Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 15, Chapter 2
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As soon as Auspice leapt into the air, straight towards Louise, Derflinger acted. The ancient Honedge slammed into Auspice's body, knocking her off course and sending her crashing to the ground. She recovered quickly, however, and got back up to her feet to angrily snarl at him, her eyes blazing red.
"Now would be a very good time to return her!" Derflinger declared as the other Pokémon joined in to help containing the rampaging Mega Absol.
Without saying a word, Louise immediately aimed Auspice's Pokéball at her and tried to do so. But, as the thin red line shot out, the Mega Absol dodged it, causing the laser to impact uselessly against the ground. She tried again, only to get the same result, and after the third time she realized that Auspice wasn't going let her trainer simply return her to her Pokéball. She stared slack jawed at the ineffective device, then looked up to see Auspice shooting her a furious glare. It was all Louise needed to know that running away until the Pokémon calmed down wouldn't be an option this time.
"Ah, crap," Saito muttered under his breath, then Auspice roared and spread her new wings. A sense of dread seemed to emanate from them, which made the two trainers and their Pokémon shiver with the notable exception of Derflinger, who once again shot forward to engage directly with Auspice.
This time, however, neither Saito nor Louise were willing to let Derflinger fight on his own, and so they ordered all of their Pokémon to assist. It broke Louise's heart to do so, but she had no choice. Auspice was her Pokémon, which meant she was her responsibility. She'd find out why their test failed so spectacularly later.
"Esprit, box her in with Reflect!" Louise ordered, hoping to end this battle as quickly as possible. She knew it was a long shot, especially since Auspice was a Dark-type, but she had to take the chance.
Esprit attempted to do so, forming a box around Auspice made entirely of reflective psychic panels one at a time, but unfortunately the Mega Absol was able to jump out before the box closed. She immediately zeroed in on Esprit and attempted to attack her with Night Slash, but Esprit was able to teleport away to safety just in the nick of time. The attack gouged a deep gash into the earth where Esprit previously stood, but she didn't let herself be intimidated by the display of raw, uncontrolled power. Instead, she opened her mouth and used Disarming Voice, striking Auspice with the Fairy-type infused sound waves that sent the Dark-type onto her knees. She was using her front paws in a vain attempt to block out the noise, but Auspice was still cognizant enough to fire a Shadow Ball straight at her. The attack was too fast and hit her in the head, sending her flying back and knocking her out cold.
With the Disarming Voice no longer keeping her down, Auspice went on the offensive again, this time barreling towards Esprit's fallen body. It was then that Brennaraki attacked with Flamethrower, engulfing Auspice's entire body in flames while Tanuki used Quick Attack to get Esprit out of harm's way. Louise was already administering a potion as Tanuki used Quick Attack to hit Auspice, followed by a point-blank Aura Sphere right into her face. A cloud of smoke consumed her head and the Mega Absol was sent stumbling back, which wasn't helped by Derflinger and Ronin attacking her from both sides with Slash and Razor Shell, respectively. Auspice roared and thrashed from the pain, yet she wasn't going down.
From the corner of her eye, Louise saw Maindo teleport to the top of a nearby light pole. At first, she thought he was doing so in an effort to gain a better vantage point, but to her dismay he merely sat down and did nothing. It was then that Saito saw what his Pokémon was doing and he ordered him to help, but Maindo again chose to do nothing. It was clear to everyone now that Maindo had no intentions of participating, and while it infuriated her to no end, she had more important things to deal with at the moment.
"Auspice, snap out of it, please!" Louise begged, but Auspice couldn't understand her. She was far too consumed by utter rage, snapping and snarling at everybody around her.
"It's no use, kid!" Derflinger shouted as he dodged another attack from Auspice. "That isn't Auspice anymore! Not as she is now!"
"How do you suggest we stop her, then?!" Saito shouted back, directing his Pokémon to keep up the attack while dodging Auspice's. After seeing how one move was able to knock out Esprit, none of them wanted to be on the receiving end of one of Auspice's attacks.
"We gotta tire her out!" Derflinger answered, using another Slash to knock Auspice back. "If a Pokémon Mega Evolves and they're not ready for it, meaning this happens, the strain on their body's too much! They'll tire themselves out, eventually!"
"So, what? We just wait her out?" Louise asked, covering her face as a Shadow Ball went off and sent dirt flying in the air around her.
"While beating her up, yes," Derflinger succinctly confirmed, his body glowing as he activated Iron Defense followed by moving himself around in a Swords Dance.
Louise frowned sadly, then nodded in reluctant acceptance. She couldn't even bring herself to say the words before she calmly raised her hand towards Auspice, telling her Pokémon everything they needed to know. With her Pokémon sharing her demeanor, they surrounded Auspice and began firing upon her with special attacks. Brennaraki scorched Auspice with Flamethrower, Aile buffeted her with Razor Wind, Gène shot at her with Swift, while a mostly recovered Esprit focused on using Heal Pulse to rejuvenate her allies' energy.
Auspice's roars grew louder as the attacks continued, then she ran straight through Brennaraki's flamethrower, powering through the attack and slashing Brennaraki with her horn. The Fennekin yelped in pain as she was knocked to the ground, followed by Auspice picking her up and throwing her across the field and into Aile. Brennaraki was moving too fast for Aile to evade, and she slammed into her with enough force to send both spiraling out of the ground like a lead brick. Both were out cold, but Auspice clearly wasn't done with them yet as she prepared to attack them with a Shadow Ball. She managed to fire it off before a Solar Beam, courtesy of Tengu, sent her flying back into a fall, but before the attack could hit the unconscious Pokémon, Derflinger placed himself in front and used Flash Cannon. The two attacks collided, causing both to explode and send dust and smoke everywhere.
"Gah, I can't see anything!" Derflinger called out as Tanuki carried the two unconscious Pokémon out of harms way.
As the smoke cleared, Louise could see the other Pokémon were continuing the fight, and that Auspice was slowly growing more and more tired. So were the other Pokémon, however, and given the vast power difference between them it wasn't anything good in Louise's eyes. Of all of her Pokémon, only Gène was still standing, and he was wisely staying back while continuing use Swift over and over again, hoping to whittle her down piece by piece. The attacks weren't doing much, but they were helping. Tengu had joined the Eevee in bombarding Auspice from afar with a never-ending barrage of Bullet Seed, leaving the close quarters combat to Tanuki, Shogun, Ronin, and Derflinger. Shogun was nipping at Auspice's heels, hoping to trip her up, while Ronin was flipping back and forth over her, each jump accompanied by Razor Shells. From the front, Tanuki and Derflinger were tag-teaming her, with the Riolu hitting her with his aura-infused paws and Derflinger keeping her disoriented with Fury Cutter, each swipe stronger than the last. By all accounts, they were winning, if just barely.
Then, as Ronin jumped over Auspice, she managed to flick her wings and knock him off balance, sending him crashing onto the dirt floor and causing his scalchops to be released from his grip. As he scrambled to try and recover them, Auspice disappeared in a blur as she used Quick Attack, slamming into Gène and knocking the Eevee out cold.
"No!" Louise shouted as Tanuki retaliated with a Quick Attack-enhanced Force Palm, making Auspice's head swing to the side from the blow. She turned to growl at him, only for Derflinger's body to glow bright blue. The blade that made up his body somehow grew even larger, and neither Louise nor Saito recognized what move he was using before he swung himself into Auspice, sending her flying back and hitting a wall.
"That outta do it," Derflinger stated, placing himself protectively in front of the other Pokémon as Auspice pried herself from the wall. She snarled and bit at the air, preparing to run towards them yet again, but when she took a single step she suddenly collapsed. Her body began twitching erratically, her muscles spasming and making her moan in pain. She began breathing heavily, her body only now showing the signs of overexertion, then Auspice glowed brightly. When the glow subsided, Auspice was unconscious on the ground, now back to her normal form.
Louise and Saito let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding, and a sense of relief washed over them. That relief was dashed as the weight of the entire situation came crashing back onto them, and Louise could only stare blankly at her fallen Pokémon, her mind filled with remorse. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, and Saito could only sigh regretfully as he walked over to Auspice and tore the Mega Stone amulet off of her neck.
"We should get Auspice and the others to the Pokémon Center," Saito suggested, his voice low and calm. When Louise didn't respond, Saito walked over to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Louise, it's okay."
"No, it's not," Louise immediately countered, silently returning her Pokémon to their balls and walking away without saying another word. Saito could only watch her go and sigh, shaking his head regretfully. The then moved to return his own Pokémon, but while most of his team was looking at Louise with sympathy and regret, he was taken aback by the look of utter disdain and contempt in Maindo's eyes as he stared at the sniffling. Part of him wanted to talk to him about it, especially about how Maindo did absolutely nothing to help, but right now his best friend was his chief concern, and so he returned Maindo to his ball as well before turning around to walk after Louise.
The Pokémon Center waiting room was quiet, Louise sitting on her chair staring at her knees, while Saito sat across from her. His Pokémon were scattered around the room, Maindo near the window while the others were closer to her in an attempt to try and offer some comfort. Saito could easily tell that Louise was distraught, her eyes red and her fists clenched tight enough to the point where they were turning white. It was almost as bad as the aftermath of Team Flare's attack on Cyllage City, and he was almost at a loss towards what to do or say.
"…What did Professor Sycamore say?" Saito finally asked, trying to break the silence that had consumed them. After they had dropped off their Pokémon and before they went into the nearby waiting room, Louise had called Professor Sycamore to explain the situation. He didn't hear what was said this time, but clearly Louise didn't like what she was told.
At first, Louise said nothing, but before Saito could return to that uncomfortable silence Louise, without looking up from her knees, answered, "It's as Derflinger said. My bond with Auspice wasn't strong enough."
"…I see," Saito replied, not really knowing what else to say.
"I should have known this was going to happen," Louise continued, chastising herself with a snarl in her voice. "The last time we dealt with a Mega Stone ended in disaster. How could I have assumed it would have ended any differently this time?"
"Hey, this was an entirely different situation," Saito gently pointed out. "That Beedrill was a wild Pokémon that we didn't know was going to Mega Evolve in the first place. Auspice is one of your Pokémon whom you had an outstanding relationship with. There was no reason for us to suspect something like this would have happened."
"Was there? Was there, really?" Louise pointedly asked, shooting up her head to glare angrily at Saito. "I've only had Auspice for a few weeks. Before Gène, she was my newest capture. How could I have possibly built a strong enough relationship with her to ensure a proper Mega Evolution?"
"Kid, I've seen people have a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution for literally years before they try only to have the exact same result you just had. Others had them for even less than you did and they worked flawlessly," Derflinger revealed. "Just because you had a Pokémon longer doesn't mean you automatically have a closer relationship with them."
"Still," Louise shot back, tears now pooling around her eyes, "I was arrogant enough to believe that I did, and now all of my Pokémon are hurt. Again."
"That was not your fault," Saito insisted, but before he could say anything else, he heard a grunt from the window. He turned to look at the source to find that Maindo was now glaring at them, a deep frown marring her face.
'Yeah, it is,' Maindo piped up cheerfully, a malicious gleam in his eye.
Saito frowned, then said, "Maindo, you didn't even help. You have no right to talk."
'Hey, I told you what was going to happen, and you didn't listen,' the Kirlia pointed out. 'It wasn't my problem, and like hell I was going to throw myself at a berserk Mega-Evolved Dark-type to save your dumb asses. You got what you deserved.'
"No one deserved that, Maindo," Saito shot back, his voice rising and his fists clenching, "and it wasn't her fault. This was a freak accident."
'How many 'accidents' has she caused now?' Maindo asked innocently, tapping his cheek. 'Was it…all of them?'
Grinning wickedly at the silent glares that were the only answer, he waved a hand dismissively at the sniffling girl. 'You know I'm right. She's just going to keep dragging everybody into crap like this until somebody does end up dead. Anybody want to set up a pool? My money's on Brennaraki!'
Saito stood, squeezing his fists until his knuckles turned white. "That's enough," he growled through clenched teeth.
'Pfft, if it was 'enough' you wouldn't still be trying to stand up for her,' the Kirlia snorted. 'You can't even argue, you just tell me to stop being meant to little princess nutjob over there!'
"I said, that's enough!"
'Ooh, scary! But you still haven't said I'm wrong~!' the Psychic-type mocked. 'Face it, she's a crappy trainer with a head full of bad wiring, and you only put up with her crap because you've got low enough standards to think she's got a pretty face! You're going to get somebody killed because you're stumbling around after some nobody who thinks she's royalty!'
Louise shuddered at that, hunched over in her chair and clutching at herself. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she was obviously trying to hold back from outright sobbing.
Maindo sneered at her, unmoved. 'Face it. You really are just a zero, and that's all you'll ever be.'
Louise stared at him, horrified. After a few seconds, she lunged for the door and staggered out into the hall and away, openly sobbing.
Shooting a final glare at Maindo, Saito went in pursuit of his friend while saying, "Louise, wait!"
The door slowly creaked closed as Saito ran out into the hall, his footsteps fading away. When the door finally closed, all outside sounds disappeared. All that were left in the room now were Saito's team and Derflinger, and all of them were glaring hatefully at the Kirlia. If Maindo noticed, he didn't care.
'Heh. Add 'thin-skinned' to the list, too,' he joked to himself, then turned his attention to Saito's bag. He retrieved a body of water and took a triumphant sip as he reveled in his victory…and didn't see the furious and silent argument taking place behind him as the other members of the team gestured angrily at both themselves and Maindo.
Tanuki won the covert conflict and hopped down to the floor, walked towards Maindo, and said, "Hey, Maindo? There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but the time never seemed right…"
'Yeah? And what's what?" Maindo asked as he turned to face the Riolu, just in time for the smaller Pokémon's haymaker to wallop him right in the mouth. Maindo staggered away, dropping his bottle and clutching his chin as he stared incredulously at Tanuki.
"It's that you're a real piece of shit, you complete ass," Tanuki said, rubbing his paw. "Seriously, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."
'Oh, you wanna go? Let's see how tough you are when you aren't sucker punching me, you literal son of a bitch!' Maindo snarled as he charged and launched a Shadow Ball, but Tanuki simply leaned to the side and let it past. The blue pup blurred with the effects of Quick Attack and vanished, and an instant later Maindo felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as he was punched yet again.
Staggering to a halt, he whipped around to face the Fighting-type once again and yelled, 'The hell?! What are you trying to pull?! Yo were not that strong before!'
"I'll tell you what I'm not pulling," Tanuki countered. "My punches. I'm not holding back to keep things interesting anymore. Not for your sake."
Maindo narrowed his eyes ad put on a brave face, but he couldn't help but take a step backward and said, 'No way, you're bluffing. You are not stronger than me!'
"We're all stronger than you," Ronin growled, leaning against the bedpost and idly spinning one of his scalchops around his paw. "We work our tails off in training, and you just blow it all off and expect to be on top. Hurry it up, Tanuki, but be sure to leave some for the rest of us."
Suddenly feeling nervous, Maindo glanced at the other Pokémon in the room, his 'teammates'… and saw nothing but raw hate and cold contempt in their eyes. He had no allies among them. Before they could say or do anything else, Maindo snatched his Pokéball from Saito's still-open bag and teleported away.
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Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this chapter to life.
The problems with Maindo and his horrible attitude have finally erupted, and things have come to a head. This is a very pivotal moment, one we have been building towards for quite some time. How things develop from here will be revealed in the next chapter.
Now, onto the Q&A:
Nemenlos: Something to consider is that in this story the game mechanics of levels and move limits aren't really that important. In fact, there are no move limits in this story at all. I will say that, at the moment, all of the Pokemon would be roughly level 30 or so if they were in the actual games, with some considerably more than others. That being said, I will be updating my profile to fit in the list of Pokemon after I post this chapter.
keybladelight: This segment was actually based off of what happened with Korina and her Lucario, yes. Mastering Mega Evolution is going to be a key thing going forward, and we wanted to start it here.
Steelrain66: Yep, it didn't end well. The timing wasn't right, but she'll get there eventually.
Shadowwolf of phantasms: Somethings things will be that easy, but other times, like now, it won't be. Depends on what I want to do in the story.
Firem78910: He was a little bit, but really during his rant against Louise he wasn't trying to make an actual argument. He was just trying to make her cry, which he succeeded in...only for Saito's Pokemon to finally have enough of his crap and decided to put him in his place. More on the aftermath of this will be given in the next chapter.
That's it for this time. I hope you guys enjoy and let us know what you think. Have a nice day!
