bigger, fancier battle centers; however, for Vestige the Arena was the only one of its kind. It was no mean battle facility, either. All kinds of pokémon could go all out safely thanks to its barriers and dampeners. It was small, no frills, no nonsense, and in many ways like Blue himself. Camerupt would be able to bring all its power to bear here.
He went in and he wasn't surprised to see John Blue waiting on him. Archie had never been known for his patience. Why should he have changed?
"Smart not to keep me waiting." Blue's voice grated on his ears.
"Let's get this over with," he replied.
Blue led the way past the reception desk and through a plain hallway with alternating doors on both sides. When he found the one he wanted, he punched a number into a keypad by the door. It slid open. Inside was a standard-sized battle field. Bleachers were set behind clear protective barriers. They were for those that would rather watch then fight and all matches were open. John Blue had booked their fight last minute, but there was already a sizable crowd on the benches. Scattered cheers and applause broke out at Blue's appearance. Blue acknowledged his support with cheerful waves and by bellowing friendly questions at his subjects. No one boo'd Maxwell. Everyone seemed much more interested in John Blue.
Blue made the walk to the far side of the field, just to canvas the crowd. Maxwell stayed on the closer side. Though the spectators weren't jeering at him yet, he didn't expect to find any support here and he didn't need it. To him, this match wasn't about showboating. This was about settling accounts between himself and this man, John Blue. Between himself and Camerupt, he expected to settle quite a few accounts tonight.
Two screens switched on overhead. There was a picture of Blue and one of himself. Both of them had two pokeballs under their names. Maxwell spared a look for Blue, who was looking back at him.
"I won't have anyone say I took advantage of you," he sneered.
"You won't," Maxwell returned.
Blue bared his teeth in an unconvincing smile. Maxwell tried not to be concerned that Blue knew exactly how many pokémon he carried and that he wouldn't have Crobat.
"Gentlemen, if you would please take your places?"
It was Blue's lackey. Maxwell had not been formally introduced, but he'd seen the man's signature and read his correspondence. His name was Francisco Bel-Vie. He couldn't have been more stereo-typically Kalosian if he'd tried.
His request was a mere formality. Both he and Blue were already in place.
"This will be a standard match with no duplicates and no restricted pokémon. The match will continue until one or both of you are unable to continue, chooses not to continue, or is out of usable pokémon. Use of items from the bag, with the exclusion of the pokémon's held items, will not be permitted. Do you both understand?"
Maxwell nodded curtly.
"Get on with it," Blue barked.
"If either of you knowingly or unknowingly break these rules, you forfeit the match,"the Kalosian said with a disapproving glance at Blue. "You may begin."
Blue tossed out his pokeball. A pelipper burst out and it settled on the ground. Maxwell released Archie. Blue stared at the snarling poochyena for a moment and then started to laugh in an irritating, belly-aching manner.
"You'll let the pup fight? You're more desperate than I thought!"
Archie darted forward to pounce on the pelipper, but the bird pokémon took off quickly despite its bulk. Maxwell suspected that Blue wouldn't toy with him and he was correct. Blue's shouted command of "water gun!" was answered quickly by the pelipper. Archie yipped and sprang out of the way, but the bird pokémon came after him, shooting jets of water. Archie bounced away nimbly, but it was obvious that the pelipper would only miss for so long. A blast of water slammed into Archie when he miscalculated a jump. He yipped as the water bowled him over and knocked him sprawling. Blue grunted.
"It's bad form to put something like that in a fight," he said.
Maxwell privately agreed, but he didn't allow it to show on his face.
"Sunny day," he ordered.
"Sea's blood, man!" Blue exploded. "Your pup couldn't take...!"
Archie snarled as he pushed himself up. The Focus Sash around his neck broke and fell on the ground. The poochyena let out a bright, rising howl before the startled pelipper blasted it with water. Archie went sprawling again and Maxwell knew that he wouldn't get back up. His howl still lingered, and the field was brighter for it.
Maxwell withdrew Archie. There was scattered applause from the crowd, but they were muttering too. What challenge was there in their local hero beating up some old man's poochyena?
"That was cute, but if your number two isn't better, you really will be a puffed-up qwilfish, girly," Blue taunted. "You promised me a whole park's worth of destruction!"
Maxwell scoffed. Archie Aogiri had never been patient. He couldn't help the thrill of anticipation he felt as he touched Camerupt's pokeball. He looked back at Blue's smug expression and years fell away. He felt younger and more certain. Convictions that he'd long forgotten raised their heads and quickened his blood. This wasn't old man John Blue in front of him, oh no. This was someone younger, familiar, and in his way again...
"I would have thought by now you would have learned to be careful what you wish for," Maxie said.
Camerupt hit the field with a satisfying boom. Maxie drew himself up into challenge posture and he tilted his head just so and adjusted his glasses. He'd done this to Will Scarley on occasion, when he really felt the challenge, when a battle started to stir his blood.
It was easy with Will. Will and Archie were so much alike, but Maxwell was worried. This posture was something from his old days, when he had been dead-set on radical ideas that he'd been young enough and fiery enough to justify. When he'd had people who'd followed him and a cause that stirred his blood and drove him to learn and discover. He'd been a stronger man then, and a more foolish one too.
He'd buried those young days and tried to forget them, but now... The posture was habitual, adjusting his glasses was habitual, bearding the obnoxious pirate and baiting him... Maxwell knew it was dangerous to do this to Archie, even after all this time, but Maxie had always been just a little careless when it came to his rival.
Blue's eyes widened for a moment, but then Archie smiled and his smile stretched to an improbable length. In the bright Arena lights, a red gleam appeared in his eyes.
"I've never learned," he said. His teeth shouldn't have looked so sharp...
Pelipper let loose with a water gun. Camerupt responded with flamethrower. Sunny Day came to Maxie's aid as he'd planned. The bright light weakened the water move and strengthened the fire one. Pelipper's water vaporized against Camerupt's fire.
"Camerupt, use rock tomb!" Maxie ordered.
He didn't have to tell Camerupt not to let up the flamethrower. Camerupt was old enough to know better.
Camerupt stamped on the ground. Sharp stones erupted under the pelipper. Usually it was difficult to hit a bird pokémon with this move, but the pelipper was stationary and distracted. The stones snared Pelipper and it cried as its water gun fizzled out.
"Fire blast, then take-down," Maxie ordered.
Camerupt blasted the stranded bird with crisping heat. It didn't hurt it much, but it wasn't supposed to. Several hundred pounds of angry camerupt slammed into the disoriented pelipper amd smashed it through its rocky prison and carried it across the Arena. Camerupt slammed the bird against the far wall with a satisfying crack. It pressed it for a moment and then let it drop. Pelipper fell to the floor with a feathery thump and didn't get back up.
It was dead quiet in the Arena and then Archie started to laugh. It was the roaring, belly-aching guffaw that could be heard over battling grunts on top of a volcano or echoing through a watery cave during a desperate final struggle toward the precious ruins. It was irritating and he clenched his fists hearing it.
"Always something with you, isn't it?" Archie asked. "You ought to just surrender. There ain't no way you're gonna win this."
"When have I ever surrendered to your bullying, you illiterate pirate?" Maxie returned acidly. "Make your move or surrender."
"Just as demandin' as always, ain't cha?" Archie drawled, his accent deepening by the syllable.
Archie pulled his next pokeball and his improbably wide smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. How did he get a red gleam in his eye from electric lighting? There were things the pirate did that denied Maxie's sense of logic; but they were, for the most part, used in intimidation. Archie's intimidation had never worked on Maxie, so the effort was wasted. It did alert Maxie to Archie's next pokémon.
The field changed. Panels slid away from the floor to reveal clear water. Maxie's half of the field stayed land, but Archie's half was water, and panels slid away around the outside of the field too, leaving Camerupt on an island.
"Let 'em have it!" Archie roared.
His pokéball spun high into the air and Sharpedo burst out of it. It seemed to hang in midair. Its evil red eyes rolled in its head before fixing on him and Camerupt. It roared its defiance before it splashed down into the water. The spray misted him, but Camerupt was splashed. Camerupt lowed and tossed its head. Archie's sharpedo jetted around the confines of its watery arena. It raised waves in its wake that lapped at the edges of Camerupt's solid floor.
The sharpedo was larger than Maxie remembered. It was the size of a small car. Maxie was amazed it could navigate the channels of the Arena at all. The sharpedo Maxie remembered had only been normal-sized. It was big, yes, and it was fast, but this thing... He counted quietly as the sharpedo lapped the arena again. It had the speed and size. Maxie couldn't waste too much time observing it, though. He was on a timer. When the sun set, he would have no chance.
Archie knew it too.
"Soak 'em down! Use Surf!" He ordered.
The sharpedo lapped the arena again, but this time the waves it raised were larger. They rose high above Camerupt's head and hung there, just waiting to crash down. Camerupt tossed its head, but its eyes rolled as it took in the waves.
Maxie was thinking quickly. Camerupt was four-times weak to water. Just a touch of it and no amount of sun would save Camerupt. He had a plan though! It was the perfect scheme, but he needed Camerupt to live long enough to use it! The waves started to fall and Camerupt stomped its feet, its eyes rolling in terror. It was now or never. He had to try.
"Overheat! Now!" He barked.
His tone sliced through Camerupt's panic. Camerupt stomped its foot and steam blasted from its humps. It moo'd shrilly and snorted. Fire shot from its nostrils and lava erupted from both humps. The water slammed down, but Camerupt bellowed out its defiance and radiated heat. Maxie could feel the heat from here. His face seared and his eyes watered for just a moment, then a heat shield slid up from the floor and protected him. It didn't keep out the steam, though. His glasses fogged immediately. The steam was hot, like a proper steam bath. It was hard to breathe, and Maxie knew it was too hot. He heard giant fans engage overhead and the steam lessened as it was sucked away. It was so thick, though, that he couldn't see Camerupt.
Had his ploy worked? What was happening?
He snatched off his glasses and rubbed the hole left by his missing mega stone. Why had he left it? If Camerupt had mega-evolved, it would easily have survived a little dousing. He could see a hazy lump through the fog and his blindness, but was it conscious?
"Camerupt?" he called softly. Camerupt didn't respond.
"Clear this fog! I must see!" Sysco demanded.
Maxie agreed. He rubbed the fog off his glasses and squinted through them. The lump came slowly into focus. It was Camerupt and he was upright. The paint on the floor of the arena around it was gone, and the arena floor itself was scorched. Jagged, glassy basalt littered the floor and covered Camerupt's flanks. Camerupt was breathing heavily, but was conscious. It shook itself free of the clinging basalt and stepped forward.
The water level was down significantly. Archie's giant sharpedo was trapped in the larger pool area of the arena. The water was too shallow for it and it was on its side so that its fins didn't brush the pool floor. Its red eyes rolled wildly. Its belly was burned, Maxie noted. Camerupt's Overheat must have boiled all the water in the arena.
"Kyogre's Mighty Wings! What the hell?" Archie demanded.
"It looks like the tables have turned. You're finished," Maxie said snidely.
"I ain't done yet! Ya don't do somethin' like that without a price," Archie responded. "Let's show him Sharpedo! Aqua Jet!"
Sharpedo roared and sucked in the remaining water. Maxie didn't have much time. The sun would fade any minute!
"You've lost. You lost as soon as I began. Fwhuhu. Behold my strategy! Now Camerupt! Unleash your full power! Solar Beam!" Maxie ordered with a sweeping gesture.
"Ain't gonna happen!" Archie sneered.
Sharpedo launched out of the pool like a rocket, propelled by water. It homed in on Camerupt like a toothed missile, but those teeth could shred steel. Camerupt opened its mouth. The rings on its sides glowed white as it concentrated sunlight inside itself. Time seemed to slow as Maxie watched Sharpedo jet down on Camerupt, but he saw the bright bubble of light form around Camerupt's mouth. Sharpedo descended in slow motion and Camerupt's bubble popped. The world went white and was silent for a long breath before sound roared to life and time speed up with a vengeance. The Solar Beam slammed into Sharpedo and sent it spinning into the air. Sharpedo was blown against the ceiling. It tumbled down. As it fell, Camerupt thundered forward.
"No!" Maxie shouted, but Camerupt knew and hated its old enemy with the same passion that Maxie did. It would not be stopped.
Camerupt leapt off the land platform and slammed into the falling Sharpedo in a mid-air Take-Down. Camerupt didn't have enough momentum to make it to the dry land on the other side. It and Sharpedo hit the water with a heavy splash.
Maxie dodged out from behind the heat shield and sprinted across the arena. Archie, the spectators, they all faded away. Only Camerupt mattered and Camerupt couldn't swim...!
Archie dodged out from behind his own heat shield. He didn't have as far to go as Maxie and reached the edge of the pool first. He dove right in. Maxie reached the pool only seconds after. The water wasn't deep after Sharpedo's shenanigans, but it was enough to panic Camerupt. Camerupt could barely stand the touch of water. Although no longer a Numel, even Camerupt's fiery core could cool if too long submerged. Once cooled, the solid core would drag the Eruption Pokémon to the bottom.
Camerupt bellowed and splashed. The water was just deep enough to cover its head. Archie had gotten his shoulder under Camerupt's head and had forced it up so the panicked pokémon could still breathe, but Camerupt was terrified. It didn't understand that Archie was trying to help it or it just didn't see Archie at all. Either way, Camerupt's strength was too much for the old pirate. With a terrible cry, Camerupt shook itself free of Archie. Maxie heard a crack before the panicked pokémon's head caught Archie in the chest. Archie yelped as Camerupt flung him up and away. He tumbled through the air before landing in the water.
"Return! Return Camerupt!" Maxie screeched, but the flailing pokémon dodged out of the way of his pokeball's beam. "No Camerupt! Stop it, stay still!"
"Sysco, you basculin! Drain the damn pool!" Archie roared. He was back up. He dodged under Camerupt's flailing and slammed his shoulder under its head again. "Stop it you blazing tauros! I'm tryin' ta help you! Come on, you big boldure, use amnesia! Use amnesia and forget all about this!"
Archie's roar was as loud as his belly-aching laugh, but it was far more flooring. Maxie's hatred had helped him resist the fear the pirate's roar engendered, but it did intimidate him, though he'd die before he admitted it to anyone besides himself. Camerupt was beyond its master's ramrod pride; Archie's command reached through its blind panic and hit it in the small primal part of its brain that said, "This man is bigger and stronger than you and, if you don't obey him, he will kill you." At least, that's what Maxie always felt, before his pride kicked in to shield him. Camerupt lowered its head and started to glow with the special defense-raising powers of amnesia. Archie was forced to his knees by Camerupt's strength, but the moment of stillness was all Maxie needed. Red light lanced out of his pokeball and Camerupt disappeared safely inside.
Archie fell forward from the sudden reprieve, but when he put out his arms to steady himself, something happened. Maxie wasn't quite sure what, just that Archie, instead of stopping, kept going forward and landed face down in the water. He flailed a bit, but something was wrong with his arm. He wasn't getting back up.
Maxie spotted Archie's grunt over by the arena controls. He looked stricken and watched his boss writhe.
"Idiot!" Maxie snapped. "Bring him up! He's broken something!"
He spotted a ladder down into the pool and slid down it. The water was draining rapidly and was barely over the tops of his shoes when he reached Archie. He grabbed the man's uninjured side and flipped him over. Archie gasped in pain and inhaled water. Maxie manhandled his rival's head onto his knees and tried to get him up so he could expel the water,.
"No! Da-damn it," Archie sputtered between coughs. "Hurts!"
"Of course it does, you lunk-headed pirate!" Maxie snapped. "You imbecile! What were you trying to do?"
"Aw hell, Maxie. You didn't really think I'd let Camerupt drown, did ya?" Archie shot back.
Maxie stiffened. Archie choked mid-cough as he realized what he'd said. Maxie could hear Sysco up top, moving around and giving commands to Nurse Joy and some machamp with stretchers. Otherwise it was quiet in the Arena, and it echoed down here, and Archie had just said his name out loud where anyone could hear!
Maxie didn't have words. He just let out a strained groan.
"Sea's blood," Archie swore, but at least he was quiet. "You aren't really Will...?"
"Maxwell Matsuba," Maxie said firmly.
"Really?" Archie said. He smiled and tried to laugh, but subsided with a grimace. "Thank Kyogre for your imagination then."
"Says John Blue," Maxie said snippily. "This isn't funny."
"Yeah, I know," Archie said. He reached up and put his arm around the back of Maxie's neck and pulled him down so his ear was by Archie's mouth. "Sysco's IP. Don't trust him. Here's the story. I figured out you weren't really Scarley, knew it all the long, but you didn't know I knew, right? Act surprised, make up your reason. Maxie, Maxwell, what's the difference? Can you play it straight?"
"Yes," Maxie said. There wasn't time for another plan.
Archie smiled his sharp, sharpedo grin before falling back to coughing. A machamp tapped Maxie on the shoulder. Maxie took the hint and gave ground for the machamp to move Archie on to the stretcher. The superpower pokémon handed him up carefully and Archie was out the door before Maxie made it to the top of the ladder.
"Oh, sir! Are you alright?" Sysco asked.
Maxie gave him a blank, hostile stare. IP indeed. He hadn't suspected the dapper man as the type, but it just went to show that you never could tell. What was Archie thinking, to allow a member of the International Police to be so close to him all the time?
"Fine, thank you," Maxie said frostily.
"You won, by the way," Sysco added. "Sharpedo fainted in the air, and your Camerupt was conscious even while it was in the water. A fine bit of trickery there! Yes, indeed. Well-played..."
Maxie nodded and then turned on his heel and headed for the door.
"Maxie," Sysco said. His affected simper was curiously absent.
Maxie's neck prickled, but he did not stop. He keyed the door open, "It is Maxwell. Maxwell Matsuba," he said coolly, "though I prefer Mr. Matsuba."
"Matsuba?" Sysco asked. Maxie could hear the unspoken 'really?' His alias felt very, very thin right now. Sysco came up behind him, the bounce gone from his step. Maxie's skin crawled when Sysco said, "Not William Scarley?"
"Apparently not, as you'd know if Blueport paid any attention to anything outside its internal politics," Maxie retorted.
"But you said..."
"I did not. Your mayor assumed and I did not have the time nor the patience to correct him," Maxie interrupted pompously. He adjusted his glasses and glared down at the little agent. "It appears that even John Blue can manage to correct himself. He may not be the arrogant heel I first supposed. It gives me some hope for the future of our negotiations. Some, scant hope."
He left before the agent could question him further. He had done his part, now he just had to hope that Archie Aogiri was smart enough not to sink both of them.