Chapter 16 - Dragon Rage
Chapter 16
Dragon Rage
Footsteps.
The sound of footsteps resounded across the jungle as their owner crushed the ground beneath titanic clawed feet. Small craters formed as the creature tore through the trees.
The very same trees only the mightiest of monsters could crush.
As the creature marched, its eyes, yellow irises over black sclera, glared forwards as it marched towards its calling.
Battle.
The creature roared, the sound scaring several birds into the air, fearful of the mere sound of the titan.
As Anteater was taken out of the Pit for medical treatment, Carapace eyed his allies, many of them chomping at the bit to take Scolipede down a few notches. Carapace was about to ask whom wanted a shoot when Azisa started to walk towards the entrance to the battleground.
“Azisa?” X gasped, “What are you doing?”
“Battling of course.”
“Azisa, you sure?”
Azisa nodded, her eye piercing the tension filling the air. “X, those Durant are at this moment the bane of my existence. Not only do they resist most if not all of my moves but at least one of them knows Shadow Claw. And if one of them know it, there is a good chance more than one know it. Against a Scolipede however...”
Carapace was quick to catch on, beating X to the punch, “You’ll have an easier time?”
“Exactly,” Azisa replied. “Now is the time for me to act rather that wait for a better matchup that might not happen.”
“If you’re confident in your power, go,” Carapace commanded. Azisa bowed in respect and continued her march towards the towering Scolipede. As Azisa walked, Carapace eyed Naruto, the Zoroark watching his ally and friend go into battle. “I know nothing of you Pokemon, so I must ask: Is she the right choice?”
“I believe so,” replied the Dark Type. “You see, Azisa might not be able to overpower Scolipede, but she will able to outlast him. After all, she’s called the Vampire of Laverre for a reason.”
“You are my next foe?” Scolipede boasted. He laughed as he stared down at the Trevenant. “They send a Pokemon like you against a Pokemon like me?”
“Aren’t we boastful?” Azisa taunted back. “Didn’t you say something about the price of arrogance to Anteater?”
“That I did. Let us see if you can force my words into my gullet.” Balls of gunk shoot out of Scolipede’s mouth, the bug taking the first move. The bombs impacted the ground as Azisa deftly dodged them, eyeing her foe as she strafed around the mighty centipede.
This only spurred Scolipede into firing more shots, the air now filled with Sludge Bombs. And one was aimed straight for Azisa’s head.
To Scolipede’s horror, Azisa sunk into the ground amidst a purple portal of sorts. He scowled, standing his ground and waited for his foe to return and fight. “Where are you?”
“Phantom Force!”
Bursting from intangibility, Azisa plunged her claw into the Scolipede’s back, the Poison-Bug screaming in pain as the Ghost-type Attack raked across his chitin. Azisa leapt from the Bug just as Scolipede started to attempt bucking off the tree, and rushed at Azisa.
Azisa smirked the best one lacking a mouth could before fading away, dodging the Scolipede’s attack.
“That will not work a second time. IRON DEFENSE!”
Azira appeared again in a burst of ghostly energy, this time in front of the Poison Bug, and just her claw plunged into Scolipede his skin briefly turned metallic again, preventing the claw from even scratching it’s flesh.
Azisa scowled as she dodged another attack from Scolipede, and decided to change her approach. “Leech Seed!”
Tiny seeds shot from Azisa’s hand and hit their mark perfectly, the Scolipede wincing as the Seeds took root, preparing to suck his energy dry.
“So, prepared to wait it out huh?” Scolipede asked. “I can play that game.”
“I doubt it,” laughed the tree. “The seeds will drain you no matter how hard you make your skin.”
The shout of pain Scolipede screamed was proof enough that the Leech Seeds were doing their job. Through the power of the Seeds, Azisa felt the energy flow from Scolipede to her. The Bug wasted no time however and rolled into a ball, the blades sticking out of the curled up insect and pointed at Azisa. “Steamroller!”
Azisa was not as lucky as previous times, as the insect slammed into Azisa, launching her into the wall (the distance was impressive enough to leave an impression on both Azisa and the audience). She got to her feet as quickly as she could and dove out of the way of another Steamroller before fading from sight to dodge a third.
Skidding to a stop, Scolipede unrolled itself, waiting for Azisa to show herself. “Come out little ghost.”
Azisa’ voice echoed from all angles, the voice seemingly coming from everywhere and yet nowhere. “As you said, you’re prepared to play the waiting game against me? I hope you meant it.”
Scolipede grunted through the pain, the Leech Seed doing more damage than the Trevenant. “That I did.”
“Well, I could just stay in this state until you fall. It’s not like you could stop me. True, it is a little lowbrow, but if I need to be underhanded to save these innocents from you and your colony, I can live with it.”
More grunts. “Coward.”
“Says the one trying to steal from people who have not wronged you or your colony.”
“You think a colony is built with just hard work and sweat!?” Scolipede shouted. “The dirt, the deep underground dirt is worthless! Our colony built that second, no third….no sixth rate colony in just under half a day once we arrived here! The tunnels can barely stand up intact!”
“And...how does that justify anything?”
“They have wood in many forms. Logs, planks, trees already liberated from the ground. We need those. And we will take what we need to ensure our colony stands forever tall!”
Azisa took a moment to think over what he just said, sighing after she thought of something. “You could have just asked.”
Now it was Scolipede’s turn to scoff. “You try waking up in an alien land, unsure of what is right and what is wrong. Where there are no rules that you know off, you do not ask for the rules. You make them. The Leader taught my that. I live by that code.”
“... You make a fair point. At least up until the bit about making up of new rules just because you can. I tried that once,” Azisa countered. “It resulted me in finding my trainer after he got me to calm down and think about it. I have never regretted that decision ever.”
“Trainers? I do not care not for trainers. Why need a trainer when you have a colony?” Scolipede grunted. “I don’t need a human to teach me right from wrong.”
“He didn’t. He just reminded me of what I already knew.” Azisa was calm with her reply as the Leech Seed did it’s work amidst the groans of pain. “And what I know is that in our little game of chicken, I seem to winning. Care to surrender now?”
“You think this is winning? I will show you winning!”
Scolipede did nothing.
Meanwhile, amongst the changeling crowd.
“What do you think he’s doing?” Nell asked. X and Naruto narrowed their eyes, hoping the squinting could help them see better.
“I dunno. I seem to miss a few details when it comes to subtlety,” X admitted.
“He just seems to be standing there,” Naruto answered. “Why is what I want to know.”
“Wait… I think I hear something.” Carapace morphed his ears into that of an eagle, the bird’s superior hearing replacing that of his native form. Rizen and Silver did the same, their ears mimicking that of their Emperors’ The three simply stared at the towering Bug, trying to identify what strange tactic he was performing.
“Hear anything Rizen?” Silver asked.
“... I think so. What about you?”
“Yeah, I think so... but I could be wrong.”
“What do you hear, Silver?”
“Well boss, it sound like… snoring.”
The three Changelings blinked, then blinked again as they mulled it over in their minds. “You know… I heard that was well,” Carapace replied, a quizzical expression dominating his face. “How odd.”
“... You think he didn’t get enough sleep last night?” asked Rizen.
“Bad time for a nap in my opinion,” taunted Silver, “Am I right you two?”
X and Naruto took a quick look before speaking as one: “Rest.”
“Gazuntite.”
“Not quite,” Naruto corrected SIlver Heart, who just shrugged in an indignant manner. “Pokemon moves take many forms and have many properties. Rest uses a Pokemon’s latent psychic energy to put them into a healing sleep.”
“In other words, they fall asleep in exchange for extremely quick healing,” X elaborated. “It’s pretty good for Pokemon who can take a hit or like to carry around Cheri Berries. But the move’s biggest weakness is…”
Nell was quick to catch on, replying with “The move makes the user falls asleep and thus they can’t actually stop their opponent from just wailing on them until they wake up.”
“Exactly,” Naruto nodded.
“So… answer me this,” SIlver Heart groaned, “What happens now? The Bug keeps healing all day long until we decide to break for dinner?”
“I don’t think it works like that. Those seeds Azisa called Leech Seed have something to do with it.” Rizen eyed the resting Scolipede, oblivious to all during its oddly restful sleep. “... do they have something to do with what you called Azisa?”
Naruto nodded again before explaining. “You mean the Vampire of Laverre? Indeed. Trevenant like Azisa have several varied options when it comes to healing, and most if not all of them rely on draining it from their foe like some sort of battery. Leech Seed and Horn Leech used in tandem makes a potent combination. The Seeds and Horn Leech will slowly steal Scolipede’s energy…”
“... which Scolipede can simply recover by resting,” Carapace finished. “Scolipede is baiting Azsia out. He knows that he cannot win if Azisa stays intangible. He wants her to fight him on his terms, not her’s.”
“But he’s asleep.”
“Somehow I doubt that bothers Scolipede…”
Azisa glared at the sleeping form of the Scolipede stood oblivious to all. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Scolipede was planning, hoping to bait Azisa out of hiding and back into material form. The Leech Seeds were potent, yes, but they weren’t known for their speed: Scolipede would wake up before they would do him in, and that would just result in Scolipede Resting again. And thanks to Iron Defense, his defence was akin to Iron.
The real question is why.
Only one way to find out.
Bursting into her material form he struck Scolipede as hard as she could. As predicticted her Phantom Force attack was not as strong as it could have been against the hardened armored skin of Scolipede. Narrowing her eye, Azisa’s fists lightly glowed orange for the briefest of moments. “Fine then. Power-Up Punch!”
Azisa’s fists struck Scolipede again and again, each blow dealing just a bit more than the last. “Rethinking your stance on Resting I hope!”
In response Scolipede’s horn glowed green, and Azisa suddenly felt less confident than before. The bladed horns fell down on her, slicing through her ectoplasmic limbs like a hot knife through butter.
Azisa was wise in her decision to scramble away from the wild swings of Scolipede’s head.
“Explain,” was Rizen’s only question.
“Sleep Talk,” replied Pyre, the Pyroar lounging on the ground as she watched Azisa attempt at running from a sleeping Megapede that was walking towards her like a drunk person. “It lets the user attack while sleeping...”
“That seems a little overpowered actually,” interrupted Rizen.
“... but prohibits them from actually choosing which move they actually use,” finished the Pyroar.
“Oh. That sounds a little more balanced,” admitted Rizen. “Hopefully he’ll get a few moves that aren’t that useful.”
X was less hopeful. “Considering our luck, that’s not going to happen.” Everyone turned their heads in disappointment at X. “... What? Someone has to be the realist.”
WIth quick jumps Azisa dodged the sleeping titan’s wild yet somehow accurate attacks with clumsy grace. After two close calls the attacks stopped, Azisa stumbling back to space herself and give her a moment to catch her non-existent breath. ”Lets see what you give me this time.”
Orange white energy surrounded the Scolipede and he charged at her. Azisa resisted the urge to gloat as the attack crashed into her at full force, the Changelings in the audience gasping in horror as their current champion just stood there, allowing the attack to hit.
When the energy faded and the view was unobstructed Azisa just stood there as if nothing happened. “... Wow. Just… wow,” Azisa replied as she readied more Power-Up Punches and pummeled the Scolipede
At that moment Scolipede opened his eyes, finally free from his slumber. He struggled to dodge, to free himself from the pain of the punches and the Leech Seed that was draining his energy.
Yet he could not, drained from the worthless Giga Impact he let loose upon the ghost.
The glaring of the Changelings intensified as X sheepishly grinned. “Okay, okay, I was wrong. We’re not that unlucky.”
“Why does a Scolipede even know Giga Impact?” mused Naruto, ignorant of the pressure piling on X’s metaphorical plate.
Each blow from Azisa felt like it was getting hit by a weight,, only for more weight to be added with each successive blow. Finally, after many tense moment's, Scolipede surprised Azisa with a quick Poison Tail, the force launching Azisa into the ground with a crash.
As Azsia recovered, Scolipede Rested again.
Growling, Azisa charged again, her hands turning into terrifyingly large horn-like protrusions. “Horn Leech!”
The blow struck its mark, and the energy begun to flow from bug to tree. Before she could harvest more energy the sleeping giant Sleep Talked again, this conversation silently speaking a wave of tiny bugs into existence that quickly swarmed Azisa. Azisa struggled, panicked by the surprising appearance of the attack.
To say she was surprised would’ve been something of an understatement. “Infestation!? Oh, damn it all!”
The bugs latched on, gnawing and gnawing in ignorance of Azisa's feverish attempts to get the bugs to leave her alone. And all the while Scolipede stood asleep, as silent and as still as a statue as Azisa struggled below.
Unbeknownst to the panicking tree, Scolipede woke up, and instantly curled into a ball and rolled towards Azisa.
She didn’t see the attack coming.
With a pained shout Azisa was knocked over and pushed into the ground just as the Infestation disappeared. The pain was intense as Scolipede rolled in place on top of Azisa, friction creating unbearable pain as Azsia struggled in vain to escape.
As Azisa was a strange mix of undead and living elements, she did not have all the benefits of being dead. Which meant that for her to become intangible, Phantom Force needed to be used. But when one was currently underneath two hundred kilograms of weight, concentration was something one did not have a complete supply of.
Precious moment's pass before Azisa slammed the ground with her free arm. “I yield! I yield!”
And just like that, Scolipede rolled off of Azisa, unfurling his body with a grin on his face. Before the nurses could make their way to Azisa, Scolipede bent down as far as he could with his large upper body, and offered Azisa his horn.
Azisa was notably concerned. “... what is that for?”
“It is to help you up.”
Azisa gazed at the foe, the now civil gentleman whom just moments ago was a warrior that fought with unnatural vigor. She took the horn the Scolipede was offering and got up on her spindly legs. “Thank you, but why? I am your opponent.”
“Only during a battle. After the fight, I am a friend.”
If Azisa had a mouth, she would have returned the smile. She accepted the horn with a gentle hand and got to her feet, unsteady despite the six legs that usually granted her perfect balance just as the nurses arrived to assist her out of The Pit.
As the Nurses ran to the Pit to provide their medical knowledge to the wounded, Carapace simple eyed the Scolipede with an intense stare. “So, Scolipede just defeated Anteater and Azisa. Something tells me we might need to break out our secret weapon.”
X was the first one to speak. “Well… this is bad.”
“Do not coddle the truth.” The Emperor stomped his hooves in a fury of anger on the ground. His eyes bored towards Scolipede, the titan of the insect kingdom using the wooden logs forming the walls of the PIt as scratching posts, grinding as much of the Leech Seed off of him as he could.
So far he was succeeding.
“Yea, I know, I know. That guy is powerful, no denying that.” X then turned around to face the temporary First Aid station where various nurses and doctors of both Changeling and Pokemon origin hurried to give the very wounded Anteater treatment. The warrior for hire was lying on a blanket, his caretakers doing the best to give him the care they could in the current conditions.
“You’re the Pokemon experts. What do you think we should do?” Silver Heart growled. “That guy took out our guy and your guy back to back. We need to take him out, and we need to do it now. Otherwise he’s going to win this and we’re going to need to annex Eintel to a bunch of ants.”
“It’s obvious what we should do.” Without further words, both Naruto and Pyre took a step forward, ready to face their fate.
X did not approve of this course of action. “Now wait a moment Naruto, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to fight.”
“Not this again.”
“I have a legitimate reason this time,” quickly amended X. “You and Pyre are the only pokemon, or changelings on our side with any fire attacks.”
For some reason Carapace was offended. “Excuse me!?”
“Uh, I mean any good fire attacks.”
“That’s better.”
A sigh of relief from X was given before he continued. “Our main threats are the Durant. You know, the Steel Bugs. Fire is going to wreck Scolipede due to fact that ‘s part Bug, Fire is going to practically one-shot any Durant that gets hit by it. And they know it.”
“Of course they know that,” the miffed Pyroar spat out. “Do you think we are not ignorant?”
“That’s not what I’m trying to say. They’re baiting us out. If we send out our anti-Durant guy now, they’re going to send their anti-fire user out next, and take ours out like that,” X explained. “Trust me.”
“Are you sure they're going to do that?” Nell asked, uncertainty ringing in her words.
“It’s what I would do. I may not be good at battling, but I am good at making plans.”
“It’s not like we can just do nothing,” countered Carapace. “We must defeat this Scolipede. It seems that it has a way to counter anything we use!”
“That’s pretty accurate,” lamented the Zoroark, his arms crossed in tranquil anger. “Iron Defense to resist damage, Rest to recover damage, Protect to prevent attacks from landing, and let’s not forget Megahorn, Steamroller, and Infestation. And Giga Impact. Seriously, why does a Scolipede even need an attack like that in the first place?”
“I’m not sure I want to know…” Nell mused. “He was scary before, now he seems to be invincible.”
“Nothing is invincible,” replied the Emperor. “Trust me, I have seen the invincible fall so many times before. This time is no different.”
“Which means we must sure one of our Fire users, like myself, now!” Naruto practically screamed. “If we wait to use our advantages than what’ the point?”
“Because Scolipede isn’t worth it.” X then kneeled down and picked up his hammer, the weapon that was once laying on the ground now in his hands. “I’ll go.”
Naruto seethed in anger. “Are you insane!? What makes you going in my stead better than me He’s part Poison! Due to his typing, not only are his best attacks, like say that Poison Tail, better against you, but both of your types will do less to him!
“The last time I checked, a hammer is not a type,” X pointed out
“Says the man who doesn’t have as much experience in battle as we do? X, I know you actually want to fight this time around, but I don't think that kind of a matchup is ready for you. Do you even know how to use pokemon attacks?”
X tried to respond, but quickly found he couldn’t. “Well, kinda?”
Eyebrows all around were raised. “Kinda?”
“I know I can pull off Spiky Shield and maybe Rollout?” An awkward smile followed.
“There’s a catch,” Carapace pointed out.
“Yeah, I’m not sure how to do it consistently. After I got my hammer, I practiced for a bit and, well, they sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t”
Somewhere a group of crickets felt the need to create their special kind of music.
“This is our great hero?” Silver Heart snarked.
“Hey, you try getting magically transformed into a different species!”
“We’re changelings. That’s literally what we do.”
“... Fair point.”
“It’s been damn near twenty hours. When are we gonna eat!?” Draze complained. His chimeric brothers in arms groaned as they stalked the jungle, looking for food.
They had three mouths to feed, so when hunting chimeras tended to look for the biggest prey they could to save on hunting time. For now, the beast was having a hard time of it.
“Draze, you’ve been moaning about our food problem for damn near an hour” Tize snapped at his brother. “We get it! We’re hungry too, so give it a freaking break!”
“Hey, who made you the boss! I can moan if I want to, and what I want to do is moan!”
“BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!” Both heads did as Gorz commanded, the goat head angrily bleating “You think you have it tough? I have to listen to both of you bitch about how we haven’t had a good meal. I’m the one trying to find us something to eat!”
“Still say we should have taken at least one of those ants and seen if it was squishy on the inside…” moaned Draze.
“Damnit Draze, we told you to stop mentioning that!” echoed Tize and Gorz in unison.
“Okay smart guys, what do we do for a bite to eat?”
“Simple. We stay here and wait for the first family sized meal to find us,” Gorz explained. The chimera sat down with a light thud, as the creature waited in the morning light to find something to eat.
They didn’t need to wait long as distant rustling alerted them to an approaching meal. “Told you.”
“Fine. You win.”
The steps slowly got louder and louder. To the trios’ surprised, the ground was lightly shaking, as if the mysterious creature was the cause of the shakes.
Before any questions could be asked the source of the mystery burst from the foliage, the crushing charge leveling the trees it charged through in a hurricane of wood and leaves. The chimera sat there wide eyed and slacked jawed (all three sets of them) as the mysterious creature and ran past them and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Two of the changelings that lived in the large city were also riding it, alongside a lizard.
What surprised the chimera the most is that the creature was huge, capable of towering over themselves like it was nothing
Tize was the first to speak.
“Guys… just checking here, but… did we just see a giant rock creature just… tear through the jungle like we usually do?”
Gorz and Draze just nodded in silence.
“Good. For a second there I thought reality just took a vacation.”
Silence.
“You know… Marelantis is looking pretty good this time of year.”
“Guys, Lord Emperor, I’m not exactly how to say this, but…” Nell gulped as she tried to summon the words she needed to speak. “... shouldn't we stop fighting amongst ourselves and start fighting against them?”
It was true. While he was waiting for his next foe, Scolipede had rid himself of enough Leech Seeds to render them useless and gotten another Rest in while his colony looked ready to riot.
This was all ignored by the shouts of Pokemon and Emperor alike.
Silver Heart took the opportunity to snark “Honey, they ain’t listening.”
At this point Azisa walked on uneasy legs, a very thick cane used to help her stand straight for the toll of battle was a harsh taskmaster towards Azisa. “Did I miss anything?” Azisa asked.
“Not really, unless this is your thing,” Silver groaned amidst the shouting. “You healed up fast.”
“You flatter me,” Azisa snarked at the snarker. “That Scolipede hit like a truck, no doubt about that.”
“Are you sure you are okay to stand up?” asked the concerned warrior. He raised a hoof to which Asia politely raised hers to decline the offer. “Because you just got rolled on by a giant centipede.
“And it wasn’t pleasant let me tell you that. I ache all over, things are blurry along the edges of my vision, and I think everything smells like spaghetti for some reason.”
“But… you don’t have a nose.”
“That is what worries me.”
Nell just groaned. “This is taking us nowhere. I’m tempted to just walk into the Pit and freeze that guy.”
“And miss this? This is quality entertainment.”
A pained shout echoed Nell’s feelings perfectly. “Guys, do something!”
“We’re trying Nell but someone won’t let me do my job of protecting my family! I’m looking out for them first! I’m going!” X shouted.
Carapace took flight, getting right in X’s face. “And I’m the Emperor of my empire! Your job may be to protect your family, but my job is to protect them first and foremost! Naruto, Pyre, I don’t care who goes in, but one of you go in.”
“Sorry X, but duty calls,” Naruto sighed.
“Emperor, you’re making a grave mistake and I need you to trust me.”
“I do trust you, but I do not have enough faith in your ability to not die.” Carapace narrowed his eyes, entering a staring contest with X. “I need combat results, not hopeful thinking.”
“Hey, I saved Nell and Pyre from some three headed thingy,” X replied. “I’m pretty sure I can fight.”
“I’m not sure that description narrows it down enough,” RIzen mused. “Miss Nell, can you help us? X did just say you were there.”
“Yeah, I was. And X is telling the truth. He fought a chimera.”
Carapace, Rizen, SIlver Heart, and several of the eavesdropping Changelings gasped in unison. SIlver Heart was the first to speak up. “You fought a chimera and lived?”
“Uh… yes,” X replied. “And I got him to run away after punching him a lot.”
Silence resonated in such volume that one could hear a glass break on the other side of the Staging Grounds in perfect clarity. Several of those listening dropped their jaws in amazement. X was mildly confused. “... what did I say?”
“You beat a chimera!?” Silver shouted.
“Apparently?”
“How did you manage to do that?”
“You know… I’m not exactly sure, but it involved punching.”
“Okay, let’s get this conversation back on track,” Carapace shouted. “Naruto or Pyre is going in, and they are going in now.”
“Of all the things we should do, that is the thing we should do later!” shouted X. “I understand that this is your country and thus your rules, but think about it from another point of view! The Durant are trying to make us do stupid things so it’s easier to win! They want us to make hasty decisions that are going to ruin us in the long run! Anger makes you stupid after all!”
“A fact you are proving to be true quite well right now,” Carapace taunted.
“Seriously, stop doing that emotion detection thing! It’s creepy!”
“I don’t need it to know what you are feeling! And it is not creepy!” the Emperor feigned being hurt before resuming. “You are forgetting your place X. This is my city, my jungle, my country, my world! You and your kind are guests, foreigners from beyond our reach. Your advice, your suggestions are just that: Advice and suggestions, not paths I must traverse. So do yourself a favor and sit down and shut up and let me lead!”
“Hey, I’m trying to help you!”
“You are a construction worker! You build buildings yet you try to claim to a thousand year old changeling that you know how to wage war better than me? I have waged more battles against impossible odds such as these than you have had chest colds!“
“Which explains why you’re just standing here on the sidelines?”
“I’m saving myself for The Leader,” Carapace countered. “He must be among the strongest of his colony for a titan like Scolipede to yield to him. He will fight, and when he does I want to teach him a lesson, one he will never forget.
“My land is my land. Not his, or anyone else’s.”
“That doesn't change anything. I got beef against these guys too but I’m not letting Naruto or Pyre get hurt unless there is a damn good reason, and a Scolipede is not that reason! ”
“If you want me to trust you, you need to trust me!”
“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!”
Both construction worker and Emperor turned to face Nell, currently standing on Azisa’s head with her wings buzzing to give her the balance she needed via semi-flight. “I’ll go.”
Eyebrows were raised in disbelief. “I’m being serious you know.”
“Uh Nell, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Rizen fluttered in front of Nell to be at her eye level before asking “You’re not really a fighter… are you?”
“Uh, no. But I can stand my own! I fought some Durant. I’m pretty sure that I can win,” Nell shouted. Her ears then pressed themselves against her head as she sheepishly added a “Maybe.”
“Nell, I think we can all agree that you’re probably not the best choice,” X replied.
“I can fight!”
“Nell, let’s be real here. You’re not exactly a fighter are you?” Naruto pointed out.
“But I beat a Durant, maybe two!”
“That is true, but when was the first time you actually fought another being in a level such as this?”
Naruto’s question was a good one, piercing through Nell’s bravado. “...when you pokemon appeared.”
“So, just two days? Nell, out of all of us, you must be the one with the least combat experience,” explained the Zoroark, the fox kneeling down and placing a hand on Nell’s shoulder (well, the closest analogue to one, it was hard to tell). “It’s not that we don’t want your help, it’s just that you have already done so much. We don’t want you to risk your safety because you are relying too much on instinct when you take the field of battle.”
“But X wants to fight and he beat up a chimera!” Nell countered. “Why him?”
“Well X doesn’t like to mention this, but back home he did train me and his other pokemon friends,“ Naruto smiled. “It didn’t happen often, but he did lead us into battle every now and again. He may not have actually been in a fight, but he knows what to do if he ever does get in one.”
“Like say beating up a chimera?”
Naruto nodded. “Nell, you and your family have done a lot for us, giving us a place to stay and most importantly wanting to be friends with strangers like us. Now it is our turn to help you. Let us fight in your place.”
Nell was reluctant but accepted Naruto’s line of thought, jumping off of Azisa’s head and landing gently on the ground. “Okay, I think i get what you are saying, but… X should go instead of you.”
“Well Nell the problem is that if X does fight, type wise he will be at a disadvantage due to Scolipede’s Poison and Bug typing resisting any of a Chesnaught’s good attacks.” X pointed at his hammer again with a sour look as Naruto continued to explain. “We really don’t want Scolipede to steamroll through another fight, and we really need the victory now to regain our side’s momentum.”
“But I believe in X,” Nell explained. “I know he’s not really a fighter, but he braved the jungle just to find me and he did. And when he found, me he saved me from a chimera. I don’t know if you know this, but chimera are really hard to hurt, and X hurt that chimera like it was nothing. He even threw a rock through the chimera’s wing. That’s hard to do.”
Several guards whistled with X grinning like an idiot. “I think you underestimate X, Naruto.”
“I do?” Naruto questioned. His gentle tone did not change as he thought on what Nell was suggesting. “I’ve known X for a long time. I think I estimate him quite well.”
“Naruto, just look at X,” Naruto did so, taking a close look at X’s body. It was riddled with scratches and the occasional scar, and now that he looked harder X seemed to be somewhat exhausted, struggling to look like he was fit for duty. Every other breath was deeper and heavier than the average breath, like X was catching his breath due to overworking his newly transformed body. “He looks like he’s ready to fall. But that’s not going to stop him. He’d do anything for you guys. So why not let him?”
It took Naruto a moment to think it over. “Well, I’m going to be honest here. I don’t think X is ready for this. After all I only have you to vouch for him. I don’t feel that X is ready for a fight, having just turned into a completely different species and is probably not used to being a Chesnaught. But you are right: X does seem to be able to pull a surprise from under his sleeve.” Turning to his best friend Naruto gave only a smile, the only confirmation that X needed as the former human readied his hammer.
“X, I seem to recall me giving the orders around here,” Carapace angrily replied. “You lack fire, which does not convince me.”
X shrugged. “But I did beat up a chimera. Isn’t that supposed to be impressive?”
“Beating a chimera is very impressive but that’s not the point.” With a stomp of his hooves all eyes turned to face Carapace. “We need to fight back before we lose the will to fight, and thus lose before we have a chance to even fight! You are not going in because I do not feel that you are ready to fight a foe like Scolipede. Nell is not going in because she has no real experience in a battle such as this. And both of you lack the fire you keep boasting about. I have had enough of this endless arguing, and I will put an end… to… it?” The rant ended prematurely, Carapace staining to hear something only he apparently could hear.
X, along with everyone else, was a little confused and worried. “Uh… Emperor?”
“Does anyone else here that or am I becoming senile?”
“No, but I feel that,” Azisa replied
Naruto perked his ears, trying to hear what was heard. His ears twitched as the sound got louder. “I hear it too. It sounds like… footsteps. Really loud footsteps. And… it sounds like they’re getting closer.”
Without warning, screams of terror resounded, the Changelings in the way of the mysterious terrifying event diving for cover or taking to the air.
X took the first action.
“MOVE!”
X dove out of the way, Nell gripping his cloak for dear life as Naruto followed his trainer with a backflip. Carapace did the same alongside the gathered soldiers, and Pyre the Pyroar dove for cover.
The sounds of footsteps thundered as the creature leapt from the edge of the pit and landed with an echo of thunder striking the ground. Dirt and dust exploded from the ground like a geyser giving the sky a tribute of water, obscuring the creature from the eyes of all. “What the Tartarus just happened!?” Carapace bellowed. “I demand to know!”
“No idea. But whatever it is, it’s huge!” Rizen shouted.
“Huge is appropriate. Look!” Silver bellowed. The Emperor turned to face Silver’s cry of worry, and spied the walls that separated the jungle from the Staging Grounds. The wall had clearly seen better days as whatever just came into the staging ground just ran into it and created a wide gaping hole in the wall. The remains of the log wall that once stood laid on the ground shattered and broken, a trail of giant footprints leaving a path towards the pit.
Carapace’s head tilted just a inch to his left, eyeing Naruto. The expression of the royal told Naruto exactly what Carapace was thinking: “What the hell is that thing? Do you know?”
Naruto had a hard time thinking of an answer. Yet before he could, the creature within the dust curtain let loose a mighty roar, the bellowing sound blowing away the dust that lingered, revealing the creature in all its terrifying glory.
The monster was a Pokemon, and a tall one at that. It stood at a height that rivaled that of Scolipede, its rocky skin a brick red with a grey underbelly. A frill of white feathers encircled his neck, tall and regal like the collar of a king’s cape. The creature crouched in a battle-ready position, clawing into the ground with rocky taloned feet. Its tail waved back and forth, a sign that its owner was eager for battle. Low growls rumbled from the creature's jaws, a rocky protrusion from its bottom suggesting that the creature had a glorious beard.
Scolipede instinctively took steps backwards to distance himself from the new arrival that was glaring at him intently. The orange crest that framed his face and yellow irises over black sclera eyed his foe with an equal amount of tension.
What was most surprising was that the creature was apparently carrying passengers: two changelings with yellow manes, wing, chitin saddles, and tail holding on as tight as a yellow and black lizard creature sat between them. Nell looked at the passengers, the changelings looking familiar. Too familiar. “X… is that who I think it is?”
The lizard turned around, and shouted “Sorry we’re late! We took a wrong turn at Albuquerque!”
“HI NELL!”
“WE’RE ON A DRAGON MADE OF ROCKS! HOW COOL IS THAT?”
“Yep, it’s them,” Nell deadpanned with a smile. The trio made their way off of the Dragon, running and flying out of the pit as fast as they could. “Wonder who that guy is?”
X, Azisa, and Naruto however were paying less attention to the changelings and more attention to the Pokemon. “Friends, I think I see Inti on top of that guy. And if Inti is riding him… then that must mean...”
“There’s no way it can be him. Can it?” X questioned.
“Considering we are now technically classified as aliens whom were all swept away from our own world to live in this one by our collective God, let’s leave reason at the curb for now. It has to be him, as he was the only Tyrunt I know of to be in the city.” Naruto replied.
“Well Let’s be sure.” X replied in turn.
“I’m thinking you have an idea.” Rizen eyed the creature. The mere presence of the creature seemed to be scaring the Durant, especially the Scolipede who was taking more than his fair share of cautious steps backwards.
“Sure do.” X took one step forward, and shouted to the Rock Dragon “HEY! YOU!”
The Dragon swung around, his eyes glaring at the Chesnaught as it it could bore through solid steel. “Yes?”
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE VOLCARONA INCIDENT!?”
“NO! I, uh… I mean… yessssss I do! Totally know it!” the Dragon replied, grinning as awkwardly as he could. “But you know… You could tell me what you know about it. Cause that way, I would know if you know. It’s double-checking or something like that.“
Confirmation. Oh how sweet the sound.
“IT’S APOCALYPSE!” X shouted, his arms shooting into the air. “HE EVOLVED! YEAH-AH!” Beside him Naruto yelled in joy as Azisa did the happy dance. Several of the Pokemon present celebrated the arrival of the fossil pokemon as well, their prayers having apparently been answered in full and then some.
The changelings present, however, were more confused than joyful. “I’m lost. What’s going on?” Rizen asked the fox.
The Zoroark took no time to explain. “That’s Apocalypse! He evolved and now he’s stronger than ever before!”
Rizen shook his head, the answer not good enough. “No no no no. That can’t be Apocalypse,” he stated. “Apocalypse is only two feet tall.”
“Yeah, when he was a Tyrunt,” X took a break from his joyous yelling and entered the conversation. “But now, he’s grown into his fully evolved form: Tyrantrum!”
Rizen’s eye started to twitch.
Violently.
“No.”
“Beg pardon?”
“No. No. No. No. No. No. No,” Rizen chanted. “What you just told us is flat out impossible. Evolution is slow; it takes several millennia to occur over countless generations of organisms. I saw Apocalypse yesterday and he barely came up to Nell’s barrel. Are you honestly telling me that not only did Apocalypse gain a vast amount of mass in what I assume to be several hours, that feat alone also being impossible, but he somehow accelerated the process of nature and evolved!?”
“Uh… yes,” X answered honestly. “That’s how evolution works.”
“EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT FAST!!"
“Well of course it doesn't,” Azisa answered. “I was a Phantump for six years before I evolved into what I am now.”
“It took me about seven,” Naruto grinned.
“And Apocalypse is only a year old. Now that I think about it, that is kinda fast,” X commented.
“BUT IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!! YOU CAN’T JUST DO SOMETHING AND SAY ‘because Science, screw you.’ IT JUST DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT! WHAT, NEXT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY THAT MAGIC STONES CAN CAUSE THE SAME ‘EVOLUTION’ CRAP?!”
“How did you know Inti and some other Pokemon evolve that way?” Azisa asked innocently.
“THAT ONLY RAISES FURTHER QUESTIONS!” Rizen was hysterical, hyperventilating as he paced back and forth trying to comprehend. “THIS IS NOT NORMAL!”
“It, uh… it is to us,” X grinned. This did nothing to calm Rizen.
“‘WHAT THE TARTARUS ARE YOU PEOPLE SMOKING?! HOW IS THAT NORMAL?! HOW IS ANY PART OF WHAT YOU JUST SAID NORMAL?! THAT THING VIOLATED SEVERAL LAWS OF PHYSICS!! THEY ARE LAWS, NOT SUGGESTIONS!! I AM NOT GOING TO STAND FOR-”
Silver Heart slapped Rizen in the face. Hard.
“WHAT THE TARTARUS SILVER?!”
“Sorry. Thought that was your off switch,” Silver taunted. Facing the Pokemon, SIlver sighed as he started to ignore Rizen hyperventilating. “Psychiatrists like him are scared of impossible things being possible and having to simply accept it like that. Like other changelings’ imaginations and taxes.”
“TAXES DO NOT SCARE ME SILVER!! I AM NOT DONE WITH THIS!! I DEMAND TO KNOW THE REAL ANSWER TO YOUR SO-CALLED-”
Rizen never got to finish as he was frozen in a block of ice thanks to twin ice beams from Carapace and Nell. “You’re welcome,” Carapace snarked.
At this time Inti, Nall, and Nalel rushed towards the group, the changelings tackling Nell to the ground as Inti ran to her family. “What up?” the lizard snarked.
“Inti, you had me worried!” Azina glared at the shorter pokemon with a motherly glare.
“Hey, I had to do what I had to do,” Inti shrugged. “I needed to come to terms with what I was, and how that wasn’t who I wanted, or needed to be.”
The rest of ShadowFox just looked at each other. “... I’m guessing there’s a story there,” X’s question bore a rather obvious answer that Inti’s glare answered for him. “Feel like sharing?”
“Later. Fight time now, backstory later! Anyone got any popcorn?”
“Your life is weird isn’t it?” Nall asked. X sighed, the breath he released heavy.
“I try my hardest to at least keep it semi-normal,” replied the former human with a shrug. “It’s not easy.”
“Let us get back to the matter at hoof. We can talk about which of the laws of Physics were broken after Apocalypse teaches that thing a lesson or two.”
“KICK HIS ASS BIG GUY!” Inti shouted.
As this was happening, the Leader and Iron Shell sat on the ground on a flat rock for each of them that the colony found during their trek to the Staging Grounds. The Chesnaught sat cross legged, eying the battles alongside her father, processing what she and her colony beheld. Like the changelings they battled against, the Shinies were surprised at the arrival of Apocalypse.
Unlike the changelings to them the surprise was not pleasant.
“A Dragon?” the Leader mused. “I am honestly surprised that they earned the favor of one.”
“The scouts did report that there was a Tyrunt amongst them,” Iron Shell replied. “Obviously it evolved sometime between the first night and now.”
“... Prepare our contingency plan for Dragons; ancient and powerful they may be, they are still Pokemon, and all Pokemon have a weakness,” the Leader grinned. “Let us see if he is worthy of the power he has.”
Apocalypse roared to announce his charge towards Scolipede. The speed of the Dragon was astounding, greater than Scolipede had anticipated, and Apocalypse was on the warrior bug before he could react. Jaws opened and then quickly Crunched around Scolipede. The jaws bore into him, piercing his heavily armored plating.
Struggling, Scolipede grunted as he tried to escape from the tight grip of the dinosaur. It proved to yield nothing but more pain as Apocalypse shook his head back and forth, shaking the Poison Bug violently, even managing to lift Scolipede just barely off the ground as he was thrashed around.
Apocalypse then opened his jaws and let momentum finish the job: Scolipede was thrown and flew almost to the edge of the pit, a fair distance. He shook his head, the eyesight that had blurred during the rocking back and forth returning, only to reward him with the sight of Apocalypse running towards him again.
“BELLY FLOP!”
Wasting no time, Scolipede put up a Protect just in time. Apocalypse leapt into the air and crashed into the shield, his attempt to belly flop onto his foe ended before it even began. “You’re strong, I admit. I was beginning to wonder if someone to rival the Anteater's power would come and face me.”
“Who’s Anteater?”
“Never mind. Let us enjoy the fight!” Scolipede shouted.
Apocalypse agreed, sliding off the shield before taking one giant step backwards. He pawed the ground before his head became enveloped in a blue white aura. “HEAD SMASH!”
“PROTECT!”
The surprisingly fast Rock Dragon crashed into the Protect, blue white energy spraying from the impact site alongside a boom of sound. The force of the impact was so great Scolipede was forced back, his feet digging a trail through the ground as he struggled to stay standing. Scolipede‘s eyes narrowed as he stared at his foe.
Whom was currently scampering around left and right as he trying to get his eyes to look straight forward. “Hey, no fair using Double Team!”
Scolipede simply blinked. “... I’m not using Double Team.”
“Then why are there five of you?”
“You smashed your head into a Protect. You tell me.”
“... Double team?”
Scolipede shook his head, unamused. “You are not… exactly bright are you?”
“No, and I’m okay with that!” Apocalypse roared. “NOW BRING IT!”
“Then I shall! Steamroller!” Scolipede curled up, and begun his assault on the Rock Dragon. Quicky spinning Scolipede wasted no time approaching the giant of a pokemon. Another roar bellowed from the jaws of the dinosaur as he attempted to ram his head into Scolipede…
… Only to crash it into the ground as Scolipede had quickly made a turn and evaded the attack. Apocalypse barely had enough time to get his head out of the dirt before Scolipede rammed into Apocalypse.
The roar Apocalypse bellowed expressed the horrid pain of being struck by the attack, the Pokemon doing his best to stand up straight, but to no avail: Eventually Apocalypse was forced down, falling down into the ground with a terrible crash as Scolipede simply rolled on top of the fallen pokemon and Steamrollered in place.
Friction is a harsh mistress.
“GET OFF! IT BURNS!!”
“Do you yield then?” scouted Scolipede. His speech was muffled, due to him currently being rolled up into a fast spinning ball.
“WHAT DOES YIELD MEAN?”
“It means to give up!”
‘OF COURSE I DON’T GIVE UP! WHY WOULD I WANNA DO THAT!?”
“Well I am on top of you grinding away at your skin.”
Mustering all the strength the child could, Apocalypse raised his head as high as he could. “THEN GET OFF!” Before Scolipede could respond Apocalypse slammed the side of his head into the ground and somehow contorted in such a way he lifted his body just a scant few inches off the ground.
It was just enough to destabilize the Poison Bug and launch him off of Apocalypse and send him rolling backwards, the insect unfurling into the heap on the ground. Both dinosaur and insect quickly got up and glared at their mutual enemy, seeing no other as Scolipede screamed a battle cry, curling into Steamroller again. Apocalypse gleefully accepted the challenge Scolipede issued, his head and eyes following Scolipede’s movements circling around Apocalypse, both pokemon searching for the right time to strike.
Scolipede found it first, dashing forward his target, his approach similar to his previous approach, yet at the same time, different somehow…
Apocalypse could care less. With tiny open arms he gleefully accepted the strike of the assault and got hit by the Steamroller at full force, and to the Tyrant Pokemon he was surprised the Scolipede was successfully pushing him backwards, his feet carving lines in the dirt this time.
Screams from the changeling side of the audience rose as the citizens of the empire decided that other places looked like a good place to be. They escaped just before Scolipede rammed Apocalypse into the wall of the Pit, an explosion of dirt and logs left in the wake of the strike. Apocalypse lay somewhat embedded into the wall amidst the wreckage, growling at Scolipede, whom was rolling away from Apocalypse before coming to a stop and unfurling. “You are strong, I give you that.”
“Thanks!”
The horns of Scolipede glowed with an ethereal white light vaguely in the shape of swords before he started to dance. “Then I must be stronger.”
“... why is he dancing?” Nall questioned. “I’m always up for a good dance cuz I do enjoy a good dance, but why would he dance in the middle of a fight?”
“That is Swords Dance.” Naruto explained. “It’s a very powerful move. Unlike most moves, this attack does no damage.”
“So… why dance?”
“Because the energies of the dance invigorate the user and grants them a temporary power boost.”
“... that’s bad isn’t it?”
“I would think so. Didn’t he say something about Defense of Iron?” the emperor asked. “I would think because of that, not only will Apocalypse need to hit harder to do any reasonable damage, but Scolipede will hit harder in turn.”
“You’re a quick learner, ain’t ya?” asked Inti.
“It comes with the territory of ruling an entire country. You learn, or your country burns with you.”
With a mighty burst of strength Apocalypse freed himself from his temporary prison and shook his head, a single pebble falling from it. His eyes darted around, yet not for long as he eyed Scolipede’s fervorous dance.
A dance he had just finished performing.
“No dance is gonna stop me!”
“Come and try worthy foe!” Scolipede taunted. Apocalypse accepted the challenge and ran towards the bug with mighty jaws open and waiting.
In response the horns of Scolipede glowed again, this time the glow bright green with the power of bugs. He reared, barely standing taller than Apocalypse and cast his Megahorn sword down on Apocalypse's forehead.
A quick thrust of his head upward attempted to destabilize Scolipede, but his strike missed as Scolipede had quickly pulled his head back. Apocalypse was then quickly slashed across the face with the Megahorn, Apocalypse stumbling back reflexively. A growl preceded Apocalypse lunging at Scolipede with Crunching jaws.
The fight had become a back and forth tug of war of strikes and misses: Apocalypse and Scolipede took turns striking with their respective attacks, fang and horn dancing in the billowing dust of the duo’s mighty stomps created (though most of the dust was Apocalypse’s doing). Yet the advantage was Scolipede’s as the titanic insect stabbed the young Dragon in his vulnerable underbelly.
Apocalypse roared as his head glowed again. Scolipede could not react fast enough to avoid the Head Smash, the powerful strike exploding in a burst of aura sending Scolipede back. Shaking his head Scolipede startle to charge towards Apocalypse, whom started to run away, trying to escape the wrath of Megahorn.
“Think Apocalypse think!” the voice inside Apocalypse berated him . “”You are not dumb. You are smart! And smart Pokemon have smart plans! Now, what can I do to stop Scolipede? The big meanie has swords on his head, which is exactly the same as having swords, or better because they're on your head. I don't have swords on my head. I have a big tail but that's not a sword… Wait. That could work. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta.
First I need him to not hurt me while I do the thing.”
Draconic eyes darted back and forth, eyeing for a perfect place to unleash his plan, and soon he found it: the wreckage he left behind when Scolipede rammed him into the wooden reinforcements of the Pit.
Running faster than the Scolipede could Apocalypse made his way to the giant slopped hole in the wall and somehow clammered up it, the Rock Dragon thankful for the wreckage and climbed up on the edges of the Pit’s wall. The Changelings around that particular part of the Pit decided that however far they were from the bit was apparently into far enough and backed up farther. “HEY SCOLIPEDE! WRESTLING APOCALYPSE SAYS EAT EARTHQUAKE!”
Apocalypse jumped. Head first.
Scolipede attempted to run.
Attempted being the key word.
Five hundred and ninety pounds of rocky dragon leapt into the ground as Apocalypse’s head turned the impact point into a crater, and the ground itself could not hold him up and shattered as if it was glass. Spears of rock erupted from the focal point as Scolipede attempt to flee resulted in him being tripped by the unsteady ground and rolled head over ass and rolled in a rather painful manner amidst a living tide made of the ground seemingly swallowing the bug.
Proud of his work, Apocalypse began to dance, and wisps of dragonic energy emerged around him and danced alongside the Tyrantrum.
“Oh come on, now Apocalypse is swordy dancing too?” Nalel complained. “BOOOOOOO! NO DANCING! GET BACK TO FIGHTING!”
“I would not be so hasty young one,” the elder emperor replied. He eyed the energy surrounding Apocalypse. “That’s draconic magic.”
“....You mean like the magic dragons use?”
“Indeed, but that kind of magic Apocalypse is using is odd. Most draconic magic I have used and experienced involves fire and thunder on the levels between ‘overkill’ and 'extreme overkill.’ There are no exceptions.”
“That ain’t Sword Dance. That’s a Dragon-type move called Dragon Dance,” Inti boasted. “It’s like Swords Dance, but while the attack buff isn’t as large as the Sword Dance, Apocalypse also gets a speed boost to compensate.“
“When did Apocalypse learn that? I don’t recall him ever doing that back home.” Azisa pondered.
Nall huffed. “... it’s dancing.”
Nell in turn chuckled. “She does have a point.”
Azisa silently relented and accepted the changelings argument. At that point, Carapace faced Inti and asked her “By the way Inti, I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Did you evolve?”
“Yep. About a year ago. Do you know how hard is it to find the Sun Stone I needed to evolve? It was hard. Really hard.”
The screaming inside Rizen’s head intensified.
Power flowed within the veins of Apocalypse as he finished his dance, Scolipede finally escaping the rubble, shaking off the dust and dirt. “Clever, but I am not finished yet. My Megahorn has proven to be most effective against you.” His horn glowed brightly again, the weapons formed and were ready to be used.
“I really don’t like that swordy horny thing you’re using! It's sharp and it makes me feel all hurty and stuff,” Apocalypse shouted. “Good thing I have one of those of my own!”
“You don’t have any horns, or swords!” Scolipede shouted.
“Who said it’s a horn or a sword!” Dragonic energy began to form at the base of Apocalypse's tail, and Scolipede instinctively took a giant step backwards. “DRAGON TAIL!”
The energy erupted like an angry volcano, the initial burst of the azure energy exploding in an uncontrollable, the energy rushing out without a distinct form like liquid. Just as quickly as it burst into creation the energy split into streams of flowing energy and swirled like a current around Apocalypse's tail.
All present were amazed, and some shocked to the point of fainting, as he saw the energy Apocalypse called into existence had formed an aura in the shape of a dragons’ head, the energy extending past the actual tip of Apocalypse's tail by a good two feet.
Apocalypse opened his jaws and let loose yet another roar, and the Dragon Tail opened its jaws as well to join in on the roar (whether or not it actually made a sound was up to debate: no one could actually hear anything over Apocalypse). With no further warning, Apocalypse charged at Scolipede, who did the same in turn. Scolipede lowered his glowing horns menacingly and Apocalypse hit the brakes, turning slightly as the massive centipede attempted to strike him with the Megahorn attack.
In a flash, the Dragon Tail blocked the attack, somehow long enough to contort around Apocalypse so he could strike and actually see what he was hitting.
Scolipede was many things, surprised being the big one right now. "... I did not see this coming."
"Yeah, neither did I." Apocalypse grinned. The Dragon Tail was waving back and forth in a taunting manner, the mouth of the aura dragon almost grinning in mock joy. With a roar the two locked blades again, intent to finish the fight.
"... Can he do that?" innocently asked Nell. X was about to answer with a shrug before Nall beat him to it. "Of course he can do that, you wanna know why? He's a dragon with a dragon for a tail, and he's using that dragon to have a sword fight with a giant centipede with swords on his head! How is that not awesome!?
X and the others took one step backwards, Nell shrugging. "... they're sports junkies."
The two titans’ makeshift swords clashed again and again, tail and horn striking against each other over and over again, neither one yielding to the other as their owners continued to put every inch of their power into each attack.
Scolipede was actually impressed at the child's quick wit and use of improvisation.
But praise alone does not determine who wins and who loses.
Apocalypse shot his Dragon Tail out, the draconic aura shooting like a javelin. Scolipede quickly dodge and rewarded Apocalypse with a quick Megahorn to the underbelly. The Tyrant roared in pain as Scolipede's horns slashed him, leaving two noticeable scars across his stomach.
The Dragon Tail aura burned even brighter, echoing the rage Apocalypse felt. A tail flick sent the attack into Scolipede, biting him in the neck. Before Scolipede could react, Apocalypse did a quick spin and threw Scolipede off of him, disorninating Scolipede for just a moment.
One moment was enough.
With mighty speed Apocalypse roared as he charged Scolipede, tackling him with his head and destabilizing him for another moment.
Apocalypse then grinned, and all Scolipede could feel was the cold presence of impending doom.
The Dragon Tail slammed on the ground twice, each slam foretelling Apocalypse's intent. Then with a mighty stomp Apocalypse's foot slammed into the ground to anchor him, and then quickly pivoted him in a circle, seemingly skimming the ground before stopping directly underneath Scolipede.
Scolipede picked a bad time to look down.
A gently flick of the draconic tail caused Scolipede to lose balance and fall onto the tail, the toll of combat finally having an effect of him.
Then with a mighty shout, Apocalypse put all of his strength into his tail and jumped, his back arching as his tail launched Scolipede into the sky. Scolipede’s tiny legs flailed as best they could, struggling to find any solid ground to latch on to.
Moving quickly Apocalypse turned around, crouching with a carnivorous grin on his mighty jaws as blue energy becan to from on and around his crest.
“HEAD SMASH!!!!”
The leaping thrust of Apocalypse collided with the falling Scolipede in a bone shattering crack, the very air itself seemingly vibrating outwardly like a cascade of broken glass. The powerful blow then fired the titanic Megapede pokemon into the sky, Scolipede screaming echoing through the sky, spinning with the greatest of ease.
A low growl in Apocalypse's jaws echoed as he gazed at his work. “... my head hurts.”
Iron Shell and the Leader gazed slack-jawed in awe at the feat of strength they had just witnessed. “... Father.”
“Yes my daughter.”
“That Dragon just headbutted Scolipede into the air.”
“And?”
“I do not know what I should be feeling right about now,” the Chesnaught admitted. “Probably horror.”
“Honestly, I’m feeling relief that it was not me who fought him.” the Leader then shuddered. “Never shall I fly again.”
“Indeed. Curse that Braviary,” shuddered his daughter in turn. “I had nightmares for a week.”
The soft sounds of rapidly approaching screaming began to make itself heard.
“INCOMING!”
The colony started to panic and scatter, screaming in fear of landing underneath the rapidly descending Megapede pokemon. Yet in the panic, one young pokemon, whom was a Chespin, tripped in the panic, scared and refusing to move. With fearful eyes, he gaze up, and was horrified to see that Scolipede was falling straight towards him.
He screamed, unable to escape as fear paralyzed him.
Rescue came soon after in the mighty form of Iron Shell, the Shiny saying not a word as her massive hand gripped the pokemon and rushed out of the targeted area, and not a moment too soon.
A blur of purple fell from the sky like a meteor, the impact into the ground resulting in a pillar of dirt exploding upwards like a geyser, the shockwave sending those lagging in the escape prone to the force of the landing.
As the dust settled, Scolipede lay on the ground dazed, obviously hurt from the landing. He turned his head weakly upwards and looked at Iron Shell and the approaching Leader in the eye, and weakly spoke.
“I regret to inform you that I am unable to battle anymore…”
Azisa was the first to celebrate by pumping her arm into the air and shouting “THAT’S MY BIG DAMN HERO!”
Apocalypse then took the chance to celebrate his victory with a quick victory lap, roaring into the sky as the Changelings cheered louder than before, exuberant in Apocalypse’s victory. On the sidelines of the colony's side, the Durant, Venipede, and assorted other pokemon were in awe and fear of what they had witnessed.
Without warning, one Quiladin kicked a Durant whom was just a little too close to edge, sending him tumbling into The Pit. “Go get him buddy!”
The Durant would have had shouted very choice words if he didn’t have to run away from the quickly approaching Tyrantrum.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I LOVE THIS LINE!!!!!
AND EFFING APOCALYPSE!!!!! THAT WAS MAJESTIC!!!!
but it also makes me wonder if he had help from the leech seed since that stays on even after the pokemon who used it is knocked out or switched out
Apocalypse's presence will definitely turn the odds in the Changlings favor.
So. Awesome.
5824659 Scolopede ditched the Leech Seed as everyone was arguing about who to send next, he then used Rest again to be at full health...Apocalypse lived up to his name...i actually have a Tyrantrum of my own who i call...Extinction...she, too, lives up to that name...
Does Apocalypse know fire fang? That would be useful against the bug types like Durant that don't take super effective damage against rock attacks, especially with his Strong Jaw.
5824659
Thank you.
5824862
Sorry but Apocalypse does not know any of his potential Egg moves.
Not that he actually needs any of them.
5824721
Why thank you!
if he can make a dragon form around his tail...what about forming it as armour?
i'm talking super tengen toppa guren laggan style armour
Excellent choice of literary inspiration; I too follow that fanfic.
5853915
Fun idea but I think I'll pass. Tons on my plate already.
Great story so far, mate! The only problems I see so far are the messed up indents for many of your paragraphs and the it's/its error. The indents are either too small or ridiculously large when compared to each other from paragraph to paragraph. As for the it's/its error, remember that it's is an abbreviation for it is while its is a possessive term which means the noun after it belongs to it (ex. its precious ring;
it's precious ring) Beyond that, great job!If he's looking for better hearing, he could do a fair sight better than eagle ears; last I heard, they were mainly vision-based.
5868286
Birds..are not my specialty. Eagle is the only one I am familiar with.
5871794
Birds in general are made more for aerodynamics than hearing. If they had ears big enough to hear well, they'd be producing too much drag to fly well. That's why predatory birds like falcons and eagles have such good eyesight, to make up for their relatively poor hearing.
If you're looking for some really good ears, you'll want something more like fox or cat ears.
270c81.medialib.glogster.com/media/9d/9d39820b9d9ed50e159bf67fa4f4ab312afbfadc4d77f15c46479ce0b5632c6f/fennec-fox-6-jpg.jpg
Really, what did you think those big radar dishes on their heads were for?
its spelled zeus not zues
5872265 Nature nerd here. Predatory birds have excellent vision not to make up for their hearing, which is better than ours, but to focus on and target prey from high up while hunting on the fly.
In fact most warm blooded animals do have much better hearing than a human. The shape of the ear does effect the sharpness of the sense, but the internal structure is more important than the outside shape.
Quick question, how was Scolopede ably to learn like 10 different moves?
6183809 on average pokemon in this universe can have somewhere around 8 moves total.