"What the hell was that?!" Adrian asked, scrambling to his feet, accidentally knocking the sleeping Quilava off his leg.
"Not sure. Let's go." Chance responded, quickly getting to his feet and recalling the majority of his pokémon. "Noctowl, go ahead and check it out for us, okay?" The redhead asked the large Owl Pokémon. Noctowl nodded to his trainer before taking to the air and flying towards the rising pillar of smoke. Adrian followed suit, recalling his pokémon and joining his friend in running towards the source of the commotion, several more explosions ringing through the air as they ran.
The boys sprinted through the town and were quickly nearing the now large, billowing pillar of smoke that was flanked by two smaller pillars of smoke that rose into the air before combining with the larger plume. As they ran explosions continued to burst through the night air.
Noctowl soon rejoined the duo as they neared the source of the pillars of dark smoke, hooting loudly to get his trainer's attention.
"What's going on, Noctowl?" Chance yelled up to the Owl Pokémon, who responded by hooting loudly once more and veering down a road leading to the west. The boys quickly followed suit, doing their best to keep Noctowl in their sight.
Within a few minutes the boys turned a final corner and took in the chaotic scene before them. The Kimono Girl Dance Theatre, and all of the buildings that made up the compound, had erupted into a roaring inferno. Seeing this, the boys hurried down the road towards the entrance to the compound, hoping to aid whomever was still inside.
Halfway down the road that led to the front of the compound, the western wall that surrounded it exploded in a mass of debris and smoke, almost hitting Adrian, who was a few paces ahead of Chance. Adrian stumbled back to avoid the blast, quickly being caught by his companion.
The two boys looked through the hole where the section of wall once stood and found the source of the many explosions, and likely the fire that was quickly engulfing even more of the compound. Within the courtyard of the compound, a battle was being waged between the majority of the Kimono Girls against three men, clad in black clothing.
Jolteon, Umbreon, Flareon, and Vaporeon, along with their respective trainers, were currently battling against an ursaring, tyranitar, weezing, and two golbat. Behind the battle, Sakura and Espeon were working to evacuate the eevee that took refuge within the sanctuary that the sisters had created. Working alongside Sakura were Jade, Ian, and Ryan, helping to lead the eevee to safety while avoiding the battle.
"Oh my god." Adrian whispered to himself as he took in the sight before him.
"What do we do?" The redhead beside him asked.
"We have to help. Let's go." The blonde said firmly, darting through the destroyed wall while reaching for his poké balls. "Nidorino, help me out! Poison jab on that ursaring!" He called out, summoning the poison-type. Nidorino obeyed, charging up behind the Hibernator Pokémon and slamming into its back with a glowing, purple foot.
"What the hell?" One of the men yelled out, turning to see where the new combatant had come from. "We've got trouble! Looks like reinforcements are here!" He called to his two comrades.
"Oh, great. You two kids again." Spat the tallest of the three. His face was obscured by a black mask, but Chance immediately knew the voice, and it made his blood boil even more. "Looks like I get a chance to repay you for messing up my plans at the National Park."
"Not a chance." The redhead growled, reaching for a poké ball of his own.
"Wait!" Shouted Satsuki from across the courtyard. "We have this handled! Save the eevee!" The boys stared at her for a moment, not comprehending her telling them to not join the battle. "Now! Go!" She shouted more sternly, causing both of the boys to run past the battle to join with the four trainers already working to help the eevee.
"Not so fast! Weezing, sludge bomb!" The third man shouted, directing his pokémon to assault the two boys.
"Umbreon, intercept!" Tamao commanded her pokémon.
"Hammer arm, Ursaring!" The first man shouted out.
Umbreon darted across the courtyard to assist the boys in making it across safely, but much to Tamao's dismay, her pokémon was swatted out of the air by a large, glowing arm. Thankfully, Nidorino blocked the attack from striking his trainer. However, their path was still blocked by the two golbat that swooped down before them.
"Noctowl, clear a path for us! Extrasensory!" Chance shouted up to the flying-type. Noctowl emerged from the shadows and blasted one of the bats away before engaging in an aerial battle with the second.
"Chance, you go ahead. Nidorino, Noctowl and I have this." Adrian said to his friend, tossing him one of his poké balls.
"Are you sure?"
"No time to talk! Go!" The blonde yelled at his friend, causing the shorter boy to dart once more across the courtyard and into the burning compound.
He was not prepared for the sight he was greeted with. The inside of the building was in much worse shape than the outside. Flames raged through the hallway, licking at the ceiling, hoping to burst through. Sakura and her espeon currently stood at the southern end of the hallway, where the ceiling had apparently started to give in and fall. Espeon was currently using its psychic abilities to hold the ceiling in place, allowing the trainers to usher the eevee to safety.
At the other end of the hallway, Ian, Ryan, and Jade currently had several of their pokémon out in an effort to combat the flames. Croconaw, Poliwhirl, Quagsire, and Geodude were currently aiding their trainers by using their abilities to slow down the spreading flames, however futile their efforts seemed.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?!" Jade shouted to the redhead as she ran past, two eevee in her arms.
"On it!" He responded, tossing the poké ball that Adrian loaned him, as well as Staryu's lure ball. Beside his Staryu stood Quilava, causing Chance to smile at his friend's quick thinking. "Alright, Staryu, help the other water pokémon with your water gun. Try and stop these flames, alright? Quilava, you're with me, let's go!" He shouted to the two pokémon, causing them both to jump into action. Staryu joined the three other water-types at the northern end of the hallway, firing a powerful gush of water into the flaming room at that end. Chance and Quilava ran past the four pokémon just as Ian ran past towards the exit, another eevee in his arms.
"Here, take these two." Ryan commanded the newcomer, ushering two eevee into his arms.
"Got it. Quilava, help Ryan and Geodude look for others." He ordered the fire-type, taking the two Evolution Pokémon from the other boy. As he got to the hallway that led to the exit, Jade met him and reached for the two pokémon in his arms.
"I've got them. You have a fire-type with you, so you keep searching." The raven-haired girl took the two injured pokémon and ran for the exit, passing Sakura, who ran to meet up with the two boys and their pokémon.
"We are missing three more." She said, the urgency in her voice rising as she saw how much further the flames had advanced. "The new one with the hurt leg, and the two that keep to themselves. We have to find them!" She shouted over the roar of the inferno surrounding them. As she relayed the information, a loud crack resonated from behind her. Alarmed, the trio looked towards the far end of the hallway where Espeon had fallen to its knees, while the ceiling sank closer to the ground as more support beams gave way.
"Espeon won't hold up much longer." Ryan shouted to Sakura before a coughing fit caused him to double over.
"He has inhaled too much smoke!" Sakura cried out, ducking lower to avoid the same fate. Quilava and Geodude appeared in this moment, an eevee with a bandaged back leg in the rock-types arms.
"Get him and the eevee out of here." Chance ordered the older girl. "And here. Take my onix to hold up the roof. Espeon is at its limit." Sakura locked eyes with him for a moment, wanting to protest, but quickly grabbed the ball from his hand and ushered Ryan and his Geodude out with her. "Quilava, we have two more to find. Let's go!" He said as the two ran out the far exit of the room.
The next room was in a much worse state. Flames had caused many of the support beams to collapse and flaming debris rained from the ceiling. Quilava, who had already made his way through this room once, led the redhead through behind him. Between the dense smoke, flames, and piles of debris that littered the floor, progress was slow. The heat and smoke was quickly taking its toll on Chance, but he kept on Quilava's heels.
Quilava quickly made his way into the next room. As the two entered, a section of the ceiling collapsed off to their right, causing Chance to jump back.
"See anything?" He asked the fire-type, now relying completely on his friend's pokémon to see.
"Quil!" The pokémon shouted out before launching a swift attack at a pile of debris that was off to his left, causing a small explosion, but clearing a path.
The Volcano Pokémon made his way through the burning room, occasionally stopping to listen for a second. Every time he stopped he would then nod and increase his speed towards a certain direction. Seconds felt like hours to the trainer behind him. Chance's lungs were burning from the smoke, and he felt like the heat would cause him to collapse at any moment. Just as he was about to tell Quilava that they had to get out of there, he heard a whimper from up ahead. Through the smoke he could barely make out the silhouettes of two pokémon curled up in the corner a few feet ahead of them. Quilava ran the last few steps towards the two and turned to the trainer behind him.
"Qui quil! Lava!" He barked out to the human, motioning towards the two forms. Chance kneeled down once he got to them and immediately noticed that the smaller of the two was lying motionless beside its friend.
"Don't worry, I've got you." He said to the two pokémon as he reached out and scooped the weakened pokémon into his arms. As he rose back to his feet, the entire center of the room collapsed, allowing a large burst of air to enter the room, which caused the fire around them to erupt into an even larger blaze.
"Shit!" The redhead cursed. "Quilava, is there another way out?" He asked the fire-type, who shook his head and backed up towards the trainer's leg. "We can't make it around this. We don't have enough time…" Chance whispered to himself, panic starting to set in. "I can't let these eevee and Quilava get hurt… What the hell do I do?" He asked himself before getting an idea.
"Scyther, help me out!" He shouted, summoning the Mantis Pokémon. Scyther emerged from his poké ball and immediately started coughing from the thick smoke and backed into the corner to try and avoid the flames that surrounded them. "Scyther, I need you to cut through this wall. Please. It's our only hope." He pleaded to the terrified pokémon, slowly sinking to his knees as the environment started to weaken his body further.
Scyther stared at his trainer for a moment, fighting his own limbs to even move. The flames slowly crept towards them and Scyther's eyes focused on the hole in the ceiling. His wings extended and he started to beat them in the hopes of taking off towards safety, but his eyes fell back towards his trainer who was kneeling on the floor with two unconscious pokémon in his arms. Scyther's eyes then hardened as its scythes began to glow a bright red. The mantis turned to the wall behind him and began to slash wildly at the thick wood, sending shards flying around it. Quilava slowly tried to prop up the coughing human beside him. With one more glance back at his weakened trainer, Scyther made a final strike against the wall, sending a large section of it falling out and onto the ground. Smoke billowed past the bug-type as he hopped through the hole and turned to look at his companions inside. With the help of the Volcano pokémon, Scyther aided his trainer in climbing out of the hole and to the relative safety of the outside.
"Th-Thank you." Chance coughed out to the two pokémon before him. He knelt on the grass for a moment, listening to the crackling flames and the echoing explosions from the other side of the building, only slightly muted by his own coughing.
Suddenly, he heard a low growl behind him, from within the flames. From across the burning room, within the largest fire, two glowing red eyes stared back at the young trainer. The eyes began to glow brighter as a loud roar erupted from the building, causing Chance to stumble backwards away from the creature, while Scyther and Quilava took defensive stances between the strange being and the boy behind them. The creature's cry was quickly met with two other cries from much further away. The second set or roars caused Chance and the pokémon to turn away for a moment, expecting to see more creatures, but being met only with the outer wall of the compound. When the group turned back to the first creature, only the inferno remained. The mysterious eyes had vanished.
The moment of confusion was met with another surprise, as a slow pattering of rain began to fall from the once clear sky. Chance stared up past the smoke at the darkened sky, lost in his confusion. He was quickly brought back to reality as another explosion rang out through the city.
"Come on. We have to help Adrian!" He said to the two pokémon beside him, stumbling to his feet with the two unconscious eevee.
The redheaded trainer ran around the corner of the fielding, allowing him to see how the battle in the courtyard was progressing. To the dismay of himself and the two pokémon behind him, the poachers had seemed to have taken the upper hand. All but Jolteon and Umbreon had left the battle on the side of the Kimono Girls, while only one golbat had been recalled on the opposite side, though Ursaring and the second golbat both looked ready to drop soon.
As for Adrian and his pokémon, a shaky Nidorino stood before him, ready to collapse, while Noctowl lay unconscious in the blonde's arms. By now Sakura had sent Staryu and Onix to join the battle, and Chance watched in horror as Tyranitar slammed a glowing fist into Onix's face, sending the massive pokémon flying through the air and crashing into one of the outer walls, causing it to collapse on him.
"Quilava, Scyther… Go." The redhead whispered to the pokémon standing behind him. Both pokémon nodded and charged towards Ursaring, the nearest opponent.
Quilava release a barrage of embers at the Hibernator pokémon, who turned his head towards the charging pokémon and released a deafening roar as he began sprinting towards the two new foes, his left hand starting to glow a bright white. Ursaring took a swipe at Scyther, who dodged to the right of the flailing arm. Quilava, however, was struck and sent rolling backwards from the powerful attack.
"Quilava!" The redhead shouted out to his friend's pokémon, running over with the two eevee still cradled in his arms. "You okay, buddy?" He questioned the injured and exhausted fire-type.
"Quil!" The starter pokémon responded, quickly getting back to his feet. Quilava then charged toward the foe, who was now engaged in a dance of blows with Scyther. Scyther's glowing scythes traded blows with the normal-types glowing arms, both showing major signs of fatigue.
"Quilava, quick attack and then ember, okay?" Chance shouted out. Quilava disappeared in a blur of speed, only to reappear behind Ursaring to slam in between the large pokémon's shoulder blades, sending it off balance. Ursaring was then peppered with a barrage of embers before a glowing scythe slashed across his exposed chest.
"You damn brat!" One of the poachers, presumably Ursaring's trainer, shouted at Chance as the two pokémon took a defensive position between him and Ursaring. "Don't let them get away with this! Hyper beam, now!" He demanded his exhausted pokémon.
"Riiiing!" Ursaring yelled out as a glowing orb began to form in his maw. A yellow beam then blasted out straight for Chance, but was intercepted by both Scyther and Quilava, who jumped in the way to shield the trainer from the attack. However, the blast sent both pokémon crashing into the redheaded trainer. The large pokémon immediately began to form a second blast, ready to eliminate its opponents.
"Scyther… You've gotta get up. Please." The redhead coughed out weakly to the bug-type that now lay on the opposite side of him. He curled the two limp eevee closer to his chest and glanced down at Quilava, who laid unmoving across the trainer's legs. In that moment, he knew he could do nothing more to protect himself or his pokémon.
Chance turned his head towards Ursaring as the second hyper beam fired towards them. His vision was lost in a bright flash of light, which he assumed was the attack striking him, but after a few moments his vision returned to reveal a scorched ground before him and a large yellow pokémon that had intercepted the attack. As Chance's eyes focused more he could clearly see black stripes adorning the body and legs of the pokémon, as well as a long, purple mane flowing across its back.
"What pokémon is that?" He mumbled weakly, pulling out his pokédex to get more information on the strange creature.
"Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon. The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it descended with lightning." The pokédex read out, as the legendary beast let out a low growl at Ursaring, who now looked ready to collapse from exhaustion.
"Raikou…" The redhead whispered, watching the beast release a torrent of electricity at the normal-type, sending it sliding across the ground past its trainer.
"What the hell?!" The man roared, recalling his defeated pokémon. "What is going on here?" He turned to his two comrades, only to find them in about the same situation. While only Jolteon still stood ready to battle, Weezing and Golbat had both been defeated by the appearance of another strange pokémon, this one a light blue with white dots adorning its lower body, the same purple mane flowing across its back as Raikou. The pokémon stood a mere feet in front of Adrian, shielding the boy from any incoming attacks.
"Tyranitar!" The lead poacher barked. "Finish these damn kids off with a hyper beam at that blue one!" His arm waved angrily in the air, pointing at the second new pokémon. Tyranitar started to conjure an attack, but was quickly met with a blast of highly pressurized water that sent the massive pokémon twisting through the air, almost landing on its belligerent trainer.
The blue pokémon let out a deafening roar, causing the slowly falling rain to turn into a downpour of water. The flames that still worked to engulf the remainder of the building quickly began to flicker and become smaller, while the ground began to soften as the water soaked the earth. The sirens that could be heard in the distance slowly started to increase in volume as the authorities neared the battle.
"This is over. We have to get out of here!" The third, smallest poacher said to his two friends, worry evident in his voice.
"Fine." The leader grumbled, recalling his fallen tyranitar. The three turned to flee, but were met with a blast of ice across their feet, holding them in place. They turned with horror in their eyes to see the blue pokémon now standing just feet from them, anger burning in its eyes. The pokémon let out one final deafening roar before jumping to the top of the now smoldering buildings, glancing once at the blonde trainer who couldn't take his eyes off it, and then disappearing into the falling rain.
"You will go nowhere!" Satsuki said in a stern voice as she approached the three, her exhausted Jolteon at her side. "If any of you even try to move I will have Jolteon take you down." The anger in her eyes was enough to get the three poacher to stop struggling against their icy prison. Satsuki glanced back over her shoulder for a moment to see her sisters gathering the injured and defeated pokémon, both their own and those of the young trainers that had assisted them. To the oldest Kimono Girl's surprise, Raikou still stood in the courtyard, standing over a now unconscious Chance. The large pokémon lowered its head and sniffed the injured trainer once, then touched its nose to his forehead and leapt into the air, disappearing much like the blue beast before it. "Thank you." Satsuki smiled at the spot where Raikou once stood.
Adrian found himself waking up to a far too bright beam of sunlight sneaking through the mostly closed curtains of the strange room he was in. He closed his eyes to try and hide his aching headache from the bright assault. It took him several long moments before the memories of the previous battle made their way to his mind once more. He remembered an explosion caused by a stray attack from Tyranitar launching him backwards into the wall of the building that he worked so hard to protect. He also remembered a shining blue pokémon creating a barrier to stop him from the second attack, and then only fragments of memories. The blue pokémon easily defeating the foes that had crushed his own pokémon. The loud roar that brought a torrent of rain. The mysterious pokémon leaping high into the air and vanishing form his sight. The entire confrontation left him with an odd feeling.
Then, another thought crossed his mind. Chance. Where was he? Where were his pokémon? Did Chance and Quilava make it through everything?
The blonde quickly sat up, which he immediately regretted as his entire body throbbed from a wave of pain. Despite the protest from his body, he looked around the room and was relieved to see his redheaded companion sleeping peacefully in a bed across the room, far from the offending window. He also noticed the majority of their pokémon were sleeping in various places around the room. Nidorino, Elekid, and Quilava slept peacefully on cushions near his bed, though Quilava had a bandage wrapped around his front leg. Snivy was curled up in the middle of her trainer's chest, while Noctowl stood near the closed door, dutifully keeping watch over the recovering trainers and pokémon. Adrian gave a slight nod to the Owl pokémon before laying down once more, allowing a shallow sleep to overtake him.
It felt like minutes later to the blonde trainer, but truly it was hours, when the door slowly cracked open. His eyes fluttered open to see Sumomo and Tamao enter the room. The women noticed his stirring and quietly made their way across the room to his bed, doing their best to avoid waking Chance in the closer bed.
"How are you feeling?" Sumomo questioned in a near whisper, resting her hand on Adrian's.
"Sore." He croaked out. "What about you guys? Is everyone okay?"
"Sakura and Kimiko both have minor burns, but nothing serious. Everyone else made it out okay. Including the eevee." Tamao replied with a small smile.
"I'm glad." He then turned towards his still sleeping companion. "And him?"
"He will be just fine." Sumomo replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "He was lucky enough to avoid any serious injury from charging into that fire, and a miracle saved him from getting hurt once he joined us outside."
"A miracle?"
"Yes." Sumomo smiled. "The legendary beasts appeared to save us in our hour of need. Raikou protected Chance, while Suicune protected you."
"Suicune… I remember. It stopped Tyranitar's attack from hitting me."
"Then it put out the fire." Tamao finished, earning a smile from the blonde.
As they spoke they heard a stirring across the room. Chance slowly opened his eyes and rolled over to face the trio across the room, much to the delight of Snivy, who happily hugged her trainer.
"How are you feeling?" Sumomo asked the redhead, moving quickly across the room to check on him.
"Like I got run over by a rhyhorn." He laughed. "How are the pokémon?"
The two women shared a smile with each other. "They are just fine." Replied Tamao. "Onix, Staryu, and Tentacool are resting elsewhere so they could be more comfortable. Scyther, however, was much more difficult. He is resting in his pokéball." As she spoke she produced the pokéball from one of her pockets, handing it to the redhead.
"Yeah, sounds like him." He chuckled. "And the eevee?"
"Are just fine." Replied a voice as the door opened once more. Satsuki entered the room this time, two eevee in tow. "Every eevee is accounted for and no major injuries were sustained, thanks to you." She now stood at the foot of Chance's bed.
"It was nothing… Really. I just did what anyone would do." He replied with a blush.
"Well, to be honest, we would like to request one more favor of you. Both of you." Satsuki replied.
"A favor? What kind of favor?" Asked Adrian.
"Well, our entire compound burned to the ground, so we are forced to stay in just this single house right now…" Started Sumomo.
"And it can hardly fit just us, really." Tamao continued.
"Right, so we are looking to rehome several of the eevee that we take care of, to make sure that they are getting as much care and room as they need." Satsuki finished, bending down to pick up the two eevee that accompanied her. "Jade and her friends each have agreed to help us take care of some of the eevee, but we still have a handful that we have to rehome if we want to get down to a more manageable amount until our compound is rebuilt. So, we wanted to ask you two to take care of the two eevee that you rescued from the fire." The boys shared a look with each other, both showing a bit of shock at this opportunity, as eevee were rather rare. "You see, these two stick together. We can't send them with different trainers, as that would not make them happy. But, they trust you and if you two would be willing…"
"We would love to!" Chance blurted out.
"It would be an honor." Adrian agreed.
"I'm glad." Satsuki gave the boys the first real smile they had seen from her. Tamao then took one of the eevee from her arms, before setting it at the foot of the blonde's bed. Satsuki did the same at Chance's bed. "Chance, this one can be a bit of a handful at times. He is stubborn and protective, but his spirit makes him very strong."
"And Adrian, this little lady is a bit timid, but she learns fast and she is full of energy when she warms up to you." Tamao explained with a smile. The two eevee looked across the room at each other before making their way up the respective beds to see their potential new trainers.
"Hey Eevee." Adrian greeted, reaching his hand out to pet the Evolution pokémon. She flinched for a moment, but then took another step forward to smell the offered hand. The eevee across the room stood in the middle of the bed he was on, watching the entire exchange. He didn't move forward until his friend allowed Adrian to stroke the fur on her cheek. Once he saw that his companion was happy, he stepped forward to the redhead.
"Well, you really are protective." Chance said with a smile after watching the exchange. "But don't worry. You two are part of the team now. We will all protect her with you. We will protect both of you. And, if you'd like, I can help train you so you become even stronger." Eevee quick nod to this, his eyes alight with the prospect of getting stronger.
"I think you both will make great teams." Satsuki said with a nod, now sure of the choice she had made.
The two boys shared another smile with each other, both happy at the prospect of training and growing with their new team members.
A.N.: I apologize for the huge delay in uploading. To be honest, it was a confidence issue. Just after the last chapter I posted a single person messaged me telling me how bad my writing was, and unfortunately, I let it get to me. I know I shouldn't have, as I am largely doing this as a way to strengthen my writing, but I am back now. Thanks to the encouragement from a friend I am going to be trying to step back into the whole writing thing. Again, I am sorry for the delay. I hope to hear from people, whether you enjoyed it or constructive criticism. Feel free to pm me or leave a review. Thanks for you time, I hope you all enjoy reading this.