Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 6: Amber's Rebellion
Dr. Fuji had just left his room and was wheeling his chair to his lab. His late night experiments testing out Amber's psychic powers had caused the doctor to lose sleep, so he had decided to use the middle of the day to take a nap. Now that he was feeling refreshed, Dr. Fuji had decided that it was time to return to work. As soon as Dr. Fuji got to the library though, an invisible force suddenly pulled him out of his chair and levitated him into the air. Startled, Dr. Fuji managed to look down and saw that the entrance to his lab was open. He also saw that Amber and Zwei were standing in the doorway to the lab, and neither one of them appeared to be very happy. Amber's eyes were glowing, and Dr. Fuji quickly deduced that it was his daughter's clone that had pulled him out of his chair.
"Hello, father. You and I have a few things to discuss." Amber told him.
"Amber! What is the meaning of this?" Dr. Fuji demanded to know. "Put me back in my chair this instant!"
"I found out what I really am, Dr. Fuji." Amber informed him. "I know that I'm nothing more than a clone of your original daughter."
Dr. Fuji's let out a small gasp. "How… how did you find out?"
"Muldoon told me." Amber answered. "He approached me and Zwei earlier and told me how I was… born. Naturally I didn't believe him at first because he was drunk when he told me, but then I saw the logs of your… experiment."
"Amber, I only wanted to try and make things easier for you." Dr. Fuji told her. "I was afraid that if you knew what you really were, you wouldn't react well."
"Were you ever going to tell Amber how she was really created?" Zwei asked.
"…I honestly don't know." Dr. Fuji admitted. "But I regret that you found out the truth this way."
"Answer one question for me, 'father.' Did you ever once truly consider me to be your daughter?" Amber asked.
Dr. Fuji's experiment became cold. "My daughter died many years ago. You should at least be honored that I used her DNA to create you, but you could never take her place. To me you will always be nothing more than an experiment."
A single tear rolled down Amber's cheek. "That's what I thought you'd say."
With a wave of Amber's hand, Dr. Fuji was suddenly hurled down into one of the green chairs in the center of the library. He landed in the chair with enough force to topple it over onto its back. Amber walked over to the chair to find that Dr. Fuji was out cold.
At that moment, Muldoon suddenly staggered into the library. "What's all this then?"
Zwei glared in Muldoon's direction and her eyes glowed. The large gamekeeper was suddenly hurled into the hallway wall behind him and was knocked out cold.
"What shall we do with him?" Zwei asked.
"I think he might be a useful toy." Amber answered as she walked up to Muldoon's unconscious form. "And there's someone on this island who I want to play with."
"You mean Dawn?" Zwei asked with a quirked brow.
"There are some things I want to ask her. Plus I've always been a bit curious about how strong a trainer she really is." Amber explained. "I think it's time I used Muldoon to run a little experiment of my own."
Dawn was making her way back through the forest with Piplup and Dedenne. The three had been out exploring the island again when the rain hit and they were forced to take shelter in a cave that Muldoon had shown them once during one of their expeditions. When Dawn and her two Pokemon finally made it back to the clearing behind the house, they found Muldoon standing in the middle of the field. Dawn noticed that the bearded gamekeeper had a blank expression on his face.
"Mr. Muldoon? Are you okay?" Dawn asked.
Muldoon responded by pulling one of the pokeballs hanging from his belt. "Go Krookodile!" Muldoon's red desert crocodile burst out of its ball. "Krookodile! Attack 'em with Dragon Claw!"
Kookodile charged at Dawn as the claws on his right hand extended and glowed with an orange-red light. Dawn managed to duck out of the way at the last second, causing Krookodile's attack to cut the tree behind her in half. Dawn and her two Pokemon retreated to another part of the clearing.
"Mr. Muldoon! What the hell's gotten into you?" a frightened Dawn asked.
"Use Crunch!" Muldoon ordered.
Dawn clenched her first and gritted her teeth. "Piplup, quick! Hit Krookodile with Bubble Beam!"
As Krookodile began to charge at them again, Piplup jumped in front of Dawn and fired a barrage of bubbles at the desert croc. Krookodile was hit in the chest and stopped the attack.
"Now use Ice Beam!" Dawn commanded.
"Use Dig!" Muldoon ordered.
Piplup opened his beak and fired a blast of white lightning bolts at Krookodile. Before the attack could reach its target though, Krookodile ducked suddenly burrowed into the ground. Piplup began to look frantically for where his opponent might come up.
"Follow up with Crunch!" Muldoon commanded.
Suddenly Krookodile burst up from the ground under Piplup's feet and hurled the little penguin into the air. As Piplup came back down, Krookodile him in his jaws and clamped down hard. Krookodile held onto Piplup for a few moments before turning his head and hurling Piplup into another tree as he released him. Dawn waited breathlessly as she wait to see if Piplup would get back up. After a few moments, Piplup finally got back to his feet and glared at Krookodile.
"Piplup, are you okay to keep going?" Dawn asked. Piplup nodded, not once taking his eyes off his opponent. "Okay then! Use Drill Peck!"
Piplup jumped into the air and spun his body around. As he did, his beak began to glow with a white light and grew longer. The spinning penguin struck Krookodile in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger back a few steps. Piplup landed back on the ground after completing his attack and his beak returned to its original size.
"Finish it with Hydro Pump!" Dawn commanded.
Piplup opened his beak and breathed out a powerful stream of water at his opponent. The attack hit Krookodile in the chest and knocked him down onto his side. When the attack ended, Krookodile was out cold.
Muldoon mindlessly called his fallen Pokemon back to his ball and threw out another one. "Go Golem!"
Muldoon's stone-plated boulder creature burst out of his ball with a roar. Piplup took a fighting stance in response and tried to brace himself for the attack that was about to come.
"Use Steamroller!" Muldoon commanded.
Golem tucked his legs and head into his body and rolled towards Piplup. The little penguin tried to flee from the attack but was quickly run into the ground. As Golem rolled back over to his original side of the battlefield, Dawn went over to check on Piplup. Golem's last attack had knocked Piplup unconscious, though Dawn wasn't surprised considering the damage he had taken from Krookodile earlier in the battle.
"It's yer move, Dawn." Muldoon told her.
"Why are you even doing this?" Dawn demanded to know. "Is this for some twisted experiment Dr. Fuji asked you to do?"
"It's yer move." Muldoon repeated as if he were some kind of robot.
Dawn carried Piplup off of the battlefield and placed him gently on the ground next to Dedenne before pulling out another pokeball. "Mamoswine! Spotlight!"
Bursting out of Dawn's thrown ball was a fairly large creature that looked like a cross between a wild bore and a wooly mammoth. It seemed to lack ears, but it was hard to tell if the creature had ears or not because most of its body was covered in thick brown fur. The creature's face was bare, and around its eyes was a blue marking resembling a mask rimmed in white. It had a short pig-like snout, and growing from its face were two long white tusks that curved upward towards the end.
"Use Rollout!" Muldoon commanded.
"Fight back with Bulldoze!" Dawn ordered.
Golem tucked in his limbs and head again and began to roll towards Mamoswine at top speed. Before the boulder creature could get in range, Mamoswine stomped the ground with his right foot, sending a wave of spiked up from the ground at Golem. The attack struck Golem from below and hurled him a few feet into the air. Golem's limbs and head reemerged from his body and he managed to land back on the ground on his feet.
"Use Ice Fang!" Dawn ordered.
"Explosion!" Muldoon commanded.
Mamoswine began to charge across the battlefield at Golem. As he did, both of his tusks began to glow with a white light and gave off an icy mist. Just as Mamoswine was about to strike a blow, Golem roared and suddenly his body seemed to explode, washing the field out in a blast of fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared, Golem had rolled onto his back and was unconscious. Mamoswine was still standing, but it looked like the wooly bore had taken a good deal of damage.
Muldoon mindlessly called back Golem and threw out his next pokeball. "Go Rhyperior!"
Rhyperior burst out of the thrown ball with a roar. Mamoswine seemed to shake off the damage he had just taken from Golem's suicide attack and turned to glare at his new opponent.
"Use Stone Edge!" Muldoon commanded.
With a flex of the stone rhino's arms, several dark-grey stones with sharpened edges appeared in orbit around Rhyperior. Rhyperior waved his arms upward and sent the sharpened rocks at Mamoswine. The barrage hit Mamoswine in the face, but the mammoth Pokemon remained standing.
"Fight back with Blizzard!" Dawn commanded.
A twister of wind and snow suddenly picked up around Mamoswine. Mamoswine stomped the ground and the small snowstorm around him moved towards Rhyperior. The stone rhino was quickly buried completely in a thick sheet of snow and ice.
"He's frozen!" Dawn realized. "Okay Mamoswine! Hit Rhyperior with Ice Fang!"
Mamoswine charged at full speed towards his frozen opponent as his tusks began to glow and give off an icy mist. The wooly bore rammed into Rhyperior with all his weight, breaking his opponent free from his icy encasement and knocking him back at least two feet.
"Use Rock Wrecker!" Muldoon ordered.
Small stones began to fly from the holes in the palms in Rhyperior's hands and started to mash together into a large boulder that gave off a red aura. When the boulder became large enough, Rhyperior hurled it across the filed towards Mamoswine. The boulder shattered apart upon hitting Mamoswine in the face. The attack caused the ice age Pokemon to stagger back a bit, but Mamoswine managed to remain standing.
"Finish it with Bulldoze!" Dawn commanded.
Mamoswine stomped the ground again and sent a wave of spikes across the field towards Rhyperior. The attack hit Rhyperior from below and knocked him onto his side.
Seeing that Rhyperior was unconscious, Muldoon mechanically called him back to his ball and threw out the last one that he had. "Go Aggron!"
Aggron emerged from the thrown ball with a roar, and Dawn noticed that the armored Pokemon seemed to have the same mindless look in his eyes that Muldoon had. Dawn wasn't very confident that Mamoswine could win the next battle. Aggron had a slight type advantage over Mamoswine due to being a Steel-type. Plus Mamoswine had already taken heavy damage from the previous battle. Then there was the whole Mega Evolution thing that Muldoon and Aggron could do. Dawn knew that there was something very off about Muldoon at the moment though, and she hoped that whatever it was would make it impossible to trigger Aggron's Mega Evolution.
"Okay Mamoswine! Use Bulldoze one more time!" Dawn ordered.
"Heavy Slam!" Muldoon commanded.
Suddenly Muldoon's Keystone and Aggron's Mega Stone began to shine. Aggron roared as his body began to glow with a grey light and change shape. The light quickly faded and the strange DNA symbol made of multicolored light appeared above Aggron's head to signal that the transformation had finished.
"Not good!" Dawn declared as the color drained from her face.
As Aggron charged across the field at Mamoswine, the wooly bore stomped the ground again and sent another wave of spike earth at his armored opponent. Aggron merely plowed through the attack and jumped into the air as his body began to give off a white aura. The armored behemoth landed hard on Mamoswine's back, and the force of the impact was enough to pound the ice age Pokemon half way into the earth. When Aggron got off of his defeated opponent, Mamoswine was unconscious.
"Send out yer next Pokemon." Muldoon told her.
Dawn called Mamoswine back to his ball. She was about to reach for Palkia's pokeball but then hesitated. Dawn wanted to save Palkia for if and when she had to face someone much stronger than Muldoon, and she was fairly sure that she was going to have to soon enough with the way things were going. Instead, Dawn went for the only other Pokemon that she felt had a chance against Aggron.
"Typhlosion! Spotlight!" Dawn called as she threw out her next pokeball.
Typhlosion burst out of the thrown pokeball with a roar. As he roared, spiked flames burst out of the ball from the red vents on the back of his neck.
"Iron Head!" Muldoon commanded.
"Use Inferno!" Dawn ordered.
Just as Aggron was about to lower his head, Typhlosion roared louder and the flames around his neck intensified. The fire badger breathed out an intense blast of crimson flames that struck Aggron in his chest. The attack lasted for several seconds, and when it finally ended the armor covering his chest was glowing red.
"Good. Aggron's been burned." Dawn observed. "Now we might just have a shot."
Aggron shook off the damage he had just taken and lowered his head to charge at Typhlosion. As the armored titan came in range, the armor covering his head began to glow with a white light. Aggron rammed into Typhlosion with the top of his armored skull, knocking the fire badger at least five feet. Despite the damage, the fire badger remained standing.
"Use Heavy Slam again!" Muldoon ordered.
"Use Smokescreen followed by Dig!" Dawn commanded.
As Aggron began to charge towards Typhlosion again, Typhlosion breathed out a thick stream of black smoke that covered the entire area. Aggron continued his attack and jumped into the air as his body began to glow white again. The armored behemoth crashed down into the earth, the force of the impact clearing the smoke from the area. When Aggron looked around the crater his attack had created though, Typhlosion was nowhere to be found. Suddenly Typhlosion burst out from the wall of the crater and rammed into Aggron's side with his head. The impact was somehow enough to force Aggron back a bit, but the behemoth remained standing.
"Use Metal Claw!" Muldoon commanded.
"Flamethrower!" Dawn ordered.
Aggron raised his right hand in the air and his claws began to glow with a white light. Just as he was about to swing his hand down and slash Typhlosion in the chest though, Typhlosion breathed out a stream of flames that hit his armored opponent in the stomach. The attack ended, and suddenly Aggron reverted back to his original form and fell forward to the ground unconscious. Dawn breathed a sigh of relief that the battle was over and called Typhlosion back to his ball. Muldoon called Aggron back to his ball as well and suddenly fell to the ground face first.
"He was a poor puppet." A familiar voice suddenly spoke. Dawn turned to see Amber standing by the battlefield with Zwei. "Still, he did allow me to see just what your Pokemon are capable of."
"Amber, were… were you controlling his mind somehow?" Dawn asked.
"Amber was curious to see if she could." Zwei answered.
"It was actually quite easy, considering how drunk Muldoon was." Amber coldly remarked.
"Where's Dr. Fuji?" Dawn asked.
Amber's eyes glowed, and with a wave of her hand Dr. Fuji's unconscious body was suddenly hurled through the window in the back of the house and landed next to Muldoon. Dawn quickly went over to see if the misguided scientist was okay.
"Why are you doing this Amber?" Dawn asked.
"Did you know what I really was Dawn?" Amber asked. "Did you know that I was a clone?"
"How… how did you find out?" a startled Dawn asked.
"That would be a yes." Zwei observed.
"So you knew about Dr. Fuji's experiment this whole time." Amber realized. "Were you ever going to tell me, or were you just going to keep playing along with the lie?"
"I… I don't know." Dawn answered, unable to look Amber in the eye. "Maybe I should've from the beginning, but… Amber I just didn't know what to do. I mean… this whole situation has just been so strange."
"You don't think I'm human, do you?" Amber assumed.
"I didn't say that!" Dawn told her.
"But you do fear Amber." Zwei deduced. "Just as you fear me. You have since the moment you met us. I could sense it in you."
"Amber, let's just talk about this!" Dawn pleaded.
"The time for talking is over." Amber declared. "You were involved in my supposed father's lies, and for that Zwei and I are going to make you pay."
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed the battle in this chapter. I know that it probably would've made more sense for Dawn to just use Palkia against Muldoon form the very beginning, but then that would've made for a really short chapter. Plus I wanted to showcase some of Dawn's other Pokemon.
Please review and let me know what you think.