Chaos. That would be the most accurate word to describe the situation right now.

The city had undergone a complete one-eighty in only a span of two minutes. One moment, everyone was sound asleep with their Pokémon. Then next thing they knew, the latter suddenly turned into sociopathic monsters that forced them to vacate or hide. Residents have since taken much of the latter since they had nowhere to go, but that didn't mean they were safe in the slightest. If anything, the situation escalated by the second.

People that had taken to running, however, well...it was easier said than done. Nothing would stand in the way of the fleeing residence other than a large sum of panicking people with very antagonistic Pokémon behind their backs. Those who were headstrong in taking that route took their chances...and many of them paid the price for it.

A middle-aged man was running through the streets, his heavy breath hinting to his lack of exercise. He barely ducked from the Ember that was aimed for his head and kept sprinting, even as the Growlithe had turned the corner to give chase.

"G-Growlithe, what are you doing?! It's me! Remember?!" the citizen tried desperately pleading, hoping that in some twisted sense that his Growlithe would understand what he was doing. The only response he got was another Ember that barely blazed over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I remember alright..." The Puppy Pokémon's tone was condescending and unempathetic. He stopped for a moment and planted his feet firmly into the ground. The middle-aged man looked back to see if Growlithe had already given up, only for his hopes to be completely dashed when a red aura engulfed Growlithe's body as he let out a deafening shout. Air distorted as soundwave pushed everything in front of him away, via Roar. The poor man was swept off his feet and went tumbling across the pavement.

"AH!" He fumbled on his shoulder into a nearby metal nightstand sitting outside someone's abandoned home. It fell over. He laid at its base in reeling agony and disorientation. That attack did more than just blow him away, literally.

The sound of a paw stepping up was what made him turn his head, fear painted on his face at Growlithe stepping forward. It could have been because of his Intimidate Ability making him feel this way though, but that was far from his worries.

"...I remember how you always gave me that crappy food that we Pokémon should eat. You humans get all the good stuff. Hot dogs, steak, all those kabobs...what I wouldn't give for just one of those right now."

"No...no, please!"

"But now I realize...that I can have whatever I want! All I have to do...is get you out of that picture!" He opened his mouth and charged for him, via Bite.

The man was to terrified to move. He put his arms out and screamed in agony as he braced for the impact.

"Water Shot!"

Just as Growlithe was about to close the gap, a steady jet of water rushed from his side, pushing him away with howl of pain. After several seconds, the man that was reeling from fear realized that he wasn't in any pain yet. He lowered his arms to see what was going on, only to gasp in shock upon seeing his waterlogged Growlithe strewn a few meters away. He got up as shock usurped his dizzy head.

"Are you alright, sir?"

The man turned towards the mildly deep voice. He saw a strapping young man who had several rings on his fingers, with the blue ring still dripping water. He walked over to help the man to his feet.

"T-thank you, sir..." he muttered, his tone cracked and shaken still. Now that he had a good look about him, he realized that he had never seen this young man around these parts. "Wait a minute, who are you? Are you with Fairy Tail? Or Twilight Ogre?"

The young mage remained stern and to the point. "No. I was passing through this area when I saw the commotion." He turned towards the chaotic scene that was Magnolia. Humans were running all over the place, screaming as Pokémon attacked them. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I-I don't know...we were just fine until a few minutes ago." The man slowly turned towards his unconscious Growlithe. "My sweet Growlithe, all of a sudden, he just popped out of his Poke Ball and bit it to pieces...then he started chasing me...my Growlithe..."

The young mage showed no empathy as he processed the explanation. "I see." He saw more Pokémon heading their way as he held up his rings. "Sir, I advise that you resume your means of escape until the area is vacant of this chaos."

"Y-Yes, sir!" In a rush, the citizen took to his heels, stammering a short step before finding his balance halfway.

Looking over his shoulder, the mage watched the man take to his heels away from the scene. As soon as he was out of sight, he turned towards the unconscious Growlithe. The look in his eye didn't change, though the atmosphere around him became slightly more tense.

In truth, the mage was really the disguised Shiin. Inside, he was feeling more endearing about the predicament at hand. 'This is worse than I originally estimated. There are more Pokémon in this area than I anticipated. Was it because they were all kept in these Poke Balls that the count was off? Either way, the priority is to route the enemy.' He clutched his fists, making all the rings shine. 'I need to refrain from using my identity and magic. I'll use external magic sources to extract the enemy.'

Up ahead, a Sandshrew and Swinub charged for Shiin. His green and blue rings shined as two miniscule magic seals appeared on them.

"Ring Magic Fusion: Squall!"

A rush of air and water blasted from the rings, creating a liquified whirlwind that expanded as it drew near the Sandshrew and Swinub. Both Pokémon were picked off their feet and blown away in the wet storm, throwing them on their backs with thuds.

Shiin lowered his fists and glared ahead. He scoffed as he closed his eyes to concentrate his Magic Power. A bright blue magic seal materialized beneath his feet that projected air around him.

"Swift winds, enchant this body with your light breeze. Be thy weightless guide to the denizens below! Air Walk!"

The magic seal condensed into two smaller seals that shrank until they faded beneath his boots. Slowly, Shiin began to float into the air, seemingly defying gravity. He leaned his body forward as air pressure expelled from below his heels, projecting him forward into the fray.


"C'mon! Just unlock already, would ya?!" Lucy gripped the chains confining her to her mattress. It didn't help that she didn't have enough leverage to even sit up all the way either. She pulled on one of the many energy locks in an attempt to break it, but it proved futile. "Geez, who knew Klefki's Fairy Lock could be such a pain to get out of?" she sighed.

Unable to break herself free, she found her thoughts digressing to Klefki and Staryu. She didn't understand what was going on, or why Klefki had prevented her from escaping. But what she did know was that this wasn't by any means natural. It just couldn't be.

'Klefki...Staryu...why?'

"Lucy!"

She gasped when a familiar voice rung in her ears. She whipped her head towards her shattered window and saw a blue cats with wings descend upon her. "Happy!"

Happy glided his way through Lucy's window, seeing her strapped down to her bed. "Why are you chained to your bed, Lucy? Is it to prevent yourself from sleepwalking?"

"Of course not, you dumb cat!" she feverishly snapped. "It was Klefki! She and Staryu suddenly attacked and jumped out my window!"

"Oh, that explains the broken glass then." Happy hummed, digressing his attention towards the shattered remains of it on the sides.

"But why are you here?!"

His eyes widened. "Oh, that's right! It's really bad! It's Natsu's Pokémon, they suddenly popped out of their Poke Balls and began wrecking our place!"

Lucy breathlessly gasped. "Wait...Natsu, too?!"

"Yeah, it was really bad! Some of the stuff we built is gonna take forever to fix up now!" He touched his cheek with his right paw. "And it really hurt when Natsu pulled me away out of nowhere, too..."

Lucy furrowed her brow. Her head lowered as she found herself getting lost in the predicament yet again. "First Klefki and Staryu...now Natsu's...? Something's not right about this, I'm sure of it!" She started pulling on her chains yet again. "Now...if these can just...come off...!"

"Hang on, let me try!" Happy floated towards the chains and began pulling on them. Every time he did, his body streaked as his tail pointed out. "Gnnnngh...gnnnnnngh...! It's...stuck...! Do these things have keys or something?!"

"No, it's Klefki's Fairy Lock." Lucy explained. As Happy grunted as he pulled to no avail, the blonde found herself biting her own thumb in distressing thoughts. 'I didn't think that Klefki would use this move on me

CLICK!

The sound of a clicking noise was all Lucy needed to hear. The locks on the chains unhinged themselves and dissipated into sparkling pink energy. With nothing to pull, Happy's momentum pushed him into the foot stand on Lucy's bed and plopped onto her sheets.

"Alright! It wore off! Finally!" Lucy shouted.

"Yay~..." Happy muffled, raising a shaking paw.

Lucy hopped off her bed and rushed towards the window...only to get a good view of the chaos happening outside. She went stiff as she saw the many people either covering up or running away from Pokémon as they attacked. There were a few small fires in some places, but not to where they would spread. But the sight was like something out of a nightmare.

"Wha...what is this...?" She murmured, completely speechless.

Happy groaned as he sat up and looked over at Lucy. "Lucy...?"

Lucy stared at the chaos below. A nearby resident was screaming before a Timburr swung his large wooden beam, knocking him into the riverbank. He kept swinging it around, getting other people to run away in panic. A Pidgey was seen kicking dust into her trainer's face, along with a Goldeen that used Supersonic on her own trainer, making him scream as his eyes shook from severe disorientation. It was all madness. Just plain madness.

Finally absorbing the situation, she sharply turned towards Happy. "Happy! We need to find the others! C'mon!"

"Aye!" He followed her as she rushed for the door.


Joey's eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was a frantic Dereece hovering over him...but what he felt was pain from his back flaring through his body. "Gnnngh..."

"Captain! You're awake! Thank goodness!" Dereece shouted, dropping to his knees. "Here, give me your hand!"

Joey lethargically raised his left arm, allowing Dereece to pull him up from the debris that belonged to his bedroom strewn across the perimeter of their house. Standing alone was a hassle, especially with how lightheaded Joey felt from that sudden point-blank soundwave that made his whole body feel like jelly. But as soon as the blood rushed back to his limbs, he came around fairly quick.

"You okay, Captain Joey?" Dereece asked worriedly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah...don't worry. I think I'm good." Joey grunted, arching his back backwards to stretch out his spine. It was a last-second effort, but just before he fell and hit the ground below, he recalled creating a barrier to surround himself in freefall. "I was able to save myself with a barrier at the very last second...wait, hold on!" He turned towards Dereece with a serious glare. "Dereece, where are the Pokémon?"

"That's the thing. It all happened so suddenly. For some reason, Heracross and the others just popped out of nowhere and just rushed out like there was a fire." He furrowed his brow as he looked back at the damaged home. "And broke a hole in not just my room apparently..."

Joey looked around before turning towards him. "Did you see where they went?"

"Last I saw, they were heading uptown towards the forest. No telling what they're thinking!" he grunted. "This is bad, we should hurry and get Duncan before something terrible happens!"

"You're right, let's..." Joey was about to finish his proclamation, only to freeze and trail off. A sound memory returned to him back from when he lost Pidove.

"If your Pokémon took off the moment you turned your back, what does that say about you?"

He furrowed his brow. He remembered the lesson he learned that day about handling your own responsibilities. He needed to get the picture and understand it. "...no, that's not a good idea, Dereece."

"Wait, what?! Why?!"

"Those are our Pokémon out there. If something happens because of them, that falls on us right now. Besides, Duncan has that new staff thingy, so he can handle himself. And also..." He peeked over the fencing, seeing the many people and Pokémon all over the place. "I think he might be wrapped up like we are at the moment..."

"So then what?" Dereece worriedly asked.

Joey turned back towards him with a serious glare. "We find our Pokémon, that's our first step. So get to the air and spot them out, pronto!"

Dereece balled a fist. "On it!" He activated his Elemental Walk, gradually stepping high into the air to get a good view of where their Pokémon could have gone.


It wasn't just the citizens who were struggling to keep themselves safe from their Pokémon. The Fairy Tail mages had their own hands full at the moment. In the streets at night, the guildmembers were struggling as they were swarmed by their own beloved Pokémon.

"Weepinbell! What are you doing?!" Droy screamed, trying to pry his Weepinbell's oversized mouth off the top half of his head, her Wrap snaring his fat neck to keep herself anchored onto him.

Swellow swooped down, diving onto Jet as he tried shielding himself from her. "Gah! Swellow, stop it! What's gotten into you, girl?! Ow!"

"Sweetie, keep Asuka back!" Bisca requipped a gun as she stood in front of Alzack and a frightened Asuka. "Mommy's got some business to take care of."

"Mommy, don't hurt them! Please!" Asuka cried, only for Alzack to hold her tight against him.

"No, it's too dangerous, Asuka! Stay back!" Alzack snapped.

In front of them, the two Ponyta let off their front hooves and neighed loudly. Beside them, their Remoraid and Clauncher glared back at them with distasteful looks. They looked more upset if anything. Bisca aimed her rifle for the Ponyta's feet in case they thought of making a move.

Remoraid, however, showed no signs of hesitation. His eyes glowed bright red as the iris had red rings that expanded into a lock-on track. The targeting ring faded onto her rifle, which had the same symbol. Once Lock-On was set, Remoraid raised his head and screeched out.

"Out of our way!" The two Ponyta cried out. Their bodies were engulfed in flames as they galloped their way towards Bisca, via Flame Charge. Bisca grazed the metal on her trigger, ready to shoot them at a magic seal appeared atop the gun as its own lock-on mechanism.

"Homing Shot!"

She fired a magical energy bullet that projected at high speed. It sped towards the Ponyta, only for Clauncher to meet that bullet with a jet of expelled water, via Water Gun. The super-accurate snipers watched as their attacks met in the center, creating a small burst of mist and magical dust. The cloud briefly concealed the two flame trains heading into Bisca, which she was unprepared for. Both Ponyta ran past her at a pace that was too fast for her to keep track of.

Before she realized it, she gasped and barely veered off to the side. They Ponyta continued their path towards Alzack as he clutched the terrified Asuka to his chest.

"Don't come any closer! Stop!" He pleaded. Unfortunately the Ponyta didn't listen and bolted even faster after them. Gnashing his teeth, he was forced to pull himself and Asuka out of the way so the flaming bullets could continue their charge down the street.

Alzack thudded on his shoulder, grunting in momentary pain as he glanced up at Bisca. "Honey! Stop them!"

Bisca took aim for them once more, but a jet of bubbles from the side rushed into her rifle, causing it to be shot out of her hands into the nearby wall. An audible snapping sound was heard at the moment of impact, along with parts of said rifle cracking off and falling towards the ground. With a gasp of horror, Bisca turned around to meet Remoraid. She mentally cursed herself for forgetting about his Lock-On.

"What the hell is going on here...?" she quipped.

The two Ponyta continued charging down the street, alerting Laki and Vijeeter as they were confronting their Sudowoodo and Lombre. They were too distracted by their Pokmon to notice sooner, causing their backs to be brushed against the passing flames. Fortunately none of their clothing burnt on contact, but they lost their momentum and fell forward to a knee.

"What the...? Aren't those Bisca and Alzack's?! Where are they going?!" Vijeeter exclaimed.

"I don't know...woah!" Laki barely shifted her weight back as Sudowoodo came hammering down with a destructive Wood Hammer. The force of the log-shaped energy smashed into the grooved pavement below and sent pieces everywhere.

"Laki!" Vijeeter panicked. He looked away just as Lombre appeared in front. "Huh?!" He was met with a thunderclap from the palms, making him reel from the surprise Fake Out.

"Damnit! What the hell is going on?! Sudowoodo!" Laki pleaded, only to watch in horror as Sudowoodo raised his arms overhead and a gray outline appeared over his body. Gray energy turned into rocks that he lobbed at Laki, who braced for the attack.

Elsewhere, Max, Nab, and Warren found themselves pinned when Nab's Noibat swooped down and fired a Screech. The disrupting soundwaves engulfed all three to cover their ears and grunt in earsplitting pain. Sandslash took this time to rush in with Crush Claw, violently slashing away.

Max grunted as he tried fighting back. "Sand Wall!" He summoned a rushing wall of sand to act as a barricade. The defense was barely enough to keep Sandslash from advancing any further. Eventually, he backed off and glared daggers at Max.

"There...that should keep distance between us." Max smirked.

"Tch! Really? Don't underestimate the competition. That's why we lost the other day." Sandslash sniped. "But I'm different! Watch!" He raised his heel from the ground. "Magnitude!"

He stamped on the ground, sending a tremor that expelled outwards. It was a light vibration that evolved into a seismic shockwave the further it went out. The street's pavement caved in as it traversed into the sand bunker, but even that didn't stop the intense vibrations and shockwaves from getting underneath. Fragments of the street shot up into Max and the others, causing them to cry out in agony.

All while Munchlax, who wanted no part in this, gradually walked away. The smell of food was far more enticing than anything this fight had to offer.

"H-hey! Wait a sec! Munchlax!" Nab reached out to his partner, but another earsplitting soundwave from Noibat made him cover his ears and cry out in agony.

In another part of Magnolia, Kinana was racing around, looking for any clues as to where her Seviper could have gone. "Seviper?! Seviper! It's me! Where are you?!" She called out to her Pokémon, but was met with an eerie silence. She found the situation to get more discomforting by the second. "Oh dear, where did Seviper run off to...?"

"AAAHHH!"

Kinana's heart skipped a beat. The sound of a cry from the alleyway up ahead was brought to her attention. 'That sounded like a cry for help!' She didn't waste any time hurrying towards the narrow alley that was between the two buildings close by. As soon as she turned the corner, her heart skipped a beat as her face paled. "Oh my god..."

It was livid. She saw a poor man, struggling on the ground. His body was twitching from a knife's tip that stuck in his lower back. As it prodded out of his spine, the man's body twitched from convulsing nerves. His face was contorted with both pain and exhaustion. The small hints of poison was indicated by the violet shaded blush that spread across his face.

"Oh no! Are you okay?!" Kinana hurried through the alley towards the man.

The man struggled to stay conscious. He saw Kinana head his way and desperately reached out to her. "Miss, please...s-stay away..."

Kinana barely heard his plea. It didn't take long for her to realize who the attacker was. Her eyes shrank to the size of salt grains when she saw a familiar tail sweep around like a knife, enticing its prey with a playful warning. Its owner was a long shadow that loomed over its victim, its red eyes glaring daggers at Kinana now.

"No..."

From the shadows, the red eyes glimmered before the figure sprung forward with intentions to gnaw at her. Kinana ducked at the last second and watched the shadow spring into the light of the city. As to her horrors, Seviper presented herself, her glare fixed on Kinana like she were a Zangoose.

"Seviper...what are you doing?!" she snapped.

Seviper flicked her tongue, scoffing back at her trainer. The look in her eye told Kinana enough that she didn't see her as an ally. She looked angry for some reason, if not vengeful. It was starting to make her blood run cold.

"What's it look like? I'm saving myself from my fears." Seviper backlashed. "I'm not your slave that you pawned off that snake girl back from Alvarez...I'll show you just what I am."

Kinana stepped back in complete confusion. "Saving yourself? My slave? W-wait...I never thought of it like that!"

Seviper narrowed her red eyes. "Of course a human would say that. Your species would make just about any excuse to rectify whatever actions you do. And here people say that I'm the snake."

"Seviper...?" At a loss for words, Kinana was completely taken back when Seviper showed her tail knife, shimmering with dark purple energy.

"And snakes...are pests that you need to get rid of!" With a vengeful hiss, she lunged for Kinana.


Closer towards the guild hall, the situation wasn't any better. The guild hall itself was closed for the night, so it was vacant. However, atop the guild hall's roofing, Mest teleported and overlooked the entire scene. The look on his face was pure distress.

'This is bad...where is everyone? It all happened so suddenly. There wasn't even a warning.' He furrowed his brow. 'From the looks of it, the Pokémon are all acting on their own accord. First thing's first, I gotta get as many people out of here as soon as possible, before-'

DING-DING-DING

Mest's eardrums rung from a disastrous noise. From so close, the sounds of the guild hall's bell was heard over, and over, and over again. He was caught so off guard he winced and turned towards the small bell tower that held the structure up. "Gnnngh...w-what the-?!" He went wide-eyed and gasped in shock at what was ringing the tower to begin with.

There, just a few meters above, his Kirlia was banging his head against the giant bell. Every time he careened his head back, he brought it forward with just enough force to shudder the bell, rocking the little knob inside to and fro to make its high-pitched sounds reverberate throughout Magnolia.

DING-DING-DING

He continued banging his head like it didn't even faze him. Mest looked up to him, his fists balling. "Kirlia!"

DING...

Hearing Mest's voice in between the loud bell rings, Kirlia froze up and allowed the bell to come to a halt. He gradually turned towards Mest, looking displeasingly at him. He let out a dissatisfied groan. "Ugh...just leave me alone already." He sighed. "Can't you see I'm trying to signal here?"

"Signal what? What's going on?!"

Kirlia raised his chin, straightening his thin legs beneath and remaining still. He glowered down at Mest with his eyes glowing the telekinetic prowess. "What else...to signal our freedom from you trainers."

Mest's eyes gradually shrunk as the shock surmounted itself. "What...?"


Granbull grunted as he charged towards Evergreen. His maw seared in flames as his fight or flight instincts told him to fight for him life. It was thanks to Evergreen activating her Fairy Wings that she was able to glide over Granbull's charge and look down at the canine.

"What do you think you're doing, Granbull?! Have you gone mad?!" Evergreen exasperated.

Granbull turned and glared up at Evergreen. Judging from his facial features alone, he didn't at all seem afraid. Frankly, this left Evergreen startled. "What's the meaning of this...?"

Bickslow reached his arm out, commanding his dolls. "Baryon Formation, babies!"

His many dolls agreed and lined themselves up. Once their formation was assembled, a green beam with an indefinite width to them shot into Shuppet. She barely dodged the attack by floating around it and got closer towards one of the dolls. Back static engulfed her body as she swung her sheets around, via Knock Off. The results was a harsh smack into one of the dolls, smacking the soul out of the object that had lost its life. The empty doll past Bickslow, who looked surprised.

"Damnit! Didn't think she's do that! My baby!" He grunted as he looked back at Shuppet, who mischievously snickered at him. "What's your problem, huh? Suddenly got a knack for knocking down your own kin like that?"

Freed leaped to his side, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky above. "Stay on guard! They're not fooling around!"

"Gee, you think?!" Bickslow sarcastically retorted. He and Freed jumped away in time from a shady indigo inferno and streaking kinetic beam respectively. They both jumped away and had the other's back. Evergreen landed between them as she focused on Granbull.

"Well...this is a problem." Bickslow scoffed. "Guess we all had the same idea coming out here."

"I was just about to make that statement as well." Freed admitted.

Bickslow turned towards Evergreen. "Though this really a surprise. Thought you'd go check on your boyfriend before rushing out here."

Evergreen gnashed her teeth. "Is this seriously the time for that, you interloper!"

BOOOOOM!

They were all taken back by the abrupt crash of lightning from a close distance through the outskirts of the town. In the forest, they could see visible lightning and static crackling through the atmosphere.

"Well...guess we know Laxus is up." Bickslow whistled.

Evergreen used an index finger to prod her glasses. "This isn't good. If this happened to us, then it most likely-!" She caught herself at the very last second before Granbull rushed after her from the side. She barely missed his gaping jaw as he followed through and planted his paws on the ground in a quadruped position. He snarled at his trainer, whereas Shuppet and Sigilyph floated above Bickslow and Freed, boxing all three in triangular fashion.

"We can't waste time like this...not when Master Laxus could be in danger." Freed breathed. "Though I am very confident in his skills, but even so...as the Thunder God Tribe, it is our job to ensure his safety!" He grabbed his rapier and took a battle stance, his right eye going dark with a glowing purple iris. "No fooling around, is that clear?!"

"Right!" Bickslow and Evergreen nodded.

The Thunder God Tribe braced themselves as the three Pokémon glared them down. Meanwhile, a short distance from them, more lightning came down from above, striking and discharging off of Laxus. He stood in the middle of a clearing with his arms folded. His glare looked anything but merciful as his Manectric discharged static off his own body. Suffice to say the energy around the two was – electrifying.

"I was just heading out for a small stroll to the next town over to try out some liquor they had...but I guess that'll have to wait. First..." He held up his thundering fist. "Let's try and teach you some manners that you supposedly forgot."

Manectric snarled without hesitation. He hollered as he sprung after Laxus.


Machoke let out a battle cry as he threw a glowing forearm into Elfman, who caught it in his barehand. With their muscular strength, it was a standoff between the two.

"I know you're always up to train every day...but...don't you think this is going too far?!" Elfman berated.

"Hmph, look who's talking?" Machoke used his free hand and reeled it back. Veins bulged out as a white aura outlined his body. Using Strength, he went for a left hook on Elfman's right. He used his broad forearm and blocked the attack. However, the force was still strong enough to send shock through his arm, making him grunt in pain.

'He's definitely packing power in his punches...he's definitely serious about this.'

With Machoke and Elfman in their standoff, Rhyhorn was a short distance behind the latter. He dug his forelegs into the ground and opened his maw, channeling energy into a hemisphere of golden energy, via Smack Down. The attack shot across the ground into Elfman's back, causing a large burst of energy that swallowed his back.

"Gngh!" Elfman lurched forward from the pain. That was all Machoke needed to take advantage.

"Seismic Toss!"

With his opponent's momentum going forward, Machoke unhinged himself and grabbed Elfman by his gut. He stepped on the ground and jumped into the air. Elfman yelped in shock of the sudden change in air pressure, but he wasn't able to escape in time when Machoke spun around like a planet's orbit before driving him into the ground shoulder and face first. The impact left a dense depression where Elfman crashed, whereas dust flourished everywhere.

Machoke landed on a knee and stood back up. He and Rhyhorn watched as the dust simmered, revealing rubble that dislodged off of Elfman. He gradually stammered back to his feet, though he almost fell over for a moment.

"Damn, you sure both pack a punch, don't you?" he mused, using his knuckles to wipe dirt off the one corner of his lips.

"That's an understatement." Machoke scoffed, stepping forward. "You know, as much as I enjoy training every day, I think it'll be better for my pace's sake if you're not there holding me back!"

"Yeah, me too!" Rhyhorn declared, raising his horn with pride.

Elfman blinked. Did he hear that right? He could have sworn that Machoke never said anything like that before. And even if he did, it wasn't like him to just deny him a good workout either. Rhyhorn, on the other hand, wasn't any brighter than an aged lightbulb; but even he didn't have negative dispositions like this before.

Managing to stand straight up, Elfman shot them both a glare. "Is that what this is all about...?"

Machoke and Rhyhorn gave each other sneers. They redirected their attention towards Elfman before Machoke suddenly jumped onto Rhyhorn's back. The quadruped beast raised his front legs ready to stomp down...a gesture that Elfman remembered all too well. Rhyhorn slammed his feet into the earth, sending a seismic shockwave in the form of Bulldoze. The shockwave traversed across the earth, rushing into Elfman's lower-half. Elfman grunted as he endured the magnitude and the shifting earth beneath him, though his body was surrounded by a blue aura that indicated his speed diminishing. With Elfman immobilized, Machoke jumped off Rhyhorn's back into the air, his right fist pulled back for Brick Break.

Elfman went to move, however, there were two problems that he didn't realize until it was too late. The first was that he was still too slow. The second...

As soon as it looked like he was about to weave to the side, Elfman was taken back when Machoke's blow made contact with his face, causing him to slide on his heels a short distance away.

"What the...? I thought I could dodge that!"

Machoke landed once again, sneering. "Hmph, and here I thought Rhyhorn was the slow one. But I guess we've found someone who can compete with that level of intelligence, huh." He cracked his knuckles. "Do you even remember my Ability?"

"You're...Ability?" Elfman blinked. What did he mean by...? That's when he realized it. "...crap."

"Heh, about time! My No Guard isn't gonna let you escape that easily! Which means..." Machoke balled a fist as he and Rhyhorn charged after Elfman. "You get to be our punching bag!"

Elfman grunted as he braced for them heading his way. He couldn't dodge, so he had to face them head-on!

Rufflet squawked as he bared his glowing talons, via Slash. Lisanna turned her body – save for her head – into a bird to help evade the sharp talons. She maneuvered around Rufflet and looked down at him.

"Hey! What's gotten into you?! Why are you attacking me?!" Lisanna shouted. She was barely fast enough to avoid Rufflet's glowing wings, via Wing Attack. Thanks to her having fully grown wings, she was able to evade the more grounded Rufflet.

"Gngh! Stay still!" Rufflet bravely – if not recklessly – spread his wings and shot off the ground. This time with Aerial Ace, he became a streaking blur that rushed up towards Lisanna. She gasped before using her wings to shield herself from the full brunt of the attack. However, she found herself faltering backwards and picked herself up just before she could hit the ground.

"Rufflet...what was that for?! Are you trying to hurt me for real?!" Lisanna spat.

Rufflet circled around, his eyes never leaving Lisanna. He glided after her with a vindictive look that momentarily spooked the youngest Strauss sibling. She could only brace herself with this unexpected foe as her other siblings were. Speaking of which, when she dodged Rufflet's talons, her attention drew towards close by.

"Hey Mira, behind you!"

The cry resonated from a short distance from Mirajane, who caught on at the last second. She narrowly missed a bright purple wing that came from Vullaby from out of the blue. "Thanks for the call!" she chimed.

"Yeah, sure!" Lisanna looked back, but wasn't fast enough when Rufflet dove right for her, via Aerial Ace. Using only one wing to fend with, she barely knocked her attacker away while her back met Mirajane's.

"You sure you're okay?" Mirajane asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit with way worse than a few scratches. More importantly..." Lisanna and Mirajane found their attention drawn towards their fronts, the reasoning belonging to their Rufflet and Vullaby respectively.

"Whatever is going on, it looks like they aren't hearing what we have to say." Lisanna exasperated. "What do you think happened?"

"I'm not sure..." Mirajane frowned, seeing Vullaby flap her wings vigorously. "But this isn't normal. It can't be. Something is definitely wrong."

"We'll figure it out soon, sis. But first...here they come!"

Both Rufflet and Vullaby cried as they charged for their trainers, having glowing wings and beaks for Wing Attack and Pluck respectively.


Lucy panted breathlessly as she darted down the avenue. She didn't mind that she was in her nighttime clothing, which comprised of a white tank top and red short shorts. She wished she had just a little time to change really quick, but the urgency to follow Staryu and Klefki was a little more pressing than apparel. At least she wasn't exposed, that was the important part.

"Klefki?! Staryu?!" Lucy called out left and right, but didn't get a response – or a blinker in Staryu's case.

"Hey! You guys out there?!" Happy shouted from above. He glided in circles over Lucy's head using his Aera Magic to help get a better pinpoint on which direction they scurried off to.

"Find anything, Happy?!" Lucy shouted from below.

The Exceed shook his head. "No, there's so much happening all around that it's impossible."

Lucy bit her bottom lip. She really wished Natsu were around right now. 'With Natsu's nose, finding them would be a lot easier.' She turned towards the canal that sat beside her. 'Unless Staryu knew that and dove under to mask its scent. If it did that, there's no telling where it ended up!'

Happy looked around, but noticed something in the distant canal. "Huh...?" He squinted and pointed a paw in the direction of something that got his attention. "Hey, Lucy! Look!"

"What is it?"

"There! Heading upstream! I see something!"

Lucy blinked. She turned and looked to where the canal led south towards the southern waterways of Magnolia. It was faint, but she saw something glimmering in the water brightly. It had a red base that mesmerized her. "That light...!" She gasped in realization. "That's gotta be...there's no question! Happy, over there!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy swooped down and grabbed Lucy's waist to carry her. They glided over the riverbank towards the red light that illuminated the water from its distance.

Little did they know, something was camouflaged and swam swiftly through the water in their direction.

Happy continued his path towards the radiant glow. "Lucy, is that who I think it is?"

"We'll find out once we catch up, Happy. But I'm sure it's who I think it is." Lucy furrowed her brow. She couldn't be anymore certain if she tried. "If I'm right, this path should follow towards the sea nearby. We need to catch them there before...!" Before Lucy could finish her sentence, the river water up ahead suddenly swirled into a large cyclone. "What the-?!"

"GAH!" Happy was trying to pull away, but he was moving at such a velocity that it was impossible to slow down in time. "Lucy! Hang on!"

The two found themselves swamped by a raging twister of water that swept them in its torrential wake. They gurgled screams as their bodies sloshed through the current swirling from the river below. The massive cyclone's force was strong enough to pull the two apart, causing Lucy to be swept away from Happy.

The cyclone soon came to a halt, putting them in freefall for a brief second before they both dropped into the water below. They splashed down into the canal, before they quickly surfaced with coughs and gags.

"Pleck-!" Lucy gagged water out of her lungs and treaded water to keep herself from drowning. "What...what the heck...?" She looked around. Where the hell did that attack come from? It didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't dwell on it for very long. "Happy, are you alright?!"

"Uuuuugh...somehow..." Happy groaned, laying on his back in the water. "Is it just me, or is there freaky weather happening recently...?"

She took it as a good sign. Thank goodness for Happy being such a lightweight. She turned and noticed the red beacon getting farther away from her. "No you don't!" She started paddling down the canal by hand, but once again, she was cut off by another gush of water that shot high over her.

She grunted as waves sprayed against her face, briefly obscuring her. Only after the waves subsided did she and Happy get a good look of what stood in front of them. It was so big that they were both in its shadow...and bared its boulder-crushing sharp fangs as well.

"Huh?! What the...?" Happy gradually traced skywards...only for his eyes to shrink in fear. "Uh...uh...uh~..."

Lucy looked up, but immediately regretted doing so. She was met with purple eyes looking at her like she was a meal. They belonged to a draconic serpentine with a large mouth, which vibrated with the menacing growl that he gave off.

"IT'S GYARADOS!" they panicked in fear.

"KRAAAAAAAHHHH~!" Gyarados let out a violent cry that visibly shook the air. He hunched over Lucy before he rocketed down back into the water, creating a tremendous splash that pushed her and Happy away. The waves crashed them onto the nearest shore, where their bodies were strewn along the concrete base.

"Oooowww..." Lucy groaned. She gradually got up, her body aching from the impact. "That really hurt...why did it have to be Joey's Gyarados of all things...?" she whined.

"I'm not sure..." Happy groaned.

With them incapacitated, Gyarados snarled as he eyed them. Three more splashes shot up from him; two landing in front of Happy and Lucy, the other staying in the water. They were momentarily spooked by the sudden unveiling of Vaporeon, Stunfisk, and Finneon from the canal.

"Where did they come from?!" Lucy comedically shrieked.

"I don't know...but they look like angry fishies." Happy grimaced, eyeing Vaporeon, Stunfisk, and Finneon's unempathetic stares.

"Oi, what do we got here? You lot seem to be a little washed up." Stunfisk smiled widely at his dry loft of a joke. The others around him didn't seem to find the joke anymore than how he acted.

"Please, at least have the decency to crack those kinds of jokes at a more appropriate time." Finneon sighed.

Stunfisk meekly chuckled. "What's the matter? The cat over there got your tongue?" He chuckled impishly at his own bright idea of a joke, earning the glares of his fellow Pokémon. He trailed off when he heard an ill-tolerable growl from Gyarados. "Uh...right, sorry."

Vaporeon put a forepaw forward, her frilly ears standing upright as she glared at Lucy and Happy. "This human girl...it wouldn't be wise to just leave her be, right? Our comrades are heading downstream as well. Which means..." She spread her legs, swishing her long fish tail. "That she can't be allowed to follow."

Lucy's eyes shrunk as she gasped. Before she had time to open her mouth, Vaporeon had already sprung into the air and swung her tail, sending a Swift down upon her and Happy. A barrage of light explosion ignited the ground upon impact, causing Lucy to fall onto her back, whereas Happy was trying to evade some stars. Unfortunately, the stars were also following him.

"GAH! Wait! Hold on! Why are they following me?!" Happy panicked. "Get them off my tail! Aaaaah!" He shouted in a frazzled horror as he was trying desperately to outmaneuver the stars, but one was able to find its way into his back, making a small explosion the propelled him forward.

"Hmph!" Finneon saw him getting pushed her way and fired a Water Gun straight into his face. The forceful jet of water pushed Happy back the way he came with a gurgled yelp.

Lucy sat up, horrified. "Happy!"

The waterlogged Happy plopped onto the ground, muffling a groan. "Ooowie..."

"Are you alright, Happy?!"

"Yeah...I think so. Hey, why does the ground feel like sandpaper...?" He touched the ground, pressing a paw where he felt just a little softness. The next instance, he saw two dull eyeballs open, blinking. It only disturbed him even more. "Uh..."

An evil snicker was heard before static crackled from below, engulfing Happy completely. He yelped as the electricity ran through his body, causing all his nerves to convulse and cringe to uncontrollable levels. By the time the small voltage ran its course, Happy was slow-moving with crackling static running through his body.

Slowly fading into view from Camouflage, Stunfisk maliciously grinned. "Better watch where you step, cat."

With his Static Ability keeping Happy dazed and paralyzed, he stumbled several paces away and barely caught himself. "Uuugh...what's with all the mean fishies all of a sudden...?"

"GRRRR..."

A low, voluminous snarl froze him up completely. He found himself in a familiar shadow that towered over him. Very slowly, he cranked his head to show his distraught eyes looking into the heated glare of Gyarados. "AAAHHHHHH!"

"KKRRAAAAHHHH!" Gyarados unleashed a wild cry that easily intimidated Happy.

"THIS ISN'T RIGHT?! CATS EATS FISH, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!" Happy shrieked.

Gyarados sneered as he reeled his tail back. "Get lost! SMALL FRY!" He violently swung his tail, smacking Happy so hard that he was sent flying in a hectic spiral into the sky and vanished in a twinkling light.

Lucy's gaze fell skywards as she saw Happy vanish. "Happy-!" She was brought back to reality when she saw an Aurora Beam and Water Pulse jet in her direction. She barely caught on and tumbled forward as the two attacks from Vaporeon and Finneon erupted into the side of the building. She sat upright, though disoriented from the spinning of the world around her; she was still conscious enough to process the towering Gyarados that showed his gaping maw at her.

"KRRAAAAAHHHH!" In a ballistic cry, Gyarados suddenly sprung out of the canal, lunging after Lucy with his sharp teeth glowing with Bite to tear her apart.

Lucy's breath depleted as she was in no position to move out of the way of the oncoming serpent's wrath.

Time slowed down for a brief second...before a white blur sped and snatched Lucy before Gyarados followed through, his massive jaws and weight making him crash and plough clean through the building behind her. Dust and debris caved in from the impact.

"Are you alright, Lucy?!" a familiar voice called out.

Lucy blinked, realizing she wasn't dead. She looked over her shoulder to see her savior with wings carrying her in the air. "Carla!"

"Lucy!" Racing up to them, Wendy was pacing rapidly. Not far behind her, Juvia was keeping pace.

"Wendy! Juvia!" Lucy felt a little more relief seeing her guildmates come to her aid.

"Huh? Oh, more sheelas!" Stunfisk raised his tailfin and stood on it. He positioned himself and fired a barrage of Mud Shot to keep them away. Wendy, however, already had whirlwinds gathered around her arms.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"

With a swipe of her arms, she dispersed the mud with lashes of wind. The shockwaves of the wind were enough to throw Stunfisk off his tailfin and spooked him as he flopped onto his top-half. As he flailed helplessly, Wendy and Juvia went up to Lucy as Carla sat her down.

"Are you hurt?" Wendy worriedly asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry, it's just a few scratches." Lucy explained. "I'm so glad you guys got here when you did. Another second and I would have been Gyarados bait." Her eyes widened upon realization. "Wait! Staryu!" She turned back down towards the canal. She could barely see the red glow in the distance. "This is bad, it's getting away!" She went to move, but another Aurora Beam cut her off. "Gah!"

"Lucy!" Wendy panicked.

Vaporeon stepped further onto land, glaring daggers at Lucy. "Where do you think you're going?"

Lucy grunted in annoyance. However, Juvia stepped in between them. "Vaporeon! Enough!"

"Juvia?!" Lucy shrieked.

Vaporeon stopped in her tracks and shook her head. Upon recognizing Juvia, the dark blue hue in her eyes nearly blackened over. "Juvia..."

There was a moment's worth of tension in the air between the two. Their eyes never left the other as the mage/trainer seemed to be more defensive about her position. The three girls behind her took this as an opportunity since Stunfisk was preoccupied at the moment trying to flop himself over.

"Lucy, c'mon! If we hurry, we can catch up!" Carla urged.

"You sure?" Lucy worried, fearing for Juvia's safety.

"It'll be fine, Lucy. Remember, Juvia's resistant to water. She can handle incapacitating them for us."

With that logical reasoning in mind, Lucy didn't put up much of an argument. She knew what the priorities were, and with that validation, she couldn't say Carla was wrong. "...okay, let's hurry!" She took off, hurrying away with Wendy and Carla, the latter flying back into the air for an aerial view.

Meanwhile, Stunfisk was flapping his stubby fins, trying to flip himself. "Gnnngh...oi! I ain't taking this lying down, you little...!" He flapped furiously, flailing his tailfin up and down enough times to where he was finally get enough momentum to do a full flip. He plopped onto his underside and sighed. "Well...talk about a turnover. What?" He looked around, but didn't see the other women. "Where'd they go?! It'd bad enough when someone steps on me, but it's even worse when you go and flip me over like that!"

With his own volition, Stunfisk took all around, choosing to take to the decrepit path that Gyarados left. Finneon watched him flop off, leaving her with Vaporeon. "I assume that I have no business here, Vaporeon. If I may take my leave?"

"It's fine...I wanted to 'play' a little with Juvia...for old time's sake." Vaporeon hissed, sending a slight chill down her spine.

"Very well. Best of luck to you." With her business no longer needed, Finneon somersaulted and twisted her body, before diving back into the water.

With the area quickly cleared between them, another silence fell between Juvia and Vaporeon. Though it didn't last long once Juvia took the initiative. "Vaporeon, what happened to you? What caused you to behave like this?"

"Is it really that hard for you to understand?" she scoffed. "...though I guess it's fair since you're pretty one-track minded."

"What...does that mean?" She looked visibly confused. "Did I do something to offend you?"

"Offend, you said? Well, I wouldn't say that. More like...neglect." She straightened up. "Seriously, when is it that you ever not talk about your mate?"

'My mate? Is she talking about...?' She stopped to think about it, and when it hit her, it was like a Tamato Berry was eaten, because her face lit up to a beet red. 'Is she...talking about Gray?'

Vaporeon sighed, seeing her trainer's expression. "That expression alone answers my question. Like I said, do ever just think about yourself? About others around you? What about us? Aren't we as important to you as that Gray?"

"N-no! That's not true at all, I swear...!" Juvia tried to come out with a plausible excuse. For some reason, hearing this alone felt hurtful. And even worse, from Vaporeon of all things.

"Of course you'd think so, but how about when I found that Water Stone and evolved. You just let me touch it. You didn't even acknowledge that happening until afterwards. There's others around you than just that shirtless man and you, you know."

Juvia's breath hitched. She was caught so off guard by what she said that she didn't react in time to a spinning shell that struck her right shoulder, buffering her into a blue blur and continuously pummeled and swatted at her. A brief smoke cloud with hearts and stars was created as she took these blows. Only after the last kick did she slide backwards, grunting in agony.

Landing besides Vaporeon were two more Pokémon that shot Juvia glares. To her horror, she recognized them all too well as her own. "Azumarill...Wartortle..."

"You wanna play a game with us~? It's a fun game~." Azumarill chimed, her tone less inviting and innocent than what it normally was.

"I'm sorry, Boss-Ma'am, but I have my own obligations to uphold." Wartortle declared. "As much as I thank you for holding us alive and well, I'm afraid this is where we must diverge our paths from one another."

Juvia took a step back in horror. "No...not you guys, too...!"

Their unison glares on contempt did little to settle her growing worries. She felt a shiver run down her spine as unpleasant thoughts filled her to the brim, specifically, to what could be happening to Gray right now. 'I hope Gray is doing alright. I have to hurry and get to him!'


Meanwhile, hail rained down around Gray. Chunks of small ice dropped onto the street as the temperature dropped by a couple degrees because of it. The reason lied in front of him, in the form of Snover. He glared at Gray, with Bergmite and Snorunt covering his corners of escape. The trainer/mage eyed his Pokémon carefully as he didn't seem too amused.

"So what the hell is your deal?" he started. "First you come out for no reason, then you just go and start up a hailstorm? It's a little late for battle, you know."

Snover did his best to stand his grown. "You can't just tell us when and where we can't battle!"

Gray raised a brow. Snover was mostly reserved and rather docile. "Where is this coming from? The heck are you saying?"

"We don't approve. Your kind is arrogant." Bergmite stated bluntly.

"Yeah, what he said!" Snorunt shouted.

"No tolerate of trainer. We say we have it our way for once."

Gray was getting more confused by the sentence. Snover becoming dismissive and defiant, now Bergmite actually talking in – almost – complete speech. And that almost never happens. 'Something is definitely up around here. And whatever it is, it's got to be with these guys, too.'

Snover cleared his throat as he shot his trainer a glare. "Listen to us for once! Let us go, and...w-we won't have to hurt you!" he bluffed.

Gray narrowed his eyes. "And what if I say otherwise?" He suddenly felt something sharp that felt like teeth on the back of both his legs. He winced, but it didn't hurt too bad. He looked down, noticing that Bergmite and Snorunt were using Bite on his calves. For once, his scowl was replaced by genuine shock at the action.

"That." Snover finished.

Gray sharply turned towards Snover again. 'They're serious, huh? In that case...' He lifted his left leg, which held the lighter Snorunt. He spun and kicked him into Snorunt to get them both to let go. They pulled away, wincing at the assault.

"If you guys think it's so funny to think you can just do whatever you want, then as your trainer..." He punched his open palm with a fist, conjuring ice for a spell. "I'm gonna show you why you should just chill from that line of thinking."


Aron roared violently alongside Shieldon as they barreled straight into Gajeel head-first. Their Iron Head and Take Down respectively met their marks, but Gajeel barely budged thanks to his iron-thick body tanking the blows. With only a fell swing of his arms, he made both Pokémon back off and land on the ground, making small thuds from their monstrous weight their tiny bodies possessed. They shot their trainer a scowl with low growls.

"You gonna tell me what the hell this is all about?" Gajeel asked. He wasn't expecting an answer, but he got one in the form of Aron outlining his own body in white energy. Without warning, he watched as Aron projected his Rock Tomb boulders onto Gajeel. In defense, Gajeel's arm morphed into a jagged iron sword.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!"

He slashed the rocks in a diagonal fashion, cutting all of them in one fell swoop. They dropped to the ground around him and scattered their remains throughout the street as loose gravel. Just before he was going to retract the arm, his Dragon Slayer senses made his aware when the corner of his eye caught a shimmering hemisphere with a green core barreled straight towards him. He slashed it in two, dispersing it.

Shieldon huffed, angry of his Ancient Power failing to make contact.

"The hell are these guys' deal?" Gajeel grunted. Behind him, he saw Pantherlily glide over towards him. "Lily, did you get everyone around here evacuated?"

The Exceed dutifully nodded. "Yes, I've managed to get any able out of the vicinity. That should give us plenty of space to work with."

"Good. It'd be a real hassle if others got caught up in this mess." He looked over his shoulder, seeing Levy in her own qualms against Klink. "Levy, are you alright?!"

She jumped away, keeping her eyes on Klink. "Don't worry! I can handle myself just fine! More importantly, we need to stop our Pokémon!"

Klink churned its gears, generating static that concentrated to a single point. Its Charge Beam bolted into Levy as she created words.

"Solid Script: Guard!"

Letters spelling the word 'GUARD' appeared in front of her, blocking the electrical blast that diverged to smaller streams around her. The thin electric rays diminished, with the words quickly fading as well. "Klink, stop! Whatever is wrong, just say it! What's with this behavior all of a sudden?!"

Klink didn't answer like the way she had wanted. Instead, it separated its gears and spun vigorously like a vice ready to snap her, via Gear Grind. Levy wanted to stop them...but her conscience told her to step away and duck as the gears continued onwards. They circled around swiftly, coming back to her from behind.

"Levy, watch out!" Gajeel called out.

Levy turned her head to see them coming back around from respective angles. Before she had time to react, she was saved by a metal club that extended from Gajeel. It clubbed the one gear harshly, in turn hitting the other gear. The twin gears shrieked in pain as they went flying onto the ground, thudding loudly in pain.

Levy turned towards her savior. "Gajeel!"

The iron column retracted back into his arm, a serious yet remorseful look on his face. "Sorry about that."

"No...it's fine." She looked towards Klink, whose eyes were swirls. It was completely knocked out by that critical blow Gajeel dealt at the last second. 'It's probably gonna feel sore in the morning...'

"Look out, they're not done yet!" Pantherlily warned.

At the cry, Gajeel turned around, seeing metallic energy claws slash at him. He used his forearm to take the hit, but didn't feel anything shorter than a small scratch. "Do I have to beat you guys in, too?" he snarled.

"No...but you'll do that yourself!" Aron growled. "Now!"

"Right!" Shieldon focused on Gajeel, spreading his legs apart for his next attack. "Swagger!"

Gajeel's eyes widened. He realized too late what was going on. When Aron finally backed off, a red aura engulfed Gajeel's entire body, enhancing his physical strength sharply. He could already feel his muscles tensing and feeling empowered by this unknown force. However, his vision got hazy, and his mind was distorting images. His hearing itself got faded from reality as his red eyes only saw vague red surroundings and black silhouettes.

"Swagger?!" Pantherlily inquired.

"I read about that attack. It's supposed to increase your opponent's physical strength tremendously, but in return, it confuses them..." Levy gasped in horror. "Then that means...!" She stepped forward in fear. "Gajeel!"

Hearing a distorted cry, the Iron Dragon Slayer's ears twitched. He slowly turned his head towards Levy and Pantherlily, his eyes showing a dull shade with no light. It did little to reassure their growing predicament.


Prinplup jumped into the air, expelling a barrage of blue bubbles via Bubble Beam. They traced up the concrete road up towards Cana, who jumped out of the way while the barrage continued into shopping glass that shattered upon impact. Cana looked back, visibly discouraged.

"What the hell? You trying to-?!" She was caught off guard when Liepard suddenly sniped from the side with a glowing dark purple paw, via Assurance. She barely dodged the attack and landed a short distance from them.

"That was too close..."

She maintained a wary disposition as Prinplup and Liepard converged onto her, flanking her in a V angle. She gnashed her teeth and pulled out cards in her defense.

"So, you finally getting serious on us?" Prinplup scoffed. "Good..." He sprung into the air, crossing his glowing flippers and brought them down. "I've always been up to challenge myself! Now let's see you actually satisfy!"

Cana hurriedly flashed a card.

"Sun's Strength!"

She lobbed cards that heated up until they became fiery missiles that projected at Prinplup. Crossing his arms at the last second, Prinplup intercepted the attack before a fiery explosion pushed him back. He grinded his heels into the ground until he came to a stop. Liepard came rushing through, attacking with her claws via Fury Swipes. Cana turned towards her and used another card.

"Prayer's Fountain!"

She slammed the card into the ground, causing it to shine and unleash a wild torrent of water. Liepard's green eyes shrank as the water startled her. She pulled away with a surprised look on her face.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me a big kitty like you is afraid of a little water." Cana teased. "And here I thought you guys wanted to get back at me for 'apparently dissatisfying your life'?"

Liepard scoffed back, visibly irked at Cana's retort. "A feline such as myself has nine lives, but no offense, I think I've wasted enough of one with someone who doesn't have even a little class."

"Liepard, don't bother talking with her. She's probably still suffering a hangover." Prinplup mocked.

"Hmph, suppose you're right. Let's just hurry and get this over with."

Cana squinted her eyes slightly through her water fountains. 'What the hell is causing this?'


Lucy really wished she was more physical right.

No matter how much she ran, the bright red light resonating from the canal didn't seem to get any closer, no matter how fast she ran. Either Staryu was a really fast swimmer – which was the probable case – or the light made it seem closer than it was supposed to be.

It had to be Illuminate, Staryu's Ability. That, or it was trying to hard to be noticed. Though that would explain why on some jobs when Lucy did use Staryu that it attracted plenty of attention towards her. How the tables have turned from the chased becoming the chaser.

'Really, just how far is that thing gonna go?!' Her exasperation was revoked when an even more pressing matter came up in her mind. 'How are we gonna get it out of the water?'

Wendy was still gliding through the air thanks to Carla. With her Dragon Slayer eyesight, she noticed something near the water. "Lucy! Look, up there!"

"Huh?" Lucy followed to where near the edge of the water, there was an abandoned fishing rod. "A fishing rod?"

"It must have been abandoned when the owner took off during the chaos!" Wendy realized.

"Then let's use it!" Carla insisted.

"Yeah!" Wendy reached her arm out and flew closer towards the fishing rod. Once she passed by, she snatched it up. "Got it! Lucy, catch!" Wendy compressed wind into her grip and extended it back at Lucy. The added wind caused it to go flying into the blonde's grip, to which she caught.

"Thanks, guys!" Lucy locked onto where the red light was. As soon as she steadied her pace, she got into a pivot and let out a wild battle cry. The rod's line shot far away, with the end being a Poke Ball-shaped lure. The rod's enormous line vanished into the distant water with a faint plop. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but moments later, the line suddenly jerked with a splash from the red core.

"A bite!" Wendy yelped.

"Now's your chance, Lucy! Reel it on!" Carla urged.

"Right here goes! Haaaaaah~!" With all her might, Lucy tugged onto the fishing rod as much as possible. It was surprisingly heavier and harder than she expected, but she didn't let go for dear life. She tugged on it so hard that there was a loud splash, followed by the bright core being flung out of the water. Everyone's gazes were momentarily blinded by the lustrous wake of the rays.

Lucy's eyes shrank, seeing a familiar sight in the form of a starfish that had the line laced around its body. "Staryu!"

"Looks like that did the trick." Carla chimed in.

"Yeah. I almost forgot that a lot of Water-type Pokémon are attracted to fishing rods for some reason." Wendy grinned.

The fishing line undid itself in midair, allowing the rest of the rod to drift back towards shore. Staryu jumped down from the air, its red core beaming brightly as it gleamed directly at Lucy. Lucy dropped the rod and stared at Staryu with an extremely wary disposition.

"Staryu...is that really you in there?" she started.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

Lucy wasn't very good at morse code, but judging from what Staryu was blinking about, she had a good idea it wasn't anything good. 'Is it upset about me or something?'

"Lucy, behind you!" Wendy warned.

A glimmer was followed by a loud jingling of keys. Lucy pivoted and barely caught a swift blur barreling right towards her. She ducked at the last second to avoid Klefki as she dove on through and drifted to a halt besides Staryu, pivoting to give her trainer the same crude glare.

Lucy barely recovered with two blinks. "Klefki..."

Both Pokémon stared at their trainer, giving her a long silence as a chilly night breeze went through the area. Lucy hesitated to make a move, considering that the situation wasn't at all in her favor.

"Lucy, be careful!" Carla shouted.

"Are they really gonna stand off like this?" Wendy worried, fearing of a possible confrontation.

Lucy inhaled a sharp breath, finally getting the courage to speak up to them. "You guys...what happened to you? What made you suddenly just jump out like that?"

Klefki scoffed. "Hmph! Isn't it obvious?"

BEEPBEEPBEEP Staryu blinked.

"W-what is...?" Lucy balled her fists. Her insecurities were growing worse by the second.

Klefki levitated a little higher. "We did what had to be done back there. It was best for all of us if we had done that sooner. No, even better! Lucy, you..." Her body shuddered with growing spite. "You...you should never have chased after me!"

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. "What...did you just say?" Memories of their first encounter resurfaced, back when Klefki was still a wild Pokémon and zoomed off with her Celestial Keys. 'Wait a minute, is she talking about when we first met that day?' Her pupils shrank at the growing epiphany. 'She can't really mean...'

Once again, Lucy backpedaled out of caution. "What made you want to say something like that? You didn't have anything against it before!"

"Because I was willing to put up with you. Because, apparently, your keys are important to you. These jingle a familiar bell?" She shifted her key ring, swaying the multiple golden and silver Celestial Keys that clanged against one another.

'My keys!'

"I'm a Klefki. I'm naturally attracted towards keys. But your keys...yours...they were so mesmerizing, how could I possibly let even a single one go? I know you're the owner and all..." She shifted away from her. "But I think I can take much better care for these keys than you could."

Lucy stammered forward. "Hold on...you can't just take somebody else's keys! We've talked about this!"

BEEPBEEPBEEP-BEEPBEEP-BEEP! Staryu blinked.

"That's right, Staryu, and I have a say, too! After all, I was your partner up till now. And you've just treated me as your keyholder. Don't you think that I deserve a little more credit than that?" Klefki grew a battle-ready expression. "Because if you can't see that, maybe that should be reason enough why we chose to free ourselves!"

Lucy's brows furrowed. Yet again, she was left dumbfounded. "Free yourselves...from what?"

"From you, obviously! I'm gonna go to where these keys can't be misused by such irresponsible humans!"

BEEPBEEPBEEP!

"Yeah, and Staryu can go back to the sea where humans wouldn't have to be a problem!"

Lucy balled her shaking fists, biting her lower lip. It was taking everything in her to keep her head straight, but not a lick of sense was getting through to her. None of this made sense. "You guys...you..." She lifted her head, giving them a glare. "Whatever is going on, just stop this! And what's this about freeing yourselves from me, huh?! You can't just make decisions like that on a whim!"

Klefki's hollow dark eyes narrowed a little. "...huh...I guess so. I mean, if you treated me better then maybe I might consider that. But I didn't become your partner because I wanted to. I only did it because of your keys." She jingled them again. "And now that they're mine, I don't have to be around you anymore!"

"Stop! Just give those back!" Lucy rushed towards Klefki and Staryu, but was thwarted when the latter fired a jet of saltwater at her feet, forcing her to backpedal once again. She shockingly turned towards Staryu. "Staryu...!"

"This is getting dangerous, we have to help out!" Carla insisted.

Wendy nodded. "You're right! Lucy, hang on-gwuh?!" Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, something soft and small struck Wendy in the face, borderline invisible. It was enough to make her and Carla buffer away for safety.

"Wendy, are you alright?!" Carla worried.

Wendy quickly recovered. "Don't worry, I'm fine! More importantly, where did that...?" She shot a quick glance around her, seeing anything out of the ordinary. It was barely noticeable, but amongst the few clouds in the night sky, two tiny ones were moving up and down lightly, cringing even from hitting Wendy. "Is that...Swablu!"

Swablu shook off her recoil from Take Down, shooting Wendy a glare.

"No...not you, too! Why did you hit me just now...?" Wendy worried, but her insecurities were cut short when Carla pulled her away in time from an Aurora Beam that shot from below. They glided a safe distance away for good measure.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know..." She looked down, recognizing a blue sail that sauntered into view from below. "Amaura!"

Both Pokémon looked at Wendy, giving her unparalleled chills now. It was horrible enough that Lucy's Pokémon were acting rebellious, but now her own. The pained fear in her eyes was made explicitly clear.

"No...not you guys...just why...?

Swablu's eyes glimmered. Her beak opened and she expelled bright pink heart soundwaves through the air. Wendy shielded herself from the brunt of the attack, though her Dragon Slayer hearing didn't make the attack any less effective. She and Carla were shoved back through the air to a position where Amaura could strike. Her body glowed as an afterimage separated from herself into a swirling hemisphere, via Ancient Power. The attack was projected at the two girls, but Carla flew them around it as it continued through the air, vanishing in the altitude above.

Carla descended towards the ground and dropped Wendy. Swablu drifted down above Amaura, both looking more than discouraged is anything.

"W-we're sorry, Wendy!" Amaura quipped. "We...we really didn't want to, but...but I think I wanna see more of this era and what it has. And I can't do so staying here!"

"Amaura..."

"Yeah! And I really wanna fly and be free~!" Swablu chirped, spinning around with a hum.

"Y-yeah! What she said...sorry."

Wendy blinked, getting visibly discouraged. "But...I don't..."

"Wendy, focus! It looks like words aren't going to get through to them!" Carla insisted. "If this keeps going the way they want, we'll have no choice but to act on self-defense!"

She turned towards her in defiance. "What are you saying, Carla?! We can't hurt them! They're our friends!"

Swablu hummed before she ascended a little higher. She fired another Disarming Voice, along with Amaura firing an Aurora Beam. They two attacks closed in on them as they prepared for the attacks.


Inside a house, a feminine scream was heard before a woman out the broken front door in fear. She scurried way as her home was left behind. Moments after, Yanma zoomed out and watched her take off. "Looks like she's gone." She turned towards the door. "You done in there?"

Inside the house, Heracross hummed as he turned away from a very large glass jar of Honey that he snuffed out. His claws her in his mouth, saturated with the thick, sweet substance. "Hm? Oh...right." He grabbed the whole jar and flew through the doorway, standing in front of the entrance where Yanma, Seel, Quilladin, Tranquill, Larvesta, and Palpitoad waited.

"You got what you came for?" Quilladin responded, a brow raised from obvious observations.

"Yup, sure did!" Heracross held up the Honey jar with content. "It's such a waste to feel free without taking something as a souvenir...especially when it's succulent, sweet Honey."

"Mysleli by ste si, koľko toho zje, že by bol z toho chorý." Palpitoad murmured towards Tranquill.

Tranquill chuckled. "Somebody has sticky claws~." He chimed back.

Larvesta giggled at the joke. "Teehee! Funny bird!" She eyed the jar of Honey, her Bug-type half starting to kick in. She couldn't help but salivate a little at the rich, sweet liquid.

"Yeah, don't. I wouldn't get between Heracross and Honey if I were you." Quilladin shook his head morbidly.

"Awww." Larvesta whined.

"Well, at least with this we can all..." Seel paused, realizing something was off. She looked around to see their numbers were off. "Now hold on one gosh darn minute, where'd Gyarados, Stunfisk, and Trubbish go?!"

A crash was heard inside the abode. They all turned wide-eyed to see Trubbish present, chewing with trails of grease running down her mouth. Behind her, there was a trail of trash and messy containers. They all stared in silence while Trubbish turned towards them, giving an audible belch of inquiry.

"Well...that answers part of the question." Quilladin nervously said.

"Oh! I know!" Tranquill flapped his wings, ascending a few feet off the ground. "I think that I saw them heading towards the canals. Something about, uh, 'going for a dip' or whatever is it Stunfisk said."

"Captain! Over here! I found them!"

The Pokémon all turned their attention towards the familiar voice that was in the sky. They saw Dereece descend towards the ground, whereas a slide-shaped barrier extended from out of nowhere, with Joey slipping his way down it until he reached the end.

Larvesta gasped in fearful shock. "It's Mama Joey! She found us!"

Immediately, Joey reached out ahead of him. "Barrier-Make: Hemisphere"

Before the Pokémon could react, a turquoise barrier in the shape of a dome appeared around them, trapping them all inside. They all looked around, visibly shocked by the entrapment they were under.

"Sorry guys, but this is for your own good. You're not going anywhere!" Joey declared harshly.

"Nice call, Captain Joey! That'll keep them from moving!" Dereece exclaimed.

Joey hummed. 'Though really, this was meant to keep them from throwing attacks at me. But if they attack, they'll get hurt instead since the surface is insulated and reflective of all elements.'

Larvesta hopped in front, hissing aggressively. She got her rear up, arched her back, and fired a blanket of her Ember in hopes of getting through the attack.

"Rookie mistake." Joey hissed.

The blanket of fire instead struck the barrier rather than burn it. Its embers bounced back towards Larvesta, but she yelped and did a quick shimmy and hop out of the way, allowing the attack to instead strike an unsuspecting Quilladin.

"Gngh!" He used his forearms to cover from the flames, but they were very weak to where they only stung for a brief instance. He opened and eye and grunted at his trainer harshly.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Larvesta gasped at the sudden attack on her senior.

"Stand down guys...don't want to make this any harder than it has to be." Joey warned.

Dereece was visibly confident in the Captain's actions, but realized a tragic flaw in their plan. "Uh, Captain...where are Gyarados and Stunfisk?"

"What?" He realized what he meant. He looked at their Pokémon, doing a proper headcount. He figured out what Dereece meant. "Oh, snap!" He snapped his fingers in outrage. "Where'd they flop off to this time?!"

"Kraaaah...!" A distant roar reached Joey's hearing aids. He and Dereece turned their heads in the direction of the outcry.

"Uh, Captain...I think I have a pretty good idea where they might...!"

The earth rumbled violently before the house that Heracross and Yanma raided suddenly blasted apart, along with an earsplitting shriek rattling everyone's eardrums. A large body crashed down with icy fangs, which Joey barely dodged. But ice shards exploded from the impact with the ground that forced him onto his back with a grunt.

"Captain!" Dereece was in shock. In the flying debris, he acknowledged an oncoming ball of mud that he backpedaled before it erupted into the ground in front of him.

With Joey's concentration shattered, the barrier containing the Pokémon vanished. They all looked up, relieve and confidence rising as they saw Gyarados and Stunfisk. The latter chuckled with excitement. "Oi! Sorry for the intrusion! But we figured we'd 'bring the house down'!" he laughed.

"Stunfisk!" Dereece exasperated in horror.

Joey cursed himself as he got back up. He eyed Gyarados as the aquatic serpent turned and ceased his rampage. He glared down at his trainer, snarling menacingly like he was prey. A blue aura engulfed both him and Dereece as his Intimidate Ability diminished their physical power. The two trainers put up their dukes as Yanma and Tranquill cornered them from above, while the rest of their Pokémon began surrounding them.

"This doesn't look too good..." Dereece grunted, his back to his Captain. "So...what crazy idea do you have this time?"

"Yeah, about that..." Joey nervously trailed off.

"Oh boy..."


Honchkrow flew in with his wing glowing bright purple, via Night Slash. Duncan knew better than to be hasty and dodge immediately, so once the last second presented itself, he pivoted and spun on his heel, narrowly escaping Honchkrow's grazing slash. He grinded his heels in the dirt as he skidded to a halt. Behind him, a burning silhouette's eyes glimmered, making him turn just in time and swing his Elfen Forja into Magmortar's Thunder Punch. The collision of lightning and metal alloy caused brief sparks between the two in the momentary standoff. The lightning produced made the Elfen Forja tingle, even through the leather insulated grip on the magnetic center. It took everything Duncan had to not let up, or be overcome by the attack.

"Hmph!" However, Magmortar's training made him effective otherwise. He proved to be stronger and shoved Duncan back, making him grind his heels into the ground.

As soon as Duncan was able to grab his bearing, he was taken back by the sound of some oncoming projectile. He saw Gastrodon as he unleashed a Water Pulse at him.

In defense, Duncan gripped his Elfen Forja as it shifted gears once more.

"Gear Two: Lightning!"

Static crackled around the bulbous tips as the light lacrima shined brightly. Duncan stuck one end out as the hemisphere of water made impact. The water diffused from the electricity, turning into water streams around him that deluded through the air.

With his back turned, Medicham swooped in, standing behind Duncan. The trainer/mage barely caught on before a glowing knee struck him right in the stomach. A forceful wake of air went through his body, causing unimaginable shock to run through his entire body. He cried out in pain as he flew onto his back with a thud.

Honchkrow flapped as he scoffed. "Hngh! Looks like the ole Boss ain't all that he's cracked up to be." He sneered.

Duncan's insides felt like mush just from that one blow alone. He clutched his abdomen as he struggled to stand. Of all the attacks that had to hit him, it had to be a Hi Jump Kick from a Medicham, with Pure Power no less. He mentally cursed himself for not reacting fast enough. The mere thought of making such an excuse like 'his body was exhausted from training all day' wouldn't suffice.

'C'mon...stand!' He gnashed his teeth harder. He thought about Nic, and how something like this wouldn't hold him down. 'Stand through the pain...!' Bucking his knees, he mustered the adrenaline into his lower body and flipped upright. He found himself surrounded by all his Pokémon as they shot unempathetic glares at him.

Duncan didn't bother to try and reason with them. What point was there? Maybe he wasn't adverse to knowing his Pokémon to a personal level per se, but he wasn't Lucy, nor was he a man who stumbled in the face of principal. He knew each of their aspects; how they fight, how they make the most of their own biology. Enough for him to know what to expect and how they would most likely counter him if he didn't play his cards right.

He gripped his Elfen Forja tighter than before. He shot a quick glance at Magmortar, then Gastrodon. If he tried using his Water Magic in the blue lacrima to attack Magmortar, Gastrodon's Storm Drain could diffuse it and leave Duncan exposed. Of course, using Lightning Magic on Honchkrow when he can use Fly, plus he was faster. If he wasn't in such a predicament right now, for once, he'd might actually feel impressed. But right now, he was agitated.

He straightened himself up and held the staff in a kendo swordsman pose. "...bring it."

Torterra growled low before he lifted his head, signaling an attack. His tree exerted a long, green, energy stump that lengthened into a log. He projected the Wood Hammer across the ground at the same time Spiritomb's shadow blackened and snaked towards Duncan. Honchkrow fired jumbled dark rings at the same time Magmortar and Gastrodon fired blasts of fire and ice. Medicham produced a psychokinetic shockwave that pulsated towards Duncan.

All six attacks closed in, while Duncan concentrated Magic Power throughout the staff. With a mighty battle cry, he twirled the staff into the surrounding attacks with everything he had.


Back in the streets of Magnolia, Vanessa and Sophie looked around a block. At the rate they were going, many of people and Pokémon alike have vacated the area; either of fright or their own volition. But compared to earlier, the streets were far less occupied, allowing Vanessa and Sophie ample room to maneuver towards their destination.

Vanessa's Aura Magic was on overdrive trying to detect her Pokémon through the roaring melee within Magnolia. All around her, there were so many aura signatures that spelled the same thing: Grief. Anger. Defiance. Confusion. And more importantly, one that she knew about all too well – Fear.

'I've never felt so much malice in one area before.' Vanessa thought. '...no, it's not just here. Even beyond Magnolia...everything is growing with anxiety all of a sudden.'

"Vanessa, do you know which direction they went?"

Vanessa was so lost in her epiphany that she almost lost track of Sophie's inquiry. "Right..." Her aura homed in on the intended targets. Her sensory picked up the nine individual signatures that belonged to their targets. "Sophie, it looks like ours are more scattered than we realized!"

"How much so?"

Vanessa paused, adjusting her sensitive aura readings. "Most of my Pokémon are diverged into the East Forest. But it looks like yours are still around this area. Up ahead, where the streets fork!"

The two women ran up to the next street. They stopped in their tracks and turned in opposite directions to see which pathways were available. The path Vanessa looked down to led to the East Forest, whereas Sophie's led to the northern canal avenue. Neither street was occupied for the time being aside from debris strewn across the pavement from wrecked buildings and households.

"Which way are your Pokémon, Vanessa?" Sophie inquired.

"This way. And it looks like your other Pokémon are down the opposite road as well." Vanessa frowned. She had a feeling of where this would head. "It would be best to quell your Pokémon first since they're the ones close by." She insisted.

Sophie blinked. She thought about it for a second, but she immediately dismissed that prospect for a more favorable solution. "That would be good, Vanessa, but I don't think we're in that position right now. Your Pokémon are a lot stronger than mine. If they're left alone, they could do more damage than mine...and that's not counting Krookodile's already aggressive demeanor."

Vanessa shot a glance over her shoulder. "You sure about this?"

Sophie nodded. "Yes. We'll handle our responsibilities individually. It'll be better that way."

Vanessa didn't have much room for an ultimatum. To an extent, Sophie was right. They could potentially kill two birds with one stone this way, that is, if all goes smoothly. However, while Vanessa seemed relaxed, if not serious, on the outside, she was another story with what she felt inside.

Flashes of Sophie's unconscious body after her wish resurfaced. A matter that wasn't her fault, but in the process made her lose everything she ever had for everyone's sake. That thought alone was enough to make her momentarily hesitate...but not enough to derail her from the subject at hand.

"...you're right. I'll settle with Delphox and the others first. It'll be best since I know their strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. And I assume that it's the same for you and your Pokémon?"

"Well enough."

'She's sounding confident. Looks like that time training with her magic and hanging around Joey spiked her confidence.' Vanessa silently accepted the answer and dashed off down the street. "If you find the others, make sure to regroup!"

"Got it!" Sophie parted and darted down the street. Her metallic soles clanged against the ground as she hurried down the avenue, making her way closer towards the canal waters. Once she had reached an intersection, she looked left and right, looking for either potential allies, or her own Pokémon.

'According to Vanessa, they should be around here somewhere...' She looked at the canal water, streaming from her left down to her right. 'If that's the case, then knowing Araquanid and Finneon, they might-!'

Just as she was pressing onto a possible conclusion, her head thumped with a pulse. Her emerald, green eyes shrank when she gasped. 'W-what...my head...' Suddenly, her head started throbbing. She gnashed her teeth as she fought the urge to kneel in the streets due to pain. 'My head...where is this headache coming from?!'

She clutched her head as the searing sensation intensified. It was getting more difficult to remain on her feet as a sense of dizziness started to wash over her. It was borderline scrutiny. As far as her Memory-Make Magic went, headaches weren't supposed to be common. Which meant, something was definitely wrong.

"My apologies, Miss Sophie. But this was the most effective way to refrain your magic from restraining us from our cause."

Even though she had a headache throbbing her brain, she was aware enough to make out the tune of the voice behind her. She slowly turned around, glancing over her shoulder to find Kadabra standing there, holding up his silver spoon while looking squarely at it.

"K-Ka...dabra...?" She murmured, her eyelids shaking to show physical wear in her focus. She noticed how focused he was on the spoon while she was having these headaches.

'Is Kadabra doing this? It must be one of his psychokinetic powers messing with my brain...' She had to think about it. Fortunately, it didn't take too long for her to realize what was going on. 'Wait a minute...!'

"I'm afraid that's not how it works. Just because we're both Psychic-types, doesn't mean that we have the same properties. For example, I can't read an opponent's movements, but I can emit alpha waves that can induce headaches..." He looked at his silver spoon in hand. "Though, admittedly, I haven't had much time to attempt such a case, especially since Miss Sophie's magic relies on her mental capacity as well."

It clicked. 'Is he producing alpha waves right now? That must explain this headache I'm feeling right now...!' She flinched when the pain suddenly spiked in her head, enough that she was brought to a knee as Kadabra approached her.

"I understand that you have a very proficient memory of us. In other words, that means you know our habits and attacks. I apologize for this inconvenience, Miss Sophie...but this is the most proficient manner in which we can detain you."

Sophie managed to open an eye, picking up what he was saying. "'We'...?"

Kadabra retained focus on the alpha waves to keep her focus away. Sophie gasped and quickly caught onto what was happening. A massive splash from the canals behind her was followed by a massive silhouette crashing down onto her. She mustered enough strength to roll away mere seconds before Araquanid came down onto the streets, his glowing sharp fangs crunching into the street. She tumbled and got to a knee hastily. She glanced up, recognizing the enormous water spider that levered his water bubble skywards. His eyes glowed brightly in the night as a sign of aggression. It matched with the shimmering rays coming off of Finneon's lining inside the water bubble's perimeter.

"Araquanid...and Finneon, too..."

Araquanid hissed aggressively as his huge legs gradually crawled closer. Kadabra stepped forward while retaining focus on his spoon. The three Pokémon cornered Sophie as she stammered up to her feet while fighting off the headaches.


In the outskirts of Magnolia, Vanessa stopped and looked around the forest before her. Examining left and right with no visible traces, she closed her eyes and focused on her aura sensory.

With there being more open space in the wilderness outside the city, there was ample space to detail the individual auras. The scoped through the various signatures until she sensed the ones that she was focused on. Her eyes opened once more with vigor.

'This aura...' She stated into the wilderness with urgency. 'I'm certain of it, no doubt it's them.'

As she ran deeper through the woodland areas, she slid down a small slope and hopped over a thin log. She kept her eyes forward on the objective until a large explosion bloomed in the distance not too far away from her. She stopped and turned towards the smoke in surprise.

"Is someone battling?" Taking a moment's worth to regain her composition. She closed her eyes and focused her aura. 'It couldn't be Nic, his aura is still too far away. Which means...'

Her aura sensory expanded vastly in mere milliseconds, until she finally saw a familiar figure through the trees and smoke, surrounded by six other auras. She was genuinely surprised with whose aura it was.

'Duncan?'

Suddenly, she sensed something from below. Tiem slowed down at the exact point she jumped away from her spot, allowing rock and dirt to erupt with Krookodile pouncing from underground with an aggressive roar.

'My perception was narrowed in for too long! Had I been a second slower...'

The dust and earth scattered at their feet. Vanessa backpedaled and stood with bent knees as Krookodile shook his head and let out a low roar into the atmosphere once more. The trainer remained on guard as the Intimidation Pokémon pointed an accusing claw at her. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, VANESSA PULARIS!" he yelled extra loud to show his aggression towards her. "YOU THINK YOU CAN PULL A FAST ON ME? DO YA?! Well, Krookodile...is even FASTER! Watch!"

From her left, a silver-bluish beam tore through the trees. On the right, a stream of smoldering fire blazed directly at her. Vanessa caught on and created a shield of teal aura to surround her body, blocking off both attacks at once. The attacks met her barrier with a large explosion engulfing the surroundings. Yet again, another eruption of smoke bloomed beyond the forest canopy. The forcefield of aura barely held up around Vanessa as the combined pressure of the attack made the air and earth violently tremble. The shield remained standing, even when a sudden wave of brown water washed over the vicinity, briefly submerging Vanessa from view.

"This attack...Muddy Water?"

To answer her own inquiry, she waited until the wave diminished. Vanessa lifted her barrier at the same instance. Once she did, she found herself surrounded from all sides by none other than her Pokémon. She retained silence as she realized the predicament at hand.

'They must have realized that I was coming out to find them...' She noticed something rom the corner of her eyes. It was Delphox, and she had her wand out with the tip engulfed in a flame that she stared at intensely. 'I see. So that's how they found me faster.'

Mawile rotated her horn jaws, scoffing. "Hmph! You certainly aren't any fun if you can read us all the time."

Vanessa gave her a glance. "My apologies. I didn't realize that your reputation as the Deceiver Pokémon meant so much to you." She shot a glance at everyone around her again. 'I'm not sensing any outside aura. Is this some kind of hypnosis they're under?'

Venusaur looked at Vanessa with unenthused demeanor on his face. "Sorry for this, I know it's up to me to refrain Mawile and Krookodile whenever either party gets out of hand..." He stepped forward. "But for once, I must turn away to deal with something more urgent before me."

Goodra stepped forward, huffing as she swung her tail behind her.

Vanessa grimaced with uncertainty. 'Venusaur and Goodra too?'

"Vanessa..." The Pularis woman turned forward, looking directly into Magnezone. His three eyes focused solemnly at her like she had done something wrong. "Though you had no part of it, your father instilled fear and obligation into me. Treating me as though I was some form of slave as a torture method to your own kin."

"Magnezone..."

His red eye glowed brightly. "However, as humble as you were to take me in, I now see that what I should have done instead of arrive at those doorsteps was to take my own leave. Your family – your father – he instilled that obligation into me. It was precisely because of that man that a weight was held over my heart for so many years. I never realized until now, 'why I didn't do this sooner?', that very notion would make me feel more liberated than what the aftermath of that incident along the isles could. Now..." His magnets circulated, channeling static over his entire body. "This is something I should have done years ago!"

Vanessa gasped as an intense spike in aggression usurped. Her hands coated in teal aura as Magnezone and the other Pokémon corralled around her.

"I shall untie myself from your family the only way your family knew how to solve everything – by force!"


In the outbacks of the other Pularis residence, Erza slid back on her heels across the grass. She bobbed her body left to avoid Aegislash's Sacred Sword that carved into the ground beside her, as well as slice a few strands of hair. She caught herself before she fell towards Houndoom's jaws lined in broiling fire and turned her momentum to flip and twist overhead, landing behind her opponent. Houndoom continued his pounce and bit into Aegislash's glowing blade, causing a small burst of flames to engulf the two. Her sixth sense made her requip into her Flame Empress Armor almost immediately, turning around and use her fire sword to parry Scizor's pincers as they formed an X shape.

With her guard up against her, Erza realized that she was exposed from behind, which was where Cloyster aimed.

"Hydro Pump!"

A sudden beam of high-volume, pressurized water erupted from Cloyster, speeding across the ground with so much force that grass blades below bent unnaturally. Erza requipped her Lightning Empress javelin in her free hand and aimed for the oncoming torrent. Without even having a moment to consider it, a magic seal appeared on the end of her javelin, expelling three green lightning bolts that met the Hydro Pump in the center. The heated lightning and rushing torrent created an explosion of mist that shook the field, engulfing everything in a thick layer of mist.

For a moment, Erza considered the possibility of an all-direction ambush, but a blue glint rushing at her made her think otherwise. 'A follow-up!' Her javelin crackled in lightning and slashed at the exact moment Cloyster spun in with Razor Shell, his blue energy blades parrying Erza's weapon.

With her pinned between the two forces, Erza found it hard to maneuver. She saw a green hemisphere of light manifesting within the mist that headed her way.

"Energy Ball!"

The sphere projected at Erza at a moderate speed. It met its mark, swallowing her in a bright green explosion. She shot out of the mist cloud and backflipped to avoid the momentum from grounding her. A loud caw from above made her glance skywards to find a sky-blue blitz zigzagging towards her.

"Acrobatics!"

"Requip: Armadura Aggron!"

Erza requipped a split-second before Talonflame's body collided with her steel-hard Aggron armor. The heavy and intense gauntlets protected her from feeling anything as she used her equally durable sword to force Talonflame to retreat back into the air.

The mist simmered down, allowing Erza to come face-to-face with her beloved Pokémon giving her a look like she had a disease.

"Talk! What is the meaning of this?!" Erza demanded.

"What's it look like? What, you like that just because I'm a Dark-type that I'm fooling around? And here I thought you guys gave me a hard time here and there." Houndoom retorted, lifting his snout.

Erza's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Allow me to rephrase." Aegislash floated forward. "Erza...what our colleague is trying to say is that we think it's within our best interests if we disembarked from you as our trainer."

"You said that, but what made you want to make such a brash decision out of nowhere?" She scowled. 'This can't be how they truly feel...could it?' In her head, the memories of her Pokémon came to light. To Aegislash from when she was a Honedge, all the way to when she was a Doublade. Thoughts of Talonflame, Slurpuff, Cloyster, Houndoom, and Scizor all stockpiled to where it just didn't seem logical. Not after all the battles they've been through!

"I know what you're thinking, Erza...yes, I do admit. At one point, I truly did respect you. You were the definition of a knight willing to fight for the sake of pride and justice." Aegislash's eye glimmered. "However, that dependency has led me to neglect my own sense of justice. My own path that I must carve for myself."

"I agree. As Pokémon, we have our own sound bodies and mind. Being further dependent on you would derail us from being who we truly are." Scizor noted, holding up her pincers to brace herself.

Talonflame cawed as she flapped her wings, scattering embers that flaked from her skin. "That's right! I was captured by you after I was bested by you before." She remembered when she was still a Fletchling, more accurately, when Erza offered to bring her along to get stronger. "You remember, didn't you?"

"Fletchling, though this may seem arbitrary, I can see a brilliance in you." Her smile came back, a warmth radiating. "Please, why don't you come with us?"

'Wait a minute, is she referring to when I praised her for challenging me? Even though the experience between her and Doublade at the time was obvious?' Erza's eyes widened at the realization. "So you thought that I wasn't living up to those expectations?"

Talonflame flapped, causing a burst of embers to flutter brilliantly. "Does this answer your question?"

Erza's eyes widened when Talonflame suddenly ignited in a bolstering blaze. The heat index around her suddenly skyrocketed as her armor felt a little tense from the heat. The massive volume of fire surrounding Talonflame compressed and became bright blue, further intensifying the temperature.

"Flare Blitz!"

Erza spread her heels and requipped on the spot. She adorned her Sea Empress Armor, using the sea sword to parry the oncoming searing hawk. 'She's so fast!'

Talonflame's blinding speed made her almost ne impossible to keep track of, but Erza managed to use the brunt end of her sword at the last second to refrain complete physical contact with her body. Flames engulfed the entire area, resulting in a plume of fire that shook the backyard. Talonflame's force was so intense that she managed to send Erza sliding back on her heels for the umpteenth time to a halt. The results of such an attack left char across her armor and exposed skin, but she endured it and remained standing.

By the time Erza registered the weakened burns on her body, she noticed Scizor diving own onto her head-first, clad in metallic filament like a helmet.

"Iron Head!"

Erza jumped away at the last second, escaping the divebomb headbutt that made a large explosion of dirt and rock exude. Her heels grinded as she switched to her Ataraxia Armor. She subconsciously manipulated the wings to dislodge and project towards everyone.

"Protect!"

A turquoise barrier appeared once Cloyster closed his shell. The barrier kept out the oncoming swords that deflected off his defense. However, while Cloyster was busy sustaining the barricade, a red blur passed by with one large blade held in reserve, heading directly for Slurpuff.

'Steel is most effective against Fairy-types. Which means...I have to take out Slurpuff first!' Her thoughts in order, she brought her blade back as Slurpuff faced her head-on, not looking in the very least afraid. "HRAH!"

SHING!

She slashed her blade, but was met with a flicker of a hexagonal barrier that appeared before her. Erza was let in momentary shock when she realized her attack was thwarted by Aegislash and her King's Shield. The contact with the barrier left a deflected spark the blade's impact with it.

'Impossible...!' Erza immediately withdrew that doubt. 'No, it is. Even though the blade can land blows without physical contact, it doesn't bypass a defense like Protect or King's Shield. Had I'd use another weapon otherwise, I'd lose power.'

Slurpuff jumped over the barrier, her mouth broiling in fire. She fired a Flamethrower that caused Erza to jump away at the last second. The ground blossomed in a massive veil of fire that heated the air in the backyard once more.

Erza landed a safe distance away, taking a brief moment to catch her breath. 'Their attack patterns are coordinated. They remember their training down to the core.' Her eyes narrowed. 'But their actions...it isn't like they're being hypnotized. If they were, they wouldn't be talking so freely as they are now. Something happened with their minds that must have altered their perspectives somehow.'

"Bullet Punch!"

A speeding red blur shot at Erza on her left. She caught wind of it just in time before it made impact with half of her Adamantine Armor's shield she requipped at the last second. A loud metallic clang ran through the area, along with an airwave that expanded from the contact point.

As Erza held up her defense, she tried reasoning with Scizor. "Tell me...what's your reason for doing this?"

"My reason?" she parroted. "Did you really forget so soon?" She pulled away, adjusting her stance against her trainer. "You should know the initial reason why I disliked you the moment that I laid eyes on you. After all, I lost my mate because of you."

Erza paused to think about it. She seemed puzzled for a couple seconds, until it finally clicked. 'Hold on...is she talking about...?'

"Looks like you remember..." Scizor bent her knees, crossing her huge pincers as illusionary swords appeared around her. As they circled around and crossed over her head, she continued glaring daggers at Erza. "That Scyther you've fought – my former mate – you broke his pride to where he became ill-tolerable. Casted me aside because I wasn't living up to his expectations. I can still remember the scorn from when he left a gash under my eye..."

"Scizor..."

"A chance to have a good mate and swarm to raise...all wasted because of you!" She jettisoned across the ground with another Iron Head, this one connecting with enough force to shudder the airspace once again upon impact with Erza's shield.

CRACK!

The sheer force of the enhanced power made the Adamantine Armor's shield crack, surprising Erza. 'She's gotten stronger!'

Houndoom slid behind her, his head careening back as he channeled dark matter to a singular point. He unleashed a Dark Pulse that jettisoned across the ground for Erza's exposed right side. With only a few seconds before impact, Erza disengaged her shield and backpedaled, allowing the jumbled rings to continue their path into the shield, creating an explosion that sent shards and dark matter everywhere. Erza used her forearms to protect her vulnerable parts from the metal that blasted everywhere. However, quite a few sharp pieces stabbed her forearm, causing her to wince in pain as she landed on the ground.

From the smoke cloud, Scizor shuffled away, shooting a look at Houndoom. "Cutting it a little close there, weren't you?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." He scoffed. "Looks like I'm not the only one who gets caught up in the heat of the moment." He turned towards Erza. "Then again, I wasn't very good at following my pack when we first met...makes you wonder if there was even a point being caught to begin with."

"Houndoom..." Erza trailed off.

Slurpuff jumped forward, beaming with pride. "Yeah! And I only tagged along because you had a whole bunch of sweets to offer me!" She then felt a lot of blank stares fixed on her. She turned all around, even seeing Cloyster look at her blankly. "What?"

"No offense...but you make that a little too obvious at times, Slurpuff." Talonflame rebuffed.

Slurpuff's face flushed a small tint of pink. "R-really...?"

Houndoom blinked. "Huh...might have to take back what I said. Apparently there's someone more one-track minded than myself." He scoffed. "Whatever, I prefer my snacks with a little bitterness to them."

Slurpuff gasped in horror, like she had just witnessed a shocking scene out of a film. "Excuse me?! How dare you mock sweets! They are a delegacy! They are life!"

"They say you are what you eat. Guess you're the spitting image."

"Focus!" Aegislash cut between them, shooting a defensive glare at Erza. "We'll discuss this topic at a later time. For now, we must enact justice for our beliefs!"

Slurpuff angrily turned towards Erza. "Fine! But once she's out of our way, I'm gonna get in that fridge and show you not to underestimate sweets!"

Houndoom careened his neck. Snorting out fire to the side. "Don't count on it, creampuff."

Erza requipped once more, turning into her Armadura Pidgeot Armor. With her twin blades in hand, she gave everyone a stern glare. 'It's no use. It looks like whatever has warped their minds, they won't listen to words alone.' She glanced over her shoulder towards the trees behind her. 'Nic must have escaped to the forest outback to lure his Pokémon away.' She tightened her grip. 'Nic...make sure they come to their sense. I'll do the same...and we'll up in the middle with everyone.'


While Erza was occupied with her own battles, the Pularis household was left unattended. From the hole in the bedroom, the debris left a small mount that Junior had to splash over. He plopped on top and looked towards the sky. It was twinkling with bright stars that mesmerized him.

"Coooo..."

BOOM!

"Cooo?" Junior felt a slight shake and looked down. Far away, there was an eruption of blue fire that incinerated a segment of the backyard's grassland. He barely made out the figments, but when he saw a red-haired feminine figure slash her way through the blaze, he recognized the situation as one that had nothing to do with his mother. "Cooo..." His attention adverted towards the forest.

He didn't know what compelled him, but somehow, something – something – in his puffy head was telling him that his mother was in the forest. He needed to find her, and fast.

"Cooo!" He hopped himself away from the safety of the house to the darkness of the forest.


With so much underbrush and roots on the forest floor, mobility was stagnant. It would have been a hassle to disturb the wildlife that came to life at night. Which left one mode of mobility – the trees.

With his expert tree maneuvering, Nic jumped from one branch towards another one a short distance away. With it being the depths of August, the air was mildly humid even at night. Nic was already starting to sweat a little. He used one hand to grip a branch and used his core strength to pull himself even higher and over it. Once his feet planted, he lunged towards the trunk and escalated the branches to where he could be concealed within the foliage the trees provided. He was already in his Meadow Form to sense the natural energy of everything around him at all times. Even though he was far enough from the house and the public as a whole, he knew there were pursuers after him...and they were moving fast,

Too fast.

'This should be far enough.'

He knew it. No matter how far he would go, he knew they would follow him, wherever he went. He blamed himself for having them trained and adapted so well to any situation. Plus, hiding would be counterproductive to solving the crisis at hand.

Just like Vanessa, he sensed it as well. The natural malice happening around him. Nobody was safe. And if his Pokémon – sought to be feared by even the likes of Earthlanders – were left unchecked, the likelihood of Ishgar being in peril would be undoubtedly high.

Whatever was happening, he needed to knock sense into them...and thankfully he was finally far enough to do just that.

"..."

Suddenly...the entire forest went dead silent. No leaves rustled, no owls hooted...time came to a complete standstill as Nic realized – in mere milliseconds – what this meant. His sclera shrank with adrenaline stockpiling in his body.

BOOOOOOM!

Faster than the eye cold blink, six invisible bullets made impact with so much force, multiple airwaves projected around the treeline. Sharp shockwaves slices bark and wood altogether. The trunk itself snapped in midair, before dicing to wooden shrapnel. This happened with many of other surroundings branches and leaves. An eruption of diced woods and bark erupted into the air and hailed down.

Time retained a slow motion as bark and leaves fell everywhere around Nic. His gaze was straightforward as his Meadow Form had the edging of his Fist Form. Around him, five bright red walls made a small box around Nic, via Mat Block. He met eyes with all of his Pokémon, all of them pressing some form of body part against the barrier from impact. Kecleon and Charizard had two sides with claws shimmering in energy, whereas Arbok had icy fangs partially frosting over the one side of the barrier. Greninja had a purple needle grinding against another wall, leaving Garchomp and Staraptor above with talons and claws pinned on the roof. Nic didn't dare to put down the barrier. He knew He looked them all dead in the eye, glaring defiant daggers of his own back at his Pokémon.

Greninja, Charizard, Kecleon, Staraptor, Garchomp, and Arbok were all dead silent as they retained the pressure on the shield Nic put up.

A blue aura engulfed Nic, indicating Staraptor's Intimidate depleting his Attack strength.

"You guys look like you're angry about something. Tell me, do you really hate me that much?" Nic sinuated a response. In truth, he truly didn't want to make a pointless fight escalate, but given that this was his Pokémon, who know way better than they should, he had to get the truth out.

"It's not that he hate you to the extent that we want to kill you." Greninja admitted jumbly. "We know much better than that. But through the years, putting us through physical abuse made us push our physical and mental boundaries to where it's ingrained into our muscle memory...this is the only way we know from experience to let you know how we feel."

Nic's eyes half-closed. "...yeah, guess you're right. I was never the one to really be considerate of others."

"You always hated people, yet you were open towards us. After the shit we've been through, now I can see why." Charizard scoffed.

"Hngh! Humans...such arrogant pests! They should be buried six feet under my heel!" Garchomp snarled, baring his razor-sharp teeth.

'Abuse. All the shit they've been through. Arrogance...' Nic pieced it together in his head. His eyes narrowed. 'Is this their suppressed feelings finally surfacing? No, if they were, it would have happened long ago. It's like their minds are warped to feel the contempt from that stress?'

A monstrous hiss came from Arbok behind him. "You should be ashamed of yourssself. To think that sssuch a disssgusting human like yourssself would even consssider keeping usss asss petsss that you can ussse for replacccements of people. We're leaguesss different from you, from biological to metaphorical!"

"The busy street goes both ways. You stay in your lane...or traffic will crash." Kecleon lulled.

"Yes, I quite agree." Staraptor hummed. "Nic...you choose us over humans. That makes you dependent on us, as we are to you. But...what if we became independent of one another? Wouldn't that make ourselves mentally more stable than depending on people that can't fight their own battles?"

"Yet I taught you guys bare-handed combat, sounds rather ironic, wouldn't you say?" Nic retorted.

Staraptor scoffed. "You're right, you're an exception since you've shown us that you're more than capable of posing as a threat to anyone's insecurities. Even our own."

Nic leered over towards Arbok as the cobra went on. "I gave you my loyalty becaussse you sssaved me. Looking back now, why did I hand myssself over from sssuch a sssimple gesture? Hngh! Should have ssslithered off! And yet, I retained with sssuch an abusssive human!" His eyes narrowed. "Not anymore!"

'Even Arbok...the way he's speaking to me so vehemently...' Nic knew something about this wasn't right. If Arbok of all Pokémon was speaking to him with that tongue – the same he would give to anyone else who wasn't his kin – then this was bad.

"You said it. I'm getting bored of all this talk." Garchomp snarled. "How about...we crush him to a pulp!"

"Agreed." Charizard scoffed. "Though we all know he's not going down without a fight."

"We know, Charizard..." Greninja glared at Nic. "Nic...we've been battling together for years, so I know what you're thinking. And we know what your answer will be...so, what's your next move going to be?"

There was no way out. Talking alone won't solve the matter. It was time to do what Nic knew best...

Despite the melancholy mood, a smirk spread across Nic's face. "If it's a fight you guys want...by all means...so be it!" Suddenly, his body exploded into a massive cyclone of petals that expanded through the Mat Block. Greninja and everyone else instantly knew what was about to happen and instantly retreated.

BOOM!

The barrier shattered to pieces as a Petal Blizzard engulfed the entire vicinity. Within half a second, everything within half a mile radius was swallowed in a shockwave of swirling petals. The petals had sharp edging and moved at such a velocity that they made a violent cyclone that surfaced high above the forest line. All the wild inhabitance immediately fled for their lives as the cyclone's whirlwinds were sending splicing petals everywhere.

As he was in midair in his retreat, Greninja used Night Slash, slashing his long, dark purple needle and using it as a bunt. The ever-growing diameter of the Petal Blizzard grinded against his blade. While it didn't reach him directly, the shock still pushed Greninja back rather than swallow him. Arbok slung through the air as he wrapped himself in Coil. Though he took the damage, the earlier Intimidate depleted the attack's damage. Kecleon covered with Protect as the petals swallowed her. Staraptor's wings shimmered in Steel Wing as she spun like a drill to deflect the petals around her. Garchomp zoomed with his Mach speed out of range past Charizard, who glared down at the oncoming maelstrom without flinching.

"Heat Wave!"

He unleashed a whirlwind of heated winds, instantly heating the air around the forest to incredibly high levels. The petals reduced to char in an instant as the broad storm of orange winds and fire swallowed the forest below.

Nic looked up, bracing himself with glowing green eyes, via Detect. The Heat Wave was like a falling firestorm that engulfed everything around him. The branches and woodland areas reduced to ashes in an instant from the blistering drafts. Yet even as his foothold was incinerated, Nic remained seemingly untouched as he fell towards the ground. Still staring into the heated winds, he recognized the draconic bullet that sped at him. Garchomp's Dragon Rush, mixed with the drafts of Heat Wave, caused the draconic energy to expand and increase in velocity, making him look like he was surrounded in a burning draconic flare at speeds that far exceeded the sound barrier.

Yet Nic's trained reflexes kicked in as he glowed in midair. The attack made impact, immediately grounding Nic and causing multiple surges of light to shroud the vicinity before an eruption of smoke, dust, and fire blossomed. The ground diced to pieces from the shockwaves.

As soon as the dust cleared, however, Nic was seen standing, endowed in his Pixie Form with his Splash Form. His left arm was reached out so as to refrain Garchomp from making contact with him.

Appearing behind Nic, Greninja was crouched and had Night Slash in slow motion. At speeds rivaling light, he slashed horizontally...splitting Nic's midsection in half. However, no blood came out, but water instead as Nic's cellular structure made him become water. His body swirled and manifested a Whirlpool that hastily expanded, forcing Garchomp to somersault and drill into the ground via Dig to dodge. As opposed to Greninja, who kept his needle out and sliced through the expanding water.

Surrounded by his aquatic barrier, Nic retained his water form and blended with the swirling water. The entire Whirlpool suddenly protruded aquatic blades that projected in all directions, via Liquidation. Sharp blades of water rushed everywhere, enough to even make Greninja fall back.

Beelining at speeds unmatched, an invisible blur with sharp, glowing, extended claws slashed clean through the aquatic blades and bisected the water cyclone in one fell swoop. Nic didn't see well because it was so dark, but he knew who they were from.

"Kecleon..." His eyes suddenly fixed on two small indents depressing before an airwave shot off the ground for him. His body reacted by transforming into a cross of his Draco and Iron Forms, giving him metallic membranes on his wings that he folded over him.

Arbok was right behind him, lunging with Ice Fang that crystalized oxygen in the area around him as he sped after Nic.

"King's Shield!"

Kecleon and Arbok's sclera dilated. Both paused mere millimeters from making contact with a hexagonal barrier that surrounded Nic. The force of their attacks kept going and made a small airwave that suddenly tripled in force and pulsated around the two, destroying the ground behind them.

Nic leered around at his Pokémon. 'Their reaction and reflexes aren't lacking. They stopped before they made contact with King's Shield.'

Time slowed down as the barrier gradually lifted, where Staraptor and Charizard reappeared with Steel Wing and Dragon Claw respectively. Nic's body had a dense red aura as ethereal gears appeared around him, via Shift Gear. His Attack increased, as to where his Speed amplified graciously.

At the same time, right beneath, the ground started erupted, indicating Garchomp was resurfacing with Dig.

Time returned to normal when Staraptor and Charizard's attack smashed into the earth, creating an explosive shockwave skywards. The earth beneath shook violently from their combined force. However, Nic was already gone, having been able to evade that attack and end up in the air above the two. However, Garchomp was right on his tail, driving skywards with an uppercut. Nic saw the super-effective attack head his way, and with incredible speeds, roundhouse kicked to claw to deflect it past him. He grabbed Garchomp's outstretched arm and used the momentum to swing him back down towards the ground. As he plummeted halfway, Charizard was already in midair, and he turned upside-down and used his own feet as a springboard for Garchomp to press against and shoot back up at Nic, engulfed in another Dragon Rush. Charizard twisted his body an instant later and fired a broiling Flamethrower. Nic's hands glowed bright green and extended energy claws to counter, via Dragon Claw. At the same time, his own wings glowed with Steel Wing. He spun his body like a drill, rolling clockwise to roll with Garchomp's tremendous rush. The hardened wings grinded against the sides of the Dragon Rush energy, making streaks of silver light up the serpentine structure's side until he reached the end. As soon as he ceased drilling, he readjusted and crossed his Dragon Claws, deflecting the monstrous fire all around him. Though the force of the intense flames made him jeer back into the air a little. He managed to get his wings to spread and gave a tremendous flap, dispersing the fire around him by the shockwaves alone.

"Shift Gear!"

Once again, ethereal gears appeared around Nic, making another red aura engulf him. His Attack increased once more, along with another immense increase of Speed.

Arbok countered with his own measures. On the ground below, he and Greninja exchanged looks before the former coiled his body up, via Coil. His Attack, Defense, and Accuracy was amplified yet again, but Greninja hopped onto his hood. As if like a spring, Arbok sprung off the ground like a rocket, his wake making a harsh tremor and depressed earth where he originally was. Arbok's maw opened wide as the sharp fangs glowed bright blue and turned to solid ice. Icy aura-like fangs protruded once more as he braced for Ice Fang. As soon as they were high enough, Greninja fired Water Shuriken at intense speeds. They looked like speeding blue meteors that sliced through solid air. With deadly precision, Nic outsped the Shuriken and coated his arms in bright green energy, via Dual Chop. He backhanded the several shuriken with a single swipe, and saved the last chop in anticipation for Garchomp as he was coming back down with a tail slam. Garchomp immediately vanished to avoid being blown back into the air. Nic's world kept spiraling as he saw Arbok still coming for him and vanished as well. He reappeared a short distance away with spread wings, but Greninja hopped off Arbok's back, uncurled his tongue, and spiraled through the air to swing him into Nic's new direction. The redirected cobra's velocity was even faster now that gravity wasn't against him. Nic pivoted in the air and turned to a cross of his Zap and Pixie Forms; the Zap Form having the primary coloration. He vanished in a flash of lightning and reappeared above, already having an Electro Ball in one hand that he projected at Mach speed onto Arbok. However, Garchomp got in front, taking the attack for his ally and diffusing it through his body. Arbok was about to continue his projected path when his own tail snaked around Garchomp's, and latched on as the latter swung him around to sling him back at Nic. As he was swinging around, Staraptor flew skywards with Kecleon, the latter lunging off the former's back and kicked Arbok's hood with so much force that an airwave propelled him forward. This time, the cobra was even closer than before...but Nic was still way faster as he made a Moonblast in his spare palm and shoved it into Arbok's icy fangs.

The two attacks made impact, with point-blank lunar energy and frost erupting across the skies above the forest. The once heated atmosphere became cold as the two forces were in the midst of their wake. Nic knew Moonblast wasn't going to be enough against Arbok, who had enhanced Attack and Defense. He glared daggers as his entire body crackled in lightning that he channeled down his arm, via Spark. The lightning forced itself into the Moonblast' making lunar energy mix with lightning moments before everything went blank.

BOOOOOOM!

A series of lights expanded over the horizon, sending crackling ice shards falling through the atmosphere. Icy mist and static filled the air, concealing Nic and Arbok for a brief instant. The shockwaves of the attack caused Greninja – who was in freefall – to flip through the air until Charizard caught him. Arbok went into freefall as well, but was saved by Garchomp. Kecleon was in Staraptor's talons as she retained her distance.

The misty explosion simmered through the air, but was abruptly blown apart by an expulsion of icy air in all directions. The mist crystalized into frost that rained down around Nic, as he was in a cross of his Sky Form and Icicle Form. The wings shimmered with jagged, icy membranes that refracted the shimmering blue crystals around him.

His blue eyes glowed in the night as he glared down his opponents. He breathed steadily, each breath exerting cold frost that faded into the atmosphere.

"Hail!"

He flapped his wings, generating a gust of cold air that faded through the sky. Dark clouds generated above everyone that gradually dropped chunks of small hail. All of Nic's Pokémon grunted as they felt the effects of Hail pelting their bodies.

'This should wear them down further.' Nic looked ahead with severe determination. He flapped his wings, unleashing an expanding Blizzard that sped after all of them like a rushing wall of below-zero force.

However, Charizard brought his wings back as well. "Heat Wave!" He flapped his wings again, creating a heated maelstrom that acted as a massive heat wall before his allies. The raging Blizzard howled as it went around the whirlwind, becoming a draft that left the air mildly tepid behind the others.

As Nic kept up his Blizzard, his wings were glowing. They continued flapping as bright blue air crescents went through the cold winds, via Air Cutter. They shredded through the Heat Wave, but Greninja countered by unleashing many Water Shuriken. The sharp-edged blades of each attack met with deadly accuracy, leaving mist bombs that blew up through the raging maelstrom.

The Blizzard and Heat Wave eventually cease, leaving only a huge amount of steam to swallow the area. A current was picking up that steadily gained speed and drew around Nic as he continued flapping, now making Hurricane. The towering wall of winds raged high over the forest and collected the chunks of hail that were still falling. The monstrous wake of ice clusters and high-speed winds surrounded all of Nic's Pokémon, trapping them inside.

"Hngh!" With a heavy grunt, Nic clutched his left fist tight, compressing the Hurricane to a pressurized funnel. The winds swirled astoundingly fast to where anything inside would have been ripped apart. He kept this up for several moments until the momentum finally let up.

When the Hurricane ceased, all that was left were ice crystals that flaked towards the ground.

Nic knew they weren't dead. It was impossible, not to mention that wouldn't be enough to destroy them. Instead, knowing their actions, his gaze fell towards the leveled ground. It was barely noticeable, but he recognized a hole.

'So that's your game.'

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing jet of scalding water shot skywards towards Nic. With his increased speed, he easily maneuvered around it. A jet of bolstering fire erupted next, causing him to change direction. Sharp, glowing blue stones shot up from below, rising so high at such an alarming rate that nobody could keep up. Using Tailwind, a draft picked up around Nic, causing his Speed to double to where he wasn't visible. He moved so fast through the hailstorm that there were only flickers and sparks of him as he evaded the three attacks.

'They're attacking from underground to avoid Hail until it passes. On top of that, they're using long-ranged moves to keep me occupied.' It was sound to where it was borderline impressive. He trained them all very well, as both a unit and individually. "Well, in that case..." He flapped his wings, creating a sonic shockwave that spread throughout the air. He shot down towards the ground so fast that he was barely visible. He glowed once more as his wings vanished, his Sky Form turning to his Earth Form with Icicle Form edging and accents. "I'll just force you out!"

The ground shot another jet of scalding hot water and fire at the same time. 'There!' He tilted his body, getting in between the two incredibly close attacks. Hot water and fire barely grazed his sides, but he managed to speed through and pulled back a fist to punch the ground.

"Earthquake!"

At unrivaled speeds, the punch made impact with the ground. Several flickers of light pierced the ground before a seismic eruption of earth and rock exploded from below, similar to a volcano. The eruption shook everything, followed by an ever-expanding wake of earth and dirt that diced everything in a growing radius. Forest life that was far out of reach was immediately destroyed. Trees were snapped to splintered fragments, and undergrowth was shot ten feet into the air. All matter of boundaries shook and was swallowed in a shockwave that collapsed everything in an instant.


Junior was hopping his way through the forest, following his wandering eyes wherever they would take him. Only when the ground began violently shaking did he come to a halt. "Cooo?" He looked towards the sky, seeing wild birds and bird Pokémon flying in the opposite direction. He looked ahead to see what was making them all run off. That's when a rapidly-growing seismic wave exerted in his direction, swallowing everything.

"Cooo?" Suddenly, a spiraling log came down, vertically sticking its hollow insides where Junior was. The baby was swept away as the entire log that blown to bits, taking Junior with it away from the danger.


As large rock and dirt clumps defied gravity, Nic kept his fist in the dense crater that he created from impact. It was large enough to fill a small lake. Amongst the dust and rock, several figures sped after Nic. He retained caution as Charizard and Staraptor shot at him from either side, their wings folded in front of them. They went for roundhouse kicks that Nic dodged by jumping and twisting his boy to roll between the kicks. However, as they were following through, Staraptor and Charizard unfolded their wings, revealing Kecleon and Arbok respectively.

'They used themselves as meat shield to stop them from taking damage from Earthquake...'

Kecleon and Arbok sprung with Brick Break and Ice Fang respectively. Nic slammed his hand into the ground, creating a small pillar of ice from underground that shot up beneath him to get him above Kecleon and Arbok's assault. The fangs and fist shattered the ice like it was hard candy. Again, Nic felt his world spinning as his broken stand left him in freefall. He twisted hist frame through the hailstorm to avoid a sudden swipe from Garchomp as he ricocheted off a land mass that was still in the air. That was immediately followed by Greninja, who rushed with a Night Slash. Nic twisted his body as Greninja did the same to strike him. Their nimble frames danced through the air until Nic's hand pressed against the ground, instantly freezing it, and anything in contact with it. At that exact moment, he made a small hitch in the ice to make him change direction and flip away from Greninja's downward slash into the ice.

Once he landed upright, Nic found himself surrounded by his Pokémon once again. Garchomp and Greninja didn't even look fazed by the earlier Earthquake. Most likely because Greninja held onto Garchomp as he shot them out of the hole at the last second. Knowing them, that was the likeliest reflexive action they would have taken. Though the Hail continued to fall, and even now, they were only accumulating a little damage at a time.

Even then, they didn't even look remotely close to exhausted. This was just a warm-up. A simple warm-up.

'At this rate, we won't get anywhere.' Nic wanted to say something again, but knowing the state that they were all in, it would have been pointless. They would have to jog their memories themselves. He could just go into his Mind Form and scope out the problem altogether, but given the unknown condition – be it amnesia or emotional manipulation – he didn't want to take any risks damaging their psyche.

Arbok raised his tail, signaling his usage of Earthquake. Nic glowed again, shifting to his Sky Form mere seconds before Arbok slammed his tail into the earth. In half a second, once again, destroyed earth was shot back into the air, along with a monstrous shockwave that crushed debris to pieces. Seismic waves of land and unearthed minerals swamped the lands around them, desecrating nearby hills to mush. Miles away, another eruption could have been seen from afar.

In the depths of the eruption, Nic ascended with the shockwaves pushing dirt high into the atmosphere. Charizard and Staraptor had taken liberties having Greninja and Kecleon on their backs, shielding them from the underearth pelting them and having no effect. Meanwhile, Garchomp's agility made him leap at blinding speeds from rock to rock like steppingstones up towards Nic. The latter breached the top of the cloud and spread his wings, looking down at his oncoming Pokémon.

All six of Nic's Pokémon burst out of the cloud, either slinging to a winged ally or leaping off rocks. As soon as they peaked, their gazes fell to above Nic.

In the depths of the ongoing Hail, hanging over Nic's head, there were a dozen spiraling icicles, each one poised and sharp as spears. They were the size of the guild hall's height around average. All twelve were focused and pinpointed on all of them.

The look on Nic's face was deathly to say the least. He didn't know if it was because of the growing adrenaline, or because all this muscle memory and training was paying off in an ironic fashion. But the battle-crazed sneer on his face was enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.

"You wanna fight so bad? Let's see if this jogs anything in those confident domes that you call skulls!" His eyes glowed bright blue, his irises looking like pure, crystal ice.

"Legendary Arts: Glaciate!"

He swung his arm down, sending all the massive ice spikes straight at his Pokémon. They jettisoned with enough pressure at the tips that airwaves rippled from their sides. Greninja's eyes dilated as he saw the oncoming spikes raining down upon them. He and Kecleon jumped off Charizard and Staraptor's backs and leaped up. The rest followed as they closed in to hit them with everything they had.

Garchomp's horn appendages glowed bright blue as he shrouded in draconic energy. Arbok channeled silver energy to a single point, creating a black garbage bag in a purple aura. Kecleon reeled her glowing fist back. Charizard balled his fist as electricity channeled to a singular point. Staraptor raised her talons and spread her wings. Lastly, Greninja reeled back a glowing purple fist.

Together, all six had two spearing projectiles fall onto them. They all fired their attacks at the same time with everything they had. All twelve spears met their attacks high in the sky, causing a shockwave to level the surrounding dust from Arbok's Earthquake. The airwaves produced dropped the temperature so low that frost and thin layers of ice quickly covered the ground far below. They all roared violently as they thrust with every ounce of fiber they had. The impact of Arbok's own Gunk Shot was postponed as the two sides were tied for the time being.

"Is that all you can do?!" Nic's eyes shrank with his growing might. "You don't remember when your full potential is? Or do you just deny it out of spite?!"

Greninja cried out as he was punching with all that he had. However, his Return could barely keep up. He was starting to lose momentum. 'My attack...it's not as strong as it once was. Why...?'

He had no time to think. He was feeling numb from the pressure of the two tips trying to puncture his entire body. He cried out with everything he had, as did everyone else. All six forced themselves further against the icicles until the pressure became enough to where the ice spikes were cracking apart. In a matter of moments, the twelve icicles finally shattered to pieces, spreading ice shards across the sky. It rained down along with the Hail.

In freefall, the sheer shock of the hail spreading across their faces left all six Pokémon in a momentary daze. Not only did all their attacks barely make the cut, but the imagery of Nic in the air above the shattered ice made him look oddly...familiar?

All their eyes hardly had any light in them. However, the longer they were in freefall, the longer they had to stare at their trainer. The shock of the attack was so powerful that it jolted some mental images of the many nights they've spent, eating meals, sleeping in trees; even having long runs together on such clear days.

All those images stuck in their heads and made some light return to their eyes.

Nic saw them all momentarily dazes while in freefall. He chose not to let up and flapped his glowing wings, projecting Gust to strike all of them and send them and all the shattered ice in the sky towards the ground. They all crashed into the icy ground, making frosted dust erupt into the air around them.

The Hail gradually came to a halt. The dark clouds high above gradually dispersed, revealing the twinkling stars of the night sky. Nic descended down towards the cold earth, planting his feet softly against the ice. He watched the mist disperse before his peers to see what happened.

There, all of them were staggering. They had a small speck of light in their eyes. Their bodies had scrapes from damage, but not enough to keep them down. A unison red aura engulfed their bodies, reducing their Speed.

"Gnngh...what's...going on here...?" Greninja grunted. "My mind...it's like it cried out for something...!"

"Yeah...me too!" Charizard grunted. "Must have been one of those brain freezes these humans get..."

"My dome...it was all smooth inside...now it feels bumpy and uncomfortable..." Kecleon lulled.

'They're hesitating! Are they finally snapping back to their senses?' His body encompassed in a bright green outline before vanishing, leaving dust and depressed earth. 'I need to keep pushing! Get their subconscious to surface!'

"Extreme Speed!"

At nanoseconds, bright green streaks appeared all around the Pokémon, before Nic appeared behind them with a Cut blade unsheathed in a slashing pose. Hundreds of small slashes appeared around all of them before explosions went off, causing all of them to grunt and stagger once more.

'Too...fast!' Charizard sneered.

"What's the matter? Thought your reflexes were supposed to be sharp, or are you actually wearing on me?" Nic taunted, glancing back at them. "Or was all that about you guys being leagues apart from humans a bluff?"

Arbok hissed at Nic's attempt at provocation. "I'll sssnap your bonesss!" He lunged at Nic first, going at him in physical fashion. He swung his tail to and fro, twisting his serpentine body and flipping in midair to avoid Nic's deflections and counterattack at the same time. He tried backhooding him as he spiraled, but Nic casually leaned back. He kept dodging and parrying Arbok's blows as the snake was on the relentless assault.

'Arbok...' Nic thought about Arbok, how he was once an Ekans and had struggles performing exercises without arms. 'No matter what, even without limbs of your own, you stayed true to how your kind never gives up on the chase. It was because you chose to follow me that you had a reason to be vindictive, and eventually you caught up with all of us. You were territorial, and always scoffed at any who weren't considered kin...yeah, I know that feeling, too. I was never really open myself with anyone who I didn't keep close. We're more alike than you may have perceived.'

Arbok swung his tail, in which Nic did a handstand on and flipped over. Illusionary swords twirled around him via Swords Dance. He used a Mega Kick, his glowing leg striking Arbok's tail as he attempted to deflect. More shockwaves depressed the earth and trembled the earth as the cobra's resilience made him persevere. 'And that's why...I'll be as vindictive as I must to make you see me as your kin again.'

Arbok's eyes met Nic's. As if like a switch went off, his sclera dilated once more. He remembered when he fought Valerie's Sylveon and won, earning an important victory for Nic, as well as himself.

"You never gave up, Arbok...that win was all you."

His eyes shrank as memories came back. Flashes of his vindictive strife against countless opponents alongside Nic resurfaced. The lust for victory; the perseverance to go on; it was surfaced. He remembered the battle against August...and why he earned that large scar right below his hood.

"(Of courssse…Nic-sssama?)"

"Yes, Arbok?"

Arbok looked to be hesitant once more – a trait Nic didn't see too often in the cobra. He kept quiet as the serpent spoke aloud. "(Would it be alright if I addressssed you asss…Nic?)"

He grinned back. "Of course. I never told you to address me as anything before."

Reality sank into Arbok's head as soon as that last memory erupted. His eyes fully retained light that shined with realization again.

With him in thought, Nic saw this and faintly sneered. He followed through and kicked Arbok away, allowing Garchomp to pierce the ground, sending a wave of Stone Edge from behind. Just when it seemingly struck Nic, the last stone was sliced apart by an outstretched arm, glowing in bright green, leafy energy via Leaf Blade.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Garchomp snarled. However, his black sclera were dilating, like he was equally as unnerved.

'Garchomp...' As Garchomp darted after Nic, his heel created a shockwave that pushed everything away behind him. He engaged Nic as memories of when he was a Gible surfaced. 'Even as a Gible, you never backed down from any obstacle that stood in your way. Your passion for battle made you relentless and ruthless, and yet...' He thought of how often he would allow Nic to pet him for a job well done. 'There was more than one side to you. You have a good heart. You treasure us and look out for us. That mixture of compassion and to fight...that's your most endearing traits.'

In the midst of their combat, Garchomp pulled back his claw. Nic's glare fastened before he glowed. Garchomp's claw refracted purple light just as he was reeling ahead. His reflexes kicked in and backpedaled when a purple, barbed, forcefield appeared in front of Nic. The Baneful Bunker receded, revealing Nic as a cross of his Toxic and Splash Form. He slashed a large Liquidation blade, to which Garchomp's reflexes again reacted and narrowly avoided the slash. The shockwave continued and leveled a section of the crater, shaving rock and earth down to a fine point.

Time slowed down as Garchomp's eyes showed bloodlust. Yet, within that lust, there was a serious passion. That same expression was on Nic's face; the thrill of crushing your enemies, no matter how many. The thousands of battles and imagery of beating down so many foes alongside Nic – that passion invoked a nerve that made Garchomp stagger.

"Garchomp…tear them apart until no numbers are left!"

Garchomp got a foot back and craned his neck at the oncoming mages. "Don't worry, I'm gonna savor every moment of this!"

It all came back to Garchomp. Like a click of a button, he recalled feeling the frenzy every day, training alongside Nic and the others. Battling so many foes that were beyond Route 13. The sheer tenacity he felt battling all kinds of foes, learning genuine compassion for Nic, who accepted him as he was. That bond transcended to the immense power that he would gain for Mega Evolution, the same power he used to crush monstrous foes like the Dark Legendaries, two of Ishgar's strongest mages, to the likes of Acnologia.

'I want...I want...' Finally, his thoughts snapped when he thought about Nic one more time. '...to keep fighting that way!'

Like that, Garchomp's irises snapped back to normal. Though still feral, the light in them returned as he was delivered a punch straight across his face. With him backing off, Nic glanced behind himself.

"Charizard..."

The Flame Pokémon already had a Thunder Punch reeled back. At speeds rivaling bullets, he shot forward into Nic, but he turned his Toxic Form half into his Earth Form and caught the fist, diffusing the electricity and raised his arm overhead to slam Charizard into the ground. But he caught himself and landed on his feet harshly. He used his outstretched right arm and made Dragon Claw. With his other barehand, Nic grabbed the claw, forcing them into another stalemate.

Being so close, Nic glared directly into Charizard's snarling gaze. "What is it that you've always said? Something that made you do your best no matter what? Tell me, do you remember that?"

Charizard's eyes dilated. It was taking everything in him to focus on fighting. But everything in his body was so subconscious that as he was his mind was already leagues away. The memories came flooding back to when he was but a Charmander. The imagery of him battling Nic's Froakie, seeing Froakie push himself because of Nic; that clung to him like glue.

Charizard and Nic separated by a few feet, before going into high-speed melee combat. Charizard spun on his hand and whipped his tail and legs around, to which Nic mimicked the same actions and coordination. As they parried blow after blow, their thoughts were equally in full swing.

'Ever since I could remember, you always tried to go above and beyond. You were willing to go full swing to whatever stood in your way without a second thought. Hardy as you were, you always prevailed in battle.'

'Why am I fighting? Why did I fight to begin with? I didn't start battling because I liked it. I did so because Nic was willing to free me from that professor's lab...I shouldn't feel attached after all I've known up till now was just fighting. And yet...' Their kicks parried, as did their elbows. 'Why am I so contorted about this cause?!'

'He's breaking. He needs one more push!' Nic glowed as his Splash Form half became his Zap Form. He pulled back for a dazzling Thunder Punch. "Maybe this will make you remember what you say in these times!"

Charizard bared his fangs and threw back his fist for another Thunder Punch. At the same time, their fists and knuckles met centerfield, causing a burst of lightning that condensed the ground heavily around them. The sheer discharge went through Charizard's arm as his eyes widened upon seeing their fists collide.

Just then, memories of the many instances when they did that resurfaced. He fist-bumped Greninja, Kecleon, Garchomp, Arbok, Staraptor...but most of all, with Nic after an intense battle. It was their trademark – a sign of his trust.

A memory returned to his head, more accurately, back to their time on Tenrou Island.

"My trainer and the other Pokémon, we've been through many things, and this is no different." He started to slowly advance ahead. "I fought against a Legendary who had hot flames that could burn rocks with ease, and you know what, my flames trumped theirs, because the experience and intensity I swell up will always burn away any darkness around me."

Charizard's memories finally snapped. The thousands of battles he had, from facing Gyms, to Legendary Pokémon; it all came back at him. Even at times when he was Mega Charizard X, those feelings were even more intensified. The light in his eyes gradually returned.

"...to go that extra mile..." he breathed.

Nic hummed. He hardened his knuckles and infused harsher static through the punch, causing Charizard's entire body to crackle in harsh lightning as he went soaring backwards. With his back turned, he felt something there, even though it wasn't visible. Instinctively, his body reacted and became lightning, disappearing and reappearing with his leg stretched out, parrying something like an invisible hand.

"You've put me through my paces with that camouflage trick of yours. Was hiding and defending yourself all you got from what I taught you?"

Fading into view, Kecleon's beady eyes looked shaken. Her subconscious took over as she went on the attack with her claws glowing, via Slash. Nic vanished into lightning in nanosecond timing as Kecleon followed through, twirling herself and making her toe claws sharpen, twisting and kicking lightning bolts that were Nic hands and feet. Brief flashes showed Nic reappearing in a hybrid of his Zap and Fist Forms fused. It was taking everything Kecleon had to keep up with the lightning bursts mixed with punches and kicks from every direction. It was like hundreds of Nic attacking her all at once. Eventually, she predicted Nic from above, using a downward Power-Up Punch infused in crackling lightning.

Mere milliseconds before impact, a turquoise barrier appeared around her, shielding her from the impact. Multiple shockwaves erupted skywards, blowing away everything around them. Lightning flashes as multiple discharged bolts streamed everywhere.

'Kecleon...' Nic thought to their first encounter in front of Parfum Palace. 'You were always a left-fielder. You had your own way of speaking what's on your mind. You were always just misunderstood was all. I know that feeling all too well. Even if there are those who can understand you, they expected a response that they want to hear. We weren't like our own kind because we couldn't conform...guess that's what drew us together.'

With Protect's durability keeping Nic at bay, she couldn't find any room to attack. This was Nic's chance to snap her out of it. "You know, Kecleon...even if you were treated as garbage by others...trash still has its worth. One Pokémon's trash, is another human's treasure. You got that?!" His punch receded as he pulled his fist back, congregating lightning to a singular point. His Charge intensified his Special Defense, making a red aura envelop him. "That treasure...is you!"

Kecleon's head rung like a bell. 'He...he said...' She remembered the first time she ever met him, how he spoke in such a candor without getting frustrated with her way of speaking.

"Right now I have bigger problems to deal with."

"(Bigger Magikarp to catch than me?)" Kecleon tilted her head again.

Nic looked back at the red stripe in the distance. "No offense to you, sincerely."

Kecleon stopped backtracking, blinking. '(He…decoded my encoding?)'

Nic began to walk off towards the incline of the hill. "While would love to battle, I'm afraid I have to go and teach someone some manners…as in my standpoint, he gets Fs all around."

Kecleon's eyes widened in shock. She never heard someone speak somewhat like her. And she understood!

It was all coming back to her. The quarrels she endured, battling the strong foes like Wikstrom's Aegislash and Gajeel. Facing Jienma alongside Nic and befriending Minerva and Celestial Spirits, Lysandre and the Dark Legendaries, the Rivolta and Mariah, to Acnologia. She could feel the emotions she felt back then return to her as she thought about Nic.

Kecleon looked at Nic knowingly. "Ping?"

Nic slowly nodded back. "Ping."

The light in Kecleon's eyes returned at long last. Nic saw this, and let out a cry as Protect faded. Faster than even light, Nic brought his arm down above Kecleon, all charged up with a point-blank fist.

"Plasma Fist!"

The fist made impact with Kecleon, creating a voluminous dome of plasma lightning that sent ions everywhere. The atmosphere roared wildly with bolts frying the ground. Earth most in all directions with static for miles on end. Miles away, shockwaves of static ran through the forest, making fibers in the air visibly electric.

The force of the attack sent Kecleon flying off in the wake, but was caught by Garchomp as he pulled away. In the streaks of lightning that swirled around Nic, he was left to get up and look around. His eyes had visible lightning in them from all the juice he let unleashed just now.

Just then, his expression turned stagnant with expectancy...

With a sudden pivot, he swiped his arm and put a translucent red barrier, via Quick Guard. The attack blocked crackling aquatic shuriken that grinded against the shield before the exploded into crackling vapor, shrouding everything for a moment.

As the mist cloud vanished, a webbed axe kick was blocked by a pair of arms. The two figments appearing were none other than Nic and Greninja, the former with his arms crossed overhead with Cross Chop, and the latter having a purple aura engulf his heel, via Return. There was a stalemate between the two for a brief moment, but ultimately, Nic swiped his arms, generating a force and speed that pushed Greninja back through the air. Nic fired a blistering Thunderbolt at him, but mere milliseconds before impact, Greninja narrowly twisted his body, his immeasurable speed and reflexes once again allowing him to outmaneuver the lightning.

Nic reappeared in a bolt of lightning above him, with a bright blue Sacred Sword blade levered over his head. Greninja parried with a Night Slash, making sparks fly between their clash.

'Greninja...you already know what I'm thinking, don't you? This wasn't the first time somebody forced you to turn on me. You know what I'm talking about.'

Greninja grunted as he struggled to keep up the parry. He was looking into Nic's eyes with defiance, but his trainer looked so calm. So serious and resolute. It was like he went through this before and knew the outcome. 'Wait a minute...what's this wave of nostalgia I'm feeling? Why do I feel so...!' His dilated eyes shrank at a memory surfacing.

"We'll never back down! This is our will, and together, we'll prevail!"

Greninja remembered it now. The battle back when he was mesmerized by Berges of Star Order and forced to fight Nic. 'That time...it's just like now...don't tell me...!' Subconsciously, he deactivated his Night Slash and grabbed the downward blade's top. He flipped overhead, his heels glowing bright purple with Return.

"You remember how powerful that move really is?" Nic used his forearm to block the attack, both still in freefall. He wasn't even fazed by the miniscule force it carried. "You should know that Return is only as powerful with how close you feel with your trainer." His eyes narrowed. "Tell me, you at least remember when you learned that move?"

Greninja thought about it, but it only made his thoughts backtrack a little more. Memories were flourishing from deep down between him and Nic. The memories of their epic battle against God Serena came to mind...and the true nature of their forged brotherhood.

His eyes visibly flashed purple. "Nic..."

Nic didn't say anything. He didn't have to at this point. All he did was let out a battle cry at the same time Greninja did. With their eyes looking deeply into one another, they could see the other's life flash before their eyes as they overlapped. Their eyes shined purple mere moments before an explosion of water erupted, channeling into a vicious cyclone that surrounded them both. High in midair, both Nic and Nic-Greninja were looking at each other, their purple eyes gleaming with reassurance and resolution.

Gradually, a small smile appeared on Nic's face. "Good to have you back."

Nic-Greninja hummed. "Yeah...look alive!"

Through Nic-Greninja's eyesight, Nic knew what he was referring to. A silhouette of a talon stamped through the water at high-speed, opening a hole. Time slowed down dramatically as Nic reached back and used his bare fist to grip the feet that had razor-sharp talons on them. Glaring Nic dead in the eye, piercing red irises with white sclera zeroed in on him specifically.

'Staraptor...' Thoughts of Staraptor were starting to surface. Rather than get lost in reminiscence, his body used the momentum to whirl Staraptor around with one hand, sending her straight towards the ground via Vital Throw. As she descended, Nic unleashed another bolt of lightning that closed in on her. Staraptor caught wind of it and pivoted to glance at the incoming Thunderbolt. Her body flashed just before she was vaporized in the lightning strike that continued towards the ground creating a massive tremor that discharged through the earth. As the lightning flourished, multiple clones of Staraptor flew up and around the lightning towards Nic. They flocked around him, each one having talons and wings braced for Close Combat. Nic glowed and waited until Staraptor was close enough to alter his form again. When he glowed, Staraptor's sclera sharpened as her jabbing wing glowed for Steel Wing.

SHING!

The metallic wings met a set of Shadow Claw that caused a shockwave to expel across a wide area again. Nic glared Staraptor in the eye, making note of her fighting style. 'She transitioned from Close Combat into Steel Wing after anticipating me transitioning to a Ghost-type. That training from earlier is paying off. Staraptor...'

The two glared the other down, reading the other like an open book. Nic transitioned to Thunder Punch to parry Staraptor's metallic wings. Their blows were matched with deflections of the other. However, with his superior power and speed, Nic was quickly outmaneuvering Staraptor enough to put her on the defensive. The entire planet once again danced around them as they were evading the other, while at the same time trying to take the other out.

'Staraptor...' Nic thought to when he first caught her as a Staravia. 'At first, you didn't have any reason to like me. I don't blame you. Opening up doesn't always settle in easy...but once you did, you were adamant on being your best for yourself, not just for me.' He and Staraptor met in midair once more, creating a static-filled shockwave. They were left interlocked as Nic glared her in the eyes in hopes she comprehended that. 'Whatever thoughts are in your head, look at me and show me!'

Staraptor glared back at Nic. The longer she stared into his intense glare, the more her brain was itching. So much in fact that it was starting to hurt. Bits of their memories were starting to come back to her. From when she was caught, to her battles against Korrina and Ramos – the latter case resulting her evolution against his Gogoat. Beyond her experience as a Pokémon on PokeEarth, her thoughts ran on a slim rail.

Her battles against Sol of the Element Four came to mind, as well as her fights against Evergreen and Bickslow, to the battles in Dahlias, to Bellona in the Sun Village. But compared to what the others went through in comparison to her, her experience as a whole felt more...miniscule.

'Was I...ever truly important, I wonder...?' Suddenly, her eyes shrank when her brain ached from a painful mental image...the time when someone dear to her was lost forever.


"Raichu, use Electro Ball!"

The command of a passing trainer with a Raichu at his disposal obeyed, channeling static electricity between his palms aimed at Starly. Her black eyes shrank as time slowed down long enough for her to look over at Shiny Starly flying towards her.

"(No! Leave her alone~!)" Shiny Starly cried.

Starly's gaze was a mix of fear and desperation. She tried flying towards her friend, but unfortunately, the Electro Ball's wake was too fast...and Starly's entire world went yellow.

The last thing she saw before that...was her dear friend chirping in horror.


To Staraptor, that was the end of her once-innocent happiness. The life she once had with an important 'mon in her life was gone forever...and it was all because of humans. Humans who tamed Pokémon, trainers like Nic.

As if by impulse, Staraptor's sclera shrank to focus. This didn't go unnoticed by Nic. From the ground, Nic-Greninja saw and felt the shared mood.

'Her aggression is-!'

"Double Team!"

Suddenly, Staraptor split into multiple versions of herself. Dozens of her scattered across the sky, quickly flocking the skies with her spread wings and talons bared against Nic. Nic's eyes scattered all around with his caution even higher than before.

'Damnit, she didn't listen. This is worse than I thought for her.' He saw the entire flock fly in after him, talons bared for a high-speed Aerial Ace. Electricity discharged around his body as he waited until he made sure enough were close for him to let it loose.

"Shock Wave!"

Intensified lightning discharged from his hands, crackling into a singular direction. It went forward by a few feet, before suddenly making a 90-degree shot skywards. It zapped through multiple incoming clones, where the real Staraptor had a Steel Wing and chopped into the lightning bolts, bisecting them to diffuse the impact.

Nic's glare didn't fade. Neither did Staraptor's. The Shock Wave static against her metallic wings fused as she kept it pointed down and shot after Nic. She spun her body like a drill, concentrating the lightning to follow her course to make a silverish blue tornado diving down onto Nic.

'She infused my Shock Wave so that it amplified her Steel Wing's force! Not only that, but because Shock Wave can't miss...!' His eyes narrowed. He had to think of something, and fast!

"Phantom Force!"

A bright purple hole appeared beneath Nic, dropping him in a split-second sooner than Staraptor was able to reach him. The portal vanished as she continued her spiraling until her momentum ceased. The static-brimmed metal energy on her wings flashed away, leaving crackling strings to diffuse behind her.

"Staraptor..." Nic-Greninja looked up at Staraptor. Suddenly, he blinked with an epiphany from the link he shared with Nic. 'Wait, so he intends to...I see.' He looked decisively calm. 'Yeah, that's possibly the only logical way to bring her mind back to normal.'

Staraptor looked around, trying to predict where Nic would reappear. 'He knows Ghost-type moves have no effect...unless!'

Her instincts went into overdrive. She turned around just as a portal opened up above her. She fired a lightspeed Aerial Ace in the form of a jabbing wing...but upon seeing Nic's body crackling in static, she pulled away to avoid his Nuzzle. She somersaulted and steadied herself as Nic glared at her.

'Can't take anymore chances. It's now or never.'

Nic clasped his hands together, generating a hazy purple aura around himself. "Curse!" The aura around his body intensified, causing an ethereal nail to appear on his back. It punctured his back, seemingly fazing through it into his insides. An intense amount of pain went through Nic's body, but he looked composed and focused the whole way through.

Staraptor gasped. She felt a similar aura envelop her body before fading. 'What was that I felt just now? It's like...everything in my body went cold for a second.'

Becoming lightning, Nic zapped himself onto the battlefield down below.

'If what I felt just now was because of that move...then I'll have to finish this now!' Staraptor flapped her wings, creating a shockwave as she thrust herself towards the ground and landed on her talons. Just as dust rippled, she made the ground thump when she suddenly shot at Nic across the ground.

Lightning crackled around Nic, flashing constantly to where static was dense enough to open small fissures beneath him. He outstretched a single hand and projected the lightning at her. He sent a devastating Thunder attack beaming across the ground, creating a dense trail as it closed in on Staraptor.

Rather than dodge the voluminous lightning, Staraptor came to a stop and held up her wings.

"Close Combat!"

At speeds rivaling light, Staraptor repeatedly jabbed and thrust her wings in the direction of the lightning. The monstrous mass of electricity roared as airwaves generated from the force of Close Combat repeatedly pummeled airwaves and shock into the lightning's center. It was a fireworks show with wavy lightning bombs whistling past Staraptor and exploded in the distance, each one making a pillar of lightning that made domes of static discharge over a long range. The rate in which her flurries of wings moved was so fast that it would put a Machamp to shame. Hundreds of harsh jabs were exerting energy from her muscles, but she kept pushing as much as possible.

Finally, Nic ceased his attack, allowing fried air to dissipate in front of him. Staraptor was finally given levity as a blue aura enveloped her body, cutting off her Defense and Special Defense.

BA-DUMP!

Suddenly, a searing pain went through her body. It felt like an oversized nail pierced her from behind, though she couldn't see it. She grunted in pain, but fought through it and spread her wings for Steel Wing. With a valiant grunt, she hopped off the ground and bolted at Nic.

Before she made it halfway, however, her sixth sense picked up on something heading right for her. She leaned her head back and avoided a Water Shuriken that cut in front of her. She backed off, looking in the direction where it came from.

Nic-Greninja reappeared in front of Nic, glaring Staraptor down. "Sorry, Staraptor...but this is for your own good."

"Greninja..." Staraptor mumbled.

BA-DUMP!

Another throbbing sensation of pain went through her entire body. She felt her insides feel like they were being crushed by something. The ethereal nail she felt before was there for a moment before it vanished, though she seemed even more shaken and worn out than before. 'No...I can't stop now. Even is it is my brethren, I have to rid of him...for all our sake.'

"Nic!" Nic-Greninja exclaimed.

Nic lightly nodded. "Right."

As if on cue, Nic-Greninja crossed his arms and made condensed purple water into two kunai, via Night Slash. His purple eyes glimmered for a split-second before he vanished from the naked eye to strike Staraptor. He reappeared inches from her face and narrowed his purple eyes. He attempted to strike and slash at her, but Staraptor's enhanced evasion made her more nimble, escaping with little effort in maneuvering around Nic-Greninja's attack. Just as Nic-Greninja was about to stab with a kunai, Staraptor timed the kunai and leaned her head back just enough, hooked her beak around the edge, and used her superb muscles to swung herself over the arm to get her talons and wings into his face.

"Close Combat!"

"Follow Me!"

Staraptor was about to swipe her talons against Nic-Greninja's face, but at the last possible second, her attack was redirected away from him, as if another force of gravity was pulling her towards Nic, who was adorning a Normal/Ghost typing. His right hand was stretched out and glowing as Staraptor's body went straight through his without any effect at all.

'My attack was forcibly changed!'

BA-DUMP!

As time slowed down, the pain in Staraptor's entire body intensified. Her nerves went into shock for a second, but returned just as quick. As she followed through her trainer's body, she took momentum from the pull to make her talons spur with one final act of desperation.

'I must...' She thought about Shiny Starly. 'I need to remember...' She thought about Nic. 'Who it was...' Her eyes gradually shrank with a sudden spike in adrenaline. "...the creatures that I can never forgive!" She extended a talon back with all the force her body could muster.

"AERIAL ACE!"

With the force rivaling a missile, her talon jabbed and struck flesh with an airwave rushing from in front of Nic. Earth and rock were blown away as dust was picked up. Staraptor had her glare fixed forward as she knew she hit something that time. From the touch alone, it felt like flesh indeed.

However, as she watched the dust roll over, her eyes shrank again, this time in horror.

"Sorry..." Purple eyes gleamed through the dissipating dust. They belonged to none other than Nic, whose forearm was stretched back and glowing purple. That same aura surrounded Nic-Greninja as his arm was stretched out as well. Their postures were like looking through a mirror – in sync.

'They not only anticipated my reflexes...they were even faster to intercept...' Realization dawned upon Staraptor. 'No, that's not it...it's because they knew me so well. They know how I would act, and they responded to each other without even having to relay any kind of facial warnings...I see...so in the end...' She thought about Greninja and the other Pokémon. 'Was I truly ever...capable of being as important as them...?'

BA-DUMP!

The pain returned, with the feeling of a massive nail puncturing her body from behind. Everything in Staraptor's vision went blank for a brief instance as her nerves went numb.

Nic and Nic-Greninja knew it. The look on her face said it all. Together, the aura in their combined Return suddenly amplified and thrust outwards. They overpowered Staraptor's talons, sending her careening through the air limply. They had their fists out even as the glow on them receded into steam. Together, they slowly retracted their arms and watched Staraptor fall to the ground.

THUD!

The air went silent for what felt like an eternity. There wasn't even a subtle breeze to keep the goosebumps on Nic's skin from receding. They both saw Staraptor lay several meters away on her back, swirls in her eyes.

As Nic looked on at the scene, he felt his core cringe at the sight. In retrospect, this was the most understanding option he could go with. It was the most simple option. Fighting enemies was drilled into his own blood. It's been there from the start; needing to make a point through violence. But having to take down Staraptor under these circumstances made his blood run cold. He didn't like this feeling. The feeling of deep remorse. Especially after all the trouble that many of people in the past have done to go against him, just because he refuses to conform. He didn't want to feel so apologetic.

Memories of his fight against E.N.D and Gray resurfaced, a battle that – literally – scarred Nic for life. In that fight alone, he learned how selfish he was...and how he could have avoided such a fight if he had actually depended on others.

In a sense, he did this time around. Nic-Greninja and the others were able to fight their own inner battles when he reached out to them...yet the only one who didn't was Staraptor. He couldn't help but feel responsible for creating another fight that he could have easily avoided.

He tried. Truly, he did...but in the end, the end result was the same.

He sighed out his nostrils. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over at Nic-Greninja. The serious, reassured look he gave him made him realize that in the end, fighting was the only course that could be breached. He nodded back and walked up to Staraptor's unconscious frame. He kneeled and pulled out a Max Revive. He gently placed it on her forehead and waited for it to emit a low shine before dissolving into her body.

A green wave ran over her entire body, slowly regenerating whatever damage she accumulated. The dirt and char on the tips of her wings faded back to healthy plumage. The pain throughout her entire body suddenly stopped to a point where she felt her nerves restitch themselves from so much hypersonic shock. Slowly, her eyes reopened, revealing light in her red irises.

"Nnnngh...nnngh...?" Her vision blurred in and out. The first thing she barely made out was a familiar set of purple eyes from two figures looming over her. "N-Nic...? Greninja...?" She slowly stood back up, finally becoming aware of her surroundings.

"Looks like you've returned to your senses, Staraptor...that's good. I'm relieved." Nic sighed. "Can you tell me what happened...or remember at all?"

Staraptor glanced down at the ground, her eyes narrowed as her brain itched to find a reasonable conclusion. "I...I'm not sure. One moment, I was sound asleep...then all of a sudden, it was like a voice echoed in my head."

"'A voice in your head'...?"

"Yes...it was vague, but it told me something. I believe it said something like, 'Follow your instincts, and liberate yourselves from your restraints'. The next thing I knew..."

Nic was silent in his pondering. He turned towards Nic-Greninja for configuration. "Greninja, what about you? Did you hear something similar to what she said?"

"When she worded it like that..." Nic-Greninja paused, furrowing his brows. "...yeah, it's coming back to me. When I was asleep, I heard a voice just like that as well."

Nic narrowed his eyes. "I had a feeling..." All around them, Charizard, Kecleon, Garchomp, and Arbok approached with expectant stares. From their looks alone, Nic could tell they were no longer hostile. More like...understanding of what happened. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're just fine." Charizard snorted embers from his nostrils.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Garchomp grunted.

"The crooked branch was mended back upright..." Kecleon chimed, slowly tilting her head.

Arbok bowed his head in apologetic fashion. "Nic...for what jussst happened..." He closed his eyes, looking shameful. "I'm sssorry...what happened there wasss from my own weaknesss. I'm ashamed of myssself."

Nic turned towards him. "Don't beat yourself up over it." He furrowed his brow, glancing away. "More importantly, whatever came over you guys, it looks like it's lifted. At least we know that the effects don't seem to permanently alter your mind like Mest's magic can. Speaking of which..." He looked in the direction where Magnolia was. More accurately, the direction where his and Erza's cottage was. 'Erza...'

"We should hurry. If what you said is true, then we'll need to stop Aegislash and the others before it's too late." Nic-Greninja stated.

"My words exactly." Nic glowed, transforming into a cross of his Meadow and Mind Form. Using the Meadow Form's natural energy sensory, he pinpointed Erza's energy signature. He ushered his Pokémon to get closer as his – still – purple eyes had a multicolored aura around them.

"Teleport!"

As they were all being outlined in spatial aura, Staraptor frowned as an uneasy feeling came across her. 'Junior...'

The seven vanished from the spot in an instant.


Hey guys, here I am, giving you guys another epic chapter after so long. I hope this was worth the wait. I know that it's been a month since I hardly updated any form of story. The truth of the matter is that I've gotten busy the past month getting some stuff done in my personal life. And trust me, I meant a lot. I had to quit my old job, and then lay low the past couple of weeks simmering down a little before I went and earned my driver's license, then I got my very first car, and then finally, started my new job. And with my new job, it's more physical, meaning that I'm more tired when I get home in the evening, meaning less words written throughout the day. But I'm still going to try my best and give you all updates as constant as I can possibly manage. But with all these changes going on, I can't make such promises.

There's also the new Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl games coming out, so I'm going to be taking some time to play and get a crack at those new gems. That, and the holidays coming up, so I'll have to do shopping. And my birthday at the end of November too...a lot of stuff happening basically, but you get what I mean.

Anyways, this chapter was really meant to be a big one with all the fights wrapping up from start to finish, but given my own patience, and word count, I think I'll have to make this a 2-parter. Hope this much will suffice until then!

Always appreciating your support! As usual, let me know your full thoughts in a review! XD