Water is fluid and formless. It could be shaped to whatever form you wished it to take. This is why Zades ability is so fearsome, he held the power to shape large masses of water to his liking and he constructed a gigantic watery prison to stop Roland in his tracks.
I don't know if being immortal granted Roland the gift to be able to survive without breathing. Even if he's able to somehow survive, the suffocating experience of being unable to breathe and to have your lungs flooded with water had to be unpleasant and I would get anything I could to make him suffer, for everything that he had done to hurt the people and the pokemon who I cherished.
The dense water pressure prevented Roland and the ghost from being able to move but Zades' water types could move as freely as they liked in their own domain. Most of them were deep sea creatures, pokemon who belonged to the sea in their natural habitat in the wild. They freely launched their attacks from a distance to incapacitate Roland and, if possible, outright murder him. Roland could do nothing but hide under the protection of his ghost, using it as a meat shield to save his life.
The ghost wasn't faring very well either and all it could do was to continuously invoke Rest to endure the punishment Zades and his water types were dishing out. This had turned into a game of attrition of whether Zades' water type would tire themselves faster than they could hurt the ghost.
The good thing that came out from this was that Zades had indeed succeeded in stopping Roland in his tracks. As long as he and his water types were able to maintain this huge watery prison he's not going to go anywhere soon.
"Have you heard of the Power Point theory?" Zades asked when he sensed my confusion as to why he chose to engage Roland in a battle of attrition when even the Pillars had tried and failed. He was also probably trying to distract me from the fear that I was subjected to before he came to save me in the nick of time, which was sweet of him. "About a century ago a certain professor brought up this theory, that there's a limit as to how many times a pokemon can use a single move in a specific period of time before they could no longer use it until they had sufficient rest. Most pokemon can increase the limit with practice but ultimately, there's still a limit."
Another powerful Water Pulse hit the ghost whose body was still obscured with dark shadows. Zades' water types were relentless, seamlessly taking turns to bombard Roland and the ghost with their attacks and all the ghost could do was to fall into deep sleep using Rest to sleep off all the damage.
"I heard of it before. If I recall correctly, the moves Grudge and Spite supposedly are living proof that supports this theory. They can reduce the limit of a specific move by exhausting the target pokemon such that they couldn't use a certain move any longer within a specific time frame."
If this world was still a game what this Power Point theory would correspond to would be the PP that each move would have, signifying the number of times a pokemon could use a move before they could no longer use it. In reality, the number of times a pokemon could use a move would be far greater than what the games would represent. Most pokemon would rarely hit this limit in the span of a single day.
But, as Zades said, there is still a limit.
"You are trying to get the ghost to reach its limit in using Rest, to reach its Power Point limit as soon as possible. You are trying to eliminate its most effective recovery option," I quickly realised the game that Zades was trying to play at.
"Yes. I know I cannot defeat him alone, but I have to maximise my usefulness somehow. I would call this battle a success if I could retain him here until reinforcements arrive and if I could somehow make it such that the ghost could no longer use Rest. Like this, we would finally be able to take it down. That would be the role that I will have to play in this operation given the developments of events."
"Will they tunnel out in time?" I asked, a little worried and also afraid that Zades wouldn't be able to hold out until then. I have faith in his capabilities as a trainer, but I had also witnessed what the ghost was capable of under Roland's control. His epithet as the "Disaster of Hoenn" really couldn't be more fitting.
How can anyone stop a natural disaster?
"Only time will tell, second guessing and worrying of the unknown wouldn't help you. Have more confidence in me, Vel, you are looking at the future Sootopolis Gym Leader."
"I thought you didn't want that position."
"I still don't, but I thought saying that might make you feel better. I don't know what Roland had done to you but you seemed scared stiff of him."
"I've never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life," I whispered hatefully and my fists clenched at the reminder of everyone who was hurt because they were trying to defend me.
"Now that's the spirit."
"You shouldn't be encouraging murder."
"This is an exceptional case and you are a Vera. You get away with things."
"Don't make me out to be some sort of tyrannical spoiled princess."
"You mean you aren't?"
"Don't make me hit you."
"With those sticks for arms? I would barely feel a thing."
I tried my best to rein in my annoyance but I would have to admit, his words did wonders to dispel the irrational fear that previously held me in a vice grip. He has a way of distracting me from my fear of Roland and I really appreciated that.
"How long can you keep this up?" I asked in concern when about ten minutes had already passed with Roland and the ghost trapped in this watery prison, immobilised by the dense pressure of the deep sea that Zades and his pokemon brought forth. I don't know how, but Roland was somehow still alive even with his lungs flooded with seawater so that was a real bummer. I'm no Water Specialist but even I could tell that keeping this up had to take up a lot of stamina and energy from both Zades and also his pokemon. I had fought against ability holders before, both bona fide ones and artificially created ones. To unleash a constant huge output of power through Resonance like Zades was doing was not something that I had seen even during my participation in the Battle of Castelia. Zades had already achieved the impossible in my eyes but he is only still human at the end of the day.
He will exhaust himself eventually.
"Long enough, I hope," Zades replied, his breaths already getting irregular and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. "That ghost still had not reached its Power Point limit. I think I will have to up the pressure."
He took out an accessory from his pocket and slipped it over his wrist. In it sits a key stone.
"Don't die, okay?" I knew I could not dissuade him when I saw that he made his resolve. Invoking mega evolution already is a process that puts a huge strain on the human body. I had never heard or seen of anyone who had invoked both Resonance and mega evolution concurrently but it definitely would place an enormous strain on Zades. He looked worn out as it was. I'm genuinely afraid that he would lose his life here because while he might sometimes be annoying and I really disliked how sadistic he conducted some of his lessons sometimes, but he had been a great mentor and also an even better friend.
I don't want to lose anybody else any more. I don't want to lose anybody to Roland anymore.
"Nobody can give that kind of promise to another, but I'll try. If I really do not make it back… sail the seas on my behalf when you resume your travels. I really want to see the unknown oceans of the world that lie beyond Hoenn but I had been imprisoned here my entire life until my deployment to Unova. Heh, I have you to thank for that, actually. At least I had the chance to sail Unova's seas."
A bright rainbow glow lit up the dark water prison and Zades' sharpedo morphed under its light. A mega sharpedo sped past in a furious blur and began to brutally tear into the ghost with both dark and water type moves. The ghost's usage of Rest could no longer keep up, fewer injuries were being healed than they were littered on its body. The ghost howled in pain and I could hear both the agony yet also anticipation in its voice. It's so sad, how a sentient intelligent being looked so eager to experience death in order to finally be free.
Roland, he really really really deserves to die for everything that he has done.
"A-Almost there," I choked and forced myself to not get emotional. It took an arduously long process but Zades had done it. That madman that had come to save the day, he had gotten very close to finally reaching the point where we can finally kill Roland and end him for good. The ghost was still stubbornly protecting a drowning Roland due to Roland's absolute control but even it looked like it's about to lose all ability to resist at any moment.
Zades' sharpedo had reverted back to its original form quite some time ago once they had reached their limit. Zades' team were still systematically wearing the ghost down but Zades really looked like he's at his breaking point. He couldn't even stand on his own power now and the effects of Resonance had also long vanished. In fact, I'm the one supporting his weight now by slinging his arm across my shoulders and he struggled to even try keeping himself conscious.
"D-Don't push yourself–"
"W-We a-are almost there," he heaved. "Almost… there…"
I hated my powerlessness more than anything at that moment. I couldn't do anything. I have no other pokemon that I could use other than the remaining ghosts in my shadow but they would be nothing but fodder for Roland's ghost. I had seen how some of my ghosts were being killed and consumed by Emil's during our deathmatch. I knew that would be their fate if they ever came out to fight for my behalf and that was why I forced them back into my own shadow even when Roland tried to take me away earlier when I was at my most powerless and defenceless. I was so lucky that Zades arrived when he did.
I don't want them to die, I don't want them to die a pointless death and more importantly, I do not wish that I was the reason why they had to be killed.
I feel so useless and at that very moment, I would give up anything to be able to wield power that could smite Roland for all the sins and hurt that he inflicted on everyone. There were so many people and pokemon who I knew and befriended and loved who had fallen trying to stop him and I had no way of checking if they were still alive.
I'm so… goddamn useless.
"I… I cannot hold this up for much longer…" Zades said weakly between heavy breaths. "This prison… will soon disintegrate. Once we touchdown… run. Run as fast as you can away from here. I… I am unable to protect you anymore."
"I'm not leaving you alone to face that… that… that thing," I said through gritted teeth. "He… He wouldn't kill me, but you–"
"You know what that piece of shit will do if he gets his hands on you!" Zades hissed and forced himself to speak fluently in his rage. "He was one of our region's most heinous villains, rape and the torture are the least of what's he's capable of if the history books were anything to go by! That guy's favourite hobby is to commit crimes against humanity! If he gets his hands on you what lies ahead for you is a fate worse than death! Don't be stubborn. Run."
"But you will die!" I screamed in anguish. No, please, no. I don't want anyone to die for me. Not any longer. Please, something, someone, if gods are indeed real, if the slumbering legends could hear me, please grant me the power to smite Roland for good. Let me pay the price, I will pay the price.
Something, anything. Somebody, anybody.
My friends, my family. Please, spare them. I'm begging you.
"I'm a soldier, I signed up for this. You did not."
"You are an ex-soldier."
"Now's not the time to be a spoiled princess– urgh!" Zades choked and wheezed uncontrollably and the entire gigantic water construct started to fall apart in the blink of an eye. He had reached his limit. He could no longer restrain Roland.
The bubble that we were in quickly fell in altitude but the extreme viscosity of it allowed us to land safely without suffering anything more than a light bruise. However, the bubble had also popped the moment we landed. I tried to lift Zades up and have him lean on my body so that I could drag him away from here, but my sticks for arms were too weak and I could barely move him. Zades was already on the verge of fainting, but I could still hear his faint mumblings telling me to leave him and run.
No words could describe the anguish and pain I felt. Nothing in this world could fully explain to another how powerless and useless I was. I could do nothing but watch as people fell to protect me. I previously believed that I had gotten stronger, better, more capable when I returned back to Hoenn but as of that moment, it felt like nothing had changed since the Lilycove Invasion.
Nothing.
Zades' water types fought on with increased viciousness even after their trainer was down. The huge volumes of water that they previously summoned flooded over the foot of Mt Pyre at the southern side. I felt Zades' shaking fingers fumbling for his belt before he managed to tap the release button of a pokeball and a skarmory appeared.
"T-Take her and go. A-As f-far as you c-can. Go. GO!"
The skarmory cawed in defiance, unwilling to leave its trainer and displaying its fierce loyalty to him. The waters flooding over the foot of Mt Pyre started to recede to reveal some pieces of dry land and Zades released another pokemon, a manectric.
"Signal flare," he wheezed, his sheer willpower the only thing that's allowing him to remain conscious.
The manectric roared and released a huge bolt of lightning into the sky like a signal flare. The skarmory stubbornly stuck around and also contributed to the battle by cautiously firing its own attacks from afar. Manectric stayed close to us for our protection and with a little help from the skarmory, we managed to get Zades on manectric's back so that in the event that everything turned out for the worst, manectric could at least take its trainer and attempt an escape. Zades was too weakened to even try putting up a shred of resistance. All he could do was to glare at me hatefully for not listening to him and run.
"Save your reprimand after everything is over. I will listen to your scoldings then," I rebuked and decided that I could attempt to contribute since most of Zades' pokemon were still in fighting condition and doing a wonderful job in trapping the heavily weakened mysterious ghost. I believed Zades had succeeded in his original objective that he set out for because the ghost had never used Rest to heal all the grievous wounds it suffered even when several opportunities presented itself.
He had succeeded. He had truly succeeded by risking everything, including his life. As the only other available combatant around I would not allow his sacrifice to be in vain. I am a Vera, I also have a duty to protect the Hoenn region and its people like how my father and brother did earlier. I will protect Hoenn with my life because it is my duty and I am not afraid of death.
I had already died once. Dying a second time wouldn't scare me as much as it should. I could not contribute as a frontline fighter but with Zades' pokemon around, I think I could finally offer some assistance as support.
"Help me," my plea was conveyed to the thin air and various wild ghosts started to appear after hearing my prayer. The tears in my eyes had never fully dried and shadows started to swirl ominously. The shadows spread and grew and I closed my eyes, mentally willing my power and squeezing every ounce of it that I could summon. Grandpa had told me that he would classify my ability under Category Two based on the ability classification system that he created. Category Four would be the epitome of an ability's evolution, people with such mastery over their abilities that caused them to effectively blur the lines between humans and pokemon.
My pokemon had fallen to defend me. I had nobody else to rely on but the stray ghosts who chose to follow me and also my own abilities. I wish for nothing but power right now, power that could grant me victory, power to smite the evil that caused me and everyone so much pain, power to equalise all odds into our favour.
I want the power to murder this man over and over again, over and over again, over and over again as much as it's needed such that he wouldn't even have a soul left to undergo reincarnation.
I want power.
I desire power.
At any cost necessary.
My body started to burn. I started to have difficulties breathing. I fell on my knees and gasped helplessly with my hands reflexively clutching onto my neck due to the lack of air and my mouth gaping for breath. Yet, I chose to close my eyes and endure. I could feel a strange and ominous sensation flooding me, travelling through my veins and tingling very uncomfortably under my skin. I remembered screaming with my forehead touching the ground in a kneeling position. I remember everything around me growing darker and darker in a familiar yet eerie chill that I had long since associated with a power that chose to protect me ever since I truly awakened it in Unova.
I vaguely remembered bright flashes of light erupting all over me. I couldn't really hear or see what really was going on due to the extreme pain that turned me into a screaming mess but I could feel the rapidly increasing presence gathering around me from all over Mt Pyre. They are the native ghosts that lived here and which had previously hidden themselves when they sensed the disastrous presence of Roland when he broke free of his constraints. They had conquered their fear and worked up the courage to answer my call for help and I couldn't be more thankful. I now have some power that I can use to help stop this disaster that has hurt so many people I hold dear.
If pain is the price I need to gain power at this instance. If my life is the sacrifice that is needed to permanently remove Roland from existence, then–
Take it
Take it all from me
The cave-in wasn't enough to kill them, but it held them up long enough to make them desperate. Tunnelling out of there wasted too much time, some of the Pillars were also injured trying their best to protect everyone but they could still fight on.
They have to fight on.
When Jason finally emerged it was at the exact moment when a huge gigantic water sphere started to lose its structural integrity and a flare of lightning rose into the sky shortly after. He understood what that was. Only one man in the region is capable of such a feat and Jason desperately ran as fast as he could to the aid of his best friend. The Mauville Gym Leader was close behind. The two of them were the earliest among the group to finally tunnel their way out and they knew that Zades must have encountered Roland, attempted to stop him and…
They had no idea what the outcome of the battle would be but Zades' mind was in a very bad place until recently. As his best friend he had witnessed Zades' lowest point in life. He saw how he had no regards to his own life and had no qualms doing the most dangerous things that gave him a very bad reputation when they were still in ACE.
He had finally healed after so long, he had finally started living after so long. He won't allow his insane lunatic friend with a great love for the sea to die to such a scum.
"CRADILY!"
Gigantic roots tore through the earth and ferried them swiftly over to Zades' last known location as if they were massive serpents, the sudden burst of speed swiftly left Wattson in the dust as Jason went on ahead on his own. Jason's power started to run wild with an anguished battlecry as plantlife started to bloom wildly at the unrestrained release of his power. Memories he shared with his best friend flashed across his mind in the few minutes that he made his way there like his life depended on it. His friend, his brother in all but blood who chose to defend and befriend the insecure freak that lacked a backbone when nobody else would.
"You had been so good at your job that there's been a saying that had been floating about in ACE recently."
"Huh?"
"No matter how tough shit is out in the field, even when things go absolutely FUBAR, even when all hope is lost, but as long as you are assigned on the same mission as Ice Company Platoon Two Section Four you will definitely come back alive and everything will be okay because–"
The usual cocky smirk on his friend's face grew a tad bit larger as he took a dramatic pause.
"You can always trust Jason Wayde."
He heard the anguished scream of a girl as he got closer and it took him a few seconds to recognise the owner of that voice. It's Velda, and just by hearing her scream he could already imagine the pain that she was experiencing and he didn't even dare to imagine what she must have been going through to scream like that.
The scream never stopped. It kept going on and on.
"FASTER! FASTER!"
His grass types sensed his urgency and they traversed through the utterly demolished southern section of the foot of Mt Pyre as swiftly as they could. It's still mostly flooded and the water was still in the midst of receding back into the ocean. Velda's scream could still be heard, it sounded like the pain that she was enduring was increasing with every passing second and he hoped with all his heart that the young ability holder that he recently had the chance to befriend could still be saved.
Please let him be on time.
He burst through a wall of rubble and finally arrived on the scene. The first thing he saw was the mysterious ghost still cloaked in shadow and fog. He had no idea what Zades had done but he definitely had done a great job because the ghost never looked closer to death's doors than it was now. Zades' water types were also obviously on their last legs, doing their best to hold the ghost here until somebody could come over and deal the finishing blow.
He also spotted an unconscious Zades lying on the back of his manectric, he spotted his skarmory who's stressing itself out not knowing what to do because it's unable to meaningfully contribute to the battle but still stubbornly sticking around to protect its trainer in whatever way it could.
But more glaringly, he witnessed the unnatural darkness swirling in a large radius with Velda as the epicentre. She's curled up in a kneeling position with her forehead on the ground, her hands clutching onto her throat with her mouth opened in a painful scream. He felt the unnatural chills just by being present and he saw the countless ghosts of endless varieties swirling protectively around her with a crazed look in their eyes.
The power emitted from her petite body felt glaringly dark and vast. The number of ghosts were already numerous enough to dot the entire wasteland that was their current battlefield and the numbers were still rapidly increasing. Ghosts of all kinds were making their appearances from seemingly nowhere, some of them had even made their way to her by creating a visible tear in the air to slip past the constraints of space to come to her aid. Bright flashes of white light randomly erupted all over her surroundings, it's the light of evolution as weaker ghosts mysteriously underwent spontaneous evolution just by being near her. From shuppet to banette, driflim to drifloom, gastly to haunter, yamask to cofagrigus, phantumps to trevenants, litwicks to lampents, golett to golurk, pumkaboo to gourgeist; without fail, any ghost who had not yet reached their final evolution would suddenly undergo their evolution process the moment they arrived.
But that's not all. Ghosts whose final evolution who required more unique or special means to attain were also somehow able to obtain the power to trigger their final evolution upon being in Velda's presence. Even the dusclops which he witnessed that had just evolved from duskulls had started to evolve into dusknoirs almost immediately. The process of triggering their final evolution is not something that can be easily done in the wild or without the influence of very specific external influences or items. The same went for the haunters who evolved into gengars.
Even ghosts who were known to need evolutionary stones to evolve were not spared. Misdreavus evolved into mismagius, lampents into chandelures, and Jason's shock had turned into awe at the mysterious sight which he bore witness to before he quickly reminded himself why he was here. He quickly gave his best friend a look over and it seemed that he's okay, he will be alive and his life was not in immediate danger.
"Take him and run. I will take over from here," Jason instructed Zades' manectric and after giving Velda one last hesitant look, decided to ignore her for the time being. He couldn't get close to her even if he wanted to; the overprotective ghosts would immediately converge on him to tear him apart with viciousness that only ghosts would possess the moment he stepped into their demarcated territory. They do not differentiate friend from foe because the only non-ghost ally which they recognise was the girl who summoned them with her otherworldly power.
Regrettably, given the current circumstances, he does not have the time to come to her aid right now. Stopping Roland takes priority.
"Grass Knot!"
Wild grass grew and whipped about in an uncontrollable frenzy as Jason officially joined the battle. Zades' pokemon quickly retreated with a look of relief and Jason gestured for them to hurry and make their escape from here. They had done well, they had splendidly played their role beautifully.
Now it's up to him to finish things.
"Power Whip!"
The ghost under Roland's enslavement hissed and lamented in suffering of pain. It hurt Jason to be forced to injure an innocent pokemon, but he knew that none of them had a choice in the matter if they wanted to kill Roland permanently. He will try to make it swift and painless. It's the least he could do.
"Sunny Day! Solar Beam!"
Barrages of Solar Beam bombarded Roland and the ghost with extreme prejudice. Jason was mentally prepared to duke it out with the ghost in a long drawn-out battle of attrition. Zades' starmie had told him telepathically that the ghost had displayed an overwhelming mastery over the move, Rest, but the ghost showed no signs of using it despite the grievous wounds it had taken. He instantly understood that it wasn't because the ghost didn't want to heal its wounds, but that the ghost could no longer use Rest for some reason. He had no idea how Zades had accomplished it but his success had significantly tipped the scales in their favour.
He whipped his head in Velda's direction in concern when she abruptly went silent. Her body had slumped onto the ground, unmoving and seemingly unconscious and he couldn't tell what's really wrong with her because her back was facing him. Her body then twitched and spasmed unnaturally and he watched as her body was raised and she stood up on her own. Her arms were raised at a low angle from her body, her head kept down, and there's only one description that Jason could think of to describe what Velda looked like right now.
A puppet on strings.
A vengeful screech that promised retribution tore through the air. A banette appeared with a swirl of darkness and hovered around Velda with crazed protectiveness. Jason recognised the banette. It's Velda's banette, Dolly.
A heavily injured gengar lunged out of the shadow from beneath Velda with half of its body missing, but swiftly reformed at a speed too fast for it to be natural. The banette began to glow in a rainbow hue and Jason recognised that it's undergoing mega evolution, but Velda is unconscious so how is that possible?
The number of impossibilities increased even further when even the same thing started to happen to several other ghosts. The oddly coloured gengar that Velda had also taken under her wing began to mega evolve into a white mega gengar and was the second ghost to undergo mega evolution. Mega evolution began to take place for all banettes, gengars, and sableyes in the vicinity by the dozens like a spillover effect. Things that scientists claimed to be impossible suddenly became possible.
What the hell is going on?
A loud and deceptively calm hiss escaped from Dolly's zipped lips as it seemingly manipulated Velda's body. The mega banette was like a puppeteer and its trainer its marionette from where this ghost was hovering above at a slight angle behind her, controlling its trainer's body with unseen strings.
Velda's eyes opened just slightly, but the unfocused look in her eyes convinced Jason that she's not conscious and was definitely not in control of her body. Velda and her mega banette moved exactly in sync as though their minds and bodies were linked as one and now, he couldn't even differentiate who's the puppeteer and who's the marionette.
Both Dolly and Velda raised their right arms horizontally in Roland's direction, her hand limp and her body slack. Yet, it was enough to drive her point across. The battalion of ghosts that had been gathering around her started their march forward and soon broke out into a suicidal charge, with the mega sableyes at the forefront with their gleaming shields raised and everyone else behind them.
"Shit–!"
Jason quickly commanded his grass types to fall back when he recognised that these wild ghosts would tear apart literally anything and everything in their path, and he and his pokemon were unfortunately in their way. With Velda unconscious and her two main ghosts driven into an uncontrollable rage after seeing that their trainer was hurt, there's nobody left who could control and direct their emotions. Jason could probably do some damage control if it's just a huge horde of ghosts, but he doubt even Wallace or Steven wouldn't falter at the sight of an army of mega evolved ghosts running straight at them in a suicidal charge.
Roland's ghost raised its claws and slashed it in a fatal swipe. A handful of mega sableyes screeched and lunged, working together to raise their shields and stop the ghost's attacks with nothing but the primal drive to rip everything apart. Mega gengars surrounded Roland and his ghost under the lead of Velda's own and their shadows extended to quickly connect them in dark links. Shadow Tag had been activated and nothing would allow Roland to escape unless he and his ghost were somehow able to defeat all of them.
Powerful Shadow Balls and Night Shades were blasted indiscriminately under Dolly's leadership, directing the army of ghosts and assigning them into smaller groups that played different roles each under the leadership of another mega banette. Mega sableyes played the role of shielders whose main tasks were to block any and all attacks from the nasty claws of Roland's ghosts, mega gengars as trappers and disablers, drimblims and cofagrigus as saboteurs, golurks and dusknoirs as physical combatants, mismagius and chandelures who were responsible of dishing out unrestrained firepower from afar; the roles that they were assigned to play were clear yet the manner in which they executed it was so seamlessly chaotic that everything erupted into one disorderly yet controlled mess.
"What's… going on?"
The group which first confronted Roland within the depths of Mt Pyre and were trapped by the sudden cave-in had all finally converged to Jason's location, for those who were able to make it in any case. Even the Champions and Pillars had no answer to the brutally chaotic scene that unfolded in front of their very eyes and despite having power to each challenge a small army, each of them instinctively recognised the fact that it would be plain suicidal to charge in and break up the fight as it was.
"I believed her ability has somehow evolved in the midst of battle," the doctor's voice brought everyone's attention to him, the look of worry in his eyes clear and unconcealed. "This level of power… Cat 3 – no, a Cat 4 ability. I don't know if this is good or bad for her."
"Cat 4 ability?"
"By my definition, abilities that allow its holder to effectively blur the lines between human and pokemon would fall under this category, but Velda was somehow able to invoke mega evolution for all ghosts present that are capable of doing it. That already goes beyond Cat 3," the doctor released his blissey out from its pokeball. "I don't know what side effects she might experience after this but it definitely would not be good for her health if she's allowed to continue. If nobody here is going to try and stop her, I will."
"That's suicide!" Sidney held the doctor by his arm before he could walk ahead. "Just stop and take a look at these ghosts! They are all fully evolved ghosts and half of them are in their mega evolved state! They are already beyond reasoning! The only thing you can do is to wait until their rage subsides and they are appeased!"
"But she's going to kill herself out there with the way her ability is causing the ghosts to create such havoc! You even said it yourself, she had forced so many ghosts to undergo mega evolution when mega evolving just one pokemon past the safety limit could easily kill the trainer in question!" The doctor growled and pulled his arm away from Sidney's hold in a surprising display of strength that nobody would expect from the doctor. "Why and who is she doing this for?! She's trying her best to stop Roland fucking Kray when we adults were pathetically stuck under rubble and what are you guys doing, my dear Pillars? Esteemed Champions and Gym Leaders? Taking the easy way out now that an unexpected solution suddenly showed itself in the form of a fourteen year old girl who suddenly gained a mysterious power at the cost of her own well being? FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, understand?! If you still have some pride in you, discard your titles after today! The whole lot of you had lost the right to don the title of Pillar the moment you hesitated and allowed a child to fight your battles at the risk of her life and shoulder responsibilities that YOU, are supposed to uphold! BLISSEY!"
The blissey released a determined cry and shot a bright ball of light into the sky. The sunlight turned harsh under the effects of Sunny Day, dispelling a significant portion of the chaotic darkness that had enveloped the area where the worst of the battle was at. The doctor sprinted ahead at inhuman speed, ripping his shirt apart as his muscles began to bulge unnaturally under the blessings of the sun's power. The ghosts had started to notice his intrusion and several of them immediately turned around to intercept him.
"Stop! If you really are concerned for the girl! Stop holding onto that power! You are killing her!" Kolten Lott yelled as blissey manipulated the vectors through its mastery over Gravity and tossed the ghosts aside. As of this moment he's no longer the infamous Dr Kolten Lott, but just a grandfather who's simply trying his best to save his granddaughter from unknowingly killing herself with her own power.
Several ghosts who were not yet fully consumed by hatred and bloodlust hesitated and paused, but those ghosts were the small minority. The doctor fixed his sights on his granddaughter and also on Dolly, who were hovering in midair together. His granddaughter's eyes were half opened with an unfocused daze, looking as if she's hanging there on unseen strings. An ominous yet dense power could be felt emanating from Dolly despite the distance between them and the usually playful ghost seemed far too lost in its rage to be capable of listening to reason.
The doctor clenched his teeth and whipped out the ultra ball attached to his belt. Fine then, if reason cannot get his point across to those frenzied ghosts, then violence definitely would. He will speak a language that they can all understand.
"SLITHER WING! TO BATTLE!"
All consequences were damned the moment he made his choice. Tarot would not be happy at his actions and neither would the Paldea League. He would be facing repercussions and he would be paying the price for revealing the secrets that he was entrusted with but that was a choice he readily made in spite of everything. He had lived long enough, but his granddaughter is only fourteen. She's about to turn fifteen soon and he knew how much her entire family was looking forward to celebrating that important milestone in her life.
She's only fourteen.
Why does she have to endure so much at such a young age?
Slither Wing hissed menacingly and gone were its usual friendly disposition. A powerful Whirlwind blew with a single beat of its wings, clearing a path for them as they charged ahead without fear. Blissey continued to hinder the ghosts who were determined to stop them in order to protect his granddaughter from a perceived threat to her well being. Slither Wing mercilessly created a path for them using the ancient power of a prehistoric apex predator, casually shrugging off countless attacks that would have taken down any other pokemon and punting ghosts aside with a single blow from its pudgy legs. It cannot be stopped and will not be stopped, for it had endured and survived far harsher battles back in the prehistoric wild before it travelled through time to this era.
A widespread use of Leech Life from Slither Wing successfully caused the surrounding ghosts to falter and they were a step closer to reaching Velda. The doctor gave a determined shout before making a powerful leap, using his superhuman might to cross the distance between them in an instant. Many powerful ghosts quickly materialised to get in his way but they were suddenly sucked away by a sudden increase of gravitational pull that separated them further away from Velda while also conveniently giving the doctor a slight push in his granddaughter's direction.
Dolly finally took notice of him and screeched at him with a hateful cry. He knew the ghost that loved Velda as much as he did was just simply trying to protect her in the only way it knew how, but it's too absorbed in its hateful rage to understand that its trainer's newly developed power could very well kill her if this were to keep up and the only thing that was driving its actions were innate instinct rather than logical reason.
Dolly raised her left arm and Velda did the same, their every action mirroring each other in perfect sync but it's obvious to the doctor that Dolly was the one in control while Velda played the role of a battery, providing all the ghosts she's connected to with unimaginable power that could allow them to take on the ancient threat that were Roland and his ghost when they were all together. She's the nexus that linked every ghost to her and every ghost to each other and so they will protect her.
"If you really care for her, if you really love her, then please, release her!"
Ghosts of all sorts fired their attacks with him with cold fury but the doctor's body was capable of withstanding the worst punishment under the protection of the radiant sun. The doctor finally reached his granddaughter and he caught her in a hug, pulling her close to his chest and quickly plunged a syringe that contained the serum of the ability suppressor into her left shoulder. That very action seemed to have severed the strings that bound her to Dolly and like a marionette with its strings cut, her body immediately went limp and her eyes closed shut. The peaceful and serene look on her face made her resemble very much like a delicate porcelain doll.
The doctor fell but was swiftly caught by blissey who controlled his fall with Gravity, allowing them to make a safe landing. The feral uncontrolled haze that clouded the ghosts under Velda's control vanished quickly the moment her ability was forcefully suppressed and they began to beat a hasty retreat. The mega evolutions started to recede one after the other as the ghosts began to converge back to Velda's side and disappeared into her shadow. Dolly had also reverted back to its original form and shook her head vehemently as if trying to clear its rage-addled mind before spotting its trainer and quickly returned to her side in concern.
A furious scream of rage was released by Roland, who's now free to continue his acts of destruction now that Velda has been suppressed. The Pillars had already sprung into action the moment Kolten had stopped Velda's ability from going on a suicidal rampage but he couldn't bring himself to care what and how that ongoing battle will turn out. He quickly diagnosed his granddaughter who looked peacefully asleep and his heart lurched at his findings.
Rapidly decreasing heart rate, rapidly dropping body temperature. Just these two alone weren't good signs.
"No! No no no no NOOOO!" The doctor screamed as he immediately administered first aid, cursing his own uselessness once again just as he once did when he was unable to save his lover. Blissey immediately started to assist with Heal Pulse and Soft-Boiled, Slither Wings quickly produced thin needle-like hardened furs upon his request and the doctor quickly ripped her shirt apart in order to stick the needles at several vital points in his granddaughter's body to forcefully get her heart to resume beating at a normal rate. More and more needles were administered under the doctor's swift and skillful hands, his mind planning at least ten steps ahead for every step he conducted for his emergency treatment.
A deafening din accompanied by a shattering tremor forced the doctor to look back at what's going on. Roland and his ghost had somehow forced their way through the Pillars via Phantom Force and had quickly traversed a huge distance through that move. They looked to be on the verge of finally being put down but the vengeful look in Roland's eyes allowed the doctor to easily predict what he's planning to do.
"Slither Wing! Stop them at all costs!"
Slither Wing charged ahead with a menacing buzz, its body lit alight with fiery flames as it crashed into the mysterious ghost with a Flame Charge. The shadows and fog that previously covered the ghost began to thin as the ghost had lost too much of its power without any means to recover its lost strength. Strange red markings could finally be seen on its greyish-brown body that made the ghost resemble a living mural painted on rock that was given life by the shadowy tendrils that controlled it. The look in its lone eye spoke of the pain it felt but also displayed its acceptance and eagerness of finally meeting a fate that it had yearned for so long.
The doctor could not afford to stop his emergency treatment nor could he afford to even slow down. The treatment was at its most crucial juncture. He could only place his trust in Slither Wing to stop Roland and the ghost who started to reveal its true form.
Slither Wing buzzed and screeched as it exchanged blows with the ghost. The strange markings on its body kept causing it to see weird hallucinations but Slither Wing forced itself to keep fighting through the disturbances despite the mental pain it was inflicted simply by looking at the ghost's true form. Roland tried to sneak past but Slither Wing flapped its wings and the powerful gust that followed pushed him back instead.
The ghost unleashed another Shadow Claw and Slither Wing charged with a Lunge. The two pokemon briefly wrestled but Slither Wing fell for their schemes when the ghost caught it in a deadlock to prevent Slither Wing from going anywhere. Slither Wing immediately tried to break free once it realised it had been had but it wouldn't make it in time. It quickly buzzed loudly to attract the doctor's attention and also blissey's, hoping it would be enough to warn them of the incoming danger.
The doctor heard the warning but he couldn't move nor could he stop his treatment. Once he did that his granddaughter would be gone forever, that's how perilous her condition was at the moment. He gritted his teeth and continued his treatment, deciding to use his own body to shield her from anything that Roland would do.
A soft rustle could be heard from a nearby bush and a figure burst out from there in a blur. Never had the doctor seen Anna in a more dishevelled and sorry state but never had he also felt so relieved to see her once again.
"Catch!"
The doctor swiftly pulled out another syringe and threw it in Anna's direction, who caught it with her only working hand while releasing a pokemon from its pokeball. The look in her eyes was cold yet psychotically excited, eager to kill the man who had managed to injure her to this extent. The doctor immediately knew that her psychotic half had finally been released and under usual circumstances he should be keeping his distance from her but now, he's simply glad that her psychotic half was here to help.
Her hitmonlee reappeared from its pokeball. From the looks of it, it was forcefully sent out to fight again under the effects of a Revive. It would not be able to fight at even a third of its original strength but this will suffice.
Hitmonlee shattered Roland's left kneecap with a crushing kick, causing him to stumble and hitmonlee quickly wrapped its elastic limbs around the immortal villain to keep him restrained. Anna yelled in glee and finally crashed into Roland and vengefully stabbed the syringe into his neck, swiftly emptying its contents into his bloodstream. She then pulled out the syringe and started to repeatedly stab Roland with it. Roland gave another pained scream when the next two stabs blinded his eyes. Anywhere that could hurt, anywhere it would hurt; Anna would stab the empty syringe over and over again with her only working hand in vindictive pleasure.
Roland forcefully broke free using his supernatural strength and tried to make his escape. The Pillars finally caught up and the doctor left it to them to wrap things up. If they still couldn't capture or kill Roland after everything he and Anna had done then they might as well jump off the top of Mt Pyre the first thing tomorrow morning. Slither Wing shuffled back to his side once it was freed and was eyeing Velda in worry. The ghost that it was battling with earlier had already made its escape but its whereabouts were no longer the doctor's concern.
Anna collapsed and fell in an ugly heap, coughing in pain as she did so. The doctor was finally able to heave a sigh of relief, the sound escaping his lips were a mix between a laugh and a sob.
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
"Doc… Is she…"
Anna had somehow managed to pull herself over despite her body being in such a mangled state. The doctor understood better than anyone how cold and apathetic the Black Gracidea can be due to circumstances beyond her control, but he could tell that she had taken a genuine liking to his granddaughter too.
"She's alive."
"Great…" Anna tiredly turned over to lie on her back and closed her eyes. "I fulfilled my end of the bargain, doc."
"Thank you. I owe you one for this, a big one," the doctor gave his gratitude as he carefully removed those needles from his granddaughter's body one by one until they were fully removed. He tried to find something to cover his granddaughter's naked torso and a bloodied coat was tiredly shoved into his hands by Anna who had decided not to get up from the ground.
She's tired and her bones were broken in many places, dammit.
"Here, it's bloodied, but it's better than parading her boobs for the entire world to see."
"Thank you," the doctor accepted Anna's offer and carefully wore the coat for his granddaughter and zipped it up. He took one more good look at her, trying to engrave her image into his memory as best as he could. Tarot will be taking him in for questioning after this is all over and losing his life would be the least of his worries for betraying their trust. Tarot will never tolerate traitors, there had never been any doubts about that and he had seen many traitors hunted down with extreme prejudice in all his years in the organisation.
"This pokemon… Are they one of the secrets that Cards are allowed in? And you just displayed it in front of the Hoenn League…" Anna asked with caution once she's certain that the coast was clear and it's just the three of them in this area for the moment. The doctor's blissey had also walked up to try and heal the worst of her wounds using Heal Pulse and Soft-Boiled.
"Yes. I'd imagine that they would hunt me down and take me in for questioning very soon. Tarot had never been forgiving to those who dared flout their rules," the doctor replied. His time will be up soon. The card in his pocket had suddenly vibrated and the vibrations were getting stronger, indicating that another holder of a card was getting closer.
"I'm sorry, Anna. You fulfilled your end of the deal but I had betrayed Tarot's trust in order to save Vel. It's like you said, revealing the existence of this pokemon in front of the Hoenn Pillars was already a traitorous act in itself. I… I do not know whether I could see you or Avatar again. I don't think I will be able to further fulfil my end of the bargain to assist you in eradicating the Galactics."
Anna's face remained stoic and blank. Her apathetic nature could not allow her to feel a wide range of emotions like normal people could so she had no idea what to think. However, losing the doctor would be a huge blow to their three-men alliance. That, she could comprehend.
How troublesome.
"Here, take blissey's pokeball. She's also a normal type and she's very skilled in using Gravity, I believed that you had already seen it with your own eyes. Take it as my compensation for everything I failed to deliver to you and… take good care of blissey and Vel for me. I'm not too sure just how much about Tarot I can reveal to her so if she asks, just say that I went on a long holiday or something."
"Tch," Anna clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned her head away, too tired to even try taking the offered pokeball. "Do it yourself. I'm a hitman, not a babysitter."
"Anthia–"
"I will take care of the girl with or without your instructions; I signed a two year contract with her family that dictated exactly that so your point is moot. I don't care, I don't need your blissey so take care of your own pokemon yourself. If you want to repay me, help me do something about the Galactics instead. It's what you promised me."
"If I could I would–"
"Sorry I'm late."
The sudden presence of an unannounced visitor immediately made Anna spring to her feet despite hurting all over. How had she not sensed his presence until he announced it?
"Anna, he's not an enemy," the doctor stood up and gently pulled Anna back with his hand on her shoulder and slowly walked up to stand in front of her. "Yasuhira, it's been a while."
"Doc," the Uncrowned Hero acknowledged the doctor with a nod. "My apologies, I rushed over as fast as I could the moment I read your message but…"
The ancient hero slowly looked over the utterly destroyed environment that surrounded the foot of Mt Pyre.
"I'm late. I had always been too late. My apologies, if I was faster, if I paid more attention to Roland and his seal, this could have been prevented. So many wouldn't have died or were hurt by his actions. Roland was a problem that my generation should have culled five hundred years ago."
"You are… that hero? Aoki Yasuhira?" Anna questioned in both confusion and shock. He's supposed to be a figure that existed five hundred years ago.
"And also the Eighth Card of Tarot, Strength," Yasuhira slowly took out a card from his pocket and showed her the image printed on the front of it as proof before putting it back into his pocket. "I had heard many things about you, Black Gracidea, both good and bad. Congratulations are in order, I suppose, both you and Avatar had attracted our leader's attention. The leader will be watching you very closely from now on."
The ancient hero slowly walked past a stunned Anna who didn't even dare to breathe the wrong way once she truly understood in whose presence she's with. The carefully concealed power that the man held was peaceful and calm like the undisturbed surface of water, yet the vastness of it all could actually make even her emotionless self feel a small shred of fear.
So… that's what it meant to be a Card. An elder.
The ancient hero paused in his steps and placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder.
"I can empathise why you did what you did but rules are rules. Even I cannot turn a blind eye to this transgression when so many had seen Slither Wing in action. The Paldea League will be in an uproar. I will have to bring you back so, take my advice, do not attempt to escape. At least this way, Aaron and I can help argue for a lighter sentence for you. Do not worry, I am on your side and Fool can be very forgiving when it comes to certain matters."
Yasuhira's gaze lingered on the sleeping girl. The look in his eyes softened and he stared at her for much longer than necessary before he tore his eyes away from her.
She's so young right now.
"Doc, I will have to confiscate Slither Wing."
"I understand, but allow me to give it my thanks and say my farewells," the doctor consented. The bug gave a sorrowful buzz when it understood that it would be separated from the doctor for an undetermined period of time. Both doctor and pokemon shared one last hug and the doctor murmured his thanks before recalling back into its ultra ball and handed it to Yasuhira.
"And Gracidea, I would suggest you take the doctor's offer. You wouldn't be seeing him for a long while even if the organisation decided to pass him a lighter sentence. Take what you can while you still can."
The doctor passed over blissey's pokeball to the hitman and squeezed a faint smile. Blissey whined in sadness but it knew it was not in position to be able to change anything. Its power is puny in the face of Yasuhira's might and trying to disobey the organisation would do more harm to its trainer than good.
Fortunately, blissey is also aware that Yasuhira is a man of his word. If he's willing to put in a good word for its trainer it would mean that nothing too bad would happen to him. That's the silver lining in this otherwise bleak situation.
"Take good care of them for me, okay?" The doctor asked and blissey reluctantly nodded, giving its trainer its promise.
"I will take a look and see if this generation of Hoenn's Pillars has taken Roland down yet. If they hadn't done so when I arrive, I will interfere," Yasuhira resumed his slow walk and his figure started to shimmer and disappear. "I will come to pick you up after things have settled down, doctor, so use this time to do what you want to do and have to do."
Yasuhira vanished. The next step he took brought him out to an entirely different place that's located fairly distant from his prior location, but still within the vicinity of Mt Pyre.
Roland, it's time to end this once and for all, Yasuhira pledged to himself as his pokemon started to emerge from the various pockets of spaces which they hid themselves with. The lazy look in his eyes faded and was replaced with one of resolve. Never in his wildest guess would he ever associate Roland's unexplained strength and immortality as an expression of an ability but now that he is aware of Roland's secret, he could finally finish what he started. The Uncrowned Hero of Ever Grande had returned home to end a legacy that should not have been left behind for over five centuries.
He had battled enemy factions, conquered a nation, and even fought literal gods. This time, he will vanquish a disaster.
A disaster that should never have existed.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefable (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male