Chapter 41: Bombing Brain!
Four hours had passed since the planning had begun and now, it was currently 10:30 pm as everyone reconvened in the situation room. "So… is everything set in stone?" Looker asked as he poured another cup of coffee for himself.
"Should be, just need to double check with everyone." Michael said as he looked around. As he did, he saw that basically everyone was dead tired and drinking some form of sugary drink to keep their energy up.
"God why did it have to be midnight that they chose?" Echo whined as she took a sip of coffee.
"To be fair to them, do you see how we are right now?" Jovi pointed out as she leaned back and sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"A tired mind leads to messy planning, something I know oh so well." Cherry commented, not seeming as burnt out as the rest of them.
"True and this also might affect them, so we'll play it by ear. That being said, is everything good to go?" Anabell questioned.
"From what I've heard just from the others, it seems like it." Sigma said.
"Yes it is, me and Echo have hashed out a backup plan just in case we need to get out of there at any moment." Hibiki told the group in a confident voice.
"Good to have just in case. How is the progress on the device we talked about making?" Looker asked Michael and Wind.
"Thankfully, Michael and Jovi have managed to get it to work. It's not perfect mind you, but for what little time we had to work on it, it's pretty good." Wind commented. In response to that, Michael smiled and got out a small device that looks like a black Pokeball with a button on the top and a light around the middle ring
"The Snag Blocker is what I've named it and it should be able to make Snags much harder to happen. Sadly, I wasn't able to get it to prevent them, but I don't think that was at all possible given the time frame." Michael explained as he handed it to Sigma.
"It'll have to do for now." Echo said as she pocketed the device.
"Hmm… now that I am thinking about it, why give us such a long time frame to respond?" Hibiki mentioned aloud.
"That is a good question. Of course, the time frame would be different depending on when you all got the card, but given that the resort is still standing means that it was planned for today." Sigma responded.
"I'm in agreement with Hibiki, there is definitely something weird going on here. That being said, we also can't exactly ignore the problem if it is a trap and we have already sunk time into planning." Looker added.
"All we can hope for is stuff we expect then." Sigma said with a sigh.
"Probably for the best, though we should also keep some alternatives in mind just in case." Cherry said.
"Agreed, now we have little time to keep planning, so we're locking everything in now. Everyone, go make your final preparations for the plan. Professor Michael, I would ask you, Jovi, and Wind to get some rest." Looker ordered.
"Probably for the best, I want to see about iterating on the Snag Blocker in the morning, hopefully with useful data to boot." Michael said.
"Best of luck to you four, stay safe and give Brain a good whacking." Wind told Hibiki.
"Don't worry, we can take care of this." Hibiki reassured with a smile. Wind gave a smile back as they all got up to leave, with Sigma giving a long sigh as he finished his coffee.
"Hopefully we'll come back intact." Sigma said.
"I'm looking forward to it." Looker said as waved them all goodbye. After they left, Looker sighed as he looked at his coffee and took a big swig of it. "Do you think we're making the right choice Anabel? Just letting them just go on this potentially mission?" Looker questioned with a heavy sigh.
"If I'm being honest, I think it's the best choice we have. You've seen for yourself the good that those kids can do and you've seen what others their age can do. Plus, let's be completely real, they would have gone anyway." Anabel responded.
"You know… fair enough." Looker said with a small chuckle. Looker turned to look at the various agents to ask something before remembering something that he meant to ask. "Forgot to ask you this while Cherry was here, but did anything come of you two trying to recover the footage?" Looker asked.
"To my surprise, there actually was footage on those cameras. Now admittedly, the recovery process is still going on a lot of them, but the footage we've found is mostly intact save for audio it seems." Anabel reported as she stretched.
"Good to know. Now, you go get some rest, something tells me it's going to be a long few days." Looker told Anabel.
"And leave you alone? A tempting offer, but I'm more than happy to turn it down to see how these kids do." Anabel responded with a coy smile. Looker simply sighed before nodding and giving a small smite of his own as the two turned to the agents that were awake and gave a silent prayer for Hibiki's group.
As Hibiki's group was leaving the IPP headquarters, everyone was dead silent as they rushed to the route that led to the Tranquil resort. "Still can't believe that they went this big so quickly." Sigma commented.
"Did they ever do anything this extreme when you were with them?" Cherry asked.
"Nothing this extreme. They did offer ultimatums to those who were a bit more resistant than the rest, but this is very much pushing it to the extreme." Sigma told Cherry.
"Well, you'll get to file a complaint directly." Hibiki half joked.
"How do you always find the most awkward times to tell jokes?" Echo questioned, in an annoyed but curious tone.
"Hey, someone needs to keep spirits up and if I have to be the one that looks like a fool for it, I'm more than happy to take that fall." Hibiki responded with a happy smile.
"Fair enough and I'm very jealous of that simplistic mind." Echo said.
"Anyway, speaking of the mission, any clue why they wanted to meet us at night aside from possibly hindering our judgement?" Cherry asked, wanting to keep the talk relatively focused on the mission.
"If I had to take a guess, it's when people would be the least suspicious of something happening." Sigma suggested.
"Doesn't hearing loud sounds of battle at night make people more scared and suspicious of shady stuff happening?" Hibiki questioned.
"Fair assumption and true to an extent, but you would be surprised how many people ignore weird noises and just go back to bed." Cherry commented. Hibiki was going to open her mouth, but immediately closed it as she knew she was in no position to retort that statement.
"If it was just to keep people in the Resort, cause people to stay at hotels, they easily could have just blocked the exit. But the reports from the field agents say they're able to enter and leave just fine." Echo added. Hibiki thought about that as she slowed down to take a break from their rushed pace, the other doing the same as they reached the exit to the route.
"Maybe they just don't care about the amount of people they kill or capture. For them, it's either they get what they want or they send a message, simple as that." Hibiki pondered as she relaxed a little.
"That does sound rather plausible and more like what I remember these kinds of situations being." Sigma said.
"Did they ever threaten to kill anyone while you were there, be it regular grunts or people they were targeting?" Echo asked, putting a hand on her chin.
"Yes they did, though from what I heard, that was before I joined." Sigma responded.
"Before you joined? Meaning they stopped at some point?" Cherry inquired.
"Yep, though note that this is purely word of mouth from when I was there. It seemed like the mood around was very much one of a relieved tension." Sigma explained.
"Did anyone ever say why that was?" Hibiki asked.
"I don't remember any details very clearly, but I remember something about a troublesome person passing." Sigma recalled.
"Huh, must have been a really bad apple to get that reaction from basically everyone." Cherry commented. Echo and Hibiki simply nodded as Hibiki let that thought sit in her mind for a moment as she theorized something.
"Ok, break over. We're almost there." Echo ordered in a firm tone. Everyone nodded, HIbiki putting something in the back of her mind, as they picked up the pace and rushed down the route. Eventually, as they approached the gate, they slowed down as they saw someone standing at the entrance to the resort.
"Ah, I was wondering if someone would be out here waiting for us, didn't think it would be you Solion." Cherry said.
"To be fair, I didn't think you would come this late." Solion said with a yawn.
"Hey, you're the one who gave us til midnight, we used that time effectively." Cherry pointed out.
"Only because the boss insisted on doing so for some reason. I take it you all are tired and have a plan?" Solion questioned.
"Why should we tell you that exactly?" Echo responded.
"Look, all of us are tired, annoyed, and just want to go to bed. The sooner this whole thing gets done, the better for all of us." Solion said in an annoyed tone, pinching the bridge of his nose. The group all looked at each other before simply nodding in agreement with that statement. "Ok, now then follow me, I need to make sure that no tricks are happening." Solion told the group as he turned around.
"How do we know to expect no tricks from you?" Hibiki inquired. In response to that. Silicon quickly turned back and tossed Cherry a remote that she caught.
"That is the remote activator for the bombs. If you trust me, then let that be my price. That being said, we can manually activate them, so don't even think about leaving." Solion responded. The group looked at each other before nodding as they followed Solion, Cherry double checking that the remote was indeed real. As they walked through the gate, they entered a quiet resort, with relatively few people walking the streets and a few businesses like bars, restaurants and various night time stores open.
"Wow, nice place." Sigma commented as she looked around.
"Yeah, we figured a place as populated as this would be a good enough way to get your attention." Solion said, making sure no one was around to hear them speak.
"Why even attempt this? I get that you want to get Melody, but why go to this length?" Hibiki questioned, a hint of anger in her voice.
"Oh, you named her Melody, nice name. Anyway, the reason why is simple, our boss isn't exactly the most patient person in the world. After everyone else's failed attempts at catching you, they figured it would be best to send the Chaos Shadows after you and come up with a plan from there." Solion explained.
"Chaos Shadows? You mean those two Pokemon at the Desert Dome?" Echo surmised.
"Yes, those would be the ones. Unfortunately, we didn't account for Team Noise feeling a bit remorseful for what they were doing and the champion being there to help you. Still, it served its purpose as a distraction for us to get everything ready." Solion elaborated. Hibiki paused as she heard that information and let it mull in her mind as they continued to walk.
"So why meet up with us at Melodic Town? Were you there to see about getting Wind back or to deliver the note?" Cherry questioned.
"Both actually, I just forgot about the note part when Cherry asked to battle me. Though while we're on the subject, I did like your disguise plan Sigma and I was surprised that it did fool me." Solion answered.
"Thank you, I guess." Sigma responded in an uneasy voice. Solion gave a quick smile before turning to look at the group as they reached the base of the tallest building of the resort, the Install Hotel.
"Speaking of, I do just need to make sure that you all are who I think you are." Solion mentioned with a smile as he entered the building.
"Ah, still a little bitter that you got fooled by me, fair enough." Sigma commented, a hint of smugness in his voice.
"Yep, not even going to deny that. Not the best at telling people apart, but I am particularly embarrassed by the fact that you used a Pokemon to do that." Solion said, a hint of vitriol in his voice. Sigma gave a small chuckle at that as Solion composed himself before he walked over to a machine. "Now then, I just need a facial scan from all of you and we'll be good." Solion said as he typed on the machine.
"Really need to make sure we're not trying to fool you huh?" Hibiki asked.
"You did take a while to get here, so I do have to be sure." Solion responded. The group looked at each other as they thought if they should comply before Cherry nodded to do so as they walked up to the machine one by one.
"Facial scanning and recognition, not something I expected to find out here." Sigma said as he looked at the machine.
"Huh, this place is more advanced than I thought." Sigma said as he got his face scanned.
"You say that all the time." Echo commented.
"I know, but what exactly makes this all work? I know it's very advanced because of the EM field, but what powers this stuff?" Sigma questioned.
"Astral Energy." Cherry and Solion said at the same time, the two pausing to look at each other for a moment.
"Astral Energy?" Sigma inquired curiously.
"Oh right, I've heard of that stuff, it comes from the Lyriody Region if I remember correctly." Hibiki responded.
"Ah Lyriody, a nice region from the time I visited there." Solion commented casually. Hibiki made note of Solion's behavior as they all got their faces scanned and Solion examined the results. "Ok, have you all and it all looks good, everyone is who they say they are…huh." Solion said as he tapped his hand on the machine.
"Is something wrong?" Hibiki questioned. Solion paused before looking between Hibiki and Echo as he walked up to Hibiki and taking a closer look at her.
"Apologies for asking, but may I request to yank your hair?" Solion asked politely. Hibiki paused as she processed the question before realizing why he asked that question.
"Ah I get it now, Echo would you mind?" Hibiki responded. Echo did as she was told and walked over to her sister before grabbing a clump of hair and pulling hae enough to show that she wasn't wearing a wig."
"...Ok then, what the hell are you all planning?" Solion demanded, now very paranoid.
"Who said we were planning anything?" Echo said with a smile on her face. Solion felt his anger rise and was going to snap back before taking a deep breath and composing himself, earning a giggle from Cherry.
"No matter, everything will work out for us in the end anyway. Now, come with me." Solion said in a more composed tone. The group followed Solion as they walked to elevators that were guarded by a group of six tired looking grunts. "Two of you come with me, the rest of you keep watch. Something tells me that they might have a plan in motion." Solion ordered. Two of the grunts saluted as they followed the group into the elevator, Solion pressing the button that led to the roof.
There was a brief silence amongst the group as the elevator slowly crawled its way up. "Wow, just making sure huh?" Cherry commented as she looked at the two grunts.
"Not that I don't trust you all, but it's always good to have a back-up plan." Solion responded.
"Why even join up with Neo Cypher? What could they give you that you couldn't make?" Echo asked. The grunts moved to hit Echo, but Solion simply held up a hand to stop them from making a move.
"No need for violence, they deserve to know." Solion told the grunts. They both looked at each other before moving into a neutral position and looking forward. "Ok, where to begin… I guess the beginning of my troubles would be a good place to start." Solion said to himself.
"Your troubles?" Sigma questioned.
"Yes, as you can imagine, becoming a self outcast after the dismemberment of the IPP can sometimes leave a stigma on someone that follows them farther than you would think." Solion responded in a melancholic tone. There was a moment of pause as Solion began to think where to go when Cherry spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask. Why did you leave the region?" Cherry questioned.
"Figured you would be the one to ask that… If you want to know why, well that is as simple as personal doubt over my own work in addition to complications caused by Adagio." Solion responded.
"Grew a conscience over what you were doing then?" Echo asked.
"Oh if you're talking about my previous work, not in the slightest. I am still proud of that work and wish I still had access to most of it." Solion commented. HIbiki made a disgusted looking face as Cherry put a hand on her shoulder, Solion not even batting an eye at the gesture. "No, it's more of me thinking that my work wasn't good enough." Solion continued.
"Not good enough? Solion, despite the methods that you used, and believe me when I say I have a lot I could talk to you on that topic, your results were still absolutely amazing." Cherry retorted in a somewhat furious tone.
"Like you haven't felt the same Cherry." Solion coldly responded. Cherry stayed silent as she felt a small anger forming, only to have it stopped by Hibiki putting a hand on her shoulder, earning a small smile from the Professor. "As I was saying, I was not satisfied with the current results of my work. I thought I was hitting a plateau as a researcher and I wanted to do more. Unfortunately for me, your current champion had to discover and root out the corruption in the IPP." Solion continued.
"If you're mad at her over that, then that means the former IPP heads were the ones that were funding your research." Sigma said.
"Not exactly the hardest thing to find out, but it's still something that would get found out about me eventually. So I figured for the sake of my research, I would simply vanish with the cash I had left.
"...Ok, ignore absolutely everything wrong about that, what happened after you left the region?' Echo inquired.
"For a few years, not much at all. Mainly traveling to other regions and getting ideas to help continue my research. Sadly, I came away with very little, except for some research on how emotions affect Mega Evolution. That being said, I did get a lucky break when I was approached by a little friend belonging to Neo Cypher." Solion explained.
"A friend?" Hibiki asked.
"You might know him Cherry, goes by the name of Ardos." Solion said, a smug smile on his face. As soon as she heard that name, Cherry immediately tensed up as she thought back to her time in Cipher.
"So he's still alive after all this time huh?" Cherry commented, a hint of venom in her voice.
"Who's Ardos?" Hibiki asked.
"One of Greevel's two bodyguards and the only member of Cipher that didn't reform after the organization fell. He always reached out to grunts to see if we would help spy on Professor Michael, me being one of them. Obviously I said no, but I never realized that he kept going." Cherry explained.
"Yes he did and he was the one to approach me with an offer to sponsor my research." Solion told the group.
"Why accept the offer?" Echo asked.
"Well, I think you already know the answer to that question." Solion responded in a cold tone. Hibiki was going to say something, but was quickly stopped by the elevator coming to a halt and opening on the roof. "Enough about me, we have an exchange to get through. Come along and remember, no funny things." Solion told the group.
"...Fine, let's just get this over with." Hibiki said with a huff as she followed. The others proceeded to follow as they walked out onto the roof of the Intall Hotel, a large and flat platform with a spot for a helipad and a staircase for manual access.
"Ok seriously, what exactly are you all planning? Do you just not have your Meloetta with you?" Solion responded. In response to that, Hibiki simply got out a pokeball and tossed it up, letting out Melody, who quickly darted behind Hibiki. "...How do I know she's even real and not a Pokemon that you've dressed up as her?" Solion inquired.
"Like this." Hibiki said as grabbed Melody. As Hibiki held up Melody, Echo slowly reached behind her and pressed something on her arm as Melody opened her mouth and sang a lovely tune.
"Ah, what beautiful music. That definitely is her all right, though… may I?" Solion requested as he opened his hands with an awkward smile.
"No." Hibiki said bluntly.
"Fair enough. Now… let me just make this official." Solion said as he reached to grab a snag ball.
"Actually, no need to do that." Hibiki said with a smile. Solion immediately froze and kept his eyes on Hibiki, getting the feeling that something was up.
"Are you just going to give her to me then?" Solion questioned suspiciously. Hibiki slowly walked up to Solion with Melody still, before getting in his face.
"Because Melody is going to stay with Hibiki." HIbiki told Solion in a hard voice. Solion felt himself process that statement before getting punched in the gut and causing him to take a few steps back, falling on one knee in the process, as Melody teleported away. When he looked up, he was shocked to see Sigma standing where Hibiki was.
"What?!" Solion exclaimed through pain.
"Didn't see that coming did you?" Sigma said as he coughed and rubbed his throat. The grunts, being caught off guard a bit, attempted to go help Solion, but were quickly stopped by Cherry and Echo sending out Pokemon to block them.
"How did you do this?" Solio asked as he stood up.
"Turns out that those scanners aren't exactly the best at detecting psychic doubles." Sigma responded. Solion's eyes went wide as he looked around for the other Sigma and saw him walking to the staircase entrance. He turned around to look at Solion before smiling as the disguise fell away and Hibiki simply gave a smug grin as Melody appeared beside her.
"You!" Solion exclaimed at Hibiki.
"Told you we were planning something, just wasn't me that told you." Hibiki said as she began to cackle and leave the rooftop along with Melody. Solion quickly scrambled to chase after them, but was stopped by a Houndoom appearing in front of him.
"Sorry, but I'm not sure if I can let you do that Brain." Sigma told Solion as he casually walked behind Houndoom.
"Fine then, grunts! Chase after that girl and-" Solion said as he turned to look at the grunts. When he did, he saw that they were both occupied with battling Cherry and Echo, causing him to sigh as he looked back at Simga. "Sigma, you know you were one of the best grunts we had. Why did you even go with them?" Solion asked, trying to get a rise out of Sigma.
"Oh quiet you, I can tell that you would love to be out of this job and you would have jumped at the opportunity just as quickly if you could have. I should ask you a similar question, why are you still working with them?" Sigma retorted.
"Because this place is all I have left!" Solion responded as he got out a Pokeball and called out his Reuniclus.
"Guess, we're doing this the hard way then." Sigma said in a somewhat somber tone as Houndoom got ready to fight.
"Set up a Reflect and Light Screen!" Reuniclus nodded as he put up the screens around itself. As Sigma got ready to fight, he looked at Houndoom with an uncertain look on his face before taking a deep breath and exhaling to calm himself.
"Let's do this Houndoom. Open up with a Trailblaze and follow it up with Crunch." Houndoom quickly dashed towards Reuniclus as it conjured and kicked up blades of grass before ramming into Reuniclus and going in for a large bite.
"Protect!" Reuniclus quickly shielded itself as Houndoom chomped on the barrier and leaped back before charging in as the barrier was about to fall. "Drain Punch!"
"Dodge it!" Houndoom quickly leaped over Reuniclus as it attempted to get a punch in before landing and looking at Sigma with a confident look. "Psychic Fangs!" Houndoom quickly jumped in as his maw flawed with psychic energy before biting down on Reuniclus, not doing a lot of damage, but shattering the screens that he put up in the process.
"Gyro Ball to shake him off." Reuniclus nodded as it began to spin in a circle rapidly, forcing Houndoom to leap off. "Well I see you've gotten around to getting your Shadow Pokemon purified Sigma." Solion commented, noting the lack of a Shadow Aura.
"Figured now was as good a time as any to do so. After all, if things go well here, we're going after your main base next." Sigma taunted.
"And how exactly will you find that?" Solion questioned, a smug look on his face.
"You act like we don't know already and haven't been waiting on an opportunity." Sigma responded with an equally smug grin.
"Oh that's it, I'm going to beat the info that you're privy to out of you after I teach you a lesson. Reuniclus, use Trick Room!" Reuniclus obliged as it put its hands together and gathered psychic energy before releasing the energy, causing the area around the two battling Pokemon to twist and distort.
"THat makes this a bit tricky, but we can work with this. Houndoom, think of strategies with Nasty Plot and go with the one that seems the best for you." Houndoom nodded as he thought up strategies in his mind and decided on one and gave a toothy Grin.
"Don't let him do whatever he's about to do. Use Gravity and Follow it up with Focus Blast!" Reuniclus closed its eyes before increasing the gravity around them, causing Houndoom to put more effort into not getting crushed. Reuniclus then started to concentrate and gather energy above it before launching it at Houndoom.
"Protect." Houndoom roared as the Focus Blast impacted the shield and dissipated as Houndoom began to move towards Reuniclus.
"Drain Punch again!"
"Sucker Punch!" Houndoom nodded as he quickly dashed forward and got up to smack Reuniclus with dark energy empowered hits as he got hit by a punch that sent him flying back in pain. Houndomm managed to land on his feet and skid to a stop as he saw Reuniclus gain some energy back.
"You can't win Sigma, I have the tactical advantage! Another Focus Blast to end this!" Reuniclus nodded as it began to charge up another blast aimed at the still recovering Houndoom.
"True, but I have blind recklessness! Houndoom, use Quick Attack!" Houndoom howled as he stood up and began to close into Reuniclus, who was surprised at the action that Houndoom was taking.
"... Hold the attack til he gets closer." Reuniclus obliged and held the ball of energy as Houndoom sprinted ever closer. Eventually, Houndoom was only a few feet away from Reuniclus and at that point, Reuniclus let the attack go.
"Substitute now!" Houndoom quickly jumped up over the Focus Blast, leaving behind a dummy that got hit with the attack and immediately disintegrated when it was hit by the attack. Houndoom landed right in front of Reuniclus and gave a toothy grin. "Dark Pulse and follow up with Hyper Beam!"
"Reuniclus, Protect quickly!" Reuniclus attempted to follow the order, but failed as Houndoom roared and let out a pulse of dark energy that interrupted the move as it screamed out in pain. Houndoom, not wanting to let the opportunity go, opened its mouth and fired a point blank Hyper Beam right at Reuniclus. Reuniclus attempted to endure, but was tossed back as it fell in front of Solion unconscious.
"All right!" Sigma said with a fist bump.
"...Recklessness indeed, that was a very risky maneuver that you just did there." Solion admitted with a heavy sigh as he recalled Reuniclus.
"And it worked." Sigma said with an excited look in his eye.
"Yes, but I am done playing around. Let's clean this up, Claydol." As Solion called out his next Pokemon, Simga's Shadow Detector went off as he breathed in.
"Ho boy, are you good to go Houndoom?" Sigma questioned. Houndoom simply gave a weak nod as he got back in a fighting stance and gave an affirmative nod of his head. "That's what I like to hear. Now then, let's open up with a Shadow Ball!" Houndoom howled as he conjured a ball of shadow and launched it at the Claydol.
"Take the hit!" Claydol simply didn't move as it calmed its mental state and took the hit like a champ, though it did seem to take a mental hit with that move.
"Oh I don't like that. Hmmm… Houndoom, use Dark Pulse." Houndoom obliged as sent a wave of dark energy towards the opponent.
"Don't think about it, Shadow Reverse!" Claydol's shadow aura surged as a wave of energy washed over the two Pokemon and Houndoom found it very hard to think clearly all of a sudden as the Dark Pulse became less intense and barely scratched Claydol .
"Of course you would use that one. After all, Shadow Reverse flips the stat changes of both Pokemon." Sigma commented, somewhat cursing to himself.
"Yeah, figured you wouldn't expect that. Now then, Dazzling Gleam Claydol!" Claydol nodded and he produced a bright light from his eyes that went towards Houndoom. Houndoom attempted to dodge, but found himself slower than he expected as he took the brunt of the attack.
"RIght, his speed was increased with the earlier Trailblaze. Houndoom, use Will-O-Wisp!" Houndoom quickly got to his feet slowly before letting loose wisps of fire that headed towards Claydoll.
"Dodge and use Shadow Quake!" Claydol effortlessly moved out of the way of the incoming balls of flame before channeling the Shadow Aura again and slamming into the ground, causing shadow energy to craft the stone beneath them and surge towards Houndoom who simply stood there.
"Wait to get hit and use Pain Split!" HOundoom nodded as he braced for the attack and got launched up, howling in pain before enduring through it and looking at Claydol. He quickly launched a spiritual rope that connected the two Pokemon and waves of energy to exchange between them, Houndoom getting refreshed as he landed on the ground and Claydol cring out in pain.
"Damn it, didn't think he would do that! Claydol, end this quickly with Earth Power!" Claydol nodded painfully as he concentrated before slamming into the ground and launching an Earth Power. Houndoom was going to dodge before looking at Simga, who simply nodded as Houndoom sighed and took the full force of the attack, knocking him unconscious as he was tossed in front of Sigma.
"You did a good Houndoom, get some rest." Sigma said as he returned his KO'ed Pokemon to its Pokeball.
"Letting your Pokemon get to the edge of fainting before using Pain Split to transfer some of the damage over to Claydol. Not something I would have expected from you Sigma." Solion taunted as he looked at Claydol.
"Yep, I figured that would be the best way to go about it. After all, that Claydol of yours seems a bit too bulky." Sigma responded.
"So you noticed that I had modified it." Solion responded through his teeth.
"Yep, but whatever it has, I think I have something for it. Let's show him what we've got Meowscarada!" As the pokeball opened, from it emerged a bipedal green cat with a black mask and a flower hovering beside it.
"A Paldean starter?" Solion said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"That's right, my starter for the region. The Pokemon that I've always kept with me… even if I feel like I don't deserve her at times." Sigma said. Meowscada looked a bit shocked upon hearing that from her trainer and turned to give him a reassuring look.
"Why not give her over to us?" Solion suggested. Sigma immediately looked at Solion, a fierce fire in his eyes that Meowscada understood and got ready to fight. "Ah, that was a nerve I just struck. Well then, I'll just take it by force. Claydol, Shadow Storm." Claydol obliged as it charged more of its shadow aura, the aura briefly starting to turn a brilliant pinkish red, before launching a tornado at Meowscada.
"Grassy Terrain and follow it up with Grassy Glide." Meowscada nodded enthusiastically as she snapped her paws and covered the field in a layer of magical grass before dashing forward. Empowered by the terrain, Meowscada sped past the tornado before landing a solid hit on Claydol, knocking it back a bit.
"She's fast!" Solion commented out of shock.
"The two of us have been together for as long as I've been a trainer, don't you dare underestimate us." Sigma responded in a passionate voice.
"I see… well if normal power won't be enough, how about something with a little more force?" Solion told Sigma in a menacing voice. Before Sigma could say anything more, his Shadow Detector started to beep as Claydol got up and cried out in anger, its aura now a shining red hue.
"Hyper Mode?!" Sigma said as Meowscada came back to cover him. Solion briefly smiled before getting out a device that was red in color and had an antenna on one with a button, which he pressed.
"Claydol, Hyper Shot!" Claydol roared in anger as the Hyper Aura flared up and Claydol launched a fast projectile towards Meowscada and Sigma, the two barely managing to dodge.
"You managed to weaponize Hyper Mode? Then we'll just beat you down before you cna do more damage. Meowscada, Night Slash." Meowscada quickly ran up to claydol and slashed at it, causing not as much damage as Sigma intended.
"I didn't just manage to tame Hyper Mode, I enhanced it a bit. For example, Hyper Counter!" Claydol followed the command as it's aura flared up and formed into a shadow fist that was going straight for Meowscada.
"Protect!" Meowscada quickly raised a barrier to block the attack and it was working till the barrer started to crack before eventually getting broken, surprising Meowscada as she was hit with the attack, which had weakened in power. "That can break through Protect huh? Good to know. Meowscada, you doing good?" Meowscada simply gave a thumbs up before her hear twitched and she dodged out of an attempted slam by Claydol.
"Get her a bit weaker with Hyper Blitz!" Claydol obliged as it surged towards Meowscada, hate in its eyes as it charged towards her with intent.
"May as well fight back, Trailblaize!" Meowscada nodded, gaining vitality thanks to the terrain, as she sped towards Claydol before jumping up and slamming him into the ground.
"Shadow Storm!" Meowscada's eyes went wide as Claydol launched a blind attack behind him as she endured the point blank whirlwind that launched her back and caused her to pant in pain.
"Now then, I believe that Meowscada is mine." Solion said as he got out a Pokeball.
"Meowscada, you know what to do right?" Sigma questioned in a panicked voice. Meowscada simply nodded as she rushed forward towards Claydol.
"Don't even think about it, Shadow Hold!" Claydol slowly got up and shook the pain off as he launched chains of shadow towards Meowscada, who managed to dodge most of them, but was caught by the last one. The chain tethered her to the ground, which caused her to panic as she attempted to break free.
"Shit, use Flower Trick."
"Too late!" Solion said as he threw the ball. The ball hit Meowscada's head and fell to the ground, nothing happening as Solion waited in anticipation. Meowscada simply gave a grin and chucked before snapping her fingers, causing the flower floating around her to appear above Claydol and hit its target, resulting in a small explosion that knocked Claydol unconscious. "Ah, I see that I've been played, I see... No matter, I'll just-." Solion said as he attempted to reach for another Pokeball, only to feel none on his belt.
"Sorry about interrupting the battle, but I don't think you need these." Echo told Siolion as she held out Solion's belt with his Pokeballs.
"You Bitch!" Solion yelled out as he went to punch Echo. Echo simply stepped out of the way an Solion turned for another swing, only to be met with a punch from Sigma and knocked out.
"Good call, don't know if I could have taken care of the rest of his team." Sigma said with a sigh as he made sure Meowscada was ok.
"Hey, you had it handled." Echo reassured. As Echo said that, the two heard a faint cry and turned to see Claydol still awake and slowly floating towards them. "Wow, it really did survive that huh?" Echo said, deactivating the Snag Blocker.
"Yeah, we're going to need to see about getting this thing looked at. Speaking of, how are the grunts faring?" Sigma commented as Echo got out a snag ball and caught Claydol.
"Currently knocked out and waiting to be extracted." Cherry said, pointing over to the two tied up grunts.
"This went… wait is Hibiki ok?" Sigma said, interrupting himself. Before Echo could answer, a blast of energy came from the stairwell, sending debrii and rubble around the group as Hibiki and Melody both skidded to a stop in front of them with a cracked barrier surrounding them.
"Looks like I owe you money sis." Hibiki said in a somewhat sad and angered tone. Echo was about to ask what she meant by that before a person walked out of the smoke. This person was a woman with tan skin, dark blue eyes, and fiery red hair wearing, a more elegant armor adorned with more plating and a helmet by her side. Cherry immediately recognized this person and took a defensive stance, grabbing one of her Pokeballs.
"And that would be my cue." the woman said.
"Shika." Cherry said.
"Ah, a pleasure to meet you again Cherry. I really should thank you for accepting my invitation." Shika said in a mockingly friendly tone.
"So you're S then? I should have figured that you would be S sooner after I heard about you." Sigma commented.
"Ah that is the value of hindsight Sigma, sometimes the answer is just in front of you and you didn't realize. Speaking of, I do have a present for all of you." Shika responded, a devilish grin appearing on her face.
"What do you mean by that?" Echo asked. In response, a familiar Pokemon started to float beside Shika, one that both Echo and Cherry recognized as Cresselia, but it looked very different. Instead of its normal colors, its body was a stark black with a light purple stripe down the middle, its pink moons being a blood red, and its head the same color as the stripe with glowing red eyes.
"Luna…" Echo squeaked out in horror. Shika gave a smile as she began to laugh maniacally, the group stunned as all just absorbed the scene in front of them.