Chapter 24: XD001
It was Michael's turn to battle. I sat at the nearest bench, still feeling very dizzy. I looked up at the screen to see Michael step out onto his side of the field and start off the battle with his Ursaring. Lord Diamond had his Toxicroak. Ursaring attacked with Return. The attack hit and Toxicroak stumbled backwards slightly. Toxicroak then came in with a nasty Poison Jab. Ursaring doubled over in pain but then got back up. It would take more than that to take him out.
The two Pokemon kept going at it. Ursaring began to use Thrash. He kept hitting his opponent with powerful punches and kicks as he thrashed about. Toxicroak came down hard with a nasty Brick Break. Both of them were already very weakened. Ursaring kept using his powerful Thrash and hit Toxicroak hard. Toxicroak then hit back with Revenge. Ursaring went down, much to my surprise. Michael recalled him.
Michael now sent out his Electrode. Toxicroak closed in for a Poison Jab, only to be hit dead on by Electrode's Electro Ball. Lord Diamond was then forced to recall him and send out his next Pokemon. It was an East Sea Gastrodon, the blue one with the green shell. Electorde rushed in with Sonicboom. Gastrodon took the attack and then retaliated with Mud Bomb. Electrode was in bad luck since its electric attacks would be completely ineffective, but I knew Michael could manage this battle.
Gastrodon then produced a large amount murky water and formed them into a large tidal wave that crashed down on top of Electrode. When the Muddy Water cleared, Electrode appeared unharmed and covered in a shiny aura. The aura then went off of it and slammed right into Gastrodon. Gastrodon got back up, struggling. Electrode tried to use Mirror Coat again, but Gastrodon went in for a powerful Body Slam. Bot Pokemon were very weak now. Then Michael did what I thought he never would.
Electrode began to glow white. Suddenly, a large Explosion was produced and it completely engulfed Gastrodon. When all the smoke cleared, both Pokemon were out and their trainers recalled him. I guess Lord Diamond was planning on using more Body Slams to get past Electrode's Mirror Coat, so taking them both out was the best option.
Michael sent out his Walrein next. Lord Diamond now sent out a mean looking Electivire. Walrein looked right at home on the icy field, but who knew how long it could last against that Electivire. I was actually very surprised. I had never seen more than two of Michael's Pokemon in one battle. Was he off today or was Lord Diamond really that good?
Walrein used Blizzard right from the start of the fight. Electivire got caught in it but soon came rushing out to land a Fire Punch right on Walrein. Walrein then started charging up his Ice Ball. The first one hit as Electivire rushed forward to attack again. Electivire came right through the second Ice Ball, covered in electricity. Electivire's Wild Charge hit hard. Walrein fired the third Ice Ball. This one hit even harder, but Electivire came and landed a mean Thunder Punch, knocking Walrein out before the fourth and most powerful Ice Ball could do the same to him. Michael recalled him.
Espeon was out now. Electiire tried another Thunder Punch, but Espeon hit with a Shadow Ball. Electivire skidded back on the ice a bit before trying to retaliate with Wild Charge. Espeon, however, used his Psychic to pick Electivire up and toss him all the way across the arena. He struggled to get back up before Espeon hit him with another Shadow Ball, knocking him out for good. Lord Diamond recalled him and then sent out a Weavile.
Espeon fired another Shadow Ball. Weavile broke straight through it and hit Espeon with a Night Slash. Espeon fired a powerful Signal Beam. It hit Weavile, damaging him, but he went and landed another Night Slash. Espeon went down. Michael recalled him and sent out his Flygon.
Flygon swooped in and attacked with Dragon Claw. Weavile fought back with a nasty Ice Punch. Flygon was already not doing so well. Flygon began to use Bulldoze as Weavile hit with a Night Slash. Flygon tried Dragon Claw once more, but was struck down down by Weavile's Avalanche. Michael looked on in disbelief as his fifth Pokemon went down. He recalled his Flygon.
Michael bowed his head, like he'd been defeated. He just stood there, as if he had given up. He had one more Pokemon left... why didn't he use it? Why was he just staring at the ground?
Michael slowly lifted up his hand. In it was that Master Ball. I never knew what was inside it, but today I would find out. It was truly terrifying what was in there.
Michael tossed the Master Ball. It hit the ground and the mysterious Pokemon within became known. I looked in awe as a large bird Pokemon appeared. It flapped its large wings that slightly resembled five fingered hands and created large gusts of wind as it landed. It was none other than the legendary Lugia.
However, something seemed off about this Lugia. From what I came to know, Lugia was supposed to be white with a blue stomach, blue spines, and blue around its white eyes. However, this Lugia was a dark purple with a white stomach, white spines, and white around its red eyes. It resembled nothing of the Lugia I knew from the legends... in fact... this Lugia was horrifying.
Lugia fired one powerful air blast with a dark shadowy aura that hit Weavile dead on and knocked him before a Nova League official stepped on the field. I could tell there was a dispute. The match was ended just like that. Michael recalled his Lugia and walked off in shame. Lord Diamond won the match, meaning that the semifinals was Me, Red, Skylar, and Lord Diamond. I got up to go looking for Michael. I needed a better explanation as to what I just saw.
I walked around the underground, I needed to find Michael soon. I kept looking until I finally found him outside in the field. His head was still hung in complete shame.
"Michael..." I said
"They disqualified me" he said solemnly "for having a Shadow Pokemon. Not just any Shadow Pokemon, but a Legendary one at that."
"You mean that Lugia..." I said
"XD001 they called it" he said "it was supposed to be the first Pokemon that couldn't become a regular Pokemon again, unlike the other Shadow Pokemon. So far, they were right... I keep it with me at all times to see if it does anything to help... but I've failed..."
"Ah, yes, you failed at that, but you succeeded in helping us find the last Pokemon we need" I heard from behind me. I turned around and there was Lord Diamond. He walked closer and said "now, if you don't mind willingly handing Lugia over, it will be much easier that way."
Michael continued staring at the ground. He had an empty expression. He slowly reached toward his belt and picked out Lugia's Master Ball. He then handed it right to Lord Diamond."
"M-Michael?" I stammered
"I haven't done anything for it..." He responded "maybe they can do better for Lugia than I can..."
Lord Diamond turned and walked back into the arena. Their plan now was almost in full effect.
I walked over did something I thought I would never do. I punched Michael right in the face and sent him hurtling toward the ground.
"What the hell did you give in for!?" I barked. I was furious.
He just continued staring at the ground.
"Answer me dammit!" I screamed at him. He just kept staring at the ground. He seemed to have lost all hope now. The once amazing trainer I knew now sat on his hands and knees on the ground defeated.
"Lugia... I... I couldn't save you... I'm sorry..." his voice began to trail off as a tear streamed down his face.
"Don't you get it!? Team Cataclysm is now almost ready to carry out their plan!" I screamed "and its all because of you!"
"No..." he said as he slowly got back up "They aren't..."
"Oh? And explain to me why the hell not?" I ordered
"Shadow Pokemon..." he responded "they're different... I don't think they will work for that machine... Also... you... Andrew, you know how to stop the machine..."
He was right. Red showed me where it was and Jared told me how to work it.
"I know they won't use it until they win..." I said "so it looks like I have to take out Red next round and Skylar will need to beat Lord Diamond."
We walked back to the hotel rooms. Michael was clearly very upset. He stopped in his tracks.
"Andrew..." He said, looking down "I'm sorry..."
"Its fine. They would've taken Lugia from you by force. Better you're unharmed." I responded.
We kept walking until we got back to the rooms. Just like Red promised, she was there. Lyss. I hadn't seen her in months. She seemed perfectly unharmed, unlike Kai. She walked up to me and the instant she saw me, she broke down and cried. I opened my arms and embraced her tightly. I took her into my room, Michael following closely behind. I had her sit down in a chair as she finished crying. Kai was up now, and so was Lucy, but we had to get Lucy out of there, in case something we were going to say triggered a latent memory from her Cataclysm days.
"What happened while you were with them?" I asked as soon as Lyss was stable enough to answer
"M-my sister..." Lyss said "she wanted me safe while her Team went out and wreaked havoc"
"I see.." I said "and you, Kai? You were in a lot worse shape than Lyss..."
"They wanted information on the Legendary Pokemon. When I couldn't tell them where Lugia was, they beat me. Daily. How was I supposed to know Michael had him?" Kai began to tear up
"And anything about their overall plan?" Michael asked from the corner.
"Well..." Lyss responded "I know Caitlyn wanted to get rid of humans in general but now..." Lyss stopped. She was trying her best to fight back tears while thinking of her now dead sister. "Now... Red said he just wanted to get rid of certain humans... I don't know what that means though..."
"I think..." Kai interjected "that he wants to get rid of the humans he feels are damaging the human race."
"He did tell me he thought Catalyst's views were too extreme..." I responded "But what group of humans?"
"Its impossible to tell..." Michael said "But I doubt it will be people outside of their little group."
"Anyways" Lyss said "we need a plan."
"The semifinals are tomorrow" I said "Match one is me against Red in the morning. Then it'll be Skylar versus Lord Diamond in the afternoon. The winner of those two matches will then go straight to the finals at sunset. This means that we have to stop them in a day."
"Then let's get to planning then."
And that's what we did. We spent the rest of the night planning our assault on Team Cataclysm. We even got Lucy in on it. The plan was, at this point, very crucial. We had to execute it perfectly over the course of the next day in order to prevail.
I wasn't about to let Team Cataclysm ruin our world.
The next day came and we all split up to do our part. Michael went to the room where the machine was held. Kai and Lucy went stuck to the shadow's and followed the activities of any of the grunts that came by. Lyss went to the stands to observe. The rest was up to me and Skylar. Even though he had no idea about our plan, Skylar was integral to it. The whole outcome depended on me and Skylar winning.
I walked up to the tunnel and looked around. I was nervous. Today could possibly be the end of millions of lives, and it all depended on me. I walked through the tunnel and into the arena, which was now changed to a large, open, grassy field. On the other side stood Red, waiting for our battle to begin.
"The first match of the semifinals is about to begin..." said Tom "but first, let me inform everyone that there is a little twist to this one. Each battler will have twelve Pokemon each. This is bound to be a long battle for them, but whoever wins will go onto the next battle."
I gripped my belt tightly. I counted Twelve Pokemon there. I had to depend on them. This was our time. We had to win.
I stared over at Red.
"Let the first match of the Semifinals begin!" Tom shouted
I grabbed a Pokemon from my belt and threw it, Red doing the same. Now was my time to shine.
A/N: So, sorry about my absence everyone, but I did get X, and have been kind of playing it nonstop. Anyways, I found many similarities between Team Flare and Team Cataclysm... which is purely coincidental, just saying. And now, I must say, our time together is coming to an end. We only have 3 chapters left everyone! Expect this to be finished by the winter, and then we can get started with The Colour Red, which, will be very short. Think of it like Pokemon the Orgins (which if you haven't seen, I implore you to watch it ASAP because it was FANTASTIC). And then we will be getting the sequel, which I will now take submissions for because of the awesome new Pokemon in Gen VI! So keep an eye out for those! As usual, please give me any feedback in the reviews, no flaming or irrelevant stuff, etc, etc.