NSO Chapter 23

(Day 1, Part 2)

I don't own Pokemon.

Kurt was the one to make the first move. Claws glowing purple, he charged towards the Umbreon at top speed. He closed the distance between him and Zenith in a matter of seconds, the latter still not moving at all. "Try not to die too quickly, freak." Using Poison Jab, he thrust his claws forwards, only for them to pierce through thin air, Kurt stumbling from the momentum. Steadying himself, Kurt looked around in confusion, only to feel a gust of wind, and for Zenith to appear by the Nidoking's side.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Kurt. Try worrying about yourself first!" Zenith slammed a Shadow Ball into Kurt's side, the small black ball hitting with the force of a truck. Kurt was too slow to react to the speed of his opponent, much less dodge attacks. The Shadow Ball sent the Nidoking flipping head-over-heels in the air, sending up a huge plume of sand as he crashed back down on the ground.

Zenith struggled to see through the thick sand cloud that Kurt's landing had created, squinting his eyes so they wouldn't get irritated by stray sand particles. He tried to take a step forward and was immediately met with a foot to his flank.

Outside the 'arena', spectators clamoured for a better view of the fight. The sand cloud had lowered visibility, obscuring their view of the two fighters. They wondered how the battle was progressing, and their answer came in the form of Zenith flying out of the cloud, flank slamming against the ground to elicit a grunt from the Umbreon. The crowd scrambled out of the way as Zenith landed near them, trying to stay out his way and the danger he brought along with him. Hastily getting back onto his paws, Zenith had to react quickly, pushing himself away from the sudden purple tail that whipped through the cloud, the wind accompanying its speed blowing the airborne sand away. The crowd could now clearly see Zenith landing nimbly on his feet, two Dark Pulses in his paws, facing the Nidoking that was charging at him again.

Zenith launched a Dark Pulse at Kurt's feet and watched him leap over it, the Nidoking grinning as he did so. Zenith smiled slightly as his prediction came true, allowing him to put his plan into action. A black blur was the only indicator of Zenith's actions, the Umbreon running towards Kurt, sliding under the Nidoking's airborne body. As Kurt landed, looking back to watch the attack detonate a distance behind him, he realised that his target was now there as well, Zenith's bright blue rings highlighting his silhouette against the explosion of darkness. Unfazed by his own attack, Zenith lobbed the other Dark Pulse at Kurt, who was still slowly processing the situation as he turned around. All eyes tracked the flight path of the shadowy blob as it arced through the air, landing on the dirt near Kurt's feet, the Nidoking finally facing his opponent correctly. It had the same result as before. Kurt, caught unaware, flew through the air as the explosion and shockwave of the Dark Pulse blew him sky-high. However, unlike their previous fight, Zenith made no attempt to retreat back to safety. He had a brief window of opportunity, and was not going to let it go to waste.

Kurt landed on the sandy ground, sending up the usual cloud of sand. Zenith sprinted towards the Nidoking, who had landed a distance away from him. Charging up another Dark Pulse, he launched it underneath his feet, the harmless shockwave allowing him to leap over the Nidoking's body, which lay crumpled on the floor as a dizzy Kurt tried to regain his bearings. When he was directly above Kurt, Zenith made the most of Dialga's time powers, slowing time down to a nearly a standstill. As Zenith allowed himself to obey the laws of time, he continued with his flip extremely slowly, charging and firing Dark Pulses at his opponent as he did so. Like the Umbreon, the black projectiles obeyed the laws of time as well, slowly progressing towards their target after Zenith released them.

I probably shouldn't fire too many at Kurt. I want to injure him, not completely obliterate him. Let's see… twenty should be enough.

I still don't see why you're not just destroying the guy. You could have easily finished this fight minutes ago, with him begging for your mercy to stop.

Because I'm not like Kurt. I'm not going to abuse my power as much as he does. That's why he's going down.

Reverting the time flow, Zenith landed back on his paws, his flip completed. The Umbreon turned to the crowd, who were hardly paying attention to him, rather the barrage of attacks he had launched. He hit the deck and covered his ears, repeating the same to the other Pokemon who stared at him, wide-eyed realisation dawning on their features.

"Get down and cover your ears!"

Behind him, a dazed Kurt opened his eyes, trying to get back up again, only to see twenty Dark Pulses appearing out of nowhere, all flying towards him.

"Oh, fuc-"

The sound of twenty Dark Pulses detonating at once was deafening at close range, even through covered ears. The vibrations from the soundwaves shook Zenith, rattling him down to his bones, but it was nothing compared to the explosion. Clouds of sand and dust were thrown into the air upon the detonation of the Dark Pulses with their target, sending up a huge spray of sand and dust. The combined shockwaves hit everyone still standing, causing them to fall over. Kurt, who had taken the brunt of the Dark Pulses, was driven further into the dirt by the force of the attack.

As the spectators struggled to get up from the ground and untangle themselves from each other's tangled bodies, Zenith stared up into the cloudless sky, eyes identifying the speck that was Kurt, tracking the Nidoking's progress as he plummeted towards the ground.

Any chance he could survive that fall? I didn't expect my attacks to launch him up that high.

Probably not. If you haven't realised it yet, you did do a lot of damage to him with his last attack.

Wait, what? That wasn't supposed to happen! I have to find a way to save him!

As Zenith looked around frantically for a way to get to Kurt, the crowd seemed to hold their breath in unison as the Nidoking fell, bracing themselves for the agonizing moment where Kurt would hit the ground.

But that moment never came.

When Kurt's face was just a few metres from planting into hard dirt, two Pokemon in the crowd shot up into the air, launching themselves towards the Nidoking at blinding speeds. They grabbed his limbs, flying upwards to cancel the momentum. Flying lower, they dropped Kurt back into the arena and landed next to him. Now that they had stopped moving, Zenith could now see who they were. They were a Beedrill and a Pidgeot, probably Kurt's new cronies. And standing in between them was Kurt. His entire body was now covered in black ringed dents, showing the detonation rings of the Dark Pulses, and blood was trickling out of some of the dents. The Nidoking's face was now a mask of pure hatred and fury, an expression all too familiar to Zenith.

Here comes the crazy. And he's got friends.

"KILL HIM!"

With that roar, all three Pokemon began charging in the direction of the Umbreon.

The Beedrill flew towards Zenith with a Twinneedle, forcing the Umbreon to roll to the right, the attack impaling the spot where he once stood, before flipping backwards, narrowly avoiding an Air Cutter from the Pidgeot flying overhead. With no time to rest, Zenith leapt into the air, dodging the Poison Jab of the Nidoking who charged below him. Even while airborne, the Umbreon had to manoeuvre to one side to prevent getting hit by the Pidgeot, who was trying to dive-bomb him with Brave Bird. But his action midair left him vulnerable to the other flying Pokemon, who tackled him from behind, driving him into face-first into the ground. Zenith coughed, trying to clear his airways of the sand that he had accidentally ingested. He rolled over, and groaned as the Beedrill's thin, pointed foot was forcefully placed on his exposed belly. Even though the Umbreon couldn't feel much pain, he knew that his face should be stinging from being driven into the gritty sand, and all his muscles should be aching from the exertion. He could definitely feel himself wearing out, and although his situation looked grim, Zenith was still somewhat grateful for this brief moment to rest, despite the fact that it might be his last.

"Any last words?" The Beedrill pointed his two sharp stingers at the throat of the Pokemon that was pinned under him.

"Yeah, one." Zenith had a smile on his face.

"Cover."

If the Beedrill was surprised by the answer, he didn't show it. "An odd epitaph, but to each his own-" Before the Beedrill could finish his sentence, a blue beam struck the side of his thorax, blasting him off Zenith. As the Bug/Poison-type hit the ground, ice crystals formed quickly over his entire body, encasing him in a solid block of frozen water.

Zenith gratefully grabbed the paw that was extended towards him and was pulled back onto his paws by his favourite water type.

"You okay?"

The Umbreon looked to his right to see Kurt turn around and run back towards him, while on his left, the Pidgeot was flying at them as well, both of them picking up speed.

"Cleo, in times like this, I have to be better than okay." He grabbed the Vaporeon by the waist, ignoring her squeal of shock and surprise, before leaping back up into the air again. The other two charging Pokemon were now in a collision course towards each other, their target now above them. They were moving too fast a speed to stop themselves, and Zenith cringed as he heard a sickening crunch below him. He charged a Dark Pulse in his free paw and sent it flying below him, using the shockwave produced to get him and Cleo away from the landing on the two bodies that lay below them, concussed.

Landing back on the ground, a few metres away from his enemies, Zenith released his grip on Cleo. His ears pricked up slightly, swivelling around the makeshift arena as if detecting something his eyes would be too late to notice.

"I have to be amazing!"

And with those words, he gently pushed Cleo backwards, while springing away from her at the same time. As the Vaporeon stumbled, landing on her behind, she caught a flash of brown and beige pass in between the two Eeveelutions. It was too fast for Cleo to react, and she could only sit there and watch as Zenith raised a paw, grabbing hold of the blur, before flying off with it. She could only hear the Umbreon's soft voice of "I'll be fine!" drifting down to her in the wind as he skyrocketed in the opposite direction.

'I have to be amazing?' That line's lame as all heck, but from Zenith… it sounded so cool!

High in the air, Zenith was grabbing onto the feathers of the Pidgeot as the Flying-type Pokemon climbed higher and higher into the sky. Battling against various forces and air resistance, Zenith slowly climbed his way from the Pidgeot's tail feathers to his back. "Nice Substitute." He whispered into the side of the Pidgeot's head.

Back on the ground, the Pidgeot that lay on the ground next to Kurt flickered once, twice, before completely fading away into nothingness, while Cleo and the crowd gasped at the revelation of a decoy. However, the substitute was solid, so Kurt was still knocked out by the collision.

Zenith had taken control of the Pidgeot, using his weight to manoeuvre the direction of the Bird Pokemon's flight path, despite the Flying-type's protests and futile attempts to do otherwise.

Well, here goes nothing.

Wait, what are you doing?

Something stupid.

With that thought, Zenith leant forward, wrapping his paws around the Pidgeot's head, covering its eyes. The sudden shift in weight caused the Pidgeot to dip forward, its wings flapping furiously as it tried to support the uneven balance of mass, but to no avail, The Pidgeot began to tip forward as it began to fall, head facing the ground as it plummeted, Zenith holding on with all his might so as to not get blown off. He noticed that the Pidgeot's beak seemed to be moving, but his words were being drowned out by the roar of the wind.

He seems to be pleading for his life, Zenith. You may not be able to hear him, but I can. He's literally begging you to let him live.

Hm. Maybe forcing him to dive at the ground at high speeds really scared him. I don't think he knows that I'm not going to kill him.

Zenith began to charge up a Dark Pulse throughout his descent, putting all he had into making it as big as he could in the few seconds he had. He placed the dark orb in his front paws, pointing them towards the ground, preparing for the right moment to release it. The audience watched with bated breath as the two Pokemon closed the distance between them and the ground in a matter of seconds, eager to see what Zenith would do. Cleo had already scrambled out of the arena and was also watching anxiously amongst the spectators.

At the same time, Kurt shook the stars out of his vision and saw one of his cronies falling towards the ground towards him. He didn't care about the Pidgeot, more about the Umbreon that was on its head, his eyes widening in fear at the growing black ball in his mouth. The Dark Pulse was now big enough to cover Zenith's entire face and ears, and it rapid growth showed no signs of stopping. Kurt tried to crawl backwards, but it was too late to do that.

Ten metres to the ground and Kurt.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Now!

Zenith released his Dark Pulse towards the ground, straight into the face of Kurt, who was looking up. The explosion soon followed, but Zenith was more worried about the Pidgeot. Would the shockwave produced be strong enough to redirect the direction of the falling bird?

He need not have worried. The shockwave was stronger than expected, Zenith could feel its power as it passed through him, even though it didn't affect him. He leapt off the Pidgeot as the Bird Pokemon was knocked off his crash course towards the ground. The shockwave sent the Pidgeot flying to the right, where it crashed into the sand. It wasn't at the same speed as the plummet before, but it was still fast, since the Pidgeot lay still in a crumpled heap, dazed and motionless.

Alright, that's him taken care off. Now to take care of myself.

Still airborne, Zenith quickly charged up another Dark Pulse, which he detonated under his feet, flipping through the air to land on... a mattress shaped rectangle made entirely out of water.

"Thanks for the comfy landing spot!" Zenith got off the water rectangle to join Cleo, and looked at his three opponents, all laying on the ground.

"It's time to end this."

He checked Kurt first. His eyes were in the shape of swirls, having taken multiple Dark Pulses, including a huge one to the face. The Pidgeot had fainted as well, knocked out cold for real this time by the heavy impact against the ground and the shock of the fall. The only Pokemon left was the Beedrill. He was beginning to thaw out, hands and head free, but as he saw Zenith step towards him, he quickly raised both his stinger-arms in the air.

"I yield! I yield! Please don't hurt me..." Halfway through his sentence, the Beedrill broke down, sobbing heavily into his stingers, whose pointed tips were ineffective in wiping away his tears. The crowd was silent as Zenith turned to face them, before bursting into applause and cheers. Looking at the faces in the crowd, Zenith saw the Manectric that had fainted through Kurt's attacks. Apparently, he had now recovered, and since he had caught Zenith's attention, he gestured at the Umbreon, and was pointing towards the middle of the arena.

Oh yeah! The stone!

Zenith walked to the middle of the 'arena', picking up the multicoloured stone from the ground, examining it closely. It wasn't cold like other stones but instead was warm in his paw. Even without looking at it, he could feel the stone radiate immense power, that was stored in the small colourful stone. As he held it to the light to look at it better, the crowd began a fresh round of applause and cheers, before beginning to slowly dissolve, now that everything exciting was over.

"Zenith! You did it!"

Storing the stone in his utility belt, Zenith turned to see Cleo run towards him, from a safe watching spot outside the arena. The explosion left by the Umbreon's giant Dark Pulse had generated some wind that was still blowing around, scattering leaves and dust into the air. And as Cleo ran through all those, a giant smile on her face, her frills blowing gracefully in the wind, Zenith felt his heart skip a beat at how cute and pretty she looked. She was just like a young, energetic child, full of life and excitement at the simple, pure joy of running, exemplified even more so when she tackled him like Cliff did, raising one of his front paws into the air when he stood back up.

"What are you doing?"

"Declaring you as the victor. You DID win, didn't you?"

Relief, happiness and a pinch of worry. Zenith's heart basically melted when he saw her expression, emotions clear in her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I couldn't have done it without you, Cleo. thanks for helping me out of a few sticky spots."

"It's nothing. That's what we do! Watch each other's backs."

Zenith and Cleo walked back towards the Torrent Residence, the sun beginning to set behind them. Cliff was sitting on the front lawn, already back fro school. A car pulled up in front of the house before reversing into the garage.

"So... first day of break, huh? Pretty eventful."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Cleo. I just hope the rest of the week isn't like this."

"Even if they are, we can choose not to participate. Now go home, Zenith. You're exhausted, and clearly need some R and R."

"I would like to crash at your place, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind. Actually, I would like it very much."