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Grotto PKMN Center, Sinnoh
"Got any fives?" Oliver, who was holding a few cards in his paws, asked Logan.
Logan remained quiet for a few seconds, "...Nah."
Sophie rolled her eyes before grabbing a card from Logan's selection and passing it to Oliver, "If you're going to cheat, at least make it believable..."
"I thought we were cool, Sophie!" Logan exclaimed, faking tears.
"Don't even try that," Jacob scoffed with a smile, "Oliver and I have been traveling with her for a while now, and I don't even know if I can comfortably sleep at night around her..."
"I get up a little late to eat something, and suddenly I'm the weirdo."
"Sophie, It was four hours from sunrise!" Jacob's ears perked.
The Snivy looked at the Pikachu, "As I was saying, a little late."
Oliver laughed softly at the conversation.
It had been a while since Logan's fight with Pan. Enough time had passed for Logan to be completely healed up. Things had been calm in the Grotto. Pokémon had even become able to begin working on making more floors in the Pokémon Center to ensure that there was more space, should this happen again. Nidoking was nowhere to be seen, and the lockdown seemed to be close to ending.
Maybe with the lockdown being over, the four could gather more allies to defeat Nidoking. Wherever he was.
The four continued to talk and laugh until their ears were filled with a loud alarm.
"Ow ow ow ow ow! That's a new one..." Jacob covered his ears, wincing in pain.
"An alarm?" Logan stood up, dropping his cards.
Jacob took a glance at Logan's cards, soon looking back up at the Scorbunny, "I thought you said you didn't have any threes!"
"That's... Not important!" Logan exclaimed, "There's a huge threat nearby, and we gotta check it out!"
"Whatever..." Jacob gave a soft pout as Logan opened the door, running out.
The four ran downstairs to the main lobby, where there were frantic Pokémon running around to find a safe place to hide. Lucy was trying to maintain calm, but was having trouble dealing with so many Pokémon.
"Lucy!" Logan ran up to the Blissey, "What the heck is going on?"
"Nidoking is in front of the center. He's trying to get in!" Lucy sounded frantic as she looked over to the metallic barricade over the door, which had been caved in a bit.
The four looked at Lucy with wide eyes, their eyes shifting over to the barricade.
"Some of the local residents went to the windows to fire attacks at Nidoking, but he has been getting closer and closer to getting in," Lucy looked down, "If he gets in..."
"Let's go!" Logan ran towards a nearby window, opening it with a bit of struggle, "This is the moment we've been preparing for!"
"Ready, guys?" Jacob stretched his arms a bit.
Oliver gave a determined glare, "Ready."
Oliver and Jacob looked at Sophie, who gave a silent nod.
"Right, let's do this!" Logan gave a confident grin.
Lucy couldn't speak her mind as she watched the four jump out of the window. She wanted to stop them, yet she knew she wouldn't have been able to.
"Just... Stay safe you guys..."
---
Outside of the Pokémon Center, the four ran out to see Nidoking.
Oliver almost stopped in his tracks, seeing how large Nidoking really was. The Oshawott clenched his scalchop in his paw as he grabbed it from his stomach, letting out a soft sigh.
"Hey, Nidoking!" Logan suddenly shouted, startling Oliver, "If you want to get into the center, you'll have to get through us!"
Nidoking's eyes widened as he looked over to the four. He could recognize the Scorbunny, Pikachu, and Snivy, and turned to face them. He let out a roar, running towards them.
They all gasped softly before they prepared themselves for battle.
Logan was the first to do something, charging towards Nidoking himself before jumping up and using a Flame Shot on his face.
This barely affected Nidoking, however, as he swung his arm towards Logan to hit him.
Jacob ran up and used a Dynamic Punch on Nidoking's arm to redirect the momentum of it, making Nidoking barely miss Logan.
"Thanks, Jacob!" Logan smiled at him.
The Pikachu smiled back, "No problem."
Nidoking went to attack the duo again, but they were a good enough distraction for Sophie, who was preparing a Dragon Claw behind the large Pokémon. Once she was ready, she ran towards Nidoking, but was cut off by a group of Nidoran and Nidorino.
"You've got to be kidding me..." The Snivy let out a faint groan, "You guys! Nidoking has reinforcements this time!"
Sophie used her Dragon Claw to fend the Pokémon off.
Nidoking looked back to see Sophie tirelessly fend off the Nidoran and Nidorino, and decided to charge towards her. He went for a punch, which the Snivy avoided. His paw went into the ground, kicking up a decent amount of dirt that flew in different directions.
She flipped herself around to land on Nidoking's large wrist, running up his arm and using a Leaf Blade on his face.
Meanwhile, Oliver jumped back to get a bit of distance from a group of Nidorino. He gripped his scalchop as he ran forwards, using Razor Shell to attack multiple at once. He looked over to Jacob and Logan, who gave the other a nod.
Jacob took the lead, his paw being enveloped in a white aura as he jumped towards Nidoking. He used Dynamic Punch on his head, forcing the large Pokémon to look down.
As he was forced to look downwards, his eyes focused on a familiar Scorbunny, who had a paw pointed right between his eyes.
"Eat this!" Logan shouted, charging an energy in his paw before unleashing a powerful Flame Shot into his face.
Nidoking let out a roar that shook the ground as he stumbled back in pain.
Sophie noticed this, and backed away a bit. She looked over to Oliver, who was watching as well.
"Oliver! From the back!" The Snivy shouted, running towards Nidoking.
"Uh.. Got it!" Oliver hesitated before following Sophie, preparing his scalchop.
The duo tried to attack Nidoking, but were both instantly swatted away by the aforementioned Pokémon. He had swung his arm to strike both Oliver and Sophie, launching them in the other direction.
Sophie coughed a bit, but stood up immediately. Meanwhile, Oliver was groaning as he struggled to get back up.
Suddenly, a familiar face teleported in front of him.
"Simon...?"
The Abra put a paw on Oliver's head, teleporting him away from the battle.
Once they were at a safe distance from the battle, Simon went to levitate next to the Oshawott.
"Do you have a plan, Oliver?" Simon asked as he waited for Oliver to stand back up.
"Well we do have a small one..." The Oshawott stood up, "Jacob and Logan would go in for a blinding attack on Nidoking before I go in for a launched Aqua Jet. But we can't get in close because of all the Nidoran and Nidorino..."
"Don't mind them," The Abra gave a smile, "We will take care of it."
"We?"
Soon after, Frost, Leah, and Chomps all approached Oliver, their faces making light scowls.
As the four looked to the battle, Oliver stood up and looked in that direction as well, "Right... I have to get back there and help..."
"On it!" Simon touched his forehead before the Oshawott was back in the middle of the battle. The sounds of various shouts and small explosions filled his ears once more as he pulled his scalchop from his chest.
A few seconds later, he felt a presence from behind.
"Alright you guys!" Frost gave a soft smile, "Try not to get killed!"
Simon, Leah, and Chomps gave a small nod before the four split in different directions to fend off Nidoking's allies.
Oliver ran forward and towards a familiar Snivy, who was being approached by a Nidoran from behind. Sophie looked behind her before quickly avoiding the Nidoran and stomping on his face.
"Oh hey, Oliver," The Snivy looked at him, stomping one more time to knock the Nidoran out, "Where have you been for the past five minutes?"
"Five minutes?" His eyes widened, "It's been that long? Well Simon told me that he and the rest of Logan's team would fend off the Nidoran and Nidorino to give us an opening."
"That's good..."
"Sophie! Oliver!" A familiar voice cut through the chaos, "Let's go for the finishing blows!"
The two nodded and ran towards Nidoking once again. Oliver was wary of his surroundings, making sure not to step on any knocked out Nidoran or Nidorino on his way.
He looked to his left to see Sophie, running with the same usual stoic expression she's always had.
"How can she always remain so calm?"
He shook his head, looking back to the task ahead.
Jacob, meanwhile, used Thunderbolt to hit Nidoking's face before giving Logan room to attack. The Scorbunny used his left paw to press up against Nidoking's face and use a powerful Flame Shot, successfully blinding him.
"Now's our chance..." Sophie muttered under her breath, grabbing Oliver's wrist, "Go for it, Oliver!"
Using her momentum, the Snivy dug her heels into the ground, whipping Oliver forward with a powerful throw.
The Oshawott let out a soft exhale, water surrounding his whole body in its familiar spiral shape as he adjusted his body to point straight.
"C'mon..." He gritted his teeth together as he fired towards Nidoking.
Oliver prepared his scalchop for a Razor Shell, and in one swift motion, he hit Nidoking in the back with the super effective attack.
"A solid hit!" Logan gave his signature confident grin, "We've got this in the bag!" The Scorbunny soon ran to a tall tree, climbing up it.
"Now, I need a vantage point to jump from..."
Nidoking stumbled forward a bit, letting out a loud roar of pain. His pale, white eyes seemed to shake a bit as he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Things went silent.
Oliver opened his eyes to see that his scalchop was stuck in Nidoking's back, which was slowly oozing blood by the second.
"Did I do it...?"
Nidoking's head slowly turned to look to his right, one of his eyes being able to see Oliver's body in its peripherals.
Nidoking's eyes shook in anger, quickly shaking his back to get Oliver off.
The Oshawott's grip remained firm on his scalchop, not willing to part with it during such a big battle. Eventually, the now bloody scalchop slipped from Nidoking's back, making Oliver stumble back.
He looked down at his scalchop, and saw the blood on it, "Nidoking's body is surprisingly susceptible to piercing attacks... But why...?"
As he was thinking, he didn't notice what was coming his way.
"Ollie, look out!" Jacob shouted, snapping Oliver from his thoughts.
He looked up to see a large purple tail whipping right towards him. The Oshawott's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as he stood still.
In an instant, Oliver slammed into a tree, his grip slipping from his scalchop. His choice of weapon flew from his paw and landed on the ground a few feet away.
He didn't make any noise as he slid down to the trunk of the tree, his eyelids almost immediately beginning to close. His sight went blurry, as if he wasn't wearing his contacts. A ringing noise softly overlapped with the sounds of his hitched breathing. A green entity entered his vision soon afterwards.
"Oliver!" Sophie ran over and kneeled down to check if he was still conscious.
He couldn't do anything but stare back at her, his vision finally focusing.
The ground began rumbling below the two, and Oliver's gaze slowly moved to something over Sophie's shoulder.
She noticed this, and looked back to see Nidoking running right at them.
The Snivy stood up and moved to be in front of him, "Don't worry, I'll handle this..."
Oliver, listening to her words, allowed his eyes to slowly close.
Sophie's eye turned a familiar shade of blood red as her right arm surged with a purple glow. Soon, a purple aura enveloped her hand as she outstretched it towards Nidoking.
Her arm then surged with more aura, forming a Dragon Claw, but something strange was happening to it.
It was growing.
The Dragon Claw was soon large enough to push Nidoking's whole body back.
"You lay another claw on him..." She strained, looking up at him with a resolute expression.
"... I'll kill you."
The Snivy took a step forward, the Dragon Claw following suit and pushing Nidoking back a few feet.
"Sophie!" A voice shouted from the sky, revealing to be Logan, "We'll handle Nidoking, you get Oliver away from here!"
The Scorbunny pressed both of his paws on the top of Nidoking's head, using a Flame Shot to keep him in place.
Sophie looked at Logan before turning around and picking up Oliver.
She looked to the Pokémon Center, which had been getting progressively further from the battle for the past ten minutes, and prepared to take him there.
Suddenly, a scuffed, but familiar face teleported in front of her.
"You know just when to show up, huh?" The Snivy asked, looking at him.
Simon shook his head, "I could hear the impact of Oliver hitting the tree from where I was," He levitated next to her, "I'll teleport him to the center."
She nodded and handed the unconscious Oshawott over.
As she ran off to the battle, Oliver's eyes opened slightly as he reached an arm out to her, "I wanna help them... Please... Let me get up..."
Oliver's internal struggle went unnoticed by Simon as he teleported them back to the center.
Meanwhile, a still powered up Sophie ran towards the battle and jumped to use a Dragon Claw on Nidoking's face. Not letting him recover, a fired-up Logan hit Nidoking with a kick to the chin.
Nidoking was forced to look upwards, and at a familiar Pikachu, who was above him. His paw was surrounded with a white aura as he quickly punched his face.
"And one more!" Logan shouted, shooting a large Flame Shot at Nidoking.
Meanwhile...
Oliver's eyelids twitched softly, soon opening up to reveal a familiar Blissey looking down at him. The Oshawott gasped for air, his consciousness returning in its entirety.
"What happened...?"
Lucy looked back at him, "From what Simon told me, you were knocked out in the middle of the battle."
"Where are Jacob, Logan, and Sophie?" He rubbed his head, feeling a slight pain on the back of his head.
"They're still fighting Nidoking," The Blissey looked towards the shutter blocking the front door, "They've been receiving some support from other residents of the Grotto, but it's still a pretty even fight..."
Oliver suddenly stood up, trying to run towards a window, "I gotta..." He soon fell back down to the floor.
"You're at your limit, Oliver..." Lucy looked at him with a bit of pity.
The Oshawott panted heavily, looking down to the floor and seeing his deformed reflection in the tiles below.
"I'm still so weak..." He glared down, "I can't just stay here and leave everyone else to their own devices... I've got to... Think of something!"
Suddenly, Oliver looked up from the ground, a sparkle in his sapphire eyes.
"That's it!" He smiled softly, "This whole time I was relying on Sophie's launch power when I should've been thinking about how to gain speed midair!"
Lucy looked at the Oshawott, a bit confused.
The Oshawott stood up, standing still, "I gotta help my friends."
With Leah
Leah vaulted over a Nidoran to kick another in the side, soon using her tail to grab the previous Nidoran and throw it into a group of Nidoran.
As she was fighting, two Nidoran watched from a distance.
"Man... That Aipom is a problem..." Ness commented, watching her every move.
"No kidding," Nix nodded in agreement, "We have to do something about it. Let's finish her when she isn't looking."
"You know how I feel about killing others, Nix."
"Fine. There's a place I know where we can dump her. The terrain there is so bad that it'll be a while before she escapes."
"Let's do it!" Ness smiled happily.
While Leah's back was turned from the two Nidoran, they snuck up to her, attracting the attention of two Nidorino nearby.
Nix held a paw over his mouth, signaling them to stay quiet. The two Nidorino looked at Nix before going to attack Leah. Nix then turned to Ness, pointing at his teeth.
Ness' eyes widened before he nodded, understanding what he meant. His teeth began to glow purple as he ran forward and bit down on the Aipom's tail.
Leah let out a scream, most of which was muffled by Nix's paw.
Simon, Frost, and Chomps didn't notice, and focused on their fights.
Leah's eyes slowly closed as she let out loud huffs. She was about to fall, but Nix soon caught her, gently putting her on his back.
"We did it!" Ness cheered, giving Nix a high-paw, "Now where did you have in mind to dump her off?"
"Follow me."
The Nido-duo ran off and into a nearby forest section of the Grotto. After getting some distance from the battle, they slowed to a walk.
"Is she.. Okay?" Ness walked close to Leah's face, which was slowly turning purple.
"Since you only just recently learned Poison Sting, it isn't as potent," He explained, "She will be out of commission for a while though, unless a Pecha berry cures her poison."
As the two were walking, a shadow from above was following them, jumping from tree to tree.
---
"One... Two... Three!" Both Ness and Nix counted before throwing Leah into a small opening among large stones.
The two soon turned around, letting out a sigh.
"Trying to not kill anyone while doing our job is so hard..." Ness sighed, "Why am I like this...?"
Nix shrugged, "I don't know."
"Maybe I'm just different..." Ness looked down before the duo heard rustling behind them.
Both looked back to see a figure jumping into the hole Leah was thrown into.
"What was that?" Ness remained still.
"Whatever it was, we have to check it out."
An unconscious Leah was falling down towards a large body of water, her body remaining limp.
Before she could fall completely, a shadow grabbed her midair, the shadow's momentum bringing them to one of the walls in the cave. The Pokémon who caught Leah looked up, her brown eyes looking to the other side of the body of water.
As they began to slip from the wall, the Pokémon jumped to the other side, sliding to a stop.
"She owes me one..." The Pokémon stood up, revealing to be a Buneary.
Suddenly, an Ice Beam was shot at the Buneary, forcing her to duck and roll to the left.
She looked around confusedly, "What the...?"
There was noise ahead of her, as a Pokémon steeped into her field of vision.
"Who are you?"