"Cynthia, I Stand Before You Not Only As Your Opponent, But As A Champion. My Responsibility And Loyalty Is Tied To The Sinnoh Region And Anything That Resides There, Including You. You're My Responsibility Cynthia, Defeating You Here Is A Part Of My Job" I Say. I Let Out A Chuckle As Infernapes Flames Continue To Blaze.
Cynthia Covers Her Face To Shield Herself From The Heat Infernape Is Letting Off. "So It's Your Move Cynthia, Don't Keep Me Waiting"
"Togekiss, Air Slash Now!!" Togekiss Flaps Her Wings And Sends Sharp Blades Of Wind In Our Direction.
"Infernape, Jump And Then Use Thunderpunch!" I Command. Infernape Leaps High Into The Air And Rockets Towards Togekiss At Blinding Speed, With Infernapes Fist Covered In Electricity He Punches Togekiss Right In Her Jaw Sending Her Rolling Through The Dirt.
"Don't Let Up Infernape, Hit Her With A Flamethrower!!" Infernape Deeply Inhales And Blows Out Blue Flames That Envelop Togekiss, She Lets Out A Scream Signifying That The Attack Hit It's Mark.
"Togekiss!!" Cynthia Yells As She Runs Over To Her Pokémon. She Checks Togekiss For Burns And Any Marks. I Can See Traces Of The Old Cynthia Right Now, The Caring Cynthia. I Catch Traces Of Her Blue Eyes Glowing Under The Moonlight. My Heart Skips A Beat But I Can't Back Down Now.
"Cynthia, Your Defeat Draws Near, Pick Yourself Up And Let's Continue This Battle? Sidel Nor I Will Be Dying Tonight, That's A Promise" I Say Firmly.
Cynthia Calls Back Her Togekiss And Sends Out Her Second To Last Pokémon.
"Gastrodon Time For Battle!" Cynthia Yells. The Green And Brown Slug Pokémon Thuds On The Grown And Growls At Me.
"We're Playing The Type Advantage Game Now Huh? A Ground And Water Type, It Still Won't Be Enough!! Infernape Close Combat!!" I Command. Infernape Charges Towards Gastrodon At Blinding Speed And He Lands Fifteen Punches In Rapid Succesion. Gastrodon Shakes Off The Hit And Rams His Head Into Infernapes Chest.
"Gastrodon, Mud Bomb!!" Cynthia Yells. Gastrodon Forms A Mid Bubble From His Mouth And Fires It At Infernape.
"Infernape, Fire Punch!!" I Command. Infernapes Fist Becomes Engulfed In Blue Flames And He Breaks The Mud Attack In Pieces. I Get Ready To Give Another Command But Cynthias Pokémon Is Out Of Sight. I Look Around Frantically But My Instincts Kick In. Cynthia Has Done This Same Trick Before.
"Infernape, Flare Blitz, Straight Up Now!!" Infernapes Entire Body Gets Covered In Blue Flames And He Rockets Towards The Falling Gastrodon. The Explosion Causes Both Infernape And Gastrodon To Land Hard On The Ground.
"Same Trick Won't Work Twice Cynthia, Your Pokémon Are Hurt, You're Losing Strength Yourself. Cut Out This Nonsense And Give Up" I Spit At Her.
She Seems Taken Aback By My Words, I See Flashes Of The Old Cynthia. The Softness Of Her Face, Her Glowing Eyes, The Way Her Hair Shifts In The Wind, Not Matted Up, No Gray Eyes. But Just As Quickly As It Came, Her Expression Goes Back To The Maniacal, Eery Stone Cold Look It Held.
"I Can See Through Your Facade Kaiso, I Know You Don't Have The Balls To Really Finish Me Off" Cynthia Waves Her Hand And Gastrodon Gets Up Off The Ground. "For Some Reason You're Still Holding Back, Whatever The Reason Is, It Will Be Your Downfall!!, Gastrodon!!" Gastrodon Rushes At Infernape.
Infernape Dodges It's Attack And Punches Gastrodon In Its Throat Sending It Flying Back Into A Nearby Tree.
"Gastrodon!!!" Once Again Cynthia Runs Over To Her Injured Pokémon, I Expect Her To Go Back To Normal But She Starts Laughing Even More.
"Kaiso, I Haven't Had This Much Fun Since Our Championship Battle, But This Time Their Won't Be A Happy Ending For You, Or Sidel. Garchomp, It's Time To Do Your Job!!" Garchomp Emerges From Her Pokeball And He Lands On The Ground And Lets Out A Roar That Shakes The Entire Forest.
Cynthias Most Powerful Pokémon. Her Signature Garchomp, A Dragon Type That Rivals Even My Regigigas. Infernape Looks Back At Me And Starts Smiling.
"Kaiso, If You Won't Go All Out, I Will." Cynthia Says. She Raises Her Hand And Her Garchomp Speed Blitzes Infernape. Garchomp Hits Infernape Square In His Chest And He Falls Back Into The Ground Clutching His Chest.
"Oh Come On Now That Was Just A Love Tap Kaiso, You Can't Handle Even That?" Cynthia Says Smiling At Me. I Can Tell She Has Gained Her Confidence Back Now That Her Most Powerful Pokémon Is On The Field. Garchomp Growls At Infernape And Stomps His Foot On The Ground. Infernape Gets Up And Lets Out A Yell That Causes His Flames To Explode In A Mixture Of Fire And Electricity.
"This Is Infernapes Blaze Ability, When He Is Backed Into A Corner He Raises All Of His Attack Stats, You're In For A Fight Now Cynthia" I Say. Infernape Puts One Knee On The Ground And Blue Flames And Electricity Cover His Entire Body.
"Infernape, Flare Blitz!!" I Command. Infernape Blasts Off And Hits Garchomp Right In His Face. "Now, Fire Punch!!" In A Flash Of Fire Infernape Punches Garchomp In His Stomach With A Fist Covered In Blue Flames And Electricity. Garchomp Goes Reeling Back But Seems Unaffected.
"That's The Best You Got? I'm Going To Destroy You!" Cynthia Yells. "Garchomp! Dragon Claw!!" Garchomps Claws Cover Themselves In A Blue Flame That Outlines A Dragon And Garchomp Speeds Towards Infernape.
If Infernape Gets Hit Once It's Over. "Infernape! Dodge And Then Use Close Combat!!" Infernape Nods And Immediately Dodges The Attack. Garchomp Is Wide Open And Infernape Begins To Attack. But None Of The Attacks Land, Garchomp Dodges All Of Them Effortlessly.
"Dammnit, Infernape Flamethrower Now!! Blow Garchomp Away!!" Infernape Jumps Into The Air And Begins To Inhale Deeply.
"Garchomp, Don't Let Infernape Fire That Attack!!" Garchomp Jumps Into The Air And Grabs Infernape By The Mouth And Slams Him Onto The Ground. Infernape Is Struggling To Get Garchomps Claws Off His Mouth.
"Infernape Use The Flames On Your Head And Spin Around!! Get Away Now!!" I Yell Desperately. Infernape Uses The Flames On His Head And Pushes Away From Garchomp, Once He Gets Free He Starts Spinning On His Hands And Creates A Tornado Of Blue Fire.
The Sky Lights Up With Electricity And Blue Flames As Infernape Launches His Attack.
"Infernape, Full Power Flare Blitz Now!!" Infernapes Entire Body Gets Covered In Flames And Lightning And He Flies Directly Towards Garchomp. An Explosion Issues That Knocks Me Off My Feet. The Air Is Humid And Lightning Still Crackles In The Air.
"I Guess That Was The Power Of A Prodigious Pokémon Huh?" Cynthia Says Smirking. The Smoke Clears And I See That Garchomp Has Infernapes Arm Caught In Between His Jaws.
"This Outcome Was Already Written In Stone, Your Infernape Was A Complete Mismatch For My Garchomp" Cynthia Says As Garchomp Drops Infernape. I Call Infernape Back And Give His Pokeball A Squeeze.
"If You Were Facing Anyone Else You Would Have Won No Doubt. That Power Rivals That Of Some Legendary Pokémon, However Against A Pokemon Like My Garchomp, It Is Still No Match, A Pokémon That I Trained Specifically To Defeat Legendary Pokémon" Cynthia Says Petting Her Garchomp.
I Only Have Two Pokémon Left, My Lucario And Regigigas. Type Wise I'm At A Huge Disadvantage If I Use Either. Lucario Is Probably Faster, Hopefully Some Of The Damage That Garchomp Took During His Battle With Infernape Will Start To Show Soon.
I Have Two Jobs, Protect Sidel And Save Cynthia. I Can Not Lose My Composure Now. I'm The Champion, I Earned This Title Regardless Of How Cynthia Perceives It Now, I Must Show Her The Power Of One.
"Lucario, Time For Battle!" I Yell As Lucario Squares Up In His Fighting Stance. I Can See Cynthia Zoning In And Out Of Her Mindset. This Isn't Something That Will Last Long, She Is Gonna Drain Herself.
"Lucario! Aura Sphere!!" Lucario Forms A Blue Sphere Of Energy And Fires It At Garchomp. This Is A Move That Can't Miss, It's Sure To Land.
"Garchomp, Swipe It Away!!" Garchomp Bats The Attack And It Lands On The Ground Causing Dirt To Rise Up In The Air.
"Perfect!, Lucario Extremespeed Now!!" I Yell. Lucario Vanishes Immediately And He Barrages Garchomp With Attacks From Seemingly Every Direction. They Don't Do A Ton Of Damage But Anything To Wear Garchomp Down.
"Ugh, Garchomp Brick Break To Your Left!!" Cynthia Commands. Garchomp Immediately Hits Lucario In His Head And He Lands On The Ground Leaving Cracks In It.
"Lucario Get Back Now!!" I Yell. Lucario Rolls On The Ground To Get Some Distance Between Him And Garchomp.
"This Hit And Run Strategy Isn't Like You Kaiso" Cynthia Says. "Do I Make You That Nervous?"
"No, It's Called Playing It Smart Cynthia, You May Have The Power, But I Have The Speed" I Say As Lucario Squares Up.
"Let's Test That Theory. Garchomp Dragon Rush!!" Cynthia Commands. Garchomp Covers Himself In Red Energy And He Hits Lucario Before I Can Even Open My Mouth To Give A Command. Lucario Flies Back Into A Nearby Tree And Falls To The Ground.
"Lucario!!" I Yell As I Run Over To My Injured Pokémon. He Is Knocked Out Cold. My Heart Sinks. I'm Down To Only One Pokémon. But It's My Partner. I Call Lucario Back As I Walk Back To The Battlefield.
"Down One To One Huh?" Cynthia Says. "Extremely Reminiscent Of Our Last Fight, Back When I Was Corrupted And Brainwashed By My Title As Champion. Kaiso, Consider Your Death The First Step In A Mighty Revolution That Will Save This World. What I'm Doing Is A Good Work" Cynthia Says Pointing At Me.
My Eye Starts Twitching As She Continues To Talk, I Can Hear Her But Her Words Are Muffled. She Is A Criminal That Must Be Stopped At All Costs, I'm The Only Thing Standing Between Her And Innocent Peoples Lives Being Taken Away. I Motion For Regigigas To Pick Me Up, He Puts Me In His Hand And On His Shoulder. He Lays Sidel A Good Distance Away From The Battlefield So That She Doesn't Get Hurt.
"If You Really Want To Kill Me Or Her, You're Gonna Have To Go Through Regigigas. I'm Calling Your Bluff Right Now Cynthia. Show Me The Power Of A Pokémon That Rivals My Regigigas" I Say Crossing My Arms. Regigigas Lets Out A Roar That Shakes Quite Possibly The Very Region Of Alola Itself.
Cynthia Looks Suprised At The Power. She Shakes Her Head And Focuses On Me Again.
"Garchomp!! Time For Battle! As The Savior Of The Pokémon World I Will Defeat You Here And Now!" Garchomp Lunges At Regigigas.
"Regigigas Swipe Him Away!!" I Command. Regigigas Swipes At Garchomp And Sends Him Flying Back To The Ground. Garchomp Flies Back Almost Immediately And Rams Regigigas In His Head. Regigigas Stumbles Back And I Fall On His Shoulders.
"Dammnit, Regigigas, Ice Punch Now!!!" Regigigas Charges Up An Ice Attack That Causes The Air Around The Battle Field To Drop About Twenty Degrees. Once The Attack Is Charged Up Regigigas Throws His Punch.
"Too Slow!!!, Garchomp Jump!!" Cynthia Yells. Garchomp Jumps Onto Regigigas Arm And Begins Charging Directly At Me. "I Told You I Would Kill You Kaiso! Garchomp Brick Break Kaiso Now!!!"
My Eyes Widen As Garchomp Turns His Attack Towards Me. "Regigigas Crush Grip Now!!!" Regigigas Grabs Garchomp At The Last Possible Second And Throws Garchomp To The Ground.
"Okay Cynthia, Now I'm Mad, Regigigas!!" Regigigas Raises His Hand To Match With Me. "Elemental Punch Barrage!! Combination Of Ice And Fire!!" Both Of Regigigas Fist Becomes Covered In Fire And Ice And He Begins To Furiously Throw Punches At Garchomp.
Garchomp Dodges The First Couple Punches But He Trips Up And Regigigas Hits Him Directly With A Fire Punch. The Ground Breaks Underneath Garchomp And He Lets Out A Huge Yell.
"Don't Let Up Regigigas, Crush Him!!" I Yell. I Feel Absolutely Nothing, My Mind Isn't Focused On Anything Except Crushing Cynthia And Her Garchomp. Regigigas Pummels Garchomp With Punches. The Cracks In The Ground Turn Into Full On Craters, The Very Island Shakes After Every Punch Regigigas Throws.
"Garchomp Catch His Fist Now!!" Cynthia Yells. Garchomp Uses His Wings To Stop The Onslaught Of Attacks. "Push Regigigas Back Now!!"
"That's Not Happening!!" I Yell. Regigigas Lets Out A Roar And Pushes Back Even More. "Ice Punch Now!! Don't Let Up!!"
Regigigas Covers His Left Hand In Ice And Begins Punching Down On Garchomps Head Ferociously.
"Don't Stop Until Garchomp Has Stopped Moving!!" I Yell. Regigigas Begins To Punch Faster And Faster Until Eventually Garchomp Loses The Battle Of Strength And Collapses Under Regigigas Fist.
"Where Is This Power That Rivals A Legendary Pokémon Cynthia? You Were Bragging So Much About It Earlier, Where Is It??" I Yell Maniacally. Regigigas Continues To Throw Punch After Punch, Unrelenting In His Attack.
Cynthia Falls To Her Knees And Still Even Over All The Noise I Can Still Hear The Sound Of Her Crying. My Stomach Drops And I Wave My Hand. Regigigas Stops His Attack And Cynthia Runs Over To Her Garchomp. I Pet Regigigas On His Head And He Lets Me Down. I Walk Over To Cynthia Who Has Returned Garchomp To It's Pokeball. Cynthia Falls To The Ground With Her Head In Her Knees. I Call Back My Regigigas And I Sit Down Next To Her.
"So This Is It Huh? You Lost" I Say Looking At Her. Her Gaze Meets Mines And My Heart Skips A Beat.
She Just Stares At Me For A Couple Seconds And Looks Back Down At The Ground.
"Kaiso, It Didn't Have To Be This Way You Know?" Cynthia Says As She Wipes A Tear From Her Face. The Ground Is Cold Even As The Sun Is Beginning To Break Over The Horizon.
"What Are You Going To Do With Sidel?" Cynthia Asks. I Look Over And Sidel Is Starting To Wake Up. It's Amazing To Me How She Slept Through All Of This.
"I Don't Know, It's Not My Call To Make. My Responsibility Is To You" I Say Looking At Cynthia. Her Eyes Aren't The Maniacal Gray Color Anymore. They've Turned Back Into The Crystal Blue That I've Become Accustom To Seeing.
"What Was The Purpose Of All This? Why Go Through With This Whole Team Astro Thing? What Was The End Game?" I Ask Standing Up. "You Do Know That Im Going To Have To Turn You In Right?"
Cynthia Stands Up And Walks Right Up To Me. She Stares At Me For A Little Bit. I Can See The Dirt And Sweat On Her Face, Her Hair Is A Mess But She Seems Normal Again.
"Kaiso, Seeing You Act Like The Champion I Knew That You Could Be Is One Of The Most Satisfying Things In The World. All I Wanted Was Just Some Attention From You, Not The Tough Guy Act. I Love You For What You Can Become Kaiso. You Took Away What Was Important To Me, But Somehow You Managed To Nurture What You Took And I Became Infatuated With It." Cynthia Says Putting Her Hand On My Cheek. "You Are So Much More Than What You Let On Kaiso, Your Passion, Your Tenacity And Your Undeniable Charm Is What Compels People To Want To Be Around You. Even Though You Can Be An Asshole Sometimes"
Before I Can Respond, Cynthia Leans In And Kisses Me. Not Too Long But She Lingers As She Pulls Away. I Look To The Ground Trying To Take In What Happened Just Now. When I Look Back Up I See Cynthia Take Out A Knife, I Can Only Cover Up My Face As She Goes In The Killing Blow. I Close My Eyes And Brace Myself, But The Stab Never Comes. I Open My Eyes To Find Cynthia Knocked Out On The Ground.
"Woah, She Almost Had You Didn't She?" The Unmistakable Voice Of Aroarah Invades My Ears.
I'm Speechless At The Sight Of Her. So Many Questions Invade My Mind But I Cannot Find The Words To Say Anything. All I Can Do Is Hug Aroarah, Because In That Instance I Was Truly Afraid. I Sit On The Ground Next To Cynthia And Aroarah And Sidel Sit Next To Me.
"Thanks For Saving Me Kaiso, I Really Appreciate it" Sidel Says Holding Her Broken Arm.
"No Problem, I Couldn't Let A Fellow Champion Get Hurt Because Of Me, It Was Only Right" I Say.
"So What Are You Going To Do About Her?" Sidel Asks Pointing At Cynthia.
"I'm Taking Her Back To Sinnoh. The Government Will Decide What To Do With Her" I Say Standing Up. I Call A Helicopter To My Location.
"Alola Is A No Fly Zone You Know That Right?" Sidel Says. I Shoot A Look At Her And She Looks Away. We Sit In Silence For An Hour, The Helicopter Arrives At Our Location And Sinnoh League Officials Show Run Out Of The Helicopter Making Room For Me. I Turn Around And Look At Aroarah, She Seems A Bit Upset, I Go To Close The Door But I Something Stops Me.
"Aroarah, How Would You Like To Be My New Student?" I Say. Aroarahs Face Lights Up As She Runs Onto The Helicopter With Me. She Tugs At My Shirt Squealing.
My Legacy. What Will I Be Remembered For As A Champion? I Could Easily Go Down The Path Cynthia Went, Alone, Craving Acceptance, Attention. Or I Could Inspire The Generation After Me. I Look Down At Aroarah Looking Out The Window As We Leave Alola Behind.
Whatever That May Be, I'm Just Beginning To Write My Legacy.