Pre-chapter A/N; Since everyone is asking for one of these, here's a breakdown of the character names before we get into things
Broly - Kleavor
Quicksilver - Pidgeot (dead)
Kisame - Milotic
Igneel - Charizard
Kenpachi - Tyranitar
Ino - Gardevoir
Snorlax - Snorlax
Tsunade - Clefable
Gai - Hakomo-o
Magnezone - Magnezone
Hashirama- Trevenant
Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.
XXXXX- THE SINNOH ELITE
"Please talk some sense into her," Flint said from across the room, as we all stood in Gerald's hidden warehouse, inspecting the dead champion's collection of mega stones. I could understand his frustration with the present champion's stubbornness.
Since she'd seen the Garchompite on the shelf, she'd been intent on mega evolving that monster of hers. The problem with that was that our plan for overcoming a rogue mega evolution was to overwhelm the pokemon with the strength of our own elite pokemon. Garchomp was the strongest pokemon among all of them by a wide margin, though. If it mega evolved, I honestly doubted we'd be able to subdue it without putting it down permanently.
With war on the horizon, putting it down was inconsiderable, and I feared it would kill too many of ours before it ran out of that energy. If the pokemon went rogue on mega-evolution, we'd be massively fucked. Without lube of any sort.
"I think what Flint is saying is that we should work on the other pokemon first, and revisit Garchomp's mega evolution last." Lucian spoke up, calming the tensions that had begun to rise with his words. The bastard just solved the problem with only a few words. If there was anyone in the elite four that frightened me, it was him. His suggestion, while simple on the outside, placated both sides and hedged his bets without leaning one way or the other. If Cynthia still thought it would be a good idea after watching the effects of so many mega evolutions, we'd have a collection of mega evolved pokemon to match up to her Garchomp, and if she saw the risks from witnessing our own mega evolutions, then all the better.
"So who goes first?" Bertha asked with a smile, cameruptite clenched firmly in her hands. Her enthusiasm was infectious, I thought, as I walked forward and placed my hands on the heracronite. I felt the workings of fate close around us. This was destiny. After all, how would all of us just happen to happen to have pokemon capable of mega evolving, and Gerald would just happen to have the stones we need to evolve those pokemon. It was destined. My mind would not be swayed on it.
"I'll go first. Medicham is the calmest of the pokemon capable of evolving, and I trust in our bond to make things easier." Lucian said, and we all nodded at him in agreement. Lucian was the most senior of us all after all, and his pokemon would probably be the easiest to evolve. I looked forward to Heracross' own evolution but if Flint's words were true, there was an uphill battle waiting for us at the very least.
"Let's get this show on the way" Shirona said with a smile and we got to work. The training grounds we chose were in close vicinity to the warehouse so we needed to do very little in the way of travelling to get from one place to the other.
XXX
"Are you ready?" Flint asked from a distance, and Lucian only nodded before saying to his pokemon, "Let's get this, Medi." He clutched the keystone wrapped in a bracelet and did the dance Flint had shown us, undoubtedly the least desirable aspect of the process, and then stepped back as his pokemon began to glow. A bright white light covered the psychic for a few seconds, and we all held our breath as the psychic pressure of the mega evolved pokemon began to bear on us. When the process ran its course, I heard and ignored Flint's whistle of amazement.
In terms of physical differences, there were relatively few of them to speak of. Her headpiece had changed colours and become more elaborate, and the gold bands around her waist and arms caught the sunlight in a hypnotising fashion. The biggest physical changes were the ghostly arms floating above her two physical ones. They looked ethereal, like they just barely existed here. None of those changes, however, held a candle to the metaphysical change we could all feel. When Medicham opened her eyes, the clearing was flooded with even more psychic power, and I had to resist the temptation to fall to my knees as the power doubled again.
"Medi!" Lucian shouted, trying to get his pokemon's attention, but it proved useless as the power around us doubled again. Fuck! Even Medicham? I prepared to send my pokemon forward, as my bug types were the most natural counters we had on hand, but Lucian waved me off with a gesture and closed his eyes, placing two fingers on his temple. It only took a few seconds for the psychic power around us to disappear entirely.
"I apologise for that" A sage, feminine voice spoke out in my head, and I only nodded before strengthening my mental shields. I doubt the powerful psychic had even felt them as she made her way through but they gave me peace of mind.
"Beautiful!" Cynthia shouted from the rock she sat on like a throne. "Nice upgrade. Want to test it out?" She asked with a ferocious smile that was completely at odds with the persona she'd spent so long cultivating in everyone's minds. Were we going to be seeing the real Cynthia Shirona from now on?
"Garchomp will be needed in case the other mega evolutions are not as peaceful" Lucian deflected the challenge, but our Champion would not be so easily denied.
"As you well know, Garchomp isn't my only pokemon. Since this is a friendly match, I won't subject your psychic to Spiritomb. But Lucario is just raring to go" She said, already taking out her pokeball. Lucian nodded, and I settled in to watch an impressive battle. If Cynthia's other pokemon were any indication, her Lucario would be a monster, and I'd just felt the power of Lucian's Mega Medicham.
Cynthia's pokeball spat out a fantastic specimen of the famed aura pokemon, and Lucian's Medicham got into a fighting stance.
…
They moved to an unseen signal, and I had to focus on the little aura I could use to get a good view of what was happening.
Lucario covered the distance between them within a heartbeat and traded punches with Medi. Credit to the mega-evolved pokemon, she didn't even flinch at the attack. She weaved through the first two punches, sent the third aside with one of her ghostly arms and got into a handstand split to dodge the kick Lucario sent at her head. She maintained the position and sent her own kick at the steel type. Lucario dodged, but the rocks behind him were blown to smithereens. That's some power right there. She acted like she hadn't noticed what happened and sprang from the handstand into a flying kick. Lucario, this time, dodged the kick and caught hold of the psychic's ankle. She leaned on the support, twisted her body and moved closer to him, allowing her ghostly arms to hit him with two punches, forcing him to let her go or risk some more serious damage. They both disengaged and got distance from each other. I blinked, and in that time, they were on each other again. This time, Medi was the aggressor and she wasn't pulling any punches Lucario blocked the first few punches with nary a wince and moved to take advantage of a lull in her attacks, but it was a feint, and she surprised him with a focus blast to the face. He used protect near-instantly and was unscathed, but had soundly lost the momentum and wasn't given the opportunity to reclaim it. Medi was on him like white on rice. A punch here, a twist there, and a kick here meant he was steadily and sustainably on the backfoot. Lucario turned things on their head by leaning into a punch, dodging on the last second and loathing out with a punch straight to Medi's midsection. Somehow, she flipped over the attack, using her small frame to her advantage and heading straight for Lucario's unprotected back once she landed. He was able to turn around in time to take a punch to his broad chest. He was sent sliding backwards on his feet, but showed no sign that he'd felt the impact strong enough to shatter stone. He took advantage of the distance to charge up an aura sphere.
"Dodge and corral" Lucian said, speaking for the first time in the battle. Medi jumped and moved to the side to avoid the aura sphere, but did not account for the one that had been hidden in the shadow of the first. She tried to move out of its way but couldn't get the timing right. It crashed into her and exploded. She landed, looking barely singed by the attack, but a lot more irritated than I'd ever seen her. The pokemon of calmness wasn't looking very calm right now. She blurred across the field, fists ready, and started another dance with her opponent. He dodged, ducked and weaved, but it all wasn't enough. Relentless. If I had to use a word to describe her, then that would be it. She did not allow herself to get swayed or distracted by Lucario's numerous feints, taking great care not to be lulled into playing the tricky pokemon's game. All good things come to an end though, as a feint that somehow wasn't a feint ended with Medi taking a haymaker to the skull. Her head must have begun to ring as Lucario adopted a stance I recognised from some old boxing videos. He didn't let her a second's respite before lashing out with a left cross. This time, she teleported out of the way, not letting the attack make contact. She appeared behind Lucario and sent a kick at his knee. He dodged, but was quickly put on the backfoot from there.
It kept going, all of us watching awestruck as the psychic fighter soundly outmanoeuvred and overpowered a fine specimen of the most powerful species of fighting type in Sinnoh. It was beautiful and hypnotising, but all good things had to come to an end. Cynthia was the one who chose to end the show. She whistled once, and Lucario backflipped away from Medi and bowed, acknowledging his opponent. We'd thought it over with that, but Medicham was not having it. She covered the ground and aimed a kick straight at Lucario's bent form. He dodged, but she was already on the move to a different attack. Nothing came of it though. The ethereal arms she'd sent at him turned to dust as they came into contact with a cloud of darkness. Shirona's monster was on the field. Medicham ignored all Lucian's calls to stop and went straight for the alien dark type. Perhaps she remembered their bout from a few days ago and wanted to try her hand now that she had mega evolved and was more powerful than she'd ever been.
"Be gentle" was all Shirona said as Medi made contact with her cloud. We all saw the energy of mega evolution disappear near instantly as the meditating fighter pokemon was surrounded by the darkness. A few seconds later, and the darkness receded, leaving us staring at the unconscious form of Lucian's pokemon. He returned her with a sigh, and we all gave the champion considering looks.
The alien hadn't shown that kind of power in its bout against all of Lucien's pokemon a few days ago, so either it had gotten a lot stronger in a few days, or it had been holding back in that fight. It held back against six elite-level pokemon in quick succession. What a monster.
"So…Do we move on to the next person or what?" Flint asked, being the first to overcome his shock.
"I'm next." Bertha said simply, not even bothering to ask if I was interested, pulling rank in a subtle way. I only smiled and acquiesced. After all, what else could I do?
Besides, I was curious to see Mega Camerupt. They stood where Lucian and Medi had stood just a few seconds ago and prepared for their own attempt.
Her dance was much slower and more elaborate than Lucian's. Drawing out every movement and twist to make sure she got everything perfectly. That was who Bertha was as a person, and I could see Camerupt tracking her with his eyes as he began to glow. His evolution was slow. Slower than Medi's and much more gradual. When the light died down, our breath was taken away once more. The two humps at his back had merged into one huge volcano, and its fur had grown tremendously. Pokemon were such bullshit, because how could you even account for these changes and their reversion from a biological standpoint. It made no sense, and Flint wasn't shy about pointing it out.
"This some bullshit" He said with a broad smile as the moisture all around us began to swiftly disappear. Camerupt wasn't best pleased with his comment though, as it humphed and the volcano at his back belched out steam. Infernape wasn't having the threat and stepped in front of his trainer, snarling something at the volcano pokemon. Of course, this is where things had to go to hell in a handbasket.
The flamethrower Camerupt fired at Flint was a bright blue, a sign of the heat he was now capable of producing. Infernape took the heat under the cover of protect, and Flint was teleported out of the way by Mr. Mime before he could be damaged. Cynthia's eyes sharpened as Octillery burst from his pokeball. "No, stop" Bertha shouted, but her shouts were ineffective as Mega Camerupt was uninterested in calming down, not even at his trainer's command.
At least it had the presence of mind to rush past her and not through her. That would have been a tragedy. Infernape had left the protection of his shield seconds ago, and was making his own mad rush at the enhanced volcanic pokemon.
Octillery interfered with a hydro pump that landed in the space where both pokemon would have collided. Infernape ended his run to avoid the attack, but Mega Camerupt just kept on going, the water evaporating as it touched his fur, but angerring him even further. His hump belched out terrifying amounts of steam as he chased after the mobile fire monkey. Flint had taken control of his starter and was now commanding him to avoid instead of engage. A good idea in theory, but not so easy to put into practice. Mega Camerupt wasn't much faster than regular Camerupt, but its flames were much hotter, and Infernapes were never the most fire resistant of fire-types. They just didn't compare to pokemon like Charizards and the Magby-line. I didn't think anyone could compare to pokemon that swim in lava when it comes to fire resistance, but the point still stood.
Mr. Mime intervened by boxing the enraged mega evolved pokemon in a series of reflects. It wasn't to last though, as the hump on its back exploded for the first time in this fight, and it was marvellous. The very ground I stood on was ravaged by the attack, and it took me leaning on Drapion to keep my balance. I scowled as I sent out Volcarona. The fighters all turned to behold the new addition, and I smiled in satisfaction. When it came to raw firepower, Volcarona was the most powerful fire-type pokemon in Sinnoh. There was no doubt about it, and as they regarded her, I could see them accepting the realisation. That didn't stop the enraged Camerupt from continuing its madness though. He rushed at Infernape again, but this time, Volcarona sent multiple explosive fireballs slamming into his side to dissuade him from that course. He saw the attack coming, and released a shockwave from his hump that detonated all the fireballs before they hit. Spectacular. Infernape tried charging up a fire punch, and hit him square in the skull. His hopes of ending the battle with that one hit died quickly, as all it did was enrage Camerupt even more. This time, he didn't bother with a flamethrower and just sent a ball of pure magma at his opponent. Infernape got out of the way of the attack, but was left wide open for Camerupts rush. It would have been truly disastrous if Volcarona hadn't appeared between them and sent him flying with her most powerful whirlwind. Good. I took the few seconds of respite to take stock of our surroundings. Lucian was directing his team to suppress the fires that Camerupt was causing with every failed attack, Bertha still lay on the floor where she'd fallen in the wake of Camerupt's rush, watching everything with wide eyes. Cynthia was relaxed on the trunk she'd claimed as a chair, watching with assessing eyes. Garchomp stood behind her like a silent spectre and I knew if it intervened, this would be over in seconds. From the look she gave me though, it wasn't going to intervene. This was a test, but I had no idea what she was looking for.
Camerupts return ended that train of thought, and this time, Bertha was ready. She'd stood up in the few seconds where I hadn't paid her any attention. And already had a hand on one of her pokeballs. When Rhyperior took to the field, Camerupt's charge stopped. Not from recognising his teammate or anything so sappy, but from the fact that he probably realised the magnitude of what was coming his way. Rhyperior was the most powerful of Bertha's team by a fair margin. It wasn't surprising, considering it had been in her family for close to two centuries. She'd started her journey with a pokemon well in the elite level, and while it had caused some furor at the time, everyone now just took the rock type as part of her team, forgetting that she'd done very little to actually train it. In case you can't tell, I didn't support her having Rhyperior at all. It was a display of everything wrong with the world we live in. A family guaranteed to produce strong trainers, not because of innate talent or anything like that, but from the fact that they just cheated by giving their kids a headstart no one could match.
Camerupt wasn't given a second to think as Rhyperior dug into the ground and appeared in front of him in a blink. His rush stopped, and I felt him submit to the rock type in front of him. "Good. Very good, boy." Bertha said as she walked forwards. Camerupt growled at her, but Rhyperior merely took a step forward, making him calm down and accept her approach.
Things were finally beginning to calm down, and then Infernape had to show that abrasive personality both he and his trainer were known for. He said something in native pokespeak that I couldn't decipher, but was clearly enough to piss off the volcanic pokemon. What the fuck? Before Bertha could lay a hand on him, Camerupt was off with the horses. This time, Rhyperior's growl did nothing to dissuade him, so gone in the haze of his rage. The ground type monster just triggered an earthquake with a step, messing with Camerupts footing and slowing him down before thrusting a drill-hand into the ground.
Lucian's eyes widened as Mr. Mime suddenly appeared behind me and teleported me next to him. I could see the same thing happen to Flint and Bertha. The Champion was content to remain on her throne, Garchomp using his own tectonic control to prevent the move from affecting them. I watched in awestruck shock as Rhyperior used the most dangerous ground-type move in existence. Fissure. The ground ripped apart, separating the clearing we were in into two distinct parts like the hand of god himself had reshaped the surrounding land. Fuck.
Camerupt was stuck on one end of the newly created canyon, and Infernape was on the other. Rhyperior just calmly walked up to the stationary mega pokemon and unleashed a single punch to its skull. It hadn't even bothered trying to defend and was instantly knocked out. Rhyperior was just something else. If only Bertha was a more competent trainer and had a team of other elites to back him up, we wouldn't be stuck with Shirona as a champion.
"Well, that was something" Flint proclaimed with a nervous laugh and Lucian just gave him a deadpan look.
"Something indeed. That Rhyperior of yours is quite a specimen. I didn't get the chance to properly appreciate him when he fought against Garchomp" Cynthia said with a smile that didn't seem sincere to my eyes. Her statement was also a very veiled insult to Rhyperior's strength, reminding us that even with all the power we'd just witnessed, he hadn't even been able to last longer than ten minutes against her monster.
"So, are we continuing?" She asked, turning away from Bertha to look at me. I just smiled in reply. As if I was going to delay this for any longer. It was time for me to meet Mega Heracross.
The Heracronite took its place at the centre of my partner's horn as I prepared myself for the experience of a lifetime. This was my shot. My time to shine. I'd been the weakest of the elite, the least of the greatest for so long that I'd forgotten how it felt to be at the top of my game. I'd been placed below people like Bertha, a trainer that was far too mediocre for the elite four, but rescued by the strength of her ancestors, Flint, a powerful trainer, but lacking in all the things that an elite needed beyond mere strength. The only ones who deserved their places above me were Lucian and Cynthia herself, but even they weren't absent from the taint of family help. Lucian hailed from money. So much money that one of his suits cost half of what I earned as a member of the elite four, and Cynthia hailed from a clan of dragon trainers, old as Sinnoh herself. The only self-made member of the elite four was me, and it was time to prove my worth, not to them, but to myself.
I stood a bit behind him and begun the dance. Two fists stretched out in front of me to begin with, and then a movement from the left to the right in a shimmy. An outstretched hand to the sky, and a hip movement I was sure was just Flint being dramatic were the last parts of the dance, and when I came to the end of it, stretching my hands towards Heracross, the Keystone gleaming brightly in my bracelet, he was consumed in a bright white glow.
I held my breath, waiting to see the results of his mega evolution, but a few seconds later and the glow cut off. Heracross remained the same. "What?" I asked, turning to Flint in anger. If this was some sort of prank, he'd be getting no forgiveness from me anytime soon.
"What happened?" I asked, rushing towards him, intent on getting my answers.
"I, I don't know. This never happened before." He said with a genuine look of confusion that did nothing to sate the anger roaring in my blood.
"What do you mean you don't know?" I screamed, still marching forward only to find my way blocked by Lucian. He shook his head and I realised what I'd been about to do.
"Let's all keep our cool" Cynthia spoke, perhaps noting the signs of FLint's imminent explosion.
"Did Champion Gerald say anything about something like this in all your lessons?" She asked, and I saw Flint begin to rack his brain.
"There's only one thing he mentioned. If the bond between trainer and pokemon is too weak to trigger it, there can be no mega evolution" He said in a tone I'd never heard from Flint in my life. He sounded sorry. That took the wind out of my anger nearly instantly.
My bond? Heracross was my pokemon. I'd trained him for years, we'd worked through everything from my first lily of the valley conference to my challenge against the elite four. He'd been there when I beat Blake, and when we'd wiped the floor with Bertha's team before she released Rhyperior and snatched a resounding victory from the jaws of defeat. He'd been there for all of it, why would our bond not be strong enough.
"There must be another reason Gerald failed to mention," Flint said, but it rang hollow to all our ears. The false assurances a parent would give to his child had no place here. I failed and that was that. I snapped Heracross' pokeball up and returned him instantly. We'd work through it later. "Let's move on," I said to everyone as they were still staring at me.
"Fine. I'll be evolving Garchomp, so I suggest you all get ready." Cynthia said, changing the topic from my failed evolution and bumping herself to second on my list of favourite elite trainers. Considering that list was presently made up of only her and Lucian, and I'd known Lucian for a while before he made it, it was nothing short of impressive.
"Are all my objections noise to your ears?," Flint sarcastically asked, and Cynthia just shot him a stare that made him close his mouth. A feat even Gerald hadn't been able to achieve with a measure of consistency.
She just took to the clearing we'd been using, her monster at her heels, and a mega stone clutched tightly in its fingers.
XXXXXXXX- Donnell Oak
I turned from left to right, preparing myself for what was coming. I'd told Oak this was a terrible idea. Dontaryon had been on my side with my objections, proving that he was the only one in the family with a measure of common sense. After all, who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to bust a Rocket-run illegal pokemon fight ring by sneaking in as a participant and then turning on them at the last possible second.
I knew why the plan was necessary. This fight club moved around. A lot. The only way to know the location was to be actively participating. It wasn't open to random spectators, only top associates of team rocket were allowed to watch and from the tinted glass that separated the fighters from them, it was obvious they cared to conceal their identities. That was why this mission was so important, after all. Chances were that a lot of the rocket supporters in high places would show up for something like this, so this might be the only opportunity we'd ever get to bust them with their hands in the cookie jar.
Why was I the one carrying out the plan? Because there was literally no other option. Dontaryon wasn't a fighter, David's team had only three members, and one of them was still in its first evolutionary stage. What of Oak himself? I hear you ask yourself. Now think of how stupid that question is. We had to resort to physical disguises, and Oak was so notorious that we had virtually zero chance of sneaking him in, especially since he'd have been the only old man here and subject to scrutiny.
Me? I was just one in a dozen teenagers. My hair dyed blond, and my eyes turned a light blue by contact lenses. With those two changes and the scar I'd added with makeup, there was virtually no chance of the teenage Gary Kasparov being recognised as Donnell Oak, elite trainer. Hiding my team had been a worry of mine, but since this wasn't an official tournament, they hadn't even bothered asking us to register our pokemon. A massive oversight on their part that I was determined to punish.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club, the one place where you get to experience the true brutal power of pokemon, not the play fighting that the league puts up to entertain toddlers" THe announcer began with excitement in his voice, and I quickly tuned him out, debating with myself about when I would begin my attack. Now would be a bit hasty, but it was bound to catch quite a few of them off guard. The only downside to that was that all of them would have fully well rested teams. On the other hand, I could begin in the middle of the excitement and get the chance to have a few of the pokemon taken out by their fellow criminals in the ring. The second option was preferable to the first, so I decided to go with that and relaxed to watch.
A Houndoom and a Raticate were the first pokemon to step up to the ring, neither of them looking particularly impressive or even noteworthy. A few minutes into their battle, however, I began to understand the appeal of this to the spectators. The brutality was something else. Deaths happened all the time in league tournaments, but those were almost always accidents. Here, every move was calculated to cause the most pain and greatest injury. It was disgusting, but impossible to not watch. It was one of those things that you didn't want to look at, but couldn't look away from. The battle, if it could even be called that, finally ended when the Raticate got a hold of the Houndoom's tail and looked about to eat part of it, before the Houndoom managed to flip the tables and tear a chunk out of the normal type. From there, he'd proceeded to roast the injury with its poisoned flames, undoubtedly killing the creature.
I'd been content to allow a few more fights to happen before I ended things, to tire out as many competitors as possible, but I was forced to change that strategy when one of the pokemon released for the next round was a Pidgeot with his opponent being a nasty looking Haunter. It reminded me too much of Quicksilver and his death. Igneel's ball was in my hand before I even knew what I was doing.
A/N; Yes, that cliffhanger was nasty. No, I'm not sorry. Have a great day, folks. Thanks for reading. We just started chapter 54 on the pa-atreon page. Feel free to join me there if you feel like supporting my work. Same username as up here. The link's on my profile.