Chapter 10 – Showdown at Pewter City part 2 ------- -Pewter City- [Crisis Game – Isao Kasai – Full Metal Alchemist game, Wingless angel] “Prepare to lose Ketchum! You’re mine!” Zero declared. He dug into his large open sleeves and pulled out two pistols. “Forget the taunting, just attack!” Kirara ran at Ash on all fours while Zero dashed towards the side. Ash jumped back as the cat girl swung her claw down at him, but just as he did that, Zero appeared behind him, aiming his two guns at him. “Checkmate!” Zero declared, about to pull the trigger. “Not if I can help it!” Brock shouted, swinging his fist at the dog boy. “Too slow!” Zero back flipped onto Brock’s arm and aimed at his head! BLAM! “Whoa!” Brock used the metal guard on the back of his fingerless gloves to deflect the shot. “Hey, get off!” He thrashed his arms wildly to shake the Flying Vizier off, but the boy was too agile for the breeder. “Don’t worry Brock, I’ll get him off you!” Misty was about to approached Brock when Kirara dove at her from the air. SLASH! “AH!” Misty narrowly dodged the claw strike. When Kirara’s claws struck the stone boulder, the rock was split in half! If Misty wasn’t careful, she would get pulverized! Swipe! Slash! Swipe! Slash! “Stand! Still! Already!” Kirara yelled, slashing rapidly. “Ngh…!” Misty received a small nick on her cheek when Kirara attempted to pounce on her. “HA!” She spun around into a back spin kick; only to have it blocked by Kirara’s arm. “Cat-scratch Agony!” Kirara lunged speedily past Misty several times, leaving light and painful slashes on her with each hit. Misty attempted to block many of the hits, but still received a lot of damage form the swift barrage of slash attacks. Without warning, the cuts from Kirara’s attack started to burn like crazy. “Heh, your body should feel like it’s burning right now. That’s the power of my Cat-Scratch Agony attack. Whenever my claws pierce your skin, a small poison spreads throughout your body. Don’t worry, it’s not fatal or anything, but you’ll be in too much pain to fight back. Now, I can do this…” She grabbed Misty from behind and jumped high in the air, performing multiple back flips at high speed. Once she was high enough, she spun in a high speed spiral. “GRAND DRIVER!” With Misty in her vice grip, Kirara spiraled downwards, preparing to finish her off in one move. Misty struggled to break free, but Kirara’s overwhelming strength kept her lock. She had one chance to break free, and she was going to take it. She focused as much strength as she could on her spirit counterpart. She could feel the power of light flowing through her. “Spirit…SYNC!” CRASH!! The dust on the ground exploded into the air, covering the two in a mist of dust. As the smoke cleared, a synchronized Misty was crouched on the ground panting. Kirara, receiving minor recoil damage from the Grand Driver attack and was winded for a moment. “Impressive, I didn’t expect you to break out of my attack at the last second. Unfortunately, my Cat-Scratch Agony attack should still be affecting you.” Misty smirked. “Is that so?” She calmly placed her hands on her arms. “Regenerate!” Within moments, the wounds from Kirara’s attack healed. “Meow! That is SO cheating!” Kirara hissed. “Hey, I’m a young lady fighting against a freakish, anthromorphic cat thingy with even more freakish strength, and you’re calling me a cheater?” Misty pointed accusingly. “It doesn’t matter! It’s time for round 2—WHOA!” “WAH!” A sudden rush of high powered wind lifted the two girls and blew the girls high in the air. “CURSE YOU ZEROOOOOO!” Kirara shouted, flying away along with Misty. “Let’s see you two take on the mighty Zero, ruler of the skies!” Zero shouted, zipping around with speed that would put the fastest Pikachu to shame. The only thing visible was the small blurs of himself. He started running around Ash and Brock faster and faster until the two were engulfed in a whirlwind. “Hurricane Rhapsody!” Suddenly, Ash and Brock were hailed upon by a rain of bullets coming from all directions! “Arg! This guy is too fast!” Brock said as he started blocking as many of the bullets as he could. “I know what you mean! We need a plan, and fast!” Ash dodged and blocked shots as they flew around and at them. “Ash, Brock, I have a plan, but we need to be fast…” Takeshi started telling the two trainers the idea… “That sounds like it would work, but how do you know?” Ash inquired. “Just trust me, my hunches are never wrong.” Satoshi tossed Takeshi a flat glance. “Just like how your hunches said woman prefer to be stalked?” “Hey, I prefer the term attraction!” “Alright, enough of that. Let’s hurry up!” Ash cupped his mouth to form a megaphone effect. “Hey Zero! So tell me, how many times did you dream about Kirara this week?” “ACK!” Zero tripped and fell in surprise, which stopped his attack completely. “What kind of question was that!? I don’t dream about that wretched cat!” “Oh come on, I bet you drool on your pillow at least five times a week.” “I do not! I never had, nor will I ever do that! Never never never never never!” Zero flailed his arms childishly. “Zero and Kirara, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Zero covered his eyes and shut his eyes. “Stop it!” He pouted, feeling mortified. “Gotcha! Brock yelled, capturing the Flying Vizier from behind after disarming the guns in his hands. “Hey, that was no fair! Lemme go!” The Vizier struggled to break Brock’s grip, but he wasn’t strong enough to get free. When he saw that didn’t work, he managed to get a small, round steel ball from his sleeve and tossed it on the ground. “Swarm missiles, activate! Target: Humans!” The ball opened many small hatches, unleashing a huge payload of tiny missiles, aiming at Ash and Brock. Brock had no choice but to let go and attempt to block the homing missiles. Ash dashed towards Zero as he jumped and rolled past the rockets. Multiple explosions erupted in the battlefield, decimating the earth. “Eat this!” Zero dug into his sleeves again and pulled out a complicated looking laser rifle and started shooting Ash with the rapid fire laser weapon. “HM!” Ash jumped over the first string of bullets and towards the Vizier, who unfortunately was all too ready for him. “Charged shot!” Zero charged up his weapon and fired a powerful ball of yellow light at Ash. “Psyche!” Ash performed a second jump in the air, barely going over the blast. “What the!” Zero exclaimed, watching as Ash lunged towards him. SMACK! “AH!” Zero tumbled along the ground as he received the full brunt of Ash’s fist on the face. The boy lay on the ground for a moment, winded and hurt. “Huh?” Ash stared at his fist in surprise. “Wow, I didn’t think I’ve gotten that strong.” “Whether these kids are Viziers or not, they are still kids. I doubt their defenses are very high. We just have to get a few good hits in to be victorious. Don’t let up!” Satoshi coached. “Gotcha.” Ash nodded. He regrouped with Brock and watched as Zero staggered to his feet. “That hurt! You’ll pay for that!” Zero started digging in his sleeves for more weapons— WHAM! “ARGH!” Zero was sent flying when a fist uppercutted him. “That’s what you get for blasting me away with that stupid wind of yours!” Kirara bellowed. “Ash, Brock, you two alright?” Misty asked, still in her synched form. “Yeah. You look a little hurt.” Ash pointed to the small cuts on her arms and legs. “This is nothing. Besides, the fight isn’t over yet.” Misty pointed to the two Viziers, who were arguing with each other. “How dare you punch me!? We’re supposed to fight them, not each other!” Zero argued. “You should talk! You sent me flying!” “Enough! We’ll decide what’s what after we defeat those guys! We have to fight them as a team, no matter how stupid of an idea that is.” “Fine, we’ll go with your dumb plan!” Kirara crouched on all fours while Zero pulled out dual mini machine guns. “Ash, it looks like they are going to get really serious. I suggest we end this quickly. Let’s go!” Satoshi suggested. “Right! Let’s do it guys!” Ash and Brock both performed a spirit-sync with their spiritual allies and charged at the two Viziers along with Misty. -Outskirts of Pewter City – Team Nova- “HA!” Leon spun and whipped at Gary with high velocity, also throwing in a few high and low spin kicks. Gary expertly countered the kicks with his own attacks while side stepping and avoiding the powerful whip strikes. CRACK! CRACK! “Ngh!” Gary was struck twice on the chest by the whip, creating two diagonal gashes. He shot several bullets at the Grass Vizier, but only managed to graze the agile dog human. POW! WHAM! “ACK!” The Team Nova squad leader was uppercutted in the air, and then received a powerful spin kick to the stomach, sending him flying a few feet. However, he used the air time to shoot at Leon. “Nice try!” Leon whipped the grass on the ground, causing some of the blades to fly up in the air. “Razor Grass!” He pointed towards Gary, commanding the blades of grass to fly at Gary and turning into lethal projectiles. The grass sliced through the bullets and gave Gary dozens of light cuts. The russet haired teen slammed his hands on the ground before falling and recovering with a back flip, regaining his balance. ‘Damn…he seems a lot stronger than before…does this mean he’s giving it his all this time?’ Gary thought, panting. His eyes glanced over his teammates, who were being pushed back by the group of strange creatures. ‘And these things…the Kaijudo…just what on earthy are they really? They appeared magically from a card, can talk, but yet they aren’t Pokémon. Does this mean Pokémon aren’t the only creatures that exist in this world?’ “Hey!” Leon yelled, jumping towards Gary. “You’re in the middle of a battle! Stop thinking and give me a challenge!” He lashed his whip at Gary, who barely reacted just in time to repel the attack using the metal on his handgun. “Heh…gotcha…” Gary smirked, pointing at Leon’s chest with his other handgun. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! “GAH!” Leon received three gunshot wounds in his stomach, which were very painful. “Grr…you bastard! I’ll make you pay!” CRACK! “AH!” Gary got lashed across the face with the whip, creating a large cut that stretched over his face and one of his eyes, forcing him to shut it. Leon lifted his whip in the air and started spinning it rapidly. “Stinger Vortex!” WHOOSH! “Whoa!” Gary jumped in the air, dodging the deadly finisher just in time. As he was in the air, he noticed a lot of the grass exploded in the air, and immediately realized that he fell for a trap! “Razor Grass!” Leon shouted, commanding the grass to fly at Gary in flurries. The sharp projectiles flew at a Gary and cut him several times “Argh!” Gary shielded himself the best he could as he fell inside a very bushy tree. Leon pursued him and leapt towards the same location Gary fell into. However, upon entry, Leon didn’t see Gary, but a cleverly placed gun with a string attached to the trigger. “Damn!” BLAM! “ACK!” The Grass Vizier quickly grasped his wounded shoulder and jumped away from the tree, only to notice someone else jumping along with him from behind. “Eat this!” Gary aimed his gun at Leon and was about to pull the trigger. “Rage of Nature!” Leon yelled hurriedly. BLAM! “What?” Gary stared in surprised when he noticed a long contorted branch blocking his shot. Leon used the trunk to swing down and land a downward kick on Gary. SLAM! “Ack!” Gary coughed up blood as his body was slammed upon the ground. He noticed Leon lashing his whip at him just in time to roll out of the way and kick the Vizier in the stomach, forcing him back. The two paused for a beat, trying to catch their breath. “You hold more promise than I first anticipated. Looks like I’ll have to actually try to kill you this time.” Leon smirked, slowly straightening himself. “Yeah, yeah, big talk. Just shut up and fight already!” “Hmph! So be it! RAAAH!” Leon dashed at Gary while lashing at him viciously. Team Nova was being pushed deeper into the forest by the Grass Vizier and his Kaijudo beast. -Outskirts of Pewter City – Team Shadow- Katana gracefully twirled her crystal sword and stabbed it into the earth. “Frost Field!” The ground beneath May’s feet suddenly turned to ice. In a smooth maneuver, the Ice Vizier pulled out her blade and swung her sword at the girls. “Blizzard of Blades!” Suddenly, ice sword copies flew from her sword and at Team Shadow! “Whoa!” May successfully leapt to the side to dodge the swarm of swords, but started to slide uncontrollably on the ice floor and flying into a tree. SLAM! May fell to the ground, twitching in pain. “Ow...” “Don’t worry May, I got your back!” Duplica pushed herself off a tree and began sliding towards Katana’s direction. She dug into her side pockets and pulled out several round, black balls. She hurled them towards the Vizier, who stabbed her sword into the ice floor. “Pillar Impaler!” Katana called out. A wall of tall ice spikes extruded out of the ground and in front of the bombs, canceling out the attack. Without missing a beat, Katana leapt at Duplica over the ice wall, who took out her combat dagger and blocked the blade strike. Duplica was fairly skilled with the knife, but was still no match for the Ice Vizier. CHING! Duplica’s knife flipped in the air and stabbed into a tree. Katana grinned victoriously, pointing her sword at the blue haired girl. “I win.” “Not quite yet!” Melody deactivated her cloaking device and aimed her rifle at Katana from the side. BLAM! “Me-ow!” Katana yelped, barely dodging the shot. “Little girls shouldn’t play with such dangerous toys! Blizzard of Blades!” She caused another wave of ice sword to fly at Duplica and Melody. Melody was able to dodge the attack, but Duplica didn’t have enough time to avoid it. SHATTER! “What!?” Katana gasped in surprise. May took out her two thin sabers from the sheath behind her and cut down the flying ice swords heading towards Duplica! “My, you seem fairly skilled. Perhaps a little blade on blade will entertain you? May took on a guard position and faced Katana. “I don’t see why not. Sounds fun.” “And don’t worry, your friends will be entertained as well.” Katana held her hand in the air and conjured magical energy. Soon, a card appeared in her hand. “I summon Illusion Fish!” The card transformed into a ball of light and then appeared as a very beautiful blue translucent fish that floated in the air as though it was swimming in it. “You called for me master?” Illusion Fish said, floating around Katana. “Yes, I would love it if you entertained those two kids over there while I take on the brunette. Now go!” “Of course!” Illusion Fish swam swiftly at Duplica and Melody, shooting high pressured water attacks at them and attacking with its fins. Katana turned to May, holding her katana in an offensive stance. “Now that it’s just you and me, we can call it a duel! HIYAA!” CLANG! “Ngh!” May blocked the slash attack, but because of the slippery floor, she was thrown off balance. SLASH! “HA! HA! YA! RAH!” Katana continued to swipe at May with all kinds of slash attacks. May was barely defending herself and couldn’t even find an opening. However, they were both equal in skill and continued to exchange attacks as they battled through the forest. -Pewter City – Ash, Misty and Brock- The battle between Ash and the Viziers grew more and more vicious. The landscape suffered a great deal of damage due to the powerful attacks. While Kirara worked on attacks using brute strength, Zero used his long range attacks to cause the gang problems. 2 minutes remained for the spirit-sync with Ash, Misty and Brock. “Shadow Kick!” Ash called out, flying at Zero with a dark element kick. His attack was about to land when Kirara tackled him from the side. The blow was powerful enough to send Ash flying a few meters. “Heh, weakling!” Kirara taunted, sticking her tongue at Ash. Suddenly, her instincts kicked in. She turned around to notice Misty raising her fist to strike her down. Before the attack landed, a sudden hail of bullets rained down on Misty, courtesy of Zero’s dual machine guns. “HM!” Both Brock and Ash jumped at Zero in the air, who didn’t have enough time to use his wind skills to avoid the double strike. SMACK! “ARGH!” Ash and Brock crashed onto the ground after receiving a spin kick from Kirara, who jumped in the air and defended Zero. Both Viziers distanced themselves and Ash and co. before going into the final offensive. “Man, these guys are working well together. Speed and power combined makes such a strong combination.” Ash panted, trying to get his second wind. “Hmm…” Satoshi analyzed the two Viziers carefully. Somehow, he wasn’t convinced that this was their best. It wasn’t the fact they weren’t trying, but their teamwork was unpolished and rusty. “There…might be a way to break up their teamwork.” “Hm? What do you mean?” Takeshi asked, curious. “It may look like they make a great team, but something is wrong with them. If you notice, they are arguing with each other now.” True to Satoshi’s words, the two children were biting each others heads off. “I saw a few mistakes while we attacked them. The first was when Zero jumped in the air to shoot at Misty. While he did protect Kirara from Misty’s attack, his bullets still injured Kirara since she was still next to Misty. The other time was when Ash and Brock was knocked down from the air. Kirara’s spin kick also struck Zero. This leads me to believe that they are new to the term teamwork.” “Hey, you’re right! Now we just need to work on a plan to mess them up. But how?” Ash furrowed his brow for a moment to create a plan, and then thought of one. “I got it!” He turned to face the Viziers, and then cupped his hands to create a megaphone effect. “Hey, you guys should fight together more often. Ya look cute together!” “EH!?” Zero and Kirara glanced at each other and jumped back frightfully. “You gotta be kidding! Never in a million years!” Misty smirked slyly. She knew exactly what Ash was planning. “Hey Ash, I’ll bet those two got a HUGE crush on each other. Just look at how lovey dovey they are.” “It’s not true!” Zero and Kirara yelled, red from embarrassment. “Hey Zero!” Brock called, joining in the taunting. “How often do you cuddle with Kirara?” “WHAT!? I do not cuddle with that idiotic feline!” Zero roared. “Idiotic feline!?” Kirara roared. “Why you…!” “Aw, don’t be mad you two. Just kiss and make up like newlyweds are supposed to do!” Misty yelled. Ash and Brock couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter at how red Zero and Kirara’s faces gotten. “I don’t like that good-for-nothing mutt!” Kirara snapped. “Good-for-nothing? GOOD-FOR-NOTHING!? I’LL SHOW YOU GOOD-FOR- NOTHING YOU STUPID CAT! RAAAH!” Zero leapt at Kirara in a fit of rage. The two were suddenly in a full-blown war, wrestling and rolling on the ground while yelling obscenities. “Well, looks like our job is done.” Ash shrugged, disabling the spirit-sync. “But you got to admit, those two are adorable when they fight.” Misty giggled. “I agree. I guess those two won’t be bothering us for awhile.” Brock sighed, relived. “Don’t forget, Leon and Katana are still around somewhere. Also, I think those two went after the people who had been trailing us for the past while.” Satoshi noted. He glanced over towards the forest area, sensing strong amounts of mana coming from the direction. “Over there. I think the ones I recognize are the people from Team Nova. We should help them out.” “I agree. Let’s go.” Ash led Misty and Brock towards the same location as Team Nova. -Outskirts of Pewter City – Team Nova- SMACK! “ARGH!” Gary was sent flying back and crashed onto the ground. There were many cuts and bruises on his body, and he was very fatigued. However, though his teammates were also weakened and injured, the Kaijudo beasts were defeated, and Leon was badly injured. “Very impressive. Even at full strength, you still gave me trouble. However, you are still far from defeating me. I shall be sure to end your life right now. Farewell…” Leon raised his whip and was about to split Gary’s head open with it, when he stopped and glanced ahead. “Meow!” Katana appeared from the air, landing next to Leon in a back flip. May soon stepped into the scene, followed by Melody and Duplica. An injured Illusion Fish swam its way towards Katana. “Master, these guys are strong! What shall we do?” Illusion Fish asked worriedly. “Hmm, return Illusion Fish. Recover your strength for the time being.” Katana extended her hand towards the flying fish. Illusion Fish glowed brightly and transformed into a ball of light, floating to Katana’s hand and turning into a card. The Ice Vizier turned to Leon. “It looks like you’ve been having trouble also. What do you suppose we do?” Leon glanced left and right. Team Nova was on one side, and Team Shadow was on another. He knew how troubling Team Nova could be, but if Team Shadow was able to hold their on against Katana, then they could definitely be a threat. “I think we should retreat for the time being, but not without leaving a farewell gift. I still have enough Mana to summon one creature.” Leon conjured up another card in his hand, almost draining all of his remaining mana. “Now, I’ll summon one of my favorite creatures. I summon Cavern Raider!” From the card in his hand appeared a 4 foot tall blue rabbit humanoid with a brown breastplate, hood, and a small wavering cape. Cavern Raider’s light red eyes glanced at her master. “You called for my assistance?” She inquired. “Yes. I need you to destroy those enemies for me while I—Guh!” Leon knelt on the ground, clutching the bullet wounds in his stomach. “Leon!” Katana knelt next to him, grasping his shoulder. “We have to get your wounds treated immediately.” She created a card in her hands. “I summon Revolver Fish! Take care of our enemies!” Katana summon two green frog-like creatures, who stood in front of Cavern Raider. The two Revolver Fish made an alienated grunt, confirming they understood their master’s orders. Katana slung Leon’s arm over her shoulder and started to escape when she glanced at May. “Our battle isn’t over. I plan to have a rematch with you someday, so be ready. Farewell until then!” Katana and Leon fled, leaving their Kaijudo to do their battling. “Hey, May.” Gary called. “I know we’re enemies, but wouldn’t you agree that these guys are a real pain?” “Yeah. I’m guessing you want to work together to take them down? I’m fine with that as long as it is just a temporary truce.” “Exactly what I had in mind. Alright guys, let’s do it!” “Yeah!” Everyone cheered, increasing their moral. “Hmm…how interesting, but unfortunately futile.” Cavern Raider flashed her palm at Gary. A small, golden, archaic ring appeared in front of it. “Your little ‘truce’ shall be buried here, along with your corpses.” ZAM! “Ngh!” Wes managed to deflect the beam shot with his arm guard, searing the shield. “Heh, you monsters aren’t that bad. This ought to be interesting. RAAH!” Wes charged at Cavern Raider with his blitz blade. “Revolver Fish, defend!” Cavern Raider shouted. The two creatures opened their mouths and revealed a cannon-shaped mouth, charging up powerful energy. When they released the attack, the two beams struck Wes, who luckily guarded in time. “ARGH!” The force blew him away and sent him crashing on the ground. “Wes! Are you alright?” Gary asked. “Ugh…don’t worry about me, I’m fine, though that blast hurt like hell.” Wes grunted as he stood up, using his sword as a crutch. Brendan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He needed to see something. “HAAA!” Taking out his saber, he charged after Cavern Raider. “Defend!” The Kaijudo rabbit creature commanded. The two Revolver Fish opened their mouths and shot at Brendan, who skillfully dodged the attack. Swiftly, he ran towards one of the Revolver Fish, and was about to strike when he noticed something strange. “Defend!” The Kaijudo shouted again. The two creatures shot another beam at Brendan. The white haired teen maneuvered past the lasers and jumped back. Backing up, he noticed something else, which Brendan started putting two and two together. “I see. It looks like you have a hole in your defense, one that will be your demise!” Cavern Raider smirked. “Oh? And just what would that be?” “It’s those two defenders you have. They never act on there own, but only when told to do so. Also, their power is a lot higher than yours. As from what I’ve seen so far, your blast attacks are powerful, but those fish…they could easily kill one of us in a single blast if it wasn’t for our armor. With all of this information in mind, I can defeat you using only two more people.” Brendan glanced back and forth between his teammates and Team Shadow. “…And I’ll choose Wes and May for that task.” May blinked in surprise. “Wait…me?” “Go ahead and do what he says. He is always one for finding an enemy’s weakness. If you follow his directions, I’m sure we’ll win.” Gary assured. “Hm…alright, but I’ll be keeping an eye on those two while I’m out there. Duplica, Melody, prepare to be back up, alright?” “Sure thing!” The two Team Shadow members nodded. “Ritchie, Rui, you guys also. We’ll let them do their thing, but be ready for anything. “Right.” The two said, standing next to Gary. “Alright, are you two ready?” Brendan asked. Wes and May nodded, prepping there swords for battle. “Ready when you are brother!” “I’m all set.” “Good. Alright, let’s go! May, go to the left, Wes, go right. I’ll go through the middle!” Brendan dashed forward as the other two sprinted in their respective directions. “Foolish. Revolver Fish, attack your closest enemy!” Cavern Raider commanded, aiming her beam attack at Brendan. Predicting the trajectory of the attacks, Brendan evaded the beams while running at the creature. When he got close enough, he slashed at Cavern Raider, only to miss when she jumped back and shot move beams at him. While dodging and attacking, he noticed May and Wes avoiding the Revolver Fish’s attacks. However, he momentarily took his attention away from his opponent. ZAM! “Argh…!” Brendan gasped as he received a beam shot to the chest. The blast destroyed a good part of the underlying armor. If he received another direct hit, he was as good as dead. Cavern Raider wasted no time as she went into melee combat. Being very flexible and agile, she was able to smoothly dodge Brendan’s blade strikes while throwing in some of her own attacks. When she performed a back spin kick, Brendan blocked the attack with his sword and spun into a horizontal slash. The attack managed to cut her stomach lightly, but that didn’t stop her onslaught of quick and furious punch attacks. SMACK! “ACK!” Brendan received an uppercut on the chin, which was powerful enough to send him reeling back in pain. WHAM! SLAM! Brendan was kicked in the stomach, and then smashed him in the same spot with her elbow. The white haired teen knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach and coughing. “It was foolish to think you could win. Now you die…” Cavern Raider aimed her palm at Brendan. The magic circle appeared on her hand as she charged her attack. “Wes, NOW!” Brendan yelled. “Hm!?” Cavern Raider glanced upward to notice Wes lunging at her with his sword. “Revolver Fish, defend!” Cavern Raider shouted, pointing to Wes. All three Kaijudo creatures aimed their beams at Wes. The beams were almost fully charged… “May, it’s your turn!” Brendan called, getting up quickly. Both he and May darted towards a Revolver Fish and kicked their faces, changing the target…to each other. The two frog-like Kaijudos shot their attacks at each other simultaneously, knocking themselves out in the process. At the same time, Cavern Raider’s attack was released towards Wes, who defended using his arm guard. Not only that, but also used the force of the blast to make himself perform an aerial flip over the blast. “HAAAAA!” CHING! Wes landed behind the Cavern Raider, who fell to the floor, injured by Wes’s powerful slash attack. “Gah…damn you! How did you get through our defense?” “Hmph, simple.” Brendan boasted, sheathing his saber, “I was the main distraction while May and Wes caught the attention of the Revolver Fish. I attacked you and drew your attention in order for us to get into position. When you hit me with that blast, I let you do that on purpose, making you think you had won. After that, it was all about planning. By the way, did you think a lot of those moves I did were really just to attack you? I was actually relaying directions to my partners, who thankfully noticed it. The reason I chose both May and Wes were three fold. One, they both had the highest stamina of everyone else, and were equipped with blades, which are great for close combat against long range type enemies. Two, May, being the leader of her squad should be well versed in silent communication, and Wes is my best partner, he knows me better than anyone else.” “Okay, what’s number 3?” “…They’re both disposable…” Wes sat in a lonely corner, a cloud of rejection hanging over him. “That’s so cruel…” “WHAT!?” May roared, storming up to Brendan. “You mean to tell me you didn’t care whether we died or not?” Brendan stared blankly at an irritated May. “Did I stutter?” “Grr…That’s it! PREPARE TO DIE!!” May was about to strangle the sly Team Nova member when Duplica and Melody restrained the enraged brunette. “Tch, that was clever of you, but next time, you won’t be as lucky.” Cavern Raider and the two Revolver Fishes transformed into a ball of light, and then zipped in the direction Leon and Katana fled. Everyone gave a deep sigh in relief. They were victorious. “Hey, Gary, are you alright?” Ash called from the distance. “Hm?” Gary looked up to notice Ash and co. heading towards their direction. “Oh, hey Ash. I’ve been better, but I’m otherwise alright.” “That’s a relief. Glad to see you five are alright.” “…Five?” Gary glanced around, only to realize that Team Shadow had disappeared without a trace. Talk about swift. “Oh, yeah, us. At least you guys are fine.” “It’s been rough, but at least we got through it.” Brock went to help Gary stand on his feet. “Hey Gary, there’s enough space in my gym to let you guys stay, so why don’t we go back and get some rest? I’m sure you guys are exhausted. I won’t take no for an answer.” “…Yeah, rest sounds pretty good.” Gary smiled weakly at the Pokémon breeder. Ash, along with Team Nova, headed towards Brock’s gym to rest up for the night. -Pewter City Gym –Guest Room- Gary and his teammates were introduced to a large room which was comfortable and roomy. However, there were only three beds, although they were large enough to fit two people. So the debate in question was who would sleep in the same bed as their teammate? “Hey Rui, you wanna share a bed with me?” Wes asked, grinning sneakily. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not gonna pull any of that crap while I’m around.” Brendan denied, dragging Wes to his side of the room. “Aww…so unfair…” “Quit whining. You’re sleeping with me and that’s final.” There was a moment of silence. Wes stared oddly at Brendan. “…Brother, while I’m fine with whatever kind of life you choose, incest is not the way to go…” “ACK!” Brendan face-faulted in shock. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT THAT WAY YOU IDIOT!” “Now, now, there’s no need to feel so embarrassed. I’m sure there are a lot of guys who are in the same boat as you…” Wes took a moment to think about his words, then sweat-dropped. “…Okay, so maybe you’re the only one…” “QUIT MAKING ME SOUND SO DIRTY!!” Brendan yelled, shaking Wes vigorously. “Okay, Okay! I was just kidding!” Wes pleaded, getting dizzy with the shaking. “Alright you two, break it up. Comedy hour is over for tonight.” Ritchie said. “…But it’s only been two minutes…” Wes commented, confused. Everyone face-faulted. “It’s a figure of speech you moron!” Brendan snapped. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Sheesh, can’t you guys take a joke?” Wes sighed as he got in his and Brendan’s bed. “Oh, and Wes, if you happened to ‘magically’ appear in Rui’s bed in the middle of the night, I’ll have you fixed!” “Ehehehe…I’ll keep that in mind…” Wes laughed nervously. “Alright you guys, good night!” Gary, Ritchie and Rui started settling into their own beds. Gary and Ritchie shared a bed while Rui got to have her own. Everyone but Gary quickly fell asleep. His mind was too occupied with his thoughts on the Viziers and Team Shadow. The things he saw today, magic, summoning, power, never did he see beings other than Pokémon so capable. It was truly frightening. Also, what was up with Team Shadow? Why did they suddenly leave when Ash arrived? Perhaps he was thinking too much, but it could be possible that their mission is somehow involved with Ash. If so, he had to keep a very close eye on him. All of this in mind, one thing was certain… The danger was only beginning. --------- And that’s chapter 10. Sorry for such a late update, but I’ve been really, really, really busy with everything! I hope that my next update won’t take as long. Please review until your hearts content. Charity is good for the soul… Ah, on another note, I’ve decided to try a new format of displaying music. Lemme know if you prefer this over my usual method.