Chapter 24

Change

The battle-cries of the various Pokémon in the center of Blindhollow joined together to become a spirited roar. The collection of squeals, chirps, shouts, snarls, hisses, and yells was so loud that Squirtle felt the ground shake under the onslaught of sound. He charged forward with the rest of the Raizula opposition, caught up in the furor of the moment. The cries of Flying-types rained down, followed by the Pokémon themselves. Grass, Water, Fire, and other elements were manifested as combatants readied their techniques.

By the time Squirtle regained his head, pulling out of the battle frenzy that his Pokémon body had embraced without his permission, he'd already landed a Tackle on a Nincada, taken a glancing blow from a ball of crackling purple darkness, and shot a sloppy Water Gun in the general direction of the Pokémon around Raizula. The fight was hectic, unlike anything Squirtle had hitherto experienced. Despite that fact, the plan his team had crafted remained their best shot. He turned in a circle to take in the state of the battle and see what his companions were doing.

Viper was heading down the battlefield toward Raizula's throne. Squirtle could guess why: she wanted to be the one to take down the Raichu. Viper had been the least receptive to the group's planning efforts on the way to Blindhollow, so Squirtle was hardly surprised by her intentions. Still, they needed her fighting against Raizula's allies. Squirtle had barely seen her fight but had a feeling she was an experienced battler. Any hot-headed and energetic Pokémon was bound to have ended up in plenty of fights throughout their life. Viper would tear through the opposition, but instead she was choosing to fight an Electric-type.

Fortunately, Squirtle spotted the black and white stripes of a familiar Zebstrika doing what they had agreed upon. Hayzin galloped into the heart of the enemy force, and not a single Pokémon got in his way. While Squirtle had not known of Hayzin's typing when they'd first met, it seemed everyone else in the battle certainly knew to avoid him. The Zebstrika reared up onto his hind legs. Yellow electricity jumped among the stiff white hairs of his mane. Squirtle curled his toe-claws into the dirt and forced himself to stay still. This electricity was on his side. At least the foreboding hum of the electricity's build-up was inaudible over the cacophony of the large-scale battle.

A flash of yellow light. Thunder filling the crater. Countless bolts of electricity connecting Hayzin to every Pokémon within twenty feet. A moment of breathtaking power.

If Squirtle had hair on the back of his neck, he knew it would be standing on end from the feeling of the air during Hayzin's attack. And if Squirtle were not a Water-type, he knew his eyes would be dried out from the intensity of the flash. A stricken Venonat fell senselessly to the ground. A blackened patch of his purple coat of fur began to smoke. A Bidoof met the same fate. Instant knock-out, smoking fur. A Pokémon Squirtle's height, yellow with pink petal-like structures framing its face, lost its footing. However its eyes remained open after being hit by Hayzin's bolt. When it did not stand up, Squirtle peered closely and saw its body shaking as Quil's had after being Paralyzed by the Electrike on the path.

He was doing a count of the Pokémon downed by Hayzin's discharge of electricity when a stream of flames blazed by, engulfing the Turtwig next to him that had been throwing stiff leaves from its head at some opponent. Squirtle dodged away, but not before his left arm had been singed. The sensation of spreading weakness, although meager, reminded him that he needed to keep his wits about him. He stood near the rear of the battlefield, but that did not mean he would not be a priority target for some. Especially Raizula herself. He glanced up at her to ensure she was indisposed.

The throne was empty. The Raichu was not there. Nor, from what Squirtle could see from his low height, was she at the base. Where had she gone? He hadn't noticed any Electric techniques besides Hayzin's, so was she staying out of the battle? He recalled the look of fury in her eyes at the end of their conversation. No, she would be fighting. And if she could, she would be going for-

He heard the hum of an Electric technique gathering energy. His eyes flicked to Hayzin, who was repositioning himself for maximal damage on his next attack. The hum was definitely not coming from him. A nearby Arcanine leaped to avoid the slash from some Pokémon that Squirtle could not recognize, and then Squirtle could see her. Raizula. Her cheeks were spitting bright sparks; this time they were not the mere byproduct of her emotions. These sparks had a bright white core. Her tail pointed upward behind her, stiff to match the anticipation in her angry eyes.

Squirtle felt his blood had turned to ice. He dropped to all fours to prepare to dodge, but if he was being honest with himself, it was pointless. Dodge electricity? He'd be better off trying to out-dig an Excadrill. There was nothing he could do.

How, though, had Raizula reached him without being stopped? Wasn't keeping her occupied in the event of a battle integral to the plan to take back Blindhollow? He knew he'd arranged for a distraction or counter-measure, but it was almost impossible to think in the face of Raizula's impending wrath. He clenched his fingers and toes. Raizula threw her arms up and unleashed a white bolt skyward. Squirtle saw it descending to strike him a split second later.

Someone's foot ground down on his shell above his arm, using him as a springboard. Squirtle was shoved roughly into the ground. He couldn't see what happened above. No shock came, though. Nor was there a resounding echo of crackling electricity. It was as if the bolt had been entirely and instantly neutralized.

Ah, right.

Bein, reliable as always, landed beside him unscathed. Squirtle tried to say something, but Bein spoke first.

"Saw her going for you. Changed the plan."

Squirtle nodded, and quickly replied. "Thanks. We're fine as long as her electricity isn't a factor in this battle."

Bein playing bodyguard wasn't his role. Squirtle was expendable in this battle. If Raizula was personally going after him though, Bein could effectively keep her out of the fight by simply protecting Squirtle. That didn't mean Squirtle was going to make it easy for her. He darted away, trying to lose the Raichu in the chaos of the battle.

After a time, he decided to go on the offensive. Bein would do his job. His side of the battle was outnumbered, so he would have to do his part to have a chance of success. The nearest targets to him were a Pidgeotto mid-dive, and a Chikorita on the ground. His eyes narrowed. The Pidgeotto was aiming for a Cyndaquil, Quil, who was actively engaged with the Chikorita. The Chikorita screeched something at Quil like a growl, and he cringed in response.

"Quil, dodge!" he shouted.

Quil's head spun to look at him. The Pidgeotto had almost reached its target. Then Quil threw himself sideways, landing hard on his belly. The Pidgeotto slammed talons-first where Quil had been, before taking off once more to gain altitude.

No time for long conversation. "I'll take the Pidgeotto, fire that Chikorita!"

Quil's snout followed the Pidgeotto as it flapped to gain altitude. He seemed surprised that he'd dodged the attack.

"Right!" he returned, refocusing on the Chikorita. Its body, for the moment, appeared to glow in the morning light. Some move with which Squirtle was unfamiliar.

The Pidgeotto was circling now at an altitude of some thirty feet. Squirtle wanted to use his surroundings to get closer for a Tackle, but the only option was the nearest ring of buildings. Too far, and he'd be wasting time. Yet he'd also be wasting time by waiting around and reacting to its next dive. A long-range Water Gun was his only choice. Hitting a moving target at that distance would be difficult, but not impossible. He felt on point today thanks to the practice he'd had in the wild on the way to Blindhollow. Quil and Bein would be too. They'd been battling at his side the last couple of days as Hayzin and Viper conserved their strength for traveling.

As he anchored himself for his shot, he wished his Water Gun wasn't literally hit or miss. His stream would either intersect the Pidgeotto's flight path, or it would arc harmlessly through the air and spatter the pool of water in the middle of the crater. If there were some way to expand its area of effect as it traveled through the air, or if he could slow down the Pidgeotto, he'd be a lot more effective.

Squirtle aimed his face at a point marginally ahead of the Pidgeotto then filled his mouth with water. This time, with that longing fresh in his mind, his body responded with a suggestion. He allowed his lungs to leak air into the powerful stream of water, and the aperture formed by his lips widened. What emerged from his mouth was not a stream of water, but an outflow of thick, wet bubbles.

It took a level of control that Squirtle barely possessed to keep the technique going. Too much air turned the flow into little more than high-speed water droplets, but too little air made the flow a stream of froth, like sea foam. His mouth, too, needed to be perfectly shaped to allow the spherical bubbles to be formed. As a result, he could only maintain the new move for less than two seconds.

The bubbles did not move as quickly as his habitual Water Gun, but they covered a larger cross-section. While not quite a cone-shaped attack, the bubbles had a volume to them that a simple stream of water could never match. The bubbles caught the light beautifully, glistening so as to look innocuous.

Those bubbles sure are pretty! thought Squirtle with admiration. He felt bubbly himself from producing something new out of his Water Gun. I bet Water-types call it 'Bubble'.

The Pidgeotto could not veer away in time. It flew into the blockade of bubbles. They burst forcefully, dowsing its feathers in water and blasting it backward. The Pidgeotto regained control of its flight right before it hit the ground. A second too late. Its crash-landing placed the dripping Flying-type near Squirtle's own position.

Evidently the Pidgeotto was a seasoned battler as it counterattacked without missing a beat. Its talons swiftly scratched up the ground, loosening it, and then it hopped backward with two forceful wing-beats. The loose dirt billowed into Squirtle's face, getting in his mouth, nostrils, and especially his eyes before he could shield himself. He brushed the dirt away as best as he could, blinking rapidly to clear his watering eyes.

Now that the Pidgeotto was ground-bound, Squirtle elected to try a Tackle. That move would be easier to land without clarity of sight, too. While dashing toward the Pidgeotto, a thick purple plume of gas expanded outward from some duel happening to his side. He skirted the edge of it, curving around and launching himself at the Pidgeotto. Unfortunately, due to his unclear vision, he couldn't make the last second-adjustment to the Pidgeotto's dodge. What felt like a wing battered the back of his shell as he passed, sending him sprawling.

This Pidgeotto was a tough opponent. It would certainly be receiving that show of respect from him, if he won. The odds of that happening were grimly low though. Squirtle looked quickly around the battlefield as he stood up, trying to formulate a winning strategy. Already, about half of the combatants were down for the count. Some of them looked to be out cold, but most appeared either too weak to continue fighting or were afflicted by some ailment like Paralysis. Quil, still nearby, had defeated the Chikorita, and was currently helping a Herdier fight Raizula's Persian.

Squirtle couldn't see where Raizula and Bein were, but Hayzin was still up and running. The Zebstrika headbutted a Sentret while electricity arced in his mane, and with a yellow flash, the Sentret was launched an astonishing distance. The crackling of electricity echoed in the crater as the Sentret fell out of sight beyond one of the buildings in the inner ring. Squirtle could see awe on the expressions of those Pokémon who had witnessed the move. His own eyes were wide.

Idiot! he berated himself after a second. You're supposed to ignore the Electric-types, not goggle at them. We talked about that; not being distracted is one of the only advantages we have over the other Pokémon here!

He tore his gaze back to the Pidgeotto as he wiped his eyes again. Overall, the battle that raged around him was still going poorly. That meant winning each of his own battles was paramount. Yet the Pidgeotto was stronger than him! It would wear him down faster than he could wear it down.

His train of thought was cut short as the Pidgeotto flapped up a violent gust. Squirtle instantly lost his footing and rolled backward once, but he was able to hug the ground and resist the wind as it howled past his head. Holding firm against the wind sapped his strength. While the Pidgeotto kept up its technique, Squirtle's eyes swept the battlefield again, looking for inspiration, something, anything to help him win.

This time, he noticed Wartortle of the infamous Nursery and his armful of seeds. While not quite in the thick of the battles, Wartortle had nonetheless placed himself in harm's way. He carried fewer seeds than before all the fighting had begun. Curiously, the Wartortle met his eyes immediately, like he'd been waiting for Squirtle to look at him from across the battlefield. Once eye contact had been made, Wartortle raised a single seed between two claws for Squirtle to see, placed it on the tip of his mouth right below his nostrils, and tilted his head upward.

What is he doing? Putting on a show in the middle of this battle? Squirtle wondered. The Pidgeotto's wind died down. A great time for a violent reply of his own, but Squirtle stayed his attacks. The Wartortle was doing something specifically for him.

Wartortle shot the seed toward Squirtle borne on a tiny Water Gun, like a single toot of a horn.

"Blast seed!" called Wartortle, before turning away and moving out of sight toward Raizula's hoard. Squirtle understood. Wartortle had seen him in a tough spot and chosen to assist via what he knew best: seeds. Squirtle had little doubt he was supplying the others that fought Raizula too.

The seed arced right to Squirtle's face. A perfect shot by Wartortle. To be expected, from an evolved Water-type. Instead of snatching it with his hand, Squirtle saved some time by catching it on his tongue. The Pidgeotto eyed him, waiting. As Squirtle stood, he crunched the seed in his mouth.

Immediately, his mouth felt like he'd tried to take a bite of Quil's fire. He tried to spit out the seed, but his mouth was yanked wide open by a torrent of flames. Like a Squirtle-turned-flamethrower, he spewed the fire all over the Pidgeotto, leaving no room to evade.

As quickly as it had begun, the effect ended. The only remnant of the seed was a lingering heat in his mouth. He doubted he could tolerate chomping on another Blast Seed for a good while, but thankfully the seed had done its job. The Pidgeotto lay prone on the ground with its wings extended but immobile. It looked blankly back at him as steam curled off its feathers.

Squirtle filled his mouth with water to try to rinse away the heat as he inclined his head in respect for the Pidgeotto's strength. No time to wait for a response though. He spat out the water and trotted away, looking for another Pokémon to battle. For the next one, he'd be disadvantaged by the weariness he felt from the Pidgeotto's attacks. On the other hand, every Pokémon on the battlefield would have taken a hit or two by now.

Seeds are a game-changer, he thought as he made for the water's edge. If everyone on my team had a few Blast Seeds coming into Blindhollow, we would've had a far better chance.

Nearby, Squirtle could hear an electric hum building up. His head snapped to the sound to identify whether it was a friend's or foe's electricity. He began to heave a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was Hayzin. Then he saw Raizula's Sandslash rake its thick claws along Hayzin's flank, heedless of the crackling electricity. Hayzin's front legs crumpled. He fell to his side with a tired sigh.

"No! Hayzin!" Squirtle shouted, reaching out his hand.

Hayzin going down stabbed guilt through Squirtle's heart. He was responsible. More importantly, the loss meant their chances of winning the confrontation had just plummeted. As an Electric-type, Hayzin was integral to the plan. Now the plan was useless. Without that advantage, coming to Blindhollow had been a mistake.

They still stood a ghost of a chance, however, so long as Raizula's electricity continued to be negated by Bein. Then they would simply be outnumbered, instead of outclassed by an unnaturally powerful Electric-type Pokémon. Squirtle scanned the battling Pokémon for signs of either of them. He found nothing even though the majority of Pokémon were unconscious, close to it, or otherwise disabled. Raizula must have been far away from him, which was always a good thing.

Something slimy slicked along his shell beneath his arms. He glanced down to see a long, pink thing wrapping itself around his body. Immediately he bent his legs and sprang upward to slip out of the thing's grasp, but he found that the translucent layer of slime covering it was not slippery, but sticky. It maintained its grip around his shell, moving up and back down with him. Squirtle followed it to its source: a rotund pink Pokémon about six feet tall. The pink appendage was its tongue. Lickilicky.

"Raizula!" it called. "I hab da Zquirtle! Raizula, Raizula, da Zquirtle iz here!" The Lickilicky's voice reminded Squirtle of a child trying to please a teacher, to get in her good graces.

The tongue wrapped tightly around him and squeezed for a few seconds. Squirtle resisted by trying to pull the tongue away with his hands and claws. He could ease the pressure in some places, but he still felt like a sponge being compressed despite his nearly inflexible shell. When the tongue stopped squeezing for a moment, he shouted out his own call for help. He had been trying to keep a low profile as a priority target, but the jig was up now that the Lickilicky had announced his location in its resounding voice.

"Quil! Bein! Someone!"

The tongue squeezed again. Squirtle withdrew into his shell and pushed outward which successfully reduced the compression, if marginally. When he popped back out, he was met with the one sight he'd wished not to see.

Raizula. Her run became a walk when she saw his head stick out over the Lickilicky's tongue. The anger still burned in her eyes, and her lips twisted to match them with a grin of anticipation that showed her sharp white teeth. Behind her, a Chespin was showing its respect to a fallen Cubone. Bein. Bein had been defeated, leaving Raizula free to move and to act.

Squirtle let his body go slack. The battle was lost. Blindhollow was lost. Their plan had sounded great in theory, and each of them had been optimistic. In hindsight, it had been flawed from the beginning. Squirtle and Quil needed to take down any hostile Ground-types. They'd even known about the Sandslash ahead of time. Of course it would be focusing on Hayzin. And Squirtle should have given Viper a talking-to about her reckless defiance. If he'd made sure she did her part, maybe the outcome of the battle could have been better.

It was his fault. His responsibility. He'd shouldered the burden, forced Quil to make the speech in Cavetown, tried to lead. He'd thought he and Quil could make a difference for all the suffering Pokémon. All of it was crashing down and the only one he could blame was himself.

He glanced outside the battlefield at the crowd of over a hundred Pokémon watching. Now they'd all be watching him specifically. Raizula was about to dole out justice to one of the main instigators of the attempted revolution. No one would want to miss this. Squirtle no longer blamed them for staying back and hiding during the melee. They were the smart ones who knew when to pick a fight and when to recognize hopeless odds.

The tongue squeezed again. He didn't bother to Withdraw. Better he passed out from weakness before Raizula shocked him. It'd be easier that way. He realized that the Lickilicky wouldn't be able to keep up its tongue-wrap technique forever. No Pokémon could maintain its move indefinitely. But even if Squirtle broke free now, Raizula would get him. She was almost within what he estimated as the accurate range for her lightning attack. Pointless to struggle. Pointless to come to Blindhollow. All pointless.

"Squirtle, I'm coming!" Quil raced along the water's edge, lighting up its surface with the his fiery reflection.

Quil, no!

Squirtle wanted to tell his friend to run, to get away, but he couldn't get a full breath in. If only he'd resisted the Lickilicky a bit longer, he wouldn't have been squeezed quite so tightly. He might have had the breath to yell at Quil to stay back. In desperation, he shook his head rapidly as best he could with his restricted range of motion, mouthing the word 'No' over and over to Quil. Couldn't Quil see Raizula? Was he that focused on Squirtle and the Lickilicky?

Either the Cyndaquil didn't see Squirtle's gestures or he didn't want to listen. He came to a stop, and Squirtle recognized the signs of his Ember technique warming up.

Raizula walked ever closer. "It's been fun chasing you Squirtle, but the game's over. You've earned every volt of this Thunderbolt! Keep him Wrapped, Lickilicky."

Squirtle could see the exact moment that Quil knew he'd made a mistake. The Cyndaquil's head twitched to Raizula and he froze up. The fires in his mouth vanished. While moving, Quil hadn't seen Raizula. He had been too intent on his goal.

"Run," Squirtle finally managed to croak with his precious supply of air. "You'll...be next!"

Please run, Quil, please! I don't want you to get shocked too! It's a waste, all of this is a waste. Save yourself! He willed the words over to Quil like he imagined a Psychic Pokémon would. There was nothing else he could do. The Lickilicky would easily be able to compensate for the recoil produced by his Water Gun or Bubble, and he couldn't move his body to aim at the Lickilicky's body or tongue. He was doomed. If Quil would just run away, he could relax and await the inevitable.

He continued to shake his head at Quil even as the tongue squeezed once again. Quil's expression shifted rapidly between emotions. Squirtle struggled to translate them. First, the surprise of seeing Raizula about to electrocute Squirtle. Indecision and distress followed right after. Lastly, an emotion that Squirtle neither wanted nor expected to see.

Resolve.

"I won't let Raizula win!" he shouted in his small voice.

Quil's head bowed as his tiny chest inflated with a powerful breath, and he placed his forelimbs lightly on the ground in front of him. A sprinter's start. The spikes of flame were blasting out of his back with an intensity that Squirtle had never seen.

Hope flickered inside Squirtle. If his friend was going to give his one hundred percent, what right did Squirtle have to give up? Even if the battle was lost, even if Raizula was about to use her Thunderbolt, how could he let Quil do all the work? Squirtle was going to go down, and probably Quil too, but that was out of his hands. All he could do was go down fighting. Wasn't that the attitude he promised everyone in Cavetown?

Squirtle thrust his arms down between his shell and the sticky tongue. Summoning every ounce of his might, he pressed outward against the tongue. His tail quivered with his efforts. He strained, expanding his shell to its limits from within. The Lickilicky's tongue shook with the exertion of keeping a tight hold on him. Still, he remained Wrapped. Squirtle let up on the resistance, panting as best he could. In a few seconds he would try again and hope that it was enough.

Sparks sprayed out of Raizula's cheeks as she began to build up an incredible amount of electricity. Squirtle swore her short fur coat was glowing from the lightning inside her body. Her preparation was dragged out, either to enjoy the anticipation or to have time raise her technique to its most powerful level.

As the electrical hum saturated the air, the old fear rose up in Squirtle's chest. Then he glanced to Quil. Squirtle borrowed from the fiery defiance that he saw. Fear wasn't going to paralyze him. Today, he would fight.

Curiously, Quil's body looked to be glowing, too. Squirtle blinked and wondered if his eyesight was still affected by the dirt from the Pidgeotto. However a second look confirmed that every inch of Quil's body was shimmering. The flames on his back brightened and their hue bleached. Quil's entire form gleamed with white light. Squirtle squinted into the luminescence, entranced by Quil's radiance.

Quil's fires split. Half of the flames migrated downward to form a horizontal line above his rear, and the other half became a vertical line along his skull. Triangular ears flipped up to flank his head fires. His snout blunted. The diminutive, simple legs and forelimbs he used to have quickly developed into two hind legs and two forelegs with three toes each. All the while, his body swelled and lengthened, giving Quil the build of an agile quadruped. His head and body were no longer two distinct regions; both were incorporated into his new streamlined physique.

"No Quilava can stop me from having my way," Raizula snarled as Quil evolved. "Not even a Typhlosion can!"

The hum had faltered for a moment as she was distracted by witnessing a Pokémon's evolution, but her Electric attack's build-up had not crumbled. She took one more step forward and prepared to fire off her electricity.

The twin groups of Quil's fires regained their orange and yellow color, like color bleeding into the white sun as it sets. The brilliant glow shining from Quil's body faded. The evolution was complete. For the first time, Quil opened his ruby red eyes.

In a flash, he was gone.

Through the tongue, Squirtle felt the Lickilicky being struck by Quil's sudden attack. The tongue loosened for a split second before trying to tighten once again around Squirtle. His resistance had done its work though, and the Lickilicky's response was too slow. Squirtle grabbed the sticky tongue where it met his shell and hoisted himself firmly downward. He slipped out as the tongue constricted nothing but air. He filled his mouth with water in mid-air, then glanced up at Raizula as he landed on his feet.

The Raichu threw up her arms and screwed up her eyes, the immediate precursor to the Thunderbolt's manifestation.

Squirtle shot the water out as hard as he could with no care for aim. His head jerked back and his body followed. The concussive shock wave from the Thunderbolt striking the ground sent him into back-flips and took away his hearing. Suddenly he was immersed in water, and sinking.

His vision slowly came into focus as he observed the surface of the water becoming peppered by a swarm of dirt clods from the sky. The smaller ones dissolved while the larger clumps sank, drifting past him. When he opened his nostrils, he could smell the nearly pure water becoming marginally tainted by the dissolved dirt particles. His muscles tingled uncomfortably, especially those in his legs and tail. The rest of him felt heavy with weariness even with the water granting him weightlessness. He had not completely avoided the electricity from the Thunderbolt.

The sound of a roar from a great deal of Pokémon reached Squirtle underwater. His hearing was returning. What were they all yelling about though? With a start he recalled the importance of the situation outside the water. The losing battle, Quil's evolution, Raizula's angry attack. Squirtle had not been entirely alert as he sank through the water. Quil was still out there, facing Raizula alone! Besides, Raizula couldn't possibly miss Squirtle again if she followed up with another Thunderbolt into the watering hole. He needed to get out there.

Squirtle knew he was nearing his limit, but he could still fight. Now of all times, he had to push through the exhaustion. He retracted his arms and legs, and waved his tail back and forth to propel him upward. At the last second, he popped his limbs back out, swept the water downward with all five limbs, and shot out of the water.

He landed awkwardly back on solid ground, stumbling and falling before getting back up. Not only were his legs weak and tingling, but the condition of the battlefield had totally caught him off guard. Where previously a few isolated battles raged amid a landscape littered with defeated Pokémon, now the violence had been rekindled by at least fifty newcomers who had previously watched from the inner ring of buildings.

The new battles were ludicrously unfair in favor of the anti-Raizula party. Squirtle saw a seven-on-two here, a four-on-one there, and a few more Pokémon unconscious or almost unconscious that had been fighting for Raizula two minutes prior. The difference in numbers had never been more uneven. This time however, Raizula was on the losing side. He spotted the Sandslash and Persian among the ranks of the senseless.

Squirtle quickly located Raizula. She stood surrounded by twenty or so residents of Blindhollow. Quil and Viper were part of the circle nearest to Squirtle. He hastened to join them. If he missed Raizula's defeat, he would never forgive himself. She'd blasted him with her lightning. She'd bullied, robbed, and mistreated an entire town. And, she'd made fun of Quil's soft voice in front of everyone.

"Give up, Raizula," growled one of the townsfolk, an Arcanine, with bared fangs. Others shouted their own words. Battling techniques were readied by many, and every Pokémon was tense. Most of them had fear written all over their faces, and Squirtle wondered why they only now had the courage to face the Raichu.

"Give up? You're hilarious," she said. The words came out calm, hollow. Her anger was gone, along with her bravado and imperious air. Slowly, she closed her eyes to the Pokémon surrounding her. A few sparks popped out of her cheeks. These were paltry specimens, as if Raizula was cracking a little joke or producing electricity just to show that she could. Squirtle wondered what was going through her head. Everyone knew what would happen should she show even an inkling of using her Electric-type moves.

He was not at all surprised when no fewer than ten projectile attacks were launched at Raizula, though the vigor of the response was impressive. Raizula did not even attempt to dodge. Had Squirtle been in her position, he would have jumped straight up, allowing each of the attacks to hit the Pokémon on the other side of the circle. It would have been a very effective strategy, he was sure. Raizula, despite her self-confidence and her awareness of the power at her command, had chosen to not fight. She still possessed the power to defeat every Pokémon in Blindhollow on her own. She'd submitted to her fate, when she could have fought. Or at least escaped. Squirtle filed away the peculiar behavior for future thought.

When the dust cleared, Raizula lay unconscious with her fur completely mussed up. Squirtle allowed himself a slight smile as he pictured the Raichu's reaction to her disheveled, powerless appearance. Then he lent his voice to the vivacious cheer that erupted from every Pokémon's throat.

Raizula had been deposed, and Squirtle had a strong feeling that no one, Electric-type or not, would be able to reign over Blindhollow ever again.