Episode 9: A Triple Team Threat!
As Team Neo Magma invaded the S.S. Volcanion, Anabel went out to investigate, with Dylan, Ashton, and Kris following along. Aliana stayed behind, however, and walked over to the side of the room, pressing onto the wall and stepping into a secret elevator. Once inside, she pulled out a visor and put it on, activating her coms once more.
"To all Neo Team Flare members, we have intruders on the ship," Aliana said. "Please deal with them and whatever Pokémon they've brought with them. Makes sure the guests don't interfere either."
All around the ship, various crew members received the messages and reached into their coat pockets, pulling out high-tech sunglasses and responding, "Yes mam, Leader Aliana."
As the two teams went about confronting each other, Dylan and the others arrived on the deck of the ship, just in time to see the weirdos in black and red hoodies face-off with the people in garishly red suits and sunglasses. Anabel squinted as if she recognized both groups, while Dylan, Ashton, and Kris looked on in confusion at the whole scene.
"What is this, are we being attacked?" Dylan asked, motioning for Aurora to be weary of any attacks.
"Whatever this is, it's the most interesting thing that's happened so far on this cruise," Ashton grinned. She walked up to of the guys in suits, recognizing him as the crew member they had met earlier that day. "Excuse me sir, but what's with the getup? Are you the fashion police or something?"
"Nothing of your concern, miss," the man said. "Go back below deck and let Neo Team Flare handle these intruders."
"Neo Team Flare?" Anabel gasped. She released her Alakazam from its ball, ready for a fight. "Kids, that man is part of a dangerous organization. A few years ago, they tried to destroy all of France with the power of a Legendary Pokémon."
"Wait, seriously?" Ashton said, backing up from the man.
"I remember my mentor mentioning that," Kris said. "But I thought that their boss was considered MIA, so what are they doing on this cruise ship?"
"They must be using it as a front for their evil schemes," Anabel said. She threw out a hand. "Alakazam, use Psychic!"
The Psi Pokémon's eyes glowed blow with psychic power, picking up the Neo Team Flare Grunt and tossing him to the side, knocking him out as well. Ashton and Kris summoned Halley and Alpha, respectively, ready to fight any other grunts that came after them.
"Anabel, you seem to know what's going on here," Dylan said. "If there's anything we can do to help, let us know."
"We need to figure out who's in charge here and stop them," Anabel said. "Those other guys remind me of another evil team, Team Magma. Both sides use a lot of Fire types, so be careful of that."
My Water Pulse will protect us, Aurora said with a firm nod.
"Team Magma? If I remember correctly, they're led by a scientist named Maxie," Ashton recalled. Her smile grew wider. "Sweet, we get to battle not one, but two evil teams!"
"Let's split up and search for their leaders," Anabel commanded. She handed the three special earpieces. "There are standard issue International Police earpieces, which can connect to your phones for easy communication between us. If you find anyone that looks like a problem, call us so we can join you."
The three young adults nodded, then split up, with Ashton and Anabel going one way while Dylan and Kris went the other.
[***]
Over on the party deck, despite the announcement that all of the guests should go down into the ship for their 'safety,' there was one person that was still on the dance floor. With a funky beat playing from the speakers, a duo of Ludicolo held up a limbo stick while their apparent Trainer did a weird combination of Limbo and Disco dancing.
"Aw yeah, the dance floor is on FIYA tonight!" the man said, popping back up on the other side of the limbo stick. He did a spin and pointed to the sky, the lights gleaming off of his sunglasses. He then stopped, confusion on his face as he realized that he was alone. "Hey, what happened to everyone else? Did ya'll leave me hangin' out her by myself?"
Dylan and Kris ran up towards the dance floor, taking note of the man standing there. He was wearing a bright red disco suit that had a deep V-cut down the middle, with a yellow belt and platform shoes. The most bizarre thing about his appearance was that his hair was done up in a giant afro, half of it red and the other half white divided down the middle in a zig-zag pattern.
"Uh…" Kris gasped, unable to make words for what she was looking at.
"Well, there ya'll are!" the man said, pointing at the two. "If you're gonna leave a man dancing solo, then I'll show you who's got to go!"
Did… did he just rhyme? Aurora said, tilting her head in confusion.
Dylan slowly brought his hand up to his earpiece. "Uh, Anabel, do you have any info on a guy that looks like he stepped out of a 70s disco club?"
"Doesn't ring a bell to me," Anabel said over the coms.
"Alright, guy, who the heck are you?" Kris asked, calling out Alpha and Sera.
"My oh my, is that a Shiny Pokémon?" the man said, peering over his sunglasses. He smirked and tossed out a Poké Ball, summoning a Jumpluff and calling one of the Ludicolo over. "As the head of Team Miror, I'll be taking that Shiny for myself! So then, little lady, will you be a cool cat and hand it over, or will we have to throw down on the dance floor?"
"Yeah, Anabel, never mind, this guy just told us that he's an evil team leader," Dylan said. "Aurora, let's do this!"
Right! The Lucario said, calling on a Shadow Claw to ready herself for battle.
Miror B, as the man was called, did a spin and pointed to the sky. "Ludicolo, give us your best Rain Dance!"
The Carefree Pokémon jumped up and down, summoning a miniature rain cloud that called down rain over everyone. Alpha splashed about in the rain, while Sera looked up curiously at the sudden downpour.
"Watch out, that Ludicolo probably has either Swift Swim or Rain Dish as its ability," Kris warned.
"Got it," Dylan said. "Aurora, back up Alpha and Sera, as they have better type advantage than you do."
Kris commanded Sera to use Tail Whip, lower the opponent's guard before Alpha used Ice Fang on Jumpluff. The Cottonweed Pokémon cried out from the attack, taking quite a bit of damage.
"My, my, my, these kids have some fight," Miror B said. "Reminds me of some brats from back in my Cipher days. Ah well, Ludicolo, take out the blue one first!"
Thanks to Swift Swim, Ludicolo moved at top speed, grabbing Alpha from behind and jumping up for a Seismic Toss. The Croconaw made a surprised noise as he was lifted into the air and slammed into the ground, stars spinning around his head as he forced himself back up.
"Geez, that Ludicolo is fast," Dylan said. "Aurora, keep that thing back with Aura Sphere!"
The Lucario nodded, throwing some more balls to keep the Carefree Pokémon at bay. Ludicolo took the hits and then turned its attention towards Aurora, swiftly running over to her and blasting Hydro Pumps in her direction. Kris recalled Alpha in the meantime, letting Sera take center stage in this battle.
"Too bad there isn't an Eevee-lution that's super effective against a Ludicolo," Kris sighed. She then perked up and snapped her fingers. "Wait a minute- Sera, transform into Jolteon!"
Sera gave a cry, shifting forms in a ball of light until it became a green-furred Pokémon with a spiky fur pattern.
Miror B. laughed. "Crazy kid, don't you know Electric attacks only do neutral damage to Ludicolo!?" he taunted.
Kris smirked right back at the villain. "I wasn't going to use an electric attack. Sera, go for Pin Missile!"
The Lightning Pokémon reared up and swatted its fur forward, sending out sharp quills that struck the Ludicolo's behind as it was distracted with attacking Aurora. The villain's Pokémon cried out in pain as it was attack, rubbing at the area where it was struck.
Miror B. almost stopped dancing at how effective that attack was. "I say, I say! These kids know their stuff! But I won't stop until the music ends! So hand over that special Eevee, girl."
"Not a chance," Kris replied, Dylan nodding as the two stood their ground.
Just then, a Pidove of all Pokémon flew down and landed on Dylan's head, the Pokémon's feathers shining a bit as it absentmindedly cooed into the night.
"Huh, a Shiny Pidove," Dylan noted. He then almost fell over in shock at what he had just said. "Wait, a Shiny Pidove!?"
"You mean that Zorua did see a Shiny Pidove back in LA?" Kris said.
Miror B. looked between the two kids, then shrugged. "Wherever you found it, that Shiny Pokémon will be mine!" He did a twirl and tossed a Great Ball at the Pidove, but the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon just flew out of the way, letting the ball fly harmlessly over Dylan's head. It then flew off to another part of the ship, causing Miror B. and his Ludicolo to give chase. "Hey, wait up, future dance-partner-in-crime! I gotta add you to my crew!"
Dylan and Kris exchanged glances; both their faces filled with confusion. We should go after him, correct? Aurora asked. The two humans nodded, and the team was off to chase after the bad guy.
[***]
As those two ran to catch up to Miror B, Ashton and Anabel were making their way through Team Neo Magma and Team Neo Flare grunts, cutting a path towards the front of the ship where the two team leaders were duking it out. Tabitha had his Camerupt tossing out Lava Plume and Earth Power, while Aliana tanked those attacks with her Druddigon, the Cave Pokémon returning those attacks with its own Dragon and Shadow claws.
"You might as well just give up now," Tabitha taunted, rubbing under his nose. "As soon as this battle is over with, my grunts will have already stolen your precious Volcanion Engine for me!"
"Why do you want our ship's engine so badly?" Aliana questioned. "Just because it was made by Lysandre Labs doesn't make it anything special."
"Enough talk," Tabitha interrupted. "Camerupt, use Curse and then Take Down!"
Aliana gritted her teeth. "Druddigon, double up with Surf and Crunch!"
The two Pokémon did as they were told, clashing with the power of Ghost/Normal and Water/Dark moves. The force from the attacks sent their trainers sliding across the deck a bit, but once the onslaught ended, the evil team leaders looked in shock as they had canceled each other out, while also knocking both Camerupt and Druddigon out.
"So you're a more competent battler than I thought," Tabitha admitted, returning his Pokémon to its ball.
"And so are you," Aliana said, returning her Pokémon as well.
"There you are!" Anabel shouted, running up with Ashton and their Pokémon. "Team Magma and Team Flare, your evil plots stop here!"
"Yeah!" Ashton agreed, getting Halley ready for a fight.
"Please, we have no time to deal with you," Tabitha scoffed.
"Return to your room, International Police Agent Anabel," Aliana ordered. "Team Neo Flare will handle these intruders."
"Aliana?" Anabel said in surprise.
"She's evil as well?" Ashton said. She then shrugged. "Well, she did seem to hate her job, so it's no wonder she snapped and went bad."
'I don't hate my job, I hate dealing with people obviously inferior to myself," Aliana corrected.
"So do I!" Tabitha piped up. He snapped and pointed at Aliana. "Say, how about we team up and send these two do-gooders packing. I'll even call off my grunts and give you some of my Neo Team Flare gear."
Aliana considered his words, then nodded. "Acceptable. Once this fight is done, we'll just make it look like this ship had an 'accident' and move on to a new plan."
"Oh great, the villains are teaming up on us," Ashton rolled her eyes, ready for a battle.
"Prepare to a battle with the newly-named Team Magma Flare!" Tabitha called, sending out his Mightyena.
Aliana sent out her female Pyroar as well, and soon a new battle commenced. Unfortunately for the two evil team leaders, both of their opponent's Pokémon were better suited to fight them, with Alakazam sending Focus Blasts at Mightyena while Halley's Metronome used many Water and Rock type moves to keep Pyroar on its toes. It was clear that this fight wasn't going to end in Tabitha and Aliana's favor.
"Gah, this isn't looking good," Tabitha said. "Luckily for us, I created a gadget that should turn the tides in our favor." He pulled out a metallic device and threw it forward, the machine generating a blue barrier that stopped the incoming Focus Blast and Ancient Power respectively.
"What is that?" Anabel asked.
"Looks like a psychic barrier to me," Ashton said.
Tabitha laughed. "Behold, my Protect Shield. By copying the powers of Psychic type Pokémon, I was able to reverse engineer the move Protect into a gadget that any human can use."
"With this technology, you could make yourself invincible to all attacks," Aliana analyzed with a smirk. "I think our partnership might just be beneficial to both of us."
"I still need to work out the kinks, such as making it mobile after deployment, but someday humans will be able to nullify Pokémon without battling them!" Tabitha boasted.
"Sounds great, apart from the fact that you guys are using this tech for evil," Ashton said.
Anabel sighed. "There's no use wasting our attacks on the barrier. We'll have to use something stronger to deal with it, preferably before any backup can arrive."
Just then, Miror B. came running in, chasing after the Shiny Pidove and running smack into the Protect Barrier. "Hello there, ladies," he said to Anabel and Ashton. "I'm just trying to catch myself that Pidove over there as part of my Team Miror collection!"
Dylan and Kris came running their way as well, both of them looking winded from all the running they just had to do. "How… does he have… so much energy… to run like that?" Dylan panted.
"This is the guy that you told us about?" Ashton said.
"He's more competent than his looks, for the most part," Kris said.
His Ludicolo is quite formidable, Aurora added. Although I swear that it was speaking in Japanese, and badly at that.
"Hey, don't hurt Ludicolo's feelings like that!" Miror B. shouted.
"You guys need help taking down all three of these guys?" Dylan asked.
"I think I can take it," Anabel said. She pulled out an Ultra Ball and tossed it out, releasing a massive amount of energy as a Pokémon roared with power from inside. Standing before everyone was a Pokémon that vaguely looked like a sabretooth tiger, its fur sparking with electric power.
"It's Raikou!" Kris recognized.
"A Legendary Pokémon," Dylan breathed.
"Oh, you guys are going down now!" Ashton smirked.
Anabel stepped forward, placing a hand on Raikou's side before giving it a command. "Raikou, use Thunder!"
The Thunder Pokémon gave a roar, throwing its head to the sky and summoning forth a massive bolt of lightning to strike down on the villains. Miror B. gave a yipe and somehow managed to dive behind the Protect Barrier as well, much to everyone's confusion. Despite the legendary power, however, the machine still managed to hold.
"Hah! Even one of the Legendary Beasts is no match for my technology!" Tabitha taunted.
"Keep up the Thunder, Raikou!" Anabel ordered. "If you kids want to help, be my guest!"
"Look at the device," Kris pointed out that the machine was blinking. "I think it we use enough electricity, we'll be able to break through the barrier. Sera, use Thunderbolt!"
The Jolteon did as it was told, adding its own power into the mix.
"Good think I picked up a few TMs yesterday," Ashton said. "Halley, use your own Thunderbolt!"
The Clefairy did just that. Dylan didn't have an electric type moves, but the Shiny Pidove came down and landed on his head. I think the Pidove wants to help us, Aurora noted.
"Okay then," Dylan nodded, pointing forward. "Pidove, do whatever it takes to help out!"
Pidove gave a coo of approval, then flapped its wings to send out mysterious yellow orbs. The Hidden Power: Electric mixed in with the Thunder and Thunderbolts, all of the attacks eventually making the machine short out and cause a massive explosion! Once the dust settled, the heroes looked up to watch as the bad guys were blasted into the sky.
"Aw man, and I really wanted that Pidove!" Miror B. whined.
"I think we should focus about surviving this landing first," Tabitha said. "Hopefully one of my other gadgets will make sure we do just that."
"This team up is already going south," Aliana sighed, her voice becoming monotone once more.
"What an awful feeling!" the villains shouted, fading into the sky with a comical starshine.
"We did it!" Ashton cheered. "Three evil team leaders for the price of one!"
"And this little guy here was great too," Dylan said, patting the Pidove on the head. "Good job with the Hidden Power."
"I can't believe that you have Raikou," Kris said, staring in awe at the Thunder Pokémon. The Legendary Beast stared back, huffing a bit in approval.
"He wasn't easy to catch," Anabel said. "Legendary Pokémon will only let you catch them when they want to be caught, or if you have a Master Ball. But earning their trust means that you have a bond that's hard to break after connecting." She then turned back to the rest of the ship. "I'll make a call to my partner and get some people out her to safely escort the ship to Hawaii and round up all of these grunts."
"Vulcan, Halley, and I will help take those punks down with you," Ashton nodded.
"And Aurora and I will go see if anyone needs help as well," Dylan added.
"I just hope that was the last time we saw those team leaders," Kris sighed.
"The evil team types tend to be the people that pop up more than once," Anabel admitted. "But with your skill, I'm sure you can handle them."
And with team Magma, Flare, and Miror stopped for the time being, along with meeting a new friend in the form of Shiny Pidove, our trio were ready for whatever was in store for them in the tropical islands of Hawaii.
Author's Note
This took FOREVER to write, but its finally done! With school and my other stories going on, I'm sorry that this was the one that had to be put on hold until now.
And so as we have our evil team for this story, a triple threat of Tabitha, Aliana, and Miror B.! The line that the villains said together at the end is a reference to what Team Rocket say when they go blasting off in the Japanese version of the anime.
Azakael: Gotta admit, I'm a sucker for big fight scenes like this, ehehe. I've still yet to face Anabel and her Raikou in either Emerald or SM, but regardless, she's easily one of my favorite Frontier Brains. Aside from that, Team Flare (or their Neo counterpart here) being called the 'fashion police' is... well, exorbitantly fitting, if you ask me. (Say what you will, those sunglasses are rockin')