Chapter Twenty Nine – Xavier
"Wait, what secret?" Xavier asked in bewilderment. "What's going on?" Phoenix looked back at Alexa and noticed the look of fear in her eyes; he then glared furiously at Adelina for having upset his Trainer. Adelina, however, smirked smugly.
"Well...it would be such a shame if Mummy and Daddy knew their eldest daughter crossed paths with-...what were they called again? Oh, yes; Team Galactic." Xavier and Jollie were even more lost than before, but Phoenix, now understanding Alexa's fear, growled deeply out of rage. Ryder, however, scoffed.
"And?"
"Pardon me?" Adelina inquired.
"So you know a secret; big whoop. It won't do you any good, though, will it? I mean, from what I heard, you're not the most trustworthy of humans in the eyes of the family; even if you told them what limited knowledge you have of this so-called secret, who would take you seriously?" Adelina chuckled, much to Ryder's chagrin.
"Please...I'm fully aware that my credibility among Hailey's family – both of them – leaves a lot to be desired, but, considering that they're a close-knit family, as Alexa described it, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to pursue the allegation anyway, even if it came from someone like me." Alexa froze completely; as if her family knowing of her darkest hour was bad enough on its own, but she knew all too well that there was at least one family member besides herself who would be able to see the truth if Adelina let her 'secret' slip – Keenan.
"Someone wanna fill me in on where this broad's going with all of this?" Xavier said in confusion.
"It's quite simple, darling; I can't imagine that, judging by the look on her face, your dear Alexa would want her parents to know that she was kidnapped by these Team Galactic people – whoever they are – so-"
"Wait, what?!" Xavier and Jollie looked at Alexa in dismay. "Is that true, Alex?" Alexa lowered her head in shame and held onto herself for the sense of security she failed to acquire.
"...y-yes..."
"Bun...!"
"Alex..."
"As I was saying," Adelina groaned. "If she doesn't want this news to escape my lips, she'd do well to keep her precious little nose out of my affairs."
"NO!" Alexa shrieked suddenly. "I've been TRYING to stay out of your shenanigans this whole time!"
"Oh? But Silvia saw and heard your discussing it with little Keenan."
"He asked for my opinion, that's it! Opinion isn't the same thing as fact!"
"But-"
"That's another thing!" Alexa continued in protest. "If you had just left me alone and not confront me like you are at the moment, my opinion would have stayed exactly that; by confronting me, you're practically admitting that you have something you want to hide – something relating to the speculation your Beautifly overheard, if I'm not mistaken!" Adelina recoiled, but Ryder smirked at Alexa.
"You tell 'er, girl!"
"You seem to be forgetting that-"
"Stop it! I'm tired of crossing villains who end up making things so unnecessarily personal; I've already had that at least twice and it stops HERE! Just...leave me alone!" Alexa quickly turned and began to walk towards the very distant Mistralton City, her Pokémon following closely. Adelina scowled as she subtly opened a Poké Ball in her hand.
"Don't you walk away from ME," she said spitefully as her Jellicent lunged from her Poké Ball and towards Alexa. Phoenix was the first Pokémon to spot the attacking Jellicent and quickly slashed her back with claws enveloped in a dark shadow. Alexa, Ryder, Xavier and Jollie looked back at Dolores in shock as she bounced along the floor, but were even more alarmed when Dolores hopped back up again with barely a dent on her.
"No way! How did she take that so well?!" Adelina laughed.
"When I want something, I get it; I wanted my Pokémon to be powerful, so-"
"You used the Super Training regimens, didn't you?" Alexa asked cautiously.
"Indeed I did," Adelina said smugly, taking another Poké Ball in hand. The Poké Ball looked darker in colouration. "But I only used the appropriate ones for each Pokémon."
"Huh?"
"She means that she only took each Pokémon through the regimens that best suited their general battling abilities," Alexa explained to Ryder. She took a look at Dolores and noticed how virtually unscathed she looked despite receiving a swift and powerful attack from her strongest Pokémon. "In her case, her ability to endure physical attacks has increased tenfold because of one of the regimens she repeatedly went through..."
"Precisely."
"C'mon, Alex, let's just get outta here," Ryder complained. Alexa spotted the second Poké Ball in Adelina's hand and scowled.
"I...w-we can't..."
"Why not?" Xavier asked.
"She won't let us."
"Indeed I won't," Adelina smirked. "But I do understand that you're in a bit of a hurry, so I'll cut to the chase." Adelina tossed her Poké Ball into the air. "Carter, honey; time to shine, my pet!"
The encapsulated Poké Ball opened and released a thick black smokescreen that veiled the entirety of Adelina's side of the battle field. Once the smoke finally waned, the Pokémon that stood before Alexa gave her goosebumps on top of her goosebumps; it appeared to be a large squid-like Pokémon with yellow spots and stripes on its deep lavender torso. The Malamar carried a smirk on its beak, which intimidated Jollie.
"B-Bun...!"
"I suppose congratulations are in order, Alexa; you are the first to meet...my strongest Pokémon."
"Let's see how strong it really is!" Ryder roared as he raced towards Carter.
"Ryder, no!" Alexa cried. To the confusion of Alexa, Xavier, Jollie and Phoenix, Ryder suddenly stopped moving and stood there silently. "...Ryder?"
"Yo, Ryder...get back here, will ya?" Xavier said nervously. Adelina smirked with high amusement as Ryder suddenly turned around and leapt at Phoenix, his eyes revealed to be pale and soulless as his teeth sank into the Charizard's neck without warning.
"RHRRRRGH!"
"Phoenix! Ryder!" Alexa suddenly looked towards Adelina in confusion after hearing her chuckle.
"Carter isn't my strongest Pokémon for no reason; he's so powerful he can make other Pokémon battle for him."
"That's not strength, that's cowardice!" Xavier protested.
"Never mind that it's illegal to use a Malamar's abilities like this!" Alexa shouted violently. "Let my Lucario go!"
"Why would I arrange that, darling?"
"Nrrrgh!" Phoenix begrudgingly gripped Ryder's neck tightly, causing him to loosen his grip on the Charizard's neck, and threw him onto the ground. Ryder, however, recovered immediately and attempted to repeat his assault; Phoenix countered with a quick swat of his tail. While Phoenix was distracted with keeping Ryder away from him, Dolores released a wave of steaming hot water directly at his face. "HRRRRGH!"
"Phoenix!" Alexa glared furiously at Adelina. "Adelina, that's enough! Stop this right now and battle me fairly if you want a challenge THAT badly!"
"Oh, I don't intend to stop, darling," Adelina smirked. "I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want."
"Even if the risks include jail time?!"
"Like I said...whatever it takes."
"Stay with Alex," Xavier said to Jollie as he placed her down onto the floor. Alexa faced her Zoroark in confusion.
"Xavier?"
"Phoenix is outnumbered; it's high time I evened the score," he growled before dashing towards Carter. Carter attempted to slash his tentacle across Xavier's body, but he swerved to avoid the attack faster than the Malamar could even blink and breathed a thick pillar of flames by blowing into the tiny flame he ignited in his claws. With Carter knocked off guard, Ryder's eyes returned to their usual vibrancy as he regained his free will. He blinked in confusion.
"Eh? What just happened...?"
"Ryder! Are you okay?!" Alexa asked worriedly.
"Buneary!" Ryder looked at Alexa and Jollie in bewilderment as he scratched the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah, I guess...chest hurts a little, though..." Huey slowly moved from Adelina's side and leapt up at Ryder. Ryder, however, heard Huey coming and slammed a sphere of aura down at the back of the Delcatty's neck. "What's the big idea, you flea-riddled fuzz-bucket?! I wasn't ready!"
"Huey, honey...stay back, darling." Huey lifted himself up off of the floor and walked back to Adelina's side, hissing violently at Ryder the entire time. "Your move, Alexa."
"Xavier, get back here, Ryder, Dark Pulse, Phoenix, Flamethrower!"
"Aw, yeah!" Ryder grinned wildly as he fired a string of dark purple rings from his paws at Dolores. Phoenix was only too happy to comply with Alexa's instructions as he exhaled his signature stream of bright orange and red flames at the Malamar. While Dolores and Carter successfully evaded the oncoming attacks, Xavier shrugged as he casually returned to Alexa's side.
"Nice try; Dolores, Scald once again on the Charizard, Carter, use Flamethrower on the Lucario!" Adelina instructed. The scaling hot water and pillar of flames fired from their respective users and headed straight for their intended targets; cleverly, Phoenix countered the boiling water with a large blade of concentrated air formed in his wingspan, while Ryder negated the string of flames by forming a translucent green barrier in front of him, causing the flames to wane as they divided. Adelina grew impatient.
"Whoo, you go, guys!"
"Bun, Bun!" Alexa looked up at the sky; despite how crispy the air felt, it was a surprisingly sunny day.
"Phoenix, try a Solarbeam! Ryder, Aura Sphere!"
"Hrrgh!" Phoenix nodded as his tail began to absorb particles of sunlight.
"You got it!" Ryder smirked as he formed the sphere of aura in both paws. Adelina bit her lip as both the Solarbeam and the Aura Sphere hit their respective targets, but Alexa merely kept her eyes on the Malamar opposing her Pokémon.
"Hang on..."
"Huh? What's wrong, Alex?" Xavier wondered.
"Hey, Adelina...if Carter really is your strongest Pokémon, why were you keeping his identity in the dark?" Alexa asked. "You DID say I was the first to see him..."
"Oh, yes, I did," Adelina grinned. "Well...you saw what he did to your Lucario..."
"Hang on, what did he do to me?!" Ryder growled angrily.
"Took control over your mind and made you attack Phoenix," Xavier said bluntly.
"I what?!"
"Incidentally..." Adelina's smirk grew more sinister. "I don't have a Zebstrika."
"What?" Xavier raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What does that have to do with-"
"It was you."
"Huh?" Xavier and Ryder faced Alexa in confusion; her eyes burned with hatred.
"You were the one who staged Piper's attack; you used Carter's hypnotic abilities to take possession of one of the wild Zebstrikas that live in the area to attack Piper!"
"Clever girl...but this is why I demand your silence."
"If you leave me alone right now, our discussion won't go any further than us!" Alexa insisted. Adelina chuckled.
"You're just afraid that I might loosen my tongue in the presence of your family members..."
"Of course I am, but that's not the point!" Alexa argued. "You have NO reason to confront me like this!"
"I told you; if you'd left me alone, you would have been able to cover yourself rather than giving yourself away to me!"
"You rotten...! All right...if you want to play it that way...I'll make things more difficult."
"Eh?" Alexa was confused. "But I'm telling the truth!"
"Mmhmm, sure, honey. Dolores? Do it."
"JELL!"
"Ryder, back up and use Dark Pulse again!" Alexa instructed.
"You got it!" Ryder nodded as he released his string of dark purple rings at the jellyfish Pokémon. To Ryder's horror, Dolores charged through the Dark Pulse and grabbed the distracted Lucario's arm with her tentacle.
"Shadow Claw!" Alexa cried. Ryder hastily raised his free arm in hopes of attacking Dolores with dark shadowy claws formed from the spike on the back of his paw, but Dolores used a different tentacle to grab his would-be attacking arm.
"Whuh?!"
"Phoenix, help him!" Alexa cried desperately.
"HRRGH!" Phoenix charged towards Dolores, only to be greeted by Carter, who slashed his tentacle across the Charizard's chest as Dolores bounced back with Ryder trapped in her tentacles. Phoenix roared in agony as Carter's tentacles sliced through his flesh, causing blood to spray onto the Malamar's demented face, much to Alexa's terror.
"Phoenix!"
"Playtime is over, darling," Adelina said nastily as Dolores knocked Ryder onto his knees; Dolores held onto both of his arms with one tentacle, clenched his throat with her other tentacle and kept his legs together with her three smaller tentacles, leaving him completely helpless.
"Let him go!" Alexa pleaded.
"BUNEARY!"
"I'm okay," Ryder insisted. "It's just...hard to breathe...I'm fine...!"
"Like hell you are!" Xavier said nastily as he stepped onto the battle field, his entire being burning with a deep black aura. "Look, lady...I don't take kindly to anyone who hurts my friends... You're trying to blackmail my girl and hold my bro hostage after making your mutant calamari possess his mind...you make me sick...!"
"Then come and get him. Huey, honey; you're back in."
"Reow," Huey grinned sinisterly as he walked back into the battle.
"Xavier, Phoenix, PLEASE be careful..."
"Our main aim is to keep HER away from YOU, hun...we'll get Ryder back and have ourselves a good ol' Unovan Triple Battle to settle things..."
"Just...be careful..."
"Focus, girl," Xavier said firmly. Jollie looked up at Alexa worriedly; it was clear that Alexa was starting to become stressed.
"R-Right... Phoenix, use Roost, Xavier, cover him..." Despite Alexa's lack of confidence in her commands, both Phoenix and Xavier complied; Phoenix knelt on the floor and wrapped his wings around him as he began to glow; the scar across his chest began to heal. Carter watched intently as Xavier sped in front of the recovering Phoenix and slammed both paws on the ground, releasing a large black and deep purple shock wave that was powerful enough to knock Carter and Huey back a couple of inches. Once Carter and Huey regained their footing, Phoenix stood up and roared, his chest scar having completely vanished from his body.
"Carter, Night Slash your Dark-type rival, Huey, give that Charizard more battle scars he can TRY and heal," Adelina said arrogantly.
"Fly and-and..." While Phoenix complied with his half-hearted instruction and flew high into the sky, Xavier looked back at Alexa with concern.
"Yo! Focus!"
"S-Sorry. U-Use Flamethrower."
"You got it, hun," Xavier grinned. As Phoenix darted towards Carter and eventually butted his head against the Malamar's torso, Xavier zoomed towards Huey and blew into his ignited claws to release the burst of flames at the perplexed Delcatty. Carter kept a sneaky eye on Xavier during his random dashes across the battle field. Huey narrowly avoided Xavier's flames and attempted to repeat his instruction on Xavier in anger, but the Zoroark dashed away from the furious feline. Carter smirked at Xavier, his eyes glistening in a silver glow that faded as quickly as it came.
"Now...Carter, Superpower..."
"MAR!" Carter's body burned in a bright blue aura. Ryder's eyes widened as he realised why Carter was delaying his attack.
"ALEX, RUN!"
Ryder's cries only served to make Carter charge towards the gravely alarmed Alexa. Before anyone could even blink, Xavier dashed towards Alexa and knocked her down. Jollie fled from the falling Alexa, but she held her arm out and ended up in some sort of one-armed handstand; however, she was in a position that allowed her to clearly see – albeit upside down – Carter unintentionally attacking Xavier with Superpower. Distraught, Alexa flipped herself onto her feet and took hold of Xavier's Poké Ball.
"Xavier, re—AAGH!" Furious, Carter swatted Alexa away with his tentacle and used the same one to grab and crush Xavier's Poké Ball, right in front of the already devastated Alexa, Jollie and Ryder. Alexa could only watch as Xavier finally crashed into one of the thickest trees on the entire route – head first.
"XAVIER!" Alexa and Ryder cried desperately. But the Zoroark didn't respond; he simply fell to the floor flat on his belly, unconscious. Adelina laughed.
"Aw, did he make you angry, baby?"
"Mala-MAR!" Carter fumed towards Adelina. Carter spotted Alexa forcing herself onto her feet, despite having ended up with a shoulder injury, and hurrying over to Xavier's aid. The Malamar raised his tentacle to strike her and the fleeting Buneary, but Phoenix flew in between him and Alexa with wings encased in hard steel; Carter's attack clashed with Phoenix's iron wing before he flapped the tentacle away from him and retaliated with a burst of brilliant blue flames. Huey attempted to assist Carter, but Adelina stopped him by gently pressing her fingers against his head.
"Xavier! XAVIER!"
"Bun-bun!" Alexa frantically searched the belt bag around her waist, but her rummaging only served to distress and horrify her further as she began to panic.
"...no...no, no, no, NO!"
"Buneary?"
"...I don't have any spare Poké Balls...! And my potions are in my rucksack...!"
"BUN?!"
"You mean you weren't even prepared for this battle?!" Adelina laughed arrogantly. "I've heard you were out of practise, but I never knew you were THIS badly out of practise!" Alexa hurriedly examined the back of Xavier's head, but, for the life of her, she couldn't get through the Zoroark's thick black mane to see if he had any external damage to his head, and a look at the tree trunk he crashed into hadn't helped her either; there was no sign of blood on the bark. "So, do I have your-" Adelina halted mid-sentence when she heard Alexa choking back a sob.
"...I surrender..." Ryder, Phoenix and Jollie were crushed to hear such words escaping from Alexa's lips; as far as they knew, she hadn't surrendered a Pokémon Battle in her entire life! Even Adelina was severely alarmed.
"Pardon?!" Alexa had to force herself not to succumb to her sobs, but her tears refused to remain in her eyes any longer as they fell down her face like raindrops dripping down a lock of hair. Ryder was especially crushed to see Alexa in such a vulnerable state, but it served to infuriate Phoenix even more than he was during Xavier's assault.
"...I...I surrender...you win...the battle's yours..."
"B-Buneary...!" Even Jollie was starting to become stressed. Ryder stared at Alexa's surrender and Xavier's limp form as his own tears began to fall from his sapphire eyes. Adelina, however, was disgusted; this was not what she wanted from Alexa.
"...I-I won't say anything to anyone about you..." Alexa turned to face Adelina; Ryder felt even worse as he had a perfect view of Alexa's fear, devastation and capitulation. "Just let us go and let me get Xavier to the Pokémon Centre!" she cried perilously. "Please! You've already won!"
"...no. That's not good enough." Alexa was terrified and horrified to hear that her please were denied in a heartbeat. "I don't doubt that you're an honest girl, Alexa, but I refuse to take any chances! Carter, finish it!"
"Malamar!" Carter smirked sinisterly as his burning blue aura returned to him; to Alexa's trepidation, the aura somehow burned even more violently than previously.
"Better move if you don't want Carter to hurt you in the process...DARLING!" Adelina cackled as Carter zoomed towards the already unconscious Xavier. However, he stopped and faced Dolores in confusion when Ryder suddenly roared loudly, his cyan aura burning wildly all over his body; Dolores screamed and hastily backed away from Ryder, unintentionally releasing him. Ryder, on all fours, raced in front of Carter and lunged at him, sinking his teeth into the base of Carter's neck.
"MAAAR!" The sight of an aura-enveloped enraged Lucario viciously pressing his jaws against Carter's neck shocked Adelina and Huey, but Carter managed to throw Ryder away from him. Ryder, however, landed on his feet – all four of them – and slowly inched closer to the startled Malamar, snarling furiously and tears escaping his aura-filled eyes. Phoenix walked over to the Lucario and growled violently, the flame on his tail burning in an intense blue flame. Seeing both of her Pokémon in such extreme states of rage only added to her anxiety.
"...Phoenix...Ryder..."
"What are you waiting for?! Go and get them!" Adelina shrieked demandingly. Huey, Carter and Dolores all charged towards the furious duo. Ryder instantly raced towards Huey and chomped the base of his neck while Phoenix became surrounded in the blue fire that burned on his tail as he punched the ground beneath him; Carter then looked around him as the earth began to shake under his legs, only to be met with intense hot flames that exploded all around him. Carter and Huey cried out in pain from their respective attacks, but Dolores suffered slight burns from getting caught in Phoenix's Blast Burn attack.
"A-Agh...!" Alexa flinched as she tried to hoist Xavier off of the floor using her wounded shoulder as a support for the comatose Zoroark. Jollie watched helplessly as Alexa struggled to lift both herself and Xavier off of the floor.
"Bun!"
"I-I'm fine...!" Alexa looked at Xavier and knew she couldn't lift him up alone, let alone help him to the Pokémon Centre on her own; she needed help. Desperate, she turned towards Ryder, who was busy engaged in a rather primitive battle of slashes and bites with Huey. "Ryder!" she called. Ryder chomped one of Huey's legs and effortlessly tossed the Delcatty away from him; Huey almost crashed into Adelina. "RYDER!"
"Huh?" Ryder's aura suddenly faded as he finally regained his senses.
"Help me with Xavier!" Alexa cried. "PLEASE!" Ryder slowly stood up properly and hurried to help Alexa; he held Xavier's right arm over his shoulders.
"G-Give his weight to me."
"Huh?"
"Give his weight to me!" Ryder exclaimed. Alexa complied as she allowed Ryder to take most of Xavier's weight as he stood up properly. Alexa looked at Phoenix as Xavier was finally lifted off of the ground.
"Phoenix, let's go!" she called. Phoenix nodded as he began to follow Alexa, Ryder and Jollie as they began to flee from the brutal battle. Adelina scoffed snobbishly.
"You do NOT walk away from me! GO GET THEM!" she screamed. Huey, Carter and Dolores pursued Alexa and her Pokémon. Phoenix breathed a stream of blue fire at the three Pokémon to halt their movements while Ryder, using his cyan psychic energy, took two Poké Balls from Alexa's belt bag.
"Purukin, Chutney, cover us!" he pleaded as he opened their Poké Balls. The two happy Pokémon were released from the Poké Balls and were even happier to help Phoenix fend off the pursuing trio, despite being completely oblivious as to why they were doing so to begin with. Adelina lost all patience with the added interference of Alexa's Pachirisu and Wigglytuff.
"Don't just stand there, get them all!" Alexa, confused, looked behind her and saw her Pachirisu giving Huey the run-around, Dolores attempting to strangle her Wigglytuff and Carter engaging in a slash-fight with her Charizard. The sight stressed her beyond anything she'd ever felt before.
"Don't look back!" Ryder cried. "Just keep going!" Alexa was reluctant to effectively abandon the Pokémon protecting her as she fled, but looked ahead of her all the same, focused on getting the urgent medical attention Xavier may well end up needing – or trying to, at least.
The struggle continued until Adelina saw Alexa, Jollie and Ryder stepping across Mistralton's city limit. Phoenix landed on the ground just behind Purukin and Chutney, glaring savagely at Adelina. Phoenix, Chutney and Purukin all appeared to be suffering from heavy injuries of their own, whereas Adelina's Pokémon, for the most part, were barely dented, despite being heavily exhausted – even Carter was out of breath! Adelina reluctantly returned all of her Pokémon, excluding her limping Delcatty, to their Poké Balls. She gave Phoenix and evil look before she turned and walked towards the Celestial Tower.
"Rrrrrgh-rrrrgh-rrgh..."
"Wiggly?"
"Chippa-chippachi?"
"Rrrrgh." Without further debate, Phoenix flew off of the ground and slowly soared into the air. Chutney and Purukin faced each other in confusion before shrugging and slowly began their walk towards Mistralton; occasionally, Purukin flinched and rubbed his back.
"Well, I'll give you a call sometime this week with my final decision," Gulliver said as he left the coffee house with Hayden and Tidus. "After all, decisions like this do take a lot of consideration."
"Take all the time you need; I'm in the midst of some personal problems anyway, so your consideration period will allow me to focus on resolving said problems," Hayden said courteously.
"Family problems?"
"With all due respect, I'd rather not discuss it."
"Fair enough. Well, it was nice to meet you, Thorndyke," Gulliver smiled as he offered his hand to Hayden. Hayden smiled as he shook Gulliver's hand.
"Same to you," he agreed. "How do you plan on returning to-"
"Not to worry, I can wait for my flight at the airport's café," Gulliver said confidently.
"Over another muffin?" Hayden asked in a slight moan. Suddenly, he spotted Alexa and Ryder rushing towards the Pokémon Centre; the sight of the unconscious Xavier being supported between the two of them brought a horrid feeling to him as he began to feel a sense of fear he felt once before. Tidus and Gulliver soon saw the pair hurrying into the Pokémon Centre nearby; Tidus began to feel exactly the same as Hayden, but Gulliver showed little reaction to the sight.
"I don't think that Trainer has any concept of what a Poké Ball is," he grumbled. He suddenly noticed how petrified Hayden looked and became perplexed. "Hm? Are you feeling all right?" Without a single word, Tidus and Hayden sprinted towards the Pokémon Centre, alarming Gulliver. "Hey! Thorndyke!?"
To be continued...