I warn you, this part may be a bit difficult to follow, as I will be jumping between perspectives a lot. This will also be full of fighting, both with and without pokémon. I just feel like the grunts of Team Terra wouldn't give up the moment their team is beaten, so I've got some physical fights as well. That, and I am much better at writing hand-to-hand combat than pokémon battles. But enough said, just enjoy.
Chapter 83:
The Second Kalos Crisis Begins!
As the large group makes its way to the entrance, more of Lumiose's buildings begin to crumble as their power is overloaded. As everyone watches, the top of a building explodes, raining rubble down onto the streets. It looks like it's going to crush some unlucky bystanders, but Alain manages to save them with his Mega Charizard X. Once those people are safely away from the carnage, having thanked Alain before they left, he and Mairin hop onto Charizard's back. "Split up into as many teams as you can!" Alain calls down to them. "But none of you go alone! With how many grunts are swarming the streets, you'll be overwhelmed in seconds if you do!" And with that, they're in the air, rushing off to save anymore civilians in peril.
Once they're gone, everyone turns to Clemont. "Why are you all looking at me!?" he asks. "You came up with this plan," Burgundy points out. "So, it's only reasonable if you divide everyone up." Clemont nods nervously. "Ok," he says. "Well, for starters, I think everyone should head to the base of the tower together and lure as many agents away from it. Taunt them if you have to. Once that's done, split into two groups, each going in the opposite directions. From there, split up even more to thoroughly confuse them. Hopefully, if we put on enough of a show, we'll be able to convince other people to help us!" Everyone mulls this plan over, before agreeing. Once they have, Clemont divides everyone up. May, Drew, Iris, Georgia, Dawn, Zoey, Lukas, Barry, Goh, Chloe, Tierno, Shauna, Meyer, and Gary will all run off to the right of the tower, while Elio, Lillie, Hau, Gladion, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, Kiawe, Paul, Miette, Tracey, Misty, Brock, Olivia, Cilan and Burgundy will go to the left. While they do that, he and Korrina will hide near the base of the tower until it's clear enough, then he will climb up the side with his Aipom Arms. Meanwhile, Ash, Serena, Max, and Bonnie will hide near the entrance and wait for them to open it. Once everyone is clear on the plan, they set off for the tower.
If you had told Max as he snuck through the back alleys of Lumiose that this phase of the plan was going to work, he never would've believed you. As he runs along the alleys, following Bonnie, he can't help but think of all the way this will fail. There's no way Team Terra's agents would be stupid enough to chase after a large group of trainers simply because they taunted them. But as it turns out, that's exactly what happens. As Max, Bonnie, Ash, and Serena get into place, Clemont and Korrina depart from them, sneaking off to the side of the tower. As the four of them watch, the diversion group arrives, shouting insults at the agents, and declaring loudly that they'd be taking back the tower. The agents are enraged by this and immediately charge at them. At once, the large group splits up just as planned and, to Max's amazement, a large chunk of agents run after them, leaving a much smaller guarding party behind. Ash can't help but chuckle quietly at this. "Well, that was easy," he says. "Pride really is the quickest way to get people to do what you want." Max laughs in agreement, then turns his attention towards the door, waiting for Clemont and Korrina to open it.
Just as Clemont had planned, a large portion of Team Terra grunts begin running after the first group as they veer off to the right. May can't help but marvel at the fact that none of the agents realised that this was clearly a diversion. They continue running, shouting insults and taunts at the grunts. Eventually, Meyer deemed that they're far enough away from the tower for the agents to retreat back, so he shouts "Scatter!" and everyone stops running. May and Drew find themselves fighting side by side as the onslaught of grunts comes charging at them. May immediately sends out her Blaziken, while Drew sends out Roserade. The agents in front of them send out their own pokémon, and a fierce battle ensues. May Mega Evolves Blaziken, and Drew does the same with Roserade. May always loved Roserade's Mega form. She grows 2 extra arms on her front and back, and her mask becomes a full cowl that covers her entire face, and her hair gets untied and falls down to her now 4 shoulders. Her thighs grow small spikes, which allow her to combine her legs together and turn into a spinning top should she wish. Completing this new look is her cape, which morphs into an armour plate with holes for her new arms. With these 2 mega forms, Team Terra's pokémon are defeated with extreme ease.
However, the battle soon changes when a Team Terra agent comes out of the carnage to punch May. She manages to dodge it and leaps into the air, kicking the agent in the head, knocking him out. "Oh, so it's going to be like that is it?" she asks, tightening her bandana and cracking her knuckles. "That's fine with me." Ever since Blaziken learned how to Mega Evolve, May had begun to copy his fighting style, to make her battles in the Contests even more flashy. Now, this training comes in handy, as she's able to fight back against any Team Terra agent who tries to hit her. Drew is also able to hold his own to some extent, but not as well as May. As a result, Roserade needs to save him a few times. It doesn't help that he keeps getting distracted by May's fighting.
And he's not the only one who's watching her. During the commotion, Meyer had slipped away and donned his Blaziken Mask attire. He Mega Evolves his own Blaziken and they charge into battle together. But as they join the fray, Meyer is distracted by May. He watches in amazement as she fights with her Mega Blaziken. She mimics his punches and kicks perfectly, as if they are fighting as one. He's so amazed by this that he almost gets hit by a Team Terra agent. But he comes to his senses in time to dodge the attack knock the agent out with a strike to the head. Then he runs over to May. "You're good with your Blaziken!" he tells her. "Thanks," she replies. "Why are you dressed like that Mr. Citron?" Meyer wants to argue that it's not him, but it isn't the time. "I'll tell you later," he replies. "For now, let me show you what a real Blaziken user can do!" With that, he leaps into the fray, mimicking his Blaziken's attacks perfectly. As he does, to May's amazement, fire seems to burst from his hands and feet. As the fighting rages on, she makes a note to ask him about that when it's all over.
If Iris wasn't so focused on all the fighting, she'd be screaming right now. Georgia had Mega Evolved her Beartic, and it's easily the scariest Ice Type Iris has ever seen. He's grown so much more muscular that he has to run on all-fours. His claws have formed into boots made of ice on his paws. Jagged icicles have sprouted all over his back, except for his neck, where Georgia sits right now, directing the bear's attacks. Completing this monstrous look is his icy beard, which has morphed into 2 sabertoothed tusks jutting out of his mouth. Iris swallows her fear and Mega Evolves her Haxorus, before climbing onto his back as well. From there, both she and Georgia are unstoppable. They rampage through Team Terra's forces like 2 tanks with claws and teeth. They manage to refrain from killing anyone, but they do knock quite a few people out.
Unfortunately, it all comes to a screeching halt when Beartic is struck by a large Flamethrower from one of Team Terra's pokémon. Georgia is knocked off her pokémon as Beartic cries out in pain. Iris clambers off of Haxorus to check on her, and while she does that, Haxorus is struck by an Ice Beam and Fairy Wind at the same time, completely knocking him out. Iris swears loudly at this and recalls Haxorus, before reaching Georgia. Luckily, the redhead is alright, but a bit pissed off by the attack. She and Iris summon 2 more pokémon, Iris with Dragonite and Georgia with Bisharp. Then, while those two run amok amongst Team Terra's pokémon, Iris and Georgia hang back, and fight anyone who approaches them themselves. By working together, the two are a seamless team. They cover each other's blind spots, and propel each other forward to make sure their punches hurt. While neither of them are used to fighting like this, they're still able to hold their own quite well. Especially since all of the agents are scattered and confused by all the chaos.
Neither Dawn nor Zoey have many pokémon that are of any use during a fight. Their pokémon are better at Contests than actual battles, so this ends up being a struggle for them. Eventually, they decide to be smart about this fight rather than strong. So, they recall their pokémon and retreat into one of the buildings that is falling apart. Some of the agents try to follow them, but Piplup stops them by making the stairs slippery, causing them to fall down them. Once the two girls have reached the height they need, they come up with a plan of their own. Zoey's Leafeon creates a bridge of vines for Zoey to walk across to the building on the other side of the main fighting. Zoey kisses Dawn for luck, then she crosses to the other side. Some Team Terra agents spot her and start trying to shoot her down, but Dawn is able to prevent that from happening thanks to Piplup and the rest of her team. Once Zoey has reached the other side, Leafeon joins her, getting rid of the vine bridge as she does. Then, both girls summon all of their pokémon and use them to start picking off agents and their pokémon. They're like snipers from those old war movies Dawn's mother watches.
Down below, both Lukas and Barry notice what the girls are up to, and decide to give them a hand. As more Team Terra agents spot the girls and figure out what they're up to, the two boys rush to either building. They have their biggest pokémon, Lukas's Torterra and Barry's Empoleon, guard the entrances to those buildings. Then, they use the rest of their teams to stop the opposing pokémon from shooting Dawn, Zoey, or any of their pokémon down. While the pokémon do that, the two boys have to fight some of the agents to prevent them from making their way up the buildings. Lukas isn't much of a fighter, but he's able to stop the agents from entering the buildings by knocking them out with various debris he finds. Barry is more athletic than Lukas is, and is able to take on some agents himself. All in all, it's a good plan. That is, until it all goes wrong.
Throughout all of this chaos, more buildings start getting destroyed by the power overload from Team Terra's weapon. And soon enough, Dawn's building becomes one of those. The top of it explodes, throwing her out of it. Zoey screams as Dawn plummets to the ground. Leafeon sends out her vines, and is luckily able to catch her before she hits the ground. She lowers a very dazed Dawn into Lukas's arms, who sets her down gently. Dawn's pokémon, who were lucky enough to have not been thrown out, run over to her to check on her. Zoey quickly recalls her pokémon and runs down to the streets. She barely makes it out of the building before hers explodes as well. She runs to Dawn's side as they're surrounded by Team Terra. But, before any of the agents can even open their mouths to make a threat, Torterra creates a small Earthquake, knocking the agents over. "Good job Torterra!" Lukas calls as he struggles to remain standing. "But next time, give me a warning!" Then, he falls over, into Barry's arms. Suddenly, he finds that maybe it's better if Torterra didn't warn him.
Meanwhile, at the part of the battle closest to the tower, Goh, Chloe and Gary have tasked themselves with holding the line. Goh figured it's only a matter of time before the agents realise that this is a trick, and try to run back to the Tower. So, the 3 of them have placed themselves in the way. Of course, they aren't free of any battles. There are still agents to deal with here, especially since none of them think they'd be able to take them in a physical fight. For now though, they're able to keep the grunts at bay with their own pokémon. Cinderace is making quick work of any challenge that comes his way. As he manages to knock down a Golem, he lets out a bellow of victory. Flareon is also able to hold her own, despite having only recently evolved. Goh can't help but think back to the day Eevee made her choice to be a Flareon. She had seen Cinderace, as well as some of Goh's other fire types, doing some particularly cool training that day, and decided that she wanted to be able to do things like that as well. Plus, it meant she and Chloe wouldn't get cold. She hates being cold.
Goh is brought out of his memory by Gary, shouting, "Oi, Goh! Some of them are starting to return to the tower!" Goh wheels around and sees that he's right. 5 agents have made a break for it back to the Tower. He curses to himself, then orders Cinderace to help him turn them around. But before either of them can do anything, all 5 suddenly seize up, as jolts of electricity course through them. When they collapse, Goh can see an Emolga standing there, clearly pleased with itself. Before he can question what on Earth just happened, a voice calls out, "No need to thank me! I figured you'd need my help at some point." Goh turns to see who's speaking, and sees the girl that Bonnie was about to battle before all of this chaos went down. "Trixie?" he asks. "What are you doing here?" Trixie rolls her eyes. "What does it look like I'm doing?" she asks. "I'm helping! I just figured you lot could use more of it, since you're frighteningly outnumbered." If they weren't so desperate for help, Goh would've scalded her for her attitude. Instead, he thanks her, and explains the plan to her. Trixie smirks at this. "Seems easy enough," she says. "Now, let's get on with this, I've got a certain trainer I want to put in her place!"
Shauna could practically feel the moral of their side begin to dwindle once the first gunshot rings out. But even so, everyone continues fighting, desperate to keep the agents away from the tower for just a bit longer. As she and Tierno are jostled around by all the chaos, Shauna gets a chance to see what had happened with the gunshot. As it turns out, it's only another one of those guns Megan used to keep Max hostage. She sees Drew get back on his feet after being zapped, while May knocks the gun out of the hand of the agent that shot him. But this becomes a turning point in the fight, as more agents produce their own weapons. "Hold fast!" Meyer calls. "Try to disarm them if you can, and avoid getting shot! There could be more than just stunners amongst these people!" With that scary thought in mind, Shauna refocuses on the fighting. Like with Dawn and Zoey, her pokémon aren't really suited to fighting. They can still do some damage, but their defence is terrible. So, Tierno orders his to keep hers safe from attacks.
While this happens, more and more agents close in on them, trying to hit them with their weapons or fists. So, Tierno comes up with a plan. To Shauna's amazement, he begins breakdancing. As he does, he kicks out like a Hitmontop, knocking over agents or knocking their weapons out of their hands. Shauna joins in, grabbing a metal pipe from some of the debris and twirling it like a baton. She dances around Team Terra's forces, smacking the pipe against their hands or their heads whenever she can. While she does this, her pokémon continue to struggle against the opposing team's. What a sight we must be, Shauna thinks to herself. Two teenagers beating up eco terrorists by dancing. If only Trevor was here. He'd have gotten so many good pictures out of this! Though, Shauna also supposes she should be thankful that he's off in another region, taking pictures as a recently instated member of Project Mew. She pushes her old friend out of her mind and refocuses on the fight at hand. As she does so, a thought crosses her mind. The same thought as everyone else in the group. "Hurry up guys! I don't know how much longer we can hold out!"
Wow, that was messy, I'll admit. But I figured that I haven't given many of them proper attention since their introductions, which is why I've split the Kalos Crisis itself into two parts, to give equal focus to everyone. Still, I hope this was still good. In case it wasn't clear, I will be bringing physical fights into this story as well, because even though my writing of pokémon battles has improved, my writing style is definitely more suited to physical combat. Plus, I've always thought it was kind of stupid that the evil villain of each pokémon game would give up and allow you to thwart their plans because you defeated their team. Which is why I will have my more higher stakes fights, like the climaxes for example, be physical combat as well as pokémon battles, because then there's more of a threat in the story. But anyway, I'll stop rambling now, and see you on Friday.