Chapter 4- Mosswater Industrial
A/N: This is an original Pokémon Fan Game made by Amethyst. If you wish to check it out and play the game, download it at Reborn Evolved. Search for it on your web browser to get to the website.
Edited/Rewritten as of 12/02/2024
The downpour ended, but the streets were still cold and wet. With the sun having set, the overhanging clouds and smog only blocked the starry night sky. Even still, they were everpresent, the smog giving a sickening scent.
"*Cough… Cough…*" A blonde girl jerked from a coughing fit, holding her hand to cover her mouth.
"Lucille, are you alright?" A white-haired boy extended a handkerchief to his companion, worried that the earlier downpour may have caused her to catch a cold.
"It's all the smog… I grew up in Goldenrod… But ugh… the air quality… *Cough*" Lucille struggled to breathe when suddenly.
Kaboom!
"I don't think the dust from the explosions is helping… Give me that, Percival." Lucille took Percival's handkerchief, covering her mouth.
"I know; Julia invited us to come and find the ones responsible for the train…" Percival averted his gaze, thinking back to that disastrous day. Someone had sabotaged the train headed to Reborn Station, causing it to crash, destroying the whole station… and anyone unlucky to be inside. Percival and Lucille were barely lucky enough to survive, but now they were trapped in the city, where they could only move forward.
A week has passed since that day when Percival and Lucille were truly exploring Reborn City. The days' weather hadn't been kind, with rain on and off again. It did make Percival worry for his companion, who was a greenhorn, to being a Pokémon Trainer. But even still, within the week, she had already gone and caught more than six Pokémon.
Initially worried that not many trainers could handle various pokémon, Lucille surpassed his expectations. She was more capable than she seemed. If he weren't so sure that her first pokémon was Budew, Deme, he would have thought she had owned several prior. Petty as it was, he still hadn't let her beat him, though. Time had passed with leisure and some well-needed joy.
But that changed tonight while they tried to see if the Peridot Ward Gym Leader, Julia, was accepting challengers. They heard straight from the leader's mouth that the ones who sabotaged the train and train station were planning on detonating her gym. Julia had used her connections to find out where these people were using the base but forced Percival and Lucille to tag along with her, bringing the story to this moment.
"All better!" Julia cheered, raising her yellow sleeve in the air. She had just blown off the door to Mosswater Factory, the supposed base of the scoundrels who thought to blow up Julia's Gym. As she cheered, she saw two figures approach from behind, Percival and Lucille. "Oh, friends! Hello, Friends!"
Percival and Lucille turned around to see a male and a female. The male looked about Lucille and Percival's age, with neptune hair and dark-green eyes covered in glasses. He wore a green collared short-sleeve shirt with brown shorts and boots. His grin made him look rather arrogant.
The Female had the same hair color and eyes and needed glasses. Though she seemed older, likely the same age as Julia, she wore a green jumpsuit that seemed to complement her hair color. Unlike the one beside her, she showed no signs of emotion on her face, just a blank stare.
"Hypothesis confirmed." The woman with green hair nodded; her voice was surprisingly steady and monotone as a text-to-speech spoke. "Detection of an explosion is accurately and consistently correlated to the presence of Julia."
"Of course it is. With how many things she blows up, I would assume she blew up the train station." The boy responded, looking at the boy with white hair and the blonde girl. "I'm Fern. Unfortunately, my sister here, Florinia, is allergic to words with less than three syllables."
"No such allergen exists," Florinia affirmed, no change in how her voice sounded. "This speaker simply understands the importance of maximizing precision and efficiency of language through whatever vernacular is deemed most efficacious."
"..." Lucille listened to what Florinia said, only blinking in response. "(I think I understood only… some of that?)"
Fern, however, rolled his green eyes as his sister corrected him. "Like I said, some people call her 'Flobot' because of that."
"Well, I call her Rini because she's not a Flobot!" Julia shouted, sticking her tongue out at Fern. "She's a Rini through and through!"
"Well, language efficiency aside, I am Percival Whitehall." Percival gracefully bowed his head to the two who were joining them.
"I'm Lucille Luxen. Nice to meet you." Lucille followed, introducing herself.
"Time is wasting. Let us proceed." Florinia cut through the chitchat, bringing the conversation back to the topic. "According to information relinquished from the suspect captured prior, Mosswater Factory is the infrastructure for the organization that devastated Grandview Station. Said organization deigns itself "Team Meteor"."
"Weird name, right?" Julia nodded with a smile. "I mean, why does everyone have to be "Team" something? Isn't that just broadcasting to the world that they're bad news? Duh-doy."
Both Percival and Lucille had to stifle a laugh at that remark. Julia was quite right, as the world has many Evil Organizations that all began with the word Team. Would this Team Meteor be another such organization likely to fall at the hands of some kids? Perhaps that's just what fate has in store for these two heroes.
Having entered the factory, everyone quickly split up. The two known gym leaders, Florinia and Julia, split off to check one side of the factory, leaving a trio of Fern, Lucille, and Percival to investigate the other side.
The trio entered a factory floor filled with various machinery. However, they were surprised to see a battle on the upper catwalks.
"Give 'em back, you damn trickster!" A boy with black hair and silver eyes yelled. He was partnered with a small Dewott wielding two yellow seashells in its paws, a fierce glare at the opposing figure.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you little scoundrel. I am no mere trickster, for I am a glorious magician." A person with dark skin smiled, waving their purple hat. They held the hat's end at the boy facing him. "Now, how 'bout I show you a trick, as my partner Mismagius will make a Shadow Ball appear!"
"Mmmmaaaag!" a ghastly howl echoed, but a ball of purple and ghostly energy appeared from the hat's end before hurling itself at the boy's Dewott.
"Dew!" The Dewott jumped, slashing at the Shadow Ball with its Schalchop. Only for the Ball of energy to explode, launching the Dewott off the Platform.
"Nagi!" The boy shouted, leaping before he looked, quite literally, as he jumped over the safety rail to catch his poor Dewott as it fell.
"Ah!" the bottom-floor spectators gasped as they saw the boy leap over the edge. Lucille froze in horror, seeing the boy jumping from such a high place.
"Damn it… I got nothing!" Fern shouted, unsure what to do for the boy falling before them.
"Artemis!" Percival reacted, tossing out a Pokeball.
"Kirl!" Landing on the field, a Kirlia with blue hair and legs of stars saw the situation. The pink horns atop her head glowed, and she held one arm in the air. The boy's descent halted before Artemis gently floated the boy and Dewott to ground level.
"The hell?..." Gaining solid ground, the boy's silver eyes shone with confusion as he looked at the oddly colored Kirlia.
"My, my! So, more esteemed guests have arrived!" looking over the rail stood the person who had sent the boy and his Dewott to the ground. Placing the hat atop their head, turning their smile into a sigh. "Though I know they say you should knock before you enter, I don't think they quite meant to knock the entire door in… Or follow in without others knowledge. Yes, I'm talking to the scoundrel in black. Even still, it was kind of each of you to announce your entrance. Not that it was entirely necessary when we already got a tip that the police had been notified of this place-But kind nonetheless!"
"Damn it… Did that guy in a mask tell you?!" Fern yelled at the one on the catwalks.
"Well… his knowledge did give us ample time to drop a few bippity-bop-bop-bop buttons aaaand…" The one with the fancy suit and cap reached into a pocket, taking out a tablet. They ran their fingers across the surface before some screens on the floor flickered, turning a rainbow error. "Boop! Data was released to the wild! Bye-bye, data!"
"!" Percival, Lucille, and Fern gasped in surprise at any information this base had. It was now gone into the wind.
"The name's Ace, by the way! First-rate agent, statistician, systemic admin, master magician- And professional dead end to meandering little vagrants like yourselves!" Ace rested their arms on the catwalks, holding a smug grin over the children below. "Though don't look so down. I mean, I should be more steamed than a sauna than you. We have to go around dumping all this carefully collected information! I mean, sure, it'll be on the network. Who doesn't use cloud storage these days? But still, it FEELS bad!"
"...Just shut up already!" the boy in black yelled in annoyance at the purple-clothed individual.
"And then there's you." Ace's facade crumbled, looking at that black-haired boy. "Look, I know you want your pokémon back. But let's face it: you're not skilled enough to get it back. Give up and move on with your life. None of you have any hopes of reaching me. Even if you do, you'll still have to get through the lucky Demon guarding me. Well, then I'll be off. There's so much more to go through and delete! Ta-ta~"
"Fuck you!" The black-haired boy cursed.
"Ahem," Percival coughed, causing the boy to turn around. Percival then recognized him as the boy he met under the bridge. "Ah, you're the one from earlier."
"Earlier?" Fern looked over the boy with a curious eye.
"Ah, that guy when I caught Aurras earlier!" Lucille exclaimed in recollection. "...Sorry to disturb your sleep, I'm Lucille."
"..." The boy's resting bitch face only seemed to grow worse with the sudden introduction. With a slight twitch in his hand, he finally brusquely responded. "Nero."
"What makes you think you're cool?" Fern snickered at the silver-eyed boy's glare before eyeing Nero suspiciously. "The name's Fern. Why and how did you get here?"
"I have my reasons, and for how… Well, let's just say it was more discrete than you." Nero angrily stepped forward. "What the fuck was the explosion from earlier. You trying to kill people?"
"That was someone else," Percival tried to dissolve the matter with a gentle smile. "Fern, the one on the catwalk, claimed they stole his pokémon. That's more than enough reason, wouldn't you say? Besides, this is a large factory. If Nero is willing to help us, we, in turn, could help him."
"..." Nero said nothing, inwardly rolling his eyes.
"Tch… you sound reasonable." Fern clicked his tongue. "Fine, we split up. Two people each."
'Hey, um…" Lucille tried to chime in, her gaze on Nero.
"Alright, I'll accompany our new friend here. Fern, Can I trust you to work with Lucille."
"Yeah, whatever gets us up there and wipes that stupid smile off their faces." Fern clicked, walking east. "C'mon newbie."
"Ah… uh… Later then!" Lucille glared at Percival before following Fern, realizing she had no choice.
Leaving the white-haired boy with the black-haired boy, the black-haired boy only shook his head, readying himself to walk around picking fights. The white-haired boy only gave a gentle smile.
As time passed, Nero led Percival and himself through the factory halls, where monitors showed files being deleted remotely. Neither one knew enough about computers to try to stop the file deletion.
Percival was worried about the information loss, Seeing Projects that Team Meteor must have been working on. The only good thing is that these projects had been deemed failures. The one labeled P-00 was a worry, as it was labeled lost. However, the project labeled P-05C confused Percival, listing Tangrowth as a Grass-Poison Type.
Well, one of the two didn't care for the loss of information. What he cared more about was learning about the ones attacking the factory. Having faked a scuffle on the catwalks, Nero deceived the strike team. He did have his worries that Fern might recognize him, but that was proven to be a useless worry.
Nero did, though, hear a name that only brought about sickening memories. Of course, the blonde would have that as her name. Though there was something else about her… something that felt off… But Nero didn't want to stay by Lucille for too long. Knowing his temper, he'd lash out at her sooner or later. That would sure make it hard to keep his cover.
All that was left was the White-haired Whitehall. His ridiculously long name aside. Percival was surprisingly naive. But what Nero found most surprising was… "The fuck you mean you've had her since birth?"
"Could you not curse at Artemis? She did save you from a cruel fall." Percival calmly responded.
"Kirl!" The Kirlia, Artemis, nodded in agreement. Her blue ponytail-like bangs were shaking with the nod.
"...Thank you for the save," Nero slowly coughed out before shaking his head. "How did you catch a Reborn Pokémon when this is your first time here?"
"What?" Percival blinked in confusion instead. "What do you mean by that."
"I don't know why, but Reborn is home to odd-colored shiny Pokémon that have never been seen outside the Reborn Region. Coincidentally, Reborn also has a higher shiny encounter rate." Nero lectured Percival, looking down at the Kirlia's starry night legs. "That ain't a normal pattern for a Kirlia. I'm sure it'll be ever clearer when it evolves to a Gardevoir."
"Oh…" Percival looked down at Artemis in shock.
He had obtained Artemis as a Ralts from someone dear. It had never occurred to him that Artemis was originally from the Reborn Region. However, one of his parents had been to the Reborn Region before he was born. Perhaps they picked Artemis up then.
"Ahem,… Since Reborn is home to different shiny variations and are more common… have you seen any?"
It was an innocent question, though Nero smiled inwardly. It was one of the best leads for him. "Yeah, Black Baltoy, Blue Roselia, another Kirlia, a black Metagross."
"Really!" The last one piqued Percival's interest. It was likely due to the Metang that he owned.
"Though… there's one I should warn you about." Nero's voice wavered slightly. Making the blue-eyed Percival stop at Nero's tone change. "It's the Grim Reaper Absol. Black fur wrapped around its body, the fur covering its face bone white. Its claws, tail, and Scythe-like horn are all white, too… A personified version of the Grim Reaper, Absol form."
"Heh, you almost had me scared for a second. It's just an Absol." Percival smirked. Sure, Psychic types were his thing, but a mere Absol shouldn't be much of a worry, shiny or not.
"That's where you're wrong… You haven't been here long, and I doubt you have even got a glimpse of Reborn's Underbelly." Nero stopped for a second, "...Other than this. No, there's much more than this mess of Team Meteor. One individual on the streets, some who don't know if there is a rumor or not. The Black Demon."
Upon hearing that. Percival just simply Laughed."Pfft, myths, and rumors aside… don't you think that name is rather childish?"
"Why don't you tell that to him when you see him later." Nero shrugged. Inwardly thinking. "(You think I came up with that name? I've just decided to roll with it.)"
Hearing that they would likely meet, Percival blinked. "Later?"
"That Ace fellow mentioned someone guarding them. A Demon." Nero said, contemplating when the best time to turn on the idiots choosing to trust him. Though channeling his anger, his voice growled. "Not only that, that's the bastard that stole Nami."
"..." Percival looked into the silver hate-filled eyes of the boy before him.
"I'll make him... no, anyone who decides to cross me pay." His anger carried many things: pain, determination… and no remorse for those who made him angry.
"..." The pure hatred made Percival shiver. Raising his hands into the air. "R-Relax… I'm your side, you know."
To Percival's eyes, Nero gave him a skeptical glance. But Nero knew the fundamental matter: They already stood on two separate sides. His words echoed a truth: Any enemy he faced would regret it, one way or another. So why not give him a warning: "For now, who knows how it'll be in the future?"
Hearing Nero's thoughts and how Percival first encountered him, Percival instinctively understood that Nero was a Misanthrope. Many of Nero's words were either curt or extremely harsh. What could have happened to Nero was a true wonder… Percival would never hear it.
Though Percival was still slightly hopeful, after all, he and Nero had fought side by side throughout this factory. Surely, by the night's end, the two could be friends, couldn't they?
After what seemed to be hours of exploring, Percival and Nero finally found something to press forward: An Elevator. As Percival reached for the button to call for it, someone called out for them in the distance.
"Hey!"
The two looked over to see a green-haired boy with a blonde-haired girl. Percival smiled, seeing as if the two of them were safe. Nero's expression did not change, though he disliked reuniting with the blonde.
"Finally found the two of you, huh?" Fern adjusted the glasses on his face as he walked up to Nero and Percival. "Hey, Percival. You sure this girl got her pokémon less than a week ago?"
"Uh… I've had Deme more than a week." Lucille interjected at the comment.
Percival smirked, "She is unexpectedly talented. I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a very formidable trainer in the future."
"..." As Percival, Fern, and Lucille discussed. Nero silently looked on at them. Unamused.
What the hell are they doing? Nero thought to himself. Sure, Percival and Fern were both strong trainers. Stronger than most of the Grunts in the Factory. But were these idiots actually that naive to chat away in an enemy location? Apparently, they were.
But what bothered Nero more was the blonde girl, Lucille, for many reasons, one of which was that Lucille was her name. The blonde girl with silver eyes was named Lucille. Her unexpected skill was another. From what he saw, the Chespin she had earlier was probably given to her not too long ago, and Percival said she just got her Trainer ID just a few days ago. But she seemed to be keeping up with Fern just fine. Skill like that is uncommon, a rare talent.
But what bothered Nero the most was the aura around her. It was similar to his own; it was faint, and she had a disposition to find disaster. However, the carefree smile on her face meant that, unlike Nero, her disasters didn't start at a young age and, at least, didn't affect her much. The aura of disaster was marked into the soul, the bond between Human and Disaster.
Even individually, these were good reasons to get rid of her for Team Meteor. But she had to have all those traits… Nero found the situation extraordinarily annoying and unfair.
Ding!
The trio that had been conversing suddenly jumped as the elevator door opened. The small space was empty except for the buttons to control the floors and the metal floor. As the three stood there blinking, Nero finally spoke up.
"What? I hit the button."
"...A little warning next time." Fern just grumbled, walking into the Elevator, making sure to bump into Nero's shoulder.
"Um… Uh… Thanks?" The blonder her blinked and stuttered her words at Nero. Seeing as Nero had no intention of responding, Lucille quietly entered the Elevator without fuss.
"You can be nicer, you know." Percival teased, "A little kindness won't ki-"
Suddenly, Nero pulled Percival by the front of his shirt and threw him into the elevator. Percival tumbled backfirst into Fern. Where Percival and Lucille saw a Metal blade, graze against Nero's cheek. Lucille gasped and widened at the sudden assault.
Nero leaped back to see before his very eyes a figure in black clothing wearing a black mask with large white teeth painted on it. Over one shoulder rested the other blade of the Doublade, which flew past Nero, nearly cleaving Percival's head.
"Oi! It's that fucking demon!" Fern recognized the figure as his would-be attacker from earlier that night.
"Shit, Nero!" Percival immediately remembered his earlier discussion about the Black Demon with Nero.
"..." Nero spared them a glance as the elevator doors quickly shut, forcing the trio to continue onwards. While Nero would be facing this 'Demon'.
Waiting for the pounding on the elevator doors to stop, Nero and the 'demon' stood at a standstill. When the pounding finally stopped and the trio was ascending upwards, Nero's guard finally dropped, and a devilish smile formed across his face.
"Nice work, Hela. I couldn't have done it better myself. Though Tyr… cutting it a bit close, aren't you?" Nero quickly scowled at the floating blade, which left a gash across his cheek."I think Fin would have done it better."
"Shiiiing!" In response to Nero's taunt, the one blade of the Doublade, Tyr scraped its sword across its scabbard almost to say How dare you!
"Oh, you think I like getting cut?" Nero growled back at the sword.
Meanwhile, Fin, the other half of the Doublade, looked at the Zoroark Hela with a sight of bemusement. The plan to get the trio to trust them worked so far. It was time to head up and prepare to Fight with Ace and the others.
Nero looked at the trio's faces in bemusement when the Demon launched a surprise attack on them. The horror of thinking their new friend was killed by the Demon without a chance to survive might be enough to scare the three into having second thoughts about messing with Team Meteor.
Kaaaaboooom!
A metal door burst open, filling the room with dust and smoke. Four individuals looked at the newly exploded door.
One wearing an eye patch sighed in annoyance. "I would have thought we'd have dealt with the nuisance by now?"
"Oh," The other, wearing a purple hat atop their head. "But we haven't even started this evening's show. I assure you the performance should be spectacular."
"You and that damn demon with your trickery." The eye-patched man rubbed the ridges of his nose. Annoyed at this plot by his two… colleagues.
As the dust cleared, a young woman with green hair and yellow clothes charged into the room, a rolling sphere of red and white following her. Several friends also followed her, the companions helping to take down Team Metoer's hidden facility.
While looking about, not only was this facility planning the destruction of several critical infrastructures in Reborn City. This base was also responsible for poisoning the Reborn city waters. The crimes continued, but there were enough reasons to stop this facility.
"You!" Julia, the Electric Gym Leader of Reborn, pointed at the man with the eye patch. "Are you the one in charge here?"
"And if I am?" The man sneered at the collage of two gym leaders and a trio of brats. A good push in the wrong direction
"We're gonna blow your face off for what you did to Grandview Station!" Julia pointed her pompom at the man
"Amusing." He chuckled in response. "Tell me, what power do you think you have to do so? Two among you are Leaders of the league, sure. A considerable obstacle, yet hardly much concern." His one eye landed on the brats. "And three children, naive enough to get ambushed and abandon another. Mere smoke in the wind."
"..." the man's words stung Percival and Lucille.
"Oh yeah, and who do you think you are, anyway?!" Julia's eyes narrowed, yelling at the man.
"You know already. We are Team Meteor. Though few know it, we are keepers of the history. Shepherds of the region."
"Some "shepherds" you are!" Fern shouted, "We kicked your whole base in already!"
"Pat yourself on the back as much as you'd like, but we never had any reason to stop you." The man continued to sneer at the group. "Like a toddler who will kick, scream, and cry themselves to eventual sleep, you've been allowed to do as you please, just like the one who attacked you. For our purpose, here was forfeit already. Your City has been watched for quite some time."
"We've got metrics on everything from water quality to Pokémon population and the people's lives!" Ace flourished as they flipped their hat in their hands. "If it exists, we probably knew about it! And with the two newcomers joining in this raid, we know much more." A beep was heard from behind Ace, Ace smiling further. "And now, everything is off the system just like that!"
"The only mistake was overestimating your little raiding party. Time was ample." The man laughed, "Aster, Eclipse, Demon. Deal with the small fries."
At the word Demon, Percival shuddered; he instinctively ducked where a silver blade flew over his head. "You're kidding me."
Standing at the entrance was someone dressed in black. Wearing a mask of crooked teeth, only to be described as a Demon. In the hand of the demon was the other blade… dripping with a red liquid.
"..." Percival paled, unsure if it was fear or anger… as that blood could have been one person's.
"That was twice that my blade missed you." the voice was low, surprisingly devoid of emotion. "Well, that mistake won't be made a third time."
"I won't allow it." Percival's voice trembled, but his spirit did not relent. Throwing out a bipedal orange fox known as a Braixen and a starry-colored Kirlia, "Don't think I haven't heard about your dirty tactics, Oracle, Artemis."
The Braixen and Kirlia were on guard for potential attacks yet still hadn't seen through the demon's tricks.
"So you think, Tyrfin." The demon hefted the other shortsword, throwing it at the Kirlia.
"Brai!" The Braixen twirled a wooden stick in its paws, igniting a flame that was preparing to spur into a powerful outburst.
"Shiin!" Only for the first blade that missed Percival to fly through that wooden wand. The dual blades worked together in harmony; Fin sensed the danger to Tyr. Fin sliced through the wand, Thunking its sheath into the back of the Braixen's head!
"Kir!" Artemis the Kirlia's eyes widened at the sudden surprise attack from behind. Immediately, the horns atop Artemis' head glowed, and a ball of shadows started to apparate.
"Zor!" a sudden burst of pink and crimson energy slammed into the small Kirlia, knocking it out before the shadowball could fire.
As Artemis Fell, Oracle shook her head. The twin blades had entwined to each other, and a black fox with red accents smirked as it quickly took out one of Percival's Pokémon.
"So much for your vigilance." The voice was muffled from the mask, but a clear venom could be heard from behind. "Or do you only cower as everything around you gets burned?"
Percival gulped. The Demon before him was a harsh person. There were no commands, yet the Demon's Pokémon knew precisely what to do… But at the same time, Percival abhorred being called a coward and made his movements forward. "Aeros! Slow that Zoroark down, Thunder Fang! Oracle, back Aeros up!"
"Aero!" While this cramped room blocked much of this ancient pokémon's wingspan, it wasn't enough to curb this Aerodactly's Agility. Using its winged forearms, it launched itself at the black-furred fox, its maw Crackling with Electricity.
The Zoroark bent and twisted the best she could, trying to avoid the frightening maw of this pteradon. Only for her hind leg to get caught, electricity blasting through her leg. "Z-Zora!"
"Shing!" Tyr mocked the Braixen as it smacked her with its sheathe again. Fin cried in annoyance at its twin, telling it they needed to help Hela. Tyr grinded its blade against its sheathe in annoyance at Fin's insistence.
In that moment of disruption, Several pillars of flames suddenly engulfed the two blades. As the two swords covered in soot clattered to the ground, an orange fox twirled a broken stick in its paws, blowing out a small flame. "...Xen." Oracle planned to keep the two annoying swords off Aeros' back, so She aimed her own surprise attack once the two swords turned away, though it didn't exactly occur to her that the two would suddenly argue.
"I've warned you many times; your bickering will end you, Tyrfin." The Demon Gruffed, annoyance sounded in his voice. "Hecate, guard their souls and prepare to take more. Hela retreat!"
"Saba!" A small purple gremlin with gemstone eyes appeared. The eyes flickered red, and pale flames suddenly appeared in the air.
"Oh no, you don't! Aeros' Stop that Sableye! Thunder Fang!" Percival called the same order, noting that the machinery in the area seemed to power up the attack further. "Oracle, finish that Zoroark before it can recover; fire pledge!"
"Sa-sa!" Hecate wagged its arm, causing the pale flames to swarm over Aeros, leaving burn marks on the thick hide of the grey creature. With the feeling of the burn across its body, Aeros' attack seemed to land as hard as intended.
Meanwhile, Braixen summoned more pillars of fire on Hela's location… unfortunately, Hela was already gone. Though ineffective, the fires did land purchase on a four-legged canine with curling horns, an orange snout, and a barbed tail. Enjoying the lukewarm taste of the flames.
"Hades, why don't you show what a true flame tastes like."
"Aro…" The Houndooom's snout seemed to curl into a wicked grin as the remnants of the fire pledge flashed into Hade's mouth. Its crooked horns started to glow a gentle orange; the room began to rise in temperature quickly.
"Oh no, Aeros! Smack that Houndoom away!" Percival shouted, worried about the impact the Houndoom's Heatwave could have on his pokémon.
"Dact!" The Aerodacttly cried, Leaping toward the Houndoom, the Aerodactly's large gray head tucking into making an impact
However, a shadow suddenly formed in front of the Aeros. Popping up from the dark shadow was the familiar purple gremlin Hecate. Stopping Aero's in its tracks but taking a hit instead.
"Gr…Aroooo!" Hade let out a howl, orange heat swirling around the room. Scorching across the Areodactly and Braixen. However, the heat was far too much for the Braixen to handle, causing her to fall unconscious on the floor.
"..." The Demon gave Percival an empty stare.
In response to the Demon's stare, a pit of anger rose in Percival. "You think you'll win, but I know how to put out fire. Phoebe!"
"Mii!" Out of a Pokeball popped a long tan serpent with long pink antenna.
"Gr…" Hades snorted at the watery serpent. Sure, it had the type of disadvantage, but it wasn't the worst thing it could be.
"Hades, pride, and brashness are two things. Drag that bird to the underworld like the rest of its kind. Hecate, cover Hades." The Demon was impressed at the Milotic. Looking at how Pheobe coiled into a pile, it was clear she could take hits. Having Hecate burn that Milotic would only hinder their ability to knock it out.
"Aeros, take out that Houndoom!" Percival shouted; Aeros once again flung itself forward using its hind legs and forearms, opening its maw filled with electricity and aiming to bight down on that dreaded Houndoom.
Hades expertly jumped back, leaving the electric maws to close on nothing. Seeing its excellent opportunity opened its jaws, unleashing a blast of black and red rings in a single pulse. Aeros stumbled backward from the sudden attack, falling defeated against the hellhound.
"Mi!" the Serpent roared, slamming her tail fin on the metal floor. Steam evaporated from around her head.
"Eye, eye!" Hecate notices the Serpent charging an attack, desperately trying to interrupt its concentration. She swipes at Pheobe with her purple arms, trying to knock the pokémon off course.
Though Pheobe remained unfazed by Sableyes' pathetic attempts to distract her, a steaming blast of water landed on Hades.
"Ar!" To the Fire Hound, the steam was less of a bother than the intense blast of water hitting them. Hades was knocked off his feet, barely able to stand back up… Giving a weak growl at the Milotic.
"..." The Milotic only glared back at the hellhound, unamused at its actions.
"Good job, Pheobe and Vee. Give us some backup!" Percival commanded, throwing out a small foxlike creature with leaves growing from its ears and tail.
"Leaf!" the small Leafeon shouted as she hit the floor. Scanning the rooms for threats, she leaped into action, her small frame quickly picking up a breakneck speed. Her body glowed a faint white as she rammed into the unsteady Houndoom.
"..." Getting tossed back several feet, Hades lost consciousness against a Grass-Type of all matchups.
"Saba!" The crystal eyes of the Sabaleye opened wide as she saw Hades get knocked out. Crying out loud, she almost didn't notice the Milotic charging another. Hecate tried diving into a shadow to avoid getting hit. But was still scalded nonetheless.
"..." The Demon looked on blankly, returning Hade to its Pokeball. Throwing out what seemed to be a massive bird with a fedora hat attached to its head.
"Of course, there would be a Honchkrow…" Percival shook his head, looking annoyed. "Vee, Finish off that Sableye! Phoebe, freeze the crow's wings!"
"Leaf!" Vee cried, and the long green leaf on her head started to glow. A sharpness seemed to form as that leaf straightened out. Running over to the discombobulated Sableye, Vee cut down with her leaf.
"Grrr!" An unnatural growl was crowed from the Honchkrow, where suddenly poisonous sludge appeared from the crow's feather and launched itself at Vee.
"Eeeon!" Vee cried, her defenses unable to handle the sudden and unexpected blasts of poison headed her way.
"Miiii!" Phoebe let out an angry cry, seeing Vee get knocked out so suddenly. Her rage cooled the room, and a blue ball of energy formed in her mouth. It aimed toward the Honchkrow and blasting it.
"..." Unable to dodge, the 'Honchkrow' had received a solid hit. Only to reveal the Zoroark with an injured leg from earlier. Was now also taken from the battle.
"Two on two, huh?" Percival called out, trying to settle his nerves as best he could. Phoebe was strong and could still take more hits… But Steel, his Metang, wouldn't last long against any Dark-Types. Especially not that Honchkrow, which the Demon had. "Why don't you call it quits and surrender."
"One Pokémon is more than enough to finish you off." The Demon stated coldly. He felt eyes from his allies as they battled, knowing that Nero would be using that Pokémon. The two grunts battling Fern and Lucille show much more concern.
"..." The first thing to be noticed was its piercing red eyes; if looks could kill… Percival would have already been dead. Its white claws clicked along the metal floor, accenting its blackened fur body. Its scythe-like horn was just as pale as its claws.
Percival gulped, looking and feeling the pressure from this terrifying Absol. Much to Nero's warning, this was a living personification of the Grim Reaper. Phoebe was also stunned by the pressure of this Absol, unsure what maneuvers would be best to attack it. "..."
"What not going to make a move?" the tone was blank, yet somehow dripping with condescension. "Very well, Grim."
"..." With silence, the Absol wasted no movement in kicking off the metal floor.
"Mi? M-Miii!" Seeing the Absol move shook Pheobe from her shock. She charged a steaming blast of water to distract this close-quarters fighter.
Upon noticing this, Grim's right paws kicked the floor hard, indenting the metal and flinging him to the right. Once lading and shifting his weight, he could make a straight charge at the Milotic. Once the Scalding water was fired from the Milotic's mouth, Grim kicked off the floor hard, jumping over the Milotic.
"Ah! Aurruas!" Lucille cried as the scalding waters that missed the Absol had hit her Noibat instead.
"Mi?!" Phoebe was shocked, having not realized that Grim had taken a position before Lucille's Pokémon. Using this moment of confusion, Grim turned a crackling black energy filling its white horn. Too distracted by the fact she hit an ally, Phoebe did not notice Grim's Night slash. Her only response was to cry out in pain as a loud thud sounded as Pheobe lay on the floor.
"..." Percival shuddered as he realized just how unmatched he was. All the other Pokémon that the Demon sent out… He was just playing with Percival. The Demon could have ended this fight at any point by just sending out this Absol.
"Lost your spirit, huh? Not even going to try and send out that Metang of yours." The Demon questioned. The tone was neutral, but it sounded so mocking. Percival had no words in response, "Fine then, do us all a favor and accept the Repear's grace. Grim."
"Grrr…Aro!" Black energy crackled through the white horn and pointed at Percival.
Percival lost hope at this moment. What could he do? Send out Steel to be slashed in half… only to delay the inevitable? Percival closed his eyes, hoping for the best.
Think. Think. Think.
Suddenly, there was a roar of a wounded beast. "Aroo!"
"Wha…" Percival opened his eyes and looked at a tiny rotund green hedgehog that had fired several green spines from its back.
"Theros, keep Percy safe!" Lucille ran in front of him, standing between himself and the Demon.
"..." The Absol's piercing red eyes changed from that clear murderous intent to confusion. What was this small Quiladin doing? Did it not see how easily it took down that Milotic, even causing that Milotic to hit her ally.
"..." Nero, the Demon, was just as confused, if not shocked… Percival, Fern, the blondie… they were undoubtedly strong trainers. But to hit Grim? That was unexpected. But even more so, the Demon cast his eyes on the pair of grunts who were supposed to deal with Fern and the blondie. "You lost?"
"..." The male and female duo of grunts shuddered. They couldn't stop Fern and Lucille, nor could they have stopped Lucille from interfering in the Demon's Fight.
"Can't you incompetent grunts do anything right?" The man with an eye patch shouted, seeing how the Demon was now getting surrounded. Sure, the Demon held the odds, but if things went wrong, it could be disastrous. "It was an amusing diversion. Ace."
"One smokescreen evacuation coming right up, Commander!" Ace cheered, pulling a small tablet out of their purple hat. Tapping across the screen at a blinding pace."The disappearing act is a staple of any magician~ Now you see us!"
Boop!
With a sudden boop, the ventilations started, filling the room with thick, obscuring smoke.
"Now you don't!"
"Do not make the mistake of believing you've won. You will be remembered, Enemies of the region."
"You won't be lucky next time."
Only Julia, Florina, Fern, Percival, and Lucille stood as the smoke cleared. Several of their pokémon still out in the open. Lucille was still coughing slightly against the smoke.
"...Are they gone?" Julia paced around the room, checking to see if there was any lingering trace of the Meteor goons that they were fighting
"Are they gone? Of course, they're gone! We sent them packing with their tails between their legs!" Fern boasted that they were still standing and did not need to retreat.
"Great job, team!" Julia raised the pompoms at her side to the air, her Electrode bouncing excitedly. "You too, Electrode! Return~" taking a turn to look at the computer console at which Ace and the other guy were standing. "Now let's see…"
"Hey, Percival, are you okay?" Lucille asked, her eyes worried. Percival seemed to just give up, and Lucille wasn't like him.
Percival shook his head, dismingling the dread he had not too long ago. "What? I went to Percy for a second, and now I'm back to Percival?"
"..."
"I-I'm fine… just a little shaken, is all." Percival sighed. "I guess Nero wasn't able to fight that guy off…"
"Right…" Lucille suddenly looked downcast. He wasn't someone they met all that long ago, but now he was no longer with them.
"Pardon?" Florinia suddenly appeared behind the two, causing them to jump. "The-"
"Got it!" Julia jumped triumphantly. The screen behind them seemed to have numbers quickly counting down. "Okay! We should all start running now!"
"..." The room went quiet with confusion, only the beeping of the impeding numbers dropping lower and lower…
"Huh? What did you do now?!" Fern shouted in an accusatory tone.
"Kaaaaaaa…" Julia sang out, a smile rising on the corners of her cheeks… Everyone suddenly knew what Julia had done and started running for the entrance.