Et Tu, Unova? Chapter Seventeen, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 17

Team Plasma seeks two targets: the Legendary Pokémon of truth and the Legendary Pokémon of ideals. And that's good, because the secret truth is that there are two Team Plasmas. N and his idealists think that summoning wrathful weather spirits alone will be enough to cause humans to let Pokémon alone, but the other half of Team Plasma is more realistic.

Colress has the antenna perfectly placed while N sets up the Reveal Glass. Mirror Shot causes flashy lights to bounce towards the obelisks, but Colress's device uses electromagnetic waves not on the visible spectrum. So when Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus arrive and change into their Therian Formes, Colress's device acts on their minds unseen.

"This is just a test run, of course," Colress explains to the drooling boy beside Beheeyem, "It's nowhere near as complex as the version you got - their only instruction is rage. We just need to be sure that the device works on Legendary Pokémon as well."

At the Cold Storage, Ash, Jessie, and Shauntal watch in horror as three different storms start bearing in on Driftveil City. A gust of wind from a hurricane peels the roof off a storage container and starts lifting the workers inside off the ground until Ash's Servine catches them with a Vine Whip while held to the ground by Boldore's bulk. From the center of the storm, Ash spots what appears to be a large bird with a tail. His Pokédex identifies it as the Legendary Pokémon Tornadus reverted to its more bestial form. Lightning strikes a storage container, starting a fire that burns even through the incoming downpour. Shauntal's Jellicents manage to put it out as Ash spots a serpentine form in the blackened clouds. This one is Thundurus, a being of primal lightning. Workers flee for their lives from an incoming sandstorm, dredged and dried from the ocean's floor. They almost don't make it, but Jessie's Seviper digs a hole they take shelter in. The mammalian shape of Landorus occupies the center of this storm.

"All three?" Shauntal mutters, "That shouldn't be possible. Landorus is said to be a calming element."

"Possible or not, we've got three massive storms coming at us and I say we get out of dodge!" Jessie replies, yelling over the now roaring winds.

Shauntal doesn't want to agree, but their teams are weakened and she doesn't know how much more help they can give the workers in their present state. But there may be hope yet. A bolt of lightning flashes overhead, thundering towards the populated area of Driftveil City, only to suddenly veer slightly off course. On a rooftop, Trip stands with his Gurdurr using its precious steel beam as a lightning rod. A massively abrading heap of sand flies towards Ash in the high winds, only to be stopped by Klang's presence: Georgia has arrived to help. A building teeters in the powerful gusts, threatening to topple onto a group of workers, before it instead falls directly down, foundations eaten away by an Arbok's Acid. Iris comes rushing in, Fraxure alongside her, both holding heaping piles of berries. She thanks her Arbok then begins administering aid to Ash, Jessie, and Shauntal's tired teams.

Once Shauntal's Golurk is back on its feet, Shauntal thanks Iris for her help but says she needs to take it from here.

"Stopping the effects of the storms are a stopgap measure at best. With Golurk's power, I will bring the fight towards the rampaging Pokémon."

She flies off towards Thundurus on Golurk's rocket-like form. Trip approaches the trainers, his Gurdurr still on the rooftops, to coordinate a plan.

"The best we can do is manage the effects from down here," Georgia says, "Unless any of you have a Pokémon who can fly in this." Ash wishes he hadn't sent Charizard back already, but Iris gives a shifty look at Georgia's statement.

"Well go on then," Georgia orders, "If you can go do something about those three, then do it. Swoobat is my only flier and there's no way it can get through those winds. I'll manage with your berries down here." Georgia sends out her Cryogonal and has it put up a Light Screen and a Safeguard to protect the area, while her Beartic and Pawniard work together to carve a solid wall of ice.

"I suppose this does qualify as an emergency," Iris replies and sends out a powerful-looking Dragonite, "Arbok, stay down here and keep working on the buildings. Remember - collapsing straight down is better than falling on people or Pokémon." Iris flies off towards Tornadus atop Dragonite.

The other three trainers continue to coordinate on the ground, none of their fliers capable of making it to one of the Legendary Pokémon. Ash and Trip have their Servines create netting out of vines to prevent people and Pokémon from blowing away. Boldore and Klang work as shields from the sandstorms. Gurdurr continues its work with the lightning, occasionally aided by Pikachu deflecting a bolt with one of his own. Georgia's Swoobat lifts Jessie's Wobbuffet with Telekinesis and using its own sonic and the sharp eyes of Ash's Tranquill and Trip's Unfezant, maneuvers Wobbuffet and its Mirror Coat into the face of stronger gusts of wind or bolts of lightning.

But Shauntal and Iris are making limited progress on facing the Legendary Pokémon causing the weather. They're further hindered when N rides an Archeops into the sky to attack the trainers. But Team Plasma isn't immune to this weather either, as a bolt of electricity blasts a hole in their Plasma Frigate. As the grunts inside jump ship, a Sharpedo tears through the weakened hull, sinking the vessel for good. This is apparently enough to force N to go deal with the situation, as he and Archeops descend back down to Milos Island. Without N's interference, Shauntal and Iris go back towards their fights, but the power of the Legendary Pokémon is too great even for their powerful attacks.

Even Ash, the most reckless of those trainers still defending on the ground, is considering falling back when Pikachu's ears perk up. He looks towards the sky just before the sonic boom hits. Someone has apparently called in the entire cavalry, because Cynthia has just arrived on her Garchomp, flying with jetlike speeds. She sends another Pokémon out from its Poké Ball and a Braviary swoops in and picks up Ash and Pikachu to join Cynthia in the air.

"It's nice to see you again, Ash," Cynthia shouts over the roaring winds, "I was hoping you could help me with something. Fighting Tornadus and Thundurus like they're doing won't work as things stand. Landorus is our best chance at stopping these Pokémon. But I don't think it will be able to calm them in this form. I need your help to get it back to Milos Island to look into the Reveal Glass again. That should bring it back to its more reasonable Incarnate Forme."

And so Cynthia charges at Landorus on her Garchomp. As it moves to avoid the hit, Pikachu and Tepig shoot off Signal Beam and Flamethrower from atop Braviary. Together they herd the mighty Legend back towards Milos Island. And as they approach the island, it seems N is having his own difficulties. His team mostly lies on the ground, defeated, as he withdraws them and surfs off on the back of his Carracosta. The Sharpedo from earlier gives chase. A particularly strong Dragon Rush from Garchomp sends Landorus falling to the ground in the center of the island, where it sees its reflection in the Reveal Glass and changes forms. But this Forme doesn't seem any calmer, attacking as Ash and Cynthia move closer. But Pikachu's ears stand on end and his cheeks spark. Without an order from Ash, Pikachu uses his most powerful Thunder attack on Landorus. Though the attack doesn't do any damage, it does seem to shake something loose in Landorus's head, as the Pokémon now turns its eyes towards Tornadus and Thundurus.

Cynthia's face has a thoughtful expression as Landorus flies off to confront his frenzied counterparts. As they see Landorus coming, Iris and Shauntal make a hasty retreat with their battered Pokémon. But despite Landorus's tremendous attacks of stone, the Therian Forme Tornadus and Thundurus manage to beat him back with Icy Wind and Dark Pulse. As Landorus crash-lands back on Milos Island, Ash knows he'll need some help to take the two on. So Ash pulls the Clever Wing from the set he won in Nimbasa City and presents it to Landorus. The Legendary Pokémon gives Ash a searching look before taking the feather, which glows and disappears. With his increased durability against Special Attacks, Landorus is able to subdue the other weather spirits and physically drag them to the Reveal Glass. Once all three are back in their calmer, Incarnate forms, Cynthia takes the artifact and tucks it away in her bag.

"I'll make sure this goes back where it belongs," she promises Landorus. With that the three Legendary Pokémon fly away as the skies clear. Braviary and Garchomp take Ash and Cynthia back towards the shore of Driftveil City. While the city escaped mostly undamaged, the Cold Storage lies in ruins. And as Ash and Cynthia land, they come across the wearied defenders of the city chatting amongst themselves.

"I thought you were supposed to be an up-and-coming Dragon Master," Georgia snarks at Iris.

"Hey! In the Village of Dragons it's said that Arbok is descended from dragons," Iris rebuts, "I had to work really hard to catch the Scolipede this one's original trainer wanted to trade for."

"It's true, you know," Cynthia interrupts, "A good friend of mine who's an expert on the topic likes to say that 'not all dragons are Dragon-types'. Now I believe we should take our tired Pokémon for a rest."

At the Pokémon Center, once all the Pokémon are recovered, Ash fondly reminisces about the time he helped fight Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Jessie has less fond memories of those events, but is interrupted before she can respond by Trip.

"Oh, yeah," he smirks, "Kanto's such a backwards place that its only Legendary Pokémon are three birds."

"That's it!" Jessie snaps, "I'm sick and tired of you insulting my home. If you think you're so much better than someone from Kanto, take me on!"

"How many badges do you even have? I don't want to waste my time on one- or two-badge newbies."

"I don't have any badges at all. I'm a coordinator: I'm big in Kanto, I just haven't tried the contests here yet. And I don't buy that it's a waste of time for you to battle me, I think you're just too scared."

"Fine then. A three-on-three battle. But no switching out your Pokémon when you realize they don't stand a chance."

Meanwhile, Georgia has plucked up the courage to talk to Cynthia.

"Hello, I'm Georgia," she starts, "And I'm training to be able to specialize in defeating Dragon-type Pokémon. I know you're a Champion and everything, but it would be a big help if I could battle your Garchomp with my team." Iris overhears and gives Georgia an odd look, as if Georgia's politeness was a foreign language.

"I suppose I have time for a quick match," Cynthia answers, before looking at Jessie and Trip and seeing the battle brewing there, "And luckily I know a place here in Driftveil where we can run two battles."

The area west of Driftveil's famous Marketplace is typically reserved for Triple Battles. Today the large space will instead play host to two simultaneous grudge matches: Georgia against a Dragon-type and Jessie versus Trip. Ash settles in to watch Jessie while Iris prepares to be awed by Garchomp.

Georgia starts with Swoobat against Cynthia's Garchomp. Swoobat's incredible speed allows it to move first, emanating a devastating Supersonic at the Dragon-type. But Cynthia has dealt with the side effects of Outrage before and has Garchomp smack its head against the ground. Garchomp takes the followup Heart Stamp, but quickly ends its confusion. And then it quickly ends the round with a towering Stone Edge.

Georgia sends out Whimsicott next and takes advantage of its Prankster ability to get in a prioritized Stun Spore. But Garchomp counters with Sandstorm, scattering the spores and disappearing in a blur. It reappears under Whimsicott and quickly finishes it off with a single Poison Jab.

On the other half of the battlefield, Jessie's pink Frillish faces Trip's blue one. Jessie orders a Night Shade, but Trip's Frillish endures the hit and uses Toxic. Jessie's Frillish immobilizes her opponent with Psychic, but Trip commands a Hex and knocks Jessie's Pokémon out. Jessie responds by sending in Joltik next. Trip orders Water Pulse and Ominous Wind attacks, but Joltik's Agility and small size allows it to evade them all. It catches Frillish in a netting of Electroweb and finishes him off with Discharge. Trip chooses his Lampent to continue, but Jessie has learned lessons from Elesa. Joltik uses Volt Switch to trade places with Seviper.

Georgia's attempt at high-level dragon busting continues with her Durant, who immediately uses Iron Defense. This boosts its already high defensive capabilities to an even higher level. And indeed the boosted defense is useful as Durant endures Garchomp's Stone Edge. Taking advantage of the power of its Swarm, Durant attacks Garchomp with X-Scissor. The attack only hits an empty space in the sandstorm, however, as Garchomp's Sand Veil ability is also active. Pure energy bursts from the ground beneath Durant's feet as Garchomp takes down Georgia's third Pokémon with an Earth Power.

Cryogonal is next up and changes to a more advantageous battlefield with Hail. Garchomp winces as it is pelted by bits of ice and its Stone Edge misses. Cryogonal takes advantage of the missed attack to use Reflect and shore up its weaker defensive stat. It too endures a Stone Edge attack as Garchomp takes more damage from the hail. Georgia orders a perfectly accurate Blizzard and is shocked that Garchomp stands through it. The Dragon-type takes careful aim while Georgia reels and its next Stone Edge strikes directly below Cryogonal in a critical hit, sending the Pokémon spinning into the sky. Garchomp flies up to join it and sends Cryogonal back to the ground with Poison Jab. It doesn't get back up.

Lampent shoots a Shadow Ball at Seviper, who bats it right back with Poison Tail. As Lampent is hit with its own attack, the Poison Tail continues and strikes it. Lampent uses Flamethrower, but Seviper's serpentine form wriggles out of the way and takes advantage of the proximity to use a super effective Bite attack to finish Lampent off. Trip glares as he sends out his last Pokémon. Unfezant flies high into the sky and dodges Seviper's Flamethrower with Tailwind. A series of Air Cutter and Air Slash attacks finishes off Seviper without ever getting within range. Joltik returns to the battlefield and immediately uses Agility to evade Unfezant's attacks. But Discharge can't hit Unfezant either. Trip is confident in his Pokémon's superior speed though, and has Unfezant get closer to attack. Now Joltik is able to reduce that speed with Electroweb. Joltik endures the Air Slash sent its way and hits Unfezant back with Discharge before it can fly back up. Unfezant twitches with the ensuing paralysis before being hit with another, final Discharge. Jessie smirks in victory as Trip walks away without a word.

Georgia counts on Eelektrik's Levitate next and starts the battle off with Acid. Garchomp is barely fazed as it removes the hail with another Sandstorm. But Georgia was prepared for that and quickly hits Garchomp with a Gastro Acid, removing its evasion boost. Garchomp retaliates with a Poison Jab, but Reflect is still up and it doesn't do much damage. It does poison Eelektrik, however, and starts racking up passive damage along with the sandstorm. Georgia has another trick up her sleeve and orders Eelektrik to use Facade at twice the usual power. Garchomp avoids the attack and hits with another Poison Jab. This goes on for a few repetitions until Reflect's signature glow disappears, at which point Garchomp attacks with a powerful Stone Edge. It had been holding back, waiting for Reflect to expire.

Beartic emerges as Georgia's ace in the hole. A powerful Icicle Crash starts off the battle, but Garchomp blocks it with Earth Power. Beartic rushes in with the priority granted by Aqua Jet then quickly transitions to Ice Punch, but Garchomp blocks it with a Poison Jab. A close range Stone Edge ends the battle once and for all, Cynthia's one Pokémon defeating Georgia's six.

"You didn't actually do too badly," Cynthia reassures a dejected Georgia, "You had a few good strategies, you just weren't prepared for them not to work. My main advice to you would be to practice adapting and to stop focusing so much on type. I imagine you switched out a few other Steel-types before facing my Garchomp. Even your ambition of dragon busting is type based. While Dragon-type is indeed powerful, part of that is because Dragon-type Pokémon aren't a monolith. Be ready with versatile strategies to face them."

Georgia thanks Cynthia for the advice as Ash happily listens to Jessie's excited monologue about taking down the "obnoxious Unova twerp". Cynthia turns to speak with Ash.

"Ash, it's been wonderful seeing you again and thanks for your help with Landorus," she says, "But I should probably be headed back to Sinnoh now. It's been nice having a break from the reporters who still want to talk about how I defended my title again."

Cynthia flies off on her Braviary as Ash asks Shauntal about their next destination.

The next day, in a secluded corner of Unova, Team Plasma has relocated their base of operations to Colress's laboratory. Colress and Ghetsis meet to discuss the results of his experiments.

"So the control device does indeed work on Legendary Pokémon," Ghetsis muses, "I'm glad. But your readings indicate what modifications will be necessary for less basic commands?"

"Of course." Colress responds, "Though, I should note, my experiment with the intruder has proven that trying to control humans will never be an efficient process with my device. I only had success when the device was combined with a long and intensive session with Beheeyem. I sent the boy to continue Team Plasma's work somewhere out of the way, but I would have to recommend that we discontinue experiments with humans."

"I have no objections to that course of action," Ghetsis approves, "After all, we now know how to control our real targets with the device and they'll be plenty to seize control of the people. In addition, Ryoku's Team has finally confirmed that one of them has been removed from the Desert Resort, which greatly narrows the search based on who could have done so."

Ghetsis leaves as their conversation ends and Colress is glad. Because as much as he likes to claim he searches for truth, he lied during that conversation. The readings from the machines confirmed that Pokémon weren't so different from humans that it would be any more possible to give them detailed commands with the device alone. But Colress has time to solve that problem. After all, N is in charge of the search for the Light Stone, and that fool has no chance of succeeding any time soon.

Author's Note: So the Weather Trio's arc has come to a close. And it came with hints of manga inspiration, a Cynthia cameo, N's reveal to Ash, an actual use for the Nimbasa Tournament prize, and Jessie smacking down Trip. When Caitlin said she was calling in everyone last chapter, she really meant it. In addition to Cynthia, N's problems were courtesy of another guest of Caitlin's who went unseen - for now. I have a whole timeline for this series (including making what sense I can out of the anime timeline for the first four generations) and this chapter takes place about four months after the Sinnoh League ended, which in my universe was in June. Keeping that in mind, there are some hidden tidbits earlier in the story that in some senses pay off in this chapter (not that you miss anything by not searching for them). Writing these chapters was an exercise in controlled chaos with multiple battles happening at once several times. Fun tidbit: there exists an alternate version of the outline for this chapter in which things do not go so well for our heroes all leading to the Darkest Timeline. No, you will never see it.