Chapter 59: Flying Light
Summary:
Kaorah gets to reunite with her parents, and Zeryph gets a proper spar against Zeraora. Then the team faces their first arena battle.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
[Mt. Silver Training Cave]
[Zeraora and Mewtwo]
Zeraora sank to his knees, panting loudly. Claw marks and burns cut into the stone all around the cave. He slowly fell over backwards, but was caught by Mewtwo before he could hit the ground.
"Kaaay, maybe I…pushed a little…too hard." Zeraora mumbled.
"I'd say so. How did you manage to get that much done in such a short time?" Mewtwo asked. He pulled Zeraora's left arm around his neck and slowly lifted him up. Before starting to walk him to the Pokemon Center.
"Really, really… really working for it." Zeraora answered. "Even so, I can't manage that many at once. Only about…three or four, maybe six if I push it. It's incredibly draining."
"Right. Still, it's impressive you've even gotten that far. In such a short time, as well." Mewtwo got a small smile in response. "Zeryph's gonna be surprised by this when you show it off. Keep practicing as much as you can. Now that you can do it, he's gonna want you to get it to the highest levels you can manage. I'd suggest you wait to show it off though, you'll want to have it mastered before you do."
"Oh, I know. Those arenas should be great for practice with it. If I can, I want to get to where I can attack during one of the jumps." Zeraora had already begun planning to practice with that. "Since the marks aren't like the actual seals, I think I'm limited in what my range is. Plus what little bit of Aura I've got, thanks for teaching me how to use it."
"You're welcome. Though, I can't teach as effectively as a Lucario. Zeryph might want to go train with the one we met in Kalos, and if he does, we can take you along. Your drive for training is well above any I've seen before, even from Zeryph." Mewtwo watched the door slide open as the pair reached it. Liz gave the boys a smile, then walked over to help them.
"Should've joined you guys earlier. If I knew how fun the training was gonna be, I would've. I'd have it mastered by now, in that case." Zeraora was helped to a place to sit, then Liz went to get him some water. What he had been working on, was an idea that he got after he saw Mewtwo's teleport markers. He had the thought that he could use them for his own powers.
Resulting in what he has now. A very limited means to jump between the markers. He only just got it working, after practicing with it all day. Mewtwo was a big help, of course. The easy part was the markers themselves, learning how to apply those with even a simple touch. The hard part was actually managing to jump between them.
But, as Mewtwo suggested, it was better to wait until he had mastered it. Which is totally fine, since he wants it to be a surprise.
"Yeah, I'll tag along for that training." Zeraora took a sip from the water he was brought. "Speaking of which, how strong is he now?"
"Much stronger than when you last saw us. He's under eight limiter seals in order to better control his power. Our last visit with the pair is what got him to finally Mega Evolve, on his own…without losing control. It wasn't enough for Deoxys, unfortunately, but I'm pretty sure that the Deoxys we fought was one we're going to fight later on." Mewtwo shrugged. "That…doesn't make any sense now that I say it out loud. Which is honestly…pretty normal for time travel. The only ones who even know what the hell is going on with it are Dialga and Celebi."
"Yeah, fair enough. So anyway, it'll be a training trip tomorrow, right?" Zeraora got a nod. "Fine by me. Good idea to get plenty of rest then, 'cause I'm exhausted."
"I'm not sure what empowerment seeds will do for you, either. They were able to make Lexie and Cerise undergo Mega Evolution, but you?" Mewtwo let out a hum. "I guess we'll see. Maybe it'll put your power into overdrive."
"Overdrive sounds fun. Oh, hey, maybe I can help Melanie with her lightning powers, too." Zeraora took another sip. "For now though, getting some rest is our priority."
"By the way, ask about a massage after training." Mewtwo said as he began to walk towards the rooms. "Zeryph knows how to give some really, really good ones."
"Yeah, you're definitely part of the team once he's given you one." Lexie voiced her agreement. "Is Liz still up? I need to speak with her."
"Yeah, she's back in the medical rooms." Zeraora pointed her that way, then he went to get up, stretching his legs and letting out a purr. "I'm gonna hit the shower, then get some rest." The trio separated. While Lexie went for the medical rooms, the boys started for the bedrooms.
"Liz?" Lexie caught her attention when she found the nurse. "Do you have somewhere safe for me to-"
"Yeah, there's a room for it. Why, feeling like it's almost time?" Liz asked.
"Uh-huh. We weren't sure how many days it would take an egg to form. And I wanna be in a good spot for it." Lexie began to follow Liz, who started leading her to what she was looking for.
"Well, eggs can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. At least for the mother to develop one." Liz tapped on the screen on her tablet. She'd already set up the necessary stuff for the team. "There are some where an egg simply appears out of nowhere. And others, like you, where it has a process to it." Liz stopped outside the room Lexie was looking for. "When do you wanna tell Zeryph?"
"After it happens. Still, I'm gonna put myself out of action for a while, at least until I recover from it." Lexie went to sit down.
"Good idea. In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and tell Zeryph you're on medical leave." Liz helped Lexie to get comfortable. "Positioning to lay is up to you, whatever feels most comfortable. Here, this button- hit it whenever you need something. If I can't come down here, one of my team will. They're trained to know what to do."
"Thanks Liz." Lexie said, smiling.
"Hey, no problem. You'll be good to keep the egg in the cabin too, thanks to Melanie getting medical training. Well, once she's licensed. I'm looking into getting her the necessary exams for that." Liz started to leave the room. "She's been doing incredible with her medical training. Anyway, I'll leave you to rest."
[The Next Morning]
[Zeryph]
I blinked my eyes open, slowly, and took a slow breath. Melanie and Kaorah were still asleep, in a position where I probably wasn't gonna be moving. I smiled, then quietly formed a clone before substituting with him, causing him to smile and quietly laugh.
[Enjoy your shower, bossman. I'll tell 'em where you are when they wake up.] He said telepathically. I gave him a nod before starting downstairs. I had to take a longer shower than normal, given how my fur had gotten matted because I didn't take one last night. Still, it was enjoyable, even with the extra scrubbing. After drying off, I changed forms and got dressed into some clean clothes. Then let my clone know I was heading out before returning to the Pokemon center.
"Morning Zeryph." Liz greeted me. "Lexie's going on medical leave, officially. She thinks that it might not be much longer. She wanted to wait a bit to say so, but I figured it's better to go ahead and say."
"Thanks for letting me know." I started to head for the kitchen. "Well, yesterday ended up being fun. The whole day, and even the night, as well."
"Oh, wonderful. You three must've had fun." Liz smiled, then I heard her stand up. "I hope Melanie's heat wasn't much trouble."
"Nah, it wasn't. Especially with some personal backup." I formed a trio of clones, who all grinned at Liz at the same time. The four of us then started on breakfast.
"Huh…kinda like Double Team." Liz began to help us, as well.
"Well, yeah, but better in its own way. These guys aren't just illusions. They can do everything I can, outside of using the System itself for right now. And when one of 'em pops, I get their memories." The four of us blinked, memories from the clone I left in the cabin. "Mel and Kaorah are up, should be here once they're out of the shower."
"I can already imagine that the memory transfer isn't the easiest thing to get used to." Liz commented.
"Not too bad with the Gamer's Mind perk to help sort it out. But for anyone else it would be." The boys and I finished setting up, then started to cook. Soft clicks on the floor preceded Alex's arrival. He froze, a confused expression forming on his face.
"What the hell? Zeryph?" He tilted his head. "How? I don't…what?"
"Shadow clones." Mewtwo said from behind him as he entered the room. "I wondered when you'd start using them." Mewtwo joined the breakfast team. The clones showed him where to help out.
"Very recent, actually. Should've started sooner, but now that I've got 'em, might as well have them help out." Shadow clones are self aware, too. And pretty independent for that matter. They'll follow my orders, and know what they're created for whenever they form. Still, I'm gonna treat them as though they're actual people, as well. Since that'll actually help me out even more.
Melanie and Kaorah appeared from the cabin a few minutes later, both of them sharing a hug with me. Melanie took the time to steal a kiss, as well. Then booped my nose with her fingers.
"You little sneak. Giving us the slip, huh? Hehe…it's fine. You had to get up, anyway." Melanie smiled. "Where's Lexie?"
"She's on medical leave now, officially." Liz answered for me. "So, Zeryph's handling breakfast…mostly on his own."
"Gotcha. And, Zeryph, you're gonna have even more responsibility in the future than just one." Melanie held up a hand, showing two fingers. "Both of us, in one night." Referring to herself and Kaorah. I blushed and let out a quiet laugh.
"Both of them? You maybe wanna slow it down a little?" Liz giggled. "Only kidding. Still, I hope you're ready for handling a Gible."
"We'll all be working together on that one." I smiled. "Believe me, I know from experience how much trouble a Gible can cause." I got a snort from Kaorah.
"Your parents had the means to contact my parents when I was being a problem, though, so that doesn't really count." Kaorah went to sit down. "Speaking of which, we should go see them first, before we do anything else."
"I was gonna ask Zeryph if he wanted to go see Gurkinn's boys for some training today, actually." Mewtwo spoke up. "And Zeraora wants to go along with us, for that."
"Perfect. Maybe we might do one of the new arenas today, too." I smiled at Cerise when she stepped into the kitchen. "Hey Cerise."
"Hi guys." She didn't seem weirded out by the shadow clones. "Sounds like it's gonna be a busy day today."
"Probably will, yeah. Y'all can go sit down, make yourselves comfortable. Breakfast shouldn't be too long." With the clones helping out, definitely not.
"Heads up, Zee." Melanie warned, just before I was tackled into a hug by an excited Latias. I let out a laugh, then stole a kiss from her. Latias pulled away, giggling, before going to join the others in the dining room.
"You're getting better at preparing yourself for those, aren't you?" Melanie asked.
"Yeah. She's gonna tackle a clone one day. Hard as she hits, she might dispel him by mistake. Not that I'd do that to her, though." I smiled. It didn't take too much longer to finish breakfast. After we ate, I had Mewtwo and Kaorah meet me outside. My clones offered to handle cleaning up for us, so that was taken care of.
Zeraora called for us to wait, then caught up. The world then blurred as the four of us teleported. Mewtwo was using Kaorah's memories for an image of where to go. I recognized the place where we landed, right away. Kaorah smiled, big, and let out a quiet laugh.
"Intruders! How dare…huh?" A Garchomp paused mid-sentence, and his eyes wandered over us. He then sniffed the air, and broke out in a grin, before grunting as Kaorah nearly knocked him off his feet. The pair broke into laughter. "Hey, hatchling. We missed you."
Kaorah's mother revealed herself, wanting to see what the commotion was, only to join in on the hug right away.
"My goodness, you've really grown. You feel so strong now." Her mother said.
"All thanks to Zeryph, yeah." Kaorah let out a snort when she saw her parents' reactions to her knowing English. "Indigo League Champion Kaorah. Nice to meet you." She let out a low laugh.
"Champion? That's amazing!" Her father praised. "Zeryph, you've done a great job training her."
"Not just her, either. Our whole team is something else." Mewtwo spoke up. "I'm Mewtwo, by the way."
"I smell him on both of you. How…interesting." Kaorah's mother let out a short laugh. "So, things developed into more than just a friendship, hmm?"
"Yeah, they did. And even more than that, we're gonna be parents." Kaorah stopped holding her excitement back.
"How? And who's the father?" Her dad asked.
"Well, Zeryph is." Kaorah smiled. She turned back towards me and nodded. In an explosion of smoke, I changed forms, stretching as my Lucario form was revealed.
"Huh?! That…he can do that? Since when?" Her mother asked.
"It's a recent development actually." I stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Kaorah as I stood next to her. "Part of the reward for helping with a mission Dialga sent us on."
"Dialga? You work with Dialga?" Kaorah's father sounded impressed.
"Not just him, either. Zeryph is in contact with his siblings too. And, has also gone and gotten himself the title of Chosen." Kaorah revealed.
"That's amazing. So all those years ago, we made a good decision." Her mother then smiled, and pulled me into a nuzzle. "I'm glad we let her go with you, then."
"Believe me, I am too." I smiled. "Oh, right, our newest recruit. Zeraora, he joined us a couple days ago." Zeraora quietly waved to the pair. "We were gonna go for training, and Kaorah suggested we come see you two, first."
"Glad you both did." Kaorah's father said. The pair flinched away slightly as I changed form again. "So what does that feel like? Changing forms, I mean."
"Takes some getting used to, especially since my skeleton changes whenever I do it, between normal bones and being made of steel." I shrugged. "I've already adjusted by now, as I change forms enough that any discomfort is gone."
"Hey Z, mind if I stay around for a little bit?" Kaorah asked. "I wanna spend some time catching up."
"I can let you three into the cabin, if you'd like." I offered. Kaorah nodded, and I pulled open a portal. She then led her parents through, showing them where they could sit down, before waving to us. I noticed mom and dad were also coming through what Dialga had helped me set up. They both smiled and waved, then noticed the pair with Kaorah.
"Who were those two?" Zeraora asked.
"The new pair that just showed up?" I got a nod. "My parents, who were reincarnated as Pokemon."
"Just another case of Zeryph getting lucky." Mewtwo added. "Annie and Markus were Rangers before being killed on a mission. They've taken over running our Rescue Team while we're away."
"Oh, awesome." Zeraora grinned. "Anyway, let's go get some training in."
"Zeryph, you're about to see just how strong Zeraora's drive for training is. For lack of a better comparison, he has the drive of a Saiyan." Mewtwo commented. He put his hands on each of our shoulders, then the world blurred again. We caught Gurkinn's boys just as they were finishing their morning run.
"Hello boys." I greeted the pair, causing them to jump slightly. They hadn't seen the flash from us teleporting, and didn't hear the sound of it.
"Zeryph? That you?" Blaziken asked, then he smiled. "Of course it is. How have you guys been?"
"Pretty well, I suppose. Training wasn't quite enough for the mess I had to deal with on the mission, the day I left you two. Got my ass handed to me. To be fair, it was Deoxys, who knew how to fight us." I shrugged. "Time travel fuckery, pardon my language."
"So then, you're here for more training, right?" Lucario smiled. "With a new face, as well."
"I wanted to come along for this." Zeraora said. "I'm Zeraora, their newest recruit."
"Nice to meet you. I'll show you where we train, then we're gonna go for breakfast." Blaziken smiled. "Zeryph, you can handle the warmup, if you need to."
"I will." I changed form in another burst of smoke. Blaziken led us to the training room, then he and Lucario broke off in order to head for breakfast. Mewtwo and I started our warmup, and Zeraora quickly joined in. He seems to be adjusting to the weights, very quickly. I'd imagine that it's his naturally high speed that helps with that.
Maybe I can teach him how to use the Lightning Armor one day. Really lean into that speed build. As we began a run, ourselves, it became clear that Zeraora definitely was the fastest out of the three of us. Even with his weights on. It also confirmed what Mewtwo said about his drive for training. Maybe I could see about some gravity training, too. With Melanie's help, of course, since she's the one who knows how to control it.
Not too long after our warmup, the boys rejoined us. Gurkinn and Korrina came along, as well, just to see who it was. Smiling and waving when they saw me, and I replied with the same greeting. Korrina's Riolu excitedly asked to join, so we decided to allow it. I figured it wouldn't hurt, using a shadow clone to take care of personally training with him.
Speaking of clones, I had formed another ten, at the same time. Earning probably the most comical reactions I've gotten so far. Wide eyed stares mixed with everyone going, momentarily, slack jawed. But a quick explanation of how they worked was enough. Gurkinn's Lucario split them up into groups of two, and began to have them work on different things, before walking over to a battlefield and taking a stance.
"Zeryph, weights off. I want to test you as you are, now. Don't unleash any seals for the time being." He said. I nodded, slipping the bands off my arms and legs and setting them by the field's edge. Then I formed an Aura staff with Bone Rush. Lucario tossed me a blindfold, which I tied on with some help from Mewtwo, while Lucario did the same. Then he rushed forward and began a series of very quick attacks.
No force behind his swings, but he was testing my defense, not my offensive capabilities. I blocked his attacks with decent speed, dodging the ones that I couldn't get the staff around to block in time. Deciding that the staff wasn't doing well for defense, I switched it for Sacred Sword.
Lucario reacted with surprise as his offense quickly changed into having to defend himself. Sacred Sword was much, much easier to handle than the staff was. And it gives me a free hand to use. Lucario was caught by surprise again when I began to use my own adjustment to Sacred Sword, in order to launch waves of Aura, extending its reach much further than it appeared.
"Impressive. It would seem you've been practicing more than I thought." Lucario praised. "I've never heard of a Sacred Sword that functions like this."
"It's my own adjustments to it, actually." I revealed. "I went to visit the Swords of Justice in Unova, the same day I left here."
"I see. Still, it's impressive. If they were to allow it, I would like to learn this for myself." Lucario blocked another strike, grunting from the force behind it. "How far along are you with your limiter seals?"
"Up to phase four. I was able to push it to five yesterday, for about ninety seconds." I continued on the offense, even as I was talking. "It was a spar, but we got a little carried away. Melanie wasn't too happy about it, either."
"Understandable. It was a spar, so there wasn't any reason to fight at full power." Lucario signaled a halt. "Enough. Your offense and defense are both very solid. You can always use some extra work on it, of course, but we'll take care of that today."
We both turned and saw as Blaziken got floored by Zeraora. Which he certainly didn't seem to be expecting to happen based on how he reacted to it. Lucario let out a laugh, then went to help him up.
"That cat knows how to fight." Blaziken was smiling when he stood up. "Where did you find him, Zeryph?" He asked.
"Alola. Originally, we met because he was randomly pulled in by my powers, for something we have unique access to." I bumped a fist against one of Zeraora's. "He's incredibly fast, even though he hadn't been weight training until…yesterday, actually."
"I noticed. That's the only time I'll underestimate what he can do." Blaziken offered a handshake, which Zeraora accepted. "Still, well done."
"Hey, Zeryph, you wanna try?" Zeraora asked. "I wanna see what you can do, for real."
"Sure." I accepted. The boys cleared the field while we took our positions. "What are the limits for this?" I asked.
"Up to phase two, maybe three if you're having trouble." Zeraora seems confident. "Ready?" When I nodded, he grinned, then rushed forward so quickly I barely had time to get a block up to catch it. "Didn't say I was gonna let you just power up, though."
I had to focus on defending myself, so it was hard to focus on the seals enough to get the first two, but when I did, there was a rush as my Aura was released. Which made things much more even, even without the aid of Psychic abilities. Zeraora wasn't using much for attacks, other than just Plasma Fists, giving his hands an electric charge.
I could feel my fur standing up any time one of his attacks got anywhere near me. The shock wasn't too bad, since he was holding it back. It felt more like being shocked from static than any actual jolt. Since he said he was allowing for phase three, I released the third seal and began to shift into offense.
Zeraora's defensive capability was less focused on blocking, and more on dodging. Something which he did very well. Since he didn't say whether they were allowed or not, I began to accent my attacks by using clones. Earning a laugh the first time he had to dispel one.
"Well, that was a smart trick, wasn't it?" Zeraora grinned. "Didn't say they weren't allowed, so it's fair. If you didn't use any extra tricks, I'd be disappointed." He grunted as a shadow swept his legs, suddenly, but he recovered quickly. His eyes followed the waving shadows that I could control. Phase three is the highest I can manage, without losing the ability to use them.
With them active, I began to press the attack even more. Zeraora letting out short laughs and dodging around my attacks, even as I started to use the speed I got from having my weights off. Making it harder for him to dodge, so he started blocking. Letting out quiet grunts in response to the force from my attacks.
"You're actually putting pressure on me, nice." He said, grinning. "Unfortunately, still not quite good enough, even if I haven't been training with you guys for all that long. I wanted to wait on this, but I think I can get away with it this time." He watched an Aura Sphere spin up in my hand, then as I began to rush forward, he reached behind his back as if grabbing something. Then, in a quick motion, swept his arm out and threw it as I got close. My eyes tracked the spinning object, widening in surprise as I realized what it was. Zeraora waited until right as I would've made contact.
"I win." He said quietly. My vision lit up with a bright yellow flash, and I felt my legs being swept from underneath me. Then I was firmly planted on the ground, similarly to Blaziken just a few minutes ago. I let out a grunt, the Aura Sphere I had spun up was safely dispelled, and my seals were reactivated.
"Guess that's what you were working on, huh?" I said, earning a laugh from him in response, then Zeraora pulled me up from the ground.
"Yup. It's incredibly draining right now, and as you can imagine, not easy to use. I can only safely use it in sparring, for the moment." Zeraora's grin didn't fade. "Inspired by the teleport markers Mewtwo uses."
"Actually, it's more similar to what he got the idea from." I commented on it. There goes the idea for teaching him Lightning Armor. "I would've taught you something that would help with your speed, but then you went and pulled that. Well, since you've got it, I wanna see you train with it as much as you can."
"Oh, I plan to. Don't worry though, I won't be using it in Gym Battles or League stuff. I'm reasonably sure it would get banned simply because there's no way to counter it." Zeraora shrugged. Not to mention how he wouldn't be allowed to carry actual weapons in, either. "Anyway, how about a short break, then we'll get back to training."
Our training got going after the short break, and Zeraora quickly proved what Mewtwo said about his drive. Must be his type that causes it. It makes sense though, that the Electric Type would have way more energy than anyone else on our team. Gurkinn's Lucario was more than happy to help him properly learn Aura use, too. In fact, he even offered to teach the rest of the team as well, if given the chance.
Though it's likely they would decline, only because they all have their own unique fighting styles. And Suicune likely already knows how to use it, since she's been around for a long time. Alex is, currently, the only one who hasn't figured things out. Other than being one of the fliers, but he's still quite a ways behind the rest of us.
Making a note to myself to take him to train with Evan, one day. I'm sure Evan would be more than happy to help with that. Alex might take longer to get to the same speeds as Evan did, but he's quite a bit stronger, being a dragon.
[Break]
The boys and I trained until about mid afternoon, when Gurkinn's Lucario called a halt for the day. I had told him our plans for the rest of the day earlier, about the arena. So we knew when we would be stopping. We took a short time to rest, grabbing a snack while we did, before saying our farewells and heading back to the Pokemon center.
While Mewtwo and Zeraora went to gather everyone, minus Lexie, I started to prepare the arena. It's our first time using one of these, so I'm not sure what to expect. As the team gathered around, I cast the spell for it. A portal flared to life, colored very differently to the dungeon or base portals we're used to.
On the other side, a massive circular field surrounded by a wall, with tunnels going into the walls on each side. They're blacked out so we can't see what's coming until it's on the field. Tech built into the arena seems designed to be able to shift the environment, so we'll have to be mindful of hazards.
Speaking of which, the arena shifted into a grassy meadow with boulders and trees scattered around. Then the first wave started immediately. Smaller, weaker Pokemon, but in much larger numbers than even the Mt. Silver raid, when we did that.
[Arena System]
[This is something new picked up from your alternate timeline, his own creation in fact. In an Arena, it's not a case of getting from start to finish, but a test of how fast you can clear rounds. As well as testing how long you and your team can last. Your records will save with each run, and you'll have the option to save boss waves.]
[Each boss you encounter is spaced out to every ten waves, enemies and bosses getting stronger with every set of ten that your team completes. Revives occur at the start of each set. Enemies in arenas can drop things that you can use or sell on the market. Each completed set grants EXP based on the set you completed.]
[Allies may randomly join your team from each wave, and will stay with your team temporarily for while you're in the arena space. You will also have a custom arena in which you can face whatever type of enemies you can summon. Including enemies or bosses you've fought in the past. You and your team will also be able to pick up temporary upgrades at the end of each wave. These upgrades can't be taken from the Arena, as some are simply far too powerful.]
[Since this is your first run, you only have one set. Anyway, have fun. Enjoy the Arena.]
I dismissed the Arena explanation, then shared what I learned with everyone before shifting form and releasing the first seal. It seems like it's a mix of arena fighter and roguelike based on what the system messages said. The enemies get stronger, but we'll be able to get stuff that makes us stronger while we're in here.
I used my personal display to check the powerups, and some of them do seem pretty insane, but also quite rare. The one that caught my interest is a sort of Super Mode, specific for Mewtwo. Which would allow him to use his second phase of Battle Fury, infinitely. So it's not kidding that there's some really broken stuff.
But from the looks of it, that can't drop until much later in the run. I'm willing to bet we'll be able to get permanent upgrades too, from the way things look. I noticed that my team had started to engage the enemy while I sorted stuff out. Everyone dropped weights, but there wasn't any use of Empowerment Seeds, so far.
Since it was only the first wave, everything went down super easily. To the point even Alex and the twins were pretty easily able to clear stuff. Kaorah quickly put herself ahead of the rest, thanks to her large AOE attacks, though Zeraora was pretty close behind despite being locked to single-target. Making up for it just from how fast he is.
He'd be able to clear the room in seconds on his own, if he masters that new trick of his. I'm willing to bet that an Empowerment Seed will let him use it, unrestricted, while he's powered up. Which will make up for having just created it.
Still, we cleared the first wave in no time at all, and quickly gathered the dropped items. There's about ten seconds between each wave, so we had time to prepare for the second one. Mewtwo powered up into his Mega form, and I unleashed my second seal. Kaorah and Melanie both crunched seeds, shifting into their own Mega forms. Cerise did the same, deciding that she'd rather use speed and shadow jumping over fighting at range. Since there wasn't enough places for her to really set up here for ranged.
The twins and Alex quickly established air superiority, so when the second wave started, they took care of the fliers sent our way. Then the twins began to assist us with targets on the ground. Zeraora and Kaorah started to seem as though they were competing for kill count. Since they're both our fastest as of now.
Kaorah's larger attack radius and use of Earthquake was giving her a decent lead, worth mentioning that the arena floor seems to be immune to damage. Suicune began to join in on the little competition herself, using her powers to whip up a rainstorm for the water that she'd need. Then proceeded to use her powers in a way I didn't know she could do. Using her tails to shape the water into a dragon before freezing it over, and sending the icy serpent crashing into the enemies around us.
Dunno where she picked that up, by the way. But she seems to be having fun. It's worth mentioning that she hasn't ever really cut loose in a battle, until now. She quickly passed the other pair with her powers, easily finishing off the second wave, and quickly cutting into the third using a mix of water and ice. Careful to not lower the temperature in too wide an area, as to not hamper Kaorah or Alex by accident.
The waves themselves went by much quicker than the dungeon rooms or even the Raid when we ran that. Between all of us fighting at or near full power. I turned up the enemy count after the fifth wave, only because we were clearing stuff that fast. Worth mentioning it is still the first set, so enemy levels aren't really going up as it's only our introduction.
As we were preparing for wave nine, Zeraora motioned for a seed, himself. I tossed him one and he caught it in his mouth. He bit down and there was a crunch, then a bright flash as he became cloaked in lightning. Instead of mega evolution, it seems to have supercharged him.
[BGM Suggestion]
[Yasuharu Takanashi- Flying Light]
"Mind if I have this wave?" He asked us.
"Go for it." I said, knowing what was going to follow. Zeraora grinned, then leapt into the air before spinning, throwing out several objects that scattered across the arena, each one specifically placed as to work properly. As the wave started, he drew two more, held in reverse grip, and shifted into a stance.
"Ready?" He asked quietly. "Don't blink." A yellow flash lit up the arena as he moved from where he was standing, into a group of enemies at incredible speed. He dropped the first enemies in reach, then moved in another yellow flash, taking out another group, much faster than the first. I watched my team, catching their reactions. Each of them, apart from Mewtwo and Melanie, staring in silent awe.
The spacing between each of the flashes began to decrease with every jump. A quick use of Observe told me what I needed to know, and confirmed what my guess was. An Empowerment Seed would allow him to use it unrestricted, but at a cost. The moment he runs out of energy, he's gonna crash… hard. And after about twenty seconds, he did. But he'd managed to almost completely clear the wave on his own. Zeraora dropped to the ground, panting loudly, clearly exhausted from it.
"Did you overdo it, again?" Mewtwo asked.
"Quiet, you." Zeraora snapped lightly. But his grin didn't fade.
"You really shouldn't push yourself so hard." Melanie said quietly, moving to kneel next to Zeraora before starting to use her restoration magic on him. "You're only gonna end up injuring yourself if you do."
"I know, I just wanted to show off." Zeraora laughed quietly, and Melanie lightly poked his forehead. She then opened a portal herself, and sent him out of the arena. As he was far too exhausted to even try to fight the boss. I don't think we were prepared for who the System pulled. Not one boss, but three.
The sisters looked around in confusion, for a moment, before their eyes landed on us. All three of them smiled before beginning to prepare themselves.
"Hope your team is ready, Zeryph. None of us were expecting to be pulled into this, but that doesn't mean we're gonna make it easy." Azelf was the first to speak.
"Right. And having to face all three of us at once? I wish you all good luck." Uxie said quietly.
"Are you all ready?" Mesprit asked us. She even healed us all up with Heal Pulse, making sure we'd be able to face her and her sisters at our full strength.
[BGM Suggestion]
[Zame- Battle! Lake Guardians: Remastered]
"Begin!" Azelf called out. The sisters shifted into a triangle formation, then Uxie and Mesprit teleported. The three of them set up a triangular barrier around us in order to limit our movement to the space within it. Making sure that it also went underground, as to stop Kaorah from being able to dig out of it. Then their ranged attacks began. It was also discovered that they have something else going for them, too. A synchronization bonus that seems to be boosting all of their stats.
Something we discovered because a single blast from Azelf nearly broke Melanie's Force Cloak. The other two sisters were able to destroy it in short order, their focus on Melanie as the healer was to get her out first. The hard part is going to be fighting them all at once, since Uxie likely knows every strategy we have.
Proven to be the case when the trio Red-chained Mewtwo as soon as Melanie was down, taking out our strongest fighter for as long as the chain was up. Their formation then shifted in order to put Mesprit in the back. Uxie then flared up a barrier and caught a series of blasts from Kalina, before swirling them around as though she had caught them in a Vortex shield, and sending them right back. Kalina dodged out of the way, narrowly avoiding her own attacks.
Gotta figure out how to surprise them somehow. Think. What's something they don't know about yet? Right, of course! I let my expression shift slightly, and the sisters scattered in surprise, Mesprit nearly avoiding a hit from the clone that attacked her from below. The sisters quickly dispelled him with a powerful blast.
Uxie's expression shifted slightly, and her sisters nodded. Their formation shifted again, to one that would also allow them to defend against attacks from below. Mesprit backed herself up into the corner of the barrier behind her, and sealed herself in with a wave of her arms. Cutting herself off from the field, but her Heal Pulse can still safely pass through it.
The sisters were careful with their positioning, keeping themselves well away from any shadows, knowing how Cerise's powers work. With the barrier up, her positioning would be too limited for her to fight at range. I felt Mesprit's power probe against my mental defenses, and saw her expression shift when I began to push back against her.
So she was going to use her physical isolation as a means to defend herself in order to lock me into a mental battle, which is a really smart move. Knowing that I can't focus on both battles at the same time. Mewtwo managed to break out of the chains with some assistance from Solais. The sisters reacted to her before she even appeared. A soft orange flash from Azelf was the answer as to why- a use of Detect. Ensuring they wouldn't be caught by surprise again.
I shifted form, and felt the shadows of the Distortion World wrap my body in a cloak, the same one I used in the Magma Cavern. Then I let my third seal drop for now. Mewtwo shifted forms, himself, into the second stage of Battle Fury. Before using something new from his training, Follow Me. Making sure the sisters would only focus on him, and interrupting my brief mental battle against Mesprit as her focus abruptly shifted.
Creating an opening that allowed me to strike with the shadows beneath the sisters. They scattered, though Azelf was able to outright block hers thanks to Detect. I had to immediately send a second attack at Uxie, interrupting the beginning of the red glow in her hands. She'd been preparing to cast another Red Chain, likely intending to shut me down before I could do anything else. She then had to dodge a Mist Ball that Latias threw at her, as well. Before catching a Night Slash from Solais with a grunt. Just barely having cast Endure before it hit.
The sisters were still mostly blind to how Solais moved, even after learning Mewtwo's trick for sensing Dark-Types. They had to go off where Solais touched the ground, meaning that when she was in the air, she was briefly invisible to them. Solais crunched a seed as she backed off, changing into her Mega Form in order to gain access to Magic Bounce, just in case she needed it.
Azelf smacked one of Cerise's blades out of the air, then shifted to dodge when Cerise actually shadow jumped and swiped at her. Cerise was caught with Psychic, and thrown back towards us where Kaorah caught her with a grunt. The sisters shifted formation again, channeling their powers between themselves before launching Tri-Attack and sweeping it across the field in the form of a multi-elemental beam.
They then fired it off again, hitting Mewtwo directly and causing him to slide backwards as he blocked it. He retaliated by funneling that energy into a Shadow Ball and launching it towards the sisters. Its slow moving speed allowed them to blast it out of the air. A distraction for a brief moment, but enough for Mewtwo to teleport behind them before striking. Azelf and Uxie scattered, but Mesprit took a glancing hit. Wincing and letting out a hiss, before retaliating with Psystrike, using Mewtwo's own signature move against him.
Mewtwo landed safely and slid backwards. He shifted back into phase one, as to make sure he wouldn't burn himself out before the battle ended. Then he formed Aura Spheres in his hands and threw them. Only for Azelf to use Mirror Coat to safely catch them, before sending them right back. Mewtwo teleported out of the way, avoiding the blast which kicked up a cloud of dust that filled in the space within the barrier.
[Zeryph, have you figured out anything we can use against them?] Mewtwo asked through telepathy.
[I'm still working on a strategy they don't already know. What I do know for now, is that they're under a synchronization bonus right now, so they're boosted by that. I'm willing to bet that if we take one out, the other two will be massively weakened. Focus on Mesprit, she's the one healing them.] I made sure our teammates heard what I said, but someone was going to have to tell Solais.
Alex whipped up a gust in order to clear the dust for us. Just in time, too, as the sisters had been preparing an attack themselves, funneling their power into their own Aura Sphere. One that quickly grew larger than normal and took on a white color. If they get that thing off-
[The orb! Hit the orb!] I called in a hurry. Kalina locked on and charged her cannons before firing at it. Mixing energy from both Ghost Type and Dark Type together. On contact, the orb exploded and blasted the sisters away from each other.
Mesprit recovered in the air, but her sisters collided with the barrier and weakly slid to the ground against it. Mesprit closed her eyes and flared her power, before letting out a gasp and falling to the ground unconscious. Her sisters, reinvigorated by what must've been Healing Wish, quickly got back up and began to throw everything they could at us.
This is what caused us to discover that my guess was very wrong. The moment Mesprit knocked herself out, Uxie and Azelf didn't get weaker, they got stronger. Proven by when the pair quickly knocked out Mewtwo by blasting him with enough force to break the barrier and a tree that he slammed into. They then Red Chained Kalina in order to shut down her mega form, before knocking her out with Hypnosis.
Then their focus settled onto me, and I had to start fighting to defend myself. And I thought fighting Deoxys was hard, but this? This puts that to shame, only the sisters aren't trying to murder me. However, I have my own advantages, in the form of the Shadow Clones. Which shifted the odds around to three against two, with the shadow cloaks to make sure they wouldn't dispel in one hit. As they couldn't use any Aura strength above stage two, they can still use the shadows.
If one of them did get taken out, I quickly made another in his place. I was starting to feel the drain after the first several. One of them tapped his right arm, and I caught the signal. Pushing my power into the fourth and fifth seals, and releasing them together. My shadows dispelled right away, replaced by my mega form as I changed into a Lucario again. I began to count down the ninety seconds in my head as I pressed the attack as much as I could manage.
This was enough to force Uxie and Azelf to shift onto the defense. But they were beginning to wear down again. Faster this time, without Mesprit keeping them healed. Uxie's gem flashed a deep purple and I felt myself weaken as she shaved about forty seconds off the timer with Memento. Knocking herself out in hopes that the boost would be enough for Azelf.
Azelf began to use Last Resort, first using it to power a psychic blast strong enough to knock everyone out around me, her eyes having turned white from the massive boost she was getting. Power which she then began to channel into a glowing orb that was rapidly growing in power.
"I suppose we'll decide who wins based on who gets up first. You and your team are strong fighters, and it shows. However, I feel as though your teamwork still needs some improvement. If you use your bonds right, you can learn to draw strength from each other, just like we do." Azelf said quietly. "I'll see you when we wake up, I suppose."
Realizing what she was charging, I began hurrying to stop her but she flew up out of reach, her eyes flashed, and then she threw the orb downwards. About half way between us, she clapped a single time with her tails. The orb exploded into a blinding light, and then everything went dark with a deafening bang.
Notes:
Zeraora's new thing is pretty much an exact copy of how Hiraishin works, but it runs off a mix of both Aura and his lightning powers instead of using Chakra. It's only in its early phase right now, so the number of jumps he can do, and the range of them, is limited. As the story goes on, he'll get better at using it. I'd say the limit for it right now is only five, maybe six if he really pushes it.
As for the arena, this being the introduction is the only reason why it's so easy. Well, apart from the boss encounter. Using the Lake Guardians as the boss fight shows that the difficulty can and will spike suddenly if the team clears a set too quickly. The arenas adapt much more easily to how strong everyone is.
