Cinder Zhou had it all. Undefeated champion of Unova. Flowing with Poké from her sponsorship deals, the prestige of being mayor's daughter, hopefully soon to be president, from an already established name, and her amazing looks. Why she had an empire at her fingertips but the Queen had secrets that would cause her kingdom to crumble into dust if any of them got out. Let alone all of them.
First of all, she never obtained the 8 badges, it was only through a favor by the League president that she was allowed to compete in the championship. Secondly, she lived in the Satellite for almost her entire teenage life. Finally, she was trans. Her mother had a 'son' who ended up rebelling against the wishes of her father to be the perfect son. Eventually, Cinder ran away from home, unwilling to be constrained by her father's wishes. There she was welcomed by two other girls who were similar to her, dealing with their wrong puberties. Ashlyn and Ella. They became fast friends and eventually sworn sisters. Yet that relationship was tested and unfortunately didn't last.
One Year Ago
Cinder was residing in her so-called palace, an abandoned opera house, as decaying posters of the production of "Hamlet" would litter the floors. The once bright red seats of the audience had faded as playbills sat quietly on them. Yánwáng, her Gengar, was floating hanging around the balcony, playing with an opera spyglass and looking out through it. Xuěhuā, her Aloan Ninetales, was singing her own opera by herself aside from Cinder. Guān Yǔ, her Gallade would be sparing with Huángdì, her Tyrantiar, in front of her. Sòng Jiāng, her Swampert, was flexing his muscles by bench-pressing a marble column that fell ages ago onto the seating. Liàngzi, her Charizard, meanwhile would watch her Queen closely, sleeping in front of her with one eye open. On Cinder's head was a prop crown that the production team once used.
Cinder needed some time for herself, the protest had completely collapsed. Whatever attempt of freedom they tried to enact had failed and now she wondered if she could ever come back, to see her brother after missing so much of his life. She had practically abandoned him like the horrible sister she was. As she sat on her 'throne', which was an old armchair that must have been collecting dust for decades. She grew tired, closed her weary eyes, and began to feel nostalgic. She had missed sleeping on a clean mattress, well-cooked meals, nice heating, and other creature comforts.
Yet to escape now by herself, the only way was with a duel runner, through the trash chute. The massive machine that sends a constant stream of excess from the city that people in the Satellite recycle what can be recycled and toss out what can't, at least Huangdi didn't mind eating old electronics. After all, Ella had planned on doing that and she didn't really have a plan even after she left. For all she knew, her dad could have presumed she was dead. In hindsight, it wasn't the best idea, running away from home to here of all places. All because he refused to accept her as her daughter and not his son.
There was plenty of yelling, screaming, and arguing that day and those words he said still cut deep within her heart. Yet what could she do now? Return home? For all she knew, she was probably presumed dead. Maybe it would be better for her to escape one at a time. Let Ella go first and then she and Ashlyn could work on a few more runners. Maybe she could change the world and finish that bridge he started. Cinder pondered as she looked up at her 'crown'. What was a queen without a kingdom… What was a kingdom without any subjects? She might have been the best battler, bar none in the Satelite, yet she was always a big fish in a small pond. So she closed her eyes and almost began to sleep. That was until she heard a noise from outside and her Pokémon and Cinder were now on high alert. Her Gengar repeated behind the man's shadow, and materialized, restraining his legs. In a flash, her Gallade raced ahead and then grabbed his arms.
They had restrained the lone intruder and tossed him in front of Cinder, he looked up with a grin bowing underneath Cinder. He had jet-black sideburns and fine fridged-up hair. He was of a modest weight and was only slightly taller than Cinder. His skin was snow white as Cinder had seen this man before somewhere on TV.
"Good day there your Majesty, Cinder Zhou.. My name is Xavier Jäger, vice president of the League Commission.. Second in command to Rex Goodwin, I am here to be your humble servant…"
Cinder looked annoyed and responded, "Cut to the chase. I presume the League wants me for something?"
"Why yes, yes, absolutely…. We, want you to have a chance to be our champion…"
"Champion?" Cinder's eyes lit up at the thought, a chance to return to the city, return to greatness, return to her brother and sit on a rightful throne, a real one. With all her adoring subjects. Why the Queen's life would be complete, but there is no such thing as a free lunch.
"What's the catch.." Cinder responded as her Charizard looked up, intrigued at the thought as well.
"We want Ella's Salamence…" Xavier said as Cinder pondered at the thought of betraying her sisters… Yet Ella wasn't there for her when Terrance was murdered, in cold blood. No, she didn't deserve a powerful dragon type like that, nor did she deserve that Battle Runner she was working on.
"Consider it done."
As Xavier smiled and waved goodbye.
"I hope to see Your Majesty on her rightful throne."
—-
"Shit. Get the hell of my farm!" Ashlyn yelled as she stared down a dozen raiders who came after her stuff. The raiders were all dressed in rags and each of them had makeshift black bandanas, except their leader who had a crossbone design on his. The collapse of the Sentinels caused a power vacuum in the order of Satellite as things seemed to go back to their old chaotic state. Sure she had managed to win in a fight against most of them but they've been pushing through with a war of attrition. Her Ampharos was barely able to stand against the constant onslaught of attacks and her other Pokemon were down for the count.
Beside her were dozens of fallen Pokemon but all that was standing against her now was just the raider and his two Aggrons.
"I don't think you can make us. A1 crushed the Ampharos with a body press! A2 grab them!" The lead raider shouted.
Ashlyn wondered if anyone was going to answer her cry for help. Sure she wasn't on speaking terms with her sister, at least for now… Of course she was upset at Ella abandoning them but she hoped at least this time around she might help, especially with her life in danger. If not Ella, perhaps Cinder could show up instead? Anyone was needed at this rate as she was down to her last Pokémon.
The first Aggron was in front of her Ampharos as it tried to tackle the Ampharos with a charging body press tackle. The second one attempts to grab the Ampharos as Ashlyn shouts, "Use their weight against them Diànlóng!"
The Ampharos struggled to fight leap out of the way of two earth pounding giants that then slammed into each other. Even as it rolled, it's tail got caught and he was now in pain as it was crushed between a ton of steel beasts. The electric lizard screeched in pain as it was close to collapsing.
Ashlyn looked in fear as she was about to return Diànlóng and start running. That was until a familiar Swampert launched itself into the air using its powerful leg muscles. The Swampert's right arm was glowing with energy and then dropped a punch into the face of the first Aggron, knocking the steel dinosaur into the ground as the impact caused a thud that shook the legs of Ashlyn and Diànlóng. The second Aggron took a step back and reared its head, as it began to harden, then glow and tried to tackle the Swampert from behind. However, his body was adapted to feel subtle differences in the waves and on land it was no different. Feeling the incoming attack, Sòng Jiāng turned around and swung a backhand Hammer Fist into the face of the Aggron, colliding with the Head Smash. Using the last of his energy, Diànlóng got up and unleashed a massive burst of electricity at the Aggron from behind, frying it and causing the dinosaur to collapse as Diànlóng collapsed shortly after.
The various Raiders began to run, with some grabbing their defeated Pokemon, and others leaving them to rot. Cinder dropped down from her Charizard and elbow dropped onto the fleeing head raider. The head raider was pinned down against the ground as he was struck in the spin. Cinder then grabbed him by the shirt collar and yelled at him. "Nobody! And I mean nobody messes with my sisters except me!" The head raider fearfully complied as he began to run off into the ruins of the rest of Satellite.
As Cinder let the bastard go, she hated what she needed to do next. She figured that Ashlyn's distress signal must have been heard by Ella as she looked at the dozens of beaten Pokémon on the ground, abandoned by their owners. Here she was, about to abandon her sisters and stab them in their hearts.
"I'm sorry," Cinder said as she turned around as her Gengar emerged from Ashlyn's shadow, putting her to sleep by hypnotizing her.
Ella herself had been too focused on preparing her Battle Runner. She wanted to get away from this place of hurt and try to find the body of Terrance. Tonight was the night and she just needed some finishing touches. She grabbed one of the parts hovering behind her with the help of her Magnezone. A familiar Covernknight flew into her home and gave a worrying caw. Ashlyn was in trouble and she needed to head out now. Her Magnezone dropped her parts as Ella got onto her Battle Runner and revved up the engine.
"UFO. Be sure to push." Ella remarked as she raced off with a Covernight flying above and her Magnezone giving her a speed boost by pushing her runner along.
By the time Ella arrived, Ashlyn was hanging from a nearby four-story building by a rope and her feet dangling over the pavement. All her Pokemon were defeated and were forced into their balls, unable to do anything about the plight of their trainer. Ella got off her runner and Ella looked at the site and saw Cinder underneath, she stared with fire in her eyes, "You did this?! What the hell CINDER!" Ella yelled, the once stoic woman losing her cool upon seeing one of her sisters hanging on by a thread as she presumed Cinder was the one who caused the alarm. She wasn't helping her case as her Charizard from the ledge of the building, instantly opened fire with a scorching flamethrower at the Corvienknight, knocking it out of the air and onto the concrete pavement.
"Give me the runner and Chìhóng and I'll make sure Ashlyn gets."
"UFO, Zap Cannon on Cinder, but be gentle." Ella interrupted.
UFO tried to blast her by creating a massive ball of electricity that would have hit Cinder square in the face had her Swampert not leaped in front of her, absorbing the blast unaffected due to his typing. The Swampert stared at the Magenzone, another former comrade. The two helped work together in building that Battle Runner Ella was working on at the start. Until his trainer didn't want anything to do with their trainer anymore. Still, the former co-workers couldn't help but feel disappointed that their trainers would do this. Yet they had orders to follow.
Theme Start: https/watch?v=HlQxjKE_RPY Vicious Attack Yugioh 2011 Over the Nexus
Cinder knew one thing, power. Absolute Power. Whoever held all of it would win no matter what. She was already known throughout the Sattelite as the "Cerulean Flame", nobody messed with her for a reason. Now it's time to face her final obstacle and take her rightful place on the throne.
"So be it then. Looks like we're doing this the hard way. You couldn't let me shine beyond this dump. It's time to end this chapter in my saga and finish this once and for all." Cinder said as she flicked her blond hair and raised her fist into the air before pointing at her Swampert. "Sòng Jiāng. High Horsepower into Hammer Arm."
Sòng Jiāng lifted his front arms up and bashed them against his chest for a moment as he shouted a mighty war cry, "SWA!" before he engulfed himself in an orange glow and galloped his way before leaping into the air to tackle the Magnezone, giving them almost no time to react, it was as if Ella was frozen from Cinder's act of betrayal that she almost forgot the ongoing battle. The Magnezone was knocked out of the air and pinned on the ground against the weight of the Swampert. Before the Swampert could raise his fist, Ella made her move.
She looked at her with fire in her eyes, a face of betrayal, she was the one to help Cinder out when she first arrived in the Satelite, cold and lonely. She and Ashlyn helped her out with hormone treatment. They both worked together to help the Sentinels out. Was everything Cinder done a farce? No there had to be some good left in her, there had to be. Ella had to win this battle and prove it, Cinder was the type of woman who only listened to power, and by Arceus, Ella would have to find a way to surpass it!
"UFO! Now! Open Fire with Hidden Power!"
As the Magnezone was pummeled by incoming tackle, they knew that if they did nothing, they would be crushed by a follow-up super-effective attack. Already they were pretty weak due to how strong Sòng Jiāng was, they already had seen it firsthand when they helped lift a massive concrete pillar that UFO couldn't move with magnetism. UFO's magnets glowed forest green and out came two laser beams straight into the chest of Swampert, the force of the laser had dealt considerable damage to the Swampert. Yet he refused to stay down, as the Swampert raised his right fist, now embedded with a white glow, and then slammed it into the metallic eye of the Magnezone, slamming their body into the pavement.
Ella returned her Magnezone and then sent out her Decidueye who took to the skies. The bird flew above the Swampert to a good position and read his bow.
"I think I've made my point. Come on Ella. Just give me the runner and Chìhóng."
"Hòu Yì. Spirit Shackle then Leaf Blade."
The Decidueye drew an arrow from his quiver and then opened fire, sending a ghastly blackish purple arrow that struck Sòng Jiāng's face before falling into Sòng Jiāng's shadow, trapping it.
"So be it, Avalanche"
It was about to launch its second attack by shooting a massive green energy blade construct at the Swampert. Sòng Jiāng began to glow light blue and slammed his arms against the ground, creating a cloud above the Decidueye that rained a frenzy of frozen boulders above the flying archer. The two projectiles struck the respective Pokemon at the same time and as the dust cleared, both of them were out for the count.
The battlefield became a bit more chilly with crushed frozen chunks of the boulders on Ella's side of the field. The two in an instant sent out their next Pokemon.
"Spitfire!"
"Xuehua!"
The heat coming from the flames and the fur of the Typhlosion began to melt the chunks and created a puddle underneath his feet. Yet it was all for naught, as a cold wind began to blow.
As the Aloan Ninetales came out of her ball, snow began to fall, true to her name. Cinder had already come prepared with a pair of goggles on her forehead that she pulled down. The localized storm began to cool the water that was once frozen underneath the Typhlosion.
"Blizzard!"
A ferocious storm blew towards both Ella and Spitfire. The howling snowstorm pushed the storm towards the two and chunks of ice pelted both Pokémon. It was actually the heat of the Tyranitar being used against him. The water underneath cooled rapidly and Spitfire lost his grip and slipped onto the ground.
"Get up! Spitefire! Eruption!" Ella shouted as the Typhlosion was only able to get up slightly due to the constant ice pelting her eyes, the move caused her to raise her body temperature and any ice that would continue to pelt her would loosen up, creating sleet and dealt more damage to her than before. The eruption of flames burst from her back as volcanic chunks began to fly towards Cinder and her Ninetales.
"Now! Aurora Viel!" Cinder shouted as her Ninetales created a powerful forcefield using the aura from the falling hail, protecting Cinder from the flames and reducing the damage from the Eruption.
"Go ahead and freeze Spitfire."
The Typholsion had become soaking wet due to her heat melting the nearby snow that fell upon her. Now it was time for the finisher. A second blizzard blew with full strength, solidifying the water on Spitfire's body and limiting both Ella and Spitfire's visibility.
"You should never freeze a fire type.. Flame Wheel!" Ella yelled as Spitfire gathered further heat and rolled out into a wheel of fire, tackling straight towards Xuehua as she continued to try to fire with her Blizzard. Spitfire appeared to be slowing down due to the damage and when the attack did connect. It seemed the damage was negligible, despite the type advantage, the hail and the aura around her body seemed to have bolstered her defenses.
[Theme transition: https/watch?v=FhHeGZoWl0g The Only Thing I know for Real]
"Look I know it hurts but look at it this way.. I'll be able to reach heights greater than anyone else in this dump! And who knows, maybe I'll come back for you.." Cinder taunted as Ella despite the cold chunks beating down on her was still able to make out what she was to say. "You say that, then why don't you get Ashlyn down from there and let me do my plan instead!"
"And have to abandon us again! Fat Chance!" Cinder yelled as Xuehua intensified the storm, finally putting Spitfire down as Ella grinned. "So that's what this was all about. What happened to our friendship!? Our sisterhood! OUR OATH!"
"Hera! Let's finish this! Dynamic PUNCH!" Ella shouted as her Heracross raced towards the Aloan Ninetales with its fist glowing with energy as it attacked with full concentrated power.
"Dazzling Gleam," Cinder exclaimed as the Aloan Ninetales unleashed a flash of explosive sparkling light. The two attacks exploded and the sheer energy of the combined energy caused the hail to stop falling, as shards flew upwards, with one of them battering Ashlyn's face, waking her up. As the explosion cleared, concrete was crushed underneath them, and the last of the snow fell gently onto the Heracross as the Aloan Ninetales collapsed onto the ground before returning to her ball.
"Cinder. UNTIE ME THIS INSTANT!" Ashlyn shouted in panic as Cinder returned her now downed Ninetales.
"I think it's about time I end this mess," Cinder remarked as she sent out her next Pokemon, a Gallade that stood tall with fire in his eyes.
"MEGAHORN!" Ella shouted as Heracross flew towards the Gallade, with its horn glowing with energy, and tried to take down the Gallade before he had a chance to move.
But in a flash, the Gallade blocked the blow with a psychic construct of a violet-colored guandao, the Heracross's horn was now against the newly formed blade. "Guān Yǔ! PSYCHO CUT!" The Gallade kicked the Heracross in the thorax, freeing his glaive, and aimed it right at the abdomen of the Heracross.
"Block it with Dynamic Punch!"
The Heracross moved her fist to try to intercept the attack, using the energy to then grab the blade. However, the Gallade and his trainer saw this move incoming as the glaive construct was let go from the Pokemon. Backflipping backward, the Gallade followed up by releasing a duo of violet-colored crescent-shaped blasts from his two arms. The two blasts collided with the construct and the fist, rocking the field as the shattered bits of concrete flew further away, before following up with another explosion that was nearly 2 stories tall which worried Ashlyn greatly. Dust from the explosive managed to land in her eyes, the destructive power of the two trainers, they were giving it their absolute all in this fight and so were their Pokemon.
"Guys if you're gonna have a battle! CAN you please not do it underneath me!" Ashlyn cried aloud.
Ella had to return Hera as she fell over due to the impact and as she sent out her next Pokemon, the Hisuian Samarott, she only had one word to ask Cinder, "Why." To her, she was completely betrayed, she hadn't hurt this bad since Terrance was taken away from her. What the hell was she even planning, she clearly wasn't brainwashed, she had that look in her eye, that it was her own accord.
"I was given the mother of all opportunities. A chance to go back home, go back to Neo Castelia, and rule rightfully as her Queen of Battles. The Master of Faster… Why can't you let me take that chance!" Cinder proclaimed as she continued, "All you guys have been doing is slowing me and my team down! I thought we could make a change here, but it's clear that the only way forward is to go out on my own!"
"You're stealing what's mine and abandoning us!" Ella cried in vain.
Cinder didn't want to think her hurtful actions, she wanted to pretend everything she was doing was alright and justified yet it clearly wasn't. The answer to her problems lies in the heart of battle. She decided to put on a wager.. "If you beat me, I'll let you go in my place instead. But when I win, you better give me Chìhóng and the Runner."
"Then let's dance.." Ella responded.
The two Pokemon stared at each other, they had a history with each other. The Master and the Student. Who would be on top? Their blades are sharper than anything else in Satelite. They had trained together and now they must fight, at the best of their abilities for honor and for their trainer.
"Leaf Blade!"
"Ceaseless Edge!"
Jade-colored arm blades emerged from Gallade as the Hisuian Samarott stood on its twos and pulled out two black and red swords that soon glowed with a black sinister energy. The two Pokemon charged at each other and clashed in a spectacular fashion, each blow clashed with the other. The Pokemon were masters at their craft, with each blow being nearly impossible to see without a trained eye. The two Pokemon struck as fast as they could, blocking each blow, parrying the next and then both tried to reach for a finishing one. Each clash of blades caused various dark shards to fall from Chéngyǐng's blades. They were matched both in skill but not necessarily stamina. Eventually, Guān Yǔ managed to land an opening blow onto the chest of Chéngyǐng, knocking him towards the ground, although not disarming him.
"Razor Shell!"
"Now Sacred Sword!"
Now on the defensive, the Samurott tried to block the incoming assault with his now blue-glowing swords, while Guān Yǔ's arms glowed red. The blades clashed, but with his disadvantaged position, Chéngyǐng could only delay the inevitable. His two blades began to move closer to his body as the pressure from Guān Yǔ's attack pressed his blades against his chest, causing them to drop as Guān Yǔ dealt the finishing blow. "SAMA!" Chéngyǐng shouted in pain as Guān Yǔ emerged victorious. He had felt disappointed, his student hadn't surpassed him yet. Yet he kept him on edge, knowing her trainer, he had a feeling this wouldn't be their last battle.
[Theme transition: https/watch?v=5GcPA3C0QeI Roar of the Jungle Dragon]
So this was it for Ella, her final stand, her ace in the hole. Without a word, Chìhóng emerged from her ball as Chéngyǐng returned. The raging Salamence was a bit larger than average but aside from that, it seemed unspectacular to Cinder. Aside from the weird engraving, there was on that Pokeball Ella used for it. Cinder took little thought to why the dragon was needed and more so how she was going to defeat it.
The arrival of the Salmence was able to cause a mental shockwave inside the mind of the trained swordspokemon. Guān Yǔ lost confidence going against the dragon.
"Guān Yǔ. Psycho Cut."
The Gallade created a psychic conduct of a powerful violet guandao again and used one end of it as a vaulting pole to launch himself into the air, and swing it over his head towards the head of the dragon.
"Chìhóng! Dragon Claw!"
The Salemence quickly moved her claw to defend, as now was pulsing with dragonic green energy. The psychic spear clashed against the glowing green dragonic claw. The two attacks struck but only one was superior, as the claw pushed the spear backward as if the Salmence was swatting a Cutiefly. The Gallade fell onto the ground, with his construct now destroyed. He couldn't react while he was on the concrete as with a blink of an eye, the Salamence followed up with a second Dragon Claw that struck hard in the chest, creating a cloud of dust upon impact. The Gallade was out for the count. Cinder had to return her Pokemon as she then pulled out her next. She had to finish this, quickly. She sent out her Tyrantiar, whose mere presence kicked up a storm of sand, battering Ella as she kept her goggles on tight for perfect vision. However, her Tyranitar did take some significant damage after stepping into the spikes littering the ground.
Ella took note of the goggles as she might need something similar to deal with Cinder in the future. It was becoming difficult for her to get a clear vision of the fight. Yet she had an inexplicable connection to Chìhóng as sand battered her clothes and her eyes.
"Huángdì. Rock Slide!"
The Tyrantiar moved his right leg upwards and sent it down for a mighty stomp, dozens of boulders the size of truck tires fell from the sky and rained onto Chihong.
"Chìhóng! Steel Wing Shield!"
Yet her wings, now glowing silver were embedded with the strongest of steel. She used her wings as a shield, dodging the boulders that could reach the exposed parts of her body, and the wings crushed the boulders upon impact with the wings. Both Cinder and Ella knew that one of them had the mobility advantage and the other did not. Huángdì stood there in the sand, watching his flying foe, and braced himself.
"Draco Meteor!"
Chìhóng let out a fearsome roar and sent a single ball of orange energy the size of a beach ball into the air, which then exploded and split into a hundred similar-sized meteors that fell at mach speed, piercing through the sandstorm which allowed Ella to see her side more clearly. Many went flying into Huángdì and blasted the tyrant. However, he still stood strong after getting struck with overwhelming firepower. The sand seemed to have strengthened his defenses as Cinder needed to get the dragon onto the ground.
"Charge! Flying Stone Edge!"
"Let them come, get ready to intercept," Cinder commanded as the two taunted the dragon. Charging forwards, Cinder had a new technique for a familiar move of hers, the Tyrantiar raised his right arm and slowly created chunks of sharpened rocks that levitated around it, combining it with the various chunks of concrete on the ground. He then swung his arm and sent a lash of flying concrete and rocks towards the flying Salamence, with her sight partially clear, the dragon tried to maneuver out of the attack by diving closer, and towards the Tyrantitar.
Cinder had a feeling what her next move was, "Steel Rush!" Ella shouted as Salmence engulfed herself with dragonic energy, forming the outline of a dragon's head with its wings with a navy blue glow. As she charged, her wings glowed platinum as well. The combination of the two moves was sent flying right towards the Tyrantitar. "Stone Edge as a shield!" Cinder shouted as her Tyrantiar slammed his legs against the ground, and just before the Salmence could hit him, a massive story tall stone pillar emerged in front of him, only to get shattered by the Salmence due to sheer force and crash into the Tyranitar.
The loss of momentum allowed Cinder to launch her finishing blow, as Huángdì was now in pain, "Ice Punch!" The energy around the Salemence was strong, as the wings began to strike his chest, but using his right arm, he engulfed himself with cold hard ice and let loose a mighty punch. The energy from the two attacks sent a shockwave that moved both trainers and ended with both of their Pokemon falling onto the ground and fainting.
"You were quite strong Ella. But not strong enough. I'm just a big fish in a small pond and I must find a place where I could swim freely. Now that Battle Runner, and your Salamence." Cinder said as Ella was powerless to stop her. Yet she refused to give in, even to her last breath. Ella was about to raise her fists and try to settle this the old-fashioned way, but the constant damage of the battles seemed to have weakened the rope Ashlyn was hanging from as she yelled, "ELLA HELP!"
The situation was dire as she was just about to fall and Ella had to drop everything if she was to save her. With the Pokeball and Runner's occupant gone, Cinder had her ticket. She grabbed the ball with the dragon inside and brought her Pokemon with her. Riding on the Runner and through the trash tunnel, she didn't look back. But the guilt still lingered within her. Was it all worth it?