The world came into view around them. Medicham at once had to avert her eyes from the sun. It was hot out here, uncomfortably so, and the wind was whistling loudly in Medicham's ears.
The group had materialized on a metal bridge that looked like it could be extended and retracted from both sides. Behind them was desert; before them lay a metal building Medicham instantly realized was the Kalos Power Plant. Below them lay an abyss which Medicham could only faintly see the bottom of, a deadly fall for anyone unlucky enough to trip over the edge.
Between them and the Power Plant stood four Team Flare Grunts, eyes widened with surprise. "Clawitzer!" Siebold ordered, his voice as crisp as it was sudden.
Clawitzer rose, the gigantic claw on one side of his body glowing with Water energy. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the Team Flare Grunts, all of whom were recovering from their surprise, going for Pokeballs or, in the case of the rearmost one, some kind of device.
"Mega Launcher: Blast Bazooka."
A sphere of Water energy flew from Clawitzer's claw, arcing to a point in between all four Grunts. As it hit, it exploded, eliciting screams of alarm and pain from the Grunts. One of them stumbled forwards and tripped over a stone by the side of the abyss; he yelled in fright as he toppled over, arms pinwheeling madly.
"Analytic: 100% of death upon fall," Starmie droned. A bolt of Psychic energy lanced out from Starmie's gem, slamming into the falling Grunt and suspending him in midair. "Analytic: 3% chance of falling, 67% with struggling. Recommendation: do not struggle."
The Team Flare Grunt ceased to struggle and drooped forlornly. "That wasn't stylish at all…"
"Hydro Snipe!"
Blastoise was up next. The Grunt that was reaching for the strange device cried out as a pinpoint-accuracy blast of Water energy shot it out of his hands. The other two Grunts sent out their Pokemon, twelve in total, as the Grunt in the back began reaching for his own Pokeballs.
"Psychic Blast!" Medicham opened fire, aware of the rest of her team doing the same. Siebold and Clemont's remaining Pokemon joined them.
"For Team Flare!" The dozen Team Flare Pokemon charged forwards into the teeth of the barrage. Every single one of them flew backwards, most of them crackling with electricity or soaked to the brim, though Medicham took some small delight in watching a Croagunk collapse from her Psychic Blast a split second before a grossly overpowered Electric attack from Clemont's Heliolisk sent its body flying.
The last Team Flare Grunt paused as he was about to send out his Pokemon. It was a pause that prevented him from watching his left.
"Sludge Shot!"
"YAAARGH!" The Grunt collapsed, clutching his ankle as a spurt of Poison energy hissed and bubbled around it. A second later, another voice rang out, this one cool and female. "Sleep."
The Grunt at once fell backwards and began snoring, ignorant of the poison eating at his leg.
Everyone turned to look at where the voices had come from, to see a pair of Trainers sidling down a ledge towards the group. One was tall, with dark hair, light skin, and wearing a brown coat. The other one also had dark hair, but was shorter, female, and dark-skinned, wearing a dark blue shirt under a similar, slightly too large brown coat. Beside them strode two Pokemon each; the male Trainer was in front alongside a Toxicroak and an Audino, while the female Trainer stood behind him alongside an Espurr and a Granbull.
The remaining Grunts gulped as one. "It's International Police Officer Looker! We're doomed!"
A faint smile touched Siebold's lips as he gazed upon the new arrivals. "I didn't expect to see you here, Looker."
"I didn't expect to be here, Siebold," responded the male Trainer.
"Who's your friend?" Clemont asked.
"I'm Emma," said the female Trainer. "Apprentice to Officer Looker-"
"-and, from what I've heard, quite a capable Fairy-type Trainer," said Siebold. "Valerie speaks highly of you."
"Thank you, sir," said Emma.
"Call me Siebold," said Siebold.
"Anyway," said Looker, "Emma and I happened to be in the area investigating an unrelated disturbance. We heard the sounds of fighting and came to investigate. Pardon me if I ask what is going on?"
As Siebold proceeded to provide an abbreviated explanation to Looker, Audino made herself busy. With quick, purposeful movements, she put all of the Team Flare Grunts to sleep. Then she gestured for Starmie to move the Grunt still dangling over the abyss towards the rest of the Grunts, at which point Starmie fired off a long jet of Water energy that coiled around all four Grunts, binding them together.
"Nice to have some more help on this job," Gyarados grunted.
"Yeah, seems like you might need it," Toxicroak growled.
Medicham felt someone nudging her shoulder and turned to see Phantump. "Someone's coming," she whispered.
A few seconds later, another voice rang out. "Siebold! Clemont! Well…and if it isn't Looker. What a fine group we've got here."
Medicham looked back, and her heart dropped. Ramos had just stepped into view from behind a large boulder, flanked by two Trainers that Medicham immediately recognized.
Serena and Calem were staring around at the assemblage of Trainers and Pokemon, Serena more wide-eyed than Calem. Medicham narrowed her eyes at Calem, remembering all too well his dirty battling. She had to admit, however, that such tactics would probably be a boon here, despite her irritation towards them.
Then Medicham's eyes left Calem entirely, for she had spotted Absol padding next to Serena.
Marcus lying motionless, blood pooling around his stomach-
It wasn't the same Absol, damn it!
Next time you see Seeker-Of-Endings, send him my regards.
For whatever reason, that line came back to her at that exact moment.
Serena's Absol was the only Absol she'd met. It could have been nothing. The fact that the two were the same species might not matter at all.
But what if it did?
"And who are you?"
Medicham was forced out of that thought by Looker's Toxicroak sidling up to her.
"These five are unaffiliated," Clefable explained. "Their Trainer is…at risk."
Toxicroak retreated with a nod.
"Clefable!" Siebold's voice rose above the chatter, causing everyone to fall silent. "Go back to Lumiose. You're not going to want to be here when the battle starts, and Starmie should be able to teleport us back alone."
Clefable nodded somewhat gratefully and did as Siebold requested.
"Our priority is to find and shut down the Admins," Siebold continued. "Looker, Emma, you two will head to the back door. Clemont, Ramos, you two and I will go in the front. Calem and Serena, you're with us; unaffiliateds, you're with Looker and Emma. Once you're in, your job is to keep the Grunts occupied while the rest of us handle the Admins. Is that understood?"
A chorus of affirmations rose from Pokemon and Trainers alike.
"Affirmation: Everybody is prepared and understands their role," Starmie told Siebold.
"Perfect." Siebold smirked. "Let's go take back the Power Plant!"
Deep in the bowels of the Power Plant in question, two Trainers and one Pokemon watched the security cameras with an impressed air.
"Two Gym Leaders, two International Police operatives, an Elite Four, and a couple other assorted Trainers," Aliana observed. "A force to be reckoned with. Seems they've called our bluff."
"A shame," said Bryony, "but it shouldn't be too troublesome. We can certainly stall for quite a while."
Aliana turned to the Pokemon. "Cerberus," she said. "Prepare the rest."
Without another word, Bryony and Aliana sent out the rest of their Pokemon.
Mightyena. Druddigon. Skuntank. Vileplume. Dragalge. Beedrill. Liepard. Bisharp. Alakazam. Aegislash. Talonflame. Eleven of the strongest Pokemon in Team Flare.
Cerberus rose to his full height, scanning the assemblage of Pokemon with his six eyes. "Blade." He glanced at the Bisharp. "You are with me. We protect this room at all costs."
He looked at the rest. "Stinger. Gargoyle. Lead the others. Aid the Grunts. Split evenly among the front and back. They could come from any direction."
The Beedrill and Druddigon in question nodded and began gathering the rest of their respective teams. Aliana's team moved out the front door, while Bryony's team stepped out back.
That left Cerberus and Blade alone with Aliana and Bryony.
"You ready?" Blade asked.
Cerberus's eyes locked on their targets. Two on the Mistresses. Two on the front door. Two on the back.
"Always."
"Mega Launcher: Breaching Bazooka."
Clawitzer opened fire on the heavy, reinforced steel door. It crumpled like tinfoil around the sphere of pure blue energy he shot out. It looked almost like Aura.
Was it Aura? It had to be.
The door remained in its sockets despite how it was bent, a crater deeper than the door itself embedded in it.
"One more!" Siebold cried.
"Mega Launcher: Breaching Bazooka."
Thwoom.
The door shattered, collapsing in on itself - just in time to reveal a pair of Pokemon glaring at the group.
A Vileplume, its large body occupying the entire doorframe, narrowed its eyes. "Poison Wave!" it snarled, hurling a massive surge of Poison energy from its position.
A Dragalge, rising above the Vileplume, flexed its massive spines. "Poison Touch: Expansion!" At that, the wave of Poison energy began to grow exponentially, rising and widening until it was at least thirty feet high and fifty feet wide, threatening to swallow them all.
"Analytic: Psychic Gem."
"Mind-"
"-Blast!"
Starmie, along with Calem and Serena's pair of Meowstic, fired three blasts of Psychic energy at the rising tide. The effect was impressive; Starmie at once took control of all three blasts, fashioning them into a sort of wall, and threw it at the wave of Poison energy, blunting it in midair. The Poison wave fell back down to earth short of the group, dissipating as it hit the ground.
The Dragalge grunted in frustration. "Toxic Barrier." A wall of roiling Poison energy sprang up, blocking the door from view.
"Attack!" Siebold ordered. All six members of his team opened fire with various blasts of water at the barrier. It was quite clearly a form of Protect, for even though it flickered it somehow held against the massively powerful attacks.
Then Siebold's team charged, Ramos's and Clemont's following in their wake.
That was all Medicham saw before a voice from ahead of her caught her attention. "If you're done gawking, we have our own assault to enact."
Medicham turned towards the Toxicroak that appeared to be the leader of Looker's team with a frown. "I was merely gaining an understanding of the position of our allies."
"Sure you were," Toxicroak grunted. "All right, let's do this."
Toxicroak turned to look at the door in front of them. Unlike the other, more electronic door, this door was a simple metal one affixed in position with a visible lock. Looker said that it would lead to the main room of the Power Plant, allowing them to take out whatever Grunts were staffing there while the rest of the group battled through the network of rooms and corridors that made up the front of the Power Plant.
Toxicroak raised one pointed fist in a signal. At once, Emma and Looker released the rest of their teams. Looker's Toxicroak and Audino were joined by two Arcanines, a Rotom, and a Porygon-Z, while Emma sent out a Whimsicott, a Florges, an Aromatisse, and a Mawile to join her Espurr and Granbull.
"Rotom. Arcanine." Looker's face was grim. "Melt that lock."
Rotom crackled with electric energy. "Form Change: Heat Form!" His form shifted, lengthening and widening, forming into a boxy orange shape with what looked like two arms made of Fire and Electric energy coming out the sides.
One of the Arcanines stepped forward, snarling. "Flash Fire." Fire energy rose from his fur, flickering around him like a second coat.
Rotom, who now looked surprisingly similar to a microwave, narrowed its blue, electronic eyes. "Overcook!"
A staggeringly large blast of Fire energy burst from every part of Rotom, aimed at nothing in particular. But as Arcanine's face screwed up in concentration, the powerful fiery spread began to arc in on itself. Medicham watched, impressed, as Arcanine shaped the fire into a tiny stream, barely thicker than the lock on the door itself, and then flung it straight at said lock.
The effect was immediate. Under so much sudden heat, very few locks could stand. It glowed red-hot as it warped and wilted, plummeting to the ground with an un-metallike splat. The door swung open slowly with a creak.
"Tailwind," Emma said calmly.
Whimsicott rose up into the air, its fluffy body looking like a cloud in this light. "Prankster: Speed Boost."
Flying energy flew every which way from Whimsicott's fluff. A stream of it struck Medicham; at once she realized that it would help propel her faster. A chorus of pleased grunts told her that the rest of her team had received the boost as well.
"Let's do this." At those three words from Looker, Toxicroak charged, the rest of the group falling in behind him.
In hindsight, Medicham later realized, she should have known that something was wrong the instant they reached the door without even a shout of alarm from inside. But she was too caught up in battle-lust to realize that, too concerned with what they would meet once they were inside to realize that the fact that no one met them outside should have set off all manner of alarm bells in her head.
"That was too easy," Granbull grunted. "Be on guard."
Even as he said that, Medicham lunged through the door - and immediately had to stop dead to avoid bumping into the stationary Toxicroak.
"What are you doing?" Arcanine - no, that was the other Arcanine, why did Looker have two Arcanines - snarled. Then he emitted a wordless snarl of rage as his eyes turned to something beyond Toxicroak.
Medicham peered past Toxicroak, realizing only now that Toxicroak hadn't stopped moving by choice.
Before the group lay a massive room crackling with electricity. Medicham could only see half of it, though, due to a massive set of steel walls arrayed in a rectangular shape around the center of the room. In front of those walls, facing the group and hovering in midair, an Aegislash, a Beedrill, a Talonflame, and an Alakazam rose above the electricity. The Alakazam had one spoon pointed at Toxicroak, psychically immobilizing him with a disturbing lack of effort.
The rest of the group looked around nervously. Now Medicham could see that they were standing on a sort of balcony overlooking the Power Plant's machinery. From each side of the balcony, a catwalk extended along the hexagonal walls, allowing two ways forward from this place.
The trouble was, each catwalk was occupied by at least three Team Flare Grunts and all of their Pokemon.
"Damn," Looker snarled. "The Admins must be hiding in those walls."
"Is…is that Admin Bryony's team?" Emma asked quiveringly.
"Yeah, it is," said Looker. "Get ready for a fight."
"For Team Flare!" the Grunts howled. Their Pokemon echoed the battle cry as they charged forwards. The four Admin Pokemon stood and waited; Alakazam was the only one to act, thrusting his spoon forwards in a rapid motion. Toxicroak was sent flying into a metal corner, eliciting a grunt of agony from the Poison-type Pokemon.
No such united battle cry came from the group. There were many individual cries, though, as they began firing off their moves. In less than a few seconds, three of the charging Team Flare Pokemon had been downed, while another was tripped up courtesy of Phantump's Grass Knot.
"Psychic Blast!" Medicham was disappointed when the Gulpin she'd aimed at didn't immediately fall. It appeared that the Pokemon in here were made of tougher stuff than the Pokemon outside.
The Team Flare Pokemon retaliated with a flurry of Dark and Poison-type attacks. "Impenetrable Shell!" Shellder cried. He was joined by an utterance of "Download: Special Defense."
Looker's Porygon-Z hurled itself forwards, shifting as it went into what appeared to be a living, glowing shield. Several of the Team Flare attacks bounced off it. "Download: Special." Porygon-Z shifted back into its standard form, beak lighting up in three different colors. "Tri Element Blast."
An Electrike, a Litwick, and the Gulpin Medicham had struck with Psychic Blast fell to bursts of Fire, Electric, and Ice energy respectively. Porygon-Z floated upwards, searching for areas where others needed assistance.
Medicham threw herself forwards. "Fighting Strike!" she cried, sending a fist flying forward into the body of an oncoming Sneasel and tossing it aside. She whirled towards another one only for some Fairy-type attack from one of Emma's Pokemon to send it flying off the catwalk and right onto a surge of electricity. A howl of pain erupted from that Sneasel's throat as it jerked and wriggled like it was possessed.
"Executives!" The word from Looker's throat brought Medicham's head up. Behind all of the Team Flare Grunts, two Team Flare members in pure white coats stood, one on each catwalk. Both were sending out teams made of evolved Pokemon, clearly more powerful than the ones Medicham had been defeating up until now.
"For Team Flare!" Those Pokemon lunged forwards, fighting their way past their own Pokemon to get to their opponents.
And then, of course, the Admin's Pokemon made their move.
Porygon-Z, Rotom, and Whimsicott were floating near the ceiling, and it was there that the Aegislash, Talonflame, and Beedrill lunged, each picking an enemy and rushing them quickly. Alakazam swooped towards the main balcony, where Looker and Emma were standing, both of Looker's Arcanines flanking them along with Emma's Mawile and Looker's Audino.
"Form Change: Wash Form!" Rotom shifted again, this time into a washing machine. "Bulky Cycle!" A blast of Water energy surged out towards the oncoming Talonflame, who barely dodged out of the way and snarled at its opponent, punctuated by a blast of Flying energy that sent Rotom tumbling away.
"Download: Defense." Porygon-Z shifted into a shield, this one solid, and deflected the Aegislash's sword strike with his body. "Paralysis Surge." But Aegislash was quick on the uptake, blocking the wave of Electric energy with its shield and lashing out with its blade once more, cutting into Porygon Z's body even though the defensive posture resisted the incoming strike.
"Prankster: Sleeping Fluff!" Whimsicott fired a seemingly inescapable burst of white fluff at Beedrill, only for Beedrill to pop at the impact. Now Medicham saw the real Beedrill hanging back, summoning two more copies of itself. Those copies leaped forwards to engage Whimsicott, who only managed to dive away from their swipes via another Speed Boost.
"Arcanine-2!" Looker called. The second of Looker's Arcanine's hurled himself forwards, leaping off the balcony in an impressive leap. "Flame Tongue!" he roared, spouting a burst of Fire energy at Alakazam.
Alakazam looked disinterested. It reached up a spoon lazily. "Stop."
Arcanine-2 did not stop.
Alakazam's eyes widened as its Psychic abilities had absolutely no effect. "Blink!" It barely managed to teleport out of the way of the surge of flames.
"Zoroark!" Alakazam cried, pointing at Arcanine-2 as the doglike Pokemon landed on the machinery below, leaping from side to side and artfully dodging bolts of electricity.
That was all Medicham saw before she had to duck a shot of flames from a particularly aggressive Litwick. Skorupi jumped at the Litwick, raking his claws across the Ghost's body, before Phantump slammed into it and sent it stumbling backwards. A snarl came from Medicham's left and she twisted to see an Electrike flying at her.
"Psychic Blast!"
"Submission."
Medicham's voice rang out in sync with another. The Electrike collapsed under the sudden mental stress.
Emma's Espurr stepped forwards besides Medicham. "Hi," she said. "I'm Mimi."
"I'm Medicham," Medicham introduced. Then her eyes narrowed as she beheld a large Golbat flying over the mass of Team Flare Pokemon, streaking right for them.
"Tornado Strike!" it snarled. Its wings surged with Flying energy as it hurled a pair of miniature tornadoes at Medicham and Mimi.
"Let's clip his wings," Mimi growled. "Deflection."
"Psychic Dodge!"
Medicham ducked, easily evading the tornado aimed for her and watching as it splashed harmlessly against the wall. Mimi, in contrast, sent a wave of Psychic energy at the tornado, sending it flying backwards. Golbat cried out in surprise and pain as it was struck from the sky, though unfortunately it seemed to land on the catwalk instead of on the machinery below.
"Beam Impact!" Kriesh's latest contribution to the battle was slightly off-target, but even so two Poochyenas were flung through a railing, howling as they plunged into the machinery.
Mimi and Medicham stared at the newly-created opening. Then, with nothing but a nod, they dove deeper into the fray.
It was a bizarre feeling, constantly holding back. After all, Seeker-Of-Endings was working for a four-badge Trainer. It wouldn't do for her to have a Pokemon that could sweep Gym Leaders on his own. Ramos especially; it had sucked to have to feign defeat at the hands (or leaves) of that Victreebel, even though Seeker-Of-Endings knew that he could have probably beaten Ramos's entire team by himself.
But now, there was no reason to hold back. He'd intentionally separated himself from the rest of the team, who were still fighting in that long, narrow corridor, via the door that a few Team Flare Grunts had flanked them through, and was now swiftly ripping his way through an entire team of six. Guaranteed, it was a Grunt's team, but still.
"Is that all?" Seeker-Of-Endings asked viciously, ripping a red line across the Scrafty's chest. The Dark/Fighting-type joined his four unconscious allies on the ground, leaving only a Slugma with fear resplendent in its eyes.
Seeker-Of-Endings rounded on the Slugma and fired off half a dozen rays of Dark energy, sending the last Team Flare Pokemon flying into the wall. It didn't get back up.
The Trainer had run through the door opposite the instant he'd realized his team was losing. Seeker-Of-Endings could hear his alarmed cries. Excellent.
He charged, bursting through the door. A Croagunk sprang at him and promptly took a horn straight through the stomach. Seeker-Of-Endings tossed it sideways and stared down his next foe-
Wait.
"Huh." The Mightyena in front of him crouched, muscles rippling across its body. "You might actually be a decent challenge. What's a powerhouse like you doing with a four-badge Trainer?"
Seeker-Of-Endings grinned. "The Mightyena of Admin Aliana," he noted. "It is none of your concern. But…I will say that you are correct."
He split into six copies, gathering Dark energy across each horn. Five of them were simple illusions, of course; actually making them solid was a skill far beyond him. But they would still distract and confuse, which was, of course, their primary purpose.
"You might actually be a decent challenge."
"Flurry Impact!" Kriesh could already feel rawness in her throat as she fired a trio of Dark rays, sending a Team Flare Zubat tumbling into a spurt of arcing electricity.
The falling Zubat narrowly missed Arcanine-2/Zoroark as he/she/it leaped along the floor, narrowly avoiding streaks of electricity as it engaged in a running battle with Bryony's Talonflame. In the air above, Whimsicott was battling Bryony's Beedrill, though it was clearly on the losing end. Every time it tried to close with Beedrill, Beedrill dove out of the way with ease and sent out more of its copies to occupy Whimsicott. Though none of the copies lasted for more than a few seconds, the cuts and scrapes they were inflicting were quickly adding up.
Beyond them, Porygon-Z and Rotom, both of them flickering between form after form, brawled with Bryony's Aegislash and Alakazam, all four combatants moving so fast that Kriesh could barely keep track of the fight. She spotted Rotom shift into what looked like a floating lawnmower - "Grass Spray!" - and fire a barrage of blades of grass that Aegislash deflected with its shield, while Porygon shifted into its Special Defense mode, took a blast of Psychic energy that sent it stumbling slightly but didn't do much else, and retaliated with another Paralysis Wave that Alakazam sliced through with its spoon.
On the catwalks, the Team Flare Pokemon were slowly falling back. On her side, Medicham was leading the team, backed up by Emma's Espurr and with a couple more of Emma and Looker's Pokemon providing ranged support. On the opposite side, the progress was swifter, as Looker's Toxicroak and Emma's Granbull led the majority of their teams into the fray; even as Kriesh watched, Granbull lunged forwards and grasped a Slugma in its mouth, then flung it away, while Toxicroak sent a pair of Houndour staggering with a spurt of Poison energy from each of its fists.
Kriesh frowned. Zoroark was now fighting against a Golbat and a Fletchinder from the other catwalk's Executive. Where was Bryony's Talonflame?
As if on cue, Talonflame rose above the opposite catwalk. Kriesh's eyes widened as she beheld a Liepard standing on its back. "Flinching Swipe!" the Liepard cried, springing down at Toxicroak and forcing it to draw back. Talonflame dove onto Granbull, knocking it back with a swift Fire energy-supplemented dive.
The Liepard had to be yet another of Bryony's team. Kriesh recalled that Siebold had mentioned she had a Bisharp. Where was it?
She pushed that out of her mind and looked back at her catwalk. Medicham and Skorupi were battling against a large Mightyena fielded by the white-coated Team Flare member and were clearly winning, with Medicham landing punch after punch across its jaw while Skorupi ripped at its flank with every spike that could reach it. The Mightyena howled, unable to focus on a target.
Shellder was fending off a Croagunk, stopping its attack cold with a Defensive Shell and then lunging forwards, clocking the Croagunk in the jaw and sending it reeling. Phantump was cackling giddily as she always did as she watched a Swalot crumple from a combination of Mimi's Psychic attacks and her own Curse.
"Excuse me?" Phantump popped into existence right next to Kriesh. "I'm a him. Not a her."
Kriesh sighed, her eyes twisting to see Emma's Whimsicott plummeting to the ground. Emma recalled it before it hit, but that left Beedrill wheeling towards Porygon-Z.
"Can you…just hit that Beedrill with a Confuse Ray?" Kriesh asked.
"Got it!" Phantump rose back into the air. "Confuse Ray!" she cried, firing off the burst of Ghost energy right at the inattentive Beedrill.
"Gah!" Beedrill stumbled in midair and plunged halfway down to the ground before righting itself. It glared at Kriesh and Phantump, already shrugging off the Confuse Ray's effects.
It lunged for Phantump with fury in its eyes. Kriesh leaped to intercept. "Sky Impact!"
Beedrill twisted out of the way with little and lashed out one of its stinger-tipped arms at Kriesh's side. Kriesh jerked away, barely avoiding a spurt of Poison energy from the stinger, though it still ripped a line down her side. "Flurry Impact!" she cried, twisting her head to send the familiar rays at Beedrill.
Beedrill frowned. In a flash it was up, slipping between the rays with astounding speed, not letting a single one touch him. But they did their job; Beedrill was forced away from Phantump, who gave Kriesh a thankful nod before she - he - whatever Phantump was now dove back into the fray.
Beedrill watched as the Flurry Impact broke against the wall. "An unwizzze decizzzzion, Fearow," it buzzed. "You are a fool to face me. Your skillzzzz are lacking in comparizzzon to my own. My Swarm Ability will overwhelm you. Allow me to demonzzzztrate."
Beedrill rose into the air, and as it did it split into seven Beedrills. It seemed somewhat like that Absol's copy manifestation, except instead of all the copies doing the same thing, two of them lunged for Kriesh while the rest hung back. "Flurry Impact!" Kriesh cried, only manifesting a pair of her rays. The images instantly popped-
And from their disappearing bodies, their stingers flew forwards.
"Sky Impact!" Kriesh felt two of the flying stingers rake across her back legs as she dove. She arced upwards and aimed herself at the remaining five Beedrills.
Sky Impact pointed her towards the correct Beedrill, as it had for Serena's Absol. Beedrill's eyes narrowed and it sent its four doubles flying at Kriesh. Kriesh accelerated towards the real Beedrill, realizing as she lunged that the doubles were going to hit.
They did, their stingers scoring brutal hits on her sides and wings, though thankfully no poison came from them. Beedrill himself lunged forward to meet Kriesh, stingers drawn back. "Poisonouzzzz Strike," it buzzed, both its stingers glowing with Poison energy.
Kriesh saw it tense, ready to dive to the right. She banked quickly, recalibrating, only for Beedrill to unexpectedly dive left, whipping a poisoned stinger at her left wing. Kriesh backwinged, barely avoiding the attack.
"My Swarm Ability allowzzzz me to manifezzzzt copiezzzz of myzzzelf," Beedrill buzzed, hovering in the air before Kriesh. "I can then manipulate thozzzze copizzzz however I wish." Beedrill manifested a copy of itself beside it, then detached its stingers from the rest of it. "Swarm: Needle Burzzzzzt."
Eight copies of Beedrill materialized. In an instant, Beedrill detached all of their stingers, then dismissed them. Sixteen stingers floated over to join the two Beedrill already had hovering in front of it. With a grunt of effort, Beedrill hurled all eighteen stingers at Kriesh in a volley.
Kriesh realized they were coming in a wave; not all of them would hit her, but they were spaced widely enough that she would not be able to dodge away.
Siebold's advice came back to her in that very moment. Do not engage any Admin Pokemon unless it becomes absolutely necessary. "Yeah," she muttered under her breath. "This was probably a mistake. But no help for it."
Kriesh dove straight for the oncoming projectiles. "Multi-Beak Impact!"
Cerberus frowned as he beheld the screens. Bryony's team and their support was doing decently well against the rear attack, with the enemy's Whimsicott already down and their Fearow embroiled in a losing battle against Stinger. But the front was an entirely different story. Not only was that Elite Four and his support breaking through defensive line after defensive line and had already taken Gargoyle down, but Fenris had gotten himself locked in a fight with an enemy Absol, who was somehow winning despite belonging to a four-badge Trainer.
And then things got worse; the enemy Zoroark managed to throw his assailants off and fire off a burst of Dark energy at Blink. The Alakazam wasn't even paying attention, and the surge came just as he was about to teleport away from an oncoming Ghost attack from the Rotom he was fighting.
Blink fell, body crackling with Ghost and Dark energy, allowing the enemy Rotom and Porygon to double-team Knightmare. The Aegislash at once was forced to fall back, unable to properly defend against two powerful foes at once.
And Spot and Blazewing had gotten caught up in the ongoing brawl on the left catwalk, while Stinger was still toying with that stupid Fearow.
Things were not going too well.
Cerberus snarled. "Blade. Take the field. Free Fenris up and tell him to clear the right catwalk. The Absol is yours."
"Got it." Blade lunged out of the room, blades glinting with Steel and Dark energy.
Cerberus sat back and waited, readying himself. This could become quite a desperate fight if it continued going like this.
"Rending Jaws!" Mightyena's jaws clamped down on one of Seeker-Of-Endings's copies, popping it, and then he raised his head - "Rending Wave!" - and snarled out a burst of Dark energy. Seeker-Of-Endings lunged up and over, augmenting his body with Detect in order to make the leap. Then he dove, horn glinting with Dark energy of his own.
Mightyena swiveled, jaws flaring. "Blazing Jaws!" His teeth clashed with Seeker-Of-Endings's horn. The Absol twisted, slashing twice more, but found no purchase.
"Blinding Wave!" Seeker-Of-Endings barely avoided the surge of energy that, as he had learned the hard way early in the fight, would impact his vision for a time. He retaliated with a flurry of Dark energy rays, buffeting Mightyena and forcing him back.
"Time to finish this." Seeker-Of-Endings lunged for the stumbling Mightyena horn-first.
"Steel Blade!"
The Bisharp lunged into the room, arm outstretched, and caught Seeker-Of-Endings's horn with its own wrist. A surge of strength from the new arrival shoved Seeker-Of-Endings backwards.
"Fenris," Bisharp ordered. "Head to the rear. Clear the rightmost catwalk."
"I had this handled!" Fenris snarled.
"Go." Bisharp's tone made it clear that he expected the order to be followed this time.
"Fine," Fenris growled. The Mightyena turned and raced out of the room.
Bisharp crouched before Seeker-Of-Endings. "I am Blade," he said. "You may have fared well against Fenris, but I have already won this fight. With my Defiant ability, I can absorb pain and convert it into power."
Only now did Seeker-Of-Endings notice the scratch his horn had made on Blade's arm. That same arm now flared with Dark energy that seemed to leech out from the scratch itself. Blade's eyes narrowed.
"Defiant: Dark Retaliation."
Then Blade was on him, and in only a few seconds Seeker-Of-Endings was fighting for his life.
"Fighting Trip!" Medicham sent the Houndoom toppling onto his side. Shellder took full advantage of the successful strike, drenching the Houndoom with a Water Blast. Beside her, Phantump pinned a Sneasel to the ground with a Leech Seed, before Mimi hit it with some kind of Fairy-type attack that knocked it unconscious in seconds.
Freed up, Medicham quickly scanned her surroundings. Bryony's Alakazam was lying motionless next to Looker's Zoroark, whose illusionary body was now gone as he battled back the Golbat and Fletchinder striking at him. However, his footing finally failed him, and a bolt of electricity crackled across his left leg. He howled and collapsed, eliciting gleeful snarls from the two fliers as they dove upon his fallen body.
Bryony's Aegislash was being driven back against the inner wall by Porygon-Z and Rotom, while her Liepard and Talonflame were aiding the Executive on the other side in forcing Looker and Emma's forces there back. And her Beedrill-
Medicham had to leap back as Kriesh plowed into the railing right next to her. Bryony's Beedril was on her in an instant, lashing out with both its stingers and catching Kriesh in the neck and chin. "Beak Impact!" Kriesh screeched, only for Beedrill to dissipate. The real Beedrill, Medicham now saw, was hovering above Kriesh, manifesting copy after copy to pressure Kriesh.
What was Kriesh doing, fighting an Admin's Pokemon?
Looker and Emma looked grim-faced as they beheld the battle surging back and forth. "It's time," said Looker.
"All right," said Emma. Both of them raised their hands, revealing multicolored circles glowing on their wrists.
Emma's Mawile and Looker's Audino, who had spent the entire battle standing beside them, began to glow.
And change.
"MEGA-"
"-EVOLUTION!"
Mawile's jaws doubled in size, sprouting new protrusions as they grew, every single protrusion lined with more teeth than Meditite had ever seen. Audino simply flowed with light as what looked like a blindingly white dress of pure Fairy energy sprouted from her shoulders and fell to the floor around her.
"Take back our right flank!" Emma ordered.
"BACK!" Mawile thundered, lunging down the rightmost catwalk with Audino a half-step behind. The reeling forces there needed no other order. Talonflame and Liepard's eyes widened as they beheld the two Mega-Evolved Pokemon rushing them.
"Healer: Disarmament!" Audino cried.
"Huge Power: Toothy Grasp!" Mawile snarled.
The effect was immediate. Talonflame instantly slumped to the ground as Audino compelled it to relax. Mawile's attack was far more immediate; she spun and gnashed at Liepard, who had to shove a Team Flare Slugma out of the way and off the catwalk just to avoid the whirlwind of teeth lunging for her.
The rest of Looker and Emma's teams, along with the Trainers themselves, charged up the rightmost catwalk, easily driving the Team Flare forces back. The Grunts and Executive broke and ran, their Pokemon following, as Talonflame fell under three Pokemon at once and Liepard was thrown off the catwalk by Mawile's teeth.
Medicham grinned, but her grin died as she heard a loud, pained screech from her right.
She glanced that direction and saw Kriesh slam into the catwalk right behind her, still stirring but clearly badly injured. Mimi, Phantump, Shellder, and Skorupi twisted as Beedrill landed right behind them, separating them from the no-longer-attentive Looker and Emma.
It was then that a loud bark came from where Medicham had been facing earlier. "Back! Support the others! I will handle this!"
Medicham whirled to see the Team Flare members before her running away, rushing to the support of the Team Flare members on the other catwalk. In their place stood a large Mightyena; his fur was pockmarked with wounds, but he stood strong, muscles clenched.
"Fenrizzzz," the Beedrill greeted.
"Stinger," the Mightyena growled back. "Blade relieved me. Told me to clear out this catwalk."
Stinger flexed his, well, stingers. "You mind some help with that?"
"Not at all," Fenris growled.
Medicham looked back. The rest of the team and Mimi gathered into a circle around the fallen Kriesh, staring down the two Admin Pokemon surrounding them.
Do not engage any Admin Pokemon unless it becomes absolutely necessary.
Medicham winced. This was going to hurt.
Without another word, Fenris and Stinger lunged, and the battle was joined once more.