Desolate [Pokémon Arven x Protagonist]

Opening the Gate

Nemona and I shared eye contact. "Dangerous Pokémon?" We said in unison. Unsurprisingly, Nemona was beaming with excitement. She was battling the Elite Four after all. Her team was likely obnoxiously overpowered compared to what could possibly be lurking inside the sealed lab. We had nothing to worry about.

"With the four of you working together, you should be able to best them. Prepare yourselves well, then open the gate." The Professor signed off, and the phone screen turned black. Arven sighed and put his phone away.

Nemona smacked Arven pretty hard on the back in an attempt of support. "You've got me and Lugosi here! Doesn't matter what we're up against. We'll be fine!"

"Hah! Well then, that puts all my worries to rest." He winced and rubbed the spot she had hit him. Nemona bounded over to the control panel by the base of the gate and studied its surface. There were a bunch of green words flooding the screen above two large, white buttons. Nemona was ready to break open the gates. "Hold it!" Arven stopped her.

Nemona spun around, confused and slightly disappointed. "Huh? Why? We're finally on the cusp of getting into the lab!"

Arven scratched the back of his head. "Look—if it's true that a bunch of really dangerous Pokémon might come at us, then shouldn't we also have Koraidon help?"

"Yeah!" Nemona exploded back into exhilaration. "I wanna see it battle!" I felt the ball on my belt and stared at it somberly.

"Uhhh... But it hasn't even wanted to let us ride it ever since we came down to Area Zero," Penny pointed out.

Arven crossed his arms. "But it's really strong. I know it is. It ate all those Herba Mystica we found, too! When it really matters, I'm sure it'll fight!" He watched the locked gated inquisitively, glaring as if a Pokémon would burst through it at any moment. "And Area Zero is where it used to live.... If you bring it out of its ball now, maybe it'll be able to find its family, too. Right?"

Nemona huffed, reminded by her family reunion fantasy. "That's pretty sensible by your standards, Arven!"

Penny still wasn't convinced. "Hmmm... I dunno..."

"Go on, Lugosi!" Nemona coerced. "Let Koraidon out!" We were finally at the bottom of the crater where Koraidon had lived for who knew how long, away from the terrifying drop at top where Koraidon had surrendered. Maybe he was ready to fight. I unclipped his ball from my belt and pressed the button to call him out. Koraidon fazed into the physical world, awoken from a sleep. He tensed up and threw his head around, making strange noises as he scanned the area. He didn't seem too comfortable.

"All right!" Arven breathed, a lot more stable with our side of the battle. He signaled Nemona at the panel. "Come on, Nemona! Now that we've got Koraidon ready, it's time to open that gate!" Nemona leapt with glee and leaned onto one of the white buttons with all her weight. The siren went off, giving off a blood-curling, low-pitched alarm. Three huge pegs from each side of the hexagonal door pistoned outward. We all huddled together to watch the amazing scene. A metallic sound came from inside before the first green triangle of the gate tore away from its locked state, disappearing into the door. Then the next triangle started to slowly screech its way open. The gate was taking unexpectedly long to open, but no one knew how long the gate had been clamped shut.

A reptilian rumbling echoed around the bottom cavern. I looked to Koraidon to see what was the matter, but he was cowering close to the ground. I stood up straight, a pit boiling deep down in my stomach. Something else had made the noise.

There was a whiz of bright feathers before the ground beneath us shook as a monstrous Pokémon slammed into the water before us. We all were taken aback. The creature was another koraidon, a spitting image of mine. It was muscular and tall, hunched over us on two legs. Its feathers on its head and back were frayed in an intimidating fan. Its chest was puffed up to twice its size and the opposing koraidon's claws were flexing and prepared to strike. It did not look friendly whatsoever. It marched closer and closer to my Koraidon, and he trembled down into a squat. The wild Koraidon gave him a sniff, yellow eyes contracting in anger, and gave him a deep, nasty roar.