The Trial of Juno Saga [PG-13]

[Neo Emolga]

Chapter 12
The Arrival

It was all over with. Ironclyde had recalled Haxorus back into his Poké Ball, and the battle was finished. We had won, but this victory would only be short lived. The real battle was coming up, the one that would determine whether the three of us would finally reach home, or we would be doomed to stay in Randy’s world forever. After seeing all this, I knew nothing short of defeat would ever make Randy let go of this place.

Ironclyde simply left without saying anything, although I knew I had spared the machine from becoming yet another one of Randy's servants. Although I did wonder... if Ironclyde were to even win against Randy, what would a robot wish for? But in the end, it would never have the capability to win against such an adversary. And I knew what it all came down to.

Imagination. It was the ultimate force in Randy’s world. It would be the weapon of choice on the gray battlegrounds of Victory City Stadium and anyone that couldn't wield it was doomed right from the sart. It would come down to one final test, and someone was going to have to lose everything. Either Randy would lose the chance to live in his own world, or the three of us would lose our freedom and be under Randy for the rest of our lives. And it made me anxious to think that Randy could be right, and that our lives would never expire in this bizarre realm of his. I absolutely didn’t want to live here forever. There was just something really wrong about this place.

The days that we fought Randy in the parking lot now seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it was little more than a week since those events had happened. Randy wasn’t thinking logically anymore and this had gone far beyond teaching three bullies about empathy and compassion. We didn’t belong here and none of this should have ever happened.

We were told by the referee to come back to the stadium tomorrow at 10 again. There was a total lack of enthusiasm on his emotionless face, and he seemed to show no interest in our effort whatsoever. It was then he told us that we would be confronting Randy in the stadium, only just now putting a lot of admiration into even just saying Randy's name. I really couldn't like this guy’s attitude. He almost made it seem like the real honor was losing to Randy and serving him for the rest of time. I figured let them think that way for now.

When I finally stepped out of the underground battling arenas, I once again stepped into the concrete and asphalt streets of Victory City and all of the neon-lit buildings and hologram billboards, bathing everything around in subtle, colorful glows. Everywhere, the entire city was preparing for tomorrow's battle with advertising and promotional marketing on a limitless budget. As I saw the city swept up in excitement, I learned of one alarming thing. They were only here to watch Randy. It was Randy's face, name, and fame that was everywhere on the hologram billboards, on the sides of mass transit city busses and taxi cabs, and he was the only one that was being talked about in the streets. It was totally impossible to even tell I was the challenger!

I walked by plenty of civilians, both humans and humanoid fantasy creatures, and not a single one even knew I was Randy's challenger for tomorrow's battle. As I overheard the conversations, it was all about "what Pokémon do you think he'll use" and "how fast do you think he'll win this time." I just couldn't help but think of how... boring it would all become in time if everything was normal.

As I made my way through the crowds, dodging feet and taking less-traveled walkways and building ledges to get around, I tried to mentally prepare as best as I could, and as dusk soon came to pass and the colorful neon-glows illuminated the city even further as the high-tech city's nightlife soon became alive, I wasn't sure what to expect tomorrow, but I knew I had to bring everything. In a battle like this, there was no such thing as overcompensating too much.

When I got back to my makeshift, cardboard shelter on the balcony of an older-looking apartment building, I could barely sleep that night with the anxiety and excitement that was surrounding me. Everything had built up to this moment. Randy needed to learn something about this unnatural world he had crafted for himself. True, I had begun to realize torturing Randy was wrong and I didn't know whether it was some part of Juno or something else deep inside that was trying to bring me back to the light, but I really didn't feel like continuing any kind of bullying once this was over. I felt like I learned a lot out of this, and I now knew how much it hurts to be ridiculed, to lose horribly, and to feel abandoned and neglected. Even if all this wasn't truly real, it still felt much like it and it was downright awful.

But in the meantime, Randy needed to learn this was no way to build a strong Pokémon team. That had to be done through effort, determination, and love for one's Pokémon.

When morning came and I hadn't gotten much sleep, I was a bit worried my fatigue might cause me to slip up in the battle. Still, I took it easy, just trying to admire whatever I could. Victory City did seem like an interesting place, especially at night, and it was almost strange to think this high-tech and futuristic metropolis was simply the creation of one boy's mind.

I had only gotten my rest during that afternoon as I was finally able to push aside the thoughts of anxiety and concern. When I had awoken, the hours were counting down. I made my way to the stadium and through the massive amount of fanfare, excitement, and commotion there was for the tournament final challenge. Fireworks, confetti, banners, neon-light shows, and excitement was everywhere. Everywhere you turned, Randy's name was lit in one way or another, flashing, animated, and celebrated.

And all the people that were gathered... cheering, celebrating, and taking part in the festivities... they only wanted to see Randy defeat every trainer who confronted him in the most nastiest, merciless, and unfair ways of all time. I knew then that not a single soul in that crowd would be supporting me. They would hate every moment of victory I could ever taste, and they would roar in delight at every defeat I went through. Trying to keep one's morale and concentration up in the face of such a thing was a real, serious trial.

When I entered the stadium and followed the usual directions they gave to the final challenger, they put me in a closed room behind a metal door. The blank-staring referees simply devoid of all emotion recognized me as Randy's challenger, but only used it for directional purposes.

I was led toward the room that was just outside the final arena. Inside, it was nothing more than a concrete-walled room with a steel door that was currently closed at the moment. Another mirthless referee that had the mirth and emotion of a zombie just told me to wait for an official. And then he left me alone. It was unsettling to think about how robotic and monotone their actions and conversations were, as if it all just seemed to be a routine to them, as if they were just robots following commands and directions and had no actual life or purpose outside of these tasks.

I stood there for a solid five minutes, not able to see very much, but I could hear and slightly feel the vibrations and commotions from the outside as exciting rock music was played to get the audience and spectators revved up and excited. Then, from behind me, I had been caught a bit off guard and noticed someone came. I almost jumped from the surprise a bit, but it was even more of a shock when I realized the official was Alex Harper himsef. While he no longer looked like a butterfly and was back to normal, he looked mirthless, almost as bad as the other nameless referees. He just walked up next to me, looked down, and faced the metal door.

“You will be using four Pokémon in a two-on-two double match,” Alex told me, not even realizing it was his best friend he was talking to. “Once one of your Pokémon goes down, you are to replace one of them as soon as possible. The battle ends once all four of one person’s Pokémon can no longer fight. Understood?”

I just blinked twice and said nothing, not that he would have understood what I was saying anyway. I decided to put it behind me and carry on. As the minutes until show time counted down, I could hear the cheering getting even louder through the metal door. When there was a sudden and massive roar, I knew that must have meant Randy had arrived, thinking he had become the equivalent of a celebrity god.

I felt like my heart was beating harder and faster, knowing I absolutely had to do what no one else could. The pressure was definitely on hard.

And then, suddenly the metal doors opened slowly, revealing just how festive and almost crazed the now fully-packed and swarmed stadium had become. Alex then urged me to go out and meet Randy in the center of the stadium. I walked out, and the sight of the stadium was painfully familiar from the last incident when Alex, David and I confronted Randy, Frank and Jeff, only to lose painfully. Now, the big difference was there were a million people watching us, and I absolutely had to battle Randy in a winner takes all match. I could swear this was all madness.

“Welcome into the stadium,” An announcer’s voice shouted loud and clearly, “Juno the Pikachu, Randy’s challenger!”

It was followed by a round of sarcastic clapping, booing, and mockery. I had no choice but to shut it out of my head, or else it would just grind my sanity down. It was a shame to think here I was, a fond, forgotten memory of Randy's childhood and desires, booed and ridiculed by people that Randy had imagined and created himself. When I felt that ping, I almost didn't even think about ending Randy's world anymore. I was thinking more about showing them all that Randy made a grievous mistake by carelessly forgetting about a truthful, good-hearted, and genuine Pikachu.

However, I could guess Randy was absolutely shocked upon learning who his challenger was right now. I guess he didn’t expect he would be squaring off against his favorite Pokémon and the one Pikachu he had hoped to raise, train, and travel alongside in his earlier, childhood years.

And when I got closer to Randy in the center of those gray battlegrounds of the luxurious, high-tech Victory City stadium and all its restless spectators, he was still wearing his silly black leather jacket and his mirrored sunglasses. He stood there at his respective side of the stadium, waving, smiling, and thinking he was the world’s best hero. Still around his neck was the Quista necklace, the whole reason this mess had begun in the first place. Randy now depended on it, just like it was his lungs or his heart. Without it, this world was gone and shattered.

It was a shame to think that instead of trying to grow strong, he relied on this necklace like a crutch. The truth was, anyone could be in Randy's seat with that necklace on, but it took real strength, training, and courage to become great and truly heroic on their own. This was what I needed to teach Randy. Taking the easy way to success was wrong and hollow, and forgetting past dreams was a dire mistake.

We had faced each other. Already, Randy was looking at me very strangely, and I could see from the look on his face that this was something he never would have expected and wasn't according to his plan or design. He obviously didn’t think he would be seeing the Pokémon he once longed for and now forgotten looking back at him, and he was becoming tense. There was no doubt about it. While I, Juno, was still a Pikachu, there were very distinctive characteristics that separated Juno from any other Pikachu. I stood before him exactly as he imagined me, and to him, it was alarming.

Still, as he looked more at the crowd instead of me, he simply returned back to his egotistical nature and didn't seem to worry about a thing anymore. The smiling, confident, and smug expression on his face made it look like he had already won. He took one more glance at me, and I simply flashed him a small but simple Pikachu smile, as if to say everything was a-okay and this battle was supposed to be harmless fun despite all the massive amount of pressure and spectatorship going on.

In only a few moments, we would be engaged in the most outlandish Pokémon battle ever. There were no rules now, no limits, no nothing to stop the two of us from spawning ultimate chaos.

And as luck would have it, I found out Jeff was going to be our referee. Not good. Randy’s Pokémon were going to have to be on the verge of dying before Jeff would even consider taking them out of the battle. I could already predict there were going to be plenty of false calls and dirty tricks under the table just like last time. Truly, I couldn't see how anyone was supposed to win against Randy through conventional methods, but the crowd didn't care in the slightest.

Regardless, Jeff stood between the two of us. Randy already had his Poké Balls ready, but I was going to wait to see which Pokémon Randy was going to chose before releasing my own.

“This is a match between King Randy and Juno, the challenger!” Jeff’s voice boomed all over the stadium. “This is a two-on-two double battle, and each combatant is allowed to use only up to four Pokémon!”

Recommended Listening: GRV Music & Brand X Music - Legion

The audience roared, itching for excitement. The tension was making me sick and anxious, but I had to shrug it off and just play it like it was all one, big game. While I couldn’t lose this battle no matter what, I just had to keep calm and maintain a level head. I already knew Randy was going to play more tricks to try and win, just like he did last time. And then, at that moment, Jeff initiated everything.

“Let the battle begin!!” Jeff shouted loudly, his voice blasting all over the stadium.

Randy hadn’t waited a second longer, and tossed two of his Poké Balls into the air as the audience went wild. With a smirk on his face, he looked on appreciatively as the two Poké Balls flew through the air and hit the ground and flared brightly with a blast of light. And then, his two Pokémon came out…

And I began to grow cold and tense when I realized the Pokémon he had chosen were Mewtwo and Arceus, just barely able to recognize them simply by rumors and legends. The dull-purple and white humanoid that was genetically created to be a psychic powerhouse of destruction and the white, centaur god of all Pokémon across the planet were now staring me down, just waiting for me to select two Pokémon to challenge both of them.

Randy was definitely not pulling any punches here.

Indeed, there they were all right, in the flesh, just staring me down and waiting to unleash their wrath. It was truly clear that Randy had access to any Pokémon that existed, and any Pokémon he wanted was his to own. But that wasn't even the end of it...

“King Randy has chosen Mewtwo and Arceus!” Jeff announced to the crowd. A loud applause had thundered out, and the audience was obviously anticipating a quick and very easy win.

I didn't even know where to begin when it came to taking on these two monstrosities, but I had to choose wisely. I didn’t have legendaries like Randy had now. That was already going to be my first disadvantage, and it was a very major one. But I had to keep smiling like it wasn't such a big deal. The moment Randy noticed anxiety on my face, he was only going to get stronger and let his arrogance be his power in this place. I just couldn't let that happen.

At that moment, I chose to rely on Jolteon and Weavile. They have always been extremely loyal to me, and have helped me pull through all this misery. Now, I needed them more than ever.

“There’s no way you can win…” I thought I heard Randy whisper to me.

I just had to keep on smirking and give him the look of "whatever." By now, he had probably become so accustomed to winning constantly that any thought of loss probably didn't even come to mind.

I prepared my two Poké Balls, and then hurled them far into the air, again, throwing them one by one like giant basketballs. And then, something really strange happened…

Both Poké Balls burst into flames, and looked like flaming fireballs. Forks of strange, blue and violet-colored electricity were encircling them, and I winced as I thought they were going to explode and kill both of the Pokémon that were inside each one. However, to my relief, when the Poké Balls hit the ground, there were my Jolteon and Weavile, completely untouched.

Jeff and Randy just looked at them in disbelief. Jeff was shaking his head, as if something had gone wrong. Meanwhile, Randy was looking at the two Pokémon with the look of irritation on his face. A sense of shocked and surprised irritation, but nonetheless, he shrugged it off. To him, I imagined a Jolteon and Weavile still wouldn't be a match.

And then I realized what the fire and electricity were about. Randy had tried once again to change my Pokémon, but this time he had failed. I could have laughed at the just desserts, but I simply kept it a secret and retained my simple, gentle, Pikachu smile. But in the end, Randy was going to have to expect way more surprises than that…

It wasn’t long before Randy had snapped out of his brief trance. He looked at his two Pokémon, and prepared to give his first commands. Now was the time I needed to be more prepared than ever. Right now, I had no idea what their weakness was, and I had a feeling that the only way to discover it was through battling and experimentation.

“Mewtwo, use Celestial Starlight Barrier!” Randy commanded, “Arceus, use Divine Protection!”

Black, Depression, and Coldblood all warned me about this, but seeing it happen before me was something I'd never get used to.

And then both of Randy’s incredibly super-powered Pokémon were covered by two extremely powerful shields, raising their defenses to the point of being arguably invincible. Mewtwo and Arceus had a translucent gold and silver bubble shield surrounding them, giving both of them obscene levels of defense.

It was crystal clear any standard attack my Pokémon used against them would end up doing nothing for damage. I couldn't imagine how demoralizing this would be to anyone who tried to fight Randy by the rules. First, get your Pokémon swapped in for something terrible, and then this? Coldblood was right, someone had to put an end to this.

“Try getting through that!” Randy taunted, much to the roar and excitement of the audience.

As the cheering and praises to Randy grew only louder and stronger, I knew that would have been a serious problem if I wasn’t creative and didn't come prepared. I could admit, I was going to need to be resourceful in ways I never had to be before, but we hadn't even really gotten warmed up yet.

“Jolteon, use your Thundersurge Chain Lightning attack!” I shouted, “Weavile, use your Shadow Hurricane!”

Randy, Jeff, and everyone else in the stadium understood nothing of what I said. The look on Randy's face was quite comical when all he could hear from my mouth was “Pi", "Pika", and "Pikachu” in a confusing and untraceable mix of syllables based on Pikachu's name. Still, he wasn’t too worried and shook off the anxiety rather quickly. But I could see in his eyes that he had never dealt with anything like this before…

Meanwhile, I used my imagination to send my ideas of a "Thundersurge Chain Lightning" attack to Jolteon and the details of "Shadow Hurricane" to Weavile. In this world, imagination on the level Randy and I could wield was a strange but highly potent form of psychic power. As if sending a message and giving them the power they needed to use it, they suddenly learned how to perform such insane, unnatural assaults, and the power they suddenly experienced was unlike anything a Pokémon has ever felt before.

“Yeah, baby,” Jolteon snickered, just itching to strike with what he had just learned. “Give me a piece of these punks!”

Jolteon thrust his front paws into the ground, put his head down, and released a tremendous bolt of thunder and lightning from his yellow, spiky-furred body. He then directed the massive, electrical discharge right at Mewtwo and Arceus. They didn’t know what attack it was either, but I could tell by their surprise, they never suspected this unique Pikachu named Juno was capable of highly-powerful forces. While they were able to understand the Pokéspeech that I called it "Thundersurge Chain Lighting," it didn't tell them anything about the real nature of the attack. I had only just created it. Meanwhile, Randy himself couldn't tell whether I had given Jolteon an attack order or told him to stand on his head.

Chain Lightning came out exactly as I imagined it and I was pleasantly surprised at how this amazing power worked. Tremendous bolts of thunder and lightning bound together in a furious discharge of jagged electricity. Meanwhile, Mewtwo and Arceus were suddenly caught right in the middle of it, not sure how the lightning attack would behave. And to their surprise, both of them were inflicted with paralysis unlike anything they've felt before. Even though their incredibly powerful shields absorbed and resisted most of the damage, they were not able to stop the paralyzing effects.

The crowd highly disliked this and shouted their contempt at me, but I tried my best to push their jeers and insults out of my mind. While something on this level was never intended, I needed this to be an even battle. If Randy was not willing to battle by the rules, then someone had to rise to his level and even the odds.

Meanwhile, Weavile had just stood still silently, and the world around us had become pitch black. Then, all I could see was a sudden storm of dark shadows bursting from where Mewtwo and Arceus were standing, moments before being consumed in a shrouding, black cyclone. Both of them were locked in a storm of dark, wicked haunting, as if thrown into a vortex of eternal shadow. Mewtwo and Arceus were badly confused, and this time it wasn’t going to go away. It was really too bad for Randy that a simple and totally legal move like Safeguard could have saved him from so much misery.

“No way!” Randy shouted out in disbelief. "What the hell just happened!?"

“How… could… they…?” Mewtwo moaned, his head and body throbbing with agony and torment. "It's... impossible."

The audience was in complete shock, and shortly after, clear displeasure about what they saw before them. They truly had never seen a battle of this magnitude before with any contender being able to pull off anything even close to what I was doing. However, many of them were still cheering avidly for Randy, thinking this was just nothing more than him allowing me to have hope only to destroy me with it later on.

“Nice job, you guys!” I said to both of them, keeping that confident Pikachu smile and cheer.

“This is so awesome!” Jolteon said in awe, looking at the devastation he had just caused, "You're incredible, Juno, you know that!"

Randy sure wasn’t happy after that. However, now he was the one with the disadvantage. And since his poor Pokémon with twitching with pain, it was us who were going to get the first strike this time.

“Jolteon, use your Diamond Breaker attack on Mewtwo!” I commanded. “Weavile, once the barriers are down, target Mewtwo using your Black Oblivion Anguish attack!”

Again, I dreamt up the details of both attacks to both Pokémon, and sent it across to their minds. I was using this power to the absolute maximum I could, because I knew if I slipped and gave Randy even more of an advantage, it could mean losing everything.

Jolteon then rushed up to the gold and silver walls that surrounded Randy’s Mewtwo and Arceus, unleashing a blinding white, forked beam from his roaring mouth. The powerful surge split into a Y-shaped strike, which then slammed into both Arceus and Mewtwo, overloading both of their shields and causing both of them to shatter, much to the anger and distaste of the audience.

Mewtwo and Arceus lightly stumbled, though the barriers had taken most of the hit. As the humanoid psychic powerhouse and the white and gray god Pokémon looked back in savage anger at that strike, I knew dismantling their defenses was key. Both of them were trying to discern what the next attack was going to be like, but not even the two of them were ready for Shadow Hurricane... an attack that didn't even exist until now. Weavile prepared an all-out nightmare attack on Mewtwo and Arceus now with their shielding removed.

Weavile gave them a harsh, cold stare. He arched back his head a bit, and then unleashed a tsunami of darkness and pure, all-consuming fury of pure blackness upon Mewtwo and Arceus. Both of them never suspected something like that was even possible. For a solid ten seconds, Mewtwo and Arceus were swallowed alive by the nightmare. Randy’s face turned pale, but I knew it wasn't over yet. When the darkness cleared, Mewtwo hadn’t been able to bear it so well.

As Randy painfully found out, this is what happens when a psychic Pokémon tries to stand up against the fury of the night...