Maika took a hand of four cards out of his chest pocket and showed them to Riley. Each had a PokeBall on it. One was a Dusk Ball, two a regular PokeBall, one an Ultra Ball. He juggled them in his hands, bending them so that they flew between both his palms like crossing an invisible bridge. He threw the Dusk Ball card into the battlefield vicinity and it started floating in the air. Maika yanked the air as if there were a rope in it and the card came back to him, but a real three-dimensional Dusk Ball had appeared where the card had been!
"Niuu! Suiun!" called a Pokemon with rabid determination! A puff of smoke that had sparkles in it that looked like stars spewed out of the Dusk Ball which had seemingly appeared from thin air!
Riley panicked; maybe he would fall for Maika's tricks! And not even in a Gym Battle, he would fall to an opponent fully capable of ending his entire journey under the influence of Team Delta!
"Too-lunb!" hissed Bluntooth as the familiar circular Pokemon emerged from the cloud of purple, blue, pink, and white smoke it had created. Bluntooth arched its back and lowered its chest, stabilizing itself! It pounced!
Its claws were covered in a shadowy aura that extended to the length of katanas and slashed into the opposing Saturnius, which was cut about half its health! It retaliated! It used Psychic, releasing its gas and send it over to Bluntooth. The star-resembling sparkles in the gaseous cloud all launched a pink beam at Bluntooth! But Bluntooth only took about a quarter of its health worth of damage!
"Saturnius, use Recover!" Maika ordered his Pokemon. He flourished a hand of cards, making it into the shape of a paper fan, and threw one of the cards to Saturnius. This card had a pink heart on it, and the heart cast a similarly-coloured light on the spherical Pokemon. Its eyes curled upward, happy to have been healed. When the light went away and the healing stopped, the card fell to the ground like a normal paper should have much sooner.
It was now Riley's turn! He narrowed his eyes and struggled to keep a calm composure. He managed, though, and called out to Bluntooth! "Tootharr!" the Pokemon growled, expressing its attention to its Trainer. It used Shadow Claw again, going for Saturnius' face this time! Its dark ethereal claws hit dead-on, leaving scratch marks on Saturnius' face that leaked a liquid similar to its gas.
Saturnius spun around in the air, impatient for directions. Maika took four cards out of his Team Delta uniform's jacket's waist pocket and showed them to Riley. One had an eye, one had a heart, one had a feather on it, and the last had a circle of five stars on it. He threw them into the air and they spun around the illusionist like a magnetic forcefield. He caught one as it was spinning around him and, with his other hand, snapped his finger, causing the cards to warp to it. He read the card he had randomly selected. "Confusion."
"Sa-sa!" Saturnius hissed. It produced enough galaxy-like gas to fill the room, making the room look like a galaxy- like Malasarri City looked like- and then it spun around rapidly, throwing both Bluntooth and Riley off their guard.
Riley was sweating under his hat. His hair felt warm on his head. What could he do now? He ordered Bluntooth to try and strike again, but the Pokemon tripped and fell from its confusion, injuring its foot!
Riley sent out another Pokemon! He sent out Barksky. Barksky didn't know any Ghost-type moves, or Bug-type moves. But it did know Bite, a Dark-type move! "Barrarf!" Barksky howled as it chomped down on the ring around Saturnius' body.
"Saee!" the tiny spherical Pokemon squealed. It retaliated by trying to use Confusion again. It filled the room with a galaxy of sparkle-stars once more, but Barksky didn't fall for it! The attack had failed!
Barksky attacked again, chomping down hard, this time on the Saturnius' forehead! It was a critical hit! Saturnius fainted!
"Saturnius," Maika said flatly. "You fought well." Maika threw the Dusk Ball at his Pokemon and Saturnius was sucked in in the form of a white beam. The magician then spun the Dusk Ball on the tip of his finger. When it stopped spinning- to Riley's surprise- it was a Ultra Ball.
Maika shouted, "Syrienne, I need your help!" He threw the Ultra Ball onto the battlefield! Emerging, a beautiful Syrienne in its Siren Form. It sung its call and Riley's eyes narrowed.
He recalled Barksky and sent out Corvekt! The large-chested Pokemon unsheathed its blade, ready for battle! "Corv! Vekta-vekta!"
Maika shuffled a deck of cards, then let them hover in the air before him. He took off his hat and placed it under where the cards were hovering. Tapping the hat with the wand he summoned out of thin air, a prosperous-looking flower slithered into bloom from within the top hat. Its bloom opened up, a card inside. The card had a black-coloured eye similar to the purple-red ones on the cards that Maika used for Saturnius.
"Drowning Song!" Maika ordered. He slashed the flower at its stem and it slithered back into the top hat, the part that broke off turning to dust.
"Syre!" Syrienne sang. A dark, unsettling wave of water overtook its slick body, transforming it into its disgusting but alluring Devourer Form.
Corvekt used Leaf Blade, summoning greenery which sprouted on its wooden broadsword before it gripped the handle of the sword in its beak and slashed Syrienne across the face!
"Rienne!" A demonic singing voice emerged from the siren-like Pokemon's sharp-toothed vertical mouth.
Syrienne attacked again, using Shadow Claw! It brought back its huge hand and covered its fingertips in shadowy aura! It threw its huge tentacle-like hand forward, slashing harshly across Corvekt! But Corvekt retaliated, striking its wrist with another Leaf Blade!
One more Leaf Blade would probably take out Syrienne at this rate! Riley clenched his fist! He had beef with the Syrienne species! The Syrienne attacked Corvekt with a Water Pulse! It sang, and its song created a sound wave so strong it draw power from the moisture in the air and the water came crashing down on Corvekt!
Corvekt held its broadsword in one wing and ran the feathers on the tip of its other wing along the broad end of its sword, centering its focus. It closed its eyes and breathed deeply. From the handle, glowing green vines wrapped around the sword. At a steady pace, the vines continued wrapping themselves around the sword until it was coated in a pleasing-looking layer of vines. The green glow intensified and Corvekt slashed as hard as it could over Syrienne's chest!
The aquatic Pokemon let out an ear-splitting scream as it fainted, returning to its Ultra Ball. Maika let his expression intensify, understanding the importance of emotional expression. "Rrrgh!" he growled, gritting his pearly-white teeth!
He placed the Ultra Ball into his hat and drew out a regular PokeBall. He let the PokeBall slowly hover down into place on the battlefield. A Pokemon emerged from it. "Kada!" it spoke.
Riley sent Barksky back into the battle! The Pokemon was raring to go! Its tail was even wagging! It jumped onto the gold-skinned Pokemon's chest and bit it using Bite! "Dabara!" the Pokemon screeched. It threw Barksky off of it and used Psychic.
It lifted Barksky off the ground with telekinesis, then sent all of the telekinetic force into the canine's body. "Kadabra!" it proudly sneered.
Barksky used Bite again, this time landing its attack on Kadabra's waist! Kadabra shook Barksky off of it and used Psychic again! But this time, Barksky dodged the attack! It bit down hard on the opposing Kadabra's chest, causing the Pokemon so much pain that it fell unconscious!
"Ugh!" Maika grunted, his eyes going narrow and straining from the pressure he was under. "I can't fail! If I do, Team Delta's ideal world could be jeopardized!" He took a deep breath and clenched his fist. He tipped his hat, making its shadow fall on his face, making a shroud of mystery. He opened his eye and it glowed white in the shadow of the magician's top hat.
"Riley, you will know the pain your Pokemon go through for you!" Maika screamed! "Crysmalyte, go!"
He sent out a prism-like Pokemon whose rocky body reflected the lights around it, creating spectra of colour. The source of its consciousness was most likely the blue light that was hidden inside the glassy transparent stone.
"Cryms!" Crysmalyte cooed. Its blue energy body fluttered within the crystals encasing it as it spoke.
"Crysmalyte, the Spectral Pokemon. Psychic-type. Crysmalyte are unique and very unknown Pokemon. Their bodies are made of energy that grows incredibly strong. When the emotional energy of an area peaks, the crystals that make up Crysmalyte's body could be formed. However, very little is known about their ethereal insides. The colour of their energy corresponds to the emotional energy that created them. This will shape their view of life for the rest of their lives."
Meanwhile, Barksky was lifted into the air. It struggled to keep its dominance-expressing stance, but it couldn't. It whimpered as it could feel Crysmalyte's psychic pressure on its body.
A white light shot out of the button on one of Riley's PokeBalls, but he didn't notice it. Bluntooth landed on its feet, its body pulsating with white light. The white light grew so strong that Riley couldn't resist noticing.
Bluntooth's small, weak physique was pumped into a majestic, strong feline body. The ice armour it had made also intensified, protecting an ever greater area of its body. It developed a row of white stripes on its back and its tail elongated. On the tip of its tail, an ice dagger formed, and the fangs in Bluntooth's mouth extended, sharpening! The fang on the right side of Bluntooth's mouth was covered in the same ice as its armour!
"Saburr!" what was once Bluntooth meowed, taking in a few breaths in its new body before crouching down, looking ready to pounce! Saburr pounced on Crysmalyte and used Ice Fang on it! The mineral-bodied Pokemon fell out of the air, its energy body pulsing and turning red as it felt pain.
Barksky plummeted out of mid-air. Saburr jumped! Just before Barksky hit the ground, Saburr caught it on its back. It laid it down on the ground next to Riley's feet and looked up at its trainer. It was considerably bigger than it was as a Bluntooth, but it was still below Riley's eye level. At least, standing on four legs it was.
It nudged his hand with its cold, bloody-pink nose, then jumped back into battle! Riley scanned it with his PokeDex, as excited as possible! His PokeDex read out to him, "106, Saburr. Ice- and Fighting-type. The Sabertooth Pokèmon. Saburr are nearly fearless, and will attack almost any enemy if provoked. This bravery comes from them having lived in a time when much larger Pokémon, like Mamoswine, roamed the land in whole hoards. They, like their unevolved forms, cover their bodies in ice, but they also craft weapons out of the ice they produce, like spears, which they use with their tails."
Crysmalyte's energy spiked inside its crystals, the visible edges burning red. It began emitting an ominous ringing sound from its crystal body as the energy of its conscience expanded, encompassing first the crystals and then the entire room. It forced its way into Saburr's mind, making it fight with its own emotions.
In shock, Riley ordered Saburr to use Ice Beam! It roared, preparing to use the attack! But Crysmalyte's hypnotic Confusion caused it to slip up, causing it to overcharge its Ice Beam and hurt itself. Crysmalyte used Rock Polish. It used the heat from its conscious energy to melt its crystals. Doing this increased its aerodynamics and speed.
Saburr struck again, using Ice Beam! It charged up a cold mist in its mouth and used the mist to freeze the thick water content in the air of the tunnel! The water vapour solidified, smashing into the Psychic- and Rock-type opponent! It hit!
Crysmalyte used Psychic, lifting Saburr off the ground. The Pokemon took on a doggy-paddle as it struggled to remain ground-bound. But when it was up in the air, Crysmalyte exerted incredible amounts of psychic pressure onto its body! Saburr roared in pain!
Even before it fell out of Crysmalyte's Psychic, Saburr got ready to pounce! Straight out of mid-air, the feline pounced on its mineral opponent, burying its ice-coated fangs into the rocks! A crack broke out on one of the crystal protrusions, and Maika, screaming in disappointment, had to withdraw his Pokemon before its life was threatened!
"You little naïve brat! Your world is going to end, do you not understand!? We're going to save you and everyone you know! Why do you stand in our way!?" Maika's eyes strained as he yelled, unable to contain his anger. The ground beneath where he was hovering above went ablaze, though the fire was merely aesthetic.