I never knew that freedom could be so exhilarating…and dangerous.
"Let's test their capabilities."
—
Arienne was sleeping outdoors in a sleeping bag, next to Kibe. Before they had gone to bed, they had received a check-in call from Dr. Foxglove. The pair reported that they had reached the targeted site on schedule, and were ready to commence the survey in earnest the next day. But then…
She heard a loud beeping noise and jolted awake. She didn't realize what was happening at first, but then noticed a glowing light in her sleeping bag. An extracted arm showed an alarm triggered on her wristpad: there was a powerful Pokemon signature about 300 yards to the east, and approaching quickly. The time in the corner of the screen read 3:14 AM. She whipped around to wake Kibe up but saw him staring back at her, already getting out of his bag. Garchomp had also risen.
"Which direction?" He was whispering, so Arienne elected to do the same.
"East-Hey Vibrava, be quiet!" However, this strategy had very quickly ended in vain as Vibrava woke up, and started buzzing. She hurriedly fumbled for her Poke Ball and returned Vibrava, but it was too late. The blips on the PokeRadar multiplied and accelerated. "It's coming!"
"Garchomp, let's meet them outside of camp! Arienne, pack as much as you can. We might need to move from here if things get out of hand." With that, he dashed off to the east, Garchomp flying low and fast ahead of him. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she and Audino shakily began packing their bags, nervously checking the radar while doing so. Right before she saw Garchomp meet the Pokemon on the radar however…the signatures disappeared, and a new one appeared in the lake. The water stirred.
—
Heart pounding, Kibe and Garchomp plunged into the pitch-dark forest. The forest, which should've been alive with the sounds of nocturnal Pokemon, was nearly silent. Unfortunately, Kibe hadn't had time to verify details about the PokeRadar signature. All he could do was turn on his headlamp, and-his headlamp didn't turn on.
The gloom of the forest loomed, and Kibe and Garchomp came to a stop. "Be at the ready. Swords Dance." Garchomp raised one arm above his head, doubling his Attack. Kibe then noticed dark mist had been spreading throughout the forest. Was it the move Smokescreen…? "We need to get above!"
Garchomp swiftly scooped Kibe up and started flying towards the canopy, but was forced back down from a burst of fire from above.
"Thunder Fang!" The gloomy forest flashed gold, and an explosion roared through the night. The impact hurled Garchomp and Kibe to the ground. Kibe looked up, and a massive shadow was looming in the treetops; it was impossible to discern its exact shape due to the mist shrouding it. But then…multiple shapes dashed out of the shadow, straight down at the pair.
"Earthquake!" Garchomp stomped the ground, and a dome of earth appeared over them. It was silent for a moment, and then the top of the dome cracked, and burst open. A shape dropped into the dome. It was…
"A Golduck…?" Kibe was incredibly confused. Golduck couldn't use Smokescreen and Fire-type moves… As he was contemplating, Golduck inhaled and sent out a jet of water: the Water Type attack Hydro Pump.
"Deflect it with Dragon Claw!" The attack rocketed across the small dome and split apart at Garchomp's crossed twin blades. Garchomp looked down at his arms and seemed quite confused.
"Garchomp, what's the matter?!"
While Kibe was attempting to figure out what was going on, he heard a loud crashing sound from the dome wall behind him. Whirling around, his vision was filled with a fiery blur. A Flamethrower engulfed him, and sent him straight through the wall.
—
Arienne heard a splash, and slowly turned away from the gear she was packing up. She spotted a dark mass in the lake, and it began to emerge from the depths. Arienne jolted and grabbed her Poke Ball.
"Audino, come here! Go, Vibrava!" Audino dashed to Arienne's side, and Vibrava was sent out in front of them. The Pokemon in the lake rose to its full height, water streaming down its sides. It was a Gyarados, one of the strongest Water Type Pokemon. It roared, resounding across the lake. Arienne resolved herself; she had to protect their camp until Kibe returned.
"Vibrava…I need you to listen to me. We need to get through this together. So please, listen to my instructions." Vibrava looked back at her, and screeched. Hopefully, it gave its assent. At that moment, light began to gather in Gyarados' mouth. It was one of the attacks Gyarados was most famous for: Hyper Beam.
"Vibrava, fly up! Audino, use Protect!" Vibrava's wings buzzed as it soared above Gyarados, and the Hyper Beam was launched. Audino moved in front of Arienne and used Protect, nullifying the attack. The recoil from the attack pushed Gyarados farther into the lake, sending waves rocking across the surface.
"It can't move right now! Vibrava, DragonBreath! Audino, use Hyper Voice!" Vibrava flew towards Gyarados and unleashed a purple Dragon Move, which merged with Audino's Hyper Voice to slam into Gyarados. The ensuing explosion resulted in a large plume of smoke around Gyarados, which slowly spread around the whole lake.
"Did…we get it?" Arienne started to smile a bit, but Audino gave a short and firm cry. She was looking straight at the smoke cloud. Just then, Gyarados rocketed out of it straight into the air, its tail sheathed in violently rotating water. It whipped its tail at Vibrava, smacking it into the ground behind Arienne and Audino.
"VIBRAVA!" Arienne looked back and cried out as her Pokemon was instantly knocked out. However, she had no time to lose her composure; a shadow was looming over her and rapidly getting larger. She turned back around to see Gyarados continuing its Aqua Tail, somersaulting towards them.
"Shit, how is this thing so acrobatic?! Audino, use Protect again!" Audino surrounded her and Arienne in yet another green barrier. Gyarados put its full force into the Aqua Tail, and crashed into the Protect with terrifying force. Audino winced, and for a moment Arienne thought their protection would falter. However, Audino held strong and repelled Gyarados.
"Audino, use Heal Pulse on Vibrava!" Audino turned around and sent a burst of silver light Vibrava's way; it slowly managed to get up. Arienne turned back to the Gyarados, determined. It was already readying its next attack, water from the lake gathering around it.
"Let's go, everyone!"
—
Kibe landed at the foot of one of the massive trees making up this forest; he nearly passed out from the pain. The exploration gear Kibe and Arienne were wearing was resistant to Pokemon moves, but that did nothing to protect him from the impacts he sustained. He couldn't understand what was happening; so many things that contradicted logical sense happened at the same time.
Garchomp burst out of the now-ruined dome using Dragon Claw, and rushed in front of Kibe to protect him. Kibe grunted, and slowly, painfully rose to his feet. Blood trickled from his mouth; he probably had some internal injuries. He wiped it away and clenched his fist. Golduck leaped out of the rubble, and the Pokemon responsible for the Fire moves made itself known from the side: Infernape. Then, electricity flashed through the darkness.
"T-This is a joke…right?" Before them stood a majestic four-legged Pokemon; golden fur accentuated by crackling lighting. Kibe could hardly believe his eyes. It was the Legendary Pokemon, Raikou. Raikou roared, using Discharge throughout the area. Kibe wasn't concerned, however; he merely grabbed onto Garchomp. The pair remained unaffected due to Garchomp's Ground typing. However, it seemed it was merely a bluff; Golduck and Infernape leapt to either side of Garchomp and Kibe. Golduck engulfed itself in water, and Infernape clenched a flame-clad fist. They were using Aqua Jet and Fire Punch.
"Tch… Garchomp, ignore Golduck! Use Dragon Claw on Infernape!" Garchomp encased its claws in jade light, and rushed at Infernape. It seemed like Infernape wasn't expecting Garchomp to go on the offensive; it focused on blocking Garchomp's attacks. Meanwhile, Golduck's Aqua Jet had oddly veered off course, as if Golduck was afraid of getting close. Kibe was disturbed by this behavior, and then tried to catch Golduck to immobilize it. Golduck then canceled the Aqua Jet and proceeded to jump away from Kibe to Raikou's side; Raikou hadn't moved a muscle since it used Discharge; it merely stood there, menacingly.
Off to the side, Garchomp was cornering Infernape. Infernape's Fire Punch fizzled out, and it switched to Close Combat. Kibe was suspicious now. Why weren't Golduck and Raikou assisting Infernape? Kibe picked up a rock and threw it at Raikou; it went straight through. Kibe jolted with the realization that the pair of Pokemon weren't actually real.
"Garchomp, land an attack! Thunder Fang!" Garchomp swept the supposed Infernape's feet out from under it, and landed the attack. After a small explosion, the mist cleared. Raikou and Golduck were gone. Kibe's headlamp turned on. In Infernape's place…was a fox-shaped figure clad in dark fur. The Illusion Fox Pokemon, Zoroark. Garchomp had it pinned down. Kibe walked toward him.
"So this is responsible for the multiple signatures…was it spoofing our radar? Of course there was no way a Raikou would've been in Unova…and Flamethrower is a move Zoroark can learn naturally. Quite the ploy. So…do you have anything to say for yourself?" Kibe arrived at Zoroark's side and glared down at it. Garchomp roared. Zoroark growled and turned its head. Kibe spotted something in its ear.
"Wait…is that…" Zoroark tensed up and slammed its arms at the ground, and an explosion of darkness radiated out from it with impossible speed. Kibe and Garchomp were thrown back; Garchomp grabbed Kibe and shielded him from the blow. When the dust cleared and the pair stood up, Zoroark was gone.
"Night Daze, huh…. Let's go back. Arienne may be in danger." Kibe dashed back into the forest despite his injuries, rushing back towards camp. Garchomp flew ahead of him.
—
"We're playing for keeps! Vibrava, use Screech!" Vibrava emitted a horrifyingly loud wail, which lowered Gyarados' Defense. She then turned to Audino. Audino glanced back and forth between her and the currently-powering-up Gyarados, wondering what her Trainer could possibly have to say at this moment.
"Audino…I know you don't like to fight, but Vibrava doesn't have the strength to match Gyarados right now. I need you to take the front. You know what to do, right?" Audino shook a little, but then resolved herself and nodded. "All right then. Let's do it!"
Gyarados roared. The lake churned around it, water gathering around its entire body. Other Pokemon in the lake began to wake up from their slumber at the disturbance; Tynamo and the like could be seen fleeing to the other side of the lake. This was the Water move Liquidation. Gyarados burst forth, once again leaping from the lake at Arienne and Audino.
"Do it, Audino! Mega Kick!" Audino, as opposed to merely hiding behind a wall again, jumped at Gyarados, right leg glowing. The two Pokemon met at the shoreline, attacks grinding against each other. Audino faltered a bit, Gyarados was pushing it back!
"Vibrava, help Audino! DragonBreath!" Vibrava launched another DragonBreath at Gyarados, and their combined efforts managed to break through Liquidation. Audino cried out and followed through with Mega Kick, launching Gyarados across the lake. It skimmed over the water, before touching down a little over halfway across, sinking to the bottom. They had won. Audino dropped to her knees at the beach, and got tackled by a laughing Arienne.
"We did it! I can't believe we actually won!" Audino was smothered by Arienne, a little exasperated but happy all the same. Vibrava buzzed over to the pair, poking Arienne in the back.
"You too, Vibrava…" Arienne rolled off of Audino and looked up at the night sky, still laughing. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and reached up to the sky.
"We're finally, finally taking a real step forward." Her arm flopped to the side, where…she felt something metal?
"Huh? What is this thing?" A broken, large metal ring was lying by them. It was roughly the size of a hula hoop. "Was this…on Gyarados? What's going on?" Just as Arienne leaned in to take a closer look, something burst from the trees. She jolted and looked up, but relaxed almost immediately; it was Garchomp. He thudded to the ground next to them, and Arienne could see Kibe staggering towards them from the treeline. Garchomp immediately grabbed Audino and pulled her up. Kibe called out to them.
"Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine! We got attacked by a Gyarados, but we managed to drive it off!"
"So you were attacked?! Well…at least you're okay…that's…what matters most…" Kibe fell to the ground in front of them.
"Kibe?!" Garchomp was pulling Audino to Kibe, and turned him over. Arienne ran over and opened up his shirt; multicolored splotches could be seen on his torso.
"Oh no…Audino, I know you're tired, but please use Heal Pulse!" Audino pulled herself together and concentrated: A large silver glow engulfed Kibe, and his wounds visibly receded. Kibe's tense expression relaxed, and his breathing slowed."
"Thank goodness…" Arienne sagged in relief. Garchomp hugged Audino in an uncharacteristic display of emotion. Audino nearly passed out from exhaustion, but managed a smile. Vibrava buzzed from on top of Arienne's head. The group stayed like that for a while, but eventually went back to bed.
—
Zoroark dashed through the trees, racing back to the mountain range. Once it reached the destination, it jumped down to a camp. The group of men residing there were gathered around a terminal, which was sending regular, high frequency PokeRadar waves throughout the Inner Forest. Zoroark knelt down; it had failed and lost.
"There's no need to be so downtrodden; your mission wasn't to beat them, just test them. You were fighting on your own anyways." The man with the red band addressed Zoroark, and lit a fresh cigar. The man with the blue band was sitting at the terminal, and stretched his back.
"Well 01…Gyarados was trounced. He's unconscious at the bottom of the lake, and his comms band is broken. Those were supposed to be the weaker two Pokemon, and yet they had high attack power…especially the Audino. Judging by its movements, it wasn't really trained in battle at all, but…the sword and shield combination of Mega Kick/Hyper Voice and Protect was a lethal combination.
"Well, we just need to recover it, 00. 04, you're his trainer. Take 06 and 07 and recover Gyarados before the sun rises. We can't do anything about the kids recovering the band and figuring out something is up at this point, but we need to minimize risk." The man with the red band, who was codenamed 01, ordered three of the other men. They nodded and strode out. Meanwhile, the man with the blue band, 00, powered off the terminal and stood up.
"It seems like Miranda has a good eye as usual…those two are as competent as she said. They still don't have a visual of us on their camera footage, and we need to keep it that way, or remotely disable their cameras. If they catch wind of us, they will inevitably testify to the Association. Caution is key." It seemed that 00 was implicitly rebuking 01 for his call to launch a preemptive strike on the pair.
"Hmph…Well, we needed to know their strength levels. The boy was barely able to fend Zoroark off, and Gyarados had a bad matchup. We'll be able to crush them if it comes to it. Anyways, 02 and 03, you'll be on watch tonight. The rest of us should hit the sack. The operation begins in earnest tomorrow."