Logan skidded to a stop, standing in a large field. He let out a long exhale, trying to calm his adrenaline before hearing something behind him.
"Logan! Why did you have to run off so quickly?" An exhausted Pikachu ran up, panting faintly, "We were taking a drink at the river nearby..."
Sophie walked up from behind Jacob, "Must be hard with an overzealous travelling companion, right?"
Jacob looked at her, a deadpan expression on his face, "Hey..."
Oliver then walked past the two, looking at the map in his paws, "If we continue down this path, we should hit Sapphire Town pretty soon–"
The Oshawott's thoughts were cut off when he was suddenly clotheslined by a wooden object. The map soon landed on Oliver's face as he groaned.
"Ooh.." Logan chuckled softly, "That was bad..."
The Oshawott took the map off of face to look up at what he had hit was a large sign. He slowly read over the sign.
"Welcome to the Town of Tranquility: Sapphire Town"
---
Sapphire Town, Sinnoh
Meanwhile, two young Pokémon were playing in the fields on the outskirts of Sapphire Town. The sky was clear and blue, the occasional white cloud decorating it.
One of the Pokémon, a male Rockruff, happily chased a female Zorua, who was laughing.
"I'm still faster than you!" The Zorua snickered, "You can't catch me!"
Suddenly, the Zorua transformed into a Lycanroc, running over to a nearby tree and using her new stronger legs, jumped up and transformed back to her original form as she landed on a branch.
She looked down to where the Rockruff would've been, but he wasn't there.
The Zorua was suddenly tackled from behind and off of the tree branch, causing them to both land on the ground, tumbling to a stop.
"I caught you!" The Rockruff exclaimed.
"Okay fine, you caught me..." The Zorua soon transformed into a Rockruff, "Your turn!"
The male Rockruff dashed off, only to suddenly bump into something. He looked up and saw the blank eyes of a Greninja looking back at him. Standing next to the Greninja was a Conkeldurr
"Oh... I'm sorry sir–"
"Where is it?" The Conkeldurr asked.
The Rockruff was a bit confused, "Where is... What?"
As her friend was speaking to the Conkeldurr, the Zorua drew her claws out. This was an action that the Conkeldurr noticed.
Before the Zorua even noticed what happened, she was sent flying. She hit a nearby tree, getting a small flesh wound on her arm, "Ahh! Ow..."
"Oh no!!" The Rockruff rushed over, bending down next to her, "Are you okay?"
"I-It hurts..." The Zorua whimpered.
The Greninja put his hand on the Conkeldurr's shoulder, giving him a look as if to tell him that he was going overboard. The Conkeldurr huffed silently. The Greninja began walking closer.
The Rockruff held the Zorua close to him, His canine teeth beginning to show a bit as a nervous expression spread across his face.
The Greninja's eyes widened a bit at the Rockruff's expression, seeing a small Froakie looking back at him for just a split second. He reached down and picked the Rockruff up by his neck fur.
"I don't like that look in your eyes, kid..."
Suddenly, his grip shifted to grab around his neck, making him gasp and kick his legs. The Rockruff shut his eyes tightly before he was suddenly let go.
The Greninja stumbled back as a black backpack hit his face, "What the...?" He threw it aside before he and the Conkeldurr looked over to see four Pokémon standing there, one of them having just thrown the backpack.
"Who the hell are you?" The Conkeldurr asked loudly.
"Who are we?" The Pikachu smiled, "He doesn't know who we are, should we tell him?" He elbowed both Oliver and Logan.
"We are the team that protects the peace of these fair lands!" Oliver exclaimed, deciding to go along with Jacob's spheal.
Logan grinned toothily, "The team that never backs down from a good fight!"
"The team that travels just to travel!" Jacob continued.
The three then looked to Sophie, who had been silent in her continued shuffling away from the trio. Her eyes were pointed at the ground
"Sophie, what are you doing?" Logan pointed a paw at the Snivy "You gotta complete the speech!"
She gave a deadpan expression, "No."
"No!?" Logan's eyes twitched, "Get over here!"
"I'm not embarrassing myself like that."
Jacob let out a disappointed sigh before Logan fumed, his face turning red.
"Damn it! You ruined the moment!!" The Scorbunny barked.
As the group began talking and bickering a bit, the Greninja and Conkeldurr looked at them with confusion.
The group took a moment to realize that they were supposed to be helping the Rockruff and Zorua, before glancing at each other.
Sophie's right eye suddenly turned a familiar shade of red as she looked at the Greninja and the Conkeldurr, "We might need to be careful, my dragon ability only surges involuntarily whenever my emotions are out of control, or when it can sense large amounts of power..."
Oliver's eyes widened, "Right! I've seen this before..."
—
"Participant Jacob!" The ref shouted, "We will be giving you ten seconds before you're disqualified from the match!"
"Do you think Jacob's really done?" Oliver asked, looking over to Sophie, who was covering both of her eyes. "...Sophie?"
"He's... Not out..." Sophie spoke, looking up at Oliver and revealing her right eye. The eye was glowing a scarlet color, it's pupil thin running vertically.
"Your eye..."
"It's reacting to some strong energy..." She explained, "The only place it could be coming from is Jacob."
"Hm..." The Oshawott hummed as the two looked over to the rubble, which was beginning to glow. "...That's Jacob, then?"
"Probably."
—
Before Oliver could say anything else, Jacob and Logan dashed forward and towards the Greninja and Conkeldurr. Logan prepared to use a Flame Shot, while Jacob's paw was clouded with a white aura.
The Conkeldurr then suddenly threw the large, concrete pillar that he had been carrying between the Greninja, Jacob, and Logan. This kicked up a decent amount of dirt and debris that clouded a bit of the area.
Meanwhile
A house in Sapphire Town was buzzing with a bit of interest.
A male Garchomp was holding a newspaper, reading through it silently, "Travelers defeat Nidoking? Saved the Grotto?" He sat up a bit in his wooden chair, "Hm... Guess we won't have to deal with that anymore..."
As the Mach Pokémon put the newspaper down and stood from his chair, soon walking towards the window of his house's interior. He slowly rubbed his forehead with the dull side of his large claw.
"I should probably get some air..."
The Garchomp walked outside of his house, stepping onto his porch. The roof overhang managed to block the sunlight from the porch. As he stepped into the light of the sun, a big scar could be seen on his side.
His eye suddenly darted to his left, where just beyond another house, he could see a cloud of smoke and debris forming.
"What the...?"
With Oliver
Oliver coughed a bit, trying not to get the smoke in his lungs, before Sophie came from behind him and used a large Dragon Claw to disperse the smoke debris.
As the area cleared, Oliver looked over at Jacob, who had managed to grab both the Rockruff and Zorua before dashing back to the group.
"Nice, Jacob!" Oliver smiled, looking at the Pikachu.
Meanwhile, Sophie dashed at the Greninja, and went to attack the left side of his body, but somehow missed. She flipped a bit before sliding to a stop on her feet, "What the...? I'm sure I hit him... Is he just that fast?"
The Conkeldurr noticed Sophie's red eye, "Huh... Another survivor. I thought your kind would've all been dead..."
"Another... What?" Sophie's eyes widened at that statement, her reddened eye glowing brightly. Her head began to ache as different questions overwhelmed her mind.
"Sophie?" Oliver saw Sophie's troubled expression.
The Snivy, in her confused state, was having trouble controlling her dragon transformation. The area around her right eye began to be covered with scales as her right hand began to grow scales as well.
As she was doubled over in front of the Greninja, she breathed heavily, trying her best to keep her control. The Greninja suddenly summoned a rapidly spinning ball of water in his hand, getting ready to throw it at Sophie.
"Oliver, get Sophie!" Jacob exclaimed as he and Logan tried their best to fight the Conkeldurr, "He's gonna Water Pulse her!"
Oliver ignored Jacob, as he was already running to get Sophie away from the Greninja.
Before the Greninja could throw the Water Pulse, Oliver stepped between him and Sophie.
—
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."
—
"Just like back then..." Oliver thought as he held both of his paws outstretched towards the Greninja, allowing the Water Pulse to hit his paws. His eyes shut tight.
The Water Pulse suddenly burst against his paws, water splashing in various directions. Suddenly, the water drew back towards his paws, forming a small ball of water on his paws.
"Is this...?" Oliver held the ball of water between his paws.
"What a weak Water Pulse..." The Greninja thought as he lifted his left arm. He formed a blade of water within his hand before going to cut him.
The attack was suddenly blocked, making the water splash against Oliver's face.
Oliver had used his left paw to hold his scalchop and block the attack, while he held the small, unstable ball of water in his right.
The Greninja's eye twitched softly, "No more holding back."
The weak Water Pulse in Oliver's paw was suddenly dissipated as something attacked his face, making him stumble back. Oliver switched his scalchop to his right paw before trying to use a Razor Shell on him.
Before the attack could hit, Oliver was suddenly launched upwards by something he couldn't see. He winced as he went sprawling upwards.
The Greninja then switched his attention to Sophie, who was laid on the ground. He ran towards her.
Oliver looked at the Greninja before adjusting his fall to throw his scalchop between them. As the scalchop indented into the ground between them, Oliver took a moment to blink.
Once he opened his eyes once again, he couldn't see the Greninja.
"You're obviously weak..." A voice spoke from above him, "Why fight a battle you can't win?"
Because both were midair, Oliver was unable to react fast enough to do anything but block the strangely strong punch from the Greninja's left fist. He could feel a large amount of weight from the punch, his weak block not nearly being enough to prevent his immediate falling to the ground.
Oliver's back slammed into the ground as he let out a loud shout. Before he could do anything else, the Greninja landed on top of Oliver, a hand firmly wrapped around his neck.
The Oshawott gasped for air, trying to shake the Greninja off.
As Logan fired off two massive Flame Shots at the Conkeldurr, Jacob could see Oliver being choked out. Once the Pikachu noticed Oliver's slowly blanking expression, his electricity surged as he fired off a Thunderbolt at the Greninja.
The Greninja avoided the attack, letting go of Oliver. The Oshawott coughed and sputtered as he tried his best to catch his breath.
Before the Greninja could land, Jacob was right in front of him, his eyes glowing orange.
"Strike!" He tried to use a superpowered punch on the Greninja, but the attack was swiftly avoided, causing a gust of wind to blow around the area.
Jacob gasped faintly before his wrist was grabbed. The Greninja spun him around and slammed him into the ground. He skidded to a stop, laying in a pile of dirt near Oliver.
The Greninja went to fire a Water Pulse at Jacob, before Logan came in with a Flame Shot to block his line of sight. As the Greninja was blinded, Oliver picked up his scalchop. He then aimed at the Greninja.
The Conkeldurr noticed this, and threw his concrete pillar towards the Oshawott. Oliver didn't notice the approaching pillar until mere inches away from his head.
Oliver shut his eyes tight, bracing for impact.
Just before the pillar hit, a Garchomp used his claw to just barely redirect the stone pillar, a piece of his claw breaking off in the process.
Oliver sweated slightly at the sight of the concrete pillar crashing into the ground behind him before looking over to the Garchomp, "Who... Are you?"
The Garchomp looked back at Oliver, "One sec."
He suddenly lunged at the Conkeldurr before kicking him in the face as hard as he could, making the Conkeldurr crash into the ground.
As he looked up at the Garchomp with confusion, his expression darkened a bit as a sharp claw was pointed in his face.
"Who do you work for?"
"Get bent."
The Garchomp's expression became slightly agitated at the Conkeldurr's response. Before he could ask anything else, the Garchomp quickly looked behind him to see a familiar pillar flying in his direction.
He jumped to his right, avoiding the concrete pillar as the Conkeldurr caught it.
The Mach Pokémon looked to try and see how it was thrown at him, and he saw the quiet Greninja standing a few feet away, his left eye shut tight.
The Conkeldurr looked between the Garchomp, Oliver, Jacob, and Logan before turning around, "I'd rather not lose a fight I don't need to win."
He slammed his concrete pillar into the ground, kicking up a large amount of dust and smoke.
The Garchomp ran towards the smoke, but as it dissipated, he was left with nothing but an empty area. He sighed faintly before looking back to the group.
"Now, can any of you tell me–"
Before the Garchomp could finish, a large amount of rocks went flying at him, prompting him to deflect any one of them that almost hit him.
"What did you do to my son and his friend!?"
A female Midday Lycanroc stepped up to the Garchomp, growling faintly.
Jacob looked over at Oliver, who shrugged confusedly. Oliver then looked over to Sophie, who had fallen unconscious due to exhaustion earlier on.
"What are you talking about?" The Garchomp was a bit confused.
The Rockruff from before scurried up to her, "Wait, Mom!" He stopped to stand between her and the Garchomp, "He saved me and Kari!"
"Saved?" The Lycanroc was confused, "From who?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out..." The Garchomp replied, looking back at the female Lycanroc.
The Lycanroc looked between her son, the whimpering Zorua, the Garchomp, and the group of Pokémon with light injuries.
She soon let out a sigh, "Come, let's go back to my home so we can discuss this further."
They all nodded silently as the Rockruff went to go pick up his friend, who was still minding her injuries. Oliver went over to see if Sophie was alright, and he was followed by Jacob. Logan, meanwhile, went to grab the group's backpacks, which were a small distance away.
The two boys kneeled down next to the unconscious Snivy, observing her body.
"She doesn't seem to have any injuries..." Oliver sighed with relief, "C'mon Jacob, let's get her off the ground."
The Pikachu nodded before he and Oliver helped her up. Jacob hoisted her up piggyback style, "What even happened to her?"
"That Conkeldurr said something, and it set her off..." The Oshawott put a paw to her chin, "I've never seen her get so out of control... I was–"
"Worried?" Jacob finished for him, earning a silent nod from Oliver.
"Don't worry about it, Ollie!" Jacob lightly patted his best friend's back, "If we know anything about Sophie, we know that she is able to push past hard things without breaking a sweat!"
Logan then walked up to them, four backpacks on his body, "He's right, you know?" The Scorbunny pumped a paw, "So chin up, buddy. We can't have the brains of the team doubt other team mates."
Oliver smiled nervously as Logan gave him both Sophie's and his own backpacks. "Let's get going."
Oliver took a moment to put both bags on, having one on his back and the other on his stomach. He fastened the map holder to be a bit tighter, and soon gave the two an affirmative nod
The trio began walking towards the Garchomp and Lycanroc, catching up to them.
While they all walked towards Sapphire Town's large group of houses and buildings, the Garchomp looked back to the area where the Conkeldurr and Greninja disappeared.
"Looks like it's starting again..."