Author's note: Heya!
Time for things to heat up in these shallow waters! But, in that case, would they be shallow hot springs, instead? Ha ha ha! Kay, I'll see myself out...
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Twelve: Melodic Misfortune
The battle commenced, with Meloetta taking in a deep breath, then blasting out a Hyper Voice. Pikachu's ears rung with pain. He clamped his paws over them to block out the sound.
The move also stunned Krookodile, who was sent reeling backwards. When the noise ended, everyone let go of their ears, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Alright!" Ash said. "Now it's our turn!" He pointed. "Use Stone Edge!"
The crocodile crossed his arms, glowing white. Rings of sharp rocks exploded outwards from his body, which he then shot across the battlefield.
As they closed in on Meloetta, she used Close Combat to block them, punching and kicking every single one into debris before they could hit her.
Huh. Pikachu was impressed! It seemed she'd taken inspiration from watching Oshawott's battle with Pansage.
Krookodile seemed rather shaken by her display of power. Ash, however, looked more excited than ever to be battling her.
Bouncing up and down, Meloetta waved a hand teasingly. "(How was that~?)" she asked.
Krookodile shook off the shock of her attack, clenched his fists and huffed. "(Maaaan... not bad there, girly!)" he replied. "(But I'm just warming up, so get ready!)"
Meloetta giggled. "(Oh, I'm ready~)"
"Let's keep this going!" Ash cried. "Krookodile! Use Dragon Claw!"
His claws glowing blue, Krookodile ran towards Meloetta, ready to strike.
Then a bright blue beam of light suddenly struck the ground directly in front of the crocodile, barely missing him. It kicked up a dust cloud and a huge gust of wind.
Pikachu covered his face with a yelp. He could hear Meloetta screeching and everyone yelling in confusion. What the heck was going on?! Were they being attacked?!
Hearing a strange roaring sound, he looked up to see something descending. Something with... rockets? Was it Team Rocket?!
He was about to scowl angrily at them when he paused. Wait, no. That wasn't Team Rocket.
It slowed down in front of Meloetta, cutting its rockets, then growing legs to land on the ground with a thud. Only then did Pikachu recognise what it was. A golurk.
Wow, the last time he'd seen one of these had been in Pokéstar Studios, where they'd met Meloetta. Though that one had only been an illusion.
He frowned. Whatever, that wasn't important right now! This guy had attacked Krookodile, so, Team Rocket or not, he was a still a threat! Getting on all fours, Pikachu ran over to stand in front of Krookodile.
"(What'd you do that for?!)" he asked angrily.
Behind him, he heard Ash scan the golurk on his pokédex. Urgh. Well, he supposed it had been a long time since they'd seen one of these things in the flesh, so maybe the pokédex would have some useful information about the species.
... Okay, they could fly fast, and had a seal on their chest. Not useful at all.
Suddenly, a man wearing goggles on his head came running around the corner from the back of the villa.
"Are you alright, Meloetta?" he asked, smiling and holding out his arms.
Meloetta beamed up at him, then flew up and hugged him. "(R... Ridleyyyy, it's you!)" she cried.
Pikachu paused. Oh, she knew this guy?
Ridley held her protectively as he glared at Ash. "Villain!" he said angrily. "You stole Meloetta!"
Pikachu's eyes widened. Villain? Stole Meloetta? What the heck?!
"Villain?" Ash asked in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
"Ash is not a thief!" Iris yelled angrily.
"Enough lies!" Ridley replied. "Golurk, Flash Cannon!"
Golurk retracted his arm into itself and lifted his arm cannon, aiming it directly at the group. It began to glow yellow.
"(H-Hey!)" Pikachu cried in disbelief and shock, jumping back onto his hind legs. "(What are you-?!)"
"Hey!" Ash called out in a panic. "Hang on a minute!"
Frowning, Pikachu jumped forwards, holding out his arms protectively. "(Stop! What are you doing?! You're not even gonna listen to us?!)"
Golurk didn't respond.
"(No, stop!)" Meloetta cried, flying out of Ridley's grasp. She stopped in front of Pikachu, facing Golurk and holding out her arms protectively. "(Please don't hurt my friends!)"
It was only then that Golurk turned off his Flash Cannon. "(... Friends?)" he asked.
"I'm not your enemy!" Ash said. "You've gotta believe me!"
"(Yeah, we're friends!)" Pikachu added.
"(They've all been really nice to me!)" Meloetta said pleadingly. "(Please, they're not the ones who stole me!)"
After a long pause, Golurk turned to look at Ridley.
"... They aren't the ones who stole you?" Ridley guessed.
Meloetta shook her head. "(No.)" She transformed back into aria forme. "(No, they're not.)"
"... So then... I made a mistake?"
She nodded. "(Yes.)"
He blinked. "Oh... I see... Well..." He glanced around. "... This is rather awkward..."
Ash huffed out a chuckle. "Well, you did kind of attack us outta nowhere," he replied.
"Yeah!" Iris agreed, huffing. "Only little kids are so rash!"
"(No kidding!)" Axew agreed, also huffing.
"... Little kids?" Ridley asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "You really think so?"
"Yeah!" Iris replied. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister!"
Ridley glanced away. "Well..."
After a few moments of silence, Cilan cleared his throat. "Hey," he said kindly, "how about we all go sit inside? I get the feeling this recipe has a long list of ingredients to explain."
Ridley turned back and blinked at Cilan's strange language. "... Yes, I... suppose that's true..." He paused a long moment. "I think..."
Once they were seated inside Cynthia's living room, everyone introduced themselves and Ridley apologised for his behaviour. Being quickly forgiven by everyone, he began his explanation.
Apparently, he, Meloetta and Golurk had been in hiding deep within some secret forest in Unova, up until the day they'd been discovered, and Meloetta had been captured by 'villains', as he called them.
Ridley had blamed himself for her capture, since he'd been responsible for her safety, but had lapsed his attention at a critical time.
Ever since then, he and Golurk had been searching for her.
As it turned out, though, he didn't own her. He was a member of a group called The Protectors, who had, since ancient times, had the power to detect when Meloetta was nearby. Hence why he'd been able to find her today.
Huh. Well, Pikachu certainly hadn't expected that to be where she came from. Some random forest in Unova. The way she'd teasingly dodged around the topic every time anyone had asked had made him wonder if she really had come from the ocean. He was strangely disappointed.
Though what had Ridley meant by 'her immense power' that he was certain these 'villains' wanted? Was it her fighting skills? Or something else?
"(Huh?)" Meloetta suddenly asked. "(What's that?)"
Pikachu looked up to see what had caught her interest, and saw her looking out the window at something.
... What was that? It kind of looked like a... flying camera...
"Oh no..." Ridley said in panic as the camera flew away. "The villains, they're here!"
Uh oh. It looked like he might get the answer to his question, after all...
... Great. Just great. First, some random Team Rocket grunts had tried to capture Meloetta, so Ridley had acted as a distraction. Then they'd run into Jessie, James and Meowth, who'd been fitted with special goggles to see Meloetta, even when she was invisible. It just figured that the 'villains' would be Team Rocket...
After splitting up with Cilan, Iris and Axew - who'd stayed behind to distract the trio - Ash and Pikachu had then run into their freaking boss, Giovanni. Apparently, this mission was important enough for even him to show up!
Ash and Pikachu had then been forced into some weird rainbow cube, which had slowly been getting smaller, threatening to crush them if Meloetta didn't go along with Giovanni quietly.
She'd clasped her hands together and bowed repeatedly, begging him to stop.
It had been a relief when the cube had stopped shrinking, but an insult to Pikachu's pride that the jerk had gotten his way.
Now the three of them - with Meloetta in a separate, smaller rainbow cube - were in a Team Rocket submarine, going deep underwater. Pikachu had tried using Iron Tail on the cube to break it, but it had held fast, so that option was out.
Jeez, what the heck was going on?
Pikachu stared, from where he and Ash were suspended in the air inside their rainbow cube. No freaking way.
The group had arrived at some strange undersea temple that Meloetta apparently recognised, before the legendary had been attached to some weird stone device. Now the song she'd sometimes sung to the ocean was playing on a recorder, causing a large stone podium with spiralling stairs to rise in the middle of the room.
What the heck was going on?! And did this mean that Team Rocket had been following them, recording Meloetta?! If so, why hadn't they struck sooner?! And what kind of 'immense power' were they after?!
Just what the heck was even going on?!
Now the song was changing. Changing to... that haunting melody that she'd sung only last night?! That confirmed that they'd been spying on them!
With Giovanni's speech about how the song only works when Meloetta sings it 'at peace', Pikachu had to wonder how long they'd been tailing them for. The entire three weeks that she'd been with them?!
This was probably the sneakiest plan they'd ever concocted!
... Okay, now Giovanni was spouting some lines to something called a 'reveal glass' and... Wait, why was the whole temple rising now?!
Jeez, this day was getting wilder and wilder...
He'd just expected another average day of training, but apparently not!
The ceiling had opened up, the sky was dark, and lightning was striking all around. Giovanni had successfully summoned the forces of nature. In the sky around them floated Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus.
Down where the rainbow cube had been lowered to the floor - to conserve energy, their scientist, Dr. Zager, had said - Pikachu frowned. This wasn't the first time Team Rocket had tried to capture the forces of nature. This time, though, the three legendaries looked oddly obedient. That wasn't a good sign.
As Giovanni used the reveal glass to change them into their 'other form', Ash could apparently sense that something horrible was about to happen. He turned to Pikachu and told him to use Iron Tail again, as many times as it took.
Pikachu agreed. Especially since Team Rocket were far too distracted right now to try and stop him.
Ash and Pikachu tried to save Meloetta, but they got blasted back by James' yamask and Jessie's woobat. The explosion flung them all the way off the side of the temple, plummeting towards the ground.
Thankfully, they were rescued in the nick of time by Golurk. Otherwise, they would've gotten some nasty bruises from that fall.
As Golurk landed, Pikachu could see that everyone had come here by speedboat. Including Cynthia, who he supposed must have been filled in by the others.
Well, good. Her help would be really appreciated.
Everything had fallen into chaos. Meloetta was screaming in agony, and Giovanni was brimming with the reveal glass' power, while Pikachu was riding high in the air on Unfezant's back. Flying alongside him were Dragonite, Garchomp and Golurk, with Pansage riding on Golurk's shoulder. All of them were ready for an intense sky battle against the transformed forces of nature.
Pikachu looked up at the legendaries in question, noting how different they looked now. Tornadus reminded him of an articuno, Thundurus reminded him of a latios, and Landorus reminded him of an entei.
Suddenly, Dragonite flew on ahead, trying to take them on all by himself. Urgh. That was just like Dragonite...
He watched as Landorus slammed into the dragon, knocking him backwards into Garchomp. Going in for a second attempt, Dragonite was hit by Tornadus' Air Slash. He shook it off, retaliating with a Flamethrower, but it was blocked by Thundurus. Rising up from behind his comrade, Landorus launched a Stone Edge.
Pikachu's mouth dropped open. That was some amazing teamwork!
He kept watching the Stone Edge, as it chased after Dragonite. The dragon swerved all around the sky, trying to avoid it, but it kept following him. Before long, it smashed into him, knocking him straight to the ground near the humans with a crash.
"(... Is he okay?)" Pikachu asked. He wasn't fond of the guy, but a fallen teammate would be bad news right now.
"(I'll check!)" Unfezant replied, flying closer.
As Dragonite lay on the ground, injured, Thundurus approached him, powering up a Thunder to finish him off. Then Iris stood in front of the dragon, her arms spread out protectively.
Pikachu's eyes widened in horror. Just what the heck was she doing?! Even though Dragonite's typing cancelled out his resistance to electricity, he'd still be able to handle that attack better than her!
Thundurus was an out-of-control legendary, probably with boosted powers, due to the reveal glass, and Iris was just going to stand in front of him?!
Even he, himself, could handle it better than her!
... In that brief moment, he pictured his old man. The guy who loved to train. Loved to get stronger. Practically dedicated his life to it. The reason why he, himself, loved to train and get stronger.
Nothing fazed his old man... and he knew exactly how the raticate would handle this.
Leaping off Unfezant's back, he aimed himself in-between Iris and the Thunder attack.
"(Oh no, you don't!)" he yelled.
When the attack hit, his electric sacs erupted in pain. Owww, ow, ow, ow, good legends, that hurt!
Picturing his old man again, hearing his words of encouragement in his head, he gritted his teeth, trying to absorb the electricity into his body. The raticate would say it was 'good training', so he had to keep it up.
He just had to.
"(Hang on, I'm coming!)" Unfezant cried out.
Shooting Air Cutter, she distracted Thundurus enough for him to cut short his Thunder and retreat. Pikachu dropped like a rock, thankfully landing in Ash's arms.
His body buzzed with electricity, though it no longer hurt now. All that was left was a slight stinging sensation, so he'd manage.
The sky battle continued raging above, with the forces of nature only getting more and more powerful. Their eyes now glowing red, they somehow managed to summon a beam of light that managed to cover a large chunk of ocean - and even part of Lacunosa Town - in ice.
Jeez, just what the heck were they dealing with here?!
Pikachu angrily stood on top of the temple, glaring at Team Rocket. His body still stung, but he willed himself to ignore it. He had much bigger priorities now.
"You really think you can stop us?!" Giovanni called out mockingly.
With a wave of his arm, the forces of nature abruptly turned around and flew straight towards them. The pokémon they'd been fighting were on their tail, but wouldn't be fast enough to catch up in time.
If he and Ash were going to act, they'd have to do it now.
"Now, Pikachu!" Ash cried out, apparently thinking the same. "Electro Ball!"
Leaping into the air, Pikachu charged electricity in his tail. He formed it into a ball shape.
... Then the ball shape kept on growing.
It grew and grew and grew and oh, good legends, the power! He felt it surging through every vein in his body! How the heck was he doing this?! He didn't think he had this much voltage in him!
It continued to grow. He could feel the immense power pulsating from it, just behind him.
With a command from Ash, he fired it.
The podium exploded into debris on impact. Team Rocket screamed as they all flew off their feet, and landed in a heap around the chunks of broken stone.
With a satisfied huff, Pikachu landed back on the temple. While Meloetta was being rescued by Unfezant, he reflected on what he'd just done. He'd destroyed a giant frigging podium by himself! Heck yeah!
If only his old man could see him now! He could just imagine him nodding in approval, showering him in praise, and then telling him to keep up the great work.
Heck, maybe he'd even surpassed him in power by now!
... Then again, it had probably only happened because of Thundurus' Thunder attack.
Ah, dang it.
Oh great. Now Giovanni had been possessed by the reveal glass and wanted to destroy all of Unova, instead of merely conquering it. The other four members of Team Rocket were very much against this, but he didn't seem to care.
According to Ridley, it was because Meloetta was needed to act as a balancer to help the summoner maintain their sanity. Without her, Giovanni had been 'consumed by his own evil ambition'.
The man's eyes were glowing red, a bright symbol of the temple's emblem on his forehead, and he was cackling maniacally.
Man, this day was just getting better and better...
Once Jessie, James and Meowth had managed to snap Giovanni out of his possession - by giving him a full-body tackle, no less - their exhausted boss had given up, and the entire group of Team Rocket had retreated in their helicopter.
Well, that took care of them, Pikachu supposed. Here he'd thought he'd have to power himself up a second time, but it seemed that wasn't necessary.
All that was left now was the completely out of control forces of nature.
He glanced up at the sky, where they were still fighting Dragonite, Garchomp, Golurk and Pansage. Oh boy...
Suddenly, he saw Ridley sprint towards the reveal glass. Perhaps he knew what to do.
Pikachu watched in awe as Ridley summoned a giant rainbow-coloured light from the reveal glass. It travelled high into the air, where it swirled around a floating Meloetta in a beautiful pattern.
Then she started singing her calming song. The one that he'd heard her sing quite often. Ever since the day they'd found her lying on the road with a fever.
The strange magic of the reveal glass seemed to calm the legendaries down. Their eyes were no longer glowing red, and they no longer looked hostile.
After changing back to their regular formes, they seemed to thank Meloetta before disappearing back through the portals in the sky.
Then the dark clouds disappeared and it no longer looked like night-time.
Everyone clambered onto Cynthia's speedboat, and Jervis drove them out of the area. Looking behind him, Pikachu could see the temple sinking back down into the ocean, where it belonged.
... Phew. It was finally over.
Once they got off the speedboat, Ridley quickly filled Ash in on the story he'd missed, about all the chaos caused by people seeking Meloetta's power, and how Meloetta was the one who'd sunk the temple in the first place to avoid it happening again.
... So, Pikachu supposed, Meloetta sort of did come from the ocean, in a very roundabout way. At least, a temple that was now in the ocean...
He also kind of understood now why she'd been keeping her origin a secret...
Finally, they arrived back at Cynthia's villa, where everyone decided to sit around and relax. The day had been one heck of an adventure, and they were all exhausted.
Pikachu exhaled in relief as he rested on the couch. Axew hopped over and sat down next to him.
"(Hey!)" the dragon said happily. "(That was an awesome Electro Ball earlier!)"
Pikachu gave him a tired smile. "(Heh, thanks,)" he replied.
"(Do you think you can do it again? Make it huge and explody and stuff?)"
"(Heh. I wish. I think it was only 'cause of Thundurus.)"
Axew pouted. "(Aww... that sucks.)"
"(Tell me about it.)"
It was then that someone popped out of their pokéball and appeared next to Pikachu on the couch.
"(Hey, guys!)" Oshawott said with a bright smile.
Pikachu stared at him. "(... Uh... wait, where were you earlier?!)"
"(Yeah,)" Axew agreed, "(you've been gone since the battle!)"
Oshawott rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "(Well, I was... napping,)" he replied.
Pikachu continued to stare in disbelief. "(... Napping,)" he repeated.
"(Yeah.)" Upon seeing their faces, Oshawott huffed. "(I didn't get much sleep last night, okay?!)" He pouted. "(I was tired...)"
Pikachu and Axew exchanged glances of disbelief.
"(Did you hear nothing that happened?)" Pikachu asked.
Oshawott blinked in confusion. "(Not really.)"
"(None of it?)" Axew asked.
"(Nope.)" Oshawott shrugged. "(I kinda wasn't paying attention.)"
Pikachu couldn't believe he was hearing this. All of the pain and suffering that Meloetta had gone through, and Oshawott - the guy who'd called her 'the one' - had been asleep through it?
He heaved a sigh. Okay. Guess he had some explaining to do...
By the end of the story, Oshawott was in tears.
"(I can't believe I slept through that!)" he cried.
"(I can't either...)" Pikachu replied tiredly.
"(I've gotta make it up to Meloetta! Right now!)" Oshawott looked around frantically, until he saw her floating near Ash and Ridley. Jumping off the couch, he ran straight towards her. "(Meloetta!)"
She looked down at him in surprise. "(Oh,)" she said, "(hello again.)"
"(I'm sorry I wasn't there! I was asleep and... and...!)"
"(Oh. Oh, I see.)" She smiled sheepishly. "(Well, that explains why you weren't around...)"
He cried harder.
Good legends, this was pathetic...
Later, everyone was sitting down to dinner. In-between bites of pellets, Pikachu recounted the tale of his giant Electro Ball to Pignite, Krookodile and Scraggy, who all seemed enraptured by his story.
"(Man, I wish I coulda seen that!)" Pignite said.
"(Yeah, it sounds incredible!)" Krookodile added.
"(Show me it, show me it!)" Scraggy demanded.
Pikachu laughed awkwardly. "(Hey, it's not like I can just conjure it up whenever,)" he replied. "(I told you, it was because of Thundurus.)"
All three of them pouted. "(Awww...)" they said in perfect synch.
Vaguely amused, Pikachu glanced elsewhere at his other friends as he chewed another pellet.
Judging by the various reactions around him, everyone seemed to be learning about the day's adventure from anyone who'd been there. Some looked thrilled, others looked shocked, and a few looked disappointed that they'd missed it.
Then he spotted Dragonite having an actual conversation with Excadrill, which made him blink in surprise. Huh. Apparently, what he'd heard was true. That, sometime during their temple adventure, the dragon had stopped being stubborn and had actually connected with Iris. Most likely when she'd jumped in front of the Thunder attack that had been meant for him.
Looking elsewhere, Pikachu faltered when his gaze landed on Oshawott, who was sitting with Meloetta. The two were deep in conversation about something as they ate.
Hmm. As Pikachu watched them converse, he couldn't help but wonder... could it still work out between them?
"(... Yo, man, you okay?)" Krookodile asked.
Pikachu's head snapped back around to look at the three pokémon he was sitting with. Krookodile was frowning in concern, Pignite looked worried, and Scraggy seemed a bit wary.
He forced on a smile. "(Uh, yeah!)" he replied. "(Yeah, I'm fine.)"
Huffing, Krookodile leaned back into a more comfortable sitting position. "(If you say so, man,)" he said.
"(Yeah.)" Pikachu resisted the urge to look back over at Oshawott. "(Yeah, I do.)"