"Statements"
'Thoughts'
Side Notes
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Serena woke up to a strange feeling below the side of her head.
'That's strange,' Serena wondered, 'This doesn't feel like my Delphox' shoulder.' She turned her head over to whom her head laid upon, only to be met with a blurry image of a raven haired boy, currently engaged in a deep sleep. She'd rubber her eyes a few times to get a better look, only to receive the shock of her life. She promptly stood up as she viewed his face, mentally grasping every single detail.
'I-I-It's A-Ash!' Even her thoughts began to stutter as she processed this. Blood began to rush to her face as she realized she'd been sleeping on her crush's shoulder, whom of which still had no idea of her awakening. Never in a million years would she have thought to encounter him again. She always thought she'd see him again in a major Pokemon battle event, not suddenly sleeping next to her on a chair in a hospital's hallway.
'Why is he here? How is he here? Did he come to see me? No, that's ridiculous, Serena.' She pressed her hands to her cheeks as any possible answers refused to enter her mental system. At around this point in time, Delphox began to readjust its sleeping position, projecting a small noise in the process. While Ash's eyes began to move, it thankfully wasn't enough to wake him. Serena let out a sigh in relief at the close call and sat back down. As that happened, however, she'd accidentally pressed hard on her chair, causing it to squeak.
She froze as Ash opened his eyes and began to scratch his head. The young girl couldn't utter a coherent word as she turned to face him. Her companion stretched out before noticing the girl beside him, wide awake.
"Hey Serena! You're awake!" Ash beamed in excitement. She quickly regained her composure, tamed her blush, and responded.
"Oh yeah, hey Ash! Sorry about waking you up, I was just surprised to see you here." She said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"I guess that makes sense, you were probably a bit shocked to see me here of all places." A bit shocked was a heavy understatement, but Serena nodded anyway.
"Yeah, I kinda was. So, um, why are you here, exactly?" She asked.
"Well, you see, the hospital had called to tell me that a friend of mine was sent to the hospital, so I rushed back here last night." He said.
"Wait, so you know Goh?!?" Serena spoke loudly, not noticing that she'd woken up her starter while doing so. She apologized to Delphox before quickly turning her head back to Ash, who was surprised of her knowledge of his friend, but began to answer anyways.
"He's my good friend and research fellow. We'd help Professor Cerise with his research assignments by going on journeys all over the place and meeting all new kinds of Pokemon! We came over to Sinnoh to look over some Shiny Garchomp." Ash proudly said. Serena couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. The job seemed nice, even if she didn't know every single detail.
He began to describe the crazy ride he'd been on when they got to Sinnoh, and told her of the Ultra Class Tournament that Conway informed him of. He'd went on an excited rant about every detail, including the battle gathering opportunity that he looked forward to. Ash had been so excited when he learned of all this until he'd heard the news about Goh. His excitement began to drift off again, and the pair looked down with gloomy faces.
"The good news is, the doctor told me he didn't find anything too serious on Goh. He'll be out in a coma for a while, and his arm was pretty messed up, but other than that, he's gonna be fine." He said with a newly regained cheerfulness. This information seemed to delight them a bit more.
"So what about you?" Ash asked.
"Huh?"
"You know, ever since we left Kalos. I'm sure you've made all sorts of new memories since we went our different ways, like when you went to Hoenn."
"Oh yeah, I've had plenty of new experiences. The transition from becoming a performer to coordinator started off a bit rough, and I even lost my first contest," Serena said with a faint smile, "But we grew. My new team and I honed our skills with each contest as we won more and more ribbons. Eventually, we got all the ribbons we needed to participate in the Grand Festival."
Ash smiled, obviously happy at his friend's success. "So how'd you do?" he asked.
"Well, I didn't actually win. Even though I tried my hardest, I could only make it to the semi-finals." Serena responded. Her cheery tone while mentioning the matter seemed to indicate that she was no longer bothered by her loss.
"That's great, so I guess you came to Sinnoh for a fresh start?" Ash asked.
"I guess you could say that. I was originally intending to go to Galar to compete in the annual Wallace Cup, but I took a quick detour so I could stop and meet someone."
"Who?"
"Oh, you probably don't know her, but she was the winner of the last Wallace Cup in Sinnoh." Ash's mind clicked, he most certainly knew who Serena was referring to.
"H-hold on, you came to meet DAWN?!?" Ash didn't seem to notice how loud he was, as he'd awoken the sleeping Pikachu on his lap. Serena was caught by surprise with this question, but before she could even open her mouth to ask, they heard a loud crash coming from inside Goh's ER. Their attention on the current matter was quickly drawn to the suspicious sound. Delphox was the closest to the ER door, so naturally, it was the first to open the door. Ash and Serena expected Delphox to immediately enter, only to be met with the terrified expression on its face.
"Delphox! What's wrong?!?" Serena asked as the two caught up and stopped behind the Pokemon. From there, they could see where Delphox' source of fear originated.
Just above the sleeping Goh, a dark entity could be seen hovering. There was a life-size hole in the wall, which showed its point of entry. It turned its attention to the three as they entered, quickly identifying the one in the middle. Delphox shuddered in fear as the creature focused its glare towards the petrified Fire/Psychic type. Serena recognized the figure, though she couldn't quite remember its name. That wasn't necessary, as Ash immediately stated it.
"Darkrai?" Ash questioned, before quickly shaking his head and raising his tone. "H-hey! Get away from Goh!!" He declared. Ash and Serena began to grab their Pokemon only to be interrupted by someone speaking.
'Hold on!' A deep voice communicated to the pair. They looked around to locate the source only to find no one else in sight. Eventually, they directed their attention back towards Darkrai.
'The voice you hear is indeed my own.'
"Wait, how are you doing that?" Serena asked, still protectively clutching the fearful Delphox.
'I'm doing so by way of telepathy, and I've come to you all as an informant.'
Ash and Serena looked over in suspicion, still not fully convinced.
'But before I begin, I'm well aware of your suspicions, especially with your Delphox that seems to fear my very presence, and I must address them with a confession.' The two were confused, but curious as to what the Pitch-Black Pokemon might say. "I exist as the reason for your friend's current state and your Delphox' trauma. I'd attacked them the previous day and had sent them to their present conditions.'
Ash went livid at this. He gained a level of rage that couldn't be contained by a mere Pokemon battle. With all his force, he rushed over and began to start punching Darkrai on the chest.
"How could you?!? Do you know what you've put them through?!? Nothing you could say or do would ever make up for that!!!" Ash roared with absolute aggression. Serena had never seen Ash in such a state, but quickly regained her composure enough to try and hold Ash back. But the combined effects of his superior strength and adrenaline meant that Serena could only do so for a few seconds before Ash went back to his flurry.
Darkrai was unaffected by that assault, but could still feel slight nudges as Ash punched it more and more.
'I understand why you would hold such contempt for me, but you must realize, I'd only done so because my master had ordered me to.' Ash held a fist back in midair as he heard this. He looked up at Darkrai, and could see a faint hint of sorrow in his eyes. Ash thought over who Darkrai could be referring to, but the answer came shortly after.
"Master? Wait, you mean-?"
'Yes, I am referring to the very same Tobias you faced in the Lily of the Valley Conference. And my master had he'd ordered me to come here to place a nightmare upon Goh.'
"Wait, but why would he do that??" Ash could feel the animosity start to build up again.
'I plead with you Ash, you must understand, my master's not in the right state of mind!'
Ash and Serena thought inquisitively upon what they just heard. What does Darkrai mean by that?
'I suppose you're curious, so I'll explain,' Darkrai said, 'After Tobias had won the Sinnoh League, he'd gone on to challenge Cynthia for the title of "Sinnoh Champion". He'd never suffered a defeat before, so he'd gone into the battle with full confidence....'
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"Alright ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for the long awaited battle between Tobias, the challenger, and Cynthia, the champion." The announcer excitedly stated.
"So who you got?" A man in the crowd asked.
"Its gotta be that Tobias dude. Cynthia's tough, but its about time someone came and showed her the door, and some guy with a Darkrai and a Latios definitely has this in the bag." His companion responded.
"Yeah, I get you. This guy hasn't lost a single battle yet through Sinnoh. The closest he'd ever come to losing was against that kid in the League, but he only managed to knockout 2 Pokemon before losing. They even gave Tobias a nickname after he won. I think it was something like 'Legend Tamer'."
That seemed to be the general consensus for most fans alike. Tobias' unbroken record put the odds in his favor. He walked out to the open arena with great spirits as he anticipated his upcoming championship battle.
"There he is, folks. Tobias, the Legend Tamer, has arrived!" The announcer commented.
Tobias welcomed the applause by proudly waving his hand to the audience, his confidence was evident. The last roadblock in his path to greatness had arrived from the opposite side of the arena.
"And here comes our reigning champion, Cynthia!"
Despite the lack of faith in her victory, Cynthia was still met with a standing ovation from the loyal fanbase she'd built throughout her years as the Sinnoh Champion. She gave out a confident smile to the audience, before turning her attention to the challenger.
"You must've come a long way to get here, Tobias. I look forward to our battle." Cynthia expressed.
"As do I. But make no mistake. The team I possess will drive me to my victory over you," Tobias declared. The crowd roared at the building tension between the two formidable battlers.
The battle judge assumed his position before speaking. "Alright, this will be a 6-on-6 battle. Substitutions are allowed on both sides, but items are restricted. Ready...Begin!"
"Go, Darkrai!"
"Come forth, Spiritomb!"
The two Pokemon stared each other down, making sure not to underestimate their opponents.
"Tobias may have the first move," The battle judge announced.
"Very well. Darkrai, use Ice Beam!" Tobias ordered.
Darkrai charged at Spiritomb before unleashing an array of jagged white beams towards its opponent.
"Dodge it!"
Spiritomb narrowly avoided the attack that streamed towards it, ensuring escape.
"Counter with Silver Wind!" Cynthia ordered. Spiritomb charged the bug type move before unleashing it in the direction of the dark type, securing a super effective hit. Darkrai grunted in pain, but maintained its bearings. Spiritomb proceeded to be engulfed in a rising red aura that caught everyone in the arena off guard, including Tobias and Darkrai. Cynthia, however, could only smile at the development.
"I'm glad to know that my plan worked out." Cynthia said smugly.
Everyone stared in confusion before the announcer began to speak again. "Of course! Silver Wind has a chance to raise the user's stats upon usage. Cynthia capitalized on the chance by stacking it's super effective power against Darkrai."
Everyone was left speechless, but Tobias was unperturbed. "If you believe that's enough to even the odds against my Darkrai, then you're sadly mistaken. Dark Pulse!"
"Spiritomb, counter with your own Dark Pulse."
The two attacks clashed with the other, neither giving an inch as the collision caused a far-ranging cloud of dust that blocked their sight.
"Brush it off with Silver Wind." Cynthia commanded.
The dust clouds were cleared as a rush of wind emerged from the Ghost type. Spiritomb could only gaze as it was met by an absent field, its opponent nowhere in sight.
Tobias laughed. "You'd left an opening that gave us the perfect chance. Use Dark Void."
From above, a pitch black sphere could be seen making its way to Spritomb. Its descent was fast, meaning no room was left for evasion.
"No! Spiritomb!" Cynthia cried out as her Pokemon was swallowed up by the dark orb. Once it faded, the still figure of the Forbidden Pokemon could be seen. It's eyes were left shut as it'd been put to sleep. "Please wake up!" Cynthia called out to the ghost, receiving only an empty silence in return.
"It's no use, this marks the beginning of the end!" Tobias grandly stated as Darkrai descended, "Finish it with Dream Eater."
A mystical avatar emerged from Darkrai and charged forward as it targeted its slumbering opponent. Gasps from the crowd could be seen as the finishing blow struck upon Cynthia's Pokemon.
Or so they thought.
The avatar did indeed reach Spiritomb, but it faded away upon contact. Cynthia's demeanor of desperation quickly shifted into one of confidence.
"You seem to have forgotten, Tobias. My Spiritomb is also a Dark type, which means Psychic attacks like Dream Eater have absolutely no effect." Cynthia said.
Tobias could only look dumbfounded at the rookie mistake, cursing himself for forgetting Spiritomb's dual typing. This moment of self-depreciation cost him, however, as Spiritomb woke up shortly afterwards and sent off a Silver Wind at Cynthia's command. The earlier boost stacked with the super effective damage resulted in a devastating blow to Darkrai. Fortunately for Tobias, it manage to cling on, but it was barely holding itself up on the ground, leaning forward as it gasped for air. The next attack would finish it.
"I think it's time we ended this. Spiritomb, one more Silver Wind!" Cynthia directed as she pointed to the immobilized Darkrai. Tobias had just managed to regain his bearings before launching a counter.
"Use Dark Pulse." The Nightmare Pokemon unleashed a single chain-shaped beam, swiftly advancing against the Silver Wind. This time, instead of clashing against each other, the two attacks simply passed the other as they continued their way to the opposing Pokemon. Both attacks hit their targets head on. When the dust finally cleared, both Darkrai and Spiritomb could be seen laying on the ground, fainted.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, this round is a draw," The battle judge declared. The crowd was stunned, before erupting with defeaning cheers.
"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The first round of our championship battle has ended in a draw, which means neither side has gained a solid advantage!"
Tobias grit his teeth at the result. He'd expected Darkrai to at least take out 1 or 2 of the champion's Pokemon, but to get knocked out at the very first round? Tobias began to feel threatened. If he wanted to win, he'd have to go all out.
"Both contestants may now send out their second Pokemon."
'Darkrai's out, which leaves only one of his Pokemon that I have any familiarity with, Latios." Cynthia worriedly thought. Spiritomb was her best counter for Latios, but since it already fainted, she could only choose between Garchomp and Milotic, the latter of which knew some super effective moves. She settled on Milotic to avoid risking Garchomp's Dragon weakness.
"Alright. Come forth, Milotic!" Cynthia said as she threw its Pokeball.
"Go, Latios!"
"The Legend Tamer has sent out his Latios, while Cynthia has brought out Milotic. Latios may have the type advantage, but the last battle taught us not to underestimate our regional champ!" The announcer proclaimed. Tobias knew this too, so he kept watch of whatever Cynthia and her Milotic might do.
'He's wary, I guess that last battle kept him on edge. Fine, then I'll make the first move.' Cynthia thought.
"Milotic, Dragon Pulse!"
Milotic shot off a large blast of energy that quickly manifested into the shape of a Dragon, which aimed to envelop the Eon Pokemon within it. Latios instinctively dodged before hearing of his master's instructions.
"So it knows Dragon Pulse? Then I shall keep a keen eye on that. Latios, Luster Purge!" Tobias ordered.
The Eon Pokemon created an orb of purple aura before firing it off into a blast towards Milotic.
"Perfect," Cynthia muttered at the sight of the approaching beam, "Mirror Coat."
Tobias was stupefied by the command. But before he could order Latios to recall the Luster Purge, Milotic had already gone off to absorb the impact of the attack before reflecting an even greater one with Mirror Coat. The attack was too wide ranged for Latios to escape, which meant the only direction it could charge to was ahead. Latios' trainer acted upon this thought process.
"Tear through it with Giga Impact!" Tobias yelled.
Latios rushed off against the Mirror Coat/Luster Purge attack. The attacks clashed, but Latios stood its ground, not wanting to fall like its predecessor. It wouldn't lose, it would never lose. Only Milotic could see the aggressive look in its eyes as they clashed. It was driven by the desire of absolute supremacy. Milotic was unnerved, which caused it to slip up with the Mirror Coat.
Latios found the opening he needed and pressed on. Milotic realigned its attack, but by then, it was too late. The Eon Pokemon had already gained too much momentum to be opposed. Like a speeding jet, it defiantly overpowered the attack and charged towards the vulnerable Milotic with absolute belligerence. The Tender Pokemon stood no chance.
A loud crash could be heard throughout the entire arena. When the dust settled, a large crater was formed in the middle of the battlefield. In it, a visibly fainted Milotic laid at the very center. Latios was flew above with a smug expression, clearly very pleased with himself as the battle judged declared his victory. Cynthia recalled Milotic with a frown. That battle meant that Tobias had the advantage in numbers, but that didn't faze her. She knew with absolute certainty that the next Pokemon would finish the job.
"Come forth, Garchomp!"
With a single white flash, the feral brute revealed itself. Latios felt a cold fear at the mere sight of the behemoth, and his arrogance faded as he adopted a more serious expression. Cynthia's Garchomp had never suffered defeat through the entirety of Cynthia's reign. Tobias began to doubt if even a Legendary could stack against it. The battle judge's announcement meant that he couldn't afford to dwell on the matter.
"Use Dragon Rush!" The two trainers simultaneously said.
Both Pokemon began to surround themselves with a blue aura before manifesting the shape of a dragon's head. They spiraled around the battlefield and created a small hurricane of blue before eventually meeting the other at the center, resulting in a colliding burst of energy. Tobias and Cynthia felt the overwhelming shockwaves that spread through the crowds. They struggled to maintain their footing as both attacks cancelled out, leaving both Pokemon undeterred, but on edge.
"Giga Impact!" Both trainers immediately ordered another concurrent attack.
The two crashed into the other once more. This time, Garchomp got the better of the exchange as Latios was sent back flying. They were both led to the mandatory recharge effects of Giga Impact, which granted Latios the chance to recuperate.
"Brick Break!" Cynthia ordered at the top of her voice.
Garchomp fiercely struck the opposing Latios, who'd still been struggling to recover. It was sent to the edge of the battlefield, right by its trainer's feet. Latios' Psychic typing was all that saved it from being down for the count.
"Latios! Don't falter!" Tobias exclaimed.
The demands of his trainer gave Latios enough energy to raise its head and fire a last ditch Luster Purge.
"Use Dig to evade."
Garchomp burrowed under the ground and avoided the Luster Purge by the skin of its teeth. Tobias ordered Latios to fly and keep watch of where Garchomp may surface. Latios complied, but barely managed to do so. It struggled to just keep itself hovering. Cynthia saw this opening and exploited it.
"Garchomp! Rise with Dragon Rush!"
As she said that, the almighty fiend itself emerged from the earth to consume its helpless opponent in a blinding blue light. From the crowd's perspective, it looked as though a sapphire dragon had just risen from the ground to devour a plane. While the audience was captivated by the visual spectacle, Latios was looking in fear as it entered the dragon's mouth. The last thing Latios witnessed before fainting was Garchomp's barbaric visage.
"Latios is unable to battle, the round goes to Cynthia's Garchomp," was heard shortly afterwards, courtesy of the battle judge. Once again, the audience reacted to the conclusion with roaring applause. Tobias was displeased by the defeat. As tough as he imagined Cynthia to be, he hadn't expected her to be this much of a challenge. Cynthia recalled her Garchomp to let it rest after her victory was declared. She and Tobias stared each other down as the next round was announced.
Cynthia had opted to summon her Roserade. Tobias could only smirk as he brought out his next Pokemon. A large, quadrupedal beast with smoke that ran down its back. Gray plates could be found on both sides of its body, along with another on its chest. The upper portion of its faceplate resembled a golden crown, while the lower portion resembled a silver mustache. Black bands were seen on all 4 of its legs. The audience gave out a loud gasp as Tobias stared amusingly at the champion he sought to dethrone.
"Well Cynthia, how about you say hello to my Entei?"
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Sorry for not letting out any new chapters in the past 2 days. I'd decided to take a break the other day and began working on this chapter yesterday. However, I had some struggles trying to find an interesting concept for this chapter, so it took an extra day. This is what I came up with, so hope you enjoyed it!