The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 5 Episode 11: Instances

Spoiler:

The clock on the wall read half past seven in the evening, as Steven sat in the home office of Jon and Alyssa’s house. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was hiding. He had told anyone who asked that he needed to charge his phone, and was thankful that nobody pointed out that he could charge it practically anywhere.

Chris had left Mossdeep five hours ago, en route to Ever Grande City at Steven’s request. By his estimate, Chris should have arrived an hour and a half ago, after which, Drake would have sent a coded message to inform Steven of Chris’ arrival. Charlotte in particular had disagreed with the decision to send Chris alone, even if he had agreed with the necessity of it himself, and had been particularly argumentative since. However, half an hour ago, when his phone was giving ’Low Battery’ warnings, he had asked Jon if he could charge it in the house. It was at that time that he began to think that something had gone wrong, and since then couldn’t face anyone. He had tried to convince himself that he might have underestimated the distance, or that Lugia may have needed a rest, but knew that neither was likely. Chris was only nineteen, and as much as he didn’t want to believe it, if Chris hadn’t reached the Elite Four by now, he wasn’t going to, something that Steven knew would haunt him for the rest of his life. And considering the fact that he hadn’t returned, Chris had either gotten quite close to Ever Grande City before turning around, or wouldn’t be returning.

Praying for a message to come through from Drake, confirming a dinner booking that didn’t exist, Steven kept refreshing his email inbox, as he sat hunched over a desk which had his phone, connected by a short power cable. Jon had provided him with a fast charger, which had his phone sitting at over ninety percent battery, but Steven wasn’t ready to leave just yet, and face everyone outside. It was bad enough hearing Charlotte argue with Jon, who had opted to take the heat of that decision to buy Steven some respite. It wasn’t just Charlotte that Steven couldn’t face. It was practically everyone. He knew that Chris was Justin’s best friend, and Justin had been practically silent since they realised that Chris was behind schedule. Despite their past having been complicated, he knew Abbee was likely the most empathetic person he knew, and would be beyond devastated if anything happened to Chris. Even the others, who weren’t as close to Chris, cared for him and respected him. He was brave, talented and ambitious, wanting to be the first person to conquer every league, and Steven knew that if he pulled this off, it was not unlikely that Chris would be offered the role of Indigo Champion. Now however, he had the terrifying thought that Chris may not ever get that opportunity.

“Come on, goddamn it,” Steven muttered, as he pulled down on his inbox, forcing it to refresh. “Send the message. Let me know he got there okay…”

Outside, Cassandra, Violet and Jarena sat at the outdoor table, where they had witnessed the five original students spending their nights, watching the skies for Willow’s spell, indicating danger. Only one night had that vigilance come to fruition. Chris had been on watch, and Jon had come out to keep him company when Delilah had led the attack. Steven had gone to Jon and Alyssa’s to charge his phone half an hour ago, and the other employees were scattered across the property, all processing the news that Chris hadn’t made contact on their own, the only exception to that being Dylan and Abbee, who were talking quietly in the lounge of the lodge. They had seen Jon wandering between all of them, making sure they were all okay.

“It’s been six hours…” Jarena muttered as she looked at the time on her phone, which read eight o’clock.

“He could be on his way back. Maybe he got close but had to turn around…” Violet offered, surprising Cassandra a little. Normally Violet was the pessimist of the trio, with Jarena having to offer the less depressing option. However she figured it made sense. Other than Spiritwater, which kept them too busy to think about what was happening, this was the most hopeless situation they had found themselves in, with nothing they could do to change anything. Cassandra couldn’t help but feel disgusted at how hopeless they felt at being caught five years earlier. It seemed insignificant when faced with the fact that someone they now considered a friend, may have been captured or killed, and all they could do was wait until they had to give up hope. Jarena remained silent.

“Maybe Steven’s heard from him since we last checked-” Cassandra began, though Jarena cut her off.

“If he had, do you honestly think he’d be hiding in Jon and Alyssa’s place, letting us all worry like this?” Jarena snapped. Cassandra didn’t blame her. She didn’t believe it herself. She just wanted to offer something. Some alternative to what they were worried had happened, and became more likely with every passing second.

Knowing it was no use, Cassandra decided to change tactics.

“Are your Pokemon well rested?” she asked her two friends. Jarena gave her a puzzled look.

“Yeah, why?” Jarena asked.

“Because if something has happened to Chris, it is them. We all know that some wild Pokemon wouldn’t be enough to hold him up this long…” Cassandra said, embracing the pessimism that had taken a hold of Jarena. “If something has happened, they are within a few hours flight of Mossdeep, and they’ll be coming here…”

“It’s a big island…” Jarena suggested, though Violet shook her head.

“If they have Palkia, and Palkia can sense Dialga, it makes sense it could sense Giratina as well. They’d know by now that the egg is here…” Violet answered. “Mark my words, by the time the sun rises tomorrow, we won’t be still sitting cosy like this…”

Her last words were laced with contempt. Despite their skills in Shadowcraft that made them a cut above the rest in general, it was no secret that the three of them, and Willow, were the weakest battlers, and even then, Willow had two Legendary Pokemon at her disposal. For Violet, one of the worst parts of this situation was knowing that whilst Cassandra had improved significantly, and eclipsed herself and Jarena as a Pokemon trainer, even she didn’t hold a candle yet to the rest of the battlers there. The last thing she wanted was to get in the way.

“What’s that?”

Violet was pulled from her thoughts by Cassandra’s voice, concern and hope both evident. She looked up to see Cassandra pointing to the darkening eastern sky.

“What’re you talking about?” Violet asked, though before the words left her mouth, she saw it. A flickering in the shadowy horizon.

The trio watched in silence, as the flicker grew larger and began to take shape. None wanted to suggest it could just be a large bird Pokemon, for two reasons. The first being that no flying Pokemon that large existed that wasn’t Lugia, or some other Legendary Pokemon. And if it weren’t Lugia, it was likely the beginning of an attack.

“Jon!” Cassandra yelled, knowing he had passed by them only ten minutes earlier. “Steven! Something’s coming!”

Within a minute, the trio had been joined by not just Jon, Steven, and Charlotte, who had been first to arrive, but everyone. Willow, Abbee, Dylan and Justin had come out to see what the commotion was about as well. All stood in silence, with a collective held breath, until finally they heard it. A familiar roar…

“That’s Lugia!” Charlotte exclaimed.

Minutes passed as the shadow grew larger in form and began to be identifiable as the Legendary Pokemon. However, once it was almost on them, Jon felt Latios’ voice in his head.

”There’s someone else…”

Not wanting to alarm everyone, Jon quietly unclipped Rayquaza’s Pokeball, as Lugia flew over them, and landed, backlit by the setting sun. Atop it’s back sat a figure, backlit and unidentifiable. The figure seemed to pick something up, before sliding down off Lugia’s back. As the figure landed between the gathered group of Eon Academy representatives, and Lugia’s large hide, blocking out the sun, there was a collective gasp.

In his arms was Chris, limp and seemingly lifeless. However, that was not the most obvious concern. His feet seemed to be pointing at jarring angles, and his exposed skin, arms, legs and face, all seemed to be scalded, as if exposed to hot water. His right hand side, his right arm, leg, and the side of his neck and face were burnt even worse, with parts of his hair singed and missing.

“Chris…” Charlotte whispered, as tears flooded her eyes.

“No…” Steven muttered, as the life seemed to deflate from him in a moment. Jon swore under his breath, before moving towards the figure carrying Chris, nobody having seemed to be able to register the familiar face before them, in light of the horrifying sight of what he held.

“He’s alive…” said a familiar voice. “He is concussed, burnt all over, and has more broken bones than most people have in their life. But he is still alive…”

Cassandra looked up, recognising the voice of the person who carried the heavily injured Chris. Ironically, the last time she had heard it, he himself had been injured and in a hospital bed, at Jon’s hands. She looked up, and took in the face of Lance.

Fury washed over Cassandra, as she remembered Lance’s attack on Violet and Jarena, and his psychotic rant after, however she was pulled from these thoughts by Jon’s quiet and even voice. There was something else about it though, that was different. It took her a moment to realise. His voice sounded as if he were using all he had to just keep it together.

“Can you four heal him?”

Jon stepped forward, and took Chris from Lance, now feeling his short and pained breaths.

“Can you heal him?” Jon repeated, as he looked to the four witches. Cassandra opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“I mean, theoretically…” Jarena answered, her voice weak, unable to take it in. “We can fix broken bones, heal wounds and burns, and presuming there is no permanent damage, help with the concussion, but…”

“But what?” Charlotte asked, looking between Jon and Chris, and Jarena.

“Even during the Spiritwater Crisis, we never treated someone in this state. Nobody this bad made it to us alive for us to even try…” Violet stated, like Jon, sounding impersonal, because it was the only way to keep all her thoughts in check. “This is uncharted territory for us…”

Their attention was pulled by a thud, as Lance collapsed to the ground, looking at them in confusion.

“Dylan…” Jon said quietly. “Is this necessary?”

“Better safe than sorry…” Dylan whispered, as Darkrai rose from his shadow, staring intently at Lance, who reached out, before falling asleep.

“Thanks…” Cassandra said, before, alongside Willow and Violet, she followed Jon towards the staff lodge. Jarena on the other hand, seemed to have noticed something. She was staring intently at Lugia who was oddly quiet, causing Steven and Dylan to look at the Legendary Pokemon. They noticed what she was looking at.

One of the large blue scales that protected Lugia's eyes was gone, seemingly ripped out, as blood dripped from the Legendary Pokemon's wounded face, pooling on the ground and being absorbed into the soil.

Walking towards the large Legendary Pokemon, Jarena held out a hand tentatively, and called out to Lugia. The Pokemon looked between the small group taking Chris away, and Jarena, before finally settling its gaze on her.

After another quiet call to Lugia, it lowered its head to her, as she gently placed a hand over the wound where the large blue scale once protruded from. Lugia began to growl quietly, though Jarena steeled herself, despite the menacing size and sound, as she began muttering an incantation. Almost instantly, Lugia went silent as the pain disappeared and the wound began to close. Once she knew it had been healed, she pulled her sleeve over her hand and wiped the blood off Lugia's face, before wiping her bloody hand on her jeans.

"Thanks…" Abbee said quietly to Jarena. They weren't together for more than a few months after Chris captured Lugia, but she still felt a strong bond with the Legendary Pokemon, especially given her presence in its life whilst it was still young. Part of her felt guilty she hadn't noticed the wound or pain of the Pokemon, in her own concern for Chris. Jarena nodded solemnly, before joining the others in taking Chris to be healed.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Lance awoke three hours later, sitting on a chair, with his hands tied behind him. He quickly looked towards his waist, but the thought was interrupted by Jon’s voice.

“Looking for these?”

Lance looked up to see Jon, Steven and Dylan standing in front of him, and began to take in his surroundings. He sat on the edge of a battlefield inside a large stadium. Jon held up a belt, on which were clipped six Pokeballs.

“This is how you thank me?” Lance spat, glaring at Jon. “I save one of your precious students, and this is what happens?”

“You saved him?” Jon asked, though his tone implying he didn’t necessarily believe it. “See, all I saw was Lugia arrive back, and you jump down, carrying Chris who looks like he has been waterboarded with acid…”

“I didn’t exactly get a chance to explain myself before this f**ker put me to sleep!” Lance yelled.

“Watch it…” Dylan said, not letting his gaze wander from Lance. “It won’t take much to make you more cooperative if we need to…”

“Dylan,” Jon said, giving Dylan a look, before looking at Lance. “Dylan was right. You’ve tried to kill two people who are under my care now, as well as broken out of prison, and as you can probably tell, tensions are a little high right now…”

“Lance, what happened?” Steven asked, growing more and more tired of the bickering, as his guilt grew after seeing Chris in the state he was in. “Why is Chris so injured?”

Lance looked between the three men who held him captive, and despite his desire to curse them, he instead sighed.

“I have been tailing Blackstone since I broke out, trying to do some damage, but honestly, the best I could do was pick one of them off if they strayed too far from the pack, and gather intel. But about two months ago, something changed…” Lance explained, before struggling against his binds. “Can you loosen this damn rope?”

“Once we believe you aren’t going to do something you regret…” Jon answered back, as Lance rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded a lot like ’self righteous piece of s**t’. He sighed irritably before continuing.

“Before that, getting intel and picking off the odd member wasn’t as difficult. They seemed to be looking into stuff themselves, and I think it was mostly just keeping tabs on Legendary Pokemon. But then something changed, and they became far more organised. As if they went from reconnaissance to action,” Lance explained. “They’ve been moving slowly from Johto, across Galar, and making their way west, and I’ve been tailing them…”

“So it was a coincidence Chris crossed their path?” Jon asked, not quite sure he believed Lance.

“More like s**t luck…” Lance muttered. “I was a few clicks behind one of their boats, when I saw the Lugia. They had seen it as well, and probably figured that out there, it was an easy target. Whoever it was giving the instructions had the advantage of not having to hold on for dear life whenever their Pokemon took a hit.”

“So they attacked Lugia?” Steven asked, as Lance shot him an irritated glance.

“No Steven, Chris saw their boat and jumped off Lugia’s back…” Lance muttered. “What the f**k do you think?”

“What attacked them?” Jon asked, wanting to steer the topic back, knowing Steven felt guilty enough about the situation.

“Yveltal…”

Jon and Dylan gave each other confused looks, whilst Steven seemed to understand.

“Legendary Pokemon that has ties to Kalos mythology. It is said to absorb the life force of living beings, though that may just be a move like Drain Punch or something…” Steven answered.

“Flying and Dark type, almost six metres from nose to tail. Trying to battle that whilst riding Lugia, Chris didn’t stand a chance,” Lance answered bitterly. “I saw the whole thing. Lugia dodged an attack, before hitting it with a Thunderbolt. Yveltal scraped it with some black beam which seemed to restore its energy, before using Phantom Force. The hit was enough to throw Chris off. He fell about forty metres…”

“How did he get so burnt?” Dylan asked, almost abrasively. “You didn’t mention any fire attacks, and most of it looks like he has been scalded…”

Lance remained silent for a moment, unsure whether he should answer.

“Dylan raises a good point…” Jon said, anger evident in his tone as he remembered Chris’ burns. “How did Chris get so burnt?”

“I only got there just as Chris was thrown off. I was riding on Charizard’s back. He was going to hit the water. He’d straightened up to handle the dive well, but even then, at that height, it would have been like hitting concrete. Even if the impact didn’t kill him, it would have done far worse…” Lance answered. “I couldn’t do anything to catch him, or slow him down, so I had Charizard use Blast Burn on the water where he was going to hit. The worst burns are from that…”

“Why the hell would you think that’s a good idea?!” Dylan asked angrily.

“Did you not do high-school science? Surface tension ring any bells?” Lance asked mockingly to Dylan.

“Get to the damn point…”

The voice came from the door, where Chris stood, leaning against the doorframe, wearing a new singlet and pair of shorts. Considering the state he had been in three hours ago, this was shocking, however, as he walked towards them, it became obvious that Shadowcraft had not restored him completely. His movements were slow and uneasy, as the mended bones were stiffer and less dexterous than he was used to. Additionally, Chris looked as if he had not slept in days.

“Chris…” Jon said with a sigh. Cassandra entered the door behind him, cursing to herself that Chris wouldn’t stay put. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I just got hit by a f**king train…” Chris said weakly. “Even with the best healthcare on the planet…”

“Chris, you really should rest…” Cassandra interjected, though Chris shook off the concern.

“I can rest when I’m dead…” Chris retorted, before focusing his gaze on Lance. “Now get to the point…”

Lance looked at Chris, shock evident at his miraculous recovery, before continuing.

“Blast Burn is practically explosive on impact. It disturbed the water, breaking the surface tension, and aerating it so it would be less of an impact. That and surface tension drops as temperature rises…” Lance muttered, addressing the answer to Dylan, who had asked the original question. “I chose him coming back here with a concussion, a few broken bones, and some burns, compared to him coming back in a body bag…”

Jon realised Lance was right. Despite it being far from pleasant, Lance gave Chris more chances of surviving that fall than he would have had otherwise.

“After that, I fished you out of the water, before Lugia swooped us. It made an air bubble and took us underwater…” Lance said to Chris. “I thought it was going to attack me. Scared the living s**t out of me…”

“Thank you…” Jon said quietly. Lance ignored this, and instead, looked between the crowd of people gathered.

“I’ve answered all your questions, so now I have one…” Lance muttered, before settling his gaze on Jon, knowing none of the others would give him an answer. “Why the f**k was Chris out there on Lugia to begin with?”

Jon remained silent, prompting Lance to continue.

“This wasn’t just a joy-flight, he was way too far from Mossdeep for that, and based on the welcoming party back here, you were all expecting him. He was out there doing something for you…” Lance continued. “The only thing out that way was Ever Grande City…”

“I asked him to go. To deliver a message…” Steven admitted. “If you’re angry with anyone about this, be angry with me…”

Lance’s reaction surprised all of them. Or moreso, his lack of reaction. Instead, his expression was cold and calculating. He looked at Chris, who in his exhaustion, couldn’t hide the worry about Lance finding out too much.

“You sent him with a message for the Elite Four, because it’s the only way to be certain that Blackstone wouldn’t intercept it. At the same time Blackstone are closing in on Mossdeep. Because you were worried they would come here, and wanted help…” Lance extrapolated. “My theory was that Blackstone were looking for something, and the reason they began to mobilise two months back, was because they got a lead. But you know what they’re after, don’t you Jon?”

Nobody answered, causing Lance to reveal a menacing grin.

“And you have it here… Don’t you…?”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Within fifteen minutes, all present at the Academy were in the stadium where Lance remained tied. Everyone glanced between the scene that had unfolded, and the various camera feeds shown on the projector, making sure that nobody was about to get the jump on them, whilst all were occupied.

“Tell me what is going on Jon,” Lance said. “If you do, I’ll tell you everything I know about them, and I might even help take them down, presuming you untie me…”

“Like hell…” Cassandra muttered, causing Lance’s gaze to fall on her.

“Do I look like the same person I was on the S.S. Wishmaker?” Lance asked, to which Jarena answered.

“Do you mean before or after Jon beat the stuffing out of you?” Jarena answered.

“Real funny. I’m sure that Blackstone will hold off their attack until we have all our jokes out of the way…” Lance retorted, before muttering, “of all people, why was it this idiot…”

All present in the room knew what this was a reference to. Each of the Diamond Ladies beat a regional Champion. Violet beat Steven, Cassandra beat Cynthia, and Jarena beat Lance.

“What do you think Lance?” Cassandra asked. “You going for the ’prison changed me’ routine? Because that loses credibility when you break out…”

“I think that if I still wanted to purge the world of rot like you,” Lance said, laying weight on the words he had said to Cassandra in the S.S. Wishmaker infirmary five years ago, “I have had more than enough chances to do that in the last year…”

“Oh, so the fact you haven’t tried to kill us this year is because you’re a new man?” Violet asked. “Nothing to do with the fact that you trying to attack this place would be a suicide mission? Or that we can defend ourselves with Shadowcraft now, without throwing our lives away?”

“You mean to tell me you haven’t left the grounds of this place? Haven’t dropped your guard outside of here once?”

“Lance, get to the f**king point,” Chris muttered.

“It’s exactly as I told you, that day you let me go…” Lance said, as multiple pairs of eyes in the room looked at Chris in confusion. “The world thinks I’m some sort of villain-”

“I wonder why,” Jarena muttered.

“But,” Lance said to Chris, ignoring Jarena’s remark. “I’ll do whatever it takes to prove them wrong. Why else would I spend the last year tailing Blackstone…?”

Jon considered the situation in front of him, before making the same decision he made five years earlier.

“Your call,” Jon said to Cassandra, Violet and Jarena. “Honestly, I think the situation might be too desperate not to have him help us, but you’re the ones this affects the most.”

Cassandra looked between Violet and Jarena, who, one after another gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

“Do it. Best case scenario, he keeps his word, and we have a better chance…” Cassandra said to Jon, before looking at Lance directly. “Worst case, he gives me a reason to believe he is a threat, and I deal with it how I deal with threats best…”

Staring Lance down, Cassandra held up a hand, and summoned a scarlet spectral flame to it, without a word.

“And I’m finding it easier than ever to deal with threats…”

Lance smirked, before looking at Jon.

“So are you going to untie me or not?”

Dylan untied Lance, before attempting to help him to his feet, though the gesture was shaken off. Once he stood, and stretched out his muscles, Jon tossed Lance the belt he had taken, which carried his own Pokemon.

“So what are they after?” Lance asked as he looped his belt around his waist, though Jon shook his head.

“First, you tell us what you know…”

Lance sighed.

“Well I don’t know a great deal more than they seem to be after something that I believe you have here, and seemed to only start looking for it in late June,” Lance began, as Chris groaned at the little intel Lance seemed to have on offer. “But I can tell you some Legendary Pokemon you can expect to see. And if they do show up here, I think this battle will go down in history in terms of sheer numbers…”

“Okay, what Pokemon?” Steven asked. Lance addressed Chris first.

“You’ve met Yveltal,” Lance said, almost patronisingly, before directing his words to the rest of the group. “I know they also have Volcanion, Zapdos, Heatran, Entei, and at least two other Legendary Pokemon, though I don’t know what they are specifically…”

“So we’re looking at at least six Legendary Pokemon,” Jon said to himself, and Lance nodded.

“That being said, I have heard rumours that there are far more than six. I just couldn’t confirm it…” Lance added. “Now, what do you have that they’re after…”

There was silence, as Lance looked between all present, nobody wanting to be the one to reveal the secret they had kept for months.

“Last year, Giratina created a wormhole that took myself and Cass somewhere in northern Johto, four hundred years or so in the past. To some ruins where it was born…” Jon said quietly. “When we were there, we found a huge Pokemon egg that we realised contained an infant Dialga. When Giratina got close to it, it triggered some fleeing mechanism, and it disappeared, travelling to somewhere else in time…”

Lance’s eyes widened as Jon explained this, the gravity of the situation dawning on him.

“About nine weeks ago, Latios sensed something appearing on the island, not far from our borders. Justin and Jarena went with him to investigate, and found the same egg…”

“S**t…” Lance whispered, the arrogance and contentment draining from his voice. “They’re coming here to take a Dialga egg?”

Jon nodded.

“We’ve kept it a secret, but we realised that they can track it…” Jon explained. “We realised that Giratina subconsciously knew Dialga was at those ruins, that’s why the wormhole took us there. And for the egg to appear here, it means that either Giratina in another time, or Palkia, must have gotten too close, and triggered the same mechanism that we did.”

There were murmurs and shudders as Jon continued the explanation.

“In the past, Giratina was enslaved by Agatha, and had Agatha come across that egg, we’d have known by now. And whilst there is the chance Giratina and I come across the egg in the future, we wouldn’t trip the time-warp mechanism twice. That and the egg should not have travelled through space and found its way here,” Jon continued. “Which leads me to believe they have Palkia, and Palkia can sense Dialga and Giratina. At some point in the past or the future, Palkia got too close to the egg and caused it to time warp. Palkia tried to prevent it but instead sent it towards the nearest of the two of them in the time it appeared, which was Giratina here. And based on the fact that you said they began mobilising at the same time Dialga’s egg appeared here, I’d guess that it travelled back in time from the future, where they found it in the ruins, and accidentally sent it back here…”

As Lance went to speak, Jon blinked, and in the instant before his eyes reopened, he found himself standing alone in the stadium, all who were with him prior having vanished. Shocked and confused, he looked around, and spotted a young woman, no taller than five foot two, stepping out of the shadows, with bright red hair and piercing green eyes. She was dressed in casual clothes, and appeared to be in her mid twenties. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary about her, to the point where if Jon walked past her in Mossdeep City, he’d have barely noticed her, outside of the fact she was reasonably attractive. Now however, between her sudden appearance, the vanishing of everyone else, and the menacing grin she wore, he knew exactly who he faced.

“You’re from Blackstone, aren’t you…” Jon called out, as he withdrew a Pokeball. The woman laughed.

“So you’re expecting us?” she asked. “I didn’t realise that you even knew of our existence…”

“I’d been warned,” Jon retorted. “And when one of my employees came back to Mossdeep, near dead, there wasn’t anyone else that seemed likely to have got him in that state…”

“So he’s still alive?”

“Thankfully,” Jon answered, glancing around the room for any sort of indication as to what was going on. He spotted the monitor that displayed the security camera footage, and noticed that while the user interface from the recorder was there, all the displayed channels showed a ’No Signal’ label. From where he stood, he could see the glass door that led into the foyer, and through that the glass doors to outside. Despite the sun having set, there would have been light visible through both sets of doors, with there being lights mounted to the entrance of the stadium. Outside though, was pure blackness.

“Where are we?” Jon asked, his tone indicating he wasn’t in the mood for half-truths. “And who are you?”

“My codename is Ruin,” the woman said casually, as she unlatched a Pokeball herself, that whilst looked standard, Jon knew was far from ordinary. “And you could say we are in an instance…”

“An instance?” Jon asked, almost mockingly.

“You ever played an online game, Jon?” Ruin asked, a grin crossing her face. “You can have hundreds of people playing on the same map, but at the same time, not playing together. They’re all copies, with all the players scattered across them…”

“So this is a copy of my stadium?” Jon asked, as Ruin nodded.

“And everyone has been placed in their own instance, facing one of my squadmates. Divide and conquer, you know?” Ruin answered casually. “Whilst the real Eon Academy stadium remains empty, with our leader on his way to collect what we’re here for…”

“So I’d better make this quick,” Jon retorted, as Ruin laughed. She tossed forward her own Pokeball.

“Go, Yveltal…”

Jon watched as the Pokeball flashed into a massive light, which materialised into a menacing black and red bird. The name however, was not lost on Jon.

“Yveltal…” Jon muttered in understanding. “You’re the one who attacked Chris?”

Ruin’s menacing grin grew wider, as she started to laugh.

“You should have seen him falling!” she said mockingly. “He did everything he could to try and survive! If not for that damn Charizard trainer, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He’d be washing up on some shore in the next few weeks, and I’d have a Lugia I need to break in…”

“You’re the one who attacked Chris?” Jon repeated, his tone rising.

“What, you can’t figure that out on your own?”

“No, I can…” Jon answered calmly and coldly. Those who knew him would have known that he was furious by this, though Ruin seemed oblivious. “I just want to make sure I’m punishing the right person…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“What’re you doing here, a**hole?” Charlotte called out to the man in his late twenties who stood opposite her. He had a clear slouch, and pale complexion, with sandy coloured, buzzed hair. “And what have you done with the others?”

“I haven’t done anything,” the man answered. “I’ve just been told to deal with whoever I end up in front of…”

“Unlucky for you, you’ve wound up against me,” Charlotte retorted. “And if you ask anyone, the only person worse to battle than me would be Steven or Jon himself, a**hole…”

“A**hole all you can come up with?”

“What, is it Mister A**hole?” Charlotte asked mockingly.

“It’s Mech…”

Charlotte snorted in derision, before withdrawing a Pokeball.

“Do your worst, Mech,” Charlotte said, labouring on the codename he had given her.. “Let’s stop wasting my time and get this over with…”

Knowing he wouldn’t get more from Charlotte than insults, Mech withdrew a Pokeball, and threw it forward.

“Genesect, go…”

In front of Charlotte, materialised what appeared to be a large, metal plated bug, that stood a half foot shorter than her. Its metallic hide was purple, with a pair of glowing red eyes protruding from its large head. On its back, appeared a large, bright blue light. Charlotte was thankful the Pokemon looked so robotic, being far from fond of Bug Types herself.

“Go, Magmortar!”

Charlotte was thankful that she had a powerful Fire Type like Magmortar in her arsenal. Even without its double type advantage over Genesect, Magmortar was a solid option for Charlotte’s opening Pokemon, with its Flame Body ability, and powerful ranged attacks. Even its mediocre defence and speed could be alleviated.

“Techno Blast!” Mech shouted, as Genesect darted to the left, before honing in on Magmortar.

“Scary Face!” Charlotte commanded.

There was a screech from Genesect, as the moisture in the air condensed into waves of water, slamming into Magmortar. However, Magmortar didn’t flinch, instead, leering at Genesect, who seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“Now, Burn Up!” Charlotte commanded.

“Dodge it!”

Using the precious seconds it had to act completely to avoid the attack, Genesect shifted form, seeming to compact into a sleeker form, to dart to Magmortar’s left, as Magmortar’s brutal Fire Type attack scorched the air where Genesect had been, however Charlotte was not taken aback by this. She knew it was a possibility. Instead, she had chosen Burn Up for its secondary effect. It removed Magmortar’s Fire Typing, making it typeless. Now, another Techno Blast, which would have likely finished off Magmortar, would deal far less damage, at the cost of Magmortar’s Fire Type attacks dealing less damage, and its Bug and Steel Type attacks now unresisted. This was a trade-off she was willing to make though.

“Now, Barrier!” Charlotte ordered, as Magmortar cried out, its physical defences now psychically reinforced.

“Metal Claw!” Mech shouted.

Genesect rushed into close quarters with Magmortar, slashing at the Pokemon with one of its large, steel claws, causing Magmortar to cry out in pain, taking Charlotte by surprise. Despite Magmortar no longer resisting Bug and Steel attacks, it seemed far more affected by the hit than she anticipated. The only Pokemon she had seen hit Magmortar that hard was Deoxys in its Attack Form during training matches, however Deoxys in that form was a glass cannon, all of its strength being in its attacking power, with its defence being almost non-existent. Genesect however, looked like it could take much more of a hit, and being part Steel Type, she knew that it would not have paperthin defences to allow massive attack power like Deoxys.

”The son of a b***h has an ability…” she thought, thinking back to Justin’s Regieleki, however she knew there was another possibility. Genesect entered the battlefield first, and there was more than enough time for an ability to kick in. She remembered Chris’ battle against Natasha King of the College of the North Wind, whose Glastrier had an ability that would increase its attack power with every Pokemon it defeated. And she remembered how Chris turned the tables on her. A common trick at the Eon Academy.

“Power Swap, Magmortar!” Charlotte commanded, thankful for Magmortar’s minimal psychic abilities. Magmortar roared, as light flashed from both Pokemon, and moved towards their counterparts. Mech looked in worry, though continued to command Genesect.

“X-Scissor!”

“Barrier!” Charlotte ordered, as Genesect slammed into Magmortar, crossing both its blade-like claws against it. Magmortar however seemed to shake the attack off, despite it being a far more powerful attack on paper than the Metal Claw. And to Charlotte’s relief, what she had been waiting for finally happened. Genesect recoiled in pain, as its claws, despite being metallic, appeared charred and burnt. Now, with its boosts to attack power stolen, Magmortar having boosted its own defence, and Genesect unable to land physical hits with full power, the match had shifted.

Realising what happened, and the situation he was now in, Mech switched tactics, though it was too late.

“Iron Defence!”

“Flare Blitz!” Charlotte commanded. Magmortar roared, as it encased itself in flames, and whilst its lack of a Fire Typing would normally weaken the attack, the multiple buffs that it appeared to have stolen from Genesect more than made up for it. Genesects hide appeared to harden, however within an instant, Magmortar had slammed into it, knocking back. Stunned by the heavy attack, Charlotte gave one last order to Magmortar, who seemed barely able to stand itself.

“Now, Fire Punch!”

Concentrating the flames around one of its large, cannon-like fists, Magmortar rammed it into Genesect’s head, throwing it back, as it hit the ground, landing on its back, and not moving, before Magmortar itself collapsed.

Mech quickly called back Genesect, before grabbing another Pokeball.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…”

Mech looked up to see Charlotte holding a Master Ball.

“I just beat your Legendary Pokemon with a Magmortar, that is no more special than any other of its species,” Charlotte warned. “If you Blackstone idiots have done your homework, you’d know that what I have here is far worse, and if you can’t beat a Magmortar with a Legendary Pokemon, you won’t be able to beat my Deoxys, even if you have another Legendary up your sleeve…”

“You got lucky with Magmortar, being a Fire Type against a Bug-Steel Pokemon,” Mech argued, though Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh with derision.

“One of the first things I did was remove Magmortar’s Fire Typing, so you weren’t as disadvantaged as you thought…” Charlotte retorted mockingly. “But if you want to try for round two, I’d be more than willing to oblige…”

Mech considered sending out another Pokemon, though knew Charlotte was likely right. Despite having a powerful Pokemon himself, and being more than skilled as a trainer, Charlotte was on a whole other level. And there was one other thing.

Mech replaced the Pokeball on his belt, and snorted with derision.

“Something funny?” Charlotte asked, not letting go of Deoxys Pokeball.

“More so that right now, it doesn’t matter whether we battle or not…” Mech answered. “You and I are both stuck here until we are let out…”

“And where is here?” Charlotte asked, annoyance evident in her voice.

“A pocket dimension, made to be a carbon copy of your battlefield at the Academy. We call it an instance. Palkia can make dozens of these, and scatter people across them…” Mech answered. “You and all your friends are scattered across individual instances, while the real Academy is undefended, and our leader is on his way to take what you’ve been trying to hide from us…”

“So if us being pulled here only exists to get us out of your way, so you can take what you want, then why bother showing up here yourself? And I suppose you have friends who are battling mine?” Charlotte asked.

“Between all of you, there are powerful Legendary Pokemon that are there for the taking…”

To Mech’s surprise, Charlotte burst into laughter, annoying him a little.

“What?”

“I just don’t know how a group such as yourself can exist, when you make such stupid calls!” Charlotte roared with laughter. “Hell, how you even got so many Legendary Pokemon, if the rumours are true, when you do stupid s**t like this?!”

“We have divided you up and are picking you off one-by-one. I might have failed, but I’m far from the strongest in our team, and I can guarantee that your allies will not be as lucky as you were…” Mech answered irritably.

“No, you were greedy and stupid,” Charlotte answered, gaining some composure. “You said yourself, we are stuck here until we are let out, so it doesn’t matter if we battle. You and I could sit here and play cards for all it matters. Whoever has Palkia, could have placed us Academy types somewhere else, together, and left us there while you all came in and took Dialga. We’d have been helpless, and you’d have nothing standing in your way. But let me guess, the trainer with Palkia is in one of these instances, fighting one of my friends to try and take their Pokemon?”

Mech remained silent, though that was enough of an answer for Charlotte.

“Sure, Palkia will be a pain to beat. But if Palkia is knocked out, can it maintain the ability to hold us all here?” Charlotte asked without waiting for an answer. “You had the best trump card in existence for what you’re trying to pull off, and you flushed it down the drain by giving us an opportunity to break out of here, so you could have a crack at taking our Pokemon…”

Mech’s face reddened as Charlotte burst into laughter again.

“You could have had practically guaranteed the two Pokemon that control time and space, making you practically gods, but instead, you underestimated us and gave us the opportunity to f**k up your plans, so you could try and get a few more Legendary Pokemon while you’re here,” Charlotte concluded. “You really think that there wasn’t a better decision that could have been made by the genius who came up with this plan?”

“You really think whoever is facing Palkia right now has a chance at beating it?” Mech asked, knowing how unlikely it was, and finding a little security in that unlikelihood. Charlotte simply shrugged.

“I just know that between all of us here, we have a good history of f**king up people’s plans,” Charlotte answered, before walking back to the wall, and taking a seat. “Mark my words, whoever is in charge of this whole operation, really shouldn’t be, and you’re not the brightest to have put your faith in them…”

“Because you’ve got your faith in someone perfect?” Mech asked. “Last I heard, he is living on a diet of anticonvulsants just to get through the day…”

“And despite that, he hasn’t let me down yet…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“I don’t get paid enough for this s**t…” Chris muttered to himself, as he took in the sight in front of him. The fact he had drawn the short straw in terms of his opponent was what caused him to understand exactly what had happened nearly instantly.

Palkia stood at over four metres tall, and though it was technically shorter than Lugia, it appeared to be far heavier. Its massive red eyes stared at Chris, as if it were considering how it would eat him, as if it wouldn’t just bite him in half.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” called out a voice. This took Chris by surprise, causing him to pull his gaze away from Palkia’s large face, and look to the ground behind, where a man in his early thirties stood. He had messy black hair, with dark blue eyes, and what Chris could only describe as a ’s**t-eating grin’. “You were the lucky one. Or the unlucky one…”

“How so?” Chris asked, looking between Palkia and who he presumed was its trainer.

“Because when I had Palkia spread you all out into your own instances, so that each of us could take your Pokemon, you wound up against Palkia itself…” the man answered casually. “Before you leave here, if you are lucky enough to, Lugia will belong to me…”

“Sorry, who the f**k are you?” Chris asked, annoyance growing evident in his tone. As self-controlled as he was these days, it still annoyed him when he was looked down on.

“You can call me Scope.”

“Well Scope, you’ll take Lugia, or any of my Pokemon, over my dead body…” Chris retorted, as he withdrew a Pokeball. He was keeping Lugia as a last resort, as whilst Lugia was by far his strongest Pokemon, Lugia had also barely had time to rest since that afternoon’s ordeal, and Chris had a hunch that even if he were to beat Palkia, and it lose control of these instances, the battle would only just be beginning.

“You’re being a little presumptuous Chris,” Scope answered with a grin. “Over your dead body is practically a given…”

Chris threw forward his Pokeball, causing Charizard to materialise. Before the light had even settled however, Chris had pressed the keystone in his steel wristband, causing Charizard to flash into an eruption of rainbow light, emerging black and blue, blue flames leaking from the sides of its jaws.

“Dragon Rush!” Chris yelled out, wanting to get the upper hand. He knew that Mega Charizard, whilst not Legendary, was the closest Pokemon he had to matching Palkia’s strength that wasn’t Lugia, and that being part Dragon Type, he would be both advantaged and disadvantaged. His best option was to get Palkia on the defensive, using all it had to keep Charizard at bay, whilst he thought of a way to beat it.

Charizard roared, as the blue flames erupted, encasing the Mega Evolved Pokemon, as it rushed forward. Charizard was fast, and Chris thought for a moment he may get lucky. With Charizard’s Tough Claws ability and massive attack power, Dragon Rush would hit even Palkia hard, and if he were lucky, cause it to flinch. However, as Chris watched, he noticed something strange happening. Charizard was clearly moving towards Palkia, yet not getting any closer.

“Palkia controls all space. So what happens if invisible to the naked eye, the space between Charizard and Palkia were to infinitely expand?” Scope asked, as Chris realised what was coming next. “Dragon Claw!”

“Duck!” Chris shouted, as Palkia lunged at Charizard, and despite there being almost an entire battlefield between them, seemed to stretch across the space, swiping at Charizard as if it were directly in front of the giant Pokemon.

Abandoning its attack, Charizard dived forward, as Palkia’s adjustment of the space worked in its favour, diving towards Palkia’s body, and darting around one side of it. However, just as quickly as this adjustment helped Charizard, it was soon hindered, as despite the fact it had slipped past Palkia, it was now not flying any further, as Palkia seemed to be inserting space in front of it.

“Protect!” Chris commanded, knowing how he would use this situation.

“Aqua Tail!”

With a flick, Palkia’s large tail slammed upwards, encased in torrential water, blocked at the last moment by a Protect barrier.

“Aerial Ace!” Chris commanded, knowing the move would do little, but hoping that any sort of hit would break Palkia’s rhythm. Seemingly breaking the laws of physics, though Chris could tell that in this place, they had little effect anyway, Charizard shifted direction in mid air, darting and breakneck speeds towards Palkia, slashing at the Pokemon.

“Water Pulse!”

Despite Water Pulse being a ranged attack, Chris wasn’t surprised when, despite Charizard having covered a small amount of distance as it passed Palkia, the pulsing torrent of water seemed to appear a matter of millimetres behind Charizard, as Palkia compressed the space between them into almost non-existence. Charizard took the brunt of the attack, though, thanks to its partial Dragon Typing, did not suffer anywhere near as much as it would in its normal form.

What made this battle difficult however, was the fact that he could not predict which Pokemon would attack first if either Pokemon had their rhythm broken. Once both Pokemon attempted to land an attack, they would strike sequentially until one landed a hit, breaking the rhythm. Whichever Pokemon struck first after that reset however, was impossible to predict. And whilst Chris could have Charizard use Agility, that would give Palkia a chance to land a devastating hit.

“Dynamic Punch!” Chris shouted.

“Dragon Pulse!”

Charizard lunged for Palkia, and with Palkia focusing on an attack, was able to make progress towards it, however was struck heavily by Dragon Pulse and thrown back. Chris swore under his breath, seeing that neither Pokemon was faster than the other. However, as that thought crossed his mind, he began to understand how he may be able to land a hit. That being said, it was going to be risky…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

When Dylan found himself standing alone, facing only a stranger, his mind went into overdrive. In a matter of moments, he had glanced at the screen with the CCTV recorder projected onto it, showing all cameras were disconnected, and had felt the familiar buzz of his watch on his hand, as it notified him that he had disconnected from the Academy’s Wi-Fi. The doors leading outside showed only blackness.

“Palkia did this, didn’t it?”

Opposite him stood a short man in his early twenties, tanned with dark brown hair, shaggy and partially covering his face. His eyes were obscured, hiding their brown hue.

“You catch on fast. Maybe this means we’ll have some fun…” the man answered. “You’re Dylan, right?”

Dylan nodded, however as he did, he let his gaze linger on his shadow, which was cast by one of the large stadium lights. Despite his lack of movement, he noticed a brief, almost imperceptible flicker.

“That’s right,” Dylan answered. “Who are you?”

“Codename is Shackle,” the man answered casually, almost seeming a little bored, though Dylan seemed to pique his interest. “Now I assume you’re not going to just cooperate and hand over your Pokemon?”

“Nope…”

“Good,” Shackle answered, as he withdrew a Pokeball. “I’ve been getting restless with all this lying low. I want to cut loose…”

Shackle threw his Pokeball forward, causing it to erupt into a flash of light, revealing a large canine-like Pokemon, covered in shaggy brown fur, with grey fur billowing from its back like a cloud of dark smoke. Its face seemed to be hidden by a gold, red and silver mask, shaped like a crown and a pair of large fangs.

“So this is Entei…” Dylan said quietly, before selecting a Pokeball. Whilst Flygon would have a type advantage, Dylan had a hunch that it would be more than typing that would decide this battle.

“Go Walrein!”

Dylan had multiple reasons for keeping Darkrai in reserve. Like Charlotte before him, he knew that if Shackle only had the one Legendary Pokemon, beating it without Darkrai would give him an edge. Additionally, being by far the most private of the Eon Academy staff, compared to Abbee and Victini, Justin and Regieleki, Chris and Lugia, and Charlotte and Deoxys, very few people knew that Dylan had Darkrai at his disposal. Whilst he knew that given their insight into Pokemon League intel, that Blackstone likely knew he had Darkrai, very few probably knew exactly what Darkrai was capable of, and if things got worse, which was seeming more and more likely, he wanted to make sure he didn’t give away too much too early. The real reason however, was a simple tactic that Dylan had used to win many matches before, including his battle against Brad Jenkins two years earlier, before he even had a Legendary Pokemon himself.

”The biggest mistake an enemy can make is underestimating you,” Jon had said two years earlier, as he handed each of his five students their Key Stones and Mega Stones, instructing them to keep them a secret.

Dylan took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Four years ago, he lost his first battle against Abbee, because he made a bad call early on, and began second guessing his instincts. Now however, he knew that to try and make up a plan like Charlotte would in this situation, would only work to his detriment. He’d be distracted by it, and knew that Shackle would hardly cooperate. Instead, he now knew that his best chance at winning was to hold on to any tactics loosely, and trust his instincts. They would tell him when the moment to strike presented itself. Until then, he needed to be unshakable.

“Entei, Stone Edge!”

“Protect!” Dylan ordered Walrein instinctively, knowing that a heavy hit of Stone Edge would likely knock Walrein out in a single hit. Walrein cried out as the barrier manifested itself, blocking the sharp stones that erupted from the ground. They exploded into dust, and having battled against his classmates numerous times over the years, Dylan knew what to expect.

“Flare Blitz!”

As the barrier fell, Entei was already bounding towards Walrein, encased in scorching hot flames, and slammed into the slower, heavy Ice Type. Walrein was thrown back, however was far less affected than it should have been, thanks to its Thick Fat ability.

“Double Team!” Dylan commanded, knowing that a defensive move now may just create the opportunity he was looking for, be it in the form of a missed attack presenting opportunity for a counter-attack, or something else. Walrein cried out, as spectral copies appeared around the battlefield, and the real Pokemon was moved instantly to switch places with one.

“Come on, at least pretend you’re worth my time!” Shackle yelled out, though the grin on his face betrayed any real sense of indignance. He looked like an aerial predator, watching with amusement as its prey beneath it scurried around for dear life. “Fire Blast!”

Entei slowed to a stand, before crouching, as a growl rumbled from its entire body. Suddenly it roared, standing upright as flames erupted in all directions. Half of the copies were struck, and fizzled into non-existence, leaving the rest in place.

“Substitute!” Dylan ordered Walrein, who along with the copies, vanished, being replaced by multiple stuffed dolls, each appearing to be a more demented bootleg of the real deal.

“Heat Wave!”

Dylan understood the reasoning for Shackle choosing this move. Despite being weaker than Fire Blast, Heat Wave had a wider area of effect, and considering it didn’t matter how much damage it did, with Walrein guaranteed to be unaffected, Shackle was choosing to focus on clearing obstacles that prevented it from finishing off Walrein.

Heat erupted from Entei, destroying the substitute as well as the remaining copies, leaving Walrein exposed on the other side of the battlefield.

“Found you…” Shackle said menacingly.

“You talk too much,” Dylan called out, before ordering Walrein, “Double Team again!”

More copies than before of Walrein appeared on the battlefield, making it harder for Entei to locate the real Pokemon, as Shackle gritted his teeth, giving Entei its next command.

“Laser Focus!”

Dylan knew this was his moment, and without thinking, let his instincts, that Jon had spent four years honing, take control.

“Encore!” Dylan ordered. Shackle gritted his teeth as he thought he understood what Dylan had done, growing tired of the games, and Dylan not attacking. However, he truly had no idea what Dylan had in store for him.

Entei used Laser Focus again, despite its own hesitance to act so fruitlessly, focusing in on the real Walrein, as Dylan gave his next order.

“Swords Dance!”

Walrein cried out as its physical strength was fortified, and Entei used its second forced Laser Focus, whilst Shackle tried to command the Pokemon to attack in vain.

“Now Mimic!”

Copying Entei who was now using its third and final forced Laser Focus, Walrein honed in on Entei, as Dylan gave his final command, having made the most of the time he had been bought.

“Liquidation!”

It was the first time that Walrein had made a damage dealing attack in this battle, but Dylan knew, Legendary or not, Entei would not be able to get up again after this hit. Walrein was propelled forward at high speed by a violent torrent of water, launched directly into Entei, who was only now able to act without being influenced by Encore. But it was too late.

Empowered by both Swords Dance, and Laser Focus, Walrein slammed into Entei, who was immediately blasted with the brutal torrent of water, throwing Entei back. The powerful Legendary Pokemon hit the ground hard, only missing Shackle by his own foresight to dive away from the oncoming Legendary Beast, who didn’t get up.

“Walrein, Aqua Ring,” Dylan said to the Pokemon, knowing the recovery move, whilst slow, would restore a significant amount of energy before Shackle could get another Pokemon onto the field. “You want to keep doing this, or is that it?”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Go, Blaziken!” Jon called out as he tossed the Pokeball forward, causing it to explode into a blinding light, revealing the Fire-Fighting type that was a staple of Jon’s team.

“Now that’s just silly,” Ruin commented, looking between both Pokemon. “Even with Yveltal being a Dark Type, Blaziken won’t last a minute against its Flying and Ghost attacks. I thought you were supposed to be good at this?”

“Shut the f**k up and let’s get this over with…” Jon retorted coldly to the woman who had caused Chris so much pain, and so much worry for those who remained at the Eon Academy. “Double Team!”

“Okay then,” Ruin said simply, as if it were of no consequence, whilst Blaziken split into dozens of copies of itself. “Phantom Force.”

Yveltal vanished from view, and Jon only managed to hide the grin of satisfaction by knowing that it would be more satisfying to watch as Ruin realised she had already lost. Lance had mentioned Yveltal using this move before, and he was thankful he remembered.

“Nasty Plot!” Jon commanded, knowing that against one of his own interns, this would give away his strategy, or raise questions for a competent trainer. Ruin however, didn’t notice. Blaziken cried out, as its attack power for special attacks rose.

There was a flash of light as Yveltal appeared in Blaziken’s blind spot, in the midst of a brutal attack. However, neither Blaziken, nor Jon flinched, as the attack phased through Blaziken. Yveltal seemed to stumble, expecting resistance that was simply not there. This however, placed it in the ideal position for a follow-up attack.

“Hyper Beam…”

Blaziken cried out, as a beam of white light appeared at its beak, the light itself seeming to squeal as it erupted into a massive, violent beam of light, striking Yveltal and knocking the large, Legendary Pokemon out of the air, as if it had been shot. Yveltal crashed to the ground, as Jon looked at his watch.

“Ten seconds to beat your Legendary…” Jon said in bitter distaste. “And here I thought Blackstone were actually a threat…”

Ruin sneered as she grabbed another Pokeball, however gasped as Blaziken disappeared from sight without Jon making a move or giving a command. An instant later, she felt a cold chill go down her spine, as she felt an ominous presence behind her, and something sharp that she could not see, pressed against her throat. In her peripheral vision she saw Blaziken’s outstretched claw, but knew that what she saw and what she felt did not line up.

“Good work Zoroark…” Jon said, as he walked forward, holding both Zoroark’s Pokeball, and Giratina’s calling the Legendary Pokemon out.

“So what, you’re going to kill me?” Ruin asked mockingly. “Get revenge for your precious student by having this Pokemon cut my throat…”

“I’m getting revenge, but not by killing you…” Jon said coldly, staring Ruin down, who with each passing moment, struggled more and more to be aloof about the situation in front of her. “I’m thinking something worse…”

“And what would that be?”

“We’re here because Palkia created this instance, right?” Jon asked, though didn’t wait for an answer. “What would happen if Palkia were to be killed whilst you’re in here?”

“We’d be removed and the instance would stop existing.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jon asked, his darkening tone implying the real point he was making, before saying it outright. “Are you sure that you wouldn’t just be stuck here until you either starved, dehydrated, or just ended things yourself?”

Ruin wanted to argue, but realised that she actually had no idea what would happen to those in the instances should Palkia die. The idea of Palkia being killed in battle was so far-fetched. However, Yveltal had been beaten in ten seconds by Jon…

“If that’s true, then you, and all your friends will face the same fate…” Ruin retorted, wanting to make this personal. “Your wife will become a widow, and your daughter fatherless.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Jon answered, as he pressed the button on Giratina’s Pokeball. The Legendary Pokemon seemed to sense immediately something was wrong and was on edge the moment it materialized. “I won’t bore you with the details, seeing as you are the enemy, but Giratina can get me out of here. And I imagine that with enough time to figure things out, Giratina could take me to any of these instances to help find my friends.”

Jon looked up as Giratina seemed to look at a specific point of the ceiling.

“You sense it, don’t you?” Jon asked. “Palkia?”

Giratina roared in the affirmative, as Jon returned to face Ruin.

“So, here’s what will happen. Giratina will take me to whatever instance Palkia is in, and whoever is facing it, will be getting my help to kill it,” Jon explained. “Either you’re right, and Palkia being killed means we are all ejected back into the real world, or you’re wrong, and this is the last place you will ever see, whilst Giratina and I fetch the others and leave you and your comrades to die…”

Giratina’s eyes glowed, the ceiling above them seemed to be pushed outward by an invisible force, creating a hole. Ruin’s eyes widened as she realised that Jon was about to leave her alone here.

“Wait!” she cried out, as Jon pressed the button on Zoroark’s Pokeball, returning the Pokemon, however he ignored her, as he nodded towards Giratina, who allowed the wormhole it had just created to whisk them away…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Charizard had yet to sustain a massive hit, and Chris knew that it could probably handle a few more smaller hits. At the same time, a heavy hit from a Dragon Type move would be enough to end the battle.

“Liquidation!” Scope ordered, as Palkia was launched forward by a jet of water, crossing the space between itself and Charizard as if it didn’t exist, though Chris knew that at that moment, it probably didn’t. Unsure, but needing to make a decision, Chris gave his own orders.

“Power-Up Punch!”

All Palkia was doing was expanding and contracting the space between itself and Charizard, which meant that for Palkia to make contact with Charizard, for a brief moment in time, it had to be susceptible to taking a hit itself.

As Palkia’s large form made contact with Charizard, its own attack struck, not dealing a great deal of damage, even with Charizard’s Tough Claws Ability, but still empowering it.

“Now Astonish!” Chris ordered, as Charizard, at breakneck speed, headbutted Palkia, stunning it for a brief second, giving it time to land another hit.

“Power-Up Punch again!”

This attack hit harder, though still far from phasing Palkia, who was readying its next attack.

“Liquidation again!”

Charizard was unable to dodge, as Palkia rushed it again, this time from point blank range, throwing Charizard back, and Chris had a hunch, reducing Charizard’s defence. Charizard allowed the attack to create some space between itself and their opponent, which would provide a little respite, however placed Chris in a precarious position. Charizard was now empowered to do more damage thanks to the consecutive Power-Up Punches, but in order to land a physical hit, would need to take a hit itself, and Chris knew the next hit Charizard took would be its last. His only option would be to attempt to use Astonish, and try and time it so that Charizard would make contact just before Palkia’s next hit would land. If he were lucky, it would cause Palkia to flinch, and allow a Dragon Claw attack to hit which may win him the battle. However, he had used the same trick before, and doubted Scope would allow it to work twice.

Both trainer’s attention was pulled by movement in their peripheral vision, in the air above them. Chris looked up, and was shocked to see what looked like a hole that had been punched through the ceiling, like a pen stabbed through paper.

From the hole, Jon fell gently towards the ground, followed by the almost serpentine Giratina, who appeared to be slowing the gravity that was pulling Jon down, as he looked between Scope and Palkia, and Chris and Charizard…

“Well this is a surprise…” Scope said, almost sounding taken aback. “How did you break out of your instance?”

“Trade secret,” Jon called out to Scope, as his feet touched the ground, before looking to Giratina. “Keep them off our backs for a minute. Chris and I need to talk…”
Giratina moved between Jon, Chris and Charizard, and their foes on the opposite side of the battlefield, as Jon spoke quietly to Chris.

“How’s Charizard?”

“Powered-up but will go down before it can make use of it, at this rate…” Chris explained. “Palkia is f**king around with the space and being a pain in the a**...”

Jon nodded, expecting that to be the case, but not sure what that looked like.

“How so?”

“If I try to land a hit, it expands the space between itself and Charizard so the attack fizzles out, and when Charizard tries to dodge, it reduces the space so it is practically next to it…” Chris said in disbelief. “The only way I could land a hit is to hit it when it hits Charizard, but that’s just worn Charizard out…”

Jon considered this, in light of Giratina’s own abilities. After a second he nodded to himself, before looking Chris in the eye.

“Let me take the lead,” Jon said, grabbing Chris’ hand with both of his. Chris felt something smooth and spherical being placed in his hand. “Giratina should be able to negate the space-manipulation bulls**t and land some hits, but winning this battle isn’t enough…”

Chris went to look down at his hand, but Jon shook his head ever so slightly, telling Chris not to react.

“This time next year, you might be Indigo Champion…” Jon said quietly, giving Chris a knowing look. “And sometimes, being Champion, means you have to make difficult decisions for the greater good…”

Chris went to speak, to ask Jon what he was talking about, though Jon’s firm gaze was enough to tell him to just listen.

“If Blackstone have both Dialga and Palkia, they would practically become gods,” Jon explained. “Today we have a chance to make sure that can never happen…”

Jon turned to face Scope and Palkia, in order to resume the battle, as Chris stepped to the side, Charizard moving alongside him. Both to get out of Jon’s way, but also to buy himself a brief second out of Scope and Palkia’s gaze. When he had a moment knowing that he would not be seen, he opened his palm, revealing what Jon had handed him, and confirming his suspicion. Inside his clenched hand was the shrunken form of a Pokeball, and Chris knew of one Pokemon of Jon’s in particular that he had worked with and was likely to follow his instructions. And Chris now knew exactly what Jon was asking of him…