Chapter 86: Notes to be made

Kai, Arven, Aeon and Eri ran over to the front desk of the Pokémon center building they were in. The moment they reached it, Kai slammed his hands on the desk counter, which lightly startled the Nurse that was standing behind it.

"Nurse- I need you to grab my Pawmo!" Kai cried. He knew for certain that after the fight with Eri, Pawmo would be resting in a hospital bed.

"You need your Pawmo back? Of course. What's your name?"

"Kai!"

"Perfect. Let me just check the records..." Nurse Joy said, turning around to a computer on a desk.

"Sorry- but we need to go soon- can you go as fast as you can?" Eri asked.

"I understand that you guys are in a hurry. I will do my best," Nurse Joy said. She typed on the keyboard in front of the computer monitor and looked up and down the list on the screen.

"Uh…" Nurse Joy said, turning to the rest of the group. "Kai, there's no Pawmo registered under your name."

"What?!" Kai cried. "What happened?! Did someone steal my Pawmo!?"

Aeon and Arven exchanged a glance- and Arven gasped. "Oh!" Arven said, smacking his hand against his forehead. "We didn't tell you yet, that's right!"

"Kai," Aeon said, "Your Pawmo evolved. He's a Pawmot now."

Kai spun to Aeon in shock. "What!? When?!"

"You do have a Pawmot registered in your name," Nurse Joy confirmed. "I was confused for a moment, but now it makes sense. Excuse me as I go retrieve your Pokémon."

The Nurse Joy walked off.

'"Your Pawmo came out evolved the moment it unfused with you," Aeon said.

Kai's jaw might well have been on the floor at that moment- he stared wide-eyed at the counter table in disbelief.

"Uhh…" Eri said, scratching the back of her head. "Congratulations."

"Here he is," Nurse Joy's voice made Kai lift his head up. The Nurse had the Pokeball his Pawmot was in. He took the ball and stared at it for a moment. He took a deep breath- he had to see it to believe it.

Kai turned and tossed his Pokéball ahead of him, and the ball opened. Out from it came Pawmot, who looked up at him. Just before Kai was about to ask if this was really his Pokémon, Pawmot jumped for joy and ran over to his trainer, wrapping his much bigger arms around the boy's legs. As Kai looked down at Pawmot, who looked up at him and beamed, that was when he knew: That was his Pokémon.

"I…" Kai muttered. "Wow." He said.

A smile came to his lips as he crouched and Picked Pawmot up over his head who started waving its arms with joy.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you..!" Kai cried. "If it wasn't for you- we would have lost against Eri… So I'm thankful- thank you.." He said- bringing Pawmot in for a hug. Pawmot said its name in joy as it hugged his trainer back.

"Aw," Nurse Joy said, smiling.

"I really don't mean to stop this sweet moment," Eri said, "But we've got to get going."

"Right," Kai said, nodding.

Kai pulled his Pokeball out and returned Pawmot to it. Then, he shared a nod with his friends as they all ran out of the pokecenter.

"Have a great rest of your day!" The Nurse Joy cried.

As soon as the group went outside, Kai, Eri, and Arven threw their Pokeballs- out of Kai's came Miraidon, out of Arven's came Koraidon, and out of Eri's came the combat-breed Taros.

Eri went onto her Pokémon's back, and so did Arven and Kai with their own respective Pokémon.

"Hey- Aeon," Kai said, patting the edge of the 'seat' of his Miraidon. "C'mon."

Aeon immediately went over to Kai and sat behind him, wrapping his arms around Kai's waist and lying his head on his back. A smile and sigh of relief came to him as he instinctively rubbed his cheek against Kai's back.

Kai flinched for a moment and looked flustered- his cheeks reddened.

"Let's get going-" Eri said.

"Oh-..Y-Yeah," Kai said. Nodding. Immediately, the three Pokémon the trainers rode on began moving along. Durring the whole ride, Kai couldn't stop thinking about how Pawmo had evolved...

Now that he thought of it, his starter Pokémon, Quaquaval, had evolved too, when he awakened to the second level of Flow.

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Aeon said.

"What?" Kai said, "That you wrapping your arms around me is making my heart skip a beat more times than I can count?"

"No- but that sounds unhealthy. You should get your heart checked out for that."

"I'll live. Anyway- whats up?"

"Your Pawmot evolved when you awakened to the second level of flow while tera fused with them, and your Quaquaval did, too. You should probably take a mental note of this. It could be useful."

"You're right," Kai said. "See, what would I do without you? And don't say, 'I'd be a regular at a Pokecenter,' Because I'm already a regular."

"...Ohh boy. Kai, you are one of a kind. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with you..."

"Kiss me, maybe?"

"While you're driving? What do you think I am, insane?"

"Yeah. Insanely in love with me."

Aeon groaned. "God, you're so cheesy."

"Love you too." Kai said with a smile. Kai thought again about what Aeon had just said.

"Could be useful, huh?" Kai muttered under his breath.

Mela cried out in pain as she was sent flying toward the ground from the sky. Her body tumbled, rolling against the ground before she flipped and caught herself, crouching on the ground with her hand gliding against the floor as she skid. Once the momentum of her fall left her, Mela slowly stood up, looking up at her opponent.

Penny looked like a morning star. She floated above all of the team Star bosses looking up at her like she was a meteorite that threatened to destroy the entire world.

Mela turned to her left, and saw Giacomo covered in shards of earth and rock and struggling to get out. She turned to her right and saw Atticus clutching his right arm while lying on his stomach with his head looking up at the enemy with gritted teeth. Ortega was using his cane as a crutch as remained on one knee.

Penny slowly descended to the ground and let her feet touch the floor. She wanted to say how proud she was of them, but she couldn't blow her cover. So, she said nothing, and sighed.

Something about this didn't feel right at all to her, but she already came this far.

"Oretega…!." Mela said, forcing herself to enter a battle stance. "Can you back me up?!"

"Ugh- Yeah. Sure- I've got your back..!" Ortega roared.

Mela rushed forward and let out a battle cry, leaving a trail of fire in her wake as she leapt into the air and darted down foot-first toward her opponent.

Penny stepped to the side casually as Mela missed, her body flew like a dart to the ground. Mela spun around.

"Mela…" Penny said without turning her back to her. "Your weakness is rooted in your strength." Penny snapped her fingers, using Lefeon's Grass knot attack to summon blades of grass that wrapped themselves around Mela's feet, rooting her in place.

"It's your feet." Penny said, turning her head to Mela. "Without them, you're a sitting Golduck."

"What's my weakness, then!?"

Penny heard Ortega's battle cry, and the moment she turned to face him, she had to dodge an oncoming downward swing. Penny leapt backward to dodge Ortega's Play Rough attack, which crushed the ground below them and instantly created a crater.

Mela was sent flying into the air in the crossfire of the attack, and Ortega glared furiously at where his opponent used to be.

Penny suddenly appeared behind Ortega.

"It's your temper." Penny answered, Landing Umbeon's Throat chop attack to send the boy back onto the ground.

Penny watched as more rubble around her fell and sighed at her fallen comrades. A ring of pink, fairy type flames was blazing around the small crater she was in. She looked at Mela, who was now lying on the ground groaning in pain, Ortega, who was definitely unconscious, Giacomo, still struggling to get out of the rubble…

And Atticus-

Wait. Where was Atticus?

Penny spun around, swatting away Atticus's blade that was seconds away from slashing her from behind. The poison specialist dashed away, landing on the ground with a crouch before darting like an arrow.

Atticus let out a barrage of attacks from his blade, and Penny gritted her teeth, trying her best to keep up with his speed.

"You have a weakness of your own!" Atticus cried, dodging Penny's punch and kicking her onto the ground, and immediately leaping on her to slash her while she was down. Penny grabbed Atticus's wrists, stopping him from driving his blade onto her. Their arms trembled as they struggled. "You're not very good at close combat..!" Atticus cried. For a moment, Atticus's blade inched closer from Penny's body- before Penny's eyes began to glow with Psychic type power.

Atticus's entire body shuddered as Penny used her Sylveon's Psychic attack- a pained cry came from the boy's mouth as he plopped on the floor beside Penny, who slowly stood up.

"Psychic type attacks tear through your defenses like tissue paper," Penny said. "That's your weakness."

A loud guitar riff started to play loudly in the distance, and a bolt of Dark type energy flew toward Penny, who took a leap away from the ring of pink fire around her.

Giocomo was floating in the air, and playing his guitar wildly as dark type energy erupted from the cords of his instrument. Two black wings erupted from behind his back, due to Terafusing with his Honchkrow.

"You're not ready for this!" Giacomo cried. "I'm about to rock you like a-"

Penny teleported in front of Giacomo, grabbing onto his face and silencing him. Penny then used her Jolteon's thunderbolt attack, causing Giacomo to cry out in pain as his body shuddered so much that he dropped his guitar. Penny took Giacomo's guitar away with her free hand before letting Giacomo fall like a rock.

"Your weakness lies in your strength too," Penny said, staring at the guitar Giacomo wielded. "If you don't have your guitar anymore, or you can't play it for any reason, you lose." Penny threw Giacomo's guitar far away from its wielder.

Penny sighed as she looked down at her defeated opponents. She frowned again but knew that the battle wasn't over.

Not until she defeated Eri in battle.

"No..! Giacomo!"

Right on cue, Penny heard Eri's voice, which came to her like thunder. She turned her head, noticing her Taros who stood beside its trainer. Penny didn't flinch upon seeing Kai, who stood behind her. She knew that Eri would come for a fact, it was why she let Mela call her, and she couldn't overlook the possibility that Kai would be coming as well.

Farther away from Kai was Aeon, who was in the backlines standing next to… to…Arven?!

Penny immediately began blushing, and then shook her head to snap herself out of her daze. She then slowly began to use Sylveon's psychic power to rise up into the sky.

"Ortega..!" Eri cried, turning her head to Ortega, who still was lying on the ground. "Atticus..!" Eri said, noticing Atticus who wasn't too far from Ortega.

"E-Eri..!" Mela said, raising her hand up. She was lying a bit farther away from Ortega and Atticus. Eri and Kai ran over to her. Eri crouched and held the nearly unconscious Mela in her arms after reaching her.

"Eri…" Mela said, "Listen-... That girl… she… she knows our weaknesses.."

"What?!" Eri cried.

"She knows everyone's weaknesses... It's how she was able to beat us so easily… She might know yours… you have to…you- have to… be careful..."

Mela slowly closed her eyes, drifting off to unconsciousness.

"Mela…! No..!" Eri cried. Anger as sharp as a blade came to her in that instant. Eri stood up, clenching her fists tightly. She slowly raised her head at Penny, who looked down at them with a frown.

"Hey- I recognize you.." Kai said, pointing at the girl. "You're that girl who's friends with Cassiopea. Did she set you up to this?"

"Eri of Team Star," Penny said, ignoring Kai. "Are you angry?"

"I'll…never forgive you…!" Eri cried, clutching the Tera orb she pulled from her pocket. "I'll make you pa-"

"Hey!" Kai said, patting Eri on the shoulder with a bit of force behind it. Eri's eyes widened as the pain snapped her out of her anger.

Kai shook his head at her. "She's trying to make you angry. She probably knows that your temper is your weakness."

Eri nodded quickly. "Yeah-" She said. "You're right."

Penny's frown disappeared and turned into a look of frustration. She slowly descended to the ground to stand in front of her two opponents. Kai looked at Penny, noticing her transformation.

"Wow," Kai said. "You really pulled out all the stops, huh? You look all shiny and golden, too. Not to mention whatever light show is going on."

"Yes," Penny said. "You can call me Superstar Penny."

"Oh jeez, she's even got a cool name," Kai said.

"I'm sensing some Grass type power, mixed with fairy, dark, fire, water and electric." Eri said. "...I think that means that she has multiple types."

"Oooh." Kai said. "That's really cool. Terrible for us, but pretty cool."

"Figuring out what I've become isn't going to help you," Penny said. "You're both done for. I've researched your weaknesses, watched every fight you two have been a part of, and gathered data. This power I have is more than enough to defeat both of you."

"Oh. That means we're in trouble," Kai said, crossing his arms. "It must have been hard, preparing at the last second right after my fight with Eri."

Penny furrowed her brow in confusion. "What- did something happen?"

"Wait- You don't know?" A smile came to Kai's lips. "Ohohoho- You don't know…"

Penny raised an eyebrow. Slowly, Eri took in a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes. She tried hard to think back to what her best friend had told her when she first awakened.

'You have to believe in yourself. Believe that you can break through and regain your senses. I think that whole thing about you not being able to do that was a lie you made up. You can't keep suppressing yourself by saying you can't do it. Because you can. You can do anything'.

Those words rang in her head and replayed like a mantra.

Slowly, wind passed by Eri's brown hair, and it gently flew upward. Shards of rock began to peel off the ground and float into the air around her as she clutched the Tera orb in her hand. Sparks of rainbow lightning came out of the orb as Eri's body began to tremble.

Even Eri's Taros was impressed with the amount of focus his trainer had, but it didn't show it at all- its eyes were squarely on its trainer's opponent. It dragged its hoof across the ground as though it were ready to charge.

For a split second, Eri's hair flashed from brown to Blue.

Penny was in so much shock that she couldn't even let out a gasp. Her confusion was replaced with horror and awe. She genuinely didn't know whether to scream with joy, or with terror- but terror proved to be the stronger emotion in her body, which was causing her to shiver.

Then, at the same time, Taros and Eri roared at the top of their lungs- Eri crushed the Tera orb- and an eruption of rainbow light rose from below Eri's feet and completely consumed her.

Once the rainbow light faded, the sound of Eri's black cape flowing in the wind echoed in everyone's ears. Her black armor glistened in the sun's light as her visor slowly came onto her face. The sharp end of her horns donned on her helmet glistened as a blue aura radiated around her body.

"I'd really hate to be you right now." Kai said, puffing his chest in pride. "Missing that fight between me and Eri was the biggest mistake you could have made. Cause Eri's much stronger than she was before. She isn't as strong as me, obviously. But she can easily give me a run for my money."

"Kai," Eri said. "I appreciate you being my hype man, but I don't know if I can beat her. I need you to sit out and watch our fight and think of a strategy to beat her, in case I don't win."

"What?" Kai said. "Of course you'll win!"

"She beat the other Team Bosses," Eri said. "At the same time. Even with my newfound power, I don't think I could manage that. Just do what I say."

"But-"

"Kai, please."

"Okay. Fine… I'll think super hard."

Eri turned to Kai. "She said that she's watched all of your past matches. You need to think of a strategy, think of something not even you would do."

Kai's eyes widened for a moment before he nodded. "Sure thing- but don't talk as though you've already lost. IF you win, my planning will be all for nothing. I believe in you."

"I believe in me, too." Eri said. She turned her head to Penny.

Penny slowly took her glasses off. She began wiping away some tears of pure joy from her eyes.

"Whats wrong?" Eri asked.

"Nothing," Penny said. "I just got something in my eye."

Penny was so proud of Eri, of how far she'd come. She remembered how Eri used to be when Team Star first started, how timid she was. And now, Eri stood tall as the wall that would protect Team Star. That joy Penny felt was offset by her unyielding determination to end Team Star. Eri had to go down.

"Don't expect any mercy from me," Eri said. "No one messes with Team star. NO ONE!"

Eri roared at the top of her lungs as a blue aura erupted around her and took the shape and form of her Taros, who was dragging its hoof across the ground and aiming its horns at Penny.

Penny smiled, and then that smile faded away. She sighed deeply to calm her rapidly beating heart and entered a battle stance as she glared.

"Team Star dies today," Penny said. "And there's nothing you can do about it."