Time itself seemed to screech to a complete standstill, the gentle breeze and swaying branches of the Dawnbreak Woods instantly tensing up as Alpha
Ah, Alpha! There's been a slight change of plans, there really wasn't any need to catch the human after all! Trevor ended up being a real softie, so I'll just call the ambush off-
With one fell movement, Aiden sent Percival hurling towards a nearby tree.
Percival!
What a complete, gullible fool. Someone like that isn't worth my valuable time.
Why're you here? What do you want with us?!
Isn't it obvious? Alpha rummaged through his scarf, then pulled out a pair of crumpled fliers and held it high into the air. Plastered on one of the aged papers sat a giant illustration of Trevor sandwiched between the word "WANTED" in bold and the highlighted reward of one-hundred thousand Poke. Underneath Aiden's smiling visage on her respective wanted poster was half the price at fifty-thousand. Alpha relished in the pair's horrified reactions towards their new bounties with glee. "I came to finish what I started, all by my lonesome."
"Look, we don't want any trouble-" Aiden paused, "Wait, what do you mean by 'finishing what you started?'"
You haven't figured it out already? Arceus, you're slow. I was the one who revealed your little secret about your humanity!
But, I thought Rin-
Rin?! Don't make me laugh. After you lot defeated that Groudon, all I had to do was hide at a safe spot and listen in to your conversation with Uxie. That little talk was all I needed to turn the entirety of all the Lush Continent against you. From then on, it was only a matter of tracking you down, which this fool was kind enough to help me with.
But why? Why all this?
You think I would pass up the opportunity to become the legendary hero who caught the world-threatening human? You really are an idiot.
Aiden's entire body began to tremble, her paws balling into tight fists as her yellow eyes burned with unadulterated malice. "You..." she growled with barely contained anger, "You're the reason for all of this? All the shit we've been through these past months?!"
Alpha's grin only widened as Trevor slowly began backing away, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion to come. Much to his surprise, however, the Scorbunny instead chose to cease her trembling, hung her head low, and clasped her paws together.
Please, I'm begging here. Call this attack off- if anyone can do it, it's the one who perpetrated it.
Alpha only offered an indignant scoff in response. "How dull, this'll be even easier than expected." With a deep breath, Alpha's entire body became engulfed in a wave of purple light as he began arching his back in preparation to strike. With a kick powerful enough to leave a smoking crater in its wake, the Gabite propelled himself straight towards Aiden at a breakneck speed despite her seemingly vulnerable state.
"Aiden!" Trevor screamed desperately.
With an even swifter movement and a sudden flash of light, Aiden raised her foot to meet Alpha's devastating claw strike, a massive shockwave resulting from the collision. Aiden's pupils bored into Alpha's widened eyes as their limbs remained locked against one another.
What, you thought we were just sitting on our asses since we last fought? Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way.
Trevor could only watch in silent awe as Barrage of Alpha's claws clashing against Aiden's soles. It was only after Aiden threatened to gain the upper hand when Alpha's eyes began focusing on the blackened bruise barely hidden under Aiden's bandages. Tanking a few of Aiden's kicks, Alpha swiftly delivered a precise claw strike directly onto the vulnerable wound. Aiden screamed while recoiling backwards in agony,
Oh, well isn't that just precious? Our little leech thinks he can take me on his lonesome! Do you really think you can take me?
Shut up. It's not as if that matters.
Alpha let out another scoff, his cocky smirk plastered across his scaly face as he lunged towards Trevor without bothering to charge his signature purple aura beforehand. Months of training flashing through his mind, Trevor managed to nimbly sidestep the attack while reaching into his satchel. Landing with light feet, Trevor immediately flung a Stun Seed straight towards Alpha's body, a thick, yellow cloud indicating that the projectile managed to hit its mark. The Gabite nonetheless emerged from the cloud with a condescending stare.
You think your little toys're gonna work on me? I'm naturally immune to any seed you throw at me.
Alpha lunged towards Trevor once again, forcing the Meowth to lunge aside once again. Another thrown Stun Seed would proce seemingly ineffective as Alpha prepared to lunge yet another time, slight annoyance seeping into his demeanor.
Quit running and face me like a man!
Alpha tried again to slash at Trevor, his claws reaching mere inches away from the Meowth's torso, yet was sidestepped and met with yet another cloud of thick, yellow pollen. Thick, black veins began protruding from Alpha's temple.
You think this is some kind of game?
Trevor hurled a barrage of Iron Thorn towards Alpha in response, one of which managed to scratch Alpha's cheek despite his attempts to sidestep the attack. As the Gabite slowly reached an arm towards the slight wound and stared, wide-eyed towards the resulting splotch of blood, Trevor instantly felt the atmosphere begin to change. The surrounding gravity seemed to amplify as Alpha's trembling body became covered in a vivid, familiar shade of purple. Trevor staggered slightly, his heart beating faster than ever before, yet stood his ground nonetheless.
"Screw the reward," Alpha growled as he stared down Trevor with eyes brimming with unadulterated malice, "I'm gonna enjoy ripping you to shreds."
The air never dared budge an inch as Trevor and Alpha stared each other down from a distance, the former slowly bending his knees as the latter slowly unsheathed his long, pearly white set of claws. Beads of sweat rolled down Trevor's stone-faced visage as he waited for the Gabite to make his inevitable assault.
A deafening boom marked one of Alpha's earth-shattering kicks as he lunged forwards, his glowing claws descending towards Trevor in a matter of milliseconds. In that moment, months of training against Rin violently began ricocheting against Trevor's mind as he narrowly managed to meet both of his claws against that of his opponent. The Gabite let out a grunt of stunned disbelief as Trevor began rapidly striking against his claws, one arm leading to the other in an unbreakable rhythm. Trevor's eyes brightened as Alpha, in his state of disbelief, began getting pushed back.
"You... insignificant... leech!" Alpha hissed from his snarling lips.
With a bloodcurdling roar, Alpha gained the upper hand in an instant as he began pushing back against Trevor's assault. The Meowth was forced into taking a few steps backwards, trying desperately to avoid stumbling backwards as Alpha's claws grew faster by the second.
Did you really think I'd let myself be beat by someone like you?! A weak, sniveling, insignificant little Meowth?!
Trevor had been pushed back by meters in only a few seconds, his arms practically screaming out from searing pain as he struggled in vain to look for any kind of opening. Alpha's sheer power rang throughout the entirety of Trevor's buckling body as he endured strike after strike of his pointed, polished claws.
You're nothing compared to me! You don't deserve to breathe the same air as me! YOU. ARE. NOTHI-
Click!
Alpha briefly paused upon hearing a loud clicking sound which resonated throughout, the Gabite looking around to find the sound's source. By the time he took note of the now cracked Blast Seed tucked in between Trevor's teeth, it was too late; a concentrated stream of fire jettisoned from Trevor's lips and began searing the skin on Alpha's slack-jawed face. Trevor rushed forwards, claws at the ready as the Gabite recoiled backwards while clutching his burnt head in pain. With an adrenaline-wracked scream, Trevor delivered one final, crushing overhead blow onto Alpha's chest with both of his gleaming claws, sending him hurtling downwards onto the ground with a stifled gasp. The Meowth panted heavily, his arms and legs quivering from unimaginable fatigue, as Alpha remained stunned on the floor in sheer disbelief. His expression of shock quickly turned to that of unbridled rage.
"I'm gonna-" Alpha paused his attempted threat upon attempting to stand back up, and failing to do so. His limbs remained motionless as if they were glued to the floor, ignoring the angry orders of the one who possessed them.
"Looks like those Stun Seeds finally took effect," Trevor quietly responded upon seeing Alpha's exasperated expression, "You did just take three of them head on, after all. So much for your 'natural resistance.'"
Alpha could only watch with wild eyes as Trevor slowly limped his way towards Aiden, who remained on the floor clutching at her exposed wound while struggling to stay conscious. Trevor somberly looked into her hazy, half-open eyes for a brief second before swiftly casting aside her ripped bandages, wrapping her in new ones, then grabbing a plump, spotted Sitrus Berry and cautiously inching it towards Aiden's mouth. The Scorbunny instinctively bit a chunk off upon smelling the berry's scent, then returned Trevor's gaze as energy returned to her.
"Treph... what... happened...?" Aiden murmured in between slow, drawn-out breaths.
"Don't worry about it," Trevor gently responded, a tearful smile stretching across his pale face, "You're safe now. C'mon, eat up."
Aiden hungrily consumed what remained of the berry, then allowed herself to put her weight onto Trevor's body as he hoisted her up with a staggered grunt.
"Let's get out of here," Trevor muttered as he began shuffling away, Aiden safely supported on his shoulder. Alpha's eyes twitched uncontrollably with discordant, sporadic breaths as he continually strained to move even a single muscle of his body, to no avail.
"No! No, no, NO!" Alpha suddenly screamed, "Not to you- anyone but you!"
Both Trevor and Aiden paused in their tracks before the former wordlessly turned towards the Gabite. "It's over." he said firmly.
NO! Don't you know who I am?! I'm Alpha! I'm the one who'll become the greatest explorer there ever was! I AM PERFECTION!
Look, just accept that you lost-
"Shut up!"
Much to Trevor's horrified disbelief, Alpha's limbs slowly began to twitch as his soul-piercing glare only seemed to intensify. Several black veins protruded from his neck while his limbs began to quiver violently.
"You don't know. You don't know how long I've struggled to get to where I am, all the dreams I've crushed... all the years I've sacrificed! You can't even imagine it!"
Trevor and Aiden both remained completely speechless, not daring to even blink as Alpha forced his strained, burning tendons to adhere to his will. Trevor shuddered upon imagining the mind-splitting agony Alpha was going through.
"It's the only way. Becoming a Legend... it's the only way to make my father... finally acknowledge me! I'll be an afterthought no longer! Do you hear me?! I am perfection! I am the apex! I am destined to be the most important Pokémon to ever exist!"
Yes, I can't lose to some stupid Silver Ranks who just... came out of nowhere! It's... not possible! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!
Alpha let out a piercing, primal scream which overwhelmed all of Trevor's senses simultaneously, echoing against his skull and relentlessly battering his brain. It was a roar horrifying enough to crush even the strongest of wills, and powerful enough to completely immobilize both Trevor and Aiden into a state of unadulterated fear which they had never experienced up to that point. It went on for what seemed like hours before all of the life was siphoned from Alpha's eyes and his unconscious body fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Trevor continued to stand silently for a while, then rushed away with Aiden upon hearing a nearby rustling sound. The last thing Trevor saw as he looked back briefly was Charlotte's large, yellow eyes as she hovered over Alpha's limp, lifeless body.
-
Still carrying Aiden on his shoulder, Trevor hurriedly attempted to navigate his way towards the Dawnbreak Woods' exit. Aiden's breathing gradually became less heavy with time.
Treph... I don't think we're out of the woods yet.
I know, don't worry. We'll be out of here real soon.
No, I mean that with how loud Alpha was, it's only a matter of time before we're-
Aiden's concerns were abruptly interrupted by
As Chief Officer of the Continental Police Force and a member of the Legend Rank, I, Jett, will bring you to justice!