"Have you had enough to drink?!" Andrew yelled. He sat on the edge of his seat, staring at Magnanimous.
The Dragonite sat on the floor and drank from a glass that looked comically tiny in his hand. His claws were each half the size of the cup. He held it loosely, slowly letting the water drip into his mouth so as not to break the delicate item.
"Well?" Andrew pestered, scowling.
Magnanimous let out a satisfied grunt. He carefully placed the glass on Andrew's desk. "All done! Now where were we?"
"The fight goddamnit!"
He chuckled. "Of course. The big fight…"
The task force and the group of Resistance Pokemon had each formed a battle line. On the Banette's command, the two groups rushed each other. The bodies of the Pokemon blurred into light. No longer were they defined shapes, merely blurs of pure, unbridled fury.
Magnanimous found himself in front of the Cubone and the Squirtle. The Cubone looked up at him with beady, angry eyes.
"My mother died to a Greenscarf. Funny how that works out."
Magnanimous frowned. "I'm so sorry! I always thought that Cubones having dead mothers was a stereotype."
Ignoring his remark, the creature dashed between Magnanimous' legs. The Cubone clawed at his tail before hoisting himself up onto it. Magnanimous tried to shake him off, but he dug his claws between the scales and into the flesh, taking a painful hold of him.
The stabbing pain in the Dragonite's tail began to climb higher and higher. The Cubone laughed with each claw that dug in to allow his ascent. But Magnanimous almost felt bad for the poor creature. How couldn't he? Sure, the Cubone was trying to kill him and had potentially murdered other Pokemon in the past… but he lost his mother!
"Who cares? Sounds like he was asking for it," the Marshtomp remarked, rolling his eyes.
"Andrew," Magnanimous paused. "That's not a very nice thing to say."
The Marshtomp turned his head and huffed. "He tried to kill you. If you died, I wouldn't get to hear this story."
The Dragonite shook his head, opting not to offer a response.
Magnanimous tried to grab the Cubone but was unable to reach the creature, his arms too short to reach the center of his large torso. The Cubone was halfway up his back. Magnanimous felt sharp pain spreading upward and the stream of blood flowing down his back and tail, creating a river of red down his spine.
"Yow!" the Dragonite shouted, stomping his legs and continuing to shake his tail. However in his distraction, Magnanimous was unable to notice the Squirtle reeling his head back.
And just when things couldn't get any worse, a ridiculously powerful jet of water was launched toward Magnanimous. The liquid blasted into his face, pushing it back. A searing, sharp pain shot through his neck as he let out an angered grunt.
Suddenly, the pain in Magnanimous' back vanished. Fire ignited in his eyes as they fell on the small, insignificant Squirtle. His assailant maintained a stoic expression with narrowed eyes and stood with one foot back in a fighting position.
Allowing none of this, the Dragonite swung his leg back and slammed it straight into the Squirtle like si he had done to the Luxio. Gravity released its hold on the Squirtle as he flew into the air.
The Squirtle let out a shrill yell. He flailed his limbs as he neared the ceiling. There was a horrible crunching as the turtle collided with the surface, his shell punching a hole in it.
The fighting and commotion below ceased for a moment before the Squirtle began to descend. He fell quickly toward the ground like a crashing boulder. The turtle hit the ground, causing another cracking sound as horrid as the last, again coming from the Pokemon's shell. He tried to stand but barely managed to get on his legs before releasing a cry of pain. He fell back to the ground on his stomach, succumbing to his injuries with another groan.
Magnanimous pried his attention off the Squirtle to focus on his other assailant. He became aware of the Cubone still climbing up his back again.
"Did you see what happened to your friend?" Magnanimous shouted as he reached out in a desperate attempt to pull the Cubone off his back. "Don't make me hurt you! We can still do this peacefully."
But the Cubone showed no interest in backing down as he climbed onto the Dragonite's head, claws still buried in his flesh. Magnanimous shook his head violently with swift, unpredictable motions, hoping the Cubone would lose his hold. The Cubone raised his bone in defiance… and slammed it down to strike him.
"Ow! That wasn't very nice!" he spat.
Rage built up inside of him. He could feel his heart racing, his muscles tensing, and adrenaline rushing through his veins. The Cubone brought down the bone yet again. Stars began to dot the Dragonite's vision. It hurt. It hurt Magnanimous. The Cubone…
The Cubone—
Was hurting him.
That was enough.
Without warning, Magnanimous leaped into the air. He beat his wings vigorously, allowing him to reach the ceiling in seconds. Before the Cubone—and Magnanimous for that matter—knew what was happening, it was too late.
Another loud crack, similar in pitch to the one of the ceiling, resounded throughout the room. The Cubone's skull-helmet shattered as his head was rammed into the surface. Magnanimous felt small bits of it rolling down his head and onto the ground.
Plink, plink, plink, like dropping coins into a fountain.
The collision had left neither the Cubone nor Magnanimous unharmed. Being forced against the ceiling had forced the Cubone's toe-claws deeper into Magnanimous' flesh. Magnanimous couldn't quite tell what effect the impact had on the Cubone.
"I'm not sure if he was dazed by the collision or just in a lot of pain. I'd sure be pretty sore if I'd hit the ceiling like that, though."
The two continued struggling despite the impact, the Cubone tearing into Magnanimous—even greater pain was setting off alarm bells in the Dragonite's head.
It was time to end the fight.
Without another thought, the Dragonite whipped his head to the side.
That was too much for the small Pokemon. He lost his grip, his claws finally detaching from Magnanimous' ailing flesh. Blood spewed out from the wounds on his head in a far greater amount than any of the others.
The Cubone was falling. Magnanimous wasn't able to catch a glimpse of his face but he saw the Pokemon's limbs flailing erratically and without reason, like the Squirtle's had. The Dragonite wondered what the expression on his face was. Anger? Fear? Loss? Not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things. The Cubone would hit the ground either way.
"I'm not going to say what sound it made. I feel like it'd be… disrespectful," Magnanimous remarked.
Andrew's eyes widened, a depraved smile creeping across his face. "Did he splat?"
"That's one way to put it," he sighed.
The Marshtomp let out a happy, joyful squeal, clasping his flippers together. "This is so cool! Keep going."
Magnanimous slowly eyed the corpse on the ground—or at least, the way the Cubone's body was sprawled out suggested to him it was a corpse. It was a bit blurry from how high up he was, but he possessed no desire to get a closer look.
Magnanimous closed his eyes. Did that Cubone have a family? Did he have friends, a life, one which he had just selfishly taken away?! Yes, probably. But the Cubone was trying to kill Magnanimous! What other choice did he have?
Andrew rolled his eyes. "You don't have to justify killing him to me! I'm quite fine with it."
"...Yeah, the Dragonite murmured, breaking eye contact for a moment. "You've made that pretty clear."
Despite Magnanimous' victory, the fighting continued. The Sceptile—much to his worry—had been stuck fighting the Scorbunny. Despite the Sceptile's size, Magnanimous knew the type disadvantage was dire. The Sceptile was forced to dodge fireballs, unable to land a hit as she lunged at the Scorbunny. He hopped away and launched a barrage of fire whenever the Sceptile got close.
The Rhydon had been cornered by the Brionne and Stufful. Luckily, the Brionne's swords were ineffective as his strikes bounced off the Rhydon's thick rocky skin. The Brionne then hopped around on his tail before shooting small bursts of water. Unfortunately, his water attacks were super effective against the rhino. If they weren't in a critical fight, Magnanimous would have even laughed at the sight; She had quite impressive mobility.
The Stufful was also surprisingly quick on his feet, headbutting the Rhydon before quickly retreating. It was quite an infuriating sight to see. Magnanimous decided the Rhydon needed his help more than the Sceptile. Without a second thought, he dove down and landed beside her.
"Need some help?" he asked, jerking his neck to the side and cracking it.
She took a step back and grimaced. "You could say that."
The Brionne thrusted a sword in the air toward Magnanimous. "How dare you interfere! Does this Dragonite dare question our honor?!"
The Stufful let out a series of grunts. The Brionne nodded, signaling some level of understanding. "Yes, I couldn't agree more. Just a hiccup—indeed!"
"Did you see what I did to that Squirtle? And… that Cubone," he uttered as his head fell. "It didn't end too well…"
"All the more reason to avenge them!" the Brionne proclaimed before launching himself forward with his tail.
It took Magnanimous a second to realize what was happening. After snapping out of his gloom he lurched to the side, able to dodge the Brionne trying to drive his sword straight into his knee. But the Dragonite wasn't fast enough to miss the blow entirely—the sword grazed his leg and sliced through the skin.
The Dragonite clenched his fangs, stifling the urge to cry out in pain. The Brionne lunged for the Rhydon next and struck him with his sword, but like before it had no effect, resulting only in a loud clang of metal. However, Magnanimous was distracted long enough for the Stufful to rush in and headbutt the back of his leg, catching him off guard.
A wave of surprisingly powerful pain spread throughout his leg. It was like getting hit with a metal pipe. He turned to see the Stufful running behind the Brionne, who was behind the Rhydon.
She was having none of this.
At that moment, Magnanimous couldn't quite place why the Rhydon had been unable to beat the two Pokemon. She stomped her foot against the ground. It began to rumble like an earthquake, causing even the Dragonite to stumble to stay upright despite his large and sturdy stature.
Annoyed growls and yelps came from the opposing Pokemon. Thumps and bangs resounded through the room as many Pokemon lost their balance, the group falling to the ground like a house of cards would. Miraculously the Stufful managed to remain on his feet. However the Brionne, with lesser balance from standing on his tail, promptly fell face-first onto the floor.
Magnanimous burst out laughing. The Brionne had fallen flat on the ground… flat like a pancake! He couldn't stifle or hide his amusement. But the scene turned far less humorous as the Rhydon drove her fist straight down into the Brionne's stomach.
He let out a loud gasp, all of the air had instantly been knocked out of his lungs. The Brionne tried to catch his breath, but it was no use as another fist dropped down on him…
And another.
…And Another.
And one more for good measure.
The Brionne coughed and blood bubbled up and seeped from his mouth. Magnanimous had to look away. It was a sight like the Cubone—albeit less gruesome—but the result was not to Magnanimous' tastes.
As the Dragonite averted his gaze, he caught sight of something else: the Stufful.
His eyes were wild and full of panic. It wasn't against Magnanimous' expectations really, considering he had just watched his friend get beat nearly to death. Suddenly and with a fierce, suicidal look of determination, the Stufful charged at Magnanimous.
Magnanimous jumped just before the Stufful could make contact with his leg. He gracefully ascended into the air, then shifted his weight down and descended quicker than even he could expect…
Crack!
Magnanimous looked at Andrew, a frown forming on his snout. "I didn't want to hurt any of them! I really didn't! But every turn, every move they made, it was like they were trying to get killed. It's not my fault I'm so big!"
"It's no big deal, can't you see that?" Andrew asked as he leaned forward. "Magnaneemoos—"
"Magnanimous."
"...I value your heroism. And you're right! They tried to take over my city. They did their whole revolt to spite me. Killing Resistance members is no different than killing criminals; Sometimes you've got to get your hands dirty!"
As he stood in the wake of his crushing attack, Magnanimous felt a fuzzy, soft texture under his foot. He slowly turned his gaze downward.
The Stufful laid limp beneath his foot.
Slowly Magnanimous raised it, now seeing the flattened Stufful. His back had been deformed where the Dragonite's foot was. It caved downard, forcibly molded into an arch.
"Uh… sorry," Magnanimous murmured, quickly looking away from the broken Pokemon.
The Stufful let out a low groan. He didn't move at all; Magnanimous was unsure if he was even able to anymore.
The Rhydon walked up and pumped a fist into the air. "Good going, big guy! Way to show that guy who's boss!"
Magnanimous decided now probably wasn't the best time to mention how crushing the Stufful was completely unintentional. He took one last glance at the creature, pity filling his eyes. The Stufful couldn't even move his head up to see Magnanimous' look of sympathy. However, his remorse and self-pity were cut short.
Somehow the Brionne had gotten back up. He wobbled on his flippers and stuck out his blade toward Magnanimous.
"Dragonite! Look what you've done! D-Do you kn-know what you have done?!" he screeched. "I'll kill you!"
The Rhydon snorted. "Not if I kill you first."
She dashed over to the Brionne, who in turn began to charge at Magnanimous. She curled her claws into a fist. She swung her arm, which connected in one fell swoop with the Brionne's injured jaw. He let out a shrill howl, just as horrible as the other sounds Magnanimous had to endure.
That was all the Brionne could take.
His eyelids threw themselves shut as his pinniped body began to reel and stumble backward, his ability to keep his balance rapidly deteriorating. The Brionne's tail left the ground and in an instant, he landed on his back with a hard thump. He went still, though, his chest was still rising and falling.
Magnanimous smiled at the Rhydon. "Good job. Now we can go deal with—"
"I'm not done!" she interrupted.
The Rhydone stomped over to the unconscious Brionne. She grabbed his body, raising it above her head.
Magnanimous narrowed his eyes. "Wh-What are you doing?"
She seethed and concentrated on his chest… before driving her horn straight through the Brionne's body.
The horn sliced straight through his skin, instantly impaling him. Magnanimous could only watch as a ring of blood formed around and seeped from the incision. The Brionne began to violently cough, ejecting large splotches of blood from his mouth. Some of it splashed onto the Rhydon.
"Ew," she muttered, a look of disgust on her face, before tossing the Brionne onto the ground. A pool of blood began to well up around him.
Magnanimous began to fume—on, not just fume. Rage. And not rage like battling the Cubone caused him, not at all. An absolute, blind, pure rage.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, fury in his eyes. He stomped the ground, causing it to slightly quake.
The Rhydon didn't even bat an eye. "He wasn't dead. Duh."
"He was unconscious! He wasn't a threat anymore!"
She gave the Brionne's bloodied body a light kick, drawing more blood from his wounds. "He could have become conscious. Guess you could've stomped him like you did that Stuffel, but I took initiative."
Magnanimous was so furious he couldn't think straight, that answer only upset him further. Taking initiative?! She just killed him! Maybe if something different had been said—just maybe, Magnanimous would have a better sense of self-control.
He lurched forward and threw a strong, rapid punch at the Rhydon, letting out a yell as his fist came close. Without looking Magnanimous in the eye, she jerked to the side effortlessly, dodging and causing his punch to hit the air.
"What in Arceus' name are you doing?!" the Rhydon cried, clearly taken aback. "Are you some sort of sleeper agent?"
He panted. The weight of his actions began to weigh on him—
"You better not be some sort of sleeper agent!" warned Andrew in interruption, pointing a finger at the Dragonite. "I don't want to have to fight you. I'd win too easily."
The Dragonite cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, I'm really tough. Like, I'd drop-kick you. Seriously."
Magnanimous nodded in concession, a deadpan expression on his face. "Alright. Whatever you say."
"S-Sorry," the Dragonite stammered as held an arm out to the Rhydon. "I got mad that you killed him."
She huffed, rolling her eyes at the gesture. "Know your enemies, man. Control your anger, don't let it control you."
"Y-Yeah. Can do," he whispered.
Their relative peace would be short-lived. The Meowstic, chased by a rain of shadow balls, was sprinting toward them. She leaped and seemed to bounce around on the air itself, through some sort of psychic force. She was being tailed by the Banette, who was careening through the air.
"Get back here!" the Banette yelled. "You're only delayin' the inevitable!"
The Meowstic continued to run and evade. Magnanimous threw himself over and slashed a claw at her, but his hand struck and stopped against something invisible, some psychic barrier. She effortlessly jumped over his arm. The Dragonite let out an angered grunt as he shifted to the side, the shower of shadow balls flying his way—The Banette didn't seem to care enough to avoid hitting him.
With a leap Magnanimous launched himself, safely staying out of their path. But so too were the other Pokemon, who were now too far away for him to attack.
Magnanimous scanned the room, looking at where the Emboar had been… only to find him lying on the ground. His flame beard still burned—albeit dimly—signifying he was still alive but far from conscious. The Pawmot and Minccino were running away from his body and quickly approaching the Sceptile, who was fighting the Scorbunny and the sword-wielding Floragato.
To put it bluntly, things weren't looking great. Magnanimous was exhausted. The worst of his bleeding had stopped, but his back was still covered in cuts and dried blood. His leg suffered from a pulsing ache. His arms and legs felt like weak, floppy noodles.
"A little help?!" the Sceptile shouted frantically, dodging the millionth fireball in the Scorbunny's barrage.
Magnanimous eyed the Rhydon. "Go see if Mister Emboar is okay. Get him somewhere safe, please."
"Get him somewhere safe?!" she blurted, stomping her foot. "I'm a fighter, not a medic!"
"JUST DO AS I SAY!" Magnanimous boomed, fury and desperation in his eyes.
The Rhydon didn't argue. With a nod, she hastily trotted over to the Emboar.
Magnanimous ran over to the Sceptile—not looking back—so focused on his task that he didn't even hear her yell echo through the room.
Suddenly, a burning pain erupted on his shin. He looked down. A small part of his scales had turned a bright, blistering red. From the corner of his eye, he saw another fireball hit right next to the red spot.
"Hey!" he shouted. His gaze fell on the Scorbunny, who wore a sly smirk.
The Dragonite groaned. This was getting tiresome—and quite frankly, he was ready to curl up in bed and forget this ever happened.
He began to stomp over to the Scorbunny, purposely bashing the ground as hard as he could to hopefully make the fire type lose his balance. He dodged a fireball and another… Did the Pokemon have any other attacks? Regardless, it made it easier for Magnanimous to predict and evade his moves.
Right before he could go in for the kick, however, a Pokemon dashed in front of him.
It was the Floragato. Unlike the Brionne—Arceus rest his soul—and his ridiculous swords held to his flippers with bandages, the Floragto was more precise with the weapon in her paws. She twisted it around, swapping it between hands.
"Policeman!" she shouted in a low voice as she pointed the sword up at him. "This Scorbunny here, he's just a baby! You wouldn't attack a baby Pokemon, would you?"
"Kid?" he growled, his voice more gravelly and irritated. "I just want to be done with this. You're a tiny Pokemon with a stupid sword, you aren't beating me. I'm going to give you one, and I mean just one, chance to stand done before I hand you your tail."
"My tail?" she laughed. "We'll see who's tail is getting handed to them."
The Floragato charged toward Magnanimous's leg, with her sword in hand and pointed ahead. The Dragonite tried to sidestep her but he wasn't quick enough to react. The sword sliced into his leg without so much as a sound.
"OWWW!" he hollered at the top of his lungs.
An excruciating pain stronger than any he had felt before shot through his leg. He could feel the metal digging underneath his scales. Every individual scale, every piece of tissue, and every part of muscle it had cut cried out in agony. It was like his leg was on fire—no, far worse. It was like his leg was being ripped from the inside out.
While Magnanimous was distracted, the Floragato grabbed onto the hilt of her sword and tried to pull it out of Magnanimous' skin.
She kept pulling.
Magnanimous' rage flared up again. It was one thing to try to club his head or cut his legs. But stab him? No, no, no! Any kindness in his soul he had tried to project completely dissipated.
Sheer fury and shock caused the Dragonite to flinch. He had paused, practically paralyzed by what was ultimately a minor injury. He wondered what the Floragato would decide to do. Launch another attack? Get out of the way of his inevitable counterattack?
Nope. She kept pulling at the sword, trying to stubbornly pry it from his scales.
Magnanimous swung back his injured leg. And with great force—great enough to halt a stampede of Tauros—he launched his leg straight into the Floragato's chest.
She yelped as she went flying, though her course followed more of a horizontal line. The Floragato flew twice her height upward into the air, but traveled the length of the entire fifty-foot room…
"If it's okay with you Andrew, I'm not going to describe what she looked like when she hit the wall… and what her remains looked like when they slid down to the floor a few minutes later," Magnanimous remarked, looking at the ground.
Andrew groaned, throwing his head back. "C'mon! I have to know what she looked like for important government reasons!"
"If you must know," the Dragonite sighed as he shook his head. "You know how I mentioned pancakes earlier? They're this new food that—"
"Yeah, I know what pancakes are goddamnit," Andrew humphed.
Magnanimous tapped his head with a claw. "The best way I can describe what she looked like is a pancake. She—She hit the wall pretty hard. I do feel sort of bad about it. Continuing on…"
Magnanimous was able to pull the sword out from his leg with ease, though it was not a remotely pleasant process. It was like being stabbed again but in reverse. His body rewarded his efforts to relieve it of a weapon with excruciating pain, and what seemed like gallons of blood spewing out.
Aside from the Meowstic being pursued by the Banette, three Pokemon remained before Magnanimous, the Pawmot and Minccino. Their clothing was torn, ruffled, and stained with blood. The Pawmot's leather jacket did look kind of cool all torn up…
Oddly enough, they didn't seem eager to fight him. Even though Magnanimous struggled to stand up straight, the two of them didn't approach or attack him. Blood was still trickling out from his wound. Using all his remaining might, he limped over to the two Pokemon.
The Dragonite's shadow covered the Pawmot and Minccino in a coat of darkness as he towered over them. He tightened his claws into fists. Slowly, he bent down and looked them in the eyes.
"I am going to give you one chance," Magnanimous hissed. Saliva dripped from his maw. He gave a toothy, wide smile. "I've lost track of how many poor Pokemon I've killed today. You have five seconds. Five."
They didn't move.
"Four," he continued, rising back to his full height.
The Pawmot and Minccino exchanged glances. The Mincinno nodded, and the Pawmot whispered something too quiet for the Dragonite to hear.
"Three."
The Mincinno glanced at the door before pulling at the other Pokemon's paw in an attempt to get him to go with her.
"Two."
The Mincinno bolted. She ran at a lightning-quick speed, running halfway across the room in seconds. Magnanimous could hardly believe his eyes. She slipped behind the exit—and just like that—was gone.
Magnanimous realized that he had just taken his gaze off the Pawmot long enough for the creature to prepare and land an attack. He looked back down, but instead of finding the Pawmot holding a weapon or charging an attack, he was trembling.
His body was shaking so vigorously it was as though he was shivering in a blizzard. Magnanimous almost felt sorry for the creature. The Dragonite smiled again, raising his tail up and thumping it against the ground.
"One."
Like the Minccino, he was gone in a flash. It seemed he had run even faster than she had; Magnanimous turned to see him zigzagging between the Meowstic and Banette, who were still somehow fighting each other. He quickly disappeared from sight and out the door. Not a drop of blood, not a strand of fur, not a single thing could attest that he was ever there.
Magnanimous felt relieved. Maybe he had spared some lives today after all.
He looked to where the Scorbunny had been. The Rhydon had somehow slipped by him and was now next to the Sceptile. The Scorbunny lay on the ground, unconscious. He had an enormous bruise on his head, however, no blood was leaking from it. That was good for Magnanimous because even though the Floragato was taunting him, Magnanimous really didn't want to kill a baby—or even an adolescent—which the Scorbunny looked to be.
Finally, the remaining Pokemon turned their gazes to the Banette and Meowstic. Against Arceus' will, and against the very laws of physics, they were still flying around. The Banette was manifesting and throwing down shadow balls. For each one that flew at her, the Meowstic swerved to the side or jumped over it.
It was a vicious cycle. The two Pokemon had begun to slow down, but the Banette was succumbing to fatigue, painting with a weary look in his eye. His shots were becoming sporadic and off-target. The Meowstic didn't have to dodge due to how far off course some of them were.
His speed was also suffering, as before she had been barely inches behind the Meowstic. Now, he was several feet behind, with the gap only growing.
Magnanimous tried to run after them and intervene, but his attempt was immediately met with a searing pain shooting through his thigh.
"For the love of Arceus!" he called out, eyeing the other two conscious Pokemon. "We have to do something. If you can get them over here, I can maybe hit the Meowstic."
Suddenly, the Meowstic craned her neck and locked eyes with Magnanimous. "No need! I'll come over myself."
She began hopping through the air over toward them. The Banette remained in pursuit until, suddenly—
Thwack!
He ran into an invisible wall, his whole body striking the barrier at once. The Meowstic paused before slowly turning to look at the Banette. He slid down the barrier and onto the ground. He panted loudly as his chest heaved.
"C-Can't… anymore," he wheezed before rolling onto his back.
The Meowstic began to strut over to Magnanimous, the Sceptile, and the Rhydon. It was as though she were walking normally, except for how she was floating five feet in the air. Her steps elicited a light, rhythmic patter as though her feet were hitting the ground.
As she grew closer Magnanimous could see a faint blue glow in her eyes.
"Well, well, well, it appears we're the last Pokemon left!" she laughed, putting her paws on her hips. "You've really roughed the place up."
The Rhydon growled. "If you're gonna fight us, then do it. I don't have all day."
"You want me to… fight you? Sounds a bit barbaric, correct?" the Meowstic asked with a sly grin.
"Dude," the Sceptile groaned, giving her an exasperated glare.
Magnanimous' bleeding was beginning to slow. His leg felt a little better, although not good enough for any excessive movement. Regardless, he stepped forward.
"We'd be happy to accept your surrender. Nobody else has to get hurt. Those two Pokemon who ran understood that."
"I don't care much for cowards. And please understand, I can hardly be considered one," the Meowstic said before raising her arms. The blue glow from her eyes enveloped her body and grew far brighter.
A strange noise like that of wind blowing against a grove of trees began to emanate throughout the chamber.
"Clearly those cowards I sent out couldn't finish you off!" the Meowstic remarked, her voice amplified and booming through her powers. The glow around her grew even brighter, nearly blinding the Pokemon on the ground. "So I'll just have to do it myself!"
Suddenly the room went quiet, though not because of anyone pausing their speech or falling still—there was no sound at all. Magnanimous opened his mouth to say something but couldn't hear his own voice.
Two blue spheres appeared in the Meowstic's paws and grew larger and larger. Once they were each the size of her head, she forced them together, merging them into a giant ball of pure psychic energy.
Magnanimous' antennae twitched. He looked at the Rhydon, the Sceptile, and then at the Banette lying on the ground. His gaze settled downward toward his own bleeding leg.
The Dragonite stepped forward again. Pain shot through his leg, warning him not to take another step. He didn't listen. Magnanimous held out his arms and wings, trying to take up as much space as possible.
Another step forward.
And another.
…And one more.
Even though he couldn't hear it, Magnanimous could see the Meowstic's mouth contorting to yell, "Move it, greenscarf!"
He smiled.
The Meowstic threw her arm to the side, only for it to be pulled back toward the orb she had created. She darted her eyes from side to side, moved her ears, tried moving the other arm, and shook her body—she couldn't move in any meaningful way. It was no use.
Magnanimous could hear screaming projected straight into his mind. The Meowstic's psychic energy orb was now glowing so bright that he couldn't stand to keep his eyes open.
A wave of pain cascaded over his torso.
Everything was on fire.
The light grew brighter.
Magnanimous felt himself falling to the ground. Even more pain surged through his body. There was a burning, an unrelenting ache. His leg was on fire, his body was on fire, he couldn't feel his wings, maybe they were on fire too.
He cracked open his eyes.
The Meowstic was on the ground, motionless.
His eyes shut once more, everything went dark.
"And that's the story," Magnanimous yawned as he stood up and stretched. "Did you like it?"
Andrew's eyes were wide, far too wide to look anywhere near normal. "Th-That's it? What happened? How did it end? You died!"
The Dragonite let out a chuckle. "I didn't die. I shielded my colleagues from being hit and went unconscious so they could fight the Meowstic off. You wouldn't believe what got her."
"What?!" Andrew asked eagerly, a sadistic glow of grim curiosity in his eyes.
Magnanimous crossed his arms. "The Banette finally landed a shadow ball. Took only one to knock her out cold! Pretty ridiculous, right?"
"...Yeah," the Marshtomp sighed. "So, is there anything else you need? I can see you went through a lot. You look pretty good for someone who got stabbed and psychic-blasted."
He waved his arm. "I'm fine! Was just a bit sore for a few days."
"...After being stabbed?"
Magnanimous shrugged. "My mom always said I was tough!"
There was a moment of silence before Andrew studied the Dragonite. There was a subtle scar on his leg. It was remarkably small and barely noticeable. He craned his neck to look back up at the towering Pokemon.
"Did you ever think of me when you were fighting?"
Magnanimous tapped his chin. "No, I don't think so. But I promise to think of you next time!"
Next time? Is he plotting to overthrow me? No, he fought for me, that's impossible. Or is it?
Magnanimous tilted his head, studying the Marshtomp as he pondered.
Now he's giving you the 'you're crazy' look. He thinks you're crazy, Andrew. You are crazy. Say something!
"I'll have someone give you a bonus. And a vacation! Don't know where Pokemon vacation to, but I'm sure it's nice!" he remarked with a nod.
Magnanimous gave an awkward, forced grin. "Thanks! I'd enjoy that."
He's fake. That was forced, he doesn't mean that. Ungrateful. What if he was in on it? Some hero he is. I'm not crazy. They wanted to kill me and he felt bad about killing them! It doesn't make sense!
Andrew shot the Dragonite a suspicious glare.
I see the truth.
AN: I am happy to announce this is the last direct Western Grandeport stuff. I hope you enjoyed me getting a bit… dare I say it? Experimental with these past few chapters. But seriously, thank you for reading this. I do want to incorporate more action into the main story along with Andrew's usual shenanigans. Of course, only time will tell how that unfolds…
Thank you to DaGamestar, DoomHuntley, Zee102, and SonicRamon. Check them out!
Comments and feedback are always appreciated! See you next time.