'WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?!' the monstrous Gigalith boomed while lumbering towards Trevor and Aiden, his massive size sending a primal fear coarsing through the Meowth's entire body. "MOST POKEMON WOULD'VE RUN BY NOW."
Aiden inhaled sharply, puffing up her chest and pointing her nose high into the air. 'Well, we're not most Pokémon!' she declared, "We're Team Spirit, a Silver Rank explorer team, and we-"
"SILVER RANK?! THE ASSOCIATION SENT YOU WEAKLINGS TO STOP ME?!" Guro spied the poster clutched by Aiden's paw, his eye beginning to twitch involuntarily. "AND THEY'RE STILL USING THAT OLD PICTURE OF ME?! SO IT'S LIKE THAT THEN, EVEN AFTER I'VE EVOLVED, EVERYONE STILL SEES ME AS A WEAKLING. I'LL SHOW EVERYONE JUST HOW POWERFUL I'VE BECOME, I'LL SHOW THEM WHAT UNDERESTIMATING ME WILL GET THEM. I'LL USE YOUR LIFELESS CORPSES AS A WARNING TO NEVER MESS WITH 'STEEL-SKINNED' GURO!"
With a deafening roar, Guro smashed one of it's massive appendages against the ground and created a massive shockwave which knocked both members of Team Spirit off their feet. Aiden swiftly leaped back upwards, a giddy smile etched across her face.
'Aw, yeah! Let's do this!' Aiden shouted gleefully as she began dashing towards the monstrous Gigalith, her leg igniting into a stream of waving flames. Dashing up to one of Guro's legs, she flashily wound up her entire body before delivering an impressive spinning kick, colliding her foot onto his dark, hardy exterior. A loud KLANG resonated through the air followed by Aiden recoiling backwards, wincing as she clutched her now bruised foot in agony. The Gigalith, in turn, moved its foot backwards in preparation to retaliate with his own kick.
'Aiden, look out!' Trevor shouted as he began hurling a plethora of Iron Thorns towards Guro's massive body. None of the thorns could make even the slightest dent on the Gigalith's hardened exterior; even switching his strategy to chucking Blast Seeds proved ineffective. The only thing Trevor's tools managed to accomplish was making Guro turn towards him with an expression of annoyance.
"YOU THINK YOUR LITTLE TOYS CAN HURT ME?! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT REAL FIREPOWER LOOKS LIKE."
With another earth-quaking roar, Guro began charging towards Trevor at a frightening speed for something of his size. Trevor had to lunge sideways to narrowly avoid a collision, scaping both of his arms in the process. Seeing Trevor collapsed on the ground, the Gigalith silently prepared to charge at him once more.
'Oh no you don't!' Aiden's voice rang out from below.
Guro snapped his head downwards to find Aiden mercilessly attacking his foot with strained grunts. She kicked with every technique she knew, Low Sweep, Flame Wheel, Double Kick, yet nothing would leave even the faintest of scratches. Beads of sweat rolled down her creased brow as she repeatedly tried again and again to leave any kind of mark. One powerful stomp from Guro would send her tumbling backwards towards a concerned-faced Trevor.
'Aiden, none of our attacks are working,' he shouted, "What's should we do?!"
'Err, find a way to distract him!' Aiden panted, "My Pyro Ball has never failed to bring anyone down! This guy's no exception!"
Trevor split from Aiden and began sprinting around Guro in a circle, continuing to throw projectile after projectile all the while. While the Gigalith was preoccupied trying to hit him, Aiden grabbed a nearby pebble and began juggling it around using the heels and tips of her feet. Once the pebble grew into a roaring fireball which reached her torso in height, a powerful kick sent the orb careening towards Guro's back, where it exploded into a sea of billowing flames upon impact. Despite it's flashiness, all the move was able to accomplish was leaving a stain of soot where the impact had occurred, Guro remaining completely unfazed from the attack.
'That...didn't work!' Trevor screamed while narrowly dodging a powerful swing. "W-what should we do now?!"
"I...I..." Aiden muttered, her head feeling as if it was about to split as she strained to devise a strategy against this seemingly invincible beast. Before long, Sidney's words burrowed their way back into her head, "...consequences of your reckless actions."
'Treph, you were right!' Aiden suddenly shouted, "This isn't worth it, let's run!"
Trevor nodded and the pair began sprinting away from the Gigalith as fast as their legs could carry them. With an earth-shattering kick, Guro sent a trail of giant boulders careening towards the pair's direction. With a well-timed lunge, Aiden was barely able to dodge the onslaught. Trevor was not so lucky, a boulder the size of his head colliding with the right side of his chest. A sickening crack resonated through the air followed by a bloodcurdling scream as Trevor shakily clutched the side of his now battered, bloody body.
'Treph!' Aiden screamed while dashing towards his collapsed body, every one of his quivering breaths stabbing into Aiden like daggers. Without hesitation, Aiden slung Trevor's arm over her shoulders and began slowly dragging him away.
"Aiden..." Trevor moaned weakly between harsh, shaky breaths.
"Shh, y-you're gonna be okay. I've got this all under contro-AH!" Aiden was suddenly interrupted by another torrent of boulders hurled her way, one of which managed to graze her shoulder. Aiden winced in pain, yet continued to stagger onwards with Trevor slung around her. As Guro continued to lumber towards the pair, it became abundantly clear to Trevor that Aiden wouldn't be able to escape so long as she was carrying him.
"Aiden...I'm just...dragging you down..."
"Don't- don't say that. Don't-"
"You have...to let me go. Save yourself..."
"No, I'm not doing that! I'm won't leave you to die!"
Trevor's desperation reached its climax, seizing control over his entire mind as he stared into Aiden's eyes and screamed, "Just...let me go, please! I...I'm not worth it!"
Aiden wordlessly lowered Trevor to the ground, yet rather than running away, stood her ground and turned to face Guro. 'Do you hear me, criminal?!' she roared in defiance, "Trevor's my friend, and you're not gonna lay a finger on him! Not while I'm still breathing! If you value your life, you'll turn back and let us go!"
Guro let out a callous laugh while continuing to advance forwards. 'WHILE YOU'RE STILL BREATHING?!' He bellowed in bemusement, "POOR CHOICE OF WORDS. YOU'RE BOTH WEAK, YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"
Aiden took a deep breath, then began juggling a nearby pebble using both of her feet. With each successive kick, the small rock gradually grew brighter.
'WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?' Guro boomed, raising one of his legs in preparation to strike before being interrupted by a wave of blinding light. From a few meters away, Trevor had used the last ounce of his strength to grab a Luminous Orb from his satchel and shove it high into the air, allowing its brilliant radiance to whiten every surface in sight. The Gigalith, now completely blinded from the orb's flash, shook the earth as it flailed and repeatedly pounded the earth in a wild frenzy. Despite the ensuing barrage of tremors, Aiden continued to juggle her ball even after it exceeded the size of her own head, the orb of fire now beginning to reach her neck in height.
"Pyro..."
Right as Guro began to regain his sight, Aiden launched the ball several feet into the air, then leaped upwards to meet it. Both Trevor and Guro could only watch in stunned amazement as she performed an impressive flip in midair, her ankle loosening in preparation as her leg rapidly neared the massive ball of fire.
"...Missile!'"
Aiden let out a piercing scream as her foot collided with the ball's side, sending it careening towards Guro's chest at an incomprehensible speed. Having kicked the massive orb at its side rather than its center, it began spinning with enough force to drill into the Gigalith's tough hide, causing him to scream in pain as the glowing sphere rapidly began to shine even brighter. In an instant, Aiden's Pyro Missile exploded into a barrage of blinding lights and screaming flames, leaving a wall of smoke in its wake.
"Is...it over?" Trevor groaned while collapsing to his side. Before Aiden could rush over to help him, the sound of a booming footstep instantly sent the pairs' hearts sinking. Guro's massive body emerged from the smoke, a charred crater remaining on his chest from Aiden's attack and bewilderment etched onto his features.
"THAT...HURT! HOW COULD YOU WEAKLINGS MANAGE TO HURT ME?! ...AM I TRULY THIS PATHETIC? IS THAT WHY MY OLD GANGMATES LEFT ME TO ROT?" Guro's eyes flashed with bitter rage. "THAT'S IT, SCREW THE WHOLE CORPSE PLAN. I'M JUST GONNA GRIND YOU INTO A FINE, RED PASTE!"
Aiden grimaced, straining while clutching her swollen leg, as the shadow of Guro's foot covered the pair from directly overhead. "Trevor," she muttered as the Gigalith shifted his weight forwards, "I'm sorry, I failed you." Both Aiden and Trevor looked at each other in somber silence, then shut their eyes accepting that they would never open them again. They tensed up, expecting a deafening 'THUD,' the cracking of their bones, followed by eternal silence.
Only for them hear a peculiar clanking sound instead. The pair hesitantly opened their eyes to find Rin holding Guro's foot back using both of the turquoise-colored blades protruding from his twin scalchops.
"Rin!" Aiden gasped as the Dewott managed to send Guro stumbling backwards with a forceful push. "WHO THE-" he Gigalith roared before shutting up and trembling slightly upon seeing his new opponent.
"YOU! YOU'RE 'DUAL-WEILDING' RIN, THE INFAMOUS BOUNTY HUNTER! Y-YOU DON'T INTIMIDATE ME!"
"Sure, doesn't really matter to me," Rin said flatly as he slowly bent his knees. As one of Guro's legs closed in, a jet of water which appeared around his feet allowed him to propel himself several feet into the air out of harm's way. With another powerful burst of water, he sent himself flying towards the Gigalith from midair and delivered a powerful slash across his body.
"NGAAAH! Y-YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Bellowing in rage, Guro repeatedly attempted to stomp the calm-faced Dewott, yet would be sidestepped and dodged over and over. Every stomp, swing, and kick would be met with a swift dodge accompanied by a stinging wound from the Dewott's turquoise blades. "WHY..." the Gigalith found himself screaming in frustration after several failed attacks, "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"
"This is getting boring. Let's just finish this." Dodging another one of Guro's stomps by launching himself into the air once more, he set his eye on the charred crater which Aiden's attack had created. With pinpoint precision, Rin shot himself in midair straight towards Guro's chest with crossed arms.
"X-Scissor," he whispered.
With a scalchop in each hand, he delivered a devastating X-shaped slash directly onto the gaping crater on Guro's chest. Unlike the violent booms and crackles of Aiden's Pyro Missile, the sheer force of Rin's slashes seemed to deafen everything within proximity. The air became thick with silence save for the pitter-patter of falling droplets of water, the light tap of Rin landing, and the echoing BOOM of Guro's unconscious body collapsing to the ground.
Aiden continued to stare in silent awe for a short while before snapping out of her daze and turning towards Trevor, who was now laying in a pool of his own blood.
"Ai...den..."
"D-don't talk, save your strength. We've won, so you've got nothing to worry about." Aiden's eyes turned glossy as her voice lowered to a trembling whisper. "Please, just hang on..."
Everything became an incoherent blur to Trevor, the entire scene transforming into an incoherent collage of isolated sights and sounds. Aiden's panicked, yellow eyes. The vibrant green hue of Rin's armband as he joined her, mouthing words which he couldn't hear. The distant sound of sirens blaring in the distance. Complete blackness.