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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 5 Episode 12: Attrition

Spoiler:

“Holy fu-” Steven began to say as he took in the massive form in front of him. Lance however, who was the only person who was in the room five seconds earlier that remained, had already grabbed a Pokeball, sending out his Dragonite. Whilst Steven could see that Lance seemed rattled by their opponent, Lance had not hesitated, and he was a little ashamed that he had.

In front of them stood an eleven foot tall goliath, plated in red armour, and looking as if it weighed the same as a small car, that Steven only recognised from its large presence in Hoenn Mythology. Groudon.

“Aqua Tail!” Lance ordered, as Dragonite rushed forward, the moisture in the air condensing around its tail, encasing it, as Dragonite flipped in the air, attempting to slam its tail into Groudon.

“Fire Blast…” said a voice that was powerful, but completely calm. Steven fought the urge to try and locate the source of the voice, knowing it was likely hidden behind the massive form of Groudon, and instead grabbed a Pokeball off his belt, having a hunch of what would happen next.

Groudon roared as a violent torrent of flame erupted from its jaws, meeting the water encasing Dragonite’s tail, causing it to evaporate violently. Steven knew however it would do far more. Groudon was a Legendary Pokemon associated with blistering sunlight, causing immense drought, and despite Groudon not being a Fire Type Pokemon, the heat that seemed to radiate from it implied it may as well be. Dragonite roared out in pain, as Steven used the steam that had now covered the battlefield to send out his own Pokemon, obstructed from the enemy’s view. Metagross appeared in front of Steven, barely visible with its own colouring somewhat blending in to the steam

“Magnet Rise!” Steven ordered, knowing that being a Steel Type specialist made most of his Pokemon vulnerable to the Earthquake attack that Groudon’s trainer would likely order otherwise.

Lance had seen the speed Groudon had been able to follow orders and let off an attack, and knew that as fast as Dragonite was, off the mark Groudon would be quicker. Knowing this, Lance was already planning his next attack, wanting to give Dragonite every opportunity to land a hit.

“Dragon Rush!” Lance commanded. Despite Dragon Rush being less accurate than Dragonite’s other attacks, Dragonite was already in close quarters, all but negating that, whilst having a reasonable chance to make Groudon flinch.

Steven already knew how Groudon would respond.

“Protect.”

Groudon raised a protect barrier, blocking Dragonite’s attack, and Steven, having foreseen this, decided to make use of the very brief moment of reprieve of Groudon not attacking.

“Cosmic Power!” Steven instructed, making a split second choice. His initial thought was to use Iron Defence, which would double Metagross’ physical defence, but realised at the last second that despite Groudon appearing to be more of a physical attacker, its true strength was using Ground Type moves, which his Pokemon, still obscured by the steam, was now immune to. However, with the radiating, sun-like heat emanating from Groudon, a Fire Blast hitting Metagross would be devastating. Cosmic Power, however, would reinforce both Metagross’ physical and special defence, albeit not as much.

On the other side of the battlefield, Steven could see Lance ordering another attack from his Dragonite, and couldn’t help but see the similarity in how Chris battled. Both trainers, despite being a little impulsive, were still tactical, albeit, opting to go on the offensive more than anything else. And in any other battle, that may work. Against Groudon though, it would not be enough.

The steam dispersed, as Steven began moving towards Lance, however felt a presence in his mind, with a sense of alarm, before what felt like an invisible hand grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him. A split second later, jagged spikes erupted from the ground where he had almost stood.

“They’re trying to keep us separated…” Steven thought to himself, understanding exactly why. Lance would continue to attack, but without more intentional tactics, Dragonite would wipe itself out before Groudon fell. On the opposite side, Steven’s style of battling would be more beneficial in this match, however his severely disadvantaged team of Pokemon would not allow his tactics to achieve their full effect.

“Pull your thumb out of your a**, and help me!” Lance shouted to Steven, before ordering another attack of Dragonite.

“We need a plan!” Steven called back, as Groudon blocked another of Dragonite’s attacks.

“We have one! Knock it out before it kills us!” Lance yelled. “Now f**king do something useful!”

“And how’s that working out for you, dumba**?!” Steven shouted at Lance, frustrated at his former colleague’s brashness. He looked at the distance between himself and Lance, and could see that despite Groudon being able to stop him reaching Lance, it wasn’t going to be anywhere near as difficult to meet Lance halfway. The difficult part would be convincing the proud and stubborn former Champion to actually meet him halfway.

“I’m gonna try and buy you a second to get to me!” Steven called. “Don’t be an idiot, and make it count!”

Lance went to argue, knowing that whatever Steven said to him, would be heard by their opponent, and countered. However, he also knew that based on the display he and Steven had just given, Lance now had an advantage. Placing himself in the shoes of the enemy, he knew that Groudon’s trainer would be countering whatever Steven had Metagross do. Because in the eyes of his enemy, Lance could act one of two ways, either following Steven’s instructions, or ignoring them. Each possibility would require a different response. Meanwhile, Steven would not claim to be buying Lance a second to move, if he weren’t planning on following through. To do that would risk having Lance killed. Which meant that Groudon’s trainer would be choosing to respond either to Lance, who he could not predict with any certainty what he would do, or to Steven, who he actually had an idea of how Steven would act.

Lance knew that Groudon was the fastest attacker, followed by Dragonite, with Metagross being the slowest. And if Groudon’s trainer was planning on countering Metagross, Groudon would not be acting until Metagross had taken action, effectively buying Dragonite a free move. Lance considered what attack he could use, before having another thought.

“Metagross, Ice Punch!” Steven instructed, as Metagross used its telekinesis to launch itself forward into Groudon, freezing the air around one of its claws, in preparation to slam it into Groudon. Lance knew what Groudon’s next move was, and whilst he considered ordering a Dragon Rush, he knew the likelihood of it causing Groudon to flinch was too low. However, he had to give an order first, if he wanted Dragonite to his before Groudon did.

“Rain Dance!” Lance ordered, as he began to run towards Steven, and Steven moved towards Lance. A split second later, rain began to fall as he heard the voice of Groudon’s trainer give a command, which would now be far less effective.

“Fire Blast!”

Another jet of flame erupted from Groudon’s jaws, however with the heat Groudon had been emanating now mitigated by the rain that was also weakening fire attacks, the attack which would have all but knocked out Metagross, now barely seemed to affect it, despite the disadvantage that Metagross held.

“So what’s this plan of yours?” Lance asked as both Dragonite and Metagross attempted to retreat a little to regroup.

“Step one is getting us able to communicate,” Steven answered. “Step two is still under development…”

“For f**k’s sake…” Lance muttered.

“It’s fine,” Steven said, the gears in his head turning. “One step at a time…”

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

It hadn’t taken Cassandra and Jarena long to realise what had happened, however any chance of discussing how they would return to their own reality was cut short by their opponent wasting no time in attacking them.

“Volcanion, Fire Blast!”

Their attention was pulled immediately to the large maroon Pokemon that despite being quadrupedal, still was nearly six feet tall, which roared, releasing a blast of red hot flame. Without hesitation, Cassandra grabbed Jarena by the arm, pulling her close to herself, whilst raising her other hand, which glowed with a red light. When the Fire Blast attack seemed as if it should make contact, the red light of Cassandra’s hand exploded outwards, causing the immense Fire Type attack to disperse in a ring around them.

“I’m so glad you learnt this non-verbal Shadowcraft business…” Jarena muttered in shock, knowing that she had almost been cremated without even knowing what was happening. Cassandra nodded in agreement, knowing she could not have said the incantation quick enough, and simply was relying on instinct. “How’re we handling this?”

Cassandra considered sending out her Swanna, figuring that their opponent was a Fire Type. However, in her peripheral vision, she noticed something. Steam seeping out from the holes that lined the arch that grew off Volcanion’s back.

“Remember how Jon and I beat Rayquaza?” Cassandra asked, as she sent out Ace the Ampharos. “I’ll do what I did back then, and you do what Jon did. This thing is Fire and Water Type…”

“Come on already!” called out the voice of their opponent, who Cassandra, albeit cautiously, was only now taking in for the first time. Like Cassandra, she was tall, only an inch shorter than herself, with blonde hair, though hers fell halfway down her back, and had a subtle wave to it. “I don’t particularly feel like waiting all day for you two…”

“You weren’t waiting when you had that thing try to char-grill us!” Jarena shot back angrily, as their opponent simply grinned back at them. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Codename is Geyser,” the woman, who seemed to be a year or two older than Cassandra. “I was told to take the Legendary Pokemon of whoever I found myself facing here, but I guess I got lucky coming face to face with you two…”

“Why’s that?” Jarena asked.

“Because I don’t need to hold back…” Geyser answered. “Our next orders were to make sure there were no witnesses left, so I get to have as much fun as I want…”

“Jarena, get a Pokemon out…” Cassandra warned, knowing that all of this chatter would only provide Geyser and Volcanion with an opportunity to attack them, and this time, Cassandra may not be so lucky.

Jarena nodded, before opting to send out Jubilee the Bellossom. Cassandra at first cringed at the choice of Pokemon, knowing they were battling a Fire Type, however quickly corrected herself, as she realised just why Jarena had chosen this Pokemon. She nodded at her teammate, as Geyser simply took in the scene and laughed.

“Ampharos I understand, but you must really hate that Pokemon to send it out against Volcanion like-” Geyser began, before being cut off by Jarena.

“Stun Spore!”

Jubilee cried out, before launching a fine yellow powder towards Volcanion, who had not been expecting the battle to start yet, as Cassandra grinned.

“Volcanion!” Geyser called out. “Fire Blast!”

“Shock Wave!” Cassandra ordered, as Ace cried out in response, now faster than Volcanion, thanks to its Stun Spore paralysis. As Volcanion attempted to prepare a Fire Blast attack, it was interrupted by a highly accurate, albeit weaker bolt of lightning, which alongside the paralysis, prevented it from moving, buying Jubilee an opportunity to act.

Back when Cassandra and Jon battled Rayquaza, Cassandra’s role was to have the loaned Pokemon she borrowed from Jon interrupt Rayquaza and get in the way whenever it set its sights on Jon’s Pokemon, in order to take away its attention, and allow Jon’s Pokemon to subtly ramp up power. And even with the type disadvantage, Jarena had chosen the perfect Pokemon for a few reasons, though Cassandra already knew the first. Compared to Ace, Jubilee was less of a threat, being weak to Volcanion’s Fire Typing. When having to determine which opponent was a bigger threat, and by extension, needed her and Volcanion’s immediate attention, Geyser would pick Ampharos.

“Light Screen!” Cassandra ordered, as Ace cried out in response, creating a barrier that would help protect their team from special attacks for half a minute or so.

“Heat Wave!” Geyser ordered.

“Protect!” Jarena shouted.

Jets of hot air erupted from Volcanion’s body, creating a burning wind that rushed into both Ace and Jubilee, the former taking the hit, though not seeming too damaged by it, and the latter protecting itself with a barrier.

Cassandra grimaced, knowing that Jubilee would likely not be able to handle many of those attacks, and would struggle to ramp up power if this continued. Knowing she had to give Geyser a reason to focus more-so on Ace, she gave her next order.

“Charge Beam!” Cassandra commanded, as Ampharos let off a weaker electrical attack that struck Volcanion, and raised its own attack power. Geyser seemed to realise that Ampharos was going to get too powerful if left unchecked, and acted accordingly.

“Flamethrower!” Geyser commanded.

Jarena had a move planned, however realised that the timing would have an effect to Cassandra’s detriment. She considered it, however knew that it was Cassandra’s job to keep attention off her, and that if it helped them in the long haul, Cassandra would want her to do it.

“Sunny Day!” Jarena commanded. “Then Growth!”

Jubilee cried out in glee, as a small orb of condensed sunlight materialised in the sky, and Volcanion let off a Flamethrower attack, now empowered by this, which struck Ampharos. Cassandra watched as her Pokemon became significantly dizzier on his feet, though understood what Jarena was planning. Bellossom were a Pokemon that thrived in sunlight, both due to its Chlorophyll ability which would double its speed and reaction time, and its use of the move Growth, which in sunlight like this, would double its attack power both physically and for special moves. Between Chlorophyll and Volcanion’s own loss of speed due to Stun Spore paralysing it, Jarena had managed to empower Jubilee tremendously in only two moves. Cassandra couldn’t help but grin. Despite Jarena not setting her sights on competing like she did, Cassandra knew she’d be silly to not consider Jarena a threat should they battle themselves.

“Baton Pass!” Jarena commanded, as Cassandra cringed, thinking Jarena had an edge she was giving up by swapping so early. However, when Jarena’s next Pokemon emerged, Cassandra realised she needed to give her friend more credit. Ruckus the Plusle emerged onto the battlefield, and both trainers knew that its attack power, both physically and for special attacks, had increased further, with both Pokemon having the Plus ability which would increase the entering Pokemon’s power if its partner shared it, or had Minus. “Now Ruckus, Shock Wave!”

“Rain Dance!” Cassandra ordered, knowing that from this point the harsh sunlight would only serve to benefit Volcanion, whilst rain would allow Ruckus to really let loose. The orb of sunlight disappeared as rain began to fall out of nowhere.

“Steam Eruption!” Geyser ordered, however Volcanion struggled to move after the heavy attack, as Jarena grinned.

“Ruckus, hit it with Thunder…”

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

“Look out!”

Abbee flinched as another heavy bolt of lightning struck an invisible barrier that Victini had erected just in time to block it. She tried to give another command, however her opponent, a young woman who was ironically named Paragon, ordered the large black dragon that she commanded to make another attack, not against Victini, but Abbee herself.

“Zekrom, Thunderbolt again!”


The battle had been going for thirty seconds or so, however Victini hadn’t even been able to launch an attack, Paragon having been ready for them and calling for Zekrom to attack Abbee, and it taking all he could muster to prevent any of the attacks from landing. There was half a battlefield’s distance between them, and whilst Victini could quite easily land a Searing Shot, he would not have time to protect Abbee from the next attack that Paragon would order, and with Zekrom being a Dragon Type that resists Fire Type moves, it would not be worth the risk.

Despite knowing Victini was her only chance at not being struck and killed by the Thunderbolt attack, Abbee still attempted to run, figuring that if she stayed in the same place, Zekrom would simply be able to move towards her, or have an easier time aiming, both of those possibilities allowing it to use a heavier hitting albeit less accurate move that Victini may not be able to completely hold off.

“We need a plan…” Abbee muttered as she ran to put more distance between herself and Zekrom, and Victini, who sat on her shoulder, holding on for dear life, deflected the bolt with another telekinetic barrier. The deflected bolt launched into the stands, striking a row of plastic, fold-down seats, and melting them instantly. “But we can’t even try and attack without this thing killing me…”

“Fusion Bolt!” Paragon called out. She barely stood above five feet tall, though was not as slim as Abbee was. Her hair was ash blonde, reminding Abbee of Brianna Levine, who she encountered the summer before, though her hair seemed to clash with her dark brown eyes.

“Abbee, don’t move,” Victini said, causing Abbee to halt to a stop, despite every instinct telling her to run faster than she had ever run before. Victini knew he could disperse this one, however needed to focus. “On my mark, run for it…”

Abbee nodded, as Victini, instead of using a telekinetic barrier, used Protect instead.

i“Go!”

The instruction had been telepathic, as Victini had not wanted to risk Abbee not hearing him over the sound of the attack striking. As she ran, she remembered what she knew about Fusion Bolt.

”Victini, are you listening?” Abbee thought intently as Victini blocked another attack.

”Always…”

”You were taught Fusion Bolt, and the other one, weren’t you?” Back in Unova?” Abbee asked, as she tried to remember when Elesa had flown in an expert in Sinnoh Mythology from Castalia University to teach Victini the moves used by the Pokemon of Unova Mythology. She figured she could communicate quicker using thoughts, especially if Victini were privy to her own memories.

”Fusion Flare?” Victini asked as it blocked another Thunderbolt attack.

”Remember what we were told?” Abbee asked. ”Fusion Flare increases in power if it’s used in response to Fusion Bolt and vice-versa!”

“Abbee, it makes no difference if I can’t make an attack without you being fried!” Victini replied verbally, telepathy using too much of his focus and now unnecessary. “Besides, this thing is slow, and even if I intentionally let it attack first, after that, it will just play defensively if I don’t go in for the hit straight away!”

“We can work out details when we get there!” Abbee retorted, as she looked around. “Let’s deal with the immediate problem first…”

She watched as another bolt of lightning was launched towards her, which Victini blocked again, and had a flashback to watching Regieleki neutralise Deoxys’ Zap Cannon when it rampaged three years prior. For a second she wondered if Victini could pull off the same trick, but remembered Justin saying that it was unique to Regieleki’s physiology.

”Electricity flows through the path of least resistance, and Regieleki can change the resistance of its body,” Justin had explained years earlier. ”So if its own electrical attack meets that of an opponent, and it raises its own resistance high enough, both attacks will be attracted to the other Pokemon…”

As she remembered this, she remembered watching Jon’s match against Ethan Caldwell on the S.S. Wishmaker, when unbeknownst to her at the time, Jon was trying to discredit himself in order to take the fall for the cheating allegations.

“Victini, I have an idea on how to not get hit by these electric attacks,” Abbee thought, knowing the Pokemon, despite choosing to answer verbally, was listening. ”But I’ll still be susceptible to other attacks, so you need to be ready to give it hell, and not give it the chance to target me…”

“What do I need to do?” Victini asked.

”When I give the signal, rush it with a V-Create, and don’t look back, even if you think I’ve been hit…”

Victini was silent for a moment, before begrudgingly answering.

“Okay…”

Victini blocked another two bolts, as Abbee ran intentionally towards the back corner of the arena.

“Shock Wave!” Paragon ordered, and Abbee knew this was her only chance.

“Now!” Abbee yelled out, as she threw Victini, thankful for his small stature, as hard as she could towards Zekrom, before diving past one of the large vertical steel beams that supported the roof of the stadium above them.

Despite Shock Wave having a reputation of never missing, Abbee knew that electricity would always act like electricity, and like Justin described, follow the path of least resistance. And whilst any Electric Type attack was powerful enough to travel through the air, despite it not being a good conductor, if given a better path, it would take it. The attack, which seemed as if it should glide past the beam and strike Abbee, slid off course striking the beam, and electrifying it. As Abbee hit the ground, she was worried for a brief second that the electricity may still find her, given her own body would be a better conductor than the ground beneath her, she realised she was safe. Whilst outside the door of the stadium was pure blackness, gravity in this copy seemed no different, and if the roof was not collapsing down on them, the instance they were in must have copied enough of the ground beneath them that the beams could support the weight of the roof, and she knew that to support that weight, those beams would be going deep beneath her.

In the same moment, Victini reached the peak of his arc, and repositioned himself to be facing Zekrom.

“Time to fight me, a**hole!” Victini shouted, as his crown erupted into flames, and he rocketed into the Legendary Pokemon. Victini collided with the large, black Legendary Pokemon’s forehead, stunning it for a second, as Victini’s own speed and defences fell as a result. However, Abbee could see from where she climbed to her feet behind the pole that had saved her from electrocution, that Victini had bought himself an opportunity, surprising Zekrom with the attack it was not expecting.

“Guard Swap!” Abbee commanded, as Victini breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Abbee had not been hit. Victini’s own reduced defences were switched with Zekrom’s, bringing Victini’s resilience to its original state, whilst Zekrom’s own were weakened.

“Fusion Bolt!” Paragon ordered angrily, as Zekrom launched the powerful attack at Victini, which struck home, knocking Victini back. Victini hit the ground, however as he slid back, managed to jump back to his feet.

“Fusion Flare!” Abbee ordered, as Victini cried out, materialising a giant orb of itself, larger than Abbee had ever seen from the Pokemon, before launching it at Zekrom, who was thrown back, only regaining its balance at the last moment.

”Your fight is with me!” Victini roared telepathically to all present. ”And you’ve really gotten on my nerves…”

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

“It’s poetic that it’s you I’m facing…”

In front of Justin stood a young man, similar in age to himself, with light brown hair that had been buzzed down to a fine fuzz. His dark green eyes stared intently at Justin, though there didn’t seem to be any hostility or resentment in them, but instead determination. Justin could tell that this man saw Justin as nothing more than a job to complete, something he wasn’t sure was more or less worrying than obvious malicious intent.

“You can call me Vigour,” the man said. “But everyone knows who you are, Justin…”

“Don’t remind me,” Justin retorted as he groaned. “I don’t know why I, of all people, seem to get this sort of attention…”

Vigour grinned, and Justin wondered whether this was all for show, or whether, had they not been on opposite sides of this battle, they may have actually gotten along well. Justin knew that Vigour was from Blackstone, and given the blackness outside the stadium door, Justin figured Palkia was the reason for everyone disappearing, and Vigour appearing here.

“So tell me, why is it poetic?” Justin asked.

“We were told to take the Legendary Pokemon of whoever we found ourselves facing in our instance, and wipe them out,” Vigour answered. “And if you’re here, it means that the Pokemon I will be taking is the brother of my own…”

Before Justin could ask, Vigour casually threw forward a Pokeball. Whilst Justin still unlatched Regieleki’s Pokeball, there was no malicious intent in the throw. More like Vigour simply wanted to show Justin something. When the light disappeared, Justin knew exactly why.

Between them standing at nearly seven feet tall was a Pokemon Justin had never seen in the flesh, but remembered seeing a statue of, at the same place he caught Regieleki. The other undiscovered Legendary Titan. Regidrago, the Titan of Dragons.

“You caught that in Galar?” Justin asked in shock. “How?”

When at the ruins himself four years earlier, Justin had made a choice between Regidrago and Regieleki, choosing the Pokemon who would theoretically suit his style of battling at the time well. Their hypothesis was that they would only be able to animate one of the two statues, and it was proven correct, as after Regieleki was captured, the statue of Regidrago could not be activated. Or so they thought.

“It wasn’t magic that prevented Regidrago from being activated after Regieleki was captured,” Vigour answered. “It was a mechanical system, well designed and hidden from view. A researcher in Pokemon Mythology wouldn’t have been able to identify the components, and even if she did, the laws of physics wouldn’t allow those hidden components to be shifted back the way they were. But some laws of physics don’t apply to us…”

“Palkia?”

Vigour nodded with a grin.

“So I was told to take the Legendary Pokemon of whoever I faced and leave no witnesses. But you seem like a smart guy, so I’ll give you another option…”

“And that is?” Justin asked, almost amused. Vigour grinned.

“Join us. Blackstone want Regieleki, sure, but even if I were to take it by force, and finish you off, nobody at Blackstone could make the same use of Regieleki that you do…” Vigour explained. “I know some of my comrades wouldn’t want to see the big picture, but I do, and Blackstone would be better off instead recruiting who we can from your little band of friends, and only fighting who we have to. Granted, I know Jon would never cooperate with us. He is too far in Steven’s pocket. But you…”

“And why would I join Blackstone?”

“Firstly, we could make Justin Collins disappear. You could have a quiet life outside of the spotlight, other than a handful of jobs a year that you’ll get called on. You’d be reimbursed generously. Enough to retire by the time you’re forty,” Vigour answered, sounding more excited at the prospect. “And you’d actually be able to make a difference in the world…”

“Not a good difference,” Justin retorted.

“That’s subjective…” Vigour answered. “The people don’t know what’s good for them. Why else would they intentionally divide into nations and regions, represented by one-percenters who argue and bicker with each other over nonsense whilst people are murdered and starving…”

“So what, your goal is to have the biggest stick, so you can beat everyone into submission?” Justin said. “You said yourself that me and my friends are going to be killed by Blackstone should everything go to plan on your end. Isn’t it a bit rich to talk about people being murdered when those are your methods?”

“A small price to pay for the power to make the world a better place…” Vigour answered, as Justin sent out Regieleki.

“No deal,” Justin stated with a sense of finality. “And I can tell you this much, if you can’t take Regieleki from me, your comrades stand no chance against the others…”

Vigour’s expression hardened, before nodding solemnly.

“In that case, you leave me no choice…” Vigour said quietly, before giving his first order. “Dragon Energy!”

Justin knew that even if Vigour spoke first, as long as he was quick enough after, Regieleki would strike first. He was thankful for the intentional design of the Legendary Titans. He knew that the three represented in Hoenn Mythology, Regirock, Regice and Registeel, had meticulously even defensive capabilities, Regirock in physical defence, Regice in special defence, and Registeel the average of both. And as strong as Regirock was in physical defence, and Regice was in special defence, Regieleki excelled in speed. Because of this, Justin knew that unless Dragon Energy was a move like Extreme Speed which would always strike first, Regieleki would be quicker.

What this also meant was that Regidrago’s strength was in one of four areas. It was either as strong of a physical attacker as Regirock was a physical defender, as strong a special attacker as Regice was a special defender, a mix of both like Registeel, or had incredible constitution. And considering Dragon Type Pokemon’s strength usually lies in their ability to resist attacks, Justin figured he knew which of these fit Regidrago best.

“Protect!” Justin ordered, not knowing how strong Dragon Energy would be, or if it had any other effects. He had never heard of the move before, and didn’t want to risk it being a harder hitting attack than Regieleki could take.

Justin was glad he did. From the central part of Regidrago’s body, erupted a beam far stronger even than the Draco Meteor that Lance had his Dragonite use to break out of prison the summer before. He was shocked to see that unlike Draco Meteor, which weakened the user, and was treated as a last resort, Regidrago didn’t seem to have any detriment to itself. Justin figured that Regidrago had an equivalent of Regieleki’s Transistor ability, which increased the attack power of any Electric Type attack by a factor of fifty percent. However, even a Zap Cannon empowered by Transistor would not be that powerful…

“Agility!” Justin ordered. “Then Substitute!”

Doubling its already immense speed, Regieleki bought time to make another move, though Justin knew that he needed more time to figure out what made Regidrago tick before he committed to going on the offensive, if that even was his best course of action.

Regieleki vanished, being replaced with a stuffed toy version of itself, which Regidrago, after a quick order from Vigour, dismissed with a Dragon Breath attack. Regieleki reappeared on the other side of the battlefield, ready for its next order.

Justin wondered if Regidrago’s ability was more effective than Regieleki’s but dismissed the idea. Both Pokemon were created equal. Different, yes, but equal. Changing tack, Justin began instead trying to remember if any of Regieleki’s moves in the opening round of a match could be that powerful, and realised there was only one.

Electro Ball had the capacity to be as strong as Dragon Energy, but that was because its power scaled based on the difference in speed between the user and the target. If Regieleki were four times as fast as its opponent, Electroball would hit just as hard, and be just as accurate. Which implied that Dragon Energy would be similar, in that its sheer power scaled based off something else.

Justin knew it couldn’t be based on attributes of the Pokemon, as in terms of attack power, both Pokemon seemed equally ranked, and if their attack were equal, and the other three Legendary Titans had varying defence, Regieleki and Regidrago’s defence should be close to matching as well. Whilst Gyro Ball, a Steel Type move, had the opposite effect of Electro Ball, scaling up in power based on how much slower the user is than the target, and Regidrago was definitely slower than Regieleki, it was not slow enough to warrant an attack like that.

“Lock On!” Justin commanded. “Then Zap Cannon!”

Justin had a theory that Regidrago’s constitution was as incredible as Regieleki’s speed, and if Dragon Energy were to scale off anything, it would be that constitution that makes Regidrago so formidable. And based on the fact that both Pokemon were at peak condition when Regidrago made the opening move, Regieleki’s own health likely had no effect. Effectively, Dragon Energy seemed like a Dragon Type version of Eruption.

In the time it would take Regidrago to make one move, Regieleki was fast enough to make two. The first, to hone in on Regidrago and guarantee the next move would hit. The next being one of Regieleki’s most powerful, hindered only by its lack of accuracy.

A large bolt of lightning rocketed across the field, striking Regidrago. Whilst that attack would normally be enough to knock out any Pokemon, Regidrago’s Dragon Typing resisted the attack, which in addition to its huge reserves of energy, barely staggered the Pokemon. It did, however, leave Regidrago paralyzed.

“Dragon Energy!” Vigour called out, as Regidrago let off another beam, this one far weaker than the first, however still incredibly powerful, throwing Regieleki back. The Pokemon quickly regained its footing, however Justin knew that this battle was still stacked against him. Regidrago looked as if it could take another two Zap Cannons, maybe even more before it fell. Whilst Regieleki was more worn down after that single Dragon Energy hit than Justin had seen in a long time. Even a Twister attack, a Dragon Type move that was relatively weak, used mostly for causing the target to flinch, or hitting airborne targets, would knock it out should it land.

”Play it safe, and take your time…” Justin thought to himself, as he planned Regieleki’s next move. ”Don’t do anything reckless…”

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

“Really?”

Violet and Willow spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, realising that everyone else was gone. Willow cursed under her breath at the fact that her reagent pouch had been left in the lodge from when she and the Diamond Ladies had used Shadowcraft to try and bring Chris back from the cusp of death. She instead placed a hand by her belt, unsure of which Pokemon she should send out. Violet had the same thought.

Their opponent was a woman in her early thirties with very curly, fair hair and blue eyes. Her expression, as well as the tone in the single word she had said, indicated one prevailing emotion. Boredom.

“Can I help you?” Violet asked, though her tone indicative of just how much she wanted to help this woman. “Who are you?”

“Codename Guardian,” the woman said as she withdrew a Pokeball, not seeming enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. “And I don’t think you can do much to help me. I’ve drawn the short straw as it is…”

Guardian tossed her Pokeball forward, revealing a medium sized quadrupedal Pokemon that seemed to be composed of cloud and dirt. Despite having lived at the Academy for a year, and seeing all manner of Pokemon both in person, owned by visiting trainers, and in match replays for analysis, neither had seen this Pokemon before, and given what they knew of Blackstone, that likely meant it was Legendary.

“See, I was hoping to at least have some fun, but I got the the worst pick,” Guardian continued. “The weakest battler of the witches, who happens to just have two Legendary Pokemon, and a glorified Furret…”

Violet’s temper flared at Guardian’s words, however she knew that her and Willow were in a dangerous situation. Alongside Jarena, Violet’s training was the least intense with the exception of Willow, who was not at the Academy to become a better battler, but more so to protect it on a Shadowcraft front. Whilst Violet and Jarena both wanted to improve as battlers, they didn’t want to compete at the level Cassandra did, instead viewing the skill as useful to their own ambitions, neither of which would place them in front of Legendary Pokemon, or so they thought…

Realistically, this was the second time since returning from Alola that Violet and Willow found themselves in a serious fight, the first being when Delilah attacked the Academy. And on that night, they had been paired with Abbee and Chris respectively, who handled the heavy lifting of Pokemon battling, leaving Violet and Willow, as well as Cassandra and Jarena, to focus on defending from Shadowcraft. Now however, Shadowcraft was not their safest option.

Knowing little about their enemy, Willow opted to send out Marshadow, who held far less weaknesses than Latias, and was more offensively suited. Violet, seeing that the opposing Pokemon was likely partly Ground Type, sent out Azura the Milotic.

“Ice Beam!” Violet ordered, as Azura let out a shrill cry, before a beam of white-blue light erupted from its forehead.

“Shadow Punch!” Willow called out to Marshadow, who began making its way into range of the opposing Pokemon.

“Landorus! Protect!” Guardian ordered. Landorus roared as a barrier appeared in front of it, blocking both attacks. Willow however knew that Marshadow would be the fastest of the three Pokemon.

“Sucker Punch!”

Marshadow seemed to vanish, a split second later reappearing in melee range of Landorus, striking it, however Landorus seemed to brush off the attack, instead, focusing its gaze on Azura.

“Fissure!”

Violet’s eyes widened, knowing this move, although inaccurate, if it struck, would knock the Milotic out in a single hit.

“Prote-” Violet began but was cut off by a loud crack, as the ground beneath Azura exploded, knocking the Pokemon out cold. Violet quickly withdrew Azura, before considering her options. Both trainers knew how Fissure worked. Its base accuracy was low, more likely to miss than hit. However, the stronger the user is than the target, the higher that accuracy became. And whilst the difference in strength between Azura and Landorus likely contributed significantly, Willow didn’t want to risk her best battler getting caught up in another one hit knock out.

“Marshadow, fall back!” Willow ordered, as Guardian called for Landorus to use Swords Dance.

Finally, Violet settled on a Pokemon. Whilst Landorus was definitely a Ground Type, she had a hunch it may be a Flying Type as well, considering Guardian made knocking out Azura the first priority, especially after seeing her use Ice Beam. That, and Guardian didn’t seem too concerned by Marshadow, despite it being a Legendary Pokemon itself, though Violet knew that could just be that Guardian didn’t view either Violet herself or Willow as a threat.

“Go Kano!”

The Pokeball exploded in front of Violet, revealing a Dusknoir.

“Marshadow! Shadow Ball!” Willow ordered, as Guardian set her sights on Violet’s Pokemon again.

“Landorus! Block!”

Violet swore under her breath as she understood exactly why Guardian had chosen to do that. If everyone who had been in the stadium before was now in an instance such as this, and she and Willow had been placed in an instance together, that meant that there were at most, twelve Blackstone members, assuming one is not in an instance and moving to take the unguarded Dialga egg. If there had been thirteen or more, she and Willow would have been split up and made easier targets, and as far as Violet knew, there was every chance that others had been paired up like herself and Willow, should there be fewer than twelve members of Blackstone present. And whilst in the long run this would benefit them, in the here and now, this was concerning.

Lance had indicated that he knew of Blackstone having seven Legendary Pokemon for sure, with the potential for there to be many more. The fact they were in this copy of the stadium confirmed Palkia among them, and Landorus was not one of the seven mentioned explicitly by Lance. Whilst Palkia and Landorus could be the two Lance didn’t know for sure, at the same time, they could be in addition. All this told Violet that mathematically speaking, there was a real chance that Guardian had another Legendary Pokemon at her disposal.

Violet had sent out Kano, figuring the Ghost Type Pokemon could use Curse, before being withdrawn and replaced by a Pokemon that could stall for time while Marshadow and the curse wore down Landorus, such as Violet’s Mienshao, Indigo. Then, once Landorus was unconscious, Violet could bring back Kano to use the same trick on any further Pokemon. By ordering Landorus to use Block, Guardian prevent Violet from using the same potential tactic on multiple Pokemon.

Violet considered her options. To use Curse anyway, and bring down Landorus, knowing that Dusknoir would likely go down with it, marking a third of her team unconscious, with no guarantee she could beat whatever came next. Or to stall.

At first stalling seemed like a terrible option, however she knew that with Giratina, Jon would not be held by an instance. Even if she and Willow won, and there was no guarantee that would happen, they would be trapped in this instance until someone, be it Jon with Giratina, or the trainer of Palkia, let them out. That was the only way they would leave. But if they could stall, and hold out until that happens, they might have a better chance at surviving that long.

“Double Team!” Violet ordered Dusknoir, before calling out to Willow. “We don’t need to win! We just need to not lose!”

Willow nodded, understanding completely. Between the pair of them, both with Ghost Pokemon, they could drag this out for a really long time…

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

“Dragon Claw Giratina!” Jon ordered. Giratina rushed forward towards Palkia, snarling, as Jon witnessed for the first time, what had been making it so difficult for Chris’ Charizard to land a hit. Had Jon not known about Palkia’s spatial abilities, it would have made no sense, as Giratina seemed to be moving forward at high speed, however getting no closer as the space between the Pokemon infinitely grew. It was only a second before Giratina knew how to combat this, before Jon even gave the order, and shifted the gravitational pull of the area containing both of them. To Jon, nothing had changed, given gravity seemed normal for himself, Chris, and Scope, the trainer who commanded Palkia. However, Giratina had shifted the intensity, as well as the direction of the gravity between itself and Palkia, causing Palkia to fall towards Giratina, growing in speed as it was pulled further and faster by gravity.

Knowing what was happening, Palkia continued to grow the space between them, however Giratina retaliated by attacking with a Dragon Pulse, causing Palkia to lose concentration. Jon didn’t realise how intense Giratina’s change to gravity was, until Palkia stopped expanding the space at the same rate, and was pulled violently towards Giratina, who then struck it with the aforementioned Dragon Claw attack.

“Spatial Rend!” Scope ordered, as Palkia let out a roar, and the space surrounding it seemed to tear for a moment.

“Shadow Force!” Jon commanded, as Giratina slipped into non-existence just in time to avoid the hit. For a moment there was silence, before Giratina reappeared behind Palkia, ready to launch a brutal attack, and whilst Palkia attempted to expand the space, Giratina shifted the gravity of the pair at the same time, causing the overall effect of both adjustments to be nothing at all. Giratina roared as the six appendages from its back tore across Palkia, causing it to shriek in pain.

Chris watched, as Palkia turned to face Giratina, now unable to see Jon or himself, and Scope being blocked from sight by the pair of duelling Legendary Pokemon. He knew he wouldn’t get any other opportunity better than this, and only hoped he understood what Jon had meant with his veiled message. If Chris had misunderstood, the consequences could be disastrous…

“This time next year, you might be Indigo Champion… And sometimes, being Champion, means you have to make difficult decisions for the greater good…” Jon had said. “If Blackstone have both Dialga and Palkia, they would practically become gods. Today we have a chance to make sure that can never happen…”

Chris launched the Pokeball that Jon had handed him minutes earlier, additionally hoping he was right in his guess of which Pokemon it contained, and timed his command for the exact moment the light appeared when the Pokeball opened.

“Put it down Rayquaza!” Chris shouted. “Show no mercy!”

“Scary Face!” Jon ordered Giratina. “Don’t let it get away!”

Giratina snarled at Palkia, who was about to turn back around as Scope yelled out desperate commands. The attack worked, slowing Palkia to half its speed, and whilst Palkia was attempting to prevent Rayquaza from closing the distance, Giratina shifted the gravity again, causing Palkia to fall towards Rayquaza.

Rayquaza seemed to catch Palkia around the long neck by its tail, and wrap itself around it, before tensing. Palkia scrambled to try and remove Rayquaza, who would crush its neck before any possibility of choking it out, however was struck by another Dragon Claw attack by Giratina.

Both Chris and Jon struggled to watch, as a loud, audible crack filled the air, and Palkia’s body went limp. Rayquaza dropped Palkia, who fell to the ground with a crash, before flying into the air above it, and using Draco Meteor, hitting Palkia in the head, and finishing the job.

Jon blinked, and found himself surrounded by familiar faces, some relaxed, others worried, and amidst them, many Pokemon. Lance and Steven looked as if they were about to collapse, as did their Dragonite and Metagross respectively. Justin did collapse, falling backwards, as Regieleki, who had been strafing at high speeds, seemed to realise the threat was gone, and slow down. Jon himself quickly grabbed Giratina’s Pokeball, and got Rayquaza’s off Chris to call both Pokemon back.

“Thank God…” Violet said weakly, as she took in her surroundings, thankful she and Willow had made the right choice. Abbee stood shaking, as Victini rushed towards her to jump into her arms.

Jon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Dylan looking intently at him.

“What happened?” Dylan asked. “Did someone beat Palkia?”

“Of course they did,” Charlotte said with a grin. “I knew we would…”

“I wish I shared your level of confidence…” Cassandra laughed weakly, before looking around, as everyone began returning their Pokemon. “So who beat Palkia?”

All went silent, as that seemed to be the question on everyone’s mind.

“Chris and I did…” Jon said solemnly. “We killed it…”

Cassandra’s eyes widened, causing Jon to continue.

“We know that another Palkia egg will appear at those ruins, and as soon as we are done here, Steven and I will make sure it is protected,” Jon said. “But if we settled for knocking it out, and then lost Dialga, then we’d be screwed either way-”

“I know Jon,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “It’s not ideal that you had to kill it, but we can’t risk them having both. And now, they can’t split us up again…”

“We can’t be complacent…”

Jon was surprised that the comment came from Lance. He turned to face Lance, nodding in agreement.

“If they pulled off this little stunt, they must have been close. Not far off the island, if not on it,” Lance continued. “Every second we have before they show up again is one we need to use…”

“If anyone has a Pokemon with Heal Pulse, get it out now…” Jon said. “We won’t have time for a full heal, so this will need to do. Any Pokemon you just used, get them out too. Justin, go find whatever items you can…”

Justin nodded, as Dylan grabbed the whiteboard that stood on the edge of the battlefield. He wheeled it over, before grabbing a marker, and beginning to write.

Shackle:
-Entei

Jon realised what Dylan was doing, and was thankful for Dylan’s level-headedness.

“You battled Entei?” Jarena asked, having grown up in Ecruteak City, and knowing that Entei, along with Raikou and Suicune were associated with the burnt tower there.

“I beat Entei…” Dylan corrected, allowing himself a slight grin.

“Everyone, write down whatever you remember from your battles. Names, Pokemon, anything…” Jon ordered, as those present began rushing the whiteboard, before Jon turned to Latios, who was helping with healing the Pokemon who had just battled. “Latios, patrol the skies, and let me know the moment anything with a pulse gets in range…”

It was a few minutes later, when the whiteboard was more full that all present, including Justin who had returned with some battle items to restore Pokemon, understood the extent of their foe.

Shackle:
-Entei: Fire Type. Knows Stone Edge, Flare Blitz, Fire Blast, Heat Wave and Laser Focus. Beaten by Dylan (Walrein)

Mech:
-Genesect: Steel and Bug Type. Knows Techno Blast (Water Type, but looks as if it can change), Metal Claw, X-Scissor and Iron Defence. Ability that increases Attack Power. Beaten by Charlotte (Magmortar)
-One more unconfirmed.

Ruin:
-Yveltal: Dark and Flying Type. Knows Phantom Force. Beaten by Jon (Zoroark)

Scope:
-Had Palkia. (Beaten by Chris and Jon. Mega Charizard X, Giratina and Rayquaza)

*Unknown*
-Groudon: Ground Type with Ability akin to harsh sunlight. Knows Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Bulldoze. Assume Earthquake, Sunny Day, maybe Solar Beam. (Held off by Steven and Lance. Not beaten)

Geyser:
-Volcanion: Suspected Fire and Water Type. Knows Fire Blast, Heat Wave, Flamethrower and Steam Eruption (didn’t see attack happen). (Held off by Cass and Jarena. Not beaten)

Paragon (Nasty B***h):
-Zekrom: Dragon and Electric Type. Knows all common Electric attacks and Fusion Bolt (Zap Cannon on steroids). Almost beaten by Victini. It was on the ropes.

*Leader*:
Was not in instances. Likely closest member.

Guardian:
-Landorus: Ground and Suspected Flying Type. Knows Block, Fissure (watch out), Protect, Earthquake, Swords Dance, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Extrasensory. Held off by Violet and Willow. Not Beaten.
-Suspected second Pokemon.

Vigour:
-Has Regidrago. Dragon Type. Average speed, mediocre defences, above average attack, huge amounts of energy. Has ability that increases attack power of Dragon Type moves by 50%. Held off by Justin. Not beaten. Knows the following moves:
-Dragon Energy (scales with Regidrago’s health. Dragon Type variant of Eruption and just as strong at full health)
-Dragon Breath
-Focus Energy
-Hyper Beam
-Dragon Dance


“I gotta say Justin, I’m glad you paid this much attention…” Jon said weakly as he looked over the list. This did concern him. Abbee and Justin were both exceptional trainers on their own, and they couldn’t beat their opponents by themselves, using their own Legendary Pokemon. Even Lance and Steven working together only managed to hold off Groudon. And had Jon and Chris not finished Palkia when they did, chances are this would have been far worse.

“We need a plan…” Steven said as he looked over the information in front of him, equally concerned. “Their leader has at least one Legendary Pokemon, and I’m guessing a lot of them were like Mech, having a second they didn’t get to use. We could be dealing with fifteen or more Legendary Pokemon…”

As those present gathered round, Dylan’s eyes flicking back every few seconds to the projector screen that showed the CCTV footage, Jon began considering their best bet.

“Their plan to divide and conquer was a good one, and had I not had Giratina with me, they would have succeeded. I don’t think we should prepare for them to do anything different when they assault this place. They will try and separate us, and come in from different directions…” Jon explained. “The difference is now, if one of us beats one of them, we aren’t stuck twiddling our thumbs. We can actually go and help each other out…”

On an empty corner of the whiteboard, Jon had drawn a very rough birds eye view of the property. As he thought it over, he drew two rings both with the stadium in the centre. One a little larger than the stadium itself, and one even larger, covering more of the property.

“We divide into three teams. One team takes this outer ring and tries to prevent whoever they can from passing. They won’t be able to stop all of them, but if they can stop most of them, it means those in the middle ring can hold them back…” Jon explained.

“And the third team? Charlotte asked, though Lance was the one to answer.

“They remain in here and are the last line of defence…” Lance explained, to which Jon nodded.

“If we all stayed in here they’d just swarm us and it would be pandemonium. This way we can prevent too many from coming in at once…” Jon agreed. “Let’s say we have three of them arrive at the outer ring, and come across Steven…”

Jon pointed to a section on the outer ring, before continuing.

“Even if Steven is not letting them pass, they won’t have all three waste their time trying to take him down. Not when the egg could hatch at any moment, and they lose their opportunity,” Jon explained. “No, they’d leave one to deal with Steven, and let the other two go further in. Then they come to the middle ring, and find themselves up against Cass. Same thing. Which means that when they get here, we are only holding off one of the original three…”

“So our primary objective isn’t to prevent anyone from passing…” Justin murmured, to which Jon nodded.

“It’s to prevent everyone from passing,” Jon agreed.

“And now we know how many people they’ve got…” Violet added. “If they had more than the 10 on the board they wouldn’t have let some of us be paired up…”

“Exactly,” Jon said. “Latios will be in the sky the entire time, keeping track of who is here. For those on the outer ring, once Latios confirms that everyone still putting up a fight is inside, you can move to support the others…”

“So who is in what ring?” Chris asked. Jon took a moment to think it over.

“Chris, Dylan, Steven and Lance make up the outer ring,” Jon explained. “Violet, Jarena, Abbee and Justin stay here. Myself, Cassandra, Willow and Charlotte make up the middle ring.”

“No…”

Those present were shocked when Dylan was the one to protest.

“Dylan, I know you can handle being first line of def-” Jon began.

“Not that…” Dylan answered. “I’m fine being first line. But you’re not going in the middle ring. You’re staying in here…”

“Am I now?” Jon asked, surprised at Dylan’s assertiveness.

“You are.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you could still have a seizure at any moment…” Dylan said, causing Jon to go quiet. “I know the medication has been working, but we don’t know that something might happen, or the stress of it all, or whatever, won’t cause you to have one. If you have one outside and nobody is able to help you, you might be killed, or Blackstone will get past…”

“Dylan, I’m not an invalid-”

“Do you really want to risk Dialga over your pride?” Dylan asked.

“Jon, I hate to admit it, but he’s right…” Steven said quietly. “We don’t know what will happen, and if things go south, you’re best suited to being in here…”

Jon sighed, before Abbee spoke up.

“I’ll take the middle ring position,” Abbee offered, though Jon shook his head, before looking at Justin.

“Can you take it?”

Justin nodded slowly, as Victini, who sat on Abbee’s shoulder, cried out indignantly.

“What, do you think I can’t handle the middle ring?” Victini asked angrily, as Jon shook his head.

“I know you can handle it,” Jon answered. “I also know you would bring about the end of the world before you let anything happen to Abbee, which is the sort of determination I want protecting the egg…”

Victini went quiet, though the silence was short lived, broken by a message in the minds of all present.

”Multiple consciousnesses incoming. We’ve got company…”

[[Desolate Divine]]

Another two months... At this rate, I should be finished Season 5 early next year. In all seriousness, I have covered the most difficult part of Season 5 and am about to get into uni break with both major camps for work behind me. Hoping I can return to a reasonable pace.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Prologue: Off The Books

Boy, you don't mess around! My initial plan was to review a few chapters at a time, but there was so much packed into this prologue that I had to share some of my thoughts!

Some people use prologues to lay the groundwork for the adventure to come, to introduce the reader to the characters, or to simply grab the audience's attention by leaving them wanting more. This prologue did all of the above, and instead of whetting my appetite on some intrigue and mystery (although there were shades of that), my experience of "wanting more" came from the explosive battle with Rayquaza! Hopefully I didn't just spoil the prologue, but wow, using a high-stakes, high-octane scene like that to climax your prologue makes me only wonder where the story can go from there.

Having just come from reading the underlying S.S. Wishmaker RP, I am glad to see further world-building on top of the foundation of elements already laid in that collaborative endeavor. The shady side of the Pokémon Leagues and governments feels very Tom Clancy at times, especially when describing things like unregistered Poké balls, a really cool concept that immediately had me wondering about how they interact with the likes of Team Rocket and Kurt in Azalea Town. Are Aprikorn-based Pokemon balls illegal? The overall shadiness around the League and governments also makes me worry that Steven is too naïve in trusting that he can protect Starglade merely by hiring the right personnel. Institutions have minds of their own, and the more I see the less I trust.

Also coming off of S.S. Wishmaker, it was a pleasant surprise to see the Diamond Ladies make a reappearance. From the epilogue and the title alone I did not expect them to come back, especially so soon, but the reasons for doing so were clear in-universe. The powerful relationship between Jon and Cassandra was evident in the RP, and it was a treat to see them working and battling together for a common mission. Unfortunately, the cast reunion also hinted that Lance is back and up to his old ways, but, again, the reasoning in-story made perfect sense. Of course the League would use a Dragon Tamer to try and subdue Rayquaza. It wasn't entirely clear to me why the powers that be wouldn't want to tame Rayquaza instead of killing it, but thanks to Jon and Cassandra's efforts that's neither here nor there.

Speaking of old friends, I always really enjoy Latios. Well, to be most accurate, I should say that I especially enjoy the reactions of other characters to Latios. Even the legendary Pokémon pales in comparison to my real favorite character though.

One reason why Jon is my favorite character is that he will make the hard choices that need to be made, but always with full knowledge that he will need to make amends for them later. We saw this in S.S. Wishmaker, and we can see it here, too. His initial plan to put Rayquaza to sleep with magic is one of those instances. He is quite ruthless when he needs to be, yes, but moral as well. He can also be persuaded by an alternate plan, such as Rayquaza's appeal to honor.

The battle that happened between Jon, Cassandra, and Rayquaza was also a nice treat for the audience. The battling showcased was a good blend of game-based strategy fused with a writer's imagination. The quick-thinking and coaching from Jon highlighted again his talents as a teacher, and the rapid fire of the battle culminated in a dazzling finale. Some detail was sacrificed for the breakneck pace, which was an all right trade to make.

Ultimately, the story has cemented Jon as a profoundly viable protagonist and I'm certainly looking forward to reading more, much more!

[[Desolate Divine]]

Boy, you don't mess around! My initial plan was to review a few chapters at a time, but there was so much packed into this prologue that I had to share some of my thoughts!

Some people use prologues to lay the groundwork for the adventure to come, to introduce the reader to the characters, or to simply grab the audience's attention by leaving them wanting more. This prologue did all of the above, and instead of whetting my appetite on some intrigue and mystery (although there were shades of that), my experience of "wanting more" came from the explosive battle with Rayquaza! Hopefully I didn't just spoil the prologue, but wow, using a high-stakes, high-octane scene like that to climax your prologue makes me only wonder where the story can go from there.

Glad you enjoyed it! Rayquaza's battle was one of my favourites for the teamwork element of it, but at the same time, things only improve from there, even if the battles that come later are relatively lower stakes at times, the further you get, the more you will find the battles are deeper (with the exception of scenes where there are battles upon simultaneous battles and I just don't have the mental capacity to flesh out as much), especially when you have a battle between two very talented trainers, each trying to outwit eachother.

Having just come from reading the underlying S.S. Wishmaker RP, I am glad to see further world-building on top of the foundation of elements already laid in that collaborative endeavor. The shady side of the Pokémon Leagues and governments feels very Tom Clancy at times, especially when describing things like unregistered Poké balls, a really cool concept that immediately had me wondering about how they interact with the likes of Team Rocket and Kurt in Azalea Town. Are Aprikorn-based Pokemon balls illegal? The overall shadiness around the League and governments also makes me worry that Steven is too naïve in trusting that he can protect Starglade merely by hiring the right personnel. Institutions have minds of their own, and the more I see the less I trust.

Good pickup! One of the things I enjoy doing is taking the things that a franchise who largely try to sell to children glosses over/pretends doesn't exist, that adults would wonder about, and flesh them out. The Pokeballs are one example, and another is Jon's comments about his insurance premium going up. Like, what sort of society would allow civilians to carry what we would consider weapons of mass destruction, without asking questions of liability? If my charmander burns my neighbours house down, and I can't afford the damage, what happens then?

As for aprikorn based-Pokeballs (and I'm making this up on the spot), my guess is that manufacturers making those sorts of more unique Pokeballs would have to get certification, and part of the process would be placing the tech in the Pokeball. In the same way my boss used to make his own trailers for towing various bits of equipment around and whilst legally he could, he was also legally required to stamp the VIN number on the trailer that the state government provided and such.

As for Steven, in terms of experience as Champion, between himself, Cynthia and Lance he has been Champion for the least amount of time, and honestly, the S.S. Wishmaker was an eye opening experience for him at how government can place their faith in the wrong people. You will see (especially in Season 2 and 5) that this experience in the prologue has changed him.

Also coming off of S.S. Wishmaker, it was a pleasant surprise to see the Diamond Ladies make a reappearance. From the epilogue and the title alone I did not expect them to come back, especially so soon, but the reasons for doing so were clear in-universe. The powerful relationship between Jon and Cassandra was evident in the RP, and it was a treat to see them working and battling together for a common mission. Unfortunately, the cast reunion also hinted that Lance is back and up to his old ways, but, again, the reasoning in-story made perfect sense. Of course the League would use a Dragon Tamer to try and subdue Rayquaza. It wasn't entirely clear to me why the powers that be wouldn't want to tame Rayquaza instead of killing it, but thanks to Jon and Cassandra's efforts that's neither here nor there.

You are asking all the right questions! And that last one gets answered considerably later in the story! Season 2 to be precise ;)

Speaking of old friends, I always really enjoy Latios. Well, to be most accurate, I should say that I especially enjoy the reactions of other characters to Latios. Even the legendary Pokémon pales in comparison to my real favorite character though.

One reason why Jon is my favorite character is that he will make the hard choices that need to be made, but always with full knowledge that he will need to make amends for them later. We saw this in S.S. Wishmaker, and we can see it here, too. His initial plan to put Rayquaza to sleep with magic is one of those instances. He is quite ruthless when he needs to be, yes, but moral as well. He can also be persuaded by an alternate plan, such as Rayquaza's appeal to honor.

Latios is always a favorite of mine! He does undergo some development, but ultimately is largely still himself, albeit a bit more fleshed out. Honestly, it started because Latios physically comes off as the strong, silent type given its power and design, even in the anime when it is a bit more cute. Heck, I've had characters in other RPs before with Latios who just fit that category. So I thought "What if I make Latios far less serious and more of a clown?" and it resulted in this!

I'm glad to see Jon is liked as a character, as I (and I am aware I am my own worst critic) sometimes feel he is just too much of a cliche thirty-something year old white dude who is too much of a jokester whilst also being too willing to throw down. Honestly, I think him opening the Eon Academy is the best thing for his character, as he takes on a teacher, and then mentor role for a while with far less high stakes stuff. It lets him be a normal dude and actually get developed in that sense.

The battle that happened between Jon, Cassandra, and Rayquaza was also a nice treat for the audience. The battling showcased was a good blend of game-based strategy fused with a writer's imagination. The quick-thinking and coaching from Jon highlighted again his talents as a teacher, and the rapid fire of the battle culminated in a dazzling finale. Some detail was sacrificed for the breakneck pace, which was an all right trade to make.

Ultimately, the story has cemented Jon as a profoundly viable protagonist and I'm certainly looking forward to reading more, much more!

Yeah, I get what you mean about detail! Don't worry, there will be far more detailed battles to come, especially as Jon's students (who were referenced but haven't been introduced yet) grow into capable trainers themselves!

Keen to hear more of your thoughts!

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 5 Episode 13: Contact

Spoiler:

From his vantage point high above the stadium of the Eon Academy, invisible, Latios watched as eight figures rushed from the stadium, scattering in various directions to take up their posts, whilst in the distance, Latios could sense a small cluster of consciousnesses all making their way towards the Academy, mostly human, but some not.

“Estimating eight people and two Pokemon, maybe three…” Latios shared telepathically with those on the ground below them, as they began to slow. ”All coming in together from the air…”

Below Latios, the figures slowed as they found their posts, and in the distance, Latios saw the oncoming force. Visibly, they were almost imperceptible in the night sky, with only one of the Pokemon even remotely visible. However even then it was only a violet coloured blur. Behind it however seemed to be something almost equally dark as the night sky, making it practically invisible. Latios was only able to see their opponents by their auras, representing their emotions, that only he and Latias could see.

”I’m going to try and split them up…” Latios said. ”Otherwise they will force their way straight into the stadium…”

”Do it, but after that, stay out of sight and undetected!” Jon ordered. ”We have enough battlers, but we need you keeping watch over the battle!”

As much as Latios didn’t like being relegated to a glorified spectator, he understood why. Latios would battle best at Jon’s side, but Jon’s non-Legendary Pokemon were not much less capable than Latios himself. Meanwhile Rayquaza and Giratina both eclipsed the Eon Pokemon in terms of sheer power. And whilst Latias could take this watchtower role, Latios knew Willow would need Latias by her side in the coming battle.

As the oncoming force drew closer, and was lit up by the light pollution of the Eon Academy and nearby properties and streetlights, Latios could now distinguish three forms making their way towards the property. One large, jet black, and draconic, which Jon, seeing through Latios’ sight himself, identified as Zekrom, and two that were incredibly large birds. The fastest of the trio was black with a crimson underside, that Jon recognised as Yveltal, the Pokemon that he and Zoroark had battled in the instance not even an hour earlier. The third Pokemon, which was violet in colour, looked familiar, though Jon did not know what it was.

”Latios, where are the bulk of the humans?” Jon asked.

”Four on Zekrom, three on Yveltal and one on the other bird…”

Latios could feel Jon’s thoughts as he weighed their odds.

”One good hit on Zekrom, then don’t let yourself be detected,” Jon ordered. “Try and knock down as many of its passengers as you can. They’re the priority…”

Latios forwarded a thought of acknowledgement, before focusing on the enemy closing in. In a matter of seconds, all three would be flying over the western side of the outer ring, where Steven stood ready to fight. Focusing not on Zekrom itself, but the space between the occupants who held onto its back, Latios, knowing this was the only attack it planned on using, channelled all of its telekinetic strength into a single, explosive blast.

On the ground, Steven, who was watching the oncoming force, heard a boom, as two shadows seemed to be launched from Zekrom’s back, one soaring through the air northbound, and another falling towards him. There was a cry from the unfamiliar violet bird Pokemon, which, alongside Yveltal, slowed and began their descent. However, the descent of the two figures who had been thrown off Zekrom’s back by Latios’ opening strike, began to slow, causing them to gently float towards the ground. Steven found himself facing a short man in his early twenties, with shaggy brown hair and a tanned complexion. Before he even reached the ground, the man had tossed a Pokeball, which upon hitting the ground, exploded into a brilliant white light, revealing a Pokemon Steven recognised as Entei.

“I’ve got Shackle on the western border!” Steven called out, knowing Latios would hear the thoughts, before withdrawing his own Pokemon.

Waiting by the western edge of the middle circle, Justin stood by Regieleki, and watched as the trio of flying Pokemon attempted to fly over him. He knew he could slow one down, and in a moment of sheer calculation, picked his target. Regieleki would not be effective against Zekrom, and he had seen what had happened when Latios had knocked two of Blackstone’s operatives off. One of the Pokemon had telekinesis, and Jon had mentioned Yveltal being Dark Type, as well as obviously flying.

“Regieleki, Zap Cannon!” Justin ordered, making sure to project his voice. “Hit the smallest one!”

Latios was the biggest advantage the Eon Academy held, as the Academy’s namesake would be able to monitor the battlefield, and when, hopefully, one of his teammates defeated their opponent, Latios could send them to support someone in need. Whilst invisible and in the air, Latios was almost undetectable, however if the violet bird was a psychic type, Latios would be at risk of being discovered.

As Regieleki launched Zap Cannon, the violet bird dived towards the ground, causing the powerful bolt of electricity to miss. Yveltal, who was almost hit in the crossfire dived as well, however instead flew over the stadium, disappearing behind the large structure. Zekrom however seemed to pick up speed, as it charged up an attack.

Inside the stadium, there was a bang as the foyer that stood between the Academy grounds and the stadium itself exploded into a mess of shattered glass, flying in all directions, and plasterboard vaporised from the Bolt Strike attack. Jon grabbed a Pokeball as the large form of Zekrom flew in through the entrance it had created, landing heavily on the ground, before launching a Thunderbolt at Abbee, which Victini blocked instinctively, and two figures jumped to the ground, letting out an additional three Pokemon. As Jon recognised Regidrago from the photos of the statue Justin had shown him, and Zapdos, he felt his head become light, as his vision slowly turned to black. At first he thought the unidentified Pokemon, which stood at near seven feet tall, with cyan fur and large horns emerging from its head, was possibly using an attack on him, however this feeling was far too familiar for Jon to kid himself.

He saw in his mind the scene in his en suite that morning, where he was about to take his anti-convulsants, before placing the bottle down in order to try and convince Alyssa to go to Rustboro with Rose and Ethan, and forgetting about them before leaving the house to begin the proceedings of the Eon Academy’s final day of summer.

If he had been conscious even a second longer, he would have been kicking himself, knowing that one oversight was preventing him from taking action when those around him needed it most, however Jon was already gone, leaving his body a convulsing, flailing mess on the stadium floor.

“Jon!” Violet called out fruitlessly, as Victini, knowing that every instant wasted with words was vital, reached out telekinetically, grabbing Jon as quickly as he could, and throwing him past the barrier into the seating area of the stadium, hoping he hadn’t done any lasting damage to his friend. A split second later, a Thunder attack from Zapdos, trained in on the spot where Jon had lay immobile and defenceless a split second earlier, struck, easing Victini’s conscience a little, at the rough but necessary treatment of his friend.

“Look out!” Jarena called, as Victini looked back, to see Zekrom releasing another attack, trained directly on Victini, and Abbee who stood behind him.

Victini was almost blinded by the dark grey form erupting from the ground in front of him, using Protect to block the powerful Dragonbreath attack. When Victini recognised the form as a Dusknoir, he first thought that Dylan had left his post, before Violet called out.

“Kano, Disable!” Violet shouted, as the Dusknoir in front of Victini cried out, stopping Zekrom from using a follow-up Dragon Breath. “You’ve got Jon out of the way Victini! Now focus on these guys!”

“Right!” Victini shouted as he rushed past Kano, and jumped, launching itself upwards with an explosion of fire beneath its feet, and readying an attack on Zapdos.

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

From where he stood at the eastern edge of the outer ring, Lance watched as Yveltal, dived over the stadium, however instead of landing on the other side where Charlotte waited, turned southbound, dropping off two people who were on its back. One was stopped by Charlotte, as the other, having seen from the air Willow who stood at the northernmost point of the inner circle, rushed north to engage her, as Yveltal landed at the southernmost point, where Cassandra waited for it. Lance knew why.

In terms of the number of trainers, those defending held the advantage of numbers, and given how many of Blackstone’s Legendary Pokemon were beaten when they had been split up by Palkia, especially by trainers commanding non-Legendary Pokemon themselves, any member of Blackstone who was outnumbered would likely be disadvantaged. Meanwhile Blackstone had the advantage in terms of numbers of Legendary Pokemon. By engaging Willow voluntarily, this prevented Willow from supporting Charlotte. Whilst Lance still disliked Jon greatly, he could see the benefit to this tactic. Despite the sheer volume of Legendary Pokemon, each member of the Eon Academy could hold their ground on their own, and by spreading them out across the property, Blackstone were forced to spread themselves too thin and meet them, in order to not be outnumbered. What this meant however, was that their strongest would either already be inside the stadium, probably the source of the explosion that had just smashed through the foyer entrance, or just outside, being held off by Justin.

Lance turned at the sound of dry grass crunching under the boot of someone approaching, and found himself face to face with a tall young woman, with wavy blonde hair, that fell down her back. Lance knew that only three Dragon Type Pokemon had been identified in the battles earlier that evening. Zekrom, who Lance saw flying towards the property earlier, and presumed had been the source of the explosion at the stadium, Palkia, who had been killed by Jon and Chris, and Regidrago, which had been in the possession of a male operative. In addition, Lance knew that so far no Fairy Type Pokemon had been identified in the prior battles, nor Ice Types. Knowing it was his safest bet, Lance sent out Dragonite.

“Who would have thought, the disgrace of a champion is helping Jon Drake and his pet witches…” the woman said with a sneer. “You all friends now or something?”

“Like hell,” Lance replied. “I’d been watching you lot since I broke out, trying to do some damage, and just so happened to realise you were heading here…”

The woman in front of him seemed to have a moment of realisation, before a bitter expression crossed her face.

“You killed Shield?” the woman asked, her face a mask of grim anger. Lance smirked.

“Was that her name?” Lance asked. “The one who strayed too far from the pack and didn’t leave Mount Silver?”

“No… Shield died in Meteor Falls three weeks ago…”

“Oh, him…” Lance answered antagonistically. “He put up that little of a fight, I didn’t even think he had one of your little codenames…”

Silently the woman withdrew a Pokeball, tossing it forward, revealing a well built Pokemon with a metallic maroon coloured body, covered with gold and light blue accents.

“So you’re Geyser…” Lance said mockingly, having recognised Volcanion, and seen the name Cassandra had written on the whiteboard in the stadium. “That was really the best codename they could come up with?”

“Scald!” Geyser ordered angrily, as Lance smirked.

“Protect!”

Dragonite raised a protect barrier, taking the force of the attack and dispersing it, and given Dragonite being the naturally faster of the two Pokemon, Lance knew that a follow up attack would almost certainly strike first.

“Follow it with Stone Edge!” Lance commanded, as Dragonite roared in affirmation, before diving towards its opponent.

“Steam Eruption!” Geyser ordered in retaliation.

“Dragonite, fall back!”

At the last second, Dragonite swerved to the side, passing Volcanion without making an attack, and missed by a matter of inches a pressurised explosion of white-hot steam that propelled in every direction from Volcanion. Whilst Lance knew between Dragonite resisting Water-Type moves, and its Multiscale ability, that the attack would not deal a large amount of damage, even from a Legendary Pokemon, the risk of a burn would be devastating with Dragonite’s strength being it is physical attacks, which would be made weaker by a burn.

“Now, Hydro Pump!”

Dragonite wasn’t able to dodge in time as a torrent of water, thankfully not scalding like the previous attacks, was launched from Volcanion’s jaws, striking Dragonite directly.

“Thunderbolt!” Lance ordered, knowing that he needed to wait for the right opportunity to get into close quarters.

“Protect!” Geyser commanded in response. Volcanion roared as it raised a protect barrier blocking the hit entirely.

“Goddamn…” Lance muttered in irritation. Whilst Dragonite didn’t seem too phased by the attack it took, Multiscale had now been used and unless Lance found a way to restore Dragonite back to full health, the only way he knew of would be to use Rest and put Dragonite to sleep, whatever hit Dragonite took next would hit much harder. Meanwhile, he still had to account for his Pokemon’s stamina, and given Dragonite weighed more than Volcanion, and was moving around the battlefield far more, Lance knew Dragonite would tire sooner.

That and the fact that, as strong as Dragonite was, the pair were facing a Legendary Pokemon. Lance had battled the odd Legendary Pokemon in his time as Champion, however they were not as well trained as he knew Blackstone would be training their Pokemon, and were also worn out by battling the Indigo League Elite Four prior. And whilst Lance had his Charizard battle Yveltal earlier that day, it was less for the sake of beating it and more to keep it occupied whilst Lugia fished Chris out of the ocean. Really, other than the battle against Groudon that afternoon, which even with Steven’s help, would have likely resulted in a loss, the only other Legendary Pokemon his Dragonite had faced was Jon’s Latios, who managed to hold it in place using nothing but his mind...

“I need a goddamn Legendary if they’re becoming this f**king common…” Lance muttered to himself…

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

From where Chris stood guard at the northernmost point of the outer ring, he listened to the telepathic conversation between Jon and Latios, and watched as Latios launched the first attack knocking two people off Zekrom’s back. However when their fall seemed to slow, and one seemed to be moving towards him for a soft landing, Chris didn’t hesitate in grabbing Lugia’s Pokeball, opting for the Legendary both for its sheer strength, versatile movepool and also the fact that, unlike Chris’ Dragonite, Garchomp, Ninetales, Salamence and Hydreigon, it didn’t have a double weakness that would end the battle before it began.

“You’re dead…” called out a familiar voice as a figure floated down, though it seemed desperate to reach the ground faster than it was being telekinetically lowered. “You are so dead…”

As he landed, Chris recognised Scope, the trainer who formerly had Palkia under his control.

“Big talk seeing as your strongest Pokemon is dead…” Chris said coldly, as Lugia roared in agreement.

“Strongest is subjective…” Scope retorted bitterly. “Palkia was convenient with its spatial manipulation, but in terms of battle strength and versatility, it was a tie…”

Scope grabbed a Pokeball from his belt, and pelted it between himself and Chris. The Pokemon that emerged from it was one Chris had never seen before, which, given how much emphasis Jon placed on identifying Pokemon and knowing their traits as part of Eon Academy coursework, likely meant it was another Legendary Pokemon.

The Pokemon itself was not overly large, the same height as Dylan, however was well built, covered in grey fur with lime green claws and a matching snout, as well as black and white accents across its body, reminiscent of robes worn by martial artists. Chris was almost certain that this Pokemon was a Fighting Type, and whilst his classmates would have likely held back and let their opponent reveal what they were capable of, Chris saw this as an opportunity to end this battle before it even began. Between Lugia’s physical bulk as well as its Multiscale ability, Chris knew that whatever this Pokemon threw at it, it would be able to handle.

“Aeroblast Lugia!” Chris ordered. Lugia, which looked odd given it now only had a black scale covering one of its eyes, flew into the air, as its jaws opened and golden light materialised between them, erupting into a large beam, and striking the opposing Pokemon throwing it back.

“Urshifu!” Scope shouted. “Wicked Blow!”

With strong legs, equal in power to that of a Blaziken, the Pokemon, Chris presumed was Urshifu, launched itself into the air with an incredible jump, before landing a single, devastating blow on Lugia, which despite its Multiscale ability, knocked it out of the air, and caused it to fall to the ground. Chris dived to avoid the falling form of Lugia, who hit the ground with a crash, causing it to shake, and looked up in concern, though was thankful to see Lugia getting up. Chris’ first thought was that Urshifu had an ability that allowed all of its attacks to hit critically, however soon realised that was likely not the case.

“Wicked Blow again!”

“Lugia, Protect!” Chris commanded, as Lugia raised a Protect barrier. However, to his horror, something unusual happened. Instead of the heavy strike from Urshifu striking an unbreakable barrier, Urshifu seemed to vanish, before reappearing in Lugia’s blindspot, bypassing the barrier entirely, and striking Lugia. This time, not protected by Multiscale, Lugia roared in pain, being thrown back, and hitting the ground, unmoving. Whilst Chris couldn’t be certain whether Lugia was unconscious or not, he knew that given the fact he had played a key role in the killing of one of Scope’s Legendary partners, Chris didn’t want to give Scope the opportunity for retribution, so quickly returned Lugia to its Pokeball, sending out Charizard and giving an order before the light of the Pokeball had even struck.

“Inferno!”

Knowing that Scope, as angry as he was at Chris for killing Palkia, would not miss any opportunity, Chris had taken a gamble, figuring that Scope would be ordering Urshifu to hit him when he was unprotected. Which meant that if Urshifu were midway through an attack, there was very little it could do to block the very powerful, but highly inaccurate Fire-Type attack. However, it wasn’t the power of the attack that Chris had chosen it for, but instead the guaranteed burn it would inflict if the attack struck.

As the light of the Pokeball and the Inferno attack subsided, Charizard was thrown back by another Wicked Blow attack, however the damage it dealt was negligible compared to what it had struck Lugia with, and Urshifu, who had leapt back a few metres after landing the attack, seemed to have its fur singed, indicating the attack had struck.

“Now, Charizard!” Chris ordered, as he pressed the stone embedded into his stainless steel wristband, and Charizard exploded into a rainbow light, disappearing from view. “Substitute!”

Whilst Chris wanted nothing more than to attack, he remembered what Dylan had observed two summers earlier about Mega Evolution; the transformation process takes longer than it appears. Whilst Charizard may emerge from the rainbow light looking completely different, it would be a few seconds before its strength, speed and resilience had shifted to match its form. And Chris had since realised Urshifu’s ability didn’t cause it to land critical hits, but instead to bypass protection moves.

Charizard disappeared, being replaced by a bootleg, stuffed toy of itself.

“Brick Break!” Scope commanded. Urshifu launched forward, striking the substitute with a brick-shattering punch, however held back due to its burn, and to Chris’ relief, the substitute didn’t break, buying Charizard an additional free move.

“Swords Dance, Charizard!” Chris commanded. Urshifu struck the substitute again, causing it to disappear, and Charizard to reappear. “Now, Power-Up Punch!”

Launching itself towards Urshifu, Charizard struck the Legendary Pokemon with an attack that, whilst compared to Charizard’s other moves, was relatively weaker, was enough to launch the Pokemon back towards its trainer thanks to both Mega Charizard’s Tough Claws ability, and the power of Swords Dances.

Urshifu struck the ground and remained unmoving, causing Scope to swear in anger as he called the Pokemon back.

“What’s next?” Chris called out determinedly. “I’ve killed one of your Legendary Pokemon, and beaten the other. And Charizard is ready for anything…”

“You’re dead…” Scope muttered, as he grabbed another Pokeball.

“Charizard, substitute!” Chris commanded, as Scope’s Pokeball exploded into blinding light.

“Smokescreen!” Scope ordered, as smoke filled the impromptu battlefield, blocking Chris’ vision. Realising that with Charizard hidden, if Scope wasn’t attacking the Substitute, that he was the only target, Chris dived to the side.

“Charizard, Air Slash!”

The command was not to hit an unseen enemy, but instead clear the smoke. Charizard, still unseen due to the presence of the substitute, roared as gushes of air erupted from nowhere, blowing the bulk of the smoke away. When Chris looked around however, Scope was gone.

Looking to the north, over the cliff edge that made up the northern border of the Eon Academy, he saw a form of a flying Pokemon, flying away and carrying somebody on its back, lit only by the flame on the tail of the flying Pokemon. Scope had a Charizard, and was using it to flee.

“F**king coward…” Chris muttered, before looking to either side to figure out who needed his help more…

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

Dylan stood behind the now open gate of the Eon Academy, which stood at the southern edge of the property. Whilst his post was behind it, he knew a physical gate would likely stand as much chance of holding back Blackstone as the foyer of the stadium which he heard destroyed less than a minute earlier. He saw Yveltal land near Cassandra, who was moving to fight the Pokemon herself, however knew he had to remain at his post.

Latios had confirmed that eight people were carried in by the flying Legendary Pokemon, and between the accounts given by the staff of the Academy, and the trainers they faced in Palkia’s instances, two were unaccounted for.

Latios had claimed there were four trainers on Zekrom, two of which were knocked off, and Dylan had seen, lowered to the ground near Chris and Steven, the other two remaining on Zekrom as it blasted its way into the stadium. There had been one trainer on the violet coloured bird Pokemon, which had landed near Justin’s post by the entrance to the stadium, and three on Yveltal. However, he could see nine individual beams of light shining in the sky, representing different enemies on the property. One seemed to be held back at the eastern edge of the property, despite Dylan having not seen any who flew in make it that far. This confirmed his hunch that others would be coming from other directions. It didn’t take long before his vigilance came to fruition.

The noise was faint, almost inaudible over the sounds of battle behind him, however immediately it stood out. Dylan had spent dozens upon dozens of hours, like the other interns, keeping watch overnight, whilst also having called the Eon Academy home for the last four years, acting as the unofficial groundskeeper, given his natural talent for understanding how things work, and fixing them. Though he didn’t realise it, he had come to know exactly how the property should sound on a normal night. And the footsteps he heard from outside the gate was not one of any wild nocturnal Pokemon that may move through the property, nor the sound of anyone walking towards it for any good reason.

“You may as well make yourself known!” Dylan called out, knowing that the beam of light would not trigger until whoever stood on the other side of the fence crossed the threshold of the property line. “We’ll know the moment you enter the property…”

There was silence for a minute, before the sound of footsteps no longer trying to conceal themselves. The pair of streetlights that illuminated the crossover between the Eon Academy driveway and Arcadia Drive cast shadows as a man who appeared to be in his late thirties stepped into the light. Despite not being particularly old, his black hair was peppered with grey, and his eyes seemed hardened, indicating to Dylan, that compared to what he had seen of Blackstone so far, that this man was likely amongst the more senior members.

“I figure you already know who I am, despite my best efforts,” Dylan said plainly. “Do I get the same privilege?”

“Obsidian,” the man said coldly. Dylan found himself confused for a moment, not recalling any of his teammates saying they battled someone with that codename during the earlier round. This meant one of two possibilities. The first, was that this man was their leader, who had not been in an instance prior, having been the one tasked with making his way to the property whilst it had been emptied by Palkia to retrieve the Dialga egg. And the fact he had come separately seemed to hint towards that. The other possibility was that this was the trainer that Steven and Lance faced, whose name they did not ask. Either way, Dylan knew that this trainer would be far harder to defeat than his previous opponent.

“Well Obsidian, this is your one and only warning to turn back now…” Dylan called out, sounding far braver than he was really feeling. “You’ve drawn the short straw here.”

“And why is that?” Obsidian asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“If you know who I am, you know this is my home. And I won’t let you hurt it, or the others who cherish this place,” Dylan said determinedly, before raising his voice. “I’m the end of the line! You won’t get past me!”

Nodding in understanding, Obsidian unlatched a Pokeball, as Dylan unlatched his own.

“Then it sounds like we are at an impasse, because I’m not leaving without what we came for…” Obsidian answered. “So let’s see who budges first…”

Obsidian threw his Pokeball forward, the device opening as it struck the ground, revealing a Pokemon that whilst the same height as an adult male, was built like a tank. It was quadrupedal, looking as if it weighed nearly half a tonne, with a steel mask that made up its face, as well as steel shackles around the bottom of each of its four legs. Its flesh seemed to brighten and darken like magma, and Dylan could feel the heat emanating from it. From his time spent in the Canalave Library, trying to identify which Legendary Pokemon could be causing nightmares, Dylan recognised the Pokemon in front of him as Heatran.

Dylan hesitated for a second in choosing his Pokemon. Whilst Darkrai would be able to handle this with the least risk, Dylan knew that it was almost certain that Obsidian had at least one more Legendary Pokemon. He didn’t believe the leader of Blackstone would only carry one, and even if this was not the leader, and instead, the trainer Steven and Lance faced before, Dylan knew that trainer had Groudon at his disposal.

At the same time, Metagross and Sceptile would both be severely disadvantaged in this battle, and Walrein, whilst having a type advantage over Heatran, would also have a double resistance to Groudon in the event that it makes an appearance.

Dylan grabbed a Pokeball, lobbing it forward, and sending out Flygon, though knowing that this matchup was far from ideal. Flygon did resist both of Heatran’s types, one doubly. However Flygon was more suited to being a physical attacker, and it seemed that there was a solid chance that if Flygon made contact with Heatran’s body, especially a part that was not covered in steel, that it would sustain a burn, weakening it.

“Flygon, Earthquake!”

“Iron Defense!”

Flygon, who flew in circles in the air above Dylan, dived down, slamming its tail into the earth, causing it to shake, and underneath Heatran, erupt. However, despite Flygon being the faster Pokemon of the two, Heatran was able to adjust its defensive capabilities faster than Flygon could hit the ground.

Shaken, but far from out, Heatran roared, as both trainers gave their next command.

“Dragon Dance!” Dylan shouted.

“Scary Face!” Obsidian commanded. “Then Magma Storm!”

Making the most of Dylan choosing not to attack, Obsidian ordered Heatran to slow its opponent, and though Dragon Dance’s boost to speed had caused Heatran’s attack to not have as drastic of an effect, it had shifted the tides of that battle.

Heatran roared, as magma seemed to erupt from its body, and launched towards Flygon, hitting the Pokemon hard, but seeming to take on a life of its own, surrounding Flygon and dealing further damage as it remained trapped.

“Flygon, Dig!” Dylan ordered, hoping that getting underground would allow Flygon to escape, although knowing it bought Heatran a free opportunity.

“Iron Defense again!”

Heatran’s body hardened further, raising its resilience, as Flygon emerged from the ground, striking Heatran. The attack, which under other circumstances, would have likely knocked Heatran out, did little given Heatran’s own increases to defence. Flygon however, found itself homed in on by the cloud of magma that had trapped it before, which struck the Dragon Type, hitting it and dealing further damage.

“Dragon Pulse!” Obsidian commanded. Heatran roared, before a beam of draconic energy erupted from between its jaws, slamming through the cloud of magma, into Flygon directly, knocking the Pokemon out cold. Dylan quickly called Flygon back as it fell, preventing it from hitting the ground, before sending out his next Pokemon.

“Dusknoir! Finish this!” Dylan called out as he sent out his Ghost Type to the field.

“Magma Storm!”

Again, a familiar cloud of magma erupted from Heatran, rushing Dusknoir and striking it, both with a powerful attack, and a persistent cloud of magma dealing further damage.

“Trick Room!” Dylan commanded. “Then end this!”

Whilst ‘end this’ was not a tactic Dylan liked using often, he knew that with Heatran being this resilient whilst being able to dish out considerable amounts of damage, he had to use it.

After twisting the dimensions, allowing itself to strike first, Dusknoir used Destiny Bond, as Dylan had trained it to under those circumstances. Meanwhile, Obsidian had given the order to use Fire Blast, which struck Dusknoir, knocking it out.

As Dusknoir fell, Heatran cried out in alarm, as it was thrown across the battlefield by a seemingly invisible force. At first Obsidian thought that Dusknoir had used Future Sight, however the attack hit far too hard, and too soon, for it to have been that.

“You’ve trained your Dusknoir to use Destiny Bond on another command…” Obsidian murmured though it seemed he was partially talking to himself. “That way your opponent can’t just stall a turn.”

Obsidian looked up, almost seeming to remember Dylan was there.

“Considering how much of a threat Heatran was, you did well finding a way to take it down…” Obsidian said, louder and directed to Dylan himself. “But that was a wild-card you probably should have saved for later…”

Without a word, Obsidian called back Heatran before sending out his next Pokemon. As someone who grew up in Hoenn, Dylan did not take more than a second to recognise the Pokemon he had only seen ancient artwork and artist renditions of.

Groudon roared in anger, as it set its sights on Dylan.

“Let’s see how long you can be the end of the line...”

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

“Go Aggron!”

Steven’s current roster of six Pokemon was made up of Metagross, Aggron, Registeel, Claydol, Skarmory and Armaldo, three of which would be disadvantaged against Entei’s Fire Typing. And whilst Claydol would resist Entei’s Fire Type moves, Steven had been battling long enough to know that Entei likely knew a Dark Type move to make up for it.

Aggron however had solid physical attack power, which paired with a well timed Stone Edge, may end this battle, and immense defence against physical attacks, which Entei seemed built for. Aggron’s defence against special moves, however…

“Fire Blast!” Shackle ordered, as Entei roared, before launching a violent torrent of flame towards Aggron.

“Protect!” Steven commanded as a countermeasure, however when he saw a menacing grin flick across Shackle’s face, he knew he had played into his opponent’s hands. Aggron blocked the Fire Blast, using a protect barrier, and knowing that Aggron’s chances of producing another immediately were slim, Shackle gave his real instruction.

“Scorching Sands!”

Entei leapt towards Aggron, however instead of crashing into the Pokemon, rushed past and around it, as the ground beneath it shifted from grass on solid earth, to burning hot, loose sand, which a moment later exploded under Aggron with such ferocity, that Steven’s opening Pokemon was knocked out in a single blow. Steven couldn’t remember the last time that had happened, as he called Aggron back.

“That was a good trick…” Steven said, both impressed by Shackle’s ploy, but also buying time.

When Steven had asked if Dialga’s egg could hatch any day now, earlier that day, Jon had responded, with Latios in agreement, ”I’d argue sooner.” The moment the egg hatched, Dialga would flee this timeline, especially if it saw the chaos surrounding its place of birth, and Blackstone would have no reason to remain here and continue fighting with the risk of loss, or worse. Even if Dialga was not due to hatch for hours, Steven doubted his comrades were facing the level of disadvantage he faced, being a Steel-Type specialist, facing a Legendary Fire Type Pokemon, and figured that if he could stall for long enough, he may receive aid from a comrade. And if not, his primary task wasn’t to send his opponent packing, though that would be ideal, but instead prevent them from aiding their comrades in their assault on the stadium.

“Honestly, I expected more from a champion…” Shackle retorted, sounding almost disappointed.

“Maybe if you’d chosen a different path, you’d have faced me in a legitimate battle,” Steven offered. “Could have even been my successor…”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Shackle asked. “TV appearances and political bulls**t? I’ll take power instead…”

Knowing he couldn’t stall forever, Steven grabbed his next Pokeball, opting to send out Claydol. Equally impressive to Shackle’s tactic to make Aggron defenceless before his biggest attack, was the fact Shackle, like Jon had attempted to train his students, knew Aggron’s weakness, not just in terms of typing but its strengths and resistances. Steven had taken for granted that few trainers actually knew that sort of information about Pokemon they didn’t train themselves, and hoped that Shackle would instead have Entei attempt to attack Aggron with physical attacks like it was better suited for. That gambit had failed. Now he was taking the safer route.

“Go, Claydol!”

Whilst Claydol’s physical defence was nowhere near the level of Aggron’s, it was still the highest of his two remaining Pokemon that were not susceptible to Entei’s Fire attacks, and unlike Aggron, it did not have a double type disadvantage, and had much better defence against special attacks. Steven now knew that it was uncertain whether or not he would be able to beat Entei and Shackle, and instead, decided he needed to draw the battle out as long as possible.

“Entei, Crunch!”

Entei darted towards Claydol, grabbing its small and stubby arm with its jaws and biting down hard, causing Claydol to cry out in pain.

“Iron Defence!” Steven commanded, knowing that Claydol was not a strong attacker, relying more on its defence to win battles, and whilst Claydol may be able to land a solid hit with a type advantage, without Steven having a better idea of Entei’s own defensive capabilities, he had no way to know if the reward would be worth the effort, as well as the risk. He knew that once Claydol went down, the rest of his team would likely not last long at all.

“Sunny Day Entei!”

A small orb, the size of a basketball, that appeared like a miniature sun, rose into the air above the battlefield. Steven had been battling long enough to know that Entei was not doing this just for its Fire Type moves, however also knew that he had an opportunity.

“Power Split!” Steven ordered, as both Claydol and Entei began to glow, their power both being made identical. In Entei’s case, its physical power dropped significantly, and its power in special attacks only subtly.

“Solar Beam!”

“Protect!”

Not needing to absorb sunlight thanks to the small orb of sunlight, Entei immediately released a powerful Grass Type attack, which Claydol managed to block with a well timed protect barrier.

“Crunch!”

Like before, Entei made another biting attack against Claydol, striking, however this time the effect was far less damaging, both due to Entei’s own reduced attack, and Claydol’s increased defences. Knowing he couldn’t use Protect now, Steven fought the urge to attempt to use Claydol’s new strength in the form of an Earthquake attack, and instead doubled down on his stall tactic.

“Cosmic Power!”

Claydol’s defence to both physical and special attacks increased, as Shackle ordered another Crunch. The attack struck, however the damage was so low, that Steven felt comfortable using a slightly riskier tactic.

“Now Claydol, Rest!”

Claydol fell asleep, however regained all of its expended energy, whilst Entei was not liable to be able to make full use of this opportunity to knock it out.

“If you’re thinking of using Swords Dance, or Nasty Plot, or something of that nature, Claydol knows Power Swap,” Steven called out to Shackle, who glared at Steven, obviously not impressed at the fact that the Hoenn Champion was making this matchup so difficult, without going on the offensive himself. “I could do this all day…”

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

When she saw Yveltal fly over the stadium, Charlotte didn’t flinch as the large bird got terrifyingly close, and instead sent out Deoxys, as the Legendary Pokemon veered southbound, dropping two of its passengers on the ground. One rushed past Charlotte, heading north as the other sent out her own Pokemon, which based on the description she had heard from Violet and Willow earlier, she understood to be Landorus.

“Nothing personal,” Guardian said to Charlotte casually, as Landorus leapt towards Deoxys, who quickly shifted into its defence form, following a thought command by Charlotte, taking the hit. “We’re here for something, and you’re just in the way…”

“See, I’d believe that if one of my friends didn’t come back tonight on the brink of death…” Charlotte answered coldly. “I’d be more inclined to believe you and your friends are just full of s**t in general. The one I battled before was a joke…”

“Crunch!” Guardian ordered Landorus. The Legendary Pokemon leapt forward, attacking Deoxys viciously, which Charlotte allowed, knowing that in its defensive form, it could take the attack, and that this would only make her victory come sooner.

“Avalanche!”

The air around Deoxys began to freeze, as it launched itself forward towards Landorus. By the time Deoxys made contact, the few snowflakes that had originally formed around Deoxys had become a terrifying wall of ice and snow, which slammed into Landorus, knocking the wind out of it for a moment.

Without needing verbal confirmation, Deoxys switched into its Speed Forme using the moment it had bought, as Charlotte gave her next instruction, redundantly, given Deoxys constant telepathy, but simply out of habit.

“Now Ice Beam!”

Deoxys launched a powerful attack of white-blue light from the organ in its chest, which struck Landorus, knocking it back towards Guardian, leaving her shocked.

“I’d say ’nothing personal’, but I’d be lying…” Charlotte said mockingly, as Guardian quickly returned Landorus, and instead sent out her next Pokemon.

Charlotte didn’t recognise the Pokemon she faced, which stood a few inches taller than her, and seemed to be some sort of primate. Its black body and menacing red eyes indicated to her it was at least partially Dark Type, and the green vines that seemed to be wrapped around its forearms indicated what its secondary typing was.

“Deoxys, Recover!”

Deoxys took a moment to restore its health, leaving it almost as healthy as it had been at the start of the battle, as Guardian gave her new Pokemon its first instruction.

“Zarude, Night Slash!”

The Pokemon’s claws became encased in shadows, as it leapt forward with considerable speed. Whilst it was not anywhere near as fast as Deoxys, who would only be slower in its defensive form, it was faster than all of Charlotte’s other Pokemon, with the exception of Gengar. For a moment, she wondered whether Gengar might fare better, despite it being weak to Dark Types, given its partial Poison typing. Charlotte got her answer though as Zarude’s attack struck.

Deoxys was thrown back at the sheer strength of Zarude’s attack, indicating that as fast as the opposing Pokemon was, its speed was not its best asset. Its physical attack power was significant, given the effect the attack had on Deoxys.

With a speed that only came from years of experience, facing the most difficult opponents, and a measure of natural talent, Charlotte weighed her options. Whilst Deoxys may be able to land a match ending hit in its attack form, or even its standard form, whilst still remaining faster than Zarude, both of those forms would suffer far more from another attack than Deoxys speed form. And whilst Deoxys defence form could hold out far longer against those sorts of attacks, it was slow, and shifting to it now, especially against such a fast opponent, would likely buy an opportunity for more attacks, making the shift redundant.

Gengar’s defence against physical attacks was only marginally better than Deoxys standard form, which paired with Zarude’s Dark Typing would wreak havoc on Gengar if Charlotte were to switch it in now. And whilst Magmortar could cripple Zarude’s physical attacking ability by giving a burn with its Flame Body ability, its defences were only negligibly better than Gengar’s, whilst also being fairly slower.

“Crunch!” Guardian ordered. Zarude quickly closed the distance as Charlotte made up her mind.

“Protect!”

Zarude crashed into a protect barrier, and as it dispersed, Deoxys didn’t attack, opting instead to shift to its defensive form as it knew Charlotte wanted it to.

Charlotte had little doubt that if given enough time, even in Deoxys slower and offensively weaker defensive form, she could whittle down Zarude’s health, and possibly even finish it off, in which case, the defence form gave her the best odds. The real reason however, was actually a contingency plan.

Charlotte would not have been surprised if Zarude knew a move capable of boosting its speed, and given the fact that she would be using Deoxys more defensively, she had no doubt Guardian would find an opportunity to use such a move. However if Zarude managed to gain any more speed, Gengar would have no opportunity to deliver a match ending blow, should Deoxys fail. By leaving Deoxys in a form slower than Zarude, Guardian had no real need to increase Zarude’s speed.

“Night Slash!”

“Recover!” Charlotte ordered, as Deoxys, despite taking another hit, managed to restore the majority of its energy.

“Is that all you’re going to do?” Guardian asked irritably.

“My job is to keep you here,” Charlotte retorted. “If you want to leave, you’re going to need to try harder than that…”

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

“The boss is by the entrance to the stadium, and will be held up there!” Ruin shouted over the sounds of the battle beginning, as Yveltal flew over the stadium roof, having just avoided Regieleki’s Zap Cannon. Ruin could see shadowy figures at the northern, southern and eastern sides of the stadium, and based on where she had seen some standing earlier, figured there would likely be more further out. “I’ll take the one down south, Mech, you take the one up north.”

“Since when were you the one to give orders?” Guardian retorted.

“You take the one on the eastern side, and make sure they don’t harass Mech and I,” Ruin continued, pretending not to hear Guardian. “Once Mech and I take out our targets, we’ll head to the western side and surround whoever they have guarding the door.”

Despite hating being told what to do by Ruin of all people, Guardian had to acknowledge her plan made the most sense. If they didn’t take out those scattered across the battlefield, or at least distract them, they’d give their leader, who was beginning to battle against Justin, a hard time by swarming them.

Despite Ruin sounding confident, and Guardian not criticising the plan itself, the confidence wasn’t contagious. The Eon Academy personnel had managed to not just defeat, but kill Palkia, which had been Blackstone’s trump card. And though they knew that in terms of Legendary Pokemon, they outnumbered the defenders, and that their leader, who was a force to be reckoned with, was fighting alongside them, Mech had to acknowledge the fact that himself, Shackle and Ruin were all defeated earlier, their opponents not even using Legendary Pokemon themselves in those fights. And now,p their opponents weren’t isolated anymore, and had been expecting them, as shown by their defensive formation. Despite Mech understanding what having Dialga, an infant no less, would allow Blackstone to be capable of, he couldn’t help but wonder whether this endeavour was too high risk, even for an organisation such as the one he was siding with in this battle.

Mech didn’t have time to voice any of these concerns, though he knew that Guardian and Obsidian were two of the least likely to heed any of them. Even their leader, codenamed Armageddon, was more likely to listen, as was Vigour and Obsidian. Yveltal was diving, and he knew that despite not seeing their chances of success as high, if he didn’t dismount, and threw Ruin’s plan into disarray, their chances would be even lower.

As Yveltal pulled out from its dive a matter of feet from the ground, Guardian leapt off, landing into a light jog before slowing to a stop. Mech on the other hand, distracted by his thoughts, had mistimed, instead, landing into a roll, before quickly getting to his feet. He saw that the person manning the post that Guardian was tasked with battling was Charlotte, who had defeated him with far too little effort earlier that evening, and breathed a sigh of relief, before running north. If the person he faced was one of the less capable battlers, Ruin’s plan may just work.

Unlatching his Pokeball, Mech rounded the corner, and tossed the Pokeball containing Genesect, having been healed by Blackstone’s own unregistered healing machine. After a moment he recognised the face of Willow Scalera, having seen her picture in mission reports of the Spiritwater Incident a year prior, stolen from the Pokemon League’s servers.

“Marshadow! Go!” Willow called out as she realised her time to battle had come, stepping back in order to make sure that she could see anyone coming from either side of the building. She knew Chris had the post north of her, and would not be letting anyone pass. However she did not want to risk someone slipping by either Justin or Charlotte, both of whom were twice as far away from her as Chris was.

“Genesect!” Mech called out. “End this!”

Whilst Willow had heard from Charlotte that Genesect had an ability that boosted its offensive power, she didn’t have time to account for that in the split second decision she’d make, nor did she understand enough detail for any sort of countermeasure to actually work.

“Marshadow, Low Sweep!”


Marshadow rushed Genesect, and with incredible strength, kicked its legs out from below it, causing the Pokemon to come crashing down, whilst also reducing its speed. However, she had placed Marshadow in a dangerous position, one that Mech identified, and would be taking advantage of.

Before either Pokemon had made a move, Genesect’s Ability, Download, had already taken effect. Invisible to any spectators, Genesect had scanned Marshadow, identifying that between its resistance to physical and special attacks, its defensive capability against physical attacks was poorer, and as such, Download boosted Genesect’s physical attack power by a factor of fifty percent. And whilst Marshadow’s Low Sweep attack had definitely done damage to Genesect, even with its now reduced speed, Genesect would all but certainly land its next attack.

“Shadow Claw!”

In a single hit, Marshadow was thrown back towards Willow, unmoving both due to Genesect’s increased attack, and the double disadvantage it faced to Ghost Type moves.

“S**t…” Willow muttered to herself, her own vocabulary having grown more colourful since spending more time with Jon and those at the Academy. She quickly returned Marshadow to it’s Pokeball, before sending out Latias. The Eon Pokemon cried out, before staring down their opponent.

”This thing took out Marshadow in one hit…” Willow thought intently, knowing Latias would be listening. ”Don’t let it get close to you…”

“Reflect!” Willow commanded of Latias, who cried out in agreement, before coating herself with a thin, telekinetic barrier, which would take the brunt of any hits Latias may sustain. Mech however, was taking advantage of this opportunity.

“Genesect, Shift Gear!”

Genesect’s body seemed to reorganise itself, resulting in the Pokemon looking identical, but now being even faster than it was at the start of the battle, whilst its claws appeared even sharper.

“X Scissor!” Mech ordered, as Genesect rushed towards Latias.

“Protect!”

Latias raised a barrier in response to the attack, blocking it completely, though Mech appeared unperturbed.

“Leech Life!”

Latias cried out in pain as one of Genesect’s blades sliced across her body.

“Recover!” Willow commanded, as Latias, who had been almost knocked out in a single hit, resorted some of its health, though not enough for it to sustain more than one more hit.

This didn’t matter to Mech. Leech Life had done its task, in that it restored Genesect to full health. Willow however was furiously trying to consider her options. Whilst Latias could act first, Genesect would react in a way that Latias’ own action would be redundant at best, or Latias being knocked out at worst. Latias could use Protect to buy time and block Genesect’s next attack, however that would not work consistently. And whilst she could possibly use Shadowcraft, she was still unable to use it non-verbally, which meant that any spell she attempted would take time, which Latias didn’t have.

“God help us…” Willow muttered, as she waited to see what Mech had planned next.

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

“Sandstorm!” Cassandra shouted as Marche stared down its opponent who dwarfed it almost comically. Ruin had jumped down from Yveltal’s back, as Cassandra gave the order, not wanting to waste any time. The Sandslash cried out, as loose dirt erupted from both the ground and Marche’s own hide, whipping up into a storm, for the purpose of slowly whittling down Yveltal’s health, providing cover for Marche, and additionally, triggering its Sand Rush ability, which would double its speed.

“Sucker Punch!” Ruin called out. Yveltal dived into the sandstorm at breakneck speed, hitting the Sandslash with an attack that took it by surprise, however Cassandra refused to let herself be stunned into giving her opponent an opportunity to make use of. Instead, she decided to make use of Yveltal putting itself within melee range of Marche.

“Crush Claw!” Cassandra ordered. Marche lashed out, slicing at Yveltal who darted back to the edge of the sandstorm, however Crush Claw had the desired effect. In addition to dealing damage to the large Pokemon, it had also reduced its defence to physical attacks.

“Now Agility!”

Marche cried out as the move took effect, doubling its speed again, as Cassandra couldn’t help but grin. Had she, five years earlier, been told that a three foot tall Sandslash would be about to take down a twenty foot tall, Legendary Pokemon that's immune to Ground Type moves, she would have given her expert opinion that it was simply not possible.

“Oblivion Wing!” Ruin commanded.

“Dodge it, then Rollout!” Cassandra countered. Marche, blending into the swirling vortex of sand, whilst also being a fraction slower than Justin’s Regieleki without any buffs, avoided the beam of black energy that tore through the Sandstorm, ripping up the ground underneath it, before using its momentum to launch itself into Yveltal, curling into a ball so that the rock hard spikes that lined its back would slam into the Legendary bird Pokemon. Yveltal recoiled in pain as the Sandslash landed, and Cassandra knew that the match would be over in a matter of seconds.

“One more!” Cassandra ordered, knowing Rollout only grew stronger with consecutive uses, and Marche was now that much faster than Yveltal, that it would be able to land a hit before Yveltal could counter the first. “Rollout!”

With even more speed built up than before, Marche leapt at Yveltal, curling into a ball again, and slamming twice as hard into the Legendary Pokemon, causing it to cry out one more time, before falling limply to the ground…

“How?!” Ruin yelled out angrily, unable to comprehend that Yveltal had fallen yet again. “You’re supposed to be a fraud! A cheater!”

“Not anymore…” Cassandra said, with a hardness in her voice that seemed to rattle Ruin. The young woman slowly stood back, whilst calling Yveltal back, before fleeing towards the east, seeming to give a wide berth to where Cassandra could see Lance and his Dragonite battling against Volcanion.

Cassandra considered giving chase, however knew that her time was better spent elsewhere. Dialga would hatch soon, and whilst a bruised ego might be enough for Blackstone to want to return, if the Eon Academy, right now, could prove that a future revenge attack was too risky, when there was no real reward up for grabs, it would likely be more beneficial than incapacitating one of their members.

Cassandra ran to where she could see Charlotte and her Deoxys, battling against a Legendary Pokemon she did not recognise. Her dark sense of humour brought to mind the fact that under any other circumstances, she would love to be taking in the sight of at least two dozen Legendary Pokemon all doing battle against one another.

Spotting Cassandra in her peripheral vision, making her way towards the battle and unlatching a Pokeball, Charlotte called out to her ally, though did not let her focus leave the battle in front of her.

“Don’t! I’ve got this b***h!” Charlotte called out, before nodding towards the north, where the sounds of a battle seemed to stem from, and a large white light was visible, indicating the presence of an enemy. “Willow needs your help!”

“I’m on it!” Cassandra called out, as she rushed past Charlotte, who gave Deoxys another command, her own battle still raging on.

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

Given Regieleki’s shocking speed and powerful affinity for Electric Type moves, when the violet bird Pokemon, which Justin was shocked to learn was a variant of Articuno, was in close range, Regieleki had dispatched the Legendary Pokemon effectively and efficiently, seeming to earn Justin the respect of his opponent.

“You almost made that look too easy…” the man opposite him said, almost in disbelief. “Regardless of a type disadvantage, Articuno is no pushover, and neither am I. I can see why Vigour tried to recruit you before anything else…”

The man was in his early forties, and carried himself with a certain charisma that gave Justin a hunch of who he was. The fact that neither Articuno, nor the next Pokemon that he sent out, were among those written on the whiteboard earlier as Pokemon battled in the instances earlier, seemed to allude to this as well.

“Go, Zacian!”

“But that’s not enough to convince you this fighting is pointless, and that we won’t let you pass?” Justin asked boldly as the Legendary Pokemon materialised. “Not enough to make you call off this stupid attack?”

The man grinned at Justin. He was only an inch or two taller than Justin, but was well built, and whilst his eyes were focused on Justin, and seemed invested in the battle he faced, he also seemed to be calculating a million things all at once.

“So you know who I am then?”

“You’re their leader, aren’t you?” Justin asked. “Neither of these Pokemon appeared when we all got separated, and a few of your goons let slip that you weren’t trapped in a battle, but instead coming here. That and you seem to be the most invested in this attack…”

“You’re right. I am not the leader of Blackstone. That goes far higher than myself. But of this platoon, I am responsible for this mission being a success or a failure…” the man answered. “You can call me Armageddon…”

Despite the name being intended to be intimidating, Justin’s concern wasn’t the man in front of him, but the thought that if this, a group of trainers wielding over fifteen Legendary Pokemon was only an attacking force, and not Blackstone in full, how powerful was this organisation that they are very clearly making an enemy of.

“And no, we won’t be calling off this attack. Yes, your resistance is admirable, but even if your colleagues inside the stadium are holding back Vigour and Paragon, once I am done with you, they will have all the support they need…” Armageddon said, before giving an order. “Zacian, Metal Claw!”

“Protect!” Justin ordered, though seething at the fact that he let Armageddon catch him off guard. Zacian rushed forward, swinging the polished sword it held between its jaws at Regieleki, which was blocked at the last possible moment by a barrier, before Justin gave the order to counter-attack. “Thunderbolt!”

Regieleki cried out, as slivers of electricity leapt from it, forming a medium sized orb in front of it, which launched into Zacian, striking the Pokemon hard, however Armageddon did not hesitate in giving another order.

“Behemoth Blade!”

The blade held between Zacian’s mouth glowed, and appeared to stretch, becoming longer and wider, as Zacian leapt across the space between itself and Regieleki in the blink of an eye, slashing at the Legendary Titan and making contact. Whilst Justin knew that Regieleki had suffered a few hits from Articuno, he was not expecting this to be match ending. However, to his shock, Regieleki was thrown back, and didn’t get back up, lying unconscious on the ground.

Justin withdrew Regieleki as he considered what he just saw. The only other Pokemon he had seen with that level of physical strength was Mega Blaziken, Rayquaza, and Deoxys. Even after Mega-Evolving, Justin’s Lucario wouldn’t have been able to pull off a hit like that.

Knowing that none of his Pokemon would be able to land a hit before potentially being knocked out by Zacian attacking first, Justin instead changed tactics, knowing that what he was about to attempt had been what helped him capture Regieleki, as well as beat Jon for the first time. However, the Pokemon he faced seemed that powerful that he wasn’t sure how much help it would offer him.

“Go, Alakazam!”


“Crunch!” Armageddon ordered, not hesitating, as Zacian leapt at Alakazam, slamming its jaws down on Justin’s designated tank of his team, and for a moment, Justin was worried that even Alakazam may fall instantly to Zacians sheer power.

“Alakazam!” Justin called out in horror, as Alakazam collapsed. Unsure if Alakazam had fallen unconscious yet, he knew that he had to at least try and make Alakazam’s pain worth something. “Speed Swap!”

Alakazam faltered for a second, before letting out a weak cry. An orb of light appeared in both Zacian and Alakazam, before switching places, as Alakazam went limp, and Justin returned it to its pokeball.

“Very smart…” Armageddon commented. “Jon Drake taught you well…”

“I came up with that on my own…” Justin muttered. “But Jon has taught me well…”

Whilst Justin figured that Zacian would have a second type, he was certain that it was partially Steel Type, and knew that between that, and its second type, its resistances would likely be one of the bigger factors in it not suffering too largely from a hit. Despite it being far from ideal, the fact that Justin was being forced to use most of his team against this one enemy was causing a plan to formulate in his mind, based loosely off the plan which had helped him capture Regieleki.

“Go Ninjask!” Justin called out, before preemptively giving a command. “Protect!”

Ninjask promptly raised a Protect barrier, blocking Zacian’s Thunder Fang, which both trainers had no doubt would have ended the battle for Ninjask, before its Speed Boost ability kicked in.

“Now Baton Pass!” Justin commanded as he switched Ninjask out for Greninja, hoping that the boost to speed would be enough to allow Greninja to act before Zacian. “Soak!”

“Thunder Fang!”

As Zacian rushed Greninja, its jaws crackling with electricity which conducted through the blade it held, Greninja launched an immense, heavy water attack, intended not to harm Zacian, but instead, absolutely douse the Pokemon, making it effectively a Water Type, making whatever type-matched moves it had slightly weaker, and additionally, removing the many resistances that made Steel Types so difficult to take down.

Zacian struck Greninja, knocking the Pokemon down in a single hit, as Justin returned it to its Pokeball knowing that half of his team were now unconscious to a single Pokemon. And Justin figured that even if he could do some significant damage to Zacian, it would be at the cost of his remaining Pokemon.

“Houndoom!” Justin called out as the large canine Pokemon materialised from its Pokeball. “Foul Play!”

Houndoom attacked viciously, however the reason for using Foul Play was that it allowed the user to tap into the physical attack strength of the target, effectively using their own strength against them. And this trick, despite Houndoom being far from the strongest member of Justin’s team, allowed it to deal more damage to Zacian than even Regieleki had been capable of.

“Sacred Sword Zacian!” Armageddon shouted, sounding far more concerned than he had the entire battle. Zacian’s sword glowed with what appeared to be a holy light, before Zacian rushed Houndoom, slicing at the Dark Type, and knocking it back towards Justin, as like the Pokemon that had gone before it, it hit the ground unmoving.

“You’ve done great, Houndoom…” Justin said, with a newfound determination, seeing both Zacian much less stable on its feet, and Armageddon looking visibly rattled.

“Great? It went down in one hit!” Armageddon asked. “I have wiped out most of your team with a single Pokemon, all of whom went down so you could set up one hit that couldn’t even finish the job! And you think you Eon Academy types stand a chance?”

Despite himself, Justin couldn’t help but let out a laugh of derision.

“You think because you wiped out most of my team, that we don’t stand a chance? Dumb**s, I’m far from the best Eon Academy has to offer…” Justin retorted, almost amused, despite the difficult situation he found himself in, wondering if this was simply a mix of adrenaline and fatigue. “If Dylan were here, you would probably still be stuck on his first or second Pokemon, and if Chris or Charlotte were around, you’d be s**ting yourself, because they would have Zacian on the ropes from the get go. And if Jon were here…”

“What does it matter?” Armageddon asked arrogantly. “You’re here, and at this rate, you will be out of my way, and unable to do a thing when I pay your friends in the stadium a visit…”

Armageddon seemed even more annoyed, as Justin laughed even more, grabbing another Pokeball as he did.

“It matters because they are out there, whittling down your goons, and before long, will find themselves here, and when they do, mark my words, you will have your head pulled out of your a**...” Justin said determinedly. “Jon’s exact words to us was that our job is to prevent everyone passing. I’ve held you up, as have my teammates and I can guarantee that the ones who haven’t already been beaten, are on the ropes, and I won’t be standing alone forever. Until then, I don’t need to win. I just need to not lose…”

Justin sent out Ninjask again, knowing that even if Ninjask couldn’t take a hit, its ever growing speed would allow it to string Zacian along and drag the battle out for a long time.

“Protect!” Justin ordered. Zacian attempted another Thunder Fang which was blocked, as Ninjasks’ speed increased, and Justin gave his next order. “Double Team, then Substitute!”

Ninjask split into over a dozen spectral copies, all of which transformed into stuffed dolls.

“Not so cocky now, are you?” Justin asked, as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “I’ll go down eventually. But will that happen before my teammates wipe the floor with your people?”

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

When Vigour chose to set Regidrago on Jarena, she thanked her lucky stars, knowing that she likely had the easiest fight ahead of her of the three trainers defending Dialga’s egg directly. She had sent out Comet, her Clefable, who despite being far less powerful than Regidrago, was immune to Regidrago’s Dragon Type attacks, which Justin had made very clear were its strength when used in conjunction with its ability. Violet as well had been lucky with Cobalion being set on her, her Dusknoir being immune to Cobalion’s Fighting Type moves, though Cobalion’s Steel Typing still resisted Kano’s Ghost Type attacks, negating the advantage they held. Abbee on the other hand, was facing both of Paragon’s Pokemon, Zekrom and Zapdos, both Pokemon being held back by Victini.

“Regidrago, Dragon Dance!” Vigour ordered. “Cobalion, Smart Strike!”

Regidrago went still for a moment, before moving again, faster than before, and Jarena knew, now also stronger. Cobalion on the other hand charged towards Kano, lowering its head to ram the Ghost Type Pokemon with its horns.

“Encore!” Jarena ordered, almost instinctively, a trick she had picked up from those who preceded her at the Academy. Comet cried out, as it released an orb of light, which struck Regidrago. Jarena now knew that she had twenty seconds at most to end this, before Regidrago regained control of itself, empowered by multiple forced uses of Dragon Dance.

“Fire Punch!” Violet ordered. Kano, already in melee range from Cobalion’s attack, launched a flaming spectral fist into the Legendary Pokemon causing it to recoil in pain, before Vigour gave another command, not bothering to give orders to Regidrago, who was incapable of following them at that point.

Victini, obviously exhausted from the battle it faced, against two powerful Legendary Pokemon, used Protect, blocking both attacks. Abbee had gone to send in another Pokemon to support Victini, however the small Pokemon had refused.

“This has nothing to do with my pride!” Victini answered earlier, as he dodged an attack. “If I fall, you’ll need them! And I can’t go all out if I risk hurting an ally!”

The battle for them thus far had largely been Victini reacting instinctively, as Abbee formulated a plan, waiting for the right opportunities. The biggest hurdle they faced was the fact that Victini was facing two opponents on his own, and for him to even attempt an attack, would be to open himself up to taking a hit from one, or even both, of his opponents.

“Zekrom, Dragon Pulse! Zapdos, Charge!”

Knowing that Zekrom’s Dragon Pulse was an attack Victini could wear, Abbee knew this was her opportunity.

“Victini, Glaciate!”

The second biggest hurdle Abbee and Victini faced was the fact that for Victini to use moves that would hit both Pokemon, he would be dealing less damage than if he were to target each Pokemon individually.

Victini leapt into the air, crying out, as he used one of the five moves of the Legendary Dragons of Unova. Glaciate, the move said to be used by Kyruem, flash froze the air around Victini, chilling both opponents, dealing damage, but also slowing them.

“One more…” Abbee said to herself, as Paragon ordered Zapdos to use Zap Cannon, and Zekrom to use Bolt Strike, Victini blocking both with Protect.

“Comet, use Draining Kiss!”

The Clefable launched itself at Regidrago, placing its mouth against the Legendary Pokemon’s body, and sucking its vitality from it, restoring its own expended energy. Jarena had always thought this move, among others, was referred to as a kiss was slightly sickening, given the effect.

“Brick Break, Kano!” Violet commanded, as Kano punched through the Reflect barrier that Cobalion just placed, destroying it, and hitting the Legendary Pokemon and knocking it back.

“Iron Head!” Vigour ordered Cobalion, as Regidrago used the second of its three forced Dragon Dances.

Kano took the attack, ready for Violet to give her next order.

“Revenge!”

Kano took the momentum of Cobalion’s Iron Head attack, transferring it back with interest towards the Legendary Pokemon in a brutal beating, which left the Legendary Pokemon standing shaky.

“Moonblast!” Jarena commanded. Comet cried out as an orb of white light exploded from it, slamming into Regidrago, who was about to use the third and final forced Dragon Dance.

Abbee’s plan was simple in structure, but difficult in execution. Both Zekrom and Zapdos were slowed by Glaciate, however not enough. If she could use the same trick one more time, she would slow them enough that Victini would be able to do more between their attacks. Be it use an attack before defending, use two individual attacks, or even a move to increase its own power, before an attack that would deal damage to both. However, she also knew that having waited for one Pokemon to not attack earlier, so Victini could wear a single attack, that Paragon would likely not give her the same opportunity again.

Her focus tuned in to the battle in front of her, Abbee almost missed it. The wave of intense déjà vu that hit her, and whilst her first instinct was to attribute that to the fact Victini battled Zekrom not even two hours prior, the fact she was telepathically linked to Victini was what helped her realise what it was. She felt Victini’s confusion as at the exact moment, he experienced the same thing.

“Now Victini, Glaciate!” Abbee ordered, knowing that at that exact moment, all present in the arena would have felt this forced feeling of déjà vu.

In the moment of hesitation shown by Paragon and her Pokemon, distracted by the odd sensation, Victini let off another Glaciate attack, slowing both Pokemon further, and having time to use Protect, blocking both the Bolt Strike attack from Zekrom, and Ancient Power from Zapdos.

Abbee knew that there was only one reason for the communal sensation. Looking over, she could see that Paragon had come to the same conclusion, and appeared more desperate for this battle to end.

“Work Up, then Substitute!” Abbee ordered, knowing that her best bet was taking down both Pokemon in a single hit. However she could see Paragon ordering her Pokemon to opposite sides of the battlefield, having fallen victim to Victini hitting both her Pokemon at once, twice now, and her Pokemon being slowed as a result.

Victini’s attack power for both physical and special attacks increased, before it vanished, being replaced by a stuffed toy, which was struck by a Dragon Pulse attack almost an instant later, and Victini, having moved away from his initial position, was able to dodge Zapdos’ Thunder attack.

“Protect!” Vigour commanded of Cobalion.

“End this Comet!” Jarena shouted. “Moon Blast!”

Regidrago was thrown back, and knocked to the ground, unmoving by the attack, as Violet gave an order, not wasting a single opportunity to knock Cobalion out.

“Future Sight!” Violet ordered. “Then Shadow Sneak!”

Kano foresaw an attack, and Cobalion, having not sustained a hit, let Protect end, only for its opponent to disappear from sight, reappearing behind the Legendary Pokemon, and striking it.

“Cobalion Smart-” Vigour began, however was cut off by a loud crack through the air, as a telekinetic blast exploded outwards, originating from in front of Cobalion. The Legendary Pokemon was to one side, landing limply, as Vigour looked in shock between Violet and Jarena, both of whom had proven to be his downfall.

“Work-Up again! Then Protect!” Abbee instructed, though knew that from here, she had the disadvantage. Victini’s offensive power increased again, before it raised the barrier in time to block both incoming attacks. The problem was that both Pokemon had intentionally spread out, and Abbee needed them close together in order for Victini to finish both of them off. Whilst Victini may be able to land an individual hit, he would not be able to use Protect in time to block the attack from the Pokemon he let his focus slip from. Additionally, he didn’t have enough energy left to create a substitute to take a hit instead.

“Focus on dodging!” Abbee commanded as she tried to come up with some solution. However, she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of shifting stone. Looking to her left, she saw Zekrom thrown off balance by a Stone Edge attack that hadn’t come from Victini, nor Violet or Jarena’s Pokemon, but a large purple form. Nidoking. Looking to her right, she saw Blaziken leap from the stands, striking Zapdos with a Flare Blitz attack, and whilst neither of these attacks were substantial in the damage they dealt, they were doing exactly what Abbee and Victini needed. Taking the attention off them.

“Keep them busy!” Victini called out to Blaziken and Nidoking, both of whom were attacking recklessly, sustaining damage themselves from their foes counter-attacks, but doing their task in keeping the enemy’s attention on them.

Victini stood still, closing his eyes and focusing. Whilst Zapdos didn’t weigh much more than Comet the Clefable, Zekrom was heavy, and whilst Victini may have been able to move Zekrom at a moment’s notice on its own, what Victini had planned would be far more difficult. Victini’s own thoughts leaked into Abbee’s mind, and she understood what he was planning.

“On my cue!” Abbee called out, watching Zekrom and Nidoking fight. Zekrom was going to be the most difficult, and would require the most finesse. Finally, she saw it. Nidoking lowering its head, and rushing forward into Zekrom with a Megahorn attack.

“Now!” Abbee shouted desperately, as Victini, with outstretched arms, opened its eyes, which glowed with a bright blue light. Seeming to grab onto something, Victini clapped its hands together as Zapdos and Zekrom, the latter having been knocked off balance by Nidoking’s Megahorn attack, were ripped from where they had been a second earlier, and slammed into each other in the centre of the battlefield. Both were dazed, which Victini made the most of, rushing forward, knowing exactly what command Abbee would give.

“Blue V-Compress!”

Victini grinned having heard the words. He had wanted to try this for a long time, but didn’t know how much damage it would do. Victini had learnt five moves of the Legendary Dragons. Glaciate, which was associated with Kyurem, Bolt Strike and Fusion Bolt, associated with Zekrom, and Fusion Flare and Blue Flare, associated with Reshiram.

Victini had always known how to perform V-Create, effectively outputting an incredible amount of flames, and launching head first into his enemy. He had first used V-Compress in the battle in Meteor Falls, when Justin’s Alakazam had compressed the space around Victini as he used V-Create, and breaking the telekinetic bubble upon making contact, causing the compressed force to escape explosively. And the moment Victini learned Blue Flare, he wondered how strong it would be, to use those flames with a V-Create, and compress it the same way he would with a V-Compress. Despite his determination to keep winning, he had the self control not to attempt such an attack in a friendly battle, and before now, hadn’t had the time, as fleeting as it may be, to make such an attack happen. But now…

Victini leapt up, a metre in the air, perfectly timing a telekinetic blast behind him to launch himself forward at high speed. As he flew through the air, he created the telekinetic bubble, something which had become second nature after years of practice, before using one of the most powerful Fire-Type moves he knew. Victini erupted into flames of blue, before making contact with Zekrom and Zapdos, and breaking the barrier.

The ground shook beneath them, and Abbee had to avert her gaze from the blinding light of the explosive attack. Paragon, who had been behind Zekrom and Zapdos, was thrown off her feet, and thrown into Vigour, who himself had just lost his battle. Violet, seeing the opportunity, began muttering an incantation of the most simple binding hex she knew. Whilst it would not hold anyone with any skill of Shadowcraft, or anyone with even average physical strength, given the lack of reagents, both Blackstone operatives would likely be feeling the pain of the hit they just took, which should make it adequate enough. Once she figured it was safe, Violet rushed forward, placing a hand on either trainer, whilst Jarena followed her, grabbing the four Pokeballs to call each of the unconscious, Legendary Pokemon back to their Pokeballs.

Abbee, with ringing in her ears, turned around to try and locate Jon, whose assistance in sending out Blaziken and Nidoking, had bought her and Victini the opportunity to end this battle. However, as she took in the sight of the seating behind her, many scorched and melted from stray attacks that had missed their mark, she realised she couldn’t see her mentor anywhere. She looked over to Blaziken and Nidoking, both of whom approached her, seeming to be after their next orders.

“Jon’s gone…” she said to Violet and Jarena who were now approaching her.

There was a moment of silence, broken quickly by another, stronger, sense of déjà vu felt by all, and a loud, audible click coming from the cupboard that Abbee had her back to, having battled so desperately to protect what it contained.

“Dialga is hatching…”

[[Desolate Divine]]

Another four week gap between episodes, but for a very different reason: It actually took that long, planning so many simultaneous battles and writing them so that they happened at roughly the same time. But Season 5 only has one episode left after this, before the final Epilogues, at which point the main story of the Eon Academy will be finished...

And there are plenty of things to do between now and then...

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

I finished reading the first season of the Eon Academy earlier this weekend and had a lot to say about what I read. I can add a spoiler tag if you think it is necessary, but I think that the obnoxious length of this post should scare off most people.

This story has a fantastic premise. There are so many wonderful side plots and character development that add to this story, but the underlying idea that the battling style of pokémon trainers has stagnated to an alarming degree is intriguing, as is the proposed solution. Jon Drake, will help the next generation of trainers to bring innovation and creativity to the field. The way that you maintain and develop this idea gives this story an energetic backdrop to a very enjoyable slice of life story about young trainers growing and developing in battling and as people. The curriculum that Jon lays out is a solid one, and includes a lot of things that are present in other stories or RPs along similar lines, but with the added twist of media relations. What sets the Eon Academy apart is that you (and, by extension, Jon) really know your stuff about the subjects and about how to teach children. Throughout the story, Jon teaches life lessons almost to a greater extent than he teaches his students about pokémon battling. I remember this ability of yours being demonstrated in a GCeA story of yours I read a long time ago, and this story offered many, many chances to do so again!

Your premise was also interesting because you did such a good job of balancing the game components with the aspects of a real-life system. For example, when Justin is considering which legendary pokémon to add to his team, he looks at its stats, but also his personal battling style and how it fits in with his team. He is not seeking to build a team from scratch, but looking to compliment his existing partners. Furthermore, you not only have the consideration of insurance, public relations, and crime which would entail from a world full of pokémon, but also the moral dilemmas that are raised by familiar hallmarks of the competitive battling scene like breeding and IVs. That is something that has long scared me off from any kind of competitive battling because to me all of that undermines the idea of pokémon being living creatures worthy of love and respect regardless of their make-up, and thus becomes a world in which I do not want to live.

The battles that you described are always thrilling and serve to showcase the characters. The Day Zero, midterm, and livestreamed battles in particular showed how the students developed over the summer and applied what they learned. You highlighted double-battles, the queen of battles, and multi-battles, the holy grail, which I greatly appreciate! I came into the story thinking that it would be dominated by concerns about Lance and Rayquaza and it was a pleasant surprise that this was not the case! It was very nice that the battles in this season were almost never high-stakes affairs, except for the pride of the trainers and the demonstration of their education. If battles are not fun for the characters, it will be harder for them to be fun for a reader (or livestream audience!), and you crossed that hurdle easily. One shortfall was that the battle with Lance's goons seemed compressed when they invaded the campus. The Hydreigon was specifically built up as a big threat and then easily dispatched.

It felt like five students was the perfect number to follow with Jon, Alyssa, Steven, and a few others, so I am curious what things will look like with more students in the next summer. That being said, one thing that I would have liked to see more of was the personalities of the pokémon that the trainers had. Latios got his moments, but overall it felt like the other pokémon were neglected. We hardly saw them outside of their pokémon balls just being cared for, even the Alolan vulpix which Chris received, which I think was a missed opportunity.

You did a great job hinting at ongoing plot threads ahead of time as well. Little touches like Chris' team being mostly dragons hinted at his family connection with Lance, and Justin's repeated thefts of Abbee's phone also had a great payoff down the line. There were only a few times that it felt as though things did not pan out. I thought that Jon using Rayquaza to save Chris despite the risk of being seen, and later introducing the boy to the legendary pokémon would pay off, but neither did as I expected.

Justin felt like the weakest character to me during the main story, so I was happy to see him get an epilogue which developed him more and even gave him a bit of romance. During the bulk of the story, I was almost certain that he was going to be in league with Lance or something because I just had a hard time understanding what his purpose in the story was. Seeing how he battled against Regieleki made me wish that there had been a graduation battle for the Eon Academy. It still felt like it was too late in getting him that valuable time in the sun. Plus, he didn't get a kiss either for New Year's or for goodbye, what's up with that?

Dylan was a sleeper hit in this story, and the resolution of his situation with his step-father also gave Jon a great way to showcase how he has developed. The man who beat Lance into a hospital bed was willing to wait for Dylan's parent to come to him and provoke a fight instead of seeking one out. It may have ended not dissimilarly, but the circumstances leading up to the comeuppance did demonstrate some growth. It will be good for Dylan to spend more time with Jon and his family, plus it makes sense for him to join the staff to cover an area where Jon is a little weaker. More students will mean more staff, although Jon's offer for all the inaugural class to serve as staff did feel as though it made Dylan's resolution less special. It also felt like Dylan was missing from the second epilogue even though it would have been great to see how he and Alyssa's family adjust to each other over the holidays. I understand that it was a Jon chapter but still, food for thought.

Speaking of Jon, he also got plenty of character despite his role as the mentor figure. The second epilogue was a bow on top of everything, but even before that there were places where his development was prominent. Things like his advice to the students in chapter twelve ("People are s**t, and if you want to survive in this world, you gotta have each others back.") and his plan for world domination in chapter five highlight his cynical nature, but with the understanding that he uses those expectations to do something positive instead of merely wallowing in the negativity. That makes him a very interesting character in my book! Where he goes forward after working on his relationship with his dad will be very interesting. In the S.S. Wishmaker RP, it seemed as though he introduced himself to every character with his abusive childhood, so that was obviously a big part of his self-conception.

Besides Jon, Charlotte was my favorite character of this season. I loved her struggle with Chris and the deeper issue behind their rivalry introduced with friendly banter. How you handled Abbee's grief and Dylan's abuse were very well done, but I think that you covered some less frequently explored ground with examining Charlotte's feelings of inadequacy compared to a rival. The payoff was initially brutal, but ultimately beautiful. Her rushing Luxray to learn a new technique contrasted wonderfully with the patience she showed when raising her Feebas and deciding whether to evolve it.

Yet another thing that your story has done very well thus far is making the canon characters of gym leaders and champions feel like real people, while also not letting them dominate the spotlight. All of the original characters in this story feel like they are able to share a scene with figures like Steven Stone without being overshadowed, even Justin!

A few points of critique before I return to the unrestrained gushing. In the fifth chapter I thought that some sentences read awkwardly when it was so dialogue-heavy and multiple characters were referenced rather quickly. It is something I would keep an eye out for in the future. The mention of specific websites like Twitter can be useful, but they also risk dating the story should those sites fall out of favor, like a Harry Potter fanfiction in which Harry checks his Myspace account. There is a lot of use in putting those ideas in your story, and I would love to see some exploration of the positives and negatives of social media for trainers (maybe in one of Alyssa's lectures?), but it is just something I would recommend caution around. Stanley Kubrick thought that IBM and the Soviet Union would dominate the year 2001.

Less critiques and more nitpicky areas include my thinking that Chris' family ties to Lance would not be as surprising given the amount of gossip that the average civilian knows about League figures in the games, and that there does not seem to be a reason to keep that information a secret unless, like Jon, you are actively trying to keep a low profile. The team of dragons at least should have tipped someone off. The other thing is that, going back to the idea of developing the pokémon characters more, I would have liked to see Jon use his ability to talk to pokémon in order to help Charlotte and her Luxray cope with its hospitalization.

Going forward it will be great to see these characters in mentor roles, and to see what other seeds that you planted blossomed, especially seeds which I may not have noticed at the time! My big prediction is that Victini's teaming up with Abbee is going to draw more attention to the relationship between Jon and the Diamond Ladies, maybe even leading to their rediscovery.

Your story and writing have been very enjoyable, but also very intimidating. It makes me worried about my own ability to tell a compelling Pokémon story. But your story also contains its own answer to my dilemma in another of Jon's lessons. Motivation cannot be found in comparison with another, but in the desire to be one's own best.

Life does not always end in finales, and I think that this season ended in a nice, bittersweet way, much like a real summer camp. Thank you for this story, and I am looking forward to starting on the next season!

Lastly, I want to highlight some of my favorite lines from the season!
In first place: "Nine times out of ten, nothing good comes out of someone calling me Christopher." - This is one of the best introductions for a character that I have had the pleasure of reading. It hints at Chris's history and personality in one beautifully economical sentence!

In second place: "I really hope the media don’t hear about this,” Steven joked. “Hoenn Champion and High Seas Champion, trusted to keep region safe, don’t realize they can have their Metagross and Latios levitate furniture. Carries it manually a hundred meters…"

My third favorite line, from the first epilogue: Regieleki was constantly producing enough electricity to potentially power the entire Galar region, which shocked Justin immensely. - This is a great pun.

Finally, my fourth favorite line, also from the epilogue: "Hey, snowflake!" Justin called out. "Come get some!" - I just like how unapologetically goofy this was. It definitely felt like something a teenager would say.

Next up: Season Two!

[[Desolate Divine]]

I finished reading the first season of the Eon Academy earlier this weekend and had a lot to say about what I read. I can add a spoiler tag if you think it is necessary, but I think that the obnoxious length of this post should scare off most people.

This story has a fantastic premise. There are so many wonderful side plots and character development that add to this story, but the underlying idea that the battling style of pokémon trainers has stagnated to an alarming degree is intriguing, as is the proposed solution. Jon Drake, will help the next generation of trainers to bring innovation and creativity to the field. The way that you maintain and develop this idea gives this story an energetic backdrop to a very enjoyable slice of life story about young trainers growing and developing in battling and as people. The curriculum that Jon lays out is a solid one, and includes a lot of things that are present in other stories or RPs along similar lines, but with the added twist of media relations. What sets the Eon Academy apart is that you (and, by extension, Jon) really know your stuff about the subjects and about how to teach children. Throughout the story, Jon teaches life lessons almost to a greater extent than he teaches his students about pokémon battling. I remember this ability of yours being demonstrated in a GCeA story of yours I read a long time ago, and this story offered many, many chances to do so again!

I'd be very interested to know which GCeA story you're referring to! I wrote that many, and my character in that (who started as a lazy carbon copy of myself, and evolved into a traumatised wreck trying to do what is right even when it may not look that way) had some similarities to Jon, but I'd say Jon is far more well rounded and believable as a character than him xD

Funnily enough, my day job is youth work in a church. So there are parts of that role that find their way in the story. That and I have a history in education (only just) so that plays into it to. That and I do a concerning amount of googling. My google history is filled with plenty of searches that if one didn't know about this, they would be having me institutionalised xD

Your premise was also interesting because you did such a good job of balancing the game components with the aspects of a real-life system. For example, when Justin is considering which legendary pokémon to add to his team, he looks at its stats, but also his personal battling style and how it fits in with his team. He is not seeking to build a team from scratch, but looking to compliment his existing partners. Furthermore, you not only have the consideration of insurance, public relations, and crime which would entail from a world full of pokémon, but also the moral dilemmas that are raised by familiar hallmarks of the competitive battling scene like breeding and IVs. That is something that has long scared me off from any kind of competitive battling because to me all of that undermines the idea of pokémon being living creatures worthy of love and respect regardless of their make-up, and thus becomes a world in which I do not want to live.

The battles that you described are always thrilling and serve to showcase the characters. The Day Zero, midterm, and livestreamed battles in particular showed how the students developed over the summer and applied what they learned. You highlighted double-battles, the queen of battles, and multi-battles, the holy grail, which I greatly appreciate! I came into the story thinking that it would be dominated by concerns about Lance and Rayquaza and it was a pleasant surprise that this was not the case! It was very nice that the battles in this season were almost never high-stakes affairs, except for the pride of the trainers and the demonstration of their education. If battles are not fun for the characters, it will be harder for them to be fun for a reader (or livestream audience!), and you crossed that hurdle easily. One shortfall was that the battle with Lance's goons seemed compressed when they invaded the campus. The Hydreigon was specifically built up as a big threat and then easily dispatched.

I'm glad to hear you appreciated this! I love Pokemon but funnily enough, in terms of anime, I much prefer Digimon for the simple reason that it actually grew with its audience. Whilst seeing Pikachu strike Swellow with a thunder attack to give it Thunder Armour, or seeing Team Rocket sustain every manner of injury, for it only to be shaken off, was appealing as an eight year old, unlike Ash, I and many others of my generation aged. Meanwhile Digimon had the first season's main characters as kids aged ten, plus minus a year or two. The next season had all but the youngest take on more of a mentoring role whilst a new generation took lead, but still being available to help. The third iteration was with the main characters in their final year of high school (plus minus a few years), and this point, the subject matter goes to heavier questions such as whether their intervention is worth the damage the fighting causes, and instead of character growth hingeing on them identifying their natural strengths (like in Seasons 1 and 2), it is based on them having their weaknesses forced into their field of view, and them having to come to terms with them. Then the final iteration with these characters

Spoiler:

has them in university, and discovering that as they have gotten older, they have triggered a timer on how long their Digimon can remain with them. The more the Digimon battle, the faster the timer goes down, and the Digimon who disappears first, is the one of the tamer who refuses to fight, thinking she is buying time, but really, making the most adult decision, and causing it to plummet even further. And there is no happy ending. The two main protagonists of the film make the difficult choice to do what they know is right, knowing that as a result, the last thing they want to come to pass will. And when it does, it isn't some grand farewell, but instead their Digimon disappearing out of frame, mid conversation, which just freaking hurts.

Rant about Digimon aside, all this to say is that the Pokemon Company (likely for the purpose of not wanting to risk putting children (and parents) off the franchise as a whole for the sake of the older generation) has neglected to actually have media grow with its original audience, and as such, a lot of these more complex moral questions are not broached. With the Eon Academy, I intended to create a story of growing up (both for Jon, who for the longest time, was partially still stuck in his past, and the students), the good, the bad and the ugly. And where insurance, PR, crime and eugenics fit in is not a clear cut answer.

You've picked up on a trend that I noticed I used with Eon Academy: I try to make sure that there is appropriate time of growth before the growth itself is actually needed. And honestly, if I could change anything about Season 1, it would be Lance's involvement and that battle. Fact is that it was included as a method for Chris' own link to Lance to come to light, but also for Chris to come up with his own conclusion about what had happened, and honestly, for the clunkiness of the way the battle itself played out, as well as the consequences (such as having the Academy attacked, but figuring out how to not have consequences of that such as police presence interfere with the story in later episodes), I kind of wish that instead, it had been something more along the lines of... I don't even know. I started writing this thinking what if Lance did something like request a meeting with Jon and then do something deranged, but I honestly don't even know.

It felt like five students was the perfect number to follow with Jon, Alyssa, Steven, and a few others, so I am curious what things will look like with more students in the next summer. That being said, one thing that I would have liked to see more of was the personalities of the pokémon that the trainers had. Latios got his moments, but overall it felt like the other pokémon were neglected. We hardly saw them outside of their pokémon balls just being cared for, even the Alolan vulpix which Chris received, which I think was a missed opportunity.

You did a great job hinting at ongoing plot threads ahead of time as well. Little touches like Chris' team being mostly dragons hinted at his family connection with Lance, and Justin's repeated thefts of Abbee's phone also had a great payoff down the line. There were only a few times that it felt as though things did not pan out. I thought that Jon using Rayquaza to save Chris despite the risk of being seen, and later introducing the boy to the legendary pokémon would pay off, but neither did as I expected.

Yeah, I definitely can say that including Pokemon outside of battles, and sometimes just general work-horse type stuff is a weakness in my writing. The amount of times I write something, publish it and realise that effectively, the story I have just written could quite easily exist in a world where Pokemon don't (such as the episode with Abbee's dad's funeral, or Dylan visiting home, and the truth about his homelife coming out), which I guess is because I tend to place a lot of stock in the fact that the characters are human, all of which being complex and messy, and that tends to dominate my focus. That, and honestly, I struggle maintaining unique identities of the characters present. One of my concerns with later seasons is that post a lot of personal development, the male characters in some ways are very similar, especially when things are lower stakes, and honestly, I need to force their differences into the light. Part of it is explained as by Season 5, all of them had had years with Jon as their mentor, and whilst they all bring different histories and personalities to the table, each has looked up to the same man for years, especially during formative years, so it makes sense there would be some similarities. But also, I know that in GCeA I fell into the habit of relying on difficult circumstances and high stakes to develop my character further, with little reprieve between.

In terms of hints, Abbee's phone and Chris' team were definitely planned. In terms of Rayquaza, the payoff was intended to be less obvious, in that it is not as visible looking at Chris himself, but Charlotte's perception of his growth, and after Charlotte's own experience, how Chris (who was honestly more likely to cause friction between the pair) begins to see her, and actually admit how she is responsible for him wanting to grow.

Justin felt like the weakest character to me during the main story, so I was happy to see him get an epilogue which developed him more and even gave him a bit of romance. During the bulk of the story, I was almost certain that he was going to be in league with Lance or something because I just had a hard time understanding what his purpose in the story was. Seeing how he battled against Regieleki made me wish that there had been a graduation battle for the Eon Academy. It still felt like it was too late in getting him that valuable time in the sun. Plus, he didn't get a kiss either for New Year's or for goodbye, what's up with that?

Honestly, I think that Justin desperately needed the Epilogue, as during Season 1, especially earlier days, I felt like he was far too similar to Chris, the biggest difference being Chris' pride and Justin's indifference. Part of the reason I didn't do a graduation battle was that I know I would have been too tempted to, in light of him having some growth in light of what happened with Abbee and the whole phone saga, give some development in terms of battling capability he didn't deserve. In terms of rankings at the start of the summer, Chris and Charlotte were tied for first (due to their competitive nature, Chris' natural talent and Charlotte's hard working nature), Abbee and Justin tied for second (though in hindsight, this makes less sense), and Dylan in last (due to his own circumstances providing less opportunities, and honestly, learning to battle and capturing Pokemon only being a means to get away from home). By the end of Season 1, it was still Charlotte and Chris tied for first (though having gotten much stronger), Abbee sitting in second (having gotten stronger herself), and Dylan and Justin tied for third, both due to Dylan having started further behind than the others, and not being too driven to battle himself, but during the story having a solid teacher and curriculum allowing him to grow, and Justin not making use of the opportunity, and not growing at the same rate as the others, allowing Abbee to pull ahead, and Dylan to catch up. All of this to say, I think that I chose to skip the battle as it may give a lasting answer to who is better between Charlotte and Chris, but also, I needed Dylan and Justin both to still be near the bottom, and the battles prior, as well as previous development had already created that ranking which I wanted to keep in place. Additionally, whilst nine months passes in world between them leaving and returning, there was too little of a gap between Seasons 1 and 2 for the person reading, and I wanted to use the opening of Season 2 to show growth instead. However, the fact he battled as well as he did in the epilogue was meant to illustrate that he had made use of the time between leaving the Academy, and battling Regieleki, and prove largely to himself that Jon wasn't wrong to have faith in him.

As for the lack of a kiss, that is something that will be touched on breifly in Episode 2, Season 1, but also later in Season 2.

Dylan was a sleeper hit in this story, and the resolution of his situation with his step-father also gave Jon a great way to showcase how he has developed. The man who beat Lance into a hospital bed was willing to wait for Dylan's parent to come to him and provoke a fight instead of seeking one out. It may have ended not dissimilarly, but the circumstances leading up to the comeuppance did demonstrate some growth. It will be good for Dylan to spend more time with Jon and his family, plus it makes sense for him to join the staff to cover an area where Jon is a little weaker. More students will mean more staff, although Jon's offer for all the inaugural class to serve as staff did feel as though it made Dylan's resolution less special. It also felt like Dylan was missing from the second epilogue even though it would have been great to see how he and Alyssa's family adjust to each other over the holidays. I understand that it was a Jon chapter but still, food for thought.

Honestly, Dylan has always been my favorite character of the students (though each holds a special place for me for different reasons), and Dylan will show a lot of growth in the next few seasons (even as soon as Season 2). Honestly, the reasons or Dylan being missing from the second Epilogue is that originally, I intended to have a prologue for Season 2 focusing on him and Abbee, however decided that firstly, it would be too much side content considering the length of Justin's epilogue, and secondly, I wanted his growth to be as much of a surprise to the reader as it is to his classmates upon his return, and having the planned prologue (in which he visits Abbee for New Year's Eve) would have broken down what is supposed to be a large and surprising development into two smaller, less surprising developments, you know? And by having the growth happen off screen, in a way that makes sense (dude is literally living in a loving home for the first time in many years, and actually has a good (depending on who you ask) male role model in his life), it also helps the reader understand just how much time has passed (as you especially, reading it as its already been released, may go straight from Season 1 to Season 2 in a single night, in which case it may be easy to fall into the trap of subconsciously viewing it as a direct continuation, when really there has been a major space. Heck, even I fall into the trap of forgetting that they spend three months together at the Academy, before living the next nine months of their lives seperate. The fact that none have ever referenced any friends they have outside of the Academy, or barely talk about their families unless it is a point of some trauma, is evidence of this haha.

Speaking of Jon, he also got plenty of character despite his role as the mentor figure. The second epilogue was a bow on top of everything, but even before that there were places where his development was prominent. Things like his advice to the students in chapter twelve ("People are s**t, and if you want to survive in this world, you gotta have each others back.") and his plan for world domination in chapter five highlight his cynical nature, but with the understanding that he uses those expectations to do something positive instead of merely wallowing in the negativity. That makes him a very interesting character in my book! Where he goes forward after working on his relationship with his dad will be very interesting. In the S.S. Wishmaker RP, it seemed as though he introduced himself to every character with his abusive childhood, so that was obviously a big part of his self-conception.

Putting this here, but in terms of Jon dealing with Dylan's stepdad, I very nearly went down a different route. It nearly played out as Jon, furious at what he has discovered, goes to Dylan's house, intending on doing to Bill what he did to Lance on the S.S. Wishmaker, getting to the front door, but making the decision not to, and instead turning away. However, I felt that it would be contrary to growth in Jon already shown on the one hand (the fact he is actually seeking out violence), and also forcing too much growth on the other (as Jon is still the sort who is willing to throw down if he percieves a need to). The way it ended up playing out suited far better. The growth Jon shows by not just throwing fists and seeking out a fight is in line with his character as shown in the prior episodes, but also the fact that when Bill shows up, and refuses to listen to reason, before getting violent towards Jon himself, Jon is willing to use force, shows that he is still the same Jon Drake. Albeit having grown and become more self-controlled.

Honestly, that nature of Jon being cynically but wanting to do something with it, is largely derived from my own xD I'd never consider myself an optimist, and tend to prepare for the worst in almost all respects. But I also try to use that to do something positive instead, which is something I put into my youth work.

In terms of Jon's introductions in the S.S. Wishmaker, honestly, that was more so my own need to grow as a writer, and the fact that Jon was not a very fleshed out character outside of his history. Heck, even early on in the Eon Academy, the go to isn't his abusive childhood but instead his title of High Seas Champion. But its nice to know it can be interpreted as a personal thing of Jon, and not just slightly lazy writing xD

Besides Jon, Charlotte was my favorite character of this season. I loved her struggle with Chris and the deeper issue behind their rivalry introduced with friendly banter. How you handled Abbee's grief and Dylan's abuse were very well done, but I think that you covered some less frequently explored ground with examining Charlotte's feelings of inadequacy compared to a rival. The payoff was initially brutal, but ultimately beautiful. Her rushing Luxray to learn a new technique contrasted wonderfully with the patience she showed when raising her Feebas and deciding whether to evolve it.

I had never even considered the fact that Luxray and Feebas were parallels, so thanks for pointing it out. And honestly, I think that the fact that her decision to allow Feebas to wait ended up being evidence that Charlotte exists outside of her rivalry with Chris, and that that plot point didn't make up her whole identity (honestly, like Jon's abuse early on in the story, or Justin's own overall inferiority complex, manifesting as him simply not giving a s**t in Season 1), but instead a complex part of a complex person.

Yet another thing that your story has done very well thus far is making the canon characters of gym leaders and champions feel like real people, while also not letting them dominate the spotlight. All of the original characters in this story feel like they are able to share a scene with figures like Steven Stone without being overshadowed, even Justin!

I'm glad to hear you feel that way. Honestly, a pet gripe of mine is when characters are made that have no personality themelves but instead buy it from other characters. Somebody who exists and has significance because they are "Misty's boyfriend" or even the fact that Chris is Lance's cousin, I feel could be a little cheap. Heck, you can see where things with Justin and Candice are going, but honestly, I'm glad I left it so late for that to come to fruition (and there is still a lot to go from where you are) because it allowed Justin's character to create his own significance independent of a canon character, and there are other instances that come up later.

A few points of critique before I return to the unrestrained gushing. In the fifth chapter I thought that some sentences read awkwardly when it was so dialogue-heavy and multiple characters were referenced rather quickly. It is something I would keep an eye out for in the future. The mention of specific websites like Twitter can be useful, but they also risk dating the story should those sites fall out of favor, like a Harry Potter fanfiction in which Harry checks his Myspace account. There is a lot of use in putting those ideas in your story, and I would love to see some exploration of the positives and negatives of social media for trainers (maybe in one of Alyssa's lectures?), but it is just something I would recommend caution around. Stanley Kubrick thought that IBM and the Soviet Union would dominate the year 2001.

Less critiques and more nitpicky areas include my thinking that Chris' family ties to Lance would not be as surprising given the amount of gossip that the average civilian knows about League figures in the games, and that there does not seem to be a reason to keep that information a secret unless, like Jon, you are actively trying to keep a low profile. The team of dragons at least should have tipped someone off. The other thing is that, going back to the idea of developing the pokémon characters more, I would have liked to see Jon use his ability to talk to pokémon in order to help Charlotte and her Luxray cope with its hospitalization.

I'm going to respond to this by sharing a quote from my feedback from my lecturer on my last essay that I submitted for this semester of university.

Good introduction, you set the scene and problem well, just watch the length of your sentences, it may be worth breaking some of the concepts apart for clarity.

You've discovered something that is a weakness of mine, even outside of fiction writing and in my study as well. Honestly, I think it's partially due to the fact that even when I speak, I tend to string that many sentences together, and talk naturally fast that I can do it and people are more likely to misunderstand due to my pace than the sheer amount stuck together. Something I am trying to work on XD

Funnily enough, I didn't ever plan for social media to play such a huge role in the Eon Academy, but given it is something that exists in our world with such huge influence, but is never referenced in Pokemon (like insurance, major crime or eugenics), I enjoy the interest it cultivates. And again, the use of social media only grows deeper in Season 2 onwards XD

In terms of it being obvious about Lance and Chris in world, that was tricky. I hinted towards Steven recognising Chris' surname (which itself is annoying as I have intentionally tried to not give surnames to canon characters without them, by using in world quirks as well as avoidance to not allude too much to the fact that nobody knows what Cynthia's surname is), by it being the same as Clair's (who effectively got that because if it were Chris' surname, and I haven't gone out of my way to indicate Chris may come from a broken or blended family which could explain it not being her surname). My headcanon which I haven't written in yet, is that Chris and Lance's parents who are siblings are different gender and both married, allowing Chris and Lance to have different surnames. But honestly, I think Jon wouldn't have even known Clair's surname or known her as a Gym Leader, let alone known she was Lance's cousin, as he left Johto as a teenager sixteen years prior (well before Clair would have been Gym Leader), and only travelled Kanto, before travelling, and then permanently settling in Hoenn. In terms of the students knowing Gym Leaders, its mostly Abbee and Charlotte, both of whom live in an age of social media, and have stable enough home-lives that the names of current gym leaders aren't insignificant by comparison.

The missed opportunity of Jon being able to speak to Pokemon stems in world from the fact that it was on record that Jon was not among those transformed (in terms of league reports) and at this point the only known Shadowcraft users who could transform him are dead, and for Jon to slip up and show he understands Pokemon to too many people could give away the fact the Diamond Ladies are still alive. However, really, it goes back to what I said before. I tend to focus too much on the people and end up writing a lot of content that practically could exist without Pokemon existing at all XD

Going forward it will be great to see these characters in mentor roles, and to see what other seeds that you planted blossomed, especially seeds which I may not have noticed at the time! My big prediction is that Victini's teaming up with Abbee is going to draw more attention to the relationship between Jon and the Diamond Ladies, maybe even leading to their rediscovery.

Your story and writing have been very enjoyable, but also very intimidating. It makes me worried about my own ability to tell a compelling Pokémon story. But your story also contains its own answer to my dilemma in another of Jon's lessons. Motivation cannot be found in comparison with another, but in the desire to be one's own best.

Life does not always end in finales, and I think that this season ended in a nice, bittersweet way, much like a real summer camp. Thank you for this story, and I am looking forward to starting on the next season!

It's funny because the mentor roles will also be a point of growth for them, both in the sort and long term. Even in Season 5, there are instances of the way they mentor their students being reflective of their own character and histories. Heck, most of what I find myself learning, is what I am preparing to teach the youth I work with.

Glad to hear you're looking forward to Season 2. I'll be real, the weaknesses you have noticed, in terms of long sentences and Pokemon being overlooked in favour of human characters, does not disappear. In some ways it improves, in others it doesn't. But having done another read of Eon Academy in the last few months (editing a few small things like punctuation mistakes and spelling errors), I will say the story does improve. At Season 2 the characters are introduced and the reader understands them more implicitly. Which means that I can do far more with the time had with them than in Season 1, and honestly, I feel like it shows.

Lastly, I want to highlight some of my favorite lines from the season!
In first place: "Nine times out of ten, nothing good comes out of someone calling me Christopher." - This is one of the best introductions for a character that I have had the pleasure of reading. It hints at Chris's history and personality in one beautifully economical sentence!

In second place: "I really hope the media don’t hear about this,” Steven joked. “Hoenn Champion and High Seas Champion, trusted to keep region safe, don’t realize they can have their Metagross and Latios levitate furniture. Carries it manually a hundred meters…"

My third favorite line, from the first epilogue: Regieleki was constantly producing enough electricity to potentially power the entire Galar region, which shocked Justin immensely. - This is a great pun.

Finally, my fourth favorite line, also from the epilogue: "Hey, snowflake!" Justin called out. "Come get some!" - I just like how unapologetically goofy this was. It definitely felt like something a teenager would say.

Next up: Season Two!

I'm curious to hear more of your favorite quotes! I'll be real, third place was completely unplanned, and I hadn't even noticed it!

Keen to hear your thoughts of Season 2!

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

I'd be very interested to know which GCeA story you're referring to! I wrote that many, and my character in that (who started as a lazy carbon copy of myself, and evolved into a traumatised wreck trying to do what is right even when it may not look that way) had some similarities to Jon, but I'd say Jon is far more well rounded and believable as a character than him xD

Funnily enough, my day job is youth work in a church. So there are parts of that role that find their way in the story. That and I have a history in education (only just) so that plays into it to. That and I do a concerning amount of googling. My google history is filled with plenty of searches that if one didn't know about this, they would be having me institutionalised xD

For the life of me I wish that I could remember! There was an island (maybe outside of time?) and the main character was receiving training (in swordsmanship, I believe?). It's a good thing that your real-world experience lends it so well to this story. Pity the fanfiction writer who wants to demonstrate his knowledge of procurement and logistics in a story.

I'm glad to hear you appreciated this! I love Pokemon but funnily enough, in terms of anime, I much prefer Digimon for the simple reason that it actually grew with its audience. Whilst seeing Pikachu strike Swellow with a thunder attack to give it Thunder Armour, or seeing Team Rocket sustain every manner of injury, for it only to be shaken off, was appealing as an eight year old, unlike Ash, I and many others of my generation aged. Meanwhile Digimon had the first season's main characters as kids aged ten, plus minus a year or two. The next season had all but the youngest take on more of a mentoring role whilst a new generation took lead, but still being available to help. The third iteration was with the main characters in their final year of high school (plus minus a few years), and this point, the subject matter goes to heavier questions such as whether their intervention is worth the damage the fighting causes, and instead of character growth hingeing on them identifying their natural strengths (like in Seasons 1 and 2), it is based on them having their weaknesses forced into their field of view, and them having to come to terms with them.

Always a pleasure to find another Digimon fan! I gave a whole presentation in college about the Digimon anime for a public speaking class and got full marks. It had the great benefit over the Pokemon anime in that each series actually ended, giving them a chance to build up characters, develop storylines, and end things on a satisfactory way. Although now the original Pokemon series has ended, anyways. That doesn't have to be the case with fanfiction, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you wrap up this story.

Rant about Digimon aside, all this to say is that the Pokemon Company (likely for the purpose of not wanting to risk putting children (and parents) off the franchise as a whole for the sake of the older generation) has neglected to actually have media grow with its original audience, and as such, a lot of these more complex moral questions are not broached. With the Eon Academy, I intended to create a story of growing up (both for Jon, who for the longest time, was partially still stuck in his past, and the students), the good, the bad and the ugly. And where insurance, PR, crime and eugenics fit in is not a clear cut answer.

One thing that I think the Pokemon movies did very well, or at least the first three, was that they tackled different aspects of the fantasy of the Pokemon franchise and tried to explore ways that the ideals of battling, collecting, and companionship could lead to bad outcomes. Digimon, as you mentioned, had similar instances of characters forgoing fighting (Mimi and Joe's sidequest during the Dark Masters arc has only grown on me with time). The main Pokemon series, on the other hand, does not really consider the underlying tensions at the heart of the series. Paul in the Diamond and Pearl era is a jerk, but his crime is more one of degree than of type. The split between the world and the players provides a lot of opportunity for exploration which, as I've brought up already, you have done well in this story.

Yeah, I definitely can say that including Pokemon outside of battles, and sometimes just general work-horse type stuff is a weakness in my writing. The amount of times I write something, publish it and realise that effectively, the story I have just written could quite easily exist in a world where Pokemon don't (such as the episode with Abbee's dad's funeral, or Dylan visiting home, and the truth about his homelife coming out), which I guess is because I tend to place a lot of stock in the fact that the characters are human, all of which being complex and messy, and that tends to dominate my focus. That, and honestly, I struggle maintaining unique identities of the characters present.

It's not something which really takes away from how well done your story is, but it is something that I wanted to note. Your attention to the issues brought up earlier show that you are really thinking about a "Pokemon World", and that world will naturally include its pieces of human drama and triumphs as well. Let's be honest, giving the Pokemon partners distinct personalities isn't something that actual show has done well and the games hardly even bother. A reckless Latios and a snarky Victini are worlds beyond a simple assignment of a nature.

Honestly, I think that Justin desperately needed the Epilogue, as during Season 1, especially earlier days, I felt like he was far too similar to Chris, the biggest difference being Chris' pride and Justin's indifference.

I have my notes for Season Two and I just need to format them into (another) long post, but I will say that Justin grew into my favorite of the five original students during the second season. So, you did a good job rectifying what I found to be shortcomings with his character!

The missed opportunity of Jon being able to speak to Pokemon stems in world from the fact that it was on record that Jon was not among those transformed (in terms of league reports) and at this point the only known Shadowcraft users who could transform him are dead, and for Jon to slip up and show he understands Pokemon to too many people could give away the fact the Diamond Ladies are still alive. However, really, it goes back to what I said before. I tend to focus too much on the people and end up writing a lot of content that practically could exist without Pokemon existing at all XD

Well, I hope that with everything that Jon and his mentees have gone through as of the end of Season Two that he will open up to them about this more and use it to help them going forward. It seems like a really valuable tool to use for improving their skills as trainers and solving problems.

Keen to hear your thoughts of Season 2!

And they will be coming, hopefully on Monday!

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Okay, well, apologies for the double-post.

As promised, here are my thoughts about the second season of The Eon Academy. In short, I loved it, and am very excited to see what comes next!

I mentioned earlier that Justin is my favorite character this season, and the big contributing factor to that is that he has grown out of the role of Chris’s sidekick to someone with his own accomplishments and ambitions. His desire to become a police officer, his relationship with Candice, and, of course, his capture and taming of Regieleki are all things which have helped him make an impact, but more than that it feels as though he is displaying his thoughts more frequently than he was able to during Season One. Justin went from being the student least deserving of the Eon Academy to a deserving poster child and an inspiration for other campers (with the most impressive introduction from Jon to the new campers), and Jon’s nephew, to boot! His growth had a lot of effects on the other characters, changing the dynamic of his relationships with Chris, Dylan, Jon, and Abbee most notably. The explanation of Justin’s battle style was wonderful (as were all of Jon’s analyses), but it made me think that I would love to see more of this. I wish that there was some more of that present in the animated series or other fictional works. Battling style seems like such a great and underutilized tool of characterization.

Speaking of Chris, he got some good developments over this season as well. Starting off the season with his rivalry with Charlotte getting stuck in a rut was an interesting concept, and I was waiting for them to get advice from Jon and Steven with their own long-running rivalry. Chris catching feelings for Abbee also was a curveball in this season. I thought that him and Charlotte would gravitate towards each other, but now that looks like it has gone up in smoke. Throughout the season, I kept a chart going in my head that I dubbed the “lust dodecahedron” and actually thought about making it into a graphic. The foreshadowing of his catching Lugia with the “what number am I thinking of” game paid off faster than I thought it would, and it will be fun to see if a baby Lugia will let Chris show a more tender side. Along with his new Bagon and Deino as well, Chris will be coming back next season with a much different team.

Despite the changes over the break, the students largely are able to get back into their old routines. Chris and Justin get back to bantering right away and Charlotte and Abbee renew their mutually supportive relationship quickly as well. There are enough hiccoughs from the interim, and over the course of the season, which alter the relationships, but it captures the sheer comfort of reuniting with camp friends even after a long time away. It did feel a little strange at first that Chris and Justin did not invite Dylan to play video games with them (even after Dylan stepped in after Justin got his nose broken), but it helped to illustrate Dylan as a separate creature from the rest of the interns. It is something which will be interesting to see develop in future seasons. Is Dylan’s isolation due to his older age, and will it be mended as more interns cross the threshold into adulthood?

Dylan seemed more like a staff member than one of the group during this season, which is not a bad thing and it added a different dynamic to the group. Dylan’s maturity comes out throughout the story in little ways, such as his insight into Jon’s battling style during the first chapter and his working with Alyssa to help Jon keep his cool during the second epilogue. Because of that maturity, it hurt that he initially kept his investigation into Charlotte’s bad dreams secret from Jon. While Dylan was forgiven, it still struck me as a betrayal of trust to use Jon’s pokémon and have Latios keep the secret as well from a surrogate sibling and parent figure. It will be interesting to see how he continues to grow and develop. Dylan’s ambition for changing the culture around raising pokémon is a bold one and I would love to see how much he can pull off. What does he think about Team Plasma? It would be interesting to see this story take a measured look at Plasma’s goals and methods. I thought that things might get desperate against for the interns to try and use the recently-caught Hydreigon against Deoxys but (un)fortunately it didn’t come to that. If Dylan can pull off taming that wild Hydreigon, it would be a more impressive feat than Justin’s taming Regieleki in my book!

I thought that Abbee shone most in this season through her relationships with other characters. Her friendship with Jack Mason seemed to develop very naturally, and it felt like a real treat to get these two well-developed characters interacting with one another. If Justin had my favorite of Jon’s analyses, Abbee had my favorite battle between an intern and a camper. Rose had a great team of quirky pokémon, and it was really fun to watch the lessons Jon taught play out.

Charlotte turned out to be my least favorite character from this season, a shocking fall from the last season. This was not because she was a bad character, necessarily, but rather because she did not seem to be so much of an actor as a reactor to a lot of the events and situations going on around her. Compelling things were happening, with Deoxys and relationships, but it felt as though Charlotte lacked the initiative this season.

It is exciting to see the Eon Academy developing into a real educational institution, the efforts of the Minister of Defense notwithstanding. The new facilities at the start of the summer certainly got built quickly. When will it get a pool? Regarding the curriculum, it is great to see Dylan take to the role of a teacher and develop his lesson plans and pedagogy. The addition of rental pokémon should be a great boon for the academy as well, and maybe will help some less experienced or well-traveled trainers to get more out of the academy. Jon’s teaching the campers how to defeat their absent team leaders also provided a great look at what the new campers are learning, and I think that he could partner more with the interns to illuminate other concepts, such as using Chris to teach about the benefits and challenges of using a team centered around a single type of Pokémon. After everything which happened this season, especially in the epilogues, I have to ask when self-defense is getting added to the curriculum.

You also put a lot of fun ideas into this season, some of which I would love to see expanded upon or revisited. Dividing the campers up into teams offers potential for some Hogwarts-style team spirit, and the capture the flag game between Chris and Charlotte’s teams also had potential for fun. I thought that we would see more of the new students, and while there were a few nice moments, especially around the intern and camper battles, but this was not yet fulfilled. It would have been challenging to pull off introducing and incorporating a lot of new characters into an already expansive main cast, so I much prefer that it not be attempted yet than it be attempted to early and fail. This meant that there was no big finale to the summer (aside from Deoxys, of course), and the end of the season (not counting the epilogues) felt anti-climactic. The Pokémon characters also could have gotten some more screentime, as I mentioned already. The legendary pokémon got some good moments with Latios training as a spy and Victini insisting on going toe-to-toe with Deoxys. It turns out that Rayquaza can learn V-Create, so that would be an exciting scene of Victini teaching the big green guy his signature attack. Outside of these examples, and the taming of Chris’s new Lugia, as well, the Pokémon as characters were not really present. There were missed opportunities like where Chris could have brought out one of his Pokémon to keep him company while keeping watch in the Whirl Islands that passed. I won’t belabor the point, but it is something that I noticed.

Writing-wise, I think that the variety of situations and genres that this season touched on highlights your talents as a writer. The courtroom drama and the tension in the second and first epilogues respectively were wonderful, as were the science-fiction, travelogue, and slice of life educational institution elements. Each change in genre was telegraphed well and transition between them seemed relatively seamless to my eyes. There were little touches like Candice picking Justin’s old room during her stay at the Academy, and the foreshadowing of trouble in Meteor Falls were both appreciated. The effect used for Deoxys’ alien speech, while cool, was also a huge headache to try and decipher!

There were a few world-building moments which I thought were worth noting. The example of Abbee and Victini communicating psychically while delivering a false order verbally should be a game-changer. Calling moves is now an antiquated way of battling, and I hope that Jon will work more to pass on his philosophy of the pokémon trainer as a coach rather than a director, in part as a counter to this kind of deception. Candice’s career advice to Abbee about becoming a gym leader and the timeline that she lays out for accomplishing that goal seems to be the premise for a great story in and of itself. Lastly, $90 for a Master Ball in Chapter Ten seems unbelievably cheap!

And one last question, is Alyssa Drake related to the Hoenn Elite Four member?

Favorite Lines

1. “I’m glad you couldn’t wait.” – Candice
2. “Chris, I would go swimming with Justin’s Regieleki before I let you drive this thing…” – Dylan
3. “If her first word is f**k, both you and Jon will have me to answer to…” – Alyssa

Now, onto Season Three!