Chapter 14: Promises Kept
“Crisis!” called Ceailean.
“Oh no! What happened, what did you do?” asked Marie.
“It’s simple, he stood in the way of my business.” simply said Darke. He stepped on Crisis’s face and pressed hard, making him writhe in muffled pain. “This is what happens to anyone who does that. Seeing that you have done just that, it’s time you join your ‘friend’ here.” Darke stepped forward, his expression unchanging.
“C, we have to go, NOW!” urged Marie.
“We can’t! We didn’t come all this way for nothing! Scorbunny’s friends need our help, and we’re gonna save them, right Scorbunny!” Scorbunny reaffirmed it’s conviction. “Good, now use high jump kick!”
“No wait!” pleaded Marie. Her cry fell upon deaf ears as Scorbunny charged ahead.
Darke’s eyes grew malicious, “They’ll never find your body.” Scorbunny jumped up from right under Tyranitar and kicked as hard as it could right in the jaw. Tyranitar’s head tilted slightly upward, but Darke did not seem the slightest bit concerned. Scorbunny was then horrified to see that it had not phased Tyranitar one bit. “Use payback” One Scorbunny’s descent, several streaks of dark energy ravaged it. The force was so great that Scorbunny flew back several feet behind Ceailean and Marie. There in the dirt it lied, completely out of commission.
“Scorbunny no!” shouted Ceailean.
Marie was quick to retaliate, “You two, ember and icy wind now!” Fennekin and Snom shot their combined attack, but they just flew by as it was just wind.
“Dark pulse.” Tyranitar charged the attack in its mouth. Ceailean was ready to jump out of the way, but then he remembered Scorbunny who still passed out. He couldn’t reach it in time in order to save it before Tyranitar would attack. That is when Ceailean came up with an idea. Reaching into his duffle, he pulled out the pokéball he had found earlier.
“Please, trust in me, Scorbunny!” he said as he threw the pokéball at it. Tyranitar had launched its devastating attack. Marie grabbed her Pokémon and jumped to the side, Ceailean did the same. Scorbunny was caught inside the pokéball just before the attack reached. A mere second of delay passed before the ground underneath them erupted into dust and explosions, propelling Ceailean and Marie away into the buildings. Marie made sure to use herself as a buffer for her Pokémon.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked with her eyes closed in pain. She opened them slowly to see Fennekin and Snom barely hanging on. “No.”
Ceailean picked himself up and observed the street behind him. There he saw the pokéball shake before a white flash indicated that it had successfully caught Scorbunny. There was no time to waste however. He made his way over to Marie and said, “Come on, we’re leaving!”
“But-”
“Don’t argue! We can’t take him as we are now!”
“But C, my leg” Ceailean remembered the injury that Marie had meant that she couldn't move fast together, much less by herself.
“Do you trust me?”
“What do you me-”
“Do you or do you not?”
Marie looked down towards Darke, who was slowly approaching with Tyranitar. “Guess I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Okay, here we go. Hold them tight.” Marie put Snom into her beanie and held Fennekin tightly in her arms. Ceailean picked up Marie, princess carry style, and began to run off. Marie, despite still being mad at Ceailean, couldn’t help but blush just a little bit.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to the forest, I have an idea.” Ceailean made sure to pick up Scorbunny’s pokéball before running away.
“Dark pulse.” said Darke. Tyranitar launched another attack right as Ceailean turned the corner, barely missing. The beam went in a building and the resulting explosion completely leveled it, leaving a pile of flaming wood.
Darke scoffed and was about to begin the chase when Crisis stopped him by saying, “Justice will be served.” Darke turned around to see him still on the ground. “You will not get away with this, you hear me! This conflict...will be resolved!”
“Don’t speak to me, you’re lucky to be as you are now.”
“You don’t get it. What happens to me is inconsequential, for you have already lost. Because of the mere fact that I am here.”
“Don’t think too highly of yourself. I’ll end this quickly and come back for you later.”
“I doubt it.”
Darke simply left Crisis on the ground and began his pursuit of Ceailean and Marie.
There, cowering on the ground, also sat Boug. And as soon as Darke turned the corner, he ran off into the unknown, never to be seen again.
Back in the forest, Ceailean carried Marie through the thick foliage as fast as he could. Not looking where he was going, he found himself barreling over a six foot drop. “Hold on!” he yelled as they fell. He landed on both feet, but the force was a bit too much and he felt and felt an unbearable pain in his left shoulder. Ceailean growled in pain, putting down Marie along the side of the drop.
“C, your shoulder. You know you couldn’t overexert it after-”
“Yeah, yeah. It's the least of our problems right now. This place looks like a good place anyway.”
“A good place for what?” Ceailean looked around and located some branches in the trees. He ripped a couple off and placed them around Marie. “What are you doing.”
“We’re just gonna try and wait it out. I’m gonna camouflage the area.”
“O-Okay” Ceailean proceeded with his work, managing to create a somewhat thick brush around Marie, making her hard to see. He then pauses as a large but distant explosion is heard, wind blowing away from where it came from.
“Ceailean, that’s good enough now hurry and get inside.” said Marie. Ceailean however does nothing.
He placed his hand on one of the branches and said, “I’m sorry Marie, to have to do this again to you.”
Marie got angry, “Ceailean, you are not doing this again. You’re going to go battle him alone again, aren’t you!”
“Well actually-”
“No! I’m not being chained up again! I came on this journey to finally be free, free to do what I please without the pressures my father puts on me.”
“This isn’t like a journey right now. Right now we’re in the middle of a criminal take down that we had no business being a part of. So please do what I say and stay here, it’s to keep you safe.”
That last sentence ticked off Marie immensely, prompting her to say, “Shut up!” Ceailean was taken aback by this. “You say it’s all for me to be safe, but in reality you’re just abandoning me again.” She then looked straight into Ceailean’s eyes and said, “You’re no better than my father!”
Ceailean’s expression became saddened, but still he knew what he was going to do. “You’re wrong about one thing. I’m not gonna battle him alone.” He pulled out Scorbunny’s pokéball and let it out beside Marie. It was still passed out and Marie realized what he was doing. “I’m gonna lead him away. And judging by his attitude, I’d say that he values his time highly. So once he gets me, he won’t come after you.”
“W-What? You can’t be sure of that!”
“I can actually. I haven’t told anyone this, but just know I’ve had to deal with people like him before.”
Tears began to form in Marie’s eyes, “C-C, you can’t do this. D-Don’t leave me alone!”
Ceailean stood up and turned around. “Just promise me you’ll survive all right.”
Marie reached her hand out of the camouflage, “No I can’t, just please come back!”
Ceailean then started to run, “Tell my mom that I’m sorry!”
“No! C!” But it was all for naught, for he had already disappeared into the forest. The gravity of the situation had dawned upon Marie. She desperately pushed away the branches around her in an effort to get away. The structure became unstable and fell on top of Marie, pinning her to the ground. She tried her best to push it away, but the pain her leg flared up, making her unable to move too much.
At this time, Fennekin finally regained consciousness and wondered what was going on. “Fennekin, please use scratch and get us out of her.” Fennekin did so, cutting up the branches with ease. “Can you walk?” Fennekin nodded it’s head yes. “Good, we need to hurry. We need to save Ceailean before he gets seriously hurt!” Marie took Scorbunny into her arms and made sure Snom was secure in her beanie. She forced herself up into a standing position, causing her leg to flare up with pain again. But through sheer determination, she pushed through, limping about 15 feet before the pain became worse than it ever has been. She screamed out in pain and fell to the ground, dropping Scorbunny and Snom. Fennekin rushed over to check on them, but Marie seemed to ignore it and began to crawl.
“I’ve gotta help, I can’t let it go like this.” she said through her teeth. Marie, her Pokémon weak or fainted, clothes dirtied up immensely, unbearable pain washing through her body, continued to move inch by inch. Fennekin found it hard to watch as she pushed herself. But eventually, her body failed her as she was so exhausted that she couldn’t pull herself anymore. “Come on please, keep going, keep going!” she thought to herself. But it was no use, her body was not able to move anymore.
Then, in front of Marie, appeared a man wearing black shoes and slacks, with a blue button up shirt. His hair was wildly wavy and combed to the side. Marie looked up at him and said with tears streaming down her face, “Please, help me!”
Darke and Tyranitar were roaming around the forest, terrorizing the wild Pokémon in their search for Ceailean and Marie. “I don’t have time for this, where did they go?” said Darke angrily. Tyranitar was scanning the area when a rock from behind hit it in the back of the head. It turned around to see who threw it, but then another one hit it square in the face, angering it immensely. It shot a dark pulse beam in the general area, destroying many of the trees. Ceailean fell from the top of one and landed on his back. “There you are!” shouted Darke. Ceailean immediately picked himself up and ran away. Tyranitar was in hot pursuit. Ceailean ran and ran, but got unlucky when he ran into a large clearing. Tyranitar was able to get a good shot on Ceailean, causing him to be sent flying back.
Ceailean turned himself over, just to see Tyranitar towering over him. Darke said to it, “Finish him off, one is just enough! Use earthquake!” Tyranitar raised its foot over Ceailean. He closed his eyes and tilted his head away as he braced for what was coming.
But just before Tyranitar stomped down, a fiery ball scooped Ceailean away. The impact caused the surrounding ground to jump up and tear apart. Ceailean opened his eyes to see what appeared to be a silhouette of a man. He landed away from Tyranitar and let Ceailean down. The fire ball around him burst apart and there stood not a man, but a Pokémon, one Ceailean had heard about before.
“B-Blaziken?” he said. “But then that must mean.” He looked around and found who he was looking for. “Blaziken mask!”
“Hi, sorry to show up on such short notice.” said Blaziken mask. “Why don’t you let me and the professor handle the rest.”
“The professor?”
“Over there.” pointed out Blaziken mask. Ceailean looked to the forest. There he saw Professor Sycamore, and in his arms he held Marie.
“Quite an irresponsible thing to do young man. You shouldn’t leave injured individuals by themselves.” said Sycamore. A wave of guilt washed over Ceailean.
“Is everyone okay?” asked Ceailean.
“Yes they are. Lucky to be too.” Ceailean saw Scorbunny and Snom resting on Marie’s stomach. A make-shift splint had been attached to Marie’s injured leg.
“Where’s Fennekin?” he asked.
“I had it return to its pokéball, I had brought it along with me as we were looking for you two back in Lumiose.”
“S-Sorry about that, if only we had the time to explain ourselves.”
“Don’t be, for I can say that you two helped us out a ton. You guys managed to find these crooks in a day compared to us who couldn’t even get close in 2 weeks.”
“Well doesn’t this day keep getting worse and worse. To think we would’ve been found out by a cosplayer, a science nerd, and a couple of children. My disappointment is beyond belief.” said Darke. Blaziken mask and Sycamore set their sights on Darke.
“Young man, please protect her.” said Sycamore, placing Marie in Ceailean’s arms. He noticed that she was unconscious.
“What happened?” asked Ceailean.
“She passed out from the pain, but don’t worry. She only needs plenty of rest so everything should be fine after a while.” said Sycamore.
Ceailean rested Marie’s head on his lap and said, “Got it.”
“And this time, never leave her side again. She speaks highly of you, you know.”
Ceailean looked to him, then to Marie. “Never.”
Sycamore walked up beside Blaziken mask. “You ready to bring this joker down?” asked Blaziken mask.
“Ready when you are, old friend.” replied Sycamore.
“Alright, Blaziken! Get ready!” Blaziken jumped to Blaziken mask’s side, ready to battle.
“Hm, Garchomp, come out and help me!” shouted Sycamore. He threw a pokéball and out came Garchomp, the same one that let Ceailean and Marie go during the city chase. “No messing around, we’re going full power right from the start!” Sycamore pulled out what seemed to be a white marble.
“Got it, let the show begin!” said Blaziken mask. He pulled out a white marble also.
“Now Blaziken, mega evolve!”
“Now Garchomp, mega evolve!”
A great flash of light burst from both trainers, making Ceailean shield his eyes from the sheer intensity. He saw as tendrils came out of them and their Pokémon, connecting together and growing larger. The two Pokémon were wrapped in red energy, their silhouettes physically changing. Then the energy burst forth, revealing new Pokémon with a mega evolution symbol flashing above them. Garchomp now stood with scythes for arms, teeth outlining its torso, and jawline so rugged it could crush steel beams. Blaziken had fiery tendrils coming out of its wrists and shorter feathers surrounding its head.
Darke seemed not the least bit concerned. “You all are a nuisance. This is gonna take longer than it has too.”
Blaziken mask smirked, “Blaziken, use flare blitz!” Blaziken charged ahead wrapped in a swirling fire. It collided directly with Tyranitar. Tyranitar still held its footing, but now it was hurting.
“Use payback!” commanded Darke, visibly annoyed. Blaziken was forced back by a barrage of dark tendrils.
“Retaliate with flamethrower!”
“Garchomp use dragon rage!”
Fire burst from Blaziken’s mouth and blue energy shot from Garchomp’s mouth.
“Dark pulse!” Tyranitar canceled out both attacks with a dark beam, causing an explosion to envelop the area in smoke.
“Now! Get in there and use dragon claw!”
“Blaziken, blaze kick!”
Green energy claws shot out of Garchomp’s scythes and Blaziken’s legs ignited into flames. Both charged ahead at such speed that Ceailean couldn’t even see where they went. They both struck Tyranitar with such force that the smoke was completely blown away.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Payback!” Tyranitar roared as dark tendrils blew Blaziken against a tree and Garchomp into the ground. “Dark pulse on Garchomp!”
“Shut it up with blaze kick!” Blaziken shot out from the trees and kicked Tyranitar’s jaw shut, causing the attack to explode in its mouth.
“Rush it with dragon claw!”
“Keep up the pressure! Blaze kick!”
Garchomp slammed into Tyranitar, making it stagger back far. Blaziken followed up with a blazing kick to the neck. Then they both started pummeling Tyranitar, one attack after another. Garchomp then uppercut Tyranitar hard, sending it up a couple feet in the air. Blaziken took this opportunity to jump up using Garchomp’s back. It front flipped rapidly before kicking Tyranitar with both legs back into the ground.
Darke was visibly angry. “This is ridiculous! Use earthquake!” Tyranitar stood up and slammed the ground with its foot, causing the ground beneath it to ripple and warp violently.
“Dodge it!” shouted Sycamore and Blaziken mask. Blaziken and Garchomp took to air, but the ground broke apart and big blocks of it were being shot up at them.
“Break it apart with dragon pulse!”
“You too Blaziken, flamethrower!”
Their attacks immediately blasted apart the debris, giving a clear view of Tyranitar.
“Flare blitz!” Blaziken wrapped itself in fire and shot down like a meteor.
“Contest it with giga impact!” Tyranitar gleamed with a brilliant yellow light and attacked Blaziken head on. Both of their heads grinded against each other as lighting began striking all around the battlefield due to the sheer intensity.
Ceailean watched the battle unfold, the ground shaking violently underneath him. He was completely appalled at the strength being presented before him. “This is the strength Pokémon have! It’s so unreal that they can do this much by themselves!”
A cough underneath him got his attention, Marie began to stir. “It’s...much more than that.” she said weakly. Her eyes were only half open when she spoke.
“Marie, you’re awake!” said Ceailean excitedly.
“*cough* Can’t...get any sleep with all this noise.”
“Is that right?”
“But listen, those Pokémon out there wouldn’t ever become as strong as they are now without their trainer. They had to become this strong together, as one.”
“So then what’s the difference between Darke and those two?”
“You see them?” Ceailean looked at Sycamore and Blaziken mask. “They have complete confidence in their Pokémon, not even a sweat. Now look at Darke.” Ceailean did so and saw him with his arms crossed, getting visibly angrier as the battle raged on. “He does not have faith in his Pokémon, so naturally, his Pokémon will have equally less faith in itself. That the difference between the two, that is the reason we’ll win.”
The clash between Blaziken and Tyranitar ended in a bright flash, and Tyranitar came out staggered. “Flare blitz, again!” Blaziken charged in again, delivering a fiery knee to the gut.
Darke grabbed his head in frustration, “AUGH! Use Payback!” Dark tendrils lashed out and pummeled Blaziken away.
“Now! Hyper beam!” Garchomp had slid undetected behind Tyranitar and shot a gigantic purple beam at it.
“Dark pulse!” Tyranitar shot its beam and the two attacks met in a beam struggle. The power being exerted was desolating the environment around. The heat of the attacks singed the grass and the blows were strong enough to knock down the trees around them.
“I believe in your power Garchomp! Do it, now!” encouraged Sycamore. Garchomp put all it had into its hyper beam, the result of which doubled its power and size. Tyranitar was quickly overwhelmed and the attack exploded voraciously upon impact.
“Don’t let it get a chance to rest! Use flare blitz!” Blaziken charged straight into the dust cloud in a fiery fashion. It kicked the weakened Tyranitar in the head, blasting away the dust surrounding them. Tyranitar fell to the ground on its hands and knees.
“Try harder! After it with giga impact!” shouted an absolutely enraged Darke. Tyranitar launched itself off the ground in hot pursuit of Blaziken.
“Don’t let it catch you!” Blaziken maintained its flare blitz attack and started zipping around the area, All that was perceivable to Ceailean was two streaks of red and gold absolutely soaring around them. Occasionally they would clash, but it was clear who the faster of the two. The two streaks made their way towards Ceailean and Marie before they could even realize it, but one last huge clash sent Tyranitar off course into the forest. Blaziken had lost its balance and tumbled on the ground in front of them. “Go off after it Blaziken!” instructed Blaziken mask. Blaziken nodded, leaping off the ground and flare blitzed in the direction of Tyranitar.
Sycamore was about to give Garchomp orders, but Fennekin popped itself out of its pokéball. It ran over to Garchomp, looking it straight in the eyes, telling it that it has to win, for their sake. Garchomp looked to Sycamore, who replied by saying, “You know what to do.” Garchomp looked back to Fennekin with a warm smile. It told Fennekin that it was going to be a piece of cake, then proceeded to fly off towards the battle.
Darke scoffed and hurried after Tyranitar. Blaziken mask and Sycamore turned to each other and nodded, proceeding to run after the criminal. Ceailean instinctively attempted to get up and follow, but Marie gave a sharp breath through her teeth when he tried to. Her expression became sad. “So now what? You gonna leave me again?” she asked.
Ceailean lowered himself back to the ground. “No. I’ll never leave you, ever again.” he said softly. Marie seemed to breathe a somewhat shallow sigh of relief and closed her eyes. Fennekin, eager to see the battle unfold itself, ran off after them. Ceailean let it go and looked to the horizon, hoping the battle would finally be at an end.
Soaring through the streets of the abandoned was Tyranitar. Blaziken had caught up behind it before it could even react and knocked it out of its giga impact straight through two whole buildings. Tyranitar found itself in the middle of an intersection. Blaziken made its presence known by shouting as loud as it could from atop a building. Tyranitar readied itself as Blaziken jumped high in the air with its legs bursting into flames. It jumped back to avoid Blaziken’s blazing dive kick, causing it to hit the ground with a huge plume of dust. But this did little to slow Blaziken down, as it attacked immediately after, the dust parting as it moved. Tyranitar was struck to the gut with a blaze kick, followed by a flamethrower point blank in the face, staggering back in pain.
After recovering from the attack, Tyranitar looked at Blaziken, who was staring daggers, and was genuinely scared of it. Tyranitar, in a desperate attempt, launched a dark pulse beam at Blaziken. Blaziken charged ahead, merely sliding against the side of the beam as it flew past. It jumped up and went into a flare blitz, closing in rapidly on Tyranitar. Once it got there, it cross chopped Tyranitar away, pinning it against the wall. Tyranitar was about to retaliate, when green energy claws bust out of the wall, holding it in a choke hold. Then Garchomp burst out of the building mid front flip and threw Tyranitar right at Blaziken, who merely dodged it by tilting its head out of the way with its arms crossed. Tyranitar crashed straight through the old wood of the building, leaving a huge hole of destruction.
“Good work Blaziken! I say we finish this up!” said Blaziken mask from on top of a building behind Blaziken.
“You too, Garchomp. We couldn’t have done it without the both of you.” said Sycamore walking down the street.
Both Garchomp and Blaziken stared down their opponent, ready for their final attack.
Blaziken mask jumped down from the rooftop and said, “Flamethrower, full power!”
“Hyper beam, give it all you got!” shouted Sycamore.
Both Pokémon shot their attacks, combining into a huge purple beam of swirling fire. Tyranitar had only raised its head just to see the massive projectile collide with it, causing such a great explosion that it burst a huge hole in the roof and puffed up all sides around the building. Fennekin had just caught up to the trainers just barely able to comprehend the destruction. The building had just ignited into flames and collapsed shortly after. After going through what seemed like hell on earth, Fennekin jumped up with joy, cheering Garchomp and Blaziken for their heroic deeds.
“Hey there Fennekin, you managed to come all this way. You must’ve done so much while you were here. I’m proud of you.” Fennekin nodded in agreement and turned to face Garchomp. It walked up and nuzzled Garchomp's huge leg in appreciation, crying tears of joy. Garchomp, extremely humbled by this gesture, squatted down to pet Fennekin, being careful not to cut it with its scythe arms.
“Another day, another criminal brought down in the name of Lumiose city.” said Blaziken mask triumphantly. From the side, a police siren blared as a cruiser pulled up. The drivers door opened up and Officer Jenny stepped out.
“Professor, Blaziken mask, do these two happen to be acquaintances of yours?” she asked. Ceailean poked his head out from between the seats and gave a nervous wave.
“Yes, they also happen to be the two that lead us all here to the operations area of those Pokémon thieves.” answered Sycamore.
Officer Jenny was surprised, “Really, so they weren’t part of the organization?”
“I can’t say for certain until I’ve heard their stories, but all that matters is that they chose the path of good as far as I could tell.”
“Then what will say for them stealing that Fennekin there?” pointed out Jenny.
Sycamore looked at Fennekin, who was currently hiding behind Garchomp nervously. He replied, “Seeing as I saw Fennekin stand up for its supposed thief, I must say that I can’t personally press any charges against them. I hope you also forgive them, or at least hear them out.”
Officer Jenny sighed, “Well if you insist.” She walked to the passenger door and opened it, letting Ceailean out. She told him, “Don’t get any funny ideas just because the professor took your side. Just one step in the wrong direction and I’ll have you locked up faster than Nurse Joy could treat your Pokémon.”
“I’m willing to co-operate in any way I can, there is no more reason for me to run anymore.” assured Ceailean.
Scorbunny finally regained consciousness and sat up on Marie’s lap. “Hey, you’re awake now.” Scorbunny stood up on its feet and ran out of the open door, looking around as if its life depended on it. “Wait, you shouldn’t move like that! You need rest!”
Ceailean noticed it as it searched its surroundings. Then a look of worry washed over Scorbunny as it tried to get everyone's attention, spouting about to anyone it could plead to.
“What’s it on about?” asked Officer Jenny.
“I don’t know, perhaps it’s worried about something.” replied Sycamore.
Scorbunny finally got around to pleading to Ceailean. He felt a weird feeling, like the one he felt when he fought Boug. Somehow, someway, Ceailean understood what the problem was. He looked around, trying to see if he was anywhere nearby, but as soon as it was clear he was not there, he said, “S-Sycamore, Blaziken mask!”
They both looked at him, Sycamore asking, “What is it young man?”
“Where’s Darke?”
A realization had just washed over everyone there. Tyranitar was defeated, but where was Darke?
“No, where could’ve that criminal have gone!” asked Blaziken mask. Scorbunny pleaded more with Ceailean in hopes that he would understand.
Ceailean thought for a moment, then it hit him. “H-He has a boat by the docks! It was absolutely full of Pokémon in cages! I saw him there before, when I rescued Scorbunny!”
“Really? Is there anywhere else they might be storing them?” asked Officer Jenny.
“Y-Yeah! A truck, near the outskirts of town! It's got a tarp on the back covering milk canisters, they’re full of Pokémon balls.”
“Understood, you two don’t mind heading to the docks while I check it out, do you?”
“By all means. We got this.” assured Sycamore.
“Alright, I’ll lead you guys there-” Ceailean was about to walk off when Officer Jenny held him back.
“Just where do you think you’re going? You’re coming with me!” she said.
“Wait, no, please! You have to let me go! We don’t have time to wait around! Darke is going to get away if we stay here and argue! I can lead them there, you have to trust me!” pleaded Ceailean.
Officer Jenny looked to Sycamore and Blaziken mask, both nodded in support of Ceailean. She sighed and said, “Fine, hurry.”
“Thank you.”
“Lead the way, young man!” said Sycamore.
“Right, this way!”
Before they could get going however, wood started to topple from inside the wreckage of the burning building. Fennekin was transfixed on who it was inside. Tyranitar burst from the wreckage and roared loudly, catching everyone's attention. Its eye glowed red in the smoke, blinded by rage. That same rage had made it indiscriminate, rocketing out of the building, ready to giga impact right into Fennekin. Everyone turned heel to try and intervene, but they were too far, except for one. Right as Fennekin’s life flashed before its eyes, Garchomp stood in the way of Tyranitar, blocking it with dragon claw. Garchomp slid back in the dirt, inching ever closer to Fennekin. With all of its strength, it pushed back hard, until a slash broke up Tyranitar’s giga impact, making it stumble back. Garchomp then lunged forward with as much power poured into this attack as it could, slashing straight Tyranitar. The green energy claws broke apart as Garchomp waved them away. At the same time Tyranitar fell to the ground unconscious. It fell out of its mega form in a flash of volatile energy.
“Is everyone alright?” asked Sycamore. Everyone gave their assurances. Fennekin thanked Garchomp once more.
“Okay, let's go everybody!” Ceailean ran ahead. Sycamore and Blaziken mask followed closely behind. And alongside all of them ran Scorbunny, Garchomp, Blaziken, and Fennekin.
After running for a while, they made it to the docks. But much to the group's horror, the boat was already gone. What caught their attention however were a few broken cages on the ground.
“What the, who could have done this?” asked Ceailean. Out in the distance, something called to them. They all turned to see Wooper, but this time accompanied by two large Pokémon.
“No way it can’t be! That’s Goodra and a Florges!” exclaimed Sycamore. Fennekin spoke to Wooper, who explained that they were the friends that it was talking about. Scorbunny, wasting no time, asked if they saw where the boat went. Goodra pointed down to the far end of the docks with its horn. Scorbunny ran off ahead in that direction. Goodra ushered everyone to follow, to which they obliged.
At the end of the dock, Ceailean recognized a lot of the Pokémon there as the ones who were on the boat. There were only about four though, consisting of a Cyndaquil, a Treecko, a Rowlet, and a Piplup, the latter of whom being absolutely berated by Scorbunny.
“Woah, what’s happening there!” asked Blaziken mask.
Ceailean immediately recognized what was happening. “Hey I know that Pokémon, it's the reason that I wasn’t able to save any more Pokémon from the boat due to it begging to be released first.”
“So that would explain the shout fest.” said Sycamore.
“I couldn’t begin to know how Scorbunny feels. See, it had someone it cared about a lot on there. Scorbunny practically begged me to free them next, but that Pokémon alerted Darke before I could do it.”
Their attention was quickly redirected as Goodra pointed out to the boat. It was moving away slowly into the foggy ocean. “No, how could have gotten so far away already!” said Blaziken mask with his fist clenched. Goodra put down Wooper next to him and gave a nod to Florges. Both charged up an attack and fired downrange at the boat. But the distance made aiming hard, as both attacks missed within close proximity. Tall plumes of water shot up around the boat as it rocked.
Goodra and Florges grit their teeth in frustration. “Wait a minute guys.” said Sycamore. “Remember, Garchomp can fly! He can intercept him in no time.” Everyone lightened up at the news. “I’m relying on you Garchomp, go get ‘em!” Garchomp launched forward, the water under it splashing away as it soared through the air.
It closed the gap in no time, having positioned itself above the boat. “Now, dragon pulse!” Garchomp shot a beam directly down onto the bridge, shaking the boat violently and startling all the Pokémon on it. Shortly after, Darke walked out in a fuss.
“So that’s how you wanna play it huh! You guys wanna play games, I’LL SHOW YOU GAMES!” Darke walked to the back of the boat, picked up a cage, and held it over the raging waves. The entire group was in shock.
“You! You! How could ever be so cowardly!” said Ceailean angrily. He clenched up his fists so hard he’d thought he would break his fingers. Unbeknownst to anyone there, Ceailean’s gave a slight flash red.
Darke picked up a megaphone from the ground beside him and shouted, “Let it be known, that if any one you, even thinks of following me! They’ll see, one by one, every Pokémon on this ship will be sent to the depths!” The Pokémon inside the cage was no other than Snivy, who called out for help. This caught Scorbunny’s attention, making it call back. Darke was quick to make the connection. “Oh ho! Is this one important to your little friend? Ain't that cute, makes this all the better!” Darke thrusted Snivy’s cage even farther of the edge of the boat. Garchomp became desperate and instinctively began to close the gap.
“AHHT! Nuh uh!” threatened Darke, letting go of his index and pinky fingers off of the handle. “Don’t even try it!” Come even an inch closer and I’ll release the rest!” Garchomp was completely embodied in rage, but still it could do nothing. Scorbunny jumped off the dock in a futile attempt to save Snivy.
“Scorbunny no!” said Ceailean, who jumped after it. Ceailean caught Scorbunny mid-fall, and Goodra caught Ceailean with its horns. Still however, Scorbunny struggled to get out of Ceailean’s grasp. “Please, you can’t go out there! You’ll never get close! How do you expect to save them if you won’t even be there to save them! We’ll get him back one day, I promise!” Scorbunny began to shed tears as it reached out to Snivy, calling out its name in agony.
“Let this be a lesson to all of you! Especially that child! This is the world as we know it, and only people like me are the ones smart enough to live in it. I’m the one who’ll always be ONE, STEP, AHEA-”
Just then, out from the fog, a huge number attacks land direct hits on the boat. Shaking it violently which causes Darke to fall over and drop Snivy into the ocean. Scorbunny watched in horror as it saw the cage drop. Just then, surging across the water, something catches it and rushes across the water towards two speedboats. Two other speedboats appear from the other side. Together, they stage a full frontal assault on the boat, attacking with a huge amount of attacks, sending Darke into a panic. He stumbled into the bridge where he ran into something. He looked up slowly to see Garchomp was in there with him. After a moment, Darke makes a quick move for a pipe propped up on the wall and swings at Garchomp. Garchomp responds by chomping down on the pipe, shattering it to pieces. Then Garchomp took its turn by using dragon claw on Darke, which he narrowly ducks under. The attack was so powerful that the entire top half of the bridge was cut clean off and sent into the ocean. Darke takes one look at what happened and mouthed, “Okay, alright, you win,” while standing up slowly with his hands up.
“Good work Floatzel, we now have the situation under control.” said a woman with her knee hiked up high on the bow of one of the speedboats. The cage came towards her and out popped Floatzel out of the water. It gave the cage to her and she said, “It’s okay little one, we’re to help now.” Snivy was still a little distrusting of the person, but still accepted her a little more than Darke.
Scorbunny, Ceailean, and Goodra were all in awe as they watched the events unfold. Then two helicopters flew close overhead, startling all of them and caused them to fall into the water. Florges looked over to see if they were okay, just to see that the water barely came up over Goodra’s feet. They all had a slight chuckle before a third helicopter hovered above them and down came Clemont, the Lumiose Gym leader.
“Hey! Are you all okay?” he said coming down. Ceailean thought he was on a rope but he actually attached to some weird arm on his backpack.
“Ah, Clemont! Good to see you my boy!” said Blaziken mask.
“Glad to see you too, Dad.”
A shock had just been delivered to Ceailean, “Wait, Dad?!”
A shock had just been delivered to Clemont, “Wait, You! What’re you doing here!”
Blaziken mask was quick to act, “Ah, well you see Clemont, that boy along with another helped us find these Pokémon thieves. We couldn’t have done it without them.” His voice didn’t sound as deep as before.
“Huh? No way! You were the ones to find them!” asked Clemont.
Ceailean scratched the back of his, “I guess so.” Goodra helped Scorbunny and Ceailean back onto the dock. This delivers another shock to Clemont.
“Wait, Goodra!” he exclaimed. Goodra seemed to recognize Clemont and went in for a huge bear hug. “Agh! It’s good to see you too!”
Scorbunny turned toward the ocean and watched as all his fears melted away, all of its friends would be safe again.
Blaziken mask spoke with his usual gruff voice this time, “So, do you guys happen to know who those people are?”
A voice behind them, breathing heavily said, “I happen to…” They all turned to see who it was, and everyone was unfamiliar except Ceailean.
“Crisis! You’re okay!” said Ceailean.
“Yes. My body is able and willing to endure much more pain than that man was able to procure.”
“So you helped out too, we can’t thank you enough.” said Sycamore.
“Appraisals have no meaning to a contributor, we have all done our parts.”
Everyone looked to Ceailean expecting an explanation. “Hey look, I just met the guy today, don’t look at me. It’s just the way he talks.” Everyone looked away, having no interest anymore. “So what did you say about these guys, do you know them?”
“‘Do I know them?’ Of course I do, I am the one who has summoned them here in the first place. They’re much closer than that of a family, connections and bonds that go further than this physical form can project. To put it simply, they are the greatest, most uncontested form of brethren. We call ourselves…
...Team Harmonious.”