Chapter 23: We Can Only Imagine

“You plan to what!?” asked Marie confused.

Ceailean threw his hands up in defense. “Must I repeat myself? I want to appeal to Noibat’s sense of wonder.” The group find themselves conversing with each other back in the living room of Terrence’s house.

“Yeah dude, I have now idea what you’re on about.” said Terrence. “What makes you so sure that it even possesses such ‘wonder’?”

“A hunch? I don’t know. I just know, you know. I just kind of sense it. Back when I battled Noibat I’m sure it felt like just one of those anime characters. It was excited.”

“Okay, just say that maybe I understand what you’re talking about. How are you even going to appeal to it?” asked Marie. “You don’t even watch anime.”

“That’s easy. We know three people that do watch anime. We’ll ask them to help set a scene.”

“I don’t watch anime and I’m pretty sure Crisis doesn't either.”

“We’re not limited by the people that are here. We can call Devin and Mallen. Terrence, you’ll help too, right?

“I suppose. Role play has never been my forte, but I may have some things that might help.”

“Could you show us?”

“Yeah, I’ll get them now.” Terrence left and went upstairs.

A moment passed between Ceailean and Marie before they spoke to each other.

“I still don’t know how you’re gonna pull this off, C.” said Marie. “Why are you so motivated? Why is it so special to you?”

Ceailean slumped down into the couch. “Can’t it just be because I want to have the same amount of pokemon as you?”

“The way you asked that question makes it seem like you’re doing it for something else.”

“Read me like a book huh?” Ceailean sat up and put his elbows to his knees. “It reminds me of myself in a way.”

“Really? How so?”

Ceailean sighed. “You know me. It took me a really long time to start considering you a friend.”

“That was because of what happened in the Battle for Kalos right?” Scorbunny and Fennekin sensed the changing mood and began to listen attentively.

“Yeah. I was really lost for a long time. I have you and the rest of our friends back in Snowbelle to thank for setting me straight.” Marie smiled at this. “Noibat just reminds me so much of those times. Despite spending so much time with Terrence and Vivillon, it still doesn’t show that much of a connection towards them. If our situations are similar, I know that it isn’t true. Deep down, I know it does care. That’s why I asked for Vivillon’s help.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I'm gonna use it to create incentive, stakes. You know what I’m sayin’?”

“Mmm, no. I don’t”

“Just do a simple damsel in distress. Make it look like we captured Vivillon and have Noibat try to save it. Easy.”

“What? How would you ever get Vivillon to agree to you?”

“It seemed pretty eager when we spoke with it. I’m sure we can arrange something.”

Footsteps were coming down the stairs letting the two know that Terrence was back.

“I found them.” Terrence was carrying a small box. He placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. As he opened it, a flood of colored lights poured out. The light flowed like liquid towards the ceiling. Scorbunny and Fennekin both jumped up on the table to see what was inside. “I present to you, every single pokemon gem in existence.”

Inside the box sat 18 gems, each their own unique color. That all sat organized in a 3x6 grid, resting inside of small red cushions. Scorbunny and Fennekin looked in awe as well as Ceailean and Marie.

“Where did you find something like this?” asked Marie.

“Me and my parents were strolling through a commercial district and we just happened to find this in a clearance rack in a jewelry and precious stone store. They were originally going to make something out of the gems but something fell through and they were just going to throw them out anyway so we took ‘em for about 22,000 pokedollars.” explained Terrence.

“Dang, that’s still so expensive for being on a clearance rack.” said Ceailean.

“And look at this!” Marie took an icy-blue gem out the box. “They are so prestinely cut too, unlike the one that Reese gave us.” Scorbunny, wanting to also take a closer look, took the fire gem out of the box and held it delicately in its hands.

“You remember using one of those, right Scorbunny?” asked Ceailean. “During Tuviere?” Marie became concerned at the mention of Tuviere.

“Tuviere? Were you guys involved somehow?” asked Terrence.

Ceailean quickly realized his mistake. “Um, not really. I just meant that we found out about Tuviere while me and Marie were having a practice battle. Scorbunny wanted to use a fire gem that we got from a friend of ours in that battle.”

“Hmm. Whatever you say I guess. I was joking anyway. So, what do you guys think we should do with these?”

“Are you sure it’s alright for us to use these?” asked Marie.

“I bought it with my allowance, I’m fine with it.”

“Well, could you show us the pokemon your parents lent you? I'd like to see if it could help us.”

“Oh uh, sure.” Terrence pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and tossed it in the air. Out came a Medicham.

“Whoa, a Medicham! I haven’t seen one in person. I thought it’s be taller.”

“This is purely my parents Pokémon. I don’t even know what moves it has.”

“Don’t worry. My pokédex should tell us what it knows.” Marie pulled out her pokédex and pointed it at Medicham. “Pokedex, what moves does this Medicham know?”

It scanned for a moment. “Scan complete. This Medicham knows psychic, laser focus, dynamic punch, and zen headbutt.”

“Psychic should be perfect! Maybe we could have Scorbunny flying around like a superhero!”

“It would probably be more ideal for Scorbunny to be a villain actually.” said Ceailean. “Remember, we said we were going to ask Vivillon to be a damsel. So Noibat would see itself as the hero. Plus the amount of coordination that would require would take too much time to train. Which would more likely expose the plan to Noibat.”

“Okay then, so what could we use psychic for? Do you have any ideas, Medicham?”

Medicham nodded. It’s body glowed with a blue energy. The energy wrapped itself around each gem, causing them to all float in the air in a perfect circle. Scorbunny reached out and jumped up as it was in awe. Medicham took notice of this and picked up Scorbunny with its psychic power also. Scorbunny floated up to the group's eye level. The gems came down and formed two rings around Scorbunny, circling around perpendicular to each other. Scorbunny got into character by giving off the evilest smirk it could.

“Whoa Scorbunny! You look just the part!” complimented Marie. Scorbunny blushed and scratched the back of its head.

“Yeah, that looks great!” Ceailean complimented also. Scorbunny grew a little more flustered. “You guys all agree that we’ll use this as the main concept?”

“Yeah! Looks so cool!” answered Marie.

“Simple, but effective. Can’t think of anything else right now.” answered Terrence.

“We’ll also have to come up with a personality for Scorbunny and perhaps even have more props to aid in the act.” The group turned to see that Crisis had returned. He leaned upon the open door.

“A personality?” asked Ceailean.

“Do you believe that Scorbunny’s personality as it is now would be sufficient in eliciting the largest response from Noibat?”

Ceailean looked at Scorbunny, still floating in the air enjoying itself by swimming like it was in water. “I see what you mean. How’s Vivillon by the way?”

“Why don’t you ask it yourself.” Vivillon flew up to the door. Using echolocation by clicking its tongue. Scorbunny waved and greeted Vivillon. The sound let it know where Scorbunny was. Vivillon rushed forward to give Scorbunny another smothering hug. This startled Medicham, causing all the psychic energy to go away, dropping everything. The group watched as the gems rained down and scattered. Scorbunny fell with Vivillon on top of it, causing the wind to be knocked out of it.

“Whoa, you two okay?” asked Marie. Vivillon raised its arm happily. Scorbunny gave a weak thumbs up of sorts.

“Why is Vivillon here in the first place?” asked Ceailean.

“I initially had Rival assist me in examining it. Once that was done with, I bid Vivillon farewell. However it had followed me. I assured it that it could be on it’s way. But through a mixture of gestures that I assumed must have been in imitation of Noibat, I assumed that it must have been eager to assist us.”

“Vivillon, you really want to help us?” Vivillon nodded. “Haha, cool. We have an idea just for you.” It flew up and twirled around excitedly.

“We can brainstorm all we want while we’re inside.” said Terrence. “Noibat has only ever gone inside my room so it shouldn’t be able to hear what we think of. It’ll never know a thing.”

“Alright then.” said Ceailean. “Let's clean up this mess and get this show on the road.”

----------------------------------------

() The day had come and went. The day was nice and sunny and the trees blew peacefully in the wind. Terrence lay alone in his room, re-watching an episode of Krystal Krash. Through the low volume of the speakers, he heard the familiar rustle of leaves accompanied with flapping wings. He peeked through the window to see Noibat peering back. Terrence paused the TV and reached for a radio. “I have eyes on the suspect, await the response.” he said into it.

“10-4 Terrence. We’re ready to set the scene.” said a voice back through the radio.

Terrence exhaled. He got up and opened the window. “Hey Noibat, You alright?” Noibat flew it and sat on the bed. It nodded. “You know those guys from yesterday? They were pretty mad that I helped you get away.” Noibat only dropped its head slightly in response. “I had to pull some crazy tricks in order for them. There was this Vivillon that passed by-” Terrence saw Noibat's ear twitch at Vivillon's mention. “I convinced them to try and catch it instead.” Noibat was now tapping its wings together nervously. “It seemed pretty easy. It must’ve already been injured. What was cool about it was that it was from a rare region of the world with simple black and white scales. And from what they told me it was probably blind too.”

Noibat jumped up to stop Terrence from talking. It gripped his leg practically begging, pleading for Terrence to tell it where Vivillon was.

“Whoa whoa, Noibat what’s wrong?” Noibat continued with the pleading. “Do-Do you want to know where they are?” Noibat shook its head vigorously. “Well last I checked they were heading towards Camphrier town just like any other trainer. They left in kind of a huff though, I don’t know much else.” Noibat gave a single nod before rushing out of the house towards Camphrier town.

Flying the skies above, Noibat scanned the terrain below. Memories flooded back in. There was rain. The sky was gray and the air smelled of moisture. Noibat was flying with a group of other Noibat. The weather being as bad as it was, it became clear that it wouldn’t be able to make it to Galar on this migration trip. Exhaustion took hold and the descent began. None of Noibats other neighbors paid any mind as it fell. They continued on their way, leaving Noibat to crash within the treetops. It was too soon. It knew it wouldn’t be able to make it on its own, but the thought of loneliness didn’t sit well. But to still end up alone no matter which choice it made, there was no way to win.

Its little wings burned and it was gasping for air. For no matter how hard it tried it could never get back up into the air. Eventually it tried to find solace. The forest was unkind however. Many spots safe from the pouring rain happened to have already been taken by other pokemon, many of which were unwilling to share. The forest was becoming grayer and grayer as the storm continued. Noibat gave up. It took refuge atop a tree and wrapped its wings around itself in a vain effort to keep warm. After a while, coughing and dizziness showed telltale signs of a fever. Left shivering, sick, and alone, Noibat closed its eyes in hopes that it would all be over soon. The feeling of rain stopped. But the rain itself still poured relentlessly. Noibat then felt a comforting presence. Together with its snowy white scales and whited out eyes stood Vivillon. It asked if it was okay, using its wing to protect against the rain. Noibat had little energy left, only answering with a nod before drifting off to sleep.

The next few days the two pokemon have gotten to know each other quite well. Despite everything, Noibat still tried to act independent. However there was much it didn’t know. But thanks to Vivillon, it was able to learn the ins and outs of the forest. Finding food and shelter became second nature. Vivillon had become close to Noibat, evident by its following wherever Noibat may go and it’s smothering hugs. Secretly, Noibat actually enjoyed its embrace. Finally, Noibat felt like it belonged and decided to stay with its bug caretaker.

Despite the good memories, Noibat wasn’t any closer to finding out where the trainers had taken Vivillon. The thought of never being able to see it again led to quite an obscure memory that Noibat thought it had forgotten. Being aware of Vivillon’s condition, Noibat became curious of how it got around. Vivillon showed that it could use echolocation just like Noibat. With a click of its tongue it could get around just fine. The strange part was how much better Vivillon was at it than Noibat. It obviously felt a bit jealous about that. Nonetheless, Noibat picked up a few new tricks and efficiencies from Vivillon.

It landed upon a tree branch and closed its eyes to focus. It sent low frequency clicks through the forest that only it could hear. A few pokemon here, some berry trees there. Then something odd, a huge conglomerate of tall moving things. Those had to be the trainers. Noibat once again focused hard and listened in the direction of the trainers.

“Terrence said it would get here soon.” said a voice. “We gotta hurry.”

Noibat was astonished. Terrence, after all he did just to save it, was now luring him into a trap? It couldn’t be possible. Maybe they threatened him in order to get it back. Noibat sent more clicks in that direction to try and find Vivillon. But there were too many people and pokemon in that direction, it couldn’t discern them from each other. Noibat had no other choice. It had to fall in the trap and figure it out from there.

“Alright Vivillon, remember your purpose. Prove you will be of your greatest value.”

Noibat’s hesitation vanished. It rocketed in the direction of the trainers, zipping through the trees. Eventually it came across a clearing, different from the one where it practiced. Standing directly in the center, it could sense things surrounding him all over the clearing. They were hiding.

“Noibat!” it shouted, clearly not being fooled.

“N-Noibat?” said voice from the bushes to the left of Noibat. Out stumbled Ceailean looking roughed up. “What’re you doing here?” Noibat berated him accusingly. “What’re you on about? I didn’t do anything! I’ve just been trying to get away from-” Something flew down and hit Ceailean on the back hard, causing him to fall face first into the ground. Noibat was surprised by the sudden turn of events. Whatever had hit Ceailean somersaulted off of him from the impact. Noibat expected it to land but it floated in the air before it did. Turning around, Noibat realized it was Scorbunny. It has a devious look on its face.

“Noibat, listen.” grunted Ceailean. “Scorbunny lost to you during our battle. It has felt ashamed ever since. It left our camp last night. At first we didn’t know why, but once it came back we knew it wasn’t the same Scorbunny we knew. It had found gems of power and declared that I was too weak to be its trainer. Noibat, you have to run while you still can. It’s… too powerful.”

Noibat looked to Scorbunny in shock. With a wave of its paw, 18 colorful gems flew in from all around. They all formed a giant ring behind Scorbunny’s back.

“Ny-Ny-Ny bun.” it laughed. Noibat yelled, asking what was so funny. Scorbunny outstretched its arms and claimed that it was now all powerful and that it was going to test its power out on Noibat. Noibat didn’t back down, determination filling its mind. It readied itself with its signature intimidation stance. Scorbunny laughed again. It clapped its paws together and a makeshift cage fell from the tree right behind it. Inside was Vivillon, putting its arm over its head and begging to be saved. Noibat watched in devastation before angrily confronting Scorbunny on why Vivillon was captured.

Scorbunny shrugged and shook its head, still wearing a smile of overconfidence. It explained that the stones it found weren’t going to last forever, so it had captured Vivillon as its servant for eternity. Its purpose? To collect more gems until Scorbunny sat atop a mountain of them. And once Vivillon was no longer able to keep going, Scorbunny would cast it into the river and search for a new servant. Noibat was fuming with rage. It shouted as loud as it could that it would stop Scorbunny before it could get the chance. Scorbunny scoffed and cast the gems away, saying that it could take on Noibat without them.

Noibat had enough talk. It burst into dragon rush and charged straight ahead. Scorbunny simply raised its paw to create a barrier, stopping Noibat in its tracks. Noibat didn’t give up though and continued to push. Wind was rushing, purple and pink light was flashing, the forest was being blown away in the chaos. Unbeknownst to Noibat, Ceailean had disappeared. He had taken advantage of the chaos to slip away back into the bushes.

“You okay C? That hit looked like it hurt a lot.” asked Marie, crouching within the bushes.

“I told Scorbunny to really sell it on this one, but yeah I am a little sore. Since you’re so concerned, maybe a little back massage would help.”

“Shut it C. As if I would ever do that.”

Ceailean chuckled quietly. “I wonder if Scorbunny will be alright on its own.”

“Don’t sweat it C. We’ve trained for this moment. Believe in Scorbunny.”

Ceailean looked around. “Hey, where’s Crisis?”

“He said he had to take an important call from HQ. He wished us the best of luck.”

The shield was beginning to crack under the power of Noibat. Scorbunny scoffed and threw back the energy to cancel out the attack. They landed a few feet from each other. At that moment, the battle truly began.

Scorbunny rushed forward with quick attack. Noibat tried to stop it with air cutter. Scorbunny was too fast however as it dodged every single projectile with ease. It got close and kicked Noibat up into the air in a tailspin. Noibat recovered quickly and used screech, dropping Scorbunny to its knees as it tried to cover its ears. Noibat took the opportunity to dragon rush. Just before it could reach, Scorbunny recovered and jumped away. Noibat crashed into the ground with a big dust cloud exploding from the impact. Scorbunny had barely any time to breathe as more air cutters emerged from the smoke. It managed to dodge the first two, but the lack of mobility in the air meant it got hit by the next three.

Noibat blew away the dust around it with dragon rush’s energy and stared down Scorbunny. Scorbunny taunted Noibat for being lucky to even land a hit. Noibats rage grew ever higher as it burst forward in mad pursuit. Scorbunny decided to run for the trees in an effort to outmaneuver the attack. It jumped from trunk to trunk to avoid Noibat, who was close behind. Eventually Scorbunny lost track of it. Thinking it had lost Noibat, it had let its guard down. Noibat took this opportunity to sideswipe the unsuspecting Scorbunny, causing massive damage. Noibats determination was overwhelming now. It crashed Scorbunny through several leaves and branches before finally coming to a stop on a tree trunk. Noibat kept the momentum up by backflipping away and launching two aircutters, exploding in the area Scorbunny was left in. Noibat burst into another dragon rush to seal the deal. But this time Scorbunny used the smoke to its advantage and tackled Noibat into the sky using bounce.

Scorbunny held on tight as it flipped around for a devastating suplex. Noibat couldn’t get out of the grip fast enough, so it summoned all of its power to launch air cutters in all directions. The explosive force sent the two careening down to the clearing, creating two big dust clouds upon impact. Ceailean and Marie covered their heads as the projectiles came near them. Vivillon was being rattled in its own cage as they exploded all around. Unbeknownst to the fighters, this has caught the attention of a pokemon who was now understandably upset about being caught in the crossfire but decided to stay back to try and read the situation.

A long while passed without any action from both sides. As the dust cleared, both Scorbunny and Noibat struggled to their feet. Scorbunny wiped its chin with its wrist, saying to Noibat that it was going to get serious now.

It wasn’t taking it serious? The thought filled Noibat with dread. Somehow though, despite the things it knew were on the line, it was enjoying itself. This wasn’t right. This was the time to be serious. This battle means the future of Vivillon right? And yet, the pumping heart, the rushing adrenaline, it couldn’t get any better than this. Vivillon listened from the cage. It has known Noibat for long enough to know when it's truly excited to be in a battle. It could hear right through Noibats facade by the way it breathed. It grew a warm smile.

Noibat shouted to Scorbunny that it’ll face any power that it may throw at it. Scorbunny smirked. It rose its hands to the air, causing the scattered gems to reappear around its head as it once again took to the air. Periodically, each one glowed brightly as if they were each individually being activated. Noibat didn’t sit by and watch this happen. It charged up dragon rush as powerful it could make it.

“Look at that power.” pointed out Ceailean. The roaring winds made it feel like he had stuck his head out the car going down the freeway. The crazy purple aura surrounding Noibat was so strong that it was even causing the ground to shake a little. The sight reminded Ceailean and Marie of the mega evolution battle back in Tuviere. The battle was so bombastic that every hit could cause the environment around them to shatter and break. To see that a simple Noibat could even have them compare it to that moment reminded them of the possibilities that were to come.

“This is it C. The climax. Let’s hope Noibat will want to join us after this.” said Marie.

Noibat stared down its opponent. It loudly declared that it would save Vivillon, no matter what it takes! Scorbunnys smirk turned into a devious smile. It gestured for Noibat to come over and try it.

At that moment, the pokemon that the fight had got the attention of, finally understood the situation. It saw that Vivillon was caged up. So perhaps if it saved it, it would get some ‘gratitude’. It leaped out from behind the shrubbery and cut the rope that suspended it in the air.

“What the heck?! C look!” pointed Marie, “A Drapion just released Vivillon from the cage!”

“What! No way!”

Drapion caught the cage before it hit the ground, pulling it apart with ease as it was only made of assorted twigs and plant fiber. It put its best handsome face and asked if Vivillon was okay. Vivillon gave an awkward smile and nodded. Scorbunny broke character and pointed to Drapion. Noibat confused turned around to see that Vivillon had already been saved by this random pokemon who was cradling like a princess. The dragon rush energy dissipated as Noibat tried to piece together what was happening. Scorbunnys psychic energy dissipated as well, letting it down to the ground.

“No, no, no! What’re you doing?” shouted Marie as she emerged from the bushes. “Everything was so planned out but you just had to ruin it!” Drapion didn’t take too seriously with Marie and immediately put Vivillon down to stand in front of it defensively. Vivillon was quick to act before anything escalated, telling Drapion of the misunderstanding it had as well as the plan that was taking place.

Noibat overheard Vivillons explanation and a huge wave of disappointment washed over it. The battle wasn’t real, the game was rigged from the start. What was the point of a battle if Noibat knew that it was supposed to win every time. It turned to Scorbunny and asked if it was true in one last vain effort to see if it wasn’t. Scorbunny scratched the back of its head and confirmed what Vivillon. It called out into the forest, prompting Medicham to emerge and demonstrate that it was the one who was causing Scorbunny and the gems to float. Noibat groaned into the sky and fell to the ground in disappointment.

“Lay off it Marie.” said Ceailean, also emerging from the bushes. “This was one of things we didn’t anticipate. I’m sure it thought Vivillon was really in trouble. Scorbunny did surprise us with how good it could act so I’m sure anyone would’ve been convinced.”

Marie sighed. “Well I’m almost certain now that Noibat won’t want to come with us. Look at it, it looks so disappointed now.” Ceailean stared at Noibat, but didn’t say anything. The situation has grown into such an awkward state that no one knew what to do.

Drapion, realizing its mistake, still tried to appeal to Vivillon. It tried to remind it of how cool it looked while coming in for the save, even showing off its muscles a little as it did. Vivillon shrugged and shook its head, dealing a massive blow to Drapions ego.

“You see Drapion, Vivillons blind. It couldn’t see how ‘cool’ you looked anyway.” explained Marie. Drapion waved her off. It thought for a moment before heading off into the forest. “What? Where is it going?”

The bushes rustled nearby. Everyone looked to see that Terrence had arrived. “How’s it going guys? Did the plan work?”

Ceailean walked over to him. “No. We didn’t account for other Pokémon, maybe wanting to come save Vivillon themselves.”

“Is that what happened?”

“Yeah.” said Marie. “A Drapion came in and tried to simp for Vivillon by saving it and showing off. All without even knowing it was blind.”

“Really? Where is it now?”

“We don’t know. It just took off into the forest not too long ago.”

Ceailean put his hands to his hips. “It’s too bad. If the plan had just gone right, maybe it would’ve worked-” An explosion of air on Ceailean's back caused him to fall over onto the ground. Noibat had hit him with an air cutter and began to berate him. “Damn it.” he mumbled. “I’m gonna need a chiropractor after this.” He turned over to see Noibat still yelling. He grew solemn as the message became loud and clear.

“Aren’t you gonna say something, C?” asked Marie.

Ceailean sighed. “Nah. Noibat has made it obvious that it probably wouldn’t have worked either way.” He brought himself up his feet. “Come on guys, Scorbunny. Let’s get outta here. It’s clear that this situation must’ve been different from June’s. I suppose I still don’t understand how he handles those kinds of things.” Ceailean began walking away. Marie and Terrence silently followed. Scorbunny hesitated. It called out still thinking it could try and convince Noibat to join. The group walked on without giving it any mind. Scorbunny asked Noibat if it still at least had fun during their battle. Noibat scoffed and looked away. Scorbunny understood now. It went after the group sadly with its head drooped.

Once Scorbunny was far enough away, Noibat took to tending with Vivillon. It asked why it thought doing what it did was a good idea. Vivillon looked sad and tried to explain that it thought it would be a good idea. But it never got the chance as Drapion returned with a whole heap of berries. It offered them encouragingly to Vivillon, who was trying to politely turn it down. Noibat had enough with its persistence and told it to get lost. Drapion grew angry and smacked Noibat away with a flick of its tail, immediately going back to appealing to Vivillon right after. Vivillon paid it no mind this time, immediately flying over to Noibat to see if it was okay.

Drapion looked at what was happening and decided it was now done being nice. Vivillion laid next to Noibat, asking if it was okay. Noibat was struggling to get to its feet, still fatigued from the earlier battle. Vivillon clicked its tongue to find out where Drapion was. Much to its surprise, it was closing in on them both. Vivillon if what it did was an accident and if it was sorry. Drapion gave no response. Noibats fur stood up on its neck. An overwhelming sense of danger overcame it. Before it could act, Drapion grabbed Vivillon by the neck and ran off.

Vivillon cried out for help as it tried to struggle out of Drapions claws. Noibat immediately moved into action, charging after them with dragon rush. Drapion saw the attack coming from a mile away after having seen enough of it battling. It grabbed Noibat mid flight by the neck, its energy flying by harmlessly. Drapion roared to get Noibat to give up. Vivillon encouraged Noibat to do something. At first it hesitated, but Vivillon told it to just go. Noibat let out a screech, causing Vivillon and Drapion the reel from the pain in their ears. Drapion acted quickly and smashed Noibat into the ground several times until it shut up. Noibat gasped in pain and nearly lost consciousness. Vivillon cried out for Noibat as Drapion at its attempt to save themselves. In a cruel twist, Drapion slowly let poison jab run through its arm into Noibats neck. It watched as the energy slowly worked its way down, tilting its head away in fear. Drapion laughed maniacally, knowing that it has just won.

Just then, a sparkle in the sky brought upon the presence of something. Scorbunny rocketing in with a devastating bounce attack straight into Drapions face, causing it to drop both pokemon and slide away in the dirt. Noibat and Vivillon both laid on the ground coughing. Scorbunny looked to them both and asked if they were okay. Drapion caught itself on a couple of trees and stared down Scorbunny, seething with rage.

Noibat asked why Scorbunny came back. It told Noibat that it will always come to the aid of others, it became sure about that not too long ago. Drapion tried to cut the reunion short and charged in with poison jab.

“Look out!” shouted Ceailean. All the Pokémon jumped back in time to dodge the attack. Ceailean, Marie, and Terrence all came running in to the defense of Noibat and Vivillon.

“Stop being so persistent! It isn’t into you so stop trying!” shouted Marie.

“Reminds me of someone.” remarked Ceailean.

“Yeah, and he makes me mad! Fennekin, let’s put an end to this!” Marie threw Fennekin out of its pokéball.

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“In that case, I’ll do what I can too. Medicham, let’s do it!” rallied Terrence. Medicham jumped in poised for battle.

Noibat, Scorbunny, Fennekin, and Medicham all stood side by side staring down Drapion.

“It’s four against one. You better stand down.” said Ceailean. Drapion taunted them, gesturing for them to try.

“Why you!” shouted Marie. “Fennekin use ember!” Fennekin shot out a cloud of embers at Drapion, to which it responded by forcefully bashing it away. “What?! Not even a scratch!”

“Be careful, this one's tough!” warned Ceailean. Marie and Terrence nodded, readying themselves. “Noibat, you’ll work with us right.” Noibat only gave him a glance, subtly nodding. “Alright now. Go!” Noibat charged up a dragon rush. “Scorbunny quick attack!”

“Medicham, zen headbutt!” shouted Terrence.

“Wait no-!” shouted Marie.

It was too late as all three Pokémon raced forward, each leaving behind a trail of dust. Medicham was the first to reach Drapion, going in with its head full of psychic energy. Drapion raised its arm and blocked the attack effortlessly.

“W-What?!”

“Psychic type moves don’t work on dark types!”

Drapion then smashed Medicham into the ground, causing it to shatter under the force. However, a green energy shield covered Medichams body.

“What’s happening?”

“Friend guard? But who-” Marie remembered that Vivillon was here too. It was sending its energy to protect all the Pokémon battling. “You really are a special Pokémon.” Vivillon nodded at the compliment and focused on the battle.

“We’re next! Do it!” shouted Ceailean. Noibat and Scorbunny raced after Drapion. It bashed Medicham towards them in an attempt to break their momentum. They dodged Medicham and went in for the attack. Noibat landed dragon rush straight to the gut. But Drapion tanked the hit, to which Noibat performed three rising slashs on its face, stunning it. Scorbunny ran around the side and kicked Drapion on the side, making it slide into a tree.

“Don’t let it breathe, quick attack again!” Scorbunny ran in for another attack. Drapion then smashed the ground to create a dust cloud. Before Scorbunny could react, Drapion jumped out of the dust cloud with its arm glowing red with black flames. “What’s that?!”

“That’s assurance!” shouted Marie. Scorbunny was whacked towards the air, flying in a tailspin. Noibat took this opportunity to land and air slash, the impact blowing dust into the air again. Drapion jumped out and slammed Noibat into the ground so hard it bounced away. “It knows slash too!”

“Let's get back in there Medicham! Dynamic Punch!” commanded Terrence. Medichams hands glowed yellow as it charged. Drapion smirked. It merely tilted its head in order to dodge the attack. “Argh! Don’t stop until you hit it!” Medicham went into a flurry of punches, each one being effortlessly dodged. “So fast.”

“Now Fennekin, ember!” Fennekin launched its attack at Drapion. It was quick to think though as it grabbed Medicham mid attack and used it as a shield against the ember. It then threw Medicham through the smoke straight at Fennekin. “Oh no! Watch out!” Medicham smashed straight into Fennekin, sending them both skipping across the ground. “Darn sneak! It keeps obscuring itself in the dust!”

“Then try hiding from this!” shouted Ceailean. “Use bounce!” Scorbunny came rocketing in from the sky. Drapion responded by roaring in its direction with dark sound waves shooting out in a large cone. The force was strong enough to send Scorbunny back into the air. “What’s that move?!”

“That’s snarl! It’s gonna be so hard to get close, dang it!” Drapion laughed and snapped its pincers in a taunting way.

An ear piercing screech rang, causing Drapion to drop down trying to cover its ears. Noibat was dragon rushing back in.

“Support Noibat Scorbunny, blaze kick!” Scorbunny ran in with flaming legs. A sparkle flashed in Drapions eye. It caught the both of them and smashed their heads together. It then threw Noibat into the air and tossed Scorbunny into it, causing a green flash from the friend guard. Drapion tsked and eyed Vivillon and the Fennekin protecting it. It ran as fast as it could towards them.

“It’s coming for Vivillon! Don’t let it get close! Fennekin howl then scratch!” Fennekin howled with all its might, red energy blasting off its body. It then ran in for an attack. Drapion used poison jab to bash it away by flinging its arm in an X. Fennekin flew back into a tree. As it slid down, poison bubbles popped around its head. “You’re poisoned! Oh no!”

Drapion raised its arm to slash Vivillon. Vivillon backed up in fear. Before it could get close, Vivillon used flash, causing Drapion to stumble back. Noibat then came in with the save, dragon rushing straight into Drapion's side, knocking it away.

Marie ran over to Fennekin, “Fennekin! Are you alright?” Fennekin struggled to its feet, determined to keep fighting. “Okay Fennekin, save your strength for now. We’ll wait for an opening.”

“Alright Medicham, we’ll end it in one shot! Use laser focus!” shouted Terrence. Medicham put its hands together and stared down Drapion. “Now! Dynamic punch until you hit!” Medichams fists glowed yellow once more. It went in for another flurry of punches. Drapion dodged every single one just like before.

“Help Medicham! Use quick attack from behind!” commanded Ceailean. Scorbunny appeared behind Drapion and kicked it in the back of the head. “Follow up with blaze kick!” Scorbunny flew over Drapion and gave it a fiery ax kick to the top of the head. Medicham finally took this opportunity to finally land a huge dynamic punch haymaker. Drapion spun around until it finally found a tree to support itself on, a shrill muffling the sound of everything.

“Thing’s still standing. Give it another dynamic punch!” Medicham jumped in for the attack. Drapion had enough. It snarled point blank into Medicham, slamming it into a tree. The red energy and black flames from assurance flashed back even brighter than before. Drapion landed a devastating blow on Medicham, breaking the friend guard shield like glass and sending it straight through the tree.

“Medicham!” shouted Terrence as the splintered wood fell all around. The tree fell next to Drapion with a mighty thud, which it used to support itself again. “Hurry return!” Medicham was called back into its pokeball. “Damn, I have no more. It’s up to you guys.” he told Ceailean.

“Fennekin now! Use ember with all you got!” yelled Marie. Noibat came in with the assist and launched an air cutter alongside ember. They both impacted Drapion, making it tumble to the ground. “Yeah! We got it!” Drapion quickly recovered and used all of its rage to pick up the recently fallen tree to throw it in Fennekins direction. Noibat quickly darted away but Fennekin was now really feeling the effects of the poison, it couldn’t move. “Fennekin no!” Marie's mind went blank as she ran to Fennekin and crouched in the way of the tree.

“Move dang it!” shouted Ceailean, tackling the two into the ground. The tree barely flew over them and slid away behind them, destroying much of the foliage. “I got you Marie. Stay back for now and take care of Fennekin!” Ceailean quickly got back up to resume the battle.

“But-” Marie protested. She stopped herself when she saw that Fennekin couldn’t even keep its eyes open anymore. “A-Alright. Fennekin, I’ll protect you.”

Drapion could still feel the confusion affecting it. In a desperate act, it smashed its head into the ground, ridding itself of its confusion. Vivillon was starting to get worried. It was starting to feel useless in the battle as its ability only seemed to delay the inevitable. Noibat came in from the air with another dragon rush. Drapion ducked in order to dodge. Noibat slid across the ground to come to a stop.

There it stood alongside Scorbunny. Both were battered and exhausted, practically gasping for air. Drapion showed little fatigue, but it's injuries were still evident.

“It’s just us now! Our final stand!” shouted Ceailean. Scorbunny, inspired by Ceailean’s rally, pumped both arms and exploded into blazes aura, yelling at the top of its lungs. The aura burned brighter than ever before, blowing hot air in every direction making the winter day feel as hot as a beach in the summer.

The rally got into Noibat as well. It felt truly inspired and excited, despite the previous fake battle. That was then, this is now. Vivillon needed their help desperately and Noibat was going to be there to give it. Despite the stakes, excitement filled Noibats body with a whole new level of determination. This was the true high stakes battle it was looking for. Noibat joined Scorbunny by exploding into dragon rush. Their aura’s produced enough wind to almost have everyone fly back.

“This is it! Go in for blaze kick!” Scorbunny raced forward, leaving a trail of fire. Noibat followed close behind, its purple aura persisting enough to leave a trail also. Scorbunny landed the kick to Drapions jaw while Noibat crashed into its forehead. They managed to make Drapion slide back a considerable amount. Drapion used all of its strength to endure the hit, using poison jab to knock the two off balance. Their faces became purple with poison and their auras dissipated. “This isn’t good, they’re both poisoned!” Drapion grabbed the two and slammed them into the ground, both of their friend guard shields shattering. Vivillon fell to the ground as it had used all of its strength to try to keep the shields up.

“Vivillon no! Are you okay?” asked Marie. It gave her a weak nod.

It followed up by slashing Scorbunny, making it skip across the ground twice before hitting a tree. “Scorbunny!” Noibat was slashed straight into the air. It recovered and did its best to ignore the poison. It screeched down on Drapion. Drapion wasn’t having it this time however and countered with snarl. The two attacks clashed together with great ferocity.

“Go Noibat! You can do it!” Noibat pushed a little harder, causing the struggle to be pushed back a little closer to Drapion. But Drapion laughed and used 100% of its power, completely eclipsing Noibat in just two seconds. “Noibat!” Noibat was writhing with pain in the air and dropped down to the ground. Drapion looking to end the fight quickly came running in with assurance. Noibat could only watch as it barely even had the strength to move.

“D-Damn it!” shouted Ceailean. He ran after Noibat.

“C no! You’ll get hurt!” pleaded Marie.

“The heck do you think you’re doing!?” asked Terrence.

Ceailean yelled with all of his might and pushed back Drapion’s arms. He managed to push it back a few feet before Drapion pushed back, making into a standstill.

“You know people and Pokemon like you are just awful! I’ll be the one to make you learn your lesson if I have to!” shouted Ceailean into Drapion's face. Drapion gave him a look of contempt. Ceailean turned his head slightly towards Noibat. “Noibat! This’ll be your only chance. Take Vivillon and get out of here.” Noibat was distraught. This trainer was fighting for it’s and Vivillons life himself. It considered the opportunity heavily, but it just wasn’t within its nature to do that. It was going to fight till the end!

Noibat fought through the poison and struggled with all its might to get back up. It stood poised in its signature intimidation stance.

“Noibat! What’re you waiting for?! Go!” Noibat shouted fiercely, stating its desire to stay. “But why? You could save everyone?” Memories of the red sky from the Battle for Kalos flashed through his eyes. Noibat was absolute, it was going to fight! It shouted as loud as it could in order to get that message across. Ceailean felt tingles flow through his body and felt slight tears in his eyes. “Y-You’re really gonna stay?”

Noibat gave one last convicted “Noi!”

Ceailean smiled. “Okay, I’m with you!” He pushed with all his strength, overpowering Drapion as it dragged through the ground. Drapion decided to turn it around by using poison jab. The poison ran through Ceailean’s veins, causing him to feel dizzy and have painful spasms in his muscles. He grunted loudly with pain.

“C! Please stop!” pleaded Marie. Terrence watched in silence in total surprise.

“Scor!” called Scorbunny. Ceailean saw that it had emerged from the bushes hunched over but still ready to attack.

“S-Scorbunny, quick attack!” shouted Ceailean. Drapion was getting ready to counter attack but Ceailean gave one last push and said, “Your focus is on me!” His eyes flashed red as he stared down into Drapion’s eyes. For some reason, it let its guard down for just a second. Enough for Scorbunny to run in and dropkick Drapion's side. Ceailean followed up by punching it in the face, to which Scorbunny gave one more fiery ax kick, for Ceailean to then shove it away with his foot, falling over after losing all feeling in his legs.

“C! Please be okay!” shouted Marie. Then, a glint in the ground caught her eye. The gems! They were still scattered on the ground where Scorbunny was. She formed a plan. “C! I have an idea! I just need a little time!”

“Got it!” groaned Ceailean. “Not like I have anything right now.”

“Okay.” Marie got up and made a beeline for the gems.

Drapion was closing in on Scorbunny and Noibat but was interrupted by a rock to the back of the head. It turned around to see Terrence, juggling a single stone with one hand. “Hey, looks like you’ll have to deal with me too!” Drapion waved him off and continued its original plan. Ceailean looked up from the ground and realized what Marie’s plan was.

“Scorbunny! Grab onto Noibat and use bounce to jump into the sky! We’re gonna end this in one shot!” Scorbunny nodded. It wrapped its arms around Noibat and jumped up high. Drapion then stood still wondering what they were up to. Marie then slid into the gems and picked the red and purple ones. Ceailean brought himself up to his knees and waved his arms around. “Marie, here!”

“Okay, here goes!” Marie tossed the gems to Ceailean. He caught and inspected them quickly. “They’re fire and dragon gems! Hurry and throw them to Noibat and Scorbunny!” Drapion realized what was happening and moved quickly to stop him.

Ceailean stood fully upright and aimed, but there was a problem. The poison was now affecting his vision and he couldn’t see the pokemon in the sky very well. “Come on, Come on!” he told himself. Finally he was able to focus enough to see their general outlines. “There!” Ceailean threw the gems with all the strength he had left before being bashed to the ground by Drapion.

“C-Ceailean!” cried out Marie.

“Make me proud, you two.” Ceailean said fading in and out of consciousness. Noibat and Scorbunny caught their respected gems. They nodded to each other and absorbed their power. A huge orb formed overhead fully of red and purple energy. Then the screams of Noibat and Scorbunny blasted through the air. The orbs exploded out into light with half being Noibats purple aura and Scorbunnys red blaze aura. Everything in the area was encompassed by this lightshow. Drapion back away shocked. It snapped out of its daze and looked around for a plan. It saw Marie cradling Fennekin next to the gems. That’s it! It tried to make its way to the gems to counterattack, but found that its legs were frozen solid. It wriggled around trying to figure out what happened. An icy wind flowed by, freezing even more of Drapion It looked back to Marie to see there was another Pokémon.

“Sorry buddy!” taunted Marie. “But I just so happened to have my ace in the hole!” Snom continued to blast Drapion with icy wind. It then desperately tried to hack away the ice with slash, but it wouldn’t break fast enough.

Ceailean raised his fist into the air. “Now! Do it!”

Noibats dragon rush energy was now even larger and sporadic while Scorbunnys fiery legs burned an even deeper shade of orange. The two surged down upon Drapion, going for the big finish. Drapion had no choice but to contest it with the strongest snarl it could muster. The attacks clashed violently, blowing winds strong enough that everyone had to shield their eyes from it. Noibat and Scorbunny were stopped dead in their tracks.

Ceailean knew that they couldn’t keep this up for long. What could he do, what could he say? Then, he had it.

“Scorbunny! Noibat!” he shouted into the sky, eyes shut tight. “There are no more second chances! This battle has to end with this attack! Know what you’re fighting for! This isn’t just some battle, this is to save a life! Don’t… Don’t fail like I did!”

Those words rushed through the two Pokémon, providing a whole new boost of power. They inched ever closer to Drapion. But Marie lost track of time. The world around her drew blank as she focused only on Ceailean, who’s eyes seemed to show a pain she hasn’t seen in a long time. -like I did! Those words echoed through her mind. Just what was he talking about?

Vivillon shouted encouragement as well. It told Noibat to think about the main theme of all those shows that it had told about. This was the time to use it to its full advantage. A revelation went through Noibat. It turned to Scorbunny and asked if it could combine their attacks. Scorbunny smirked and rubbed its nose. They set themselves up and gave the biggest push they could, this mixing the energies they were emanating into each other. The energy became so dense that the group could no longer see Noibat and Scorbunny inside. A crease formed in the front of the dense energy and exploded out to blow away Drapion's attack while the energy took the shape of a giant purple flaming dragon. Drapion was in full shock as the dragon roared and surged towards it. The dragon clamped its jaw on Drapion, flashing a great brilliant light before exploding into a force that easily knocked down all the nearby trees.

“Oh crap!” shouted Terrence. Everyone struggled against the winds, but the force was too much as they began to get blasted away. A shadowy figure shielded Terrence, Snom used struggle bug to divert the incoming blast from Marie, and Ceailean was sent skipping across the ground.

“Ceailean!” shouted Marie. The light became too bright for her to see him anymore.

The explosion caused a smoke cloud so large it could be seen from at least three miles away. The explosive sound was almost enough to shatter the windows of Terrance’s home. Soon, the damage had blown over. The dust cleared to reveal Noibat and Scorbunny both on the ground gasping for air, right next to a knocked out Drapion.

Marie looked around to see the destruction. A whole new section of clearing was added to the area. Trees right inside of the 10 foot crater were all knocked down while further ones were slightly up rooted. “C-Ceailean?” she called.

Terrence opened his eyes to see something had shielded him from the blast. It flew away before he could get a good look though.

“Ceailean!” called Marie even louder.

“You don’t usually use my actual name.” groaned Ceailean from inside the woods. “What’s the occasion?”

“The occasion? You were closest to the blast! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I think.” Ceailean coughed as he brought himself up to his feet. A green energy film ran along his body. “Friend guard?” Vivillon called from up above, revealing that it protected him from the blast.

“I’m okay too just in case you asked.” stated Terrence sarcastically.

“Oh uh, sorry” apologized Marie.

Noibat and Scorbunny finally regained enough stamina to look at each other. They were so drained it felt like either of them could throw up. Despite that, they smiled at each other and laughed. This was cut short when a shadow grew over the two of them. The shock they felt wasn’t enough to get them moving again as Drapion stood over them. It was battered, burned, and immensely angry. It raised its arm to attack, but was stopped but a tap on the shoulder. It turned around to be bashed across the face with a leek. Drapion went for the counter attack, but was stopped by the leek being pointed at its throat. A red metal beam slammed the ground and was held against it as well. Then a bow and arrow were being aimed point blank at it.

Drapion physically shrunk and a singular person walked over and proclaimed, “I see that you have caused a great deal of conflict.” It was Crisis. His eyes were darkened and filled with intent. “End it here and now or I will end it for you.” Drapion was sweating profusely and took the opportunity to run for the hills.

Ceailean limped over to Crisis. “Crisis! You made it.”

“It would seem I have. Sorry I couldn’t be there from the start, HQ had just informed me of some important information that I must understand as my journey goes on.” explained Crisis.

“Guess it can’t be helped. Thanks for stepping in for the save. That was really cool- *cough*” Ceailean into his arm and found that the strength in his legs gave out. He fell to the ground and began to lose consciousness.

“Ceailean!” shouted Marie.

“What happened to him?” asked Crisis urgently.

“He was poisoned by that Drapion! Fennekin, Noibat, and Scorbunny too! We need to get them all to a Pokémon center!”

“That’s too far, they won’t make it. You three, Pecha and Sitrus berries now!” Crisis waved away his three Pokémon and they all went different directions in search. “Marie, stay here and keep an eye on them. I’ll be back soon.”

“Please hurry!” pleaded Marie. Crisis nodded and left to go searching in his own direction. The last thing Ceailean saw was Marie pick up Snom and Fennekin and run to the impact crater, then the world went black.

----------------------------------------

() A sudden and violent breaking of glass. Ceailean found himself on the back of the Weavile trainer in the Battle for Kalos. They were falling from the tall building like a rock. The trainer hit the ground hard, causing him to lose Ceailean as he tumbled across the pavement. As Ceailean tumbled with him, he could feel every scrape and cut his body was receiving. Soon he stopped upright to see the building they were just in being threaded and crushed by a new assortment of red vines. The buildings materials all came crashing down to the ground, causing a huge wave of dust to engulf the streets. Ceailean shielded his eyes, but the cuts and scrapes burned as the dust flew by.

“Kid! *cough cough* Where are ya!” called the trainer.

“I-I’m over here!” cried out Ceailean. He then heard footsteps running in his direction. The trainer hunched over him to protect him from the debris. Ceailean looked at his face and was horrified to see that it was Drapion. He screamed and tried to back away but couldn’t move. The Drapion trainer laughed menacingly and flew back in a black cloud into the ground, making the entire area around him fall into darkness.

“D-Don’t fail like I did!” he heard himself shout from the void. Ceailean looked at his arms and realized he was back in his present day form. More voices began to ring out from the void. He covered his ears in vain to try and block them out.

“Come on C-easel, why are you such a coward?”

“Kid, in this world, you trust nobody other than yourself. Understand?”

“The world is ending! Can’t you see it! I do whatever I damn please!”

“I don’t need any more friends, I’ve lost too many already.”

“Why did you think involving him was a good idea?!”

“The road you’re gonna take is dangerous, it's best you give it up!”

“It’s them again, I swear by it!’

“Literal husks of human beings, incapable of any form of redemption.”

“You left me again.”

“We as organic entities are not able to progress at our highest efficiency due to the mere presence of conflict.”

“Their mind is a mess! What could have happened!”

“I told you shouldn’t have gotten me involved!”

“After that fiasco you put me through, I expect much more!”

“What happened to no one left behind?!”

“Try to push through, have them hear you!”

“You’re in over your head kid, just give up while you still can! This is bigger than the both of you!”

“How many more pawns are you going to recruit for your little game?”

“You’re chasing a dead man. Why should I even bother?”

“This just isn’t healthy for you anymore. A kid like you shouldn’t be trying to figure out stuff like this in the first place.”

“Dreamwalker!”

At that moment, all the voices ceased. Ceailean looked around trying to find out who took him out of his trance, but found nothing but void.

“We’re trying to reach you again. Please, respond!”

“A-Again? Who are you?”

“He hears us! I finally got through to him brother!”

“Answer the question!”

“Quite irritable this time around aren't we. It matters not who we are. All that matters is that you’re the Dreamwalker!”

“Pft, that dumb name coined by Bonnie. You must be one of the Zygarde cores.”

“So knowledgeable about our predicament already. I assume that Bonnie has told you everything. Then you must know that-”

“I’m not helping you. It isn’t me.”

“W-What?”

“I’m not the Dreamwalker!”

“But it has to be you! Who else could resonate with us to such a degree?”

“I’m not! I’m not, I’m not, I’m not!”

“Please, you must see reason! We require your assistance or else Kalos will be left in eternal suffering!”

Ceailean felt an uncontrollable boiling rage build up inside. Way more than all the anger he has felt in all his life combined. “That’s your job! It won’t be me to give you the easy way out! So stay away from us!”

“This anger of yours, it is unnatural! We can help you if you just give us the chance!”

“No, no, no! Go away!” Ceailean threw his hands forward, causing a red ripple of light to flash down the void.

“What did you- ack! Guagh!”

An explosion sounded off in the distance. The red flash all congealed into one point and created a massive red vine tree, easily eclipsing the height of any man made structure. It’s red and black leaves flowed stiffly through the wind. The sun illuminated the entire atmosphere directly above the tree in an unrelenting blood red.

Ceailean found himself in a destroyed city, not any that he recognized. But there he saw a single person standing at the base of the tree's roots. He felt like he was going to drown in fear as he looked at them, but he couldn’t turn away. He flew closer and closer until he was face to face with the person. The person was cloaked in black and red energy and had no discernible features. The person observed Ceailean as if he was familiar. All he could feel was an overwhelming presence of ruin. The person was chaos incarnate. But the more Ceailean stared, the more familiar it felt to him. Before figuring out who it was, he was flung back away from the tree. From there he saw atop the tree explode into a great ball of light and rain down meteors and lava.

Just before he could get hit by one, a voice called out. “Ceailean!”

----------------------------------------

Ceailean was jolted awake and he sat upright straight into Terrence’s head.

“Ow, damn it! I shoulda known better!” complained Terrence.

Ceailean was breathing heavily and sweating a waterfall. He took his time to look around. “W-Where am I?”

“You’re in my parents bedroom. I let Crisis use it as he nursed you and your Pokémon back to health.”

“My Pokémon?” Ceailean shifted around and felt a couple of weights around the bed. Closest to him was Scorbunny, sleeping directly next to him. “Oh Scorbunny.” Ceailean pet its head, causing Scorbunny to smile in its sleep. The others were Fennekin and Noibat, both sleeping quite a bit farther from him.

“So mind telling me what that was about?” asked Terrence.

“What, what was about?”

“I came in to check in on you and you were breathing heaving, moving sporadically, and absolutely pouring in sweat. I thought you were going to disturb the other Pokémon so I tried to snap you out of whatever was freaking you out.”

“I-” Ceailean hesitated, “I don’t remember.”

“Just a really bad dream huh?”

“Yeah, a bad dream.”

Ceailean calmed down significantly. For a long while he just sat there taking in what he had just seen. The red person seemed so chaotic and fear inducing, but so familiar at the same time, almost to a comforting degree. He really couldn’t remember much else. After some time had passed, Noibat finally began to stir. It yawned and stretched its wings as far as they could.

“Hey Noibat.” greeted Ceailean. Noibat jumped up startled, paying him little mind as it immediately bolted for the door and flew down the hall. “Well that hurts a little.”

“Give it a minute.” Ceailean looked at Terrence with a confused expression. A moment passed and loud footsteps were heard booking it up the stairs. Marie then slid across the floor and stopped in line with the doorway.

“C! Oh thank Arceus!” she ran and gave him a great big hug. She did this with such speed she woke up both Scorbunny and Fennekin.

Ceailean winced in pain. “The arm Marie, please!” he squealed. Marie ignored him and squeezed harder. Ceailean decided to just endure the pain and accept Marie’s embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” she said softly.

“Hey,” Ceailean said, pushing Marie out to arms length. He gave a thumbs up, “Piece a cake.”

Marie gave a slight chuckle and wiped the ears in her eyes. “Oh C, you’re so lame.”

Ceailean chuckled as well. “Sorry to make you worry.”

Terrence started to read the situation. “Hey, if you guys want I can leave the room.”

Marie quickly moved away from Ceailean, blushing slightly. “Oh no, it’s fine.”

Terrence eyed her suspiciously. “Sure.”

“Did Noibat call you up here?” asked Ceailean.

“Yeah, how did you know?” asked Marie.

“Terrence seemed to imply it. Where is it now?”

“Huh? I thought it followed me here.” The two looked around for it but only found Scorbunny and Fennekin on the bed rubbing their eyes drowsily.

“I might have an idea.” said Terrence, looking at the doorway. Ceailean and Marie looked as well, curiously.

On the other side, Noibat stood out of sight tapping its claws together. It was nervous to even see Ceailean. It then noticed Vivillon standing next to it. Shrugging off the slight startle it had from Vivillon sneaking up on it, Noibat asked what it should do. Vivillon said nothing but give a mischievous smile. Without warning, it gave Noibat a smothering hug, pushing into the view of everyone in the room. After said smothering, Vivillon waved to the group inside and quickly flew away. Noibat stood up slowly and felt everyone's eyes looking in its direction. It didn’t move, only shrinking from the nervousness.

“Hey Noibat.” greeted Ceailean. “You were really cool when you fought Drapion. It was because of you and Scorbunny that Vivillon was saved.” Noibat was flattered but remained still.

Scorbunny sighed and shrugged, deciding to take matters into its own hands. It jumped and went in for a fiery ax kick on Noibat. Noibat reacted quickly and jumped back as the kick hit the floor, dispersing flames in a small area.

“Whoa Scorbunny!” shouted Ceailean. “What’re you doing?”

Startled and understandably angry, Noibat extended its wings in intimidation, ready to battle. Scorbunny smiled and dropped its stance. Noibat wondered what it was doing. Scorbunny pointed out that Noibat was ready to battle in almost an instant. If it wanted to stop chasing the drive in so desired, then there was only one thing to do. Scorbunny told Noibat that battles would come throughout their journey and naturally they would get stronger for it. And if anyone was going to make that possible, it would be Ceailean. A flicker went through Noibat’s eyes. It gave a determined nod and flew over to Ceailean.

Just when Scorbunny thought it had done good, a hostile presence loomed. Terrence looked down upon it and said, “You torched my floor.” Scorbunny looked down to see slight scorch marks from the fire on the dark hardwood floor. It gave a nervous apology. “Don’t give me that, hurry and clean it up.” Scorbunny quickly bowed and ran to get a towel.

Noibat landed on Ceailean’s lap and stretched its wings. “Noi-Bat!” it proclaimed.

“Huh? What did Scorbunny tell you that got you all worked.” asked Ceailean.

“I’d say your plan worked, whether or not it was part of it anyway.” said Terrence.

“What? But, that fake battle with Scorbunny. You looked pretty miffed about that.” Noibat shook its head. It then began to act out several points in the battle. As it did so, Ceailean could see the excitement in its eyes, telling the story almost to the exact detail. “You actually enjoyed battling by my side?” Noibat nodded enthusiastically. “You actually want to come with us?” Another nod.

Ceailean smiled and got out of the bed. He walked over to his duffel that lay in the corner. “You’re absolutely-”

“Cut it out, C.” cut off Marie. “Have some confidence in Noibat’s decision.”

“Yeah, don’t make it look like you don’t want it to come with.” said Terrence.

Ceailean nodded. He reached down into his duffel and pulled out a pokéball. At the press of a button it expanded to fit his hand. Noibat noticed the design and got ready. “Okay Noibat, to our greatest adventure!” He tossed the pokéball at Noibat, but before it could reach, Noibat used dragon rush to blow it away. The group stood for a moment as the pokéball clacked on the ground. “You guys lied to me.” Ceailean said betrayed.

Marie, Terrence, and Fennekin tripped over themselves. Snom spilled out of Marie’s beanie and landed on the bed, sleeping as if nothing happened.

“Noibat?! You made it look like you wanted to join so bad! Why did you do that and make me look like an idiot in front of C?” Noibat went on a ramble, pointing to the pokéball, then the black fur on its chest, then finally to its yellow eyes.

“Just what is it on about?” asked Terrence.

“I have no idea.” answered Ceailean.

“I believe it is referring to this.” Ceailean barely had enough time to react to an ultra ball being thrown to him. After a few juggles, he finally managed to get a hold of it. Crisis stood in the doorway, Vivillon flew in from behind his shoulder. “That ultra ball was the pokéball you used that would’ve caught it had Terrence decided not to ‘take the bullet’ as they say. Either that or it's just because it thinks it looks cooler.”

“Yeah, it was a little funny too!” chuckled Marie. “I could hear it now, ‘Mr. President get down!’”

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up. I had my intentions.” said Terrence.

Vivillon flew down next to Noibat. It told Noibat bat to look at it. As Noibat did, Vivillon felt Noibat's face and did its best to try to face Noibat fully. It was saying goodbye. Noibat grew a little sad, nuzzling Vivillon affectionately. Vivillon grabbed hold of Noibat’s shoulders and told it to come back one day to show how much stronger it has become. Noibat gave a determined nod, calling Ceailean afterward.

“So you just wanted to be in this pokéball?” asked Ceailean. Noibat nodded. “Well, since you think it's so cool. Why don’t we make this interesting.” Noibat tilted its head curiously. Ceailean held the ultra ball like it was an energy attack. “Now! Are you brave enough to take this one!” Noibat immediately recognized the phrase from a scene in a show it watched. It got pumped and exploded into dragon rush. “Here thy name! For Ceailean will be the one you hear for the rest of time!” Ceailean chucked the ultra ball full force. Noibat charged at it with dragon rush. Then silence before a clacking pokéball fell on the floor, wiggled three times, then clicked along with a pop of white sparkles.

“Wow.” said Ceailean excitedly, “I properly caught my first Pokémon!”

“But wait, didn’t you already have Scorbunny?” asked Terrence.

“That story is complicated.” answered Marie. “It’d take a while for you to understand.”

“I see.”

Ceailean picked up Noibat’s pokéball. “Noibat, reveal yourself!” Noibat was let out of its pokéball and it roared as loud as its raspy high pitched could.

“Noibat, such a weeb.” said Terrence smiling.

“Wasn’t this ‘weeb’ one of the ones that actually finished off that Drapion?” asked Crisis.

“It wasn’t meant to be truly insulting. Think of it like close friends insulting each other.”

“Very well, if that is how you two define it.”

“Hey C, how did you know that act would work on Noibat?” asked Marie.

“Devin invited me to his house in my early days in Snowbelle remember? He showed me his favorite shows and that was in a scene I saw. It looks like Noibat knew about it too so I got lucky.” explained Ceailean.

“If you would all please come now, I have provided sustenance for you all downstairs. It would be a shame if it were to all get cold” Crisis made his way down.

“W-What?” asked Terrence.

Noibat perched upon Ceailean’s left arm. “It just means he made food. Come on, join us.” Everyone walked down to enjoy their meal.

----------------------------------------

() “So, where will you guys go now?'' asked Terrence.

The group stood out front of Terrence’s lawn. The sun was setting a brilliant orange across the sky. A soft wind blew along the trees.

“Same place we’ve been goin’, Camphrier town.” answered Ceailean. Noibat and Scorbunny stood in front of him.

“Well, good luck to your travels guys. Take care of Noibat for me, alright?”

“Noibat will become stronger. We’ll train so you can count on that.” said Marie.

“I expect you to prove that to me and Vivillon.” Vivillon flew happily next to Terrence.

“See ya Terrence, Vivillon. We’ll see you when we see you.” said Ceailean. The pokemon all said their goodbyes, then the group went down trail.

“Are you excited for what comes next, Noibat?” asked Ceailean. Noibat nodded, bursting into dragon rush and soaring up into the sky.