Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
"Speech."
'Thoughts.'
"Telepathy."
Chapter 21 – Rustboro Raid: Relentless Defenders
"Sending all your Pokémon away from you to battle like that? You just left yourself wide open, you idiot!" the Team Aqua commander taunted as he, his grunts, and a good number of their Pokémon charged towards their formidable adversary. That being none other than the former Hoenn League Champion, Steven Stone. "Kill that freak! Mightyena, Crobat, use Crunch and Poison Fang! Aim for the neck!" he commanded resolutely.
Steven observed the devastation his Mawile, Metagross and Steelix were collectively causing against the opposing army in the distance with a satisfied expression before turning his focus on the smaller group coolly, not looking the least bit concerned despite the two Pokémon looming over him with the clear intent to kill him. As they closed in, his eyes narrowed. "Aron, use Metal Sound on them," he spoke out in a steady and gentle tone.
The young Aron that had so far been standing idle at his side while watching the rest of their team battle with fixed interest suddenly sprang to action and rushed forward, fiercely standing guard in front of his trainer. With a determined gaze, he opened his mouth and released a piercing metallic screech that was so potent the sound waves were visible as near transparent circular waves of air.
Both Mightyena and Crobat stopped in their tracks and let out an agonizing cry of pain as the shrill shriek tore into both of their very sensitive ears. Mightyena laid down on the floor and covered its ears with its paws in an attempt to mitigate the impact of Aron's attack while Crobat crashed into the pavement, flailing helplessly in distress as it had no means to cover its ears. "What!?" the commander questioned incredulously. He had not taken the diminutive Aron into account as a potential fighter at all, much less as an effective one.
"Metal Sound may lack the capability to inflict actual damage and the special defense drop it causes will be negligible in a fight against an obvious physical attacker like Aron, but you sent two Pokémon with very sensitive hearing to attack me. You left me an extremely obvious opening I could exploit to stop them," Steven responded evenly. Aron closed his mouth and smirked, pleased with his handiwork.
The Team Aqua commander growled. "Dammit…"
"Kingler, use Hydro Pump!" a grunt that had been running alongside her commander cried out.
"Pelipper, use Hydro Pump too!" another grunt shouted. Both charging water-types took a deep breath and then spat out a potent gush of highly pressurized water aimed directly at Aron and Steven.
"Aron, form a defensive barrier with Rock Tomb," Steven countered quickly. Aron reared up on his hind legs and then firmly stomped them on the ground. The pavement a few feet in front of him suddenly tore open as several thick rocks rose prominently from it. The dual streams of water closed in on the pair from separate directions, flying rapidly through the air until they both collided against the rock barrier, battering against it and causing it to crack visibly while sending large splashes of water in all directions. However, Aron's barrier held strong.
"Mud Bomb!" a couple of other grunts shouted in command. Suddenly, a Grimer oozed his way over the rocky wall while a Poliwhirl jumped over it. Both of them were holding two large and heavy balls of thick and sticky mud in their hands.
'By now the Crobat and Mightyena from earlier should have recovered from the Metal Sound, they will probably attack at any given moment,' Steven thought to himself as he analyzed the situation and thought for the best possible way to retaliate. "Aron, brace yourself and take those attacks, then counter with Metal Burst," he ordered calmly.
Aron fiercely glared at them in defiance and stood firm as both Grimer and Poliwhirl hurled the Mud Bomb attacks at him. The pair of dense dark brown spheres of mud smashed into Aron forcefully, resulting in a slimy gush of mud that sent thick splatters of filth flying everywhere. Aron was blasted back while letting out a cry of pain because of the attacks. However, as he flew backwards, he steadied himself midair and landed with a lengthy skid along the floor while gritting his teeth. The young steel-type winced, still reeling from the damage received from the pair of quad super effective hits. In response, Aron's now dirty metallic armor began to glow a bright silver hue.
"Charge!" the commander ordered loudly. The Crobat and Mightyena, now recovered just as Steven had predicted, jumped over Aron's boulder wall. Several other Pokémon from the grunts, including the Kingler, Pelipper, Grimer and Poliwhirl that had just attacked him, along with some others, also charged at the pair. "You're doomed!" the commander gloated in excitement.
Aron scowled at them while the light surrounding him increased in intensity until it suddenly emitted a very bright flash that caused it to splinter into what seemed to be hundreds of silver-colored metallic daggers made of pure energy. With a bold roar, Aron unleashed the devastating counter move ahead, firing a relentless barrage of sharp projectiles into the incoming group of Pokémon.
All the opposing Pokémon let out loud cries of pain as the Metal Burst hit them back for an immense amount of damage. All of them were smashed back violently with numerous cuts spreading across their bodies, causing them to fly through the air until most of them collided against Aron's makeshift boulder wall. The steel-type's attack didn't stop there, as the relentless rain of projectiles kept coming until it completely shredded the rocks to pieces, sending most of the opposing Pokémon flying back even further.
"What?!" the commander questioned in disbelief as he covered his face with his arms to protect himself from the light and dust. He lowered his arms and his eyes widened in shock at seeing his Crobat and Mightyena among the many defeated Pokémon. "No way…" The sound of something large slithering across the pavement made him glance back and then smirk when he noticed his ace Pokémon catching up to them.
Steven smiled while clapping slowly. "Well done, Aron." Aron grinned happily at the praise, but then blinked when a large shadow was cast over him and Steven. He looked up and found himself face to face with a massive Gyarados that was growling threateningly at them.
"Ha! What will your puny little Aron do about my Gyarados, huh?" the commander taunted with a laugh.
"Nothing," Steven answered simply, causing the commander to pause and look at him incredulously. Steven let out a soft chuckle as took note that the ground was quaking ever so slightly at each footstep of a Pokémon that he very distinctly recognized. "He doesn't need to."
Aron smiled with glee. "Go get 'em, dad."
Gyarados angrily lunged at Aron with a loud roar and with its jaws wide open… only to freeze mid-leap. "What!?" the commander demanded in frustration while turning around. His eyes widened. "Oh."
Gyarados angrily pulled its tail, and then paused when it noticed that whatever was holding its tail wasn't budging in the slightest. It turned around as well and came face to face with Steven's Mega Aggron.
"Pick on someone your own size," Aggron said with a growl before harshly tugging at Gyarados' tail, forcefully bringing down the sea serpent Pokémon and pulling it away from his trainer and child.
"Gyarados, you're at close range! Use Fire Blast!" the commander shouted desperately.
Gyarados suddenly coiled inwards with a swirling inferno forming inside its mouth. The motion left Gyarados facing directly at its attacker. With a thundering roar, the Atrocious Pokémon released a point-blank star-shaped blast of fire directly at Aggron's face. The attack exploded in a massive maelstrom of fire that engulfed both Pokémon. All the nearby grunts covered their faces as heated winds laced with cinders and black smoke billowed in every direction.
The flames rose high and roared viciously around the two combatants. Gyarados pulled back, expecting Aggron's grip to have faltered in the midst of the attack. However, much to its shock, its tail remained in a firm iron grip. Two teal eyes glowered menacingly in the midst of the blaze. Aggron growled, his body glowing in a very faint silver-colored outline signifying that his Filter ability was protecting him from a considerable amount of the damage he would have sustained from the super-effective attack. He was barely even singed.
"What!? Impossible! He's barely even singed!" the commander exclaimed in disbelief, pulling at his hair in frustration.
"Aggron, use Heavy Slam," Steven commanded calmly. Aggron used his grip on Gyarados' tail to harshly slam the water and flying-type on the pavement below yet again to disorient it. This time, a dense and wild silver-colored swirling aura suddenly engulfed the mighty steel-type, who then let go of Gyarados' tail and surprisingly jumped at a height that seemed almost unnatural for a Pokémon of his massive weight.
Gravity quickly settled in, making Aggron come crashing down like a raging comet of steel. The Iron Armor Pokémon smashed brutally against the downed Gyarados, setting off a vast tremor that spread across the courtyard and knocked many grunts off their feet. The impact was of such force that Gyarados' entire upper body was buried in a large crater as a result. Aggron slowly got off the water-type and walked back while chuckling.
"That's not going to be enough to beat my Gyarados!" the Aqua commander yelled. "Get up, now!" he ordered angrily. The Gyarados feebly began to slowly raise its upper body, which was now covered in many unsightly large bruises.
"Aggron, finish it off with Stone Edge," Steven commanded calmly. Aggron stomped on the ground, setting off a slight tremor that caused a relentless spire of glowing blue stone to suddenly tear through the ground under Gyarados and rise mightily, flinging the howling Atrocious Pokémon through the air. Aggron looked to the side with a pleased smirk as the now unconscious Gyarados landed with a heavy thud a good hundred feet away from them. "What were you saying?" Steven asked the commander.
"That's it, everyone, charge that monster!" the commander ordered, as what remained of his grunt's Pokémon and his own Pokémon charged against the steel-type behemoth.
"Aron, you always enjoy seeing your father fight, so, be sure to watch this. You'll enjoy it," Steven advised, causing the young steel-type to grin eagerly. "Aggron, use Iron Head."
Aggron let out a load roar as the armored plate covered his head began to glow with a strong grey light, which then erupted into a thick metallic shine that enveloped the entirety of his sturdy body. The steel-type mega then charged towards the incoming Team Aqua Pokémon head-on.
Meanwhile, at the rooftop of one of the Devon Corp. skyscrapers. Wind blew steadily through the makeshift battlefield, setting off a tense atmosphere as two lines of five Pokémon faced each other down on opposite sides of the structure. On one end, Ash and his Pokémon team. On the other, Aqua Admin Matt and his own Pokémon team. Behind him were two grunts and a commander that were holding a captive Mr. Stone. The elder was quiet, staring at the upcoming battle with a peaceful expression on his face.
Pikachu smirked when he noticed out the corner of his eye that Ash had turned his cap backwards. That gesture certainly brought a lot of fond memories. 'Heh, he certainly hasn't done that in a while,' he thought in slight bemusement before glaring at the roaring Swampert and the rest of Matt's team. 'Now, back to the task at hand of beating these goons up.'
"Okay, listen up, everyone! Let's free Steven's father and win this battle!" Ash declared loudly and with determination while pumping a fist in the air, rallying up his Pokémon. "We will not fail him!" he added fiercely.
"Yeah, let's get this done!" Latios shouted in agreement, following his own statement with a draconic grin.
"Let's do this!" Pidgeot agreed, flapping her majestic wings to take flight and gain altitude.
"I'm ready," Latias declared boldly, a stern gaze on her eyes as she eyed Matt and his Pokémon. She couldn't help but feel exceedingly motivated by Ash's rallying words, and that his unbending confidence brought her strength.
Ash grinned confidently and nodded at them. "Alright, go ahead." All four Pokémon began to slowly move ahead, breaking the line with him and closing the space with Matt's Pokémon team.
'Oh, I like these guys a lot,' Skarmory admitted in thought to himself as he watched them go. He turned his head to look at Ash. "Listen. You and your Pokémon focus on that Swampert. I'll take the other Pokémon out as quick as I can to thin down their numbers. Once I'm done, we can then focus collectively on defeating her afterwards," he explained calmly, rolling out his plan. "After all of that guy's Pokémon are beat, taking Joseph back should be very easy."
"Okay, you can count on us," Ash responded with a curt nod. The young trainer took several steps back to put some distance between himself and the imminent Pokémon battle. He locked eyes with Matt. "You're going down," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Matt laughed boisterously at the sight. It took him several seconds to wind down before he could speak. "You certainly are confident, squirt! I love opponents like you!" He grinned savagely. "This is gonna be so fun, so don't go and disappoint me, kay? It'd be such a bummer if you get me this fired up for a good ol' beating only to go out with a whimper!"
"Be careful what you wish for," Ash advised. "You've never fought someone like me before."
"Hell no! I haven't, that's why I'm so pumped right now! Oho, yeah!" The Team Aqua Admin dramatically raised an arm up before pointing a finger at Ash and his Pokémon. "Alright, Swampert, charge forward! Crush them all with your unstoppable and almighty Hammer Arm attack!" he roared at the top of his lungs. Swampert suddenly rushed ahead, with each of her powerful and heavy footfalls slightly cracking the cement under her with every step and making the structure rumble in perfect tandem with her long strides.
Ash's hands balled into fists and he let out a short and anxious exhale as he watched and felt through the structure's rumbles the massive Swampert approach his Pokémon team. 'That Swampert is like a whole Taurus stampede put together into just one Pokémon…' His reddish eyes narrowed. 'No matter what, we must deal with her.'
Skarmory wordlessly took flight. He flew ahead and went past Ash's team, going around in a wide circle to flank the incoming giant Pokémon. As he flew by her, Swampert briefly tracked his passing movement out the corner of her eyes, with Skarmory instantly returning the glare and locking eyes with her. For a moment time seemed to completely freeze between them as they sized each other up. Skarmory's glare intensified. 'Strength, confidence, power. She shares the gaze of veteran warrior that's seen it all with me. We need to be very careful,' he noted mentally.
Matt made a gesture with his head in the direction of the incoming Armor Bird Pokémon. Once Skarmory had moved past Swampert and cleared her completely, Matt's Poliwrath and Azumarill immediately charged towards him, leaving Mightyena and Crawdaunt to stay back. As Skarmory flew towards them, a soft golden glow began to coat the entirety of his metallic body, stirring up the winds around him in an ominous way. The glow began to spread across him and thicken visibly, emitting a threatening humming sound as it did so, until it suddenly erupted into a radiant and fiery golden-colored aura of wind.
"Oohohoho, you're gotta get a taste of my Huge Power, yeah!" Azumarill shouted excitedly with an overconfident smirk, making fierce torrents of water suddenly engulf him with a potent Waterfall attack. Behind him, Poliwrath followed his pace, his bulky arms beginning to glow with dark red energy as he prepared a Superpower attack.
"Heh, thanks for informing me of your ability," Skarmory said in a sarcastic tone before deftly dodging Azumarill's Waterfall attack with a swift swivel rather than clashing head on against it as he had originally planned. 'He's probably not on Mawile's level, but I still wouldn't want to crash directly against that ridiculous ability,' he thought to himself as he carried on his flightpath and aimed straight for Poliwrath.
"Hey, come back here ya wimp!" Azumarill shouted angrily as he skidded to a halt and turned around to haplessly watch Poliwrath be forcibly blasted away by a large explosion of golden blazing wind courtesy of Skarmory's Sky Attack.
Ignoring the clash behind her and trusting her teammates to hopefully not screw up, Swampert kept charging ahead to her intended targets. The muscles in her thick forearms bulged slightly as she tensed them, then both of her arms were coated in a dense white-colored aura. As she closed in on the position of Ash's Pokémon, she stopped and then stood upright on her hind legs.
"Oh wow, she's seriously huge," Ash said incredulously, his eyes widening as the already imposing Swampert seemed to double in size from her new posture. A foreboding shadow was cast upon them as she menacingly towered over them. "Latios, Latias, quick! Stop her arms with Psychic!" he shouted in retaliation.
Latias and Latios' eyes glowed brightly at the same time as Swampert brought her arms down towards them. The two legendary dragons gritted their teeth as they telekinetically grabbed both of the Mud Fish Pokémon's arms and just barely managed to stop them in midair. Swampert growled in annoyance, her muscles tensing further as she pressed down harder. The cement under her began to crack and cave slightly as it struggled to sustain her weight plus the amount of strength she was exerting. The psychic twins' eyes shined even brighter as they fought against Swampert's massive physical strength, however, her arms began to slowly descend inch by inch.
"It takes two Legendary Pokémon to stop my Swampert, seems pretty fitting!" Matt crowed triumphantly, adding a sharp laugh at the end. "But, what will you do about the rest of my team? Mightyena and Crawdaunt, use Dark Pulse on them!" The two dark-type Pokémon reacted immediately and spaced out so they had a clear shot from each of Swampert's sides, as they did so Mightyena opened his muzzle and Crawdaunt opened one of his pincers.
"Use the rest of my team, obviously!" Ash responded with a roll of his eyes. "Pikachu, Pidgeot! Like earlier against the grunts, stop those two attacks with Thunderbolt and Air Slash!" he commanded quickly. "We have to keep dark-type attacks away from Latios and Latias at all costs!"
"Right!" Pidgeot answered while rearing back both of her great wings.
"Gotcha!" Pikachu added, the red spots on each of his cheeks sparking vibrantly with electricity.
Mightyena and Crawdaunt fired their Dark Pulse attacks together, sending two beams of black and purple colored rings of murky energy flying past each of Swampert's flanks. As the attacks passed by her, Swampert smirked slightly and awaited the perfect moment to act. In response to that, and in near perfect unison, Pidgeot gave a single powerful flap with both of her wings and Pikachu released a potent blast of bright yellow electricity. Both attacks swiftly shot across the air and intercepted the incoming Dark Pulses and held them to a standstill for a brief moment before detonating them in two large explosions.
The moment both detonations went off near her, Swampert suddenly leaned forward and applied as much strength as she could into the downward push of her Hammer Arm while bringing down the weight of her body to go along with it. Near instantly and as a direct result of her sudden movement, the Psychic attack that the twins had on her arms gave way and shattered abruptly to her overwhelming physical strength.
Latios' eyes shut closed immediately, with the blue dragon letting out an audible cry and wincing visibly as a very sharp headache spiked from the aftermath of his psychic hold being so harshly overpowered. Latias let out a short and shrill cry of pain as well, arching her neck down to clutch her head with her claws. Latios, however, was keenly aware of the imminent danger both he and his sister were in. The blue dragon ignored the pain as best as he could and hurriedly issued a defensive reaction. He poured a large amount of telekinetic power into his levitation to fly backwards while psychically taking a hold of Latias' body and pulling her back along with him.
His response had come not a moment too soon, as both of Swampert's muscular arms collided with the spot where the two had been mere instants ago. A short but harsh tremor accompanied the floor completely caving into the room below and creating a large plume of dust and debris that spread widely, making deep cracks spread across a large area of the now very damaged rooftop. Swampert briefly gazed down at the chasm she had just formed and the torn chucks of wreckage now piled in the rooms below before glancing up at the dragon twins, as if gauging them.
"Thanks," Latias said in gratitude, smiling softly at her brother.
"No problem, sis," Latios responded to her before returning his concentration onto the battle. 'Smart, she expected our psychic hold to falter slightly as a result of the disruption caused to our concentration by the sound and shock of both explosions going off near us. And, not only did she expect it but she also took advantage of that with excellent timing,' he thought to himself. He growled, acknowledging that she was going to be a formidable opponent.
"Whoa," Ash spoke out, walking backwards to avoid a crack on the floor that that passed rather worryingly near him. "Might wanna hold off on attacks like that, you'll cause this entire place to collapse," he cautioned nervously to the opposing trainer.
"Bwahahahahaha!" Matt roared in laughter. "Wait, what? You suddenly afraid of some rubble, kiddo?" he asked in a mocking tone. "No Pokémon battle is ever complete if you don't get your hands dirty!"
"Well, no, but that doesn't mean we should be destroying this place so much," Ash countered. "Unless you want us all to end this fight a few stories down this building."
"That's not such a bad idea, actually," Matt commented, holding his chin with a hand while deep in thought. Ash facepalmed in response and said nothing.
"I hope Steven's dad doesn't mind the property damage, now that you mention it," Latios commented. "While it's totally Team Aqua's fault, we've been part of all this destruction as well."
"I'm pretty sure he cares more about being rescued than a roof he can probably fix in a few months," Latias deadpanned. Latios gave her a nervous laugh and admitted she was probably right.
"Anyway!" Matt suddenly spoke out, catching their attention. "Let's continue this battle of the ages we're having over here!" the admin exclaimed eccentrically. "Swampert, scorch those wimps with your almighty Scald attack! Mightyena, Crawdaunt, support her with another Dark Pulse on those pesky psychics!"
"Pidgeot, stop Mightyena with Air Slash. Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Crawdaunt!" Ash countered rapidly before centering his gaze on the large Swampert. "Latios, you know what? She's too strong. Let's not beat around the bush with her anymore."
Latios grinned, having a very good idea of what Ash was about to order him to do. "This is getting good," he commented with glee.
Ash nodded with a smirk. "Oh yeah, it is. We're going all out! Latios, use Luster Purge! Latias, boost his attack with Psychic!" the young trainer ordered.
While Ash was relaying his order to Latios and Latias, Pidgeot and Pikachu had already begun to carry out his initial commands and were in the process of attacking Swampert's support Pokémon. As Mightyena and Crawdaunt charged their respective Dark Pulses, Pidgeot flapped her wings forcefully and Pikachu released a potent blast of electricity while letting out a loud shout. Both special attacks cruised across the air rapidly towards each of Swampert's sides and collided against their respective targets before they could get off their own attacks. Mightyena let out a howl of pain as he was blasted away by a potent blade of wind that succeeded in leaving a large and noticeable gash in his fur, while Crawdaunt was pushed back while crying out as he was engulfed and shocked by the potent super-effective electrical attack.
As much as it made her uncomfortable, Swampert ignored both of her ailing teammates at her flanks and instead focused on attacking Latios and Latias. Swampert reared her head back, letting out a very loud and threatening snarl as large plumes of scorching steam began to emanate from her mouth.
Latios closed his eyes and focused, making the vibrant blue and grey plumage coating his body begin to glow in a very bright hue of azure light. With every passing second, the glow around the psychic dragon noticeably intensified until it grew into a blue sphere of light. Latias flew behind her brother and lined up with him, her own eyes beginning to shine as she readied her own attack.
Swampert thrust her upper body forward, releasing a ferocious torrent of scorching hot water out of her maw. The temperature and pressure of her attack was such that the gush of boiling water was accompanied by a high-pitched whistle and a dense cloud of steam as it quickly shot across the air towards Ash's Pokémon.
Latios let out a draconic roar as the water-type attack loomed on them and then fired blinding blast of blue light out of his entire body directly ahead of him. Latias' eyes glowed brighter as she released a potent psychokinetic wave along with her brother's attack, causing it to suddenly pick up speed and violently surge ahead.
Both attacks met head on in a thundering collision that caused the area under them to crumble down onto the rooms below while sending out a mixed discharge of dust, steam and light in every direction. Swampert as well as both dragon twins held their ground and poured all they had into their attacks, creating a stalemate that began to spread thick clouds of blazing steam across the rooftop, obscuring everyone's view of them.
"Ow, ow! Hot!" Ash exclaimed as some of the plumes grazed him, causing him to stagger back and put more distance between him and the fierce battle.
"Careful, Ash," Pikachu warned. "That thing's attacks are so massive their area of effect is considerable," he advised, wincing slightly as a particularly hot plume of steam breezed past him. "And I should probably watch out too," he mumbled, jumping back to avoid another gust of steam.
"What about Latios and Latias?" Ash asked, clearly concerned.
"They're dragon-types, I doubt heat really bothers them. Plus, they're protected by their own projection of power," Pikachu responded. "They'll be fine."
"Now's our chance!" Matt suddenly shouted, causing Ash and his two remaining Pokémon to look up. "Mightyena, Crawdaunt! Attack the dragons with Crunch and Night Slash! Show them how tough you are!" Both of his Pokémon reacted immediately and lunged ahead into the chaos. They promptly winced as soon as they came in contact with the intensely heated vapor surrounding Swampert and the twins, but nonetheless carried on with their orders.
Ash let out a worried sigh. "Physical dark-type attacks, so that means he's intending to target Latios and Latias while they're distracted fighting off Swampert's Scald attack," he noted while looking ahead. He could barely see the twin's shining forms behind the thick plumes of steam constantly emanating from Swampert's attack. 'Like Pikachu said, they're dragons so they'll be fine since they can take heat. But we can't let dark-type attacks hit them. He probably ordered physical attacks because he's aware it'd be hard to properly aim special attacks under these conditions. But… that also applies to Pikachu and Pidgeot. That means-'
"If those two can take it, then so can we!" Pikachu shouted to his trainer, interrupted his train of thought.
"Ash, go ahead!" Pidgeot agreed, arching her body forward and aiming herself straight at the dense shroud of steam. "We won't be outdone by the likes of them!"
Ash smiled and nodded once at his Pokémon. "I trust you guys. Pidgeot, stop Crawdaunt with Steel Wing. Pikachu, attack Mightyena with Iron Tail and use Thunder as soon as you secure physical contact with him!" he ordered quickly.
Pidgeot and Pikachu charged forward fearlessly, wincing noticeably as soon as they got closer to the constant gushes of heated steam still outpouring from the high-powered clash between the dragon twins and Swampert. Pidgeot's wings, as well as Pikachu's tail, began to glow in shiny coats of silver-colored energy as both hardened to steel.
Pikachu dashed across the floor quickly and used his acute hearing to track Mightyena's steps and use that to guide himself to the dark-type. As soon as they met head on, Mightyena lunged at him fiercely with a loud and angry bark. Pikachu ducked and expertly skidded under Mightyena's attempted bite and swung his hardened tail into the dark-type's legs as he passed above him. Mightyena cried out in pain and stumbled, falling down and rolling across the floor. Pikachu quickly stopped and changed direction, leaping towards the downed Mightyena.
Just as Mightyena began to stand up, he felt a small paw touch his side. His eyes widened as he turned his head, coming face to face with a savagely smirking Pikachu. "Gotcha," Pikachu taunted, his cheeks sparkling wildly. Not a second after, Pikachu released a mighty cry as both were engulfed in a massive pillar of bright yellow electricity.
As she heard Mightyena's howls of pain along with Pikachu's warcry, Pidgeot charged ahead, confidently knowing that Pikachu had succeeded in stopping his target. Now it was her turn, and as she flew ahead, her keen eyes caught sight of the charging Crawdaunt's blurry form easily. She flew in, angling her left wing to collide directly against the water and dark-type.
Crawdaunt stopped in his tracks and opened both pincers, which were coated in a sleek and nauseating veil of dark energy, while pointing them directly ahead. He anchored his sharp legs into the cracked pavement and braced firmly as Pidgeot's wing collided against him. Immediately, he snapped both pincers shut on it. Pidgeot winced in pain but nonetheless kept pushing ahead.
Crawdaunt kept pushing back, just barely managing to stop the large avian in her tracks. He tightened the grip on his darkness-shrouded pincers, attempting to cause as much damage to Pidgeot's wing as possible. Having lost all of her flight momentum and having one of her wings trapped, Pidgeot landed and firmly planted her talons on the cement before swinging her other Steel Wing in a wide arc, smashing it hard against the Crawdaunt's face. Crawdaunt let out a sharp yelp of pain, causing Pidgeot to glare at him and repeat the motion several times to the point the armor on the Rogue Pokémon's face began to sickeningly crack.
As the two pairs of Pokémon scuffled against one another at her flanks, Swampert briefly eyed both of them out the corner of her eye. Taking a quick decision on who she deemed the larger threat of the pair, she suddenly shut her mouth and abruptly ended her attack. Swampert swiftly shifted her body to the left and braced herself defensively. Without her pumping more heated water against Latios' powerful Luster Purge, the dragon's mighty attack quickly overcame the remains of her Scald and suddenly rushed ahead unimpeded towards the Mud Fish Pokémon.
Latios instantly noted Swampert's strange action, and based on what he had seen so far of her, he was keenly aware it had to be a fully conscious decision with a clear purpose behind it. Instead of letting it surprise him, he rapidly analyzed the situation to try and gauge what Swampert's plan was. His eyes widened when realization hit him. "Oh no, Pidgeot!" he shouted telepathically.
Ash blinked in slight confusion, and then gasped when he too realized Swampert's plan. "Pidgeot, shield yourself with Giga Impact!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Upon hearing Ash's desperate words, Pidgeot reacted at once without turning around or knowing exactly why Ash wanted her to do that, but she blindly trusted him. She extended her wings in a wide motion, finally shrugging Crawdaunt off her in the process, while streaks of bright golden energy began to surround her.
Thanks to Swampert's slight movement to the left, Latios' boosted Luster Purge impacted into her right flank rather than head on against her. The attack exploded in a very large incandescent blast of radiant psychic energy that was so intense it forced all of the humans to cover their eyes in response. The ensuing detonation carried enough strength behind it to successfully knock her backwards with a loud and pained screech. However, the way she had positioned herself to receive the attack in a sideways direction also served to redirect the full brunt of the blast exactly to where Pidgeot and Crawdaunt where located.
Latios' eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat anxiously as he watched the near blinding explosion of his Luster Purge engulf the entire section of the roof on Swampert's right flank. As the Mud Fish Pokémon crashed back in a heap, everything beside her caved into the floor blow with a thundering rumble that violently hurled demolished concrete in all directions and generated a thick plume of black smoke. "Oh no," he whispered as he eyed the aftermath of his own attack with a remorseful and horrified expression.
"Pidgeot!" Ash screamed out in concern, his eyes frantically searching for any sigh of the Bird Pokémon in the thick smoke. Everything became eerily quiet for many long and agonizing seconds until everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when a beam of purple and golden energy suddenly shot out of the remnants of Latios' attack and rose high into the sky. "Pidgeot, are you alright!?" Ash called out worriedly, cupping both hands around his mouth as he shouted.
The Giga Impact surrounding her died down, revealing Pidgeot to be inside of it. "I'm… mostly… fine!" Pidgeot wheezed out in response through weak and labored pants. Large patches of feathers on her back and right side were charred and still smoking, with numerous cuts and scrapes also being discernible under the damaged plumage. The rest of her body was covered with dirt and black dust. She looked at the blue dragon with a very annoyed expression. "Latios, watch your aim!"
"That wasn't intentional!" Latios responded, wincing from the embarrassment. "I swear, that was not my fault… I'm really sorry about that, Pidgeot," he added faintly, and to his relief Pidgeot seemed to believe him, as she instead returned her focus on their opponents without reprimanding him further. Latios let out a sigh and then felt a deep and threatening growl slowly build from deep within his chest while glaring venomous daggers at Swampert. The Mud Fish Pokémon slowly stood up from where the attack had knocked her back and was just beginning to recover.
Latias looked between Latios and Pidgeot several times before humming in thought. "That had to be intentional on her part. She was holding her Scald attack just fine and then it ended out of nowhere."
"Oh yes, it very much was," Latios answered, his voice still marred with angered trembles. He took a slight breath to try and calm himself before resuming his explanation. "It's just like last time when she took advantage of the explosions to break our Psychic hold on her. She has a very acute awareness of battles and knows how to take advantage of everything that's happening in her surroundings at all moments. She knew holding the stalemate against our attack was largely pointless, so…"
"…She sacrificed receiving a direct hit from us in an attempt to take Pidgeot out of the fight using our own attack," Latias finished for him, disbelief in her voice. "That's… I don't know how to describe it. She also risked her own teammate in the process."
"She didn't. Crawdaunt is immune to psychic-type attacks. Sure, sucks to be caught in a direct explosion and the rubble was gonna buffet him no matter what, but she knew he'd be mostly fine," Latios explained.
Ash frowned, a thoughtful expression on his face. "This isn't going so well. She actually took a hit from Luster Purge and survived." As he pondered his next move, Ash noticed a thick beam of blazing golden light heading straight into the aftershocks of Latios' devastating attack. "Huh?" he wondered aloud.
Swampert immediately noticed it was well. "Watch out!" she barked at her teammate. Crawdaunt, who was still visibly shaken from being in the direct epicenter of an explosion and only now was just beginning to weakly crawl out of the hole he was in, had no time to heed Swampert's warning before an armored projectile of golden wind courtesy of Skarmory and his Sky Attack violently crashed into him from above. Crawdaunt gave a loud and agonizing cry of pain as he violently crashed through the floor and into the room below.
"Watch out!" Matt's Azumarill warned as he ran towards the scene. He stopped a few feet away from the edge of the chasm and winced when the echo of something crashing very harshly deep below them reached him. "Oops, that warning probably came a bit late."
Swampert glared at him. "You lost your target."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Azumarill responded nonchalantly while waving one of his stubby arms at her. "His fault for lowering his guard like that."
Swampert rolled her eyes wordlessly, clearly not very impressed with the attitude of her diminutive teammate. "What?" Azumarill asked, crossing his short arms over his chest. "I'm doing a very good job in the battle over here, mind you. Crawdaunt messed up big time and now he's down." As Azumarill spoke, an injured and very beaten up Poliwrath weakly limped to his side. The water and fighting-type sported numerous bruises, scrapes and cuts that were no doubt the work of Skarmory. Swampert briefly took in Poliwrath's condition, said nothing and then returned her focus to Ash's team. "No seriously, I am!" Azumarill assured her while conveniently pretending Poliwrath wasn't beside him, and then pouted indignantly when Swampert completely ignored him.
"Oho, I'm very much impressed!" Matt shouted at Ash, clapping enthusiastically as he praised him. "You're just as strong as I imagined! I can't believe my luck in running into such an interesting opponent here of all places!" he exclaimed in appreciation. "Please, keep it up!"
"Well, uh… thanks? I guess?" Ash said in confusion, scratching the back of his head. "You're a strange fellow. Definitely not what I expect out of a shady criminal organization."
"Team Aqua is very unique, boy!" Matt replied and then smirked broadly. Unbeknownst to the Pallet Town trainer, Matt had already noticed something very peculiar about his current position and the fact that the sheer size and power of Swampert's attacks flying in his general direction had been constantly forcing him to back away from the battle. "Now, it's time to get this done with!" He pointed dramatically towards Ash. "Quick! Pikachu is out of position and Pidgeot can't attack after using Giga Impact! Swampert, use Ice Ball to crush everything to bits!" he ordered dramatically. Swampert charged forward upon hearing her trainer's command, going past Pikachu and Pidgeot and heading straight for Latios, Latias and Ash while doing her best to dodge the numerous chasms adorning the vastly damaged battlefield.
"Oh no, you don't!" Pikachu shouted as he turned around to chase after her. However, before he could dash to their aid, his ears twitched slightly as he picked up a distinct and faint sound behind him. He deftly jumped to the side instead, evading Mightyena's darkness-coated jaws that clamped shut right where he had just been. "Back for more, eh?" Pikachu asked condescendingly.
"You're going to pay for that," Mightyena threatened in an infuriated tone, growling savagely while arcs of static electricity occasionally flowed through his fur in a clear sign of paralysis that was no doubt the work of Pikachu's Static ability.
"I seriously doubt that," Pikachu answered, sparks of electricity beginning to emit out of the red spots on his cheeks. Suddenly, Matt's Poliwrath valiantly lunged at him in an attempt to support his teammate despite his numerous injuries. His muscular arms began to glow in a shroud of red energy as he gathered the strength for a Superpower attack.
Mightyena chuckled darkly, a rush of confidence coming to him at the sight of backup. "Think again, runt," he taunted.
"Great," Pikachu mumbled, glancing between the two Pokémon in front of him repeatedly. The floor under Mightyena suddenly began to crack, making Pikachu grin. "Oh, that's pretty badass alright!" he gushed excitedly. The yellow electric-type jumped backwards as right at the moment Poliwrath was passing Mightyena's side, Skarmory suddenly burst right through the floor under the pair, his Sky Attack sending a large blast of golden aura and powerful winds in all directions.
Mightyena and Poliwrath were both tossed back violently with a loud shriek of pain, with the buffeting winds of the Armor Bird Pokémon's attack inflicting a vast number of small cuts on the pair. "Your turn!" Skarmory called as he flew up to put distance between him and both Team Aqua Pokémon.
"I'd love to," Pikachu replied, smirking wildly as his cheeks began to sparkle further. He let out a loud cry as he launched a powerful Thunderbolt attack at both battered Pokémon, engulfing them in a bright flash of yellow electricity that painfully shocked both of them.
As the high voltage current surged through him, the sheer amount of damage overwhelmed Poliwrath and finally caused him fall over unconscious. Pikachu's attack subsided after a few more agonizing seconds, making the electric-type let out a pleased chuckle at his work. Mightyena struggled to remain standing and growled menacingly at him.
Pikachu smirked at him and casually pointed up with a paw. Mightyena blinked as a large shadow loomed over him, accompanied by the sound of something gliding quickly across the air that signaled his impending doom. He let out a howl of agony as Skarmory landed on top of him, bringing his full weight crashing down on the dark-type with such viciousness that he was instantly knocked unconscious and buried in a small crater as a result. "That's three down. Two to go," Skarmory casually commented, throwing Matt's Azumarill an icy glare.
"Bring it on!" Azumarill responded, returning the glare. "I'm gonna tear your wings right off, stupid sack of… uh… metallic… feathers? I guess? Eh! Whatever!"
Meanwhile, as Swampert charged towards Latias and Latios, she opened her mouth and spat out a stream of teal-colored frigid energy that quickly began to create a dense and sturdy sphere of ice in front of her.
"Latios, Latias, use Psychic to stop her!" Ash countered quickly. Latios and Latias' eyes glowed brightly as unleashed their attack on both Swampert and the rapidly growing Ice Ball that she was creating. Her body and move were surrounded by a faint blue outline, with Latios and Latias fiercely bombarding her with wave upon wave of Psychokinetic energy. Despite showing very clear signs of discomfort and pain, Swampert kept going.
Latios cringed visibly, letting out a labored wheeze. "She's too heavy and carrying too much momentum with her, I doubt we can stop her!" he shouted.
Latias growled, putting just as much effort as her brother. "Try!"
As Swampert kept charging, she reared her head back briefly before harshly moving it forward, flinging the gigantic ice boulder towards the two dragons. "Bwahahahaha!" Matt hollered loudly from the other side of the battlefield. "Let's see you stop that, runt!" he dared confidently.
"Quick, Swampert's weight and momentum are gone! Focus on that Ice Ball!" Ash ordered sharply. Latias and Latios rapidly shifted the focus of the entirety of their psychic pressure on Swampert's ice-type attack. As it was flying through the air towards them, the giant ball of ice was surrounded in an even thicker blue outline. The two dragons pressed against it, successfully making the orb begin to slow down and abruptly lose its momentum. It collapsed onto the ravaged floor with a heavy crash, sending a harsh tremor across the roof.
"Swampert, use Waterfall!" Matt dramatically roared at the top of his lungs. "Destroy everything!" Swampert roared along with her trainer and then charged ahead once more. This time, however, a massive wave of water engulfed her giant body completely as she rampantly rushed forward like a roaring wave. She crashed into the Ice Ball at full might, causing it to completely shatter into dozens of large chunks that were fired forward like a hailstorm. Swampert's charge didn't let up and she pushed ahead, blasting through the roof with a burst of rushing water laden with large chunks of concrete and ice. Latias and Latios tried to fly backwards, but they were too slow in their reaction and could do nothing as the blast caught up to them. They let out sharp cries of pain as they were caught and badly battered by the roaring tide that engulfed them.
Ash's eyes widened in fear as he instinctually backed away from the impending tide approaching him, and then froze when he felt something bump into his back. He looked back and felt the blood in his veins grow cold when he realized he was right against the security barrier at the very edge of the rooftop. He covered his head with his arms and braced as the floor under him erupted from the force of Swampert's attack, flinging him backwards with water, ice and debris from the torn building side flying all around him. Ash screamed as he was sent plummeting down the side of the skyscraper in free fall.
"Ash!" Pikachu cried out, his eyes widening in horror. Skarmory immediately spread his wings and took flight while sharply veering to the side in direction of the young trainer, with Pikachu rapidly jumping onto his back for a ride.
"Ash!" Pidgeot shrieked, instantly flying towards the roof's edge the moment she felt the exhausting aftereffects of using Giga Impact disappear.
"Ash!" Latios screamed. The blue dragon ignored the very painful barrage of ice and rubble constantly colliding against his body to concentrate for the split second he needed to gather enough strength to fire off a potent telekinetic wave that forcefully hurled the debris surrounding him away. With his immediate surroundings free of obstacles, he quickly levitated out of Swampert's attack so he could fly after his falling trainer.
However, all three of them were handily beaten by a red and white blur that shot through the chaos far faster than any of them had reacted. Latias rapidly cleared the building and then dive-bombed at near top speed after the plunging Ash. As she approached him, her eyes glowed as she exerted her psychic powers to push all the ice and chunks of rubble away from him. Once the immediate area around him was clear and he was out of danger, she quickly closed the distance and grabbed him by wrapping her arms under his own. Ash instinctually wrapped his arms around her neck to secure himself.
With her trainer safe, Latias flew to the side to get out of the path of the rest of the falling rubble from the section of the tower Swampert had just blasted open. Latias glanced around to sure they were safe, and then let out a sigh of relief while smiling down at him. "Are you okay?" she asked sweetly.
Ash was panting, his heart beating hard against his chest from the scare of almost plummeting to his death. He looked down, seeing the rubble unceremoniously crash on the street far below and shatter into thousands of pieces. Ash winced at the sight and then looked at Latias. "Yeah, small heart attack aside? I'm fine. That was too close."
Latias let out a gentle and relieved coo and then reached down to nuzzle him affectionately. Ash smiled in response to her kind gesture, enjoying the sensation of her very soft feathers caressing against his skin. "I'm very happy that you're okay. Don't worry, I wouldn't ever let anything happen to you," she spoke out softly.
"Thanks a lot," Ash replied appreciatively, stroking her neck with his hand once before gently scratching her behind an ear. Latias let out a content purr. "I thought I was a goner back there."
"Never on my watch," Latias said firmly, giving Ash a very protective look.
"Of course not, you promised my mom you'd take care of me," Ash said, letting out a small chuckle.
"Not doing it solely because of that promise," Latias replied, feeling a faint blush taint her cheeks with a rosy red tone while she looked to the side from slight embarrassment.
"You're awesome, Latias," Ash complimented, not noticing the dragoness' cheeks turn redder as a result of his comment. "Come on, we need to get up there and save Steven's dad."
"Yeah, we have work to do." Latias nodded quickly, enjoying the change of topic. She reached down to give Ash's cheek a quick and affectionate lick while her eyes glowed softly, causing the boy's body to be surrounded by a faint blue outline. Latias let go of him and then wiggled her neck out of his grip, with Ash remaining in place as he was safely held in place by her Psychic. She flipped him around and then slowly flew under him, where she then released her psychic hold and let the human fall into her back. Ash adjusted himself slightly until he found a firm position on her back while placing his arms on her lower neck for support. Once Latias felt the human was comfortable and secure, she began to fly up.
"Oh, hey, it's been a while since I got to fly on your back," Ash commented in slight amusement. "I usually fly on Latios."
Latias giggled softly. "Yeah, I know right?"
Ash let out a sigh, glancing to the distant ground below out the corner of his eye. "Thanks, again. I was really terrified back there for a moment," he said gratefully, patting her neck a few times in appreciation.
"It's no problem!" Latias answered, beaming enthusiastically. As she approached the battlefield, she adopted a more serious expression. "Stay with me, you'll be much safer on my back than anywhere else. That Swampert's attacks are just too big and devastating wherever they land, it's better if I just carry you around," Latias said a tone that very much implied Ash had no say on the matter.
Ash smiled. "Like you said, always looking out for me?"
"Of course," Latias replied, grinning back at him. "More so in such a dangerous battle and especially when there's almost no battlefield left for you to stand on."
"Well, let's win this fight. Together," Ash declared with a self-assured nod.
"As always," Latias answered, enjoying the positive and confident emotions her empathy was picking up from the human currently nestled on her back. It did wonders on her own state of mind, causing her to courageously look ahead.
"I have an idea. If I stay on your back, that means we can make more use of your and Latios' speed and mobility, since there isn't a need for anyone to stay back to protect me anymore," Ash pointed out, holding his chin in thought. "We could overwhelm Swampert with speed, perhaps."
"Your call, you're the trainer," Latias retorted, giving her acting trainer a reassuring expression. "We fully trust you to guide us to victory."
"Haha, thanks. I'll think of something," Ash said with a flustered expression, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
"Latias, is he okay?" Latios asked worriedly, flying over to them once Latias closed in on the makeshift arena.
Latias nodded at him. "Of course, he's just fine."
"Thank goodness," Pidgeot said in relief, flying to Latias' other side while examining Ash carefully with a concerned expression.
Skarmory passed by, making sure to fly above Latios so that Pikachu could jump on the dragon's back. "Everything okay, Ash?" Pikachu asked in concern, looking worriedly at his best friend.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking, buddy," Ash answered with a smile.
Pikachu let out a sigh of relief. "Okay." He looked at the red dragoness. "Thanks, Latias."
"It's my pleasure, Pikachu," Latias said back kindly.
Ash looked ahead, taking note that Swampert had returned to a position roughly at the center of the rooftop. "Huh, she went back?" he asked, slightly confused.
Skarmory frowned. "She did, rather than pressing ahead while we were focused on your rescue. Now that three of their team members are down, she's aware she can't stray far from her trainer or she'd risks us just flying past her."
"Exactly what I had in mind a minute ago," Ash said with a smirk.
"Hmm?" Skarmory hummed, glancing at him.
Before Ash could elaborate, he was interrupted by the faint sound of helicopter blades far in the distance. With each passing second, the sound only seemed to get louder and louder. He looked around to try and spot the incoming aircraft and then frowned when he finally saw a tiltrotor helicopter descending upon the rooftop. "Oh, great," he commented sarcastically when he noticed the Team Aqua logo on the helicopter's flank.
"Oh, hey, our ride is here," Matt said as he stepped aside, with his grunts following suit. Given that Matt's area of the roof was the only one spared from Swampert's onslaught, the Helicopter was able to land without any problem. "See?" Matt asked while throwing Mr. Stone a condescending smirk as he pointed at Ash and his Pokémon. "Those are your supposed saviors?" he asked him mockingly before throwing Ash a self-assured smirk. "You've lost, kid."
"We'll see about that," Ash replied, his hands instinctively tightening their grip on Latias' neck. "We're not done yet."
Matt calmly walked to the open door on the Helicopter's side. "All aboard," he said, motioning his remaining two grunts and commander to board it. Mr. Stone coolly followed the three along, still not looking concerned or offering his captors any kind of reaction.
"Listen up!" Ash called, getting all of the Pokémon's attention. "Spread out. I'll stay with Latias. That means we'll be able to collectively use our flight and speed to overwhelm Swampert. She can't fight or follow all four fliers at the same time. We'll split in two groups. Skarmory, Pidgeot, get Steven's dad off that Helicopter. Latios, Latias and Pikachu, we'll distract Swampert," Ash explained. All Pokémon nodded in response, spreading out.
Swampert narrowed her eyes, her orange eyes shifting repeatedly between each of them as they fanned out. "Ooooh, really?" Matt asked disdainfully as he set a foot on the Helicopter, his Azumarill also accompanying him. "We'll see about that."
"Let's go!" Ash shouted, pointing towards the Team Aqua Helicopter. Latios, Latias, Pidgeot and Skarmory all fearlessly flew ahead.
"Pilot, fly us to the Sea Titan airship, it'll be able to protect us should their fliers follow us," Matt instructed. Upon hearing the pilot's confirmation, he glanced at Swampert. "Stop them!" he commanded decidedly as the Helicopter began to take off.
Swampert let out a deafening roar as she stood defiantly in front of Ash's Pokémon and then prepared her next assault…
Chapter 21 End
Author Notes: So, Chapter's finished. This took longer than I expected, and is actually a third of the chapter I had in mind. The word count was getting out of hand so I decided to split it into more manageable segments. Stay tuned for more!