The Contender's Ascent

by Insane Dominator

Third installment to "The Fairy Contender". Months passed since Nic and Erza finally united, but now things get really interesting. New challenges face Nic as Pokemon begin to rise, more complex foes challenge him and his powers, and something darker than darkness itself seeks Nic. With friends new and old joining forces, Nic and two worlds unite in ways unimaginable. OCxErza

76. Seeing the World Through Broken Glass

How long's it been since she's been like this? A day? A couple? She didn't know. She didn't care. The only thing that mattered to her was gone.

Starly sat nestled at the base of the cliff, her feathers stained with her own tears. She was out of harm's way for the time being in case she came across any Nidorino or Nidoran hordes. She was aware that she wasn't in any kind of condition to battle, not like she intended to.

Everything in her surroundings otherwise was a haze. The only means of keeping her in touch with reality was her growling stomach, which hasn't been replenished in a while. Her mind was too preoccupied with the depression that kept her from moving around too much.

Thoughts of Shiny Starly resurfaced as she tried to suppress any more tears. She still couldn't believe it. Her best friend, the most important thing in her life, being taken away like that. Anyone would feel the same way, but it felt like a chunk of her was torn out of her. Compared to the Electro Ball she took earlier, this was real pain.

After what felt like an eternity of sulking, Starly's stomach growled loud enough that it made nearby Nidoran raise their ears. '(I need to eat something….)' Despite her low morale, she didn't want to die of starvation. That would be the undignified end to a wild Pokémon's life. She quietly hopped away, making sure to stay out of sight of any Pokémon nearby.

Hopping along, a shadow glided overhead. When she looked up, she saw a wild Staravia circle in the open skies above. She looked so free, so unnerved. It almost made Starly jealous.

No, scratch that. She was jealous.

She looked down at her own wing, which still looked too crooked to keep upright. The most she could manage was tilt it up just to her head before she felt pain. She winced as she tried. '(I still can't fly like this…how am I going to get around like this? I'll get killed out here at this rate.)' She paused at the prospect. Now that Shiny Starly was gone, what was the point?

That was something she would have to think of another time. Her growling stomach kept her mind occupied as she searched around for anything to eat. The Sitrus Berry tree that sat at the foot of the route was still too far away. And her tiny legs throbbed the more she hopped around.

'(How do other Pokémon make this look so easy?)' She lamented. Despite the aching in her tiny heels, her beak picked up the smell of something close by. She skipped over past a bush and saw that there was a Sitrus Berry that laid on the ground, seemingly untouched. "(Oh, good! Lucky me~!)" She went over to take a peck out of it, but she stopped halfway. Something about this felt…weird.

When she stopped to look around at any particular reason, she noticed something about the terrain. Something familiar. It was odd. She never would have thought to distinguish her surroundings aside from the bog Sitrus Berry tree and the cliffs where she nested. What a strange world she was in now that she couldn't fly. Everything else around her looked so big.

Her digression aside, she recognized the tree that she was under a while ago, as well as the branches that sat at its base that acted as a pillow for her when she had woken up.

'(Oh…that's right. This was where I woke up last. I saw that red lizard, and a blue frog, a green lizard, and -)' She remembered something else, something that put the brakes on her train of thought. '(…and a human.)'

That's right. She remembered now. It was a human that was with those Pokémon. Though she knew it wasn't the same one, she couldn't help but feel her appetite stale just looking at the Sitrus Berry in front of her. He tried offering them to her before, and the thought disgusted her now.

She batted the berry away with her good wing, watching it fumble into the nearby tall grass. She wasn't going to accept any handouts from creatures like them. It was humans that took her friend away to begin with. Humans that commanded other Pokémon. Pokémon that were once wild like she was.

'(It's all their fault…it's all their fault!)' Starly's glare hardened towards her wing. Knowing she was still unable to fly because of them only added fuel to the fire. '(I swear…I'll make them all pay for doing this!)'

"Charmeleon, Hone Claws!"

Starly stopped and heard a voice coming from close by. She hopped over to where the bushes blocked her view. She nestled her way between them thanks to her small height and stopped when she reached the other side. Her orange feet stopped inches from a grassy ledge that sloped down to the lower lands of Route 13, where far below, she saw a wild Sawk facing off against a Charmeleon, whose claws glowed and elongated as a red aura engulfed his body.

The wild Sawk brought a leg around and made an attempt to kick the lizard, but Charmeleon's physical training bore fruit as he leaped into the air above the leg and landed on top of it. He lunged into the air and came down with his maw broiling in flames.

"Fire Fang!" His Trainer roared.

With a snap of his jaws, the flames engulfed the wild Sawk's head, making an eruption of fire that made him cry out and fall backwards. Charmeleon flipped backwards and landed on all fours in front of his Trainer.

Starly took one glance at the Charmeleon and his Trainer and realized something similar. '(Aren't they…)'

The wild Sawk grunted as he made an attempt to stand. Once he was back on his feet, he glared at both personnel and grabbed the two ends of his belt and pulled tightly. He made a headstrong rush towards Charmeleon with his left leg sweeping, but Charmeleon leaned his head back and avoided the blow.

"Now, Dragon Rage!"

With his head leaned back, Charmeleon's maw opened as black and blue dragonfire broiled in the back of his throat. The moment he lurched back upright, he expelled the flames at point-blank range, taking the wild Sawk by surprise. The flames swallowed him whole, engulfing him in a dragonfire explosion that sent him careening through the air and limply fell to the grassy earth. He didn't get up after that.

"Nice work there, Charmeleon." The Trainer praised.

Charmeleon glanced back, smirking. "(No problem, Nic. That was nothing. Just going the extra mile.)" He reached his claws out similar to a fist. Noticing this, Nic took it kindly to meet the fist bump, both smirking.

"Alright, wanna work on our climbing, or battle some more?" He offered.

"(Climbing, huh? Heh, haven't done that for a bit.)" Charmeleon faced the nearby rocky cliffs, eyeing them eagerly. "(Let's give it a go.)"

Watching the exchange from the ledge, the wild Starly had a hollow glare seething fixated on them. She didn't think about it before due to being focused on finding Shiny Starly, but now when she saw that human and Pokémon congratulating after taking down yet another wild Pokémon, she felt the pit of her gut ache with grief. They were happy to have beaten up another native? It just didn't seem right – it couldn't be right!

Like it or not, she was going to get justice for this. Even if she had to do it with one thing to achieve it.

---

Gliding over the forest outside Pokétopia's outskirts miles off, Staraptor was scanning feverishly for Junior down below. With the storm brewing madly, she knew she could handle it, but with Junior so young, he was another story. His safety was a big concern to her…no matter how much she wished it wasn't.

'Where the hell did he run off to?' She lamented as she dipped further into the forest, her wings folding as she positioned her talons on a tree branch. 'I take my eyes off him for literally one second and this is what happens.' When things were going so well for once in this hellish day. 'He must have gotten over being spooked before…now he's just playing. That little…!'

"Junior! Come out now! Mommy's done playing around!" She called out.

Suddenly, a small rustle came from close by. Her reflexes immediately turned her towards it as she heard a small coo. 'There!' She spurred off the branch as fast as one could blink, tearing away the bushes with her talons to reveal what was underneath.

"Coo…?" As she expected, Junior was looking at her with a big smile, his body visibly unharmed.

She sighed heavily. "There you are." She exasperated. "How many times did I have to tell you? No going off like that anymore!"

"Coo!" Junior chirped.

"C'mon, we're heading back right-" Just when she was about to grab him with her beak, Junior teleported out of sight. She gasped and froze. She heard a small giggle and turned around, seeing Junior on a tree branch close by. "Junior! What did I just tell you?!"

Junior smiled as he giggled. Just when Staraptor was about to reach him, he vanished again, appearing on the forest floor. He cooed playfully as he turned and hopped away.

"Junior, get back here right now!" Staraptor seethed, her red eyes piercing daggers. She was losing her patience with Junior's childish demeanor. If this kept up, she was certain that something would happen again to Nic that she'd regret…more so than she did now.

She looked back in the direction of the province, where most of the lightning and dark vortex in the sky was centered around. She knew that Nic and the others were in some kind of mess. She could feel it in her gut. She knew she had to be there to help, yet Junior's persistent meddling was keeping her turned back towards the merry Junior's direction and took off for her young, wayward toddler.

'This brat is going to be the end of me.'

---

Erza looked up towards the sky as it looked anything but serene. For a paradise, it really had the appeal of anything but one itself. The heinous vortex of dark clouds had a huge eye in the center, where a blue serpentine dragon was flying in its center. Lightning crackled in the sky as winds reached speeds that it was almost impossible to stand upright without proper footing.

Sune felt herself being harshly brushed by the winds. She was saved from falling over by a sharp, curved tail that helped break her fall.

"T-thank you!" Sune quipped.

"Don't mention it." Liepard sneered. Even she sounded uneasy as her lean, slick fur prickled and stood on end. She didn't have a good feeling about this.

"A Dragonair?" Erza asked, looking at the dragon in the sky. 'Is she another Apostle?'

"It's that Dragonair again!" Cana recognized.

Erza glanced at her. "You know her?"

Cana furrowed her brow as she shot a glare at the flying natural disaster. "You can say that. Damn thing nearly sank our ship when we were headin' our way in. Apparently she has the power to manipulate the weather."

Erza understood what she meant. She only battled a couple at most back in Kalos during her one year of training and going around the region with Nic and Vanessa. She knew what they were capable of, but she never actually witnessed their weather manipulation. It was truly something terrifying to behold.

"Great, I didn't think the forecast called for an angry snake in the sky." Houndoom scoffed, using his claws to anchor him in the brisk winds. Talonflame used her talons and clung to Houndoom's horns and flapped her wings to keep herself from being blown away.

"Mom!" Arcelia chirped fearfully at the sight of her mother's daunting figure above.

Adelita was high over everyone's heads, her fixated, unemotional glare glaring over the horizon. Everything she looked at, it was all manmade. The entire island just reeked of human – no, even more than that. It had Pokémon, too. Pokémon that worked with humans. Humans that nearly endangered her only child. She couldn't stand it anymore. She needed to make a safe haven for them.

Even if that meant destroying the one they were standing on.

The Dragonair's blue orb on her neck was glowing brightly as she let out a draconic cry that echoed through the storm. It carried through the winds, picking up their speeds to where lampposts were visibly wobbling. Signs on streets and envy standing businesses were becoming unhinged. She was going to level it all…

"Mom!"

Adelita paused as she heard the all-too-familiar cry from below. She looked down, noticing her daughter looking fearful and concerned. She instantly felt relief.

But that relief quickly wilted when she saw the two humans and other Pokémon surrounding her. Her instincts instantly took over as she seethed with territorial rage.

"You all…get away from my daughter this second!" She announced.

Cana felt the wind brush through her hair, forcing her to mat it down. "Guess she's still mad about last time!"

"This storm's picking up!" Erza shouted, her voice barely muted out by the volume of wind around them. "Is she the one responsible for all this?!"

"Well, she made a huge storm out at sea, so it checks out!" Prinplup shouted back. "But it wasn't nearly as harsh as this one blowing in our faces!"

Thunder raged through the sky as Adelita shot a glare down at the Pokémon and humans surrounding her beloved daughter. When she squinted, lightning shot down from straight above without warning. Erza was quick enough to requip into her Lightning Empress Armor and use the tip of her javelin to conduct the lightning. With her control over the element, she swung her weapon and redirected the charge back towards Adelita. The Dragonair careened her head back and gathered multicolored energy before firing a Dragon Pulse at the lightning blast. The two attacks met high in the sky, making a bright explosion that forced everyone below to veer away from complete blindness.

Under the guise of the explosion, Erza could make out a silhouette that was beelining fast towards them. "It's coming!"

The smoke and energy separated as Adelita shot out, assisted by the windstorm she created to make a tailwind. Her tail was cloaked in green energy scaled and came down upon everyone.

"Talonflame, Steel Wing!" Erza commanded.

Talonflame shot off Houndoom without any hesitation. She bolted at Adelita with her wings glowing metallic gray and collided with the Dragonair's downward blow. The Steel and Dragon-type attacks connected to make a powerful shockwave that blew apart any windows that were still intact around them. Talonflame's wing was enough to keep Adelita at bay, allowing Houndoom and Sune to race around on either side, their mouths charging up a Shadow Ball and Flame Burst respectively.

Adelita's eyes flashed red. "I will get my daughter back…even if I have to kill every last one of you!"

Erza gasped, realizing what was about to happen. "Get back, now!"

Houndoom and Sune heard her warning, just as two bolts of lightning shot down from above. Both canines pulled back just in time, but their reflexes caused their attacks to misfire and strike the lightning bolts. Two explosions of fire and darkness erupted, pushing Houndoom back on his heels while Sune went flying. She was caught by her uniform's collar in Houndoom's mouth.

"I gotcha!" he muffled as he held his ground.

"Mom! Stop!" Areclia panicked. Adelita's glare was intense, focused with unempathetic rage that made Arcelia feel her tender skin shrivel. 'I've never seen her this angry before…she's really gonna hurt everyone!'

Adelita eventually let out and pulled away from Talonflame.

"Take this!" Cana shot tarot cards at her.

Adelita made no attempt to back off. Instead, her orb shined brighter as she made a miniature tornado surround herself. The wind barrier blocked the cards' momentum completely, leaving no visible damage to everyone's shock.

"She used the winds as a shield?!" Cana gasped. "Just what kinds of weather powers are those?!"

Adelita let out a menacing shriek as she forced the tornado to expand outwards. The counterclockwise cyclone swallowed up everything in a shockwave, sending everyone else careening through the air by the wake of the winds. Even Erza found herself unable to hold her ground as she slid and flew back.

"Gyaaah!" Arcelia was flung through the air, only to be caught by a tail hooking around her own – tightly. With a harsh yank, she was pulled back towards Adelita and suspended behind her mother's back. Her tail clutched Arcelia hard enough that even as she squirmed, she couldn't break free.

Houndoom got his bearings and skid across the ground to a halt. "She's got the little dragon!"

"Let her go!" Cana interjected.

Arcelia wriggled left and right upside-down in her mother's hold. It proved to be futile as she was exhausting herself. "Mom…stop…let me go."

"You are never leaving my side again, young lady." Adelita bitterly scolded.

Arcelia's goosebumps multiplied. It was a promise, but it sounded more like a threat. Even from her position, she could see the vile contempt in her eyes.

Adelita let out another draconic cry as she caused the windstorm to escalate. Multiple miniature tornadoes manifested throughout the avenue that dragged across the ground, picking up debris and directing towards her opponents. To make matters worse, she summoned lightning down on all the tornadoes to make them brim with static.

Liepard's eyes shrank. "Here they come!"

The crackling tornadoes dragged closer, ready to tear all of them apart. Erza braced herself as she was about to do another requip.

"Sky Dragon's Wave Wind!"

A clockwise tornado engulfed their perimeter, a strong so strong and thick that the several smaller cyclones were grinding themselves against the barricade protecting them. The surface crackled with static that diffused through the raging winds that kept everyone else inside safe until Adelita's assault lost momentum and was sucked into the tornado. The tornado diffused, leaving everyone inside spared.

Adelita gasped in shock. "Impossible…!"

"Sorry I'm late!" A voice came from close by. Everyone turned to see Wendy being carried by Carla, with Swablu and Amaura racing behind them.

"Duncan's injuries took longer than expected, but he'll pull through just fine!" Carla shouted.

Cana turned towards them, smirking. "Perfect timing, girls!"

"Wendy!" Erza gasped.

Wendy smiled. "Hi, Erza. You guys hurt?"

Erza faced forward, glaring at Adelita's superior position. "No, we're just fine."

Amaura looked up, recognizing something. "Look! Up there!"

Carla followed her gaze, her eyes shrinking. "Is that…!"

"Areclia's mother." Wendy frowned heavily, her tone serious. She remembered their last encounter with the Dragonair; fair to say she did not appreciate her demeanor one bit.

"Wendy…and everyone!" Arcelia quipped in shock, though a hint of relief was in her tone.

Adelita looked down and recognized the interloper of her actions. She was familiar with the dark blue hair, those large brown eyes that burned with defiance, that magic that she used that gave her a hard time. Just thinking about her reignited the fire for her rage all over again.

"You…" She seethed with such fury that it was like she was breathing fire. "You're the one who poisoned my little one…I'm gonna make sure she never has to worry about humans again!"

'She sounds angrier than last time. No, she's definitely angry. She probably won't listen to anyone.' Putting her logic first, Wendy frowned as she braced herself. "It was you who pushed your own daughter away from everything. What kind of mother would do that to her own child?"

"Wendy…!" Arcelia quipped.

Adelita scoffed, offended. "Little brat…those will be your last words! You have no idea what I went through…to protect my daughter!" Her orb shined brighter, causing lightning to flourish haphazardly above. "And I will do whatever it takes so it stays that way!"

---

The storm Adelita created was seen from Nic and Neuro's standpoint, the holes in the walls showing the sky ablaze with lightning.

"Seems like Adelita is worked up." Neuro casually noted, his eyes glowing. "Speaking of worked up…"

Nic stamped his heel into the ground, causing the chamber's ground to crack apart as a glowing fissure raced towards Neuro. Nic raised a hand high and slammed it into the fissure, causing the golden light to turn black.

As if by second nature, one of the mirrors around Neuro got underneath, with the remaining three taking a triangular perimeter around him. The ground beneath exploded with an immense magnitude of Earth Power and Dark Pulse fused. The impact coming from below resulted in the brunt of it getting absorbed into the mirror, and the three mirrors projected the earth and dark shockwaves all around him. The force was so intense that the walls collapsed. The majority of the grand chamber was nothing but debris with walls barely keeping the domain up from view from outside.

Neuro didn't seem fazed, knowing that it would take more than that to stop Nice. Sure enough, Nic came down from above, his attire in a cross with his Dread and Sky Form to make dark/Flying-type. Speeding with the assist of Tailwind, he was so fast that he was like a bulleting meteor with a Night Slash brought back around.

Time slowed down briefly, just as he was mere inches from Neuro's head…

CLANG!

A mirror teleported to block Nic's slash, causing the force to be deflected back. He moved at the last second as the gashing shockwave beamed back into the air, dispersing several meters upwards.

'He was able to keep up with my speed.' Nic lamented.

"Of course…" Neuro raised his left arm and fired a supercharged Thunderbolt into an adjacent mirror. The same mirror that deflected Nic's attack began glowing bright yellow. "I've calculated every possible angle of the situation!"

Nic glowed again, turning his Flying-typing to his Psychic-type. He vanished via Teleport a split-second before a monstrous beam of lightning skyrocketed into the atmosphere. The ceiling roared as an immense hole was carved by the massive beam that looked like a tower of lightning bolting into the sky.

The bolt met the clouds above, causing a discharge of lightning that only added to the disaster Adelita was creating.

Nic reappeared on the ground in front of Neuro. He vanished with Teleport again, appearing only briefly before vanishing again. He used the same move to maneuver around so fast that it looked like there were afterimages of him all over the place. However, Neuro made no effort in even turning.

"Those shields of yours…they're a pain!" Nic shouted, his eyes glowing bright pink. "Magic Room!"

Around them, transparent lines manifested into a room-like area that briefly appeared before vanishing. The effects were instantaneous as the four mirrors around Neuro lost their glow and reflective sheen. As they were all starting to fall, time slowed down as Nic teleported in a fraction of a second behind Neuro, his hands cloaked in dark purple energy.

Even with time as slow as a Munchlax, Neuro still didn't look distressed. 'Not a bad move. But you know, Nic Pularis…I have some good ones of my own as well.'

With a voluminous cry, Nic rammed his hands down in a double chop, via Throat Chop. The impact smashed into the ground with enough force to make a purple energy shockwave explode outwards, leveling the crippled ground.

As the dust settled, Nic was on a knee, his eyes fixed on the crater that his impact left. It was deep alright, but there was one problem. Hs target wasn't there.

"I didn't want to tell you…" The voice above made Nic's eyes widen. He felt a malicious presence, with the air crackling around an outstretched arm. "But you're not the only one who knows Teleport."

Narrowing his eyes, Nic's reflexes kicked in and he lifted a foot. His heel struck Neuro's arm, jerking it up off its course and redirected the Thunderbolt in a massive beam towards the sky. Though, without the mirrors, the force wasn't as amplified, though it still looked like a flashy streak streamlining into the thundering clouds.

The two's physical contact lasted only for a brief second before both used Teleport again, appearing farther apart to expand the gaps they needed to think.

"Your attacks…they're not naturally that strong, are they?" Nic asked.

Neuro sourly chuckled. "Perceptive, aren't we? Granted, I understand that your Pokémon are able to breach that feat naturally. But I figured it'd be easier to…skip those steps." He showed the crystals that looked like lacrima that were edged into his skin. Even when under Magic Room's influence, they were radiating power that Neuro clearly was manipulating.

Nic didn't like what he was about to say…though he kept a straight face. "You've made your own body into a weapon."

Neuro's eyes glowed red. "The body is but a vessel. The mind is what functions that vessel. In order to adapt to this world, I had to compromise. The surgical process to integrate magical lacrima into your body is excruciating, but," He lifted his arm, showing his augmented arm's glowing armor. "The results speak for themselves. With the power of both Pokémon and magic, I've become the emblem that this world has been wanting to achieve. The quintessence of both forces merged into one."

"You'd go that far just to prove a point?" Nic didn't bother hiding his distaste.

Neuro lowered his arm, though the gemstones still radiated brightly. "Lofty goals require sacrifice. You know how many Trainers are willing to force Pokémon to evolve for their own benefits? How they trade away ones that aren't 'compatible' with them? It may seem like everyone benefits from these, but at the end of the day, we're the tools who do all the work for you."

Nic narrowed his eyes.

"Why should Pokémon take directions from humans? This isn't some military operation. Exactly what qualifications do they have to order us around?" He reached his arm out, using Psychic on all the debris. He manipulated all of the loose wall chunks and decorations to create a magnified maelstrom of telekinetic energy that he expanded outwards. "You of all people know exactly what I mean. You've seen how faulted they all are. It's the humans who need direction! Because from what we've been through, the only direction they know how to go is in circles!"

The debris and shockwave heading his way, Nic stood his ground. He unsheathed a dark purple needle, via Night Slash and carved through all the debris and psychic force in one swing. The chamber ground split where it leveled on either side of him from Psychic's immense force, sliced debris piled around him.

"Seems rather hypocritical coming from you. You said that all anyone responds to is force, yet despite your intelligence, you're doing exactly what humans do to subject them." His brow furrowed. "Don't have the strength to support your own ideals!?" Nic glowed as he reached his arm out. He turned into a cross of his Normal/Dark-typing and focused on Neuro, his eyes outlined in white.

'Mind Reader. Now…'

Neuro could tell what Nic was up to. He could still read his mind. He created jumbled dark rings between his hands the same time Nic did.

"DARK PULSE!"

Both launched their attacks at the same time, dark jumbled energy blasts ramming dead-center into one another. The two beams shrank to a dark hemisphere between them before imploding, expelling dark shockwaves as black as night pass them.

The shockwaves shuddered through the airspace, coincidentally around the same time Magic Room began flickering on and off. It eventually faded away as the wake subsided.

In the dust, Nic remained still as he was otherwise unfazed. As he glared ahead, he saw multiple glints in the black smoke shimmering close to an epicenter. Crystals shined around an image that had a bloody stare fixed on Nic.

"Yes…I do. Plenty. Both in mind and matter. But I'd rather not waste my breath on explaining it to you…we both know how this has to end."

Nic didn't say anything.

"Not gonna say anything to change my mind? No opinion to sway me? How unrighteous I am?"

"…not when you're right."

Neuro scoffed. He could respect Nic's answer at least. "Then I'll oblige to that sentiment." Suddenly, he teleported from Nic's view, leaving the latter alone for only a second as he felt the tips of his bangs stand from static from above.

He only had a split-second to turn to his Dark/Ground combination before a beam of lightning came down, destroying the floor with electrified fissures that went through the entire palace.

…

The ceilings above Gajeel and Mest crackled with electricity, making them look up in alarm as everything around them vibrated.

"The hell is going on up there?! Did a power line blow up or something?" Gajeel wondered.

"Looks like something else is in the works." Pantherlily chimed in.

Mest balled his fists tightly, his teeth gritting in obvious anxiety. 'This is bad. This is very bad.' He thought about the earlier connection interrupted by Neuro, as well as his warning. 'If someone like that is strong enough to tamper with our minds…' He thought twice about getting to stop the machine again, but if he did, it'd drain him dry of all his magic, leaving him vulnerable and sick.

"Tsk…Nic, you better hurry this up. We're sitting ducks down here."

---

Manectric expelled another blast of broiling flames from his mouth that seared across the plated ground towards Rai. The Electabuzz sneered as he bent his knees as his body outlined in bright blue. With speeds making afterimages, he spurred around the blaze with his arms rolling, meaning he was charging electricity. He hurdled onto the other side of the fire and spurred closer, bringing his fist back as electricity swelled around it.

Manectric's eyes widened as the Quick Attack and Thunder Punch combination discharged a blow straight into his chest, causing an airwave to suspend him off the ground before inertia pushed him away. He caught himself as he grinded along the ground to a halt and shook his head. He looked back, his red eyes gleaming daggers.

Rai's snicker was but icing on the cake.

'He's quick on his feet.' Laxus observed, staying sharp with his instincts. 'If I use magic, it'll just get absorbed into that machine he's guarding. And the longer this goes on, the more magic is drained out of us. We'll need to divert his attention so as to get a clear shot.'

Rai sneered as his antennae crackled. He spurred across the ground towards Manectric with a fist full of electricity once more.

"In that case…" Laxus balled his own fist, coated in lightning. "If thing wants magic, then here! GRRRR!" He brought his fist down with all his might, striking the ground with enough force to shudder the earth. The plating shifted as the edging discharged lightning that coursed through the ground, channeling towards the machine.

"Graaah…eh?" Rai's ecstatic expression fell when he saw the sea of electricity crawling at him. With swift speeds, he jumped over the wave to avoid it entirely.

'Just like that.' He reached his arm out. "Manectric, Charge Beam, now!"

Manectric, who was already in the air, opened his maw and channeled electricity into an orb. He unleashed a narrow but pressurized beam of electricity that went straight for Rai. The Electabuzz was caught off guard by the initial attack, which left him open to the beam that struck him in the chest. An explosion erupted that knocked him back towards the ground with a thud on his back.

Manectric landed on his feels gracefully, a red aura enveloping his body as his Special Attack increased thanks to Charge Beam.

Rai grunted in pain, but he pushed himself up and sneered in spite. "Cheap shot."

Laxus's lightning circuited through the ground and was absorbed into the machine, making the hot pink parts shine brighter. The eye glimmered as it relished in the Magic Power that kept it running.

"Sure it might feed and conduct on magic…" Laxus smirked. "But that doesn't mean I still can't use it."

Rai scoffed in annoyance. "Tch, so you wanna make this an endurance contest, so ya? Well, ain't that something…" Like Laxus, he showed his own callous smirk. "That is, if it wasn't so foolish. You really think that you can beat a machine that practically takes your power? HAHAHAHA!"

"You'd be surprised with what we can do." Laxus retorted.

Rai calmed down as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Okay, now this is entertaining. Just try, I dare you, thunderhead."

As the battle was raging out in the chamber's open space, Shiin remained in the tunnel's shadows, keeping himself from view as best he could. Hearing everything from his proximity, he was rapidly calculating everything happening all at once.

'If that's the case, that means even a mage such as myself can't get anywhere near such a device.' He lamented at the realization. 'You would basically need an anti-magic device to neutralize that kind of equipment. I'm fairly certain that Captain In-Sue is capable of engineering a device like that.' He made up his mind. 'Right, then the best course of action is to withdraw and make an emergency request at once.'

"Hello~."

Shiin's eyes widened. The chiming tune sent shivers down his spine. He whipped around, coming face-to-face with a Jumpluff that opened her mouth, expelling a barrage of seeds that he was forced to jump away from. The surprise attack forced him out into the open, making his position exposed to everyone.

"A Jumpluff!" Manectric exclaimed.

"An ambush…?" Laxus realized.

With Manectric turned away, that gave Rai the opening he need to attack. He shot at him again with Quick Attack, the burst of speed shortening the gap straight into Manectric's side. The electric canine howled as he was shoved on his side across the ground closer to Laxus's feet.

Rai pulled away, triumphantly sneering. "Made you look."

Manectric got to his feet, his body crackling in lightning. "Now you're just pissing me off."

"Was I not before?" Rai cocked a brow, mocking.

Laxus scoffed, static brimming around his body. He couldn't focus on Shiin right now, he had to prioritize the machine and taking down this damn cocky Electabuzz a few pegs. 'Just when there was enough trouble already.'

Shiin adjusted his footing, looking up at the Jumpluff that hummed in confidence. "Sir Rai, what do we do now?"

"What else? Put them all under!"

"Yes, sir!" The Jumpluff dutifully nodded and turned towards Shiin. She opened her mouth, expelling another barrage of Bullet Seed that he saw head his way.

Shiin gnashed his teeth as he quickly showed his magic rings. 'I can't expend my own magic or reveal my full abilities in the open. I have to use external sources for now to conserve!' With his rings on his fingers, one of them gave off a red magic seal that aimed at the oncoming seeds.

"Fire Bolt!"

A medium-sized fireball manifested and shot at the seeds, interjecting them in the center. The two forces collided, though the fireball was able to burn through most of them before it collapsed. There, the two forces were cancelled out and left them apart with charred seeds and embers fluttering towards the ground.

"It is within my jurisdiction to ask that you surrender yourself." Shiin demanded in a cold tone.

Jumpluff huffed, floating higher above Shiin's head. "And if not?"

Shiin bared his rings and staff. "Then the use of subjective force is allowed. For your crimes against the natural safety of Fiore, you Pokémon shall face proper judgement!"

Rai pulled his fist back, readying another Thunder Punch. "Well? What are you waiting for!? Let's go!"

Laxus swiped his arm, giving the signal for Manectric to fire another beam of electricity at the oncoming Electabuzz.

---

"Will you all just get out of the way already?!" Sorano's impatient tone wasn't met with a response she wanted, mostly because the Pokémon that impeded her path were struck by a white and pink beam by her Mantine. His attack thinned out as the momentum caught up, forcing many to rebuff. "Just like that, Mantine! Let 'em have it!"

"Okay!"

Down below, a Hitmonchan recovered from the blow easily thanks to being tolerable towards Bug-type moves. Seeing Mantine glide overhead, he scoffed as he reared his gloved fist back as electricity expelled. With a well-timed jump, he leaped into the air and struck Mantine right into her exposed underside with an electrifying Thunder Punch.

"AAAAAAAAH~!" Mantine's outbursts vibrated harshly as she lobbed through the air, Sorano screaming as she was thrown off her ride.

Yukino gasped. "Sister!" She hurried and pulled out a Golden Key. "Open: Gate of the Scales – Libra!"

Appearing in a golden light, Libra appeared balancing on one heel, holding her two scales up as she pivoted and twirled before her master. "You summoned me?" She asked.

Yukino reached an arm out towards her target. "Reduce the gravity to catch my sister and Mantine, now!"

"As you wish." Closing her eyes, Libra lifted an arm up, activating her magic. Gravity suddenly pushed skywards where Sorano and Mantine were soaring. Their sailing motion was brought to a halt as the upward force of gravity helped them drift straight down towards the ground. Sorano was on her knees sighing aloud as she tried to catch her breath.

"Talk about feeling sore…" she exasperated.

"You okay?!" Yukino raced up to her with concern.

"Hm? Oh, Yukino!" Seeing her sister, Sorano immediately jumped to her feet in relief. "That was way too close! You actually saved me!" She smiled. "Oh, I'm so proud of you~!"

Yukino sighed in relief. While Sorano looked to be just fine, her Mantine was…not as fortunate. She was on her back with her eyes brimming in swirls, meaning that she was knocked out. "This isn't good. We need a Revive."

"Look out!" Minior shouted.

The two white-haired beauties caught the warning and saw multiple Pokémon around them unleashing a barrage of attacks that covered the gaps between them. Many ranged from piles of sludge, to funneling leaves, to electrical beams. Yukino and Sorano had little room to work with as the attacks exploded around them like a landmine field, causing them to let out cries of pain.

"Milady!" Libra shouted.

"Yukino, no!" Minior panicked, though that proved to be a huge mistake. The distraction left it open for a Sealeo to fire a blast of pressurized saltwater, via Brine. The attack met its mark in Minior's crusty underside, making it yelp before being shot out of the sky.

The commotion didn't go unnoticed by Jura, who was well within sight of the onslaught surrounding the girls. "Lady Yukino and Sorano are in trouble! We must act!" However, just when he was about to lift two fingers to make a rock barrier to save them, a Breloom jutted from the side with blue energy enveloping his outstretched claw. His Mach Punch missed, though, it was enough to deter Jura and make him adjust his footing.

The Wizard Saint uncovered, glaring at his interloper. 'That was quick!'

"Hiya~!" Bacchus's palm went straight through the Trevenant again, much to his annoyance. "What the hell?! My attacks aren't hitting these damn things!" As he was distressing, flames enveloped him, making him cringe from the effects of his burn.

"Hex!" A Drifblim lifted her four arms, creating two purple energy wisps. That same ominous, purple flame appeared beneath Bacchus as he was still recoiling in distress. The consequences were brutal as he cried out in pain as the energy swallowed him, resulting in an implosion of purple smoke.

"This is bad, we need to hurry!" Lisanna worried as he was throwing Pokémon back with her Drapion pincers. She turned her entire upper body around, facing Mira. "Mira, what do we do?"

In her Satan-Soul Take-Over, Mira frowned heavily. "We have to keep fighting! It's the only way! HRAH!" She charged ahead with a golden gauntlet enclosed in a punch. She connected with a Golem's shell. The impact was strong enough to send him rolling through the masses like they were bowling pins, barreling into a building in the distance that crumbled to the ground.

Jenny cried out as she charged for her Milotic, much to the aquatic serpent's disinterest. "Is that all? So ugly." She exposed her tailfins, which started spinning like a fan. A Twister was launched straight into the blonde that swallowed her, immediately stopping her advances.

"Gnngh…!" Jenny gritted her teeth as she barely held her footing. The draconic windstorm was pushing her further and further away, all while she cringed.

"You're willing to risk sullying your image by being stubborn." Milotic rebuffed. "How much more hideous can you get?"

---

"Duskull, use Will-O-Wisp!" Rogue commanded.

"As you wish~…" Duskull slurred in an exaggerated, sinister wail as his body outlined in heated orange. He created a ring of purple fireballs that surrounded him before launching them at Shou's Jolteon. What the ghost didn't anticipate, however, was how fast the quadruped canine was at maneuvering.

"Agility!" Jolteon's body enveloped in a thick red aura. Moments before the fireballs made contact, he spurred out of sight, leaving them to hit the dry earth and dissipate.

Rogue's eyes widened. "So fast…"

"And annoying. My black lightning's not doing anything to these guys!" Orga complained. He suddenly felt a force behind him that felt like a spiraling drill knocking him off his feet. His face met pavement as Excadrill followed through with Drill Run barreling along through the air like Orga wasn't even there.

"That all ye got!?" The Excadrill rallied as he drilled his way towards Pikachu.

The Mouse Pokémon was diligent enough to jump out of the way of his attack. "Take this!" In midair, his body crackled with electricity as he unleashed a Thunderbolt. The bolt streamed through the air and met Excadrill, but rather than feeling agonizing voltage, Pikachu watched as he unfolded and looked unfazed through the whole treatment. "What?!"

Sting cried out as he enveloped his fist in bright light and leaped for Musharna. "White Dragon's Claw!" He closed the gap quickly and landed a blow on the slow Musharna, making a white burst erupt that Sting backflipped away from. Landing on his feet beside Druddigon, the two watched the light fade, revealing Musharna still standing.

"That…was stingy…hm…?" Musharna remained floating, but there was a problem. On her stomach where Sting had struck her, there was a white stigma glowing. "Oh…a tattoo…"

"That's a stigma. That'll hold you in place-!" Suddenly, Sting felt his entire body go stiff. His eyes shrank as all his nerves froze up inside of him.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Druddigon asked, noticing his partner's tenseness.

"I…I can't move…" Sting looked down to be sure, but he didn't see any visible signs of ailments that indicated he was affected by paralysis or poison.

Musharna let out another yawn. "Oh yeah…my Ability is Synchronize…isn't it…?"

Sting blinked. "Synchronize?"

"If I…" Musharna yawned again. "Get an ailment…the dealer gets it, too…"

Sting gnashed his teeth, realizing the folly in what he's done. 'Crap! If I can't move, then…'

"Sting, watch out!" Lector exclaimed.

Sting wanted to move at his warning, but his paralysis kept him from moving. Musharna made a sphere of bright blue energy with yellow and pink circles before firing the Psybeam at Sting. With his partner unable to move, Druddigon moved in front to defend his Trainer. He brought his thick forearms up to bunker against the blow, but the attack was a lot stronger than what he anticipated and blew him off his feet, slamming hard on his back.

"No, Druddigon!" Sting shouted. He gnashed his teeth in frustration. "Damnit, we're not getting anywhere with these guys! Milady!"

Minerva teleported out of Serperior's trajectory, his Leaf Blade carving into the dirt below. She appeared a short distance away with her hands enveloped in her Spatial Magic. "Yes, Master." She swiped her arms across the air, using her magic to envelop all of Shou's Pokémon in spheres of energy that moved at her will. She levitated the spheres off the ground so that they would be easier to suspend their movements.

"What's this?" Serperior hissed, clearly annoyed by his confines around him.

"Something to keep you still." Minerva scoffed, reaching her arm out. "Alright, time for the tigers to feast!"

"Druddigon, use Dragon Claw!" Druddigon stomped as he charged after Musharna, his claws enveloped in draconic energy claws.

"Pikachu, Wild Charge! Go!" Orga's Pikachu was enveloped in intense electricity as he suddenly shot in a quick run towards Hydreigon.

"Absol, use Bite!" Rufus's Absol charged at Excadrill with his fangs glowing.

"Duskull, Shadow Sneak!" Rogue's Duskull emitted an elongated, dark shadow that snaked across the ground towards Jolteon.

"Bagon, use Dragon Breath!" Minerva's Bagon opened his mouth as loops of air congregated into dragonfire inside of his mouth that he unleashed towards Serperior.

"That's it!" Lector cheered.

"Fro thinks so, too!" Frosch cheered.

The Pokémon went at the spheres with all their respective attacks closing in on them. Though their numbers were good, one sphere was left unattended. And that very same sphere housed a certain Zoroark.

"Hmph…" She smirked. "Night Daze!"

She slammed her glowing crimson hands into the base of the sphere enveloping her. The entire sphere swelled with black and crimson shockwaves that were too much for the space to contain. The sphere shattered and expelled the darkness everywhere that took Sabertooth and their Pokémon by complete surprise. Off guard, everybody was blown off their feet and sent haphazardly across the vicinity. They all cried out as they felt the sheer brunt of Night Daze hit them where they least expected them.

"Gnngh…!" Minerva, being the furthest from the shockwave, grunted as she lost her focus. The spheres surrounding the other Pokémon faded away, freeing them of their confines.

'This is bad…!' Rogue internally panicked.

Hydreigon exhaled a crude breath before she lifted all six of her wings. She let out a loud, draconic cry as her entire body was engrossed in a red energy wave that shook the air around her. All six of her eyes glowed red that made it seem like she was out for blood.

Shou's eyes widened. "That's Outrage, watch out!"

Hydreigon wildly spurred towards Sabertooth without a second thought; an impartial consequence to having destructive impulses. Her heads swung and bashed around, snapping and throwing around Rogue and Rufus. They went sailing into their respective Pokémon, flooring them hard. Though the rampage kept going as Hydreigon swung her tail into Druddigon, sending him flying past Sting.

The harsh brush was extremely painful to Sting, especially since Druddigon's Rough Skin Ability only damaged the Guild Master even more. With him still being paralyzed, he hit the ground hard, his bare chest suffering a dense scrape from the sandpaper-like exterior barreling into him.

"STING!" Lector panicked.

"Rogue~!" Frosch sang with horror.

Hydreigon roared violently as her glowing eyes burned with her rage. It was bad enough that the Pokémon and mages were struck down by Night Daze, but Hydreigon's follow-up did not help them recover in the slightest. Everyone was at the mercy of her as her three heads swung around, biting, or throwing and slamming them about.

With a loud thud, Rufus, who was recently tossed by a side head, gagged as he was on his back. He laid right beside his Absol, who was knocked unconscious from the indiscriminate attack.

All around, the mages of Sabertooth struggled to stand. Their Pokémon were sprawled all around them, completely fainted with swirling eyes and everything. As they laid on the ground in a battered daze, though, Hydreigon's rampage managed to subdue, the glow in her eyes vanishing. In place of threat was her vision looking hazy as he looked disoriented and concerned.

"Grrr…so dizzy…everything's spinning…" She grumbled.

Shou's eyes widened as he saw from a distance. 'That's the effects of Outrage. Hydreigon's confused. Hopefully that'll buy me time…' He looked at the mages littered on the ground, particularly Minerva. He looked back at his Pokémon as they were looming over them with mercy. 'Okay…it's now or never!'

He dropped to a knee and began reaching for one of the few hard cases that he brought with him. He unclicked it, revealing his violin.

'I hope this works…'

Shou's Zoroark sauntered over towards Rogue, looking down at him with a vaguely seductive smirk. "Ah, what's the matter? Don't tell us that you're out for the count now? We were having so much fun."

"These varmints ain't got the strength to lift a pickaxe over dem skulls of theirs." Excadrill exasperated.

"Then let's get this over with." Serperior slithered over towards Minerva, his head held high to show his pride. It was natural for a Serperior to look down on other, this wasn't anything personal. As he drew closer, the end of his tail glowed as he readied for Leaf Blade.

Minerva opened an eye as she felt a shadow loom over her. Her head was ringing, most likely from a concussion. She tried to keep a steady head while Serperior towered over her with his tail blade ready to swing.

"You thought that you mages could hold your own against us." Serperior taunted. "It was a noble effort…but…your kind has anything but noble intentions."

Minerva squinted as her eyes reflected the glowing blade that was going to come down on her.

Suddenly, a note was heard.

Serperior stopped a few inches from Minerva's face when he heard it. "…what now?"

Another longer note slurred after.

Then another, along with another.

The notes created a harmonic tune that made Serperior and the others turn away towards the annoying, yet eloquent music being played. They glanced over and saw a familiar man who was on a knee in front of a case, playing the violin with a bow freshly coated with rosin. The string instrument was played with nimble fingers with vibrato by the musician himself.

"What's that sound…?" Sting questioned.

"Music…?" Rogue sat up, looking over and seeing the violin for himself. "Isn't that…?"

"Shou…?" Minerva muttered.

Shou focused on playing, yet he kept his eyes on Serperior and the others the whole time. 'C'mon, just focus. Remember how you did it before. Just breathe…' He closed his eyes as he inhaled deep through his nostrils. He kept playing and moving his arm. As he did, his violin was glowing a faint purple hue.

"Heh, playing one last song? Guess it's fitting. You've always took losing with grace." Jolteon teased.

"If you're trying to serenade us, think again." Excadrill exasperated. "Don't need your tunes for when I'm tunneling no more!"

"Shou…just what are you doing…?" Minerva muttered.

Shou kept playing, all while the glow on his violin became stronger. The tune of the violin stopped on a long, high-pitched note before it paused. Shou closed his eyes and exhaled.

"White Noise."

He kept playing his instrument, but as he did, the slits in the wood began producing 3D purple notes that rode along currents of lines that looked a lot of the strings on the instrument. The notes spread out towards the six Pokémon as they were momentarily confused by the display.

Excadrill looked overhead, seeing the river of notes moving in wave-like motions. "Huh? What's that supposed to be? Some kind of effect for a show…" He found himself getting dizzy all of a sudden. "F-for a…show…Shou…"

"Hyh? Hey, why do I feel so…s-so…" Jolteon's energetic self began to calm down as his fierce look turned mellow. The soft notes breached his hearing and made the crackling static around his body dissipate.

It wasn't just them. Musharna, Zoroark, and Serperior all started to look dazed as they looked dully towards Shou. Even Hydreigon, who was still confused, began calming down and faced her Trainer like the rest. Though in Musharna's case, she could hear, but the stigma on her stomach kept her from turning around.

"What's going on? Why are they all so stiff?" Lector wondered, looking up at the notes. "Is it because of the music?"

"Fro thinks so, too…" Frosch started lulling, drool coming out of the side of his open mouth.

"Hey! Keep it together, will ya?!" Lector panicked.

"This music…" Rogue's eyes widened in shock. "Is this…Sound Magic?"

Minerva looked at Shou with her eyes partially shrank. To say she was stunned would be an understatement. 'He can use magic after all…'

Shou was playing his violin to the best of his abilities. As he did, the glow on his violin started to flicker. 'Can't keep this up for very long. I have to hurry this up.' He moved his fingers and fluently played notes. "That's right, eyes on me…come closer."

As if they were possessed, they all started walking away from the Sabertooth mages; Musharna was still frozen in place though, but her dazed state made it clear that she wasn't going to do anything. This was the opening that they all needed!

With the Pokémon gathering towards Shou, Minerva was the first to stand as she fought her aching head. She was focused on Shou, who kept his eyes fixed squarely on her. Telling her when the time was right.

The flickering of the violin sped up, the long stream of notes becoming shaky. Shou's eyes widened.

'Now, NOW!'

Minerva coated her arms in spatial energy and brought them forward. "I RAGD!"

Orga brought his hands together, creating an electrical sphere with black static. "120mm Black Lightning Cannon!"

Despite being on his back, Sting's head was positioned right behind Zoroark, perfectly aligned. His mouth opened as holy light gathered in the back of his throat. "White Dragon's Roar!"

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Rogue opened wide as a cyclone of black shadows swept through the air towards Musharna.

Rufus pointed at his own forehead as a chain of memories flourished around him. "Memory-Make: Karma of the Burning Land!"

The attacks all fired at Shou's Pokémon while they were completely dazed. With no defense and their backs turned, they were all engulfed in beams of white light, eruptive, flaming earth, condensed black lightning, and spatial explosions at a rapid pace. Musharna didn't get left out as Rogue's super-effective roar engulfed her, sweeping her into the rush of explosive spells that shot into the atmosphere. Shockwaves shook the air and leveled everything within the vicinity. The explosions lasted for a short while until their attacks finally lost momentum.

The dust crackled from Orga's black lightning, but it dissipated to reveal Shou on his back. The explosion pushed him onto his back, but he was otherwise in one piece. He opened an eye and sat up, seeing the aftermath of the surprise attack.

The dust parted, revealing all of Shou's Pokémon laying in leveled earth. They all were covered in dirt, battered, and seemingly out cold. That attack undoubtedly did a number on them.

"YES! That got 'em!" Lector cheered. "That's what I call hardcore!"

"Heh, can't believe that actually worked." Orga admitted, smirking.

Rufus tipped his hat. "Indeed…that's something I haven't seen. I must say that even I was surprised by that revelation."

Rogue looked at Shou, seemingly stunned. "So then, all this time…that Trainer was able to use magic…?"

Sting laid on the ground, frowning heavily at Shou. "Not quite."

Rogue glanced at him. "What?"

"It looked like he was practicing. I thought it was strange why he came along with us when he said he could help us take down his own Pokémon. I thought he meant with actual items." He admitted. "Besides, it looked like he was barely able to hold it."

Rogue closed his eyes. "Maybe…but it was enough to help us in the end." He grinned. "Not bad."

Sting hummed, smirking. "Yeah."

"Still, how long are you going to be lying down for?"

"Hey, gimme a break, would ya!? That freaking Musharna's Ability paralyzed me! You could at least help me up!"

Shou was trying to stand as well when he noticed a gloved hand reaching out in front of him. He looked up, recognizing Minerva.

"Need a hand?" She grinned.

Shou blinked, but he didn't hesitate for long before he accepted her gesture and got back to his feet. "Thanks."

"It's no trouble." She folded her arms, looking over at Shou's Pokémon. "I suppose we can call this even then?"

Shou chuckled as he grinned. "Yeah, sure."

"I must say, I was quite surprised. When did you learn to use Sound Magic?"

Shou looked down at his violin, seeing one of the strings was loosened due to the shockwave's impact. "Not sure, really. It just…happened some time last week. I was busy practicing my violin, when all of a sudden, it started spilling out notes. When I played, it went all over the place." He thought back to when he used it just now. "I still don't have the best control over it, but it was enough to get through this time…"

Minerva silently understood his predicament. She looked at his instruments, then towards his Pokémon. 'Interesting. So he unlocked his potential with magic through playing his instruments. Must have been influenced being around Sabertooth for a short time. His magic adapted to his hobbies.' Despite her reservations on the matter, she couldn't hide her smirk. 'What an interesting case you are.'

Shou noticed her smirk, raising a brow. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." She hummed, glancing back at him. "It's just that all you Trainers have a way of piquing my interests, that's all."

Shou grinned sheepishly. Though he was pleased with the sentiment, he noticed something in the corner of his eye that was barreling their way. "Watch out!" He pushed Minerva out of way in time and fell over on top of her, just as a Dragon Pulse opened wide and barreled into the adjacent building beside them. The building exploded as debris went flying everywhere, peppering Shou's back with cemented debris.

"Gah! What was that?!" Lector panicked.

"Look!" Frosch pointed at the culprit, everyone looking fearful at who it was.

As Shou was recovering from the wake, he turned his head and noticed three heads snarling at him…all belonging to Hydreigon. She descended from the sky, her body having some scrapes and bruises, but otherwise was still conscious.

"No way…we missed one?" Rogue muttered, picking up Sting.

"It must have flown up during the blast. Our roars must have blocked out the sound just enough for that thing to fly out of range." Sting grimaced. "…damnit."

Hydreigon snarled as she glared ferociously at Shou as he was back on his feet, as well as Minerva. The two glared back with deep frowns at the realization.

"Don't suppose you have another song to serenade your little hydra, right?" Minerva quipped.

"No, sorry. That's the only spell I know."

"I see. Then apologies in advance…" She spread her arms out, coating them in her magic. She glared at Hydreigon with a confident smirk. "Unlike your Trainer, I don't prefer the serenade route. I'll make you come to your senses…" her eyes narrowed. "Though I can't promise I'll be gentle."

Hydreigon narrowed her eyes, fully focused. "You humans…I'll destroy you all!"

---

Jellal summoned nine golden energy swords. Using his fingers as a guide, he projected them at Macbeth and the others.

"Jiu Leixing!"

The nine swords shot like stars blazing at all of them. As expected, Macbeth used his magic to distort the space around them, causing the swords to alter their trajectory and stab the ground between them.

"Your attacks aren't going to work at this rate." Macbeth prompted.

"We know. Just bear with us a little while longer." Jellal insisted. "Bellona!"

Bellona smirked, holding two dark discs in her hands. "Right!" Along with Jellal, she started throwing the discs repeatedly at them in an attempt to succumb them to nightmares.

Macbeth didn't bother moving. He let his Reflector Magic handle the deflection of the spells bound in their direction. Dark discs were changing direction every other way, shooting into either nearby Pokémon or dispersing against buildings. The barrage of attacks was enough to keep him at bay for the time being, though that didn't stop Sawyer from slowing down time and appearing behind Bellona, reeling a heel back.

"Meteor!"

In a golden blink faster than the eye could blink, Jellal suddenly came crashing down atop Sawyer, turning his momentum towards the ground as the two crashed hard into the dirt. As the dust cleared, Sawyer was on his stomach completely pinned down by Jellal so as to keep him immobilized.

"Sorry, Sawyer, but bear with us for now!" Jellal exclaimed.

Bellona spared a glance back. "Servine, Leech Seed!"

Bellona's Servine turned towards the pinned Sawyer and opened her mouth, spitting out glowing green seeds that planted themselves into the ground around him. In a matter of seconds, the seeds sprouted into roots that latched onto Sawyer. They started to glow green as they started living up to their name and sap at his stamina.

"This will deplete your stamina faster without us directly hurting you. Just bear with it for a while, and it'll be over soon!" Jellal insisted.

"Gnnngh…yeah, sure." Sawyer grunted. "Still beats being a slave though, right?"

Jellal nodded at the sentiments. Compared to all the torture in their childhoods in the tower, this was nothing. If anything, to them, this was a mercy way out.

Macbeth continued distorting the air around him, focused so much on the front that he couldn't pick up on Lucario sweeping in from behind with his tail glowing metallic gray energy. When he glanced, it was too late as Lucario swept his heel in a pivot and swung his tail.

"Iron Tail!"

The tail's heavy force struck his back, batting with so much force that he lost balance and started falling forward. Macbeth gagged as his back flared with pain.

'My magic doesn't work on physical bodies…and I was already focused on one space already…well played.'

'There!' Bellona saw her chance, throwing another dark nebula at Macbeth. "Nebula Hold!"

The dark galaxy went spiraling towards Macbeth as he was faltering off his heels. Unable to defend, the galaxy met his chest, making his entire body convulse like a shock went through him. His vision turned hazy as the whole world blurred out of existence. He felt his strength rapidly decline until the last thing he felt was dry earth on his side before it all went black.

Bellona panted, finally relieved to have gotten at least one good shot in. "Hmph…that certainly wasn't troublesome."

Zoroark stepped up, snarling aggressively. "Hey, get up! I didn't say you could rest!"

Bellona put a hand to her hip, deeply frowning. "Afraid that won't suffice. You see, unless you have a strong will, you won't wake up from my Nightmare Magic so easily. And last I checked, you've suppressed their wills with those cubes. You'll only be making their nightmares that much harder on them."

Zoroark snarled in annoyance.

"Richard, drown that wretch with Liquid Ground!" Hippowdon ordered.

"My friends, do forgive me!" Richard put two fingers underneath his eyes as they shined brightly. The ground beneath suddenly started melting, causing a large amount of earth to liquify at Bellona and Servine's feet.

"Hang on!" Still encased in his magic. Jellal blitzed across and swept up Bellona before she could fully sink. Lucario dashed from the opposite end and pulled Servine out. The two slid to a stop at the same time, putting down their respective feminine species.

"Thank you." Servine said.

"Don't mention it." Lucario nodded, before his aura feelers lifted. "Master! On your left!"

Jellal and Bellona immediately picked up the warning as Sawyer appeared out of nowhere, he was ready to kick both when they both immediately reacted and grabbed a heel of their own to lock him in place.

"Servine, Wrap, now!" Bellona ordered.

Using Lucario's heel as a springboard, Servine shot across the air and looped her body like a ring. She hissed loudly as she clung to Sawyer's body, wrapping around his waist and pinning his arms to his sides. Her hold was surprisingly tight.

"What the-?!" Before he could tell his shock, Jellal forced him into the liquid earth. Sawyer was quick enough to pick himself up, but when he tried to move, he looked down and realized that his feet were already knee-deep into the mucky earth, keeping him from going anywhere.

"Servine, move!" Bellona ordered, taking a stance.

Sawyer winced, feeling his energy sapped by both Leech Seed and Bind. Unable to act properly, both he and Richard were targeted by Bellona's magical galaxies as they were flung both ways. Servine leaped off at the last second, evading the galaxy that struck Sawyer. The other struck Richard with no obstructions.

At the same time, both fell over with thuds; the ground hardening to where it was a cushioned fall for Sawyer. The two laid on their back, their faces contorted in distress like Macbeth was from undergoing their nightmares.

"She got them! No way!" Dodrio complained.

Hippowdon huffed out sand from his nostrils. "What kind of magic is that?"

Zoroark narrowed his eyes, clearly keen on his foes.

"It's better than hurting them anymore than we should have." Jellal reasoned, looking at his acquaintances' distressed slumber. "At the very least, this will leave them indisposed for a while until we find a way to free them."

"Don't worry…" Bellona turned towards Zoroark, Dodrio, and Hippowdon. "By the time they wake up, this nightmare will be long over."

Jellal glared at them. "Yes…it will."

Zoroark's eyes flashed brightly. "You broke through an illusion once…but this is one you won't get the better of."

---

The sky flashed brightly with webs of lightning crossing one another. The winds were so strong that it took everything in Erza's weight to keep herself hunkered down. Her red hair blew madly in the maelstrom like it had life of its own.

'We won't get anywhere in this storm. We have to take that Dragonair down somehow.'

Adelita wailed as she careened her head back, gathering multicolored energy for another Dragon Pulse. As she fired the beam, lightning bolted down onto the beam, electrifying it as it coursed specifically towards Wendy. The Sky Dragon opened her mouth, sucking in all the air around her – while replenishing her Magic Power. The winds really helped with that.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

A bellowing cyclone raced through the air, having greater momentum thanks to the conditions. Amaura and Swablu added to it by opening their mouths and firing Aurora Beam and Disarming Voice respectively. The three attacks meshed as they traveled skywards, creating a windstorm with hearts swirling around a borealis beam in the center of the attack. The two forces met high in the atmosphere, causing static to flourish before a rainbow-like flash expelled a shockwave everywhere. The wake of the attack was so intense that even Adelita found herself off balance. She pulled away, dragging her daughter with her.

"Wendy! Everyone!" Arcelia panicked. She turned towards her mother, seeing the pure anger in her eyes. 'This is really bad. Mom won't listen to me. She's really gonna try and kill them again!' She thought back to the last time that nearly happened. 'No, I have to do something! I'm not some worthless child!'

Adelita's blue orb shined brightly as she let out a draconic wail. She summoned a tornado around her that came from the clouds above. The clouds spiraled until they crashed into the ground. A spiraling maelstrom stood before Wendy and the others that towered over a massive radius that drew debris into its force.

"You're kidding! She can make tornadoes that huge?!" Cana exasperated, struggling to stay on her feet.

"This isn't good. At this rate, she'll level the entire province!" Erza realized. "We need to stop her now!"

"Then let's see how this thing handles if its base is ruined!" Houndoom encouraged, lowering his head in a position to strike.

Erza nodded in full agreement. "Right!" She reached her arm out towards the huge tornado. "Houndoom, use Dark Pulse!"

"Prinplup, Bubble Beam!" Cana encouraged.

"Right, then Amaura, use Icy Wind!" Wendy yelled.

The three Pokémon opened their mouths and careened their heads back as their respective elements charged up. At the same time, jumbled dark rings, blue bubbles, and an icy-blue wave of air shot at the tornado. The attacks barreled with rocketing force into the cyclone's shredding exterior, but as much force as they were pouring into it, their attacks were met with resistance as the debris that was picked up was struck instead. No matter how much they poured into it, the debris blocked and separated to smaller pieces that were whirled around.

"No good, we're not getting anywhere using methods like that!" Sune frantically shouted. It was taking a lot of effort to stand, even though she was between Houndoom's legs for a makeshift roof. 'This is the most compromising position I have to suffer…'

The draconic wails grew louder, causing the cyclone to expand. The winds started eating away at buildings and other homes, reducing them to debris that was swept up in the chaos. It was like watching something being disintegrated starting from the roofs. It was a disaster.

"It's expanding! Everyone, get back!" Erza prompted.

"I've heard about tiger moms, but this is a whole new level!" Liepard quipped. "A dragon mom!"

"What about that little squirt? She's caught up in it with her, too." Houndoom pointed out.

Wendy frowned, knowing who he was talking about. She knew better than to leave Arcelia like this. She needed to do something, and she had to do it now. "Right, then I'll get her out."

"You're kidding, right?" Cana exasperated. "That thing's freakin' huge!"

"I know…but I also know that I can handle it." Wendy assured. "I'll break it from the inside. Once that happens, you guys hit her with everything you've got. Got it?"

"Wendy…" Carla muttered.

"Then we leave her to you." Erza nodded.

Wendy confidently nodded. "Right!" With that, Wendy spread her legs and folded her arms. She closed her eyes as she focused her Magic Power before her body radiated a vibrant shine. A small windstorm gathered around her feet as she activated her Dragon Force. She jumped off the ground and ricocheted off the air into a steep dive skywards towards the cyclone. Any normal person would have been torn apart by the sheer force of winds, but being a Sky Dragon Slayer, this was nothing to her. Wendy dodged a piece of debris, using that as a pedestal to jump further through the barricade. When another threatened to strike her side, she landed a kick with compressed air that reduced the obstruction to shambles.

'I have to get to the top. That's where they are!' Wendy brought her arms across and fanned them out. She created a wall of air around her that deflected the small debris around her. She continued gliding through the winds until she found herself out of the depths of the cyclone and into the center.

Far above her, she saw the visage of Adelita as she was holding Arcelia against the latter's will. Even with her Dragon Slayer vision, she could see the fight in her eyes.

'Arcelia.' Wendy furrowed her brow, darting up at blistering speeds.

Arcelia wriggled around, but to no avail. Just as she was feeling lightheaded from being suspended for so long, she noticed a head of pink hair heading her way from below. Her eyes widened when she noticed the complexion the feminine figure had. 'Is that…'

Wendy didn't say anything. Her eyes said it all as she darted right for them. Arcelia knew what she had to do. She turned towards her mother, who was too focused on manipulating the weather to even look at her.

'You've always had your guard up, so you never let anyone in…and that's the worst part about you.' Small winds gathered around Arcelia's mouth.

"Twister!"

Much like Wendy's roar, she bellowed out a small tornado from her mouth aimed right at Adelita's head. With careful aim, the impact caught the Dragonair completely off guard, causing her to wail and get off balance.

In her shock, her grip on her daughter loosened to where she could finally wriggled herself free. She jumped out of her mother's tail and dropped down to Wendy. "Wendy!"

"Arcelia!" Wendy held her hands out, ready to catch her.

As the ringing in her head was starting to settle, Adelita looked back to find her daughter no longer in her cutches. To her horror, she was dropping…right into a human's arms. Frantic shock turned to anger as she shot down with her tail swelled in water, via Aqua Tail.

Wendy saw the eminent sweep heading her way. Her body gave off a bright green glow. "Ile Vernier!" Wendy enchanted herself with magic, causing her speed to increase…so much that she became a blur that snatched Arcelia before the tail could reach her.

'She vanished?!' Adelita was taken aback by the fluctuation of speed. By the time she looked up, Wendy and Arcelia were already above her. The enchanted human had a heel surrounded by air pulled back, as to where Arcelia had her tail ready to swing.

With a loud battle cry, the Sky Dragon's Claw and Slam met her face, dropping all her momentum straight towards the ground below with a loud thud. The pavement could be heard cracking apart beneath her.

With the force instantly thwarting her manipulation, the massive tornado in the area lost its drive and started to dissipate. The debris that it carried dropped towards the ground like rain, which Erza, Cana, and the Pokémon were wary enough to avoid. The ones that were too close, they sprang into action.

"HRAH!" Prinplup sliced into a piece of debris with Metal Claw, cleaving it right in two before it could hurt Cana or Liepard.

Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, immediately summoning numerous swords. "Blumenblatt!" She shot the swords with punctuality, reducing the shrapnel to diced pieces that fell around them.

With the disaster averted for now, Wendy dropped from the sky, holding Arcelia in her arms. When she landed, she dropped to her knee and sat the Dratini down.

"Are you both alright?" Carla asked, rushing to their sides.

Wendy nodded, not at all shaken. "Yeah, don't worry." She turned towards Arcelia. "We're just fine, right?"

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for catching me, Wendy."

"That could have been a lot worse. Good thing we've got someone on our side who knows how to take the winds behind her, right?" Cana smirked, winking at Wendy.

"Uh, yeah, something like that…I guess."

Liepard sighed. "After all this freakish weather, I'm ready for a catnap."

"I hear that." Houndoom agreed, before turning around and frowning. "But that nap's gonna have to wait…"

His inclination made everyone turn towards the area in front of them. Amongst the debris, in its center, the dust was clearing to reveal Adelita. The Dragonair looked worse for wear as she was rising up with scrapes all over her smooth, slender body. The stress marks under her eyes were more visible than they were before.

"You serious? She still wants to go?" Cana exasperated.

"That's desperation if I've ever seen it." Liepard chimed.

"Everyone, on your guard!" Erza braced twin blades as she and the others prepared themselves against the hostile Dragonair.

Adelita was catching her breath. The effects of using her weather manipulation at a constant was starting to take its toll on her. It was always stressing to her using her powers at a constant, but using them to such extremes were borderline fatal for any Dragonair. But seeing Arcelia and Wendy together, those small voices were all but mute to her.

"Mom…just stop already! Stand down!" Arcelia pleaded.

Adelita glared daggers at her. "Arcelia…how dare you!" She seethed. "After everything that I've done to keep you safe, this is how you repay your mother!? You ungrateful little child…!" She growled intensely. "I should have never had you out of the house in the first place."

"For what? To 'keep me safe', or because you hate humans that much that you'd wanna kill them?!"

"Arcelia…you wouldn't understand. It was humans that ruined everything for me. They took your father from me…took my other children…and now, they dare to take you from me." She moved closer with a heinous glare. "They just like to ruin the lives of other Pokémon trying to live peacefully! They'll ruin your life, too!"

"No, that's not true!" Wendy denied. "Maybe there are humans who abuse Pokémon, but that doesn't mean that they're all bad-!"

"You shut up, bratty homewrecker!" Adelita interrupted. "I have nothing to say to you! I am taking my daughter back, even if I have to pry her from your fragile. Infected. Hands!" Her anger spiked further. "I KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR MY DAUGHTER, NOT YOU!"

The air grew tense amongst them as the humidity was stagnant. Her anger was palpable to where it was impossible to not feel it. The girls were silent as they could see the bitter pain and deathly intent in Adelita's cold, resentful stare. It was clear she meant every word she said. It was clear she won't hear them out.

'Arcelia…' Wendy looked down in concern, the Dratini beside her having a stale expression.

"…can't believe it. You were this selfish the whole time…" Arcelia muttered.

Sune stepped forward. "Hey, you okay…?"

Arcelia lifted her head, glaring back at her mother. "No, I'm not! Because I can't bring myself to listen to anything my mom says anymore!"

"You drop that defiant tone right now, young lady! I did not raise no backtalker!" Adelita howled.

"You're right, because you didn't raise me! You didn't do anything but keep me in a damn nest my whole life! I would know so much more myself if it wasn't for you!" Tears started blooming in her eyes. "Aren't parents supposed to help their children brace for the real world? To help them grow? All you did was shield me and not let me try anything! I can make my own choices too, you know!"

"Arcelia…when I finish up with these pests, I'm gonna-"

"You're not doing anything, because I won't let you!" She interrupted. "You are a terrible mother! I'm ashamed to have one like you in my life!"

The air palpitated with Arcelia's stinging remark. Fresh tears ran down her face as she glared at Adelita with eyes that spelled sheer defiance. To say she was upset would be an understatement.

"Arcelia…" Wendy muttered.

Arcelia didn't say anything. She just coldly stared at her mother, who looked taken aback by her daughter's words. She was silent for a short while as the clouds above them ceased thundering for the moment.

For a mother, hearing their child speak against them was a challenge, but it also hurt. Adelita felt just that.

"(Yeah. And as long as I'm here, I'll make sure you have nothing to worry about.)"

Pain that brought back bitter memories. The light of her orb glowed faintly.

"(Just leave everything to mommy…)"

Pain she never wanted to go through again. The glow intensified.

"You're not doing anything, because I won't let you!"

The peaceful life that she looked forward to was still there…it just had to be. She just needed to hold out…just a little longer…

"…you leave me no choice." Adelita muttered, using her ear wings to ascend. "Arcelia…I'll just have to show you of the real face of life when everything around you comes crashing down." Overhead, any light that would have breached the clouds immediately was shut out as thunder roared.

Arcelia's skin tone paled. She did not like the sound of that. "Mom…what are you gonna do…?"

Houndoom looked up. "Uh, guys…?"

Erza looked up, her pupils shrinking at the sight that hung above her. The sky had become nothing but a black vortex with crackling lightning. The entire bowl of darkness didn't just cover the island, but it covered a range well outside the perimeter of the island.

The wind picked up gradually as an updraft carried everything towards the huge hurricane above. In the air, Adelita's orb shined so bright that it was light a blue star in the sky.

"What's she doing now…?" Carla worried.

"This is bad…there's a big vacuum happening." Wendy realized what that meant and gasped. "Everyone, look out!"

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" Adelita let out a monstrous, shrilling shriek that howled throughout the atmosphere. The spiraling clouds lit up as enormous bolts of electricity shot down like beams that smashed into various buildings and areas indiscriminately. The force was so strong that every spot was annihilated. Monuments and small shops were reduced to ash as craters formed. The winds picked up so much that it became impossible for anything to move. Non-cemented rooftops were instantly torn off and crashed into other property. It all came from the massive cyclone in the atmosphere that was starting to slowly bulge down from the high altitude onto the island.

"Gaaaah!" Wendy covered up as even in Dragon Force, the wind was exceptionally strong. Strong enough to disrupt the wall of air she made to protect her friends with.

"The hell is happening?!" Cana exasperated, a beaming of lightning dragging dangerously close by. She could feel the entire ground tremble from everything falling apart.

"This is bad! At this rate…she intends to destroy the entire island!" Erza deduced.

"Everyone in the shelters…they're all in danger!" Sune realized. "They'll get caught in the destruction!"

…

The brutal winds and beams of lightning trails traveled haphazardly across the island. The human islanders were all being secured in various buildings that were still standing, with Joey's ethereal guards keeping them unharmed from the forces of nature outside.

Amongst these shelters, Harrison and Maple were huddling up close to one another as the entire building shuddered from the chaos. Harrison held Mable tightly as she looked like she was about to cry. "Stay close! It's gonna be okay!" He assured. 'It better be…'

An adjacent building's top was completely separated from its body and was blown towards where Lucy and the others were stationed. The entire top smashed straight down onto the base of the building, destroying a part of its foundation.

"AH!" Joey cringed, narrowly evading the ceiling's cave-in from the roof's crushing fall.

"Captain!" Dereece worried.

"The hell is going on out there?!" Gray looked up, his eyes widening at what lied above. "What the…?"

Overhead, everyone could see the massive black cloud that spiraled its way down slowly. It looked like it was moving slowly, but the range of the circumference made it clear as to the reason why.

"HOLY CRAP! THAT STORM'S HUGE!" Natsu exasperated.

"It's like a giant tornado that's dropping down on us!" Happy freaked out.

"This is bad! It looks like it's going to swallow up the entire island." Lucy realized. "If that happens…I don't think anyone will survive."

The winds howled madly as the exposed roof was blowing drafts towards everyone. If they all weren't sitting before, the ferocious winds made them. The intense lightning beams dragged along the streets, leaving freshly burned ground in its wake.

'This storm…it's being controlled. I can feel it.' Vanessa realized, seeing a blue star high above. 'That must be it. But is there any way to get to it?'

"With this weather, it won't be just people that will be at risk. Those Pokémon out there will be killed, too!" Joey lifted his staff, which shined bright turquoise. "My soldiers! Round up all the unconscious Pokémon outside! Make sure they don't get killed out there!"

At his command, the ethereal soldiers still outside groaned loudly as they raced towards nearby unconscious Pokémon. The thousands of soldiers divided themselves to haul away Pokémon in teams between two and three – especially the heavy ones – and haul them out of the path of the lightning blasts.

The shores of the island were swamped with large tides that kept crashing so far inland that they were slamming into the cliffs. The beaches were completely submerged from the sea that was pounding against the island, according to Adelita's will.

---

In the forest area of the island, lightning struck haphazardly across the vicinity. Various trees were hit with bolts of lightning that either snapped them completely in half, or set them ablaze. Staraptor was being mindful of the atmosphere while trying to chase down the wayward Junior.

'This is getting way too dangerous, even for Junior! I need to find some place to hide him out of this storm!' She spurred from one tree branch and closed in on Junior. "Junior, get back to me now!"

Junior cooed with a smile before he teleported again, just when Staraptor was about to reach him. He reappeared on an adjacent branched and smiled merrily. This only served to infuriate Staraptor, who looked like she wanted to claw someone's eyes out.

"JUNIOR~! Enough already!" Staraptor seethed. "NO MORE GAMES!"

Junior only giggled at his mother's irritation. It was fun to see. He teleported once more to an adjacent branch, and then another, and then another. All while Staraptor was being frantic of how to catch him.

'Damnit…how do I get him to stop…!' Her reflexes kicked in as she saw something sharp incoming. "JUNIOR!"

Junior bounced jovially on a branch that had the misfortune of being struck by a stray bolt of lightning. The branch immediately snapped, causing it to fall towards the ground, along with Junior. As Junior was in the midst of freefalling, Staraptor snatched him up in her talons and flew through the forest at blinding speeds.

"Coo! Coo…?" A frightened Junior flinched, but when he realized that he was in Staraptor's talons, he looked ahead and watched the forest scenery fly by him. Branches and shrubs passed at alarming rates, and the fear he had before was replaced by wonder and joy as she drift in her talons.

'We need to get out of here!' Staraptor flew right by a tree that was struck by lightning. The entire trunk was snapped in half and started falling down in her direction. She turned sideways and activated Steel Wing, beaming straight through at bullet speed clean through the falling trunk. The wood splattered apart as the upper half fell a short distance behind as she continued without even flinching.

As she flew through the canopies, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. 'There!' She immediately turned and stopped right before a small hole at the base of a small ledge. With no trees aside from the one atop, it was away from any potential timbers that would cave it in. 'This should do nicely.'

She descended to the ground and dropped Junior off. She scooted him with her beak until he was inside the small save, out of sight.

"There…now I mean it." She spoke coldly, her red eyes piercing daggers. "Stay."

"Cooo…?" Junior blinked and tilted his head. He watched as Staraptor turned and walked away again. "Cooo…Coo!"

Staraptor walked away, looking up at the massive black cyclone hanging above the atmosphere that was slowly dipping closer towards the ground. 'This storm, it's definitely not natural.' she deduced. 'It must be caused by someone else…could it be that Dragonair from before?' She remembered the Dragonair that impeded their passage from before. 'I don't think storm's this scale are enough for one Dragonair to manipulate. She's gonna destroy the island at the risk of her own life! I need to find Nic, and solve this fast!'

"Coo!"

Just before she was ready to take off, she froze up at what had to be the most annoying noise to her right now. She lowered her head, coming face-to-face with Junior, who looked up at her expectantly.

"Coo~!" He hummed, waving his arms around. He teleported again, appearing a further distance away, before appearing in front of her. He laughed as he hopped in place.

However, Staraptor was not amused. Not even the tiniest bit.

As she stood still, the thunder in the background roared as her mind had gone blank. She had been through a lot for quite a while. From living on Route 11, to meeting Nic, to the adventures they'd had up until now…and now Junior. A responsibility that she was now seeing as a regret.

With every passing second, a different memory surfaced in her mind. Herself, amongst her sister and other brothers. She didn't want to lose that again. She just couldn't.

And then, she had images of Junior come to mind. Though meaningful in its own way, she saw that the responsibility was taking a toll on her, both physically and mentally.

No. She was done. She couldn't take it anymore.

She had to make a painful choice.

'Nic…I know I'll regret this…but I know what's important to me.'

As Junior cooed and playfully bounced, urging his mother to follow him, Staraptor only stared blankly for a moment longer before she continued her strides past him.

"Coo?" Junior turned and watched his mother walk by. "Coo." He teleported again in front of her, only for her to blatantly ignore him. "Cooo…" His mood fell to a whine. He started pouting and hitting the ground with his puffy hands. "Gaaaaah! Gah! Gah!"

However, Staraptor kept walking. She knew what she was doing was very wrong, but she couldn't take it anymore. She knew it had to be the hard way. "Junior…"

"Gah…cooo?" Junior looked up at his mother's back.

"I'll only say this once. Go back inside. If you are not there by the time I come back…" She turned her head, her eyes piercing dead serious daggers that could frighten even a Hydreigon. She was mad. "…then don't expect me to come looking for you again."

Seeing her resentful stare froze Junior up on the spot. It didn't happen often before, but when it did, that intimidating stare made something in his tiny brain trigger an instinct. Something he was just barely grasping. He didn't know what it was, but it made it hard for him to look her in the eye.

"I have other priorities…people who actually mean a lot and need me." She turned her attention towards the direction of the province. "And now I have to be there for them. You'll understand…one day."

Without wasting another second, she suddenly took off through the lightning-brimming sky, leaving Junior behind.

He watched as he got farther away from her. He looked confused as she was getting further away. Maybe she would come back? He watched her fade in the distance into the dangerous, flashy sky. Tears started seeping out as he let out a loud, shrill cry that could be heard loud and clear. Staraptor could hear from the fading distance, but despite the stabbing pain of guilt in her mind, she pressed on.

Junior didn't stop crying as he was pounding the ground relentlessly, hopping and flailing like he was having a tantrum. It didn't last long though as he was getting tired. He looked up at the sky one more time to see the familiar figure fly off without him, his lips quivering as he was trying to make words.

"M-Ma…"

---

The cyclone roared as its radius crackled with thick lightning. Adelita was in the center of it, her orb burning so bright that her slender skin was burning. But the mother didn't care. She would be willing to pay the price to ensure her daughter would come to her senses.

"If that whole thing comes down, nothing's gonna be left on this island!" Cana exclaimed. "Anyone got ideas?!"

"Running away would be nice." Liepard chimed.

"I bet it would, considering that there might be raging waters that'll drown everyone!" Prinplup scoffed.

In her mind, Erza was trying to think of something. Anything that could be of use to her. But she was short on ideas, and didn't have any kind of weapon that could cut an entire storm in half. 'There's isn't time to evacuate everyone from that. And there isn't a lot of room down in the cells for everyone neither.' She clutched her fists tightly. 'Think, Erza! What do we have that we can use?!'

Cana turned towards Wendy. "Wendy, can you eat that thing?"

"I can eat air, but not an entire storm!" Wendy shouted, moments before a lightning beam brushed past her. Everyone cringed as they veered away from flying debris. The dust was quickly blown away by the sheer force of the windstorm.

Houndoom craned his head up, frowning sardonically. "I've heard of raining cats and dogs before…but I imagined it was them not being rained on, especially by anything but water!"

"This is crazy! Can she seriously create all this by herself?!" Prinplup shouted.

"She's gotta have a limit somewhere!" Sune insisted. "This much control takes a lot of mental and physical energy! This level could be too much for anyone!"

"All this just because she has parenting issues!" Cana almost choked on the irony. She wasn't one to talk around parental problems, especially considering her and Gildarts.

"It's no use reasoning. We need to take her down before she destroys everything!" Erza shouted. "Wendy!"

"Yeah?" Wendy quipped.

"Listen…there might be a way. It's a long shot, but it's the best we have."

Wendy furrowed her brow. "Right, I'm all ears."

"I can requip my Giant's Armor's spear and throw you into the eye of that storm. The eye is the weakest spot. If you strike there, that should do it."

The group felt the wind pick up even further. Threads of lightning spurred across the island as everything in their path ended up being destroyed. The entire island was shaking uncontrollably from the forces of nature that nobody could contain.

Gritting her teeth and managing to stand up fully, Wendy nodded. "We…we've got no choice! Hurry, let's do it!" She suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. "Carla?!"

"You're not doing this alone, Wendy! I'm with you all the way!" She smiled.

Wendy smiled softly. "Yeah, for sure."

Arcelia saw the two working soundly together. She then turned towards Swablu and Amaura, who were trying to keep themselves from being blown away. She couldn't sit by and do nothing either. She knew she had to put an end to her mother's madness. She slithered up to Wendy's leg, a battle-ready expression on her face. "Okay then, count me in!"

Wendy didn't object. "Better hang on then."

"Right." Arcelia wrapped herself around Wendy and Carla to fasten herself.

Erza inhaled deeply before exhaling. She used up a lot of Magic Power requipping up until now, but hopefully this last one would do the trick. "Requip!" Her body glowed, endowing her Giant's Armor. She brought her arm back with the spear ready to be launched. The back end began igniting like thrusters. "Everyone, get ready!"

"Right!" Wendy, Carla, and Arcelia nodded. They all jumped onto Erza's spear and glared at the massive cyclone hanging over their heads. It was closer to the ground than it was before. They didn't have much time.

"Ile Arms!"

Using her enchantments, Wendy cast the spell on Erza, empowering her body in a harsh blue light. Feeling the extra strength needed, Erza clutched the spear tighter than ever and pivoted. With all her might, the redheaded knight thrust the weapon into the air like a rocket. The force of her throw had so much might that it cut a path through the storm skywards towards the center. Erza caught herself and sighed heavily as she requipped back to her Hearts Kreuz Armor.

"Erza?" Cana asked, concerned.

"It's fine…that much force takes some magic out of me is all." She turned towards the sky, watching the spear rocket with its passengers. "We're counting on you."

The three jettisoned through the hurricane-level winds, feeling their bodies burn from the severe windburn. But that didn't stop them from shooting hundreds of meters into the sky with the goal being the shining blue star in the center of it. As the spear traveled higher, it was starting to lose momentum.

"Wendy, it's time!" Carla shouted.

"I hear you!"

As the thrusters on the high-speed weapon were starting to fizzle out, Carla's wings spread out and clutched Wendy and Arcelia tightly. "Hold on tight, everyone!"

"Ile Vernier!"

Wendy cast yet another enchantment spell, this time on Carla. Using the spear's end as a springboard, Carla took off at jet-speed into the sky. She looked like a sonic glint that beamed towards the blue light hidden in the center.

As they closed in on the storm, the thick clouds whirled with the force to tear steel to shreds. It was a pitch-black storm with lightning beams spewing everywhere. Some of them went at them, but Carla had enough momentum to weave and dodge each pillar to close in further. It was taking all her Magic Power to go at this speed.

"Almost…there…!" Carla grunted.

'We have one shot. Let's make this count!' Wendy closed her eyes as she was summoning swirling air around herself. The air helped act as a fault to push away the hurricane-level winds around, helping Carla's momentum as a bonus. The winds grew in size and intensity as Wendy's pink eyes were fixed on Adelita.

The Dragonair's eyes glared back down, pure, lost hate consuming her. "ALL OF YOU JUST DIE!" She flapped her wings, dropping the maelstrom closer onto the three directly.

"WENDY!" Carla and Arcelia shouted.

Wendy manipulated the winds as she condensed them to a singular point. Once charged, she let it all out.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts - Shattering Light: Sky Drill!"

All the wind was launched in an immense beam of bright light that seared into the sky at deafening volumes. It soared into the center of the storm, hammering it with force to cause the dark clouds to rupture and crackle with lightning from the impact. Wendy cried out with all her might as she expelled all the air to its fullest, making the beam expand a little more.

Eventually, despite the downward force of the storm Adelita brought on, the storm's base was grinding and imploding to a halt. The lightning fluctuated throughout the air as it flashed nonstop every second. The entire atmosphere roared with the might of a dragon from the beam's immense wake.

Adelita was putting everything into her manipulation. So much so that as she was pushing for more pressure, the orb on her neck cracked. She strained as much as Wendy did for supremacy.

"HRAAAAAAH!"

"HAAAAAAAH!"

With valiant yells, both forces distorted and fluctuated through the air uncontrollably. Until finally, both attacks imploded in the dead center. The base of the immense cyclone far overhead ultimately collapsed, leaving nothing obstructing Wendy and Adelita. All the lightning that discharged dissipated completely as well.

It was an opportunistic opening!

"No…she couldn't…" Adelita exasperated.

"A-amazing…" Arcelia muttered.

Wendy labored heavily, her head hazy from expelling all that force. She redoubled her efforts and glared up. "Now, Carla!"

"Right!" With the path clear, the three ascended towards the cyclone's core, which now looked like a huge upside-down bowl high in the sky. The sun was still blocked out, but the imminent danger looming over the island was halted for now.

Meanwhile, as their fight was progressing, both Nic and Neuro stopped and turned towards the sky. They both saw the two stars in the depths of the clouds where all the ruckus was coming from.

"Wendy…" Nic muttered.

Neuro spared only a glance, taking in his surroundings outside the palace. Though the lightning and whirlwinds stopped for now, much of everything was destroyed. Impressed? Yes. Amused, certainly not.

He sighed heavily. "Excuse me, for one second…I have business to attend to." With that, he used Teleport, vanishing from Nic's sight.

'Where'd he go?'

In the eye of the storm, Wendy, Carla, and Arcelia met Adelita once more. The group kept their focus on each other, and not the world that sat far, far beneath them.

"Every time…" Adelita sighed in a mix of stress and exhaustion. "Every. Single. Time. You have to get between me and my daughter. You completely corrupted her innocence…and innocence that I was trying to protect."

Wendy frowned heavily. She could understand how she felt to some degree, but the fundamentals far outweighed any sympathy she had for the desperate Dragonair. "It's over. You push anymore, you'll die." She persuaded.

Adelita narrowed her angered glare on her. "I'd rather see you all die before I sway to your words, child."

"Stop being hysterical! You've gone way too far!" Arcelia yelled. "Have you looked in a mirror?! You haven't eaten or slept well at all! I've tried taking care of you, and you just brushed me away! You have nobody to blame but yourself, Mom!"

"Arcelia…you think you know better, but you just can't. The world is a cruel and dangerous place, and I'm just trying to protect you from it…all I want is for you to be safe, that's all."

"All I wanted…was friends. Others who actually understood me, that's all." Arcelia insisted. "For my friends…the people that you've hurt, Mom, I…I…" She opened her eyes, showing full resolution. "I WON'T GIVE UP!"

"I WON'T LET YOU GO!" Adelita rushed for them at breakneck speeds.

Arcelia didn't show any fear as she suddenly jumped off Wendy. Time slowed down between daughter and mother as they both had an array of emotions in their eyes; all the same regardless. The rage, the disbelief, the resolution…and the pain.

Suddenly, a bright blue glow enveloped the Dratini. The light halted everyone's advances as the sheen overtook Adelita's glowing orb.

Wendy took a second to recover from momentary blindness as she saw Arcelia's suspended between them. "Arcelia…!"

"That light, could she be…" Carla trailed off.

Adelita's eyes were wide as she kept herself upright the entire time, when in reality, her entire world was shrinking as Arcelia grew in length. They saw her fin-like ears taking a more winged shape, resembling that of Adelita to a tee.

The light exploded before everyone's eyes. When it faded, a pair of glossy magenta eyes opened as a set of winged ears immediately unfolded to keep Arcelia in the air in her new form. She let out a loud, shrilled wail as she flexed her longer, serpentine frame for the world to see.

"Arcelia…she just evolved!" Wendy gasped.

"She's become a Dragonair, too!" Carla realized.

Adelita's stressed eyes shuddered, looking like her entire world had just shattered before her. "My baby…you…"

Arcelia flapped her ear wings, looking at her mother with confidence and remorse. She closed her eyes as she began concentrating on her new form's powers. 'Remember…focus. You can do this.' As she was finding her concentration, the blue orb on her neck glowed faintly. It wasn't much compared to Adelita's skills, but it was enough to make the elder Dragonair completely lose face.

Using her powers, Arcelia let out a loud grunt towards the sky above. The clouds overhead separated slowly, allowing sunlight to open upon the island. Everyone below felt the winds dissipate drastically to a light breeze as the heart of the storm was being cleared.

"She's manipulating the weather now, too." Carla testified. "Looks like Arcelia really came through for us."

Wendy nodded. "Yeah…she sure is."

The two Dragonair were in their standoff as the sun's waning rays were radiating on Arcelia's face. The way her slender, stronger scales glistened under the sunlight; her large eyes looking more mature…the way the blue glow her orb gave off…it wasn't anything like the fragile, innocent Dratini that Adelita had raised.

"Arcelia…"

The younger Dragonair glared passively at her mother. "This is your last chance, Mom. Please…just drop it."

Adelita shuddered, her mind drawing a blank. "Arcelia…w-when did my baby get so bi-!"

KLOOSH!

It happened so fast that no one had time to blink. At first it was tranquil, the next thing they saw was a jumbled mesh of dark rings hyper-compressed into something like a stream pistol. It went straight through her neck, going clean through her blue orb. The organic ornament shattered to pieces before everyone's horrified eyes. All their eyes shrank as time once again slowed down for them to process what they were witnessing.

No one said anything. Adelita was still in shock, but her severely stiffened body had enough nerves to turn her head so she could glance back at what struck her. It was a shimmering mirror floating in front of a shiny Beheeyem with an arm stretched out.

"You…"

Neuro's eyes pierced daggers that were so sharp that it immediately put Adelita's prior rage to rest. "You are relieved of your duties…Ms. Adelita."

The elder Dragonair lost her breath as the last of her consciousness faded. She dipped head-first towards the city below and limply fell.

The three could only watched in horror at what just happened. The storm cycling around them was dissipating rapidly, but they were only lost to the blue serpent falling to her death.

Arcelia's heart raced as her eyes shuddered in disaster. "…MOM~!"

Neuro lowered his hand and scoffed. "Such an inconvenient wild card." With that, he teleported out of the air, appearing back in the ruins of the chamber he was facing Nic a few moments ago. "Apologies for the intrusion. Mother Nature was being rather precarious, wouldn't you say?"

Nic didn't offer any input on Neuro's statement. He could tell from the commotion high in the sky what went down. Literally and figuratively.

"Now, if there are no more distraction, shall we resume?" Neuro's eyes flashed red, the colorful mirrors surrounding him moved in place ready to attack.

CRASH!

A massive chunk of what remained of the ceiling was struck down by something from above. The force of the falling debris was directed onto Neuro, who only had enough time to look up before tons of marble and concrete smashed into his body, seemingly crushing him beneath its weight.

Nic looked up, his shock apparent as he saw a familiar figure in the open skies above. The near-evening rays illuminated the figure's silhouette as her predatory, red eyes beamed down directly at him.

Nic stood frozen for a few seconds, before his lips formed into a smirk. He knew exactly who it was. "Sure took your time, didn't you?"

Staraptor humbly nodded. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again…I guarantee it."

Nic could feel something was wrong with Staraptor's tone. The way she said it was concerning, but he chose to put that off to the side for now. What mattered now was that he had reinforcements to handle this guy.

Speaking of a certain Pokémon, Neuro suddenly teleported on top of the debris pile, not a single scratch on him. Most likely teleported at the last second. "That wasn't part of my calculations." He dryly scoffed. He turned towards the sky, his eyes bleeding red at the sight of Staraptor. "Nor you, for that matter."

Staraptor didn't have to ask. She could tell from his tone and the way Nic glared at him – this was the real deal.

With her entry into battle, Staraptor's Intimidate activated, making a blue aura envelop Neuro and reduced his Attack stat.

Nic's eyes sharpened as he came up with another idea. He spread his legs, glowing as he reverted back to his Dark/Ground-type combination. "…guess it's time that we level the playing field."

Neuro's eyes partially widened as he read Nic's thoughts. He knew what was coming the moment Nic raised his right hand and brought it down with all his might.

"Earthquake!"

The moment the hand punctured the floor, a shockwave ran through the entire floor, fading for a second. Suddenly, the entire castle shuddered violently as the ground completely shattered, causing unhinged edges of porcelain and shattered decorations to fly everywhere.

The shockwave closed in on Neuro, who only floated in place as a tsunami of debris spewed his way. It wasn't just the floor itself, but the entire castle that was rupturing at staggering levels. The entire structure cracked and crumbled along its walls and base as if a wave of decay was running through it.

…

The walls around the chamber shook so violently that they started cracking. Webs of broken plating connected that caused fissures to open up and tore the room open. The metal railing and support all over the room started to creak and fall over. One steel support beam fell from the ceiling, nearly hitting Gajeel had he not moved out of the way in time.

"An earthquake?!" Gajeel realized.

"This is bad. It's not safe here anymore!" Pantherlily shouted.

Octavius loudly cackled as everything around him was falling apart. It was like he didn't even care about his well-being. "What an upbringing this is! The boss is being put through his paces for certain!" He mocked. "Oh, how amusing this is!"

"The whole place is coming down! We need to evacuate!" Pantherlily insisted.

Mest nodded. "You're right. Everyone, stay still!" He concentrated on his magic, whatever was left anyways, and opened his eyes. Everyone – even Octavius and the unconscious Electric-type Pokémon – vanished just before more debris came down seconds after, crushing the floor.

…

The cliffside overlooking the entire province roared as it shook vehemently. Everyone bared witness to the majestic white palace that was held so high over the province literally breaking apart. The prestige balcony, the arches, and even chunks of the cliffs themselves all shattered to pieces and created a landslide that brought down every fragment of debris from up so high.

From a distance, Erza watched as the entire palace was reduced to rubble carried by gravity towards the ground. Nearby buildings were completely crushed by it all, with the small shockwave pushing even more buildings down in the process.

"I've heard of bringing someone down, but this is just a whole other level." Houndoom exasperated.

Sune shook her head, sighing. "Dear Arceus…"

"Weren't Nic and Mest's group up there?! The hell is happening?!" Cana yelled.

Erza bit her bottom lip. Just as she was feeling her heart jump in fear of what became of her beloved husband, figments suddenly appeared in front of them. She was about to pull a sword out upon instinct, but refrained from recognizing the familiar faces amongst the small group. "Mest? Gajeel, and Lily!?"

Pantherlily turned towards the sudden sight of his guildmates. "It's Erza!"

"That's good…all that rumbling was starting to make me sick." Gajeel grunted, managing to swallow his bile down for the third time.

"The hell just happened up there?!" Cana forced, furrowing her brow at them. She took notice of the Malamar that was in a tight iron band, as well as the Electric-types that were unconscious. 'Looked like we missed something pretty important.'

Mest steadied his feet as he turned towards them. "It's good that you're all here." He turned towards Cana. "Hurry, put all of them in your cards. Especially the Malamar."

Cana raised a brow. That didn't answer her question, but she chose to let it go and tend to her needs. Instead, Erza pressed the matter for her. "Mest, where's Nic?"

"If I had to guess…" He glanced back at the massive cloud of dust from the landslide. "I'd say that he was the cause of that landslide. Odds are he's probably still alive."

"Yeah, takes more than a few tons of rubble to put him down." Cana sidenoted with an unamused eyeroll.

Mest turned back towards Erza, frowning heavily. "You heard that message before too, didn't you?"

She nodded, her stoic expression saying it all. "Yes, I did."

"Whatever kind of Pokémon Nic's facing…if it succeeds…we're in deep trouble."

Erza balled her fists. She wanted to go help her husband and stop Neuro. Nothing felt more satisfying to her than staking a sword right into his body for all the trouble he's caused. But Nic's plea and Neuro's warning made it very clear that she nor anyone would be able to do much.

She hated it. She really did…but this wasn't her fight anymore. 'Nic, you better watch yourself out there.'

---

Miles away from the cliffs, well within the forest depths that sat away from the ruined province, there was a thick spread of trees where it was secluded from any passing eyes. Appearing seconds later was none other than Neuro, and beside him was the Neuro-Amplifier, perfectly intact.

Neuro lowered his head, sighing heavily. "…that was rather close." He turned towards his precious device, checking for any visible dents or scratches, which it didn't have. "Had I been any later with my Teleport, this device would have been caught in that attack. Hate to say this…but even I didn't expect for a turn like that."

"…guess it's time that we level the playing field."

Neuro thought back to what Nic said. If he had lips, they would have formed a smirk. 'You would think, but in truth, the ball is still in my court. Still, it's an inconvenience to have that Staraptor drop in all of a sudden. I thought the amplifier recalled and locked all Pokémon into their capsules. Could it be that this one was out of range when I activated the code? How prudent.'

He looked back in the direction of the province. The sounds of crumbling started to calm down.

"Suppose I could autocorrect the code. But to do that, I would have to reset the amplifier…and some time that you just can't give me, can't you?"

His sardonic tone was gestured towards two figments in the trees above him. Both were none other than Nic – having teleported in his Dark/Psychic-type – and Staraptor. Both their eyes beamed daggers as Neuro met their resilient stares with his own.

"That intel was right…you really don't stay down, do you?" Neuro mocked.

"Never been the type to settle in the dirt." Nic dryly retorted.

Neuro scoffed. "Of course…HRAHH~!"

Nic and Staraptor teleported once again just when the shield mirrors projected Neuro's Psychic in all directions. The pulse blast instantly uprooted the thick trees in the blink of an eye.

---

"I RAGD!"

Minerva grunted as she swiped her arms in opposite arches, creating a chain of explosions around Hydreigon. Even with the eruptions going off, the hydra dove down onto Minerva, her large stomach exposed for an imminent Body Slam. Using her Territory, she teleported both herself and Shou out of the way as Hydreigon dropped to the ground. They appeared a short distance away as they looked back at the dust picked up by her wake.

"A little close for comfort, wouldn't you say?" Minerva chimed.

"You can say that again." Shou replied. "She's normally more shy if anything, but when her adrenaline spikes in a battle, she's a loose cannon."

Minerva cocked a brow. Why did that sound so familiar to her? Didn't she know another Trainer who had a Pokémon just like that? She didn't get to finish her notion when the dust cloud dispersed, revealing Hydreigon emerging from a crater made from her weighted slam. The hydra glared at them, her three throats vibrating with snarls.

"Hydreigon, it's me! Shou!" Shou persisted. "Don't you remember? C'mon, come to your senses already! You're better than this!"

Hydreigon sneered aggressively. "I remember…remember the battles I was forced to fight because of you."

"What…?"

"You knew I was always a shy fighter, but you always persisted that it was 'for my sake'. The more I ran into stuff, the more frustrating it was because I didn't have better eyes looking out for me!" Her maws opened wide again, charging up another Dragon Pulse. "Now tell me…who's gonna look for you, now!?"

Shou gasped.

"Shou, get back!" Minerva warned.

Hydreigon let out a wild roar as she unleashed three multicolored, draconic beams that became one large beam. Minerva concentrated her Territory around her hands and fired a beam to intercept the attack. The two forces collided in the center, causing both to collapse and implode.

Minerva didn't wait for the explosion to diminish for her next move. She reappeared above Hydreigon in midair, her hand reached out towards her back covered in Territory. 'I'll force her to the ground!'

However, Hydreigon's draconic instincts kicked in. Her right head opened wide, via Crunch, chomping down on her outstretched arm. Minerva felt intense pain from the bite that instantly drew blood. Hydreigon whirled around and tossed Minerva down towards the ground while the Sabertooth mage was reeling in pain.

"Minerva! Hang on!" Shou raced across the ground and reached out to break Minerva's fall. Though, while he was able to catch her like he intended, she ended up crashing atop of him, instantly putting him into the ground. "O-ow…"

Minerva opened an eye, feeling her world stabilize around. When she felt a warm body beneath her, her eyes widened as she got up and looked down towards her savior. "Shou! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah…I'll manage." He muffled. 'She's heavier than she looks…that, or I need to pick up weights instead of guitar picks.'

Hydreigon roared mightily from above as she came barreling down upon the two with another Body Slam. Both Shou and Minerva looked up as her shadow covered them before making contact, making the ground shudder violently.

"Milady! Shou!" Rogue shouted from afar. He bit his bottom lip, looking displeased. "This is bad. We need to do something."

"You're right…I've still got an appetite. Even if I can't move, I can still-!" Suddenly, something hit Sting's shoulder, causing him to trail off. "Huh? What the…?" When he looked down at his hand, he saw it fading, as was the rest of his body. "Wait!"

But it was too late. His body converted to Magic Power that was drawn into a Human Cube thrown by one of the surrounding Pokémon. It clicked only once, sealing its captive up inside.

"NO, STING!" Rogue shouted. He went to reach for the cube lying on the ground, but then one connected with his fingers. He froze as his eyes shrank in shock. "Haaaaa~!" His cries faded into a low echo as he converted into Magic Power that was drawn into the cube.

"Rogue~!" Frosch panicked.

"This is bad! We've gotta get out of here!" Orga pivoted to look for an exit, but then a cube touched his head. "Huh?"

"We have to-!" Rufus felt one strike him in the knee.

Both their faces showed shock and confusion before they converted into magical particles that were sucked into their respective cubes. They both clamped shut and clicked once, remaining still with their captives inside.

"S-Sting…? Sting?!" Lector worried. He saw the Human Cubes around him, his shock growing more by the second. "N-no! NO! Guys!"

Frosch shuddered, feeling absolute horror wash over him to the point of paralysis.

"Frosch! Snap out of it! We've gotta do something!" Lector panicked.

"Uh…" Frosch meekly pointed past Lector, making the other Exceed turn in fear as numerous other, larger Pokémon surround them. And not a single one looked pleased to see them.

"Hey, are these two with those humans?" A Nidorino scoffed.

"Looks like it. That makes them fresh meat." A Graveler chimed.

A Granbull bared her massive jaws, cocking a brow. "So, little kitties, what'll it be?"

Lector and Frosch stook together as tears were running down their faces in the face of what's to come.

"C'mon, Sorano! We have to get up!" Yukino tried to support her sister the best she could, despite how worn out both were from all the fighting.

"Sorry, lil' sis…I…guess I couldn't protect you again." Sorano mournfully grinned, just before a Human Cube hit the back of her head. She converted to Magic Power and was stripped from Yukino's grasp.

"Sorano! NO!" Yukino reached out to her, but she was struck as well. A cube connected and forced her into Magic Power that was drawn inside. Her cries echoed as she was swallowed into the small box and clicked shut.

It wasn't just them. Bacchus, who had succumbed to the effects of his burn and Leech Seed, laid on the ground before a Trevenant walked up and tossed a Human Cube onto him, capturing him. Hibiki, Ren, and Eve were next to follow, and then Ichiya. As soon as Jenny collapsed in front of Milotic, a Haunter threw a Human Cube at her, capturing her.

"You don't mind?" he asked.

Milotic turned away, scoffing. "Hmph. Suite yourself. I have no use for something so ugly."

"This is bad. They're taking us one after another!" Bickslow exclaimed. As a Human Cube was flying towards him, one of his dolls shot in and deflected it away. "Thanks!"

Evergreen squinted as her face spelled concern. "We won't last much longer if we keep this up. And my Stone Eyes don't work on Pokémon. C'mon, Laxus, hurry it up!"

---

"Lightning Dragon's…ROAR!" Laxus opened his maw wide, unleashing a pure beam of electricity that tore apart the ground beneath. The roar blasted through the chamber towards Rai, but he saw the attack coming and coated himself in Quick Attack, shifting towards the side while the beam continued towards the server. As soon as the lightning as close enough, the server activated, forcing the lightning to diffuse into Magic Power particles that was drawn inside. The machine's glow brightened as the magic nourished its might.

Electabuzz continued dashing across the ground, raising a knee and planted it against Manectric's forehead. The latter howled as he was forced back several feet, but caught himself and grunted,

"So annoying." Laxus sneered.

Rai smirked back, only further mocking their efforts. "It's gonna keep sucking away your power if you keep doing that. Your little friends topside won't last much longer by my count. Once that happens, you're done!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to step it up, won't we?" Laxus reached his arm out, readying his next command. "Guess we've gotta use it. Now, Manectric!"

"Right!" Manectric nodded dutifully. He opened his maw wide as pressure drastically changed. A sphere of energy manifested and condensed to a single point.

"Eh?" Rai cocked his brow at this change. Something about the way the sphere was condensing and having a brighter sheen than before didn't feel right. 'Hold on, that isn't Charge Beam again, isn't it? I know his Special Attack increased, but even that looks…' His eyes widened. 'Wait a minute. That's not Charge Beam! That's-!'

Laxus glared harshly. "Hyper Beam!"

Manectric careened his head back and brought his paws up. He came down and lurched forward, unleashing a bright, destructive beam that seared with as much power as Laxus's roar did. Only difference this time was that it wasn't being absorbed. Rai looked back, realizing that if he dodged, the server would be exposed. He glared back, glaring daggers out of pure spite.

"Try dodging this attack now!" Laxus challenged.

The attack closed in on Rai, who stood ready with his arms held out.

"Light Screen!"

The Hyper Beam continued its course into a translucent, rectangular wall that stood between it and Rai. The attack crashed into the wall in full volume, but when it reached the opposite end, the beam's size was reduced by half. Rai used his forearms as he still bunkered from the attack's force, causing him to slide backwards in pain. The beam eventually lost momentum and faded, leaving the screen to also vanish.

Laxus's eyes widened in shock. "It knows Light Screen?!"

Manectric's maw leaked smoke from the sides as he panted, the effects of his attack immediately freezing him on the spot. "Damnit…as if he wasn't annoying enough."

On the far end of the chamber, Rai moved his bruised forearms apart, giving both Laxus and Manectric a serious look. "Okay…kinda hurt." He scrunched his brow. "Now I'm angry."

Meanwhile, the Jumpluff Shiin was quarreling with was continuing to expel seeds from her mouth like a machine gun. Shiin reached his arm out with his magic ring giving off a fiery-red magic seal.

"Fire Bolt!"

Another medium fireball launched into the seeds, causing more charred shells to falter to ash between them. 'I need to put it to sleep!' He reached his arm out, readying a small glow.

"Go! Dream Knock!"

Shiin created bubble-like bullets from his palm to rush for Jumpluff. However, when the attack was about to reach her, all the white bubbles immediately turned at a sharp angle to the side, barreling through the air towards the server. The server glowed as it fully absorbed the Sleep Magic spell.

'My magic is completely ineffective. At this rate, my rings will also lose their magic faster than it can be gained.' He looked up and saw that Jumpluff was still present. Gnashing his teeth, he projected his ring out and fired another fireball. But unlike before, Jumpluff ascended quickly.

"It's fast…!"

As the fireball diffused into Magic Power to be absorbed several meters away, Jumpluff exhaled another barrage of seeds that pelted Shiin. He covered up as he felt the barrage bombard him from the upward angle, nearly bringing him to a knee. The attack didn't let up as the Jumpluff didn't seem nearly as tired as him.

Shiin grunted heavily as he tried to fight it off, but he couldn't use magic because it would only be absorbed. 'Is there really…no way to get past this?'

As Jumpluff was continuing her attack, a powerful windstorm blew from the side directly into the Grass/Flying-type. She was buffered and forcibly blown away by the attack, allowing Shiin the levity to feel relief.

Shiin uncovered, finding his attacker momentarily in distress. "What happened? A misfire?"

"Free!" An all-too-familiar chirp echoed nearby.

Shiin's eyes widened when he recognized it. When he looked up, he saw his savior was none other than a Butterfree. And not just any Butterfree – the same exact one that's been bugging him this whole time. "You!"

"Free!" Butterfree kicked his feet up, chirping loudly.

Shiin took a step back. By all means, he had every right to be wary, but this Pokémon intervened for what had to be the second time now in his affairs. Of course, he'd be lying if he said that he didn't appreciate the assistance, but that didn't make it any better knowing that said assistance was by a Pokémon. However, given their current predicament, he was in no position to object to the help.

The Jumpluff shook her head, looking at Butterfree with a hostile gleam. "Who are you? You're not supposed to be down here, either!"

"Free!"

"Oh, so you're saying you're not his Pokémon? Well, we have a struct personnel policy down here." She steadied herself. "You're not amongst them, so you'll have to surrender quietly, or your punishment will be as severe as the human's."

Shiin furrowed his brow. 'Other Pokémon can understand it?'

"Free! Free!" Butterfree chirped angrily, bearing his defiance.

"So be it…then I shall have to detain you as well! Sleep Powder!" Jumpluff expelled a green pollen from her body, whiffing it towards Butterfree.

Butterfree's wings glowed bright blue as he flapped once more. His Gust blew the pollen back, making it diffuse while blowing Jumpluff further away. The Cottonweed Pokémon cried out in pain.

Butterfree turned back towards Shiin. "Free! Free!"

Shiin blinked, getting the message. "Are you saying…that you'll fight in my stead?"

"Free!" Butterfree nodded, turning back towards Jumpluff. If Shiin wasn't confused before, he was now. Why was this Pokémon always so up in his business? Though, while his jurisdiction didn't allow him to get along with these things, at the very least, this one seemingly had good intentions.

He frowned heavily. 'If magic is inefficient…then…is the best course of action to leave this fight to the Pokémon?' He balled his fists in frustration. 'No matter what I try, it'll only wear down the mages. Our only liable tool has become our weakness…and we don't have the power to reverse this taboo…'

He growled low. He hated it, he really did…but he had to rely on Butterfree for this one. "Do as you see fit."

"Free!" Butterfree flapped his wings as he and Jumpluff eyed the other up.

---

"Mom?! Mom!" Arcelia flew throughout the city, her eyes and ears open for anything that even remotely resembled her mother's whereabouts.

She, Swablu, and Carla flew around the city, the latter carrying Wendy in her arms due to her being exhausted from using Dragon Force, on top of exerting so much of her magic throughout the day. It was clear Wendy wasn't going to be up in the air for a good while after today. They scouted across the city – or whatever was left of it anyways. It was unrecognizable with the tallest buildings being two stories with no roofs.

"Woah, just look at this place…Adelita did all this?" Wendy asked, gliding past what used to be a statue in memory of someone. It was nothing but a pair of legs standing upright after the maelstrom knocked the body to loose gravel.

"It's horrible. To think that a mother would go to such lengths." Carla noted. "I know what it means to protect someone dear to you…but even I wouldn't go this far." Her frown dampened. "She must have had a rough life."

Wendy didn't know what to say. She just thought of what she heard earlier.

"Arcelia…you wouldn't understand. It was humans that ruined everything for me. They took your father from me…took my other children…and now, they dare to take you from me."

'I'm not sure what she meant by that…but she clearly felt like she needed to protect her daughter at all costs.' Wendy grimaced at the prospect. To have your entire family stripped from you by humans, it was truly unbearable. To her, it was a cruel heartache losing Fairy Tail once. She'd risk her life to preserve it now so it would never have to disband again.

Nearby, Swablu flew in the air, turning towards Wendy and Carla's direction. "Over here! Here!"

Arcelia's eyes widened. "Mom!" She glided through the streets at a quickened pace.

"Let's follow." Wendy insisted, to which Carla nodded and followed the Dragonair.

They both flew over the wreckage, beaming to where Swablu was hovering. There. Right below her in a pile of debris dipped inward, Adelita was lying on her back, her body having numerous scrapes and bruises. But what stuck out most was the small hole in her neck where her orb once was. The three dropped to the ground and rushed over in a hurry towards the comatose dragon.

"Mom!" Arcelia squirmed to her side, leaning in fearfully. "M-Mom…? Mom…"

Adelita's body twitched, her head rolling side-to-side.

Arcelia gasped. "She's still alive…!" She turned towards Wendy. "Wendy, please! I beg you! Can you help my mom?!"

Swablu tilted her head, confused. "Hm? Wait, but I thought she wanted to kill us."

"I know! But still…" As Arcelia lowered her head, memories of her past with her mother watching over her resurface. "Still…she's my mom. I know she's gone too far, but…she doesn't deserve this!"

Carla turned towards Wendy. "Well, Wendy?"

Wendy frowned studiously. To her, it was a no-brainer. "Right, I'll see what I can do." She hurried over to the other side of Adelita. She crawled up the debris and sat her hands atop the bleeding throat. "C'mon, please work…" She closed her eyes as she forcefully emitted more of her Healing Magic. A faint green light covered Adelita as the magic was doing its part in closing up the wound, though with the damage everyone took, it was progressing slower than usual.

Arcelia looked between her mother and Wendy repeatedly. "Is she gonna be okay?!"

"Arcelia, please, try to relax a little. Wendy's tired." Carla insisted, ignoring the fact that Swablu landed atop her head.

"I-I know. I'm sorry…" Arcelia lowered her head, guilt washing over her. She was so filled with emotion right now. First her mother's rampage, then her own evolution; two combinations that made the recipe for anxiety for the Dragonair. 'Is this hoe my mother felt the whole time? It really hurts.'

Adelita's eyes winced weakly, barely fluttering open. As she was coming around, her head rung like a bell. She groaned weakly in distress.

"Stay still. I should have just enough magic left to close this. Arcelia, try to keep her still if she starts moving again." Wendy instructed.

Arcelia nodded. "Got it."

Adelita's eyes weakly opened, seeing a blurry, dark blue visage of herself. "Hmmm…who…who are…?"

"Mom, it's me."

"Ar…Arcelia…?" Her eyes blinked again, getting a clear visage of her daughter. "You…you really have…"

She shook her head. "No, don't say it…just stay down for now. We're helping you."

Adelita turned her glance over towards Wendy, who was so focused on tending to the wound that the little girl almost looked mature in her eyes. It could have been from the fatigue, or maybe the concussion, but looking at the human girl try her damnest to put her back together made her feel so…broken. It was a strange feeling that she couldn't describe. Probably because Wendy was still so young like her own daughter was.

"…human."

Wendy looked towards her. "What?"

"Your mother…did she look after you well?"

For a moment, Wendy was confused about what she meant. Memories of her and Grandeeney came to light. "Yeah, she did…" She then frowned. "At least, when she was still alive."

"That so?" She paused. "Tell me something…how did you get so strong at such a young age?"

Wendy blinked, thinking for a moment. "That? Well…" She turned towards Carla and Swablu, then back to her with a genuine smile. "It's because I had friends beside me to fight for. If they're in trouble, we look out for each other the best we can."

'Friends, huh?' Adelita lamented on the aspect. She never once had any friends, mostly because she drove everything and everyone away to protect the only family she had. Thinking back to what Arcelia did for Wendy and Carla earlier, the way they depended on each other…it almost made her feel envious. Almost. 'Arcelia…she really has grown. Friends…'

Her eyes closed once more, making Arcelia lean in worriedly. "Mom? Please, don't die!"

"She'll be fine. Please, bear with me just a little longer." Wendy insisted.

Arcelia nodded. "Right, I trust you." She turned towards the grave wound Wendy was healing, realizing something that she didn't before. "What was that thing earlier that shot down mom?"

Carla put a hand to her chin. "Good question. Whatever it is…I'm certain it's still around."

Wendy frowned heavily, feeling the strain from juicing the last of her magic to close the wound. 'And we're all so wounded and exhausted right now. Just when…when will this all end?'

---

The plume of dirt, uprooted trees, and other forest life fell like rain back towards the roaring earth below. Nic and Staraptor reappeared on a limp tree trunk that was falling straight down. A second later, Neuro appeared behind them, his four mirrors in front, two overlapping each other. Both Nic and Staraptor's reflexive instincts kicked in a flash.

"Thunderbolt!" Neuro reached his arms out, firing two bolts of lightning that went through the first set, amplifying them once, and then again when they passed through the next set, making two pressurized beams barreling at his targets.

Nic and Staraptor pressed a heel and talon on the tree beneath them and used their momentum and brute strength to kick the tree towards the twin lightning. The tree shattered to splinters pieces in all directions, even towards Neuro, who teleported a mirror in front to deflect the debris.

Suddenly, all the splinter fragments froze up, each one enveloped in light purple and changed their direction onto Neuro. With Nic's Psychic, every small fragment's sharp end fired from all directions like bullets ready to pierce Neuro.

"Predictable."

As he said that, he vanished via Teleport, avoiding the splinters and wood as it all converged to one massive, prickly clump left in the air. Nic held the Psychic's force around the spherical clump and felt something above as well as around him. It revealed to be two mirrors.

Neuro teleported into view higher up, his right arm ready to launch a Dark Pulse.

"Staraptor!" Nic shouted.

With a cry, Staraptor flapped her wings and shot up towards the splintered sphere. Her wings glowed, via Steel Wing, and rather than fly straight through, she used her strong wings to smack the splintered sphere towards Neuro. Though, Neuro saw it coming, hence why the last mirror appeared behind Staraptor.

The Dark Pulse shot through the mirror above first, making Nic's sixth sense go off and pivot to miss the enlarged, empowered beam that went into the mirror beneath him. That left the last mirror behind Staraptor to ripple before realizing what was going to happen.

Just as the amplified Dark Pulse rushed out, Staraptor turned her head, kicked the air, and used the momentum to turn her body on its axis overhead. She somersaulted over the beam as it rushed for the splinter sphere heading Neuro's way, making an explosion of shattered splinters and wooden fragments that rained down everywhere.

"What was that supposed to do?" Neuro mocked. "Huh?" As the fragments shattered apart, he found himself surrounded by a field of Staraptor in a flock. They all flew around in unstable order and crossed all around to disorient Neuro, much to the Cerebral Pokémon's displeasure. "Double Team. Why am I not surprised?"

With Staraptor's illusionary flock making a ruckus above, Nic glowed and fell towards the ground, becoming a Dark/Normal-type. The glow faded, but Nic was blended in with the fall via Camouflage to avoid detection. His target was right beneath him.

'If that's the same Amplifier from before, and he teleported it, that means it's fragile. It doesn't have a forcefield around it like before, and apparently it drains magic. Which mean…' Nic's camouflaged glare focused. 'It can't handle Pokémon moves. Only one way to find out!'

Despite the distraction, Neuro remained calm, his sky-blue eyes glowing. "Nice try. That's the oldest trick in the book. You can't distract me that easily." Suddenly, he used Teleport, vanishing from the center of the flock.

As he fell, Nic's legs glowed metallic bright blue as he came down with a Mega Kick in an axe kick fashion. The ball of his heel was about to make contact before it met the unfavorable surface of a reflective rainbow mirror that didn't budge from impact. Intense shockwaves spread everywhere around the Neuro-Amplifier as Nic was stopped dead in his tracks.

Knowing the backlash would come, Nic put up a Protect between his foot and the mirror. The reflected force of his attack. The shockwaves reflected all around him with force to blow away everything else just beneath Staraptor's elevation.

'He anticipated this!' Nic cursed.

Neuro appeared behind him, his arm stretched out with crackling lightning behind another mirror. "What's the matter? Frustrated?"

Nic enveloped himself in Quick Attack, barrel rolling off to the side as the Thunderbolt beamed through the mirror. The intense beam continued into the mirror in front of the Amplifier. When Nic glanced at his back, a mirror appeared, and he knew what was going to happen.

Turning to his Dark/Ground-type. Nic used the momentum and continued faltering towards the mirror, even as immense lightning was swallowing everything across the forest sky. He reached out, grabbing the rim of the mirror rather than touch the reflective surface itself.

Nic grunted as he was gripping the mirror as hard as possible. It was like trying to budge a locked door. 'Move, damn you!' He gripped as tight as possible on the frame. He kicked his feet around and grunted as loud as possible, slowly pulling the mirror and readjusting the Thunderbolt's trajectory. It slowly paneled towards the Amplifier in its oncoming wake.

"No, you don't!" Neuro was about to reach out towards Nic, but he felt something barreling straight above him. When he looked up, Staraptor was coming down with white streaks around her body.

"Aerial Ace!"

'I'm already using three mirrors at once!' Neuro cursed at the folly. If he put a mirror in front of the Amplifier, that would only create an infinite loop with the spatial path taken. His brain processed this, and he quickly compromised. "Psychic!"

Using telekinetic energy, he focused on the beam of immense lightning and outlined it in bright purple. Just when it was about to hit the conductor, the Psychic forcibly split it in half into separate directions.

'So close!' Nic cursed.

The two barreling beams of lightning were splitting apart over the clearing around them. Neuro used his Psychic to make them take sharp angles upwards, where two mirrors absorbed them. Overhead, two more mirrors teleported overhead, ready to project the lightning.

"Ally Switch!"

Turning his Ground-type half to Psychic, he and Staraptor suddenly swapped places. Nic was above the beams as the beams drew close. He glowed again just before the lightning beams barreled high into the sky. A massive pillar of pure, empowered lightning expelled into the atmosphere with force strong enough to shudder the island.

…

"Cooo…" Junior pouted as he drifted along the forest floor. With the whole island shaking and his mother apparently off who knows where, that left him alone to find him. He tried crying, and that didn't work. He cried crying louder, and that didn't work. He tried crying and fussing uncontrollably, and that didn't work.

Much later, after his crying failed, the fickle child decided to wander around in search of his mother. A part of his mind told him that it wasn't a good idea, that it would invoke his mother's ire, but his curiosity got the better of him. Besides that, the scary flashes of light in the sky stopped for the time being.

His eyes took in the numerous trees that were either still lush with greenery, or snapped completely by lightning. Some were downright burnt to a crisp. He paid no heed and instead hopped around the obstructions.

As he was looking left and right, he noticed something sticking out from the bottom of a wrecked tree…it looked like a foot. A fleshy foot.

"Coo?" Junior hummed as he tilted his head. Curious, he drifted closer until he saw the foot was attached to a pair of legs, which had golden embroidery and silk white fabric covering the body. Said body belonged to a man that he didn't recognize. Certainly not that one human with the black hair that he didn't like his mother hanging around with.

He hopped closer to get a better look at the man's beautiful face. From the looks of it, he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

"Cooo…" Now having lost interest, Junior hopped away from the makeshift shelter that was made of broken branches that housed the unconscious man from sight. He looked around again to see the world around him.

That's when he noticed a very bright, flashy pillar of lightning that pierced the skies. He looked over, briefly captivated at the flashy light.

"Ma…" He cooed, before he started to use Teleport to get closer.

…

"Sand Tomb!"

As soon as the lightning diffused from the atmosphere, a swirling typhoon manifested from beneath Neuro. He glanced down only briefly before he used Teleport just a split-second faster than the sand could swallow him. This made Nic grunt, annoyed.

With their positions changed, Staraptor made an attempt at the device she was meters from. She dove down with a talon out, via Close Combat. Her talon was so close to the machine before Neuro suddenly appeared in front, using one of his mirrors to absorb the impact.

'This again!' Staraptor's wits kicked in. She instantly pulled away as the force of the kick came back her way in a shockwave that she avoided by going into freefall.

"I'll crush your head!" Neuro reached his arm out towards Staraptor, his eyes glowing light purple for Psychic. However, Staraptor's frame was suddenly replaced by Nic, who used Ally Switch in his Dark/Psychic-typing. 'He's starting to irritate me now.'

'The feeling's mutual.' Nic scowled in telepathy. His eyes glowed bright purple. "Hypnosis!"

Hypnotic energy waves similar to psychic waves emanated from Nic's body. Neuro sneered before moving one of his mirrors in front to reflect the psychic waves back at Nic, who brought up a reflective barrier in front of him, via Magic Coat. The hypnotic waves were reverberated back and forth between them, with neither surface moving as the waves were going in an endless parry.

"HRAH!" Suddenly, Neuro fired a Dark Pulse that went through his mirror, boosting it and tore apart the hypnotic waves. Just before it shattered through Nic's Magic Coat, the latter used Teleport and evaded the immense beam.

Nic appeared on the ground a short distance away, taking a deep exhale.

Staraptor descended beside her Trainer, still flapping in the air.

The dust settled on the opposite side, revealing Neuro's silhouette fading as he looked unfazed. "…hmph. I can see why everyone before you fell. You utterly despise losing, more than you despise people, and anyone else who challenges you."

"I wasn't in a position where failure was an option." Nic reasoned.

"Of course not. Because if you did, Arceus would have perished, and the universe would have withered away. Understandable. But now, your role is over. So why not chill like you would have wanted?"

Nic's glare was as deadly as a poisoned knife. "Isn't it obvious? You said it yourself. It's because I'm surrounded by people who get in the way of that."

Neuro eyerolled. "Right, of course. Your so-called civil war against the Magic Council, Tartarus, and Acnologia are all prime examples. I expect as much. Those who fear the power of Pokémon will do everything they can to suppress them…just like how it all started with humans suppressing Pokémon. Out of curiosity, fear, and exploiting for their own gain."

Nic and Staraptor narrowed their eyes.

"So now I ask you, Nic, what do you hope to gain? All you've ever brought with your powers…is anything but prosperity. It only draws in those who wish to destroy. You will never have that peaceful life…because your existence is but a burden to everyone around you."

"…" Nic's lips formed a dense frown. He had no way of knowing if this was a tactic to let his guard down or not. But his Mind Form wasn't picking up any activity that exhibited that. Neuro was being genuine.

In hindsight, thinking back to what the Gran Doma said before his death. "I don't need your pity. I want this world free from all invaders. All threats. It was all for the sake of magic and our heritage." Every word he spoke was full of insecurity and contempt. What he said exemplified what Neuro said just now about the fear such great, unknown power brings.

The Council, Mard Geer, Acnologia, Neinhart, the Tapus; all of them picked a fight out of insecurity because of Nic having such powers superior to their own.

"Mind if I testify?"

Both Nic and Neuro turned towards Staraptor, her red eyes beaming with assurance.

Neuro shot a look at her. "Ah, yes. Your Staraptor. And what could be your appeal?"

"You say that wherever Nic goes, he makes a challenge out of everyone. And yet, it wasn't him who instigated those fights. It was those who lacked security and blinded by their own hate to truly understand him." Her frown hardened. 'And I was no different before.'

Neuro stared blankly at Staraptor, as if studying her. His augmented psychic powers read in on her almost instantly. "I see…that was your story. Ironic indeed."

"What about it?"

"You had a close friend that you loved, who was stolen away from you by Trainers. You sought to take your hate and anger out on humans and Pokémon to get some measure of satisfaction. But in the end, the Trainer you sought to bully ended up filling that void in your heart."

Nic glanced over at Staraptor, seeing the stale glare she had in her eyes. It looked like he hit the mark. 'Staraptor…' He thought back to when she was a Starly. 'I see. SO back then, that was her reason for attacking us in that condition.'

Neuro's eyes glowed brighter. "And now, you're trying to redeem yourself by saving the people that mean most to you, unlike the one from before because you were weak and senseless."

Staraptor was silent for a moment, processing everything that Neuro said. After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke. "Yes…because I learned to move on. I may not have been able to save my friend back then, but…I've made many more that I grew with along the way." She thought about Nic's other Pokémon. "After everything that we've been through, the battles we've fought, I would sooner see the world fall apart than let my brothers or sister die.

"What happened back then, I've come to not fault anybody. I know that you have your reasons to loathe humans, as did I…" Her glare sharpened. "But you won't move forward if you keep looking back the whole time. You'll never soar high that way."

There was a tense period of silence as Neuro floated completely still, his gaze fallen towards the mirror that floated just beneath him. He sardonically looked into his reflection to see himself.

Or rather, what he used to be. To him, he saw a little shiny Elgyem, whose eyes were so full of innocence.

At that moment, the memories came flooding in.

---

Being a Pokémon has never been easy. Being a Shiny Pokémon was even harder.

But being perceived as an object than a being with emotions was a living hell.

That was Neuro's life as a Shiny Elgyem. He was just like any other wild Pokémon that was caught by chance in Celestial Tower. Being curious of humans was nothing to be ashamed about. Being a people-watcher was actually a hobby for the idle Pokémon. Though, Shiny Elgyem was more…cautious than most onlookers. He'd watch them come into the tower, wander around, battle some Litwick and Elgyem, maybe catch some while they were at it. The simplistic stuff. Though, being a Shiny, and watching these events on repeat; it ultimately led to his curiosity getting the better of him seeing how they'd react to an Elgyem of a different color. The results spoke for themselves when he was caught.

Being caught was not a big deal at the time. It gave him a chance to see the world, meet new people, Pokémon of the sorts. Life beyond the wild Pokémon lifestyle.

And it was a mortal reckoning.

Being in a party, watching Pokémon battling each other, battling with his Trainer. All this was fairly simple. An adventure, one could put it that way. Though, for some, not all adventures go as smoothly as they stood. It started when this organization called Team Plasma stole away Shiny Elgyem from the Trainer, just two weeks into the world, and was set free by them. It was confusing, and it left Shiny Elgyem sad being misplaced. His attempts to return to his Trainer were dashed when he was caught almost instantly by another. Unlike his first Trainer, however, this one didn't last long at all. It just consisted of him sitting in his Quick Ball on a shelf in Professor Juniper's lab for Arceus knows how long before he was finally withdrawn back to the party. Finally, levity!

Not!

As soon as he was put back into the party, he found himself traded away to another Trainer. For some reason, this Trainer wanted to feed him all these Calcium. They tasted alright. But when it came to the battles, he didn't understand why he only fought Fighting and Poison-types. Sure, he had the type advantage, but what part about that was fair. Though, the battle experience helped him evolve into a Shiny Beheeyem, so he was grateful for that.

And when that happened, that's when it changed again.

Just when he was acclimating to his new Trainer, he found himself being bargained off by shady people that were willing to pay a lot of money. Trainers need profit after all. Shiny Beheeyem found himself shipped in the air overseas until he felt a deep shudder from turbulence. The cage broke loose, and he was free when the plane went crashing down into the waters…but only him.

One way or another, he found shore, and that's when he was caught…again. Though instead of being tended to, he was left in this Day-Care facility, where he got acclimated with a certain Ditto…and that led to certain events that stained his life even more.

As soon as it came down to it, after handing countless eggs over to his Trainer that he never saw again, he was finally pulled free from that prison. He was stunned to find that he did in fact have an offspring, which was also Shiny.

Though the rest did hatch…his morale sank as soon as he realized they were released into the wild. The little Elgyem stood no chance out there in the wild by themselves. That was the first time Shiny Beheeyem ever tried to purposefully free. What stung most was that his Trainer didn't even try to stop him. After all, he got what he wanted with a Shiny Elgyem of his own.

Cycle, after cycle, after cycle. It just never seemed to end. Being caught by Trainers. Traded away. Often released. There were periods where he was left in the PC with another Professor. There were so many of them that he lost count. There were actual times where he felt complacent being with a Trainer that actually tried to take care of him, but his morale never recovered. In fact, that only churned his prospective on humans and Pokémon even more.

Pokémon doing crimes. Pokémon doing the battling. Pokémon being traded. Pokémon being stored.

Why did such a relationship blossom in the first place? How did Pokémon become victims?! He needed to know!

"Hey…" Shiny Beheeyem asked his fellow current party, any life in his eyes completely shut off. "Can someone tell me…are you all really satisfied with this?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" A Boldore tilted her body.

"Taking orders from humans…we do all the work, right? It feels just like we're…slaves, sometimes, you know…?"

The other Pokémon exchanged worried looks. Seemed like none of them had a clue, or didn't see it that way.

"I never saw it like that. I mean we get stronger. We battle. I see no problem." An Ariados quipped.

"Keke! You're just being a stick in the mud! We get stronger together!" A Gengar retorted.

Shiny Beheeyem didn't see it that way, not at all. No matter how many Pokémon he asked, they all said the same thing:

"I don't care. I just wanna battle!"

"We were caught fair and square. We have to obey. They know what they're doing."

"Bah, you're just a lunatic! Pokémon are bad because their Trainers suck! Get a better mood or be left behind!"

There were harsher words spoken along those lines, but Shiny Beheeyem remembered every single one. The Pokémon were all too complacent. Even with some having a similar experience of being traded away, they never were as questionable of the morality of humans and Pokémon. There were definitely those that hated humans, but they never did anything about that.

Finally, after so many months with one Trainer that was recommended to release Shiny Beheeyem due to his depressive state, he just…floated away. He needed time, time to himself. Time to reflect. In the wilds, conserving his energy…it eventually came to him.

He knew what had to be done.

When his eyes blinked open, they were burning red. "…I must change this world. I can – no, I must right this wrong."

---

"You…have no. Damn. Idea. Of what I went through." Neuro seethed, electricity crackling through his lacrima-empowered body. "You all rely too much on humans to carve your paths for you! THEY ARE THE ONES WHO NEED CORRECTION IN LIFE!"

'He's gotta be near his limit on using Thunderbolt! Gotta draw him in!' Nic glared ahead. "Staraptor, Double Team!"

Neuro cried out as he poised his arms out as a collective mass of electricity launched into the mirror in front of him. The mirror amplified the power as the attack drew closer towards Staraptor. The avian glowed bright white before illusions of herself spread throughout the area, while the lightning beam paved a trail towards Nic. Nic turned his Psychic-type to Ground yet again as the beam erupted into a pillar of lightning that rattled the earth in fissures brimming with static.

"I'm not done!" Neuro's eyes glowed bright purple, via Psychic. The discharged electricity engulfing Nic was immediately brought to a halt as kinetic energy froze it. Neuro molded the electricity by sheer will, compressing the lightning into a huge sphere, much like Nic did earlier with the tree. However, this time, Neuro raised it into the air high overhead. He forcibly split apart the hemisphere into millions of small, electric arrows that went spearheading in every direction.

Staraptor was in the midst of aerial evasion when she saw thin but sharp spears of lightning exploding in her direction. She folded her wings and rolled through the air, while her clones followed similar methods, but eventually were dispersed.

As if that wasn't bad, Neuro's eyes were locked on Staraptor as the glow around his eyes intensified. Even when the arrows of psychokinetic lightning missed, they all were pulled in a different direction, specifically towards Staraptor.

Staraptor gasped when she found arrows beaming at her even from behind. She flapped her wings once, making a shockwave as she jettisoned into the high altitude at Mach speed. That prompt all the lightning spears to change course and follow her in numerous small streams barreling from many angles that she rolled or reflexively evaded.

Nic gathered his bearings as the dust settled around him, watching Staraptor dance through the sky, pivoting and changing course in which the millions of arrows flooding the sky would adjust. He needed to remember that move for future reference.

'While he's distracted!' Nic clenched his teeth as he glowed, shifting his Earth Form for his default half, making a Dark/Normal-type. Illusionary blue swords rotated around him back and forth before crossing over his head, the Swords Dance increasing his Attack harshly.

A glowing white baton then appeared in his grip. 'I'll have to time it!' He gazed towards the sky. "Staraptor!"

In the midst of her near-death evasions, Staraptor's red eyes saw her Trainer, as well as the glowing white baton. 'So that's his game. Very well!' Here eyes narrowed before she suddenly flapped her wings, making another shockwave as she jettisoned straight across the sky. The millions of Psychic-Thunderbolt arrows followed her path. As soon as she was above Nic, she put on the airbrakes, did a mini-somersault, and went into a steep divebomb as fast as a fighter jet. The arrows of piercing, kinetic lightning followed her path still.

As she drew closer, their eyes never left the other. Nic held up the glowing baton as Staraptor timed it…

'NOW!'

Just when she was above to crash, she made a sharp turn, her talons scooping up the Baton Pass. The instant she did, Nic's outstretched arm pointed a finger upward,

"Follow Me!"

As Staraptor flew across the ground with such force that the ground flooded with dirt as it violently shuddered, the millions of arrows that continued to follow her didn't alter their course. Instead, they all speared Nic with voltage that looked like a flash bomb was going off behind Staraptor's wake. The inertia she had from gravity that she directed towards Neuro was doubled as the tailwind from the shockwave boosted her.

The blinding glare also made Neuro cover up. The opportunity she was waiting for!

"AERIAL ACE!"

With all the speed and increased power behind her, Staraptor moved at speeds that were faster than a rifle bullet. She spurred straight between Neuro's mirrors faster than they could react, and with extreme precision, struck beak-first into Neuro's chest. The delayed shockwave came with a sonic boom, the ground cracking as the mirrors were blown away around Neuro as he went soaring through the sky, screaming in agony.

'We finally breached his defenses!'

As the flashes around Nic faded, the dust was blown away, revealing him completely unharmed, despite being in the depths of a large crater created from the millions of impacts. Alas, being controlled by Psychic made the move ineffective against a Dark-type.

'Now! While he's suspended!' Nic spearheaded towards the Neuro-Amplifier. "Staraptor, let's go! Close Combat!"

"Right!" Staraptor got on her talons and put one into the dirt. She kickstarted herself and ran across the ground besides Nic, the latter readying a Night Slash. They both closed in on the machine with heated vindication in their eyes.

'This time…'

'Nothing's getting in the way!'

Their eyes sharpened in unison as time slowed down. 'We're ending this!'

Suddenly, Junior teleported in front of them. "Cooo!"

'Junior?!' Nic and Staraptor's reflexes forced them to stiffen, stopping their talon and energy needle mere inches from the youngling's face. An airwave went past him though, but that only made him blink.

Nic's eyes were wide with shock. "Where the hell did he come from…?!"

"Junior…" Staraptor gasped. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!"

"Coooo…" Junior pushed his lower lip out, looking at his mother with big eyes. He hit the ground again and pouted.

"Staraptor, what's going on?" Nic demanded.

Staraptor grimaced, painfully annoyed. "…I left Junior in the woods so he wouldn't interfere again." She glared at her son. "Looks like he's not a good listener after all."

Junior turned towards Nic, recognizing the human that his mother always hung out with. "Caaa!" He flopped in between Nic and Staraptor, waving his arms frantically at Nic like he was angry about something.

"Junior, stop giving Nic and myself a hard time! We're busy!" Staraptor scolded.

"Aaaah!" Junior snapped defiantly.

'He's gotten worse! He's being too clingy and getting in the way!'

Meanwhile, Neuro steadied himself, clutching his deeply bruised abdomen with arm. "Hngh…?" Despite his pain, he kept an eye on his opponents, realizing they had an interloper. That was all he needed. He lifted an arm slowly, readying another Dark Pulse in front of a mirror.

Another mirror teleported in front of the three, grabbing their attention.

"Watch out!" Nic shouted.

Suddenly, the enhanced Dark Pulse rushed out, forcing Nic to pull away. With Junior completely unaware, Staraptor grabbed him by the beak and pulled away at the last second. The beam was so close it grazed a few of her feathers.

"Aaaaah~!" Junior's eyes were wide as he seemed surprised.

Staraptor grinded her talons across the ground to a halt. 'That was too close!' She then felt a presence behind her, and she didn't need to turn around to guess who it was.

Neuro had his left arm out to the back of her head. "You've got a capable Trainer…too bad you'll never remember."

Staraptor made an attempt to turn and backwing the Shiny Beheeyem. As she did, time slowed down as the fingers on Neuro's hand glowed brightly. Staraptor made sure to shield Junior the whole time. Her wing was inches away as her eyes met the many lights.

BLINK!

In a bright flash, the red, green, and blue lights turned white…and Staraptor's retina shrank. At that moment, a harsh shock went through her entire body as the world around her blurred.

Everything went in slow-motion around her as she felt off balance. Nic's eyes shrank as he stood frozen in shock, his pupils shrinking with every heartbeat.

Junior's large yellow eyes reflected his mother's falling frame as she dropped to her side.

She hit the ground with a thud, the last thing she saw in a blur was a head of black hair.

"STARAPTOR~!"

At that moment, everything went blank.

---

Sorry for the delay. I was aiming to get this accomplished by the end of April, but there were a number of things going on in my life that kept me from being consistent.

For one thing, with my father retiring, my family is ultimately moving. That said, I had to organize everything, and help around the house for the move that's to come this month. Because of that, I also quit my job to help, so I'll be looking for work as soon as the move is complete.

I admittedly wanted to do a lot more with Neuro's history, maybe make a chapter or two out of it, but I didn't want to drag out the arc for as long as it did. Plus, after looking back through various anime villains like Flect from My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission, or characters like Thanos, that it's easier to shorthand their experiences so as to convey and get to the point. So if Neuro's history felt the way it did, it was intentional so I could cram the important details without risking digression.

The rest of May, I can't guarantee any other updates due to my lifestyle changes going on. Though, I'll make sure to choreograph the arc's finale so it flows smoothly at least.

Hope you guys enjoyed! Feel free to leave your reviews/thoughts/comments, they're very much appreciated as always! Next chapter will be the Pokémon Rebellion Arc's finale! Until then!