Chapter 50: For The Journey
Christianson stood impatiently on one side of the Pokémon center battlefield. He tapped his foot waiting for Marie to show up. From the silence, he could hear a couple people gossiping.
“Yo, do you think that’s him?” one asked.
“No way, dude! It couldn’t be. He disappeared for a reason, he wouldn’t show his face like that.” the other explained.
Christianson did his best to ignore these comments. Then, the opening of the Pokémon center doors caught his attention. Marie had changed into her everyday clothes and walked out of the Pokémon center. Ceailean followed after her along with his Pokémon, Crisis, and Miss Crimis.
“A new look, huh?” asked Christianson, “I was wondering why your hair was straighter than usual.”
Marie looked away. A simple “Mm-hm” was all she was able to muster.
“Are you positive that this is the only way to resolve this, Christianson? Could we not talk it out?” asked Miss Crimis.
“Absolutely not,” said Christianson sternly. “I may have assisted in your familial affairs, but I ask that you stay out of ours.”
“This dude.” said Miss Crimis under her breath. “Kick his butt for me, ‘kay Marie?” Marie nodded.
“Here we go,” said Ceailean.
Marie took off her beanie and revealed Snom atop her head. It blasted off with icy wind straight onto the battlefield. The two stared down Christianson, who stared back stoically.
“There’s only one way we win this, Snom.” said Marie, “I hope you can understand.” Snom gave a determined nod.
“You, Admin,” said Christianson, referring to Crisis, “Why don’t you set us off?”
Crisis gave him a suspicious look. “I do not recall giving you my title.”
“The people I've had to talk to in order to get here have spoken about you and your title, as well as how proudly you tell it, Crisis.”
Crisis growled silently. “Fine, as you ask.” He walked over to the center of the battlefield. “This battle is between-”
“We know the rules. Hurry and start it.” said Christianson.
Crisis groaned in annoyance, but Marie cut in before he could say anything. “It’s so that we have a fair chance to start the battle. Every race needs someone to hold the starting pistol. Don’t want anyone to have the advantage of knowing when ‘go’ is coming.” said Marie.
Crisis sighed. He raised his hand. “Battle begin!” Right as he threw his hand down, Marie thrust her arm out.
“Use icy wind, get as close as you can!” she said. Snom blasted off full speed, rocketing towards Rhyperior.
“Meet it halfway with superpower!” said Christianson. Rhyperior’s arm burst with orange energy and it charged in.
Just before the two Pokémon reached each other, Marie raised her palm to the sky. “Now go up!” Snom whirled around and shot straight up towards the sky just as Rhyperior threw its punch. Its attack collided with the ground, sinking in as if it were just sand. The ground split apart and cracked, shaking the entire area like a magnitude 5 earthquake.
“Oh my gosh!” said Miss Crimis, stumbling over.
“I gotcha!” said Ceailean, catching her arm on his shoulders.
“Thank you, Ceailean.” she said, slightly out of breath.
“That was just one attack. It would’ve taken everything they had for any of my Pokémon to match that. Is this the level we’re competing with now?”
Rocks flew up around Rhyperior, just barely out of reach of Snom. “Now, rain down all the icy wind you can!” said Marie. Snom spun around and shot down a vortex of icy wind directly on Rhyperior.
“Block it with rock wrecker!” said Christianson. Rhyperior quickly dug up a boulder from the ground and used it to shield its head right as the icy wind blew down on it.
“Don’t stop! Give it everything you got!” said Marie. Snom continued putting on the pressure, fully engulfing Rhyperior in a tornado of icy wind.
Ceailean watched anxiously. The cold wind the attack produced made the tips of his fingers burn. “Come on…” he said under his breath.
Rhyperior heard a crackling at its feet. Icy crystals had started to crawl their way up its body. Rhyperior called out to Christianson, but he held out his hand. “Not yet.” he said simply. He crossed his arms and looked up at Snom. As if on cue, Snom began to drift across the sky. “Now! Use superpower!” Rhyperior looked up at the boulder it was holding and punched it with superpower. The boulder splintered apart, sending a huge volley of rocky shrapnel at Snom.
“What?! No! Go down, Snom!” Snom’s eyes widened seeing the attack incoming. It blasted itself back towards the ground right as the shrapnel passed. It splat back down on the ground, staring down Rhyperior.
“Good, you saw that one.” said Christianson.
“Compliments won’t make me go easier.” said Marie.
“Oh, then I suppose you don’t want me to tell you about the second half you missed.”
“What?!” Marie looked up and saw the shrapnel flying back down like a rain of knives. “Snom! Get back!” Snom flew back as fast as it could. Rocks came raining down around it, embedding themselves within the ground. The ones in front got in the way, slowing down Snom just enough to get hit by a couple of rocks. “Darn it all!” Marie then gasped at an idea. “Use struggle bug!” Snom planted itself down on the ground and exploded with green energy. The remaining rocks were blown back and fell harmlessly around Snom.
“Crush it!” said Christianson. Rhyperior charged in and raised its foot to stomp on Snom.
“Snom!” cried Marie. Snom watched in horror as a foot three times its size came hurling down. Rhyperior stomped and the whole battlefield shook. Marie looked with a shocked expression. Snom slowly opened its eyes and looked to its side, Rhyperior’s foot was just to its left.
“Did… did it miss?” asked Ceailean.
Marie grit her teeth. “Christianson! Are you still not taking me seriously?!”
“I assure you, I’m taking you as seriously as I need to.” said Christianson, “No need for senseless overkill. Either way, it's already over.”
“What?”
“Use stone edge.”
Marie gasped. “Snom! Use-” Just then, a gigantic stalagmite imbued with blue energy shot out from the ground right under Snom. It shot out so fast that it was three times Rhyperior’s height in just the blink of an eye. Snom wailed in pain all the way up to the peak of its launch, then it weakly fell towards the ground. Just before it landed, Marie threw herself at it and caught it safely, sliding across the ground.
“Just one hit?” said Ceailean, startled.
“Impossible.” said Crisis. Marie was formidable enough in his eyes, just who in the heck were they dealing with? He cleared his throat. “S-Snom is unable to battle. Rhyperior is the winner.”
Marie groaned. “You okay, Snom?” Snom opened its eyes weakly and nodded, coughing hoarsely. “You did what you could.” Marie looked at Rhyperior’s frost covered legs. “Let’s just hope it was enough.” Snom nodded again before closing its eyes and resting. Marie stood up and held out Snom.
“C, if you could look after it.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” he said. Marie handed Snom to him and walked back to her place on the battlefield. Ceailean cradled Snom like a baby, anxiously watching to see what would happen next.
Marie stared at Christianson. “That move was new, when did Rhyperior learn that?”
“We’ve known it for a long time, but we keep our cards close to our chest.” said Christianson. “Perhaps one day, I’ll teach you and your Pokémon.”
Marie threw her arm to her side. “I’ll learn on my own thanks.”
“Tch, I’m trying to be nice here. Share some cool ideas.”
“Those ideas won’t matter if I go home.” Marie threw her next pokeball and Fennekin came out with a sparkle.
Christianson sighed. He gave a look to Marie, then to Crisis, then lastly on Ceailean. Slight disappointment reflected in his eyes. “Alright, then let’s just hurry it up then.”
“Be careful, Fennekin. Practically everything Rhyperior has is super effective against you. One hit and it's all over.” Fennekin nodded. “Now use ember on it!” Fennekin fired a blast of embers.
“Wave it away with super power!” shouted Christianson. Rhyperior bashed the attack away with an orange glowing arm.
“Now psybeam!” Fennekin shot a blue zig zagging beam of energy.
“Block it with rock wrecker.” Rhyperior grabbed a boulder out of the ground and blocked the psybeam, making it ricochet like a bullet. “Lob it!”
“Just what I wanted.” Marie said to herself. “Run and jump off that rock wrecker!” Fennekin ran forward and jumped off the boulder, shattering as it hit the ground behind Fennekin. It flew up high above Rhyperior’s head. “Now, ember, psybeam, ember!” Fennekin shot all three attacks as it arched over Rhyperior's head, each exploding on impact. As Fennekin landed on the other side, Rhyperior waved away the smoke with only one swipe, looking slightly annoyed. “Still nothing?” Christianson raised an eyebrow at this.
“Howl! Then go in with scratch!” shouted Marie. Fennekin howled, kicking dust away from it as it charged in with white glowing claws.
“Just what are you doing?” asked Christianson under his breath. “Stone edge!” Rhyperior aimed its fist right at Fennekin.
“Now jump through and ember!”
“Oh?” said Christianson, somewhat impressed.
Fennekin threw itself past Rhyperior's fist right as it hit the ground, creating a singular stalagmite. It felt itself lose a few hairs off its head as it did so. Then, as it slid between Rhyperior’s feet, it blasted an ember right up its lower jaw. The surprise actually made Rhyperior stumble back a bit.
“Let’s up the ante.” said Christianson. “Rhyperior, break that stone edge and swing it at Fennekin.” Rhyperior bashed the stone edge with the side of its fist, caught it as it fell, then swung it at Fennekin with all its might.
Marie gasped. “Jump back!” Fennekin did a jumping back flip and avoided the attack, but Rhyperior took another swing. “Land on it!” Fennekin lightly placed its paws on the stone edge as it swung by, allowing it to flip it in the air harmlessly.
“Lance it!” said Christianson. Rhyperior placed its right hand on the end of the stone edge and thrust it at Fennekin.
“Roll left!” Fennekin rolled left, just dodging the stone edge as it embedded itself deep into the ground. “Now run up and shoot as much psybeam as you can!” Fennekin hopped on top of the embedded stone edge and shot a continuous psybeam.
“Block it!” said Christianson. Rhyperior raised its arms right as the attack landed. The blue energy of the psybeam splashed all around. “Oh, I get it now. Rhyperior,” Rhyperior looked back at him, “It looks like auntie is staying over tonight.” Rhyperior nodded and continued blocking the attack.
Fennekin kept shooting until it had to stop and take a breath. Rhyperior took a few steps back. As the dust cleared, something strange happened. It’s eyes looked wild, its hands were clenched tight, and it was gritting its teeth.
“D-Did it work?” Rhyperior stomped on the ground, roaring with all its might. “Yes! We did it! It’s confused! This make things go-”
“Stone edge on the rock!” shouted Christianson. Rhyperior immediately focused up and swung right at the embedded stone edge Fennekin. Before Marie could even say a word, Rhyperior hit the stone edge so hard, it sunk another foot into the ground. It all happened so fast that Fennekin lost its footing. It gave Rhyperior one last shocked look before the stone edge it was standing on exploded with jagged rock jutting out in all directions. Fennekin felt all their sharp edges in an instant. The force was so great that it was sent in a tailspin into the air.
“No! Fennekin!” Marie ran out and caught it in her arms. Fennekin’s eyes were swirled, unable to even speak. Marie grit her teeth. “How in the heck did you do that?”
Christianson scratched his head, obviously knowing what she meant. “Why, whatever do you mean?”
“You were able to immediately get out of confusion! How?!”
“Because he faked it.” said Ceailean.
“Huh? C?”
“That code phrase. ‘Auntie is staying over tonight’. You were telling it to put on a facade, weren’t you?”
“Oh? And what gave you that idea?” asked Christianson.
“I’ve seen enough movies with antagonizing aunts to just put it together. Especially with characters having to fake their behaviors in front of them.”
“Such a dirty handed tactic!” said Crisis. “This must be against some kind of rule!”
“Last I checked, no rule against this kind of tactic exists. I saw that she was peppering Rhyperior with moves that have a chance of causing status effects, and I responded accordingly.”
“Still-”
“Let it go, Crisis.” said Marie. “He’s right, he technically didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But-” Ceailean placed his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Crisis grit his teeth and growled, eventually slumping his shoulders and sighing. “I’m just trying to look out for you, Marie.”
“No, I want to win this way. Not by some weird bending of the rules.” said Marie, standing up. She returned Fennekin to its pokeball and brought out another one. “Fomantis, you’re next.” She threw it out and out came Fomantis. It’s face was full of determination, remembering the words of encouragement Ceailean and Marie gave it before it got here.
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() Fomantis crossed its arms and turned its head away.
“Come on, Fomantis!” begged Marie with her hands clasped together. “I’ll need all the help I can get! And you’re technically one of my Pokémon, why can’t you help me?!”
Fomantis jumped on top of Ceailean’s shoulder, hugged his face, then blew a raspberry at Marie. “Hey! Don’t use me as a shield!” said Ceailean. Fomantis reiterated that it was Ceailean’s Pokémon, not Marie’s. If she wanted another Pokémon so bad, why not ask Noibat or Raboot? Solosis was a little disheartened that it wasn’t mentioned.
“I can’t lie to him like that!” said Marie. “Plus, if he talked to everyone we’ve encountered, he knows who Ceailean’s Pokémon are. The only one’s where he wouldn’t know are Scolipede and you.” Fomantis turned its head away again. Marie fell face first into her bed and groaned in defeat.
Ceailean scooped Fomantis off his shoulder. “Uh, why don’t I take this from here.” He set Fomantis down on the bed. “Now Fomantis, you know Marie is a really good friend of mine right. Like, my absolute bestie.” Marie groaned again after hearing this. “So could you do it for me if not for her?” Fomantis sighed, still a little hesitant.
“How about this? I have this story of a Pokémon who was taken against their will. Who knows what would’ve happened if I let whoever took them get away. In this current situation, something similar is going to happen to Marie. She is going to be taken away against her will, off to a place where she will never be able to become her true self.”
“You make my house sound depressing, C…” said Marie, muffled under the sheets.
“That’s not the point. You see, doesn’t that remind you of someone? Helpless, alone, and begging to be let free?” Marie thought he was referring to Raboot, but Fomantis remembered back to what happened yesterday. Trapped in a newspaper box, tangled in vines, begging to be let free. Its expression turned to that of sadness. “And if Marie were forced to leave, that would make me very sad too. For all of us.” Ceailean gestured to the rest of his Pokémon, they all nodded in agreement.
Fomantis sighed. It nodded, agreeing to help Marie, but citing it was because Ceailean asked it to.
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() A slight hint of fear ran down Fomantis’s body as it stared Rhyperior down. It was huge, easily towering any of the Pokémon that it has seen before. Maybe it was in over its head. But it couldn’t back out now. It knows what it was like to be taken away and didn’t wish for that fate to be cast upon anyone, despite how bitter its feelings were for them.
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“A tiny brussel sprout.” said Christianson with a smirk, “Really gonna hold me out on your main event?” Fomantis felt irked by this comment.
“You’ll get it when we’re ready, don’t you worry.” said Marie. Rhyperior huffed out a huge gust of air from its nostrils and put its arms up like a boxer.
“I’m not asking for me, of course. She’s gettin’ a bit bored.”
“Then it better pay attention, ‘cause we’re coming in hot! Use leafage!” shouted Marie. Fomantis shot a line of leaves like darts. But the attack bounced off like nothing.
“We will as well! Use stone edge!” Rhyperior punched the ground, causing several stalagmites to erupt out of the ground towards Fomantis.
“Zig zag around it and approach, then use frustration!” Fomantis dived to the side right as a stalagmite burst under where it was. It then zig zagged through the existing stalagmites to make it hard for Rhyperior to stay focused on. And right when Rhyperior was expecting it to some around, Fomantis swung around from the same side it came from and bashed its body against Rhyperior’s head, making it stagger back. Rhyperior half chuckled to itself, grinding its finger against its horn drill as it said that it actually felt that one a bit.
“Oh? That’s a big frustration. Are you two not on the greatest terms?” said Christianson.
“Focus on the battle! Use solar beam!” Fomantis stood still, closed its eyes, and started to gather energy from the sun.
“Stop it with bulldoze!” said Christianson. Rhyperior stomped on the ground, making the ground ripple like a wave. The wave flung Fomantis in the air, making it lose its energy. “Now rock wrecker!” Rhyperior formed the boulder from the holes in its palms this time and shot it right at Fomantis, making it shatter on impact with an ear splitting rumble. Fomantis skipped across the ground before skidding to a halt face down by Marie’s feet.
“What was she thinking?!” said Crisis somewhat quietly. “Solar beam is a move that takes a long time to initiate. She should’ve waited until-”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Crisis.” said Ceailean.
“But you know I am right!”
“Maybe. But things in the heat of the moment seem logical compared to hindsight or onlooking. Plus, I’m doing us both a favor. You don’t want her to hear you or she’ll go off on you. Said it was something called ‘backseating’ I think.”
Crisis grumbled to himself. “Whatever! Fomantis is-”
“Cool it hotshot, this ain’t over yet.” said Christianson. Ceailean and Crisis looked over to see Fomantis struggle back up to its feet.
“But how?” said Ceailean.
Crisis gasped. “It must have been because of the use of super power. The more it uses it, the more its attack and defense fall. It must have been enough for Fomantis to take a hit like that.”
Rhyperior placed its right hand on its left shoulder and spun its left arm around. It was annoyed that it wasn’t doing as much damage as it could’ve been. It then told Fomantis to just stay down, they both knew who the winner was going to be. It bought enough time already.
Fomantis didn’t waver. It gave an angry look at Rhyperior, asking if it insinuated that it was weak. Well it wasn’t going to take that lying down. It remembered Ceailean’s battle last night. Noibat and Scorbunny, now Raboot, tried so hard to save it. It was starved, scared, and could only watch. No more, it said to itself with tears welling up in its eyes. It yelled at Rhyperior to fight it seriously, with everything its got. Rhyperior shook its head, saying Fomantis might not live if it did so.
Marie reached her hand out. “Fomantis? Are you okay?” Fomantis whipped around and snapped, yelling at her to just tell it what to do, doing its best to hold back angry tears.
“Fomantis? What’s going on? Do you not like Marie that much?” asked Ceailean. Noibat shook its head and crossed its wings. Ceailean noticed and decided to watch closely.
“You want something?” asked Marie, “Then I’ll give it to you. Climb up that stone edge and use fury cutter!” Fomantis immediately sprang into action. It climbed to the top of the stone edge in just two jumps, then hopped across each one until it got to the last one where it made a huge jump. Its leaf like arms jutted out green energy blades as it came down upon Rhyperior’s head.
“Block it.” said Christianson. Rhyperior raised its arms right as Fomantis slashed down, making green lit gashes as it scraped against Rhyperior’s arms.
“Don’t stop! Go for it’s legs!” said Marie. Fomantis landed on the ground, its attack turning yellow green as it slashed Rhyperior’s leg, then burst into yellow as it slashed the other. Rhyperior winced in pain. “Keep going!”
Fomantis wailed on Rhyperior, slashing Rhyperior’s torso with red, then red and black energy blades. It screamed out how its friends tried so hard, so now it was going to try hard too. It couldn’t be weak anymore, it wanted to be so much more! Fomantis spun into a whirlwind of slash’s against Rhyperior, making it stagger back a bit.
Marie raised her fist in the air. “Yes!”
“Superpower!” said Christianson. Rhyperior recovered quickly and threw a super power punch right on Fomantis. Fomantis used all the strength it had to deflect the attack away, but Rhyperior threw another punch.
“Jump!” said Marie. Fomantis hopped on top of Rhyperior’s fist and jumped high in the air. Rhyperior threw the punch too far and stumbled down on one knee. Fomantis blotted out the sun as it came down for a big hit. It had to fight, get stronger, for Marie, for Ceailean! It dived down as fast as it could, two red and black energy blades in each hand. It yelled as loud as it could as it swung. Rhyperior looked up and saw Fomantis coming down. It smiled. It then stood up and took a step back right as Fomantis came down, leaving red and black trails where Fomantis slashed. Then Rhyperior came in with a devastating super power one inch punch.
Fomantis got hit so hard that its entire body wrapped around Rhyperior’s fist, getting knocked back all the way to one of the stone edges, creating a small crater on impact. Fomantis took a second to breathe, struggling to even get its lungs working again. But then it saw Rhyperior approaching. Fomantis was frustrated with itself beyond belief. It had it, it could’ve won. Rhyperior then stepped right in front of Fomantis, asking it to stand down once more. Fomantis grew angry. It charged up a solar beam and fired it right into Rhyperior’s face. It told Rhyperior that it was still here, it could still fight. So it told Rhyperior to fight like it meant it, no matter what!
Rhyperior caught as much of the beam in its hand as it could. It got closer to Fomantis and said it would fight Fomantis for real. It reached out and grabbed Fomantis by the head and tossed it into the air.
“Fomantis!” yelled Marie. Noibat, Raboot, and Ceailean all gasped. Fomantis looked at them as it flipped in the air. It felt like it was all in slow motion, but that wasn’t going to stop it. It used fury cutter unprompted, ready to keep going. But right as it faced back in Rhyperior’s direction, it was hit by Rhyperior’s boulder-like tail, imbued with super power. Fomantis was sent through all of the standing stone edges, shattering each in half. It popped out the end in a tailspin and skidded to a halt on the ground.
Marie put her arm around her head and looked away from the flying rocks heading her direction. “Fomantis! Are you okay?!” Rhyperior looked in its direction and said that it got its best. Was Fomantis happy with that? Fomantis raised its head to look at Rhyperior, but everything was hazy and it was dizzy. Rhyperior said that it never considered Fomantis weak, in fact it trying so hard was contrary to weakness. But Rhyperior is just better. It invited Fomantis to challenge it again when it was better, Rhyperior would be waiting. Fomantis scoffed, then finally passed out.
“Fomantis is unable to battle,” said Crisis unenthusiastically, “Rhyperior is the winner.”
“I’m 3 for 0, Marie. What are you going to do now?” said Christianson.
Marie returned Fomantis to its pokeball and brought out her last one. “What I need to do in order to win.” She threw it out and out came Scolipede. Its long neck slowly stretched as it came up to Rhyperior’s eye level. It huffed air through its nostrils, blowing dust away.
Christianson sighed. “What about you, Ceailean?” he asked without looking at him.
Ceailean was taken aback by this. “H-Huh?”
“Marie is going to leave, yet I don’t think I’ve seen much of a reaction out of you. If I’ve never seen you before, I’d believe that Crisis knew her longer than you did. So what, do you not feel anything?”
“What?! Why would you think that?!” Noibat and Raboot ran up in his defense.
“Then speak your mind.”
“Of course I would hate for Marie to leave! To be honest, I couldn’t imagine continuing my journey without her.” Christianson raised his eyebrow at him. Marie remained stoic. “And really, I couldn’t be more optimistic. I would’ve never met as many friends without her, been as strong without her, and I quite frankly wouldn’t have survived this long without her. Marie is going to beat you and we’re gonna continue our journey. “
Miss Crimis looked at him concerned. “Survive? What?”
“Eh, long story.” said Ceailean, waving his hand back and forth. “Point is, Marie isn’t going to lose. I have full faith in her.”
Christianson slumped his shoulder and looked up to the sky in a bored manner. “Suit yourself. You ready for this, Marie?”
Marie covered slightly more of her face by pulling down her beanie, hiding her subtle blush. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Then by all means,” Christianson bowed with a hand on his chest and the other off to the side, “Make the first move.”
Marie wasted no time. “Use megahorn!” Scolipede’s horns burst with silver energy.
“Catch it with super power!” said Christianson. Rhyperior caught both of Scolipede’s horns. The force was enough to blow a puff of dust all around them. Scolipede doubled down and pushed even harder. Rhyperior found itself getting pushed back physically for the first time. Its feet tore through the ground as it tried to stay in place. “Set down your tail.” said Christianson. Rhyperior slammed its tail on the ground, stopping Scolipede dead.
“Get back!” said Marie.
“We’re not done! Keep it there!” Rhyperior jerked Scolipede back when it tried to move it away. “Toss it aside!” Rhyperior forced Scolipede’s head down, wrapped its other arm around Scolipede, then spun around a few times before tossing it away. Scolipede landed with a huge earth shaking thud, sliding to a halt in front Marie’s feet.
“Let’s play the long game, use toxic spikes!” Scolipede stood up and shot a purple projectile into the air. It exploded into many tiny projectiles that came down and sunk into the ground.
Christianson had an idea. “Very clever, Marie. But now you can’t hit me either. Last I checked, you don’t have any ranged attacks.” Crisis looked at him skeptically.
“Oh yeah? Check this out, use bulldoze!” Scolipede slammed its front legs into the ground, creating a wave through the ground.
“Use bulldoze too!” Rhyperior slammed its foot, sending an even bigger wave through the ground. When both attacks collided, the ground tore itself apart from the inside and exploded a trench between the two Pokémon, detonating some toxic spikes. “Now use rock wrecker and roll it at Scolipede!” Rhyperior formed a huge rocky ball and threw it like a bowling ball towards Scolipede, blowing up toxic spikes as it traveled. Scolipede began to step away, but Marie stopped it.
“No Scolipede! Don’t move!” she said.
Crisis spoke up. “They are your own toxic spikes, Marie! You won’t detonate them!”
Marie smacked the side of her head. “Right! Duh! What was I thinking?! Dodge that!” Scolipede sidestepped the incoming rock wrecker, but didn’t have time to see the Rhyperior was running up right behind it.
“Super power!” said Christianson. Rhyperior extended its arm as it burst with orange energy and clothes lined Scolipede as it ran through. Scolipede felt its spine fold in on itself as it fell to the ground. Rhyperior tried to slide to a halt, but detonated a singular toxic spike, cause a poisonous cloud of gas to explode from the ground.
“At least I got something out of a stupid mistake like that.” Marie said to herself. “But now’s our chance! Scolipede, run up and use cross poison!” Scolipede shook off the daze from the attack it just received and ran towards Rhyperior, its horns bursting with a sickly purple energy. Scolipede slashed one way, then another, each attack jerking Rhyperior’s body in that direction.
“Sweep it with a super powered tail!” said Christianson.
“Get back!” Scolipede hopped back just as Rhyperior swung with its tail. Now Megahorn!” Scolipede's horns exploded with silver energy and it struck directly into Rhyperior’s stomach, knocking it back a few feet. Rhyperior fell to one knee and coughed, purple toxic bubbles popped around its head. “Almost there.” Marie said to herself.
“Can you keep going, Rhyperior?” asked Christianson as he tilted his head. Rhyperior looked at him with a slightly offended expression. It pounded both fists into the ground and shot itself back into standing position. “Good, let’s finish this.”
“Megahorn!” said Marie.
“Super power!” said Christianson.
Both attacks clashed viciously, setting off white lightning as they grinded against each other. Ceailean’s jaw dropped as it looked close to the spectacle he saw back in Tuviere when Mega Blaziken clashed with Mega Tyranitar.
Both Pokémon grit their teeth as they tried to overpower each other. But then Rhyperior wound up its other fist and swung. Scolipede noticed and brought its neck back, just barely dodging the swing. Rhyperior wasn’t done. As its fist whiffed into the air, it brought its other fist up with it and slammed both down on Scolipede’s neck. This made Scolipede yelp in pain and lower down to its front knees. Scolipede looked back up in annoyance and spit out a dollop of poison to the side.
“Scolipede looks like it actually has the power to stand up to Rhyperior! Marie is going to win!” Ceailean said excitedly.
“No…” said Crisis silently.
Christianson adjusted his tie and threw his hand to the side. “Let’s finish this!”
Marie raised her fist at Christianson. “I couldn’t agree more! Use cross poison!”
“Use stone edge!” said Christianson at the same time. Rhyperior punched the ground and sent a wave of stalagmites towards Scolipede. Scolipede charged straight ahead, slashing through one stalagmite, then the other. Its horns jutted violently at Rhyperior and struck it so hard that it was actually lifted off its feet. Rhyperior tumbled back, regaining its balance after a couple of steps. It wiped the bottom of its chin with its arm and gave Scolipede a determined look.
“Don’t let it recover! Finish it off with megahorn!” said Marie. Scolipede’s horns burst with an absolutely radiant amount of silver energy. It charged ahead, looking to land the deciding blow.
“She might actually do it!” said Crisis to himself.
“Do it!” yelled Ceailean, “Win!”
Christianson crossed his arms. “Use rock wrecker!” he said with utmost confidence. Rhyperior roared into the air and thrust both its arms straight into the ground. It gritted its teeth and strained hard, pulling with all its strength. The ground cracked and rose out from the ground. Scolipede gasped and moved back right before Rhyperior tore a whole chunk of the battlefield out from the ground.
“No! Scolipede, keep moving!” said Marie. But Rhyperior swung the rock high over its head and roared as it slammed it back down right on top of Scolipede’s head. The world seemed to slow as a visceral crackling sounded out before the rock shattered to pieces. Scolipede was hit so hard that its face was planted directly into the ground and the back half of its body was sent up slightly into the air.
Ceailean, Ms. Crimis, and Crisis all gasped as this happened. Raboot, Noibat, and even Solosis were frozen in shock. In the middle of all of it, Marie watched as Scolipede fell to the ground. A single bang of hair fell between her blue, unshifting eyes.
Scolipede struggled to lift its head up. Everything was blurry and its head hurt more than it ever has before. It stared up into the sky, reaching out as far as it could before everything went black. Its head fell gently to the ground and its eyes swirled around.
“Guess that’s it.” said Christianson.
Ceailean fell to his knees, unable to believe what was happening. Raboot ran over to Scolipede’s head and shook it desperately, asking if it was okay. Scolipede’s eyes returned to normal, looking somber. It apologized to Raboot. Raboot shook its head and said that it was just glad that Scolipede was alright. Just then, red energy enveloped Scolipede. Marie had returned it to its pokeball.
“So…” said Crisis, unsure of what to say. “W-What’s next?”
“What else would be next, Crisis?” said Marie in an annoyed tone. “I go home.”
“B-But, your resolve! You don’t want this to end don’t you?!” Crisis gestured to Ceailean. “What about you? What do you have to say?”
Ceailean barely shifted his hand. “I…” He remained silent for a while.
Crisis groaned. “That’s it?! What happened, Ceailean?! You were always so quick to help others. Me, Scorbunny, Noibat, Falt and Topaz, and Marie! Why is this time different?!”
“I just can’t…”
“So much worse you have faced and you crumble to this? I just don’t get it. Was all that kindness for show? Is your true nature that of a coward?!”
Ms. Crimis stepped in front of Crisis. “That’s enough! I will not allow you to talk to my son that way.”
Crisis desperate to keep his momentum going turned to Noibat. “What about you, Noibat? Can you not see the injustice being played out here? Surely you must want to do something!” Raboot stood up and faced Noibat. It was curious as to how Noibat felt as it hasn’t been acting like its explosive, passionate self this whole time. Noibat hung its head back and closed its eyes and scratched its head trying to think hard. This situation didn’t feel like one it could just fight its way out of. Noibat could feel it in its gut, if it were to fight, it could potentially make things worse.
Crisis was so astounded by everyone’s responses that he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “So that’s it, huh? I guess all that’s left is me.” He swiftly turned towards Christianson and held out a pokeball. “I will face you myself! I will help Marie any way I can. And if that means going against you, then-!”
A hand grasped Crisis’s arm and pulled it down. “I don’t need your help, Crisis.” said Marie.
“But-”
“I know what I said. But I laid it all on the table and it just didn’t work out. I made the deal, we both agreed to it, I took a gamble and lost. So please, don’t embarrass me any more.”
Crisis’s head was swirling around in disbelief. Before he could say another word, Christianson gestured to him. “You heard what they said. Bugger off, kid.” Crisis was so full of anger. Why wouldn’t anyone help? Why wouldn’t anyone let him help? It all made no sense in his mind. He grit his teeth and gave a loud growl before tearing his arm away from Marie’s grip, making her stumble forward. He then angrily kicked the rubble at his feet and went inside the Pokémon center.
Christianson then went to Marie’s side. “You have until our Pokémon is healed. I reckon that’s about 10 minutes. Say your goodbyes, then let’s go.” He gestured to Rhyperior to follow him and they both went inside the Pokémon center.
Ceailean slowly stood back up and faced Marie. His mouth quivered for words to say, but nothing came out. Marie noticed. “It’s okay, C. I’ll be fine.”
----------------------------------------
() Marie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She threw all her pokéballs, revealing all her Pokémon next to Snom, who was already waiting on the ground. “Hey guys.” All of them looked sadly back at her. “Sorry it all didn’t work out. It’s all my fault.” All of them approached, each attempting to convince her that it was their own fault. “No, it was never anywhere near you guy’s fault. I ran away, I lied to Ceailean, I chose to pick a fight I pretty much knew we were never gonna win. So for that, I’m so sorry.” The Pokémon were silent. Marie then heard steps approaching from behind.
“It’s almost time, huh?” asked Ceailean.
“Yeah.” said Marie, brushing her hair behind her ear. “What about Crisis?”
“He’s still angry. I knocked for a while but he wouldn’t say anything.”
“I know he wanted to help so badly. But I couldn’t let him, not for Christianson.”
“I get ya. I really wanted to also. You know, help.”
“There’s nothing you could’ve done. Though, I am sorry that you couldn’t.”
“Yeah.” The two stood in front of each other awkwardly, both not really wanting to be the first to say goodbye. Raboot, Noibat, and Solosis then came up from behind Ceailean and hugged Marie.
Marie bent down and petted the lot of them. “I know, I’m gonna miss you all too.” The Pokémon all nodded and moved on to say goodbye to all her Pokémon. Fomantis however, quickly ran up to Ceailean’s side and grasped his leg tightly, not wanting to leave with Marie.
“Hey now, don’t be like that.” Ceailean crouched down and patted its head. “Marie, is my best friend. I told you a million times.” Fomantis turned his head away to the statement and grasped on to his hand. “How about this then. I need you to do me a really, really, REALLY big favor. I need you to go with Marie and make sure she’s okay, alright?” Fomantis looked at him reluctantly. “You’re the only one I can trust to do this. Please.” Fomantis groaned, telling that what Ceailean was doing was cheating, it would do it, nodding its head in confirmation. “Thank you, Fomantis. Plus, Marie is so much cooler than I am. Use today as an example.” Fomantis shook its head. It began to re-enact the events with Kade with mouth sounds and arm people. Ceailean quickly grabbed them and shushed it, reminding it that it was supposed to be secret.
Marie smiled at the sight. “Have you all said what you needed to say?” Solosis was bawling its eyes out and hugged Raboot tightly for comfort. Raboot hugged back, barely keeping it together itself. Noibat crossed its wings, putting on the most stoic face it could, secretly trying its hardest to not let a single tear form. Fennekin waved to them, tears in its eyes. Snom and Fomantis both looked upon them sadly. And Scolipede bent its head down and smiled, saying they would meet again someday.
“So… yeah.” Ceailean held out his hand for a handshake. Marie shook her head and dove it for a hug, slightly startling Ceailean.
“Thanks for the most memorable month of my life. I’ll remember it forever.” she whispered into his ear. This gave Ceailean a new feeling he’s never felt before. A mix of gratitude, but also sadness, with hints of affection. He didn’t know how to describe it. Marie backed away and returned her Pokémon. She took a deep breath and headed towards Christianson.
Christianson was sitting at a bench. His fingertips touched each other in a sort of meditative pose. His breathing was slow and his eyes were closed. Next to him was Rhyperior in the same exact pose.
“You ready?” asked Marie.
“Are you?” asked Christianson.
“...yeah.”
Both Rhyperior and Christianson opened their eyes, a subtle white flash emitting from both of their eyes. “Then let's head out.” Christianson stood up and pressed the unlock button on his keys. A luxury black car chirped in the parking lot. They walked towards it, Ceailean and his Pokémon following. Christianson opened the back door to allow Marie to get in. She took one last look at Ceailean.
“See ya, C.” she said with a smile and teary eyes.
Ceailean gave back a weak wave. “See ya.”
Marie got into the car and Christianson closed the door. Ceailean couldn’t see her face anymore through the black tinted windows. The engine hummed to life. As the car moved closer to the street, Ceailean followed close behind. He kept following until he couldn’t keep up anymore. Then he watched as the car disappeared into the cluttered streets of other cars until he could see where it was.
It was noon. The streets bustled and the sun shone brightly through the scattered clouds. It was as if nothing had ever happened.