It should be noted that there'll be some dark stuff discussed later in this chapter, such as a discussion of a genocide against a certain group of people. None of it is depicted though.
Hopefully you'll still enjoy!
-:-
CHAPTER 5: Reaching for the Arcade Star (Part 2)
-:-
A blazing orange crept over the land as the sun rose the next morning, spreading peals of warm light over the autumn trees of the Tohjo Continent. Cherrygrove City glittered in the shine; for as depressing a place as the city could be, the first minutes of daylight brought even Cherrygrove's dull streets to life.
Just outside the city, in the thicker woods off the road north, Jessie, James and Meowth stood speaking to Pierce.
"…that is what you need to know about what's going on," Pierce finished, running a hand through his shoulder-length, dark blue hair before putting his hat back on over it. He had just finished explaining a truncated version of his work from the past twenty-four hours. "I am going to return to the base to meet with Dr. Zager and Ariana regarding this. That means you three are in charge of maintaining the mission here in the field until I return."
"But what are we supposed to do if things go bad? You were our extraction!"
"You know, James has got a point here," Meowth concurred with his human companion. "Say we go after that chunk of space rock and Polaris shows up. Then what?"
With her hand on her hip, Jessie stepped up to face the others. "Do you two even hear yourselves? The boss didn't put us on this mission for nothing. If we play our cards carefully we're going to be just fine. We don't have to have our hands held for everything we do!"
"You're both right," Pierce intervened. "I will return to aid you once more when my business at the base is finished. It will not be that long. For now, this is your assignment – continue monitoring the group involving Matt Chiaki, Olivia Mistbloom, Bunny Spruce and Dante Fantomos. The old man is in possession of the Meteonite fragment, so if you get a chance to take it with little risk, do it. If not, remember that a contingency plan is already uploaded into your R-Pad."
"Ah, fine," James said, gritting his teeth. "Make it back safely."
"Very well. I wish you luck."
Pierce turned and walked away, the tails of his coat fluttering behind him from the force of his sharp movements. Once he was far enough from the trio, Jessie let out an annoyed sigh.
"This is going to be a lot harder than it has to be if you don't put some effort into it, James!" she yelled, straightening her back to give herself a height advantage over her partner.
"Oh, come on, Jessie, you know I'm not throwing it in that easily. I just don't like taking orders from Pierce."
"I agree with that," Meowth chimed in. "The boss is the only one who's worthy of giving us orders!"
"We'll listen to Pierce but the boss is the one we really work hard for."
Considering what her teammates had to say, Jessie realized they had a good point and backed down. "Finally, something we can all agree on. Let's get a move on and see if we can track down that group in Cherrygrove!"
-:-
"So this is it, then…" Matt softly said while lifting the front of his hat, enabling himself to see further upward without raising his head.
Nestled in a cluster of tall buildings near Cherrygrove City's shoreline stood a wide structure with four spires reaching up to the sky, each one ending in a diamond-patterned onion dome. The early afternoon sun glittered on the façade, casting a glare over the street where Matt, Nekou, Olivia, Bunny and Dante all stood. Several red flags trimmed with gold borders hung around the building's entrance, each bearing the stylized Poké Ball surrounded by seven stars that served as the Frontier Society's logo.
"Yeah, you're right," Bunny concurred, "this is it, the Battle Arcade."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Nekou's remark spurred Matt into action, and without another word he approached the double doors of the Battle Arcade, which slid open to allow him inside. Dante immediately followed, while Nekou at first hesitated. Once she saw that Bunny was helping Olivia walk, though, she also went through the entrance, with the injured girl and the archeologist bringing up the rear.
None of them noticed Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet – all disguised in their trenchcoats – slip in right behind them.
The lobby that awaited beyond the threshold was a dimly-lit place, with neon lights on the walls and ceiling largely substituting for normal sources of illumination. An orange carpet lined with golden diamonds stretched from the doors to a desk across the room, while nearby, a small cluster of tables framed by floor lamps offered other visitors a place of rest.
Not wishing to waste any time, Matt immediately and briskly walked to the desk, where a woman in a green business suit and beret was waiting.
"Welcome to the Battle Arcade!" the receptionist greeted him, using a warm voice. "Are you here for a challenge?" When Matt nodded, the woman continued, "You're in luck. There are no challengers signed up ahead of you for the day, so you'll be going right in. Is this your first visit to a Frontier Society facility?"
"Yeah, why?"
"May I have your name?"
"Matt Chiaki. What is this about?
"Just give me a second to register you in our database…" Turning to the computer on her desk, the receptionist typed for a moment, then looked up again. "All done. Pretty quick, huh? You'll be needing these two things..."
The woman pushed two objects into Matt's hands. The first was an identification card bearing Matt's name and picture, colored red and gold like the Frontier Society's flag, while the other was a small box with seven indentations inside.
"Your Frontier Pass and Medal Box," she explained. "The Frontier Pass will get you into the Frontier Society's facilities and services, while the Medal Box is to store the awards you'll get from defeating Frontier Brains. Speaking of which, are you ready to begin?"
"Yes."
"Then the next thing I'm going to need are the three Pokémon you intend to enter. Please allow me to check them."
"I'll be going with my Aggron, Rotom and Seismitoad," he answered as he stored the documents and handed over the Poké Ball, Ultra Ball and Dive Ball containing his chosen Pokémon.
Using a handheld scanner, the receptionist inspected the three spheres, downloading images of their respective Pokémon into her computer. She then returned them to their owner, saying, "Your entry is fully processed. Are you ready to go in?"
"I am," Matt replied, placing the orbs into his bag. Before walking away, though, he turned around to the others, who had since arrived behind him. "You guys are going to the audience area, right?" he asked, gesturing to a doorway a short distance away marked 'Audience Seating' in neon letters.
"I guess so," Nekou answered. She puffed up her cheeks and exaggerated her facial expression to act like she was frustrated at being told to go somewhere, even though she fully knew this was normal and to be expected. "Don't fuck it up out there, or there'll be hell to pay. I'll see to that."
"Somehow I'm not sure that's actually encouraging," Matt sighed, grimacing.
"Now, I think she has a point." Surprisingly, it was Dante coming to Nekou's defense. "Maybe she worded her encouragement poorly, but she is right in that you cannot progress if you are stuck here."
"If you put it that way, I guess I understand. I wouldn't want to hold up Olivia from reaching Violet City and getting her badge either. Anyway, wish me luck out there."
"You can beat her," Bunny gently said, setting her hand on Matt's shoulder. "Just leave everything out here to me."
"Thanks. See you guys later, then."
With that, the group split in two. While Matt followed the receptionist into one of the nearby doors, the others went for the seating area. Bunny assisted Olivia in balancing on her crutches, while Nekou ate from a bag of potato chips she'd gotten from somewhere. Dante, finally, remained distant from the three young women, walking stiffly with his cane in one hand and the briefcase containing the Meteonite fragment in the other.
On the other side of the lobby, Jessie, James and Meowth waited, watching them. The trio of agents blended into the casino-like atmosphere of the Battle Arcade rather well in their trenchcoats, hats and sunglasses. Wobbuffet was with them, too, wearing a similar disguise of his own.
"There they go," James observed while standing with his arms crossed. "How should we do this?"
"Attacking the old man in a public place like this would only go wrong for us," commented Jessie. "I say we just go in there and watch what happens for now."
Meowth gave a nod of approval, then added, "We got five pairs of eyes on that old man and the space rock. They ain't going anywhere."
Finding themselves all on the same page, the members of Team Rocket entered the audience area themselves.
-:-
The receptionist had led Matt down a long, narrow hallway before stopping abruptly near a closed green curtain. Because the hallway was just as dark as the lobby had been, Matt nearly crashed into her.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Please, don't worry about it. Now, you need to wait here for a moment." The woman bowed slightly in a show of courtesy toward Matt.
"What? Why?"
Matt's question was answered almost immediately, when the announcer's voice came blaring through the curtains into the hallway, accompanied by an eruption of audience cheering. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Battle Arcade! A day full of high-energy battling is about to get underway!"
Thunderous applause filtered through the curtain into the hallway, leading Matt to realize quickly exactly what he would be facing once he stepped through. Never feeling all that comfortable in front of a crowd in a closed setting, he started breathing deeply and pacing in an attempt to ward off the attack of nerves that he felt coming on.
"I can tell you're all fired up, so let's move ahead and get started with the first show of the day! Coming in first is a challenger who is making his debut on our young Frontier Society circuit! Going for his first medal here at the Battle Arcade, please welcome Matt from Snowpoint City!"
Matt found that all the attempts he'd made to tame his nerves amounted to nothing when the curtain in front of him whisked open, leaving him nearly completely locked up. Barely able to breathe, he shuffled out a short distance onto the black runway leading to the battlefield before nervously eyeing the audience.
Spotting Nekou, Bunny, Olivia and Dante sitting in the front row along with Marie and Olivia's Minccino gave him a burst of energy, especially when he saw Olivia with her mind seemingly off her broken leg. Feeling revitalized, he picked up his pace and reached his box on the battlefield, where he stopped. A rotund man wearing a pair of dark sunglasses was already there, waiting in a space just off to the side of the field's middle.
Immediately upon his arrival, the tall, thin screen on Matt's side of the arena illuminated to display icons of the three Pokémon he'd selected, Aggron, Rotom and Seismitoad.
"Our challenger is now set!" the announcer declared while Matt simply stood there, still feeling some nerves from the relatively small space and the crowd. The lights dimmed and multicolored disco lights started to flow around the stadium, leading the audience to cheer more loudly than ever. "Yes, everyone, you know what that means! You know what time it is! Now, allow me to introduce once more the woman of the hour! The one you've all been waiting for! The one, the only… Arcade Star Dahlia!"
Simultaneously, the lights in the stadium came back up and the audience erupted in the loudest round of cheering yet. All of this was over the caped figure that appeared in a burst of confetti at the opposite end of the battlefield.
With fluid movements that almost made her body look as if it was made of water, Dahlia moved down her runway, waving to the crowd all the while. Once she reached her destination, she stopped and waved one last time before turning toward Matt. Her screen, meanwhile, displayed her Pokémon in the same order as the day before – Togekiss, Ludicolo and Zapdos.
"Welcome, challenger!" Dahlia cheerfully said in greeting, striking a sharp pose with her hand on her hip. "Welcome to my Battle Arcade! How are you feeling today? Lucky?"
"Let's just say I'll be feeling more lucky once we get this battle going," he replied straightforwardly. This wasn't a lie, as the anticipation of the battle was intimidating him more than the battle itself. Unfortunately, he was unable to mask it well.
"Are you nervous or just eager to get this show on the road? Either way, let's give you exactly what it is you want!" A thin pedestal with a red button on it rose out of the floor in front of Matt, visibly startling him. Picking up on this, Dahlia spoke, "Surprised? What we're gonna do before battling is test just how lucky you really are! Bring up the game board!"
On Dahlia's cue, the central video screen displayed a grid of sixteen squares, arranged in four rows of four. Each space had a different symbol on it, apparently signifying something different in each box.
"This big game board will determine the conditions we battle under," Dahlia explained. "Anything could come from it. You could trigger a rainstorm, or maybe some sunlight or relentless hail... we could battle in a Trick Room or with our Pokémon asleep… we could even trade teams before we battle! Truly, the possibilities are endless!" Having worked herself into a frenzy, Dahlia threw her arms into the air before finishing her speech. "Hit the button to stop the board, okay? Now… set it in motion! Let's go!"
An orange frame lit up around the upper-left corner space on the grid and began cycling past each of the board's sixteen squares. Overwhelmed by the sudden pressure he felt from the correct realization that the outcome of this could decide the battle before it even started, Matt tried to push aside thoughts of the crowd and focus in on the game board.
From his quick inspections, he picked out the weather effect tiles, plus the Trick Room space that he'd seen Nando battling under the previous day. He also concluded that a tile with two opposite arrows was the aforementioned team-trading space, and that a lightning bolt space would inflict paralysis on his Pokémon. Running through some ideas in his head, he devised a quick plan and zeroed in on the space he wanted.
"Now!" he shouted, slamming down on the button.
"The battle condition has been decided!" blared the announcer. "This battle will be conducted under a steady rainfall!"
Crystal generators similar to those in the Trainer House glowed to life in a ring around the ceiling of the stadium, and mere moments later, clouds gathered and rain started to fall over the battlefield. The space the frame had stopped on – a tile displaying a water drop – now filled the entire central screen.
"So it's rain, huh? Once again, the board delivers a turn on the road of life... luck is not just what twists and turns that road throws at us, but also how we deal with them and thus make our own luck. Is that something you're good at?"
"I get the feeling you're going to answer for me," Matt deadpanned in response. "The answer is how this battle turns out, isn't it?"
"You're pretty smart. Since you know how things are going to go here, let's waste not a single moment more!" Tearing off her cape and throwing it aside, an action that revealed her familiar outfit from the day before, Dahlia posed dramatically, yelling, "Show me your luck! No, show me if you can conquer it and make luck your own!"
"If that's what you want me to do..." Matt took out his Poké Ball, but hesitated slightly because of the crowd cheering once again. "…I…I'll show you what you want! Tony, make your mark!"
"Dance, Togekiss!" Dahlia immediately called back, rolling a Poké Ball of her own down her outstretched arm before popping it open.
Materializing on Matt's side of the field, Tony straightened to his full height and roared, then locked eyes with the Togekiss that emerged from Dahlia's Poké Ball. The Normal-and-Flying-type Togekiss showed no fear in her eyes, even as she was confronted by the mighty Aggron.
"The battle between the challenger, Matt, and the Arcade Star, Dahlia, will now begin!" The referee raised his arm upward before bringing it down in a chopping motion. "Go!"
"Tony, start strong!" Matt exclaimed, stretching out his arm to point at Togekiss. "Head Smash, now!"
Undeterred by the echoing roar Tony sent ringing through the Battle Arcade's stadium prior to his charge, Dahlia shook herself in another of her fluid dance moves as she directed, "Togekiss, move aside and use Water Pulse."
Well before Tony could collide with her, Togekiss glided off to the side of the field, leaving the Aggron to hit nothing but thin air. She then began to spin, forming an upright circle with the tips of her wings. This circle soon became physical upon being traced in a stream of water from Togekiss's wings, and it flowed straight into Tony, pushing the growling Steel-and-Rock-type back. The attack was strengthened in intensity by the rainfall, which added water to the ring to increase its size.
While Tony nursed the burn-like wound that the Water Pulse had left on his hide, Matt was left to reassess his opponent in a silent panic. Dahlia's overwhelming confidence could be seen in footage of her battles, but he realized that seeing was only one part of it. Standing across a battlefield from Dahlia was another thing entirely, as her spirit burned powerfully enough to almost be physically felt. Looking at her standing there with her hand on her hip and her gaze fixed on the Pokémon, Matt very quickly found himself feeling in over his head.
"Togekiss, use Water Pulse again!"
Snapping back to attention, Matt saw the second ring of water flying toward Tony and immediately blurted out, "Dodge it!"
If the Battle Arcade was a facility of luck, Matt wasn't having much of it, as even though Tony bent back in an attempt to let the Water Pulse sail over him, it still caught the edge of his steel horns and pulled him back until he fell over completely.
"Aggron goes down, but it's not out yet! Will Matt be able to turn this around somehow, or will the Arcade Star take the lead in a decisive motion?"
"He's embarrassing himself out there," Nekou said monotonously, resting her head on one hand in a fit of exaggerated boredom as she took a handful of chips from her bag with the other. "Dahlia's making a fool out of him… he can't touch her in the least."
"It's only just started," commented Bunny, "so don't give up yet."
"If I was giving up I would have left already."
"Come on, Matt, pull yourself together!"
Olivia's plea managed to restore some of Matt's confidence, but before he could even calculate a new approach, Dahlia was on the attack again.
"Togekiss, get ready to finish this!" she shrilled while her Pokémon took up a position right over Tony. "Water Pulse, straight down!"
"I see it!" An idea suddenly came to Matt, and he wasted no time in putting it into motion. "Tony, Head Smash! If Togekiss is aiming down, you aim up!"
Because of her spinning, Togekiss did not see Tony using his tail as a spring to throw himself into the air toward her. It was this blind spot that allowed Tony to finally land a hit, headbutting Togekiss hard enough to cause her half-formed Water Pulse to explode, throwing both Pokémon in opposite directions – Tony fell downward and crashed into the ground, while Togekiss flew back violently and somersaulted through the air.
"So you've got some fight in you, huh?" A light giggle escaped Dahlia's lips while she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Looks like I'm going to have to step up my game a little. Togekiss, use Psychic on the rain!"
"Head Smash once more!" Matt reflexively answered, not realizing what Dahlia was doing even when individual drops of rain began getting caught in the purple light of Togekiss's power.
Tony charged, but soon found his movement impeded by something weighing down his left leg. Both he and his trainer realized in horror what it was all too late – a cluster of raindrops had been forcefully congealed around that limb, rendering it useless. Before Matt could figure out any way out of this trap, and before Tony could lash the surprisingly heavy water off of himself, Togekiss used Psychic to pin down his other leg and both arms before completely encasing him in a tight cocoon of water.
"Like that one?" Dahlia casually said to Matt, who simply stood there stunned by his Aggron's ordeal. "That's actually one of my favorite Contest moves. I see you look surprised… did you actually think I'd leave everything up to luck? Like I said, the best kind of luck is the kind you make for yourself. This Battle Arcade and everything inside it is my home, and in here, everything happens according to my luck. You're clearly relying on something different… chance. Chance is when you throw all caution to the wind and let things happen as they will… now let me show you what the true meaning of luck is. Togekiss, the grand finale!" Throwing her arms wide, Dahlia called out into the air, "Water Pulse!"
Flying to just above where Tony was bound in place, Togekiss started spinning again, drawing water upward from the trapped Aggron. The two Pokémon became surrounded by the same fluctuating stream of water, but a brief moment later, a bright glow radiated from Togekiss's half of the fluid structure, and the entire thing exploded in a spectacular and violent burst of shining water and wind.
Matt had to shield his face from the surf-like spray thrown on him as well as the harsh gust, which hurt his eye. The sustained force of the blast Togekiss trigged blew his hair and coat for several seconds; meanwhile, Dahlia was facing the same conditions, but she simply stood there as if none of it fazed her, her wild black hair flying in all directions.
Finally, the force radiating from the center of the stage abated, revealing the almost painfully obvious results – a winded but otherwise fairly healthy Togekiss flapping her wings cheerfully over the prone form of her defeated Steel-and-Rock-type opponent.
The referee raised his arm toward Dahlia and announced, "Aggron is unable to battle! The winner is Togekiss!"
"Down goes Aggron, marking the fall of a dangerous enemy for Dahlia's Togekiss! With only Rotom and Seismitoad left, is it already too late for Matt?"
Even from the stands, Bunny could see that the question posed by the announcer was evidently already on Matt's mind. She watched him silently call Tony back to his Poké Ball, recognizing the same sudden soullessness she'd seen on her archeological projects with him when something went terribly wrong.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Snapping out of her bubble, Bunny turned to see Olivia pulling on Nekou's arm. What truly surprised her wasn't the fact that Olivia was turning to Nekou for alleviation of her doubts, as she'd already recognized how the two seemed to connect. It was instead how deadly serious Nekou seemed to be treating the whole matter.
"You don't worry, Olivia," the dark-haired woman reassured. "Even if he can't come through for himself, he'll do it for you. The amount of strength one can gain just by knowing their actions mean something to someone else is unbelievable."
"Right." Olivia nodded, smiled weakly, then turned back to the battle and screamed out as loud as she could, "Come on, you! Don't you let me down!"
His face blank, Matt slowly turned to the stands, completely oblivious to the rest of the crowd cheering for Dahlia's decisive actions. He saw Olivia, and with something in his mind clicking, he shook his head and snapped back to attention.
"There you go," Nekou thought with a smile. "I knew you wouldn't fuck up when it came to helping her out."
"Got yourself together yet?" Dahlia called out across the battlefield. "Togekiss and I want to see which of your Pokémon we're up against next!"
"I know exactly what I'm doing now," Matt replied after a brief hesitation. Readying the Ultra Ball in his hand, he yelled as he threw it, "Nikola, make your mark!"
"Matt calls upon his Frost Forme Rotom as his second Pokémon!" exclaimed the announcer, putting words to the image of Nikola taking shape in the stadium.
"Ah, now that's something I don't see every day! I'm pleasantly surprised at you, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy. Togekiss, start this off with a bang! Hyper Beam!"
"Block it with Thunderbolt!"
Acting swiftly, Togekiss hummed serenely while charging up energy in the form of a red sphere in front of her face. Nikola took aim and fired a horizontal bolt of lightning just in time to intercept the pulsating beam that burst from Togekiss's mouth. It failed to stop the Hyper Beam completely, but Thunderbolt did serve some function, as the beam was split up and only a fraction of it struck its target.
"Rotom, tom," Nikola said, shaking off the weaker but still forceful blow it had received. A dark patch on its midsection was one of the few signs left of the hit.
Togekiss, meanwhile, did not escape scot-free either. Having expended much of her energy to create and fire the Hyper Beam, she could now only float before Dahlia, breathing heavily as she waited for her strength to return.
"Dahlia, do you remember what you said earlier about luck, chance and this Battle Arcade?"
"Yeah?" Dahlia inquisitively answered, scrunching her face. "What about it?"
"I think two people can have the same luck. Chance has given me a shot of demonstrating that. Nikola, use Blizzard up into the clouds!"
Both Dahlia and the collective audience gasped in surprise at Matt's improvised strategy. Almost immediately upon Nikola beginning to shoot gusts of frosty wind up into the rainclouds, the rain itself changed temporarily into hail. The icy stones crashed loudly against the battlefield, but Dahlia was paying that no heed. Instead, she was staring at and gesturing frantically to her Togekiss while attempting to give it commands. As she was caught in the sudden storm, Togekiss could only suffer under repeated strikes until she gave in and fell to the ground.
"Dahlia's Togekiss goes down," declared the commentator, over a deafening roar from the crowd, "but is it out? We know how the Arcade Star is in situations like this!"
"That's right, when your luck runs out, you improvise… that's what you just did, isn't it?" As Dahlia spoke, the rain returned, blocking out the false Hail.
"You talked about this Battle Arcade being a place where you control all the luck in the facility as your own. Well, I think it's time I took some of that luck myself. Nikola, finish it off with Thunderbolt!"
A single jagged bolt of lightning flashed out from Nikola's plasma body, which had turned from blue to yellow as static built up in it. Pinned to the ground by chunks of ice, Togekiss could not escape from this counterattack. She was left helpless to avoid being struck down, and her body went limp after the initial shock of Thunderbolt wore off.
"Togekiss is unable to battle! The winner is Rotom!"
"Score one for the challenger in a decisive blow! We're now even, with one Pokémon down on each side! Now, let's see what the Arcade Star's next course of action is!"
"See, I told you he'd pull through for you," Nekou said to Olivia.
"You were right, but let's see if he can actually win this battle completely."
While Nekou and Olivia were exchanging comments on Matt, Bunny happened to glance over to her other side. She spotted Dante sitting rigidly in the next seat, staring intently at the battle as if he was intending to memorize every single detail of it. At first disturbed by this, she quickly brushed it off and decided to pay it no mind.
"You did very well, my dear Togekiss," Dahlia whispered to the Poké Ball she'd recalled her beloved Pokémon to. "I think I underestimated you, Matt."
"Don't be so sure. How can you say that I didn't just get lucky?"
"Luck only goes so far. I've got a knack for telling when I'm up against someone who can give me a challenge, and right now, whether you realize it or not, I'm getting that feeling. Now let's see what you can really do. Dance, Ludicolo!"
Dahlia threw her Net Ball next, which released the green, pineapple-shaped Pokémon within. Ludicolo began dancing cheerfully almost immediately, taking great pleasure in the rain.
"A Water-and-Grass-type," Matt observed, trying to carefully examine Ludicolo to the best of his ability. He was however unable to glean much from simply seeing it standing and dancing, and he didn't have that much available to him as a result of seeing Nando fight her, so he decided to use a straightforward approach. "Let's just attack and see what happens, Nikola. Signal Beam, go!"
A bright light flashed out of the spike on the top of Nikola's refrigerator body, followed by a rainbow-colored beam of energy. Ludicolo, seeing the ray approaching her, stopped dancing and stood still.
"Now, Ludicolo! Drain Punch!"
In the blink of an eye, Ludicolo disappeared into thin air, visibly astounding both Matt and Nikola. Just as quickly, however, she materialized again right in front of the floating Electric-and-Ice-type, with just enough space to pull her arm back and deliver a powerful, glowing punch that slammed Nikola downward.
"Fueled by Swift Swim, Dahlia's Ludicolo lands a devastating blow! Let's see how the challenger manages to deal with this development… or will he even be able to?"
"That's right, do you like it?" Dahlia asked of her surprised, stunned opponent. "Rain is perfect for my Ludicolo and her Swift Swim ability. Will you be able to keep up with our speed, or are you already left in the dust?"
"There's got to be a way out of this," Matt thought, even going as far as shutting his eyes to try to focus. "Come on, think of something!"
"What's the matter, Ludicolo got your tongue?" Dahlia was clearly taunting Matt, trying to goad him into attacking while continuing to stand with her hands on her hips. "Let me loosen it up then. Energy Ball!"
This time opting to not use Swift Swim to get close, Ludicolo remained in her position and instead threw a sparking sphere of green energy at Nikola.
Matt snapped his eyes open and he pushed both of his arms forward. "Get away if you can, Nikola! After that, use Signal Beam!"
There was barely enough time for Nikola to get out of the way of Energy Ball after recovering from the bruising injury Drain Punch dealt out, but it managed to do so. Afterward, it aimed another Signal Beam down at the aggressive Ludicolo, hoping as hard as it could that this time, the attack would not fail.
"How troublesome," Dahlia uttered, rolling her head back slightly so she'd have to look downward at an angle to see Matt. "Ludicolo, move in and go for Hyper Voice!"
Falling back into her original tactic, Ludicolo evaded Signal Beam by evaporating into the driving rain, then warping into the space right in front of Nikola. This time, though, she retaliated against her foe by screaming in a loud voice, forming circular shockwaves that visibly rattled Matt's Pokémon.
"That's it!" Thinking carefully, Matt recalled something he'd seen during Nando's battle the previous day – namely, how Exploud's Hyper Voice could be fused with other moves to create intensely powerful techniques useful for both Contests and standard battling. Framing this within some of the things he'd observed about Ludicolo's patterns, he knew he had a solid idea toward stopping her. "Nikola, Signal Beam one more time, please."
"You'll go nowhere with that old trick! Ludicolo, Drain Punch!"
Though its Signal Beam once again missed as a result of Ludicolo's Swift Swim speed fueling her escape, Nikola had her right where Matt wanted.
Grinning ever so slightly, he called out, "Thunderbolt! Just release it into the air!"
Snickering, Nikola quickly shot a lightning bolt in a random direction and sustained the charge for several seconds. The electricity caught onto the raindrops at an exponential rate, and soon, the entire field was flooded by electrical energy.
Within the depths of the storm, the lightning even caught up to Ludicolo, who was shocked out of midair during her Swift Swim-powered rush. Feeling increasingly frustrated at how difficult this fight was becoming, Dahlia pushed her hands through her hair.
"Fine! If you want things to go this way, be my guest! If we can't get up close, we'll go from a distance! Ludicolo, Energy Ball!"
"Give me another skyward Blizzard!" Matt raised his arm and pointed upward for emphasis after
giving this command.
Nikola ignored Ludicolo even as she was giving shape to her next Energy Ball, instead opting to focus on blowing another gust of cold air into the clouds overhead. Dahlia's Pokémon barely managed to launch her attack before chunks of ice rained down on her in much the same way as Togekiss. While Ludicolo crumpled under the harsh blows leveled out by the falling ice, Nikola had left itself open and winced when the glowing sphere struck it in the face.
"Try Signal Beam one more time, Nikola!"
"I see what you're doing, and you won't get away with it! Ludicolo, Hyper Voice!"
Dahlia was so absorbed in the battle that she failed to notice Matt smile slightly when she gave the go-ahead for Hyper Voice. Both trainers just watched as Ludicolo avoided Signal Beam by merely stepping back before screaming and forming a sonic energy ring heading back in Nikola's direction.
"Now that's what I was waiting for!" Matt exclaimed, running his hands down the sides of his face before pointing forward. "Go, Nikola! Thunderbolt!"
Nikola shocked the wave manifested by Ludicolo's Hyper Voice, and the circular wave itself became electrified, thus spreading lightning through the air. Dahlia gasped when she realized that she could not direct Ludicolo to move or attack because of how thickly occupied by electricity the space was, a sentiment visibly shared by Ludicolo. The Water-and-Grass-type Pokémon muttered nervously and adjusted her sombrero while waiting for the air to clear.
Matt, however, had other plans. "Shadow Ball!"
Aiming right for the center of the electrical field, Nikola dropped in an energy sphere of its own, this one glowing with black light. The Shadow Ball reacted with all of the lightning, causing a bright, sparkling explosion that blinded all everyone and everything within the arena.
As soon as his vision started to return by even a small bit, Matt shouted, "Now, Nikola! Go through and finish this with Signal Beam!"
Dahlia's Ludicolo recovered from the shock of Matt's previous combination move in just enough time to see Nikola lunging through the lingering smoke, a Signal Beam taking shape on the spike atop its head. Mentally, she wanted to jump away, but the results of several harsh hits had left her body in an unresponsive state. Swift Swim couldn't save her, so she had to simply wait for the inevitable to come as the rainbow-colored beam struck her down.
"Ludicolo is unable to battle!" the referee called before the eyes of the enthralled audience. "The winner is Rotom!"
"Ludicolo goes down as Rotom racks up a second consecutive win! The Arcade Star now only has one Pokémon left, but the outcome is far from certain. Will she fall in defeat at our challenger's hands, or will she rally to overcome this disadvantage?!"
"Nikola, good job! That was exactly what I needed!" Though Matt's praise of his Rotom was expressed in a confident-sounding voice, Matt was anything but confident at that point.
Nekou, Bunny and Olivia all shared the same doubts he had, as they all knew that the biggest problem was about to happen. Without one move being made it was already realized that the next Pokémon would be easily a more grueling challenge than Togekiss and Ludicolo.
"You made me proud out there, Ludicolo. There's nothing more I need from you." Returning the Net Ball to her belt, Dahlia kept her hand at her waist while turning a suddenly fiery glare at Matt. "As for you, I've gone easy on you until this point. Do you understand what that means? That means you must step up your efforts even further if you think you're going to win this, because now I'm going to get serious." Tearing the Master Ball from her belt, Dahlia threw it and shrilled the words Matt knew he'd have to face even though he didn't want to, "Show yourself on the dance floor, Zapdos!"
Erupting from the Master Ball in a spectacular flash of light, Zapdos slowly unfolded its jagged-edged wings and looked down on Nikola. It wasn't just a matter of positioning – Zapdos clearly held itself in much higher esteem than the allegedly lesser Electric-and-Ice-type Pokémon before its eyes.
"Yes, it's what you've been waiting for! Arcade Star Dahlia's Zapdos has entered the battle! Hold on to your seats, because now you know we're in for a ride!"
"They're in for a ride?" Matt quietly growled through his gritted teeth, attempting to grasp the sheer magnitude of the task before him. "How about the ride I'm in for?"
"I see you talking to yourself over there, so how's about I give you something to talk about?!" Seemingly as soon as she sent Zapdos into the intense battle, Dahlia became a different person. Her stance became stiffer, and her movements went from being fluid to sharp and abrupt. Thrusting both of her arms forward, she cried, "Zapdos, Heat Wave!"
"Not good…" Desperate to avoid being defeated by the intimidating Legendary Pokémon, Matt chose the first decision that jumped into his head. "Quickly, Nikola, use Blizzard!"
Instead of aiming for the clouds this time, Nikola simply locked straight ahead to target Zapdos directly. Its gust of freezing air was met by the tide of fire that Zapdos had pushed forth, however, and Heat Wave won out. With its attack nullified completely, Nikola was left trapped to weather a painfully effective blow.
"Finish it off now, Zapdos! Give it a Drill Peck right to the chest!"
At this point completely overwhelmed by the stunning power and speed he was up against, Matt flinched and couldn't manage to give a command. Nikola acted on its own, shooting a Thunderbolt at Zapdos as the Electric-and-Flying-type barreled toward it, but Zapdos shrugged the last-ditch counterattack off with little effect before viciously colliding with Nikola.
"N-Nikola!" Matt screamed out, though it was completely in vain.
"Rotom is unable to battle! The winner is Zapdos!"
"Down goes Rotom! He never had a chance to touch Zapdos! Now, the challenger only has one Pokémon left as well!"
Not content to simply defeat the Rotom, Zapdos pinned its victim under one of its talons while cawing loudly, all to show off its dominance over the battlefield.
"Now that's just overkill," Bunny reacted with disgust.
"You should have expected something like this," Nekou said with a hint of sarcasm. "You can tell she isn't the type to be subtle about anything. This is her stage, and when she's on it, she's going to absolutely play it to the fucking hilt."
"Come on, don't you blow this now!" Olivia called out with her hands cupped around her mouth. "If Nando could do it, so can you!"
"So it comes down to this…" Having recalled Nikola, Matt stood rigidly in a way that caused his eye to be obscured by the shadow of his hat's brim. "I've got to pin all my hopes on this last one after all… out of these three, he's my newest Pokémon, but I'm not going to just let this go…" Whipping his head up, he sharply added, "I'm not letting this go because those who run cannot find the truth! Patrick, make your mark!"
In a blindingly fast motion Matt got the Dive Ball out of his bag and threw it with a flick of his wrist, releasing the bulky-bodied Seismitoad within to face Dahlia's savage Zapdos. Patrick slowly turned his lazy-looking eyes upward to face Zapdos directly, who by this time was staring back with a look of sheer annoyance.
"It's the final showdown, folks! Everything's on the line! Matt's Seismitoad versus Dahlia's Zapdos… only one will walk away from this with the spoils of victory, but who will it be?!"
"A Water-and-Ground-type Pokémon?" Dahlia uttered while standing with her hands on her hips. "What a bother, Zapdos's electrical attacks won't work… but that just means this will be all the more fun! Get started with Drill Peck, Zapdos!"
As soon as Zapdos started spinning in Patrick's direction, Matt growled to himself and shouted, "Stop it with Scald!"
The rainfall lent Patrick's Scald some additional power, turning it into an almost beam-like blast of burning water instead of just a spray. Zapdos didn't care about this power upgrade, though; it simply twisted around the boiling jet in midair to avoid being hit, then drilled straight into Patrick's stomach, throwing him back as he croaked painfully.
"Patrick, no..." Matt whispered in shock, while he watched Patrick slump against a nearby wall.
"Is it too much?" taunted Dahlia, leaning forward while waving her right hand's pointer finger in the air. "Tell me when you've had enough. I'll stop whenever…"
Suddenly, a loud, guttural voice echoed through the stadium, interrupting Dahlia mid-sentence. Patrick, now standing again, raised both of his arms and let out an earsplitting battle cry before lunging at the grounded Zapdos.
Taking advantage of this turn, Matt directed, "Hit it with Drain Punch!"
As it did not suspect Patrick to be capable of striking so quickly, Zapdos was caught off guard and took a forceful blow squarely to the chest. The wound left behind quickly transformed into light that flowed into Patrick, restoring some of his stamina.
"Hit my Zapdos in such a way? I think not! Zapdos, take to the air and use Ominous Wind!"
Just as Zapdos began to lift itself into the air, Patrick jumped up and swung out with his hand, managing to grab onto the Electric-and-Flying-type's leg. The feeling of Patrick's weight immediately caused Zapdos to panic, and it forced itself upward in a frenzied attempt to get free.
"Good thinking, Patrick!" Matt called out in compliment, a wide smile coming across his face. "It has nowhere to run, so use Scald!"
"Toss that thing now!" Dahlia tore back in response.
Despite Zapdos's valiant efforts to flip Patrick over its head, the Seismitoad managed to pull it back. While still holding on to keep Zapdos in place, Patrick assaulted it with another jet of steaming water, this one connecting straight to the Legendary Pokémon's chin.
Zapdos finally lashed free of Patrick's grip after taking the Scald directly, but it wasn't yet out of trouble. This was evidenced by the sudden shudder that wracked its body as a red aura overtook it.
"That's a burn, the secondary effect of Scald! Zapdos is on the clock now!"
In her mind, Dahlia saw her range of options narrowing. For a moment she squinted and stared at the two Pokémon, then she threw her hands up in the air and screamed to the ceiling, "Zapdos, ascend!"
While still visibly suffering from the burn's effects, Zapdos managed to follow its trainer's directions by moving upward until it was just skimming the underside of the clouds. At that point, it started to glide around in wide circles over the battlefield.
"If that's what you're going to do, then I have little choice in how to answer." Pointing upward at the avian Pokémon, Matt sharply instructed, "Patrick, aim as best as you can and use Scald!"
Another jet of heated water shot into the air, but Zapdos evaded this one by twisting around and flying above the clouds. In frustration, Patrick blindly spat out yet another Scald with no orders, missing Zapdos by a figurative mile.
"Zapdos, it's time for us to take the lead!" Compared to her earlier difficulties, Dahlia appeared to be getting her hyper, cheerful edge back. "Ominous Wind!"
Dahlia's Zapdos dipped just below the cloud cover before forcefully flapping its wings, pushing a gust of glowing purple wind over Patrick. The Water-and-Ground-type Pokémon crossed his arms to act as a sort of defense, and to a degree, it did work. Aside from small cuts spreading over a number of places on his body, Patrick wasn't hurt much at all, prompting Dahlia to clench her teeth.
Adding to her frustration, Dahlia could see Zapdos still being afflicted by the red aura of the burn left earlier. She realized that if she continued to approach the battle with a casual pace, she'd lose, not because of Patrick knocking Zapdos out but because of the burn simply wearing Zapdos out.
Knowing that she was in a situation worse than she'd initially thought, Dahlia took charge by quickly and directly ordering, "Drill Peck!"
"Patrick, hit it right in the face with Drain Punch!" Matt reflexively said to counter Dahlia. As he did so, he repositioned himself so that he was standing with his legs somewhat further apart while leaning forward very slightly.
Even when Zapdos hadn't yet dove to strike, Patrick was getting ready to hit back. He clenched his fist and pulled back, but unlike before, this time a strange purple glow surrounded his arm. Though he did swing and connect with Zapdos's face as the Legendary Pokémon drilled toward him, Patrick failed to affect it in any significant way, being thrown back forcefully but not nearly as hard as before. Zapdos, meanwhile, flipped back and returned to circling the battlefield from near the clouds.
"Looks like you don't have complete luck yet after all," Dahlia commented in a much more serious tone than the one in which she usually spoke. "Far too late for that to come into play."
"What are you talking about?" Matt skeptically asked, noting to himself that engaging Dahlia in a discussion would afford Patrick a chance to rest momentarily.
"Did you see that purple glow? Your Seismitoad's ability must be Poison Touch, which means that that Drain Punch would have poisoned Zapdos if it wasn't already burned. Unfortunate for you, isn't it?"
"But fortunate for me," she quickly thought as an amendment to her original sentence. "I'm in enough trouble trying to win with Zapdos being burned…"
"It's good to know that, but at this point, it doesn't matter." Turning his head upward so he could see Zapdos circling, Matt spread his arms and called out, "Patrick, cut it down with another Scald!"
"Get away!" Dahlia countered, gesturing in a sweeping motion. "Drill Peck into the clouds!"
Matt had been hoping for a decisive blow to end the fight, but those hopes disappeared when Patrick's boiling water stream sailed just below Zapdos's talons as it spun upward and out of sight. For his part, Matt clenched his fists and stared and the spot where Zapdos had been mere moments before, but Patrick became even angrier. Ignoring the fact that he could not aim at all, Patrick began randomly shooting blasts of steaming water up into the clouds, each one apparently missing Zapdos by a wide margin.
However, after only two rounds of these blind attempts, Patrick suddenly started gasping when he tried to use Scald again, no longer able to draw upon its power.
"Patrick, what's wrong?" Matt desperately shouted, having become alarmed by the rapidly escalating appearance of frustration and panic on his Seismitoad's part.
Sighing in relief, Dahlia wiped her forehead, which had become damp with sweat, and said, "I almost was afraid that I wouldn't be able to last this long to let Pressure work!"
"Pressure…" With his breath becoming slower and shallower, Matt took a slow, shaky step back. "Zapdos's ability… I never even took it into account…"
"Since you know what it's called, then you must at least have an idea of what it does. You'll run out of steam for your moves one by one at double the rate! That means, since you can't use Scald anymore, you can't hurt Zapdos!"
Dahlia's claims not only affected Matt – who became visibly more tense as he tried to grapple with the meaning of his situation – but the spectators in the stands as well. Panicked, Olivia hurriedly turned to Nekou and Bunny in a bid to gain better understanding of what was going on.
"Is that actually true?! It can't be over like that!"
"Nothing in this world is that simple," Nekou explained in a seemingly flippant manner, not really paying much attention to her own words. "It's something you'd benefit from remembering. When something seems like it has an obvious answer or outcome… it usually doesn't."
"It's true that of Seismitoad's remaining moves, one won't work at all and the other would only cause slight damage," Bunny added. "But, Zapdos isn't exactly in great shape either. If it can't stay out of Seismitoad's reach, this could still turn around."
"Now, Zapdos," Dahlia called out to her airborne Pokémon, "use Ominous Wind!"
With seemingly no options available to him, Patrick simply crossed his arms in front of his face as a feeble defense against the glowing purple wind sent blowing down onto him. He wasn't moved far by it, though.
Zapdos dropped out of the cloud cover, and its ravaged, weakened body and uneven breathing made clear that the burn's effect was doing what Matt's attacks were failing to do. Dahlia looked up with wide eyes at her Pokémon, trying to accept the reality brought on by the red glow consuming it and what this light meant.
"Zapdos… you're not going to last much longer, are you?" Already knowing the answer to this question, Dahlia turned her head back down and stared at Matt. Her gaze was intense enough to make him uncomfortable; to him, her eyes were like two spears piercing into his own. "Fine!" she boomed, pointing her finger at him. "Matt Chiaki, you've put on a good show for us here today, so as a sign of respect, I will show you my special finishing move! Zapdos, use Heat Wave! Follow it with Drill Peck! Then, finish this with Thunderbolt!"
"Impossible," Nekou said in disbelief. "What is she even trying to do? Heat Wave will barely affect him, and Thunderbolt…"
"She's just trying to use the attack's impact strength!" Bunny exclaimed, having arrived abruptly at the answer. "After all of this talk about luck, it's come down to brute force!"
By this point, Zapdos had already used Heat Wave to create a curtain of fire in the air, and it was now using Drill Peck to spin through said curtain and gather its energy. During all of this, Matt and Patrick could only sit and watch.
"Get ready, Patrick."
The Seismitoad grunted and nodded to his trainer in affirmation. They both knew that what Dahlia was planning was likely to spell the end for them, but one thing both Matt and Patrick had resolved to was to go down fighting.
"It ends NOW!" Dahlia screamed out, her excitement and energy finally boiling completely over. Flinging her arms up into the air before bringing them sharply back down, she roared, "Zapdos, GO!"
All of the remaining fire in the air convened around Zapdos as it twisted around and began shooting electricity from all over its body. Locking onto Patrick, Zapdos started to descend rapidly, taking on the form and power of a spinning rocket powered by the dual forces of fire and electricity.
"This is it! Dahlia's final move! Is this truly going to be the end?!"
"Now, Patrick!" Matt shut his eyes as he held up his arm. He did not want to see what was about to happen. "Hit it head-on with Drain Punch!"
Showing more courage than his trainer, Patrick fearlessly faced the raging inferno that bore down on him. He didn't expect to inflict much harm either, but he intended to come out having done something to help. With perfect timing, he swung his fist just perfectly to connect with Zapdos's beak.
Zapdos's frenzied attack was the one that won out, easily overwhelming Patrick. His Drain Punch, however, caused the Drill Peck/Heat Wave/Thunderbolt combination to go off target, and it instead mowed the Seismitoad down at his feet and pushed him down onto the Legendary Pokémon's back.
A combination of Zapdos's pained, frustrated squawks and the explosion of noise from the audience forced Matt to open his eyes and see what was going on – Zapdos flittering around the arena in a panic, trying to get Patrick off of its back.
"Now I've seen fucking everything…" he thought, unable to form words for a minute due to the sheer shock of what had happened and what he'd seen.
"WHAT?!" Dahlia was rapidly approaching a point where if she became any more high-strung, she might scratch her own skin off. Her voice was thin and high-pitched, and her once-tanned-and-smooth skin had become clammy with sweat. "How could you not only survive my finishing move, but even turn it against me?"
"I guess it just boiled down to pure luck," Matt said with a quick shrug.
Taken aback by how simple the entire thing actually was, Dahlia grunted and abruptly turned upward, staring straight at Zapdos as it glided around in the air with Patrick holding onto its back. "Throw that thing off! Drill Peck!"
"Patrick, keep your grip by any…" When he saw that Zapdos did not even have enough strength left in its burn-ravaged body to even use Drill Peck, Matt cut off his direction. He realized that the only thing remaining was to finally put an end to the battle once and for all. "Patrick, hit Zapdos square in the back with Drain Punch."
While struggling to keep his hold on the Legendary Pokémon using only his left hand, Patrick raised up his right hand in a clenched fist. After holding it back for a short time to channel strength into it, he brought it down on the center of Zapdos's back with great force.
Ordinarily, a Fighting-type move would do little against a Flying-type like Zapdos. However, because of the significant weakness left in Zapdos's body by the burn plus Patrick's precise aim, the expectation held by most of the spectators was defied. Zapdos plummeted from the sky and crashed into the floor with such speed that Patrick actually didn't start falling until a split second later, allowing Matt the time to quickly plan his final move.
"Now, Patrick come down right on top of it with Earthquake!"
Before the stunned eyes of Dahlia along with Nekou, Olivia, Bunny and the rest of the crowd, Patrick clasped his hands together and flipped forward, delivering a devastating double punch to Zapdos's body in a spot not far from where he'd just hit moments earlier. A seismic shockwave erupted from the impact, forcing Matt, Dahlia and the referee to brace themselves.
Though his body was violently shuddering, with every muscle wanting to give out, Patrick stood triumphant when he emerged from the final exchange. Zapdos lay nearby, sprawled out and crushed into a hole in the battlefield.
"Zapdos is unable to battle! The winner is Seismitoad, and the victor is Matt of Snowpoint City!"
"I don't believe it!" exclaimed the announcer, though he was barely audible over the cheering erupting from the crowd. "What a show! At the end of this no-holds-barred clash of titans at the Battle Arcade, the challenger comes out on top, defeating Arcade Star Dahlia!"
"Patrick, thank you!" Matt rushed forward when he saw Patrick, who was trying to walk to him, start to collapse. He managed to catch his Pokémon in his arms, and in response, Patrick weakly croaked and smiled in exhausted contentment. "Patrick, don't worry anymore, you can rest now. That was amazing for one of your first battles with me."
Dahlia, meanwhile, held up her Master Ball, bringing Zapdos back within it. "Another good show, my friend," she said to it, putting the ball back on her belt. "Two losses in a row, but you can be blamed for neither. That's just how the wheel spins and how the dice roll."
Great amounts of chatter had already broken out amongst the audience members about what they had just witnessed. In the back of the seating area, lurking out of the active areas but having watched all along, Jessie, James and Meowth took advantage of this activity to cover their own actions with Wobbuffet standing alongside them.
"That's that, then," Jessie sighed, looking back down to the battlefield. "He could be a valuable ally to the cause if we play our cards right, don't you think?"
"Right, Jessie, but what's with all the people we've run into lately? Our hands were tied like a Tangrowth because that old man was strong, and obviously we can't make Matt mad at us. You can see why."
"That don't really matter one way or the other in the end," Meowth interjected. "The boss has got someone working on working him over. We ain't got nothing to worry about with him. What still gets me, though, is what we're gonna be doing to fix our little mess with the Meteonite piece."
"We'll lay low," suggested James. "Come on, let's leave. This certainly isn't the place to have this talk."
"Wobbuffet!" the blue Psychic-type Pokémon cheerfully shouted, waddling after his trainer and her friends as they left the arena.
-:-
"That was great! I loved it!"
Though she could not hug Matt as he came back out into the Battle Arcade's lobby like she wanted, Olivia still greeted him with as much enthusiasm as she could muster from her crutches. Beside her stood Nekou, Bunny and Dante, all of whom were smiling, even the elderly doctor.
"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint my fans," Matt chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "It looks like you're feeling lively again, Olivia. That's good."
"Watching you battle helped me remember what I want to do," the girl explained. "I know I can do it. You inspired me to keep trying to make my dream come true!"
Briefly hesitating when he was forced to consider just what Olivia's dream was, Matt slowly turned to the others. "And what did you three think?"
"Even I have to admit when you do something right." Nekou spoke with a huff in her voice, but in reality, she was simply trying to annoy Matt by being sarcastic. "The tactics you used were actually kind of impressive."
"Especially how you defeated Zapdos," Bunny quickly chimed in.
"In that battle, the Pokémon and their trainers worked together very well, which brought out the best of their abilities." The others turned their heads in Dante's direction while he continued musing, "My theory is that it came down to who could improvise better, and Matt, you flying blind that whole time may just have saved you. Dahlia had all her strategies planned out so well in advance that when you made things up, it put her out of her comfort zone."
"What are you saying about me, old man?!"
When Dahlia came bounding out of the arena doorway, speaking playfully and far too loudly for the situation, she made the group of four jump in surprise. In fact, Matt almost landed right in Nekou's arms because of how far he stumbled.
"What?" Even Dante, as calculating as he was, couldn't completely process Dahlia's sudden arrival.
"Oh, relax, I'm just playing with you. You're not too far from the truth, really…" Turning to Matt, who had managed to compose himself, Dahlia continued, "Matt, your ability to go in with a rough framework of a plan and retool it on the fly is something that will serve you well going forward, but do realize that the rest of the Frontier Brains are tougher than me."
"Sure, that sounds like a good thing…" he said in sarcastic response.
"Relax, you'll be fine. So what will you do now?"
"Well…" Matt hesitated as he spoke; he was unsure if discussing the subject was a good idea. Ultimately deciding that explaining his motives could prove helpful, he said, "I'm looking to find Reshiram, actually. I want to see the truths its fire burns to reveal."
"Well, you sure picked a hell of a region to do it in! That's Unova, not Johto!" Matt and Bunny could only stare with stunned expressions at Dahlia, as her airy, casual tone completely mismatched against how serious he was being. "Sorry, though, in all seriousness, I don't really know anything about that. You might want to talk to the Factory Head, the Frontier Brain of the Battle Factory in Goldenrod City, though. He's more into the details of legends than I am."
"Goldenrod City," Bunny repeated. "That's pretty far from here."
"I guess we'll be waiting a while, then…" The dejected tone in Matt's voice could not be missed. His disappointment at losing a potential lead came right out to the surface.
"The Factory Head knows a lot of things, that's why he got put in charge of a facility specializing in knowledge itself. Anyway, check this out. It's what you earned by defeating me." Reaching into a pocket inside her shirt, Dahlia withdrew a golden coin and flipped it to Matt, who caught it with his right hand. Printed on it was an image of one of the Battle Arcade's onion domes. "It's the medal for winning here at my Battle Arcade. With it, you can go on the Frontier Society's website and get an additional prize."
"Thanks, I'll have to remember to do that. Thank you for the great battle, too."
"Think nothing of it. Anyway, I gotta get back in there to see some more challengers, so I'll see you around. Good luck out there!"
"Bye!" Olivia called out to Dahlia, who had turned and begun swaggering back to the arena.
"She is… certainly someone I'm not going to forget meeting anytime soon," Bunny sighed.
"Mister Chiaki?"
An unfamiliar voice coming from behind prompted Matt to turn around. Standing there, clutching a black briefcase and gasping for air, was a well-groomed man in a brown suit.
"Yeah, that's me, Matt Chiaki. Who are you?"
"Sorry, please forgive me. I'm just glad I managed to catch up with you." Straightening up, the man smoothed out his suit and straightened his yellow tie, giving himself a much more professional look. He offered his hand to Matt, saying, "That was rude of me. Please allow me to introduce myself. The name's Dominic."
"Well met, then." Seeing no reason to turn down the courtesy Dominic was showing him, Matt took the man's hand for a firm handshake.
"That's quite the handshake," Dominic immediately pointed out. Noticing the confused looks that greeted this rather odd proclamation, he hurried to explain, "I'm a salesman for the Angel Corporation, you see, so in my line of work a good handshake goes a long way. Anyway, I hope I'm not intruding too much, but when I saw you here, Mr. Chiaki, I had to give approaching and asking you a shot."
"Ask me what?" Matt found himself less bothered by Dominic's presence than his seeming inability to actually get to the point. Nekou was standing just behind him and giving Dominic an exaggerated death stare, but Matt was completely unaware of this.
"Will you be going to Violet City?"
"Wait, that's it?" The sheer simplicity of the question caught Matt completely off guard, and he did not have an answer ready.
"Of course!" Olivia immediately cut in. "That's where my first Gym is!"
"But why would you want to know?" A hint of suspicion flavored Nekou's inquiry. Harboring a dislike for not knowing what was happening, she felt uncomfortably on edge.
"I said I was a salesman, well, I'm actually a traveling salesman. I'm asking about Violet City because my son and two daughters are attending Earl's Pokémon Academy there for a while, and after seeing you battle, I'd really appreciate it if you could meet them."
"I don't think I see any reason why I should say no," Matt answered with a shrug. "It's not out of the way…"
"Good choice, I wanted to go!" In a complete departure from her previous feelings, Nekou now loudly supported the proposal. "A school would have one of my favorite things in it!"
"I swear," Matt sighed, "if you say free food…"
"No, that's number two." Ignoring the look of exasperation plastered on Matt's face, she continued, "I'm talking about books, the one thing that goes well with absolutely anything. I'll read as much as I want there."
"And you never know," Bunny added, "we could find a clue about Reshiram there."
"Good point. What about you, Olivia? What do you think?"
"I say we go. I could warm up for the Gym there."
Turning back to Dominic, Matt shrugged again and said, "There you have it, we'll go."
"Thank you, Mr. Chiaki, thank you very much!" Seizing up Matt's hand once more, Dominic smiled broadly as he spoke. "I'm sure my kids will appreciate meeting you very much. Now, please excuse me. I'll have to be taking my leave now so I can get back to them."
-:-
Pierce barely had a chance to step through the door of Dr. Zager's run-down laboratory before the doctor was upon him. Even though the scientist was visibly angry, Pierce managed to remain completely stone-faced.
"Is it correct to assume that you received my report, Dr. Zager?"
"Oh, I received it, Pierce, and I'm not very happy with what I saw in it!" Zager threw his hands up in the air in frustration and walked a few steps away from Pierce before quickly returning. "You cannot simply spill Team Rocket's plans to people you run into on the street!" he hissed through teeth masked by his mustache. "Any of them could be members of Polaris! All it takes is one slip up for us all to be destroyed!"
"I just ask that you pass on the information I supplied to Giovanni," Pierce flatly said. "I am confident that he will judge what I did as correct."
"And what if you're wrong?"
"You boys ought to stop fighting," Ariana suggested, walking up to Zager's computer console. She was playful at first but quickly turned serious. "I've already passed the information on."
"And I have already received it."
The stern, powerful voice of the man on the screen brought both Zager and Pierce into line nearly instantly. Both the younger agent and the older scientist dropped down onto one knee and set their right hands over their hearts while Ariana stood by.
"Hail Giovanni!" both declared in unison.
"Dispense with the formalities," Giovanni ordered, waving his hand to dismiss their actions. Before speaking further, the Team Rocket leader adjusted the lapel of his suit – a black article with red pinstripes – and pushed up his blood-red necktie. "Pierce, you have had interactions with a representative of the Tenganist people?"
"That is correct, sir," Pierce rigidly replied. "She informed me that their surviving numbers are planning to rebel against Polaris, so I marshaled her into an agreement, the details of which you can see in my report."
"Yes, we arm them and in return they will cooperate with our efforts to destroy Polaris. I see it here."
"With all due respect, sir," Zager interrupted, "this plan is very risky. We do not know if the Tenganists have been infiltrated by Polaris in the first place."
"Dr. Zager, this goes far deeper than simple alliances. There has been a systematic campaign to eradicate the Tenganist people going on in secret. Many of their settlements have been destroyed, Michina Town being the first we know of, and the chief suspect we've identified as being behind this genocide is Ghetsis Harmonia. His hatred of the Tenganists is a poorly kept secret that Team Rocket's intelligence forces picked up in Unova."
"And as Ghetsis is now the public spokesman of Polaris in the Tohjo Continent," Pierce continued, using Giovanni's line of thought, "there is an obvious connection between the cleansing of the Tenganist people and Polaris. Also…" Pierce's face darkened, and his normally forceful voice became much weaker. "My sister and I had our mother taken from us by Ghetsis and Polaris. Yes, I am one of them."
"Stacia is as well, Dr. Zager."
Under the intense eyes of Giovanni, Pierce and Ariana, Zager slowly stepped back and leaned against the nearby lab table. "This is getting worse and worse… fine. I agree to the plan to arm the Tenganists, but I want the supplies I send to be carefully observed."
"I will take the responsibility of escorting the shipment of goods to their designated point," Pierce volunteered without hesitation. "They are my people, even if I am not as devout as them."
"I'm going out, too," Ariana announced, stepping forward with her hand on her hip.
"I can't say I think that's a good idea. I recommend you stay here, Ariana."
Sighing at Zager, Ariana shot back, "And because that's one dumb-ass suggestion, I'm going to ignore it. You've got agents in the field who could be in way over their heads right now."
"You're both wrong," Giovanni intervened. "Jessie, James and Meowth failed me more times than I can remember. But, they have proven their worth through their actions during our operations in Unova. They are some of Team Rocket's top operatives and I have full confidence in their ability to get the mission done. That said, however, I do not object to dispatching an Executive to assist them. Ariana, do what you must to accomplish the mission."
"You got it, boss!"
-:-
Sitting in his ornate, finely-furnished office, Giovanni pressed a key on the videophone device on his desk to close the call to Dr. Zager's laboratory. Just then, the sound of his door creaking open caught his attention.
A young woman, bearing back-length purple hair and cold green eyes framed by glasses, carefully worked her way into the room, holding a cup of coffee on a saucer. She slowly and deliberately walked forward toward Giovanni's desk, taking great care not to let her shaky hands spill the coffee on the red-and-purple material of her military-style dress. Eventually managing to reach her boss safely, she set the cup down before him.
"Mister Giovanni… the coffee you asked for…"
"Thank you, Stacia," he answered, showing a rare moment of gratitude before slipping back into the dour mood that was already consuming him.
As his loyal secretary and someone who would willingly kill or die for him at the drop of a hat, however, Stacia knew more than enough to be able to read Giovanni's face without a struggle. "Is something wrong, sir?"
Giovanni did not reply at first. Instead, he turned his chair around, giving himself a view through the huge window positioned behind his desk. His faithful Pokémon, Persian, walked up to his side and meowed, so Giovanni scratched the large, cream-colored cat under the chin, prompting him to purr contentedly.
"Stacia, when did we end up as the ones who must hold up the world? Polaris cannot be allowed to continue with what they are planning. A world ruled by the warped beliefs of Polaris can never move forward, and that would destroy Team Rocket as well."
-:-
Once again, Ghetsis was standing outside the electronic prison in which he had placed Concordia and Anthea, listening to their findings.
"We have only translated one passage fully so far, Lord Ghetsis," Concordia explained, detached from the situation despite the high chance of Ghetsis going into an explosive rage over it.
"It speaks of the two heroes in Unova legend, the White Hero of Truth and Black Hero of Ideals. We have not found anything more yet, only that this legend is involved."
"I'm keeping you two alive and this is what you repay me with?!" Of course, Ghetsis actually did end up exploding. Slamming his cane into the ground over and over, he fumed, "I won't be able to keep ahead of those small-minded, imperfect fools on the Sacred Helix at this rate! I must! I am a perfect being, the perfect ruler for a world that shall be shaped into perfection!"
"Lord Ghetsis, come in," a voice coming from a device in Ghetsis's ear said. "This is Shadow Triad leader Darkness."
"Report!" Ghetsis snapped.
"We have extensively searched Ecruteak City and Route 36 for your son and the Tenganist prophet. No results. What are your orders, my lord?"
Ghetsis closed his eyes and stood still, trying to calm his mind so he could process the information being supplied to him. Concordia and Anthea sat by and watched through the translucent walls of their prison as several tense seconds slowly passed by.
"Split up," Ghetsis spoke once he finally reopened his eyes. "Darkness, you and Pestilence go to the west, toward Goldenrod City. Send Chaos off to the east, in the direction of Violet City and Cherrygrove City. Find those two freaks no matter the cost!"
"Your orders are our command!"
Taking his hand off his ear, Ghetsis slowly pivoted on his cane to face the two women in his cage, who were watching him with empty stares. "Prepare to bear witness to the rise of the man born to rule this broken planet! It's been so many long years in the making…"
As he walked toward the room's exit, Ghetsis began laughing to himself, smug in the confidence he held in his plans.
-:-
That night, the group was once again staying in the Pokémon Center's hotel. Matt decided to go to sleep earlier than Olivia and Bunny, who were watching television together in the lobby, while Nekou was nowhere to be seen. After bidding them good night, he headed for the room the four of them were staying in.
As he entered the room, he reached for the wall next to the door, looking for the light switch he needed to trip to illuminate the darkness. The one thing he didn't expect, though, was to have his hand held down on the switch by the hand of someone that was already there.
"Aah! Who's there?!"
Whoever was attacking Matt pinned him against the door, which they slammed shut with their leg. Now blind in the dark room, he thought of defending himself but lacked the willpower to do so.
"Marie, turn on the lamp."
"Snea!"
Nekou's Sneasel turned on the lamp sitting on the nearby table, allowing Matt enough light to see that his so-called assailant was really nobody more than Nekou herself. Sighing, he tried to push her away, but she only released his left arm, the one that had been reaching for the light switch in the first place.
"I'm not in the mood for this. Let me go to bed."
"What's Olivia doing?" There was a strange intensity in Nekou's eyes as she asked this question, one that showed she wasn't joking around as Matt thought she was.
"You can go out there and see for yourself."
"Answer the question."
Matt sighed once again. "Fine. She's out there watching a Pokémon Baccer game with Bunny."
"Alright." With that, Nekou released Matt and started to walk away, but before long she turned right back to him. "You did really well at the Battle Arcade today."
"I just did what a lot of others have done," he answered in a bland voice.
"Don't sell yourself short. Olivia really looks up to you, more than you seem like you even know."
"You two really have hit it off, haven't you? You haven't even known each other for very long." The uncharacteristic seriousness of Nekou's attitude was beginning to make Matt feel uncomfortable. By this point he was trying to find a way to get out of the conversation.
"Olivia and I do get along very well, that's right," she concurred. "From what she's told me, she really likes you, even if she doesn't outwardly show it."
"Get to the point, please."
"She needs you more than ever right now," Nekou explained, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to alleviate the tension from what she was saying. "You have to tell her the truth about what happened to Rich before she goes too far down the rabbit hole to be saved."
"How can I do something like that?" This was the last thing Matt wanted to talk about. Feeling crushed both physically and mentally, he began to just simply talk without thinking. "I can't break her like that, I just can't. It's my job to make sure she keeps going. How can trash like me even think to…"
He suddenly stopped when he felt Nekou put her hand on his cheek. She was staring right at him, but while her usual sarcastic tone returned, something about what she said still sounded strangely sincere.
"Trash? Fuck no, stop tearing yourself down like that. We're all… I mean, Olivia and I are relying on you, and do you know why that is? Because we trust you."
"Thanks, I, uh… guess." It took a moment but something in what Nekou said caught in Matt's mind as odd. "Wait, why are you relying on me too? For what?"
"That's not important. Just promise me you'll tell Olivia the truth."
Matt found Nekou's argument oddly compelling, and after some thought, he decided to go along with it. "Fine, after Olivia wins her first Badge, I'll tell her what happened. I want to wait until then so she'll have something to be confident in."
"Now that's the Matt I knew was in there." Nekou moved over to the bed she was sleeping in and reached into the rumpled sheets, pulling out two cans of beer; she tossed one to Matt then opened the other. "That's for you. Let's celebrate a little, alright?"
END of CHAPTER 5