"Axey, use Breaking Swipe. Blopblop, use Headbutt. Zorry, follow them up with a Shadow Claw."
In the four months since waking Rotom, Elera has managed to trace the location of Team Burn, the same group of bandits who torched her village so many years ago. Along the way, both Zorry and Blopblop evolved into their final forms, Zoroark and Araquanid. Given Rotom's reassurance that it is perfectly comfortable for pokémon, she has even managed to capture some new pokémon using the few long discarded pokéballs she has come across.
"Spikey, use Iron Defense!" Elera calls as she tosses one of her few pokéballs.
Her Ferrothorn, which evolved just from a Ferroseed just yesterday, emerges from the ball and sets a strong defense, shielding the others from a spray of deadly purple poison.
"Now, Swordo, use Iron Head."
A pair of swords crossed into an "X" fly out of another pokéball and ram into the small purple and brown pokémon.
"Zara, finish it up with Ember!"
The small orange pokémon with flames on its tail hatched from Elera's egg only a few weeks ago. It doesn't have wings yet, but Elera's newfound knowledge of pokémon evolution has convinced her they will come in eventually. She asked Rotom for the name of its fully evolved form, but no other details. Using that information, she came up with a suitable name for her new friend.
Zara takes a deep breath in and sprays small, hot bursts of flames all over the attacking pokémon, which Rotom identified as a group of Skrelp. They float atop the rising swells of waves, only one holding onto life. Elera takes her opportunity. She rummages through her pack for her final pokéball and tosses it at her target. The red and white wooden ball hits the pokémon in the head and opens, absorbing the Skrelp in a flash of light. The pokéball flashes and shakes once before erupting a puff of steam, confirming her break.
"Skrelp has been added to your Pokédex."
"I'm turning into a pretty good Breaker after all," she says. "Or, what was it you said they used to be called? Trainers?"
"That is correct, Elera," Rotom says. "You have fared quite well. In those times, trainers were allowed to travel with only six pokémon at a time. The Pokémon League made this rule to prevent a competitive advantage for those who captured the most pokémon. However, the Pokémon League has obviously long been abandoned. That is why your Skrelp has remained here with you, rather than disappearing to be stored at a lab."
"Say, Rotom, what do Skrelp evolve into?"
"The final evolution of Skrelp is known as Dragalge, the Mock Kelp Pokémon."
"Dragalge?" Elera puts her finger to her chin to think. "All right, come on out Gal!" She tosses the pokéball into the air. The newly captured Skrelp appears in the water as the ball flies back into Elera's hand. Blopblop shoots a beam of bubbles toward the slain Skrelp, pushing them out of Gal's sight. "Hello, Gal. I'm Elera. It's so nice to meet you."
Gal swims forward hesitantly, surely confused at being greeted so kindly by a person who was just fighting it. Elera holds out her hand. Gal sniffs once and licks her hand with its prickly tongue. Satisfied, it rubs its head up under her arm.
With a nod of approval, Elera steps away while her other pokémon companions gather around and greet their new teammate. She retreats to the shade of a nearby palm tree to wait and watch as Gal becomes acquainted with the others. "Rotom?"
"Yes, Elera?"
"I've been meaning to ask, is it hard for you to see us killing pokémon?" she asks. "I mean, you are a pokémon. So, wouldn't it be strange to watch us kill and eat your own kind?"
"Well, to be honest, even in my time, pokémon were consumed by humans," Rotom says after a moment. "In fact, the way you hunt and eat only what you need is much more reasonable than growing hundreds of thousands of pokémon in terrible conditions with the sole purpose of selling them as food. This is the natural order of things. Pokémon have hunted, battled, and fed on one another for the entirety of our existence. Things are much different now, yes, but not everything has changed for the worse. I have grown to appreciate many of the differences between this world and the one in which I previously lived."
"I'm glad." Elera pauses and looks out to the vast sea. "I'm glad I found you, Rotom. It's been nice to have someone to talk to that can actually teach me about pokémon, instead of just spewing random tales they heard from a friend of a friend. Or, even worse, someone who sows fear of pokémon in everyone they come across. You've made this journey that I'm on much better."
Rotom whirs and floats up in front of Elera. "And I will say that you are a remarkably fast learner. And the way you use your own body and fighting prowess to help protect your pokémon—sorry, your friends—is a thing of beauty."
"Thank you."
"In my time, that was not the way of the pokémon trainer," Rotom says. "It pleases me to see humans risking themselves just as pokémon have done for so long. Breakers are, in some ways, better battlers than their predecessors."
Elera rises and waves to Axey, who gathers the others and guides them to shore. Gal hesitates as Elera extends her hand. It glances around at the other pokémon, who nod their heads in turn. With a trill, Gal leaps from the water into Elera's arms as it spews bubbles into the air. The other pokémon join in a chorus of greetings for their new friend. Elera raises Gal above her head and beams with joy.
As the ruckus dies down, though, she is reminded of her true plight. She is close to finding Team Burn. The entire reason she's here at the coast is because she tracked the movement of one of Team Burn's lower ranking members, some punk kid she found setting fire to beds in a nearby village. Even being unfamiliar with this portion of Kalos, tracking the kid has been easy. He takes little care to cover his tracks, not even counting the obvious trail of singed foliage.
The chance to peel away and battle with the group of Skrelp distracted her from her goal of finding and ending the nefarious group. She wishes there was a way she could just travel the world finding and befriending more and more pokémon, but the circumstances of her life have made her dream an impossibility. "Time to go, everyone." She presses the buttons on her three pokéballs, recalling Spikey, Swordo, and the newly acquired Gal. Zara hops up onto Blopblop's back and the other pokémon fall into line behind Elera. They need to move if they're going to catch up to the kid and cut him off.
Elera bounds into a steady jog as the pokémon fall into line behind her. The burned places along the trail have cooled considerably. She doesn't need to be quiet yet. They continue their pursuit through the afternoon and into the twilight of evening, stopping at various intervals for food, rest, and water. Elera forces herself to ignore the hundreds of pokémon she passes in favor of her main target. She can always come back and meet those pokémon later.
They've been jogging for over an hour with the sky gradually darkening. Elera thinks she will probably stop soon to set up camp. As much as she would like to, they can't continue through the night without sleep. Even if they did catch the kid, they would be exhausted. She scans the area as she runs, searching for an easily defendable spot to rest.
"Frax!" Axey jumps forward, landing in front of Elera and holding its claw up to stop her. "Frax."
Elera drops to a crouch and lunges to the side. She slides to a stop behind a fallen tree trunk. Zara hops down from Blopblop's back and joins her, while the huge Araquanid crawls forward into an area of tall brush to hide. Zorry's wild red fur raises as energy surrounds it. In the blink of an eye, it transforms from its usual untamed appearance to that of an innocent Bunnelby. Zorry hops forward along the cleared dirt path and sniffs the air in search of the Team Burn grunt. It locks eyes with Elera and hops forward before disappearing into the grass near a bend in the path.
Elera receives the message and whistles once, a short trill that sounds almost like a wild Pidgey. The brush shakes as Blopblop moves into position. Axey has positioned itself near a tree ahead of Elera. It grunts and points above the brush barring their vision beyond the curved path. A few wisps of smoke float into the sky, growing in intensity with each passing moment. Elera sees the flame of Zara's tail flare up brighter and hotter. They're almost ready to go.
Axey, Zara, and Elera creep forward. She trusts that the others are already in position. She can smell the burning grass of a campfire. She takes a risk, peeking around the edge to get a look at this kid. She catches sight of him just as he's dipping into his tent. She waits until she hears him start to rummage around inside before whistling three short, sharp bursts.
She jumps around the corner and charges toward the tent. Zara shoots a trail of fire that surrounds the tent. Blopblop follows up the ring of fire by shooting a beam of ice from its water bubble, a move it learned from observing and battling a Sealeo attacking a group of Krabby a week ago. The beam coats the area beyond the tent in a thin layer of slick ice. Finally, Axey jumps in and tears the tent from the ground, slicing through the hide with its tusks. The plan is perfectly executed.
"Don't mo—"
Elera clamps her mouth shut as she feels the bite of cold steel on her neck. The tent is empty except for a small yellow pokémon with a hard shell covering most of its back and head. It looks up to Elera and tilts its head to the side. "Shrew?"
"Who are you?" a man's voice says from behind Elera. "Why have you been following me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Turn around." The boy taps his sword on Elera's shoulder. She turns around slowly, but he doesn't lower his blade. He pokes the sharp metal tip of the sword into the dip in her throat and holds steady. "Why have you been following me?"
"I haven't," Elera says defiantly.
"Then why have you—" The boy pauses to look down at a Bunnelby that has started nibbling on his pant leg. "Get out of here. Get off me."
The Bunnelby steps back and looks up to the boy with its big eyes. He turns back to Elera. She smirks as the Bunnelby morphs and grows into Zorry before her eyes. The ancient form of Zoroark that has re-emerged into the ecosystem of the Kalos Region taps the boy on the ankle with its foot.
"What the—ahh!"
The boy stumbles and falls flat on his back. The sword clangs off the hard earth and bounces out of his reach. Elera steps forward, her shadow falling over his face. "Now, let's have a chat, shall we? Blopblop, how about a Spider Web attack?"
Blopblop launches a web of sticky string at the boy, who falls to his knees under the pressure of the webs. The attack prevents other pokémon from escaping in a battle, and she's hoping it will have the same effect on this Team Burn scum. She picks up the sword and twirls it in her hand. "Not bad," she says, her tone conversational, like she's just chatting with someone from her village. "It's pretty light, though. I prefer something with a little more weight." She pulls her ax from her belt and holds it to his shoulder. "Feel that? It's nice, yeah? Scary, too."
"What do you want?" the boy blurts. Tears have formed in his eyes.
Elera almost feels bad for a moment. "We'll start with your name. I'll even give you mine. I'm Elera."
"Matt."
Elera stares straight ahead. "Really? That's not a fake name?"
"Really. My name is Matt."
A pause. "Weird." She stands and paces before him. "Next question. Why would you join such an awful, evil group? Team Burn ruined my life and the lives of so many others. How do you sleep at night?"
"Actually, I'm not in Team Burn," Matt says. "I stole this uniform to try and infiltrate them."
"You really expect me to believe that?"
"Honestly, no. But it's the truth."
Elera throws her hands in the air, exasperated. "You've been burning patches of grass every fifty yards. If that doesn't sound like Team Burn, I don't know what would."
"Look." Matt drops his head and lowers his voice. "Team Burn destroyed my village a few weeks ago. I've been hunting them down since then. I stole this uniform from a camp when they were sleeping and I've been trying to find the main group."
"Am I supposed to believe this?" Elera raises the ax above her head. She threatens to swing, but a hand on her hip stops her. She turns to see Axey looking back at her.
"Frax." It shakes its head, then nods toward Matt. "Frax."
"You think he's telling the truth?"
Axey nods again and walks forward. It uses its sharp tusk to free Matt from the web. Matt scrambles back away from Elera but doesn't try to stand.
"Team Burn destroyed my village, too," Elera whispers. "It was a long time ago, but I'll never forget. I won't stop until I make them pay for what they've done."
"I feel the same," Matt says. "And Sandshrew does, too. Right, buddy?"
"Shrew!" The small, yellow pokémon emerges from the tattered remains of the tent and stands at Matt's side.
"Rotom?"
"Yes, of course," Rotom says as it hovers before her. "Sandshrew, Kantonian Form, the Mouse Pokémon. A Ground type. Sandshrew will roll into a ball to travel through dry, arid areas at high speeds. Its thick hide protects it from danger."
"Are there any other pokémon that travel with you?" Elera says. "Are you a Breaker?"
"Nope, I only met Sandshrew recently," he says. "Team Burn destroyed its home, too. It found me, crying and curled up on the ground in the remains of my village. We hid from a storm together. I told it I wanted to get revenge, and it got so worked up I had to stop it from running out right then. We've been together ever since."
"That's nice. Can it fight?"
"It's gotten me out of a few scaps with other pokémon, for sure," Matt says. Sandshrew flexes its arms and grunts. "It can definitely hold its own. What about you? I see four pokémon here. Do you have others?"
"I do," Elera says. "You'll meet them eventually. If you prove yourself capable and trustworthy, that is."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're coming with me, of course."
Matt starts to laugh, but stops suddenly when he sees Elera's face. There isn't a hint of humor in her expression. "You're serious?"
"Obviously." She scoffs and hold out her hand to help him to his feet. "We both have the same goal. We're both going to be going the same direction. It would make sense for us to work together. And, if you betray me, I'll cut you down where you stand, so I'm not worried about that."
"You're pretty brutal, you know that?"
"I will stop at nothing to reach my goal," Elera says. "Plus, I like my pokémon friends more than I like almost every person I've ever met, so there's that."
"I wouldn't cross her," Rotom says.
Matt stares on in awe. "What is that thing?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's go."
"Where?"
"To find shelter," Elera says. "I destroyed your tent."
"There's a cave just a little ways down the path." Matt points in the direction of the cave. "I only stopped here to trap you."
"Very well. Lead the way."
#
It takes Elera and Matt two more weeks, but they finally locate the main force of Team Burn, in the ruins of what was once a complex of huge buildings, with easily over a dozen acres of land inside the outer fence. Rotom says it was once some kind of factory used to manufacture all different kinds of pokéballs, but it has long since fallen out of use. Now, it is home to a group of awful people who ruin lives for their own sick pleasure.
"So, we attack in the morning, before sunrise, yeah?" Matt says, interrupting Elera's seething.
"Yes," she says. "We go in while it's dark. We let Blopblop and Gal create a distraction from the water behind the hideout. Sandshrew can burrow underground and wreak havoc on the guards near the fence. Swordo will slice through the metal fence. Zara, Spikey, and Zorry can clear the way to the entrance on the far left, near the back of the central building. You, me, and Axey will infiltrate and try to find the leaders while the others catch up."
"Sounds perfect," Matt says. "Just like you," he adds under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Just going over the plan."
"Let's finish cooking this Stantler meat and put the fire out," she says while turning the leg of the felled Stantler over the small fire Zara created. "We'll use Zara's tail flame to keep us warm tonight."
The two Breakers and their pokémon companions eat in silence as they mentally prepare for the upcoming battle. Everyone understands that this may cost them their lives, but they all know it is something they have to do. Elera offered for her pokémon to stay behind, but they were all adamant about coming with her. The fact they were willing to lay down their lives to help Elera had nearly made her cry, but she had choked them down to keep her brave face. Now, in the quiet darkness, those feelings are threatening to overwhelm her again.
"Thank you for agreeing to work together," she says in an attempt to distract herself.
"You didn't give me much of a choice," Matt says jokingly.
"I'm serious. You could have left. Thank you for staying."
"Don't mention it," he says. "Like you said before, it makes sense to go at this together."
"Are you finished with your food? We should get as much rest as we can."
"Agreed."
Elera and Matt settle into their makeshift shelter in the middle of a tightly packed group of trees. Elera has decided to leave her pokémon out of their pokéballs for the night, so they can all enjoy one another's company before the coming fight. Zara curls up beside Elera. Matt nestles in close.
"Elera?" he says.
"Yes, Matt?"
"Do you think we'll win?"
Elera can barely see him in the dim light of Zara's tail. She nods slowly. "I hope so. At the very least, I hope you and the pokémon make it out alive. I don't care what happens to me, as long as I take Team Burn down with me."
"You really are incredible, you know that?"
"I am just doing what I feel is right."
"And you're amazing for that."
Matt closes his eyes and leans in closer to Elera, his lips puckering as they prepare to meet hers. Her hand is between them in a flash, stopping his advance and holding him in place. "Matt, no."
"R-right," he stammers. "Yes. Of course. No. That would be stupid. I'm sorry. I'm just tired and nervous."
"It's okay," Elera says. "Let's just get some sleep."
"Right."
Elera turns the opposite direction and exhales quietly. She can feel the heat in her cheeks and hopes he didn't notice her blush. She closes her eyes and tries to force herself to sleep through the Butterfree fluttering in her stomach.