Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
"Speech."
'Thoughts.'
"Telepathy."
Author Notes: Hello, everyone! I'm very happy that this chapter is done. I hope you all enjoy it and have a very fun time reading it!
Chapter 20 – Rustboro Raid: All-Out Conflict
An elderly man sat alone in an extremely elegant office, behind a large executive desk made of the finest mahogany. A heavy silence permeated the office as the man, dressed in an expensive lavender suit with vertical black stripes, intently focused on the two computer monitors on his desk. The man let out a troubled sigh and then held his head between his hands, lightly running his fingers through his gray hair anxiously. He stayed still for several long seconds before gazing back at the monitors, which were displaying numerous video feeds from the many security cameras all over Devon Corp. Drops of sweat trailed down his forehead despite the office's cool air conditioning, and his expression reflected great concern as he watched the events outside play out.
Abruptly, a telephone on his desk began to ring, causing the man to slightly jump. Recognizing the incoming call as that of his corporate security, the man quickly picked it up. "Mr. Stone speaking, report."
"Mr. Stone, we have confirmed there's multiple intruders in tower one, but we have not yet figured out what their targets within the building are," the voice on the other end of the phone said.
Mr. Stone frowned, considerably tightening his grip on the phone. "Have you been able to contact the police?" he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Stone. The police have been notified. They've informed us that they'll come here as soon as they can. According to them there are numerous attacks similar to this one going on all over the city. While we wait, what are your orders, sir?"
"Locate the intruders and figure out what they want. Put all facilities on lockdown, and tell all personnel to evacuate to the emergency exits at the back of the buildings," he ordered firmly. After hearing a response in the affirmative, he ended the call.
Mr. Stone turned back to the monitors. On one monitor, he could see his son fighting a multitude of enemies that had gathered in the courtyard outside of the main entrance to the building complex. A thick plume of smoke obscured part of the camera feed, and on what remained he could see his son's Mawile and Metagross charging towards the intruding army. 'Hurry Steven… beat them and get over here. We'll need you in here as well,' he thought before turning to look at the other monitor.
In it he could see the video feed from a security camera that was overlooking tower one's rooftop. Mr. Stone observed as his son's trusted Skarmory, along with a trainer that he could recognize had made world headlines a couple months ago at the Johto League Silver Conference due to his possession of a Legendary Pokémon, battling another large group of Team Aqua intruders. He reached to the keyboard in front of him and pressed a key, switching to another camera feed from the building's interior. 'Where are you?' he thought to himself as he began switching between numerous security cameras from all over the complex, looking for the Team Aqua intruders that had gone inside of the tower.
"Hey, you!" a gruff voice outside of his locked office suddenly shouted, making Mr. Stone look up from his computers. "Stop right there!"
"I guess I found them," Mr. Stone muttered in exasperation, slumping into his chair as a very good idea of what was about to happen flashed through his head. He regained his composure and rapidly began typing numerous instructions for the staff into his computer, knowing that he didn't have much time left.
The sound of several Pokémon battling and exchanging attacks, along with the sound of a fistfight between at least three people and the shouts that went along with it, began to echo loudly through the hall directly outside of his office. A few tremors made his office rumble, no doubt the aftermath of attacks exchanged between the Pokémon outside. A particularly loud and agonizing scream preceded Mr. Stone's office door being suddenly smashed open as one of his personal guards was roughly punched right through it.
Mr. Stone looked up from his monitors as the beaten security guard landed on the floor, unconscious and badly bruised. Outside of the now torn open door, Mr. Stone could see the other unconscious guard, looking just as beat up as the other one. Their two Pokémon, a Meditite and Makuhita, also lay knocked out outside of the door.
Aqua Admin Matt entered the office, grinning savagely while cracking his knuckles. At his side walked an Azumarill that gleefully echoed his trainer's sinister grin. "Well, well, well… what do we have here?" Matt asked mockingly. "Mr. Stone, owner of Devon Corp., you're coming with us."
Mr. Stone tranquilly stood up from his chair and walked around his desk. "Very well," he said, his body posture calm and collected.
Matt frowned. "Huh, no resistance? No heroic last stand? Nothing? Come on, give me an excuse to beat you up, old man!" he said in a disgruntled tone.
"There's no need for that," Mr. Stone said coolly, not the least bit intimated by the fact that Matt was almost twice his height. "I'll peacefully come with you."
"That sucks," Matt grumbled. "You two, escort our prisoner," Matt ordered, pointing at the two grunts with him. The two grunts nodded their approval, walking to Mr. Stone's side. One of them put his hand on Mr. Stone's shoulder to force him to walk.
Mr. Stone reached up and slapped his hand away, making the grunt glare at him. "I am perfectly capable of walking on my own," Mr. Stone said, calmly exiting the office along with the grunts and Matt. The businessman frowned at seeing the extensive damage done to the hall outside of his office in the Pokémon battle, as well as the condition of both of his personal guards.
Matt smirked and led the way along with his captive.
Steven's Mega Metagross and Mega Mawile rushed forward unimpeded, their respective attacks blazing at full might. Mawile, with her physical strength augmented to unfathomable levels thanks to her Huge Power ability and covered in a torrent of sparkling pink light thanks to her Play Rough attack, flew high and fast after her gargantuan leap from Mega Aggron's back and was rapidly approaching the left flank of Team Aqua's formation. Metagross, after passing above Mega Steelix and having used Meteor Mash to turn itself into an azure inferno of powerful cosmic energy that was boosted by the power of its Tough Claws ability, shocked forward like a deadly spear to their right flank.
"Attack!" one of the commanders close to the right-hand side of the army shouted, pointing at the incoming Metagross as that was the Pokémon closest to him. His war cry was loudly echoed by many grunts near him, with all of them shouting numerous orders to their respective Pokémon in response.
The Team Aqua Pokémon all got ready to attack as quickly as they could. Ice Beams, Hydro Pumps, Dark Pulses, Hyper Beams, Water Pulses, and many other special moves were formed as retaliatory attacks. Metagross responded by pushing a large boost of psychic powers into its levitation, resulting in it speeding ahead far too fast for the Team Aqua Pokémon to get off any of their attacks.
Metagross' intense cosmic energy flared violently in all directions as it crashed into the first layer of Pokémon and grunts like a rampaging metallic meteor. A trail of massive azure explosions and potent shockwaves trailed in its wake, with many screaming Pokémon and grunts alike being fiercely thrown in all directions.
Metagross stopped in its tracks once it had reached the end of the courtyard, and the intense blue light that had been surrounding it faded away almost as fast as it had come. A deep crevice lined with scorched dirt and shattered pavement that clearly marked Metagross' flight path had now been drawn through the courtyard, going straight through the right side of the Team Aqua army. The aforementioned crevice was filled with many unconscious grunts and Pokémon of many species, all of them defeated almost instantaneously by the mighty steel-type Pokémon. Nearby grunts and Pokémon that had been lucky enough to not get caught in Metagross' flight path stared at it in horror, as it had moved so fast that none of them had been able to get a single attack out in response.
As the vehement aftermath of Metagross' assault downed on them, it was Mawile's turn to strike. She landed right in the middle of the left flank of Team Aqua's army, making the pavement under her shatter aggressively from the sheer strength behind her landing, hurling large chucks of cement and debris in all directions with enough force to knock back several grunts and Pokémon. Mawile ran forward, not letting those around her recover.
A Cloyster that was directly in her path rapidly withdrew into its sturdy shell as a defensive measure. The grunt that was behind her Cloyster smirked confidently. 'Cloyster shells are among the hardest things in the entire world, there's no way that thing is doing anything to my Cloyster!' she thought confidently. "Everyone, prepare to counter!" she shouted to her remaining Pokémon.
As Mawile approached them, she raised one of her arms and threw a downwards punch infused with the wild and playful energies of Play Rough at the Bivalve Pokémon. The moment her fist made contact with the shell, a cloud of cartoonish smoke and star-shaped sparkles of energy emanated in all directions. The sheer power behind her punch was enough to instantly shatter through the Cloyster's shell and send pieces of it flying everywhere. The cement underneath the water-type cracked and gave away, burying it in a deep crater. The Cloyster was immediately knocked unconscious, its prized shell completely torn to pieces.
The Team Aqua grunt gasped. "Oh no, Cloyster! Everyone, attack with your best move!" she shouted desperately, pointing at Mawile. "Someone else, attack too!" she added angrily.
As the grunts nearby had their Pokémon turn towards her, Mawile moved quickly and ignored the now defeated Cloyster. She skillfully sidestepped two beams of dark energy that flew past her by mere inches and quickly charged ahead. With a devastating punch, she sent one of the Mightyena that had attacked her flying back with a blast of smoke and stars. The Mightyena crashed into several other Pokémon, knocking them over.
"Crabhammer!" two grunts shouted. A Crawdaunt and Kingler, each coming at her from opposite sides, lunged at her with their pincers coated with swirling torrents of water. Mawile spun around and made the two large sets of jaws sprouting from her head spring to life. With perfect precision, they each lunged towards one side, their mouths opening wide to intercept the pair of incoming crustaceous Pokémon.
Mawile violently chomped down on them, each of her jaws biting down with so much strength the shell armor of both water-types broke apart instantly. She nonchalantly spat both unconscious Pokémon out and then moved on, and not a moment too soon as a powerful Hyper Beam passed the space that she had been occupying just a second earlier.
Mawile rushed ahead and then threw a punch forward at the origin of the Hyper Beam, a large and menacing-looking Tentacruel. Despite the type disadvantage her fairy-type attack had, the water and poison-type was instantly knocked out and sent hurling back. Several grunts and Pokémon were painfully blasted back as the defeated Tentacruel plowed through them before coming to a stop.
Mawile swiftly spun around, landing a punch square into the swirl-marked chest of a Poliwhirl that had been hoping to ambush her from behind. The water type was instantly knocked out, and the ensuing puff of smoke and stars sent it flying back a long distance.
"Golbat, Air Cutter!" a grunt shouted.
"Sealeo, use Water Pulse!" another grunt ordered.
Both Pokémon attacked immediately, while several others surrounding Mawile rapidly moved in. Mawile ran towards the Sealeo just as it released its Water Pulse attack at her. Mawile threw a punch at the incoming sphere of pressurized pulsing water, completely tearing it apart and sending a splash of water in all directions. She grabbed the Sealeo, who let out a cry of horror at the contact, and then mercilessly spun around to fling it at the Golbat. Sealeo's body smashed through the incoming air blades and impacted violently against the poison-type, taking it out of the sky and knocking out both of them.
Mawile turned around, deftly dodged the fierce lunge of a Mightyena, and then delivered a brutal uppercut to its midsection. The canine Pokémon let out a shriek of pain as it was sent flying upwards with a cloud of smoke and stars that flew about in every direction.
"That thing's knocking out every single of our Pokémon in one hit! What do we do, commander!?" a panicked grunt asked, watching as Mawile effortlessly knocked out his Mightyena before moving on to the rest of his Pokémon, which consisted of a Poochyena, Corphish and Cacturne. Another cloud of cartoonish smoke suddenly enveloped his Pokémon, and the cries of pain from them were audible to those around them. When the smoke cleared, all three of his Pokémon lay unconscious on the floor with Mawile triumphantly standing over them.
The commander's hands tightened into fists as a scowl formed on his face. "That's it, this is as far as you go!" the commander roared angrily. "Gyarados, use Flamethrower!" The massive sea serpent behind him let out a thundering roar into the sky and reared back before thrusting its head forward and spitting a very large and potent stream of fire down towards the steel and fairy-type Pokémon.
Mawile smirked as she noticed the Gyarados attack her and watched on as the large plume of flames came towards her. "Okay, this is much better opposition. This will be fun!" she excitedly mused while rapidly jumping back, skillfully dodging the jet of fire that scorched the spot that she had been on moments ago. She quickly ran to avoid the inferno raging behind her, as the Gyarados was not letting up in its relentless attack. It kept firing the stream of fire, following Mawile's movements without losing a moment. Mawile looked up, noticing another grunt and her Pokémon closing in on her.
"Tentacruel, use Scald!" the female grunt shouted. The Tentacruel obeyed immediately and viciously spat a highly pressurized torrent of boiling water at Mawile. Mawile narrowed her eyes, keenly following the trajectory of the incoming attack. Just as the Scald attack was about to collide against her, she took a mighty leap ahead and jumped over the Tentacruel. She expertly landed behind it and quickly had both sets of jaws lunge behind her, with both jaws biting down on the Tentacruel's body just as it was turning around. Once she had a firm grip on the struggling water-type, she lifted it above her head and then, with a fierce downward movement of both jaws, smashed it into the pavement, instantly knocking it unconscious. Mawile then held the defeated Tentacruel above her, using its body as a shield.
The continued stream of fire from the Gyarados smashed into the unconscious Tentacruel, creating a large plume of fire that fanned out in all directions and scorched everything nearby. Mawile, however, was completely shielded from the direct hit of the fire courtesy of her improvised shield.
"Oh, no, Tentacruel!" The grunt who owned said Pokémon growled angrily. "Quick, it can't do anything while it's being attacked! Pelipper, use Scald! Murkrow and Poochyena, use Dark Pulse!" she shouted furiously. The three Pokémon rapidly released their attacks.
Mawile instantly responded. While she still held the defeated Tentacruel as a living shield with her sets of extra jaws, she reared an arm back then hit the pavement under her roughly, tearing it apart completely. Mawile reached down, grabbed a very large and very heavy piece of torn cement, and then rather easily lifted it up and held it as a shield. The two Dark Pulses and Scald collided against Mawile's shield, creating an explosion of murky shadows and scorching water that rapidly eroded the cement she was holding, but it still held.
As Mawile shielded herself from the intense assault coming from multiple angles, the other commander ran towards her, her own Pokémon moving along with her. "You're going down!" she declared boldly. "Gyarados, get ready!" The second Atrocious Pokémon roared and then lunged forward.
As they fought, Steven watched on calmly from the distance. He keenly analyzed the battle, taking note of the progress on both Metagross and Mawile's engagements. He noticed the two Gyarados going against Mawile, and the other two Gyarados that were very rapidly closing in on Metagross. "Mawile, Metagross. Neutralize those Gyarados. Seeing their biggest and most powerful Pokémon defeated this early on will deal a devastating blow to the enemy's morale," Steven ordered with a calm tone in his voice.
Despite being at least a couple hundred feet away from her trainer and having the roar of the flames blasting all around her and the loud explosions rocking the entire battlefield, Steven's calm words resonated loud and clear in Mawile's head, carried through the Mega Evolution bond the two shared. "Ooh, now we're talking, Steven. Consider it done!" Mawile gushed eagerly. Abruptly, she leaped back to get into a better position, letting the flames from the first Gyarados' Flamethrower attack wash over the unconscious Tentacruel.
On the other side of the battlefield, just like with Mawile, Steven's calm command echoed loud and clear to Metagross. "Understood," it replied simply in a neutral tone. Metagross looked ahead, noting the myriad of grunts led by two commanders and their respective Gyarados that were approaching it. Metagross' brains rapidly formulated the best way to approach the situation at hand and then the steel-type rushed forward, charging towards them.
"Gyarados, use Crunch!" one of the commanders shouted. The Gyarados roared wildly as its large jaws were immediately coated in a thick crystalized veil of dark energy. Gyarados opened its maw wide and lunged forward.
As Metagross rushed towards the Atrocious Pokémon, a potent discharge of electricity suddenly emerged from its four front-facing limbs, making a thick shroud of bright yellow electricity coat them quickly, with the highest density of it focusing at the tip of all of its large metallic claws. With its Thunder Punch attack fully loaded, Metagross sped ahead like a deadly projectile, colliding into the Gyarados claws-first.
Gyarados roared in agonizing pain as the claws dug deeply into the front of its body at the same time as a potent discharge electricity electrocuted it violently. The brutal super effective attack instantly knocked the water-type out cold. Metagross' eyes glowed, sending a potent wave of its psychic powers ahead to throw the now unconscious Gyarados off him, crushing several unfortunate Pokémon and grunts that had been behind it.
A large number of shouts behind it alerted the steel-type Pokémon to the multitude of grunts and Pokémon that were coming behind it and were rapidly getting ready to attack. Without even turning to look at them, Metagross' eyes glowed brightly yet again as it used its psychic powers to make a giant wave of psychic energy suddenly explode from its body. The blast instantly knocked all of the approaching grunts and Pokémon out and flung them backwards, with the only ones spared from the onslaught being the few Poochyena, Mightyena and Murkrow that had been present.
Metagross rapidly began to gather an orb of silver-colored energy between all four of its front-facing limbs. A loud buzz filled the air as the attack quickly charged up, drastically growing in size. Once it was satisfied with it, Metagross fired the silver beam of metallic light ahead, seemingly at no target in particular. Its eyes glowed a bright shade of blue as its psychic powers deftly took hold of the Flash Cannon it had just used, split it into several smaller beams, and then turned the attacks around to fly behind it. The attacks hit the dark-type Pokémon that had been gearing up to attack it with utmost precision, instantly knocking all of them out in a series of silver-colored explosions.
"Gyarados, use Fire Blast!" the other commander shouted, clearly panicked at how quickly Metagross was defeating his men. Gyarados let out an angered roar at the same time as a massive swirl of fire began to gather inside its large month. With a thrust of its head, the Gyarados fired a huge blast of raging fire towards the steel-type. As the attack flew through the air, it suddenly expanded into a colossal five-pointed star of bright red fire.
Metagross noticed the attack, ran a quick calculation through its brains and then rapidly surged ahead. A purple and blue-colored sphere of psychic energy gathered on the steel-type's head, which then expanded to envelop the entirety of its metallic body. Metagross fearlessly flew forward at the incoming Fire Blast. The moment the attacks collided, Metagross' Zen Headbutt attack completely tore the Fire Blast apart and harmlessly dissipated it into a shower of tiny embers.
The Gyarados had no time to react as the Iron Leg Pokémon viciously collided against it, delivering a precise and focused blast of raw psychic energy carried forward by its movement into the water-type's body. A deafening crash echoed across the battlefield as the Gyarados was flung backwards by the devastating might of the impact, flying all the way out of the courtyard before finally colliding against the front of a building across the street, the building's front facing walls and windows were torn open as the Atrocious Pokémon crashed through them, leaving a deep indentation in it.
The commander's jaw dropped incredulously. "What?" he asked in pure disbelief. After his mind finished processing what he had just seen, he glared at the mega evolved Metagross. "Just how powerful are these things?!" he asked in disbelief. He froze in horror as Metagross slowly turned towards him and the remainder of his Pokémon.
"Are you sure it's still alive?" Steven asked, concerned. "That may have been overdoing it."
"He's alive," Metagross responded calmly. "Gyarados are resilient. I calculated the exact amount of strength needed to maximize the demoralization factor their defeats brought to Team Aqua while avoiding inflicting lethal damage."
"Very well," Steven said with a small nod.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Mawile rolled her eyes at her teammate's display of power. "What a show off," she muttered under her breath. "Well, if Metagross set the bar that high, I'm not going to be outdone and will just have to set it even higher!" she declared confidently while rushing forward, charging against the Gyarados that was closest to her.
"Gyarados, use Fire Blast!" the commander ordered frantically. The Atrocious Pokémon reared back and then spat a large blast of fire, which rapidly took the shape of a five-pointed star as it soared towards Mawile.
Mawile stopped in her tracks and then punched the pavement below her. Not a second too late, a huge pillar of glowing rock tore the cement open and rose high in front of her. The Fire Blast collided against it, sending a huge explosion of fire in all directions except behind it, where Mawile was safely protected. Mawile smirked as the towering inferno dissipated and then reared one of her arms back. She gave the Stone Edge spire in front of her a potent punch, completely tearing it into many large chunks of rock that were instantly sent flying ahead like projectiles, colliding against Gyarados' body and painfully battering it, making the sea serpent roar out in pain.
Mawile, taking advantage of the Gyarados' distraction, quickly charged towards the defenseless water-type. A pulsing veil of pink energy ignited all around her as she readied another Play Rough attack. "Oooh yeah, take this!" she roared out mightily as she reared one of her arms back and then threw a punch with a decent amount of her enormous Huge Power-boosted strength behind it.
A huge cloud of cartoonish smoke and bright yellow stars erupted in all directions at the same time as the Gyarados was violently flung backwards with a deafening roar of pain. The water-type flew over everyone's heads and over the fences, finally coming to a full stop when it crashed into another building on the other side of the road outside of the Devon Corp. complex. The front of the building was completely torn open the moment Gyarados crashed into it, sending chunk of debris in all directions and kicking up a cloud of thick dust and smoke. "Oh yeah, that's more like it," Mawile commented with a savage grin. She began to laugh and motioned with her arms to all the grunts around her. "So, who's next? I'm having so much fun here!" she taunted gleefully.
"Perhaps a little too much fun. We don't exactly own those buildings, my father is going to have to pay a lot to get them repaired and avoid lawsuits," Steven commented mildly, having understood her comments thanks to the mega evolution bond they shared.
Mawile rolled her eyes. "You humans and your money. I don't really care about that. Besides, don't you guys have a lot of it anyway?" she shot back.
Steven chuckled slightly. "Oh, Mawile." He sighed fondly. "By the way, behind you."
"Gyarados, use Crunch! Eat that thing whole!" one of the commanders shouted.
Mawile snickered darkly. "I guess you'd be next, then," she said eagerly as she heard the other Gyarados lunge at her from behind. The two sets of jaws behind her began to show a savage smirk. Mawile waited patiently, timing her counter perfectly as the other Gyarados approached her from behind. The moment she knew it was the perfect time to strike, she braced herself and had both of her extra jaws spring to life and lunge forward. Each jaw intercepted Gyarados' bite perfectly and bit down on each of its lips hard, drawing blood in the process.
Mawile firmly planted her feet in the cracked pavement under her, not budging a single inch despite stopping the charge of a Pokémon that was much larger than she was head on. Mawile's two sets of extra jaws bit down even harder, making the Gyarados roar and thrash in pain as it tried to break free. However, it was unable to pull away due to the vice-like grip Mawile had on it.
"Help Gyarados, hurry!" the commander shouted at his underlings.
"Right!" many grunts echoed, shouting at their Pokémon diverse orders to get them to attack Mawile.
Mawile laughed. "That's it?" she asked mockingly as at least a dozen Pokémon lunged at her, their attacks blazing at full might. Mawile growled eagerly and tightened her grip on the Gyarados even more. Once she was ready, she began to turn around. At first the Gyarados did its best to resist the intense pull, however, in the end Mawile's gargantuan physical strength proved to be far too much and it was haplessly dragged along.
Mawile spun around in a full circle, using the Gyarados' body as a makeshift weapon to cruelly swat away all the Pokémon that had attempted to attack her. Most of them were knocked out and sent flying back mercilessly. Mawile chuckled as she watched them fly and scatter about. Once she had no use for the Gyarados, she brought down both of her jaws in a single potent motion. The pavement under the Gyarados cracked as it was painfully crashed into it. Mawile released her bites, whirled around and then delivered a precise downwards Play Rough punch right on the Gyarados' head. It stood no chance and was instantly knocked unconscious, with the pavement under the water-type completely tearing open as a deep crater was formed.
Mawile's back jaws grinned sinisterly as the cloud of cartoonish smoke cleared away from the defeated Gyarados. Her face slowly began to echo an eerily similar grin. "It's not every day one gets to fight so many Pokémon all at once." She paused and looked at everyone around her. "My fun isn't done yet. Who's next?" she asked. All of the Team Aqua Pokémon nearby exchanged terrified glances.
Steven smiled slightly as he noted from a distance the panic that many of the Team Aqua grunts and Pokémon were displaying as well as the deep disarray his retaliation was causing among their ranks. His demoralization strategy was working flawlessly and he knew it. "It's time for my next move. Steelix, Aggron. Move out," Steven commanded calmly. "Steelix, I want you to go right through the middle of their forces and control the tempo of the battle, act as a buffer between Mawile and Metagross to prevent Team Aqua from focusing more Pokémon on just one of them. Use Flash Cannon to force your way in and carry on from there. I know special attacks aren't your forte but it should be enough to drive them back and make them scatter."
Steelix nodded and then began to slither ahead. She opened her very large jaws and slowly formed a large orb of metallic light between them. As she charged the attack up, the many crystalline rocks orbiting her body began to spin faster in response. Without slowing down her charge, she thrust her head forward and released a thick beam of silver light at the front of the Team Aqua forces. The attack generated a series of large silver-tinted explosions as she moved ahead. However, its slow buildup had allowed most of Team Aqua's grunts to get out of the way, with only a very small number of Pokémon and grunts being caught in the explosions.
In forcing them to dodge either left or right, Steelix had effectively split them into two large groups, with Mawile and Metagross fighting on either side of it. She picked up her pace, slithering faster to move into the open area she had just generated to carry on Steven's orders.
"Aggron, move ahead as well. Help Steelix in controlling the movements of Team Aqua as the battle drags on. However, while I ordered her to go deep into their army, I want you to stay closer to me and the buildings. I don't put it past them to try and attack me personally, or try and enter the buildings to take hostages," Steven ordered. Aggron gave a single nod of acknowledgement and then began to move ahead on heavy footfalls that made the ground tremor slightly.
Back on the battlefield, a panicked grunt ran up to his squad leader. "Commander, the other two are joining the fight as well," he said rapidly, his body shaking slightly from the fear.
The commander growled, throwing a glare at the pair of incoming steel-types. However, he noted that in sending all of them to fight, Steven was leaving himself exposed. "I have an idea, follow me!" he shouted. He then began to run, with his Pokémon following after him. His Gyarados, the last one that was still combat capable, also followed him dutifully. Several of the grunts in his squad followed his lead, breaking off from the main group and running to the sides to avoid Steelix's attack.
Steven crossed his arms, noting immediately that a section of grunts and Pokémon were moving to flank Steelix and Aggron with the obvious intent of going after him. "They're so easy to read…" he mused calmly. Aggron stopped in his tracks, and keenly observed their movements as they tried to flank him.
"You're mine, Steven Stone!" the commander shouted. "Attack him, now!" he ordered to his Pokémon. A Mightyena and Crobat picked up their pace and lunged at Steven Stone, and behind them, the rest of his Pokémon along with several grunts and their own Pokémon followed suit.
Matt grinned sinisterly as he walked up the staircase that led to the rooftop. "We're almost there, old man," the Admin taunted, loudly laughing afterwards. Ahead of him was the entryway to the roof, which still showed signs of extensive damage from Shelly's Crawdaunt forcefully opening it earlier. "This was a lot easier than I thought. I'm very disappointed. What's the point of a mission if I don't get to squash someone while doing it?" the Aqua Admin lamented, shaking his head in disdain afterwards.
"You squashed this old timer's security guards," Matt's division commander pointed out.
"They don't count," Matt responded offhandedly, dismissing the comment with a wave of his hand. "It's only fun when the squashed ones fight back."
"True," the commander agreed, throwing a mocking sneer at the elder walking with them.
Mr. Stone remained perfectly silent as he followed them, peacefully walking behind the Aqua Admin, his division commander and between the two grunts. The owner of Devon Corp. held his head high, refusing to show any kind of reaction or weakness to their intimidation and demeaning comments.
"Wait here," Matt instructed to his three subordinates. "There could still be a battle going on outside." Matt reached down to his pocket, grabbed a Poké Ball and activated it. His own Crawdaunt was released from the confines of the device in a bright flash of light. "Just in case…" the admin mused as he walked ahead with his Azumarill and Crawdaunt dutifully following him. The Aqua Admin stepped into the rooftop, and then stopped in his tracks. "Huh?" he questioned with a blink, completely taken aback. "What the hell is going on here!?" he roared out angrily, his hands tightening into fists. The sight that greeted him was not the one that he had been imagining on the way up.
Instead of his team of grunts standing proud and triumphantly over the kid and his Pokémon as Matt had expected them to, all eight grunts were sitting in a straight line with their backs leaning against the wall of a large ventilation structure on the other side of the rooftop. All of them were unconscious, their arms and legs were bound by what seemed like cable, their clothes were tattered, they were wet and covered in mud, most of them had numerous cuts and bruises all over their bodies, and all of their Poké Balls had been piled up in front of them.
Upon hearing Matt's uproar, Ash rapidly turned around and faced the burly man. Ash carefully set down the Poké Ball that he had been holding into the pile, broadly smirked and then walked towards the Aqua Admin. He stopped a few dozen feet away from him while his Pokémon quickly joined his side. Skarmory, Pikachu and Pidgeot proudly stood on the trainer's right side, while Latias and Latios levitated on his left side. "So, are you surprised?" Ash asked with a sly laugh, motioning the beaten grunts behind him with an arm. "Not too bad, eh?"
"Not bad indeed. I'm impressed," Matt confessed begrudgingly. To the surprise of Ash's group, instead of showing further concern… Matt began to laugh. "Hoohahahahaha!" he hooted exuberantly. His Azumarill laughed in a sinister fashion alongside his trainer. Crawdaunt, however, remained completely silent.
"What's wrong with you?" Ash asked in confusion, raising an eyebrow. "You're in no position to be laughing."
Matt abruptly stopped laughing and glared at the young trainer, his mouth extending into a menacing smirk. "Well, well, well… it seems that I'll have to fight you." He punched his open palm, creating a rather audible sound in the process. "I just love it when I have to fight! No mission is ever complete without beating someone up! Do you even know who I am, you little runt?" he asked eccentrically.
"No. Should I care who you are?" Ash replied, crossing his arms impatiently. "You talk way too much!"
"Yes, you should care! The name's Matt! That's Team Aqua Admin Matt to you, kid!" Matt introduced himself, flexing his enormous muscles as he did so. "Hoooaah! Full on! I'm burning up! Let's battle it out until we've got nothing left!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You're probably very strong, I can tell that even if we haven't battled yet. You're going to be a crazy fun beat down!"
"That guy's odd," Ash mumbled, blinking twice in confusion. "I do wonder if he's taller than Lt. Surge, though. They seem about the same height."
"I'd say Surge is a bit taller," Pikachu responded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But, this guy is definitely stronger going by his looks."
"Doesn't matter, let's just beat him up and be done with Team Aqua once and for all," Latios commented eagerly.
"Agreed," Pidgeot said, spreading her wings slightly and flexing the sharp talons at her feet in anticipation. "We got this."
"I won't fail my bro Archie, so listen up, kid! I'll admit that I underestimated you, but, this is it! I'm going to pulverize you!" Matt bellowed as he reached into a pocket, taking out two Poké Balls. "Go!" he exclaimed, hurling the two devices forward. Both Poké Balls burst open with a flash of white light, releasing a Poliwrath and Mightyena. Azumarill and Crawdaunt moved forward, joining the rest of Matt's team.
Ash badly failed at stifling a laugh. "Wait, that's it? Just four Pokémon? Which includes three species that we already defeated from your grunts? I mean, the Azumarill is new. But, I sorta expected a lot more from you," he commented. "You're all talk and no action!"
"Yeah, Team Aqua is not as tough as I imagined," Latios added, waving one of his clawed hands dismissively. "This guy may be big and strong, but that won't help him if his Pokémon aren't that tough."
Skarmory narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the Pokémon before them. "Don't get overconfident, guys. Those Pokémon are of a much higher level of skill and power than the ones we just defeated."
Latias blinked, frowning. To her they didn't seem any different than the Pokémon they had already fought. "How can you tell?" she queried.
"Experience," Skarmory responded calmly. "I've seen thousands of Pokémon from trainers of all skill levels throughout the years. There are many subtle clues in a Pokémon's looks, mannerisms, the way they handle themselves, and many other things, that tell an experienced eye a very long tale of how good they are. I can tell these Pokémon are clearly stronger than the ones we just beat. However, I bet we're still superior than them and they should be fairly manageable for us. That last comment aside, don't get cocky."
Ash nodded slightly. "Thanks, Skarmory. I'll take your word for it." He glanced at Matt and smirked. "We're still winning this fight. There's no way those Pokémon can beat us."
"Oh, there's more. I'm not done yet," Matt said forebodingly, a soft and sinister chuckle escaping him. "I have a Sharpedo as well, but I can't exactly use him in this environment. So, he's sitting this routing out, but…" The Aqua Admin reached into another pocket and took out a single Heavy Ball out from it. "I have this last Pokémon."
"So? It's just one more Pokémon. Get ready, guys. Let's crush this dude," Ash said encouraging to his Pokémon. Latias, Latios, Pidgeot and Pikachu echoed Ash's rallying cry, while Skarmory looked at Matt warily.
"Crush me?" Matt asked incredulously, making a face. "CRUSH ME!? No! I am the one that does the crushing here! Hoohahaha! You're pretty funny, little kid! I like you."
"I'm not a little kid!" Ash shouted back indignantly. "Quit saying that!"
"Oh, you are to my last Pokémon. All of you are," Matt retorted, clicking the center button on his Heavy Ball to enlarge and activate it. His Poliwrath, Crawdaunt, Mightyena and Azumarill smirked and began to fan out to the side, leaving an enormous space in front of them. "I'm gonna enjoy pummeling you and your Pokémon to bits! Let's have a no holds barred beat down until one of us can't stand up anymore!" Matt shouted hoarsely as he hurled the Heavy Ball forward. The device opened and let loose a hexagon-shaped pattern of dark gray bursts of light in all directions, which spread out considerably as the grey light began to coalesce into a gigantic form in front of the Team Aqua Admin.
Ash's eyes slowly widened and his breath caught for several long seconds as the light disappeared, fully revealing a massive Pokémon that threateningly towered over him and his own Pokémon. The cement floor underneath the Pokémon cracked slightly underneath the strain of its weight. "What!?" Ash cried out in shock.
"Holy…" Pikachu said breathlessly, his jaw dropping.
"That thing's huge," Pidgeot squawked, horrified.
"Okay, I'll admit that I'm impressed," Skarmory confessed flatly.
Latios' pupils shrank. "I take back what I said about Team Aqua not being so tough."
"Yeah, you should take it back," Latias agreed, reflexively gulping.
Pikachu glared at the blue dragon. "You just had to open your big mouth and jinx it, didn't you?" he questioned in annoyance.
"…Ooops?" Latios said in embarrassment, sweat dropping in response.
Before them now towered a massive amphibian Pokémon with a dull blue body and large dark grey fins on its head and tail. The Pokémon was quadrupedal and sported very thick and muscular forearms and legs that each had a patch of ridged orange padding on them. It had another patch of orange padding on each of its cheeks, from which sprouted a pair of large, conical gills. The Pokémon looked down and its bright orange eyes immediately focused on its opponents ahead. The massive Pokémon released a threatening growl that sent a chilly vibration across the air.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Matt roared aloud, clutching his stomach. "Your faces are so priceless!" The admin abruptly stopped laughing and gave them a completely serious face while he walked to his Pokémon's side. "I present to you my lovely little girl," he said, tapping the side of the amphibian Pokémon's thick forearm with his hand. "Like me, she loves pummeling little weaklings like you to nothingness!" he taunted viciously.
"What is that?" Ash whispered. He took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the monstrous Pokémon.
The Pokédex gave a single beep and began speaking in a feminine voice. "Swampert, the Mud Fish Pokémon. It has enough power to very easily drag a boulder weighing more than a ton or tow a large ship in open water, as well as inflict critical damage to its enemies with one blow. This Pokémon has a powerful vision that lets it see even in murky water," the machine said.
Ash gulped anxiously. "Are they normally that big?" he asked worriedly. Despite the fact that she was standing on all four legs, Swampert looked at least twenty feet tall. Even her trainer, who was already incredibly tall himself, looked rather small next to her.
"No, they should be much smaller than that. About my size or Pidgeot's," Latios answered, glaring defiantly at the gigantic Swampert.
"This reminds me of the Team Magma dude back at Oldale Town that had a giant Houndoom," Pidgeot commented, narrowing her eyes. "Only this one's bigger."
"Yeah, what is it with the admins of these evil teams each having a giant Pokémon?" Ash asked in frustration. "This is going to be hard," he admitted. "I didn't expect anything like this out of him."
"Relax, guys," Skarmory said confidently to Ash's group, noting how tense they looked. "We can fight this. You're all pretty strong. She's huge but nothing out of this world. We can do this," he said encouragingly, turning to glare at the Swampert.
"He's right. We can do this." Ash's hands tightened into fists, with fierce determination shining in his red eyes. "All right, guys, let's do this! Prepare for battle!" the young trainer shouted firmly, rallying his Pokémon. Latios, Pidgeot and Pikachu adopted combat stances, awaiting Ash's commands. Latias looked at the giant Pokémon before her nervously. Battling numerous small Pokémon was one thing, but taking on such a monstrosity was definitely another. She glanced sideways, looking at Ash's determined expression briefly. A fond smile slowly crept up her lips, her empathy practically basking in the young trainer's fierce resolve. It was almost palpable to her sensitive senses and it brought a sense of tranquility to her that did wonders in banishing any doubts. She glared at the giant Swampert, adopting an aggressive stance in the process. If her beloved Ash was so resolute in facing the challenge before them, then so would she.
Matt reached with his hand to his head, activating a small communications device attached to his ear. "Aqua Admin Matt to chopper. We have the target. Prepare extraction on the rooftop of tower one." Matt smirked and turned to glance at the entryway. "You guys can come out now, I got this!" he shouted. The commander and the two grunts, along with their captive, slowly walked out.
Mr. Stone looked around as the Aqua grunts escorted him out, noticing Ash's group at the other end of the rooftop. For brief moment, he locked eyes with Skarmory, who gave him a short and reassuring nod.
"I imagine that's Steven's father? He did mention him a lot when he asked us to come up here," Ash said with a frown.
Skarmory narrowed his eyes, a low growl escaping his metallic beak as he did so. "Yes, that's Steven's father, and he's the owner of this whole place. They are going to pay for this dearly."
Ash smiled, walked up to the Armor Bird Pokémon, and gently placed a hand on his side reassuringly. "Don't worry, I promise they're not going to take him away. We won't allow that."
Skarmory nodded in acknowledgement at the young trainer. "Thank you. I greatly appreciate it. I'm sure Steven does as well."
Ash glared at Matt. "Huge Swampert or not, you're not going to get away," he stated firmly.
"Watch me. I'll comfortably fly away after my Pokémon are done beating you up!" Matt taunted loudly, and then began to laugh eccentrically as his Azumarill, Mightyena, Crawdaunt and Poliwrath joined his gigantic Swampert's side. Swampert, in response to her trainer's taunts, reared back and let out a thundering roar that completely drowned the sound of her trainer's boisterous laughing and made the entire roof quake forebodingly.
Not intimidated by the beast's roar, Ash raised his right hand to his cap and grabbed its brim. With a sideways motion, he turned it around so it was facing backwards. He pointed a finger at the gigantic Swampert, a fierce and determined look in his reddish eyes. "Let's go, everyone!"
Chapter 20 End
Author Notes: Things are heating up! Stay tuned for next chapter, Ash vs Team Aqua Admin Matt! By the way, we've reached a big milestone! With this chapter, A New Chance For Adventure has surpassed 300,000 words! Hooray! And, now that I've fallen into a better writing rhythm, many more will come!