Things weren't looking good, as the Galvantula had mostly recovered from the attacks landed on it by my temporary teammates after absorbing energy from me. The pain of the attack, however, vanished almost immediately once the Absorb stopped drawing energy from me. The Galvantula was forced to shift its attention to the Rhyhorn slamming a Headbutt into it, while the Sandshrew circled around and Slashed at the spider's legs in turn to try and unbalance it. It seemed like the spider wasn't able to continue the Absorb attack in the middle of a chaotic melee, giving me an opening.
The first thing I needed to do was get out of this Geodude form... but I was feeling an intense sensation of fatigue. That Absorb had taken a lot out of me, literally. I might be able to force myself into one more transformation to contribute a little more, but making the change was going to leave me completely spent. I needed to make my new choice count, and I needed to make the call in a hurry to assist against the Galvantula.
It was time to do away with type advantage as my basis of thought. Sure, it was a useful tool, but it was also the absolute basics of battling. As the Galvantula had shown with its Absorb, any halfway decent opponent knew their own weaknesses and had plans to cover it. Fine, if we aren't going for type advantage, it's time to just brute force the problem. My form shone with the white glow of shifting, and I grew upward like a rapidly-sprouting tree. Thick pillars of legs lifted me from the ground, my mass redoubling every moment as the round form of Geodude rounded out all the more into a paunchy gut. It was time to see how I could fight in the Pangoro form, and now that I was more than twice the size of the electric spider... let's see you try and deal with me now!
While the chaos ensued, Mable had been jolted into motion, and she headed over toward the female student on the floor. She moved to hook her arms beneath the girl's shoulders to lift her up and get her further away from the chaotic fight, dragging her back toward the front door to try and escort her outside. "One of you get the boy!" She cried out toward the hiker-looking men.
"Rhyhorn, just stay on it! I trust you!" One of them called out to his Pokémon before crossing the room in a hurry, outright scooping the male student up in both arms in a bridal-carry posture that might have been amusing in less serious circumstances, hauling the limp figure of the unconscious boy out the front doors of the Pokémon Center.
I felt better knowing that Mable was out of the room, further away from the danger. It meant that the back of my mind wasn't constantly worrying that I'd have to leap in the way and block a stray attack for her. I threw myself forward with a roar, trying to sound more fearsome than I really felt. Intimidation tactics might not work, but if I could get the spider to even flinch for a moment, my companions might score an easier strike. It wasn't just an intimidation tactic, though, as I used the adrenaline pumping through me to channel my energy into a Work Up to boost my offensive strength.
The intimidation attempt seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect, though, as the rampaging Galvantula screeched wordlessly back at me, the noise so shrill it set the glass rattling in the windows. Both of my allies flinched, and even I had to grit my teeth and halt my roar at the spike of pain it sent through my head.
In my moment of pain, the only thought I was able to cling to was to attack, goaded on by the amped-up energy I had set coursing through me with my previous set up. A bright white light of energy coursed over both of my forearms as I leapt into the air, practically reaching the ceiling overhead as I arced toward the sparking spider. I was putting every last ounce of energy I had into the biggest attack I could muster, one I was a little surprised but thankful to find in the repertoire of my copied Pangoro form. "Time to squash a bug! Take my Giga Impact!" I shouted, lost in the heat of the moment as I swung both fists downward in a sledgehammer strike of two fists clenched against one another.
The Galvantula locked eyes with the incoming attack, and as much as it was hard to read the expression of the spider, I swear that in that moment of approach it looked... smug. My own eyes widened in shock as a shimmering field of interlinking hexagons formed between my approaching slam and the Galvantula, the intense blast of the impact of energy generating a gust of wind through the room and shattering the barrier, but spending all its power rather uselessly before it could hit my target. That Galvantula knew Protect.
I screwed up, big time. Both arms hung limply at my sides as I staggered back from the crumbling shield, my chest heaving in desperate panting for air. My eyes were half-lidded and felt like someone had attached ten-pound weights to my eyelids, barely able to keep my eyes open at all. I staggered back and forth in place, fighting to remain upright. I felt empty to my bones after that strike, and if I had been alone, that would have been the end of me.
The remaining hiker noticed that the Protect had been used, and similar to my Giga Impact it was a move that couldn't be used in quick succession. "Sandshrew, Stone Edge! Rhyhorn, you too!" Despite the fact it was the other hiker's Rhyhorn, it still followed the command, so the two must have been fairly familiar with each other. Both Pokémon nodded and stomped on the tile floor, which rumbled ominously before craggy spikes exploded beneath the Galvantula, digging into the soft underbelly before outright launching it into the air under the combination attack.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It screeched out again, but this time it was definitely a sound of pain, landing hard on its back with its legs flailing wildly. The exposed stomach of the spider still had chunks of rock stuck to its body, and it was scrambling to flip itself back over. I stumbled forward, wanting to contribute, but I couldn't muster an ounce of energy to flow through my limbs for an attack. "Don't let it get up!" I shouted out in concern, knowing this was our best chance to keep it under control.
"Way ahead of 'ya." The gravelly, gruff voice of the Rhyhorn responded to me, and it actually leapt into the air. Seeing a rocky rhino going airborne left me astounded, and it merely aimed to land its complete weight down on the Galvantula's exposed underside, and I winced as that maneuver must have driven those rock fragments that remained into the spider. The legs flailed more desperately, and the shrieking redoubled. Pinned down, but still desperately trying to find a way to fight, it discharged electric blasts off the uncaring stony form of Rhyhorn.
Suddenly, I saw nurse Joy barge into the room from the direction the Galvantula first appeared, barreling through the near-destroyed doorframe and hoisting a Pokéball in the direction of the ruckus. I hadn't even noticed she had left the room at some point, I thought she was still hiding underneath the Pokémon Center's front desk. "Galvantula, return to your Pokéball!" She cried out, a red beam landing on the still-struggling spider and it vanished into the Pokéball a moment later, leaving Rhyhorn to hit the ground with a tremendous THUMP of impact. Go nurse Joy! Great thinking! Finding its Pokéball put a decisive end to its last attempts to cause trouble, and it could sit in there until it could be dealt with.
I dropped to the ground in a slump, and involuntarily shifted back to my natural form. More than that, I flattened outward like a purple, gooey puddle. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was able to mistake me for a small Grimer at a glance, rather than a very, very tired Ditto. I cast my eyes around the room, and winced a bit at the destruction to the lobby area. While things had started off trying to limit the destructiveness of our attacks, that double Stone Edge had left a small area of jagged stalagmites broken up through the floor, and even the more intact areas of tile had been cracked and splintered. It looked like a warzone in here, particularly given that the only light in the room was still the natural sunlight from the doors and windows.
I hope that the Galvantula's trainer is rich, because if they send them the bill for this little encounter, they'll need to be. Now that the rampaging Pokémon had been dealt with, the issue at hand was to figure out what the heck happened to cause all this? I certainly wasn't going to be the one to figure it out, though, as I was losing the war against my falling eyelids. Although the battle was much shorter in duration than any of my sparring sessions, it was much more intense.
After seeing Mable coming back in through the front door and being reassured of her safety, I stopped fighting against my body's desire for rest and just let my eyes close, drifting somewhere between asleep and half-awake. I was picked up, but didn't really react to it, as if my body had been switched over to an energy-saving mode or something. Which to be fair, it might very well be. Using an energy intensive attack like Giga Impact after getting seriously drained by Absorb might not have been the best for me. At least I forced out the Protect and gave the other Pokémon a chance to land the super-effective combo Stone Edge that ended the fight.
If you don't mind, I think I'm just going to have a little nap. Can any more impending disasters please put themselves on hold for a few hours? Thanks.
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A crowd milled around outside the Pokémon Center's entrance, peering in through the glass doors at the remnants of the battle. A trio of uniformed police officers were standing at the entrance, barring anyone from entering. One of the officers was speaking toward a crowd of concerned-looking trainers, several of which were trying to negotiate a way in to reclaim their Pokémon from the Pokémon Center.
"Normal operations will resume as soon as we're done investigating the area! The Pokémon injury ward and the treatment of Pokémon left at the facility was not affected by today's incident! The situation was resolved by trainers on-site at the time, and we're investigating the cause of the disturbance. Please remain orderly and patient in the meantime!"
While not being satisfied with the explanation, the trainers settled down slightly as they heard the report that the areas for treatment hadn't been affected, and the conflict was mostly constrained to the facility's lobby area. One of the trainers backed off more readily than the others, stepping over into the shade of a nearby tree and leaning against it as if making a show of being patient. Dressed in an utterly bland attire, there wasn't so much as a brand name on the man's clothing to stand out and be remarked upon. Plain jeans, a simple grey shirt, wearing sporty sunglasses, and a grey hat tugged down low over his eyes with a bare hint of red hair peeking out beneath.
In the shade of the tree, no one paid any mind to one portion of shadows moving in a way that they shouldn't, and a moment later the man had an extra Pokéball buckled to his belt. Where previously he had three, now he had four, and the odd-moving shadow accompanied the figure as he started to stroll away. It remained beneath the man, in his shadow, as they moved away from the Pokémon Center and started heading for the outskirts of town. He had all he came here for, and the distraction had proven to be even more effective than anyone had predicted.
"All this trouble just to recover one escaped bird. It's amazing how much clean-up one little screw-up can need. With the police aiming their attention here, things should go nice and smoothly at the hospital. As for you..." The man glanced down at his belt as he spoke, specifically at the new addition to his belt, "I'm sure we'll find a way to put a Swanna to use, even if you need some 'convincing' to behave..." The cruel chuckle that escaped the man's lips would have sent chills through anyone close enough to overhear, and he ran his fingers over the new acquisition. "After all... it's not often that a Ranger's Pokémon is up for grabs..." Smirking to himself, the man vanished into a side alley, and disappeared from the public view.