Anistar City was an odd city located on the shore of a lake. The Gym was immediately obvious with its domed roof and golden arches, but on the edge of town, furthest out on the lake, lay a bizarre pink crystalline structure the likes of which Medicham had never seen before.
Marcus also appeared unfamiliar with it, given that he asked the first person who greeted him what it was.
"Why, that's the sundial, boy!" said the man who Marcus had asked. "Every day, at 8:00 in the evening, the rings of the sundial start to spin, and the crystal starts to glow, and it's said that if people go there between 8:00 and 9:00, they can make a wish and it will come true!"
"I don't see any rings," said Marcus, still sounding puzzled.
"Oh, that crystal isn't the sundial," said the man. "That crystal is said to be created by Xerneas himself! It is his essence that grants the Sundial its abilities."
Medicham looked at the crystal, interest flaring in her mind. Her eyes locked on a single pink sparkle glinting in the crystal, like a star in the night sky. It was-
-beautiful, so white and fluffy. She could barely feel the cold. Laughter, joyous laughter, came from-
"Thanks," said Marcus. The man nodded and turned away; Medicham caught a smile on his face as he strode into one of the nearby houses.
Marcus turned to Medicham. "Tell you what," he said. "Let's spend the day training for the Double Battle, and then we'll visit the sundial tonight. How does that sound?"
Medicham nodded, casting her gaze to the crystal once more. Maybe there…
Maybe there she would get some answers.
The extra day of training had been quite beneficial for all involved, especially since Marcus, through a combination of training and a few TMs, had taught all four participants in the upcoming Gym Battle new moves. Kriesh had been working on a move that Marcus called Roost. She didn't refer to it by any name, as it was a healing tactic and not an actual move, but it clearly helped with her stamina; she could fairly easily Roost, regaining energy, while her opponent tried to dodge a brutal Flurry Impact or Beam Impact. Speaking of Flurry Impact, she'd managed to get up to four beams as well, once again matching Drapion.
Speaking of Drapion, Marcus had bought a TM for Protect and taught it to him, finally giving Drapion a consistent defensive option that didn't involve injuring his arms. His Protect mustered as a chitinous barrier, similar to Drapion's armor. Drapion had taken to the move, which he simply called Block, like a Ducklett to water; he had the stamina to use it often, and with the move, Medicham had to admit that he was probably the most powerful member of the team right now.
Houndoom, partially thanks to Drapion, had begun attempting to learn Thunder Fang, and by the time the training was over he could summon Electric energy into his mouth, though not that much and not for long. Lightning Jaws, as he called it, was a technique that Houndoom seemed intent on practicing often even after the fight with the Psychic Gym.
Finally, Phantump had begun learning Will-O-Wisp, a technique that seemed similar to Curse but could be used at range and also seemed to include Fire energy, surprisingly enough. But Marcus had also bought a TM for Shadow Ball; far from Phantump's usual method of slowly grinding opponents down with Leech Seed and Curse, this was a simple blast of Ghost energy that, as Medicham heard Marcus say, was extremely effective at shutting down Psychics. He even went so far as to say that many Psychic-types were judged in higher-tier battling based on how easily they could avoid or neutralize a Shadow Ball.
Phantump took to both techniques with aplomb, and by the end of the day's training was able to use them without too much difficulty.
While all that was going on, Medicham and Cloyster had sparred. This time, though, Medicham had realized something was different. Cloyster was pushing himself even harder than usual, snapping up Impenetrable Shells with unnecessary speed and forcing himself to move at a pace not at all like his usual preference of remaining still. Not to mention he was dead silent for most of the battle, only speaking when spoken to.
Medicham didn't ask why. She didn't need to. Cloyster had failed to hold off that Weavile, and he clearly blamed himself for it.
Why should he, though? She'd put him in that position to begin with. The blame was hers.
At 7:45, Marcus had declared an end to the training and recalled the team. The journey to the sundial didn't take long; by the time Medicham was released again, it was only 7:53. Yet the area was already filled with people, enough people that Marcus had apparently decided that he could only release Medicham.
The next seven minutes seemed to last fourteen, as the sundial gradually filled with more and more people. Some of them released Pokemon; a trio of Swirlix, a nervous-looking Raichu, even a massive Golem that stared steadfastly up at the crystal, eyes betraying nothing.
None of the Pokemon acknowledged one another, aside from the Swirlix who were flitting through the air, bumping into practically everyone. That ended when one of them slammed headfirst into the Golem and fell to the ground, clearly dazed. The Golem didn't even react as the other two Swirlix gathered up their fallen friend and trooped dejectedly back to their Trainer.
But at length, 8:00 finally struck.
None of the people or Pokemon were standing on the sundial, and this was for good reason, for it slowly began to rotate. The crystal began to glow bright pink. Medicham saw several of the people looking up and followed their gaze to see what looked to be pink snowflakes descending from the sky.
Medicham reached out a hand to touch one. She felt a slight bit of cold prick her finger. A contented sigh escaped her mouth; this was the best she'd felt since the latest battle with Team Flare.
She looked to the glowing crystal as she began to hear muttering. All around her, wishes were spoken, words that may have been meaningless but were propelled by the hope that they weren't.
Medicham opened her mouth and joined them.
"I wish I knew what was wrong with me," she whispered.
The inside of the Anistar City Gym was…odd, for want of a better word. Most of the other gyms at least had visible walls and floors and ceilings, at least. The Anistar Gym appeared to be composed of platforms made of glass hovering in an empty, starry void.
Said 'void' ultimately turned out to just be the walls, floor, and ceiling painted to look like the night sky, but the effect was quite impressive.
Drapion watched from inside his Pokeball for the most part. As usual, Marcus used Pokemon that he wasn't planning on using in the actual Gym Battle to beat the Gym Trainers. Cloyster and Medicham both got some time, although Medicham wound up being knocked unconscious by the last Gym Trainer's Gardevoir. It was somewhat odd, Drapion reflected; sure, she wasn't the best against other Psychics due to being part-Fighting, but there was something else. Her battling style…just felt off. She wasn't as quick, wasn't as instinctively reactive. Something was just…off.
Drapion dismissed it. It was probably nothing. Just a momentary lapse of attention.
At length, with three defeated Gym Trainers behind him, Marcus reached the center of the Gym. This center took the form of a small domed arena with pillars for walls and an archway for a door. Marcus walked through the archway to see a woman standing on the other side, tall and with flowing purple hair curled up into a sort of crown. This must be Olympia.
"Hello, Marcus," Olympia said richly. "It is good to meet you in the flesh."
"You know me?" Marcus asked.
"You staved off a Team Flare Admin by yourself near Lumiose," said Olympia. "Word travels fast."
"That's…kinda exaggerated," said Marcus sheepishly. "I had a lot of help from a lot of Pokemon."
"Don't we all?" Olympia asked. "Your Medicham did well against my Gym Trainers. I do feel some regret that I will not battle against it myself. Now, Marcus, I'm sure you know that I wish to engage you in a 4-on-4 Double Battle."
"Yes, I do," said Marcus.
"Good," said Olympia. "Then we may begin. Slowking, Sigilyph, emerge."
Marcus released Drapion and Houndoom onto the battlefield. Drapion quickly scanned his opponents; a strange runic bird that flew up into the air on multicolored wings, and a pink blob of a Pokemon with a crown on its head that oozed laziness with every inch of its body.
Olympia eyed Houndoom and Drapion with a rather disappointed expression. "Very well," she said. "Slowking, Water Pulse on the Houndoom. Sigilyph, Reflect and Light Screen."
"Houndoom, take Sigilyph! Drapion, Protect!" Marcus retorted.
Sigilyph spread its wings in response to Olympia's order. "Dark Surge!" Houndoom snarled, firing a blast of Dark energy at the Sigilyph. The Slowking moved slow enough that Drapion managed to scramble between him and Houndoom. Sigilyph folded its wings with shocking speed and plummeted downwards, spreading them only a second later. As the Dark Surge flew over its head, both Sigilyph and Slowking became engulfed in the telltale purple light indicating the establishment of Reflect and Light Screen.
"Waaateeer Blaaast." Slowking finally got around to firing his attack. "Block," Drapion snarled, effortlessly deflecting the blast with his newest technique.
Drapion hadn't realized how much he'd needed Protect until he'd learned it. Now he was wondering how he'd ever managed without it.
"No Escape." Drapion followed the Block up with two Dark-type beams aimed at each of his opponents. Both of them manifested Protects of their own, Sigilyph wordlessly and Slowbking with a moan of "Kiiing's Baaarriiiieeer."
"Flame Storm!" Recognizing Sigilyph's maneuverability, Houndoom took full advantage of the opportunity afforded by the use of Sigilyph's Protect. A dozen miniature fireballs rained from Houndoom's jaws, arcing towards Sigilyph in such a way that the runic bird could not possibly avoid them all.
But that hope was dashed as Sigilyph simply sent a wave of Psychic energy at the fireballs, snuffing them out before they even reached their target.
"Air Blades!" Olympia called, at the same time as Marcus cried, "Get closer!"
Drapion charged at Slowking; the Water-type presented the greatest threat to Houndoom, and he wasn't even sure if he could reach Sigilyph. "Slam!" he cried, drawing one of his massive arms.
He barely noticed Sigilyph's runes flash. A trio of blades made of pure Flying energy soared out from Sigilyph's body. Slowking gazed up at them as Drapion drew closer. "Psyyychiiic Cooontroool," he declared.
Drapion extended his arm.
And all three blades flicked downwards to intercept it.
Drapion's Slam struck the blades of air with an almost soundless impact. A searing pain sprang from the tip of Drapion's arm where the Slam had struck. Drapion drew his arm back swiftly as blood dripped from between his claws. Slowking's eyes narrowed. The Air Blades shifted.
"Block!" Drapion barely raised a Protect in time to deflect the three Air Blades. But that did not dispel them; with a minute twitch of his head Slowking swung them again, and this time Drapion had to shield with one of his arms. Three cuts opened in his armor, and pain ripped through the arm he'd used to block.
Right. Slowking was definitely the priority.
Not that Sigilyph was any slouch either. The runic bird was only being barred from helping Slowking by Houndoom, who was keeping it busy with alternating blasts of Dark and Fire energy. Only Sigilyph's high maneuverability combined with intermittent Protects kept it from injury.
But Sigilyph was firing no attacks in retaliation. Drapion only had a moment to ponder that before the Air Blades came in again. This time, two were aiming for his sides and the other was coming head-on.
"Rend! Rip!" Drapion swept his arms out to either side and lunged forwards, summoning Dark energy to his jaws and claws. He clamped his teeth down on one of the Air Blades and was profoundly relieved to see it dissipate, as did the other two Air Blades under the strikes of his double Rend.
Of course. Dark energy disrupted the Psychic control that was keeping the Air Blades active.
As if like clockwork, the instant the Air Blades dissipated, Sigilyph twisted and exploded into light. A Dark Surge from Houndoom was ripped into pieces and Houndoom himself staggered under what had to be a Dazzling Gleam. "Waaateeer Blaaast," Slowking groaned. There was no time for Block.
"Thunder Rend!" Summoning Electric energy to his ajws, Drapion leaped again, slamming straight into the Water Blast with teeth clenched. The Water Blast exploded under the Electric attack, though the force of the explosion threw Drapion backwards. Drapion growled, shaking his head, and leaped again.
"Kiiing's Baaarriiieeer," Slowking droned, deflecting the attack. For how slow he said the names of the attacks, he was actually quite fast at using them. But this time Drapion was not thrown back, only stalled momentarily. Olympia saw. "Sigilyph, Air Slash on the Drapion!"
Sigilyph folded its wings, dropping away from another Flame Tongue, and fired three more Air Blades from its body. They all arced at Drapion. "Behind you, Drapion!" Marcus cried, not that it really mattered. Drapion was already whirling. "No Escape," he snarled.
But these Air Blades were not Psychically controlled. Drapion's eyes widened as the trio gashed right through his No Escape and kept coming. He swiftly redirected his fourth beam into one of them and was relieved to see it dissipate under that, but there were still two. "Block!" he cried, raising a Protect before him.
"Psyyychiiic Cooontroool," Slowking moaned.
One of the Air Blades struck the Protect and disintegrated, but the other glowed with Psychic power and swerved, avoiding it. Drapion snarled in pain as it sliced open his shoulder. He caught it with a Rend as it tried to shift away, but as he twisted towards Slowking once more, it was painfully clear that he couldn't just tank those hits forever. Blood was dripping from both his right arm and left shoulder, and both of their opponents were completely untouched.
Drapion snarled in rage. This shouldn't be this hard! It was two Dark-types against two Psychic-types!
Swiftly, he fired a Pierce and another No Escape at Slowking. But the Bug energy-tipped spikes were caught and tossed away by a wave of Psychic energy, and No Escape was simply blocked with another Protect.
I need to get in close, Drapion thought. But every time I do, they just double up. I've got a teammate, haven't I? A thought suddenly crossed his mind. "Houndoom, another Flame Storm!"
"That bird'll just stop it!" Houndoom retorted.
"Exactly!" Drapion snarled. "Slam!"
Once more he lunged for Slowking. "You'd better know what you're doing," Houndoom growled. "Flame Storm!"
Slowking's eyes widened. He'd used Protect to block Drapion's last attack, but with an exertion of effort he summoned another one. Drapion's arm slammed into it, but Drapion did not stop. In an instant he hauled back his other arm. "Rend!"
Olympia's eyes widened. "Sigilyph! Help Slowking!"
But Sigilyph was already flaring its wings. A Psychic wave burst out from its body, easily stopping the Flame Storm in its tracks. But that took time.
Just as Drapion had planned.
The King's Barrier disappeared, and Drapion's massive arm, claws wreathed in Dark energy, slammed straight into Slowking's face.
The Reflect and Light Screen shattered under the brutal Dark-type attack. Slowking groaned in agony as Drapion drove his body into the ground, pinning him under his massive arm. Houndoom looked over. "Oh!" he realized. "Nice one! Dark Surge!"
Sigilyph, flying to help Slowking, was forced to abandon its flight in favor of avoiding the blast of Dark energy that Houndoom sent at it. Slowking struggled under Drapion's grasp, but was unable to escape. Another Water Blast was handled by a Block, and then Drapion grasped his claws around Slowking's body. "Slam!" he roared, lifting him up and ramming him back into the floor.
"Flame Storm!" Houndoom roared.
"Take it and Air Slash the Drapion!" Olympia commanded.
Sigilyph fired off the three Air Blades just as the Flame Storm hit. Thanks to the Reflect and Light Screen that still shrouded Sigilyph's body, it didn't seem to hurt all that much, though it was still the first hit Sigilyph had taken all battle. Drapion glared backwards. His tail alone lay in the path of the Air Blades.
Drapion hadn't paid much attention to his tail after his evolution. Where once it had been a perfect tool for trapping, that role seemed to have been taken over by his arms.
Now, though, Drapion saw that his tail, too, had shifted. It looked like, essentially, a third arm, so similar it was in shape and size to his two main ones.
He should probably use it more.
"Rend!" Drapion lashed his tail out, enhancing it with Dark energy as it arced towards the Air Blades. No Psychic Control was forthcoming from Slowking this time; he was clearly more concerned with the Dark energy-covered claws digging into him. Drapion dimly registered Slowking struggling to escape his grasp even as his tail slashed right through the Air Blades. A stinging pain told Drapion it hadn't been a perfect counter, but even so all three Air Blades dissipated, and Sigilyph again had to dodge a Dark Surge from Houndoom, preventing it from following up.
Houndoom was playing his role perfectly, distracting and occupying Siligyph, but as that Air Slash had shown even he could not stop every attack. Slowking needed to go now.
Drapion rounded back on Slowking, who was still trying and miserably failing to escape. It was evident that Slowking was far more defensive than Sigilyph. While Sigilyph used its high maneuverability to escape attacks and return fire, Slowking simply utilized Protect and Psychic defenses to keep his opponent at bay. A pity those Psychic defenses didn't work on Dark-type attacks. Then again, there was a reason Dark-types were so good against Psychics.
"Let's finish this," Drapion snarled. "Prey."
Slowking had no defense. His concentration was shattered and his body was wracked with pain. He managed a few instinctive Protects, but they were mere stopgaps, unable to truly blunt the barrage. Drapion simply continued to push, hammering Slowking with Dark-type attacks from both his arms and ripping into him with his Electric energy-enhanced jaws.
He dimly registered Marcus yelling orders to Houndoom. As Slowking staggered from another Rend, Drapion risked a glance back just as Houndoom opened fire with a Solar Surge. Apparently Sigilyph had just used its Protect, for it simply folded its wings and dropped. But the Solar Surge followed it, raking through the air as the beam descended after the Pokemon.
"Psychic! Stop it!" At Olympia's call, Sigilyph flared its wings and unleashed a huge wave of Psychic energy at the Solar Surge.
Drapion did not pay attention to the clash. He twisted to face Slowking again. The Psychic-type's face was haggard and he was breathing hard.
For whatever reason, though, his body seemed remarkably unwounded.. Even now, Drapion could see what wounds remained were closing before his eyes.
Slowking could heal, and it wasn't slow.
That had to be its trump card. Probably an Ability, if Drapion had to guess. One could not just strike Slowking with intermittent hits due to his healing Ability, and the rest of its moves allowed him to make sure the only hits landed were intermittent.
"Prey!" Drapion lunged at Slowking again. It didn't matter if the Psychic-type could heal almost as fast as Drapion could hurt. The key word there was 'almost'.
"Sigilyph!" Olympia cried suddenly. This was followed by a thump that let Drapion know that Sigilyph had finally fallen. Drapion grinned predatorily even as he drew his arm back and plunged it into Slowking's gut.
"Meowstic!" Olympia cried. "Fake Out!"
It was then that a sudden burst of pain ripped into Drapion's mind. "Gah!" He staggered, shaking his head in pain.
He glared back up to see Slowking withdrawing, wounds closing yet again. Standing beside him was a male Meowstic.
Olympia sighed. "Wonder Skin is a good Ability, but it can be somewhat situational at times," she said. "Your Pokemon are surprisingly strong. Though I would suppose your encounter with Team Flare has raised them to be a higher level than normal Pokemon would be at this level. It is not often that I have to rely on Regenerator to win."
"Guys, you're not going to be able to take on Slowking until you've got him two-on-one," said Marcus. "Focus on Meowstic."
Meowstic grinned cockily. "Easier said than done. Slowking's built to last. Thanks to his Regenerator Ability, he'll heal from anything you can throw at him. And he's not just going to let you focus me down."
"We'll see about that," Drapion growled. "No Escape!"
"Kiiing's Baaarriiieeer," Slowking groaned, deflecting the barrage. Meowstic's grin grew even wider. "Prankster: Miracle Eye!"
In a flash, reality itself seemed to shift around them. Drapion couldn't explain it, but he felt oddly vulnerable now, as if something about him had changed.
Meowstic chuckled, though tiredness infused his voice. Drapion frowned. He was already tired from one technique?
"Feel that?" Meowstic asked. "That's reality rewriting itself under new rules. Miracle Eye's pretty difficult and usually takes a long time to use. But with my Prankster Ability, I can decrease the time it takes to use my attacks. Which allows me to fire off pretty quick Miracle Eyes. And you want to know what Miracle Eye does?"
Meowstic grinned. "See, the thing is that Dark-types are immune to Psychic attacks. It's some quirk related to Dark-types having some sort of barrier guarding their mind, making it impossible to focus a Psychic attack at them. But Miracle Eye takes down that barrier for about a minute. And now, for that minute, your minds are the same as everyone else's. Completely vulnerable."
"Psyyychiiic Cooontroool," Slowking groaned.
To his horror, Drapion felt his entire body seize up. He realized in that moment that Psychic Control didn't just control attacks. It could control living beings. He could already feel his body fighting the Psychic hold, but without his Dark typing repelling the Psychic attack, his Poison typing made him easily affected by the Psychic Control.
"Dark Jaws!" Houndoom lunged, recognizing that he could still use his Dark-type attacks even if the mental barriers blocking Psychic retaliation were gone. "Slowking!" Meowstic cried. "Drop the Drapion and help!"
Drapion could feel himself shaking off the Psychic Control, but it was too late. Slowking slammed him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, then raised a King's Barrier right in Houndoom's path. Houndoom reacted swiftly, skidding on the floor and lunging to the left. "Prankster: Mind Blast!" Meowstic cried, reacting almost instantaneously with a blast of Psychic energy aimed right where Houndoom was lunging.
"No Escape!" Drapion opened fire even as Houndoom was sent flying by the blast with a surprised yelp. Slowking groaned as he spread his arms wide, taking all four beams right to the chest. Instantly the bruises began to disappear under Regenerator.
"Prankster: Mind Rip!" Meowstic took the opportunity to fire off another insanely quick blast of Psychic energy, this time at Drapion. A quick Block was enough to disperse it, but this was going nowhere.
From the fact that he'd been so desperate to get Slowking's help against Houndoom, Drapion knew Meowstic had to be frail. But the key was getting past Slowking's defenses. No Escape was virtually useless considering the beams just homed in on Slowking, who could tank the attack despite it being super effective, and getting in close was an impossibility with their anti-Psychic defenses down.
Sure, Miracle Eye only would last for another forty-five seconds, but that didn't matter when Meowstic could just throw up another one.
Or did it?
"Houndoom, listen ta me," Drapion urged. "We have ta stall out the Miracle Eye. Play defensive. It's our only option!"
"Right," Houndoom growled. "Dark Surge!"
"Pierce!"
Drapion and Houndoom launched their attacks, both aiming at Meowstic; Drapion remembered to infuse the spikes with Dark energy instead of Bug. While Miracle Eye may have removed the barriers preventing Psychic-type attacks from targeting Drapion and Houndoom, it didn't seem to have affected whatever prevented those attacks from targeting Dark-type attacks.
Slowking intercepted the Dark Surge with a Protect and the Pierce with his body; again, his wounds instantly began healing. Meowstic retaliated with another Mind Blast aimed at Drapion, which bounced off Drapion's Block. Slowking's contribution was a Water Blast that narrowly missed Houndoom. It seemed that Slowking was somewhat reluctant to use Psychic Control and leave his ally open.
Meowstic sighed. "You're gonna make this difficult, I see. Prankster: Sleep Suggestion."
Meowstic raised a hand and tossed a spurt of Psychic energy at Houndoom. "Dodge!" Marcus cried, but with Prankster enhancing the attack's speed, Houndoom could not obey in time, nor could Drapion, his Block utilized to defend against Meowstic's Mind Blast, defend him.
Houndoom's eyes drooped shut and he fell to the ground, snoring on the floor.
"Psyyychiiic Cooontroool." With Houndoom down, Slowking had no reservations about using the technique.
"Block!" Drapion managed to deflect the wave of Psychic energy with a Protect. But that left him open to a Mind Blast from Meowstic. Drapion was thrown backwards, tripping over Houndoom's sleeping form and landing on his back.
"Your Pokemon are too reliant on your type advantage and immunities," Olympia murmured. "Disappointing. Hopefully your next two Pokemon are better trained."
Drapion let out a furious snarl. No, there had to be a way out of this. It wasn't like Olympia was undefeatable. That was not the role of a Gym Leader, was it?
There were still thirty seconds until Miracle Eye ran out, and stalling until then was impossible, especially without Houndoom.
"Drapion, Dig!"
Oh.
Drapion grinned. "Burrow!" he snarled, driving his arms into the floor and disappearing from view.
Marcus had hit upon the exact right tactic. He could admirably guard Meowstic from attacks from one direction. But Drapion could now come from anywhere, and that was something Slowking could not defend against.
In fact, he and Houndoom might have done much better if they'd tried coming at Meowstic from two sides instead of just one. They'd stood together so that Drapion could use Protect to defend Houndoom, but that had just given Slowking free reign to defend Meowstic, and in a range duel the Psychic team would win every time thanks to Miracle Eye.
Drapion stifled a growl. They'd been fighting stupidly. But now things were different.
He could feel Meowstic above him, standing as close to Slowking as possible. He could feel Slowking focusing on playing defensive. He heard a loud bark. "Dark Surge!" It seemed Houndoom had managed to shake off Meowstic's Sleep Suggestion.
"Kiiing's Baaarriiieeer."
Now.
"Slam!" Drapion surged upwards, slamming right into Meowstic's stomach and carrying him upwards. Meowstic's Mind Blast flew wildly into the air as Slowking twisted with surprising speed. "Psyyychiiic Cooontroool."
Drapion froze, still holding Meowstic in midair. Meowstic struggled, unable to escape Drapion's frozen grip. "Come on!" Meowstic cried. "Slowking, next time - oh, crap, look out behind-"
"Thunder Jaws!"
Slowking gurgled in agony as Houndoom clamped down Electric energy-infused teeth onto Slowking's shoulder. Drapion felt feeling come back to him. He grinned at Meowstic.
"Prankster: Mind Rip!" Meowstic cried, but Drapion raised a Block, deflecting it. "Rend!" Drapion snarled, lunging forth. Meowstic screamed as Drapion grasped him in his Dark energy-enhanced jaws.
"Prey!" Drapion growled.
"Waaateeer Blaaast."
Drapion had stopped paying attention to Slowking. Even as the pink Pokemon floundered under Houndoom's jaws, he twisted and fired a blast of Water energy straight into Drapion's side. Drapion was flung sideways, away from Meowstic. Meowstic gasped as he scrambled backwards, desperately trying to get away from Drapion.
That was his mistake. He might have saved his ally if he hadn't fled.
In one smooth motion, Drapion twisted and flung himself at Slowking. Slowking saw him coming. "Kiiing's Baaarriiieeer," he groaned, flinging up the Protect. But that was what Marcus had been waiting for. "Foul Play!" he cried.
"Dark Pummel!" Houndoom was happy to oblige.
Slowking staggered as Houndoom exploded into a whirlwind of strikes and bites, each filled with Dark energy and each sinking deep into Slowking's body. Drapion could see Regenerator working, but it just wasn't working fast enough. Drapion knew from earlier that a sustained barrage of hits could bring Slowking down; he'd gotten quite close only to be thwarted by Meowstic at the last second.
"Prankster: Mind Blast!" Meowstic cried, trying to repeat that exact save. But this time, Drapion was ready. "Block!"
And as the Mind Blast dissipated against the Protect, Slowking finally went down, overcome by Houndoom's rapid-fire strikes.
Drapion crouched, breathing heavily, exhausted from the long fight and feeling quite a bit of pain both physical and mental. He could hear Houndoom doing the same. Drapion had to admit that he wasn't sure if he could beat Meowstic, let alone Olympia's next Pokemon as well.
That was all right, though. That was why Kriesh and Phantump were in the back.
Olympia smiled. "That is more what I expected. Meowstic, emerge."
Drapion frowned. Wasn't Meowstic already on the battlefield?
To his surprise, another Meowstic appeared next to the first one. This one was female, though. She looked surprised at the male Meowstic's wounded body, then glared at Drapion and Houndoom. "How's Miracle Eye looking?"
At that very moment, Drapion felt that feeling of vulnerability disappear.
"Not as good as I'd like it to be," the male Meowstic grumbled. "And that Drapion did a real number on me…I'm not sure I can bring up another one without exhausting myself completely."
The female Meowstic sighed. "All right." She concentrated. "We'll make do."
"Disarming Voice, both of you!" Olympia cried.
"Mind's Call!" Both Meowstics sent waves of Fairy energy at Houndoom and Drapion. Drapion was quick on the uptake, though. "Double Slam!" he cried, enhancing his strikes with Poison energy and lunging forwards. He could feel a stinging pain up his arms as he slammed them into the Fairy attacks, but it was lost amidst the rest of the pain as the Fairy-type attacks dissipated.
"No Escape!"
"Dark Surge!"
"Protect!" Olympia cried. With a cry of "Full Barrier!", the female Meowstic raised an irritatingly familiar barrier, intercepting both Dark-type attacks. Drapion growled in frustration. Why did everyone have Protect nowadays?
Well, aside from the male Meowstic. But with three teammates capable of Protect, he didn't really need it.
"Prankster: Mind Blast!"
The male Meowstic, probably operating out of muscle memory, launched a completely ineffective wave of Psychic energy at Drapion. He realized his mistake almost instantly as Houndoom returned fire with a Flame Storm. "Mind Barrier!" the female Meowstic cried, raising what looked like a Light Screen to deflect most of the fireballs.
"Prankster: Mind Blast!" the male Meowstic cried, deflecting the remaining fireballs with the Psychic attack.
"We're getting nowhere with this!" the female Meowstic cried. "Without Miracle Eye, I'm not sure we can win!"
The male Meowstic gritted his teeth. "I'll do it. You know what to do."
"Are you sure?" the female Meowstic asked.
"Yes, I'm sure!" the male Meowstic retorted. "Do it! Prankster: Miracle Eye!"
"No Escape!" Drapion cried, trying desperately to stop him yet knowing it would not be fast enough.
The male Meowstic screamed out in pain even as Drapion felt that unsettling feeling of vulnerability reassert itself. It was then that No Escape slammed into him, finishing him off. His body hit the ground and was instantly recalled.
"Why didn't she use Protect?" Houndoom growled.
Drapion whirled to face the female Meowstic. She looked enraged. "You think you're so tough, don't you?" she asked furiously. "Just because you're Dark-type, you're better than us! Well, no longer! Because you're-"
"No longer protected, we get it," Drapion growled. "He let us know."
Meowstic grinned. "Good," she said. "In that case, let's cut to the chase, shall we? Because it's time I unleashed my full power! Competitive!"
To Drapion's surprise, Meowstic raised her arms up to the sky, and power blazed to life around her. The aura around Meowstic grew and grew, both in size and in brightness.
"My Competitive Ability allows me to tap into the power of those that have fallen in battle!" Meowstic cried. "Sigilyph! Slowking! My older brother! All of their souls now fight with me! And with all of their strength, I will crush you! MIND LASH!"
A whip of Psychic energy leaped from Meowstic's paw. Coiling in midair, it slammed down, aiming for Houndoom. Houndoom leaped to the side, avoiding the strike, but as it hit the floor the whip erupted in an explosion that sent Houndoom flying uncontrollably. His body slammed into the ground. He snarled, still conscious, but clearly the attack had hurt.
"MIND BULLET!" A sphere of Psychic energy appeared in Meowstic's other paw. This she flung towards Drapion. "Block!" Drapion cried, but even through the Protect he could feel the energy surge as it exploded against the barrier.
"MIND BARRAGE!"
Drapion flung himself to the side as Meowstic manifested spheres in both paws and flung them forwards. He dimly registered more spheres following them as he ran, Meowstic throwing them as fast as she could manifest them. And she could manifest them quickly. Drapion could hear the floor erupting in explosions of Psychic energy behind him, could feel the blasts coming closer and closer.
"Burrow!" he cried, leaping into the floor, barely dodging a final explosion.
Underground now, he tunneled towards Meowstic. He could hear her throwing more Psychic attacks at Houndoom, could hear Houndoom dodging and occasionally firing a Dark Blast or a Fire-type attack. From the sound of it, none of them were connecting.
He was under Meowstic now. Gotcha.
"I see you. MIND EXPLOSION!"
Oh, crap!
Drapion burst through the floor, lunging backwards with all his strength as the ground where he had been just a second ago erupted with Psychic energy. Meowstic jumped out of the way and landed perfectly on her feet. "Dark Surge!" Houndoom cried, trying to take advantage of Meowstic's inattention, but it was simply deflected off a Mind Barrier.
Drapion heard Houndoom arrive at his side. "How are we supposed to take her down?" he asked furiously.
"She's strong an' fast," Drapion growled. "But the fact that yer dodgin' her attacks should say somethin' about her accuracy. She ain't thinkin' right. She's aimin' fer where we are, not where we're goin' ta be. Keep movin' until Miracle Eye goes down again. Don't go on the offensive."
"MIND WHIP!"
"Down!" Drapion snarled. Another whip of Psychic energy streaked over both their heads before being raised again. Drapion leaped to the right, Houndoom to the left, and the whip crashed down between them. This time, the explosion did not touch either of them.
"I have had enough of this!" Meowstic cried. "MIND BOMB!"
A massive sphere of Psychic energy leaped into existence above Meowstic. Drapion remembered a moment, what seemed like a very long time ago, watching from inside his Pokeball as Serena's Meowstic utilized a very similar move.
She'd taken several seconds to expand the sphere to a size she deemed sufficient. This Meowstic took half a second to do the same, and another half a second to make it even larger.
Then Meowstic threw it straight at Houndoom.
"Dark Surge!" Houndoom cried, but even the Dark-type attack was useless against such a gigantic ball of Psychic energy. Or maybe it was Miracle Eye. Regardless of the reason, the Mind Bomb slammed straight through the Dark Surge with no pause.
Houndoom's eyes widened as the Mind Bomb rammed straight into his body and bodily threw him backwards. He slammed straight into one of the arena's pillars with a nasty crack and was instantly recalled.
Kriesh emerged in his place. From the look on her face, she'd seen the entire battle. "Drapion! I need an opening!" she cried.
"Pierce!" Drapion sent the Dark-type attack flying at Meowstic. Meowstic deflected it with a Mind Barrier. Kriesh swooped up, opening her beak wide. "Beam Impact!"
"MIND BEAM!" Meowstic retorted, flinging a beam of Psychic energy out to contest Kriesh's Beam Impact.
Drapion charged Meowstic, curving so that he came at Meowstic from the side. As he closed in on Meowstic, Drapion realized in shock that Meowstic was using her Mind Beam with one paw. And then he realized exactly what that meant.
"MIND BEAM!"
A second Mind Beam came streaming from her other paw at Drapion. "Block!" Drapion cried, raising the Protect in front of him. Yet the Mind Beam continued coming, and Drapion knew the Protect would not last long.
But he also knew something else that would not last much longer.
"Come on, then!" Meowstic cried. "Throw everything you've got at me! I'll beat you! I'll beat you both, and I'll beat anyone who comes after! You can't defeat me!"
Kriesh poured all her energy into her Beam Impact, but could not break through the Mind Beam that was contesting it. Drapion felt his Block fading, and clenched his teeth.
Pain and tiredness wracked him. But he knew he could last a few seconds longer. He had to.
"FALL!" Meowstic roared, sending a burst of Psychic energy straight through the Mind Beam ripping at Drapion's Block. The Protect shattered, and a positive torrent of Psychic energy slammed straight into Drapion, crackling with power as it exploded against him.
And did absolutely nothing.
"Looks like yer outta Miracle Eye," Drapion snarled.
Meowstic's eyes widened. "No…NO!" she screamed. Caught in the throes of Competitive, she flung more Psychic energy at Drapion. Drapion simply stalked forwards, utterly unaffected.
Kriesh abandoned her Beam Impact and fluttered to the ground, watching with glinting eyes as Drapion, his own body screaming at him to stop, to just lie down from all the agony and all the exhaustion, took another step forwards. Then another. And then a third brought him right next to Meowstic.
"Slam." With one final, tired word, Drapion rammed a Dark energy-tipped arm straight into Meowstic's gut.
Silence fell. Meowstic stared, uncomprehending, at the thick purple arm that was doubling her over. Slowly, her eyes bulged, her mouth opened, and she gasped, letting out an explosive breath of air.
Then she flew, tumbling head over tail through the air. She was still in midair when Olympia's Pokeball flashed, heralding her recall.
Drapion grinned, turning back to Kriesh. "That…" he growled, "was…fun. Ah'll…rest fer…a moment…"
And with that, he toppled over, his eyes closing at last.
Marcus swiftly recalled him, smiling, and whispered his thanks. Kriesh looked up at Olympia expectantly.
"Well," Olympia said, "that Drapion is…impressive. You've got a good Pokemon there. Here. The Psychic Badge. And a TM which I feel will benefit your Medicham quite well."
"Thank you, Gym Leader Olympia," said Marcus.
"Thank you for the excellent battle," Olympia responded. "Now, we should leave. The Pokemon Center awaits."
Medicham blinked in the sunlight as she was released. She let out a groan. "How was the battle?"
"Drapion…" said Phantump with a chuckle. "He was amazing! He and Houndoom beat three of them, and then Drapion managed to completely tank the last one's attack and wallop her into next week!"
Medicham looked to Drapion, who was fighting a grin from his own face as he stared at Phantump. "Sounds like you had a good time."
Drapion allowed the grin to win out. "Best battle ah've had," he growled. "Those Psychics had a lot of tricks. That Slowking just would not go down…and Miracle Eye…ah never wanna hear that ever again."
"I saw the whole thing," said Cloyster. He sounded a lot more bubbly today, almost like his old self. "You had to see it to believe it. There was one moment where-"
"Hey, guys."
The team paused to stare up at Marcus. He was smiling too. "Well done, all of you. Drapion, Houndoom, that was impressive. Seriously. Medicham, Olympia gave me a TM she said you might enjoy."
Medicham looked up to see a purple disc in Marcus's hand. "This is Calm Mind," he said. "It should be a pretty good upgrade."
"It should be a pretty good upgrade," she said with a grin. "Your first Fighting-type attack! I bet you can't wait to - what? What is that?"
Her eyes looked to a nearby bush. "Who are you? What do you-"
"Medicham? Are you…all right?"
Medicham's eyes opened. One hand was to her forehead and she was crouched, breathing rapidly as though she'd just fought a difficult battle.
She looked up slowly at Marcus. "I'm…I'm fine," she said.
"I highly doubt that," Kriesh stated. "This isn't the first time."
Medicham bowed her head. "I…"
"Marcus?"
Marcus's head flashed up. "Serena?"
Medicham glanced sideways to see the blonde girl striding towards Marcus, Seeker-Of-Endings at her side. The Absol was staring right at Medicham. The message was clear. We need to talk.
"I…I haven't seen you since-"
"I'm sorry," said Serena. "Calem…that was not okay. What he did…I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be, it's not your fault," said Marcus.
"He…" said Serena. "He's here, Marcus. He's in town, and he just beat Olympia. He's worse than ever, Marcus. I don't think he even sees anything other than his Pokemon battling anymore. It's like his mind's permanently locked on that!"
Marcus stared into Serena's eyes. "Do you expect me to do something about it?"
Serena sighed. "No. But…I just…I don't know who to talk to. Tierno and Shauna and Trevor are all nice, but they're all more focused on their own ideas, and they think he'll get over it! They…they don't know what he's like! They only battled him before the second Gym! Before he became…this! It feels like you're the only other one that gets it!"
"Serena!" Marcus snapped. "I do get it. But…at this point, I really don't want to see him again, and he certainly doesn't want to see me. Thanks for the warning. I'll…get out of Anistar before he finds me."
"That would probably be best," said Serena. "I…guess we'll see each other sometime soon?"
"Maybe," said Marcus. "Depends on if you enter the League."
"Oh, I plan on it," said Serena. "I'll see you-"
A crackling noise split the air.
"What the-" Serena asked. Her hand delved into her pocket and pulled out a small device that Medicham did not recognize.
"What's that?" Neither did Marcus, apparently.
"It's a Holocaster," said Serena. "I got it from Lysandre. He's…a friend of Professor Sycamore."
"Lysandre…I think I got a bunch of Luxury Balls from him," said Marcus.
"Hm," said Serena, eyeing the Holocaster, which was clearly the source of the crackling. "What is it doing? I-"
The Holocaster crackled to life. A blue glowing image of the orange-haired man from Sycamore Labs rose from the center.
"Pokémon Trainers," he said. "I come to you by the Holo Caster to make an important announcement."
He took in a breath and then spoke again. "Listen well. Team Flare will revive the Ultimate Weapon, eliminate everyone who isn't in our group, and return Kalos to a beautiful, natural state, populated by only Pokemon. For long have Pokemon been oppressed. Long have unproductive fools sought to exploit them. Those unproductive fools are consuming our future. We have spent years vying to eliminate these fools. But nothing has changed. Nothing will change if we continue as we have. And if nothing changes, the world will become ugly. Pokemon will be treated as weapons of war. Conflicts will raze the land from end to end. So I repeat: we will use the Ultimate Weapon and wipe the slate clean."
Lysandre heaved a long, sad sigh. "I'm sorry, those of you who are not members of Team Flare," he finished, his voice weary. "But this is adieu to you all."
Yes, I expanded Lysandre's speech. Yes, that's intentional. Team Flare is...not well written in the base game, to say the least. Hopefully, they've come across a little better in this fic.
Anyway, next arc is...going to be big. And I've got midterms. Hooray...
So I'll be taking another four-day hiatus before the start of the next arc. I wasn't planning on it, but midterms are midterms.
Anyway, please drop a review if you've got the time, and I'll see you in four days for the start of the next arc, otherwise known as the Geosenge Arc!