"Where did this brat come from!?"
"She's way too strong!"
"Where's the Boss? We need her!?"
Hope began marching through Team Star's base on a rampage mocking everyone she defeated. "Droopy and I are undefeatable! I shall be the warrior of justice and destroy all of Team Star!"
Several Team Star grunts ran over to the main tent readying the final showcase. Then, throwing open the curtains, the Boss of this base came storming out on a giant Starmobile fire bursting out everywhere.
"Mela! Save us from this monster!"
Grabbing her Pokeball, Mela screamed out, sending out Torkoal. "I don't know who you think you are, kid, but I'm not going easy on you."
Hope scoffed, spinning the Pokeball in the air and catching it. "I'll show you scum no mercy. No one can beat the Undefeatable Lass! So Droopy, let's do this."
The sun became unbearable.
"Droopy, hit Torkoal with your best Draco meteor!"
Goodra roared, sending an extensive bombardment of meteors hammering at Torkoal's defences. Finally, however, Hope gasped, shocked to find Torkaol still standing. "That normally knocks out any pokemon, no matter what!"
"Relying on one move won't get you anywhere! Torkaol uses yawn."
Goodra became doozy, falling asleep and making Hope panic. "No, Droopy, wake up! Wake up, please!"
"Use body press!"
Torkoal crashed on Goodra, causing massive damage and leaving Goodra in the red.
Super Effective.
"I can't lose... Not again; I refuse ever to lose again! Droopy, wake up!"
Goodra shook awake getting Hope pumped. "Alright, Goodra! We're not going to lose this; ready for another attack!?"
"It's useless; give up, kid. You're too young for any of this."
"No, I refuse!" She shouts, going to send in another command. However, another one wouldn't come as the tents around the base exploded, echoing into the sky.
Mela looked shocked, unsure of what was going on. "My base! What's the big idea!? But, wait, what is that?"
It was too late to say anymore as Torkaol was knocked out in one hit, and the Starmobile was taken out of commission.
Hope was knocked to the ground crawling back and watching the attacker before screaming in fear.
****
"Damn, which way did she go?" I whisper, looking around for conflict. I did not understand the area; the brat could be halfway across the province at this rate.
"Y/N, wait up!" Penny shouted, panting. "Did you find her?"
"No, this is bad."
"Was that really your Pokemon?" She asked, conflicted. "How did that girl get ahold of it?"
"I'd like to know that too... She couldn't have gotten far, right?" I mutter, noticing a flock of Team Star grunts running in fear in the distance. I stopped them, confused. "Whoa there, what's going on!?"
"Get out of our way, man; some crazy jacked-up Pokemon just came out of nowhere and destroyed our base. Since when could a Gardevoir do that!?"
"Gardevoir? Are you kidding? That was clearly a Gallade."
"Nah, ah, it was obviously a Gardevoir; it just had to be like a mega evolution, right?"
"In that case, it was a Mega Gallade!"
"Do we even have Megas in this region?" A third grunt asked.
"Who cares? The Boss and that Lass can handle it. Hasta la vistar."
Penny began walking forward, looking horrified. "A crazed Pokemon attacking the base... Oh no, Mela."
Penny began sprinting towards the chaos as I looked shocked, shouting. "Penny, wait up!"
Running towards the base, I could see the walls broken down and scattered all over, with Team Star's Flag on fire, scorched in the air. But then, I stopped seeing more Team Star Grunts scattering. "What is going on?"
"Y/N!" I turn, shocked to see Arven running over, seeing the destruction. "Whoa, was I too late?"
"Arven, what are you doing here?"
"I was researching the appearance of a Titan Pokemon in this area, but I didn't think it would attack Team Star's base like this." He said, dazed. "Is everyone safe?"
"No, the Boss of this place is still in there alongside some lass who stole my Pokemon. Penny just ran it there too." I explained.
"That's not good at all; we must stop this Titan Pokemon before it hurts any more people. Can I count on you, Y/N?"
"You don't even need to ask twice; I'm in," I shout, jumping over the destroyed gate and making it further into the base. "What do you know about these Titan Pokemon Arven?"
"Only what my parents left in their notes. It's meant to be a stupid powerful pokemon larger than any others. They're most likely linked to the Herba Mysticas I've sought. I managed to take down two of the Titans by myself; Nemona tagged along for the third one dying to fight a strong Pokemon."
"Sounds similar to an Alpha Pokemon," I whisper, nodding. "That's fine; I'll take on this Titan while you get any lingering grunts out."
"Alright."
Stopping in my tracks, I saw Goodra worn down but defending Hope and the Team Star boss. The Pokemon made me gasp.
It wasn't any Pokemon I recognised. It wasn't a Gardevoir, nor was it a Gallade. It looked like both, and it was giant. Sliding under a burst of flames, I met with the others as Hope was curled up, terrified. Crouched down, I waved my hand in front of her face. "Hey, Hope, are you still with me?"
"You... What are you? No, you need to run. It's too strong... I can't do anything." Hope sobbed, crawling back.
Goodra was defending us but struggling all the same. I turned to the Team Star boss holding my hand up. "Are you alright too?"
Giving me a simple grunt of acknowledgement, she gripped her Pokeball, annoyed. "That thing swept my whole team... I couldn't protect any of my friends."
"I'm sorry; I won't let it hurt anyone else. Goodra! I need you to hold on a little longer; we'll take down this Titan together."
Goodra roared more determined than ever, as I stood by his side, ready to battle. "I'll hold off the Titan, Hope, Mela, get out of here."
"You're fighting that thing alone!? But I couldn't beat it with Droopy. So what could you do?"
I smiled, giving her a thumbs up. "No one can defeat Goodra, isn't that right, buddy?"
Agreeing with me, it roared. "Told you so. Goodra, let's take the heat off for a moment. Quickly use shelter!"
Goodra curled back into its shell, raising his defence and becoming obscured. Hope watched in awe. "What move was that?"
"Attacking an opponent with the best move isn't always the right strategy. However, setting up for the long term can be key to an easy victory."
The mystery Titan went in for an attack striking with a fire punch. But thanks to Goodra's shelter, it could barely dodge the attack. "Of course, it knows fire punch, and with this drought, it could be the end of our run. Let's turn this around quickly Goodra, use rain dance!"
Spinning around, Goodra yelled as the heavy sun faded into a downpour. "Now that dampens that problem, let's turn this around, Goodra; hit it with a Draco Meteor!"
The meteors came down directly, hitting the Titan and doing no damage.
It had no effect.
"So this thing is a fairy type, good to know, and we'll use that as our advantage!"
The Titan attacked again with a super effective fire punch, but thanks to the rain, Goodra was just able to hold on. "You're doing great, Goodra! Just a little bit more, if it's a fairy type, then we'll make it regret that. Use iron head!"
Hunched down, Goodra propelled forward, crashing into the Titan and sending it flying.
Super effective!
"Alright, nicely done it!" I shout. I looked behind as Arven had helped Mela and Hope escape. I tightened my shirt nodding. "Just one more time, and this Titan should be toast."
The mystery Titan stepped back using another move, but not one to attack us. It used electric terrain. I was cautious about why it would use such a move only for it to power up like crazy. I covered my face as the shockwave blasted through the base. "This power... It was like that Salamance; what is this Pokemon? This is bad, Goodra. We should."
I stopped as Goodra looked at me, still determined. I took a deep breath, smiling. "Yeah, you're absolutely right; there's no way we're losing to this thing. So no holding back, Goodra, use Iron Head one more time!"
Goodra charged, ready running at the Titan. It did the same striking Goodra with close combat. Both Pokemon struck each other at the same time, both dealing heavy damage. Goodra fell to the ground, knocked out as the Titan was standing.
Biting my lip, I reached for my bag, pulling out a spare Pokeball. "Goodra, you did amazing... I can't let this chance slip by; I have no other choice!"
Throwing the Pokeball, the Mystery Titan was pulled inside as the Pokeball hit the ground. I squatted down, stepping back and watching the ball shake. Arven was standing by as I held my hand out, warning him.
My eyes were glued to the ball as it shook a third time. I held my breath until the green light flashed. I let out a longwinded sigh falling to my knees, relieved it was over. "That was too close..."
Arven ran over, checking the battlefield. "Did you capture it?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that Pokemon was crazy strong, too; I have no idea what it was."
Arven held out his phone, scanning the newly caught Pokemon. "Wow, the Pokedex isn't even too sure either. But it has the name Iron Valiant."
"Iron Valiant? I've never heard of a Pokemon like that. I don't even know if capturing it was a good idea. But to be fair, I've caught more wild Pokemon before. There's this one scouting mission over bad dreams... You know what, it doesn't matter."
Standing up, I picked up my new Pokemon, feeling uneasy. Could this be connected to that space-time distortion? I'm really left with my questions than answers right now.
Sitting next to Goodra, I patted him on the back, smiling. "You did great, buddy; we haven't fought that hard in a long time, right?"
Healing Goodra, I looked up, seeing Hope approaching, looking worried. "I umm... I'm sorry for everything; I got Droopy. I mean, your Goodra hurt because of my incompetence."
I shook my head, sighing, feeling a little sorry for her now. "You did good out there. Goodra isn't an easy pokemon to raise; believe me, evolving was a hassle. That's dragon types for you, but I can see Goodra really trusted you, Hope. You still have much to learn, but I think you'd make a fantastic trainer one day."
"Really!? You do, seriously!"
"Yup, how you handled yourself was miles ahead of me when I first started Pokemon battles."
Hope held my Pokeball out, her head lowered. "This belongs to you... I found Droopy on my way home from school. The other children would make fun of me for being a bad trainer and not having my own Pokemon. I wanted to show them all so badly, so when I found Droopy, I thought it was a sign; it was my ticket to prove everyone wrong. But that was not right; it wasn't my Pokemon."
I took back the Pokeball, running my hand over it. Then, putting Goodra back in his ball, I attached the Pokeball to my belt. "No, it wasn't. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have your own. You looked after my Goodra; thank you, Hope. It's not much, but how about we fix a past mistake? How would you like your own Pokemon?"
"Really!? You'll give me a Pokemon?"
"Not give; I'll show you how to catch one. Then and only then can you truly call it your own. How does that sound?"
Hope nodded over the moon, taking the greatball from my hand. She ran off as I turned back to Mela and Arven. "Any luck?"
Arven shook his head. "That wasn't one of the Titan Pokemon. That's alright, though; I'll keep looking. I wouldn't mind if you'd help too?"
"If I'm in the area, I'll think about it," I state; I was cut off as Mela forced a badge in my hand, squeezing it tightly. I winced, dazed. "What the hell?"
"You defeated me; the rules of Team Star state I am to disband; this badge is proof."
"Huh? But I didn't even fight you."
"No... But you defeated that Pokemon that beat me... It's the same thing. If not for that girl, my friends could have gotten seriously hurt. Can you tell her thank you?"
"I'll make sure of it. Duty calls, right? Did you need any more help here?"
Mela shook her head. "We can handle the mess, don't worry about it."
With that, we went our separate ways; Arven was already running off searching for the following Titan Pokemon, leaving me to continue my journey.
Exiting the base, I noticed Penny standing idly by, conflicted. "Penny, there you are. You had me worried."
"I couldn't do it. I wanted to help, but when I got here... I was too scared to do anything. Am I a bad person for that?"
"No, of course not. Don't think that, there's nothing wrong with being scared."
"Yeah... I guess you're right. Are they all alright?"
"Yup, nothing a little bit of teamwork won't fix. Here is the badge from Mela; it seems I had a hand in this Operation Starfall after all, huh?"
Penny held the badge tightly. "Thank you, I should get going... Cassiopeia still has much work for us. See you around Y/N."
I stood by, looking down at my Goodra, smiling. "One down, four to go. Hold on a little longer, friends; I'll find you all soon."
To be continued...
"Easy does it; you want to keep low and out of sight. The Pokemon is unaware we're here. We can use this advantage to get the easy catch." I lecture, crouched in the tall grass watching a Pikachu oblivious to us.
Hope gripped the Pokeball tightly, nervous. "And I just sneak up and throw the ball, right?"
"Not so fast, though; a backshot is the best chance at getting the upper hand. Don't throw it too hard; take a deep breath and just let your body do the rest. Don't overthink it; trust your heart. That's how I always do it."
Hope took a deep breath whispering to herself. "Don't overthink it; trust your heart. Trust your heart."
Hope stood up, throwing the Pokeball, hitting the Pikachu before it could do anything. The Pokeball rolled forward, shaking at the same time. With a single shake, the ball turned green.
"A critical capture!"
Hope began walking; this turned into a sprint as she held her new partner closely, tearing up. "I did it; I really, really did it! My very own Pokemon! Did you see that? Y/N, I did it!"
"Way to go, sport." I chuckle, picking up her trainer hat she dropped and placing it back on her head. "I knew you could do it; see, it wasn't that hard, right?"
"Nah, ah. Thank you so much."
"Think nothing of it; we all start somewhere. Just promise me one thing: become the best trainer you can ever be and prove those bullies wrong."
"I will!"
"Good, then I look forwards to a good Pokemon Battle, Hope, future Pokemon Master."