Draco: After the previous chapter, I'm not expecting anyone who's witnessed Ultra Alola to be surprised by this chapter - or the next chapter, for that matter. I've established Team Rainbow Rocket, I've made it clear that we're not using the Episode RR lineup, and even if you've only found this later in 2025, I already said that I'm not including anything from Legends: Z-A. There's only so many possible antagonists I can call upon.

PRE-SUBMIT EDIT: I am increasing my update rate to one chapter every weekday; I am expecting some personal circumstances to change in August and I don't want to leave anyone hanging because of that. END PRE-SUBMIT EDIT

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.


Ultra Kingdom - Rainbow Road: Prehistoric Obsession

"I mean, I always thought Greenleafers let their plants grow a bit too tall," Nene muttered, "but this is just ridiculous."

Hideyoshi chuckled, propping his staff over his shoulder. "I kinda like how it looks," he admitted. "Plus or minus the whole smushed-together part."

From a distance, it hadn't been noticeable, but a close-up view made it abundantly clear that the fused Pugilis/Greenleaf castle was overrun with growth. The hedges that were formerly Greenleaf's battlefield were now growing across the outside of the the castle, and even the courtyard had weird flowers and patches of fuzz scattered across it.

Gracia hummed contemplatively, drawing Mitsuhide's attention. "What is it, Gracia?"

"The gate's bigger than it used to be," Gracia observed, "but... not by a whole lot."

Mitsuhide turned to the front door, which seemed to be Greenleaf's gate grafted onto Pugilis' structure. "Yes. Hmm. Yes... That does raise the question, doesn't it?"

Kanbei set a hand on his chin. "We didn't really account for the possibility of castles when Lady Evia suggested calling on the legendary Pokémon for the counteroffensive," he admitted. "Perhaps if we...?"

The door started to open; a man in a Rainbow Rocket uniform stepped out, looking around at the group.

"Oh, hey, the Warriors are here." He narrowed his gaze at them. "Were you planning on actually coming in?"

"Just trying to figure out the approach," Hanbei insisted. "Is the battlefield open-air, or did you guys enclose it?"

The Trainer looked confused. "No, it's open-air, why?"

Hideyoshi turned to Articuno and Reshiramn, beckoning skyward with his staff; the two legendary Pokémon nodded, ascending into the air and soaring over the castle as the others made to step inside, finding the interior mostly grass-free (though it definitely had more of Greenleaf's style than Pugilis' style.)

"You Warriors have got some pretty big Pokémon," the man admitted as he started leading the way, "considering you don't use Poké Balls. Seems kind of inconvenient when you live in a castle, don't you think?"

"Bold of you to assume that all Pokémon want to be right next to their Warriors all the time," Hanbei argued. "Some of them are more comfortable hanging out outside the castle until they're needed."

"No, I get that," the man insisted. "Difference in preferred environment is the whole reason Trainers use Poké Balls - the modern ones, at least, create an ideal habitat for them until they moment we need 'em. But you were just concerned about getting your Pokémon to the battlefield inside the castle."

"That's because you've taken two castles and thrown them together like broken toys," Nene scolded. "When they were actually in Ransei, and before you messed with them, they were designed to allow easy access for Pokémon of all shapes and sizes."

The Trainer turned to her. "Really? All of 'em?"

"Maybe not every aspect of the battlefields," Hideyoshi admitted. "Fire-types and shinobi love the home advantage. But as far as getting in and out of the arena itself, yeah, they're designed to let everyone participate. Either they're open-air, like these ones, or with separate accessways for the big guys."

"Is that so?" the man mused. "What about when you're training against the wild Pokémon?"

Mitsuhide hummed. "Farms, ravines, parks, floating rocks, snowy mountains, sky gardens... none of them are contained environments. And the caves in Ransei are pretty spacious just from the way they're naturally formed."

"Interesting..." The man raised his gaze. "Ah, we're here."

Two more men and two women in Rainbow Rocket uniforms were gathered outside a large pair of double-doors; as their escort approached, one of the women stepped forward. "Well, hello, Warriors," she greeted. "Here for the battle, then?"

"We are," Kanbei confirmed. "Only five of you? Or have you an acting leader in this castle?"

"Yeah, we do," the woman confirmed. "Just waiting for her to acknowledge-" Something in her hand pinged, and she glanced down at it. "Ah, there we are." She aimed a finger at the group. "You heard what Ghetsis said - six Pokémon to a side. Any more than that, and we get to fight you with our whole teams."

"Understood," Gracia assured her.

The uniformed Trainers pushed the doors open, stepping inside; Nene glanced at Phione thoughtfully, letting her descend from the ninja's shoulder before she and the other Warriors stepped in.

The battlefield, too, was covered in grass, though structure-wise it looked more like Pugilis' battlefield - a raised portion in the center with a lowered environment around it. Rather than walkways leading to an outer raised portion, the mound was sloped to allow semi-easy traversal up as well as down; the flags of both battlefields were taken down and piled up in a corner, making it clear this wouldn't be a banner battle and that the ability to hold one's position was less of a factor.

Standing at the top of the mound was a woman in a labcoat; her hair was a pale brunette, and seemed very unkempt, though a pair of spiky hair decorations suggested it was either by design or resisting efforts to style it. A pair of earrings that resembled bronze kunai hung from her lobes, and beneath her labcoat was a rather simplistic, perhaps prehistoric ensemble designed to only cover what was necessary. A closer look revealed to Nene that it was merely fabric textured to resemble leaves and vines, forming a midriff-baring top and a pair of very short shorts; similar faux-leaves were bound to cover her ankles, and her feet rested in sandals that looked like the oldest leather imaginable. What looked like Pokémon teeth hung from a necklace and a sash around her waist, both lined with simple wooden beads; faux-vines were bound around one wrist, while the other wore a bronze bracelet.

Upon her back was the most basic weapon that could be called a spear - a simple wooden shaft, only just thick enough to be grasped, with a sharpened stone mounted on the end.

The members of Team Rainbow Rocket approached the mound. "Professor," mused the woman with the device, "the Warriors have arrived."

"So they have," the woman in the labcoat mused. She stepped forward as the uniformed Trainers took their positions behind her. "Thank you for your patience. I am Professor Sada of the Paldea region - my own world's Paldea region, at least."

"Then Lord Nobunaga's theory holds true," Kanbei observed. "You who form Team Rainbow Rocket do come from other worlds."

"Ah. Figured that out, have you?" With a smile, Sada nodded. "Yes. I cannot speak for the grunts, but I myself do come from a world other than yours." She set a hand on her forehead. "I will admit, I was surprised when the leader of Team RR claimed that we would be fighting Warriors. Men and women crossing blades on the field of battle alongside their Pokémon... I must admit, I'd always thought of such battle as a thing of the past. Albeit a more recent past than my specialty."

"Specialty?" Hanbei was wide awake all of a sudden. "What are you talking about?"

Sada seemed surprised at his interest. "You would hear my story? If you insist." She turned her gaze to the bizarre sky of Ultra Space. "In the center of the Paldea region is a massive impact crater, the interior of which is known as Area Zero. Stories abound that a great treasure lay buried within, and so countless expeditions throughout history have marched in... only to return empty-handed, or else never be seen again.

"Save, that is, for one expedition led by a man named Heath. He returned with herbs possessed of mystical powers of restoration, and tales of bizarre Pokémon that looked like they had marched out of a prehistory so ancient that no Fossils remain. Yet when he published his findings, the public scorned his record of such fantastical discoveries, demeaning it as fiction by one who had never gone inside." Sada's gaze fell. "There are precious few of us who accept his record as truth. And I may be the only one with clearance to access Area Zero in the modern day, to see the truth of what he wrote."

She reached into the pocket of her labcoat, drawing out a Poké Ball; its surface was deep purple, with two bright orbs mounted on either side of a white M. "In the depths of the crater, where crystals shone with a power beyond anything man could create elsewhere, I encountered the ancient Pokémon he spoke of. But they were so few and far between, so, I constructed a machine to reach into prehistory - or perhaps another timeline, I can't be sure - and bring forth more of their kind. Their numbers increased, and soon would spill out of the Great Crater and across all of Paldea. I was well on my way to making a paradise for my family and I..."

Mitsuhide and Gracia started in shock.

"But as I oversaw the machine, the crystallization of the Zero Lab changed, somehow. I felt my body consumed, and opened my eyes adrift here, in this realm they call Ultra Space. The leader of Team RR found me, and sought my aid. If I would help him in his ambitions, up until he opposed the Warriors of Ransei, then he would send me back to the world from whence I came, with the resources necessary to ensure my success." A smile rose on Sada's face. "And as I learned more of Ransei, I found myself looking forward to the day we would meet."

"You wanted to meet us?" Nene asked.

"Indeed," Sada confirmed. "Ransei is such a peculiar region. You do not deprive yourself of modern convenience, yet you do not let it change your way of life, either. You continue to practice the same form of battle, to spend your days in the same routine, changing only that which is necessary to better the lives of the people and the Pokémon of the region. Setting aside what species there are to be found, I dare say it has much in common with the paradise I would bring about."

One of the uniformed Trainers - the grunts - stepped forward. "Professor..."

"Ah, but I'm forgetting myself," Sada confessed. "He asked me to do battle with you, and I should uphold my end of the agreement." She held out her Poké Ball. "Your Pokémon have been circling above because they are waiting for the battle to begin, correct? Let's not keep them waiting any longer."

She tossed the Ball forward. "Come, Koraidon!"

A Pokémon emerged from the Ball - a great scarlet lizard, standing on two legs, with a ridged black sac on its throat that rapidly puffed up to resemble a wheel. A great feathered plume of blue and white formed a crown of sorts upon its head, and from its brow, a pair of long, twisted antennae reached backwards; a pair of dark blue horns reached back from its shoulders, seeming at once stiff and flexible. Another feathered plume extended from its lower back over its tail, which bore a black segment not dissimilar to the outer ridge of its wheel-like throat sac.

Its fingers and toes were connected by thin fin-like membranes, though that did nothing to stop the former from curling into fists as it roared at the Warriors.

Sada reached for her spear as the grunts sent out their Pokémon and readied weapons of their own. One man deployed a Klawf, and then brandished a small axe; one woman sent out a Bombirdier, and promptly drew a bow. An Orthworm appeared before a man who brandished a flail, and a Donphan emerged before a woman who readied a pair of knives; the last man sent out a Dondozo, and then raised a greatsword.

Reshiram touched down on the battlefield as Hideyoshi lashed his sansetsukon out to one side, separating the segments on the chain. Raichu and Chandelure stepped in from the hall; Kanbei hoisted a staff tipped on either end with a glowing round jewel, and Hanbei drew a buckler and deployed a set of rotating blades along its outer edge. Gothitelle entered as well, and Articuno swooped down to alight on the battlefield; Mitsuhide seized his katana, and Gracia clapped her hands together, wrapping her right hand in a spectral blue glow and her left in a radiant orange before she brought her arms back to extend the light over them. Phione followed Gothitelle onto the battlefield, and Nene drew her short swords with a flourish, turning them to a backhand grip.

Koraidon leapt forward at the head of the group, curling in on itself and lunging at Phione; the Sea Drifter tried to evade, but was thrown aside as it slammed into her with a vicious impact. Sada led the grunts in a charge as the Warriors moved to meet them, thrusting her spear at Nene and finding the ninja leaping clear over her; Gothitelle took aim at Koraidon before leaping away as Bombirdier tried to strike her with a Dual Wingbeat.

The archer took aim at Hideyoshi and found Hanbei up in her face, snapping her arrow and then cutting her bowstring before wrenching the arc out of her hands; Bombirdier promptly took a vicious Volt Tackle that knocked it out of the sky. Raichu was still trying to recover from the connection when Donphan closed the gap, beating on him with a Bulldoze, but Phione managed to blindside her with a Bubble Beam that battered him down enough for Chandelure's Fire Spin to finish him off, striking Koraidon and Orthworm in the process.

Donphan's Trainer withdrew her Pokémon and quickly decided to retreat as Kanbei charged at the man with the flail; the chain wrapped around his staff, and the head collided with the ruby orb on one end... which promptly blazed as the Warrior pulled against the struggle. The heat rapidly travelled down the chain, searing at the grunt's hand and causing him to release it in pain while Orthworm was consumed in fire.

Klawf found Reshiram and Articuno converging on her location as Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide charged at the man with the axe. An attempted swing at Hideyoshi was sideswept, and the Ignisan entangled his sansetsukon around his weapon, trapping it; Mitsuhide swiftly brought his katana down on the shaft to cut through it, leaving the man stumbling away with a stick. Blue Fire seared at the Klawf, and then a howling Blizzard froze it solid, leaving it unable to fight back as the two legendary Pokémon turned their attentions elsewhere.

Gothitelle's Future Sight ripped up around Koraidon, drawing the lizard's ire as Gracia charged at Sada. The professor thrust her spear at the junior Warlord, only for Gracia to bring her left arm up to meet it - and the spear struck the orange light with a ringing of metal, recoiling as though it had collided with a steel wall. A baffled Sada raised the shaft to defend herself as the Nixtormer brought her right hand forward for a punch - yet her fist seemed to pass through the spear, the blue glow shining in contact with the wood as her fist slamming into Sada's stomach.

Dondozo landed a vicious Aqua Tail on Chandelure, throwing the Luring Pokémon backwards; a still-shaky Raichu found the Big Catfish Pokémon close enough for him to land another Volt Tackle, which left it electrified and vulnerable. Gothitelle took aim at her and Koraidon both as the scarlet lizard advanced on her, coming down with a vicious Collision Course that knocked her out; Gracia stopped Sada's spear on her orange-lit arm and quickly retreated, making to help pull the Astral Body Pokémon out of the battlefield.

Nene quickly charged in to get the professor's attention; Sada stopped her shortswords sword on the shaft of her ancient spear, only to find Mitsuhide coming up on her blindside to cleave off the speartip. Phione managed to knock out Klawf with another Bubble Beam before the freezing wore off, prompting the axe-wielding grunt to withdraw him; Orthworm was knocked out by a blaze of Blue Fire, and Articuno soared towards Koraidon with murder in his eyes, unleashing a hellish Blizzard to bite at the brute. Koraidon managed to endure the ice, but Gothitelle's last Future Sight ripped up around him to knock him out and Dondozo both.

Sada's spear shaft was torn in half by the opposing swings of Nene's swords, and she raised one to the Professor's neck threateningly. "Your battle is lost," the ninja proclaimed.

"...So it is," Sada observed, letting the pieces of her weapon fall; she drew out Koraidon's Poké Ball, withdrawing it. The grunts withdrew their Pokémon as well, sprinting out of the battlefield, and Sada stepped back with her hands raised. "I understand that Warriors will let the defeated army retreat."

"Not without a word, they don't," Hideyoshi insisted. "Tell us more about this 'paradise' you were going for."

Sada seemed surprised. "I'd not thought Warriors so interested in the affairs of Trainers," she admitted.

"We'd not thought Trainers so interested in the affairs of Warriors," Nene argued, "but here we are. And I'm thinking that interest of yours is a little more malicious than you're letting on."

"Malicious?" Sada echoed. "What part of wanting to create a paradise strikes you as malicious?"

Hanbei stepped forward. "You said you wanted to bring forth those 'ancient Pokémon' and let them rampage across your region," he observed. "That's a lot of destruction you're trying to make happen for the sake of your 'paradise'."

Sada narrowed her gaze. "Such destruction is a natural part of life."

"And if those Pokémon were a natural part of Paldea, you might actually have a point," Kanbei accused. "But you yourself said that they come from a prehistory so ancient that no Fossils remain, if they were in fact part of our history at all. And that means that there is nothing natural about what they would do to Paldea."

"Who are you to say that the Pokémon of modern Paldea are any more deserving of their place in the region than the Pokémon of the past?" Sada demanded.

"Who are you to say otherwise?" Nene argued. "Every region has got Pokémon that used to be there and aren't anymore. How is your desire for a 'paradise' more important than the path that history has already taken?"

The professor looked outraged. "Those same species were already gathered in Area Zero before I ever arrived," she proclaimed. "All I'm doing is-"

"What about your family?"

Gracia's demand drew Sada's attention to find her standing with a recovered Gothitelle. "That's who you said it was for, right? You said you were making that 'paradise' full of ancient Pokémon for your family. Do you really think they'd want to watch their homeland get trampled by the Pokémon this machine of yours is bringing in, rather than live with you in Paldea as it is right now?"

Her words seemed to cut through Sada's arrogance like a blade.

"...Or maybe you don't even know," Gracia mused. "When was the last time you saw them? Spoke to them? Have you been working on this machine, with these Pokémon, trying to make this paradise in your head, for so long that you don't even know what your family wants?" She stepped forward. "And if you have, then what do you think is gonna happen when those Pokémon do start rampaging, and you're smack in the middle of it all?!"

"I..."

Mitsuhide stepped forward. "You said that the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket promised to send you home once his goals were achieved," he observed. "But we have a way to do the same, regardless of whether he's of a mind to keep up his end of the deal when he's defeated. Win or lose, you're going back to Paldea." He sheathed his katana. "And when you do, I want you to think long and hard about your family. Think about whether this 'paradise' of yours is worth destroying so much of what they know - yourself included."

His gaze fell. "The time we have with our loved ones is precious. Don't squander it in a desperate bid to realize such a fleeting dream."


Draco: Okay, that hurt a little more than I expected it to when I began. I'm not gonna do gameplay details for every Pokémon in these battles, but the big names will get it.

Koraidon
-Range: 4
-Move: Collision Course
-Ability: Primal Might | Melee

Collision Course (Fighting)
-Movement: Two squares forward
-Attack area: Four tiles adjacent to destination (i.e. Fiery Dance)

Primal Might
-Increases the damage of attacks when the Pokémon is standing on rock