{}=Pokemon Speaking; =Telepathic Speaking
Rogelio babble
~x1x~
PoV: Topaz Heart
Location: Sunyshore Gym - Outdoor Field
Time: Afternoon - May 21st
Where do I even start?
After Lou left, I was fine with it. Just went about my life as usual and hoped he was safe. Then came dinner…
I got notifications on my Pokedex every time Lou caught a pokemon. The fact he caught any was strange, but then he kept going. I wanted to ask Clover, but she'd probably say it was a need to know basis as well. I only wish he consulted me on the potential ecological consequences of this considering he alone entering Sinnoh created an insect military.
After the initial shock, Violet advocated for him saying how humans have ecological impacts without consulting the ecosystem they're impacting. Lou would have consulted with the Hive, and lived in the wild long enough to know throwing off the balance too much spelled doom for everyone. He was intelligent and careful enough to not do that.
Once Lou returned he even brought up all the research he did beforehand, utilizing everything I had taught him and more about pokemon, math, ecology and more. I clearly underestimated how much he pays attention to my nerd out sessions because his analysis was extremely thorough.
So who am I to get in the way? I was literally the person who first taught him about the consequences of invasive species.
Anyway, his new second-in-command- Cora the Corporal- integrated herself immediately into the Corps upon arrival. She established herself in a position of authority nigh immediately as the representative for the foreign pokemon. Keep in mind, she was a regular Venipede when she got here and now she's a Whirlipede competing against Gautier for the same positions within the Corps. They quickly became rivals, which Lou endorsed to further their growth.
I visited the foreign pokemon myself to find them slowly adjusting. Clearly everyone was getting used to the new arrangement, but Cora led the charge in making sure everyone was comfortable by stopping disputes and obeying orders. Seemed Lou passed on a lot of his knowledge to her while he was away.
As for the rest of us in Sunyshore City, life continued on. It was getting closer to June and the general climate was consistently nice. So on this day, we went out to train at the outdoor field.
Perched on top of Sunyshore's cliffs it was private and far away from any buildings so the pokemon could go wild. It was also spacious and as nice as the gym was, it was good to train underneath the sun.
Rheneas was relaxing with Meliae, who was taking interest in both the battle and the vast ocean extending to the horizon. Violet and Amethyst sat with them as well, working on something while watching for areas they could help. Donut and the others were doing some stretching.
Currently we had Lou and Flax sparring against Zenara and Holyn. Ever since getting back Lou seemed very different, for the better. He told us about travels and meeting his sister, which really boosted his mood. I could tell he was lighter than before, but he didn't relay all the details.
I kept considering this as Zenara launched bolts at the thorns Flax sent Holyn's way, incinerating them as she weaved through the hail and darted towards Flax. She ignited her arms- Roland had been teaching her the elemental punches- and engaged Flax at close range, keeping his focus on her and not Holyn.
Flax dodged her strikes elegantly, though she was getting closer than he was comfortable with. With a wave of his cape he vanished into petals, sliding away and letting Lou's bug blast cascade towards Zenara unhindered.
Stone lanced up from the ground, blocking enough of the blast for Zenara to duck on all fours and dodge in time. As soon as it dissipated, she sent another blast towards Flax to block his incoming Sludge Bomb before leaping onto the stone, then up in the air. {Holyn!}
He slammed his head against the ground, a sizable chunk of earth popping up before he kicked it towards her. Spinning around midair, she grabbed it and spinning piledrived it right into Lou's back.
He didn't dodge, or slice through it, or respond with a lance of lightning or bug buzz immediately before Zenara flipped backwards and landed back beside Holyn. He just. Took it. Which, to be fair, mostly what happened is that he was pushed to touch the ground and had to shake his carapace of excess debris, but still.
Zenara noticed that too, holding up her paws in a T. {Time out!} She then jogged up to Lou, giving him a concerned look. {What's bothering you?}
Lou got up steadily, but had yet to take flight. {You needn't stop the battle over a well placed strike, Zenara. I'm far from finished.}
She shook her head. {That's not it, I know that didn't hurt you much. That's why I'm concerned. The Loulou I know would've blasted me right back after dodging, or cut through it and we would've grappled, or let me hit you before blasting at me with your bug waves. You just… got hit.}
{Yeah we had a whole plan for how you were gonna dodge. You only take attacks when you have a big counter planned,} Holyn added.
Lou didn't immediately respond, staring at the ground a second before he resumed flight. {My apologies, a momentary lapse. I've admonished my soldiers for less. I'll supplement with extra effort!}
Flax simply side-eyed him while Jade crossed his arms. "They're right, he's been kind of sloppy lately. You did say all his stats improved again, right?"
{He is stronger!} Zenara shouted, stamping her foot and crossing her arms defiantly before looking back at Lou. {I know you are. Which is why I know something's wrong.} She gave him a sad look. {You've done so much for us, for me, Loulou. Tell us what's up, please. If not everyone here, whoever you wanna.}
"Let's just take a break and switch opponents. Lou prolly just needs a second," I suggested to take the spotlight off him.
Lou remained quiet, looking down thoughtfully, clearly ashamed for making Zenara worry. He seemed to be coming to some resolution before all our partners looked over, me and Jade following their gaze. Cynthia was walking up, Reginleif right beside her. And with her were Volkner, Froberge and… Bug Elite Aaron and his Heracross partner.
"Is that Elite Aaron?" I whispered in genuine shock.
Jade looked at me confused. "Why are you so in awe? We're pals with Flint, Cynthia and we know Lucian."
"Yeah yeah, I know. It's just that I've never spoken to him before. He almost never comes to the gym and Volkner never talks about him," I explained quickly.
From the corner of my eye I could see Violet glance up from her tablet.
"Hey, everyone! Taking a break from training?" Cynthia asked, smiling at me. "I hear Lou went on an adventure on his own, did I miss a report of you going off and exploring?"
"Topaz's pokemon are picking up his traits," Volkner answered suavely.
"Yeah, something like that…" I replied, looking at Cynthia. "It's been awhile Cynthia, what are you… all doing here today?"
I glanced at Aaron and Heracross. Up close he looked about the same age as Volkner. He had lime green hair, a sleeveless tee and expensive pants. His attire didn't give off the look of a former bug catcher, but the way he and Heracross kept staring at Lou was jarring.
She shrugged. "Just a meeting with Volkner, Aaron and our partners. And since we're in the area, I figured it'd be a good time to say hello." She glanced across us all. "I feel like we walked into something though, you need help with anything?"
"Well, I was thinking we could take a break-"
"Sorry, Cynthia," Aaron spoke up, walking to the forefront standing before me, but not looking at me. "So Volkner, this Vikavolt. He's not with you? Never been with you or anything?"
"Nope. He's with my nephew Topaz. The kid in front of you," Volkner gestured.
He looked down at me as though he was having trouble believing that before glancing at Heracross, who gave a similar look. "Did he eat something spoiled or… he's not… what's the word? Is there something wrong with him?"
I saw Zenara's eye twitch. {Excuse you?} Heracross gave her a look, and she just glared back.
"What?" I shot back, eyes widened in disbelief. Jade and Flax huffed from behind. The other adults just looked at each other.
"Damn, that came out wrong. How should I put this…" Aaron pondered, crossing his arms. "I'm just finding it hard to believe a pokemon of his caliber would take such a choreographed attack. He would've had to fight his battle instincts to not counter it. There's just… something has to be wrong."
{Our attacks aren't poorly choreographed,} Holyn huffed annoyed. Zenara whispered in agreement.
"Well, I dunno, sometimes we make mistakes or get tired-"
"Tired? Him?" Aaron said, strolling straight up to the still floating Lou, staring directly into Lou's eyes and he stared back. Zenara walked up to stand right next to Lou, narrowing her eyes at Aaron. "Huh, I guess so."
He then turned to Cynthia and Volkner. "So you two have known about this titan all this time and never said anything about it? To me, the bug elite? You're telling me this is the same pokemon involved with that poacher and the Great Marsh incident awhile back? And these are the kids that dealt with it?"
Titan? What?
"What was there to say?" Volkner shrugged apathetically.
Cynthia crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at Aaron. "We never said anything about it because they never asked for your instruction. We all have our own paths to improvement, they don't always cross."
"Vikavolt-" Aaron started.
"Lou," I cut him off.
"Lou, lived here as a Charjabug yeah? They're batteries that need to amass electric power for ages before they can evolve. If he's been charging from the city for ages now without evolving, that definitely contributed to his current power level. Honestly, prolly should've been easier to evolve than not to at some point," Aaron added.
Lou simply closed his eyes. {I've never been anything special until I was close to evolution. As a Grubbin I lost to a lazy Pichu and as a Charjabug could not defeat a pampered Houndour. I appreciate the acknowledgement of my hard work, but please tell the Elite that if I was truly talented more of my siblings would still be alive.}
"That's morbidly modest of you. Should my team be grateful about humbling you over the years or is this not the right time?" Jade questioned.
{That potential can be nurtured as well,} Reginleif clarified. {My teammates didn't have the same innate capabilities that I did, but at this point? I'd say my strength has more to do with the journey we all went on, the training we did together and the challenges we overcame as a team, not simple genetics.} She couldn't help but crack a smirk. {Even a low class Saiyan can become great through hard work.}
I smiled at her reference. Despite being a towering, all powerful dragon Reginleif was just as approachable as Cynthia.
"I… get the feeling you can understand what they're saying. How and what are their thoughts?" Aaron asked me.
"Telepathy." Amethyst waved in the background. "Anyway, Lou doesn't believe he was born gifted, if he seems abnormally strong it's because of everything he's done to achieve that. Reginleif was in a similar vein of how genetics helped, but at her level it means less."
Aaron placed his hands on his hips. "Okay I can respect that, for the age of Lou, I can tell his power level is exceptional. I'm having a hard time believing Volkner hadn't trained him personally for League battles. I can already imagine the unique strategies."
Aaron's Heracross chittered something of similar praise, earning a respectful nod from Lou.
Cynthia smiled. "This is a compliment to your training and effort together, Topaz."
"Roundabout compliment… thanks though," I replied.
"Now, I dunno what's going on with Lou right now, but I think some training at the Pokemon League could really get to the level where he ought to be. Now I know training with elites is a huge step-up from training with gym leaders, but I think you'll see that Lou's potential will quickly-"
"This is a pitch. He's trying to take Lou from you," Jade summarized.
Zenara and Holyn sparked and growled at Jade's instigation, causing Heracross to step up and leer at them both. I always thought the Heracross species was impressive, but he was a totally different beast. I got the distinct sense that he got very dangerous when angry though. Zenara and Holyn just stepped forward in turn, glaring up at him.
"You just can't stop jumping to your own conclusions, can you? I appreciate everything nice you've said, but at least speak like it's a discussion and not a decided fact," I retorted, slowly growing more stressed. I turned to Lou. "Lou, if you want to learn from an Elite, I think it could be really beneficial for your growth. Trainers like him can see things even Volkner can't. It'd be good for you."
{Respectfully, I must decline for now. I can't leave Sunyshore again until it's time for the vacation I promised Holyn. I'm too busy here, but I appreciate Elite Heracross and Elite Aaron for believing I am worthy of tutelage,} Lou stated formally.
Cynthia put a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "Maybe tone it down a few notches."
"Cynthia, you see this right? He's fully evolved, but he can go so much further. Come on, kid, can't you convince him? If you're going to keep going on these dangerous outings you want an elite trained pokemon backing you up," he continued.
Lou's glare hardened for the first time.{His name is General Topaz of Sunyshore City. Not 'kid'.}
Cynthia sighed through her nose, looking at Aaron. "You don't intend to back down on this, do you."
"How is the bug trainer more hotblooded than the fire elite?" Volkner questioned, rubbing his temples.
"Sorry Volkner, I know he's your nephew and I respect your work, but come on now. I rarely get a chance to train newbloods, lemme have a shot," Aaron countered. "We can take him to new heights."
"And you think our gym can't?" Volkner shotback slightly miffed, Cynthia watching them impassively.
Heracross flexed his muscles in front of Froberge who simply scoffed. They had even gotten under their skin. No wonder he never talks about them.
{Regardless of his good intentions, no means no,} Meliae noted.
{They're obnoxious,} Flax spoke up, deciding his stance on them.
{Seconded,} Amethyst noted.
{I know he can't understand us, but he's really not listening,} Cenza spoke up from her spot.
{Lou has too much work to do to take time off,} Gautier continued.
{Come on Topaz! Speak up, assert yourself! Tell the Elite to fuck off already!} Shizu barked, earning a nasty remark from Heracross.
Cynthia crossed her arms for a moment, glancing at Reginleif. When she nodded, Cynthia turned back to the rest of us. "Topaz, Lou, would you be up for a battle with Aaron and Heracross?"
Huh?
"You want us to fight an elite four member!?" I questioned, Lou buzzing up right next to me in surprise.
Even Volkner and Froberge looked surprised, but didn't question her judgment.
"Neither of you will back down on this, I can tell that much. I'm not expecting an all out brawl," she said with a look at Aaron, "That'd accomplish nothing. What I'm suggesting is that both sides showcase their ideology through battle, because that can convey things that words can't."
{Or hammer a point home that's being ignored,} Reginleif added.
"But of course, this is up to you and Lou. It's your call," she reaffirmed.
"Talk about throwing the bees to the bird, Cynthia. I'll admit Lou is impressive, but I'm not sure Topaz can back him up when Heracross and I are in sync," Aaron boasted.
I could sense every muscle in Lou's body tense up at that remark. I was getting so angry my adrenaline was beginning to spike and I was finding it harder not to laugh in outrage; this guy was really pissing me off. I tried being patient, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. It was time to take notes from Jade.
"If we win, we take your title."
Aaron looked down at me confused. "What?"
"If Lou is elite, then let us all be elites. You're annoying as shit, you've pissed off all my friends and I'm getting tired of you assuming you know best when you're the worst in your own group. I bet you count the fucking days till Bertha retires so you can take her spot as second elite, don't you? We're gonna take your position so you can finally stop counting, while you and Heracross tell all your teammates how you failed to stop a little kid and the Vikavolt who wanted nothing to do with you," I spat viciously.
I absolutely knew this wasn't valid. I was still a junior trainer and I didn't even have six fully trained pokemon. But I could tell this guy prolly had a complex so I hit him where I thought would be hardest. Judging by his tomato red face, it worked.
Lou was definitely looking at me differently now, with shock and pride.
I really don't like talking to people like this, but I loathed bullies and he was in that territory.
"He learned how to roast from me," Jade whispered to Flax proudly.
Violet nodded approvingly while Amethyst started cackling. Zenara grinned determinedly, clenching her fist and looking at Lou. {You're both better than 'em. I know you are.}
"So…" Aaron grinned dangerously. "We battle it out then."
Heracross pounded his fists together, ready to bust some skulls.
{Let us show them the might of Sunyshore, General,} Lou bellowed.
"Every joule of it," I responded in kind.
~x2x~
PoV: Topaz Heart
Location: Sunyshore Gym - Outdoor Field
Time: Afternoon
Aaron and I stood on opposing ends of the battlefield with our beetles facing off against each other. He had a cocky mischievous grin on his face which I felt was petty to have when facing off against a child, but whatever.
Jade's group was a bit off to the side, sitting under a tree chilling. Once again he decided to take out his drone and film the fight. Violet's group was sitting on a boulder, watching patiently.
Donut, Holyn and Cenza stood the closest to us, directly behind me. Donut sat on his tail, watching with a thoughtful expression. Holyn and Cenza appeared more anxious, but remained calm.
Volkner and Froberge stood aways off reserved to themselves, while Cynthia and Reginleif stood in the referee box to monitor the fight. With everyone in their place, Cynthia raised a flag.
"This is a one on one battle between Lou and Heracross until one side is declared the victor. No specialized items permitted!" She stated.
No megas or Z-moves. Good thing I have neither.
"Are both sides ready?" She asked.
"You know I always am, Cynthia. The kids though-"
"We just need a minute," I answered her, facing Lou with determination. He glanced back at me knowingly. "Charge 100%."
Lou nodded as he landed on the ground, asserting his claws into the ground as he began to flap his wings madly. Green electricity began to gradually crackle across his body until the very air around us became filled with static. Heracross watched amused as the very clouds above us began to circle overhead, turning black.
Everyone began looking around in interest as a large black cloud floated directly overhead of Lou. Once it had reached sufficient mass, a bolt of emerald lightning struck Lou's body with a roar. The entire area flashed with blinding light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
Once the light had dimmed and the clouds dissipated, there flew Lou, his body glowing from the electricity his body emitted. He was wide awake now with all his aspects at peak performance. Heracross stamped the ground in eager anticipation, whilst Aaron snickered in glee.
"So this is the real Lou, huh?" he jeered.
I surveyed the area to gauge everyone's reactions, a mix of surprise and amazement from everyone. Which made sense, even during training Lou hasn't utilized this much charge before.
But it's still not 100%.
During our private training sessions, I witnessed his fullpower and we devised plans on how to use it. If I had to gauge him now, he was at 80-85% of his max charge. The last percentage was reserved for emergencies.
Whether our opponents believe that this is our maximum or not is not our concern, but in the worst case scenario that final spurt of energy could make a huge difference. As he was now, his exhaustion wouldn't hamper his skills, but we still had to be cautious.
Cocky as they are, this is still the strongest opponent we've ever faced.
"It's fitting Topaz. I'm sure you're well aware that in the Alola region, Heracross and Vikavolt are fierce rivals fighting over territory. Two beetles, only so much airspace, who reigns supreme typically? In this case, I'd say Heracross," Aaron teased.
"Lou knows a bunch of Sinnoh Heracross and none of them have ever given him the same level of shit as you have in the ten minutes we've known you. Besides, Lou doesn't fight bugs, it's birds he hates," I declared before pointing straight at Aaron. "But there's always an exception."
"He should stick to the birds then. Because there's not a single one in Sinnoh that can stand up to Heracross!" Aaron roared, as Heracross banged his chest and fluttered his wings.
The impact from his banging was so strong I could feel it from where I was. I could only imagine what a slap from him could do, much less full on attacks. Lou was growing in size, but in relation to Heracross he was much smaller and even I could tell his carapace was not as solid. His horn was large and sharp, likely sturdy enough to lift entire buildings or skewer unsuspecting foes.
I had to go into the fight with the mindset we could win. I had to believe in everything Lou had trained for. Elite, champion, legendary, none of those factors were allowed to matter to me if I wanted to steer my partners to victory. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and focused only on what was necessary.
Jade, Violet, my team, the gym, the city, everything I shut out. When I opened my eyes everything was sharper. All I saw was the battlefield, the combatants and the referee. Everything a trainer needed to care about.
"Cynthia, we're ready now," I declared with a stillness even I could scarcely believe.
She raised the flag. "Then let the battle begin!"
As soon as her sentence ended, I knew Heracross would go for the finisher right from the start. As soon as he took his first step and his entire body became a blur, he was going to determine if Lou was worth his time with one decisive strike.
Reacting accordingly, Lou's form became a green streak as he ascended out of the way of what would've been a fight ending Megahorn. Gladdenned to see his opponent had some speed, Heracross took to the sky as the two began their clash.
The immediate problem became apparent: Lou could not get him off his back. Whoever wrote in the dex that Heracross were poor fliers clearly didn't examine the right one since despite everything, Heracross managed to chase down Lou wherever he went. Forbidding him to get into a position where he could line up a shot. Fortunately, he could fight back from any angle.
"Air Slash and Agility!" I commanded from the ground.
Flapping his wings more violently, Lou summoned a flurry of air saws towards the trailing Heracross forcing him to at least smash them out of the way with Megahorn. Giving Lou time to focus on his body and psychically enhance his speed even further, outpacing Heracross.
I smiled to myself as the two faced off in the sky, thinking about our options.
If either of their wings get messed up, their mobility is severely hampered, but for Lou it'd be an assured loss. His max speed relies on his wings and levitation, one being disabled would cut his speed in half. Reflect won't work, Heracross definitely has Brick Break. Maybe Iron Defense… Either way, we've got to avoid allowing him in.
Heracross coated his arms and horn in stone, slamming through the air blades and hurtling towards Lou. The brief moment of hesitancy the added weight forced, however, was enough time for Lou to dart out of the way and further enhance his speed. His carapace shone in the sun as he bolstered his defense as well, firing a cascade of Electrowebs at Heracross.
Again, instead of dodging, Heracross used stones to rip through the webbing and rocket towards Lou. Lou waited an instant longer this time, knowing the momentary pause was coming. This time he cut it closer, but that threw Heracross off balance for longer. He was expecting this to be over already.
Once more Lou sped up, to the point where even minute movements looked like the lances off a bolt of lightning. While Heracross turned around, Lou charged a pinpoint of electrical energy before firing a barrage of Charge Beams straight towards Heracross.
He met the barrage with his own, sending a hailstorm of Focus Blasts rocketing right into the beams. Each orb of raw fighting energy took several beams before exploding midair, but Lou wasn't yet trying to hit him.
Instead, as the barrage from both sides continued, the number of beams each blast could soak up decreased. So Heracross stopped using them, instead coating his body in raw energy that made him shine almost like a star as he hurtled towards Lou.
The smoke from all the explosions may have obscured a less observant Pokemon's sight, but they weren't Lou. He was able to dart to the side, harden his carapace to a steely sheen once more, and let Heracross carry himself past harmlessly.
The bug energy from before enveloped Heracross' horn again as he pivoted much quicker, aiming once again for Lou's core. Hardening himself a final time, Lou now shot right towards Heracross and met horn with pincers.
Heracross smirked for a moment, before his eyes widened as he saw that Lou was holding his ground. Lou's eyes were wide with strain, but he was not budging. Not least because of the flying energy swirling around his pincers. His wings' humming grew louder before he launched a point blank cascade of Air Slashes right into Heracross' face.
He's holding him off? He can match an elite Heracross in a contest of strength!?
Aaron clicked his tongue in annoyance. "He's learning as he fights…"
I fist pumped the air with pride. Hell yeah, he's learning as he fights!
"Fuck 'em up, lieutenant!" I shouted, cheering him on with all my might and at the sound of my voice, the Air Slashes got even sharper.
"Enough holding back, show him what we can do!" Aaron shouted.
Lou buzzed as he and Heracross darted apart, with Heracross now firing a barrage of Rock Blasts to cancel out the air blades. Lou now shot to the side, coating his entire body with flying energy before rocketing into Heracross. And then he was just a blur, a streak of emerald and cyan zigzagging across the sky. The center of the web Lou was weaving being Heracross, getting bombarded from every angle, almost at once.
Heracross' horn glowed orange this time, predicting where Lou would strike next and launching a Counter. Not being totally right and Lou's speed allowed him to make the hit a glancing blow, but it still clearly hurt. Lou got knocked out of his attack and hurtled a good twenty feet towards the ocean before stopping himself, glaring back up at his opponent.
"Shit," I scoffed. Lou had to mix physical and special moves where he could. If he used too much special, he'd exhaust his charge faster. We just had to be careful of the Counters… or fake him out. "Keep an eye out for fighting energy!"
Heracross had no intention of giving him time to breathe, stones forming from his hands as he sent a landslide of a Rock Slide at Lou.
In the next breath, there was a jagged streak of lime lightning as Lou flew between the avalanche, ending right in front of Heracross with a blast charged and ready in his face.
Heracross' horn glowed orange, but Lou didn't approach. This time, a wide beam of electricity screamed across the sky, blowing apart clouds off near the horizon. The moment the beam started to fade, Lou darted backwards cautiously. As it turned out, he was putting even more space between the two of them, Heracross having been forced backwards from the sheer intensity of the blast. I could make out a couple scuff marks on his carapace.
I can't even see where that attack ended and he tanked it point blank. Well, at least he lives up to his title as elite.
A background of approving clicks and buzzing reached my ears, but didn't draw my attention. Heracross sent a barrage of stones and pins before his wings glowed cyan, darting amidst the hailstorm towards Lou with an Aerial Ace. Lou narrowed his gaze, darting through the hailstorm.
Around some hits, Bug Buzzing others away from him, keeping his focus on his opponent. That small bit of extra obstruction, combined with the speed and precision of Aerial Ace, meant that Heracross kept pushing him into the cloud of attacks as they dueled.
Heracross' whole body glowed orange now as he began throwing blows from every angle at Lou. Only his sheer speed and the clashing energy from his Acrobatics kept the hits from landing true, but he could only dodge for so long. With another strike, Heracross managed to bludgeon Lou in the side with a fist.
He came hurtling at the ground towards us, spinning around midair and turning his freefall into a wide arc, flying backwards and launching searing blasts of electricity at Heracross. When he passed by, the ozone alone made the hair all across my body stand on end, wind whistling and nearly ripping up the grass around us.
Heracross was only moments behind, though now I could see he… had grass around himself?
"He's using Trailblaze to speed up! Watch out for the grass attacks!" I warned Lou.
Staying closer to the cliffside now, the pair continued their duel in the air. Spiraling like a drill and sharpening his pincers, Lou went hurtling towards Heracross, who shook off the grass and covered his horn in orange energy again.
Only to look confused and slightly offended as Lou shot straight past him.
The slight rumbling in the ground told me what he was up to, but Aaron was too slow to call it out. He bored into the cliff, made a sharp turn, and shot right back out, hitting Heracross with a combined attack of Electroweb and String Shot, the sparking webs clinging to his body and slowing his movements.
A bead of sweat dropped off Aaron's brow. "Finish this!"
"Brace yourself, Lou!" I shouted hurriedly. Their tolerance was running thin and I still couldn't see a definitive end yet. Lou was going to have to work some miracles.
Heracross clicked in irritation before flying back to the ground. Before Lou could properly charge a shot, he summoned a boulder the size of a house and knocked it at Lou in one motion. Before he could realign himself, Heracross launched another at him. Every time he tried to get to an appropriate angle or charge up enough energy for a proper blow, another boulder came flying at him.
With long ranged attacks not working, Lou dove below the edge of the cliff. The ground began to rumble, with Heracross' feet glowing brown. A moment before he stamped the earth, Lou rocketed back out of it, streaking through the air and landing a blast right in Heracross' face before darting off again.
Like before in the sky, but now on the ground, he was darting from every angle, using his speed to its fullest. The wind pressure alone nearly knocked me off my feet, but I stood strong. Heracross wasn't affected by it at all, eyes darting after Lou and using his carapace to block strikes or punching through them.
But with each chip Lou was doing damage. The insurmountable armor that Lou had been slamming into the entire fight was finally showing damage. My eyes zoomed in on his abdomen, right side across the thin line of his carapace. Some of the layering had been chipped off. On a regular day, I never would've noticed, but my eyes were so focused on the fight it was basically screaming for Lou to hit it.
I know how we can win!
And then Heracross figured out his next strike.
An instant before Lou blasted Heracross in the face again, he held a stone in front, parting the blast. And before Lou could dart away again, he snatched one of Lou's legs.
That was all he needed.
With a livid roar, Heracross slammed Lou against the ground, forming a crater beneath him. The iron defense from earlier was all that kept Lou's carapace from cracking bad, but there were still a number of unpleasant crunch noises. I watched helplessly as Lou's eyes widened in agonizing pain as he searched for a way out.
Before he could collect himself and fly or dig away, Heracross grabbed his whole body and suplexed him into the dirt mandibles first.
"Lou!" I screamed in panic, igniting Lou's will to fight again.
Lou managed to dig out and not stay stuck, but Heracross wasn't done with him as he grabbed one of Lou's rear legs, pulling him out of the ground to slam his body on the ground multiple times like a ragdoll. Lou, unable to open his carapace in fear of his wings getting injured, tightened his body and began to electrocute Heracross.
"Just a little more Lou! Infuse your lightning with Signal Beam!" I pleaded for him. The only other non electric offensive move he could use in this hapless position.
Lou grit through the pain as his Thunderbolt shifted to a psychedelic Thunder as the two elements mixed. I could only hope all the lightning didn't paralyze Heracross and activate his Guts ability.
The sensory overload mixed with pain was beginning to wear thin on Heracross as his grip tightened around Lou's ankle. Enduring it, he summoned a strange Rock Blast in his hand. In between the cracks of the rock I could see brown light, shining out from it. As I tried to figure out what that meant exactly, I noticed Aaron immediately ducking low to the ground as Heracross slammed the unseen technique directly into Lou's less protected gut, only some dirt between the stone and his underbelly.
The explosion was massive. The impact sent shards of rock and mud flying all throughout the battlefield and the shockwave alone threw me out of my position and tumbling on the ground several feet back. I quickly rolled onto my feet, but stumbled to one knee as I could feel my head pounding and something wet dripping around my brow.
Ignoring that, I gazed upon the battlefield to find Lou only a few feet before me. The strength of the blast had pushed him deep into the ground leaving a skid mark of where his body had traveled. His shell was bruised in ways I had never seen in my entire life with him, bleeding in between the cracks. The ankle where Heracross had grabbed him was most certainly broken.
While he had managed to land on his stomach, his body had sustained unbelievable damage. Whatever Heracross had done was incredibly condensed, only any danger to those close to the explosion. And that condensation was what made it so deadly to bring Lou to such a state.
Despite it all though, Lou was still standing. He was shakier than I had ever seen him before, but he wasn't down yet. Which meant Heracross wasn't either. I looked up to see the blue beetle had ascended to the sky, seemingly to collect himself for a moment before charging forward with a Megahorn.
And his weak point is even more exposed.
I grabbed my head, seemingly to assess my injury, but to harness my focus and activate Rogelio's dormant telepathy channel. As fast as I could I closed my eyes and directed exactly what I thought into his head. My mind brushed his insurmountable determination, but he immediately let me in as soon as he knew it was me.
[Strike lower right abdomen chipped armor. Bluff the attack] Were the only words I got across, but he knew exactly what to do. Time for our back-up plan.
Heracross was going to ram Lou off the mountain in five seconds. We had to act now.
"Air Slash!" I shouted as desperately as I could.
As soon as I did Lou channeled whirlwinds around his mandibles, his usual incarnation of the move when his wings were unavailable. At the sight of this Lou and I both witnessed a sliver of reconsideration from Heracross and his unbelievably tight defense gave way to the exact point we needed to strike.
Rather than expel wind from his mandibles, they tightened around him as sharp tornadoes. Using the 10% charge he had reserved, Lou jumpstarted his body and leapt with blinding speed directly towards Heracross' opening. I could faintly hear Aaron scream a warning to Heracross, but it was too late.
Lou's Air Slash to Acrobatics fake out succeeded as Lou stabbed straight into Heracross' weak spot. It was as though he ran into a spiked barricade at full speed with no reservation. From my angle I could watch as the tip of Lou's right mandible shift past the armor and into skin, Heracross' manic expression and Aaron's jaw dropping in shock.
To top it all off, Lou expelled the remainder of the wind energy he had, blowing Heracross back over to Aaron's side. Meanwhile Lou landed clumsily on the ground, eyeing his opponent with heavy breaths.
The once snarky beetle rolled onto the ground unceremoniously, blood following him in his wake as he held his wound in sheer agony. He slammed a hand onto the ground to push himself up, but he was clearly struggling.
I wasn't the only one who noticed this. Cynthia's hand- the one closer to me- twitched for the briefest moment at the moment of the strike. Aaron saw it too. The flag she would raise in Lou's favor.
I knew how bugs were. They were monstrously tough and Heracross was no exception. A wound like that would be grievous on a human, but he'd fight through it anyway. But another decisive strike while he was vulnerable… I could only hope that'd seal the deal, but we had to move now.
He should have 5% left. We have to hope that's enough.
"Pinpoint Zap Cannon, use up all your charge and finish it, Lou!" I screamed, channeling all my soul into Lou to give him whatever final boost he needed.
Lou's body surged again at my words, invigorated once more as he began to charge electricity.
That is until he started shaking, his body convulsed uncontrollably as the lightning went from green, to blue to a faint yellow before sparking out.
{Gen-eral,} I managed to catch from him, as I felt the last surge of energy I gave him slip right on out. Blood sputtered from his mouth as he collapsed on his stomach, completely unconscious.
~x3x~
PoV: Topaz Heart
Location: Sunyshore Gym - Outdoor Field
Time: Afternoon
The psychic channel between us cut off and I could feel all the energy I had vacated my body as well as I collapsed to my hands and knees. My vision began to blur causing me to blink multiple times before the world became less clear, but wider.
I could finally see Jade and his team standing up in shock and outrage from their tree. Violet's group stood up as well with wide eyes of disbelief. Volkner and Froberge had come out of their corner, but it was becoming harder to make everyone out.
I… I'm so tired. I'm sorry Lou. I gave you everything I had and it wasn't enough. I thought you had more charge, I didn't realize your exhaustion would impact you so much.
{Topaz, you and Lou are bleeding? You both need treatment!} Cenza shouted, holding a berry to me.
{Topaz, I think Lou is down!} Holyn panicked by my side. I didn't even know when he got there. {We can help him now, right!?}
{Cynthia is gonna call it and then we can head to the center. Come on Zio, where's Lou's pokeball?} Donut pleaded, the concern in his voice creeping into the calm he was trying to instill.
"Lou… yeah, we gotta go," I muttered between bated breaths as I tried to reach for his pokeball.
That is until my eyes refocused on what was happening before me. Heracross reached into the ground, grunting with effort before he ripped another huge boulder out of the ground, aiming for Lou.
Before I could shot, Amethyst was hovering right in his face, eyes slits. {Hey. Lou's down, no need for that. So why don't y-}
Heracross' horn glowed with bug energy as, without dropping the boulder, he swiveled his head and slammed his horn into Amethyst. She went flying backwards, impacting into Meliae with a pained thud. Violet's eyes nigh on glowed red as Amethyst squinted through the pain, glaring at him. Jade and his team looked aghast at the situation as a new tension filled the air.
W-what? Why!?
"Heracross, you need to calm down! Take deep breaths, you're alright, you've survived worse," Aaron appeased, causing the beetle to turn to face his partner. It looked like even he had trouble realizing what he did and his eyes were foggier than before. Looked like Aaron and his willpower was all that was fighting against his pain, rage and… hmmm.
Lou did hit him with Signal Beam and it does have a chance for confusion.
Volkner and Froberge stepped up from their corner to intervene, but Cynthia raised a hand. Jade was more vocal though. "Can we disqualify him for that!? Or at least hit him back?"
Cynthia frowned, glancing at Reginleif. The two had a silent conversation before Cynthia gazed back at the battlefield. "Typically I would call the battle here, but Reginleif feels Amethyst should make this call."
She chuckled venomously, picking herself up. [I've had enough of this cocky ass beetle, I'm gonna kick his mandibles in.]
Reginleif rumbled, and Cynthia sighed, giving a glance at Aaron. "Well, I suppose that answers that." She looked back at us. "Amethyst, along with anyone else who feels compelled to, can join the battle against Heracross. Aaron is not to summon any of his other team members."
Heracross still looked out of it, but I feel his rampage would get worse if he was denied further fighting. Aaron spoke on his behalf. "We agree to those terms."
{But if anyone oversteps again, I'm ending the fight myself,} Reginleif promised, with a notable glance at Aaron and Heracross. {Any objections?}
{So we all get to gang up on one stronger opponent? Reminds me of my hunting days, but way more exciting. How much will he struggle against us amateurs?} Shizu snarled, smoke already billowing from her maw.
Gautier blinked a scarlet red, his carapace shaking in fury. {In most cases I'd also find this fun, but he dishonored this fight by attacking a downed Lou and an innocent Amethyst. He has to pay.}
Reginleif didn't need to even look at the rest of our allies as she raised a claw. {Then let the battle continue.}
{Let's avenge Lou, Donut!} Holyn barked as he ran past me.
{We've got this, Zio. You and Lou take a breather. I've got a fighter to fry,} Donut assured me as he psychically placed Lou's pokeball in my hand before flying after him. With a shaky hand, I aimed his pokeball and recalled him, before holding it to my chest.
Alright… it's out of our hands now, Lou.
{Wanna play hardball, fuckface?} Amethyst hissed. {I can play.}
Donut and Holyn were on Heracross like hounds, speeding towards him with fury I had never seen from either of them. Not unlike Lou before, Zenara came hurtling towards Heracross from over by Violet, lightning and flames trailing behind her.
Holyn roared at him viscerally, his expression shifted to something unrecognizably angry. Donut's quiet fury leaked into his electricity as streaks of black appeared.
With Volt Tackle's lightning madly striking the ground around him, Donut channeled it all into his tail before slamming everything he had into Heracross with complete abandon. Heracross resisted, shielding himself from the attack so Donut pushed himself further, applying every bit of psychic power he had.
{What's the problem, jackass!? Struggling against gym pokemon?} Donut seethed.
Heracross stumbled, letting the rock drop off his shoulders onto the ground with a loud thud before whirling around to slam Donut with Megahorn.
A bed's worth of wool was thrown between them, enduring most of the damage for Donut as he was blown away. Heracross turned to a furious Zenara, heading straight for him. {Fight me, bastard!}
Zenara came slamming into him from the side, eyes crackling with the same black lightning Donut had as she stomped hard into the same spot Lou struck before, letting out a flurry of flaming punches into Heracross. He extended his armored wings, slamming her backwards and nearly knocking her over.
A few Dustox helped her stay on her feet. She just shook her head, let out something between a bleat and a roar of anger, and ran right back into the fray, a series of Sludge Bombs flanking her.
Dustox? Where did they come from?
I glanced behind me, where Route 222 stretched below the cliff. Countless Corps bugs had gathered to watch the fight and seemingly now enter the fray. I vaguely remembered hearing clicks as Lou fought Heracross, but I couldn't take my eyes off the battle. At least now I knew where the clicks came from.
A healthy Holyn outpaced her, scarlet trails shining from his eyes. The wild eyes of a prehistoric menace. With perfect precision, Holyn harnessed an impeccably sharp stone spire atop his dome to skewer Heracross and finish what Lou had started. Clearly disinterested with further impalement, Heracross took to the sky in which Holyn catapulted himself off a rock to pierce into Heracross anyway.
As deadly as his attack looked, Heracross simply smashed aside Holyn's rock spire with a single Brick Break. As Holyn began to fall back to the ground Heracross haymakered Holyn's neck as he drove him into the ground.
A coordinated series of Signal Beams impacted Heracross' back the moment he stopped moving, although he ignored it to push Holyn's face in deeper into the mud. His indestructible dome cushioning most of the fall as the ground rippled around him, Holyn bit Heracross' hand and began to encase it with ice.
The stone shards from his attack were further splintered, as the boulder Heracross had summoned was turned into razor sharp sand in the blink of an eye. Before Heracross could even notice, all of it shot right up into his carapace.
Every chink in his armor, beneath his armored wings and into his flight ones, into every wound and open spot, a torrential flood of razor stones engulfed him. He chittered in pain before letting out a Bug Buzz, forcing most of the stones away.
From a distance, I spotted a wounded Amethyst click her teeth in annoyance at the dissolution of her move, her ears fully unfurled and glowing harshly.
He had no time to get his bearings as a river of howling draconic energy, red and black lightning clawing around the beam engulfed Heracross. Meliae's eyes were zeroed in on him, unleashing a torrent of energy upon him that had been refined already by her time at the gym. As Heracross raised a hand to part the beam, holding it back, Amethyst warped around dozens of times a second, blasting him from every angle with psionic pulses that looked like they warped the space around them. And just as he opened his wings to buzz them away, Zenara came flying in as a crackling fireball of electricity, slamming right into his exposed back.
Intermixed between Amethyst's psychic warps I saw Shizu fade in and out of existence in a black haze by Faint Attack. Each time she appeared, a spew of hot flames would roast Heracross, aiming for his wings. To assist in that endeavor was Flax, dancing around Heracross disrupting his movements with thorny vines and seed bombs to make even walking treacherous.
Instead of buzzing his wings, Heracross rattled his carapace, giving himself a brief moment before slamming the earth. While this unsteadied everyone standing, the main reason was to summon a ring of earth around himself before he stomped the earth once more. The wall that had just blocked incoming attacks went hurtling towards each of our teammates, Amethyst barely managing to catch the ring of debris. Heracross went to attack her, but Donut was faster.
Donut flew by grabbing Amethyst's paw and pulling her out of the way of his attack. Upon physical contact, Amethyst's overwhelming power jump started Donut's, accelerating him even more. Holding on, the two began to spin before they became a spinning saw blade of orange and white, a barrage of psychically enhanced lasers emerged from them to chase Heracross. At first he tried to smash through them, but when the first laser seared his carapace, he took to the sky to outfly the lethal lightshow beset upon him.
As exceptional as their tag team was, Heracross will swiftly adapting to their patterns. They needed another card to their deck of tricks. Which is when Gautier waddled up underneath where they flew with Rheneas, before sending a thin psychic link to their mighty spindash. Upon connecting, the lights on his dome and her pearl began to blink at a blindingly fast pace as his radar capabilities made the lasers even faster and sharper than before.
What Heracross was able to maneuver around or outpace, suddenly cut him and bombarded him from every angle. Suddenly all he could do was block as the lasers began to close in on him like a sphere of death. Yet even then, he would not be stopped. With a piercing cry of bug energy, he repelled the lasers before flying straight towards the trio to take them all out in one go.
Holyn ran to their defense, summoning a Zen Headbutt shield to take on the incoming Mega Horn without an ounce of fear. Cenza ran to his side channeling red sparkles around him, doubling the power of the psychic dome via Helping Hand. Needing every ounce of power they had, Gautier connected Holyn with the rest of them, increasing the psychic shield by tenfold.
Zenara did the same thing before spinning rapidly, sending clouds of electrified wool out in Heracross' path. Slightly grayer than usual, bolts of lightning arced between them, and it was hard to tell if the low rumble was coming from them or her. Aiding in her efforts were Shizu and Flax, launching fire and poison into the wool for additive effect.
Heracross buzzed again, charging through the wool and impacting Holyn's dome. The psychic and bug energy sparked with pure white energy, neither side giving in. The wool clinging to Heracross kept him in place long enough though for the full might of Donut and Amethyst's prismatic wrath to be brought to bear. All the lasers came screaming down at Heracross, searing his form. Before he could even think to react, the torrent of draconic energy from Meliae came once again, along with dozens of sludge bombs and signal beams from the forest, all converging onto Heracross.
For a brief moment, things went eerily quiet. And then the amount of raw energy being packed into one point erupted, sending a warm, tingling shockwave in all directions. Pure energy of every color raced after the burst, the wind rippling past us all as a cloud of dust rose up.
Our teammates stepped back a moment panting as Meliae flapped her wings, dispelling the dust. And there, facedown in the dirt, directly where he'd hit Lou, lay Heracross. Motionless save for his breathing, all the fight knocked out of him.
Amethyst hovered over and leered at him. {That's whatcha get, bitch.}
{Amethyst!} Cenza shouted accusingly running up to her, before smiling. {I wanted to say that first!}
She snorted in amusement, gesturing at Heracross' unconscious form. {He's not going anywhere, have fun shoutin' it at him.}
{Okay, just this once…} Cenza took a deep breath, hyping herself up before she looked at Heracross. {B-bitch!} She squeaked, grabbing her tail in surprise.
{There ya go!} Amethyst applauded her.
Zenara ran up, high-fiving Amethyst and Cenzas. {And stay down, jackass!}
There was a chorus of chittering and clicking from the forest as Rheneas hopped down belting out her own grievances until Cynthia spoke up. "Heracross is down, while Topaz and his friends and family are the winners!"
We won… everyone worked together, to beat an elite.
Only at the announcement of our victory did Holyn's peace return to his eyes, returning to their usual red rather than bloody scarlet. With an exhausted sigh, he fell to the ground reaching for his sizzled dome. Donut flew next to him, resting by his side.
{And look at that, we handled it,} Donut exhaled, earning a tired smile from Holyn.
Flax, Shizu and Gautier convened together, maintaining a level of aloofness and cool, but I could tell they were beaming with pride and satisfaction.
Rheneas hopped back over to Meliae, waving at the Corps in the forest as she jumped back up onto her friend. The two of them nodded at Heracross, smirking, before walking back over to where Violet was where Amethyst and Zenara were already standing proud.
Volkner and Froberge stepped further out of their corner. "Not bad at all."
Aaron did not share the same sentiment as he recalled Heracross in abject shock. He stared at the pokeball for a moment before placing it against his head. "Not our best showing, was it?"
"I would say your petulant actions mean you simply reap what you sow," Violet spat frigidly at Aaron. "You disgrace Heracross' presence by being so easily enraged and having total ignorance of the consequences of your words and actions. Our friends and family could never fall to someone as self absorbed and mindless as you." Zenara punctuated the point by sticking her tongue out at Aaron, her tail still glowing.
He definitely was not equipped to deal with Violet's brand of vehemence.
"Not even elites can escape her tongue lashings, eh?" Jade said, as he bent down to put a nice smelling gauze on my head. As soon as it made contact, the pain in my head lessened.
"You good, Topaz? You're speechless cuz you're amazed by our pokemon and not because you've got a concussion and about to pass out, right?"
I placed my hand on the gauze to keep it in place, as I slowly stood up. "Just overwhelmed and impressed, is all. Did not see the day turning out like this…"
"Well, I can add 'capable of fending off elites' to my team's resume. Everyone can stretch a lie if there's at least a hint of truth to it," he stated cheekily.
There's enough truth that I won't object to it. Even if Lou and I fall, everyone else can pick up the pieces and finish what we started. That we can trust.
"Topaz," Aaron spoke up, walking over to me. When he got too close Donut and Holyn ran up to block his path, glaring at him. Personally, I found them cute, but they would definitely fuck him up if he pushed them now.
"Yeah?"
"I underestimated you and your friends because you're young, inexperienced and in my opinion, pampered. Now all I can say is that you're younger than me, have less field experience, but you all didn't fight like pampered trainers. I'm not sure how long you've all known each other, but the chemistry woven into all of your moves… you can't teach that. You create that with time, patience and camaraderie," Aaron stated. Now that he lost he was suddenly acting way more… demure. Like he was an actual elite with good advice.
He folded his arms. "I've been a bug catcher, gym leader and elite, so I've been at this for awhile. Even still, Heracross, my team and myself still have got a lot of growing to do as elites and people. I'm sorry for how we acted, our proactiveness got ahead of us like it usually does. It was wrong of us to believe we could train you better than your uncle here. Honestly, separating you all would be the worst decision."
He glanced at the Corps looming behind me. "I've heard of the Compound Corps in reports, a powerful group of bug pokemon lurking in Route 222, yet never caused any issues with human life. I had been wanting to know how they ticked, but now I see they fight for those they believe in. You kids, you're something special, aren't you?"
"We all have our quirks. Some…" I glanced at Violet staring daggers at Aaron, whilst Jade looked disgusted by all his platitudes. "Sharper than others. But I wouldn't have anyone here any other way."
"Interesting…" Aaron noted as he turned towards Cynthia. "I know Morebucks' daughter is pretty tough too, but these kids remind me of your sister's group a bit."
Her sister's group? So there are other trainers our age doing crazy shit like us?
Cynthia huffed with a grin, crossing her arms as Reginleif did the same thing. "I know. I'd love to introduce them, since they've heard a bit about their escapades, but things haven't lined up. That and…" she thought for a moment before shrugging, jabbing a thumb at Jade. "He gets possessive."
"Why should we muck up the friend dynamics with unnecessary people?" Jade asked genuinely.
Cynthia gave Aaron a look and they both seemingly knew exactly what she meant just by that.
"And this is why the Sunyshore Gym is the strongest gym. Even our juniors can stack up to the best," Volkner boasted, yawning midway. "Anyway, it's getting late and a lot of you need treatment."
I looked at Lou's ball once again, placing it close to my chest. All the tension I held earlier was washing away and even though Lou was deeply unconscious, all I could hope was that he felt even a fraction of the massive pride I held for him and everyone else.
"Mission complete, Founder General. Well done," I whispered to him.
A/N: I respect Aaron for being the first bug specialist people can respect, but not enough to let him win scot free off the main cast. While their lives are relaxed each day they grow stronger. Heracross defeated Lou today, but who says after he's rested he'd win then? Or if the rest of Aaron's team could defeat Lou? Food for thought, either way, we're eager to keep showing off how much stronger everyone has gotten and will get.
Group
Gym Trainer: Topaz Heart
Brothers in Arms: Donut (Raichu), Lou (Vikavolt), Holyn (Cranidos).
Deck: Fool, Devil, Strength, Hermit, Fortune, Hierophant, Magician, Empress.
x
Human Companion: Violet
Pokemon Family: Amethyst (MeowsticF), Zenara (Flaaffy), Meliae (Tropius).
x
Blooming Celebrity: Jade Forrest
Co-Stars: Flax (Roserade), Shizu (Houndoom), Gautier (Dottler).
x
Family: Cenza (Dedenne), Rogelio (Calyrex), Rheneas (Spoink).