Maika clenched his white-gloved fist until Riley could see his arms becoming veiny. "Azura, I must request that you take this battle on yourself! I've protected you and the operation as best as I can!"
"Calm down, Maika." Azura sighed and moved her long hair out of the only eye of hers that Riley had seen as of yet. "It doesn't matter. Win or lose, we'll lose this world to our own kind. We'll be left with the burden of guilt from our greedy human species whether we complete this operation or not."
Then, she looked at Riley and how determined he was to stop her. "But you." She glared at him, her expression intensifying. "I haven't battled you yet. You've been a step behind this entire time, haven't you?" Her permanent frown morphed into a terrifyingly passionate grin. "Take me on, runt! Show me what I'm fighting for! Show me just how cruel a human can be; I don't know well enough already!"
Azura, emotionless, sent out her opening Pokemon. "Go, Syrienne," she said blankly.
"S'ren!" it sang.
Riley sent out Corvekt! "Vekta!" it honourably exclaimed, puffing up its chest!
"Drowning Song."
"Renne-ien!" Syrienne sang, a torrent of black water swallowing it and transforming it into its gruesome Devourer Form! It flexed its strong fingers, cracking them against each other. It danced around gracefully, despite how ugly and terrifying it was.
Corvekt used Leaf Blade, as it always did facing against Syrienne! It achieved a critical hit because it hit Syrienne when it had its guard down! Syrienne counter-attacked with Bite, though! It grabbed the medium-sized bird in its huge, strong hands and then chomped on it with its vertical jaws!
It crowed in pain, but jumped back, striking again with its broadsword of wood! This time, though, the wooden sword was encased in iron! It used Iron Slash, a move it had apparently just learned! It hit Syrienne as its guard was down, causing it to faint!
"You're not bad..." Azura sarcastically complimented Riley. "But I already knew you were cruel. How do you train your Pokemon, huh?
"Bellyfish!" She threw a Dive Ball into the battlefield, and a creature that had a bell as its body which had a bunch of tentacles out of the bell's mouth came out in a whirlpool of bubbles.
Riley presumed this was an evolution of Bellyp, given its bell-resembling appearance. He held his PokeDex up to it. It read, "Number 34, Bellyfish. Water- and Ghost-type. The Bell Pokèmon. Bellyfish aren't actually as solid as their bell disguise would have one think. They're actually very squishy and light. The tongue of the bell is actually the Pokèmon's tongue as well, and it can release a toxin to paralyze its prey. Bellyfish, however, are much more docile than Bellyp, and won't attack humans on purpose. However, because of their habitat and large numbers, humans are often accidentally harmed by their toxins."
Riley had Corvekt attempt for the first hit! It used Leaf Blade, striking Bellyfish's soft bell-resembling skin! A cut opened up, but it only went through one layer of skin! Bellyfish used Hypnosis, and Corvekt was sent to sleep!
It bobbed over to Corvekt and tried encompassing it with its tentacles. But Riley returned Corvekt just in time! He replaced Corvekt's position with Barksky! Bellyfish released a toxin that filled the air with black smoke and looked like it had sharp-toothed plasma mouths floating around in it. Was this Dream Eater? Thank goodness Barksky was awake!
Riley ordered Barksky to use Bite! It pounced on top of Bellyfish's non-toxic head, and then let its dark intentions strengthen. When it bit into Bellyfish's thin flesh, the Pokemon took severe damage from the super effective attack!
"Fish-bell!" it cried, in pain. "Bellyf!" That was what Bellyfish said when it used Shadow Claw! It created ghostly claws out of its tentacles and slashed each one at Barksky! But all of the scratches went right through Barksky because it was Normal-type, although also Ice-type!
Barksky used Bite again, making Bellyfish faint! Azura yelped, "My Bellyfish!" before she recalled it into its PokeBall. "Alright, Mooslide, it's your turn!"
A Pokemon appeared that had strong-looking muscles and thick ivory antlers that created about 5 bowl shapes. Water had collected in the bowls, and little tiny waterfalls flowed from one bowl to the one below. It had visually-pleasing silvery fur on its body that was tinted with a masculine brown hue.
"Moose!" it proudly cried out! It used Rock Smash! It rammed into Barksky with the force of a wrecking ball smashing into a rock, and the little canine fainted!
"Vekta coo!" Corvekt cawed, taking Barksky's place! It readied its sword, green vines wrapping around it like snakes! It slashed through Mooslide faster than any of the Pokemon Trainers could see, leaving Mooslide on its knees! But the hefty-bodied Pokemon got up and used Aqua Ring! It used the water inside the basins in its antlers to heal itself slightly.
"Use Rock Smash." Azura blankly ordered. "I love you, my Mooslide."
"Moose!" it roared as it charged at Corvekt! Corvekt couldn't move out of the way in time, getting rammed with the force of a wrecking ball, like Barksky had! It fainted!
Riley gasped! Corvekt was down! He couldn't use Flaradillo against a Water-type specialist like Azura! Saburr was his only remaining option! "Bruur!" it purred.
Its tail flicked as it sized up its opponent. It looked back to Riley. What sort of attack could it use? Mooslide was Water- and Normal-type, so it couldn't use Shadow Claw. It didn't know any Fighting-type attacks, so Crunch, an upgraded, more powerful version of Bite, which it knew, would have to do!
It pounced, landing right in front of the Mooslide which was much bigger than itself. It chomped down hard on Mooslide's chest, and the reeling of the large opponent caused some water to splash out of the basins in its antlers.
"Burr!" Saburr screeched as it hit the wall! Before it could even process it, Mooslide had rammed into it with more force than a truck, sending it flying! It was on the verge of fainting, but got up. Riley panicked, every little thing a threat to his survival. He looked around frantically in his bag for anything at all to help Saburr with!
That was it! Dad had given him the other half of an Oran Berry Pie that they'd shared when he went home a couple days ago! In the glass air-tight container, it was as fresh as it had been coming out of the oven. It was even warm, and the familiar scent calmed down Riley.
Mooslide was charging for Saburr again! Saburr didn't have the energy to dodge! Riley looked at the Mooslide, then at his beloved Pokemon, then at Mooslide, and then at Saburr! He didn't have any choice! He booked it towards Saburr!
He rushed the pie into Saburr's mouth, just grabbing it in his palm, crushing the crust and getting the filling all over his fingers as well as Saburr's snout. He braced for impact, his breaths progressively growing shorter as he heard Mooslide's clambering getting louder- closer. His heart pounded. Humans were weak. Pokemon could obliterate the human population with their power. So why didn't they? Why did they let weak, inferior humans control them?
Riley felt warm fur and cold ice brush against his body. It was Saburr's tail, the tip of which was cloaked in ice. Riley looked up, his entire world moving at a mind-bendingly slow rate. Everything returned to its panicking fast speed when Saburr was no longer standing in front of him. Saburr had guarded him from Mooslide's Rampage attack! Riley felt cold water splash on his pants, the towering Mooslide standing over him. He ran out of the way and took a battle-ready position again!
"Risking your health to protect a Pokemon... heh," Azura looked at Riley, her gaze softening. "You're not so bad, after all. It's truly a shame you don't understand the true nature of our goals. You'd fit perfectly into the New World."
New World? What could Team Delta possibly be planning? Every new bit of information he gathered on them made them seem capable of ending the world. He shook his head and thought, No, now was not the time to think about that. He just had to beat the rest of Azura's Pokemon. She had five PokeBalls on the chain on her skirt, and she was using her third Pokemon now. So that meant there were two more left after he defeated Mooslide!
Saburr used Crunch again, following the same actions as it did before! Except this time, its determination allowed it to strengthen its attack, making it land critical damage! Mooslide fell to its knees, unable to battle!
Azura was practically grinning now. "Your bond with your Pokemon is impressive. You're a perfect fit for Team Delta, Riley. My apologies for opposing you so long. I've been depressed all my life; then, I met my first Pokemon, a Raindeer."
She knelt down, putting her hand on her exhausted Mooslide's back and rubbing it tenderly. "This is the evolved form of that Raindeer, my dearest Pokemon. You see, Pokemon are the only things in this world that make me happy. Yet, people treat them as expendable assets to feed their greed. They use them to produce products, they use them as labourers. I can't stand for that. Trainers like you make me hopeful for the future of Pokemon, people, and this entire world.
"Will you join us, Riley?" She stood up, her expression so much softer than it had been when she saw him on the screen back in the Mirage Station.
"Azura," Maika tried getting out of his throat.
"No, Maika. I truly believe Riley would be among the best fit Pokemon Trainers for Team Delta's plans. Riley, as part of Team Delta, our Pokemon always come first. I can see you feel the same. We just want the world to be made better for all Pokemon. You're young, and I don't expect you to think our actions are justified by our goals. However, you can't always do good by doing the right thing. And you can't always do the right thing by doing good."
Riley's expression, opposite to Azura's, hardened sternly. Was she honestly asking him to join Team Delta? Saburr growled too, stepping in front of Riley to guard him. "Is that a..." Azura sighed. "Is that a no, then?"
Riley nodded. No. No, there was no way he would join Team Delta! Though... No. They didn't deserve sympathy either. They were doing terrible things. They were emotionless, and not even Azura's monologue could dissuade him of it.
He sprayed a Super Potion that he'd purchased earlier on Saburr, restoring it to more or less its full health. "Fine. A shame, Riley," one of Team Delta's Commanders, Azura, sighed. "You'd fit right in.
"Maskalmon, it's your turn!" she sent out a Maskalmon. It had been a while since Riley encountered a Maskalmon. A water-type Pokemon, Riley didn't really have any ideal way of attacking Maskalmon. He'd just have to make sure Saburr could pull out for him!
He pet the back of its ears and its neck. He didn't show his Pokemon enough affection. That was true of Azura's words. He rubbed its back tenderly, then ordered it to attack!
Saburr pounced on Maskalmon, ripping into it with its teeth like it was ready to eat it! Maskalmon chirped in pain, and managed to wrestle out of Saburr's claws. Its computer chip-bearing tag moved as if it were an extension of its tail, not seeming to be affected by gravity and looking like a ballet ribbon, in essence.
It summoned an Aqua Ring and restored some health, then swam to Azura's feet where a plastic container of leftover food was waiting for it. It took a nibble of the leftovers and further restored more health. Saburr attacked again, trying to use Crunch on it, but its attack missed! Maskalmon used Hydro Pump, and landed a critical hit on Saburr by hitting it right in the chest with the water jet! Saburr went into critical condition.
Riley's body went tense. He didn't have very many healing items left. He looked at Azura. She looked so confident, unlike she ever had before. Her permanent frown still was evident in the sad-looking wrinkles of her mouth. Being so sad clearly took a toll on her, even though she was so young. Even though her mouth was wrinkled into a frown, she wore a smirk. Like she knew she couldn't lose. But she didn't know Riley's final Pokemon. Did she?