Chapter 19
Shadows in the Dark
"What's back there?" Patrick asked after a moment of tense silence, both rangers looked at the unconscious manager with a mixture of hatred and disgust.
"A crime against Pokémon…" Joven muttered, not looking at Patrick.
With that ominous statement hanging in the air, Patrick and Tasha hurried over to the still-cracked door. Jane stepped aside without a word to let them see inside.
Beyond the door was a relatively small, bare stone cavern with no lights or furnishings. Only the narrow stream of light shining through the door illuminated the tragedy inside.
Paras and Parasect.
Dozens of them crowded into the corners of a room far too small for the number of Pokémon. Filth covered the floor and a foul smell wafted through the opened door. The mushroom Pokémon pressed themselves as tightly as they could against the wall in fear, desperate to be overlooked. Their usually vibrant orange carapaces were dulled to a pale yellow, and the red mushrooms on their backs were shriveled and lifeless.
As they watched, a weakened Parasect limped toward them on three legs, waving a single chipped claw, a pitiful attempt to protect its colony from whatever horrors it was expecting.
Unable to keep watching, Tasha slammed the door and quickly wiped her eyes. Cursing harshly under her breath.
"We need to make these fuckers pay." She hissed darkly.
Patrick, stunned and speechless, nodded firmly.
"We will…" Jane said, grabbing two more Pokeballs from her belt and rolling them in her palm. "Soon."
"These yours?" Joven called out from his position crouched over Miguel, whose body he had roughly flipped over with his boot. Six miniaturized red and white balls in his hands.
"Yes!" Patrick and Tasha both yelled, forcing the horrors on the other side of the door to the back of their minds and rushing over to grab their balls. After a brief inspection, they separated their Pokémon, a task made easier by Tasha having engraved the names of her Pokémon into the metal, a trick Patrick made a mental note to get done as well.
With a hesitant toss, they both released a single Pokémon.
Materializing in the white light, Meowth landed lightly on the ground in front of Patrick. Slightly surprised by the strange surroundings and unconscious humans on the floor, the tan cat was barely able to react before Patrick fell on her, enveloping her in a hug and pressing his face into her fur.
Meowth struggled for a moment, before relenting and rubbing her head against her trainer lovingly, a low purr rumbling in her chest.
Next to them, Tasha gave Hypno a quick hug as well. The yellow biped half-heartedly returned it, choosing instead to eye the two bug-types suspiciously. Shedinja and Ninjask didn't react to the suspicion at all, content to continue hovering and watching the events.
The next release was far more concerning to both trainers. According to the suit, Nidorino and Hitmonchan had broken out of their Pokéballs after Venomoth had sleep-powdered the group and they had to be beaten down and returned.
Looking at each other for support, Patrick and Tasha nodded and tossed out their next Pokémon.
From the white light, two forms appeared. Hitmonchan was able to react fast enough and landed on his feet for a moment, before staggering and dropping to one knee, grimacing in pain. At his side, Nidorino hit the ground heavily, all four knees buckled and he fell on his side with a low groan.
Both Pokémon were covered in ugly purple bruises and angry patches of burned and blistered skin. A pair of long slashes ran along Hitmonchan's chest and another across one of his legs, the scabs had broken with his release and a line of red blood dripped down his torso.
A ring of puncture wounds and bruises around Nidorino's hind leg showed where a powerful jaw had crushed the limb and drawn blood. The skin around the wound had turned a sickly black color and the wounds oozed a pale liquid. Several of his back spines had broken off, although they would regrow in time, and a triangular section of his right ear was missing.
"Nidorino…" Patrick whispered kneeling by his downed companion, hands hovering over the poison-type, wanting to touch him but scared to injure him further. Meowth also ran over, a rare show of concern for her larger teammate, and gently tried to lick the bite wound clean. From Patrick's shoulder, Bug buzzed in distress.
"Potion and burn heal! I need a potion and burn heal!" Tasha said quickly, patting down her pockets she knew were empty before looking at Jane and Joven pleadingly. Both of whom had been standing back at a respectful distance, watching quietly as they reunited with their Pokémon.
"I can do you one better," Joven said, hand disappearing into his cloak and bringing out two spray vials. "Hyper potion and full heal." Tossing the pink and yellow vials over to Tasha, who snatched both out of the air.
Tasha looked at the two expensive items almost reverently before getting to work, flicking off their caps and spraying down the worst of Hitmonchan's cuts and burns. Hypno had lumbered over by then and helped Hitmonchan to his feet, allowing the fighting-type to lean on him for support.
Hitmonchan sighed with relief as the medicine began to work, flesh began to knit back together, burns faded and blisters popped as the wounds healed. It would still take days of food and rest for a full recovery, but he was able to move again, relatively pain-free.
Nudging Patrick out of the way, Tasha coated Nidorino's wounds with a combination of the two sprays as well, and the worst of his wounds began to heal. Much to Patrick's disappointment, even though the bleeding had stopped, the notch in Nidorino's ear remained. A reminder of the fight that Nidorino would have to carry with him.
With the superficial wounds stabilized, Tasha gratefully handed the vials back to the ranger. Joven waved off their thanks, replying it was his job as a ranger, and slipped the significantly depleted vials back into his cloak.
"Now that all your Pokémon are stable, we'll need your help," Jane said, taking charge of the group. "This manager needs to be taken to Cerulean to answer for his crimes and I'd rather not let him out of our sight. I'd like you two to escort him through the eastern tunnel. If you follow that path roughly a kilometer, you'll exit on the side of a cliff, overlooking Cerulean city. With any luck, you'll meet a group of police or trainers being led by Joven's Swellow there. They can then take the suit off your hands. If not, carry on to Cerulean and raise the alarm with the gym."
"Understood," Tasha said, nodding firmly.
"What will you do?" Patrick asked.
"We are going to shut this operation done, take all these men into custody, and make sure nobody leaves before reinforcements arrive." Jane replied, "The suit mentioned two people called 'Shadows', they are most likely hired muscle meant to protect the scientists. Joven and I will handle them too."
"The Paras and Parasect are too scared and injured right now for us to safely interact with them. They'll, unfortunately, have to stay here until we can bring food, medication, and probably a Chansey to help them." Joven added, looking at the closed wood door with deep sadness before glancing over to one of his Pokémon. "Rip, you can stop. He's been knocked out for a while now."
The bug ghost had been continually pumping the scientist with confuse rays for almost 5 minutes now and the man in the white lab coat now lay unconscious in a puddle of his own drool and urine. Not that anyone present pitied him.
"Search the room and let's move out. I'll have Poliwrath carry our prisoner for now." Jane instructed. The three other trainers split up, quickly looking into the different boxes lining the room.
As they searched, Jane released her third Pokémon and a hulking, blue amphibian materialized in front of her. The muscular water-type was nearly as wide as he was tall, with broad shoulders, strong arms, and a spiral pattern dominating his white stomach. A pair of bulbous eyes narrowed in a scowl as he looked around.
"Sorry bud, you are on hostage duty," Jane said pointing at the manager once her Pokémon had gained his bearings.
With a grunt, Poliwrath stomped over to the unconscious human and effortlessly threw the man over his shoulder with one hand.
They found nothing of use in the boxes, no incriminating information or files. Just more coveralls, boxes of respirator masks and goggles, and several electric cattle prods stacked in the corner. The likely use of them made all those present sick.
Despite their morbid use, Patrick unclipped one of the fist-sized battery packs and slipped it into his hood. His hood hung heavily against his back but Bug eagerly disappeared into the hood and began draining the battery of all its power. If it came to a fight, Patrick wanted his spider to be as charged up as possible.
With the others distracted, Tasha quietly sidled up to Poliwrath and quickly reached into the unconscious man's jacket pocket retried a small paper-covered package, and slipped it into her pocket. Poliwrath raised a nonexistent eyebrow but said nothing. Glancing to her side, Tasha saw Shedinja staring at her intensely, specifically at the pocket she had put the package in.
"Let's get moving." Jane said, "We'll have to leave the scientist here but I don't think he'll be getting up any time soon. I'll send someone to retrieve him once we've secured the base."
"I can make sure he won't be going anywhere." Patrick offered, eager to be of some use. "Bug, tie him up."
With Patrick's command, Bug quickly got to work. In one leap, the tiny insect sailed over to the scientist, landing lightly on his chest. Crawling to each wrist and ankle, Bug carefully spun shackles of sticky webbing that secured him tightly to the stone floor. Nodding in satisfaction, Bug leaped back to Patrick's outstretched hand.
"String shot is so useful," Joven whistled. "Oy, you two are bug-types! Why can't you make webs?" He directed at the insects hovering by his side. The two cicada Pokémon looked at each other, back at Joven, and shrugged.
"Ahhh, it was rhetorical anyways…" Joven said, dropping it.
"Good work." Jane nodded at Patrick, "I'll send someone to cut him loose when I can. Now, let's shut this operation down. These Paras need medical attention asap."
With a nod from all around, the party left the morbid room and headed back the way they came. Each trainer sent one last guilty glance at the only other door in the room as they left. Hitmonchan and Nidorino were returned to their Pokéballs. While able to move without pain, both Pokémon were exhausted, and avoiding any extra movement would be beneficial. The rest of the Pokémon fanned out in front and behind the trainers.
Jogging down the corridor now, Jane and Joven spoke rapidly with each other, making their battle plan.
"Exits?" Jane asked.
"Six tunnels that I was able to find. Unsure of any hidden passages." Joven replied quickly.
"Okay, I'll handle those. Trainers on the floor?"
"A few grunts with Pokéballs, unlikely to be a problem. Rip found an infirmary that had at least a dozen trainers and their Pokémon recovering. Hitmonchan and Nidorino softened them up for us, it seems." Jane sent an appreciative nod to Tasha and Patrick.
"Terrain; soft mycelium floor, a large pool of water, and low lighting," Jane said, Joven nodded in confirmation. "We'll see what resistance they put up. Ninjask and Shedinja should maintain air supremacy, and Poliwrath will take the pool if needed. Ninetales and Jolteon to round up stragglers. Kecleon for support. Anything to add?"
"Nope, you're the boss," Joven said easily. "I'll keep the big man in reserve."
"What can we do?" Tasha asked from the back.
"Your job is to take the suit and leave through the east tunnel as quickly as you can, I'll point out which one. Securing him is a top priority." Jane replied, gesturing to the lifeless body swaying on Poliwrath's shoulder.
"Got it."
Lights ahead of them indicated they were reaching the edge of the tunnel and with a nod to each other, the rangers got to work. Joven flickered once, before disappearing entirely and Patrick found his eyes naturally drifting toward the left side of the tunnel. Following their trainer's lead, Ninjask disappeared in a blur of speed and Shedinja dissolved into a shadow on the wall. Patrick found it unsettling how quickly a ranger and his entire team could simply disappear.
Jane tossed her fourth Pokéball into the air and released another member of her party. The wriggling ball of vines lightly touched down and broke into a hopping-jog to keep up with those present. Two wide eyes peered out from the depths of the Tangela's vines to look at everyone present.
"We are about to enter a mushroom grove, your job is to seal up the exit tunnels, six in total. Got it?" The three-foot bundle of vines nodded vigorously. "You two stick with me." She directed at Tasha and Patrick. Hypno and Meowth obediently followed.
Jane, Tasha, and Patrick stepped into the illuminated mushroom grove together, surrounded by their Pokémon. Without Kecleon's camouflage to hide them, the lab in the center of the grove fell silent instantly as they all looked up from their vials and test tubes. For a brief moment, no one moved.
Then all hell broke loose.
Over a dozen poke balls flew into the air and in a blinding flash of light, a small horde of Geodude, Zubat, Bellsprout, Nidoran, and a single Golbat appeared before them. In an uproar, the trainers in the lab shouted out commands to their various Pokémon.
"Tear them apart," Jane said icily to Jolteon and Ninetales. The fox and canine Pokémon lunged forward to meet the horde of Pokémon rushing at them.
Streaking forward like a yellow comet, Jolteon rushed into the center of the group. Sending massive bolts of lightning streaking through the air with every movement. Several of the Zubat were too slow to avoid the attack and were blasted from the air.
Ninetales followed her smaller teammate at a slower pace. With a shake of her tails, a line of flames burst to life around her feet and spread in an arc, slowly forming a ring that soon completely encircled the lab, trainers, and their Pokémon.
The entire mushroom grove flashed with red and yellow lights as Ninetales and Jolteon quickly made work of the weaker Pokémon. A female Nidoran shot a volley of poison stings at Jolteon, but the speedy electric-type easily dodged and countered with a high-powered pin missile. Nidoran didn't stand a chance.
The sound of trainers barking orders and Pokémon grunting, howling, and squeaking filled the air for almost a minute before all went silent. Only the soft crackle of the fire spin remained, squashing any thoughts of running from the captured trainers and scientists.
Meanwhile, Tangela happily bounced from exit to exit, stopping briefly before each one and plunging his vine into the mycelium. Pulsing green for a second, the dense brown fibers on the ground would then burst upwards, filling the tunnels with thick new growth and temporarily sealing them.
Tasha and Patrick just watched in stunned silence as the Jolteon and Ninetails rounded up the cornered scientists and grunts. A slowly shrinking ring of flames around the entire lab, courtesy of Ninetales, deterred any of them from trying to run.
It seemed… so easy… Patrick thought. They were outnumbered 5 to 1, and yet Jane alone had cut through their resistance like it was nothing. Burned, paralyzed, and unconscious bodies of Pokémon littered the floor, defeated so quickly that most couldn't even launch a single attack. Meowth and Hypno hadn't even had a chance to help before the battle was over.
Even now, Jane was calmly walking around the flames, sword in hand, letting the entire lab know they were under arrest and to not move until Cerulean PD arrived. Jolteon and Ninetales prowled at her side, growling at the captured men and women.
"Head over to that tunnel and follow it until you see sunlight! We can handle everything from here." Jane called out to Patrick, Tasha, and Poliwrath who was still holding the unconscious manager and pointing at the tunnel nearest to her. "Tangela can open a door for you."
The three jogged over to the indicated tunnel, now a thick mass of roots and mushroom stems. Tangela bounced over to meet them in front of the overgrown foliage and cheerfully waved a vine at Poliwrath. The over-muscled amphibian replied with a curt nod to his teammate, the surly water-type still disgruntled about being left out of the fighting.
With a tiny grunt from Tangela and a flash of green, the roots groaned and shifted, and a small opening appeared, revealing a long dark tunnel that transitioned from root to stone.
With their way clear, Patrick turned to thank Jane for all of her help but something odd caught his attention. One of the entrances Tangela had plugged up was now smoking, and the tips of orange flames were starting to appear around the roots as more of the growth ignited.
"Uh… Jane, I think Ninetales set an exit on fire!" Patrick called over the ranger, who snapped her head back at the tunnel Patrick pointed to.
"Ninetales-" Jane's command was drowned out when the entrance flashed red and a torrent of flame burst through the roots, incinerating them and engulfing a small area around the tunnel in flames. Small clusters of blue mushrooms burst into flames and one of the great red mushrooms fell with a crash. A dark shape prowled through the fire, unbothered by the searing heat as flames parted around its coal-black fur.
Stepping out of the inferno, the Houndoom let out a long howl as it glared at Jane and her Pokémon.
Rising to the challenge from the fire-type, Ninetales sprang between her trainer and the hellhound. Letting out a deep growl, red eyes flashing dangerously, and all nine tails whipped back and forth. Behind her, the fire spin grew dangerously large, forcing the captured scientists to huddle even closer.
"Poliwrath, our new guest is making a mess. Please clean up." Jane remarked casually, unfazed by the fiery entrance.
Poliwrath dumped the body he was carrying with glee, eliciting a grunt from the unconscious man, and bunched his muscular legs down in a low squat. Before Patrick or Tasha could say anything else, the tadpole Pokémon flexed his powerful leg muscles and shot forward, leaping high into the air and sailing toward the center of the cavern.
Sucking in a deep breath that bulged out Poliwrath's neck pouch, the water-type grunted and exhaled a thick stream of vibrant blue bubbles that flew toward Houndoom and the flames.
With plenty of time to avoid the attack, Houndoom leisurely leapt to the side, letting the frail bubbles fly past. The first bubble touched the ground where the dark Pokémon had been standing and popped with a deafening boom. A small explosion ripped through the surrounding flames, snuffing them out from the sheer pressure. The rest of the bubble beam quickly followed, unleashing a thunderous cascade of explosions as Poliwrath obliterated the remaining flames. Off to the side, Houndoom stumbled slightly from the incessant shockwaves.
Landing heavily next to Jane in a crouch, Poliwrath stood to his full height and crossed his arm over this broad chest, beaming happily at the destruction.
"A simple water gun would have sufficed…" Jane lightly admonished her Pokémon, although Poliwrath didn't seem to hear.
"You two better skedaddle, this might get messy." A voice whispered from thin air next to Patrick, causing the researcher to jump.
"Joven?" Patrick asked cautiously, trying to regain his composure.
"Do you know any other invisible, yet incredibly handsome men?" The voice replied, "Don't forget to take the suit. Worst case scenario, it'll be good to secure at least one prisoner."
"Hypno can handle it." Tasha piped up, nodding to her psychic-type.
Nodding back, Hypno lumbered over to the still-unconscious manager, who was now outlined with a faint blue aura. Raising his hands over his head, the body on the ground followed suit and hovered above the yellow Pokémon.
"Well, what the fuck do we have here?" A deep voice echoed from the tunnel, as a man stepped onto the charred earth. The massive, bald man strode over to the Houndoom and dropped a hand heavily on the hound's neck, giving him a rough scratch. Even from a distance, Patrick could make out the distinct scar on his face, tracing from temple to jaw, and his blood ran cold.
"I know him…" Patrick croaked out, barely able to breathe. Flashbacks of the dark alley in Viridian vividly came back to him, Houndoom's growl still rumbled in his nightmares.
His first encounter with a truly dangerous trainer.
"Is he strong?" Joven's voice asked seriously.
"I think so. I didn't see him fight, but when I was near him every sense in my body told me to turn and run.
"Oy! You lot deaf? I asked what the fuck are you doing?" The bald men yelled angrily.
"Ted, darling. I believe they are trying to shut down our operation." A small woman said, daintily stepping out of the shadows, carefully lifting the hem of her expensive-looking dress off the blackened floor and standing next to her partner, barely reaching his waist. She casually twirled a parasol in one hand.
"Can't have that, Bundy. The boss would never let us live it down." The now-identified Ted growled back.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you or your boss," Jane spoke for the first time. "But that is exactly what we're going to do. I have to thank you for coming to me. It's much easier than chasing you down through the tunnels like a Raticate."
"So, you have jokes? I'll enjoy crushing you." Ted replied. "Houndoom, drive the ghost off."
The dark-type spun instantly and fired a black pulse of energy at a seemingly random spot on the cavern wall above and behind the two trainers. Just before the attack hit, a shadow detached itself from the wall and Shedinja manifested in midair, dodging the attack, and raced back across the cavern to hover by Jane.
The dark pulse splashed soundlessly against the stone and dissolved into nothing.
"A little trick like that won't work on us, dear," Bundy replied politely.
"You can't blame a girl for trying," Jane said. "Still, I've got five Pokémon to your one. It will be a lot less painful for Houndoom if you surrender now." Jolteon, Ninetales, Poliwrath, Tangela, and Shedinja hissed, growled, and flexed attempting to intimidate the lone dark-type.
"Numbers aint a problem," Ted replied wickedly, pulling out two more Pokéballs and tossing them in the air.
"Quite." Bundy agreed, tossing out three of her own.
As the white light faded, the two trainers were now surrounded by an entourage of monsters.
Looming over the two trainers and covered in shaggy brown fur, was a massive bear standing on his hind legs. The Ursaring growled deeply, sending a shudder down Patrick's spine. Crouched down at Ted's feet a black biped, only a few feet tall. Its red, feathery mane and headdress frame its face, which was set in a wicked grin. Razor-sharp talons gleamed, protruding from each hand.
In front of Bundy, a hulking purple bulldog was crouching on the ground. A line of drool trailed from her overly large jaws as the Granbull growled as well. To her left and right two small round Pokémon stood, glaring fiercely despite their small stature. The Azumarill and Wigglytuff, both large for their species, were dwarfed by the monsters surrounding them.
"What the devil is that black and red Pokémon…" Patrick heard Joven mutter and heard the familiar chime of a Pokédex opening.
"It's a Weavile and hasn't been added to the dex yet," Patrick said quickly, straining his mind to remember the battle footage he had seen in Professor Oak's office months ago. "We think it evolves from Sneasel. It's very fast, attacks with dark and ice attacks, and prefers close range to distance. Based on what I've seen." Patrick explained.
"Well aren't you full of useful information," Joven said with a whistle. "Speed we can handle. Dark and ice are a little annoying for me to fight, though… I'll pass this information over to Jane. You two should really leave now."
As he spoke Joven's voice drifted away, jogging silently across the spongey ground to talk to Jane.
"How do you know what a Weavile is?" Tasha asked as they started to back away towards the escape tunnel.
Across the cavern, Weavile's sharp ears perked up at the sound of its name and with a high-pitched screech, pointed at Tasha and Patrick with a sickle-like claw.
"Stop them," Ted commanded flatly, seeing they were almost at the tunnel. Grinning darkly, Weavile leaned forward and phased out of sight as he raced across the cavern, far too fast for human eyes to follow or react to.
But not too fast for Ninjask.
With the sound of clashing metal, Weavile materialized barely ten feet away from Patrick and Tasha, claws clashed with Ninjask's forelegs as the two fought to push the other back. With a heave, Weavile threw the smaller Pokémon away, only for Ninjask to quickly stabilize himself in midair and with a slash of his forelegs, fired off twin blades of dull green energy at Weavile.
Blurring into motion, Weaville ducked under the X-scissor and retaliated with an attack of its own. A small orb of crystal blue energy quickly formed before the gem on the dark-type's forehead and Weavile launched the ice beam back at Ninjask, who scrambled to avoid the frigid attack.
The beam sailed past Ninjask unimpeded and struck its true target, the mass of roots plugging up the exit. Ice crystals burst from the vines and expanded, growing outwards and pressing into each other until the exit Patrick and Tasha had been leaving through was frozen solid.
Smirking at his completed job, Weavile retreated, darting back over to Ted and the rest of his party.
"We ain't gonna let you leave that easily…" Ted taunted from across the cavern and took a better look at the two trainers who tried to escape. "Bundy, you recognize that kid in blue, don't ya…"
"You may have been right…" Bundy said with a sigh, spinning her parasol as if in thought. "He did turn out to be trouble. We'll just have to kill him once this is over."
Patrick stiffened at the threat on his life, so casually uttered, and a cold shiver rushed down his spine.
The life of a trainer was by no means a safe profession but risks to your life were typically from a rampaging wild Pokémon or the elements deep in the wilderness. Threats of murder were not the norm. Even Jane and Tasha stopped to look over at him with concern, and Patrick could swear he felt Joven's eyes boring into him from some unseen corner.
"Hypno, Reflect and Lightscreen." Tasha ordered quickly, dragging Patrick until both their backs were pressed against the ice. The psychic-type stepped before them and with a flash of blue eyes, a pair of overlapping barriers materialized around the trainers, forming an impassable bubble around them. Miguel thudded to the ground as the energy holding him dissipated, and Hypno's attention was drawn to the barriers.
Not finished yet, Tasha grabbed Chameleon's Pokéball and dropped it at her feet, much to Patrick's surprise.
The red raptor appeared in a burst of white light and stumbled. Unused to materializing in midair, he was not prepared to catch himself. Quickly looking around, Charmeleon's eyes narrowed at Tasha and he let out a loud hiss at the woman who had beaten him only hours earlier. Red flames began to build between his fangs as he prepared to attack.
Tasha's hand shot out faster than Charmeleon could react, grabbed his head spike, and painfully yanked it to the side, forcing the Charmeleon's neck to twist and arch unnaturally. Patrick flinched, convinced Charmeleon would shred Tasha's arm to pieces with metal claws, but surprisingly the flames died down and the Charmeleon stood still, watching Tasha carefully from the corner of its eyes but not daring to move further.
"You're on my team now, so that means you listen to me," Tasha said forcefully, twisting the horn more and forcing the raptor to squirm under her unrelenting grip. "You do your job, and in return, I'll take care of you and make you strong. Got it?"
Charmeleon held Tasha's gaze, matching her intensity for several seconds before finally relenting and looking down at the floor.
"Good choice," Tasha said, releasing the raptor and allowing it to roll its aching neck out. "Now… we need your help melting this ice." Gesturing to the ice wall behind them.
Seeing the challenge set forth, Charmeleon's eyes glinted and his tail fire blazed higher as he charged up an ember attack.
0000
"She's good." Joven's voice floated through the air next to Jane.
"She has the spirit to go far." Jane agreed quietly as she watched the younger red-haired trainer wrestle her fire-type Pokémon into submission and then began the slow process of softening the ice with sprays of embers and slashing through the slush with metal claws. All the while, her Hypno maintained an overlapping barrier to prevent both special and physical attacks from penetrating. Not an easy feat. "Patrick is still a novice though. I don't see the spark of a world-class trainer in him."
"No spark yet… Give him time…" Joven's voice corrected.
"A Ninjask as well? You have quite a full team. Not many trainers can handle six Pokémon." Bundy observed, interrupting the conversation and watching the bug-type hover protectively over the pair of trainers trying to melt through the ice.
"I'm just full of surprises," Jane replied dryly.
"Maybe…" Ted replied, eyeing the surrounding mushrooms suspiciously.
"Well, regardless. I think we've had enough foreplay." Bundy said, clapping her hands together. "Surrender now. Or die." Next to her, the hulking bulldog growled threateningly.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Jane called back, before whispering. "Ninjask on the Weavile. Pin him down, don't let him interfere with fights, and don't let him attack Hypno. Jolteon on the Wigglytuff. Poliwrath, handle Ursaring, he's too big to allow him to get a hit in on the smaller Pokémon. Ninetales, show Houndoom what a real fire-type can do. Tangela, Azumarill. Shedinja, Granbull.
"Remember, this isn't 6 individual battles, you are a team. Look for opportunities to support each other. Be aware of your type weaknesses and your biggest threats on the battlefield. If you defeat or immobilize your opponent, press the advantage and assist your teammates." Jane instructed quietly. As their names were called each Pokémon nodded in acknowledgment, sizing up their assigned opponent.
"I'm here if you need me, love." Joven's voice whispered.
"Keep the big guy on standby. Both of them have a fourth Pokeball they haven't used." Jane said. "See if Kecleon can get in a few hits without drawing attention."
"You got it."
"Deep Blue… Engage!" Jane commanded.
Pokémon from both sides rushed in to meet each other and the cavern erupted into an all-out brawl.
Ninjask struck first, the fastest on the field by far. Rushing at his assigned target, the cicada Pokémon yelled out a battle cry and fired green blades of energy at Weavile. Weavile responded quickly and with a wave of his scythes, threw a volley of ice shards to intercept the x-scissor, disrupting the bug-type energy and causing the attack to explode with a resounding boom.
Both Pokémon disappeared in a blur of speed and clashed in the clearing smoke, claws and forelegs sent up showers of sparks as they turned, diverted, and blocked attacks from the other. Disappearing again, the pair reappeared a second later on the opposite side of the cavern, once again locked in a deadly melee of cuts and slashes. One of Weavile's claws was now coated in sharp ice, the other wreathed in black flames. Weavile deftly wielded the combination of ice punch and night slash, forcing Ninjask to avoid the claws or disrupt them with attacks of his own.
As the speedsters blurred in and out of existence around the cavern Poliwrath and Ursaring engaged. The burly water-type was dwarfed by the large brown bear barreling towards him on all fours but held his ground, crouched low with fists raised.
Raising a paw to flatten Poliwrath, Ursaring was unprepared when Poliwrath opened his mouth and released a stream of bubbles point-blank into the bear. The bear staggered back as the bubbles burst against his chest. With a grunt of effort, Ursaring lunged forward again, against the beam and slashed his paw down, digging trenches of blood across Poliwrath's spiral stomach.
Without flinching, Poliwrath shrugged off the slash attack and threw a rapid-fire volley of punches against the bear, peppering the circular pattern in the bear's stomach before jumping back, creating space before Ursaring could retaliate with another slash.
As the two separated, a blue blur flew through the space they had been fighting and landed heavily further away. Kicking herself back to her feet, Azumarill shook herself off and leaped back into her battle with Tangela.
Tangela had grown out his vines for battle and had tripled in size, from a compact ball of vines to a lumbering mass of tentacles, supported by several tree-trunk-like roots. Unfurling from his body was a pair of thick vines, covered in vicious thorns and held protectively in front of the grass-type, ready to bat away his opponent.
As Azumarill got closer, Tangela whipped both vines down at the water type. Smacking the ground with a thud, the mycelium was torn away and cracks in the stone spiderwebbed out from the impact. Stopping just short of being crushed and impaled by the living vines, Azumarill fired a water pulse at the grass-type.
The pressurized water smashed into Tangela, disorienting the grass-type and obscuring his vision. By the time Tangela had cleared water from his eyes, Azumarill was nearly upon him, fist cocked back, pink energy coalescing around her knuckles.
Delivering an uppercut that lifted Tangela off the ground, Azumarill backflipped away in a stunning display of agility and landed lightly on the ground. A second later, Tangela crashed down to the ground before her.
Preparing to play rough again, Azumarill was blindsided by the bolt of lightning that lanced through the air, stuck her in the side, and sent her skidding along the ground. Shakily, getting to her feet, she quickly dove behind a mushroom stem for cover and cautiously looked for her attacker.
Jolteon, however, had already returned to her fight and was darting around Wigglytuff, peppering the normal-type with rapid-fire pin missiles, who struggled to dodge the unrelenting attacks.
Inhaling deeply, Wigglytuff nearly doubled in size before unleashing a blast of focused sound at Jolteon. The hypervoice rippled the air as it shot towards the yellow streak. Sliding on her belly, the electric-type was barely able to dodge the concentrated soundwaves, which continued on to strike a mushroom stem. The intense vibrations ripped the fungus apart, and the great red cap fell to the floor with a crash.
Launching a volley of pin missiles, Jolteon disappeared in a flash of speed and Wigglytuff winced as the tiny darts peppered her inflated body. Carefully taking aim, Wigglytuff prepared another hypervoice for her evasive opponent.
Further away, Azumarill had to duck as a thorny vine whipped out and nearly decapitated her, instead slicing the mushroom stem she was hiding behind. Tangela had recovered, and the mass of tentacles was ready to resume his fight.
Grumbling, Azumarill leapt away from Tangela and released a bubble beam at the grass-type. This time, a trio of vines grew from Tangela's body and took the impact, shuddering slightly but holding firm.
Just as Azumarill landed, Tangela snapped his vines forward and struck the round water-type, the two power whips cracked as their tips broke the sound barrier and threw Azumarill across the cavern. Seconds later she struck the unforgiving stone wall and fell to the ground, where she lay still, the back-to-back super effective hits being too much for the water-type.
The lumbering mass of vines looked around to find another battle to assist in but the hellfire that was raging around his teammate and her opponent made him pause and reevaluate.
In the midst of an inferno, Ninetales and Houndoom fought a vicious battle with tooth and claw. Rolling along the scorched ground, the huge fox and hound snapped at the other, diving for the other's throat while protecting their own. Their heatproof fur had made fire-type attacks not only pointless, but both seemed to draw energy from the flames, becoming stronger the longer they stayed in the fire. Supercharged from the intense heat, the two now slashed, ripped, and tore as they tried to maim the other.
Ninetales' pristine golden fur was now matted with patches of dried blood from where Houndoom had managed to gore her with his horns and several slashes along her back showed where Houndoom had raked her with his claws. Blood flaked off with every movement, the intense heat causing blood to dry immediately.
Opening her mouth, she let out a burst of fire directly at Houndoom's muzzle, and although the flames harmlessly parted around him, the dazzling light of the attack temporarily blinded the dark-type. Ninetales took this opportunity to tackle him and snapped her jaws around the back of his neck, before wrestling him to the ground.
Arching his back, Houndoom jumped and bucked, fighting to get the great fox off his back, who's vice-like jaws were slowly crushing vertebrae and restricting blood flow. Blinking away stars, Houndoom desperately launched himself directly into a boulder, turning to position Ninetales between himself and the stone.
Air blasted from her lungs, Ninetales' grip loosened for a moment and Houndoom managed to throw her off with herculean effort, although her teeth tore through his fur and drew a ring of blood around his neck as she flew away. Grimacing in pain, Houndoom opened his jaws wide and fired a dark pulse at the fox, who was just able to roll away from the black energy.
Silently hitting the mycelium where she had been, the dark-type energy quickly ate away at the fungus and a barren patch of stone was soon all that remained.
With no viable long-range attacks to respond with, Ninetales pounced at Houndoom to reengage with melee attacks.
0000
Jane scowled as she watched the battle unfold around her. The two trainers she was battling against, the 'Shadows' as the suit had called them, were strong. However, they hadn't even attempted to alter the matchups she had instructed her team to take and instead allowed their team to fight at a disadvantage.
Azumarill's quick defeat was bizarre, as no trainer should have allowed a water-type to readily engage a grass-type with no advantageous counters at their disposal. Jane had expected some form of ice or flying attack from the water-type, however, none came.
The rest of the battles were proving relatively even. Jolteon had Wigglytuff pinned down and was peppering the normal-type with a relentless stream of thunderbolts and pin missiles. Wigglytuff's stamina seemed endless and she was able to shrug off the attacks and fire hyper voices back at Jolteon, however, it was only a matter of time until the balloon Pokémon was worn down.
Poliwrath was boxing Ursaring and although he had been hit by a few unluckily slash attacks, his type advantage was slowly beating the bigger bear down. Ninjask and Weavile were nothing more than blurs, racing around the cavern, quickly clashing before disappearing again. She had to trust Ninjask's speed to keep him safe, as although the bug-typing was effective against the dark-type, a single well-placed ice punch could knock out the fragile bug.
Ninetales, her ace, was holding her own against the Houndoom. Jane had underestimated the Houndoom's strength, however, and the resistance to fire both Pokémon possessed had caused the battle to become far more gruesome and bloodier than Jane would have preferred.
The most underwhelming of the fights was Shedinja's verse the Granbull, who while possessing incredible strength, was also incredibly dimwitted and didn't understand Shedinja's abilities.
The ghost-type floated several feet above the ground and flung blades of bug-type energy at the bulldog, who would leap out of the way before lunging with counterattacks. Due to the relentless confuse rays that Shedinja fired off every chance he got, Granbull's depth perception had been affected, and the attacks were just as likely to hit their target or cause him to dive into the ground. Even when attacks struck, Granbull's massive jaws would snap shut around the bug, only to phase through the ghost-type and leave him completely unharmed.
Stumbling forward after the latest failed attack, the bulldog grunted as an x-scissor dug into his exposed back. Spinning quickly, Granbull dove at Shedinja, only to once again phase through as the headbutt did no damage against the ghost.
Howling with frustration, Granbull fangs were quickly coated with shards of ice as the bulldog tried another attack to harm this seemingly immortal bug.
"Granbull, honey. Use fire fang or crunch. Nothing else is going to affect that Pokémon." Bundy called out from where she was perched on top of a boulder, casually swinging her legs.
Jane narrowed her eyes at Bundy, whose overall uncaring demeanor Jane found exceedingly disrespectful to the Pokémon currently fighting for their lives. She gripped the hilt of her sword and, not for the first time, looked to see if there was a path for her to engage the enemy trainers directly but the battlefield was too chaotic to make her way across.
Trainer-on-trainer battles were non-existent in the sports side of Pokémon battling and would never take place in a conference title or badge match. However, they still held a small place in life-or-death brawls like this one, where any advantage over the opponent must be pressed if you wanted to survive.
Granbull grinned gleefully, and flames erupted from his oversized jaws, and he lunged at Shedinja. The impassive bug, however, simply dissolved into shadows and reappeared behind the charging canine slashing the bulldog with his short claws and leaving two more bloody lines along his back.
Whipping his head around, Granbull snapped at Shedinja, but the bug had already retreated into the shadows, avoiding the fire fang.
0000
Meanwhile, Tangela had joined Poliwrath and the two of them were beginning to overwhelm Ursaring. Slashing with his claws, the brown bear managed to sever two of Tangela's vines as they began to constrict around him. However, that left him open for an onslaught of vicious punches from Poliwrath, which sent Ursaring stumbling back.
With Ursaring's defeat seemingly imminent. Jane opened her mouth to command Poliwrath to engage with Houndoom, however, Ted cut her off.
"This is taking too long," Ted yelled, from one of his pockets he produced what looked like a glass orb with sickly purple smoke swirling inside and carefully held it with a gloved hand. "Oi, Ursaring, Granbull! Fetch!" Ted tossed the toxic orb high into the air, where it arced and landed on the ground, between where both Granbull and Ursaring were fighting.
Seeing the item land on the mycelium near him, Granbull lunged for it, eager to grab the purple ball. Ursaring slashed at Poliwrath a final time, forcing the water-type to leap back, broke a vine that was snaking around his leg, then the bear also dove for the orb.
Just as the two were about to touch the orb, however, a stretchy tongue appeared out of thin air, struck the orb, and recoiled, disappearing again. Bear and dog skidded to a halt, looking around in confusion.
"What the fu-?" Ted began to roar but then, with a shimmer, Joven and Kecleon appeared next to Jane. The formerly green gecko was now purple, coughing and spitting as she tried to wipe a horrid taste out of her mouth. While Joven gingerly held the toxic orb with the folds of his cloak.
Seeing everyone staring at him, Joven jumped slightly before glaring at Kecleon.
"You lost focus, you dummy, we're visible. It's just a little poison." Joven scolded, before retrieving his full heal from an unseen pocket and misting the coughing gecko.
"I knew there was another one of you!" Ted yelled, pointing at Joven accusingly.
"Surprise! Ranger Team: Deep Blue, at your service!" Joven saluted. "I'm going to be holding onto this. Judging by the way your Pokémon reacted, their abilities probably work on status conditions. That's good to know." Joven waved the orb around tauntingly.
"Tangela, no powders on either of them," Jane warned. Her grass-type nodded at the command.
"You can try to hold onto it… but we have a pickpocket on our team…" Ted said, smirking.
Just as the words left his mouth, Joven felt a puff of wind blow against his face and ruffle his cloak. Looking around nothing seemed out of place, however, when he looked at his hand, it was completely empty.
The orb was gone.
Weavile now stood next to Granbull and Ursaring, smirking at Joven and balancing the toxic orb on his ice-covered claws.
Not wasting any time, Granbull and Ursaring both touched the orb and stumbled back as their abilities activated.
Ursaring roared, eyes turning a vibrant purple and his muscles visibly bulged as the poison began to coarse through his veins.
Next to him, Granbull howled as his eyes also took on the same purple hue and fell forward onto all fours. Turning back to where Shedinja still floated Granbull lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant. His fangs burst into black flames as he prepared to crunch into the elusive ghost.
His job done, Weavile dropped the orb onto the ground and raced toward Ninjask who had been hovering next to Joven, screaming shrilly and holding his claws high. In a blur, Ninjask disappeared as well and the two resumed their highspeed assault.
"Damn, that thing is fast." Joven cursed, scowling in the direction of Weavile and Ninjask's battle.
"Don't beat yourself up. You bought our Pokémon a few seconds to recover." Jane consoled her teammate.
"Switch!" Ted bellowed, his deep voice booming across the battlefield.
"Reengage, Azumarill!" Bundy yelled, right after.
Heading their commands, some of the battling Pokémon pivoted. Launching one final attack at their current opponent before leaping toward a new one.
Houndoom bathed Ninetales in a fire blast, temporarily blinding the gold fox and forcing her to stumble away. Just as Ninetales was about to leap back at the devil dog, a highly pressurized stream of water cut through the flames and struck her on the side. Causing her to howl in pain and roll along the mycelium.
Soaking wet and tails hanging limply, Ninetales stumbled to her feet and just managed to roll to the side as Azumarill struck the ground where she had been standing with a shining pink fist. Bruised and bloody, with two angry welts on her chest from Tangela, Azumarill was still able to fight.
Leaping back, Ninetales unleashed a blast of fire directly at the water-type, who responded with a bubble beam of her own. The two attacks crashed into each other, and the bubbles tore the star-shaped fire apart with an explosion of steam.
While Ninetales was busy with Azumarill, Houndoom had bounded over to Tangela and jumped onto the grass-type's back. Houndoom used all four paws to rip and tear at the layers and layers of protective vines and he breathed white-hot flames directly at the damaged vines, causing them to shrivel up and turn to ash.
Tangela screamed in pain before new vines burst from the dying ones and quickly ensnared the fire-type before he could leap away. Thinking clearly, despite the searing pain, Tangela spun and threw the dog up and away.
Houndoom bucked and kicked as he flew through the air, but it was no help as he splashed down into the great lake that dominated the cavern.
"Poliwrath, finished him!" Jane called, seeing the Houndoom struggle to swim.
Stumbling back from the Ursaring's relentless assault, Poliwrath saw the fire-type slowly making its way to shore but was unable to do anything but dodge as the bear thrashed around. Destroying boulders and pulverizing mushrooms with every reckless swipe of his claws.
Stepping forward to pursue the water-type, Ursaring didn't see a vine at his feet leap up and wrap around his ankle. Overextended, Ursaring fell forward with a heavy crash bouncing off broken shards of rock and hurting itself in the confusion.
Nodding thanks at Tangela who was lying weakly on his side, Poliwrath bunched up his legs and launched himself high into the air and toward the lake. Neck pouch bulging, Poliwrath fired a bubble beam directly at the struggling fire-type who had almost made it to shore.
Unable to dodge, Houndoom was hammered by the explosive bubbles and was forced under the dark waters of the lake. Seconds later, Poliwrath landed with a splash and he too disappeared.
"Ingrain while he's dazed!" Jane yelled at Tangela, who nodded vigorously at the command.
Tiny white roots grew from the many vines of Tangela's body, creeping over mycelium and wrapping around mushroom stems. Anywhere the roots touched the fungi would quickly wilt and die, as Tangela drained all the surrounding plant life of their energy to heal his own wounds.
Still dazed and confused from his latest attack, Ursaring made no move to stop the grass-type.
0000
While Jane commanded her own team, Joven was checking on his own Pokémon, whose opponents hadn't seemed to have changed. Granbull wasn't doing well and despite the speed boost was still unable to catch Shedinja, who readily dissolved into shadows whenever Granbull got too close and reappeared behind the dog. Joven and Shedinja had drilled and practiced shadow sneaking for hundreds of hours and Shedinja's mastery of the technique was an integral part of his success in battle.
The twin blurs of Ninjask and Weavile continued to circle the cavern as the two Pokemon continued their highspeed battle, clashing with violent explosions of green and black energies. Used to tracking highspeed objects, Joven kept up with ease and was pleased to see Ninjask was slowly getting faster and faster while Weavile was beginning to tire.
The dark-type had put in a valiant effort, but very few Pokémon could match a Ninjask's speed for any prolonged period.
Rolling in midair, Ninjask spun between a combined night slash and ice punch and landed a trio of x-scissors in quick succession. The combined force sent the dark type spiraling through the air and landing with a high-pitched groan between Granbull and Shedinja.
Seeing the danger before his Pokémon, Joven quickly called out to his Pokémon at the same time Ted did.
"Fade, Shedinja!"
"Dark Pulse!"
Heeding his trainer's command, Shedinja began to dissolve into the safety of the nearest shadow. However, Weavile struck faster and from his downed position, charged and fired a weak pulse of darkness from his head gem.
The hastily created dark pulse wasn't nearly as strong as Weavile's prior attacks, but it didn't have to be. The dark-type energy tore through Shedinja's fragile body and the bug fell to the ground with a cry. Knocked out from the single attack.
Raising to his feet, Weavile dusted his claws off and smirked at the downed bug.
The dark-type wasn't able to gloat for long, however, before a screaming missile flew across the cavern, struck the Weavile in his narrow chest and the two blurred away leaving a dumbfounded Granbull and an unconscious Shedinja.
A split second later, a heavy thud echoed through the cavern as Weavile was slammed into the stone walls by Ninjask's reckless tackle. Air blasted from his lungs and Weavile gasped for air in shock, unable to respond to the vicious assault.
Not giving his opponent any time to recover, Ninjask struck at the dark type again and again and again. His forelegs glowed brighter and brighter as the fury cutter grew in power with each strike. Not relenting, even when Weavile stopped struggling, Ninjask crushed the dark type further into the stone, screaming in anger at the Pokémon who knocked out his brother.
With a final strike that sent tremors vibrating through the stone, Ninjask calmed slightly and slowly drifted away, breathing heavily. Weavile's beaten and bloody body fell lifelessly to the ground.
Sending a final glare at the Pokémon, Ninjask disappeared in a burst of speed and slammed into Granbull, who had been tentatively sniffing at Shedinja.
Despite the size difference, Granbull was thrown away like a rag doll, landing heavily further away.
Twin red beams of energy lanced from Ted and Joven as they both recalled their downed Pokémon. Joven with a grimace, Ted seemingly unconcerned for his bloodied ice-type.
With a squeak of triumph, Wigglytuff finally struck Jolteon with a hyper voice, throwing the electric-type into the air and slamming into a mushroom stem. Jolteon shakily got to her feet and glared at the normal-type. While Jolteon was bruised and battered from the brutal attack, Wigglytuff still looked worse off, the pink Pokémon was covered in pin pricks and her hair tuft stood on end and sparked with residual electricity.
"Wigglytuff, please finish that Jolteon off with a gyro ball," Bundy called from the side.
Nodding her head in glee, Wigglytuff jumped up and tucked into a ball. While mid-air, the ball began to rapidly spin and dissolved into a blur shining with silver energy. Touching down on the ground, Wigglytuff shot toward Jolteon like a cannonball.
Jolteon easily jumped out of the way of the spinning missile which shot past her but was unprepared when the flight of the ball altered, stopped in midair, and raced back towards the electric-type.
Jolteon dived behind a mushroom stem for cover, however, the gyro ball pulverized the fungus and hit the speedy electric-type before she could dodge. Once again, Jolteon was thrown through the air, before bouncing along the ground with a groan.
"Another!" Bundy cackled, watching with glee as the lightning Pokémon shook herself off and stood back up.
Smirking, Wigglytuff spun into another homing missile and shot toward Jolteon, who braced herself.
0000
"Shit," Jane muttered.
"Excellent counter to a speed disadvantage." Joven conceded, watching Jolteon get battered by the repetitive gyro balls.
"Not Wigglytuff, the scientists." Jane corrected pointing at the fleeing men and women in white lab coats. With Ninetales distracted by her battle, the fire spin had slowly burned itself out and the previously captured scientists and lab techs leaped over the scorched earth and raced toward the tunnel that Ted and Bundy stood before.
Ted sneered and Bundy rolled her eyes as the workers ran past them, fleeing in terror into the dark tunnel and disappearing.
"Oh… Well yes, that does complicate things…" Joven said, watching all their captives slip away. "At least we can pride ourselves on destroying the drug lab and our little trainer friends are making good progress on the ice wall." Pointing at the dripping circular hole in the ice-blocked tunnel that Charmeleon had created.
"We need to finish this fight quickly and make sure the manager we captured stays captured," Jane said seriously, glancing at the unconscious man lying at Patrick and Tasha's feet before taking stock of the battles still raging.
Although there had been several knockouts already, the fighting was no less fierce. Ninjask had engaged Granbull in battle, and the poison-enhanced bulldog was just barely able to keep up with Ninjask's speed. Snapping his powerful jobs at Ninjask in showers of ice crystals, he tried to crush the speedy insect with a super-effective ice fang.
Tangela and Ursaring slashed at each other; tooth and claw versus vine and thorn. Tangela's power whips tore bloody trenches into the bear's fur, however, the poison seemed to have doubled Ursaring's strength, and vines snapped and broke with ease each time Tangela attempted to constrict the bear. With each torn vine Tangela took slightly longer to regrow a new one as fatigue began to build.
Ninetales was on the defensive, back peddling away from Azumarill's watery assault. Once again unable to respond with her signature fire attacks, Ninetales fired lances of psychic energy back at Azumarill. The extrasensory attacks would briefly stun Azumarill, however, the water-type would quickly respond with a water pulse or bubble beam and force Ninetales to leap out of the way once again.
Deep within the lake, the water frothed and boiled as an unseen battle took place in the depths. With an explosion of water and steam upwards, a dark shape flew through the air and landed in a heap in front of Ted and Bundy. Houndoom's body convulsed as the dog coughed up lungfuls of water before taking a gasping breath and falling unconscious.
Wading out of the water Poliwrath beamed at his victory, although the brief underwater fight had reopened his slash wounds, and thick streams of blood poured down his torso. With a shake, Poliwrath sent blood and water droplets flying and looked at each battle, before deciding to engage the Azumarill with Ninetales.
Looking down at his fire-type with disgust, Ted recalled Houndoom back into his Pokéball and clipped it back to his belt.
"Two down, four to go!" Joven called out, taunting the other trainers.
"Enjoy this while you can. Your little bugs won't even put a scratch on my next Pokémon." Ted threatened, grabbing his fourth ball from his belt.
"We'll see about that." Joven said evenly, "Ninjask and Shedinja, are best for avoiding collateral damage. They are my scalpels." Grabbing his own Pokéball from his belt. "But sometimes, the best tool is a sledgehammer."
Joven and Ted tossed the balls at the same time and in an explosion of white light. Two giants were released onto the battlefield, Mycelium was crushed and deformed under their great weight as they landed with heavy thuds.
Instantly spotting the other, two rumbles filled the air as the armored Pokémon let out low growls. Black eyes vs. sky blue, tough green hide vs. steel plating.
Tyranitar and Aggron prepared for battle.