"Oyeeeeee!" came a spirited cry as soon as Nemona's eyes caught side of Astrid. "Theeeeere's our winner!"

Toast yapped happily, bouncing and standing on his hind legs to greet her as she excitedly ran towards them, while Mimi peeked out of Astrid's bag inquisitively and Igor had virtually no reaction. A few head pats from Nemona made the Dachsbun pipe down, albeit with a tail wagging so intensely that it shook his entire back half.

"And Mimi has evolved!" Nemona exclaimed, straightening herself out and giving Mimi a pat between the ears too. "Wow, you guys are really coming along!"

"Moooooo," Mimi greeted.

Astrid had already frozen up the moment the exuberant lass started darting towards them, but nonetheless stammered out a, "H-Hi, Nemona."

"Did you really go train twenty Pokémon while she was taking the gym challenge?" Dylan inquired.

Nemona didn't even bat an eye. "Yeah!" she cried happily, pumping her fists in the air. "I was taking it easy! I probably could've gone for thirty!"

…Thirty. Astrid had to wonder how many energy drinks the exuberant lass had downed that morning, or what illicit substance she'd been slipped… or if that kind of energy was truly possible, and if it was, how great of a thing it was that Nemona didn't seem to dedicate it to much more nefarious things. Dylan seemed a bit surprised too, albeit not nearly as much.

"But that's not what we're celebrating!" Nemona exclaimed, bouncing a bit. "Let's get some churros! My treat!"

The smell was certainly delicious without even approaching the cart, but when they got close enough to order, the scent of freshly fried churros was nothing short of heavenly. Mimi gestured from Astrid's backpack, Igor craned his neck up, and Toast squirmed in Astrid's arms when she picked him up to see what the offerings were. Six churros later- three chocolate churros for the humans, a cinnamon one for Mimi and Toast, and a plain one for Igor- and the bunch was perching at a table by the pool. Toast scarfed his down in about three seconds and commenced to wagging his tail and yapping at every moving thing, but the others weren't nearly so quick. As Mimi scuttled out of Astrid's bag, however, a certain Luxury Ball apparently had become dislodged from its place and tipped over the edge of the bag, making Astrid immediately lurch to catch it. With movements as quick as she would've been notching an arrow in her Decidueye body, her hand shot out and caught it beside her, clutching it like her life depended upon it. Dylan perked up, for he knew who was inside of it and what had happened the last time Nemona saw him, but Nemona too perked up, getting an inquisitive grin and leaning closer for a look.

"Qué?" the exuberant lass mused, looking to Astrid. "Who's in that one, huh?"

Astrid froze up for a second, still clutching the ball tightly, but after a second, she stowed Raijin's ball on her lap and managed to get a few sounds out. "A-Ah, th-that's…"

Nemona grinned even more. "You have a hidden ace, don't you?! Otherwise you wouldn't have grabbed that ball so quick!"

The shy lass blushed a bit. "Th-that's Raijin," she said. "H-He… He's been with me for a long time, a-actually, and he's s-strong, but-"

Nemona's eyes practically sparkled at the mention of strength, gasping in excitement. "En serio?! Astrid, are you holding back?!"

Even redder went Astrid's cheeks, and she froze up again. "I-! I-… e-er…"

"They have to be careful," Dylan chimed in. "Raijin is so strong that he can knock someone out just by touching them."

"I-It's true," Astrid corroborated, the incident with Nemona getting knocked out by a spark after she barged into Astrid's room playing in her head. "H-He's really d-docile. We only show it when we, u-um… need to."

Nemona's mouth hung slightly open, her eyes twinkling like stars and no sound coming out for a moment. "… No way," she breathed finally. "I never would've guessed! Astrid, you must be way stronger than you seem! I could use my champion-ranked team against you and you'd probably do just fine!"

At that, Astrid's cheeks turned even more red and her eyes went slightly wide as she stammered, "A-Ah, N-Nemona, I-!"

The exuberant lass laughed, giving Astrid a playful pat on the shoulder. "Just kidding!" she eased up with a wink. "I know how it is! You're looking for a fresh start, huh? Where you can grow anew?"

The shy lass blinked for a second, trying to piece together a response. She certainly wasn't looking for a fresh start, rather, had one foisted upon her, but giving Nemona the backstory seemed like an irresponsible thing to do. Rather, when she opened her mouth, she half-fibbed, "…I guess you could say that. I… I'm kinda far away from home and all, and…"

Nemona chuckled. "Well, don't worry! You have me!"

Somehow, that was comforting, but all the same, the words going through Astrid's head were, 'Necrozma, you better have a good reason for this.'

[***]

West Province Area One was rather friendly terrain, covered mostly in grass that wavered gently in the breeze with the occasional river snaking through it, and on its outer edges were calm beaches with clear blue oceans stretching out into the horizon with soft yellow sand underfoot. A certain blonde woman with two brutish dragons and two cantankerous smaller Pokémon found herself on one after some venturing, for surely, the Titans weren't going to find themselves… but stopping for a picnic by the water's edge couldn't have hurt anything either. On the beach was spread a tablecloth printed with designs of monstrous Pokemon- Hydreigon, Tyranitar, and Salamence, among others- while Ashton perched in the middle, the beginnings of a sandwich taking form on a dish. Koraidon laid out behind her, Ashton leaning against its midsection contentedly, its head peeking around her back as she worked with intent eyes following her every move. Dante and Rio kicked a ball around the beach, occasionally making Wigletts hurry back into their burrows or Wingulls fly off if it strayed too close, and cries of "Qua-qua!" or "Char!" as they played weren't infrequent. One of Orochi's sets of eyes glanced at them occasionally too, but by and large, the Hydreigon, much like Koraidon, was watching Ashton craft a sandwich over her shoulder.

"You guys are awful," Ashton laughed as she sliced a load of bread. "You don't have to worry, you'll be fed! I wouldn't dream of starving a big, scary dragon!" She reached up and playfully punched one of Orochi's smaller heads. "You hear that, Orochi? Awful!"

The Hydreigon playfully snapped back, letting out a gravelly growl. Koraidon perked up and apparently felt like messing with Ashton too, for it playfully snapped its jaws at her hand closest to its head, making her yank her hand back before its fangs could graze her fingers.

"Oh, now you've got some fighting energy!" Ashton exclaimed, getting a grin and giving the red brute a playful whack over the head. "You heard about me and Orochi- I'll throw hands with you too!"

"Gias!"

"That's right! Agi-yaaah!" Ashton replied, giving the beast a pat with one hand and fishing around in her backpack with the other. "Let's see here… We've got two bottomless pits and two little guys, no obligate carnivores, and no specialized herbivores, which makes this easy. You two each pick out an ingredient." She looked up to Dante and Rio and called, "Dante! Rio! Come pick a sandwich fixing!"

"Qua!"

"Char!"

The ball went rolling down the beach and into the sea without Rio to catch it after being kicked by Dante, the two smaller Pokémon scrambling over. Ashton spread her fixings out on the ground and, after telling the two dragons that they couldn't put everything on a sandwich, let each Pokémon take their pick of what to add. Koraidon nudged at some chorizo links, one of Orochi's heads snapped at bacon, Rio proudly pointed out avocado slices, Dante picked out chili sauce, and Ashton herself picked out some instant noodles just to see how it would taste. She enlisted the help of Rio to fill the instant noodle cup with water and Dante to heat it up, while one of Orochi's heads spit some embers to cook the meat. It was an interesting bunch of ingredients, to be sure… but it didn't seem bad in the slightest, all things considered.

It wasn't Arven's cooking, but it was certainly cooking- the dragons practically looked ready to fight over who got the first bite, and Dante and Rio lent their smaller hands and wings to arranging the ingredients. Rio very particularly arranged the avocado and bacon slices to cover the bottom half of the bread completely, and Dante gave a rather generous coating of chili sauce to the top half. Being careful to drain the water beforehand, Ashton plopped the noodles on one half and the chorizo links on the other, creating a hefty sandwich if ever there was one. Rio, of course, had to pick out and put in the sandwich pick, carefully sticking a gold pick right through the center with a brush of his coif to make the movement look even classier. With it completed, Ashton took out three plates (seeing as Orochi and Koraidon would probably just wolf their portions down in one bite) and set to cutting it, dividing it between the noodles and chorizo links.

"Alright, big guys, here's yours, so don't you try to steal anyone else's," she said, slicing the meat-filled half in two before holding a piece out in each hand.

Orochi and Koraidon, sure enough, went to scarf them down with such vigor that Ashton had to yank her hand back as fast as she could to avoid having it chomped too. In the time it took to simply blink, the sandwich portions were gone, disappearing into the abyss known as a Hydreigon's stomach and the bottomless pit that apparently Koraidon possessed too. Who had scarfed theirs down faster was impossible to tell.

"Gias!" Koraidon cried happily.

Orochi gave a contented growl, his main head breathing embers for a second.

Ashton laughed, cutting the other half into three pieces. "Well, I'm glad it gets your seal of approval."

Rio happily perched on the tablecloth next to Ashton to eat his, while Dante situated himself with his back to everyone as he nibbled on his. The blonde woman couldn't help but to be slightly amused by the Charcadet's antics but didn't protest, though she certainly had to wonder just what he was doing- surely he had a mouth, but it dawned on her that she'd never actually seen it. The sandwich was disappearing, that much was obvious whenever he pulled it away from his face for a moment, but where, precisely, it was going, she couldn't quite tell.

"Qua!" Rio exclaimed after taking a bite, fanning his beak with one wing. "Qua-qua!" (*Sheesh, that's hot!*)

Dante turned his head and added a somewhat pointed-sounding, "Chaaaaarrrrr?" (*Too hot for you to handle?*)

"Qua!" (*Not a chance!*)

As the Quaxwell took another bite, his eyes watered, but he gave his coif a suave slick while keeping a straight face. Dante blinked, not saying a word, then went back to his own sandwich. Maybe Ashton couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but the look on Rio's face was plenty enough to get a good idea- Dante had loaded the bread up with chili sauce to mess with the Quaxwell, and apparently it was working. She had no doubts that she was about to bite into something that might've made her breathe fire herself, but shrugged without a care and held it up to take a bite.

As she did, however, she felt something on her shoulder and quickly gave a shove with one hand. "Orochi, you-!" she exclaimed.

"Waaaaaa!"

…It wasn't Orochi trying to steal her sandwich, it was a Wattrel trying to steal her sandwich. The little avian went sprawling out in the sand, flapping her wings for a second and squawking in protest. Orochi apparently had noticed her already, for the Hydreigon darted closer and peered at her with the massive snout of his main head mere centimeters away from her eyes with his glowing red ones practically staring through her. Koraidon perked up, tilting its head sideways inquisitively, while Rio and Dante both glanced over in surprise. The Wattrel apparently didn't have a clue how to react, for she simply stayed there, sprawled out in the sand and staring up at Orochi.

The Hydreigon made a few gravelly sounds. (*Don't try to steal her food.*)

The Wattrel chirped back, surprisingly sounding chipper as could be. (*I was doing no such thing.~*)

(*You clearly were.*)

(*No, I wasn't.~*)

Ashton took notice and studied the Wattrel amusedly, piping up, "Leave her alone, Orochi."

The Hydreigon did so, to which the Wattrel picked herself up and waddled over to the human, jumping in her lap and looking up at the sandwich in her hands. Maybe it was an attempt to entice Ashton to share by using her big eyes, friend-shaped body, and fluffy feathers for all they were worth, but the human wasn't quite so convinced, especially when the Wattrel craned her neck up and grabbed it with her beak.

"Hey!" Ashton exclaimed, yanking it up. "You can't just waltz over and try to steal my snack!"

"Watt.~"

The bird gave a flap of her wings and jumped on Ashton's head, making the blonde woman give a cry of surprise and jump up, clutching her sandwich close to her chest as if it were something far more valuable. A set of Wattrel eyes peeked back at her, the bird craning her neck down to look Ashton in the eyes, to which Ashton shoved her off of her head whilst darting around in the sand to make landing on her again difficult. Rio and Dante noticed the scuffle and jumped up too, clutching their sandwiches tightly, while Koraidon watched their antics inquisitively and Orochi debated whether to blast their trouble-making company to the horizon with a Flash Cannon or not.

However, though the Wattrel may have been dissuaded from stealing Ashton's food, she certainly wasn't dissuaded from trying to steal anyone else's, landing next to Rio and reaching for what remained of his instead. A cry of "Qua!" and a swat with one of his wings made her back off… only for her to go straight for Dante instead. A louder cry of "Charrrrr!" came from the Charcadet as he shot off an Ember, pulling what remained of his sandwich out of her beak when she caught the edge. With a flap of her wings, the Wattrel instead landed on his head as the Ember went flying past, her head craning down as she tried again to reach the sandwich. Truly, she was quite persistent.

Ashton shook her head, crouching down and hollering a "Hey!" whilst holding out her sandwich. "Wattrel! Over here!"

That apparently got the bird's attention, for she left Dante alone and waddled over. "Waaa!" she cried, giving a happy flap of her wings.

The blonde woman, though, pulled it back slightly when her their mischievous company went to reach for it, saying, "Hang on! You want a sandwich too?"

The Wattrel's eyes narrowed slightly, and she didn't say anything, instead tilting her head sideways as if to ask Ashton if she was being serious.

"I'll share, on one condition," Ashton said, straightening herself out and taking a few steps backwards. She reached behind her and nuzzled Orochi under one of his smaller heads, which in turn playfully snapped at her neck, before carefully breaking her sandwich portion in half. "You have to get it from Orochi."

The Hydreigon caught on plenty well and opened his massive maw, where Ashton placed the sandwich piece with a wink. Rio and Dante perked up even more, turning to watch with intent expressions, while the Wattrel simply watched Ashton until she'd taken her hand out of Orochi's maw with the sandwich remaining inside.

"Qua-qua!" Rio cried, looking to Orochi. (*Chomp her!*)

"Chaaaaar!" Dante exclaimed, looking to the bird. (*Don't you be a coward!*)

Without missing a beat, the Wattrel gave a flap of her wings and landed in Orochi's maw, not even trying to be speedy about her exit. She didn't swoop the sandwich up in her beak and try to leave, no- she ate it right there, as if she wasn't in a position where a much bigger creature could chomp down on her in a split second. Ashton and the other Pokémon watched in stunned silence, not quite believing the complete disregard the Wattrel showed them.

"…Gias," Koraidon said simply.

"…Wow," Ashton too echoed the sentiments, shaking her head.

It didn't take long before the bird was flitting out of Orochi's mouth… and promptly landing on Ashton's head again. Ashton didn't even protest, simply staring back as the Wattrel craned her neck down to look her in the eyes. Of course, she didn't dare eat her sandwich either, knowing her avian company would probably just try to steal it the moment it got close enough for her beak to touch.

Orochi made some gravelly growling sounds. (*You do realize how easy it would've been to end you, don't you?*)

"Watt!" the bird chirped back. (*Sure do!*)

Ashton laughed, reaching up and nudging the Wattrel's feet with one hand until she was perching on her wrist. "You are gutsy!" she exclaimed, studying the Wattrel with a grin. "And I like that! What do you say- you wanna help us fight some huge Pokémon?!"

"Watt!" was the happy chirp back.

Ashton chuckled, crouching down and fishing in her bag again while taking a bite of her sandwich. "Alright then," she said after swallowing, "You need a ball. I've got a bunch of them- hey!"

The Wattrel herself jumped straight into her bag, immediately setting to rifling through it. Balls, potions, random items all alike went flying out, Ashton haplessly trying to grab them until the bag itself tipped over and more things went sprawling out of it onto the blanket. At that, the human gave up, letting the Wattrel poke around until she decided on an Ultra Ball, which she nudged towards Ashton with her beak.

"Matches your colors," Ashton acknowledged, picking it up and tapping the bird's head with it. One, two, three shakes later, and the ball held still, signifying a successful catch. Moments later, the Wattrel came back out, and Ashton gave her a friendly nuzzle under her beak too as she said, "Alright, you need a name. Are you a 'lazy name' kind of Wattrel? How does 'Wattsonia' sound?"

The Wattrel's eyes narrowed. "Waa?" she replied pointedly, as if asking Ashton whether she legitimately meant it.

"Not a hit," Ashton noted. "You're an Electric- and Flying-type, so maybe something simple like 'Stormy' or 'Tempest' could-"

"Watt!"

"You like one of those? Was it 'Stormy?'"

The bird's eyes narrowed, and she didn't respond.

Ashton eyed her back, getting a little smirk. "'Tempest?'" she repeated. "You like that one?"

A nod answered her. "Watt!"

Ashton chuckled. "Then welcome to the team, Tempest!"

"Watt!" the bird replied… then promptly gave a flap of her wings to land on Ashton's head again.

The human paused for a second, but nonetheless didn't protest, musing to no one in particular, "…Maybe I took it for granted that the last bird I had on my team was too big to sit on my head."

[***]

Tempest stayed perched on Ashton's head as they ventured some more, Rio and Dante perching on Koraidon's back and Ashton strolling alongside them while Orochi flew. Along a river they went, trekking up some highlands that lead to a rather big hill beside a larger pond. White windmills dotted the landscape, winding staircases snaking up to their tops, and further down the hilly landscape was a Pokémon Center. Chewtles snapped and Buizels played by the water, and overhead flew flocks of Swablus. The sky was clear, the air was pleasant, the ground was easily walked- had they not known what lurked somewhere in the hills, it would've been perfect camping terrain.

"Well, given that this next one is called the Open Sky Titan," Ashton mused as they trekked, "Something tells me this thing has a nest high up and likes to fly. That could make things interesting."

"Watt!" Tempest exclaimed, giving a happy flap from atop Ashton's head.

The blonde woman chuckled. "Oh, I know, Tempest- you can fly too." She looked to the brute of a Hydreigon next to her and said, "And so can you. I might need your help for this one." The inevitable playful snapping of a smaller head came, Ashton laughing as she swatted it away. "Awww, who's a bad boy~?" she cooed.

"Char," Dante piped up, waving one hand in the air.

"Qua," Rio said, giving his coif a swipe.

Ashton looked to the ones on Koraidon's back and said, "Don't you two worry. There's plenty of room on Orochi's back." Her eyes drifted to Koraidon too, giving the red brute a pat on its head. "Say, Koraidon. You don't have wings, but are you the type of dragon that can fly?"

The red dragon looked up at her for a moment, then looked back down and replied, "…Agia."

Ashton chuckled. "That's a yes," she noted. "You seem pretty durable, but making you jump off a cliff to try getting that ability back is something I'd definitely get yelled at for. So for right now, you just focus on getting your strength back, alright?"

The red dragon was less shy in its response and perked up again, crying, "Agi-yaaaah!"

"That's right!" Ashton shouted, pumping one fist in the air. "Agi-yaaa- ah, shoot!" She cut herself off when she realized her phone was ringing, quickly reaching into her pocket to retrieve it. She certainly recognized the caller, answering it and sticking it up to her ear with a, "What's up, Arven?"

"Yo, Ashton!" came Arven's voice on the other end. "If I'm not mistaken, I heard you and that brute yelling. You guys are in West Province Area One, around the mountain, right?"

Ashton laughed- perhaps she hadn't intended to project her voice so much, but it simply couldn't be helped, apparently. "Yeah, I'm here. Where the heck are you at, huh?"

"Further down by the Pokémon Center," he answered. "I needed to stock up and rest a little before I went any further. But from what I gather, seems like the Open Sky Titan lives somewhere up on this mountain… but there are all these crazy boulders raining down from the mountain, too! It's gonna be a little tricky to stand around and look for the Titan while dodging all those."

More laughter. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" she cheered, pumping one fist in the air. "Raining boulders while climbing a mountain!" She turned to her Pokémon, giving them big grins too. "You guys hear that?!"

A barrage of cries and roars was her answer, undoubtedly making the one on the other end of the phone get a hapless expression or roll his eyes. Orochi certainly wasn't fazed by such, and the smaller figures perched on Ashton or riding on Koraidon's back didn't seem to mind too much.

"Please don't get squashed by a boulder, Ashton," Arven flatly said on the other end of the phone. "Look, I trust you… but this is dangerous. I think you'll be sent flying if you get hit by a falling boulder- but maybe you could power your way through atop that brute of yours."

"Well, seeing as I have two brutes and you can count me as the third, I'm not too worried," Ashton brushed him off. "I'll give you a ring if I-!"

WHUMP!

A loud crashing sound from someplace further up graced their senses, and Ashton broke into a wild grin the moment she heard it. Orochi certainly wasn't wasting time, flying off towards the source of the sound, and the others perked up too.

Ashton giggled with glee, saying quickly, "And I think I just got a lead as to where it is! See you later, Arven!"

"Wait, hold on, you-!"

She hung up and stowed her phone away, not even bothering to pick up as it immediately began to ring again. "Everyone that isn't Koraidon, back in your balls or hold on tight!" she declared. "We've got a Titan to fight!"

"Qua!"

"Char!"

"Watt!"

Clearly, the smaller three weren't going anywhere, Rio and Dante jumping off Koraidon for a moment so she could get situated on its back. She scooted back a bit so Rio could sit in front of her and Dante in front of him, the Charcadet clutching Koraidon's neck and the Quaxwell clutching the Charcadet in turn while bracing himself with his back against Ashton's stomach. Tempest moved to Ashton's shoulder, nestled closely to her neck with her feet gripping the human tightly.

"Let's go, Koraidon," Ashton said with a smirk. "We can't let Orochi have all the fun! AGI-YAAAAAAH!"

"AGI-YAAAAAAAH!" Koraidon easily replied, dashing off.

In moments, they were tearing off up the mountainside, Ashton having to keep a vise-like grip on Koraidon's spurs to keep from falling off. Orochi was already vanishing around one bend in the path upwards, and from the way Koraidon was sprinting, it intended to catch up. Ashton glanced at the sky, and though she couldn't see a giant bird flying overhead, that didn't mean anything- it could've been roosting for a moment, or simply gliding someplace out of sight amongst the folds of the hills or branches of big trees.

Soon, though, she saw where the issue with the Titan came in- big, round boulders appeared fairly freshly buried in the ground as if dropped from up high, dirt with clumps of grass still stuck in them strung about at a distance around their perimeter. Anything underneath it likely would've been crushed beyond saving, and thankfully, it didn't seem roped off like a crime scene, so there had most likely been no casualties. Still, imagining such a big rock falling from the sky was frightening… to most anyone except Ashton.

"So that's what we're dealing with," she remarked upon seeing it. "Koraidon! You've got one thick skull- think you can handle one of those?"

"Agi-yaaaah!" the dragon cried back, glancing back with a nod for a moment.

"There we go!" Ashton cheered. "You'll be back to yourself in no time!"

Upwards they went, curving around the mountainside until a sight that certainly got the blood pumping met them- a boulder, then another after it, rolling down the path towards them. They weren't small, either, and they certainly weren't moving slowly.

"Alright!" Ashton hollered, gripping Koraidon's spurs tighter and a big grin gracing her face. "If you're afraid of getting smashed, back into your ball! Otherwise, show that rock who's boss, Koraidon!"

Multiple cries of affirmation came from the smaller Pokémon, not a single one ducking back into their ball. Koraidon too let out a roar, ducking its head down and rushing forward with as much brute strength as it could muster.

WHUMP!

The boulder split apart into pieces that went flying past as Koraidon dashed through them. Ashton hunkered down over the smaller ones in front of her to shield them from the rubble and Tempest hunkered in closer to her as well, a few pieces of rock grazing the blonde woman's face or bouncing off her back, but she didn't mind. Koraidon shook its head a bit, shaking off some pebbles lodged in its plume but largely appearing fine even if slightly dazed.

"There's a mighty king going for the title again!" Ashton exclaimed. "Dodge this next one, use your speed!"

"Agi-yaaah!"

Koraidon did just that, dashing out of the way of the next one that came rolling. Down the mountain the boulder went, crashing into another set of big rocks poking out of the ground before stopping. Another loud whump came from further up, which Ashton had to guess was her Hydreigon smashing a boulder. Her guess was confirmed not long after with big, scattered pieces of rock littering the ground that Koraidon jumped over.

WHUMP! WHUMP!

Based on the way the ground shook and smaller pieces of rock rained down soon thereafter, followed by a loud roar that Ashton felt as much as she heard, it didn't take much effort to deduce that Orochi had found the Titan. Koraidon swerved as the rubble rained down and gave another strong dash to break a boulder that came rolling at them, Ashton's grin growing even wider. Koraidon quickly slowed down and slid to a halt, for they found themselves atop a plateau overlooking the landscape below. Giant rocks littered the sides and the ground had indents likely coming from them being dropped, but much more eye-catching was one gigantic figure that, like Titan Klawf, was even bigger than the already immense Orochi. The mostly white plumage, fanciful plume, and feather apron told them what they were looking at- a Bombirdier, and a huge one. In its apron was a frighteningly large rock which it flung at Orochi, the Hydreigon Dragon Rushing right into it to shatter it.

WHUMP!

The pieces rained down, the Hydreigon flying in front of Ashton and Koraidon to bat aside a bigger chunk with his main head. Ashton shielded the smaller figures for a moment, but soon enough, her other Pokémon were jumping off Koraidon and off of her shoulder, shaking their hands and wings up at the sky.

The giant bird, on the other hand, seemed to be smirking, letting out something of a mix between a squawk and a cackle. "Sto-o-o-ork!"

"Let's go," Ashton declared, jumping off Koraidon too and crawling on Orochi's back. "Dante, you come with me, and Tempest, you follow along! Rio, get Worked Up!"

"Char!"

"Watt!"

"Qua-qua!"

The Charcadet jumped on Orochi's back, Ashton pulling him up closer with one hand, while Rio started stomping and squawking in place. Tempest flew along too as Orochi took off, and the Titan certainly seemed inclined to cause them all trouble as it flapped its wings and rushed for them in a Wing Attack. Orochi swiftly flew out of the way and Tempest darted the other direction, but Rio apparently had other ideas even as Koraidon leaped out of the way. The Quaxwell went for an Aqua Jet, which hit fairly easily on account of the Bombirdier's huge size making it hard to miss, but all the same, the momentum the Titan carried with its huge body slammed him into the rocks behind him with a thud.

"Quaaaaa…!" Rio fussed.

Apparently the Bombirdier's attack had two purposes- trying to land a hit and getting close to another stash of rocks. It grabbed the end of its apron with its beak and slung its fold over a boulder, swooping it up and flapping its wings to take off with it. Maybe it took a moment to gain enough lift, but its feet and the boulder both were leaving the ground soon enough.

"Tempest, go for a Thunder Shock!" Ashton called. "Dante, you go for Will-O-Wisp!"

Her Pokémon had no trouble doing so, Tempest sending a volley of sparks and Dante a sinister blue wisp… but all the same, the Titan sent its giant rock, which ended up taking the sparks and flames. Tempest flapped her wings to narrowly dodge, but Orochi, on the other hand, smashed right through it, Ashton grabbing hold of Dante so the Charcadet wasn't thrown off by the force. Rocky fragments went raining down, some landing on the mountain and others tumbling towards the pond on one side.

Even so, the Titan still seemed to laugh. "Sto-o-o-o-o-ork!" it cackled, its eyes glinting with mischief. "Stork, sto-o-o-o-ork!"

…Whatever it was saying seemed to get the attention of Dante and Tempest, for the two of them were shortly letting out flustered cries. The Charcadet shook one hand in the air with his flames burning brighter as he did so, and Tempest's voice was more of a squawk than a chirp. Even Orochi let out a growl, his smaller heads snapping and main head snarling. It hadn't been directed at Rio, but the Quaxwell didn't seem to catch it regardless, for he was still working himself up on the rocks. Koraidon certainly wasn't fazed, still watching everything with inquisitive but ever-so-slightly concerned eyes.

"Hey, you snarky little-! You guys!" Ashton started but cut herself off.

Clearly, the Titan had enraged her company, for Tempest and Dante both started to throw out every move they possibly could. The Charcadet sent an Ember, then a Clear Smog, while Tempest went for a Quick Attack followed by a Pluck. Orochi wasn't exactly taking part in the battle, but Ashton had no doubts that he was thinking about how wondrous of a time he could have gnawing on a Titan.

"…Torment," her voice trailed off. "You sly little devil…"

Clearly, the Bombirdier was banking on the resulting rage, for it slammed Tempest with a Wing Attack when she got close and ducked out of the way of Dante's Ember but couldn't quite avoid the smoggy cloud that came afterwards. It flapped its wings to scatter it, but still, the giant avian was making squawking sounds and blinking its eyes in irritation.

Ashton wasn't going to waste the opening. "Thunder Shock, Tempest!" she hollered.

"Waaaatt!"

Another flurry of volts rained down on the Bombirdier, and trying to shield itself with its wings proved to be wholly ineffective. A flustered squawk escaped its beak, and it went for another Wing Attack, albeit aimed at Orochi and the ones on his back instead.

"Go for a Will-O-Wisp!" Ashton said to the Charcadet beside her.

"Char!"

As the Hydreigon darted upwards and out of the way, Dante sent a blue flame the Titan's way, which caught it on the back of its wing and elicited a squawk of discomfort. Flapping its wing had probably become much more troublesome, and Tempest too saw an opportunity and went, her body dancing with volts before she went for a Spark, slamming her electrified body into the Bombirdier's chest. Another squawk followed, and apparently the Titan was going for a different tactic, for it turned towards the rocks again and flew for them.

"Rio!" Ashton called down to her Quaxwell. "Aqua Jet!"

"Qua-qua!"

Too quick for the Titan to react and as it was swooping up another boulder, the Quaxwell became enveloped in water and turned into a blur as he rushed into the Bombirdier's legs, knocking it off balance. Its wings flapped and its apron slipped off the rock as it tumbled over, tripping and falling onto its side. A cry of protest came from Rio too, for he found himself covered by the Titan's tail feathers.

"Alright, let's finish it off," Ashton said.

Orochi dove down for the plateau and both she and Dante jumped off the dragon's back, Tempest likewise fluttering down to be closer. However, the Bombirdier didn't stay down for long, and before Rio could get another hit in after disentangling himself from its giant tail feathers, it was up and flapping again, darting for the other side of the plateau. It didn't try to pick up boulders, it didn't try to fly away- rather, it seemed it was going to carve more boulders out of the mountain, for when its massive beak pecked at the mountainside, part of it gave way. Maybe she couldn't see clearly inside, but there was certainly a green glow coming from within a hollow space in the mountainside.

Ashton started to grin. "Oh, just what are you up to?"

However, at that moment, another familiar voice added to the mix, and a certain humanities student with a knack for sandwich-making came darting onto the plateau too. "Ashton!" Arven called. "You really did manage to find the Titan, huh- wait a second!" He took notice of their surroundings, and the very large pieces of rock scattered about. "Is this Titan what's been dropping all those boulders?!"

Ashton laughed, giving a playful wave from the cliff's edge. "Was it really that difficult to determine?" she hollered back with a smirk.

Arven blinked, glancing between her and the Titan. "I was lucky enough to be able to sneak up here because it had all its attention on you, little bud!" he exclaimed, getting slightly wide-eyed.

More laughter followed. "Well, it kinda- AGH-!"

The Titan, however, apparently had plenty of rubble in its apron from smashing a hole in the wall, and it turned around to fling it at Ashton and her teammates. Dante and Tempest were small enough to miss and Orochi was big enough to not care, but the blonde woman, on the other hand, was just the right size to be knocked off the edge by a stray chunk of rock. Arven's eyes shot wide as her feet left the plateau's surface and gravity started to work against her, but Ashton… though her expression was surprised, somehow, she was still grinning, even as her figure vanished below the edge of the plateau's upper surface.

"ASHTON!" the lad hollered, his eyes horrified. In moments, he was darting to the edge of the cliff, worried about just what he might see.

"Agi-yaaaaah!" Koraidon too let out a cry.

The rest of her smaller teammates likewise let out cries of concern and went rushing over to the edge, but Orochi, on the other hand, didn't seem worried and simply flew down after her. The Titan, however, wasn't wasting time, and instead turned to Arven, quickly becoming enveloped in a bright green glow that made the lad shield his eyes. With a thud, the beast landed in front of him, cutting him off from the edge of the plateau where Ashton had fallen and studying him with almost mocking eyes.

"Sto-o-o-o-ork," the Bombirdier made a laughing sound.

The lad froze up for a moment, then haphazardly reached for a ball, saying hesitantly, "Urgh, why is it always like this…!"

Author's Note

Azakael: Tempest's characteristics came from me watching my own birds perpetually getting into stuff. If I had a dime for every instance of me leaving the room for ten seconds and coming back to my laptop shut off, a million different web pages open, an obscure Icelandic town mysteriously pulled up on Google, cords strung out the doorway, pens on the floor, the sound of tiny footsteps audible but no bird in sight, someone perching on the curtain rods where I can't reach, or an honest-to-goodness nest in my laundry pile, I'd be rich. Every single time I catch them in the act, they just sit there and look at me, going silent for a few seconds before running over and vocalizing as if nothing was ever amiss. Make no mistake, I love them dearly like my own flesh and blood… but the only god they worship is chaos.

TheDragonSaver: I've met Azakael's birds before, and they are as chaotic as she describes lol.

Bombirdier is one of those Pokemon designs you see and go "Huh, I'm surprised they haven't done that one yet." Gen 9 as a whole seems to hit a lot of new ideas for Pokemon like that: storks, dolphins, cars, and others.

Originally there was going to be a scene with Arashi and Ashton running into each other since one of the Team Star bases is nearby where you fight the Titan Bombirdier, but what I came up with ruined the flow of the rest of the chapter, so I left it out. Arashi is going to get his own BIG chapter soon, though, so look out for that!