Author's Note: To assure guest reviewer MarcusDarkus87's fears, no, this story isn't dead, nor it will be, since I plan to see it to completion.
Chapter 38:
Fear and Growth
Legen Town
It was the morning after the Legen Town contest, and the group were having breakfast at the town's Pokemon Center. With the contest over and no Pokemon Gym for Ash to challenge, there was nothing left to do there, so they were ready to bid the town goodbye. Not that they were in a hurry to leave, though, as they had the whole day to resume their travel.
"Are you sure you want us to go to Amatree?" Ash asked Serena. "I'm sure there are other towns that will hold contests soon."
The honey blonde shook her head. "No, I don't want to delay us any longer. I only have one more ribbon to win, while you still have to earn four badges."
"Serena, I think I already told you before that your contests aren't slowing us down..." Ash said.
"Piiika," Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"Look. Amatree will host a contest in a week and a half. With good pace, we can get there with at least three days to spare," Serena insisted, as she showed Ash and the siblings a map displayed on her tablet, with the route marked with a red blinking line. "In fact, Ash may be even able to challenge the Gym Leader before the contest begins. Once Ash has his badge and I have all the ribbons, we can head to East Tandor."
"Not to be pessimist Serena, but what if you don't win the Amatree contest then?" Clemont suggested. "You'll be skipping on a lot of contests that you won't be able to retake if you don't win that one."
"From what I'm seeing, East Tandor also has towns with Contest Halls, so should the worst come to pass, I'll keep trying there," Serena replied.
"I see you made up your mind," Ash said. "Alright then, once we're done here, let's pack our things, pick our Pokemon, and head towards Amatree."
No one objected to that.
…
About an hour later, the group was ready to leave. With their Pokemon fully healed and everything stored inside their backpacks, the group of four walked through the town to the east, ready to continue their journey.
As they passed the Contest Hall, Serena couldn't help but let out a dejected sigh. The memory of her battle against Sayaka was still fresh in her mind. Even if her determination was still unshaken, her inability to defeat the raven haired ninja gnawed at her mind. Though it wasn't merely a matter of being skilled in a Pokemon battle, there was much more to it.
In her road to self-discovery during her journey through her home region, Serena had learned not only what she wanted to do with her life, but what she must do in order to achieve it. And she saw this new journey as an opportunity to take all that she had learned from her experiences, from Aria, from Palermo, and put it to practice.
Something she was already doing not only by merely learning even more and pushing her Pokemon's skill to new heights in order to dazzle the public, but also to help those in need, such as Vitor, despite the boy being her rival.
Sayaka considered Serena her own antithesis, but the ninja's words made the honey blonde realize that the opposite was also true. Sayaka was somebody who challenged Serena's views, who wanted to prove them wrong. Sayaka wasn't just an obstacle for Serena to beat in order to become Top Coordinator, like the rest of her rivals.
Serena needed to beat Sayaka in order to prove that her philosophy wasn't wrong.
Serena knew that Aria would be able to reach somebody like Sayaka and make her smile again. And thus, if she ever wanted to surpass her mentor, this was something Serena had to learn to do as well.
"Serena?" Ash asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, sure! I'm fine!" Serena quickly replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you seemed a bit distracted for a bit. And I noticed that we just passed the Contest Hall," Ash said, pointing at the building now behind them with his thumb. "Still thinking about yesterday?"
"A bit, yeah," Serena replied, rubbing her arm.
Ash, however, smiled. "It's okay. Don't worry, I'll make sure we'll train even more, so when the two of you face again, you-"
"Ash," Serena interrupted him. "I don't think I'm going to beat her by simply training more."
The boy shot the honey blonde a look as if she said the most stupid thing in the world, before frowning a little. "Come on Serena, don't tell me you're going to give up! You can't let-"
"It's not that," she interrupted him for the second time in a row. "It's that... um, well... ugh, this is a little hard to put into words."
Ash didn't say anything, and patiently waited for Serena to put her thoughts in order so she could voice what she was thinking.
"Ash, you traveled through many regions. So I assume that you had quite a few rivalries, right?" Serena asked.
"Yup!"
"Though, do any of those rivals... did you feel like any of them weren't just opponents to beat, but your opposites in a much deeper way?" Serena asked. Ash scrunched his face a little, trying to remember if there was any rival that fit such description. "Because, well... I think that's what Sayaka is to me. When we battle, it's not just our skill on the line, but also our convictions. And I believe I will only be able to beat her once my convictions are as strong as hers."
Then, Ash's face lit up, as if the memory he was looking for was finally unlocked. "Oh yeah, now I remember! Paul!"
"Paul?" Serena asked.
"A guy I battled many times during my journeys through Sinnoh," Ash began. "Our rivalry was pretty intense, and not because we were both aiming for the top with everything we had, but because we had very different approaches to do it."
"Huh? How so?" she asked.
"Well... when it came to Pokemon, Paul didn't believe that befriending them was necessary. He had very high expectations, and his training methods were really hardcore. If Paul caught a Pokemon that he felt had little potential, he would release it without hesitation. And even if a Pokemon had potential, if said Pokemon couldn't keep up with the training, Paul would release it too. In fact, that's how I got Infernape," he explained.
Serena remembered the red and white fire monkey at the ranch. While she never saw him in combat, he looked pretty strong. Also, Serena could easily imagine why Ash and this Paul character clashed, if Ash's description of him was truthful. While Ash had released Pokemon, having seen so herself with Goodra, it was always to the benefit of said Pokemon, and couldn't picture the raven haired boy releasing a Pokemon just because he felt it was weak or something like that.
"Paul used to be Infernape's trainer back when he was a Chimchar, but he was unable to meet Paul's standards, so he released him. Chimchar felt devastated so I offered him to travel with me and my Pokemon, which he accepted," Ash said, smiling at the memory. "I also wanted to take this as an opportunity to show Paul that he was wrong about Chimchar, and that every Pokemon has potential to be awesome."
"And did you beat him?" the honey blonde asked.
"At first, no. We fought many times, and he won almost all of them," Ash continued. "It wasn't until we faced each other during the Sinnoh League for the last time where I was able to finally defeat him. And not just that, but Infernape, the Pokemon he had discarded back then, defeated half of Paul's Pokemon, including his Electivire, his strongest battler."
"Wow..." Serena said. If there was somebody who could take a Pokemon from zero to champion, that was Ash. "Though, this Paul seemed to be quite shortsighted if he couldn't see how awesome Infernape was."
"You see, Infernape's ability is a special kind of Blaze that gives him an even bigger power boost than normal. However, it came at the cost of Infernape losing his mind and going berserk. Paul caught Chimchar because of such power, and put him through a very rough training in order to master it, but he was unable to, that's why Paul released him.
"I felt that Chimchar could be great even without that special Blaze, so I trained him like any other of my Pokemon, and let him grow at his own pace. It was that way that Chimchar, as Infernape, was able to fully master his special Blaze," Ash said, seemingly finishing his tale.
"And the next time you faced Paul, you beat him, right?" Serena asked, hopeful.
"Oh no. The next time we faced each other, he beat me so hard, it was almost comical," Ash said, sounding like somebody remembering a funny anecdote. "It wasn't until the next time, at the League, that I finally beat him."
Serena was growing frustrated. "Then how did you do it? How did you finally beat him after losing to him time and time again?" Serena asked, feeling that she was reaching the answer she so desperately craved.
"I kept training as hard as I could. I continued to believe in myself, and trust my Pokemon. And in the end, we won," Ash said.
Serena waited for Ash to continue, but when the boy did not, she realized that was all he had to say.
The honey blonde raised an eyebrow. "That... that's it? That's how you beat Paul? Just believing in yourself and training hard?"
"Is there anything more to it?" Ash asked. Judging by the tone, it was a genuine question.
"Well... maybe I thought that you reached some sort of realization that gave you an insight on how to defeat Paul," Serena explained.
"No, not really. That's all there is to it."
Serena sighed, a little disappointed, though he chided herself for feeling that way. This was Ash, she should have known that he wasn't going to reveal some deep secret that would allow her to beat her bitter rival in an easy way.
"In that case, I think I'll take up your offer of more training," Serena finally said. "If I'm going to prove to Sayaka that my conviction isn't wrong, I'll better put my proverbial money where my mouth is."
"Well said!" Ash cheerfully agreed. "You'll see, next time, you're going to-"
Ash was interrupted by a bright flash of light, followed a second later by a booming noise coming from the north.
And that was followed by the earth shaking for a few seconds.
"What... what was that?" Bonnie asked, her voice a whisper, as Dedenee hid inside her bag.
"It came from Vinoville's direction..." Clemont said, as he and the others looked towards the north. Other people around them started to look in the same direction, and murmured in worry.
A plume of smoke could be seen in the horizon
"Wait... wasn't there a Nuclear Power Plant there...?" Serena fearfully asked.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" a shout came from the sky. Everybody looked up, and saw a Ranger flying on a Staraptor. They remembered her as Wendy, the same Ranger who had warned them about the Pokemon thieves back in the Baa Grasslands. She was holding a megaphone. "There has been a meltdown at the Nuclear Plant Zeta! This is NOT a drill, there has been a meltdown at the Nuclear Plant Zeta!"
"What? No!" A man said.
"Two meltdowns so close to each other?" A woman cried.
"What's going to be of us...!" An elderly man dejectedly said.
"No... not again!" Clemont moaned in horror.
"But... why? Why does this keep happening!?" a frustrated Ash asked.
"All civilians, head to the town's bunkers and stay there until it's deemed safe to come out!" Wendy said. "We normally don't do this, but if any trainer wishes to join the Ranger Corps and lend their help in this emergency, please go to the town's edge with the Nature Preserve, to the north!"
"We should go and help them," Ash suggested. "Bealbeach City was overrun by a horde of Nuclear-type Pokemon after the first power plant blew up, and the same thing could happen to Legen."
"Pi, pika!" Pikachu agreed.
"And yes, I already know you're going to tell me to stay in Legen," Bonnie stated before Clemont could say anything. While annoyed, she thankfully seemed to understand the why..
"It's good that you're being reasonable in such a time of crisis. Luxray, come out!" Clemont said, sending out his strongest Pokemon. Clemont then grabbed Bonnie and sat it over the Gleam Eyes Pokemon's back. "Luxray, there's been an emergency. Ash, Serena and I are going to help the Rangers deal with it. I want you to take Bonnie to the shelters and take care of her until we return. Can you do that?"
"Lux, luxray!" the feline energetically nodded, as if assuring Clemont that he had nothing to fear, before sprinting away with Bonnie on his back.
"Alright, let's go!"
…
A few minutes later, Ash, Serena and Clemont were at the edge of the Nature Preserve, alongside other trainers that also volunteered to help. In front of them was a group of Rangers, led by the woman with the Staraptor, Wendy. There were also multiple jeeps and vans painted with the green and black of the Tandor Ranger Union parked around them.
"Thank you for coming. The situation is dire, so I'll be as brief as possible," the light-green haired woman began. "About fifteen minutes ago, Nuclear Plant Zeta, north of Vinoville Town, suffered a reactor meltdown. The cause of this attack was a horde of Nuclear Pokemon, similar to the incident at Nuclear Plant Epsilon. Vinoville Town, as well as all its surrounding areas, are now completely irradiated. No human can live there, and every Pokemon there has been turned into a Nuclear Pokemon.
"Fortunately, this disaster isn't as bad as it could have been. We got an anonymous tip that this attack was coming, so our fellow Rangers were able to evacuate the town, as well as the people in the Wheatfields that lived close to the power plant, before the reactor blew up. We're told that, while people in the Wheatfields will be taken to Bealbeach via ship, people in Vinoville are being escorted towards Legen as we speak.
"However, we've been told that the Nuclear Horde isn't going to stay idle at Vinoville, but are actually giving chase to the people! So far, the Rangers and trainers escorting them, Gym Leader Sheldon included, are keeping the few Nuclear Pokemon harassing the group at bay. However, it will only be a matter of time until the thick of the horde reaches the group. We need to get to them before that happens. Now, I'm going to ask, does any of you have previous experience fighting Nuclear Pokemon?"
Only Ash, Serena and Clemont raised their hands, causing both the other volunteers and the Rangers to murmur among themselves.
"Well, that's better than nobody. Okay, for the rest of you, I'm not gonna lie, these Nuclear Pokemon are both extremely aggressive and dangerous. If there's anybody having second thoughts about this, now's your chance to turn back."
No one turned back, though.
"Good to see that. Now everybody, get on a jeep or on a van! We'll go and meet the Vinoville residents at the Nature Preserve, and we'll lead them towards Legen! Go, go, go!" Wendy urged, before pointing at Ash, Serena and Clemont. "You three, with me!"
They didn't need to be told twice. All the volunteers quickly split into groups and boarded either a jeep or a van, with Ash, Serena and Clemont going with Wendy herself on her jeep.
A few minutes later, a convoy of jeeps and vans headed north as fast as their wheels could carry them, leaving a trail of dust behind.
…
"Oh, so you were those guys!" Wendy said in realization.
On their way to meet the group of refugees, Ash, Serena and Clemont took the chance to reacquaint themselves with Wendy, reminding them of their encounter with the Baa Grasslands. As the jeep rolled through the grassy slopes, Wendy's Staraptor soared above them.
"Though, I believe there was a little girl in your group as well," Wendy pointed out.
"Yes, my sister Bonnie," Clemont said. "But we decided to leave her back at Legen, so she can be safe there."
"Good call," Wendy said approvingly, while the car hit a small bump. "So, you said you had experience fighting Nuclear-type Pokemon? Were you at the Bealbeach disaster?"
"Yeah. Though Serena and I fought them earlier than that, when we accompanied Clemont to the power plant on the island there," Ash explained.
"So, you were on the Power Plant Epsilon before it was attacked, then you were present at Bealbeach when the Nuclear horde invaded it, and now Power Plant Zeta blows up just after you guys left Vinoville..." Wendy recounted. "Did anybody tell you you guys are a magnet for trouble? Because you guys have to be the closest thing to an Absol in human form."
"Yeah, we've been told that quite a few times, hehe," Ash said, chuckling awkwardly.
Oh, if only this Ranger knew what Ash alone had lived through long before he ever set a foot on this region...
"Oh! I just remembered something from the Bealbeach City attack: turns out the Rangers' Stylers didn't work against Nuclear Pokemon, so you'll only have your partner Pokemon to battle them," Ash told Wendy.
"We know. We'll have to rely on our partner Pokemon in order to face them. It's not ideal, but we aren't going to stay idle while we let those monsters wreak havoc on our region," she said, gripping the steering wheel. "With or without Capture Stylers, we Rangers will keep this region safe no matter what!."
"Pi, pika!" Pikachu said, pointing a paw ahead.
Ash narrowed his eyes, and could see something coming from the opposite direction towards them.
"It looks like we managed to get them in time," Wendy said, letting out a sigh of relief. As the jeep approached, they could see it was a rather large group of people. Floating above them, there was a large amount of S51. Leading them was no other than Sheldon.
The jeep stopped a few meters in front of the group, as it did the rest of the convoy. Soon, all the volunteer trainers and the Rangers stepped out of the vehicles, their hands already on their pokeballs and Capture Stylers, respectively, ready to battle despite the current lack of enemies.
"Oh thank goodness, reinforcements!" the bespectacled Gym Leader said, as he approached the Ranger Captain.
"Is this all the people in Vinoville?" Wendy asked.
"I think. I mean, it's not like I had the time to count them if there was somebody missing," Sheldon replied. "They need to be escorted to Legen ASAP! There's an horde of radioactive nasties on our heels, and none of these people can defend themselves!"
"Calm down. That's why we're here," Wendy stated. She then addressed the large group of townspeople. "Alright, those who are either elderly, have small kids, or have physical disabilities may go on the vehicles! The rest of us will have to continue on foot!" Wendy said, before turning back at her Rangers and the volunteers. "Divisions A and B, as well as the volunteers, will stay with me and fend off the horde's advance! Divisions C and D, you'll escort the townspeople back to Legen! Alright, let's see where those bastards are now..." Wendy said, as she pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area ahead of them.
"Hey, Ash!" a familiar voice said.
Ash and his friends saw a boy with red hair with a yellow streak in the middle walking towards them.
"Theo!" Ash said.
"Oh, of course! You said that you were going back to Vinoville to beat Sheldon!" Serena remembered. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
"Yeah. Thankfully the Rangers were able to alert the people and evacuated us in time," Theo said, as she looked in the direction of Vinoville. "Maybe it's not the best time to announce it, but I defeated Sheldon at last. So thank you guys for lending me a hand back then..."
"Don't sweat it. Though, you might want to put those skills to good use and help us stop the horde of Nuclear Pokemon getting into Legen," Ash told him.
Theo's expression was that of resolve. "You can count on me and my Pokemon!"
That moment, they heard Wendy's radio crackle.
"Wendy, this is Elita, do you copy?" a female voice said.
"I hear you, Elita. What's going on?" Wendy replied.
"I've got some news, ma'am. Apparently, multiple of those Nuclear Pokemon have split from the main group and are attacking wild Pokemon indiscriminately," Elita told her. "If we don't do anything soon, this will be a massacre!"
"Oh shit, the wild Pokemon!" Wendy cursed, slapping a hand against her forehead. "I forgot that those monsters attack anything that's not one of them, either human or Pokemon. Alright people, we can't just wait for them to come to us! Let's form small teams and spread out! No one is allowed to go alone, you hear me!? Go, go, go!"
"Theo, better come with me," Ash suggested.
"That means I'll go with Clemont then," Serena said.
"Alright, if you guys have trouble, don't hesitate to give us a call!" Ash told his friends, his left wrist held to show his pokegear.
"That goes for you too, Ash," Serena reminded him.
"Don't worry, I won't give you guys any reason to worry," Ash reassured them. "Now let's go!"
And thus Ash and Theo headed towards a forested area to the east, while Serena and Clemont went to the west, where a river was flowing.
…
It didn't take long for Ash and Theo to encounter Nuclear Pokemon. The moment the two trainers were spotted, one of them let out a howl, as if to tell the rest of the horde that there were new victims ripe for tearing apart, making the nearby radioactive monsters home upon them, while letting out crazed growls and cries.
"WHOA! THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM!" Theo shouted, clearly freaked out. "What are we gonna do!?"
"We face them! Let's use all our Pokemon at once!" Ash said, throwing all six of his pokeballs in the air. "I choose all of you! To battle!"
The pokeballs opened mid air, releasing all six of Ash's current Pokemon, all of them taking battle stances as soon as they materialized. The Nuclear Pokemon weren't deterred upon the sight of the new arrivals, probably happy that they had more targets to maul.
Ash didn't even need to give an order for his Pokemon to engage the enemy. Greninja caught mid leap a Tancoon that jumped at him, before kicking it back with Aerial Ace; Raptorch let out a fiery Flamethrower, forcing back several Baashaun that were getting close; a pair of Gligar dived from above, their claws glowing with a sickly green aura –Ash recognized the move as Nuclear Slash, the same move Clemont's Geigeroach had–, but it was parried by Metalynx's Iron Tail; Aveden carried Frosulo between his talons, as the Ice Crystal Pokemon used Powder Snow to freeze a bunch of Nuclear Mareep and Baashaun.
"Come on Theo, my Pokemon will need your help!" Ash urged the redhead.
"R-Right! Get out, everyone! Time to fight!" Theo said, mimicking Ash and throwing all his pokeball into the air.
Just like before, Theo's Pokemon joined the fray as soon as they materialized. His own Metalynx joined Ash's, protecting its kind from a pair of furtive Nuclear Ekans with Leaf Blade; Folerog started to fire Bubble Beams constantly in every direction; Lunapup knocked out a Nuclear Baaschaf with a powerful Brick Break; Eshouten caught a pair of Nuclear Pahar with Confusion and slammed them against each other, knocking them out instantly, and Devimp pelted a nearby Nuclear Arbok with Shadow Ball.
With Ash and Theo's Pokemon working together, the group of Nuclear Pokemon was slowly pushed back.
"Yes! We're beating them back!" Theo cheered.
"Don't lower your guard! More will come to take the place of those we have defeated!" Ash warned the younger boy.
"Ugh, don't these guys know the meaning of surrender?" Theo complained.
"Apparently not," Ash said, shooting the Nuclear Pokemon in front of him with a steely glare. "But neither do we!"
"Pikapi!" Pikachu warned Ash.
"Look, over there!" Ash said, pointing in the direction Pikachu had warned.
Right there, they saw a couple of Owten being harassed by a pair of Nuclear Tancoon and a single Nuclear Tanscure.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of that! Folerog, Poison Jab! Eshouten, Air Cutter!" Theo quickly commanded.
Eshouten quickly hovered above the attacking Pokemon, sent a pair of blades of compressed air down with a beat of its wings. The projectiles slammed against the Tancoon, pushing them backwards, while Folerog charged at the Tanscure, its front legs coated in a purple aura, before delivering a pair of powerful thrusts at the evolved Pokemon.
While those attacks alone weren't enough to knock the trio of canine Pokemon out, it gave the Owten the chance to run away.
"Well done, Theo! Keep going!" Ash praised the redhead. "But don't lower your guard!"
"No innocent Pokemon will suffer any harm as long as I'm here!" Theo proudly boasted, probably channeling some superhero he saw on TV.
"Theo, to your right, watch out!" Ash warned.
Theo turned to said direction, only to see a Nuclear Arbok slithering menacingly towards him. Once spotted, it abandoned all pretenses of stealth, and lunged at the redheaded boy with its jaws wide open, while all that Theo could do was stare at it like a Deerling in the headlights.
"SHAAABAK!"
"GRE!"
But before the Arbok could attack Theo, A Water Shuriken smashed against its face, drenching it in a watery explosion and pushing it backwards. This seemed to snap Theo out of his scare-induced stupor.
"Folerog, Muddy Water!" Theo ordered.
The Long Toad Pokemon landed between its trainers and the Nuclear serpent, before releasing a torrent of brown liquid from its mouth, washing the Arbok away.
"Theo!" Ash said, as he ran towards the boy, with Greninja behind him. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Theo said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the save there."
"That's why I told you not to lower your guard. These Nuclear Pokemon are both relentless and aggressive," Ash said.
"Don't worry. You won't have to save my butt again," Theo replied.
That moment, Pikachu's ears perked up. "Pi, pikapi!" Pikachu said, pointing north.
"Pikachu has heard more wild Pokemon being attacked by the Nuclear horde," Ash said.
"In that case, no time to waste! Let's save them!" Theo stated, the brief panic now gone and replaced by his usual bravado.
…
"Delphox, Flamethrower in a wide arc! Minicorn, use Double Kick on that approaching Tanscure!"
"Chespin, Iron Head! Nucleon, Shadow Ball!"
In the western part of the route, Serena and Clemont already had their Pokemon out –minus Luxray, who was back at Legen taking care of Bonnie–, and were facing a group of Nuclear-types. As the rangers had said, they were attacking indiscriminately every non-Nuclear Pokemon that got in their line of sight. Fortunately, it seemed that the new group of Pokemon were enough of a threat to keep most of the Nuclear group's attention on them, and all of them fought with resolve and courage, following the instructions of their respective trainers when possible.
All of them minus one.
"Syl..."
Sylveon hadn't joined the fray, choosing to remain next to Serena, looking apprehensively at the battle in front of her. The honey blonde knew that the Intertwining Pokemon hadn't overcome her fear of Nuclear-types yet, so she wanted to give her enough time to psyche herself up. Serena believed that fighting alongside all her teammates would make Sylveon less fearful of the radioactive Pokemon. But given that the fight had been going on for some time, it was obvious that Sylveon had no intention of fighting.
"Sylveon," Serena said, her eyes still fixed on the battle in front of her. "If you aren't going to battle, you can return to your pokeball. You'll be safer there."
"Sylve..." Sylveon whined, looking at the battle. She raised a leg as if to take a step forward, but the moment a Nuclear attack hit the ground, creating a small explosion, the Eeveelution flinched.
"Sylveon, I'm not going to think any less of you if you sit this one out," Serena gently said. "I understand that, for this kind of enemy, you might not be at your best, and I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to."
Still, Sylveon looked undecided. Serena could tell that her desire to join and help her teammates and her fear of Nuclear-types were tearing her apart on the inside. Unfortunately for Serena, she had no time to reassure Sylveon right now.
"Sorry Sylveon, but I need to-"
"SYL!"
Faster than Serena could see, Sylveon leaped forward, waving her feeler and releasing a flurry of golden stars. The stars then homed towards a Nuclear Eshouten that was diving at Delphox, who was busy fending off a Nuclear Trawpint with Hidden power, and thus didn't see the enemy above her. The golden stars smashed into the flier, blasting it backwards.
"D-Del...?" Delphox asked, a little startled, only having noticed the Eshouten now, and then looked at Sylveon. "Phox, delphox!"
"S-Syl...?" Sylveon asked, and looked around in confusion, as if still trying to process what she just did.
"Sylveon, you saved Delphox!" Serena beamed. It seemed that Sylveon's love and desire to protect her friends and teammates was indeed stronger than her fear of Nuclear-types.
"S-Syl, sylveon!" Sylveon happily cried, once the implications of her action finally sunk in.
"See? There's nothing you need to fear! Just like how you protected your friends, they can protect you too!" Serena told her.
Sylveon nodded, and with renewed confidence, joined her teammates in battle. Even if she stayed cautiously close to Delphox, she wasn't letting her fear stop her from helping.
"Chespin, catch that Kinetmunk with Vine Whip!" Clemont shouted. "And Bunnelby, Mud Shot!"
As said Kinetmunk leaped at them, Chespin caught it mid air with his whips, before Bunnelby launched several globs of mud at the Nuclear Pokemon, making it cry in pain, before Chespin tossed it away.
"Well done!" Serena praised Clemont's Pokemon, before addressing their trainer. "Come on, we need to push them back. We can-"
Serena was interrupted by a crackling noise, as Chespin's entire body was enveloped by a bright, blueish-white light, and began to grow in size, while his body became rounder, and the spikes on his head became longer. Everybody watched in awe how Chespin evolved, especially Pancham, who looked with his mouth agape and eyes wide open.
"Quill, quilladin!" The newly evolved Pokemon cheered.
"Chespin, you evolved!" Clemont cried in joy.
"Din, quil!" Quilladin happily replied, giving his trainer a thumbs up.
"That's so fortuitous! That will make this battle a little easier now," Clemont said. "Come on Quilladin, show them what you can do!"
"Qui, quilla!" Quilladin excitedly agreed, as he turned towards a pair of incoming Nuclear Gligar that dived towards them from above. "QUI!"
A pair of vines grew out of Quilladin's body and lashed out towards the aerial Nuclear Pokemon with resounding cracks, instantly knocking the attacking Pokemon out cold.
"Whoa! Look at the power of that Vine Whip!" Clemont said, sharing his Pokemon's excitement. "See Quilladin? This isn't just evolution, but the fruit of your hard work. If you keep improving yourself, you'll be able to accomplish amazing things!"
"Quill, din!" Quilladin agreed.
"Now let's keep going. There are many Nuclear Pokemon still left!"
…
"We're going to face a Nuclear Gyarados!?" Theo asked in shock.
Once Ash and Theo had cleared the area of Nuclear Pokemon, they were told by a Ranger that a Nuclear Gyarados has been seen emerging from a nearby lake, and that since Ash had already took down one in Bealbeach City, he was the best suited to face it, something the trainer from Pallet agreed to without hesitation, so he recalled all his Pokemon and headed towards the spot the Gyarados was last seen.
Of course, Theo was far less eager to fight a Nuclear Pokemon of such size and power. Not that Ash would blame him, having seen his fair of Gyarados, Ash felt a little worried over the prospect of facing one himself.
"You don't have to come with me," Ash told the redhead, as he ran towards the area the Ranger had told him about, with Theo trailing behind him. "I'm sure there are other Nuclear Pokemon causing trouble that you could deal with."
"N-No! This won't be a repeat of Comet Cave! I'm not running away a second time!" Theo insisted. While Theo didn't appear too ashamed of running away in terror when that giant Terlard appeared, it seemed that over time, he began to regret that moment, if his current reaction was anything to go by.
The sound of a terrifying roar, followed by explosions which were without doubt the result of Pokemon attacks let Ash and Theo know that they were going in the correct direction. They were quickly greeted with the sight of a Nuclear Gyarados, in all its horrifying glory, towering over a single Baaschaf, who stood protectively in front of a couple of frightened Baashaun. The Baaschaf shot a Shadow Ball at the Gyarados, but the Nuclear Pokemon batted it away with an Aqua Tail, before trying to smash the Hard Horn Pokemon with its water-covered tail.
"Metalynx, I choose you!" Ash said, throwing a pokeball forward. "Protect those Pokemon from the Gyarados! Use Iron Tail!"
As soon as Metalynx emerged from the pokeball, the Armored Pokemon leaped towards the Gyarados, her tail glowing with a silvery light, and used it to parry the Aqua Tail before it could hit the Baaschaf, the clash of tails producing a shockwave and a burst of wind in every direction.
"Get out of here! We'll take care of this one!" Ash told the wild Pokemon.
The black-wooled sheep seemingly understood, as they ran away as fast as possible, while Gyarados glared at the Grass and Steel-type Pokemon.
"Let's go, Metalynx!" Theo said, sending his starter, who materialized next to Ash's. He opened his mouth to order an attack, but then he closed it for some reason, before looking at Ash. "Uh, what's the plan, Ash? Should we attack together?"
"Yes. If we attack from different angles at once, we'll be able to take it down," Ash told him.
"Sounds great! Have your Metalynx use a ranged move so mine can get closer!" Theo suggested.
"Very well! Metalynx, Energy Ball!" Ash ordered.
"Use Leaf Blade, Metalynx!" Theo ordered as well.
Ash's Metalynx opened her mouth and fired an emerald orb of energy at Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokemon countered it by breathing a wall of blue and purple flames at it –and attack Ash identified as Dragon Rage,– however, Theo's Metalynx was already leaping at the Nuclear beast, its tail glowing with a bright green glow, before delivering a powerful swipe at Gyarados. The Nuclear Pokemon roared in pain, as it exhaled another stream of flames, this time bright orange, at both starter Pokemon, which were forced to jump back.
"Whoa! I didn't know that Gyarados could use Fire-type moves!" Theo shouted, looking at the Water and Nuclear-type with increased terror.
"Now you know. Gyarados are truly powerful Pokemon, and a Nuclear one even more so. That's why we need to finish this battle as soon as possible," Ash urged.
"Maybe we could send more Pokemon out..." Theo fearfully suggested.
Ash shook his head. "That's what I did the first time, but it won't be necessary this time around," Ash confidently said, as he held his shuriken necklace, and touched the Keystone inside it. "Alright Metalynx, let's do this, together! Mega Evolve!"
Both the Keystone and Megastone glowed with a bright light, as beams of shining energy fired from each stone towards the other. The beams clashed in the middle, merging together, as Metalynx's own body shone with a bright white aura, while her body began to grow and change. Once the transformation was complete, the glowing aura disappeared as the Mega Evolution helix flashed in front of her.
Needless to say, the transformation had a profound effect on Theo.
"WHOA! Just... what was that!?" Theo asked, and started to tug Ash's arm. "I didn't know Metalynx could do that! How did you do it!? Please tell me!"
"I'll tell you later, now focus on the fight ahead!" Ash told Theo.
Fortunately, the boy complied. "Metalynx, Magical Leaf!"
"Follow with Night Slash, Metalyx!" Ash ordered.
Glowing leaves burst from Metalynx's body and homed onto the Nuclear Gyarados, cutting it with their sharp edges. Ash's Metalynx then leaped forward, its arm blade coated in an aura of darkness, before delivering a powerful swipe just under the Gyarados' head.
"GYAAAA!" Gyarados roared in pain, before glaring at the two Armored Pokemon, as blue and purple flames began to pour out of its open maws.
"Watch out, it's going to use Dragon Rage!" Ash warned Theo.
"Metalynx, Dig!" Theo ordered.
"Counter with X-Scissor!" Ash replied.
As Theo's Metalynx quickly burrowed underground, Ash's own delivered a pair of horizontal swipes with her front paws, launching an X-shaped greenish-yellow energy blast at Gyarados, which plowed through the Dragon Rage until it smashed against the Nuclear's Pokemon face. And right after that, Theo's Metalynx emerged from below, delivering a powerful swipe at Gyarados' body.
After those last two attacks, the Nuclear monster began to wobble, before dropping onto the ground with a loud thud, defeated. While its new Nuclear type gave it a huge boost in offensive power, it came at the expense of becoming much more frail.
"Whoa... we did it!" Theo said. "We beat that Nuclear Gyarados!"
"Yes, we did," Ash said good naturedly, before growing more serious. "However, there are still plenty of Nuclear Pokemon wreaking havoc around the area. It won't be over until we push them back.
"Alright!" Theo nodded.
…
Meanwhile, on the western side of the area, Serena and Clemont continued directing their Pokemon as they continued pushing back the Nuclear Horde. Unlike Ash and Theo, they had the luck not to encounter another Nuclear Gyarados, so their progress was much quicker.
As they directed their Pokemon, though, neither of them noticed that one of them had slipped away.
"Nu! Nucleon!"
Nucleon ran as fast as his legs allowed him to. One of the good things of evolution was that his longer legs allowed for longer strides. He could also sense Nuclear Pokemon from a distance, as he had recently found out. He didn't know if it was something unique to him, or if all Nuclear-types could sense each other. Maybe he could ask Geigeroach when all this was over.
Nucleon heard the cry of help of a distant Pokemon, a mother and her baby were under attack. The Atomic Pokemon had tried to warn Clemont, but his trainer was too busy with the current battle, and couldn't listen to him. Meaning that he had to do it himself.
"Shaabak!"
There she was. As he emerged from behind the shrubbery, he saw a badly battered Arbok battling several Nuclear Pokemon, while standing protectively in front of its Ekans: a Baaschaf, a Flaaffy, two Tancoon and a Gligar. The Arbok fought fiercely, but it was clearly outnumbered and outmatched. The Arbok tried to bite a diving Gligar, but the Fly Scorpion Pokemon moved away at the last second, and the Arbok got a painful Fire Punch from the Baaschaf, followed by a Thundershock from the Flaaffy.
"Shaaa...!" The Arbok cried.
"Ekans, ekans!" The Ekans worriedly hissed for its mother.
No time to waste!
"Cleon!" Nucleon cried as he dashed towards the Baaschaf, as green sparks crackled around his body, leaving a light green trail of light behind him, smashing against the Hard Horn Pokemon with a Nuclear-empowered Quick Attack.
"Shaab?" The Arbok asked confusedly. It clearly wasn't expecting one Nuclear Pokemon to attack their own.
"Nu, nucleon, nu!" Nucleon yelled, hoping that the Arbok could understand that he was on its side. Now it and its Ekans needed to get away. "Cleon, cle!"
Arbok nodded, and it and its Ekans slithered away as fast as it could, leaving Nucleon alone against the group of feral Pokemon.
"BAAAAAA!"
The Baaschaf didn't take kindly being sucker punched like Nucleon did, and prepared a counterattack, both its forearms glowing white, an attack Nucleon couldn't identify but guessed that it would be a Fighting-type move (and that it would hurt a lot), so he quickly moved aside the moment the forearm came down, smashing against the ground with great force.
As he dodged, Nucleon swung his detached tail, glowing with a silvery sheen, smacking Baaschaf in the face with a powerful Iron Tail, sending it rolling backwards.
"FLAAAA!"
Nucleon was forced to dodge again when the Nuclear Flaaffy sent another Thundershock his way, missing its mark and leaving a small patch of grass charred. He then opened his mouth, and prepared a Shadow Ball as a counterattack.
"TAN!"
Before Nucleon could attack, one of the Tancoon got close and sunk its electrified teeth onto the Atomic Pokemon's soft flesh, making Nucleon cry at the pain the Thunder Fang was causing him. And before that, the second Tancoon slammed against him with a strong Tackle, sending him skidding backwards.
"Nu... nuc..." Nucleon wheezed. Now he was starting to realize that taking on multiple enemies on his own wasn't among his brightest ideas.
"GLIIIIII!"
Even if the Gligar's shadow hadn't alerted him, then the Gligar's loud screech would have done the deed. Seeing the Fly Scorpion Pokemon diving at him ready to strike with a Fury Cutter, but Nucleon took no time to direct a Shadow Ball at it, blasting it out of the air.
"CHAAF!"
Unfortunately, that left him wide open for other attacks, and the Baaschaf took the opportunity to deliver him a slash with a claw made of dark energy that extended from its hand, probably a Shadow Claw, but that didn't matter to Nucleon as much as how much the attack hurt him.
"COON! TANCOO!"
And before he had any time to recover, he was hit by two Gamma Rays fired from each of the Tancoon's open jaws. The attack didn't hurt as badly as the others, but it distracted him long enough for the Gligar to nail him with an Acrobatic, which did.
"Nuc! Nuuuuu...!" Nucleon screamed, as the was sent rolling backwards by the Flying-type move.
Every fiber of his body hurt. Trying to get back on his feet only caused his body to ache even more. As the feral Nuclear Pokemon closed by, Nucleon could see the foolery of his actions, trying to take on such a large group on his own. He could see the Baaschaf menacingly approaching as it clenched a hand into a fist which was quickly coated in flames.
"BAAAA!" the Dark and Nuclear-type Pokemon cried, bringing the fiery fist down.
Nucleon closed his eyes, and waited for the searing pain to come. There was a loud noise of a fist crashing against something, mixed with a loud crackle of flames.
But the pain didn't come.
"Nu...?" Nucleon dared to open his three eyes, and saw that the Nuclear Baaschaf was no longer in front of him.
"Syl!"
Instead, he saw Sylveon's back, as the Intertwining Pokemon was facing Baaschaf, who had slammed its fiery fist against a green glowing barrier formed in front of Sylveon. Nucleon blinked, joy mixed with confusion. Did Sylveon just come to his aid?
"Syl, sylveon!" she said, turning her head at him, and smiled.
Oh good lord, she smiled at him.
Suddenly, Nucleon felt his body reinvigorated, as a pleasant warmth washed over his body, as if he was under the effect of a Heal Pulse, despite the fact that no such thing was happening. His body glowed green, as sparks of the same color jumped around his body, before dashing past Sylveon, her Protect already vanishing, slamming bodyfirst against the Baaschaf, which was sent flying backwards by the power of the Take Down.
The other Nuclear Pokemon didn't stay idle, as the two Tancoon quickly lunged at Nucleon, their jaws wide open, ready to sink their teeth into his soft flesh once again.
"Syl-VEON!"
But this time, Nucleon had help. Waving her feelers in an arc, Sylveon sent a flurry of golden stars which homed towards the two leaping Pokemon, smashing against them and blasting them backwards. Flaaffy attempted a Thundershock, but it was intercepted by a Shadow Ball fired by Nucleon, while Sylveon waved her feelers once again, trapping the Nuclear Gligar inside a sparkly pink tornado with Fairy Wind.
Despite now being alone, the Nuclear Flaaffy's mindless aggression overpowered its survival instinct and continued attacking, this time preparing a Electro Ball. Nucleon, however, dodged it with the help of a Quick Attack, and using the burst of speed to get closer, knocked the corrupted Pokemon out with an Iron Tail.
No more Nuclear Pokemon remained in the zone. It was safe, for the time being at the very least.
"Nu?" Nucleon asked, taking a tentative step towards Sylveon.
This time, Sylveon didn't move, nor flinch, nor cry, nor tried to hide. He took another step, and Sylveon didn't move.
However, before he could take another step, Sylveon extended one of her feelers and gently wrapped it around Nucleon's face. The Nuclear-type Pokemon happily purred.
"Syl. Sylveon, veon, ve, syl" she solemnly said. She admitted that her bad experiences in the beach city let her extend said fear to Nucleon, even if he didn't do anything to warrant such reaction. But after prodding from her friends and trainer, and looking at him from afar, she began to wonder if lumping him with the rest of the Nuclear-types was unfair.
And how Nucleon risked his life to save that Arbok and Ekans dispelled the last of her doubts.
"Veon, syl?" she asked.
Of course Nucleon would forgive her.
"Ral, tzoral!" a caw came from above.
"There you are!" Nucleon and Sylveon turned around, and saw Serena running towards them, her face a mask of worry, while Quetzoral flew above her. "You guys just left without saying anything! Clemont and I were worried that something happened to you! Thank goodness Quetzoral could look for you from the air!"
"Syl..." Sylveon whined, and lowered her head.
Serena sighed, but smiled. "It's okay. You probably saw or heard more Pokemon in danger, didn't you?" she asked Sylveon, as she gently patted her head. Serena then looked at Nucleon, and let out a small gasp, as if she realized something. "Sylveon! Nucleon is right there, but you aren't panicking!"
"Syl, sylveon!" Sylveon happily said.
"Oh Sylveon, you got over your fear of Nuclear-types!" Serena said, pulling Sylveon into a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"
…
A few hours later, the Nuclear Horde had been pushed back to Vinoville, with many Nuclear Pokemon being captured by the Rangers. They would be sent to all the Pokemon Laboratories in the region, so the Pokemon Professors could study them and develop ways of containing them.
Now, the group, as well as the rest of the trainers who volunteered to help the Rangers were at the edge of Legen Town, with Wendy and some of her Rangers in front of them,
"In the name of the Tandor Ranger Corps, thank you for your help today," Wendy said, as she and the Rangers flanking her bowed respectfully. "Thanks to you, today we managed to reduce the damage of an otherwise unspeakable catastrophe. While Vinoville and the Wheatfields are lost, at the very least we kept the Nature Preserve and Legen Town safe."
"What will happen to all the people from Vinoville?" a trainer asked.
"We're already relocating them in Legen Town. While many of the townspeople here offered to share homes with the people from Vinoville, it won't be enough to hold everybody, so we will be setting up shelters both here and in other towns and cities to accommodate them," Wendy began to explain.
"Who made this? Because I refuse to believe that the Zeta Plant would blow up so soon after Epsilon's accident," another trainer asked.
"No, it wasn't an accident. Just like with Epsilon, an army of Nuclear Pokemon attacked the plant. Why did they do it, we don't know," Wendy continued. "Thankfully, an anonymous source warned us of the attack, so we were able to evacuate the people in Vinoville and the Wheatfields before the worst came to happen.
"There's nothing more to say. Once again, thanks a lot to all of you for your help today. Hopefully, we will be able to reach to the bottom of this mystery, and find the source of these attacks," Wendy finally said. "Be careful out there."
The Rangers then left, and the group of trainer volunteers dispersed as well. Ash and his friends, plus Theo, decided to return to the Pokemon Center. The sun was starting to set, their Pokemon needed healing and their trainers needed rest. It had been a very long day.
"You were amazing out there, Theo," Ash said, patting the boy on the pack.
"Pi, pikachu!" Pikachu happily agreed.
"Uh, thanks. I tried my best," Theo said, turning a little red at the praise. "Hopefully we managed to make a difference today."
"Didn't you hear the Ranger? Of course we did," Serena interjected. "Thanks to all our efforts, we protected the Pokemon from the Nature Preserve and ensured that the people from Vinoville could get safely to another town."
"What that trainer said is worrying, though," Ash stated, as he placed a hand under his chin. "These attacks, so soon one after the other... it can't be a coincidence..."
"Why are all the Nuclear Pokemon attacking the Power Plants all of sudden now?" Theo asked, crossing his arms.
"Who knows. Nuclear radiation turns normal Pokemon into Nuclear-types, so maybe they're doing it to reproduce, but... I don't know, it feels contrived," Clemont unsurely suggested.
"Regardless of the reason, I'd say the chances of another attack on a power plant is high," Ash deduced. "Do you know where the other power plants are?"
Serena opened her tablet, and began to tap on the screen. After a few seconds, she already had the answer. "Right now, the last power plant is Nuclear Plant Omicron. It's located on East Tandor, on an island south of Venesi City."
"Pretty far away, huh?" Ash asked. "Still, that doesn't mean it can't be attacked. Epsilon was on an island as well."
"Pika," Pikachu nodded.
"I'm pretty sure that, after these attacks, they're already tightening the security at Omicron," Clemont stated.
They silently nodded, hoping that whatever measures of security would take, it would be enough to avert another disaster.
"Hey, that Ranger woman... she said it was an anonymous person who tipped them about the attack," Theo began. "Do you think it was... my dad?"
"Maybe. Didn't you say he was going undercover to find who was causing this?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," Theo said, before looking back to the north. "I hope he wasn't close when everything went up in flames..."
Ash placed a hand on Theo's shoulder. "If he was able to warn the Rangers so they could evacuate the people, I'm sure he was also able to get to safety as well."
"Yes. Cameron is quite the veteran trainer. His skills and his Pokemon will keep him safe," Clemont added.
Theo nodded, and continued walking with the rest of Ash's group towards the Pokemon Center. Then, his mood suddenly improved, and turned towards Ash, his eyes shining with a glint of excitement. "By the way Ash, I almost forgot! That transformation you did with your Metalynx back there! How did you do it? Please tell me!"
"Oh, you mean Mega Evolution?" Ash asked, chuckling a bit. "Say, do you remember that Vaeryn guy we met towards the end of Comet Cave? Well..."
Author's Note: Heh, you thought that I was going to skip the second plant meltdown, didn't you? Given that it happens right after you beat Sheldon and you're instantly taken to Legen Town. That was the original plan, but I realized that doing a contest right after another plant blew up... yeah, that wasn't going to work, it would have been way to jarrying. So the solution was to simply move the plant meltdown to after the contest instead.
Here we can see the results of Theo's character development: while he ran away from the giant Terlard when he traveled with Ash through Comet Cave, here he's willing to stay and fight a powerful and terrifying enemy such as a Nuclear Gyarados.
And at last, Sylveon finally overcame her fear of Nuclear-types! Yeah, given the situation, this was the best moment for Sylveon for finally getting over her fear. I'm pretty sure many of you were hoping for it to happen, since it looked like she was progressing a bit slowly on that front.
Theo and Sylveon aren't the only ones who got some development, given that Chespin's previous hard work paid off in the form of an evolution! The second of Clemont's Pokemon to evolve in this story, and the first of his original team. Honestly, I felt that Chespin needed the evolution more than Bunnelby, given that the latter was shown to be a pretty decent battler while unevolved, while Chespin not so much. But this isn't the end of the road for the former comic relief, as he will continue working hard, and hey, maybe he may evolve again sometime down the road ;)
Thanks to Fox McCloude, Guest, MegaSalamence64, Jake, MarkusDarkus87, hirowriter and Viroro-kun for reviewing last chapter, as well as special thanks to Viroro-kun for betareading this chapter and making it so much better with his edits and suggestions.
Next chapter, our heroes plan their next move and resume their journey, this time for real without any more disasters (for the time being) and... let's say that there's going to be quite the upheaval among Serena's Pokemon. You'll see why soon. Now, don't forget to drop those reviews!