Author Notes: I'm trying to get a few more reviews for my story so from now on everyone who reviews will get mentioned and thanked when I post each new chapter. Before I do this I would like to thank Eli. W for all his enthusiastic reviews up to this point, they have really encouraged me and helped me continue this story.
That sight hit Jack harder than any beating he'd ever been on the receiving end of. For a second he felt like he'd just had his lungs ripped out. He couldn't breathe. The look on his face must have been a picture - standing there, gawping like a grounded fish – and a small ripple of laughter rippled around the already half-full stadium. Behind him one of Giovanni's other fighters gave the customary lowdown on his new opponent.
'This one is a real hellcat. Her Pokémon smashed through six grunts before they finally brought her in. She punched one of the Lieutenants right in the face and knocked him out cold, I've never seen anything like it. You could be in for a test here Jack.' Jack just raised his eyebrows, outwardly exuding confidence even though inside he knew that the next battle would not be easy.
A voice boomed out on the loudspeaker system, now familiar to Jack after his multitude of fights, 'we found this fiery lady trying to break into our grass Pokémon research area in Fuchsia. She took down six of our men before being captured, so we will give her and her three Pokémon a big send off. Defeated by the Champion. In a fight to the death. Three recall cards each – you can't say that we aren't kind!'
After her initial surprise at seeing delight Lelana began to look more and more scared. After she heard the words "fight to the death" her whole face went pale, like a blanket of snow suddenly covering a riotously russet autumn. She mouthed that phrase to herself again, and followed it with a string of audible swear words. She hadn't lost her fire, even with the thick shadow of a fight to the death looming over her.
'The Challenger has the honour of releasing her Pokémon first,' said the announcer, his customary glee very noticeable. In this arena you placed your Pokéballs in slots similar to those of a Pokémon centre and selected which ones you wanted to release. Lelana dithered slightly over her three Pokéballs before eventually choosing the middle one.
A hugely muscled grey Pokémon with three crests, a strangely crafted gold belt and red stripes along its biceps and forearms where the muscles seemed to be splitting out of its skin slowly coalesced onto the ground from a crowd of bright white light. Jack did not hesitate for a second. Letting his instincts decide for him he picked Harry's Pokéball. The contrast between the Pokémon could not have been more extreme, with the pink, skinny Harry dwarfed by the muscular Machoke.
Harry was undaunted as usual, and viewed the Pokémon in front of him – the Pokémon who could rip him limb from in with little effort – with his signature mild contempt. The Machoke seemed to view Harry in the same way this little twerp he muttered I'll crush him like a fly. Harry didn't bother replying. Instead he attacked suddenly with dual beams of disorientating psychic energy.
The Machoke was not only taken surprise by the speed of the attack, but its power too. It had barely braced itself before it staggered backwards from two enormous blows to its torso. Large bruises appeared instantly, the Machoke's skin appearing to ripen until it was the colour of an overripe peach. The blows were followed up by another flurry of attacks which bludgeoned the humanoid Pokémon to the ground.
Harry didn't let up his attack, even when his opponent had been crushed to the floor. His eyes suddenly turned purple, glowing faintly, as he began to attack with the most powerful but exhausting weapon in his armoury. Harry began to bring his palms together, as if he was compressing the air. At this the Machoke began to writhe on the floor, expressing its pain in a vocal boom as it was painfully crushed in a vice of invisible force.
Harry broke of his attack and lifted the Machoke up in the air, sweeping his hand up as he did so. The movements were not necessary but they helped him focus. With another flick of his hands Harry sent the Machoke flying into the wall made of solid diamond. Hard. If it hadn't been for its incredibly bulky physique it would have been knocked out cold, its bones fractured and broken.
Luckily for Lelana and her Pokémon it managed to haul itself to its feet, though it was shaking from side to side as if standing on a gently undulating platform.
Before Harry could finish it off the Machoke began to glow. Jack groaned, smacking the palm of his hand to his forehead. He knew what happens next. The light began to gradually increase in brightness until everyone in the arena had to look away, at risk of damaging their eyes. Suddenly there was a violent flash which gradually began to recede until a brand new, fully-healed Pokémon was standing there.
'Great,' muttered Jack angrily, 'that's just bloody brilliant isn't it.' Not only was the new Pokémon even bulkier than the Machoke with obscenely muscled pectorals, lats, quads and arms, but it also had four arms. Four arms that looked like they could shatter bricks. Easily. Even Harry looked slightly taken back at the Pokémon that now stood nearly two feet taller than him.
One person at least in the stadium was happy at this new change. Lelana was positively beaming at the complete reversal of fortune, hardly able to believe her luck. 'Go on Kai, you know what to do,' she said loudly, leaving Jack cursing all the more. He hated when people did that, it was very hard to read their next move. Though he trusted his Pokémon to do the right thing it most cases he always had a back-up plan in case they ran into trouble. If the other trainer rarely ordered their Pokémon around it made it that bit more difficult for him.
Kai was faster than it used to be, but still quite slow because of its muscle mass. Harry was able to keep himself away from the creature, and was very happy to do so. Any physical contact between them would end up with Harry being completely destroyed.
Though he wasn't too fast, Kai showed that its explosive acceleration was surprisingly great. It closed in the distance between it and Harry with one great bound, releasing a barrage of punches with all four arms. Harry raised a barrier as the first punch was thrown, just saving himself from a battering. The barrier wavered under the first couple of punches until Harry strengthened it, watching in satisfaction at Kai's growing frustration.
With another powerful flex of its huge quads the creature jumped directly over Harry and landed lightly behind him, releasing another barrage of lightning fast punches at his back. Without even looking Harry created a barrier behind him, only turning slowly and insultingly once Kai had punched the barrier a few times. Harry took a deep breath as he prepared to expend a lot of his energy and froze the Machamp in place.
He then began to box the air comically, drawing a couple of startled giggles from the ground. There was nothing comical about the effect, though. The frozen Machamp began to bloom with huge bruises with each punch and when he was finally unfrozen he was caught by one last punch.
The punch knocked the superpower Pokémon, already nearly beaten to submission, out cold in one hit, silencing the giggles from the crowd with its sheer destructive power in battering three hundred pounds of pure muscle to the floor. With a groan Lelana announced that she was playing one of her recall cards and her battered Machamp was returned to its Pokéball. A very familiar Pokémon took its place.
Windie the Arcanine was even larger now, and looked even more magnificent with her cream coloured mane bristling angrily. Harry of course held looks in low regard and he attacked first again, eager to prove himself and finish off another Pokémon. Maybe just eager to fight.
Windie was no push over, and she showed from the beginning that she at least matched the now tired Harry. Using her impressive speed she easily dodged Harry's attack, though they did manage to stop her from closing in for the kill. She growled in frustration as she was forced back by another flurry of attacks, unable to reach Harry and maul him with her dangerous claws.
She finally became tired of the dodging game and attacked with vicious flame that nearly rivalled Dante's in strength, though she did trail him slightly in heat, power and width.
Harry caught the attack one a thick screen of light before quickly somersaulting to the right and driving Windie back again with another flurry of attacks. The Arcanine was beginning to get cagey, and the fight began to stagnate into a stalemate.
As one both trainers requested their recall cards to break the stalemate that seemed to have settled upon the fight. The new match-up still seemed balanced on a knife-edge. Asrael was facing a small, purple cat-like Pokémon with large ears, a circular gemstone set into the centre of its cranium and a silky, two-pronged tail. 'Eifie start this off with hypnosis,' ordered Lelana, much to Jack's chagrin.
He opened his mouth to issue an order to Asrael, but it was already too late. The dragon Pokémon was swaying as the white irises of Eifie's began to glow. Suddenly Asrael dropped to the floor with a dull thud, sound asleep. 'Now Eifie, use dream eater,' called Lelana.
A purple aura surrounded both the Pokémon and suddenly Asrael began to shudder slightly in his sleep as large globules of coalesced energy where dragged from his body towards Eifie. There were no physical changes apparent, though Eifie looked a lot stronger after absorbing the energy. Suddenly Asrael snapped awake and shot up before almost collapsing to the floor with lack of energy. He swayed in the air as his system threatened to shut down because of exhaustion.
'Asrael snap out of it,' shouted Jack desperately, 'use slam to knock out that bitch.' As his energy had begun to return, Jack was able to power through the air with deadly intent towards Eifie. At the last minute Eifie dodged to the side, but it's nearly impossible to avoid an attack when the attacker is over fifteen feet long. Asrael's tail connected with the cat Pokémon and crushed it to the ground. It did not get up easily after that attack.
Blood and dirt matted the Pokémon's previously beautifully soft, velvet-like fur but it still stared towards Asrael with frightening intensity. Asrael jerked on the air as if hit by some powerful force before crumpling to the ground with the force still assailing him. Eifie only let off when it looked very near to collapsing with exhaustion, and Asrael was practically dead from being crushed.
Amazingly the tough, versatile dragon Pokémon managed to levitate off the floor, though it looked half-dead from its ordeal. 'Well done Asrael,' congratulated Jack happily, 'now finish this with thunderbolt.' Taking a deep breath Asrael nodded, electricity crackling around his long body, before he unleashed a storm of electricity towards his opponent.
Eifie dodged to the side bit it could not avoid the bulk of the attack and was shocked badly as thousands of volts of electricity were grounded through its body. Lelana winced and turned away from the burnt body of her unconscious Pokémon, unhappily returning it. She had used up all her recall cards but her Arcanine Windie was still at full health.
Jack also played his recall card, giving the exhausted Asrael a break and releasing Dante so there would be a repeat of his and Lelana's first battle. Though there was a considerable size and weight difference now in Dante's favour Windie did not give one inch of ground to her opponent.
Growling she hurled herself on Dante without an order from her trainer, clearly desperate to revenge her previous defeat. Dante seemed a lot stronger now and hurled her off with a flick of his neck, whirling round and headbutting her hard. She growled on impact, twisting her body so the blow was only glancing, and quickly pulled herself to her feet to attack again.
Though Dante was very fast for such a large Pokémon Windie outmatched him thoroughly, sprinting round so fast that Dante barely managed to keep up even though he was just twisting on the spot.
With a clever feint Windie attacked Dante's unguarded flank, scratching and biting through his tough skin to tear viciously at the soft flesh beneath and pinning Dante to the floor with the force of her jump. They struggled on the floor for few moments, kicking up puffs of white sand into the air and covering themselves with the fine particles in the process.
Finally Dante struggled to his feet, with a whirlwind of teeth and claws still assailing him, and body slammed the ground. There was a loud yelp as Windie realised what Dante was going to do, but she was too slow to get completely out of the way. She screamed loudly as one of her back legs and her thick, creamy-furred tail was slammed beneath Dante's full weight accompanied by a very loud crack.
Use the remaining three of her legs Windie managed to pull herself out from underneath Dante and run out of reach. She was panting heavily, holding her crushed back leg off the ground. Dante seemed in near-perfect health and without any order from Jack he sprinted towards Windie, ready to headbut her and end her participation in the battle. Just as the rampaging Dante was about to hit her, Windie's body began to blur.
Moving incredibly fast she covered twenty metres in less than a second, appearing directly behind Dante. 'Now Windie, use iron tail,' shouted Lelana, trying to knock out Jack's Pokémon before it turned around and finished the job. Windie's tail began to gleam metallically as she ran awkwardly on three legs towards Dante who was still facing the wrong way. 'Dante turn round and use iron head,' shouted Jack but again he had left his order too late.
Dante turned round but was met by an iron-hard tail in the side of his head. Luckily for him he wasn't knocked out by the blow, but he still lay prone on the floor, dazed so much by the attack that he was barely conscious. Windie was shattered from the attack, using much more energy for even simple movements because she could only use three of her legs.
But Lelana didn't let her rest, she needed to press her advantage before Dante shook himself out of his daze, 'Windie, rip him apart.' Windie nodded tiredly, hopping towards the floored Pokémon in front of her. Listlessly she began to scratch and bite at his hard skin, attacking so weakly that her claws barely penetrated.
'Come on Windie, we need to win this,' the desperation was clearly evident in Lelana's voice. Galvanised by the desperation in her trainer's voice, Windie stepped up the attack and globules of blood began to fly as she tore through Dante's skin.
This onslaught awoke Dante from his daze and groaning he shook off Windie and rose unsteadily to his feat. 'Dante use mega punch,' ordered Jack unsmiling. He knew he was going to win, but as always he wasn't happy about it. Dante lurched towards Windie and smashed one of his front legs into her face. It was more like a stomp than a punch, but it was enough to smash Windie's face into a bloody pulp and knock the poor Arcanine out cold.
There was a deep breath around the stadium as they saw a kill coming. Jack hesitated, if only for a second, before opening his mouth to give the damning order.
It was his hesitation the saved Lelana from losing her favourite Pokémon and him from losing a friend, a rival and another part of his soul. In that brief hesitation there was an incredibly loud, resounding smash and the roof of the arena exploded into chunks of rocks and dust.
A huge turquoise tank-like Pokémon smashed through the thick, rocky roof with ease, gargantuan legs tucked under its body. A large steel cross adorned its face and scarlet eyes stared menacingly from in between it. For a second everyone stared in shock at the large steel Pokémon gliding towards Lelana, so incapacitated by sheer surprise that they could not physically react.
It was only when the grey haired man dressed in a black and purple suit and a red tie grabbed the frozen trainer and her Pokéballs of the platform that the Rocket's belatedly burst into action. The new death squad was released, but they had an even smaller effect that when they had tried to stop Paul.
Without even looking the tank Pokémon released an incredibly bright flash of light and heat towards the death squad. The attack stripped the much weaker Pokémon's flesh from their bones so they hung like gross caricatures made out of charred bone before crashing unceremoniously to the ground. Very, very dead.
A number of rockets also released their Pokémon and suddenly there was a flock of Golbats and Crobats in the air. They lasted nearly as long as the death squad. The tank Pokémon and its trainer did not stop, even when the bat Pokémon appeared directly in front of them.
The tank Pokémon's eyes glowed purple as it crushed every single one of the Pokémon in front of it with its mind. All the bats dropped to the floor as bags of crushed and shattered bones when the Pokémon finally let up its attack, and only then did the Rockets realise how powerful a Pokémon trainer they were dealing with.
Instead of heading for the exit the Pokémon suddenly turned sharply in the air and headed towards Jack. Surreptitiously Jack picked up all four of his Pokéballs and tucked the tennis ball sized objects in his cavernous pockets.
Very quickly the Pokémon and its trainer hovered in front of him. The man looked at him with steely gray eyes. '
Come with me or I'll kill you,' he said quietly, giving Jack no choice at all.
Jack nodded and the man hauled Jack onto the back of his Pokémon, so there were now three people perched precariously on its smooth back. Jack held on as tight as he could, but he couldn't disguise his nervousness in his face as he contemplated what a fall from this height would do to his body. Someone in the ground noticed the nervousness and a shout of, 'the Champion is being kidnapped,' echoed around the arena from a number of voices.
It was this that finally spurred Giovanni into action. He didn't like to do it because he wanted to capture the trainers alive, but he seemed to have no choice. None of those trainers could ever go to the authorities. His voice rang out clearly on the loudspeakers.
'Send in the hunters. Squad 13.'