Steven Stone sat at his desk, looking over notes and reports made by the scientists downstairs. A glass of wine lay next to him as he flipped through the pages. Running a hand through his slightly disheveled hair, he reclined on his chair, trying to make sense of what he was reading.
"This is... how is that? What the..."
Shaking his head, he took the wine glass and gulped it down.
The elevator to his office dinged and the doors opened, revealing a cheerfully familiar champion. Wallace gracefully made his way inside, completely ignoring the caches of pretty little stones he'd seen many times before. His favorite was still the water stone, because water pokemon were more majestic. He could argue for ice but eh.
Steven eyed the approaching champion and slowly set the wine glass down, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, as opposed to his usual mannered way via handkerchief. The former champion had black bags under his eyes and looked like he'd been up for at least two days straight.
The champion frowned. He looks terrible. Although, that was pretty normal for Steven. Wallace often wondered how the shut-in was still alive. Let alone how the busy-body found any time to eat.
"Wallace, how many times have I told you not to come into my office without an appointment? It doesn't look good, you know," Steven said, massaging his temples. "There's a procedure to these things."Wallace already came in three times before, and Steven nearly got his ear chewed off by Barbara about it. She was very strict about procedure.
Wallace laughed and held up a hand. "But I'm the champion! And your friend. Can't I visit my friend?"
Steven gripped the bridge of his noise, trying to rein in a headache. "This is a business. The shareholders couldn't care less if you're the champion. It doesn't look professional to have people barging into my office uninvited," he said dryly. "Wait, why are you here anyway?"
"Why, I just came to visit you!" Wallace cheered, flashing a bright smile. "I just thought, gee, why don't I check up on my good friend Steven Stone and see how he's doing. Maybe go eat dinner, have some fun. Because he kind of needs-"
"You're shirking your duties again aren't you?" Steven cut him off. He refilled the glass and took a sip. "You wouldn't come all the way from Ever Grande to see me look at rocks. Considering they bore you to death." Honestly, he was just waiting for the eccentric champion to start complaining about how rocks were dull and how it was better to go out and have fun. Which meant watching Wallace create ice sculptures in the lobby. How great. If only he knew how much the janitors hated him for that.
"Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone," Wallace said, looking around suspiciously. Then sighed, knowing he wasn't fooling anyone, especially not someone as sharp as Steven. "I really need a break, Stevey. I thought being a champion was about battling the strongest challengers in the region, not acting as a glorified desk attendant. My pokemon have been getting so restless lately." He clawed his fingers and flicked his bang dramatically.
Steven attempted to sit straighter, trying to be polite, but he was far too tired to do that. "More damage reports?" The paperwork during his time as champion had been certainly daunting, with the Magma and Aqua crisis. But considering he was raised to practically run a business, it wasn't anything new. But for a coordinator and beauty crazed battler like Wallace? Absolute nightmare.
The normally cheery man turned into an exasperated and frustrated wreck, ranting. "Whole berry fields being razed to the ground by fire! Damage reports! Property damage! Of all things, that! Even complaints in the cities are flooding the league offices. Apparently trainers are being blamed for it, which means we have to deal with it." He huffed and had to pause to catch his breath. "Glacia's been so cranky lately."
Steven raised a brow, surprised. A stressed out Wallace was never good. He might just take him shopping to release the stress. And that, was one thing Steven definitely didn't want.
"That's odd. Aren't berry fields purposely situated farther away from the routes so that fire starters don't accidentally set fire to them? And aren't battles prohibited in public areas in the first place?"The berry fields were found in central Hoenn, near Mauville, due to the fact that storms brought rain often, in addition to the naturally fertile soil found there. Usually, mid level trainers were common there, so most of their pokemon hadn't even learned the strongest of fire moves yet. It was highly unlikely for an ember or a flamethrower to reach that far.
"You want to try and tell the people filing these complaints that?By god logic!" Wallace said sardonically. "Battles are prohibited in town squares and there are big, visible signs posted near the fields specifically warning trainers of a hefty fine should they be found battling there. But oh noooooooo. When in doubt, blame the trainers." He sighed. "Unfortunately, we don't have a better explanation."
"There are frequent thunderstorms near Mauville," Steven pointed out. "A stray lightning bolt could have started the fire." He recalled a particularly nasty one he'd been caught up in while visiting the city. The fact that Manectric and Electrike made their homes near there was fortunate, or else there would be too many fires to deal with.
"Name one time that's ever happened."
Steven raised a finger, about to respond, and promptly set it down.
"Exactly! Not once! Electric pokemon attract the lightning bolts, so nothing ever gets lit on fire. If fires start, they're probably intentional or accidental. But accidents are highly unlikely…"
"Conspiracy?"
"Don't be ridiculous Steven. You're starting to sound a little crazy." Wallace waved a hand, letting go of the issue. "Anyway, that's enough about my woes, what about you? Still looking at rocks? Avoiding the sun? Other living beings?"
Steven frowned again. "I'm not a vampire. And yes, more rocks." He picked up the wine glass and drank some more. "Although, this rock is less rock and more sphere."
"Hmmm." Wallace noted the wine bottle on the desk and picked it up. Mossdeep Brewery."I didn't know you drank." A drunk Steven… he'd like to see it. And record it.
"I don't. But it's the only way to convince myself that this makes any sense," he said, stabbing a finger at the paper on his desk. "I think the alcohol's been helping. It doesn't hurt my head as much." I really should sleep soon, my eyes feel like lead.
Wallace set the bottle down and picked up the report, flipping through the pages with a serious expression. Skimming through the pages, he set it down gently and crossed his arms.
"Crazy isn't it?"
A brisk nod."Of course."
"You understood that?"
Wallace laughed loudly and flicked a bang again. "Absolutely nothing!"
Steven refrained from slamming his palm against his face. Why did he even ask?
"Would you kindly put it into layman's terms for me, dear Stevey? Assuming it's even remotely interesting." Knowing Steven and his rock obsession, probably not.
Steven exhaled irately and picked up the paper. "I'd have to explain too many scientific concepts. I know you don't particularly care for many of them so I'll spare you the headache, you're stressed enough as is. Basically, it's about this." He set a small blue sphere with white markings on the table, a soft blue glow emanating from its interior.
Mesmerized, Wallace reached out to touch it. Steven slapped his hand away.
"No touching. I know it's certainly entrancing but please, keep your hands to yourself."
Wallace pouted, and straightened. "Okay, I won't touch it. But what is it? It's beautiful! So majestic! So… perfect." The epitome of beauty! Perfectly spherical azure sphere, with the brilliance of innate white carvings, no doubt made by a master. Oh, just dazzling!
Steven glanced at it and grimaced. "A complication. Something that has been sitting around undiscovered for a very long time. You remember the boy that got hospitalized in Lavaridge?"
"You mean the one whose room you came fuming out of? That was a nasty piece of work," Wallace said apologetically. "The council hasn't shut up about that, you know. Luckily, they've kept it under wraps but if anyone finds out, ho boy." That would mean political wildfire and dwindling support for the already unpopular league and even more pressure from the council. Which for Wallace, would be just dandy.
"Yes. Well, he gave me this. Said he found it in a crevice in Dewford while he was exploring a section of Granite Cave," Steven explained. "Also, he alluded to something in the desert. I believe it was the lights that Wattson observed in Mauville."
"So you think they're related?"
"More than just a little. He was there, Wallace. And now he probably doesn't want to talk to me anymore. There go my chances of getting any details out of him. He has a tendency for understatement and… unbelievable story telling." But it didn't seem so far-fetched anymore, given what Lorence had discussed with him. However, the rational side of him appealed to gathering more evidence before making outlandish claims. To even think that his time travel story was feasible had Steven thinking the lack of sleep was affecting his rational judgment.
"A little too harsh on him back there, huh?"
Steven shook his head. "No, he needed someone to open his eyes. But I admit, I could have gone about it more… tactfully. I haven't had a good record of that with him. I've no idea where he is now." Honestly, in the several months since then, the young man could practically have gone anywhere. He'd guess Fortree, but really, he had no clue.
"Have you tried calling him?" Wallace suggested. For all of Steven's etiquette, when he blows up, it's as harmful to others as it is to him. Just keeps everything bottled up under that mask of politeness. Can't be healthy.
"Never answers his caster." Steven had tried calling him many times, but the answer machine kept saying the number was unavailable. Either Riven was intentionally avoiding him-most likely- or he never remembered to charge his blasted phone.
"He is a trainer. Maybe he retreated into the wilderness? They seem awfully fond of doing that, despite the increasingly hostile pokemon lately." The champion paused to think. "You don't think he's… you know?"
"No. That kid's as tough as nails. He got thrown through a window by a machoke and kept on going." That should have easily smashed his ribs to pieces, and possibly cause massive internal bleeding. But the boy had walked away with fractured ribs and very minimal amount of time in the hospital. Too little in fact. Almost inhumanely fast. Not unlike that of a…
The water specialist winced. "For a trainer, he's pretty scary. He doesn't even need pokemon. He could probably win all his gym battles by himself!" Wallace joked, making fighting poses.
Steven was not amused.
Disapproval face. Uh-oh. "That… was in poor taste wasn't it?"
"Yes. Yes it was."
Wallace chuckled nervously. That boy was deadly, and he knew it. And Lavaridge wasn't anything to sneer at. The gentle atmosphere of the town had been completely shattered in one day, and something had spread. Unofficially. Through the trainers. Not to mention how Flannery was taking all of it. "Ha-ha, so erm... the sphere?" He diverted awkwardly.
Steven cleared his throat and organized the papers on his desk neatly. "Back on topic, the peculiar thing about this sphere is its age. It dates back to about twenty thousand years." Wonder danced in his eyes. "The clincher? The ruins in the desert date back to roughly the same time period."
"The same time period?" Wallace questioned, stunned. "But Dewford is so far away from the desert! How is that even possible?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell myself," the rock enthusiast replied. "And there's another thing. This sphere is remarkably similar to two stones. One every trainer is familiar with. And another only found in the distant kingdom of Rota near the Kanto region."
For the first time ever, Wallace was interested in rocks. Well, he liked evolutionary stones."Go on."
"Pull up a chair."
After Wallace had sat down, Steven continued. "All right, first, let's go back to the archeology. I dug through some records of digs located in the desert and came up with very intriguing results. They appear to be coincidences, but they are too perfectly related to this to be 'just coincidences'."
He took in a deep breath.
"The ancient civilization estimated to have existed twenty thousand years ago were rumored to be the ones who built the gigantic pokeballs, as well as the creators of the Claydol. I'm sure you've heard of them. Largely speculations, but there have been evidence of Claydols protecting the ruins located there and archeologists have found remains of the gigantic pokeballs. Still, the oddest part of it all is the fact that the civilization disappeared suddenly and without explanation."
They practically vanished, all at once. For no discernable reason. Scientists and archeologists were still baffled by it, despite many times trying to find out what happened to them. They didn't even disappear due to food shortages, like many other civilizations they had observed. One second they were there, and the next- gone.
Wallace held up a finger. "I heard about that. It's one of the mysteries of the world, right?"
"Yes. Based on what I read from several scientific journals, they estimated that the civilization disappeared about twenty thousand four hundred years ago, give or take." He picked up the sphere and stared at it in awe. "Using several other tests, Devon scientists determine that this was apparently created during that time frame, at twenty thousand four hundred and fifty-seven years."
"You can't say that those ancient people created this. There could have been two separate civilizations at the same time." Wallace figured. "Dewford and the area near Mauville? There's an entire sea between those two!"
"Not when they have the same stylistic markings and engravings." He took out a photo of some carvings on walls found in the desert and compared it to the markings on the sphere. "See this photo? Those were some of the markings found near the Regirock ruins and some other crumbling structures in the desert. We had no idea what they meant or what they were used for. Until now, I assume."
"Oh…well. That's… how? They're-"
"The same." Steven grinned like an idiot. "And that brings me to the second thing, the similarities between stones. This sphere here largely resembles the composition of a water stone but also of the crystals found in Rota. Like a mix between the two. Except, in Rotan legends, humans have been able to manipulate the energy within the crystal using a special wavelength of 'lifeforce', known as aura."
"So it's like an evolution stone?" Wallace pieced together, a little lost.
"It might be more than just that, it could be an energy source and possibly even something else, if it's able to be manipulated." Steven summarized, with a slight severity to his voice. Tapped his finger on the table. "Evolution stones hold massive amounts of energy in them, and only react to certain pokemon, right?"
Wallace nodded.
"Well, I don't think this was meant for pokemon. These people… they could have used these spheres for energy. Or even creation and…" He stared intently at Wallace. "Destruction. Maybe something else entirely. The potential is there. My contact warned me not to touch it, in case it did anything. We brought in an eevee in which to test it on, to see if it was, indeed, an evolutionary stone."
The water master's interest peaked again. "And what happened? Did it become a magnificent Vaporeon?"
Steven shook his head ruefully."Nothing happened. The stone lit up brightly and the eevee's body began to glow but then it just seemed to die out. As if there wasn't enough. It was certainly peculiar."
"Huh. A dud?"
"No, I suspect that whatever occurred in the desert used up a massive amount of its stored energy, rendering it relatively inert," Steven theorized.
"Please, Steven. Layman's terms?" Wallace urged, not a scientific man in the slightest.
"It means it had a lot more energy before. Energy that could be used for evolution. Maybe even a different form of evolution. Who knows."
Wallace's brows climbed. "Like mega-evolution?" That had peaked the interest of scientist and trainers alike. Apparently they had opened mines in Kalos looking for the rare stones, as well as an increase in popularity for the pokemon capable of mega evolution. Smugglers trying to catch Absol were becoming a problem. There wasn't many of them to begin with.
"Possibly, but not quite. Those stones draw directly from the legendaries themselves, who hold unimaginable power. Those stones can't be reproduced. But this… This is entirely manmade. And that's the crazy part. We haven't been able to manufacture evolution stones, despite our best efforts. But how could an ancient civilization twenty thousand years into the past be able?"
Wallace was stupefied. "Whoa."
Steven grabbed his friend by the shoulders, shaking him."This is huge, Wallace. Huge!" He said with the most glee Wallace had ever seen on the shut-in.
The champion fell into deep thought. "But then, why did the people disappear right around the same time? This had to have something to do with it, right? It had to have been hidden for a reason"
Steven reclined back into his chair and considered the thought. "You know, I never thought about it like that. That's… interesting. This may require a little more research."
"A little?" Judging by the mountain of papers to the bottom right of the hermit, a little more meant waterfalls more. Wallace shuddered thinking about it.
"Regardless, isn't there something you should be doing, Wallace?" Steven said, furiously digging through a pile of papers. "Like looking over damage reports?"
Wallace shivered, picturing Glacia's icy glare and the amount of reports he had left on his desk. "Sometimes, I wonder why I'm doing this. Drake must be having fun with his festival."
"What am I doing, Charles?" Riven asked, holding his pokedex while trying to ignore the fierce sounds of battle.
"Well, sir, considering what you told me of the situation and aptly naming it, 'shitstorm'. I want you to tell me how you would describe what you are about to do," Charles replied, cool as ice.
"Let's see," Riven said, counting with his fingers. "Stupid. Reckless. Suicidal. Altruistic. And did I mention completely stupid?"
The pokedex was silent for a moment. "Yes, you have outlined all of the necessary qualifications."
"For what?"
"What you are doing, of course."
"Which is?"
"I believe it's called, according to popular culture, being a 'big damn hero.'" Charles concluded. "You fulfilled them all to a T. I suspect you're doing it to prevent a certain idiot and or idiots from getting themselves thoroughly murdered?"
Riven groaned and dragged his hands down his face. "I'm going to regret this. A lot."
"For all your grievances towards heroic behavior, you seem to love contradicting yourself, sir."
Another groan.
"Shall I gave you a percentage of success?" Charles suggested. "It can help you feel better."
"There's thirty plus Salamence up there."
"Nevermind..." the AI said quietly.
"Yeah, I figured as much. On the curious side though, how likely is it we'll succeed? Scale of one to ten." Riven asked, slightly dreading the answer.
"Screwed," Charles answered, not even a second of hesitation.
Riven nodded. "Thank you, Charles. Your optimism is uplifting."
"Glad to help," Charles said, light humor in his digital voice. "It's been nice, sir."
"That it has." Riven smiled faintly and shut the pokedex. "Even if you were a bit of a snarky little pokedex." He grimaced and walked up to Seab, who had gathered a quite a bit of electric pokemon at his side. Plusle, Minun, Electivire, Luxray, Flaffy, Elektrik, and a Galvantula.
"So, what's the plan?"
The blue-haired boy looked up at him, determination in his face. "Let me gather everyone else." He called to the other trainers. Once gathered, he straightened and breathed. "Okay, this is how it's going to go. Grumpy is the only electric pokemon with lightning rod here, which means every other pokemon that knows an electric move is going to pour everything they got into him. But he's going to need all the help he can get. I already had another trainer's Luxray set up electric terrain, which should boost the power of all electric moves by a good margin. Secondly, every electric type that knows charge will use the move to boost the power of their attacks, which should feed even more to Grumpy."
Turning to the two electric mice, he said, "Plusle. Minun. You two are to use helping hand on Grumpy while adding your own thunders to him." Looked back up to Riven. "Then, on my signal, your Castform is going to use rain dance. Grumpy's sparking should create its own thunderclouds to help him."
Riven exchanged a subtle glance with Amy. "Are you sure Grumpy can handle that much energy on his own? That's a hell of a lot of electricity." Sound plan but…
Amy gave Seab a sober look. "He can overcharge if it's too much. That can be fatal for electric pokemon. My dad's seen it far too much. Especially with the electrike near Mauville. He's taking a big risk."
Seab's determination seemed to falter. "I-I didn't know." He glanced at the Manectric standing beside him.
Grumpy snorted and shoved his trainer with his snout. "Manec! Triiiiike." The pokemon flashed a toothy grin, saying I can do this, just watch me.
Seab trusted his pokemon, and steeled his voice once again. "But we have to try." He looked away from Amy and Riven, back to the others. "There are risks though. For everyone, not just Grumpy or the dragons. Having rain dance, electric terrain, and thunderclouds overhead can leave anyone caught outside extremely vulnerable to lightning bolts. With all the energy being poured into Grumpy, he can't be precise enough to pick his targets. Anything caught in the thunder path is going to be either obliterated, or severely injured."
"What about the dragon trainers out there?" Gale asked, concerned. "They don't know what we're doing. Their pokemon could be at risk." No center or hospital for miles. An electrocution of that caliber…
"That's why I need a runner. Someone fast enough to warn Drake, then he should be able to tell everyone else to return their pokemon and take cover," Seab explained, knowing what kind of danger the runner would be exposed to.
Heads turned but voices were silent. Most of the trainers were barely out of their teens and others were family members and little kids. Amy and Riven were two of the oldest trainers there, excluding Braig, the Luxray's trainer and Megan, an ace trainer.
"I'll do it," Amy said, nervous under that fierce exterior. "I can run and warn Drake." She had the speed, she could do it.
Riven held out a hand and put it in front of her. "Stop. This was your idea in the first place. You stay here and coordinate the attack with Seab. I want you to get back to Irene in one piece. You have a family, make sure you get back to them. Irene cares about you."
Amy tried to interject, but Riven's piercing glare robbed her of any intention of doing so.
He turned to the strategist. "I'll be the runner. It's stupid, dangerous, and insane. Nothing I haven't done before. And I'm faster than anyone here. I'll get that message out." Besides, I've got nothing to lose. These people have families. People that care about them. I don't. I'm expendable. Might as well make it count.
The Sinnohan gave Riven a silent, unspoken look of approval. He held up seven fingers.
Seven minute window. Awfully close. Too close. But we're out of time. It'll do.
Riven took a deep breath and let out Boagrius, not even bothering to put on his headset. There was no time for talk, the battle was getting even more intense overhead. They had to take out the dragons before any of them wised up and used hyper beam. If one of those leveled a section of the forest, what could thirty do? He wasn't going to find out. He needed to make this work.
The weather pokemon materialized and shrunk in on himself as he heard the sounds of all too familiar roars."CAST! FORM!" He protested, demanding what was going on.
"Boagrius, listen. I need you to do something, all right?"
"Form?"
"Stay here and do whatever this boy tells you, alright?" Riven instructed, pointing to Seab. "On his signal, use Rain Dance. Just do it." He went over to Gale, handing her a pokeball. "Return him when Seab gives the signal. Don't fail me now. I'm expecting that free ride to Petalburg."
Gale took the pokeball and shook her head. "Come back and we'll see. Emile would miss you."She smiled faintly.
Riven smirked. "Oh, I'm sure of that." Gave one final glance to everyone, and set his jaw. "I'll be back… Maybe." Waving, he vaulted over the booth desk and sprinted off, leaving his pokeballs behind.
Seab watched him run in between faint jets of fire and debris, finally disappearing into a cloud of dust. Good luck. I hope he makes it. If he doesn't… a lot of innocent pokemon and people are going to get hurt. Please let this work.
Swallowing, he announced. "Everyone! We're enacting the plan! All non-electric pokemon are to surround the area and form a perimeter. Drive away any dragons that are approaching, boosting Grumpy is going to take some time. We need to make sure they get it!" He wet his dry lips. "Riven's Gallade is going to team up with Mila and fight off any Salamence above us. As well as Braig's Braviary with Ren, and Amy's Grovyle with Megan's Togekiss . The other pokemon are to provide cover for the rest of us!"
The other trainers nodded and pokeballs flew.
Fire. It's always fire, isn't it?
The sounds of battle and the roaring of dragons were heard from all directions. Panic, fear, the imminence of death…
Familiar.
In a sense, welcoming; while also terrifying. But he wasn't afraid of death. Never had been. Right now, running between booths and avoiding the fierce creatures above was his only focus. The Salamence seemed far too preoccupied with the other dragons and pokemon to even notice him. But eventually they would. After all, things always got worse. It was practically the natural tendency of the universe. Things will always get worse. Such comforting thoughts.
Taking cover from a stray dragonbreath, he peeked out into another section of the festival grounds, towards the game areas. More fighting that way. Which meant more trainers. Drake should probably be there as well, if those battling Salamence are anything to go by.
Still, it was a considerable distance. With all the dragons directly above him, he was certainly going to be spotted.
Beyond the open space between him and the other side of the festival area, he spotted a tight knit row of booths, forming a long corridor. I can cut through there, minimize my image. But there's so many. Damn. Guess there's no other way. Gathering his courage, he sprang into the open, picking up the attention of several dragons. Four of them? Universe really wants me dead this time.
Approaching the other side, a blast of flames licked his heels and compelled him to run further, ducking into one of the booths under the cover of passing flames. He just hoped that the booth wouldn't catch fire. He let the dragons fly off and moved onward, trying his best to go unnoticed.
Almost there. Keep going. You're doing good.
A shadow flew over him and barely managed to duck before the booth in front of him was sliced in half. No time to stop. He kept moving, despite having narrowly been decapitated by a dragon claw. The dragon was behind him again, about to strike, blue claw glowing in anticipation.
Riven forced himself not to think of the impending doom and a rush of adrenaline pushed him forward. That was when a screeching Flygon dropped out of the sky and tackled the dragon behind him headfirst. The two dragons crashed into a nearby food stand with a large crash.
Saved me there. Wonder what's ne-
His sprint grinded to a halt as another Salamence dropped onto the ground in front of him, blue fire flickering in its mouth.
Everything slowed down as he flicked his gaze around the area. No cover, no open space. He was in the middle of a section of very flammable booths. If the dragonbreath didn't kill him, the fire they caused would. And there was no way he was going to charge that dragon.
The Salamence reared its head back and flames erupted.
Cursing under his breath, Riven raised his arms- a pathetic attempt to shield himself. Closing his eyes, he prepared for the worst.
Rock shot forth from beneath the ground, blocking the flames and missing the black-haired trainer, who only felt the passing heat of the flames. Had that rock not blocked that attack, he'd be a nice pile of blackened dust.
Looking around incredulously, Riven peered over the extremely hot surface of the rock to see the Salamence get trapped by pillars of rock. Rock tomb? But who?
"You! Civilian! Get over here!"
Riven whipped his head towards the voice and rushed over to hide in the booth. As he got closer, he noticed it was the woman from before. The official that warned them to go hide.
"What in god's name are you doing here? Do you have a death wish?" She asked in disbelief. "We drew the dragons over here so they wouldn't target the rest of you!"
Riven breathed in deep, trying to settle nerves enough to speak without coming off as a total incoherent mess. "I need to find Drake. I have to give him an extremely important message."
The official eyed him. "He's currently fighting off multitudes of dragons and you want to give him a message?"
"Yes. Thanks for the save but I don't have much time."
Yelena held him back. "What is this message?"
Riven grimaced. "Let's just say Salamence aren't going to be your primary concern a few minutes from now. Someone I know has a plan that could take them all out at once, but if I don't get this message across, it's going to be even worse than it is now."
"What can possibly be worse than dozens of dragons?"
"Dozens of dragons, Manectric thunderclouds, cloud to ground lightning, rain?"
Yelena's gulped. She tried to piece that together in a ways that made sense. She didn't like any of them. "Why Drake?"
"I can't make it to everyone else. But if I warn him, he can tell everyone. They'll listen to him. He has authority. It should work," Riven responded impatiently. "Need to go."
"Wait up, kid."
Riven stopped and tilted his head.
Normally, Yelena wouldn't listen to any young trainer that wasn't a victory league hopeful, but one thing was for sure. They were desperate right now. They could take any help they could get. And if this crazy kid had a plan to take all the Salamence down… well, it was better than hold-them-off-until-we're-dead. Making up her mind, she called out to her Flygon, who just finished its struggle with the Salamence from before.
"My Flygon can help. Loras, take him to Drake. Go!"
The Flygon flapped its wings and directed Riven to get on.
Riven frowned as he got on the dragon's back, and felt a familiar nausea. Flying. Wonderful. I hope there's no- The pokemon shot forward, leading him straight to the absolute chaos that was the central games section. It looked like a vortex of red wings, fire, and beams. Any sane soul would turn back. But Riven had a job to do, if he could prevent himself from hurling all the sweets he had eaten.
Spotting Drake, he waited for the Flygon to descend before jumping down next to the dragon master.
Drake watched a young man drop down from the sky and went back to directing attacks. Then did a double take. Civilian?"What in hell's name are you doing here boy? Get yourself to safety!" He retreated next to a piece of cover while dragging Riven by the collar with a tight grip, staying out of the Salamences' line of sight. "Speak."
Riven gulped as the dragon master released his grip."Drake, listen. I know it isn't my place but I need to tell you something important that you need to listen to."
"In case you forgot about the angry pokemon up there, I'm a little busy at the moment!"
"Just hear me out! We have a strategy!" A crazy, utterly insane one, but still a strategy. He glanced at the sky, and felt like grinning darkly. Perfect timing.
It's going to be soon.
"Oh really? What sort of strategy?" Drake demanded. He'd dealt with enough trainers to know if their plans were any good.
"Lightning's Dance. I believe an elite four should be familiar with it," Riven said, voice silk over steel. And pointed a finger directly upwards, a vicious smile slashing across his face. "Don't believe me? Look at the sky."
Thick black clouds approached, moving in swiftly to block out the sun.
Drake's jaw dropped.
"Another one!" Baron shouted, slicing another dragon's belly with a psycho cut.
"How many of them are there?!" Mila shrieked, diving down to avoid a dragonbreath.
"Does it matter? We need to keep them off until Grumpy can fire." Judging by the amount of sparks and electricity down there, it was going to be soon. The electricity was visible from all the way up there, and it wasn't even at its strongest yet.
"Assuming we don't get caught in the crossfire!"
Shooting a thunderbolt from his fingertips, Baron began to feel the droplets of rain splash onto his skin. Rain dance. Not much time left. "Mila! We need to get lower, Grumpy's sparks are going to attract the lightning clouds. The higher we are the riskier it is!"
"You think I don't know that? But before we can do that, you have to keep those bastards off of me!" Already flying with a burn, she was flying slower than normal. It would take some time for her to heal the wing, considering the size of it. Ren had been firing aura spheres to keep the dragons off their tail but he just didn't do enough damage. Soon enough, those Salamence would catch up. One dragon claw could mean death. "Speaking of which, there's one right behind me!"
Baron turned around and let loose a blast of psychic energy, causing the angry dragon behind them to flinch, spewing fire awry into the sky, evaporating the drops of falling water on contact. A pink wind slammed into the larger creature, sending it careening down to the ground. "Thanks!" He called out to the Togekiss, who nodded and flew off. Fairy type defeats dragons. Who knew?
Holding off more dragons with blades of psychic energy, aura spheres, and fairy winds, the first clap of lightning was heard overhead from the clouds. The sun had been completely blocked out, rendering the festival grounds and the skies above a dark sky that flashed with the impacts and explosions of battle. The only thing providing enough light was the sheer amount of electricity below, which started to rise into the sky, like a pillar of yellow light. Deadly, beautiful light.
Even from up in the sky, Grumpy's roars were unmistakable. Baron and Mila didn't know whether those were screams of pain or determination. It didn't change the uneasiness they were feeling. Or maybe it was the fact they were currently flying out in a soon to be active thunderstorm. Probably that.
Landing, along with the other two flying teams, they retreated to a considerable distance as the electricity around the Manectric surged, almost blinding. Electrical pulses ran throughout the soggy ground as electricity traveled along the electrified terrain, if anything was on the ground and within twenty meters of that electrical surge, it would have been toast. The other electric pokemon weren't even visible anymore.
Even the Salamence began to back off. The foolish ones found out the hard way that attacking a large spear of electrical energy wasn't wise. They probably weren't getting back up any time soon.
The electricity continued to build. That was when Grumpy's roars got even louder and more… painful. Everyone hiding within the booths winced.
Baron couldn't help but glance at the Manectric's trainer, holding a somber look. The boy was tearing himself up in knots. Even if his emotional sensitivity had decreased dramatically since his evolution, he could still feel overwhelming emotions. Guilt most of all. Recognizing it was easy. Riven had no shortage of it, despite his best efforts to hide it.
Guilty about what? He didn't know. He never said. And that's what worried Baron. He always worried. Just like now.
He clenched a fist, and tried to calm his mind. He had no idea if his trainer was safe. He was always getting into life threatening situations; in fact, worry wasn't a strong enough word for what he was feeling. That stupid human! Always risking your life. Why? Do you really think it matters so little?
"Are you utterly insane?" Drake bit out. Stark raving mad most likely. He knew trainers did stupid things, but this was outrageous.
"Do you really want me to answer that?," Riven replied blankly. Running through a field of raging Salamence and directly into a battleground should cover insane pretty well. Or maybe that time in Forina would do it. Or wandering into the deepest section of the Petalburg woods…
Drake stuttered, baffled by the sheer insanity of the plan. "A massive supercharged thunder into a sky full of rain and thunderclouds? And an electrified terrain to boot? Do you want to kill us all?!"
"That's why I came to warn you!" Riven growled. "If that thunder goes off, anything caught out in the open, whether it be sky or ground, is going to end up a blackened husk. A lot of dragon tamers and their pokemon are out there. The Flygon and Garchomp should be fine, but the rest? Not good." Eyes narrowed. "You need to go tell them to return their pokemon and get into cover."
Drake was about to respond when he saw a pillar of light in the distance, shooting up into the air. "Mother of- what the hell is that?"
Riven hmphed. "Told you. Which means, we have a few minutes or so before things go boom. Strip my badges if you want but we need to go now."
The Elite Four member was no longer skeptical, that electric death pillar was evidence enough. These trainers were absolutely cracked. Nonetheless, the boy was right. They couldn't just hold off the dragons, and bringing in official rescue teams would lead to a lot more injured. Especially with what little time they had left.
Drake breathed in deep, and bellowed for the other trainers to return their pokemon, with a commanding voice honed by years of barking orders on a ship. The trainers seemed to hesitate, but did as they were told.
Unfortunately, no pokemon fighting the Salamence meant they had just become targets. Evading fire and claws certainly helped them oh, you know, not die; but it also meant that most of the useable cover had been burned or cut in half.
Rolling out of the way of a passing steel wing, Riven crouched next to Drake along some partially intact booths, drenched head to toe from the pouring rain. "Didn't expect them to attack us," the young man admitted, chuckling darkly. "Most of the cover's gone." Shrugged. "At least death by lightning's fast."
"Dammit boy, this is your idea of a plan? We're destroying our own cover evading their attacks!"
"Wasn't my plan," Riven deadpanned.
"Not the-"
"Sir!" A female voice called out.
Drake's head jerked up, seeing a figure approaching in the pouring rain. "Yelena? Where've you been?"
The official, wet from head to toe and bleeding from a shoulder gash, waved a hand. "Salamence tried to grab me. Fine, sir." She took a glance at Riven. "I see you got the message through."
The black-haired boy nodded.
Yelena looked out to another section of the sky, seeing the tower of electricity building up in the distance. She glared at Riven. "Is that what I think it is?"
"A quick death?" Riven quipped, a bittersweet smile on his face. He sniffed the air, dark humor rising again."With toasty Salamence too."
The official shot daggers at him with her gaze.
"Is your Nidoqueen still good to go?" Drake regarded Yelena. "We can use her to give us cover from that insanity over there."
Yelena blinked. "What are they doing over there? That's a hell of a lot of lightning! What do they have an army of electric pokemon out there?"
"Think about a lightning rod boosted attack," Riven said. "Now multiply that by about thirty, and add in a thunder that won't miss with the rain clouds up there."
Yelena's eyes widened, and sputtered.
"Told you it was urgent," Riven said flatly.
"Quiet," she hushed. "Sir?"
"Lightning's dance," Drake said calmly. "'Fraid he's telling the truth, Yelena."
"B-but! T-that's! INSANE!"
"Insane doesn't begin to cover it. Which is why I need you to assemble all the other trainers here, and why we need your Nidoqueen."
The darkness and flashes of lightning made it extremely difficult to locate everyone, but Yelena managed. Gathering most of the other trainers-who were scared out of their wits and probably painted their pants brown at this point-she headed back to the area where Drake and that crazy trainer were.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The sounds of the swooping Salamence made her nervous, but they were probably affected by the near pitch black darkness as she was. The only thing that served as a marker was that enormous lightning pillar, which helped her find her way back.
"She's back," Riven pointed out, sticking a hand out in the dark.
Yelena couldn't fathom how he could see in this darkness. "How did you-"
"Not important," Drake reminded. "Did you assemble them?"
Yelena confirmed with a simple yes. "However, some of them I couldn't find. I'm not sure if they're fine or…"
Drake winced. Or. Damn it! "There's no time. Listen up everyone, anyone with a pokemon who knows rock tomb, summon them now!"
Pokeballs flashed and Garchomps and several other pokemon appeared. The dragons overhead noticed the flashes of light and charged.
Seeing blue glints of light in the sky, Drake's blood nearly froze. "ROCK TOMB NOW!"
Riven tried to keep his balance as the soggy earth under him shifted and rose, forming protective spears of rock, encasing them in a cage of earth. Blasts were felt as streams of blue fire slammed against the earthen shield. Everyone inside instinctively stepped back. "Great, they're all focused on us now."
A dragon trainer touched the edge of the shield, noting how uncharacteristically hot it was. "How long will this hold?" He asked nervously.
Yelena grimaced. "With luck, a minute or so."
"We're going to die," Riven swore under his breath. Fire it is then. Universe? You're a bastard.
The surface of the rock began to turn red hot due to the heat on the other side. Even despite the rain. Multiple flamethrowers focused on the same spot created a cloud of steam as the blazing flames effortlessly turned water into gas. Those Salamence were damn determined.
"It's getting hotter!" One of the dragon trainers cried, backing away.
Drake remained rooted in his place, face grim. "Nothing we can do but hope it lasts."
A few moments passed and all activity stopped, only the drumming of pouring rain could be heard.
Yelena sighed in relief. "They're gone." Everything was going to be-
A massive blast hit the shield.
Rock shattered into spears and rubble, before thunder split the sky.
Seab, Amy, Gale, and the others covered their eyes as Grumpy discharged, turning the sky yellow for a brief moment before the sky roared and lightning crashed down.
It was like a scene from a movie. As if a god had unleashed his wrath. Enormous bolts of pure energy cracked throughout the area, exploding parts of the ground as they touched down. A nauseating smell of burnt wires followed. But the thing that struck them the most was the small objects the lightning bolts struck in the darkness. They could still see them sparking as they hit the floor. Salamence.
But the storm didn't stop. The thunderclouds Grumpy had summoned continued to spit deadly blasts of electricity, as if daring anyone to step outside and face the wrath of nature. And that was the scary part. He had created a storm. He- a sixteen year old boy, had created a storm more powerful than any Amy had seen in her lifetime. The sight was terrifying, yet romantic at the same time. Such power.
Riven's Castform used Sunny Day, in an attempt to get rid of the thunderstorm. Light broke through the mass of black and spread, dissipating the clouds and pouring rain. When the clouds cleared, the group rushed out to check on the electric pokemon.
The others were fine, simply drained from using so much electricity. But Grumpy… He wasn't moving.
Seab kneeled over to him and reached out a hand, but recoiled when he received a jolt of electricity powerful enough to leave a burn. The Manectric sparked, red sparks crackling from his mane, a symptom of overcharge, exactly what they had feared.
Amy held him back before the boy touched his pokemon again. He was holding his hand in a fist, no doubt trying to fight through the pain. "Seab, we need to call the officials or someone! Grumpy needs attention fast or that pent up electricity can kill him." She turned back to some of the dumbstruck people. "Can some of you go check on the others? They were supposed to be on the other side of the festival grounds." I hope they found cover…
The Sinnohan gasped in pain. Amy helped him to his feet and took out a phone. "I'm going to notify someone to call the officials, we have to get these pokemon and people treated. If those Salamence are knocked out, they can wake up again. And your hand… you need some medical treatment too. Electrical burns hurt and can easily get infected. Don't scratch it if it itches."
Seab nodded, and watched as the Manectric that lay at his feet continued to spark, feeling powerless.
Scrolling through her contact list, Amy stopped at a name she knew would help.
Four rings later, a jolly old voice came through. "Amy Baer! How goes the training?" The last he'd seen of her was back when she dragged that boy into his gym. "Oh, a boy came-"
"Wattson. Help," she pleaded. "Please."
The old man's heart sank.
Gale and some of the others made their way to the other side of the festival and had to stop at the amount of damage witnessed. Blackened holes lay everywhere and severely injured Salamence were strewn about, barely moving. Burnt flesh made her queasy but she pressed on.
It was when she saw a field of rocks and debris that she felt like someone had stabbed her through the chest. A black line along the ground extended several meters forward. She gasped as she realized what it was. It was the explosion she heard before the lightning went off. The thunderclaps had drowned some of it out, but she definitely heard. It must have been a hyper beam that destroyed the rock.
She and the others frantically pulled off bits and pieces of rock, revealing the bodies of the other trainers. Some breathing, some not. But bloody. Very bloody. Whatever that hyper beam did, it sent blasts of shrapnel at them, from the looks of their wounds. That rock tomb may have protected them from the lightning, but not from itself.
They pulled out Drake and the female official from earlier, unconscious but bleeding from several places. Who knew what other injuries or internal damage they had.
Further into the pile, they uncovered a body with a familiar head of black hair, a strip of white near the right eye. He was dragged out in the open and set on his side. Gale held her breath, and didn't dare move.
Riven.
That was when she noticed the spike of jagged rock protruding from both sides of his abdomen, and the enormous trail of blood he'd left behind. His clothes were painted crimson, not white like usual. He was limp and barely breathing, face paler than she'd ever seen. Too pale.
Gale fell to her knees and stared in shock, oblivious to the sounds of pokemon teleporting in.
A/N
In the anime, electrical pokemon are seen falling to electrical overcharge. Such is the case of Ash's Pikachu or Dawn's Pachirisu. Now, if a pokemon's body were like an electrical circuit, then the presence of an extremely high current passing through could theoretically create a short circuit and "fry" the circuit. Applying this to biological organisms, that could mean VERY bad things for a pokemon. Even for a lightning rod pokemon, there is only so many times you can raise its special attack before it doesn't go any higher.
I think there's a reason for that when you think about it in logical terms. Frankly, it's way too dangerous for the pokemon. Electrical overcharge could thoroughly kill a pokemon or make them explode, or perhaps even cause substantial damage to their nervous system and organs. That's why there's a certain point to why a lightning rod pokemon's spec attack refuses to go any higher.
Another note.
The Claydol pokedex entries state that it was created 20,000 years ago by an ancient civilization. At least the bodies were. However, there is no mention of this civilization anywhere else. Considering most of the written language up till that point was based on the unknown(dating back to 1500 years, stated as the earliest known writing system), it can be implied that no one knows what the hell happened to them or their technology. They just poofed. Just like that, leaving their structures behind. It draws some real life parallels to other strange civilizations that also disappeared, which just makes you go hmmmmmm, something ain't right here. People don't just poof. And in a world with legendary pokemon, things have a high tendency to get pretty wacky.
One thing that especially bothers me about the Claydoll is that they were created by a "mysterious" beam of light. Not only that but Claydol seems fond of appearing in places with ancient ruins. An example being sky pillar. No one knows who built it, or what happened to them. Yet they remain there, guarding nothing. Why? Maybe they were given a special task? To keep people out and prevent them from uncovering, certain… secrets?
Who knows? Guess we'll see.
Please forgive any spelling/grammar errors I might've missed. I will revise the chapter again to correct them. Again, thanks for reading. Also, chapter 31 had the wrong chapter posted up. So any new readers that got a whiplash from seeing a chapter twice, please go back and read it. It should be fixed now.