The sound of explosions chorused the shrill cries of both Pokemon and man. The atmosphere felt like it was lit on fire, rapid blades of wind slicing straight through the wood and concrete of the buildings into streets and houses. Styx woke up from the commotion almost immediately and stared at the sky in a trance.
Rubble and debris fell out from structures and into the paths. Someone's Pokemon got hit with one of them. They fainted upon impact.
I didn't stand around waiting for the place to go to hell. Before anyone could recover from the shock of thousands of Pokemon suddenly attacking I ran straight for Route 19. There was no time.
The chaos would probably block off any of the streets that the destruction didn't cover.
A second volley came down from the sky. The birds were closer now, meaning this time they were aiming. Several blades of pure Flying-Type energy came straight for me and I dodged out of the way into another alleyway. One of them skirted just above my head and hit the corner of the alley.
"Hyaaaaaaaa!" Styx cried out.
The dust from the dispersed stone spread out like a fog and I hurriedly shielded Styx's eyes and ears, neglecting my own. Mine weren't as sensitive, and they were crucial to find which direction we were going.
To get out of the city and into Route 19 I would have to walk approximately three miles east, take a left turn at Northbender Avenue and another right turn at Bryce's Landing, a big plaza with a fountain.
On my own two feet, that was relatively far. I had to make the journey anyway.
Destruction unravelled around me as I tried to make my way through winding streets, dodging both the pokemon and the people. Up ahead, I could see a group of trainers who got it into their heads to fight back, sending up all kinds of attacks back into the air.
It only served to focus the invaders' rage on them, descending down from the heavens and attacking them with Quick Attacks and Facades. They were not going to survive the onslaught.
Crap!
I dodged, ducking into the Side like I taught Styx to do, dodging a Pidove coming out of the sky for me. Styx mewled at the rough movement, my body skittering across solid concrete.
I took out Razor's Pokeball to face the new challenger. He burst out, and before he could get confused I ordered him to attack. "Razor! Use Quick Attack on that Pidove!"
Clad in Normal-Type Energy, he collided and clashed into the Pidove, sending it flying through someone's window. Razor made to pursue, but I returned him immediately, making a dead run for Northbender Avenue.
If the trainers were going to start fighting back now, they weren't going to be very careful about who they would fight. Even if Razor's not from the Unfezant line, between all the confusion they might just shoot off at any random bird. I couldn't risk that.
Right now, Razor is effectively my only offensive force. There is no way in hell I'm letting Excess, young and anxious as she is, into this messed up situation, and Styx just came out of a Gym Battle as the only participant. I couldn't ask her to do much.
I returned her, just in case too. She tried to protest, but it was safer for her that way. Not for me, but. It wasn't going to be safe for me anyway.
More birds were coming down from around us, eliciting more chaos and responses. More and more people took out their Pokemon to fight back, further endangering the surroundings.
I had to dodge a Simisear's Flame Burst to avoid getting fried. The guy who sent it out didn't even notice me coming by.
More people joined me in their mad clamour for the exit, running and trying to run in the same direction as me. Some were way faster, one guy travelling on top of his Gogoat. Another didn't bother with any of that, and got their Kadabra to just Teleport them away.
The street got overcrowded, more people joining. I bumped into other people's elbows and shoulders, they were so close. My breath started growing ragged, working my way through this many people as I stumbled and steered.
And then. I don't know if it was the concentration of people, or an overly foolish someone drawing them, but a group of hundreds of birds came to our direction, laser focused.
In this massive throng of people, I couldn't dodge the menagerie of Air Slashes coming our way.
It was as if time slowed down, the disturbances in the wind turning into energy that accumulated, and then sharpened. It turned, and sped up, blending into each other, coming down like the claws of a herd of angry hyenas.
There was nothing I could do about it. Couldn't run. Couldn't counter. Just saw death, straight ahead of me.
Time froze as the first blades of wind caught the taller buildings, tearing stone, wood and concrete.
"Use Wide Guard!"
A formation of rock circled around us like an arc from a rainbow, blanketing the surroundings and shielding us from the attack. A Carracosta and a Mienshao stood at the center of the creation, a Ranger between them.
It wasn't enough. Still, it tore through the defense like it wasn't there, debris falling onto us along with the wind. Still, I saw the opportunity for what it was.
The protection had given us a crucial second.
In that crucial second I didn't stop to watch, I pushed my way to the side, into an alley.
I heard the screams of the damned behind me, but kept running.
The birds didn't stop from coming down, and after running back into another main street headed the same direction, I was facing two Tranquil in my path. They locked onto me as if waiting for me, flying in the air side by side.
Next to me, I could see someone else along with two Meowstics, engaged in battle with a ferocious looking Unfezant.
They didn't wait for me to send anything out, launching themselves at me with two equally shrill battle cries. Thankfully, not with a Quick Attack.
I Sided out of the way, unleashing Razor from his ball. "Razor! Use Wing Attack!" I didn't have any real plan, my mind too frazzled by that near escape and the run and then—
I dodged again, Razor not able to catch both into his attack. The other came for me, and was now within my guard.
I had no choice.
"Styx! Use Quick Attack!" She burst out of her ball, launching herself at her opponent and knocking the Tranquill away from me.
"Razor! Use Double Team!" Several Staravia's started appearing around the street, even into the other battle.
"Hey!" I heard from the other trainer.
"Styx, use Sand Attack!"
The other birds didn't let up, giving up on Razor and heading straight for me. They got a face full of dust and tiny pieces of debris thrown into their eyes by Styx, making them retreat back into the sky.
"Styx, come here. I need to give you a Potion." She walked over, still clearly exhausted from her previous fight. "I'm sorry. I have no choice." I sprayed one of the Potions I kept in my pack liberally over her body and onto her face. "Close your eyes." She was fussing, clearly not liking the prickle of the medicine at work.
I felt movement just above me. Wind displaced around me. "Razor! Use Quick Attack!"
The Tranquill were back, and although they couldn't see much, swept up the wind around them into a Gust attack, dismissing the Double Team copies. Razor rushed at them with all intent to stop them, but only managed to catch one, it flying out of the air.
"Styx! Use Swift on the fallen one!" It was better to take one out of the fight permanently than to spend too much time whittling them both down.
The stars hit it dead on as it fell to the ground, bombing it and knocking it out. Hopefully, it will stay down.
The other Tranquill had enough time to get the stuff out of its eyes, now turning to us, enraged. "Kryaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"
Flying-Type Energy amalgamated into feathers circling around it, and the bruise from Razor's previous attack came undone. It just used Roost.
"Styx! Razor! Use Quick Attack!"
I wouldn't let it get the advantage. It was 2vs1 now, and I was going to be milking that advantage as much as I could.
Both of my Pokemon made their way into the sky. Razor by flying, and Styx by hopping through buildings and terraces.
The Tranquill used Detect to dodge Razor's first attack, but it had nothing for a determined Styx, who landed into it and knocked it to the ground.
I returned the falling Styx to her pokeball. We did not think that move through..
"Razor! Wing Attack!"
Razor flew back around again, not at all bothered by his first miss, but charged his wings anyway. He sliced them around the Tranquill's neck, sending it plummeting down even faster and crash landing into the ground.
"We got him! Wing Attack one more time!" Razor came down like a bomb, erupting its attack on the downed Tranquill. This match was over.
"AAAAAAAH!" A loud scream came from the opposite end as Razor flew into his opponent. I turned and saw—
Blood on its wings. Defeated Meowstics, both genders out on the floor. Not moving.
A corpse.
The Unfezant turned to me. Its wings glowed blinding white.
Just as suddenly, a dark purple figure burst from an alleyway, crashing into the Unfezant and slamming it to the ground.
"Are you alright?" A soft voice said next to me. Feminime. Familiar. I turned around.
The girl with the too-big jacket. Dead eyes. Nate's friend? "What are you doing here!?"
The Unfezant broke free from under the figure's claws. The muscled feline Pokemon let it fly out from under the sky, hopping away with a trademark cat's grace. That's a Liepard alright.
"Pursuit!" She aired, and the yellow-patterned leopard jumped to meet the order. Nate's friend's eyes flashed to the road, leading out of here. "I'm leaving. Are you alright?"
"Yeah." I returned Razor, who was still catching his breath from that battle. "Wanna make a break for it together?"
She nodded. Still not much for words, huh.
Thanks to the help of her Liepard absolutely destroying that Unfezant, no other bird tried to get close to us as we made haste for the exit. There were a ton of people trying to squeeze through the paths, and with much pushing and squeezing we made it through to the other side.
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Outside of the city we ran onto the grass fields, people and Pokemon alike scattering into the trees as fast as they could. The strange thing was, not a single bird was following us. They all concentrated their attack on the municipal area.
Like they weren't focused on fighting the humans, but obliterating the city itself. But, why?
I couldn't afford to stop running to contemplate it though. My heart was beating out of my ears, my chest felt itself constricting as I desperately ached for breath. My new savior ran beside me the whole time.
When it became clear the birds wouldn't be following us we stopped running, turning it into a jog, one eye constantly on the sky. Once we were about an hour of normal walking distance out we stopped to catch our breath.
"You think we're clear of them?" I asked, once I could actually speak again. Her Liepard began to lie down, her body curled protectively around the girl.
"Check the Pokedex."
We both got our devices out of our pockets and connected to the ranger's app, which kept track of all Pokemon-related dangers in the region.
It was flashing red. A Level 5 Pokemon Disaster.
Every nearby trainer with more than five badges was called out to help with the situation, including every ranger and Gym trainer, some even being teleported in. They were actively at work suppressing the chaos, but there's been no progress as of right now. That's not surprising. Something like this hasn't happened in… well. Ever.
Pokemon attacks on civilized areas used to be very common before the Leagues and are still fairly frequent, but an outpouring like this… It's unheard of. A Level 5 Pokemon Disaster is usually only reserved for Legendaries…
"What in Arceus' name…" I muttered.
"No sightings of Tornadus." She said, softly.
My gaze flitted to her. "You think he'd have something to do with it?"
She shook her head. "A guess."
Yeah. There's no frame of reference for this. This felt like more than just an attack, but a deliberate siege.
And why just birds from the Unfezant line? Yes, they're very common in Unova, but they haven't been known to harbor any resentment towards humans in particular. Especially since a good bunch of them live in the cities.
"...This might be a little late, but what's your name?"
She gave me a bemused expression. "Lora. My name is Lora."
Lora Barbarossa, Pokemon Trainer. #22,404,913 W19/L0/D0
Quite a high ranking, considering we started at the same time. And, no losses? I'm guessing that Liepard has quite a bit to do with that. "Thank you for saving me."
"You're Nate's friend." As if that explained everything. Which it kind of did. Could never say the girl's inefficient. "We should start heading for Floccesy Town."
And with that, both leopard and girl started walking again, this time at a much slower pace. I decided to let both Razor and Excess out of their balls for safety.
Razor, despite not taking any actual hits, was still quite tired, so opted to fly lazily over us. I kept Excess in my arms. No point in levitation training when we're still in potential danger.
I didn't want to freak her out, but I needed her ready, so when she came out of her ball frazzled I projected as much battle readiness as I could without her flipping.
She stopped fussing in my arms, instead watching the sky. In the background you could clearly still see the amalgamation of grey that was the onslaught of birds onto Aspertia City. None were breaking from the pack so far, even if their numbers started falling to the ground more and more by countless different types of return fire. The sight was mesmerizing, as equally as it was terrifying.
The whole time, as we were walking, the only thought that kept repeating in my head was that this would not be the last time. They would attack again. They would come again.
There was no proof or evidence to my claim, but I had never been surer of anything else. This conviction I wouldn't bother refuting.
They would be back.
And I had to be ready for it.
----------------------------------------
We got to Floccesy with no issues. In fact, you might say that the problems started coming when we tried to get in.
There was an influx of people in and around the small agriculturally focused town, all scared out of their wits. The line to the Pokemon Center was incredibly long, and so big the League had set up healing stations outside manned with emergency personnel. They all had equally terrible lines.
None of our Pokemon were in any dire need of healing, even if I really preferred that they did, so we decided to spend the night here and travel to Virbank in the morning instead.
"And what then?" I asked, as we were setting up our tents, just outside the town's perimeter. There were enough trainers with their own camping gear outside to make it feel like a camping spot more than a random patch of grass. They were out here for the same reason we were. To free up any shelter to the people that actually needed it.
"We live our lives." I had returned Excess again (this many stressed people around would drive her up the wall), but Razor was still out, perched on top of the tent I had just finished putting up. I didn't feel comfortable around this many panicked people. Clearly, Lora didn't either.
I noticed the Liepard was still out, although she had cosied herself up outside of the tent. Her eyes roamed over the impromptu campsite, looking for threats. "And Nate?"
"Will be protected." I looked at the ranger app, just as many others did. Still flashing red, everyone's Dex coating the darkening area with a sinister glow. Still no status updates besides the trainer arrivals.
Rosa White, the Unovan Champion herself, entered the scene, along with two members of the Elite Four about fifty minutes ago. Aside from that, no news. Nothing about the attack relenting, or getting worse. Who was winning, who was losing. Nothing.
Just the same flashing of red.
"I'm going to sleep." Lora said, opening the mouth of her tent. "Good night."
"Good night.." I muttered.
I closed my dex. This wasn't productive. I have plans, and I need to start putting them into action now. '
I opened the mouth of my own tent, and went to sleep.
----------------------------------------
The line at the Pokecenter had gone down steadily through the night. Right up to the point where I felt comfortable entering it again. I still waited for an ungodly two hours before I got anywhere.
My Pokemon were taken by the frazzled Nurse Joys, who had clearly worked through the night, and I was left with just Excess, who didn't really need any healing.
I kept her in her ball just in case. There was still too much going on, too many injured people around to keep her calm.
I walked up the stairs to Nate's room. Upon opening the door I was greeted with his two Pokemon, who were hanging around the bed, not really doing anything.
"Piii!"
"Gyaaa~"
"Hey." I saluted.
"David! Did you see the recent update!?" He had his Pokedex in front of him and pointed to it.
"Yeah, I saw."
About an hour ago, all the hostilities had stopped. The battle was winding down through the night, in the trainer's favor, right up until all the remaining Pidove, Tranquill, and Unfezant just left. Flew up and away. The ones left behind were caught for questioning, to see why they were attacking. There was no other news so far.
"Isn't that crazy?! They all just left at the same time! Like they were in sync or something!"
"Or they had a single leader, who told them to retreat." I said, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed.
"Yeah! Or that!"
I stared down at my own Pokedex. It listed a number of casualties, updating live. It felt like it was staring at me, begging, pleading with me to do something about it. But what could I, a one-badge trainer, do about any of it? Realistically?
All I could do was continue along my journey from here. That's it.
"Where are you gonna go now?" Nate asked.
"Optimistically? Pinwheel Forest. On the hunt for a specific Pokemon."
"Isn't that dangerous? You could get pretty lost in there."
Pinwheel Forest is one of the most dangerous locations in Unova. It wasn't necessarily due to the number of high-level Pokemon inhabiting the area like Virbank Complex, but due to the sheer size and denseness of the forest.
It was hilly, filled with plants and shrubs occupying every single inch of space, and so filled with trees you can't see the sun in the middle of the day. It was hard to tell which way was left or right, with no sun to guide you (and no GPS signal to help) you had to use an old-fashioned compass to find your way around. Everywhere around you would be an overgrowth of green, so no waymarkers would really stick. Basically, it's a jungle on steroids.
There was one path, if you could call it that, that circles through the forest, and it's regularly patrolled by rangers, but even that is unreliable and its been known to eat many trainers alive.
Experienced trainers would go in, and no one would come out. Them and their Pokemon are lost forever.
The reason why I would want to risk going in there is simple. A good deal of migration from other regions goes through the forest. Seasonal, as well as new Pokemon that stay permanently. New Pokemon get sighted there all the time, and there was at least one Pokemon I was highly interested in tracking down. Not that I would say no to any others I might find on the way.
The only obstacle is the new restrictions to entering. Aside from the obvious trainer requirement, you also needed to have three badges to enter. In addition, it was highly encouraged not to travel alone, but with a group of people.
"How long are you stuck here for? Do you know?" I asked.
Nate grimaced. "At least another two weeks, the doctor said."
Left unsaid is that he probably wouldn't be in any condition to travel right after coming out of the hospital either.
"I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "It's not your fault. Where's Lora?"
"She's halfway to Virbank by now. None of her Pokemon needed healing." She didn't stop to say hello?
He chuckled a little. "That sounds like her! She's so independent!"
It was my turn to grimace. "Are you gonna be alright on your own?"
"I'm not on my own! I have my Pokemon here with me!"
"Piiiiii~!"
"Beeeeee~"
His Pokemon responded back on cue.
I smiled, moving to stand. "Yeah. You'll be alright."
"Yeah. I will be."
----------------------------------------
The trip to Virbank was a little more tense than usual. I had Excess out again, working on her telepathy-walking. She was doing well, keeping up with the rest of us fairly easily.
We didn't get challenged by anyone on the road. No one was interested in wearing their team out at the moment. There were more than a few on the beaten path with me, probably heading to Virbank to take the ferry out to Castelia.
I would too eventually, but I had something else to do first. One more thing before I left.
I opened my Pokedex, clicked through the Trainers' app, then registered for my first tournament. Mike's Rookie Tourney.
It was local, no backing by any organization or anything like that. It was started by a group of trainers who wanted to throw a prize pool together and get some battling in. Tournaments like these were pretty common in the bigger cities. It was a quick and efficient way to get experience with a competitive format, and maybe win some money if you were good.
The only requirement for it was that you had to be a Tier 9 trainer.
Tiers, going from Tier 10 to 1, were another way to rate a trainer's strength level, specifically optimized for competitive play. The normal rankings were purely based on your win/loss ratio, and who you beat. Nothing else.
Tiers also accounted for the Pokemon you had, on top of any prior experience with battling (badges, previous competitions, etc). It's basically a guideline to prevent some guy, who's maybe battled five times in his life, but been taking care of Pokemon for over a decade, to enter a rookie tournament like the one I was entering with a Feraligatr and a Volcarona or something. His World Ranking would show him as 27 million, but really he would be a Tier 6 trainer.
The rough way to tell which tier you were in, (aside from it being calculated by your Pokedex) was by how many badges and fully evolved Pokemon you had. Though it's not an exact science, champion-level trainers would almost always fall into the Tier 1 category. People like Ash. For reference, Mae is a Tier 3 trainer. Nate would be a Tier 10, and Lora (because of her Liepard) would be a Tier 8. Pretty simple.
Jack? Obviously Tier 11. Why are you asking?
Again, Mike's Rookie Tourney is restricted to Tier 9 trainers only, meaning I had a fair chance at winning.
I had submitted 20k Pokedollars to the pot. You would only start winning your money back by the last 16. By the semifinals, you'd start making a profit. Winning? A handy 150k Pokedollars. Almost enough for an evolution stone. The cheapest ones, Leaf stones, went for about 200k on average. I could get in the ballpark of buying one if I won, and 20k isn't that much of a loss.
The format was simple. 2vs2, single matches. Two rounds a day. Right now there were about a 100 applicants, doubtlessly more by the days' end, so at the worst I'd be playing 7 rounds.
In between that time, I had space to get Excess up to snuff. I chose an isolated piece of land just outside of the city, away from most people. I didn't need a training field for what I would be working on, especially for her.
I released her in front of me.
"Gha..?"
"Hey, Excess." I sat down next to her. "Time for some training." She had already thoroughly exhausted herself getting here from Floccesy, so I wasn't going to overload her today.
"I want to get you used to following simple commands. Get into the rhythm of battling with someone else in charge."
Excess, no matter how smart she is, is still a wild Pokemon. She's not going to understand what to do immediately when I yell stuff for her to do like Styx does. Razor caught up fairly easily, as some wild Pokemon do, but I knew that wouldn't be the case with Excess. I'd have to reteach her how to fight. Luckily, she was young and therefore more malleable than, say, a wild Drapion would be.
Another advantage? Projection. I would use and abuse that power in training her.
"I'm going to be throwing a Pokedoll in your direction, and when I tell you to use a move, you use it on them, okay?"
She looked at me confused. Oh right. She doesn't know the concept of moves yet. "Okay. I'll start at the beginning. You know that energy you can make in the air?"
She nodded at me hesitantly, her little hat bouncing. "That's a move called Confusion. When I tell you: Use Confusion!" She jumped a little. "You summon that energy at the doll, alright?" Another nod.
"Let's try it then. I'm going to throw it now." I let the Clefairy doll up into the air. Not a fast throw, enough so she could see it coming.
"Now! Use Confusion!"
"A—Aaah!"
The doll fell to the ground. A second later, the energy hit the air and ruptured it. She reacted too late.
I picked it up again. "One more time." I threw it.
"Use Confusion!"
"..Aaaaa!"
And down the doll went. Again, she came too late. Her head drooped, obviously disappointed. I crouched down slowly, telegraphed.
Comfort
Reassurance
She projected back:
Guilt
Nervousness
I reiterated:
Comfort
Reassurance
"You can do it." I said, softly. "One more time." She hesitated, but nodded again.
"Use Confusion!"
----------------------------------------
In the end, she got used to being commanded, and started hitting the doll consistently. I sped up the velocity of the throw, and she adjusted to my rhythm. It wasn't perfect, but I moved onto Disarming Voice next.
She had a lot more success with hitting that one. Naturally, because of the higher area of effect, and then moved onto a non-attacking move. Life Dew.
We went for about an hour until I could start feeling her stress levels rise and stopped. All in all, it was good progress. I was satisfied.
During the whole process, she needed a lot of breaks for encouragement, feeling down quite a bit. Each time I had to patiently reassure her that she was on the right track. If I was going to train her properly, I needed to be her center of calm, both in and out of battle.
This further cemented to me that I needed time to train her. There was no way she was going to enter this tournament as she is right now.
I didn't do much else for the rest of the day, taking some time to just scroll through the trainer forums. I wanted to know what to expect tomorrow, even if it was a rookie competition.
I went to bed with strategies for the tournament on my mind. And, if I stayed up a little longer with other thoughts, of witnessing death firsthand, hearing their screams as they were cut open, well.
I could be forgiven for that.
Couldn't I?
Couldn't I?