I'm back! I finally figured out how I'm gonna split everything up for these chapters, even if I still haven't worked much on the Five and Lyla's fight, I have started it. As we all know, starting something is quite often the most difficult part, but once the ball is rolling, it snowballs.
Also I'm absolutely stoked about Legends Z-A and the return of Megas! I can't wait to see what new Mega Evolutions we'll see when that happens! (I feel like Zoroark is likely to get one, given its popularity in the similar sense to Lucario. At this point, they've reached a level of popularity that not having them usable in a game, seems quite unlikely)
Anyway, let's get on with the show now shall we? I had quite a bit of fun when writing certain parts of this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Kung Fu Panda. Any OCs however, are mine unless stated otherwise.
Chapter 9: Know Thy Enemy
The sun rose to a brand new day on the land of Ransei, but not everyone was particularly looking forward to what might come.
In Unova, there was an air of wariness cast upon the northern city of Opelucid. The threat of the Shadow Pokemon was looming over them like a thick fog, and everyone was on edge no matter the species or age.
The Chinese natives and Lyla woke with the sun. Lyla's family was out of town so she allowed some of them to stay in her home during their stay in Unova, while the rest were being housed at Riley's family home.
When Tigress awoke on her cot (one that was admittedly very comfortable, something about something called a Wooloo?) she got up and performed her usual morning routine. She did her morning stretches, some push-ups, sit-ups, among other things, before finally deeming herself ready for the day. As she finished her sets, Lyla appeared from the hallway, having done her own routine as well and heading to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.
The two noticed each other and gave a curt nod of acknowledgment as they went about the morning. Tigress watched as Lyla went to the kitchen, only for the tiger's attention to latch onto something as it entered her sight.
It was a small statue that was held on a pedestal nearby. The statue held a ring-like structure that was suspended by a white marble body. The golden ring was wrapped around and jutted from the marble base from four points, all equally spaced at perfect diagonal angles. Each of the four points had a small arc shape emitting in a relative circle to the ones on either side of it, not connected but leaving the impression of a circular shape, and leaving a small amount of each point to emit further than the arc. The points on either side of the marble were connected by a smaller golden arc that met with the base.
'I remember seeing one just like this in every building we've been in here, and then there's the giant, intricate one with green gems embedded in the intersections atop that fountain in the middle of town. Must be a part of their religion or something.' Tigress thought.
As Lyla finished preparing their meal, Viper and Monkey arrived to join them. The group went about their meal discussing various things, with the Chinese natives asking more about the Avians, Lugia, and Hisuian Zoroark. Lyla explained what she knew of them and what they were capable of.
Unsurprisingly, it was all crazy. No wonder that, barring the Zoroark, they were called legendary, and for good reason.
The powers of the elements themselves, and the one who rules all three with the power to create hurricanes? Yeah, no wonder some places worshipped them. Tigress would too if it meant appeasing them so they wouldn't attack her home.
Just before Lyla was about to explain the abilities of her counterpart species, there was a knock on the door. More accurately, there was a continuous, frantic, knocking at the door.
"LILI! LILI!" Eri's voice could be heard screaming from the other side of the door.
Being alerted by her pseudo-family, Lyla bolted to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by a tackling hug from the yellow Riolu. There were tears in her eyes and something was clearly upsetting her.
"Eri! What's wrong?!" Viper asked with concern.
"iwokeupandwenttocheckonrileyforbreakfastbuthewasntthereandnowdaddysgone-" Eri went into a frantic speed as she panicked, with the four present unable to process her words at such a speed.
"Slow down Eri! I can't understand you or your brother when you talk so fast!" Lyla told the girl. She had gotten used to it a bit with Riley back when they were young, but she was out of practice at understanding the word-vomit the two were capable of.
"Big Bro is gone!" Eri screamed in panic.
That got their attention quickly.
"What do you mean he's gone?" Tigress asked quickly with concern.
Crane landed nearby with Mantis perched on his hat.
"We looked in Riley's room to wake him up, but he's missing!" Manits said quickly.
Crane held up a piece of paper. "He left this note. 'I'm sorry, but I have to stop him before he gets too strong.' Signed, Riley."
Lyla swiped the note and recognized the handwriting. She growled before tearing the note to shreds with her claws. "Damnit! We have to go after him!"
"Rye is already heading up the mountain after him. He told us to stay here in the event-"
Gyaoo!
A triad of malicious-sounding cries interrupted Crane as they reverberated through the city, coming from the path leading up to Victory Mountain.
The group looked in the direction of the source or rather sources, and paled.
"I think he might've had the right idea" Tigress stated.
"Remember how I told you guys what they could do and how dangerous they might be?" Lyla asked.
"Yeah?" Tigress, Viper, and Monkey responded.
Lyla stared in horror in the distance. "This is worse. This is so much worse!"
The group watched as the Shadow Avians descended, but what was worse? Well first off, they were splitting up across the city as people began to panic at the sight of them. And second, they were-
"Eri! Go to Sensei Shifu or find Beni, stay safe! Crane, Viper! Go after the fiery one! Mantis, Monkey! You're with me! Tigress! See what you can do to keep the runner busy! GO!" Lyla oh so rudely interrupted the narrator. I hadn't even gotten to explain-
Wait! Don't go running off yet! I still need to...oh to Distortion with this! I give up!
Before any of them could react, Lyla bolted in the direction of the one heading toward the tallest building, which was the Gym with the twin dragon heads atop it. The others followed suit as Monkey and Mantis followed her.
Crane and Viper went off in the direction of the fiery one as it headed toward the Health Center.
And Tigress was left to head after the one sprinting toward the center plaza.
The narrator was still rather annoyed at having been cut off, but whatever. He supposed the readers will find out soon enough anyway.
Wait. Eri? Where are you going?! That's not the direction of Shifu or Beni! Why would you...ohhhhhhh. So that's what you're doing, eh? Clever girl.
The sun rose to a brand new day on the land of Ransei, but not everyone was particularly looking forward...to what might...wait...something about this feels oddly familiar.
Chomp
Riley could be seen biting into a Bean Cake as he ascended the mountain. By his estimate, he was nearly two-thirds, maybe three-quarters, of the way to the top where he could sense the malicious Aura of his counterpart residing.
Riley turned to face the city from where he stood, contemplating things as he looked upon his home.
'I'm sorry everyone, but I have to do this. With or without you, I will put an end to this.' Riley stated.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through his very soul, causing him to fall to one knee. Spots filled his vision until suddenly he wasn't on Victory Mountain anymore. Standing beside him were three other beings, two of whom were canine-like Pokémon wielding a sword and shield. Riley looked up to see a scarlet storm hazed across the land, as a large hand-like being floated in the center of the storm.
Riley shook his head, clearing the vision from his...vision. 'The Darkest Day' Riley recognized. He still didn't understand why he saw a vision of the past, or why he knew so much about the battle. The strangest thing was the connection he felt to the vision. It reminded him of whenever he read Nobunaga's Ambition.
No matter the case, Riley had a job to do. He gobbled the last of his Bean Cake up and got back onto his feet before continuing up the mountain...but something wasn't right.
Riley's instincts screamed at him as he quickly jumped to the side of the path, a blur of motion bolted past him and down the mountain. Looking up, Riley saw two more figures flying down the mountain as well. Riley's eyes widened.
'Shit!' Riley swore. 'I was right! I knew they would attack sooner rather than later!' Riley realized, his suspicions being proven correct as the Avians went down the mountain.
'I have to stop them!' Riley thought in alarm, as he prepared to follow them.
Before the Lucario could move, however, he stopped mid-step and furrowed his brow.
'No. He knows how I am, so he'd be expecting me to chase them so that he could make his escape. Nice try Mephiles, but I'm not falling for that!' Riley thought defiantly as he turned back toward the summit.
'Between my people and the Furious Five, they should be able to hold their own as a unit. While they handle the Avians, I'll take care of you. Father shouldn't be too far behind,' Riley rationalized as he cracked his neck, before bolting forward.
After some time, Riley finally made it to the top. As he reached the entrance to the ancient kingdom of Dragnor, he felt a flurry of numerous emotions. No matter how many times he wished to when he was young, he had never been to the ruins. Within the crumbling walls was the kingdom he had read so much about over the years. Every time he read the tale of Nobunaga, he yearned for the chance to see his once-kingdom.
Riley began his trek forward, taking in his surroundings. Straight ahead of him was the grand castle, though it had clearly seen better days. Riley glanced to the right and saw what had once been the market area, as well as an old mineshaft leading underground. Further up, he could see the remains of a gladiatorial-type arena, with the closest wall having fallen to pieces and leaving the arena visible. To his left, he saw the remains of what had once been a lustrous garden, its architecture crumbled and overwhelmed with overrun plant life. And further past the garden he saw-
Riley blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him. For a moment, he could've sworn he had seen an ornate tower that reached to the heavens, but the moment he blinked, it had disappeared.
Riley shook his head. Whatever that was, it wasn't important.
Riley was nearly to the castle when his instincts went on high alert. Suddenly, the doorway to the castle, whose grand entrance had fallen apart who knows how long ago, shot something forth at high speed. Riley brought his hand up and caught a fist before it could strike him.
Riley growled.
"Mephiles."
Mephiles smiled sinisterly at Riley before the two pushed off of each other and landed a few feet behind their previous positions.
"Did you miss me?" Mephiles asked mockingly.
Riley scoffed. "Hardly."
"So, I see you didn't chase after the Avians." Mephiles pointed out as the two began to circle each other.
Riley scowled. "As if I wouldn't know what you were doing. You knew I was coming here so you tried to send them off to distract me." Riley's scowl twisted into a cheeky grin. "The joke's on you though, I know they can handle themselves. The people of Opelucid and my friends are still worthy opponents."
Riley's confidence was suddenly killed when he saw the look that Mephiles donned on his face. The sinister smile that grew even wider unsettled Riley. Something wasn't right. Why did he look pleased?
Mephiles chuckled menacingly. "You're right, I did know you would come. There's one thing you got wrong though..."
Mephiles donned a sadistic and creepy smile.
"W̵e̷ w̴̬̞̝͌ê̴̙̬͙̣̚r̴̰̟̜͈͌̀̾̽̈́e̸̪͔͐̍ c̷̡͍̻͍̼̤̯̬̰̥͒̾͑̾͗͐̋̍̀̕͝͝ͅͅo̷̧͍̯͎͔̙̗̫̙̽͂͋̐̍̕͠ư̶̧͙̠̦͖̖̞͇͑̅ͅn̴̘̦̹̼̬̭̖̹̓͋̆̉͘t̷̪͉̜̖͍͂͑̈́ͅi̸̢̛̯͚̳̤̰̤͓̰͉̭̟̩͇͇͇͔̿̐̑́̊̉̈́̐́͛̚͝n̶̨̢̧̡̧̖̖̖̞̭̘̼̣̤̩̩̉̅̓̄̈́̈́g̴͓̘̦̬̱͑̌̋ͅ ǒ̸̡̢̼̤̠̰͉͔̦̤͓̦̟̝͚̠̟̻͈̝͍̝̤̫̰̫̅̓̓̄͊̑͑͐̓̾̈̀̂̀̅͗̌͐̎͊͊͋̋̇͌̚n̷̨̨̛̛̛͓̳̭̮̱̝͍̝͑̀̑̉̀̏̑͗̄̑̐̋̊͒̄̈́́̾̊̚͘̕͠͝͝͝ i̸̡̨̧̨̨̧̡̻̺̼͉̱̱̱̘͖̟͈͖͇̯̜̥̻̘̬̞̹͇̣̯͍̙̱̯͒̾̕͘ͅt̵̡̧̨̡̛̩̥̫͖̘͙̹̘̭̰͚̥̭̩͎͖̱̠̙̳͇͕̫̮̪̪͙̞̏͊̓͌̿̎͌̃̌͗́̇͑͌̊̉̐͌̚̚͘̚͜͜͝͠͝͠"
Riley's instincts screamed at him as he realized he was now standing with his back to the entrance of the castle. Before he could react, he was blasted from above violently by a torrent of pressurized wind and knocked to the ground in pain.
A shadow (not the Pokémon kind) cast over him from atop the castle before disappearing. Moments later, Shadow Lugia descended upon him, grabbing him in his mouth before taking to the skies again. Mephiles quickly jumped high into the air and landed on his ally's back as they flew toward the nearby arena.
As the Shadow Pokémon took Riley to the entrance of the arena, there was a figure waiting for them, in the form of Volo as he held the Jewel Of Death in his palm. The Lucario was thrown to the ground before Shadow Lugia's hand-wings restrained Riley's arms and held him up to look upon Volo.
Volo laughed. "Well well well. So this is the 'Dragon Warrior' I've heard so much about, hm?" Volo mocked.
Riley growled. "I was right. It was you!"
Mephiles hopped off Lugia's back. "Oh please. As if it hadn't been obvious" Mephiles said, walking to his master's side and rolling his eyes.
"Quite so. I must commend your bravery...or stupidity at having come here alone." Volo tsked. "And you're supposed to be a warrior of prophecy?"
Riley turned to Mephiles. "What did you mean when you said you 'were counting on it?'"
Mephiles laughed. "Is it not obvious? I knew you would come alone, so we prepared accordingly."
Volo nodded. "Indeed. So focused you were on how Mephiles thinks, that you did not take how I would think into account. Mephiles knew you would come after us to delay our trip to Galar, so I elected to set a trap for you instead."
Riley's eyes widened as he realized he had been played. Mephiles saw his distraught look and smiled wickedly. "And if you didn't, we would've simply used the Avians as a distraction to make our escape anyway. So we must thank you for being such the heroic soul that you are." Mephiles said with a small, mocking bow.
Riley struggled in Lugia's grip, attempting to free himself to no avail from the corrupted Legendary. "They'll stop you! You won't ever even get to Galar before they are ready to fight back."
Volo scoffed. "We'll simply steal away the other legends we find along the way. Why, I think it would be rather fitting to complete the set by taking Ho-Oh, wouldn't you agree my servant?" Volo asked.
Mephiles growled a bit before answering. "It would, Master. If the Jewel could afflict Lugia to this extent, then why not take Ho-Oh and his Beasts while we're at it? Perhaps they would undergo a similar transformation to the Avians." Mephiles pondered.
Riley growled in pure rage. "I won't let you do that!"
Volo's brow raised. "Oh? And how do you suppose you'll do that, might I ask, if you're too busy being dead?" Volo asked with a sinister grin as he turned to Mephiles.
"Mephiles! You have your target. Make it that he will no longer pose a chance of standing in my way!" Volo ordered, before turning back toward Riley so he could watch his destruction first-hand.
Mephiles chuckled darkly. "As you command."
SHINK!
Volo gasped for breath as he felt an unbearable pain in his chest. He could feel the blood coming up and into his mouth.
The Hisuian Zoroark looked down slowly to find himself impaled by a construct of dark Aura. He turned to look at his lieutenant to find him smiling sinisterly.
"W-w-what...are y-you...doing?" Volo forced himself to say with great strain, his strength fading and a trail of blood coming out from the corner of his mouth.
Mephiles simply continued his laughing, plucking the Jewel Of Death from the Zoroark's weakening grip with ease.
"Just following orders. One often ends up being the cause of their own downfall, after all." Mephiles said with finality. The dark Lucario dispersed the construct, letting his former master fall to his knees helplessly, and then to the ground beneath him. The life in Volo's eyes faded as he lay motionless on the ground in front of the Shadow Pokémon.
Mephiles scoffed. "No one tells me what to do." He said coldly, kicking the now-corpse away from him and into one of the broken walls of the arena, landing in a lifeless heap on the ground. He then looked at his counterpart to gauge his reaction to the deed, hoping the insufferable nice guy would be surprised by-
Riley instead looked bored as can be as he was held in place by Lugia.
Mephiles blinked in surprise. "Huh. I was expecting you'd have some kind of reaction to me killing the guy who made me."
Riley shrugged. "I mean, it is still pretty shocking of a sight."
Mephiles raised a brow at that. "You don't look surprised."
Riley gave him a flat look. "You were literally created because I defied his control as much as I did. Did you really expect me to be surprised an evil version of myself would turn on someone trying to control them?"
Mephiles blinked. Then he blinked again slowly. "Huh. Yeah, you do make a good point. I mean it is essentially Evil 101, after all." Mephiles admitted, having thought about it more.
"I know right?! It's like, so obvious of a thing to happen! Since when do villains ever not betray one another?!" Riley exclaimed.
"It's certainly not a very common thing, that's for sure." Mephiles shrugged in admittance.
Even Lugia, still in his Shadow state, nodded in agreement with the two.
"Well then." Mephiles began as he held the Jewel Of Death in front of him. "I cannot deny this conversation has been entertaining. Unfortunately, I have to kill you now. We both know you're one of the only beings that could possibly guess my next move, so I must make sure that can't happen anymore." Mephiles then began to channel energy from the Jewel Of Death. "I may not have a Key Stone, but the power imbued into this baby will work just as well, if not better!"
Mephiles began to cackle as his body was engulfed with the violet energy, akin to that of Rye's transformation but with an ominously violet hue compared to the standard red one. In mere moments, the cloud of dark Aura dispersed to reveal Mephiles' Mega Evolved state behind a warped symbol. The Jewel Of Death had disappeared from his hands as he pulsed with its spikes across his body were a violet so dark you could hardly see there was any color, and the areas that would have been red were a dulled silver.
Mephiles' cackles subsided as he turned to Riley with a sinister grin. "I can feel the power of the Jewel coursing through my veins! Now I'm not just using the Jewel Of Death, I am the Jewel Of Death! Nothing can stand in my way now!"
Riley growled. "Not if we have anything to say about it!"
Mephiles laughed mockingly. "Seriously? Do you not grasp the weight of the situation you are currently in? You are at my mercy. As if you stand a chance to free your-"
Mephiles paused for a moment in confusion, turning back to Riley with a furrowed brow. "Wait, what do you mean 'we?'"
BOOM!
An explosion rocked into Lugia's back, causing it to cry out in pain and release Riley from his grip. With his body free, Riley surged forward with an Aura-infused palm-strike, catching Mephiles off-guard and throwing him back from the force.
Mephiles recovered as he regained his bearings. "What the Distortion!?"
A figure walked through the dust caused by the blast, approaching Riley from behind and getting in a fighting stance back-to-back with him. Riley smirked.
"It's about time you finally got here, old man." Riley taunted.
"When we get out of this, you and I are going to be having a long talk about what the word patience means." Rye's voice can be heard, the dust clears to reveal Riley's father as he keeps his gaze on Lugia.
"To be fair, this was me being patient. Besides, I knew you'd chase after me." Riley said with the grin still plastered on his face.
"I understand impatience, you get that from my side, but my point stands."
The two continued to assess their foes, not taking their eyes off their targets.
"Can you Mega Evolve?" Riley asked.
"No. I'm still recovering from the previous battle." Rye answered, taking one hand and removing the Key Stone, holding it behind his back. "You take it for now, you've always been a fast healer."
Riley clicked his tongue as he took his father's Key Stone in his hand. "One Distortion of a time for a first Mega, that's for sure."
Mephiles growled as he listened to the two's banter. "It won't matter. Even with a Mega, I'm still stronger thanks to the Jewel's power coursing through me, not to mention the master of the Avians with me. You two stand no chance!"
Riley held the Key Stone forward. "We'll see about that. With this my soul is alight! Let me sail to new heights! Beyond the limit! Mega Evolve!" Riley declared his chant, as everyone present tensed in preparation of Riley's transformation.
...
...
...
...
...
Wait...why is he not Mega Evolving?
Riley's face became panicked. "What the?! Beyond the limit! Mega Evolve!" Riley tried again, to no avail.
Riley continued trying again and again, with various phrases.
"The evolution of Evolution! Mega Shinka! Um...it's morphin' time?" That last one sounded a bit desperate, not gonna lie.
[Hey! Narrator! Just narrate normally as I pay you to!]
You don't pay me at all!
[Yeah, because you're me!]
That's even worse! You're arguing with yourself!
[...Oh no, the voices in my head are becoming self-aware...]
While the author continues questioning his sanity [Am not!] Yes, you are! let's get back to the story, as Mephiles can be seen donning a sinister grin as he watched his counterpart fail to transform.
"My, my. What do we have here? Having some performance issues are we?" Mephiles asked with vile glee.
Riley's expression had become increasingly distressed. "I don't get it! Aren't Key Stones supposed to work even if you lend them to someone you trust?!" Riley cried out in alarmed.
"That's what Lady Diancie told me when I got mine. She spoke to my mind through the stone, given they are crystallizations of her power." Rye stated.
"Then the only way it couldn't work is if-"
Riley's eyes widened in realization before a look of despair made itself home on his face.
"If...I'm not worthy..." Riely spoke softly, crushed by the revelation. The only reason a Key Stone wouldn't work with someone is if they weren't allowed to use Mega Evolution.
Mephiles cackled. "Oh, this is just hilarious! Even after all those years of trying to evolve to no avail. Even after managing to push past the limits set by an Everstone, fate still decides to laugh as you suffer, as I am!" Mephiles taunted, reveling in his counterpart's despair.
Hearing the hurt in Riley's voice, and the glee in Mephiles, pissed Rye off and caused him to growl.
"When did that ever stop you?"
Both looked at Rye, who hadn't turned his gaze from Lugia. Riley's was of confusion and Mephiles' bored curiosity.
"You spat in the face of logic once before, so do it again! You've never let anyone tell you what you can or can't do, so why start questioning it now?! You know what I think? So what if we're facing Legendary? So what if we're facing a Shadow Mega?! If Diancie doesn't think you're worthy, then she can piss off for all I care! We'll take these two down, and we'll do it without Mega Evolution if we have to!" Rye declared.
Riley looked at his father in awe, before smirking as he turned back to Mephiles. "You're right. Let's do this!" Riley said with confidence.
Mephiles growled. "We'll see who's smiling when you two are nothing but corpses!" Mephiles snarled, infuriated by yet another motivational speech from Rye.
The four stared each other down where they stood, preparing for the fight of their lives.
Outtake:
Riley continued trying again and again, with various phrases.
"Shazam!"
"Up up and away!"
"Go web go!"
"Chaos Control!"
"Plus Ultra!"
"Change now!" He did a very peculiar pose with that one.
"It's hero time!"
"Go go gadget?"
Suddenly, Riley is consumed by light before revealing he has transformed into a Mega Lucario.
Riley gained an annoyed tickmark on his forehead. "WHY WAS THAT THE ONE THAT WORKED!?"
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed and feel free to review!
