An Eruption of Chaos (part 1)
When Twilight returned, she was with a familiar face with a mohawk and black jacket.
“We have at least one powerful Pokemon on our side.” Twilight beamed, and Thunderlane gave a sheepish nod.
“I want to help out. Twilight told me what happened. If these guys are making Pokemon stronger and angrier… It sounds like what happened to Luxray, and that means they might have Rumble’s Helioptile too.” His tone picked up, becoming more hopeful. They couldn’t say no, especially when they didn’t know what they were up against, any numbers could only help.
And so, they formed their group. The traveling trainers (minus Spike and Rumble) along with Braeburn, Silverstar, Thunderhooves, Strongheart and Thunderlane, would all be heading forth to crack open this mystery. They waited that afternoon for their Pokemon to heal up before heading out. The aim of this mission wasn’t to attract attention, they would probably try to run, but if they could stop everyone and get to the one in charge then it would be worth it, and she would be confident they could if it came down to it. Applejack had managed to defeat Gliscor once and she was confident she could do it again. Between that they had a gym leader and the local police. They were confident in themselves.
The group had received a fair bit of information from the Flim Flam brothers. Every couple of weeks they were checked and if needed, supplied with money, parts and resources, the date that happened to be the following morning. All the group needed to do was wait and follow them up. When the vehicle came round they had the brothers act as though everything was normal, and when those semi-armoured goons left, they just followed far behind, Rainbow’s Taillow flapping behind to make sure they were never lost along with Hoothoot’s impressive sight. As such, they made their way to Macintosh Hills.
Two men in strange outfits drove down a path, before veering off the road. They weren’t too worried, the car was a pretty good off-road vehicle. One of them looked up, paying the insignificant bird no mind, especially not for a routine supply run.
Eventually, Taillow returned to the group after the van had made its way up to the hill, through an opening in the side. These hills, near the Badlands where many powerful Pokemon roamed, meant most people did not come around here to a secluded edge of the region. The hills acted as a wall between that powerful land of chaos, and the area surrounding. While there generally weren’t many stories of Pokemon walking outside the Badlands, most didn’t venture this far to find out, and there weren’t many reports of anything beyond those strong Pokemon in an area that, until now, wasn’t settled by many humans, leaving little reason for most to even go this far, the fear almost stronger than the Pokemon that roamed beyond the hills.
“Ok, once we get up there we’ll need to split up into two groups. One who finds the people in charge while the other frees the Pokemon. Me, Rainbow, Rarity, Braeburn and Strongheart will go find the ones responsible. Applejack, Pinkie, Thunderhooves, Fluttershy and Thunderlane will go save any Pokemon they’ve got trapped here.” Twilight explained. “We don’t know what sort of security they have so we need to stick to a plan.
Rainbow and Strongheart were the fastest there, and could outrun anyone trying to escape. Twilight herself needed to be able to get to the bottom of this. The rest were mostly strong trainers who could handle any goons or Gliscors in their way, though she wasn’t sure what Braeburn could do.
With that in mind they followed Taillow up to the hills, and Taillow flapped around the entrance, past the van that was already empty. The entrance was covered with metal, not easily broken through but Rarity came through with a Duskull and a hairpin, the place luckily not having much of a complex lock.
The group walked through, looking around. The place was clearly built quickly, or was still in construction, a rush job either way. The first part of the entrance was like a cave held up by rusted metal bars with boxes both full and empty around, but as they went further the metal looked more refined. The stone floor became flat with metal paved over the stone, but even that was kind of shoddy.
They couldn’t exactly disguise themselves, so they had to make their way through quickly. At the moment it was mainly a big hallway, but some large boxes gave them enough cover. It wasn’t long before they saw a few of those goons walking around. They knew there would be a holding facility for the Pokemon, and despite the insistence on bringing Luxray, it would be ideal if its use was kept to a minimum.
One grunt was walking around, clearly not having much to do. He’d moved most of the boxes that his annoying boss had told him to. They had two supply runs: One that came to them, giving them the right equipment to keep this little lab in place, and the second was one they did for those annoying shopkeepers if they had a request within reason. Still, the quantity of supplies had been progressively thinning, so his back would at least thank him for that. His back would thank him even more if he took a seat on one of those stupid boxes, so it was what he did. He’d been lifting so much, the least his boss could do was let him sit down on one of them. There was one right there waiting for him, so he happily offered his posterior, and as he took a seat he felt relaxed. The others were too scared to go against the lab’s boss but he wasn’t scared of nothing! He could see those saps standing on their feet, looking away from him. He was sitting but they were the ones far below him. Farther… Farther… Farther… Wait.
His back hit some heavy boxes that thankfully didn’t fall on him, and before he could question what invisible force had pulled him back, he was yanked by the collar around the corner, a hand placed on his mouth, seeing himself surrounded by… A bunch of girls and a punk? And… a gym leader. That bravado quickly fettered off as the situation sunk in.
He tried to move, kick out of their grip, but it was like his body was weighed down. The purple-haired girl cleared her throat, and he saw the Hoothoot and Ralts on her shoulders.
“If you want out then we need you to start talking.” She said in a measured voice, but her glare was all the same. “Tell us about this place, what are you doing here, who’s your boss?” Soon, the blonde cowgirl took her hand off his mouth. However, he scoffed.
“She can go take a permanent vacation in the Badlands for all I care, all of these wimps can, but I’m not about to rat them out!”
The rainbow one took exception to this, ramming him against the boxes, which didn’t fall thanks to their weight, but did rumble concerningly.
“Rainbow, quiet! You want us to get spotted?” The purple one spoke with gritted teeth.
“Oh, come on! He deserves it!”
“We have a plan, Rainbow. We need to stick to it. You’re going to tell us where your boss is and where those Pokemon are.”
The grunt scoffed. “I don’t know why you’re even so mad about the Pokemon. They’re better, stronger. I swear, if you saw them now you’d be thanki-”
Thunderhooves leaned in, his own sneer far more intense, grabbing the grunt with a single arm.
“All your toying with our home, our lives, our friends… It has not put me in a good mood.” The gym leader leaned in further, and the grunt arched his head back as best he could, lifted further to the point where his legs were dangled, his grip tightening. “It’s not a good idea to give me a reason.”
He still had that bravado, but right now he was with someone who lacked the patience to give said grunt an inch, and his will to survive outweighed his ego.
“Alright, alright! We’re using this place as a hub to research and test things out, then send reports back. Only a few of us have been stationed here.”
Twilight got closer. “And where are the Pokemon? And whoever’s in charge here?”
“This place isn’t exactly big, it has an east and west entrance. East is the holding facility, west is where my lovely manager stays.” He scoffed.
“Who is she?” Twilight pressed.
“Hey, I may not like her but I know she’s not happy when word is spread without her talk. Can’t believe I get bossed around by someone younger than me…”
“I am losing my patience.” Thunderhooves snarled.
“L-Look, the one overseeing the lab knows more than me and she’s always in her office!”
Twilight thought for a moment. “What does ‘she’ look like?”
“Well she has long red hair and ain’t that much older than you two really.” He explained. That confused the others, but Twilight knew who it was.
“Where’s her office?” The bookworm asked.
“O-Other side of the building.”
Thunderhooves dropped him. “We will tear this place apart to find them. If it turns out you’re lying you won’t be able to hide.”
“You’ve also to tell us who designed those disasters you call uniforms!” The one dressed in white scoffed, bearing down at him. “They’re all so disjointed, like they don’t even know what they want to be.”
“Not important Rarity.”
“Hmph. I beg to differ.”
As those two bickered, the cowboy and cowgirl he was pretty sure were related looked at him and he groaned.
“Ugh, what now?”
The guy spoke up. “This is the lives of people and Pokemon, all good and honest. How can ya be okay with ruining the lives of them, of our family?”
The grunt could’ve stopped, could’ve let them bicker and rant at them, but his own bravado came back, and he was just too pissed off, the words slipped out his gritted teeth. “Come on, you really think anyone in this nowhere place would’ve mattered? Do you really think they could’ve become this awesome with the two-bit trainers and farmers they were taken from? Who even cares about some cowboys and their apples, huh? Don’t blame me just because you were the ones doing all that work for nothi-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Instead, he was kicked in the face by a pissed off cowgirl, straight into the boxes, the force making them topple over, one hitting his head and knocking him out cold while the others crashed onto the ground, the impact echoing through the cave.
Twilight was not having a good time right now. Before the group knew it, they were spotted by a bunch of grunts who sent out a variety of bug and poison-types. Swadloons, Burmies, Parasects and Scythers. Any hope of sneaking around had been lost.
“Applejack! He could’ve given us more info!” Twilight yelled, no longer needing to keep quiet.
“There weren’t nothin’ more a guy like that coulda given us.” AJ protested not exactly feeling bad about this some jerk getting knocked out. There would be no more time to argue as the grunts present attacked. Their group mowed through the low-level Pokemon like grass, but the pandemonium was impossible to ignore, the cameras focused on the group and soon more grunts would come.
Twilight had Hoothoot out, while Rarity’s Glaceon froze them, allowing Hoothoot, Nincada, Bouffalant, Glaceon and a Graveler Braeburn brought plowed through the horde of minions effortlessly, he and Rainbow’s Nincada in the front, the latter using its digging capabilities to launch sneak attacks. Hoothoot and Ralts stayed on Twilight’s shoulders.
After their bug Pokemon had failed, most of the grunts turned tail and ran, some trying to rush with their own two hands, thinking they could catch the group off guard. Rainbow however took pleasure inn standing between them, rushing them with her own fists and dispatching them with the cockiest but not unearned grin.
“Oh yeah! Who’s the best?” She asked as one went behind her, trying to grab her, only for her to flip him. “That’s right, ME!”
Rainbow beamed, the rest enjoying their respite while one bookworm was simply annoyed.
“Let’s just focus on getting to the bottom of this.” Twilight sighed, not pointing out she could’ve done something with her psychics, Ralts even cheering Rainbow and clapping. Braeburn and Strongheart agreed, wanting to get back at the one who had tricked them like this. They heard a rumbling as they turned a corner, only to see a group of Rhyhorn charging with rage in their eyes. They were shocked, but managed to get their Pokeballs out. One Rhyhorn managed a Take Down, but it was stopped by Strongheart’s own Bouffalant. The two collided, wrestling against each other in a fight for control. The others went past and Rarity made her move.
“Reveal yourself, Glaceon! Ice Beam!” The ice-type would shoot the cold energy at the second one, making it slow down as it growled.
“Ralts, Confusion!” The Pokemon’s eyes glowed, pushing back against the third Rhyhorn with psychic force. Each Pokemon struggled against their own Rhyhorn. The first was caught in a stalemate. The second broke through the ice hitting it, while the third was gaining ground. Ralt’s. Arms shuddered as it tried to keep its ground, but Rhyhorn was getting faster. Hoothoot joining managed to slow it down. Then the second was knocked off its feet by a Nincada that burrowed beneath it. The first managed to knock past Bouffalant. Strongheart didn’t panic, just giving her Pokemon a worried smile.
“Reckless as always…” She knew exactly what her Bouffalant was trying to do and would follow it through. “Revenge!” Bouffalant glowed with a fighting aura, ramming back into the first Rhyhorn, making it hit a wall.
Braeburn watched this, hesitant. He recognised these Rhyhorn from his own ranch, and it broke his heart. People thought Rhyhorn was something aggressive, but that wasn’t the way he knew them. Something that was strong and knew it, with respect that was not given but earned. Here however they were unrecognisable to him. This was not the aggressiveness of something territorial or brandishing its power, but blind rage.
Ralys was still struggling with the third, the rock-type pushing back on the psychic force holding it down. Twilight cursed and got out a Pokeball, about to summon Exeggcute. However, there was a crash. Debris blew everywhere as one of the walls blew open behind them, causing them to stumble.
“A-At least wait until we open the passageway up!” One voice pleaded.
Another began: “I-It’s still too early, we can’t control it properly! Why would she ask us to-”
“Boss’s orders! This place is under attack!” A third voice replied.
The group turned around, and where they had once seen a wall was open to a whole other hallway, the sides falling off to show a perfectly square doorway, as if it was meant to open up. A group of goons stood behind a form that was familiar, yet different.
Like the Rhyhorn, its body was grey with a horn on its nose. Unlike the Rhyhorn, it was bipedal with a far more defined horn. It stared down at them with narrow red eyes, their heads barely going up to its striped abdomen. This was Rhydon. It roared as it knocked its apparent handlers away and stomped towards them, poised to attack.
The gang of invaders ordered their Pokemon, from Revenge to Ice Beam to Confusion. It blocked each, only getting angrier. Instead of attacking, however, it got on all fours, rearing its body back, stomping its back legs into the ground before charging at them full force, its horn glowing. It knocked all Pokemon out of the way with that single attack and the trainers had to scatter, but with the pincer they were caught in, there was little place they could go. They had been trapped.
Everyone watched as it got up, but only Braeburn paid close attention. He recognised that stance. Moving as if it were on all fours it reared itself back and rushed forward at the group, ignoring all attacks as they narrowly managed to avoid the assault, instead the rock-type crashed into the wall.
Everyone backed away as the stone crumbled around Rhydon, it turned around and glared at all of them, and got back into a charging position. Strongheart and Bouffalant stood in front of the group, and as it charged the normal-type returned the favour with a Fury Attack, only to be knocked back after the short-lived clash, sliding along the floor. Strongheart ran to her partner, who slowly got up, shaking it off with a grunt, but as she and Bouffalant prepared to attack Braeburn stood in front of the large rock-type.
“What’s goin’ on with ya? I don’t know what happened, but I know this isn’t you! Why are ya-“ He stopped as Rhydon raised its Arm, before bringing it down like a Hammer, Braeburn saved from the impact when Strongheart tackled him out of the way. Rhydon stood up, shaking its head as it knocked into the walls and floor. In that moment Bouffalant took Revenge and rammed into its chest, knocking Rhydon back a bit.
“Are you out of your mind?!” Strongheart yelled at Braeburn, but the cowboy looked in thought.
“My partner… I’m in charge of a lotta Rhyhorn but he’s the one I’ve been through thick and thin with. The way he moves, it’s definitely him but He…It was like he ain’t the same guy.” The first thing that came to mind was the radio doing what had been done to the Bouffalant in town, but judging from Strongheart’s partner still being fine, it seemed that this frequency had only affected a certain type. Also, much of that anger was chaotic, in some cases they had even fought with each other. There was rage in Rhydon too, but he could see it, a desperation and lucidity in it. He knew his partner better than anyone.
Rhydon roared at all of them, tossing Bouffalant out of the way before the ground-type was hit by another Ice Beam from Glaceon while Nincada scratched at its eyes. Rhydon grabbed the insect and threw it straight at Glaceon. The rock-type’s horn began spinning. It got in that same stance.
“All of ya, move!” Braeburn yelled as Rhydon rushed in with a Drill Run, the group scattered but managed to avoid the brunt. By this point the grunts had already cleared out of that portion of the hall, but the force was making it rumble more and more, and as Twilight’s psychic Pokemon attempted to hold it down all at once, it simply broke through. They needed to get out of here. If they could find the source of all this they could get back. Exeggcute was using Absorb attacks from a distance but despite the type advantage it was still minor damage. Twilight smiled until Rhydon glared at her and her team.
Raising its glowing Arms, Rhydon swung them at the ground like a Hammer. The impact sent everyone back, blowing dust everywhere, though through it they could see the pure rage in its eyes. Through that dust it charged, making its way towards Twilight with another Hammer arm, roaring, its hand poised to either crush her or her team beneath the attack.
“Wait!” Braeburn cried, leaping on his trusted partner. For a moment there was hesitation, before the rage set back in and it tried to get them all in one fell swoop, roaring. It might’ve got them, too, had it not taken a Revenge to the back from Bouffalant, throwing the attack off and making its fist slam into the ground instead. They were all relieved until they heard a rumble. The ground began to crack open.
The group lost control as the impact formed a crater. Stones flew everywhere, knocking all of them back.
Some however were not so lucky, flashes of purple and beige falling to the crater that was formed.
Strongheart landed with a thud, her lavender headband nearly blowing off in the process. For a moment she didn’t quite realise where she was, but as she looked up and realised she was in Rhydon’s sight, she had a pretty good idea, but she was still dizzy from the fall, stumbling over the rocks she could normally do somersaults over. It stomped towards her with its fist raised.
“Hey!” Braeburn’s voice rang out as a rock hit the back of Rhydon’s head, then a few more. That annoyance was enough to make it turn around, glaring at its partner, the cowboy who held another stone in his hand.
“Watcha goin’ over there for, huh? Ya weren’t plannin’ on ignorin’ your own partner were ya?”
It hurt Braeburn seeing his trusted partner like this, moving without thought, logic or anything but a blind rage. He threw another rock, and it roared.
“Run, y’all!” Braeburn yelled. “We’ll keep this guy distracted! The rest of ya go the other way round!” He ran as his closest friend chased him, followed by about half the others.
Pinkie, Rarity, Thunderhooves and Strongheart had run through, trying to find another way in. So the group ran and Rhydon followed, only to find itself stopped by the Applejack, Braeburn, Rainbow and Thunderlane, Pokeballs all poised and ready to fight. Rainbow had been at the front as Nincada cut through the Pokemon of various grunts trying to ambush them as they fought their behemoth of an opponent, many of which seemed to focus on her. Not like they could catch her, she and her Pokemon ran circles around them but she did well in stopping them before they could try and trap the now-smaller group in a pincer.
Applejack meanwhile had sent Lairon out, ramming Iron Heads into Rhydon’s torso, sending it back and doing its part, but when the rock/steel-type got struck with Hammer Arm from the significantly stronger Pokemon, the damage it felt was more significant. However, it refused to give up, bolsterinng its Iron Defence. It landed an Iron Tail on Rhydon’s face, only for said behemoth to strike back with a Drill Run, making Lairon slide back.
Meanwhile, another trainer felt a tinge of hesitation, staring at a certain Pokeball. If he was going to get through this he needed to take this chance, throwing the ball in the air and allowing the beast within to break through.
“Iron Tail!” Thunderlane called out, sending his Luxray towards the Rhydon and hitting it head-on, making it slide back with a grunt. He felt relieved at that. Luxray had somewhat calmed down over the time in Appleloosa.
“That’s it!” He grinned, allowing himself to feel confident.
“A Pokemon isn’t gonna forget its trainer that easily!” Rainbow pumped her fist, looking back at them past the slew of grunts and fainted Pokemon that she had dealt with. Nincada was tired, but it was holding on. Thunderlane had a different thought though.
“I’m not sure that’s it… Like, not completely.” He said, watching Luxray roar with a frown. “When I tried letting Lux out, it was still angry. Only barely calmed down… But I think if it’s here, then it has something to focus its anger on. We… We still have a way to go but I know my friend is in there.”
Thunderlane allowed himself to smile again as Luxray pounced out of a Hammer Arm’s way, swinging another Iron Tail straight at the rock-type’s face. While he had been pretty hesitant to do this, to help his brother’s Pokemon he’d take the risk, he’d believe in his Pokemon and go through with this.
Then, a voice rang out through the speakers on the walls. A female voice speaking with confidence and authority.
“Guess you made it this far. Good for you. Makes me wonder what we even keep these goons around for.” A voice sighed on the speaker. “But that’s fine.”
“Guessin’ you must be the one in charge here.” Applejack spoke with barely-contained contempt. There was a chuckle from the speakers.
“I suppose so. Which means you’re the ones making a mess and are going to come for me?”
“Ya got that right! You…” Braeburn grit his teeth. “I hope you’re prepared, lady. The moment I lay eyes on you, I’ll take you down for both my partner and the town you ruined!”
“Ruining your town? I did nothing that wouldn’t have happened eventually anyway. We only sped it up. The wildlife you disturbed would’ve grown progressively more restless from the sudden changes until they’d get sick of it and fight back, while other little pests would capitalise on it and see your orchard as a food source. Either way your town and crops get ruined.”
“We woulda been able to adapt!” Braeburn insisted.
“It only happened in the first place because your town decided you knew better than the people and Pokemon who spent their lives here. Still, it must be quite the reunion with your Pokemon. They might not be yours, but there are more than a few friends to meet.”
In the distance they heard a crash.
“Oh, and you have our Luxray too. I’ve been searching for that. As you can likely see, this place was put together very quickly, so many of our Pokemon escaped. It really is embarrassing how little we had to make this work. Luckily most of them have been recaptured, leaving that Luxray. Though if I remember, it came as part of a set…”
Thunderlane whipped around, facing a camera. “Where’s my brother’s Helioptile?!”
“I’m afraid you’re wrong…”
At that moment something dashed over them, standing in the middle of their group. The thing that landed was small, its horned head and neck almost completely black save for its yellow lower jaw. It stood on two legs, its eyes filled with rage and its yellow body leaning forward, raring to attack.
They barely had time to think before an onslaught of electricity Discharged from every inch of its body, sending a shock through most of them. Nincada jumped in front of Rainbow to block the worst of it while Thunderlane leapt behind Luxray. He’d wished he had Electrike out but against Rhydon it hadn’t been needed, not expecting this attack.
“The correct term is Heliolisk~.”
As quickly as it arrived, it scurried off past Rhydon, whose hand slammed in Luxray’s face.
“Quite the package deal…” Her voice sounded slightly distorted from the speakers getting a minor brush from the shock. “We’ve managed to make something out of a snivelling child’s Pokemon. He’s been serving as our generator… Now though? Who knows where he’ll go~.”
“Iron Tail!” Luxray slammed another straight at Rhydon, who grunted as it hit a wall. Thunderlane clambered up and onto Luxray’s back. “Follow that lizard!”
“Idiot, wait!” Rainbow called out, but Thunderlane didn’t listen. He and Luxray ran off to try and catch Heliolisk, leaving Lairon to defend against Rhydon’s onslaught, leaving it to take the devastating onslaughts, shocks going through it from the Hammer Arms. AJ watched as Lairon was knocked back, and could take no more, making her clench her fist.
“Consarn it! Leafeon, come on out!”
Thunderhooves, Strongheart, Rarity and Pinkie walked through the hallway, Pinkie managing to get through any goons by stunning them with Shroomish, the rest sending out their own Pokemon to clear the path once said spores had cleared.
Eventually they’d made it to a different part of the facility. This one had slightly wider halls and the floor was sandy, but what was the most notable part was the cells at the other side, each with the silhouettes of different Pokemon inside. The moment they took a step inside a monitor opened up showing a shadowy figure.
“I guess bugs really do have a way of getting everywhere, huh?”
“What the heck is this place?!” Pinkie asked, looking around.
“Oh, this? It would be our holding facility for most of our special Pokemon, ones that have potential, but might’ve spent their whole lives weak had we not interfered.”
Rarity looked through the doors. She saw a pair of doors wide open into an empty cell, the doors walls and floor covered with dents, punctures and scratches; she guessed it belonged to that awful Rhydon. Still, a good few remained intact despite how worn they clearly were. There was one at the back though, with a familiar silhouette that sent a chill down her spine, one that she knew Pinkie felt too.
In that moment, a familiar Gliscor shot right past them and approached one of the doors, smashing what was presumably the opening button to the point where it’d be broken. The door opened and it showed a Cacturne walking out with a grin that betrayed no small amount of rage, and as it looked down at them it belted out a laugh that almost seemed like a roar. Rarity realised this was the same Cacturne that had fought with Applejack.
It had been stewing in there after its defeat, wanting to grow stronger. Then it had been the tests, the grass-type had grown and was left with a power that it had wanted to use since it got here, wanting for so long to vent the increased rage it felt.
“Pin Missile.”
Its spikes launched towards the group, causing them to scatter with screams. Rarity looked up, noticing Gliscor moving to open the door at the back.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Attacking her friends and getting her clothes dusty in this disgusting facility, this woman was going to pay, starting with her pet bat. Rarity threw a ball straight at Gliscor. “Show your elegance, Glaceon, Ice Beam!”
The ice-type burst out and shot the cold attack at Gliscor’s back before it could do anything, making it howl in shock and pain, before glaring at Glaceon.
“Needle Arm.”
Its arm sharpened, covered with green energy and it shot forward, swinging at the ice-type.
“Shieldon, Iron Defence!” A small Pokemon stood between Cacturne and Glaceon, taking the attack straight to the face and slid back. It had a cream body, but a large flat face shaped like an oval, a face that shone like metal, felt like it too. It stood in front of Thunderhooves as he folded his arms.
“Take Down!” Both he and Strongheart yelled, the latter summoning Bouffalant as they rushed Cacturne.
“Spiky Shield.”
Cacturne took both attacks, but in the end it was the assailants who got hurt and jumped back from the grass-type. Their trainers gritted their teeth.
“Sandstorm.”
Cacturne raised its arms and from nothing, the room was trapped within a whirlwind of sand. When they charged again, Cacturne was gone. They began seeing its shadow all around, each time they tried to hit they were always just that bit too slow, their opponent toying with them.
The sandstorm had been good for Gliscor too. Its type was usually good in open spaces, typically outdoors. Despite this being an enclosed space where it wouldn’t have the advantage, the new weather had given it an edge to hold its own against Glaceon and Shroomish. It smacked them around with its claws and tail. The occasional Bullet Seed had managed to hit it, however, which had ticked it off enough to focus on Shroomish, rushing and hitting it with Fire Fang. It flew in for the kill, dodging the seeds that kept shooting at it. Gliscor went above Shroomish, swinging its stinger down in a Poison Jab and knocking it away. A thud could be heard as the grass-type hit the wall. It laughed, celebrating for a moment before blinking as it saw pieces of purple powder like confetti surrounding it. It felt strange, queasy and perplexed. This distracted it enough for Glaceon to land another Ice Beam.
The Fang Scorpion snarled and lunged at the ice-type before something bit on its wing and it winced. It looked down to see a light brown crocodile’s jaw clenched on it. It was small, with black stripes along it. The attack, strangely enough, had also barely even hurt. It had done enough to be surprising, sure, but there wasn’t much pressure behind it.
“Yeah, woo!” Pinkie cheered for her Pokemon’s useless attack. Gliscor grunted and smacked it off.
Meanwhile Bouffalant and Shieldon were panting, having received many Needle Arms but nearly unable to respond in kind.
It swung at Shieldon once more, but instead of hitting it, it smacked a barrier that appeared in front of it, Protecting the fossil.
“Take Down!” Bouffalant rushed forward on Strongheart’s word.
"Spiky Shield.” Cacturne smiled, and those spikes dug into Bouffalant’s body. Cacturne laughed and waited for Bouffalant to move back, except it didn’t. If anything it pushed further, really digging its head into those spikes. Instead Cacturne tried to move away, but that wasn’t an option either, realising why the normal-type had pushed forward. The bull’s stupid afro had caught on the spikes, dense hair stopping them from pushing any further. Bouffalant charged faster.
“Revenge!” Strongheart commanded and Bouffalant was surrounded with a red aura. Cacturne grew frantic.
“Take Down!” Thunderhooves followed up, and the two slammed the grass-type into the wall with an even louder thud. It fell to the ground.
Gliscor was put on the defensive. It was strong, but in a 4v1 when one of those 4 was a gym leader? No way.
She should have been in trouble yet she chuckled.
“Heeeey, what’s so funny?” Pinkie pointed at the screen. “You’re losing! It’s 4 on 1 now!”
“I’d call it more of a 5 on 2.”
“We already dealt with your Cact-”
Suddenly, something dashed past them and landed in front of them. Before they could even respond Heliolisk shrieked, Discharging shocks all around.
“Iron Tail!” Luxray leapt through the lightning, swinging its tail at Heliolisk knocking it back. Behind them stood Thunderlane. He had been following on Luxray’s back, but that little lizard was way faster than he remembered. Still, he had it cornered now and with all these trainers here it was a no brainer.
“You’ll have to do better than that to throw me off!” The mohawk trainer yelled.
“That’s fine. Still made for a good distraction.”
On cue, Gliscor smashed Camerupt’s lock.
For a moment Thunderhooves stepped forward, only to be horrified as he stared at the face of his most trusted Pokemon. He should have been happy, yet there was no familiarity in Camerupt’s eyes, no joy or even sadness as it let loose an Earth Power. Gliscor grabbed Heliolisk and carried it out of the room, brushing past Thunderlane.
“Wait-” Before the electric trainer could say anything else Luxray was struck by the attack, sliding back.
Seeing them side by side let Pinkie and Rarity compare the two and fully realised the difference. Cacturne and Rhydon had all been angry, attacking anything around them. Yet Camerupt, somehow, was on another level. When they looked into its eyes they saw nothing but rage, like all other emotions had been locked away. With the others, there was something beyond all that rage. A dark aura surrounded the fire-type that the others didn’t have. All while the leader laughed.
“Knew if I led you here you’d be the first on Camerupt’s hit list. Now, if I were you I’d run. That one won’t even fully listen to me. Makes for a good guard dog though~.”
The Pokemon within the invading group fought as teams while Gliscor and Cacturne fought essentially as individuals.
Each word she spoke pissed Thunderhooves and Strongheart off more. The gym leader spoke.
“…What did you do to my partner?” His voice was a snarl.
“He’ll show you now.”
The monitor switched off.
“So you’re still going down there. Cute. Looks like it’s pretty tough without the cat to back you up.” The voice spoke up once more to the group fighting Rhydon.
“You! What did you do to my partner?!” Braeburn demanded.
“Oh this was yours? Must be a hell of a reunion.” The voice chuckled on the speakers. Braeburn just grit his teeth.
“What are you mad at me for? Not like I forced you to butt heads with the others. It’s not my fault you made it so easy. I mean look at yourselves, you’re a bunch of scared rodeo clowns planting trees, and yet you want to blame me for moving things along? The natural outcome is still there, even if sped up. Honestly, what does it even matter if the price is paid now or later?”
“And what about what ya did to his partner? Ya wanna tell me that’s ‘natural’? His own friend don’t even recognise him.” Applejack butted in.
“What about it? The power speaks for itself.” The voice spoke with no small amount of confidence.
Rhydon knocked Lairon back with another Hammer Arm, sending it sliding towards Applejack. She could’ve dodged but didn’t move an inch. The two slid back, AJ planting her feet in the ground and surprisingly slowing it down slightly. She panted, before looking at Lairon.
Lairon’s body was covered with dents and bruises. For all the durability its typing provided it, the rock/ steel-type’s quadruple damage wasn’t doing it a great deal. Applejack never paid much attention to that sort of thing.
“They’re friends and partners, they help us and we help them, and we’ve all had just about enough of you.” Applejack watched Rhydon roar as it lunged, only for it to be struck with a pair of Razor Leaves, taking its own x4 damage. This was effective. It was about to do it again before something suddenly struck its back. A Poison Jab.
Gliscor floated above the two, its fangs poised and an angry smile on its face.
“Big talk. But can you even try when your group is this short?”
She had been talking about Thunderlane, about how their edge had been lost. However, Rainbow felt something was wrong, and looked around. She didn’t remember if this was the exact team that Twilight had planned, but it had been pretty close, especially since she had wanted to stick with Rainbow and Braeburn. While she had seen Braeburn go, it begged a question in her mind.
“Uhh… Where’s Twilight?”
The lavender girl laid at the bottom of the crater, unmoving but not unliving, merely unconscious. She had found herself flailing in the air, watching the group run away before her head hit a rock and everything went black. Her neat and tidy clothes were covered in rubble and dust. She knew she’d been hit in the head at some point, she couldn’t tell what was going on, shifting in and out of consciousness. She tried to call for help but only coughed from the dust in the air.
She thought the bigger numbers and a gym leader in two would give them a fighting chance, but she was caught off guard. During the fall she had tried to call out for Ralts and Hoothoot to stop the rocks however briefly with Confusion, but did not have the time, shocked by how fast it had all happened, buried beneath the ground she stood in a second. She wanted to think of where she went wrong, but she heard footsteps moving towards her. Was it two pairs?
“Rainbow…? Is that… You…? Help… I can’t…” She couldn’t turn her head to properly see, but if she could she would have seen the Rhyhorn stomping towards her. The other two had been knocked out and its trainer/ handler had dashed, there was nobody to control it, attacking whatever it could see or hear. Twilight fell back into unconsciousness, a sitting duck before she even realised the danger she was in.
The Rhyhorn only saw an enemy, and was about to charge when it saw something. In front of Twilight, something shakily stood. Ralts struggled to stay up, but it managed. It, like the other Pokemon its trainer had called out, had been injured in the fall. Ralts wondered where they were and what had happened, but as it glanced at the pile of rubble that half-covered Twilight, it had a pretty good idea.
Rhyhorn roared and charged with a Horn Attack, but before it reached it was stopped by an invisible force. It tried to fight against this, gritting its teeth. Ralts shuddered, its arms raised in the ground-type’s direction. A struggle between physical and psychic force.
Rhyhorn took a step forward. Then another. Closer and closer… Each one gradually got easier as Ralts panted as it weakly tried to keep up its fight but it was a losing battle, but it didn’t stop. Each push against Confusion was more mental strain. Ralts looked up to see Rhyhorn towering over it, and got knocked back into the bottom of Twilight's shoe. The ground-type was like a monster, roaring, its horn gleaming and its fangs bared.
What did the psychic think it was doing, trying to fight against something as heavy as this? Trying to be something she wasn’t, Rhyhorn might have found it humorous in the right state of mind, watching the small Pokemon try to be something it wasn’t. In the end, all the fairy could do was delay the inevitable. Yet, it kept going, to the point it was becoming dizzy and nauseous from the mental strain.
Barely conscious, Ralts pulled a last ditch effort. Every last inch of psychic power that Ralts could muster, and rather than holding down it forced the power outward in one big push. Rhyhorn didn’t stop in its tracks. Instead it was thrown back right out of the crater. The stones around Twilight and her Pokemon were not flung, but moved just enough to allow for enough wiggle room. First Hoothoot managed to crawl its way out in time to hear the sound of something heavy hitting the ground with a THUD! It also saw Ralts right in front of Twilight, not even conscious enough to be aware of its own success.
The owl was about to move forward when it heard a groan coming from beneath the stones. Its trainer was awake, so the owl turned and began to get to work, carefully moving the stones and rubble out of the way, piece by piece. Groaning turned to coughing, and slowly Twilight sat up, rubbing her head.
“Wh… What happened…?” Twilight slowly pushed herself up. She saw Ralts lying there, frowning for a moment, but before she could figure out what had happened the bookworm realised there was nobody around. She climbed out of the crater, looking for the others, but she couldn’t see any of them. Alone. No friends, not even a lurking grunt. The place felt empty, almost barren. She sighed, returning Ralts and Hoothoot. Then, it got very loud.
A crash rang out through the facility, followed by screaming of both people and Pokemon. Not just the cry of the girls or grunts, but the cry of that monstrous Camerupt.
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